#she’s got Anis anger issues but none of the control issues because she knows how to use an anchor

[barcaatthemoon]

the truth ii || jenni hermoso x reader ||

the aftermath of your breakdown.

jenni found herself walking back to the hotel soon after alexia took you away. mapi would probably kick her ass in the morning for everything, but jenni had been waiting for that moment to come. she had expected punches to come flying her way when she came back from mexico, but it seemed that you had kept quiet about the break up. you had even kept quiet when you had to stand by and watch as jenni buried herself in between the legs of various women to distract herself from you.

"ale, open up," jenni said as she knocked on your hotel room door. she had expected to find alexia watching over you for the night, and was partially shocked to see ona and patri there instead. "where is alexia?"

"she's getting some things for (y/n), who has been very chatty by the way," ona warned. jenni knew from the silence and tension radiating from patri that you told them what happened. jenni couldn't think of anything to say to defend herself.

"i'm sorry." jenni stood awkwardly at the door, hoping that one of them would let her in. "i didn't know what happened at first, but eventually it started to come back in bits and pieces."

"jenni, go back to your own room," alexia said as she pushed past jenni to get into your room.

"i want to talk to you," jenni said. alexia gave the younger players a nod as she put the thing she had bought for you in their arms. jenni stepped into the hallway with alexia, who lost her cool once the door was shut. jenni hadn't expected the outburst from alexia, who despite her poor temper, had gotten it under control as she came into the position of captain.

"how could you let me treat her like that? you knew what you did, jenni. we loved and supported you unconditionally, all the while you were the own cause of your sadness. if you would have gotten over yourself, the two of you could have been married by now!" alexia's voice was raised and her hands were fisted around the collar of jenni's shirt. jenni was backed against the wall, just waiting for the inevitable punch to come from alexia's fist. "they shut her out because we all thought she broke your heart and ran."

"i'm sorry," jenni apologized. alexia let go of her, unable to look at jenni for a second longer. "this is a mess, and it's all my fault. i don't know how to fix it."

"you'll be damn lucky if any of us can fix this. because of you, we all hurt her too. if you would have just told the fucking truth, none of this would have happened. you didn't mean any of that, not even in the message," alexia said. jenni froze at the mention of the voicemail. her face fell immediately.

"y-you heard the voicemail?" jenni felt like all of the air had been forced out of her lungs as alexia nodded her head. she had expected you to delete it. a night of drinking had coaxed jenni into venting to you about the breakup and all the things she had said. the only issue was that jenni was full of misplaced anger, and every terrible thing she felt about herself had been directed at you instead. "i didn't mean any of that about (y/n). it as about me, it was always about me."

"just get the hell out of here for now," alexia said. she was at a loss as to what she should have done. she knew that jenni hadn't meant any of that towards you, but that didn't change the fact that she had said it. nothing would ever be able to change the fact that she had said it, and despite the fact that alexia knew both of you still loved each other deeply, she wasn't sure that she was comfortable letting you go back to jenni after everything. it could only be a matter of time before she got fucked up again, leaving you to go through the whole ordeal once more.

…

slowly over the course of the next few days, the team seemed to warm up to you again. ona and patri had refused to leave your side, both of them apologizing for icing you out profousely. in all honesty, you knew that you should have been mad at them, but you were far too relieved to have friends again to care. even better than that, you were glad to no longer have to avoid your captain or the players you used to look to for guidance.

"i don't know if this is really your thing, but i was going to go with some of the girls to a candy store. i've heard a lot about it online, it's supposed to be pretty cool," mapi said as she stood awkwardly in front of your seat. you had eaten breakfast with ona, patri, and pina. it was nice, aside from the fact that jenni spent the whole morning in the corner by herself, not even sitting at a table. you had been mad at her, but you still didn't want her to be shut out by the team like you were.

"yeah, that sounds good. maybe you should ask jenni too, i bet she'd like to come," you tried to suggest. mapi gave you a look as she sat down across from you. "she's been your friend longer than i've been here. longer than any of you have known i existed. remember that i knew it was risky dating her with the age gap."

"yes, but jenni knows what she did. has she even apologized to you?" mapi asked. you shrugged. technically, there had been quite a few apologies, but none of them had been very good. jenni's sincerity had been wasted away because of your anger, and by the time you were willing to hear her out, she was mad at you.

"it's complicated, mapi. even after everything, i still love her and that's got to mean something," you reasoned.

"yeah, it means you're young. i'd stay away from her if i was you," mapi warned. you nodded in understanding, but chose not to say anything. mapi wandered off to gather up a few more girls to go to the candy store with you, which was when you took your opportunity to sneak back to your room. all you had wanted was a little time to process your thoughts, but nobody wanted to leave you alone.

you understood patri and ona being clingy, especially ona, but it was still rough on you. being alone had become your norm in germany, and while your contract was coming up soon, you weren't sure if you wanted to go back to barcelona. alexia had been pushing for it, which was part of why you had agreed to go out with mapi today instead. mapi had been the one to listen to you talk about the different club options silently yesterday. alexia had been loud, giving you a million reasons why barcelona was better than all of the other ones.

"shit, sorry. i can wait," jenni said as she walked over to the elevators. you didn't look over towards her, not even as the doors opened. you stepped inside first. jenni just stood there until you held the door open for her, indicating that you didn't mind her coming in too. "are you sure?"

"no, but you should come here anyway," you told her. jenni cracked a small smile as she stepped into the elevator with you. it was a little awkward at first, and even more so when you looked over to find her staring at you. "you didn't have to sit on the floor at breakfast today. i'm sure someone would have sat with you."

"not a chance. if we didn't have more games, i'd be back in mexico already," jenni admitted. she had planned on staying an extra couple of weeks in spain to spend with friends and family. you didn't like the idea of her abandoning that because of that happened with you. "i saw on instagram that you're going to be a free agent soon. i didn't think you had signed such a short contract."

"alexia wants me to come back to barcelona, but i'm not sure. i haven't told ona or patri that jona wants me back yet. god, she'll be so mad if i don't come back," you sighed. jenni cautiously reached out and placed her hand on your back. "you really made a mess of things for me."

"i made a mess of things for both of us, and i am so sorry. those things i said, i wasn't talking about you when i said them. i was talking about me," jenni admitted. your brows furrowed as you stared at her. "i hadn't thought much about how it would look at first, and then it was pushed into my head so i couldn't think of anything else. i never thought to ask you if you thought i was taking advantage of you. i mean, it all happened so fast at first."

"would you have ever asked me out if we didn't get drunk and sleep together?" you asked. jenni bit her lip awkwardly as she rubbed the back of her neck. "tell me. i want to hear the truth jenni."

"no, nothing would have ever happened if that first night didn't. i wouldn't have let you keep coming over, but i think i still would have loved you. i wouldn't have gotten nervous when you kissed me at alexia's, so i wouldn't have thrown up everywhere on the balcony. you wouldn't have had to drive me back to my place to take care of me, and i wouldn't have asked you to move in with me," jenni admitted. "i wouldn't have been 32 with a 19 year old girlfriend. we wouldn't have to tell the team, and patri wouldn't have ever fucking gotten in my face about us, so i wouldn't have come back home and yelled at you like that. so, i am sorry that i didn't have any fucking control, but i don't regret sleeping with you one bit."

"i don't either," you whispered. jenni glanced over at you with a small smile on her face. it didn't do much to hide the tears in her eyes or the way that her voice had been shaking as she recounted the things that wouldn't have happened if you hadn't slept with jenni for the first time.

"you should. you should be angrier with me than you are. i know that i can't stand myself when someone mentions you." jenni sank back into herself a little. you knew that jenni being upset and genuine about the breakup should have made you feel better, but it only made you feel worse. "thank you for listening to me."

