#shake me awake if the visions get too crazy and i’ll just talk your ear off instead | Explore Tumblr posts and blogs

mintwithchoco · 4 years ago

Text

beaux rêves: Ep 4 - Adrenaline

ITZY Yeji x Male Reader

Word Count: 2882 words

Categories: smut, oral, femdom, mommy kink, light bdsm, agent! yeji

aff link

“Stop!”

Avoiding each and every obstacle, the three agents chased down their target who was running through the top of a building, a person simply named “Killer Queen”. The chase was going on for five minutes - countless bullets directed towards each other missing their mark. The agents were running out of ammunition and their stamina wasn’t going to hold up any further.

“Does this guy have any lungs or what?! We’ve been chasing him for hours!” Ryujin shouts towards the others.

“Keep the pace! Eventually he’ll get tired too!” Yeji replied.

“Captain, permission to use Hierophant Green!” You asked Yeji while getting ready to press the button on your watch to summon the weapon mentioned.

“Permission granted!”

As soon as you press the button, your hands turn into a robotic state with green and white color schemes. You then put them close together, causing it to glow bright green and a water-like material is produced on your palms.

“Take this Killer Queen! Emerald Splash!” You shouted.

A giant energy blast was released from your palms which then takes on the form of emeralds, targeted and locked onto Killer Queen at a crazy speed. The agents were confident - Killer Queen had no way of escaping and they were gonna put an end to his crimes by giving him the punishment that he deserves.

But suddenly, Killer Queen flashes his jacket towards the blast and deflects them away, making the agents flinch away from him. They were shocked at the act and realized that this was not an easy enemy.

“What? There’s no way! No one can just deflect the Emerald Splash!” You said, shocked at the fact that The Mafia has overthrown your best attack.

"Hah! You utter fool! Your attacks are weak against me!" Killer Queen then throws a type of bomb towards you.

"Agent Mint!" Ryujin and Yeji shouted before watching you get sent flying in the air by the explosion from the bomb.

Both of them stopped chasing Killer Queen and ran towards your weak body that just fell to the ground. The explosion burned your suit and a little bit of your skin and your head was feeling super dizzy because of you hitting it on the cement roof. Blood started to pour out from a cut on your head, your vision was also starting to get blurry.

Before Yeji and Ryujin could reach you, you fainted because of your injuries. You hear their cries for you as your vision slowly turns black, your mind hoping that there's a chance help would arrive soon.

//timeskip//

Your eyes slowly open. Greeted by the bright ceiling light of the room, you squint your eyes and sit up to look around. You felt your head that was wrapped in bandages and saw a few cuts on your arms.

"Where...Where am I?" You ask yourself before hearing the door of the room being opened by Chaeryeong.

"Oppa! You're awake!" Chaeryeong rushes towards you and hugs you on the bed, making you eventually realize that you were in the ward room of the JYP HQ.

"Oh my god, I'm so sorry! I forgot that you're still injured…" Chaeryeong said as she pulled away, noticing you wince from her sudden contact.

"It's fine. How long was I asleep, Chae? Are the others okay?" You asked her as she slowly sat on one of the chairs in the room.

"You've been unconscious for almost 3 days. The others are fine oppa, but…"

"What's wrong?"

"Yeji unnie…She's been out of place after the incident, always looking so frustrated, separating herself from us except during worktimes and most of all - not joining us at lunchtime." Chaeryeong sighed and pouted.

"Killer Queen has caused a lot of trouble for us, and I think she's stressed because of it. Don't worry, I'll try to talk it out with her."

"Alright…Anyways, how are you feeling now oppa?"

"I still feel a bit nauseous, but other than that, I'm a-okay!" You said while giving her a thumbs up, making her giggle cutely.

Suddenly, a knock was heard on the door, making you both flinch. You look at Chaeryeong with a questioning face and she replies back with a shrug. The door then was opened once again, revealing the person that knocked on it was Yeji.

"Oh, you're awake. And Chaeryeong, you're here early." Yeji said while closing the door.

"Y-Yeah...Thought that I would pay oppa a visit before I work. I was lucky enough to see him first awake, hehe~" Chaeryeong said as Yeji came to her right side.

"How do you feel now?" Yeji asked you, and your answer was still the same.

“I’m glad to hear that. Don't worry about the mission, you need to heal up first." Yeji said.

"10:30?!" Chaeryeong suddenly shrieked when she was looking at her watch on her wrist.

"Oppa, I gotta go. I promised Ryujin to help her out with uhh... something, yeah. Yeji unnie, take care of him alright? See you guys later!" Chaeryeong said before quickly rushing herself out of the room, leaving you and Yeji alone.

"Take...care…" You managed to say before Chaeryeong closed the door.

You face Yeji who looked like she was lost in thought. Remembering what Chaeryeong said about her situation recently, you were hesitant to ask her about it as she was looking frustrated. Silence filled the room with ease as you just observed the injuries that you got while Yeji just stared at you with her mind full of thoughts.

"Hey, are you okay?" You ask, breaking the silence between you two.

"Chae said that you’ve been looking distressed lately, is there something wrong?”

Yeji looked at you and was greeted with your concerned expression. She looked hesitant, biting her lips and keeping the gap of her thighs closed. You purse your lips, wondering why she was acting this way.

“...You said you were okay, right?”

“Yeah...Why?”

“Then, I’ll show you what’s wrong.” Yeji stood up from her seat and took off her boots and her socks. You were confused, but then she suddenly sat on your lower region that was covered with a blanket, making you shocked.

“Yeji what the-” Yeji silenced you by bringing a finger to your lips and her head gets close to your ear.

"I'm...sexually frustrated." She whispers softly into your ear, giving you shivers.

"H-Hey now Yeji…T-This is not the best place to be saying stuff like this-" You were cut off by Yeji's lips, deeply kissing you and forcing you to lean back to the headboard.

Your eyes widened. This was a wrongful act, you thought. But upon tasting her cherry lips, you instantly got addicted to it. Yeji demands more of you by forcing her tongue into your mouth, giving her access to dance with your tongue. You both exchanged saliva to each other while your hands promptly moved to her back, gently hugging her.

Eventually, you both ran out of oxygen and pulled away from each other by the force of nature followed with strings of saliva. You stared into each other's eyes, filled with lust, knowing what to do next.

"Mommy's been dying to taste your cock, baby. You don't know how many times I've cum just thinking about it." Yeji said while throwing the blanket away from your lap.

"M-Mommy?"

"Yes, mommy. What's wrong?"

"...N-Nothing, I love it." Yeji gave you a shy smile.

Yeji then kisses your neck hungrily, leaving a few deep red marks all over it as you start to moan at how good it felt. Her right hand unbuttons your shirt to reveal your toned body. After gawking at you, she marks you with her lips all over it until she reaches your abdomen.

Your cock was begging to be released from its confines due to her lust-filled kisses earlier. Yeji smirks as she notices your prominent bulge sticking out of your pants. She cups it gently, making you flinch a little and let out a few breathy moans.

"Fuck baby, I can't wait to taste your cock."

Yeji took off her belt and opened the zipper on her coat to be left with a sleeveless blue leather top. You were glad that she helped you to discard a part of her outfit since they were confusing to your eyes.

Her face was on your crotch once again and she took off your pants and your boxers slowly, being cautious as you were still a bit injured.

Your hard cock sprang out and throbbed instantly, finally feeling the cold temperature of the room. Yeji bites her lower lip as she looks at your cock standing proud, impressed by its size. She grasps it by the base, causing you to inhale air into your lungs until she starts stroking it fully, making you exhale in relief.

Precum starts to leak from your tip, hinting to Yeji that her handjob was going well. Her thumb collects it and spreads them all over your shaft as it keeps leaking more and more, eventually covering them as a whole. Your moans fueled Yeji to continue her work but her mouth was starting to water, hungry to get a taste of you.

"Get ready, baby. Mommy's gonna give you the best blowjob ever."

Without wasting any more time, she takes your cock inside her warm, inviting mouth. Starting with a slow pace, you throw your head back on the headrest, savoring how well her mouth was wrapped around your shaft. She was telling the truth about dying for your cock, her tongue was skillfully licking the underside of your shaft and swirling around your tip.

As she bobbed her head up and down to increase the pace, you closed your eyes. The extreme pleasure was felt in an instant because of your body being unconscious these past few days. You were even more sensitive than normal as your body kept shaking with pleasure as Yeji now fondled your balls with her left hand.

"Fuck mommy…" You moaned.

Yeji's eyes formed an inverted crescent upon hearing your moan. She continues to increase her pace on your cock, her mind sets a mission of wanting to make you feel good. That mission was already completed by how much you were moaning and sweating for her because of the pleasure.

When you looked down to see Yeji, you realized that her right hand was missing from your cock. Just then, you looked harder and noticed that she was touching herself as her leather pants were dangling on her knees, allowing her to gain access to her pussy. You knew it was hard for her to keep pleasuring you and herself, so you stopped her blowjob by holding onto her head.

"Mommy...let me help you." You told Yeji and she took the hint instantly as she released your cock from her mouth and turned her body around on her knees. At the same time, you laid down on the bed and Yeji moved backwards until her crotch was right in front of your face and vice versa.

She was dripping, her pussy glistening because of her wetness. You finish the job of taking off her pants alongside her panties and grab her thighs to bring them closer to your meal. Yeji was already back to her job of sucking your cock but suddenly, she moaned loudly as you pushed your tongue onto her clit, lightly penetrating it. Then, the whole of your lips sticks onto her pussy alongside Yeji now deepthroating your cock.

The ward room was filled with both of your moans, pleasuring each other at the same time. You were surprised that no one has opened nor knocked on the door. It was like the time was letting you feel this moment with Yeji. She continues to slightly choke herself on your cock while you lapped up every part of her pussy that was covered with her juices.

You knew that you were reaching your peak fast. You would love to see Yeji's mouth filled with your cum, but the sensitiveness of your cock right now can only be felt once in a while.

"Mommy, I wanna feel your pussy now." Yeji then pulls you out of her mouth, raises her body and straddles your stomach.

"You want mommy to fuck you?" Yeji said while tracing a pattern on your chest. You nodded quickly as a reply.

"You wanna feel how tight mommy is?" You nodded again but then, you were greeted by a hard slap on your left cheek.

"Don't ever tell mommy what to do." Yeji's tone was cold and harsh, throbbing your cock in response because of how scary and hot it was.

Her hand was back to your cock once again, stroking it gently with a smirk on her face. You didn’t know what she was planning to do, but you knew that it was definitely gonna be pleasuring. She raised her hips and hovered over your crotch, teasing the tip of your shaft on her pussy lips. Your breath started to come out shallow, the friction of her rubbing was getting into nerves as you grit your teeth when you felt a certain sensation hitting your body.

“M-Mommy, p-please…” You begged her.

“What was that baby?”

“Please fuck me mommy! I wanna feel mommy’s tight pussy and fill it up with my cum! Please mommy!” You gave in to her dominance, something that you never had done before.

Without saying any words back, she suddenly left the bed and grabbed something from her little pouch on the seat which was on her arm earlier. Before going back to the bed, she comes to your side and covers your eyes with some sort of cloth, your vision now was filled with darkness.

“Arms up.” You followed her instructions and Yeji ties both of your wrists to each side of the headboard with what you feel like a silky fabric.

“Hm, better.” You heard Yeji say before feeling the bed sink down and the warmness of her pussy was back on your erection. You also heard the sound of clothes being removed and thrown onto the floor, possibly her top and her bra which were the only things that were left on her body.

“Mommy’s gonna fuck you now since you begged for it.”

You didn’t even have time to prepare yourself as Yeji lowered down on your shaft, letting you feel the tightness of her pussy. She didn’t care about adjusting to your size anymore and kept slamming down her hips at a wild pace with a few satisfying groans from her sinful lips.

“Ahh fuck, you fill me up so well.” Yeji moaned as she slowed down her movements.

“Mommy’s so tight…”

Feeling that her hand was now on your stomach, you can imagine that Yeji was riding you with her ass facing towards you. You were a little frustrated at not having the vision of her perfect butt bouncing up and down your cock, but all these props that were put onto you were definitely increasing your arousal. Your shaft was drowned with her juices as you heard the wet sound of both of your crotches slapping against each other.

You never knew that you had a submissive side, and you have to thank Yeji for unlocking this new side of you. Sweat formed on both of your bodies as the air around was getting hotter due to her constant pace of riding your length. Suddenly, your cock impales her deeply until it reaches her g-spot, earning a loud sensual moan from Yeji.

“Fuck yeah, that’s the spot…”

Yeji penetrates herself in that same position over and over again. Her legs and body shakes in response, oxytocin fills her bloodstream in a large amount as her walls strongly clenches on your shaft. It wouldn’t take much longer for the both of you to reach your peak.

“Oh yeah, mommy’s going to cum all over your cock baby.”

“M-Me too, m-mommy, please don’t stop!”

“I would never.”

A few more slams was all it needed for Yeji to orgasm, drenching your cock with an enormous amount of her juices as her walls pulsated around your cock with such intense pressure. It causes you to hit your climax quickly after hers, emptying all of your build up load and filling up the entirety of her insides. You pull on the fabric on your wrists while moaning in a loud volume, wanting to hold her close as you orgasm but you were glad enough that you were deep inside her warm pussy.

“Ahh, fill me up, fill me up….” Yeji said as you sent a few more shots of your thick seed into her womb.

As you both were a panting mess, Yeji lifts off of your shaft inch by inch, both of your mixed cum slowly drips out of her before it leaks out in a large amount and stains the bed below. You felt Yeji’s hand taking off your blindfold and once your vision was back, a sight of Yeji showing her pink splayed lips that was messy with both of your juices. She sighed in satisfaction and leaned her head close to your ear to whisper something.

“From now on, you will be mommy’s fucktoy.”

#itzy smut #yeji smut #itzy #yeji #kpop smut #kpop fanfiction #reader insert #male reader

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beskarhearts · 4 years ago

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Bounty (Din Djarin x Reader)

Connection series Pt. 8

Pairing: Din Djarin x f!reader (no use of Y/N)

Warnings: cursing, death (choking), fighting, anxiety, nightmares

Word count: over 8.0K

Summary: Din has a bounty to catch, leaving you and the child alone on the Crest.

Notes: This chapter almost made me cry writing it so I wish you all luck. I also started writing part nine today and ooof... buckle in folks.

Previous Part ____ Next Part

_____________________________________________

You couldn’t help the bout of laughter that escaped your lips as Din walked up to you.

“Are you ever going to stop laughing about this?”

You doubled over in laughter even more, clutching at your stomach which was beginning to literally hurt from your laughter. “I can’t believe you never told me.” You wheezed as the man stood in front of where you leaned against the wall, placing a hand on his hip.

“It’s not even funny.”

"You know, I feel like you should of told me about it. Like that should of been the first thing out of your mouth when we first met. It would have told me everything I needed to know.”

“The fact that I wear suspenders would have told you everything you needed to know?”

You let out a loud cackle at his statement, causing him to shake his head at you. “Absolutely.”

“I wear it because it’s convenient. I don’t know why it’s funny.”

“Do you think your bounties would be considerably less scared of you if they knew you wore suspenders? Because I think they would.”

“Sweet one...” You smiled as he let out a small sigh, but deep down you knew he was smiling under the helmet.

“You should consider wearing less armor and letting the suspenders show more. The ladies would love it.”

Din cocked his helmet at you, stepping closer to you. “Oh, really?”

“Absolutely. Suspenders are just irresistible.” You let out another giggle, smiling widely as you expect an exasperated sigh from the man of beskar.

But instead he brings his hands up, putting them against the wall on either side of your head, boxing you in. You let out a small gasp, not having expected Din to get so close to you. “Really?”

You tried to hide how flustered you were with a small smile. “Would it break your heart if I said that the suspenders didn’t do anything for me?”

“Probably.” You heard Din let out a chuckle and you laughed back.

“Well then I love them. They are super good looking. One would probably describe them as sexy.”

Din just let out a grunt and shook his head at you. “That didn’t sound convincing.”

“I wonder why.” You teased, ducking under one of his arms, escaping his hold on you. Din turns around, leaning against the wall exactly where you were and crossing his arms.

“I should probably get going.” You let out a groan at his words. You guys had left the planet with the flowers a couple days ago and went straight into hyperspace. Din had explained that he had a bounty to catch. It was an underground job, meaning no one would know it was him and he wasn’t risking Moff Gideon finding out about it. He just had to stop on this planet, catch his bounty, and turn them in for some much needed credits. It wasn’t supposed to be too dangerous but he still insisted on you and the child staying behind in the Crest. He didn’t want to risk anything or anybody seeing the kid, even though the planet you were on was relatively deserted.

“Din, are you sure we can’t go? I’m pretty good with a blaster, y’know?”

“I know, cyar’ika.”

“Then let me go.” You knew you were whining and probably sounded like a child, but you didn’t want him to go. Ever since you joined, you guys haven’t really separated and you didn’t want to be alone.

“This should be a quick one.” Din didn’t even bother to entertain your statement. You had already bothered Din about going and he was being stubborn. There was no way he was going to let you go but you could still complain about it. “Hopefully it will only be a day or two.”

“Two days?”

“You whine a lot.”

You roll your eyes, crossing your arms over you chest. “I just want to go. I don’t want to be alone here.”

“You won’t be. You have the kid.”

You hated how literally Din took things sometimes. You didn’t know if it did it on purpose or if it was just how he was. “I could help.”

Din sighed, shaking his head. “I think I’ve got it covered. I’ve done this before.”

“Yes, but have you ever done it before with me by your side? No. We could probably catch this poor schmuck in less than a day if I tag along.”

“I forgot about all your experience in bounty hunting.”

You knew he was teasing but you still narrowed your eyes at him. “I would probably be great at it.”

“You aren’t a very subtle person.”

You let out a small gasp. “What does that mean?”

Din stepped towards you, putting both hands on your shoulders. “It means, you tend you gather peoples attention. And that isn’t good when hunting.”

“Maybe you can teach me how to do it then. You said this bounty isn’t too difficult so this would be the perfect opportunity.”

“You do know nothing you say will make me bring you along?”

You let out a grunt, pulling away from Din. “Fine. But you’ll regret it when you realize just how much you miss me.”

“Of course, cyar’ika.” Din sarcastically responded and you huffed.

“You are going to be chasing after this stupid bounty and thinking about how much you miss me and my pretty hair and my wonderful humor and-”

“I’m starting to think you are in love with yourself.”

You flash him a devious smile. “I mean, I am pretty great.”

Din shakes his head and pulls his body towards you. “You know what I’ll enjoy most about this?”

You frown, already prepared for a sarcastic response. “What, Din?”

“Some silence.”

You roll your eyes and back away from him, only for him to take a step towards you. “Yeah, right. You love when I talk.”

“You love when I talk.”

Another step backwards for you. And another step forwards for Din. “Hmmm... not really?”

“Sweet one, you already admitted you like the sound of my voice.” You back up one more time and feel yourself bump into the wall behind you, to which Din chuckles. “See? You are clumsy. I can’t bring you.”

You push against Din’s chest with your hands. “You should go before I kick your ass.” You try to hold back the smile but fail to do so.

“Alright.” Din grabs his bag from the floor and strolls towards you. “Keep the door shut and if anything happens, use the radio I gave you. But only for emergencies.”

“Aye aye, captain.”

“If it takes longer than two days, I’ll radio you and let you know I’m fine. If you don’t hear from me and I don’t respond to you, get out of here.”

“Din, I’m not leaving you behind-”

“Please just agree to my terms.”

You nod your head, knowing you’d never actually leave without Din but not wanting to stress him out. “Fine.”

Din brought a hand up to your cheek, grazing it lightly. “Be safe.”

“We will be fine, Din. Like I said, I’m handy with a blaster.” You give him a lopsided grin, wanting to ease his worries.

“Okay. Goodbye, cyar’ika.”

“See you soon.”

Din dropped his hand, opening the hatch to the Crest, and stepping down it. He turned back to look at you, giving you a sharp nod of the head, and you watch him walk off as you close the hatch of the ship.

_____________________

The child was sat in your lap, fully awake to your dismay. He spent the first half of the day whining and crying because his dad was gone. He would look up at you with these big, dopey eyes and his little bottom lip puffed out, looking like somebody had done the meanest thing to him. You’d explain to him that Din was just doing a job and he’d be back soon, but you think the kid either didn’t understand you or didn’t care.

Then once the kid finally got over his pity party, he was absolutely wired. All he wanted to do was play and you swore he was trying to drive you crazy. At one point, you had tripped over something the kid had dropped and he absolutely lost it, thinking it was the greatest thing he had ever seen. In hopes of tiring him out, you had purposely started ‘tripping’ on things, each time warranting the same ecstatic response but not proving to tire him out at all.

So that led to where you were now. In the cockpit of the Crest, with the kid held in your lap, as the two of you looked up at the stars in the sky. You had hoped a calming activity like this would make him sleepy considering how late it was and how he hadn’t taken any naps. But all he was doing was intently staring at the little metal sphere in his hands that he stole from the Crest’s dashboard, completely transfixed by it like it was the most exhilarating thing in the world.

You on the other hand were on the verge of sleep. Your eyes were drooping and you kept yawning. Taking care of the kid was a tiresome task, especially when you didn’t have Din around to help at all. You were sat in Dins seat, letting yourself fall into it. You missed him, which sounded silly considering he had only been gone for less than twenty-four hours. But you had to fight back the urge to radio him in, just to hear his voice. You had gotten used to his constant company and being in the Crest without him was odd. He was just an overwhelmingly sweet presence for you and without him, it felt a little less safe and a little less warm.

Your dreary eyes drifted down to the child, who was sat in your lap and looked up at you, showing you the ball in his hands. You nodded slowly, your mind seeming to process things about ten times slower than usual. “Very neat, booger.”

The kid looked away from you, seemingly satisfied with you acknowledging his metal ball and looking back down on it. You let out another loud yawn, your eyes slowly drifting closed. You were just going to relax, not sleep. Just rest your eyes for a minute...

Then there was a loud clatter than woke you up. Your body lunged forwards and you looked to see that the kid was still awake, sat in your lap, with the ball in his hand, but his ears twitching and his vision direction towards the ladder leading down to the hull of the ship. “Anybody there?” You called out.

You picked him up, pulling him close against your chest as you approached the ladder. You peaked down into the hull, your head hanging a little from your position. You looked around. The latch of the door was closed, nothing seemed out of place. “Hello?”

No other noise was made, no response meaning Din wasn’t back yet to your dismay. You looked over at the kid, who was intently staring into the hull of the ship, his ears still twitching like he was listening for something. “It’s just us kid. This piece of junk ship just makes noises sometimes.” The kid looked up at you briefly before turning back to the hull. “We should get some sleep.”

The kid still seemed totally fine, no hint of fatigue on any of his features. You let out a small sigh. This was going to be a long night. You carefully stepped down the ladder, making your way towards your cot when you heard another noise. You whipped your head around, identifying that it came from the refresher. You put the kid down on your cot quickly and lifted up a finger to your lips, hoping that the kid would understand and be quiet. He simply looked up at you and you turned around, your right hand resting on the blaster kept on your side. You made your way towards the refresher, hoping it was just Din who saw you asleep and didn’t want to wake you up to let you know he was back. But deep down, you knew it wasn’t Din. And he had told you this planet didn’t have a big population and you were far from any towns where there would be people. Meaning if there was someone in the ship, it was probably either Din or his bounty.

You stopped walking, considering your options. You had your radio, maybe you could call Din in. But if there was someone there, they’d probably hear you do it and then what would you do? And what if Din was far away and couldn’t get back quickly enough?

Or what if this wasn’t his bounty and something else entirely? Din didn’t have a tracking fob this time, just a location. You knew Din was good at his job and if his bounty was here, he should be here. So if he isn’t, maybe there was someone else in here.

You turned back to look up at the kid, to check if he was still in the spot where you left him, only to find he wasn’t. “Shit.” You whispered under your breath. You looked all around but couldn’t find the kid. Sometimes he liked to hide from you, thinking it was great when you found him, but right now was not the time for hide and seek. “Kid, where are you?”

You turned around completely, back facing the door to the refresher as you ducked to see if he was below your bed. No luck. You let out a sigh. You couldn’t do anything without knowing where the kid was. That was too risky. “Womp rat, where did you go?”

All the air left your lungs as you felt a huge slam into your back, bringing you down onto the floor. You landed face down, your whole body pulsing from the pain. Your body throbbed from the impact and your hands just barely reached out to stop you from slamming your skull into the metal floor of the ship. You quickly pulled yourself up and turned to see a Klatooinian staring back down at you. His face bunched up into a growl and he snarled at you, glaring at you with a fierceness in his eyes. “What the kriff?” You yelled out.

The creature held a blaster right at your face, not bothering to say anything, and let out deep breathes, his chest heaving. You quickly popped back up on your feet, trying to knock the blaster out of his hand. But instead the man fired a shot, hitting the floor of the ship as you jerked out of the way. Your head turned quickly, just to make sure the kid wasn’t anywhere near the blast. You were satisfied when you found no kid, but also worried as to where he could be. You didn’t want him getting caught in the cross fire. And you certainly didn’t want this creature finding him. You needed to get rid of him, before he hurt the kid or you.

Your hand reached for the blaster on your side, just starting to curl around the smooth metal of it, when you heard a small noise emit from behind the Klatooinian. The man and you both turn to look in the same direction, your vision landing on the child who stood in the corner of the room with the ball in his hand. His face was crumpled up into a little frown, clearly not too pleased by the presence of the man before him, but he didn’t do anything except just stand there. “Shit.”

Your fingers just started to pull on your blaster, not even able to pull it out completely, before the man turned back to you, snarling again and rising a leg to kick one of your knees, your leg buckling in on yourself and dropping you against the floor. You let out a yelp from the pain, your right hand still itching towards your blaster, but your other hand landing on the floor beside you, trying to steady yourself. He spat into your face and a thick glob landed on your cheek that you wiped away with a growl. He turned back around towards the kid, stomping closer to him with the blaster aimed at his little body. “You son of a bitch!” you yelled out, trying to distract him, just do anything so he wouldn’t harm the kid and the kid could scurry away. He turned to look back at you, letting out a harsh laugh.

There was no way you were going to let this man hurt the child. Din trusted you to protect him, so you were going to do it. You rise to your feet again, your landing a little sloppy due to your knee, and you go to reach for the blaster when you feel a tingling sensation through your whole body. The fatigue and pain fades away, and for a second you think it’s just a rush of adrenaline from the situation until you realize you’ve felt this feeling before. It’s been a very long time, but it is strong and it is undeniable.

You feel an energy fill every part of your body. It seems to fill your pores, soak into your bones, and lift you up. It penetrated every part of your being and you feel more powerful than you had in a very long time. You haven’t felt the Force flow within you for many years, but the feeling is just as intoxicating as it was before and it seems to clear all your senses. Your right hand eases away from the blaster on your side and instead you bring it up, your body seeming to work on its own without a second thought. You watch as the Klatooinian stumbles back slightly before you curl your fingers a little. One of his dirty hands reaches for his throat, trying to tear something away from it, as the blaster in his order hand drops to the ground. You squeeze your hands together a little tighter to which the creature let’s out a ragged gasp, his other hand reaching up as well as shock paints his face. You don’t even fully realize what is happening, just letting your powers take hold of you. The man begins to lift a little from where he stood in the hull, his feet dangling slightly in the air as he continues to gasp and take in shallow breaths that are beginning to fade.

Your hands tighten up even more and you watch as his face begins to turn into a shade of blue, his eyes bulging from the pressure as you continue. It seems like only mere seconds until he let’s out one more choked breath before falling limp. And like you had been on the verge of choking as well, you let out a loud gasp as you drop your hand, and the creatures body falls to the floor right in front of the child and you. You feel like time finally resumes to normal after it was going at warp speed. You had felt like time was just flashing in your face and you weren’t even able to realize what was happening until it was too late. You look at the body on the ground before you and you let out a choked sob, crumbling to the floor. The fatigue from earlier settles back into your body, but now tenfold from the energy you just exhausted. You let out a whimper as the child begins to waddle towards you, walking around the body.

What had you done? You hadn’t used the Force in years because the last time you had, it had resulted in a dead body as well. You swore to never use it again, in fear you’d use what was supposed to be this precious gift to harm somebody. You hadn’t felt that feeling in so long and the first time you had after all these years, you had used it to kill. You can’t stop the tears falling down your face or the way you let in small, panicked breathes. The child finally makes his way over to you and goes to hand you his small metal sphere, something to comfort you. You let out a small noise as you look down at him. He looked up at you with complete trust in his eyes and you wonder if he understood what you did, if he had felt the Force like you had. If he understand the harm you had caused with it.

A pop of static pops through and it takes you a second to register that it is the radio Din had given you earlier. “Cyar’ika, you there?”

You are barely able to turn, but you look back at your cot and the radio you had tossed on it earlier in the day. You reach a shaky hand out, your fingers, the same ones you had squeezed the life out of the man just minutes earlier, wrapping around the device. You turn it on, trying to control your breathing as you let out a small, “Yeah.”

You hear him panting and you can tell he is running. “The bounty is heading towards you guys right now, I think. Lock everything down and get your blaster. I’ll be there in a minute.”

You feel a tear roll down your cheek. “Din, he already came here.” You drop the radio, ignoring as Din continues calling through, repeating your name. The kid tries to climb in your lap and you limpy lay a hand on his little body, your gaze never moving away from the body.

_____________________

“Cyar’ika, what happened?”

