#she thinks they are very cute and sweet and fun

[madridfangirl]

Couple Intimacy Quiz

(Jude Bellingham blurb. 2.3k words. Mature language)

Jude and Ananya were laying in bed, naked, after some erotic yet exhausting morning sex. Her head in the crook of his neck, one arm & leg over his body while his arm was draped around her shoulders. One thing led to another and they decided to take a couple intimacy quiz. Brahim had mentioned one to Jude some time back and Jude had been curious ever since. He googled the most popular one and handed over the phone to Ananya.

‘You read the questions.’

She had been intrigued (& slightly embarrassed) by the idea of such a quiz. He thought it would be fun to watch her process the questions and read them out loud. The pink in her cheeks a welcome gift. Jude shifted them so they were on their sides, facing each other. 

Ananya clicked on the link and started going through the questions, very aware of his firm gaze on her and his warm, large palm stroking her bare waist. 

‘First question. How often do you have sex?’

‘Does it mean number of days or should we include number of times also on those days? Or the number of orgasms every time or what?’

Ananya rolled her eyes.

‘It’s not meant to be so technical. Just the number of days is fine.’

He smiled.

‘A few times per week, yeah?’

‘Yeah.’

Jude took her to bed pretty much every time their schedules allowed them to be together, unless there were some extenuating circumstances. And like he had insinuated, it was never just one time in those sessions, unless one of them was tired from work.

It had been almost 4 months of their relationship and the passion had only increased. 

‘Next question. Do you daydream about your partner?’

‘You go first.’

She played with the strands of her hair absentmindedly, something he always found cute. 

‘I mean, yeah.’

‘Tell me an instance.’

‘Like, when I am watching your match. Or some….training pics.’

‘But you can see me then. Do you think of me in a completely unrelated manner, out of nowhere?’

The hair playing became more vigorous, making him smile.

‘Umm when I’m in the shower sometimes, I can…’

‘Yes?’

‘….I can almost feel your gaze and your hands on me.’

His smile widened, and he leaned over to brush his lips against hers, lingering there.

‘Do you touch yourself then? Imagining it to be me?’

‘…..sometimes….’

‘Will you let me watch when we shower together next?’

She nodded slowly, lifting her eyes to watch his keenly hopeful ones. Earning herself another slow kiss. 

‘Once I was in a pool recovery session with the national team. And an Elvis song was playing in the back, which just reminded me of Valentine’s Day.’

He didn’t need to say more. She had made an Elvis playlist for him on Valentine’s Day. Wore his favourite lace lingerie. And it was the first time she had tended to him with her hands. Jude had held his breath when her tentative hands started to go lower, into his briefs, and he had discarded the garment quickly to give her better access, throwing his head back in pleasure.

‘It was that song again. And my mind just went to that night. Fucking hell I was with the lads, with fucking cameras on. Last thing I needed was for anyone to wonder why I was hard around half-naked lads.’

She giggled, visualising the scene.

‘Fine, laugh away. But it could have been a genuine PR meltdown.’

‘Sorry I torment you such!’

‘You should be.’

‘What did you do then?’

‘Waited for everyone to leave, then lunged for a towel.’

She giggled harder. But then he reminded her it was the same day he had called her from the hotel, while she was at work, and made her stay on the line while he took care of his need. She had to lock herself in a washroom and stay there for a while after.

The giggles paused, leading to an onset of blush, as she avoided his eyes. But he found hers & she quickly skipped to the next question.

‘Third one. Are you vocal during intimacy?’

‘Well, I am.’

Jude was a talker. During both foreplay and sex. His words would go from sickly sweet to downright filthy to everything in between. Assaulting all her senses.

‘I am too. Just….not with words.’

‘Love the noises you make for me.’

She shrugged lightly, and he caressed her cheek with the back of his fingers.

‘Would love to hear your words too, babe. You’d be so hot.’

‘I…it’s just…am not coherent when you….touch me like that…’

From the way his lips split into a grin against her jaw, she could tell he liked that response.

‘Next one. Do you feel comfortable when you’re naked in front of your partner?’

‘I do. Took you a while to get there.’

‘Yeah, no shit. You flash people in the middle of the stadium. And walk around naked in your dressing room. Of course you are comfortable with nudity.’

‘Nudity? Flashing? Just coz all my responses are an easy yes you don’t have to attack me.’

He stated matter of factly, but with a smirk, to soften the blow. It did the reverse.

‘This quiz is rigged. You’ve picked it on purpose.’

‘Yeah? You pick another one then.’

‘Am not playing.’

She tried to turn away from him but he grabbed her just in time, cooing into her ear, stroking her hair.

‘Heyy dove, what happened suddenly?’

When she didn’t respond, he rubbed his cheek against hers.

‘Remember how it was in the beginning? Took me forever to even have you the first time. Look how far we’ve come since then.’

It was true. Their intimacy touched new levels each passing day. But it bugged her that the physical part of intimacy didn’t come as easily or naturally to her as it did to him. Her forte was emotional intimacy, something he was growing into. Something she could kick his butt in. Why wasn’t there a quiz on that? She’d find one the next time.

‘I guess, yeah.’

‘Let’s continue?’

‘Uh-huh. Next one. Sexting and who initiates it?’

She rolled her eyes loudly, and he smirked again. What were these questions? The universe was seriously conspiring against her.

‘Love it. And I’m kinda the gold standard there.’

Kings of England would not have had cockiness like his.

‘Ofcourse.’

‘But you knocked it out of the park that one time. Easily my fav one.’

His hands slowly stroked down her bare back, as they both thought about that evening.

Roma’s boyfriend Chris was visiting & Ananya had not expected them to be this loud. And this obvious - the two had been locked inside their room for like a day & a half straight.

It did something to Ananya. Made her long for her boyfriend’s touch. And she was ovulating, which made her a desperate mess. She knew Jude was at a shoot, and his mother was with him for crying out loud. But a demon had taken over her senses. She had become a slave to the needs of the flesh.

Jude had been stunned when he checked her message.

‘Need you to come fuck me RIGHT NOW.’

He was surrounded by people on set & couldn’t even call immediately. 

‘Babe, what? You ok? Is this you? I’m on set.’

She took the shortest route to convince him. By sending him a nude. For the first time. Didn’t even feel any inhibition coz of how horny she was. 

His jaw dropped, and drool came out of it. But then he saw the message underneath.

‘Wanna have some? Or should I ask Chris to help a girl out - don’t think he’d mind, he likes me.’

The mad fit of arousal & rage made Jude’s head spin. The brattiness was new, infuriating, and Jude was going to nip it in the bud. He’d make her regret those words deeply, for putting that image in his mind.

‘Gonna ruin you. 25 mins. Stay there. DON’T DO ANYTHING STUPID.’

She was in no mood to back down. 

‘Let’s see who ruins whom.’

Jude had reached in 23 mins & found her on her bed. Naked. Legs spread open. Sucking on her fingers. Drunk on tequila. 

He tied her hands to the bedpost, flipped her over on her knees, smacking her ass hard. Revelling in her shocked gasps.

‘Jude please can we…’

A particularly harsh spank shut her up. The sting almost bringing tears to her eyes.

‘If I hear a word other than my name or our safe word, you’d regret the day you were born.’

His threatening growl delivered the message. And Ananya realised she had poked the tiger to a point of no return. 

‘You wanted to know how I fucked the other girls, yeah? Stuff I didn’t do with you? You’ll see now.’

She whimpered as he fisted his hands in her hair, pulling her up and thrusted inside from behind without preparing her much.

It was tough to take him with preparation. Now it was 5 times harder. Her lower body stung with the harsh intrusion, thighs shaking around him. But his hold was strong & relentless. Giving her 5 seconds to adjust, he thrusted again. With force. Making her cry out.

‘Your body is MINE. How dare you even mentioned another man? WHO GAVE YOU THE PERMISSION TO DO THAT?’

Jude made good on his promise that night. Ruining her mercilessly. Endlessly. Her screams filling the room. Hours later, she had to use the safe word, after some unbearable pounding.

Once he calmed down, he got back into his boyfriend mode, taking care of her, carrying her cramped body to the washroom. Boy, did she need tending to, and he did all of it, after making her profusely apologetic for her brattiness. 

It was one of Jude’s top 5 nights with her. The sounds she made were catalogued in his head forever.

Ananya jumped a little when Jude leaned over to kiss her temple, bringing her out of her memories. The flush on her cheeks spreading to her chest now.

He took the phone which was discarded on the bed somewhere to do the rest of the questions.

‘Fav body part of your partner - other than the two obvious ones. You first babe.’

It was impossible to answer. She loved so many parts of him. His height, his broad shoulders, his caked butt, large hands, meaty thighs, perky tits, chiseled torso, defined back, and his face. Everything on his face. How could she pick one? It was all of the above.

He smiled when she said it out loud. The authenticity in her voice making him preen.

‘Same for me.’

‘Liar.’

He smirked at being caught.

‘Your eyes.’

‘Right. Stop playing it safe, it's not a trick question. Boobs or ass?’

‘Why not your mouth? I love your mouth.’

‘Yeah..I mean…whichever. So which one is it?’

He reached under the blanket to cup her boobs in response.

‘These babies. Coz you’re more sensitive here. But your mouth is a close second.’

His hands played with her nubs, grazing & pinching softly, making her bite back a few moans. His eyes never left her face.

Grudgingly, he let go & went back to the phone. She opened her eyes in part-surprise.

‘A fetish of your partner that you like? Ooh this is interesting.’

Jude tapped his lips dramatically, thinking for a few seconds, then gave an enthusiastic nod.

‘Your special obsession with my thighs and ass.’

‘Well they are very juicy & meaty. So biteable.’

‘I can think of another thing juicier & meatier for your sweet mouth.’

‘You wish.’

‘Oh I wish it all the time.’

‘Win the Champions League & that would be your reward.’

‘You’re cruel you know that?’

‘Aww poor baby. Such first world problems.’

‘I promise you’d do it sooner. You’re gonna want to. You’re already curious, I know that.’

‘Next question, Jude.’

‘Don’t deprive yourself babe, lemme make you taste heaven.’

‘Next question, you idiot!’

‘FINE. Do you engage in role-play?’

They did. He had cajoled her into trying. The first role-play they did was the re-enactment of their first date, which ended in him taking her on the kitchen counter. Since then, they had tried many other scenarios. 

‘Tell me your fav one.’

She sunk into the pillow, coz her choice was embarrassing. Jude could tell the answer would be juicy. His hand slid to her lower back, stroking her slowly, the warm sensation seeping into her bones, making her sigh deeply.

‘C’mon baby. I wanna know.’

‘It’s…I….’

‘Please, love?’

She shut her eyes in defeat.

‘When you were the debt collector, and I was the defaulting college student.’

Ananya hid further into the pillow, face warm & red. A sight for his sore eyes. Flashes from the night swirled in both their minds.

‘Like the submission & manhandling, don’t you?’

