#power just went out like 30 minutes ago

[doctor-disc0]

Hello darkness my old friend (literally)

[adragonprinceswhore]

Sexting & Taking Nude Pics w/ Hockey player!Aemond

Warnings: 18+, smut, AFAB reader, naughty pictures, degradation, teasing, masturbation, edging, manhandling, orgasm denial, P in V

A/N: Sometimes ovulation wins.

Inspired by this amazing art by @novembermorgon 🩵

“Where's my reward?”

An amusement snort leaves your nose. The game only ended a few moments ago, yet he's greedily demanding that you send him what you'd promised.

“Only winners get rewarded”

“I won.”

You smile to yourself as you type, fingers quickly moving over the screen.

"We won*"

"Whatever. Send it."

"Winning by sudden death doesn't count. You should've scored before it went into overtime"

You see him typing, but knowing Aemond, the reply won't be a long one. The delayed answer is due to him not knowing what to say.

God, you love tormenting him.

In all fairness, you were just quoting what he'd told you before. Winning a match that goes into overtime means that the other team scores a point, even if they lose. "If you can't beat them in 60 minutes, you didn't win", he'd said.

"I'll do better next time. Please, send it."

Usually, it'd take more to make him beg. He must be desperate.

You're still smiling as you close your eyes momentarily, imagining him sneaking off to one of the bathrooms by the locker room, still breathing hard from the strenuous match and with sweat covering his face, droplets sliding down his neck and disappearing inside his away jersey.

If you were there, you'd help him out of the white shirt and shoulder pads, planting tender kisses to his wet neck, secretly craving the taste of his salty skin. He always smelled his best straight after a game.

Maybe you'd get a bit carried away and let your tongue glide over the smooth skin over his adam's apple, prompting him to huff in proud amusement as he teases you for being such a needy slut.

Unfortunately, he’s not playing home in Old Town tonight and you're not there to greet him as he exits the ice.

Instead, you've agreed on a different arrangement. Whenever his team wins a match, you send him a little reward.

Today, it’s a picture of your ass, clad in a black thong you know he likes. It had taken you a good 30 minutes to get the position, lightning and angle of your camera just right, and you weren't about to spoil that on someone who can't beat the Winterfell Dires before overtime.

"Only winners get rewarded. Do better."

Still smiling, you bite your lip to calm yourself.

You can picture it so clearly; Aemond frustratingly exhaling through his nose at your unwillingness to give him what he craves.

He's not much better himself. He's teased you to the brink of madness before; edged you until you couldn't think of anything but him.

You feel a dizzying yet pleasant rush of power wash over you as your screen lights up again.

"Please, baby. I need you"

Mischief makes the smile on your face grow wider.

"I don't entertain losers"

Oh he must be fuming. Running his hand over his face in annoyance, clicking his tongue, thinking of all the ways he wishes to make you submit to his will.

Surely only making his balls ache more with need.

"Please, I've thought about this all night. I'm so fucking hard."

Warmth spreads in your chest. You know he only wants you; that he's just as insatiable for you as you are for him.

Yet, opportunities to tease him like this do not come often.

"There's plenty of porn online. Enjoy!"

If you were with him right now, this is where he would've had enough. Picking you up and throwing you on the bed, climbing on top of you and caging you in. Pressing his heavy bulge against your core, lowly murmuring "If you don't shut up, I'll make you" into your ear.

But the distance between the two of you has robbed Aemond of his cockiness.

"Please."

"Show me"

Your mouth waters as you open the image he sends you. The large hand he has around his shaft holds on to it firmly, veins on the back of his hand and down his forearm popping out from the intense blood flow. The tip of his cock looks vexed; bright red and glistening with arousal. You press your thighs together, no longer able to ignore the pounding growing fiercer.

You type even faster than before.

"What are you thinking about right now?"

"You. About how badly I wish you were here. About how I'd fuck you in this filthy bathroom as the lads are getting ready outside"

Defeated by your own desires, you send him the picture of your ass before putting away your phone, closing your eyes and allowing your hand to travel down between your thighs.

You can see him clear as day. He's grabbing the side of the white sink with one hand, the other furiously stroking his length, eyes glued to the screen of his phone as it rests on the ceramic surface.

He's panting; biting his lip and huffing loudly through his nose. Sweat slides down from his forehead to his flustered cheeks, pooling above his parted lips, dripping down.

Staring at his reward, he thinks back to all the ways he's had you. In your flat, in his car, in the bathroom of that high-end restaurant.

His grip on the sink tightens, thinking about how he'd grabbed the flesh of your ass so harshly it left marks as he pounded into you, causing your unabated moans to echo through the room.

He bites his lip to stop the words from spilling;

"My little slut", "My dirty girl", "My good whore”

Mine.

Mine.

Aemond runs the soft pad of his thumb on your cheeks, collecting the tears of frustration spilling from your tired eyes.

“Poor thing can’t take a bit of teasing”

He’s tone is infuriatingly smug, tutting and interrupting you when you open your mouth to protest.

”Doesn’t feel nice, does it?”

No, it doesn’t feel nice.

Or does it?

You honestly don’t know what’s pleasurable anymore, being forced to the edge of pleasure but denied release time and time again.

Aemond’s fingers, lips, tongue and teeth had coaxed you into pleasure-drunk submission. They’d made you beg for permission to cum, cry for permission to cum, plea for permission to cum. But to no avail.

“Tell you what-”, he starts, seeing eye boring into yours with an intensity only ignited when he was feeling particularly bloodthirsty.

“-I’ll take some photos of you, to enjoy when I win next week’s away game, and then I’ll let you cum”

You’re beyond feeling embarrassed, head instantaneously moving up and down in a furiously eager sign of compliance.

Aemond’s teeth sink into his bottom lip to stop the amusement bubbling up inside of him from making itself know.

He must admit that he likes you best like this; completely at his mercy. His to do whatever he wants with.

Grabbing his phone from the nightstand next to the bed he’s got you caged within his arms in, he swipes his thumb over the screen to open the camera.

He admires you through the lens. The way the short, delicate hairs by your hairline stick to your sweaty forehead. The way your naked breasts still heave from exhaustion; skin damp and glistening. The way your agape mouth pants softly.

And then, your features change.

“Stop doing that”

“What?”

Aemond looks stern, like he’s about to lecture you, “Faking it. You’re posing”

“I’m not!”, you defend yourself with a high-pitched protest.

“You are”

Mind still fuzzy from the strenuous, extensive foreplay Aemond had insisted upon, you don’t know how to appease him.

What does he want?

Sensing your confusion, he places two large palms on each side of your waist, leans down to offer you a soft kiss, and flips you over so you’re on your stomach.

Being manhandled by Aemond while your senses have left your head and relocated to your throbbing centre feels comforting, so when he grabs your hips to pull your ass up, you mumble a muffled “thank you” into the mattress.

He always moves your body with soft yet commanding hands, making his display of dominance feel more like an act of adoration and care.

And he’s always so warm, soothing your exposed skin from the chill air of the hotel room.

“Look at me”, he commands softly, tracing his fingers from the small of your back down to the velvety skin of your buttocks.

Turning your head to the side, you meet his eye, watching as he picks up his phone once more with one hand, while the other grabs his hard length, stoking it briefly before lining it up with your dripping cunt.

As he finally enters you, after god knows how much excruciating teasing, you feel your body turn into jelly; pliable to his every whim.

Your fists grab the sheets of his bed with a cramp-like grip, your mouth falls open with a loud moan, and your back arches in pleasure.

And you hear a click.

Aemond smiles behind the camera, satisfied with getting the picture he’d wanted all along. He moves it down to inspect the way you eagerly take him in, swallowing his cock over and over like the greediest of gluttons.

Enthralled, he admires the way he goes in and out; stretching and shaping you from the inside.

He puts his phone to the side, both hands once again finding home in the dip of your waist. His eye flickers to your bliss-filled face, an amused, condescending laugh leaves his lips,

“Are you drooling?”

You don’t care about his taunting anymore; too filled with him to care about anything else. Aemond moves forward, resting his face right next to yours.

The damp skin of his cheek sticks to yours, his breath fans hot air over your face,

“You’re so pretty like this”

You wait for him to kiss your cheek and award your endurance by finally paying attention to your aching clit.

Instead, he leans back once more, and pulls out.

“Aemond!”, you cry, unable to hide the utter devastation you feel at being denied your peak yet again.

“If you want to come you’ll have to work for it”

He’s smug again, enjoying your desperation a bit too much for your liking. Irritated and impatient, you push him to lay on his back and sink down on him in a selfish attempt to chase your own pleasure.

To your surprise, he allows you to take command; placing one of his hands on your hip, thumb coming down to flick your clit. The other hand picks up his phone again.

“You’re close?”

“Y-, yes”

His thumb continues to rhythmically circle your bundle of nerves as the grip he has on you tightens. His hips roll up to meet yours each time you sink down.

You grab his bicep, anchoring yourself to him with nails that harshly dig into his flesh.

So close.

A few more rhythmic movements and you feel fierce pleasure erupt inside of you, causing your mouth to fall open again as you whine out your pleasure.

Click.

Click.

Click.

You’re still sitting on him, breathing heavily as you try to catch your breath and come back to reality after feeling the release of seven denied orgasms wash over you.

Suddenly, you’re on your back again, Aemond hovering over your panting form. Your face is flustered and your hair is even messier than it was before.

Click.

The smug smile on his face has morphed into pride, and perhaps there’s something more, something far more vulnerable than he’s ever allowed himself to show you, hiding behind his miss-matched gaze.

“Gevie”

Thank you for reading! I have an idea for an upcoming part about these two, but with loads of angst as well 🤩 lmao you know I can’t help myself! Kisses 😙

[mr2swap]

The great shift: a stinking symbiotic relationship

I came home empty-handed, I hadn't even been able to get a job as a cashier at McDonald's, but I can't blame them who would hire an overweight middle-aged man like me... A lot of things are different since the Great Shift, but I guess that some things remain the same, I opened the door to my apartment and the first thing I looked at was my old body sitting on the couch with an annoyed look.

-Dude, What the fuck? You were supposed to be here 35 minutes ago, my phone is blowing up with messages on our subscribers! You know them, they can't wait a minute for any of this! -

Gary Muller, my roommate and my “business partner,” flexed one of his enormous biceps until the shirt that covered the muscular and perfect body that used to belong to me almost burst, then with one of his long fingers he pointed to one of his armpits that for a moment They were dry.

Gary took off his shirt, revealing the body he used to look at every day in the mirror, grabbed a pair of dumbbells that were on the floor and started working out for our afternoon show.

-Yeah... I'm sorry, I went to a couple of job interviews, and they went a little longer than I thought, just... let me change while you train a little-

He just ignored me and went about his business while I walked into our apartment. I had heard that many people ended up in bodies thousands of miles away because of the Great Shift, but me and Gary living next to each other was a strange coincidence.

I didn't know anything about Gary before all this. Furthermore, I only considered him as the old man who lived next to me, sometimes in the mornings while my uncle went to the gym I could see him leaving the building, dressed in a cheap suit and heading to his office job. It was a surprise for me, One day I woke up in his apartment with his old body.

 The Real Gary was as surprised as I was, the first time I saw my old body from Gary's perspective I was speechless, there was an expression of confusion on that beautiful, symmetrically perfect face, the long, muscular arms of which I used to be so proud now they were in someone else's possession, but the worst of all was how short I was now. The height difference between us was enormous, while I was almost two meters tall Gary was 1.50 CM Even some children They are taller than me now.

But over time I got used to Gary's horrible old body... every day I prayed to get my old life back, but every day I woke up with horrible back pain and with a face older than my father's, perhaps the most strange now is the hair, Gary started going bald since high school and when he turned 30 he decided to shave all his hair, Gary's bathroom was full of hair growth products that hadn't worked for years.

And while I was suffering from trying not to adapt to the life of a 48-year-old, the real Gary was enjoying his new youth and his new muscular body. I learned that people treat you very differently when you look like a damn stud instead of a wrinkled Troll.

He could hear through the walls like the real home, and he had fun with my body and with all the boys I brought to my old apartment every night, I had never realized how thin the walls were in this building Until for the first time I heard the powerful moans of my old voice at the same time that Gary used my cock to fornicate another man.

Time passed and society continued on its path, for me, it was surprisingly fast how the government recovered from all this. But there was only one problem, there were a lot of unemployed people everywhere, and among all of them was me.

I used to work at the local gym as a trainer, but with this body that had never been in a gym in its entire life, I was quickly fired. On the other hand, Gary's company went bankrupt when most of the investors ended up in young bodies And they decided to sell the company.

As the days went by, Gary and I became somewhat of friends, I helped him with exercise routines and taught him about the nutrition My body needed, We decided that it would be much cheaper for both of us to live together while all this was resolved, And I returned to my old apartment, but I felt like a stranger among my own things. I settled in the smallest room surrounded by my training equipment that was totally useless to me now, everything was too heavy.

Living with Gary was certainly better than living on the street, But every day it made me reconsider if that was true, Unsuccessfully I tried to get a damn job, so I could get out of that apartment and start my life over in Gary's weak old body. I felt like a parasite even with Gary, he paid the rent and all the house services.

On top of that, he used to party every night and hang out with his new gym friends during the day, it was a total mystery to me how he made so much money... until I started receiving some strange messages on my old Instagram account. .

“Hey buddy, was this your body?”

“Dude, are you DaddyGary?”

“Damn, you had such a hot body… I always knew what was under those shorts, you didn't disappoint me.”

It wasn't hard to realize that Gary had been making his filthy armpit fetish porn for those desperate gays. I felt so dirty watching the videos of my old body worshiping his sweaty armpits after the gym.

I immediately confronted Gary about it, and surprisingly he admitted it very quickly. He didn't seem embarrassed, or sorry for doing it, I could even notice a slight mocking smile on his face as I told him how humiliated I felt while a bunch of perverted men masturbated with my stinky armpits.

It was at that moment when those words from Gary sealed the destiny I am living in now.

-Those “disgusting” things like you call them are what pay the rent for this place and keep your old ass from sleeping in some dumpster. And if you want to continue sleeping in your comfortable bed, it's time for you to start contributing a little money, and I know how you can do it... Come here -

He flexed both arms showing his armpits, I was surprised to see that he had recently shaved his armpits, eliminating all the wild hair that I previously kept in my sweaty pits, I... I couldn't control myself, I don't think he's homosexual, but the powerful musk of my old armpits made me react like a bee to honey.

Gary took his phone and started recording me while he worshiped his wet armpits with my tongue.

-You like it, right?… “Gary” Do you like the taste of your old body? Can you believe this used to be me? Damn, You really are pathetic, “Gary” -

It had been several days since I had ejaculated, I had thought Gary's body had erectile dysfunction or something, but at that moment my little cock was hard as a rock and hot as hell. I had never felt this way, my head was completely clouded by the addictive testosterone filled aroma of my old armpits.

-Look friends, “Gary” is jerking off, it seems like he still misses his old body... Maybe we should let him play with him another time...-

Hello, if you liked this story and you want more, you can take a look at my Ko-Fi page to see my most recent stories, see my new stories and support me to continue creating this hot content.

[canihaveacalmtime]

Your entire life wasn't any eventful in any means aside from the fact that you were targeted and bullied in your intire school life from primary to highschool by the same pair of twin brothers.

You don't know how it started, you don't know when it started, hell you don't even know why they targeted you out of all the other weaklings.

Everyday, the moment you step your foot inside the school ground, they always going to find a way to make your soul jump out of your own body and begin their daily mocking essay, perform it straight into your ears then leaving you with a new wound deep within your mental health.

Near the end of the final year of highschool, you begin to form a plan that will separate you and them forever by telling them with a scared tone about what college you will attend when they ask, behind the scene, you will begin study hard for another further away college, maybe even try to get in one that's out of the country.

Your plan worked and you begin following your dreamt path that you've chosen, you felt relieved, you felt happiness, you felt like the biggest obstacle in your life has been gone.

For the moment, at least.

So imagine meeting them again after applying for a secretary job and now having them as your boss? Sure it'd be so horrific due to them forcing you to work over hours and dump so many paperworks on your work table everyday. Even so, you noticed that they aren't like how they were like years ago anymore and for some kind of reason, you feel really nauseous and wary, your mind screams to you so.

One late night, a day where you have to work over hours, you got really surprised when you realize they haven't went home like how they used to but instead stay and out of nowhere handing you a small box of (flavor) tiramisu cake, saying that they just want to gift you something for your help with assist the company to reach the top 10 in the country.

To you, that excuse were rather foolish to say the least, your mind insist on telling you that you must not take that but your body really needs sugar or it'll collapse by the next 30 minutes so you accepted and politely thanked them. So you wait for them to leave your work room, then finally feel safe enough to take a bite.

The only image you see before you black out was the big twin carrying you in the bridal style as the small twin holding you face, they both have the same love sick face directly at you.

----------

Back when the three of you were in kindergarten, you were the only one who helped them fight off the bullying and rude comments from other kids. Those kids called the twin as ugly, weirdos, psychopaths and any other snarky comments they could make out.

Technically, you were friends with them until primary when they began to becone very popular because they have grow their hidden beauty and no longer the shy and weak twins you know anymore. They turned against you, begin to call you names, begin to use their powers against you and soon enough, you no longer have the will to continue thinking that they will change back to themselves before and accept your fate as a fun thing for them to curse, hit and make a show out of.

That's the 'point of view' that you've been living in for your entire life, your point of view only but how about their point of view?

The twins despite born in a super wealthy family, they never really get to experience 'love' as their parent always busy with works and outside relationships related to business so for them to not know how to understand love let alone giving out love, is a completely normal thing.

They really love you, they wish to cherish you, to protect you and make you happy but they didn't know how and the way they used to express their feelings towards you ended up making your life miserable. They didn't stop the bullying until they went through with the plan of putting cameras in your house, that's when they realized how much damage they have already done to you but fixing that would already be too late since the time they knew about that was also the time you made the plan to cut them off completely.

When you moved out of your parent house, went to the college you study so hard to get in and enjoying the freedom to longed for, they were waking up everyday to regret and hopes of finding you again after they knew about your leave.

The moment they saw you as their new secretary, they knew that they can't not waste anymore time they've already wasted, either they lock you in their arms now or lose you again, forever.

----------

As you wake up from a good sleep since a long time, you immediately know that this room is not yours and by the small picture on the bedside table, you can already guess where you are right now. You noticed that you're currently wearing your favorite type of sleep clothes, you flop back down on the comfy bed, wanting to have another good sleep when suddenly you hear the door open.

The twin notice you've already awaken and are looking at them right now so they await for your reaction, wether it's positive or not but what they didn't expect is you just casually say "hey" to them. And you, you don't even know where did that came from but it felt nice to greet them like how the three of you used to be in kindergarten.

When you were still spacing out, a hand had placed on your head to ruffle your hair follow by a soft kiss on your forehead.

"Did you have a good sleep, darling?"

You look at them for a few seconds before nodding lightly, they also notice that you've been spacing ever so slightly.

"Is something bothering you?"

"No", you said, "it's nothing, just... it's been a while since we talk- like this and it's not that I feel uncomfortable, I-I like it, it feels nice, I was just.. trying to get familiar with the old feelings and-"

"Alright alright", they smile, "we get it (y/n), it is really nice."

They stand up from the bed and look at you, "Let's go have breakfast, you must be hungry now, we gonna have (favorite food) today, what do you think?"

You give them a soft smile.

"Let's go enjoy it then."

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

A/N: This is much more longer than I anticipated, dayum 💀 Still, hope y'all enjoy it though, not the best work but I kinda like this one. I can write more about them if you like lmao, do let me know in the comments ❤

[akixa]

could you write something about Yamazaki shingen can be anything

Sure! 🎀

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Shingen Yamazaki

First to end of it.

You and Shingen were in high-school students. You are his first love before it went downfall.

𓂃 ࣪˖ ִֶָ𐀔

Here you are, standing outside of his classroom, waiting on him. You were stomping on your left foot impatiently for him to get out of that room.

"Ugh, it's been 30 minutes and he is still not coming out?! hmp…”

You look through the mirror door and see him still studying on his desk all by himself. The school bell rang an hour ago, and everyone had already left the school except you two still in school. You barge into his classroom and sit in front of him.

"When will you be done?” You ask him as he looks up from his book to you now. His eyes are full of black, empty, and shallow of darkness, looking to you. He put down his book and spoke at you with boredom through his voice.

"Why are you still here?”

“Waiting on you, dummy.”

“who said you can wait for me?”

“Me and you can't do anything about it.”

He let out a sigh and started gathering his things into his bag while you stood there, smirking at him. You loved teasing him, knowing it would make him angry, but he could never do anything about it since you were a girl and he couldn't hit you. In fact, Shingen was always at the top of his class, and you were always second, making the two of you look like a power couple, even though you were just colleagues and friends.

Together, you often found yourselves in friendly competition, pushing each other to be better. You both shared a passion for literature, often exchanging books and discussing your favorite authors. Your debates about the themes and characters in the novels you read were intense but always ended with mutual respect and a deeper understanding of each other's perspectives.

Despite this, you couldn't help but wonder if he ever thought about the possibility of something more between you two. You certainly did. Every shared glance, every playful argument, and every moment spent together made you hope that maybe, just maybe, he felt the same way. The bond you shared over your interests only deepened your connection, making you wish that your friendship could blossom into something more.

You always see him as a ruthless prince in your imagination and you remember that time that you almost fell down the stairs because the floor was so slippery with no sign to say it. Before you even meet the floor a hand grab your waist and pull you up with other hand on your legs. You look up just to see him carrying you like a bride. Blushing mess as he carry you to the clinic to check if theres any injury on you.

Enough with the past. You always bottle up your feelings for him because you know it would be dangerous for both of you. As the son of Shinji Yamazaki, the formidable head of the Yamazaki clan, he is constantly under scrutiny. Being with Shingen has already caused him trouble, just by being near him and teasing him.

Every time you meet, there's a spark in his eyes that he tries to hide. When you tease him, he pretends to be annoyed, but you can see the faint smile tugging at the corners of his lips. He often finds excuses to be near you, whether it's helping you with a task or just sitting quietly beside you.

Little did you know, he also harbored feelings for you. In his position, he had to hide everything, including you. To him, you were something special, someone he cherished deeply. He wanted to hate you for your own safety, but why do you keep coming back?

There were moments when his guard would slip, and he'd let his true feelings show. A lingering touch on your hand, a protective arm around your shoulder when danger seemed near, or the way his eyes softened when he looked at you. These small interactions spoke volumes about his hidden emotions.

Despite the risks, you couldn't stay away. The bond between you was too strong, and every interaction only deepened your connection. You were something else for him, someone he couldn't bear to lose. He wanted to hate you for your safety, but your unwavering presence made it impossible.

Finally, you both step out of the school, with him next to you, carrying both his bag and yours. The silence between you is comfortable, and you watch the sun slowly setting together. In the golden light, you glance at him and see the warmth on his face, reminding you of the sun—how you feel about him, yet you can’t be too close.

You try to approach him, using your pinkie to touch his arm slightly. Your cheeks flush with redness when suddenly you feel his finger wrap around your pinkie, pulling you closer. A warmth lingers on your skin from his touch, reminding you of the sun because of how he melts you with just a simple touch.

When you finally arrive at your place, he places your bag next to you, but neither of you lets go. You’re both scared that the cold will replace the warmth in your arms. As the sun’s rays fade, you watch him walk away, his figure slowly vanishing from your sight.

Maybe tomorrow you see him again like always.

“?!?”

“Be my date.”

What…

Did you hear that right or is the delusional just messing you up? Coffee does bad to your health. You snap out your thoughts and ask what he said again.

