#serena x mc

[aldwirs]

I care about you.

[bassicallymaestra]

I really wanted to redraw these scenes from Sailor Moon because they are so Sebastian/Serena coded

I had to figure out some lore for why she's always wearing a hat. Her hair used to be light brown, but turned pink when her ancient magic fully developed. She's embarrassed by her pink and no one can figure out how to change it back, so she often wears a hat to try to hide it. Sebastian is often making fun of her wearing a hat all the time and she gets ANGY

[regretmedaisy]

i can see you - tom riddle x fmc/reader

part II

loosely inspired by "i can see you" by taylor swift.

“I've been watchin' you for ages

And I spend my time tryin' not to feel it”

summary: She had always fancied Tom Riddle. It was an infatuation that bordered on love and obsession, that she had secretly grown and cared for, content with indulging in her fantasies and never bold enough to try and make them become reality.

When she meets him again in her adulthood, dormant longings resurface together with a newfound desire to be the object of his own devotion.

As their paths keep crossing, she starts to think he feels the same.

tags: afab mc, use of female pronouns and no descriptors (i tagged it as x reader because i guess it could be read as such if you use the same pronouns), somewhat period-accurate clothing, courtship (just a little because it's still tom riddle), fmc has a crush on tom, she's a bit anxious, a bit of fluff, explicit sexual desire, vaginal fingering, cunnilingus, vaginal sex, unprotected sex, woman is on top.

please note that mc has a crush on tom, therefore the way she refers to him could sound a bit cheesy and exaggerated. i edited this last night and didn't read it again before posting. i'm sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes i missed.

bear with her in this one, she's a little anxious.

words: 6.7K

you can find part I here, I strongly recommend you read that one first.

this is me crawling out of my hole of shame to post this chapter.

i'm really sorry for this very late update, but the smut chapter is finally here after many days of writing (but still in time for smutober lol).

it's not crazy smut, but i hope it was worth the wait.

Part II: And I could see you up against the wall with me

She tapped her foot, pursing her red lips as she jotted a few numbers down on a parchment. She sighed, taking another folder from the pile on her side and checking if the reports corresponded. 

When Serena, her boss, had showed up that morning with two delivery men in tow, she already knew her day was going to take a detestable turn.

Serena had dropped three boxes full of last year's reports in the office and sprinted out of the door before they could say anything and try to stop her.

Apparently she had hired a cheap accountant to save money and now she had to review everything before the Ministry noticed and demanded an audit. Or rather, Serena had asked her to do it.

She was now holed up in the backroom while Will had taken her place in the main office, since Serena didn’t pay her enough to care about customers and save her from bankruptcy at the same time.

She glanced at the clock, noting that it was almost time for her usual break. She chewed the inside of her cheek and returned to the reports.

She wasn’t in the right mindset to meet Tom.

The day she had gone to see him had been like the calm before the literal storm. In the past week it had rained so heavily that she had had to give up on going out and he hadn’t come to post his letters. What had happened between them had been left unresolved.

She had replayed it so many times in her mind, at night and during idle moments in the office, picturing different ways in which it could have ended, desperately wishing she could indulge in his warm lips again.

The first few days she had fretted about it, but as the week had gone by without a word from him, she had just started to accept it as the normal course of things. Perhaps it had just been an extraordinary event, a moment that wasn’t going to repeat itself and that she needed to find contentment in. Perhaps it was supposed to be one of those memories she was going to return to in twenty years, thinking about everything she could have had, or it will sour in her mind, turning into regret while her lamenting soul grieved the possibilities of youth, the chances she had been too scared to take.

It didn’t matter that she was conscious of the anxious butterflies leading her decisions, she still didn’t want to find out if what she saw in him was just a product of her infatuated imagination.

She immersed herself in numbers, refusing to go down that rabbit hole again.

Fifteen minutes after the end of her break, a customer walked in. A beat of silence followed and then Will said, “She’s in the back.”

She almost jumped out of her seat, her heart rate picking up. She quickly smoothed her hair and sat straighter, crossing her legs.

Tom appeared in the doorway, his arm half raised as if he had wanted to knock. She pretended she had just noticed him.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Hello, Tom.” She gave him a mellow smile.

He was so good-looking, with his perfectly styled curls and black coat in the muted light of the cloudy morning. Her heart fluttered painfully.

He looked hesitant as he made his way to her and handed her a folded magazine. It was the weekly crossword.

“Thank you,” she said, taking it as her gaze met his. The way he was looking at her was so compelling it was impossible for her to divert her eyes.

He had been thinking of her, she realised, he had noticed her absence, perhaps even missed her.

“I hope I’m not disrupting your work.” His gaze trailed to the numerous papers scattered on the table.

“Not at all, a distraction is more than welcome.” The distraction of his presence was most desirable.

He drew closer, reading through them as he casually rested his hand on the back of her chair.

“What are you doing?” he asked.

“Maths mostly,” she replied, fiddling with the parchments to hide her nervousness.

He reached out over her shoulder to grab a folder but she placed a hand on his arm to stop him.

“I’d rather you didn’t. It’s still work.”

He dropped his arm. “You’re right, I apologise. I don’t wish to put you in an uncomfortable position.”

“It’s fine.”

He stepped to the side, tickling her neck.

“I’ll see you later?” he asked.

She had to stop herself from grinning.

“Of course.” 

She watched him with desirous parted lips as he left. He said goodbye to Will and she heard the door closing. It was only a matter of minutes before Will came to pry.

She grabbed the crossword, flipping through the pages. He had bought her her favourite one.

As she got up to put it next to her bag, a small note fell to the ground. It was a plain piece of parchment. But as she picked it up, ready to throw it on the table with the rest of the documents, words started to appear.

Her breath caught in her throat. She knew to whom that elegant and neat handwriting belonged.

She read the note. Then read it again to make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. 

“I hope to see you more often in the future.

You look stunning with that lip colour.

T.R.”

She brought her fingers to her mouth, staring at the words until each swirl of ink etched into her mind, terrified they might disappear.

Instead his message remained there, visible, tangible, real. He had taken time to write her a note, to think about something he knew she’d appreciate.

Something warm diffused in her chest, a new version of a familiar feeling, and a giggle escaped her as she realised the ridiculous effect he had on her. 

She was so engrossed in her reverie that she didn’t notice Will standing in the door until he cleared his throat. 

She quickly hid the message in her purse and  he was so considerate not to comment on it.

“How is it going?” he asked.

“Awfully slowly, these numbers are all over the place,” she huffed, returning to her chair.

He dragged a chair and sat across from her. He started bouncing his knee. “I know you’d prefer not to talk about this, but how are things between you two?”

She stopped twirling her quill. “What do you mean?”

Will shuffled awkwardly in his seat. “Don’t get me wrong, I’m happy for you but I’d hate to see you hurt.”

She tilted her head to the side, disliking the territory the conversation was heading towards.

He was struggling with his words. “He never- I never saw him interested in a girl. I just want to be sure you know what you can expect from him.”

She averted her eyes. “I have considered all the options.”

“And?”

“And I don’t know, Will!” she bursted out. 

Her flare of annoyance suddenly deflated, making room for embarrassment for what he probably saw as naivety.

“I know I’m probably getting ahead of myself.”

“You are smart, I just can’t stand watching you smile at the things he writes to you.”

She feigned offence and threw a balled up paper at him. 

“When you find someone, you’ll be just as ridiculous.”

He laughed and steepled his fingers in front of him. “I’m curious to know, when did it start?”

She scrunched her eyebrows, thinking about how much she wanted to reveal. “I don’t remember exactly. It was more like a sequence of events, until one day I was anxiously waiting for him to sit at his usual spot at breakfast,” she replied with a smile. Will was smiling too.

“You and half of Hogwarts,” he said.

She chuckled. “I miss those years sometimes. Everything was simpler.”

“I used to worry about everything,” he admitted. “But fears always seem so big.”

They really did.

“What do you like about him?” he asked after a beat of silence.

It was her turn to be at a loss of words. “He’s handsome…and always so mysterious. I think I always liked him because it was easy to imagine him being exactly what I wanted.” She looked at him hesitantly, fearing judgement, but he was just listening. “But I think it’s impossible for me to dislike the real him.”

They shared a small moment of closure. She had always wished for someone she could confide in, someone that could help her see beyond the fabrications of her wary heart, and perhaps she had finally found them.

The bell chimed and Will got up. 

“Do you want to come for lunch on Sunday?” she asked.

“I’d love to. I’m sorry for earlier, I didn’t mean to upset you.”

“Don’t worry about it.”

His gaze shifted between the door and her. “Just make sure you both want the same thing.”

He went back, leaving her at the mercy of her insidious brain and foolish heart.

Throughout the afternoon she had opened the note at least three times, giggling like a schoolgirl everytime she read his words.

Her mind kept straying to what he had said.

“I’ll see you later.”

She wasn’t sure what he had actually meant. Was he just going to stop by or was he going to wait for the office to close? She wasn’t even sure she could see him today, since she expected to stay late to solve Serena’s mess. 

Will popped in. “I have to check something at the owlery. I’ll be back in a while.”

“Alright, I’ll see you later.”

The door opened and closed and then she was submerged by stillness. It was soothing almost.

She had found out long ago that she enjoyed being alone, it freed her of any kind of expectation.

She turned up the heating with her wand and took off her jacket. Since they couldn’t light a fireplace in a room full of paper, they had refined a spell that kept the room warm and the humidity away.

It was a few minutes after the usual closing hour that the door opened again. She knew who it was.

He walked in, his cheeks slightly flushed from the cold and his lips reddened. 

“Are you still working?” he asked.

She nodded. “I’m afraid it’ll take a while before I’m free to go.”

“It’s not a problem,” he said, grabbing her crossword and a quill and sitting down on a chair, bending one leg so that his ankle rested on his other knee.

Her face heated as she watched him but she didn’t say anything.

As she returned to her work, she realised that silence was a strange assistant. It felt like every sound was heightened and she was becoming keenly aware of everything that was happening. The scratching of their quill on parchment, paper being flipped as she checked the numbers or he looked for a crossword he liked, his soft breath threatening to pull her close like a magnet, her absentmindedly chipping her nail polish.