You looked up to see Din standing in the hull of the Crest, standing in front of the body and looking back and forth between it and yourself. His chest was heaving and small pants made their way through his modulator. He had ran the whole way here, worried sick after you had spoken with him. Your hands were still shaking so badly and your whole body felt fatigued. If you weren’t so wired from the anxiety, you would probably have passed out by now. You slowly brought a trembling hand up to wipe away at your tears, a fruitless effort because more just ran down your cheeks. The child shuffled off your lap, starting to waddle towards Din with his arms reached out for a hug. You sniffled, looking at Din and the child and the ship. Anywhere but at the creature laid out on the ground before you.

“H-he came here.”

Din let out a loud sigh. “I shouldn’t have left you alone.”

You got annoyed at yourself for the frustration you felt at what he said. Din didn’t know about your powers. Hell, you didn’t even know you still had this in you. He also didn’t know the bounty would get to you before he caught him. It wasn’t his fault. But you had pleaded with him to take you and if he had, you wouldn’t be in this mess. The worst thing that would of happened was the Crest would of been robbed. There wouldn’t be a body in front of you. One you had killed in such a grotesque way. You wouldn’t feel this self hatred seeping into you.

But instead of yelling at Din, you just pulled your legs up against you, wanting to block yourself from this moment. You choked back some sobs rather pathetically, small whimpers still drifting from your lips along with sniffling. “I d-did it. He had the blaster aimed at the k-kid.”

“It’s okay. You did what you had to do.”

Yeah, you did what you had to do. But you didn’t have to do it like that. You remembered the first time you had used the Force to kill someone. You watched the life drain from that Imperial officers face as he tried to block you from your parents. The pit in your stomach was so heavy, it felt like it was weighing you down. Your grandmother had taught you how people used the Force to harm and kill, and how the power that came with it drove people to the dark side, to madness. You remembered her telling you how she had never used the Force to kill and making you vow the same. And you had broken that vow, multiple times now.

This wasn’t supposed to be you. The Force, and the power it gave you, was supposed to be pure and good. Used to heal and connect. Used to help you and aid you, not coldly strike down your enemies like they were nothing. Because if you did that, how were you any different from them? And how far would you go? What if one day you couldn’t control it and accidentally hurt Din or the child?

That thought forced a sob out of you and you let yourself fall apart. You buried your face in your legs, not wanting Din to see you like this.

“Kriff, what happened?” You heard Din step towards you and bend down at the knees, resting a hand on your back. “Sweet one, talk to me.”

You looked up at him, seeing your reflection in his helmet and wincing. You looked away from him.

“I choked him.” You left out how, just letting him assume you had done so with your hands. You watched his helmet turn to the body before it drifted to the blaster still attached to your hip. You knew what he was thinking. Why wouldn’t you had just used the blaster? “I had to.”

That was a lie. But Din didn’t need to know that. Din couldn’t know that. “Okay... that’s fine.” Din brought his hand up to the helmet to rub at it, like one would do with their temple when having a bad headache. “This is okay. You should go shower and calm down. I’ll take care of... this.”

You felt even guiltier. Now Din had to deal with your mess and you didn’t even know if he was supposed to bring the man in alive or not. What if you had messed up his bounty? “I’m sorry.”

Din shook his head. “Don’t apologize. You protected the kid. I’m proud of you.”

You tried your best not to cry at his answer. Din shouldn’t be proud of you. What you had done was not honorable. Not something to take pride in. Instead you wiped at your face, nodding. “Okay.”

Din stood up, holding his hands out for you. You grabbed onto them and he helped you rise up from your place on the floor. You fell into Din, feeling extremely weak and like your legs were numb, your knee still throbbing from earlier. You let out a reassurance that you were okay to Din, feeling his concern washing over you, and forced yourself to let go of him. You trudged away to the refresher without another word, wanting to wash away what had happened, even though you knew it would haunt you.

_____________________

When you finally walked back into the hull of the ship, you were shocked by how spotless it was. Din had cleaned up anything that had been tossed about during the attack. The kid was in his hover pram, asleep and letting out little snores. Din was sat on the floor, now in what appeared to be his pajamas, the only piece of metal on his body being his helmet. Most notably, the body was gone, now frozen in carbonite instead of laid out on the floor. You were glad to not see it but it still didn’t settle the uneasiness you felt.

“Hey, sweet one.” You closed your eyes at Din’s words, letting them soak into you. You needed Din right now, as much as you shouldn’t. He was like a life preserver while you are drowning. You weren’t sure if you deserve it, but you were going to cling to it.

“Hey.” You whisper out and Din rises from the floor, walking over to where you stood. He didn’t say anything, just pulling you into his arms as he embraced you. You knew Din wasn’t used to affection like this, perhaps never having gone out of his way to hug someone before you, and you were so grateful he was willing to do it for you. You allowed yourself to be swallowed by his large frame, your arms wrapping around his lower back. You rested your head on his shoulder, your wet hair probably getting his shirt soaked but he didn’t seem to care.

You finally pulled away and Din’s helmet looked down on you. “You look exhausted.”

You were exhausted. Absolutely drained in every way: physically, mentally, spiritually. Using the Force earlier had emptied you of all the strength you had, and the emotional turmoil after that had just piled on top of it. But you also didn’t want to sleep. You didn’t want to lay on your cot on the floor alone, where you could replay what had happened time and time again. Where you could drift into a sleep that would remind you of the horrors of your past or of today. Sleep already didn’t come too easy to an individual like yourself and todays events would make it even harder. “I’m okay.”

“It’s late. You should sleep.” Din gestured over to where he usually slept. “You take my bed tonight.”

“No. I’m fine.” You honestly didn’t plan on sleeping. You would probably trudge your way up to the cockpit and just stare out the window, thinking and dwelling on your mistakes. On the person you had become.

“You need to rest. I will sleep on your bed.”

“Din, I barely fit on that cot. You won’t fit. And you’ve been up all day. You need proper rest.”

Din shook his head. “You had a rough day today. I’ll be fine.”

You let out a sigh. “I won’t be able to sleep tonight. Not after... not after today.”

“What if I make you some tea? You can relax and you’ll eventually drift off.”

While the idea of Din making you tea absolutely melted your heart, you shook your head. “Tea won’t help.”

“What will?”

The only thing that helped was standing right in front of you. “You.”

Din nodded and one of his hands reached out for yours, grabbing it. “Come on.”

“What-”

“Shh. I got you, sweet one.” Din walked around, turning off all the lights on the Crest besides the small one right above his bed. Dins grip was strong, reassuring, and he let you drift with him towards the bed. You wanted to argue but your body was so tired and so was your brain, and Din was so strong right now. “Lay down.”

You nodded hesitantly, crawling into his cot and laying back into it. It wasn’t comfortable per say, but it seemed heavenly compared to the cot you usually slept on. It also smelled like cinnamon and something like bark. It was Din: alluring and inviting and primal. You let out a hum, letting the padding of the mattress envelope your frame. You then felt some shifting and lifted your head slightly to see Din crawling in besides you. “Din, what-”

“Scoot over a little, cyar’ika.” You shuffled, almost pressing against the wall. Din’s cot was very small, making it so you couldn’t help but to feel him press up against you as he settled down next to you. “I’m going to turn out the lights and then take my helmet off, okay?”

You let out a hum, looking forward to hearing Dins voice. The light went out and you couldn’t see anything, not even your hand in front of your own face. It was completely pitch dark, nothing to see. But even when you heard the click and hiss of the helmet being removed, you still closed your eyes, just in case. You felt Din shuffle around some more, clearly trying to give you enough space. But with the tight quarters, you could still feel his legs nudge against yours and his shoulder touch your back a little. Part of you wanted to lean into him but you didn’t want to invade his personal space more than you already were. “Are you okay with this?

You smile as you hear his voice, feeling so incredibly grateful that you were privy to it. That Din trusted you enough to let you in and take his helmet off around you. You were sure it wasn’t an easy feat. You nodded, but realized he probably couldn’t see you, so you let out a small, “Yes.”

You lay there in silence for a little while until you shift to your other side, no longer facing the wall. You come to the realization that you are probably facing Din, not being able to see a thing but knowing his face was so close to yours. You could probably reach out and touch it, feel the angles and curves of it. “Sweet one?”

“Yeah?”

“You know you never have to hide anything from me. Right?”

The question alone makes your heart break, and the inflection in his tone adds to it. It is heavy and curious. You know Din is an exceptionally smart man, more intelligent than most people would realize. And you also knew that he knew you very well, more than anybody else. Of course Din would notice how bizarre your reaction to todays events had been. He knew that wasn’t your first kill and knew that you were always willing to do what you had to do, especially if that meant protecting someone you loved. His curiosity was only natural. But you also knew you couldn’t tell him and that hurt him. He’d wonder why you couldn’t trust him with something but he also didn’t know how substantial the secret you were keeping from his was. You just whisper out, “Of course.” and feel like you wanna crawl in on yourself. Din trusted you with so much but you couldn’t tell him this. And that broke you.

“Okay.” You know he doesn’t believe you, that he knows you are keeping something from him. But he doesn’t push you, which you are thankful for.

“You know you mean everything to me, right?” His voice is so soft, his words melting in your ears, and you feel your heart clench. You knew deep down, in every way, you were in love with Din Djarin. It wasn’t a matter of maybe or one day you could be. You were head over heels for the man and everyday your affection for him grew stronger and stronger. And he meant everything to you. You’d do anything for him - even if it meant making tough decisions.

You didn’t trust yourself to not say anything stupid, so you simply scooted closer to him. Din slowly reached an arm out to you, bringing you in closer to him. You felt your body press against his and felt so secure. Even though he didn’t have the armor on, you felt safer in his arms than anywhere else. Your head rested against his shoulder and you closed your eyes. “Thank you, Din.”

You felt his chest rumble with a little hum and placed your hand on it, over his heart. You felt his chest rise and fall, giving you peace. You then drifted off, falling asleep in the arms of the man you loved for the first time.

And the last.

_____________________

Din was back in the field of flowers, sitting on top of a blanket with the warm sun shining on his face. He took a deep breath in, inhaling the scent of all the flowers. He could hear children’s giggling somewhere from behind him, knowing they were playing. He reached his hand up, realizing his helmet wasn’t on. He wasn’t actually in any armor: just a pair of pants and a plain shirt, no shoes, and his hair wildly tossed about on his head. The thought of not wearing his helmet, or his armor for that matter, usually terrified him but he felt as ease, knowing he was completely safe.

“Din, the child is trying to teach our son to eat butterflies.” He whipped his head around, watching as she approached his spot on the blanket, sitting down next to him. She has a bright smile on her face and wore a white dress that was flowing in the breeze. A few flowers were stuck in her hair which was pulled into a beautifully braided bun. Din’s eyes followed down to her hands to see a ring on her finger. He looked at his hand to find a matching one, made of the same metal: beskar.

“W-what?” Din mumbled out, seeming shocked by the sound of his own voice. He felt at peace but he was also confused. This wasn’t his life. But maybe he could pretend it was for a little bit.

She reached her hand out to brush back some of Din’s hair, her fingers brushing past his cheek as she brought it back down. He swore he almost fainted at the feeling of her touching his face. It was so soft and loving. A feeling he could never get sick of. “Isn’t this nice?”

Din nodded, feeling a smile grace his features as he kept looking at his cyar’ika, not wanting to tear his eyes away. “Yes.”

She let out a small chuckle and Din reached his hands out. He cupped her face but froze when the smile on her face dropped, her features melting into sadness. “Sweet one, what’s wrong?”

Tears surged at her eyes and Din felt something begin to crumble. That’s when he realized she was literally crumbling away before him, her body falling apart. “Too bad you couldn’t save us either.”

“No. No, no. I can. I know I can.”

“It’s too late.”

Din felt a sob crawl up his throat as she disappeared right before him, turning into nothing but a pile. He turned to look behind him, to where he heard the children laughing, but realized he was no longer in the field of flowers, but in Aq Vetina. Everything was being destroyed in front of him. “No. Please. I can protect them.” He didn’t know exactly who he was pleading to but he felt every bone in his body fill with dread. Din had only ever felt this kind of fear once before, when he had lost his parents in this very place.

“Din, you took your helmet off.” He turned around, to see The Armorer from Navarro. She stood, towering above him, her golden armor seeming to be the only color anymore. She shook her head disapprovingly, and Din felt like a child in The Watch again, being degraded for something he had done wrong.

“I need to save her.” He begged, looking to where his riddur was and finding absolutely nothing. He let out a choked sob as he looked back up at the Armorer. He needed her help. More than anything. He didn’t know what to do without his sweet one. And his child. “And the kid. I can protect them.”

“You broke your creed.”

“I did it for her.” Din knew he’d do anything for her, even if it meant losing himself.

“And now you lost her. Just like your family.”

Din felt tears fall down his cheeks when he heard a loud bang behind him and the ground shake. He turned to see the droid, the one that had tried to kill him when he was young and locked away in that hatch before his parents died. But this time, Din knew there was no Mandalorian coming to save him. And just like everything around him, he was going to be destroyed.

_____________________

Din let out a small gasp as he jerked awake. He heard a small sigh next to him and suddenly realized where he was. He was on the Crest, in his bed with her. She was asleep next to him, her head resting on his shoulder and hand placed on his chest. Din let out a sigh of relief when he realized that she was safe. It had only been a horrible dream. Nothing more.

Her body against him was warm, the blanket strewn lazily across their legs. His bed wasn’t very large which made it so they were in very close proximity. He couldn’t see much in the dark, more accustomed to it than she was but still feeling partially blind. He knew she couldn’t see a thing with the door to his cot closed, making it pitch black. Part of Din wished he could have just the smallest bit of light so he could look on her, but that was too risky when he didn’t have his helmet on. He could feel her anyways, and that was good enough. The feeling of her chest rising and falling with each breath she took was a reminder she was alive and there, with him. And with his arm around her, he knew she was safe, even if it was only for this moment.

But then he remembered earlier. He shouldn’t have left her alone. He should of given in to her nagging and let her come with him. At least he would of been able to keep an eye out for the kid and her. Keep them safer than he had. The first time Din left them and somebody attacked her. The very bounty he was meant to catch had found her and she had to deal with the repercussions of that.

Din felt horribly for the way she felt. The guilt seemed like a blanket weighing down on her and Din had to admit he was slightly shocked by her reaction. He had trusted her to stay alone because he knew how strong she was and that she could take care of what she had to. Din had seen her before, knew she wasn’t afraid to do what it takes to protect herself and the kid. The first day they had met she had killed in order to help the kid and him and it didn’t seem like she was phased at all by it.

But today was different. He could tell that killing that Klantooinian had done something to her. But Din couldn’t tell why. It wasn’t just her being shaken up. And Din didn’t even think she felt guilty per say, like she shouldn’t have killed him. He was a danger to the kid and she was a fierce protector, much like Din. So what had bothered her so much about it?

Din thought maybe it was the way she killed him, having to do it with her hands instead of the blaster. But even the manner of death confused him. Ever since they had been attacked weeks and weeks ago, she had always kept a blaster on her side, attached to her hip like it was just a part of her. She slept with one under her pillow, kept one in the refresher even, just in case. And when Din walked into the Crest, the blaster had still been on her hip. It hadn’t been lost or used against her. She could of used it instead of choking him. It would of been easier and considerably less strenuous.

But even if she was in a situation where she couldn’t use it, Din didn’t know if he believed she had choked him. The creatures neck had no markings. If she had choked him enough to kill him, it would of required a lot of pressure. Enough to bruise him and leave a fresh mark of finger prints against his skin. But there was none of that. His neck was a little red, but not enough to indicate that anything substantial had happened. Choking a man like that also would of required a lot of strength. And while she was strong, he didn’t know how she would of had the ability to overpower him and keep him down long enough to get the job done.

So Din was left contemplating what else may of happened. He considered that maybe the child had used his abilities. He had seen the kid try to choke Cara that one time. But the kid looked like he was going to pass out before he could finish the job. And if the kid did do it, it made no sense that she wouldn’t tell him about it. She knew about the kids powers and knew that Din was aware of them. She would of been shocked by them, but she wouldn’t have lied to Din, not told him about what the kid had done. And when Din had come back, the child was wide awake, bustling with energy. It didn’t seem like he had exerted any energy and every time the kid used his powers, it took a lot out of him. The kid hadn’t looked like he had lifted a finger.

Which meant it was her. But, how did she do it? Din had looked over the body and there was nothing. No blaster marks, no stab wounds. No bleeding or bruising. No marks. Nothing. As far as Din could tell, the guy had just dropped dead. But that was impossible. Something had to have been done. Something she did. But Din couldn’t think of what it was.

But, the thing that was driving him crazy the most was that she wouldn’t tell him. He knew that she trusted him on some level or another. But perhaps he had overestimated how much she had. Maybe a woman like her would never trust a person completely. And Din couldn’t blame her for that. But it also hurt because Din trusted her with ever fiber of his being. So why couldn’t she tell him? What was she keeping from him?

Din shook his head, trying to rid himself of these thoughts. It would do him no good to dwell on it. It would only drive him nuts. Maybe one day he would ask her about it or maybe one day she would trust him enough to tell him. Din could wait for that day. For now, Din was just going to thank the galaxy that she was okay. Din pulled her in a little closer, hearing her let out a little noise but not waking her. He nervously placed a small kiss on her head and closed his eyes. And he whispered one thing, one thing he didn’t know if he’d ever have the strength to tell her while she was awake.

“I love you, cyar’ika.”

_____________________

Din was in the shower and had just turned on the water, which meant if you were going to do this, you had to do it now.

You haphazardly threw all your important belongings in your bag. Din had mentioned his bounty had a small ship of some kind and it wasn’t too far from the Crest, perhaps only a few hundred feet. It would be hard but if you ran fast, you might be able to make it before Din realized what was happening. You had told him to take a nice, long relaxing shower and he had said once he was done, he had to go into hyperspace to turn in his bounty on some planet.

You heard a little squeak behind you and paused. You turned to look over at the child, who was sitting upright in his hover pram and staring straight at you. You swore that the child knew what you were planning, his face turned into a contemplative frown, his eyes looking at you with confusion. He reached a hand towards you and you turned away, knowing you couldn’t look at him more. It only made what you had to do harder.

You had to leave. For so many reasons.

You couldn’t help with the kid in the way you needed to. In the way Din didn’t even know you needed to. You were a Jedi, but a weak one. One who didn’t even want or really know how to use her powers anymore. Only using them for violence. You couldn’t trust yourself with your ability. You would never harm a hair on the child or on Din, but you feared so badly you would lose control like other Jedis had done before. That you would hurt the very things you loved most. And that wasn’t a risk you were willing to take.

You also knew how close Din was to you. How much he trusted you and the risks he was willing to take for you. And you weren’t worthy of that. And Din deserved someone better. Someone who didn’t have so much baggage and someone who didn’t need for him to constantly be there. He should be showing his kindness and compassion to someone who deserved it. And the longer you stayed, the longer you’d be dragging Din further into your mess. He would open up more and more, only to be hurt. Because you knew you couldn’t keep this secret forever. And this secret would hurt him.

You considered yourself a strong woman, even from a young age. Your family taught you to be resilient. Your grandmother taught you to not take shit from anyone, to be a force to be reckoned with. Your mother taught you to be kind but to also protect yourself. Your father taught you to be a hard worker and an honest person. You were usually able to protect yourself from others and make the right decisions. And a moment like this required you to be strong against your own emotions and feelings. You loved Din. You loved the child. You wanted nothing more than to stay with him and be with him. To protect and cherish the little family you had been given. But, you needed to make the right decision. You had to protect Din and the kid from yourself. There was a reason you were alone for so long on Yungbrii. Because everyone you loved got hurt. And nothing had led you to believe that the same thing wouldn’t happen to Din and the kid, whether it was by your hands or someone elses.

You slung your bag around your shoulders. It was heavy, but you tried to take only the necessities. You avoided the child’s gaze as you turned. “I’m sorry, kid. I really love you. And your dad. But I need to go.”

You felt tears prick at your eyes as you reach one hand up to the necklace around your neck. You pull it over your head, looking down at the sigil. You turn it over, reading the engraving on the back one final time. Your eyes close and you take in a deep breath. Your feet stumble over to go to Din’s cot, turning off the light and laying the necklace on his pillow, the very one you both had rested your heads on last night. You close the door, hoping that maybe Din would just think you were sleeping a little more. You turn towards the hatch of the Crest, taking a step forward when you hear the child let out another small noise. But this time you don’t turn around. You just open the door of the Crest.

And run.

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remmushound · 3 years ago

Text

Beyond the bay part 16, What Lurks?

Summary - Leonardo assesses Mikey’s physical and mental state.

Tags - @selfindulgenz @brightlotusmoon @ilo-artistry

Content warnings: Medical exams, medical assessments

Everything was wrong. Wrong and so very dark. Mikey felt as if the clouds had fallen from the sky and come to settle in his mind; yet, despite the mental lag that weighed on him like lead, his body felt impossibly light, almost drifting. He had to find them; he had to find his team! But he felt like he was suffocating, like there was hundred pound weight bearing down on his chest. There was… something that he was wading through. Something that shifted and rippled and flowed around him like a cool, moving blanket.

He had to find his team. He had to get back to the mission! He had to find that mutagen and he had to find his way! And… he had to wake up…

“Ow…?” Mikey opened one eye, and then the other as he was suddenly and acutely aware of strong fingers digging into his muscles. His head was throbbing with a steady thump thump thump.

“Mike.” Donnie’s voice was breathless and urgent, but nonetheless gentle as he momentarily paused his massage in favor of more important exams.

“Ah— again with the light?” Mikey whined and raised a hand to cover his eyes as Donnie shined his flashlight in them.

Donnie returned to the painful massage. “Do you know your name?”

“Mikey…”

“Do you know where you are? Do you know what happened?” The more questions Donnie asked, the more pressing his voice became. When Mikey didn't respond, Donnie repeated himself louder and clearer.

Mikey could only sputter. He knew he should know those answers, but when he reached out to grab them, they slipped through his fingers like sand. His eyes grew wider, and he shook his head. Why couldn’t he remember?

Leonardo was there too; Mikey didn't notice him until the red eared slider moved directly in front of him and waved a hand. The motion made Mikey focus on him, though at the time there seemed to be more than one of the blue-clad ninja, like Mikey was seeing double.

Leonardo, as opposed to Donnie’s bombardment, only asked a single question. “Can you tell me who is best turtle?”

Mikey’s face wrinkled in his concentration, and then split in a grin. Now that he could remember! “Trick question, it’s me! I’m a triple threat: brains, brawns, and a dazzling personality.”

Leonardo couldn’t have smiled wider if he tried. Now that Mikey could focus better on the room around him, which slowly came back to him as the infirmary, he finally located the source of the thumping that he had thought was just in his head. He saw Donatello hanging in the background, the young mutant looking blatantly bored, like he’d rather be doing anything else at that moment. He was bouncing a tiny, purple ball against the wall, catching it, and then bouncing it again in a steady rhythm. Unlike the other turtles, he didn't seem to notice nor care that Mikey was awake; his only acknowledgement was to Mikey’s self-declaration of being best turtle.

“Well that is too bad, because I am a quadruple threat.” Donatello bounced the ball one last time, then caught it as he made his way over to the group. “Strong, funny, amusing, and hilarious.”

“Aren’t three of those just synonyms?” Donnie questioned without looking up from Mikey’s tensed muscles.

“You.” Donatello said. “I do not like you.”

“But I like the confidence!” Leonardo declared, and held out his hand to Mikey. “High three!”

Mikey was all too glad to meet the inviting gesture— that is, until his hand seemed to faze through Leonardo. Mikey frowned, and then he tried again with the same result. He missed? If Leonardo noticed Mikey’s confusion, he didn’t show any reaction to it. Instead, he grabbed Donatello’s ball, much to the grievance of his twin, and tossed it up in the air a few times.

“D’ya wanna play catch?” Leonardo offered, his smile slight and soft. He grabbed the ball between his thumb and pointer finger, showing the tiny rubber toy off to Mikey. “Might help you concentrate~”

Having something to do with his hands did help. Mikey nodded eagerly and held out the arm that wasn’t currently being assaulted by Donnie’s therapeutic rubbing. Leonardo swung his arm back and forth a few time, allowing Mikey the chance to focus before Leonardo tossed the ball with a careful swing. Mikey’s eyes followed the ball as it glided smoothly through the air, and he raised his hand to catch it. It slipped right through his hands.

Mikey blinked. His eyes pinched together as they searched and eventually found the ball on the floor rolling away from him. He missed? Again? Now he had a tight pain in his chest, one that refused to go away. A ball of discomfort and anxiety and fear that grew bigger and bigger, trying to force itself up his throat to choke him.

“Are you playing tricks?” He didn't know why his voice sounded the way it did, like a child who hadn’t yet found the confidence to speak up.

Donnie frowned at the weakness of the voice, gently cupping Mikey’s head in a hand to tilt him back and examine his throat. Mikey gave a low churr of disapproval, but didn't resist.

“No tricks!” Leonardo said, and he held up his hands as a show of surrender. He held that stance for a few seconds more before gathering the ball from where it had fallen and placing it back into Mikey’s hand. “Okay, now you pass it to me.”

Donnie backed away from Mikey to let him have space while the younger box turtle stuck out his tongue and tried his best to focus on Leonardo’s shifting figure. It was like a filter had been laid over Mikey’s vision. A filter that made Leonardo seem as if he were in constant, blurred motion and made his voice like something at the end of a cavern.

“Whenever you’re ready.” Came the echo of Leonardo’s voice, so distant and lost to Mikey’s ears. The tunnel was so dark, and the sewage was up to his knees and uncomfortably warm. He breathed, but it burned so he did it as little as possible. For the republic, he had to keep moving. Mutagen was fuel, mutagen was life, and there was mutagen in this dark place. He just had to get back to Commander Mozar and find it. Mozar would know what to do. He was hand-picked by the prime leader himself!

There was someone calling his name. His commander? No, someone more familiar, more like a brother. Zog? No… no that wasn’t it either.

“Leon…?” There was a slick, cool hand pressed over Mikey’s forehead.

“Hey, bud.” Leonardo said, and he was smiling; Donnie’s face was turned into a tight frown. “You zoned out for a sec. All good?”

“Head hurts…” Mikey swatted Leonardo away and tried to sit up.

“Hey hey hey hey!” Leonardo didn't let Mikey get very far, “Easy. You need to lay now.”

“No… no we need to find him!”

Leonardo cocked his head. “Find who?”

“I… him!” Was all Mikey could offer, “He’s scared and alone.”

“Where is he?”

“I… I don’t know!” Mikey knew he should know but he didn't, and in retaliation against his own mind he began to repeatedly strike himself right between his eyes. Donnie intervened before he could hit himself more than twice, forcing Mikey to lower his arm but only making the box turtle more frustrated.

“Mikey, take it easy.” Donnie tried, but Mikey didn't seem to care about doctor's orders. He started to try and resist Donnie’s efforts to keep him still. “Little help here?”

Leonardo was hesitant to lay a hand on the thrashing Mikey, but when he finally found a hold, he pressed down firmly on the older turtle. His attempt to restrain the mutant wasn’t very effective, and when Mikey was able to stand, Leonardo pulled back and simply let Mikey leave while Donnie kept trying to stop him.

“Ge’ off!” Mikey shook his shoulders trying to dislodge his brother.

“Mikey, what—?” Donnie was unrelenting.

“GET OFF!”

Mikey got as far as the doorway before he was picked up around the middle and carried back inside by Raphael, holding the shinobi like he was nothing more than a child throwing a tantrum. He laid Mikey back down on the bed and Donnie skirted around the snapping turtles shell, grabbing Mikey’s arm to keep him still while Mikey tried to shake the grabbing hands off of him.

“Mikey, if you don't stay down I’m gonna have to strap you down.” Donnie said with a voice even and placid.

“What happened?” Raphael’s lips pulled into a frown, his hand going down to feel Mikey’s forehead.

“I don’t know, he just freaked out.” Donnie said calmly. He ran his hand across Mikey’s cheek and made soft, shushing noises intended to sooth. “How is Yoshi?”

“Yeah, he uh… he’s fine.” Raphael said absently, his head nodding along with his words, “Just hate to think how long he was alone for…”

“Mikey, do you know where dad went?” Donnie asked softly; Mikey seemed calmer now, no longer resisting his bedrest, but his teeth were still bared to show his discontent. Donnie sighed. “Guessed not.”

Raphael laid a hand on Donnie’s shoulder and prompted the box turtle to look up at him. “He can’t have gone far. Maybe he just wanted to explore a bit.”

“He wouldn’t just leave your father here alone.” Donnie sighed, shaking his head.

“You’re probably right.” Raphael admitted. “Your Leo’s probably going crazy.”

Donnie closed his eyes and, ever so slowly, leaned his head back as he sucked a deep breath through his nostrils. Then he lowered his head and pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to nurse a growing migraine.

“I’ll go talk with him. Can you sit here with Mikey?”

“Of course.” Raphael said with a patient nod, sitting beside the bed and resting a hand over Mikey’s plastron.

Donnie left the two younger turtles in charge of his brother while he left the room in search of the oldest. He first found Michelangelo and Raph in the exercise room; the massive box turtle practically had steam rising off of his muscles from the heat of his body, slick with sweat and eyes focused determinedly on the ceiling above him as he worked his reps. Michelangelo wasn’t exercising, but he seemed to be having a good time hanging onto the bar while Raph lifted it so he could dangle and swing like a monkey. Donnie felt his migraine only worsen as he slumped against the doorframe, rubbing his eyes with enough force to make stars dance in his vision.