“Are you deaf? I said be my date.”

“ You should at least brought me flower with it to make it more romantic”

“... On second thought, never mind.” walking off leaving you behind.

You chuckle as you notice a red tint forming on his ears. But you nod to him agreeing to be his date while catching up to him.

Is it really a good idea? Think about it—nothing bad has happened since you first met him. From the very beginning, you felt an undeniable connection and fell for him. Every moment spent with him makes you feel secure and cherished. You find comfort in his presence, and the thought of being without him is something you can’t bear. You hope that this feeling of safety and love will last forever, and that you’ll never have to part ways.

As you keep catching up to him, he looks at you with such affection that it makes your face glow brightly. The warmth of his gaze feels like a gentle caress, sending a pleasant shiver down your spine. He holds out his arm, inviting you to hold him. As you slip your hand into his, you feel the comforting strength of his grip. Together, you walk home, the cool evening air brushing against your skin, the soft rustle of leaves underfoot. The silence between you is filled with the unspoken words of two new love birds, each step syncing your heartbeats, creating a rhythm of newfound love.

People would say everything in the end can be happily ever after with your loved one, but how come yours ended so soon? Laying down on your pile of blood.

A second ago, you were walking alone on the street, a sudden ambush from behind catches you off guard. A sharp object violently pierces through your back, tearing through to your chest. You gasp, blood spurting from your mouth as you collapse to the ground. Your breaths become shallow, your vision blurs, and an overwhelming darkness engulfs you.

As your vision blurred and darkness began to take over, you caught a glimpse of Shingen rushing towards you, his face streaked with tears. It was a sight you never expected to see—Shingen, always the pillar of strength, now crumbling. The raw emotion on his face was startling, yet it brought a strange sense of peace. In your final moments, you found solace in the fact that even the strongest boy in the school hearts can break.

With your last breath, you longed to tell him to live happily and brightly, to watch over him like a star that fades away with the dawn but remains ever-present. Yet you can't… Now, you lie cold and still in his trembling hands. He clutches you tightly, tears streaming down his face, whispering desperately for you to wake up and speak, please. The room is filled with the haunting silence of unspoken words and shattered dreams.

🌧️

[shojizbae]

Peeping Tom

Tamakixreader x mirio

Word count: 4K

Warnings: smut, voyeurism, oral (m&f receiving) jerking off, safe sex practices

Mirio didn’t mean to. He really didn’t. UA had very recently moved into the dorms when it happened. It was a Friday night, and he just finished a shower after getting home from his work study. Apparently, the walls were a little thinner than he expected.

Sometime around 8:30, he heard it. It started slow at first, talking. A movie played, but it changed so often that he couldn’t figure out which one. He had only a pair of sweatpants as he toweled off his hair when he heard it.

“(Y/n), woah!” It was the voice of his best friend and neighbor, Tamaki. His shy, elvish friend had finally confessed to his now girlfriend three months ago. (Y/n), a kind but rambunctious girl who had been dropping not-so-subtle hints for almost two years was one of Mirio’s favorites in the class.

Since getting together with Tamaki, she had drawn him out of his shell. It seemed tonight she would drag him out a little more complicated.

“What ‘woah’?” She gently placated

Now, Mirio, of all things, was not a snoop, but he was curious. Luckily, he wasn’t a cat, so he pressed his ear to their shared wall.

“W-we were just watching a movie. I didn’t expect you to get all handsy.” He said, and even through the wall, he could hear his best friend tucking his chin into his chest in embarrassment. So, they were finally gonna have sex?

Two weeks ago, Tamaki came to Mirio and Nejire with this concern. (Y/n) had very nonchalantly asked if he was ready or could consider getting physical with her. After about twenty minutes of gently calming him down, as he seemed to begin hyperventilating, he managed to say something he wanted meanly. Although his anxiety could try your patience occasionally, you were proud of the semi he was sprouting at the mention.

After that conversation, he went to Mirio, who coincidentally was with his girlfriend. He knocked at the door open (Y/n). Want to have sex with me!” He proclaimed in the closest voice he could muster. Unfortunately, he entered a scene from a magazine in the back of the store.

Nejire was in her school skirt and bra, her hair was disheveled but tucked to the side, and she was lying/ straddling Mirio's lap. Mirio was only in some checkered boxers and had one hand on her boobs and the other on her ass below her skirt. He managed a squeak before he spun around and slammed the door shut behind him.

His friends dressed quickly and chased him down, finding him with his head shoved deep into the dorm refrigerator.

“Uhh, Tamaki?” Mirio scratched his cheek but couldn’t hide his smile and his friend's antics

“Yeah, M-mirio?”

“Whatcha doing, man?”

“Uh, just getting a tea?”

“Yeah?” Nejire confirmed, “I thought Yaobara took the last ginseng one. And you hate the matcha ones?” Hado placated

“No, I think I see a Yuzu one back here.” He reached in and pulled out a can of lemonade and cracked the can open. He toon a sip just for show although not bringing himself to make eye contact “mmm refreshing. Well gotta get back to my dorm!” He tried to breeze past the couple until one of Mirio’s giant hands pushed him back by his chest.

“Slow down there, partner! What was this you said about you and (Y/n) having sex?”

“Mirio, not so loud!” Amajiki exclaimed

“Yeah, babe, why don’t we take this back to your dorm?”

“Right,” Mirio looked at his girlfriend with smitten eyes, then at Tamaki’s cherry-red eyes. “Why not yours?” He offered. Tamaki hung his head and pathetically followed the couple to Hado’s dorm room to discuss what this meant.

That was two weeks ago.

Ever since Togata had been anxiously waiting for some kind of sign that (Y/n) had gotten Tamaki into the sac. He felt like some religious fanatic awaiting a divine character, and here it was. Giggles and sighs, and the TV in Tamaki’s bedroom turned up a considerable few clicks.

He kept his ear pressed to the wall, but his curiosity was getting too powerful for him. Accidentally or subconsciously, he slipped through the wall, so his head and left should be passing ghostly through the barrier.- Now his head was in Tamaki’s dim closet where he always left his doors cracked for a long-standing fear of monsters. From his angle, he saw a scene that was downright painting-worthy.

You were sprawled over Tamaki’s lap with both hand tangled into the hair at the base of his neck. Tamaki had one hand up the back of your cardigan which was slipping down your right shoulder. It seemed he was fumbling with your bra clasp which frustrated Mirio because they had spent a considerable amount of time teaching him all about bras.

Frustratedly, you sat up and whipped your cardigan to the side, unclipping your bra and pulling it out of the front of your camisole slowly to tease your boyfriend. With the news he could see, Tamaki looked downright disfigured. His tie hung off his bedside lamp, the top three buttons of his school shirt had been hastily undone, and a speckling of hickies already decorated his neck and chest. Mirio heard him whimper below you as he braced his hands on your thighs.

“You’re beautiful (Y/n).” Tamaki proclaimed, which shocked both who’d heard it

“You don’t need to butter me up, babe, I’m already so wet for you.” You purred as you sunk back to his lips. Tamaki did his best to keep up with you, but the overwhelming barrage of kisses and the constant figure eight of your hips against his was becoming too much for him. Mirio watched in delight as you climbed. His best friend was like a hungry cougar. You gently placed your hands in each of his collarbones, pushed him back onto the plush pillows, and placed a gentle peck on his lips before shimmying down his thighs.

You landed softly on the carpet on your knees with your hands braced on his thighs.

“Uhh (Y/n), what are you…?”

“Shhh, babe, I want this to be special for you.” You held your pointer finger up to your lips in a hushing motion. Then you dug at his belt and enjoyed the iconic sound of a metal clacking against metal.

“(Y/n), You really don’t have to.” He anxiously pleads

“But, Ama, I want to.” That made something in Mirio’s stomach do Olympic gymnastics. There was a pleading glint in your eyes as you begged him silently. He closed his mouth and eyes and gave the subtlest nod known to man, and you dove back in. You tucked some hair behind your ear and undid the button and zipper of Tamaki’s green trousers.

“Take off your shirt, babe.” You ordered, and he obeyed happily as you tugged his boxers. He wriggled around and tossed his shirt into oblivion, and you fished his dick out of his briefs. “Woah, babe, you have such a pretty cock.” You stated proudly.

Mirio had to agree. Of course, he had accidentally caught glances in the locker room, but he was seldom hard in those situations. He could tell from this distance that your statement wasn’t just flattery. It was above average in length with a plump cockhead and perfectly flushed pink. Mirio watched as you took a lick from base to tip, and Amajiki warbled beneath your touch. You took his balls in your left hand and played with them.

Amajiki was notoriously neat, so he wasn’t shocked to see his friend had done some manscaping.

“(Y/n)~” he drawled the final syllable as you slowly sucked on his tip. Mirio could see his friend's abs flexing and twisting as he struggled under your mouth. “(Y/n)!” He groaned. Suddenly, he touched your shoulder and pulled off with an almost cartoon pop.

“Why are we stopping? Is it bad?” You added anxiously

“No! No, it’s. He wiped his eyes and tried to collect his thoughts. “It’s really, uhuh, really good. I don’t think I’ll last one second if you keep going.” He wiped his sweaty brow

“Aww,” you gave a downward smile, proud of yourself for being a natural. You started climbing up him again and gave him a long, searing kiss so he could taste his own precum on your lips. You started reaching behind you for the zipper of your skirt, but Tamaki caught your wrist before you could retake the lead.

“I’ll be taking care of that.” He stated as a wave of confidence overtook him. He held under your armpits and spun the both of you around, so he landed with a giggle in the tangle of his blankets. Often, you forget how strong your boyfriend is. Partly because he rarely wore tight or revealing clothing that showed off his sexy, lean muscles. They didn’t exude the confidence typical of people as powerful as him.

As he stood, he tucked himself back into his boxers but shucked off his pants and folded them at the waist before tossing them to the side. You laughed at his continued clean behaviors, and Mirio just enjoyed it. He claimed back over your abdomen to kiss your lips and your forehead.

Sensing his tiredness, Mirio returned his whole body to his bedroom and got some water. He brought his fist toward his chest in victory and recapped some water. He’s seen plenty more than what is appropriate, right? There should be no need to keep snooping? Right?

Mirio checked the lock on his door, relieved that he remembered to lock it while changing. Although it’s not as if everyone in the class hadn’t seen some part of him during training. He took another sip from his water bottle and plunged his head back into his ‘peephole.’

What he saw was miraculous.

Amajiki was laying shooter style between your spread legs. He had his right hand stuffed deep in your cunt, and with his left hand, he was holding yours.

“L-like this (Y/n)?” He sought your guidance and received only a high-pitched sigh

“Yeah! Mhmm,” you attempted to clear your throat to gain some composure. “Yeah, just like that, Ama.” You sighed

“Ok, but how’s the pace, or should I do anything else.”

“Y-you c-could play withhh my clit?” You offered. Mirio was gobsmacked. How did his shy, reserved best friend get his girlfriend to stutter like him?

“O-ok.” he unlocked his fingers from yours and started making gentle circles. He tried to find it, but notoriously, it seemed to be the eighth wonder.

“Um, a little higher, baby,” you took your once-connected hands and guided his left hand up to your clit and hiccuped. You found it, and Tamaki's gentle hands lay you out.

“Like this?” He smiled up at your pinked face

“Yeah, just like that, baby.”

“So this is good?”

“Yeah, hun, this is euuh,. This is really good,” you accidentally interrupted yourself. Jeez, Tamaki, Mirio thought you really needed more confidence.

“You know,” Tamaki jumped at the sound of your voice, “nothing's wrong, babe, just if you wanted, you could use your mouth.”

“D-do you want it?”

“Only if yoUU!” Before you could confirm, he placed his mouth right where his left hand was. The squee you let out emboldened both boys witnessing you. Until now, Mirio had been balancing on his knees and his right hand while his left hand pushed against the wall. Now, his left hand slid down to his navel and slipped under his champion sweatpants. There was a considerable pile of pre that had pooled in his pants, and he thanked his twenty-minute earlier self who had chosen to forgo underwear.

Quickly he was able to grab onto his cock as his gaze was fixed on you, the porno in front of him. Amajikis left hand had vacated your clit as his mouth took the promotion. Instead, he was grasping desperately at one of your boobs, and his right did its best to assault your g-spot.

Evidently, his right hand was doing a good job, and you moaned and writhed beneath your boyfriend's ministrations.

“Fuck baby, keep going,” you looked your leg over his shoulder and locked him closer to your pussy. Mirio started to circle his cockhead with his thumb as he heard your moans pitch up.

You sunk your right hand into his hair, which made Tamaki groan a little. Your left hand flew out to grip a nearby pile of comforter.

“Tama, uhh, I’m so close! Please, whatever you do, don’t stop or change anything.” And he obeyed happily, maybe adding to the intensity only emblazoned by your tenacity. Your other leg wrapped around the side of his ribs as you reached climax. All coherency left him as you came a jumble of Tamaki's names and various moans and squeals.

Mirio gripped his dick a little harder, and you squirmed and relished the first orgasm someone had provided you. Tamaki sat on his knees and wiped his mouth as he admired how wrecked you looked. Your hair was spread in a million directions, and your tank top was ridden up so he could see your belly as it rose and fell. Your skirt was flipped up, and your panties hung off one of your knees. Even your socks seemed to be slipping if your body as your boyfriend devoured the sight of you.

He had watched many a dirty movie, but nothing compared to how sexy you looked right now. Sweating, shaking, and your face was completely red.

Tamaki was doing much better. He, too, was out of breath and slightly damp, but most noticeable was his cock dancing and straining against his navy blue briefs.

“Aww baby, that looks like it hurts,” you reached for his waistband and tugged him so you were both sitting on the bed, “why don’t we take care of you.” You sat his back against the wall and almost tore his boxers off him. You stood up and pulled your camisole over your head, and brandished it to the side. You gave him a smile as his eyes locked onto your breasts. You saw him swallow and, for the show, fanned himself like a lady at church with his hand.

Boldly, you pulled the zipper of your skirt down and let the green pleats free fall, and you stepped out of it. Despite being buried in your pussy just a minute before, the sight of you completely naked and on display for him was golden. His cock stood at attention, painfully awaiting you.

You climbed back onto your boyfriend's and kissed him sweetly to reassure him. His confidence broke briefly as he awaited your insight.

“Here, hold onto my hips.” You place your hand over his and guide them to the fat of your hips. You rose slowly on your knees and used your right hand to guide his cock to your awaiting pussy. You paused right as you made contact.

“Fuck! I forgot condoms!” You put your forehead on his collarbones in defeat.

“That’s okay, baby,” he secured a hand on the small of your back and leaned the two of you forward. He slowly opened the drawer and pulled out a box of condoms, pulling out the roll and ripping one off.

“How did you?”

“After that night, I went out and bought some. I-I had to call Mirio for help.” He admitted, ashamed.

“Aww, baby.” Mirio stopped his hand as he smiled at the memory. It was nine at night when he got the call. It took ten minutes to calm down a very overwhelmed Tamaki and explain that most of the scented or rubbed condoms were not a good choice and that he should go with latex unless he knew you were allergic to latex. You weren’t, so he got some pretty generic-looking lubricated condoms with a little doctor-recommended check. He didn’t make eye contact with the cashier; he only handed her enough cash to pay and grabbed the box before she could give him change.

You both settled back into position and he ripped the foil open with his teeth. Your knees buckled a little at the sight and you helped guide the condom down his dick. As you slid him down your folds you paused right at your pussy and looked in his eyes.

“Mhmmm,” he managed to grit out, and you slowly sunk his head in. Both of you seemed to moan and were keen on the contact. Your hands flew up to grip his shoulders, and he sunk into the small of your waist. Mirio gripped his cock reignited by the double loss of virginity. Slowly you eased down his cock and experimentally brought yourself up and down once. You shuddered in his lap.

Tamaki slid his hands down your waist to your hips, and you picked up the pace, bouncing up and down his lap with more confidence. With his help, you rode him with a passionate curiosity.

Mirio picked up the pace as you two seemed to find a groove. The purple-ette enjoying the sight of you taking him for his pleasure and the satisfying squelch of your pussy around him. Every lift and drop of your hips forces his eyes to shut a little, but every time, he forces them back open to allow himself to soak you in.

You’re not doing much better. Already sensitive from cumming minutes earlier, the excitement of finally getting to fuck Tamaki swirled into a greater pleasure than you could imagine. Unfortunately, it was interrupted by the ghost of cowgirls.

“Ow ow ow!” You settled your hips

“What? What is it, baby?” He clamped his hand on the side of your face.

“Foot cramp.” You shook it and winced

“D-do you wanna switch?”

“Mhmm,” you nodded, and he kept his hold on the side of your face but gave you a gentle peck. Then he slid his hands under your legs and picked you, only to slam you down on the mattress. You bounced and laughed as you held his face for another kiss. You tucked some stray hair out of his face as he guided himself back into your sweet, warm pussy.

You made eye contact as a slight gasp slipped from your mouth. Tamaki leaned over you and placed your arms around his neck. He placed both hands by your ears and started up a slow and gentle pace. Before he realized your eyes were going the same rolling back/ force open pattern.

From this position Amajiki was hitting all the best angles. Mirio thought he was spoiled for getting the pleasure of witnessing this. Every grunt and every sigh even the squeak of the mattress beneath Tamaki’s knees was only fuel for his fist. He brought his hand up to his mouth so he could collect a weight bead of spit which he spread over his throbbing cock. He could feel his balls keening with the need to release but he was trying to time it with the movie he was witnessing.

On your side of the wall was bliss. You kept your arms around his neck but still wove your fingers through the thick hair at his nape. When you gave a particularly strong tug Tamaki crooned into you touch. He moaned a little harder as you tugged on him.

“D’yo like that, Ama?”

“Y-yes,” he managed to plead.

“Y’want me to do it again?”

“Yes-fuck, please!” You were shocked to hear your typically formal boyfriend swear at you. It was hot, so you pulled harder in his gorgeous silky hair. You only pulled more erotic sounds out of his lips, which were coated in a thin layer of saliva from chewing on them.

“Fuck again! I-I’m gonna cum!”

“T-Tama!” You nearly started laughing in surprise at his foul mouth. But the obsessive rhythm of his hips was bringing you closer to the edge again. “Just keep going. I’m ughh,” you groaned against your will as he teased your G-spot.

“Deeper Tama!” You begged. He grabbed each of your ankles at your request and brought them up by his ears. He leaned down on you and landed a searing kiss on your forehead and then brought his pace a little faster, lingering at the depression of his thrust.

“Ahh, right there! Please don’t stop!” But he was sputtering out from exhaustion and being on the precipice of an orgasm

“I can’t- I’m not gonna!” He sounded absolutely pathetic

“It’s fine, baby. Just keep going.”

“Do you want me to pull out?”

“Why would you wear a condom? Inside please” At that, any scrap of reserve fell away as he pounded into you, desperate to cum.

“(Y/n)! Uh, I’m gonna!” He parked his hips deep in your pussy as he came with a whimper. Your eyes rolled so far back that he was nervous; they might not return. As he came to, he felt like he was strangled by your pussy, clamping down and spasming around his cock. You raked your hands down Amajiki's back, desperate to cling onto something for fear you might float away.

If he were to look back on it, Mirio would say that the noises you made as you came sent him hurtling over the edge. In a split-second decision, he permeated his other hand through the wall to bite so he could damper his sounds. He shuddered, and his ear rang after he came. A nasty white matter on the wall was evidence of his Tom peeping.

He pulled himself back through to his room to assess the damage. He would need to change his sweatpants because of a big precum stain on the grey fabric. He laughed at himself and how live-action porn got him so riled up.

“Oh jeez,” he put his clean hand on his forehead. Directly after he had hidden the evidence, a pounding at his door nearly scared him out of his skin.

“Miri! Togata! Why is your door locked?” He zipped over to his door, unlocked it, and gave his girlfriend a kiss on the forehead as she sunk into his chest.

“Long day, baby?” He similarly caged her in

“So long,” she whined

“You want to hear something that will cheer you up?” He pulled back so he could look at her adorable little face

“Always,”

“They finally did it.” He admitted with a downward smile

“YOU SHUT YOUR DAMN MOUTH!” She leaped back, accidentally activating her quirk

“Yeah, I heard it all.” He smirked proudly. “You wanna go over and bust them?”

“Yeah!” She cheered sharing similar smirks and penchants for mischief. Mirio threw on a t-shirt and they crept next door. Stupidly the couple had forgone locking the door. The two bust through the door to reveal what could have been a sweet wholesome moment.

(Y/n) had her head laid on Tamaki’s chest and Tamaki had an arm over her shoulder and was stroking up and down with his finger tips. But as the couple blew threw Tamaki’s door sending the couple flying up and out of their sheets.

(Y/n) grabbed the nearest blanket and held it to her chest to conserve some of her modesty.

“What are you doing get out!” You screeched in embarrassment while poor Tamaki cowered, mortified.

“Ok ok,” Mirio backed out in surrender “did you kids have fun?”

“Out!’l you hollered. The incident did not stop you by any means from continuing your fun. You just remembered to lock the doors. But no padlock could keep out your neighbor of a peeping tom.

[thecapricunt1616]

Lily of the Valley - (c.b. oneshot)

𝓢𝓷𝓲𝓹𝓹𝓮𝓽 (𝓶𝓸𝓻𝓮 𝓑𝓣𝓒): “Yes, what is all this baby?” You asked, motioning to the roses. “Did I forget somethin? Our anniversary isn’t for another 2 months” you asked a bit nervously. Carmen wasn’t a stickler for dates, but it would break your heart if you were to forget something important. “No- no. I just…just love you- I wanted to show you, and especially after this week I know I’ve been crazy busy, and I’ve been comin’ in late and leavin’ early, and…I just wanted to show my best girl how much she means t’me” he kissed your forehead sweetly and you felt a blush creeping to your cheeks. 

O/S INSPO:  Lily of the Valley Soothing, calming, draws peace and tranquility, and repels negativity. Assists in empowering happiness and mental powers. Married couples should plant Lily of the Valley in their first garden to promote longevity of the marriage.  POSTED DATE:03/30/2024 W/C: 4,114

A/N: FINALLY!!!! I am so sorry this took forever! This O/S is based on this adorable request from the LOML @daysofyellowroses - please check out her blog! I hope this satisfies your Carmy Proposing idea! I'm sorry it took so long i've been sick, but we’re back baby!!! Requests are opennnn y'all!

WARNINGS FOR BTC: Smut, Swearing, NO USE OF Y/N - As little physical description as possible, fluffy Carmen, OC Carmy - (He's more emotionally grown obvi hahah)

You pushed the heavy, bulging tote bags full of groceries up your arm as you walked back to Your&Carmy’s shared Condo Building. The wildflower seeds you’d thrown on the little patches of grass on your walks to the train, along the sidewalk on your block had finally started to bloom. Adorable tiny little flowers in vibrant shades of blue, pink, purple, yellow, and white peeking out over the sidewalk's edge. 

Spring had most definitely sprung in Chicago by this point. Your commute whilst walking to work down Michigan Ave, passing the stunning array of tulips, had told you that fiercely every time you walked to and from the train this week on the way to work. It was finally Friday, and you couldn’t be happier. 

Carmen had been so busy this week- busier than normal. You’d usually just hang out with your best friends to fill that pathetic, lonely void while grading papers and doing your own assignments- but they were busy this week too! You were convinced the universe had bound you to loneliness this week, so naturally, all you wanted to do was get home, crawl into bed, and sleep- until Carmy came in around 2 to 3 am, and get that savored 15 minutes of cuddles after his shower, before exhaustion came over you again and you fell back asleep. 