She kept throwing glances in his direction and she could feel his eyes on her from time to time.

An unspoken craving was growing between them again. She had waited long enough.

She slowly got up, gathering her reports and stacking them in a neat pile. She then took them and walked over to the shelves, conveniently passing by Riddle in doing so. 

As she stored them, his chair scraped on the ground and she felt him draw closer. She deliberately turned around, meeting his eyes.

His gaze was deep, like he was trying to read every thought that crossed her mind just by looking at her. She wasn’t going to lay them bare for him. 

He raised his hand, brushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “Did you get my message?”

“I did,” she replied, stepping forward and trailing her fingers down his suit jacket, feeling the fabric. “You keep mentioning it but this is the first time I’ve seen you all week.”

“It was storming all week,” he pointed out.

She tilted her head, finding his eyes again. His eagerness was palpable. “Still,” she said.

He grabbed her waist, pressing her body flush against his. “And you still haven’t answered my question.”

She had thought about that moment since then.

“Tell me what you desire the most.”

What could she tell him? That she had been pining for him for so long she couldn’t imagine herself with anyone else? That she was jealous of even thinking about him with someone else? Will’s words played in her mind.

She leaned closer, murmuring against his ear. “Not until I know why you’re here, Tom.”

She left a kiss on his jaw, phantom lips brushing against his flawless skin.

“It’s a really uncomplicated answer,” he said, caressing her back.

“Explain it to me, then.”

Tender amusement tugged at the corners of his lips. “Do you really think I came here because I don’t own an owl?”

His words pulled at her heartstrings with raw delight and her mind went blank. Adrenaline was rushing through her as she listened to her impulses. It was enough, at least for now it was enough.

She wrapped her arms around his neck and tangled her hand in his hair, involuntarily tugging at the strands as she leaned closer. She could feel his warm breath as he pulled her in, gripping the silky fabric of her blouse.

She met his lips halfway, the burning touch consuming her as he pressed her against the shelves, one hand lost in her hair, the other splayed around her ribcage. 

She bit his lower lip, smiling as it elicited a groan from him and the kiss became more demanding.

It was a moment frozen in time, where she wanted to stay forever, like the scenery in a snowglobe.

“Hello?”

A man’s voice abruptly pulled them apart. She was breathless as she realised she had forgotten to lock the door. Was this a conspiracy? 

Tom was slightly panting and she left a small kiss on his neck.

“Don’t leave,” she whispered.

She used a finger to fix her smudged lipstick and went to see who had just dared to interrupt them.

There was a man standing in the office.

“We’re closed,” she said.

“But I saw the light on.”

There was a twitch in her jaw. “We are closed to the public. I must ask you to come tomorrow morning.”

He rolled his eyes and she ignored his grumbling as he left, locking the door behind him. When she went back, Tom was leaning against the table.

He turned his head towards her as she languidly got closer. She forgot pleasantries, immediately grabbing his face to kiss him again. He was quick to react, wrapping his arms around her.

His mouth trailed down, kissing her cheek, her jaw and then pressing against her neck, soft lips and the occasional scrape of his teeth. 

He grabbed her waist and spun her around, flattening her back against his chest and brushing her hair away from her neck to bite and lick her skin. His hands travelled down and he started gathering the fabric of her skirt. 

Merlin, it was finally happening. 

He caressed her inner thigh, tracing patterns and snapping the nylon of her stockings as his fingers moved excruciatingly slow.

Finally he pulled her underwear to the side, feeling the wetness between her folds with his fingers as his other hand cupped her breast.

She threw her head back against his shoulder as he stroked her clit, eliciting a sigh out of her, and she grabbed his thigh for support.

“I won’t drop you,” he murmured, amused, against her ear. He rubbed his palm over her clothed breast, the friction causing sparks to jolt through her body.

None of her fantasies came even close to what she was feeling right now.

“Should I trust you?” she asked, biting her lip to suppress a moan as he sunk one finger inside of her, his thumb still applying pressure on her clit.

“Such a great timing to ask me that,” he replied. She felt him smile on her skin.

“We don’t really know each other, Tom.” She dug her fingers into his flesh as he slipped in a second finger and started fingering her, stretching her as pleasure morphed her features. 

“And yet you are letting me do this.” He squeezed her breast, lewd wet sounds filling the room as he kept moving his fingers inside of her. 

She leaned her body weight completely on him, her legs unsteady as it was precarious the beating of her heart. 

He let out a low moan as she yanked his hair to catch his mouth, biting his lip hard to gain better access, their tongues tangling together.

He curled his fingers inside of her, an unrelenting wave of pleasure washing over her.

She stopped to imagine what it would be like if he dropped to his knees again, if he started kissing and licking her, if she could watch him at her mercy between her legs.

She realised in that moment that the fall down the precipice was inevitable. Tom had threatened to push her but she had allowed him to succeed, jumping into an abyss that felt unending but that could only allow two conclusions to her story.

What she had told Will was true. She loved the fantasy, all the glances, conversations, gestures that had never happened, that she had delighted herself with when the reality was harsher, but as she kissed him she knew that falling for the real Tom was unavoidable. Not if he kept touching her like that.

It was bound to happen, it was part of her story, the decision she was brave enough to take.

She focused on him, on the circles his thumb was drawing on her clit, on the indecent sounds falling from her lips, on his groans on her reddened skin, on him growing harder against her back. 

He pulled her hair back, tilting her head to meet her gaze. His eyes glimmered with rapture while hers were heavy-lidded, tension building inside of her. 

He didn’t take his eyes off of her, as if he wanted to memorise each detail of her, the way she looked at him, the way her lips parted slightly and the way she panted as she was nearing her orgasm.

“Just like that, darling,” he murmured, a pleased smile on his lips as he noticed she was still blushing.

She threw her head back, losing herself in the motion of his fingers, surrendering herself as blissed moans spilled out shamelessly. She squeezed his soaked fingers, and he kept moving, stroking her throughout her climax.

She panted, coming down from her apex in a flurry of emotions and flustered thoughts. He raised his wet fingers to her lips and she opened her mouth, tasting herself on her tongue as she sucked on them, never breaking eye contact.

“Good girl,” he said, holding her jaw and kissing her.

It was a slow kiss, meant to explore her depths in a different way from the breathless and unrestrained passion from before. She leaned into his palm, her hand closing around his wrist.

His arms snaked around her waist and he turned them around, pushing under her thighs to lift her on the table.

The kiss transformed again.

Teeth and tongues met with vehemence, burning urgency guiding their movements as he brought her legs around his waist and she quickly started to unbutton her blouse.

But at the third button, she stopped. 

Tom noticed the shift in her demeanour and drew back, observing her. Her eyes flew to the clock, as she had just remembered about Will.

She noticed with disappointment that they had no time.

“What is it?” he asked. She didn’t miss the urgent tone of his question.

“Will will be back any time now,” she replied, leaving a peck on his lips. 

He cleared his throat and stepped back, composing himself. She got off the table and

cool hands unexpectedly reached her again, adjusting her clothes and stockings. She shivered at the contact.

He smoothed her skirt and put his coat back on, watching her as she scribbled something on a piece of paper and gave it to him.

“If you want to stop by one of these days.”

“I remember where you live,” he replied, reading the address she had written down.

She shrugged, holding out one finger to wipe away the lipstick at the corner of his mouth.

“Do you have to go back to work?”

“I was supposed to meet with a potential supplier, so yes.”

“I’d stop by the bathroom before,” she advised, gesturing for him to go as she herself needed to compose herself again.

She braced herself against the threshold, leaning her head on the hard wood as she watched him unlock the door and leave. 

Then she was alone, finally finding an answer in the cluster of hypotheses that had tormented her mind.

Two days later, as she was returning from her meeting with Serena, she found Tom waiting for her.

He was talking to Will and they both turned to her as she entered, feeling tremendously self-conscious.

“How is Serena?” Will asked.

“Dim-witted as always,” she replied, earning a laugh from Will.

Her eyes trailed to Riddle, holding an unspoken question. 

Will seemed to notice because he stepped forwards.

“It’s quite late, you can go if you want, I’ll close.”

Tom didn’t wait for him to repeat himself, pushing down the handle and holding the door open for her.

She mouthed a ‘thank you’ to him and followed Tom outside. Once in the street, she huddled herself in her coat and took the arm he was offering her. 

“May I walk you home?” he asked.

“Of course,” she said, a little breathy, still not immune to the chivalrous manners he always had with her.

They strolled through the streets, passing by scarcer and scarcer people as the stores emptied and everyone returned home seeking a tranquil evening.

She held his arm tightly, her fingers tracing delicate patterns on the fabric of his coat.

The first time they had walked together it had felt like an accident, a singular mistake in the already waved threads of her life. This time, she yearned for so much more than she wanted for the error to repeat itself; she was willing to cut the strings herself and tie them back together, as messy as it might have looked. 

They crossed the road and he gently put a hand on her waist, pushing her away from the pavement. 

“Would you fancy dinner?” he asked. There was a foreign quality in his voice and when she turned to look at him, he averted his eyes. She blinked bewildered. Was he nervous?

“I’d love to,” she replied and she noticed his chest rising like he had just begun breathing again. “But not tonight.”

An almost imperceptible smile cleared his expression at her answer and she leaned her head on his shoulder, basking in his mere presence.

When they reached her front door, she looked for her keys with embarrassingly clammy hands. 

As she lifted her head to ask Tom if he wanted to stay, she found his eyes impatiently boring into her bag. 

“Would you-”

His gaze snapped to her, serious and scorching. “Don’t even ask.”

Something coiled between her legs at the way he was looking at her. She nodded and walked up the few stairs to her door, unlocking it.

“Second floor,” she said, more to fill the silence than anything else.

They stepped into the building, the sound of her heels and the soles of his shoes hitting the stone ricocheting through the empty hall.

She turned to gesture to him to follow her when he grabbed her face, kissing her as he pushed her against the wall by the foot of the stairs. Her hands tangled in his hair, tugging at it just as she suspected he loved by the way he always pressed himself harder against her. 

He curved his palm around her cheek, better angling her face as their tongues met.