She whimpered when he grabbed the back of her neck, kissing under her jawline, tracing the length of it with his tongue.

‘And the roughness, yeah?’

He bit her pulse point decisively, then pulled the blanket down, leaving her bare to his hungry eyes.

‘I’ve corrupted my dove, haven’t I?’

‘Y-yes. A little.’

‘Maybe you were always like this. And I just brought it out, yeah?’

‘I..I don’t know.’

His mouth on her upper body and his hands on her lower body were making her lose her senses again. She was sore from this morning, and from last night, but stopping him never crossed her mind. Resting him was not her forte, something he knew & exploited. 

Jude rolled on top of her, pinning her hands over her head.

‘What about the rest of the quiz?’

He dove into her cleavage, using his mouth with practiced ease & precision while she squirmed under him.

‘Loved the quiz. But this is more fun right now.’

.....................................................................

Needed some fictional Jude to restore order to my world. So whipped this one up.

Hope you like it, and hope it helps you recover :)

[lamentationsofalonelypotato]

@luci-in-trenchcoats

Oh I loved this one! It's such a fun take on a reader who has body insecurity.

“Well you said you like-” He’d slam his lips to yours with an almost bruising force, leaving you breathless before jogging away. “What are you doing?” “Saving the pie!” You crossed your arms, laughing as he scrambled to put on an oven mitt and yank it out of the oven. “Crisis averted. You didn’t say it was pie, sweetheart. We never let a pie burn.”

This is so cute! Dean Winchester one million percent would not let pie burn. Death first before a perfectly good pie left in the oven 😂

“I am. In all of you. But I wanted you to get the best version of me. The one that is emotionally available and that’s taken time.” He’d lean down closer, sliding his hand up your leg, grazing your hip, your ribs, all the way up to your cheek. “I’m ready if you want me.”

Oh my sweet goodness, the "I wanted you to get the best version of me..." is KILLING ME. Beau is just so sweet. I've never seen Big Sky, but each time I see another Beau thing I always want to.

“Nothing, dear,” he said, tucking you into his side, forcing a smile. “Just fending off the sharks.” “Sharks?” “You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you.” He’d watch you do that thing with your nose which meant you were fighting back the heat trying to rise to your cheeks. But he wouldn’t fight his own, smirking as he kissed you deeply. “Thank god you’re all mine.”

Soldier Boy knew his anger was quick and he wasn’t the easiest person in the world to deal with but he didn’t care. Nobody laid a hand on his girl. Not unless they wanted to lose theirs.

Jealousy with Ben shouldn't be as hot as it is... but oh my sweet key lime pie he does it so well 👀😱

“Well, you know you contract guys. Break into enemy territory in the dead of night? No problem. Walk down a hallway? Now that’s dangerous.” Russell would smile hard at your teasing, more than happy to not have incurred any of your wrath in the long term. He had the feeling you were uncomfortable in your messy clothes though, despite the cardigan you were holding closed with one hand over your shirt. 

STOP that's so funny. I cackled at her joke! And I love her and Russell's meet cute so much- it's so cute and so fitting for him and her. AND HE GAVE HER HIS JACKET?! Oh man that's true love right there 🤗

Russell would pause halfway down the steps, feeling your gaze on his back. “Do you want to maybe…get dinner later? I don’t have any jobs lined up for a few weeks and I’m a sucker for pink.”

"I'm a sucker for pink" 😂😂😂 Oh man I was so close to saying he was a gentleman for not saying anything about the bra, but then he couldn't help himself 🤣, It fits though lol

“I should have asked them before but when you go away…are there others?” He’d hate how small your voice sounded, the way you’d rub your arm absently. “I mean, I know we’re new and didn’t really talk about it and you go to some places with some very beautiful women-” “I got a beautiful woman right at home and she is all I want. Just me and her. Understand?” Russell would kiss away that worry until it was a faded memory, one he would be more than happy to dispel to you over and over again.

I love Russell so much oh my word, and you write him so well. This bit was so cute 😭 Because Russell does seem to be the kind of guy that people think is dating other people, but is really just LIVING for his woman 😭

I loved all of these my friend! You wrote these headcanons so well! I also have never written them before, but you and @zepskies are always out here inspiring me 💗💗💗

Headcanon: How They Meet Their Plus Size Girlfriend

I'm officially trying my hand at headcanons (only a few years behind the ball there)! If these go over well, I might start to incorporate them more around here.

Special thanks to @zepskies for the idea (okay, it's a little different than we talked about but I think it still fits the bill) and getting me on the headcanon bandwagon! 😘

Warnings: language, implied smutty times, implied body insecurity

Dean Winchester

Dean’s always been the kind of guy to think if a woman’s beautiful to him, she’s beautiful. Case closed. Which was exactly his thought when he caught a glimpse of Y/N at a dive bar outside of Lawrence. He’d do a double take, not being shy about how he took you in or hiding the smile on his face when he saw you watching him. One quick look away before you were looking back and that was more than enough invitation for him.

He’d be on his feet, at your table in under ten seconds, not deterred by the furrow of your brows. In another ten he’d have laid out one of, in his opinion, his best lines. His confidence fell a sliver when all you did was stare back at him but that was alright. He wasn’t going to give up that easily. 

“Why don’t you try that line on the blonde over there that’s mentally undressing you?” you’d say, fighting back the urge to say something snappy at the ridiculously handsome man in front of you. Before he had even come over, you knew he was trouble, knew his type. He surely had made a bet with the longer haired man at his time and had come over to play a game with you. There was no way in hell he was actually interested, not when there were at least five different women at the bar ready to jump at the chance to take him home.

The man would smirk, lifting his head as if he realized something. To your annoyance, he’d slip into the empty chair beside you, taking a short sip of his beer along the way. He’d adorably rest his elbow against the table’s edge, leaning his head against his hand as he slumped down, all the while smiling at you.

“If I wanted to talk to her, I’d have gone over there. Now you can tell me to get lost or you can give me a chance.”

“Chance to what?”

“Take a beautiful woman home,” he’d grin, looking up through his lashes. You’d laugh, gesturing down to yourself, his brow furrowing in confusion. “Hey now. Don’t tell me when I think a woman is hot and I won’t tell you.”

You’d raise your eyebrows, the mysterious stranger inching closer, lifting his head with a certain boyish mischievousness. “C’mon sweetheart. One drink.”

“Fine. One drink.”

One drink turned into five. One night turned into six. Six nights turned into Dean spending the night and making breakfast for three weeks straight. 

Dean smirked when you let him inside the house, his hands immediately shooting to your hips and pulling you crashing into his chest. 

“Down boy,” you’d teased as he tried to kiss under your jaw, his grip keeping you from returning to the kitchen. “Dean. It’ll burn.”

“We can order takeout,” he mumbled, nipping at your neck. You rolled your eyes, smiling when Dean chuckled. “How’s that one drink working out for you, sweetheart?”

“Wouldn’t you like to know,” you said, Dean walking you back against the front door, his hands shooting to your face, capturing it like he had been starved all day. “Someone miss me?”

“My favorite girl? Always,” he hummed, body jerking when a waft of cherries floated through the room. He tilted his head, eyes wide. “You…made pie?”

“Well you said you like-” He’d slam his lips to yours with an almost bruising force, leaving you breathless before jogging away. “What are you doing?”

“Saving the pie!” You crossed your arms, laughing as he scrambled to put on an oven mitt and yank it out of the oven. “Crisis averted. You didn’t say it was pie, sweetheart. We never let a pie burn.”

He walked back over much slower as it cooled on a rack, Dean placing his hands on either side of your head, a dangerous smile on his face. “Now, where were we?”

Beau Arlen

Beau would wait a while before making a move on you. He had to prove it to himself that he was ready for another relationship and that Emily was doing better after everything that happened over the summer. So he quietly waited and settled for your friendship. There was no reason in his head to drag you into his crap or jump the gun when he knew it’d cause problems. But he didn’t miss the way you caught him staring during movie nights, dinners, at park yoga (that truth be told he only did at first because Emily’s therapist thought it was something nice to do together but didn’t want to admit he actually enjoyed). 

Beau knew he would be sending conflicting signals. Eyes that said for the love of god I want this, words that said this is platonic as hell. He had to go so far as to keep his hands off of you completely for fear he would break his resolve and just plant one on you. Naturally when he finally felt like he was in a good place to give things an honest shake, you’d tell him on his lunch break that you had a date that night.

“Cancel it,” Beau blurts out. He’d watch you scrunch up your face but he’s already let the cat out of the bag. Might as well go all in. “Go out with me.”

“Beau, we can hang out tomorrow. I want to go out with this guy, see where it leads. I'm not getting any younger. I need to get serious about finding someone.”

“Yeah and I’m serious about going out with you. Let me take you out on a date.” He’d understand your hesitation. He was the one backing off whenever you’d put out feelers in the past. Beau knew he had to go all in if he wanted to earn that trust with you.

“Beau. Come on. I know I’m not your type.”

Beau rose from the other side of his desk, striding around it and stopping in front of your chair. “You are my type and before you open that mouth of yours to argue, I thought I owed it to you to get my shit together before I did this. I ain’t perfect but I am ready to try.”

He’d rest a hand on your thigh, waiting for your reaction, inching up ever so slightly to make it clear that was more than a friendly gesture.

“Beau, I don’t…you never seemed interested-“

“I am. In all of you. But I wanted you to get the best version of me. The one that is emotionally available and that’s taken time.” He’d lean down closer, sliding his hand up your leg, grazing your hip, your ribs, all the way up to your cheek. “I’m ready if you want me.”

“Of course I want you. But…” He’d hum, leaning in close, pressing his lips to yours. 

“But you don’t think I want you?” He frowned when you looked away, his hand catching your chin. “I’m a big boy and you’re a big girl. I think we’re both old enough to trust that we’re telling each other the truth. So go out with me tonight. I promise it will be a million times better than whatever guy you were going to go with.”

It’d take a moment but he’d grin as you texted your date you had a change of heart, Beau already planning the perfect evening together.

Not long after that first date Beau would be spending most of his nights with you, whether that was at home with Emily, out at your favorite bar, or exploring town. He’d constantly have an arm around you, your waist, your shoulders, your hips. Beau liked to keep his girl close. Maybe he’d worked through a lot but he was still protective through and through and that meant he was always watchful of you. Including the occasional stray eye when you were out. Beau always made sure to give them a look to back off and that you were taken. 

“What are you doing?” You’d ask one night, catching him with narrowed eyes. 

“Nothing, dear,” he said, tucking you into his side, forcing a smile. “Just fending off the sharks.”

“Sharks?”

“You really have no idea how beautiful you are, do you.” He’d watch you do that thing with your nose which meant you were fighting back the heat trying to rise to your cheeks. But he wouldn’t fight his own, smirking as he kissed you deeply. “Thank god you’re all mine.”

Soldier Boy/Ben

Ben would make a move on you the second he saw you. Long strides across the club and an arm draped around your shoulders as he almost ignored your presence in favor of order a round of shots. He’d keep you close even as you attempted to pull away, turning his head with a coy smile. 