"can i talk now?" you asked jenni. she nodded and you pressed the emergency stop button on the elevator. "sit down."

jenni did exactly as you asked, sliding down the wall to sit. you sat down across from her with your legs crossed. it was a habit that alexia and mapi got onto you for because it was truly terrible for your knees. jenni had never gotten onto you for things like they did, she had always gently corrected you, if she ever did. jenni liked being your girlfriend much more than she liked being an authority figure or mentor.

"if you would have talked to me about what was bothering you back then, i could have helped. i could have reassured you that you weren't taking advantage of me. i could have reminded you that every step of the way, i resisted through your persistence that it wasn't right. i could have reminded you that i wanted this so badly that i used to stay up all night trying to figure out how the hell i was going to be around you the next day," you told her.

jenni pulled her knees up and wrapped her arms around them, balling herself up a bit. you could see the nervous little twitch in her fingers that she tried to hide. despite what you knew was in your best interests, you reached out and took jenni's hand. almost immediately, the floodgates opened up for her and she launched herself into your arms.

"i don't think that we can do this again jenni, i really don't," you sighed. jenni glanced up at you, her makeup now smeared all over your shirt. "mapi was right, i can't just take you back. i want to so badly, and i know that i love you, but i need to love someone else. i can't run back to you, jenni, i just can't."

"oh, okay," jenni said as she stood up. you sighed as you watched her flip the elevator switch again, despite you not really being done. you had more to say, but it was obvious in the way that jenni shook as she stood there that she was on the verge of breaking down. it wasn't your job to comfort her, so she wouldn't subject you to watching that.

she stopped the elevator at the next floor, which definitely wasn't hers. you watched her sprint away from you like she couldn't get away fast enough. you sighed as you stood up, waiting for the elevator to stop on your floor. when it did, you were met with ona and mapi standing there, waiting for you.

"hi guys," you said softly. you moved past them to get to your room to change your shirt, thankful that neither of them wanted to talk to you about it. they waited for you to get ready before the three of you left together, everybody else having gone out a little earlier.

"have you thought about where you want to sign to?" mapi asked. ona's head snapped over to look at you, and for a moment, you thought about strangling mapi in the middle of the busy street.

"no, i haven't," you hissed. ona cleared her throat, causing you to glance over towards her. "oni, i would have told you, bu-,"

"sign to arsenal, they want you. i think that you could really help them, and it'll be fun to play against you in the champion's league," ona told you. you were shocked that she wasn't begging you to come back to barcelona. you remembered the night you packed up your bags and left for germany, and the way that ona had sobbed on her knees begging you to stay.

"are you sure? ale said that barcelona would resign me," you told her.

"it's not the right time for you to come back to barcelona, not yet. who knows, maybe you'll find a cute girl in london. they go a little crazy for a spanish accent. i hear leila's having a lot of fun in manchester," ona teased. your cheeks burned with heat as you thought about what she was suggesting. mapi nudged you as well, obviously on board with this idea. "think about it, okay?"

"yeah, i will," you promised. in all honesty, you had thought about transferring to the wsl or even the nwsl. there were a couple of teams in america that had really wanted you, but there was no way that you'd ever run into jenni in england. she was too far away to excuse a casual visit, so maybe arsenal was just what you needed for closure.

[acethetically-bway]

i think we need to spend a minute, or several, talking about the al-anon questionnaire that fiona canonically got a “perfect score” on (TWs for alcoholism/self harm):

imagine little fiona realizing frank loves alcohol more than her and her siblings for the first time and carrying that with her all the way until season 9 when she takes this test 😭 also makes me think of her giving him the ultimatum as his liver is failing and realizing that if he is gonna stop (which he’s not, but regardless), he’s not gonna do it for her. it honestly hurts more to think of the fact that she took this test years AFTER giving him that ultimatum and making that realization, meaning that she *still* deep down, at almost 30 years old, thinks he’d stop if he really loved her.

i can also just picture her heart sinking when she sticks her little kid nose just a bit too close to frank and the strong smell of booze just radiates off of him and makes her nostrils burn. also holy shit #9 (and others on this list too tbh) has me thinking about the wifeification of fiona and how she has to be the one to placate frank and walk around eggshells with him, otherwise he’ll go off the rails and hurt her (or worse, her siblings). because they’re just kids and they’ll say shit without knowing any better, and by that point it’s too late. imagine fiona coaching the others on how to act when frank’s around, telling them exactly what to avoid saying so they don’t set him off and incur his drunken wrath. her letting frank steal their money because it’s better to just give him what he wants and get him out of their hair than to challenge him (until she and her brothers are physically strong enough to fight back.)

PLEASE AGH IF FRANK WASNT AN ALCOHOLIC FIONA WOULD’VE HAD A NORMAL CHILDHOOD WITH A PRESENT AND LOVING FATHER!! she wouldn’t have had to be a mom to her siblings, she wouldn’t have to worry about money constantly bc frank would be there to hold down a stable 9-5 job, she wouldn’t have such a fucked up view of love/men in general (“i can handle men trying to fuck me, i’ve been doing it since i was nine”), and she might not have gone to jail or become an alcoholic herself. she could’ve gone off to college on a track scholarship and made something of herself. and if she had just been better at controlling frank and been good enough for him to love and stay sober for at the age of NINE then none of this bullshit would’ve happened. oh this is my final straw istg.

there’s a story behind #18 i can FEEL IT oh god it makes me wonder if she ever actually made those types of threats *to* frank or if she just kinda intrusively fantasized about it. like “if he saw me bleeding out or sick or on the brink of death, would he still choose drinking over me?” and #19 genuinely i wanna know the details, like she obviously has anger issues but confused and depressed?? perhaps a shift from one to the other over time, like as a kid her predominant state was one of confusion and then as a teenager it turned to depression and it’s now just festering as this lingering resentment and bitterness because of the walls she’s built up and how she’s so stuck in her current life. she’s so independent but also so dependent on her siblings for a purpose and even on frank, because the course of her day/week/life depends on his behaviors (if he needs their money, if he’s exploiting the younger kids, if his actions/crimes put her or her family in danger).

[multimilfs]

Melissa Schemmenti x Fem!Reader: Stairway to Heaven

Summary: Anon requested Melissa Schemmenti + 132 -- "I didn't think it was possible to love someone this much."

List of prompts found here!

A/N: Happy ficmas everyone!! I have been working really hard to get ready for kickoff today and I hope you'll all enjoy what I have in store! Enjoy!

Special thank you to the amazing @arewecoolio for reading this over for any errors!! You're the best 💖

Full Ficmas List

Tag List: @multifandomfix @greenawayprentiss @escapetodreamworld @ghostsunderstoodmysoul

Warning(s): None

Gary is cool. He's even funny on occasion, when he remembers the punchline. He treats Melissa like a Queen—though she deserves nothing less—and worships the ground she walks on. But you’re not convinced he’s good enough for her. 

You’re watching the two interact across the lunchroom with simmering jealousy. It’s an ugly emotion you’re not fond of feeling, but one you can’t seem to shake these days. The grip on your grading pen tightens as Melissa laughs at some joke of Gary’s. 

“Girl, you’ve got to do something about all… that.” Ava says, motioning to your expression, “Channel that anger into something productive. Like packing orders. Or sex.” 

“I’m not participating in your pyramid scheme.” You answer. 

“Oh, so you’re going to get some? Finally. It’s hard having to entertain you with my stories when I’m not getting anything back.” 

“To be fair, I never asked to hear about your sex life,” You point out. Ava shrugs and you continue, “If you tell me about Tyrone one more time I might lose it.” 

“Tyrone? He’s old news. I’m onto Jamal now, keep up.” 

