#repeating what i’ve said today and for 7 years now since i started driving:

[artisticestheticreads]

Summertime Magic XIV

A/N: Heyyy, how you doin’? Okay okay. I know it’s BEEN years BUT I’ve been a hell of busy for so long. I got into streaming, creating content on YouTube, traveling, and enjoying life. I noticed that my SummerTime Magic fan fic has been in rotation lately… so why not bring it back for the last two chapters for the one time? I had been rereading every chapter, flaw and all, and realized my writing has gotten way over the years and I won’t lie, I missed y’all so much. So let's finish this story off strong.

To Catch Up, Press Here.

Warning: Some fluffy Daka, some lovey-dovey stuff... and maybe, some stuff at the end that would y'all heart and soul.

Word Count: 7598

There was a couple leaning in a silver Nissan Altima, wearing all black hiding in the night. “So, what you got planned to fuck them over,” said the man who was still upset N’Jadaka has his ex now. He looked towards the woman and said “just know, you inspired this plan… a lot.”  The woman was about to do something to ruin what a good thing the couple had, but she didn’t care and was willing to do anything to let Y/N know she made a huge mistake.

Y/N was in her office at her brand new shop before the day started. Her hair was in goddess cornrows, charms and golden thread braided into each one. She wore the jewelry her man gifted her from their anniversary with a white leotard bodysuit, long, jaded green skirt with a slit on the side and some nude heels that paired perfectly with her golden bracelets. One by one, her crew started to make their way in and began to prepare for the day; the day started at 9 am and ended at 7 pm.

“Okay, everyone. We have quite a few appointments today including hair, nails, and waxes. We have all eight people here so we should be good along with having our entire receptionist team as well. Our goal is to make at least $10K which is possible with all the high school events and weddings happening around this time, yeah?”  Her team agreed before she checked the time on her phone; it was about to hit 8:50 and she could spot the repeating customers driving and waiting in the parking lot in front of the shop, coffees and breakfast in hand. Y/N nodded as the team dispersed and began to set the music and TV on. 

The day began and she knew it was going to be a long one ahead of her. She tied her apron around her tightly and began with her first customer, dye touch up and retwist. She had her neo soul mix on Spotify play throughout the shop as she worked on her male client, laughing with his mom who wanted her boy to not embarrass the family name nor his girlfriend for prom happening the next day. Y/N decided to throw in a free line up to make sure he was extra fresh; the mom tipped her a hundred and fifty dollars. 

Her next client was a loud mouth teen whose prom was the day of but she claimed to be “tender headed”. The young lady wanted everything done to her head to the point it looked like a tornado swept up Kansas so Y/]N convinced her to do a simple yet curly middle part bust down with her red 28 inches of weave; the young lady tipped her twenty bucks but her father slid her and extra two hundred for the time and trouble. 

Before she knew it, it was already one pm so she started to head to her parents’ home to visit and eat lunch with her mom since she was working from home that day. Y/N pulled up in front of the house and stepped out fixing her skirt. She began to walk up the steps when she heard her father yell out. “I SMELL SHEA BUTTER AND COCONUT OIL!!!! MY FIRST BORN IS HERE!!!!”; Y/N laughed before walking in and her father made his way to her on a cane, still healing his knees. “Hey, pa. How you healing?”

“Shit, I feel brand new now but ya raggedy ass momma made me get a cane just in case.”  “I heard that, muthafucka. Y/N/N, I’m in the kitchen, baby.”

Tommy looked at his eldest child and whispered “ya ass got me in trouble.” Y/N rolled her eyes as she made her way to the kitchen with a grin. Tasha was making lunch for the family which was a huge Caesar Salad inspired pasta with the salad on the side and toasted rolls. “Hey, momma.” “Hey, momma’s baby. How is the shop doin’?” “Good, money looking real nice with the prom season and graduation around the corner. Been booked and oh so busy”, explained Y/N after she kissed her mother’s sweet cheek. Her mom was in the middle of chopping the crispy chicken in bite size pieces and placing them into the pasta. “Okayyyy, I see you, big money. I am so proud of you, baby. Like you started from doing hair in your home to having your own shop. You didn’t let anything or anyone stop you. Not only that but you have that handsome young man, N’Jadaka too. How are y’all speaking of", asked her mother, smiling and knowing what surprise awaited her. Y/N smiled as she said “we are great, actually. He has been busy since the center opened and all but he is just… great.” Tasha turned to see her daughter looking at the ground in deep thought and walked over to her. “Baby, what’s wrong?”

“Nothing, momma.” “Y/N/N, baby, something is wrong. I know you better than anyone else in the entire world. Are you sure you and N’Jadaka are okay?” Tasha turned the pasta pot on a low boil and grabbed her daughter’s arm, interlocking with hers, as they walked to the front porch; they sat side by side on the bench. “Alright, tell me the truth. What’s wrong, best friend?” Y/N looked at her mother as she waited, looking into her eyes back; she sighed and began. “I just, I feel like something bad is going to happen. The shop is a success, my relationship is amazing, pa is healing, CJ is heading to college soon. I just-I just feel like something bad is going to happen soon.” “Now, why would you put that in the universe, baby? You have been through so much before N’Jadaka came into your life. Yes, you were happy before but since you met him, I can tell that y’all make each other better. He just brings out even more confidence than before. He makes you happy. When you were with Rodney…”. Tasha paused and took a deep breath as she remembered all the pain her baby girl dealt with before finishing. “Baby, when you were with Rodney, he absolutely drained you. You didn’t eat. You didn't sleep. You were attached to him in the worst way and it took for him to cheat on you and put his hands on you to see that you needed to leave him. But with N’Jadaka, you are your best self and , baby, we love that for you.” Y/N looked away, thinking of her mother’s words, slowly smiling to herself. “He is great, huh?”

“Sure is. And I can tell that y’all have a bright future ahead. Maybe, one day, if God is willing, y’all will have your own family. Maybe, a little girl and a little boy will be running around this yard one day. A nice intimate wedding, a nice big house like you always wanted. And you know, I can see you and that young man, old and gray talking to your grandbabies about how y’all met and fell in love.” Y/N looked over at her mother who smiled at her and she began to mirror it with her nose scrunched up like hers. Y/N giggled with her momma as she wrapped her arm around her and said “thank you, mommy.” “You are very welcome, baby. Now, let’s get back in befo-.” “TASHA, WHERE MY DAMN FOOD AT WOMAN?!”, yelled out Tommy making Y/N chuckled as her mother rolled her eyes once they stood up and entered the home again. ~

N’Jadaka was standing in front of the history classroom of the center wearing his golden frame glasses, navy blue slacks, white collared button down with the sleeves rolled up and black dress shoes. His locs were freshly twisted and braided backwards to stay out of his face. “Alright, kings and queens. Today, we will be discussing the truth about the African American bloodline. Now, if y’all can turn to chapter 4, page 36, you will see that today’s topic will be the truth of black royalty.” He leaned his buttocks against the desk and turned to the page he had bookmarked with a red tab. “Alright, in the 18th and 19th centuries, Europe had several black and mixed race people as royalty. The first one who we will be discussing is Queen Charlotte. Now, with features reputed to be conspicuously African by her contemporaries, it is no wonder that the Black community, both in the U.S. and-.” “Mr. Stevens, my daddy said there ain’t no such thing as black royalty”, said a ten year old child in the class, making the others look at her then at him, anticipating the answer. Erik looked at the young lady and took a deep breath before asking “Miss Zasha, what do I do for a living?”

“You’re our teacher.”

“And what does your ‘daddy’ do for a living, Miss Zasha?”

“He a mechanic.”

Erik slowly blinked at her answer with a tight mouth that made some of the children laugh. His eyes stayed on the young lady until he went back to the book, continuing to read. Thirty minutes had passed and the bell rang for the lunch period to begin; his class was dismissed and he began to prepare for lunch himself until he heard a knock on the door. Erik turned to see Sheila at the door, smiling big at her brother. “What’s good, sis”, he said, placing his hands in his pockets and leaning as he watched her enter; she wore a rainbow bodycon dress, cropped jean jacket with black and white vans. “Oh, everything is swell.” Erik looked at his long time friend with a suspicious brow and said “what are you finna ask me, Sheila?” “Nothing, jackass. Why are you asking me that?” “Lemme guess. Bro opened his big mouth about the surprise trip I have planned.” Sheila clutched her imaginary pearls as she gasped loudly, making Erik chuckle. “A surprise trip?! Why, he never told me anything about that! Oh, Jerald. Why have you forsaken me”, said the dramatic woman as she held her heart and placed her other hand on her forehead, palm facing the sky. “Quit the act, Sheila. Y’all make me sick.” Sheila rolled her eyes playfully before sitting at the desk in front of him. “So, you are finally popping the question, huh? When is the trip?”

“Shit, next week but they I been working I'm chilling before the trip. I got a whole thing planned for Friday night though. Gonna take her to the beach since it’s getting warm as fuck again. I got some folks to set up a whole outdoor dining thing over there and I ordered food from our first anniversary spot. I got her favorite bakery spot to make her cake, that place called Sweets or something like that by the shop. Then I show her a fake text that shows our ‘plane tickets’. I had to convince the Dora Milaje to dress like a whole fuckin’ aircraft crew and B’s boys, too. Then, BOOM the big muthafuckin’ reveal. She will come back as my fiance and maybe even the mother of my children.” N’Jadaka sat so proud of his plans that he didn’t even notice his sister staring at him with glee. “You good, sis”, he asked and she sat with her chin resting on her hands. 

“You are so happy. And I love y’all so much.”

“C’mon, Sheila.” She stood from her seat as she said “I’m serious, JD. After the last bitch, you said you would swear off women and rather die a virgin. You gave up the dream of marriage, and babies, and having the family you always wanted. Like your parents and uncle wanted for you. Then, you got sprung on Y/N thick ass.” N’Jadaka looked at her, chuckling away as she took a place next to him. Sheila continued as she looked at him. “JD, I am so happy that you found your sunshine on your cloudy days.” N’Jadaka looked over at his female friend, wrapped his arm softly around her neck and kissed her head. “Thanks, sis. I appreciate y’all. But you know, Y/N might be on to me.”“Eh, women know when something is up. But no worries. Her family and your people ain’t spilling shit.”

They gave one another dap before heading out to get some food finally and talk more about the plans. ~

The day was finally over and Y/N was about to close out shop. Her team left one by one after cleaning their stations and helping tidy up the place before they all left. Y/N locked the doors behind each one before heading to the back, about to finish the lock up process. She placed all the money from the register in the money counter and started recording the amount down to the cent, $11,845.28 was made for the night. She placed the amount in the money bags and into her lock box N’Jadaka gifted her since her old one was worn and torn. Y/N placed it into her purse before grabbing her keys along with her phone before turning off her office light. She began to make her way to the door when he noticed him standing there. He wore all black to hide in the dark but she could see his eyes piercing through the glass. Rodney stood there watching her move even in the dimly lit room. Her first thought was how she would get to her even though he leaned against the hood. Y/N thought of only one thing she could do. She headed back to her office, using the switch to turn the light on after dialing the number and talking to the person on the other side. Y/N locked the door behind her and sat at her desk waiting for her rescue to arrive. 

It felt as if she waited hours as her eyes got slightly heavy when all of a sudden, she heard footsteps inching closer to her office door. She stood from her desk slowly, eyes on the door and worry on her face as she waited quietly. Before she knew it, she heard knocking on the door which came off loud with her drowsiness kicking in. Her heart started to beat through her breasts just thinking about that man attacking her again like in the past; her soul was terrified to say the least. “Baby girl, it’s me, Daka. Open the door, baby”; she heard the voice she waited for, calming her rattled nerves. N’Jadaka had come to the rescue… or so she thought. When she sprinted to open the door, Rodney stood there with a devilish grin. He reached for her neck, pressing down hard and that’s when it happened…

Y/N had sprung up swinging her arms but felt something pull her in. She looked up to meet eyes with her man who looked down at her while rubbing her back. “You okay, princess”, his voice calmed her as he placed kisses on her head. “Hey, baby.” “Hey, baby. You good in here? I tried callin’ to let you know I was in the lot but I guess you was knocked out.” Y/N placed her head into his chest and began to heavily sniff his cologne which made him erupt with laughter. “Been a long day huh?” She mumbled against his chest but he lifted her head to look at him. “I didn’t catch any of that, princess. What you say?” “Yes, the longest.” “Awe, well. I have dinner ready at home waiting for us. Then I will give you a nice bubble bath and a deep tissue massage-” “And dick”, Y/N said in a sweet, innocent yet excited tone, looking up at him with big eyes. Erik chuckled and said “yes, dick too. Now, c’mon, baby.” They made their way to the parking lot where they hopped in separate cars, him following behind.

~ The next morning at exactly 6 am, N’Jadaka sat on the island looking at his children's stats from his history class. He had on his gold rimmed glasses, a basic white tee and jeans as he held his coffee with one hand. Y/N was making breakfast for the pair wearing his tee and nothing underneath. N’Jadaka watched her move around the kitchen, smiling in between glances of the children’s work and his future wife. He can only imagine their wedding day, her in a cream toned gown with gold accents created by the best seamstress in all of Wakanda; her beauty would be a wonderful addition to the view around them. He wondered how their kids would look, how they would act. Yes, Y/N may not be able to have children but with the best healthcare in his home country, it would be 200% possible, studies show.

Y/N placed his plate of four egg whites, four slices of French toast, bacon and a bowl of brown sugar oatmeal as she kissed his forehead and refreshed his coffee. “I made our lunch for today. Just the dinner from last night so we can get rid of it easier. And, of course, I put some of the green tea and a jug of your alkaline water with your tumbler.” She grabbed her bowl of oatmeal and small plate of toast, bacon and eggs and indulged  before the busy day ahead. She was reading through the emails on her phone when she felt kisses on her free hand; she turned to look at N’Jadaka, fully immersed in showing her love. Y/N won’t lie but she was a bit suspicious of him being overly affectionate with her lately; she of course shrugged it off as she watched him. She leaned into his hand that held her wrist and shared her own kisses, making him smile and look at her, with so much love in their eyes.

“Why are you so lovey dovey this morning, mister”, Y/N asked but she only received kisses between the words he spoke. “Because” kiss. “I” kiss. “Have” kiss. “Someone” kiss. “Who” kiss. “Loves” kiss. “Me” kiss. His eyes met her and she can tell by the look on his face. “Daka, what are hidin’?” N’Jadaka looked into her face and made a deep sigh. “Nothing, baby girl. Why I gotta be hiding something, Y/N/N.” Y/N looked into his face trying to read it until she heard “baby, you can’t pull a me on me. I’m stone compared to your bubble.” He gently placed her hand down and continued to eat as she did the same, in comfortable silence and leaving her in her thoughts.

An hour passed when N’Jadaka was sitting on the couch looking at the plans for the following night wearing his chosen work attire; it would be one of the biggest nights in his life. He went through the list to check if everything was confirmed. Yellow, white and pink roses, check. Dinner ordered from The District,check. The reservation to close the whole beach just for the dinner, expensive but check. And everything ready for the proposal back home, a  HUGE check. He leaned back looking at the time on his phone, 7:25 AM. He thanked Bast that the traffic from the house to the center was nonexistent especially with how he drove. He dug in his pocket to retrieve the ring box that contained the engagement ring. N’Jadaka leaned over, elbows on knees and opened the box which lit up around the ring, showing every detail of the beautiful piece of jewelry that would change things forever. “She gonna love this shit.”

“Daka, have you seen my chain”; Daka heard his lady and could also feel how close she was near so he quickly placed the ring back into his pocket and closed his laptop. Y/N walked over to the couch where he sat in her sunny yellow flare bottom pants, white tank top, high top all white converse and hair in a low bun with her goddess braids; looked around and saw the necklace resting on the coffee table. She grabbed it and as she placed it on, she noticed her man’s body language. “Daka, what’s wrong?” “Hm? What you mean, baby?” Y/N looked over at her man even more whose legs were extra folded. and just shook her head to herself saying “nothing, Daka. You think you can still pick me up tonight after work? I don’t want to be caught by myself when that nigga pops up again.” N’Jadaka nodded, saying, “Of course, baby. I got you. Shit, I’ll bring my glock too just in case.” Y/N laughed as she grabbed her bag and he stood, placing a kiss to her lips before they headed out but he forgot one important thing.

It was around three pm at the shop as Y/N sat in her own chair, enjoying her break, hearing the chatter in her salon, making her smile. “All I’m saying is, I want a nigga with a curve. That muthafucka being thick means nothing. It’s that length and curve that matters, okaayyyyy!!!”; the woman all hollered and laughed through the shop. “Y/N doll, what about you? Does size matter?” All the girls laughed as Y/N was placed in the hot seat but little did they know, she could take the heat. “Psh, please. I got a man with all three. I’m good over here”; all the girls cheered, laughed and high five each other.

The bell of the shop door rang but before Y/N welcomed them in, Y/N noticed the man. It was Rodney who stood there, eyes trained on her face and thanked the women who did welcome him in. He wore a black V-neck, tan cargos, and gray New Balance 570s with his hair under a durag. “Hey there. Welcome in, I’m Stacie. Do you have an appointment” asked the receptionist at the front door. Rodney leaned in with a smile and replied. “Yes, ma’am. Under Tyler Calvin.”

“Tyler. Tyler?” Her fingers typing in each letter until his name popped up. “Ah, I see it here. And even better news, you have it with our very own Y/N Y/L/N”, Stacie said before eagerly passing him a water and leading him to Y/N who stood, heart beating through her chest and palms feeling hot and sweaty. The couple reached her section and Stacie said “Miss Y/L/N, your 3:30 is here early”; she skipped back to her spot as the pair stood off. Y/N knew that he knew she hated to have altercations publicly which gave him an excuse to be manipulative and repulsive. “Hello, Miss Y/L/N. I’m Tyler”; she stood in complete silence.

~ “Alright, class. Don’t forget I have to meet your parents tomorrow morning before I go on my break.” The class awed and sounded saddened as N’Jadaka stood in front with arms folded. He loved the kids and they loved him even more and it made him sad just thinking he would be gone for a while but knew once he came back and told them he was engaged, they would be super excited. “I know I know but I’ll be back before you know it. Now, class is dismissed. If you are staying behind with the after hours program, you can meet your assigned teacher in the eating hall. I’ll catch you tomorrow”; the class began to all say their goodbyes as they ran out but that’s when he noticed Miss Zasha was still in her seat. “Miss Zasha, is your pops running late again?”

“No, my auntie Shay Shay is picking me up. She runn-” “She is”, N’Jadaka said, correcting with a brow raised and hands behind his back. Zasha looked up at him and said “she is running late.” N’Jadaka nodded as he began to clean up and prepare to head out himself. He sent a quick text to the ones he missed from Shuri, his boys, Sheila and of course, his future wife; the prince couldn’t wait for tomorrow night. He knew that she would be a beautiful wife. Just the thought of her reaction to the island view of Wakanda made him smile to himself as he heard the sound of heels clicking in the hall. “TT Shay Shay”, Zasha exclaimed with excitement, hopping from her seat. But when N'Jadaka turned with his briefcase-like bag in hand, he could feel his blood boil once he saw the mysterious woman; it was Kesha, wearing a burgundy skirt suit combo with cheetah print heels and her hair cut into a bob. N’Jadaka met eyes with Kesha which made her stand straight, walking over to him. “Well, well, well. Long time no see, Mr. Udaku.” Kesha looked back to her niece and signaled her head to the playground with her friends. “My brother told me that he was scheduled to talk about Zasha and how she be in class.” “I’m meeting parents tomorrow, Kesha.” N’Jadaka was trying to dismiss her but she didn’t budge. “Daka-”. “Mr. Udaku.” N’Jadaka glared at her as he stood at his desk. She held her hands in the air then in front of her, folded. “Mr. Udaku, he scheduled it today since he is busy today and tomorrow. I’m just tryna help him out.” N’Jadaka heavily sighed as they stood looking at one another. ~

Back at the shop, Y/N had a cape around Rodney’s neck tightly before she placed him in front of the hair washing bowl. Rodney tried to look in her eyes but she wasn’t falling for the trap; she looked ahead, paying him no mind and said “lean back into the bowl, please.” He deeply chuckled before he followed the order but not without checking her body out which she noticed and placed a towel over his eyes only; Rodney took the towel off his eyes as she began washing his coarse hair. No conversation between the two which made things even more tense. 

“You smell nice, I don’t remember that scent.” Y/N looked down at his face but saw that his eyes were closed while he enjoyed her fingers in his hair. She began to massage deeper into his scalp and noticed something that made her chuckle which made him ask “what’s funny?”

“Your thinning hair. Guess ya new girl can’t do hair, huh?” Rodney sighed while easing more into the chair. “I ain’t got a girl no more.” Y/N looked away still washing before he said “shorty was making my hair fall out. That’s why I’m here, so you can help me out.”“And what makes you think I would help you, Rodney?”“Because I’m in this chair right now and I know you hate makin’ a scene, shorty.” Y/N stood there, knowing it was true which made her stand silent. Rodney sighed and said “nah, but me and Ash kept on fightin’. I’m gettin’ too old for that high school shit, no cap”, no response from Y/N. “Besides, she kept talkin’ about ya man”, this caught her attention. “What did she say?”

“I knew that would get you speakin’, shorty?” She tugged his hair harshly making him wince. “OK, OK. He was tryna compare me to him. She wanted me to do everything he did besides being the whole ass virgin shit. The bitch even tried to lock my shit.”

“And that’s why you baldin’.”

“Shit and her fucking naggin’ the fuck outta me too. Had me on this fucking all protein, no carb diet tryna bulk me up and everythin’. That shit was fa sho depressin’.” Y/N nodded her head as he spoke to her about everything and thought about how her Daka could be with someone that controlling. “Man, I had to dump her because fuck all dat shit. She tried to do that instant loc bullshit on my dome and had me all fucked up. I had to call Ma Dukes to help comb that shit out. Took half my hair with it.”

“Yeah, I know you got a fucked up head inside and out”, she said thinking he would rebuttal something mean and nasty but instead she heard “yeah, yeah I know”; she looked in his face and then away as she continued to work on his scalp.  ~

N’Jadaka opened up his laptop to find his notes on Zasha as Kesha watched his fingers move against the keyboard, both seated on opposite sides of his desk. “Alright, Zasha Lewis. Zasha is a bright kid like the others but she can be lazy and always wants the last word. She always talks over others saying the wrong answer over their right answer.” Kesha looked into his face as she read, closed her eyes and opened them again as she said “I’m happy for you.” N’Jadaka looked up from his laptop, with a scrunched confused look, then to Kesha’s face who looked at him with a soft, sincere look. He took off his glasses and looked at her with a raised brow and intimidating face. “Excuse me?” “I am very proud of you and Y/N.” “Kesha, we are here to talk about your-” “Lemme finish. Please,” Kesha pleaded, making N’Jadaka pull out his phone. “What are you”-. Her question was caught off once he put his strong finger in the air to silence her. He placed the phone down and pressed start on the three minute timer. “You can talk again.” She took a deep breath before saying. “I am very happy for you and my best-”. “Ex.”

“Ex best friend. Between the shop, the center and your relationship it makes me feel like black love is still alive. But I’m very happy that Y/N finally has someone like you. After her last, she didn’t want anything to do with men again. Like it was really bad. She cried a lot and I know her folks hate seeing. I just know that y’all are really happy and-.” *RING. RING. RING* The sound of N’Jadaka’s phone went off and his eyes fell on the screen, tapping it to stop the noise and he stood fixing his trousers; he began to pack his things, placed his glasses into its case and said “let Zasha’s father know I will be sending him notes on this meeting. Be easy”;  with that, he made his exit as the custodian walked in to clean and lock up for N’Jadaka, leaving Kesha behind in her thoughts and texting on her phone.

Back at the shop, the beauticians and staff all talked while working on their clients when the nail stylist asked “so, Miss Boss Lady, when you think Mr. N’Jadaka gonna pop that question, hm?” Everyone whispered and asked the question again, commenting. “Yeah, Miss Y/N. He seems so amazing. Are we all invited once y’all tie the knot”, asked an excited Stacie from the wash bowl. Y/N was in the process working some oil through Rodney’s hair. “Not y’all being nosey.” “Not nosey. I just love that he loves you. Check it out. He literally sends you flowers every Wednesday at noon on the dot. Because of him, I do that for my lady now too. Expensive as shit but worth it, y’know”, said the male barber. “And don’t forget, he sends us all lunch every Friday”, said the nail stylist beside him. “Oh and plus, he comes by to sit with you every weekend to keep you company in the shop. If that isn’t a future husband then I don’t know what is, girl”, said one of the Transwomen beauticians. Y/N smiled, rolling her eyes as Rodney listened to all the sweet things N’Jadaka had done for his ex-girl and pulling out his phone to type. “Relax, relax. Why does everyone want me to get married all of a sudden”, Y/N asked as she giggled. 

“I HAD A DREAM ABOUT FOUR FISH LAST NIGHT!”, yelled out old sweet Miss Jackson from under the hairdryer; the group laughed as Y/N shook her head. Stacie began to help one of the patrons into a seat under another hair dryer before she grabbed the broom and began to sweep around the beauticians and barbers. “Miss Y/N. Do you wanna marry N’Jadaka?” The shop became quiet except for the music and TV being played in the background. Y/N began to have the thought of N’Jadaka. From her mother mentioning Daka proposing to her, to him becoming suspicious and secretive, to now the shop talking about it, she was starting to think that this could be a sign. Daka was once a stranger who helped her when a creepy man approached her to, now, the love of her life; in that moment she realized that she couldn’t see herself without N’Jadaka Udaku-Stevens. “Yeah, I do.” Everyone looked over at her, including Rodney who looked into the mirror in front of them. Stacie grinned once she stopped sweeping and said “you do, Miss Y/L/N?”

“Well, yeah. I feel like I’m at that point in my life where I want my forever partner and besides, I really can’t imagine myself without him. But I won’t lie, it scares me a little. I can’t describe it.” Miss Sawyer sat in the chair beside her getting her hot oil treatment set in as she smiled to herself. “I was in the same boat. You know young lady, back in my day, my daddy had owned a club with some white man I grew up with and I had to marry his god awful son.” Y/N looked over at her with concern in her eyes and said “Miss Sawyer, you did? You never told me that.” “Yeah, sure I did. I wasn’t happy, baby doll. I cried so many days and nights thinking of how I could be married off to a man, let alone a white one who truly did not love me.”  The shop nodded, taking in her words before she spoke again. “Then I caught him with another woman on his lap, literally a week after he had proposed to me. What even made it worse is that I was getting sexually harassed at where all this happened”; a mixture of gasps, shock and disgust.  “But all of a sudden, the bartender who worked for my poppa and his partner stepped in and when I tell you, the way I knew he would protect me from even a bear had me hot and unbothered”; the group including Y/N laughed. “But I tell you something. I’m not tryna talk ya ear off, baby doll, or none of y’all as a matter of fact. But I just wanna let you know that I went through the same thing you did, honey. I was scared to fall in love with my husband now but he convinced me with his actions that he was meant to be my life partner. The way he got rid of that man. Protecting me. Loving me. And if I could go back in time and do it all over again, I would.” Y/N stood there still working on Rodney’s head on autopilot and deep in her thoughts. She thought about Miss Sawyers’ words but she wasn’t the only one; Rodney sat looking at his ex through the mirror with a softened look. He took a deep breath and began typing against his phone, hoping his partner in crime got the message before it was too late. ~

Across town, Kesha sat in her car, houses down looking through her rearview mirror waiting for the target to arrive at the house. Her phone began vibrating in the cup holder before she picked it up and read the message, scoffing at the words, replying and threw the phone back in her purse. That’s when she saw the man, pulling into the driveway and parking to relax before planning the date night. He hopped out and made his way to the passenger side, grabbing a huge bouquet of white roses and his briefcase; he opened the door, unlocking with his key and stepping in. “Alright, babe closes the shop at like 8 today so I got like a few hours to spare and set up”, N’Jadaka said, as he placed the flowers on the end table by the front door. He kicked his dress shoes off, held them in his hands and made his way to the room to change and grab the spare clothes he always had at Y/N’s place. Once he was done with his shower, took a nap and relaxed, he realized that it was now four pm; he had to start getting ready for Y/N.

Back at the shop, Y/N had finished with Rodney’s hair. “Alright, all done. You need to use this sample everyday until it’s all gone, once in the morning when you wake up and once right before bed”. She took off his cape and was about to head to her office to decompress but felt something grab her wrist softly.  Y/N looked at him and could tell he wanted to say something but instead took a deep breath and placed something in her hand before saying “thank you. Take care of ya self, shawty.” With that, he walked out to his car and drove out the lot. When she looked in her hand, she noticed that he had placed five hundred dollars including tip money; she went ahead to her office to place the money away in her safe.