You used your special key fob to get in the door of your condo’s shared building, which to your standards was very luxurious- it included amenities you’d never even thought of. You and Carmy had moved in together 3 months ago, it took a lot of convincing on your end. You and Carmy had lived on opposite ends of town, so every time you’d see eachother, (which was very often) -  it would be an hour's drive that he insisted- or, him losing the battle- and allowing you to take the train back all those stops. 

You weren’t particularly religious,  it was more just a personal preference - that you would be at least engaged before you were to move in together. Especially before having a mortgage together. You’d told Carmy this, and he’d given you the same answer each time over the last two years he’d been begging - “Baby we know we’re in love, you know we’re eachothers forever person - we tell eachother every day! We’ve been together 3 years, Let me take care of you” 

It wasn’t that you didn’t want to be taken care of- it’s just…you liked working. You loved your job, you’d went to school and earned a masters degree for Christ sake, and were currently working on your PHD. You couldn’t ever see yourself giving that up, and moving in with a boyfriend and him insisting on paying all the bills made you fear you’d fall pregnant, and then your professional life would be over. 

But, Carmen had insisted to you he wasn’t interested in children unless you were. You were sure at one point you never wanted them, but you were becoming more afraid, because seeing as amazing an uncle Carmen was, how naturally kind and understanding he was of children- it brought out something in you. It was so sudden that you could imagine turning your shared library / art studio into a nursery during slow time at work. 

You walked down the hall, in no rush to be home. The only presence waiting being your cat, Truffle, Carmy had insisted on the name due to his deep black fur. 

You approached the door, confused as to why you were hearing…music? From your apartment? You shook the hope of Carmy being home this early away, not wanting to be dissapointed. The neighbors downstairs must be blasting that same kind of jazz instrumental Carmy listens to so loud that you heard it through the floor. 

You unlock the door, and sure enough the music playing softly through the condo gets a tad louder but the first thing to catch your eye was the white and pink rose petals making a trail to the kitchen. You heard Carmy humming lightly, the sound of chopping on the cutting board. 

“Bear?” You quickly nudge the door shut with your hip, not even bothering to take your shoes off and rushing down the hall into the kitchen. Sitting atop the breakfast bar, was a vase packed with beautiful pink and white roses. 

He looks up from the cutting board “My favorite girl” he stops what he was doing immediately coming and taking the bags from your shoulders, setting them down before greeting you with a sweet kiss. He cupped your cheeks gently, pulling you in to him so you were flush together with his other hand.  

“You used our card f’that right?” He asked softly when he pulled away. You roll your eyes a bit, he had insisted you get a shared credit card, and that you purchase everything with it- and at the end of the month, he will show you the statement, and only pay a quarter of the total, just another one of the ways he assured every financial burden of yours was eased significantly. 

“Yes, what is all this baby?” You asked, motioning to the roses. “Did I forget somethin? Our anniversary isn’t for another 2 months” you asked a bit nervously. Carmen wasn’t a stickler for dates, but it would break your heart if you were to forget something important. 

“No- no. I just…just love you- I wanted to show you, and especially after this week I know I’ve been crazy busy, and I’ve been comin’ in late and leavin’ early, and…I just wanted to show my best girl how much she means t’me” he kissed your forehead sweetly and you felt a blush creeping to your cheeks. 

“That’s so sweet Bear. Thank you I love you, this is…no one’s ever done this- oh my god- are those balloons?” You giggled, seeing heart shaped foil balloons tied to your chair at the table and he smiled proudly. 

“Mmhmm, the lady at the flower place said that - we can talk about it later. You wanna cook w’me? You can just watch if you want?” He asked, gently brushing his fingers through your hair. 

“I never turn down a lesson from the best, let me go get changed real quick” you headed toward the bedroom and he stopped you by your hand pulling you back into his chest, kissing your neck with wet open mouth kisses earning a giggle that you couldn’t contain. 

“Mmm- don’t go in there right now, it’s for later. I already got your pajamas right here” he said going over to the couch and grabbing your favorite pair of sweatpants and his old ‘the beef’ tshirt that to you was the most comfortable thing in the world, especially when he wore it to bed for a few nights before giving it back. 

“For later huh?” You muse, taking off your heeled booties and unbuttoning your slacks before peeling them off and trading them for your soft fuzzy grey sweatpants. 

“Mmhmm” he hummed in response and took your pants for you and your blouse and bra as well, bringing them to the laundry room as you put the shirt on and got your hair situated into a bun. 

“What are we cooking today, chef?” You asked, heading over to the kitchen to see there were little bowls of vegetables that have been precut and you gasp happily. “Stop- are we really?” You giggled. 

“I told you that it’s easy baby but you hate eggplant so ratatouille isn’t gonna be something you’re a big fan of” he chuckled. You had watched the movie with him, and told him that the ratatouille dish looked insanely delicious and that you wanted him to make it for you, but he told you your aversion to eggplant would probably turn you off the dish. 

“But there isn’t eggplant” you said looking over the dishes filled with various vegetables. 

“That’s right, this is princess ratatouille. I’ve been figurin’ out different vegetables w’Syd that would work for it, we finally got it right. We have zucchini and a few different squashes, and we have onion and garlic, tomato, bell pepper, everything you like. I think you’ll love it baby.” He said rubbing your back gently. 

“Of course I’m gonna love it bear, I love everything we make together you have the magic touch. So what’s my job?” You asked eagerly. 

“You my special sous chef, are gonna help put the veggies in and I’m gonna do the sauce” He kissed your temple gently. 

“Ok! Let me get my apron” You said, happily turning to the drawer you kept your aprons in.

“Wait-” he said, holding your arm. You look back at him and he looked…nervous.”Is…something wrong?” You questioned, brows furrowed slightly in concern.

“No- no I um….i got you a new one” he said sheepishly, walking over to the island and opening up the cupboard beneath you never used. 

“Oh- ok..Leveling up are we?” You joked, happily leaning against the counter. 

“Jesus-” he chuckled, “Close y’r fuckin eyes- carnival psychic” he teases and you laughed, obliging and closing your eyes.

“Carnival psychic?” you asked and he came over gently putting bundle of fabric in your awaiting hands.

“I swear t’god- you went snoopin’? Open your eyes” he said. You opened your eyes, looking into your hands and seeing an apron. It was white, just like his, and folded perfectly. In thick black letters, intricately painted, ‘ Will You Marry Me? ‘ Adorned with a little red heart over the center pocket that had a square shaped bump.

You felt all of the blood leave your face, your knees feeling wobbly, your mouth gaping in to an O shape, as you stare down at the apron. “Where did you get this?” you whispered, completely awestruck. 

“I-I…um…made it?” he rubbed the back of his neck nervously. “I- shit. Fuck- is this not how you pictured it? I’m so fuckin sorry babe- I-I thought…I dunno- like.. You wanted it private? Cause I know you said you’d never-” he’s interrupted by your lips crashing on his in a fervent wanting kiss, a mix of spit and teeth and lips and tongues, he moans softly into your mouth, squeezing your waist.

You were pressed together so firmly that the small box dug into your ribs, eventually pulling away from him with shaking hands and reaching into the pocket, pulling out the small black velvet box. You ever so carefully opened it, your breath catching in your throat when you saw the absolutely breathtaking ring.

“I-it’s not uh..not a diamond- cause I know you said-” you interrupt him

“Princesses and Queens don’t wear diamonds, they wear crystals” you finished, staring at the beautifully cut opal, at least 8 carats, banded by a intricate edwardian band… nothing short of a ring for a Goddess.

“But..But- this one…it does- it has both…because uh” he swallows thickly. “It…in my mind- when I s-saw it, it represented your soul, and your physical body.. And I liked that. Cause- y’re my diamond, but you’re also my queen, my everything, baby. Like how - how you said that…you wished your aura was opal? It is. It is, angel. And every time you look at that, I want you to remember that you’re beautiful from your diamond exterior, to your opal soul” he brushed his finger over the ring, before meeting your gaze once again.

He gently wiped the tears that were running down your cheeks freely, hot and wet and open. It was rare that Carmy genuinely used his words rather then his actions to express his love for you, so you were nothing short of savoring this. “Holy fucking shit” you laughed, shaking your head and looking down at the ring box. “Put it on my hand” you held your left hand out. 

He chuckled a bit, “so… yes? You will?” he asked carefully, pulling the ring out of the box.

“Are you kidding, YES! Put this ring on my finger and fuck me dumb- this is all i’ve ever wanted, Bear, I fucking love you- and youre asking if I want you to be my husband?! I’ve wanted nothing more for two years- at least!” you shake your left hand for emphasis, a wide large grin on your face.

He carefully slid the ring over your manicured finger, and it just made you cry more how it fit perfectly. “How do you know my size?!” you asked, since most of the vintage rings he'd bought you were adjustable so it didn't matter the size of the rings he’d gotten for you before.

He chuckled a bit, “so- y’re ring…y’know the one…y’thought you lost it at Chipotle like…ahhh- 8 months ago now? In the bathroom? Y’took it off at the table, you wore it on your ring finger so I had to take my chance. You kept sayin how it was like- the only ring you’d found that fit without takin’ it to the jewler. So uh” he dug in his jeans pocket, placing your beloved vintage ring with your starsign on it in your palm.

“I got that ring, based on the size. I got it uhhh…sorry dont be offended- it’s not new… I got it at an estate sale of this lady- it was crazy- the way I came across it babe… like fate. It was when Syd and I went to New York for that interview, she literally dragged me to this sale cause she said the lady who died was said to have a bunch of vintage fur and stuff she was looking f’somethin- anyway. We met the lady’s daughter- Stella? I think it was? Doesn’t matter… but she um..said her Ma was some crazy astrology nut, also said she only wore crystals. So I took a look… that was the first box I opened. And y’ring on my pinky, it fit perfect, so I tried it on- it fit like a glove. I’m glad we don't have to size it. Asked her if it was real, she said - her Ma told ‘er some…. Like life coach? Er- astrologer life coach author? Gave it to ‘er on a trip to Jamaica in the 60’s. Told ‘er ‘this ring will someday be worn on a hand proudly as a devotion of true love’- Miss- No! Madame ! Madame Stardust. Nutty name right?” he chuckled a bit. 

You smiled proudly at the ring, a devotion of true love indeed. “I think” you turned to the counter, stacking the bowls of vegetables together and putting them in the fridge as you friskily countered “you are not going in to work at all next week- wifes orders” you walked over to him, hips swaying. “And after you fuck me absolutely stupid” you grabbed his collar, pulling him in so your faces were meer inches apart “Oh- and we talk about how this mademe stardust? Confirms that our souls are indeed woven together like a fucking wicker basket” you kiss him roughly, weaving your fingers through his dirty blonde curls and tugging firmly. 

He moaned into your mouth, his hands trailing down and squeezing your ass firmly. You hummed in satisfaction, leaning against him and he stumbled back, back, back, pushing the bedroom door open with a squeak. You looked up, Breaking your kiss with wide eyes.

All throughout the bedroom, were printed photos of you and Carmy throughout the years, suspended with clear wire so it was as if the photos were floating midair. You clasp your hands over your mouth, admiring all the hard work and pure thought that had went into the gesture. You looked over all the photos, three years of memories hanging before you like a gallery of love surrounding you, all of your fondest happiest memories at every flicker of your eyes.

“Carmen” you whispered, walking forward and admiring each and every photograph…

He comes behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his chin on your shoulder. 

“Y’know how you said no work next week…” he said softly, kissing up your neck with wet, sexy, open mouthed kisses. “We leave Sunday… F’Cyprus” He said hotly in your ear, his breath tickling your neck causing a moan to escape your lips as he gently lifts your shirt, palming your breast gently.

“Is- is that-” you breathe out

“We’re getting a tour of Aphrodites Baths” he said softly, rolling your taught nipple between his thumb and forefinger.

“Ah- y-you remembered?” you gasped, he let out a soft deep chuckle, Kissing the corner of your mouth and gently laying you down upon the soft sheets of your shared bed. 

“I’d have proposed over a year ago- when I got the fuckin’ ring if i coulda gotten us the tour sooner�� he muttered into your skin, tugging off your- (his) shirt, leaving supple, gentle kisses over your stomach and up your ribs.

“Mm- are we- can we swim?” I asked hopefully.

He  gently wipes your tears away, “No” he said a bit sadly, “We can dip our hands… some asshole ruined swimming for people years ago…before we met…but- we were also gonna Parga Greece, baby. We’re spending 2 days in Cyprus, then flying to Parga on a charter- we can swim, fuck, do whatever in those waters baby. Amidst the Goddess of the Underworld f’five whole days” he smirked and you gasped, as if he’d gotten you the moon on a string.

“The Acheron River?” you whisper and he nodded, gently rubbing his thumb over your lips.

“That is the sexiest thing i’ve ever heard in my life- you’re gonna make me cum in the 2nd most famous river of Hell?” you giggled and he snorts a laugh, pushing you on the bed gently.

“Fuck yeah, you little fuckin’ freak” he teased, tugging off your panties and sweatpants in one swift pull, leaving you soaked and bare before him.

You gasped at the rough action, quickly being soothed by soft, sweet kisses over your hipbones. 

“I fuckin smell y’kitten fuck” he growled, kissing the inner of your thigh in the way that made you creen. 

“Shit- good- right? If y’compared me to a seafood market i’d break your nose” you teased, hooking the crooks of your knees over his shoulders, shivering when he leaned in closer, his hot breath directly over your clit- his lapis blue eyes boring into yours.

“That question doesn’t deserve an answer” he grumbled hotly, spreading your folds with his fingers and admiring the wet, slick, mess in front of him. “S’fuckin pretty princess- fuckin’ prettiest pussy in the world” he nearly moaned, burrying his mouth where you needed him most, eyes fixed on yours.

You couldn’t even make a sound- a hot breathy gasp escaping your slack-jawed stance as your head flopped back on the mattress with a soft bounce. “Mmmmm shit” Carmy hummed, satisfied with your taste as if he was devouring his favorite dessert.

“F-Ffuuuckkk” you whimpered out pathetically, voice cracking and bleeding out between the fracture lines of your hot intense pleasure.

“Mmhmm-mmmhmmm” Carmy mumbled confidently against your now firm clit, tongue flicking over it at a mind-numbing pace, bringing you right to the edge and hanging you there by a single finger.

“Ahhhh-Ahhhh-Fuck!! Carmy! Oh- ohhhh!!!” You whined, spine pointing in an arch off the mattress, your hips and thighs quivering and shaking wildly as your orgasm crashed over you like hot lightning before you could even warn him, or know yourself it was so close.

“Goooood girl, thats it- mm- my good fuckin’ girl- Y’gonna be my fuckin’ wife baby? Mmm? Gonna be mine? F’rever?” He grumbled, placing a gentle kiss to your clit before placing gentle yet firm pressure over it with the pad of his tongue that made your hips buck with a mind of their own.

He chuckled slightly into your heat, the vibration causing you to whine pathetically. “Y-yes-yes-fuck i’mfuckinyoursBear-y’gonnamakemey’wife? Yeah? Gonna make me Mrs. fuckin Carmen Berzatto?” you slurred, pulling him into a messy wanting kiss, soughing at the flavor of your core coating his spit.

“Fuckin- spit in my fucking mouth- claim me” you groaned. He smiled against your lips, pulling away slightly, a thick hot string of saliva connecting the two of you.

“So fuckin dirty” he grumbled with a smirk “Open that filthy fucking mouth” he ordered, getting quiet for a moment as he gathered saliva in the front of his mouth.

You obeyed him immediately - your jaw going slack, tongue stuck out ever so slightly and eyes fluttered shut. Then- you felt it, hot, sweet, salty saliva coating your tongue, you groan at the flavor as it continues pooling over your tastebuds. “Do not fucking swallow yet- greedy girl” he tapped your chin firmly, before pulling your jaw open wider with Tthe pad of his thumb. 

“Stick out that pretty little tongue” he grumbled, you obeyed with a smile, opening wide as you could, sticking your tongue out far, showing off the creamy white saliva he’d dressed your tongue in, so much it was seeping down onto your chin, threatening to coat the front and back of your throat.

“Good girl- that's my good little kitten” he purred, “How d’you want me princess?” he gently collected the excess saliva from your chin on his thumb, sucking it off his digit hotly as he awaits your response while you swallow gratefully, the taste setting your soul ablaze.

“I want you to fucking claim me, Carmy, holy fuck- use me, worship me, fuck me like a goddamn animal- whatever you fucking want- please” you begged after you’d savored the taste while you swallowed, his sky blue eyes going dark as navy slacks with lust at the admission. 

“Yeah? Why not all three?” he pushed you down to the mattress by your throat, not hard enough to bruise- but hard enough for the breath to leave your lungs and your core to throb so hard you were clenching your thighs, trying to give any solace of pressure to your swollen aching clit.

“P-please” you stuttered, writhing against the mattress and he chuckled darkly. 

“Are we a little needy? Mmm princess?” he pushes your knees apart with his thigh, aiding the throbbing pressure with his strong fingers, rubbing firm, slow circles into the twitching bud that made your hips snap into the mattress and head fall back to the bed, eyes rolling back with a sharp gasp of pleasure. 

“Pl-please-” you gasp out, spine arching sharply as he replaced his fingers with his mouth on your clit, 2 fingers slipping inside of you with no resistance due to the fact your core was so soaked it was beginning to pool at the dip of your bum and soak the sheets. The squelching as he pumped into your g-spot mixed with your high-pitched moans and frisky growls was absolute sin.

He opens his jaw wider, tonguing your entrance wildly and nuzzling his strong nose against your clit in broad strokes, randomly flicking back and forth quickly making you squeal in pleasure as you grind against his mouth, fully out of control of your movements as if you were a puppet on a string.

“H-Hooooo-i’m cumming- oh- don’t you dare fucking stop Carmen” you growled, grabbing his curls and pullinghim further into your core. “I’m cumming- i’mcumming-holy-holyfuck-imfuuuckiing-AAAH!” your thighs and hips shake and quiver, stars of ethereal white filling your vision.

“Mmhmmm” he grumbled, coming up and sucking your nipple with his slick lips, his chin and nose soaked with your arousal, so much so his chin dripped onto your ribs. 

“H-Oh-yes Bear” you whined out, head tilting to meet his gaze. “I need you- I-I need you inside- like- fuck- when you- you have my knees around your hips and y-you fuckin’- just drill me Carmy- I need that- need you deep” You reverberated wantingly, wrapping your thighs around his waist taughtly, making it easier for him to take you exactly how you wanted.

“Jesus Christ- I can’t fuckin’ stand y’baby. Y’re like a fuckin’ drug- it’s like I fuckin’ function unless I’ve had a hit” he nibbed your collarbone, quickly removing his jeans and boxers, aligning himself with your entrance.

You gave him a mischievous smile, inching your hips forward. “C’mon- I don’t give a fuck ‘bout cooking right now- fuck me absolutely dumb- then take me to Sam’s f’r chocolate chip pancakes- sure that waitress will be over the moon bout my ring” you mused, capturing our lips together, as he scoops up your shoulders and holds you chest to chest, your third of many orgasms that night building throughout every muscle.

It was going to be a long night….

[chrissv4mp]

1 step forward, 3 steps back.

warnings(!!): vulgar language, verbal abuse, controllingbf!chris, manipulativebf!chris, use of "y/n", etc.

author's note: loosely inspired by the song "1 step forward, 3 steps back" by (my fav) olivia rodrigo🫶🏼 hope u guys enjoy & please note that chris would never actually act like this & that it's just an AU!!

♡ = you

☆ = chris

nobody is permitted to steal/repost my work on other platforms, thank you.

_____________

"hello?" chris said, his voice raspy as he had just finished a twitch stream where he'd been yelling at nick 30 minutes ago.

you sighed. well, it only took 3 calls for him to pick up.

"hey, chris." you still smiled, even if he couldn't see it. maybe it was just you trying to convince yourself you enjoyed this. whatever it was.

the boy behind the phone coughed, taking a sip of his pepsi before he spoke again, "hi, ma,"

his voice softened, making your smile widen as your face flushed.

"how-- how was your day?" chris asked, not an ounce of curiosity in his tone.

could he at least try to sound convincing for once? he'd done it time and time again whenever he lied to you.

"it was fine," you sighed, staring up at the ceiling of your room.

his eyebrows furrowed in both anger and confusion, "what? y/n, c'mon don't have an attitude with me right now.

you raised an eyebrow in confusion, your voice starting to tremble as you knew exactly how this would play out, "i didn't give you an att-"

"it was fine," he tried to mimic your voice, annoyance in the sentence. "and you wonder why i'm always so fucking angry."

not a word left your mouth in response, tears welling up in your eyes as you sniffed quietly before apologizing, "'m sorry,"

for what, though?

your chest rose and fell with every heavy breath you took, trying your best to push the tears back, "i just-- i just wanted to hear your voice before i went to bed."

chris didn't speak, instead he just sighed in disappointment, running a hand through his hair even though it'd just fall right back into place.

"well, you ruined it. maybe if you weren't such a fucking downer all the time people would actually think your fun. bye." the boy said before hanging up, not even giving you a chance to say goodnight.

your eyebrows furrowed, and the suffocating feeling in your throat finally took over as tears rolled down your face, stopping at your jawline before they fell to your collarbone.

"fuck!" you grunted, punching the mattress before chucking your phone across your room without even thinking.

your breathing began to get heavier, and you quickly began to sob, choking out cries as you cursed at yourself.

stupid, stupid, stupid. why must i be so fucking stupid?

you gripped the sheets of your bed tighter, trying to control your breathing as you shut your eyes tightly.

why cry? it's not like this hasn't happened before. you're always the bad guy in situations like this. never him.

but it's not your fault.

deep inhale, deep exhale. over and over again you did this, until your vision finally cleared and your breath was finally even.

you opened your eyes, looking around the room for your phone that you had thrown somewhere earlier.

the floor creaked as your foot hit the floorboard, walking over to your bedroom door and kneeling down to grab the device.

"shit," you muttered, turning it around to reveal multiple of cracks on the screen. your thumb went to the power button, pressing it.

"no, no, no, fuck." continuously you hit the power button, hoping that by a miracle it would turn on and all would be okay.

well, maybe this was the reason your parents told you to get a screen-protector.

maybe this is why he thinks i'm no fun. does he even think i'm pretty?

♡...

_____________

...☆

why am i like this.

chris set his phone on his desk, looking up at his monitor that was currently displaying the fortnite lobby.

his eyes move over to the other monitor, the home screen being a picture of him and you at the beach a few years ago.

a frown washes over his face and he can't help but stare at the picture a little longer, wishing he was back in that moment. he remembers every part of it.

"chris, what the fuck!" you gasped, your mouth agape as the brown-haired boy had just flung water at you.

the boy snickered as he tried, but miserably failed, to run away from you in the water.

"i'd kill him," matt laughed, sitting back on his beach towel as he watched the two of you.

chris continued to slowly run away from you, but you quickly swam towards him and splashed a ton of water at the brunette boy.

"fuck!" he gasped, shivering from the cold even though he was waist deep in the ocean.

"don't be such a baby," you teased, splashing water at him once more before swimming away and onto shore.

chris followed shortly after, stumbling out of the ocean and falling onto the soft sand of the beach.

you laughed, grabbing your phone from your bag as you ran over to him, slinging an arm around his shoulder as you raised your phone camera.

"smile, baby." you said, kissing his sand-covered cheek as you took the picture.

"chris!" matt's voice erupted from down the hall, and chris turned around in his swivel chair to look at his brother.

he cocked an eyebrow, laying back in his seat as he watched matt walk into his room.

"yeah?" the younger brother asked.