Raph had been in that same spot since they had made the discovery of their fathers absence several hours before, and Donnie could practically smell the frustration and understand it too, because he felt the exact same way. He needed to go and find his father before something awful happened, but he couldn’t leave with a clear conscience with Mikey in the state he was in. When it came to the choice of which was more important to him…

Donnie shook his head. Mikey would always come first. He and his brothers had agreed on that when they were little, and that agreement would live as long as they did. Splinter was strong and Splinter was capable, and right now Mikey needed them more. All of them.That didn't make the worry for his dad any less burning.

“You gonna say something?” Raph’s voice rumbled, “Or just stand there starin’?”

Donnie laughed, but it was a half-hearted and weak laugh. He shook his head and didn't bother to answer the question verbally. He simply walked into the room to stand over Raph; the middle child didn't pause his reps, not even for his brother.

“How’s Mike?” Was Raph’s next question.

Donnie almost naturally reached out an arm so that Michelangelo could climb onto him, and Michelangelo was more than happy to do just that. He swung on his friends arm with happily, monkey-like giggles while the other brothers retained composure and hardly reacted to the childish games.

“Awake.” Donnie said, “Confused. Raphael and the other Leonardo are with him now.”

“Good.” Raph kept pumping, eyes focused.

Donnie sighed. He carefully picked Michelangelo off of his arm, one of his hands enough to completely engulf the box turtle's plastron, and placed him on the ground. He stepped over the smaller mutant and grabbed Raph’s bar, yanking it pointedly from Raph and replacing it on its shelf. Raph’s eyes sharpened, snapping to Donnie and ready to give him hell before he saw the icy, cobra look in Donnie’s eyes. Instead of yelling, or saying anything, Raph simply sat up and shouldered his way past Donnie. They didn't need to exchange words for Donnie to know where Raph was headed.

Donnie shook his head once more before grabbing Michelangelo, who had his arms up asking to be held. He carried Michelangelo the rest of the way back to the infirmary; Raph was there, kneeling on the ground beside the bed and holding Mikey’s hand in his. He was talking slow and soft words to his youngest brother, words Donnie couldn’t make out, but the intent was there. Donnie plopped Michelangelo down on the floor and turned back around, leaving the rest of his family and continuing his search for Leo.

He found his eldest brother in the zen room; the room itself wasn't very well-maintained, once teal paint peeling off the walls and plants that were either overgrown and swallowing the walls of the room or dead at the root. The dead ones were the fault of none— being so low in the sewer, access to any sort of sunlight was a scare rarity that growing such plants were always difficult. For the rest of the plants, it was sheer neglect that led them to grow as immensely overpowering as they had, seeking any glint of light to sustain them. Leo sat in a lotus position in front of a green pool, just as neglected and forgotten as the plants, though it seemed to be from natural deterioration and not any contamination from the sewage around them.

“Hello Donatello.” Leo said without bothering to open his eyes or drop his position. “How is Michelangelo?”

“He’s okay.” Donnie sat beside his brother; his long legs weren’t built for the lotus position, so he just sprawled out and got comfortable. He had the feeling he was going to be here for a while. “Are you?”

Leo took his time to consider the question, rolling potential words around on his tongue before he settled for something that felt right. “I am dealing, considering. If Michelangelo is well, then we should think about going after father. Is that why you’re here?”

“Yeah.” Donnie nodded, “Everyone’s sitting in with Mike to keep him company.”

Leo nodded slowly and finally opened sapphire eyes. “Then perhaps just us two should go. Let Raphael and our friends stay here with Mikey. We can move faster on our own.”

Donnie couldn’t help but agree with that, but there was still a twinge of doubt that refused to be ignored. “These aren’t our sewers, Leo. We should bring at least one of the Hamato’s to lead the way.”

Leo considered. “Alright. We’ll take the other Leonardo then. Perhaps his sense of direction is as good as mine.”

Leo’s sense of direction had always been advance, far more than his brothers. You could place him in the heart of a maze and within minutes he would be able to find his way back out again. He knew he would be able to navigate these sewers even with what little knowledge he had of them, but Donnie’s anxiety was never something to ignore. Leo took a final, sharp breath before standing, inclining his head ever so slightly toward his brother.

“Let’s go now. No time to waste.”

“But— but Leo, we can’t take both me and Hamato Leo, we need a medic here in case Mikey has another fit.” Donnie reasoned.

“Fine, then we’ll take the other Donnie.” Leo decided promptly, waving for his brother to follow. Donnie obeyed.

“What about other Raph? It might help to have some extra muscle if we find ourselves in a pinch.”

“Uh.” Leo looked down at his bicep and, just for good measure, he flexed to make the muscles more defined.

“You know what I meant.” Donnie’s eyes rolled, but he pursued the issue no further. There was very little time to do so even if he wanted, because already they were entering the med bay.

Mikey had his eyes closed, lips pulled down in a tight frown as he stretched his head back as far as his neck allowed. Despite the position, Donnie knew he wasn’t asleep; he knew his brother too well to assume such things. All eyes turned to them as the two entered, and both older Splinterson’s could feel the shift in energies tingling their skin.

“What’s up?” Leo asked.

Donnie’s instinct was to immediately go to Mikey, doing a quick check of his vitals and finding them as steady as they had been when he left. Donatello seemed to be the only one of the turtles who wasn’t entirely on edge, taking the time to yawn and stretch before pulling out his phone and pulling up an article. He held his phone out where the older brothers could see that it was a current article posted just hours before, the headline bold enough to catch anyone's attention.

DINOSAUR SEEN IN SEWERS

#tmnt #teenage mutant ninja turtles #rottmnt #tmnt au #tmnt 2014 #tmnt 2016 #bay turtles

19 notes · View notes

panda-noosh · 4 years ago

Text

the normal one {Leo Valdez x Reader}

Words: 14k

Summary: Your sister is the demigod. You’re just the unlucky one who got dragged into her mess.

Genre: angst??

Notes: support my writing or ask me about commissions! - omg happy first day of nano y’all.

---

You never knew your sister was a demigod.

Of course you didn't; it's not the kind of thought that crosses the mind of a logical individual, though it seems obvious now that you're being greeted with the proof.

Emma has never been particularly normal. She's three years older than you, and yet she carries herself like she's been through years upon years of unforgiven trauma, glaring at anyone who dares even speak to her. You used to just describe her as grumpy, not-a-morning-person, just leave her alone and you'll be fine.

Now, you're beginning to think it might not be as simple as all that.

Your day starts off pretty normal; you wake up, greeted by the sunlight streaming through the curtains you once again forgot to close over the previous night. You look down, not surprised to see you're still dressed in a pair of jogging bottoms and a loose white shirt instead of the pyjamas your sister has been trying so desperately to make you wear at night. You got ready, brushing the knots from your hair before marching downstairs.

Your mum is in the kitchen, whistling to herself, frail hands forever trembling around the pot of boiling oatmeal; you and your mum don't really talk that much. She favours Emma over you, and she's never found much point in wasting breath on the child she doesn't necessarily like. She'll smile, feed you, let you have a roof over your head, but neither of you pretend like your relationship with each other is permanent. One day you're going to move out, and your mum is never going to contact you, never going to step foot in your house, never going to give you a house-warming gift.

You're fine with that.

Emma is sat at the kitchen table, her head in her hands. It's not even that weird of a sight, considering you've always known Emma to be into the dramatics. You sit across from her, folding your arms over the table before whispering, rather loudly, "Rough night?"

Her head jerks up, revealing her wild, bloodshot eyes. "What?"

You laugh, grabbing an apple from the fruit bowl in the centre of the table. "You look like shit, Em. Where have you been all night?"

Her jaw twitches, and she doesn't respond, which is a pretty normal reply for her, especially at this time of day.

"Whatever," you mumble. "Can I borrow that fancy deodorant you bought back from that summer camp you go to?" Emma nods. You grin, banishing the conversation all together as you stand and skip upstairs.

So, yeah. The day was starting off pretty normal. Not a single worry in sight. You would go to school, mope around classes for a few hours, come home and stress eat over a pile of unfinished homework that was probably due multiple days ago.

Instead, you have to deal with the boulders being thrown through Emma's bedroom window.

The first one hits just as your grabbing Emma's fancy deodorant from her bottom drawer. There is no warning, no low whoosh sound that would give you a chance to step away and make a run for it - no. Instead, it goes straight to the shattered glass and bloodied arms. Instead, it goes straight to the boulder smashing against your hand, crushing your fingers against the wall.

You are stuck, legs crumbling beneath you. You should be slipping to the floor right now, probably unconscious, maybe dead, but your hand, trapped between the biggest rock known to man and the wall, keeps you upright. Blood leaks from gashes forming on your fingers, dribbling down your wrist, your arm, dripping onto your knees. You stare at the scene in shock for a moment, unable to register what on earth has actually just happened.

And then Emma is screaming your name, thundering up the stairs, and you're crying out, trying to form words but they get lodged in your throat, replaced by the overwhelming pain and realisation that you're going to die, you're going to fucking die on your sisters bedroom floor because there is so much blood, and there is no way in hell you won't be drained before the end of this day, probably within the next ten minutes, probably within-

The door opens. Emma barrels inside, wielding a golden sword that honestly just makes you think of course she has a golden sword.

"You son of a bitch!" she cries out, darting to her bedroom window. She stands upon the sill and waves her arms at the sky. "You got the wrong L/N, you idiot! Get back here and finish me off if you're so tough!"

"Emma," you croak, tears flooding down your cheeks. "Little help here."

"It's the giants." She leaps off the window sill and swivels round, darting to your side. Something has changed in her, something you've never seen before; she seems stronger, her eyes a little brighter yet still eerily dark at the same time.

She crouches beside you and begins manoeuvring your trapped hand back and forth. You hiss, throwing your head back as blood spurts down your arm, staining your shirt. Emma grits her teeth, keeping her eyes peeled on her work. "They've found me," she continues muttering. "We need to get out of here - all of us. You, me, Mum. They know where the house is. How did they find out where the bloody house is?"

"Can you shut the fuck up talking crazy for one second?"

Emma pays you no mind, taking a tiny knife from her back pocket and wriggling it between the wall and the boulder. "I'll have to get in touch with Chiron, tell him I'm bringing a few mortals with me to camp this summer."

You grunt. "I'm not going to some hippy-Christian summer camp with you."

"It's not a hippy-Christian summer camp." Emma swats your head, forcing you to look away from the blood dribbling down your arm. "It's a place that will keep you safe, alright? So don't argue."

"Don't tell me what to - AH!" The boulder falls, crashing to the floor. Tables rattle, things tumble off shelves, and your hand is freed. You pull it to your chest, but Emma doesn't let it go unaided for long - she grabs your wrist and tugs it back, examining the damage; your nerves have clearly been ripped, fingers cold from lack of feeling. Gashes have been made into the back of your hand, fingers torn to shreds.

She shakes her head. "I'll get Will to have a look at this."

"No, you idiot, you'll call 999 before-"

"We have to go now. That giant will be back soon enough, especially once he realises I'm taking you guys with me." Emma doesn't even give you a chance to respond before she's grabbing your good hand and dragging you from her bedroom. You hiss in pain, stumbling behind her, but there's really no point in arguing. When Emma has her mind set on something, she goes for it no matter what objections people put in place. Mum always said she gets that from her dad, but you've never met the man, so you wouldn't know.

Speaking of your dear old mother, the woman doesn't even give you a second glance when Emma drags you into the living room and shoves you onto the sofa next to her; she's frozen in fear, fingers pulled to her lips as she bites on the nails, a habit she's had for as long as you can remember.

She shakes her head, dazed. "He's coming back to me. He's sending signs."

Emma groans. Looking over, you see her with a phone pressed to her ear, big and bulky with an oversized antennae peeking from the top of it. "Mum, that wasn't Dad sending signs. That was a giant trying to kill me."

You blink, certain your blood loss is contributing to this wild conversation somehow. "A giant? Your dad?"

Emma raises a finger, telling you to be quiet. Mum whimpers at the movement and goes back to chewing her nails, gazing steadily out the window. She looks terrified, but her knee is bouncing in that way it always does when she's excited. You've given up trying to understand her. In fact, you've given up trying to understand your entire family.

So you just sit there, trying to fight off the black spots dotting your vision and the blood dribbling through your fingers; you don't know why Emma hasn't called 999 yet, considering you're basically on the verge of unconsciousness, but your throat is too dry to ask. Instead you listen as she says, "Leo! Where are you? Are you close?" and then she sighs in relief, and within three minutes, there's a knock on the door and she's barrelling out of the living room to grab it.

You look up, dazed, when she returns with a small curly haired boy in tow. He's a bit scruffy, you have to admit, but in a cute way, like a bunny with a bit of dirt on its nose.

"Not really the time for guests, is it, Em?" you grumble, before falling face first into the floor.

---

You wake up, and immediately wish you hadn't.

Emma always messes things up - always.

Her life has to be so damn dramatic all the damn time, and you're getting pretty damn sick of being dragged into it. All you want to do is sit in bed with a nice blanket and a cup of tea, maybe practice a bit of witchcraft, maybe sink into the dirt and become one with nature.

You don't want to be hunted down by rabid, murderous giants, that's for sure.

You also don't want to be trapped in a hospital bed at some hippy-Christian camp you don't even know the name of. But that's exactly what has happened.

When you open your eyes, you're greeted by the sight of white, cloth walls and multiple eager faces gazing down at you. Most of them have blonde hair and the brightest eyes you have ever seen, and then there's that curly haired boy, and Emma herself, and there's a guy who is half horse-

"Oh god, this is death. I've died."

"She's awake!" the curly haired boy - Leo, you remember - cries, throwing his hands in the air. "Good job, Apollo kids! Another point for you!"

"Shut up, Leo." One of the many blonde haired kids steps forward and places the back of his hand against your forehead; in any other situation, you might have pulled away and told him to step back, but the feel of his skin against your own is surprisingly soothing. It's almost against your will when you melt into it, eyes gliding shut. Your hit with images of you and Emma as children, running through fields, her punching that guy in the nose because he called you short that one time, and-

He snatches his hand back, startling you back to reality. "The fevers definitely going down," he says, turning to Emma.

"Uh, excuse me," you chirp, raising a timid hand. "She's not my legal guardian, I'll have you know." You glance at Emma. "Where is my legal guardian, by the way?"

Emma rolls her eyes, and that's answer enough.

"Ah. Frollicking in the leaves again?"

Emma hums. "I left her to it; we have bigger things to worry about than her love life."

"That's a bit morbid, Emma," says Leo. "Love is a magnificent thing."

"So is me not dying," you say, before turning back to the blonde haired boy. "Can I leave?"

The boy blinks, staring at you like you have two heads. It almost makes you uncomfortable, but his eyes are so pretty, and the way his palm felt against your forehead-

Leo shoves to the front. "Will here is gay, Y/N. Stop staring."

You look away, flustered. "I wasn't even staring."

"Yeah, you were. I see that look of lust on people all the time - I get it a lot, to tell you the truth."

You look at his curls, the oil on his tattered overalls, the dirt smothering both his cheeks, nose and hands.

"I'm sure you do, big guy. I'm sure you do."

Will sighs, shoving Leo out the way again. "I'm gonna do a final check up before I let you leave; I can't give mortals any nectar or ambrosia, so the healing process might take-"

Awkwardly, Emma coughs. The entire tent goes silent, turning to her with raised brows and narrowed eyes, but all you can focus on is Will's strange choice of vocabulary. Nectar. Ambrosia. Those don't sound like common prescription pain meds.

"Emma..." Will drawls. "What have you-"

"I'll talk to them," Emma mumbles. "Can you guys just give us a minute?"

You grab Will's hand. "Please don't leave me alone with her."

Will gives you a timid smile, squeezing your hand gently before he, Leo and all the other blonde haired strangers exit the tent, leaving just you and Emma to your own devices.

And honestly, Emma's your best friend. She means the world to you. She's the one person in that god forsaken house that actually pays you any attention, and it doesn't even matter that she's the favourite, that Mum basically licks the ground she walks on for a reason you have yet to pinpoint. You love Emma with all your heart, but right now, you would rather be anywhere but in her presence.

You pull the quilt up to your chin and say, "I'm very confused."

Emma pulls a stool over and takes a seat. "I know. I should have explained. I need to explain."

"Yes, you do."

She hollows out her cheeks, which only makes your fear spike - you've never seen Emma act like this. She's usually so brave, bold, confident. She doesn't do a single thing without planning it out perfectly beforehand, and yet here she is, looking completely stumped. You almost feel bad for her until you remember the way she completely ignored your pleas for her to call 999 when you were fairly certain you were bleeding out.

"Well?" you push. "Go on, Em. I'm listening."

Emma sighs, scrubbing a hand down her face. "Do you have any idea where we are right now?"

"Absolutely none. There was a guy with a horse body-"

"That's Chiron. He's a centaur."

You blink. "Okay."

"This place is called Camp Half-Blood; it's where I go to every summer."

"Well, I assumed."

"It's a camp for Half-Bloods. Demigods. People who are half-god, like. . . like me. Like Leo, and Will, and probably loads of other kids, too."

It's starting to get jumbled now, a string of words that don't form to make a coherent, sensible sentence.

You don't even respond, simply staring at Emma until she is forced to continue.

"It sounds insane, I know, but I'm not lying. I'm a demigod, Y/N, daughter of Ares."

It goes silent, because of course it does. What are you even meant to say to that? The logical part of you says to just call her out on her lies, ask her where the hell you actually are and where Mum is and why she brought you here in the first place. But the other half recognises that Emma being the daughter of a war god kind of makes perfect sense.

In your conflicted state of disbelief, you say neither of those things. Instead, you look at Emma and say, "Mum hooked up with a god?"

Emma breathes a laugh, closing her eyes. "Yes, little one, she did."

"And she couldn't have done the same thing when she was conceiving me?"

Emma winces. "I don't want to talk about Mum conceiving either of us, thank you very much."

You shake your head. "So that's why she's always hated me."

"Mum doesn't hate you-"

"I'm the repair kid. I'm the one who-"

Leo pops his head in the door. "Did someone say repair kid?"

Emma looks up, giving Leo a tired little wave. "You can come back in now. Y/N's all caught up."

"Oh, happy days!" Leo marches in and reaches for your good hand, giving it a vigorous shake. "Leo Valdez, son of Hephaestus. Nice to properly meet you."

"Y/N L/N, child of - uh - that guy from McDonalds.

Emma stands up quickly, grabbing Leo's shoulders as his eyes narrow. "Alright! Now that we've got the niceties out of the way, I think it's time we let Will back in here so he can do his final check up. Sound good?"

"Sounds fantastic," you mumble, sinking down into the pillows. "Bring the nice looking blonde boy to me now, please."

----

Camp Half-Blood kind of looks like a dream scape. But a really bad one.

A nightmare-scape.

There's sword fighting, and teeny tiny girls in green dresses that get wildly offended when you call them Tinkerbell. There's people riding around on winged horses like it's no big deal, and you're almost certain it was raining when you left the house earlier, so why is it sunny and warm right now?

Leo is the one who greets you when you're finally allowed to step out of the tent - the infirmary, apparently, run by the kids of Apollo. All of them were really nice. They all had really nice hands.

"You're looking fresh," Leo says, tucking his hands in his pockets as the two of you stroll across camp together. "Will and his siblings really know what they're doing, huh? I had my doubts, with you being a mortal and all. I don't know how often they work on people like you."

You shrug. "It was just a bit of nerve damage in my hand."

"You passed out."

"I blanked. It happens to the best of us."

Leo's lips twitch. It shows you just the briefest hint of dimples, and you hate that it immediately turns your tough-guy demeanour to mush. It seems like you have a soft spot for demigods. You look away quickly, tucking your hands - bandage and all - into your pockets. It's this movement that seems to tilt Leo's attention to the clothes you're wearing, all of which are smothered in your own blood.

Pleasant.

He grimaces, stopping dead in his tracks. You would continue walking, being an independent mortal and all that, but you don't know your way around this place, and you'd rather not accidentally walk into a fighting arena. So, you stop and look back at him. "What's wrong?"

"You need a change of clothes, my friend."

You blink. "No, I don't think-"

"They might be a bit big on you, but I have the perfect pair of overalls you could borrow. Come on. To Bunker 9 we go."

He starts walking away before you even have a chance to protest. It really puts the fear of god - gods? - in you, because at that very moment, a winged horse slams into the floor at your side. You squeal, immediately sprinting after him, and the bastard doesn't even turn back to look at what has just startled you. He merely grins, cocky and annoying, and says, "Yeah, stick with me and that won't happen."

You grunt, knowing he's right.

The two of you arrive at Bunker 9 in no time. It's like an old bomb shelter, with tin walls and a door that looks like it's about to fall off it's hinges. You make a joke about why Leo can't just fix the hinges, considering he's a machine expert and all that, and Leo rolls his eyes and says, "I'm busy enough as it is."

The room lights up without a switch needing to be flipped, which you think is pretty cool.

"My school used to have lights like that," you point out, gazing up at the ceiling. "They were motion censored."

"Mm. They're handy little things until you haven't moved in fifteen minutes and they switch off whilst you're still standing there. The amount of times I've nearly put a screw through my finger." He shakes his head, tossing aside discarded tools in his search for the overalls he promised you. "Mental."

You pluck at a random copper wire hanging out of a drawer. "So, is this like. . . your dorm room?"

"Hm?" Leo looks at you. "Oh, no. I don't sleep in here - I sleep in the Hephaestus cabin. I'm the head counsellor, so I have to keep an eye on things, you know."

You raise a brow. "Is your bed more comfy in the Hephaestus cabin?"

"That, too." He blushes, lowering his eyes back to his search. "But honestly, my job is pretty important. I've got to keep that place running, keep all my siblings in check."

"I'm not being funny, if Emma tried telling me what to do, I would tell her to piss off."

Leo scoffs. "Yeah, I got that vibe off you."

"So how do you do it?"

Leo pauses, glancing over his shoulder."How do I do what?"

You push yourself up onto the counter, ignoring the saw dust that now litters your hands and the back of your already ruined jeans. "How do you get them to listen to you? You don't look to be much older than I am - surely you have older siblings in that cabin of yours. It can't be easy getting them to fall into line, too."

Slowly, Leo turns. He leans against the chest of drawers he has been digging through, regarding you with a single raised brow. His gaze is hard, but you keep the eye contact, smiling just the tiniest bit.

He doesn't respond with words. Instead, he stretches his hand out, palm towards the ceiling, and uncurls his fingers, revealing a bright orange flame dancing in the centre. It doesn't make you jump as it probably should have; instead, you are mesmerised, caught in the slick movements of the tiny ball of fire.

You slowly reach out. Leo slams his hand closed and pulls back. "You can't touch it."

"I wasn't going to."

"You were fully going to touch it."

You scowl, folding your arms over your chest. "What was the point in showing me that?"

He turns on his heel, going back to digging through the chest of drawers. "That's why I'm head counsellor - no other child of Hephaestus can do that." He glances at you. "You don't think it's weird?"

"Well, yeah - very weird." You shrug. "But who am I to judge? I can do this thing where I dislocate my shoulder, and that's pretty weird, too."

Leo blinks, mouth opening like you've caught him off guard. He swipes his tongue along his lower lip before he turns away and mumbles, "Yeah. That is pretty weird."

Bunker 9 is doused in silence after that. Leo rummages through his drawers as you inspect every nook and cranny of the place, running your fingers along the tin walls, picking up tools you have never seen before; you can feel Leo watching you from the corner of his eye, probably making sure you're not stealing anything. Honestly, the golden screwdriver set is pretty tempting, but you wouldn't want to risk getting on a demigod's bad side.

Finally, after what feels like far too long, Leo pops his head up, grinning broadly with a set of overalls in his hands. "Found them!" He tosses them at you with no warning; you just barely manage to catch them. "They got shrunk in the wash, so I was gonna rip them up for hand towels in here, but I'm sure they'll be more useful for you."

You pull them into your chest. "They smell like oil."

Leo spreads his oil stained hands. "Yeah, well, that's how life is, love. I'll let you get changed - I promise I won't peak!"

Laughing, he leaves Bunker 9; his footsteps stop there, though, and there's a glimmer of relief when you realise he isn't just walking away and leaving you to your own devices.

You get changed quickly, bundling your blood stained clothes into a ball and shoving them beneath your arm - you don't know where you can possibly wash them, but you refuse to leave this camp in Leo's old overalls. First of all, they're much too big on you, pooling over your feet despite Leo's own small stature. The striped shirt he gave you to put underneath it has oil spots embedded in it, too, which just makes you look like even more of a slump. Nonetheless, you throw open the door to Bunker 9 with your arms outstretched and call out, "How do I look?"

Leo peaks his head around and freezes.

You drop your arms, rolling your eyes. "Don't be so dramatic. This isn't a romance movie."

His nose erupts into flames. He yelps, swatting the fire away before he awkwardly coughs and says, "Good. You look good."

You grin. "Thank you. Do you have any idea where I can put these?" You offer up your pile of clothes. Leo takes them from your hands and tosses them over your shoulder, back into Bunker 9. You frown. "Do you have a washing machine in there?"

"It won't take me long to rig one up. I'll have them washed before you leave, don't worry." He offers his arm, grinning yet again. "Now, how about we go up to the dining pavilion and get some food? I'm starving!"

----

Leo did not know one of his best friends was related to such an attractive individual.

It wasn't really that big of a shock when he walked in and saw you sitting there in the living room, looking dazed and out of it with blood dribbling from some pretty severe cuts in your hand. Emma had rang him and filled him on all the details, so there was no surprise at the scene. And plus, Emma's not exactly ugly. She has that rough look to her, sure, but Leo would probably date her if she asked him. Again, it wasn't much of a surprise when he walked in and saw you there, all pretty with the innocence only a mortal could have.

But then he got a glimpse of your personality.

No. Scratch that. He got an entire bucketload of your personality, and he was still craving more by the end of it.

He tried his hardest to fight off these feelings, because he's felt them before - with almost every person he finds attractive, in fact. He gets it lodged in his head that he can impress them, that this is the one and he can make it work if he just tries hard enough. It's kind of hard not to think that way - hopeful, desperate, almost - when all his friends are hooking up and getting boyfriends and girlfriends, generally just having the time of their damn lives. And Leo is just. . . making machines.

But then the two of you went and had dinner together, and he found himself asking if you wanted to go for a walk along the lake before you would have to go to bed. You had agreed, and the conversation had continued, and Leo has never laughed so much in his entire life.

You tell stories of these little memories you have with Emma, enjoying the embarrassing little details you add in whenever you can. Leo struggles to imagine the daughter of Ares being anything close to the Emma you're describing, but he can tell in the passion of your words you're not telling lies.

"What about you, though?" he asks.

Your hands drop to your side, smile curving. "What about me?"

"Well, you're going on about Emma and all the cool stuff she used to do - what about you, though? What have you been up to?"

It's a pretty simple question in Leo's mind; with his ADHD brain, he is able to come up with a million different answers on the spot.

You, however, look at him with a raised brow. He stares right back.

Finally, you crack and say, "Uh. . . I've been doing some school work, I guess."

Leo blinks. "You go to school?"

"I do indeed. I'm studying psychology, but it's really difficult, so I might drop it."

Leo nods like he understands, even though he doesn't. All he really remembers of his school days is him sitting in the back of the classroom plotting his next escape. "Interesting," he says. "Does Emma go to school?"

"She's doing an apprenticeship at some mechanics place. She dropped out when she turned sixteen."

"Naughty."

You shrug. "She does what she wants. I would love to drop out, but Mum would flip." Leo glances at you; the mention of your Mum seems to be something a little heavy, as your smile immediately dips, your shoulders slumping. Leo knows he probably shouldn't pry, but he's Leo, so he does anyway.

"Is your mum tough on you?"

"No. She's not tough at all. She's not light, either. She just. . . lives with me, I guess."

"She just lives with you?"

You inhale, looking out over the lake. For a moment, Leo thinks you might start crying, but then he shakes that thought out of his mind, because you don't seem like the type to cry in front of a stranger, and that's really all Leo is, which is why he shouldn't expect you to open up to him right now, not if this is something you don't want to-

"Mum only had me because she wanted to see if she could get over Emma's dad." You wince. "Ares, I guess."

Leo pauses. His fingertips start glowing, a sign of his anger, but he shoves them in his pockets and dispels the flames before you see them. "That's horrible."

You shrug halfheartedly. "It's fine. She was crazy about the guy from what I've heard - it's why Emma's her favourite. She's the only piece of him she has left, really."

"But that doesn't mean-"

"You don't have to tell me she's a bad mother, Leo. I know. I've known from day one; I've just gotten used to it." You pick up a rock and toss it into the lake. "Honestly, we're better off out of each other's hair anyway; put us in a room together and make us talk, we'll probably burn the house down."

Leo doesn't know how to respond; he's never felt like that. Ever. Even with his dad, there's always been some level of affection there, even though his dad is a Greek god who only pops in when he wants something; Hephaestus has never straight-up ignored him, never made his favouritism clear.

Leo finds he wants to punch something, and not even the steady whisper of the lake can calm him down. He walks a little bit behind you as the silence settles, you picking up random rocks and tossing them into the water, apologising profusely when the eighteen tentacled octopus pokes its head up and yells at you.

Your calmness makes it even worse, though, because that lets Leo know that this treatment is something you've grown used to. You've never known any different.

----

Three days in, and Emma still insists on keeping you at Camp Half-Blood.

"You're not leaving until that giant is dead, and that might take a while."

You drape your arm over your forehead, still sprawled across her bed in the Ares cabin. It's a pretty musty cabin, to be fair, but you won't mention that when all of Emma's siblings are glaring daggers at you. "Do you have any idea how many assessments I'm missing? Mr Wrightchuck is gonna be furious with me, and I do not have the mental energy to deal with his shit right now."

