#she stole a piece so they couldn't complete it

[samssims]

[rowie264]

If someone criticizes something, it doesn't mean that they hate it. It also works the other way around. If you like something, it doesn't mean that it's done well from an objective point of view.

I love Jinx. Her design, her story, her personality, her character arc... I was just fascinated by her. Jinx has become one of my favorite characters in media in general. It was the continuation of her story that I was waiting for the most.

Jinx is still my favorite character in season 2. I love almost every scene with her. How she did Sevika's arm and the subsequent fight with the Smeech, the fight with Vi in Act 1, the prison break, search for Vander in the mines, epic appearance during the battle against Noxus.

I got a lot of positive emotions while watching s2 and especially during Jinx's appearance on the screen. But… an emotional response and objective assessment are two different things. And objectively, Jinx's character in season 2 is OOC and poorly written.

Removing very importand part of her story and personality. Her mental issues almost completely disappear. This is a very important aspect of her character. And no, Isha's presence and a "more favorable environment" would not heal her, the whole 2nd act is completely unrealistic and looks stupid, since all her problems with her mental health were magically solved off-screen;

Irrelevant piece of plot. Her arc of "Zaun symbol" passes by her - she becomes a symbol by accident, ignores the consequences and directly encounters all this revolutionary mood only during Isha's saving from Stillwater (at the same time saving her followers - an indirect action, not a purposeful one). So this arc is kinda about her, but she doesn't seem to participate in it herself, and it ends with literally nothing (like the whole Zaun revolution);

Making her more appealing to wider audience. Her hatred of Piltover and Caitlyn just disappeared. Yes, while she was with Vi in the mines she said "piltie goons who murdered mom and dad," but… that's all? Jinx doesn't kill a single enforcer in the entire 2nd season (although, for example, she could have in Stillwater) and tells Caitlyn "I didn't know your mother was there." Let me remind you that Jinx literally giggled in s1 when she killed a dozen enforcers during gemstone kidnapping, killed enforcers on the bridge without any care, she hated Caitlyn fiercely because she "stole" her sister from her, and she couldn't not know that Cassandra was a councilor. It isn't showed how and why she changed her opinion and this is important thing to her character, you can't explain such change with microexpressions or parallels;

Unrealistic happy family reunion. The reunion of Jinx, Vi, and Vander is a spectacular moment from Disney. Do you remember how Jinx reacted when Vi returned? Yes, she was happy but as soon as she spotted Cait she freaked out and immidiately thought that Vi betrayed her. Imagine what would happen if her supposedly dead - bc of her btw - father had returned and now looks like some animal;

Silco mattered much more to Jinx. A very "subtle" replacement of Silco for Vander in the role of father (Jinx calls him father, sniffs Vander's jacket and not Silco's), although Silco played probably a bigger role in this? And Jinx remembers about him like 2 times? Although it's been about 7-10 years since Vi's "death" in season 1, Jinx was still triggered by just a similar appearance. Apparently, Silco wasn't that important to Jinx (which is not true); I could still keep talking about Jinx, but let's leave it at that.

I love Jinx even in season 2. I like watching scenes with her. But my emotional attachment doesn't stop me from seeing that Jinx's character in s2 is not a continuation of Jinx's character of the end of s1. Her image is broken, the arcs are not completed, the relationships with other characters are poorly written.

[ceesimz]

when we two parted

part two here!

This fic is based off the poem When We Two Parted (hence the name, and see a section of it above) as well as a song called Strange by Celeste. I think this fic is a result of the romcom movie marathon i did last week whilst recovering from concussion so make of that what you will. If it's wanted, I can do a part two!

A house party in Menorca was hardly a place to fall in love. Or so Alexia thought.

To some, the end of the season was a welcome break to completely switch off and relish in their life outside of football. For others, or rather, for just one, it wasn't a very enjoyable time, more of a nuisance really. But when Alexia had been invited by Mapi to go to Menorca, where the Zaragoza local had escaped to many times before and talked about it for hours on end everytime when she got back, Alexia couldn't say no this time. They'd be joined by a few of their other teammates, but Mapi had informed them that they would be welcomed by her many friends on the small island and invited to enough endeavours to keep them entertained.

That's how Alexia found herself waking up on the sofa of a beautiful Mediterranean house on the second morning of the vacation. The previous night, she'd partied with her teammates and Mapi's friends, having a few drinks here and there but never passing the line of tipsy. But, when the time came to leave, she had no money on her, a dead phone, she couldn't find Mapi or her teammates, and even if she could ask someone to get her back to the villa they were at, she didn't know the address either. Which is why she's waking up on a random couch on an island she doesn't know, now with a working phone thanks to the phone charger she found (and stole) in a drawer beside the sofa.

It was a little before 7am, way too early for any of the people who had drank the night before to be awake, and that's why she was drawn to the kitchen on her way towards the front door.

Coming from the room was quiet, calm music as well as a soft voice singing along. The voice belonged to a woman clearing the counters from the cups and bottles from the previous night, this young someone lost in her own world as she swayed to the melody ringing out. And when she turned a little so that her features were visible to Alexia, the midfielder couldn't help the smile that graced her face.

This unfamiliar woman was beautiful. It was clear to see and simple to say, she was ineffably gorgeous. Alexia didn't recognise her from the previous evening, as much as she tried to piece the night's events together, she couldn't recall meeting her. She stood there for a few silent moments, admiring the woman in front of her. Dressed in running gear, a tan to her skin and a peaceful smile on her face.

But when the woman in question cursed at the sight of Alexia, not expecting anyone to be lingering in the doorway, the Catalan couldn't help but chuckle quietly.

You were deathly embarrassed by the yelp you let out and the reaction you had to the seemingly harmless party-goer some feet away, caught red-handed in a day dream whilst cleaning the kitchen.

“I'm sorry, I didn't hear you come in.” You apologised with a grimace, yet the blonde just smiled.

“No, it is okay.” Alexia brushed it off.

The footballer didn’t quite know what to do. She felt drawn to the person across the room from her, but you were complete strangers to each other. The only thing she knew was that, from the few words spoken so far, you spoke English without an accent like she did.

“Um, per- perdóname? Mi español es muy pobre.” You stumbled through the limited Spanish you knew, and it was nothing but endearing to Alexia. “I mean, I can understand it if... if you speak slowly, but…”

“Hablaré más despacio por ti.” Alexia answered, surprising herself. “I can understand English, I am not good at talking.”

“Well, that's us sorted then.”

You internally cursed yourself for being so awkward in the moment, but honestly you weren’t expecting anyone to be up and about at this time, nevermind the most attractive woman on the island. You had no idea who she was, where she came from, or even what her name was, but the intrigue was there and it was burning wildly through you. 

She didn’t seem to mind your awkwardness, instead she met it with some of her own and stood rooted to the ground with the same smile that seemed to only grow bigger the longer this interaction carried on.

“Estas limpiando?” She wondered, stepping a little closer.

“I'm, uh... oh! Yes, I'm cleaning, thought I would get a head start with it.” You gestured loosely to the room before going back to clear the clutter off of the sides again.

“Puedo ayudarte a limpiar, si quieres?” Alexia asked without any second thought, not really sure why she was offering to clean a stranger's house at the crack of dawn. 

She was feeling exactly the same as you did. Confused, but weirdly interested. Alexia was in the same position as you, too; she didn’t know your name, who you were, all that she did know was that you were beautiful and, to her knowledge, frustratingly not from Spain.

“No, that's okay, you're a guest. You're free to go home.” You tried to wave her off, but she wasn’t stepping down so easily.

“No, insisto. Como puedo ayudar?”

Alexia stayed firm in her offer, and before she knew it, she was busying herself with any bit of cleaning she could see. Wiping down the counters, mopping the floors, taking out the trash, she even found herself washing the piles upon piles of dishes that had accumulated. Unbeknownst to the other, you both individually felt like you were caught up in some kind of hallucination, or a fever dream at least. You, stood with the biggest footballer of women’s football (not that you knew that yet), having her clean your friend’s house. Alexia, tidying up at sunrise for a woman she was fastly growing a crush on.

“You are English?” Alexia questioned as she washed her hands, looking over at where her cleaning partner was sorting through a pile of jackets that the party guests had thrown over a loveseat in the corner of the room.

“I am. English and very ashamed at how bad my Spanish is.” You laughed in spite of yourself, pulling a face as you lifted up a random, single high-heel from the never ending pile before dropping it to the ground with a grimace.

“Why?”

“Well, considering I live in Spain and have done for some months now, it should be better than it is. I just have a hard time keeping up with my online lessons.” Hm. She lives in Spain too. Alexia was nothing if not infinitely more intrigued by that new fact. “So, do you live in Menorca? It's a beautiful island.”

“No, Barcelona.”

“Oh, no way!” Alexia looked up at the quick burst of excitement from the person she still didn’t have a name for, chuckling when the woman in question blushed and cleared her throat before speaking. “I live in Barcelona too.”

Alexia's eyebrows shoot up at the new information she had just learnt, a shy smile on her face. She nodded once before turning back to the sink, goosebumps raised on her arms that, when paired with the eruption of butterflies that had just occurred, signified she was in trouble. Rather, her heart was in trouble.

“This house, es muy bonita. Yours?” She steered the conversation away, not wanting to dwell on the sensations flooding her body. She was still talking to a stranger after all.

“No, it's a friend's house, they let me stay for the week and said I could invite people over.”

“Mm. Bueno, gracias por la fiesta, fue divertido. I did not see you?”

“I wasn't at the party, no. My friend María told me she would keep an eye on everything.” Alexia shook her head as she turned to lean back against the counter, her eyes tracking your movements around the room.

“Mapi no está aquí.” She revealed, to which you froze on the spot and groaned.

“That little... ugh. I knew I couldn't trust her.” You complained, cursing under your breath as you threw a beer cap in one of the bins. “Do you know where she is?”

“No. She leaved early.” Alexia grimaced. “Nunca confíes en María cuando se trata de fiestas.”

“Well, I've learnt my lesson now.” You grumbled, Alexia laughing quietly. Quickly glancing around the room, you decided you were happy with its semi-replenished state and stopped to take a breath before turning to face Alexia. “You're friends with María then, I'm guessing? One of the girls she invited?”

“Sí, muy buenas amigas. Demasiado bueno, diría yo.” Alexia said, mumbling the last part in an exasperated tone. You hear it though, and despite it taking a few moments to translate it, you giggle at it.

“I know that feeling. I've known her a while and she still gets under my skin. Like when she abandons her care-taking job for a house that isn't even mine.” You responded, Alexia nodding and chuckling. “I’ll stand her up in the morning so that she can’t go on her beloved boat trip that’s under my name, we’ll see how she likes it.”

“You are on the boat tomorrow?” There was a hopeful lilt to her voice that shouldn't have sparked as much excitement in you as it did.

“I am. That's if I don't get arrested for assault before I get there.” You huffed, the woman before you grinning again. “Shouldn't you be getting back to your villa now? I've kept you long enough.”

“Um. I do not know the, uh, dirección.”

“Oh, that's alright. I think I have it, I don’t have my phone on me at the moment but if you grab a pen and paper from beside you then I can write it down.”

“Ah, sí. Gracias.”

Alexia did as she was told and picked a pen from the stationary pot along with a small square of paper from a very organised corner of the kitchen counter. There was a sly grin on Alexia’s face as she handed both items over to you. With pink cheeks that can’t really be excused by the run you went on before you arrived, you jotted down the address of her Airbnb with slightly shaking hands before signing your name along with it too. Then, for reasons you’re not quite sure of, you drew a random, squiggly smiley face beside it. You gave the note to her and waited for her to notice with an even darker shade to your face than before, to which she laughed quietly at the drawing. It was cut short though when she glanced at your name. She said it quietly to herself, before looking back at you and humming.

“Do I get to know your name?” You wondered with a playful smile, head slightly on a tilt and a hopeful glint in your eye.

“Ale.” She said after a moment of brief hesitation. You picked up on it, but were sure she had her reasons, so let it slide.

“Es un placer conocerte, Ale.” You held your hand out and, with a coy smile, Alexia deftly took hold of it and shook it gently.

That handshake, one small and common gesture, was the start of something much bigger than the both of you.

—

You lay in bed that night, a book beside you waiting to be read and the bedside table lamp on, with a question mark lingering over you. It was just after midnight, and despite the luxury of the house and the grand size of it, you’d chosen the smallest bedroom to stay in during your time. No one ever wanted it, it was always the last choice, but it called to you for some reason everytime. Your friend joked that there should be a plaque with your name on it at this point on the door, saying it was your room and yours only. Maybe you pitied it, maybe you knew how it felt. But it’s just a room, the walls aren’t alive no matter how much they speak to you, and as quick as it arrives the thought leaves. 

The question mark that hangs shrinks suddenly, redacting down into your right hand. Your eyes follow it, moving from the ceiling above you to the palm that fuzzes in an attention-seeking nature. It’s the one that had been held so delicately by the woman that had quietly interrupted you that morning, and before you know it there’s a familiar heat to your cheeks that has nothing to do with the late night warmth of the Spanish weather. It does have everything to do with her.

There was still everything that you didn’t know about her. She was from Barcelona, her name was Ale, and you both shared a mutual friend in María. And if you pieced together things you knew about your good friend, there was other information you could gather about Ale too. María played football for Barcelona’s football club, and they were fairly successful. Though you wouldn’t know a thing, you hadn’t been to a game before nor had you even watched one. The only sides of María you know is the laid back, relaxed version that dismisses any talk about football on vacation, and the party animal you had first met. Football wasn’t your thing, and María wasn’t one to force that upon anyone. She kept that separate from you, and the closest you came to being interlinked with the sport was when she invited her teammates along to join your friend group for whatever social occasion she had organised, both here and back home in Barcelona.

So perhaps Ale played football. Or, at least, worked for María’s team. She did look quite athletic, to say the least. That was probably the most polite way to phrase it. Regardless, Alexia had never appeared at any dinners or club night-outs that María had organised, you would remember if she had.

To the world, Alexia was an enigma. She is to you, too, but for entirely different reasons. The world had known her for twelve years as she performed at the highest standard in football, a role model on and off the pitch to every boy and girl, old and young. You had known her for less than twenty-four hours, but you were struck with the sense that knowing her for a lifetime could be a gift untold by any literature.

Your book doesn’t get opened that night. Thoughts of a certain someone are enough to lull you asleep. And some miles away, that very person ends up in the same scenario.

The shy smiles you greeted each other with bright and early the next morning at the boat charter desk subconsciously notifies you both that there are strangely similar butterflies making a home for themselves in your stomachs. 

For the first half of the day, the pair of you don’t really come together again. Rather, you stick with your usual friends, but Alexia would be lying if she said her eyes didn’t drift over towards you any chance she could get. You’re the same though, but when you’re caught out by one of your friends, you deny it with a blush and try to shove Ale to the back of your mind.

Until everyone decides they’re bored of tanning and relaxing, and they all jump into the ocean the second the boat is anchored. You, as someone not entirely comfortable in the water, decided to stick it out for now and stay on the boat. Considering how hot it was, you would have thought everybody would have jumped in to cool down. But not everyone.

“Hola.” A voice said from behind, before they came to lay beside you at the front of the boat.

“Morning. I don’t have any cleaning for you to do, I’m afraid.” You teased, linking your hands together over your eyes to avoid them averting to other places. Oh, and to block the sun too.

“Thank you, señorita.” Alexia grinned, adjusting her sunglasses as she turned to look at you. “Qué tal?”

“I'm very well, thank you. Y tu?” 

“I am good also. You do not like the water?” She wondered, hearing it call her name but when she saw you alone, she couldn't resist.

“Not really.” You replied sheepishly, and the smirk that built on Alexia’s face after that was a little unnerving. “You can get in, if you want. You don’t have to sit here with me.”

“Hm, no. Y si te caes del barco? I will be your… salvavidas.” Before you registered what you were doing, you scoffed and lightly hit her forearm. The Spaniard laughed at your horrified expression afterwards, waving you off before you got the chance to apologise.

“I don’t need a lifeguard on dry land.” You grumbled, crossing your arms petulantly. 

Alexia hummed in amused agreement, and the pair of you fell into comfortable silence. There was far worse company than that of an enticing Spanish woman, whose idea of relaxation was apparently similar to yours. For some time then, she was content to lie beside you in the heat of the sun, her sunglasses and cap keeping her face protected from the UV… and your gaze. 

You tried, albeit not very hard, to keep your eyes on the words of your book in front of you, but every so often they glanced over at Ale. She was the embodiment of peace, with her hands behind her head and a hint of a smile on her lips. It was your intrigue about her that grasped your attention; out of everyone on the boat, all of her close friends and the others she could have chosen to get to know instead, she was here beside you. That didn’t happen to you very often.

Your solitude was something you valued, though it wasn’t entirely out of choice. Things happened, good and very bad, to get you to this point, and it all made you into the person you are now. People rarely ever gravitated to you like Ale had. More often than not, you were just a fly on the wall. And, really, that was why you weren’t at the party the other night. They weren’t your thing, not just because of the noise and chaos, but because you weren’t really a drink and dance kind of person. You were a sunbathe and read person. 

Being a part of the crowd wasn’t something that appealed to you anymore. For years, you had tried to fit in, but after one too many interactions with the worst half of humankind’s people, it was better to stay in your shell. Some days, you pondered if you had just convinced yourself if solitude was the better option as a result of your own failures, or if it was something you genuinely enjoyed. It was a dichotomy that you didn’t often like thinking about too much.

“You are reading.” Alexia stated simply, meeting your eyes when you turned to look at her with a laugh.

“Yes, I am. Congratulations.” You grinned at her, the other woman rolling her eyes.

“You are reading, but the water is there.” She sat up and rested her elbows on her knees as she glanced around at the glassy ocean that stretched on into the horizon. 

“Do you want a medal for that, Captain Obvious?” You replied without looking away from your book, although the words weren’t really registering anymore.

There was a snarky reply on the tip of Alexia’s tongue at that, but now wasn’t the time to spoil the whole facade she had built up around you. To you, she was just Ale, nobody else. Was it wrong for her to want to relish in the ease that brought for her? Possibly. The life you lived was so different to the one she had, it was nice to remember the simplicity that her world once held.

“Do you not read on vacation? There’s no better time to do it.” You continued whilst she got stuck in her thoughts, glancing at her as she stayed silent. With a gentle nudge against her ankle with your foot, you brought her back down from wherever her mind had floated off to.

“Sí, I do. But there is more fun things to do. What is that phrase? Algo sobre el pelo…” She mumbled to herself, with a scowl and a frown as she jogged her memory that you found way too endearing considering the fierceness it possessed.

“Let your hair down?” You provided, giggling when she briskly turned to you and nodded whilst snapping her fingers.

“Sí! Let your hair down, get in the water. Conmigo, juntos.” She tried to transfer some of her excitement over to you, and you hated to admit it, but she was quite convincing.

“I’m alright here. You go, you don’t need me.” Apparently, the Spaniard wasn’t one to back down.

“No, venga, you are coming. The boat has, uh, those silly chaquetas. You will have one.” She stood up abruptly, bored of sitting still, and held her hands out expectantly. 

“I’m not wearing a life jacket! That’s embarrassing, Ale.” You laughed, though you sat up and took her hands to stand up, trying not to stare at the skin on show that passed your eyeline as you did.

“No, está bien! You, you want to sit aquí and be muy aburrido? No! Diviértete! Vamos.” 

With far more confidence than she actually had deep down, Alexia kept hold of your hand and led you through the empty boat to where she had seen some life jackets earlier. You were a giggling mess behind her, staring at her muscular back and all the artwork that decorated it. Her hand was warm and almost entirely encapsulated yours, a fact you would have to ignore for now. 

You had known her for hardly a day, yet here you were jogging hand in hand and laughing like teenagers. It was… refreshing. And so unusual to anything you had ever known in your life. You were a reclusive person that liked routine, familiarity. Not life jackets and treacherous water. Well, maybe not treacherous, the clear ocean was as still as could be, but that’s besides the point. 

This woman, Ale, barely counted as an acquaintance. Yet, you couldn’t help but feel extraordinarily enticed to dive right in, even if it went against every single one of your instincts. Not in that sense though, only in a metaphorical way.

“Ale, I’m not doing it.” You cowered away from the edge of the small platform at the back end of the boat, whilst Alexia sat beside you with her legs already in the water. Despite your earlier grievances, there was now an embarrassingly neon yellow life vest strapped around your torso that screamed ‘I’m English and terrified of water!’

“Jump! Es bonito, créeme.” She urged you with an enchanting smile that was a little hard to resist. 

In an all too distracting fashion, she whipped her white cap off and sat up straight to tie her hair into a bun, and you had to avert your eyes away from her once more. She caught you already, if the crimson to your cheeks was anything to go by and the awkward nature you adorned anytime she moved. 

“If you’re so sure, why aren’t you getting in?” You challenged her, only for her to smirk.

“Porque no soy… a pussy.” 

At that, she lowered herself into the warm sea with a smug look on her face, whilst you stared at her in shock at how such an innocent seeming woman who claimed to know no English just insulted you in such a way. All she did was turn onto her back and gaze up at you with a knowing grin. The way she looked so effortlessly relaxed floating on her back did seem like fun. But you weren’t so easily convinced.

“Venga, cariño. In.” She waved you over with one hand, smiling coyly as you sighed but sat down on the edge nevertheless. “Sí, step one! Now in!”

“Alright, alright! You’re like a pushy swim coach, let me do it in my own time.” Her teasing demeanour softened then, and she swam the short distance back to where you stood. She held onto the platform with one hand whilst she offered the other out to you.

“I will be here. It is okay, lo prometo.” 

Alexia’s smile wasn’t mocking or exasperated, it was bashful and welcoming. Her eyes and her hand were inviting, and you had a feeling that there was some kind of foreshadowing underlying if you didn’t let her guide you into the warm water around. Like the ones you see in the movies, in the books you read. Whether it was that weird, nagging feeling that had you sitting at the edge and fearfully lowering yourself in or if it was Ale’s carefree nature that you had wished for all your life, you had no idea.

“Ves? Te lo dije.” The blonde had to suppress her laughter at the terror in your eyes that you tried to hide, but that laughter was easy to ignore due to the overriding joy she felt at such a simple event. She just hoped this wasn’t the last she saw of you.

“Sure, sure.” You mumbled, your legs flicking aimlessly to tread the water, when in matter of fact it was your vest doing most of the work. “Okay, it isn’t too bad, actually.”

“Te lo dije, cariño! Ahora, on your back. Arms like an angel. Like, with the snow.” Her instructions were a little skewed, probably due to the language barrier, but you gathered what she was saying. A moment later, you were floating on your back in the water like she had been doing a few moments ago. It was pretty relaxing. “Ahh, sí. Podría hacer esto todo el día.”

“And you say reading is boring on vacation.” You mumbled, gasping when she splashes at you.

“This is better, do not lie.” Alexia shrugged as best as she could considering her current situation.

Little did she know, she had started a war.

Feeling somewhat cocky with your handy floatation device, you awkwardly paddle closer before forcing a wave her way. Immediately after you slap a hand over your mouth to muffle your laughter at how it borderline water-boarded her. Once she had wiped her eyes, she looked over at you with revenge burning in her eyes. You were done for. 

Considering you were both adults, the childish fight went on far longer than expected of you both. There were more than just your eyes on each other, the commotion had caught the eyes of a few of the others. One person in particular had a pleased grin on her face. On the surface, of course she was happy to see two of her closest friends get along so well. Deep down, however, she wanted nothing more than to see it develop into something better. 

She had been there to witness things she never wanted to see for the both of you. And as a result of the individual difficulties experienced by each of you, there were some wounds left over that she believed could be healed by something right in front of your eyes. The purity that lived in your hearts which, once comfortable with another, could be so clearly seen on your sleeves was something Mapi believed would do wonders for every aspect of your respective lives.

Alexia’s soul had been stamped on by past relationships and her flame had simmered to a dim glow, her chest a hollow and desolate place. You had stomached countless blows, many that would’ve taken the average person out, and yet you were stronger for it. You’d made a life for yourself, sure. An outside glance would show a successful woman at the height of her career, loving life abroad with enough friends around the globe to fill up a village. Should anyone get a look inside your mind, they’d see it was void of love, of true joy. Like Alexia, your personality had been broken down and shoved into a closet, for no one to see or have the privilege of truly getting to know. 

Mapi knew, in an ideal world, you and Alexia could find yourselves in a relationship that would take you so high on a personal level. Except, it’s not an ideal world, it’s a cruel one that had gotten you both to this shattered point anyway. She could only hope that the road to get there wasn’t a long, arduous one that neither of you would deem worth it. 

“Alright, alright! Truce!” You shouted, desperately trying to swim away from Alexia and her lethal attacks. 

“Ah, I won!” She cheered, throwing her arms in the air in celebration, only for her to sink down. Laughter bubbled out of you before you could stop it, and if the water hadn’t taken her breath away, the sound you made sure would have. “I get a prize, no?”

“What? No! If I had known there was a prize, I would have tried harder.” You rolled your eyes, only to be met with a cheeky grin when you looked back at her.

“No, te equivocas. Lo gano todo, siempre.” Apparently, in every turn of life, Alexia’s competitiveness had no qualms with showing itself.

“Ah, so you are a footballer.”

It meant to come out in a teasing way, but it didn’t quite land right. Alexia’s smile faltered, a dejected look forming in her eyes. Dread washed over you; this happened every time. Just as you were getting somewhere with a person, you said something that would erase all your progress. This time had the chance to hurt a lot more than all the others, even after just a day.

“I am.” Alexia nodded with a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes like the others you had seen.

“I’m sorry for saying that, I didn’t mea-”

“No, no, no te preocupes. You… I was going to tell you pronto, pero…” She trailed off and glanced away, shrugging slightly.

“You wanted to do it in your own time. Get a break from that part of your life.” You finished her sentence for her, and just like that, she was gazing at you again with admiration in her eyes.

“Yes.” She whispered with a nod, her eyes wide but not unnerving, rather they were almost full of awe.

Everyone in Alexia’s life questioned why she didn’t relish in the glory and popularity that being who she was brought. Her closest family understood of course, but everybody else thought it was strange. Why work so hard for something and not reap the rewards? She didn’t see them as rewards, that’s why. The eyes, the photos taken without her knowledge, the strangers coming up to her in the street and heckling for her to sign something or take selfies when she’d rather disappear off the face of the earth- she didn’t see why anyone would find joy or pride in that when it’s everything she’s ever hated. 

She knew it was a symbol of her achievements, but was it worth it when she would get followed to her apartment, to her family home? Or around the world, like when there was paparazzi on her private vacation the summer before this one? 

And yet, you understood it. You didn’t know her, or the extremes of her job, or the attention she got, but somehow it just clicked. 

It wasn’t some kind of superficial, fairytale moment of ‘soulmate understanding’ for you, Mapi had informed you on the struggles of rising fame a while ago in the midst of the national team struggles when she had escaped with Ingrid to the very island you were on now, which you happened to be on at the same time. You had some level of understanding, only a little, but that was more than enough for Alexia.

“I get it. We don’t have to talk about it.” You told her softly, to which she sighed in relief. “Can we get out of the water now though? I’m thirsty.”

Just like that, the awkward moment had passed.

—

The rest of the day on the boat passes in a flash, and before you knew it, it was pulling up at the docks whilst everyone waited to get off. Each person was just as exhausted as the other as everyone piled off one by one across the tiny plank that everyone secretly feared, especially in such a tired state, but with no casualties, they all went their separate ways. Mapi was coming with you for dinner that night, just the two of you, but she was trailing behind on facetime to Ingrid, so you were walking on your own. Until…

“Hey!” Alexia jogged up to you and gently halted you with a hand on your forearm, coming to stand in front of you with a smile that lost its confidence as soon as you met her gaze. “Oh, um… this is for you.”

As quick as she came, she was gone. All that was left was the note she thrust into your hands before she walked back towards wherever she was initially headed.

In utter confusion, you turned to watch her leave, laughing at the way she scurried away. With a shake of your head, you opened the note and felt your heart rate pick up at just a few words.