Back at the house, N’Jadaka tipped and thanked the delivery man and began to place the white wine in the fridge. “Aight, Sweets got the delivery, the restaurant got the plan and everything is set. I got my baby’s favorites and everything. Bast, please let this go smoothly.” N’Jadaka began to set things up by using some rose petals he bought from the florist earlier. He scattered them from the front door, around the dinner table and leading to the bedroom around her bed. He even began to pack all her things into new luggage cases he got back home but not before holding up the cream colored dress he planned for her to wear for the dinner night. Silk with a lace pattern and slits on both thighs of the gown. He began to play their song, setting the mood for the perfect night and humming to the lyrics. N’Jadaka knew her heart would absolutely melt when she saw everything set up the way it was. He ran into the kitchen to put ice into a metal bowl to place the white wine and placed it on the table, right in the middle. He had to make sure she loved it so she could say yes to the trip and yes to the ring.  As he placed the luggage into her closet for even more of a surprise, he began to hear the door open and shut along with the sound of heels clicking. At first, he thought it was his woman but that’s when he realized Y/N didn’t wear heels so it had to be Leslie. “What’s good, Leslie? Y/N is at the shop-.” His statement was cut short when he noticed that it wasn’t his friend at all. It was Kesha dressed in all cheetah print lingerie and matching heels under her robe. “Heyyy, Daka.” ~

“Hey, y’all”, cheered Leslie peeking half her body into the door; everyone greeted her as she walked in heading to Y/N who was in her seat. “Hey, best friend.” Y/N said her hello, hugged her and they made their way into her office. Leslie sat in front of her best friend’s table trying to get a good look at her left hand but saw no ring; she kissed her teeth so loudly at the sight that it made Y/N turn around. “Girl, you good?” Leslie had to think of something and fast. “Oh girl, nothing, just my damn job. I’m finna quit that muthafucka.”“Please, whore. You say that every fuckin’ time you work” Y/N said with a giggle. Leslie made a mocking face, making fun of her friend before saying “anyways, whore. Did you bring my bag”; that’s when she remembered it was on her kitchen counter. “Damn, I knew I forgot something. We can head to the house right now and grab it.”

“Girl, it can wait”, Leslie laughed but Y/N was already up with her bag. “No, no. Girl, we can head out and grab it now. I gotta tell you who the fuck my last client was”; they hopped in Leslie’s car and made their way back to the house. “So, girl tell me who my last client was”, Y/N asked Leslie as her friend kept her eyes on the road. “You better not say Kesha. Or I swea fuh GAWD.”“Rodney”; this made Leslie swerved resulting in the honks around them before she drove straight again. “RODNEY’S PUNK ASS”, Leslie said, digustingly and annoyed. “Yep, his ass used a fake name.”“He ain’t try nothing, did he? I needed a good ass reason to use my new gun.”“Good God, Leslie. No”; the light changed to green. “So, what happened?” Y/N chuckled to herself and said “you remember that bitch we fucked up at the club?” Leslie snickered out loud and said “what he got her pregnant?” “Nope, they broke up.”

“What the fuck that gotta do with you, girl?” Y/N side eyed her  before saying “the nigga is balding.”

“Chile, I been knew that. His daddy bald headed, his momma baldheaded, HELL his old ass grandma bald headed”. Y/N laughed before she said “but our girl was at the shop though.” “Miss Sawyer?!” “Mhm, sure was. She was of course preaching about love and what not.” “She always preaching, best but you gotta think, Mama Sawyer seen and dealt with some shit. Remember I was scared to have baby boy? Miss Sawyer told me I would be just fine and she would pray for us all and look what happened? He running around from diaper changes and shit.” The girls laughed until Y/N said “she mentioned marriage. Have you notice JD acting weird?” Leslie looked over at Y/N then back to the road “what you mean?”

“Like, he might propose.” Leslie deep down wanted to smile and scream YES but she didn’t want to ruin in surprise whatever they may be. “Hm, I ain’t sure. Not gonna lie. I only be around him when you around, boo.”“So, he hasn’t said anythin’ to y’all?”“Nope, nothing boo”; they soon made their way around the corner of her neighborhood and before she began to say “I’m not sure. There are just signs lik-” but stopped when she saw N’Jadaka’s car in the driveway. “I ain’t know babe was here. He texts me when he usually here.” Leslie only smiled when her friend wasn’t paying her any mind. She could only thing “EEEEEKKKKK, I get to see my homegirl getting proposed to.” Y/N stepped out, leaving her purse in the backseat, and placing feet on the sidewalk while Leslie followed behind quickly, eager; that’s when Leslie noticed something down the street. A familiar car, lashes on the headlights, bedazzled license plate and it looked like if the dashboard was covered in some type of polka dot. No. Nah. It was cheetah print… When the ladies approached closer, they could hear music playing from the home. “His playing our song.” Leslie looked at her friend who slowly smiled before using her keys to unlock the door. They spotted the rose petals around but also seen a white wine bottle open on the glass table, one with maroon lipstick smeared on it. Y/N went over to the table to get a closer look but Leslie could hear something from the bedroom. 

“Y/N”, Leslie said, looking at the bedroom door and feeling her body heat up. Y/N walked behind her as she could hear the voices over each other. Leslie could hear her friend breathing heavily, showing she was trying to stay calm but Leslie knew her friend way too well; Y/N was about to put her hands on someone and Leslie would help her do so. As soon as she opened the door, N’Jadaka was on the other side, holding a half-naked Kesha by her arm, and said “Now, get the fuck out before”...

N’Jadaka and Y/N met eye to eye as he finished. “Baby is here.”

WHAT THE HELL JUST HAPPEN?! Guess y'all will have to find out NEXT WEEK!!!!!! CUE THE EVIL LAUGHSSSS

-SWEET BABIES-

@muse-of-mbaku

@im5ftbutmythroat66

@chaneajoyyy

@melanin-samii

@theunsweetenedtruth

@doux-ciel

@unicornluvin8765

@vikkidc

@wakandantings

@thadelightfulone

@mzamethystp

@simbiann

@tropicalsun10

@babydoll756

@notoriouslynay

@vminax

@quinsly

@pinkdemolition

@quietstorm-73

@chaoticcashfancroissant

@bugngiz

@chocolatedippedinhoney

@yafavcocoa

@lostgalaxies

@mbakuwife

@youreadthatright

@babygotl01292003

@acceptyourselfloveyourself

@madamslayyy

@yoyolovesbucky

@theogbadbitch

@wakanda-inspired

@bitchacho25

@toniilaney

@wakandascrystal

@girlsneedlovingfanfics

@raysunshine78

@melodyofmbaku

@hearteyes-for-killmonger

@silenceisplatinum

@thickemadame

@shookmcgookqueen

@heykillmongerluhme

@fonville-designs

@cutewylie​

@allhailqueennel​

@10bsatatime

@nickidub718​

@lildashofmelanin

@allhailqueennel

@amirra88

@hakunalive4eva

@ghostfacekill-monger

@thickemadame

@ladymac82

~ @muse-of-mbaku @im5ftbutmythroat66 @chaneajoyyy @melanin-samii @theunsweetenedtruth @doux-ciel @unicornluvin8765 @vikkidc @wakandantings @thadelightfulone @mzamethystp @simbiann @tropicalsun10 @babydoll756 @notoriouslynay @vminax @quinsly @pinkdemolition @quietstorm-73 @chaoticcashfancroissant @bugngiz @chocolatedippedinhoney @yafavcocoa @lostgalaxies @mbakuwife @youreadthatright @babygotl01292003 @acceptyourselfloveyourself @madamslayyy @yoyolovesbucky @theogbadbitch @wakanda-inspired @bitchacho25 @toniilaney @wakandascrystal @girlsneedlovingfanfics @raysunshine78 @melodyofmbaku @hearteyes-for-killmonger @silenceisplatinum @thickemadame @shookmcgookqueen @heykillmongerluhme @fonville-designs @cutewylie @allhailqueennel @10bsatatime @nickidub718 @lildashofmelanin @allhailqueennel @amirra88 @hakunalive4eva @thickemadame @ghostfacekill-monger

[cnroth]

Fanfic Q&A

I was tagged a long time ago by @curator-on-ao3 and meant to do this later when I had time, but then I forgot. More recently, I was tagged by @strkamand, which has prompted me to actually do it this time haha. So thank you both!! 🩵 😘

1. Why do you write fanfic?

Short answer: Cuz it’s fun!

Long answer: I started writing fanfic in 2016 because I had spent the last year and a half clawing my way back to some semblance of sanity after a really shitty time in my life. We got Netflix for the first time and I found my favorite childhood show—Star Trek: Voyager. It was like a warm blanket in the cold.

I still remember playing Star Trek on the playground with school friends, inventing stories of ourselves as original characters on Voyager, and suddenly I had the thought—what if I actually did it? Made an OC that was actually complex and fleshed out and stirred her into the mix? Added more representation of mental health issues to the show? I also applied for grad school around this time with the goal of eventually working in the mental health field.

So I dusted off my old creative writing skills and began making fanfic as a way to share my ideas with other fans, explore ships and characters I thought were interesting and/or underdeveloped, or just enjoy playing with my favorite dolls while processing my own experiences, as well.

And here I am now, eight years later, still doing just that.

2. Which of your posted stories do you think about the most, even though the story is “finished”?

This is a complicated question, because the answer is and has always been the very first story I joined the fandom to share, and one that took me years to tell—the Far From Their Bones series. Technically, it is finished.

That being said, I may-or-may-not currently be working on something closely related to that… 👀

3. If you could give yourself fic advice from when you first started writing fic, what would that advice be?

I honestly can’t think of anything I’d say. I think that my fanfic journey, bumpy as it may have been, was what I needed to go through to become the writer I am today.

4. What’s your relationship to fic stats?

I rarely check them. Honestly, I post so rarely and a fair amount of my stuff is niche stories few people are interested in reading, my stats are probably shit anyway.

5. Is there a pairing or scenario or friendship you miss writing? If so, why? If not, why not?

The closest thing to an answer for this question is I suppose J/C. I used to be fairly prolific in that ship, but the community for that ship was eventually taken over by a few toxic people who manipulated other participants (especially newer ones) into a very narrow idea of what was acceptable as a J/C fan and shit-talked people who fell outside of that, and I ended up deeply burned. It took out my ability to read or write J/C for a long time. I’ve dipped my toe back in here and there since then, and I won’t say I’m done with that ship forever, but it definitely was a major pain having to grieve the loss of a ship that had brought me so much joy.

6. What motivates you to write?

Usually random story ideas that pop into my head when I’m trying to fall asleep at night.

Also, comments can sometimes prompt me to write more.

7. Why do you write for the fandom(s) that you write for?

I think that’s mostly explained above already. Someday, I might finally write the Hunger Games fic I’ve had in my head for many years, as that series of books/movies was also instrumental in my trauma recovery, but for now Star Trek: Voyager (and occasionally other Trek shows) is where I’m comfortable and inspired.

8. If you’re stuck writing a WIP, what do you do?

There are two strategies I use most often to deal with this:

One, making playlists of songs that fit the story in some way, whether through the lyrics or even just the vibe. Then I listen to that on repeat to help drive me into my other strategy, which is…

Two, I use imagery to develop compelling scenes in my head, mentally watching them and shaping them until I feel like I can write them down—even if they’re incomplete. In the end, I may end up dumping the scene, or changing it, or writing the most inspiring scenes first and filling in the gaps between them later, but ultimately the goal is just to get myself moving again.

9. What do you wish people knew about comments?

Comments prompt my brain to make more dopamine and serotonin. As a mentally ill person with a neurodivergent brain, that is HUGE.

I do my best remind myself that I’m writing fic I want to read, and that can often mean not many other people will want it like I do (or have the time to actually read it), but in the end getting comments lets me know I’m not alone and that my exhaustive efforts in creating fic are appreciated.

It’s also just like fucking Christmas morning when I see that email from AO3. Like, massive mood booster.

I also would like people to know that comments have, more than once, given me ideas and/or energy to write more.

10. Maybe there’s a question you wish had been on here. What’s that question (and answer)?

Not that I can think of 😊

I have no idea who has already done this, and most people I know who write have been tagged by the ladies who tagged me. If you have already done this, tag me in a comment on your post or something so I can read it!

And if you haven’t done this yet, consider yourself tagged!!

Let’s see ummmm @gijane-7702 @seema-unbound @cheile @caladeniablue @theredheadedcaptain @70thousandlightyearsfromhome anyone else who wants to join 🩵

[spicysoftsweet]

A Thorn In The Side - Gojo x Reader

Summary: Infatuation enduring from high school is more of a problem than you or he think (~3.4k words).

Warnings: fem pronouns, fem!reader, noncon, kidnapping, yandere, wlw mention, gojo is a pos

A/N: Part of @suedebunn​‘s Hanahaki collab! 

When the strongest jujutsu sorcerer to have ever lived wakes up in the early am with the sensation of thorns scratching his throat and fullness in his stomach, he’s baffled.

Even more so when he doubles over in bed to cough profusely to the point of near emesis, shocking for a man who rarely gets sick. He stares blankly at a pillow covered in droplets of flecks of red, and his eyes widen with trepidation, until he realizes those large drops strewn across his bed come from flowers rather than blood.

He must be dreaming, Gojo Satoru tells himself, but the satiny feel of the scarlet petals between his fingertips is very real.

Or perhaps a curse.

“So you expect me to diagnose you over the phone?” 

Shoko pulled a drag of her cigarette as though for dramatic effect, blowing it out with a sigh, but continued to listen. She had to be up early anyway and ignoring Gojo would only make him more annoying in her experience.

“So what are your symptoms again?” she asked.

“Apparently my insides are trying to match my beautiful outsides~” he sang.

Shoko rolled her eyes, and as though he could see her, Gojo laughed loudly.

“In all seriousness, I’m turning into a garden. Coughing up flowers apparently.”

“Coughing up flowers, huh?” She leaned a little further against her balcony, her eyes setting on the early morning sunrise she could view from her high rise apartment. “Do you think it’s some type of curse?”

“It’s… different,” he replied, somewhat noncommittally. “I don’t think it’s cursed energy, actually.”

This was unexpected.

“What else do you feel?”

“Uneasy…”

It was Shoko’s turn to laugh. An interesting choice of words coming from him.

“Any ideas?” Gojo insisted.

“I mean, it could be some kind of undetectable curse. I’d know if I got to see you… How does your heart feel when you cough up the flowers?”

“It races.”

“Your mind?”

“Also races… lightheaded.”

“Any thoughts?”

“None.”

“As expected.” she teased, laughing again until she realized that for once, Gojo was silent on the other end of the phone. She scratched her head, then ran her fingers through her fingertips.

“Come in at 2pm today, okay? Don’t be late.”

---

“Well, you’re right,” Shoko stated, stepping back from the examination table, and crossing her arms as she set herself down on a stool to formulate her assessment. 

Her friend, already graced with the palest of color palettes, did actually look ill, dark circles prominent enough to match hers marring his porcelain skin. He sat, legs spread apart, and leaning onto the weight of his hands besides him, raising an eyebrow quizzically..

“It’s not cursed energy, alright,” she said, with a sigh. She stretched out her hand.

“You brought the sample, right?” 

Gojo, uncharacteristically a bit listless, tossed her the bag of vomited petals from this morning, covered in now dry saliva and other fluids. Not batting an eyelash, Shoko slipped on a pair of gloves and felt inside the bag, petals crumbling at her fingertips.

Definitely not cursed energy. She placed the bag on a disorganized counter behind her, making a mental note of scrutinizing it further under a microscope.

“Ideas?” Gojo asked after he’d decided that the time he’d given her to think was enough. It turned out the idea of being sick irritated him more than he expected. 

The very idea of being vulnerable made him slightly nauseous.

Shoko let out a chuckle that sounded more nervous than she had intended.

“My only other thought is Hanahaki disease.”

“Hanahaki?” Gojo repeated.

“Yeah,” she stated. Crossing her legs, she relaxed into her stool further as she watched the young man carefully. “Who’s the unlucky one?”

“You mean?”

“Who’s the unfortunate soul you’re in love with?” She asked again, waiting for his response. The truth was that she was quite shocked at the idea of Gojo being afflicted with Hanahaki, that he of all people could have such a pure, destructive form of love given his track history.

She’d known him long enough to know that his body count was near ridiculous.

He tilted his head, then burst into laughter.

“Myself, duh.”

“Well, auto-Hanahaki isn’t a thing, but I suppose if it was, you’d be the one to be afflicted with it.”

She decided not to press further. “Whoever it is, I’d recommend you settle your feelings as soon as possible,” she added. “People don’t usually die from this but you look surprisingly like shit so I’d be careful.”

Gojo ran a hand through his hair, hopping off the table and pulling back on his shirt.

Settling his feelings may be more complicated than either of the two of them expected.

---

You were in the middle of your drive home when Shoko’s name finally flashed on your dashboard. Grinning, you picked up on the car speaker, mischief in your voice.

“It’s 7:03 and you promised me you’d call at 7 sharp, babe. What do you have to say for yourself?” 

“You’re going to hold 3 minutes against me?” Her sultry voice filled your ears as you made the last turn between the grocery store and your apartment, and you hoped she’d be inside your home waiting for you so that you could actually hold something tangible against her.

“I did say I wasn’t going to tolerate you being late for anything anymore, didn’t I?” You teased.

“Bold declaration for someone who isn’t even home yet,” Shoko retorted.

In minutes, you were walking through the door, arms charged with bags full of groceries for dinner you’d planned to cook together. Shoko greeted you with a kiss on the forehead as you placed them on the counter.

“Did you miss me?”

You did, but you stuck out your tongue at her instead. Her hand intertwined with yours briefly before you separated to unpack items for dinner.

“I promise I’ll be less busy,” she offered as the two of you worked in tandem. Your stomach was already growling, so the sooner you had food on the table, the better.

“It’s no problem,” you replied, and you meant it only half-heartedly. It’s true she was less busy than a regular civilian doctor, but it seemed recently that her clinic was getting overrun with more and more curse victims. Things had been bad recently in the world, you figured. 

You were happy to step back from the world of sorcery, but small reminders like these persisted.

“Did you still manage to fit Gojo in today?”

She had complained earlier today that Gojo always managed to make a bad day worse.

“Mmm,” is what she offered over the sound of chopping vegetables. You understood that she couldn’t say more, on top of the fact that any discussion of Gojo was already a sore subject. It didn’t have to be, and it shouldn’t have been, but this was what it was.

“Hope he’s okay,” you offered, as you turned on the stove.

“He’ll be fine,” she replied, her voice now quieter than usual.

---

The first and last time Gojo fell in love was in the spring of his third year, he suddenly recalled in the middle of a tryst, as an upsettingly subpar blowjob allowed his mind to wander. The young woman whose gags sounded almost theatrical when compared to the amount of pleasure he was actually receiving was starting to get on his nerves, but instead he took matters in his own hands, wrapping her long ponytail around his wrist before guiding the back of her head so she took him deeper.

If she was gonna choke, she should commit to it.

He’d fallen in love with you at first sight. It was a strange feeling for him to immediately be enamored with someone upon first glance instead, having always been the recipient of many an awe-filled or fawning look.

You were a transfer from the sister school, already a rare occurrence, and what was even rarer was the fact that you both had little affinity to jujutsu and little interest in getting better. One could wonder why you even showed up in the first place, much less why you’d moved from one school to the other. 

You’d quit as expected just before graduation, but not before you caught his eye. 

“You’re pretty shitty at this,” he’d remarked, attempting to win you over with humor when he’d been assigned to you for both orientation and possible tutoring. “Of course, you can always ask me for help,” he added, flashing pearly whites at you.

He was the opposite of successful in wooing you.

“I suppose since this comes easy to you, this is just funny, right?” You’d quipped.

Your words cut more than both you and he anticipated, but it didn’t exactly matter. You were not interested in him, the way he was interested in you. 

But Shoko was different.

You became fast friends and upon your departure from the technical college, you’d remained in contact despite withdrawing from everyone else related to magic. 

Even if Gojo tried many times to either bring you back to this world you’d left behind or be part of your new one, you’d rebuffed him every time. Harshly. 

“I don’t know why you expect everyone to worship you,” was the last thing you’d said to him. “I’ve already made it clear that I don’t want to be part of this life,” you’d insisted. “Why would I change my mind just because you asked me to?”

You were right. 

And yet you loved Shoko.

The young woman whose name he’d forgotten’s face was now pressed against his pubic bone and she now began to squirm, slapping and scratching at him like some kind of trapped animal as she struggled to breathe, reminding him that he’d daydreamed for too long.

“Sorry,” he offered, as he released his grip, leaving her to sputter and choke. Looking at her, knowing that she was not you suddenly made him want to choke himself, to bring forth that impromptu garden of unrequited feelings.

He patted her on the back gingerly, and once it looked like she’d restabilized, pulled her in for another kiss. 

If only her lips tasted like yours.

---

Shoko’s hand glided against the curve of your hips, taking in the image of you sleeping softly on your side, facing her. She dipped down to kiss your nose; it was the only time the fact that she had such an issue with sleep benefited her, this ability to almost always wake up before you.

You looked incredibly peaceful while sleeping, and she had to admit this angelic view of you was even better than your features twisted in a pleasured mewl (not that it wasn’t a close battle).

There was a nagging concern in the pit of her stomach, however.

Gojo suffering from unrequited love could be a problem, if the object of his affections did happen to be you. But it had been years ago that he’d pursued you unsuccessfully, why present now?

Why present to her office of all people? Gojo could be inconsiderate, but not to this extent. 

But what if he didn’t know that this was what he was feeling? Suppressed feelings taking root and morphing themselves into the tangible he couldn’t ignore?

She sat up, resting her back against the backboard, the lack of a cigarette between her lips being palliated with the gnaw of her thumbnail. 

It couldn’t be. Not you. 

Please, not you.

---

“Hey, how are you feeling?” Shoko checked in about a week later.

Gojo didn’t share that he’d spent the entire morning in a coughing fit of petals, now definitely streaked with blood, and the entire last night vomiting enough flowers into the toilet that it had overflowed.

He didn’t comment on the entire scarlet sage plants with large green leaves that threatened to sprout from every orifice, not just his throat, but his ears and nostrils, possibly from behind his eyes.

He didn’t know what was next, only that it was getting worse.

The constant fire in the pit of his stomach, the shivers, the chills, the incessant flash of you running through his mind, your name moaned in the darkness, his body drenched in sweat.

The fact that he knew it was because he loves you and cannot find an alternative for you.

The fact that he must have you, and only you.

“Has it gotten better or worse?” Shoko asked.

“I’m fine,” Gojo reassured her, masking the exhaustion in his voice, and she made the mistake of believing him.

---

You awoke in darkness with an icy cold searing into your skin.

It took you a moment to let your eyes adjust to the light and for your body to resume the motor control it had briefly relinquished in sleep before you could reorient yourself. You were laying on ground of some sort, maybe hardwood which implied that you were in some kind of building. 

Your head throbbed viciously as you shifted slowly to a sitting position and you almost expected there to be blood as you ran your hands over the back of your head, checking for injury. But there was nothing, just the normal feel of your hair, and the steady thump of your temples in time with your pounding heart.

Looking around, your eyes soon fixed to the low light, not actual darkness to center on a figure in the center of the room.

You let out a gasp of surprise.

Gojo.

Not only had it been a while and he was the last person you expected to see, he looked stranger than he ever had.

He sat perched on a chair backwards, chin leaning on the top of the backrest. His head was tilted, and he watched you warily but fixedly through eyes that looked sunken into their orbits. Their clear blue was still sharp in the darkness.

His skin had taken on an almost ghostly cast to match his hair, and he was thinner than you remembered as though he had been slowly withering away since the last time you saw him. That was ages ago.

Your limbs froze in anticipation. You didn’t have to be a genius to recognize that whatever was happening or was about to happen was bad.

“Why did you bring me here?”

He stared at you blankly for a moment, unmoving. If he weren’t so extraordinarily fatigued, he would have sat up straighter in his chair and offered you a smile. You were still as pretty as the day he first laid eyes on you, after all. What a welcome sight.

“I guess I missed you,” he responded instead, quietly. 

Your teeth gritted as you flared up in indignation.

“Excuse me?”

He cut you off with a loud, exasperated sigh, mustering the little bit of energy he had left to run a hand through his hair.

“Listen, I thought I’d forgotten myself, but it turns out that I’m being betrayed by my own body.”

As though to add effect, a coughing fit began just at the end of his sentence, and you watched as he spat flowers into the palm of his hand, lowering them for you to see.

“And it seems like you’re the cause of this.”

Your eyes widened as you took in the sight of bloody petals falling through his fingertips and hitting the ground.

He was completely out of his mind.

“I…,” you shakily got yourself up to your feet, not letting your gaze leave Gojo for a second. He didn’t get out of the chair, but he did shift so that he leaned back in the seat, a wicked smile on his face.

“You...?”

“What the fuck are you talking about?” You spat. “Where the hell am I and how did I get here?”

He finally did get up, although it was done in a dramatic, strained movement. He really had lost weight, you noticed, picking up the flash of pale wrists before he shoved his hands in his pocket.

“I know it sounds crazy but apparently, according to your girlfriend, I’m suffering from lovesickness.”

He bared more of his teeth now, looking more like a grimace than a grin by this time. “I didn’t believe it either, but then I started seeing you in my mind every single waking moment.”

In the split second it took for you to blink, he had crossed the distance between you, so that he was now in your personal space, the palm of his hand inappropriately caressing your face, as tender as you’d expect from Shoko.

And you immediately jumped back and backhanded him as hard as you could.

The crack of your hand was loud and exaggerated, reverberating in the room. For a moment, you froze in shock, surprised the slap had actually landed, before shaking out your now burning hand and following up with a hiss.

“Don’t you fucking touch me.”

Gojo’s icy blue eyes glint, demonic in their delight.

“That’s the feisty bitch I remember.”

---

It was nearing 24 hours since you’d failed to reply to Shoko’s text and the normally collected woman was terribly anxious.

She’d stayed at work late, and still, not a single message from you. 

The nagging feeling in the back of her mind returned.

What if it were you?

Gojo couldn’t be that insane, could he?

When she entered your home to find traces of red salvia scattered throughout your home, it only confirmed her fears.

---

“I don’t want to do this either. I mean it.”

It was hard to believe him when he seemed to savor every brush of the lips as he trailed kisses along your inner thighs, spread open with the force of his hands. Gojo had always been deceptively strong, even now, when it looked like he was wilting just as much as the flowers he coughed up. 

Your wrists were bound to a fixed point at the head of a foreign bed, and your ankles to the bedposts anteriorly to prevent you from fighting. Not that you would have been able to fight back anyway, but the severe fatigue permeating his very bones made him less willing to risk anything.

When his lips made it to your center to circle your clit, you writhed in disgust, forcing back the sighs of pleasure that would inevitably ensure.

“Y-you can’t - ah - make me love you…”

Gojo paused the swishing of his tongue to give you a look that reeked enough of apathy that it was almost startling.

“I’m aware, but there’s no harm in trying.”

---

“Where the fuck is she?”

Satoru had the ostentatiousness within him to receive the phone call on speaker, so that you could hear Shoko beg to find out your whereabouts.

“She’s with me,” he replied, calmly to her, holding the phone in one hand and pumping fingers in and out of your slippery cunt with the other. 

By this time, Gojo had gotten tired of your expletives which no longer retained the initial cute charm, so your screams for help were muffled by a gag over your own wet panties shoved into your mouth.

He’d been at this for hours.

There was a pause on the phone from Shoko’s end that sounded like something crashing to the ground, maybe a plate breaking.

Her tone changed immediately.

“P-please don’t hurt her.”

“I’m not.”

He glanced at you who glared back at him with reddened eyes and tear-stained cheeks. You looked even prettier when you were so totally helpless.

“I would never,” he added.

The pump of his fingers slowed but did not stop.

“This won’t fix you,” Shoko warned, almost in a low protective hiss, her own voice breaking. “This won’t fix anything, you bastard.”

He cut off the phone abruptly, and let out a sigh before shifting his attention back to you.

“Where were we?”

---

Maybe if I pretend, he’ll stop?

Or will he continue? Will I just affirm that he won?

His thrusts were relentless, as was the constant tugging at your hair, the teeth sinking into every inch of your skin, the moans and groans whispered into your ears or your bosom.

A violation in every sense of the word.

You were running out of tears.

The fact that it’s pointless, you and he both know it. Your true love knows it, that this is just an excuse to get back at you. For what? Rejection? 

He would die anyway. You would never return his feelings, if there even truly were any. 

He continued to rut into you, and flowers started to stain every inch of your bodies, covering them in a deep scarlet.

Red. Red. Red.

Blood. Rage. Power. Passion.

You probably didn’t need the restraints anymore. You had no fight left in you. 

Just the satisfaction, however small, that regardless of what he did to you, he would still eventually succumb to nature and perish in a bed of putrid efflorescence.

[placeinthemiddleofnowhere]

On the Run

Previous Part | Masterlist | Next PartOn the Run Part 7 Pairing: Bishop Losa x Female!Reader Warnings: 18+ Minors DNI, Smut, Stalker ex, Scenes of abuse, Angst, Violence, Death A/n: thank you so much everyone for all the support for this, I’m so glad you’re all enjoying it and waiting for more 🥰 I’ve started up my tag list now, again if you want to be on it, just reply to this or shoot me a message. Thanks to everyone who’s on it already, you super lovely people!

It was only once you’d gotten out of the shower that you realised that you had no idea what you should wear to go out with Bishop. The shower water was still dripping off of you and you were making a sizeable puddle as you stood in front of your closet. You didn’t exactly have nice date clothes, but you certainly had some nicer things than others. You could wear shorts, but then that wouldn’t be a good idea for going out on the bike. You sighed. This life you lived was not conducive with having dates. Though, its not like you were supposed to be going on them.

You threw your arms up in frustration, causing your towel to fall from you and you smirked as you wondered what would happen if you just answered the door naked. Now you’d love to see Bishop’s reaction to that. However, you were kind of excited to get out properly on the bike so you grabbed some black jeans and the first shirt that came to your hands.

You put on some nice underwear at least, hoping that you might get to show it off later. Then tossed on your black tank top and jeans, looking up at the mirror afterwards. You didn’t look too bad afterall. Sure, it didn’t look super high effort, but at least you were showing off a little more than you usually would in your band shirts.

After applying some makeup and grabbing your leather jacket and sunglasses, you were ready and basically pacing by the doorway like a dog. He still had fifteen minutes to show and you realised you were being absolutely ridiculous hanging around there like he was gonna show up on command. You were a little nervous to say the least, even though you’d already spent the night together, an actual date still felt like a big thing. It’d been a long time since you’d gone on one with someone you really liked. Even if it was someone you shouldn’t like.