“Where you going, gorgeous? Didn’t you come out tonight to have fun?” he grinned darkly, enjoying the mixture of disgust at his arrogance and the intrigue hidden underneath your frown. “Someone in a skirt like that is looking for a good time. Well, here I am. No strings attached”

He’d lick his lips as you’d take your shot without breaking eye contact, Soldier Boy’s eyebrows raising in surprise. He wouldn’t have been sure if it’d be that easy but he’d take it. Until he’d watch you down the other shot and turn around, walking off to the dance floor with a wave over the shoulder.

Challenge accepted.

He’d follow you out, letting you take the lead, growing frustrated every time you’d teasingly pull him in only to push away. His desire would only grow when you gave him the slip at the end of the night, no longer a game in his mind. You weren’t simply a conquest anymore. He was curious about the woman in the leather skirt and how on earth she was resisting everything he was offering.

Finally, finally, he’d find you outside the club, leaning against the cold brick wall, hands clasped behind your back.

“Now don’t you run off on me again,” purred Ben, taking your hand in his, eyes dark and hungry. He’d smirk at your feigned disinterest, putting on his most innocent expression he could muster. “My place. Let me do wonderful things to that body of yours, gorgeous.”

He’d take your nonchalant shrug for a yes and before he knew it, he’d have you in his apartment, down on his knees, making good on his promise. Before he could get his head on right though, he’d hear the click of your heels on the marble floor. With a wobble and fixing the tent in his pants, he’d catch you halfway out the door, his eyes wide in bewilderment. “Where you going, baby?”

“Like you said, I was looking for a good time and I had it. I don’t remember saying you were getting any more than that.” He’d lean against the wall, cocking his head and letting the coil in his gut unravel.

“Baby, stay and I’ll keep on chasing you until you’re sick of me. Scouts’ honor.” He’d smile at your laugh, jutting out his lip. “Aw, don’t make me beg.”

“What a shame. I bet you’d beg real pretty.” Soldier Boy wouldn’t fight the way his breath hitched. He’d been with plenty of teasing women before but they always wanted him in control. Something about that threat, promise, whatever it was would make his skin itchy with need.

“Want to see if you can make me?” He’d know his hook was in the moment the words left his mouth, the way your eyes raked over his body. “No one’s ever been able. Think you’re that good?”

“Oh sweetie, you’ll regret that.”

Two months later, Soldier Boy wouldn’t regret it for one second. Not just for what you’d brought out in him in the bedroom. You challenged him, called him on his shit and damn he liked you putting him in his place. He wouldn’t quite understand it but somewhere he likened it to something akin to deeper feelings. Everything had started out at pure sex but there was something about you that stayed under his skin, something that him taking you out on real dates, to movie premieres and parties. Something that made him want this to last. He’d growl at the man that once tried to lay a hand on your ass, not even pretending to be sorry when you’d chastised him for breaking the guys arm.

Soldier Boy knew his anger was quick and he wasn’t the easiest person in the world to deal with but he didn’t care. Nobody laid a hand on his girl. Not unless they wanted to lose theirs.

Russell Shaw

Russell didn’t love going in the office. He considered the field his true workplace. But every so often he had to go in to deal with contracts, paperwork, or in this case, get reimbursed for a phone that’d been destroyed somewhere along the Amazon river.

So that was how he’d turned the corner too quick and slammed straight into you. He’d fall smack on his ass and look across the way, finding you in a similar position, coffee staining your peach colored blouse and a shattered mug on the ground.

“Oh fuck,” he’d say as he’d notice the red streaks coming from your hand. He’d slide across the floor, pulling the forest green handkerchief he kept on him and quickly covering your bleeding palm. “I’m so sorry.”

“It was an accident,” you’d say, wincing as he tightened it. 

“Let me take you to get that stitched. You shouldn’t drive like that,” he’d say before ducking into a nearby room and alerting an admin to what had happened. Russell would stay in the waiting room the whole time you got checked out and after getting you out of work the rest of the day, he’d take you down the street to his favorite food truck, encouraging you to get your blood sugar back up even if you’d barely lost any in the first place. 

“I’ll happily pay for the dry cleaning or new clothes,” he’d say as you sipped on a glass of sweet tea, finding his nervous energy kind of adorable. “I can’t believe I did that.”

“Well, you know you contract guys. Break into enemy territory in the dead of night? No problem. Walk down a hallway? Now that’s dangerous.” Russell would smile hard at your teasing, more than happy to not have incurred any of your wrath in the long term. He had the feeling you were uncomfortable in your messy clothes though, despite the cardigan you were holding closed with one hand over your shirt. 

A gust of wind would come through and threaten to throw all your food to the ground, both of you reaching and grabbing before it could fall. In that instance, Russell would spot that you weren’t just uncomfortable. Your peach blouse had turned completely see through and was revealing a light pink bra. 

“Here,” Russell said without thinking, shrugging out of his jacket on the cool day and standing, handing it across the table. You’d blink up at him before slowly taking it, holding the much thicker material to your chest. As much he might have liked, he kept his mouth shut about the bra, instead letting you eat your lunch quickly and quietly.

Russell would insist on driving you home with an offer to take you into work to get your car in the morning.

“Sorry about ruining your clothes again,” he’d say on your front porch, holding up a hand when you tried to give his jacket back. “You keep it. Not like we’ll never see each other again, right?”

“Right. I’ll uh, see you tomorrow then.”

Russell would pause halfway down the steps, feeling your gaze on his back. “Do you want to maybe…get dinner later? I don’t have any jobs lined up for a few weeks and I’m a sucker for pink.”

He’d turn around with a hesitant smile, one eyebrow raised as you lifted your chin. “Seven. Don’t be late.”

Russell smirked when he picked you up that night wearing a pink zip up, enjoying the smug look on your face. 

“So where you taking me, Shaw?” you’d ask, Russell opening the passenger door for you. “I normally don’t wear jeans and a hoodie on a first date.”

“Maybe you’ve been dating the wrong men,” he’d wink as he closed the door. “It’ll be fun and no coffee will be thrown or shrapnel will occur, I promise.”

“Oh well, is it even a first date without those?” He’d chuckle, quickly hoping behind the wheel. 

“I guess that makes this our second date then,” he’d shoot back with a smile.

Russell finds out after his first job away that he doesn’t like being away for weeks at a time from you. Phone calls and face time aren’t enough. He puts in a word with his supervisor about taking shorter missions only from then on out. He’s absolutely giddy to pull up to your house when he gets home from the airport, even if you haven’t been answering his texts today.

“Hey,” he says when you answer the door. He doesn’t like the sliver of doubt on your face. “What’s wrong?”

“I should have asked them before but when you go away…are there others?” He’d hate how small your voice sounded, the way you’d rub your arm absently. “I mean, I know we’re new and didn’t really talk about it and you go to some places with some very beautiful women-”

“I got a beautiful woman right at home and she is all I want. Just me and her. Understand?” Russell would kiss away that worry until it was a faded memory, one he would be more than happy to dispel to you over and over again.

___________

[elliesglock]

Do the crumble cookie live !

okay so boom guess who's back with another banger. so this is just one of my fav lives in general not even for pazzi but it's just so chaotic and the one that makes me chuckle so bad. anyways tho!

my biggest thing with this live is the difference in the way p is acting before and when azzi comes into the room. before she is goofy, messing around with kk, making fun of jana, and everything is super chaotic. but when azzi comes in??? girl she's not subtle at all. she might as well be pouting with azzi as well. azzi comes into the room and is very obviously upset about assignments, p's eyes lock on her IMMEDIATELY as soon as she walks in and she completely forgets about what everyone else is doing. she is the first one to notice azzi btw. almost like her body can feel that her girls in the room. she's even being blocked by tall ass yanna but p still is able to find her and seek her out 😭 p can't take her eyes off of her and you can tell she knows az is upset just by looking at her. paige motions to the phone that they are on live so azzi knows, everybody yells that azzi fudd is here yayyy! and azzi has imo the cutest reaction ever and gets all overwhelmed, groans, and flops on the bed. everybody finds it pretty funny and laughs, guess who the only one who isn't laughing is? paige bueckers everybody.

now we know p. she does NOT like when her girl is sad or in any kind of distress of anytime. she also loves to tease azzi HORRIBLY. the things that stick out to me is that she's not smiling, locks in on azzi's every move, and does not make one single joking comment to make fun of azzi for being dramatic. she gets all soft and caring and probably wants nothing more than to go pick az off that bed and hold her. now my agenda yall. i've always imagined paige to be a very gentle, sweet person to her girl, def someone that is an empath and FEELS everything az feels. and i can tell all the chaotic energy she just had minutes ago is sucked out the minute azzi walks in. she's feeling exactly how azzi is feeling at that moment. SOULMATES THEY ACTUALLY WANT ME DEAD.

kk jokingly says "what happened?" but p IS NOT playing when she asks the same question. she wants names, faces, and explanations to whoever/whatever has her baby azzi so upset and she wants it now. azzi replies that she needs someone who can tutor her in accounting. (she's such a princess and so cute. and azzi i can do my damn best tutoring u btw i have no clue how to do accounting but ill make it work). kk kinda ignores it at first and paige gets this irritated ass look on her face and tells kk to ask the live. she gets down and if her princess needs someone to tutor her she wants to know if someone can do it immediately. i think we get great glimpses of paige's more protective side in this live with how quick she is to respond to azzi's obvious exasperation. she DOES NOT like when az feels like that. kk asks the live and azzi says thank you. paige says "this should be good" i think cause saying ppl are gonna dm her crazy stuff. azzi laughs at this and paige's eyes light up because her girls happy now! and it's because of her!! lover girl paige BACK IN BUSINESS PAZZI NATION. paige gives her a little smile and they go back to what they're doing.

you can tell paige isn't all that interested in the cookies anymore though. the only cookie she cares about is over on the bed pouting and she wants that cookie badddd. azzi stands up suddenly and guys the first ever time i watched this live i immediately thought omg paige looked at her so fast. before i was even into the pazzi side of uconn btw....just wanted to say that. okay anyway paige's head practically comes off her shoulders looking at azzi. almost like she's ready to do anything az wants her to do or anything she can to make a feel better. also peep p checking her out too. it's not really a sexual checking out tho, more like a "you good?" kinda thing. azzi kinda reaches her hands out, i think out of habit and it seems like she wants p to take her hands. now call me delusional all u want idrc but they def wanted to hold each other in that moment. i've said this to an anon before but paige would def take and kiss her hands, turn azzi around to lay against her, and whisper all the encouragement she could need in her ear. but unfortunately god hates us and they can't do that on live 😒.

azzi unfortunately leaves the frame after that and we get azzi just being absolutely adorable and p dotting on her. azzi kinda snoops and asks about the cookies. kk tells her what the flavors are and you can tell azzi wants a little bit (she's so cute im sobbing, p you truly won).