Emma throws a pair of shorts at you. "Shut up and fold those for me."

You grunt, sitting up and getting to work; you've decided to make yourself at least a little bit useful around here. These people were nice enough to offer you accommodation, even though it's clear being around mortals isn't exactly their everyday routine. The amount of times you've hissed in pain because of your hand and been offered a chunk of ambrosia is uncountable.

"So," Emma starts suddenly, taking you by surprise; she hardly ever initiates conversations, preferring to brood in her own head when she can get away with it.

You look at her, sitting cross legged on the floor in front of the bright pink laundry hamper she stole off your Aunt Grace. She's not even looking up, lips pursed, eyebrows raised as if expecting you to fill in the blanks from that single word.

"So, what?" you push. "What did I just say, Emma? I don't have the mental energy-"

"You and Leo have been hanging out an awful lot these past few days."

You pause. That certainly wasn't what you had been expecting to hear.

"Uh. . . I suppose. He's a cool guy. Cool fire, and stuff." You wriggle your fingers, imitating flames, though Emma's sideways glare makes you mumble an apology and drop your hand to your side. "Is there something wrong with Leo and I being pals?"

"Leo's a very. . . hopeful boy," Emma replies. "He tends to get lost in his own fantasies sometimes."

You blink. "What, like kinks?"

Emma groans, throwing some socks at you. "No, you idiot! When he likes someone, he tends to get a little carried away. It's quite sad to see, actually."

"What does that have to do with me and him being friends?"

Emma glances at you; you recognise that look. It makes your stomach curl, heat rising to your cheeks. You look away, coughing awkwardly into her shirt before you mumble, "No. No, absolutely not. Leo doesn't like me that way."

Emma shrugs, grin spreading across her face. "Maybe, maybe not. I'm just saying, if you don't like him that way, try and break the illusion as soon as possible. It's easier to just rip the bandaid off."

"You're heartless."

"I'm a daughter of Ares, Y/N. We don't bullshit people. We say it how it is."

You scowl, snatching another set of trousers from her wash pile and getting to work, trying to ignore the thump of your heartbeat, which suddenly seems to have sped up a fair bit.

----

You lose track of how long it has been since you last saw your mother.

This happens sometimes, these long stretches of time when neither of you will acknowledge the other person; it's easier that way, just pretending she doesn't exist, just pretending the house is empty besides you.

You've been caught up in camp activities these past few weeks. Your hand is starting to heal, the nerves tingling, which Will says is a good sign. You've been talking to other campers, learning more and more about the world Emma has kept hidden from you for so long, a world that fascinates you, a world you will never want to be properly part of.

Now, however, you see her. Sitting on her own by the lake, knobbly knees pulled into her chest, dazed eyes locked on the swirling water in front of her. The little sea creatures have long since hidden, probably put-off by the presence of a stranger, but your mother doesn't seem to care. She just sits all on her own, long hair billowing out behind her as the moon begins to rise in the distance.

You lean against a tree just a little bit behind her and say, "Are you not cold?"

She doesn't even flinch, like the voice of her child has no effect on her whatsoever. Instead, she digs her fingernails into the dirt and grabs a handful of stones, lobbing them into the lake.

You sigh and crouch down next to her; she smells of sweat and dirt, a sure sign that she hasn't been taking much care of herself these past few weeks. "Let's go back to the Big House, Mum. You're gonna get hypothermia out here."

"He will protect me," she replies. "He's always protecting me."

"You mean Ares? Emma's Dad?"

"He's protected me from day one; he loves Emma and I. He's just busy."

You swallow, staring at the side of her face. "I'm sure he does, Mum. But he's clearly running a little late right now, so he's asked me to come make sure you get wrapped up before the wind eats you alive." You gaze at the trees. "Which I'm pretty sure is a thing that actually happens here."

Finally, your mum gazes at you, lower lip trembling. "I just want him to talk to me."

You freeze; it's most unlike your mother to talk like this, especially to you. She rants and raves about Ares to Emma, but she barely pays you any attention when it comes to things like this. You don't really know how to handle it, whether you should comfort her and tell her Ares loves her - this Greek god, surviving somewhere on Mount Olympus, overlooking the entire world. Yes, of course he still loves her. Of course he does.

But the other half of you just doesn't want to lie. You don't want to get her hopes up any more than they already are, because anyone with a brain will be able to see that Ares has long since forgotten about the mortal woman he apparently fell in love with, and the daughter they created together.

So, you grab your mum's hand and drag her to her feet. She slumps against you like a child having a tantrum, and you have to basically lift her off the floor to get anywhere. Nonetheless, you eventually have her standing, and together, you walk up the hill, back to the main camp.

It's dark, probably past curfew, but campers are still walking about. Mostly the Apollo cabin, never off their feet with the casualties they have to tend to in a day, though there are other campers enjoying a late night cup of hot chocolate by the fire, laughing merrily. They don't notice you walking up the hill, don't notice your mum mumbling to herself, words you can't even grasp being right beside her.

"The Ares cabin," your mum suddenly blurts.

You pause, nearly stumbling over your own two feet as your head whips around to the direction she is now staring, eyes wide.

"Yes, Mum," you grumble. "That is the Ares cabin - now, can we keep moving before my fingers fall off?"

"Is that where you've been sleeping these past few weeks?"

You narrow your eyes. "What? Yes, Mum, it is; Emma lets me sleep with her, now can we please-"

"He isn't your father."

You stop dead in your tracks; oh no. You've heard this line of speech before, and it's never pleasant. Mum gets angry, enraged, when she thinks you're trying to take on the same status as her beloved Emma, daughter of the war god. She likes to keep you in your place, which is a good few tiers below everybody else, apparently.

"I know that," you say quickly. "Emma was just nice enough to lend me her bed so I didn't have to sleep in the Hermes cabin - you know I don't know my way around here, so-"

"He wouldn't like you sleeping amongst his children. He told me."

"He what now?"

She shakes out of your grip, gritting her teeth. Her eyes are wild, dilated beyond anything you've ever seen, and when she next speaks, the words are a cry. "He told me!" She shakes her head, gripping the strands of hair between trembling fingers. "He's so mad at me, Y/N; he told me it was disrespectful to have a child with another man. He said he would burn you to the ground if you stepped out of line. He said he would kill you, just to teach me a lesson for going behind his back!"

You blink. You're used to this. You're meant to be used to this, but holy mother of god - gods? - you don't know what she's on about. You've never heard her talk like this. You've never heard her speak of your death before, and the words coming from her mouth are so eerie, so fucking terrifying that you stumble back, hands trembling, tears rushing to the surface.

"You crazy bitch."

She laughs, loud and clear so the entire camp's attention turns directly to her. "That's what he said! He called me insane, and then he said he loved me and gave me a child - and that child certainly wasn't you."

"Mum, what are you-"

"He talks to me sometimes, you know." She nods, hands still buried in her hair, tugging her eyes back so she looks demented. "In my head, he talks. We have little conversations, but he's been so much more talkative since we arrived here, like this place really is my home." She releases her hair, eyes dimming. "But you're not meant to be here; he told me that, too. He said Emma and I were welcome amongst his kind, but not you - not a bastard like you."

You look around; all the demigods are on their feet now, staring at the scene in confusion. It's embarrassing, absolutely mortifying to suddenly be the centre of their attention, especially under such circumstances.

"Okay," you croak out. "Okay, that's fine - I'll go, then. Leave you and Emma here. I don't mind, Mum. You don't have to get angry."

Mum's nostrils flare. "It's not me who's angry - it's him-"

"Well, tell him that he doesn't have to get his godly bollocks in a twist, because I'm leaving." You raise your hands in faux surrender, taking a few tentative steps back. "I'm leaving, and you'll never have to see me again."

The words hurt, but they're the truth - especially now. Mum doesn't respond, merely stares as you take a few more steps backwards, turn on your heel and dart towards the Ares cabin, fighting desperately to push the tears away, because crying is stupid.

This is just your mum being. . . your mum, just as she's always been. Sure, her words tonight were a little harsher than you're used to, but her neglect has given you thick skin, thick enough to take her words on the chin.

You see the Ares cabin, and run right past it towards the lake. You nearly slip in the mud on your way down the hill, catching yourself before finally crumbling to the floor against a tree by the lake side.

You'll take her words on the chin, but you'll cry over them first.

----

When Leo hears the news, he's pretty sure his blood turns to fire.

He's half-asleep, but that doesn't stop his understanding of Will's words, his descriptions of the scene he just witnessed at the camp fire.

And the thing is, after hearing all the things your mum has done to you, Leo isn't even surprised to hear it's finally boiled over.

Doesn't make him any less angry.

He storms out of the Hephaestus cabin wearing nothing but his pyjamas. He feels the heat beneath his skin, threatening to break the surface as he forces it down, gritting his teeth. He's half tempted to turn to the Big House to give your mum a piece of his mind, but his main concern at the moment is you, and where you've gone, and where you plan on going, because according to Will, your last words to her were "I'm leaving, and you'll never have to see me again." That's a horrible thought. Leo doesn't want to think about that.

He heads to the lake, because according to Will, that's the direction you were running, and Leo knows how much you like the lake; it calms you down, you said, and he stored that piece of information in his brain for weeks, as if in preparation for this very moment.

He stops at the top of the hill and gazes down, lighting up the darkness with a ball of fire cupped in the palm of his hand. You don't flinch at the sudden intrusion, instead curling into a tighter ball against the roots of a tree, burying your head in your knees. The sight breaks his heart. He swallows, slowly waddling down the hill, careful not to fall in the dirt.

You don't look up when he finally arrives at your side. "Y/N."

"Who told you?"

Leo crouches. "Will. He said you seemed upset."

"That's literally nobody's business."

Leo sighs, slumping against the tree beside you; his shoulder brushes your own, and for a moment, you stiffen against his side. "You don't have to tell me what happened if you're not cool with that," he says. "I'm not being nosy or anything."

"Yes, you are."

"No, I'm really not. I just wanted to make sure that witch didn't hurt your feelings too bad." He pauses. "What did she actually say?"

Your head snaps up, eyes blood shot, lips dry. "Ah, see! You are just being nosy!"

He swats your arm, scowling. "Be quiet, no I'm not; but how am I meant to help you if I don't even know what happened?"

"I never said I wanted help, Leo. My mum not caring about me isn't something that can just be helped." And you didn't even realise those were the words you were going to say, because they sound so heartbreaking, so self-pitying, even though they're the truth. You've always just brushed your mothers behaviour off as normal, the only hand you've ever been dealt, but phrasing it in that way, claiming she doesn't care . . . something about that makes your heart break.

Your lower lip trembles before you can stop it, fresh tears springing to the surface. You remember holidays, catching Emma wrapping up gifts of her own to give to you, just so you could wake up to something on Christmas morning. You remember making your own Halloween costume because your mother spent all her money on Emma's. You remember thinking it was okay, because it was all you ever knew.

You're older now, though. You can recognise mistreatment when you see it, but it's still a blow to the chest realising that you were on the other end of it, that you're a victim, whether you want to deny it or not.

Leo notices your sudden change of emotions and immediately lurches forward. His fingers are hot, almost scalding when they make contact with your arm, his brown eyes burning holes into your own. His eyebrows are furrowed when he says your name in a whisper, just your name, like nothing else needs to be said.

You close your eyes. "I'm fine."

"I wish you'd stop saying that. It's starting to grate on my skull, and I can't afford that kind of damage."

You let out a breath of a laugh, just because you think it's appropriate; in truth, you find none of this funny. You want to curl up and cry. You want to leave Camp Half-Blood and everything it stands for, start a life away from demigods and Greek gods alike.

What's stopping you?

Leo's hands heat up on your arm, forcing you to look at him again. He's closer now, head tilted, all amusement flushed from his features, which is a sad enough sight on it's own. It's been two seconds, but you already miss that sparkle in his eyes.

"Hey," he says quietly. "Talk to me."

And you do. You don't know why, but you do. The words pour out like a broken faucet, a complete mess of incoherence's that Leo - and only Leo - would ever be able to understand. He nods along like the words are making sense, like these sentences aren't just complete gibberish.

When you finish explaining everything that happened down at the camp fire, you gasp, starved for air. Leo grabs your hand and tugs you forward, cupping your face in his attempts to calm you down; you didn't realise the tears had started pouring, didn't realise you're breathing heavily, totally lost, unable to catch a breath.

"Calm down," he mumbles. "Y/N, calm down. I'm here. I've got you, pal, I've got you."

You close your eyes, leaning into his palm. He traces his thumbs along your cheeks before slowly, slowly, slowly running his hand over your ear, tucking a strand of hair back. His eyes never leave your face, despite the state you know you are in, how awful you must look.

"I'm sorry," you choke out. "I didn't mean to. . . to get so worked up."

"Don't be stupid," he replies. "Did she really say all that to you?"

"She's not in her right mind out here. She thinks she's one of you guys, that she can be part of the group just because-"

"Because she slept with Ares?"

You laugh, exhausted. "Yes, exactly."

Leo rolls his eyes, finally letting his hands drop back to his sides. "Honestly, everyone and their grandfather has probably slept with Ares. She's nothing special, and she needs to get that through her head." He pauses. The air crackles. "But - uh - you're, you know, special. Very special."

You blink, certain you heard him wrong. The words don't really make sense in this context, so you're trying to disentangle them.

Finally, you crack and say, "What?"

Leo rubs the back of his neck, glancing awkwardly over his shoulder. Over the hill, everything is silent as Half-Bloods sleep, unknowing to the panic attack that has just captured you, unknowing to the magic Leo has just cast to calm you down.

"I said you're special," he mumbles. "In a good way, I mean. Like, a really good way."

Your heart thunders. "Thank you?"

"You're welcome." He looks at you then, chirping up. "But seriously, don't let her get to you. She's just a love sick psycho who doesn't know when to back down. Clingy ex-girlfriend and all that."

He changes the topic so swiftly it nearly gives you whiplash. You stare at him for another moment, and just when you're about to open your mouth to continue the previous, deserted conversation, Leo stands and reaches his hand out. "Shall we go before Hedge thinks there's some funny business going on?"

You nod dumbly, taking his hand only because you don't know what you want to say in response to what he has just said - he called you special, and he said it like it was just. . . normal, like it was something you could slip in without any further questions being asked.

You try and let the subject drop as Leo leads you back into camp. He walks you to the door of the Ares cabin, and it is there that he turns to you and says, voice low, "You can sleep in my cabin if your mum is in there; Chiron won't mind, and I won't either."

"No, it's okay," you reply. "Mum's staying in the Big House; I'll just slip in next to Emma." You glance at him, his eyes meeting yours because he never looked away. He looks so sweet beneath the lantern light, flames dancing across his skin like they were always meant to be there, like Leo has lived his life in fire and came out smiling every time. "Thank you, Leo; you really didn't have to help me tonight."

He scoffs. "Don't be daft. Next time you have any issues, I want you to run to me instead of the river naiads, you hear?"

You smile and nod. "I hear."

And so, Leo and you bid each other goodnight, and you watch as he walks across camp, past the Hephaestus cabin, right in the direction of Bunker 9. Half of you wants to go after him, question him on his use of the word special earlier on, but you don't. Your limbs are heavy with exhaustion, and so you turn on your heel and head into the Ares cabin, unable to stop the tiny smile that forms on your face.

----

Bunker 9 looks very nice in the morning.

"Oh, the tin is just glistening!"

Leo yelps, dropping a spanner on the ground as he whirls around. His overalls are covered in oil, along with his face, arms, legs, and every other body part that is presented to you on this fine Monday morning. In your hand is a plate of steaming cinnamon buns that Leo's eyes immediately fix upon, his startled expression quickly being replaced by one of pure hunger. You're almost certain you see his mouth salivating.

You tug the plate back, holding one arm out. "Not so fast, Fire Boy."

He frowns. "What did you just call me?"

"No cinnamon buns for you until you tell me how many hours of sleep you got last night."

Leo raises a brow, a tiny smirk making an appearance. "Are you kidding?"

"Nope. I want the details, Valdez, or these cinnamon buns are all mine."

"That's really unfair, and very unnecessary. A body like mine was made to work off two hours sleep."

Your eyes widen. "Two hours? Leo!"

"Can you just hand me my breakfast already?"

You groan, but a promise is a promise. You set the plate down on a nearby toolbox before pushing yourself onto the counter, legs swinging. Leo dives for the plate, nudging your knee with his hip as he grabs the first cinnamon bun he can see and stuffs it in his mouth, nearly swallowing the thing whole.

"Watch you don't choke."

"Why are you so protective this morning?"

"Two hours sleep, Leo? That's awful."

He shrugs, fingers hovering over the plate as he searches for his next victim. "I'm used to it. I'm not even tired! It was a really refreshing two hours."

"You get worse, you know."

Leo rolls his eyes, looking up at you. "And how many hours of sleep did you get, Sleeping Beauty?"

"More than two hours."

He clicks his fingers. "I want the details."

You roll your eyes, swatting his hand away. "I had six hours, if you must know. I'm refreshed and ready for my day!"

"So am I."

"Liar."

"And what?"

You laugh, and Leo smiles, making the noise louder than it really is.

"But no," he continues. "Don't you go worrying about me, dear. Ol' Leo Valdez can handle himself."

"Ol' Leo Valdez needs to take a nap."

"A nap? Sounds cowardly." He grabs the spanner from the floor, spins it in the air, catches it with an ease that makes your breath catch. "How about I show you the new updates I've made to Festus?"

Festus, Leo's pride and joy, the one thing in the world he will talk about for hours upon hours on end; you've sat there and listened to him every single time, absorbing every word, even if you don't understand it. He talks about circuits and updates and tools you have never heard of, but he says it all with such enthusiasm it's almost impossible not to get involved. And even though you know you should be stubborn, insisting on him getting into bed right this instant, you want to see him in that state again. You always want to see him in that state, eyes glittering with passion, hands moving all over the place, smile brighter than anything.

He doesn't need an answer. You simply smile at him, slightly exasperated, and he says, "Alright!" before spinning on his heel, the very beginning of his lecture.

You listen to him talk like how you would listen to lo-fi music. Your legs swing back and forth, back and forth, a tiny smile gracing your features. Leo shows you different parts, illuminating the inside of Festus's new helmet with fire ignited in his calloused palm. It makes his grin impossibly brighter. It makes his curls that little bit darker. It's him.

Finally, he spins and says, "Cool, right?" and even though you were mildly distracted the entire time, you nod and say, "Very cool. As always."

"What are you doing here so early, anyway?" He strolls over, casually plucking another cinnamon roll off the plate and taking a bite.

"I saw you heading to Bunker 9 last night and just assumed this was where you slept. I thought you said you didn't sleep in here?"

He shrugs. "I sleep in here when I'm stressed; gets me away from the ruckus of everyone else, you know."

You raise a brow. "You were stressed?"

"Of course I was stressed." He looks at you, exasperated. "Do you not remember anything we discussed last night?"

You blink; it's not that you had forgotten - there's no way you'll be forgetting that night any time soon - but you thought for sure Leo had. Yes, he'd been there to help you through it, and he was the reason you went to bed smiling, but you were still a mortal, and your problems surely could never be as big as his. You genuinely sat in front of him and cried about feeling neglected by your mother when his own mother is dead, and his Dad doesn't even talk to him, too busy producing other godly children. But here he is, head tilted and eyes slashed with worry. You almost want to look away, but the colour in them has become so noticeably entrancing these past few weeks that you find it nearly impossible to do so.

"I didn't mean to stress you out," is all you can manage. "I was just ranting."

"You were crying."

"I was - I mean - like - yeah, I guess, but you don't have to stress."

Leo narrows his eyes. "You really are dense, aren't you?"

You open your mouth, ready to chastise him for saying such a thing, but your words are swallowed by the loud clang clang clang of the door opening. Leo stares at you for a second longer before glancing over his shoulder, sharing your shock at the sight of Will popping his head in the door. His lower lip is pulled between his teeth, movements slow and timid.

"Uh, sorry to interrupt," he says. "But we kind of need Y/N up at camp."

Those words are terrifying. They jolt you and Leo into action almost immediately; you slip off the counter, stumbling over a few discarded wrenches and old toolboxes. Leo catches you before you can fall, but neither of you comment on your suddenly linked hands before following Will out the door, curiosity getting the better of you.

You hear the commotion before you see it.

The sound of your mothers shrill voice is all-too familiar, and it echoes now. Bouncing off trees, sinking into the dirt, giving you a blistering headache that immediately makes you want to turn around and pretend you never heard it. But there's a crowd, an ocean of demigods, all with weapons and angry expressions trained on the woman who raised you - the woman who tried raising you - and despite the anger you once felt towards her, you pick up your pace, rush into the scene and say, "Ay! Get that spear out of my face!"

The demigod - you don't even know who she is - stumbles back, gaping at you. You don't give her the time of day, instead pivoting on your heel towards your mother.

There she is, stood in the middle of the clearing with her arms above her head, screaming up at the sky. Blood coats her elbows and knees. Chiron and Emma are beside her, but it seems like both of them have given up trying to make her see sense; they simply stare, Emma with tears in her eyes, Chiron looking like he's on the verge of booting her out of camp right this instant.

Leo stumbles to your side and grabs your arm. "What's wrong with her?"

You touch your mum's arm. "Mum, you're being proper embarrassing right now."

She spins. Her hair is matted, the product of having not been washed in weeks. Her eyes are dark, lips chapped and bitten, utterly destroyed. You've seen her when she's having one of her episodes, but this is worse. This is the worst you've ever seen it. It breaks your heart, even though it shouldn't. It was only last night she was basically calling you worthless, a mistake, the reason her little affair with a Greek god didn't work out.

You swallow. "Mum. . . It's me."

"Emma?"

You bite your lip, trying to ignore how much that hurts. "Uh. . . not quite, but nearly. Emma's over there."

"Don't get me involved in this," Emma spits, roughly swiping a hand across her cheek. "I don't want anything to do with her."

Your heart judders. Your mother's eyes narrow, like she's taking a little longer to process her first childs words. You decide to step in before she has a chance to.

"No, Mum, I'm not Emma, I'm Y/N. I'm here to - uh - take you home."

As soon as you say it, you want to curl in on yourself. It's a truth you've been trying to avoid these past few weeks, the idea of finally breaking away from camp and heading back to your shitty apartment with your shitty mother to live a shitty life of online classes and pretending everything is normal and okay. Behind you, Leo mumbles, "Sorry, what was that?" which hurts your heart even more. "Yeah," you continue, taking another timid step towards her. A branch cracks beneath your foot, and your mother flinches, looks up into the sky like the sound of a god appearing will be nothing more than a simple crack.

"Yeah, Mum, we're gonna go home, and you're gonna get some rest, okay? You look exhausted."

"Exhausted," she mumbles. "Home."

"Home, yeah. Remember home? We liked it there. Things were normal there."

Mum's nostrils flare. "Normal-"

"But our house is also where Ares thinks we are right now!" you barrel on. "He's got our address in his little address book - he doesn't actually know we're at Camp Half-Blood right now."

Her shoulders deflate, eyes brightening. "Oh. You're right. He's probably visited so many times and we haven't even been there! He's going to be so angry!"

"So, so angry." You wrap your arm around her shoulder, gently drawing her away from the crowd of angry demigods, of sobbing sisters and confused centaurs. You meet Leo's eyes only once, and it's enough to shatter your being, enough for the burning of tears to erupt through your senses. You want to turn and run to him, tell him you're sorry, promise to never leave him, but the feelings are so extraordinary and so weird, unfamiliar, that you can't.

You turn your gaze to the floor and guide your mother through the crowd towards the Big House, uttering words about home and comfort, and going back to a life you want to abandon for good. You pretend it's all okay, because that's all you've ever known.

----

Leo finds you that same night.

You left your mother in Chiron's care. She fell asleep immediately, and you were free to do what you wanted after that, but the thought of parading through Camp Half-Blood after being in the centre of such a weird scene made your stomach curl, so you stayed by her side until you were positive most of the campers were in bed, sleeping.

Except Leo, of course.

He sits down in the grass, shoulder brushing yours. You don't look over; you know it's him just from the scent of oil, and the way he cracks his knuckles, and the way he awkwardly coughs into the darkness. These are all little things of him you have memorised. Each one makes your heart ache.

Finally, after what feels like forever, he speaks. "You don't have to do all that, you know."

"Do what?"

"Stick up for her. Make her comfortable.

" You shrug. "I know I don't."

"So why do you do it?"

"Because she's my mum."

"She's barely your mum. She doesn't even do the bare minimum for you."

True. Painfully, awkwardly true.

You shrug again. Leo sighs, tilting his head back. When you glance over, you see him gazing up at the stars, jaw clenched in a way that throws off the soft features of his face you have grown so used to seeing. You don't like it.

You reach over and poke his cheek in an attempt to make him loosen up. He closes his eyes. "I don't get it."

"What?"

"Why you have to be the one taking care of her when she's never taken care of you."

You swallow thickly. "I'm not. . . I'm not taking care of her. I'm just-"

"Then what was that back there?"

"That was me trying to make sure my mum didn't get a spear shoved down her throat. It's basic human decency, Leo."

He purses his lips, like this is something he has never heard of.

You sigh, slumping back against a tree. "I don't hate my mum, you know; she's done some fucked up stuff to me, but I don't hate her."

Leo stares at you. His eyes are lazors, flames, beams pouring into the side of your head, and you want to look at him, but you think it would be a very bad idea right now.

Neither of you say anything for what feels like forever, which is a big deal when sitting with someone like Leo Valdez. The only noise filling in the silence is the steady drip of rain drops rolling down the leaves, bouncing against the lakes surface. A few ocean creatures peak their heads up, examine the scene, duck back beneath the water.

And then, "Are you actually leaving?"

You bite back a sob. "You didn't expect me to stay here forever, did you?"

Leo doesn't respond.

"She's not well here," you continue, tilting your head back. The moon waves at you. The stars smile. "She was bad at home, but being here - around this kind of thing - it's going to drive her insane."

"She's a grown woman."

"Ares messed her up." It's the first time you've said it out loud, the truth. Your mother was okay before she met that man. You've heard stories from your grandparents, your aunts and uncles, of the days when your mum was winning medals for her skills in ballet, the days she was getting awards for her academic success, the days where she played mediator in a house full of people who could never see eye-to-eye on anything. You listened to them with only half-interest, because you never fully believed them. You had lived with the crazy side of her for too long by that point.

But it's true. Ares waltzed into her life, promised her the world, gave her this child with skills beyond human comprehension, gave her a taste of real love for the first time in her life - and then he left.

"Why do gods think they can just get away with that?" you find yourself asking before you can stop. "Mess with people's lives like that. Why do they think that's okay?"

Leo sighs. "They run the world. They can do whatever they want."

"That seems really unfair."

"Yeah, well, it's also unfair that you have to give up your own happiness for your mum."

You close your eyes; there it is again, the topic breached. Leo doesn't understand that this is all you've ever known - caring for her, making sure she's okay, being ignored and neglected because you're not the gods child. He doesn't understand that this has been your life from day one. You were never given a chance to mind it. You were never given a chance to know anything else.

"You know, I think this place could really benefit with someone like you."

You look at him. "You're just saying that."

He shrugs, picking up a pebble and lobbing it at the lake. Always keeping his hands moving, never being still. "Maybe. Maybe I'm just a little desperate for you to stay." He looks at you. "Is that weird?"

You swallow, unable to respond, because you want to tell him no, no of course it's not weird, please keep talking and I'll stay, I'll stay here with you, I'll never leave, I never wanted to leave in the first place.

Leo looks down at his hands, fingers fiddling with the threads dangling from his overalls. "Sorry. I - I didn't mean to - like - put you on the spot or anything. I just care about you. A lot. And I hate seeing you upset. It bothers me."

The way it says it, words spoken through gritted teeth, makes your heart stutter. Oddly, it reminds you of those days spent laughing in Bunker 9, calling him stupid as he tried so hard to keep you amused, like he wanted to keep your attention as firm as possible so you wouldn't get up and leave. For once in your life, someone wants you to stay.

And it's sad - heartbreaking, even - that you have been cursed with these circumstances, that the mere notion of staying at Camp Half-Blood is so beyond reality; you're no demigod. Even if your mother were to head home on her own, do you a favour for once, the chances of Chiron being allowed to let you stay are incredibly, incredibly slim. You won't entertain the idea. You won't get your hopes up like that. You won't play to your own feelings, because that has never done anything for you, nothing but leave you in a state of despair.

And so, you keep quiet, staring out over the lake with Leo by your side, his hands working, his mind probably racing, your heart a steady thump in the distance.

---

The next day, you are ready to leave.

You packed all your things the night before. You said all your goodbyes the night before. You and Emma got into a brutal argument the night before, and now you're stood before her, trembling from head to toe as you patiently wait for Chiron to lead your mother to Thalia's pine tree so the both of you can finally be let go.

Emma stares at you. She's been doing that since last night, her hands balled into fists, jaw strong, so she looks a little bit like her father; you can say that now. You hate him. You think you'd punch him in the face if you ever saw him.

"I can't believe you're actually doing this for her."

"I never understood why you hate her so much - you're the one she actually cares about."

Emma grits her teeth, looking to the ground in that way she so often does when she's trying not to punch you square in the face. "That's not the point."

"You don't even deny it any more," you scoff. "You've just come to terms with the fact that she basically worships the ground you walk on. How about you start understanding how lucky you are rather than giving me grief for taking care of her?"

"Taking care of her?" Emma bursts. "She's your mother! She should be taking care of you!"

"Right, but that's not the way things have turned out, so we might as well cut the shit now before-"

"Leo spoke to me, you know." You freeze. Your mouth stays open, eyes widening; Leo is the absolute last thing you want to talk about right now, not after last night, not after hearing the hint of heartbreak in his voice when he realised it was too late, you were too far gone, there was no keeping you.