Ugh. You hated that little guilty voice in the back of your mind. The one that you knew was the voice of reason, even if you didn’t want to listen. The one that told you how fucked up it was that you were actually considering dating your dad’s best friend. Even if they hadn’t spoken in years, even if your father had long passed, there was a phantom thread of connection, a barrier that you were crossing.

Your heart beat spiked when you heard your front door being knocked. Suddenly the voice of reason was out the window, thrown out the minute you sensed Bishop’s presence. You had to control the grin on your face so you didn’t look like a mad woman answering it. You took a breath and undid the locks. You could do this. No need to be nervous, you repeated in your head.

“Morning, sweetheart.”

Bishop was leaning in the doorway smiling at you. Giving you that flirtatious look that made your legs a little wobbly. How did he manage to disarm you so easily? You shook off your nerves and finally answered him.

“Morning, Bishop. Are you finally gonna tell me where we’re going today?” You asked.

“Nah, you’ll see when we get there,” he said, knowing you were desperate to know his plans. “You just gotta trust that I know some good spots. It’s gonna take a little while to get out there though, so you’ll have to be patient.”

“Oh no I have to hold onto you for a long time, whatever shall I do?” You teased.

“You’ll just have to put up with it,” he joked. “I mention it as well because it isn’t gonna be the same as a short drive through the city, there’s stuff I need to go over with you. I need to know you’re gonna be a good rider.”

“I'm a very good rider,” you winked.

“Of course,” he chuckled, rolling his eyes. “Let’s get you out of that house before you tempt me inside.”

You obliged him and walked out, locking the door behind you. Bishop went over more than a few things once you got on the back of the bike with him. You were given a full lecture on being a good passenger before he would dare start the journey. It was funny to you, you hadn’t expected him to be such a stickler for safety, it was like you were sat on the back of OSHA’s bike. However, he did impress on you the fact that if anything went wrong, it would be very very bad for you both.

He told you to hold yourself close to him and try to mimic what he did as best as possible. If he was leaning on a corner you would need to lean with him. You couldn’t lean further or less, you had to be as neutral as possible or it could put you both off balance and tip the bike. If you noticed something off or weren’t feeling alright he said you should hold two fingers up and he’d stop the bike to see what it was.

“Why two fingers?” You asked curiously.

“Is there some other hand sign you’d prefer?” He asked.

“No no, just wondered if there was a particular reason you wanted me to throw up peace signs,” you laughed.

“It’s better than you shouting directly in my ear,” he explained. “stops you swallowing bugs as well.”

“Gross. I’ll keep that in mind,” you grimaced.

With your little safety talk over, he finally gave you your helmet, putting it on you the same way he did a few nights prior. You loved the feel of his thumb grazing your cheek, like you were something almost too precious to be touched.

With a wink in your direction, he knocked up the kickstand and let his bike chase the horizon. At first you were repeating his speech in your mind like a mantra, making sure you weren’t fidgeting around too much and you were held tight onto him. However as you got further into your journey you were able to relax more and look around.

He’d taken you out of the city and back onto the wild, dusty highway. It was as if you both owned the road, cruising through the endlessness together. It felt like you were in a movie or a music video, you thought, riding into the wilderness and through little towns with a man you just met. Though you knew you could trust him with your life. The whole way you could see him peeking behind himself, checking in on you.

As you got further into your journey you were riding closer towards the mountains. You were noticing more plants and animals, staring wide eyed at all the life around you. You acknowledged that you’d seen some of this on your journey toward Santo padre, but you didn’t get to appreciate it as much as when you were a passenger. It was stunning.

Finally you both rolled to a stop when you reached a lay-by bordered by a thick layer of bushes and trees. You got off and let him stow the bike away behind some of the coverage after he explained you were gonna be walking for a bit and didn’t want anybody to get any big ideas if they were passing by. You looked around you, amazed at the woodland and the mountains and absent mindedly wondered if you’d run into anything while you were in there. You weren’t really sure about the Californian wildlife so while Bishop was tending to his bike you dreamed up all sorts of creatures and got a little nervous.

“C’mon, all we gotta do now is follow this trail. You should take a bottle of water too.”

He handed one over to you and walked on, leading the way. You followed closely by him, looking around in amazement. You weren’t entirely sure where you were, so you still had no idea what you were doing out there, but as you walked further on you cared less and less. This place was amazing.

“You did well staying on the bike that long,” Bishop noted. “It’s not easy when you’re not used to it.”

“Well my legs do feel a little sore, but at least I had a nice view the entire time,” you smiled. “Where exactly are we though?”

“It’s a state park, just not one of the more popular routes,” he explained. “I thought since you’re a city girl, you might appreciate a change of scenery.”

“Well you were right about that…It’s so peaceful here. Although I have to admit, I didn’t expect you to be a big nature guy,” you giggled.

“There’s plenty of unexpected things to learn about me, querida,” he chuckled. “Even scary biker men have to take days off.”

You giggled more at him and shook your head. You couldn’t argue with that. He didn’t completely throw you for a loop however, it wasn’t a long hike to get to where you were going. Once you’d ambled along the bushy trail for a half hour or so you reached your destination. And what a place it was.

Nestled amongst the boulders and the brush was a small pool of water in the middle of a river. You gasped at the sight of the waterfall feeding into it and marvelled at how picturesque it looked amongst the backdrop of the trees and mountains. Suddenly your burning thighs from the long ride felt completely worth it and you couldn’t stop yourself from squealing with delight.

“Bishop, holy crap this place is amazing!”

Bishop got a kick out of your reaction and laughed warmly, shaking his head. This was definitely one of his better ideas in a while, he’d thought. His heart filled up seeing you so happy, looking around like an excited puppy. He sat on one of the smooth Sandy coloured boulders and leaned back to admire you.

“This is one of the coolest places I’ve ever been,” you gasped.

You knew what you had to do immediately. You leaned down and grabbed at your laces, shedding your boots and peeling off your jeans. Bishop snorted, not quite believing how quick you were to strip down without a moment's hesitation. He’d pinned you down as a shy girl, but that didn’t seem to be the case now. Once you were completely down to your underwear and had tied your hair back with a loose hair and from your jeans, you slipped in with a small splash and laughed as the cool water enveloped you. Finally some relief from the sun.

“If I’d have known you stripped down as soon as you saw water that first night, I might’ve taken you home and filled up the old paddling pool,” he chuckled.

You rolled your eyes and settled at the edge, splashing a little water over at him. It didn’t quite reach him however, so he gave you a smug look and fetched his packet of cigarettes out of his kutte. He watched you as he lit his cigarette and enjoyed seeing you explore the small pool.

The water was the perfect temperature for the weather, it wasn’t running particularly fast, so it wasn’t freezing but it did help cool you down. You began wading around a bit, testing how deep it was. You were able to touch the bottom with your tip toes, so it wasn’t too bad. Once you were satisfied it was safe, you swam around in it a bit and looked out over at the mountains, completely lost in the view, feeling you’d been transported into a fairy tale.

“Thank you so much for taking me here,” you smiled, turning around to look at him.

“I’m glad you’re enjoying it, it’s been a while since I’ve come out here. It’s good being able to bring someone else for once.”

“I bet you say that to all the women you bring out here,” you teased.

“Ah yes, my entourage of women,” he chuckled. “Never go far without em’. Its surprising you’ve even seen much of me.”

“I can’t imagine you struggle for company, el presidente.”

“Well that entirely depends on the type of company you’re meaning,” he winked. “Besides, I could say the same of you.”

“I don’t really seek out company much,” you shrugged. “I’m used to being alone.”

You balanced yourself against the rocks at the edge facing Bishop. Allowing you to lean back and speak to him without having to put anymore weight on your tired legs. You beckoned him to come closer and he raised his eyebrows, considering it.

He put his cigarette down by the water's edge and sat down by it. He unlaced his boots, methodically pulling each off much less frantically than you had, and rolled up his jeans. He dipped his feet into the water and sighed. When he picked up his cigarette again and relit it, you watched hypnotised as the flame sparked up from the lighter and brought it back to life.

“Why would a pretty girl like you prefer to be alone?” He asked, leaning back.

“It’s easier,” you explained hesitantly. “You don’t need to figure out who’s got good or bad intentions. You just…drift.”

“Sounds pretty cynical to me,” He said,taking a draw.

“Being cynical has gotten me this far,” you said, not meaning to reveal so much.

“Did something happen?” Bishop asked, picking up on the things you were saying.

You thought for a second and wondered how much you could trust him. You wondered how vague you could be without giving too much away and exposing yourself. It made you realise that being out here with him was changing you somewhat. You were revealing far more about yourself than you normally would, but there was something so refreshing about getting to be honest for once. Relief was flooding through you as you felt like you were releasing pressure, getting to let out the thoughts you’d had to bottle up inside for the last few years.

You swam over to Bishop and he eyed you warily, wondering what you were doing. You brought yourself over beside him and traced your finger up his leg, leaving little trails of water where you were. You looked up at him and let out a breath.

“I met a man a couple years ago and he ruined my life. I haven’t really been the same since,” you murmured with a hint of melodrama.

You wanted to be honest, but something in you wasn’t ready to talk about it completely seriously. Sometimes it felt like your life was a TV show, so you struggled to even convince yourself it was real.

“Ruined your life?”

“Alienated me from my family and friends, fucked with my head, beat me around,” you said through shallow breaths. “He got a kick out of it all, I guess.”

“Sounds like a piece of shit. I hope you know you didn’t deserve any of that and I’m sorry you’ve had to go through it, sweetheart,” he said, running a hand over your cheek.

Your eyes filled with tears, but you promised yourself you wouldn’t let them spill over. You looked away from Bishop and gazed out at the mountains again, breathing in the fresh air and bringing yourself back into the moment. You didn’t want to break down right now, not in front of someone else, especially not Bishop.

“I hope you know that if he ever came round here, I wouldn’t hesitate to put a bullet in him for you.”

At first you thought he was making a joke, but when you turned round and saw the expression on his face you knew he wasn’t. Clearly he didn’t take kindly to the fact you’d been so hurt and you were surprised he felt so strongly for you. This was just another reason to feel safe around him,you thought, there weren’t many people that’d say that for you.

“You’re sweet, I can see why you have an entourage of women,” you joked, lightening the mood and moving the conversation away.

“Yknow, I’ve been called a lot of things lately, but I can’t say that sweet is one of them,” he snorted. “You also keep mentioning this entourage of women, but I can’t say I’ve seen them.”

“Well Angel must be harassing them all away then,” you smirked.

Now that made him laugh. He looked down at you with a twinkle in his eyes and motioned for you to come up. You obliged and pulled yourself onto the side, taking his hand for help and sat next to him. You were absolutely dripping, but you knew that the hot sun would dry you off in no time. It was already beginning to bare down on you.

“I see you’ve really sussed Angel out,,” he said, shaking his head. “He’s a pain, but we keep around. I guess that’s just what it’s like with family, though.”

“Like I said, Bishop. You’re very sweet.”

You planted a kiss on his cheek and leaned back against the rocks. You decided that if you lay back you’d dry quicker, so you closed your eyes and relaxed in the heat. Feeling the warmth spread all around your body.

However, when Bishop saw you like that on full display he had other ideas. He lifted his legs out of the water and turned around to face you, leaning down over you. You opened your eyes, confused when you felt the shadow across you and moaned when you felt his hands roaming over your warm flesh. You locked eyes, both acknowledging the lust burning there and rose up to meet him. You kissed him gently and let out soft moans as his hands worked their way down to your thighs.

Bishop was soon moaning too as you undid his belt and snaked your hands into his jeans. You were both sitting there hands down each other’s pants like a couple of horny kids, but you didn’t care. You yanked his jeans down further and spit on your hand, preparing him for you. He did the same in kind and for a moment you were both locked there, getting each other off with abandon. Your pulse was racing and your breathing was becoming quick and ragged.

You grabbed his hand and brought him to a stop. For a second he looked at you questioningly, but you gave him a mischievous grin and moved your body over his. He soon understood your intentions and let out a harsh groan as you sunk yourself onto him. You bit your lip and started to buck your hips, lifting yourself off and back onto him and building up a rhythm.

The air was filled with your moans as you both thrust against each other. Bishop grabbed your hip with one hand and rubbed your clit with the other, expertly guiding you and getting you off. Your breathing hitched and you squealed out as you came, he growled as you did, feeling you clench around him. You felt euphoric, your head buzzed with the come down and soon he was joining you after a few more thrusts.

You both lay back against the rocks and panted into each other’s skin, fanning warm breath over sun kissed skin. Bishop cradled you against his chest again and closed his eyes. Both of you felt completely spent as the heat melted over you, adding to your lazy post orgasm state. You opened your eyes as Bishop let out a groan and you looked at him questioningly.

“Remind me to stop by a pharmacy on the way back.”

You felt the heat rise in your cheeks as you caught his meaning and nodded. You’d been so lost in the moment you hadn’t really stopped to think about the implications of fucking him without a condom. You laughed to yourself and buried your head into his chest.

“I told you I was a good rider.”

“I had no doubts about that, querida.”

Next Part Here

————

Tag list 🥰

@est1887 @nessamc @just1bri @minimel-fics

[thatsgay-writes]

Elle Greenaway x Reader

Summary: Elle makes a shocking discovery after they catch an unsub. (Follows along season 1 episode 7)

Warning: Criminal Mind stuff

The reader is given a name, for certain purposes and it is third person on purpose.

Word Count: 2.5k

Dr. Thomas Fuller wrote, “with foxes, we must play the fox.”

---

“Bad?” Agent Hotchner asks as Elle handed him a folder. “The worst.” Elle responds as they head to the round table room. Gideon stood in front of a board as he looked at all of the images. “Crawford family. Murdered 3 days ago.” He says just as Derek walked in, “Saw it on the news.” He says as he takes a quick look at the board as he walks by. “They were found in the basement of their house...” Gideon says, still staring at the images. “Bags packed for a vacation they never took.” JJ continues for him. “Report said it was a murder/suicide. The father stabbed the mom, then shot himself.” Derek says as he sits down, still not fully sure as to why they were taking it as a case. “That’s the conclusion the Maryland State police came to. The gun was next to the father, he had gunpower residue on his right hand.” JJ states as she states a few things listed on the report in front of her. “And now you must have some compelling reason to think that Chris Crawford didn’t off his family?” Derek asks, looking to JJ for a response. “Yeah. Another murdered family. The Millers-- found a month ago. The mother, Reese Miller, her two children and her new husband. Again, they were found in the basement and like the Crawford's, their suitcases were packed for a vacation.”

---

“Elle!” Bailey yelled as she ran towards her girlfriend. Elle Greenaway and Bailey Woods had been friends since Kindergarten, both managing to stay in the same school all the way through middle school and up to high school. In 8th grade, they both finally confessed the feelings they held for each other. “Bailey?” Elle asked in concern as she watched her girlfriend run up to her, tears visibly rolling down her face. “Bailey, baby, what’s wrong?” Elle asked as she scooped the younger girl, by a few months, into her arms. “Did someone do something? Tell me who and we can beat them up together.” Elle said, semi-seriously. You just shook your head as you held onto her shirt tightly. It was the week before Junior year ended, the only tears falling from your face should be happy ones. “What happened?” Elle asked concerned, you had never acted like this before. She knew it couldn’t have anything to do with your dad since he was home for the next few months.

Elle made a split second decision and led you out of the school before any of the teachers could notice. “C’mon, let’s go.” She said to you as she opened the passenger door to your car. She had taken the keys from your pocket, knowing you were in no condition to drive. As she drove to your secret spot, you managed to calm down some and were taking deep breaths to calm all the way down. Elle parked in one of the parking spots at the top of the abandoned parking garage and turned off the car. “Can you tell me what’s wrong now?” She asked as she reached over the middle section and grabbed your hand. You took a few more deep breaths before looking up at her, heartbreak shone through your eyes. “I’m moving.”

---

Elle stood outside the interrogation room as she watched Reid talk to Eric Miller. “Is that what this is about, hmm? You think I’m crazy, man? You think I suddenly snapped and slaughtered my own wife and kids?” Eric kept asking questions as he got more and more agitated. “You think I did this? Huh? Is that what you think!?” Eric yelled as he suddenly stood up. Elle looked to Hotch with wide eyes before they entered the room. “Sit down.” Hotch told Eric firmly. Reid was the youngest on the team and it was his first time doing an interrogation solo, so Elle and Hotch were a little protective over him. “Is this your daddy?”

--- South East Washington D.C

Elle sat quietly in her seat as she sat in the back seat of the car as they drove towards the address Hotch and Garcia had found while snooping through the Crawford’s financials. Reid and Hotch both shared a look at the unusually quiet Elle. Usually when in the car, she would be looking over a file or talking to others to understand more about the case but tis time she was just staring out a window. “Is... Um, is everything okay?” Reid asked, his voice going a little high at the end of his question. His question shook Elle out of whatever she was thinking about, “Yeah... Maryland just brings back some memories...” You’ve been here before?” Hotch asks, concerned about the other agent but also making sure that nothing would intervene with the case they were working on. Elle sat silently for a few seconds before answering right as they pulled up to their destination, “No.”

“Federal Agents!” “FBI” “Federal Agents!” “Clear!” Hotch, Elle, and Derek all yelled simultaneously as they busted through the front door of the home. Elle scrunched her nose in disgust at the sight of the home, “Cleanest thing in here...” She muttered as she kicked what looked like an empty dog bowl. She stayed at the front of the house with Gideon and Reid as Derek and Hotch went deeper into the home. She watched with a questioning gaze as Gideon walked over to the wall and picked up a single painting that was hanging. “What’s that?” She asked as Gideon looked down at the drawing. “It’s a child’s painting. It’s a colonial house. Mom, dad, 2 children out front holding hands.” Gideon listed what he saw. “And a big dog.” She states as she looks over his shoulder.

---

Bailey and Elle laid together in her bed, the end of summer coming faster than ever before. She and Elle had spent almost all their time together, going on dates, spending nights at each other’s houses, etc. Anywhere Elle went, Bailey were there, and anywhere Bailey went, Elle was there. Right now the two of them were laying in Bailey’s bed watching T.V. “Stop staring at me.” Elle mumbles as she stares at the television. Bailey lets out a breath of air and rolls her eyes with a groan, “Love meeee, I want attentionnnnn.” She draws out causing Elle to playfully roll her eyes in response. “Fine, come here.” Elle says as she opens her arms out for Bailey to lay in. Bailey plays with Elle’s hair as she laid her head on her girlfriends chest. “I want kisses...” “Bailey repeats over and over again, like a chant. “Geez, someone is clingy today.” Elle states as she sits up and leans back against the wall. Bailey shifted around so she was now straddling Elle. “I leave in 3 weeks... I just wanna kiss my girlfriend.” Bailey pouts as Elle finally gives in. “Okayyyy.” She says with fake annoyance.

Bailey and Elle were deep into a make out session when her door suddenly busted open. “Eww!” “Ezra!” Bailey yelled as her sister covered her eyes with her arms. “Eww! Not you too! Mommy and daddy were doing that too!” The 5 year old yelled causing Bailey to laugh. Bailey gets off of Elle’s lap and picks up her little sister. “Aww,” Bailey says with a fake pout, “Do you feel left out?” Bailey starts kissing all over Ezra’s face causing the little girl to giggle and try to get away. “No! Eww! Stop it!” Ezra yells as she gets out of Bailey’s hold and pretends to rub away the kiss in fake disgust. Bailey just rolls her eyes at her sisters action. “C’mon, let’s go see if Benson is awake. We’ll be right back Elle.” Bailey says over her shoulder as she and Ezra leave the room. Elle laid back on Bailey’s bed as she left the room, staring at the ceiling. All she could think about was how in love with the younger girl she was.

Her train of thought got cut off as a small body was laid on top of hers. Elle immediately moved her arms to hold him and make sure he didn’t fall off of her. “Hey buddy...” She said in a baby voice as Bailey laid down next to her and pulled her into her. Bailey let out a groan as Ezra jumped on top of her before snuggling up. “Alright... What do you want to watch?”

---

“Okay. No, I understand. Yeah, I figured as much. Thank you.” Derek says as he gets off the phone. “He’s been staring at those pictures all morning.” Elle states as she stares at Gideon who is staring at the drawings done by the murdered children. “well, I sure hope he sees a connection cause I’ve checked doctors, lawyers, travel agents, tutors, contract workers. I got nothing.” Derek says as Hotch walks by. “Why target those families?” Elle wonders still watching Gideon. “Well, to know that, we have to know how.” Hotch says as he sits down and continues looking at the file in his hands.

“ We know organized killers are often skilled workers with above-average intelligence. High birth status. And in most cases...male. In the workplace, he's socially confident. And with women...sexually confident. Every offense...is preplanned. Targeting the victim is almost as pleasurable as the actual kill. These guys, they're...they're meticulous. It's a compulsion. Everything has to have its proper place. They do exhaustive amounts of research on their victims. They watch their every move every last detail is observed. Everything has to be written ever so neatly in a book or possibly a journal. When the kids are comin' home from school. When daddy'll be home. Playtime. Suppertime. Bath time. Bedtime. Plan the work...work the plan. This is the way that he maintains control. It's also how he personalizes his target... So nothing's left to chance. Absolutely nothing... Is left out of place, ever. So he plans the work... And when he's good and ready, he works that plan. He takes great pride in his job. I think the workplace has to be the connection.” Derek says as they go over everything they have learned about the unsub.

Gideon walks out of the room he was in with two drawings in his hands. He holds both the pictures up side by side. “Both are by Emily, painted months apart.  This one...is full of color, life. The one I found at Emily's house has lines, dimensions. No color. I believe Emily was coerced to make this. It's a point of view. It is his point of view. This is where the killer stood, just watched the family.” Gideon says after having finally figured out the connection of the paintings to the case. Hotch drops a ring on the desk he was leaning on, letting it spins some before picking it up. “Each of the dead husbands was missing his wedding ring. This is the unsub’s trophy.”

---

Bailey and Elle sat on the edge of the cliff at their special place. Trying to soak up as much time as they could before Bailey had to leave in a few hours. “I can’t believe you’re leaving...” Elle state as she leans her head against Bailey’s shoulder. “We had everything planned out too...” She trails off, looking at the scenery in front of her. “Hey don’t speak like that...” Bailey says as she holds Elle’s face in her hands. “It’s just one school year apart and then we will go to college together like we planned.” Bailey states before she pauses. “Look, I’m going to make you a promise, okay?” Elle raised an eyebrow at Bailey skeptically, promises were a big thing for Bailey, she never broke them. Bailey lets go of Elle’s face and pulls a ring from her pocket. “No before you freak out, this is my dad’s ring.” Bailey says with a slight laugh as she watches Elle’s eyes get big before returning to normal. “Now, you know me and my dad are close... When I was 5 and he got sent on the first deployment I remember, I cried like a baby for weeks on end. It actually got so bad my mom had to take me out of school one time.” Bailey says with a smile as she stares down at the ring in her hand.

“When dad came back and heard about it, he got his ring modified.” Elle watches with slight confusion as Bailey slid the ring a certain way and it split in half. “And now, whenever he gets deployed, I get this half of the ring so I always have a piece of him with me.” Bailey continues her story as she puts the larger part of the ring on a chain. “It’s obviously too big to fit on my ringer so mom bought a chain to put it on.” Bailey says as she puts the chain around Elle’s neck and closes the clasp. “I asked my dad and he said it was okay for me to give my part to you so you know that I am always with you and thinking about you.” Bailey says as she gives Elle a goofy smile. Elle tries to cover her crying but lets a few tears slip. “Hey, it’s okay...” Bailey says as she pulls the girl she loves into a hug. “Senior year will be over before you know it and we’ll be back together again.”

---

The group all sits around the table in silence as Gideon stares into the box that Hotch had found in Karl Arnold’s office. Everyone’s heart dropping as Gideon lets the contents of the small box drop and 8 rings fall onto the table. Every sat in silence feeling remorse for whatever families had lost their life’s to Dr. Arnold. Elle takes a moment to look at each ring and feels herself get nauseous at the sight of one ring that looks a little different from the others. It can’t be... She thinks as she slowly reaches out, ignoring the looks from her friends, and grabs the ring that made her feel sick. She takes a minute to study the ring, her heart beating faster at how familiar it is. She can feel her friends and coworkers staring at her in confusion, wanting to know why she had picked up the ring.

Elle reach's into her shirt a little and pulls out a ring of her own. The group shares a confused look, wondering where the ring had came from and how long she had had it. Elle takes it off the chain and slides the two rings together like she had seen you do ten years ago. The clicking sound it made not only signifying the two rings becoming one but also her heart breaking into two. Elle looks up to see Hotch and Gideon looking at her with a worried face, it was obvious that Elle knew who that ring belonged to. Seeing her friends face’s filled with sorrow was enough for the dam to break and the tears to flow.

---

“Elle! Guess what!” Bailey yelled excitedly into the phone as Elle picked up. Elle laughed at her excitement. “What?” “I get to go on vacation tomorrow!”

[aka-ashi-keiji]

“i can’t hear you”

Bakugou Katsuki x best friend reader

soft angst

tw: screaming, emotional meltdown.

short fic about bakugou and you’re his childhood best friend, and you help him through dealing with his hearing loss. enjoy lovies.

*******************************************************

You woke up to the sound of your mother knocking on your door and yelling, “y/n wake up, you have training today with katsuki. i love that boy but i am not in the mood to deal with his explosive attitude over you being late .” You lived right next door to katsuki all your life and since your moms were best friends, you guys were best friends since you learned how to walk. Every saturday you guys would train from 8 AM to noon in his garage since it was basically a mini gym, and then after you both would head over to your house. You checked the time on your phone on the bedside table and it read 7:50. “SHIT MOM WHY DIDN’T YOU WAKE ME UP SOONER” you yelled as you jumped out of bed and quickly found a black tank top and grey sweatpants to train in. You could hear your mom chuckling as she walked away from your door. You grabbed your headphones, phone, water bottle, and Nike’s before yelling a goodbye and dashing over to Katsuki’s front yard. 

You knocked on his door four times so that his family knew it was you. You were halfway through slipping your shoes on when Mitsuki answered. She yawned and pulled you into a side hug. “Good morning y/n, you hungry?” She asked as she closed the door behind you guys and started towards the kitchen. “No thanks Mitsuki, I don’t like to train on a full stomach. My mom is making a huge lunch though, you guys are welcome to join us.” You said cheerfully, but kept your voice low since it was very early and you could tell Katsuki’s mom was still half asleep. She nodded and then whipped her head to face you wearing a look on her face as if she had just remembered something very important. “Kat has been very on edge lately and not very responsive this week.” She paused before starting again and turned her gaze to the floor, almost as if she didn’t want to talk. “I think it might have to do with his hearing. He won’t admit it, but I think his quirk is finally starting to affect him. Good thing we put him in those sign language classes as a precaution.” she laughed dryly and then turned back to look at you. “Just, take it easy him with the teasing today okay? and maybe try speaking a little louder. I’ll go see if he’s ready” and with that she gathered herself up the stairs and disappeared. 

You thought silently as you waited, and all of a sudden it made sense. Lately at school bakugou has been yelling more than usual, and telling everyone to speak louder. Maybe he was yelling more to be able to hear himself? You didn’t know. Bakugou has been learning sign language since he was 7 years old as a precaution for this and has been regularly signing while he talks since he was 10. So, bakugou using his sign language all the time wasn’t uncommon, but maybe Mitsuki was right. You made a mental note not to say anything until you actually noticed a big change in your guys’ training. You waited patiently for about another 10 minutes before Katsuki finally came downstairs. 

“Hey idiot, nice outfit.” Katsuki greeted you in his groggy morning voice, his hands signing his words lazily. You looked down at the tank top and sweatpants you were wearing and looked back to him, you both were wearing the same exact thing. “Morning pom pom” you greeted back as you gathered your things and started to head towards the garage. You turned around to see bakugou staring into nothing, so you called out. “Hey kat, you coming?” No response. You repeated yourself, but this time loud enough you were sure you woke his dad. He whipped his head towards you and nodded before following along. As you were walking down the hall, you turned to him and asked, “You okay?” while signing your words. Katsuki looked down at your hands and his cheeks started to dust with the lightest shade of pink. He huffed and his red eyes sparked as he just growled out a ‘yeah’ and walked ahead of you into the garage, starting to set up for your session. You yourself had picked up sign language at a young age because your dad was deaf because his quirk was being able to shoot sonic booms from his hands. you pressed the button to open the garage door and let some light in. You then walked over to the speakers and plugged your phone in as you hit play on your playlist specifically for training days. Bakugou stopped setting up the bench press station and yelled, “Can you turn it up? “ as he signed quickly, but then went back to putting the weights together. You turned back to the speaker only to be surprised since the volume was already almost at max capacity. You shook your head and turned the volume all the way up. This session should be interesting. 

It was around 9:30 AM at this point and you and Kat had finished weights and went on a 2 mile run. You were currently sitting on the floor stretching your quads as the loud techno music boomed around you. You glanced over at katsuki who was stretching on the other side of the garage and he seemed to be in a whole other universe. You called out to him, but he didn’t do so much as flinch. You picked yourself up off the floor and slowly walked towards him. You called a few more times and still got nothing from him, so you decided to turn off the music. As soon as you did Katsuki’s head shot up and his eyes darted towards you. “What the hell was that for dipshit? We’re gonna start sparring soon, we need it.” He said/yelled at you while you sauntered over to him and took a seat about a foot away from his now steaming body. You wiped the sweat from your forehead with the back of your arm before talking to katsuki, well you didn’t exactly talk with your voice, you were mostly signing. “Katsuki are you sure you’re okay? You’re not responding when I call out for you.” You waited for his response as his eyes stayed on your hands that were once moving. This time he answered, but for some reason he didn’t sign. “If I tell you, you can’t tell a single soul you hear me dumbass? Not even my parents. “ You nodded your head and gently reach over to squeeze his hand four times, your guys’ way of saying I promise. He then began to talk, and signed very aggressively as he did so, and what he said was enough to shatter you into a million pieces. 