“Jamal? What about his sister?” 

“She was into some weird stuff. I’m freaky too, but even I draw the line at dolls.” 

Ava shivers and you decide not to ask. It’s better for your sanity that way, though you’re morbidly curious. Ava never tells a bad story. 

Another presence joins the table as Janine sidles up, looking far too awake and positive for 9 am on a Tuesday. She smiles obliviously. 

“Dolls? I loved dolls as a kid.”

Ava scoffs, “Yeah, I bet you made them kiss each other and all that nonsense.”

“Of course I did. It was like directing my own little show!” 

“Is that where the control issues started?” You ask. 

Janine’s oblivious smile drops and she levels you with a look. It’s closer to matching Barbara’s with every day that passes, it’s almost impressive; but unless Barbara herself levels one at you, you’re going to remain unphased. 

“Don’t shame my childhood development just because you’re jealous over Melissa and the vending machine guy.” 

You turn red, “I am not jealous!” 

“Right. And I wasn’t named tastiest doomsday prepper in Philly.” Ava says, rolling her eyes. 

You and Janine lock eyes, wearing matching expressions of bewilderment. Everytime you talk to Ava you learn more about her; that isn’t always a good thing. When Janine opens her mouth, you give her a subtle shake of your head. Once the two get started it’s impossible to get them to stop. 

Unfortunately, Janine is too stubborn, and has to do things her way; she engages the Principal in a battle of wits she can’t win. You tune it out the second she starts in on how doomsday prepping is futile and the kind of neurotic spending reaction it induces only benefits the government. That isn’t a can of worms you feel like glancing inside. 

You decide to torture yourself emotionally instead. 

It should be easy to watch Melissa laugh and grin in that smug, bright-eyed way she pulls off so well, but it turns your stomach to know Gary is the cause of it. He’s nice enough—that’s the excuse you try to use everytime, to no avail—but he isn’t you. And against the slim odds of someone like Melissa ever wanting you romantically, you wish it was you. 

Does he know her favorite restaurants, her favorite soap operas? Does he know about the years Melissa dedicated to caring for her Nana? Does he know how incredibly fucking lucky he is to have Melissa Ann Schemmenti wrapped around his finger? 

The likelihood of him knowing anything important is slim-to-none. The redhead is too private to share information so soon, but the little green-eyed monster in your head prods you, asking what if he does? Your fists clench in your lap. You’ve been climbing the stairway to heaven this whole time and Gary’s probably on the highway. 

“Hey, hon,” You’re surprised from your thoughts to see the object of them in front of you, leaning on the table, smiling. 

You smile back, “Hey, Mel.” 

“What are you doing tonight?” 

Hope claws up your throat. You shove it down violently, leaning back in your chair, arms crossed over your chest. 

“Depends. Why?” 

“Gary was asking about you, he wants to meet ya. I was thinking you could bring your secret lover on a double-date tonight. You meet my guy, I meet yours.” 

You tilt your head, brows scrunching, “Secret lover?” 

“Oh come on,” Melissa rolls her eyes. She levels you with a look that says don’t give me that bullshit, “I’m not blind. You suddenly go silent on all things romance and think I wouldn’t figure out what that meant?” 

Nerves and mortification make you nod, smiling sheepishly. Your chest hurts. Of course she’d notice; after several years of friendship and teaching together, how could she not? The two of you were practically glued at the hip before Gary came along. No topic had been too much and then for you to go silent… you can see how that’d come across. You’re glad she didn’t suss out the real reason. 

“I’m not sure. Things are still pretty new…” 

“I’ll buy your drinks.” 

That makes you pause. 

Then you see how she’s looking at you. She’s leaning down into your space, grinning like she knows she's won. You can’t deny her anything, not when you know how much it’ll mean to her for you to really meet Gary as her romantic interest rather than a passing acquaintance. It’ll kill you. Watching her laugh with him will undo your feeble grip on sanity. 

It’ll kill you, but you’ll do it for her anyway. 

“When and where?” 

— — 

This is a terrible idea. 

The place Gary chose is a total dive, and not the good kind; every surface is covered in a fine layer of grime and ash, ninety percent of the men and women at the bar smoking like chimneys, and the beer you ordered tastes like if someone decided to waft alcohol in the direction of their drink. All of this you could forgive. 

What you can’t forgive is the absence of a proper pool table. 

Every table in the place is falling apart at the seams. There’s maybe two cues per table and some of the nets have holes large enough to send grown men chasing after solid and striped balls alike. 

The worst part? Melissa stands in the center of it all, smiling like none of it bothers her. You know better. Her smile is strained at the edges, her eyes slightly pained. If only she’d say the word, you’d sweep her out of here. She just maintains that strained smile when you walk up to her. 

“Where’s the secret lover I was promised?” Melissa asks. 

You smile, though your heart isn’t in it. It’d taken endless promises to get her to agree, but eventually—

“Sorry I’m late y'all. There’s a guy selling mixtapes outside and I had to hear it before I bought anything. Can’t be too careful, you know?” 

Melissa’s smile melts from her face. Her eyes bore hard into you, dark with emotion. As she looks between you and Ava—who leans against the table next to you, either totally oblivious or uncaring—her jaw tenses. 

Gary chooses that moment to speak, a jovial smile on his face, “Now I did not see this coming! I never would’ve guessed you two would be seeing each other.” 

“Neither did I.” Melissa says. 

You want to disappear into the floor. Despite the fact that Melissa is openly seeing Gary, you feel you’ve done something wrong. 

It doesn’t help that Ava drapes herself against your side. She makes deliberate, intense eye contact with Melissa, and takes a slow sip of a drink you failed to notice. The tension is thick enough to cut with a knife. You’re grateful for the absence of anything sharp. 

“What can I say, I lucked out. Anyone would be lucky to get a piece of her.” Ava says. Her tone is startlingly sincere. 

You give her a hard look. She just shrugs. 

“No drink for me?” You ask, anything to distract from the way you can’t look at Melissa. 

Ava raises a brow, “If you want something, you just gotta ask.”

“I’d kill for a gin and tonic.” 

“Got it.” 

“I’ve got it, you two sit.” Melissa interjects. 

She extracts herself from Gary and stands at the same time Ava does. On another night, you’d take Melissa's offer as the kind act it is, but tonight it feels strangely like a threat. 

The two are caught in a strange staring contest. You want to reach out and tug Ava down into her seat, but you’re frozen, wondering what the hell is going on.

“I’ll get it.” Ava says.

“She’s my friend.” Melissa crosses her arms over her chest. 

“She’s my date.” 

Melissa’s body tenses at the word. 

You’re too busy watching Ava, trying to decipher where she’s been hiding this acting talent. She had been reluctant to join your ruse and now it seems like she couldn’t be anywhere else. For a moment it feels authentic enough to make your stomach turn.

Gary cuts in before Melissa can back down, “I could use another beer if you’re going towards the bar.” 

“Sure. You got it, Gar.” 

The two walk away in tense silence. Melissa keeps looking at Ava from the corner of her eyes, while the principal pretends she isn’t there. 

It leaves you with Gary and you smile. Trying to pretend there’s no tension is easier with the women across the bar. 

“It’s good to meet you,” He says, friendly enough, “Melissa talks about you enough I feel like I already know you, but I’m glad she got you to come out tonight.” 

“Yeah. It’s good to meet you officially. Besides the occasional run-ins during lunch, I mean.” 

He nods and drinks the last swig of his beer. You take a few seconds to glance through the haze of smoke towards the bar. Melissa leans one arm on it, waiting while the bartender runs around helping out rough-looking men and women. She looks perfectly placed and yet stands out; she’s probably the most beautiful woman to ever set foot in this place. 