"nick and i were thinking y/n should join us for a wednesday vlog. i mean, you've already hard launched her so we don't see why not properly introduce her." he gave his brother a toothy grin, leaning against the door frame and awaiting chris's answer.

his breath caught, and matt seemed to notice, tilting his head as he looked over at chris.

"you okay, chris?"

chris just nodded, blinking a few times to bring himself back to reality, "yeah, yeah. great idea, i'll call her tomorrow, i'm sure she'd be open to the idea."

if she even answers the phone.

matt nodded, smiling as he left chris's room.

the night went by quickly, and every moment up to this one, chris dreaded.

for the first time he'd be the one calling you. why'd he feel so weird? so vulnerable?

his fingers slowly typed in your number, and the first ring didn't even get to his ear before you picked up.

"chris?" your voice was softer than usual, like you were excited.

maybe it was because he was the one to call you this time.

"hey, ma. i'm sorry for yesterday i was 'js stressed," chris muttered, his voice raspy from yesterday and from the fact that he had just woken up.

your smile faded a bit, but your heart warmed at the sound of his voice actually sounding sympathetic for once. was he changing?

"it's... it's okay, i figured you probably had a long day." you smiled, this one more for him than yourself this time.

chris nodded, his heart warming at the reassurance that you had been thinking of him.

it was nothing new, he just never noticed because he was so caught up on himself.

"did-- did you need something, baby?" you asked softly, voice low as to not provoke the boy.

chris let a small smile creep onto his face, "matt had the idea to invite you in on our wednesday vlog,"

the shock on your face wasn't subtle, and you immediately smiled before saying, "wait, seriously? but i thought you wanted to keep our relationship off the media for a while?"

the boy shrugged, adjusting himself so that he held his phone with his shoulder, "well, i did kinda hard-launch you in a friday post, so i'm sure half of the world knows by now,"

your smile widened, face softening at his words.

"so why don't we show the other half how amazing my girlfriend is?" he asked, the smallest hint of excitement in his voice.

"already on my way," you replied, hearing him laugh on the other line.

"and just be warned, i have no idea what the topic is and matt and nick can get a little crazy." chris joked.

"well, whatever it is i doubt it'll be in our favour." you laughed.

_____________

the tripod was propped up in front of the triplets' island, a red glowing dot indicating it was recording.

before the introduction, chris and matt's banter was the first thing to be recorded.

"the fuck?" chris laughed, punching matt in the shoulder.

"well, welcome to our wednesday video! me and matt-- well, mainly matt --came up with the idea for today's vlog." nick explained, looking over to his brothers with a smile.

matt smiled brightly at the camera, giving a dorky thumbs up as he looked over at nick and chris.

chris cringed at both his brothers, "why are you so formal? sound like a dumbass." he snickered.

nick replied with a punch to his brothers chest, and chris made an exaggerated scream.

"kid's crying and he hasn't even heard the video idea," matt joked, and chris shoved him.

nick rolled his eyes before looking over at you, who was standing just out of the sight of the camera.

"and to spice things up a bit, we have a special guest!" he exclaimed, smiling at you.

chris nodded, "very special."

nick gestured towards you, and you took that as a que to walk into frame, waving at the camera before taking the empty seat between him and chris.

"this is y/n, chris's girlfriend!" nick said, gesturing towards you once again before you properly gave a greeting.

"hello, i'm so happy to be here!" you smiled, waving at the camera once again before chris placed a kiss on your cheek.

matt made a face, "maybe save all the lovey-dovey stuff for after the video?"

chris wrapped a hand around your waist before slapping matts arm, "okay mr. i get no bitches."

matt rolled his eyes before turning to the camera again, "so, the inspiration for this video was literally just me and my brothers building lego sets."

"you're speaking as if you're telling a story--" chris started but was quickly interrupted by nicks scream of annoyance.

"do we need the tape again?" he groaned, and chris laughed quietly.

"anyway... as i was saying, me and nick went to target the other day and chris reminded us we needed paper plates, so while we were in the aisle we saw some red solo cups," he explained, looking over at nick who had a mischievous smile plastered on his face.

"so... we're gonna play cup pong!" matt exclaimed like a child, looking over at you and chris.

you smiled, "i'm the best at cup pong,"

nick raised an eyebrow, "well, let's see."

"we're gonna have teams, so that's why we wanted to get y/n into today's video. chris, it looks like you might have an advantage..." matt sighed, "he's the worst at cup pong."

nick hummed in agreement, and chris just rolled his eyes out of fake annoyance, "loser alos has to drink a shot of hot sauce."

your lips upturned into a smirk again, crossing your arms over one another in front of your chest, "alright, then."

_____________

chris groaned as he slammed his fist down onto the island, watching as the orange ping-pong ball bounced off of it.

"better prepare yourself for that hot sauce, chris." matt laughed, throwing the ping-pong ball and landing it inside of a cup.

nick and matt high-fived as they cheered for each other.

it was your turn, you grabbed the ping-pong ball and aimed for a cup, squinting your eyes.

"c'mon, baby, you got this." chris encouraged, his voice low.

you bounced the ball, and it jumped into the cup right before bouncing back out, "this game is rigged, what the fuck?!"

chris dragged his hands down his face in disappointment, walking away from the camera for a few seconds before stepping back into frame.

"ooh! well, you know what that means.." nick laughed, looking over at chris who just growled under his breath.

chris balled his hands into fists, and matt watched his body language change.

"nick, stop the camera." he muttered, nudging his older brother as he pointed to chris.

chris saw and he raised his voice, "the fuck are you pointing at?"

nick didn't move, his eyes trained on chris as the younger boy moved back to the island.

"nick! turn the fucking camera off." matt said, this time louder.

your eyes widened as chris approached the island, knocking all the cups down as they fell to the floor.

"fuck this stupid fucking game!" he yelled, going over to matt and nicks side before throwing all the cups down.

you backed away from the island, eyes widening as your breathing hitched.

"y/n, i can take you home." matt offered, but chris quickly took the keys from the kitchen counter, stomping over to you and roughly grabbing your hand.

"chris, what the fuck?" nick yelled, finally getting over to the camera and turning it off.

"chris!" matt called, but the younger boy just dragged you out of the house and into the mini van.

he slammed the car door, jamming the keys into the ignition before pulling out of their driveway.

"chris," you muttered, and all the boy did was grumble to himself.

"baby, i'm scared." your voice trembled as you held back tears, your eyes focused on chris.

the boy scoffed, looking over at you with wide eyes, "the fuck are you scared for?"

you didn't answer him, feeling the car speed up as his anger grew.

"fucking answer me, y/n!" he yelled, eyes trained on the road as he punched the steering wheel.

you jumped, tears gathering in your eyes as you muttered, "nothing, nevermind."

chris groaned, and then the car fell silent.

the drive to your wasn't far, and chris's anger was quickly rising with every passing second.

he couldn't handle it anymore. he stopped the car just a few blocks from your house, parking on the side of the road for just a minute.

"get out, y/n." he muttered, not caring to even look your way.

you raised an eyebrow, "what?"

he exhaled shakily, gripping on the steering wheel so tight his knuckles turned white.

"you heard me loud and clear. get out of the car. now." he said again, looking out of his window.

you didn't move, not even unbuckling your seatbelt, "chris, my house is just a few more blocks--"

"get the fuck out!" he yelled, finally turning to look at you with wide eyes.

the tears finally fell down your face as fear filled your entire being, quickly unbuckling your seatbelt and opening the passenger door.

chris fell back against his seat, head leaning against the headrest as he began to drive away. fast.

you sobbed as you made your way down the sidewalk, keeping your head down the entire way back to your house.

why was he so cruel?

as you approached your house, you remembered the last time he had dropped you off here.

"i love you," he smiled, leaning over the center console to press a soft kiss to your lips.

"i love you, too, baby." you muttered before pulling away and getting out of the car.

chris did, too, following by your side as you walked up the porch.

you giggled, "what's up?"

he just shrugged, stopping behind you as you got to the front door, "just wanted to walk you to the door. needed to make sure you're safe."

"why wouldn't i be safe? what, did you expect me to get kidnapped on the second step i took?" you joked, and ge just nodded nonchalantly.

"my exact thoughts!"

you nudged his shoulder, kissing him on the cheek before entering your house.

the things you would do to experience that again.

but until then it'll always just be this, chris flipping from good to bad.

it's always 1 step forward, and 3 steps back.

. . .

tags: @mattsbbg @55sturn @mayhem-72 @freshloveee @h3arts4harry @films4sturni @voidghsts @thebottledwatersupplier @lanixsturniolo @niicksposts @mattsneezing @stingerayyy2 @sturn-wrld @chrissturnswife

[punkzines]

Quiet night, quiet life, quiet monster beside his ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ ㅤ quiet human.

“all the stars are closer.”

a/n: i wrote this in 30 minutes don’t judge. if you do, i’ll make sure you regret it/j. There are brief mentions to part 1 // part 3

summary: godzilla and reader hang out

Click.

The sound fills the silence of the quiet night. You were on a small cliff (away from the loud cities you really despised somewhere close to New Zealand), but not too close to the edge. You didn’t want an accident to accidentally happen, now did you?

Beautiful, you thought. You didn’t have a camera, yet- all because they were too expensive but your phone camera still seemed to work fine. It could be better though, it never really fully captures the bright light of the stars- never their true essence.

“I can’t wait till I can afford a real camera.” You said, swiping away at the pictures you took. The pictures always looked good, you’re sure that if you posted it you’d hear compliments about it, not to be overly confident of course. “Or better yet, a camera and a telescope. These pictures are…” Again, they could be better. You save the ones you specifically like in a photo album.

Your comment doesn’t go unheard, as there is a little huff followed by a rumble behind you.

You chuckle, turning around meeting Godzilla's eyes. They looked at you gently, calmly. Godzilla looked tired, his eyes opened and closed slowly at you. It is as if he would fall asleep at any second.

This bond you share with Godzilla- you never really know how it came to be. Yes, he saved you from drowning but— although, you didn’t remember that up until, what? A few months ago? It makes the encounter at the beach make much more sense. It wasn’t any less weird, what did you have to give? Godzilla was incredible! And you? You were just… a human.

Still, it was nice. You liked hanging around Godzilla, actually it was one of the things you always looked forward to. Anytime you went to the beach or honestly anywhere close to where Godzilla was, which was often because it was hard to avoid the other (not that you would ever do that purposely) he would rest close to you but to avoid any conflict with others, you would let him pick you up and take you both to some secluded island. This annoyingly brought the attention of the Monarch, but they always stayed back— Godzilla always made sure of that.

It didn’t take long till you felt like, slowly, you understood him. Sure, you didn’t know everything about him, like his favorite cake- if he even had one, could he have one? Even if he did or didn’t, you still felt some type of connection. Like, you could understand his feelings and intentions. In some way, at least. Godzilla was powerful, yes, but he wasn’t immune to loneliness, grief and pain. He has so much responsibility to bear.

Everyone always asks what Godzilla is doing, never how Godzilla is doing.

That was something you could relate to, in more ways than one. It was sad, you felt like the least you could was, you don’t know, keep him company and let him know you’re always a safe space. A safe person to be around.

And it wasn’t like you were also beginning to understand his feelings, but also what he said! At the beginning, you heavily relied on body language or intuition to kind of understand what message he was trying to send your way. But now? Now you could understand almost all he said, his speech was different though. Much shorter, cut off. Probably because English wasn’t his language.

“You know it’s true!” You replied, sitting closely beside him in a way he could comfortably see you. The grass felt slightly wet and a little bit itchy, you could handle it though. Turning off your phone, you turn to him once again. “Could I lean on you?”

Godzilla blinks at you. Yes.

You nod. As you lean on him, he wags his tail a little bit closer to you, careful to keep the dorsal plates away from your body, in order to not harm it. His skin feels prickly, rough. Not that you minded, it was strangely soothing. The texture felt nice. Your ear is pressed to his side, letting you hear his steady breathing much louder. You could pick up the faint sound of a heart too, well it wasn’t faint, but then again his breath was really loud. That was normal.

“Are we sleeping here tonight?”

We are. If you wish to.

“You know I want to.” You replied, putting you hard against his skin and caressing it. The first time you tried that was out of instinct, but it quickly became a habit since Godzilla never protested against it. You hear a small chirp set deep within him and his tail snuggles closer to you.

I will wake you up. Early. We will swim back home.

You groan at the comment. “Ahhhh, why early? Could we sleep until I wake up?” You weren’t worried about any bugs, there never were any close to Godzilla, you were glad for that.

If we do that, we will stay here for another night. That isn’t good.

“You wake up as soon as you feel the smallest ray of sunshine.”

I wake up earlier. I just wait for you. Never again. Godzilla makes a deep sound, suddenly opening his mouth and yawning. And you find yourself yawning too.

“That’s totally not fair.” You said, but finally stop complaining. Arguing with Godzilla never was something you could ever win, not at all. Especially when you’re also feeling pretty tired. No, really tired.

“This is nice.” You manage to mumble out before you drift to sleep against Godzilla, who slept peacefully as well.

────────────

a/n: As you both sleep, Godzilla says something that deeply resonates with you.

I like poker face.

[serxinns]

Hero's await but a deadly fate...

Yandere villian au x reader (potential series?) This is a rewritten verison

A/n note: this is a rewritten and sort of continuation to the story "Heros vs villains" by @Msmimianime all the credit amd concept go to her so please support! They're making new stories!

Summary: y/n is a pro hero in her early 20s a few years ago she found out about her classmates, teachers, and even some of the students has been in on this as well and working with the LOV!! and now a few years later you are the guardian of Eri by the hero commission and also hide from your past and a bunch of psychopaths!!

Wake up....

You kept running with a crying distressed 6-year-old sobbing in your back wondering what was going on... you trying to ignore the protest from your classmates and running by the confusing teachers seeing you run but quickly chasing after you

Wake up..

your head turned back seeing your former classmate and friend Izuku and his gang who were also your former classmates chasing after you begging you to stop and let them explain their selves your teachers their quicks to retrain you midnight with her smoke, Aizawa desperately aimed his capture weapon towards the two of you and mic telling you to stop but you didn't listen to anything they had to say you just had one goal to run to the police..

WAKE UP

"Nagh!!" You bolted up awake you saw Eri already in her school uniform glaring at you "Uh...I'm sorry.?" "You have been twisting and turning in your bed for the past 30 minutes! We got 20 mins or I'll be late" Eri puffed her cheeks out "Sorry bud I'll get ready in a jiffy" You ruffled her head and went past her to get your clothes and take a quick shower "You had that dream didn't you?" You stopped in your tracks in silence looking back to Eri worried and concerned with a soft smile "Yeah..I'll probably take something of these nightmares don't stop" you said as you walked down the hall to take a shower

After a quick shower, you quickly put on your shoes and your work uniform made breakfast for Eri and you, and went out the door and into the car...

Timeskip cause I want to

When you to work a few people stared at you with pity and confusion and worry you were confused why until you looked at the news "The famous hero known as "a puppeteer" died at the hands of the villain Izuku Midoriya and his group called the "Dekusquad" at the back of the alley in the most brutal way to go too!" You flinched when you heard those names and pictures pop up on the screen

Ochako uraraka

Asui Tsuyu

Tenya iida

Shoto Todoroki

Momo yaoyorozu

Izuku Midoriya

You stared in fear knowing that they were still out there free...ready to get their hands on you ... watching "y/n.."...waiting.her .."y/n!" Taunting you like you were some kid and waiting to nab you and snatch you-"y/n! You finally snapped out of it looking around and it was your co-worker and good friend Mirko "you ok kiddo?" She looked at you concerned "yea yea! I'm fine I'm fine!" Her worried expression quickly turned into a smile "Great! Cause me and you have a new mission we're gonna do and it involves catching dangerous villains tomorrow"

"...what?" "Yep! These villains have been killing heroes from left to right" She dropped the files of each villain their crimes, the place they've been and went to when they killed their victims and victims' bodies evidence, and more each of them having the names you knew very well unfortunately

Katsuki bakugo

Kirishima eljirou

Mina ashido

Denki Kaminari

Sero hanta

Jirou kyouka

"They also have a group..?" "Yes a group just like the "dekusquad" are apparently and it seems like most of your former classmates and teachers, the most powerful 3rd years, and even some of the 1b teachers and his students, and the LOV is also associated with this as well.." You grabbed every file to observe to see if what Mirko said was all true and a sudden chill went up your spine.

Seeing all the names and pictures of your once best friends and mentors being monsters and people becoming their victims all because of your "protection" in their vocabulary, you flipped over each page on each file seeing the names "Mei hastune, Hitoshi Shinso, Tetsutetsu Tetsutetsu, Ibara Shiozaki, Aizawa Shouta, midnight, thirteen, present mic, and more it was so disturbing.. so sickening that they would do this just for you!?

The paper you were holding was crumbling up in your grip shaking in anger confusion in frustration you didn't know why. Why would they do this to you why are they hurting innocent people just for your thoughts and questions were running through your head "y/n.." Mirko grabbed your shoulder and looked at you sympathetically

"You know why don't you go home for the day it's already close to closing time.." Mirko said, "No really I do I can help nothing bothering me!" "Are you sure? Cause this seems like a very dangerous mission and you're already a tar-" "No I can do it im mentally and physically capable plus I trained with you and Hawks right beside me right?" The bunny hero sighed and looked straight at your face "I'll think about it but please get some rest.. tomorrow PLENTY OF IT" you chuckled and rolled your eyes at her stern tone "fine fine!"

You went out the door in your car humming to yourself unaware that an certain someone was watching you giggling to herself with cat like eyes

[hvaneyflowers]

Italian Girl ************

Carlos Sainz Jr. x femOriginaCharacter! fashioninfluencer!

Instagram au ---- Part 3

Carlos goes to Italy for vacation, meets a beautiful young girl, falls in love, and marries her in less than three weeks.

f1news

liked by 50.000

tagged: carlossainz55, francescadistefano_official

f1news: BREAKING NEWS! Carlos Sainz has tied the knot! The Ferrari driver announced he had married an Italian fashion influencer, Francesca Di Stefano, of 22. The Spanish, who is 28, had recently broken up with his long-time girlfriend, Isa Hernáez (almost a month ago). Rumors say that he and Francesca met at a wedding in Italy 3 weeks ago, and now they're married. Congratulations to our Smooth Operator!

view all 250 comments.

username788: Wait! What?!

username199: OMG!!! WHAT?!

username1829: WTF?!!

username992: He's really a Smooth Operator!

username919: Congratulations, I guess...

username9829: He got married to a girl he just met? WHAT?!

username819: He just met? I don't know. Maybe he cheated on Isa with her. username8902: I don't think so. She doesn't look like the homewrecker type. Actually, she's very kind and polite. She's old money.

username749: I feel sorry for his ex-girlfriend. They were together for 6 years, and she wanted to marry him. I wonder what she's thinking about this.

username578: Imagine being with him for almost a decade, and he never proposed, but he met this girl on his vacation, and three weeks later, he married her.

username89: I don't know what to think about this.

username56: This is... unexpected, completely unexpected.

francescadistefano_official

liked by charles_leclerc, chiaraferragni, and 700.890 more.

francescadistefano_official: It's true, I married a man I met three weeks ago. I know it sounds crazy, and it was, but my heart told me it was the best decision I could have made. Carlos and I met at our friends' wedding, and we immediately liked each other. The next day we went on our first date, and since that, we haven't left each other side. He proposed to me after three weeks of going out, and I said yes, because, why not? I love him and he loves me back. The truth is that the heart wants what it wants. I don't know what the future holds for us, but I've never been so in love with a man as I'm with him. I love him. I really, really love him. And I love every minute that I'm with him. I just want to be with him, no matter what.

view all 400 comments.

carlossainz55: Love you, babe! We'll be together 'till death do us part. It's a promise.

charles_leclerc: Carlos is the best man you could ever know in your life! Congratulations to both of you! I'm hoping to meet you soon!

chiaraferragni: The heart wants what it wants! Congratulations! Bring him to dinner soon. Fedez, me, and the kids are dying to meet him!

username899: Do you know he cheated on his ex-girlfriend? He would do the same with you. Just saying.

username890: Oh, shut up! We don't know what really happened between him and his ex.

francescadistefanofans: I'm very happy for you, my princess! Wishing you the best!

username16: I wonder what your kids would look like! You both are so gorgeous!

username09: Imagine a little Carlitos and a little Francesca! I can picture them running in the paddock to hug their dad after a race! username16: OMG! SO CUTE!! NOW, I WANT TO SEE THAT! username78: Francesca said that she wanted to be a mother before 30, so it's about time! username67: I know she would be the most beautiful pregnant woman! username7: Francesa wants kids, but we don't know if Carlos feels the same. username16: I hope yes. They'd make beautiful kids!

username1: Congratulations! He's a lucky guy!

username3: You'll be my new top couple! Such old money vibes!

username45: They give me Lana del Rey's vibes username3: I KNOW!! Power couple!

username567: Congratulations! I wish the best for you both!

carlossainz55

liked by landonorris, fernandoalo_oficial, carlossainzoficial, and 800.780 more.

tagged: francescadistefano_official

carlossainz55: They said you'll know when you meet the one, and they were right. When I first saw Fran, I knew I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her. I don't know what had me the most. Was her charisma? Or her kindness? Or her laugh? I don't know but I completely fell in love with her. Marrying her after three weeks of knowing each other was the craziest decision I've made, but I know it was the best. I love you, babe, to the moon and back. I can't wait to see what the future holds for us!

view all 5000 comments.

landonorris: WAIT! I CAN'T BELIEVE YOU DID IT!

charles_leclerc: He's the smooth operator, what did you expect? landonorris: An invitation to the wedding!

fernandoalo_oficial: Felicidades, amigo! Espero que seas muy feliz en tu nueva vida! / Congrats, my friend! I hope you'll be very happy in your new life!

username8999: I CAN'T BELIEVE! What about Isa?

username788: He doesn't care about her anymore, and I think she feels the same.

username75: Congrats! I guess... This was unexpected.

username890: I hope you didn't make a mistake.

lewishamilton: Congratulations, mate! I wish you the best!

alex_albon: We need to do a bachelor party!

charles_leclerc: YES! I agree with that!

lance_stroll: Congratulations! She seems nice!

scuderiaferrari: Congratulations Carlos! Looking forward to meeting her!

username777: Alex said something about a bachelor party, I need that to happen!

maxverstappen1: Wow, unexpected, but happy for you, mate! Congrats!

landonorris: BACHELOR PARTY AT MINE'S!

francescadistefano_official

liked by carlossainz55, valentinaferragni, and 900.890 more.

tagged: carlossainz55, maisonvalentino

francescadistefano_official: Mr. & Mrs. Sainz 7/25/23

view all 600 comments.

valentinaferragni: Absolutely gorgeous! Love U!!

francescadistefano_official: Love u too! ❤️

username887: I don't know why, but now this is my dream wedding!

username81: Right? It looks so beautiful!

francescadistefanofans: YOU LOOK SO BEAUTIFUL, MRS. SAINZ!

maisonvalentino: What an honor to have been chosen for your special day! Congratulations!

username45: Waiting to see you in the paddock next race!

username3: Are you going to live in Spain or he's moving to Italy?

francescadistefano_official: I'm moving to Spain next week! username72: You'll love Spain! francescadistefano_official: Can't wait!

francescadistefano_official

liked by carlossainz55, scuderiaferrari, and 600.578 more.

francescadistefano_offical: Maldives, you are incredible! #honeymoonlife

view all 500 comments.

carlossainz55: You look absolutely stunning! Can't take my eyes off you, nena!

francescadistefano_official: You too, Mr. Sainz! Love you so much! carlossain55: Love you, too, Mrs. Sainz! ❤️

username781: So they went to the Maldives for their honeymoon. Are we seeing her in the paddock next week?

username17: I hope so. I want to know how their relationship is! username22: I don't like her. She's doing what Carlos doesn't like. Sharing his private life! username18: We don't know them! And Carlos looks like he is okay with that!

scuderiaferrari: Recharging energy for the next race!

f1: Ready for Zandvoort? Hope to see you there, Mrs. Sainz!

username199: You both look so happy! Wish you the best!

username23: Happy for you! And jealous! You have Carlos Sainz as your husband! So lucky.

francescadistefanofans: Beautiful as always!