 “I’ve been struggling in a way lately,” he started, “I tried to cover it up by just yelling all the time hoping people would just think it was my normal behavior. But, really it was so i could he hear myself.” Katsuki let out a long breath and you could see his hands slightly shaking. “It started out last week as just a slight ringing, but it got louder every damn day. But, this week the ringing got quieter, and eventually everything around me started to sound like I was underwater. “ He looked up at you and your breath hitched, tears rolled down katsuki’s face as he held eye contact. He shook out his hands and took another shakey breath before he began, “I- I can barely hear you y/n! And its so frusturating.” the volume of his voice was rising, and you could see the pain he was feeling through his eyes and the tears that were now dripping down to his shirt. “I can’t hear your fucking voice damnit! It’s the only one that doesn’t drive me up fucking walls.  it terrifies me!” He was screaming at this point as his hands worked through the air to express his words. The tears came at a much quicker pace once he had stopped to breathe, and those tear turned into sobs as he curled in on himself. He tucked his knees to his chest and ducked his head into his arms as they wrapped around his legs. His shoulders and back shook as he cried, and for a moment you didn’t know what to do. You haven’t seen Katsuki cry since you both were 8 years old and he was playing with his quirk and accidently blasted your arm. He started crying as soon as he heard you wail in pain, and the lecture from his mother didn’t help in the slightest. You subconsciously reached up to rest your hand on the scar as you tried to think of what you could say to him.

 Katsuki leveled his head and looked up at you, and slowly reached his hand out, still crying quietly. For a second you didn’t know what he meant, but it soon clicked in your head and you took his hand in yours. you looked at him with teary eyes and signed, “How can i help?” He untucked his legs from his chest and moved closer to you. Then, before you could even register what was happening, Katsuki had his arms around your waist with his head on your shoulder. You froze, it had been quite some time since either of you had needed a hug like this. once your shock had subsided, you brought your hands to rest on his upper back and rubbed soothingly. He began to cry again, which then led to sobs just like they had before. You began to talk, whispering variations of ‘I’m here’ and ‘You don’t have to be scared’, only to remember that he probably can’t hear you. Seeing katsuki as vulnerable as this broke your heart, and single tear fell from your face. Katsuki could feel your jaw muscles moving against the side of his face, so he knew you were talking, but he couldn’t hear you. “I- i- i- I can’t hear! I can’t hear you! Y/n I can’t hear you, fix it please, please I hate this so much!” He screamed into your shoulder which luckily muffled it enough to not draw any attention from the neighbors. He gripped onto your waist tighter as he breathed long and hard breaths. “I’m so scared. I’m terrified of losing you.” He whispered. This had confused you so you gently placed your hands on his shoulders and put a bit of distance between you guys so he could see you signing. “What do you mean you’re gonna lose me? I’m not going anywhere.” You said and waited for his response. He brought his trembling hands up to start signing and began, “I’m scared that if i can’t hear you, I won’t hear you calling me for help when you’re in danger. What kind of hero am I if i can’t even save my best friend?” You took one of his hands in yours and began to sign with your other. “You’re gonna be okay, We’re both gonna get you through this. I know you, and you don’t take shit from no one. And I know damn well you’re not gonna let a little hearing loss get in the way of beating deku.” He laughed slightly at the last statement, and seeing his small smile was like the world coming off of your shoulders. “We’ll take you to the doctor, they’ll help you.” He shook his head at that and his angry glowering returned. “It’s not anything to be embarrassed about. And I’m sure your parents would do anything to help you become the hero you want to be.” You finished your monologue and squeezed his hand four times, promising him you’re not going anywhere. He smiled down at his hand and then brought his other one up to sign, “I love you shithead” and you signed back, “Yeah I know, I love you too Kat”.

 He began to stand up and Katsuki pulled you up with him.  He immediately pulled you into the tightest bear hug possible. No one knew, but Katsuki was the biggest hugger, and it was your favorite thing about him. You released your arms from his waist and he released his hold around your shoulders. You took the sides on his face in your hands, and pointed to your lips as a signal to read your words. He nodded his head, and in a volume Katsuki couldn’t hear, you said, “I can hear you, I can hear you.”. He nodded and smiled the most genuine smile you’d seen out of him in years. “You ready?” he signed, and you answered “for what?”. He smirked and was quiet for a few seconds before shoving you to the side a little and running off towards your house. “Race you!” he yelled, “First one there, is your mom’s favorite you loser.” Kat called again. You smiled and shook your head as you sprinted off after him, remembering this is the Katsuki that will be the #1 hero someday. 

***************************************🌸

[rogershoe]

Lights, Camera, Action

Part seven

(Part six)

Summary: You’re a production assistant on the set of Cursed. The night before your first day at work, you opened your laptop to shockingly realise you’d be working with Daniel Sharman (and a plethora of other amazing actors), someone you’d been watching on screen since you were a teenager. You kept your expectations low, the PAs rarely got to interact with the talent…what was your chance?

Word count: 3.1k

Tag list: @sxperncturalimpala67 @mrsaaronkeener @tinygardensoul @disasterday @5am-cigarette @lancelotapricot @demoiselle-en-detresse00 @slytherlight @18somethingpsyche @ceruleanmusings @glxctt @cavillxhenry @lovelyapplessss @hereagainsstuff @linkpk88 @aliceperdida @weeping-redemption @magicalsaladnacho @ineedyourskulls @fandomarstrash @cheythefangirl @pure-ghost @estrielle @tessxblxckthorn @isaac-lahey-is-bae @bubblyanis @proudhufflepuff77 @dollfacev8 @everlastingdreams @thehatredofshiprrick​

Warnings: age gap between reader and Daniel, swearing, slow burn, mentions of sex

Notes: So sorry if this chapter is also a bit all over the place! I’ve been very distracted with school and it’s been a bit harder to find the time to write. All that said, here’s chapter seven and I hope you guys enjoy it!! Sorry again in advance for the lack of Daniel content, but I promisee that the next will have a lot more to make up for it. Thanks for reading!

(picture by @archivesharman​)

“We’re good then?” he said, tucking a strand of hair behind his ear.

“Ofcourse….yeah….we were always good” you mumbled.

He smiled at you before turning around and walking away. 

What had just happened? You didn’t know if this day was the best you had ever had or the worst. 

It was probably both. 

As you pulled off your headset, your heartbeat thudded in your ears. Too many thoughts rushed through your mind, some good some bad. Why was he apologising to you? Did he really think he was at fault? And had he actually heard the part where Cassandra mentions you getting nervous around him? Had he noticed your uneasy behaviour? Or was he going to start noticing? 

You thought you’d hid it oh so well…that no one could tell you had a weird crush on Daniel. Was it even a crush? Or was it feelings? You barely knew him, you’d have to get over it sooner or later…or atleast you hoped you would. 

One part of you wished you could be like Siara. She didn’t give a shit if they were actors. She saw them as regular human beings and nothing more. She didn’t get nervous or starstruck. From what you’d seen, those were the type of people actors felt comfortable around to like and be friends with. Not anxious fangirls like you.

You shook your head, shivering. Why did it have to be so cold? 

6:06 pm 

You walked into your apartment, which was not much warmer than the outside. You took off your sweater and put on a thicker one, also grabbing a warm blanket and settling on your couch. The second you turned on your tv, you saw that Netflix was recommending Medici to you. You had seen from Daniels instagram that he was starring in the second season. Maybe this was a sign that it was time to watch the first. You clicked play and leaned back into your couch, letting the show whisk you away from your own troubles. 

Tuesday, January 15th, 2019

3:32 am

You jerked awake when your phone vibrated on your thigh. You were shocked when you looked down at your watch to see it was half past three. You had only gotten through one episode of Medici before falling asleep from your exhaustion. You contemplated falling asleep again but decided against it, you were starving and hadn’t had anything to eat since 12:30. 

You felt oddly refreshed, and felt like going out to get something to eat. You usually weren’t the spontaneous type, especially not at 3 am…but for some reason, your body craved fast food and also the cold night air. You though it out in your head and decided that you could get drive thru and eat it in your car, and by the time you were done, it would be time for work anyways. 

You got up and got ready. Freshening up and putting on your “work clothes”. You hadn’t slept for eight hours straight in a while and so didn’t even feel the need to drink your usual cup of morning coffee. 

You grabbed your jacket and headed out, your keys jingling as you locked your apartment door. 

The night breeze was just as you imagined. The cold crisp air felt oddly refreshing against your face, and you could almost taste the coldness when you inhaled. You had kept your car window down, weirdly craving the chillness. 

After a few minutes though, you found yourself shivering and rolled up your car window, licking your lips to warm them. You thought over where to get breakfast (or dinner?), and decided that McDonalds was your best bet. You knew they’d be open and also exactly what to get. 

It took you five minutes to get to your local McDonalds. You pulled into the drive thru window and ordered a McChicken, a large fries, a coke, and an Oreo mcflurry. You usually never ate a big breakfast, especially before work, but you were starving and felt like you could eat their whole menu. Actually, you were holding back. 

You got the food, breathing deeply when the hot smell of salty fries wafted towards your nose. There was a 7/11 a few shops down so you went and parked in front of it. From you seat, you could clearly see the door of the 7/11, and also the inside through the windows. It was one of the few places open at this time and you loved people watching. Especially people at a store at 4 am in the morning.

You pulled out your food and took a bite, your jaw aching with pleasure. When you took a sip of the coke, you could feel the cool liquid travel down your throat and through your chest.  You looked up and saw that there was a cashier inside the 7/11, a teenage boy. He was sitting on a chair, his eyes droopy.

You tore your eyes from him when you heard a car pull into a parking spot a few spaces away from you. Your eyes widened in confusion when you saw Bradley step out. You knew your next actions were stupid and immature but you still went ahead. 

You quickly (but carefully) put your food down on the seat next to you, and with unnatural swiftness, pushed/jumped yourself onto the back seat, lying flat on your back so he wouldn’t see you. You hoped he hadn’t seen the car move, but you don’t think he did since a second later you saw him walk into the 7/11, unbothered. You took a deep breath looking at your watch, it was 4:12 am. Huey had texted you saying that the crew and actors both would have an early start today. You would have to be at the studio by 5:00, which was 10 minutes from the store. 

The position you were in wasn’t uncomfortable, but it was definitely getting slightly hard to breath. What the fuck were you doing? You should just get up and continue eating, he probably wouldn’t see you anyways. 

Before you could, you saw him coming out and froze, holding your breath. You saw him look into your car but not at you, just at the empty front seats. There was a small box in his hand but you couldn’t tell what it was. You waited for his car to pull out but after waiting for almost thirty seconds, you got increasingly confused. Suddenly the car started shaking rhythmically and your eyes widened when you realised what he was doing. 

He was busy now so you quickly got up and climbed into the front seat. 

Seriously? He was really having sex in a car an hour before work? It was odd but you weren’t one to judge. You actually envied his spontaneity. 

You started your car and drove away.

4:50 am

You opened the door of your car and got out, locking it behind you. You felt sick from all the food you ate, especially since it was right after you woke up. After you had driven away from the 7/11, you had decided to just eat in the studio’s parking lot and wait until it was time for work. Now.

You walked towards the building, rubbing your hands up and down your arms, your keys jingling in between your fingers. It was freezing this early in the morning. 

When you walked into the studio, you were surprised to see all of the PAs except Bradley and Jay standing in a group together, talking to Huey. You walked over and greeted them, standing next to Siara. Huey was looking through the papers and you took the opportunity to ask her what exactly was happening. 

“What’re you guys talking about?” you whispered.

She turned to you, also speaking quietly, “Something about how we might have to travel somewhere”

“Us?” you said surprised. 

She nodded. You swallowed, trying to lessen your excitement. They would probably want the more experienced PAs anyways. 

Huey cleared his throat and you turned to look at him. 

“Alright. Please listen carefully since I’m not going to repeat this”

Everyone nodded and he continued, “To make a long story short, we’re going to be moving filming to England in two weeks and we want all of you to come with us. It’s fine if you’re unable to, but it would be extremely convenient for the production if our crew were mostly the same” 

He paused and you took a glance at Siara. Her expression was blank. You sighed looking away and at Huey, who was now speaking again.

“All expenses, plane tickets and accommodation are payed for. Along with lunch, breakfast is also included. We’ll be in England for nine months with a two week break every three months”

Distraught spread through you as you realised you would have to be in England for nine fucking months…only if you accepted. 

You nodded as Huey handed a folder to each of you, “This has all of the information you’ll need…if you decide to come, sign this and give it to me before the end of this week”. He walked away, leaving you all to discuss what you were to do. 

Louis spoke up first, smiling widely, “Please tell me you guys are coming, you have to come”, he sounded like an excited child.

You beamed, “I really want to…but, it’s more than half a year”, you saw a sad expression spread over his face. 

“I’m going…I’ve always wanted to visit Europe” you heard Siara say. 

“Come on Y/N” Louis said looking at you.

“I’ll decide when I go home and let you both know” you said smiling. You wanted to go so bad, but the thought of nine months away from home terrified you. Even if you could visit.

10:48 pm

You had just gotten out of the shower and settled into your bed after drying off. Your work day had been exciting of course, but definitely not as eventful as yesterday. You hadn’t interacted with Daniel except your usual “hey”. You had talked to Jasmine about the change in shooting and she had told you that her and Cassandra were definitely going. Although you hated Cassandra, Jasmine was one of your closest friends on set and that made the decision much easier. 

You pulled out your phone and opened your’s and Louis’ chat.

Y/N                                                                                                                         Hey, good news! I’ve decided I’m gonna come. I’m gonna miss Talia, but this is a once in a lifetime opportunity and I don’t wanna miss out at all!! I'm so excited [10:29 pm]

Louis                                                                                                                         What?? That’s great! I honest don’t know what I would’ve done without you [10:32 pm]

Y/N                                                                                                                           Hahaha                                                                                                                       We’ll def talk more about it at work tomorrow, I think I should really sleep now lmao [10:33 pm] 

Louis                                                                                                                     Of course of course. Same here...gn! [10:33 pm]

Y/N                                                                                                                          Gn :) [10:34 pm]

You smiled to yourself before texting Siara as well. She usually took longer to reply so you decided not to wait and turned your phone off. 

You were equally nervous, scared, and excited for the trip. You’d get to travel? To another continent? Over a whole ocean? For nine fucking months? And almost for free? You honestly couldn’t believe it. The nine months still scared you but you tried to focus on other things instead. Like the beautiful sights you’d get to see in your time off…and also the places you’d get to shoot scenes. Daniel obviously as well. You wondered for a while if he was happy to go to England too. It was his childhood home. 

Friday, January 25th, 2019

5:05 pm

You licked your lips to warm them as you entered Daniel’s trailer and took a deep breath as the warmth inside enveloped you.

It had been two weeks of helping Cassandra and Jasmine and you had finally gotten the hang of it. So far, your first day had still definitely been the most eventful, with you cutting your finger and then Cassandra getting angry at you. The rest of the days had been much better in some ways. You were still very giddy around Daniel, but you had learned how to hide it. 

It was also much easier since you were more confident in what you were doing. You had actual jobs, like removing his make up and getting his skin ready…things which Jasmine used to do before you. Now that you did it, it gave Cassandra and Jasmine both more time to focus on his actual make up and hair. Cassandra wasn’t much better. She hadn’t blown up on you again like she had that day, but there was a significant increase in scowls, eyebrow raises, and dissaproving looks in general. If looks could kill, you’d be dead ten times over. 

 “Hi Y/N” Jasmine said, as you closed the door behind you. You looked around and saw that Cassandra was absent. Thank God. 

“Hey” you replied, grinning. You glanced towards Daniel, who offered you a short smile. 

You got to work, pulling out a make up wipe and rubbing down his face gently. You had learned that leaving the tears for last was best. That way you could use a separate, stronger wipe on them too. 

Although you had done this about ten times now, it always made your flutter to be so near him. It was also odd how accustomed you had gotten with his skin. You noticed whenever he had a new scratch, or a pimple, a tan…any small changes. 

For some reason, it made you feel special to be this close to him. It almost didn’t make sense to your brain, how close you were to him everyday, yet how little you actually interacted with and knew about him. 

Today you were too busy looking at his eyelashes and didn’t realise you had run your wipe directly over a small cut on his jaw. He hissed slightly, opening his eyes. Jasmine cocked her head towards you both from where she was looking through a make up drawer. 

Your mouth hung open in shock as you snatched your hand away from his face. Your eyes fell to where his cut was, and you swallowed. Why did you have to be so distracted and clumsy? 

“Oh no, I’m so sorry” you said nervously and rushed over to the sink, wetting the corner of a small towel. 

You jogged back over to his chair, being extra gentle as you dabbed the damp corner on the cut, trying to wipe the make up wipe’s liquid away. You then dried it with the dry part of the towel.

“It’s fine really Y/N” he said laughing slightly, “It happened during filming”

Your skipped a beat when you heard him say your name. It was still surreal to you that Daniel Sharman knew you….let alone you name. You smiled slightly before setting the towel down on the counter. 

“Is it still stinging?” you said gesturing to his jaw, your hands shaking.

“Oh no, not at all” he said shaking his head. You felt that he wasn’t telling the truth but you let it go. Grabbing the make up wipe, you continued wiping his make up off. It was a much smoother process, and you took the time to ease your racing heart rate. 

The flight was tomorrow and you couldn’t help but feel excited every time you thought about it. Louis had informed you that Jay and Bradley had opted out of coming on the trip. You were sad about Jay’s decision, but not so much Bradley’s. 

You were happy but also terrified that your work was taking you out of comfort zone. Jasmine had texted you yesterday saying that she’d pick you up so you could both go to the airport together, which made the whole ordeal a whole less nerve wracking. 

You had gotten quite used to this trailer, to the studio…..and you hoped that your routine and jobs (that you had finally gotten somewhat good at), wouldn’t change the minute you got to England. 

Saturday, January 26th, 2019

2:58 am

You jerked awake and checked your phone, afraid you’d overslept. Nope, there was still a whole two minutes left until your alarm. The flight was at 7:00 am and you had told Jasmine that you wanted to get there atlaeast two and a half hours before. You rather be early and wait in the airport for an hour than be late and miss the flight. 

You had thankfully packed everything the night before and it only took you almost forty minutes to get yourself and your bags ready. Just a few minutes after you were done, you phone rang. It was Jasmine. 

“Hey, you’re here?” you said, smiling and wheeling your suitcases closer to your apartment’s door. You phone wedged between your cheek and shoulder.

“Yes!” she said sounding excited. You were eager to go too, but you had only slept four hours and were finding it hard to get to her level of excitement. 

“Great..I’ll be right down”

It was a struggle, but you managed to get both your suitcases into the elevator and onto the curb outside your apartment building where Jasmine was waiting. The cold night air hit you like a brick, and you felt energy surge through you. 

Jasmine got out of her car quickly, “Oh let me help you with those”

You both loaded your suitcases into the trunk of her car. Y

You rubbed you hands together warming them, as you got into the car, you backpack at your feet. Jasmine started the car, beaming. 

“You excited?” she said, driving.

“Very” you laughed, turning the heater up. You were tired, but the adrenaline from your excitement kept you wide awake. 

4:56 am 

It took you guys almost twenty minutes to get the airport, which wasn’t bad. You were now walking through the airport, your luggage hopefully making it’s way onto your plane. You had made it through security smoothly, and there had been no problems with your boarding pass or passport. If there had, Cassandra would’ve probably killed you both. 

“What’s the gate number?” you asked Jasmine, who was holding the boarding passes. 

“Uhh” she looked at them, “32B”

You nodded, just a little farther. The smell of coffee and food from the various little cafes made your stomach grumble. 

You thought your adrenaline would’ve died down by now but it hadn’t. You tried to keep telling yourself that it was because you were travelling to Europe…but inside, you knew the real reason you were so excited. 

[ortizobsessed]

Leave This Town

This one was requested by @xx--day-dreamer--xx.

Reader x Juice where instead of Juice turning himself in, he hides out with you, and you two leave Charming together. As some added tension, you’re also Chibs’ niece. (This is intended to take place between Season 6 and 7, before Juice gave himself up and was sent to prison)

Warnings: A few swears, talk of suicide attempts, and mention of death threats.

Word Count: 2709

Masterlist

Driving through the clubhouse parking lot, you saw your uncle walking towards his bike. You put your car in park, turned the key, and slammed the door. He had noticed you pulling in and was now walking towards you. Yelling at him from across the parking lot, you asked, clearly distraught, “Have you heard from him?!”

Chibs shook his head, and motioned with his hand for you to keep your voice down. It gave you the feeling that maybe coming here wasn’t a good idea, but you needed to find Juice.

“I’m really worried. I haven’t seen or heard from him in 4 days.”

Chibs let out an airy laugh, “Maybe that’s for the best.”

If you weren’t already worried enough, that sent you over the edge. “What is that supposed to mean? What the fuck is going on? Uncle- please- please I just need someone to tell me what happened!”

“You know what darlin’?” His voice was low and gruff, and the look on his face was one you’d never seen before, at least not when he was talking to you. He was visibly angry. “I told you getting involved with that boy was a bad idea. If you do happen to find him, you should tell him to get the fuck out of town.” As tears started to build in your eyes, Chibs took a deep breath and lowered his voice slightly, but still firm, he added, “Look, I don’t know what happened either, but I do know that he has no place here, in this club, anymore. Jax has made that pretty clear. I’m sorry to be the one who has to tell you that, love, but-” he sighed, and dropped his head, “I don’t want anything to happen to you. And I don’t-” he lowered his voice even more, “I don’t know what Jax would do if he found out you were here today so please, you should go. If you hear from Juice, and if you truly care about him, you get him the hell out of this town. I mean it.”

His words were sharp knives, cutting clean through your chest and straight into your heart. Leave Charming? You couldn’t stand the thought of losing him, but something about this conversation told you that if Juice were to stay, you would never see him again anyway.

You didn’t know how to respond. Tears had finally started flowing, and all you could do was fumble with your keys, unlock your car door, and drive away. You knew you weren’t in the right frame of mind to be driving right now, but your fight or flight response had taken over, and rational thinking wasn’t high on your list of priorities.

You drove straight to Juice’s house, banging your fist on the front door aggressively. No answer. You lost count of how many times you knocked on the door, each time yelling something along the lines of, “Juan, if you’re in there- please- PLEASE let me in. I need to talk to you.”

After what felt like hours, but was really only more like 10 minutes, you gave up. As you walked back to your car, you dialed Juice’s number for about the 12th time in the last couple hours, and hit talk. Once again, no answer, so this time you left a voicemail.

“Juan... Please talk to me-” your voice broke, and you fought to hold back tears. “I just need to hear your voice- I need to know that you’re okay.”

You spent the entire afternoon lying on your couch, dialing Juice’s number every 15 minutes or so, and running every possible scenario through your mind. What happened? Where was he right now? Was he not answering your calls because he didn’t trust you? You just needed answers.

Finally, you heard a loud knock on your apartment door. You jumped up from the couch and were at the door in seconds, opening it. There he was, dressed in all black, with the hood on his sweater up.

“I uh- I got your call,” he teased, holding his phone up.

“Now is not the time to joke around, Juan. I thought something horrible had happened to you!”

Seemingly ignoring your comment, he pushed past you until he was standing in the middle of your living room. Locking the front door, you turned to face him. “It’s not what’s already happened, it’s what might happen.”

“Why is everyone speaking so cryptically?! Why the fuck won’t anyone just tell me what’s going on?!”

Juice sighed heavily, then looked up at you.

“Juan- Just please tell me what’s going on.”

You wouldn’t normally push, especially when you could tell that whatever was going on was weighing on him, because he always came to you when he was ready to talk. But you could feel it in your bones that this time was different, between the way Juice had been ignoring you, and the conversation with your uncle earlier. You needed to know what happened so you could figure out what you could do to help him.

“Gemma is on her way here. She’s going to help us. Everything will be fine.” His voice was clearly broken, and it sounded like he was trying to convince himself as much as you.

But his words only confused you more. “What does Gemma have to do with any of this?”

As if right on cue, you heard a knock at the door, and opened it to find Gemma standing there. You let her in, and moments later truth started to flow. They told you everything; from Jax ordering Juice to kill Darvany, all the way up until just 4 days ago when Jax finally found out that he had nearly overdosed and confessed everything to Nero. Juice had been hiding out at motel since.

“And I owe him a favour, that’s why I’ve been helping him out,” Gemma confessed. “But it’s best if you don’t know about any of that right now.”

Your mind was spinning. There was so much new information to take in that you almost regretted asking, but you had to know all of it. Over the past 2 years that you and Juice have been together, you’d been in such a grey area, knowing about some of the club business, but none of the fine details.

You noticed Juice had been acting different these last few months, but any time you asked him what was wrong, you were always told that it was just “club shit”.

“Oh, Juan-” your eyes were full of tears, thinking about how this club, and all the things that come with it, had pushed him to attempt suicide a second time.

You had learned about his first attempt at the beginning of your relationship. You two got to know each other at a group meeting for survivors of attempted suicide. Though you didn’t learn about the exact details that lead up to his first attempt until farther down the line, you knew it also had something to do with the club.

Taking a few steps towards him, you placed a loving hand under his chin and lifted his head. He couldn’t make eye contact with you, and that broke your heart even more. Through a shaky voice you pleaded, “Look at me, Juan. Please.”

You now had both of your hands on either side of his face, and he reluctantly met your gaze. The disparity in his eyes was obvious, and you lost it, tears beginning to flow down your cheeks. You pulled his face to yours and kissed him tenderly. Wrapping your arms around his neck, you nuzzled your face into his neck and felt his arms loosely wrap around your waist, then pull you close.

Whispering against his skin, your voice trembling, “You should have told me. Maybe I could have helped. I- I... Shit Juan- I could have lost you. I can’t lose you!”

You held him tight and felt his body shake, “I know- I know. I’m so sorry Y/N.”

As the tears slowed, you began to feel rage bubbling up from underneath. “I can’t believe he would put that on you! I thought the club never harmed women and children! Who does he think he is making that kind of decision?!”

You had pulled away from Juice at this point, and was scrambling around trying to find your car keys.

“Where do you think you’re going?” Gemma asked sternly.

You didn’t bother answering her question, you just slammed the door behind you, and made your way to your car.

Pulling up in front of Scoops & Sweets, you shut off your car and walked up to the front door with purpose. Swinging the door open, you saw some of the guys at a table; Tig, Jax, Happy and Bobby. Chibs had seen your car pull up, and was already standing.

“Oh hell no-” Jax was angry, and the second you locked eyes with him, you felt your blood start to boil.

“Jackie Boy, I’ll handle this.” Chibs was trying to defuse the situation before it began, but it was too late.

You raised your voice, “You son of a bitch! How dare you put that on him!”

Jax stood up at this point, and was making his way towards you. “He wants to be a part of this club doesn’t he? Wear that reaper on his back? Well that’s what the patch means! Sometimes you have to do some pretty ugly shit!”

You were seeing red. “You took advantage of him and you know it!”

“That boy needs to be dealt with!” Jax yelled back at you.

“He doesn’t need to be ‘dealth with’!” You repeated, mocking the way Jax had said it. “What he needs is help working through whatever awful shit is going on inside that head of his. Shit that lands on you, too!”

The look on everyone else’s faces made it clear that no one outside of him and Juice was privy to what had happened.

Chibs was standing between you and Jax, holding onto your shoulders and trying to move you towards the door. “Okay, okay, that’s enough of this! Let’s go outside.”

“Yeah you better get her out of my face,” Jax threatened.

“Or what?” you yelled, “You’ll have me killed, too?! We all know you’re not above killing women!”

Jax flashed you that devilish grin of his, and you felt chills run down your spine. You immediately regretting saying it, and quickly realized that the target that was on Juice’s head, was most definitely on yours as well now.

“HEY!” Chibs yelled, “I SAID THAT’S ENOUGH. OUTSIDE. NOW.”

You turned on your heel and made your way to the door, and you heard Chibs yell at Jax, “I don’t know what the fuck is going on here, but you have some explaining to do when I’m done!!”

You stood with your back to the shop, not wanting to look at Jax any longer; you’d had enough.

“What the hell was that about?!” Chibs asked, still angry.

You wasted no time, “Juice is the one who killed Darvany. The price he had to pay to earn Jax’s trust back. It’s been eating away at him for months now, and he just tried to kill himself because of it.”

“Oh for fuck’s sake, that boy. Not again.”

You paused, “Jax is going to kill him, isn’t he?”

Chibs didn’t even have to say anything, the look in his eyes was all you needed. “You’d better listen to what I told you earlier and get that boy out of town.”

You nodded nervously. You were being torn in half by your family, and the love of your life. On one hand, you were facing the decision of turning your back on Chibs. He was the only family you had left, and you’d grown close to most of the guys over the past few years. The thought of leaving that all behind was hard to swallow. But you knew your only other option was to leave Juice and let him fend for himself.

This was the toughest decision you’d ever faced, but one that only took a matter of 2 seconds to make; you were not going to abandon Juice. You were his last resort. If he didn’t have you, he had nothing, and no one. You loved him, and the thought of throwing him to the wolves was something you would never be able to live with.

You hugged your uncle tight, knowing full well this was probably the last time you would ever see him. He held you close and kissed the top of your head gently. “Now go on, get out of here. And don’t look back.”

Nothing in the world could have prepared you to hear those words, but you knew it was the right thing. As you made your way back to your car, you heard Chibs open the front door of Scoops and say, “What the fuck were you thinking, boy?!”

You knew it wouldn’t be long before Jax would have everyone on the club’s payroll looking for you and Juice.

