#she just got a dish washing job in the city close by!

[trailerparkdad]

"oh grandma, what a hoarder you were."

[atomicami]

comfort crowd

boyfriend’s mom!abby anderson x fem!reader

- summary: you’ve been dating your boyfriend for 2 years now, until all of a sudden he starts to act differently around you. one night, you come over to his place to see him, only to discover that he’s out cheating on you with another girl. as a result, you receive comfort from the person you’d least expect—his mother.

- content: smut MDNI, no outbreak/modern au, older/milf!abby, age gap (reader is 20, abby is 38), reader is in college, owen (he is mentioned a lot but does not make an appearance), mentions of past teen pregnancy, abby and owen are divorced, infidelity/cheating, reader has her first intimate experience with a woman, kinda softdom!abby, oral & fingering (r!receiving), squirting, scissoring, slight edging, and i think that’s it but lmk if i missed anything else

- author’s note: it’s finally here, sorry this one took me so long…i’ve been a bit nervous to do this pairing but it did win the poll i posted a while back so yeah…i also have to say that this fic took a lot of work and effort for me to write out, so i really hope y’all enjoy it 🤍

You were wishing that your suspicions about your boyfriend weren’t true.

A little over two years ago was when you first met Andrew Anderson-Moore. It was during your senior year of high school and your family had just moved to the city as a result of a job offer that your father had received. Having to start over at a new school was scary for you, but meeting Andrew made that experience a little better.

The two of you connected instantly, and it didn’t take long for you both to start dating and make it official. On your first month anniversary of being together, you two decided to introduce each other to your families. You brought Andrew to meet both of your parents first, and he brought you to meet his dad first before meeting his mom a week later.

Now you’re in your third year of college, still maintaining your loyalty towards him, and you still keep in touch with his parents as well, preferably with his mom, Abigail.

You enjoyed being with Abigail just as much as you did with your boyfriend. She was always so attentive and caring towards you, she treated you as if you were her own. Ever since Andrew had introduced you to her, you’d always make sure to be formal towards her no matter what, even though she could truly care less about it.

“Hi, Ms. Anderson, it’s nice to meet you,” you tell her kindly, removing yourself from your boyfriend’s embrace to shake her hand.

She flashes a smile back at you as she shakes your hand. “It’s nice to meet you too, sweetheart, there’s no need to be so formal though,” she tells you.

“Oh I’m sorry, Abigail—“

“Abby.” She corrects you. “Abby is just fine.”

You simply nod at her in response.

“Alright then, Abby.”

After dinner had passed that day, and you were bringing all the dishes to the sink to wash them, you ended up overhearing Abby say this to her son:

“Make sure you treat her well, Andrew. She’s a sweet girl, definitely a keeper.”

Even though you figured that Abby would be nothing more to you than your boyfriend’s mother, the way she said that to Andrew made you feel unusual inside…But you figured that you were feeling that way simply because it was just a genuine compliment from her.…right?

Since that day, you’ve been close with Abby since then, and Andrew has managed to treat you like royalty.

That is…until a couple of weeks ago when he arrived back from a guy’s trip with his father. You began to take note of the suspicious behavior he’s been having towards you lately. The way he’d hide his phone when he’s around you, how he’d avoid eye contact with you when you ask him about things, and how he’d leave every so often without telling you. It eventually got to the point where you needed to go and address it to him.

And that’s how you got here right now: sitting in your car in the driveway of his mom’s house on a gloomy Saturday night.

You muster up the courage to grab your bag and exit your car before locking it and walking the few steps over to the front door. After taking a deep breath, you step forward and knock on the door. Hoping it would be him answering the door, you’re quick to see Abby answer it instead. “Hey sweetheart,” she says to you. “What are you doing here so late?”

You look up to see Abby looking down at you with a soft smile. She was still in her scrubs with her white coat in her other hand, and with a bunch of little blonde flyaways sticking out of her hair. It looked like she had just gotten back from her shift at the hospital.

“Oh, Ms. Anderson…I was wondering if Andrew was here, by any chance? I need to talk to him about something.” you ask her, praying the answer would be what you’d expect it to be.

Abby let out a sigh and shook her head. “I’m afraid not, sweetheart…Owen dropped him off this morning and he left the house right before I was about to leave for work. I honestly thought he’d be spending the day with you today.”

Although Andrew was an adult now, he still managed to make visits between his mom and dad. Abby and Owen have been divorced for years now, but at the very beginning, they were once dating as high school sweethearts. It wasn’t until Abby had gotten pregnant from him during her senior year, and as a result, he’d figured the best and most traditional way was for them to get married after graduation.

Things were good for the couple so far…until one day, shortly after Andrew’s first birthday, Abby had gotten home early from school only to find her husband in bed with another woman, which instantly led to them getting divorced with joint custody of their son. She felt like she should’ve been hurt and heartbroken about that, but for some reason she just…didn’t. It was almost as if she was falling out of love with Owen anyway, and his cheating was just the sign for her to divorce him.

Even though Abby was the victim in that situation, she didn’t want to tell Andrew about it so as to not damage his relationship with his father. Instead, she made sure to raise him to be a loyal, trustworthy man, just so he wouldn’t end up turning out to be just like his father.

She raised him to make sure that he wouldn’t end up hurting you.

You let out a sigh, looking over at your car before back at her. “Alright, um, I’ll just head out, then…”

As you were about to leave, you felt Abby’s hand gently grab your shoulder, causing you to turn around. “Hold on, um…would you like to come inside? I can’t have you driving around in this awful weather, maybe you can just wait for him in the meantime, yeah?”

You hesitated for a moment, but to be fair, Abby did have a point. It’s been storming so much these days, and based on the few drops you felt land on your shoulder, it seemed like it was going to happen again tonight.

You give Abby a nod, accepting her offer. She steps over to the side, clearing the way for you to enter inside before closing the door behind you.

“Have a seat, sweetheart,” Abby offers, gesturing you towards her couch. “I’m gonna take a quick shower and order some takeout if you’d like? I uh, don’t plan on doing anything tonight…” she continues, stuffing her hands in her pockets.

You nod back at her and set your bag down on the couch before sitting yourself down. “That’s alright with me…Thanks again, Ms. Anderson.”

“Abby, sweetheart,” she replies, correcting you.

“Right, thank you, Abby.”

You watch as she turns around and heads upstairs to her room. Once the shower turns on, you can’t help but get a feeling of deja vu passing through you, remembering that certain day like it was yesterday.

Now, the thought of being with a woman never really crossed your mind, but for some reason, you couldn’t help but find Abby to be so…attractive. You assumed it was just a silly little crush and set it aside because there was no way that Abby would see you as anything more than her son’s girlfriend.

But it wasn’t until about a month ago, that you decided to spend the night at Andrew’s place. It was around 1 am, and you had left Andrew’s bedroom to use the bathroom. As you were just about to go in, you couldn’t help but peek into Abby’s room as you were passing by.

The door of her bathroom was creaked open, the shower was currently running, and while Abby was undressing herself from her scrubs, you couldn’t help but keep your eyes fixed on her figure. Her back, her arms, her hands…you were feeling so attracted to her, to where a wave of arousal was hitting you instantly. You were getting so turned on by her in the way that you should be feeling towards her son instead.

Your gaze kept lingering on her, but once you noticed her blue eyes locking with yours, you quickly rushed back to Andrew’s room. This led you to have to wake up your boyfriend just to have sex with him, all with the sinful thoughts of his mother on your mind.

And even though neither you nor Abby brought up that incident the next morning, she had a strong feeling that those sounds that you were making that night were meant for her.

The sound of thunder startles you. You look out the window to see that it has already begun pouring outside. You were definitely going to be here for a while now, but you didn’t mind it. Abby always provided good company to you anyway.

You watch as the rain keeps pattering down, hitting the glass of the window. Your hand feels the vibration of your phone followed by a chime, causing you to look down at your screen and check the notification you just received.

Abby shuts off the water in the shower once she’s finished, making sure to keep it quick so as to not leave you waiting for so long. She then quickly changed into a shirt and sweatpants before shutting off the lights and leaving her bedroom.

As Abby began to head downstairs, she could hear a faint sniffling sound coming from the living room. It sounded like you were crying. This led to her rushing even quicker now to the living room, walking in to see you quietly crying, your dimly lit phone in one hand while your face was buried in the other, collecting all of your tears.

Concerned, she slowly began to approach you. “Hey, hey sweetheart…what’s the matter?” she asks calmly, sitting down next to you on the couch and placing a hand on your shoulder.

All you could do was shake your head in response. You were so choked up on your tears that you couldn’t even speak. You felt Abby get closer to you, trying to take a look at what was on your phone. You quickly hid it away from her, but it was too late. She had already caught a glimpse of the familiar figure that was on the screen.

Her hand makes contact with yours, trying to get ahold of your phone. “Let me see,” she tells you in a commanding, yet gentle tone.

You couldn’t help but give in, slowly loosening your grip on your phone, now letting her have it in her possession. Once the phone was in her hands she took a closer look at the screen, eyes widening in shock and disbelief. She couldn't believe what was seeing right now.

It was a picture of Andrew, her son, out at a party, with his lips attached to another girl’s, that clearly wasn’t his girlfriend.

Abby was just as shocked as you were. But she wasn’t just shocked. She was enraged, enraged at the fact that her own son had gone behind your back and hurt you like this. You were the sweetest, kindest soul she’d ever met, how could he, or anyone manage to break your heart with no remorse whatsoever?

Along with that, Abby couldn’t help but feel disappointed either. She spent the past twenty years raising her son to not be a cheat like his father was. But at that moment, after seeing that photo and the state you are in right now, she felt like she failed as a mother.

At that moment, she wanted to make things right.

Not only that…she wanted to make you forget about her son and make up for how he treated you.

Abby sets your phone down and reaches for her own that was on the coffee table. You try to stop her from doing so, knowing that she is going to call her son right now. “I-I tried calling h-him,” you choked out, grabbing at her forearms. “H-He didn’t respond.”

Abby gently shakes your hands away from her arms and grabs her phone before quickly unlocking it. “He’ll respond to me, sweetheart, trust me,” she tells you sternly, getting up from the couch and making her way back upstairs to her room before closing the door.

She was definitely right about that. It didn’t take long for you to hear the muffled shouting coming out of Abby’s room. Even through the thick walls of her house, you could hear her clear as day:

“Andrew, what the hell were you thinking?! Your girlfriend is here in my house, worried sick about you and you’re at a fucking party cheating on her with another girl?! I didn’t raise you to be like this. If you wanna keep this act up, then go stay with your father, Andrew. I don’t want you coming back here until I say otherwise.”

Despite that Abby was in your defense about this, you couldn’t help but feel so overwhelmed. You honestly wished you hadn’t come here in the first place. Even though it was storming harshly outside, you felt like the best thing was to just go home. This was the last place you wanted to be at right now.

Once Abby had finished talking on the phone, she then went back downstairs to the living room, only to see you heading towards the front door to leave. She quickly stops you before your hand grabs the doorknob. “Hey, where are you going? I told you it’s too dangerous for you to drive out there right now.”

You ignore her and make the effort to push her away and get to the door, but her strong figure wouldn’t budge at all. “I-I need to go, Ms. Anderson, I can’t—“ Your words get cut off as Abby begins to wrap her arms around you, enclosing your surroundings into a hug.

You couldn’t help but give in to her embrace, burying your face into her chest and sobbing into it, instantly staining the soft cotton of her shirt with your tears. The way you were acting right now was hurting Abby inside. It hurt her to know that her son was the one that caused your heart to break into a million pieces, especially knowing how much you loved him. She was willing to do anything right now to take that pain away from you.

“Listen, sweetheart…” She says, slightly pulling away to get a look at you. “I told Andrew to stay at Owen’s in the meantime, okay? You don’t have to worry about him coming here.” she takes another deep breath before continuing. “I didn’t raise my son to be like this, sweetheart…I’m sorry.”

You look up at her and shake your head in response. “I-It’s okay, Ms. Anderson, it’s not your fault…”

The warmth from one of her hands reaches your face, wiping the tears off of your cheeks “I’d like you to stay here for a bit, okay? I don’t want you going out in that storm and getting hurt…I can’t afford to lose what my son couldn’t keep.”

It was clear that Abby didn’t mean for that last sentence to slip, and she didn’t notice that she was thinking out loud until she saw your eyes widen in shock. You couldn’t help but wonder if Abby was having those same feelings towards you as well…

Your gaze shifts away for a second, and you quickly wipe the rest of your tears before looking back up at her. “As much as I’d like to, Ms. Anderson…I really don’t want to be here right now…Everything here just reminds me of him…”

You notice Abby hesitate for a moment. “Do you, uh, want to go to my room instead? Will that help?” she says, practically trying not to sound desperate. She resisted the need to beg for it, but if that was convincing enough for you to stay with her, she would be on her knees in an instant.

“Yeah…That would be a lot better, actually…”

Abby’s arm moves down to the small of your back before keeping you close to her side as you follow her upstairs to her bedroom, which was at the end of the hall. Before you go in, you couldn’t help but turn your head at the room you had just passed—Andrew’s bedroom. You were already thinking about having to eventually go in there and take your things out of his room. The thought of it was already making you sick.

Abby places a hand on your shoulder, causing you to get slightly startled before looking up at her. “You know you don’t have to go in there yet, right?” she assures you, squeezing your shoulder. “I can even get your things out of his room if you need me to.”

You simply nod and smile back at her as a silent ‘thank you��� before turning the knob of her bedroom and letting yourself in.

Upon entering, you realize how much Abby’s room differs from her son’s. Her room was painted in a shade of light blue, her bed was neatly made just as she had it in the morning. On your left, there was her dresser followed by some weights next to it, and on your right was the entrance to her bathroom. That same bathroom you had peeked into not that long ago.

“Your room is nice,” you tell her, your eyes still fixed on your surroundings. “Definitely a lot nicer than Andrew’s.”

Abby lets out a chuckle from behind. “Yeah, I know, he’s always been so unorganized.” she then hesitates for a moment before continuing. “However, there’s always been something in his room that mine doesn’t have…”

You slowly turn around to face her, noticing her starting to approach you. “What’s that?”

She stops in her tracks once she’s in front of you, gently placing her hand on your chin and lifting it up so you can see her.

“…you.”

A smile crept up on your face in reaction to her words. “Is that so? Well…”

You pause for a moment, looking at your surroundings before looking back up at her and leaning in, just close enough to where your lips were just inches away from hers.

“I like it better here anyway,” you whisper back to her.

And with that, Abby gives in and seals your words with a kiss, and you just can’t help but kiss her back. The both of you knew that this was wrong, Abby was your boyfriend’s mother for Christ’s sake.

But if it’s such a bad thing, why did it feel so good for the two of you?

You feel Abby’s hand in front of you, slightly pushing you back so you can sit down on her bed. Once you land on her bed, she drops down to her knees to your height, still maintaining her lips with yours before pulling them away momentarily to strip you down.

Her hands first meet with the hem of your shirt, gently tugging it upwards to get it off. You bring your hands up as she fully discards you from your shirt and toss it to the ground. As she now works on getting your jeans off, you unhook your bra and slowly remove it before tossing it next to your shirt.

Abby looks up for a moment, only for her gaze to linger at the mere sight of your topless self. “My god…” she says in awe, moving both of her hands to your tits. “You look so beautiful…I can’t believe he gets to see this…gets to touch this…”

With her hands still cupping your tits, she leans in to kiss one of them, causing a moan to escape from your mouth. One of her hands moves back to the button of your jeans, and she instantly gets them undone with just a single hand. Her mouth is soon off of your nipple followed by her other hand, now hardened just from the contact of her lips and fingers. You were easily getting so turned on by her, and she knew it.

However, now that your jeans were gone and your underwear was shifted to the side, you couldn’t help but stop her once she was about to dive in between your legs. “W-Wait…” you said, gently pushing her head away from your soaked cunt.

Abby paused her movements immediately, pulling her head away and looking up at you. “What? What is it?” she asks with some slight concern in her voice.

You hesitate for a moment. You genuinely don’t know how you’re going to be able to confess this to her.

“You, um…you don’t have to do it, i-if you don’t want to—“

“But I want to,” she replied firmly, instantly cutting off the rest of your words. “Do you not want me to?”

You shake your head quickly in response. “N-No, I do, I really do, I just thought—“

“Thought what? What did you think?” she asks you, raising an eyebrow in confusion.

It didn’t take long for Abby to get the message. She knew why you were being so hesitant about this. To her, it felt like she was one step away from finally being able to not only taste you but to give you the pleasure that you deserved. But to you, you couldn’t help but simply feel like a burden to her, just like how it was with her son.

“Wait a minute…Has Andrew not been doing this to you?”

Your gaze drifts off to the side, and she takes your lack of eye contact as a yes to her question.

Each of her hands was on your knees, and you could feel her tighten her grip on them a bit, but not to the point where it would hurt you. And even though you were looking away from her, you could see her shake her head in disbelief from the corner of your eye.

“I can’t believe him…” she mutters to herself with a sigh. “He really is just like his father.”

The warmth of her hand makes contact with the side of your face, tilting it back forward to face her. “I’m so sorry, sweetheart…please let me make up for my son’s actions…let me give you the pleasure that you deserve. Will you let me do that? Please?”

You hesitate once again. The thought of having Abby give you even the slightest bit of pleasure felt overwhelming to you, but the fact that she was quite literally on her knees begging to do it to you turned you on even more. If anything, Abby was being more desperate than you were right now.

So you give in this time.

“Y-yes…” you whisper out quietly to her. “Go ahead…”

And with that, Abby’s hands meet together at the waistband of your underwear, fully pulling them down and off of your legs before spreading them even farther than before.

Her lips gently brush over your sensitive clit to kiss it, and the sudden contact causes you to involuntarily jerk back. You didn’t mean to do it, but it’s been so long since you’ve been touched before, that even the slightest touch on your pussy already makes you feel overstimulated.

“Hey, it’s okay,” Abby coos, gently squeezing your hips and bringing you closer to her face. “I’ve got you, just lie back and relax for me, sweetheart, okay? Nice and slow…”

You try your best to keep your cool right now, and even Abby tries to as well. It’s clearly taking everything in her to not just quickly dive into your pussy and devour you alive. But she knows how long it’s been for you. She knows that your body hasn’t been worshipped the way that it should be.

“God….you taste so good…sweetest little thing I’ve ever had…” she murmurs into your pussy, slowly increasing the speed of her fingers.

You couldn’t help but watch in awe at the sight of Abby right now. Andrew was never willing to even put his mouth near your pussy, while his mother here was on her knees eating you like a woman starved.

“Mmmh, g-go faster, please…” you quietly whine out to her, grinding your hips against both of her thick fingers that were inside you.

You didn’t need to say anything else for Abby to instantly obey your command. Her fingers began to pump in and out of your pussy even faster than before. They were going in so deep to the point where the tip of her middle finger easily tapped into your g spot, and you absolutely loved it.

Before you knew it, Abby’s fingers and mouth were going at an extremely rapid pace inside you, so fast to the point where you were gripping onto the edge of the bed to hold yourself down.

That feeling was quickly building up inside you now, you were going to cum at any moment. However, something about that feeling felt unusual to you. It was almost as if you needed to stop what she was doing to you.

So you do. You try to warn her, even grab at her wrist to slow down.

“A-Abby, wait—oh God—fuck!”

As much as you tried, you couldn’t warn her in time. Your body had already done its deed, your pussy uncontrollably squirting into her mouth and on her fingers as you reached your peak. The rest of your body felt limp, and your brain was feeling slightly fuzzy from your orgasm.

You felt Abby shift around in between your legs to stand back up, which led you to muster up the energy to sit up on the bed. Your eyes widen at the mess you’ve just created. Everything—Abby’s face, her clothes, her sheets, your legs—was all soaked with your release.

You couldn’t help but feel a little embarrassed by it, quickly closing up your legs and bringing your knees to your face. “A-Abby, I’m so sorry I—I didn’t mean to do that…I tried to—“

“Hey hey, it’s okay sweetheart…Don’t feel bad…” she murmurs out to you, gently caressing your face with one hand while bringing both of your knees back down with the other. “Did it feel good?”

You nod slowly as she looks back down at you. “Yes, it did…Better than—”

“Better than him, right?”

“Yeah. Better than him.”

A smile flashes on Abby’s face as she leans in to kiss your lips, letting you taste a bit of yourself in the process. “Then you shouldn’t be sorry, sweetheart,” she tells you as she pulls away. “Lie down on the back of the bed, princess. I'm not done with you just yet.”

You simply oblige, sitting yourself up and scooting to the back of her bed, lying your head down on top of her pillows that were stacked in front of the headboard. You watch as Abby wipes her face and licks her fingers clean before stripping herself out of her clothes. Just like last time, you couldn’t help but admire her broad, muscular figure. And it wasn't just her figure, it was just everything about her. Her bright blue eyes, her freckled skin, her luscious blond hair…You just felt so mesmerized by her. You felt an attraction to her that just couldn’t compete with Andrew at all.

Your eyes follow her movements as she leans down over her bottom bedside drawer and opens it for a moment before shaking her head and closing it. It didn’t take much for you to be able to see the strap she owned, alongside the few other toys she had in there.

The weight of the bed soon shifts down as she hovers herself over you. “Are you…are you not gonna fuck me?” you ask her quietly.

Abby nods her head as she adjusts the pillows on the back of your head to make you feel more comfortable. “I’m gonna fuck you, sweetheart, just not with those,” she says as she shifts back and begins to position herself in between your legs. “I'm gonna fuck you in a way that no man, not even my own son, could ever do with you. Would you like that, sweetheart?”

You nod quickly, eager to find out how she’s going to do this. However, you didn’t know what to do about it either. “Wait, but how do I—”

“You don’t have to do anything, okay princess? All you have to do is just look pretty for me while I do the work. Lie back and relax for me, just like before, yeah?”

You nod again, resting your upper body back on the bed as Abby continues to maneuver herself over you. She lifts up one of your legs and places it over her shoulder, and then brings her free hand down to her pussy and spreads her lips open with two of her fingers. You could easily see that she was just as wet as you were right now.

She then places her wet pussy on top of yours and you easily gasp at the newfound feeling of it. The way her lips molded perfectly against yours, along with how her arousal was practically dripping on top of your tight hole had you reeling.

“Oh fuck,” Abby mutters out, further pressing herself down on top of you. “Your pussy feels even better against me like this.”

Abby begins to grind her pussy against yours, causing you to moan over the friction. You understand that Abby wants to take her time with you right now, but God was she being so painfully slow with this. You were desperately craving for some more friction already, but you felt too shy to tell her. So you end up weakly grinding your hips instead.

“Whoa there,” Abby says, placing a hand on your hip to keep you steady. “Looks like someone’s eager for more…You want me to go faster, princess? Is that what you want?”

“Y-Yes, p-please Abby…g-go faster…” you whine out to her, continuing to grind against her pussy.

“Needy girl…” she mutters as she increases her pace. “Not even a minute with my pussy and she already wants more…I bet it feels better than any cock you’ve ever had, hm?”

All you could do at this point was babble and whine in response. The feeling of Abby’s wet cunt against yours was getting you easily drunk. You look down and watch Abby place a thumb on your hood, lifting it to expose your throbbing clit to her. She then placed her clit right on top of yours before grinding even faster than before.

The sudden overstimulation caused your eyes to flutter themselves shut and your head to tilt back in pleasure against the stack of pillows behind you. Your body soon starts to feel limp again and the familiar fuzziness in your brain soon returns again. At this point, Abby was practically using your pussy to get herself off. But as long as you kept feeling the delicious friction of her clit rubbing against yours, you didn’t mind at all.

Abby suddenly tightens her grip on your leg, leading you to open your eyes and look back at her. Her brows were furrowed in concentration with her gaze fixed on both pussies. You could hear her quietly whimpering to herself while the muscles in her abdomen were contracting and tensing up as she kept quickly grinding herself against your pussy.

At first, you couldn’t tell what she was trying to do with herself. But it didn’t take you too long to realize why her body was doing these things.

Abby was waiting for you to cum first.

You were at a loss for words at the moment. Andrew never cared about that. He would always be done the second he’d finish, meanwhile, Abby was sacrificing her own pleasure just to make you cum a second time.

“A-Are you close, sweetheart?” Abby moans out to you, keeping her hands firm against you as she continues to rub her pussy onto yours.

“Y-Yes, fuck—” you whimper back as you begin to quickly grind your hips against hers. “D-don't stop, Abby…m’so close…”

At this point, the noises that the two of you were making right now were borderline pornographic. Between your moans and whines with Abby’s grunts, along with the wet squelching sound of both of your pussies rubbing against one another, it's honestly surprising how you haven’t woken up the neighbors by now.

“Fuck, Abby—'m gonna cum, fuck!” you tell her as you grip the bedsheets while continuing to rub your clit with hers.

Within seconds, your pussy began to quickly clench around Abby’s while instantly cumming right on top of it. Once Abby felt that you were emptied out, she soon let her body relax before cumming onto your pussy as well with a broken moan.

Once the both of you have recovered from each other's climaxes, Abby presses a soft kiss to your ankle before gently getting your leg off of her shoulder and setting it back down.

Feeling drunk from your orgasm, you let your eyes flutter shut for a moment, hardly feeling the movements of Abby cleaning you up and tucking you into a fresh set of sheets. Your eyes open back up again once Abby has her arm wrapped around you from behind. “Abby, that was…that felt amazing..” you whisper out to her.

Abby lets out a chuckle before gently kissing the back of your shoulder. “I’m glad I could make up for it, sweetheart,” she whispers back to you.

You turn your head around for a moment to face her. “Are you sure I can spend the night here with you?” you ask her shyly.

Abby smiles at you, giving you a quick kiss on your lips before responding. “Of course you can, sweetheart…you know I told him not to come back,” she reassures you, gently caressing the side of your face with her hand. “You’re in good hands with me, I promise.”

You smile at her before turning back around and pressing yourself closer to her as she keeps you tightly wrapped in her embrace. The security that Abby was giving you right now was more than enough to make you instantly drift off to sleep, secretly wishing that the night that you’d spent with your boyfriend’s mother could now last a lifetime.