azzi asks to try the peanut butter one. and p immediately starts nodding and kk goes "girl yeah!". she's literally all of their princess she makes me want to throw up pls give me a chance azzi that dumb blonde bitch when i catch you. kk talks about how azzi will like it and its very sweet. p obv has to fight kk back cause kk don't know more about her girl than her, and she says it's very peanut buttery! didn't have to clock paige, it's okay she's yours....unfortunately azzi doesn't give us her review but i think she likes the cookie. kk starts talking about another cookie and azzi goes that's lame! p gives her a sorta "da fuck?" look and you can tell she wants to be sassy but she reels it in. smart paige you know ur girl would have ur ass.

kk says they need forks for the toffee cake and p goes up to get them. however, she stops dead in her tracks, like literally brake checks herself when azzi seems interested in the cookies. and then she kinda just stays around and yanna goes and gets the spoons. ugh. just. paige please.

while they're trying the toffee cake and paige is making fun of jana for her "OKAY SLOTHHHHH" paige says "okayyyyy turtle" to mess with jana but looks at azzi's approval of her joke 😭 bitch shut up atppppp. they're eating the toffee cake and jana is talking about splitting a bite with azzi. paige looks up at her girls name and says "YOU? and azzi?". she sounds like she's tryna say jana isn't good enough to share a bite with azzi that's the way i see it. also i just think she's jealous even though she didn't offer to share the cookie with azzi....jealous possessive paige you will always be famous. also keep making those edits yall we need to see paige accidentally claim azzi because she's soooo jealous people want a. they drop some of the cake on the floor and they're all laughing. you hear azzi say, "lick it off her fingers!" to jana and p gives her the craziest look. she probably wanted to say PAUSE so bad....also is that a little more jealous p i see?

that's all the moments i saw that really stood out to me. plus there's a little tiny part where azzi brings up paige's ipad and paige goes and shows her case. just them being little cutesy and stuff. long story short, azzi hopefully got a tutor but she def got some cuddles and kisses from paige. they prob went home after this live and paige just complimented her, told her how smart she is, and hyped her up to feel better :((( p gets so soft around az i swear. anywho!! hope you enjoy and ofc always send any moments you saw that i maybe didn't say!!

credit to my anons for reminding me about a lot of this stuff! thank you guys 💋

[pricegouge]

FAIRY ANON AGAIN GOUGE YOU ARE KILLING ME WITH THIS CONTENT WOOFWOOFWOOFBARK.

Soap and Fairy!Reader just have a very symbiotic relationship, they both a little freaky for each other, it just works.

Got me thinking about how the other teammates treat you and cackled at the idea of Ghost being this incredibly superstitious ass that wants nothing to do with you and has to warm up to you being around him. There is exactly ONE (1) moment where Soap is like 'ah shite hold her for a second I gotta brb' and before he can say anything literally just shoves you into Ghost's hand, and he's so lost on what to do with you he just keeps you wrapped up in his hand, thumb on the top of your noggin so you can't squirm out.

Soap comes back and Ghost hasn't moved an inch

'.....Lt, you alright?'

'm fine just take the damn thing.'

Price is amused by you, but doesn't quite tolerate your mischief or curiosity as much as Soap does. If you're going to sit with him, you sit and behave. If you're a good girl, he might reward you - once he learns HOW.... he has a few ideas, but he's worried about breaking you.

You love petting his beard, combing over the hairs, letting it tickle you when you nuzzle against him. Maybe you help him make his tea or coffee, just to entertain him. He watches you put in just the right amount of sugar cubes, and then use a stirring straw to mix it all up. (Probably had to learn the hard way not to stir too much, since you spilled some coffee on a few important documents.)

When you're back to perching on his shoulder, he squishes you to his cheek with his hand in a pseudo form of a hug and calls you a good, sweet girl.

Its all done for when Gaz gets to spend time with you. Man spoils you ROTTEN. Soap walks in one day looking for you, and he finds Gaz having you try on cute little outfits he bought online. Treats you like an absolute princess. Who knew humans fashioned such cute clothes, all just for some toys??? They're all yours now.

When you want to repay Gaz, he gets a kick out of making you straddle his cock and grind on it, calls you his little cowgirl with a laugh before he holds your little waist in his hands and grinds you down harder on his cock. Use your legs to squeeze him just right before you get impatient and want your lips on his leaking tip.

When Ghost is finally convinced you're not out to steal their souls or smth, you have fun wiggling under his balaclava. Soap gets a real big laugh when he sees you peakin' your lil head through the eye opening, pressed right up against Ghost's face and getting the perfect view of the world from his perspective. How fascinating!

He takes it in stride, knowing now you're just a curious thing. He slips you from his mask when your wings smack him one too many times tho. Soap and Gaz debate on getting you a dollhouse to sleep in, but Ghost puts his vote on getting you a hamster cage just to see how the two sergeant's faces at the suggestion.

Regardless of what they do, you somehow always slip out to just to scurry over to Soap's pillow and nuzzle up to his cheek at night. He's much warmer than a simple doll's bed, after all - and if you're the first thing he sees when he wakes up, maybe he'll be that much more inclined to play with you before he really has to get out of bed.

-🧚‍♀️ (thought it'd be fitting lol.)

lmaoo ghost hanging onto fairy girly, with the same amount of stress and pressure implied:

im having fun imagining what price could do to make reader listen to him without breaking her but actually, i don't think he even needs to do much beyond give her That Look and she's instantly on her best behavior, climbing up under his hat cause she's a bit scared and just wants to be close and maybe massage his scalp in apology.

(do think she climbs into his empty whiskey bottle at least once though, because she's curious what's so good about it and gets so drunk she can't find her way out of it and the guys all have to solve the 'how to get the ship back out of the bottle proble without hurting her)

gaz with the doll clothing omg!!! and barbie clothes usually have the velcro in the back which means she'd have a place to slot her wings. that's so smart! he takes her shopping through the toy aisle when it's his turn to 'watch her' and she gets jealous any time he says one of the barbies look pretty in certain looks 😂

however. i think price catche wind that the boys are searching for an adequate doll house and pitches a fit. builds her one of those indoor green houses instead like people rear butterflies/moths or mantids in. a little plastic house will never do for their girl! (<- completely inspired by early's worm fic ngl)

[winwintea]

SELLING MY MOOTIES <33

ib: @https-lvesick 🫶

guys i’m very possessive i either sell you for a potato chip or never let you go okay just warning you in advance

AQUA - @aquaphoenixz

pros: he’s canadian (+10000 aura) / very soft literally so adorable / <- gets super flustered when you call him adorable / also will fight and defend you when needed / he listens to all your yaps / literally my husband / will buy you stuff ????? pls don’t ???? / big exol / but you can convert him to any other group

cons: you have to go through me to get to him (i can also fight) / inner entp makes him a bit stubborn / i’m trying to list off cons so you don’t want him but i genuinely can’t think of anything

price: you thought. 😡😡 he’s not for sale thanks

LOLA - @https-lvesick

pros: i’m trying to think. good fics i guess makes me horny 😔

cons: she hates me. SHE THINKS I’M WORTH 1 DOLLAR BITHC THE FUCK YOU AINT EVEN WORTH A POTATO CHIP I’D SELL YOU FOR / a bitch. 😡

price: 1 gum wrapper. i also need mental compensation.

ELLIE - @jirsungs

pros: gegorgeoyes / literally so sweet / can do no wrong trust

cons: will ghost you but she got finals to ace so it’s okay / pls update / jk i have no complaints

price: 1 million usd (not letting u go without a price smh)

LYVHIE - @lyvhie

pros: always down to play roblox fr 😋 (or any games) / will let you traumatize her / sends you random reels and says “that’s you” / good with kids / listens to your yaps / very respectful to my cock

cons: sucky artist… / sometimes the reels are kinda foul / hates #1, believes #0 is better than #1???? / disappears and then comes back randomly

price: 127 元

HUA - @polarisjisung

pros: loves your yaps <3 / PARK JISUNG IRL / comes with cats / LITERALLY SMARTEST PERSON I KNOW ??? (goes to a crazy good school) / almost got kidnapped probably but she’s too powerful for this world / excellent music taste

cons: cats are probably a better deal lowkey just take the cats

price: park jisung

STARCH - @syatchy

pros: literally a cat / SO FUNNY will make you laugh / very pretty / and cute ofc / stardew valley <33 / kinda rich… 😋😋 / australian 🤗 / peak music taste / slowly getting converted into kpop stan (shhh don’t tell them) / big yapper

cons: oddly horny… very often but it’s okay me too / awake at interesting hours / no sleep schedule / i fell in love with an emo gurl 😔 / will describe in depth and detail how ftm and mtf surgery works

price: 20 cats

VIA - @viasdreams

pros: very silly and fun to have conversations with / probably loaded how else she gonna afford all those pcs (spoil me pls) / angst bestie / 🤠🤠🤠 / neo neo

cons: hatsune miku lover in 2025 /j / weird kid turned… weird kid? / have to take a deep breath everytime i read one of her fics / lowkey these cons can be pros too if you’re into that

price: her entire pc collection

NAYU - @yutarot

pros: you get fic spoilers 😚 / 🤝 gives followers trauma and trust issues / it’s THE YUTAROT / literally a god / FEMALE ENTP I LOVE YOU

cons: none.

price: yuta nakamoto

KIWI - @wonbin-truther

pros: very very creative / super down bad for gong yoo (me too bestie) / literally a baddie okay / very very chaotic (in a good way) / keeps you on your toes

cons: will randomly message you at 12 am with “WAKE UP” damn girl chill /j ily / frat party girl 🙀 / crashes out a lot pls take care of yourself / smaus make me wanna kms sometimes but they’re lowkey fire anyways

price: $420,690 + 127 packs of ramen i need to pay my college tuition thanks

[waynes-multiverse]

I see you've successfully saved the glorious Ross gif 🤣

Ahaha I love this mention! 😂

At least he's feeling well enough to eat again and stopped destroying the office lol

Ha! I love her, she's such a badass.~

Hahaha I was considering if it was too much, but I could totally see her going at it again. She's definitely a "goes down swinging" kinda type lol

Btw, everytime I work in a Friends reference I think of you like "Aww, Alex will get this" 😂🫶

Ugh, she's so much stronger than me. I'd be a blubbering mess on the floor, poor thing. 😭😭

Oooh, I don't know about that. I think we can surprise ourselves in those situations ☺️ (She also had the advantage of sorta being prepared for it due to all the videos she's seen)

But yeah, she'd kill any escape room after this 😂

I love those moments where you as the audience know there's an answer here somewhere, but you just have to watch on edge as the person works it out in desperation. 🥲

Aah, same! I love these little moments where you just sit there, biting your nails, and hope they make it 🙈

And on the flip side, this is torture for Beau, a man of action, to not be able to do anything. To just wait and see if anything changes.

Lmao yes! He was going a bit nutty again when she was just saving her energy till she figured it out 😅

This is so truly intense -- it's cinematic in so many ways, and I'm loving this suspense...