Me debes un premio, ¿no? Ven a cenar conmigo mañana por la noche, estaré en el restaurante cerca de tu casa esperandote. Espero verte allí. - Ale

Her handwriting was messy, like a spider had fallen in ink and scampered across the paper, but from what you could make out of the Spanish words… she had asked you on a date. Tomorrow. At the restaurant near your friend’s house that you were staying at. 

Luckily for you, there was only one restaurant that fit Ale’s description - your favourite restaurant out of all the places in the world you had travelled to. You had brought it up with her earlier that day, and apparently this woman had a stellar memory. It was an off-handed comment you made, describing it exactly as ‘the restaurant near your house’ during a random, filler conversation you had had with the Spaniard as you dried off after going in the water again. 

If that was the prize she wanted, it would be rude not to entertain that.

“Qué quería Alexia?” Mapi asked, interrupting your internal gushing.

Alexia. Her actual name.

“Um, well…” You started, only to trail off as your cheeks turned a crimson colour. With words failing you, out of embarrassment or wonder, you weren’t sure, you handed Mapi the note.

“Qué es esto…” Mapi cut herself off as she read the words in her mother tongue, before looking up at you with her jaw to the ground and her eyes popping out of her head. “Dios mío!”

“María, be quiet!” You shushed her urgently, snatching the note back, only for her to do the same as she read it again and again. “If you rip that, I sw-”

“Ale moves quick! Damn!” She burst out into giddy laughter, grabbing your shoulders and shaking them excitedly. “You have a date!”

“I should never have told you, for god’s sake.” You muttered, turning and walking away from her. She cheered wildly behind you before running to catch up.

“I think it goes without saying that I am happy for you.” She stated, a lot more toned down than she was a moment ago.

“Yeah, you think?” You huffed, crossing your arms as the defender slung an arm around your shoulders. “How long have you known her?”

“Ale? Uff, a very long time. I knew her a tiny bit from international camp but when I joined Barcelona, we became good friends. Whether she likes it or not, I am her best friend.” She hummed. It was hard to ascertain if this was her normal behaviour or if she was a little buzzed from the drinks supplied on the boat. 

“So she plays for your team?” 

“Alexia is Barça. She is Barça, Barça is her.” 

You didn’t quite understand what she meant by that, but it sounded… important. 

It was that reply from Mapi that stuck for the rest of the evening. You thought about it on the way back to your place, throughout dinner whilst the aforementioned woman spoke basically with herself, and as you got ready for bed that night. 

However, it was as you took out your earrings in the bathroom mirror of the tiny en-suite of your favourite bedroom, that you realised there was something under the surface of that comment. There would likely be one true meaning of what that meant for Alexia, but the possibilities were endless for your overthinking mind. 

Was the way she was towards you just an act? What was her true persona? Who really is Alexia?

—

She was just a girl, is what you learn as you walked into the restaurant the next day. 

You had no place to question her based on another person’s comments, even if those words were from her best friend. It would be hypocritical of you, after being on the receiving end of such events all your life, to judge someone before you knew them. 

She was just a girl, nervous to go on a date. That much was clear when you saw her from the doorway, tapping her foot anxiously as her hands fidgeted with the rings she wore whilst waiting for you to show up. She had no idea if you would or not, she didn’t have any way to contact you at all. You could never reject her though.

“Ale, hi.” You said as a waitress led you over to the table, stifling a giggle as Alexia’s chair screeched loudly as she stood up to greet you.

“Hi!” She replied, before clearing her throat and hastily wiping her hands on her trousers. She was dressed relaxed, but suited to the occasion, in a soft cream polo shirt and a darker shade of linen trousers. Her hair was in a half-up, half-down of sorts with two strands at the front out to frame her face, and it was hard not to gawk at her. “You look… so beautiful. Really.”

“Thank you, you look amazing too.” You beamed shyly, gladly accepting the hug she offers and blushing a little at the kiss she leaves on your cheek.

“Sit, sit. We need, uh, menus, where ar-” The blonde’s nerves were evidently on show as her eyes looked around frantically, and though yours weren’t quite so obvious, it’s reassuring to know she felt just the same as you. 

You often kept things built up inside, buried deep down to hide or deal with later. Alexia also did that, typically, but there was something about you that made all her habits and inhibitions fly out the window. It scared her, but the larger part of her took that as a sign that you weren’t someone to lose. She would have you in her life in any capacity, friend or partner, and if she screwed up then she didn’t think she could forgive herself. 

“Ale, Ale, calm down. We have all night, relax.” You gently took hold of her hands and brought her back down to this moment, to which she nodded and breathed in deeply. “You’re nervous, it’s okay. I am too.”

“Lo sé, lo sé. I haven’t been on a date in so long, cariño, I do not want to mess this up.” She sighed, looking across at you with honesty in her eyes and her soul on show, and it took your breath away a little. Maybe this woman in front of you was everything you had longed for all these years. Someone whose whole being was built with the same foundations as yours, with the same outlook on life and the same values. The same simple, peaceful ideation of what life with love could look like.

“You won’t mess this up, Ale. Just be yourself, the woman I was with yesterday, and you won’t mess this up.” You told her, and she nodded a lot less desperately afterwards. Her facial features and her whole entire body softened then, you saw it and felt it in the way it travelled throughout her and into her hands. Of which, took yours in return, raised them to her mouth, and kissed each individual knuckle. This was a date, after all, as her actions then had so kindly reminded you.

“Thank you for coming. I was worried that I may have been too, uh, cocky?” She grimaced at the English word on her tongue, only making you smile. 

“No, not cocky at all. I appreciate you being honest and forward, it’s rare nowadays and… if I’m honest, I don’t really like the process of getting into a relationship. Everyone is all hard-to-get and mind games, it’s not for me.” You’re rambling already, not used to this scenario, and you already feel embarrassed. “Oh, god, I’m sorry, I’ve totally made myself look like an idiot, I’m s-”

“No!” She cut you off abruptly, shaking her head as you turned your attention back to her. “I think that also. But you, I think that… you are different. Good different. That is why I asked for a date. We do not know each other a lot, but I really want to.” 

You smiled at her. 

“I do too.” 

From there, things are peaceful. Simple and tranquil, just like you both hoped. It’s easy being with each other, because there’s a deeper understanding that’s by some magic naturally there. Nothing is forced, nothing is awkward. Well, that’s a lie, there’s a little awkwardness but you’ve come to learn that that’s just a thing between you both. Perhaps it’ll go away with time, but there’s only one way to find out.

After a bit of back and forth, it’s decided that Alexia will pay for the dinner, her rule of thumb apparently since she asked you, and the drinks seem to never end. A mix of alcohol and normal drinks, but as the evening goes on, neither of you want to leave. That damn cliche phrase that you had thought could never be true was in fact the perfect metaphor, no matter how much that grates your teeth; the world does go away when you’re together. The lives you individually lead fade into the background with the room around you, and rather than learning the basic facts about each other, for hours you spill detail after detail of countless personal stories that create a summary of you both that are far more detailed and honest than first date small talk could ever do. 

It all comes down to that basic understanding that was there from the first day in the kitchen. It’s inexplicably hard to comprehend the fact it’s hardly been three days since that initial meeting, but there is serenity at the surface level that is built by the roots below which seem to have intertwined, between two countries in one continent, to provide the foundations of what could be. Years, centuries, of history and alignments have set the standards of love, now it’s up to the both of you to live up to the possibilities that have been placed down for you.

It’s something you don’t necessarily understand, which is ironic, but you’ve got your whole life to think about that. This isn’t a moment to miss or pass up on by overthinking. For once in your life, you're not going to do that. Not when your future could be staring you in the face.

“Your English is not as bad as you told me it was.” You stated, folding your arms on the table and gazing at Alexia who had just finished her second glass of wine of the night, already having had a cocktail and some water before it.

“Thank you. I get nervous to speak, I think.” Alexia replied with a shrug that wasn’t as nonchalant as she thought it would be; it was a little revealing of the insecurity she just stated.

“Well, I like hearing you speak it. It’s very endearing, it’s cute.” You told her with a sly smile. Alexia smirked and nodded, seemingly thinking for a moment before she leaned in slightly.

“Y el español? El español es ‘cute’? Creo que es mucho mejor que el inglés. Pero, sabes, depende de ti, amor. Lo que prefieras.” She purposely lowered her voice, meaning it was a little raspy and wonderfully addictive, especially in her second preferred language. You rolled your eyes affectionately, pretending that the goosebumps on your arms and the back of your neck weren’t there.

“I suppose that’s quite… nice, too.” You admitted a moment later, the footballer grinning at you as you blushed behind the hands that covered your face in faux embarrassment. “Your English is better than María’s.”

“No, no, no. Serio? La mencionas aquí en la cena? Estamos en una cita, dios mío.” Alexia descended off into a ramble about her friend, specifically to hear you laugh, which you did. “A date I am paying!”

“It was a compliment!” You argued with a beaming smile, one that Alexia matched instantly as you played along.

“Lo que sea.” She rolled her eyes, reaching for the bottle of wine that had been ordered after the main meal, now nearly empty. She poured a glass each, which was only a quarter full, but it was a sign that this part of the evening was coming to an end. What came afterwards, neither of you were sure. It seemed you weren’t the only one that didn’t want it to end, and to be honest it’s a wonder that it’s only now the filler topics start. “You had a dinner date with Mapi last night, no? How was it?”

“It was good, it was good. Um… kind of embarrassingly, actually, she wouldn’t stop talking… about, uh, you.” 

Wrong thing to say?

“Oh. You told her about tonight?” There was a hint of a frown tugging at her lips, which made your stomach drop.

“Kind of. A little. She was just teasing me, mostly, you know what she’s like.” You laughed nervously, glad to see it put a smile on Alexia’s face as she nodded in agreement. It went quiet for a moment, and it was clear you were stuck in thought as you traced your finger around the bottom of your wine glass. “She was really happy for us, actually. Couldn’t stop gushing about it.”

“What does that mean?”

“Like, she was so happy that it was all she wanted to talk about. Something about how her two best friends dating would be ‘the best thing in the world’, so… yeah.” You shrugged, kicking yourself for bringing it up. Not for long though.

“It could be.” Alexia hummed after a moment. You glanced up from your glass to see her staring at you openly, and not put off by the topic at hand. “It could be the best thing in the world. We do not know until we try.”

All you could do at that was nod, because it caught you so off-guard. So you did nod, a little gormlessly, at which Alexia laughed quietly, and it snapped you back to reality.

“You’re right. We don’t know until we try.” You agreed, Alexia humming again and nodding. 

The silence after that didn’t need to be filled, unlike the last one. In fact, it wasn’t.

You both drank the last mouthful of your wine, sharing a knowing glance over the glasses, before they clinked down against the table and you both stood up. Alexia waited for you as you grabbed your bag, and all you could think was thank god this wasn’t some American movie where you had to pay the cheque after dinner. You shook that thought away, physically, to which Alexia pulled a confused at, only for you to shake your head and grab her hand. 

There was a sense of urgency about the situation now, felt by the both of you. On the way out of the restaurant, Alexia could barely drop a ‘gracias’ to the waiting staff before she was dragged outside the quaint building by you. But, when you step foot outside, you didn’t know where to go from there. You didn’t know if Alexia wanted the same thing you were hoping for in that moment, and if she didn’t, it might have killed all the excitement for you.

Out on the street, bustling with the night life of the summer evening, you turned to her, a little awkwardly, and searched her eyes. All you found was contentment, and a hint of the desire you felt. Still, you didn’t want to assume anything.

“So… what are you thinking?” You wondered. The blonde maintained eye contact with you, and you felt compelled to hold it, despite the awkwardness you harboured. Then, a moment after, she chuckled under her breath with a shake of her head. “Wha-”

In a split second, her lips were on yours. They didn’t move, they were delicate, and it took you a slow moment to catch up. Just as you kissed her back, her mouth was gone. She stood facing the road again like she hadn’t just thrown everything you thought you knew on its head. You gawked up at her, out of confusion and adoration for what you had just experienced, then turned to face the street as well. There was no emotion on her face, just stoicism and a seemingly total lack of care for what had happened. You clasped your hands in front of you, a frown beginning to form. 

Yet, just as it did, there were a pair of warm hands encapsulating your cheeks and the same pair of lips from before back on yours. You got up to speed much quicker this time; the kiss was soft and seamless, moving at a slow pace as the warmth in your heart far outweighed the warmth of the Spanish climate around you. 

You didn’t kiss on the first date, but apparently that was just a rule you had made after going on too many dates with the wrong people. Because this, well, this was so much better than preserving some stupid rule you had stolen from all the books you read.

Your arms reached up to wrap around Alexia’s neck as the kiss deepened a little, perhaps much more outside your comfort zone considering you were on a public street, but that was the thing about Alexia.

This woman was constantly pushing your boundaries, but not in a panic-inducing way. She did it in a way as if she had peeked inside your mind and picked out all the boundaries that you loathed, and instead replaced them with memories you could have only ever dreamed of. That day in the kitchen, if it had been anyone else standing in your doorway, you would have definitely turned them away. It had taken one look in her eyes, and you knew she was going to change the entire trajectory of your life in the most unexpected way.

“Do you, maybe, want to come back to my place?” You whispered, a little breathlessly, with your forehead resting against hers.

“Sí, me encantar-”

Her phone’s ringtone interrupted her.

It rang out from her pocket, and she groaned as she grabbed it, intending to decline the call. However, along with it she saw a barrage of texts she had unknowingly received throughout the night. At the sight, she had no choice but to answer it.

You stifled a frustrated groan as she brought it up to her ear and answered whoever it was in Spanish, taking a few steps away. With a moment’s peace, you dug your own phone out of your bag and frowned at the first notification you saw.

María: Please forgive me for what I have to do!!

Hardly a minute later, Alexia came back over with the same frustration you felt written all over her face.

“Mapi just rang. One of my younger teammates has got very drunk. I need to go and care for her tonight.” She revealed with a sharp breath out, slotting her phone back into her pocket and shaking her head down at you.

“It’s okay.” You told her with a reassuring smile, frowning again when she shook her head.

“It is not. I am sorry. I wanted to… to spend the night with you, not with-” She cut herself off with a groan, both hands coming up to rub at her face in annoyance. 

“Ale.” You murmured, gently pulling her arms back by her forearms, before your hands slid down her soft skin to hold her hands between you both. “It’s okay, I promise. I’m just happy I spent the evening with you today. I really enjoyed it. I think I needed it.”

The anger inside her melted away as a result of your admission. She nodded and brought you in for a hug, which you happily indulged in.

“I will make it up to you. I promise.” She stated firmly, pulling back from the hug to gaze down at you. It took her barely time at all to convince herself to kiss you once more. And in it, she conveyed every feeling and emotion she would have shown you that night, had she been able to.

“We’ll see each other tomorrow anyway, at the dinner, remember?” You reminded her of the next day's event, something you were both invited to once again. She nodded, and at that, you parted ways.

That day, you didn’t end up speaking much about your current life, or hers, and you never found out what María meant by her statement the night before, because quite frankly it wasn’t on your mind. It doesn’t matter to you. You learnt all you needed to know that you were in love with her, even if it had been just three days.

—

Despite the previous night's perfections, there was one fatal flaw that you had failed to make known so far. It would bite you in the ass as much as it would hurt Alexia.

After the dinner with everyone that had come along on the trip, including yourself and Alexia, you would be going back to the house you were at to pack for your flight only a few hours afterwards. Tonight was your final night.

In your bag, there was a surprise that would hopefully make it somewhat less painful than it could be. That might be wishful thinking though.

Most people were there by the time you arrived at the idyllic restaurant, a laid-back vibe to the place with fake plants and vines covering the walls and vintage bulb lights strewn across the ceiling. All of that was at the back of your mind; there was, realistically, only one reason you agreed to this dinner tonight. 

“You're here.” Alexia whispered in your ear as she took a seat beside you, once again choosing you in a room filled with many more interesting people.

“I am.” You turned to her with a smile, a certain fluttery feeling in your stomach as a delicate hand landed on your knee. 

“I am so happy to see you.” She admitted, glancing around to see everyone else busy with greetings, so she looked back at you and quickly ducked down to place a kiss on your shoulder. “I have waited all day for this, for you.”

“That’s a pretty big compliment, Ale.” You said sheepishly, cowering back into your seat and feeling a little out of place in such a large group.

“It is true. I swear it.” She beamed, and that alone was all the persuasion you needed to stay. 

And you did, no matter how much your skin crawled with the amount of people and conversations and extroversion on show, you stayed. 

Everytime you got a wave of anxiety or unbelonging, there was a steady presence beside you that remained there at all times. It was strange, having so much trust in what most people would class as a stranger considering the time frame of it all, but for you she was like a shelter in the storm. 

It’s just a shame that you had a cloud of dread looming over you all night, and she was soon to be the victim of it. 

At one point, after the main meal, you managed to sneak away from it all. You slipped out quietly, without a fuss or a fanfare, having perfected the Irish goodbye during all these years. You could be found at the rooftop bar just above, your guilt not allowing you to head home just yet due to the one person who you had told to meet you there when she was ready.

For much less time than you expected, you nursed a single mocktail, at peace with your solitude once more, even with the Menorcan nightlife booming all around. But, as you had learnt within the last few days, there was one person that could always pull you out of the anxious pit you thought yourself into.

“Hola, cariño.” Alexia slid onto the stool across from you at the small, intimate table you had chosen by the railing, with an incredible view of the surrounding area. “Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, fine.” You brushed her off with a tight-lipped smile, one Alexia could see through instantly, as one hand anxiously clasped your glass and the other scratched the back of your neck. 

“No, you do not look fine.” Alexia frowned, delicately resting a hand on your forearm.

“That’s kind of you.” You laughed, but it was humourless.

“No, you understand what I said. You do not seem yourself.” She said, a little softer than her last words. You shrugged and averted your eyes to the scenery to your right. Her hand squeezed your arm, trying to gain your attention again. It didn’t work, “You can talk to me. I will listen. I am good at that.”

“You are good at listening.” You smiled at her then, to her relief, falling deeper and deeper into her eyes everytime she grinned at you. “It really doesn’t matter, Ale. It’s… it’s silly.”

“Not to me. Venga, talk. Off your mind.” 

Pushing your boundaries, again. Not to laugh at you, or mock you, or cause years worth of emotional anguish. She was doing it simply because she cared. There was no double meaning to it. It was just who she was.

“I guess those kinds of things, the dinner with everyone, just aren’t really… my crowd.” You met her eye nervously, just to be met with earnesty and something else you couldn't quite put your finger on. “I feel out of place there, I always do. I just wish I could be in the background, but at the same time I want to be a part of it. Everyone looks so… free of their burdens, and I just carry them around with me like chains dragging me down and I don’t know how to get out of that mindset.”

The silence that met your rambling was deathly unnerving, and part of you was considering hopping on a flight right this second, to anywhere that’ll have you. Somewhere cooler than this heat, off the grid, with no one around… Alaska? Somewhere in Canada? Or perhaps a place in Chile, or Peru, or-

“You were never in the background to me. Never.” Alexia stated honestly. “You can be like them. But I like your quieter qualities too. Who you want to be one day, I think I will like her anyway.”

For a moment, they were precisely the words you wished to hear all along. Then that passed. In its wake, the same sense of dread from earlier. Almost as if you were already going through the heartbreak that would surely come.

“I have something else to tell you, Ale.” You mumbled. She nodded, emphatically, more than prepared to take on board any more of your insecurities, worries, anxieties, anything. “I’m going home tonight. My flight is at five in the morning.”

“W…what?” Alexia murmured, hoping, praying that she hadn’t heard what she was sure she had.

“I have to leave soon, to get ready for my flight home.” You repeated, expecting her to pull away or to get angry. She didn’t. But you could see the melancholy swirling in her eyes, no doubt drowning her heart too.

“Why did you not tell me sooner? I thought we had more time.” She said dejectedly, her grasp on your arm a little firmer than it was before. It was clear to you she wasn’t ready to let go yet, and that made it all indefinitely worse. Much harder than you expected.

“I-” Your voice cracked over the short syllable. “I’m sorry, Ale. I didn’t really know how to tell you.”

“Do not be sorry, and do not cry, please. It will hurt more if you cry, then I will cry, it will be a mess.” You laughed at her words, and she managed to crack a smile too. “When do you have to go?” 

“Soon. Soon.” You answered, sniffling and wiping your eyes before the tears fell. Then you remembered. “But I have something for you! It’s in my bag, just for you.”

Alexia chuckled at how you frantically looked through your bag for the item you were looking for, pulling it out not a moment later. She took it from you gently, like it was some kind of ancient relic she had to handle with care, knowing how much it meant to you.

“Your book?” She smiled softly at you, this one object worth so much more to her than anything she possessed, just due to the sentiment of it.

“My favourite book. I think you’ll like it. It’s in English though, so that might put you off.” You teased, but instead of playing along, she shook her head and tore her eyes away from the gift to gaze at you with nothing but unabashed amazement exuberating from her. 

“No, I will read this. Thank you, for giving a piece of yourself to me.”

“Here, let me write something in it for you.” 

You rooted through your bag for a pen you knew was in there, finding it in a heartbeat. Alexia slid the book over to you and watched you with great intent, only for you to turn the cover over so she couldn’t see what you wrote on the first page. She rolled her eyes and looked away, entirely missing the way you flicked through to the final page and scribbled something down quickly. The click of the pen brought her attention back to you, and she went to take it back before you slammed your hand down on the cover.

“No, don’t read it while I’m here. Wait until I’m gone.” You demanded. With a sigh, she gave in, knowing she would let you lead her off of a cliff if you just said the words. She went to speak again, only to be stopped by a ringtone, yet again. “I’m sorry, Ale. That’s my alarm. I need to go.”

Goodbyes were the worst. No amount of preparation and acceptance could force away the onslaught of emotions that built up merely at the idea of them. You found yourself grasping for the right words, but you knew deep down that none can appropriately capture the magnitude of what you’re feeling. It’s a blur, that sacred moment, and it feels awfully final. Though you know that life, with all its beauty, will cross your paths again some day, there’s no certainty in anything. 

And that thought, as you pull away from her arms and take it step by step across the bar, constricts your heart tightly, as if it’s still her hand holding it and refusing to let go. You feel the ache of her absence already, though you still share the same air, and the tears on your face glimmer in the warm light of the fairy lights above you.

Alexia hadn’t quite felt heartbreak like it. She had known love, she had known loss. But never had she felt so sick to her stomach at the idea of someone walking so simply out of her life. Still, she had no way to contact you, only knowing your first name and that you lived in Barcelona. Yet, at the same time, she knew everything about you. In your opinion, there wasn’t another human on earth that so deeply understood the essence of your being. But she couldn’t do anything about it. You were out of her reach now. A face in the distance. 

In secret you both met and in silence you will now grieve, because no one could understand how deeply intertwined you had become with each other’s souls in such a short time.

Isn't it strange, how a few fleeting moments can change every hope and dream about the future. And yet, in the glimpse of an eye, it can disintegrate into a past memory before we even know it.

—

Part two? because what if i said, theoretically, i already have the whole entire plotline figured out for it🌝 let me know what you think :)

[eufezco]

HOW DID IT END?

How is it that Steve's departure only drove you further apart? How was it possible that the only thing left between you after all was hatred for each other? Maybe these questions could be answered in a therapy session or in a night together.

bucky x fem!reader (angst, smut with plot, lovers to enemies to lovers) + no use of y/n. english isn't my first language (!)

—James, condition of your release, session now.

You looked at Bucky and he looked back at you, pressing his lips together and starting to walk after his therapist, annoyed.

—You too, young lady.

—That's okay, I can wait here with Sam.

—It wasn't a request. Sam, you have front-row seats for the show if you like—. The demanding tone in her voice surprised you and you had no choice but to follow her.

The therapist sat down at the table and opened her notebook. You and Bucky were at the other side of the table, sitting next to each other and in front of the woman. You didn't look at each other, you had not even shared a word. Sam, who was leaning against the wall behind the therapist, looked at both of you and shook his head. Steve was right when he said that you were both equally stubborn.

—So, who would like to start?

—I don't even know what I'm doing here. This is ridiculous.

—Yeah, I agree —. Bucky added.

—See? Making progress already —. She waited a few seconds to see if either of you would like to talk but you and Bucky remained silent. Dr. Raynor sighed, if it was already difficult to deal with him alone, it would be twice as difficult to deal not only with Bucky but also with a copy of him as a woman. —It is my job to make sure you're okay. And yeah, this may be slightly unprofessional but it's the only way that I can see if you're getting over whatever's eating at you.

You huffed a laugh and Bucky rolled his eyes. Whatever's eating at you? What could possibly be eating at you? There was nothing that-

—So, why don't you both start by telling me what kind of relationship you had with Steve Rogers?

Your expression changed completely when you heard his name. Bucky looked at you out of the corner of his eyes, Sam's eyes also went to you as he tensed his back when Dr. Raynow brought Steve up out of nowhere. Bucky decided to start talking but you couldn't hear what he was saying, you could only focus on how tense your jaw was, the knot in your stomach, and all the anger you were feeling.

Just as it was a relief for Bucky to think and talk about Steve, it hurt you. There was never anything romantic about your friendship with Steve, it was purely based on your devotion to him and your mutual admiration and respect.

When you lost Bucky and Steve crashed into the ice, you had no reason to live but before your heart stopped beating, Howard Stark found you and injected you with the serum. And when you woke up there was only Steve, seventy years later and just as confused as you, living in a century that did not belong to you.

You were together during the whole process of readjusting to your new lives. For Steve, you joined a group of people who called themselves the Avengers and fought against the god of mischief in New York. For Steve, you were almost killed by a robot in Sokovia. For Steve, you fought the Winter Soldier. For Steve, you sided against Tony Stark, the son of the man who brought you back to life, and for Steve, you fought, lost, fought again, and won against Thanos.

They say there is no worse heartbreak than that caused by a friend and Steve Rogers stole a piece of your heart when he left.

—Thank you, James. What can you tell us about Steve? —Dr. Raynor asked you.

You shook your head, your eyes fixed on one spot. The feeling of betrayal when Steve didn't return within the five seconds set by Bruce still haunted you. —I will never forgive him.

Bucky shook his head as well, he turned to look at you. —You know, Dr. Raynor? I've met her for more than seventy years now and one thing that hasn't changed about her is how selfish she is.

—James, we are not here to make value judgments about the feelings experienced by the other person.

The condescending tone in Bucky's voice made you close your eyes and take a deep breath before you talked. —You were captured by HYDRA, tried to kill us, then went into cryogenic sleep and disappeared with the snap. I don't expect you to understand what I'm going through since you never lost Steve because you never had him.

—He was my best friend! —Bucky raised his tone and turned in his chair to look at you.

—You don't even remember a single thing of him before he became Captain America!

Sam called your name. That wasn't Bucky's fault.

—He left because that was the life he fought so many years for! That's the life Steve deserved!

—He was my best friend too! We were together all these years while you were killing people and I had to watch him go! —You did the same as him. That was the first time you looked at each other since the session started and you were yelling at each other. Sam didn't miss any part of the argument, he was with his arms crossed and paying attention to everything you were saying to each other. How could two people who had loved each other so much end up like this?

—Okay, that's enough —. The doctor stopped you before it went any further. You and Bucky rested your backs on the chair again, defeated, and your eyes focused on the therapist. —Since this isn't working, we're going to do an exercise. It's something I use with couples when they're trying to figure out what kind of life they wanna built together —. The doctor added. Bucky rolled his eyes and you closed yours while shaking your head.

—You are acting as if you were never a couple —Sam said.

—Back in 1940.

—Yeah, eighty-two years ago.

You both said at the same time.

—Come on, turn around, look at each other.

Both of you hesitated for a few seconds but finally turned to face each other. His blue eyes were fixed on yours, it was difficult to keep eye contact with him.

—The exercise is called Everytime I look at you and consists of saying something that you feel or see in the other person every time you look at them. Why don't you start?

As you looked at Bucky, you could see the young soldier, wearing his new uniform proudly and hanging a copy of his dog tag around your neck. Looking into Bucky's eyes you felt again the last kiss he gave you before falling from the train, you heard his last laugh before he was brainwashed by HYDRA, you could even feel the caress of his fingers on your skin before the vibranium covered one of his hands.