And little did you know, Abby was also wishing the same thing too.

2023 © atomicami | all rights reserved. do not copy, modify, or translate any of my works.

[luvyeni]

THE HIGH LORD OF SUMMER COURT; HWANG HYUNJIN

PAIRINGS. highfae!hyunjin x maid!reader

WC. 6.4k

WARNINGS. virginity loss, corruption kink if you squint, oral (fem. recieving), unprotected sex,

SYNOPSIS. hyunjin of summer court hardly paid attention to his staff, spending most of his time with different hook ups or spending most of his time in his paint room, but when you clumsily spill his tea on his suit, he suddenly wants to be around you, watching you work.

TAGLIST. @kosmoreads @hipsdofangirl @imhyvnjin @lovemepie67 @chvnnie @hgema @candiecans @my-name-is-namename @yourhwngness @midsoulz @jessyrdn @cutielittlepie @intomysoul-555 @cxentrxcks @yurippiefelix @missrobyn81 @stayinthemirohwoo @3retcha @lifeissteph @skzfelixlove @reiheis @chereshnyya @levantea @why-am-i-sad @blankdyean @kunstistliebchen @userbangchan @fairywriter-oracle @elmi-chan @compersian @mal-lunar-28 @n4tiii @ddazed-lhs @felixcharmerera @ch4nniebang @hyunibinnie @fairyyeo @reddesert-healourblues @fxckedupbitch @icouldntcareless22 @pessimist-sky @jeonnyread

DISCLAIMER! THIS IS NOT AFFILIATED WITH THE BOOK SERIES BUT IT WILL HAVE REFERENCES TO THE BOOK.

rule number one: lesser faeries are to be seen and not heard while they work in the castle.

Growing up that's all that your mother would say, it was the first thing she every told you when you asked her how was it when she went to work at the castle in adriata and she's been saying it ever since.

your family lived in the poorest cities of the summer court, surving on close to nothing after your father died. that was before your mother got a special job to go work in adriata, to work for the high lord of the court, lord hyunjin. this was the first good news you have ever had received in your entire life , your family would get a little more money coming into your very small house.

recently, your mother started to experience severe pain, and the castle thought it would be in her best intrest if she found a replacement and retired, of course she chose you, you were in young and ready to work for your family. soon you were finding yourself saying goodbye to your aunt and siblings, going to join your mother at the castle in the capital city of adriata.

"mom!" you were met with a heartwarming hug from your mother when you met up with her where all the boats and ships docked in adriata. "my baby!" regardless of time your mother spent away, you never let it get in between your relationship with your mother. "we have to go to the shops, the high lord requested a special dinner tonight for lady friend, let's get some practice in, so you can get familiar with what he likes and doesn't."

walking through the streets of adriata , you learned what you needed to know about the hyunjin, the high lord, all his likes and dislikes. "he's rather short with the staff, doesn't say much, unless he wants something, his lady friends though, they need help with everything, eating, getting dressed, you name it they probably need help with it." you laughed.

"he hasn't been married off yet?"

you knew all about hyunjin, and his never ending quest of trying get into all the dresses of the summer court high faes. "you know he probably never will , you know he was the first high fae to reject his mating bond."

"lesser faeries are to be seen and not heard while they work in the castle, i know mama."

the kitchen was pretty much the only place you could talk , except when anyone important would come in to check, then it would get silent. "i guess they take that rule pretty seriously." you try to joke, but your mother just slaps your arm, telling you to hush, apologizing to the other staff.

"oh my!" chaewon, a girl around your age jumped up while you washed the dishes, you and your said your goodbyes, and she was on her way back home, leaving you alone. "are you okay?" your face turned in half concern half confusion.

"i can't believe we let the time pass like this, the lord needs his tea, oh he's probably gonna be so mad." she rushed to get everything together. "has he gotten mad before?" you helped her so she wouldn't burn herself with the way she was shaking. "i don't know i've been here for a year and he hasn't come in once, your mom is the only one who serves him." she freezes again. "your mom, she isn't here, who's gonna serve the lord, oh no." she began to panic, but she stopped looking at you.

"you can do it."

"me?" your eyes widened, "i can't do it, you said it yourself, my mom only does it." she put everything neatly on the tray. "that's why you should do it, your her daughter." she handed it to you. "absolutely not, i mean i don't even know where his wing is." you push the tray slowly away from you.

"it's the right wing, please , i will owe you one." she pushed back towards you. you looked into her pleading eyes. "tsk, fine." she smiled handing you tray. "you owe me." she gave you a tumbs up. "remember, quite as you work, or whatever that rule was." you rolled your eyes, not even bothering to correct her, you had other things to worry about. like where the hell was the right wing...

"god where the hell is his room?" you whispered as you basically tipped toed through the halls of the castle. chaewon made it seem like it was easy to find, you knew you shouldn't have listen to someone who's been here for a year and hasn't even left the kitchen or met the lord.

"this was so stupid." you should've just waited like you suggestive, instead hear you are lost in the castle, trying not to cry out in frustration. "i've had enough of this, where's his damn room." you started to get a bit upset.

"excuse me." a deep voice made you shriek in fear, and the next thing you know the tea was thrown over the person, he gasped. "shit!" he cursed, probably because the was hot and now it was on all over his body...

it was hyunjin. lord hyunjin.

hyunjin was confused, his servents knew his schedule, so where was his tea? everyday at this hour his tea is served my mrs.lee quietly in his art room, just like he likes it, where is she?

"hyune what's wrong?" he sighed under his brearh at the voice that had plagued him for the past few weeks. "nothing hana, you know you're not supposed to be in here." she was only supposed to be here a night, and now suddenly she's asking for big dinners with him and her friends, he didn't mind though, he'll entertain her delusions of marrying him for a few weeks, then break it off with her by sleeping with her bestfriend, it should be fine, it always worked out for him in the end.

"i can't wait anymore." he got up. "someone will answer for this, come get out." he closed the door leaving hana who was confused standing outside it.

he was making his way to the kitchen for the first time in years, he was surprised he still knew where it was, especially since this castle was pretty ginormous.

"i've had enough of this, where is his damn room." a voice made him stop and turn, a young girl around his age holding his tea tray. had something happen to mrs.lee? who was this girl?"

hyunjin thought he was making loud enough steps, but apparently not, since when he went to get your attention, you shrieked in terror, the tray slipping out of your hand, and landing right on his clothes. "shit!" he jumped back in pain because of the hot drink.

"oh no, im so dead." you panicked, trying to pick everything up. "i am so sorry." you grabbed the napkin off the tray, trying to blot it off his suit. "please don't fire or kill me it was an accident." you rambled, realizing the napkin was as useless as the most useless thing on the planet.

"it's fine, wait your arm is bur- what the hell are you doing." hyunjin rolled his eyes as hana approached you both, grabbing your arm, you flinched in pain, but only hyunjin seemed to see it, because hana didn't let your arm go.

"i..im so sorry."

"you damn well better be, his suit ruined, and you've probably burned his skin—oh my hyune are you okay." hyunjin's eyes were on your wrist, it must've hurt more since it was directly on your skin, but you didn't utter not one moan of pain.

you both made eye contact, and he awkwardly coughed. "hana, im fine, i just need a new suit." she turned to you. "well why are you standing there still? go fetch the tailor and get him a new suit." he watched you practically run away with the tray in your hand. "idiot, you should have her fired." he side eyed hana, removing her hand from his chest, walking away back to his room, his tea was all over him, but why could he only worry about the burn on your arm?

"it's my first day and im gonna be fired, my mom has been gone fore 2 hours max and im already gonna lose the job." you panicked as chaewon bandaged your arm, you tried to tell her it barely hurt, but in reality she was just trying to compensate for putting you in said mess. "i am so sorry, this is all my fault, i put too much pressure on you on your first day."

"it's fine i guess, no one was really hurt." you said. "my ego is though." she pouted. "i am so sorry." she apologized once more, just another maid ran in. "it's time to serve dinner, there's a few guest, so remember, we are to be seen and not heard, let's not cause even more of a scene." she looked at you and chaewon, you both just lowered your heads in embarrassment. "chop chop!"

everyone set everything up so perfect on the rollie trays. "should you really be in control of the trays." you glared at the male staff next to you. "shut it beomgyu." chaewon slapped his arm. "the three of you let's go." you quickly shut your mouths as you made your way to the eating area.

there were many girls, squealing and talking as you entered into the room, must be her friends, the way hyunjin looked so disinterested. "i can't believe it all these girls and the bastard acts like this." beomgyu said under his breath. "beomgyu, shut up." chaewon said quietly through her fake smile.

"both of you stop it, dispurst so they won't notice." you said walking the other way, right towards hyunjin. 'shit' it was too late to turn around without anyone noticing you literally trying run away from serving the high lord himself, so you sucked it up, head down as you made your way over to him.

hyunjin saw you walking over to him, he was so bored, and all he could think of was if your wrist was okay so this perfect. you walked over to him head down to the floor, you took this seen but not heard thing seriously he thought. "cute." he chuckled under his breath, covering it with a cough as you grew closer to him.

you put his food in front of him, about to walk away, but he softly grabbed your wrist. "does it hurt?" you were shocked he even asked. "you can answer." you were too stunned. "uh- excuse you." hana interrupted you. "my friend needs her food." you quickly gave him a nod, before walking to them.

"that's her, the one who tried to burn the high lord." you cringed, hearing her gossip to her friend. "and she's still working here?" you were pretty sure they wanted you to hear. "you know hyunjin is just so kind, he would never to that to someone so poor." you were a lesser fae so you were pretty much powerless, but you definitely would have used them on her if you were strong enough. "watch this." hana knocked over the cup sneakily.

"jesus! can you do anything right, constantly dropping things, why won't you just quit if you're gonna be this useless." your jaw dropped. "b- are you about to speak?" mrs.bae, another maid ran over to you. "she didn't mean it, we'll have this cleaned up right now, beomgyu."

"whatever, just get out of my sight." mrs.bae nodded dragging you away. you glanced at hyunjin who looked at you with sympathy in his eyes. "let's go." mrs.bae dragged you into the kitchen.

after your second scolding of the day you were told to stay in the kitchen and do the dishes, so you did until it was time for the servants to quietly return to their quarters.

"it was the worst first day ever." you sat on your uncomfortable mattress. "you definitely take the cake for worst first days." beomgyu plopped his butt right on your bed. "why is he here." chaewon threw her pillow at the boy. "i really don't know why i keep you around, useless i tell you, get out." she picked up the show, getting ready to throw it. "fine, im gone." he got up leaving out your small room. "we get the smallest rooms because we're the youngest." chaewon picked her pillow up. "of course." you layed on your back, staring up at the dingy light.

"well there's always tomorrow." she turned off the light, darkness engluf the room. "i guess." you sighed, closing your eyes letting sleep wash over you.

you guys were rushed out of bed the next morning to start the day. "jesus it's so early." beomgyu stumbled into the kitchen. "i hate this job." you and chaewon laughed at the boy who washed the fruits, grumbling a bunch of curse words under his breath. "you must not be a morning person." you teased. "oh haha mrs.tray." you glared are him. "asshole." chaewon slapped your arm, but you brushed it off. "you started it." he retaliated, you noticed chaewon was quite, the whole kitchen was in fact except you and beomgyu.

chaewon stared in shock towards the entrance of the kitchen, your eyes followed hers, mouth opened in shock. "good morning." hyunjin stood there, no one said anything. "is breakfast almost ready?" mrs.bae spoke up. "a..almost sir, sorry for keeping you waiting." he held his hand up. "don't apologize, just wanted to see how it was coming along, don't mind me." he walked around the kitchen looking at everything, while everyone walked on eggshells.

he looked over to the station where you three quietly did your task. you guys locked eyes and he made his way over. "shit." all three of you said, looking at the fruit like it was actually intresting, beomgyu was itching to make a joke, you coud see his left eye twitching.

"good morning." you heard his voice, smooth like honey in your ear. "is your wrist okay?" you nodded, eyes on the fruit, chopping them right beside chaewon.

"you know i prefer it so much better when someone verbally answers me, and looks me in the eye." he whispered in your ear, his hand grazing yours. "let's try that again, is your wrist okay." you breathed, turning your head, his face very close to yours, but you looked him in the eyes. "it's fine." you hope you didn't sound too breathless.

"good girl."

your knees almost went weak, you swore you would've fell if it weren't for chaewon, he smirked walking away leaving everyone shocked at what just happened. he whispered something into mrs.bae's ear before leaving the kitchen, and you could hear the collective sigh wash over the room.

"girl." chaewon turned to you. "what the hell was that?" you shrugged, trying to collect your thoughts. "i..i don't know." you spoke. "did you seduce the high lord?" beomgyu wasn't joking. "our first meeting was me spilling hot tea over him, i doubt it." "maybe he has a kink for that." chaewon slapped beomgyu. "shut up."

"im just saying." he threw his hands up in defense. "i mean it's not my thing, but i don't judge." you listened to them argue, as mrs.bae walked over to you. "the high lord has requested you to his bedroom." chaewon snickered. "it's a bit early for that." you glared. "shut up." your face was hot. "get back to work, you will go to his room and clean, quietly, and then make your way back to the kitchen to get ready for lunch." she instructed.

"try not to burn him again." chaewon and beomgyu bursted out into a fit of laughter. "why did i chose you two as friends." you glared at them, walking out the kitchen, someone escorting you to his room this time, to avoid you getting lost.

you hesitantly knock on the door, waiting for him to allow you to come in. "enter." you shakily open the door, slowing walking in. "i'm here to clean your-ah! i'm sorry i thought you said enter." you covered your eyes, embarrassed beause he was standing in a towel. "i did."

"but you're naked." he laughed. "im not naked, i have a towel, would you like me to show you naked." you shook your head. "i..it's fine, i'll just clean quickly and be on my way." hyunjin nodded watching you as began to make his bed. "so mrs.lee was your mom." you nodded, you weren't sure if you should speak, mrs.bae told you not to, and she scared you more than any high lord.

"she's been here since i was a kid, she never mentioned having a kid not once." you chuckled to yourself, but he heard you. "what's so funny?" "doesn't that kinda of defeat the purpose of the whole seen and not heard thing?" he thought about. "i guess it does."

"i didn't come up with that rule you know, it's always be installed into the workers." he spoke up. "why haven't you changed it." you mumbled to yourself as you swept off the step of the fireplace, suddenly you were being spun around. "speak up, stop mumbling." your eyes widen. "i..im sorry." he sighed.

"stop apologizing for everything, you said what was on your mind, don't go back on it." he wasn't that tall, but he was tall enough to hover over you. "what did say, say louder this time." he commanded.

"i said why haven't you changed it?"

he shrugged, "i guess i haven't really paying attention to it, guess i've doing other things." he spoke. "you mean other people." you said boldly. "oh? bold aren't we?" he smirked and you realized how close he actually was, eyes traveling down, stopping at his waist. "my eyes are up here." his hand came up to your chin ready to grab.

"hyune!" he dropped his hand rolling eyes, and you quickly turned around, just before hana skipped into the room. "i missed you." she wrapped her arms around the boy. "i seen you yesterday." you smiled to yourself, but hyunjin seen and it made him smile, knowing he got you to smile... you have such a nice smile.

"what is she doing in here?" hana finally acknowledged you, could you not get someone else, is there no one else in this big castle?" the hell did she have to be so rude for, you would've thought the tea fell on her. "hana, her mother is mrs lee, she basically raised me, she's new but with some training, she'll be a good worker." hyunjin walked over to you grabbing your shoulders. "won't you?" he whispered in your ear, like this morning, except this time he's in a towel.

"y..yes."

"good girl, you can go now, i'll see you tomorrow." you quickly grab everything, almost tripping over your dress— luckily you didn't, making your way out of the room so fast, leaving a satisfied hyunjin, and a annoyed hana.

"what game are you playing here hyunjin?" hana said once she was sure you were gone. "what are you talking about hana?" he put on his clothed for the day. "you know what i mean, are we gonna get together officially like i've been telling my friends , or am i not important anymore, is the new maid more important than me?" hyunjin turned facing hana.

"hana, what are you talking about? you knew what this was long ago, what to do you mean telling your friends." he said, he knew it was cold, but hana wasn't exactly the nicest person either, i mean hyunjin seen how she treated you. "i know but, i was hoping- there's the problem, you're hoping for the wrong thing, your mate is out there somewhere, it's just not me, we can have fun until you find him though." he kissed her cheek, leaving the pissed off fae alone in the room.

ever since you've arrived, you've done nothing but piss her off, she and hyunjin were fine before you got here and now the saddest thing is, he looks at you with love in his eyes, and he can barely spare her a glance anymore... she was pissed off.

"stay back here today, wash the dishes." mrs.bae ordered during lunch. "guess they're still a bit traumatized." beomgyu teased as they left out the kitchen for lunch.

"stupid dishes." you grumbled, plate in your hand scrubbing it. "i didn't even do anything, it was her." you were speaking to yourself. "she spilled the drink."

"who did?" hana stood in the corridor. "are you talking about me?" you shook your head, she scoffed. "look at you, you can't even speak without my permission, how dare a lesser faerie talk to hyunjin in such a unprofessional manner." she walked closer, stalking you with her eyes. "pretty pathetic if you ask me, trying to seduce him." you turned to her. "im not."

"did i say you could speak." she slammed her hand on the counter next to sink. "we may not be together, but he'll never choose a lesser fae, remember that." her eyes flashed to the sink, which started to fill up with more water, even though the sink wasn't on.

"what is-" water manipulation, she was doing this. "please don't do this." you begged, but it fell on deafs ears as it began to overflow on to the floor. "what is going on here." mrs.bae had returned back.

"look at what you did you dumb fae." hana said. "i ask you to do one simple thing and you go and mess up the floor."

"i didn't you did, you did this." everyone gasped. "what did you say?" she was fuming, how dare you have the guts to talk back. "i said- enough." mrs.bae grabbed your wrist. "she didn't mean in ma'am, we'll clean this quickly, we're sorry for the inconvenience, lunch is being served right now, so if you make your way into the dining area, and we'll clean this up right now." mrs.bae waited for hana to leave, who threw a sly smirk as she left out of the room before she turned on her stern face. "i should fire you." she hissed.

"if it wasn't for your mother, i would've fired you already." you lowered your head, once again feeling defeated. "go to your room and stay there for the rest of the evening." she instructed. "but- now!" her voice made you jump, and you made your way down to the maids quarters, embarrassed, ashamed and pissed off.

it went like that for the next 3 days, you weren't allowed to leave the maids quarters, they sent someone else to cleans hyunjins room, you'd only talk to chaewon and beomgyu.

you were ready to go back to work, you grew to love chaewon and tolerate beomgyu, but if you were being honest, you missed interacting with hyunjin, the way he talked to you made your heart flutter like you've never felt before. "maybe today will be the last day." chaewon tried to give you hope.

"then you can get back to screwing the high lord." beomgyu sat on your bed. "come on you two, we have work to attend to, it's castle cleaning day." mrs.bae walked into the room. "and beomgyu i've told you to stop entering the girls room." beomgyu apologized, knowing he'd do it again. "when will i'll be able to return to work?" you asked for the fourth time.

"when i say you can." she closed the door, leaving you alone once again. "you said that the last three days." you said to yourself really, your head hit the pillow, staring at the ceiling.

hyunjin was hoping to see you, it's been three days since he's seen you, hana did tell him what happened and that you had been in trouble, but he was starting to miss you, and the way you would shy away from him, fuck he needed to see you.

"mrs.bae?" the older woman stopped scolding beomgyu on how he was scrubbing the wall. "yes my lord." she responded."is ＿ returning anytime soon?" she looked with a confused eye. "my lord i was under the suspicion that you wanted her fired." he would never get rid of you, he hasn't felt this alive in a while. "nonsense, i'll go tell her myself she is to return to work tomorrow." he quickly made his escape before she could question him.

you were extremely bored, nothing to do. "i never thought i would miss work." you sighed to yourself. "that's good then." you thought you were hearing things. "you'll be able to come back tomorrow." you sat up, facing the man standing in the door. "really?" your eyes lit up. "that is so cool, thank you, i can't wait to get back to work!"

"wow, i come all the way down here to see you and your more happy about work." he grabbed his chest in faux pain. "im hurt princess."

"y..you came down here to see me? w...why?"

"isn't is obvious that i'm attracted to you love?" your face was hot. was he getting close? yes he was. "i thought it was pretty obvious, i didn't come down to the kitchen after avoiding it for almost 20 something years just to say hi to everyone." he sat down on your bed stroking your cheek,. "i came to see you." he whispered.

"i want you."

"h..hyunjin, we can't." you grabbed his hand. "why can't we?" he said. "come on princess, im not stupid, i seen how you almost fell to your knees when i gave you the littlest bit of attention, you mean to tell me you don't feel anything for me? hmm?"

of course you did, but this was your job, and you couldn't jeopardize that. "i...- just give me a kiss, one kiss, and we'll see how you feel right then." he held your face in his hand. "o..okay, just one kiss." you whispered.

"just one kiss." he slowly leaned in, pressing his lips against yours. it was a passionate kiss, a kiss that you would remember for the rest of your life. "princess, was that your first kiss?" he smirked pulling away. "my pretty baby is a virgin, that's why you don't think we should do it?" his words made your face burn.

"don't laugh at me." you pulled away, frowning. "im not laughing baby i swear." his lips were swollen from the kiss, you couldn't keep your eyes off them. "you want more kisses, you drunk off my kiss love?" you whined and he bit his lips. "don't make those pretty noises baby." he pulled you into another passionate kiss. "i won't be able to resist you if you whine so prettily for me." he began to kiss your neck.

"h..hyunjin." you sighed. "hmm princess?" he rubbed your sides. "i..i want you." he had you right where he wanted. "were do you want me princess." you whined, embarrassed. "you know." he did, he knew exactly where you wanted, but he wasn't gonna give you what you wanted until you told him.

"i told you i prefer when people look me in my eyes." he grabbed your chin to look at him. "and tell me what they want." you bit your lip. "i want you d..down there." your neck was on fire, as his eyes traveled down. "you want me down there, to do what?" you were about to cry from how much you needed him. "want me to give you kisses down there?" you nodded, "yes, yes i do." you finally spoke up, he smiled.

"good girl, you used your words, now lay back." you slowly layed back, he slotted his body in between your legs, lifting up your dress, pulling your underwear down. "your pussy is so pretty." he licked his bottom lip, coating it with spit. "i bet you taste amazing." he kissed your slit, licking his lip again. "i was right, you taste amazing." he dove right in, kissing and licking your sweet cunt.

"h..hyunjin!" you prayed no one would come down and hear the noises coming from your mouth and the noises he was making below. "f...feels good." he hummed into your pussy, his eyes sharp looking up at you as he ate you out.

you gripped the horrible sheets below you as he continued the assault. "h..hyunjin i..it feels funny." he detached his mouth from your clit, replacing it with his fingers. "go a head, let yourself go." he rubbed finger eights into your clit as the knot in your stomach snapped and pleasure washed over your entire boy. "good girl." he kissed your lips, tasting yourself on his lips. "how was that princess?" you smiled lazily. "g..good."

"do you want me to- next time love, next time, i just want to be with you right now." he said laying down in the uncomfortable bed next to you. "let's just lay here." he whispered into your hairs. so that's what you did, for the rest of the day, you stayed in the bed, talking only moving when hyunjin had to hide behind to door when chaewon came in to check in on you when she had a quick minute or when beomgyu snuck you in a cookie, in which hyunjin rolled his eyes in jealousy, asking why couldn't he send chaewon to do it.

"beomgyu? if you want to be jealous of anybody, i'd be jealous of chaewon before beomgyu." you laughed. "it was one cookie, he should've bought more, he has ulterior motives." he pouted and you just kissed his lips. "he likes chaewon, calm down." you gave him half of the cookie. "it's not even warm " he bit into the cookie.

sadly he eventually had to go. "i don't want to." he groaned. "you have to." you pushed him out. "hurry before they come back." he scoffed. "i'm the high lord, who i date is my concern." you smiled at him confirming your relationship. "yeah but this is my job, and mrs.bae can still fire me." you gave him one more kiss.

"fine, but i want you to clean my room tomorrow, not chaewon, i told her it was fine to speak and im starting to think one of her ancestors were the reason the reason why the rule was put in place." he kissed your forehead, before walking down the hall, turning back to look at you one more time before turning the corner, you closed the door with a dumb smile on your face.

the next morning you returned back to work the next morning, helping with breakfast, before mrs.bae told you to head to hyunjins room to clean. "okay." you said. "try not smile so hard." chaewon whispered. "huh?" you said. "beomgyu is dumb, but he isn't deaf, he heard you and the high lord talking yesterday." your eyes widened turning to beomgyu. "tell him it's most definitely just a cookie, and that im offened that he'd think i'm that desperate." you were about slap his arm when mrs.bae interrupted.

"go now." you jumped at him, before walking out of the kitchen with the supplies in your hand to his room, trying to hide the smile on your face, you couldn't wait to see him.

you knocked on the door, but he quickly opened it; pulling you in, closing it, pinning you against it. "i missed you." he kissed your lips. "you seen me yesterday." you laughed. "it felt so long ago." he tucked a strand of hair out your face. "i want to show you something." he took your hand, guiding you out the room, making sure no one was watching.

"your art room?" he nodded, opening the door. "i never let anyone in here." he said. "but yesterday i was so bored so i painted something, and i wanted to show you." he walked you to a covered easel. "you ready?" you nodded. "show me." he pulled the cover off, and your eyes widened. "m..me?" you turned to him. "i couldn't get you off my mind yesterday, so i came here to paint, i couldn't help." he wrapped his arms around you. "you've clouded my mind, i haven't thought of any girls, or anything since i first saw you."

"the first time you saw me i spilled tea all over yourself." he winced at the thought. "you were so cute, it didn't really hurt, but you were so determined to get the tea out of the shirt." you slapped his chest. "stop it." you frowned. "i'm sorry." he kissed your pouted lips. "you were so cute." he kissed you again, this time more passionately.

