#she was *literally crying* at me the she was cold and loudly complaining from the moment she walked in the door and I'm just tired

[pixelateddragonet]

Hate that the sick 12 year old is the most reasonable person in the house rn

[daenysx]

lovely Hii

Can i get poly!marauders x fem reader where maybe she has been exhausted and busy lately and maybe they’re giving her some space cause they dont know if she wants affection now but she sees them all lovey dovey with eachother all the time and she feels sad cause she wants to join but feels too shy to ask so she tries to discreetly slip back and one of them notices?

Im sorry if that is a bunch of gibberish but i have been awake for over a day now and my brain is fried (i hate uni)

thank you for requesting, i hope you enjoy <333

(comments are always appreciated and i literally need to see what you think to keep writing, angels. of course i can't force you to send me anything but it would be amazing if you take two seconds to tell me what you think. it's not always easy to keep doing something without getting any feedback about it ♡)

poly!marauders x fem!reader

the relationship between james and remus has always been somewhat chaotic.

they have huge chemistry, maybe something like opposites attract situation. remus is calm when james is bubbling with excitement, remus loves with silent kisses when james loses his breath as he makes love, remus likes rationality when james swims deep in his emotions.

you watch them flirt as they sit on the couch. you're at the table across them in the living room, staring at your laptop screen with exhausted eyes. it probably would be easier to complete what you've been writing if you could have more energy, but sadly you sit all tense and cold at your place. your arms get the chills, you avoid looking at your lovers.

if you leave the table to join them, james and remus would welcome you with open arms. the mere thought of james's lips against your forehead and remus's fingers rubbing your neck makes you want to cry loudly. it's just torturing yourself, but you don't think you're strong enough to ask for love. you need to get this done. you need to think about the classes you gotta pass.

james kisses a line on his boyfriend's cheek, so warm, remus practically loses his mind. "where's sirius?" james asks, remembering sirius leave for the kitchen minutes ago. "is he burning up our kitchen, do you think?"

"we would've notice."

"no, we wouldn't." james whispers. "you're too damn distracting."

remus melts. autumn always brings starvation for touch and loving, two things james is the best at giving. he looks at your way briefly, your droopy eyes worry him.

"she seems so tired." remus says, his lips kiss james's knuckles mindlessly. "should we say something to make her give a break?"

"she said the essay has a deadline, moons." james answers. "i mean, she clearly needs a break, but i'm not sure if we should interrupt her."

it's hard to decide because you get nervous with breaks sometimes. you complain about not controlling the time good enough when you're spending your free minutes with them and being unable to finish stuff at time. you say most of this teasingly, but the boys know there's always some truth in it.

sirius walks into the room with a big mug in his hands. he carries it carefully to your table. james and remus watch the scene, their hands together and legs tangled.

"here it is." sirius puts the mug on the table. "a perfect cup of hot chocolate for my gorgeous girl."

you look at him with the widest eyes. you can't cry. fuck, he's so sweet. he smiles, he looks so handsome with his old t-shirt and messed up hair. you close your laptop, curve your lips to stop yourself from crying.

"this is so nice, siri." you say to him, unshed tears clog your throat. "thank you."

"um- can i get a kiss? i spend fifteen minutes for this."

you nod with a smile, he leans down for you. you only mean to kiss his cheek, but he smells so good and he's so kind- your hand shakes as it touches his shoulder. it doesn't take sirius long to understand what's going on. he manages to hug you before you start crying.

"oh, baby, no-" he says with a sad voice. he attempts to make a joke. "you can't cry for hot chocolate- i'm sure it doesn't even taste that good."

james and remus sit straight with worry. "dove?" remus leaves the couch. "what's wrong?"

"are you okay?"

you nod, they probably won't believe it. you hold onto sirius, he lifts you up from the chair. it's a proper hug now, your skin tingles with the sensation. it feels so good to be touched.

"it's okay." sirius kisses your head. "you're just overwhelmed. you're okay."

you keep your head on sirius's chest. he's warm and his arms are strong, he supports your body to help you stay on your feet. remus brings his hand on your waist, his thumb gently draws a circle.

"can we go to bed?" you ask. separating yourself from sirius is hard, but it's harder to stay vertical. james extends a hand to you, you hold it greedily. they are all thinking the same thing, you'll calm down but you need to feel safe enough with your surroundings to do that. even though they'd like to keep you stuck in their arms, this might not be the best idea.

the bed is cold. it will pass in a few minutes. remus takes you under the blanket, james adjusts the pillows. sirius has a wrinkle between his eyebrows, he gets behind you on bed and wraps his arm around your shoulder. you sniffle softly, suddenly embarrassed by all the attention.

"sorry." you offer, your voice sounds sincerely sorry. "i don't know what came over me."

"i think we should be sorry." remus says. "jamie and i were talking about whether we should tell you to take a break but- we didn't wanna distract you. we should've distract you."

"it's not your fault that i can't manage my time doing stuff i've been doing for years." you say, weakly. "i'm just sick of being tired. i guess i- missed you."

sirius gives you a generous kiss on the side of your head. "you can jump on us any time you want, you know that, gorgeous."

"i think my head doesn't work like that when i'm exhausted."

"it doesn't have to." james says. his voice is like honey. "you don't have to ask for anything. we should be giving you everything before you even have to ask."

"he's right." remus agrees. "it should be like this for all of us, i think."

you nod. your eyes have a grateful look in them, they are undeniably tired, but still pretty to your boys. the bed is warmer. you force yourself to stop counting down the minutes for deadlines. james puts his head on your chest, hugs you as your back touches the bed, his arms are tight around you like you'll run away.

it's good to be touched. it's amazing to have contact with their hands, safe and secure, you can do anything you want if you always feel like this. remus kisses your fingers. his eyes are gentle. they are all so gentle, kind with you, you feel like you'll never break as long as you have them.

sirius's kisses help you fall asleep at the end. he's always bold with his affections, this time he manages to be softer with his lips and more tender with his hands. long fingers in your hair, chapped lips on your skin. he whispers how much he adores you, the tone of his voice hits your mind so well. you are okay. you think you'll be okay, and that's a nice beginning to get things done.

[zeroxs-stuff]

Give me tough love.

SAVE PALESTINE^

☆summary: abby’s anger and frustration gets the best of her as your attempts to get her to snap finally takes effect. She has no choice but to discipline you in the only way she knows how, tough love.

☆content warning (?)/tags: angry sex, gagging, lesbian sex, use of strap, use of the word “cock” for strap, doggy-style sex, face fucking, aggressive sex, crying kink, (mild) dumbification kink, incorrect use of a couch.

☆pairing: abby anderson x fem!reader

!nsfw under the cut!

She couldn’t take it anymore. The fuck were you doing—? being so god damn stubborn.

First, it was the missions. You had almost risked getting bitten by an infected just so you could ‘show off’ apparently, like that would ever work in a life or death situation. Then it was patrol; you begged and pleaded to isaac just to let you come with anyone else that wasn’t manny—because of course, you just can't handle two seconds without being able to fucking complain today, which she related to in most cases—but in this one? It was too fucking much. And oh my god, that isn’t even all.

All day, youve been teasing her and making fun of literally everything and goodness—she loved you with all her heart, but she really could not fucking take another word from you—not today.

As you were just about to make another aggravating complaint about how annoying Manny was yesterday when you and him were on patrol together, her inhumane thoughts paired with your speaking was interrupted by her own voice. She turns around to look at you, “baby— could you just—please, give me a second? I’m working.” She says in a cold and stern tone, getting back to writing her reports in the nick of time before you could say anything else.

But to her not surprise, of course you didn’t shut up.

You whined like a little kid—a cheeky smile plastered on your face as you resumed the mission of bothering her, “Hey..don’t be like that.” you demand as you tug on her strong and unmoving arms, “Can’t you just do the reports later or something?” you said while your face lit up with amusement.

She couldn’t fucking handle it anymore.

She got up from her chair with a loud thud, angrily walking to you and her’s shared bedroom and loudly opening one of the drawers.

Which just so happened to be….that drawer.

She closed it just as loudly as she had opened it, in her hands held a strap that she would usually use on you—and considering the circumstances, that definitely was going to be the case today.

Her steps to you echoed through the room like a drum. She was practically fuming as she attached it onto herself, making sure to do it quickly because she couldn’t handle another second of your mouth running over, and over, and over again.

Within a split second of your panicking state—you realized what she was gonna do, and you knew in your mind that you had to stop her aggression from getting any worse because god forbid , you were about to get your shit rocked.

She took you by your waist and dragged you onto the couch, making you drop down on it harshly.

The image of her lubricating her strap came into view and your vision started going hazy. You attempted to protest—to ask for mercy before your limbs were about to go numb because of her.

You tugged on her arm as sorry whines came out of your mouth, trying your hardest to persuade her. “A-Abby—please, ‘m so, so sorry—“

Your words were cut off when she shoved the strap down your throat.

She sighed deeply in relief, “Fuckin’ finally.” She said, shoving it in deeper just to taunt you as you heard the squelch of the strap being pushed inches down your throat.

She put her rough, calloused hands and put them behind your head, grabbing your hair so she could support herself easier. Meanwhile you were being forced to take it with tears streaming down your eyes; your gag reflex being triggered but having no choice but to just take it.

You looked up at her with glossy eyes, some tears even falling down to your chin. You couldn’t say anything—not with this god damn strap down your throat.

She chuckled at the sight, it was an understatement to say she was so, fucking satisfied. She put her other hand on your face, cupping your cheek, “Poor baby..what? Can’t talk ‘nymore?”

You cried on her cock, but slowly getting used to the feeling of having something so big down your throat. You couldn’t let anything out but twisted and muffled mumbles and cries, “Nnggghh—” You whimpered in an attempt to get her to pull out of you.

She only shoved herself deeper—grabbing the back of your head and shoving herself in, consoling you in the most humiliating way possible, “shhh..it's okay doll, just let it happen.” she laughs while leaning down and whispering in your ear, “you were meant to be down there anyway.”

You whimpered in pain, though.. but you actually started enjoying it.

She took her fingers and shoved them deep into your scalp, taking a big portion of your hair and pulling back so she could thrust into you deeper. Your body obliged to her requests—taking her almost perfectly. She smiles and lets go of her grip on your hair as a reward, a sign of mercy. “Atta girl, that’s it.”

she mumbles, “Just let it happen.”

Just as you were starting to get used to the discomfort, she pulled out of you which caused you to let out one of the most painful sounded yelps of your life. You cough in surprise, “M-Mph—o-ouch..” you said, rubbing your throat.

She wanted to shut you up yet again. To your surprise, she kissed you roughly–though keeping her hands at a gentle pace, because of course, she wouldn't want to actually hurt you. But her words spoke harshly in contrast, “did i tell you you could talk?” she says while making sure to tug at your hair a bit.

You barely had time to react because just as you were about to speak, she pulled away and shifted gears to turning you around and shoving your face in one of the couch pillows, making you bend over. You felt your back arch forcefully at the cold contact of her hands on your waist–those same hands practically folding you in half, instinctively listening to whatever she wanted you to do.

As you were fully bent over–face down, your bottom half on full view for her, she leaned over you and gave you stability; her punishing and intimidating demeanor almost fully vanishing as she checked for your physical state as well as your consent, “you okay with this?” she asks worryingly while rubbing circles on your tummy with her hand, and patting you on the back with the other. You chuckled at the switch of her attitude, “mhm.” you nodded.

Despite your agreement to her conditions, she still needed confirmation. She asks again in hopes of a reassuring answer, “are you sure?” she says.

You smile and give her a small kiss on the cheek, leaning back a bit since the position wasn’t the best for kisses. “Promise.”

«────── « ⋅ʚ☆ɞ⋅ » ──────»

God, you wish you didn’t fucking say that.

Because next thing you know, your brain power was long gone, so and so was the stability in your limbs. You couldn’t form any coherent thoughts, neither coherent words.

Each time she thrusted into you, your brain would reset and you could barely even speak clearly. You slurred over yourself as the slick ran down both of your thighs that abby held apart, “mhhh….ahh…p-please,” you begged, though she thrusted again, “aah–! mmmnhh…” you cried— your brain being blanked out and milked of all the thoughts it could produce.

The squelching noises of her cock disappearing into you and reappearing as she pulled out filled the heavy aroma of the room. She slowed down her speed but made sure to thrust in a little deeper than she did before, her strap touching the rim of your cervix with the penetration, “Shh..thats it, thats my girl.…just keep yourself like this f’ me.”

You nodded and got off to her praise. You were getting close to the edge.

So.

Fucking.

Close.

She thrusted faster, and faster and faster, your back arching and clawing at the bedsheets below you; ready to finally recieve what you were waiting and working fucking hours for—

wait…what?

The satisfaction was ripped away in a split second as you felt her stop at the last second, your sensitivity quickly increasing and the chances of gaining back your orgasm decreasing.

You cried out almost pitifully, “A-Abs—-p-please…-not again—!”

She leaned over and kissed your cheek as she kept her cock still stuffed in you, not pulling out any time soon, “Shh…one more for me pretty girl, just one more.” it had seemed like the millionth time that shes said something like that, but you complied anyway. “Okay..” you said with a tired but oh so fucking satisfied tone.

She starts thrusting in again, “That’s my girl.”

«────── « ⋅ʚ☆ɞ⋅ » ──────»

Authors note: hello!! Thank you for reading :)) i apologize, since this was a bit short and a bit rushed; and was more like a oneshot than an actual fic. Though i hope you guys still enjoyed despite that.

(P.S, abby probably gives AMAZING aftercare after this. So don’t worry too much hehe （＾∇＾) )

[fanfiction4sooya]

God I just read the wolf hybrt yujin and twas fucking hot wtf, btw wondering if u can make wony version of it? Add little flavor and some spice on it? 🧂🌶️ Thanks 🧏

Hi sweetie!!! Sorry for the long wait, I was thinking of this and realized that wony would never be a wolf hybrid... They are too aggressive and on the nose with it. She'd definitely be a panther hybrid mistaken for a kitty, though...

(about the flavor and spice... I don't know what you meant by that, luv 🤠 but here we go)

Like imagine her being so small and cute when you two were kids, always so playful and fun but overall very jealous in a subtle way. You always thought it was because as a cat they are more individualistic and in a way it was just... x10.

Growing up she got more reserved to others but always very warm to you and your parents. Much taller than cat hybrids and her fangs and claws were bigger and stronger too, so imagine something else...

She got so stressed with the sudden change in routine with you two going to college and stuff that it literally trigged her first rut a day before the two of you were separating. And by separating I mean sleeping in different dorms only.

"Are you going to leave me for someone else?" She trapped you against the door of your room, lowly purring but it made you tremble, the things in the room vibrating with how powerful it felt.

"wony..." You tried to remove yourself from her grip but she was too strong. She smelled sweet and intoxicating. "of course not baby..." You felt her member grind against your stomach, big and warm.

"Prove it to me then" She hissed on your ear. "You are mine. Prove it" She let go of your hands and crossed her arms over her chest, lifting one eyebrow.

You didn't know what to do, her defying eyes scaring you, turning you on. You could see the outline of her cock through her pants and oh, you wanted it in your mouth. Your fumbled a bit with her zipper until you could open it, getting on your knees and giving it a good lick to it's tip. She rolled her eyes, unconsciously grabbing the back of your hair to pull you into her to fit her whole length inside your mouth.

You tried to push her by the thighs but all you could feel was the wetness seeping through your panties, how every time she blindly thrusted inside your mouth you felt more and more aroused. She was fucking your face so good it was maddening how you've never experienced that before, you unconsciously started to pull her into you by the hips. You came together, her seed spilling in the back of your throat as you squirted on your panties, wetting the floor, shaking so hard you blacked out.

When you realized she was already easing her whole cock in your tight cunt, laying you on the ground. She had ripped your clothes and you didn't even see it happening, moaning loudly when you felt the sudden stretch. She bit your collarbone, licking your lips to passionately pull your hips to hers, growling.

You started crying for more, locking your ankles behind her back, her beautiful face contorting as your cunt throbbed on her dick.

"wony please come inside, please" you pleaded and she smiled slamming even harder, making her life's mission to cum inside you over and over again.

"my pretty little cock sleeve" she purred on your ear. "I'll make sure to give you my pups" she closed her eyes, clawing at your hips. It hurt but you wouldn't complain. She was feeling like that because of you, it was only fair you'd let her take it out on you.

She locked your hands over your head with one hand, still fucking you hard. Her seed felt so good on your womb it made you cum again; as your orgasm washed over you she didn't even wait for you to open your eyes again, turning you to be in all fours as she kept the in and out pace, her cock reaching even deeper. How come did she have so much stamina? Fuck.

"wony please, enough" you cried, face scratching down on the cold floor.

"it's enough when I tell you it is" she said through gritted teeth, pulling you by the hair to bite your back and neck.

She kept that for god knows how much time, spilling inside of you a number or times as well. You were already in and out of consciousness, your cunt red and puffy and so full it was leaking from your hole.

She put you in all fours again, cumming one last time but on your back, purring loudly as she did so. Her cheeks red and her eyes focusing on watching your body spasming because of her, contorting for her.

"I bet you won't ever try to leave me now..." She hugged you close, licking you. Cleaning you with her tongue, careful not to hurt you with it's spikes.

"I won't wony, I swear..." You weakly said, falling asleep as she kept licking you and purring against your skin.

[psychabolition]

I just wanted to share some of my experiences with the psychiatric system, if that’s ok.

When I was a teen I was in and out of a stabilization unit for a couple months for repeat suicide attempts. During my time there I met a trans guy who I later discovered had been admitted for homicidal thoughts (fairly common, not really something I was alarmed about). What was alarming however was that he had been kept under near constant sedation for over a week. They’d kept him so heavily sedated that his heart had stopped twice and they’d had to bring in poison control, who finally told them after the third time they showed up that they had to stop or they were gonna kill him. They’d justified doing this by saying he was violent, but upon being brought out of sedation, he just wasn’t. Not once did he attack anyone or even threaten to do so. He was literally one of the nicest people there. He was also 14 fucking years old.

At the same hospital, a four year old was admitted for unknown reasons. I’d spotted him earlier in the day when he first arrived asking where his nana was. For whatever reason, he was put on the same hallway as me for the day, probably while they waited for a slot to open up in the children’s unit. That night, he started crying, asking where his nana was and screaming for help. Obviously just scared because he didn’t know where he was or why he was there. In response, the nurses started loudly complaining that they weren’t allowed to sedate him.

At one point during my stay, I had a bad anemic episode and stood up too fast on my way to talk to a doctor. By the time I was standing in front of him, my vision was blurring. I told him this, and he stood there and watched as I completely blacked out, lost my balance, and tripped into a nearby countertop. When I got my vision back, he was still standing there, and he asked if I was “done yet.” He thought I was faking something for attention despite literally having a document in his hand that said I was severely anemic.

Another girl was prone to passing out due to POTS, and when she had an episode that caused her to fall and only narrowly avoid hitting her head on the concrete floor, she got a similar “faking it for attention” treatment despite her condition being well documented.

A different trans guy had a rare condition that caused his ligaments to be extremely brittle, and his shoulder would frequently get dislocated and would sometimes require surgery to fix. He had this happen while he was my roommate, and instead of sending him to the main hospital’s ER to get him treated, they tried telling him to “just suck it up”. And when that obviously didn’t help, they had a random nurse come and try to pop it back into place, only to make it much worse. It was only after his shoulder had been out of place for almost 36 hours that they finally sent him to the ER.

When I got out of that horrible hospital, I was referred to a psychiatrist who kept prescribing me antidepressants, mood stabilizers, insomnia medications, etc etc. Whenever I’d say “hey, these medications aren’t working,” rather than taking me off the meds or switching me from one to another, they’d just add a new one. By the time they randomly stopped returning my calls so I could refill my prescriptions, I was on 12 different medications, most of them at their maximum allowed dosages, and none of which actually helped me.

As I mentioned, my psychiatrist randomly stopped returning my calls. Around that time, I moved out of the abusive household I’d been living in and started therapy. When I finally ran out of my medications, nothing happened. They’d told me quitting them cold turkey could put me into horrible depressive episodes and make me suicidal yadda yadda yadda, but if anything I got better after stopping them. The meds hadn’t been helping at all, because the problem wasn’t any kind of chemical imbalance, it was the fact that I was in an abusive household. Something I had repeatedly told them was probably the case.

Feel free to ignore this if you don’t wanna post it, I just kinda feel like shouting into the void about this and your blog seems like the kinda place that might find these horror stories actually useful.

Fuck psychiatry . Its so obvious that this whole institution isnt there to help us . Thank you for sharing your experiences .