[petermorwood]

Yet more flintlock-powered weirdness...

...to accompany the flintlock tinderboxes and gun-lamps shown here.

@man-and-atom added this reply:

In the field of "bedside flintlock mechanisms", either the British Museum or the V&A has an alarm clock where the alarm was the explosion of a charge of gunpowder.

First thought: "Whaaat?"

Second thought: "But of course..."

Third thought: "PICTURES!"

*****

This one seems fairly simple:

As far as I can make out there'd be just (!) the snap of the lock, a cloud of impossible-to-ignore-the-smell smoke, and the lid popping up to reveal the clock-face.

Later designs seem to have become standardised as a light-up alarm.

The flintlock action not only produces that snap and cloud of smoke, it also ignites a candle which then pops up.

At a guess, the inside of the lid would be kept brightly polished as a reflector.

Engraved or plain, the mechanism alone meant these were elaborate, expensive contraptions, so not for everyone - and anyway, I'm sure an elderly retired officer just LOVED being woken by a scent with such delightful associations.

I love the smell of black powder in the morning. It's the smell of...

*****

Ending on a lighter (hah!) note, @dduane looked at this and asked, "Did they have flintlock tea-makers?"

It turns out that no, they didn't; but it can't have been for want of trying because well over 100 years ago (1902) an inventor came up with this:

Once again, as far as I can make out it worked like this: the alarm-clock worked a spring, which struck a match, which lit a spirit-burner under the kettle, which started to heat the water.

A few minutes later the alarm-clock rang its bell, waking the sleeper who, when the kettle was properly boiling, tilted it so the water went into the teapot.

About 30 years later the first electrical Teasmade was invented:

Here we go: alarm clock turns kettle on, water boils, pressure forces water into teapot, kettle on a rocker plate gets lighter so loss of weight switches it off, now-heavy teapot on other side of rocker plate starts a pre-set brewing timer which when done switches on the light and an alarm sound.

Simple.

Later models were much less fussy in appearance, but worked in exactly the same way:

My parents, of course, never bothered with a gadget to make their early morning tea.

All they needed was a regular alarm-clock...

...and me.

[theblue6ook]

Shit Interview

Summary: Y/N bombs her interview at Wayne Enterprises and has no idea what she’s going to do now. [B (23) & Y/N (21)] [Eventual slow burn with Bruce]

Pairing: Bruce Wayne x fem!reader

a/n: Well hello there. If you liked this story, it’s a part of my “Out of My League” series. There will be more to come ;)

“Get the FUCK OUT OF THE WAY!” Y/N pushes past the rows of people cluttering the sidewalks, smooshed together much like the buildings surrounding them. Each person moving at their own time and own pace… as you can see that is just not quick enough.

Her legs burned as she power-walked down 5th Avenue, moving with as much power as she could muster in her borrowed heels and wrinkled pencil skirt. The checkered blazer she was previously wearing is now bunched up in her left arm as she dodges pedestrians, businessmen, and the occasional soccer mom. Her watch is peeking at her from underneath the bunched blazer and she swears at the time: 11:32 a.m. Of course, out of all the days my car could have died, it was today.

She sighed, this was not how her morning was supposed to go. Y/N had a schedule planned down to the last minute until her beat-up Volkswagen Bus decided to play dead. Everything was planned, she thought, everything was ready.

9 a.m.: wake up and scrounge for breakfast

10 a.m.: borrow some old work clothes from Carrie’s closet to look presentable

10:30 a.m.: leave the apartment in my trashcan on wheels

10:55 a.m.: arrive 25 minutes early and go over notes

11:20 a.m.: get this interview going and pray for a job

11:50 a.m.: grab some flowers and head to the hospital with (hopefully) good news

Everything was perfect. So where did it all go wrong? Well, she was ready to leave at 10:30 a.m. and when she got in her beat-up bus… click, click, click. Dead battery with no time to replace it and no one to jump it. Could this get any worse? 

[Oh it definitely can!] 

Y/N looks up from her watch and sees Wayne Enterprises coming into view. Once she gets close enough she throws herself up the concrete steps and swings through the revolving door, checking her watch. It’s only 11:35 a.m., she would still have 15 minutes left of her interview. Not great that I’m late, but not hopeless, she thinks. She approaches the front desk and silently hopes this receptionist will take pity on her. 

Throwing her blazer on and pulling at her pencil skirt, she sheepishly says, “Hello. I have an interview with Mr.Collins, my name is Y/F/N Y/L/N.” 

The receptionist, a small woman about her age smiles and looks back at her computer, “M’kay. Let me see what I have here.” She types out Y/N’s name and scrolls through and stops when she clicks her tongue. “Oh honey, your appointment started twenty minutes ago.”

“Actually it was fifteen,” Y/N admits, “and I also called to let you know I was having issues with my car.”

“We ask each of our interviewees to arrive five minutes early… Mr.Collins will consider it twenty minutes late,” she gestured with her pen. “I’m sorry, but late attendees are not allowed to interview, it’s policy.” 

“I called though-”

“Honestly, it does not matter-”

“I just walked all the way here from the west side,” Y/N began to grow frustrated.

The receptionist sighed and gave a sympathetic look, “There are other opportunities at Wayne Enterprises. I feel for you. I want to let you up, but I can’t. Why don’t you check out some of the other opportunities here on the website? There are thousands of jobs here, you’re bound to find something.”

She steps back from the desk, heels dragging with her. She wants to say something. She can feel it on the tip of her tongue, I have looked at the website. I have submitted applications. Why would I be here in the first place if I hadn’t? She refrains, feeling frustrated and embarrassed, pulling herself past the desk and out the door. Carrie is going to ask how the interview went, she groans, squeezing the back of her hands against her eyes. Clutching at her tote she decides to trudge towards Dorthie’s Flower Shop anyways.

-

There on the corner of Nottingham and Meadow sits Dorthie’s Flower Shop. Y/N sighs, here is my fortress of solitude. The same store she busted her ass in, more than a few times. The same store she put her blood, sweat, and tears into for four years. The same people she sobbed to when her dad kicked her out. Nothing changes here, except for the flowers.

She grows slower as she walks across Meadow Street. By the time she approaches the green barred door her feet feel heavy and drag. Could it be the blistering pain from commuting in cheap heels? No. It’s the fact that John… sweet, old John Garret sits inside alone and waiting. John Garret is one of the kindest… most intrusive person Y/N has ever met. The man and his late wife Dorthie practically raised her. She didn’t want to unload her day on him, not after everything he’s done for her. He would only worry, Y/N’s doing enough of that herself.  

Stepping back from the doors, she decides to skip the flowers. It’s not like I really needed them anyway, she thinks. As she starts walking past, Y/N makes the mistake of glancing in the window… and there is John glancing up right at her. He grins brightly at her and shrugs his hand. 

Come in, she sees him mouthing. 

I really shouldn’t, she mouths back. Then he gives her that look. If she doesn’t go in he’s definitely coming outside, she bites her lip. Holding up one finger she mouths, maybe just for a minute. She nervously trips up the concrete step to get to the green doorway. That is not a good sign, she thinks. She pulls the door open with sweaty hands and hears a familiar ding! 

“Well hi there, sweetie,” John messes with his phone for a moment before setting it on the counter, giving her his full attention. “Aren’t you all dressed up?”

She leans against the “Build Your Own Bouquet” table and picks at the old green paint chips that stuck to her hand, that door really needs to be repainted. “Job interview.”

“Doesn’t sound like it went too well?” 

“Just stressful,” she forced a smile. “I came to get some flowers for Carrie.”

John raised his eyebrow but didn’t feel like playing chicken with Y/N. “How’s the poor girl’s treatment going?”

“Umm,” she muttered picking at her pencil skirt. Another topic I don’t have the energy to discuss. “It’s been hard, but she seems like she’s doing better,”

That was a big fib. Y/N almost felt bad for it, but it hasn’t been that long since John lost Dorthie and truthfully she doesn’t think he can take another hit. A year ago they all lost dear Dorthie Garrett. Five months ago they found out Carrie had colon cancer. Four months ago she started treatments. It has been an emotional bitch and all they can do is hope. In Y/N’s experience, hope just isn’t enough, but she’s trying… for Carrie.

John walked past the counter and put his hands on her shoulders, “Y/N, this is good news. Carrie is a tough girl. She will power through. She has to.” She sighed, stepping back from him and running her hands through her hair.

“Y/N, you can talk to me. I won’t break if something is going on. I just want to make sure you girls are okay.”

Turning away from him, she aimlessly wandered down a row of flowers. She toyed with the stray petals littering the shelving. “What kind of flowers says I just blew my latest job interview, but please, for the love of God, don’t die on me?” 

“Y/N!”

“John, I am at my wits end!” She whipped around to look at him, “Carrie can’t work right now, not that I would let her if she tried, and I can’t find a job for shit.”

“Y/N. You know you always have a place here.” He stated it softly, but his eyes were firm. 

Her eyes were starting to burn with frustration, “I would never put you in that position-”

“Oh my- you’ve been this stubborn since you were a little girl,” he rolled his eyes, “I know you’re reluctant to help, but I have never been reluctant to help you.”

“John-” her voice died in her throat as soon as she heard that familiar door chime. She almost took the opportunity to turn away and walk out but stopped when she noticed John had smiled. He smiled big.

“Y/N, meet the man singlehandedly keeping my business going,” He walked past her and shook the gentleman's hand. “Mr. Alfred Pennyworth.”

[hydropyro]

30 Minute Rant Incoming:

In this post I transcribe my 30 minute rant that I sent originally to @firlionemoontav (with parts of my freaking out cut out of it). Thoughts? Information? Your own of the wall ideas? Please share them.

"We know that [Raphael's] brother, Magadon, was able to withstand the energy put out by the Mythallars which are quasi-sentient magic orb things that are connected directly to the Weave. It's very likely that the Netherstones are pieces of Mythallar. I can't confirm that -- but I'm willing to bet that this is the case.

"We know that Magadon Kest, a cambion son of Mephistopheles, was able to connect himself to the Mythallars and control them to some extent. He was being forced to build an army for Shar a long time ago, ~118 Years before the events of Baldur's Gate 3. And then again ~8 Years before Baldur's Gate 3 when he connected himself to a Mythallar and dropped one of the new Netherese cities onto the prince that was trying to rebuild the Netherese empire under Shar's name. He connected to the Mythallar and disconnected the magic for a little bit so that the city would fall on top of the prince.

"We know that cambions, at least, or cambion sons of Mephistopheles, can definitely wield Mythallaric power, meaning that in order to do that Raphael would probably still need to be a cambion, meaning that he would still need his mortal soul.

"But, there was another person that [Raphael] brought to the House of Hope at the same time, or in the same year, as he did Blackcloak -- who is the one that is known for being incredibly good with life magic. For example:

"There's a spell called 'Clone' where if you die, your soul moves into the Clone, and then you continue living. Usually you have One Clone at a time -- when you die, you move into the Clone.

"At one point Blackcloak had something like 40 Clones. And then, during the Second Sundering (something to do with Cyric and Mystra. It has nothing to do with Raphael, so I haven't looked into it any further. I am solely Raphael focused), when magic failed, he was unable to resurrect. All of his Clones 'woke up' and just went about there way -- so there are some 40 versions of Blackcloak alive.

"Not only is Blackcloak able to make several active Clones of himself, but those Clones don't have to be copies of himself. He can make Clones that are different Races and Sexes entirely. He is that good with magic. He is mortal, and he is like 4,000 years old just because he is that good with magic.

"Anyway, that's not who I was talking about. I was talking about the other lady who came into the House of Hope. I haven't looked into her as much. Sylvira Savikas. She's part of the 'Descent into Avernus' campaign.

"She is an artificer, I believe, and her specialty is puzzle boxes and different universes. (I think the puzzle boxes may be able to hold universes in them). Kind of like the Astral Prism. The one that Raphael made the hammer specifically for. How would he have known about the Hammer? Why would he have brought her in if he didn't need to know about the Astral Prism?

"Now, perhaps he also needed to know about someplace to keep his mortal soul (as he would have had to rid himself a long time ago in order to ascend) but I imagine that was a long time ago.

"Because when we consider: Yes, he's Mephistopheles's son. Mephistopheles has many children, very few of them are important. Antilia is important, but she's not even openly accepted as being his child. Magadon wasn't important. He went on and lived his life as a tavern owner on the Material Plane so he wasn't important. There's no reason why being 'Mephistopheles' son' would make Raphael particularly important to anyone.

"So, when we take that into account, the fact that Raphael was able to make a contract with Yurgir, an Orthon (which is essentially third in the hierarchy system of Baator). Yurgir is a powerful, powerful devil, and he is afraid of Raphael? He is beholden to a contract with Raphael? He is afraid that by breaking his contract with Raphael and killing him his reputation will be tarnished? Eh -- it's unlikely Raphael made the deal as a cambion. He's probably been very powerful fora very long time.

"How does the Crown come into it? Well, we have to consider that he contracted Yurgir to get rid of the Dark Justiciar Army growing under Reithwyn at the behest of Ketheric Thorm's Mason, The Infernal Mason, who built Moonrise Towers. And he did. He fulfilled that contract, sent Yurgir and Yurgir's army of merrigons, destroyed all Dark Justiciars except one.

"One remained. One that Raphael hid as an army of rats. Now, why would he do that? I don't think he did it because he has a beef with Yurgir. I don't think he cares about Yurgir at all. Now, he knows Yurgir is going to be pissed because he did that, but that's not why he did it.

"He did it because he knew that he was going to need Ketheric Thorm in the future. In order to have Ketheric Thorm in the future, Ketheric would have to be immortal. In order to ensure that Ketheric remained immortal he had to ensure that no one could get in to Shar's Guantlet. What is the best way to ensure that no one could into Shar's Gauntlet to find and free the Nightsong -- which is feeding Ketheric Thorm's immortality?

"Stick an Orthon there. Nothing's gonna get past a fuckin' Orthon. Right? It had nothing to do with Yurgir. Yurgir is the body guard for his asset's asset.

"So yes, he knew about Nightsong and he put Yurgir there on purpose so that he would have unfettered access to Nightsong. If he decided that he needed to get to Nightsong to either kill her or free her he had a Dark Justiciar ready and waiting to be re-stuck-back-together into a man to go and do whatever he wanted him to do.

"But, as long as he didn't want anyone to go in there, he had an Orthon who was contractually bound to destroy anything that went in.

"Onto the next part. So we have Ketheric. We see how he fits in with Ketheric Thorm. We know how he fits in with Gortash. But -- if he wants us to kill him, obviously the Crown is not his main goal. If we do kill him as he is subliminally pushing us to do, he can't have the Crown, at least not immediately. He may get the Crown afterward, but there's always a chance that someone else is gong to get it. (Like Gale, you fool). Mephistopheles is going to want the Crown back.

"But, consider that he waited for just the right time -- for his brother's friends to also raid Mephistopheles's vault. I wonder if (obviously not when the book was written, the book was written in the 90s) they've retconned the lore if Raphael had something to do with Drasek Riven finding Vasson Cale when he did and going to raid Mephistopheles's vault to free Eravis Cale when he did.

"Because Mephistopheles is not only dealing with the Crown having been stolen. At this exact same time, the events of Baldur's Gate 3 is going on, Magadon Kest's friends broke into Mephistar to steal Eravis Cale who was trapped there in order to get back the divinity of a god. Mask, the God of Thieves. So Mephistopheles lost this fount of divinity that he had around the same time that Gortash broke in and took the Crown.

"Mephistopheles cannot wield the Crown. Gods cannot wield the Crown. No one except cambions for some reason can wield the Crown. So, what is he going to go after? Would Mephistopheles put in the energy to find the Crown, or is he going to go after the divinity that was also stolen from him? I imagine he would go after the divinity -- a god's power that he can actually use.

"Now, if Raphael doesn't actually want the Crown (I mean, the Crown would be nice to have if he could get it -- I'm sure he could get the Crown, off himself, be resurrected, or whatever happens) The Crown is a distraction, is what I'm saying. The Crown is not the most important part of this plan and I cannot for the life of me figure out what is.

"The Crown doesn't make sense, because if Gale gets the Crown Raphael is like 'Ah, I was mad, but now I'm just fine with it'? No, he never cared about the Crown. He actually is fine with Gale having the Crown, because Gale having the Crown creates mortals with ambition -- ambition is what destroyed Netheril because Karsus was ambitious. Gale being the God of Ambition is going to create more Karsuses. And, what does Raphael deal in? He doesn't deal in heroics -- he deals in Ambition. He gives people their ambitions.

"Gale being the God of Ambition is the perfect situation for somebody like Raphael. So he doesn't give a flying fuck about the Crown.

"But I can't figure out how he benefits from dying. He must benefit. It has to be some mechanic that I'm not aware of and don't know the proper terms to research. I don't know what I'm looking for, so I don't know where to look."

There

[simplydannie]

Part 1 || Part 2 || Part 3 || Part 4 || Part 5 || Under Rageous Velvet || Under Rageous Veneer

First, I want to thank everyone who pepped me up and made feel like a million when I was down❤️ I loved it and appreciated it so, SO much, you have no idea! I love you my pookies ❤️

The twins are on the run yet again from an Under Rageous gang boss: a high priced bounty on their head. All hope seems lost until Branch appears, asking them to trust him. Unfortunately, what he doesn’t know that a quick getaway leads them to a familiar face…A face that churns Branch’s stomach….a face he cannot trust.

Shank made sure the door was locked after the Mistress came in. They discussed their usual court of business….but only after spending an intimate moment together. Was it love? It was more lust than anything. Shank loved the beauty that those in Mount Rageous illuminated. Mistress desired the dark, looming, dangerous feel that the Under Rageous gave off. They were both power hungry, money hungry. They were both ambitious, dedicated, and horrible people….but that’s what made them so perfect for each other.

Mistress sat on top of him as he kissed her neck, “So any word on my little super stars?”

“Wouldn’t have I told you if there was any word?” He replied in between kisses. He could sense the aggravation in her voice. “Don’t tell me you came down here just to discuss business?”

“No. I guess not.” She sighed as he continued kissing her. “I guess your company is quite pleasurable.” Mistress closed her eyes as she enjoyed the sensation of his lips on her…things were getting hot, things were beginning to get serious...

KNOCK. KNOCK.

”Boss?”

Shank growled in disapproval at the sound of one of his henchmen, “Buzz off!” He demanded, “I’m a little busy here!”

”..S-sir…W-we have a sighting…” The fear in the henchman’s voice sounded through the closed door.

“Damn those teens.” Shank grunted through his teeth. Mistress snarled as she got off Shank ...Things were just getting good. He got up and went to open the door, shirt and jacket still off, anger in eyes.

“You better be damn sure, Syth.” He told his henchman. The male Rageon walked in holding a holographic tablet of some sort. Shank leaned in to have a closer look at the image… it was fuzzy, blurry, but he knew who that green swoop of hair belonged to.

“We got our boy. How long ago was this?”

“Our computers just picked it up, but cameras themselves may have picked it up about 30 minutes ago.” Syth replied.

Shank put on his shirt and jacket, he turned to Mistress, “Dead or alive?”

“Alive….for now. Once we obtain him, his sister won’t be far behind. And once Velvet is back in our grasp…do what you want to him.” She fixed up her dress and hair. She then walked up to Shank running a finger along his jawline. “And once that’s all over we’ll continue where we left off.”

He smirked. Looking towards Syth he yelled, “Well! Get to it… NOW!”

Hours. It had been hours. Velvet hadn’t heard any commotion on the other side of the door. Nothing. Sitting by the door, she hugged her knees and rocked back and forth. She really didn’t stop herself from wanting to hurt her brother this time. She wanted to do it, she REALLY wanted to do it.

“What’s wrong with me?” She murmured to herself. Her mind swirled, distorting with reality and what wasn’t….she couldn’t tell anymore. “Vennie?” She called out….silence.

Standing up she went to the door and opened it, “Vennie?” There wasn’t much to their home. The bedroom opened straight into the living room/ kitchen that made up their container home. “Vennie?”….He wasn’t there; she then knew he had ran off. Velvet sat down on the small worn down couch they had, burying her face within her hands.

Stupid! How on Earth am I supposed to protect him from myself, she thought. She realized now that she posed as a more horrid threat to her brother than all of Under Rageous. But what could she do? She couldn’t control it. It’s as if the anger took complete control of her body, but not just her body, her mind. Velvet could see her brother as the rages happened, but she couldn’t stop herself…sometimes the sound of his voice would calm her, would bring her back to this hell of a reality…but this last time it didn’t. She could hear him beg, but she continued, she wanted to continue until he felt the pain she had felt. But that was it wasn’t it? What if one day she never stopped? What if one day she killed him?….She’d never forgive herself if she did.

And now where was he? Running the streets of Under Rageous…while a bounty was on them, while most of Under Rageous knew of their crimes…and probably hated them. But was he any safer with her? Damn it Vennie, she pulled up her hoodie, tucking her bright green hair underneath. She had to go find him, she had to try and better herself…if not for her…for him…for all the crap she put him through. There had to be something, someone that could help with whatever the hell she was going through. She walked out the entrance of their container home and went to find her brother.

The two tiny Trolls stayed huddled inside Veneer's pockets. Tye scoffed on how calm Branch was, “Why are you trusting him? He’s probably going to take us to the Black Market. Sell us! Then we’re done for.” Tye whispered harshly.

“I- I don’t know!” Branch replied.

“I know you know him. How do you know him!”

“I’ll explain later.” Branch replied. He maneuvered himself to peek out Veneer’s pockets. “Yo! Where are we going?”

“Home….I think….I don’t know.” Veneer responded.

“What do you mean you don’t know?” The Troll arched his eyebrow, “I thought you said somewhere safe?”

“I-I did.”

”Then why the change Veneer?” Branch asked.

”Cause I don’t know how safe it will be.” Veneer walked past a couple Under Rageons who didn’t pay him any mind, but the more deeper he went, the more crowded it got, the more he was recognized. He could hear whispers, snarls, and vile laughter. He causually dove into some alley ways to continue his path home…at least he hoped he could get home. The two little Trolls popped out of his pocket and towards the bottom of his boots.

“Admit it green bean! You’re taking us to the Black Market!” Tye expressed. Branch looked at him, mouth gaped open.

”W-what. N-no! I swear!”

“Then why keep us!”

“I-I….” Veneer began to stutter.

An anger came across Tye’s face and voice, “Spill it Rageon!”

“I just wanted to the company okay!” Veneer leaned against the brick wall within the alley and shlumped down towards the ground. He brought his knees towards his chest, a distant look coming to his eyes. Branch approached him…

”Veneer…Where’s your sister?” He finally asked. The Rageon didn’t look the Troll in the eye; he turned his face and gazed towards the ground instead. “Those bruises on your face….did, did she do it?”

“……She didn’t mean too….” The Rageon finally responded.

”What do you mean? What sister doesn’t mean to beat up her own brother?” Branch pressed on. Veneer fiddled with the hem of his sleeves, his feet twitching as he searched for the answer.

“Something is wrong with her…Something I noticed back at the Rage Dome show. She was changing, she was….going crazy. That’s why I had to stop it. That’s why I had to tell everybody about what we did. I thought I was helping her, but now, I’m not so sure I did….”