"h..hyunjin." he pushed you against the desk in the room, lifting you on it, pushing your dress up. "so so cute." he began to grind against your heat.

"i've been hard since yesterday, no matter how many times i tried to jerk off, im still hard." he pulled your panties down, along with his pants and underwear. "i'll be gentle i swear." he lined his cock at your heat, slowly pushing inside you. "oh fuck, you're so tight, your pussy can barely take me."he kissed your neck. "hyunjin." you moaned. "f..feel s..so full." he toyed with your clothed nipples as he fucked into you. "fuck princess, i don't think i can be with anyone else after you, you've ruined me for anyone else shit! " he felt himself about to cum. "hyunjin, im gonna cum." he nodded. "me too love." you pulled him into a passionate as you both came his cum painting your insides.

"fuck, what are you doing to me?" he breathed, his forehead against yours. "why am i falling for you so hard?"

you both cleaned yourselves off, putting your panties back on he wrapped his arms around your waist, your arms draped around his neck, he slowly swayed your bodies left to right, the both of you were so caught up with each other, you didn't even realize you were being watched.

hana was on the other side of the door seething, she thought she had gotten rid of you with the water thing. "i have to get back to the kitchen." she wanted to rip her pointed ears off to keep from hearing your giggles. "i'll come check on you later." hyunjin said. "you really need to let me work, i have a family back home to feed." hana smirked, an evil idea forming.

"how was it?" chaewon and beomgyu were chopping veggies when you returned. you rolled your eyes. "i'm not having this conversation right now." you washed your hands, getting ready to help. "i'll tell you later." you whispered. "okay." she gave you a thumbs up.

"you dumb bitch!" a loud voice made you turn around, but before you could react, a hand went straight across your face. "how dare you." you realized it was hana. "yah! you can't hit her like that." chaewon jumped in. "how dare you speak to me, you lesser fae need to learn your place." her hand went up to smack chaewon, and you snapped, grabbing her wrist, pushing it down.

"have y-" the entire kitchen went silent as they as your hand went straight across her face. "keep your hands off her." she grabbed the spot where you slapped her. "whatever you're pissed about, be pissed about it, but you don't get to treat us like trash because were servents."

"what's going on here?" mrs.bae returned from the back, hana turned on the water works. "first you seduce the high lord, knowing we're in a relationship, then you slap me like im in the wrong." your eyes widened. "bullshit, you came in here and hit her like a maniac." beomgyu cut in. "beomgyu!" mrs.bae yelled. "and she seduce anyone, he came on to her besides, you two aren't even together, he said it himself." chaewon exclaimed.

"mrs.bae is this how you run things all three of them should be fired." hana screeched. "enough!" mrs.bae yelled, it fell silence again. "you have been nothing but trouble since you've gotten here, never in my years has the castle been this discombobulated, staff talking out of order, talking when shouldn't, everything." you lowered your head, knowing what was coming. "i will have order."

"you two." she pointed to beomgyu and chaewon. "all three of you are to leave the castle and never return." you looked back up. "chaewon and beomgyu did nothing." you said. "it was pointless bringing in three young kids like you guys, go pack your stuff, you will leave at the end of the shift."

"what's going on here?" hyunjin walked into the tension filled kitchen. "hana what are you doing here?" she was silent. "there was a incident, hana was hurt but we are solving it right now- i was hit!" she screamed for more sympathy.

"i'd hit you again if he wasn't here." chaewon spat. "why are you three still here, go." mrs.bae said. "where are they going?" hyunjin asked looking at the three of you. "what happened?" he asked you. "she slapped me." hana jumped in. "hana told us how she tried to seduce you- seduce me?" he questioned.

"hana, i told you this already." he said. "yeah but she- she is my girlfriend, she didn't seduce i went after her first." everyone gasped, including hana. "her, a lesser faerie, are you serious hyunjin." he shrugged, walking up to you, pulling you right into a kiss. "does that help?" you slapped his chest. "w..why would do that, i'm at work." he smiled down at you kissing your head.

"i told you he fell first." beomgyu turned to chaewon. "it was the tea thing, told you, some people like that." chaewon slapped his arm. "everyone back to work." mrs.bae yelled. "mrs.hana, let me escort you out." the girl stomped out of the kitchen in defeat. "back to work." mrs.bae said leaving out.

"i have to get back to work." you pulled away. "wait since they're dating, do we have to listen to her?" the three of you turned to beomgyu. "shut up, just shut up." chaewon repeatedly hit him.

"no you don't beomgyu." hyunjin kissed you one more time, eyeing the boy.

"just if you're gonna bring cookies, bring some for me too."

©️LUVYENI

[squadmuse]

ONE DAY IN OCTOBER - Part III

A MATT CASEY X HALSTEAD!OFC FIC (Charlotte Halstead Casey)

A/N: III is here, and I hope you enjoy it. It’s building up and getting good! Please R&R. Tagging @writercole because you’re amazing 💕

The view from the twenty-fifth floor was astounding; it seemed to stretch as far as Charlotte could see from where she stood in the stairwell.

Chicago was undoubtedly one of the most beautiful cities in the United States, if not the world, with magnificent buildings reaching high into the heavens and the serene tranquillity of Lake Michigan that ran alongside.

Charlotte knew she was lucky to call it home.

It was part of her—a part of her heart and her soul.

When Charlotte had finally pulled herself away from the breathtaking view, she made her way to Ronnie’s apartment.

It had been a while since she had visited him; usually, she’d come up looking for her dad when she came to visit with Matt since her dad had moved in.

The hallway on this floor was the same as the floor her dad lived on, and the soft carpet sunk slightly with each step she took towards Ronnie’s apartment at the far end to her right side.

Raising her hand to knock, Charlotte did so with a sharp tap twice. She did not want to alarm or annoy her father’s friend. When the door opened, Ronnie’s aged face appeared, and both he and Charlotte grinned pleasantly at each other.

“Charlotte, what do I owe for this surprise?” asked Ronnie as he rolled back into his wheelchair to let her into his home.

Charlotte shrugged her shoulders.

“I was just visiting my dad for lunch when I decided that we would come see you for lunch,” she replied, closing the door for her father’s friend before following him to his kitchen.

“Pat is watching the White Sox game?” asked Ronnie as he carefully pulled out a chair for Charlotte to sit in. His apartment and the furniture had been adapted for him, which Charlotte found quite lovely to allow the veteran to keep his independence.

“What do you think?” laughed Charlotte as she sat down opposite Ronnie and pulled out the lunch she had brought for them and her dad to eat.

Ronnie chuckled, shaking his head. “I thought I was bad about the Bears, but I’ve never seen anyone so obsessed with the White Sox like your old man.”

“He’d take that as a compliment,” said Charlotte with a giggle. It was true, even though she had never met anyone so passionate about the team, and she saw patients every day from all over Chicago.

As her dad had not arrived, Charlotte and Ronnie had decided to eat their lunch. Both of them were hungry.

Charlotte had only eaten some toast this morning, as it had gotten busy when she had decided to have breakfast. She was pregnant and needed to eat for her baby to get all the needed nutrients.

After she and Ronnie had finished eating, she made quick work of washing up the dishes for Ronnie and didn’t bother with the dishwasher. Charlotte enjoyed doing these sorts of chores.

Ronnie had kept her company, however, and the pair fell into an easy conversation. He had served in the United States Army back during the Gulf War and had ended up being paralysed after a bullet hit him in the spine. He had a few tales to tell despite that horrific injury that changed his whole life.

Ronnie was quite happy to have some company; usually, it was only her father, Bert, or some other guy from their poker group that he saw. Charlotte didn’t know how he had carried on, as after becoming paralysed, Ronnie had lost his wife to cancer and then his only son in Afghanistan.

She had struggled a lot for a long time after her mother had died, and whenever Matt got hurt on the job or even when Jay got shot, it brought up the trauma.

There was a sort of heartbreaking awe that she had for Ronnie and how he seemed to be so optimistic, so full of life, and so happy.

A lot of people could learn quite a lot from Ronnie Strauss, which she knew.

After watching a movie on Netflix, Charlotte could feel herself slowly nodding off on Ronnie’s couch.

It was very comfortable.

Her dad still hadn’t appeared, and she had guessed that he had fallen asleep in his armchair yet again. Pat Halstead loved falling asleep in armchairs.

She had nearly fallen asleep when she felt something soft fall on her body, and Charlotte opened one of her green eyes to see Ronnie carefully placing a knitted blanket on top of her.

“Ronnie, you didn’t have to do that,” she yawned, turning slightly so she faced him better. As her pregnancy progressed, her sleeping positions decreased.

Ronnie shook his head. “It's okay; I could see you needed a nap,” he said, a kind smile on his face. “My Lulu needed tons of naps when she was pregnant with our son, Dennis.”

“You’re right about that,” said Charlotte as she yawned again. “I think my night shift didn’t help me, however.”

Ronnie’s eyes widened with shock at her comment."Gosh, girl, go nap away!” he exclaimed with a chortle. “No wonder you’re shattered!”

Charlotte giggled and took the veteran’s advice, snuggled into the soft blanket, and closed her green eyes.

Something odd woke Charlotte from her slumber, and as her eyesight adjusted to her surroundings, it took a while for her to realise why.

At first, it didn’t seem like anything was wrong. Ronnie had fallen asleep too, the TV softly playing as he must’ve turned down the volume to wake her.

Nothing was out of place until she smelt that same scent that had wafted up to her in the stairwell earlier, and now it was unmistakable.

It was smoke, and Charlotte was sure that somewhere in the building was on fire.

Fuck.

[pleasantglitterflower]

BREAKING MY HEART (JOE BURROW x OC)

A/N : I had already published this story on my old account, but as I was the victim of attacks from unhappy people who think they own the fandom, my account was deactivated. Just a warning to these people that : I swing but I don't fall, I'm back

Dinner time. The only noises that could be heard were those of the cutlery and the typical children's games. That deafening silence became routine in the house for months, I can't explain what happened for such a drastic change.

 How was the training? - I decide to ask 

 Good- he replied 

 How were the shooting tactics? Do you already feel comfortable throwing the ball? - I ask again 

 Yes- he replied monosyllabically again

 I let out a long sigh, and take the dishes off the table to wash. As I prepare to wash the dishes, I see him playing with our children, that beautiful and genuine smile that he only showed to me and the children, but in the last few months, all I receive are cold and distant looks.

Well, I just realized I didn't introduce myself, come on, my name is Anna Verstappen Burrow. Yes, I am  Max Verstappen’s twin sister, three-time Formula 1 world champion, and Joe Burrow’s wife, quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals. 

Joe and I met at Ohio State, we took a few classes together and I can say it was love at first sight. He was always very affectionate, protective and a gentleman towards me, I couldn't resist his charms, and it didn't take long for us to start dating. Joe proposed to me after a year of dating, when we went to Barcelona to watch my brother's race, and to make that weekend even more special, Max won what would be the first of many of his victories in Formula 1.

We got married after our graduation, it was the best two days of my life, yes, two days, as we had two wedding ceremonies, both in Ohio and in Netherlands, so that all the special people in our lives could be present. However, shortly after our wedding, Joe managed to transfer to LSU, and this was the chance he would have to show his football, as unfortunately at Ohio State he didn't have many chances, but despite that we built strong bonds of friendship there. . 

Obviously I supported my husband and we embarked on this new journey together. I graduated in visual arts, and was working at a museum in Ohio in the area of ​​conservation and restoration of artistic and cultural heritage, but with our move to Louisiana, I resigned and it didn't take long for me to get a new job in the new city, This time she would work with graphic design, and the best part is that it would be from home office and the hours were flexible, which meant that Anna could follow Joe at LSU more closely.

A few months later, I found out she was pregnant. Joe was very excited and happy when he found out he was going to be a father, and he started to be very careful with me, he wouldn't even let me fix my meal alone, we were living the best time of our lives, until in October 2019, Joshua  Lee Burrow was born.Joe was very emotional at our son's birth, he couldn't stop crying, which made some of the medical staff cry too. In 2020, a difficult year for the whole world, after all we began to face the Covid pandemic, but we had many joys, as Joe was drafted and would be the new quarterback for the Cincinnati Bengals, and I was pregnant again.

Everything was going perfectly well when I started receiving messages from people at LSU saying that Joe cheated on me several times during the time he was there, that when I went to games he was the faithful husband, but when I was away, He took the opportunity to be with as many women as he wanted, especially at team parties and after games. Some of the women he was with sent me proof, such as photos and messages, and the whole puzzle began to be put together, I was cheated on throughout my first pregnancy.

I went to some games until the fourth month of pregnancy, after which Joe banned me from going to busy places, as he wanted me to not run any risk of hurting myself or the baby. I thought it was zeal and care, but in reality he wanted more peace of mind to practice his promiscuity. When he got home after another workout, I confronted him.

- Really Joe? While I was at home like an asshole waiting for you, you were having sex with several people like there was no tomorrow, and I was pregnant with your son Joe, your son. Don't you have shame on your face, you idiot? - I shouted

- Anna my love, forgive me, please forgive me, I don't know where my head was, I love you so much Anna won't leave me, there were moments when I let success go to my head, I was drunk most of the time times, I don't even remember - he was desperate

- There are no excuses Joe, you are already an adult who is aware of your actions, this justification with me doesn't work, you had no respect for our family Joe I hate you - I start hitting his chest, until I feel a strong pain in my belly and I start to cry and scream

Joe gets desperate and quickly takes her to the hospital, if something happened to Anna and the baby he would never forgive himself. He was crying non-stop at the reception and thinking about all the stupid things he did. Joe began to be increasingly harassed during his time at LSU for being the quarterback of the football team, this in itself attracts attention, but his physical appearance was always attractive to female eyes, and he ended up not being able to deal with all this harassment, having momentary affairs, but he forgot that he had a wife who was carrying his child who truly loved him, who had no interest in his status or appearance, and he was unable to value that.

Anna's health was stabilized and she was allowed to go home. Joe started doing everything he could to make Anna forgive him, she was still very weakened by the discovery of his betrayals, but she was very passionate about him and decided to give him a second chance. When the Verstappen family finds out about what happened, a scandal ensues. Max and his father became obsessed, they wanted to come to Ohio to attack Joe, Victoria, Anna and Max's younger sister, who was also pregnant at the same time, sent an audio to the quarterback calling him unpronounceable names, Sophie, the mother , begs Anna to separate from him, but the Dutch woman had already made the decision to give Joe another chance, even if the whole family was against it, but the truce happened in November 2020, when Amelie Lisa Burrow came into the world, and less than a month later, Victoria's son Luka was born.

 Time passed, and the Burrow family managed to strengthen themselves in the face of adversity, for them communication was the key to all problem resolutions. Even though Anna and Joe were very discreet, it was very difficult for them not to be filmed in the stands at Bengals games or at Max's races, they were a very happy and healthy family.

ANNA’S POV

After we managed to overcome the crisis in our marriage and build a healthy family dynamic for ourselves and our children, things seemed to fall into place. I finally realized my dream of having my own art studio, where I spent most of my time producing my paintings, sculptures and various works, and Joe was increasingly consolidated as one of the main players in the NFL, it's undeniable to talk about how he changed the Bengals team, for a long time they were unable to compete for higher positions, but since then, they managed to reach the playoffs and the Super Bowl, I couldn't describe how happy I was for my husband, but for a while now, I started to see how Joe got carried away by fame. More and more he began to be requested for events, parties, million-dollar advertising contracts, and the harassment from the media and fans tripled, but I began to get to know a side of my husband that is not cool at all. Being the daughter of a former pilot father and having a brother who is the current Formula 1 champion, I can say that neither of them let fame go to their heads. Max Verstappen Formula 1 world champion is still the same Max I grew up with, he hasn't changed his personal tastes or personality because of fame, if it were Max's will he wouldn't even have social media, he hates it a lot. However, I feel Joe slowly distancing himself from me, as a father I have nothing to complain about, he would give his life for Joshua and Amelie, he does everything for them, but I feel like I'm losing my husband.

 After the injury he suffered to his hand in the game against the Ravens, which left him out for the rest of the season again, Joe closed himself off into his own world and started refusing to talk to me, I at first tried to understand, because fuck, Once again he faces a serious injury that prevents him from playing football, since his first season in the NFL he has suffered some type of injury, but I would like him to be more transparent with me.

At the beginning of 2024 our distance becomes increasingly greater, with him more focused on treating the injury in his hand and him choosing to go to different events with his friends, and until then he, who was attentive to his children, became more absent, that's when I got tired of being silent, and we were increasingly fighting. I never stopped Joe from going out with his friends, who were also my friends from Ohio State, but I would like him to think more about our family, but Joe thought I was annoying, he said he needed to go out with his friends so he wouldn't be only thinking about the injury, and he still made a point of telling me that I was going to Europe frequently even when he needed me, and yet he always accepted the situation. By the way, I was born and lived until I was 18 in the Netherlands, and I have family and many friends there, right? And I make sure Joshua and Amelie are connected to my European roots, so much so that I teach them to speak Dutch.

I didn't know what else to do, I decided to call my sister-in-law Kelly to ask for advice. Kelly Piquet is like my older sister from another mother, she was always there for me and always helped me with advice, how grateful I am to have her in my life. The haters who criticize her are idiots, they feel entitled to criticize people they have never met in their lives.

- Kel, I don't know what to do anymore. It's been really hard to see photos of Joe at parties and events with his friends, enjoying himself like there's no tomorrow, meanwhile I have to deal with two children calling for their father and I'm not much different, I'm crying every day. 

- Anna, it's past time for you to be more combative in confrontations with him. Does this idiot not realize that he is destroying your family again? He forgets that you forgave him that time, is he doing the same thing again? Look..

- What do you mean Kelly, what is he doing again? What do you know, say it???

- Oh shit, I was thinking about the right way to tell you Anna. You know that my sister lives in Miami, right?

- Yes, I know, but what does that have to do with it?

- So... Anna, I don't know how I'm going to tell you

- Speak up, Kelly! The older woman sighs before making the revelation - she was with her fiancé at a club in Miami, and when she went to get a drink at the bar, she saw Joe in a circle with several women, one of them She was even sitting on his lap. His friends were also there, she was in disbelief when she saw that the woman who was on his lap wasn't you and was willing to go to him to ask questions, but her fiance didn't let her, she ended up taking a photo to prove it. -Kelly then sends the photo to Anna, who is so shocked to see the photo, that she freezes

- Anna, Anna, are you feeling ill? Answer me- Kelly speaks desperately 

- He broke my trust…again

- Anna, I received the photo on the same day as the party, but I was so confused about how to tell you, that it took me days. I didn't even show Max, you know what he would be able to do, since when I started dating his brother, I only hear him talk about how he hates Joe and that if he could he would break his legs.

- I don't even know if Max needs to know these details, all I don't want is more problems. Kelly, I just know that I need to get out of Cincinnati urgently, I need to think about how I'm going to confront Joe again.

- You know that our house is always open for you here in Monaco, right? Penelope loves Joshua and Amelie, she will love them here to play together

- You're right, I'll arrange my ticket now. It won't do any good now, Joe is going to stay out of the house most of the time, why can't I?

- That's my girl. Let me know the day of your departure, let me pick you up at the airport

Anna packed her and the children's bags and headed to Monaco, where she would stay at Max and Kelly's house. She warned Joe about the trip, on the pretext of taking her children to visit her family and go watch Max's races, and to no surprise, Burrow was indifferent. 

 The Dutchwoman felt very light and happy on the European continent, she was able to see her family and friends, and went to watch several of Max's races, but she had a mission, and Kelly was her assistant on this journey. They were willing to prove that Joe was cheating again, and came up with a very meticulous plan. They hired a private detective to follow Joe's every step, tracked his cell phone, and, in addition, got access to the list of events he was going to be a guest at, and, as Kelly already lived in the USA and had friends there, she called her acquaintances to be at these events as informants on Joe's every move. And it didn't take long for the evidence to appear, the detective sent several photos of Joe at secret parties with many women, they had access to messages of him talking to many women, be they anonymous women, sub-celebrities and even high-ranking Hollywood celebrities, in addition to the reports of informants. To improve the situation, the famous gossip profile Deuxmoi began publishing information about Joe's betrayals, not surprising Anna and Kelly, who already knew everything that was happening, but when the news reached Max, he became possessed and called to Joe, sparking a huge argument.

- I'm going to kill you son of a bitch, you get ready when I see you. I'm going to bring my sister and nephews back to Europe, they won't stay in Cincinnati for another second.- The driver shouts into the phone

- It's a situation that your sister and I have to resolve alone, you don't get involved, understand? Take charge of your own life, as a public person you also know that people make up rumors.- Joe says irritated 

- Anyone who doesn't know you should buy you Joe, your good guy mask has fallen off a long time ago, only deluded idiots believe in you. You're shit, trash, a failure who won't get anywhere, meanwhile Mahomes is winning titles after titles, that's it, character is for few. - the Dutchman continues arguing with Joe.

The exposure of Joe's betrayals gains another chapter, when Deuxmoi again publishes information from a source in which Joe was seen with an Onlyfans model called a babydoll in Los Angeles. Again, no surprise for Anna, she had access to hot photos of them in a luxurious motel and trying to be as discreet as possible, but the attempt failed, as they had no idea that an elaborate scheme was in action to capture the betrayals. After the exposure, Joe immediately stopped following Babydoll, but the woman had a bad conscience and looked for Anna and revealed the whole truth, that she and Joe had been seeing each other for months, that she ended up hooking up with both him and Nick Bosa in Florida, but Joe had told her he was divorced. This was the last straw for Anna to prove that Joe was really a scoundrel and that he hadn't changed at all. 

 With all the evidence recorded and captured, Anna knew that she needed to face Joe again and end this toxic marriage once and for all, because she didn't deserve it and didn't need to go through this, she knew she didn't need to. When she gets home, Joe is sitting on the couch shaking, she walks past him, puts the kids in their room and turns on the television for them, and when she comes back, he starts to explain himself.

- Honey, about the gossip, no.

- Joe, there's no point in explaining my love. I already know everything.

- How do you know? - he says stuttering

- Well, let's say that during this time away from home, I discovered myself as a true CSI, devised a sensational investigation plan and got all the evidence? - when she finishes her response, she throws a huge folder at him, containing the entire dossier of photos, prints of messages and reports from the informants who were following him. As he turned each page, Joe became more and more white, he couldn't believe it, Anna did a heavy investigation on him.

- Funny, I was trying to understand why my husband was being so rude to me, but then everything became very clear to me, it was his guilty conscience, no no, I was wrong, it's because there was too much vagina to handle, right Joe?

- Anna…

- Shut up, I'm the one talking now. You had no respect for me when I was pregnant with your children, I almost lost Amelie because of you, and again you have no shame in your disgusting face when you expose us to ridicule again, but this time Joe, for me it is final , it's over, that's enough, now our conversation is in court, in a little while I'll call my lawyer to speed up the divorce process. IT'S OVER- you scream at him

-Anna listen to me please- he starts to cry

- I can't believe your Judas tears Joe, it was you who destroyed your family just for promiscuous moments of pleasure, now you have to bear the consequences. Now our conversation is in court, we have to look at the pension values, shared custody and the sharing of assets. And I'm warning you, pack your bags and get out, this is my house and the children's, if you want, you can go live with your thousands of lovers, now you have several houses. Come on, come on, go away, bye- she pushes him to the stairs.

Joe goes upstairs crying compulsively, he deeply regretted hurting and hurting Anna, but it was too late, now that he woke up to the reality that his family was destroyed as a result of his actions, and now he would have to deal with this burden for himself. the rest of your life. Anna was left alone in that huge mansion, with two young children and a broken heart, but she has enough strength to pick herself up and move forward, and with the support of her family, true friends, her children and her work, she was going to get by find yourself and be happy again.

[andnowanowl]

Since "Palestine Speaks: Narratives of Life Under Occupation" is suspiciously not available in the US in the form of an e-book, I purchased a physical copy and wanted to share it here for anyone else also unable to get access.

RIYAM KAFRI ABU LABAN

Chemistry professor, blogger, 36

Born in Amman, Jordan

Interviewed in Ramallah, West Bank

Riyam Kafri Abu Laban was born in Amman, Jordan. Her father was one of thousands of Palestinians not allowed to return to their homes after the Six-Day War of 1967 —marking a second wave of Palestinian refugees after the massive displacement of 1948. Riyam's parents waited for the opportunity to return to the West Bank instead of leaving to pursue lucrative jobs elsewhere. They finally returned to the West Bank in 1980, after years of legal wrangling. On returning to Palestine, they settled near Ramallah.

We interview Riyam in her spacious kitchen in Ramallah. As she talks, she stirs pots, washes dishes, and checks the oven, effortlessly putting together a dinner for six as she tells her life story. We learn that this kind of multi-tasking is normal for her. She is the mother of twins, teaches organic chemistry at Al-Quds University, and she helps to run the university's liberal arts program (designed in conjunction with Bard College). She also writes a blog with a fellow professor, and her posts are sharply observed explorations of daily life in Palestine.

Writing is Riyam's passion, but she came to it later in her career. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Tennessee, Knoxville and had the opportunity to live a comfortable life in the United States. She chose instead to return to Palestine where she started teaching, and she found her voice as a writer in describing life as a resident of the West Bank. She writes that Palestine is "like a distant land that inhabits the warmest chambers of one's heart, so close yet so unattainable.¹

A DESIRE TO LIVE JUST LIKE ANY OTHER TEENAGER IN THE WORLD

When the war broke out in 1967, my father was an electrical engineering Ph.D. student in Germany. After the war, Israel gave ID cards to Palestinians. The cards were required for them to remain in Palestine, but since my father was abroad at the time they were distributed, he wasn't able to get one. My mom, who hadn't yet met my father, was in the West Bank at the time and was able to get an ID card. A little after dad moved to Jordan. Later, he met my mother while she was traveling through Jordan to visit a relative. My parents were married in November 1977, and then they started working immediately to return to Palestine. At first they thought that since my dad was marrying someone with an ID card, it would be easier for him to apply for one as well. But the Israeli government said that they needed to have a child to prove that the marriage was real. They got pregnant really quickly and I was born nine months later, in Amman, Jordan, in October 1978.²

After I was born, my parents continued their pursuit of an ID card for my father. This time, the Israeli authorities told my mom that she needed to have a boy, because a girl didn't count. Who knows what their reasoning was. My mom had to make the choice to get pregnant as soon as possible again, so that she could try to have a boy and reapply for an ID for my father.