[cakesexuality]

the tiktok post i was just telling my friend they do that here in waiting rooms ALL the time and the staff never intervenes, and it’s seen as weird and rude to complain about it. last time i was in an EMERGENCY ROOM waiting room in about march? there were people groaning in pain and i was so numb i was having trouble moving and this young college-aged girl was filling the ENTIRE room watching tiktok outloud AND loudly talking on the phone in between complaining about waiting.

her complaint? (i heard it on the phone call) she got prescribed antibiotics and had a question about them she could have literally asked the prescriber or googled.

like girl i am sitting here unable to move my arm and there’s someone over there passing out

Ohhh my Goooddd, for a little fucking question about a medication, I'd just call a pharmacy or call TeleHealth (in Ontario we have a phone number where it connects you to a nurse who can answer questions)

The incident I was describing in my tags was when I was at a mental health clinic for walk-in counselling, I'd just spent almost an hour walking in the rain and crying the whole walk, I couldn't use my normal neat handwriting on the papers bc my hands were numb from the cold, and this girl was there for I think just using some of their resources?? And she clearly had the capability to use headphones, I didn't know how to say something so I'm glad staff came over and politely told her to move, they put her in a room for having a quiet space to calm down (idk how to describe it, one of the colleges I went to had one in their counselling department and they once offered it to me but I never used it)

[char-lotta]

Forgive me not (3/3)

Pairing: Jake x MC

Words: 2,8 k

Chapters: 1, 2, 3

Summary: Forgetting is hard but forgiving is harder

A/N: See the end (spoilers)

Forgive me not, part three

You felt air escaping your lungs and the adrenaline just kept rushing in your veins, your poor heart pumped furiously trying to composure things which had totally pulled the rug under your feet. This couldn’t be happening.

“Can’t go offline now, huh?” she mocked you. Your muscles didn’t oblige your brains anymore, but to be honest, your brains were one slushy mess at this point. She was in control of this discussion and was pulling you in.

“H-h-how?” you finally muttered and heard her laugh bitterly. You couldn’t see anything funny in this situation and tried to find a place to sit down. The rain was pouring harder than ever, and you could barely hear her anymore. The thunder hit loudly; it was getting really near.

“When two adults love each other’s… - “she started, but then snorted, “- Oh wait. You didn’t love me.”

You tried to ignore her, since you knew that you loved her more than anything in this world, but you couldn’t. “I do love you”, you said in a quiet tone. You didn’t even realize that you didn’t use the past tense like she did, but she got it immediately.

“You love me? What kind of a man loves a woman and leaves her just because he loves her so much?” she asked. “What kind of man leaves a pregnant woman?”

“I didn’t know.”

“Well, you made it pretty clear that you didn’t want to know”, she erupted, and you could see her eyes on fire. You were still trying to understand what was going on, but the situation had gone out of control.

“Why didn’t you send me a message?” you asked dumbfound. You didn’t mean to blame her, you just wanted to understand, why didn’t she tell you before?

“Why didn’t I send you a message?” she spat furiously, and you knew that you had done a mistake. She literally exploded. “I tried to contact you months! I pleaded, I begged, I called you a hundred times, but it was all in vain.”

You could hear her tone getting muffled and saw those tears again glimmering in her eyes. “What was I supposed to do? You didn’t want to answer any of my texts”.

“But you didn’t say that you were pregnant”, you tried to be reasonable with her, but you picked the wrong words, you didn’t even get to finish your sentence when she burst again.

“FUCK YOU!” she yelled, and her neighbors dog started to bark above her in apartment, distracted by the noise. “It took me ages to pull my shit together and you are asking me, why I didn’t tell you via text that I was pregnant? Fuck you, Jake! And fuck me!”

“Well, that was the thing what got us in this situation, don’t you think”, you grunted. The dog was still barking, and someone turned lights on in the first floor. The place started to feel too public. “Could we please go inside?”

She looked like she would be going to slap you and you would not blame her for that, you would deserve it all. Before she got to say anything, you just took her hand and looked her intensely, pleading. “Please, MC. Let’s go inside.”

Something changed in her gaze and she looked thoughtful, and a few seconds later, she nodded withdrawing her hand quickly from yours. She leaded you through the stairwell to her new home, and you followed her as numb. While she was taking the stairs with loud thumps while marching, you could hear her muttering herself and picked up sentences; “all of the sudden he just shows up” and “I am not going to let him sneak in again”.

When you got inside her apartment, the brightness of the room blazed you for a second, since you had to get used to it after the street’s darkness. She walked to the closet looking for something, and returned with a few towels, handing one over to you. You took the towel with gratitude and for a minute, you both were silent while drying yourself.

Both of you were shivering of coldness, but you didn’t complain, and neither was she. She got rid of the thick and wet cardigan and you couldn’t help yourself, but you had to look it again.

The bump was clearly visible now and it looked so tiny in her body, and you couldn’t get hold of the idea that inside of the bump, was something produced by you. She noticed you looking at her but didn’t move. You moved your gaze in her eyes and looked her helplessly.

“I don’t know what to do”, you said desperately, trying to seek some comfort from her. She had always been so great soothing you and helped you cope the anxiousness and stress of yours, but now she was relentless. Still, it was unfair that she was the one who had to console you. But your thoughts were a mess and you just couldn’t understand how this happened.

“You do what you do best”, she said tiredly. “Go and leave me alone.”

Even now, when your life was shattering, you knew that you couldn’t do that for her, even though you wanted to get far from this situation as you could. Previously, you had put her in danger simply just being with her, but this… This was a whole new level for you. How on earth you could keep both of them safe?

Them…

The airways of yours felt tight again and you tried to get some air by moving your head and opening your mouth. One... Two… Three… you counted as you inhaled and exhaled. With your eyes closed, you tried to calm yourself now and could feel the rhythm of your heart slowing down.

There was a small tug in your hand, and you opened your eyes. She was nudging you towards the kitchen.

“C’mon, I’ll make you some tea”, she said, and you obliged.

You watched her boiling the water and getting two mugs in front of her in her cozy kitchen and could just admire her peacefulness.

“How can you be so calm?” you asked and hoped she wouldn’t get angry again. She looked you with a mysterious face but didn’t yell.

“I had enough time to panic already”, she said. “But those feelings you’re having now, well I had to face them alone.”

Her words didn’t sound accusing, but the rush of shame flooded into you. You had thought that it was best for her that she wouldn’t have to bear with you and risk her life for something you had done, but instead you had abandoned her in time, where she was needing you the most. You remembered your mother crying in the evenings for the absence of your father and even tough you were just a little boy; you had sworn that you would never be like your father. And you had failed miserably.

She handed in your tea and you took it in your own hands. Tea warmed your cold hands nicely and you could feel the blood flowing in your fingers after a while. You sat on the chair towards her and looked her in the eye.

She had never looked so beautiful as now. The dark, wet curls around her face, which were now calm, but those eyes… The green eyes of hers pierced you with their gaze, and you weren’t sure, what she was thinking. She looked so strong, independent, and full of life.

“I thought that you would contact me after I told you I have important things to discuss”, she said plainly and looked her hands, which were tight around her cup of tea. “You always told me that you would be there for me whatever happened, so when you weren’t… Well, I just didn’t want to humiliate myself more, since I thought you wouldn’t read my messages.” You could see the hands trembling in around her cup.

“I did read your messages”, you responded with sadness in your voice. “I tried to keep my promise to you, but with distance. I tried to keep you safe. I could never forgive myself if something happened for you just because of me. You didn’t choose this life, but I did. I knew that I would never be able to live normal life in the suburbs, having a job from 9 am – 5pm, couple of kids and a dog… And those things are still so important since I wanted to give you a chance for those.”

Her explanation was reasonable, and you knew it. You had promised her those things before… When you had thought that it was possible to be near her and keep her safe by you.

“But you never asked me what I wanted”, she reminded you with kindness in her words. That was true, but why would she give up on everything she had? You couldn’t even promise to her that tomorrow was going to be a better day, since you did have no idea of tomorrow. You could be captured, and she would get trouble, just for being with you.

“I wanted to be with you”, she continued, and you could see the tears in her cheeks. There was a lump in your throat and carefully, you caressed her cheek, wiping the tears with your thumb. She took your hand in hers and for a moment, you got lost in her eyes. She was so amazing, letting you touch her after all you had done.

“I am so sorry”, you said in a muffled tone, and the vision of her started to get blurry. And you were, so fucking sorry for everything you had done, for any pain you had caused to her. She sobbed quietly and you couldn’t resist yourself and went around the table to her and pulled her close. Her head laid in your chest while she cried, and the sound of her crying was the worst thing you had ever heard. She sounded so broken.

“I am sorry”, you repeated, hugging her tightly.

You couldn’t ask for forgiveness of hers and didn’t even dare to hope it. But you sworn to her, that you would always be there for her and would provide her and it all the things they would ever need.

“Jake”, she whispered through her sobs. “It is a baby. Baby of yours, not it. She or he will be a tiny human of yours and mine.”

You buried your head in her hair, smelling that familiar scent of hers. Being a father was not the thing what you had ever expected to be or even dream of and you could not handle the thought. It felt like someone else’s life, not yours, the wanted by the government-hacker.

“But how?” you asked again, needing to understand.

“Do you remember that one night? When we woke up in the middle of the night, needing each other’s? We made love in half sleep”, she reminded you and suddenly you remembered.

That one night, you had woken up and the only thought in your head was I want you, and you had woken her up by gently, kissing her neck, just below her ear as she loved it. You couldn’t remember using the protection though.

“It was only one time”, you breathed.

“And it was all what was needed”, she answered. The silence fell between you, and after a while, you felt urge to explain, why you had left her.

“They sent me a picture of you to remind me, that they knew who you were”, you told her, head still in her hair. “It was a threat without a doubt, and I couldn’t let you continue this mess of what I call my life.”

She clung on your clothes and told you that she didn’t care, and you didn’t want to hear it. She could not give her life away just because of you, you would not be worth it. “But you are worth it”, she insisted, and you couldn’t look her in the eyes anymore and turned your gaze away. She pulled your face back to hers with her hand and told you again, that she would give anything to be with you.

“I want to wake up with you every single day of my life”, she said. “Even if it means that I’ll give up on my life as I know it now. We are meant to be together”, she exclaimed, taking your hand in yours.

“Think about it; we would never had met without the kidnapping of Hannah and we fell in love via messages without seeing each other’s face. And when we finally did, I didn’t want to let go of you ever. Those two months with you were the best time of my life”, she breathed quickly now.

You couldn’t believe your ears; all those words were too good to be true. She felt exactly the same with you, than you with her. The living without her was nothing but emptiness and sadness, that twisted image of life alone was not worth it. The purpose of your living was right here, in your arms.

“I don’t know how you could forgive me what I did”, you said and meant every word of yours. How could she? All your promises were empty, and you had left her alone.

“I have to”, she said. “And I want to. Not just for me, but for us”, she continued and took your hand to her stomach, and you could feel the baby bump under your hand.

“I don’t dream of those things you told me”, she explained. “I dream of us being together, all three of us. We might not be the most traditional family, but we are still family”, she continued.

“I don’t know how to do this”, you admitted nervously. Nothing could prepare you for this moment advance, since this was the door in your life which had been closed forever. Or so you had thought.

“You just need to be with us”, she assured you. “Forget those pursuers of yours, we can figure out together how to get rid of those. We can always move outside of the country and start all over again”, she sounded little bit excited now.

For a moment, you pulled being reasonable aside and let yourself think about her suggestion. It was a possibility, but you would need a new identities and passports. You had friends who could help with those easily and first time in years, you had hope.

“I can not promise you that we would be always safe and clear”, you reminded her, but she hushed you.

“I know. But when the time comes, we’ll solve it out together”, she answered with assuring tone. “You just have to promise one thing though.”

“And what is that?”

“Stop escaping your happiness now”, she looked you in a stern face. “And don’t you ever leave me.”

You looked her in the eyes and knew, that there would be no turning back from this. The choice of yours was easy, but you still hesitated since this was her life you were talking now, and she was so eager to hand it over to you, just for the opportunity of being together. She saw the pain in your face and knew, that it wasn’t because you didn’t want those things, but you were afraid.

“I love you, Jake”, she breathed and came closer. Her lips looked so soft, inviting you back to the light. Your lips met carefully, having a taste of each other’s, but suddenly you felt this hot burn inside of you and you got greedy, pulling her closer, kissing her passionately, draining all the misery, sadness and fears out. She nibbed your lower lip and you let a small moan escape on your lips, why would I ever wanted to let go of this. Your hand was in her hair, grasping a solid place to hold on, and your other hand wandered in the surface of her spine.

You two parted as breathing quickly, grasping for air. Your hands stayed in their places and you just knew, that you had made your decision; you were going through this together. All three of you.

“I love you, Jake”, she repeated and looked you desperately. “You can not leave me again, I will not have it, you hear me?”

You nodded and you told her that you would do anything that you could, so you could have a fresh start together somewhere else. You kissed her lightly and caressed her bump gently. This was a wild territory for you, but you would do anything for your family, not just because promise of yours when you had looked your mother, but because you wanted to spend the rest of your life with them.

“I love you too“, you whispered to her ear and she rewarded you with a kiss.

A/N: This was probably the hardest chapter to write, but still, the quickest one. My idea of Jake being so insecure comes from his need to protect MC, even if it causes him to be in pain. He have always wanted the best for her. I hope you like this story as much I did writing this :) Thank you for sticking with me till the end!

[youareinlovees]

Rep Tour Metlife Night 3 (submission)

The roar of the stadium fills the atmosphere like a thunderstorm as the expectators anticipate the start of the show. Though this isn't the first time he attends one of her concerts, the massiveness of the crowd and of the performance itself is still quite astonishing to him. It just wasn't the type of thing you got used to after a few times. Not to mention that this is the third consecutive night she fills out this stadium, which was impressive and a rather unheard of situation. 

"Are you ready for it?"

The crowd screams even louder as Taylor appears on stage with a black hood. For him, it's genuinely entertaining to see just how much the fans in the crowd love her, shouting out every single word to the songs. The impact she has on these people is really intense, some of them even crying at certain parts of the show. There's others that you can tell came as a group of friends for a good time and they hug, jump, and laugh together throughout the show. There's people of all ages, from couples in love to families that came together with little kids and grandparents, and every single person looks happy and excited. Truly a phenomenon.

But the most powerful phenomenon is the woman on stage on whom everyone's attention is focused. She is so beautiful and wonderful it almost feels like she's some sort of mythical creature. The passion she puts in her singing and dancing is endearing and at the same time very attractive to him. How did he even manage to have her love him? She's fucking gorgeous and perfect in every way. Her legs are just unbelievably hot and he knows he isn't the only one in the crowd having that thought. When she dances to Gorgeous, it makes his brain feel numb because all he can think of is the things he wants to do with her as soon as he gets her to himself after the show. But it's only the beginning and he knows the wait will be painfully long, so he tries to divert his thoughts elsewhere. As if reading his mind, she winks in his direction as the song ends, licking her lips and smiling cheekily. Warmth floods his insides in response to the gesture. Man, he'd really really missed her. They'd been apart from each other for some days because he had work things to do away in London. Though it was only a few days, he had ached for her company every single instant.

Apparently, she has similar feelings because she can't stop looking in his direction throughout King of my Heart. He remembers very vividly the first time she played him that song, some days after they'd made their relationship official. At the time, he couldn't believe she'd actually written that about him. He couldn't believe he inspired those feelings in her because she sure as hell inspired that and so much more in him. She fixes her gaze on him hungrily as she sings "we rule the kingdom inside my room." Oh shit. Her bum looks so good in that outfit. How is he gonna survive what's left of the show? Luckily, he's good at keeping it cool on the outside. He has no choice anyways because his mum and Patrick are right there beside him. He knows his face probably looks all giddy and lovestruck regardless, but he doesn't mind. She points at him in circles suggestively as she says "never took me quite where you do." Urgh she knows what she's doing and he can't help chuckling at her teasing. It's torture though. The fact that she's doing this in front of thousands of people is extra sexy. It's interesting because a part of him feels possessive and wants to snatch her from the stage and not have anyone look at her in a "she's MINE" sort of way, but at the same time it's satisfying to know that she's doing all this sexy shit and making everybody desire her, yet he is the only one who gets to have her. He's the only one who gets to love her and enjoy her, and a lot of what she's doing up there is directed specifically at him even though the whole stadium's watching it. Besides, he just knows that she loves having those secret moments with him, as she sings in Dress. So cruel of her to put literal moans on that song and blast them on stadiums. Her antics as she performs it are driving him crazy. Tonight, he feels particularly deprived of her and desperate for her touch because he's been away for what has felt like an eternity.

The crowd bursts into loud screaming one last time as the show ends. Everyone looks giddy and happy, as if they'd just gotten off a spiritual experience, which isn't that far from the truth, he thinks to himself. His mum and Patrick stay chatting with some people and he makes his way towards the dressing room. He says hi to Tree and the staff briefly and walks further down the hall until he reaches it. The door is open and there's no one else but her inside, with her back facing him as she looks in the mirror wiping herself with a towel. She's still sweaty and flustered from the show, and her hair is a bit messy, but she's the most beautiful creature he's ever laid eyes upon. If she looked stunning on stage, she was even more drop dead gorgeous up close.

"You look breathtakingly beautiful this evening, Miss Swift. I heard your boyfriend is out of town, may I take you out for a drink?," he says in a flirtatious tone.

She hadn't realized he was standing there at the door. She immediately looks up at him when she hears his voice and smiles at him through the mirror, her whole face lightening up as she turns around.

"Is that what they told you?", she says playfully as she makes her way towards him. She kisses his lips excitedly. He smiles against her mouth at her enthusiasm.

"Hello, love," he greets her softly when she pulls back for air. They embrace each other tightly for a few seconds, his hands caressing her hair. 

"How did it go in London? How was work?," she asks, resting her head on his chest.

"Work was alright. The rest was awfully dull because you weren't there," he answers.

She chuckles softly and looks up into his eyes. "I missed you so much."

"I did, too," he says, staring back. She puts her mouth onto his again, this time more passionate and hungry, her tongue going inside him desperately trying to saviour as much of him as possible. He welcomes it eagerly, her sudden aggressive desire catching him a bit off guard. He responds to her kiss with the same energy, biting her lower lip a little and devouring her delicious taste. His hands rub down her back, pulling her waist towards him. Meanwhile, her fingers snake into his hair as she pulls herself deeper into his mouth. He feels his crotch tighten as he becomes inevitably aroused with her body rubbing against his. His mouth finds her neck and she moans as he pulls her head back gently to get a better angle. 

"Shut the door," she pants in between kisses. They'd forgotten that there's people walking by in the hallway.

"Wait, don't you have to meet your fans in the other room?", he remembers, pausing for a moment, which results in a complaining grunt from her.

"I'll have them cancel it," she says decidedly, impatiently pulling him in again, "Most of them came the other two nights anyways."

He pushes her back. "Are you really sure about that?", he questions, raising an eyebrow.

"Do you really want me to answer?", she ponders back desperately, still insisting fiercely on kissing him.

"Fair enough," he chuckles as he gives in to her needs. What Taylor Swift wants, Taylor Swift gets.

She grabs her phone and sends a quick text to Tree telling her that Rep Room isn't happening tonight while Joe shuts and locks the door. He sneaks up behind her and wraps his arms smoothly around her waist, kissing her shoulder as she hits send. "Done?", he asks. She puts the phone on the table and closes her eyes. 

"Mmhmm", she moans as he runs kisses up and down her neck. Her skin is so soft and healthy. He grunts a little when her ass grinds against his crotch as she leans back into him. 

"You pulled some interesting bits up there tonight."

"Mmhmmm, did you enjoy them?", she says with a small smile, her eyes still closed. 

"I certainly did." He starts to unzip her glittery dress to bare her back. Her body is still warm from the physical exertion caused by the almost two hour long show. A shiver runs down her spine when his cold fingers brush against her skin, peeling away the dress as his mouth runs soft kisses behind her neck and shoulders. A loud moan escapes her, the sound making his erection feel even harder in his trousers. She finishes taking off the dress and turns around to face him, her naked breasts against his chest. He grabs one of them as his mouth finds hers once again, his tongue pushing inside in rhythmic movements. Then, he makes his way from her jawline to her neck, shoulders, chest, until he finally puts her other breast in his mouth, sucking and licking her nipple while massaging the other one with his thumb and index finger. She gasps in response. "That feels so good, baby," she whimpers in between moans.  Her breasts are a work of art in his eyes, everything about them is perfection: their size, their softness, the hardness of her nipples when she’s aroused, as it was the case right now. 