I truly worked ages on this scene 😅 I usually hate writing action and prefer dialogue, but I tried challenging myself with this one lol

GAH! This is the delicious White Knight-saving angst that I live for. 🥹

I loved writing this so much! 😍 We all know reader is clearly a strong badass, but even she needs a little saving sometimes (or big one in this case lol)

Lmaoo this kind of pudding??

Hahaha yes 😂 Exactly what I had been thinking of

Aww in a way I do still feel bad for Randy, but "dissolved;" I think that's the right word for it as well. I love that last line in the scene. 💙

They at least parted on good terms. And yeah, definitely hard for Randy. He lost his wife and his best friend in one day 🥲

But he can move on now and find his own happiness again ❤️‍🩹

Awww haha, they're so cute!! I would've loved to see that reunion kiss. 🥹 But I have a feeling these two are finally off to their happy ending...

Haha honestly I completely forgot about the reunion kiss in a way. That whole rescue scene took me tf out. The happy ending kinda became a blurry, blissful bubble afterward 😂

I kinda liked the open ending in the hospital and then showing them in a "sitting on the porch together" kinda way 🥰🥹💕

Lol that is peak Beau behavior there! I love the rambling and the adorable fussing. Makes my heart so full. ❤️ Especially how she's just like, "sit down and be with me, you fool." 😂

Reader was definitely in a super chill, zen state (must be the near death experience) and Beau's fussing was disturbing her peace lol

I also found it very interesting how they both decided to retire. They've clearly been through the absolute wringer, plus the whole matter of Beau probably never feeling safe in that office again, and the reader needing time upon time to recover from all that trauma. It's a lovely new chapter for these two to have a quieter life together, whether or not they have kids down the line (though I love that conversation they had. Beau's line of “Look, I’m already retiring from the job – I don’t wanna retire from life,” had me dead lol). 🥹

There was a lot of "we've done the work, but we know what matters most" weaved into their conversation and decisions. They're just ready at this point to enjoy life and each other and avoid all the other crap 😅 (So happy you liked that line, tho! I thought it was so fitting for him to say 💚)

Thank you so much for all your sweet, insightful, and funny comments and reblogs, Alex!! 🥹🫶 Part of the fun of sharing stories here on tumblr for me is always the theories, the clues, the jokes, the ramblings, and the thirsting (lol) we get to exchange with our peers, so thank you for indulging me yet again 🤍

Polaris – Chapter 13

Series Summary: When Beau Arlen moved to Montana, he left behind a past he wasn’t proud of. But when a series of murders requires the FBI’s help, Sheriff Arlen‘s ghosts come back to haunt him one by one. With a wrong turn waiting at every crossroads, it’s hard to make the right choices and find his way back home – back to you.

Pairing: Beau Arlen x FBI Agent!Reader

Warnings: 18+, major angst, kidnapping, confined spaces, violence, injuries, drowning, CPR, life-and-death situations, the fluffiest ending (If any of these warnings trigger you, stay away ⚠️🫶)

Word Count: 7.4k

A/N: We're here! Last part, babes 😘 Thank you guys so much for sticking with me on this one. I know it was another wild ride, but I appreciated your sweet, insightful, and funny comments throughout 🥹🤍

Ready? Don't forget to breathe 😉

Series Masterlist || Main Masterlist || Tag List

Chapter 13: Sure And Certain

“What’s she doing?”

With a mouthful of Donno’s Special of the Day sandwich, Beau came to stand behind a whole group of people who had gathered around a laptop screen propped up on his desk.

He threw another sandwich wrapped in paper on the desk in front of Randy, who sat comfortably in his chair and nodded a ‘thank you.’ Behind him, Jenny leaned casually against the window sill with an intensely knitted brow. Cassie and Denise, on the other hand, had grabbed themselves a set of uncomfortable, worn chairs from the break room and sat on each side of Randy, staring musingly at the screen.

“I think she’s meditating,” Denise put forth.

“No, I think she’s sleeping,” Jenny said dryly.

“I don’t know…” Cassie’s brow furrowed.

Beau frowned as he stepped forward, stealing a glance at the livestream himself. You were still lying perfectly motionless on the long metal table in the middle of the room. They knew you were alive, though. They had watched you crawl up there and lie down. Sometimes, your eyes were open. Sometimes, they were closed for long periods of time.

“She’s still doing what she’s been doing for eight hours now,” Beau huffed. Honestly, he’d be more worried if it wasn’t so damn frustrating.

“Maybe the poor thing’s in shock after everything she’s been through,” Denise suggested sympathetically.

Beau hoped she wasn’t right. Seeing you give up didn’t sit well with him. He couldn’t watch you lie there alone in the cold until there was no air left anymore.

In all honesty, he had a confession to make: He’d never watched a single of Diane’s videos to the end. He knew you’d probably watched them a thousand times, but he couldn’t do it. He had watched parts of it, sure, but never the bitter end. He didn’t know how you'd done it. He always figured you were a lot stronger than him.

But maybe you’d seen something on those videos he didn’t know but had to.

“Y/N?” Randy scoffed at Denise’s proposal with conviction and shook his head. “No, she wouldn’t give up, and I doubt Turner scared her that much. She put a screwdriver in the guy, for crying out loud,” he argued his objection. “No, she’s thinking.”

Beau hated to agree with Randy but hoped to hell he was right.

“Maybe,” Cassie mused and squinted her eyes at the screen. “I think she’s staring at the light above her.”

With narrowed eyes, everyone drew in closer to the screen and observed you.

“I think Cass is right,” Jenny said and retreated to her old position, smirking.

Beau frowned anew and flailed his arms. “Why?”

Fucking Hal Turner.

He got you with a shovel, tied your hands, hauled you back to the cabin and sedated you.

You woke with a few meager slaps across your face before groggily being dragged through the woods at night on unsteady legs. You slipped in and out of consciousness a few times, but you knew Turner wasn’t strong enough to carry you, so he had to keep you awake enough to walk, but sedated enough to not fight back.

You, however, tried to memorize and plan as much as your dazed mind possibly let you. You remembered how long you’d walked from the cabin to the bunker – about thirty minutes. You knew which direction you’d walked as you’d glanced up at the stars – north. And you knew you had hiked slightly up, but not more than twelve degrees. You remembered the faint sounds of a river splashing close by.

Most importantly, you could still feel the screwdriver tucked into your sock in your left boot.

Turner hadn’t frisked you again – big mistake.

As soon as you’d reached the spot of the supposed bunker, you frowned when Turner removed a pile of leaves, moss and dirt from the forest floor and opened the metal hatch that hid underneath.

Oh, hell no…

You weren’t getting in there. If you hadn’t known it before, you surely knew it now.

You would’ve been fine with the cabin because you knew Beau and the department would eventually find it. He’d get a list of their properties and find it. Denise had been in charge of those, and she’d been meticulous.

You would’ve been fine with an above-ground bunker, or even halfway above, too. Once the team would find the cabin, they’d know Turner and you couldn’t have gone far. They’d find the blood and test it, realizing with relief that most of it wasn’t yours. They’d know you’d be in the general area, and Beau would move heaven and earth to find you.

But this thing? They’d never fucking find you here.

Roughly, Turner shoved you down the tight metal stairway, leading to a room you knew only too well from videos. Now, you were here and saw it all for real, like glimpsing behind the scenes of a movie set.

Why couldn’t it have been the Friends set in Hollywood? Instead, you had to visit Diane Newton’s arts and crafts project.

Hal Turner cut your ties – again. And you saw it as your perfect way to escape. Again.

Fool me once, shame on you. Fool me twice, shame on me.

With your elbows and shoulders, you shoved Turner backwards and bent down, quickly retrieving the screwdriver from your boot. You spun around and thrust it straight into his left carotid artery.

He gasped a breathless sound, his eyes growing wide and white. You let go and stepped back.

You’d never killed someone before – not like this at least.

But then Turner inhaled a deep breath of air – strained, angry, fighting. And you finally understood where the phrase white-hot rage stemmed from.

The roaring Grizzly kicked you right into your bear trap injury. With a painful scream and a searing pain, you fell to your knees and clasped your wound.

He then fled up the stairs like a rat through a sewer cover, tossing the hatch shut behind him. There was the sound of a thick lock before some shuffling followed. At least he couldn’t have done a good job on covering up the entrance. Maybe they’d find you easier this way.

Better yet, you hoped Turner would succumb to his fatal injury not too far from the hatch. If they found his body close by, they could find you too, right?

At least you’d gotten the bastard…

You wanted to scream till your lungs were depleted of all oxygen, but you didn’t have enough air for a breakdown in this bunker. You took one last deep breath to ground yourself and closed your eyes.

Then, you opened them.

The bright neon light flickered above as your eyes darted around the room. The space was sparse, concrete walls peeling in places, as though even the structure was trying to escape. You didn’t want to think too much about how long you would be trapped here.

You already knew this place by heart and what would happen if you didn’t get out.

At the edge of the corner, sat a row of rusty metal lockers. Shuffling over on your good leg, you opened the shrieking door and found that the lockers held various odds and ends – tools, cans, an assortment of chemical bottles with faded labels, and a single, cracked lightbulb resting on its side.

The other victims had received these items as well but never pieced enough of it together to escape. A few drank the chemical bottles for a quicker death out of sheer desperation. While you unfortunately couldn’t solve Diane’s little riddle either, you swore to yourself poison would never be a last resort.

You’d seen those deaths – they had neither been quick nor painless.

You found a first-aid kit as well and lowered yourself to the cold ground, bandaging your ankle. As you tightened the bandage to stop the blood flow, your eyes glanced up the shelves.

Your breath hitched. In the back of your mind, a vague memory from your 7th grade science teacher stirred – something about pressure, something about triggering a chain reaction. You tried to push it away but the thought wouldn’t leave. Maybe an escape was possible after all. There were things you could use – you just needed to figure out how.

The jar of white powder caught your eye. It was too fine to be salt. The label was half-scratched off, but you could make out the word "sulfate." Next to it, a small container of copper wiring lay scattered across the shelf – tiny, thin strands coiled tightly like little snakes, their sharp ends glinting in the harsh neon light.

You pulled at your sleeves nervously, staring at the broken lightbulb once more. If you twisted it carefully, the filament inside would snap. Maybe. Then there was the sharp wire… You let the idea float in your mind for just a moment longer before shaking it off.

And there was that other thing. Something buried deeper in the corner, an oily rag, half-soaked in a pungent smell you couldn’t quite place. You made a mental note. They weren’t much, but they were something.

If you could just piece it all together…

Tiredly, you heaved yourself onto the large metal table in the middle of the room. It was harsh, cold, and uncomfortable, but it was all you had. You lied down on your back and stared at the ceiling, at the flickering neon light above you. Then, you closed your eyes again.

Think, think, think…

For hours, Beau had now stared at the grainy footage, watching your unmoving form. The neon light flickered overhead, casting long shadows against the cold, cement walls of the bunker. His hands were trembling as he gripped the armrests of his chair, his body taut with the weight of helplessness.