An opportunity came up for my father to help build a new university out of a technical college that was located in Abu Dis.³ So we moved to Palestine in 1979, even though we didn't have an ID for my father yet. We didn't stay long. The faculty named the new university Al-Quds.⁴ Al-Quds is the Arabic name for the city of Jerusalem, and the name drew a lot of attention from the Israeli authorities, who assumed the founders were implying that the city belonged to the Palestinians. Some professors were arrested, and my dad was sent back to Jordan.

The next year, my mother was pregnant with my brother Muhanned, and we tried again to live in the West Bank. My father had found teaching work. This time, we settled near Ramallah.⁵ Finally, my father was able to obtain an ID card not long after my brother was born. Then after he got his ID card, he helped found the engineering school at Birzeit University.⁶ My mother was a teacher, and later a principal, but she took some time off after the birth of Muhanned and later my sister Duna.

I grew up in a politically active family. I also grew up with parents who thought that their children had to leave a mark on society. We were raised to think that we had to live with a sense of purpose. And the main purpose, the underlying goal, was always to serve Palestine in one way or another.

I was sheltered from some of the problems many Palestinians have, but I can't say I grew up completely sheltered, because I was educated about the Israeli occupation. You know, I grew up during the beginning of the First Intifada, so the entire atmosphere was different.⁷ Everyone, from teenagers to adults, was more aware of Palestine, of the political situation, of the prisoners and arrests.⁸ Demonstrations took place right outside our home, since we lived in a central area of Al-Bireh, just outside Ramallah.⁹ One of my earliest clear memories is from the start of the Intifada. I was eight years old, and I spoke to a BBC reporter. I told him, "We're not just throwing rocks, we want our freedom!"

The demonstrations during the First Intifada brought the neighborhood together. At that time, women would knit navy-blue V-neck shirts that they could send to prisoners. So that's how I learned knitting. The prison would only accept that color, and it had to be V-neck, and it had to be plain—we couldn't even use any stitches but the most basic ones. And my mom was part of a women's group that would go into refugee camps to visit prisoners' families, and they would also collect these knitted shirts and send them to prisons.

I don't remember much about my first couple of years at school. Actually, the Israeli military shut down most schools in the area during the First Intifada. Schools might operate for only a few hours a week. So we did distance learning. I was enrolled at the Friends School, and I'd go once every two weeks to drop off my assignments and pick up new ones.¹⁰ The first day of the year, we'd go to pick up our books, get our first assignments, and then immediately go home to start working on them. We were really responsible for our own education. Kids from all around would come to our home, and my mother would teach them. Finally, when I was around twelve, the school reopened. But even then it was only open for half days.

Around the time I became a teenager, the Intifada took on a different emotional quality for me. I wasn't just knitting sweaters anymore I was watching my friends get arrested. I remember the powerful desire to live just like any other teenager around the world, to spend my time listening to music and not having to care about politics. It was suffocating. I say this with a lot of humility, because I didn't even see what it was like to live in a refugee camp. So if I was suffocating in the middle of a city, with a home that had all the amenities that anyone could ask for, I can't imagine what it was like for anyone in the refugee camps. And then I saw this complete switch, with Oslo, around 1993.¹¹

Things started to open up more. We could get to places we couldn't get to before, including Jerusalem, and Haifa, and Jaffa.¹² By the time I graduated from high school in '96, even the topics of conversation with my more the day-to-day concerns with friends were completely different living and work. We didn't need to talk about fighting just to live and struggling just to exist. I could think about things like the New Kids on the Block, pop music. But even as a teen, I never trusted the Oslo Accords. We had peace, but it felt like an illusion, a hologram.

I WAS IN LOVE WITH THE CONCEPT OF A ROAD TRIP

I lived in Ramallah until I was seventeen. Then I graduated from the Friends School, and I received a full-tuition scholarship to Earlham College in the States.¹³ The Friends School had an arrangement where they'd send one or two graduating students to Earlham on full scholarship every year. I'd applied to a few other liberal arts colleges in the States, but I really wanted to get into Earlham, and when I got the scholarship, my family discussed it. It was a little bit of a conflict. It was very tough for dad, particularly. My mother is a very realistic woman, and she felt like her children leaving home was inevitable. But I think for my father it was harder. He viewed the United States as a country that helped Israel. It was a matter of principle that his daughter shouldn't leave this country to study in the U.S. Coming to terms with that was a huge adjustment.

In the end, we decided that I'd go with the idea to become a physician, and that I would return to Palestine after my education. My parents announced, "We'll allow you, our first daughter, to go to the United States on your own, only under the following terms—you will not return with a bachelor's in biology or chemistry, because you could always do that at Birzeit, and you will try to get into medical school." I would finish my education, and then I would come back and work here in Palestine.

All I knew about Earlham was that it was a small school, that I wouldn't have more than thirty or forty students in my classes, which was true. Except for introductory classes, I think most of my classes were like that. I think at seventeen you don't know what to expect out of college, and I soon learned that the school was extremely challenging. I worked really hard. But the social life was far better than I expected. The kindness of people on campus made me feel really cared for in a small setting. And Earlham was very pro-Palestinian. As a Quaker institution, they were very interested in educating Palestinians—they'd been accepting Palestinian students since 1948.

I took biology in the first year, under the assumption that I'd be a pre-med student. But I was broken by the anatomy and physiology course. I just couldn't do it—the smell, the formaldehyde. I worked so hard, and I could barely break a C in the course.

And in the meantime, I was taking organic chemistry, and I was practically sleeping through the course and I was getting an A, you know? And that's when things kind of shifted. I had a great organic chemistry professor, Thomas Ruttledge, who's still my friend and colleague, and I decided to become a chemist. And I thought, "Well, I'll get a Ph.D. instead of an M.D." And I wanted to work in the pharmaceutical industry. That part really enticed me—the idea of creating things.

By the end of my undergrad experience, I felt very much at home at Earlham, and I do think those were the best four years my of entire time in the United States. You know, the one thing that fascinated me the most living in the United States was the ability to drive anywhere. I was in love with the concept of a road trip. I learned driving just to be able to drive out for endless hours, because it was mind-boggling to me that I could cross state lines and be in Tennessee for a couple of hours, and on the same day drive back to Indiana, no problem! That was new to me, and I loved traveling, even after starting my Ph.D. program.

I did my Ph.D. in medicinal organic chemistry at the University of Tennessee, and I focused on computer-based drug design and discovery. I learned to design compounds by modeling enzymes on a computer, which was a very cutting edge approach to medicinal chemistry at the time. I worked with a team that researched anti-HIV compounds and anti-cancer agents.

I briefly considered staying in the U.S. When you're in graduate school and doing research, all you see as important is the science that you're doing. And you don't have a concept or understanding of what life really is, right? Because for a scientist, life exists within the walls of the lab, and the library, and on your computer. And so for a while I really thought that I should stay for a post-doc there. But my parents weren't willing to live through another year of not having their children around. They were really adamant that we should all finish and return as soon as we were done.

Also, I started my Ph.D. program at Tennessee right before September 11, 2001. I remember the day of the attacks, I had to teach a class. As I walked into the classroom, I heard some students whispering about me, "She's Palestinian, they're responsible for this." I couldn't keep silent. I told the whole class that it couldn't have been the Palestinians, and that there was no way I would condone such an act. I told them I came from a violent place, but that all I wanted was for things to be easier for my younger brother and sister. I ended up crying, and a colleague came to the classroom and took over the class for me.

Later I experienced real hostility, even from some faculty, me questions like, "Why are Muslims like this?" I knew then I couldn't stay in the U.S. I couldn't go through life explaining myself to others. It sounds strange, but I thought then that if I had children, I'd rather they who'd askgrow up with the problems of occupation and know who they were than to keep having to explain themselves and their identities to everyone else in their community.

There is a lot that I still love about the U.S. and the South - I still make sweet potato pie every November, around Thanksgiving. But since September 11, I've known there is no way I could be happy living my entire life in the States.

So an opportunity arose in Ramallah at a pharmaceutical company called Pharmacare, and it sounded interesting enough. Also, I thought, If I'm willing to try living in the United States and adjust to its cultural values - the way it works, its social structure, everything—then why not give this chance to Palestine itself?

So after my Ph.D. program I returned to Palestine in January 2007, and I began researching the antioxidant activity of Palestinian plants with Pharmacare. It was part of a project where we were looking for anti-cancer compounds in traditional Palestinian medicinal plants. I worked with herbalists throughout the West Bank. We started the lab from scratch. Up until that point, all pharmaceutical companies in the West Bank were generic drug producers. Our work was the first to invest in innovative research in the region.

THERE'S A RHYTHM IN PALESTINE THAT REALLY GETS UNDER YOUR SKIN

Palestine had changed quite a lot since I had left. I had been away for the entire Second Intifada.¹⁴ I had never seen the wall. That was my first impression of what had changed. I had seen pictures, but to see it cut through terrain I remembered well—honestly, to this day I haven't resolved the feeling I had when I saw it. Passing into the West Bank through Qalandiya, I saw incredible poverty—Qalandiya looks like all the misery of the West Bank, including overcrowding.¹⁵ Then driving into Ramallah, I was amazed to see how things had grown. There were new tall buildings, signs that people were doing okay. The city was jazzy, sort of dressed up. Coming back home, it was as though that illusion of peace, the hologram, had shrunk to a bubble just around my hometown.

Still, being back in Ramallah was a challenge in some ways. Once you go to graduate school abroad, it's an entirely different experience living in Palestine. Believe it or not, the culture shock was easier to get over going to Earlham from Palestine than the culture shock that I faced coming back after almost eleven years of being away.

I can't exactly pinpoint what the reasons are for the difficulty. I think one of them is that I spent eleven years on my own, in a country that's fairly free and accepts anything and everything. And I learned to think for myself, learned to accept people for what they are and who they are, and not judge them for what they think or what they look like or what they believe. And I came back to a country that's fairly systematic. There's a specific, almost rigid, structure in society here that you have to fit into.

I came back here to Palestine, and I had social obligations and family obligations, and I was no longer able to read in my free time. Even the way I dressed had to change. So it was very difficult at the beginning.

But even in those early days back, I felt like Ramallah had a way of making me feel comfortable. And it's not just the city—it's the people. There's a rhythm in Palestine. Every country has its own rhythm, but there's a rhythm in Palestine that really gets under your skin, even with all the difficulty of travel, with all the difficulty of being stuck on the road in traffic. There's something that just gets under your skin, and it's very difficult to leave, once you start to get settled in here. I also finally found old friends, and a lot of my friends were going through the same difficulties. They'd been gone for a while, they were educated outside, whether in France or England or the U.S., and had returned. So we had something in common, and a common language, and that's kind of what's got me slowly coming back into living here.

OUR FIRST CLASS

I worked for Pharmacare for over two years, until around 2010. But there were several reasons why I thought it was not the right place. I was spending my entire time in a lab with only one other person, and I realized more and more that I wanted to work with people. And what does a Ph.D. do with people, other than teach, right? When I was nineteen years old, my adviser Thomas Ruttledge told me that I would end up in teaching, and I thought he just didn't know me. He said that I had it in me.

So in 2010, I applied to Al-Quds University and Birzeit University for teaching positions. Al-Quds had recently developed a partnership with Bard College in the U.S., where Bard would establish a liberal arts degree program within Al-Quds.¹⁶ And Bard thought I was the perfect candidate to teach for them—I was a liberal arts college graduate. I would understand the concepts and the teaching methods of liberal arts education.

Originally, it was a part-time position for a semester, so I only taught one class. After that first semester, Al-Quds and Bard immediately offered me a full-time position. They kind of took me in. They didn't care that I didn't have an extensive publication history or anything like that. It wasn't an old boys' club like Birzeit University.

I became a core faculty member and one of the founding faculty members. We had no program—only thirty students— and I remember running these internal transfer campaigns, where we encouraged students from Al-Quds University to give it a try for one semester. We basically opened it up for everybody, so good students and bad students were applying, and we accepted all of them just to be able to run a program. Then I started building the science program, and now we have the largest and most successful division in the entire college. I have sixty students who are hoping to complete their degree in either biology or chemistry right now. This year, at the end of June 2014, we were able to graduate our second class and my first class of chemistry majors.

I WORE A HEADPIECE THAT'S 200 YEARS OLD AND MADE OF GOLD LIRAS

In the spring of 2009, I met a man named Ahmad through a friend of mine who works with him in the municipal government. We saw each other occasionally for a year and a half, but I wouldn't say we were dating, really. I saw him once or twice, and I think we were both busy with our careers, and so it kind of just took its time.

We would send each other messages every now and then, check on each other. Then it took a more serious turn in the fall of 2010, in September. We started seeing each other among groups of friends so that we could keep it on the down-low, so no one would really catch who was dating whom.

Then in the end of December, we decided that we wanted to be together. He invited me to dinner on December 30 at his family's home. He said that after dinner he'd love to go to my parents' home—he wanted to meet them. From there, things developed really quickly. On Friday morning, New Year's Eve, he called me and he said that his older brother would like to talk to my father and that he'd like to make this official, which is the culturally correct way of doing things. And so they set a date to talk to my parents officially and ask for my hand in marriage.

The night of New Year's Eve, Ahmad surprised me by proposing in front of 360 guests at the Mövenpick Hotel New Year's Eve party.¹⁷ So, by the next morning, the entire city knew that we were engaged.

It was right at the beginning of the second semester for me, so it was a little bit hard to think about getting married during the semester, but semesters at Al-Quds University are never properly planned, because there are strikes, and there are closures and political reasons not to go to school. So we thought about April for a wedding date, and then it didn't work with one of his brothers, whose daughter was expecting a child, and they wanted to be with her when she had the child. We decided that it would have to be pushed till June, but his mother was not willing to see that happen. She felt like she was old, and you never know what happens, and she wanted to be there for the wedding. And so we actually ended up getting married in March 2011, on a very cold, rainy day.

We had a full-on traditional Palestinian wedding. I wore a traditional dress, and I also wore a headpiece that's 200 years old and made of gold liras—Ottoman liras. The wedding party was huge. There were over 700 guests. I should have known that my life would be loud after that. After the big wedding, we had a smaller wedding reception for the family and close friends.

Within less than a year, I went from being single and career-oriented to a wife, a pregnant woman, then a mother of two. I had my twins on November 10, 2011. I came from a small, nuclear family where everybody's educated, and we had a very quiet breakfast every Friday morning, and suddenly I shifted from that into this huge, clan-like family, with a whole lot of brothers and sisters who are all married with children, whose children were having children. Life with my husband's family was loud and lively, and I learned how to cook for forty people—while pregnant. And I found myself completely entrenched in Palestinian life in a way I hadn't been before.

I DISCOVERED THE WRITER IN ME

My husband worked as the mayor of Ramallah's right-hand man. When we married, in a way, I thought I was marrying Ramallah. My friends actually nicknamed me "Lady Ramallah," because I was everywhere, I would go to all the cultural events, always out in the city.

When I finally got to know my husband's family well, I realized that I didn't marry the city, I married Abu Shusha and Zakariyya, which were the two villages that his parents had left in 1948.¹⁸ I suddenly found myself completely entrenched in Palestinian culture that I've only read about the diaspora refugee culture. Now, my kids are descendants of refugees. It's been a total switch for me. And it was more eye-opening to me - there's real suffering in Palestine, there's real heartbreak. And it's a lot more than what people think it is. When I began to see these things, that's when the writing happened.

In July 2010, Bard sent me to the U.S. to do this writing workshop called "Language and Thinking," which is part of our core program for all of our students, and all faculty from all fields are encouraged to teach the course. And that's where I discovered the writer in me. At the Bard workshop, I discovered how much I love human beings and that I like to learn from them. That is when I started to write in earnest. Before long I had started a blog about Palestine called The Big Olive.

I started it with a woman I met at a wedding named Tala. I met Tala exactly two weeks before I went to that writing workshop, so all these things started to come together at the same time. Initially, the blog was supposed to be about Ramallah and about my return to the city, and how the city helped me really adjust. But it became more about growing close to this big Palestinian family of my husband's as well.

Another reason I felt I needed to write about the real Palestine was that I was traveling a lot through the West Bank doing school recruitment. I spent a lot of time traveling to the Abu Dis campus near Jerusalem, visiting Bethlehem, going from checkpoint to checkpoint. The blog became a place where I could examine what it was like to live in this growing, cosmopolitan city—Ramallah—and then going out and observing a culture that you don't see within the city.

Back when I was living in the U.S., I used to get asked about life in Palestine quite a lot by my friends there. I would tell them to imagine that you are commuting from New York City to a small town in New Jersey, which should be an hour drive. But in order to get there, you can't take the regular highway, you have to take all these back roads. And even the back roads aren't all open, and at any point in time, any of the state police might stop you and ask you questions for an hour or more without giving any reason. Suddenly most of your day, most of your work, has been commuting home. It's exhausting. That's what living in Palestine is like, and that's what I wanted to capture in my blog.

I'd always tell my American friends, "You take your freedom to move too much for granted." I remember being stuck in traffic going to JFK after my workshop with Bard in 2010. I was trying toget to the airport to go back to Palestine, and I was really getting antsy. I was with my friend, and I said something like, "Oh my God, I'm going to miss my plane, and I can't understand this traffic." And my friend looked at me and said, "What do you mean you can't understand this traffic? You're the one who lives it every day in Palestine." But that's the thing we take gridlock for granted in Palestine. It's possible to be surprised by terrible traffic in the United States. And so I think that's the difference between traveling here and there.

As Palestinians, we can't take any of our day-to-day plans for granted. I may plan to start my class at eleven o'clock, and on any day I could easily be fifteen minutes late, an hour late, no matter how early I left—for no reason other than a random pop-up checkpoint somewhere between home and school. There may not even be a tense situation or security reason for the pop-up checkpoint. It could be just because.

The stress of getting to work and then back home rules our lives. And now that I have children, I feel it's even further compounded. I have to get to daycare to get my children, and to bring them home so that I can have an hour with them during the day, so then I can put them to bed on time. And that's such a basic human want. That's something that working mothers all over the world have to worry about. But I have to worry about it several times over. Every day I have to figure out how I might improvise if I can't get to daycare to pick up my children on time.

This stress makes you age faster, I think. In certain areas of Palestine, you can cut the tension and serve it up on a platter. And it's because people are not able to be regular human beings, because they're completely controlled by these random obstacles that will stop life from happening.

When I was pregnant, I constantly feared that my water would break in Qalandiya and I'd be stuck. I had twins who were breech sideways, and so there was no room for them to come out. I couldn't have natural birth.knew that. And so, the last time I drove, I was about a week from giving birth. I went as far as making arrangements with a doctor in Bethlehem so that, should my water break, it would be easier to go to Bethlehem and give birth there than drive the few miles to my hospital. So I had a friend, and he agreed that he would have an ambulance on standby in Bethlehem that would come and pick me up at the drop of a hat and would take me right away to the French women's hospital in Bethlehem. He would also make sure that he was in contact with my OB/GYN, who could explain to him on the phone the details of my pregnancy. That's an extreme example, but the truth is that every time I leave the house, I have to have contingency plans. I never know how long it might take to run simple errands.

If you're in much of the U.S., you're pregnant with twins, and you work a few miles away from home and the hospital, you can get to any hospital at any time, no matter when your water breaks, no matter if your twins are breech, or both pointing downward with their heads and ready to be delivered naturally. You have that access. Here, you don't.

The only access from one city to the other is roads, and when those roads are blocked, then life stops. And that's how women end up giving birth at checkpoints. I wrote about giving birth at a checkpoint on my blog, and I was writing about my own fears. It was something that kept coming at me. And even when I was driving, I kept thinking, "What if I get stuck in this crazy traffic, and someone hits me, rear-ends me, and then I lose one of the babies because of the shock?"

For anyone who doesn't know the road Wadi Nar - actually, it's a little better now that the roads are a little bigger - but it's this winding, uphill road between Ramallah and the cities southeast of Jerusalem where trucks of all kinds and sizes and cars of all kinds and sizes are traveling two ways. There are no clear two lanes, and literally, when you are going up, look to your right, you're practically on the edge of a cliff. If your car gets hit, there's nowhere to go except down the valley.

I tell my friends that it's only by the grace of God that I make it from sunrise to sunset every day, and I go to Abu Dis, and I still have the energy to take care of two kids every day. The only way for me to de with this stress is to write. I've gotten such positive responses to the blog from everyone who reads it, but I'm not sure if I'm actually a good writer, or if people just want to be nice to me. And this is where one of my fears exists. It's not a fear, it's maybe that I'm not willing to believe that I'm good at something else other than science.

On the other hand, I found this open-armed place with this community where anything you write is up for discussion, and it's up for editing and up for improvement, and people are willing to read what you write. Because every time you write, you're putting yourself on that paper. And I'm always submitting pieces to an online magazine called This Week in Palestine, or just putting work up on the blog, and thinking, Dear God, please have mercy on me. There's a piece of me within those words. So don't let them batter it because it would break my heart. And so I'm in between, as a writer, I'm still searching for the voice. I don't know what narrative I'm going to take, I don't know what I am trying, I don't even know what story I'm telling.

So I'm still trying to find my voice. I'm not ready to give up science completely and just do writing. And at the same time, I can't just let the science take over, because I'm so extremely happy to finally have that part of me alive again.

THERE IS REAL SUFFERING OUTSIDE OF RAMALLAH

When the Bard program at Al-Quds was just getting started, we didn't have enough students to fill the classes. Besides teaching, I worked as a recruiter and traveled all around the West Bank to meet students. I traveled a lot in Bethlehem and recruited a lot of students from the refugee camps there. I also recruited quite a lot from around Hebron. Those trips were so valuable to me, because they reminded me that there is real suffering outside of Ramallah, beyond the day-to-day obstacles of checkpoints and uncertainty that I faced in moving around the West Bank.

I've seen that suffering touch my students. We recruited quite a lot from the refugee camps, and so I taught many of the young people I was recruiting. I remember one student took an intro organic chemistry class with me I always had to tell him to be quiet so I could get on with the lecture, because he was always asking questions. He was funny, sweet, handsome. One of the leaders in the program. Then in the middle of summer break, he disappeared for two weeks. His parents had no idea where he was—they just found his car abandoned in the street one day. He'd been arrested. And then when he returned to school in the fall, he was a completely changed person. He didn't say a single word all fall semester.

But I think the liberal arts approach here is valuable. The students really take to it—they flourish. We have students reading Greek philosophy, drama. And writing as well. I remember one assignment where students read the "to be or not to be" soliloquy from Hamlet and recast it from a Palestinian perspective. The students shared their work in class, and the results were chilling and powerful.

I hope my students will have an easier time than my generation has had. I hope they make the Palestinian cause the way they see it and not simply follow leaders whose ideas have expired. And I hope they stay alive. For my children, I hope they find liberation through education, and I hope that they choose the pen and the book before anything else. For myself, I want to continue to write, though my hopes for Palestine feel more and more crushed. I hope to never forget for a moment that whatever peace and prosperity I have in Ramallah is temporary - an illusion.

---

Footnotes

¹ From the appendices -

IN WAITING by Riyam Kafri Abu Laban

The following prose poem was written by Riyam Kafri Abu Laban and is included here to stand in for sentiments expressed to us by nearly every one of our interviewees, whether their narratives were included in this collection or not.

Welcome to the land of waiting. People here are born waiting. Waiting to return to a homeland lost, and, from the looks of it, in the most desperate moments, lost forever.

Waiting to return to a home they still carry a key for in their hand, and a memory of in their heart; an image hidden in the folds of their dreams, and which, sadly, in the most realistic moments they know no longer exists.

In Palestine you wait for Ramadan, just like you wait for a breath of fresh air in a crowded restaurant in New York City. You wait for a permit to travel. You wait for schools to open, for the strike to end, for the checkpoint to be removed, for the accident rubble to be cleared. You wait for the Allenby Bridge to empty, for the doctor to finally come in on time.

In Palestine you wait. You wait for your dreams to come true.

You wait to leave the refugee camp, you wait to leave the village, you wait to arrive in Ramallah, you wait for destiny to embrace you—but she really never does. In fact, at the first stop she slaps you hard in the face and leaves her mark on you, and then you spend a lifetime waiting for that wound to heal. It never does.

In Palestine you wait to graduate, you wait to find a job, you wait for the next job to be better than the first.

In Palestine you wait to get married, then you wait to have children, then you wait for them to grow. Then you wait for them to become doctors—but trust me, they will not.

In Palestine you wait in line endlessly to receive permission to see the Palestine that is yours. And after you finally get a chance to see her, you realize she looks nothing like what your grandparents described, and nothing like the country your mother cries over. You wait to see her, only to realize that she has moved on, and did not wait for you.

In Palestine you wait for the birth of a child anxiously, with the hope she will not be born on a checkpoint.

In Palestine you wait for the hunger strike to end. You wait for sons and daughters to be released from prison—only to be rearrested again, at the next checkpoint while on their way to find a job and start a life.

In Palestine you wait for your paycheck only to have it hijacked by hungry loan payments and red hot gasoline prices.

In Palestine, you wait endlessly in Qalandiya to get home. Keep waiting. This might take hours.

You wait for the summer to end in the hope that winter will bring more peace, and you wait for winter to end in the hope that summer will bring more warmth.

In Palestine you wait for everything and everyone.

In Palestine you wait for the next eruption, the next Intifada, the next incursion, the next war—which always comes.

² Amman, the capital of Jordan, is a city of over 2 million residents.