—Every time I look at you, you have that lost puppy look on your face, asking for people's sympathy. I can't even look at you because every time I do, your mere presence reminds me that Steve's no longer here and it makes me want to fucking die, and sometimes I wish-

Sam called your name and you stopped talking before you could finish the sentence. Bucky's eyes never left yours. You were saying all that to his face.

—Let her finish, Sam —. Dr. Raynor said.

There was a silence.

—And sometimes I wish you were gone instead of him.

As Bucky looked at you, he could see the young lady he fell in love with even though everything he remembered about her was gone. The sparkle in that girl's eyes could no longer be found in yours, but he couldn't forget how your eyes shone as he wrapped his arms around your waist to dance. Bucky did not forget the sound of your laughter when he told you that he would marry you after the war, even though he was totally serious.

—Every time I look at you I don't recognize you. You have changed for the worse and I'm not sure if I like this version of you. You are mean, you don't allow people to get close to you and you hide and say that it's Steve's fault for leaving. But let me just say...

Bucky could see how you dealt with sadness by turning it into anger, he knew it because he did the same thing. Your jaw tightened and you closed your fists so hard that your fingernails dug into the palms of your hands. You didn't want him to say it, but at the same time, you couldn't wait to hear it.

—... that being a bitch isn't going to bring him back.

As soon as Bucky finished the sentence, you got up from the chair and left the room slamming the door. He didn't react to you leaving, he just sat in the chair asking himself the same question as Sam. How did you come to this? How could two people who had loved each other so much end up like this? Sam tried to go after you but he could not keep up with your super soldier speed so he went back to the police station with Bucky and gave him the same look of disappointment that Steve would have given him.

That same night someone knocked on your front door.

You thought it would be Sam because he had been calling you nonstop since you left and you had been ignoring him all day long but when you opened the door, you found Bucky instead.

He took a step closer to you to go inside your house and your hand connected firmly with his cheek. The skin on his face burned right where you had hit him and your body was blocking the doorway. He was just as angry as you were so he gave you a strong push on your shoulders. You managed to keep your balance and he managed to get inside the house and close the door behind him.

Bucky towered you with a challenging attitude, keeping eye contact while forcing you to take a few steps backward. You, despite being shorter than him, did not lower your head. Your breathing was heavy, the tension was too much, you wanted to hit him again and you wanted to say worse things to him than what you said in the therapy session.

When you raised your hand to slap him again, he grabbed your arm with his vibranium hand and squeezed hard enough for it to hurt but you did not give him the pleasure of expressing the pain. The tension was overwhelming. There were only two ways to solve this, either he would let go of your arm and start a fight that wouldn't end until both of you were on the floor exhausted and bleeding, or...

Your bodies collided as you pressed your lips together. Bucky held your face with both hands while his lips devoured yours as your hands pulled on the hem of his shirt. He lifted his arms so you could take it off and in that moment you took a few seconds to admire his well-defined abs. He leaned in for another kiss but you pushed him by his shoulder, strong enough for his back to hit against a wall of your house and crack it. Before he could complain, you connected your lips with his again.

Bucky's fingers closed around your neck as a response. Your mouth opened against his lips, trying to get the air that he was keeping from reaching your lungs and Bucky's tongue went pass your lips.

You took a big breath of air once he let go of your neck and he began to unbutton your jeans. He would never admit it but he made sure that you were okay and that he had not taken it too far, especially when your hands went to his shoulders to keep your balance due to the dizziness. And when Bucky thought he had control over you, your fingernails slid painfully from his shoulders to his abdomen and he groaned.

Bucky threw his head back against the wall once your finger sneaked into his jeans and wrapped around his cock. You moved your hand cruelly slow, he had his eyes closed as he bit his lower lip to hold back his moans. You ran your tongue along his collarbone until you reached his earlobe. —I fucking despise you —. You whispered in his ear. He let out a moan and immediately clenched his jaw again. You felt his hips thrust into your hand.

—Fucking same, doll —. Bucky muttered through gritted teeth.

He brought his hands to your ass and squeezed it as he helped you to wrap your legs around his body. Your lips met again as he walked you to the big wooden table in your living room where he helped you to lie down. Bucky pulled his jeans down enough to free his hard cock while you opened your legs to him. He noticed the wet spot on your panties and you noticed the red marks that your fingernails had carved on his chest. As he pulled your panties to the side, your fingers ran over those marks and Bucky hissed.

The head of his cock was more than enough to stretch you open. You repositioned yourself at the table, now sitting up on your elbows to watch as he pushed himself inside of you. You thought he would give you a few seconds to get used to the feeling, but he didn't stop until he was balls deep inside you.

—Now you take it. Make it up for that attitude —. You whined at his words and Bucky rested his forehead against yours while his hips thrusted into yours.

You encircled your legs around his waist and hooked your ankles over the swell of his ass while he kept slamming his hips into you. At that point you couldn't even think straight, he was hitting all the right spots to make your mind foggy. His pace remained fast and hard, and you thought about the serum running through your veins and how you both could keep up with that pace all night long.

Bucky tucked his head into your neck and whispered the filthiest words into your ear, his hands were on your thighs, squeezing your flesh lustfully, he pulled his dick all way out and then pushed in again until his balls were against your pussy. Your fingers tugged his brown hair at the root, getting moans from him because of your tight grip as it encouraged him to fuck you even harder. If that was how hating you felt, he wanted to hate you for all eternity.

When he heard you moaning and whimpering uncontrollably, when your legs fought to close and squeezed his body, when he felt your nails digging into the skin of his back, Bucky pushed your legs up, hooking your legs over his shoulders, and kept fucking you in that position until it became harder and harder for him to keep going because of the tightness of your pussy. You came screaming his name and spasming around him, Bucky came a few seconds later, with a deep groan that made his chest vibrate and emptying himself inside you.

The next morning, when his alarm went off, Bucky was alone in your bed. He took his time to take a shower and grab something from your kitchen for breakfast before he left. Bucky walked to his therapist's office, trying not to give much importance to what happened last night and especially trying not to think about all the horrible things you said to each other earlier that day in front of Sam and Dr. Raynor.

When he entered the office, Dr. Raynor was not alone. Bucky almost apologized and closed the door again, thinking he interrupted someone's session, but then you turned around in your chair and looked at him. He looked back at you, surprised, from the doorway.

You were already inside, now it was up to him to decide whether to go in with you. Bucky didn't have to think about it, he closed the door behind him and sat down in the chair next to you. You wanted to give yourselves a chance, for your sake, for Steve's sake, and for trying to get back what you two once had.

—Let's try again, shall we? —Dr. Raynor asked with a smile.

[youunravelme]

slowly, then all at once

author's note: i'm going through some shit and needed to alleviate it with fluff and also it's mat's birthday (or at least it was when i started this)! EDIT: this takes place in an alternative TATGYLB universe bc went an ENTIRELY different direction with this series (because i don't plan well lolol). (stole the title from the fault in our stars because that book had me in a CHOKEHOLD at 14)

pairing: mat barzal x reader

warnings: none? cursing?

summary: the stages of mat falling in love with you

mat saw how you were with ella, the way you'd smile and talk to her like she could hold a conversation. or the way you never chided him or condescended to him when he did something completely stupid.

which is more than what he could say about his teammates.

so when he heard your piece of shit boyfriend screaming at you over the phone? or when he showed up unannounced and trying to "win you back?"

mat was livid.

he was sure jason had never hit you, because if there was any indication of that, mat would be all over it.

so while he's sure jason never inflicted physical harm, he saw the way you kept to yourself and even the way you looked surprised at his invitation to lunch or the game.

it broke his heart a little, to think that you'd never once considered yourself now a part of his life. when, in fact, the second you agreed to watch ella, it was like he'd pulled you into the fold.

he was on a mission to prove it to you.

inviting you to his game was the first step in his original plan.

well.

it was the first non intimidating step. (tito mentioned that maybe meeting his mom and sister after only knowing him for like a week was not the smartest move he'd ever made.)

you still looked out of your element when he asked, but he's positive that it was his own enthusiasm that convinced you to say yes.

and he thought it was a great idea! he got you and jason tickets, thinking that maybe you'd be more comfortable with having him around. and perhaps that was true at some point, but when he saw you, standing with only ella and sydney with water lining your eyes, something in his chest twisted.

you looked shaken, like someone had stuck you in a blender.

"where's jason?" was apparently the wrong thing to ask because sydney changed the subject almost immediately.

you wouldn't even look at him.

and when you told him about your piece of shit boyfriend leaving you?

mat wasn't prepared for the burning in his chest. no one got away with treating a friend of his that way, but seeing as you just avoided the topic altogether, he dropped it.

until you went upstairs to your apartment and didn't text him. tito would say he has a habit of hovering at times and maybe he never really agreed until five minutes passed without a word from you.

if you asked, he would've denied the intense concern growing in his chest. but how else was he supposed to react when you seemed so dissociated the rest of the night?

thankfully, you picked up almost immediately.

"hello?"

mat cleared his throat. "hey, you never texted me to say you got in alright. you okay?”

now it could've only been a few seconds, but it felt like a lifetime before he heard your voice.

“keep the car running, i’ll be down in a few minutes.”

mat was ready to grab ella and head upstairs, car be damned.

he couldn't hear what else really happened on the phone, he only knew that you came downstairs, empty handed, and frazzled. the sight alone had him contemplating going into your apartment to figure out exactly what was going on, but he knew the best decision was take you back to his place.

he'd figured it out when jason showed up with his daughter's car seat screaming at you for wearing his clothes. screaming at you like you were somehow in the wrong, like he wasn't the one who cheated on you.

you.

who had to be the most selfless person he knew (don't tell his mom).

you.

who had readily agreed to take care of his daughter on a whim because he was insanely scared.

you.

who was one of the only topic of conversation his mother wanted to discuss. it used to just be hockey and how he was doing. now the thirty minute phone calls turned into hour and a half long facetimes where ella and you are regular topics for discussion.

mat couldn't comprehend how someone could look at you and want to tear you down, but after you officially broke up with jason? he was determined to show you how much you deserved.

exhibit a

"it's five sugars, right?" mat called over his shoulder once he heard your footsteps coming into the kitchen.

you paused in the doorway. "what?"

mat turned around, two mugs of coffee in his hands. "you like five sugars, right?"

ella sat on your hip but didn't seem to give a flying fuck that he was in front of her.

"you--you remembered?" you tilted your head. "you only made me coffee like once?"

mat's face heated up at the implication but smirked anyway. "i have a great memory!"

"could've surprised me from the amount of times you get hit."

mat shrugged, still not completely used to the idea of you watching his games, even if they were just highlights. he held the mug out to you in exchange for ella.

"you wanna come to a game again?" he offered.

you looked at him before breaking eye contact and sipping your coffee. "i don't know if that's the best idea after last time. i don't want to embarrass you again--"

"woah woah woah," mat sat his coffee mug on the island before holding a hand up at you. it didn't sit right with him to see you so ashamed of something someone else did. "what happened at the game was not your fault. it was his, okay? you weren't to blame."

"you weren't even there to see it--"

"and i don't need to, okay? i know you." he meant it. but seeing as the conversation was getting a little too heavy, he changed the subject. "just think about it! and let me know what game you want to go to."

you didn't say anything, but just gave him a small smile and nodded.

he'd count it as a win.

exhibit b

it'd been about four months since you'd started working with mat, three months since you moved in.

not that he was counting.

there were things that were harder with having you around. mainly remembering to wear a shirt when he wakes up in the morning, or to not adjust his junk until he was in the bathroom or his bedroom.

but--

there were many more things that were significantly easier (and better) with you in his life (and apartment).

sleep training ella was easy as hell

keeping an eye on ella who was walking now

the apartment actually smelled nice? not that it smelled bad before, but now it smelled like a home.

and who knew decorative pillows made a difference?

but his favorite thing recently?

grocery shopping.

he was currently pushing ella around in a shopping cart while you scrolled on your phone through the list.

"so what do we need next?" he asked.

"if you'd give me a second, i'd have the answer for you," you snipped.

by now, mat was used to your snide comments, knowing that you were just a bit quippy when you were focused.

"ella, is your nanny being a little cranky?" he joked, ignoring the glare you were shooting his way.

you rolled your eyes and tossed a bag of bread at his head that would've hit its mark had he not had the reflexes that gave him a professional hockey career.

"excuse me?" an older woman spoke up from behind him. "as cute as your little family is, can you move out of the way? you're clogging up the aisle."

mat blinked. time froze. he'd never fully considered the implications of the three of you out in public together. but being the comment of you, him, and ella being a "little family" had his heart stopping in his chest.

"oh of course!" you spoke up and grabbed mat by the arm. the feel of your touch alone had him directing his attention to the physical contact.

he looked at you instead of the woman, watched as you mumbled to ella as you pulled all three of you out of the way. his brain went on overdrive.

god he never wanted you to let go of him ever again. he would give anything to just be able to hold onto you a little longer.

and he must've been thinking for too long because you were snapping your fingers in front of his face?

"mat? you okay? did i lose you there?" you had a cute pinch between your brows and a small frown on your face.

that wouldn't do.

so he smiled and nodded. "sorry, just thinking about something."

you.

exhibit c

you went out for the night with sydney while he hung out with tito and anders. initially, you said you'd look for a sitter to cover you, but mat laughed that suggestion off.

he didn't say it, but you were no longer a nanny to him anymore. and you deserved a night off without the stress of finding a replacement. anders and marty suggested a babysitter that he hired for the night immediately.

"are you sure you don't want me to wait until she gets here? i can help explain ella's routine!" you said.

mat rolled his eyes as he herded you towards the door. "i'll be fine, go have fun!"

you let him gently push you out of the door but turned around and looked at him. "if you need me, text me."

mat smiled. "if you need me, call me."

the babysitter arrived five minutes early which meant mat could spend that time kissing ella's cheeks and reiterating her schedule to the sitter.

he was the last person at the bar, anders and tito were already sitting in a booth, each with a beer in their hands, an extra one on the table for him (he assumed).

"didn't wanna leave ella?" anders asked.

tito scoffed. "more like he didn't wanna leave mama bear." mat rolled his eyes while anders cackled in response.

"shut up, beau."

"ah! but you didn't deny it!"

mat shook his head and took a seat in the leather booth. "what's there to deny? we're roommates and she watches ella all the time. we're friends."

tito made a noise in the back of his throat. "you and i are friends, barzy. you make goo goo eyes at her when you think no one is looking."

"no i don't."

anders piped in. "you nearly ran into me on the ice because you were staring at her wearing your jersey."

"no," he defended. "ella was making a really cute face!"

anders blinked at him before rolling his eyes. "sure, barzy."

mat grumbled under his breath and chugged half his beer.

two hours or so had passed with the three of them talking shit about other teams. anders had hinted at leaving, checking his phone just to make sure grace didn't text him. mat found himself doing the same thing to make sure the babysitter hadn't said anything, or maybe to see if you had.

tito didn't seem to give two shits about his phone. and why would he? he was the only one without kids.

they were in the middle of a conversation about the upcoming devils game when mat's phone started buzzing.

sydney martin.

mat picked up the phone, albeit a bit confused. "hello?"

"mat! hey!" sydney greeted. "are you busy?"

mat glanced at tito and anders whose brows were furrowed. "no, why what's up?" his swore his heart stopped in his chest when she said your name. "is she okay? what's wrong?"

"she's a little drunk and crying and asking for you. i don't know if you're sober enough--"

"i'm sober," he said. "only had one beer." he was already reaching for his keys in his pocket. "what's she crying about?"

sydney sighed through the phone. "we saw jason and her old roommate out at the bar tonight. he made a few comments."

mat's jaw clenched. he forced words out through his teeth. "what did he say?"

"mat--"

"no, if he said some shit, sydney, i need to know."

"no," she corrected. "what you need to do is get over here and take her home."

mat was already standing. "i'm on my way."

sydney hung up.

"everything okay?" anders asked.

"probably something to do with mama bear," tito commented.

mat sighed. "she ran into her piece of shit ex and is now inconsolable. i have to go pick her up."

anders snorted. "right. 'have to.'"

mat ignored the comment and said goodbye, already rushing out of the bar to get to you.

it was another ten minutes before he saw you, standing outside a bar with sydney. he could see your tears from the car.

mat jumped out and hurried towards you. sydney all but pushed you into his arms.

and it felt like the world made sense again. you fit perfectly in his arms, against his chest, head tucked into his neck.

"mat--" you sobbed. "i--i can't--"

he kissed the top of your head. "let's get you home, okay?"

exhibit d

ella was saying actual words now like most babies her age. mat used to look at anders, marty, and other parents a little judgmentally, he'll admit, because while babies learning to do things was incredibly cool, he didn't fully understand the hype.

until she said dada for the first time.

it damn near made him cry.

and like for all of her other milestones, you were there beside him with your phone recording the moment. you almost missed it, but you had a sixth sense for those things, figuring out when ella was going to do something incredible.

that was two weeks ago and it still never got old to hear her say his name when he came home or rounded the corner.

he'd been known as mathew, mat, barzy, barzal, gary, and a slew of other names, but dada had to be his favorite. to belong to someone who needed you so wholly was the best feeling in the world.

that and seeing you smile at him.

he'd accepted it now, there was no denying it, not after half the team was on his case about his feelings for you. and how could he not fall in love with you? you were gentle and kind and handled the shittiest situations with so much grace (he wasn't joking, he'd wanted to fight jason the second you came out of your old apartment looking like you'd seen a ghost).

you handled his friends with ease, never letting tito's teasing affect you. you handled the "mama bear" nickname with ease, even laughing at it at times.

you just made his world so much better just by existing in it.

which is why he gave you the day off while he and tito took ella around the city.

ella was fine for most of the day, though she kept glancing around.

"probably looking for mama bear," tito guessed. "i would be too if you were the one looking after me."

mat flipped him off behind ella's back. "i'm not an idiot."

"before you met mama bear, you kinda were."

he rolled his eyes. "sorry for not knowing how to take care of a baby as soon as i find out i have one. most people have nine months to prepare for the arrival of a child. ella literally showed up on my doorstep."

truth be told, he was parroting the words you'd said to him a week ago when the guilt settled in about how much of a shitty father he was. you were quick to correct him, saying the exact things he told tito, that for a man who found out he had a child only a few months ago, he was doing a great job, and he was even better than some other fathers who left the parenting to their partner.

"i'd never leave you hanging like that," he'd said to you.

but you shrugged off his comment. "it's a little different when it's my job to take care of your kid, mat."

"you've done a great job, barzy," beau said, clapping a hand on his shoulder. "there's no doubt about it. you can tell because she loves you."

ella smiled at mat and pushed his cheeks together.

"what do you say we get back to mama bear, huh?" he asked his daughter who only seemed to smile wider at the mention your nickname.

it was another fifteen minutes before they were home, rowdy and disturbing the peace and quiet you'd created for yourself.

"we're back!" mat called as tito shut the front door behind him.

they were setting things down on the floor by the door when you walked out in sweats.

"mama bear!” tito cheered.

you smiled and mat couldn't breathe. "how was my baby?"

mat was embarrassed to say he almost answered for himself. "she was great," was what he said instead. "isn't that right, ella bean?"

ella was reaching for you, making grabby hands in your general direction babbling something he couldn't quite make out.

"what'd you say, baby?" you asked.

"mama," she said.

and the room went silent.

mat's eyes kept darting from ella to you like he was watching a game of olympic table tennis. ella kept reaching for you until you finally gave in and held her. it was then he saw the tears streaming down your cheeks.

mat immediately went into defense mode.

"i'm sorry, i promise i didn't teach her intentionally, she probably picked it up from us calling you mama bear all the time and--"

you shut him up by placing a small kiss on his cheek and squeezing his forearm before turning on your heel.

"let's take a nap, ella bean."

mat couldn't speak, not even when you left the room. tito clapped him on the shoulder before heading towards the kitchen.

"you're so gone for her."

exhibit e

"are you sure about this?" you called from the other room. mat was in the living room adjusting his tie in the mirror on the wall while the babysitter was playing with ella on the floor.

to be honest, when he was complaining to beau about not having a date to some charity event the islanders were hosting, he wasn't expecting beau to suggest you. though, given how beau kept winking and nudging him after every time you and mat so much as made eye contact, it shouldn't have been surprising.

it wasn't that he didn't think of asking you, it was more like he didn't think you'd actually say yes.

"sure about what?" he called back.

"bringing me."

"i've never been more sure about something in awhile."

"you're so dramatic," you laughed.

mat would give anything to bottle up the sound.

"does this look okay?' mat turned when your voice sounded closer than it was a second ago.

he couldn't breathe.

god you looked beautiful.

"oh," you said softly. "your tie matches my dress."

if he could've he would've looked down to confirm your observation, but he couldn't take his eyes off you. your hair was perfectly styled, your makeup, flawless. the navy of your dress was perfectly matched to his tie and pocket square, something that shouldn't matter as much to him as it did.

but it was you.

so it meant the world.

you looked like you were his.

"yeah," was all he could say.

"you never answered my question," you said. "do i look okay? because if it's too much--"

"perfect," he said. "you look perfect."

you smiled. "sydney picked it out." thank you sydney. "you look handsome too mat, though, your tie..." you gestured to his neck so he turned around to see it crooked still. "do you need help?"

"yes please," he sighed. "i've looked up videos, but tito usually helps me do it."

"aw," you cooed. "you looked it up? that's so cute!" your deft fingers began undoing the knot and redoing it way better than he could've.

"how are you so good at this?"

you shrugged. "when i was fourteen, i read a book where a girl tied her husband's tie and i wanted to be able to do the same for the love of my life one day. so i asked my dad to teach me. i'm a bit of a hopeless romantic."

the love of your life.

god he'd give anything to be loved by you.

and it would be so easy just to lean forward a couple of inches and kiss you.

right there.

give in to what he'd been feeling for months.

but the babysitter rounded the corner with ella who was chanting mama and dada which somehow ruined the mood and made him want to kiss you even more.

"be good, sweet girl. we'll see you tomorrow." you made your way to the front door while he kissed his daughter on the head.

"i'm not sure how long we'll be out, but i'll keep you updated," he told the babysitter.

the babysitter nodded, which to be honest, he barely noticed because his attention was back on you and how your dress, while it had sleeves, had a dip in the back. he didn't know that skin could be so alluring, but maybe it was the fact that it was you.

mat cleared his throat and bid the babysitter and ella goodbye before ushering the both of you out of the door.

the drive lasted longer than he wanted it to, mainly because he couldn't wait to get to the event just to show you off.

was this how he was supposed to feel with all of his other exes? the desire to show the world you were his?

"you okay? you're quiet, it's unlike you," you said.

mat shrugged, mainly so he didn't immediately profess his feelings. "just a lot on my mind."

"uh oh. that can't be good," you joked. you leaned over the console and placed your chin in your hand. "you wanna talk about it?"

mat's hands on the wheel tensed, mainly to keep himself from leaning over and kissing you immediately.

"i'm good, maybe we can discuss it later."

you shrugged. "if you say so."

the both of you arrived at the event shortly thereafter with mat passing his keys off to the valet. "stay seated," he told you before getting out and rounding the car to open your door.

"you didn't have to--"

"i know," he smiled. "i wanted to." mat offered you his arm and you took it, wrapping your hand around his bicep like it belonged there.

the two of you spotted marty and sydney first; the latter all but shrieked when she saw you.

"you look amazing!" she said before tugging you out of mat's arm and into her own. "i told you this dress was the one."

"you didn't say i would've matched mat," you mumbled, though he still heard it over the buzz in the room. he was always listening to you.

marty nudged him. "you seem pleased with yourself."

mat smiled. "i am."

you were laughing at something sydney said when tito came up and clapped him and marty on the shoulders. "let's get you a drink, barzy. you look thirsty." he leaned in. "in more than one way."

mat shoved him off and leaned towards you, gently touching your arm. "i'm going with beau and marty to get a drink, but i'll be back."

you smiled and nodded. "okay, don't worry about me, mat. i'll be fine in your absence."

he let himself be whisked away from you and towards the bar where a drink was placed in his hand pretty quickly.

"so," tito started. "you two match."

"it was syd's doing," marty explained. "she orchestrated the whole thing. picked out the dress based on the tie mat wears every year. it was her new project."

mat flushed but did his best to brush it off.

"i don't know how you did it barzy," tito continued. "she looks good. if i were you i would've--"

"watch it, beauvillier."

"i was gonna say--"

"i don't care what you were gonna say, i probably wouldn't have liked it."

"well then, maybe you should take a chance and ask her out finally. the pining was cute at first, now it's bordering on pathetic."

mat rolled his eyes while marty laughed into his drink.

"look, you have a good thing going, you brought her here as your date, ella calls her mama, you two are as good as locked in and committed. you just have to do the hard work of officially asking her out!"

his gaze travelled to the other side of the room where you were laughing along with sydney and grace. you looked like you belonged in his world.

effortlessly.

mat made a move to go over to you, but marty caught his arm. "this is not the place to ask her out," he said. "as much as you want to, you don't want her thinking it took a pretty dress to get you to take her out."

"that's not the case here--"

"does she know that?"

mat rolled his eyes and took a sip of his drink.

it was another thirty minutes before he made his way back to you. he found you standing alone on the balcony with a glass of champagne in your hand.

"you okay?" he asked. "no one's bothering you or anything, right?"

you looked over your shoulder and snorted. "i'm not important enough to be bothered by the donors, mat."

"don't say that. you're important."

you rolled your eyes. "not what i meant, mathew."

god he loved it when you said his name.

"i just meant that the donors don't really pay attention to me, so i've just been hanging out with the wives all night since my date ditched me," you teased.

"okay to be fair, tito pulled me away, i would've stayed with you all night if i could've."

you blinked. "really?" you asked in a small voice.

he nodded until he found the words to speak. "i love spending time with you. you're one of my favorite people."

within a split second you were closing the distance between the two of you and wrapping your arms around his waist. your arms snuck under his coat so that the only thing separating your skin from his was the thin material of his dress shirt.

it only took him a split second to react to the hug and wrap you in his arms.

you mumbled against his chest. "you're one of my favorite people, too."

in conclusion:

in the end, there was nothing special about that day. it was a saturday in the middle of july back in coquitlam. by the grace of god, he'd convinced you to come to canada for him, not that you could really refuse as he was the one signing your paychecks, you'd joked (though he made it clear he'd continue paying you even if you didn't go).

and maybe he regretted it a little bit, seeing you bond with his family was another nail in his coffin of falling deeper in love with you. there was no way out now, not that he'd ever want one.

it was one particularly hot day in the summer that mat dragged you and the rest of his family to the beach. and maybe that was a mistake (seeing you in a red bikini in public should be illegal).

you sat in the sand with ella building castles, or at least attempting to, while he tried to drown liana in the water. it wasn't until liana finally dunked him, that he trudged back to shore, bent out of shape and irritated.

"you can dish it out but can't take it?" you teased as he plopped onto the sand next to you.

mat glared instead of saying anything mainly because ella was starting to pick up more and more words and she'd say "fuck" too many times thanks to his mouth.

speaking of, when she saw her dad, ella immediately called him before throwing herself into his lap, completely forgetting about you. it was funny to see mainly because it was a new trend of ella's, ditching you for him. it was even funnier because how put out you'd be about it.

just like now with your lip poked out and your eyes rolling.

"oh don't be a sore loser," mat said. "she used to love you more than me."

"well that makes sense, i'm way more likable than you are."

"i can't argue that."

liana came running into their direct line of sight with a polaroid camera in her hand. "i wanna get a picture of the happy family," she said as her explanation. "say cheese!"

mat froze but you didn't bat an eyelash at the idea of being called family. sure, he'd considered you a part of his ever since you agreed to watch his child, but he didn't know you felt the same.

"smile, mathew," you nudged him in the ribs.

he turned his head towards you, ignoring his sister's groans and chirps. he ignored the sound of a camera clicking and the subsequent flash that followed.

his focus was on you.