She pulls at the hem of his shirt, aching to feel more of his skin against her. He briefly releases her to quickly take off his shirt and disregard it on the floor. Immediately she pulls herself against him, her hands around his neck as their bare torsos collide heatedly and their tongues dance together. She runs her warm hands over his chest and his abs, sending electricity waves through his body with each touch. The sensation of her hardened nipples against his naked chest was too much to handle and so he dives down to put her breasts in his mouth once again. She moans loudly. "Joe, I...I want you so much," she says, almost in anguish. He licks and bites her nipples hungrily and then, he starts to make his way slowly downward, kissing below her breasts as his hands slide down her sides until he reaches her tummy. She inhales deeply. "Tell me, baby, what do you need?", he says against her skin as his mouth moves further down to her lower stomach. Her body trembles involuntarily in response and he can see her wetness through her panties. She’s very wet, he realizes with a grin. "You," she groans in response, holding onto the table for balance as his hands go up and down the insides of her thighs, "I need you, Joe." He teasingly pulls down the edges of her panties and kisses directly on top of her pubic bone. Her hips thrust forward. "Fuck, I need you now," she blurts out.

"Let’s take care of that, shall we?", he whispers in her ear as he picks her up and carries her towards the comfy couch in the dressing room, her legs wrapping themselves around his back. He throws the cushions to the floor with one hand and places her gently on the couch, kneeling in front of her on one of the cushions. He slides her panties down her legs and onto the floor, so that she was now lying completely naked on the couch. Such a gorgeous sight. "You are so beautiful, my love," he says looking up into her eyes. Her belly moves up and down with her quick breathing, her cheeks flushed slightly. He takes off her shoes and massages her ankles and her toes, releasing the tension on them from wearing tight heels for hours. Then, he starts to kiss his way up her left leg, gently pushing her knees apart to open her legs as he approaches her inner thigh. Finally, his mouth reaches her most sensitive organ and he licks and sucks on her clit, enjoying her delicious taste that he’d missed so much. She arches her back as the waves of pleasure penetrate her. His tongue continues to move around expertly as he digs into the corners of her walls and sucks and bites her clit. "Fuck," she moans, her fingers aggresively digging into the edges of the couch. He slides two fingers deep into her core, his mouth still working on her clit, and starts to thrust in and out. She tangles one of her hands in his hair and pushes him deeper inside her, his tongue joining his fingers inside of her. He gradually quickens the pace of his fingers as her walls contract around his hand and her hips push into him, until eventually she can’t contain her orgasm and comes loudly, screaming his name.

He licks his lips in satisfaction, savoring the fluids from her insides as he moves towards her face to kiss her gently, his fingers still inside her. "Did you like that?", he mumbles against her face. "It was so good, baby," she barely pants in response, "so fucking good". Hovering over her as she recovers, he takes his fingers out and licks them. He could never get enough of her wonderful taste. "I’m glad you liked it, because I’m not finished yet," he informs her.

However, her hands are reaching towards his trousers, where his erection is bulking out, attempting to unbutton them. "No teasing," she pleads. 

"What’s that?", he asks instead, deciding to mess with her a little regardless. He’d had to survive her teasing on stage for two hours, it was only fair that she endured something similar after all. He licks the outline of her areolas with the tip of his tongue as slowly and scarcely as he could master, forcing her to lay back, his fingers brushing lightly against her sides. "Joe," she complains, shifting and trying to pull his body closer to her. But Joe holds himself up firmly in a hovering position over her, his skin brushing only ever so slightly against hers every now and then, while his mouth was busy planting the softest of kisses all around her face, occasionally brushing her neck and behind her ears. "Please," she begs, still trying to pull him down.

"Please what? Say it to me, baby. I can’t guess what you want unless you ask for it," he responds calmly while continuing his slow torture on her sensitive spots. He wanted to hear her say it out loud. He wanted to hear her scream how much she wanted him.

"I want you inside of me, Joe. I want all of you inside of me now," she nearly cries out in desperation.

He nibbles on her neck one last time before unbuttoning his trousers. "Is that so?", he says mischievously as he finishes taking off his underpants and shoes. She breathes deeply in anticipation when she sees him completely naked in front of her, her insides feeling overwhelmingly empty without him. He leans towards her mouth once again and she kisses him with hunger, a small gasp escaping her lips when his dick rubs against her clit. "What do you want me to do inside you?", he whispers hoarsely into her ear. "I want you to fuck me, baby," she pants.

"As you wish," he says, staring deep into her blue eyes as he enters her wet insides slowly, groaning from the pleasure of feeling her warm core around him. She gasps and moans, her small fingers digging into his back as she hugs his chest towards hers. He thrusts in and out with slow movements, going inside deeper and deeper each time until he pushes against her cervix. She arches her back and responds moving her hips upwards, moaning and closing her eyes. He goes forward with a bit more strength, pushing her against the couch and touching on her G spot. "Yes, baby, fuck me," she whimpers, her breaths small and quick. Still deep inside of her, he sways his hips rhythmically, rocking their unified bodies back and forth. 

"I love you so much, Taylor," he says with adoration. Every inch of skin on his chest was in contact with hers, her soft breasts deliciously cushioned below him. "I love you more, baby," she says back breathlessly, running her lips across his neck and shoulders. He starts thrusting again, gradually picking up the pace. He holds onto the back of the couch and thrusts faster and faster, feeling her walls contracting against his cock. She moans as he goes even faster until she finally comes, another orgasm running through her body as she cries out.

The sight of her body squirming in pleasure almost makes him cum as well. But then, she unexpectedly pushes him to the side, switching their positions so that she was now on top of him. She kisses him and starts riding him energetically, her hands resting on his shoulders and her knees on the couch on either side of him. He grunts and caresses her breasts as she bounces on top of him, eventually placing both hands on her hips to hold her down, until the sensation and the sight of her with her eyes closed and her boobs bouncing as she fucks him become too much and he cums inside of her.

She collapses on top of him and the two of them lay in silence for a few minutes as they recover and stabilize their breathing, their bodies warm and sweaty. When he’s back to his senses, he notices her bathrobe is on the side of the couch and he reaches for it with one hand. He spreads it across her back to keep her warm. Covered with the bathrobe, she cuddles into his lap with her legs on one side and her head resting on his chest as she breathes in and out slowly. He caresses her head with one hand and rubs circles with the other on top of the robe on her back.

"That was a nice surprise there at the end," he says, kissing her forehead.

She smiles smugly. "I thought you’d like it," she mumbles against his chest.

"Did you kick out all the staff before I came in here?", he asks curiously. Usually there were stylists and make-up people inside the dressing rooms with her.

"Maybe," she answers with a smirk, looking up at him playfully. He chuckles in amusement, but secretly he’s glad that she did because he doesn’t know if he would’ve actually been able to wait until they got back to her apartment.  

It was hard to believe that this was the same person that had a whole stadium submitted to her performance less than an hour ago. This beautiful creature bundled in his arms was the same powerful force that gave around orders to executives, dominated enormous stages, and attracted followers from all over the world with her songwriting. Yet at this very moment, she’s just another vulnerable human, her blue eyes glowing like a curious child’s as she stares into his lovingly. She reaches up to caress his cheek softly with her hand, scanning his face with wonder. "You’re so gorgeous," she admires quietly. "That was amazing, babe. Thank you."

He leans down to kiss her gently. "You are the most stunningly beautiful creature inside and out that I’ve ever laid eyes upon. I am just fortunate enough to get to be yours," he says sincerely. He touches his nose to hers. "I love you, baby." And he truly loves her so much to the point where it feels like an unexplainable supernatural phenomenon, larger than life itself.

"I love you, too," she says warmly, her face shining like sunlight.

[caiuscassiuss]

Birched⎮D. Sicheng (M) P.2

Description: There was something that lurked beneath that pretty boy smile of Dong Sicheng— something dark, something dangerous… something you knew you would get pulled into once you got too curious. (Or, your ill-tempered coworker turns out to be your dominant.)

Part One is HERE 

Genre: BDSM/ enemies to lovers winwin! smut | romance | angst WC: 11k+ Warnings: graphic smut (dom! sicheng + sub! reader, BDSM (Bondage, Dominance, Submission, and Masochism) choking, rough sex), taboo relationship, blatant sexism, TW: mentions of an abusive relationship

(A/N: Thank you to my amazing beta @won-markiepooh-woo​ for helping me. This wouldn’t have been possible without you!)

Saturday February 1st, 2020

Y/N’s Apartment

10 AM HKT

The little jingle of a FaceTime call echoed through your silent apartment, and you snuggled into the sheets of your bed.

“Hello? Kun huang?”

A flash black hair and a sweet smile appeared within the view of the camera.

“Huang Gua!” you exclaimed.

Instantly, the happy smile slipped off his face and transformed into an annoyed expression.

“Can you not? We’ve been over this,” he complained.

“Oh come on! It’s so funny,” you jibed.

“It’s not.”

“You only used to eat cucumbers for years. You earned that name yourself.”

“So?” he snorted. “You used to eat shrimp chips as a kid. I don’t call you shrimp, do I?” A devious expression flashed over his face.

“Kun Huang…” you warned.

“Maybe I should start now. Right, shrimp?”

“Oh my god, stop!”

“No, shrimp. I can keep going, you know.”

“Okay, fine, fine. I submit!” You laughed.

He chuckled. “That’s what I thought.”

“So how are you now, Hendery? How’s your mom and dad? Oh my gosh, Hengwai!”

“I’m doing fine, as are mom and dad. Hengwai misses her little sister. They all want you to call them more. Sometimes I think they miss you more than me.” He pouted.

“Awww, poor baby. But give them my well wishes too! I miss everyone so much,” you said. For some reason, tears welled in your eyes.

Obviously, Hendery could tell you were about to start crying and started to panic.

“Y/N? Talk to me. Oh, you know I can’t take it if you start crying!”

He never really could. Even after many years spent together in your childhood, he was still awkward as hell around your tears.

You waved him off, swiping the tears. “I’m fine, I’m fine. It’s just so lonely around here.”

“Y/N…”

“I’m fine! I swear!”

“Literally, one word and I’m on a flight to Hong Kong. I’m not playing,” he said gravely.

“Hendery, no. Besides, don’t you have some farms to run? I would never expect you to do that.”

“One word, Y/N. Just one.” He looked you dead in the eye. 

You looked away. “Anyways, how are your farms going?”

A smile split his face and his eyes sparked. “Guess who just got their hundredth farm?”

Your jaw dropped. “No way, you’re fucking joking! One hundred?! I’m so proud of you! Kun Huang!” you squealed.

“Yeah, I know right? It’s so weird knowing so many people depend on me for their livelihoods now. I get sort of scared when I sit back and think about it…”

As Kun Huang went on about his day to day troubles in agriculture, a small, wistful smile played upon your lips. Why didn’t you just stay back and fall in love with Kun Huang? It would have been so easy. Being with Kun Huang was like breathing, and you could’ve spent the rest of your life like this. No Minghao, no BDSM, and most importantly, no… him.

Dolos.

Master?

Sicheng.

You hated how smoothly the puzzle pieces fit together. Sicheng always left early on Fridays, even though he always stayed late. At office parties, he lacked a significant other by his side, even when many would drop everything if he so much as winked at them.

It was hard not to think about him. You had started to feel an increase in your heartbeat whenever you thought of Dolos before Wednesday. You had originally wanted to know who was behind Dolos’ mask and if he returned those feelings. But, fuck, he would be so mad if he found out who you were.

Not to mention, how humiliating it would be if he knew. You had staked everything on being a cold-hearted bitch when Sicheng took particular pleasure in sneering at “the inherent submissiveness” of her gender. So if he found out Dove, who liked to be slapped during sex, and her, the la dame sans merci of the company, were the same person, it would destroy any chance of credibility you may have had in his eyes.

This was all one big mess. One big, gigantic and catastrophic mess. For so long you had rigorously kept your professional and personal lives apart, but the universe had conspired against you: to make the best dominant you ever had to also be your work nemesis.

Some higher being was laughing at you, you knew it.

Sunday February 2nd, 2020

The Dong Family Villa on the Shek O Peninsula, Hong Kong

1 PM HKT

A curl of disgust twisted his lips as he looked down on the lawn party going down below him. 

“Don’t you look happy, Sicheng.”

Sicheng acknowledged ChengCheng out of the corner of his eye and went back to glaring at the party in contempt.

“This is not how I wanted today to go.”

His childhood friend snorted and plopped himself down in a lawn chair, contemplating the blond haired man.

Sicheng spun around and picked up his glass of wine, downing the drink in one gulp. He settled himself next to ChengCheng with a frown.

“I just wanted to come here and fucking relax, but, no, my parents just had to use it for the fucking party. Fete. What-fucking-ever.” He exhaled loudly and ran his hands through his hair. 

Chengcheng looked over the balcony railing curiously. “Looks like a luncheon to me.”

“Fuck off.” 

“Christ, what’s up your ass?”

“Just some work stuff. It’s nothing.”

The brown-haired man frowned. “Then why aren’t you at Black’s then? Nothing can’t be resolved by a good fuck.”

At the mention of the club, a pained expression flashed over Sicheng’s face and his knuckles inadvertently tightened around the stem of his glass. The tension that had been in shoulders wounded itself up even more and this clued ChengCheng in.

Something other than work had Sicheng in knots. Very rarely did the blond man ever show he was angry—not even when his father lashed him as a child, nor when the family forced him to work for the company—so he was evidently very troubled by this ‘something’.

Sicheng’s phone rang and broke the silence. The man himself fished it out of his back pocket irritatedly.

“Excuse me for a moment, ChengCheng. I need to take this phone call.”

“Sicheng speaking,” he spoke as he stalked into the study.

“Hello sir, how are you—”

“Did you get the information or not?” Sicheng asked, cutting off the family’s retainer. His leg bounced, as he sat against the desk and he ran a weary hand through his hair.

“A-ah, unfortunately, Black’s doesn’t record pseudonyms digitally or on paper…”

“Fuck!” Sicheng yelled. Mr. Lau just had to be fucking careful, he thought irritably.

“... However, sir, I was able to obtain a membership list since the club was digitally updating their monthly list. I then compared it to the list from the previous month and found several missing names, indicative of them terminating their membership. I have compiled a dossier of several females that match your description of Dove and forwarded it to you.” 

Sicheng quickly logged into his laptop, his blood rushing through his ears. The identity of the most perfect submissive he’s ever had could literally be sitting in his inbox right now.

With trembling fingers, he opened the attachment.

Wang Fang, age 25—

“Sir?”

The blond man glared at his phone. “Thank you for your service, Liu Wei. Goodbye.”

Wang Fang was a tall, spindly woman with a face like a horse. The policy of privacy by masks was kind to her at Black’s. However, the jaw was all wrong and he knew in his gut she was not his Dove.

He scrolled to the next page. Leila Williams, age 27—British expat, was absolutely gorgeous. But, even through the screen, she exuded an unshakable aura of self-assurance. A dominatrix, probably, so that excluded her from his search.

He went through 2 or 3 more documents; each one too plain or too ordinary to be Dove.

Y/N L/N, age XX.

Sicheng blinked rapidly, sagging into his office chair.

Y/N is—was—a member at Black’s?

The picture provided was the one from her LinkedIn profile: a professional headshot with a grey background. She was smiling tightly, coldly—just as she was in the office. The other image provided instantly tented his pants.

It was her, clearly on a night out. She was in attire that flattered her body and he could easily see himself running his hands over her. Y/N looked fucking fantastic with her unbound hair, so unlike her tight updos at the office. However, what drew his eyes was the most vibrant shade of red painted on her lips, which was parted slightly as she was laughing.

He recognized that lipstick. The same shade of firetruck red had been smeared across Dove’s cheeks many, many times. YSL Rouge Satin Lipstick—the one he told her he liked and she, like a good girl, had religiously worn.

Could that mean…?

Glancing at the side bar, he noticed there was one more page left in the dossier. Please let the next one be Dove…

His hopes were instantly deflated. Kwon Myunghee was too old and too artificial to be his gorgeous submissive.

With his heart in his throat, he scrolled back to Y/N’s page. Enlarging the picture of her laughing, he put a hand over her eyes and leaned back to observe.

Sicheng would be an absolute fool if he did not recognize that mouth. Red fuck me! lipstick on an equally fuckable mouth parted in pleasure, or screaming his name while strung up on a cross. He would be an absolute fool if he did not recognize that neck, covered in purple and red hickies or his fingermarks. An absolute damn fool.

Yet, at this moment, he would’ve given anything to be one.

He felt like the wind had been knocked out of him. Y/N was… Dove? And Dove… was Y/N?

So why did she leave? How did she end up at Black’s? Did she know? Did she end up there on purpose? Why—

Eventually, all the questions piled up in his head until he was left winded. Sicheng buried his head in his hands, pulling at his blond locks and breathing heavily. Something was bubbling in his chest and—

He started to laugh. He cackled, howled, at his shitstorm of misfortune, luck, and confusion until he was sprawled undignified on the Oriental carpet, staring up at the intricate wood carvings on the ceiling.

Monday February 3rd, 2020

Sinochen Enterprises, Chater House, Central, Hong Kong

6 PM HKT

Shutting the door to your office, you collapsed into your chair and massaged your temples.

Today was the day Mr. Lee had left the office, leaving his official resignation. The top sales officials (including an off-color, brooding Sicheng) gathered in his office to congratulate him and give him an official goodbye. What was supposed to be a quick meet-up turned into afternoon drinking when Mr. Lee pulled out the good liquor from a secret cabinet underneath his desk. You accepted a drink with a grimace, but Sicheng declined and remained uncharacteristically detached the entire time. Granted, you too were detached from the conversation, uncomfortable with the lewd retirement and mistress jeers spouted by the older sales officials as they steadily got drunker and less inhibited.

As the time ended and a consensus to leave had been reached, you thought you could escape and actually work... that was until Mr. Lee walked alongside you and stuck himself in the elevator with you.

The bastard had the audacity to grope your ass in the crowded elevator. You shivered, remembering the awful and grimy feeling as his hot breath whispered in your ear that he was available any time for a “catch-up”.

This day was a mess. You had a shit-ton of work to catch up due to that fucking meeting and you had been sexually harrassed; you were also anxious about the promotion and, on top of that, you couldn’t seem to stop thinking about Sicheng.

Huffing, you ate some red-bean bread as you powered up your desktop. This was fucking ridiculous. You knew Sicheng had noticed your odd, reticent behavior around him and this skittishness was impeding your ability to work. Well, no better way to forget about your problems was to solve other ones at work.

For the next two hours, you slogged through work emails and analytics as the sun set over Kowloon Bay. Your hair had been unbound and your blazer had been messily thrown over the back of your chair as your work progressed. Since most of the office had left by now, you figured it was safe to relax in your office.

It was night time by the time you had finished your last project and you sat back in your chair, staring at the skyline. Was this how your life destined to be? At the top, surrounded by the comforts of life, but alone?

A knock sounded at the door, jolting you out of your thoughts.

Who the fuck would be at the office at 8 PM?

“Come in.”

You caught sight of a golden head of hair slipping inside of your office and you sighed. Of course, it was Sicheng.

He took a seat unbidden and stared at you with an indecipherable expression on his face. His eyes roamed the contours and curves of your features.

You arched an eyebrow. “Can I help you with anything, Sicheng? I’m about to leave the office.”

He fought with himself inwardly, his mouth opened and closed several times before he finally settled on what he wanted to say. “I’d like to ask a question.”

You adjusted yourself in the chair. “Feel free.”

From his blazer’s pocket, he pulled out an aged sheet of paper and slowly opened it, before setting it in front of you. Sicheng settled back in his chair and steepled his fingers over his lap, the lights of the Hong Kong skyline playing across his face and making his sharp features stand out.

“Do you recognize this?”

The blood literally froze in your veins as your eyes caught sight of your handwriting in the letter, along with the tear-stains that blotched the paper and the text. Your heartbeat rose to your throat and all you felt was the blood rushing in your ears.

“Y/N?” he prodded.

You gulped and straightened out your top, your fingers trembling as you did so.

“No, I don’t. W-who’s Dolos? Why does this concern me?” you lied, stumbling a bit.

He watched you, his eyes narrowed and his lips pursed.

“Don’t lie to me, Dove.”

“I-Dove? My name is Y/N,” you replied shakily. Grabbing your purse, you hurriedly stuffed all your personal belongings in while avoiding catching his seething stare. “Excuse me, I’d really like to get home.”

His jaw clenched and his palm twitched as he saw you had no desire to come clean.

“Look at me.”

Unthinking, you ceased all movements, put your trembling hands in your lap and looked up at him. “Sir?”

Your eyes widened and you slapped a hand over your mouth; your eyes darted around the room in search for an escape. You felt akin to a caged animal as he grinned meanly, incongruous on his cherubic features.

“That’s what I thought.”

“No—”

“You thought you could get away with this? You thought you could fucking play me?!”

You were aghast at seeing Dolos and Sicheng finally merging together in front of your eyes, and the result was grotesquely beautiful. His grin slipped off his face and twisted into a malevolent sneer. The naked fire in Dolos' gaze was finally unveiled in Sicheng’s eyes and, for the first time, you could see who Sicheng really was.

“Answer me, Dove—Y/N! Fuck, I don’t even know who you are anymore!” Sicheng shouted, running his hands through his hair while he paced around your office.