³ Abu Dis is a city of around 12,000 people just east of Jerusalem and the location of one of Al-Quds University's campuses.

⁴ Al-Quds is a university system with three campuses-one in Jerusalem, one in Abu Dis just outside of Jerusalem, and one in Al-Bireh, adjacent to Ramallah. The system currently serves over 13,000 undergraduates.

⁵ Ramallah is a city of over 30,000 people. It has experienced rapid growth since it was adopted as a de facto administrative capital by the Palestinian Authority following the Oslo Accords. Numerous nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) and diplomatic outreach offices are also based in the city. Ramallah is located about ten miles northeast of Jerusalem, the city many Palestinians consider Palestine's true capital.

⁶ Birzeit University is a renowned public university located just outside Ramallah. It hosts approximately 8,500 undergraduates.

⁷ The First Intifada was an uprising throughout the West Bank and Gaza against Israeli military occupation. It began in December 1987 and lasted until 1993. Intifada in Arabic means "to shake off."

⁸ Israel carried out the mass arrest of Palestinian citizens during the First Intifada. More than 120,000 Palestinians were arrested or spent time in prison from 1987 to the signing of the Oslo Accords in 1993.

⁹ Al-Bireh is a city of over 40,000 people just east of Ramallah.

¹⁰ The Friends School of Ramallah is a Quaker-run institution that was opened in 1889, during the time of Ottoman rule.

¹¹ The first Oslo Accords negotiations took place in Norway, the U.S., and France during the summer of 1993. The Accords outlined a plan for the Israeli military to withdraw from Gaza and the West Bank in stages while further negotiations would be carried out regarding Palestinian statehood, security, borders, and Israeli settlements.

¹² Access to Jerusalem was significantly restricted to Palestinians from the West Bank before the Oslo Accords in 1993. Haifa is a city of 270,000 people in northern Israel. Jaffa, now part of Tel Aviv in Israel, was home to many Arabs before 1948.

¹³ Earlham College is a Quaker-affiliated liberal arts college in Richmond, Indiana. It has an enrollment of 1,210 students and has regularly accepted a large cohort of Palestinian students since the signing of the Oslo Accords.

¹⁴ Though a small portion of the barrier wall in the West Bank was constructed as early as 1994, construction of the wall increased rapidly in 2002.

¹⁵ Qalandiya is a refugee camp and city of nearly 30,000 located between Jerusalem and Ramallah. It's also the name of the nearby checkpoint, one of the biggest in the West Bank.

¹⁶ Bard College is a liberal arts college in Dutchess County, New York, on the Hudson River. It serves just over 2,000 undergraduate students. Bard formed an alliance with Al-Quds University in 2009, with the idea of bringing training in liberal arts education to Palestine.

¹⁷ The Mövenpick Hotel in Ramallah is part of a Swiss chain of international luxury hotels. The hotel in Ramallah was opened in the fall of 2010.

¹⁸ Abu Shusha was a Palestinian village of under 1,000 near the city of Ramla that was destroyed in the war of 1948. Zakariyya was a Palestinian village of just over 1,000 north-west of Hebron that was destroyed in the war of 1948.

[toasecretsanta]

A gift (2/2) for @m-arnie-xx from @bluefoxchild based on the prompt “One of the characters from TOA (Meg, Jo, etc.) find out about Zeus’ abuse towards Apollo”

Warnings for abuse mention

The sun had set about an hour ago. Dark clouds covered the nightly sky. Not even a single star could be seen. Instead, the sleeping city got illuminated by bright white flashes of lightning, followed immediately by roaring thunder. Emmie imagined she could feel the old brick wall of the way station vibrate every time.

She turned her attention away from the window back to the dish Calypso handed her to dry. The sorceress seemed just as far away mentally as the former hunter. Emmie worried about her, her and Leo’s relationship had, now that they were really out of danger, started to slowly break apart. Emmie loved both of them like her own children and seeing them hurt like that broke her heart.

Another lightning. The rumbling of thunder. The lights flickered.

Calypso hesitated for a moment.

“Wasn’t the weather supposed to be good? Georgina was looking forward to watch shooting stars tonight.” she questioned before returning to cleaning her current plate.

Emmie put away a glass.

“There was definitely no thunderstorm like this announced.” She replied. “Are all windows closed?” She then asked louder.

Two bricks clicked together as the way station gave its confirmation.

The lights flickered again.

“It’s been a while since I’ve seen a storm like this…” Calypso mumbled.

“Let’s hope it’s no reason to worry.”

The two women continued to was the dishes in silence, only hesitating when the lights flickered again. With so many inhabitants washing the dishes was not exactly a small job and the two were busy for almost an hour before Calypso finally raised the final cup in triumph.

“Last one!” She exclaimed, a proud grin on her lips.

In this very moment lightning struck again and the vibration of the following thunder shook the way station. Calypso yelped with surprise and her grip on the cup loosened.

It shattered on the ground. Shards of glass flew everywhere.

Emmie was just as startled as the former immortal sorceress. She had never in all her tome at the way-station seen thunder strong enough to shake the building. Whatever was going on was definitely not good.

Calypso was just about to pick ip the larger glass shards as a rumbling from somewhere outside the kitchen made her stop.

Emmie stared at the door. It was probably just one of the way-stations other inhabitants, there was no reason to worry, she tried to convince herself.

But the footsteps that followed the rumbling told her something else. Emmie had left the hunt some time ago, but her senses had remained sharp, even with age. And so she knew everyone’s unique walking patterns.

And whoever was walking around outside was definitely not one of them. But still… the pattern seemed somewhat familiar…

Emmie carefully walked towards the door. She knew that the way-station wouldn’t just let someone with hostile intentions enter, but she would rather be careful now than pay later.

Calypso followed behind her.

Emmie opened the door.

The hallway was dark. But even in the dim light Emmie could make out a silhouette at the other end. The figure seemed to be leaning heavy against the wall. The old hunter knew that whoever was there posed no threat to them. She was just about to ask for light as the way-station started to move.

And then, with a rustling of bricks on the ceiling, the way-station created a set of lamps and within seconds, the entire hallway was brightly illuminated.

“Apollo?” Emmie asked with surprise. She took a few steps towards him and wondered how she had managed to miss the presence of a god so close.

But something about Apollo was off. And Emmie wasn’t thinking about the fact that, even though he had regained his immortality months ago, he had taken a form that was still very similar to his Lester form.

Something about him was off. Although he was grinning at them Emmie thought that he seemed somehow distraught. The way he leaned against the wall or fiddled with the fabric of his t-shirt reminded Emmie way to much of Georgina when she had woken up from one of her nightmares caused by the oracle.

“It’s been a while, hasn’t it? I hope- I’m sure you don’t mind me stopping by?” His voice was almost enough to convince Emmie that everything was alright if it hadn’t been for the small crack in his voice.

“Oh no, of course we don’t. Although most already went to bed. But I can offer you some tea?” she replied. As much as she wanted to ask right away, she knew it was pointless right now. The nervous energy Apollo was radiating got stronger by the second.

Behind Emmie, Calypso mumbled something about even more dishes. Emmie ignored the comment and invited Apollo to follow back into the kitchen.

As the three entered the glass shards still littered the floor.

“Did I scare you that much?” Apollo asked jokingly as he pointed at the glass.

Emmie had to give credit where it was due. If really something was going on, an she was sure there was, Apollo did a good job at hiding it.

“You wish. No, but the thunder crashed so strongly that the entire way-station was shaking.”

Calypso sighed as she started to clean up the shards again. Emmie noticed how Apollo stiffened as the sorceress mentioned the thunder. But she left it uncommented. There would be more then enough time later to talk about that.

Cooking tea didn’t take long. While the three were in the kitchen, they chattered about mindless things. Emmie talked about Georgina’s improving art skills, Calypso about her new sorcery skills and Apollo about some news from Meg and Camp Jupiter.

Emmie noticed how Apollo started to ease up more, but the exhausted look in his eyes still worried her.

As the tea was finished, they took their cups and settled on the couch in the living room. The whole room was only dimly lit, Emmie didn’t want to risk waking anyone up by making too much light or sound.

As the three had sat down, they remained silent for a while. Calypso watched the pouring rain outside and Apollo stared mindlessly at the hot cup in his hands.

Emmie was about to ask why Apollo had chosen this time of the day for his visit, when Calypso did that job for her.

“So, why’d you decide to show up in the middle of the night?”

Apollo flinched a little as she suddenly broke the silence. He hesitated for a second before answering 

“Well it’s not the middle of the night, only late evening so…”

Emmie sighed. “If there is something troubling you, you can tell us. We are your friends after all.”

“It really wasn’t much. I’m not- it wasn’t that bad. I just had a little conflict with my father. Nothing to be really upset about.” He then replied.

“Well I call bs. People don’t just randomly appear in the middle of the night somewhere because of a ‘little conflict’ and have you even looked outside? That’s a lot of lightning for a ‘little conflict’. So, what happened?” Calypso stated boldly.

“Calypso please.” Emmie warned her. She had thought the same things but Emmie believed that there was a way to word it more …careful.

“But she has a point. So, Apollo, you can talk to us. What happened?”

Apollo grabbed his cup tighter. Then he laughed sadly.

“I just- we talked about Jason. And it somehow ended in a discussion. No, not really. More a fight. It was a fight. And if my father doesn’t feel like talking anymore, his lightning bolt is his last argument. That’s just how it is.”

Calypso’s eyes widened. Emmie looked at him, eyes filled with sadness.

“Oh dear, I am so sorry. That is a cruel and wrong thing to do. And you deserve better” she said softly. Calypso nodded.

“What’s right and wrong doesn’t really matter to him though” Apollo replied with bitterness in his voice.

Emmie’s heart ached as she saw him like that.

“Maybe you’re right.” Calypso replied. “Maybe it really doesn’t. But you can do better. I’m pretty sure as a father you have already surpassed him. And you have a lot of friends that care about you. If he wants to be an ass, let him be an ass alone on his mountain and spend time with us instead.”

Apollo laughed softly.

“Calypso is right. There isn’t much we can do about him, but we are always here for you. And if you need to get away from everything in the middle of the night than I still have a lot of tea left. You’re not alone Apollo. Stay away from him as much as you can and remember that we are there for you.” Emmie added with a kind smile.

The dim lights made it hard to make out one’s features, but Emmie was sure she could see a tears welling up in the god’s eyes. She opened her arms to offer a hug.

Apollo accepted and even after their hug ended, and Emmie was sure he had cried a little, they kept sitting together for a while, enjoying the company.

[frizzle-tales]

“Oh, right… I guess it’s obvious you are working today.” Maybe it was a stupid a question, she shouldn’t have bothered him with something like that. Jiyeon took the brief moment of silence between the two to take a sip of her orange juice, still wondering what was up with Namjoon’s absence but not feeling brave enough to ask Taehyung about it, feeling as if it was not her place to.

Then, suddenly, she received the great news that Namjoon wouldn’t be making it today, thus meaning she wouldn’t need to walk on eggshells anymore, and that maybe she even get to relax–

“Go with you?” Jiyeon blinked, not quite realizing just yet what Taehyung was implying– that she got to leave the house and get to join him at his workplace. “Oh, uhm, right, of course, sir, I will go get ready then…” Jiyeon wondered if she should wash the dishes and tidy the kitchen, or that she she should prioritize getting dressed, but she figured that the latter would be best.

They were in the car right after Jiyeon finished getting ready, and of course Taehyung didn’t waste any time reminding her of who had the upper hand. "Yes, sir–” She replied, pausing when he interrupted her, giving her yet another instruction. Fortunately, it wasn’t that long ago that Taehyung had mentioned the rules to Jiyeon, thus she managed to name them one by one, adding a new rule that she had caught up on the last time they were out and were stopped. “...And my name is not Jiyeon.” Jiyeon finally said, resting her hands on her lap before she looked to her side, watching as the man drove through the city, noticing that some areas looked different from the last time she had her freedom.

“I remember there used to be a park here…” Jiyeon commented, looking at what used to be the park, humming to herself. “They built this apartment block so quickly, I suppose stomping out skyscrapers out of the ground for a quick profit is more important than nature or having citizens enjoy some outdoor time…” When Jiyeon caught herself rambling too much to her liking, she stopped speaking, and instead decided to ask for permission to turn on the radio.

The buzzing streets soon made place for the quiet surroundings of the highway.

Was his work that far away? Jiyeon could only speculate about what type of job Taehyung would do. Based on his home, he definitely didn’t work just any minimum salaried job. Perhaps, he had a high paced profession as an attorney in a different city, or he owned a business with Namjoon?

“...The weather is nice today.” What should she even talk about with Taehyung? It wasn’t as if they had that much in common, and in general, their conversations rarely strayed from the typical what Jiyeon had done that day and most importantly if she had done everything Taehyung had asked of her.

The planes here and there didn’t necessarily catch her attention, but it wasn’t until Taehyung took an obvious turn to the airport, and stopped at an office nearby, that Jiyeon realized that Taehyung must work at an airport.

As Taehyung parked at the parking lot, Jiyeon stayed still as Taehyung left the car and then came back to her. The young girl then followed along as Taehyung led her over the parking lot, glancing around and taking in the sight; the large planes, the shiny building, the cargo and staff running around to make sure everything ran on time.

At the sight of her boss’ car parking into the parking lot, the young woman fixed her skirt, smoothing out any wrinkles with her hands as a smile flashed on her face. Then, another quick brush over her hair to smooth any stray hairs, before she -as natural as she could- wandered through the entrance hall with a folder in her arms, before she seeked eye-contact with her boss, pretending that she simply met him at the right time.

But something was different about today.  “Good morning, Mr Kim– oh, I see you brought a guest. Hello, miss.” The woman forced herself to keep the smile on her face at the unexpected… guest, and based on how close she was standing to Taehyung, it seemed that they were quite close. “Could I get the lady or yourself any refreshments, mr Kim?”

-- 🎙️

“That’s a good girl.” Taehyung shortly praised after the girl ran through all of the rules she needed to remember.

Maybe the voice of his father haunting his mind was wrong after all. She had much more promise, more potential, then the imaginary dead man had led him to believe. This would mark the second time he’d taken her out of her little cage, and here she was effortlessly obeying his every command.

Hell, even trying to spark up some light conversation with him.

Just maybe, she’s the right one after all.

A grin tugged on Taehyung’s lips at awkward rambles as small talk coming from the young woman. Her voice was always so sweet as if it was laced with the purest honey, and somehow so well spoken for her age. He wouldn’t admit it to anyone, but it made his journey to work just a little more tolerable.

“Surprisingly nice.” The man hummed in agreement, soon pulling into the staff parking lot.

A tall glass building stood only a few rows away. Various planes taking off and cloudy blue skies perfectly reflecting in the windows.

“Don’t move.” Taehyung warned, gathering his belongings — phone, wallet, and car keys — before finally getting out, circling around the dark SUV before finally reaching her side. He popped the door open, holding out a hand towards Jiyeon. And once she took it, he led her into the building.

“Good morning.” He greeted back his secretary, hardly even giving her a glance. He didn’t notice the tight black pencil skirt hugging the more middle aged woman’s hips. Nor the new silky blouse with one too many buttons undone. “No need. Jiho will take care of it in a little bit.” Or the way the man’s eyes seemingly hardened at the sight of his beautiful companion.

Taehyung’s hand switched from curling around Jiyeon’s to resting flat against the small of her back, ready to lead her down a short hallway, before abruptly pausing. “Oh, but I’d like for you to call Mr. Choi and push our 8 o’clock meeting back an hour. And when you see Jiho, send him straight to my office.”

“Of course, Mr. Kim. Right away, sir.” She bowed respectfully before glancing at the young woman at his side, her friendly facade cracking for a split moment. “Miss.” The rolled distastefully off her tongue, but not another second was wasted before she ventured back behind her desk to follow her lasted instruction.

And with that, Taehyung brought his sweetheart a new environment, his office, after a short walk and elevator ride.

“Sit here.” He absentmindedly nudged her towards a sofa before setting his briefcase onto his desk. But once the leather made contact with the dark oak wood, his office door swung open.

“Cuz!”

That voice. One that sounded too painfully close to nails on a chalkboard. So high pitched. Disgustingly enthusiastic.

“Daejung.” Taehyung grumbled with a grimace. He watched as his cousin sauntered further into the room before stopping at the sight of the young woman on the couch.

“I thought that was you I saw walk in downstairs — but who might this be?” The male smirked, eyeing her up and down. “Did you hire another assistant? Maybe this job is more suited for someone with.. experience. Esepcially if you’re needing so much hel—”

“She’s not an assistant.” Taehyung cut him off before the annoyance simmering under his skin had the chance to turn into a rolling boil. “Not that’s any of your concern. Now, is there anything I can help you with, or were you on your way out?”

After inheriting the business from his father, there was no discussion about firing family. As far as he was aware, there wasn’t anything off limits. And yet, here he was still dealing with them — bitter uncles and cousins from his father’s side — day in, day out.

Ignoring the words rolling from his younger cousin, Daejung instead circled around the coffee table, stopping in front of the young woman. “Well, in that case it’s my pleasure to meet you, miss …” He trailed off, waiting for her to give her name as his hand outstretched in her direction.

“Hands to yourself.” Taehyung cut in for a second time. His eyes pierced daggers towards his family members, not leaving the man’s frame. Although, the sharp warning was meant for both of them. His tone came out colder than he meant to, but it wasn’t as if he could help it.

The mere idea of his cousin getting to put his hand on his Jiyeon — in any way, shape, or form — only sent tremors of rage through him.

“Of course, cuz. Whatever you say.” Daejoon mused, pulling his hand away to drop back by his side. “Say..” His attention, however, quickly shifted back to Jiyeon. “You look oddly familiar. Have we met before?”

[mprimn]

It has been 3 days since I arrived in Japan.

They wouldn't allow students to enter the dorm until a specific date, so I flew on the day before as I didn't want to spend money on hotels. It was a late-night flight so it was mostly peaceful, except that one toddler in the far front who cried from time to time.

A girl in front of me decided to watch 2005 version of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory so I just watched from her screen the whole flight. There were so many details and scenes that I have forgotten because I saw the movie when I was very young.

The flight attendants kept mistaking me and the Japanese lady's nationality during service which I found quite funny. They thought the Japanese lady was from my country, but when they realized she wasn't they somehow assumed I was also Japanese. I replied to them in Japanese anyway because why not. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯

When the plane landed it started raining, making the temperature a lot cooler than I expected. The immigration process took so long that once I got out of the airport I only have a few hours left to travel to the appointed destination. I went down to the train, but the ticket booth was super crowded that I'd have to wait for another train for almost an hour. The bus had only 1 trip per day to my destination won't be coming soon, so I bit the bullet and got on a taxi.

There is a reason why Japanese people avoid taxis.

The service was top notch, but it came with a price.

A ridiculously expensive one.

(And that I also told the driver to take the fastest route, so it costed even higher)

Dear my parents, if you're reading this, I'm so sorry I spent 50k yen on 2 and a half hour ride from Narita to Mito. I will make sure to find a part time job once I know of my study schedule.

After reaching the destination, I paid the driver with my credit card so I signed the receipt with my signature in my language.

Apparently, that's when the driver realized I'm a foreigner.

He seemed shocked and amazed because after apologizing (I asked him to repeat something, but he didn't make it sound easier to understand so I just nodded), he complimented my accent saying how natural it was.

It may have something to do with my appearance too since I'm Asian. Even the local students at the dorm said I look like a Japanese. It was kind of fun at first, but I'm starting to feel like it's more of a debuff because instead of yasashii nihongo, I will be hit with normal level speech that can be very hard to listen.

In the evening of the first day, me and other 2 students from my country went to 3 different supermarkets to find items for our dorm. They even rode bicycles to a Donki far deep in the city to buy pillows (only mattress is provided in the dorm), utensils, and so much more. There were only 2 bicycles available so I just waited for them at the lounge, praying for their safety because one said they almost crashed into a car.

The two bought lots of ingredients to cook food on their own while I mostly bought instant meals. I don't feel like cooking because I'll have to wash the dishes, so I bought different food and put them together.

Personally, I think it turned out great.

The students from my country came from the same university and one is a classmate of mine. They are a cheerful person and a socializer. They probably befriended most of the exchange students already at this point. Thanks to them introducing me to others, I was able to talk and make friends with more people. Everyone was really kind. Some students' Japanese or English skills might not be very strong, but nothing can stop any of them from having fun together.

Tomorrow after sending in our documents at the City Hall, the exchange students are planning to have a barbeque party. I also heard another party will be held after too. It hasn't been a week, yet everyone seemed to close to each other. From a view of someone who's socially awkward, I find that fascinating.

I hope to get to know more of everyone soon.

[valenciajess]

The year is 2009. Senior year. We drive all over the valley and hit two house parties with 4lokos in hand thanks to our fake IDs - which aren’t really fake but real people who resemble us. Our whole life is ahead of us and we know it. We’re getting ready to go to different colleges all over California. We are already free. And we imagine how the different ways more freedom and less supervision will open and close different paths for us. What we don’t know is that the girl who’s always been in a relationship won’t be with that person anymore. In fact, she’ll get into USC for a masters program, get engaged to a boy majoring in chemistry, and she’ll get into politics. The engagement will get called off and she’ll delete all social media so she never has to explain and continue looking for love under the radar. The girl who never had a serious relationship will get into one that summer and stay with the same person for 11 years. She’ll help him through life and influence him to go back to school and get an AA degree. His dad will come back after going missing for years and that will change and confuse him. He’ll become the worst parts of him. She will wait and they break up. He comes to her birthday party with a ring and a proposal. We all unite to celebrate the engagement only to find out months later this boy got went missing. They break up for good and she’s devastated. All the time, effort, and the high of watching good things happen to him …and for him, only for him to get lost and destroy it. Depressed … because she has to watch it and heartbroken because she can’t stop it. She continues to get up everyday and starts to build her back house on an acre of land exactly the way she wants it. Another passion project to pour her heart into and this time… the foundation is strong and she will be safe. The next girl leaves the city and goes north. Her beauty lands her a job at American apparel and things feel easy, but she misses home. Her mom once compared her to a mustang … always leaving home for days and maybe a week, but always coming home. This time the mustang can’t just run back home and she struggles with that. She returns home and starts again at community college and decides money will set her free. Not the paper, but what it symbolizes. To her, money is security AND freedom and the only thing in the world that will offer both at the same time. Applying for work in the middle of a recession and once again her lack of experience and age fail her, but her beauty doesn’t. She enters the strip club and once again she feels free, but time passes and she knows she’s more than whatever this has started to represent. She drinks at work after this sudden realization for the first time. DUI. She goes back to strip and realizes there’s a hustle in her and she loves the sport. She has some relationships, but they never offer safety AND freedom so she never fears the ending and focuses all her effort on the only thing she’s ever known to provide both: Money. Pushing forward and never looking back. It’s an endless pursuit that she may be built for, but how do you go from a house of cards to a strong foundation… and that’s where she is now. Answering that question through life’s trials, but this time.. with laser focus. The last girl in the car was raised to be a homemaker. Her parents rarely let her out of the house and she washed dishes joyfully. She got into a relationship and moved out. She was prepared for this role, but this man was not her father or anything like him. He used her credit to buy cars and ruined it. She filed for bankruptcy and that was like breaking a mirror- 7 years of bad luck. The relationship ended but she had done everything right. Deep into spirituality and back home. Working and trying to understand what went wrong, she isolated herself and got lost into her spiritual journey. The isolation didn’t help. Her parents grew concerned and called the paramedics. A trip to the mental asylum for the girl that did everything right. A quick 72 hours.

Life is a backstabber.

[two-sides-halved]

"Steven sings them to himself when he washes the dishes... that is when Pearl isn't doing the dishes..." Human Steven replied. Blueberry Pie hums to the tune as well. The memory continues with the Gems getting into the cockpit of the hand ship. Human Steven is huffing and puffing, causing Gem Steven's brain to go into a panic seeing him as the weak and defenseless child that used to have IVs attached to his skin, and a catheter for dialysis making an obvious outline from his school uniform and paler skin then normal.

Peridot is easily taken care as Classic Steven jumped in front of the others to keep his friends and family safe breaking the destabilizer with his hands, while human and gem steven were preoccupied in the hallway. Gem Steven blinked, suddenly seeing him as he normally was, he was holding himself against the wall, and gave a weak thumbs up, huffing and puffing. "just ... catching my breath... I'm-I'm fine..." "right... right..." Gem Steven headed inside with him and held him close. "Lean on me... I'm more sturdy than the wall is gonna be when this thing comes crashing down."

Classic Steven turned around, "We got the ship's controls, we need to get Lapis." Garnet heads up into the control room. "There's no time, the ship is going down!"

"Brace for impact!" Gem Steven yells stretching his family around him close as if he was Rose Quartz during the end of the war, a large basic shield summoning above them before it fizzled out from his lack of energy. Classic Steven's bubble shield activated mere moments later without seals them all together keeping them safe as the handship crashes into the house and explodes, raining shrapnel over most of the beach but keeping the main residential area and businesses of Beach City unharmed other than Steven's house itself.

Gem Steven opened his eyes, seeing that Classic's bubble had kept them safe relaxed him, a wave of relief washed over him, and a deep sense of pride as well. However, they were under a lot of rubble, and Classic Steven didn't have the same strength to make his shield expand more than it had around them as it is to push the debris away like he could. But before he could say anything both Lions came running as soon as the explosion, one coming from closer the side of the house while the other came from the woods. They both looked at each other momentarily a confused look on their faces before both of them reaching a silent conclusion and both focused their roaring abilities to break the rumble and rocks that they were under.

Classic Steven dropped the shield and huffed. The Lion with the lighter coat and darker pink mane went and absolutely tackled both the Steven purring loudly happy to see them. Gem Steven chuckled and pet over him and pressed his forehead against his timeline's Lion. "Missed you too, buddy."