"mat, what're you looking at?" you asked. he could vaguely register liana walking away as your eyes searched his face for any hint of what could be going on, but all he could think about was you.

you wearing his jersey and holding ella at the stanley cup finals.

you in a few years with a ring on your left hand that he put there.

you with a newborn baby that was the perfect mix of the both of you.

you, old and crinkly, holding his hand on the couch as you told your grandkids stories.

you.

you.

you.

before he could even stop himself, he leaned forward and captured your lips with his.

you responded not a beat later.

and maybe it was embarrassing, how eager he was or how his hand felt like the perfect fit against your cheek. but he couldn't give a shit.

not when he'd waited so long for something like this. for someone like this.

and when you both pulled away, much too soon in his opinion, your eyes were wide.

"why'd you do that?" you whispered.

he shrugged and adjusted ella in his arms. "because my life is better with you in it. because i love you." he cleared his throat. "why'd you kiss me back?"

you smiled and leaned into kiss him again. this time though, instead of pulling fully away, you stayed close so that your lips brushed his. "because i love you too."

[secretlypeerless-cucumber]

Chapter IV

First

Shen Jiu has to consciously stop his hand from playing with the reins. Eyes ahead, back as straight as a bamboo pole and biting the inside of his cheek to stop himself from outright dumping the clone on the street.

Why. The. Fuck. Is he watching Shen Jiu so intensely? Is he already regretting coming with Shen Jiu? Bad luck then. They are going to Cang Qiong and Shen Jiu is testing to see if they are related, whether the copy likes it or not. He was the one to follow Shen Jiu, so the fault is completely on the other.

Such a fool; offering him the missing piece of his identity. As if Shen Jiu would let him leave after that.

"You said we didn't have names " A simple opening, an offering to talk. If Shen Jiu has to carry any and all conversations he is honestly abandoning this guy anyway. "I suppose you have one by now."

"Ah." Some shuffling of clothes behind him and the other is even closer now although, blessedly, does not touch Shen Jiu at any point. Just leaning over the wooden boxes separating them. "Mo-Jie named me Yuan when I was little, after I was bought. She was the one in charge of the new slaves and taught us how to do chores." A sigh. "I told her how mother used to call you her little warrior and she said 'If he was her warrior you should be her shield.'"

Little warrior? Shen Jiu wouldn't ever have thought someone could think of him as a warrior. A coward, if one asks Liu-shidi or Qi-shimei. A snake, if one asks literally any of the others head disciples. Trash, if Yue Qi ever deigns to answer anything. But a warrior?

"Xiǎo zhànshì?"

"Mmh. Mother used to say that Gege came to the world kicking so hard that he bruised the midwife at birth. A single little foot-shaped bruise." Shen Yuan laughs again. A sweet ringing bell. He is always laughing, Shen Jiu has found, always smiling now that they have left the auction. Maybe he is just an airhead. "And Gege would never let go of my hand in case I ran to make trouble, always so determined to keep Mother and this Didi safe... Always ready to kick that man when he was mean to us."

Hm. So his fighting was a natural thing, who would've thought.

"Gege has his own name now, right? Will he tell Didi? I don't mind just calling you Gege but I want to know." And here comes the feeling of inadequacy.

How nice of Shen Yuan to have been given a name with meaning. Something conected to his mother even when she couldn't give him one herself. How fortunate of Shen Yuan to have been sold to a nice house were other servants treated him so well.

Unlike this unlucky rotten brother that was given to the Qiu and treated worse that a pig. A living doll for the little mistress and a wiping boy for the young master. A toy for the household to play with. Furniture that doesn't protest the mistreatment and doesn't fight back. An unwilling treat for them.

How dare someone who stole his face have such a nice life, so cozy and comfortable. No wonder he gets to be so stupid as to follow a guy that could very well just resemble him by chance or a brother that could do anything to him.

"This one is Shen Jiu, Head disciple of Qing Jing Peak on Cang Qiong Mountain Sect." Maybe Shen Yuan had a happy life but Shen Jiu clawed his way to the top. He freed himself and brought himself to the place he has today. Fought, deceived and cheated his way to the second ranked peak of the most important and powerful sect in the world by his own hard work.

What of it if his cultivation is not as great as it should be? He repaired it by himself with no help whatsoever. Shen Jiu would like to see someone as privileged as Liu Qingge do that without dying in the process. What of it if he fights dirty or is plagued by recurring qi deviations? He did what he had to and would do it all over again if he were to start over.

"Really?!" The yelling takes him by surprise. Shen Jiu turns around just in time to see Shen Yuan almost fall from the cart from the jump he did after hearing that. There are those big and radiant eyes again, looking at Shen Jiu like no one else had ever seen him. Like he truly is worthy of awe. It makes him supremely uncomfortable. "Gege is so awesome! Isn't Cang Qiong the biggest sect? And Gege is head disciple!"

"Is not-"

"Gege must be so powerful and knowledgeable! No wonder he disarmed the guard and cultivator so quickly. They must've been so much older than Gege and he still won!" Shen Jiu turns back to facing the front, now determined to ignore the other. At least until his face cools down a little.

This is so stupid. Shen Jiu has never had this much trouble keeping his composure! Not even Liu-shidi can make him want to drown himself in the river like this. At best he makes Shen Jiu want to stab him a little, just a bit.

A murmur. "Oh, if only I could be more like Gege. Maybe if I had any talent, Shifu would have taught me like a true disciple..."

Prev - Next

Beta by: @sillygoofyqueer

[sleeplesssmoll]

May I request some suitcase family headcannons summer addition?

ill start

1. vertin is definitely rocking a button up pineapple shirt and those long a** dad shorts (Because she's our androgynous king 👑) with a straw hat to top it off

2 if they go to the beach instead of a lake in the suitcase there will be girls thinking vertin is a guy and trying to flirt with her

Confession: I don't like the beach so I didn't think about this at first, but now the brain is WORKING! Also, I love your ideas! You have me thinking about an entire scenario. Although, my mind focuses on Vertin the most lol so these probably won't be that interesting. This is more like a drabble than single HCs. The team heads to the beach because of a mission but they turn it into a vacation. Also, instead of a pineapple shirt, Vertin got this as a gift from the kids:

Suits and Ducks

Vertin tried to go to the beach with her suit. Desert Flannel and Blonney argued with her for a while saying how hot it'd be and so on. Vertin reminds them she crossed a desert in a suit and survived a shipwreck in her signature suit. She'll be perfectly fine going to the beach in her suit. It was the kids who actually managed to get her to change. Sotheby and the others gifted a silly shirt with little yellow ducks on it. They knew she wouldn't wear a bathing suit but they wanted her to join them! Since it was a gift from her crew, Vertin treasures it and proudly wears it in public at the beach. Outfit complete with bermuda shorts and a boater hat with a ribbon around it. Desert Flannel and Blonney tease her at first but they prefer this casual outfit instead of the stiff suit. Vertin looks like a dork but she's a cute and happy dork so they're secretly happy too. However, they're not the only ones to think that. Instead of deterring attention, Vertin catches the eye of a few beach goers since the shirt is a conversation starter. You know how it goes after that, our charismatic Timekeeper has a way of pulling people in once she starts talking to them. Also, she's pretty. Even if she's being silly, people seem to like Vertin's face. However, they give up on her once they see her crew, which happens to be full of beautiful people (Sonetto, Blonney, Desert Flannel, Druvis, Bun Bun, etc). The bar is high lol.

Eye of the Storm, Center of Attention

Sonetto was shy about wearing a bathing suit since she isn't used to showing so much skin. Desert and Blonney helped her find a modest one-piece and cover up that she felt comfortable in. She turned quite a few heads at the beach. She doesn't like being the center of attention, but she didn't mind the familiar weight of Storm gray eyes on her back while she splashed around with Regulus and the others. She made eye contact with Vertin on the shore. Vertin immediately tilted her hat over her eyes and turned her attention back to the bucket of seashells she and Eagle collected together. Later, the crew painted these shells together and decorated the gardens in the Wilderness with them.

Inner tubes and Ice Cream

Regulus is the captain of a giant floating inner tube. However, the others swarmed her “ship” and stole it. The pirate captain was thrown into the sea! When she went to complain to Vertin, she couldn't find her best friend. Her first thought was the one time Vertin mentioned she's not a great swimmer. Did the ocean claim her when she wasn't looking!? Then again, she survived being thrown into the sea while wearing a suit of all things–

Vertin spawned behind her with popsicles and ice cream. On one hand, Regulus was relieved but on the other, Vertin went to the store without her! The betrayal. They usually buy goodies together so the pirate can show her all the good snacks! Regulus forgave her when she realized Vertin bought frozen treats for all of them, including her. Vertin didn't want to interrupt her fun so she and Lilya went together instead. Lilya wanted to buy more alcohol anyway.

Regulus enjoyed her “rock n roll rocky road”, moved that Vertin remembered her favorite flavor. However their friendship nearly ended when she watched Vertin BITE into her Creamsicle (orange and cream pop). Vertin doesn’t feel pain or sensitivity so she always eats them like that…

Sonetto attempted to eat her blue-raspberry popsicle the same way after watching Vertin and immediately regretted it.

BBQ

Bunny Bunny’s BBQ smelled so good, other beach goers brought some of their ingredients over and offered to work together, kinda like a potluck where everyone brings something and the food is shared.

Night Fishing

Vertin doesn’t sleep at night because she naps during the day. She decided to try her hand at night fishing on the pier. She slipped out quietly so as not to wake her tuckered out teammates. Sonetto noticed she was gone because she hears everything that goes on in the Suitcase. She freaked out like usual until she found Vertin peacefully fishing on the pier. She sat with Vertin, using the Timekeeper's jacket as a blanket since she was still in her nightgown. Vertin tried to shoo her back inside since was clearly exhausted but she refused to budge. She ended up falling back asleep against Vertin's shoulder. However, Sonetto wondered if she dreamed the whole thing since she woke up in her bed the next morning. She didn't, Vertin carried her back the same way she does for the others. If Vertin is around, she sleeps like a log but if Vertin isn't around, she sleeps more lightly.

Vertin didn't catch much, but Satsuki prepared a Japanese style breakfast with it for her the next day. That breakfast ended up being “sampled” by so many other crew members that Vertin ended up nibbling on leftover BBQ to compensate.

She didn't let anyone touch her tea though. She'll share everything else but Satsuki's tea.

Kraken

Of course, this beach trip wasn't really a holiday. They were supposed to be investigating sightings of a sea monster. They almost forgot about it until Druvis and Lilya mentioned it in passing. Apparently the sea monster interrupted them while they were flying together on Lilya's broom over the water.

They managed to scare it off, but they need to take care of it since it's still a danger to others. The Timekeeper sets out with her crew to fight the beast.

The Kraken Calamari (Pavia's idea) they made hit different. Vertin made sure to save a portion for Madam Z and Tooth Fairy to try.

Home

When it was time to go home, Vertin decided it'd be nice to have a beach section in the Wilderness for the Summer. While she can't control the weather in her Suitcase, she can reshape the land. The others loved this idea. The Wilderness had other plans and it snowed on the first day of adding the beach. Imagine all these arcanists in summer clothes freezing outside (well, except the SPDM soldiers). They came inside and enjoyed hot chocolate instead lol.

Sunburn

They expected Vertin to get sunburn like some of the other arcanists, but she was fine. The Foundation's temperature training teaches them how to protect themselves from the elements with arcanum, which is why she crossed the desert and stuff without issue. Sonetto can do it too (she's really good at it), but she used sunscreen as a precaution.

Ms. Moissan made the children wear it too and used Sonetto as an example.

This means it was the young adults who suffered the most sunburn. Jessica was not happy about it. She didn't get sunburn, but Blonney did so she couldn't hug as much as she wanted.

[reticenceofladyeva]

9 Things Zuko Does That Aggravate the Avatar

I take it back. I no longer hate the last chapter of Where the Tulips Grow. In its honor, here's a little follow-up, just because it made me laugh.

And because Aang is like fifteen and a little jilted.

Aang doesn't hate Zuko. He doesn't hate anyone. He doesn't even hate the Fire Lord--er, former Fire Lord--so obviously, Sokka doesn't know what he's talking about.

Then again, Sokka did stroke his beard and suggest that Aang journal about his feelings, and that didn't sound like a terrible idea.

Inhaling deeply, Aang dips his brush in ink and spreads a piece of parchment across a small table. He'll make a list of things that he doesn't like about Zuko, and then he'll blow it into the fireplace, and that will be that.

Sokka's pretty wise for a guy with a fake beard.

He tried to kill me and my friends.

Well, that's not exactly true. Really, Zuko was trying to capture Aang and his friends. Katara had been raging about Combustion Man being Zuko's fault last time they'd spoken, but still. Aang doubts Sokka and Katara would have survived long after being captured, so.

2. He shot fire at me after I saved him.

Zuko was really ungrateful that he hadn't been left for Zhao to find.

3. He sided with Azula in Ba Sing Se.

This one, Aang thinks, needs very little explanation.

4. He betrayed Katara in Ba Sing Se.

Aang scowls down at the paper. He'd never seen her so angry before Zuko had shown up at the Western Air Temple.

5. There was something going on between Zuko and Katara in Ba Sing Se.

All of his friends, Katara included, say the play got that wrong, but if the play got that wrong, why was she so upset at the temple? Why couldn't she just forgive him? Katara is like him; she forgives and would never hurt anyone on purpose. Aang nods at the paper for emphasis. Whatever got into her that day was Zuko's fault.

6. Zuko makes Katara angry.

She's spent too much time with him. Katara supported Ozai's execution, even after Aang wrote to her and begged her to stop it. She refused, and he just knows it's because Zuko was there and not just writing her a letter and he must have been constantly bothering her about Fire Nation justice or whatever. Katara would never hurt anyone on purpose, and Aang wouldn't either.

7. Zuko married Katara.

Aang prides himself on his ability to let things go. It's the airbender way to be free of attachments, and he's always been able to follow that philosophy. Except for Katara. Guru Pathik said he had to let Katara go, but letting Katara go is what got him killed in Ba Sing Se, and besides, doesn't the universe want him to be happy? And then just when he thought they were going to be together, Zuko popped out of the woodwork and stole her from him.

He waited until Aang was out of the picture to swoop in and manipulate her into staying in the Fire Nation. He got hurt during the battle knowing she wouldn't leave him like that. He--

Aang takes a deep, calming breath and reminds himself that he doesn't hate Zuko.

8. Zuko won't give up the colonies.

This is Aang's biggest problem. The newer ones have been dissolved for almost two years, but Zuko is refusing to bring the Fire Nation citizens of Yu Dao home. So now Aang has to go and try to talk King Kuei out of starting a war, and then King Kuei went to the colony with an army anyway, and then Katara was there with the Fire Nation army saying she agreed with Zuko, and then the mayor's Earth Kingdom wife agreed with Katara, and now the whole thing is a mess.

Aang doesn't know how Zuko brainwashed her, but it's really frustrating.

9. Zuko can't get along with Kuei.

This one is completely Zuko's fault. The Earth King is a great guy who just wants to live in peace with his pet bear. Aang does not understand why Zuko is always picking fights with him about things like the colonies and whether or not sea prunes are edible.

Aang shudders. Kuei is right on both counts.

And that's it, Aang thinks. Nine things about Zuko that make him a terrible person. Iroh would be a much better Fire Lord. As the parchment dries, Aang lifts it and rereads his list. Sokka said to take three really, really deep breaths, and then to blow it into the fireplace. Once the list burns, Aang can let all of these go, and maybe then he'll be able to really clear out his chakras. That's the idea, anyway.

Sokka's pretty smart, Aang reminds himself.

Just as he prepares to burn the list, Hawky flaps into the room through the open window, looking dazed and a little confused (pretty normal for Hawky). Momo squawks indignantly when the bird lands next to him. Greeting Hawky with a quick pat on the head and some berries, Aang pulls the message out of its tube.

Then the list is forgotten. Aang shouts at the wall and rips his glider from its perch, throwing it open and darting into the sky.

The tenth thing Aang hates about Zuko is scrawled across the tiny parchment. Sokka is going to be an uncle in the summer.

P.S. The title is a reference to the last chapter:

“Stop avoiding me, Zuko,” she says, looking like she’s going to push everything off his desk if he ignores her. “We haven’t sparred since the last full moon, and we both need to stay sharp.”

She’s right, and he knows it. The assassination attempts have been foiled easily enough so far, but there are more rumors of rebellion fomenting in the south, and the Earth King isn’t budging on his demands to evict Fire Nation colonists from Yu Dao (Zuko isn’t budging on Yu Dao either, one more thing Zuko does that aggravates the Avatar). 

[silvervioletvalentine]

🦋forget me not🦋

Pairing: Charles leclerc X Cherrie!

Word count: 6.3k

Summary: in which she has a tendency to be a little forgetful.

Charles was still half sleep in their bed , cosied up between the ridiculous amount of fluffy blankets and cloud like pillows that his girlfriend had insisted on them buying. One from every single shop they went to.

They went out for some snacks? You could guarantee that they would be leaving with a new fluffy blanket too. Charles had stopped complaining after the fourth one , deciding to just let her do what she wanted. If fluffy pillows and blankets made the love of his life happy then so be it.

He was Now glad for his little comfort hoarder in convincing him to buy them all with just one pretty flutter of her eyelashes at him , pressing his face into the soft pillow with a content sigh as he vaguely listened in to his girlfriend random chattering.

She had been mostly talking to herself for the last ten minutes, (unknown by her. She would kick him in the back of his knees if she knew that he wasn't listening to her rambling .)

Charles having checked out of the conversation as soon as she started rambling on about how all of her skincare products and pieces of makeup that kept going missing , innocently wondering out loud if they had a thief who stole her beauty products but walked straight past the Ferrari on their way in , because that made total sense. Didn't it?

Charles was still too sucked into his own sleepy haze to remind her (once again. For the hundredth time.) that the only reason that her things kept going missing was because she had a severe case of forgetfulness and a even larger case of denial about said forgetfulness.

No matter how many times he showed her proof of her dory like mind . About The way that she didn't think before she did literally anything . The way she Didn't check her surroundings and certainly didn't put her belongings back where they were supposed to be.

Charles had found her foundation bottle in their freezer yesterday after hearing her complain on and on about how this was the third bottle that she had lost this month. Looking genuinely lost to how this kept happening to her , looking at him for back up to her makeup thief theory.

Only to trail off sheepishly when he had silently and calmly walked over to the last place he had seen his girlfriend be at , which was getting herself a pint of ice cream out of their freezer to gobble down while watching the labyrinth with him again.

And lo and behold ..what had she been doing when she had randomly got the craving for ice cream? She had been doing her makeup and where had she misplaced her foundation because of the simple fact that she had a one track mind and couldn't multitask? In the freezer alongside her lipgloss that she had 'lost' months ago too.

Charles had only gave her a exasperated sigh and calmly handed over her 'missing' and 'stolen' products. Before simply shaking his head at her and leaving the room before he burst into giggles again, knowing that she hated it when he was right.

And he loved her. God did he love her. She was the light of his life. She was his heart , his soul and honestly.. his daily amusement.

By now Charles had sort of gotten used to her misplacing things in random places and her permanent forgetfulness when it came to literally anything.

Like that time that Cherrie had told him that she was going to plant flowers in their garden for the summer , only for Charles to check in on her a hour later and see her building a swing that she had decided to buy instead , the flowers completely disregarded in the corner as she beamed up at him, more than pleased with herself as she proudly showed off their new swing. While Charles just looked on at the love of his life with his hands pressed to his hips while she smugly showed off her work , torn between amusement , pride and concern at her scatter brain.

In the end it had been Charles that did the gardening . Potting plants while she told him that she was going to make them some fresh lemonade to cool down with .

He didn't hold his breath, merely smirking to himself when forty minutes went by before she skipped back out to their garden with a plate full of nachos instead . No lemonade to be seen.

Having gotten side tracked again  when Lando had texted her a picture of the large plate of nachos that he was eating, completely disregarding the lemons and deciding to make nachos instead.

It was becoming a little bit of a problem because Charles was honestly scared that she was going to forget something serious one day. I mean.. how about when they got married in the future? Would she completely forget that she was marrying him, get sidetracked by something else and accidentally miss her own wedding?

It was definitely something that he could see her doing.

They had both missed her sisters wedding where she was supposed to be bridesmaid at , simply because Cherrie had completely forgotten about it and instead went on a solo trip to a wildlife centre after reading an article about some squirrels that wouldn't stop swearing at the guests.

Leaving a confused and exasperated Charles to deal with her sisters frantic calls about her whereabouts and a few furious family members that had accused her absent behaviour of being deliberate, claiming that she was just jealous that her sister had found everlasting happiness and got married before her.

Charles had turned his phone off after that before he got arrested for smacking somebody's bitchy aunts.

She may have been a bit of a airhead but only he was allowed to insult her and call her names, nobody else. And he had been the one that was left to give his sheepish girlfriend a stern talking to when he picked her up later in the afternoon from the wildlife centre, a embarrassed look on her face when she mumbled out a small "I did it again didn't I?" Completely used to it by now.

Charles had just sighed and nodded his head, driving them back home and telling her to write out some apology cards to send out to the rest of her family and by extension , his family now too. He had told her to claim that their absences was because of a medical emergency and not because his girlfriend wanted to see some swearing squirrels so much so that she had forgotten her sisters big day.

Things had been a little tense with her family after that, Cherrie refusing to accept that she had done fucked up.. again. Leaving Charles and her dad to exchange similar casual shrugs and a expression of not being surprised with her forgerfulness at all.

It was the new normal now. Which was why Charles should have been up as soon as he heard his girlfriend open their bedroom door to leave but in his half asleep brain it took him a few Extra , very crucial seconds , so fucking crucial seconds , to catch onto her next possible disaster.

"Pierre and Lando are here babe. I'm gonna go ask them if they want to head to the yacht with us." Cherrie told him casually , already walking out of the their room as she put down the dress that she was considering putting on, completely forgetting about getting changed as soon as she heard the familiar voices of their friends arrive.

There was a long second of silence bedore Charles shot up out of their bed with a loud, panicked gasp , almost smashing his face off of the floor as his feet got tangled up into their thousands of blankets.

His shoulder colliding painfully with the doorframe as he sprinted out of their bedroom as fast as he possibly could with a small "ow fuck!" Escaping his lips as he almost tripped again down the hallway in his hurry.

"Cherrie! Your pants! Your pants! Oh mon Dieu!" He shouted loudly in panic as he crashed into the front room with a dramatic bang.

Quickly Tackling the love of his life to the floor , who was only wearing a thong and a tight, cropped shirt , having been about to put on clothes when she got sidetracked again.

Completely forgetting that she had no pants on as she greeted Pierre and Lando cheerfully, only to let out a startled shriek as Charles barrelled into her side and sent them both flying onto the floor in front of their friends with a loud bang.

"What are you doing ?! You're going to break my ribs you idiota!" She exclaimed with wide eyes, trying to wiggle out of his strong hold. Looking at him like he had lost his mind.

Charles was panting breathlessly as he reached a hand out to grab another blanket from the armchair closest to them, quickly wrapping it around her body and tucking her in it like she was a burrito. A insanely hot burrito that he did not want to share with Anybody else. A burrito that was for his mouth and eyes only!

Pierre and Lando were laughing hysterically together as they watched Charles blink down at his girlfriend in disbelief while she merely looked back up at him innocently , as though she had no idea to why he was so panicked.

"I'm the idiot?" He repeated in disbelief , glancing between his giggling friends and cherries unaware face over and over again . Wondering if he was hallucinating it.

"What about you then? You're not wearing pants baby! What is wrong with you?!" He exclaimed loudly while trying to calm down his racing heart after that panic induced, half asleep sprint that he had done.

Cherrie paused at that , eyes slowly going wide as she glanced down at herself , body now wrapped up in a blanket like a straight jacket . Face flushing in embarrassment as she realised that he was right.

She had forgotten her pants...

"Again?" Pierre echoed their thoughts loudly in amusement . Lando had tears steaming from his eyes as he cackled insanely at the looks on their faces.

"Dude you tackled her like she was a rugby ball! Oh my god!" He shrieked , giggling hysterically while Charles just huffed and puffed in exasperation.

"Whoops." Was all Cherrie could mutter sheepishly , glancing over at her boyfriend who was now covering his face with his hands and groaning like he was in actual pain.

"My bad guys. It's okay though.." she tried to comfort Charles , patting his shoulder gently.

"They didn't see much did you guys?" She smiled over at their friends hopefully.

Pierre snorted loudly while Lando cackled even harder .

Pierre smirked over at her in amusement , shaking his head at her fondly .

This unfortunately (for Charles) and fortunately for him , not being the first time that she had walked out of their bedroom to greet their guests without her clothes on. She was So used to walking around their home practically naked that she forgot the social custom of putting on pants before opening the door to guests.

Whoopsie Daisy!

"We saw everything. Has your ass gotten bigger? It seems perkier." Pierre commented curiously , the both of them often doing their gym sessions together. He was her spotter and Cherrie, well Cherrie just liked to annoy him the whole time.

Charles peeled his hand from his flushed face and glared over at his friend in disbelief. "Dude that's my girlfriend! How do you even know what her ass usually looks like?!" He exclaimed pulling himself off the floor and dragging up his burrito wrapped girlfriend with him too.

Pierre just shrugged casually , looking between the two of them in amusement . "I know because I look Charles . I am but a man and your girlfriend has one of the greatest ass's that I have ever seen." He told him matter of factly. Smirking slyly at the death glare he was getting sent in return.

Charles was trying not to hit him for admitting to checking out his girlfriends ass while Cherrie just beamed at him , flattered.

"Aww thanks! And it has gotten bigger. I think it's all the chocolate cake I've been eating lately. It's went straight to my butt." She confirmed to him casually , wadding over in her blanket straight jacket to flop down besides them with a grin.

Charles was just rubbing at his head like a stressed out father as he watched his unbothered girlfriend clap her hands together happily.

"You guys want to come to the yacht with us?" She asked them hopefully .

Lando laughed loudly "and get to see you in a bikini for free? Hell yes!" Quickly Dodging the pillow that Charles launched at his head with a curse of his name.

Charles just shook his head at them and stomped back to their bedroom to get Cherrie some pants to wear before she walked out of their house without them again.

The things you do for love. He huffed to himself in disbelief, wondering how she had survived this long on her own in the real world when she forgot something as simple as putting on pants.

Then there was the time at the drivers parade , all of the drivers waving at the screaming fans as they past them by.

Hearing a reporter ask where Cherrie was as she was due to be interviewed then too , her teammate max just shrugging his shoulders and telling them that he hadn't seen her all morning.

Making Charles pause in his conversation with his own interviewer, pursing his lips together as he pulled out his phone to call up his girlfriend to try and find out where the hell she was.

She had told him that she was just going to head to the closest bakery for some breakfast first and that she would meet him at the track after, declining his offer of driving them both there together.

He should have known better than to let the woman who couldn't even remember to put pants on, go off on her own when they needed to be at the parade not even an hour later. Charles knew that she was already in trouble for missing a redbull meeting last week after she had forgotten to set an alarm to wake her up.

His phone rang for a few seconds before cherries bubbly voice came through the line. "Hey baby! What's up?" She casually chirped to him, utterly oblivious to the stress she was currently causing people .

Charles placed his palm over his forehead. Taking in a deep calming breath before answering her. Reminding himself that it wasn't her fault that she was like this.

She was a brilliant driver but her time management? Not so great. And Charles had a feeling that he was going to have to bail her out of her own fuck up again. Like he always did.

"Where are you?" He got straight to the point. Wary of the cameras being pointed at him, giving them a small apologetic smile that was more like a grimace as he leant back against the barrier behind him with a long sigh.

There was a long pause over the line before her voice went a little guilty, but not by much. Instead she sounded more excited than anything else , instantly putting him on edge  .

The last time she had that tone in her voice , he had come home to find a real fucking reindeer in their garden for Christmas. Cherrie casually telling him that they couldn't have a Christmas party without one. Like that was a normal thing to do.

She went out for some wine and came back with a reindeer. Just another casual Tuesday for them.