Emma nods, even though you haven't said anything, even though you can do nothing but stare at her in complete shock and bewilderment. "Yeah, Leo Valdez, the boy you're head over heels in love with."

You splutter. "What?"

"Oh, don't play dumb! I've seen the way you are with each other. I've seen the way you look at him. I've seen the way he looks at you, and for fuck sake Y/N, you shouldn't have to give all that up for someone like her!"

"That person you're on about is our mother!"

"And what? That means you have to put your entire life on hold for her?" Emma drops her sword in a move close to desperation, startling you when she barrels forward and grabs your shoulders. She holds you at arms length, eyes like fire. "You're my only little sibling, Y/N; it's my job more than anything else to look after you, and I'm not going to sit back and let your selflessness ruin your whole life."

You blink, and only then do the tears make an appearance. You think of Leo, even though you hate it, even though you've already said your goodbyes to him and you should just leave it at that. He hugged you, and you hugged him, and you apologised and he told you there was nothing to be sorry for - it was the perfect potential ending, but you don't want it to be over.

Emma is right; you're jeopardising your own happiness for this woman.

Emma stares at you, the tears leaking from your eyes. Her own lower lip trembles, but she's Emma, so she won't start crying. Not properly.

You inhale shakily, ducking your head down. "I can't let her go home on her own, Em. She'll never make it. She'll never agree to go if she doesn't have someone with her."

"So I'll go."

You freeze. "What?"

Emma tilts her head forward, catching your eye. "I said, I'll go. I'll take her home, get her settled, and then I'll get someone to come take care of her - a professional. Someone who should have been there for her a long bloody time ago. You can stay here for a while."

Your heart thunders. You're certain you've heard her wrong, because this isn't right - none of this is right. Emma's the demigod. She should be the one staying here whilst you get shipped off back home with your mother. That's how things have always been, how things were always meant to be. But when you look back at your older sister now, there is no glimmer of amusement in her eyes; she's being serious, more serious than you've ever seen her before.

She squeezes your shoulders, curling her stubby nails into the fabric of your hoodie. "I mean it, Y/N. If you want to stay here-"

"I do," you croak out. "I really, really do."

"For Leo?"

You blink.

Emma grins. "For Leo." She pats your shoulder, nearly knocking you off your feet. "Go, before her and Chiron make an appearance. I think Valdez is-"

But you don't let her finish. You know where Leo is even without her input, and so you throw yourself into her arms, squeal a thank you in her ear before sprinting off down the hill towards Bunker 9.

The gods should be yelling at you right now, casting lightning and rain and every other deadly element down upon you, because this must be so far out of the rule book. This must be going entirely against everything they have ever set up, every rule they have laid out - a mortal in one of their demigod camps? A mortal hanging around their children like their even close to being equal. Complete blasphemy.

But you don't care. Not when you round the corner to see the door to Bunker 9 already wide open, little flashes of Leo Valdez skimming past the entryway.

You pause in the trees, craning your neck to catch a glimpse of what he is doing, and it is only then do you see the spanner smash against one of the windows. The glass doesn't shatter, but it shakes and it makes a loud noise, and it's followed closely by Leo yelling out a curse that would get him blown to smithereens if his father were to hear it.

You sprint towards the door. "Leo?"

He spins around, eyes widening. He grips his hand, blood seeping from one of his fingers, dribbling down his wrist and landing upon his boots. He doesn't seem to care, though, simply staring at you in shock.

And then, "Y/N?"

You throw yourself forward, grabbing his wrist. The blood from his gets caught beneath your fingers, but you don't care. You stare at it, shaking your head, whispering his name over and over, and all he can do is stare at you, dumbfounded, before he exclaims, "Hey, wait!" and stumbles back, yanking his hand from your grip in the process.

"Leo, let me have a look at that-"

"You shouldn't be here right now!"

"Okay, Leo, yes, we'll discuss that later, but please, let me look at your hand. What the hell did you even do?"

You reach for him, but he's like a wild animal, startled and afraid. He stumbles back, nearly tripping over a toolbox discarded on the floor. You notice the mess that wasn't there this morning, the tools laying everywhere, sheets of torn paper thrown left, right and centre, broken glass littering the hard floor.

"Jesus, Leo," you gasp. "What have you been doing in here?"

"Why are you back? Why aren't you away yet?"

You lift your gaze, narrowing your eyes. "If you want me to go, you can just say so." And right now, looking at the scene around you and the state of Leo's hand, and his startled expression, you don't even feel bad that he very well might just ask you to turn and leave. Your mind is preoccupied, wanting nothing more than to grab him and force him to shut up so you can pay some attention to the gaping wound on the tip of his finger. His mouth opens and closes like a fish out of water. He's staring at you, unable to move, small of his back pressed against the workbench. The blood welling in his fingertip looks to only be getting worse.

"Leo," you say softly. "Please, can we talk about this later?"

He doesn't respond, but he doesn't run away when you take a step towards him, either. His eyes never leave your own as you reach for his hand and pull him towards a chair in the corner, slowly pushing him into it. You softly ask him to reach into that magic toolbelt of his to pull out some medical supplies, and he does so with trembling hands, never saying a word, never really needing to.

You get to work in silence, trying to ignore the thumping of your own heart, the tremble of your own hands, the desperate need you have to just apologise over and over and over for scaring him so bad, for startling him to the point where he can't even form a full sentence, to the point where he was willing to run away from you.

You clean the wound and bandage it the best way you can, remembering all those times as a child when you would cut yourself by accident and your mum would be too dazed or too neglectful to take you to the hospital or do anything about it herself.

Leo watches your hands working wonders until it's all finally complete and you step back, admiring your handiwork with a pleased grin on your face. "Not too shabby."

Leo swallows. Finally you take the time to look at him, his pale face and startled eyes; he looks like he's on the verge of tears, which really isn't the reaction you were hoping to receive when you walked back into Bunker 9.

You fold your arms over your chest, nibbling your bottom lip as you say, "I'm staying."

Leo exhales shakily. "I don't get it. Last night you were so adamant-"

"I know. I know I was, but I never wanted to go in the first place."

"So why-"

"Emma made me realise some things." You push yourself onto the workbench behind you, the very same spot you always found yourself sitting when Leo is working away on one of his projects. You used to sit with your legs pulled beneath you, watching him work in silence.

He stares at you. "I fully prepared myself to never see you again."

You wince. "I'm sorry."

And then he's scrambling out of his chair, stumbling between your legs, grabbing your hands, tugging them into his chest, all in that order. You gasp at the touch, the rough fabric of his plaster rubbing against your wrist, the forever warm touch of his skin so familiar yet you crave it so badly.

He's shaking his head, mumbling "No," on repeat beneath his breath

. "Leo. . ."

"I didn't mean to make you feel bad," he says. "So don't apologise to me again, alright? I don't want it. I don't need it - all that matters now is that you're here, and you - you said you're staying." He looks up, almost timid. "Did I hear that right?"

You nod, dazed; he's not mad. He's happy. He's smiling, and his eyes are doing that thing again where they glint and they crease into crescents, and he looks so cute, so happy, so like the Leo you've come to know and love so deeply. It makes your heart stutter. It makes this entire thing so, so worth it.

He grins. "Oh gods, Y/N, you scared the shit out of me. I nearly tore this place to the ground-"

"I can see that," you croak.

He winces, glancing awkwardly over his shoulder. "I didn't mean to - It was honestly an accident, but-"

"It's okay, Leo." His head snaps back round.

"It's okay?"

"It's all okay."

You reach forward, winding your arm around his neck, dragging him closer. His curls flood through your fingers, his eyes fluttering closed for a split second before he opens them again and says, "Can I kiss you?"

You nod, because of course he can. He does just that, pressing his lips to yours delicately, so, so delicately, like he's afraid you'll shatter. His hands are tender on your hips, thumbs rubbing gentle, mindless circles into the fabric of your shirt, and it's all so slow, all so gentle, but your heart is exploding into constellations, sprinkling over your being in a way you have never experienced before.

For someone who is never still, never calm, never quiet, his kisses are like a warm summer afternoon spent wading along a beach. They are aquamarine waters and birds chirping around a morning sunrise. They are everything and nothing and more than enough but never enough all in the same breath.

He pulls away first, uncertain, glancing nervously into your eyes as he slowly releases you. He takes a steady step back, rubbing the back of his neck, and it takes everything in you not to pull him back in.

Instead you laugh, swinging your legs back and forth like a giddy child. "Don't look so sheepish or I'll think you've poisoned me."

"I'm not very good at that," he mumbles. "Machines don't usually need kissed, so I don't tend to do it that often."

"I'd hope not." You grab his hand, pulling him back between your knees. "I'm sorry for scaring you earlier."

He opens his mouth, ready to protest your apologies once again, but you cut him off with five fingertips pressed to his lips. His eyes cross over as he glares at them, making you giggle. "I know you said I shouldn't apologise, but I shouldn't have been so. . . hasty. I shouldn't have lost my temper with you. I should have let you speak-"

"I don't say very interesting things."

"You say the most interesting things." You drop your hand, intertwine your fingers with his. "But I'm staying, Leo. I promise." He exhales shakily, like this is what he has been waiting to hear for a while now; it breaks your heart, rejuvenates you at the same time, and you realise suddenly just how awful it would have been to pack up your stuff and head home, to live a life without Leo Valdez in it.

---

Your mother looks a little better. A little healthier. A little happier.

Emma sits beside her, dressed in a t-shirt and jeans, a denim jacket over the top. She looks happy, too, a little exhausted, but you never expected anything less. She's still smiling, though, and when her face appears in the Iris message, she lets out a happy sigh of relief.

"I thought you two would fuck it up."

"Go to hell, Emma," says Leo.

You chuckle, leaning back in your seat; it's been two weeks since Mum and Emma went back to the flat together, two weeks since you agreed to spend the rest of your summer at Camp Half-Blood, working on a relationship with Leo Valdez. It's been a grand two weeks, yes, but you still have responsibilities back in the real world.

"So, how's it going?" you ask. "Mum, you're still going to therapy, aren't you?"

"Yes," Mum mumbles, sounding more like an anguished teenager than anything else. "I've told you both already, I don't need it - I got over Ares years ago. I have my own family now - he can go to hell."

"Tartarus," Leo corrects.

"Whatever."

You grin. It's been so long - so long - since you've heard your mum mention you in the same context as Emma, including your name in the same sentence as the word family. Leo must notice your sudden shift in mood, as he chuckles, placing a gentle hand on the small of your back. He does that sometimes, letting you know he's there, like you'd ever forget. You reach behind you and tangle your fingers with his, subtly placing your joined hands in your lap.

"A few more weeks," you tell her. "That's all you have to endure, and then they're putting you on that trial, aren't they?"

"Apparently," Mum replies. "I was thinking of coming to visit you."

You and Emma share a look - the last time your mother was at Camp Half-Blood, things didn't exactly go well. The energy of this place drove her insane, reminded her of days with Ares, reminded her she'd been abandoned by the one man she ever loved.

Leo cuts in. "Oh, no! I was hoping Y/N and I could come out there and visit you guys for the week!"

Your head whips round. "You were?"

"Well, yeah." Leo rolls his eyes, faux exasperation. "I did tell you about it. I haven't been back to your house since the giant threw that boulder through your window." He rubs his finger along your scarred, damaged knuckles, forever torn from the boulder that destroyed all your nerve endings. "I think it would be a grand old time, personally."

"I agree," Emma chimes in. "And it would be less stressful for us - we can just wait here for them to arrive, and you still get to see Y/N!"

Mum hums, thoughtful, and for just a second, you're certain she's going to revert back to her old ways. She's going to call you scum, pretend you don't exist, make you feel like shit all over again; judging by the sudden grip Leo has on your hand, he thinks the exact same thing. You thought this was over with. You thought your Mum had gotten better, that she finally realised you are her child, too, and-

"I guess it would be a lot less hassle."

Leo exhales. "Great! It's a date."

"For you two, maybe," Emma grumbles. "Look, we have to leave in two minutes, so this is goodbye."

"Jeez, Em, tell us how you really feel."

"See you in a few weeks, assholes!" And before you or Leo can respond, the Iris message is flickering to a close, leaving you and Leo alone in Bunker 9.

It's silent for a few seconds. Leo grips your hand, running his thumb along your knuckles, and it suddenly feels so, so hard not to cry.

"She's getting so much better," you choke out.

Leo's head snaps round, eyes widening at the crack in your voice. "Hey, no. Don't you start crying on me, okay? This is a good thing! Good!" He cups your face, forcing you to look at him. He has that goofy look, his eyebrows stitched together, his lips pursed; it makes you laugh every time.

You reach up, wrapping your hands around his wrists just to keep the feel of him against you for a little longer. "I'm not going to cry. I'm not a bitch."

"It's all good here, Y/N," he says. "I always told you it's all good here."

And with his hands on your face, his eyes gazing into your own, the sweet weather of Camp Half-Blood flourishing outside, you know he's telling the truth. It's all good.

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polaroid15 · 4 years ago

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Worst Date Ever

Summary: Peter and MJ go to the movies. Turns out, all it takes is an ex-Stark employee with a grudge and a sniper rifle to ruin the mood.

Read on Ao3 here :)

------

“That movie was terrible. Like, Captain America PSA bad.”

Beside her, Peter huffs out a small laugh. “Oh come on MJ, it wasn’t that bad.”

“It totally was!”

“But as bad as the PSA’s?” he stresses.

“Worse.”

“No way!”

MJ can’t help but laugh. It’s cold outside the theatre and she shoves her hands deep in her coat pockets to combat it. “Why’d he even agree to make those?” she asks.

Peter gapes at her for a moment. “Um. I don’t know. I haven’t exactly asked him.”

“But you could!”

And it’s true, crazy as it sounds.

“I’m sure he had a good reason,” Peter says, contemplating. “Maybe he was blackmailed.”

MJ hums in disagreement. They link arms at the elbows and start their long walk home, kicking up leaves from the sidewalk. “Do war criminals really have a good reason for anything?”

“Oh my God. You and Tony would get along.”

Tony. MJ smirks. “What happened to calling him Mr. Stark?”

Almost looking embarrassed, Peter shrugs deep in his coat. “Uh- did I say Tony? I meant Mr. Stark. Totally.”

“Right. And I definitely believe you.”

“MJ!”

“You know I’m messing with you. The fact that you’re on a first name basis with the Avengers is just-”

“Crazy? Hard to believe?”

“Well, duh. But I was going to say cool.”

Peter smiles again. It makes her stomach dissolve. “I guess.”

The streets are quiet, dark. It feels like they’re the only two in the world aside from the occasional flash of lights from a passing car. So what if she leans in a little closer, or tightens her grip on his arm?

Sue her.

“I had fun tonight,” Peter murmurs. He turns his head toward her but looks away just as quick. It doesn’t prevent her cheeks from heating.

“Me too,” she says. “Even though the movie totally sucked.”

Peter opens his mouth to respond but tenses before he speaks, eyes widening and head snapping towards the opposite side of the street. Feeling her heart rate spike, MJ digs her nails into his jacket. “What is it?”

His eyes narrow against the darkness. She can see his pulse jumping through his neck. “My- it doesn’t matter. Let’s just get out of here.”

With urgency, he slides his hand down to her own and grasps it tightly, moving to pull her down the street. They barely make it three steps before Peter jerks beside her, a sound like someone being punched hard in the gut reaching her ears. Before her mind can catch up to what’s happening Peter makes a low gasping sound and folds over like wet paper, dragging her down with him.

Her knees hit the cement hard, though she hardly registers the pain through the blind panic coursing through her bloodstream. Peter continues to gasp horribly, his hand leaving her own to clutch up at his stomach. “Oh- oh man-”

“Peter what happened? What’s wrong?”

“MJ-”

“Peter! Talk to me!”

“We have to- we have to go.”

“What?”

“Now.”

Then she sees it.

Red circles on the cement, growing steadily with each passing second. All the information snaps together in her head in one terrifying second and she forgets how to draw in air, tears of panic making her eyes sting.

“You got shot,” she concludes numbly.

“Don’t-” Peter whines, curling the hand supporting him into a fist. His gasps morph into short panicked breaths. “I can’t think about it, okay? Help- help me up.”

What? She feels glued to the cement, stuck forever in the whirlwind of the past thirty seconds. Peter isn’t Spider-Man right now. Getting shot shouldn’t have even been in the realm of possibilities-

“MJ please.”

“What?”

“I need- I need you to help me up. I can’t do it myself.”

Some semblance of coherence returning to her, MJ shakes her head vigorously and tries hard to separate her mind from her body. She sits him back and registers the growing stain above his hip bone before she’s pressing her palms into it. He bites back a scream at the pressure and tries to squirm away. “You need an ambulance!”

“No. No. Spider, remember? Just help me up before someone comes-”

“Peter Parker!”

“MJ! Trust me, okay?”

Their eyes connect for a millisecond. It’s all it takes. She nods, hands shaking as they release his wound and instead work to wrap around his arm. Together they manage to stand, though both of them sway once vertical.

“Tell me what to do,” she says, white spots eating away at her vision through her panic. She keeps looking across the street to where the shot was fired from, but it’s quiet. “I’ve got you Peter. Just- you gotta tell me what to do.”

Peter looks around deliriously, the skin under his eyes wet. She wonders in detachment if he knows he’s crying. “There,” he says finally, dipping his head towards a gas station on the corner. “Bathroom.”

Without wasting another second, MJ gathers her strength and helps Peter walk. He stumbles more than once, but she manages to steady him before he hits the ground. She ignores his slurred apologies and focuses on putting one foot in front of the other.

By some miracle, they make it. The bathroom needs a key but Peter breaks the handle clean off in his desperation to get inside. They collapse inward, laying gasping against the cold tile as Peter continues to fight for breath.

“Need- need to get it off,” he slurs. He crawls towards the sink and MJ lags, brain short circuiting. She watches him as he pulls himself up, eyes rolling for a moment before refocusing and turning on the taps. He lifts up his shirt with a shaking hand and throws the water against the gore on his stomach.

Move, MJ. Help him.

His breathing is getting worse, his face more pale than she’s ever seen it.

Move!

“Peter,” she wheezes, standing on weak knees and rushing to his side. She grabs his wrists gently and pulls them away from the water. He won’t look at her, fighting weakly. “Peter. Stop-”

“Need to get it off,” he says again, chest heaving. “Ben-”

Oh.

Tears returning to her eyes, MJ rests a careful hand against the side of Peter’s face, rubbing her thumb under his eye. It carries blood underneath it like the stroke of a paintbrush. “Peter look at me. Look at me.”

Slowly, he does, though she’s not sure he really sees her. “This isn’t Ben. You’re not there, okay? You’re going to be okay. We need to stop the bleeding.”

“Bleed- bleeding?”

Heart aching, MJ guides Peter to sit against the wall and maneuvers his hands to press into his side. When they stick, she rushes to the paper towel dispenser and rips out sheet after sheet until her hands are full.

“Where’s your phone, Peter?”

“Phone?”

MJ crouches down beside him, her knees sticky with blood. She moves his hands and pushes the paper towel over the wound, applying pressure until he grunts. “Yes, your phone! Give it to me.”

“Right.” Trembling, Peter wrestles it out of his jacket pocket and drops it before it reaches her hand. She picks it up off the floor and unlocks it, careful to ignore the way her thumb leaves an ugly streak of red against the screen.

“Come on, come on,” she whispers, her vision seeming to narrow down to a pinprick. She holds her breath until she finds the contact.

It rings.

And rings.

“What’s up kiddo?”

MJ sobs in relief. Peter looks at her in confusion, reaching a weak hand up to tuck a strand of hair behind her ear. She feels blood transfer onto her cheek from his fingers and shivers. “Mr. Stark? Thank God.”

“Who is this? Where’s Peter?”

“I’m- my name’s MJ. Peter’s hurt. We need help.”

“Damn it. Okay. Crap. Jesus. I’m on my way. What happened?”

MJ spaces. What happened? “We- we were at the movies. We were walking home. Peter- Peter sensed something bad and then- and then he got shot.”

“Shot?”

“Yes.”

Stark curses loudly. Multiple times. “Did you see who it was? Are you in danger?”

“No. They- they were across the street. I didn’t see them. I think we’re okay now.”

Whatever his response is, it’s lost to her ears as Peter relaxes under her hold, his chin dipping and eyelids fluttering. She yelps and shakes him, though perhaps too hard because he flinches hard, tears spilling out of the corners of his eyes.

“Ben,” he moans, lips wobbling. “I’m sorry.”

There’s a heavy silence on the phone, filled only with Tony’s sharp breathing. “Damn it,” he mumbles eventually, as if it hurts to talk. “Three minutes. I’ll be there in three minutes, alright? Try to keep him awake. Distract him from thinking about his Uncle.”

“Okay. Right. Sure.”

Peter curls his hand around her wrist. It leaves a bracelet of red. “MJ.”

“Peter. Oh man. I hope you know that you’re scaring the hell out of me right now.”

“Sorry.”

“No it’s not- nevermind. God, you’re annoying sometimes.”

At this, he smiles. There’s blood streaked on his face from where she had tried to comfort him, already on its way to drying. “At least- at least this is more exciting than that movie.”

Unbelievable. MJ huffs out an anxious laugh. “Are you kidding me right now Parker?”

“Memorable,” he slurs before his head dips again. MJ sacrifices a hand to catch it.

“Don’t pass out on me,” she says fiercely. “It’s rude to pass out on dates.”

“S’ry.”

“Tony will be here soon.”

Peter moans low at this, his touch around her wrist weakening. “Can’t- can’t invite dad’s on dates. That’s- that’s lame.”

MJ feels like she’s spinning. “Peter-”

Metal hits the ground hard from behind and she doesn’t need to look to know that Tony is here. He collapses at her side within seconds, his laboured breaths filling the small space and his hand reaching to cup the back of Peter’s neck. His other hand pushes Peter’s hair back in a movement more gentle than MJ could think possible.

Like a dad.

“Hey Petey, how’re we feeling?”

Peter doesn’t even try to look at him, his eyes glassy and unfocused. “Been- been better.”

“I’ll say.”

“Bad date,” Peter murmurs, resting his head more fully against Tony’s hand. “Shot. Whoops.”

“Whoops indeed,” Tony agrees, “God, kid you’re a disaster.” He turns towards MJ. It’s her first time meeting the billionaire in person, though the shock factor is diluted against the fact that her boyfriend is actively bleeding out underneath her hands.

“You must be MJ,” Tony says, offering a hand. The fact that her own is covered in blood doesn’t seem to cross her mind as she reaches to shake it, feeling increasingly dizzy. “Sorry about all this. Parker luck, you know.”

“What-”

As if to steal back the attention, Peter gives one last guttural moan before his body goes limp. It takes both MJ and Tony to keep him from kissing the cement.

“That’s my cue,” Tony says, gathering Peter into his arms. Shifting the position, he looks at his watch. “Happy will be here in two minutes, alright? Do you know who Happy is? Actually, doesn’t matter. You can trust him. He’ll clean up this horror show and take you over to the compound, alright?”

After an inappropriately long pause, MJ finds enough sense to nod, distracted by Peter’s lax body in Tony Stark’s arms.

“Okay. You did good. Don’t freak out. Deep breaths. Stay here. Two minutes.”

She blinks, and Tony is gone.

Blinks again, and a flushed man in a black Audi pulls in front of the bathroom. She sits in the corner and can’t make out what he says to her as he pulls at the paper towel and mops away the blood. On the sink, on the wall, on the floor.

“Can you stand?” he asks when he finishes. It looks like Peter had never even been here. She looks at him through swimming vision. “What?”

“Stand. Can you stand?”

“Oh.” After a short nod, MJ makes it to her feet. The man’s hand wraps around her elbow, warm and gentle, and she lets him lead her out to the car.

-------

The Avengers Compound looks much bigger in person, she decides. She stares at it and shoves her hands between her knees to keep them from shaking. She smells like blood and movie theatre popcorn.

Happy tries to make conversation, to assure her, but her frazzled mind tunes him out to a dull static. Her teeth chatter with chills unrelated to the cold and she must lose time because the next time she becomes aware the car is parked and her door is open, the man named Happy standing in its place and talking. Surprised her ears have spontaneously stopped working, she fights to break the spell and blinks to clear her vision. “What?”

Happy sighs, though through his tough demeanor she sees a flicker of empathy. “You need to get out of the car.”

“Oh. Right.”

Nauseous, MJ stumbles out onto the driveway and from there allows Happy to guide her up to a set of double doors. The Compound is warm and for a moment, she lets herself relax.

“P-Peter?” she asks. “Have you heard anything? Is he- is he going to be okay?”

“It’ll take more than a bullet to take down that kid. Don’t worry. He’s in good hands.”

Though his words feign confidence, MJ remains unassured. They stop outside a large door, which Happy opens, and gestures for her to enter. “Clean the blood off. You’ll feel better.”

It’s a bathroom. She pauses at the door until the request processes in her brain. Then, strangely untethered, she nods and steps inside.

As soon as the door shuts she slides back against it, stars floating across her vision. She digs her nails into her scalp and forces herself to fill her chest with air.

“Oh God.” She crawls over to the toilet and barely has time to lift the lid before she gags.

She feels better.

Feeling more coherent, MJ makes her way to a fancy porcelain sink and twists the water until it steams. Then, without focusing her attention, she dips her hands under the stream and scrubs with lemon soap until her hands burn too badly to continue. She wipes violently at her face, at her arms, at the darkened denim at her knees.

Not sure how much time has passed, MJ exits the bathroom to find Happy standing in the hall, phone pressed to his ear as he paces. His eyes catch her and his expression softens. “I’ll call you back,” he says. “Better?”

“Yeah. Thanks.”

“Good news. Peter just got out of surgery. They have him all settled. I’ll take you up to see him.”

He begins to walk away, though MJ doesn’t follow. Her feet feel like bricks. “He’s really okay?” she asks.

Happy stops. “Yes. He’s fine.”

A sharp pain in her chest she hadn’t fully realized was there loosens at the confirmation. Lightheaded, she follows.

The hospital room is dimly lit, casting long shadows. Peter is laying in the center of the room, pale and unconscious but alive. Hardly able to register her relief, she freezes in the doorway as Happy wanders in, his face a picture of undeniable worry. Stark is sitting in a chair close to Peter's bedside, his eyes bloodshot and his hand resting protectively against Peter’s arm.

Happy stands beside the man, one hand resting on his shoulder and the other on Peter’s blanketed leg. They share a quiet conversation before Happy nods and moves to leave. He pauses beside her. “What are you waiting for?” he asks.

Then he hurries out into the hall.

It takes a couple of long seconds before she regains control of her legs. She drifts in and eases down in a chair on the opposite side of Tony, who regards her with sharp eyes.

“How’re you holding up?” he asks, which almost surprises her more than the gunshot.

“M-me? I’m fine. How’s Peter?”

“Also fine.”

“He wasn’t-”

“He is now.”

Stark is running his thumb across Peter’s arm, almost absent mindedly. MJ is transfixed by the obvious display of affection and feels, to some relief, the confinement of her worry slowly dissipate.

“Do you know who it was?” she asks. “That shot him?”

The man’s eyes darken, something like guilt passing through them. “Yes, actually. A bitter employee.”

“What?”

“Someone who used to work for me. They were- unethical, to say the least.”

Once again, MJ’s mind is spinning. “Why Peter?”

Tony frowns, but quickly trades it for a look of nonchalance. He doesn’t look at her. “Hurting Peter hurts me more than actually hurting me. He knew that- the bastard. Though how he found you guys in the first place-” Tony closes his eyes, taking a deep breath. “I’m sorry. This should’ve never happened.”

“Oh. It’s not your fault. All that matters is that Peter’s okay.”

“Right,” Tony agrees, regarding her weakly. “Thanks for taking care of him. I know that couldn’t have been easy.”

MJ shrugs.

“No, really. I don’t know what I would do if-” Tony tapers off, sighing deeply and closing his eyes. “You know.”

“I know,” she says softly.

Clearing his throat, Tony shifts, though his hand never leaves Peter. “So it was a date then?” he asks. It’s so undeniably paternal that she can’t help but laugh in exasperation.

Before she can respond, Peter moans between them. He swats Tony with a heavy arm, eyes still closed. “Don’ grill her,” he slurs, words barely coherent.

“Oh lordy,” Tony grumbles. “Only you would wake up from a drug-induced sleep to stop me from talking about your dating life.”

But when MJ looks at him, Tony’s face is soft and painted in relief. For some reason, it makes her eyes water.

Peter swivels his head towards MJ, managing to pry one eye open to half mast to look at her. Fighting for courage, she grabs his free hand and intertwines their fingers. “S’ry,” he murmurs.

“You’re an idiot,” she says. Then, “I’m glad you’re okay.”

Peter smiles, though it falls into a wince. “I owe you one.”

“Definitely.”

Face relaxing, Peter’s head dips before he catches in with a startled breath of air. Tony rests a hand on his forehead and pushes him back against the pillow gently. “Go back to sleep kiddo. We’ll be right here.”

Peter hums, far from the surface. His head lolls into Tony’s hand and his hand squeezes MJ’s weakly before growing limp. “Love you guys,” he whispers.

Her stomach jumps. She squeezes his hand back.

Love you too, loser.

Tony sits back in his chair. He looks at her almost apologetically.

“Welcome to the family.”