Branch searched for the right words, “Did it have anything to do with my brother? The essence you were absorbing?”

Tye’s ears twitched, “Brother?….The Troll they kidnapped….They tortured…That was your brother? Why are you still trusting him!”

Branch didn’t know. Something in him told him that he couln’dt leave Veneer…especially not at the hands of death. He looked at the kid…there was something about him…something sad….yet, something familiar.

“Did you know Floyd before everything happened?”

Veneer nodded, “Yes.”

“How?”

“…We found him…”

“Go on.”

Veneer sighed, “He had fallen into one of my traps I set out. The group me and Velvet were part of…our job was to capture Trolls and send them off to the Black Market…”

”See!” Tye pointed out.

”Shh! Go on.” Branch said.

”…Floyd was the first Troll I ever caught. But when I looked at him….he looked….sad…he was grey, colorless.” Branches heart sank as Veneer continued, “I- I couldn’t give him to the Black Market…He needed help. So I convinced Velvet to keep him, hide him away. The group thought I had released him. They gave me a good beating and through me and Velvet back on the streets….But, it was honestly the best thing that happened to us. We became like a small family…we had a family again. Floyd got his colors back….we were happy…until we screwed it up and betrayed him…almost killing him.” Veneer hugged his knees and buried his face away as the tears started pouring out.

Branch had not known about this. Grant it, Floyd would always try to write to the twins during their time in prison, but he would always intercept those letters.

“Let it go Floyd! They tormented you!” Branch would tell him.

“Branch..please just let me explain..”

“Enough Floyd! I have my brother back. I don’t want to lose him again to those tall freaks!…Please..”

And Floyd never brought it up again. Looking at Veneer’s distraught actions, he knew now that they were once a family, even if it was for a short while. Though he admired it, he couldn’t help but feel a ping of jealousy…because that’s what Branch had wanted with Floyd…Veneer’s shoulders shuddered as he continued to cry. The kid felt alone…no Floyd, no sister, no parents it seemed like…perhaps Branch was the closest thing he would have to Floyd, which is why Veneer didn’t want to part with him…at least not yet.

Tye looked between Branch and the Rageon. He could see the sympathy coming across Branch's face. No…that was unacceptable, Rageons were not to be trusted. Whatever this was, the Rageon had Branch under his spell. He went over to the Troll and tugged his sleeve.

“Let’s go before more come. Then we’re really in trouble.” He said.

Branch didn’t budge. He stayed there staring at Veneer. Was this the real Veneer? The kid Floyd had come to know and love? And not the peacock, pretty boy Branch came to hate in Mount Rageous.

”You can go. I’m sorry….I’m sorry for everything…” Veneer mumbled through his tears; he dared not look up at the Troll. He was afraid he would see Floyd in him…then he really wouldn’t want to let him go. Branch looked at Tye, then at Veneer. He let out a sigh and walked towards Tye.

“…Thank you for trying to help me…but I’m sorry….I-I can’t leave him.” Branch admitted.

Tye gaped, “What? You’re really going to take his side?” Veneer peeked, tears still running down his face, eyes red.

“Look. I’m looking for a way out of here. I want to get out and go home. You can come with me…” He looked between Tye and Veneer. “You both can.”

Veneer sniffled, a small smile coming across his face, “Really?” He and Tye responded in unison.

“Yes! What do you say?”

“I-I have family here. I just can’t leave them….” Tye said.

“Then let’s get them! And they can come too. Any Troll, all Trolls we can find. Plus a Rageon….”

“Or two?” Veneer asked. Branch paused, confused at his statement. “I can’t leave Velvet. She…She still needs me…I need her too.” Branch was a little taken back by his request. Veneer had always seemed like the more reasonable one between the two…Velvet on the other hand was different. And now that he had said that something was wrong with her, that she could loose control any moment? Veneer sensed the hesitation in Branch's actions and words.

“If she doesn’t go, then I’ll stay…but I can help you guys escape….If you want of course…”

Branch bit his tongue…He was hoping Veneer wouldn’t have said that…He was hoping he could at least save one twin…but if his sister wasn’t saved, then he’d suffer with her. Should he bring both? Should he risk the safety of the other Trolls to an unstable Rageon? Branch didn’t know what to do or say….instead, his reply was simple…

“…..Okay…” Was all he said.

The conversation was cut short as they heard footsteps echo in the alleyway.

“Hurry!” Veneer opened his pockets for the Trolls to go in. Instead, Tye wrapped his hand around Branch's wrist, wrapped his hair on a far off post, and slingshotted away. Veneer watched as they disappeared.

“Wait!” Branch yelled as Tye tightened his grip.

“Branch?” Veneer called out...the echo of the footsteps grew nearer. He didn’t hesitate, Veneer pulled his red hoodie over his purple beanie and began to walk off. As he neared the exit of the alley, he was blocked by a tall Under Rageon. Veneer attempted a casual avoidance and turned around. More Rageons blocked his path. They all wore dark trench coats over dark baggy clothes. The sides of their heads shaved, only leaving one side of their head full of their stringy hair. They were all pale, with spiral eyes and sharpened teeth, a tattoo running along the side of their head down their neck…a branding to the gang they belonged to ...Shanks.

“Hey there pretty boy.” Shank appeared from the group of Rageons that surrounded him. “Finally, we meet face to face. You and your sister have been putting me through a lot of trouble…Giving me a lot of damn headaches.” He lit a cigarette, blowing the smoke into the air. The sight of him sent shivers down Veneer’s spine…He was menacing, yet walked with power…it was frightening.

“I-I don’t know who you are. W-what did we do to you?” Veneer asked.

“For one, you killed one of my boys back when you guys first arrived down here a couple weeks ago.” Shank’s spiral eyes met Veneer’s giant blue ones…he was terrified…truly terrified.

“I-I…W-we….that was an accident. We….we were trying to defend ourselves.”

Shank held up a finger to silence Veneer, “I don’t give a damn about explanations. Now, I’ll let that slide if you decide to come with us…peacefully of course…We also promise no harm will come to your sister.”

“Velvet?” Veneer’s heart sank to the pit of his stomach…”Y-you have Velvet?”

“You want to see her?…Alive? Then come along with us. There’s an old friend who wants to have a word with you both.” Shank gestured the way through, waiting for Veneer to follow.

“W-who?” He asked.

“Too many questions will definitely get your sister killed….Well.” Shank blew more smoke into the air as he waited for Veneer’s decision ...The young Rageon nodded and began to follow Shank and his men….

….Suddenly a cloud of mist surrounded them out of nowhere, their vision blurred; they gagged as they inhaled the smoke that surrounded them.

”WHAT THE HELL!” Shank yelled.

Veneer was also caught in the smoke, coughing and wheezing for air. He felt hand wrap around his wrist and begin pulling him away. He didn’t know where he was going, he just felt his feet move, his body being pulled. His vision cleared as he was led out of the smoke. The hand that grasped him, the person who was leading him away…

“Velvet!” Veneer exclaimed with a smile, “You’re safe!”

”Of course idiot! Why wouldn’t I be?”

”They said they had you?”

”You REALLY need to stop trusting strangers. You’re not five anymore.” She cried as they began to run.

“How did you do that back there?”

”I found those old smoke bombs you made…I guess eventually they did come in handy…go figure.” She kept pulling Veneer, running faster.

“Where are we going?”

“Home! Where do you think?”

When the smoke cleared, Shank glanced around…the kid was gone, “Damn it! DAMN IT! GO FIND THAT SON OF A BITCH NOW!” He screamed. His men scrambled around before finally heading separate ways out of the alley. “I’m going to kill him. When I have my way with him…I’m going to kill him.”

“Wait…we passed this way already?” Veneer declared as they came to a halt.

“How do you know?”

“That graffiti. We passed by it twice.” He pointed it out.

“We’ve been going in circles!” Velvet exclaimed. “Hell! I don’t know this place of Under Rageous…This way!” She pulled her brother along a narrow part of the alley, “I’m sure we haven’t been this way before.” They ran…left or right? Velvet went right….dead end. She turned back around pushing her brother heading the other direction. This leads to another opening…straight ahead or left? She continued straight….another dead end.

“Shit, shit, shit.” She exclaimed.

”Vels!”

“Venner! Please! We have no way out and you’re worried about me cussing!” She attempted to head back..

”Keep searching! They can’t be far.” Echoes of voices were heard from within the alley. They were out there, they were looking for them…they were cornered, they were trapped.

“What do we do, Vels?” He asked. She looked around where they stood. There was really nothing they could use as a weapon; she looked up at the walls…there was nothing for them to climb up either.

“We fight Ven.”…

PING!

Out of a vent from the ground, a Troll popped out…

”Branch!” Veneer exclaimed. Velvet glanced between her brother and the Troll. Tye appeared next to Branch, an unhappy look in his eyes. The Trolls opened the vent..it was much wider than it appeared on the outside.

“Jump in! Tye says he knows a hideout.” Branch said.

”They’re not going to be happy…” The other Troll mumbled.

“What! Oh hell no! Let’s go back Ven.” She pulled her brother's arm.

“Oh come on Velvet!” Branch exclaimed.

“No! I am not trusting a Troll again!”

”Fine! You go then, but I am not going to let your brother suffer for your stupid mistakes. Ven come on!” Branch exclaimed. Veneer bit his lip. He turned and grabbed his sister's hand.

”Vels, please let’s go!” He begged.

”No!”

“Please!” He casted his bright big blue eyes straight into hers. She tried to avoid his glance, but failed…Funny, anyone who knew them deeply would see that Veneer’s eyes were a tint lighter than hers and that she stood a little bit taller than he did. These were the small things she noticed, but the small things she came to appreciate about her brother. Velvet closed her eyes and sighed.

“Fine.”

They both turned towards the vent the Trolls held open for them. Veneer stretched out his hand for his sister to hold. She grunted, but took his hand…Together they jumped in. Behind them, Tye and Branch closed the vent…they disappeared completely, falling into the depths below the under-city.

The twins screamed as they fell into the dark abyss…it was like a long tunnel, no light shining through.

“Branch! Was this a good idea!” Veneer screamed.

“I’m starting to question that now!”

THUD!

Veneer fell first, hitting the cement hard. He grunted and attempted to stand up before Velvet came falling on top of him…Her fall much lighter and softer.

“Oh! Thanks Vennie!” She smiled.

”Uuugggghhhh.” He groaned. Branch came tumbling down after, landing with a soft thud on Velvet’s stomach.

She grimaced, “Get your stinky butt off me Troll!”

“Calm down princess. Be thankful I came back at all.” Branch scowled.

”Guys please stop.” Veneer moaned. Velvet scooted off of him, causing Branch to roll off her lap and straight towards the ground. Glancing around he noticed Tye was nowhere to be seen.

”Tye? Tye!” Branch looked up from the hole they came down from. Oh no…Did he get stuck up top? “I’m going back guys!”

SWOOSH!

A net made of barbed wire was thrown over the twins, causing Branch to get stuck in the middle. The twins lay flat on their stomach as the wire tightened above them. Whatever movement they made caused the wire to cut in.

“What the hell!” Velvet yelled out.

From the corner of their, Tye appeared embracing himself.

“Tye! Can you help us please?” Veneer begged.

The small Troll shook his head, “I told you they wouldn’t be happy.”

…They heard small footsteps and the chatter of small voices…All around them, small little gray Trolls began to appear…an anger in their eyes as they saw the two trapped Rageons. Branch noticed a variety of Trolls: Pop, Funk, Rock, Country, Classical…and everything in between…their colors gone and lost.

“Oh my gosh…” Branch murmured. He looked up at Tye, “Tell them we’re friends! Please.” He squirmed in between Velvet and Veneer; the twins attempted not to put their weight on the small Troll between them, but that was hard, as the wire began cutting into their skin.

“We will be the judge of that won't we now, mate.” Branch heard a familiar voice…a familiar accent…a sound he thought would be long gone by now. He looked up to see a familiar Troll standing amongst everyone else ...He was easy to distinguish as this Troll still had his colors…The sight of him sent a shiver down Branch's spine, a vile taste coming to his mouth.

“E’llo there mate. Long time no see.” The Troll greeted.

Branch spat to the ground in disgust, “….Creek.”

[starcrossedxwriter]

Built for Love Part 10 (MBJ x Famous Black OC)

Warnings: Depictions of violence, trauma, lots of angst, recovery

A/N: ok this one is a longgggg doozy… gonna apologize in advance cause it is really just all angst lol BUT I'm hoping there's a treat in here that'll make y'all hate me less? lol maybe?? Enjoyyyyy!

It took everything in Charlotte physically and emotionally to drag herself to the theater the next day for opening night. She was physically exhausted, only sleeping in increments of 30 minutes or so before her own screams jolted her awake. Mentally, she was hanging on by a fraying thread. She had not felt this jumpy in so long, every unexpected noise causing her to look over her shoulder every five seconds, even in the comforts of her own home. But nothing was worse than the physical pain she was in. The bruise on her side was far worse without the adrenaline of the night before pumping through her veins. The cry of pain she let out when she first moved that morning sounded more like a dying animal than a person. 

The entire drive she dreaded the facade she’d have to wear all day. She did not know how she did this years ago, mustering up her last kernel of strength to plaster a stupid fake smile on her face. Perhaps because back then, it was a means of survival and this situation was caused by her own hubris. She wanted to fight, she wanted to do this her way, but this path was lonely and more difficult than she thought. And reality was sinking in fast that she was, perhaps, not strong enough to deal with him alone this time.

She did not regret staying, that was the right decision. But she just wished Michael was here. She wanted him here, not to do anything, but just to fold her up in his soft embrace. He was the epitome of safety and she severely underestimated how alone she would feel without him here, even just for a few days. She was balancing on a tightrope and the bungee cord that secured her was nowhere to be found. She already made one wrong move, she could not let herself think what risk another one would bring her. 

Here he is, about to ruin another special moment for you, she thought to herself as her driver weaved in and out of traffic to get her to the theater. 

He doesn’t have to, another voice spoke up louder. 

She thought back to their argument in the hallway the night before. Until she found herself on the floor beneath him, she had been proud of herself. The old her would have never said a fraction of those things to him. But she had squared her shoulders, looked him in the eye, and pushed back. Sure, she could not physically win a fight against him. But last night proved the psychological power he held over was indeed gone. And despite the emotional distress and pain she was in, that small act felt like a win in and of itself. 

That small win was all the strength she needed to push through. Today was her moment, something she’d worked for for years. He could not take this away from her, the bruise he gave her could not take this away from her… not if she didn’t let him. 

“You look like hell. You good?” Malcolm remarked as she dragged her feet past his dressing room.

She glanced back at him and gave him a smile that was more like a pained grimace. “Remember what you told me about fighting? Well, I got knocked down… trying to pick myself back up again.”

He raised his coffee cup as if to salute her. “That’s all you can do.” 

As the day went on and she did interviews with the camera crew recording footage of opening night and they did a final rehearsal of one or two of the numbers, she did find her exhaustion and pain slowly dissipate. She knew it was all in her head, she was still very much both exhausted and in pain, but she just found the strength to ignore it. The stage was her home, her domain, and she felt at her strongest here. It was the flicker of light that she could always cling to when everything else felt dark. And so she held onto it, seized it with every fiber of her being and allowed that to give her whatever she needed to get through the day. 

There was no other option, no other bungee cords to fall back on. It was just her and she had to pull herself, hold herself up, and shine bright even as she wanted to fall. Besides, she had not done all this, the secrets and lying, to let him psych her out so close to game time. She could fall apart when the show was over, but until then, her own strength was all she had. And that’s what she held on to as the day passed and showtime drew closer. 

By the time she slid on her dress, she felt more like herself than she had in the last two weeks. She was ready a bit early so she slipped out and snuck to the stage. As everyone hustled around her to prepare for showtime, she watched through a slip in the curtains. The audience was almost full already. Her eyes followed the front row, recognizing some folks like Malcolm’s wife, Vanessa. She did a double take when she saw who sat next to her. 

“Michael,” his name came out as a breathless sigh of relief. She did not know whether to cry tears of joy or have a panic attack. On the one hand, she could already see her web of secrets untangling right before her eyes. Even if they made it through the night without Michael and Shaun’s paths crossing, the moment they got home, there would be no hiding the angry black and blue bruise that covered her side. And she knew Michael was too smart to believe any lie she could come up with to explain it away. 

However, as she looked at him, her fear of his reaction did not outweigh the joy and relief she felt at seeing him. He came back to see her, to be there for her on the biggest night of her career to date. And even if all her secrets fell apart, she could not feel anything other than gratitude and love for him for sacrificing his plans for her. Every day, he chose her and made her feel loved, supported, and safe. He did not need to say a word to her and his very presence made her stronger. Knowing he was nearby made her feel lighter and more at ease. She was no longer alone and felt as if someone attached more bungee cords to her to steady her. 

She returned to her dressing room and pulled out her phone. She walked around her room, texting him. 

Els: Funny… I don’t remember LA looking quite like where I work? 🤔

She did not have to wait long for the response bubble to emerge and her phone to ding. 

Bakari: How’d you spot me? It was supposed to be a surprise for the end of the show ☹️

Els: I have eyes and ears everywhere 😉 seriously, though something happen in LA? Not that I’m not happy to see you but why’d you come back early? 

Bakari: Something told me I was needed here more. Was I right? 

She nodded as if he could see her. He knew her far too well. She did not even bother lying this time. 

Els: Yea you were. Thank you ♥️♥️

“Maybe I’ll go introduce myself,” a voice whispered behind her, Charlotte’s heart sinking. “I always liked him, great actor.” 

She should have known he would not let the day go by without finding some way to torture her. And she knew him stopping by minutes before show time was not a coincidence. But she refused to let him throw her off her game like he did at rehearsal. 

“Hit me again and I’ll scream bloody murder,” she threatened as she turned around. She could tell he did not believe her but she knew it was effective. This was just as much his job as it was hers. He would not risk someone seeing him hurt her.  

He merely sneered at her and shook his head, raising his hands in surrender. “Nope, just came to wish you luck. And say I’m a bit surprised to see you. It must be hard to dance with that?” He gestured toward her side. 

“I’ve performed through a lot worse, remember?” She reminded him through gritted teeth. “This was always the one thing you couldn’t take.” 

She studied him for a moment as he sucked his teeth in annoyance. She could tell he seemed a bit disappointed and frustrated by that fact, by the knowledge that she was not in bed nursing her side, crying over what he had done. Instead, she was here with a smile on her face, ready to do her job. 

She had always felt like he had taken everything from her, broken her and reduced her to nothing. But this very moment was proof that he hadn’t. Every time she got up and performed with bruises or broken bones or any other injury, she silently told him that this was the one thing he could never have, the one thing she would never yield to him. That she would fight through all the  pain to make it onto that stage night after night, to savor the few minutes every day where she could be the version of herself he tried to destroy. This was that flicker of light and he had always tried to stomp it out. Her brain was immediately filled with recollections of all their worst fights, all of which coincided with important shows or huge moments in her career. And every time, Charlotte never faltered, she never fell down, she never broke. She just bandaged herself up and kept moving. Not even the threat of him looming had driven her away this time. 

“You know, I’ve been trying to figure out why you did all this. You want your plaything back, want that control again, sure. But this,” she gestured around them. “Is a fucking insane way to get to me. But now I know why, because this was the one thing you could never take. You took everything from me for years, reduced me to nothing but a shell of a person. N-No light, n-no personality… no agency. Nothing. B-But when I went to work a-and got on stage, even if it was for only two hours a night, I became something again. Was reminded that I was more than the nothing you made me believe I was. And you hated that. This is the last piece. You take this, you destroy my career, and I’d really have nothing.” 

“I already did,” he took a menacing step toward her. Charlotte did not move though, forcing her body to stay rooted like a tree. She did not know where this sudden insurgence of strength came from but she welcomed it. For the first time, she had the upper hand. And she was going to use it. “I already took it once. You don’t think I can do it again? You were nothing back then and you still aren’t. A pretty face, a famous nigga on your arm, a nice voice… None of it changes what both of us know. I’m the only one who can love you like you deserve. I’m the only one who knows the truth about you.” 

And for the first time that he told her that, she thought about all the ways in which Michael and her family proved to her daily that his words were not true. And though she still did not know if she truly deserved someone as perfect as Michael, she knew she deserved so much better than him. 

She sighed, taking a step forward to close the space between them. 

“I lived in absolute terror of you for years. My entire world was dictated by the look on your face. Three years ago, I would’ve believed every word you just said. In some lights, I’m still terrified of you,” she admitted, taking a deep breath. “Last night proved that. But since I left you, I built myself back up brick by brick. I met someone,” she smiled. “Who holds me up when I can’t, someone who rushed back here to protect me when he didn’t even know what I needed protecting from, someone whose very being and presence reminds me every minute of every day that I am something and I deserve so much more than the scraps you gave me. And in that light, you are far less terrifying.” 

He let out a low chuckle, grabbing her arm and pulling her toward him. His grip was tight and painful but she still did not waver. “You keep forgetting what I’m fuckin’ capable of, Charlotte. Maybe I need to close the door and remind you?” 

The prospect terrified her but she knew his hands were tied. It was just intimidation and she would not fall for it again. 

“The thing is… I haven’t. You’ve shown me the worst you have to offer time and time again and I’ve survived every time. And it’s true. If you want to hurt me, there’s nothing I can do to stop you. I know I’m only alive because of God and luck. I can’t win in a fight with you. So take your best shot. But you know what else is true? I’ll still never choose you. No amount of fear or intimidation or pain will make me choose you. It’s him. For the rest of my life, it’ll always be him. And no matter what happens to me, you’ll have to live the rest of your miserable life knowing that.” 

She used all of her force to rip her arm out of his grip, her skin stinging, as she grabbed the sweater that went with her costume and slid it on her arms as she spoke. 

“You are right about one other thing though. I don’t deserve him. I don’t deserve this light or the love he gives me. And maybe,” she offered sadly, “Maybe one day, he’ll realize that too and leave me. And maybe I’ll never find anyone to love me like he does ever again. But even then, I’d spend the rest of my days alone before I spend another moment of it with you. So I hope all of this time and energy was worth it. Because I’m done… I’m done giving you a return on this investment. You can’t take this and you can’t take my joy, my body, my relationship, my peace, or anything else from me again. Your time controlling my life is over.” The lights around them started to flash, signaling that everyone needed to get in their places. She took a deep breath and offered him a smile. “That’s my cue. Enjoy the show. I’ve got a good feeling about it.” 

She smiled before walking around him and walking out the door. She could feel his rage wafting off of him but that did not stop her. As soon as she rounded the corner, she leaned against the wall, her heart pounding. She let out a breath she had not even realized she was holding in, her chest rising and falling rapidly. She messaged her arm, another bruise she would have to explain away. But that one had been worth it. To say those things and finally say her piece… the only thing better would’ve been to punch him in the face but she refused to resort to violence as he did. 

“Fuck, that was terrifying,” she mumbled to herself. “But you did it, you did it. Another win for today. Deep breaths,” she instructed herself, her entire body relaxing as she took several calming breaths. “Now let’s go get another one.” 

She steadied herself for a few more minutes before getting in her spot just as the announcer came on to start the show.  

***

She was in the middle of changing when Michael finally made his way backstage to her dressing room. Her after party dress was just passing her hips when she heard her door open. 

She did not even give him a chance to speak, she barely held in the tears that immediately welled up in her eyes as she saw him. She just immediately rushed into his arms, her lips slamming into his. The breath of relief she let escape was muffled as she kissed him. She buried her face in the space between his shoulder and neck as he held her, forcing herself not to flinch as his arm rubbed against her side when he pulled her in for a tight hug. Her breath was shaky as she breathed him in, grateful to be in his arms again. 