Everyone congratulated Classic on his good job, and Classic mentioned. "I can't believe you guys were a fusion the whole time... are you usually a fusion at the time-- and you have your own Lion!" Classic Lion snorted, as if he was jealous. "Don't worry Lion, I love you too." Classic Steven reassured the more stoic of the two pink Lions. Soon everyone went silent as Jasper's body flipped back as if the rumble she was under were merely flecks of water from the shower, heavily grunting, on her knees.

The group looked over, Gem Steven focused on her specifically. Her form glitching out to a miserable looking Jasper nearly corrupting the words coming out through choked sobs asking how she wasn't enough and asking why did Lapis have to leave, before Gem Steven blinked a bit, seeing the current Jasper pissed off. "Don't think you've won yet... you only beat me because you're a---"

"A team!" Gem Steven stood up, standing in front of everyone, as he signals Lion to comfort his brother, while he was interrupting Jasper before she could ruin the surprise for his brother. "We are the Crystal Gems! We didn't bow down to Homeworld's tyranny then and we won't now! I'm sorry you're just a sore loser because Garnet beat your ass like a bongo drum." Gem Steven yelled out, Human Steven making a disgusted face, holding over Classic's ears. "Hey.... I wanna hear what's going on."

"If I had someone to fuse with I'd-- huh?" Jasper and Gem Steven's eyes went toward Lapis getting herself out of the rubble.

"If you want to fight anyone, I'll fight you myself!" Hoping the challenge would distract Jasper from the Lapis that was going to emerge a drop of worried sweat dropped down the side of his forehead. "Damn it, you hot headed idiot, take my bait don't get the idea to fuse with that bitch, she's going to be nothing but awful to you, please I don't wanna see that happen again..."

Lapis pushed the rumble off herself looking pretty bruised up and dirty. She saw Jasper approaching and went to use her water wings to leave, but Jasper got her by the leg before switching her grip to her arm with her other hand. "Not so fast, brat." Jasper spoke to Lapis holding her up by the wrist. "Don't fly off so soon."

"Lapis!" Classic Steven yelled, worried about her but the gems held him back. Jasper continued, "Lapis listen, fuse with me." "What?" Lapis asked confused. Gem Steven upon hearing the phase "fuse with me", he could hear the butterfly wings beating in his head, "Why wasn't I enough for her? Why did she have to leave me? I'm the only one strong enough to handle a brute like her even when she looked so delicate and dainty like a Pearl."

Gem Steven shook those old phrases that his Jasper's echoes whispered in his mind and rushed into the pair of gems, not thinking of who he was worried about more, but one thing he knew in his core was that Malachite couldn't exist, she shouldn't exist, she won't exist if he had anything to say about it. Then ran into the perfect quartz solider, rushing through the sand, summoning his bubble boxing glove, aiming for the space in between them, maybe if he stopped the fusion, maybe things would be better... Jasper without even looking smacked Gem Steven and he flew into the air.

"Steven!!!" Human Steven went huffing and went to catch him before he were to land on a large spiked piece of shrapnel. "You ok?" "Who cares about me?" "I do! You almost got poofed or worse!" Human Steven replied worried. Gem Steven went to get up, before seeing the conversation continue. "How long did they keep you trapped here on this miserable hunk of rock?" Jasper asked. Gem Steven wanted to yell and tell her that was Homeworld's fault in the first place, but groaned in pain from the bruise from from the impact on his face materializing as a rose shaped bruise over the same eye that Classic himself had gotten when Jasper had headbutted him merely hours ago. His eye swelled semi shut.

"These gems, their traitors to their Homeworld, they kept you prisoner, they used you. This is your chance to take revenge!-- Come on, just say yes." Jasper replied with a twisted smile. Lapis looked out at them, Classic looked over, "Lapis, don't do it."

Lapis face displayed a look with a sad almost innocence before her face twisted into on of anger, she was sick of being told what to do by others and decided for herself, that she was going to fuse with a hand held out to Jasper. "NOOOOO!!" Classic Steven shouted being held back by the gems as they group watched as the two of them started dancing and forming into the massive four eyed four arms green fusion, that had no singular voice but both of her components voices at once.

Gem Steven had seen it before, his mind had spaced out, Jasper's voice echoing the despair over the loss of Lapis made his body ache, he felt sick, before he looked up at the fusion, silently in his mind counting down to the moment where Lapis inevitably double crossed Jasper, but the tone of her voice, the words she speaks, she didn't do this for Steven... she did this to take her anger out on someone that represented the people who put her in the mirror and the people who someone who wanted to use her again for their own needs. He watched the massive fusion get dragged off into the sea by the icy chains that Lapis controlled, seeing that Jasper actively screaming was trying to get out of the fusion, but unable to do to the chains that held them together.

It made Gem Steven's chest thrum with a pang of empathy for Jasper, and a deep pain of guilt since this was only the beginning of a shitstorm he couldn't prevent. Classic Steven watched and yelled for Lapis before the fusion in Lapis' voice shouted out "Let's stay on this this miserable planet together!!!" Before the fusion is pulled down and out of view.

The group looked out at the water, before Garnet adjusted her visor and broke the lingering silence. "Yikes... they are really bad for each other." The next memory portal opened where Malachite went down into the ocean.

"I mean I knew that Jasper and Lapis didn't have the best relationship but I never saw Jasper cry... like ever... it's kinda bizarre... Like she's so big and strong... and I've never seen her cry... I didn't know that loosing Lapis had bothered her this much" "Yea... I have no doubt that there would probably be more of that the further we go... there are somethings that Gem Steven wouldn't want you to know and I just hope as we're going through these winding ever changing, connecting and intersecting memory ways we never go down them... because I would have to censor the whole thing because I'm not like Raspberry Tart and beg you to keep a secret from Gem when he wants to keep this as far away from you as possible so he can open up when he's ready to."

"Yea... I get that... ready to go to the next stop?"

Continued | @erisdiamas

The visage nodded, "Fair... granted he is torn up about his interaction with Cherry, we could probably check today's early memories but considering how everything is going at the moment, it's probably gonna take a while to actually find him so the more we linger the worse its gonna get when we actually get to him."

"Yea... mmm, let's go this way." Human Steven replied pushing open a new walk way in through a decaying wall, and turned to Eris, and gently pulled her away from the inky pools in a protective manor as if she were an infant about to stick a fork into a light socket. "Eris, let's just stay away from the inky black goo please... I don't want you to get pulled down too."

Classic Steven looked over between them, seeing no change and letting out a soft sigh as he watched on to make sure no one would interrupt what was going on between them, worried about how everything was going.

[earlgreydream]

time for us.

| loki x reader | angst | fluff |

anon requested. loki has been working a lot lately and hasn’t really had anytime for the reader and he completely forgets about their anniversary and she doesn’t tell him for a couple of days but then he snaps at her and they have a huge argument

a/n: this doesn’t have any spoilers for the show— just mention that Loki works for the TVA (which isn’t canon at the time of me writing this)

You loathed Loki’s new job, working for the Time Variance Authority.

Ever since Loki began at the TVA, they’d managed to occupy nearly all of his time and energy, leaving little to none left for you. Your relationship was strong, but only a few weeks of work had put a strain on the two of you.

He’d become more short tempered, and easily agitated. You tried to be patient, but little things seemed to antagonize you, and soon every small thing was becoming huge.

Above all, you hated to fight with Loki. You bottled up your frustration, shoving them down inside of you and keeping them hidden and locked away. Your limited time with Loki was precious, and you didn’t want to poison it with your annoyance. However, it was doing damage that you hadn’t yet comprehended, building a pressurized weapon that was bound to explode.

It took weeks, but the explosion came.

.

Loki had been so caught up in work that he missed your anniversary. It had escaped his mind entirely, passing like any other day. He was distracted by variants running wild, and the need to please his new boss. He felt responsible for things that were going wrong, and he had put your relationship on the backburner.

You’d been certain he’d take you out during the night, or at least do something to acknowledge the anniversary of your love, but you’d been dead wrong. You waited at home as hours passed, and when his normal arrival time had long passed, the pain in your chest grew until your entire body was throbbing with hurt.

You took your makeup off, along with the pretty dress you wore-- the green one that your husband adored.

Loki had stayed late at work, taking overtime and showing up just before ten. You were so hurt you could hardly speak, but Loki’s mind was too muddled with work to even notice. You were already in bed when he returned home, and he’d kissed your forehead and gone to sleep with less than five words leaving his lips.

You laid awake in bed that night, staring at the wall. You should have told Loki you were angry, said something then and at least gotten it in the open. But you shoved it down with everything else— every other hurt and grievance and annoyance that poisoned you.

.

“Can you set that down, please?” You asked, four days later. You tried to keep your tone even, but you were impatient. The bite in your words was all you could do to keep from tearing the file from his delicate hands.

Loki was in the kitchen, his face buried in a variant case file. He was supposed to be helping you make dinner, but you were dismissed and cast aside once again as his work outshined you.

“I’m working, Y/N! It’s important. Don’t you want me to get paid so you can have your pretty things?” Loki snapped, shocking you.

“No!” You screamed, slamming the cabinet door shut.

He stared at you, turquoise eyes wide in shock at your outburst. He dropped the file on the counter, a harsh glare adorning his stunning face.

“No, Loki! I don’t fucking care about the pretty things. I don’t even know that I care about YOU!” The words were coming out before you could stop them.

“You don’t care about me?! All I ever do is for you!” Loki met your anger, matching your energy and only fueling the fire of rage that was building in your stomach.

“You’re such a selfish liar! You don’t give a fuck about me, Loki! You’re in a relationship with your bullshit job, you don’t give a damn about me! All of your time and your energy... and fuck, even your kindness goes to the stupid fucking TVA!! There’s nothing left for me, and I don’t want your scraps!” You shoved him back when he took a step toward you.

“I’m selfish? You’re needy and dramatic! You’re a spoiled brat, acting out when not every ounce of my attention is being given to you. What, you’re mad that I didn’t help you make this salad? Grow up, Y/N!” Loki’s hateful words poured out, tasting like acid in his mouth.

“No! I’m mad that you forgot our anniversary and that you haven’t seen how much you’ve hurt me!” Tears burned as they streamed down your face, blurring your vision that was bleeding at the edges.

Loki’s lips parted, and realization suddenly crossed his features. He took a step back, recognizing his anger had spiraled out of control, and that your anger was justified.

“I didn’t mean it… I do care about you, I just want you to care about me.” Your voice broke, and shaky hands went to your mouth, stifling a sob. Guilt swelled in Loki’s chest as he saw you fall apart, unable to bear the weight of your anger.

“I’m sorry. You’re right. I don’t know how I’ve forgotten. Please, my love, forgive me,” Loki’s tone softened, and he knelt down to his knees before you.

He didn’t care about the messy floors ruining his perfect suit, nothing mattered to him then except for you.

“I shouldn’t have gotten so angry, I just miss you,” you were weeping, unable to hold the sobs at bay.

“It’s okay, scream and cry if you need to, but know I love you more than anything and I am terribly, terribly sorry.”

Loki gently pulled you forward, closing his arms around you. His forehead rested against your stomach, and you laid your hands on top of his head.

“I know. I know,” you stammered in shaky breaths. Your fingers trembled as you dragged them through his hair, overwhelmed with every emotion that washed over you all at once.

.

You got home from work, a couple of days after your fight. You had both apologized, easing the tension over. Loki hadn’t stopped apologizing, even when you promised him it was okay. It had been better since-- you weren’t keeping secrets or harboring anger, and you felt exceedingly better in the aftermath of your fight.

You walked into your master suite, considering a hot bath or a shower after your day. You were lost in your thoughts as you kicked your shoes off, before turning to the bed. A dress was laid out on the end of the bed, glittery heels and jewelry in a box beside it. Loki wasn’t home, but a note was attached, telling you to get dressed and he’d meet you.

You smiled, lifting the black cocktail dress. You changed, fixing your hair and makeup in the mirror. Your day at work had been long, and you didn’t know what Loki had in store for you, but you were excited.

The lock clicked open on the door, signaling the arrival of your husband. You stepped into the foyer to greet him, met with Loki in an all-black suit. A grin spread across his expression as he noticed you, making warmth bloom in your chest.

“You look-” you both started at the same time.

You smiled and tilted your head, letting him speak.

“You look beautiful,” Loki spoke softly before giving you a kiss.

“Thank you. You look sharp. What’s the occasion, what are we doing?”

“I’m so sorry I missed our anniversary. I thought we could celebrate us tonight.”

You broke into a grin, nodding excitedly.

“Yes. Yes, let’s do it.”

“Of course. Let me set my things down,” he kissed your cheek and stepped into your master, cleaning up and dropping his bag.

.

You were driven to a fancy restaurant, one hand in Loki’s as the other smoothed over the wheel of his black sports car. He dropped the keys with a valet, and you were escorted to a table in the back of the place.

“Wine, Mrs. Laufeyson?”

“Please,” you nodded, and the waiter poured you a glass of sparkling pink moscato.

“I’ve gotten us a suite at the resort in the city. I have a bag packed for you in the car, I thought we could enjoy a weekend away. You deserve it,” Loki brought your hand to his lips, kissing your knuckles.

“You’re spoiling me,” you giggled, sipping your wine.

“As I should be.”

Elaborate French dishes were brought out on gorgeous plates, looking like something from a food blog. It tasted divine, and Loki told you some history about the dish from some time he was living or traveling in Paris. You listened to his animated stories, thinking about how you were so in love with him. 

“Why’re you staring at me like that?” Loki laughed softly, spooning sorbet into your mouth.

“Because I love you. And you’re charming and cute when you get excited,” you confessed with a grin. 

“I love you too. I’m sorry about everything,” he apologized. 

“It’s okay. We’re past it. Time moves forward for us.”

Loki nodded, leaning forward and smearing a kiss over your temple before retrieving your car from the valet.

“To the hotel?” he asked, sliding his hands over your hips and kissing your neck as you waited.

“Okay,” you giggled, squirming in his arms. 

He squeezed your bum, making you gasp before opening the door for you, helping you into the passenger seat. 

When you arrived at the hotel, there was a bouquet of roses on the table, and candles burning around. He kissed the back of your head, setting your bag down for you.

“Let me make this up to you,” his voice was deep as he unzipped your dress.

“Please,” you smiled, turning in his arms and pulling him into a heated kiss. 

[lena-in-a-red-dress]

Kara returns home and immediately flinches when Lena slams the dishwasher closed, and then slams the cupboard after putting the last dish away.

"You're angry with me," Kara says quietly.

"No, I'm not," Lena mutters.

Kara sighs. "Lena..."

"I'm NOT angry with you," Lena insists, not turning around. She busies herself with drying the dishes from the rack, snapping the towel off its rack before running it roughly over a mixing bowl.

"But you're angry."

"Yes! At the situation-- at myself."

Kara sputters. "Wait-- what?"

Lena slams the bowl to the counter and finally turns. "If I had better handle on this magic bullshit, I could actually contribute, and if I actually contributed, you wouldn't feel like we couldn't fucking handle a goddamn nightmare monster--"

"What? Lena, my decision has nothing to do with that--"

"Doesn't it? We told you we had it handled. But you didn't trust that we did, and you ditched your interview anyway--"

"You guys needed my help!"

"Of course we did!" Lena scrubs a hand over her face, squeezing her eyes shut in frustration before opening them and looking at Kara. "But that doesn't mean we wouldn't have made it work."

Confusion washes over Kara, and suddenly she feels just as helpless as she did in Andrea's office. "I don't understand."

Lena takes a deep breath, making a visible effort to relax the tension that had clenched her hands around her biceps.

"Look," she says carefully, "while you were gone, Alex told me what it was like when you first started. How you walked up to a bank robbery in a hoodie and red high tops. But look at what you have now! You have a whole team of people who are ready and able to help you, but today... today you weren't able to trust us to get the job done."

Kara ducks her head. Shame floods her, scorching hot and all encompassing. Lena reaches across the kitchen island and takes Kara's hand in hers.

"You have been National City's easy way out for six years, Kara. There will always be a need for Supergirl to help mitigate damage, and harm, but... that doesn't mean we can't get the job done without you. Maybe it'll be a little messier, maybe it'll take us a little longer, but we can manage without you when you're busy."

Chewing on her lip, Kara hesitantly glances up. "You think I shouldn't have quit?"

"You haven't had a break in six years," Lena returns smoothly. "Honestly I'm surprised it didn't happen sooner."

Kara huffs a laugh, wiping her eyes. Her hand comes away damp.

"I just-- I didn't know what else to do... I've just been so overwhelmed, and--"

"Hey," Lena offers. "It's okay. I just-- I know how important the interview was to you. When you were talking about it at the Tower, you were so excited for it, and... it had been a while since I'd seen you so enthusiastic about your job. And I hate that I wasn't able to help more to let you do what you wanted."

Shaking her head, Kara clings to Lena's hand. "It wasn't that. I just-- I don't know--"

Lena circles the island, not releasing Kara's hand until she was close enough to wrap her arms around Kara in a bracing hug. Kara hugs her back, tucking her nose against Lena's shoulder.

"I know you've been struggling," Lena says softly. "And it's okay that you are. But I'm here for you. Always. Whatever you need."

Kara nods, inhaling deeply. The scent of her Lena's shampoo fills her senses, grounding her.

"Thank you."

Then...

"I'm sorry I got upset." Lena gives her an extra squeeze. "I know how much you love CatCo, and it hurts that I can't be more help."

Kara smiles softly into the fabric of Lena's sweater.

"You're doing more than you know."

[nebulablakemurphy]

Miss American Pie

Chapter Two: The Perfect Partner Project

Warning!: This series features a romantic Yelena Belova x Fem!Reader pairing. Please keep scrolling if that’s not for you. 💜

Summary: After you’re freed from Dreykov’s control you team up with Yelena and Natasha to take down the red room.

Chapter One : Chemical Subjugation

“I thought you had a jet?” Yelena cocks her head to the side, as you approach the decrepit helicopter.

“I asked for one.” Natasha mutters, under her breath.

“This isn’t a jet.” You add, the closer you get, the worse it becomes.

“I realize that!” The man who’d been standing with his back to you whips around to defend himself. This must be Natasha’s friend. “But you know what you didn’t give me? Time. Or money. I’m not made of jets.”

“Aww, he’s sensitive.” Yelena coos, “I see why you keep him around.”

“I’m not sensitive.” He protests.

“Of course not,” you smirk.

“Listen you-“ he breaks off. “Who are you again?”

“Y/N Y/L/N,” Yelena introduces you, climbing aboard. “She’s my partner….” She shrugs, “you name it really.”

“Partner works.” You chuckle, joining her in the cockpit.

“If you say so,” Yelena waves a dismissive hand. Getting a feel for the controls.

“Wonderful,” the man acknowledges your title.

“Thanks for the ride, Dick.” You salute him through the front window.

“It’s Rick,” he calls back.

“I know.” You give him a thumbs up. Waiting until he turns back to his conversation with Natasha. Taking the opportunity to lean down, kissing the top of Yelena’s head.

She cranes her head back to see you.

You nuzzle your nose against hers, until an exaggeration throat clearing tears you apart.

“We don’t have time for this.” Natasha, of course.

Yelena scowls at her, “yeah, yeah.”

Breaking Alexei out of a maximum security prison using only an earpiece, stowed inside of an action figure is a terrible plan. Nearly as bad as using him for information on how to locate a facility that’s impossible to find, run by a man who’s too slippery to kill.

That doesn’t stop you though. Generally speaking it’s going well. Until one of Yelena’s shots triggers an avalanche.

“Woah.” She marvels at the scene before you, her masterpiece. “Now this would be a cool way to die.”

“Yeah,” you holler back, sarcastically, over the chaos.

“You were getting no where with your tiny guns.” Yelena points out.

“Slow and steady wins the race,” you remind her.

“Fast is better. Solves problems.”

“And clearly creates new ones.” You jerk your chin toward the mountain.

“Get us out of here!” Natasha’s voice blares through the headset.

“I’m on it.” Yelena assures her. Moving into a better position for extraction. “Watch the side window.”

At her request you shuffle to the main ship. The prison guards are still putting up a fight. Inmates running in every direction.

“Alright, Natasha’s with us.” You confirm, once she’s secured her place on the black hanging rope. “Circle between the walls on your left to grab Alexei.”

“Yeah, no problem.” Yelena snarks, steering the plane away from another explosion.

“You’re doing a great job.”

“Don’t lie to me!”

“Fine,” you huff. “The spot is tight and the angle is bad. I don’t know how you’re gonna pull this off.”

Yelena is silent, processing the information. “Lie to me a little.” She amends.

“You got this.” The blinding wall of white threatens to swallow Alexei whole. You’re holding your breath too as the rope moves past the metal bridge he’s standing on.

“Well?” She yelps, impatiently.

“I don’t know. I can’t see.” Once the snow and ice clears, you spot two figures carefully scaling the rope. “Yelena?”

“Hmm.” She hums, expecting the worst.

“I knew you had it.”

“Yes,” Yelena sighs, before falling into easy laughter. More invested in this than she will ever admit.

————————————————————-

Unfortunately, entertaining as Alexei may be, he has next to no information about Dreykov.

Instead he drawls on and on about how the man wronged him. Stuck him on that “boring mission” in Ohio. Then tossed him in jail and threw away the key because of…hair? A party?

You weren’t entirely sure. You excuse yourself to the vacant seat beside Yelena. Giving her thigh a reassuring squeeze.

Full lips twitch up into a grin.

“Tell us where the red room is.” Natasha grumbles.

“I have no idea!” He shouts, and then in Russian. “Why don’t you ask Melina?”

“Mom Melina?” Yelena whips her head around.

“We thought she was dead.”

“You cannot kill a fox that swift,” Alexei sucks in a breath.

You choke on your own saliva.

“Ew.” Natasha winces.

“What?” The man shrugs. “She was the master mind. His architect.”

“Are you telling me that Melina works for the red room present day?” Natasha leans closer.

“Yes,” he nods. “Remotely, outside Saint Petersburg.”

“I don’t think we have enough fuel for Saint Petersburg.” Yelena decides, after checking the needle on the gauge.

“We’ll make it.” Alexei waves away her concern.

“Ok,” Yelena mutters.

You look over at her.

“We’re not going to make it.” She mouths, with a shake of her head.

You smirk, closing your eyes and relaxing into the seat. It’ll be nice while it lasts.

Before long you’re falling into a controlled crash, at the Saint Petersburg city limit.

“So,” Yelena jumps out onto the dirt. “Are we there yet?”

“No, you will know when we are there.” Alexei begins snorting like a pig.

——————————————————————-

You take a seat in the chair opposite Yelena inside Melina’s humble abode. Her pigs can be heard carrying on out in the yard and Alexei’s early snorting makes perfect sense now.

Your eyes dart around the three women at the table uncomfortably as noises continue erupting from the bathroom. “Everything alright in there?” You bellow, loud enough for your voice to carry down the hallway.

Another groan is the only response.

“Let’s drink,” Melina’s voice breaks the tension. She fills each of your shot glasses in turn.

“Thanks,” you raise the clear liquid and toss it back. Feeling it burn it’s way down your throat before going back for another.

After a moment a clunking from the doorway calls your attention.

“It still fits.” Alexei announces, having stuffed himself into his old costume.

Melina whistles, with a slow clasp as he approaches the seat at the head of the table. “I never washed it once. Come eat.”

He hums a tune under his breath, reliving days gone by. “Look at us, family back together again.” If you didn’t know better you’d think it was sweet, he seems…happy.

“Well,” Melina swallows, dishing mashed potatoes onto his plate. “Seeing as our family construct was just a calculated ruse that only lasted three years, I’m not sure we can use this term anymore.”

“Agreed,” Natasha perks up. “So here’s what’s going to happen-“

“Reunion then.” Alexei offers instead. “I want to say something right off the bat.” He says to the woman who’d once been his wife. “You haven’t aged a day. Just as beautiful and supple as the day they staged our marriage.”

Melina moves closer, “you got fat, but still good.”

“I just got out of prison,” he confesses, “I have a lot of energy.”

“Ooohooo.” The older woman exhales.

You can’t help the bubble of laughter that forces its way from your chest. Covering your mouth with your hand as Yelena takes another shot.

“Please don’t do that.” Beside you Natasha looks physically ill as she protests. Swallowing down her disgust she begins again. “So listen. Here’s what’s going to happen.”

“Natasha don’t slouch. You’re going to get a back hunch.” Melina flicks her fork in Natasha’s direction.

“What? I’m not slouching? I don’t slouch.”

“Eh, listen to your mother. Up! Up!” Alexei joins in.

“I told you, I don’t want any food.” Yelena pushes her plate away.

“Eat a little something Yelena, for God’s sake.” Melina says, piling food onto her plate.

Yelena groans.

“Are you kidding me? Stop it all of you. This is ridiculous.” Natasha bites out.

“Me? I didn’t do anything. That’s not fair!” Yelena argues.

“It’s true, she’s just sitting there.” You shrug.

“Here’s what’s going to happen,” Natasha roars, effectively silencing the room. “You’re going to give us the location of the red room.”

Melina purses her lips, avoiding the topic. “It’s like when you told them they could stay up to catch Santa Claus.”

“That was fun!” Alexei recalls. “Look out girls, he comes down the chimney. And when the cookies are gone you know he is there.”

Melina clicks her tongue.

“What? I want them to follow their dreams, shoot for the stars girls.”

“No good.” Melina disagreed.

“Killing Dreykov isn’t a fantasy. It’s unfinished business.” Natasha looks between the two of them.

“You cannot defeat someone who commands the very will of others.” Melina says, softly. “You never got to see the culmination of what we started in America. After the perfect partner project was rejected, we took a different route.”

“The perfect partner project?” You repeat, racking your brain. You’ve heard that somewhere before.

“Why’d Dreykov scrap the project?” Natasha’s voice cracks like a whip.

“I don’t know.” Melina’s eyes dart down to her plate.

You can see that she’s lying.

“That’s when we turned our focus to chemical subjugation.” Melina continues, “the control is so profound that when the subject is instructed to stop breathing. They have no choice but to obey.”

Yelena shakes her head. Perfect lips turned into a frown. Hazel eyes glistening with tears as they meet your own.