#peter parker #tony stark #michelle jones #peter parker/michelle jones #date gone wrong #gunshot wounds #hurt peter parker #protective tony stark #protective MJ #whump #peter parker whump #irondad #tony stark acting as peter parkers parental figure #MJ meets Tony #my fic #irondad fic

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neraidaastrid · 4 years ago

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Never ending moment

Fred Weasley x Reader

Fandom: Harry Potter

Prompt: Y/N running off of coffee to stay up to avoid sleeping as it makes them feel like sleeping is wasting time. He gets her to 😴

Word Count: 1562

Warnings: Intrusive thoughts. Worrying. Unhealthy sleeping habits.

The warm liquid squirmed down your throat, enlightening your body with heat. It was as though you were being hugged on the inside, heat spreading internally. You relished in it, high on your caffeine drive, holding your cute cat mug in your hands while in front of the fireplace. The roaring fiery flames cackled, blessing your ears and sending warming shivers throughout your body. A thick crocheted jumper hugged your torso loosely; Black leggings shaping your legs, revealing them of their form; Fuzzy socks cuddling your feet with fluff; Legs crossed on the floor of the Weasley’s burrow. You didn't want to waste a minute of this; You couldn't waste a minute of this.

You inhaled a deep breath through you nose, letting in faint coffee scent. Your eyes began to feel heavy, the feeling of sleep wanting to force them shut. You tightly shut your eyes, trying to squeeze it away; The tiredness was trying to catch up with you but you would not let it. Never could you waste these moments with something as stupid as sleep. What if you were to miss something while unconscious? No, it won't happen. You can't miss anything. So, you reopened them, a slight blur on the corners of your vision.

You started gulping down the drink like it would just suddenly make this feeling go away. And with every chug, your eyes began to feel somewhat lighter; Less strained. You let a sigh escape your lips; It was boring to tell the truth, but sleep was out of the question. You focused on the clock above the fireplace, most hands pointing home; Charlie was in Romania, tending to his dragons; Bill in Egypt, working as a curse-breaker; Percy was home; Arthur was working a late night at the ministry; Molly was home; Ginny was home; Ron was home; George was home; Fred was home. Your dearest Fred. Your bestest friend since our first year and the guy you so stupidly fell for. If only he knew.

You sat in solitude as the sun rose from the sky, letting the moon take a break from its reign over the night. Shades of pure oranges and pinks seep into the room, shining through the window above the sink. Dishes began dancing in the sink bowl, a scrubbing brush swirling soap over the pottery. Clinks and clanks of the plates putting themselves in the cupboards were quiet compared to your thoughts. Tapping of knitting needles sang through the morning clatter, working on Mrs. Weasley’s new piece. Threading purple and blue wool together in a complicated weave. Your mug had gone cold, no more warmth radiating to your hands, but still you clutched onto it for some sort of stableness in the war in your head.

Mr. Weasley’s clock hand had been moving slowly throughout the past hour or so and you hadn't even noticed. It dinged, alerting you and prompting your attention. His hand had reached home and he was going to find you sat on the floor of his home. Would he think you were crazy? You shook the thought away, but you stayed frozen; In the end, you didn't really care. Let him see you. You just didn't want to move; You couldn’t move. Though you did not care whether he found you here or not, your heart began to race and your body trembled. The ‘what ifs’ still danced about your head unwanted, no matter how much you wanted to get rid of them. Your eyes stayed glued to the clock, awaiting Arthur to come waltzing into his home.

A fierce engine grumbled loudly outside of the burrow, landing roughly onto the grass, bouncing along to its stop. The noise only grew, rumbling into your ears until it immediately faltered, meaning that the engine had been turned off. A low click was followed by a slam and footsteps trudging along the muddy field of morning dew.

The little bell above the side door gave a soft ring as the door opened and the redhead stumbled in. The noise echoed through the room, but it was quite quiet, melodious even. His heavy steps creaked the floorboards, his coat grazing against everything at his sides. Briefcase in his left hand which he placed on the table, his eyes catching sight of you. His face showed confusion; Eyebrows knitted together; Lips in a thin line; Eyes squinted, trying to find an answer. He looked slightly startled by your presence, “Ah. Goodmorning Y/N. You’re up a bit early aren't you?” He was polite nether less, but you could barely speak out a word; Your body paralysed by thoughts. “Morning.” Did he hear it? You’re pretty sure your voice cracked and it was really quiet too. Hopefully he didn't think you were being rude for not answering the question, but that was all you could say. It was polite but was it rude to not answer the question? Your mind ran and ran, no matter what happened, you could never get a break from it.

Arthur took that as the best answer he could possibly get and sighed. His footsteps dispersed from the dining room and he travelled up the long twisty staircase. He could move, so why couldn't you? This was lazy, you were lazy. This was why you had to be awake, nothing you did today was productive and now you just sit frozen. You couldn't miss anything else; You’ve already missed most of the day whisked away in one of the twin’s rooms and now you spent your nights caffiened up and paralysed. Useless.

The movements of magic were merely heard, they just blurred into silent background noise. But a new pair of footsteps awakened you and as if on instinct, you knew it was Fred. You blinked and all of a sudden the feeling in your body was back. You jumped up, fixing your hair and patting down your clothing, fixing a gentle smile on your face. Your mug was being tightly held in your hands still, the cold pottery keeping your skin chilled.

The ginger spotted you in front of the fireplace, a small smirk tugging at his lips but concern played in his eyes. His eyes moved about your figure, studying your appearance. Exhaustion quite easily spotted on you; Shoulders slouched; Frizzy hair; Bags hanging under your eyes. While a smile was framed on your face, your eyes looked lost, they were darting around the room, unable to focus on one thing.

Fred took steps towards you, placing his hand on your cheek, cupping it. “You never showed up to the bedroom last night. I thought you were with George, but then dad told me you were down here, sat frozen on the floor.” His face fell and he towered over you. “What’s going on, sweetheart?” His voice was soothing, but your body only shook more. His eyes fell down to the mug, staring at the rubbish bit of coffee you left. He sighed and took the mug from your hands and placed it onto the dining table behind him. Your eyes teared up, the brim of them crystallising. Fred’s strong hands went back onto your cheeks, circling his thumbs over your bags. You couldn't speak, your words were being held back by something. What if you said something wrong?

“When’s the last time you slept?” His voiced calmed your thoughts, letting you escape them for a moment. You bit your bottom lip, trying to think but your mind was puzzled. Nothing; You had no recollection whatsoever of when you last rested your head. Your shoulders shrugged to show Fred. “I don't know.” His big masculine hands instantly let go of your face and wrapped around your waist, pulling you into his chest. “Lets get you to bed.” He placed his hands under your body, lifting you bridal style. “Fred, I’m not tired, I don't want to sleep-” A yawn interrupted you last second, making your argument seem condescending and completely useless. You could feel his eye roll radiating off of him as he made his way to the staircase Mr. Weasley had gone up not too long before. “We’ll talk about this in the morning, but for now, you're going to bed.” His voice stern, as though he was scolding a child, but you stopped protesting. You were shaking still and the feeling wasn't so great, it was taking so much energy to keep your eyes open. Maybe you could just have another coffee- Nope, Fred wouldn't allow it. You huffed in defeat and Fred walked into his room, pushing open the already open door.

He softly lays you onto the mattress, transferring your weight onto the plush material. The redhead crawls in behind you, covering you and him with his covers. You kept blinking rapidly, unable to stay awake much longer. A pair of arms pull you into a body, your face nuzzling into his neck. His scent was euphoric and you couldn't quite think straight. “Sleep, I’ll be here when you wake up. I promise.” His chest vibrated when he spoke and he planted a kiss to your head, stroking your hair back. You closed your eyes, letting his scent fight away the intrusive thoughts and letting you drift off. Darkness took over your body while Fred just held onto you, hoping this moment would never have to end.

#fred weasly x reader #fred weasley #arthur weasley #harry potter fanfic #fred weasley fic #fred weasley fanfiction #george weasley #molly weasley #harry potter fanfiction #percy weasley #ron weasley #bill weasley #charlie weasley #ginny weasley

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writemekpop · 4 years ago

Text

Elastic Heart | Nakamoto Yuta

Pairing: Nakamoto Yuta x Reader

Summary: Your life changes when you are diagnosed with a fatal heart disease. You don’t want to drag Yuta down, so you break up with him. But when Yuta finds out about your secret, he rushes back to you. Will he make it on time, or will he be too late?

Genre: Angst 💔 & Fluff & Suggestive - the works

Word count: 2.7k

Request: Yuta x reader angst imagine where he is an idol and you are his girlfriend but you are diagnosed with an incurable illness so you broke up with him to not distract him from his career. Later he found out the truth on why you broke up with him but it was too late cause your already dying.

Gif: @vitaminyuta

“Y/n! You’re here!”

Yuta lifts you into his arms, twirling you around in the air and sending your heart racing. Even after two years of dating, Yuta still fills you with butterflies.

When Yuta sets you down again, you stagger, almost falling to the ground. Yuta steadies you just in time. “Woah! You ok, babe?”

“I’m good… I just feel a little dizzy.”

“Are you gonna be okay for the race?” Yuta asks, tucking a strand of hair behind your ear.

“I’ll be fine babe, don’t worry.” You take his hand and squeeze it reassuringly.

Although you don’t actually like running, the smile on Yuta’s face was enough to get you to sign up for this charity fun run. What with Yuta’s crazy schedule, this was the only chance you get to go out on a date anyway.

“On your marks, get set, go!” Yuta takes your hand and you start running together.

For a while, the dizziness seems to be disappearing. But after a few minutes, you begin to feel sick again. You let go of Yuta’s hand and slow down.

“Are you alright? We can go slower…” Yuta says.

“I’m fine, Yu-”

Suddenly, white spots bleach your vision. Your legs feel like jelly, and they start to crumple beneath you. Before you know it, the wet grass hits your cheek.

“Y/n!”

You slowly open your eyes, and see Yuta hovering above you. His brows are creased, and his eyes glassy.

“Oh, thank god. You’re awake!” Yuta leans down to kiss you.

You sit up slowly. A man in a blazing neon safety vest hands you a bottle of water. “Miss, you should sit out of the race. And just to be safe, go and see your doctor. Has this happened before?”

You hurriedly shake your head no – you can’t risk worrying Yuta. But the truth is, you’ve fainted twice in the last month.

You turn your head to Yuta. “Babe, I know how much you wanted to do this run… you should on go without me. It’s probably nothing, anyway.”

Yuta pulls you onto his lap. “Don’t be silly. Let’s just sit here till you’re better.”

While you are sat together on the side of the racetrack, you notice Yuta’s eyes following the racers whizzing by, his leg bouncing up and down ceaselessly. You place your hand on his thigh, stilling his movements. “I’m sorry I ruined our date…”

“Of course you didn’t, darling.” Yuta gives you a smile, but it doesn’t quite reach his eyes.

---3 weeks later---

“Your tests results have come back. I’m afraid you have a condition called arrhythmogenic right ventricular cardiomyopathy.” Your doctor’s voice is soft, but her words send your head spinning.

“Arrhythmo… what?” you ask, feeling dizzier by the second.

“It’s a heart condition. It’s why you’ve been fainting so much lately.”

You nod slowly. “How bad is it, doctor?”

Her face creases with concern. “I don’t think you should hear this alone… is there someone we can call, maybe a boyfriend?”

Your mind flashes to Yuta. Lovely Yuta. What you wouldn’t give to have him by your side right now. But he’s been practicing day and night for NCT’s concert, and he doesn’t need something like this throwing him off course.

“No, there’s no one I can call. Please, just give it to me straight.”

The doctor gives your hand a squeeze. “I’m afraid… it’s not curable. Your heart might give up suddenly.”

“So… I could drop dead at any time?” Your chest feels like it’s collapsing.

The doctor nods, her face grim. “Try not to do anything too strenuous. Outdoor sports, exercise, dancing - anything too exciting really…”

Your throat aches. It’s like she just listed off everything that Yuta cares about.

The doctor continues, “And, speak to your loved ones. You need all the support you can get.”

You sit back in your chair and take a deep breath.

---

Yuta rushes up to you as you walk back through your apartment door.

“Hey babe, what did the doctor say? I wish you’d let me come with you...” Yuta’s warm brown eyes are so full of love and concern. It hurts you to lie to him, but you have no choice.

“N-nothing. It’s fine… I just forgot to eat lunch before the race… that’s why I fainted.”

Yuta pulls you in for a hug. “Thank god. I was so worried, Y/n!” Yuta ruffles your hair, pulling you towards the couch. “Let’s finish that movie we started. I want to find out what happ-”

“Yuta?” you say, cutting him off.

“Yes, babe?” he says.

You reach for his hand. “Can we make love?”

Yuta raises an eyebrow. You’ve slept together countless times, but you’ve never asked for it like this.

After a moment, his lips curl into a smirk. “You don’t have to ask me twice.”

If Yuta notices that you cling to him harder than usual when he kisses your neck, or that your nails dig deeper into his back when you ride him, he doesn’t say anything.

When tears fall down your cheeks as he brings you to your climax, he keeps quiet, simply pressing soothing kisses into your skin.

Yuta doesn’t understand why you need him in this moment, but being the loving boyfriend that he is, he gives his whole self to you willingly.

---

Three months have passed, and you still haven’t told Yuta the truth about your diagnosis.

He’s been too busy to even notice you sneaking off to doctor’s appointments and hastily gulping down medicine. But you can feel your lie gnawing at you, hollowing you out from the inside.

It’s getting too much to bear.

So, you’ve been preparing yourself to break up with him. You remember the days when you talked on the phone all evening, till you fell asleep on the line. Now, you don’t call him for weeks.

After cancelling on Yuta three times in a row, when he invites you back to his dorm this evening, you agree.

You knock on his door.

It’s pulled open to reveal Yuta. When he sees you, his lifts his arms towards you, as if to embrace you. But after a gut-wrenching moment, he shoves them back into his pockets, clearing his throat stiffly.

“You came…” he says, eyes trained on the floor. “I missed you.”

“I missed you too, Yuta.”

You follow Yuta to his room and sit down next to him on the bed. “You changed your hairstyle,” you say.

Yuta runs his fingers through his short blonde hair, smiling absentmindedly. “Yeah, I wasn’t sure this style would suit me, but everyone I asked said I should go for it.”

A pang cuts through your chest. “You didn’t ask me,” you say. You know you’re being petty, but you just can’t help yourself.

“Well maybe if you answered my calls once in a while, Y/n, I would have.” His tone is cold. “What’s gotten into you lately? Why are you being so… selfish?”

Hot tears sting your eyes. “Selfish? You don’t know what I’m giving up for you.” You take a deep breath. “Yuta, I…”

“What? What is it?” Yuta stands up, his fists clenched. “You don’t answer my calls, you don’t come around, you won’t have sex with me… hell, you won’t even kiss me! Tell me, what is this big sacrifice?”

Yuta stands in front of you, arms crossed. His dark eyes bore into yours.

“Yuta,” you start, your voice barely above a whisper. “I’m sick…”

Yuta’s eyes widen. “You’re sick? Why didn’t you say-”

“No,” you interrupt. You see his expression, and suddenly your short-lived confidence vanishes. “I’m sick… and… tired… of this. Of us.”

It’s like you can see Yuta’s heart shatter into a million pieces in front of you.

Yuta drops to his knees, now face to face with you. “Y/n,” his voice trembles. “I don’t want to break up. That’s not what I meant… I just miss you…”

“Just stop!” you shout, pushing him away and getting up from the bed. You walk to the window and stare out of it, knowing that if you meet his eyes now, you won’t be able to let him go.

“Y/n, please don’t leave me,” Yuta whispers, coming up behind you. He wraps his arms around your waist and rests his forehead on your shoulder. You don’t have the energy to push him off. So you let him hold you - one last time.

Yuta’s body shakes with soundless sobs as he grips you tighter, his fingers crumpling your blouse.

You wait for his trembles to subside before you speak again. “I’m sorry, Yuta. It’s over.”

You turn around to face him. His eyes are red, and his hair is a mess.

Your heart breaks at the sight of him. You long to wipe the tears from his smooth cheek and press kisses to his lips. But you’re doing this for him, you remind yourself. You can’t tie him down forever. Yuta will get over you.

“Goodbye, my love.”

---

“I’m really worried about Yuta,” Mark says, his brows creased.

“Me too,” Taeyong replies. “I haven’t seen him eat a proper meal in ages. All he does is practice. He’s going to end up hurting himself.”

Taeyong leans in closer, dropping his voice to a murmur. “What happened with Y/n? Do you know why they broke up?”

“No idea… Should we go and talk to him?”

Taeyong nods.

Taeyong lightly pushes open Yuta’s door. “Hey… Yuta, how you holding up?”

Yuta is sitting on the floor, his head in his hands. He doesn’t look up. “Go away, Taeyong.”

Taeyong sighs and turns away, but Mark isn’t having any of it. “Yuta!” Mark shouts. “It’s been two months since you and Y/n broke up. You need to get out of this funk, man!”

Yuta snaps his head up. “You don’t know what you’re talking about - get the fuck out,” he spits.

Mark pays no attention to his rebuff. “Look, you need to get over her. You… you should start by getting rid of her stuff.” Mark walks over to your bag, lying in the exact same corner of the room where you left it all those months ago. He picks it up and holds it in the air. “I’m trashing this.”

Yuta springs to his feet. “No! Y/n might want that back!”

“If she wanted it back, she would have asked for it. She hasn’t even called you once since you broke up. This is going in the trash.”

Yuta lunges towards Mark and grabs the bag, but Mark refuses to let go. They both yank at the bag, till it bursts open, scattering its contents all over the floor.

Each of them gasp when they see what’s inside.

Dozens of medicine bottles are strewn over the floor. Most are empty, but some have a few pills left. Taeyong bends down and peers at the label of one bottle. “These are for Y/n… did you know she was unwell?” Taeyong pulls out his phone and starts typing.

Yuta’s stomach twists with confusion. “N-no she never said she was sick… wait, hold on...”

Yuta has tried his hardest to block out that day from his mind. But now, he has to rack his brain for any signs that you might have been hiding something.

Yuta’s heart coils in sickening realisation. You were sick. And you were hiding it from him.

Taeyong stands up abruptly and walks over to Yuta. He holds his phone up for Yuta to read. “I think Y/n has a pretty serious heart condition. Do you think that’s why she…” he trails off.

The blood drains from Yuta’s face. He needs to see you, now.

Yuta runs to the door, his coat and phone lying forgotten on the floor . It’s a twenty-minute walk to your place. Ten if he runs.

“Wait!” Taeyong shouts from behind him. “It’s the middle of the night, and there’s a storm outside. You’ll get soaked!”

Yuta doesn’t care. All he needs now is you. A light flickers at the end of the tunnel. If you broke up with him just because of this illness, then maybe it isn’t over between you.

Yuta sprints into the rain, heading to your place.

---

They say that when you die, your entire life flashes before your eyes. But all you can see right now is Yuta. You think about him every waking hour, and at night, his face fills your every dream.

The fainting spells have been getting worse lately, and every time you move too fast you feel like you might die.

You’re lying in bed, trying to block out the sound of the thundering rain. You press your hand to your forehead. It’s cold and clammy. Squeezing your eyes closed, you beg for the dizziness to stop - when you hear three sharp knocks on your door.

Your eyes snap open. You were sure you imagined them, but there they are again. Three knocks. Louder this time.

You lift your aching body off the bed and check your phone. It’s 2AM. You’ve pretty much alienated everyone you care about, so you don’t know who could be knocking on your door right now. A tiny part of you wishes that it’s Yuta, but you block that thought as quickly as it came.

Walking up to your door, you unclasp the latch and pull the door open to reveal…

Yuta.

Yuta, the real Yuta, is panting before you. His rain-drenched T shirt sticks to his firm chest. His dishevelled blonde hair is dripping into his matted eyelashes. His cheeks are wet with tears and rain, but a fire smoulders in his gaze.

“Y/n…”

The shock of seeing him after all this time is too much to bear. It feels like your heart will jump out of your chest. You reach out to Yuta, but your vision starts to go blurry. Oh no. Not again.

You feel your limbs collapse beneath you. You brace yourself to hit the cold ground, but the impact never comes.

Yuta has caught you before you can fall. You feel his warm, strong arms wrapped around you as he carries you inside. The dizziness is unrelenting, but you finally feel safe now Yuta is here. Yuta is here! You can’t quite believe it.

Yuta softly places you down onto your bed, then all of a sudden, his strong arms disappear, leaving an aching emptiness.

You open your eyes slowly, your vision refocusing. Yuta hovering by the bed, his face contorted. When your eyes meet his, he drops his gaze and turns towards the door.

“Wait… don’t go,” you plead, your voice hoarse.

Yuta stops in his tracks.

You stare at his back, mentally begging him to turn around. “Please Yuta… just lie down with me.”

Yuta pauses, then steps back towards the bed. You release the breath you didn’t know you were holding.

Peeling off his drenched T shirt, Yuta pulls on his old hoodie that was draped on the edge of the bed. You never had the heart to throw it away.

Yuta climbs under the covers with you, but he remains in stony silence.

You wrap your arms around his warm chest and press your ear to his heart. The rhythmic thumping plus the gentle rise and fall of his chest finally calms your raging heart.

Just before you drift off, you hear his voice in your ear. It’s ragged, and so soft that you almost miss it. “Why didn’t you tell me you were sick?”

You gulp. You don’t know what the future holds, but being here with Yuta right now, you feel like you could die happy.

You don’t answer his question. You just nuzzle closer to him, pressing as much of your body to his as you can.

Yuta places a kiss onto the top of your head and whispers,

“I would have ripped out my heart and given it to you, if you had just asked.”

475 notes · View notes

massivedrickhead · 4 years ago

Note

Could you write a one shot where Beca got hurt jumping off the boat in pp3? Maybe shot?

I’m not gonna have her get shot because I don’t wanna get too serious.

Hope you enjoy anyway!

Read on AO3

Beca was falling.

The water below lit up by the explosion behind her.

Her ears ringing from the sound of it.

Time seemed to slow as she fell. She had time to see Fat Amy hit the end of the boat they’d used to get here, and send the other end into air.

And then she collided with it.

She felt the sharp smack of pain for a second before she was swallowed by the cold black water.

And then an even more intense pain exploded in her shoulder as someone grabbed her arm and pulled her to the surface.

As her head broke the water, she could hear the voices if the Bellas calling to her but they sounded far away.

Someone was gripping her tightly, trying to keep her head above water, but the pain was becoming unbearable now.

“Please,” she said, her eyes squeezed shut. “Let me go. It hurts, let me go.”

“I’m not letting go,” Chloe’s voice said in her ear. Her voice was shaking. Trembling. But so fierce and determined that Beca stopped struggling. “I’m not losing you.”

And then the pain reached it’s peak, and Beca got swallowed by the darkness.

When she came to, she could feel something vibrating beneath her, and someone was pressing a cold hand to her face.

“Beca?”

“Am I dead?” Beca asked, opening her eyes to see Chloe kneeling beside her, her eyes wide with concern. Chicago was beside Chloe, trying keep her blanket on her shoulders, but Chloe only had eyes for Beca.

“No,” Chloe said, half laughing, half crying as she helped Beca sit up. “No you’re not dead.”

“Did everyone get out?” Beca asked, wiping a stream of water out of her eyes.

"Yeah,” Chloe said. “Everyone’s fine. They’re all on the other boats.”

“And you’re okay?”

“I’m okay,” Chloe said. “Cold and wet, but I’m okay. Better now that you’re awake.”

“Good,” Beca said, wiping the water away again. It kept dripping in front of her eyes and obscuring her vision. She wiped at it a bit harder and felt pain race across her forehead.

“Hey,” Chloe said, holding Beca’s wrist, to stop her from touching her head again. “You’ll make it worse.”

Beca looked down and saw it was blood and not water that coated her hand.

“Oh,” Beca said, feeling suddenly much colder. She didn’t like blood, yet she couldn’t seem to look away from it.

“Look at me,” Chloe said, softly. “I don’t want you passing out again.”

Beca tore her eyes away from her blood covered hand to focus on Chloe.

“You saved us,” Chloe said. “You and Amy saved us.”

“Of course we did,” Beca said.

They sat without speaking for a while, the noise of the boats the only sound they could hear.

At one point, Beca let her head drop onto Chloe’s shoulder.

“You’re gonna get blood on me,” Chloe said, kissing the top of Beca’s head.

“Sorry,” Beca said, laughing softly. “I’m tired. And you’re comfy.”

“I’ll take that as a compliment,” Chloe said, trying to push away the worry in her stomach.

“That shit was crazy right? We jumped off a boat as it was exploding. Like… What the fuck man?”

Chloe laughed. “I know. That’s action movie shit. How are you doing?”

“Not… Not great.”

“What hurts?”

“My shoulder and my head,” Beca said. “And my ribs. And I kinda feel sick. And dizzy. Really dizzy. So, you know, I’ve had better days.”

Chloe turned to look at Chicago for the first time since Beca had been pulled onto the boat.

“How much longer?” She asked.

“Not long,” Chicago said. “There should be ambulances waiting.”

“Ambulances?” Beca asked. “Plural?”

“Amy got hurt too when she hit that boat,” Chloe said, turning to look back at Beca. Her stomach flipped as she saw how much paler she’d gotten. “She’s fine though. She looked in better shape than you.”

“Okay,” Beca said. She moved her head from Chloe’s shoulder and leant forward, feeling the sickness and dizziness rise with each rise and fall the boat made along the waves. “I don’t feel good. I hate boats. I’m never getting on another boat after this.”

“You’re okay,” Chloe said, running her hand up and down Beca’s back. “We’re almost there.”

As the boat started slowing, the rocking of the ship against the waves was getting worse as they approached the shore.

“Oh my god,” Beca mumbled. “I’m seriously gonna throw up. I swear I never get seasick.”

“I don’t think you’re seasick, Bec, I think you have a concussion,” Chloe said.

“Ah,” Beca said. “Yeah. Yeah that makes more sense.”

“Beca, do you think you can walk?” Chicago asked.

“Ah ha,” Beca said, grimacing in pain.

“Okay,” Chicago said. “Me and the guys are gonna help you down from the boat now. We can’t really get these boats close enough so you’ll have to walk through a bit of the sea. It’s really shallow but the current is a bit strong, so don’t let it catch you off guard or you might fall, and that’ll be really embarrassing for you.”

Beca laughed and then winced again.

Chicago climbed over the side of the boat, and another soldier eased Beca over the side and into his arms.

She had to stop herself from screaming when his hands held her ribs.

“You good?” He asked, setting her on her feet.

Beca nodded, biting down on her lip, waiting for the pain to ease off again. “Where’s Chloe?”

“They’re getting her down now,” he said, steadying her as small wave caused her to stumble.

“Thank you. For coming to get us. You’re a good dude, Chicago,” Beca said, holding his forearm so she didn’t fall. “I can see why Chloe likes you.”

“Is that you giving me your blessing?” Chicago asked, smiling as he waited to help Chloe down off the boat.

“Sure,” Beca said, ignoring the sinking feeling in her stomach.

But she wanted Chloe to be happy. Being with Chicago would probably make her happy.

“She doesn’t like me, Beca,” Chicago said, a sad smile on his face. “I’ve seen the way she looks at you. She doesn’t like me.”

And then he was helping Chloe down from the boat, and she was beside her again, eyes full of worry as they looked her over.

Chicago pointed out where the ambulance was waiting, along with the some of other Bellas who had made their way off their boats and out of the sea.

“You’ll come with me, right?” Beca asked, as Chloe took hold of uninjured arm to help her walk out of the sea and up to the beach. “I don’t want to do this alone.”

“Of course. I’m not going anywhere.”

“Everything hurts, Chlo’,” Beca said, feeling another wave of nausea wash over her as more blood dripped down her face.

“I know. But look, we’re almost there.”

Chloe’s voice was sounding far away again. She could see people running towards them, but couldn’t make out who they were.

“Beca?”

She hadn’t realised she’d stopped walking, but now Chloe was turning to look at her, her eyes full of concern again.

And then Beca's legs gave out, and she fell forward into the sand.

And then she was in a warm and comfortable bed. The pain and nausea was gone, and she felt like she’d be able to drift off to sleep again if she wanted. Someone was holding tightly onto her hand.

She heard a door open and close followed by a chair scraping, but she made no move to open her eyes. She was just too relaxed and comfortable.

In the back of her mind, she knew that pain was there. She knew there’d be a lot of it later. Like when you drink a lot and you know a hangover is coming. But for now she was pain free.

“How’s Amy?” Chloe asked. Her voice sounded tired and it cracked when she spoke

“Fine,” Aubrey replied. “She broke her arm but they said she doesn’t need surgery or anything.”

“Thank god,” Chloe said. “She hit that boat pretty hard.”

“Not as hard as Beca,” Aubrey said. “How is she?”

“Um, I don’t know really,” Chloe said. “We were talking on the boat and she was hurt but she seemed okay. And then… I don’t know.”

“What did the doctors say?”

“She dislocated her shoulder, bruised her ribs, and hit her head pretty bad,” Chloe said.

Beca was trying to follow along with the conversation happening in the room, but the words were hard to hold onto. She couldn’t quite make sense of them, so she gave up and just let them wash over her, and she drifted back off to sleep.

“What if she doesn’t wake up?” Chloe asked, her voice breaking again.

“She will,” Aubrey said. “She’ll be okay.”

“I love her, ‘Bree.”

“I know you do,” Aubrey said, sighing softly. “So when she wakes up, you should tell her.”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “We all could have died tonight. If Amy and Beca hadn’t come for us, we could have died. I don’t want to wait anymore. I don’t want to waste anymore time.”

They sat in silence for a few more minutes.

“So apparently Amy beat up like 10 fully grown men on that boat. I gotta say, I thought every story she’d ever told had been BS until now. Do you think she’s actually wrestled crocodiles?”