“I have a nosy neighbour,” she said after they pulled apart to catch their breath. “She is probably spying on us through her peephole.”

Tom didn’t think twice about it, taking her hand and leading her up to the second floor. She stifled a laugh as she unlocked the door, Tom’s lips skimming against her neck as she did, and was left breathless when he closed it unceremoniously behind them, resuming from where they had been interrupted.

As she dropped her bag and grabbed his waist, walking backwards into her living room, she remembered there were clothes somewhere - perhaps in the bathroom but she wasn’t sure - that she had forgotten to put away yesterday.

In any case, Tom didn’t look particularly interested in how tidy she was.

They quickly took off each other's coats and discarded them on the floor.

He sat on her sofa, pulling her down with him.

She was straddling him, her knees digging into the plush cushions as his hands appreciatively caressed her back, moving up and down and occasionally squeezing. She lit the fireplace with a wave of her hand.

She rocked her hips, rubbing against him and eliciting a long awaited moan from him. She grabbed the collar of his shirt, their lips collading so hard she was sure she cut him.

She helped him out of his jacket and vest and undid his tie, smoothing her hands on his white button-down.

“I’ve waited too long,” she said, quickly unbuttoning his shirt and grinding against him. Her hands disappeared under his undershirt and ran over his pale chest, lightly scratching his skin.

“Slowly, my dear. We will get there,” he replied between kisses.

His palms kept tracing her thighs and his face buried in her neck, nibbling at the thin skin.

When she was a small girl, before she discovered sex, Tom Riddle was just a boy she liked. During puberty, sharing stories and questions with her friends, she started to understand what was the sensation that passed through her everytime she was close to him, the one that made her cheeks redden and her mind go somewhere she wasn’t yet comfortable with.

As an adult, sexual relations weren’t unfamiliar to her, but this carnal longing, the need of a physicality that went beyond her skin touching his, was.

He opened her blouse, revealing her silk slip and bra underneath.

She wanted to touch his soul, to hold it and comprehend it.

Her eyes fell on the tattoo on his forearm, black tendrils of ink in the shape of a serpent slithering out of a skull.

“Does this have a meaning?” she asked.

He followed her gaze, blinking surprised at her question. “It does.”

“Am I prying too much if I say I’m curious to learn it?”

He bit his lip, opening and closing his fist as if he was scrambling for words. Or perhaps he was just determining if he could trust her.

“It’s a reinterpretation of the ouroboros, the snake eating its own tail,” he finally said. “It symbolises eternity and the renewal of the being after rebirth.”

She traced her fingers on his skin, following the outline of the snake. “And what does your interpretation mean?”

“There is time to talk about it later,” he whispered, his teeth biting her neck and sinking lower, kissing her collarbone and her sternum, moving the fabric covering her breasts to the side.

She let go of the subject. She knew what it meant not being comfortable sharing your life.

He held one breast between his fingers, latching his mouth over the other, sucking her nipple and twirling his tongue around it.

She moaned, rolling her hips faster as he revered her bosom, the cold air hitting her moist skin and making her shiver as he took her other nipple in his mouth, lightly tugging at it until she reached the point where pleasure and discomfort mixed.

“Since we are in the mood for confessions…” she said between moans. He raised his head and looked at her waiting for her to continue. She hesitated, collecting all her courage.

“Why did you pursue me?”

His eyes softened, glimmering with fondness. He brushed a strand of hair away from her face.

“Because there is something extremely valuable in your devotion.” His voice was an intimate murmur, a confession no one else could hear.

She freezed, turning her head to the side to hide her mortification.

He took her chin, searching for her eyes until she finally gave in.

“Don’t be embarrassed, darling, I respect it, I understand it. Obsession keeps us alive, it’s what drives us.”

She swallowed the lump of embarrassment in her throat. “Do you enjoy it?”

“Being the object of the desire of such a woman? Of a witch? I do,” he replied, and he was so direct and earnest that her heart swelled.

He lifted her to sit on the sofa, sliding down on his knees on the floor and taking off his shirt and vest. She remained silent as he rolled down her tights, his lips gliding down her smooth skin. He unbuttoned her skirt and helped her out of it, tracing patterns on her inner thigh as his other hand felt her damp underwear.

She tensed, something tightening in her lower abdomen and her eyes fell down to his trousers.

He kissed the crease of the thigh, like he had done that one time at Borgin and Burkes, but this time she wasn’t letting anyone interrupt them. 

He took off her underwear, his movements deliberately slow, and kissed her everywhere, except there.

His lips felt hot on her skin, searing her flesh like she had often dreamed about, carving his way into her body the same way he had done with her mind and heart, until her entire soul was consumed by him, until he could finally close that fist and feel her in a way nobody had before. 

Her breath hitched as he delicately kissed her mound, spreading her legs apart. She leaned her head against the backrest, licking her lips with anticipation, and she couldn’t contain a whimper as he felt his tongue dragging down her slit, sweet and cruel.

He took her clit in his mouth, sucking on it as his hand splayed on her abdomen to keep her still.

She squeezed her eyes shut, overwhelmed.

“Look at me, darling,” he murmured against her folds. His breath was warm and pleasant.

She obliged, meeting his devilish grinning figure between her legs. She was incapable of looking away as he resumed his work, she didn’t want to look away. She wanted to watch him, finally allowing herself to fully indulge in him, in what he wished to do for her.

She observed his curved eyelashes, the way his perceptive eyes followed her reactions, refining his movements to please her better.

He sucked her labia and she moaned loudly, the idea of him enjoying this as much as her being exhilarating.

He threw her leg on his shoulder, resulting in her figure sliding down the cushions and him gaining better access to her. 

His tongue probed her entrance as he coated his fingers in her wetness. He slipped one finger in, working her thoroughly as she gripped his hair, keeping his head in place.

He inserted a second finger, his tongue on her clit moving accordingly to the delighted sounds she emitted.

“Tom,” she cried urgently as she tried to press herself harder against him.

He curled his fingers inside of her and her hips jolted upwards, arching her back to an uncomfortable angle as she reached her orgasm with lascivious bliss, her obscene moans matching the wet sounds he produced by licking her until she came down from her climax.

“Tom,” she said again, so breathless her voice was a raspy whisper.

“I know,” he said, kissing her leg and inhaling deeply, like he was trying to commit the moment to memory.

He brought his fingers to his mouth, licking them clean as she let her watch.

She gently pushed him onto the carpet, bracing her hands on his shoulder as she sat on top of him. The fire was burning, enveloping their almost naked figures in warm orange light, heating their already scalding skin.

She took off her blouse with quivery hands, his gaze tracing her naked form that was slowly revealing itself. She hooked her fingers into the straps of her slip, pulling it down and then getting rid of it altogether. His hands on her waist tensed as she did the same for her bra.

Her lips parted as he touched her breast with both hands, kneading the soft flesh, tracing her areolae. 

She undid his trousers, pulling down the fabric until they were both completely naked. She took him in her hand, her fingers closing tentatively around him. Her hand started sliding up and down, her pace getting quicker and more confident as moans escaped him. She brushed her thumb on his tip, her eyes admiring what was in front of her. His lips were swollen, residue of her lipstick still on them, his hair was tousled, curls falling disorderly on his forehead, his eyes heavy-lidded as he looked at her. She felt a rush of satisfaction in knowing his current state was her doing, that she had enough power over him to ruin his flawless exterior, to make him want her to do it. 

His lips caught hers and he gently pushed her hand away. 

What happened after felt like rehearsed choreography, something so familiar it was impossible to forget. Their bodies moved together, their movements responsive to each other, doing and touching exactly where it mattered.

She pushed herself up on her knees, slowly lowering herself until she sank down on him completely, shuddering breaths escaping her lips.

His jaw was tense as she placed a hand on his shoulder for support, positioning herself better.

She didn’t break eye contact as she rolled her hips, soaking in the hazy blue of his eyes, in every twitch of his jaw and emotion he was feeling as she increased her pace, in his voice murmuring her name against her ear as his hands squeezed her tights and traced her back.

Skin slapped against skin, his touch inebriating as he felt every part of her, caressing her, massaging her, kissing her until she couldn’t take it anymore. Almost.

His hand dipped between her legs again, stroking her clit as she rocked her hips, eliciting groans from both of them.

Sentiment and pleasure fused together in an exhilarating moment, seared in her mind and flesh forever.

She kissed him again - she could never get tired of that - and bit his lower lip roughly as his other hand went to her breast again, pulling at her nipple. 

She threw her head back, letting his mouth scrape over her neck and chest, leaving behind scorching wet kisses. Or perhaps those were marks reddening her skin, she didn’t particularly care.

He gripped her waist, thrusting upwards as she held onto him tighter. Her nails drew half-moons into his back and she bit his neck, the fibres of the carpet scratching her knees.

The lights in the flat fluttered momentarily.

His fingers increased the pressure on her clit as his thrusts grew in intensity with one purpose in mind. 

She bit her lip, trying to hold back, to prolong this instant of pure bliss before she inevitably plummeted onto the other side.

She arched her back, moving accordingly to his rhythm, her hips bucking erratic as she rubbed against his pelvis. 

And then she fell down, unrestrained, her walls closing around him as she moaned uncontrollably. He didn’t stop, drawing circles on her sensitive skin until her breath found a semblance of steadiness again. 

“You did so good,” he whispered against her forehead, brushing a strand of sweaty hair away.

She slumped against him, her hands grabbing onto his biceps as he chased his own pleasure, his movements turning frantic, losing his rhythm.

She found herself murmuring against his skin the same things she had never had the courage to say out loud, not even to herself. She wasn’t sure he was even listening to her, engrossed as he was, but it didn’t matter.

He squeezed her tights once and she understood, rolling to the side as he deftly touched himself, fast strokes that culminated in white spurts all over his hand. She watched him mesmerised

He turned to look at her, his chest rising and falling rapidly. The fire casted shadows on his gorgeous face. 

They stayed like that for a long moment, gazing into each other, trying to guess what the other was thinking, making sense of what remained of themselves after what had just happened.

Did it have the same momentous effect on both of them? Or was it just her that knew she couldn’t go back to being acquaintances after this?

“Do you want to stay here tonight?” she asked. Her voice sounded faint and husky to her own ears.