“I-It’s so good to see you,” she whispered. “I m-missed you so much.” 

His hand cradled her head into his neck, surprised at her intense reaction. He was concerned when he arrived but the tremble in her voice and body, the way she sagged into him, only increased his concern tenfold. He could tell she was trying to hide whatever it was that was wrong, hold it back. But he could feel it, feel everything that simmered beneath the facade of a performer.

“You were amazing.” His other hand rubbed her back. “But what’s going on, love?” He leaned back to force her to lift her head and look at him. His thumb wiped one of the stray tears from her cheeks, kissing the path it trekked. He did not see a point in prolonging the question. He knew it was a special night but she needed help. What kind? He had no idea. But the version of her that stood in front of him was not her, at least, not a healthy version of her. “You’re not ok.” 

Charlotte sniffled. She could not keep this in any longer. This was just not sustainable. That had been the problem the first time with Shaun, she had dealt with it utterly and completely alone. And here she was, falling back into that same pattern of isolation. No one in her corner, no one to support her or help her. And she could not survive that way. If she was going to stay here, she needed someone’s help. Even if all they did was help pick her up when he mentally knocked her down. And she had robbed Michael of the opportunity to do that, and she knew there would be anger for that. But more importantly, she had tied her one hand behind her back by doing so. She had robbed herself of safety and comfort and it showed in the hell-ish experience of the last two weeks. She had asked Michael to move with her because she needed him. Now, it was time to call that support in.

“No… I’m not. But now that you’re here, I will be.” She pressed her lips to his cheek. “I need to tell you something though… about-”

The last part of her sentence was drowned out by Chris sticking his head in her door. She had not realized that Michael left her dressing room door open and glanced up to find Chris, Malcolm, and a couple other company members standing outside her door. 

“Everyone’s heading over to the lounge. You two ready?” 

“Umm… actually I think we’re gonna head home?”

“Home??” His tone was so filled with offense, you would have thought Charlotte quit the show. “Absolutelyyyyyyy not! The star of the night can’t miss the after party. Trust me, the sex’ll be 10 times better after a few drinks.” Chris, inappropriately so, automatically assuming they just wanted to go home to fuck. “Come on!” 

She sagged deeper into Michael and rolled her eyes. She glanced at him, a silent conversation passing between them. She knew they weren’t going to take no for an answer, everyone was on too much of a high from the night. Her eyes searched for his approval to which he gave her a small nod. 

“Fineeeeee, we’ll come but just for a bit,” she acquiesced, Michael’s arm not leaving her waist.

“Alrighty. You better. I have at least two cocktails with your name on it!” The man disappeared, everyone starting to head over to the party. 

“You sure you’re ok with going?” 

He nodded. “Yea, tonight is still your night and you should enjoy it. As long as you’re up for it. We have plenty of time to talk.” 

She squeezed his hand before following him out to their car. She had no interest in staying at the party too long. She found it hard to relax at first, her eyes constantly darting around the party to see if Shaun was there. But as she and Michael had those two drinks promised by Chris (and then some additional ones), she still did not see Shaun anywhere and loosened up. 

Despite the looming difficult conversation she knew she would have to have with him when they got him, she still managed to have fun. The night moved faster than she expected as she and Michael danced with Malcolm and his wife. Unlike the stuffy cocktail event from the night before, this was a true party, an opportunity to let their hair down and celebrate. 

Charlotte escaped the dance floor to grab another drink, leaving Michael chatting with some of the other actors and their partners. 

A hand touched her arm unexpectedly, Charlotte flinching and a groan escaping her before she could stop herself. She clenched her fist in pain. However, when she turned and realized it was Michael, her heart sank. 

Fuck. 

“You’re hurt?” His hand gently grabbed her arm and lifted it up to examine under the dim lights of the bar. She braced herself, his eyes flashing with rage.

“Who did that to you?” he demanded as he took in the light but distinct bruise disrupting her otherwise flawless skin. He had never seen a bruise or mark on her before. 

“U-Um… no one. I m-must’ve hit it or something,” she lied. She could not even stop herself, it was as thoughtless and second nature as breathing or walking and talking to lie about an injury. She also knew this was not the venue to tell him what really happened. She wanted to tell him everything in the privacy of their own home. 

“You’re lying,” he said immediately, his anger only rising. “Nothing you could’ve done would cause that. Who. Did. That. To. You? Tell me right now, Charlotte.” His voice was low but she heard it. There was no room to lie or hide the truth from him now. He would not accept it. 

“I p-promise I w-will tell you. B-but can y-you just wait till we get home? I d-don’t want to talk about it here. Please,” she begged. 

He studied her, his hand going to her neck to hold her gaze to him. “But you’re ok right now? Whoever did it isn’t here?” he glanced around as if he could spot the person in the moment. 

“N-No, no. I promise. They aren’t here. It’s just a l-long story a-and I'd rather tell you at home. T-that’s all, I promise.” 

He kissed her temple, nodding. “Ok, ok. I’ll call the car.” 

“Thank you. I j-just need to run to the bathroom. 5 minutes?” She could tell he did not want to let her out of his sight but she offered him a reassuring nod. “I promise I’m ok. Just five minutes. I’ll be right back.” 

He nodded and kissed her on the cheek, watching as she left. 

Charlotte had to take a couple turns to find the bathroom, finding it empty when she entered. She tossed her clutch and phone on the couch before going into one of the stalls. She took a few deep breaths, already strategizing how she would explain the last two days to Michael. She was almost thankful the tower was crumbling, it was too hard to hold up anyway. But she wasn’t ready for the fall out, not fully anyway. But she knew once she told him, the weight would be off her shoulders and she could breathe easy for a moment. And she welcomed that. She knew honesty after secrets and lies came with a storm but there was always calm after, eventually. 

As she finished up and readjusted her clothing, she heard the door open. However, she did not think much about it until she stepped out to find Shaun standing in the bathroom. 

“W-what are you d-doing in here?” She asked, taking in his staggering posture and eyes. They were red, glazed over with rage. She was not even sure when he arrived at the party. She had not seen him once since she left him in her dressing room. 

“You know I tried. I fuckin’ tried so hard to be reasonable…” he remarked as he reached back to the bathroom door and locked it behind him.

Charlotte let out a shaky breath, all of that confidence from earlier vanished in an instant. No escape and no upper hand this time and she knew, when push came to shove, he would always overpower her. She wondered if anyone would even be able to hear her scream over the loud music. She knew Michael would come looking for her in a few minutes if she did not return or some woman would likely try to come use the bathroom. However, she also knew Shaun did not need long.

“But then… you parade that nigga around in my fuckin’ face?!” He slammed his hand against one of the stall doors, the force causing it to bang against the wall loudly. Charlotte nearly jumped half way out of her skin, taking another step back from him. “‘It’ll always be him,’ he mimicked her speech from earlier. “It’s me… Or it’s no one, Charlie.” His steps were measured and menacing, despite the alcohol that clearly seeped out of every pore of his being, a predator who had finally cornered its prey and was tired of the games. There was nowhere to run or go as Charlotte found herself cornered by the wall. “You choose.” 

Charlotte knew what she should say, lie to get herself out of the situation alive. And if he had asked something else of her, perhaps she would have said anything to appease him. However, she could not force herself to do it, not this time and not about this. She knew in her heart and soul that Michael was it for her. And she would never deny that, no matter the consequences. 

Her heart pounded out of her chest but she forced the words out, “I-It’s… it’s still him, Shaun. M-My h-heart is his, my soul is his. A-and I c-can’t give you what you want. Not anymore. If it’s not him, t-then it’s n-no one.” 

He let out a few deep breaths of shock and staggered back from her for a moment as if she had slapped him. She imagined he did not expect her to answer truthfully but she could not deny Michael. She would never. 

Charlotte started to peel herself off the wall, hoping this was her moment to leave and escape. However, she only made it a step before she felt a sharp sting across her cheek, the force of his slap sending her body crashing into the sink in the bathroom. She grunted as her stomach hit the hard edge of the counter and knocked the wind out of her. She used one hand to brace herself to stop from falling to the ground. The other immediately touched her cheek, pulling her hand back to find blood where his ring had cut into her skin.

“S-Shaun, p-please d-don’t… do this…”

He scoffed and shrugged, his face resigned as if she had given him no choice. “I told you. Me or no one.” He slapped her again, harder, her body falling to the ground as her head hit the cold tiles of the floor. Her vision immediately grew blurry as he appeared over her. Her arms and legs flailed violently as she tried to fight back. 

She could feel every blow, his fists aiming for any part of her body he could reach. Her face, her chest, her stomach. All she could do was scream for help as she futilely tried to fight him off of her. 

His hands wrapped around her neck, squeezing. Charlotte’s eyes grew wide as she realized his intentions, her fingers clawing at his skin with all her might to force him to break his grip. However, it was no use. He had strangled her before, which was scary but she always knew he would stop. This, however, was totally different. This time she knew he had no intention of stopping until he felt the life drain from her body. She could see it in his eyes, it was over for her. 

The edges of her vision started to blur. The last thing she remembered was the feeling of his weight and hands being ripped off her before everything went black and her last thread to the conscious world snapped. 

***

Michael took a last sip of his drink as Charlotte walked away from him to the bathroom.  Michael sighed as he did a scan of the party, his eyes following on a man in a disheveled suit who appeared at the entrance. Michael stared at him for a moment, something about him gave him pause but he could not place why. He watched as the man did a scan of the room before heading to the hallway that led to the bathrooms. He figured he was merely on edge as the sight of Charlotte’s arm came back into his mind. His hands clenched into a fist. 

Another puzzle piece, another thing that did not make sense. Someone had clearly hurt her but he did not understand how or when or who would do that. He had only been gone for two days. Shaun did pop up in his head but he dismissed that quickly. When would the man even have shown up without Michael knowing? Michael was pretty much with her anytime she was not at the theater since they moved.

He continued to people watch for a few minutes, his eyes glancing in the direction of the bathroom every few seconds as he waited. His phone dinged with a message from Rob letting him know he was waiting downstairs. Michael glanced at his watch, realizing more than five minutes had passed since Charlotte went to the bathroom. He searched the crowd for her. He happened to run into Malcolm and his wife during his search.

“Aye,” Michael grabbed their attention. “Have you seen Charlotte?” 

“Nope, not since she went to get a drink. Why?” 

“Y-Yea. She said she was going to the bathroom but it’s been a minute. And she didn’t answer her phone. Figured she maybe passed by me or thought I was gonna meet her outside or something.” 

“I was about to head to the bathroom before we headed out too. I’ll walk with you. I’m sure she’s fine.” 

Malcolm and Michael walked the maze of hallways to the bathrooms, Michael stopping as they turned the last corner and another sound filled his ears, battling against the thundering bass of the music from the party. 

“You hear that?” 

“Yea. Sounds like someone screaming?” 

Michael rushed up to the ladies’ bathroom door, getting close enough to hear the screams behind it. He only needed to hear one to recognize the voice. Charlotte. It was as if someone had replaced the blood in his veins with ice water. That sound would haunt him for the rest of his days, he was sure of it. 

He immediately went to open the door, finding it locked. However, he did not give that a second thought as he told Malcolm to call the police and ram his entire body into the door. It took two tries before it yielded to his force and weight. 

Michael did not need an introduction or explanation as he took in the scene in front of him. He had never seen a picture of Shaun in his life but instinctively, he knew who he was. Charlotte’s brief descriptions of him, her actions for the last two weeks, her nightmares, her injury, all those puzzle pieces seemed to fit instantly and paint quite a clear picture. 

Michael immediately grabbed the man by his collar, dragging him off his girlfriend.  He got a quick glimpse of Charlotte’s bloodied and bruised form, her eyes half closed, as he pulled the man away from her. He threw him down to the floor and kicked him in the chest, a satisfying crack filling the quiet bathroom. And he did not stop at one. 

Shaun barely had time to think or defend himself as Michael channeled a year’s worth of boxing training into beating the life out of him. This man who had terrorized the love of his life for years, this man who had been the source of so much strife and pain in her life, this man who had been the reason for the rage filling Michael’s body. All he saw was Charlotte’s broken body and he lost all sense of himself. 

He was thankful the loud music of the party drowned out Shaun’s screams. Every punch he rained down on him felt cathartic. Every scream and yell felt like music to his ears. Though he typically believed violence could be avoided, in this case, his soul needed this more than anything. This was the only answer. Michael had never felt the desire to feel someone’s life leave their body but he felt it in that moment, strongly, fervently. And he knew, if it came to that, he would not feel an ounce of guilt about it. This man did not deserve to be among the living, not with all he had done. 

He thought about every time Charlotte screamed or whimpered in her sleep; every time her big brown eyes filled with terror and panic as something triggered her; every time she thought of herself as broken, unworthy, and unlovable - these things that were the farthest from the truth but he made her believe; every scar littering her perfect form that she looked at with disgust. He thought about it all and every time his fist connected with Shaun’s skin, he felt a bit of that rage he had bottled up since he learned about Shaun release. It felt good to finally do something with it. No longer did he have to punch the punching bag in his gym pretending it was this man’s face. The object of his rage was right there and he did his worst.  

Michael only stopped when a force pulled his arm back, his savage beating cut short by Malcolm.

“It’s over, it’s over.” He whispered, holding Michael’s raised arm back. “I think Shaun understands your point. The police are coming. Charlotte needs an ambulance, now.” 

Michael stopped, his hand still holding Shaun up by his collar, and glanced at Charlotte who was unconscious and propped up against the bathroom wall. He almost wanted to throw up at the blood that smudged the floor by her body. 

“She’s alive,” Malcolm assured him as he took in the look on Michael’s face, Michael knew it must have looked lethal. “She hit her head but she’s alright. But she needs you right now and you can’t be there if you get arrested for killing him.” 

He nodded and pulled his arm out of Malcolm’s grip. He stood and pulled the man to his feet. He was not even recognizable now, covered in blood. Michael could tell his nose was broken, a few teeth had been knocked out, and he was not even sure if the man could still see with both of eyes nearly swollen shut. And despite this damage and the pleasure he felt administering it, it still - somehow - did not feel like enough. The man was still conscious and still breathing and that did not feel fair. 

“I’m only gonna tell you this fuckin’ once.” Michael’s voice was low and lethal, he did not even know his voice could sound so terrifying. He did not know who this person was, this dangerous version of him he’d never needed to pull out before. “Stay. The Fuck. Away. From. Her. If I ever see you again or you ever lay a finger on her again, I swear on everything I love, I will fuckin’ kill you. I’ll make what just happened look like a scratch. And I’ll end your pathetic life. We clear?” At his silence, Michael scoffed before throwing two back to back jabs into Shaun’s ribs, the sound of more bones cracking filling the air along with a pathetic, girlish scream. “I said, are we fuckin’ clear??”  

“W-we’re c…c-clear,” Shaun forced out, the words barely audible as Michael’s arm pinned him to the wall by his neck, crushing his windpipe, was the only thing keeping him from doubling over in pain.

“Good.”

Michael removed his arm, the man unceremoniously crumpling to the ground with a groan. He could not help it but he kicked the man once last time for good measure as he shook out his hand and flexed his fingers. His knuckles were caked with blood and ached but it did not matter as he rushed over to Charlotte.

He pulled her body into his arms, propping her up against his legs. His breaths were shallow and rushed as he pressed his fingers against her neck. He knew Malcolm said she was alive but it was as if he needed to prove it to himself, assure himself. He let out a strangled sigh at the pulse he felt pumping against his fingers, strong and distinct. 

She’s ok, she’s ok. Just knocked out. 

“I’m here, baby. I’m here. I gotchu. You’re safe, you’re safe.” he whispered as two EMTs rushed into the bathroom. Michael did not notice the small crowd that followed them, Malcolm going over to Chris who was standing at the front, his face the picture of shock and confusion. 

Michael felt as if he was just going through the motions as he rode with Charlotte in the ambulance. He merely just repeated that same refrain over and over again, holding her hand as the EMTs worked around him. They assured him none of her injuries were life threatening or severe. She took a beating but she’d be fine once they treated the head injury.  

They forced him to wait in the waiting room while they rushed her to the hospital, Michael calling all of her family and his to tell them what was going on. He knew this would likely make it onto the news somewhere and did not want anyone to find out about it. Her father, who lived in Baltimore, and oldest brother, who lived in DC, promised to drive up first thing in the morning, Lauren, Jackson, and Jazz were planning to be on the first flight out of LA, and her eldest sister would be on a flight from Atlanta. 

He cycled through pacing and texting her family until a nurse came to get him. He was thankful, the two hours he waited seemed to move by in slow motion. 

Michael absentmindedly scratched the nape of his neck as he rushed behind the polite nurse, his ears barely registering her preppy and annoying voice. Her words were nonsensical until he saw Charlotte. He barely registered them once he realized she had little information to offer him. He knew nothing she could have said would satisfy him anyway until he saw her for himself, saw the warmth in her skin, felt the blood pumping through her veins, saw her injuries without blood caked in them, making them look far worse to his eye. He had not seen her in hours and he did not want second hand accounts that she was ok, he wanted to see her for himself.

The cycle of torture he had been on for the last few hours finally ended in front of her closed door. He took a deep breath and sent up a silent prayer before walking into the room to find Charlotte, his sweet honey bee alive and conscious. He studied the steady rise and fall of her chest, the way her hand fidgeted with the fraying edge of her blanket. He let out a strangled breath he did not realize he was holding in. He felt as if he was breathing for the first time in hours, a weight lifted off of his heart and body. The room was completely silent aside from the beeping of machines surrounding her, her eyes trained on the glittering lights of the skyline out of her window. 

He examined the injuries he could see: the bandage on her forehead, the bruises already blooming on her face and neck. He imagined more had to litter the rest of her body, the areas hidden beneath blankets and a hospital gown.  

“H-Honeybee…” his voice came out as a strangled whisper, his pain and fear flowing from his words like blood from an open wound. Her eyes clenched shut as she heard his voice, and heard the emotions laced throughout it. 

At her silence, his hand wrapped around hers as he sat in the chair by her bed. He did not bother stopping the tears that slowly trekked down his face as he gently stroked her forehead. 

“Baby…” 

“I-I’m ok… r-really, Bakari,” she croaked out, her voice sounding small and broken. She avoided his eyes but he could see the clouds of guilt, shame, and embarrassment that filled hers. He knew she likely hated that he saw her like this. But it did not matter to him. He was just happy she was alright. “I-I’m o-ok.” 

“No, you aren’t. Els... baby. Look at me, please," he whispered, noting the small shake of her head as she bit her lip. He could hear her silent pleas to not push. However, he needed to see her, truly see her.

“Charlotte.” His rare use of her full name did the trick, the young woman turning her head toward him.

Her eyes still did not fully meet his, but he decided it was a start. His thumb stroked her cheek, her eyes fluttering closed at the soothing gesture. Her head lulled to the side and rested in his palm. He did not say a word, he just offered her what he could tell she needed. His presence and his gentle touch that always soothed the troubled waters of her soul. However, so much of her face was bruised that it did not take long for him to graze a tender spot and cause her to wince. 

“I-I a-a-m so-so sorr-sorry…” she whispered, her voice breaking. “I f-…” she started to hyperventilate, her hand going to her chest as she felt the shooting pain of her sharp breaths radiating against her fractured ribs. “I-I t-tried to fight… I-I s-should’ve t-told…”  

Her words became incoherent as she tried to talk through a panic attack. Michael immediately moved to the edge of the bed, hoping he could calm her down. 

“Hey… hey, shhh… baby, take a deep breath for me. It’s ok, Els. You ain’t got nothing to apologize for, I promise.” 

His voice was low and soothing as he tried to get her to calm down. He took a few deep breaths, encouraging her to mimic the action to slow her own breathing. “There we go… That’s good, baby. Relax, it’s ok. You’re with me and you’re safe now.” 

He watched her eyes fall down to his hands, which a nurse cleaned up and bandaged for him. She sniffed. 

“You saved me?” She asked quietly. 

“Yea… I c-came for you.” 

She wiped the tears from her eyes, refusing to let them fall. She winced slightly as she hit a bruised area. “You always do. Thank you.”  

“Always,” he whispered, his hand wiping his own tears that started to fall. He knew he could be vulnerable but part of him battled to be stronger, despite how upset and scared  he was. Right now she needed to be the vulnerable one, which meant he had to be the rock. 

“I-I s-suppose y-you wanna know w-what happened?” she asked quietly, knowing he likely still did not know how they ended up in this situation in the first place. 

“Yea but… that conversation can wait till we get home. All that matters right now is that you’re ok.” 

She did not argue with him on that point. Charlotte’s head pounded as she laid in the bed, Michael sitting quietly next to her. Neither of them said much, she just closed her eyes and focused on his touch, his hands, strong and comforting against her skin. But cautious, she could feel that caution with every caress and stroke. She thought she had lost this forever, that she would never feel the heat of his loving touch on her skin again. 

A knock at the door tore their moment of solitude away from them, both of their eyes moving to find two men in dark suits standing in the doorway. They flashed their badges identifying themselves as NYPD. The back of Charlotte’s hand hastily whisked away her tears before forcing herself up into a seated position. She forced a smile on her face but she knew with the cuts and bruises, it likely did not look like one.

“Good evening. We are sorry to interrupt. I am Detective Simpson and this is Detective Zidan. Ms. Bennett, we are so sorry for the ordeal you have suffered tonight. The doctors told us you were conscious. Would you be up for talking about what happened?” 

She nodded, gesturing for the two men to come farther in. “Y-You can just call me Charlotte. And yea… Um… we were at the Purple Cat lounge, c-celebrating the opening night of our broadway s-show.” 

“The Lighthouse?” Detective Simpson interjected. “My wife’s a big Broadway fan… we saw it last week in previews,” he clarified. “You were phenomenal.” 

“T-thank you,” she whispered. However, even that compliment could not lift her spirits right now. “Umm, we had a few drinks… two or three I guess? But I w-was tired a-and M-Michael realized I was injured so w-we decided to go home. I went to the bathroom a-and when I came out of the stall, Shaun was there. H-he locked the bathroom door and knocked me down… hit me. A-and then he started choking me.” 

“Did he try anything else?” His words were vague but Charlotte and Michael understood the implication. She felt Michael stiffen beside her. 

“No, no. He didn’t do anything like that.”

“And what is your relationship with Shaun Parker, the assailant?” 

“We dated for about three years a few years ago? He was abusive. I-I had a restraining order against him when I lived here back then. F-filed a police report a couple times then dropped them.” 

“That’s great, very helpful thank you. That’ll establish a history of violence, pattern of behavior. How’d he know about the show? Have you had contact with him since you broke up? Any idea how he might’ve gotten access to the event you all were at?” 

Charlotte clenched her eyes shut. And here goes that wrecking ball, she thought to herself. She prepared her mind and heart for the inferno of rage Michael was about to experience, this time directed at her. 

“H-He showed up at o-our last rehearsal b-before previews two weeks ago. H-he’s a-and investment banker or manager and w-was working with one of the producers.”  

Michael’s head whipped around in her direction, shocked that her answer was not a simple no. 

“What the fuck?? He’s been around for two weeks??” He approached the bed, his brow furrowed and his heart rate increasing as his frustration skyrocketed. He was seething.

Charlotte’s hands twisted in her lap as she felt his anger waft toward her. 

“I… I-It was fine at first, he didn’t really say anything o-or bother me. But l-last night, one of the investors hosted a cocktail event for us a-and he approached me… and punched me,” her voice got really small as she said that part, Michael stepping away as his rage grew to unprecedented levels. “A-and then today b-before the show, he c-came by my d-dressing room to taunt me. A-and grabbed my arm, l-left a bruise. I t-told him that I’d n-never be with him a-again.” 