Ava’s chatting up a woman at the bar like Melissa isn’t even there. So much for her putting on a good act. 

Even if she’s not looking at Ava directly, you know Melissa’s listening, cataloging everything. You’ll get an earful about having self-respect when choosing partners later. 

“There’s another reason I had her ask you here tonight.” Gary says.

His face is serious. You’ve never seen the man without a smile and it unnerves you. Trying not to let that show, you raise an eyebrow. 

“I wanted to meet the woman Melissa’s in love with.” 

You blanch. 

“Gary, that’s—she’s not—“ 

A hand settles on top of yours and his smile makes an appearance. It’s kind, kinder than you deserve after all the things you’ve thought about him. 

“I knew there were three of us in this relationship when I went out with her the first time. But I’m giving you the chance to make it two again,” He says, “She’s crazy about you and I can see you feel the same way. She’s all yours.” 

You should be overjoyed. Melissa feels the same way about you, you have a shot? Instead, you feel angry. 

“You’re going to give her up just like that?” You snap. 

Gary startles you by laughing. 

“I can’t exactly give up what isn’t mine.” 

“She chose you.” 

“Sometimes people make mistakes.” When you seem unconvinced, he shakes his head, “Melissa’s a good woman, she deserves someone who makes her happy. That just happens to be you and not me. I’m not mad about it.”

You’re reeling. The room feels like it's spinning and you don’t have time to regain your focus before the women return. Ava sets down your gin and tonic with a nod. 

Melissa starts up an animated conversation with Gary, who nods along, adding in his own comments. He keeps glancing over at you when Melissa won’t. The whole thing makes your stomach turn; you have no clue what you’re doing. 

You grab Ava’s hand, flashing a strained smile at the pair, “Excuse us for a moment,” and drag the principal off to the bathrooms. 

 Once you’ve shoved Ava in the ladies room and locked the door behind you, you spin on your heel towards the other woman. 

“I know you want this to bother her, but dragging me into the bathroom for a quickie is a bit much, even by my standards.” Ava says. 

“That’s not what this is.” 

“Right, why else am I here then?” 

“When you and Melissa went to grab drinks, Gary told me Melissa’s in love with me.” 

Ava stares at you. 

“That’s it? I could have told you that months ago.” 

You blink, “What?” 

“Yeah, neither of you are subtle. You practically have it written on your billboard sized forehead.” 

Suddenly self-conscious, you reach a hand up to your forehead, before reminding yourself to focus on the task at hand. Ava knew Melissa returned your feelings the whole time. You wonder who else knows and has let you stew in jealousy for weeks. 

Melissa’s reaction to Ava makes a lot more sense. It’s almost comforting to know that you’re not the only one who has been fighting with jealousy. You feel very, very blind.

“Who else knows?” You ask. Your friend gives you a blank stare, “Seriously? Everyone knows?”

“Yes. Do me a favor though and play dumb a few more weeks? I’ve got good money on this.”

“You bet on me?”

“I bet on Melissa, actually, which is why I need you to keep quiet.”

“Ava, I’m not going to ignore this because you want to win a bet. Come on.” 

Ava rolls her eyes, “Fine, I’ll cut you in on the bet.” 

“Ava!” You glare.

“This could be your chance to support a young, black entrepreneur. It’s hard out here.” 

“Try that on Jacob.” 

She lets out an ugh and throws her hands up. You want to be upset that she’s asking you to keep quiet, to lose more valuable time with Melissa, but you can’t be; even if she did leave you oblivious for weeks. If you’re going to be upset with her, you have to be upset with everyone. 

It comes from a place of letting you make your own decisions; you know that and admire it just a little. But you were oblivious. Melissa seems like she is too, if Gary’s talk told you anything. Would they have let the two of you circle each other the whole time? 

You would be miserable if Gary—Gary, who you’d been unfair towards this whole time—hadn’t spoken up. He’s sacrificing his chances with Melissa so you can have your own. Mentally, you make a note to get the man some kind of ‘thank-you’ gift. 

Ava snaps in front of your face and you jerk back. 

“What are you going to do?” She asks. 

“Uh… talk to her?” 

“Not the energy I was looking for, but good enough. Let’s go.” 

Ava grabs your arm, not unkindly, and drags you to the door. You drag your feet. 

“Now?!” 

She doesn’t even dignify your question with a response. The bathroom door is opened and you’re nudged through it. You walk, but throw a glare over your shoulder, annoyed at her sudden silence. Ava doesn’t acknowledge it. 

Gary is the only one left at the table and you panic, eyes searching the room. The heart in your chest settles when you catch a glimpse of familiar red hair. 

Melissa’s across the bar at one of the more put together pool tables, surrounded by women in a shocking amount of leather. Her eyes are focused right on you. They move briefly to Ava, though she doesn’t seem to find anything damning. The focus of her gaze moves away when one of the other players nudges her and she leans over the table to line up a shot. 

You’re caught for a second in watching her. Her eyes narrow before she settles in to take the shot and when she pulls back the cue, she makes direct eye contact, and sinks a solid ball in one of the pockets. 

Cheers go up from the woman you assume she’s playing with. You don’t bother to look at her. Instead, you make a direct beeline for Melissa; her eyes following you every step of the way. 

“Can I talk to you?” You ask when you reach her. 

You’re well aware of the glances her fellow players are throwing in your direction, but you don’t care. Melissa seems curious, but she gives nothing else away. 

“I’m in the middle of a game, hon.” 

Laying your hand on her arm, “Please, Mel.” 

Like magic, you watch her soften. She nods and hands off her cue to the nearest person without looking. You lead the way outside, wanting away from the noise and smoke for a few minutes, if only to clear your head. 

The silence is too tense for your liking, but neither of you are doing anything to break it. You breathe deeply. You’re at a loss on what to say; how do you tell someone you’re in love with them? 

Instead of anything rational coming from your mouth, you ask, “How do you feel about Gary?” 

Melissa jerks in surprise, “That’s what you pulled me out here for?” 

“He seems to think your feelings, your heart, lie elsewhere,” You barrel forward, hoping it works in your favor, “Namely, with me.” 

Her eyes widen slightly before she schools her expression. It’s all you need to feel more secure in blindly following Gary’s word. 

“I’m not sure where he got that idea.” Melissa says. 

“But you’re not denying it.” 

“Does it matter? You seem to have things pretty easy with Ava.” 

A note of bitterness slips into her voice. You soften, recognizing the underlying jealousy you’d been feeling only this morning. 

“It matters to me,” You say, “because I’m crazy about you, Mel, and I need to know you feel the same way.” 

Melissa doesn’t bother to hide her surprise this time. You smile, but fidget under all of her attention. You want to reveal every thought and feeling to this woman in a way that’s overwhelming. She seems so shocked, you can’t help but want to assure her of how real your feelings are. 

“I didn’t think it was possible to love someone this much,” You admit. It feels odd to say it out loud, “But you make a lot of impossible things feel possible.” 

She looks at you like she’s never seen you before. It’s daunting. 

“You really mean that?” Melissa asks. 

“Wholeheartedly.” 

“And what about Ava?” 

You chuckle, “I bribed her into playing the part. She’s a surprisingly good actress.” 

“Good.” 

Melissa leans forward and kisses you. 

It isn’t the kind of kiss you expect, but it’s the kind you always daydreamed about; the soft, almost hesitant way she claims your lips, while her hands dig into your hips. You’ve never felt so awkward and so pleasant in your life. You have no idea what to do with your hands. 

The other kisses in your life never felt so strange. You wonder how much they really meant to you, if this is what a real, loving kiss feels like; unsure and yet, eager. 