“I do,” he replied without a second of hesitation.

They didn’t get up, instead resting against the foot of her sofa. She curled up against him as his hand traced indistinct patterns on her skin, remaining in this haze of indiscernible unspoken feelings they were both still trying to find a name for. 

When she woke up the next morning he was gone. As she took in the cold sheets and missing clothes, her heart threatened to crack.

She got up groggily, conclusions already forming in her mind, building the most pessimistic of pictures.

She felt anxious as she wore her robe and opened the door, heading straight for the bathroom. Halfway down the corridor, the sound of someone flipping through a newspaper halted her in her steps.

She stepped into the kitchen, finding Tom sitting in a chair with his legs crossed.

“Good morning,” he said.

“Good morning,” she said back, adjusting the belt of her robe. 

She noticed he had made breakfast, a steaming coffee pot, kept warm by magic, and some pastries she had never bought waiting for her on the table. 

She turned to take a mug from a cabinet so that she could hide her smitten smile. When she closed the cabinet, she found him looking at her.

There was no need for words.

“Where did you get that?” she asked as she poured herself some coffee, referring to the newspaper. 

“I stole it from your neighbour, I hope she won’t mind.”

She laughed. “So you know how to make a joke.”

“What is that supposed to mean?”

She sat next to him, crossing her legs. She perhaps needed to rethink her choice of slippers.

“You were always so serious growing up.”

She put a spoonful of sugar in her coffee. 

“That never seemed to deter you.”

“It doesn’t.”

He took a sip of his own coffee. “Good.”

“Does it deter you, knowing how I feel?”

He blinked. “It never had. It makes it more interesting if I have to be honest.”

She blushed, scared to ask the next question.

“How long have you known?”

He got up, brushing his knuckles on her cheek.

“Long enough to see you for who you truly are.” 

He bent to give her a chaste kiss. “I should go, the shop opens in half an hour.”

He put on his coat and grabbed his leather gloves from his pocket. She turned in her chair, treasuring the last few moments of him in her apartment.

“There’s still a lot you haven’t learned yet.” 

She refused to be an open book to him. There was so much about her that was still incomprehensible even to her and too much she wanted to show him on her own terms. She wanted to be enigmatic, to drive him mad.

“I know.”

Her disappointment was visible on her face as she was met with his silence. She had wanted to continue that conversation, to learn what he had observed.

Instead he opened her front door, throwing her one last glance, heavy with unsaid intention she hoped she wasn’t imagining, before leaving. 

She had almost finished her breakfast when she noticed a small note under the newspaper he had left behind. She grabbed it faster than she was willing to admit, almost knocking over her cup in the process, and unfolded it.

“Dinner tonight?

I’ll pick you up at eight.

T.R.”

the last part is a bonus scene i wanted to write to apologize for my tardiness. tom is a little different, but I hope he isn't too out of character.

i honestly had so much fun writing this short story and exploring a different tom from the one i usually read and write about. i hope you enjoyed this and thank you for reading!

[jarofstyles]

Book Recs

This is literally all over the place and I read a lot of diff tropes, I realize now I read a lot of dark romance which makes sense why Reaper is one of our best fics lol (maybe I need to write more dark harry? Lmk)

But here’s a mixed bag. I’ve read over 400 books in the last 2 1/2 years (again idk I go through them fast lol) and if you want more recommendations in certain genres I’d be happy to do so!

A lot of these are series recommendations as well because I tend to be a serial series reader and I’m trying to find more one offs so if you have any recs I’m so willing to read and tell you what I think!

As always, check TWs before reading and let me know if you’ve read any of these and your thoughts!!!

——

Chestnut Springs series by Elsie Silver- smut is good, (especially in heartless bc a dad x nanny trope ughhhh)

Sinners Anonymous series by Somme Sketcher (search TW)

Windy City series by Liz Tomforde (book 2 is my favorite)

Carolina Reapers series by Samantha Whiskey (hockey romance is one of my faves)

The Sweetest Oblivion- Danielle Lori (mafia, I love the dynamic, search TW)

Little Dove by Layla Frost (gives me 2013 wattpad energy where y/n is sold to 1d but it is dark, age gap, check TW)

Best Kase scenario by Layla Frost- (kase does some asshole shit but he’s one of my faves of her characters)

It Happened One Summer by Tessa Bailey (she’s a hit or miss author for me but I do enjoy some of her books and the smut is some of the better I’ve read in published stuff)

The Seven series Mageriverse by Dannika Dark (shifter/werewolf series, lots of action. Smut isn’t incredible but I’ve loved the series for a while)

Dreamland Billionaires series by Lauren Asher

Dark and Dirty Sinner’s Series by Serena Aekroyd (check TW, mc romance so there’s violence and definitely dark as the series implies)

Wait With Me series by Amy Daws

Bittersweet by Morgan Elizabeth (also gives me wattpad vibes, lowkey imagined Harry as the mmc lol)

Highest Bidder by Sara Kate (check TW, age gap)

PS You’re Intolerable by Julia Wolf (I liked this series but this is by far the best one in it, boss x assistant, asshole but soft for her, fmc is pregnant and it’s not his)

[lsvdw-blog]

How would Ethan react if your MC slapped his ass as she was passing him in the corridor?

Wrote this little ficlet in 30 minutes on a plane! Hope you enjoy ❤️

It Beats for You

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 555

Warnings; Rating: Making-out; Teen+ (to be safe)

Premise: Serena slaps Ethan's ass as he walks by, but things take a sweet turn.

Author’s Note: I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

She's hiding. In one of the many crooks in the place, feet tired and throbbing from wearing heels for too many hours; cheeks hurting from faking smiles and laughs with insipid people; mind at a standstill, desperately wanting a distraction.

As if the universe heard her, her favorite person walks past, unaware of her presence in the nook.

He's wearing a tux, custom-made of course, tailored to perfection. And boy, is he perfect.

The dark blue, nearly midnight, velvet material brings out his cerulean eyes, glowing ever brighter. The jacket fits snug around his chest and biceps, a hint of the gym honed physique peeking through; the pants are pressed to a tee, elongating his already tall frame, and cupping in all the right places.

Serena can't help the way her gaze drops low, tongue darting out to lick her lips, hand moving of its own accord, a resounding smack reverberating through the walkway.

Ethan stops dead in his tracks, taking a split second to register what just happened, before spinning on his heels and crowding into the hideout.

He invades her space, one forearm pressed against the wall above her head, the other arm wrapping around her waist, pulling her to him.

Dropping his head to her ear, he teases, "menace."

His cologne, mingled with his aftershave, is enough to make Serena weak in the knees. With the way his hot breath ghosts over the shell of her ear and how his eyes bore into her with unbridled passion, she stumbles.

Ethan's arm wraps unbelievably tighter around her, catching her, using his strong body as a net. His hand slinks down the silk material, giving her backside a squeeze.

"Two can play at this game," he whispers before taking her earlobe in his mouth.

Serena braces herself against him, both hands on his strong chest. As much as she wants to see where this game leads, she's suddenly overwhelmed with the pure adoration she has for the man whose arm's she's in.

Her hands draw up his body until they come to rest on either side of his face, gently pulling him to look at her.

Their eyes connect and her brown-green eyes search the depths of his. One hand slides down to rest over his heart and she feels it's strong rhythm beneath her fingers.

"How did I get so lucky?" She murmurs, not even aware she'd said it aloud.

The sudden change of the atmosphere surprises Ethan, but it's not unwelcome. He asks himself that exact question every single day about her.

His arm above her head lowers, the hand coming to rest atop hers, gently squeezing.

"It beats for you."

The sincerity in his words bring tears to Serena’s eyes and she swears her own heart could burst from the love she holds for him in it.

Ethan bends down, picking up her shoes that are haphazardly strewn on the ground before kissing her, sweetly, lovingly, devotedly.

He picks her up, bridal style, in one fell swoop, Serena shrieking into his mouth.

They break apart after a few languid strokes of their lips and tongues, foreheads together. "Let's go home, shall we?"

Serena nods and Ethan begins to walk out of the building.

"Can we get food first?" Serena asks, her legs swinging off the side of Ethan's arm.

[staticpokedex]

I’ve been wanting to share this girl for a good while now- This is a bit of a revamp of an old OC I made when I was around 15. But I de-selfinsertified her and, y'know, gave her an actual solid backstory and personality.

In short, Rose is the niece of the main villain Lysandre. At first, she'd fit the role of the "angry/mean rival" archetype that XY seems to not have, acting as a rival counterpart to Shauna. (Seeing as everyone else in the main group seems to have a counterpart. Tierno has Trevor, and the MC has Calem/Serena, but Shauna doesn't really have a solid rival outside of the MC.) She's manipulated by her family into helping Team Flare, but in a sort of Zuko/Hunter/Amity-esque arc, she choses to join the main group against her uncle.

Extra doodles:

Extensive bio under the cut:

Name: Rose Dorado Age: 14

Home Region: Born and raised in Kalos, but moves to Alola with her maternal grandfather Enzio and connects more with her late mother's side of the family in Paldea. Favorite Type(s): Psychic/Ghost Voice Claim: Vanessa Paradis (Lucille from "A Monster in Paris")

Pronouns: She/Her (Experiments a little with They/Them too as she figures themself out) Sexuality: She's still figuring things out. Rose isn't sure about 'lesbian' or 'bi' or whatever so she just leaves it at 'generally sapphic' or just 'I like girls a lot'. She's pretty sure she's on the ace spectrum though. Personality: She starts off as a serious, perfection-obsessed "mean girl" who puts on a tough/cold front in a bid to impress her father and uncle. But deep down, she's an insecure, confused and frustrated kid who wants approval from the only family she has.

But after moving to Alola with her maternal grandfather, she starts to find a softer, dorkier side of herself as he heals. Because deep down she's just a dramatic, passionate, coffee-obsessed nerd who deeply loves her Pokemon.

Story:

Rose is the only daughter of one of the more powerful families in Kalos and the niece of Lysandre. All she ever really knew in terms of "family" were her father Albus, and her uncle Lysandre. She never knew too much about her late mother Alana growing up. What she was never told was that her mother comes from a well-known paldean family of psychics, and she happened to inherit ESP from her mother. She wouldn't discover these powers until her teen years, but she would hide them from her father.