“That’s enough.” You warn the older woman, seeing the expression. The last thing you want to do is cause her anymore pain.

“No.” The blonde insists. “Tell me more about the partner project.”

“Yelena, we don’t have to do this.” You shake your head.

“Yes, we do.” Yelena slams her fist against the table in frustration.

“The extraction was messy to start. A high profile missing children’s case in North America. But the bond was very strong. Enhanced through targeted conditioning and subliminal messages. Until something happened that Dreykov did not anticipate.”

“What happened?” Natasha wonders.

“The girls became…attached.” Melina’s mouth twitches, “so they were separated.”

“Do you know who they tested on?”

Melina’s guilty eyes land on you. “I am sorry.”

“No,” you suspected, maybe. Somewhere in the back of your mind. You spent the first six months in the red room under solitary confinement. Rapidly and rigorously conditioned in a matter of weeks instead of years. Preparing you…for her. The teenager girl you couldn’t stand, the woman you eventually came to love.

“You,” Yelena laughs, although it’s not particularly funny. “Us.”

“Yelena-“ you reach for her hand across the table.

“Don’t,” she snaps. “Don’t tell me that it will be ok. They stole your life because of me. I never asked them to do that. I never asked for you!”

“I know.” You assure her. None of this was ever her fault.

“That’s right, because you know everything. Don’t you, Y/N?” Yelena scoffs, her hands balling into fists on either side of her dinner plate. “You know what I think. You know what I feel. Look at you. Ready to come out of your own skin because I am unhappy. Prepared to move mountains, prepared to start wars.”

“Like you’re any better.” You challenge, she knows you like the back of her hand.

“That is my point!”

“I’m sorry that this happened.” Alexei interrupts. Surely gearing up for a ‘father of the year’ speech. “But we are here now. All together! Wasn’t that worth a few years of-“

“Shut up!” Natasha growls at him. “You are an idiot.”

No response.

She moves her attention to Melina, “and you’re a coward. You’re a coward. And our family was never real. So there’s nothing to hold on to. We’re moving on.”

“Never family, huh?” Alexei throws up his hands. “In my heart I am simple man. For a couple deep undercover Russian agents I think we did pretty great as parents.”

“Yes,” Melina nods her agreement. “We had our orders and we played our roles to perfection.”

“Who cares? That wasn’t real.”

“What?” Yelena’s voice breaks.

“That wasn’t real.” Natasha repeats for emphasis. “Who cares?”

“Don’t say that. Please don’t say that. It was real. It was real to me. You are my mother!” Yelena all but sobs. “You are my real mother, the closest thing I ever had to one. The best parts of my life were fake.” She pauses, drawing in a steadying breath. “And none of you told me.”

You swipe at the tear that escapes your eye. Traitorously running it’s way down your cheek. It was never fake. Perhaps arranged, but never fake. The way you want to wrap her up in your arms, protect her from her own sadness. The way your heart breaks in time with hers. That is real. It has to be.

She turns back to the woman who she considered a mother. “Those agents that you chemically subjugated around the globe…that was me too.”

Finally she addresses Natasha, “and you. You got out. It is impossible to escape. Are you going to say anything?” A pause. “No.”

She pushes her chair from the table, taking the bottle with her as she stands. Turning her back in the four of you.

“Yelena.” Natasha calls after her. Guilt eating away from the inside out.

“No.” Yelena dismisses her a second time. Moving into the next room and closing the glass doors behind her.

You look down at the plate of food in front of you, now lacking any appeal.

“I had no idea.” Melina whispers, wringing her hands.

“I’ll go to talk to her.” Alexei offers, rising to his feet.

“About what?” You hum, “how you handed her over to a life of pain and suffering at the age of six? How you experimented on her? How you didn’t come back for her? Yeah. I’m sure that’s just what she needs right now.”

With that you excuse yourself, back out to the front yard. Slowly circling the perimeter of Melina’s cottage. Not looking for anything in particular. Just killing time until someone produces information about how to get to Dreykov.

The blinding light that appears moments later catches you off guard. A team of men exit one of the three circling planes. Since you couldn’t find the red room, this is the next best thing.

—————————————————————

Waking up is disorienting, coming to from a tranquilizer always is. It’s bright, almost blindingly so. It takes a moment for your eyes to adjust. You attempt to use your hands to cover them, only you can’t move your hands.

Leaning up as much as your restraints will allow you discover that you’re strapped to an operating table. And you’re not alone.

“Yelena?”

“Miss American Pie,” she drawls from a similar position. Neither of which gives you much chance to escape whatever fate awaits.

“You’re not allowed to die mad at me,” you grumble.

“I’m not mad at you.” She blinks slowly, as the surgeon marks a clean line at the perimeter of her hairline. “I’m just mad.”

“Yeah,” you let out a laugh, turning back to the light above the gurney. “Me too.”

“You are my perfect partner.” She murmurs, while gloved hands busy themselves with preparations. “I don’t know if that makes it better or worse.”

There’s a beat of silence between you. Acceptance…peace. “I love you, you know.”

At this Yelena smiles. A genuine, happy, smile. “I know.”

Something to remember her by.

The syringe at your neck releases a sedative into your blood and you fall asleep. One last time.

—————————————————————

Dying is peaceful, gently rocking in the ocean. Then swaying more violently, giving you the urge to be seasick. Your body should move with the force of it. But something holds you steady, something warm.

“Yelena?” You croak.

“Not quite, but there is resemblance, huh?” A different voice greets you.

“Alexei?” You realize, pushing yourself into a sitting position.

“That’s a girl, up you go.” He says, clapping a hand against your back.

“What happened?” You ask, “where’s Yelena?”

“Still inside,” Melina confirms. “Brought you here so you’d be safe.”

“Natasha?”

“They’re coming.”

You sigh, ready to jump out the open door of the hovering chopper.

“What are you doing?” Alexei demands.

“Going to find them.”

“Wait! Y/N, wait.” He pleads. “There’s something I must tell you. I tried to tell Yelena but I don’t have earpiece.”

“What?” Your brows furrow.

“Never mind that.” He shakes his head. “The point, is you were right. What you said about Yelena. We complete our mission, we move on. But losing her, losing my girls is my biggest regret.”

“I’ll tell her, don’t worry.” You give his shoulder a squeeze.

“Please let me finish.” He stops you again. “She carried your unconscious body through burning building, through explosions. This is not easy, you are very heavy.”

“Oh, Alexei!” Melina scolds him.

“Not that.” He amends, “you know what I mean. It is dead weight.”

You nod, “sure.”

“I look at you together and I see true love and I am happy. You are family now, and this time…we are going to stay together. We’re not leaving without you.” The older man says, helping you onto the metal grate of the falling red room.

Not a second later an explosion rings through your ears, sending Melina, Alexei and your get away vehicle spiraling to the ground.

“It’s the thought that counts,” you’ll make a new plan.

You run toward the flames and gunfire. “Yelena!” You call out, searching the surrounding area.

“Y/N,” Natasha finds you. “What are you doing?”

“I can’t find Yelena.”

“I thought she was with you.” The woman frowns.

“Well she wasn’t!” You bite out, fear and frustration getting the best of you.

“Don’t worry, we’ll find her. You go-“ the red head pauses. Her eyes focused on something behind your head.

You turn to follow Natasha’s gaze. Finding her. Yelena. The wild, unpredictable, firecracker of a woman. On the wing of the jet with Dreykov inside.

“Yelena! Stop!” You rush over, realizing what she’s about to do. Her staff poised at the propeller.

She pauses at the sound of your voice.

“He’s not worth it.” No one is worth it. Not when she is the cost.

Yelena smiles, eyes alight with mischief, “I love you, you know.”

“I know.”

Natasha tries to reason with her. “Don’t do it!”

“This was fun.” Yelena tells her sister, jamming the propeller and effectively destroying Dreykov’s jet. The force of the explosions sends her backwards, hurtling towards the ground with the remaining pieces of the red room.

“Put your pack on and jump.” Natasha tells you. Rushing for the nearest parachute. “I’m going to save my sister.” She dives head first over the edge, without putting on her harness.

“Not if I get there first,” you challenge. This would be a cool way to die.

Chapter Three: Bye Bye

[softitae]

S o u l m a t e | oneshot

▶ summary: One day you feel a heath spreading through your body. You don’t know what this means, until you finally see him... Your soulmate.

▶ genre: slight angst, fluff, smut (Wolf!au | soulmate!au)

▶ word count:

▶ warnings: Alpha Jungkook, Omega reader, mentions of rape/drugs, physical pain, heath, impregnating, mating, knotting, imprinting, oral, swearing, degrading, wall-sex, floor-sex, choking.

▶ A/N: heyyy, this is my first story on this account :). Hope y’all will like it! Basically is this just a story about wolf soulmates going at it, sooooo... enjoy? HAHA

It was a hot and blooming summer when it happened. It was late noon when you were quitely washing some dishes in your apartment. It was indeed quiet, even peacefully I might add. The water was rushing over a cup as you were working hard on removing that one irritating spot. The day had been just as placid. You have run your errands after meeting up with some friends at a local park. 

‘You are looking a bit pale y/n, are you okay?’ your best friend asked. You frown at her, ‘Yeah I am alright’. You replied, but you deep down knew something was up. Since the moment you had stepped out of your bed that morning, your senses were heightened. Something was coming, but you couldn’t quite figure out if this were to be positive or negative. You had shrugged off this creeping feeling for the rest of the day. With every minute you could feel it getting worse, but you continued shrugging it off. ‘It must be a little summer flue...’ You had mumbled to yourself as you were trying to focus back on your dishes.  

You couldn’t really describe it. It was this heath from your core, burning hotter by the second. It wasn’t anything like your heath, because you have had those a few times already. It wasn’t the time for it too, so why are you feeling this strong urge? And what is the urge for? These kind of questions kept popping up in your head as you finally finished your duties for the day. It was only when you put away the last dish, you yelled very loudly.

Your body was suddenly on fire from the inside and you couldn’t help yourself but to let yourself lay down on the cold floor. Your pulse was high and your body was covered in sweat. ‘What the fuck is going on?’ you yelled out, trying to get a grip on yourself. It wasn’t long before you totally blacked out, losing to the strong sickening feeling. 

‘What the hell happened?’ Jimin asks Jungkook worryingly as Jungkook finally opened his eyes . Jungkook sits up first, rubbing his eyes as his vision was a bit blurry. He looks up to his towering older friend Jimin, frowning as he tries to stabalize his body. ‘You just suddenly blacked out’, Jimin elaborates and that made Jungkook even more confused. Jungkook looks around him and notices they are located on a sidewalk near the center of the city. Jungkook tries to recall what had happened before he blacked out, but couldn’t remember anything about a life-threatening situation. As he is an alpha, it also couldn’t be his health. So what happened? 

‘I really don’t know hyung, the only thing that I can remember is that I have had a weird feeling all day’, Jungkook explains as Jimin helps him get up to his feet. ‘What sort of feeling?’ Jimin asks. ‘Well, I just feel some kind of heath in my core and a weird urge to go east.’. Jimin looks even more confused than before. They both continued to walk down the street, heading to their new apartment they had bought together. ‘I don’t know man, maybe there is some coke left in your system from yesterday’, Jimin laughed as he gave Jungkook a pat on the shoulder. Jungkook hissed at that, showing that Jimin has gone too close to his boundaries. Though Jimin is older, Jungkook is the alpha and will always hold authority. 

Jimin and Jungkook both came from the same school and both their packs were very close with each other, so they connected in a very brotherly way. Jimin as a beta and Jungkook as an alpha. Their classes would clash pretty much all the time and would Jungkook have to correct Jimin more often than not. But for a pack is this pretty normal. It is also Jungkook’s job to keep everyone in place and to make them aware who is the boss. Though this is a very primary instinct of Jungkook, it isn’t something he likes to do. He only corrects his pack when he has to. 

‘The only thing I can imagine is that your soulmate is nearby’, Jimin suggested and Jungkook let out a little chuckle. ‘That rarely ever happens and I can hardly imagine it would make me faint’, he reasons and Jimin agrees. 

They finally arrive at the apartment block as Jungkook can feel the same heath returning to his body. His senses have now shifted to the north, as if the thing he urges has moved. He looks confused around him. There is no person to be seen, only a few buildings. He couldn’t help but to set his focus on the north, looking at the building across. He can feel it, he is supposed to be there. But why? What can be in that building that is this important, that every fiber in his body urges for it?

A loud uneasy noise fills your room just when the light of dawn hits your window. Early, it is very early. You haven’t been awake this early for 2 months when your school year ended. But here you are again, up and ready to begin a new year. Though you are excited for it, the uneasy feeling hasn’t left you. It didn’t go down at all, maybe it even worsened. You hadn’t fainted from it though, like a week back. Luckily your roommate came home just a few minutes after, discovering your body laying helplessly against the kitchen tiles. She is human and in a world where the wolves are hidden, her logical response was to call the emergency number. 

The separation of the two kinds has been here for a long time. The threat your kind holds over the humans always has been a big problem. Many wars have past for the wolves to realize that humans can’t live with the idea of a superior species living among them. With technology still developing, which could make great damage to you, was there a collective decision to hide for the humans. As centuries past, humans were quick to forget the many wars you have fought. 

Many believe werewolves are just a fable and you like to keep it this way. So when your roommate was waiting for the ambulance to arrive and you came back to your senses, you were quick to call off the ambulance. ‘What are you doing? You just blacked out, you need medical help!’, your roommate yelled out in disbelieve. You tried to explain nothing is going on and you weren’t in any sort of pain. ‘I just haven’t eaten yet today, nothing else’. It took you a while to calm her down and you can’t blame her. You would probably react the same way if it was you who found her like that. A wolf is just way stronger and build different, so when they would examine you in the hospital, someone would definitely get suspicious. 

The past week your roommate has been keeping an eye on you. She made sure you were eating enough. It is like having a mother all over again, while it was your intention to escape being nursed all the time. Although you got quite annoyed with her this past week, you couldn’t help but to appreciate her at the same time. What a world it would be if humans could live without fear for your kind like this. Needing such harsh adjustments to the point you can’t be who you are, only to protect yourself is just lunatic. But it is a rule all packs live by and you aren’t one to break these rules. 

Your feet hit the cold wooden floor of your cozy room. 7:00 am, reads your alarm clock located on your nightstand. A sigh leaves your lips as you build up the courage to begin the day. Your first day of the new school year was going to be promising. A lot of classes are added and you will be with a new group of people. Your old class was great too, but you are in need for some change. With this constant burning feeling in your core you have had for the past week, you know something will definitely be different. 

You go along your usual morning routine before picking your new favurite outfit. You packed your books and got out to the living room, where your roommate was peacefully eating some cereal.

‘Good morning!’, you great her, and she throws you a smile back. ‘Morning babe! You are looking so great!’, She comments, nudging at your clothing. You give her a wink,’Yeah I got it last week, thought I give myself a few nice things before starting the school year’. Your roommate agrees before she resumed eating her breakfast. 

Jimin sighs upon seeing Jungkook’s sweaty body. He is cramped up in his bed, a frown on his face as he made little wines in his sleep. Tossing and turning has been a reoccurring theme these past few days. Jimin doesn’t know what to do with him. It looks like he is sick, but being a very strong guy and an alpha, is sickness very rare. So what’s going on? 

He gives Jungkook a small nudge on his shoulder, waking him up softly. Jimin isn’t about to make the same mistake as yesterday. Jimin woke up Jungkook a bit more aggressive and Jungkook lashed out immediately, giving Jimin a little cut on his cheek. He would have pouted at Jungkook, whom would apologize for his weird behavior. 

‘First day at school Cookie, get up’, he taunted in his ear, lowering to Jungkook’s level. Jungkook grunted as he slowly wakes up, turning around to look at his hyung. He lets out a sigh before sitting up straight, hands finding his face as he rubs his eyes. ‘Hyung I can’t do this any longer, my body feels so hot all the time’, Jungkook starts complaining and Jimin sits next to him, sighing along. ‘I know Jungkookie, but I am sure it will fly over. Maybe today will get your mind on other things’, Jimin says, trying to elevate the mood. Jungkook lets out a growl under his breath, anger suddenly building up in his body. Jimin immediately gets off the bed to give Jungkook space, which was a right move because Jungkook grabs a book laying beside him before throwing it through the room. ‘I just don’t fucking want this anymore! Why is this happening to me?!’, Jungkook yells in frustration. Jimin sighs again ‘I don’t know Jungkook, but acting like this won’t solve anything. Why don’t you focus on your new school? There will be a lot of great omega’s there for you to get your anger out on’, Jimin suggested, and he notices Jungkook’s ears perking up by that. Jimin chuckles before making his way out of the room. ‘I guess that wouldn’t hurt’, Jungkook mutters under his breath before getting out of bed and starting his day with a shower. 

It’s 8:30 am when you arrive at your first class of the day. A few other students were already seated in the lecture hall. You could smell the difference of people looming around. A few humans, but also a few wolves were located inside the room. As you are an omega yourself, some wolves stand a threat against you. Though you have learned how to avoid other alpha’s and beta’s, you have had your fair share of degrading in your life. But because you are in a room full of humans, degrading isn’t allowed for any of the wolves. That way your species gets protected. So you aren’t scared to walk into a lecture hall full of wolves, because you know they won’t do anything. 

You take a seat somewhere in the middle where no one is around and start to unpack. It was when you were finished setting up, your brewing hotness of the past week suddenly turns up a notch. You frown at yourself as you feel your stomach. Your skin is somewhat on fire and you begin to feel very uncomfortable. You wiggle around on your spot, almost squirming at this feeling. The thing you have urged for is coming closer. You begin to look around you furiously, but not knowing what you’re looking for. Fuck what is going on with me. 

And it was then that it hits you. A story your grandma told you long ago finally serviced. She told you about having a soulmate and that everyone has them. When they come closer, your whole body comes in action. You have the urge to go to them and if you don’t, your body will try to fight your will. She explained that every soulmate couple has a different reaction to that. For her and grandpa it was feeling a very harsh headache. For you it was heath. It is your soulmate, it has to be your soulmate. Are you even ready for this? Do you want to commit to someone this early on? What if he is aggressive or worse, what is he’s an alpha? That won’t be a happy relationship, that will be endless terror. 

As the heath began spreading through your body and your head spinning with horrific thoughts, you automaticlly started packing all your stuff. You were scared for what might come, what person your soulmate might be. It might be the end of you, but you know just as well that the feeling won’t stop until you see him. So, you will see him, for one second and then you will go your separate ways. 

Then the feeling suddenly stopped. A shiver goes through your body as you look at the entrance door. There he is. Your hearth started to race as the both of you looked at one another, inspecting each others features. The first thing you notice is the glow around his body, something you have never seen with anyone else. He looks like some kind of Norse god. He is also tall, muscular and... You take a small sniff his way... he is an alpha. Though that thought saddens you, you can’t help yourself but be mesmerized by his enchanting features. This is it, this is your soulmate. But this won’t be something to be happy about, he is an alpha and you know about the horrifying stories. They aren’t nice to their soulmates and being an omega is only worse. So with that note, you stand up, cutting off your eye contact and walking towards the opposite exit. 

Jungkook stands there dumbfounded. He looks at you as you walk away. Your beautiful figure just disappearing behind the exit door. Jimin nudges him, getting Jungkook out of his trans. ‘So I guess it was a soulmate think’, Jimin comments and Jungkook nods slowly. ‘Yeah, I guess’. Jungkook kept staring at the door, not getting out of his trans. The moment he saw you, his burning feeling stopped. Instead, something else far more romantic and sexual opened. The urge has now turned so primal that he couldn’t do anything than staring. If he had made a step towards you, he would’ve turned on his wolf. That’s why he choice to let you walk out of that room. He isn’t ever letting you go away again after this, and he was going to make you aware of that.

‘Go after her Cookie’, Jimin says as he nudges Jungkook again. With that Jungkook comes out of his train of thought and starts running out of the classroom. He wasn’t going to let you leave. You were now his, you aren’t allowed to leave. All these thoughts ran through Jungkook’s head as he sprinted through the school. His eyes turned blue as his wolf tried to get out, so he had to hide them when running past humans. He needed to claim you within the hour and finding you wouldn’t be an issue. Your scent has been planted in his brain while the both of you were staring at one another. He knew you were close, but you were also running. A smirk was creeping up his face, kind of liking the chase. You are putting up a fight, meaning you will be able to handle his alpha side. He needs someone to fight, otherwise it will just be boring. 

You almost let your keys fall when you try to open your front door. You can smell him getting closer with the second. It’s as if you can locate his being, which is not something you were ever able to do on such distance. You were quick to close the door behind you and to run to your room. Somehow you feel like you can’t hide within your apartment, as if he is already here. But how? How did he get in? You scan your room, but then your heart stops. His body radiates behind your body and you feel is breath tickle your neck. This is it, now he will rape you. He will make you his bitch and you won’t ever get to live another happy day. Your eyes close in fear and your whole body stiffens against his body. 

You waited. You are expecting for him to pick you up and throw you on the bed. But nothing comes. Not after one minute, two minutes. You feel yourself calm down as time passes by. Why is he not doing anything? Is he just waiting until I let my guard down before attacking me? Is he maybe different? No he can’t be, all alphas want is to ruin omegas.

5 minutes passes with him standing behind you and not doing anything. Then you felt something else creeping up your spine. Something you didn’t let through because of your anguish towards him. It feels very sexual, very primal and romantic. The urge you felt towards him has returned, but in a way that you only witness during heath. Although heath is way more sexual, this goes beyond that. Your heart starts racing again, but this time it isn’t because you are scared. You long for him. You r whole being wants to be with him, but you can’t help yourself but to rationalize against it. No, they are all bad.

He sighs against your neck, causing pleasure to shoot through your body. You can’t stop your shivers and the heath that is growing between your legs. It’s an instinct so deep within you, there is no use stopping it. He reacts with a chuckle as he lets a hand slide over your delicate waist. ‘Why were you scared?’, he asks and you immediately notice his soft but low arousing voice. Every fiber on your body is heightened and his little touches aren’t helping you in any way. Trying to focus on his question, you answer: ‘You’re an alpha. I am scared you will treat me bad’. Jungkook frowns at your thought, knowing that he won’t ever hurt you in his life. It has only been a 30 minutes since he had met you, but the way he feels about you is indescribable. It’s a feeling of protectiveness, love and urge that combines his feelings for you. He will not ever hurt you. 

‘What you feel right now, is what I also feel. I will never hurt you’. 

Though this might be an empty promise, you can feel he is speaking the truth. With that you dare to turn around to face him, him keeping his hand around your waist. His handsome eyes immediately find yours. You can finally memorize all his closest features he has to offer. His facial features are amazingly handsome and his lips look so kissable. You can’t help but to reach up to his soft fluffy hair, grabbing the ear band that hides his soft wolf features. He is a black wolf with blue eyes, an amazing combination and you can’t help but to feel the need to mate with him. Your offspring will be so strong and beautiful. Your hand moves down to his cheek, which he leans his head against, closing his eyes in approval. 

‘Your name?’, you ask as you pull your hand away. ‘Jeon Jungkook, you?’, he questions and you instantly remember his packs name. It’s a pretty large and respectable pack, something you aren’t apposed to. ‘I am y/full/n’, you answer, and he smiles at hearing the familiar pack names. Though the packs aren’t close, they won’t be mad about this. Everything just seems aligned. 

He takes a little step closer as his hand now rests on your back, pressing you against his chest. You don’t fear him anymore and you feel comfortable being in his arms. ‘I know we just met, but I have the strongest urge I to claim you right now’, he confesses. And it was then that you felt something grow against your pelvis. You can’t help but to snort at that, but at the same time you felt the same thing. It’s as if you need to seal the deal. He needs to imprint himself in you, so everyone knows who you belong to. The thought of that spread a heath throughout your body. Jungkook smiled at you as he notices your body heath going up and your heartbeat racing. ‘I take that as a positive’.

He pulls you up by your waist as he swings you over his shoulder. He closes the door of your room before letting you fall on the bed. You can’t help but admire the way he easily pulled you up like that.  Your omega wolf felt protected and only an alpha like Jungkook could make you feel this way. He pulls off his shirt he was wearing before joining you on the bed. Your eyes take in all of his muscular torso, knowing he will be railing you with it in just a few minutes. 

He pulls apart your legs before positioning between them. You eagerly want to hold on to him, but he was quick to grab your wrists and plant them beside your head. You are taken aback by his action as a small yelp left your lips. ‘You really think I wasn’t going to punish you for the little escape you pulled?’ He taunted as he leans down beside your ear. His breath fanning against your neck got you shivering all over again and your pussy started to throb under his body. You could practically feel Jungkook’s smirk as he knew what effect he has on you. Though you want to wipe that smirk off his face, you knew he was right. You were disobedient and the alpha needs to put you in your place. Luckily is his punishment not that bad.

‘Good girl’, he purrs in your ear, complimenting your behavior. ‘You will do as I please when I fuck this little body of yours, okay?’. You nod eagerly, wanting him to do everything to you. It’s in your blood to obey him and this way you both get what you want. 

He let go of your wrists and takes a little bit of time to take all of your clothed body in. Your eyes look so desperate and oh... the sweet smell of your pussy waving in the air drives him crazy. Jungkook lets out a very low grunt, making your body ache for him. You let out a whine as you begin to fidget on the spot, uncomfortably trying to releave yourself He was quick to growl at you, signing that you can’t move and you have to obey him. 

‘You desperate little bitch, you want to get fucked so badly?’, he asks and you nod. ‘Use your words’, he commands. ‘Yes alpha...’. He smirks pleased, before he grabs your top and rips it off of you. You let out a small yelp, but before you knew it you were in your underwear and your clothing ripped on the floor. Though you normally would care for this, you were so ready to be mated that you really didn’t mind. He flips you around on your belly before propping your ass up in the air. His clothed length found its way against your ass as he started dry humping against you. You couldn’t help but moan upon feeling his cock gliding against your pussy. instinctively you arch your back further against his cock, making you feel his amazing length. He is for sure large and will fill you up so good. 