Michael ran his hand over his face. “Why didn’t you tell me??”

“I didn’t want you to worry!”  

He threw his hands up in the air, his exasperation obvious to everyone in the room. “I don’t believe this shit,” he muttered under his breath before turning back to her. “You’re in a fuckin hospital bed, Charlotte. There was clearly a reason to worry! A-and you let me go all the way to fuckin’ LA where I couldn’t do shit to help you??”  

“Michael, I-I’m s-sorry, I j-” 

“Charlotte, Mr. Jordan, please,” the detective interjected. “Let’s all just calm down for a second. We don’t want to take up too much of either of your time. We know this is difficult to hear and a lot to process. Mr. Jordan, can you tell us what happened when you arrived in the bathroom?” 

Michael turned away from Charlotte. His mind was on information overload, his anger pulled him in 30 different directions. But he knew the detectives were right, now was not the time. And putting this man behind bars was more important than his anger. 

“It had been a few minutes and she didn’t come back, I went to the bathroom and heard her screaming. I forced the door open a-and saw him choking her. I-I pulled him off a-” Michael stopped speaking, the anger of that moment flooding back. 

“Yea we saw Mr. Parker’s injuries. We can piece together the rest. Well, that’s all we need for now. Your accounts align with Malcolm Roberts’, the witness, and the scene so we are good for the evening. We’ll leave you two to get some rest.” He fished his business card out of his wallet and handed it to Michael. “If you think of anything else once you’ve gotten some rest, give us a call.”  

Michael stopped the men. “And what about me?” While Michael did what he did to protect Charlotte, and did not regret it, he knew his beating of Shaun would be considered overkill by anyone with eyes. 

The detective shrugged. “From my assessment of Mr. Parker’s injuries, you used necessary force to subdue him. And that’s what I plan to write in our report.” 

At the raised eyebrow Michael gave him, the other detective merely winked at him. “I’m a husband… If I’d walked in on what you did… let’s just say he’s lucky he got off the floor at all. Even if he wants to press charges, given the circumstances and well, your status, the DA will likely decline to move forward and we would back that up. We aren’t here to ream you up, Mr. Jordan. You will have to pay for the damages to the door at the club but that’s it.” 

Michael felt relief wash over him. 

“We’ll be in touch,” the detective said before turning to leave. However, he turned back and said, “Loved you both in Creed. Take care of yourselves.” 

Michael pocketed the man’s card and watched as they left before turning his attention back to Charlotte. 

They sat in silence for a while, Michael’s hand rubbing her arm to comfort her. She could still feel it, his anger, but he controlled it, kept it to himself. They were both two powder kegs ready to explode. Both of them were using materials as flimsy as scotch tape to hold back the avalanche of emotions that threatened to consume them. 

It took a few more hours of poking and prodding before the doctors told her she could go home. She was thankful, just wanting to sleep in her own bed in Michael’s… if he was not too angry at her to deny her that. 

She pushed herself out of bed, Michael handing her the clothes Malcolm had picked up and brought over for them. She started to lift the nightgown over her head but groaned lightly at the stretch needed to do so. She let it fall back down over her legs. 

“Let me help.” 

She bit her lip, fiddling with the gown for a moment as her eyes bounced between him and her body, before shaking her head.  “Umm no, no… I got it.” 

“Why won’t you let me help you?”  

“Because I don’t need it. I got it.” 

He scoffed and raised an eyebrow at her. “You really think now is the best time to lie to me again, Charlotte?” 

She covered her eyes with her hand for a moment before sighing. “I j-just don’t want you to see t-the bruises… I k-know you’re mad at me. I-I don’t want to m-make it worse. A-and I don’t want them to change h-how you see me… feel about me.”

Michael’s feet came into her line of vision before he lifted her head and kissed her forehead. 

"Look at me," he quietly demanded. He rarely demanded but she heard it in his voice, it was not a request she could refuse. His hands held her face, holding her gaze to his once she looked up at him. “There is nothing in this world that’ll ever stop me from wanting you, aight? These bruises are just a reminder that you survived and that’s all that matters to me. And it doesn’t matter how mad I am, I’ll never deny you what you need. And right now, you need help. So let me help you.”

It took another moment or two of coaxing but ultimately, she relented. He kissed her cheek before his hands pulled her gown over her head, the young woman wincing at the stretch in her side. Michael’s eyes trailed up her body, happy to see most of it looked fine. Her upper half though, her chest, her stomach, her neck and her face were covered in bruises that made his hand clench into a fist. 

His eyes focused on the bigger one on her side, one that clearly had been there longer than the others. 

“That’s where he…” he could not even say the words. At her small nod, he took a step back from her and turned away from her. His breaths were shallow and pained.

“It’s not as bad as it looks… I’ve had worse.” 

He shook his head, the scotch tape simply could not hold his rage back any longer. “I can’t believe you kept this from me.”

“M-Michael… I’m s-sorry. I didn’t want to upset you.” 

“I’m upset because this,” he gestured at her bruise, “is upsetting. This nigga was terrorizing you, Els. And hurting you while you let me fly across the county to sit in bullshit ass meetings when you knew you needed me here.”

“I thought I had it handled!” 

“Oh so what? You’re fuckin’ Olivia Pope or some shit?” 

“Not funny, Michael.” 

“I aint fuckin’ laughin’ Charlotte. If this was handled, I would not be looking at your body covered in bruises and we wouldn’t be in a hospital. He could’ve killed you. If I hadn’t gotten there when I did, he would have killed you. I mean… what were you thinking??” 

“I-I s-should’ve told you,” she admitted. She knew there was no excuse for lying as she had and she would not waste his time trying to come up with one. “I-I just didn’t t-think you’d understand.” 

He shook his head, a strangled sigh of frustration escaping him. “Well you’re right. I don’t understand why my girlfriend, the love of my life, the woman I want to marry and build a life with, lied to me and hid something so dangerous and life threatening for weeks. You let me move all the way here to protect you, and when you needed it most, you didn’t trust me to do it. I don’t understand why you didn’t trust me.” 

All she heard in his voice was his pain. Beneath his righteous anger, she understood where it stemmed from, a well of hurt and disappointment that she did not trust him with this problem. 

“M-Michael,” she approached him. “I t-trust y-you with my life. I-it wasn’t a question or lack o-of trust. I w-wanted to tell you so b-bad. T-that night when you helped t-through that nightmare, when you called me the other night from LA…in my dressing room earlier. I wanted to tell you.” 

“Then why didn’t you?” 

She sighed, she turned back to the bed and sat down. Her physical body was barely standing, barely holding on. 

“I dunno… I t-thought I needed to d-do it alone. It’s a-always been me d-dealing with him… I g-guess it’s just a-all I know. A-and I-I was t-tired of losing… tired o-of him t-taking everything… tired of r-running,” she admitted. “A-and I was afraid, afraid you a-and my family w-wouldn’t understand why I would w-want to stay once I knew he w-was around. A-and I was afraid you’d try to stop me. A-and worst of all, I w-was afraid if you gave me an out, I’d be a coward and take it a-and then he w-would’ve taken something else from me. So I l-lied. I lied and kept it from you b-because I knew it would force me to handle it on m-my own a-and it almost killed me. Literally a-and figuratively. B-Because I did… need you.” She let out a small sob. “I needed you so bad. J-just to be there. A-and I deprived myself o-of that and I deprived you of the chance to help me a-and I am s-so so sorry.” 

Michael unfolded his arms as he listened to her. He could hear it, her regret and the sincerity of her apology. He was still angry but the roaring rapids of anger were now more like a quiet stream. Far easier to manage and put in perspective. He understood that her scars with Shaun went deeper than he could possibly understand. It was not shocking that she had defaulted to these choices. Michael sat next to her on the bed, his hand resting on her thigh. 

“I know, I know. But listen to me, Charlotte.” She lifted her eyes to look at him, surprised to find the anger gone and nothing but grace and compassion remaining. “You never have to deal with anything alone again. I’m here and whether I agree with your decisions or not, I’ll always support you and help you. I promise you that. But you gotta come to me from now on, Charlotte. This? The lying, the secrets, putting your life in danger. You can never do this again. When I saw you, I thought you were…” he stopped himself and let out a shaky breath. “You can’t scare me like this ever again. Do you understand me?” 

“Never. I promise. I’m so so sorry, baby.”

He nodded. “I know you are. It’s ok. Let’s get you home and in bed, aight?” Michael still felt guilty, ashamed that he was across the country instead of protecting her. He had known something was off and still left and that would haunt him for a while. But holding her choice against her because he felt ashamed would not help either of them. He trusted that she understood him and would come to him if she ever needed help again and that would have to be enough.  

***

“How are you feeling?” Charlotte’s dad asked as they settled around the living room. 

Charlotte was tucked into Michael’s side as she talked with her family. She had not really left his side since they left the hospital that morning. And he kept his hands somewhere on her the entire time. She knew they were both clinging to each other, unsurprising given what all had transpired. 

She was not surprised but still slightly put out to find her entire family waiting in their apartment when they finally got home. She had not slept well in weeks and had not gotten more than an hour or two in the last 48 hours. She just wanted to curl up into Michael’s chest and sleep for days. Instead, she was on hour four of her family fawning over her. It was sweet and she understood why but she had never been less excited to see them in her life. Emotionally, she was barely holding it together and she was ready to fall but instead she was forced to hold on a bit longer, remaining upbeat so her family knew she was alright. 

“I’m in some pain b-but none of it is super bad. Doc said I c-could be back on stage in a week as long as this heals alright,” she answered, pointing to the bandage on her head. Her voice signaled her hopefulness that that would be the case. 

“That fast?” Tiffany, her eldest sister, asked from the kitchen. 

Charlotte nodded. “Yea, I was kind of surprised too. But Chris canceled a couple shows, just till Tuesday so I won’t even miss a full week. The optics of his lead almost dying at the after party weren’t the best,” she admitted. She glanced up at Michael. “Can you make sure we send him some flowers and a bottle of wine? There’s a Merlot he loves that I can try to find. As an apology. I know that’s not how he saw his opening night going either.” 

“Whatever you want, babe.” 

Charlotte smiled, trying to keep the mood positive as everyone’s faces still looked grim every time they looked at her. “Well in a sort of silver lining from last night, the show went really well? Reviews came out a-and Michael read them on the way home. They are so amazing. I can’t wait for y’all to come back so you can see it.”

“Oh that’s great!” Allen offered. 

“As if there was even a doubt about -” CJ started to say before Jackson cut him off.  

“Are you fuckin’ serious right now?” Jackson blurted out, his anger getting the better of him. Charlotte could tell he was more upset than the rest of her family as he had been virtually silent since they arrived. But she knew why. “Are we really gonna talk about that damn musical like she didn’t fuckin’ almost die to be in it?” 

“Baby…” Lauren chastised him. She offered Charlotte and Michael an apologetic glance that told them she tried to head off this outburst before they arrived. “We said we were gonna talk about this later.” 

“Nah, fuck that!” Jackson stood up and all the anger in him seemed to explode. “What the hell is wrong with you?? How could you be so reckless? So fuckin’ stupid to let him do this shit to you again?? What the fuck, Charlie?”

Charlotte knew her brother did not mean his words, knew he was just angry. However, in such a fragile state, she could not help the way her body folded into Michael’s at Jackson’s tone and his words. She knew she deserved it. She had kept secrets and lied to her family as much as she did Michael. She knew what she put them through was wrong. 

Michael immediately stood up in front of her, using his body as a protective shield from her brother’s harsh tone. He understood Jackson’s anger, he really did. But he had made peace with Charlotte’s choices and accepted her apology. And hours removed from the shock of everything, he regretted piling onto her pain in the hospital by blowing up at her. It was the wrong time to have that conversation. And so was this. He refused to allow anyone else to do it either. She had been knocked down enough in the last 24 hours, the last thing she needed was to get it from the people she loved too. 

“Aight brah. Cool it. She knows she messed up but regardless, what happened last night wasn’t her fault. You need to take a breath and calm down.”

“Like hell it isn’t. She knew what he was capable of! And no disrespect but I’m tryin’ to have a conversation with my sister. In case you forgot, I’m the one that pieced her back together after that nigga fucked her up the first time. Meanwhile, she wouldn’t even look like that if you had been here protecting her instead of out in fuckin’ LA.” 

“Aww shit,” Jazz muttered as Michael took a menacing step toward Jackson, his words clearly striking a sore spot. 

There was barely any space for God between the two men as they stood off, Michael ready to throw hands with anyone who stepped at Charlotte the wrong way, present company included. The other men in the room rose from their seats as well, the tension between the two men palpable. 

“I don’t give a fuck what you’re tryna do. I’m the one takin’ care of her now. And I’m tellin’ you to back the fuck up and calm the fuck down. Take another step toward her or raise your voice at her in my house again and I won’t be tellin’ you shit.” 

“Alright, enough, enough.” Charlotte called out. She grunted in pain as she pushed herself up from the couch and made her way through the sea of testosterone to her brother and boyfriend. “Let’s all just calm down and sit down. N-No one, least of all me, has the energy to hear either of you argue about who’s more protective.” She placed a gentle hand on Michael’s chest to nonverbally let him know she was fine. He took a step back, raising his hands in surrender. However, when Charlotte stepped in front of him, his hand still went to rest on her hip as if he would need to move her behind him again. He was on edge, everyone understood it. 

She turned and faced her brother. “You’re right. What I did was reckless and it was dumb. But I know you, Jackson. Look me in my eyes and tell me if you knew what was going on, you wouldn’t have flown here and made it your mission to drag me back to LA with you?” 

Jackson scoffed. “Of course I fuckin’ would’ve. Because I’m the one that nursed you back to health when you left him, the one who woke up to you screaming night after night for months. Every good day, every bad day, every horrible day. I was there. I saw what he did to you, how he destroyed you. And I never wanted to see you go through that again. But I can’t believe I would’ve even had to convince you. The fact that you weren’t on the first flight home after you saw him is fuckin’ insane, Charlie. It makes me question your judgment entirely.” 

“I know I wouldn’t be standing here without you, Jackson. Y-You and Lauren saved my life. A-and I am sorry for the lying and the secrets. Truly. I-If I could go back and do it differently, I w-would have told all of you. But even though I regret that, I still would’ve stayed here and done this show even if I knew this would be the outcome.” At her family’s shocked expression, she sighed. “Question my judgement, call me stupid, I don’t care. You helped me heal but I put myself back together piece by piece and I didn’t do that to live in fear of him for the rest of my life. I did it so I could live the life I want. So I could build the life I want, so I could be free. And I don’t regret staying here to fight for that life. I almost died and it was terrifying for me a-and I can only imagine how it felt for you all for the second time. And I’m truly sorry for that. But it was my choice. And I’m not gonna apologize for fighting for what I want, for what my soul needs. You don’t have to like that decision but you do have to respect it.” 

“Jackson… she’s right,” her dad, Christian Sr, interjected. “Charlie has always been smart and driven. I wish there’d been another way but I understand. I’m just glad you’re ok, squirt.” Her dad wrapped her in a tight hug. 

“Same, sis. But can this be the last time you almost die on us, please? It’s getting kinda old,” Tiffany joked under her breath, CJ hitting her on the arm. 

Charlotte let out a belly laugh that made her ribs ache. “Y-Yea, I can do that. I’m down to 6 or 7 lives now anyway. I should preserve them. I’m sorry for scaring everyone. Seriously.” She glanced at her brother who had now gone silent. “Can you forgive me, J? Please?” 

He pulled her into a hug, his lips pressed into the top of her head. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Charlie,” he warned. 

“I promise.” 

“Ok, let’s all go check into our hotels and give Michael and Charlie some time alone. She needs rest. We can come back tomorrow,” Lauren remarked, shoo-ing everyone toward the door. 

Charlotte mouthed thank you to her before wrapping her in a hug. If there was one person who was always a ride or die for her, it was Lauren. She never failed. Michael immediately led Charlotte into their room as soon as everyone filed out and started to help her get ready to finally rest. 

“I-I think I want to shower first?” 

“Whatever you want, baby. Need help?” 

She shook her head. She had not been able to detach herself from Michael since they got home. But she realized after her family’s visit that she needed at least a moment of solitude, a few moments to process the last 48 hours alone. “No, I don’t think so. But I’ll leave the door open just in case.”  

Michael settled into bed himself, grabbing his phone to check his email and text messages. It took him a while to make his way through all of them. He had ignored nearly every notification in his phone since he got back from LA. He clicked on one, a link to CNN from Steelo.

He wondered if he should even press play on the video but he decided to. 

“And now, breaking news from Broadway. Last night, after the opening night performance of The Lighthouse, the musical’s star, Charlotte Bennett was attacked at the show’s afterparty at a nightclub in the Upper West Side. Bennett, a rising star most known for her role in the recent blockbuster hit Creed, recently returned to Broadway after a two year absence. The assailant, Shaun Parker of New York, was apprehended and is in police custody. NYPD held a press conference late this morning where they announced the state would be pursuing assault and attempted murder charges against the 30 year old investment banker. NYPD also shared that Bennett’s boyfriend, actor and star Michael B. Jordan, also from Creed, was also involved in the altercation, restraining Parker until police arrived.” 

“NYPD found that there was a history of domestic violence between Parker and Bennett, Bennett having filed a restraining order and several police reports during their relationship. Lead detectives are still determining Parker’s motivation for attacking Bennett but evidence suggests it was in retaliation for rejecting his advances. Parker’s lawyers were not available for comment.” 

“Guess that cat’s out of the bag,” he heard Charlotte mumble. Her body was wrapped in a towel, leaning against the door. He had been so wrapped up in the story that he had not even seen her exit the shower. He quickly closed the link and threw his phone down on the bed. She looked better to him, the light and life returning to her skin. She still looked dead on her feet but he knew only time in bed would fix that. He watched as she chewed on the side of her lip. 

“I guess… I knew it’d make the news a-and people would find out. Now everyone’s gonna know how dumb I was, every stupid mistake I made.” 

“Or… everyone’s gonna know you survived something awful and applaud you for it,” Michael offered as he grabbed clothes for her to change into and handed them to her. 

She used his arms for balance as she stepped into a pair of his Calvin Klein briefs and he helped her pull the sweater over her body. She tried to control the grimaces and small expressions of pain but it proved difficult.

“Somehow I doubt that,” she whispered as he helped her get situated in bed. She let out a deep content sigh of relief at finally being able to relax. She looked at him for a moment and pulled on his arm to bring him close to her. “Thank you for taking care of me and for saving my life… a-and loving me.” 

He shook his head. “You don’t ever have to thank me for any of that.” He pecked her on the lips. 

However, as he leaned back, her hands cupped his face to stop him. Her thumb rubbed the stumble of his beard as she studied him. After a moment or two, she kissed him again and this time, they did not stop. Michael could feel it, all the pain she felt, her desperation and need as she clung to his body as if he would disappear if she let him go. However, when her hands naturally drifted to the waistband of his sweats to take it to the next level, he wrapped his hands around them to stop her. As much as his body responded to hers, he knew he could not allow this moment to go too far. 

His hesitation had nothing to do with a lack of desire, his straining manhood was the proof of that. However, given how Shaun treated her during sex, Michael took great care in how he did. He vowed to ensure she never felt like she was merely a plaything or a warm body for his use. And while, after the day they had and almost losing her, he would love to bury himself inside her, he knew he could not do it even if she wanted it. Even if she chose to ignore it, Michael knew she was merely minutes away from falling apart and this would not help her hold it together.  

However, the pained and disappointed look in her eyes almost made him question that resolve. And it broke his heart. 

“W-what’s wrong?” 

“You were almost murdered less than 24 hours ago. You’re injured and in pain. I can’t fuck you like that didn’t happen. I don’t think this is a good idea.” 

“But I wasn’t. And I appreciate you being a gentleman but I’m fine, I promise.” She captured his lips again.

“I-It’s not about being a gentleman. It’s about knowing you and what you need and this ain’t it.” 

“ I need you,” she whispered back, her forehead resting against his. “Bakari, please. Don’t make me beg you. Please.” She tried to stop her voice from breaking, she knew that would not help convince him she was ok enough to do this. But she could not describe how desperate she was to feel something other than her current pain. 

And now, his refusal only made her feel worse. This was utterly foreign to her. There had never been a time where Michael denied her or pumped the brakes. She had not even considered this outcome, figuring he would be ready to go if she was. But she supposed she could not blame him. Her bruised body was far from attractive. 

He’s angry and disgusted by you, a voice in her head rang out loudly.

His eyes clenched shut as he struggled to stay steadfast in his convictions. But the need in her voice tested every fiber of his being. That voice, so vulnerable, so clearly desperate for him, made him want to relent. But he couldn’t.

“The last 48 hours have been hell. I see it in your eyes, you’re barely… you’re barely holding it together, love. You need rest and maybe you need me but I don’t think sex is what either of us need right now. And… whether you realize it or not, I imagine the things he did to you, however long ago, are gonna come back up. I don’t want to trigger any…” his words failed as she tore herself from his arms and turned on her side to face away from him in frustration.

“I-I k-knew this would happen,” she whispered to herself. “The bruises… s-seeing what he did. I d-disgust you.” 

“That’s not it! Look at me. You have never and will never disgust me. I don’t even want to hear you say that shit. I always want you. But your physical and mental health is more important to me than anything else and that means we can’t do this.” 

“I just want…” she whispered, unable to put her desires into words. It was not even a physical desire she craved. She just wanted to keep moving. She just knew if she laid here and sat in the stillness with him, the dam would break and she would fall apart. And she just was not ready to feel the extent of all of this yet. And she hated that Michael knew that, picked up on that so quickly. “I’m fine, Bakari.” 

“I think you just want to feel something else… I think if we do this, it’ll make you feel like you’re fine when you aren’t. I know it’s hard for you to be vulnerable. But you got me, I’m here and you can fall apart, scream, cry… whatever. You can be not fine. You got me and I’m not going anywhere.” 

Her eyes went to the ceiling to stop the tears from falling. “I am fine, Bakari.” She let out a groan of frustration at his silence, knowing he did not believe her. She could not tell who she was trying to convince more. Him or herself. “I’m fine.” 

His hand wiped a tear that fell from her eyes as she stammered. “I promise you… I’m fine. I’m… fine,” she whispered, her voice cracking under the weight of it all, the simple words being much more difficult to say. “I’m… f-” the words died in her throat as she started to sob.

“Come here.” He enveloped her in his arms as she broke down into tears, her sobs filling their bedroom. “You’re gonna be ok, Els. I promise. I gotchu and you’re safe. I promise.” 

He moved onto the bed to better cradle her into his side, her face buried in his chest. They stayed like that all night, until she cried herself asleep, finally releasing weeks of pent up pain and fear. Michael watched her for most of the night, watching the steady rise and fall of her chest next to him. Every so often, she woke up whimpering softly, nightmares plaguing her sleep. And he would just hold her again and whisper the same refrain in her ears until she calmed down again. She was safe and he'd never let her feel this pain again. And he would make it his life’s mission to ensure he kept that promise.

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A/N: First, if you made it through this long sad chapter, THANK YOU! I hope the savage beating of that nigga was worth it LOL If you are wondering what I envisioned, if you watched Game of Thrones, think about when Jon beat the hell outta Ramsey after Battle of the Bastards lol that sort of visceral rage and Ramsey looked better than Shaun in my mind haha… I promise y'all, our story is on an upswing from here on out lol 90% fluff from now on, I promise!

Drop a comment and let me know what you think/let me know if you want to be tagged! How do you think Bakari and Els are gonna recover from all this?