The first Pokemon she recieved in her life was a unique Fennekin she named "Beryl". What makes this pokemon unique is that it is actually an incredibly rare shiny. This shiny pokemon was originally set to be sent to Sycamore's lab for study, but was bought out by Rose's father. Sadly, Beryl was originally meant to be nothing other than a trophy pet. But Rose and Beryl formed a strong connection and manage to be a strong team. Seeing this, her father decides to take advantage of that for Team Flare's (and his own) gain.

During the events of Pokemon X/Y, her drive to become a great pokemon trainer ends up in her getting roped into the "family business". Ergo, Rose is pressured into assisting her uncle Lysandre in his "vision" for the world by helping Team Flare. Despite her convictions, she pushes herself to do so to hopefully impress her only family.

With this pressure, Rose is pushing herself past her limits to meet these high standards. And she's not keen on anyone standing in her way. But there's always that one trainer who seems to pop up wherever she's assigned to- a trainer girl named Shauna. Everywhere she went, this girl was pestering her and getting in the way. But there was something in the things Shauna told her that started inspiring...doubts. As the story progresses, Rose begins to doubt her uncle's "vision" and starts drifting more towards the side of the protagonists. And this all leads to the final confrontation where, with her new friend Shauna's encouragement, she helps the group stop her uncle.

After everything is done- With her uncle presumed dead and her father MIA, Rose is taken in by her maternal grandfather Enzio Dorado. (A mysterious old man that would pop up here and there in the "story".) Rose decides to come with her grandfather to see Alola. And, wanting to go out and visit new regions herself (according to post-game dialogue from her), Shauna joins her new friend in this adventure. For her, the events of Sun/Moon (and Ultra Sun/Ultra Moon) are a time for her to heal from her past and figure out her new life. While she explores this new region, she takes time to process and rediscover herself.

Obligatory OC x Canon: Rose + Shauna (I thought they'd be adorable, and fun to write/draw.)

[reguriflop]

Hey :D

Uhhh what are your favourite pokemon rarepairs and why?

i dont really have any rarepairs considering any ship is rare HAHA but its

phaesporiashipping/elegantdiamondshipping which is cynthia and diantha! i just thought wow, lesbian champions how perfect. and i jsut cant help myself from refing them in fics bro, theyre just so freaking neat theyve got opposing colour palletes orz orz

korinna x bea (no clue what their name is LOL), they were so cute in the anime and korinna calls her beabea x,) and korinna always brings her kalosian desserts and i just cried at my screen watching it

boutiqueshipping is also so dear to me, just love serena and shauna performer gfs <3 rival and mc, can NEVER go wrong with that also cause of the whole shauna admitting romantic feelings or whatever (havent played xy in yonks)

[openheartfanfics]

Newly Added Fics

Dec 17 - 23, 2022 

🎭 Angst  |  🦚 Angsty Fluff  |  🛸 AU  |  ☁ Fluff  |  ♥ NSFW  |  📚 Series  |  📷 Edit  |  📱 TextFic  |  Ⓜ Mature

BRYCE X F!MC/F!OC

Neon Lights - @peonierose ☁

Luna, Bryce and the Open Heart gang go mini golfing. Who will win? Feat. Ethan Ramsey, Tobias Carrick, OH Gang

Santa is Here - @peonierose  📱🎄

Luna and Bryce have a discussion if Santa is real or not.

Stop Desire - @julia-highstorms ♥

An intake on Bryce's point of view during his and Rei's first time, after the house party at her apartment. [1.7]

The Best Christmas Ever - @eadanga ☁🎄

Bryce and Mia spend their first Christmas together at his cabin.

Under The Mistletoe - @peonierose ☁🎄

Luna and Bryce spend some time with their friends Ethan and Hayley and the open heart gang in Boston.

BRYCE X M!MC

What Doesn’t Kill You Makes You Ugly - @mydemonsdrivealimo 📚

[extended: wip] Opportunity doesn't come knocking for everyone; in some cases, you have to push the door open for yourself. This series will follow Jensen’s formative years.

Chapter 1

ETHAN X F!MC/F!OC

Delayed - @socalwriterbee  ☁🎄

A little spin on the prompt of a flight being canceled.

Drained - @lsvdw-blog   📚 🎭 [extended:wip] Serena is having the day from hell and seeks comfort in Ethan, but perhaps she shouldn't have.

Part 4

Forever Winter - @genevievemd 🦚🎄

After the attack a month prior, Ethan worries when Genevieve doesn’t embrace the holidays like she usually does. [Ethan POV; Hurt/Comfort]

Jewelry Counter - @takeharryandgo ☁🎄

A chance Christmas encounter. Set before book 1.

Little Ones - @potionsprefect ☁

There are lots of important people Luke and Lily need to meet. [Domestic; Family]

Merry Christmas, Rookie - @cariantha  ☁🎄

The Internal Medicine staff participate in a Secret Santa exchange.

Muddling Through...Somehow - @txemrn 📚🎄Ⓜ

[mini: wip] With a massive car pile-up on Christmas Ever, it's all hands on deck at Edenbrook--including the Ramseys who are assigned to care for a Jane Doe and her young daughter. TW: Medical discussions, including mild blood and gore, pregnancy, surgery; innuendos; some characters lives will be put in jeopardy

Part 1: Code Orange

Nightmare Before Christmas - @ofmischiefandmedicine  ☁🎄

During the most wonderful time of the year, things do not go according to Ethan’s plans. Feat. Sienna Trinh

The Wrong Person - @openheartfanfiction 📱

What if your MC / LI sent the wrong picture to the wrong number?

Ugly Sweater - @jamespotterthefirst  ☁🎄

He convinces her to abandon Bryce Lahela’s Christmas party.

Under the Mistletoe - @trappedinfanfiction  ☁🎄

Once, Ethan had been just like any other child, excited and happy as Christmas approached. That feeling had disappeared along with his mother, but maybe someone new can make him find the joy in the holiday again.

What Happened in Vegas - @jerzwriter  📚🛸

[mini: wip] Casey & her roommates are heading to Vegas, intent on taking down Declan Nash and Panacea; but this time, Dr. Ethan Ramsey is in tow.

CH 3: Winners and Losers

MULTIPLE PAIRINGS/CHARACTERS

This Life - @coffeeheartaddict2 📚🎭Ⓜ

[extended: wip] All appears well in the Ramsey household until Louise suddenly leaves, throwing life into disarray. TW: Deals with abandonment, Minor character death and other mature themes Feat. Ethan Ramsey, Alan Ramsey, Harper Emery, Naveen Banerji, F!MC, Tobias Carrick

Part 11: In All Honesty

Part 12: Tolerate It

SIENNA X M!OC

Christmas Miracles - @liaromancewriter ☁🎄 

It’s their first Christmas together as husband and wife and a time to make new memories.

Santa Baby - @liaromancewriter  ☁🎄

When Sienna takes her daughter to meet Santa, things take a turn for the bizarre.

The Santa Ultimatum - @liaromancewriter 📱🎄

Sienna gives the group an ultimatum about not telling the truth. Feat. Ethan Ramsey x F!MC

TOBIAS X F!MC

Just A Little Faith - @jerzwriter  ☁🎄

Casey and Tobias reflect on how they have changed as they await Christmas day.

Our Little Surprise - @jerzwriter ☁

During a toast at their wedding, Tobias & Casey share a little secret they've been keeping. [Wedding; Pregnancy]

_

SUBMIT OPEN HEART FICS & WRITERS HERE

[terrainofheartfelt]

what’s the nichest gg fanfic idea you have (regardless of whether you actually intend to write it)?

ohhh oomph well, I may have to dig deep into my brain to accurately answer...

perhaps my orchestra au? but I have in fact written that. I did have this idea when I was making those mt playlists about the core four all being theatre majors but I don't have the spoons to write that. But have a few disjointed ideas: dan & nate & serena are housemates. dan and serena are in a summer stock prod of rent together (playing roger and maureen respectively); blair and dan get thrown in to costarring in Bridges of Madison County in the senior fall semester, and blair was counting on playing opposite nate, but he booked MC in cabaret at a local playhouse and was Unavailable. Showmance ensues. they fuck at the cast party.....also nate is gay. serenessa happens......serena and dan are the exes to best friends they deserved to be & do the last five years for nelly yuki's capstone directing project......i guess it's niche bc i'm the only person i know on the internet that cares about bridges of madison county the musical but it's GORGEOUS. and i already did write the last five years au. so.

I mean, I also have au ideas for ships other than dair -- there's a couple natessa aus I have in the works right now (the greys anatomy series has actually been really helpful in feeling out how to write them together so that's been good) i just know from experience that the fics i write that don't feature dair get considerably less eyes than the dair fics (we browse by ship tags, i get it!) but that does kinda get me to put niche ideas into two different categories. there's a niche idea w/ dair, and then ideas without dair that are niche by virtue of not being dair. does that make sense?

i did have a Thot for a serena x carter x dan thing over the weekend....

[aldwirs]

They deserve happiness. We all do. And I will forever be grateful to have found it with you.

[bassicallymaestra]

I found this picture and needed to draw it as an excuse to draw Sebastian in a dress 😂😂

Also, I can't draw Serena without a hat

[daja-the-hypnokitten]

Jukebox reviews part 30! For context, see my post “A Project”     under this same tag. If you want to see a full list of his EMCSA   stories, they can be found here, sorted alphabetically.And if you want to see some of his drabbles, check out his blog at @jukeboxemcsa

Drain You

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

5/14/2016                                     mc mf fd

This is the sort of way I tend to prefer my sex-focused stories, for sure. The focus on the conditioning, the use of pleasure to overwhelm resistance, the promise that it's a continuing process.... all of it is so very good. There's definitely a level of "so just how real is this anyway" that I'd prefer if it were less ambiguous, but that's my strongest quibble with the story. 8/10 spirals 

 My Trance girl

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

5/21/2016                                     mc mf md

Much like Drain You, this is another one focused on brainwashing through pleasure, and oh gosh it gets into her head so very well. And I appreciate the note about it never feeling bad to say no, which makes the ease with which she says yes so much hotter. It's one thing to say "yes" because that's the only thing she can say; it's another to say "yes" when she *could* say no, but yes feels so good she wants to say yes, with all the everything that comes from that. All of those pieces add up to one very hot story. 10/10 spirals 

 Eye for an Eye

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

5/28/2016                                     mc ff

I feel like there's a piece missing to this puzzle; like maybe there's a third person involved, someone that Ivy is completely unaware of? There are subtle hints in the story that that may be the case, but it's never made explicit if it is. That leaves me wondering, and I wish it wasn't a dangling thread at all. Otherwise this is ... fine? But it's missing a spark for me, because we don't see what's going on in Serena's head, I think. 6/10 spirals. 