"I was getting breakfast... but then I passed this pet shop and they had clown fish Charles. Like , real one!" She told him like it was the most amazing thing in the world.

Charles pursed his lips together tightly as he recalled her amazed gasps and coos when she made him watch a documentary on sea life last night. The clownfish becoming her favourite fish that she had seen on there and she had spent almost a hour gushing about how cute they were .

She hasn't stopped talking about the Damn fish until he had to kiss her to get her shut up.

"Cherrie.." he warned her, pleadingly "please don't tell me.." he couldn't even finish the sentence , defeat already setting in because he knew exactly what his girlfriend was like.

Her bright smile was evident even over the phone "I got us a clownfish baby! Well.. I got us two! I didn't want him to be lonely in there." She told him happily.

Charles groaned in misery "for fucks sake Cherrie! We can't have fish- they'll die- you- if I didn't remind you to eat then you'd starve . Never mind a fucking fish!" He exclaimed in disbelief . knowing for a fact that this was going to be his responsibility now.

She huffed "I can look after a fish Charles I promise! I'm just taking mario and Luigi home-"

Charles's eyes widened "you named them-" he shook his head to himself in pure defeat . Shoulders sagging, knowing that there was no point in questioning why she did what she did. He would never get a clear answer on that anyways.

Instead he sighed long and hard "you're supposed to be at the drivers parade right now Cher. You're going to be fined for missing it again." He told her matter of factly, just accepting the fact that he was now going to be a father to two clown fish.

He wondered if this was her way of getting back at him for telling her that they couldn't get a cat.

He now had fish instead. And if he knew his girlfriend like he thought he did then he knew that it wouldn't only stop at two. Before he would know it they would have a full on aquarium in their front room.

He really needed to start keeping a closer eye on her. Especially when she was always pulling shit like this on him at the most random of times. Usually when they were supposed to be working too.

She gasped Loudly in shock "oh my god I completely forgot! Shit! I'm coming now! Cover for me please!"

Charles rolled his eyes to himself. Arms crossed over his chest as he looked up at the people around him listening in. Pierre was giggling beside him, having heard every word. Already pulling out his phone to demand Cherrie to send him pictures of their new clownfish.

"You're unbelievable." Was all he could breath out in disbelief . Never a dull day. "What would you like me to say? You know that I'm a terrible liar!" He whispered shouted down the phone to her, huffing loudly when she just let out a laugh.

Completely Unbothered as usual.

"Just tell them that I got into a fight or something."

Charles's eyes widened in disbelief "how would that help?! That's even worse than going out for breakfast and ending up buying clown fish Cherrie! Oh my god!" He stressed running a hand through his hair and side glaring at his giggling friend who was enjoying every minute of his constant suffering.

"I Love you baby but I've gotta get going . I'll be there soon!" Was all she said bedore ending their call.

Charles Quickly pulling up their text thread and angrily typing away.

I'm going to kill you for this. If these fish die we are not burying them in our garden like you made me do with that spider you stepped on!

I meant it Cherrie. I'm not covering for you again.

Then he paused For a moment after sending those two texts, quickly typing up another one.

Also I love you too. But Wait for me to say it back before ending the call Cherrie Pls.

Btw still not happy about these clownfish. You're never getting breakfast on your own ever again.

Now hurry up. Be safe and get here without any more pets please. Thank u.

Love u.

He then switched off his phone and sighed long and hard. Sending a apologetic smile to the camera crew and interviewer in front of him.

"Sorry about that.." he let out a nervous laugh. Shifting on his feet awkwardly as he tried to come up with a excuse to why their driver and his girlfriend was m.I.a. "Cherrie is.." he struggled to not call her crazy.

Was that not a good enough of a excuse?

"She's stuck in traffic after fighting off a-a bear." He blurted out like the terrible liar that he was.

Max looked over at him like he was insane "we're in England mate. There are no bears here." He told him in confusion. Wondering if he was alright.

Pierre was crying beside him, his high pitched laughter aggravating him as he sent his unhelpful friend a sharp glare.

"A bear? Did I say a bear?" He let out another bark of nervous laughter , face reddening by the second . "I meant a bee! Yes, a bee! One flew into the car and she had to pull over to get rid of it. That's why she's late!" He nodded his own head along to his own bullshit as though that would make them believe him faster.

No one believed him.

And when Cherrie finally arrived at the Grand Prix, an hour later with a beaming smile on her face as she proudly showed him all the pictures that she had taken of their new clown fish.

Charles could only sigh and wrap his arms around her in a tight embrace, burying his face into her neck and closing his eyes in defeat as she continued to ramble about all the fish that they were going to get next.

She was so lucky that he loved her because he was certain that the day a grey hair popped up on his head, it was going to be her doing. In fact he was surprised he wasn't yet balding with each situation she ended up dragging him into.

Thank god he loved her more than life itself . And At least she was pretty. That was something . It definitely made up for her.. .spontaneity. Yeah. That was it.

Then there was that time that they had planned a romantic getaway to the islands . He was still in their bedroom making sure that they had everything that they needed packed for their holiday, not trusting Cherrie to do it.

He had learned from past mistakes when he had left her to it. He had landed in Spain with a Empty suitcase and his packed suitcase left at home behind the door because she had forgotten to put it in their Car. Even though he had reminded her about doing it at least once every .. like , four minutes!

But today was going to be different. He made sure of it. He had everything planned out and both of their suitcases packed. With his own hands. No Cherrie interference at all. And it was going good! Just like he had planned.

All Cherrie needed to do was drive them to the airport. There was no way anything could go wrong or be forgotten. All thanks to him.

He was feeling quite proud of himself for this. Finally .. a trip where nothing could go wrong for him!

"Have you got your passport and ID ?!" He shouted down the stairs to her as he quickly went to the bathroom to go to the toilet before they left.

"Yes! It's in my bag!" She called back up to him loudly .

"Keys?"

"Yes!"

"Phone?!"

"Yes!"

"Your card and your money?!"

"Yes. Check and check baby!"

Charles exhaled in relief. Smiling to himself smugly "great! Get the car started then! We can leave now!" He shouted down to her excitedly .

"Okay!" He heard her shout up to him equally as excited before the front door slammed shut behind her as she went out to get his car.

As Charles washed his hands and shut off all their lights , he quickly walked down their stairs to grab his suitcase to put in his car. Having already put cherries in there that morning.

He was wheeling it towards their door, hearing the engine of his Ferrari Rev up as he typed in their alarm code ready to lock up.

Only to freeze in his plane and frown in confusion as he heard the engine sound grow further and further away.

"No. There's no fucking way." He breathed out in disbelief with wide eyes as he quickly swung open the door and rushed out to their driveway.

Looking around to Where his girlfriend should have been waiting for him in his car to drive them both to the airport for their flight.

Only there was no car and there was no Cherrie.

She had left without him!

He gaped at the spot where his car had been in pure disbelief for a long moment before quickly pulling out his phone and calling her up.

Shaking his head to himself as he paced in front of their front door in disbelief , looking at his lone suitcase beside him with with a gaping mouth.

One job. He thought in pure shock. She had one job and she had left him behind. Him!

She had Forgotten him! Her own boyfriend. She had forgotten to take him with her! He couldn't believe it!

What drugs was his girlfriend on?!

"Hello?" She finally picked up and he could hear taylor swift blaring in the background as she casually sang along . Seemingly still oblivious to the fact that she had forgotten something very crucial to bring along with her

He exhaled angrily, gritting his teeth "Cherrie! Do you think that you've misplaced something?!" He snapped at her in disbelief. Utterly Insulted .

It was one think to forget her pants and to forget her keys but him?! To forget him?! This was too much!

There was a long pause as she looked around her car in confusion while she continued breeze towards the highway to get them to the airport. Buzzed on coffee and Taylor swift , she had no idea what he was going on about.

Frowning slightly to herself as she hummed "I don't think so. I've got everything like you told me to. I've put our passports on the passenger seat so that I can't forget them this time." She told him proudly as she glanced at said passports on the leather seat beside her.

Charles buried his face into his hands, groaning in pure disbelief. "Cher.. baby.." he sighed out unable to believe what was happening right now .

"It doesn't matter if you've got my passport. In fact it's pretty useless on its own." He stated . Sitting himself down on their front doorstep, suitcase beside him as he glared out to the empty driveway in front of him. Furious.

Cherrie was confused , with absolutely no idea to what he was going on about. "What? Why? Is it out of date or something?" She questioned him worriedly .

Charles couldn't help but chuckle , unable to help himself despite how pissed off he was at her for forgetting him.

He couldn't help but be a little amused.

This was such a Cherrie thing to do. Talking to him about their passports over the phone and not even realising he wasn't beside her . She'd forget herself if she could! He was sure of it!

His own passport had stolen his passenger seat in his own fucking car! Unbelievable!

"No cherrie. But it's pretty hard to get onto the plane with the invisible man. Look beside you again babe." He instructed her sternly , shaking his head to himself as he closed his eyes shut in pure exasperation.

Cherrie glanced to the passenger seat with a frown. Seeing nothing but their passports there. "What are you on about Charles? We don't have time for this! We're going to be late!" She exclaimed getting annoyed with his strange questions now.

"Don't you trust me to get us there in one piece? I've check listed everything off that we needed!" she huffed to him. Annoyed.

Charles snorted out a laugh, grinning in absolute disbelief. "You're missing one thing. In fact - you've forgotten the most important thing of all!"

She hesitated , worried. "What?"

He sighed "who's car are you driving Cherrie?"

She was wary , glancing down at the Ferrari wheel she was gripping tightly . "Yours-?"

"And where am I?" He slowly asked her , already texting in the group-chat to update all of their friends of what she had done now. Knowing that Pierre was going to have a field day with this.

Cherrie looked at the empty seats and let out a loud gasp as she realised what she had done and just what was missing . Eyes going wide as she quickly did a U turn as soon as she possibly could, speeding back down the road in the direction that she had just come from.

"Oh my god baby! I am so sorry!" She shouted in shock. Heart racing in her chest as she realised that she had left without her poor boyfriend. Stranding him on their doorstep with his suitcase like a dumped boyfriend. "Shit! Charles-"

He laughed. He had to. The anger quickly disappearing as he thought about how funny this actually was . In fact, he was surprised she hadn't forgotten him sooner!

"Just hurry up and pick me back up please baby ." He snorted in amusement as he hauled himself back up to his feet.

Grabbing his suitcase handle and wheeling it across their driveway to wait at the end of their driveway for her instead.

Ten minutes later and his Ferrari came screeching to a stop in front of him, a guilty Cherrie opening the passenger side door for him as she smiled at him awkwardly.

"Er-sorry about that honey. I just-" she scratched at her neck nervously. Flushed and flustered as she looked at her boyfriend who was still shaking his head at her in disbelief as he out his suitcase in the car and climbed in straight after.

Buckling himself in he slowly turned his head to look at the love of his life beside him. Scanning her pretty face silently for a moment before simply uttering "we're going to bleach your hair back blonde Cherrie. Because this is Just unacceptable and you need a warning sign. People need to know what they're getting into with you."

She leaned over to give him a couple of kisses, kissing all over his cheeks and nose apologetically while Charles pouted at her unhappily. Not pleased with being left behind.

"I'm sorry baby! I was listening to Taylor .. getaway car and I just started driving! I didn't even think!" She tried to defend herself as she pulled away from their home. Having got everything she needed now as she started the second journey to the airport , this time with her most precious cargo with her.

Charles just sighed and grabbed her hand, interlacing their fingers together before placing their hands on his thigh as he gazed over at her with a arch of his brow.

"I can't believe that you forgot me." He stated still in disbelief .

Wondering how far she would have gotten if he hadn't had called her up to tell her that she had left him behind.

He had a awful feeling that she would have arrived at their holiday alone before realising that it was a little too quite to be normal.

Cherrie grimaced "I didn't forget you.. I just-" she glanced over at him with a flustered smile.

"Misplaced you?"

He scoffed at her, offended . "fantastic. You misplaced me like you misplaced your AirPods in Bahrain." He muttered, smirking to himself in amusement.

Cherrie groaned loudly in embarrassment "no! No! Fucking hell babe... I'm sorry! I've just not slept enough last night. I just assumed you were with me. You usually are ." She replied to him honestly.

Charles chuckled "what. In spirit?" He grinned at her , rolling his eyes . "And it's your fault that you're tired. I told you that having a sex marathon the night before our early flights were a bad idea but did you listen?" He glanced at their matching hickeys pointedly .

"No you did not. Because that's something you're incapable of doing." He said matter of factly .

She huffed at him again . Narrowing her eyes at him briefly . "It is your fault. You came to bed with that bandana on... you knew exactly what you were doing Charles! You seduced me!" She accused him loudly.

He just laughed slyly , getting comfortable in his seat as he lifted their intertwined hands to his lips. Kissing her knuckles gently.

"Not my fault that you have a bandana kink." He smirked smugly at her . Loving the way she reacted to him so easily.

It was a definitely a confidence booster to know that he wasn't the only one in their relationship that got turned on at the simplest that the other did.

Charles was crazy for her. Like one look at her smile and he turned into a horny rabbit type of crazy.

But Cherrie was the exact same with him too . And now Charles always kept his bandana in his pocket just to tease her whenever he wanted to.

Three years together and they still lusted after each-other like horny teenagers . The spark had never dulled and never faded. He didn't think that it ever would.

Sex was one thing. But sex with the love of his life? That was a whole new level. She was a goddess and Charles couldn't wait to marry her and grow a family together.

But he would probably have to remind her of their wedding on the day so that she wouldn't accidentally miss it like she did at her sisters. And hopefully when they had kids, she wouldn't accidental misplace them too.

Cherrie laughed "not true. I have a you kink baby. Everything you do makes me want you...except when you eat my last cookie without-" she started to complain about her stolen cookie again.

Charles was quick to cut her off. "You don't get to complain about that after you've just nearly left the country without me Cherrie!" He warned her with a smirk. Planning to hold this over her head for a long time now.

She glared over at him playfully . Smiling despite herself when he leaned over to kiss the side of her mouth a couple of times , muttering that he loved her against her cheek.

"Don't make me wish that I did baby." She joked while pushing his head away from her so that she could focus on the road.

Charles just smiled and leaned back in his seat, pulling up his phone to take some candid pictures of the love of his life. Admiring the way the morning sunlight came through the window and highlighted her face perfectly .

"Love you. Even though you forgot me." He muttered as he scrolled through his camera roll to look at the pictures he had taken of her.

She just sighed "yeah. Yeah. Sorry again.." she then reached forward to put her queen Taylor back on as she sped down the highway in his Ferrari. With Charles this time.

There was a short pause before Charles looked back over at her with a dissatisfied frown. "Cherrie!" He exclaimed , looking at her impatiently.

She glanced over at him in confusion "what now?"

"Say it back!" He demanded to her.

It was a rule of theirs. To never leave a 'I love you' empty handed. You never knew what was going to happen with the life they lived so it was important to always let the other person know how much you loved them. Always.

Cherrie smiled fondly and squeezed his fingers three times, laughing softly. Utterly in love with this man beside her .

"Sorry! I love you too! And I like you. I loved you yesterday and I love you even more today. And I'm going to love you for the rest of our lives. Okay?" She glanced over at him for approval. Smiling softly.

Charles flushed red . Sinking down into his seat with a flustered smile as he shyly laughed , teeth digging into his bottom lip as he looked at the love of life with a content sigh.

"Yeah. That's perfect. Thank you." He simply replied while grinning at her like a lovesick idiot .

She just laughed loudly , amused at him for thanking her for her love. "Don't thank me Charles! Now put on king of my heart next please!" She instructed him with a smile.

Charles did as she said with a smug smirk on his face "that's what I am to you." He proudly stated.

She nodded her head in agreement , there was no point denying it. They were in love. That kind of love that made others sick with envy.

"You know it baby!"

[spqcebunsforever]

Finally Reunited

Pairing: LA Buggy x Reader

Summary: Y/n and Buggy used to be best friends when they were little but time split them apart but because Y/n is a part of a crew that contains a certain stretchy pirate who stole something that the clown pirate wants he and Y/n will be reuniting sooner rather than later.

Y/n's Pov

Me and Luffy have known each other from the very beginning. I was friends with Shanks and for some reason, Luffy admired him so he and I got very friendly and I grew to be very fond of the boy. Luffy since he was very little had always said that he wanted to be a pirate and join Shanks crew but he would always get turned down and always for the same reasons. I was there when he tried to poke his eye out to show how determined he was to be a pirate. I along with Shanks got him cleaned up and bandaged after it was tough trying to get him to realize that he was only a child and children couldn't be pirates.

I also remember the day Shanks had gone away to try to find the one piece he had come to say goodbye to me after he had spoken to Luffy and I remember him saying how devastated he was that he was never coming back. Shanks had always been brave even when we were growing up but along with that, he had always been stupid as well. "I can't believe you are going to really do this it's like you have a death wish" he just gave me a small smile "Yeah but just think about how cool I'll be when I find it". With tears in my eyes, I gave him the tightest hug I could give. I knew that this would maybe be the last hug that we ever share so I wanted to at least make it different from the rest.

A few years later Luffy had come up to me and told me that he was leaving to become a pirate and that he was going to create a crew and find the one piece. I was not about to let this boy that I had grown so fond of just leave so I packed all my stuff and told him that he had his first crew member. His smile was huge when I told him I was coming with him and that's what we did set off to go find the one piece. And that brings us to the present with Luffy jumping around on this boat that we stole and Nami trying to get the map to the grand line out of the safe.

When she finally opened the safe Luffy couldn't have been happier. Nami opened up the map and we all looked at it Zoro who had been taking a nap in the back had also come out to check out what was going on. Luffy asked Nami where exactly the grand line was so we followed her to the back so she could explain but while she was explaining we all heard bangs. Our first thoughts were that the Marines had caught up to us but when we got on the deck to see what was going on instead of cannon balls hitting us it was red smoke. Before I could even think about what was happening I felt my body go stiff and fall to the ground.

When I woke up I realized that I was on a bed and a very comfy one. Once my eyes had fully opened and were adjusted to the light I started looking around the room. It was a very nice room it had lots of gold stuff all around it, it looked like whoever owned the room was trying to impress someone. Before I could take another look around I heard the door creak open and I immediately moved back into the bed getting ready if I needed to fight. What I didn't expect to see was blue hair and a red nose from someone who I hadn't seen in years.

Buggy came into the room with a straight face I didn't like that whenever I had seen him he had always worn a smile but now it was completely different. "Ah, your awake good" I just continued staring at him so confused "Buggy is that you?". He walked further into the room and shut the door "Oh so you remember my name I'm surprised I thought you would have forgotten". I just again shot him a confused look "Of course I didn't forget your name why would you think that". His mood immediately changed from straight-faced and calm to rage "Why because you left me to go with Shanks!". I felt my eyes open in shock "What you know that's not true I didn't leave you for Shanks".

"Yes you did you left me for Shanks and betrayed me and to think that I ever liked you!" He realized what he had said and for a second we just stared at each other both our faces pink. Buggy put his hands over his face and slid down the bottom of the bed frame trying to hide himself. I couldn't help the small smile that appeared on my face he was still buggy.

I carefully moved closer to the bed frame still sitting on the bed. "Hey, you remember when we were little and we used to see how much food we could steal without getting caught by the chef". He didn't say anything but I knew he was listening "I remember because one night you had stolen 3 cookies from the boat's kitchen and I really wanted to beat you so I went down and tried to steal 4 but that's all that was left so in the morning the chef was so angry because he knew someone had stolen and before I could confess even though you knew I had done it you said you had done it and got toilet duty".

He still wasn't responding "Or I remember when you tried to open a door for me when we were younger but instead of opening you hit me with it and I ended up with a nose bleed and you started acting like I was dying asking if I was going to faint or if I was going to puke remember you carried me back to my bed after that as well you told everyone you didn't care but that night you brought me soup to make me feel better".

I started giggling at the memory but he still hadn't moved from his position hiding at the bottom of the bed frame. I started to think of something that I could say and then it hit me. "But my favorite memory from when we were little was when we were stargazing on the ship I think that one is my favorite because that night was actually the night I admitted to myself that I liked you". I felt my face again turn pink finally admitting that to him but I heard him move and his head popped up making eye contact with me.

"Is that true did you really like me". I just playfully rolled my eyes "Yes of course I liked you and listen I'm really sorry if I made you feel like I ditched you for Shanks and I'm sorry that I left you in general I should have stayed with you". Buggy then moved onto the bed with me sitting in front of me. "As long as you say you like me more than Shanks I will forgive you". I touched his cheek with my right hand "I like you way more than I like Shanks hell Bugs I love you". He accepted my touch and put his hand on mine. "Now could you please tell me where the rest of my crew are" Buggy rolled his eyes "Why are you a part of their crew come join mine we can be happy just us together".

I really thought about it I really did but I had to shake my head. "Not now bugs I need to make sure that he stays safe if the offer still stands in the future I'll of course join but I just need to make sure that he doesn't kill himself first". Buggy looked a little bummed but still gave me a smile "The offer will always stand for you no matter what". I gave him a quick peck on the cheek "Well now please show me to my crew so we can as nicely as we can kick your butt". Buggy got up and opened the door for me and this time I didn't get hit. As we were walking out buggy put his arm around my shoulder and gave me a smirk. "Yeah, I'd like to see you try sweetheart".

[pollymorgan]

Ex-Husband Negan Part 7

Warnings: Negan is Negan, a few hot words, a woman who doesn't learn.

Shame on me! 🙈 For some reason, I thought Lizzie was 7 years old when writing, but she's actually 11 years old ... so, if she comes across as "immature," that's the explanation .... Sorry ...

Present

I was just preparing the salad for dinner with Lizzie. Or rather, my youngest daughter was cutting the tomatoes, while I stood next to her in a panic, struggling not to snatch the sharp knife from her little hands, when Gracie came into the kitchen talking on the phone.

"Yes, Dad, I know, but you have to understand ..." she spoke calmly into the receiver.

Typical, if I had pulled a stunt like Negan did this morning, she wouldn't have talked to me for at least a month, but with her father, everything was immediately forgiven and forgotten.

As she said goodbye to him, Lizzie immediately turned around frantically. "I wanted to talk to Daddy too ...".

I immediately took the knife from her hand and held her arm because she was wobbling uncontrollably on the step.

"Dad didn't have time anyway, because he's on his way to go eat with Sherry!" my eldest replied.

Somewhat shocked, I asked, "Sherry?!?"

Just hearing another woman's name in connection with Negan stabbed me in the heart, but the fact that it seemed completely normal for my children shocked me even more.

"Well, Daddy's girlfriend ..." Lizzie said meekly.

I tried to compose myself and not show anything to my children.

"So, his girlfriend then ..." I replied softly.

Gracie stood between us and stole a piece of bell pepper from the cutting board, "Yeah, she's really cool ...".

"Do you know her?" I asked, as unimpressed as possible.

"Of course, we even went shopping together ..." she said and then poured the chopped vegetables into a large bowl.

I had definitely lost my appetite at dinner. Thoughtfully, I poked at my plate. That bastard. Negan was clearly the one who had seduced me again last night, and then he didn't even bother to mention his girlfriend with a single word.

The anger and disappointment boiled inside me, but worse yet, even though I didn't want to admit it, I was also insanely jealous.

Last night had shown me that my feelings for him were still so incredibly strong, but it all seemed meaningless to him. Why does he still have such power over me, even though he has caused me so much pain?

Even in the evening, when I lay in my bed, the voices in my head did not stop. How could he whisper such sweet things to me yesterday while bringing me to climax over and over again and then spend a nice evening with the next woman - his girlfriend???

In a feeble attempt to distract myself, I scrolled through my phone. Opened apps only to close them again immediately. Eventually, I went to my photo gallery and came across a selfie I had taken a few days ago, in front of my bed.

I didn't know exactly what I wanted to achieve with it, or what I hoped to achieve, but after applying a few filters, I posted it on my status and made it visible only to Negan.

Annoyed with myself, I placed the phone on my nightstand and buried myself under the covers. I lay there for a few minutes, struggling with whether I should just delete the post, when I heard a vibration. I quickly threw the covers off and grabbed my phone.

"Damn, you're hot, Mom 🔥😍"

I couldn't help but smile, and the devil on my shoulder thought that Sherry might not be so interesting after all, if my ex-husband could find the time to react to my photo.

"And damn lonely, all alone in bed ... 🥺...everything still smells like you, Daddy ..." I replied, and it wasn't even a lie. I hadn't changed the sheets yet, and his scent had been clouding my senses the whole time.

I felt my cheeks flush at the thought of what he might write, and I didn't have to wait long for a response.

"Oh, my poor baby... Do you miss me so much? Be good and touch yourself for me, okay? And then tell me if you still feel where my tongue was yesterday, all over you and inside you ... Fuck, I still have your heavenly taste on my lips ..."

Instantly, every part of me tingled. My whole body seemed to be buzzing with electricity. Just his written words and the thought of last night sent me into ecstasy.

But I didn't want to settle for this chat while he was probably sitting nonchalantly next to his new girlfriend, enjoying the evening to the fullest.

"No, that's not enough for me ... My fingers are running over my body, to all my sensitive spots, but it doesn't feel the same as you ... Nothing feels even close to as good as you! I need you here with me, Negan. Now!" I nervously sent the message.

Agonizingly, I watched as he typed, but no new message appeared. Then he suddenly went offline. Fuck! I had probably lost this little game.

Just as I was about to disappointedly put my phone away, a response finally came.

"Put on something sexy. I'll be there in 20 minutes! 😉"

Oh man, my heart leaped. He was actually going to show up here! He had chosen me. At least for tonight.

Excited like a teenager, I jumped out of bed and, no, I ran to my dresser. I quickly pulled out some lingerie that I constantly bought but never wore.

After choosing one, I went to the bathroom to freshen up. I kept glancing at the clock.

After just 15 minutes, the doorbell rang. I grabbed my robe and put it on, then hurriedly ran down the stairs.

As I opened the door and he stood there in front of me, my heart pounded even harder in my chest. He looked incredibly good in his dark clothing and black-rimmed glasses.

Smiling confidently, he was about to lean in to kiss me when I pushed him back with a flat hand on his chest.

"Was Sherry very sad that you had to leave?" I asked innocently.

His grin widened instantly. He leaned his upper body back and let his eyes roam over my body.

"You little minx, so the kids told you about her ... but I have to say, your jealousy is incredibly sexy..." His gaze lingered on my belt, which I had quickly tied around my waist. He casually undid the knot with a quick hand movement, and my robe fell open. The cool air immediately caused goosebumps to form on my bare skin.

"Fuck.." Negan whispered as he caught sight of my white lace underwear.

We were still standing at the open front door, but I didn't care in that moment.

"So, why did you come here?" I provocatively asked him.

"Shit, what kind of question is that? ... Isn't it more than obvious ...?" he replied and then bit his lip.

"I want to hear it from you..." I still pressed.

Negan confidently approached me, but I took a few steps back so we were in the middle of the hallway. He let the door slam shut behind him, maintaining eye contact with me.

"Because I want you ... only you..." he answered, then he grabbed me firmly and pulled me into a long, passionate kiss, his fingers wandering under my robe. When his large hands touched my butt, I couldn't help but let out a soft moan.

"Wow, wow, let's go to the bedroom before the girls wake up..." Negan laughed.

As soon as we arrived there, I let my robe slip completely off my body. Just his reaction to me made my lower abdomen clench with desire.

"Show me..." he commanded with a firm, deep voice. I looked at him questioningly, then he added. "Show me how you touched yourself when you missed me ... I can't stop thinking about your message ... I want to see it..."

Without breaking eye contact with him, I fell back onto the bed. Negan stood there watching every move I made. There was so much tension in the room that it was palpable.

Slowly, I began running my fingers over my chest and gently stroked my sensitive nipples, which were only covered by a thin fabric and immediately stiffened.

I enjoyed his gaze on me. I could see how much he was turned on by all of this. His green-brown eyes seemed darker than usual and gleamed with lust. His Adam's apple moved up and down noticeably, and his tongue lightly moistened his perfectly shaped lips.