Throwing your nerves out the window, you give in to all of it. You sink into the whirlwind of emotions and wrap yourself around Melissa. Her kiss grows more insistent and you match it, pulling where she pushes, moving with every forceful press of her lips. 

You’re on your last shred of oxygen when she pushes you back. Only an inch of space separates the two of you taking in furious gulps of breath, cheeks flushed pink and wearing matching smiles. It hardly feels real. 

“You’ve been holding out on me.” Melissa says. 

“Hardly. I’d have kissed you in a second if you asked.” You say sincerely. 

“Me? Why would I be the one to ask you?” 

You raise a brow, “Well, you were the one seeing someone else.” 

“I wouldn’t have gone out with him if you said something.” 

A laugh leaves your lips unbidden. Your eyes sparkle when you look up at Melissa, wondering how you managed to get so lucky. You’re not sure you’ll ever be able to answer that question. She’s wonderful and kind and beautiful and all the things you feel you don’t deserve. She’s yours anyway. 

Her eyes shine as she stares back. Wishing you could jump into her mind, you get lost in them. Then you do as she wants and capture her lips in another kiss. It’s shorter than the first and more comfortable, but the feeling of newness still lingers. 

Not for the first time, you wonder how much time you’ve lost being jealous. But you try not to dwell too much; it’s difficult when the most beautiful woman in the world is staring into your eyes. The lost time doesn’t matter when you have it now—when you have her now. 

[thecomfywriter]

OC quote tag

okay, i got this one from @urnumber1star. if i'm interpreting this one correctly, it's using quotes from your oc to show the general vibe of them?

BET.

i'll do my main character from tov (Alan) since this man sure does have a bunch of goofy quotes.

--

"My voice had cracked, and I wanted to die."

“My seniors nearly branded a man with a knife! Apologies for my volume but, that-! That is not even how you do it!"

"Suffering was her last shred of humanity"

[this is Caramel speaking:] "But now we have our issues, don't we? You've seen a bit too much." [Alan:] "I can unsee it?"

"Most fondly was the long-haired grass that brushed against our thighs, though not really, because none of this was real, and I could not feel a thing.”

"There were occasional landmarks Morreial decided to take me: the high mountains of the Himalayas, whereupon my poor pace climbing up those rocky beds, he scoffed jibing words and offered to carry me on his back like a child. I should note, I did not take up his offer (I do not have pride, but I am not so undignified either) , but instead panted my way as much as I could before his impatience grew and he teleported us to the peaks of the Non-Mage’s highest mountain."

“Absolutely horrendous. Awful. I am the epitome of an incompetent man in that field of training.”

“Distressing? Hilbert! Qu’quoi hates you! Everyone in Soilaila does. You cannot be starting fights with the Redheaded Bandit of all people, in the middle of the street with magic during a magic ban!”

“Can a man not stretch after breaking his back so— mhmm— violently? Maadh, Morreial. Did you even try to help me?"

"NO! I will bring them here. Do not tell them about the dreams. None of them."

"As much as I wish you did not know, I cannot help it that you do. My mind is essentially yours now."

"Everything hurts, Cara. My body, my head, my mind…. everything always hurts. My training, my schoolings, my lack of sleep…. I cannot take it any longer. But I cannot stop. There is a momentum that is driving me, accelerating me towards a force I cannot deny. Every time I perform magic, I feel more alive, and yet all the more insane. The more I suppress it, the stronger I crave meat. The more I wrap them, the longer my wounds bleed. Everything bruises me, as though my body were made of silk and frost. I cannot control how weakened my physicality has become, and yet I have never felt the more stronger. What cruel paradox is this?”

“I know it is nothing compared to the pain you have experienced, and I truly cannot fathom the loneliness of not having a Family to share a community with. But do not ever dare to say you do not have a family, Caramel. Because you are my family just as much as you are Cara’s and Morreial’s. When I imagine my future, I see you in it. This is not some friendship  where I learn from you and that is the end of it. I meant it when I said I trust you, wholeheartedly and unconditionally. And I am here for you, even if I am awful company.”

"Damn the CVM. You need me more."

"I have no such intentions of denying you, Caramel. Not now, not ever."

EXCEPT 15 ISN'T ENOUGH SO I'M ADDING AN EXTRA 10 LMAO SUE ME 😤

16. "She did not kill my mother. Not alone. If anyone is responsible for my Valeen's death, it is you. Because you chose Von Doro over her every single time for years. You killed her spirit before Von Doro even had the chance to kill her body. Shame on you."

17. “Go away, Caramel. I trusted you wholeheartedly. All I asked for was a couple of days and some support. All I asked for was for you to trust me back. And you could not even do that much. You wanted me to abandon the man who took me in without hesitation when he himself lived in poverty because… what? What reason have you ever given me? What was the justification behind your baseless anger? You have never given me any response, anything! And I respected that! But do you truly respect me so little that you could not extend the same courtesy onto me?”

18. "Do you want to fight me? Do you think you will be able to win? Do you think you will be able to stop me? Me?"

19. "I was long gone before any of you had the chance to save me."

20. "No... Do not say that. I respect you more than the moon shines, Caramel."

21. "I will do it for you. I will burden all your sins. Be your gemba-bor. I will kill him for you. His blood does not have to be your unbecoming."

22. "Darkness is your domain. It will never be mine."

23. "And you... I will have fun making you my first victim."

24. "I want to draw out her suffering. To memorize the shade of her blood in every lighting."

25. "I suppose I will see you in hell then."

OKAY. i will stop here before i go overboard, but as you can tell... my boy has a downfall 😞 RIP middle-book Alan. I will always miss you.

once again! open tag! have fun!

[angelasscribbles]

Victim of Love Chapter 14: Yes and Maybe

Series: Victim of Love

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Drake x Riley

Word Count: 1,739

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: none

Song Inspiration for series: Victim of Love by The Eagles

Show me what kind of love have you got? My other stuff: Master List.

Drake looked back and forth between his best friend and the woman he loved in perplexity. “I think there’s been a misunderstanding.”

Liam bit back his anger and emotional devastation as he struggled to remain calm, “Which part have I misunderstood? The part where you came to visit me and then slept with the woman I love or the part where you ran away with her or perhaps the part where you proposed to her in a bid to take her away more permanently?”

Drake shook his head as he moved to Riley’s side, “That last part.”

Liam’s voice rose a little, “How is marrying her and taking her to Texas not permanent?”

Ignoring Liam, Drake took Riley’s hands in his. “Remember when I told you that any man who had the opportunity but not the sense to lock you down properly didn’t deserve you?”

“Yes, but Liam-“

“I’m not talking about Liam. I’m talking about myself! I let you get on that plane without giving me an answer because I didn’t want to pressure you but what the last two weeks have taught me is that I can’t live without you. I know you said you had some things you needed to figure out and I know those things have to do with Liam. Am I right?”

“I…” her eyes flew from Drake to Liam before dropping to the floor, “Yes.”

Liam tried to interrupt, “Drake, I don’t think-“

Drake never pulled his gaze away from Riley as he cut Liam off, “I’m not talking to you. I’m talking to her! Riley…do you remember when I asked you to give this, me and you, a real chance?”

She nodded.

“And you agreed…”

She nodded again.

“Do you remember what else I said that day?”

Her head lifted and her eyes met his, “What?”

“Just before I asked you to give us a chance, I told you that I wasn’t asking you to stop having feelings for Liam or to end your relationship with him. Remember?”

Her brows drew together in confusion, “Yes…but…”

“I asked you to marry me because I want you in my life, and I want to be in yours…forever. But I don’t want to own you or control you. What you do with Liam is still your business.”

Liam sucked in a hopeful breath as he watched Riley’s face, gauging her reaction to Drake’s offer. It was a solution that could resolve a lot of issues for all of them.