 Neuromancer

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

6/4/2016                                       mc mf md

This story feels like a setup for a *fascinating* book, one that digs into questions of ethics and morality and how temptation wears on a person slowly, inevitably, irresistibly. In some ways, I'm disappointed it isn't more; on the other hand, I don't think I actually *like* either of our protagonists here, so I don't know that I'd enjoy more of them. But that's almost the point, isn't it? These aren't great people, but they are so very *human* in good and bad. For all that? this doesn't feel like erotica. It's good, though! 7/10 spirals 

 Open Wide

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

6/18/2016                                     mc mf md

The interspersing of the one side of a conversation with the narration leaves me with more questions than answers. And frankly those questions distract me from the heat and make the story less enjoyable for me, for all it's an *interesting* question being posed in the italicized conversation. It just isn't a sexy one. 5/10 spirals 

 X Marks the Spot (Jukebox)

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

6/18/2016                                     mc mf md

Oh, that is CLEVER, Will. I can't even tell if he did hypnotize her, and suggest the instance that she wasn't hypnotized with the amnesia, or if he didn't actually and just set up the subtle expectation and the build up of everything that leads to it. And the fact that I can't tell is *hot af.* Like, whatever on the pleasureable touch. I'd find it just as hot if he was using something to build up things, like "you'll go into trance when I say the right fruit" or whatever, but clearly the touch is easier to consistently build up over and over. Anyway. this is good and seeing inside Jennifer's head is A+ here. 10/10 spirals. 

 Girl Crush

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

7/2/2016                                       mc ff rb

Fun double-meaning in the title there, Jukebox. This is an interesting one, because the control is so subtle I barely see it even when I'm looking for it, not until the net's already closed around her, so to speak. That makes it much less hot to me, though I'm sure there are plenty of folk who would enjoy it more than I do. But for all that, it's still a solid entry in the Girls(tm) series. It just doesn't have the heat of some of the others. 7/10 spirals 

 Weird

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

7/2/2016                                       mc ff

This is more in the vein of magic, or at least *implied* magic. If it actually is magic or not is just a little unclear, and the ambiguity adds a bit of a charge to things, but overall this one just doesn't quite grab me. I can't put my finger on why, it just isn't for me. Maybe it's because I'm not big on destiny or fate? There's a reason the Rush song "Ghost of a Chance" is one of my favourites! But it isn't a bad story by any means, and if you like that idea of fated lovers being thrust together by the universe, it could work better for you. 5/10 spirals. 

 Caught in a Trap

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

7/9/2016                                       mc ff

It's always interesting to see someone completely aware that they're walking into a trap, but falling for it anyway. Not necessarily hot - and this one isn't for me, it's a bit too sex-focused and not in the ways I like. And seeing someone "punished" for loyalty is never my favourite trope, so this one just isn't for me. 4/10 spirals. 

 Doll (Jukebox)

 date uploaded   date updated     Tags

7/16/2016                                     mc

Whelp, this is a very visual induction that just doesn't click for me. Though I can think of a hypnotee or two (or more) who would happily imagine being a good dolly, vacant and obedient and ready to be played wtih. They'd probably enjoy this one quite a lot, especially in an audio form. But with it being as visual as it is, it doesn't hit my main modalities well. 5/10 spirals

[serena-hart-09]

I posted 945 times in 2022

That's 932 more posts than 2021!

91 posts created (10%)

854 posts reblogged (90%)

Blogs I reblogged the most:

@sparkbeast20

@ephemeralcryptid

@harunayuuka2060

@absolutepokemontrash

@serena-hart-09

I tagged 902 of my posts in 2022

Only 5% of my posts had no tags

#obey me - 282 posts

#serena reblogs 🌃 - 233 posts

#obey me lucifer - 168 posts

#omswd - 131 posts

#shall we date obey me - 114 posts

#smt - 103 posts

#obey me shall we date - 97 posts

#obey me mc - 87 posts

#yakuza - 69 posts

#obey me mammon - 66 posts

Longest Tag: 139 characters

#i mean yeah it isn't necessarily a bad thing since what drives the characters at that point prove the fact that they can't just talk it out

My Top Posts in 2022:

#5

How to Survive Your Yandere Demon Boyfriend and Live with him in Peace and have Fun: Chapter 4

A/N: FINALLY. After writing 9 drafts of this chapter...... I felt this was the best of them all..... (My back is ded-) This is again a "build up" to the main conflict, so not much aside from plot-building happens.......

Also, this chapter's writing style is a bit different (imo) , but it still has the "changing povs" in between.

Also, also, after this, I won't be much active, due an upcoming exam that I have to prepare. I may start taking requests again in late july.....

Anyways, as always, have a great day ahead!

(Yandere AU x Replaced MC AU)

Yandere Lucifer x MC

TW: Implied Bullying ; Implied Sexual Content (Mild) ; Unhealthy Mindset ; Yandere ; Angst ; Insults ; Swearing ; Denial ; (If I have missed something please tell me!)

Extra: Mention of "Note"(1) ;OOC Demon Brothers ; Changing POVs ; Unreliable Narration ; Female Reader/MC ; OC Lucifer (According to what I think of him as a Yandere) ; Secrets ; Use of Pact ; (Slight) Dark!MC.

“MC! Today I made an appointment for us at my favorite spa!”

'A memory…….'

“MC……! You should hang out with me!”

'Of those days………

Those precious days……'

“Hehehe….. you’re so cute MC!”

'You were always kind……….'

“Hey, MC………. Do you love us? Then would you stay with me and my brothers….. forever…? I promise you wouldn’t regret it!”

'I would love to………..

You are my family after all…'

“Oh, MC darling! I’m sorry, but I promised Irina that we would hang out today…….. I promise I will make it up to you!”

'Ah, it’s ok.

It’s just one time, one day.'

“uh…..MC? The thing is…… I am quite busy….. today….”

'…….'

“You know MC? Blue doesn’t suit you……. *sigh* why am I with you…… rather….. why can’t you be like her….? Whatever, just my luck.”

…………………….

'It’s ok.

H-he doesn’t mean it….'

“Why are you talking to me? You’re wasting my time.”

'………

See the full post

129 notes - Posted May 30, 2022

#4

hi^^ i'm not feeling well recently and i was wondering if i could request some Mammon fluff to heal me. the scenario being, Mammon and MC are best friends and promised to tell each other everything, so when he overhears his brothers gossiping that MC admitted to having a crush, he gets a lil upset because 1) how could you not tell him abt it first? and 2) who is MC crushing on???? and he acts moody with them until he finds out that MC's crush is on him whether by confession or the brothers, up to you. i just need a lovestruck Mammon being oblivious to his own feelings for his best friend until the idea of them being in relationship with someone else sets him off... i'm sorry if this is so cheesy and cliché!

A/N: Thank you for requesting! I hope you feel a little better after reading this! And also please take care of yourself, I hope you feel better! 💕

Let me tell you, I like my my fluff cheesy :) so don't be sorry! This is such a cute request after all!

And also....... this is my first fluff writing so, any corrections or even suggestions are appreciated! 💖

As always, have a great day ahead!

Also....! While I was writing, I was listening to-

I Like You, I Love You (Kagamine Rin)

TW: None (Apart from some mistakes and the repetition of the words "Best friends")

Extra: Fluff ; Unreliable Narration ; Second-Person POV ; Oblivious Nature ; "MC" addressed as you and not directly as "MC" (majority of the fic).

Mammon X MC

My Other Half

Only one demon in the whole of Devildom knew you like the back of his hand.

Mammon.

In the first weeks of the exchange program, he had seen you as a nuisance not he nor you knew when that changed. You two had grown accustomed to each other’s presence to a point many had assumed that you were a couple. Of course, the demon had to explain that you two were best friends and not a couple (while tomato blushing). His brothers especially Lucifer and Asmo would relentlessly tease their brother while a small and soft smile played on their lips.

In the span of only a few months, the demon had become someone you could talk with and complain about in a very dramatic way that never failed to make the demon laugh at your antics. So, in the end, you ended up telling him everything about yourself, your likes, dislikes, your life back in your home realm, family, and just about everything.

Like you love chocolate filled with almonds.

Or which brand of Devildom soda you had come to like.

Or that one manga Berserk manga you love and that one manga you especially dislike. (He also agrees with you on that….)

That one game you like and also the character you like so much that you call him your “Husbando”. (he nearly wanted to throw hands with a fictional character)

So of course, not only Mammon would boast about how was he your first, but also about how much he knows you and how you would spoil him.

You two would help each other in almost everything, and also get punishment from the eldest together.

“The peas of the same pod.” You two were truly just that.

Or that was supposed to be that way…..

For some days you acting quite….. weird….. but in a good way.

Out of nowhere, you would take him to Hell’s Kitchen or Madam Screams and then you would look in his eyes, searching for something in them.

Then you started to hug him out of nowhere while running at him at lightning speed….. every day. At first, he did not at all understand why you do this, which caused him to think that you were in danger so he literally sprinted in the direction you came from, to rip the sonnuvabich to pieces, only for you to tell him with a smirk that you wanted to surprise him. Why………. I mean he is not against the hug itself it's just that it was so sudden. Though, don’t worry now he will catch you and hug you before you could! After all, he ain’t the fastest demon for nothing!

Only….. for you to pout at him……. (so cute…..No! He ain’t blushing or anything!)

Then one day, a demon started to hit on him, only to get spooked by your very angry face. That day, Leviathan screamed at you for being so much jealous that it triggered his demonic nature.