The others had left his office a while ago, scrambling to find a way to get you out. There was a search going on, a team of skilled rescuers turning over every stone in the general vicinity of the cabin. Beau knew you couldn’t be far from there. And still, he feared he wouldn’t find you in time.

Truthfully, he knew the only one that could get you out was you. If you just stopped lying there…

Nothing. Not even a twitch. What the hell were you thinking about?

You were alive. He knew you were, reminding himself of that fact on an hourly basis. But for all the good it did, it didn’t matter. The silence on the feed was more suffocating than any sound.

But then…

A subtle movement. A shift in the shadows, so slight that at first, he thought it was just his eyes playing tricks on him.

His heart skipped.

Your fingers twitched, just enough to catch his attention. And then, slowly, agonizingly, you dragged yourself up, struggling to sit. He watched the quiet shuffle of your body across the concrete floor. You were alive. You were still fighting.

“Guys!” his gruff voice called loudly for the cavalry, but he didn’t wait for them to flood into his office.

Beau leaned forward in his chair, holding his breath. His heart hammered in his chest as you lifted your head, your eyes flicking briefly to the camera – aware. You knew he was watching.

Your movements were shaky, too weak for anything swift, but they were purposeful. You scanned the room with desperation. The broken lightbulb in the rusty locker, jagged glass fragments scattered on the shelf, caught your attention.

You reached for it.

Beau’s stomach twisted. No, don’t…

But it was too late. You pressed the sharp edge against the skin of your palm, wincing with the effort as blood began to bead at the surface. His breath hitched, fingers curling into fists at his sides. The blood flowed in slow, steady streams, painting your hand.

You didn’t flinch.

You moved with a practiced precision, grimly intent. With shaky fingers, you scooped some blood on your pointer finger and pressed the pad to the wall, your arm trembling as you began to write.

Seismograph.

Beau’s eyes locked onto the word, his brow furrowing.

Seismograph?

You were so weak. You could barely hold yourself up, and yet, you were still thinking. Still trying. Then you turned to the wall once more, collecting more blood on your finger as you struggled to form the second word.

3 hours.

You stopped then, your body slumping against the wall, too drained to write any more. You didn’t need to. The message was clear.

The feed cut to static for a brief moment, the camera buzzing with distortion, before it returned to the silent, unchanging image of your still form against the wall. But Beau wasn’t looking at you anymore.

His mind raced, blood thundering in his ears. Seismograph. 3 hours.

A tremor ran through him – an earthquake in his chest.

Seismograph. You were giving him a clue. Something seismic. A signal of some kind. His gut twisted. He was supposed to know what it meant.

3 hours. What did that mean? Three hours before something? Three hours after something?

He didn’t have time to analyze it. You were sending him a lifeline. And whatever it meant, he was going to find you.

“What’s going on?” Jenny was the first to thunder into his office, her heart beating fast in her ribcage. She came to stand behind Beau and glanced at the screen, her brow knitting at the crimson words on the concrete wall in the same way his had. “Seismograph. 3 hours,” the blonde read aloud. “What does it mean?”

Cassie stood quietly in the doorframe, listening and thinking. “What is in those lockers?”

“I don’t know. We never found a bunker before, and Diane sure as hell ain’t telling us,” Beau huffed frustratedly.

“But there are chemicals of some kind,” Jenny pointed out, squinting her eyes at the laptop.

“Maybe she’s building a bomb,” Cassie proposed.

Beau pondered the theory for a beat. Then, he nodded. “We already know the area of the bunker. We could probably find her exact location through the tremors.”

“With a seismograph,” Jenny finished the thought. “Well, let’s hope she doesn’t blow herself up first.”

Beau hoped that, too. He didn’t even know you possessed bomb-making skills, but he figured you hadn’t known that fact about yourself either. This was by far not a thoroughly planned undertaking.

“Alright, get a damn seismograph here. I don’t care where you get it or what it costs. We’ve got three hours,” Beau barked his orders with a racing heart.

Your message had just bought him time, and he wasn’t going to waste it. You were still alive. He could still save you. And he wasn’t going to stop until he did.

Your breath came in short, labored gasps as you hunched over the crude metal table in the dark, sterile bunker. The faint hum of the camera feeding into the livestream echoed through the silence, the red light blinking softly as its lens captured your every movement, broadcasting your quiet panic.

You knew Beau was watching. They all probably were. You could almost feel their eyes on you, their silent judgment, their hope that this would work. They’d see the sweat glistening on your brow, the faint tremor in your hands as you worked on your little science fair project.

But it wasn’t fear that made you shake now. It was the cold certainty that time was running out.

You carefully twisted the wire around the small, makeshift device you’d cobbled together from the limited supplies at your disposal. Every movement was deliberate, every breath controlled, even as your mind raced a marathon. You lifted the device to your ear, listening for the faint click as you tightened the final screw. Done.

The one thing they had to get right was the seismic readings.

The bomb was crude – imperfect – but it was all you had. The plan was simple: blow the door open if you could, cause a seismic tremor, and hope the team could triangulate your location. They would track the explosion on the seismograph, find your coordinates, and come for you.

If you were lucky.

Maybe you should leave another message behind for him. In those hours you had lain on the table and pondered, you had thought about your escape. You had also thought about various torturous ways to kill Diane. You had celebrated your little win against Turner. But most of all, you had thought about Beau.

Simple things. The color of his pine green eyes. The smell of his leathery cologne. The sound of his hearty laugh. The warmth of his large hands. Would you ever see, hear, or feel those things again?

A tear streaked your cheek that you swiftly wiped away. Sobbing would cost you too much goddamn air. You couldn’t afford it.

You stole one last glance at the camera, your face a grim mask of resolve. Then you moved quickly, setting the device in place. You looked at the door on top of the steps – solid metal, bolted shut, impossible to open without the right tools.

Tools you didn’t have.

You hurried down the stairs and pushed the metal table onto its side, using it as a shield from the blast as you hunched down low behind it. It had been a little over three hours. It was time. With a sharp breath, you pushed the button of the remote detonator.

The explosion hit like a fist. The sound was deafening, but muffled in the confined space. Your ears rang as the shockwave slammed into you, throwing you back against the cold, unforgiving concrete wall. Your head spun, and for a moment, everything went black.

Then came the tremor.

It rippled through the ground like a violent pulse. The bunker groaned – metal creaking, concrete cracking. The lights flickered and went out, plunging you into near-total darkness, save for the dim emergency glow above the door.

And then, with a deep, bone-rattling crack, something shifted above you.

You scrambled to your feet, disoriented. What the hell was that?

A series of sharp, cracking sounds echoed from the ceiling, followed by a wet, muffled splintering. Your breath caught in your throat as a large root – gnarled and thick as a limb – suddenly pierced through the bunker’s ceiling, splintering the metal and concrete. The roots of a large tree slithered down – a slow, creeping thing – and it didn’t stop. It tore through the ceiling like it had been waiting for this moment, its jagged edges scraping against the walls.

And then – water. Cold, relentless water began pouring in, cascading through the new hole in the roof, spilling across the floor in an uncontrolled flood.

Fuck.

Your heart pounded wildly as you stumbled backward, the water already rising around your ankles, creeping steadily toward your knees. You could hear the steady drip of water splashing against the cold, metal floor, each drop sending a ripple through your chest.

The livestream camera remained on, the blinking red light still steady, but your mind was running a mile a minute – panic rising like a tidal wave. You had no time. You had to move, had to act. But the water was already rising faster than you could think. The air was thick, the walls seemed to be closing in on you, and the roots above groaned ominously as if the earth itself was about to swallow you whole.

You ran toward the door, your boots splashing through the growing puddle. But aside from causing a giant hole in the ceiling, the bomb hadn’t done enough damage to escape. The root’s tendrils were still creeping down from above, twisting around the ceiling. You could hear the scrape of it, its thick fingers reaching into the dark corners of the room.

The sound of the water filled your ears as it surged up around your waist. You stumbled, falling to one knee as the icy liquid engulfed you. Your chest tightened, panic clawing at your throat.

It was too much. The explosion, the quake, the roots, and now the rising water – everything was converging at once. A part of you knew this was it. You wouldn’t get out. They wouldn’t get here in time to save you. But a small flicker of hope was still alive in your heart.

You clutched the camera’s wire, the blinking red light still visible in the murk, as if it was the last lifeline you had left.

“Please,” you breathed, although you knew they couldn’t hear you, but your voice was barely audible over the rush of water anyways. “Please, find me.”

The woods were dense, the trees thick with fog and shadows. Beau ran through the underbrush, his boots pounding against the damp earth, the scent of pine and wet leaves filling his lungs. Sweat stung his green eyes, his breath coming in ragged bursts as he pushed his body beyond its limits. His heart thundered in his chest, not from the exertion, but from the terror building inside him, growing with each passing second.

He’d found it.

The seismograph had done its job. The tremor from the explosion had sent ripples through the earth, and in those ripples, he’d pinpointed the location. There was no time to think, no time to second-guess. He didn’t know how much time you had left, but the second the signal went off and the icy water of a nearby river had wound its way into the confined space, rising like a tide as it flooded the bunker, he’d known it could only be minutes till you took your last breath.

Beau’s mind reeled at the thought.

He stumbled over a fallen log, his eyes never leaving the ground ahead of him. He was so close. It had to be here. He had seconds to make it. He knew it had to be deep. The bunker was buried beneath the forest floor, hidden like a trap, and there was only one way in: a hatch maybe, barely visible among the trees, the earth heavy with moss and years of neglect. He had to get there – now.

He could hear the team searching all around him, crying with calls of your name that echoed through the trees. As he stared up through the tops of the towering pines, he could see the North Star twinkling brightly above him. His heart twinged. His gaze dropped and then landed on the far beam of his flashlight. Something flickered in the distance, just a few yards away from him, buried in the moss.

He stumbled back onto his feet, his trembling hands picking up a small, golden band. His chest seized.

The ring.

His ears picked up the babbling sounds of water. The river was close, only a few feet away. That had to be it. You’d left him another sign.

Grabbing his flashlight, his hands hastily searched the ground. His fingers brushed a thick patch of bramble, and then – there. His breath halted. Metal.

The hatch.

He skidded to a stop, his hands shaking as he dropped to his knees and cleared the leaves and brush away. The metal was a bit busted and bent out of shape, probably from the bomb, but the bolt that kept it tightly shut was still in tact. His fingers fumbled for the lock, every second stretching longer than the last.

“It’s here!” Beau yelled loudly, calling the others for help. “She’s here!”

His mind kept circling back to you. You were trapped down there. Trapped and drowning.

I’m coming, darlin’. Hold on.

Finally, his fingers found the latch, and with a metallic groan, the hatch creaked open.

The stench of damp earth hit him first – the cold, stagnant air of a place that had been shut off from the world for too long. His flashlight flickered as he shined it down into the narrow opening. The steps below were steep, the darkness absolute. He could hear the distant drip of water, and with it, a rising sense of urgency.