Riley’s gaze once again darted between the two men. “Are you saying you’d be okay with me having an affair with-“

“Not an affair,” Drake corrected her, “We’d have an open relationship.”

“Really?”

“Yes, really! I know you don’t want to abandon Valtoria. We can split our time between Cordonia and America. We’ll figure out the logistics together-“

Liam had been watching the exchange quietly. Four months ago the idea of sharing her with anybody would have infuriated him. But four months of living without her had been an excruciating experience, one he had no intention of repeating. Not if he could help it.

And besides, he had asked her to share him with Hana. Political marriage or not, he had given another woman everything he had promised her, and he knew he was lucky she hadn’t walked out of his life then and there.

He was through being selfish.

Clearing his throat to get their attention, he took a step closer to the couple and using his most conciliatory tone made an offer he hoped they couldn’t refuse, “Or you could take the job in the King’s Guard I offered you and move back home.”

Drake jerked as surprise hit him square in the chest, “That’s still on the table? I assumed that offer had been rescinded the minute you found out about us.”

Despite the gravity of the situation, Liam laughed, “It was! But I just put it back.”

It wasn’t as unselfish as it seemed. Ever since he’d had to marry another woman, Liam had walked around with a low level of anxiety gnawing at his insides every minute of every day. He was convinced she was eventually going to get sick of the position he’d put her in and leave him. And he wouldn’t blame her if she did.

Giving her Valtoria had been a bribe, she was right about that. Everything he’d done from the moment he’d stood on that stage and called out someone else’s name had been a desperate attempt to hold onto the love he didn’t feel he deserved.

If she married Drake and if Drake joined the King’s Guard, then she’d stay. It was really that simple.

“So, what do you say?” Liam asked.

“I say that it’s all really up to her,” Drake turned back to face the woman that held his heart in her hands, “Riley? Marry me? Please?”

“Say yes,” Liam encouraged.

Riley shook her head, “But do you want to join the King’s Guard? And how would this whole thing work? And what about Hana? How does she-“

“Riley, I was going to say yes to Liam’s offer four months ago. Where we live, how we juggle this whole thing…those are all just details, and we’ll figure them out as we go. I promise.”

“Hana and I have had a lot of time to talk,” Liam told her, “And I mean really talk. She wants you to come home too. She’s hopeful that the two of you can repair your relationship as well.”

Riley looked from one man to the other, her heart beating so fast she was sure it was going to jump right out of her chest. She loved them both, there was no denying that. The only reason she hadn’t said yes to Drake in the first place was the thought of losing Liam. And here they were, telling her she could have both. She thought about everything that had happened since she’d first come to Cordonia and came to a decision.

“Drake, I’ll marry you bu-“

She was cut off as he swept her into his arms with a resounding whoop. He spun her around as he laughed, “I don’t care what the but is, Riley, you’ve just made me the happiest man in the world!”

He set her back on the ground and drew her into a passionate kiss.

Liam cleared his throat again, “I’m still here.”

“Sorry, sorry,” they both murmured as they drew apart, but neither one looked sorry as they grinned sappily at each other, fingers covering lips, and blushes swirling across cheeks.

“What about us, Riley?” Liam’s voice was strained as he interrupted the happy moment.

“I don’t know what’s going to happen with us, Liam,” she told him truthfully, “All of our issues are still there. All of my issues with Hana are still there.”

“All right,” Liam said carefully, “But surely we can work on those. If you’re willing that is.”

“Me?” She stared at him like he’d grown a second head, “You are the one that shuts down any conversation about the future, you are the one that issues demands and decides when we can and can’t be seen together, you are the one that-“

Liam looked like he’d been struck, “Riley! I….I….” with a dejected sigh he sank into the nearest chair, “You are correct, and I am sorry. I have been reluctant to discuss the future because I dread facing any future that is devoid of your presence.”

Drake let an involuntary snort escape him.

Liam’s head snapped up, fire in his eyes, “What?”

“That’s not how you made it sound at lunch the day you pretty much bragged about having your cake and eating it too.”

Liam wanted to be angry, but he knew Drake wasn’t wrong. Anger fought against pain and fear inside of him. Being honest was being vulnerable. A quick glance at Riley convinced him that being vulnerable was worth the risk. He was dangerously close to losing her completely, “It was false bravado I didn't want to admit how much I depend on her, how much I need her, how utterly lost I am without her in my life.”

Drake blew out a long, slow breath, “I know the feeling.” With a wry shake of his head, he asked, “What are the odds that we would both fall for the same woman? And fall hard and fall fast?”  

“Pretty high considering that we've both always had the same taste in so many things,” Liam was astonished that he managed to find humor in the situation. But it was true. He and Drake appeared different to the world because of their vastly different stations and the way they interacted with the world. But at their core, they were very similar.

They were both bound by honor and duty, they both strove for perfection, holding themselves to impossible standards. And either one of them would give their life for the other. They had never had a serious disagreement over anything in their lives until they fell in love with the same woman.

It suddenly made perfect sense to him that they would fall for the same qualities in a life partner. Even for the same woman. Perhaps especially for the same woman.

Drake's laugh boomed across the room at Liam’s observation. “I mean we have, but she’s not ice cream.”

Riley’s brow quirked up, “You have the same favorite flavor of ice cream?”

“Yes,” Liam answered, “Vanilla. And we have the same favorite whiskey-“

“Macallan,” Drake interjected.

“We like our steak cooked the same way-“

“Medium rare.”

“The same favorite color-“

“Blue.”

“We have the same favorite polo team, horse breed, soccer-“

“I get the idea!” Riley laughed, “You do have a lot in common. But you’re very different men.”

“We know that.” Drake smirked, “For example, I hate ballroom dancing, he loves it.”

“It’s not my fault your idea of culture is watching two men pummel each other to a bloody pulp.”

“Mixed Martial Arts has the word art right there in the name!"

Riley watched them banter with a soft smile on her lips. She would have expected them to be at each other’s throats all things considered, but they weren’t. Their affection and respect for each other were clearly evident despite the gravity of the situation they found themselves in.

Maybe, just maybe, there was a way forward for all of them.

[irenethewoman]

Mrs. Shelby - Chapter 20 - Gangster

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@vanhelsingsbigtoe

@ell0ra-br3kk3r June 1924, Warwickshire

Tommy simply cleaned up and drove away. He had to complete the final deal. I sat on Charlie's bed, staring out the window absentmindedly. I couldn't quite put my finger on it, but I just really disliked that Russian woman. Maybe it's because I didn't know how to handle her, and I don't like things slipping out of control. Plus, she was too fearless, too crazy, and her gaze towards Tommy seemed too naked, as if my husband could be used as a bargaining chip. I dare say she wouldn't mind making love to Tommy right in front of me. God knows what goes on in the minds of these Russians!

Fortunately, I won't have to see her again after today. The sky gradually brightened, and I listened to the birds outside and the sound of cars passing by, feeling tired. Wrapped in a cashmere shawl, I leaned back on the sofa and closed my eyes. My eyes were just a bit tired…

"Mrs."

I opened my eyes and saw Jenny with apologetic eyes. "Sorry to disturb your rest, but Mr. Mos called, looking for Mr. Shelby."

I felt a bit dizzy when I stood up, thankfully Jenny supported me. "Mrs., would you like to have something to eat first?"

I smiled and shook my head at her, picking up the receiver. "Good morning, Officer Mos. I'm Diana Shelby. My husband is not at home. You can tell me what you need, and I'll relay it to him word for word."

"Alright, I understand. Thank you for your cooperation, Mrs. Shelby."

As I hung up the phone, I almost stumbled to the ground. Luckily, Tommy caught me in time and carried me back to the bedroom. "What did Mos say?" Tommy skillfully massaged my legs.