Jealous…….?

Were you…….

See the full post

171 notes - Posted April 28, 2022

#3

ok see Mammon having named a crow after mc when they leave after season 1. Cue Mammon being embarrassed and having to explain to mc why this crow has the same name as them when they walk in him.

A/N: A lot smaller than I expected... but still I hope you like this anon! (damn I am getting a lot of Mammon fluff reqs, I'm not complaining tho-) Plus, this was very cute request! Thank you for requesting!

Also any corrections or suggestions are highly appreciated! 💖💖

As always, have a great day ahead!

TW: None. ; Fluff.

Extra: GN!MC ; Second-Person POV ; Unreliable Narration.

Mammon x GN!MC

Missed you so.....

Finally, you were back to your lovable and dorky demons.

It felt like it had been too long, even if it wasn’t truly like that…

It's just that these demons and everyone else had become a part of your heart that can’t be replaced…….

And it seemed that even they shared the same sentiment.

You were smothered by bear hugs the minute you made your entry, as they told you how they missed you. (some of them cried too-) (Mammon denies all claims of this-)

It felt like coming home.

Warm and soft.

It felt as if everything was in place, as it should be, perfect.

….

So then why was your name being frantically called by the Avatar of Greed in the long hallways of your abode?

“Mammon?” you call him peeking your head to see the commotion, worried for the demon.

“Tch. Where in the- where did it go?!” the demon searches frantically for something…..

You approach him quietly, “Where did what go?”

“DAH!”

“Mams?”

“I- uh- uh- NOTHIN’ BYE”

Ok.

‘So something is up’ you think as you can still hear Mammon screaming your name.

You sigh and go back to your room, exhausted.

Just as you enter your room, a loud cawing noise greets you.

“Huh?”

You look up to see a crow sitting on your room’s window looking at you as if to say something….?

See the full post

205 notes - Posted May 20, 2022

#2

How to Survive Your Yandere Demon Boyfriend and Live with in Peace have Fun: Chapter 3

A/N: I have finally decided to write this fic again! Though it is still on Semi-Hiatus. This chapter is basically setting up the timeline of when this Au happens and a deep dive into Reader/MC’s thoughts over the situation. So, not much happens in this chapter (except Lucifer and MC’s relationship gets a little depth as well-)

I hope you like this!

As always, have a great day ahead!

(Yandere AU x Replaced MC AU)

Yandere Lucifer x MC

TW: Unhealthy Obsession, Unhealthy Mindset, Manipulation, Yandere, Implied Sexual Content, Abandonment Issues, Angst, Mentioned Stalking, Implied Imprisonment (?), Self-Doubt(?), Denial, Curse Word (only once). (If I have missed something please tell me!)

Extra: Changing POVs, Unreliable Narration, Female Reader/MC, Slight Dark!MC (?) , OC Lucifer (Yandere) (According to what I think of him as a Yandere), Slight Masochism (?).

Third Person POV:

“Lucifer, we need to talk.”

Lucifer spun around in 0.1 second at that line, anxiety already churning his guts. Even so, he flashes his smirk at her, “Yes, love?” he asks trying to sound normal.

“Do you have any updates on Irina? Anything new?”

“Ah………. Yes, it seems she had learned about pacts today and was asking Mammon to make one with her. He somehow got away from her.”

Ever since that evening, Lucifer has kept tabs on Irina’s movements under MC’s order.

“……Tch.” She shakes her head, as if to say, ‘she had seen this coming’. “Lu, can you please call all your brothers here in your study?”

The demon raises his eyebrow, “Will you be ordering them not to make a pact with Irina?”

“…..Yes. Would that be petty?”

“…..Yes, however, I do feel you should do it since it is a need now.” He looks at her, eyes soft and reassuring. The human looks away from him, eyes looking outside the window. She sighs deeply eyes closing for a moment-

“Do you think that I should have been stricter towards them?”

“….”

“Do you think maybe I should have been like Solomon? Making pacts just for the power? Maybe then…. Then things wouldn’t have come to this……”

“….MC….”

“Maybe it was because I was too trusting of them……. Maybe it was because……. I was too soft on them? Or maybe….. they only pretended that they care for me………”

“…….” He knew that this was wrong, but he had now seen an opportunity arise at this. “Maybe they did….” He replies, standing up and walking towards her, a faint yet twisted smile on his face.

“Maybe they did, after all they are demons. They may have pretended to like you since, Diavolo and I had told them to be civil towards you.” He wraps his large hands around her waist and kisses her on the neck, he continues, “They may have done it out of fear.”

“If that is so, then even you may be pretending right at this moment, yes?”

Chuckling darkly, he smiles at her lovingly, “I am not like them, sweetheart. They did so for their own good and became blind to their own power over your heart and you, our master. Even though it hurts my pride a bit, but it is the truth, demons in pacts are like wild dogs. They need to be trained to respect their master. If the master doesn’t trains them? Well, there are repercussions of it. For example, losing respect towards them.”

“But they can be disciplined with love as well, right?”

“True, there are two ways teach an insolent, bratty dog, either to love them or to show them where their place truly is. You, my darling, have taught me through love, something that I and many others saw as an impossible feat. Yet you achieved it.” His hands tighten around her figure, he nuzzles on her neck.

“I am your loyal dog. And you are my master. I have already pledged my loyalty to you since the night I had bound myself to you through our pact, but I shall pledge it once more to you.” He suddenly removes his arms and steps away from her.

See the full post

269 notes - Posted February 14, 2022

My #1 post of 2022

Could we get Mc finding out diavolo has concubines while they are dating. And diavolo doesn't understand what is wrong with it. The angst, the drama.... then Mc just tell him she'll indulge in the brother then. And maybe it clicks for dia.... and he is just like..." oh...OH! Ya ok, we getting rid of the concubines, MC COME BACK!" And basically turns into a sad puppy dog following Mc around saying sorry over and over as Mc just keeps kissing the brothers, like all of them, one by one, right in front of Dia, until he finally really gets it. That if he wants real love and true loyalty in a lover, that the same is expected of him.

Ps, I like your writing, so whichever way you take this, I am down. I like seeing what ya do and reading your stuff. Keep being awesome! ^-^

A/N: First of all, thank you for the compliments! Second, I did make some changes just to fit it better, for the angst. Third, I really, really hope you like this story! And fourth, thank you for requesting!

Tbh, it was little difficult, since I never wrote anything for Diavolo. I feel like he is guy that is very hard to figure out, more than Lucifer.

But! I still had quite the fun making him suffer :)

And as always, have great day ahead!

Edit:  My thoughts on writing Part 2

TW: Implied Cheating ; Mentions of Cheating ; Angst ; Depression ; Fainting (?) ; Mentions of Concubines ; Harem ; Pretending to be alright when you are not (idk if this a real TW but oh well-) ; Poly Relationships ; Implied Sexual Content.

Other: Cheater!Diavolo ; MC addressed as "you" and not directly as "MC".

Diavolo X MC

MC X Brothers

How does it feel now?

“Dia?”

The name falls off of your mouth in utter horror as you look at the scene in front of you.

There he is, sitting on his throne looking ever so handsome, embracing and kissing a body that is not yours.

You don’t know if your voice was unheard or ignored, as Diavolo, your ever so charming lover, was kissing the lips that were not your own. A moan escapes from his mouth as one of those…………. whoever she was had started pleasuring him with her mouth, as you had once.

You drop on the ground, as you feel………. a lot of things……

First comes fear, disgust, and then despair.

You can’t hear anything.

You can’t see anything.

You can’t feel your own body.

Everything is dark.

Before losing to the darkness, you wish only one thing-

‘Please let this be an illusion.’

How naïve you were.

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

You open your eyes to the ceiling of his bedroom.

His bedroom……. wait.

Shooting right up from the bed, eyes wide open, looking everywhere.

You sit in silence and internally plead to every god for that……scene to be just a very bad dream.

See the full post

893 notes - Posted March 19, 2022

Get your Tumblr 2022 Year in Review →

[krimsonkatt]

That Time I Was Reincarnated as Serena (TFTG)

The sole TFTG comic I made in 2022, as that year was mainly dedicated to captions rather than full-on comics. This was done not as a commission but as a personal work after being inspired by a certain caption. In this comic I am suddenly transported to the world of Pokemon as Serena, the female player character of Pokemon X and Y. Not only does my body change, but also my personality and mannerisms to become dainty and feminine all on my own, and I'm absolutely loving it!

Also I am not a pred for being attracted to Serena, okay? As long as a character can pass as an adult they are legal, and at least game Serena 100% passes as a girl in her late teens or early adulthood alongside the BW/BW2 player characters. Sun and Moon, Let's Go, and Scarlet and Violet are the only games where the MCs are objectively little kids. Every other MC is ambiguously either in their late teens or early adulthood, despite what the anime would tell you. Also Aanime Serena was made a lot smaller and less endowed in order to portray her as younger and less experienced.

Once again, I would never go after any IRL underage people as I am not attracted to them and even if I was in the rare chance a 16 or 17yo looked 100% like an adult, I still wouldn't even CONSIDER getting close to them because I'm not a pred or an abuser! I'm attracted to adult, fully developed bodies and mannerisms, fictional or not. Regardless of what arbitrary age the writers set for the character, if a character can pass as being 18 or older, they are legal, regardless of canon age. End of story.

This piece actually was BANNED off of DeviantArt for "child endangerment" due to DeviantArt's strict and authoritarian rules on underage characters. I get banning loli and the like. That shit is absolutely disgusting and should not only be banned, but also made straight up illegal to produce, distribute, or own.

But there is a line where something crosses from acceptable to morally bad, and that line is this: If a fictional character looks and acts like an adult, regardless of their canonical age or the setting of the work, they are legal. If a fictional character looks and acts like a child, regardless of their canonical age, species, or in-universe context, it is ILLEGAL to sexualize them in any way, shape, or form. Legality for fictional characters is based solely on their appearance and to a lesser extent, their mannerisms, not their age which is arbitrary and randomly made up and assigned by the writers.