You stared unblinkingly at the bookshelf at the corner of the room. Fuck, this was all your nightmares coming true. You were going to be ruined and he was going to laugh on and on now that he knew you and Dove were the same.

“It was never supposed to end up like this,” you whispered hoarsely, tears welling up underneath your lashes.

“How was it supposed to end, huh? Fuck, you strung me along for six months—half a fucking year—”

“I didn’t fucking know, you ass! I wouldn’t have touched you with a ten foot pole if I knew who you were!” you hissed.

He laughed harshly. “You did a hell of a lot more than touch me, Dove. But after you got your fix, you pretended that this never happened.”

“You would’ve done the same, so this never did happen. Walk out right now and this will have never happened and we can go back to our normal, spiteful dynamic—”

“You’re out of your fucking mind, if you think—”

“You don’t understand, Sicheng! Can’t you see I’ll be ruined by this? That we’ll both be ruined by this? I can’t afford that!”

“So you thought to just leave me? With just a fucking letter and nothing else?”

“I didn’t know, okay! I didn’t know what to do!”

“You lied to me, Y/N. Fucking lied to my face!”

“I had to! Because you and I were never supposed to find out!”

Sicheng moved to yell, but clamped his jaw shut. “You lying, cheating, slut,” he seethed.

Your mouth trembled for a moment at the sheer vitriol that sprouted from his lips, but you stood tall. “You know what? Maybe I am. But I can live with that if you’d just fucking let it go!”

“You think I’d be able to let go of this?!” He cupped your jaw roughly and pulled you into a hungry kiss.

It wasn’t a smooth kiss—not one with even a hint of finesse. Lips smashed into lips, with tongue and teeth grappling against each other as his hands bruised your wrists.

Your back hit your desk and he swept your belongings off the desk haphazardly, letting go of your chin to lift you onto the desk with no effort.

“Forget my tongue on your skin? Forget my hands in between your thighs?” he murmured between hungry dips of his tongue. “I’ll fucking show you.”

He kissed down your neck, stopping to nip at your collarbone, and left a trail of stinging lovebites all over your shoulders. Sicheng’s hips pinned you into the desk as he popped each button of your blouse, hurriedly ripping it to the side to leave more hickies upon your chest and breasts.

You moaned as he pushed the cups of your bra down, using his wicked tone to swipe complicated patterns but never once touching your tips. Finally, he nipped at them hard causing you to squeal embarrassingly.

“S-sicheng,” you whimpered, gripping his hair as he pushed up your skirt.

The blond man carelessly pulled your underwear aside and thrusted two fingers in.

“Fuck!” you gasped, as you buried your red face in the crook of his neck.

You couldn’t see it, but you knew he was smirking smugly so your hands drifted down to his tented trousers and gripped his erection hard.

“You wanna fucking play? Let’s play, baby,” he grunted and hastily unbuckled his belt. His glorious cock sprung up in the space between your thighs.

Sicheng pushed your back down onto the desk, leaving him to tower over you. Without warning, he roughly pushed his cock into your slit.

You both groaned at the pleasurable friction. Fuck, how could you forget this? His length stretching you out deliciously? His broad shoulders heaving in exertion?

He bottomed out slowly, stilling as his hips pressed into yours. A sly smile glanced over his face as his hand drifted over your neck.

“Sicheng! You asshole, fucking move!” you said to him, thrusting your own hips weakly for effect.

His devilish smile split his angelic features, and he shook his head. “Wrong name, Dove.”

His hips pushed into yours roughly and you whined, scratching at the edges of your desk. Sicheng withdrew just as quickly and thrusted in again, watching the lust ripple upon your expression. He had missed the way your left eyebrow ticked when he brushed against your G-Spot, your nose scrunching as you clasped his shoulders. Finally seeing your full expressions fulfilled something in him that he didn’t care to reflect upon.

After deep, staccato thrusts that had you gasping for breath, he settled into a smooth rhythm. You slapped a hand over your mouth as your back bowed, thrusting your breasts up to his hungry perusal. Unable to resist temptation—the godless Tantalus he was—he settled his plump lips over your nipples, raised his eyes to yours, and sucked.

Even with your palm practically stuffed in your lips, your keen echoed around the room loudly and slick dripped down your thighs, making the desk underneath your bottom sticky and wet.

He tsked, lifting his head up and looked deeply into your eyes. A slight grin settled over his lips and Sicheng tilted his head mockingly. “Oh sweet girl, haven’t you forgotten we’re in an office?” His eyes darkened even more. “I’ll have to keep you quiet, then, whore.”

His featherlight touches on your rib cage was replaced with a bruising grasp to your throat, stealing the air out of you. His wrist settled into your collar bone and his slender fingers mimicked playing the piano, placing pressure on different parts on your throat to an unheard rhythm. The blood rushed to your ears, the dizzying sensation of it blurring your sight and distorting your thoughts. The veins on his forehand, twisting and rippling in the light, caught your vision and he moved—ever so roughly—into you.

Sicheng set a new pace, stretching your legs even wider and your head fell back onto the desk with a thunk. You couldn’t think, couldn’t breathe; you just felt the numbing sort of pleasure that radiated from your pussy.

“Fucking slut,” he gasped. “You’ve bewitched me, haven’t you? Wrapped yourself around my brain and haven’t let me so much as breathe without thinking about you.” His grip tightened around your neck. “I’ll show you.”

Suddenly, your phone on the floor rang and you both froze. He released the grip on your neck and bent down.

His back was like one of those old sketches the masters of the age practiced with, the light played upon his back and his muscles rippled under his skin—belying the power hidden within him.

“Who the fuck is Kunhuang,” he said flatly, wrath bubbling in his words.

You sat up. “H-he’s a friend. Nobody. No one.” 

“See you soon, love,” he read mockingly. “Call me when you have time.”

Sicheng crowded into your space, your eyes jumping around to avoid looking at his incensed face.

“Kunhuang.” He spat like it was filth upon his lips. “You left me for him?”

Feeling his constrained fierceness and his frantic gaze, you pushed harshly at his chest and bared your teeth at him. “It’s not like that. He’s my childhood friend!”

His rage bubbled to the surface and his nostrils flared. It was all the warning you had before he suddenly took your hips and flipped, forcing a scream out of you.

Your chest and breasts now pressed against your desk. Sicheng tugged you down to his hips, lifting one of your legs to rest on your desk and exposed your core to him shamefully. 

“I’ll take you from behind like the whore you are,” he stated. His rough tenor the grating upon your ears and scraping upon your skin.

He lined up and thrusted hard and you bit your lip, cheek against your deck and tears streaming down your face. It felt so good to be in his embrace, feeling every vein and ridge of his cock rub against your muscles.

Soon, you felt that feeling rising in your stomach, burning behind his eyelids as your orgasm began to build. His hands grasped your throat and he pulled, bowing your back to his chest and forcing his mouth to yours.

Teeth and tongue clashed and his cock hit this spot in you and you screamed into his mouth, tensing up beneath him as you shuddered painfully.

A grunt left him as he felt your muscles nearly strangle his cock and he only lasted a few, staccato thrusts until his vision went white.

Wednesday, February 13th, 2020

Sinochen Enterprises, Chater House, Central, Hong Kong

7 AM HKT

You purposely did not look into Sicheng’s office window as you strode briskly down the hall with a coffee in your hand. 

A few days ago felt like a watershed moment, but after you two had caught your breaths, the sheer amount of emotions in the room—frustration, satiation, anger, hunger—weighed upon your lips and forced them shut. He had quickly dressed himself, not saying a word, but he casted a glance in your direction that was undecipherable and left.

You, at the moment, did not know how to feel. Hurt? Angry? Sad? But you settled upon your usual solution: ignoring that anything had happened and resuming the normal.

Alas, the fates were unkind. They neatly disposed of your plans to avoid the man when the two of you were scheduled to meet with other sales heads in the afternoon. Unfortunately, when the time came to be, you and Sicheng were the first ones there.

He studiously avoided looking at you, busying himself by opening up his laptop and flipping to a new page on his legal pad. You ignored him as well, scrolling through the latest news on your webpage. However, as the seconds ticked by, you could not resist resting your eyes upon him. It felt like a damn magnet was pulling your gaze to him.

He looked good today, from the brief glances you stole at him. Freshly shaven, his hair was styled neatly and he was in a dark green, cashmere sweater. Was this your fate? To be shamefully attracted to a man that equally repelled you?

“Interesting.”

The both of you shot a look at the door, where an unrecognizable, lanky man with a proud, straight nose was peering down upon you and swinging a plastic bag in his hand.

“Chengcheng? What the hell are you doing here?”

Completely ignoring Sicheng, he settled his lidded gaze upon you before his eyes lit up in recognition.

“So you’re the one that has shaken him, then.”

Dead silence permeated the room. He looked at the two shocked faces, both ashen. “What? Are you going to tell me I’m wrong? Please. I’d have to be deaf, blind, and dumb to ignore the way you two gravitate to each other.”

Your two quick glances that were meant to be unnoticed clashed, resulting in your eyes meeting. You both turned your eyes away.

Chengcheng snorted, as if that moment confirmed everything for him, and he chucked a bag at Sicheng.

“You forgot your lunch, remember?”

Sicheng’s jaw tightened. “Thank you.”

Once again, awkward silence reigned and ChengCheng’s eyes switched back and forth between you like a particularly exciting tennis match.

“You two need to talk. You’ll both age prematurely at this rate, with the angst you two are producing. Talk.”

He left with a wave, striding down the hall casually and stealing many of your female coworkers’ gazes.

“... He’s right, you know.”

Sicheng’s eyes flicked up to yours and he focused his full attention on you. Intensely, he contemplated you, tongue poking at the sides of his mouth.

“I agree. We can meet—” he cut himself off, looking around surreptitiously. “—at Black’s.”

You sucked your lip in between your teeth. “Fine. Neutral ground.”

He took a good, long look at you, like a man seeing water after seeing nothing but sand. 

“Tonight. At 8.”

Thursday, February 13th, 2020

Black’s

7:50 PM HKT

Strangely enough, you felt comfortable despite the jittery nerves under your skin as you walked into Black’s. 

The receptionist had given you a knowing look as you repeated the guest password, letting you in without question. You strapped on the standard, white lace mask and steeled yourself, opening the mahogany doors.

The club was abnormally busy; the guests and members crowded the couches and loitered on the floor. The quiet string music that could usually be heard was masked by the loud chattering of the people in the room.

“Is that you, Dove?”

You spun around to see the smiling, wizened face of Mr. Liu.

A grin broke out on your face and you took his hands. “Mister Liu! It is wonderful to see you.”

“I am happy to see you as well.” He chuckled with his eyes gleaming fondly at you. “Have you decided to visit this old man?”

Playfully, you lightly smacked his shoulder.

Mr. Liu was an important figure to you. All those months ago, when you arrived at Black’s to be screened, as a potential member and straight out of a relationship with Minghao—broken, shattered, hollow—he took one look at you and said no.

Why? You remembered asking tearfully. Am I not pretty enough? Rich enough?

He searched your pale, wan face, as if seeing the emotional scars Minghao had lashed into you, before sighing.

You shouldn’t be asking me that. Are you enough for yourself?

Confused, you had asked him to elaborate. He sympathetically replied that he could see you were entering the club for the wrong reasons. You were different, he’d said. You looked so innocent that he could not morally allow you into the club, despite the depraved patrons that gained membership. He knew, at the time, entering the club would cripple you.

So, what now? You asked, confused. He said he would keep your file open until you came back ‘at the right time.’

The ‘right time?’

You will know it when it comes.

And somehow, you did. After a few months of picking the pieces of yourself together and stabilizing your life, you had grown into a physically and emotionally healthy person. The “right moment” came and you sat in his quaint little office again, opposite of a smiling Mr. Liu as he stamped his approval.

After chatting a few moments, the volume in the room increased slightly and you frowned.

“Why is it so busy today?”

He arched an eyebrow. “Do you know what today is?”

“No?”

“Today is the evening before Valentine’s day, dear girl.”

“... Oh.”

New information in hand, you looked at the scene more closely. You could see that some couples in the crowd seemed to curl into each other, the affectionate brushes and knowing glances giving you a sick, sick feeling.

And that’s when you saw Sicheng.

Even masked, he drew attention from the members—attached and non-attached. His lean, fit form struck a figure and you couldn’t turn away from him.

He looked directly into your eyes and only a few seconds passed by as you two observed each other.

“Sicheng somehow found out, hm? Clever, devious boy.” Mr. Liu observed the dynamic much like ChengCheng earlier. His gaze was enraptured how the two of you clashed yet sunk into each other, the way two tidal waves—in a rare moment of offbeat rhythm—struck each other and subsequently merged. Push, pull, push, pull.

“Listen to him and he will listen to you. You two match more than you think,” he advised, bowed, and sunk off into the backrooms.

“Sicheng.”

“Y/N.”

Frustratingly, his face was unreadable. Nevertheless, he offered you his arm (a surprising show of manners) and he led you to a place you had never seen before.

This place was much less pristine than the rest of the club. The wallpaper was older, much more faded, and the wood looked much more worn.

This was one of Mr. Liu’s apartments.

The pair of you entered a comfortable sitting room with the lights low, to which only large candles had been lit.

He made sure you were properly ensconced into an armchair before he turned his back towards you and made his way to the drink carts.

“Would you like something to drink?” Sicheng asked, voice measured.

“A gin tonic would be wonderful.”

After carefully making your drink and pouring himself a healthy 4 fingers of bourbon, he handed your glass to you and sat down in the chair opposite of you.

Silence permeated awkwardly and you turned your eyes towards the tapestry in the middle of the room, giving yourself something to do.

“Were those feelings true?” he asked, not looking at you.

“Elaborate, please.”

“The last night…” He looked quickly at you, before turning his eyes away and clenching his jaw. “The last night we were together.”

“Ah.”

Absolutely, unequivocally. Dolos was everything you had searched for in Minghao and, while your relationship was unusual, you could not deny the string between you two.

Something burned at your eyes and you bit the inside of your cheek.

“Yes. Then and now,” you stated, opening yourself up for an attack.

His eyes widened and the twitching in his fingers stopped.

“And you, Sicheng?” you enquired boldly.

“Always,” he stated without hesitation. “It was never something as trivial as pillow talk.”

Seeing as he was on the brink of closing off, due to his rare moment of vulnerableness, you wrapped your hand around his.

His eyes shot to yours, then to your linked hands, before tightening his grip.

“I don’t know where to start,” you confessed. “I… One thing that has always been on my mind—why did you dislike me so much?”

He smiled bitterly. “Sometimes, I forget that you don’t see the way I see you. You are a smart, dauntless woman, who’s pushed all my buttons. It all just built and built upon each other until I found you—Dove—here.” He pauses. “I projected my frustrations onto Dove—you—here. But never, for a moment, doubt my feelings aren’t genuine.”

You pursed your lips. “Forgive me, but I cannot accept your accusations of me being the office slut—very rude, by the way—were without malice. You constantly pushed me down, clashed with me in the workplace and you were just plain classist.”

Sicheng’s eyes were casted down, but his grip was steady. “I will not lie. Those words I spat at you were with malice. But now, in retrospect, they were nothing more but words of immature frustration that I channeled towards you. I know that I cannot take them back and they will forever linger in the air between us, but I can apologize and recognize those words were completely unacceptable.”

He angled his body fully towards you and clasped your hand in both of his. “I am sorry for my actions. My anger was misplaced and the sentiments do not represent me anymore. I am sorry and I hope you can forgive me.”

“And then what? What do you want now, Sicheng?” An edge of desperation tinged your voice.

He smiled bitterly at you. “Everyday, the smell of you lingers and I, like Pavlov’s dog, cannot help but feel an ache in the marrow of my bones when I see your crimson red lips. Every night, when I go to bed, you are seared across the back of my eyelids and I cannot escape you, even in my dreams.” He paused. “I want you, or whatever scraps you’re willing to toss me.”

A sharp exhale left you nose and you blinked rapidly. “I don’t want to get hurt. You get off on hurting people.”

“With your consent.”

“Say I want a completely vanilla relationship,” you challenged. He didn’t flinch. “What about then?”

Sicheng clenched his jaw and held your gaze fiercely. “Anything.”

“I hate that you are all I’ve wanted in a man,” you admitted unwillingly. He hummed. “Will we be each other’s destruction? Or will we be each other’s maker?” you pondered nonsensically.

“Aren’t we already both?” he retorted.

Slowly, without releasing his hand, you rose from your chair and lowered yourself into his lap. His eyes traced your every movement. For a few, brief moments, you looked into each other’s eyes without the obsurance of a mask or the encumbrance of a workplace rivalry. Your left hand cupped his cheekbone and stroked the skin underneath his eye.

“This will be interesting,” you said.

He gave no sign of reaction, but tilted his head into your palm and closed his eyes. “After us, the flood,” he recited.

Monday, March 2nd, 2020

Sinochen Enterprises, Chater House, Central, Hong Kong

7:50 PM HKT

A secret grin tugged at your lips as you looked across the table at Sicheng, who was intensely focused on the presentation your coworker was giving. Perhaps he’d felt the weight of your gaze on him as he chanced a glance at you and gave you a small smirk.

The past month in your relationship with Sicheng was equally fulfilling and frustrating. There were times where both of you deliberately looked for a fight or misinterpreted each other, but there were also times you could shed your layers and just be yourselves with the other.

Even each fight, where you or Sicheng stormed out, or broke things, you came back to each other at the end. Pushing, pulling, pushing, pulling relentlessly. The flood, indeed.

You focused back in on the meeting and contributed to the smatter of clapter for the end of your coworker’s presentation. As he turned off the projector and people stood up to leave,  Xiao Daiyu—the interim head of the Sales department—stopped you and Sicheng.

“Y/N, Sicheng, please stay back for a moment. I’d like to talk to you about Mr. Lee’s replacement.”

You and Sicheng glanced at each other and you sat back down. A while ago, you had both agreed the decision wasn’t going to break the quiet relationship you had built. It was going to be sour. You knew, when someone was chosen, things could get messy and awkward. But this… this was too good.

Daiyu sat down and put her hands together. “After much decision and going through your interviews, the CEO has stepped in and we are sorry to say neither of you are getting the position.”

You jerked your head around to Sicheng and he did the same—wild confusion and anger in both of your eyes. Both your years of loyalty and dedication are being passed over?

“Instead, we have decided to hire outside the company for some fresh intake. He may be young, but it comes to us that he’s highly recommended and would fit in with our culture well.”

A sour feeling came to your stomach and you narrowed your eyes, resisting the urge to frown. They had decided to hire outside the company? This is how they decide to reward their workers? This was betrayal.

Glancing over, you could see Sicheng felt the same. His right hand grasped the arm of the chair tightly and you could see his knuckles turning white.

“I’d like to meet him and he’s coming—” She took a glance at her watch. “—right about now.”

A knock came from the door and a head of messy black hair peaked into the room.

“Daiyu laoban, great to see you.”

No. This could not be happening to you.

The wire glasses. The tall, lanky frame that filled the doorway. The almond shaped eyes hiding behind pitch-black hair, as black his shriveled little heart.

Daiyu, like the little bitch she was, giggled. “Y/N, Sicheng, please meet your new Sales Head: Xu Minghao.”

His eyes focused on you and your world suddenly felt tilted, careening sideways while the nausea hit you all at once.

“Nice to meet you,” he said cheerfully.

You could feel Sicheng’s concern radiating from him at your ashen face and look of shock, but you couldn't even think as flashes of blood and tears and pain shuddered throughout your body.

His smile didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m pleased to be working with you!”

(”After us, the flood” or “Aprés nous, le deluge” is an expression from Madame Pompadour, King Louis XV’s lover.)

And it’s finished. Thank you. Please don’t forget to read, comment, and reblog. I love you all and goodbye.

[msmarvelouswinchester]

My Knight In Shining Armour

So two days ago I was complaining about a social gathering aka picnic and @awkward-and-indecisive​ gifted me this drabble.

Pairing - Dean x Reader (aka, me, Chan)

Warning - Just fluff

Abby’s POV -

As requested, here’s you Dean Drabble. More like a oneshot because it’s 1854 words💀

Anyways, don’t think I did this for you because this helped me also in overcoming my writer’s block. I hope this is not absolute shit because it’s the first thing I’ve written in like forever.

This is completely unbeta’d since my beta is currently being harassed by gossip aunties💀

I hope this helps you survive and makes your day a little better. Love you 😘

Dean was working on his precious baby, applying a thin coat of wax after washing it. He was almost done with the task when his phone, kept on a table nearby, chimed, indicating that he got a text.

He quickly finished the last area that was left unwaxed and made his way to the table to see who texted him while wiping his hands from the rag he had kept in the back pocket of his jeans.

Sweetheart: HELP. SAVE ME. I‘M GONNA DIE.

He chuckled at the dramatics of his girlfriend but couldn’t help the little worry that made its way to his heart.