‘Hmm, you like that baby? You want this cock to fill you up?’ He purrs before laying his upper body against your back. He began leaving kisses on your neck, making your body shiver. Small moans leave your mouth, feeling so happy to be close to him. Jungkook also lets out groans against your skin and you can’t wait for him to give you his pups.

‘Please’, you start begging as his cock doesn’t stop teasing you. He chuckles against you, loving to tease you like this. ‘You want my cock?’, he asks as he grabs your neck from behind. You could barely get a ‘yes’ out, but it was enough for him to pull down your panties and prop your ass higher up in the air. ‘Let me first get my appetizer’, he grunts upon seeing your soaked pussy. You let your upper body rest against the bed as you arch your ass higher into the air, giving him a better view. You can hear him growling by seeing your action, he loves it. The smell of your pussy overwhelms him, he has never had something so sweet like this before. 

He spreads your cheeks further apart before laying his tongue right on your clit. He didn’t need a second try to find the little bud and immediately started making small circles around it. Your whole body reacted to it and you let out a moan. His tongue caused shocks to go through your body. You knew he liked this reaction, because one of his hands began to squeeze your ass. The growls coming from his being were still filling the room, as if he is eating a caught pray.  

Suddenly his tongue finds its way upwards, slowly licking all the juices off your pussy before settling on your entrance. He licks it a few times before entering it with his tongue. You let out a little yelp, eyes widening by the immense pleasure you are feeling. After that you began to moan loudly, loving the what it feels as he thrusts his tongue into you. Your body couldn’t help but to arch further into him. Your hands came up to your ass to widen it for him, but he was quick to pin them down beside you. The thrusts feel so good your orgasm was building up and Jungkook could feel your body heating up too. One hand came up to your asshole, and he put in just the tip of his thump, making your squirm under his care. You couldn’t help moaning out his name, making Jungkook pleased with his efforts.

It didn’t take you long to build up the orgasm and he soon got you to the edge. He notices your breathing beginning to become more irregular than it already was. His piercing eyes watch your body shake as you approach the edge and just when you were about to let it all out, he removed himself from your body. Feeling the loss of his stimulus on your entrance, you can’t help but whine. ‘Jungkooook...’, you sigh as your body collapses onto the bed. You can hear him chuckle before he lets his hand down on your ass with a great force, making you gasp by the sensation. ‘You know that this is still a punishment, right?’ he comments as he turns your body on your back, positioning himself between your legs again. You gasp upon seeing his naked body. He apparently had removed his clothing while you were nagging him. You can’t help yourself but to stare it his cock, which is standing tall and veiny between your thighs. 

‘You like what you see, baby?’, Jungkook asks and you slowly nod with widened eyes. You are slowly beginning to doubt yourself upon seeing his enormous length, questioning if it will even fit. He towers over you before reaching his hand under your head. Grabbing a ball of hear in his hand, he yanks you to sit up right. You are now in eye-level with his cock, Jungkook now on his knees in front of you. You can feel your mouth watering as you imagine sucking your mate dry, pleasing him the way you should. 

‘Why don’t you suck me off princess?’, he purrs while stroking your head, having loosened the grip. You look up to him, making the biggest innocent face you can make before your hand makes its way up Jungkook’s thigh. He immediately let a sigh escape his lips, eyes closing as he prepares for your amazing touches. You tease him a little bit, letting your hand swirl around his pelvis and inner thighs. A low threatening grunt leaves his body, signalling you the teasing is over and it is time for you to give your mate the pleasure he deserves. You put your hand around his cock as you lick small circles around his tip. The small action is enough to make him groan and grab your hair in his hands again. You notice his breathing picking up a pace as you swirl around a few times more. Then you take the tip of his dick in your mouth, still containing eye contact. Jungkook’s blue eyes almost seem pitch dark as they are now dilated to the max. You can feel your own body heating up as well by seeing how aroused he is for you.

‘Fuck, you look so innocent around my cock. Such a small mouth’, he comments with a low and sexy voice. With that encouragement, you let his dick slip further into your mouth. His grip on your hair tightened, signalling you that you are doing a great job. You bob your head forwards and backwards in a slow pace, building up his orgasm for him. He let’s out little moans upon feeling your pace going faster and faster. Eventually he couldn’t help himself but to guide your mouth over his dick, forcing you to suck him a bit further into your throat. You didn’t mind at all and let him abuse your mouth. You hold on to his legs as he takes over your pace and lets you gag on his dick. His grunts became very loud as he slams into you, giving you small times to breathe. You couldn’t care less, you are meant to let him do this to you. You are his little bitch in bed. 

‘Fuck y/n, you are so fucking amazing. My little whore’, Jungkook breathes out before giving one last deep push into your throat, making you lose air for a few seconds before pulling out. 

You both have to catch your breath. You collap back on the bed, trying to calm down your heart, but you didn’t have much time since Jungkook was already between your legs. He smirks down at your fucked out head as he hangs your legs over his shoulders. You feel him aligning his dick with your entrance, but you feel a bit scared it will hurt. Jungkook notices the change of atmosphere and cocks his head to the side, looking at your questionably. 

‘What if it will hurt?’ You ask. Jungkook smiles at you as and comes down to your forehead, giving you a little kiss. ‘Don’t worry baby, I will give you time if it hurts. Just tell me if it hurts too much okay?’, he asks and you nod your head. He goes back up and secures your legs on his shoulders. He puts his dick on your pussy, sliding it up and down your juices as he teases your clit a little. You slip a moan because of the arousing feeling. Then he aligns his dick with your entrance, giving you a reassuring look before slowly pushing into you. It takes a while before your body lets even his tip inside, but with many patients your entrance widened to his size. He pushes slow and steady before giving a last thrust, now being fully inside you. You hadn’t made any noise as you tried to not focus on the immense pain of his big cock. Your eyes were closed tightly, but you suddenly felt a soft hand on your cheek. Two soft lips met yours, pulling you out of your pain and bringing your attention back to your mate. He kisses you slowly, tongue carefully massaging against yours while the pain leisurely disappeared. The kiss was turning hotter by the second, his hands finding its way into your hair while you cling on to his muscular torso. As your bodies began to squirm against each other, his dick caused friction within you and it made you moan into his mouth.

‘Can I move?’ Jungkook asks, looking into your eyes. You nod at him, making a thrusting motion yourself with a slight smile. He smiles back before sitting upright and holding your legs firmly against his shoulders. He slowly pulled back, making you gasp by the amazing friction you feel within you. He slams back into your pussy and you both moan loudly. ‘You’re so fucking tight, so fucking delicious’, Jungkook grunts as he repeats his actions. You dig your nails into the covers beside you as Jungkook begins to put up a pace. His hips slam into yours and when he angles his dick upwards, he finally hits your g-spot. You gasp before moaning his name, the feeling overwhelming you. Jungkook now slams with all his power into you, almost flying you up against the head of the bed. You can’t hold onto anything notices Jungkook, so he let your legs back down on the bed before grabbing your wrists and holding them in place beside your head. He now begins to slam into you with full speed, making you scream and burst into pleasure. He looks at your body bouncing along with him, your breasts swinging up and down as your eyes are closed. God, he will never forget this picture. 

Your head begins to feel light by his hard thrusts, drowning you with love and pleasure. You look at his form on top of you, all sweaty and muscular. Those muscles now used to make you his mate, to give you his pups. His beautiful blue eyes are staring into yours, mouth half open as he pants through it. He is so beautiful and amazingly hot. You can feel your orgasm climbing up again as he continues rocking into you. 

He suddenly pulls out, making you gasp by the lost of friction. He gets off the bed and pulls you with him. He leads you to the nearest wall, preps you up against it before aligning his dick with your entrance again. You stick your ass out as high as you can, but since Jungkook is a very tall man, you couldn’t reach his cock. He decided to wrap his arms around your middle and pulled you off the floor. He sets you down on his dick before pressing your bodies back against the wall. He starts railing you from behind, your body still hovering above the floor and upper body pressed again the wall. Jungkook does this with ease, being an amazingly strong alpha. You feel his dick sliding in and out of you, making you go crazy and wanting him to go faster. ‘Jungkook pleasee...’, you whine and Jungkook chuckles. He then goes even faster, making you see duble because of the immense pleasure emerging from his acts. You can’t help but to yell out his name, probably waking up the whole world by it. 

‘Fuck you are my soulmate, look at you. You are perfect for me’, Jungkook groans into your ear as he feels his own height approaching. He decides to pull you back from the wall and lays you down on the floor. With your belly pressed against the wood, he pulls your ass back into the air and didn’t leave any time to enter your throbbing entrance. You can feel his balls hitting your pussy as he thrusts violently into you. His hand found your neck again and puts a slight pressure on it. With all the stimuli your mate is giving you, you find yourself near the edge of your orgasm again. Your breath began to become uneven and Jungkook noticing that, he decides on reaching down to your clit around your hips. He starts circling it fast, helping you to reach your height. You almost screamed upon feeling this, but you muffled yourself against the floor. Jungkook’s eyes were set on your trembling body, loving how aroused you can become under his touch. It took Jungkook only a few seconds before your height was reached and the warmth spread through your body. Your breath stopped for a second as you lost yourself in the overwhelming feeling. ‘Oh my god, fuck’, you cursed out as you let the orgasm wash through your body. 

‘Good girl’, Junkook prases you as you finish. You let yourself lay there for a few seconds before you realize that Jungkook didn’t come yet. You pushed him off of you, making Jungkook a bit confused, before turning him on his back. You positioned yourself on him, sitting on his lap as you let your wet pussy slide on his dick. He sighed out of pleasure as he feels you dry humping him. His hands were quick to find your waist and took over. You didn’t give him any time for that, because you were fast to line him up with your entrance. You went down on him and started bouncing on top of him. This position allowed you to hit your g-spot very consistent and couldn’t help but to go faster. You let your hips rock up and down as Jungkook helped you by grabbing your waist. He moaned loudly while his eyes looked up into yours. You knew he is close to coming, so you go a bit faster for him. You want him to make you his mate, to imprint you. 

‘I will shoot all my pups into you baby, so prepare yourself’, he warns you before he suddenly takes over the pace and thrusts up into you. You moan loudly by his action and Jungkook couldn’t help but to moan along with you. You were so beautiful on top of him and seeing all of this made him cum immediately. You can feel something inflating within you and you realized he was about to knot. You let him do the rest of the job as he groans loudly, making the last few thrusts before finally deloading all his cum into you. You can feel his pups shooting into you and you close your eyes by the amazing feeling. 

You both stay located on the floor, panting and stuck because of the knot. You feel high from the combining smell of the both of you. Everything feels right, this was really meant to be. Jungkook’s hand slowly caresses your back, soothing you as the knot slowly deflates. You look up into his eyes, and he is already smiling at you. You smile back at him. You know exactly how he feels, because you feel the same. 

‘You’re mine now’, Jungkook says proudly, hugging you closer to him. You smile. ‘I always was, I just didn’t know’. He sighs in delight, knowing he would spend the rest of his life with you in bliss. Your lives were meant to go this way, more than this wouldn’t be needed.

‘My soulmate’.

Thank you for reading! My reguests are open for those who have one :).

[bucksfucks]

           amorosa // steve rogers

         chapter two: seal the deal

    chapter one // chapter two // chapter three

                    chapter four // chapter five

              ─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

                             main masterlist

summary || after setting up a date with steve you fight back the urge to bail on account of your nerves. an agreement is reached and despite all odds, steve makes you feel relaxed and calm before you’re welcoming him back to your apartment after the night is almost over.

pairing || sugar daddy!steve x reader

word count || 3,111 words

warnings || financial struggles, sugar daddy dynamics, undefined age gap, unprotected sex, fingering, oral, heavy daddy kink, praise kink, size kink, dirty talk — 18+ ONLY//MINORS DNI

     You didn't know what to expect. You had never done something like this before. 

     As you rummaged through your closet, groaning at the struggle of finding something decent for tonight. You didn't own anything that would match what Steve was wearing, you barely had time to go out as it is.

    Not to mention your financial situation didn't exactly let you splurge on the finer things in life, your phone screen had been cracked for over half a year. You'd been meaning to get it fixed, but you could never justify dropping more than a hundred dollars on something that still technically worked. 

    Your mind flashed back to when Steve dropped the hundred on the bar like it was nothing. Suddenly you felt self-conscious, knowing you weren't nearly good enough to be going out with a man like Steve Rogers, Vice President of Stark Industries. 

    Professional or not, people would be talking and giving you odd glances. 

    You settled on a comfortable, sleek pair of straight cut pants and a simple blouse. Steve had decided on a steakhouse, a steakhouse of all places for a single drink as he put it last night. Another groan as you slipped on the uncomfortable and only pair of heels you owned. 

    A simple black open-toed shoe matched your outfit enough before you grabbed your purse, slinging it over your shoulder. 

    The Uber would be here soon enough and while spending thirty dollars on a car ride to a place you'd have to try not to stick out like a sore thumb, the subway in heels just wasn't an option. 

    The entire ride there your leg couldn't stop bouncing, no matter how much you willed yourself to calm down, nothing seemed to help as you left the modest looking part of the city only to enter into an entirely different world. 

    Luxury brand stores lined the streets, expensive cars parked at their side as your stomach flipped at some of the sights. 

    You didn't fit in here, you were sure your driver was just as confused as you as they kept driving deeper into the city. 

    "Have a good night," he bid you as you thanked him, shutting the car door and letting the late summer breeze billow around you as you looked up at the restaurant in front of you. 

    Bluefin read in a fluorescent blue light as you shook your head, laughing at the ridiculous situation you were in. You pulled at the door, it was heavy and tall before a hostess prompted you. 

    "Do you have a reservation with us, miss?" She asked, eying you up and down as if she knew that you were a fraud, like you didn't belong; and she wasn't wrong. 

    "I uh, have one with Mr. Rogers." You stumbled over your words trying to sound as confident as possible. She nodded her head politely, asking you to follow her before she swiftly turned to lead you through the maze of tables. 

    You took in your surroundings, the dozens of chandeliers hanging from the ceiling to the gold plated booths and shimmering table legs. It was safe to say that this place was way out of your comfort zone. 

    "Mr. Rogers, your guest for the evening," she spoke sweetly, throwing you a small smile as Steve got up to greet you. He placed a kiss on each of your cheeks, the action causing your body to flush as his beard grazed your skin. 

    He smelled exactly like he did last night, though this time it wasn't as subtle. He smelled fresh and clean and you could get lost in those same dashing blue eyes again.

    "I'm glad to see you again." Steve smiles, helping you into the booth before sliding in beside you. It was a very intimate space, his shoulder pressed against your as you placed your purse beside you. 

    Two menus were already placed in front of you, two glasses of water alongside a pitcher in the middle as you fiddled with your thumbs in your lap. Could he tell how nervous you were? 

    "It's nice to see you too," you managed to finally spit out as Steve smiled sweetly, he turned his body slightly so he was facing you, "this place has great seafood, I really recommend the crab cakes." 

    Your eyes lit up at the word food, you had been so nervous that it had barely crossed your mind. A waiter soon approached the table, "can I get you guys anything to drink?" 

    You felt like it should be you serving Steve, instead you just shook your head, "I'm okay with just water." You answered truthfully before Steve smirked. 

    "We'll take a bottle of champagne for the table, preferably rosé from 2012." It sounded like he was speaking an entirely different language. To you, wine was wine, if it got you drunk, it was good. 

    The waiter nodded his head, turning around to leave you both alone. You took a sip of your water when you noticed just how dry your throat was. Steve opened his menu and you followed suit before your eyes ran down the various dishes. 

     Everything sounded good and you heard your stomach grumble at the thought of the crab cakes and maybe even the butternut squash ravioli. Then your eyes ran to the prices, your heart palpated at the thought of them. 

    "Dinner's on me tonight, get whatever you'd like." It's like Steve had heard your internal monologue and decided to put an end to it. You were thankful for that, a wave of relief washing over you as his soft features made you feel safe. 

    "Thank you, really. I don't think I've ever eaten anywhere nearly this fancy," you joked, hoping the humour would absolve you of your awkwardness. Steve chuckled, low and deep as the waiter came with the champagne. 

    It was popped then poured into the flutes and placed in ice before Steve picked his up. 

    "To new beginnings," he spoke. You picked up yours, "to new beginnings," you repeated his words, gently clinking the two glasses together before taking a sip. 

    You had never been a fan of champagne, but this one wasn't too dry nor was it too sweet. It was light and fruity and soon enough you knew it would be enough to quell the nerves. 

    When the food arrived at the table, the conversation seemed to flow much more naturally. Steve didn't say much, asking a question and letting you answer as he got to know you. You found yourself sneaking subtle glances in his direction, admiring his side profile or just how close he was to you. 

    As the bottle of champagne was nearly empty, you felt much lighter as giggles fell past your lips. You had leaned into Steve a little more as the night progressed, his large hand falling to your thigh. 

    "So," the faint echo of your giggle was still heard as Steve's expression turned to a much more serious one. "I think we should discuss our… business opportunity." And just like that, you had sobered up. 

    You nodded your head as Steve cleared his throat. 

    "I'd like for you to join me for things like these. Dinner, company events, fundraisers, yearly ski trips to the alps, you know, the boring stuff." You nearly guffawed at his words. The boring stuff? A trip to the alps? Boring? You could barely believe it. 

    Still, you nodded your head, a silent sign for him to continue. 

    "In return, I'll take care of all your bills and expenses. You'll have plenty of petty cash, we'll call it," he smirked. "All I ask is for your company." He concludes and you swallow, taking it all in. 

    "When you say company, do you mean… " You trailed off, not sure how to delicately ask him if he wanted to fuck you or not. 

    Steve leaned in, his face inches from yours as he squeezed your thigh, "that's exactly what I mean, Princess." 

    The pet-name caused your stomach to somersault as your breath got hitched in your throat. You're not sure if it was the alcohol coursing through your veins or if this was just the effect he had on people. 

    Probably a mix of both. 

    Whatever it was, it caused you to wring your hands in his collar as you crashed your lips onto his. He didn't hesitate, not even for a second as his hands went to cup your face. The kiss left you breathless, spinning, and feeling like you were floating. 

    "Is that a yes?" He asks cheekily and you can't find the words, all you can do is nod your head before Steve is forced to drop your face as the waiter brings him the check. 

    You readjust yourself in your seat, one leg on top of the other as you close your eyes to steady your breathing. 

    Steve grabbed his leather wallet, pulling out a flashy black credit card and handing it to the poor man doing his job without any regard. You bit your lip at the interaction, someone with his money and power, it made the throbbing between your legs only worse. 

    "Let me drive you home." Steve whispered meeting your eyes as you nodded, "oh it's okay, I can just take the train back." You said politely and while you didn't want to, you sure as hell couldn't afford another Uber trip. 

    It's not like you didn't want to take him up on his offer either, truthfully, you weren't sure how you were going to react all alone with Steve. 

    You don't fuck on the first date, but for Steve, hell you'd let him take you in the bathroom of this restaurant. God knows it's probably better maintained than your building. 

    "Please? I don't want you alone on the train at this hour, you'd have me worrying all night and I don't think you'd wanna upset me like that." There was a sultry undertone in his words as his lips twitched into a smirk. 

    You nodded your head, "yes, okay, thank you Steve." 

    When you stepped into the now cool late night summer air a shiver ran down your spine as the valet went to grab Steve's car. You stayed silent, kicking a pebble with your toe as you tried your best not to shiver. 

    You felt Steve drape his suit jacket over your shoulders, "chilly night, huh?" He joked, as you hugged it around yourself. This man was full of secrets, secrets you wanted to learn to lock away in your own mind. 

    "Here you are Mr. Rogers, have a great night." The valet said, acknowledging you both as he opened the passenger side door for you. You slipped into the warm car, an Audi, you recognized the four rings on the steering wheel as Steve got in. 

    The car was quiet, city nose becoming nonexistent as he put it in drive. 

    "Where am I going?" He asked, pulling out of the restaurant parking lot and into the bustling New York City streets. 

    "Queens," you said, admiring the lights outside of your window as Steve chuckled, "no way, I grew up in Brooklyn." Steve commented as you turned your head. 

    That surprised you. A guy like him? From Brooklyn? You guess you should've known by his subtle accent, but it made you smile as Steve continued his way to your apartment. 

    "Well, uh, thank you for dinner, Steve. Really, it was the best food of my life." You chuckled as he returned your smile. "It was my pleasure, you're good company." He joked, squeezing your thigh as a new wave of arousal running through you. 

    You both sat in somewhat awkward silence as you grabbed your keys from your bag, clutching them in your hand. 

    "Do you maybe wanna come up for a cup of coffee? Or tea? I don't really have much to offer." You chuckled, as he smiled, “that sounds lovely." 

    Steve followed you to the front of your building, the old, paint chipped door creaking open before you pressed the elevator button that only illuminated on good days. 

    Today was not that day. 

    You tapped your foot as you watched the numbers descent until the L appeared on the small screen, the bell dinging. You got into it silently, the only sound was your heels against the stained flooring and the electrical whirring of the elevator. 

    Steve kept a respectable distance, his shoulder brushing yours as the elevator car moved up to the eleventh floor. 

    You stuck your key into your lock, jamming it upwards as you fiddled to find the sweet spot before you managed to push the door open, "home sweet home." 

    The apartment was small, a little over five-hundred square feet, but it was more than enough for you. You decorated it with plants and art you'd find at your local markets. It felt cozy and like home, but you knew it was nothing compared to what Steve was used to. 

    You didn't bother turning on any of the main lights, a small light in the kitchen was all you needed as you were finally able to kick off your heels. You dropped to your true height, having to crane your neck upwards to meet Steve's eyes. 

    It was in this moment that you realized just how massive he was. Broad shoulders and long legs held him upright as his now darkened eyes looked you up and down. You had forgotten all about the coffee as you felt his gaze all over you. 

    "You look stunning," he whispered, stepping closer to you. "Words just don’t do justice." He added, snaking an arm around your waist. 

    "Let me show you just how beautiful you are to me." He breathed, mouth close to your ear as you gasped, nodding your head. 

    "Oh, Steve, please." You whimpered, your hands going to rest on his shoulders as he pulled you flush against his body. You could feel him hardening through his dress pants, pressed tightly against your hip. 

    "Call me Daddy tonight, Princess." Steve purred as your stomach flipped before his lips were back on yours. He tasted like the remnants of the champagne as his tongue explored your mouth. 

    "Daddy," you gasped, his lips working his way down your neck as he pushed you further into your apartment. You yelped when he tossed you onto the bed, the moonlight streaming through your curtains and onto the sheets. 

    "That's my good girl, you're bein' so good for Daddy." His praise sends goosebumps over your skin as his fingers begin working on your blouse. You can sense the urgency in his actions, both of your hands having one goal in mind; remove any and all clothing. 

    You barely have any time to stop and admire Steve's build. He's toned, lean and fit and you already love the faint chest hair as he works on your bra. It's discarded soon after, your panties being yanked off before Steve's standing naked in front of you. 

    "Fuck," it's a breath that falls from Steve's lips as he's right back on top of you. His nose traces down your chest, his mouth paying equal attention to both of your nipples before his mouth is floating above where you need him most. 

    Neatly decorated hair covers your mound as Steve places your legs over his large shoulders, spreading you open in front of him as he lets out a low groan. 

    "Princess, you're so wet. Is this all for me? Is this why you've been so squirmy during dinner?" He smirks, his question rhetorical as he uses his fingers to spread your lips open. 

    Your hips are bucking, fists around your sheets as you whine. Steve's tongue is wide and warm against you when it finally connects with you. A lewd moan slips past your lips when he swirls it tightly around your clit. 

    The attention to detail is mind blowing, his fingers slowly slipping inside of you as he works you open. There's nowhere in the world you'd rather be than right here with Steve's face buried between your thighs. 

    "You taste so sweet, Princess." He hums, moaning around you as your fingers tangle in his once neatly styled hair. You tug on the locks, a low groan in response that spreads warmth through your body. 

    "Daddy, pl-please, wanna cum." You're lost in the sensation of his fingers scissoring you open, his tongue flicking tight figure-eights over your clit. 

    "Cum for Daddy, Princess, cum all over my face." He growls, curling his fingers deep inside of you, breaking the coil as your back arches off the bed. 

    You feel like you've just ran a marathon, lungs aching for oxygen, and he hadn't even gotten his cock yet. 

    "Hands and knees, Princess. Show Daddy your ass," he growls, flipping you over as you prop yourself up on shaky knees. You're mewling, wanton and burning to feel how his cock will fill you up. 

    The bed shifts under Steve’s weight as his fingers dig lightly into the flesh of your waist, positioning your hips as his cock nudges your entrance. 

    “You think you’re ready for my cock, Princess?” He taunts as you wiggle your hips against him as he chuckles deeply from within his chest before slowly sinking into you. 

    You both moan at the sensation, your warm walls gripping around him as he stretches you out. 

    “Takin’ Daddy’s cock so well Princess—fuck, feels so good.” Steve grunts, his hips snapping against yours with a force that has you falling face first into the pillows. 

    His one hand goes to rest between your shoulder blades, keeping you planted firmly against the bed as he fucks you deep into your worn out mattress. 

    Your moans are muffled, you're thankful for the position considering your walls are paper thin and you'd rather not have your eighty-five year old neighbour Darleen hear about the mind-blowing sex you were currently engaged in. 

    "You gonna cum for Daddy again? Make a mess over his cock, hmm?" He whispers in your ear, voice hoarse and gravelly as your toes curl and you're cumming again for him. 

    Steve pulls out, fisting his cock in his hands before you're feeling his hot cum painting your back as you're reeling at the aftershocks of your orgasm. 

    You're pulled out of your post-orgasmic bliss when you feel Steve cleaning you up with what? You don't care, you'd do laundry tomorrow, throw it away, all you wanted was to feel Steve's arms around you. 

    He falls back into bed with you, his gentle eyes meeting yours as he chuckles, "if that doesn't seal the deal, I don't know what will."

tagging // @jennmurawski13 | @nakedrogers

any and all feedback is always appreciated! <3