The look on your face when you got back to your apartment was hard to ignore, and Gemma was on you the second you closed the door. “Where the hell did you go? What happened?”

Juice was by your side in no time, pulling you into his arms, “You scared us...”

You wanted to snap back, “yeah, now you know how it feels!” but you knew this wasn’t the time.

You hugged him tight, and confessed, “I went to see Jax.”

“You did what?!” Juice couldn’t believe what he was hearing.

“I needed to hear him admit it!” The weight of the situation was clearly taking it’s toll on all of you, but with your words, a collective sigh washed over the room, and you felt a bit of the tension dissipate.

“I’m so sorry Y/N... I didn’t want to drag you into the middle of all this, Chibs being your family and all... but I don’t know what to do anymore. I need you. I came back for you.” Juice pulled you even closer as he apologized.

“Yeah sure, that, but also your boy thought it would be a good idea to shoot the motel manager!”

“You did what?!” You looked up and Juice, shock written all over your face. He was looking at Gemma, clearly annoyed that she had spilled that information.

“What? I thought you wanted her to know everything.” Her comment was snarky; you could see where Jax got it from. “But don’t worry about it, Unser is going to clean it all up, you just need to get yourselves out of this god-forsaken town, now.”

There was so much going on that the fact that Juice had just killed someone, and you were being told not to worry about it, was the least of your troubles. You knew deep down that Juice only did the things he did because he thought it would buy him back his “family”. You made the decision to push that all to the side for now. Shaking your head as you tried to rid your mind of all the insanity, you said breathlessly, “Okay, okay- Juan- you are leaving this town, for good this time, and I’m coming with you.”

He nodded his head in agreement, and kissed you on the forehead. The next half hour was spent packing up all the essentials. Most of your clothing was going to be left behind, you could always buy new stuff wherever you ended up. Juice didn’t have much of value back at his house, so it was a quick 2 minute stop on the way out of town.

“Be careful, you two.” Gemma gave both of you one last hug in the front entrance of Juice’s home, and before you knew it, you were on the road.

You drove for the fist few hours, letting Juice rest. Neither of you had family anywhere, you were each other’s family now. Where you ended up, you didn’t care. The plan was simple, get in the car and drive, as far away from this town, and this life, as you could.

[bnhayyy]

My fic for day 7 of @aot-au-week has also gotten away from me and I will not be able to post it today. This is unsurprising, since I decided to use it as an excuse to write the first of what I plan to be a series of one-shots. However! Since I don’t want to post nothing on the day itself, I’ve decided to go ahead and preview the (unbeta’d) first chapter.

It’s an AU where Reiner is Marleyan on his mother’s side. This changes a lot. (Until some stuff happens later on, and suddenly, it changes far less than you might expect.)

"What are you doing?"

Reiner liked to watch the devils. He knew that he wasn't supposed to, but it was so easy with how close to Liberio's gate they lived, and he found that he couldn't handle the temptation. It wasn't like anything bad would come from it anyway. None of them could hurt him; there were soldiers all over the place, and even Eldians like them should know the trouble they would get into if they hurt a Marleyan. He was only catching a few quick looks anyway. It wasn't much, but if he was lucky, he thought he might be able to figure out how they worked, what it was that made them so horrible. Then he'd be able to handle them better when he finally turned eleven and was allowed to join the military in a year.

He didn't really care if any of the Eldian cadets caught him looking. It wasn't like any of them could do anything about it. That was why he didn't expect any of them to say anything either.

A tiny girl with ice-blue eyes proved him wrong, looking right at him and asking her question.

Reiner balked. Just for a second, just to remember that this was a devil child he was talking to, that even though she probably wanted to hurt him, he was Marleyan and there was nothing he should do. When he remembered that, he grinned and said, "looking for your horns."

The girl blinked. "What," she said, although it didn't sound like a question. She probably wasn't very smart, then.

"Looking for your horns," Reiner repeated. He coaxed his expression into more of a sneer, since his mother wouldn't like it if she knew he was looking friendly toward these people. "You’re devils, right? So where are your horns? My mom says you should have them."

The girl's hand balled into a fist. She took a step forward and sent alarm exploding in Reiner's chest, driving him to take a stumbling step back before he even what was happening. It looked for all the world like she would take another, but before she could, an older boy stepped forward and placed a hand on her shoulder. The girl looked up at him for a few moments, then relaxed her posture. She was still scowling though. It was just pointed at the dirt now instead of him.

Reiner began to frown as his heart slowed down enough to let him think. Stupid. That girl looked like she couldn't be older than seven or eight - maybe even six, with how short she was - and one of the soldiers would have seen and stopped her if she actually tried to do anything. He couldn't let himself look like he was afraid of her!

He began to open his mouth. The girl flickered her gaze back up, expression darkening.

Reiner redirected his attention to the boy who still had a hand on her shoulder. "You need to keep her under control!" he snapped. "I could report you, you know."

The boy smiled sadly. "I'll keep that in mind," he said. "But if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing? I thought Marleyan kids weren't supposed to talk to warrior candidates."

Reiner's brow furrowed. Warrior candidates. He'd heard that term before - the warriors were supposed to be the Eldians who weren't quite as bad as the rest of them. The devils with the ability to turn into actual monsters. Marley's living weapons. The term made his curiosity burn that much brighter, even though the devil boy was... not exactly wrong. He wasn't about to tell him that though, especially when there were so many questions that he suddenly wanted to ask.

Before he could say a single word, a gruff voice began to resonate from a short distance away. The soldiers meant to be escorting the devil children started looking at them a little more intensely - and casting unsure glances at him. Now that he looked at them, the other devils - warrior candidates - were shooting him nervous glances as well. Well, most of them were. Some kid standing next to an unusually tall boy was glaring at him outright. Reiner took note of it and made sure to glare right back.

The girl shrugged her comrade's shoulder off and marched over to them, while the boy glanced in the direction of the voice and murmured, "Magath."

When he looked back at Reiner, his smile was a little less sad and a little more anxious. "You might want to get out of here. Go on - I swear I won't tell anyone about what happened."

Reiner's attention jerked back to him. The glare stayed, now fueled by the urge to say that he didn't need an Eldian to keep secrets for him. However, the voice was getting closer and louder. He hoped that he wouldn't get in trouble. He didn't think he had any real reason to get in trouble, but... he didn't really want to find out.

With all of his questions still burning in the back of his mind, Reiner ran off. It irritated him that he didn't get the chance to learn anything useful, but... it wasn't like the warrior candidates didn't come through the area often enough. He would have other chances to figure out what made them tick.

It was only a few minutes later that he realized that he'd made a mistake. Just before he left, he had slipped up and given the devil boy a look that was almost grateful.

He'd have to do a better job of remembering his place next time. His mother would be so disappointed if she knew that he was being friendly with a devil.

[seijch]

tsukishima kei | dooms•day

tsukishima kei + gender neutral!reader

genre. romance, angst, bits of fluff

word count. 1.9k

recommended listening. matt maltese - as the world caves in

synopsis. how would you spend the next twenty-four hours, knowing that they would be your last?

12:00 AM | 23:59:59

The clock strikes midnight.

You exchange a glance with Tsukishima.

This is the beginning of the end, it says. Are you ready? it asks.

The meteor is en route to Earth. The planet has less than twenty-four hours left to live.

You haven’t been able to sleep much these days, and Tsukishima can’t blame you. Instead, you stay up together, a movie you’ve seen countless times playing in the background. “Can we watch something else? I don’t know how keen I am on making this one of the last movies I ever see,” he drawls.

Your relationship has always required mastery of reading between the lines, peering through the hairline cracks in words and actions for their true meaning. You called him out on it, once.

(“You’re like a nut,” you’d blurted, legs draped over his lap as you scrolled through your timeline.

There had been a beat of silence before he deadpanned, “What.” When you glanced up from your phone, he had been giving you a look.

Looks, in your relationship, are quite commonplace. Tsukki’s full of them: hard looks that express his exasperation, split seconds of pure adoration he thinks you don’t notice, and even capital-L Looks that lead to sweaty bodies against smooth bedsheets.

That night, his look had been one of muted curiosity. “You know,” you pressed on, sitting up to close the distance between you, “like how squirrels break open nuts to get to the good stuff.” To prove your point, you had knocked on his skull and stifled a laugh at his grimace.

“You’re calling me a nut?” His mouth was set into a hard line. “You could’ve just as easily called me an oyster, say I’m a pearl or some sappy shit like that.”

“First of all, no,” you frowned, having switched to carding your fingers through his hair. “When have we ever been into sappy shit? Besides, I think it’s funnier to call you a nut. So I will.”

“I don’t think I’ve ever hated anyone more in my life,” he said, leaning into your touch regardless.

“Uh huh. You keep telling yourself that.” You had taken the victory that night, planted a chaste kiss to his lips as your prize.) 

You know he doesn’t mind the movie; in fact, you think he enjoys it. You don’t know how to tell him that a numb feeling’s set in, ghosting over your fingertips. You don’t know how to tell him that the two things keeping you steady are his arms around you and the movie (which, really, isn’t even that good) playing.

So you don’t. The way he holds you tighter than ever tells you everything you need to know.

3:16 AM | 20:44:15

“I take it we’re not sleeping tonight?” Tsukishima asks, long fingers wrapped around a mug of hot chocolate.

You blow on your own mug before responding. “What’s the point? We’ll be asleep soon enough.” Forever, you don’t add.

“Fair enough.”

The first sip is sweet in all the right ways. You cherish the little joy, the small victory, while you can.

5:49 AM | 18:11:57

The sun rises on the last day you’ll ever see. You and Tsukishima watch it crawl up the high-rise buildings around you, darkness giving way to dawn. You’ve never understood the appeal of chasing after sunrise and sunset, but you start to wish you hadn’t taken something so constant for granted.

Tsukishima’s fingers graze yours as they hang from the railing of your apartment’s balcony. His fingers toy with yours, intertwined without your palms touching. He does this often, and you’re sure you can map out the callouses of his fingers, each line of his palm by touch alone.

It’s as the sky bleeds from orange to pale blue that it hits.

Your eyes sting with incoming tears at the finality. You won’t finish college. You won’t get to live your dreams, move into a proper house. You won’t get to see Tsukki, your Tsukki at the end of the altar, waiting for you to join him.

“I love you,” you choke out, voice strained. It’s the only thing you can think to say at a time like this. “I mean it. I always mean it, but—” You try to stress your words, make it absolutely clear that you’ve never meant anything like you mean this. “I mean it. I love you, Kei.” You retract your hand from his, needing both to wipe away your tears.

When you turn to look at him, he’s crying too.

1:57 PM | 10:03:17

You’ve just gotten off the phone with your family, the first and last people you called when the news of the world’s end got out. When was the last time you saw them? Saw your friends? The time you have left isn’t enough to see them one last time.

Your fist trembles as you press it against your lips, eyes sore but stinging with tears kept at bay.

Despite this, the sun shines cheerily outside. It’s a beautiful day, everything washed in afternoon light. You figure this is better than spending your last day with the sky painted dreary gray.

Tsukishima comes up behind you, arms rubbing circles into your upper arms. “I just got off the phone with Akiteru.”

“How is he?”

“With our mom.” You know he wishes he could be there too, wants for it like nothing else. You can only dream to grant his eleventh-hour request.

“I’m sorry.” 

“Me too.” And then, “Let’s get out of here.” You turn to face him, surprise clear as day. (You suppose that if anything can drive a homebody outside, it’s the end of the world.) “I figure you don’t wanna die in our shitty apartment.” His hold on your arms drops, instead taking his hands in yours. “Let’s go somewhere.”

“Where?”

“Anywhere.”

You scan the apartment one last time. (There really seems to be a lot of lasts today, but you figure it can’t be helped.) This was your home for months, despite the leaky faucet and chipped wallpaper.

Every corner oozes with memories, more than enough to make your heart feel as though it’s fit to burst. Tsukishima’s thumb caresses the back of your hand. That’s right. Your other home, the one you can’t afford to lose now, is right in front of you.

You get dressed.

7:25 PM | 4:35:18

The sun sets on the last day you’ll ever see. You think that you like sunsets a bit more than sunrises; less waking up early (or staying up late), a view that gives you more than enough bang for your buck. You watch the way orange seeps through the sky in reverse, dusk giving way to the dark of night, head resting on Tsukishima’s shoulder.

It’s quiet. You’ve parked somewhere secluded, hidden from prying eyes. With less than four hours before certain death, you get nostalgic for how far you’ve come since your time at Karasuno.

“Thank you,” you say, breaking the silence. “I’m glad you were such a smarmy bastard in high school.” He chuckles, the sound a pleasant rumble that singlehandedly warms you from the inside out.

“I’m glad you liked to think you could top my scores,” he replies.

(It had taken you two years to finally, finally beat his exam scores. Having no reason to talk to Tsukishima after that, you disappeared from each other’s lives. It had taken you a month to piece together the reason you felt so strangely empty without his signature smirk to rile you up.

“You like me,” you’d said, sitting backwards in the desk in front of him as he ate lunch. You didn’t phrase it as a question; why would you, when you knew the answer?

“You got what you wanted already, didn’t you? Why are you still here?” You were a thorn in Tsukishima’s side, as he’d repeated time and time again (both in private and to your face). Even still, he had to admit that the past month without you had been...boring. (He also had to endure Yamaguchi’s endless questions about you, drilling your absence into his head even further.)

“Do you want me to be nice, or do you want me to be honest?”

“Just spit it out. I don’t have all day.”

“Unfortunately,” you’d prefaced this with a long-suffering sigh, “I feel the same way. You might be an emotionally constipated asshole, but what I’m saying is…” Your fingers drummed on his desk, invading his space. “Let’s go on a date.”

Shaking himself from his stunned silence, he’d replied, “Sure.” In the moment, it had sounded nonchalant, but you had a feeling his hands were getting clammy.

Truth be told, you had it on good authority (Yamaguchi, who’d gotten sick and tired of bearing witness to almost three years of you two dancing around your feelings) that he felt the same you did. It was Yamaguchi’s words that gave you the confidence to confront Tsukishima at all.

“I’ll see you on Saturday, then. This better not be boring, Tsukishima,” you teased, snatching his chopsticks to steal a bit of his meal. “After all, you’re with me now. If you’re going to take me out, it better be in style.”

You had the audacity to throw a wink at him before walking back to your classroom. You get an eye roll in response, but take great pleasure in the way he had gone red to the tips of his ears, knowing that you’ve won.)

9:31 PM | 2:29:20

“I love you.”

“I know.” Silence. “I love you too.”

“I know.”

11:59 PM | 0:00:59

It’s bright, like a fallen star, all white-hot and angry. You think it’s beautiful in its own way, gawk at it with your mouth hanging open. “Here it is,” he whispers, squeezing your hand so tight it almost hurts. “The end.”

You cup his cheek, turn his head to look at you. You try to steel yourself. Inhale. Exhale. (Your breath comes out shaky, but neither of you acknowledge it.) “I guess this is goodbye.” You were supposed to sound strong, but your voice comes out small, weak, broken.

And for once, he is the first to cry.

“Not yet.” His voice cracks. “It’s not goodbye yet.” He wipes your tears (when did you start crying?) away, touch so fragile you think he’s sure you’d shatter. Maybe you will.

“It doesn’t have to be goodbye,” you offer. It’s hollow; neither of you have been under the delusion that this was anything but. “It can be a see you later.”

Tsukishima just shakes his head, wearing a broken smile of his own. And then he’s kissing you with such fervor that you swear you’ve never been kissed before, not like this. The way he sucks your bottom lip between his, pulls you flush against him, makes you dizzy. This is my goodbye, he says with more than words. 

11:59 PM | 0:00:01

Your relationship has always required mastery of reading between the lines, peering through the hairline cracks in words and actions for their true meaning.

But now, both of you are straightforward as can be, stripped down to your bare selves. The meteor sets fire to the inhibitions and walls both of you created, and the flames lick at your skin as your tears—or his—dampen your cheeks.

If you’re going to take me out, do it in style, you’d said to him, once.

So he does.

[omg-imagine]

⊱ Forget Me Not (8/15) ⊰

Pairing: Keanu Reeves x Reader

Summary: After you wake up from a coma and realize that your memories from the last five years have been erased, Keanu works to bring back what you have lost.

Words: 4.1k

Warnings: Angst

A/N: I kept thinking this would be a short chapter but then BAM! words ahaha. Once again, thank you for the feedback! It truly means the world to me. I hope you enjoy!

Part 7

Since the spontaneous beach date in Santa Monica, time seemed to blend seamlessly from one day to the next. Nearly three, blissful weeks had flown by in a blink of an eye, and your relationship with Keanu blossomed like a fresh flower in the spring. The connection had grown more profound when the two of you crossed the line between friendship and romance, the sweet kiss on the sandy shores being the final push you needed.

The days that followed felt something akin to the beginning of the honeymoon phase in a relationship. Your parents had been right; Keanu was a good man who loved you very much. Each day he was winning over your heart more and more. He treated you like a queen with a tender adoration, unlike no other. He made you feel things you didn't believe anymore, pulling you away from the past you've known and despised, and replacing it with moments much better.

Keanu had made it his mission to bring you to all of the favorite places you used to go together. He took you to a fancy restaurant up in the hills, an art gallery you spent hours at, and most recently, a botanical garden where you found out about your newest affinity for flowers. Everywhere you went, Keanu shared with you cute little anecdotes from the last time you visited, adding more stories to cherish in your heart forever.

Along with that, you were also unable to keep your hands off of each other. Touches seemed to linger a little longer, and holding hands while out in public became the norm. You realized how much you were addicted to kissing Keanu, and how your heart would melt with every adoring look he gave after pulling away.

Sometimes, you would steal a kiss from Keanu when he least expected it. He would be in the midst of telling you about his day at the Arch office when suddenly, you would lean in and kiss the living daylights out of him. After a moment of surprise, he would quickly kiss you back, his lips perfectly melding with yours as he held you close. You didn't know of another man who could kiss you breathlessly like Keanu, and deep inside, you didn't want to.

You only wanted him.

Though the two of you had gotten closer over the last few weeks, you didn't miss the slight sadness hiding behind his eyes. Whenever you tried to get Keanu to open up about his feelings, he was often reluctant to do so, answering with short, vague responses that barely skimmed the surface. Something was clearly troubling him, and it was a bit worrisome that he couldn't tell you why.

But you still trusted him. Perhaps it was quite naive of you to believe that he has done nothing wrong, but he never gave you a reason not to. Your best guess was that he continued to blame himself for your accident. There could have been a quarrel that night, causing you to leave the house, which wasn't unusual for you to do so. After all, you did have a bad temper, and a bad temper was typically followed by impulsive decisions, usually unfortunate ones.

Such as driving in the dark, in the middle of a nasty storm.

And if you were correct, then Keanu shouldn't feel guilty about what had happened, and he needed to understand that.

"Y/N?"

A gentle voice spoke your name, and you glanced up, seeing Harry, the receptionist at the office. Your doctor had cleared you to return to work earlier that week, and you were excited to finally have something to do rather than stay at home all day. You weren't sure what exactly your job entailed, but being that it's related to one of your passions, you couldn't wait to get started.

"Hey, Harry," you smiled as you stood up from your seat, smoothing out the wrinkles from your blouse.

"Nicholas is ready for you in his office," the older gentleman informed you. "It really is great seeing you again here. Everyone was so worried when we got word of your accident and the amnesia. I almost didn't believe it until you walked in here and didn't recognize me right away. But all that matters is that you're fine now, and you're back."

"Thank you. I appreciate the card you sent me while I was in the hospital. It was lovely of you to do that."

"Of course, honey. You and I were inseparable, and I wish you could remember the shenanigans we've done here."

"Me too," you added. "Don't worry, one day we'll get lunch together and catch up."

"I can't wait." Harry beamed brightly, leading the way to Nicholas' office.

Stopping in the hallway just several feet from your boss' door, Harry turned around to face you. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be," you answered, sensing the slight jitters in your body.

"Don't worry, Nick is a nice guy. You're going to love him," Harry responded before approaching the office and knocking lightly on the wooden door. "Sir, she's here."

Seconds later, the door swung open, revealing a tall man with a bright smile, joy and relief emanating from his face as his eyes settled on you. He was younger than you had expected him to be, more charming and good-looking, too. You felt Harry softly squeeze your shoulder before walking away, leaving you alone with Nicholas.

"I can't believe that you're back," he said, stepping to the side and allowing you to enter his office. "When Harry mentioned that you were coming to visit today, I was ecstatic. We've missed you around here. Well, mostly me because I thought I had lost the best assistant I've had."

Sitting down in front of his desk, you studied the walls around the room. It was decorated with what you assumed were his best works, as well as the plaques, certificates, and awards he had received for his talent. According to Molly, Nicholas was very well-known in the industry, and you were lucky to have worked alongside him.

"Impressive, huh?" You heard him say, and you shifted your gaze forward. "It took years of hard work and dedication. Not impossible as some people may think."

"I didn't pursue a career in this at first because that's exactly what I had thought—it was impossible."

Nicholas nodded. "That wasn't your mindset any more after you started working with me. You have the talent and tenacity. I could see you owning a successful business one day."

"Really?" You smiled at him.

"Surely," he replied, sliding a portfolio towards you. "Here, these are your most recent works. Back in January, we were doing this big fashion shoot in Prague. Soon after it was over, we went to Paris and then Milan. Your gift really shone at that time, and I'm very proud of how far you've come."

Flipping through the photographs, you couldn't believe that this what you were now doing for a living. It certainly was a step up from those boring 9 to 5 jobs you used to have.

"We actually have another project for a client coming up soon. It'll be a week in Japan, and I was hoping that you'll be well enough to come."

"That sounds amazing, and it would be an honor," you began, closing the portfolio and handing it back to Nicholas. "But I'm not sure if it’s the best idea to do so soon. I don't think I'm as good now than I was before the crash."

"Nonsense," Nicholas chuckled. "You are a natural, and I've known that since the very first day you walked in here. I'll tell you what, just think about it and get back to me in a week or two. I would really love to have you back on our team again."

"Okay," you nodded your head, accepting his suggestion. "I'll think about it and let you know if my decision changes."

"Good," he grinned, giving you two thumbs up before getting up from his seat. "Now, let me show you around and re-introduce you to everyone else. I'm sure they're all excited to see you."

---

You were practically skipping out of the building at the end of the day, overwhelmed with excitement knowing that you would be officially back to work next Monday. Although you wouldn't be doing everything you were usually responsible for, Nicholas was willing to use the time you're there to train you again.

As you walked to the quiet parking lot across the street, you heard the clicking of a camera shutter, a sound that was unmistakable in your ears. There was a sudden flash of bright light, followed by another click, whirr, and repeat. It was coming from behind you, you could tell, and your feet began picking up the pace. You could already spot Keanu's car which you had borrowed parked at the very end of the lot, and you quickly searched for the keys inside your purse.

"Damn it," you muttered when you stumbled, dropping your bag and its contents all over the concrete.

Your heart thumped wildly in your chest as you caught a glimpse of the stranger approaching you. It wasn't that you were scared that he might hurt you. You had become somewhat used to the presence of paparazzi whenever you and Keanu were out and about. But this was the first time that you were alone, cornered by one, and you didn't know what to expect.

"Here, let me help you, Y/N," the man's deep voice sounded as he crouched right beside you, a camera ready in his hand.

"No, it's fine," you gruffly spoke, grabbing your belongings and tossing them back into the purse as fast as you could. "Please, just leave me alone."

"Hey, there's no need to be worried," he assured. Though he wasn't menacing, you could tell that trouble lay ahead the more he spoke to you. "I only want to talk, that's all."

Finally, you stood up and swung your purse over your shoulder, walking briskly towards your vehicle. "No, I don't want to talk to you."

"Listen, Y/N, I'm running a story here about you and your boyfriend Keanu," the man trailed closely behind you. Merely a few steps more, you thought to yourself, and you would escape his bold intrusiveness. "There's been reports of your break-up before the accident—"

"Break-up?" you halted for a brief second, the mention of it catching you off-guard. Turning your head, you looked at the man in the eye. "You must be mistaken."

You didn't know why you were still talking to him. What you should be doing was getting inside the car and driving back home.

Back to Keanu.

But your mind couldn't shake away the strange feeling unexpectedly washing over you. You drew in a shallow breath, unable to ignore a certain uneasiness. You dared not to ask anything further, afraid that the man's answer would be nothing but hearsay. Yet, you remained intrigued, not fully understanding why. It sounded familiar as if it wasn't the first time you had heard it.

"Yeah, break-up," the man carefully nodded. "The two of you hadn’t been seen together in months. There were reports of tension between you and Keanu for a while. Surely this rings a bell, yes?"

You stayed silent. According to Keanu, no one outside your family and a select number of friends knew about your amnesia. His team hasn't caught wind of any article mentioning your current condition either, and you wanted to keep it that way.

"I-I have to go," you stammered out before promptly opening the driver's side door and sliding inside.

From the rearview mirror, you could see the man taking more pictures of you, even as you pulled out of the parking space. You drove away from the building and further down the street, turning into a convenience store lot once you were sure that you had gotten far enough. Putting the car in park, you sat there for a moment, hands still gripping the wheel as doubt gnawed at your guts.

The quiet purr of the engine filled the empty air, offering itself as a fleeting distraction from the hurricane of thoughts swirling inside your head. You didn't want to believe what some stranger had said to you, but you couldn't easily brush it off. It perturbed you, causing you to second guess everything you know, what Keanu has told you.

The perfect relationship you had painted— the one deeply ingrained in your mind for some time— was now falling apart. It crumbled down the more you tried to fit the pieces of the puzzle, your heart both seeking and fearing the truth. You had always ignored the possibility that Keanu could have been lying to you, pushing the idea of it away because you wanted to hold onto the happiness.

But perhaps you were indeed that naive after all.

---

Keanu flipped back to the first page of the script he had finished reading, thoroughly enjoying the plot and the storyline of the character he was being asked to play. He could see himself accepting the role and working on the movie scheduled to shoot early next year. The only thing holding him back once again was you.

Things between him and you were going great, to say the least. It felt like everything was back to normal. The kind of normal which Keanu had missed so dearly and at one point, thought that the two of you would never get to experience again. This entire journey of showing you the memories that you've lost was also reminding him of what was special about you. It reminded him of why he fell in love with you, something he had forgotten before the accident.

You would be coming home anytime soon, so Keanu decided to simply wait and discuss with you about the upcoming project. As he sat there on the couch, scrolling mindlessly through the hundreds of emails on his phone, another text came in from Molly, and he heaved out a sigh. Opening the notification, he then read the words on the screen, realizing that it was the same question she has been asking him for weeks.

Have you told her yet?

No, Keanu typed out and quickly hit send.

When will you? It's been weeks, Keanu. She deserves to know the truth.

Ignoring Molly's response, he deleted the messages and set his cell down on the coffee table. Keanu was lucky that she had not mentioned anything about it yet to you despite how often you and Molly were talking now. He knew it would only be a matter of time before she told you, however, either on purpose or a slip of the tongue. Keanu should be grateful that Molly was giving him the chance to confess to you himself instead of hearing it from someone else.

As if it fared any better the last time.

Keanu was mulling over his predicament when he heard the car pulling into the driveway. Quickly, he got up and headed to the front door, ready to greet you and ask you how your day went. But when he stepped outside and saw the crestfallen look on your face, the smile he had on faltered, withering away as he hurriedly met you halfway.

"Hey, what's wrong? Did something happen?" Keanu probed, bringing his hands up to hold the sides of your face. You didn't even glance up as you pushed him away, silently walking past him. You almost made it to the door when you paused, your body tense as it slowly spun around to face him.

"Ke," you said his name in a whisper, your teary gaze meeting his own. You opened your mouth again to speak, but no other words would come out. Keanu waited as you attempted to collect yourself, but your chest continued to rise and fall with rapid breaths. "I-I can't… There are just too many thoughts in my head. I-I feel so scattered."

Exhaling deeply, Keanu recognized it almost immediately. You were clearly overwhelmed, and he knew a way to calm you down. Closing in the distance between you and him, he placed a palm on your cheek, urging you to look at his eyes. "Do you trust me?"

"I-I don't know," you stuttered lowly, much to Keanu's shock. "I don't know what to think anymore."

"Then let me help," he spoke softly. His hand moved down to grasp yours, tugging it slightly as he began heading towards the garage, encouraging you to follow.

Punching in the code, the door opened slowly, revealing his array of motorcycles inside. Keanu led you to his most treasured bike, his sleek and elegant black Norton Commando which had become your favorite one to ride with him. He caught the hesitation etched in your features, so he gave your hand a reassuring squeeze.

"I need you to trust me right now, can you do that?"

You shrugged, eyes remaining downcast. "What are we doing?"

"We're going for a ride," Keanu answered before swiftly retrieving two helmets and the keys by the back wall. "Here, put this on while I wheel the bike out."

Moments later, Keanu was on the motorcycle with you sitting behind him. Your arms were tightly wrapped around his waist, afraid of losing balance. The bike idled underneath as he glanced over his shoulder, seeing you looking back at him.

"Don't worry, just relax and hold on," he said over the rumbling sound of the engine running.

Pushing the kickstand up, Keanu twisted the handlebars and smoothly pulled out of the driveway and onto the quiet street. Usually, he would have gone at a faster speed but decided to drive a mile or two under the posted limit. He wanted you to get used to the feeling of riding a bike again, which he hoped was currently working.

He felt you leaning in close, your chest resting on his back as he carefully navigated up and down the winding roads. The cool nighttime breeze blew gently into Keanu's face, but all he could focus on besides the path ahead was the heat radiating from you. A familiar warmth spread throughout his body as you clung on to him.

Yet another thing he has missed.