Dean: What’s wrong?! 🙄

Sweetheart: My mom emotionally blackmailed me into going to this picnic, YES A FREAKING PICNIC 💀, last minute yesterday night and I don’t wanna socialise and make awkward small talk with old ladies who I don’t even know and who have nothing better to do than judge everyone and gossip about them. And I woke up at 7 am and and it’s so cold and I travelled for hours in this stupid bus and I swear to god I’m so frustrated that all I wanna do is grab one of these oldies by their hair and bash their head in a tree nearby. SAVE ME 😭💀

Dean: Okay, firstly I’m just gonna ignore that you just told me you wanted to commit murder. Secondly, how can I help? I mean what do you want me to do? And where’s this picnic by the way?

Sweetheart: These ladies turn everyone in their general vicinity a cold blooded murderer. 😒 All I want is you to come and kidnap me and then we can have a Baby date!!😩😩 Aah never mind. Ignore me and my wishful thinking. And last I checked picnics mostly took place in a park.🙄

Dean: Okay smartass.😒 I’ll keep you company here, okay?

Sweetheart: Thank you. You’re the best. 😘

Dean quickly placed all the things in their respective places and went to his bathroom to take a shower. He got dressed in his usual clothes, a pair of jeans, a tee, a flannel, and a jacket to top it off while managing to keep texting Chan and keep her a little company.

* * *

Chan huffed loudly, her fists tight at her sides, as another one of the members of the gossip group went away after making small talk with her one second and then directly jumping onto the subject of her private life. Oh how she hated all of them, strangling all of them in her mind.

She took a few deep breaths to calm down because spending the rest of her life in jail for committing murder is certainly not “socially acceptable”. She rolled her eyes at the thought.

A tap on her shoulder made her growl.

Not. Again. Not. Another. One. Of. These. Damn. Gossip. Girls. She thought, internally groaning.

But when she turned, all her frustration and agitation went away and she wanted to cry tears of happiness while thanking the whole universe for her saint of a boyfriend.

Dean gave her a smug smile and wiggled his eyebrows at her. She launched herself into his arms and he let out a ‘oof’ at the impact, instantly wrapping his arms around her waist.

“You’re literally my knight in shining armour and you’re my saviour and my hero and I love you and you’re the best boyfriend in the whole wide world and have I told you how much I love and appreciate you?” Chan rambled onto his skin while hiding her face in the crook of his neck.

Dean let out a chuckle at her cute little rambling and parted from her. He placed a kiss on her forehead, nodded to a bench in the corner of the park, far away from all the people where no one would bother them, and said, “How about we go sit over there? No one will bother us there hopefully.”

Chan nodded and Dean grabbed her cold hand in his warm one. She hummed at the warmth while the green eyed man guided the both of them towards the said bench.

They both took a seat and Dean said with raised eyebrows, “The weather is really nice today, isn’t it?”

The young woman swatted at Dean’s chest and grumbled, knowing he was mocking her by trying to make small talk. But let it go after a few moments.

Chan kept close to Dean, feeling cold. As if on queue, her boyfriend took both of her hands in his, trying to warm them up, while she rested her head on his shoulder and him kissing the crown of her head in return.

A few moments passed in silence, nothing but the sound of the usual gush of cold wind keeping them company, both of them enjoying each other’s presence.

Chan opened her eyes and saw one of the ladies coming their way, a plastic container with something edible in her hand which she probably brought as an excuse to ask her about her job and when she’ll get married and “settle down” and how much she earns so that she could get told that the Williams’ girl earns more than her and ugh it was a never ending vicious cycle which always ended making her feel bad about herself.

She rolled her eyes and sat up straight, taking her hands back and putting them in her lap. Dean looked up in time to see a woman in a white cardigan stop right in front of them, her hands holding out a container with some mini sandwiches.

“Hey! I saw you two younglings sitting here and thought you’d be hungry. Here have some! The Robinson’s high schooler made these. What about you Chan, do you know your way around the kitchen?” The lady, Mrs. Pearson Chan guessed, said in an annoyingly cheerful way.

Dean stifled a laugh knowing if her girlfriend ever got into a kitchen it would only end in a visit from the fire department to the house and all Chan wanted to was smack his arm.

“I can manage my way in the kitchen.” The young woman replied politely, trying her hardest not to tell the lady off.

“Oh!” Mrs. Pearson said as if not knowing how to cook was the biggest disappointment, “You should maybe ask Alice for some tips. She’s the one who made these. They’re literally so good!”

She turned to Dean then and continued, “The kids these days I tell you. How is she gonna take care of a family and feed her husband if she doesn’t know how to cook. You know how, when men don’t get what they want at home they look for it outside. And I mean I don’t blame them. A woman should be a perfect all rounder so she can easily juggle all the things you have to do to take care of a household. All these young women care about these days are having boyfriends and clicking photos and staying out all day and even at night. Roberta, the Richardson’s daughter, I heard she lost her virginity to a boy in her school. Can you believe that she had-” she whispered the next word, “-intercourse before marriage?! I’m telling you it’s all because of these smartphones. Modernisation will make us all go to hell.”

Dean leaned in and sneakily whispered in Chan’s ear, “Roberta actually had sex with her daughter, Susan only. Wonder what she’ll think about that.”

Chan snorted but when Mrs. Pearson looked at her with confusion and Chan then coughed to cover it up.

“There’s so much pollen in the air here.” Dean dismissively said while shaking his head, rubbing her girlfriend’s back to sell the act.

Mrs. Pearson looked both of them up and down a couple of times and then went away after saying, “Anyways, you two enjoy.”

“Now I understand the urge to murder them. These women are worse than the gossip girl.” Dean sighed.

“Right?! I mean for god’s sake we’re living in the 21st century. Change that stupid way of thinking that a woman’s sole purpose in life is to get married and have children and settle down and serve her family for the rest of her life.” Chan added while rolling her eyes.

The couple ranted to each other, talked about random things and made each other laugh so hard that some people around them gave them weird looks. But none of them cared, too lost in the comfortable presence provided by the other person.

The day went by quicker than they both realised and Dean left when she saw her mother bidding her adieus so as to not make any troubles for his girlfriend.

Chan had a huge smile on her face all the way back home and even hummed when her mother asked her if she’d had a good time today which left her in shock.

When they reached home the young woman went to her room, flopping on her bed and dialing her boyfriend’s number.

“Hey!” His deep voice came out from the other side.

“Hi!” She replied back.

“Reach home okay?” He asked.

“Yep! I know I’ve already said this but thank you for today Dean. I needed that. You turned a horrible day into a great one. I hope you know how much I appreciate and love you. I’d do anything to repay you for today.” The young woman softly said.

“There’s no need for any of that because what are boyfriends for, huh? And I did it for myself too. Wouldn’t want my pretty girlfriend to spend the rest of her life in jail because she killed someone who was making small talk with her. But anything? I’ll give it a thought. But all jokes aside, I love and appreciate you too and I know you’d do the same for me when you get the chance.” He said sweetly.

“Yeah. By the way, how do you know Roberta and Susan had sex?!” She asked him, perplexed at how Dean knew the gossip more than these professional gossipers.

“Oh that. Well Charlie is the one that set them up.” He chuckled.

“Oh…oh wow!” She voiced out, shocked.

“Yep.” He chuckled again.

“Chaaaaan!” Her mom’s voice called her out.

“I have to go. Mom’s calling me.” The young woman sighed.

“Okay. Love you.” Dean said.

“Love you too. Talk later.” She said back.

“You bet.” Dean said and with that he hung up.

Chan turned on her back and sighed as she looked at the ceiling of her room. She was so, so grateful to have such a good boyfriend like Dean. He cared about her so much and probably canceled all his plans to spend the day with her in a park just so she didn’t have such a bad day. He really loved her and she loved him back too and she hoped that one day she could return his fav-

“Chaaaan!!” Her mother’s voice broke her out of her daydream.

The young woman sighed and shouted back, “Be there in a second!”

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

Alright Abby!!! This drabble is everything. The way you portrayed me so perfectly and now I’m scared. Do you have hidden cams in my house? *looks around nervously* Alright, alright apart from the jokes, I really loved this. I read this during the picnic and this was the only thing that put a smile on face. And ykw, this time there was no prying aunties but uncles -_- I hate people, I hate socializing -_- I need a Dean to save me in times like this! 

I loved how dramatic she sounded on texts because I did that too when I texted you LMAO but hey that got you to write this cute fic which I really adore <33 Thank you so much for preventing me from killing anybody and saving my day, bb <33

[perseusjackson-jasongrace]

Hi I dont know if you want jercy requests at the moment but i had an idea for one :

Dark percy murdering calligula as a revenge for jason

Hello angel! Whew this request was willldddddd and I had soo much fun with it. There isn't any jercy per se (in fact Annabeth and Percy are together in this) but Percy is furrrrrious about Jason and he exacts a very twisted sort of revenge for his friend's honour. Basically this was an excuse to write dark!percy and by gods I hope I delivered!

CW: revenge driven, grief, graphic depictions of violence

Burning Maze Spoilers

he used to be nice.

He used to be nice.

Percy had been digging around the weapons room when his name had been shrieked like a dying animal. He had been looking for protective gear to give to little demigods in his sword-fighting class, when a scream like broken bones cracked through his body. He had been starting another calm, routine-controlled day at camp half-blood when he heard the news that made him snap.

*Two hours earlier*

“Jackson,” Annabeth knocks at his cabin door. He hears her voice carry through the open windows, and over the continuous sound of the ocean. “Pers, we have breakfast in half an hour and you have a sword class to teach today.”

The event had been printed on her wall of “to-dos” so that neither of their adhd brains would have the chance to forget. But he groans at the reminder, not wanting to escape his warm bed, or the duvet that wraps around him like a hug, or the pillows that hold his head as if he is a god. Sometimes he wishes he was a Hypnos kid. Their whole thing is sleeping . The knock sounds again.

“Seaweed Brain, come on,” His girlfriend sighs, “You promised we’d talk to Chiron about the—"

The loud and obnoxious cry of a harpy sounds somewhere in the distance and whatever she says next is drowned out completely. He knows though. Knows what she’s going to say and what they have to do. So he drags himself out of bed, like the last sack of potatoes on the crate. Heavy and bruised and discarded for the most desperate of the lot.

“I’m up,” He manages to rasp. He doesn’t like talking to people till he’s brushed his teeth, and eaten something, and spent at least half an hour staring at an empty coffee cup. A New Yorker through and through he supposes.

“Okay,” He hears Annabeth call, “I’ll see you at the dining hall then.”

He makes a sound half way between a grunt and a yawn and hopes she understands because that’s the best she’s getting out of him. The morning routine is quick, even done at the speed of a stubborn toddler. Soon he is sitting at the Poseidon table, scarfing down eggs and toast, and washing it done with a second cup of coffee. The buzzing in his veins is completely normal. And he’s definitely not speaking at a thousand miles an hour. This is how he always talks. Why on earth they allow coffee in a camp full of adhd kids, he’ll never understand. But it works in his favour so he isn’t going to complain.

By the time him and Annabeth are done talking to Chiron about introducing therapy to the camp, he feels like his eyes are moving faster than his sensory receptors can process and his thoughts are moving faster than his ability to process at all. So when his girlfriend, smiling at him about something, stops outside their training room he looks at her with furrowed brows and asks, “What are we doing here? Are we training for something?”

She frowns, “How much coffee did you have this morning?”

“Only three cups.” He shrugs, and clenches his hands in his pockets as if she can see through the fabric to the shaking body underneath.

Her grey eyes widen as if she’s about to scold him, a petulant child being chided by their ever tired caregiver. It makes the part of him still attempting to function slightly wild. He squishes that part down with the force of a thousand ships. Someone calls Annabeth’s name so with a quick peck to the cheek she leaves him in front of the training room and jogs towards the middle of camp and out of sight.

He stares at the room, trying to get his brain to stop focusing on things he doesn’t need to focus on right now, like the three lines of a song he heard at the grocery store a week ago that he hasn’t been able to get out of his head.

He used to be nice.

Entering the training room he scans the schedule and sees he’s teaching a class of small people, campers younger than ten who are just learning the ropes but should disaster ever strike will be ushered to the Cabin 9 bunkers to wait out the storm. It is a rule that no-one under the age of twelve be subject to war if they need not be. And he will make damn sure the need never ever surfaces.

He gathers swords of various shapes and sizes, along with a few daggers, and the straw dummies that have seen better days. It boggles his mind that they’re at a camp for children of literal greek gods but somehow there’s no funding for basic necessities like extra cots in the Hermes cabin, and better dummies to stab.

Muttering to himself he moves aside metal and stacks of straw, trying to find protective gear in the pile dumped at the corner of the training room. When he doesn’t see any he lets out a long suffering sigh... he has to go to the weapons room, which is more of a broom closet with deadly devices than anything else.

The room smelt musty, and the reek of rust slams into his nostrils at dizzying speeds. It reminds him of blood, and it made his skin itch with the need to get out. But still he bends down and searches through the mess of celestial bronze, and gold and—

The scream cauterizes his happiness. He is panic and pain and death and everything brutal in a single awful instant.

“PERCY!” His name has never sounded so full of agony, each syllable holds the stages of grief.

He is running towards the anguish before he’s even fully realises what’s going on. But what he sees when he crests the hill is enough to make the warmth of his heart run burning cold.

Annabeth is curled on the ground, tears like rivers of woe streaming down her cheeks and a purple flag clutched tightly in her fists.

“What happened?” His voice is soft. If he hears himself too loudly he’s going to shatter.

Annabeth cries harder, her whole body shuddering. Grief is overwhelming. Grief is all consuming. Grief will make itself known like thorns in your thumb or bullets in your heart.

“What happened?” He repeats.

And someone, far away, right next to his ear, inside his head, says, “It’s Jason, Jason Grace. He’s dead.”

He used to be nice.

It takes him three days. Three days of non-stop travelling, by foot, and air, and sea, to reach Caligula’s home. A palace. A grave. It is three days too long. Too long for a murderer to be walking free as if there are no consequences to his vile actions. But still he is here now and he will see the fall of a great, and watch how he bleeds just like everyone else. Not gold, the colour of the emperor’s one true love, but red, the colour of his victims.

Percy's eyes are almost black with violence, green so dark it reflects the night sky. His hands clench and unfurl as if practicing to wrap around a throat and squeeze till the symphony of breathing plays its last note. His body is strung taut, a bow string waiting to release. He is murder. He is nothing. He is your worst nightmare.

“Caligula.” He scrapes. It is the exact sound of a sword sparking against stone. “Come out, come out, wherever you are.”

Nothing but scared silence greets him. He can feel the fear coating the walls of this burial ground like a fresh coat of paint. He will make a playground of the blood he spills, will invite all manner of creatures to use it as a park. He will revel in the slaughter he is about to participate in.

“Caligula!” His voice is the sharp edge of a small knife. Unassuming but deadly. ‘“It is no use hiding. There is no place you could go where I couldn't find you.” He feels the earth sway underneath him, and he grins. Oh this is going to be fun.

“Fine Emperor, if this is how you want to do it.”

With a shrug, he flings out an arm and turns three columns to dust. He watches the stone crumble, feels the sand on his palm as if he was crumbling the columns in his hands like soft cheese. With a small stomp of his foot a crack rivaling the river Thames splits the marble floor in half. The entire structure shudders, creaks right above him. His grin only gets wider, more dangerous.

“I will level this place to the ground. I will erase it from history as if it had never been. You will not exist Caligula, because you will go with it. Will be crushed under the weight of your own wealth.”

“You’re a fool,” A voice, reedy and nasalled in a way that has his soul curdling, shouts from somewhere on the far side of the room. “You will crush us both."

Percy laughs. He laughs and the sound widens the cracks in the floor. It is deep, and wild, but in the way a wild thing is caged: snapping at it’s bars, hissing to be free. He laughs.

“You are a fool Caligula. A fool if you think i am not willing to die if it means you suffer. A bigger fool still if you think it will not give me great pleasure to spend my last moments watching the life leave your eyes,”

The distant sound of bubbling starts to fill the room. Percy wonders if he can make blood boil. His mother has certainly said so enough times.

“Leave now half-blood,” The Emperor spits. There is still something of arrogant, misplaced bravery in his voice. It amuses Percy. “Leave now and you will not face the consequences.”

“And pray tell,” He contemplates, “Who you think will deliver your consequences if i leave?”

A scoff that echoes into the pathways of his brain comes from the back of the room. “I do not need consequences dealt. I have done nothing to deserve them.”

The sound of bubbling is getting louder. He looks curiously at the cracks still spidering around the room. “Ah Emperor,” He tuts, “That is where you are wrong. People who deserve consequences hardly ever get them. It is those who don’t think they deserve them that become the unlucky bearers.”

“What are you going on about, boy?” He snarls.

The bubbling is loud enough now that Percy almost checks to see if a small brook has carved its way through the floor. There is nothing there except ever growing cracks, turning to rifts and canyons before his eyes.

He used to be nice.

“We can do this one of two ways Caligula.” He starts, honey bees with a sting a little too sharp to be defence. “You can apologise and I’ll kill you quickly, or…” His smile is sickening. “And this is my preferred method, I could watch you die slowly, watch the life drain from your body and into the soil of blood-crops that will grow here, and your dying words will be the mercy you will inevitably beg for.”

The bubbling spills over the cracks, leaking salty water onto the dying marble floor.

“Better choose soon oh dear Emperor,” He giggles, “I am the only thing holding this room together. As soon as I let go the floor will split like your loyalties. You will be crushed to death by your own greed. And if that doesn't happen you will surely drown.” To emphasise his point water starts gushing from the floor, no longer a bubbling stream but a raging river. His laughter is carried along the ripples that hit the walls, already leaking with the all encompassing ocean. “Wouldn’t it be a pity Caligula? To drown in your own home, surrounded by all the things you killed for, watching as they drown with you?”

“Shut up half-blood,” He screeches, “You do not have the power it takes to kill me. You are nothing compared to the centuries I have been alive.”

“Do you know who i am honouring Caligula?” He asks softly, a stark and terrifying contrast to his smile a moment before. “In all your centuries can you remember but one demigod, a dear friend of mine, but just another victim of yours?”

“Does it matter?” He scoffs, “They are all the same in the end. All bleed, and cry, and piss, and die the same.”

The grin Percy lets loose starts hurricanes. It is the absolute wrong thing to say. ‘“If it is all the same to you Emperor,” He becomes terror. “Then i think i’ll spill your blood at his altar.”

And before the doomed emperor could react an invisible hand wraps around his throat and he was being dragged to the middle of the room. His eyes wide, popping out of his head; hands clawing at his neck as if trying to remove the grip they cannot feel; feet flopping helplessly underneath him.

“Apologise for killing Jason Grace.” It is a command.

Caligula glares, attempting to spit at his feet.

Percy tilts his head and with a single crook of his finger he slams the emperor into the wall. The crack is deafening. It makes him grin.

“Apologise for killing Jason Grace.”

Caligula produces an ancient roman gesture, passed through time as if centuries cannot dismantle the insults of humans.

Percy twists his wrist and the emperor’s body contorts into something unrecognizable, bones snapping and shattering to fit their new mold.

“Apologise for killing my friend.”

“Fuck you,” He manages to choke out.

A wave of ocean water alarming in its beauty rises behind him. He is its god. And with a wink he shoves all of it down the emperor’s throat. The column of that pale neck bobs as if attempting to take the water down. He can see the body trying to retch it all up, unable to handle the sheer amount, the salt that comes with it.

“Watch Caligula,” He motions to the palace sinking under the weight of his ocean, “Watch as everything you have ever cared to love drowns.”

Percy grabs a shard of mirror, uncaring of the gash it sweeps across his palm. He holds it up to the ancient powerful Emperor, who is convulsing into nothing. “Watch.”

He used to be nice.

Sometime later when Percy Jackson walks up a hill, and into the fading sun there is nothing but content mania lining his features, and behind him where a grand home once stood, is a trickling river and a single spear carved with the words, “Neo Helios”. The only sign that Caligula, Emperor and murderer, ever existed,

He used to be nice.

Until someone killed his friends.

---------------------------------------

[image id: printed text that reads, "I used to be nice." end id]

[alolowrites]

Comforting Words

Summary: You return to the U.A. dorms following a disastrous date. Surprisingly Bakugou offers some “comforting words” to you.

Author’s note: As promised, here is the story to celebrate reaching 100 followers!!! Thank you all so much for this! Story is kinda a sequel to “Laundry Night” (idk) ??? Either way, it just seemed fitting to share another Bakugou story to mark such an occasion.