He didn’t waste time. Without a second thought, he grabbed the flashlight and began to descend, the metal of the hatch scraping against the edges of the door as he pulled it wide open. His breath caught as he stepped into the narrow stairwell.

The moment he hit the bottom, the sound of rushing water was unmistakable.

The tunnel was flooded. The water was rising fast, covering the floor in murky, black waves. The small concrete room at the base of the stairs had become a watery tomb, the level inching toward the ceiling.

He shouted your name, his voice crackling in the damp air.

But there was no answer.

Beau pushed forward, his heart in his throat, eyes scanning every inch of the flooded room. Your presence was all he could feel – your spirit, your strength, your last message. He had to find you.

A sudden thud echoed through the chamber, the faint sound of something – or someone – shifting beneath the water.

Beau’s eyes locked on the back wall of the room, where the water was thickest, swirling around a pile of debris. His mind screamed. The seconds were melting away, and he couldn’t afford to waste a single one.

The wall was crumbling under the pressure, but the thing that struck him wasn’t just the damage. It was the stillness. There was no movement. No air.

His pulse spiked as he waded through the rising water, kicking through the murk with his boots, moving faster now, hands trembling as he shoved aside debris.

Please, please, please…

And then, beneath the surface, a hand – limp, floating like a ghost. Beau lunged, his fingers brushing against your wrist, cold and unyielding.

He cried your name again, his voice hoarse with panic as he pulled you to him, cradling your body against his chest.

Your skin was ice-cold. Your hair matted against your face, your body limp in his arms. You were unconscious – or worse.

Don’t you dare be dead. Don’t you dare.

Beau’s breath came in harsh bursts, his hands fumbling against you, trying to find any sign of life. The water was rising too fast.

He wasn’t going to lose you. Not like this.

With a single, desperate motion, he hoisted you into his arms. He didn’t stop. His feet pounded the water-soaked concrete as he bolted back toward the stairs, his lungs burning, the world blurring around him.

Get out. Get out.

He could feel the water rising behind him, flooding the room with the force of a tide. He didn’t know if the two of you would make it. He didn’t know if he could make it.

But he was going to try. He was going to fight like hell to keep you alive.

The hatch was there, just ahead, the only way out. He pushed harder, faster, as the water reached his knees, then his waist. Every breath was a battle. Every second felt like an eternity.

With one final push, he reached the top of the stairs, stumbling out into the fresh air, gasping for breath, his legs weak beneath him. He laid you on the ground, your limp body draped across the earth.

Beau’s hands were shaking as he knelt beside you. “Darlin’,” he whispered, shaking you gently.

Nothing.

Tears blurred his vision as he pressed his ear to your chest, listening for any sign of life.

A faint, fragile beat.

You were still with him.

He could barely breathe, panic threatening to swallow him whole, but he knew he had to keep it together.

He leaned over your body, his hands moving quickly. “Come on, darlin’. Come on…” His voice cracked as he positioned his hands, interlocking his fingers over your sternum. He gave two hard compressions, the sound of his palms meeting your chest too loud in the thick silence.

Still nothing. Your skin was frozen, your lips tinged blue.

His breath hitched, and he started again – one, two, three…

His heart hammered in his chest as he leaned down, pinching your nose and sealing his mouth over yours. He breathed into you, feeling the faint rise of your chest beneath him.

Please, please, don’t leave me.

He gave you another breath, then returned to the chest compressions – one, two, three…

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, each moment more desperate than the last. His hands moved faster, his fingers slick with water and sweat as he pressed into you again and again. He wasn’t thinking. He couldn’t.

He hadn’t even taken note of the crowd that had gathered around him, watching the dire spectacle.

Finally – after what felt like a lifetime – your body jerked beneath his hands. You gasped, a harsh, ragged breath, and Beau nearly collapsed in relief. He cradled your head gently, his green eyes searching your face as you coughed weakly, water spilling from your mouth.

“You’re okay. You’re okay,” he breathed into your hair, his voice thick with emotion and eyes filled with tears as he kissed your crown repeatedly, his hold tight around your body.

You opened your eyes, just a sliver at first, and then you blinked, your hand weakly reaching for his cheek before it dropped to his chest.

“Beau…” you whispered, your voice barely a breath before you let out the first few sobs and coiled against him.

“It’s alright. I’m here.”

And for the first time in days, Beau let himself breathe as he steadied your trembling frame in his embrace.

Hospitals weren’t your favorite thing in the world. In fact, you had pretty much avoided them your whole life. You’d screamed your way through your tonsils surgery when you were five. You refused to get your broken arm cast when you were fourteen. But there was one thing you had always cherished during your involuntary stays:

Pudding.

Randy was the first person that stopped by early in the morning. You didn’t know if that decision had been a collusive one, agreed upon by the whole team, but you were grateful for the visit – more grateful when he brought you your sweet treat.

Something had been going on, though, while you were locked up – you could tell. As you’d clung to Beau’s chest last night in the forest, you caught Randy in the crowd around you before he ducked his head and retreated into the shadows. Your heart broke at the sight.

Beau didn’t leave your side, though, even riding in the ambulance with you while reassuring you throughout. He held your hand tightly, but his shoulders were stiff. And when they wheeled you out of the emergency room, the doors closed in front of him. You hadn’t seen or heard from him since.

You’d only slept for about five hours, but it had been a deep slumber. You had been out like a light. But as soon as you woke, you felt the aches of your body. There wasn’t a single limb or organ that didn’t groan in pain. Your ankle was the worst, though – the doctors told you you were lucky you got to keep it by the degree of infection it had suffered. The murky water of the river surely hadn’t helped cleaning it.

Sepsis, hypothermia, drowning, and lifelong trauma were just a few of the things you had to recover from.

There was also the dissolution of your marriage – you’d finally found the right term. Not widowed, not divorced – dissolved.

Randy stayed for three hours, and you had an honest and long talk. Oddly enough, being in his presence didn’t feel strange anymore. It felt familiar.

While your brain had adjusted, your heart remained steadfast. Randy had recognized it too and conceded. When he left your bedside, you sent him a smile with tears brimming in your eyes.

A chapter closed. A song ended. But your heart was at peace.

Beau’s heart pounded furiously in his chest as he stood glued outside your hospital room. Every laugh that echoed through the door felt like a gut punch.

Randy had asked to speak to you first. Beau had granted him the request – not that it had been really up to him. But Randy had been gracious last night, and the sheriff knew it couldn’t have been easy.

Beau had arrived at the hospital around noon, only to find you and Randy were still talking. Not only talking but laughing. While his heart murmured a tiny bit, he supposed it was a good sign. Who said you had to throw plates or the occasional vase at each other?

Twenty minutes later, Randy finally exited and ran straight into Beau around the corner, who had leaned against the wall and tried to answer the many nosy questions of the group chat. He didn’t know why the hell Cassie had invited him into this one…

“Oh, hey.” Randy chuckled lightly as he bumped into Beau, eyeing him with a suspicious brow. There was the flash of a smirk on his face.

Eager, are we? Beau could read Randy thoughts, even though his former friend refrained from saying them out loud.

“Hey.” Beau’s voice was low. He swallowed thickly as he tried his hardest not to avert his gaze to the linoleum flooring. “How is she?”

“In good spirits,” Randy replied but then paused. “For now. I think the morphine’s kicking in.”

“So, uhm–”

Beau didn’t know where that sentence would end. Flat-out asking Randy how your conversation went would’ve just been pathetically nosy – and rude. His mama had raised him better than that.

“I’m going back to Houston,” Randy still answered the unasked question.

“With, uhm–” Your name hung on the tip of Beau’s tongue before he bit down, noting Randy’s shaking head.

“Don’t push it.”

“Right…” Beau smacked his lips and cleared his throat, his hand scratching the nape of his neck. “So, what about you and me, huh? I know right now’s a stretch, but maybe down the road we could grab a beer?”

Randy’s lips pursed at first – unsure. But after a beat passed, he nodded slightly. “Maybe, yeah.” He hesitated. “Hit me up if you’re ever in Houston, alright?”

“Yeah, alright.” Beau’s lips twitched to a smile of surprise, but he still wished there was more he could do, more he could offer. It didn’t feel enough. “Take care of yourself, okay?”

Randy gave him a tight-lipped nod and patted him on the shoulder as he passed him. “You too.”

Beau watched Randy angle towards the elevators before exhaling a deep breath. Green eyes then drifted to your door. His heart was both elated and heavy. Questions circled in his mind.

What now?

The case was as good as over. Would you leave now? Where would you go? Beau knew your home was in Houston. Should he move back there, too? Would you even want him to? He’d broken up with you. Again. Were you still mad at him for it? He had tried to restrain himself last night, not knowing where the two of you stood. He held your hand in his, even though it was your whole body he wanted to keep holding in his arms.

You’d chosen no one. Maybe this was a day of break-ups for you.

Beau’s knuckles softly knocked on your door before he entered. Unsurely, he stood until your eyes glanced up and found his. A smile rose on your lips.

“Hey, there you are. You just missed Randy,” you said.

At a loss for words, Beau stared at you for a moment, his heart hammering in his chest. You still looked pretty rough – hooked up to IVs, your face and arms covered in bruises and cuts. But at least you were here – alive. There was some color back in your cheeks. Until a few hours ago, he wasn’t sure he’d ever get to see you again.

“Oh, uh, passed him in the hall,” Beau finally said and obnoxiously cleared his throat. “Said he was going back to Houston.”

“Yeah, he told me. I gave him my apartment,” you said, your voice a casual melody as you ignored the tension that was building between you two.

Beau’s brows shot up. “You gave him your place?”

“Least I could do. I sold his home.”

“Where are you gonna stay?”

“Oh, I don’t know yet. Guess I’m kinda homeless now. Again,” you said and hid the hint of a smile. You could see his wires were crossed.

“Hmm,” he hummed and shifted on his heels.

“Thank you,” you then said softly, trying to fight the tears that pricked your eyes. You swallowed heavily. “For saving me, you know? Bringing me back to life…”

“Don’t mention it,” he replied with a tight-lipped smile and a shake of his head, although a lump formed in the back of his throat at the haunting image of you, limb in his arms. He never wanted to see something like this again. He never wanted to feel that crippling, numbing fear ever again.

You snorted slightly at his understatement, fumbling with your fingers in your lap. “Feel like I have to. They told me you gave me CPR for three minutes straight. They said I was pretty much gone.”

“They’re exaggerating. It wasn’t that long,” he brushed off. “‘Sides, I wasn’t gonna let you die on my watch.”

“Like I said, thanks,” you reiterated and sent him a smile. “So, why are you standing so far away like I’m radioactive?”

Beau pursed his lips. “Well, you are kinda my kryptonite, darlin’.” He scratched the back of his neck, his boots still not moving closer. “Don’t really know where we stand, y’know? I mean, last time… that morning… I guess I’m tryna say I’m sorry for puttin’ you through that. So, on a scale from one to ten, how mad are you at me right now?”