"Birmingham Police issued arrest warrants. Arthur, John, Polly, Michael, none of them can escape." I looked at my husband with a heavy heart. It was Churchill's blatant threat: he knew Tommy's weakness was his blood ties, but not arresting me and Charlie was to avoid Tommy causing chaos. Not arresting Tommy was to keep him obedient and working for him.

Churchill's problems are easy to solve, but I can already imagine the resentment the Shelbys will have towards Tommy after today.

Tommy kissed my lips. "You should rest, Diana. You're carrying a child." He looked at my slightly bulging belly, touched it, and said, "Don't worry, everything will be fine."

"And then what? Are you going to handle everything on your own?"

"Diana, you're pregnant." He finally looked up. "I don't want anything to happen to you and our child."

"Then what? Are you going to bear everything on your own?"

"Diana, you're pregnant." He finally looked up. "I don't want anything to happen to you and our child."

"……"

I was awakened by the noise downstairs.

I got up from the bed. My head was still dizzy, and I felt confused. I turned the doorknob, wanting to see what was happening outside, but found that the door was locked.

Then I remembered Mos's call this morning.

It began.

I sat back on the bed, closed my eyes, and waited for the commotion to pass.

I heard someone fiddling with the doorknob of our bedroom, trying to open the door.

I heard Tommy's angry questioning, suppressing his anger. "If you have any dissatisfaction, you can say it out loud. What are you doing sneaking around my wife's door?"

… It was Linda.

They were arguing, and I couldn't hear it clearly through the door, but I knew Ada, Esme, and Lizzy Stark had also joined in. Advice and arguments mixed into a mess.

In fact, Linda couldn't argue with me. In fact, among the people I know, there are few who can win in a verbal dispute with me. And as a sister-in-law, as the wife of the head of the family, I have absolute confidence in handling Linda and Esme's dissatisfaction and soothing their emotions. But Tommy is too cautious and worried. He's afraid they'll impulsively hurt me and my unborn child, so he locked me in the bedroom.

Finally, at the cost of a slap, the noise outside returned to calm.

I was awakened by the noise downstairs.

I got up from the bed. My head was still dizzy, and I felt confused. I turned the doorknob, wanting to see what was happening outside, but found that the door was locked.

Then I remembered Mos's call this morning.

It began.

I sat back on the bed, closed my eyes, and waited for the commotion to pass.

I heard someone fiddling with the doorknob of our bedroom, trying to open the door.

I heard Tommy's angry questioning, suppressing his anger. "If you have any dissatisfaction, you can say it out loud. What are you doing sneaking around my wife's door?"

… It was Linda.

They were arguing, and I couldn't hear it clearly through the door, but I knew Ada, Esme, and Lizzy Stark had also joined in. Advice and arguments mixed into a mess.

In fact, Linda couldn't argue with me. In fact, among the people I know, there are few who can win in a verbal dispute with me. And as a sister-in-law, as the wife of the head of the family, I have absolute confidence in handling Linda and Esme's dissatisfaction and soothing their emotions. But Tommy is too cautious and worried. He's afraid they'll impulsively hurt me and my unborn child, so he locked me in the bedroom.

Finally, at the cost of a slap, the noise outside returned to calm.

Quiet.

The whole house was quiet.

These big houses are like monsters, devouring the worldly atmosphere, silently watching the joys and sorrows inside. When the house is quiet, like now, every piece of tile, every inch of wooden furniture is chilling to the bone. The sun is so big, but it can't illuminate every corner of the house. I can't tell if this kind of emptiness is glory or curse.

After a while, the door rang, and Tommy walked in. There were still handprints on his face. When he came in, he was lighting a cigarette, and when he saw me awake, he quickly hid the cigarette behind him. "How did you sleep?"

"Quite well." I walked up to him, took the lit cigarette from his hand, and put it in his mouth. "I'll allow you to break the rules once."

He smiled and let me press him on the bed gently. "You should rest too, Mrs. Shelby."

Tommy slept beside me, and I lay beside him. Even though he was asleep, he still furrowed his brows slightly. What could he be worrying about in his dreams? I helplessly smiled.

Actually, if he was willing, I could go back to London and deal with things. My father was a conservative, and I used to be a patron of the conservatives. Since Solomon could reconcile with Tommy, businessmen and politicians should be no problem. Tommy seemed to hear my thoughts in his dreams. He raised his head, "You're pregnant."

"Then what? Are you going to bear everything on your own?"

"Diana,

you're pregnant." He finally looked up. "I don't want anything to happen to you and our child."

"What's next? Are you going to handle everything on your own?"

"Diana, you're pregnant." He finally looked up. "I don't want anything to happen to you and our child."

"……"

Mrs. Shelby 21 Gang - Vanessa's Poplar Tree

After a while of rest, Tommy started his early departures and late returns, busy with Churchill's orders.

Ada was the only Shelby who still wanted to associate with us. She would bring Carl to accompany Charlie when I attended Shelby Charity Foundation events.

Tommy originally disagreed with me traveling around with a big belly. He hoped I could stay at home and rest peacefully. "The foundation's matters can wait until after you give birth."

"But you know, Tommy, you can leave me at home, but you can't keep me from worrying about you. I have to find something to do to distract my attention."

Tommy glanced at me, hesitated, and finally spoke, "You know those people won't allow us to enter their halls."

"Oh, whatever." I certainly knew that those aristocrats looked down on the Shelby family. The flattery of those noble ladies was only because of my title. But it didn't matter. My goal was not to please them.

I want the people of Birmingham to feel the grace of the Shelby family and build a good reputation for the Shelby family in Birmingham. With both grace and authority, we will establish our own system on our land. We are no longer street thugs but businessmen wandering in the gray area. I don't care about how those aristocratic ladies perceive us; what matters is how we handle ourselves.

They may want to erase us insignificant little people, but I won't let them have their way.

Actually, both of us didn't know exactly what we were busy with. But Tommy remembered my due date even more clearly than I did.

Since December, he began to nervously watch my bulging belly, forbidding Charlie from playing around me, and often supporting me on walks in the garden.

Tommy's efforts were not in vain. Arthur and the others were released before Christmas, and Tommy also received an OBE medal. Tommy, who just got the medal, looked like a kid who just bought the Mona Lisa, proud even without saying a word. Until he found that I had almost no reaction to it.

"There are still Commander medals below OBE, and above that are Knight Commander medals and Knight Grand Cross medals. Only citizens awarded the top two grades of honors are considered to have received a knighthood, and they can add the title of Sir before their surname." I explained to him like reciting a textbook.

Tommy fell silent after hearing this.

Today is Christmas, and I don't want my little prince to feel unhappy. I quickly put on a smiling face. "But this is a leap from zero to hero, isn't it?"

He shook his head and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I thought… the weight of those things would be heavy enough."

Maybe in their hearts, we who hold those things are not important enough.

But these are not things we need to care about now.

I felt a warm flow between my legs and pain in my lower abdomen. I curled up, hoping to alleviate the pain as much as possible.

"Tommy… the amniotic fluid broke…"

Bloody Gang - Mrs. Shelby - Tommy Shelby

After a while of rest, Tommy started his early departures and late returns, busy with Churchill's orders.

Ada was the only Shelby who still wanted to associate with us. She would bring Carl to accompany Charlie when I attended Shelby Charity Foundation events.

Tommy originally disagreed with me traveling around with a big belly. He hoped I could stay at home and rest peacefully. "The foundation's matters can wait until after you give birth."

"But you know, Tommy, you can leave me at home, but you can't keep me from worrying about you. I have to find something to do to distract my attention."

Tommy glanced at me, hesitated, and finally spoke, "You know those people won't allow us to enter their halls."