Enjoy!

~~~

I’m so stupid, stupid, stupid!

You figuratively and literally slapped yourself as you marched to your dorm building at like 10:35pm on a Saturday night. Marching to the shared kitchen, you carelessly threw your ice cream pint onto the counter. As you rummaged through the drawers, a growl escaped your mouth when you couldn’t find one spoon. Any other day you would see spoons left and right, yet they magically disappeared when you needed them the most.  

Searching through the billions of utensils in the drawer, you finally found the main prize. Your attention went to the ice cream pint and your fingers furiously tugged on the lid to no avail. Now you were on the verge to punch someone. Why was the universe being so cruel? Did you accidentally piss them off? Are they having some mood swing, because honey this ain’t it.

Why won’t you open?!

“Are you really so pathetic that you can’t open the flimsy ice cream cover?”

You stopped struggling and slammed both your hands against the counter. Closing your eyes, you breathed through your nostrils to calm yourself. Bakugou saw your back and the harsh glare peering over it.

“I’m not in the mood, Bakugou,” you snarled at him. “If you want to insult me, give me two to three business days.”

“Should I send a Google calendar invite to remind you?” He mocked.

Of course he threw that at you.

A piece of hair fell over your eyes and you blew it away. Grabbing the cold pint, you spun around to face your tormentor. Bakugou leaned against the wall with his arms crossed over his chest and wore his favorite black shirt.

It was also your favorite shirt. The fabric shamelessly emphasized his Spartan-like muscles as a result of his vigorous training. Feeling your eyes rake at his tone arms, you mentally forced some self-control. You never wanted to give this buffoon the satisfaction that you admired his top-notch physique.

No…you would never hear the end of it from him. So to save face, you diverted your eyes back to the ice cream pint freezing your hand and frowned.

Stupid hormones.

Without looking up, you asked: “Why are you here?”

“You were being too loud,” Bakugou complained. You barked out a dry laugh while snapping your head up.

“I’m being to loud!?” You pointed to yourself with eyebrows raised. “That’s rich coming from you, Mr. DIE-DIE-DIE! I’m surprised you’re not croaking like a dying frog.”

He ignored your comment. “You’re upset, what the hell happened?”

“Why do you care?” You shot back at him.

“Answer the fucking question, idiot, I’m not asking again.”

So now he wants to be a damn therapist?

“Hmph, fine.” You lifted the cover and reclined against the counter to make yourself comfortable. “My date was an asshole. Everything was fine at first, you know? He took me to this nice restaurant and we were hitting it off. Everything was perfect—the mood, the scenery, the food. Then one thing lead to another,” you lowered your chin, “and he kissed me…”

Distracted, you didn’t catch Bakugou’s fists clenching and his scowl growing deeper. “I didn’t ask for a recap of your crappy romantic date!”

“It’s important to the damn story!” You yelled at him, thrusting your spoon his way. “And you’re the one who asked! If I have to suffer through this date again, you’re suffering with me so buckle up, firecracker.”

Said firecracker seethed, but stayed quiet. You took it as sign to continue. “So anyway, he kissed me and next thing you know, some lady’s claws ripped me apart from him. They were actual claws by the way, like her nails were soooo long, I was surprised she didn’t scratch my face.”

Bakugou rolled his eyes.

“Apparently the guy used me to get his ex-girlfriend jealous so they can get back together,” you venomously spat out. “I gave that guy a Texas-smash slap and threw cold water at him. With ice cubes, for good measure too.”

A second later, you angrily stabbed the ice cream which took Bakugou by surprised. However, he quickly recovered and watched as you blindly attacked the delicious delicacy that was a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream pint.

“I felt so humiliated—”

Stab.

“—and used—“

Stab, stab.

“—and ugh!”

The spoon dropped. It clanked against the floor and you didn’t move for a moment. With flushed cheeks, you discarded the ice cream that was now a swirling mess. Slumping backwards, your back hit the kitchen drawers while you pinched the bridge of your nose. Tears dangerously emerged in your eyes, but you forced them to stay put. There was no way you were going to cry in front of him.

One hand weakly gestured towards Bakugou. You felt like a deflated balloon. “Go ahead, tell me that I’m just a dumbass with peasant problems.”

“Well you are a dumbass,” he started and you figured much. “But you’re a dumbass for moping over some garbage idiot like him.”

…what?

You didn’t expect that kind of response. Scrunching your eyebrows together, you gave him a ridiculous stare. Bakugou sighed loudly and slid his hand over his face as if he needed to spell out something so obvious.

“Look, you’re sulking over an asshole who never respected you,” he explained. Your ears carefully listened to every word. “Even though you stood up for yourself, you’re still letting that bastard win by acting all sad and shit.”

You stupidly blinked.

“Quit whining and realize he was never in your league in the first place,” he grunted as his crimson irises narrowed at you. “He’s not worth shedding tears over for, so don’t you dare start fucking crying.”

He left you speechless and you gawked at him.

Never in your life did you expect Bakugou to comfort someone…well, comfort anyone in general really. Did he give you a soft cuddle, patting your head saying everything was going to be okay? Hell no. Instead you got the Bakugou-version of it where he slapped some sense into your sorry-ass for moaning after some douche.

“I hate how right you areee,” you groaned dramatically into the air. Bakugou snorted at your reaction, but didn’t say anything else. Bringing your head down, you let out a soft chuckle and grinned at him. “I shouldn’t let that bastard make me feel so shitty. How dare he make me almost act out a cliche movie scene where I cry myself into an ice cream pint. The nerve of him…”

“Damn right.”

“I can’t believe I’m gonna say this, but—” you inhaled for the melodramatic effect “—thank you, Bakugou, for your comforting, albeit unconventional, words.”

“Yeah, whatever,” he muttered while looking away, hoping you didn’t catch the blush flaring up his cheeks. “Just as long as you stop stomping in here like a damn rhino.”

Your face briefly fell. “Ok, rude.”

He shot you a tiny smirk and the butterflies fluttered in your stomach.

Suddenly the floor became more interested and you remembered the mess you made. A curse flew out of your mouth as you snatched a paper towel to clean up the spot. After finding another spoon, you looked at your ice cream on the counter. It was slightly melted, but there was no way you were going to throw it away. In front of you was a Ben and Jerry’s ice cream and you spent good money on this baby.

“So,” you tapped your finger on the pint and took one bite of your dessert. “I guess we’re done here.”

“Guess so,” he nonchalantly shrugged.

Very well then, you thought as you slowly walked towards the doorframe where Bakugou stood and paused. It took all your willpower not to shrink away considering how close you two were. Your eyes boldly stared into his and neither of you said a word. The room was so silent you prayed Bakugou couldn’t hear your heart throbbing loudly against your chest.

No. Not yet.

“Well,” you broke the silence and flashed him a playful smile. “At least I now know there is a nice troll under the bridge.”

Not missing a beat, you rushed out of the kitchen with a hearty laugh before Bakugou had a chance to blast your annoying face out of existence.

~~~

Fun fact: originally this story was not going to be published. It was sitting in my “Unreleased Cuts” folder for some time because I wasn’t feeling the plot’s direction. Left it alone, came back to it and fixed it up. 

And here we are! 

Thank you again for reading :)

[rainydayhogwartsimagines]

What dating Draco is like as a Hufflepuff:

You were actually supposed to go to ilvermorny.

But do to your parents' jobs (both of them are Archeologists, though your mother was actually a wizard) you moved to England.

You were actually quite pissed off with this arrangement too.

You complained for a good portion of the summer that you didn't know anybody in England

At least in the US you knew a few wizards in Ilvermorny. Here you knew no one.

Your parents made a deal with you, if you didn't like your first year here at all they'd see if they could move back home.

So you agreed.

You were so stubborn the whole time (it's really a wonder you weren't Slytherin because of how hilariously stubborn you were)

You wanted to do this ALLLL on your own

Did it stop your parents from following you and correcting your direction when you went the wrong way?

No. No it didn't.

You hugged them goodbye before running through the wall.

You ended up alone in a cart, bored out your mind.

You caught this glimpse of a blonde boy though that caught your eye.

His hair was slacked back and the first thought that came to your mind was literally "How big of a douche is this kid going to be"

Well that answer came quickly.

When you ended up on a boat with Neville you were very sweet to him, hearing that he lost his toad Trevor.

When you all ended up in the castle and he found him you smiled.

And then you started hearing teasing from Draco about a Ron Weasley.

And then a insult directed towards a muggleborn.

To which you stood up for them

Because your parents were muggles too and quite frankly it pissed you off.

He sneered at you and you just rolled your eyes, as he made some comment about you being a "Bloody American."

This is going to be a common theme with you.

Cedric was there for the whole thing by the way.

Instantly he knew "Oh. Oh they're a Hufflepuff."

He was right.

You ended up sitting next to him and he was excited to have you

The house was very welcoming and they all were very sweet.

You were happy to be in that one to be honest.

Though when you found out that Hufflepuff's common room was near Slytherin's you wanted to pound your head on the table.

You and Cedric became close, he was like a kind older brother to you.

You weren't bad at your studies either

You really excelled at potions

However the dark arts teacher unsettled you

You couldn't figure out why

He was such an anxious man, but something told you that was a facade.

Then came halloween.

And there was a troll in the dungeon.

Cedric told you to remain calm.

And both of you did!

Until the realization hit you that the common room was in the dungeon.

Albus ended up sticking the Hufflepuff's and Slytherin's with Ravenclaw.

Why they didn't get put with Gryffindor, you didn't know but God you hated this arrangement.

You were fine with being with Ravenclaw though

It's how you met your friend Lindsey

She noticed you looked tense and offered you a book.

You took it and the rest was history

Eventually you were able to go back and my God you were relieved.

After Halloween everyone was ready for Christmas.

Your parents ended up being to busy to bring you home for the holidays

And they felt SO guilty about that, they kept mailing you books

You were fine with it though, by that point you actually liked hogwarts

You spent most of your time reading but ended up hanging out with Ron and Harry.

All it took was one letter to Molly and she already made you a sweater.

So Christmas morning came and you were basically the only student there in Hufflepuff.

Professor Sprout made you some hot cocoa and actually gifted you stationary because she heard you mention you needed more

She made the boys hot cocoa too and Ron and Harry were grateful.

That's when you got the sweater and you were smiling wide when you got it.

You wore it any time you got cold

Which of course got some fun remarks from Draco.

You didn't care though.

At the end of the year you decided you wanted to stay.

Though your parents were acting very odd when you came home, very secretive but arguing all the time about what you didn't know

Second year started and you were glad because it was becoming too hectic at home

But a new problem arose.

Now someone was targeting muggleborns and half bloods.

Cedric was very worried about you

After all, you were in that crowd to be potentially hurt

Draco kept making remarks though and eventually it led to you snapping at him rather loudly

He gritted his teeth as both of you ended up in detention

But then Harry messed up too.

By also including some... Fun remarks to Draco

And he was squished in that classroom with you.

Draco just complained the whole time but you just kept to your book, lending Harry one so he didn't have to listen to his constant whining.

Things kept getting tense though when someone in hufflepuff was petrified

Cedric's anxiety for you went through the roof

Especially when yet again, your parents were too busy to take you home.

You assured him you'd be fine.

He was still concerned though.

Christmas morning came and you spent it again with Ron, Harry and now Hermione.

You sat in the great hall when you noticed this time that Draco was here. He was alone too.

You may have wanted to punch the boy but no one deserved to be alone on Christmas.

So you picked up your book and asked if you could sit there.

He scowled at you and told you "There are literally three other empty tables."

And you responded with "Yes. And I want to sit here. Can I?"

He reluctantly said yes.

You read in silence for a while and then said "Merry Christmas Draco."

And then he was really caught off guard.

Not very many people called him by his name.

After a long silence he finally said "Merry Christmas to you too Y/n."

After that insults became more banter to the two of you.

You even caught him smiling a few times.

Summer rolled around and Ron's family offered to have you stay with them

To which you gratefully accepted. Because things were just getting worse at home

You finally had an answer to what your parents were keeping from you.

You were related to a very very bad wizard.

Grindlewald. To be exact.

When school finally started you decided to find Draco, who was alone in a cart reading.

When you saw him your heart almost beat out of your chest.

His hair changed and he was more... Attractive.

Course you changed to him too which led to a couple of glances.

He asked you about your summer and you mentioned staying with Ron's family.

He grimaced and you frowned.

"his family isn't bad Malfoy. In fact they were really nice." You sighed.

Draco could sense that you didn't like him talking about them like that so to your surprise...

He stopped.

Though he was confused why you didn't just stay with your family.

You told him about your situation and he was confused.

"you're related to someone 'very evil'? Why does that bother you?" He asked.

You chose not to answer that.

And that bothered him.

Truth be told you were terrified of yourself.

What if one day you hurt someone like that?

What if you did something equally evil or worse?

Then came the lesson on Boggarts.

And you were laughing for a good portion of it

Until it got to you.

And that boggart sure enough turned into Grindlewald

Which led to Remus helping you

But it was too late, you were already running out of the classroom.

He of course told Draco to go after you and he did.

You were a crying mess, sitting in the astronomy tower.

He hated seeing you cry, my God it tore his heart up.

He could put two and two together and knew now that you were related to Grindelwald.

News got out rather quickly what your boggart was

But for some reason Slytherin wasn't talking.

Apparently some student snapped at them if they tried.

Draco. It was Draco.

Cedric was worried about you though, you were still very much affected by it.

Professor Remus was helpful though, always allowing you to sit and read in his classroom if you didn't want to deal with the rumors.

Hogsmeade was a very fun trip, laughing and spending time with Cedric, Fred and George.

Fred and George found you refreshing.

You somehow could tell the difference between the two.

They all knew immediately though you had a crush on Draco when you shivered in front of him and he immediately gave you his scarf.

Mint... It smelled like mint.

You couldn't stop smiling the rest of the day and Draco really enjoyed seeing you happy.

Cedric didn't necessarily like that your crush was Draco considering the speculation around his family. But if you were happy that's what mattered.

You discovered a talent for magical creatures that year after buckbeak almost attacked Draco

You warned him not to piss off buckbeak but he didn't listen.

You jumped between the two before Hagrid could intervene and you calmed it quickly.

It mesmerized people to be honest, seeing you block any view from Draco to buckbeak and then calmly put a hand on his beak.

Hagrid immediately knew you'd be a fantastic student.

You helped Draco back up, noticing the bruise on his arm from falling on a rock.

That's when all hell broke loose over buckbeak

When Lucius heard about an injury due to him he decided to kill the poor creature.

You tried to convince Draco to tell his father not to do it and believe me, he tried.

Lucius was not having that shit though.

That's also when you ended up apart of whatever the hell Harry, Hermione and Ron were doing.

Time turners and then discovering that Buckbeak was alive.

You were relieved

But then also quite frightened to learn the truth about your favorite professor not only being a werewolf but also that he was hiding Sirius.

You were shocked to learn the truth, as were all of them.

Especially when Ron's rat was actually Peter Pettigrew

You kept everything a secret and Remus grew quite fond of you as almost a daughter.

You were sad to hear he wouldn't be back at hogwarts next year.

Then came another summer

Draco sent a letter to his parents beforehand though asking for the possibility of you spending the summer with them

Lucius reluctantly agreed, telling him that you'd be staying there for only a portion of the summer though

Draco told you this and you basically said "Alright, fuck it. Why not?"

You found yourself reading the entire time there

It was so... Peaceful and quiet.

You actually did have a sense of decorum and would curtsey everytime time you saw Lucius

It shocked Draco to see you switch from a goofball to someone who was indeed elegant.

It made him fall.

Hard.

After seeing you a few times walking the halls with your face in a book Lucius was curious and asked what you were reading.

You told him "Pride and Prejudice." And he was curious to know what it was.

Considering it wasn't your first time reading this, you lended it to him

And to everyone's surprise the man actually read it.

And enjoyed it

There were a few times you lended him other books too and he actually enjoyed them too.

To be frank: I think he was a little disappointed you weren't in Slytherin.

But Narcissa loved you.

You'd sit in the living room with her, again reading but it'd look straight out of a painting.

Narcissa would be writing letters or in a journal sipping tea and you'd be across from her reading.

What was supposed to be "A few weeks and nothing more" ended up being the whole summer.

Draco loved seeing you get along with his parents

And you didn't mind them.

Though you weren't stupid you recognized something was off with them.

Then came that world quidditch game.

Harry was very much alarmed to see you with the Malfoy's.

You agreed to meet up with him after the game

Draco loved seeing your face when you watched the game though, your eyes bright and a wide smile.

After it was finished you told them you agreed to see a friend and they excused you.

You found the Weasley tent and Harry was very confused, along with Ron.

"What in the hell are you doing with him?" Harry asked.

"I've been with him over the summer." You explained.

You told them everything and they reluctantly agreed to remain as civil as possible with him.

That's when you heard screaming

And Arthur telling you to run.

You all bolted seeing death eaters everywhere.

You came face to face with one that was a little too close for comfort, especially when it seemed that they were ready to attack you.

That's when Draco found you and you both BOOKED IT.

You sat in your room that night freaking out.

"Draco what the fuck was that?" You asked.

He knew exactly what that was. But he couldn't tell you. Which killed him to lie.

Eventually you all went back to school, rumors that there was a big change this year.

There was a lot of talks about a "Yule ball"

That's when the goblet of fire was introduced.

Cedric was excited to enter and you were excited for him

Then there was the other VERY noticeable change

Mad eye Moody.

He was curious.

You were there when the names came out of the goblet

Victor Krum

Fleur delacour

And Cedric!

You were happy for him!

And then another name came out and everyone was both silent and confused.

Harry Potter.

Something told you that something was wrong with this competition.

Very wrong.

Draco was trying to enjoy the competition. Really he was

But a certain hufflepuff was so distracting

And being put in constant danger

For some reason you were in this scholarship like situation with Hagrid, taking care of Magical creatures

Which included those damn dragons.

So when you had to go out onto the field yourself and soothe one, Draco nearly had a heart attack.

Again, watching you with this creature was memorizing.

It calmed down almost immediately and you returned to your place in the stands making everyone shocked.

Course Draco was going insane from the amount of safety precautions that weren't taken.

It didn't help that you were needed for some challenge for Cedric.

You ended up chained and underwater

Which Draco didn't know yet.

All he knew is that when he asked Lindsey where you were she said you were needed for this and you disappeared.

Instantly dread hit the poor boy.

When Cedric came up out of the water with you, you basically told the staff to bite your ass if they needed you for another challenge.

Lucky for you, they knew you. And they also knew that you had some colorful ways of... Expressing your feelings.

You were freezing but the second you recognized that a child was down there and Fleur was empty handed you actually went back into the water yourself.

To everyone's surprise, you came back up with Harry, Ron and Gabrielle.

According to Harry you just went for it and grabbed her.

Draco was now head over heels because of your selfless act.

It didn't help when the Yule ball was approaching you two ended up being dance partners.

Both of you were very good at it to be honest.

Mcgonagall could see the love in that boy's eyes though.

Then you and him had a meeting spot now in the astronomy tower.

Both of you had free periods and would meet up and just enjoy the other's company.

You said some joke making him laugh.

He saw you smile and he just asked you "Would you like to go to the yule with me?"

And you of course said yes

And my god you were beautiful that night.

People kept teasing Draco about being there alone

But everyone fell dead silent when Cedric helped you down the stairs

You were anxious about walking down the stairs in heels so Cedric of course said he'd help.

Cho was smiling saying you looked gorgeous and you thanked her saying she looked great too.

This post is too long and has to be separated into two parts.

[eleanorbloom]

Love  Actually Is... (Bryce x MC)

Pairing: Bryce Lahela x f! MC (Eleanor Bloom)

Word Count: 5k  

Warnings: Fluff and some curse words. Rated T.

Summary: Eleanor is feeling down and Bryce has a very particular way to cheer her up.

Taglist @utterlyinevitable @choicesficwriterscreations  @starrystarrytrouble @lahellacute @lucy-268  @cinnamonspongecake @romewritingshop @bratzlahela @freckles-spangledvampire   @mercury84choices  @curiousconch @openheartfanfics

_________

“

4 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS.

“Bryce, love, what are you doing?” I shouted from the couch in the living room toward our room. My voice was husky and nasal because I had been crying for the past hour, and I was drying my puffy and reddened eyes for the umpteenth time that evening.  I was frustrated, sad, and angry, but I was doing my best to move on, “We have to decide what are we gonna do on Christmas Eve. I’ll go to the grocery store tomorrow.”

No response. For a moment I thought he was in the bathroom, or sleeping, but then I heard some rummaging in the room, so I knew for sure he should’ve heard me.

"Goldie, what are you up to?" I insisted as Bryce didn't respond to me nor approached the living room in the next minute. I was about to get up from my seat when I saw him coming out of our bedroom with a smirk on his face and some strange clothes on. He was wearing a white buttoned shirt and black cotton pants, very different from the dark jeans and green Henley he was wearing ten minutes ago.

I frowned.

“Love, why are you wearing that? You have a wedding I wasn’t aware of?” I asked, watching him come to the living room.

“Wait and see.” He simply replied as he was scrolling through his phone, and then walked to the big windows of the living room.