Reaching a red light, Keanu placed a foot down to steady the bike, waiting for the signal to change. He then looked back at you, noticing how your eyes had softened and the small smile on your lips. "Are you okay?"

You gave him a nod. "Yeah. I actually quite like this."

Keanu removed a hand from the handlebar and placed it above the one splayed on his abdomen. He intertwined his fingers with yours, allowing the simple touch to bring you comfort and reassurance. Eventually, the light turned green, and he started to drive again, the destination in mind just another mile up ahead.

Slowing down as he reached a bend, he brought the bike to a stop along the side of the road and shut off the ignition. Keanu slid his helmet off, brushing his messy locks back as you did the same. 

"Is this…" you trailed off, seeing the bright lights of Los Angeles in the distance, the scenic view in front of you nearly taking your breath away. "This is the overlook from that picture back at the house."

Keanu smiled as he took your hand and began strolling through the grassy hill, bringing you closer to the edge. The sky was like a dark, infinite canvas with millions of twinkling stars painted upon it. They shone brilliantly in your eyes that were filled with wonder and awe. He led you to a wooden bench, gesturing for you to sit before taking the space next to you.

There was silence, and as much as Keanu wanted to break it, he let you bask in it for now. The overlook was a special place for both of you, not only because it was where he kissed you for the first time. It was the place you went to when life got too stressful, and you needed peace. It was a place for you to get away for a little while just to think.

"When I left the office, something happened," you revealed, your attention still on the skyline. "A guy approached me, one of those paparazzi, and he said we broke up before the crash."

Keanu's breath stalled as your glossy gaze slowly shifted to him.

"I know I shouldn't be paying them any attention or believe a word that they say," you sighed. "But it stuck to me and left me wondering if there's any truth to it."

This was it. It was Keanu's time to finally come clean. This was his opportunity to tell you what truly happened that night and the months leading up to it. As he sat there staring into your pleading eyes, he could already sense the hurt in them, and Keanu knew he would only be adding more.

"We didn't break up," he said tautly, his voice thick. "But for a while, we were in a bad place in our relationship."

"A bad place?" You repeated shakily. "What happened?"

Keanu licked his dry lips, his eyes flickering down in shame. "We were fighting a lot. I was doing a movie out of town, and the distance made it worse. I'd promise that I'd be home to spend time with you but never followed through. When I did come back, I let out all of my stress on you and pushed you away whenever you tried to get close. You were growing tired of it—of me. Meanwhile, I just ignored it."

Truth.

"The night of your accident, we got into a huge argument. I had said so many hurtful things to you that I still can't believe those words came out of my mouth," he continued, running a hand over his face.

Half-truth.

Keanu still couldn't force himself to admit it, the real truth. No matter how hard he tried, he just couldn't say it. It was already difficult for him to tell you pieces of the story. The memories of you and him screaming at each other and hurling insults broke his heart all over again.

If there was one thing Keanu had learned that night, it was that he couldn't lose you. He has gone through tragedy after tragedy for years, and he didn't want you to be another one of his devastating losses. He believed that he'd make up for his mistakes later on and prove to you how much he regretted making them.

Prove to you that he still loved you despite what he had told you before you stormed out of the house.

"Y/N?" He murmured, his hand coming to rest on your thigh, gently shaking you out of your daze. "Please, say something."

You blinked at him as you placed your hand on top of his. "We all make mistakes, Keanu."

"I know, and I didn't want to tell you because I was scared."

You knitted your brows. "Scared of what?"

"That you'd leave me. I was scared that if I told you that we were at the end of our ropes, you wouldn't stay. But I need you, Y/N. I love you, and I can't see myself spending a day without you."

"I don't like lies, Keanu." Shaking your head, you cupped the side of Keanu's face, the pad of your thumb brushing against the prickly scruff along his jaw. "You should have told me this earlier."

A single tear streaked down his cheek, and you wiped it away. "I know."

“But is that all?”

Swallowing thickly, Keanu nodded once.

Lie.

“Okay, I believe you.”

He exhaled a long breath. “I’m sorry. I didn’t mean to keep that from you.”

"You don't have to be perfect, Ke, because no one on this earth is. I might not remember how I felt back then, but all that matters is what I'm feeling now."

"And that is?"

You smiled softly at him before nuzzling your face into the crook of his neck. "I feel like I'm falling in love with you."

With his free hand, Keanu tilted your chin up so that your eyes could meet. Though there was less weight on his shoulders now, he had yet to share with you one last important detail of the story. He's now caught in a battle between telling you to clear his conscience or let the secret be forgotten but risk dealing with the consequences if you end up finding out on your own.

But when you leaned up to his face, your soft lips sweetly molding to his, Keanu saved the fight with himself for another time. Because god forbid you do uncover the truth and leave, he wanted to at least savor every moment he has left with you.

Part 9

Tags: @penwieldingdreamer​ @fanficsrusz​ @toomanystoriessolittletime​ @awessomness​ @meetmeinthematinee​ @ringa-starr​ @ficsnroses​ @iworshipkeanureeves​ @keandrews​ @greenmanalishi​ @feminine-machinegun​ @thehumanistsdiary​ @lussdew​ @rdjloverxxx @flaminasteroid @danceoftwowolves @allie1804-fan

[ya-like-space]

Oranges, A Warm Summer’s Breeze, and Home

Souji didn’t want to leave. In the short year he was there, Inaba had become his home. The only place he’d ever felt like he truly belonged. As he watched his friends and family grow farther and farther away from the train window, tears slowly started to run down his cheeks. He’s leaving behind the best thing that’s ever happened to him. When the platform was no more than a speck in the distance, Souji sat back in his seat. Closing his eyes, he drifts off to sleep.

 He wakes up hours later to a station announcement. Wiping the sleep from his eyes, he grabs his bag from the overhead. Stepping off the train, a rush of emotion hits him. It hadn’t been long since he’d been in Tokyo, but it felt like forever. It all felt wrong. A sense of unfamiliarity flowed throughout him as he walked through the busy streets. Compared to Inaba, everything was so much bigger. 

 Dreading walking into his parent’s apartment again, Souji stood outside the door, counting. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, ...10.  Upon reaching 10, he flung open the door. Duffel bag in hand, he raced quickly and quietly to his bedroom. His parents weren’t home, and wouldn’t be for another two days. Couldn’t even make it home to greet their own son. Setting his bag down, he flopped onto his bed. He didn’t want to unpack, knowing if he did, the reality of the situation would set in. Instead, he settled for glaring at all the boxes already in his room. They had arrived days prior. 

 He can still remember how hard it was for him to pack. A part of him wanted to leave everything there, exactly how it was, so when he came back it would all be the same. But the rational part of him had won out, and he called Yosuke over to help him. Though it probably hadn’t been necessary, Souji had wanted to spend as much time with him as possible. They had gotten all of the things he was taking with him packed in only an hour. Leaving them the rest of the day to spend with each other. Not wanting to be in his empty room anymore, Yosuke had suggested they take a walk to the Samegawa. Or at least, that’s what Souji thought was going to happen.

 Yosuke had confessed to him. Down by the riverbank, in the same place they had their fight. He had broken down when they got there, spilling his heart to Souji. Yosuke kissed him that day, arms looped around Souji’s back, hands in his hair. They walked home together hand in hand, tear tracks still visible on Yosuke’s cheeks.

 Souji already misses Inaba, and he’s barely been in Tokyo an hour. It wasn’t fair that he had to leave. That he had to go back to an empty apartment, to parents who were never home, to parents who used him, and a new school of people who don’t know what he’s been through. 

 That night, Souji dreamt of a warm embrace and a rushing river.

 Even though he really didn’t want to, Souji began unpacking his stuff. He started with the duffel bag, which was mostly empty. Other than a few changes of clothes, and his toiletries. 

 But when he opened the first box, instead of the muted black of the old t-shirt that Souji had thought would be on top, there was a rumpled lump of orange fabric on top, which was revealed to be a very familiar hoodie when he pulled it out of the box by one sleeve. It was one of Yosuke’s hoodies, the one he’d been wearing when he’d helped Souji pack up his room, in fact. Tears begin streaming down his face. Souji lifts the hoodie out of the box, burying his face in it. It smells like oranges, a warm summer's breeze, and home. He stays like this for a while, before attempting to compose himself. Flipping over the hoodie, he sees something that was previously hidden. A little pink sticky note, stuck to the underside of the cloth. 

  I’ll miss u partner <3

 That breaks him. Souji crumples into a ball on the floor, unable to stop sobbing. A good 10 minutes go by before he can even think again. When he finally manages to collect himself, he gets an idea. His parents arrive tomorrow, so he’ll have to leave early in the morning. He buys a one way ticket to Inaba, and repacks all of his things. This has to work. Before he goes to bed, he sends a text to Dojima, telling him about the plan. Dojima immediately agrees, telling Souji he’ll pick him up from the station tomorrow.

 Souji gets up the next morning, and writes a note to his parents. Placing it on the dining room table, it feels like a weight has been lifted from him. He walks back to the train station. On the ride back to Inaba, Souji wonders if he did the right thing. But then he looks down at the hoodie he slipped on that morning, before leaving. All doubts leave his mind at the first sight of orange. He rests his head against the window as the gentle rumbling of the train lulls him into a peaceful sleep.

 When he wakes, the conductor is announcing Yasoinaba Station is only minutes away. Souji grabs his duffel bag and moves to the other side of the train. It’s almost like coming here the first time, with the empty compartment and empty station. He meets Dojima outside, getting into the passenger seat of the car.

 “Hi.”

 Dojima turns his head to look at him. Ruffling Souji’s hair he smiles, “Hey there kiddo. It’s good to see you.”

 Souji smiles back at him.

 “It’s only been a day,” he pauses, his expression softening slightly, “but I missed you too, Uncle.”

 The drive back to the house is silent. But it’s the good kind of silence. The kind that calms you, and steadies your nerves. Souji’s half expecting to be bombarded by Nanako when they get inside, but instead, the house is dark. 

 “Nanako went to play at a friend’s house today. She should be home soon.”

 “Oh. Okay.”

 Souji had been excited to see his cousin, but he was fine with waiting. It would give him and his Uncle time to sort some things out.

 “Now. Souji. Are you sure you want to do this? Because if you are, 

I’m willing to do whatever needs to be done.”

 Dojima wasn’t an idiot. He had seen the signs of abuse in his nephew when he had first arrived in Inaba,  and as much as he would like to believe his sister wouldn’t do something like that, he knew it was true. And when Souji had sent him a message asking about  this, well, he couldn’t deny it anymore. He cared about Souji, and wanted him to be safe.

 “Yes. I’m sure. I don’t want to be a part of that family anymore, I don’t want to be treated like a doll, like I’m just there for their entertainment. I want to be here, with my real family.”

 “That’s all I needed to know. Now let’s get this paperwork filled out.”

 “Alright.”

 Nanako arrived home hours after they had finished filing everything out. Her face had lit up upon seeing Souji.

 “Big Bro!”

 She jumped into him, squeezing her arms around his middle.

“What are you doing here?”

 He smiles down at her.

 “I decided I’m not going back to the city.”

 “Yay!”

 The three of them spent that night redoing Souji’s room, and eating take-away. Souji had decided he was gonna surprise Yosuke tomorrow. His shift at Junes ended at 3, so all he had to do was show up after it was over.

 When Souji woke the next morning, Dojima was arguing with someone on the phone. Souji’s parents, most likely. He listened for a while, barely able to make out any of the words. They sounded angry, and he was glad that he didn’t have to deal with them. Dojima hung up the phone, finally noticing Souji.

 “Hm? Oh, good morning Souji.”

 “Are my parents angry?”

 Dojima nodded, motioning for Souji to sit.

 “They seem to think they own you, and that they reserve the right to control your every move.”

 His expression darkened.

 “Souji. You should’ve said something sooner.”

 “I know. But I was afraid too.”

 “Well, as long as you’re safe now.”

 Souji smiled softly, “Yeah. I am.”

 After speaking with his Uncle for a bit longer, and getting the last of the adoption papers filled, he headed to the Samegawa to kill time. It was a little hard getting there, since he nearly ran into Yukiko on the way. Souji wasn’t quite ready to tell the rest of the team he was in Inaba again, in case something went wrong. The only exception being Yosuke. He really wanted to see Yosuke again, but he had to wait. Souji spent the next few hours down by the riverbank, listening to the rushing water.

 Before he knew it, it was almost 3, and Souji made his way to Junes. His plan was to wait near the back entrance, where Yosuke parks his bike. That way, if someone he knew was in Junes, they wouldn’t see him.

  One minute. 30 seconds. 15 seconds. Now!  Yosuke walked through the door, right on time. At first, he didn’t notice Souji was there. But then he saw him standing, right next to his bike. Yosuke barreled into him, laughing happily.

 “Souji! What are you doing here?”

But then Souji said the best thing Yosuke had heard all day.

 "I'm not going," suddenly Souji had him pushed up against a wall, and was kissing him. It wasn't a gentle kiss either, it was hard and demanding and so full of need that Yosuke started to feel a little dizzy.

 "W-what?" he managed to stutter, utterly bewildered by the turn of events.

 "Tell me you love me," Souji requested.

 Now Yosuke definitely wasn’t expecting that, his face flushing a deep red. Souji was looking at him, but the look in his eyes was something Yosuke had never seen before. Something like panic, or desperation. For some reason Souji had come all the way back to Inaba, and the least Yosuke could do was grant this small request.

 "I love you, Souji.”

 Souji practically squeezed him to death in a hug, burying his face in the side of Yosuke's neck with a noise that sounded suspiciously like a sob.

 "Say it again," he repeated, voice muffled by Yosuke's shirt. Yosuke grinned, feeling warmth flow throughout him.

 "I love you," he sighed, wrapping his arms around Souji in return.

  There’s that smell again. Souji breathed in deeply. Oranges, a warm summer's breeze, and home.

Home.

He’s finally home.

@souyoweek2020​ Day 6 | scent

One more day! I've had the idea for this fic in my head, ever since I finished the game for the first time. I always thought there should've been an ending where Souji got to stay in Inaba. This ended up being a tad bit heavier then i wanted, but it kind’ve took on a life of its own while I was writing it. 

[megalony]

Shattered

This is a firefighter! Ben Hardy imagine that will have a follow up part soon, I hope you all enjoy it. There is angst and injury mentions in this part.

Taglist: @lunaticspoem​ @butlegendsneverdie​ @langdonzvoid​ @jennyggggrrr​ @rogermeddow @radiob-l-a-hblah @rogertaylorsbitontheside @chlobo6 @rogertaylors-lipgloss @sj-thefan @omgitsearly @luckytrashgooprebel @scarsout @deaky-with-a-c @killer-queen-ofrhye @bluutac @vousmemanqueez @jonesyaddiction @ambi-and-sunflowers @milanosaurus @httpfandxms @saint-hardy @7-seas-of-fat-bottomed-girls @mrsalwayswritex @rogerina-owns-me @peterquillzsblog

Ben Hardy masterlist

Part 2

Summary: Whilst Ben is on a job at a collapsing building, he finds out (Y/n) and their son are there and tries to protect them but he can’t stop them all from getting injured.

Enjoy.

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"Whatever, it's fine Ben it doesn't matter-"

"Yes it does, it matters a lot to me (Y/n) because I've never missed a scan before. I want to be there and I want to take Tommy to his game in the afternoon but I can't swap my shift." There was a knowing look in (Y/n)'s eyes that made Ben's expression harden. They had three boys together and up to now Ben hadn't missed any of the scans during each pregnancy, despite the odd and gruelling shifts he worked. But tomorrow he simply couldn't go because he had to work and no one had been able to swap the shift with him.

"You can be at the next one Ben, it really doesn't matter. The job always comes first, right?" (Y/n) quipped back, but her response only caused Ben's brows to raise and his jaw to lock.

"Now that's not fair." Ben's voice was unusually now and with his words being quiet as not to disturb the toddler on his chest, his words sounded menacing. Ben would admit that his job was important to him, it was a vital job that he had been doing for ten years but it wasn't the most important thing in his life. Ben would always put his family first but the point was he had to work tomorrow and if something went wrong at the scan (Y/n) could always call him and he would try and leave as quickly as possible. It was the first time this had happened when they were having a scan.

"Isn't it? You haven't been able to go to half of Tommy's games, it was me who had to leave work to take Billy to the doctor, not you and we were damn lucky my water broke when it did with James or you wouldn't have been there for the birth. I'm not angry Ben because it's just a scan, its routine and we've done it before but we both know the job comes first a lot of the time."

(Y/n) knew she would be rivalling with Ben's job the moment she got together with him and it was always okay because he saved lives. Ben put his life on the line to help others and sometimes (Y/n) did worry he would get hurt badly or not come home at all. But she knew being a fireman was the only thing Ben wanted to do and he was good at his job so she was proud. But the job was almost as important as his family and even though that was understandable, sometimes it did hurt.

"No, that's not fair because when you had your operation I got two weeks off at two days notice so I could be home with the boys. When Tommy broke his leg I was the one who took him to A&E instead of going to work and when you had your accident when you were pregnant with him I left work and came straight home to you. The job always comes second to you and the boys and you know it."

Tilting his head down from looking at (Y/n), Ben looked at the two year old asleep in his arms. Billy had his head resting on Ben's shoulder and his arms curled up against his chest, when he fell back asleep Ben didn't have the heart to put him into bed. He just stayed holding him because he had to get ready and go to work in a few minutes.

"(Y/n) I don't want to argue, I'm sorry but on the next scan I'll be there and I'll take Tommy to his next game in three weeks. Can you take Billy now, I need to get ready?" Ben tipped his head to the side, his eyes sorrowful but he felt a small swell of relief in his chest when (Y/n) nodded before approaching him.

Biting her lip, (Y/n) carded her fingers gently through Billy's hair as she leaned her head on Ben's chest, feeling his free arm wrap around her waist to pull her a bit closer.

"Text me when you've finished and I'll see you tonight." (Y/n) reached over and gently eased Billy into her arms before she quickly pecked Ben's lips. Their gazes stayed interlocked for a few more seconds before (Y/n) slowly left the room to go and settle Billy back down to bed since it was still early in the morning and he was now fast asleep.

"Tommy, I need my shoes back buddy, give 'em here." Heading down the stairs, Ben sat on the bottom step before he motioned for his eldest to walk over to him when he came in sight down the hall. Ben watched with a smile as Tommy slowly waddled over to him, trying his best to walk in his dad's shoes that were far too big for his small feet. When he reached Ben, he stood by his side and kicked the shoes from his feet so they were resting in front of Ben.

Ben's shifts were all twelve hours a day, four days a week but he still had to leave home early so that when he got to work he could put his overalls on and grab his protective equipment. Then when he finished his shift he took longer because he got changed and showered at work rather than driving home covered in smoke and grime. It was tough, but it was Ben's job and he wouldn't choose to do anything else.

"Why are they like that?" Tommy leaned his head on the banister as he tapped Ben's shoe with his toe to signal what he meant.

"So I don't burn my feet, bud, or in case anything falls on them so it won't hurt." Ben tapped his knuckles against the top of his boot to show how tough the material was which he was very thankful for. Ben had to walk into burning buildings and step in or around fires so his boots had to be made of material that wouldn't catch fire easily and that wouldn't melt or burn his feet. They also had to be strong so that if any bricks or wood or items fell on him, they wouldn't crush his feet and stop him from getting to safety.

"Why aren't mine like that?" Tommy watched Ben tying up his boots before he stood up and slung his bag over his shoulder, checking that his keys were in his pocket.

"What fires do you normally walk into, buddy?" Ben smiled, trying to refrain from laughing because he didn't want Tommy to think he was being rude when he was only curious. "Right, I'll see you tonight before you go to bed, your mum's gonna take you out today so you be good, okay?" Ben leaned down when Tommy wrapped himself around his legs, humming in agreement before he begrudgingly moved back to let Ben leave. Tommy huffed quietly, knowing that whenever Ben left to go to work at night or when he got home at night it meant it would soon be his bedtime.

"Bye dad."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

"I don't like this Joe, the whole place is about to go." Ben spoke into the radio hooked to his left shoulder as he cast his eyes around his sector of the ground floor car park. The fires in this multi-story car park and shopping centre were on one side of the building and it made the whole thing unsteady and Ben felt like he was going to be crushed at any given moment. Ben's team were needed to try and get people out whilst Joe's team were concentrating on the fires that were still going.

But Ben didn't like the feel of this because the fire meant that the building was collapsing on one side and that normally led to the whole thing breaking down. Ben knew that the building was far too big for everyone to get out safely before something happened but they had to try.

Turning to look over to his right, Ben nodded silently at Sammy before the pair hurried in different directions, both of them picking up speed when they could hear the building trembling. The fires on this floor were minimal but the number of cars suggested people might come down here trying to get out.

"Ben, pull your team out it's too risky. Let search and rescue take over when they get here." Joe knew it was getting to a point where Ben's team were going to be put at substantial risk when they weren't designated to getting everyone out. They didn't have the equipment or protocol to stay and act as a rescue team, it was safer for Ben and his team to get out and then help put out the fires from the outside.

Just as Ben was about to agree, he reached out to his right to steady himself against the wall when the building started to tremor.

"Dad?!"

That one word made Ben feel like the building had already collapsed onto him and crushed him entirely. They couldn't be here, not now, not today not right this moment in time. Ben couldn't have any of his family here in this building or anywhere near this place when it was about to go down.

"No, no no what are you doing here?"

A course of curse words flooded past his lips on repeat as he flung himself from the wall and across the unsteady ground that felt like it was going to give way beneath his feet. Ben's eyes were locked on Tommy who was trying to run but he was wobbling. The moment Ben reached him he wasted no time in scooping him up and holding him to his chest, pressing his hand to the back of Tommy's head as his eyes darted around to look for (Y/n).

"Where's your mum? Are James and Billy with you? Tommy tell me quickly where are they?!" Ben didn't know if (Y/n) had brought the boys with her or if she was just out with Tommy and James and Billy were with her parents like they were supposed to be. (Y/n) wasn't meant to be here, she never said she was bringing Tommy here, Ben thought she was going across town today.

Why did they have to be here?

"M-mum's behind me... t-the boys aren't with us." Tommy tucked his head into Ben's neck as much as he could with Ben's safety helmet and his thick florescent jacket being in the way. (Y/n) had been right behind him until he spotted Ben and made a beeline for him.

"Ben, are you on your way out yet? The place is gonna go down any minute, the foundations are ruined." Joe's voice over the radio was barely heard due to the rumbling sound the building was creating and the panic that could be heard from miles away.

"I can't get out yet, my family's on this floor!"

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

A choked breath mixed with a moan escaped Ben's mouth as his eyes violently flew open like he had been resuscitated. His head jolted up before slamming back down against the concrete floor when he realised his body was far too weak and paralysed from unconsciousness to move.

Where was he? He was on the ground floor level, he remembered going down and knowing it was a bad idea before the concrete walls started to shake and the world turned black.

How long had it been? He didn't know.

Was he alone? Sammy was on the other side of the floor, but he might have gotten out when Joe told the team to retract. But Ben was still here... oh God, Tommy and (Y/n) had been down here with him the moment the place started to crumble like it was the end of the world. Hundreds more questions started to circle through Ben's mind but he couldn't focus on any of them other than needing to find where his wife and son were.

It wasn't dark.

As Ben tried to open his eyes and focus his vision, he realised that there was still light creeping into this level despite half of it being collapsed. The electrics would have surely become severed and broken so to have light meant there was part of the walls that were broken enough for the outside to creep in. That was a good sign.

When his vision managed to focus properly, Ben choked on his breath when he realised that he was laid on his side with his arms cocooned around Tommy who was squashed against his chest. Ben was relieved he seemed to have fallen- or maybe he laid down himself, in this position because if he fell on top of Tommy he would have crushed him. And if he fell with Tommy on top of him and something fell down on them, it would crush Tommy first and presumably worse than it would Ben.

Trying to keep his breathing calm and slow, Ben counted each breath he took until he was no longer on the verge of panicking as his eyes focused on his eldest boy. His vision narrowed and he held his breath so he could try and focus on Tommy and Ben felt tears welling in his eyes when he knew his boy was breathing rather normally considering the shock he must have gone through.

A shuddering breath left Ben's lips as he relished in holding his boy before he dared to look around and try to find (Y/n). Ben couldn't remember if she had been close by or a distance away, he didn't know if he had been holding onto her as well or if she had been out of his reach.

Ben's eyes soon latched onto his wife's frame only a few feet away from him, she was also laid on her side and thankfully had her front facing Ben. Even when he narrowed his eyes, he couldn't quite tell if her chest was moving and with the sirens and screams and ringing sounds, Ben couldn't hear how she was breathing. But he was certain he could see the muscles and skin around her neck moving and pulling inwards suggesting that she was breathing. He kept watching her for a few more minutes before he noticed her hand twitch and he nodded to himself that she was alive.

That was all he could ask for at this moment. He didn’t dare let his mind think about what was happening with the baby after something like this, they were only five months along and thinking of the results of this kind of event made Ben want to be sick.

As he took calming breaths, Ben tried to think what kind of training he had received for this kind of situation, but he'd never been in this situation before and his training had been years ago. The refresher courses didn't do any good and the last one of those had been at least seven months previous. Deciding he would have to try and make it up as he went along, Ben knew the first thing to do was try and see what injuries he and Tommy had and if he could move or not.

He slowly moved his fingers, feeling the gloves over his hands were grazing against rubble and gravel. When he curled his fingers into his palms, he knew he hadn't broken any knuckles or fingers which was a good start. He moved his focus onto his arms which he tensed before pulling tighter around Tommy. Ben could feel the burns and when his left arm started shaking, he figured it was a rather bad burn. But nothing broken yet.

Raising one hand, Ben slowly grabbed the helmet and visor resting on his head and moved his head to take it off. He knew it was safer to keep it on in case any rubble fell but right now he didn't want it constricting him. He cracked his neck side to side and felt very little strain there which was also good.

Trying to shuffle his weight back just a little, Ben very slowly and gently unravelled his arms from Tommy without moving his boy very much at all. When his arms were free, Ben rolled onto his back and then removed the thick padded gloves that made it hard to bend his fingers, Ben then trailed his hands over his upper body.

His overalls were ripped, burnt and hot to the touch and when he moved his hands down to his chest he hissed and jolted against the concrete when he felt at least two ribs on his right side that were either fractured or broken. Now his breathing felt like it was beginning to hurt now he was aware of the pain he was beginning to notice. Moving his hands lower, he grazed only his fingertips against his body so he wouldn't apply any pain or pressure to any injuries he had.

His torso felt strained and bruised but nothing major. Moving his hands to the floor, he felt around him for any bricks or lumps of concrete before he pressed his flat palms to the ground in order to sit himself up.

Ben took a moment to control his breathing and ride out the dizziness in his head before he dared to check over his legs. His right leg had a rather blistering burn to his upper thigh and the way it sizzled like he was sitting on a barbecue made Ben guess it had reached the muscle.

"Shit."

He left the burn alone, not having any water or gauze to clean it with anyway, so he focused on trailing his hands lower down his body.

He'd dislocated his left knee, great.

But when Ben looked at his legs, a sound resembling a moan escaped his lips before he groaned and felt himself beginning to cry without shedding any tears. There was a chunk of concrete like one of the pillars holding up the ceiling and it was laid on Ben's right ankle, cutting off his sight of his foot.

For two, maybe three minutes, Ben sat choking on dust and air wondering if it had gone completely through his ankle and chopped off his foot. Without being able to see his foot or being able to see the damage to his ankle, it felt possible that his foot was no longer connected to his leg. But Ben could feel his whole leg twitching and it didn't feel like his foot wasn't there, so surely it had to be, right?

Ben found it horrifying that he could feel no pain in his leg other than his blistered thigh. He wasn't suffering agonising pain from his ankle bone clearly being crushed by concrete, nor were his nerves shooting with pains or his muscles twitching and spasming with pain. His leg just felt numb from the knee down.

Trying to ignore his own injuries when he heard Tommy lowly groaning, Ben tried to turn to the left but he ended up laying back down on his side to ease the pain he was feeling. He gently brushed Tommy's hair from his eyes that were just beginning to flutter open like butterfly wings. He took a moment to adjust and look at Ben before hi pupils blew wide and a strangled breath escaped his bleeding lips.

The eight year old's breathing started to increase and he began to shake as a silent cry escaped his lips making it clear that his memory was sharp and coming back to him quickly.

"Sshh, hey, hey I'm here buddy. I'm here and I've got you, it's gonna be okay I promise." Ben brushed his hand over Tommy's face, knowing his voice was scratching but he hoped he could still calm him down. He kissed Tommy's forehead and continued to brush his hand over his features to calm him down, listening as his breathing calmed down but he started to choke on wails. "I'm here, you're okay."

Tommy reached his hand up and clung to Ben's arm for a few minutes until his wails turned to sniffs and gasps for a proper breath.

"Tommy, baby I need to check you over to see where you're hurt. I'm gonna turn you on your back, just tell me if anything hurts, okay?" Ben took Tommy's hand to keep him calm when he sat up before he gently eased Tommy over onto his back.

Ben felt something stabbing his chest when he realised he'd called Tommy baby like he used to when he was younger and he didn't revolt against the term. It was a pet name Ben used for (Y/n) and all the boys but Tommy started to say he was too old to be called that, but right now he didn't seem to bother, if anything it seemed to reassure him.

Ben slowly let go of Tommy's hand so he could check him over, wincing when Tommy let out a cry when Ben touched his left shoulder which felt dislocated. Ben tried to breathe slowly and calmly to get Tommy to copy him as he continued to check him over, noting that he had at least two broken or fractured ribs and his right leg felt both blistered and broken. But he didn't feel any pain around his torso or chest other than bruising which was a good sign that he might not have any internal injuries.

"Okay, I'm gonna sit you up, put your shoulder in place and then sort out my knee, okay?"