Mental maturity and potential abuse arising from power imbalances are not a thing when it comes to fictional characters, since they are NOT REAL and you can never actually meet and form a real relationship with them. (At least until AI robot girlfriends become a thing. Character AI is already halfway there.) So in the case of fictional characters, unlike in real life only appearance matters, not their canonical age or the age difference between the fictional entity and the real life person.

DeviantArt considers ANY depiction of any fictional character under the age of 18 to be CSAM (child sexual abuse material) and therefore illegal, bannable, and reportable to local authorities. It's utterly insane and completely authoritarian. This goes as far as to ban ALL incarnations of a character if even one incarnation is underage. Spider-Man? Completely banned in all matters because some of his incarnations are underage and in high school. So, I left DeviantArt to head here. If DA's shilling of AI slop wasn't bad enough (though DA thankfully has countermeasures, unlike other sites) they also implimented these ultra strict rules that makes Australia blush. Even OCs who are underage aren't allowed and are a bannable offense. Sonic the Hedgehog? Banned because according to SEGA Sonic is only 15 which goes against all established logic and canon. Sonic is at least in his mid to late 20s, probably older. The only reason why people haven't mass migrated off of DA is because these rules are VERY poorly enforced and only really used when some DA admin decides to power trip and ban a bunch of people like MeowWithMe that they don't personally like. You can get away with as much crap as you like on DA as long as you aren't reported, and almost no one uses the report button since it's so counter-intuitive.

Anyway screw DA, Tumblr rules. See you on the other side when we begin to cover the 2023 art, my biggest year yet!

[sandythereadingcafe]

COVER REVEAL Title: Broken Author: Serena Akeroyd Author Genre: Dark Romance Tropes: Forbidden/Priest Cover Design: Chelsea Chira Photographer: Daniel Jaems, Paperback Model Discreet Cover Design: Opulent Design Release Date: August 1, 2024 BLURB Forgive me, Father, for I am undeserving when blood soaks these hands that hold Your gift to me. I am broken and find solace in the darkness. She is pure and basks in the light. Did You send her to be my shelter? I made a vow of celibacy. She remained untouched. Did You create her for me? I am a sin eater, a purger of evil. She is an angel, a guardian of good. Did You know she would be my savior? Thank You, Father, for she is the one sin I will willfully commit. Broken is a forbidden, dark romance and a complete standalone GOODREADS LINK: https://www.goodreads.com/book/show/215518950-broken BOOKBUB LINK: https://www.bookbub.com/books/broken-a-forbidden-romance-by-serena-akeroyd PRE-ORDER LINKS US: https://amzn.to/4bVxJCV UK: https://amzn.to/4eRa8FP CA: https://amzn.to/4bqAqvS AU: https://amzn.to/4bunsxe Universal: https://bit.ly/3XVDkFU AUTHOR BIO USA Today and International Best Selling Author Serena Akeroyd aka G. A. Mazurke is most known for her mafia and MC series set in the Five Points Mob Universe. Avid reader of all things romance, she first started her career as a why choose author in both contemporary and paranormal. She eventually made her way to MF romance where she found her groove with the O'Donnelly brothers, the Satan Sinners and most recently the Valentini Family.

In her back list you can find some MM, MF, MFM and Why Choose romances. HEA guaranteed! When not writing Serena is either reading, traveling or coloring. AUTHOR LINKS Website: https://serenaakeroyd.com Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Serena-Akeroyd/e/B00EC76REA Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/SerenaAkeroyd Facebook Group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/SerenaAkeroydsDivas Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/serena_akeroyd BookBub: https://www.bookbub.com/authors/serena-akeroyd X (Twitter): https://x.com/serenaakeroyd Newsletter: http://www.serenaakeroyd.com/newsletter.html Goodreads: https://www.goodreads.com/author/show/7205755.Serena_Akeroyd TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@serenaakeroyd Verve Romance: https://ververomance.com/app/SerenaAkeroyd Hive: @serenaakeroyd

[lsvdw-blog]

For Choosing Me (3/?)

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 1.2k

Warnings; Rating: None; General

Premise: Ethan shows a different side of himself as he continues to grow closer to Serena and Alan notices.

Author’s Note: This has been queued up as I promised this part would be released this month and for once, it's fluffy ☁🤗 A portion of this was taken from OH Bk 1 Chp 1 - can you guess which scene? 😉 I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

As the days go by and they come up with a plan on how to tackle this project, Serena is no more forthcoming. She remains as quiet as possible, only speaking up when she’s sure of an answer, not wanting to get chastised by Ethan.

It’s even run over to their morning chats — she’s distant and standoffish. 

Ethan is entirely confused as to where this is coming from, but he doesn’t like it one bit. 

The project requires multiple iterations of the same process and they’re nearing the end of the first cycle. In order to check their progress, they need to extract flower petals from vegetable shortening, add an equal amount of rubbing alcohol, and combine over low heat. 

As Ethan goes to discard the extracted flower petals, Serena prepares the rubbing alcohol and adds it to the vegetable shortening in the pot. 

She begins to mix the two, only to realize she added too much alcohol, diluting the shortening beyond use, rendering their first iteration futile. Days of work, gone. 

And now they’re behind. 

Serena begins to internally panic. There’s no recovering from this — the shortening and alcohol have been combined and cannot be unmixed. 

Ethan is going to be pissed. I messed up such a simple step.

She immediately tries to make herself seem smaller, hunching over the burner and mentally preparing herself to get the dressing down of her life. 

“How’s it going?”

The fact that Serena slightly jumps as Ethan comes up behind her doesn’t go unnoticed by him. When she turns to face him, her eyes are blown wide, body still shielding the pot. 

“Is everything okay?” 

Serena stares at him blankly for a few beats, before stammering. “Please don’t be mad. I added too much alcohol and now the mixture is unusable. I’m so sorry, I don’t know what got into me. It was so simple, but I couldn’t even do it right. I’m sorry, Ethan, please don’t be mad.” 

He can see the regret and guilt written all over her face. But those aren’t the emotions that concern him.

Fear. 

The most prevalent emotion displayed on her face is fear. 

As he takes a tentative step towards her and the mixture she’s still stirring, she takes a half-step back. And that’s when it dawns on Ethan that she’s scared of him. 

His heart wrenches. 

It all makes sense now; Ethan is well aware of the reputation he has built at school. While he couldn’t care less what others may think of him, it does matter to him that Serena is frightened of how he might react to a silly class-related mistake.

He’d never treat her the way he treats their other classmates. 

Ethan reaches out, steadying Serena’s trembling hand in his. When she doesn’t flinch, he takes that as a good sign, but he’s unsure if it’s just because she’s still too scared to register anything else. Either way, he interprets it as a signal to continue.

“Hey… you can do this.

“We have extras. I’ll go grab one and you can discard this one.” 

Serena swallows and nods, going to do as suggested. 

As they come back together, Serena begins to re-measure the amount of alcohol, still trembling. 

Ethan gently places his hand on her forearm. With the warmth of his skin on hers, Serena zeros in, pushing everything out of her mind except for Ethan’s voice and his touch. 

“There you go. Nice and easy.” 

Serena makes a perfect measurement, adding it to the pot. Ethan nods in approval before beginning to slowly stir the mixture. 

After the items have been combined and have cooled slightly, Ethan pours it into a jar. They work in tandem, sealing and labeling it accurately, and placing it in a dark area to process. 

They both turn to look at the clock on the wall. There’s still time to spare before class ends. 

Ethan nudges Serena with his shoulder and whispers, “See? No worries.” 

Serena looks down at the ground before looking back up at him, smiling. 

Ethan returns her smile, happy that her smile reaches her eyes. That she no longer looks at him with trepidation.

As they smile at each other, Serena’s eyes twinkle. 

This is the Ethan I know. 

~~~~~~

They find a rhythm working on their project in the weeks that follow, reverting back to their playful banter and grow even closer. They even spend time at Ethan’s, supervised by Alan, using his kitchen to continue their project. 

Alan watches them from afar, mostly leaving them to their own devices as he wouldn’t even know where to begin to help them with all of the science. 

But what he does notice is how happy his son has been lately and it doesn’t go over his head how Serena can get Ethan to genuinely smile and laugh. 

Ever since Louise left, Ethan shut down, no longer the untroubled, happy-go-lucky kid he used to be. He became cynical, grumpy, and untrusting. This, coupled with the fact that he had to grow up faster than Alan had wanted — helping out around the house, making meals for both of them, not being able to join certain extracurriculars due to lack of money or time — broke Alan’s heart. 

It’s been over three years and he’s missed seeing his boy be carefree.

Although Ethan had always loved learning, Alan has never seen Ethan look forward to school so much before. Or enjoy working on a partnered project. So to hear Ethan fully laugh from his belly, to see the corner of his eyes crinkle, observe how they stand a bit too close together and the stolen glances he throws Serena’s way, Alan knows she’s special. 

Special in her own right, but also special to Ethan. 

~~~~~~ 

“This is amazing! A+!!” Serena clutches their paper, looking down at their grade, thrilled. 

As they walk out of school together, making their way to the pick-up area, Ethan teases her, “Did you ever doubt us?” 

Serena, overcome with sheer excitement at having overcome her faux pas in the very beginning of the project, throws her arms around Ethan’s neck. 

Ethan is taken aback, his arms awkwardly frozen at a ninety-degree angle, hanging in the air. 

“Thank you for not giving up on me.”

At Serena’s comment, Ethan smiles and relaxes, his arms encircling her shoulders, avoiding her backpack. 

“Thank you for being an incredible partner.”

Serena pulls back, hands on his shoulders, and looks at him with pure joy. Before he can say more, Serena’s mom pulls up to the curb. 

“I’ll see you after Thanksgiving!” She waves goodbye as she trots over to her mom’s car. 

Ethan can hear her squealing in delight as she tells her mom about their successful project. His hands are still tingling from their hug as he shoves them into his front pockets. 

He can’t help the smile that spreads, but also can't help the disappointment at the hug being too short. 

It isn’t until he’s on his way home, riding with Alan, that Serena’s words hit him. 

Thanksgiving. Five whole days away from school, responsibilities, classmates. 

And just like that, Ethan’s high fades and he’s left with the realization that it’s also five whole days away from her: the girl with the butterfly clips in her hair.