Outside there was the reason for my disappointment, of my anger. It was dark, stormy, and really, really cold. The glass of the window was completely frosted, so the streetlights barely could percolate through the thick layer of snow in the glass.

One more click and a few notes started playing in the home sound system. Bryce, giving me his back, started swaying his hips.

I knew those notes. My mind was racing, trying to decipher where I had listened to them. “Is this…?”

Your eyes tell me how you want me

“Oh my god.”

I can feel it in your heart beat

Then Bryce took slow steps backward and turned her face to wink at me, all seductive and teasing while he was singing along with The Pointer Sisters. Then he pointed a finger to me while his hips started rocking toward my way.  

I started laughing instantly, of course. The way he was looking at me and how smooth his movements were would never stop to amaze me. But it was also a mix of fun and tenderness, because he was acting like a character from my favorite Christmas movie, Love Actually, only to cheer me up, so even if I was laughing my ass off, I was pretty emotional too.

He kept moving and singing until he reached the center of the living room, and then changed his steps. Now he was moving to the sides with open arms and legs, moving his head to the beat. The whole step was hilarious, but he was doing it even funnier with his confident smirk and his expert motions, exceeding the very well presentation Hugh Grant did in the movie. It was like he was born to do that scene.

“I’ll take you down, I’ll take you doooown, where no one’s ever gone before”

“Love, oh my god!” I said wiping the tears off my eyes, as was crying again, but this time for a very pleasant reason.

We were so immersed in the dance that none of us heard the sound of keys in the lock, and the door cracking open. Just when the door slammed shut, we realized Keiki was there, staring at Bryce with a puzzled look and biting her lips to not burst out of laugh.

“What the hell are you doing, weirdo?”

“Jump in and feel my touch! Jum if you want to taste my kisses!” He said dancing towards her, rocking his hips teasingly, and Keiki gave him a horrified look as he saw him dancing around her. “Hi Keiks, welcome home.”

“No! I’m leaving! I should’ve never come back! Nikka, take me with youuu!!" She screamed as she pretended she was asking her best friend to rescue her.

Then she turned to me, as I was cackling louder than ever, “Ella, are you okay with this?” she asked me with a mix of disappointment and amusement, taking a seat beside me.

“Keiki, it’s hilarious.”

“Jump! You want to taste my kisses in the night then”—Suddenly Bryce jumped to the empty space beside me and started dancing over, moving his butt over me. “Jump, jump for my love!”

“Eeewww Bryce!” Keiki squealed, covering her eyes with both hands. “Honestly, I don’t know how you can live with this weirdo, share a bed with this clown, Ella.” Her cheeks were flushed, partly because of the embarrassment but mostly because she was trying so hard not to laugh.

“Well, I mean, you live with him too, don’t you?”

“Yeah, but you consciously chose him. And I bet you already knew how ridiculous he was before agreeing to be his girlfriend. I literally had no choice.”

Bryce jumped to the floor again and then squeezed to sit in the middle of me and Keiki.

“Oh, come on little sistah, don't be such spoilsport," He said “Are you thirsty? Can I offer you a glass of wotah? Or maybe a cup of tea?”

“Oh my god, Ella what the hell did you give him? Did he smoke anything?”

“Dear lord! Where are your modals, Keiki? Your Governess would be ashamed of how rude you are behaving with your beloved older brother.”

“Okay, I’m going to my room now.”She said as she was trying to stand up from the couch but Bryce stopped her.

“But darling, tell me first how was your day? The mall was too crowded?”

“A living hell, but now I realize it was better than this hell.”

“Oh, and what will be my Christmas present? Did you found that lovely china cups I’ve been dreaming about so much these past months?”

“Will you ever stop talking like you’re auditioning for Downton Abbey. Ella, please talk some sense into him.” She looked at me, pleading, and I couldn’t help but tease her even more.

"Keiki, darling, wot is wrong with ya? Why are you speaking this strange accent? One way to the shopping mall and you’re all American? The Queen would be ashamed of you!”

“I can’t believe this, you of all people, Eleanor?” She was disappointed, but I could tell she was enjoying the whole exchange.

“Stop complaining, you stupid sandwich!” Bryce shouted in his best Gordon Ramsay personification. “It’s almost Christmas, laugh a little, child!”  

“Sandwich? Did I hear Sandwich?” I asked with a mischievous smirk on my face.

That was our intern joke. Whenever or wherever we would say the word sandwich…

“Noooooo, sandwich nooooo, dam….n…”

We would sandwich the last person to react. So Bryce and I wrapped Keiki into a tight hug, sandwiching her.

"SANDWICH!" We squealed happily.

“Please, help me, god." She pleaded, feigning annoyance. “I can’t believe you are 29 and behave like 10 years old kids. Worse, like you were 5!"

“Don’t play the dumb, Keiks, you like being sandwiched.” Bryce defied. After a moment, she surrendered and gave him broad smile.

"Only because I have no other option but to accept your weird ways of showing love."

"We have more adult ways, but you don't like them either." I added, then Bryce and I squeezed her a bit more, to finally release her from our grip, "Aaaand you’re free”

“Thank god” She sighed loudly. “Why all this fuss, though? You two were watching Love Actually again? Or is this your normal mode before Christmas?”

“No, I was just trying to cheer Elle on.”

“Why? What happened?”

“They canceled the flights due to the snowstorm for the next two days so… we’re not going to Chile.”

“Oh, no.” She whispered. I could see the disappointment in her eyes. We have been waiting for this trip for weeks, maybe even months. “I’m so sorry, Ella.  I know this was important to you. I was really looking forward to traveling to Chile too.”

“I know... That’s what has me so sad and angry…” I shook my head, trying to shake off the bad emotions. “So, well, you know your brother, he likes to ridicule himself to make me laugh, so he was doing just that.”

“Ridicule myself, excuse me? That’s was a terrific presentation, it was divine! The Queen would be so pleased! So would Hugh Grant!”

“Whatever helps you sleep at night, bro.” She rolled her eyes “So, what are we gonna do?”

“Well, have Christmas Eve dinner here and maybe join our friends on Christmas Day? If you’re okay with that, of course.”

“Yeah, I’d like that.” She smiled. “Whatever helps me not spend the whole day with you two, weirdos”

I chucked.

“Excellent, I let them know we’ll joining them on Friday”

After we discussed the menu and we came up with a complete grocery store list, Keiki finally stood up from the couch. “Well, now that we are ready with that, I’m gonna laid down a bit. You two are exhausting, you know that? I only hope you’re not this impossible on Christmas Eve.”

Bryce and I watched Keiki walking to her room with two bags in hand at a light pace.

“That was Keiki or is Ethan ventriloquizing Keiks somewhere?” Bryce asked once his sister got into her room.

“She’s a teenager, love. I bet you were that grinch too.”

“Well, yeah, but not that grinch.”

“Maybe she’s right and we really are impossible.”

“Yeah, but she cannot know.” We both laughed. “Let's behave until New Year's Day."

“Deal.”

 2 DAYS TO CHRISTMAS.

As I wasn’t going to be out of town for the next days before Christmas, I went to work so I could have those free days in the future.

I was checking on a patient when my pager went off. “MEETING IN 10 MINUTES.”

After updating the chart and checking one more patient, I walked toward the Diagnostic Team Office. When I entered, ready to sit in my usual spot between Ethan and Baz, I was surprised as I found Baz sitting in my spot and Ethan on Baz's. The rest of the spots were full of papers, so the only option was sitting in Ethan's spot, next to the whiteboard and facing the glass wall.

"Have a seat, Eleanor," Ethan said as he noticed my worry.

“Ooookay. So, what’s the matter?”

“Cleveland Clinic called to report a new symptom, and I think this might be our cue to provide some alternatives to their Diagnostic Team.”

“Oh, okay.”

Ethan was explaining the new symptoms when something behind the glass walls caught my attention. Two blinds were partially closed while the other two were opened, revealing everything outside the hallway.

A figure in a red turtleneck sweater with a snowman in the middle, a red Santa hat, and something white on his arms.

Then I realized it was Bryce and what he was grabbing with his arms were big white cards.

When he realized I recognized him, he winked at me, giving me his usual dashing smile.

Ethan kept talking, ignoring that I was kind of unfocused. I couldn’t help but give glances to the wall behind him, wondering what was happening out there.

Then Bryce put the cards in position.

“PRETEND IT’S A BEE”

My eyes widened but I tried to dissimulate. Ethan kept talking.

“I KNOW YOU’RE STILL DOWN”

I smiled sadly.

“I GUESS MY SEXY DANCING WASN’T ENOUGH”

I couldn’t help but chuckle, so Ethan noticed and looked at me confused. Then he looked where I was looking, so Baz did.

"For the love of God," Ethan said pinching the bridge of his nose.

“Please ignore him.”

Bryce continued.

“SO HERE I AM, TRYING AGAIN”

I shook my head and bit my lower lip, resisting the laugh.

“I KNOW WE’RE AT WORK, BUT LET ME SAY”

“WITHOUT HOPE OR AGENDA”

“JUST BECAUSE IT’S CHRISTMAS”

“AND IN CHRISTMAS YOU TELL THE TRUTH”

“TO ME, YOU’RE PERFECT”

“Awww” I heard Baz squeal. I couldn’t help but chuckle at his reaction.

“AND MY WASTED HEART WILL LOVE YOU”

“UNTIL YOU LOOK LIKE THIS”

And in the next card, there was a photo of me, sleeping, with my open mouth and all, completely oblivious that someone was taking me a picture.

Baz laughed again and even Ethan chuckled.

"Oh my god," I covered my face with both hands in embarrassment.

“SORRY, THAT WAS LAST NIGHT.”

“Son of a…”

“BUT I DO LOVE YOU EVEN IF YOU LOOK LIKE THAT”

“OR LIKE THIS”

This time it was a photo of me, sick, about three months ago. The three in the office laughed. Even Ethan was enjoying the spectacle.

“AND I WILL LOVE YOU UNTIL YOU LOOK LIKE THIS”

“(I SWEAR THIS TIME IS TRUE)”

And there was a picture of ashes.

“OR MAYBE UNTIL YOU LOOK LIKE THIS”

There was a picture of a koala.

“WHETHER YOU BECOME ASHES OR REENCARNATE IN A KOALA”

“OR IF YOU LIVE SEVEN OR TEN LIFES”

“I’LL FIND MY WAY TO YOU”

“AND I’LL KEEP LOVING YOU AND CHEERING YOU UP ALL YOUR LIVES.”

“MERRY CHRISTMAS KOALITA.”

“YOUR GOLDIE THAT LOVES YOU VERY MUCH.”

By then there were tears all over my face. I was sobbing. Without thinking too much, I stood up from my chair and ran outside where he was leaning the cards against the wall.

“Hmpf!” He said when I crushed against him. I pressed my face to his chest and sobbed. He stroked my hair softly. “Hey… I’m sorry I didn’t mean to make you cry” He muttered softly. I shook my head. “I wanted to cheer you on, baby koala”

A few seconds later, I parted from him. His sweater was stained with my tears, and my face was a complete mess. “It’s fine, it’s just… I thought you wouldn't notice. I didn't want you to notice."

“Love, of course I’d notice, and I’d feel horrible if I didn’t, honestly. It’s okay if you’re still angry and sad. You can rant with me, you know that, right?”

“I know, it’s just that… I didn’t want to bore you with my emotional mess. I know this is something out of my hands and I should just accept it… but I’d been months waiting for this.”

“I know baby, I’d been too, and I’m really sorry we couldn’t make it, but you don’t have to pretend, not with me. If you’re feeling sad, I wanna be there for you, alright?”

“Okay, love. You’re right. It’s just… Ahhh!” I grunted in frustration and I buried my face deeper in his chest for a moment “I really want you to meet my abuela. And my tata. And cousins and… Just everyone. And I want them to meet you.”

“We’ll make it, gorgeous. We’ll find the perfect time to travel, I promise. In the meantime, I'll try to cheer you on while you're sad, okay?”

I nodded and he kissed me on my forehead.

"Thank you, my love."

Just then, Baz went out of the office.

“You know I’m team Zines” He stated, and then shook his head “But you two make it really difficult to maintain my position."

I chuckled.

“It’s your brother after all, I get it.”

"Just know that you're in second place in my hashtag relationship goals." I nodded. “And you, mate” He added, looking directly at Bryce “I don't know why you're still alive. With those pictures...”

I gave a stony glare to Bryce.

“Oh, yeah, don’t think I’ve forgotten, Bryce Lahela! When we get home…!”

“Ooof, I better go," Baz announced.

“But the meeting?”

Baz snorted and kept walking. I turned around and Ethan was leaned against the window looking at us, serious. “I thought you couldn’t be cheesier, Lahela, but here you are, always proving me wrong.”

"And I pretend to keep proving you wrong,"

Ethan rolled his eyes.

“Wait… Ethan, you knew about this?”

“Obviously. Do you think this jackass would dare to interrupt me? In a meeting?”

“Well, yeah?”

“Eleanor Andrea Bloom how dare you!” Bryce scowled at me.

“You should know better than me that he’s wiser than it seems, Eleanor.”

“Well… actually yes, it makes sense, but I also know that you would never agree to this.”

“Maybe I was feeling generous just because it’s Christmas.”

"Thanks, buddy, I owe you one."

“By this time, like a hundred. And I'm not your buddy. How many times do I have to tell you?"

“Thank you, Ethan, really.”

“Don’t thank me. Just don’t ask me something like this never again.”

And he started walking toward the elevator, leaving us alone in the hallway.

Bryce took the cards and we went inside the office.

"Now… explain to me when the fucking hell did you take that photo?"

“Ooooof Keiki is waiting for me at home, gotta go, babe…”

I took his wrist. “Bryce. Explain. Now.”

"I always take random pics of you, I thought you knew. Reading, sleeping, cooking… At work… This one… I might have taken it like two months ago? When you had 24 hours shift and a bear could've fallen over you and you wouldn't have felt it."

I giggled. “I can’t even be mad at you for embarrass me in front of my colleagues.”

“I know, my charms are irresistible, mad-proof.”

“Don’t tempt fate, darling.”

“Is that a threat?”

Bryce leaned towards me, just a breath away. His warm breath, smoky with coffee and sweet with cream and sugar made me thirsty. I really wanted to resist, but it was hard. Besides, what was the point? I wasn't even mad at him. If all, just melted. Of course, he knew that, he knew he could advantage of that, like he knew I would forgive him for such embarrassment just because he was cute and handsome. I mean, I don't even have to explain to you what effect he has on me, you have seen him in action a couple of times by now. So I just gulped as I was looking into his lips quirking in a smug smile, trying so hard to resist…  

“Maybe not now but-” I try to retort but he silenced me with a kiss. I could’ve moved my face, push him away… But I’m weak around him. He knows it perfectly well.

“You talk too much, babe.”

“How da…”? He silenced me again with another kiss. Marvelous and breathtaking. He smiled against my lips.

I can’t resist him. I’m weak. I can be strong for a lot of things, I can set my mind for a lot of things, but when it comes to him… I’m so weak. But at that moment it felt so right to give in. Because the whole surprise and the way he was there to soothe me really helped me heighten my spirits, he helped me accept that I couldn't travel but everything would be alright because he was with me, and he would be right by my side in case things turn dark again.

 CHRISTMAS DAY.

Despite the sadness that we were feeling, especially me, for not being able to travel to Chile, we had a great dinner, and we behave like adults for Keiki’s sake.

And the dinner was especially delicious because it was made by the three of us. Sometimes it’s concerted, sometimes it’s improvised, but when the three of us are in the kitchen, the meal is always more gratifying. For the collaborative work and for the bond. For the memories. Cooking together will always remember us of the night Keiki came into our lives. The night I met her and the night Bryce saw her again after ten years. So every time we do it, it reminds us of how far we have come.

How far Bryce and Keiki have come after struggling for his ten-year absence for months after she came back into his life.

How far Keiki and me we have come after she finally accepted me in her life, because she came to Boston to have his brother back, and instead, and she won a new sister too, even if at some point it didn’t seem like she was happy with that.

How far we have come Bryce and me, as partners, as roommates.

How far we have come the three of us as a family.

It makes us proud of ourselves and the way we congratulate each other is by sharing something we as a family prepared.

When I woke up that morning, Bryce was already up, making breakfast in the kitchen.

"Merry Christmas babe," He said, kissing me on the lips, before slicing a berries pie I had bought for Christmas morning.

“Feliz Navidad, amor," I said giving him a mischievous smirk. He loves when I speak in Spanish, if you know what I mean.

Just then, Keiki appeared in the living room.

"Merry Christmas! Can we open our presents now?"

“Oooh, looks who woke up with lots of energy and cheerfulness!”

“Don’t ruin it, Bryce!” I said, nudging his shoulder.

"Thank you, Ella."

I sprinted towards her and hugged her. "Merry Christmas, Keiks!”

“SANDWICH!” I heard from the kitchen.

“Sandwich!” Keiki shouted instantly, and the next thing I knew is that Bryce was hugging me from behind. It was my turn to be sandwiched by the Lahela siblings. “Why I feel like I’m being sandwiched even if I’m supposed to be the bread? You’re so invasive, Bryce.”

After a few seconds, they let me go, so we all approached the Christmas tree and started distributing the presents. First, we gave Keiki her presents, then Bryce’s, and then it was my turn to receive presents.

We normally give hints the month before of what things we need or want and this time I honestly didn’t want too much. Just a new gloves for the cold (which Keiki gave me), maybe some new book and a supersonic hairdryer. I had been hallucinating with it for the past month because the reviews say that it cuts the hair drying time in more than half, so it was really looking forward to having five minutes more of sleep each morning because now it wouldn't take me that much dry my hair. Plus, it leaves the hair shinier than normal hairdryers.

I talked about it three or four times the past weeks, and Bryce catches everything. Sometimes there are times when Bryce notices first than me when I’m pissed off about something, so it was impossible that he wouldn’t know what I wanted for Christmas.

And what I received as a Christmas present instead? A box full of pens and sticky notes and cute notebooks.

"Oh, this is cute," I said, trying to hide my disappointment. "Oh, and it has a puppy! A goldie like you!”

“Yeah, that’s why I picked that one, I know you would love it," Bryce said, smirking at me.

“Thank you, this is very useful!”

Then we went to have breakfast on the kitchen island. After a few minutes, the disappointment dispersed but still. Pens, sticky notes, and notebooks. What the fuck? That would’ve fitted Keiki better than me. A teenager me, maybe even a Med School student me, but not an in-half-a-year-I’ll-be-attending me! I couldn’t believe it.

When we were done, I got up to put the dishes in the dishwasher, but Keiki stopped me.

“Don’t worry, I’ll do this.” She said, grabbing the mugs before I could reach them.

“Let’s have some sleep before we go to see the guys, babe” Bryce took my hand and led me to our room.

I sat in the bed and when I leaned to place my head on the pillow, I felt something hard under it.

I furrowed. Bryce was staring at me, biting his lip. I moved the pillow and I found a box wrapped in snowy gift paper with a red ribbon. When I opened it… there it was, the freaking supersonic hairdryer.

“Oh my god! This is… This is what I wanted!”

"I know," He said, smiling.

“You did it on purpose?”

I heard a laugh at the entry of the room where Keiki was walking towards us with her phone on hand, recording.

“I bet Joni Mitchell was playing in your head the whole breakfast, am I right? I’ve looked at clouds from both sides nooooow”

“You…”

At that moment it hit me.

"Okay, so now I'm the crying wife? You made the fool of me as Harry did with Karen?" I said throwing the pillow at him. “And you helped him, Keiki!”

"Hey, in my defense, it was a joke, I didn't buy this hair dryer for my secretary or something."

“Oh, so I should thank you that you’re not cheating on me? You made my breakfast bitter! Sticky notes! What the hell!”

By this time, Keiki was sitting at the edge of the bed, still laughing but looking at me cautiously in case I would throw her another pillow.

“Hey, I had planned to do this in Chile, which means… you would’ve opened the gift at midnight and not until the next morning you would’ve found out what was your real gift.”

I shook my head.

“You really got me.”

“I know. It was painful seeing your disappointment, but totally worth it after seeing your reaction with the real gift.”

“And now we can watch it every night before sleeping if we want” Keiki teased.

I scowled at her, but then I just chuckled as I felt a sentiment of thankfulness and joy invading me. Bryce, and Keiki too, had been doing tons of things to cheer me up the last few days, and even if at that moment I still wished I was here, I felt so complete, because despite all, there we were, laughing, boding, teasing each other, in our natural selves. Just as families do and I was thankful for the family I had. The family I chose.

“Thank you, both of you, for cheering me up these last few days while I was so gloomy and weepy."

“That’s what family is for. They stick with you no matter what.” He kissed my cheek. “And to prank you even when you’re down”

                                              ”

“Oh dear, I can’t stop laughing, he really got you!” Ofelia giggled, wiping a tear off her cheek.