"Daddy don't... i-it's okay please-"

"It'll hurt a lot less if I put it back in place, I know what I'm doing I swear. Count to three for me baby, please." Ben eased Tommy up before reaching around to hold onto his shoulder. He knew it was going to hurt but he also knew leaving it out of its socket would be a bad idea if they had to get themselves out of here because he could catch his shoulder and make it worse.

"O-one... two-" Tommy cut himself off with a piercing scream when Ben pushed his arm straight up and they both heard it popping back into its socket. It was better to do it when he wasn't expecting it and get it over with.

"Good lad, now you just sit there for a minute, okay?"

Placing one hand on his left thigh, Ben held his lower leg with the other hand and closed his eyes for a few seconds as he calmed himself down. He'd done this before with someone else's knee, but not to himself. But he couldn't move or bend his knee if it was popped out of the joint and at some point he needed to check on his shattered ankle. Drawing in a deep breath through gritted teeth, Ben opened his eyes, focusing his gaze on his knee as he held his breath deep in his lungs.

One... two... three.

Curse words flowed freely from his chapped lips along with a scream of pain when he heard the sickening pop telling him that he'd done it.

Turning his head, Ben looked over at Tommy who was cringing from the scene and the sound he just witnessed and tears were now streaking down his face that was covered in grime and dust. But when Tommy moved his head and caught sight of (Y/n), Ben's voice caused him to quickly look back at his dad.

"Hey, eyes over here. Your mum's okay, she's just unconscious like we were a bit ago. When I sort my foot out, I'm gonna go and make sure she's okay and then we'll get out of here, it's gonna be fine I swear." Ben didn't want Tommy to sit and stare at (Y/n) because he would upset himself and convince himself that she wasn't okay. Ben didn't want Tommy to torture himself looking at (Y/n) knowing that he couldn't help, nor did he want Tommy to go and sit with her in case she had any injuries that he would be able to see.

Pressing his hand under his knee, Ben pulled it until his knee was bent up and he could shuffle closer and bend his other knee to get as close to his damaged ankle as possible. The boulder crushing his limb wasn't too extensive, it wasn't very long in length and it was rather thin which he guessed was a good thing. Daring to lean his head over the boulder, Ben sighed in utter relief when he saw his foot on the other side. He had truly believed he would look over to see a severed limb looking back at him. His foot was bent to the left at an odd angle and Ben didn't have to move the boulder to know that the bone of his ankle would be shattered.

Without even thinking, Ben moved his cautious hand to try and touch his foot that was clad in his boot but to his utter surprise, his foot jerked at the contact which made his ankle move under its constraint of the boulder.

Ben tried to swallow a howl at the sudden agony he felt when a shooting nerve sprung to life in his ankle and bolted all the way up his leg. Now he could feel the pain instead of the numbness. He tried to think what he was going to do and how to get his foot free and as he leaned his head to the side to assess his ankle, he noticed there might just be enough room to bend his foot and slide it under.

"Tommy, can you shuffle over here for me?" Ben cocked his head to the side, watching as Tommy slowly dragged himself over whilst trying not to move his broken leg too much. But when he looked over at Ben's ankle, more tears fell from his eyes and he started to whimper.

"D-daddy, y-your..." He couldn't seem to find the words he was thinking of so he just pointed at the sight that made him feel sick.

"I know it looks bad, but baby I need you to help me. I need you to lean over and help push my foot under the concrete, I can't get it free on my own."

Tommy violently shook his head, trying to retreat but Ben reached over and grabbed hold of his hand. His eyes were pleading, he wouldn't ask this if he could do this on his own. Ben didn't want his boy to see him in pain or witness this but there was no way Ben could bend his damaged foot the other way and push it under the boulder as well as trying to lift the boulder enough to slot his foot free.

"Baby I need your help or else I can't go and help your mum. Please?" Tommy started to shake but he finally relented and nodded. "Good boy, all you have to do is bend my foot to the other side and then push it when I tell you to, okay?"

Tommy turned his head to the side when he shuffled closer to the boulder and Ben could see his stomach churning and his throat tightening like he was going to be sick. He rested his left arm over the boulder and held onto Ben's boot, slowly pushing it like he was moving the hand of a clock into the right position but the noise Ben's ankle made caused Tommy to wail. He shivered and shrunk down when Ben growled through gritted teeth and snapped his eyes closed, he had to try and be strong but the pain was making it very hard.

Moving his hands, Ben slipped his gloves back on before he slotted his hands under the small gap the boulder had left. His arms started to shake and he felt his stomach muscles tightening when he pulled up the boulder before nodding for Tommy to push his foot.

Ben tried his best to pull his leg back but it was harder than he thought when his whole leg was numb to the point he could barely feel it. When the edge of his boot barely scraped past the boulder Ben let it drop against the floor before he leaned back on his hands and tipped his head back, closing his eyes tightly. Now the weight was gone Ben could feel every inch of skin and every nerve pulsing and tingling in his ankle like it was coming back to life and he knew it would only be a matter of minutes before the pain started to arise.

"Good lad." Ben breathed through the words as he tried to stop himself from becoming light-headed.

When he dared to examine his ankle, Ben knew he would be lucky if his foot would survive with how shattered the bone was, it looked like his ankle had been flattened and there was a piece of bone poking through the skin that was oozing blood like a small river.

"Tommy, baby you stay there and I'm gonna go see to your mum, I'll be right there you won't lose sight of me for a second I promise."

"O-okay."

When Tommy nodded, Ben managed a tight-lipped smile before he slowly rolled over so that he was resting on his front. He knew it would be easier to crawl over rather than try and stand with a shattered ankle and a dislocated knee, the pain would be too intense to bear. As Ben started crawling over to (Y/n), he started to wonder how long it would be before search and rescue got here and got them out.

There were countless other people trapped here who needed to escape but Ben was praying that since they were on the ground floor, they would be seen to quicker.

They needed help.

[fanfictionaries]

Oh So Many Years Ch. 8 - Carry On

Pairing: Hermione Granger x Fred Weasley

Summary:

Confessions made and forgiveness gave. 

Warnings: Swearing, Death, Smut/18+ NSFW

Author’s Note:

I update every week before midnight on Sundays (US MST)! Please feel free to like, comment, and reblog! xoxo

Masterlist

<< Chapter 7

And after all's been said and done Who said it best, were you the one? Let's just forget, leave it behind And carry on

It was nearly two weeks till the first challenge and approximately a week and a half since Harry humiliated Hermione in the Great Hall. Hermione felt an overwhelming sickness as the first challenge grew nearer. She told herself not to worry, but she couldn’t help it. Worrying about Harry Potter’s well-being was second nature to her. Ronald, on the other hand, was the least of her priorities. In fact, she did her best to avoid the ginger boy as best she could, possessing no real desire to talk to him. Not until he sorted out his attitude. But still he was constantly trying to talk to her – trying to get her to send Harry messages for him or just plain berating her for ignoring him. Luckily, avoidance was easy as she found herself buried with work and didn’t see any hope of free time until the coming Sunday. Her work, it seemed, had increased even more as the teachers prepared them for their O.W.L.s the coming year. That, added with her increased research into magical creature rights and all the previous Triwizard Tournament challenges, made Hermione an incredibly busy young woman.

Hermione made her way through the aisles of the library only to see, much to her annoyance, Viktor Krum seated at her table. Again. It seemed he was making a habit of always being in her way, and while she had been polite about it initially, Hermione had reached her limit. Marching up to the table, she waited for him to notice her presence. However, the large and looming boy never so much as looked up from his book. After a few more moments, Hermione finally cleared her throat. Much to her relief, the sound caught his ear and Krum turned his head, looking up at her with a questioning and unwavering gaze. Reaching deep within herself, Hermione mustered up all her courage and finally spoke.

“You’re um…you’re in my seat.” Internally she cheered with relief that her voice sounded clear and confident. Krum narrowed his eyes and looked around at the table.

“I see no name,” he replied simply.

“Yes, but you see I’ve been here for four years. I’ve always sat here. No one else sits here,” Hermione explained.

“I am sitting here,” Krum stated challengingly. He really has a way with words, Hermione thought to herself hotly.

“I can see that, and you’ve been sitting here for the past week. It’s been quite the disturbance to my study routine. There are many desks in the library in which you can stake your claim and make your seat but as it has been established, this is my seat and I would very much like it back.” Hermione knew as the words left her mouth that she must sound like an insufferable berk, but as it were, she had been under a fair amount of stress lately and she longed for something familiar. Krum stared at her for a moment, an unreadable expression on his face, before standing.

“I like you. You are strong. You stand up for what you want.” With that the Bulgarian boy picked up his book and stepped aside with a slight bow.

“Your seat,�� he stated formally before straightening and disappearing into the rows of books.

“Thank you,” said Hermione completely in shock that her plan had worked.

Letting out a great sigh of relief, she sat down and opened her Charms book. She had only made it two chapters when Frederick Weasley sat down in the seat next to her. She should have known he would find her eventually. Not a day went by that Fred or George, or Fred and George found her somewhere. Whether it was the Great Hall, the common room, the grounds, Hagrid’s hut, or in this case, the library, she always seemed to run into them whether she intended it or not. While the pair were much more engaging that she had previously thought, and while she did enjoy their company, she very quickly realized it was nearly impossible to get any work done with them around. Determined not to break her current study flow, Hermione ignored his presence and hoped he would take out a book and perhaps study himself for once instead of distracting her. For the first few minutes and much to her surprise, it appeared he would do just that. But then the pen tapping began, followed by the popping of his lips, and when neither of those pulled her attention he simply stared at her intensely. The feeling of his gaze locked onto the side of her face was too much to bear.

“What do you want Frederick?” she asked tiredly.

“I didn’t see you at any of the meals today.”

“I’ve been busy. Similar to how I’m busy right now. So, unless you would like to sit and silently work with me, I’m afraid you’ll have to go somewhere else for entertainment today. I have too much work to do.”

“Fine. I’ll work,” said Fred plainly, taking out a notebook riddled with scribbles and drawings. If those were his class notes it was no wonder he and George hadn’t gotten many O.W.L.s, thought Hermione. They were worse than Ron and Harry’s!

Hermione shook her head and returned to her textbook, feeling relieved but a tad skeptical. Never would she imagine Frederick Weasley rolling over in defeat so easily. It was almost disappointing. She found she rather liked Fred and George’s challenging nature. They provided a surprisingly intellectually stimulating conversation. It was refreshing to talk about something other than quidditch, classes, and impending doom. Going back to her chapter on the theory of simple summoning charms, Hermione jotted down notes at the more mentionable and important things to remember. Just as she finished a section on counteractive Fred began mumbling to himself. Hermione glanced up through her lashes at the boy in curiosity and watched as he scribbled something down into his notebook, paused, read over it chewing thumb, mumbled to himself, and then scratched it out. Obviously, the notebook couldn’t be for a class. A diary perhaps? But then, why would he be crossing things out? she pondered. He repeated the cycle – write, pause, chew, mumble, scratch – at least five times before Hermione’s patience ran thin.

“What are you working on?”

“Do you mind, Granger? I’m trying to work. And I have much too much work to do to chit chat with you today. Please find your entertainment elsewhere, thank you,” Fred responded indignantly, lifting his nose into the air. Hermione knew when she was being mocked. Most of the time it set a fire under her seat, but in that moment the most she could muster was a good-natured shake of her head. So, she put her nose back into her book and continued to work. She didn’t make it very far before Fred was mumbling and writing and mumbling and scratching furiously once again.

“Okay, you have to tell me what you’re working on that has you so frustrated. It’s driving me absolutely mad.” Hermione shut her book and stood, rounding the corner of the table towards Fred. Fred closed his notebook and held it behind his back before she could come within a foot of him.

“I don’t have to do anything,” said Fred wiggling his eyebrows playfully at her. Taking it as a challenge, Hermione lunged for the notebook, missing it by an inch as Fred swiped it out of her reach and stood, raising it high above his head.

“Frederick Weasley that is entirely unfair,” Hermione whispered, annoyance laced in her voice as she jumped for the notebook, barely reaching his elbow.

“Hey, it’s not my fault you’re short.” Fred let out a fake yawn as Hermione continued to try and reach the notebook.

“I am not short! You are simply too tall!” Hermione exclaimed, reaching her breaking point.

“Miss Granger, shouting in the library is prohibited. Five points from Gryffindor and you two can see yourselves out for the day,” whispered Madame Pince harshly from behind her desk.

Hermione stood horrified, staring at Madame Pince. A gentle puff of warm breath fell on her ear as Fred leaned down and whispered, “Did you see the amount of spit that flew out of her mouth when she said ‘points’? Absolutely ghastly.”

Hermione fought to hold in her giggles at Fred’s comment. She barely had enough time to gather her things and leave the library, tall red head in tow, before the two of them doubled over in laughter.

“I can’t believe you got me kicked out of the library!” Hermione scolded once she caught her breath.

“I think you did that all on your own Granger. I was just sitting there minding my own business and you attacked me!”

“Attacked you? You know very well what you were doing Frederick.” She stuck her tongue out at him as they walked down the hall, not at all embarrassed for being childish.

“Careful what you do with that tongue Granger.” Fred winked and Hermione immediately tucked her tongue back into her mouth. Her face heated in a furious blush.

“Well now I have no place to get my work done,” she said, changing the subject quickly. “I guess I can try and make do with the common room…” Hermione pondered the possibility of trying to find a quiet corner where she wouldn’t be bothered by Ron when Fred grabbed her arm and started pulling her down a side corridor.

“Where—?”

“You’ll see,” Fred cut her off. With dizzying twists and turns, Fred pulled her along until finally they were in a part of the castle Hermione did not recognize. They continued further, down corridors and around corners, until they were inside an abandoned classroom. It was relatively small, looking to only have space for no more than fifteen people squished together. On one side, sat a good-sized table and a few comfortable looking armchairs. On the other side of the room was a workbench with a single cauldron and a hodgepodge of potions ingredients and empty vials.

“Ta-da! Do you like it?” Fred asked looking around proudly.

Hermione observed the cobwebs in the corners and layers of dust covering most of the furniture and frowned. “It could use a bit of cleaning up, don’t you think?”

Fred blushed, his ears turning a light shade of pink, and walked over to the workbench. “Well, you know. George and I aren’t much for housekeeping I guess,” said Fred sheepishly as he began to discretely move items around into a neat array. Hermione felt a twinge of guilt over her comment. It had been rude.

“Scourgify.” She flicked her wand, and slowly the dust and cobwebs began to vanish from sight as if an invisible maid had swept through in a fury. She looked back at Fred and smiled, hoping that her faux pas was forgiven. He smiled back.

“So why are we here?” Hermione asked.

“Well, you said you needed a place to work. George and I use this place to work on our inventions. It’s pretty quiet and no one really comes here, at least not for a very long time.”

“That doesn’t surprise me. The castle is sure to have a number of old unused classrooms. I read that when Hogwarts was originally built, it was made to house twice as many students as it does now,” she commented, placing her heavy bag into an armchair.

Fred hummed in acknowledgement as he placed his notebook down onto the workbench and opened it to a specific page. Hermione walked over to his side hoping to finally get a glance at the pages, but Fred was too quick, closing it before her eyes could decode the lines and scribbles.

“Oh, come on Granger. You have to be better than that.”

“I don’t understand why you won’t just show me!” Hermione huffed and crossed her arms.

Fred mirrored her, crossing his arms as well and responding in a haughty voice, “Because you want to see it.”

“But you owe me! You got me kicked out of the library!”

“Yes, and then I brought you here, Miss Ungrateful—” he leaned forward, looking down at her with an air of amusement “—If you want to see it so badly, then you’ll have to take it from me.”

Hermione scoffed. She knew Fred was just playing a power game. He wanted her to take the notebook. He probably didn’t even have anything written in it. He just wanted her to want it. Then he won. She must have stood there too long, glaring at him while her mind raced over what game he might be playing because he spoke again.

“Come on Granger, too afraid to take me on? Where’s your Gryffindor courage?”

Hermione bristled at the words. Suddenly her heart began to race, and she was no longer in the abandoned classroom, but instead a forest running for her life. Running to protect those around her.

“Granger? Hermione? ‘Mione?” Fred’s voice and a gentle hand on her shoulder, shook her back to the present. She looked up to see Fred staring at her with concern in his eyes. Hermione brushed his hand away and turned on her heel. A wetness ran down her cheeks and she realized, to her mortification, that she was crying. She needed to leave.

“You know what Frederick? I don’t have time for whatever little game you’re trying to play. You were the one that came into the library and you were the one that got us kicked out. I told you I was busy, but did you listen? No—” she was rambling now, she knew it “—instead, you dragged me all the way down here and wasted my time.”

She swung her book bag over her shoulder and stormed towards the door. If she were not mistaken, Fred’s voice called after her, but truthfully, she did not care. Her feet carried her towards the Gryffindor tower.

The next day Hermione still pondered over what happened in the abandoned classroom with Fred. Why had she reacted that way? It was true Fred used the same phrase she said to him that night in the forest but that wasn’t his fault. He certainly wasn’t using it to spite her. Besides, she was getting over it. She hadn’t had a nightmare in nearly two weeks. So why did it affect her so badly? No matter what the answer was, she knew she owed Fred an apology. It was going to be hard; She was still thoroughly embarrassed by her behavior and she would be lucky if Fred even forgave her. Still, she had to try.

She walked out of her double potions class and headed towards the Great Hall to look for Fred. Her stomach grumbled loudly, and she tried to occupy her mind with thoughts of dinner and pudding to quell her nerves. Turning the corner, Hermione noticed a commotion in the hall up ahead. She heard familiar voices and pushed her way to the front of the crowd to find Harry and Draco Malfoy toe to toe, wands raised. Hermione groaned. The last thing Harry needed right now was detention for dueling in the hallways. She watched an evil glint appear in Malfoy’s eyes and had a sinking realization. Without thinking, Hermione dropped her bag and leapt forward, pushing Harry aside as two voices rang out.

“Densaugeo!”

“Furnunculus!”

Hermione hit the ground hard. The cold stone floors scraped her hands as she blinked rapidly. A tangle of robes and curls, she sat up, amazed she was not stunned or incapacitated. In fact, she was completely fine. Her stomach dropped in despair – she hadn’t been quick enough. Malfoy’s spell hit Harry. However, her assumption was made all too soon as a tingling sensation began to fill her mouth. Working her jaw back and forth, she tried to make sense of what was happening. It wasn’t until she ran her tongue across her front teeth that she realized something was unusual about them. Her two front teeth seemed to be…bigger? Perhaps they had always been that size, she hoped desperately. Her hope was short lived. The tingling sensation appeared again and this time her front teeth noticeably increased in size, pushing down on her tongue as they elongated. Hermione gasped, covering her mouth with her hands. The crowd around them murmured. She looked to Harry sitting next to her on the ground and he stared back at her in horror. A groan from nearby, pulled her attention to Goyle, sitting next to Malfoy, covered in large pus-filled boils. She felt the tingling again and this time, her teeth pushed past her bottom lip, making it impossible to close her mouth. Panic began to set in.

“What…is the meaning of this…?” The droning voice of Professor Snape cut through the crowd and Hermione thought she’d never been happier to hear the dull tone. She scrambled to her feet and ran to him, unable to speak but frantically pointing to her obviously growing teeth.

“What seems to be the…problem, Miss Granger?” he asked her with a bored expression. Hermione looked around the hall in a panic.

From somewhere in the crowd, the voice of Seamus Finnigan piped up, “Can’t you see? Her teeth are huge!”

Professor Snaped sneered down at her, his gaze scrutinizing and unforgiving. “I see no difference from their…usual appearance.”

His cruel words stung her deeply. She felt tears well in her eyes and fled the corridor, making her way to the hospital wing. Hermione had never been more embarrassed in her life.

Madame Pomfrey was undeniably kind when Hermione burst into the hospital wing, her teeth well past her waist at that point. The fix was surprisingly easy – just a quick counter-jinx and shrinking spell. Professor Snape could have done it easily if he didn’t find so much joy in her suffering. Madame Pomfrey had given her a hand mirror to hold as she carefully shrunk her front teeth back to normal size. In a moment of impulse and weakness, fueled by the lingering sting of Professor Snape’s words, Hermione allowed Madame Pomfrey to shrink her teeth past their normal size. Checking her smile in the hand mirror, she was struck by just how much of a difference the slight change in size made to her overall appearance. She’d like to see Professor Snape make fun of her teeth now.

“You’ve had a grueling day dear. Would you like to stay here for a while? I can have dinner brought up and you can head back to your dormitory once you’re finished,” Madame Pomfrey suggested, standing up and tucking her wand back into her robes. Hermione nodded and smiled with a sniff. She leaned back in the bed and went to reach for her bag when she realized she forgot it. Great, what was she supposed to do with her time now? A throat cleared from the entryway and Hermione sat up straight, looking to her left. It was Harry, holding her bag and looking like he regretted showing up at all. Cautiously he approached the bed and set her bag down on the floor next to it.

“I thought I’d bring you your bag,” Harry said lamely.

“Thank you.” Hermione looked down at her hands. They sat there, the silence deafening and uncomfortable.

“I’m sorry.”

“Harry, you don—”

“No—” Harry interrupted her “—I do. I messed up Hermione. You were just trying to be a good friend and-and I wasn’t being a very good friend back.”

Hermione could tell he was struggling to find the right words. Harry had never been particularly articulate.

“It’s okay Harry. I understand.”

“I was a right git though.”

“You were, yes. But like I said, I understand. I just hope we can put this behind us and be friends again?”

“I’d like that.”

Hermione leaned forward and pulled Harry down into a tight hug. After a few moments, they parted, laughing in relief as the tension between them melted away.

“I’m on my way to dinner. Do you want to come?” Harry asked her, standing up. She shook her head.

“Madame Pomfrey is having my dinner sent here. I think I’ll stay for a while and get some work done while I eat. I’ll see you in the common room later.” Hermione reached for her bag, pulling out her Charms book. Harry nodded, saying his goodbyes before exiting the hospital wing. She had only just opened her book when she heard the doors to the hospital wing swing open. Looking to the doors, she saw Frederick Weasley holding a tray of food.

Fred made his way down to the kitchens hoping to get a pre-dinner snack. He figured if his attempted apology to Hermione didn’t go well at dinner, he’d at least have something in his stomach when he was forced to leave the Great Hall to avoid being hexed. As he walked, he thought back to the situation that got him into this mess in the first place. It all started one night after a particularly heated debate over counter curses with Hermione at dinner. George had pulled Fred aside on their way to Gryffindor tower.

“Merlin Freddie! Why didn’t you tell me?”

“That Granger was really as smart as they say? I thought that was pretty obvious mate.”

“Yeah. Now I finally understand your recent obsession with her.”

“For the last time, I’m not obsessed with Granger.”

“Whatever mate. Anyway, I knew she was smart, but I never knew how much of an asset she could be for our business!”

“Oh lovely, we’re basing people’s worth on their ability to contribute to our future now?”

“Shove off, I’m being serious! She might be able to fill in the blanks with some of the product ideas you’ve been stuck on.”

“I haven’t been stuck on them. Your ideas are just too bloody complex,” Fred defended himself.

“Freddie, no need to get your knickers in a twist. We both know you’re the brains—though I’d never admit that to anyone else. But you have to admit, things would go a bit smoother if we had a little help from the brightest witch of our age…” George goaded his brother.

“George, it’s brilliant but somehow I doubt she’d be quite keen on the idea of helping us. What makes you think she’d even agree to breaking rules and getting into trouble?” Fred raised an eyebrow, interested in what scheme his brother had concocted this time.

“I’m not saying we go up to her and say, ‘Oi, Granger, fancy breaking some rules, eh?’. I’m just saying, if she happens to take an intellectual interest in what we’re doing then…all the better.”

Fred let the idea marinate in his brain. It was quite brilliant really, but there was one small flaw. “Alright. How do you plan on getting her to volunteer her brainy services?” he asked, looking around to make sure the bushy-haired fourth year wasn’t nearby.

“Well…that’s where you come in.”

“Why do I have to do it? Why can’t you get her to help?”

“She likes you better.”

“No, she doesn’t.”

“Sure.”

“She doesn’t! You and she get along better.”

“We get along just fine, but she likes you better.”

“You’re mental mate.”

“Sure. Either way, you’re doing it.”

Fred fumed at the inevitable but couldn’t stay angry for long. Not when George’s words kept repeating in his head. Did Hermione truly like him better? Sure, he’d shared a few more moments with her that year than George, but that didn’t mean she liked him better. If anything, they argued more than she and George did. She always had something to say and he could never keep his opinion to himself either. Perhaps they were more similar than he thought. Maybe with the right influence—his and George’s influence – they could mold her into their own, personal mad genius.

“Fine. I’ll do it, but don’t blame me if she doesn’t agree,” said Fred before turning and heading towards Gryffindor tower.

“Oh brother, you really do underestimate your skills.”

“I don’t underestimate my skills Georgie. I underestimate your harebrained ideas.”

Fred put off the attempt to trick Hermione into volunteering her services for a few days. It wasn’t until George threatened to slip Ton-Tongue Toffee into his morning pumpkin juice if he didn’t get a move on, that he started planning how he’d do it. The plan seemed solid, except for Fred’s one small flaw. He never knew when to stop. He just had to give her one more push. Now he just hoped she’d forgive him.

He entered the kitchens, greeting the elves that bowed at his presence. He reached for a meat pie when he noticed Marby, a house elf he was familiar with, placing some stew on a tray.

“Hullo Marby,” he greeted the house elf.

“Hullo Master Weasley!” Marby responded enthusiastically, placing a treacle tart and a cup of pumpkin juice down on the tray.

“Who’s that for?” Fred asked curiously, biting into the meat pie.

“It’s for a Miss Granger, Master Weasley. Madame Pomfrey told Marby specifically to brings it to her!” Marby stated proudly.

Fred choked on his pie. “Madame Pomfrey? Hermione’s in the hospital wing?”

Marby nodded.

“Do you know what for?” He placed his pie down on the nearest counter.

“Marby does not know Master Weasley. Marby only knows to brings the food.”

Fred chewed his thumb. “She likes pumpkin pasties better.”

Marby nodded again and switched the treacle tart for a nearby pasty. She took hold of the tray and made to apparate, but before she could Fred spoke again, “Marby, do you mind if I go with you?”

“Not at all Master Weasley!” She took hold of Fred’s pant leg and suddenly Fred was being pulled by his navel in a sickening spin. They landed with a snap outside the hospital wing and Fred had to take a few deep breaths to keep from puking up the meat pie in his stomach. So that’s apparating, he thought in wonder. While nauseating at first, the rush from it was enough to excite him for his apparition lessons the coming semester. Marby took a step towards the door to go in, but Fred stopped her.

“It’s okay Marby, I’ve got it. I’ll let Hermione know that you made it especially for her.” He took the tray from the small house elf.

“Thank you Master Weasley!” she squeaked before disappearing with a loud crack.

With a deep breath, Fred pushed the heavy doors open and saw Hermione lying on a nearby bed. Unsurprisingly, there was a book in her hands. When the doors shut behind him, the witch turned her head and looked at him in surprise.

“I was in the kitchens when one of the house elves mentioned you were in the hospital. I volunteered to bring you your food. You know, to make sure you weren’t dead or something,” Fred explained with a stiff laugh, walking towards her, and setting the tray on the side table next to her. He scanned her for a moment from head to toe. “Looks like you’ll live.”

His palms felt sweaty and his stomach felt nauseous as he looked over her, trying to figure out what was wrong.

“I’m fine, now. Rogue hex in the hallway.”

Fred winced. “What was it? Bat bogey? Jelly legs?”

“No. Nothing quite that bad, but Madame Pomfrey said I could stay here for a while if I wanted,” Hermione replied. She kept her gaze down, not looking at him. Great, she’s still mad, thought Fred. He sat there uncomfortable, trying to figure out where to start his apology when Hermione surprised him.

“I’m sorry,” she stated, closing her book, and putting it beside her. Fred eyed her, he was sure, with a stupid look on his face.

“I shouldn’t have gotten so upset with you, it’s just that—” Hermione hesitated “—I think I was more upset by what you said than what you did.” She let out a breath, making Fred realize that what she just admitted must have been hard for her to do. Unfortunately, he had no bloody clue what she was talking about.

“What I said?”

“Gryffindor courage?” She said it in such a way, Fred felt as though he should understand the meaning behind her words, but still he felt at a loss. Hermione sighed when he did not reply and placed her hands at her temple in frustration. “You know, the exact thing I said to you that night at the world cup?—” she inhaled deeply “—it’s just…I’ve been having these nightmares you see. Ever since the cup I’ve barely been able to sleep and I guess something about that phrase shook me.”

At her confession, Fred felt a pit open in the bottom of his stomach that he wished would swallow him whole. In truth, he had used the phrase with the world cup in mind. He thought it would get a rise out of her as it did him that night, but he had no idea she’d been dealing with the aftermath of that night still. He felt like a complete and utter arse. Ho was he supposed to fix this?

“Hermione…that night, in the forest, was the most scared I’ve ever been. But what you did was the most courageous thing I’ve ever seen too. Do you think I could have done what you did on my own? Absolutely not!” he exclaimed. She looked at him now, calmer but still wavering. “I guess what I’m trying to say is, there’s nothing for you to be afraid of. You’re more badass than I could ever be. I was just as scared as you were that night, but you were all action. All I can do is…make stupid jokes afterwards and try to forget it all.” The words spilled past his lips, revealing more than he truly liked, but still they were true. He often turned things into jokes that would otherwise be troubling – to take the power it held away from it. He chewed the side of his thumb, thinking about how he probably should have been the one to voluntarily head into danger that night.

“Jokes aren’t all bad. Arguably better than my unhealthier coping mechanisms,” Hermione spoke up, a wry grin tugging at the corner of her mouth.