Just as I was about to continue moving my hand down my body, the bedroom door unexpectedly opened. Startled, I pulled the blanket over my body and looked at the shocked face of my partner Steve, who suddenly stood before us.

"What's going on here?" he asked, pale as a sheet.

Negan turned to him first and then amusedly back to me, grinning from ear to ear. "Wow, the evening is going to be even more exciting than I expected...!"

[futureplayboibunnie]

‘Innocent’

Sherlock x fem! reader

- oh. my. god. i got a few requests for this virgin/ inexperienced smutty fic and lord i got so carried away. I LOVE THIS ONE SO MUCH IT TOOK ME SO LONG BUT MY OWN WRITING HAS ME FERAL??? help x 

Sherlock was feeling completative, pondering upon forbidden grounds that he wouldn't usually travel. He was walking through the avenues of his mind, the thoughts reeling through him- even though it really wasn’t a good time.

You were next to him, he was being awarded another stupid gift for his incredible and somewhat pretentious sleuthing skills but he really wasn't paying much attention. Not after what he did. Not after what he felt.

Sherlock accidentally grazed your fingers while you were standing next to him, he was versed enough to catch onto bodily reactions but yours was incredibly different. Your breath caught in your throat but you still let out an audible gasp, you stiffened under his glare and your face started to blush a heated rose with every moment he stared at you. Lips parted, eyes widened with a surprised sheen, teeth clamping onto your lower lip- he didn't know he had the ability to draw that type of reaction out of you. He hasn't really seen a woman react like that before. Especially because of something he did.

Jesus Christ, it's like you've never been touched before.

He stole another glance at you. You were incredibly bashful, not in a nervous way but in an endearing shyness. Naive but knowing, chilling but warm...sexy yet sweet. A mystery altogether and Sherlock wanted to uncover all the secrets you were hiding, you were concealing something and he wanted to find out what it was. It was nagging him relentlessly. He was in spite of it. Sherlock was able to deduce anything about anyone but he couldn't place his finger on you, maybe it's because he couldn't but maybe it was because he didn't want to. This helpless attitude he was beginning to adopt was disarming him and he did not like it one bit. Even if he did want you, he simply wouldn't have the opportunity, you were as blocked off as he was.

Stop, Sherlock. She's much too young.

Sherlock's sex life was incredibly demanding. It never really occured to others that he had a sex life at all but what he demanded in the bedroom was intricate and detailed- he fucked his women in the way he alone wanted. He pushed the limits of every woman he had ever bedded and to some it may be shocking that he had a line of women begging for him.

Sherlock's tastes were very singular, specific and he was beggining to question if...you...were adventurous in bed. He shouldn't even be thinking about you in this way because you seemed so...innocent. Normally he didn't find that attractive but you were a fascinating creature altogether.

His brow creased. He could quite literally feel you shiver. He wondered if you were cold or nervous, but it all began to click- the puzzle pieces began to fall into place and he only realised once you were alone in his presence.

He asked you to meet him at Baker Street.

You were filled with dread and pining, you weren't even sure if it was quiet or loud pining but the desperation that was beginning to bubble within you was becoming very difficult to control and hide. Especially when the object of your desires wanted you to meet him..alone. You were so sweet for him. So ready for him but concern began whirring the cogs in your mind...for one, Sherlock Holmes was quite frankly unattainable and you were...inexperienced. Either way you were fucked, and not in the way you wanted too. He was just too potent, too strong and he could see through anything and everyone, you couldn't deal with the embarrassment he would be so unashamed to put on you- dealing with the ramifications of that would simply be your downfall.

But you couldn't find it in your bones to say no. Saying no to Sherlock Holmes? It simply wasn't within you, you couldn't find the strength to pretend not to want him anymore. Your heart thundered with every step you took up those stairs. Velveteen and living single wasn't really cutting it for you anymore.

‘’Sherlock?’’ You called after him as you creaked the door open, not really expecting an answer from him. ‘’Sherlock, what do you want?'’ You sighed exasperated and annoyed by the way he was keeping you waiting.

He was very certain with himself. He had a simple hypothesis but he wasn't sure if it was true, it really couldn't be true. Sherlock came out from the kitchen to see you standing there, trying to keep yourself cool, calm and collected but anyone with a brain stem could see that you were filled with panic. He straightened his blazer and unbottoned it as he made his way over to you.

‘’Can I try something? Please.’’ Sherlock asked with inquisitive and dark eyes, you were wondering what he wanted, what he was going to do. ‘’An experiment of sorts.’’

All you could do was mindlessly nod. ‘’Yeah.’’ You breathed.

Sherlock gazed into the endless summer of your eyes. If time stood still you'd take this moment and make it last forever. Your pupils dialated and that was something to cross off his checklist, his face was nearing yours and you blinked up at his dumbly. Your breath mingled with his and you stilled once his fingertips grazed up the bare skin of your arm, the pads flowing on the suppleness like oil upon water. Smooth skin left with goosebumps, you let out a shaky breath- completely confused yet enthralled with what he was doing.

His head dipped near your ear. Sherlock could feel your pulse kick into overdrive, he felt your body alight as he neared you- warm breath coating your skin. You were so damn shy, bright, deep and arousing as hell.

‘’No. It simply can't be true.’’ Sherlock muttered, he let go of you and you felt as though the sun just left everything in complete darkness.

Sherlock swayed slowly to lean on the edge of the table, arms crossed and the way he stood was enough to make electricity shoot down your thighs. Sherlock was shocked. It really couldn't be true but he secretly hoped it was.

‘’What are you talking about?’’ You asked impassively, afraid to reveal too much of yourself and the desire to jump his bones you were feigning in.

Sherlock finally pieced together you hadn't had anyone. You were a virgin.

It made his breath halt in his tracks when he came to the realisation, aren't people your age supposed to be fucking like bunnies? It was an objective expression: you were beautiful, sweet, charming and completely disarming. You had barely been touched. The thought is strangely appealling. Inexperienced? He could work with that, God knows he wanted to.

‘’Have you been kissed before?’’ Sherlock asked out of the blue, completely oblivious to how dumbfounded you were.

‘’Of course I have.’’ He thought you looked offended.

Yeah, you've been kissed but not often.... for some damn reason, it pleased him.

‘’Have you ever been touched before?’’ He questioned as if it was a normal thing to say.

You opened your mouth to talk but you couldn't find it in yourself to speak.

Hmm…interesting.

You were so...different. So different to his other women. He liked that.

And he wanted to fuck you, spank you and watch your skin pink beneath his cold hands. You weren't talking, that's out of the question now- isn't it?

He wanted to whip you into shape, your mouth would need training of course but he liked your naivite- it provided a challenge. Well maybe not fuck, that's too heavy handed for you. Maybe he could break you in...show you the ropes. It would be a novel experience for the both of you.

The look in Sherlock's eyes was that of fire swirling into a cylone, he sauntered his way over to you like a sly fox. Your chest was heavy as you looked up at him, the proximity between you two growing smaller and smaller. You daren't blink when he hooked his fingers up from your chin and jutted it up slightly- the feeling of his hands on yours was enough to do you in.

‘’I would like to bite that lip.’’ Sherlock grumbled concisely, his voice low and authoritative and your lips parted in surprise, he grazed his thumb over the soft pink flesh of your lips.

‘’I think I'd like that too.’’ You whispered, shocked by your own words.

‘’Where have you been? How have you been- how could you…?’’ Sherlock breathed, eyes inquisitive. Imploring you to make him understand how no one had taken you, no one had had you or touched you. How could it be possible?

‘’Waiting.’’ You breathed as you felt his hands cradle your face. ‘’For you.’’

‘’And a nice young man hasn't swooped you off of your feet? Men must throw themselves at you.’’

You were melting, knees buckling- you felt pathetic.

‘’No. No one. Just wanted you.’’ You exhaled, so intense and certain of your desire for him as you give him a bright come hither look, he was startled by the fact you weren't feeling so innocent now.

‘’Can I kiss you?’’ Sherlock asked politely and under his breath, which he wouldn't normally do but for you he was willing to bend the rules, his rules and it made him irate. He didn't like his specific rules he set be broken...he was just so curious about you that he was pushing to just get you out of that skirt, gag you and fuck you over the table but he had to tread lightly.

You shocked him when you grabbed him by the collar like instinct and slanted your mouth against his. Sherlock twisted his hand in your hair while your lips seek to find his. You moan into his mouth, the call of a siren and finally he could sample you: mint, tea, peach and an orchard of mellow fruitfulness, a fresh full supply that he wanted to drown in. Innocence and sweetness.

You taste every bit as good as you look.

You reminded him of a time of plenty. Good Lord, he was yearning for you.

Sherlock grasped your chin, deepening the kiss and your tongue tentatively touches his...exploring. Considering. Feeling. Revelling. Kissing him back.

Good God in Heaven. You thought you would grow wings before you could see the day, this could only happen in your wildest fantasies and dreams. A manifestation of sorts. You were punch drunk off of his taste, completely intoxicated beyond your reach and you didn't want to let go but you had to tear your lips away from his to breathe.

‘’I want to take you now...can I?’’ Sherlock had to ask politely, he couldn't just jump your bones although he wanted to.

‘’Sherlock, please. Do whatever you want with me, take control, I don't care. Just because I haven't been touched in this way doesn't mean I'm fragile and breakable. Fuck me how you want to, show me what you like. I've waited long enough, just do something.’’

Your voice sensual and that of an exotic creature, far too holy to be considered earthly. Sherlock had to contain his amusement and surprise, wow you were pulling the rug from under him and he liked that a lot. Those big doe eyes wide and gleaming to give you a morsel of the pleasure you were craving. He loved your incessant blushing.

‘’You don't mean that.’’ Sherlock warned.

‘’Yes I do.’’ Your voice timid.

‘’You're incredibly brave. I'm in awe of you.’’

‘’I feel like I'm too clothed.’’ You flirted.

Sherlock wanted to taste you, eat you out until tears were leaking down your face and then shock you with his cock.

He'd get there soon...in time. Maybe next time, he'd use the riding crop.

Yeah, yeah keep dreaming Sherlock. You have her here right now, just ease into it.

When he gripped you by the hand and lead you to his room, you felt your cheeks pink in desire. Sherlock felt a wholly unexpected thrill unfurl inside of him. He held you flush against his body. You gasp in surprise and his loud thoughts were subdued by his libido, he was so damn horny because of you- you had no clue how arousing you where. So alluring.

Sherlock's fingers tug at your hair, pulling your face up to his as he gazed into your captivating eyes.

This is so different...so intimate. It felt so heated. Although there was no arrangement made between you two, nothing placed, no limits set, you weren't his to do with as he pleases but yet he was still excited.

Aroused. It was obvious the way he was trying to reign his eagerness in when he was peeling you out of your clothes. You were shivering into his feather light touches, your body was alight like the fourth of July- a million fireworks exploding into the clear night sky and you were bathing in the feeling. He was so damn seductive. It was an unfamilair and exhilerating feeling, the desire for him coursing through you, at the tipping edge of a giant rollercoaster.

Sherlock got you half naked fairly quickly, he kneeled in front of you as you stood and your eyes widened. Sherlock Holmes on his knees? Dear God. You felt so special. He got you in your bra and now he wanted to peel your skirt off. His gleaming eyes met with yours and they daren't waver, they were blown out and dialated. Sherlock hands gripped onto your hips and he kissed the skin below the hem of your skirt and it began riding up with his nose as it travelled north. You whimpered and threw your head back in pure ecstasy. Your brows tensed as he stopped kissing you and finally shimmied your skirt down your legs.

Damn it.

His cock hardened in his pants. You in stockings? You in fine lingerie even though you had no one getting to see you like this, this…intimate? Who were you wearing them for? Him? Oh fuck. He was on top of the world.

His nose trailed over your panties and the scent of you was simply perfect, so delicious, he was salivating.

‘’Do you have any idea what I'm going to do to you?’’ He grumbled, planting kisses on your thighs.

You whined at nothing, the words filling you up entirely. You were entranced- lost in his spell- he was clearly happy with himself.

‘’Do you want me to kiss you here, sweetheart?’’ Sherlock asked and you nodded fervently as his mouth was dangerously near the place where your ache was.

Lord, you were pulsating. Soaked.

‘’Yes. Please.’’ You agreed politely and he loved how naive and cute you were, it was delightful that you remembered your manners.

Sherlock's thick finger pulled your panties to the side as he kissed and suckled on that spot that no one else had touched. You felt electricity course through you, your hands flew to his soft curls to tug at it. It made him feel so good. His tongue was doing his magic now, swiping and suckling on your swollen clit, illiciting these lewd noises out of you in the process.

You were seriously about to cry, it was all so much.

You grabbed his face to make him stand and he got on his feet in quick hot flashes, his mouth was fastened to yours again. You moaned into his mouth when his tongue tangled with yours again, you could taste yourself off of him- it was so damn erotic, something out of a dream. When he ripped his lips from yours to see the wanton look in your eyes, he found that you were covered in a delicious rose, your breathing shallow and quick. You were clearly embarrassed at how quickly he got you like this.

Sherlock groaned when you gripped onto his arms, he finally reached behind you and unclasped your bra. Your tits fell free and he immediately palmed at them, your nipples were painfully hard and it made him realise how badly you actually wanted him. Your skin was warm as you flushed. It was the first time anyone else had seen you naked and the fact it was the infamous Sherlock Holmes made it all the more better.

'So pretty, I want to mark your skin up, make you mine." He wasn't sure why he blurted the last part. Would he make you his? Well you weren't.

‘’Do it then.’’ You breathed.

Like clockwork, he obeyed. His teeth sunk into the skin of your neck as he littered bites all down the column of it, leaving his mark on you.

His mark all over you. You then noticed that he was still fully clothed and it made you frown and Sherlock saw that as he peeked at you.

‘’What's with the frown? Am I not satisfying you enough?’’ He taunted.

‘’You've still got clothes on.’’ You pouted. ‘’Let me take it off for you.’’ You offered so deliciously and for once, Sherlock let you. It was unheard of, but you were already bending his rules.

You unbuttoned his shirt and peeled it off him, but before you could revel in his physique he pushed you onto the bed. Your face contorted into different scenarios of pleasure and he wasn't even inside you yet. Sherlock fawned over you, hands roaming every inch of your skin, your hands raking in his hair. Breath warm as he kissed you. Your hands flew to his pants.

Whoa...gentle. Easy. So...eager. He liked that. The naive innocent itching to just get into his pants- interesting.

You unzipped it and Sherlock finally let his cock spring free. He peeked up at your face to check that you were still keen but it was more than that. You were desperate. Your mouth formed into an 'o' as it popped open, eyes wide with how big he was. It startled you, even envisioning what it would look like. He was leaking. Fuck.

‘’You still want this?’’ He checks again and you nodded furiously, already panting. Has he ever been this aroused? He didn't get it…it must be you.

Sherlock postioned himself in between your thighs as he slid into you so he could take you on his whim. Your eyes were open wide, imploring him as you strained. Should he be gentle and prolong the agony or just go for it?

The need to posses you clouds him. He goes for it.

You cry out and the pain felt so fucking God, the sting burned and you fucking loved it.

‘’Is that okay?’’ Sherlock checked as his eyes bore into yours, your face was etched in pure pleasure.

‘’Mmhmm...fuck...it feels...nice.’’ You whisper in his ear, moaning and whimpering and it was like his favourite sound of music.

Nice?

Sherlock? Nice?

Oh no, that's not good enough.

Sherlock wasn't nice in bed he was downright devilish in bed but for you he was willing to be soft, maybe later he'll fuck you in every way possible.

He had never felt this desire. This hunger before. He wanted so much from you but for now, he wanted you to cum on him.

Sherlock eased in and out of you slowly, eyes connected and scorching. Intimate. Hot. Slow. Normally, he would've pinned your hands above your head but right now they were in his hair and that's exactly where he wanted them to be right now. He began to pick up the pace and your moans echoed throughout his bedroom. It was just beginning to dawn on you that you were being fucked by Sherlock Holmes in his own bedroom.

‘’You're so fucking wet, I love it.’’ He cooed condescendingly and you didn't find it in yourself to care.

Sherlock reached you at the hilt, hitting that spot over and over as he kissed your lips and your jaw. He was just relentless and perfect.

‘’..God..'’ It was more of a strangled cry than an actual word.

‘’Cum with me...feel it with me, baby.’’

That's it…Feel it.

He loved that you were so responsive, he'd have to keep you in line for that later though. The pet name drove you to insanity as you bottomed out, gushing onto him as the flood gates opened and you had none of the means to keep them closed. Your cry was incandescent and it made him follow you in your footsteps. How telling. It was an explosive collision, a once in a lifetime event. That blush began to coat and prick your skin again.

When he finished, he rolled off beside you to regain his breath. The air was so thick and fulfilled, fire and erosion turning the atmosphere to molten lava. You cut through the pants.

‘’Am I supposed to thank you...because..uhm. Thank you.’’ You breathed bashfully, so sensual in your stance but you attempted to collect yourself and he wanted to laugh.

You were so amusing. So fun.

‘’This was more for me than you.’’ Sherlock admitted truthfully.

‘’Humility will always be a mystery to you.’’ You raised your eyebrow as you leaned to your side to peek up at him. Silence encompassed the air as your statement was incredibly true, he wasn't oblivious to it.

‘’How on Earth have you avoided…?’’ Sherlock seemed exasperated, confused as his brows creased but you cut him off.

‘’I told you, I wasn't interested. I only wanted you.’’

[shelbgrey]

Speak now for the love of God don't speak now, hold your peace, part 1

Paring: Doug Ross x Greene!Reader

Summary: 2 part series! Doug Ross and y/n Greene are getting married. Vows are being set, old feelings from flames are coming back, the ER won't stop, and bachelor parties are being planned with prayer that strippers won't be present.

Warrings: Carol's actions are slightly out of character, Carol's a bitch, SMUT!, oral(F receiving), unprotected sex, soft dom!Doug, dirty talk.

MasterList ML2

No one would have ever thought Doug Ross would settle down, Hell Doug never thought he'd fall in love again. That was until he found her, now here he is a week before his wedding day. Nothing has been easy these last few months, with getting last minute stuff finished and the hectic days in the ER.

Surprisingly the only moment of piece was in the ER and even then it was crazy

When things finally calmed down for the day, Doug was hanging back behind the front desk with Jerry and a few nurses, writing in a notebook. He just wanted a moment's peace despite the anticipation he felt for calling y/n his wife. He was tired of being bugged about details he didn't have any clue about, and as much as he loved his mother he had to fight the urge to hang up the phone every time she brought up the wedding. But he was happy, finally feeling content with how his life is going.

The people around him were excited for them both and Mark Greene felt both happy and terrified that his little sister was marrying Doug. Mark had to keep reminding himself that he was the one that said Doug could propose, he's the one that introduced the two which led to this moment, he had to remind himself Doug would treat her right, and he had to remind himself that Doug has been distracted by wedding stuff and hasn't done something stupid in the ER lately. In fact Mark is a lot happier about this than he thought.

The opposite could be said about Carol Hathaway. A few months prior she left her boyfriend Tag at the altar when she realized she couldn't marry him. Deep down she knew she still loved Doug and somehow forgets the small detail that she broke him and y/n put the pieces back together. She couldn't stand the fact he moved on and in her eyes he moved on oh so easily. When Doug and y/n became an item she became a hard ass towards y/n, she was so different from Carol… Y/n was different from any other woman Doug dated or slept with. And anyone could see Doug only had eyes for her and his heart beeted for her.

Carol did try to move on with a paramedic who everyone called Shep, he was a good guy and did his best to be a good boyfriend. In the end he was just a pawn to help Carol get over Doug, or maybe she wanted to make Doug jealous. She wasn't even sure at this point, what she was sure about was she wanted to be in y/n's place so bad.

“Hey, Doug” Carol smiled as she walked up to him, he hadn't moved from his spot behind the front desk and he didn't look up from the notepad he had. Carol stood close to him, trying to figure out what he was doing. Maybe it could start a conversation, talking to him was the highlight of her day after all.

Doug didn't give her his full attention, too engrossed with coming up with wedding vows and ripping up the notebook he stole from Carter. “Hey Carol.” He didn't move away from her, he shouldn't have too when he was clueless to her feelings. He thought no more heart break from her and they could just be friends. He loved y/n and would never cheat on her.

“How you been lately?” she asked, inching closer.

Doug leaned back slightly, looking up at her for the first time since she started talking. He still didn't make an effort to move away from her, wanting to believe the conversation was nothing but innocent. “I've good. Really good actually.”

He had been happy the past nine months. He never felt so complete in life till he met y/n and now he was going to be a husband in less than a week. ‘Less than a week’ both have different meanings in this very moment. Doug had a less then a week until the woman of his dreams will be his wife. Carol has Less than a week until she could tell Doug her feelings, ignoring the fact he was MARRYING y/n and she was the one to break his heart

“Same here... But I have to admit, I miss you”

Doug blinked in shock. He hadn't been expecting her to say that. “Miss me? You broke up with me” He pointed out. they could never work out and now he had something amazing with y/n.

Before Carol could push, y/n walked around the corner and saw Carol getting awfully close to Doug. She rolled her eyes, she didn't feel jealousy or anything, Doug was faithful and all girls from the past didn't matter. Y/n was past all the insecurities she felt earlier on in their relationship. Y/n just thought Carol was being ridiculous and she was slightly pissed.

Y/n sighed and intentionally walked around the ER desk they were at and walked in between them. “hey, Honey” y/n said to Doug and sat a patient chart in front of him, acting like she was doing work. Carol looked embarrassed, talking a few steps back.

Doug's face lit up when he saw her. He loved when y/n called him "Honey" in that voice. He completely ignored Carol and only focused on her. “Hey, beautiful.” He said back as he grabbed the chart and began to look it over.

Carol rolled her eyes, y/n smiled and turned towards her. “hey, Carol”

Carol glared at y/n, not even trying to hide her annoyance. Carol would never understand how Doug could be so into a chick like y/n. “Hey y/n, how's the wedding planning?” She said back, in a polite but also rude tone.

“Great” y/n crossed her arms, saying it back in a polite, sarcastic tone. “How's Shep?” she asked, bringing up the guy Carol was supposedly seeing.

Carol clenched her jaw at y/n's comment, clearly getting annoyed with her. “Shep's great. Still in the honeymoon faze” She said it as a 'take that' to y/n and Doug being farther in their relationship.

“Great! Same here” she smirked, basically telling Carol that her's and Doug's relationship was great. Lots of sex too.

Carol didn't like that at all, she was trying to piss y/n off and all she got was a smirk in return. Doug was watching the interaction, staying quiet and just watching. He always thought it was kinda hot when y/n got all feisty like she was now. Carol was seething.

“Hey, Carol, there's a patient for you,” Carter said, coming over to the three. Carter smiled when he saw y/n, being a close friend to her. “Hey, y/n. How's the wedding planning goin’?”

Carol rolled her eyes and walked off, snatching the chart Carter gave her. Carter raised an eyebrow, wondering how he could have possibly pissed her off.

“Buh-bye” y/n waved at Carol as she left. Then turned back to Doug. “that was probably the bitchiest thing I've ever done”

“what's she so pissed about?” Carter asked.

“Carter, let's go” Benton said, peaking around the corner and had no time for being patent. Carter rolled his eyes.

“I'll fill you in later” y/n told Carter, he nodded and walked off to see what Benton wanted.

Doug chuckled and got up from the stool he was sitting on, standing right behind her..He rested his hands on her hips, pulling her close. “thought it was pretty hot how you just stood up for yourself there.” he whispered against her ear. She rolled her eyes playfully, smirking.

Doug pulled y/n even closer, until there was no space between their bodies. “You know, this hospital has some really great supply closets.” He said quietly, as his grip on her hips tightened a little. They had gotten hot and heavy in one or two of the supply closets, and he had a few in mind that they could sneak off to that would be empty.

“Mmm” y/n looked over her shoulder with a sly smile. She leaned in where his chin was on her shoulder and pecked him on the lips. “Let's go find one then” she mumbled against his lips.

Doug grabbed her chin, pulling her back in, capturing her lips with his in a heated kiss. He took her hand and began pulling her into the supply closet. This wasn't the first time they were gonna fool around in the middle of their shift and it probably won't be the last. Before they got too far he stopped and tossed the notepad he was writing his vows on to Jerry. “don't lose that” he told Jerry as he caught it.

“What's on the notepad?” y/n asked, pressing her chest to his back as he pulled her away from the front desk.

Doug glanced back at her, smiling softly. The look in his eyes was mischievous as he continued to lead y/n into the supply closet. “Don't worry about it, I'll explain later.”

“Still workin’ on your vows, aren't you?” she raised an eyebrow. She already had hers written.

“maybe” He murmured. Before they could get too far a couple of paramedics ran into the ER doors with a car crash victim on a gurney. “Ross, y/n, we need you now!” y/n's brother Mark Greene called out.

Doug groaned in frustration, he was just so close to getting her into that supply closet. “Damn it” He whispered under his breath. He gave y/n a quick tap on the ass before both of them moved over to mark’s side, meeting the paramedics who were pushing the gurney.

“Rain check I guess” y/n chuckled nervously, as they pushed the gurney into one of the rooms.

Doug huffed out a small laugh. “You bet your ass it's a rain check.”

He pulled on a pair of gloves as the paramedics handed him a chart, showing him the vitals. Doug's full doctor mode appeared and he was completely focused on the patient now.

~~~~~~~~(.......)~~~~~~~~

When things finally calmed down, Doug was back behind the ER front desk with Jerry. Y/n and Doug did find a supply closet, but she was paged before Doug could even get her pants off. Doug needed a distraction so he was back to writing on that notebook, trying to come up with vows that didn't suck.

Mark walked over, handing in a patient chart. He was gonna be Doug's best man and also walk y/n down the aisle. He had gotten roped into wedding planning too, so he was involved and hearing a lot of things regarding it. He glanced over at Doug, seeing him scribble something out in frustration. Doug sighed in frustration, scribbling another sentence out then ripped the page out, throwing it away in the small trash can with the other wads of paper.

“Doug. What are you doing?” Mark asked.

“I'm.. I'm uh-trying to write my..my vows” He said. He looked so frustrated.

“His Last minute vows” Jerry added in a teasing tone.

Doug rolled his eyes at that. “Shut up, Jerry”

“Why can't you do the classic better for worse and death do you part spew?” Mark asked.

“Cause I wanna say something that actually means something to both me and y/n” Doug sighed.

“Okay, what do you got so far?” Mark asked.

Doug reached into the trash and picked up three pages of failed attempts. Each filled with scribbles, scratched out words, and a few things that could have been good. He sighed again and un-crumbled a few. “Not that, no, the beginning of that was good but then it went to crap, no way, and this one is terrible. Not gonna use any of them”

“he's losin' it” Jerry whispered to Mark, Doug glared at them.

Mark snatched one of the crumbled up sheets and read it. “actually like this one” He said, handing it to Doug.

Doug looked down at the crumbled paper and cleared his throat. “y/n..from the moment I met you, I knew I was in for a lot of things...but what I didn't know was that you would become the most precious thing in my life. I...didn't know that you would show me things I didn't know about love.”

“See... That's a good start” Mark said, Jerry nodded.

Doug glanced down at the paper and nodded, smiling faintly. “Yeah. Yeah I guess it is”

“Well don't beat yourself over it, Y/n isn't expecting some Shakespearean crap. Just speak from your heart and she'll love it no matter what” Mark said.

“But, hers is gonna be a lot more sappy and loving because that's just how girls are,” Jerry added.

Doug chuckled. “Yeah..that's true...and she'll likely make me cry with hers.”

“Don't worry the guys have already been making bets on how long it's gonna take before you start crying” Jerry joked.

Doug chuckled and shook his head. “How much are yall betting that I cry during her vows?”

“I bet $30 you'll start crying when she starts walking down the aisle” Mark teased.

“Don't worry, all bets go towards your guys' honeymoon fund” Jerry added. “Anyway, bachelor party is this weekend right?”

“Yeah, what are you gonna do?” Mark asked.

Doug shrugged slightly. “Nothing special. We'll probably just go out for the night and get wasted”

“Can I get you a stripper?” Jerry joked.

Doug chuckled and playfully gave Jerry a glare. “Absolutely not”

“Why not, that's typical bachelor party stuff” Jerry said.

“I didn't have a stripper at mine” Mark added.

Doug was already shaking his head at the thought. Y/n was the only one he wanted..strippers were a no go. Ever since he started with her..he had only had eyes for her. “I'll pass. I'm marrying the love of my life..why would I need some random stripper..”

“Who says it'll be a random stripper? What if we talked y/n into being the stripper” Jerry joked.

The thought of that actually made his heart stop and his breath got caught in his throat. He could already see it in his mind. Y/n standing in front of him in some sexy outfit. “Don't you dare.”

“Okay!” Mark said, changing the subject because he didn't want to picture or see his sister in that way. “Anyway… party's this weekend, you don't want to be hungover on the wedding day”

“Yeah, Saturday night it is,” Doug nodded.