 Eleanor stared at her grandmother by her side and followed suit, releasing a hearted laugh. "Yeah, and I couldn't believe it. I mean, I’m always very grateful for whatever he gives me… But a box of sticky notes, lela? I was so sure he knew what I wanted... But it was all a prank in the end. The last scene of a very Love Actually Christmas."

“You never have a dull time with him, do you?"

"Never. He always finds a way to make a difference, and even on normal days, when we are tired and bored and none of us have the energy for anything else than lie down on the bed… even like that, he somehow makes it feel special."

"Mmmm yes, he does have a way to bring out the best in people and the best in any situation."

"Yup, that's definitely him." Eleanor smiled fondly, watching as Bryce was cheerily speaking with her grandfather at the other side of the table, sharing tips about how to make the perfect barbecue. Bryce didn't know a thing about barbecues, but he was learning the Chilean way.  

They had arrived two days ago in company of Keiki and had planned to spend a couple of days there, getting to know the family and then they would take a tour around the south of the country, especially Chiloé and Torres del Paine for a week or so, and then they would return to her grandparents house for the proper farawell before getting back to Boston.

A few moments later Bryce turned his head and winked at her.

Eleanor couldn't help but smile goofily at him.

"It's so rare what you've found here, dear, and in such short time" Ofelia continued, after noticing the exchange between the couple. Eleanor gave her a puzzled glare "What do you mean?"

"The devotion you two have for each other. Sometimes it takes years, sometimes people get married without having it, but you already have it. And it's so hard to find, Ellie, because you can kiss and sleep with anyone thinking it's love, you can even get married and have kids without even love the other person, or just believing it's love when sometimes is just comfort or an illusion. But you two…" She gave a quick glance to Bryce and then to Eleanor "You don't even have to tell me to know you're in love because the way you look at each other, the way you care about each other speak volumes."

"You really think so, lela?" Her eyes shined with hope.

"I do. The way he cares about you and brings out the best of you, the way you admire him and push him to be a better brother, a better friend, a better partner. That's what love actually is,  making each other better and be happy with the simpler things in life, and you two have it, without a doubt. And you know what? That's the kind of relationship everyone should aspire to have for the rest their lives and you two are lucky to have it.”

Eleanor stared at the resolution with whom her grandmom was speaking and she knew it was all honesty. She felt relieved because there was someone outside her that thought that too. Sometimes she used to think it was too soon, but now was realizing that maybe it was alright. It was all real.

She had known it since she realized she was in love with Bryce, and it became more clear when they moved together, but now the truth was undeniable and more palpable than ever: Bryce was the man she will spend her whole life with.

Bryce was the man she was going to marry.

_____

A/N: Merry Christmas everyone and happy holidays! I hope you all enjoyed the day (or the days) despite the sad circumstances.

Special thanks to Conch @curiousconch for helping me with the initial ideas of this fic, I think without your support and ideas, I don’t think this fic would’ve turned out the way it did without our brainstorming session, so thank you so much!

And thanks to Ruby @starrystarrytrouble​ for encouranging me and sending me motivation to keep writing it despite my blocks and being out of ideas, thank you dear, I hope you enjoyed this!

Thank you all for reading!

I hope you all have an amazing week, and my best wishes to each and every one of you in the year that’s about to start soon.

A big hug!

[constant-mason24]

If Only She Had Known (Jerome x Reader x Jeremiah)

It was officially over.

(Y/N) had known from the moment she caught Jerome on the security screens that this was never going to end well. She didn't know how or why Jerome was in the bunker- the bunker made specifically to keep him out- but she couldn't deny that he was, in fact, sitting in the same building as her once again. She hated the conflicted emotions that brought up within her.

"I can explain, my dear," Jeremiah muttered, standing next to his minibar.

"Did you have something to do with this?" (Y/N) held back a whimper. "Or did he finally find us?"

"A bit of both, actually." Jeremiah pushed his glasses up the bridge of his nose, moving to pour another glass of something. Didn't that bottle have more alcohol before? "Ecco lured him to her and brought him in."

"Why?"

"Because he can't be contained by the police."

"Jeremiah-" (Y/N) let out a heavy sigh. This can't be happening. After everything Jeremiah has gone through, why would want his monster of a brother to stay so near him? (Y/N) felt her heartache, remembering a time when the two wouldn't mind the more extroverted twin tagging along.

(Y/N) had grown up in the circus too, and had been so close to the Valeska twins. the three of them were inseparable as children. That is until Jeremiah finally began to come clean about the things Jerome would do when she wasn't around. She remembered holding onto him and crying, wishing she could stop the pain inflicted upon him by the boy she thought was a good friend.

If only she had known. . .

"Jeremiah, we can't keep a dangerous lunatic here. Especially not that one."

"I understand you're worried, my dear, but I have this completely under control." Jeremiah lifted the glass to his lips, swallowing the contents quickly. "I have been planning this, you know."

"You have?!" (Y/N) threw her hands up. Jeremiah quickly snapped to attention, pure panic on his face. Had he seriously forgotten to tell her something as important as this? How long had he been planning to lock his twisted twin up here? Forever?

Jeremiah opened his mouth to speak, but (Y/N) held her hand up to quiet him.

"I've had enough of this. I'm going to bed." She turned and stormed out of the room. No, it definitely wasn't a good idea to go to bed angry with him, but she just couldn't take talking about this anymore tonight. She made her way through a few twisting passageways, but she was so caught up in her own thoughts and emotions she hadn't really been paying attention to where she was going. She only snapped out of it when she hit a dead end.

"Are you kidding me?!" She yelled, out of frustration and just a touch of stress. "I am not lost in my own damn house!" She slapped the wall hard, hissing as it stung. She cradled her poor hand to her chest, leaning against the wall and sliding to a sitting position. (Y/N) tried her best to decipher what turns she had taken on her little journey, and it didn't take her long to figure out where she most likely was. Finding her way to the bedroom wouldn't be too difficult, but she didn't feel like moving just yet.

She leaned her head back against the wall, letting loose a shuddering sigh. Everything had been going so nicely when Jerome died. But then he came back, and for the second time in their lives, he had forced herself and Jeremiah into fear and discomfort. (Y/N) glanced down to her hand, setting her gaze on the elegant ring on her finger. When Jerome had been killed on live TV, (Y/N) and Jeremiah finally thought they were safe. After all, how could a dead man be a threat? Well, he wasn't dead for long.

The worst part of losing and regaining Jerome wasn't the loss of hope for the second time, it was the emotional rollercoaster it set (Y/N) on. Yes, Jerome was a raging psychopath, and she was very glad when he was gone, but still had such fond memories of him as a child, back when he was- or seemed- so innocent and fun. She had always been just a little closer to Jerome than she had been with Jeremiah.

Jerome was laughter and excitement. There was never a dull moment with him. Always on the move, looking for the best ways to make the most out of any situation. Meanwhile, Jeremiah was the opposite. He was peace and serenity. Jeremiah had always been more quiet and reserved, but still comforting, still pleasant. Both boys were always going out of their way to make (Y/N) happy. Looking back on it now, it was so obvious they had both been crushing just a bit. But Jeremiah was shyer, while Jerome was brasher. (Y/N) loved them both, but she was too young and naive to understand anything more than a deep friendship. If things had continued to stay the same as they grew, (Y/N) would most likely have ended up engaged to Jerome.

But Jerome wasn't as sweet as he used to be.

Besides, being with Jeremiah- despite literally living under a rock now- wasn't anything to complain about. Jeremiah was caring and compassionate, just like when they were children. He was gentle and loving, though a bit too focused on his work. Which apparently was not keeping Jerome away from them. Instead, it was bringing him to them.

How long has this been the plan? Was this bunker meant to be a trap the whole time? Did Jeremiah suddenly change his mind? He probably did, when Jerome broke out of Arkham the first time. Now he was here, in their shared home, and he was hellbent on getting to Jeremiah. Did he even know she was here? (Y/N) shook the thoughts from her head and stood. It was time to get some rest.

After some wandering (she didn't get lost this time), (Y/N) made it to the bedroom. Of course, Jeremiah wasn't there. He was probably still working on his plans for his brother. With a sigh, (Y/N) flopped onto the bed, too tired to bother changing her clothes. Besides, she wasn't wearing anything too uncomfortable, just sweats and a T-shirt. She never left the house anyway.

(Y/N) crawled under the covers and rolled to her side. She shut her eyes and willed her mind to silence itself, but it didn't last long. She kept having vivid memories of her childhood with the twins. If she had only known Jerome would turn out this way. What would she have done differently? Take Jeremiah away faster? Try to stop him from going down this path? If she had known he was so vicious and cruel, would she have been able to stop his torment, or would he have hurt her too?

Twenty minutes later, and still, no rest, (Y/N) got sick of tossing and turning and decided it was useless. She sat up and moved her legs onto the cold floor, sighing and preparing to get up when the dark bedroom suddenly lit up red. an alarm started to wail loudly, and (Y/N) felt her blood freeze over. Jerome was out.

Jerome. Was. Out.

Without much thought, she stood and raced out of the room, twisting and turning down the hallways, left, right, right, right, left. She made a mental log of how many turns she made, and many more to go, envisioning the map she had (forcibly) studied so many times. It was going to take some time to get to the exit, and she wanted desperately to find Jeremiah, but she knew he would want her to leave. And besides, she didn't want to risk coming face to face with Jerome.

oh, if only luck was on her side.

Sure enough, she turned to her left and almost ran smack dab into the very man she was praying not to find. (Y.N) felt a shiver trail down her spine as she watched a grin creep across the scarred face of her lover's twin, and her long lost friend.

"(Y/N), what a pleasant surprise." The grin on his face was just as audible as it was visible, and (Y/N) felt herself begin to tear up. She hadn't seen him since she ran off with Jeremiah, to St. Ignatius, so very long ago.

"Jerome." Her voice was short and surprisingly stable, as she took a step away from the murderer before her. "I wish I could say the same."

"Aw, don't be that way, doll!" Jerome pouted. "You know I've missed you."

(Y/N) hated the way she wanted to tell him she missed him too.

"I should've known you would have run off with 'Miah. You two always did get along so well." He glanced down to her hand, lifting his head in surprise. "Married?"

"Engaged." She quietly corrected, not looking away for a second. She didn't trust him. He was unpredictable.

He whistled and held his hand out. "Can I see?" (Y/N) wasn't sure why she complied, but she did, letting him taker her hand and examine the ring. "Oh, that's a nice one. But I must admit, I'm quite jealous. I wanted to be the one to put a ring on your finger."

"What do you want Jerome?"

"Well, first I'd like to catch up with you," He said, leaning his head back and waving his arm like he was listing off tedious tasks. "Then I'd like to visit my dear old brother."

"What are you planning to do to Jeremiah?" (Y/N) spat. "Haven't you tortured him enough in this lifetime?" At this, Jerome chuckled, which turned into full-on cackling.

"You really are so precious, you know that?" He wiped a tear away, smiling and shaking his head at her. "I think it's high time I got revenge for all the torment he put me through."

"What are you talking about, Jerome? Weren't you the one who tried to hurt him?"

"Actually, (Y/n)," His smile fell, and he looked more intimidating than (Y/N) could have imagined he would be. "I never did a thing to him."

Her expression must have accurately reflected just how confused she was because Jerome sighed and looked at her with. . . pity?

"You really think my brother is some perfect little angel?" He took a step forward, and she took one back. "Do you really think I was that violent as a child? Really, (Y/N)? You knew me back then."

"Did I really know you? Or were you faking it around me? Around everyone?"

Jerome sighed more angrily now, turning away and rubbing his face in frustration. "Jeremiah was the one faking it! He lied to everyone! He lied to you!"

"How can you say that, Jerome?!"

"Because it's the truth!" They both had raised their voices to screams and now the silence was almost painful. It lasted for what felt like hours before finally, Jerome spoke again.

"I can prove it to you, (Y/N). Let me talk to him. I can get him to confess." He was almost scarier when he was being serious.

"What? You want me to lead you right to him?" (Y/N) laughed. "This is all some elaborate ploy to get me to reveal Jeremiah to you. Well, I'm not falling for it." She expected this to anger Jerome, but instead, he went back right to giving that creepy grin.

"Don't play like that, doll. You still trust me, I can see it in your eyes." Jerome leaned forward, giving that psychotic little smile. "You still love me just as much as you did when we were kids."

(Y/N) was silent. She knew deep down that he was right. She did love him when they were children, and she loved him right now. He very well may be the same boy she had known back then, despite all that he's done. But if that were true, what did it say about Jeremiah? THere's no way in hell he had actually lied about something as horrifying as his own brother trying to murder him. Yet it had come as a total shock when he told her. Still, she couldn't let Jerome hurt him. She loved him too, and besides, they were meant to be getting married about this time (Jerome's return had once again put those plans to rest). What right did Jerome have to walk back into her life and demand she turn her back on her fiance? And yet. . .

"Okay, I'll bite. You have one chance to make me believe you're telling the truth, but you have to promise not to hurt Jeremiah right now. I know that's your whole plan right now, but I need to know the truth. Ok?"

Jerome tilted his head in thought, letting out an overdramatic 'hmmm' as he contemplated (Y/N)'s offer. "I suppose I could put off my plans for him for just a little longer. If it means I can finally win you back."

Jerome followed her through the labyrinth as they made their way to the exit, hoping to bump into Jeremiah on the way. Sure enough, she turned a corner and saw him there, right before the exit. He looked frantic, probably worrying to death over where (Y/N) was, which made her feel guilty for bringing Jerome right to him. Before she could try and change her mind, Jerome pulled her back behind the corner out of sight.

"Stay here and listen, doll." He whispered, moving around the corner to meet his twin. Fro behind Jerome came two other men, whom she recognized as Crane and Tetch. Jerome sent them off to hunt down two policemen who were apparently here too and began to taunt Jeremiah.

"You're insane." Jeremiah spat softly, and Jerome didn't argue. "And I tried telling mom but she didn't want to listen to me. You blame me for everything that's gone wrong in your life, but the truth is, Jerome, you were born bad."

"Born bad, huh?" Jerome's voice was low. He was evidently getting more upset. "So that's why you made her think that I tried to kill ya right?"

"Yeah, we both-"

"What was it again?" Jerome cut his brother off. "What was it? I put a blade to your throat? no, no, no. I tried to light you on fire?-"

"We both know you wanted to!" Jeremiah snapped.

(Y/N) slapped a hand across her mouth, trying to cover up the gasp that wanted to flee her throat. This wasn't good enough. She needed to do more than hear it. She needed to see it. Crouching down to the floor, where Jeremiah wouldn't be able to see her past Jerome, she peeked out from around the corner, trying to read Jeremiah's expression. There was a lot to see there. He was angry and frightened like he was backed into a corner. It was then she realized this was true.

"yeah, that was a funny story wasn't it?" Jerome huffed. Jeremiah shifted uncomfortably. Fear was winning over anger.

"Okay, maybe it didn't happen exactly like that, but I didn't have a choice, and I was right. You killed our mother."

"She did deserve it though." Jerome began to grin again. "After that whore hid you away, she gave up on me. Poisoned by your stories. You turned everyone I loved against me. You turned (Y/N) against me!"

"That's enough." (Y/N) called out, getting up and stepping out from behind the corner. "I've heard enough."

Both boys turned in surprise; Jerome evidently was so caught up in his own issues he forgot she was there. Jeremiah's face was more in horror than shock. So Jerome hadn't been lying. Jeremiah really did lie about him. But for what?

"How long have you been here, (Y/N)?" Jeremiah asked shakily. She shook her head.

"Jerome told me what you did. I didn't want to believe him." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "Why did you do it, Jeremiah?"

"I," The man stuttered, wringing his hands. "I knew he was trouble, even before he-"

"Don't give me that excuse. why do you really do it?"

"I couldn't let him have you." Jeremiah caved. Jerome was practically bristling. "I knew you liked him better than you liked me. I couldn't let him win."

"You had to take her from me just like you took everything else, huh bro?" Jerome growled, turning back towards his twin. "You were always the 'better half' of the two of us. You couldn't let me be better or equal to you in any way."

"You're both ridiculous." (Y/N)'s voice was shaky with tears. "Do you hear yourselves? Have you put even the slightest thought into what you have done? I am not a prize to be fought over!"

Both boys looked down in shame, but Jeremiah tried to reach out. "I'm sorry, (Y/N). Surely you understand-"

"Don't." She wiped her face. "I'm leaving. Don't either of you follow me. Please."

She stormed past them, out of the exit and into the dark night. She didn't know where she was going to go, only that she wanted to be alone. Jerome was never the murderous psychopath Jeremiah made him out to be- that is until his entire life was ripped from him. And it was all taken from him by Jeremiah. That manipulative little-

(Y/N) took a deep breath, which turned into heavy breathing as she walked briskly into the dark woods. She thought about waiting for the police officers at their car, but she didn't want Jerome or Jeremiah to find her. She ended up walking into the woods and finding a sturdy tree trunk to lean against as she cried.

Oh, if only she had known.

[junquisite]

SUMMONING

PAIRING : Incubus! Park Junhee X OC

GENRE : Smut

WARNING : Mature content

WORD COUNT : 900 words

"So you're telling me..you got this book because..you wanted to get laid?" She questioned her friend.

"I don't believe in men anymore. I deserve better." Her friend huffed and she stared at her.

"The better is demons?" She asked as she picked the book her friend had brought to her house.

"An Incubus to be exact." And she raised an eyebrow at her.

"Have you finally lost it?" She asked and her friend shrugged.

"Lemme try it here." Her friend said and she tried to stop her but it failed as she started pulling out items from her bag - incense, candles, some markers, a ruler.

"It's literally daylight." She mumbled as she saw her friend settling down on her floor, drawing a pentagram. 

"Please don't do this at my house." She said as her words fell on the deaf ears of her friend's.

Her friend lit the incense and the candles and she went to her room. She came out when she heard her friend calling her out because she was struggling reading the Latin chants.

So at the end, in broad daylight, at her home, she read the Latin chants for her friend's summoning of an Incubus for getting laid.

She read it completely and they waited for something to happen. After a while when it was clear nothing was going to happen, she closed the book. 

The next hour was spent by her chastising her friend for spending a large amount on the books and all while her friend scrubbed her floor.  Then they spent some time watching stupid horror movies and complaining about the plot. Finally her friend left and she asked her to leave the incense behind, it was nice.

By the night while she was dressing for bed, putting on a long t-shirt alone, something in the air was Different but she could not pinpoint it. But it did make her go and fetch a pair of sweatpants to wear.

She felt warm. All over her body. It wasn't warm like hot but more like a fire was burning inside of her. She felt feather light touches all over her body, pulling at her clothes and trying to trace all the naked skin they could. 

It felt surreal. Almost as if it was more than a dream.

The Incubus her friend was trying to summon.

She felt weight on her body, someone on top of her, grinding slowly his lower body on hers.

"Isn't it time you wake up princess?" 

She opened her eyes with a start and looked around in her room. There was no one but it was strangely cold. Panic filled her when she realised she couldn't move her body. 

The sensations of her dream reached her again, when she felt someone pull down her sweatpants, and then cold hands were tracing circles on her inner thighs. Close but not close enough to where she wanted.

She closed her eyes only to open them when she felt a hand grasp her face tightly - her eyes met deep black eyes - a pair of eyes she swore she had never seen before.

"How can you just fall asleep after you summoned me?" He said and the voice left a slight echo in her head as she felt him nuzzle his face in her neck, the gasp that left her lips when he bit her neck slightly made her realise she can use her voice.

"I..I did not summon you.." she stuttered out and the man pushed himself on his arms, towering over her.

"But you did. In the day. I would have come earlier had your friend left but she didn't." He said and a shiver ran up her spine.

He was the demon.

The Incubus her friend was trying to summon.

"There's a confusion. It was her who wanted to summon you and not me." She said and saw as his face went expressionless at first. But suddenly a smirk covered it.

He slowly went down and grinded on her and she moaned loudly.

"I can see it in your mind, do you really want me to leave?" He asked as his hands skillfully ripped her panties off her, the sound of ripping clothes resounding in the room.

Two fingers teased her fold and she whimpered. "This tell otherwise. Should I leave Doll?" 

"No please!" She almost screamed when she felt him pulling away.

The sensation in her arms came back as she sat up to pull him close to her. The fabric felt silk-ish, expensive. But there was a different scent around him. She came face to face with him and he directly went for her neck, pulling her on his lap as she felt his hard on through his pants.

He grabbed her by her behind as he forced her to grind on him, moans turning to scream when he bit too harshly at her neck.

"Oh god!" She cried as he clicked his tongue at it. His hand went down between her legs, flicking her clit sharply and she cried in pain.

"How can you even cry his name when you're at the mercy of me, a demon?" He asked as his other hand went into her hair, pulling at them sharply to make her look at his eyes as they glowed red.

"You'll only be screaming my name tonight. Remember it, it's Park Junhee."