Beca woke up for real a few hours later.

Chloe was sleeping in the chair beside her bed, and Beca couldn’t help but smile at the sight of her.

She was sore and tired, but she knew morphine was still taking the edge off, and that she’d feel real pain again later.

She was trying to make sense of the dream she’d been having, which had just been about Aubrey and Chloe talking, when Chloe stirred beside her.

“Hey,” Beca said, her voice barely louder than a whisper.

Chloe smiled when she saw she was awake. “Hey,” she said, her voice just as rough as Chloe’s. “You scared the shit out of me.”

“Sorry,” Beca said, smiling. “How long have you been sitting there?”

“They brought you in at like midnight so… six hours?”

“Shit,” Beca said. “I’m sorry. You can go back to the hotel, you know? Get some proper rest?”

“I told you I wasn’t leaving you,” Chloe said. “So I’m not leaving you.”

“Thank you,” Beca said, reaching out so Chloe could take her hand.

“You and Amy rowed out into the Med to save us from a crazy hostage situation. I think I owe you this at least,” Chloe said, taking Beca’s and and pressing her lips to her knuckles.

“I did all of the rowing too,” Beca said. “If that gets me bonus points?”

“It does,” Chloe said, grinning. “How are you feeling?”

“Sore,” Beca said. “Tired. You?”

“Yeah I’m pretty tired too,” Chloe said. “It’s been a wild night.”

Beca gave a small noise of agreement, feeling her eyes wanting to close again. “Lie down with me?”

“I don’t know if I should,” Chloe said, biting her lip.

“Please,” Beca said.

“I don’t want to get yelled at by a scary Spanish nurse.”

Beca laughed. “Okay,” she mumbled. “I don’t want that either.”

“I’ll stay right here though,” Chloe said, kissing Beca’s hand again. “I promise.”

“Love you, Chlo’,” Beca said, drifting off as Chloe stroked a hand up and down her arm.

“Love you too, Beca,” Chloe replied.

“I had a weird dream that first night in the hospital,” Beca said, sitting on the edge of her bed a few days later, struggling to tie her shoes without hurting her ribs.

“Yeah?” Chloe asked, batting Beca’s hands away so she could tie them for her.

Beca was being discharged, and she and Chloe had one more night in the hotel before flying back to New York. Beca couldn’t wait for a proper shower and night’s sleep that wouldn’t be interrupted by nurses checking on her every few hours.

“Yeah,” Beca said. “You and Aubrey were talking about Amy fighting a bunch of dudes on that boat.”

Chloe’s hands froze for a second before she carried on tying them.

“Did we talk about anything else?” Chloe asked, trying to keep her voice casual.

“Yeah,” Beca said.

Chloe looked up at her.

“It wasn’t a dream, was it?”

Chloe shook her head.

“So the other stuff…”

“Yeah,” Chloe said. “Not a dream.”

“And… And you meant it?”

“Yeah, I meant it.”

Beca nodded. “Um, it feels weird to say this while you’re tying my shoes.”

Chloe laughed and stood up, taking Beca’s hands.

“You’re like the most important person in my life, Chlo’. I love you so much.”

“I’m sensing a but coming?”

Beca shook her head. “No buts. I love you. I’m in love with you. Have been for a long time.”

Chloe blinked and felt tears prick her eyes.

“I love you too,” Chloe said.

Beca grinned. “When I’ve showered all the hospital off me, I’m gonna kiss you, okay?”

“Can’t wait.”

145 notes · View notes

rai-wick · 4 years ago

Text

Gally x Reader Chapter 19: Answers (3)

WARNING

THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS STEAMY SCENES.

YOU ARE WARNED

___________________________________

Y/N'S P.O.V

"And his hair is ugly"Gally muttered as he ran his fingers through my hair.

"Wait, is this Newt or Thomas?"He thought it over before replying.

"Both"

"Oh Gally"I giggled as there was a knock on my door. I opened it and saw Minho standing there. I leaned against the doorway as we exchanged greetings.

"I'm taking Thomas to the room so come and meet us there"

"Got it" I waved bye, closing the door when I felt strong arms wrap around my waist and Gally's husky voice whisper in my ear.

"Do you have to go?" I faced him, slipping my arms around his neck"I miss you building with me"

"I'm sorry hun, running is my main task now" He pouted making me giggle at his adorable face"I'll see you later" I kissed him softly before opening the back door.He smiled back before leaving. I grabbed my harness and knife before running to the runner's cabin.

~A FEW MOMENTS LATER~

"It's the maze. All of it" I crossed my arms, leaning against a beam.

"What do you mean 'All of it'? I thought you guys were still mapping it" Thomas looked at us in confusion.

"There's nothing left to map" Minho sighed "I've run every inch of it myself, every cycle, every pattern. If there was a way out, we would have found it"He hung his head, his hands holding the edge of the table.

"Why haven't you told anyone this?"

"It was Alby's call" I walked around to Thomas"People needed to believe we had a chance of getting out. But maybe now..... We have a real chance" I smiled softly at him as Minho handed him the device we found.

"Take a look at this"Minho leaned down"About a year ago, we started exploring these outer sections. We found these numbers printed on the walls. Sections 1 through 8"He pointed them out to Thomas"See, the way it works, is every night, when the maze changes, a new section is open"

"So today, Section 6 was open"I continued"Tomorrow, it will be 2 then 8 then 3. The pattern always stays the same."Thomas stared down at the device, his hand running over the glowing number 7.

"What's so special about 7?"

"We don't know"Minho stood straight" But last night, when you killed that Griever, section 7 was open. I think it must be where it comes from. Tomorrow ______, you and I are going to take a closer look"I patted his back as Jeff and Clint come running.

"Hey!"I instantly moved to cover the table as Minho did the same.

"What are you guys doing? You're not allowed in here"

"Sorry, it's just the...."

"It's the girl"

"Is she awake?"Thomas asked.

"You could say that"We followed them to where all the Gladers were. Chuck was standing a bit away from the rest of them.

"Chuck, what's going on?"

"Girls are awesome"He glanced at me before pointing to the watch tower, grinning. We saw rocks being hurled at the Gladers and we ran over.

"Leave me alone!"

"Watch your head!"

"Hey! you throw one more of those things...."Gally yelled up at her and she threw one down at him. I took a plank of wood and pulled him under, grinning.

"Don't. Those hurt"I chuckled as he scowled.

"Go away!" She yelled.

"We come in peace"

"What happened?"I asked Newt.

"Just duck"Winston replied.

"I don't think she likes us very much"

"You think?"I shook my head at Newt as more rocks fell our way.

"What do you want from me?"

"We just wanna talk"Thomas yelled up to her.

"I'm warning you!"

"Take cover! Take cover"I grabbed Thomas as a particularly big rock fell his way. "Tommy tell her you're here" I urged him and he nodded, Gally frowning at my nickname for Thomas.

"Hey! It's Thomas! It's Thomas!"The rocks stopped and we cautiously put down our shields. Her face peered over and I shoved Thomas to move. He began to climb as her face disappeared. Gally stared as we watched the nest.

"What's going on up there?"Newt yelled. Thomas appeared, holding a machete.

"Just give us a second, ok?"

"Alright"I yelled back"Come on you lot"

"Is this what all girls are like?"Frypan said and I shoved him as we turned back.

"Come on Gally"I tugged his arm.

"That girl is crazy"He muttered as we walked back. We headed to the campsite next to the river. I sat down next to Newt as Gally paced, glaring up at the nest.

"Gally give it a rest, eh?"

"Why is it that ever since those two came here, things have gone wrong?"

"You're being negative, what if it's a good thing?"I sighed. Deep down, I knew that nothing was ever going to be the same again. I knew that girl was the one called Teresa, I remembered her, but what was she doing here? It hurt my head as visions flashed through my mind.

"_____!"I turned to see Gally and Newt staring at me.

"I need a walk"I stood up and headed towards the Med cabin"Hey guys"I said to Clint and Jeff as I walked in. I sat down to the shaking Alby"Is he any better?"I softly whispered. Clint shook his head and I wiped the sweat from Alby's face as Newt came in, holding 2 vials with blue liquid in them, followed by Thomas and Teresa. I saw her look at me with curiosity but I concentrated on what Newt was saying.

"We don't even know what this stuff is. We don't know who sent it. Or why it came up here with you" He said, gesturing briefly to Teresa"For all we know, this thing could kill him"

"He's already dying Newt"I spoke quietly"Look at him. How could this possibly be any worse"

"Come on, it's worth a try"Thomas urged.

"Alright. Do it"He handed the vial to Thomas. Thomas took the vial and went over to Alby as I stood next to Newt.

"Okay"Thomas looked back at us, his hand hovering over Alby's chest. Alby's eyes opened and he grabbed Thomas by his shirt.

"You shouldn't be here!"He exclaimed"You shouldn't be here"We rushed over, Newt pulling Alby back and I yanked Thomas away from him.

"Watch out"I held down one of Alby's arms and Newt had the other.

"Thomas get the syringe! Let go"I panted, struggling. Teresa stabbed the syringe into Alby's arm and he went out cold.

"Well, that worked"Jeff said as we panted.

"Okay from now on, someone stays here and watches him around the clock"Newt ordered. We all nodded as Gally came.

"Hey"He briefly met my eyes"Sundown, Greenie. Time to go"Thomas left with him as I turned to Newt.

"I'll take the first shift"

"That's kind of you, but you need to rest _____. You've been on your feet for a few days now, besides Teresa needs your help"I nodded at Newt and left followed by Teresa. As we quietly made our way to our cabin, I saw her stare at the figures of Gally and Thomas.

"Hey"I nudged her softly"Are you alright?"

"Yeah"She looked down at her hands"He hates me and Thomas doesn't he?"

"I can't say you two are his favourites"I sighed"He'll get used to you, he's hostile to Greenies all the time. That's just Gally"I held back a grin as we arrived "This is us"I opened the door and let Teresa in. I began to set up her hammock as she looked around.

"Just the two of us?"

"Yep, all the boys are over in Homestead"

"That's good"

"There"I finished the hammock"This is your bed"

"Thank you"She said quietly, sitting down"Can I ask you something?"

"Go ahead"

"I didn't just see Thomas in my memories, you were there too. Why is that? How come I remember you but not anyone else apart from Thomas?"

"I'm not sure"I admitted"When you came, I remembered you too but everything comes back to me in parts so it's hard to piece it together. However, I know now that you are here, things are are going change. For better I hope"We laid down, the lamp casting shadows around the room.

"Does this feeling of loneliness and despair go away?"I sat up and faced her as she sighed.

"If you have good friends who have your back, like you do"I gave her a small smile which she returned.

"Thank you _____"

Gally's P.O.V

I was sitting staring at the stars when I heard someone climb up the watch tower"Hey handsome"A voice whispered behind me. I looked back to see ______ and I held an arm out to her. She sat down in my lap, my arms wrapped tightly around her, a thin blanket draped over us. We sat, watching the stars however a question itched at my mind.

"Since when did Thomas become Tommy?" I muttered into her ear making her chuckle.

"Since he is my friend"

"I hope he knows that"

"Believe me, his interests lie elsewhere" She smiled at my confusion. I shrugged and pecked the side of her neck with kisses making her shiver. I had missed her and desperately needed her. I knew she could feel what I wanted because my hand was rubbing small circles on her inner thigh making her whisper "Gally.....", my teeth grazing her skin.

"Mmm?" I mumbled "Do you want me to stop?" Her arousal was evident as I licked her burning skin.

"I....uhh...." She drifted off mid sentence as my other hand tugged and twisted her nipple.

"You don't know how tormenting it was, watching that shirt cling to your sexy figure" My tone was deep with lust "I just want to take you then and there in the Glade"

"Take me now" She moaned as my hand slipped inside her trousers, stroking her clit.

"Beg me"

"Take me now right here in the Glade, please Captain Gally" That was enough for me and I laid her on her back. She pulled me close, her lips on mine. She tugged at my shirt which I instantly ripped off. To my surprise she flipped us over, straddling my waist. She traced a line down my hardened chest to my trousers. She rubbed the large bulge in my pants making me roll my eyes back and let out a deep groan.

"Don't tease me babe"

"But it's alright for you to do it?" She whispered in my ear, biting down softly on my earlobe"It's payback time love" She sat directly on top of my bulge and grinded, my member hardening as I let out a low grunt. She kissed me again, our tongues battling for dominance.

"I think my trousers are about to burst" I groaned, feeling her soaked clit above my bulge.

"I guess we're even then" She smirked, sitting up.

"My turn" I flipped us once more, tearing off her clothes. She shivered at the coldness of the wind as it hit her naked body. I gazed at her"I can never get over your beauty, baby girl" I muttered. She rewarded me for my sweet words by pulling down my trousers and stroking my member. I let out a deep exhale as I unloaded some of the bearing in my member onto her hand.

"I can't hold back for much longer"I growled before shoving my member deep inside her. She gasped, barely having time to adjust before I pounded into her. She loudly moaned and I instantly covered her mouth with my hand.

"I hate to say this, but not so loud gorgeous" I whispered, smiling as her moans vibrated in my hand. I buried my head in her neck, her hands running through my hair, turning me on even more.

"I'm so...so close....." She gasped.

"Do it baby girl" I pulled out as ____ came and I released all over her stomach. I panted and rolled onto my back. She cleaned herself with her vest as I pulled up my trousers. I pulled her close, cuddling under the blanket. She laid her head on my chest and I twirled the ends of her hair.

"Gally?"

"Yes beautiful?"

"How am I to get down in this state?"

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

#the maze runner #gally imagine #gally x reader #gally imagines #maze runner gally #gally masterlist #newt maze runner #thomas maze runner #maze runner minho

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baroquebucky · 4 years ago

Text

lover is a day

a/n: hi pals !! here is a sort of angsty but fluffy fic inspired by another cuco song ! i cant believe tfaws is over i miss them already :[ lyrics in bold ! srry for any typos </3

buckys mind is racing all the time, you’re there to slow him down

word count: 3.1k

masterlist

will you love this part of me?

Bucky tried his damn best to keep you out of the avenging part of his love. He never introduced you to the team, only telling Steve about you and Sam finding out because he stole Buckys phone and you just so happened to call him.

You saw the trends on Twitter, seeing the videos of your boyfriend easily take down seven men in a bar in madripoor. You tried your best to not watch it, knowing he wouldn’t want you to. Curiosity getting the best of you, you clicked the trend, mouth dropping as you saw the way he fought.

His eyes were cold, he moved like it was second nature to him, it was frightening to see how easy it came to him.

You jumped as your phone vibrated, an incoming call from bucky pausing the video. You hesitated before answering, putting on a bright smile and trying to forget what you had just seen.

“hi doll face” Bucky smiled, you heard the thumping of music in the background.

“hi buck, are you at a club?” You questioned, a smile on your face as he let out a sigh, rolling onto his back on the couch he was on.

“I’m at Sharon’s place, she has this whole museum club thing going on” he explained, your eyes wide at the mention of the agent.

“Sharon? like Steve Sharon? Sharon from shield?” You questioned, bucky smiled at your interest, nodding along to your words, quickly replying when he realized you weren’t on FaceTime.

Bucky kept you in the loop, not wanting you to get caught off guard if anything were to happen. He just made sure you were never in danger and no one knew about you, as much as he’d want to shout from the roof just how much he loved you.

“that’s the one, I’ll explain when i get back” he spoke calmly, rubbing his eyes with the back of his hands as he put you on speaker.

Bucky talked about some movie he wanted to watch, your mind drifting back to the video, your heart thumping in your ears.

“doll?” He asked, his voice echoing in you room.

“what, sorry i got distracted” you replied, trying to play it off. Bucky frowned, his heart sinking at the realization.

“you saw it” he spoke simply, moving to sit up on the couch again, his eyes focusing on the floor.

You wanted to lie, say you had no idea what he was talking about. But you couldn’t, mouth opening only to close seconds later.

“I never wanted you to see that part of me” he spoke, you stayed quiet, letting him talk.

“Doll, I’m not him anymore i promise” he hesisted, “Zemo made me do it and i didn’t think i would- i just im gonna go” he spoke, hanging up quickly, heart heavy.

Furthering my distance from you

Bucky was never the best at speaking his mind, always too caught up in his own thoughts to say what he felt, thinking it never mattered and he should keep to himself.

You texted him right after, telling him to please take care, that you loved him. He didn’t reply.

It wasn’t for another couple days when he came home, entering quietly trying to not wake you up in case you were asleep already.

He set his bags down softly, entering the room and expecting to find you curled up. Buckys heart raced as he looked up to see you staring at him with a smile on your face, getting off the bed quickly and throwing yourself onto him.

“i missed you so much james” you whispered, squeezing him slightly as your arms wrapped around him.

“y/n i-” he began, pushing you back softly. You let go reluctantly, knowing he wanted his space.

I’m okay as long as you keep me from going crazy

“Bucky, it’s okay” you replied, stopping him from going down a rabbit hole if you didn’t. You looked at him, the light from your bedside lamp only slightly illuminating the room.

“i know thats not you anymore, sometimes you have to do something’s to get stuff and i get that angel” you spoke, looking at him softly, slowly grabbing his hand and squeezing.

“i still love you bucky, with all my heart” you smiled, wishing you could see the way his cheeks flushed at your words.

He looked up from the floor, you could barely making out the way his lips turned up in a small smile.

“do you really?” He whispered, stepping closer so that your faces were only inches apart. You nodded, eyes flickering to his lips after a couple of seconds.

“I love you more doll” he replied, ears burning as you pulled him in for a kiss, holding the collar of his shirt to pull him closer.

You pulled away with a smile on your face, looking at him for a second before throwing your arms around him, holding him tightly. Bucky wrapped his arms around after a second, placing a kiss ontop of your head, never wanting to let you go.

You can’t get by with a lie

Bucky shot up, sweating and breathing heavy, looking over to see you stirring slightly at his movement.

“buck?” You mumbled, eyes still closed as you turned opening them slightly to reach for the super soldier. You placed a gentle hand on his vibranium one, looking at him with your fuzzy vision.

“nightmare?” you mumbled, sitting up and looking at him, his chest still heaving as he shook his head.

“no it- I’m fine” he spoke, “Cmon let’s get back to sleep” he smiled tightly but you shook your head, looking at him sternly.

“James we talked about this, please, talk to me angel” you looked at him, now fully awake and wanting to help bucky through his nightmares. He hesitated, sighing and fiddling with the edge of the blanket.

“okay” he nodded, heart racing as you helped him through his nightmare. You reminded him how he had changed, how he was a new person and he was trying his best to make amends.

“You’re okay, you’re here and you’re free” you spoke, hugging him tightly and stroking his arm soothingly. Bucky nodded, closing his eyes and focusing on your beating heart.

Funny thing about you is you read me pretty well

You clenched your fist, wanting to throw your laptop across the room as your work frustrated you once again. Your breathing was heavier and you let out a small sigh, not wanting to alert bucky.

After a couple more minutes you felt the tears pricking your eyes, squeezing them shut in hopes they would go away.

You got up quickly, heading toward the kitchen to get a drink of water, leaving bucky alone in the room. He turned to look at you, noting how fast you were walking and the way you were breathing shakily.

Bucky gave you a minute, waiting to see if you’d come back. When you didn’t return he followed you, seeing you staring out the cup in your hand with intense focus.

“doll, what’s wrong?” You looked at him, putting a smile on your face and shaking your head.

“I’m fine buck, just thirsty” he frowned, walking towards you and pulling you into his arms.

“i know you too well for that to work on me doll” he sighed, stroking your back softly as you but back tears, finally letting a sob out. “let it out doll I’m here.”

Me and Mr. Heart we say the cutest things about you

Bucky smiled at the way you jumped for joy when you saw a dog in the park, immediately talking his ear off about how you had always wanted your own.

“don’t you think we should adopt? I think we’re at that point y’know?” You smiled, starry eyes as you turned to look at him.

Never in his life had he felt more in love, he thought of how perfect you looked, with slightly messy hair from the wind and a stain on your shirt from the time he accidentally splashed paint on you.

He felt the world around him fade away, focusing only on you and your words, rattling off some facts about people with pets being happier in an effort to convince him.

Bucky thought of the way you had always cared for him, living him with all you were. He thought of how you were the most caring person in the world to him, how you were the most radiant person in the room no matter what.

He loved you so much and all he wanted was to make you happy.

“I’ve always been a cat person” he teased, loving the way you rolled your eyes with a playful smile on your face.

“we could get a cat, they’re calm and sweet” you nodded, taking his hand and pulling him towards the parking lot.

How could bucky say no when you looked so excited?

You held the white cat in your arms a few weeks later, a huge smile on your face as he purred into your touch.

“welcome home alpine” you smiled, setting the cat down and letting him explore.

Buckys heart grew in his chest, you seemed so unreal. You were everything he ever wanted and everything he ever needed. And you were all his.

You looked at bucky, a smile on your face as he picked up the cat, setting him gently on his lap.

“thought you were gonna get us a dog the whole time we were there” he spoke, looking at you as you stared at the pair, standing across the room and putting away some cat food and toys.

“you said you were a cat person” you replied, “plus you’re happy right?” You questioned, walking over and sitting down next to him, reaching out to scratch the back of Alpines ears.

“very happy doll” he smiled, eyes settling on the cat in his lap, wanting to place kisses all over the now sleeping feline.

“then I’m happy that you’re happy” you smiled, kissing his cheek softly, letting your head rest on his shoulder and enjoy the company of your now two favorite boys.

My lover is a day I can’t forget

“Do you remember how we met?” You asked suddenly, bucky smiled as he recalled the memory.

“doll it’s 3 am” he chuckled, the streetlight sneaking in through the curtains as you two lay in bed.

“so you don’t” you huffed, turning so your back would face him. Bucky smiled at your reaction, quickly turning you back around to face him.

“of course i do doll” he replied, a soft smile still on his face, “why?”

“what did you think of me?” You wondered, wiggling a bit to get more comfortable. You had a small smile on your face as he began talking.

“i thought you were too nice, they got your whole order wrong and you still ate the whole thing” he smiled.

Buckys eyes had immediately landed on you when he entered the small diner, seeing you smiling with a couple of your friends.

Steve was insistent on getting him to go to more places and this was #1 on his list.

“so those are my favorites you can always look through the menu though i guess” steve smiled, noticing his friends focus on you.

“thank you!” You smiled at the waitress, taking the dish from her, turning to your friends as soon as she left.

“i didn’t order this” you grumbled, your friends insisting you send it back.

“but what if she’s having a bad day already? and this is the last straw? It’s fine i can just eat it it’ll be fine” you shook your head, taking a bite and making a face.

“send it back y/n!” Your friend persisted and you shook your head, you were so stubborn.

“it’s not that bad!” You smiled, eating the whole thing, “wish it was the other one though” you giggled as your friends rolled their eyes.

Bucky kept glancing over at you, trying to not make it obvious. Steve decided against saying anything, making easy conversation with his best friend.

You hit your friend gently, a blush on your face when your eyes had landed on the two super soldiers.

“okay don’t be obvious” you began, “that’s steve rogers and bucky barnes?” You whispered, your friends all turning and looking at the table.

Bucky had just so happened the be glancing over, making eye contact with you, his face went red as he saw your whole table staring at the pair.

“You were so shy, you didn’t even have the guts to say hi” he teased and you punched him softly.

“you didn’t say anything either in my defense” you smiled, fiddling with his dog tags.

You turned back quickly, slapping a hand on your face as your friends laughed. “I said don’t be obvious did i not!”

“didn’t you say you would die for him? You talk about him almost everyday” your friend teased and you hit her, face burning.

“shut up! they’re super soldiers what if they hear you” you snuck a glance at their table, seeing the way bucky had a small smirk on his face and Steve was holding back a laugh.

“i hate you guys, i really do” you mumbled, “should i say sorry? I feel like i should say sorry right?”

“You just want an excuse to give that man sex eyes” another one of your friends spoke up and you rolled your eyes.

You snuck a glance at bucky making eye contact, you gave a small smile which he happily returned, waving slightly. You waved back, quickly turning back to your friends as your heart raced.

You and your friends paid and left not long after, Steve and bucky following a couple minutes after. You said your goodbyes in the parking lot, giving them tight hugs.

“you sure you don’t want a ride?” They had asked and you shook your head, waving her off as you walked to the bus stop down the street, sitting on the bench and scrolling through your social media mindlessly.

You looked up as someone sat next to you, giving them a small smile before realizing it was bucky. Your eyes went wide and you froze, eyes focused on your now locked phone. You could hear your heartbeat in your ears.

You glanced at bucky, face flushing when you made eye contact.

“you were so charming, i still don’t understand how you could be so calm” you spoke, looking at him as he let out a snort.

“i was shitting myself the whole time doll” he laughed, “I’m surprised i didn’t fuck up the moment i opened my mouth.”

“I’m bucky” he smiled, extending his had for you to shake. You smiled back, shaking his hand before replying, “I’m y/n.”

You were quiet for a second before turning to face him again, “I’m sorry for my friends in the diner, they can be a bit much” you chuckled, fiddling with your phone in your hands.

“don’t worry ‘bout it, I’m flattered honestly” he replied and you cocked your head.

“oh?” You replied, confused at his response.

“I mean to have a pretty girl like you thinking about me? An honor really” he spoke smoothly, a charming smile on his face as he looked at you.

“i- well- uh, thank you?” You let out a breathy laugh, and he smiled at you, moving onto another topic of conversation.

Next thing you knew the two of you were sat together on the bus, laughing as you two exchanged stories and talked about your interests.

“this is my stop” you frowned, not wanting to end the conversation yet. Buckys heart raced, debating on wether or not he should make a move or not. Steve would surely have his head on a spike if he didn’t.

“i- well, if you want i can walk you, it’s dark and i don’t want you in any danger” he spoke, stumbling in his words.

“I’d love that buck” you smiled and he looked at you with a grin on his face, following you out of the bus.

The evening air was cool, it felt nice against your flushed skin, a smile on both of your faces as you walked towards your apartment. The sound of your laughter filling the open air.

You arrived at your apartment building, exchanging numbers and saying goodbye, already looking forward to see each other next time.

“can’t believe you walked me back” you giggled, butterflies in your stomach as you remembered how flirty he was that night.

“i never told you but i had actually driven to the place” bucky blushed, “Steve had been busy earlier so we met up there” he laughed as your mouth flew open.

“so you had to go all the way back to get your car?!” Bucky smiled bashfully, “you even paid to take the bus!” You squealed, sitting up quickly and leaning against the headboard.

“I wasn’t gonna let public transportation stand between me and the love of my life!” Bucky replied quickly, sitting up next to you.

“you barely knew me!”

“i wanted to get to know you! that was the whole point” he shot back, a smile on his face when he noticed how flustered you were.

“you did all that for me” you looked at him fondly and he nodded.

“and I’d do so much more for you now” Bucky smiled, kissing your cheek softly before moving to your jaw and then your lips.

“I love you so much doll” he whispered, pulling you into his arms. You let him wrap himself around you, holding you closely to his chest.

“i love you more lovely” you replied, placing a soft kiss on his bicep. He held you for a couple more moments before letting go, letting you move back to his side and lay on his chest.

“you do so much for me doll, you keep me grounded, you make me happy, you keep me from going crazy, wish i could do the same” he mumbled, his fingers scratching at your scalp and making your eyes flutter shut.

“you do all that and more for me too james, you just never realize” you whispered, yawning as he continued his movements.

“how about we go to sleep, and I’ll tell you all tomorrow just how much you do for me, yeah?” You mumbled, opening your eyes slightly. Bucky nodded, laying down and getting comfortable, moving so that he could spoon you, draping an arm around your waist and pulling you to his chest.

“goodnight lover boy” you mumbled, he smiled at the nickname.

“goodnight dollface” he whispered, kissing your neck softly before closing his eyes, hearing alpines soft purring from across the room.

#bucky barnes #bucky barnes fluff #bucky barnes imagine #bucky barnes x reader #bucky barnes x you #bucky barnes x y/n #bucky barnes drabble #bucky barnes one shot #bucky barnes fanfiction #soft Bucky Barnes #flirty Bucky Barnes #bucky barnes angst #bucky x you #bucky x reader #bucky imagine #bucky fluff #bucky angst

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tomboyneedshercoffee · 5 years ago

Text

Thin Ice Pt5 || Peter Parker x Reader

Summary: Y/N and Brad fight which leads to Peter getting his hands dirty.

Word Count: 2.2k

Author’s Note: PLEASE READ! Yes this is a reupload because I wasn’t really happy with how it turned out at first. The beginning will be pretty much the same but I got rid of the whole storyline with Y/N thinking Peter was Spiderman cause I just want him to be a normal happy teenager for once!

Warning: foul language, implications of sexual acts, blood, physical violence

part one || part two || part three || part four || part five || part six ||to be continued

“ Y/N? You look a little pale...maybe you should sit down,” MJ suggested but you kept your eyes locked onto Cindy’s phone screen.

You were in disbelief, you couldn’t believe that it was you in the picture. Your lips against Brad. His hands by your side. Your eyes both closed shut. It made you sick.

Years of movie nights and pizza deliveries were gone. Years of inside jokes between classes had slipped away. Years of history and friendship, down the drain from one single photo and a kiss that meant absolutely nothing.

“ I need to go,” You grabbed your phone and headed for the door. Cindy thought quickly and stepped in front of you with her hands up.

“ Y/N, stop and think for a second. I know you’re mad, hell I am too but you can’t just go over and beat him up.”

You tried to go around Cindy but she just moved to block you. You were wasting precious time and the longer that the photo was out there, the angrier you felt.

“ I’m not gonna beat him up,” You said softly as MJ eyed you suspiciously,” I’m gonna kill him.”