“Like studying for terms that haven’t even started yet?” Fred suggested, suddenly flushed with the memory of Hermione’s constant studying since the world cup.

“Can I tell you a secret?” Hermione asked, her voice quiet now, barely above a whisper.

“I love secrets,” Fred whispered back, leaning in, and raising his eyebrows conspiratorially.

“Ever since I started spending more time with you and George, the nightmares have gotten better. In fact, I don’t have them at all if you two are the last people I talk to before bed.”

Her confession stunned Fred more than any of her others. “Why do you suppose that is?”

Hermione shrugged. “I don’t really know. Maybe it’s all the light-hearted joking that gets my mind off it.”

The two shared a small smile before Fred swallowed thickly and reached into the pocket of his robes. “Right, well a secret for a secret I suppose—” from the confines of his pocket he pulled the notebook that started this whole mess “—my apology for being an insensitive git.” He placed the notebook on her lap and leaned back, realizing he had become quite close to the girl during their conversation. He practically hovered over her. Hermione took the notebook in her small hands, eyeing him through her lashes before opening it. Fred watched as she scanned the pages, her eyebrows scrunched together and her eyes moving back and forth over the words.

“I’ve never seen these potions or spellwork before,” she said, looking at him suspiciously.

“That’s because George and I sort of invented them.” Fred scratched the back of his head in embarrassment.

“You came up with these?” Hermione asked in surprise.

“Some of them, yeah. George has a better affinity for Charms work, while I do most of the potions. We both come up with the inventions, but George’s ideas tend to be a bit more extravagant. The more difficult an idea, the more work I usually end up doing. But I don’t mind. It’s like—”

“Solving a puzzle?” Hermione looked at him curiously.

“Yeah, exactly.”

“Do they work?” Hermione asked, turning another page to what Fred could see as the ingredients and spell work for Ton-Tongue Toffee.

“Some of them do, like that one. Some of them not yet. We’re still stuck in research and development for most of our products.”

“I could help.”

“What?” Fred asked, caught off guard by her sudden proclamation of interest.

“I mean, only if you want.” Hermione’s cheeks went a slight pink hue under her freckles.

“Are you kidding?—” Fred smiled “—That’d be bloody amazing!”

“Well then, I look forward to working with you.” Hermione sat up straight, handing him his notebook, and taking on a business-like tone. She thrust her right hand out towards him, and Fred gripped it firmly in his, shaking it with exaggerated vigor.

“Welcome to Weasley’s Wizarding Wheezes, Miss Granger.”

Chapter 9 >>

Taglist: 

@theworldisugly-22

[k-writer1998]

Who Said Love Was Easy? (7/12)

There are many different kinds of people who come and go from your life. Some will stay constant and sturdy like a river, growing alongside you, others will come like a whirlwind who wreaks havoc and leaves just as quickly, then there is everything in between. In this twisted maze of connections, that is where our story begins. A steadfast boy, a girl with a past, a little bit of alcohol, mistakes, and some love. Where can you go wrong with that?

angsty fluff

w.c: 1.6k

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

      The moment the door closed the air immediately changed as if a blizzard suddenly blew through. I pursed my lips and threw a glance at Jeongin but he was already looking at me in concern. He needs to leave. Step-mother will act out as she wishes regardless of who is here, unless it’s dad’s family, and I don’t want him to see. Dinner was enough. Before I was able to open my mouth to speak, step-mother was one step ahead.

“How is it you only had one simple job but even then you can’t even do that right?”

“Well it’s my birthday, of course she would want to talk about m-”

“It’s not that hard to throw your brother’s achievements into a conversation,” she snapped with a scoff, “still as incompetent as when you left.”

      Don’t lash out y/n… not now in front of Jeongin. This woman won’t hesitate to use physical means and you have nothing to prove to her. What she says has no effect anymore so keep the trembling in check and don’t start reliving the past now.

“Since I… left the family, I hadn’t really paid much attention to what goes on in the company so I don’t really know many of your son's achievements.”

“Don’t get smart with me. You knew why you were here tonight, you should’ve prepared,” she hissed, taking a step closer to me.

      I saw Jeongin’s body step to make a move but I slyly moved to block his path and held my hand out behind me to stop him. Thank god my body thought that stopping Jeongin was more important than flinching back. Of course of all the people to catch it though, it was Youngho.

“Aww does your little boyfriend want to protect you? Is that why you brought him? Does he think we’re this big bad family?” he mocked in a babying tone.

“Can you just shut up with the-”

“Don’t you speak to my son like that!”

I grit my teeth at her response and turned to Jeongin, nudging his arm, before dropping my voice and asking, “Can you wait for me outside?”

“Y/n the whole reason I came was because-” he responded in the same hushed tone.

“I know… just please?”

      I gently grabbed his sleeve and pleaded. This was more than enough. Anymore than this and the signs might start showing, him being here is only provoking her more. She can't stand the sight of “the cause of her misery” getting generosity I supposedly didn’t deserve. Couldn’t you throw me at least one bone after all of the shit I’ve gone through God? Please let me have this one at least.

“No.”

“Excuse me, I’m talking to you here.”

      That woman growled as she grabbed my shoulder and forced me to face her. I winced as I felt her nails dig into the skin on my arm. The grip on Jeongin’s sleeve tightened as I felt him try to move once more at the sound of my pain. Why does he have to choose to be stubborn at the worst times? If my mind wasn’t dealing with several things at once I would’ve acknowledged the flutter of my heart at Jeongin trying to stand up for me. Instead I have to deal with my crazy family.

“Of course sticking to a man just like your-”

“I’m sorry for wasting your time and food on me when I wasn’t able to do it so I’ll talk to grandma on my own and do it properly, okay?” I cut off before she started on her tirade about my mother.

“I expect results this time, not like last year where all you gave us were lies. I don’t think you want a repeat of that now do we? Or will you run to one of those boys you keep around? This one, the neighbor… or will it be that boy you went to after you were thrown away?”

“Don’t bring up unrelated parties just because I didn’t do what you want.”

“Watch your tone brat. Everything you have now was built off of my late husband’s money, don’t forget that. If it wasn’t for that witch liking you so much you would’ve stayed as the garbage you are.”

“I understand, may I take my leave now?” I caught myself falling back into my formal speech pattern and internally scolded myself getting scared back into old habits.

      She turned on her heel and waved her hand in dismissal. Once we were outside it felt like the elephant on my back finally decided to leave and my legs nearly gave out on me. The only reason I was still standing was because Jeongin had a cautious hold on me. After a moment I straightened up as I tried to center myself again but Jeongin’s watchful eyes stayed trained on me to catch a falter which pushed me to hide it deeper.

“You okay?”

“For the most part,” I smile weakly before trying to joke it off. “Well that could’ve gone worse.”

“Worse than that? That family really is something isn’t it?”

“You don’t even know the half of it.”

      Once the cab came we were submerged in silence as I closed my eyes and rested my head against the window, listening to the sound of cars driving by. Jeongin asked if I wanted to grab food or something since he noticed I didn’t eat much at the manor but I just shook my head. Most of his attempts to check my condition were answered with a movement of my head, my mind too tired to function. I know there was a lot he wanted to ask, the questions bubbled behind his eyes, but I was glad he refrained. Too much had already happened, I didn’t really feel up to reliving my dark past with someone on top of that. There was a long pause before he tried to speak again but what he chose to speak about made me wide awake.

“My parents got divorced and shortly after both of them found new families. As proof of their broken marriage, neither of them knew what to do with me so they let me do what I wanted without much of a care. On the other hand my new siblings were policed and catered to.”

      I looked at him but his eyes were trained out the window but that only gave him an even lonelier glow every time light streaked across his face from the streetlights. I don’t know what came over me, but the question slipped out without much thought.

“Do they love you?”

“Yeah… I guess. Now whether it’s out of obligation or genuine love, who knows? I’ve been left alone for far too long to figure it out.” 

“Is that how Gahyeon comes in?”

“She brought color back to my life. I am who I am today because of her.”

“You said that last time too,” I smiled softly.

      This time it was his turn to look at me in surprise. Well this is the first time I’ve hinted at what was said that night, I had no energy to play games right now so it is what it is. With the direction this conversation was going there was one more thing I wanted to ask.

“There’s no way to convince you not to leave the pub, is there?”

“Not really… What happened to your big talk about fate? Won’t I still be seeing you?”

      Even though his tone was light hearted there was a finality to his words. Even though I hated pity and the look on people’s faces as they give it to you I couldn’t help but look at Jeongin like that. That girl’s feelings are already so strong for Jaehyung and knowing who he is, there won’t be any red flags that would deter her affection. This was like fighting a one-man battle with only a sword while everyone else had guns. Before he could notice, I turned away and looked out the window.

“Of course you’ll still see me, even if fate didn’t allow it,” I mumbled the second half to myself as we fell back into silence.

      Over the next few weeks a lot of things changed. Jeongin resigned from the pub and helpfully offered his close friend Seungmin to fill his place. Through Changbin I heard that Jeongin had secured a place in his dad’s company although he’ll have to build his way up. These were the times I was glad I was best friends with the son of a big advertising firm that represents various companies. I also did as told and talked up Youngho to grandma a few times when we met for tea but she knew what was going on. Luckily she said she’d handle it and I’ve been left alone so far. Although that was only a small plus with all this work this semester is bringing since it’s filled with my major courses. Thus my life became work, when I had the chance, and studying. 

      Like tonight. I should be at the welcoming party they’re finally holding for Seungmin but instead I’m stuck in a café working on a group project. I was either doing their work for them or proofreading every little thing and my stress level was at maximum. After having to practically rewrite another paragraph from one of my groupmates, I excused myself for some air and went to hide beside the stairs that were next to the café. I stuck close to the wall hidden by the base of the stairs to pretend I didn’t exist for a bit and regain my sanity. The white noise of my surroundings gave me a sense of peace that I hadn’t felt in a while. Taking in the sound around me with my eyes closed, I caught  heavy steps coming down the stairs close to me before they abruptly stopped and I heard a voice I would recognize anywhere.

“I can’t believe I did that…”

[flowerfan2]

Part of You Indefinitely - Ch. 7 of 9

David/Patrick, 22k so far, A03, M

Summary:  An accident sends Patrick to the hospital and terrifies David.  What follows changes their relationship in ways David and Patrick never imagined.  A story of love and its challenges.

***We’re nearing the end, folks - hope you enjoy!

Chapter 7

David is excited at their next session with Margo.  He tells her about how Patrick came to the store, and how good it felt to have him there, and how proud he is of Patrick for getting out of the house.  

But when he turns to Patrick, hoping to have him echo his hopeful thoughts, Patrick is anything but happy.

“Patrick?  What’s wrong?”

“David doesn’t understand,” Patrick grinds out, speaking to Margo.

“Okay, time out, this really isn’t fair – he can’t say that if he doesn’t explain, right?”  David is on board with this counseling thing, he truly is, but not if Patrick just uses it to make vague, unsubstantiated allegations.

“Patrick, can you explain why you think David doesn’t understand?”

David has the feeling that if it wasn’t such a pain for Patrick to get back into his chair, he’d be storming out of the room.  But Margo is good at letting Patrick take his time, and David pushes down his frustration and tries to follow suit.

“It shouldn’t be a big deal,” Patrick finally says, like he’s choking out each word.  “I should be able to go to the store – our store – without freaking out about it.  There’s no reason I can’t go back to work now, I know that’s what David’s thinking – we can both just go back to work now, and everything will be normal, except…”

“Except what?”  Margo prompts.

David waits, his hands gripping his knees.

“Except that’s just it.  Me.  I’m not back to normal.  Nobody knows if I ever will be again, and-” Patrick puts his hands up over his face and sucks in a sob, “and David is going to get tired of waiting for me.”

“Patrick,” David breathes out, his whole body shaking.  “Is that – is that what you have been worried about?  You think I’m going to leave you because you can’t walk?”

Patrick folds in on himself, and David nearly does the same.  The words are stark, but the unknowns of Patrick’s recovery are what’s been haunting him since Patrick woke up in the hospital, and it’s no surprise that it’s at the core of Patrick’s fears, too.

“I’m not going to leave you, Patrick,” David says, putting his hands on Patrick’s shoulders and leaning in close.  “It doesn’t matter if you never get out of that chair, I swear to you, it doesn’t.  You are the love of my life, and that’s not going to change.  I’d carry you around on my back for the rest of my life for the privilege of spending it with you, Patrick Brewer.”

Patrick grabs on to David and buries his face in his neck, sniffling and crying.  “I know it’s stupid, I know it, I just can’t stop thinking about it.”

“It’s not stupid.  I’m not going anywhere.  You’re stuck with me.”  Apparently, this is what Patrick needed to hear, and now that David knows, he can’t say it enough.  David rubs his back and kisses his head, repeating “it’s okay, baby, it’s okay.  It doesn’t matter.  I’m not going anywhere, no matter what happens or doesn’t happen.”

“I’m so scared,” Patrick says, face still pressed against David’s skin.  “I hate this.  I hate it so much.”

“Me too,” David says.  “Me too.”

******

They’re in the car again on the way back from a PT session and a check in with Patrick’s doctor – whoever said most serious conversations happen in the car was definitely on to something – when Patrick asks whether David has ever been sick.

“Sick?”

The car is making a funny noise when David brakes, and he’s trying to figure out if it’s the kind of normal noise you only think is unusual because most of the time it’s drowned out by the radio, or the kind of noise that means “stop the car immediately.”

“Yeah, or, like, were you ever in the hospital.”

David’s about to pull over, weird noise or not, because this is kind of an odd question and he really doesn’t know where it’s coming from.  

“Why do you ask?”

“Just curious.”

David glances at Patrick, and he seems perfectly fine.  He even gives David a “what?” kind of look, so David shrugs and goes with it.

“I was dehydrated from a fever when I was a baby and had to be in the hospital overnight, I sprained my ankle when I was on a fifth grade trip to Montreal and they made me go to the doctor, I had chicken pox… and, um…” David pauses, wondering whether Patrick expects him to list every single time.  “Is this what you had in mind?”

“Sure,” Patrick says, noncommittally.  “Nothing when you were older?”

David really doesn’t want to talk about when he got his stomach pumped in L.A., eighteen years old and stupidly partying with people twice his age, or when Alexis rushed him to the emergency room in Barcelona, convinced he was dying after someone slipped something into his drink.

“What’s this really about?”

“You just seem, um, really nervous in the hospital.”  When David glances over, Patrick is looking at him intently, his brown eyes full of concern.

“I think I’m a perfectly reasonable amount of nervous in the hospital,” David says, ignoring the flutter in his stomach.

“But you’re not even the one who’s hurt.”

David does pull over then, because his chest clenches and while he’s very sure it isn’t a heart attack, they’ve had enough excitement in their lives lately.  “Patrick,” he says, tugging on his sleeve until Patrick turns to face him, “it doesn’t matter how many times I’ve been hurt.  This is the first time, for me, that  <i>you’ve</i> been hurt.  I don’t think a million emergency room visits to pump out my stomach could have prepared me for how it felt to see you unconscious in that bed.”

Patrick’s eyes go wide.  “Okay, we’ll get to that very sweet sentiment in a minute, but – how many times did you have your stomach pumped?”

Fuck, he really didn’t mean to let that slip.  “Just twice, unless you count – but that’s not the point.”

Patrick’s looking at him intently, and David ducks his head, feeling exposed.  

“I’m sorry,” Patrick says.  “I didn’t mean to put you on the spot.”

“What did you mean, exactly?”  David asks.

“I figured if maybe I knew what was making you so nervous, I could do something to help.”  

Patrick’s voice is soft and gentle, and David realizes how long it’s been since Patrick has been the one trying to console him – not that David was even upset for the reason Patrick suspected, but… it feels nice.  He thinks for a moment about how to respond.  He doesn’t want to just brush this off.

“There is something,” David says.  

“What?”

“I’d like to come into your doctor’s appointments with you,” David says, and goes on quickly, trying to explain.  “So I know what’s happening.  And that way you wouldn’t have to repeat everything to me, which I know is awkward, and if they give you any instructions, I could help you keep track of what you need to do.”  <i>And I wouldn’t have to worry that whatever is going on is actually worse than you’re willing to admit,</i> David thinks.

Patrick smiles wryly and tilts his head back in the seat.  “I thought I was doing you a favor by telling you to wait in the hall, but you were anxious because you wanted to be in the room.”

“Pretty much.  I mean, it’s okay if you don’t want that, I know it’s private and you don’t have much that’s private these days.  But you asked, so.”

Patrick bites his lip, then leans over and kisses David quickly.  “Let me think about it, okay?  But I’ll tell you what Dr. Lee said today, if you want to know.”

“Okay, yeah, that’d be good,” David says.  Then he sighs dramatically and puts the car in gear, looking back and forth at the deserted road before he pulls back on.  “But leave out anything about his infatuation with Alexis.  Some things should truly remain private.”

Patrick laughs softly, and they drive on in relative silence for a few minutes.  Then Patrick starts fidgeting, and David braces himself for whatever’s coming next.

“It’s not that I think you’re shallow or anything,” Patrick starts.

“Okay, that’s not a weird way to start a conversation,” David replies, wondering if he needs to pull over again.  At this rate they’ll never get home.

“No, I’m sorry, I just mean…” Patrick rubs his hands on his thighs.  “What I said the other day… part of me knows you wouldn’t leave me if I don’t get better, that would be a horrible thing to think of you.  I don’t really think that, most of the time.  But it’s not really about you.”

David glances over to Patrick, who is worrying his bottom lip with his teeth.  “Okay.”  

“The thought that I might never get out of this chair, that I wouldn’t be able to do so many things – mow the lawn, hike a trail, pull something down off of a high shelf… go for a run when I’m stressed.  My brain gets stuck on that.  I’m so dependent.  And I can’t walk next to you, can’t reach out and pull you up against me, it’s all so much harder with the chair in the way.  It makes me feel less-”

“You’re not-” David interrupts, and Patrick glares at him.  “Sorry, sorry.  I’m listening.  Go on.”

“Whether or not I am less, I feel that way.  Less capable.  Less useful.  Less confident.  And so I really am different.  And when you figure that out, I don’t know if you’ll like me as much.  And you can tell me over and over that it won’t happen, but it’s still… it’s still in my head.”

David reaches over and takes Patrick’s hand.  He wants to say something to fix this, but Patrick just told him that words don’t help.  He gives Patrick’s hand a squeeze and looks over at him, wondering if Patrick can read in his eyes all the love that he’s feeling.  Patrick holds his glance for a moment, and squeezes back.

*****

It takes a little bit longer for David to put his plan for the store into action than he had hoped, but after way too many emails with Jake, and a lucky find at an estate sale, he’s ready to talk to Patrick about it.

Patrick is laying on the couch against David, playing with the gold rings on his fingers.  They’ve been light-heartedly debating what to do with their Saturday afternoon, David having firmly rejected all sports-watching activities, and Patrick declaring that he’s all rom-com’d out for the time being.  Patrick is relaxed, and cuddly, and David is a little afraid to ruin it all by raising what he knows is a sore subject, but he’s not likely to get a better opportunity.

“Patrick?”

“Yeah?”

“Any chance I could convince you to come into the store with me tomorrow morning?”

David can feel Patrick tense against him.  

“Why?  Did Stevie mix up the lip balms again?”

“No.  I, um, made some provisional adjustments to the layout, to make our space more accessible.”

Patrick has let go of David’s hands.  “Provisional upon what?”

“Upon your approval.”

“David.”  There’s a note of warning in Patrick’s voice, and David can tell he’s about to get yelled at.

“Give me a minute to explain before you get angry, okay?  You’re going to be using the chair for a while more, even best-case scenario.  And my dad and Stevie can’t run the store much longer.  You’re bored out of your mind being home all day, and - I really think this could work.”

Patrick shoves himself up and off of David, awkwardly propelling himself to the other end of the couch.  “I am pretty bored,” he says, a little bitterly.  “But it’s a waste of money to make changes to the store for me.”

“It’s absolutely not.  And anyway, the store is doing very well this month, as you know.  I think people are coming in to gossip with my dad and then they get guilted into buying things?”  Actually David thinks they’re coming in out of morbid curiosity, to see if Johnny has screwed around with David’s vision, but that’s almost what he said.  “We’ve got the cash.  And I found a nice piece to use as the counter-top.  It’ll be a two-level table which can work for either sitting or standing.  Jake put together a mock-up, he won’t charge us until we give him the go-ahead.”

“I don’t think it’s a good idea.”

“Patrick,” David scoots closer to him, nudging at his leg with one hand.  “Is it really the cost that’s bothering you?”

The tips of Patrick’s ears color with embarrassment.  “You know it isn’t just that.”

Patrick doesn’t like people seeing him in the wheelchair.  They both know it, and David isn’t going to force him to say it.

“You could just come help after hours,” David says calmly.

“But that’s pretty stupid, isn’t it?”  Patrick says, looking down at his legs.  “I shouldn’t be embarrassed.  I need to get over it.”

David leans closer, wrapping his arms around Patrick’s shoulders and tucking his head in next to his.  “You don’t <i>need</i> to get over it.  But if you started going out more, it might get less awful.  And then you might feel less trapped.”

Patrick turns towards him.  “Trapped?”

“If I suddenly had to rely on someone else anytime I wanted to leave the house, even if it was you, I’d feel trapped.”

“I still can’t drive.”

“There are adjustments we could make to the car, we talked about-”

“Absolutely not,” Patrick says, his voice rising.  He takes a deep breath and when he speaks again, he’s working on staying calm.  “We talked about that, it’s expensive and drastic and – and I really don’t mind you driving me around.  I don’t feel trapped, exactly.  But I guess I am a little… lonely.”  Patrick’s gaze flits to David’s and then away.

“You don’t have to look so guilty when you say that,” David says, pushing down the twinge he feels at Patrick’s words.  “When you decided to spend the rest of your life with me, you didn’t mean <i>only</i> with me.”  David takes Patrick’s hand and squeezes it.

“Still feels kind of mean to say it.”

“Look, I get out of the house all the time – I visit vendors, I stop by the store and critique my dad and Stevie, I chat with Twyla and half the town while I’m waiting for our take-out at the café.  If I was stuck in here all day long with you every day for weeks on end I’d be going a little stir-crazy too.”

There’s a beat, and then Patrick says, “Nice thing to say to your injured husband.”  David welcomes his teasing tone with an internal cheer.

“You can be kind of a lot,” David says, straight faced.

Patrick barks out a laugh, and David swoops in and smacks kisses against Patrick’s smile.  

*****

They’re in bed one night, watching some random Marvel movie on Patrick’s laptop, when David feels the mood change.

Patrick is lying with his head on David’s chest, one arm draped over his waist.  And he’s moving closer, shifting against him, so tentatively David almost doesn’t notice.

David glances down at him, and Patrick looks up, his eyes flitting to David’s mouth.  

“Getting tired of the movie?”  David asks.

Patrick feigns nonchalance, and David feels a thrill of excitement shoot through him.  They’ve played this game before.

“If you are,” Patrick says.  “I mean, I’ve seen it before.”

“Mmm, and I never need to see it.”  David closes the laptop and puts it on the bedside table.  When he looks back at Patrick, his big brown eyes are wide.  “Patrick?”

“Yeah?”  Patrick says.

“You wanna fool around?”

Patrick’s face goes on a journey that David wishes he could preserve forever, from nerves to determination to aroused excitement.  “Oh god, I really do.”  He surges forward and kisses David, one hand cupping his cheek, his whole body pressing close.

David lets out a moan that would be embarrassing if he so very much <i>did not care</i> right now, reveling in the feel of his husband’s body warm and longing against his own.  They kiss with abandon for a few minutes, all tongue and no finesse, Patrick’s hand in David’s hair and David holding on to Patrick’s shoulder.

“Can I take this off?”  Patrick breathes out, tugging at David’s t-shirt, and soon both their shirts are off.  They move back together, skin touching and sending sparks though David’s body.  David is sensitized all over, shivering as Patrick scratches at the hair on his chest and thumbs at his nipples.  David skims his teeth along Patrick’s jaw and sucks at a spot behind his ear, making Patrick whine and thrust his pajama-clad hips against David’s.

It’s so good, David can hardly breathe.  He runs his hand down Patrick’s back to his ass, giving it a squeeze and encouraging Patrick to continue his thrusts.

Patrick’s panting into his ear, his hand clutching at David’s side, but then his breath catches and he stops.  Just stops.

David freezes, breathing hard, and rests his forehead against Patrick’s while he wills himself to remember how to think.  He knew this could happen, he’s played this scenario over in his head a dozen times.  David even thinks he knows what to do.  He just needs to listen to Patrick and make sure he knows he’s safe.

“Hey,” David says softly, sliding his wayward hands back up above Patrick’s waist.  “It’s okay.”  He shifts, easing their hips just the tiniest bit apart, and rubs Patrick’s back.  “Whatever it is, you can tell me.  It’s okay.”  

For a long moment the only noise in the room is their labored breathing.  Then Patrick presses his face into the space between David’s neck and shoulder.  “I’m sorry, I…”

“It’s okay.  Don’t apologize.  We can pause for a while, or we can stop-”

“No, I – I really don’t want to stop.”

David pulls back so he can see Patrick’s face.  “Okay.  We’ll just pause, then, for a bit.”

Patrick stares at David, and then flops over onto his back, his hand over his face.  “I haven’t been this nervous about sex since our first time.”

David hums, raising up on an elbow.  “I couldn’t tell you were nervous then.”

Patrick moves his hand and looks at David.  “You’re kidding, right?”

David laughs.  “Maybe a little.  But you were so sexy…” He bites his lip and shimmies closer to Patrick, drawing circles on his shoulder with a fingertip.  “You took my breath away.”

“I was petrified.  I had literally never touched another guy’s dick before.”

“I know.  But believe me, that is not what I was thinking about at the time.”

“Oh?  What were you thinking about?”  Patrick asks.

David pauses long enough that Patrick has to prompt him.

“I didn’t mean for that to be a hard question.”

David snorts.  “No, sorry, it isn’t, it shouldn’t be.  I was just remembering…  I mean on one hand, I spent a lot of time before that night thinking about what I needed to do to not fuck things up with you, to try to tone it down, not make you change your mind about me.  But in the moment…” David forces himself to look at Patrick, who is gazing back with earnest concern, “in the moment, all I could think of was how beautiful you are.”

Patrick blushes, and then he leans in and kisses David, warm and perfect.  “I love you, David Rose.”

“I love you too.”

Patrick kisses him again, and again, and David leans over him, one hand holding himself up and the other holding Patrick’s face, his thumb stroking his cheekbone.  He keeps his hips angled away, aware in the back of his mind that Patrick still really hasn’t given them the green light to continue.

Patrick takes the initiative after a few minutes, however, sliding a hand down to David’s hip, and giving it a squeeze.  “I, um, I want to keep going,” he says, but he doesn’t move any further.

“Is there something in particular you’re nervous about?”  David asks.  “Maybe I can help.”

Patrick gives a jittery laugh.  “I want to touch you, I want to touch you so bad, but I’m afraid my grip’s gonna be too loose, or I could have a muscle spasm and it’ll be too tight.”

“Honestly, my dick is pretty excited about either of those options right now.”

Patrick snorts against David’s shoulder, and David leans down to whisper in his ear.  “I want your hands on me, Patrick, any way you want.  I want you to touch me.  Whatever feels good to you, I promise it’s going to feel good to me.  You’re not going to do anything wrong.  And if you change your mind, we’ll stop.  Anytime.  Okay?”

“Yeah,” Patrick says, “okay, yeah.”  Patrick pulls David’s head down with a hand to the back of his head, and they kiss, this time letting it heat up fast with all the intensity of their pent-up arousal.  Patrick tugs at David’s sleep pants and David hurries out of them, still kissing Patrick.

“Want yours off too?”  David asks, and when Patrick nods, he carefully eases Patrick’s pants off and tosses them on the floor.  David can’t help admiring Patrick, naked and flushed, his cock hard and leaking.  He’s seen Patrick naked plenty of times, but he still takes his breath away.

“Look at you,” David says, catching Patrick’s gaze.  “You’re gorgeous.”

“Come here.”  Patrick reels David in, and David goes easily, until their bodies are pressed together from chest to groin, feet moving restlessly as they kiss.

This time Patrick lets himself go, gripping David’s ass and pressing a thigh between his legs, humming his appreciation when David’s hands weave between them and find his cock.  

“What do you want, baby?”  David asks, kissing along Patrick’s jaw and down his chest.  “What do you want?”

Patrick captures his mouth with his own, pressing his chest to David’s and shifting his hips until their bare cocks are pressed together.  “Like this?”  His voice is tight and David can tell that he’s already getting close, wound up from so many weeks without.

“Good, yeah, okay,” David scrabbles with one hand in the bedside table drawer, miraculously finding the lube without having to untangle himself from Patrick, who is thrusting against him deliciously.  “Here, let me-” He squirts lube in the general direction of their cocks, messy and wet, and feels Patrick’s hand wrapping around them both.  

David works with him, his hand over Patrick’s, both of them urgently twisting and stroking.  They’re panting into each other’s mouths, and it isn’t long before David is losing control completely.  “Oh god, Patrick, oh, please, yeah, oh, oh-”

Suddenly Patrick jerks and shudders, and he comes with a low moan.  David follows him over the edge, his body exploding in a burst of light.

“Love you so much, David,” Patrick breathes out, stroking David’s flank as he comes down.  “Thank you, fuck, god, thank you.”

“I’d say no thanks are necessary, but I was pretty amazing,” David says lightly, pulling Patrick against him and kissing his cheek.  They can pretend it’s normal, that it’s just another night of mutually satisfying sex in a long wonderful string of nights together, but they know it’s more than that.  It’s Patrick learning to trust himself again, and it makes David’s heart soar.