“Well, if you put it like that… zero.” You grinned teasingly. “Hard to stay mad at you, considering you’ve saved my life, you know? I’m willing to forget your momentary stupidity. Well, if it really was momentary…”

“Oh, it was,” Beau confirmed, your heart expanding with a breath of relief. “Going with an insanity defense here. So… what does that mean?”

Musingly, you bit down on your lip. “I don’t know. Guess you’ll have to come closer and find out.”

Beau’s lips hiked to a wide, genuine smile for the first time in days. His feet began moving toward you.

Enjoying the warm rays of sunlight on your face, you exhaled blissfully as you sat outside the trailer, leaning comfortably back in your chair.

“There ya go – one extra black, extra strong cup of joe.” Beau handed you your favorite mug, his pine green eyes drifting to your injured leg, propped up on a wooden stool in front of you.

“Thank you,” you replied with a smile and practically inhaled the black liquid, its warmth filling you.

“How’s the ankle? That stool looks uncomfortable,” he noted, brushing his beard. His head tilted. “You need a pillow? Imma grab you one. Anything you need, darlin’. Officially retired since yesterday, you know? I’m here all day. Just say the word, and I’ll make it happen.”

Amused, you laughed a little. “I don’t need a pillow. The ankle’s fine. Just sit down next to me and enjoy the sun, will you?”

“It’s freezing.”

“I like how the snow twinkles in the sun,” you said and patted the chair next to you. With a groan, Beau sat down, wrapping his suede jacket a little tighter around himself while you sat cozily draped in the Sherpa jacket you had stolen from his closet. It was big and wide and warm and smelled heavenly like him. “‘Sides, I have a pretty nice jacket to keep me warm.” He frowned a little at you, but an amused smile twitched on his lips. “You said I should make myself comfortable – anything I wanted.”

“Didn’t think you’d raid my closet,” he huffed playfully.

“Hey, I only came here with a tiny carry-on.”

You’d been released from the hospital last night after spending a full week there. In the meantime, Beau had decided to hang up the sheriff’s hat, handing the badge off to Jenny – you’d fully agreed with the decision. You knew his heart hadn’t been in it for a while now.

He’d also asked you to move in.

And moreover, you’d finished your last reports and then handed in your resignation at the FBI. One serial killer kidnapping was enough for you. Diane had showed you where your limit was, and that was okay. You looked forward to a quiet life with the man beside you. It was its own adventure. God knows Diane’s life wouldn’t be as happy and peaceful behind bars.

Neither of you had spoken to her since your rescue. Sheriff Hoyt had handled all things on that end. By the amount of evidence they had to go through, Ted even surmised her trial wouldn’t start until three years from now. Until then, Beau and you had promised each other you wouldn’t waste another thought on her.

Well, you supposed you had to waste some thoughts on her. A big publisher from New York had already approached you about a book deal – and the money was more than good.

“Guess we’ll have to go down to Houston to get your stuff once you’re back on your feet,” Beau said.

Musingly, you scrunched your nose and hummed. “Not sure that’s necessary. It’s not gonna fit in the trailer anyways – not with your extensive closet.”

Amused, Beau pursed his lips and chuckled. He rubbed a hand through his beard. “Yeah, I was thinking about that… Maybe we should move. Get a bigger place, you know?”

“Do they make bigger Airstreams?” you murmured teasingly into your mug, cocking an eyebrow.

His tongue poked the inside of his cheek. “I was thinking more along the lines of a house. A ranch, maybe.”

“What about a houseboat?”

“Nah, that wouldn’t work with the kids. Try keeping a toddler in a life jacket all day,” Beau quipped, shaking his head. He didn’t even seem to notice what had slipped out of his mouth.

Your brow creased. “Kids?”

His wide eyes found yours, mouth opening and closing. He let out nervous breath. “Yeah, uh, something else I wanted to talk to you about…”

“Are you pregnant?” you joked and snorted into your coffee. Then, your brow furrowed. “Wait, am I? Did the doctor say something to you? Why would you smuggle tequila into my room if you knew?”

“No one’s pregnant, darlin’…” Beau laughed softly, his hand reaching out to cover your thigh. “I was just thinking maybe more a down-the-line kinda thing. In the, uh, near future, you know?”

You narrowed your eyes suspiciously. “Well, uhm, I didn’t think that was on table. We’ve never talked about it. I mean, I honestly didn’t think you’d want to…”

“Kinda gettin’ tired of people always assuming things about me,” Beau retorted with a little smirk. He squeezed your thigh. “Kids are on the table, darlin’.”

“Huh.”

Clearing his throat, Beau leaned forward in his seat. “You know, I had a little chat with Randy…”

You scoffed in surprise. “He actually told you?”

“Bigger question is, why didn’t you tell me?” Beau’s brow raised almost scoldingly. He was a pretty great dad.

“Honestly? Because it’s none of your business. That was between me and my then-late husband,” you replied with a sharpness that matched his look – there was a playfulness lying underneath, though. You both knew the other had a point. You exhaled a long sigh. “Look, that was four years ago. A lot has changed since then. I haven’t really thought about it since Randy’s funeral. Then Mexico happened. God knows we were nowhere near ready for a conversation like this…”

You gave him a shrug of your shoulders and sipped on your coffee.

“So, you don’t want kids?”

“Do you?”

Beau chuckled lightly, his fingers tapping the chair’s armrest. “Look, I’m already retiring from the job – I don’t wanna retire from life,” he said. “Sure, for a long time, I wasn’t thinking about another kid, but Emily’s almost off to college. Would be nice to feel needed again, do it all over… I don’t wanna fish every day till I drop.”

You snorted a laugh.

“So? What d’you say?”

Biting down on your lip, you glanced behind you at the Airstream. Then you found his green eyes and grinned. “Yeah, I think we’ll definitely need a bigger place. Maybe something between a houseboat and a ranch?”

Beau could barely contain his smile but played along. “And what would that be?”

It ended up being a lake house. Beau fished every morning. You watched him and the sunrise from the window as you wrote your novel.

The baby arrived by next Christmas.

THE END

I think reader would be unstoppable in an Escape Room 😂

I so hope you enjoyed this last part, loves! What a wonderful journey it's been. Thank you to every single one of you from the bottom of my heart 🤍

And PS: I do have a little future one-shot in mind for them 😉

Join the TAG LIST here! 🌌 Wanna sponsor my caffeine addiction? ☕️

Everything Jensen: @alwaystiredandconfused @xlynnbbyx @lyarr24 @deans-spinster-witch @blackcherrywhiskey

@deansbbyx @foxyjwls007 @ladysparkles78 @roseblue373 @zepskies

@agalliasi @yvonneeeee @hobby27 @iamsapphine @globetrotter28

@mxltifxnd0m @lacilou @feyresqueen @suckitands33 @onlyangel-444

@syrma-sensei @perpetualabsurdity @deans-baby-momma @yoobusgoobus @jessjad

@hunter-or-the-hunted @k-slla @just-levyy @mrsjenniferwinchester @illicithallways

@muhahaha303 @ultimatecin73 @nancymcl @leigh70 @brightlilith

@nesnejwritings @samslvrgirl @xx-spooky-little-vampire-xx @fromcaintodean @barewithme02

@thebiggerbear @star-yawnznn

Everything Beau Arlen: @snowayumi

Polaris Series: @corruptedcruiser

[rxttenfish]

please understand. if you sit close to aaravi while shes deep in thought, you can hear her Clicky Clacky her mandibles. they might be useless but they ARE stimmy as hell.

[crystalpallette]

frye inspires this sort of manic "i can do whatever i want" kinda will in people and god. I sure did do whatever I wanted here

[urfavedumbcunt]

Putting her shirt on and having my brain go fuzzy bc it smells like her >>>>>>>>

[flowerhashira-kanae]

“I doubt you’d scare any of us. We’re hashira we’ve seen some pretty scary things out there and none of you are even close to that. Well maybe except Mitsuri.” She sighs softly and thinks about all the time Mitsuri ran screaming and crying about demons but still did the job. She smiles at his reaction to the name. She knew him and Tengen would get along quite well. “Yes that does sound pretty cute. If only my younger siblings were even a little playful enough to color stuff for me. Maybe Aoi will do it or my little triplets.” She giggles at his tattoo. She could tell that whoever colored it in had a lot of fun and payed close attention to detail or at least tried. She follows Tsuki and looks at the otter like girl. She couldn’t help but feel a little excited to meet her. She loved otters. “Hello Takara it’s very nice to meet you. I’m Kanae the flower hashira.” She listens to the brief explanation of the demon art. “That sounds very useful and extremely sweet. A know a lot of unfortunate people would love that assistance in their life. What are the rules if I might ask.”

*A red fox with a camellia flower red collar and a messenger bag scampers up to you before barking softly to get your attention, perhaps the little creature has something for you?*

She looks down at the smaller creature with a gentle smile. “Hello there little one how can I help you today?” She reaches her hand down slowly to let the little fox sniff her and get her scent.

[ispridestillasin]

So I decided to watch a bit of Bridgerton with my mother, which I'm not really interested in (I don't really like period pieces unless it's a fanfic for a ship I like) but it's a show she enjoys so I sometimes catch her watching it and join her, and literally the only takeaway from the stuff I've seen with her is that Colin, Lord Debling, and Penelope should have all been poly

[frenchy-and-the-sea]

There is a very exquisite agony in playing a game you love so so so so so much, and realizing that one of the other players is trying to play a totally different game than you.

[sysig]

Best taste in confidants (Patreon)

[microsuedemouse]

so, halfway through my shift today, I learned that it was a beloved coworker’s 20th birthday (she’s a wee baby). I also learned that she was spending it writing an exam in the morning and then working 2:30-10, which is kind of not a super fun way to spend a birthday, if we’re being honest.

however.

I have been learning to crochet.

Facebook quickly figured out I’ve been learning to crochet, and keeps showing me posts from crochet groups. One of the most popular beginner amigurumi I keep seeing in these groups: a snake.

I thought it would be fun to try crocheting a snake.

I also happen to know that snakes are this coworker’s favourite animal, because in December I asked a bunch of people at work their favourite animals and made them little keychains featuring said animals as holiday gifts. (except for the one guy who thought I asked his favourite anime, and therefore received a jujutsu kaisen keychain, lmao.)

therefore,

I am crocheting a little baby snake for her.

it’s so cute already. I can’t wait to give it to her tomorrow

[ow1et]

literally if owlet is being a pest all you have to do is throw her in the closest body of water and she'll sink like a rock.

[kakusu-shipping]

My mini contribution to @echoes-lighthouse's Evil Slasher Orphanage! My wife Anna and I are here to help, and brought a few more kids of our own.

I really thought I was a horror fan until I sat down to draw this and came up blank. I guess I'm not a slasher guy, because a LOT more Monsters and Beasts came to mind, so it took a while to form a list. Though I did include Sam who is certainly a Creeture but.. They're human enough.