~~~~~~~~(.......)~~~~~~~~

Doug pulled into his driveway, after what felt like a long ass day. He got out of the car and locked it up, heading inside the house. When he walked inside, he immediately went looking for y/n “Baby?”

“In the bedroom” she called out. Y/n had gotten home before him. She was laying in bed and looking at her computer.

Doug walked into the bedroom, smiling softly when he found her, his eyes filled with affection. He walked over to the bed and sat down beside her, his hand gently caressing her curly hair. “Hey beautiful”

Y/n softly pecked him on the lips. She sat her computer to the side and positioned herself between his legs with her back against his chest. She pulled her computer back into her lap and continued organizing a list of last minute wedding stuff.

Doug wrapped his arms around her waist, pulling her close. He nuzzled his nose into her neck, inhaling her scent. He kissed your neck softly, his hands wandering up to cup your breasts. “How's the wedding planning going? stressing yourself out again?”

“No…” y/n lied.

Doug's hands continued to caress y/n’s body, his touch gentle yet firm. He knew her well enough to tell when she was lying. He nipped at her neck, his voice low. “Liar” He murmured, his hands slipping under her shirt to trace patterns on your skin, making her shiver.

“Okay... Maybe a little bit” she admits.

He kissed her neck, his voice, soothing. “Talk to me baby, what's got you stressed? Everything's falling into place, remember?” His hands began to massage her belly, working their way down her thighs.

“I know” y/n sighed softly, relaxing into his touch.

Doug continued to rub her thighs, his touch gentle and soothing. He felt her tense up a little, or maybe it was his imagination. Either way, he wanted her to relax. He kissed her neck softly. “Come on, talk to me, what's bothering you?”

Y/n sighed contently, her eyes fluttering closed as his hands worked their magic. “Just little stuff I guess,” she sighed, resting her head back against his shoulder. “and I haven't found a wedding dress yet”

Doug's hands froze on her thighs at the mention of a wedding dress. He took a deep breath, his voice soft and reassuring. “Hey, it's okay... we have time, don't worry about it” He turned her face towards him, their eyes locking. She smiled softly, craning her neck up, gently pressing her lips to his.

Doug's lips moved against hers in a tender, loving way. His hand came up to cup her cheek, his thumb brushing over her skin. He pulled back, smiling, his eyes warm and full of love. “Have I told you how much I love you lately?”

“Yes” y/n smiled.

He chuckled a little as he nuzzled his face against the side of her neck. He moved her hair, placing a kiss to her bare skin. He would never get tired of telling y/n that he loved her or showing her in different ways just how much he did. “I love you, so much”

“I love you more”

Doug's heart swelled with love, kissing her neck again, his arms tightening around her. “Impossible, but I'll take it” He murmured, his voice filled with affection. He held y/n close, feeling grateful for this moment, for her, for his love.

Y/n sighed contently, melting into his touch and nuzzling her face into his neck. “oh, by the way, the girls are planning my Bachelorette party Saturday,” she mumbled.

Doug had to stop the urge to roll his eyes. His bachelor party was also happening that night and Jerry had definitely mentioned strippers. Doug didn’t like that idea at all..but he could handle it for one night. “Yeah, the boys are throwing mine as well”

Y/n nuzzled her nose against his jaw. “Oh really? Drinks and strippers?” she teased.

He chuckled slightly, wrapping his arms around her a little more. He didn’t like the mention of strippers..he definitely wasn’t interested in any of that..all he wanted was her. “No, definitely not..alcohol maybe..but no strippers”

Y/n repotioned herself and straddled his lap, wrapping her arms around his neck. “isn't that what usually happens at bachelor parties? doesn't make you unfaithful or anything”

wrapped his arms around her waist. He loved having her in his lap. He’s always happy when he has y/n as close as possible. “I don't need any strippers”

“Don't want any type of strippers?” y/n joked, raising an eyebrow. She was wearing one of his white button ups, the way she was sitting on his lap made the shirt ride up and since not all of the buttons were buttoned it showed her cleavage.

He couldn’t help but look. Anytime he saw y/n wearing his shirt it drove him crazy. He was always possessive when it came to her, but seeing her in his shirt made it so much worse. Especially if it was unbuttoned and showing off her cleavage. “Not interested in seeing a single stripper.”

“Don't like it when girls strip in front of you?” y/n teased and started fiddling with the buttons on the shirt.

Doug's eyes followed y/n’s hands as she started to fiddle with the buttons. His breathing quickened as more and more of her skin was revealed. He growled softly, his hands gripping her hips possessively. “Only one girl gets to strip in front of me and that's you”

“I should hope so” y/n said, slowly unbuttoning the shirt, showing her red lace bra. She held the shirt closed just under her bra line.

Doug's eyes locked onto her hands as she unbuttoned the shirt. His breathing grew heavier and his hands tightened on her hips. He loved it when she teased him like this. “And only I get to see you like this. Understand?”

Y/n let the slaves go slack around her arms, showing her shoulders. She kept the shirt closed, not taking it off all the way yet. Doug's eyes traveled from y/n's face down to where her arms were holding the shirt closed. He growled softly, his hands sliding from her hips up to her thighs, squeezing them possessively. “Let it go, baby”

Y/n leaned back a bit while sitting in his lap, taking the shirt off fully. She playfully threw it at his face, blocking his view. Doug chuckled as he caught the shirt and threw it to the side. His eyes immediately fell to her bare skin. He brought his hands up to your waist, his fingers skimming along your sides. "Come here”

Y/n didn't listen. She teased him, kissing just the corner of his lip then quickly left his lap. Y/n kept eye contact and slowly untied the drawl strings of her short shorts. Doug watched her with intense hunger, his body reacting instinctively to the sight of her exposed skin. When y/n hopped off his lap, he instantly missed the feeling of her against him. But the show she was putting on made it almost worth the loss of contact.

“What?” she asked softly and innocently as she continued to strip for him. She slowly slipped the shorts off showing the red lace panties that matched her bra.

Doug's voice was low and gravelly when he spoke. “Come back here. Now” His eyes were dark with desire as he watched her.

Doug couldn't take his eyes off her as she crawled sensually up his body. His heart raced with every inch she gained. When y/n was finally close enough, he reached out, grabbing her hips to pull her into a passionate kiss. His lips moved fiercely against hers, conveying all his pent-up desire.

Y/n moaned softly against his lips, holding his face in her hands as she kissed him back roughly. Y/n placed her hands on his chest and grinded on him once. He groaned, his body tensing. He slid his hands from her hips up her back, unhooking her bra with a quick flick of his fingers. He deepened the kiss as he slipped the straps down her arms.

Y/n abruptly pulled away from the kiss and sat up, straddling him. She held the bra up against her breast and didn't let it fall, the straps slacking on her biceps. Doug's eyes met hers, his pupils dilated with desire. “Don't play games with me right now,” he said, his voice low and commanding. “Let it fall, baby. Now”

Y/n could feel how hard he was against her clothed core. She smirked, taking the bra off then tossed it at him. Doug caught it, tossing it to the side. His eyes immediately fell back to her bare breasts. He reached up, gripping her hips firmly as he pulled her down against him, his hardness pressing against her clothed core. “Fuck,” he groaned, burying his face in the to of her breasts.

Her hands went to his hair, carding her fingers through the strands of his hair. She arched her hips, grinding her clothed core against him teasingly. Doug's hands slid down to grab her ass, squeezing the firm globes as she grinded against him. He lapped at her nipple before drawing it into his mouth, suckling hard, marking her skin with his mouth. Y/n moaned softly, grinding harder against him, soaking through her panties and onto his boxers.

Doug's control snapped, his hands tightening on her ass as he pulled her down against him with a growl. He rolled his hips up, rubbing his hardness against her soaked panties and the fabric of his boxers. “Goddamnit, baby”

“Doug” she moaned louder, tugging at his hair.

Doug growled, flipping y/n onto her back so quickly that she barely knew what had happened. He loomed over her, his breath hot against her skin as he kissed and bit his way down her neck and chest, his hands roaming over her body possessively. Her head fell back against the pillow, her skin burning from every touch. “D-doug... Please” she moaned desperately.

Doug's voice was low and commanding as he growled. “Keep your hands above your head and grab onto the headboard,” He hooked his fingers into the waistband of her soaked panties and slowly peeled them off, his knuckles brushing against her thighs. “Don't let go, understand?”

Y/n quickly nodded, her brain too fuzzy to form any words. Her breathing skipped as her chest rose and fell quickly. Her thighs twitch from his touch as he pulled the panties down to her ankles.

Doug slowly caressed y/n’s bare thighs, parting them gently. He leaned down, pressing soft kisses to her inner thighs, slowly working his way up. His voice rumbled against your skin as he spoke. “You're so wet for me, baby”

Y/n’s knuckles turned white from how hard she gripped the headboard. She was shuttering, arching her hips, desperately needing some kind of friction. “P-please”

Doug smirked against her thigh, loving the desperation in her voice. He dragged his tongue along her slit, making her gasp as he savored her taste before suckling her clit. Two fingers entered her slowly, curling to hit that perfect spot. “Mmm, you taste so good, baby”

Y/n's eyes screwed shut. She moaned, arching her hips. “D-doug, fuck!” she moaned.

Doug's fingers curved deeper, scissoring within her as he sucked her folds into his mouth. He dragged his teeth gently across her most intimate flesh, the pressure of his mouth and teeth alternating with his tongue.

Y/n cried out as her hips rutted upwards. Her hands let go of the headboard abruptly, gripping his hair. Doug growled at her disobedience. His hands gripped her hips and pinned them down, preventing her from bucking against his face. His touch firm as he whispered against her wet flesh. “Back up to the headboard, baby. Now.” His tone left no room for argument.

“P-please... I need to touch you” she begged.

Doug looked up at her with a fiery gaze. “Grip the headboard, or I'll stop” He warned, his voice firm.

“N-no,” y/n pleaded, gripping the headboard again. “Please don't stop” she moaned desperately.

Doug's eyes narrowed as he watched her grip the headboard again. Satisfied, he returned his attention to her pussy, his tongue lapping at her folds before spearing into her. “Mmm, such a good girl”

Y/n threw her head back, moaning louder and rutted her hips up. “Doug!”

Doug groaned against your pussy, the vibrations sending shivers through your body. He slid his hands under your ass, making her legs bend over his shoulders. He squeezed her firm ass as he pulled her harder against his mouth. His nose buried into her folds as he sucked her l clit into his mouth. He flicked his tongue as he devoured her pussy. “Fuck, you taste so damn good, baby. I could eat this sweet little cunt all day”

“I'm so close” y/n warned breathlessly.

Doug growled encouragingly, his hands tightening on her ass as he buried his face deeper between her thighs. His tongue thrust inside her, then lapped up to circle her swollen nub, his facial hair scratching her sensitive skin. “Come for me, baby. Now!”

The knot in y/n’s stomach snapped. Her head fell back, the pleasure from the orgasm making her eyes roll back. Doug drank down every drop of her release, his grip on her unyielding as he continued to lavish attention on her soaking wet flesh. He gentled his touch, slowly easing her down from her high before finally lifting his head. “Beautiful, baby”

Doug slowly crawled up your body, kissing and caressing your skin as she caught her breath still keeping her iron grip on the headboard. He leaned over her, his eyes meeting her as he whispered. “I'm not nearly done with you yet, baby”

Doug captured y/n’s lips in a searing kiss, his tongue delving into her mouth to tangle with her. One hand slid down to palm her breast, kneading the soft flesh as his hips settled between her spread thighs. Y/n moaned against his lips, hooking one of her legs around his waist, grinding her soaking pussy against his hard cock.

Doug groaned, breaking the kiss to bury his face in her neck. He nipped and sucked at her skin, his hips moving in rhythm with her. He reached between their bodies and aligned himself with her leaking core, his eyes locking onto yours. “Ready, baby?”

Y/n quickly nodded. “Y-yes, Doug. P-please”

Doug smirked, his hips surging forward as he slid deep into her wet heat with one powerful thrust. “Fuck, you feel incredible!” He groaned, burying himself to the hilt. His hands gripped her thighs, tilting her hips to change the angle of his penetration.

“Ah! Doug!” y/n cried out, arching her hips up.

He set a punishing pace, his thick cock slamming into her gushing pussy over and over. The headboard slammed against the wall with each thrust, the sound echoing through the room. “So fucking tight, baby. Your pussy was made for me” He grunted, his balls slapping against her ass.

Y/n cried out, wrapping her other leg around his waist. “please... Please let me touch you” she moaned desperately, squeezing the headboard tighter.

Doug's face contorted with passion, his self-control fraying at her words. He leaned forward, his hands caging her head as his hips continued to pound into her. “Touch me, then. Both hands”

Her hands immediately went to his shoulders, her nails digging into his skin to ground herself. He let out a feral growl, his thrusts becoming even more brutal as he fucked her with reckless abandon. His cock hit that special spot inside her over and over, sending shockwaves of pleasure through her body. “That's it, baby. Hold on tight”

“Oh, God! Doug!”

Doug's eyes locked onto y/n’s, his gaze burning with intensity as he spoke. “I'm gonna fill this pretty little pussy up with my cum, baby. You're gonna be dripping with it,” His words sent her over the edge, her pussy clenching around his cock as she came hard. “Fuck!”

“Doug!”

He buried his face in the crook of her neck, his own orgasm hitting him like a freight train. His cock pulsed and twitched inside her, shooting rope after rope of his hot cum deep into her spasming pussy. “Fuck, fuck, FUCK!”

Y/n squeezed his shoulders, her muscles relaxing in his arms. His weight settled onto her, his breath hot against her neck. He pressed gentle kisses to her skin, his hands soothingly stroking her thighs. “You okay, baby?” He whispered softly, his voice laced with concern.

“I'm perfect” she responded out of breath.

He smiled against her neck, nuzzling into her. “Mmm, that you are. So fucking perfect” Doug carefully rolled to the side, pulling her with him so she was draped over his chest. His fingers carded through her hair as he held her close. “You Satisfied, baby?”

“Mmm, very” she mumbled against his chest.

He grinned, his eyes twinkling with mischief. “Good. Because we're far from done, sweetheart,” Doug's fingers started to trace idle patterns on her skin, hinting at the passion to come. “Rest up while you can”

[foreverbase1]

April Story ❣ Zhang Hao

❥𝐏𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: bsf!Zhang Hao x fem!reader

❥𝐖𝐨𝐫𝐝 𝐂𝐨𝐮𝐧𝐭: 5.0k

❥𝐆𝐞𝐧𝐫𝐞: I Want My Beloved To Be Happy, Fluff, Angst

❥𝐖𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬: Prepare some tissues <3

❥𝐒𝐨𝐧𝐠: April Story by APRIL

❥𝐅𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐮𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠: ZB1's Hanbin & Ricky, Kep1er's Xiaoting and ILY:1's Ririka

❥𝐒𝐲𝐧𝐨𝐩𝐬𝐢𝐬: While at her best friend's wedding, Reader tells her story to a handsome stranger about the time she fell in love with her best friend. But ultimately chose to let him go, because his heart never belonged to her.

𝐓𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐢𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐩𝐫𝐨𝐨𝐟𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝, 𝐬𝐨𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐚𝐧𝐲 𝐠𝐫𝐚𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫 𝐦𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐤𝐞𝐬! <𝟑

"𝘼 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮 𝙨𝙤 𝙤𝙡𝙙, 𝙄 𝙙𝙤𝙣'𝙩 𝙠𝙣𝙤𝙬 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙣 𝙞𝙩 𝙨𝙩𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙚𝙙"

You stood there with a smile on your face as you watched your best friend, Zhang Hao, marry the love of his life. Although the smile on your face was one of happiness, there was a tiny hint of longing and sadness in your gaze.

Once the vows had been exchanged and the two were official wedded, the guests all congratulated the two on their marriage. You walked up to Zhang Hao and greeted him with a hug, inhaling his cologne as you two embraced each other. Smiling up at him as you moved away, you looked over to his wife, Xiaoting, and smiled at her.

"Congratulations you two, i'm kinda jealous, i hope i'm next to get married" You joked light heartedly with the newlyweds, earning soft laughter from the two. Xiaoting intertwined her arm with Hao's and you couldn't lie and say it didn't hurt just a tiny bit. She smiled at you, nodding her head. 'I'm sure the right one will come by soon Y/N, and when you do get married, can i be a bridesmaid?" Xiaoting giggled, invoking a chuckle from you too.

You put a finger to your lips with a smile gracing your features as you looked at the girl. "I'll think about it" You looked over at Hao, who smiled at you fondly, a smile you loved and knew you could never grow tired of. "Thank you for coming Y/N, it means a lot" He thanked you, you shrugged, slightly pushing his shoulder jokingly. "What kind of best friend would i be if i didn't?" Another round of laughter escaped the three of you before you excused yourself from the couple to get a drink.

Standing by the table with a glass in your hand, your eyes scanned the venue. You looked between each of the guests with a small smile on your lips. Some of the guests you knew, as they were also friends with you. There was Ricky, he was friends with Hao before you even came into the picture and it became an inside joke between you two about how you stole his best friend away from him.

Then there was your friend, Ririka, you became friends with her when you bumped into her on her first day at your school after she had just moved. She was a foreigner and had completely no sense of direction, you bumped into her when she was wandering the school in a panic trying not to be late for her first class. Deciding to help her out, you found out she was in all of your classes and so you decided to stick with her, and that's how your friendship with her bloomed.

You and Ririka always called yourselves "for lifers", cause wherever you were, she was there and wherever she was, you were there. You were stuck to each other like glue and shared the same circle of friends. She was also the only one to ever know about your crush in Zhang Hao and was there to help you through it, you could never truly pay her back for how supportive and helpful she was through it all, you truly appreciated her and were grateful she was your friend.

However, while you knew some of the guests, you also didn't recognize others and you pieced together quickly that these must of been the guests that Xiaoting invited. As you admired how pretty the venue was and let yourself drown into the loud chatter of conversation amongst other guests, a figure would come to stand beside you, a glass delicately placed in his hands too.

Looking over at him, you couldn't help but do a double take, you didn't know the man but to you he looked ethereal, he was handsome and wore a kind smile on his face. He looked at you, lightly chuckling at how you seemed dazed by him. "If you keep staring, people might get the wrong idea" He whispered to you causing you to snap out of your dazed state and laugh slightly, embarrassed at how you let yourself daydream like that.

"Sorry, i didn't mean to stare. I'm Y/N by the way, L/N Y/N." You reached your hand out to him, offering a handshake, which the man gladly took. His hand wrapping with yours as you shook hands, that same smile on his face. "I'm Hanbin. Sung Hanbin." He introduced himself, and you made sure to make a mental note that you'd remember his name. "Are you one of Xiaoting's guests?" You asked him, as you two turned to watch over the venue again.

Hanbin nodded at your words, raising the glass in his hands to take a sip of the liquid inside. "Yeah, i'm guessing you're one of Zhang Hao's guests?" He asked and you nodded with a smile on your face. "Mhm, i'm his best friend and i wouldn't miss his wedding for anything." With a smile on your face, you followed Hanbin's previous actions and raised your glass to your lips, taking a sip of your drink.

Hanbin watched you with curious eyes, wondering if he should ask what he was thinking. He followed your gaze and realized you were looking in Zhang Hao's direction and that was enough for him to ask. "What's your story?" He asked, causing you to look at him with a confused look on your face. "What do you mean?" Hanbin chuckled before smiling down at you. "Everyone has a story, what's yours?" He asked again, this time gesturing towards Zhang Hao with the glass in his hand, you looked in the direction he gestured towards and realized he was gesturing to Zhang Hao.

You cleared your throat, breathing in a little deeper. "If i tell you my story, will you tell me yours?" The question seemed to make Hanbin's smile brighter and he nodded his head again. "Deal." After the word had left his mouth, you took a deep breathe as your eyes trailed back to Zhang Hao. "Where do i even start."

"𝙏𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙖 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡, 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙨𝙖𝙮 𝙖𝙣𝙮𝙩𝙝𝙞𝙣𝙜"

Your story first started at BASEONE High, you were new to the school at the time, and you had no idea where you were going. Each turn you took in the hallways only led you further and further from your destination, it was like a maze and you had no clue how the students could even navigate this place.

Eventually, you decided to give up and lean against one of the windows, from there you looked at everything one of the teacher's had given you. Your class schedule and a very badly printed copy of the school's layout, sighing to yourself and scratching the top of your head in frustration, you stuffed both back into your bag and began walking in a random direction.

It wasn't long until you bumped into someone, causing you to stumble back and fall flat on your ass. "Ow" You muttered, looking up to come face to face with two very attractive boys. One of them tried to hold in their laughter, while the other looked almost offended. "Watch where you're going next time" One of the two boys said, despite having a pretty face, he had a horrid personality. Well, that's what your first thought was of him.

Standing up, you fixed your skirt and glared up at him. "Sorry, i'm new to the school and i don't exactly know where i'm going" You didn't want to admit that, considering the fact you didn't like this guy at first, but maybe he would be willing to help you. "And that's my problem, how?" He tilted his head mockingly, and this caused anger to bubble up in your chest, just as you were about to blow up at him the other boy stopped you. "Zhang Hao, be nicer. She's new" The second guy stated, and you looked at him for a split second before looking back at the first, whose name you now discovered was "Zhang Hao".

Zhang Hao sighed, before looking at you. "Show me your schedule" He asked, you looked at him before rolling your eyes and reaching back into your bag to once again pull out your schedule and hand it to him. Looking at it, Zhang Hao would hand it back after a couple minutes before walking past you with the other boy in toe, you looked at him in disbelief until he turned and looked you up and down. "You coming? We have the same classes, hurry" He turned around and continued walking, despite your growing hatred for the guy, right now he was your only guide around the school and so you followed him and his friend.

"𝙀𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙩𝙞𝙢𝙚, 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙣 𝙖𝙛𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙨𝙚𝙖𝙨𝙤𝙣. 𝙎𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙪𝙣𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩"

Time passed by quicker than you thought it would, and a year had passed by already. You had become accustomed to the school and no longer needed Zhang Hao to guide you around the school while you followed him like a lost puppy. Although you swore to yourself you would find your own group of friends eventually and would no longer need to see him anymore, that couldn't have been more untrue.

You ended up growing to like Zhang Hao and to your surprise, he grew to like you too and that's how your friendship started. You were invited to be apart of his friend group and now you weren't so lonely at the school anymore. While your first meeting with Zhang Hao wasn't the greatest, you eventually grew to like his personality and found him great to be around. A day never passed where you weren't laughing and having fun with him and you two had become super close in such a short time.

Shortly after a year had passed that you had joined the school, that was when you met Ririka. She had bumped into you when she was rushing down the school hallway in a panic and fell on the floor in a similar fashion you did a year ago when you bumped into Zhang Hao, it was like history was repeating itself. But unlike Zhang Hao, you weren't an asshole to Ririka on your first meeting, instead helping the girl up.

Ririka apologized profusely, tears threatening to spill from her eyes at any minute. It took you 10 minutes just to calm the girl down and get her to speak to you clearly. That was when you learned she was new to the school, and just like you, she found the school to be a maze. Checking her schedule, you realized she was in all your classes and so you decided to befriend the girl so that she wasn't alone in this school.

This was when you learned of Hao's jealousy regarding your friendship with others. You introduced Ririka to your circle of friends and everyone welcomed her warmly, all except Hao. He treated her coldly, sulking and trying to limit interactions with the girl.

You pulled Hao to the side in order to give him a much needed talk about how he should be nicer to Ririka. "Why are you being so rude to Ririka? She's nice" You crossed your arms in front of you and looked up at Hao with slight anger on your eyes, but mainly curiosity. Hao crossed his own arms, looking down at you. "Why are you trying to replace me?" He stated, and that caused you to take a step back in confusion. "What? What do you mean replace you?" Hao sighs, looking over at the table your group of friends and staring at Ririka.

You shake your head, rolling your eyes at the boy next to you. "No one is replacing you Hao, you're one of my closest friends." Although you didn't quite understand his jealousy over Ririka, you reassured him either way just to avoid any tension that could arise from it. "Good" He nodded his head, looking at you with a small and you looked up at him. "You're weird" this earned a chuckle from Hao, who simply pushed you lightly. "But you love me" he replied, walking back towards your group friends, you turned back towards Hao and stuck your tongue out at him. "You wish!"

"𝙃𝙚 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚𝙙 𝙝𝙞𝙢. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙛𝙚𝙚𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜𝙨 𝙠𝙚𝙥𝙩 𝙜𝙧𝙤𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙗𝙚𝙘𝙖𝙢𝙚 𝙖 𝙨𝙚𝙘𝙧𝙚𝙩 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙘𝙤𝙪𝙡𝙙𝙣'𝙩 𝙩𝙚𝙡𝙡"

It was only shortly after Ririka's introduction into the group that another new face joined the group, her name was Shen Xiaoting. She became a hit fast within your friend group and everyone adored her. She was kind, she was pretty, she was talented. Who couldn't like her?

But this was also where your story began to become more melancholic. The joke of Hao being jealous of your friendship with Ririka popped up once again when you began to get jealous of Hao's increasing closeness to Xiaoting. You didn't understand why, it wasn't like Hao couldn't be friends with anyone else, he was friends with multiple girls within your group and never once had you felt this way about it.

You just couldn't help it, and you couldn't figure out exactly why you were beginning to get more jealous of their growing friendship each day. Every time you saw them together, laughing with each other and whispering little secrets to each other, it would cause a rising anger in your chest and all you wanted to do was pull Hao away from her.

It wasn't until you eventually told Ririka about how you were feeling, was when you figured it all out. "Riri, i don't understand" You started the conversation, your back laid flat against her bed, Ririka seated on the floor painting her nails. The girl looked up at you from her seat on the floor, a smile on her face. "What don't you get, Y/N?"

You sat up, looking down at your friend. "I don't understand this feeling i get whenever i see Hao and Xiaoting together. Whenever i see them talking and laughing together, whispering secrets to each other or when they post on their social media about hanging out together. It just.....i don't know, i get this weird tightness in my chest."

That was when Ririka froze, she had processed your words and it clicked immediately for the girl, but she realized that it hadn't clicked for you yet. Putting her nail polish away for a moment, she moved to join you on her bed, sitting beside you. She got you to look at her, making sure to not get pink and purple nail polish over your uniform cause it still had her to dry. "Y/N, i don't know any easy way to tell you this, so i'm just gonna be straightforward." She sounded serious and you had rarely ever seen Ririka like this, she was usually sweet, upbeat and cheery. So seeing her serious got you feeling anxious.

Looking at her, you nodded your head, waiting for her to continue. Ririka smiles a small smile, but it wasn't her usual cute and happy smile you were used too, you saw the sadness hidden within it. "I think....you have feelings for Zhang Hao" she said slowly, making sure to give you time to process her words. Once the words finished replaying several times in your head, you laughed, pushing the girl's shoulder lightly. "Funny joke Riri, seriously, come on. You can't be serious. Me? Like Hao?" You laughed awkwardly and in disbelief, although you felt like her words held some semblance of truth.

Ririka stared at you, not knowing what to say next. It was when you looked back in her eyes that was when you realized she was dead serious and you processed her words again, processed the events and your feelings towards Hao and Xiaoting's friendship. And it clicked, your chest tightened and you felt sick to your stomach. "Oh." Is the only word you could get to leave your mouth.