You shoved past Cindy and left the room, leaving Cindy and MJ with open mouths.

You slammed the door shut before stomping your way over to Brad’s room, your vision already blurry from your tears. You wanted to cry and crawl up into a ball but there was something inside you that ignited your sadness into something more powerful. Rage. Pure uncaged rage.

Everyone always described you as a sweet girl who would never confront people. You used to let people walk all over you and apologize when you did nothing wrong. You were tired of being that girl, you were here to take prisoners, not excuses.

You banged on the door with the side of your fist,” Open this door right now or I swear to god-”

The door swung open and you came face to face with Flash who looked like he had just gotten out of the shower.

“ Yikes, you look pissed. Was it from your recent sexcapade with Brad-”

You shoved Flash to the side so hard that his back hit one of the shelves and knocked over a potted plant. You made a beeline for Brad, who was sitting down watching TV without a care in the world.

Brad looked up at you and looked up at you innocently,” Hey Y/N, I was wondering when you would show up.”

His calm, almost righteous tone was just like adding gasoline to the fire and adrenaline hissed through your body like a deadly poison.

You didn’t even realize you had punched him until he was on the ground, holding his jaw. You stood over him and felt your body fume with anger.

“ You’re a piece of shit Brad! I can’t believe you took a photo you perverted psychotic fuckboy!” You climbed over Brad and started to beat his face with the sides of your fists,” stop blocking me and let me fucking hit you!”

“ What the hell- Y/N stop!” You felt Peter’s hands wrap around your waist before he pulled you off of Brad.

You fought against his grip but Peter stayed his ground and kept you away. You didn’t even know Peter was in the room but that didn’t stop you from your main objective, which was to beat Brad to a pulp.

“ Flash, what’s going on?” Peter asked as Cindy and MJ rushed into the room,” MJ?”

“ Apparently Brad took a picture of him and Y/N hooking up-”

“ We didn’t hook up! He fucking tricked me!” You shook Peter off of you but Peter held out his arm so you wouldn’t lunge at Brad again.

Flash raised his hands defensively and mumbled,” That’s not what Brad told me plus a picture is worth a thousand words.”

MJ cursed under her breath before marching over to Flash. She grabbed the collar of his shirt and dragged him out of the room,” Go take a walk, yeah?”

MJ slammed the door in his face before returning to Cindy’s side.

“ MJ what picture?” Peter asked again, this time louder as MJ reluctantly unlocked her phone and handed it over to Peter.

You looked away in embarrassment as Peter clicked on the photo to get a better look. Peter’s heart sank to the floor, it really was you.

All of his suspicions of what happened in the bathroom during truth or dare was finally confirmed but he was far from relieved.

Brad got up from the floor and rubbed his jaw as you stared him down.

“ Y/N, please I didn’t mean to-”

“ Didn’t mean to what? Send a picture like that to the whole decathlon team? What, was it just for your spank bank or something?” You yelled as Peter gave you a side glance.

Peter felt completely betrayed. He genuinely thought he had fallen for you and that you felt the same way for him but the photo ripped his heartstrings out. He gave the phone back to MJ, not wanting another look.

He didn’t want to believe it but the proof was right there in front of him. At the end of the day, Peter knew he had to put his feelings aside and do the right thing, no matter how heartbroken he was.

Peter drew in a sharp breath before turning to Brad,” Apologize and delete it.”

“ I don’t need to apologize to you-”

“ No Brad! Not to me, to Y/N!” Peter snapped as he made his way over to Brad slowly,” I’m not asking you, I’m telling you.”

Brad took a moment before turning to you,” Y/N, I’m sorry. Really, it was an accident. I was just gonna send it to Peter so he could back off but I messed up...Can I talk to you privately without him here?”

You let out a dry laugh as you put your hand over your forehead,” You sound crazy right now, do you even hear yourself? And you’re lucky Peter is here cause you’d-”

You took a stride towards Brad but Peter grabbed your arm and leaned into your ear,” Y/N, I’m trying to help you. Let me.”

You didn’t respond as you looked down at your arm where Peter’s grip was. You looked up at Peter and watched his expression carefully. Even though he was on your side, you could see it in his eyes how hurt he was.

Peter swallowed hard before turning towards Brad. Even though he had to look up to face him, Peter stood tall and unbothered.

“ Delete it Brad. Then when you’re done, I’ll leave you two alone,” Peter said as he tried to compose himself.

If he could have his way, Peter would’ve joined you in kicking Brad’s ass but he knew it wasn’t a fair fight. Peter mostly had control of his powers but he also knew how out of hand it could get, especially if Peter got angry.

Brad sighed but went on his phone. After a few seconds, Brad tossed his phone onto the bed and held up his hands,” Alright Parker, the photos gone. I can’t do anything about it being sent into the group chat though.”

“ I got it, I’m gonna go around and make sure everyone deletes it. Unless they want to be charged with child pornography, I’m sure they’ll listen to me,” Cindy gave you a reassuring nod as MJ volunteered to go with her.

Now that it was just you, Brad, and Peter, the room felt still.

“ I want my apology Brad, not just for manipulating me but for throwing away our whole relationship,” You said as you shook your head in disbelief,” I can’t believe that after all we had been through, you would betray me...I don’t even know who you are anymore.”

Brad took a few steps forward and glared past Peter,” Are you serious? Unlike Peter, you actually know me! You’re willing to drop me the second some guy shows interest in you and that just shows how naive you really are!”

Peter stepped in between the two of you and put his hand out towards Brad, almost touching his chest,” Don’t take another step Brad, that’s your last warning.”

Brad looked between the two of you and shook his head in disbelief,” You think I would hurt her? That’s funny coming from you Peter- you know Y/N he isn’t who he says he is-”

“ Oh my god Brad, if this is about your dumb conspiracy about Peter being Spiderman, I don’t want to hear it!” You exclaimed as you motioned your hand to Peter,” you are so scared about being replaced by him that you start making up dumb shit to feel less insecure! I could care less if Peter is Jesus himself, that doesn’t make it okay to sabotage my relationships!”

Brad pointed straight at Peter,” Why don’t you tell her or do you just love lying to her-”

“ Do you hear yourself? You sound insane!”

“ If I’m insane then you’re goddamn stupid for falling for this nice guy crap!” Brad snapped as he took another step towards you,” Watch, he’ll be done with you just like that!”

As Brad took another step closer to you, Peter tensed up and used his hand to push Brad lightly in the chest to back off,” Hey, I said watch it!”

Brad took in a sharp breath before he drew his fist back and swung it straight at Peter. Before you could even react, Peter dodged his hit and sent his fist directly into Brad’s face. You both watched as Brad fell over onto the ground with a hard thud.

“ What the fuck Peter!” You screamed as you scrambled to Brad who was unconscious,” oh fuck what did you do?”

Peter stood there shocked as you tried to shake Brad awake. He didn’t even mean to punch that hard but he couldn’t help it. Peter was beyond mad before but all of that washed away once he saw how terrified you were,

“ I-I’m sorry but he was calling you names! I was just trying to help,” Peter stammered as he started to panic,” i-is he alive?”

“ Of course he is!” You snapped as you started searching the room for a napkin or towel to stop Brad’s nose from bleeding more,” I didn’t ask for your help, Peter! I’m not some damsel, I can fight my own battles!”

Peter couldn’t believe how unreasonable you were being,” So you can punch him but I can’t?”

You were so overwhelmed with Brads injury and Peter’s yelling that you could literally feel steam coming out of your ears. It escalated too quickly and while you knew Brad was to blame, Peter wasn’t help.

“ Look at him Peter, you knocked him out cold!” You grabbed a handful of napkins and put pressure on Brad’s nose,” You’re not my boyfriend, I don’t need someone to defend me! ”

Peter looked between you and Brad and he felt like he was living in a nightmare. He couldn’t even fathom the idea that you were still helping Brad after everything he had just said and done to you.

“ Yeah, clearly,” Peter said coldly as you stopped what you were doing to look at him.

“ What is that supposed to mean?” You asked as Peter hesitated. He immediately regretted his words but you were quick to catch on,” You’re still thinking about the kiss, aren’t you? Peter, he tricked me, it wasn’t like that.”

Peter felt like he had a mouth full of cotton and even though he wanted to believe you, all he could think about was the picture. He knows what kissing you felt like but the fact that Brad also knew what your lips felt like upset Peter.

There was so much that he wanted to tell you like how Brad was right and that Brad wasn’t being paranoid about him. Peter knew how risky it would be for him to be intimate with someone while he was Spiderman.

“ Do you even trust me Peter?” You asked as Peter shifted side to side.

His fear all along was that you and Brad’s history would get in the way and that you would always choose him. He thought that now because even though Brad was unconscious and you needed to help him, you still couldn’t even look Peter in the eye.

“ You two are close and you even told me that you two have a history together,” Peter said softly as he looked down at his shoes,” maybe a kiss isn’t too hard to believe….maybe you don’t need me.”

Now it was Peter’s turn to avoid your gaze and as you watched him, you immediately knew his answer. He didn’t trust you. You looked down at Brad before shaking your head,” You know what, if you don’t believe me then fine.”

“ If you want to be a good guy, watch him and call MJ,” You grabbed a clean towel and threw it at Peter before storming away towards the door. Once you opened it you turned back to Peter who was still in shock,” and you’re right, I don’t need you.”

@spaghetittiesbcimgay @holland-in-disguise @yeahimcrying @greatpizzascissorstaco @mysticalbanshee @weyheyavengers @infinityflamesworld @fandom-fangirl22 @peterparkoure @crumpets-are-better-with-jam @marvel4geeks @sad-sagita @juliebean247 @quitepointless @bannanasz @spideyyeet @cherrysruin

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sugarmaplewings-fics · 4 years ago

Text

Deep Blue Fantasy Part Three

Pairing: Merman!Tamaki Amajiki x fem!reader

Warnings: Uhh . . . sexual tension? Idk how to describe it. I guess this is the most PG-13 bit of it but there’s nothing too crazy

{Pt. 1} {Pt. 2} {Pt. 3} {Pt. 4} {Pt. 5} {Pt. 6} {Pt. 7}

くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡

You made your way down the familiar rolling hill that led to the ocean, inhaling the briny air. The winds whipped your hair around your face haphazardly, tossing it as they pleased. You scrunched up your nose and tried to spit the stray strands out of your mouth, which proved to be a struggle.

Trying to tame your now spit covered (H/C) hair, you allowed your feet to sink into the black sand. You reveled in the feel of it squishing and shifting between your toes.

Waves noisily crashed over the black rocks, rougher today than they were normally. The wind was stronger than usual, and you expected a storm was on its way, judging by the gray look taking over the sky. You frowned at the wind, wishing it could be a nicer day when something caught your eye.

Pale skin contrasted the black sand it was lying on, dark water crashing around a pair of shoulders.

You knew how dangerous the waters could be, especially on a day like today. It was forbidden to step foot in the ocean; your father never let you or anyone else forget it. But there was clearly something wrong, so you risked coming closer for a better look.

A man roughly your age was lying on his back, partially submerged in the water that curled and fell over him. You realized, to your further shock and horror, that this man was completely naked.

His eyes were shut and you couldn't tell if he was breathing or not. An odd necklace laid against his bare chest, somehow miraculously staying on after the apparent chaos he had been through. What was he doing out here? Was he some castaway washed up on shore? Was he some idiot who had decided to go skinny dipping at a bad time?

You decided none of it mattered as you knelt next to him, finally giving up on trying to keep your skirts out of the water.

You put a finger under his nose, checking for breath. To your relief, a warm cloud collected between you. So he was alive, if only faintly. You tried shaking his shoulder, wondering if you could wake him up. His skin was cold, so cold, just touching it made you shiver.

No matter how hard you shook him, he wouldn't stir, making you worry. Finally you dragged him further out of the water, taking off your jacket and draping it over him, hoping to provide some warmth.

"I'll be right back," you whispered, standing up again in order to race home to find help.

✤✤✤✤✤

Tamaki blinked his eyes open, light bleeding into the crack of his vision. It was too bright, and his head hurt. His whole body throbbed and tingled and something about him felt . . . different.

He was laying on something very soft and wrapped in layers of coverings, which trapped in his heat nicely. Where was he?

His memory suddenly flooded back to him, the necklace, the waves . . . his legs.

Tamaki's eyes snapped the rest of the way open, cringing at the onslaught of light. He was in some kind of room, bathed in afternoon sunlight. It was relatively simple, only holding a bookcase, a wardrobe, and a small vanity table. He had never before seen so many warm shades, marveling at how much yellow could be picked up by his eyes.

He lifted the blanket off of him, cold air rolling over his brand new legs. He was wearing another type of covering over the lower half of his body, these loose-fitting and a light blue color. They obstructed the view of his legs, only showing him his bare feet. Tamaki bunched some of the fabric in his hand, twisting it slightly in curiosity. He then experimentally bent his knee, straightening and bending it again until finally taking his foot into his hand. Tamaki brushed his fingertips over his toes, spreading and curling them. He finally allowed a small smile onto his face. He'd done it. He had legs.

Tamaki suddenly noticed something about his thoughts. They had changed slightly. It was still him thinking them, yet they felt almost foreign. He was thinking in . . . words. That's what they were called. He was used to forming sounds in his mind, but generally he used pictures to think. Now they flowed silently in individual sounds, each one with its own meaning. A new one would appear every now and then, and Tamaki would just sort of know what it meant.

Before he could start unpacking his new mental system, a noise drifted into his ears. It reminded Tamaki of singing, but this was distinctly less musical. Could these be words except . . . spoken? The knob on the door shook, the sound coming from the other side. The door swung open, causing Tamaki's breath to catch in his throat.

You walked in, followed by a woman who appeared to be a few years your senior. You wore a light-colored sundress and a glittering circlet was delicately placed atop your head. Tamaki noticed how your (H/L) (H/C) hair gently bobbed and flowed as you walked. He'd known you were pretty, but he'd never seen you this close before, and he made a point to memorize every feature of your face which until now, he'd only caught glimpses of from afar.

The woman behind you was speaking, her hands wringing her skirt. "—princess, please. This isn't—"

"Oh! You're awake!" You met Tamaki's eyes, your face melting into a heart-stopping smile.

Princess? What's a princess? Tamaki wondered.

Your face suddenly went serious, almost frowning at him. Tamaki fought the urge to shrink back from your gaze, unsure of what he'd done to evoke such an expression. "Brianne, could you give us a moment?" you requested of the woman behind you, your eyes never leaving Tamaki's. "Since my father is away for the week, it is my duty to deal with him."

Brianne sighed, releasing her dress. "Very well, then." She stepped out of the room, closing the door after her.

You crossed the room, bringing yourself a few paces away from Tamaki's bed. You folded your arms in front of your chest, quirking an eyebrow at him. "Do you realize—" you spoke, your voice smooth and even, curiously filling Tamaki's ears in a way he was unaccustomed to, "—that swimming on that beach is forbidden?"

Tamaki frowned, taken aback. The beach?

You must have seen the look of confusion written across his face, because you relaxed slightly. "Sir, are you from this island?"

Tamaki shook his head, answering truthfully.

You uncrossed your arms, resting a hand on your hip. The gentle smile returned to your face, making Tamaki marginally less tense. "So you are a castaway. Your ship must have gotten stuck in another storm." You glanced out the window that was leaking sunlight into the room. "You were out nearly all day. You missed the storm we had over here. But the sun's out now."

Tamaki couldn't take his eyes off you. He wanted to ask you so many things, to tell you how much he admired you, but nothing would take hold in his mind.

You finally looked back to Tamaki, your eyebrows creasing in concern. "You don't talk much. You aren't going into shock, are you?"

You closed the distance between him and yourself, resting a warm hand on his forehead. He stiffened at your touch, explosions of feeling firing off in his chest.

"I did find you half-drowned and naked on my beach. I'm glad you don't feel so cold anymore."

Tamaki frowned at your words, focusing on one which was foreign to him. He decided to experiment with his voice, his throat bobbing as he swallowed nervously.

"N-naked?" he asked, the word finally sliding over his tongue. It felt odd, using his voice like this to communicate, but sound was able to travel differently through air than it did in the water.

You blushed, averting your eyes to the floor. "The wreck must have torn off your clothes or something. We-we gave you some pants." You bit your lip, embarrassed by the subject matter.

Tamaki fiddled with his pants again, the new word bouncing around his brain as he twisted the cloth between his fingers. Now that he thought about it, humans did have a strange obsession with hiding their bodies from each other. The merpeople didn't really practice the custom, although Tamaki knew some of the mermaids liked to wear decorative pieces tied around their chests; anything from shells to seaweed. He'd even seen someone sporting a discarded man-made flag.

"You s-saved me." Tamaki finally said, turning back to you. "I thought I was going to die." His words were coming easier now, formed in his head and then shaped by his tongue. "Thank you."

You smiled. "I didn't really do anything. I just found you." You extended a hand. "I am Princess (F/N) (L/N) of the Islands of Thapia, it's a pleasure to meet you."

There it was again; princess. Tamaki decided not to ask, in case he ended up looking like an idiot. It couldn't be anything too important, although the way you said it almost made him wonder . . . .

"I'm Tamaki Amajiki." I've been watching you for the past two months, and I might be in love.

"Where are you from?"

Tamaki sighed, uncertain of how to answer. "Far away from here."

He vowed to himself to tell you, but now wasn't the time.

Your gaze slipped down to his chest, admiring the necklace that hung from his neck. "I like your necklace. Where did you get it? Is it a family heirloom?"

Tamaki brought his fingers up to it, subconsciously fiddling with the shell. "I'm borrowing from this lady."

"A lady?" Your eyebrow shot up again. "Got someone back home?"

Tamaki jolted at your words, his hand flying from the necklace. "No! It's just me."

"Just you?"

The raven-haired man swallowed and nodded.

"Well," you said, straightening, "since you weren't breaking the safety laws and you clearly aren't from around here, I am making it my personal responsibility to care and provide for you until you are ready to return to your home.

Tamaki blinked. "You'd do that?"

You shrugged. "Where else are you going to stay? Besides, I get lonely here and you seem like a nice person."

You thought he was nice? He might cry at the thought.

"Would you like anything?" you continued. "A meal? More blankets?"

Tamaki bit his lip, suddenly noticing how his stomach clenched around nothing at your words. How had he not noticed how hungry he was? "Some food would be nice. Please."

You smiled and nodded. "I figured as much. I'll get Brianne right on that."

You ducked out of the room and Tamaki waited patiently in his bed, tapping his fingers together when something caught his attention. A dark form had moved from behind the glass of the window. Tamaki had never seen anything like it, wondering how he hadn't noticed the clear panes before. He stared outside, watching as leaves on a tree shook with an invisible breeze, another form darting through the air into his vision again. He now recognized the creature as a bird, however, he was used to the larger, white sea birds that he would always find when he came up to the surface. This one was so dark and compact, and Tamaki found himself finding it cute.

He watched it intently as it fluttered about, poking around in the grass for a stray worm. Its activities intrigued him so much he barely noticed the time passing, jumping when he heard his door swing open.

You strode in, carrying a tray laden with food. "Hi, again. I'm back." You set the tray on Tamaki's lap and grabbed a chair from the other end of the room, pulling it up beside the bed so you could converse.

"Th-thank you," Tamaki said, looking down at the bowl that was before him.

"You're welcome!" you beamed. "You just missed lunch, so we still had some stew left over. Our chef is really nice and he warmed some up for you! I'll have to take you to meet him later." You gasped at a new thought. "I should take you on a tour! I'm sure you'll like it here. I don't get visitors much, it's usually just the same islanders. Aren't you hungry?"

You had noticed Tamaki hadn't touched his food yet.

"Sorry! I was just, um, distracted . . . ." It was the truth, watching you talk was like some kind of dream to him. The way your mouth moved intrigued him, holding your smile through your words. There was something so indescribably enrapturing to him as he watched you. He felt like he could listen to you all day.

Listening to you . . . . That was right. Your voice. Tamaki had to figure out how to ask you to sing for him so he could finally hear it up close, untarnished by distance and wind.

Now wasn't the time, though. Tamaki's stomach painfully reminded him. The only problem was . . . what was he supposed to do? At home, he was used to being able to eat everything with his hands. But this was obviously a liquid, and something told him just shoving his fingers in wasn't the answer.

He swept his gaze over the tray, his eyes landing on a little slice of another foreign item to him. It had a tan crust, with a light, almost fluffy center. He picked it up, throwing multiple glances over to you in case you made a face to signal he was doing something wrong. Tamaki held it to his nose and sniffed. It smelled . . . good. Really good. He dunked it in the stew and brought it back out, lifting it up to his mouth and licking off some of the broth.

Flavors unlike anything he'd ever experienced before exploded in his mouth, and he found himself biting off some of the disc he'd dipped in it. This was another flavor, a little plain with the faintest hints of sweet. Tamaki happily chewed, already trying to figure out how to consume it all as fast as he could.

"You like the bread?" you asked, noticing his overjoyed expression. "I baked it this morning, with some help from Brianne. Brianne's my handmaiden, by the way. You've seen her, right? She was with me when I walked in the first time."

Tamaki looked over and nodded, thinking back to the older, somewhat heavy-set blonde woman from before.

You went on, beginning to explain your nearly perfected technique for baking bread. Tamaki tried to follow what you were saying, but it was difficult when he didn't even know half the terms you were using. Oven? Yeast? Dough? Tamaki could never have imagined how vastly different his world was from yours.

All too soon, he finished his 'bread', or at least, he was pretty sure it was bread. He frowned a little, disappointed, until his eyes alighted on another object on the tray. He picked it up, instantly feeling that it was metal. He used it to scoop up some of the chunks of meat and vegetables, finding them even better than the thick broth he'd been eating before.

He finished the last of what was in his bowl, a new sense of satisfaction settling in his stomach. But something else was tickling the back of his throat. He felt almost dry. He looked over to another bowl-like object on the tray, this one cylindrical and tall. He picked it up, seeing liquid inside.

It was water, it had to be, due to how clear it was. But the memory of seawater gushing into his mouth only a few hours before made him hesitate. He'd hated the salty taste of the ocean. Did humans actually drink that stuff? Tamaki tipped it towards his face, cautiously dipping his tongue into the water. This surprised him; it wasn't salty at all. It was clear and nearly tasteless, but somehow so deliciously satisfying.

He downed the whole thing in a matter of swallows, which you noticed, making you stop in your impromptu bread lecture. "You must be pretty dehydrated," you said sympathetically. "You swallowed a lot of seawater out there. And threw up a lot of seawater too. You're lucky you survived. Our shores alone would be enough to kill you. I can't even imagine floating out at sea." You studied him, a light of what looked almost like respect and intrigue flickering behind your eyes.

Tamaki's cheeks heated, feeling guilty that he was slightly misleading you. He had a month, he told himself. He'd tell you who he was and why he came. He just felt like he could adjust a little more first. Make sure you liked his presence before dumping ancient forbidden secrets upon you. Yeah, that seemed best.

"Are you still thirsty?" you asked Tamaki, jolting him out of his thoughts. "I can get you some more water. In fact, you can come with me if you want! I'll take you on that tour I mentioned. Ooh, I can show you the whole town! Maybe tomorrow, though, it's getting late. Come on." You pulled the now empty tray off his lap and set it on a table beside his bed, next walking to the wardrobe and pulling out another article of clothing. You laid it out on the bed, looking to Tamaki expectantly.

His brain took a moment to catch up, suddenly realizing you wanted him to stand. He'd never done that before. Tamaki squinted down at the floor, wondering why it had to be so far away. Finally he swung his legs over the side of the bed, sliding forward until his feet hit the cold wood below. He quickly pulled them back up, sensitive to the temperature.

You winced. "Sorry about that. I'll try to find you some shoes. Maybe my dad has some that are too small. You can come with me and check."

Shoes? Jeez, for all they did, humans almost seemed fragile. Tamaki lowered his feet back to the floor, now anticipating the gentle cold sting against his bare skin. He slowly raised himself, wobbly balancing on them. He was doing it! He was standing! On land!

Now walking. One in front of the other, right? Tamaki eagerly shifted his weight to one foot, maybe a little too excited. He toppled into you, and you just barely managed to steady him in your arms.

"Woah, there, slow down," you said, suppressing a chuckle at his now beet-red face. "I get it. You probably haven't gotten your land legs back yet. I've met the trading sailors."

His land legs? Sure, that was it. He just needed to develop them.

"Here, you can lean on me," you said. "You've been through a lot, I understand."

Tamaki carefully straightened, gripping your shoulder to steady himself. He tried for another step, this time more careful. You shuffled forward with him, helping as he put weight on his foot.

A step. His first step! Tamaki could flip—or, he would if he were underwater. Trying to do a quick somersault here could only end in disaster. Tamaki went for another step, then another, finding a rhythm to it quickly.

"There you go," you praised, your voice so quiet and genuine as you smiled up at him, gently guiding him around the room. It was only now that Tamaki realized how much taller he was than you. He could probably put his chin on the top of your head if he wanted to. You were so small, it made an odd feeling of wanting to protect you wash over him.

He suddenly realized he had frozen, staring at you. His cheeks warmed yet again and he glanced back down to his new bare feet. You had been staring back, but him breaking the connection of your gaze had jolted you back to reality. A very . . . touchy reality.

You only now realized just how much of his bare side was pressed up against you, and heat rose to your own cheeks. "Uh—shirt. Bed. I put a shirt ON the bed. It's for you." You tried to pull away from the man beside you, but he wasn't prepared and pitched to the side, forcing you to hug him again in order to prevent him from falling. "This is awkward, I'm so sorry," you said, suddenly beginning to trip over your words. "It's my fault. I'll—"

You tried to pull away again, gently this time, until Tamaki seized your hand in his. "It's okay," he said, looking into your eyes with sincerity. "I don't mind."

You swallowed, really wishing he was wearing that shirt right about now. Only because, a small part of you was glad he wasn't. You had to physically restrain your eyes from roving over him more than you already had.

Stop it. This is foolish, you chided yourself. The mind of a future queen of the Thapian Isles has no business in gutters like these.

And yet, the way your chest was squished against his, the way his pants were slung so low on his hips . . . the sudden memories of how he'd looked, sprawled out on that beach—

"Um, Princess?"

You hadn't even heard the door click open—maybe you hadn't shut it all the way—but the voice of your handmaiden made both you and Tamaki jolt.

"Brianne!" you said, your voice embarrassingly squeaky as you let go of your grip on Tamaki's hand and waist, jumping away from him.

He instinctively threw out his arms, balancing himself on his own.

You walked back to the bed, yanking the white linen shirt off its hanger and going back to thrust the article into Tamaki's arms.

"What were you two—"

"We were about to go get a drink!" you said, turning so you missed the deeply confused expression Tamaki gave the shirt as he held it up to examine it. "Then I was thinking I could show him around the chateau. You know, since he's going to be here for . . . a while I guess. How long until the boats back to the mainland get here?"

"It'll be another month or two," Brianne said, still looking between you and Tamaki suspiciously.

"Yep," you said, turning to find Tamaki holding the shirt upside down. "Here," you said, taking it from him. "These darn buttons always get me—" Your voice raced a mile a minute as you began to fumble with the buttons, still flustered from your interruption in such a position. "The traders just left last week," you explained, keeping your eyes glued to the shirt as you busied your fingers. "You just missed them. We're stuck here until they come back, so you'll have to deal with me until then, I guess."

The final button came free and the shirt fell open. You gave it a quick shake for good measure and offered an armhole to Tamaki. He stared at it for a moment before hesitantly putting his arm in the sleeve, letting you pull it around behind him. He shrugged it the rest of the way on, unused to the feeling of being wrapped in so much fabric.

He left it open before you frustratedly sighed, still shaken from earlier. You began to button the shirt closed, nimble fingers directing them into their respective slots with practiced ease. Tamaki watched, trying to memorize your movements so he might recreate them later.

"Alright, you ready?" you asked him. Brianne still stood in the doorway, watching your every move.

Tamaki nodded.

"Then come on! I want you to meet everyone!"

You grabbed his hand, spinning around to pull him out the door, forgetting his leg issues. A weight crashed into you from behind and the two of you toppled to the floor, Tamaki now sprawled on top of you.

"Princess . . . ." Brianne shook her head, grinning. She finally uncrossed her arms and departed from the doorway, leaving the two of you alone to right yourselves.

...

To be continued . . . .

くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡くコ:彡

[Part Four]

Author's Note:

Finally! Our Tamibaby is on land! This chapter was so much fun to write. I tried to figure out how to work in some se—uh, tension in here, some ROMANTIC tEnSiOn (If you get that reference, then five stars for you). I hope it got a giggle out of you. It's been a while since I've really been able to stretch my author muscles. Tamaki is a bean as always and I love writing for him. I'm also enjoying this version of y/n. I think she's turning out really well.

Anyway, it's 3 AM and I need to go to bed. In case you were wondering, I totally did not have a quick crisis on how to spell the word 'busied'. And I also most certainly did not accidentally type 'Tamale' instead of 'Tamaki' and then spent five minutes laughing about it.

Yeah, I'm sleepy, so I'm gonna go.

Good night/morning/afternoon,

-Sugar

Taglist:

@inumorph @engel-hageshii @pansexual-potterhead @ure-a-sunflower @xeina @kingtamakimurder @basicaegyo @iiminibattlehero @pyrofanatic @sokkasangel @xoxopam4

#tamaki #amajiki #tamaki amajiki #mermaki #tamaki bnha #tamaki amajiki bnha #tamaki mha #tamaki amajiki mha #tamaki x reader #tamaki amajiki x reader #bnha x reader #mha x reader #reader insert #deepbluefantasy #sugar fics

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