You realized now how every time Hao did something for you, your heart would flutter and you would get butterflies. Whenever he got you the things you liked, sometimes even buying you thinks you never even asked him for, when he would take you out on late midnight walks in the parks together to relax or the "friend dates" you two would go on without your other friends. You cherished every day and night with him and never wanted it to end, and now you were coming to the sad realization that......

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘸𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘭𝘰𝘷𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘺𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙘𝙚"

The next day after you figured out your feelings for Hao, you couldn't help but want to throw up every time he smiled in your direction. You couldn't tell him and you swore Ririka to secrecy, how could you ever tell him? You didn't want to ruin your friendship with him, but no matter how hard you tried to distract yourself and forget your feelings, praying they'd just go away. They only grew stronger instead.

But your story isn't a happy one, so there is no fairytale ending waiting for you at the end of this road. As if Cupid had played a sick prank on you, Hao would come to you with a secret, and how could you deny hearing it from him when he had that cute smile and expression on his face looking at you like an excited puppy.

So you let him lead you to a bench outside on the school's campus, situated just under a tree, creating the perfect shade and scenery for the two of you. You wouldn't lie, you enjoyed it, it felt like a romantic getaway for just the two of you and it felt like maybe, just maybe he might like you back too. Maybe he was going to spill all his feelings to you and you two would live happily ever after!.....Right?

But the next words that left his lips shattered any hope you had, and it made your heart stop for a few seconds. "I was thinking of confessing to Xiaoting, can you help me? You're the only one i trust and have told about this, so you better keep it between us two!" He smiled at you, a sense of desperation in his voice. You must have been staring at him for a short while because Hao waved his hand in front of your face, pulling you out of your shocked state. "Y/N, you okay?" He asked, now concerned if you were doing well.

You cleared your throat, flashing a quick fake smile at him and nodding your head. "Sure! I'd love to help you....Hao" your voice trailed off near the end, but you quickly perked up to cover it up and thankfully Hao hadn't realized. His smile grew 10x brighter and it caused your stomach to churn in jealousy, he hugged you tightly, the scent of his familiar cologne invading your senses. You had to use all your strength to hold back your tears as you hugged him back, pulling away and standing up.

"I've gotta go Hao, i forgot that Ririka actually needed me for something!" You smiled, quickly waving at him before you rushed off, leaving Hao seated on the bench in confusion at your quick withdrawal.

Quickly moving to hide behind a corner of the school building just out of Hao's line of sight, you placed your hand to your chest, trying to calm the aching pain your heart was going through. You breathed in deeply, using your other hand to wipe at the few years that had fallen from your eyes. "It's okay Y/N, you're okay" You told yourself, but you knew that was a lie, a lie to find solace in the heartbreak you were feeling.

"𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧"

Although hesitant at first, you had made a plan with Hao. Even though a part of you didn't want too, you chose to do it anyway, cause Hao was your best friend and you didn't want to see him upset. The plan was to go like this, you would hang out with Xiaoting over the next few days, taking her to places; a café, the movies, inviting her to sleepovers with you and Ririka at your house and gifting her things to show how much you valued your friendship with her.

It was true you valued your friendship with her, she was your friend just as much as she was Hao's friend. But you couldn't help but feel jealous of her and envy her, you couldn't help but compare yourself to her.

She was pretty, she was popular, she was talented and she had the heart of the boy who had yours without even knowing it. You just couldn't stop yourself from envying her, feeling jealous of her and wanting to be her. But you would never let her know that, cause even though you had a growing dislike for her, she was still your friend and someone you cherished.

So you swallowed your feelings and continued to get closer to Xiaoting, to help out Hao. That's what you told yourself, this was all for Hao, this was all for his happiness.

"𝙎𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚"

The plan worked, a little too well for your liking. A part of you wanted the plan to work, after all you wanted to see Hao happy. But another part of you wanted the plan to fail, for Xiaoting to reject Hao, so that there was just a slight chance for you to hopefully hold his heart. But your story doesn't go like that.

After you had grown closer to Xiaoting, a few days after, she would pull you aside after class. "Y/N, i need your help. I want to confess to Zhang Hao, and you're his 𝘣𝘦𝘴𝘵 𝘧𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘯𝘥, it would be such a big advantage to have someone he's close with help me with this!" She smiled at you, a hopeful glint in her eyes. There it was again, a shot to your heart. Xiaoting reciprocated his feelings and now she was asking you for help.

Of course, why wouldn't she? You're Hao's best friend, you know everything about him, his likes, his dislikes, You knew him like the back of your hand, so of course, why wouldn't Xiaoting want your help?

"Sure Xiaoting, i'd love to help you" You smiled at her, a fake smile, but she wouldn't know that. The girl squealed, pulling you into a hug to show her gratitude to you for helping her. Your arms were glued to your sides, eventually Xiaoting would pull back and wave goodbye to you, leaving the classroom.

You stood there and let yourself process everything, taking a deep breathe, you realized that this was it. You were about to let Hao slip through your fingers and fall into the arms of another. Was this really what you wanted? We're you not comes try and fight for him?.....was there any point to?

"𝙔𝙤𝙪 𝙡𝙤𝙤𝙠 𝙝𝙖𝙥𝙥𝙮, 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙤𝙞𝙣𝙩 𝙬𝙝𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙄 𝙝𝙖𝙩𝙚 𝙮𝙤𝙪. 𝘽𝙪𝙩 𝙄 𝙘𝙖𝙣'𝙩 𝙝𝙚𝙡𝙥 𝙢𝙮 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩, 𝙨𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙖 𝙛𝙤𝙤𝙡, 𝙄'𝙢 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙩𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛"

You stood at the same bench where Hao had asked you for help, where he spilled his heart to you about liking Xiaoting. You had left him a letter asking him to meet you here and now you were just awaiting his arrival.

Breathing in slowly, you prepared yourself mentally and emotionally for what was going to happen. "You've got this Y/N, you've got this" you told yourself, you were about to tell Hao that his feelings were reciprocated and that Xiaoting liked him too, you were about to let Hao go.

The sound of footsteps approaching and stopping behind you was the signal that he had arrived, so turning around, you looked up at him and smiled. Hao tried stepping forward and hugging you, your usual greeting with each other, but you took a step back when he took a step forward. A look of confusion and hurt crossed his face, and it made your heart ache, but you couldn't let yourself feel his embrace. Because you didn't know how much in you that you had left before you cracked.

"Zhang Hao" You said, using his name and not his nickname, if you were going to get through this you needed to stop yourself from falling and that started with creating a small line for you to not overstep.

Hao's face contorted in confusion, and a slight look of hurt crossed his face again at this, it pained you to see him like that. Especially since you were the one causing it. But you were already too far in now, so clearing your throat, you continued speaking. "The plan worked, Xiaoting likes you too" You said, your voice almost cracking near the end, but you did it. You told him.

A look of excitement and happiness took it's place on Hao's face, he looked so cute with that expression, like a little kid in a candy store who couldn't wait to try out the sweet treat he had picked out. Looking past him and seeing Xiaoting approaching, you stepped forward, letting yourself feel his touch one last time. You squeezed his hand lightly with both of yours, smiling at him. "Good luck and congrats" and with those words leaving your mouth, you quickly sprinted away in the opposite direction, not giving Hao any time to process or respond to you.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙗𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙠𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙛𝙖𝙞𝙧𝙮𝙩𝙖𝙡𝙚 𝙨𝙚𝙚𝙢𝙚𝙙 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙮 𝙨𝙩𝙤𝙧𝙮, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙘𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙖𝙜𝙖𝙞𝙣 (𝙄 𝙝𝙤𝙥𝙚). 𝙄'𝙢 𝙖𝙛𝙧𝙖𝙞𝙙 𝙢𝙮 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙙𝙙𝙚𝙣 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙬𝙞𝙡𝙡 𝙧𝙚𝙖𝙘𝙝 𝙮𝙤𝙪, 𝙨𝙤 𝙄 𝙖𝙢 𝙞𝙣 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙣 𝙗𝙮 𝙢𝙮𝙨𝙚𝙡𝙛"

You watched from afar in Ririka's embrace, her arms wrapped around your waist from behind as she rested her head on your shoulder, acting as your pillar of support. You both watched as Hao turned to face Xiaoting, the two smiling at each other and confessing to one another. The two embraced and you could tell that this was just the beginning of their relationship.

Ririka let out a slight hum catching your attention, she smiled at you as she gave your waist a little squeeze for support. "I'm proud of you Y/N, you picked the right choice" As those words left her lips, you let yourself relax into her embrace and let the tears you were holding back fall from your eyes. You swallowed hard, feeling a lump form in your throat. "Xiaoting will take good care of him, i know she will"

Ririka hummed again, in agreement with your words as you felt her grab your hand and begin to lead you away from the sight in front of you. "Come on, Ricky asked me to meet him at the convenience store and i can't keep him waiting any longer" She said, leading you by the hand. You turned your head to look at Hao and Xiaoting's figures one more time, feeling yourself smile a small smile. A real smile. Before turning away from them.

𝘠𝘰𝘶 𝘩𝘢𝘥 𝘭𝘦𝘵 𝘏𝘢𝘰 𝘨𝘰.

"𝙏𝙝𝙚 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙬𝙝𝙤 𝙡𝙞𝙫𝙚𝙨 𝙞𝙣 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙥𝙧𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙨𝙖𝙬 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙙𝙨𝙤𝙢𝙚 𝙗𝙤𝙮 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙤𝙛 𝙞𝙘𝙚. 𝙉𝙚𝙭𝙩 𝙩𝙤 𝙝𝙞𝙢 𝙬𝙖𝙨 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙚𝙩𝙩𝙮 𝙜𝙞𝙧𝙡 𝙛𝙧𝙤𝙢 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙬𝙞𝙣𝙩𝙚𝙧 𝙡𝙖𝙣𝙙, 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙮 𝙬𝙚𝙧𝙚 𝙖𝙡𝙬𝙖𝙮𝙨 𝙨𝙢𝙞𝙡𝙞𝙣𝙜 𝙩𝙤𝙜𝙚𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙧"

You finished telling your story to Hanbin, surprised you were even telling anyone this, let alone a stranger you had just met, especially when only Ririka knew of this. But you felt an odd sense of safety with Hanbin, you couldn't quite explain it.

Hanbin nodded his head along to your words, listening to the story with his full focus entirely on you. He smiled once you finished speaking, looking at you. "That was a beautiful story" He said, earning a chuckle from you as you took another sip of your drink.

You watched Hao and Xiaoting dance together from afar, with only pure love in their gazes. It reminded you of when you and Ririka watched Hao and Xiaoting confess to each other all those years ago, except now it was Hanbin by your side and not Ririka. The only thing you felt at the sight of your best friend and his wife was....happiness.

Maybe in another timeline it would be you in Xiaoting's spot, you would be the one with Hao and you would be the one getting married to him. Xiaoting would be the one in the seat you currently occupied, but you were content with living in this timeline. Despite the strong feelings you held for Hao years ago, you had managed to push aside the mixed feelings and resentment towards Xiaoting and let Hao go. Cause no matter how much you loved him back then, his heart never belonged to you, it belonged to Xiaoting. She would take care of him and you trusted her with that.

Hearing Hanbin stand up, he moved to stand in front of you and offered a hand out to you. Confused, you looked at him and tilted your head earning a soft chuckle from the man. "Care for a dance, Y/N?" He speaks softly and you felt another smile growing on your face as your heartrate increased. Taking his hand and letting him lead you to where other guests were dancing, you danced with Hanbin to the slow music, letting yourself melt away in his arms.

Watching from afar, Ririka would squeal seeing you dancing with Hanbin. She was happy seeing the sight of her friend before her and she sighed contently. "What are you looking at?" Ricky would ask the girl as he wrapped an arm around her waist, Ririka would point to you and Hanbin, and Ricky would feel a smile grace his face as well. "I'm happy for her, maybe he's her Mr. Right" She smiles brightly, as the two continued to watch you.

Maybe in this timeline you couldn't be with Hao like you originally wanted too, but it seems life has it's ways and maybe, just maybe....Hanbin was the one you were meant to find at the end of your 𝐀𝐩𝐫𝐢𝐥 𝐒𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 all along.

"𝙎𝙤 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙛𝙤𝙧𝙘𝙚𝙛𝙪𝙡𝙡𝙮 𝙝𝙞𝙙 𝙝𝙚𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩 𝙖𝙣𝙙 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙛𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙗𝙚𝙖𝙪𝙩𝙞𝙛𝙪𝙡 𝙥𝙖𝙞𝙧. 𝙁𝙤𝙧 𝙩𝙝𝙚𝙞𝙧 𝙝𝙚𝙖𝙧𝙩𝙨 𝙩𝙤 𝙣𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧 𝙘𝙝𝙖𝙣𝙜𝙚, 𝙨𝙝𝙚 𝙥𝙧𝙖𝙮𝙚𝙙 𝙩𝙤 𝙩𝙝𝙚 𝙨𝙠𝙮 𝙚𝙫𝙚𝙧𝙮 𝙙𝙖𝙮, 𝙟𝙪𝙨𝙩 𝙡𝙞𝙠𝙚 𝙢𝙚"

Thank you for reading <3 this originally wasn't planned, but i started listening to April Story again and just HAD to write a fic based on it. This definitely one of my faves for sure.

[zoros-fourth-sword]

Scarlett- Chapter Three

Summary: Portgas D. Scarlett  Ace's older sister, decides to join Trafalgar Law's crew as their navigator after her brother's death. At first, she is distant and consumed with grief over her loss, but as she spends more time with Law and his crew, she begins to find comfort in their shared experiences.

As they journey together through the Grand Line, Law, and Scarlett must face off against dangerous foes and navigate the treacherous waters of the New World. Along the way, they grow closer, and Scarlett begins to see Law in a new light.

But their love is not without its challenges, as Law is still haunted by his past and the events that led him to become a pirate. Scarlett must confront her feelings of guilt and loss over her brother's death if she wants to move forward with Law.

WC: 1.6k

Taglist: @3v37773 @sukunas-play-thing

WARNINGS: depression, grief, mention of death

ᴍᴀsᴛᴇʀʟɪsᴛ

Chapter Three: Traffy Laffy

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

Today was already a shit fucking day I had zero energy to get up let alone use the bathroom I have been so stuck in my mind thinking about the one hundred different things that I could have done to prevent my little brother's death and it sucked how I desperately wanna live with Dadan aging the troll looking woman actually stole a piece of my heart she did help me keep the boys calm ( more like I helped her). Someone had to be the adult out of the four siblings and of course, it had to be me. The boys weren’t even smart enough to cook in the house; they would probably burn it down in less than 5 seconds.

Imagining the memories I shared with the ASL brothers broke my heart and knowing I couldn't change the past or the future hurt me even more. I'm going to have to accept that Ace is dead, and I'm not quite ready for that. I want to stay in my own little world, where I can see my brothers happy again. I don't want to accept that Luffy and I are missing two people that we may never see again it was a hard pill for me to swallow

“Knock knock can I come in” someone said from behind my door the voice sounding like a females

“Y -yea,” I say clearing my throat as I lean up

“Hi I just wanted to check on you,” the girl said as she entered my room taking a seat at the foot of my bed

“Thank you,” I say giving the girl a weak smile

“I heard what happened and I’m really sorry,” the girl said as she grabbed my hand giving it a light squeeze

“It’s okay I’ll be fine” I softly chuckled not wanting to worry the poor girl she seemed genuinely concerned

“That was a pathetic attempt at masking your emotions” the girl laughed catching me off guard

“I’m sorry I just don’t want anyone to worry about me I’m not the type that likes the attention,” I say as I lean against my headboard

“I understand and that’s completely okay but that won’t stop me from caring you are part of our crew after all so I’m going to treat you like everyone else,” the girl said as she gave me a gentle smile causing it to warm my heart

“Thank you,” I say my voice slightly cracking as I try to fight back tears

“Have you eaten anything?” the girl asked

“No I just haven’t had the stomach for it” I mumble

“Well then I’m going to make you something to eat” the girl happily said as she got up off my bed leaving the room in a flash

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

“Miss Scarlett your food is ready,” Bepo said loudly causing me to wake up from my nap

“I don’t want to leave the room can’t she bring it here” I mumble as I hide myself under my blankets

“Nope we can’t have you being in a slump for the rest of your life,” the Minc said as he pulled the blankets off me causing me to bend my body into a fetal position

“But it’s so cold,” I say trying to make up more excuses to not leave my room

“No need to worry about that I’ll keep you warm,” Bepo said as he carefully picked me up to cradle me against his fury chest

“Hey this actually isn’t so bad” I weakly mumbled against the polar bear trying to fight my sleepiness

“See everything is under control,” Bepo said as he left my room leading us to the dining room/kitchen

“From now on I’m your new best friend,” the polar bear said as he squeezed me tighter

“Fine by me as long as I get to cuddle you when I’m cold” I softly chuckled

“Fine by me Captain does it all the time,” Bepo said

“Wait really grumpy pants is a cuddly person” I asked shocked not being able to see the grumpy man all cuddled up with a giant polar bear

“Yep he might seem like a jerk but behind all that he’s just a normal person that does normal people things (sometimes)” the bear said

“Oh” I mumbled kinda feeling bad about judging the man that kindly took me in

“No hard feelings Scarlett I completely understand believe it or not that was everyone’s first impression we thought he was some grouch but turns out he’s the opposite” Bepo laughed as we entered the kitchen to be greeted by everyone but the captain

“About time you leave your room you vampire,” the guy with the penguin hat said as he sat next to Shachi

“Shut it Penguin before you regret it,” the girl said as she harshly glared at the man

“Yes ma’am I’m sorry ikkaku” Penguin flinched from her harsh tone

“Good,” the woman said that goes by the name Ikkaku

“Anyway I’m glad you agreed to leave your room” Ikkaku smiled at me

“I didn’t agree I was kinda forced to” I weakly chuckle as Bepo placed me on the ground

“Fine by me as long as you get some food in your stomach,” Ikkaku said as she slid a plate of food across the counter for me to grab

“Thank you” I smile as I take the plate of food

“Do you wanna eat with me?” Bepo asked from behind me

“Of course Bepo how could I say no” I slightly smile seeing that it made the polar bear happy

“I wonder how the captains going to feel about Scar taking his first mate” Shachi chuckles

“I think it’s nice to see Bepo hanging out with someone other than the captain,” Ikkaku said as she slid the boys their plates

“Can you all stop talking about us like we’re not here?” Bepo said as we awkwardly stood next to them

“Right my bad guys” Shachi laughed

“Come guys let’s eat up ikkaku didn’t make this delicious food for no reason,” Penguin said as he rubbed his hands together slightly licking his lips

“Eat up Scarlett I won’t eat until you eat,” Ikkaku said as she crossed her arms stubbornly

“I will don’t worry” I laugh taking a bite out of the food

“Oh wow ikkaku this is great” I hum as I take another bite of her food

“Why to thank you Scar I’m glad you like it,” the girl said as she gave me a smile

“I’m glad to see you happy Scarlett” Bepo said as placed one of his paws on top of my head

“Thanks for everything guys I needed this,” I say as my voice begins to crack as I fight back tears

“Of course Scar that’s what crewmates are for,” Ikkaku said

⋆⁺₊⋆ ☾ ⋆⁺₊⋆ ☁︎

I’m currently standing outside on the deck of the Polar Tang after being locked up in a small space for hours I decided to give my lungs some fresh air

“Aren’t you supposed to be in your room moping” I hear a voice approach me seeing that it was my captain

“Trust me I would rather be doing that but Ikakku said she would kill me if I went back to bed” I laugh as I rest my chin in the palm of my hand leaning up against the railing

“Mhm” Law hummed as he stood next to me with his arms crossed over his chest

“I just want to make one thing clear Scarlett if you hurt any of my crew members mentally or physically I’ll make sure you regret it” Law grumbled as he leaned his back against the ship’s railing

“What's your deal with the threats you act like it’s supposed to scare me” I mumble into my palm slightly getting irritated with the man

“It’s not a threat if you mean it,” Law said as he looked me up and down

“Yea yea you don’t have to worry Traffy Laffy I wouldn’t dream of hurting them” I huff as I turn my full attention towards him

“Whether you like it or not we are eventually going to have to trust each other,” I say as I cross my arms over my chest

“You don’t think I know that” Law huffed as he pinched the bridge of his nose in frustration

“Look I’m sorry that I kinda showed up unexpectedly and that old man Ray kind guilt triped you into letting me join your crew,” I say

“I really appreciate this Law I’m not really good at showing my appreciation but I’ll try my hardest to prove it,” I say looking the man in the eyes letting him know I was completely serious

“It’s fine no need for formality” Law huffed

“Get some shut-eye we have a big day tomorrow,” Law said as he began to walk away

“Oh and don’t ever call me Traffy Laffy again,” Law said as he came to a complete stop

“Yes sir Traffy Laffy” I mumbled under my breath

“I heard that” Law yelled back towards me as he walked away causing me to let out a giggle

Maybe Trafalgar Law isn’t that bad of a guy.

Previous Chapter Next Chapter

★ ° . *　　　°　.　°☆ 　. * ● ¸

. 　　　★ 　° :. ★　 * • ○ ° ★

.　 * 　.　 　　　　　.

° 　. ● . ★ ° . *　　　°　.　°☆

　. * ● ¸ . 　　　★ 　° :●. 　 *

I hope everyone enjoyed I’m sorry if my writing is horrible I’m trying to make this readable as possible 😭

{A/N look at this man y’all these fan-arts are to die for I swear ( ͡° ͜ʖ ͡°) }

[c1trvswrites]

-> She Smelt of Dead Flowers...

The ripples of Gabriella's death just started to hit Miguel's shores.

read on ao3 ->

RELATIONSHIP: GEN, N/A, Gabriella and Miguel O'hara

STATUS: completed

TAGS/WARNING: Child death, character death, angst, character study/analysis, language I think, hurt no comfort, violently un-beta old crappy writing)

Gabriella smelt of the outside and the earthy tones of the dirt and grass. Always has.

Especially in the summertime where’d she spend hours and hours just out there, always coming back with a fistful of trinkets and an even more fistful of cuts and bruises. But it was all in a day’s work for a child her age.

How Miguel would lavish whatever she brought back to him like a crow gifting an old friend something new it found- from rock and marbles she just found pretty that day to old vintage pieces of jewelry.

As Miguel packed away the last pieces of cutlery he peeked over his side only to be met with a tug from someone one-third of his size trying to get his attention. “Hi mija” He kept his voice quiet and gentle, glancing softly. “Ready for dinner or still got a couple more minutes of outside left in you?” Drying off his hands he patted her head and wiped away a piece of grass stuck firmly to her face. Making sure to sneak in a quick pinch.

“Nuh-uh, I’m starving.’

“Thought so, you’ve been out there since five,” He chuckled while wrinkles fading in at the corners of his eyes. “Alright go clean up...Pilluela” Sneaking in the last part he snickered hearing Gabriella turn the corner and shoot ‘hey!’ from a distance.

The soft glow of the kitchen lights cast a warm ambiance as he carefully set the dinner table. The aroma of a home-cooked meal wafted through the air, creating an inviting atmosphere. Tonight was just like any other night- just him and his daughter, the quiet comforting in the midst of the night.

Miguel unfolded the freshly laundered tablecloth and laid it out, smoothing the fabric with a satisfied hum. The table, a simple yet sturdy little one, had seen countless dinners (after all he stole it from his mom when he moved out), each mark adding to the collection of memories, arguments, and silence. Tonight's dinner promised to be an exception. Glad it's been one for eleven years ongoing.

He reached for the set of mismatched but dearly loved plates, the clinking of cutlery echoed in the room as he carefully placed the utensils in their designated spots. Miguel took a moment to admire the arrangement.

The pièce de résistance was the centerpiece—a small bouquet of wildflowers gathered from their garden. If you were to ask him a couple of years ago had thought simple things like this were bullshit, but with age, he couldn't help but find beauty in the every day, and these flowers, with their vibrant colors, added a touch of nature to the table. He adjusted the arrangement until he was satisfied, the flowers now standing tall in a simple vase.

With the table set, he moved to the kitchen to check on the final touches of the meal. The savory aroma of roasted vegetables and the sizzle of a pan hinted at the culinary delights awaiting them.

As he returned to the table, Miguel couldn't help but smile at the anticipation of sharing this moment with his kid. He imagined her reaction when she walked into the warm, fragrant kitchen, greeted by the sight of her favorite meal. It wasn't just about the food—it was about the connection, the shared space, and the simple joy of being together.

Stage set.

Gabriella peered around the corner rushing once she got a hint as to what was being served tonight.

As they both got settled they talked about their day, just like they always did, always nothing eventful. But still very much appreciated, kinda like routine.

Miguel could never place where this conversation started but he could remember when it picked up.

“¡Ándale jefazo, dame permiso de ir a la fiesta!”

“Ni hablar.”

“But-”

“En absoluto.”

Playfully she sucked her teeth knowing that that was gonna be the answer no matter what “How come you never let me go out? If I become a socially awkward creature it’s your fault!”

“Uh, you went out today?”

“I mean like with other people, y’know?”

“Well I don’t really like your friend ‘y’know?’ He rolled his eyes and briefly smiled before speaking up again. “Now pass the butter.”

Gabriella mumbled something about him not liking any of her friends before fulfilling his request.

His hands moved along the sides of the knife slowly as he sliced into the perfectly browned loaf of bread. After that, it was the usual dinner talk, life, friends, work.

It was always the usual with them, and that was great. Their conversations were like shooting fish in a barrel, they flowed without needing a whole lot of effort or force, like second nature. That was the great thing about having a child, something unplanned but worked well. A sense of responsibility wrapped up.

That’s why when conversations began to slow down to a sharp halt one day it took him by surprise.

One day she was there one day she wasn't. but that's just how life goes right? She was gone, and he was left behind wondering where he stood.

All of a sudden those usual conversations conversation with her were switched out with visits to a funeral home.

Various packages, floral arrangements, and burial options, but Miguel’s mind floated in a sea of detachment.

Until one morning he woke up and felt raindrops hit the crown of his head.

The air in the cemetery hung heavy with a mix of grief and reverence as Miguel huddled around to bid his final farewell. The somber melody of a distant hymn provided a melancholic soundtrack to the scene. Under the overcast sky, a lone casket, adorned with flowers, rested over the open grave.

No one there to stand in a circle around the burial site, Miguel opted to grieve in private, and a sense of sorrow gripped his throat as he heaved. The priest, his words a comforting murmur, but useless to Miguel— spoke of the Gabriellas’s life—a tapestry woven with moments of joy, struggle, and the quiet beauty of everyday existence. Tears glistened on his face through shut lips.

The pallbearers, their movements deliberate and respectful, approached the casket. Each one placed a hand on the polished wood, a final gesture of solidarity with the one they carried. Slowly, almost ceremoniously, they lifted the casket and began the solemn walk toward the waiting grave.

The procession moved with a measured cadence, the weight of the moment evident in every step. Miguel’s eyes cast downward as they navigated the uneven ground of the cemetery. The sound of soft sobbing intermingled with the rustle of leaves overhead. He didn’t even recognize those sounds as his own.

As the pallbearers reached the edge of the grave, they carefully lowered the casket. The gentle descent seemed to echo the finality of the moment, a profound silence settling over the assembly. She, once vibrant and alive, now rested in the quiet solitude of the earth.

The priest offered a final prayer, a poignant farewell to the departed soul. A lone violinist, positioned at a distance, began to play a mournful tune, its haunting melody weaving through the air.

The casket, now nestled in its final resting place, a should be symbol of closure. Miguel hovered over and stepped forward with a fistful of soil and even more fistful of cuts and bruises to toss handfuls of soil onto the casket—a ritualistic gesture marking the return of Gabriella to the embrace of the earth.

As the first clumps of soil fell, a hushed stillness enveloped the scene. The quiet thud of earth against wood resonated like a heartbeat, a rhythmic acknowledgment of life's cyclical nature. Gabriella, in her eternal repose, became one with the earth.

Gabriella smelt of the outside and the earthy tones of the dirt and grass.

Always has.