"Oh, whatever." I certainly knew that those aristocrats looked down on the Shelby family. The flattery of those noble ladies was only because of my title. But it didn't matter. My goal was not to please them.

I want the people of Birmingham to feel the grace of the Shelby family and build a good reputation for the Shelby family in Birmingham. With both grace and authority, we will establish our own system on our land. We are no longer street thugs but businessmen wandering in the gray area. I don't care about how those aristocratic ladies perceive us; what matters is how we handle ourselves.

They may want to erase us insignificant little people, but I won't let them have their way.

Actually, both of us didn't know exactly what we were busy with. But Tommy remembered my due date even more clearly than I did.

Since December, he began to nervously watch my bulging belly, forbidding Charlie from playing around me, and often supporting me on walks in the garden.

Tommy's efforts were not in vain. Arthur and the others were released before Christmas, and Tommy also received an OBE medal. Tommy, who just got the medal, looked like a kid who just bought the Mona Lisa, proud even without saying a word. Until he found that I had almost no reaction to it.

"There are still Commander medals below OBE, and above that are Knight Commander medals and Knight Grand Cross medals. Only citizens awarded the top two grades of honors are considered to have received a knighthood, and they can add the title of Sir before their surname." I explained to him like reciting a textbook.

Tommy fell silent after hearing this.

Today is Christmas, and I don't want my little prince to feel unhappy. I quickly put on a smiling face. "But this is a leap from zero to hero, isn't it?"

He shook his head and smiled self-deprecatingly. "I thought… the weight of those things would be heavy enough."

Maybe in their hearts, we who hold those things are not important enough.

But these are not things we need to care about now.

I felt a warm flow between my legs and pain in my lower abdomen. I curled up, hoping to alleviate the pain as much as possible.

"Tommy… my water broke…"

[thefandomenchantress]

I think I get what that person is saying about people shrugging Ace off and being hypocritical because there is the part where Ace opens up to Teruko about him being basically afraid of everything and being in a constant state of panic and she kinda just laughs/shrugs it off which is so not cool, it was even before her whole going emo thing /j (sorry that was a bad joke, you get what I mean).

People are constantly shrugging off Ace whenever he opens up or attempts to open up to Ace and I don’t know about most people but me personally in a situation like this, if someone opened up to me and talked about their fears, how they can’t control their anger, or anything like that, the last thing I would do is shrug it off.

This cast just has a lot of teamwork and empathy issues as far as I can see. I do get your point of the characters not seeing as much as the audience has seen but at the same time it does feel like whenever a character does see one of Ace's breakdowns or explanations they just shrug it off altogether.

It is a very complex issue and I just hope at some point someone besides Teruko can hear what Ace is feeling because I think this situation with Ace could be solved/helped with just one empathetic person in the cast hearing him out.

I hope that all makes sense and isn't just a bunch of repeated information and points.

Sorry this has been in my inbox for…a few days, I think? I’ll be honest, the reason I put off responding to it was because I couldn’t really think of anything to say. I’m pretty sure I agree with all your points, for the most part.

I mean, if I thought that Ace was just a jerk who deserved all the treatment he got, I obviously wouldn’t be as obsessed with him and his writing as I am, haha.

Honestly, I do think Teruko shrugging off Ace’s sorta-trauma-dump when he tries to open up to her in the first chapter does say a lot about her and her past, (honestly I can’t believe I wasn’t enthralled with her as a protagonist at first I love her so much). Like, now that you pointed it out I can’t unsee how he’s actually trying to open up and Teruko’s literally like:

I mean I can’t stay mad at her for it because her ‘are you fucking serious’ sprite makes me laugh every time I see it, but still. She is just dismissing him, which isn’t very nice. She’s obviously judging him and not taking him seriously, which Ace probably noticed as his next sprite is one of his angry ones.

Honestly I think almost everyone in the class gets too caught up in their own issues (which is a very human flaw for them to have). I mean, every time one of the characters has a breakdown, I think someone in the cast is finally going to realize what that person is going through and help them through it…And then they just…don’t?

I mean. J is being harassed by Arturo for four days straight and we only see someone try to stop it once, Eden, and she doesn’t do a good job. Can someone please help this this poor effects artist?! I get that maybe someone tried to help off-screen, but since we don’t see it I can’t be sure that happened and honestly I don’t think it did. J has to force Teruko to help her because no one else is trying to, and she almost gets stabbed in the process. And I already rambled about no one helping Nico last time.

All this is to say that the more I think about it, the more I think you’re right. Almost everyone has had a mental breakdown at some point in DRDT (or in Whit’s case complete emotional detachment) and almost none of them get any comfort from others afterwards. Arei did, but David’s motives are…Questionable. Nico did too, but only after things got so bad they threatened Ace’s life.

I should clarify that none of what I said is meant to criticize the dev’s writing. If anything, this shows just how much I love it because can’t think of many other pieces of media where I would have this much to say. DRDT is just so INTERESTING! Every character, every character dynamic, every location and visual and piece of dialogue! Every time I rewatch a scene I find something new to overthink about. I love it so much. :)

Damn. Apparently I did have a lot to say after all. But yeah, I agree with you and you made great points, thanks for your input!

[punksarahreese]

hii cj id love to know more about the bottom right moodboard (red haired norma is everything actually)

Red haired Norma my beloved <3

TW for mention of Ava’s suicide and Cornelius being a sketchy guy, a sex offender, and literal criminal 🥴

***

So this AU would take place after the events of 5x1. Ava doesn’t die on the operating table, Connor and Latham managed to repair the damage done to her carotid and surrounding tissue, though she needed a pretty substantial patch and stent. Ava lost a lot of blood and they still didn’t know if she would have any deficits to nerve or muscle function in her neck/face.

She was transferred to the ICU but by then the truth had gotten out and so she was under 24h guard with a member of CPD there at all times. Connor was at a crossroads because obviously he couldn’t forgive her for what she did but she was so vulnerable and almost died under his scalpel hours before. She had, for all intents and purposes, killed herself in his arms and that was something he could never forget. His feelings for her and the anger he felt mixed with shame that he didn’t see anything like this coming.

No one else was ready to forgive Ava, for obvious reasons. She’s a criminal in their eyes and they were just waiting for her to wake up and be sent to the prison hospital so everyone could have some peace of mind. Ava woke up days later, completely alone aside from Kim sitting in a chair by the doorway. She couldn’t find her voice, whether it be physical or psychological, and all she could do was cry silently. To Ava this was worse than death, no one knew the truth and she was still stuck in that damn hospital.

Once she was stable and they were sure she wouldn’t code on the way there she was airlifted to a federal prison where she was in a solitary hospital cell. It took weeks for her to get the energy to stand and she did have minor nerve damage that meant the impaired side of her face didn’t quite move right. That and the still healing cut on her throat reminded her of what she had done and how she failed.

When she could talk she was interrogated for hours, labelled homicidal by everyone in the hospital for what seemed like obvious reasons. Yet after over an hour of questioning she broke, tearfully explaining what happened to lead up to this.

She explains that Cornelius Rhodes had been involved in some FBI level fraud and corruption. She had found out by accident when she was in his office asking for money, he had left her alone for a while when an issue came up in the store and she happened to catch some emails pulled up on his computer. He caught her though, and Cornelius was quick to threaten her into silence.

It got worse as time went on. After a while he had collected information that might impact her career, such as her borderline personality disorder diagnosis and some violence charges in her youth that had been buried. He claimed that if Ava didn’t do as he said he would not only ruin her reputation as a doctor but target her family as well. He would force her to be a middle man in his illegal activity, making her do hand offs for money laundering and keeping her on a short leash when she was allowed out of his sight. The reason Ava didn’t have any friends in Chicago was not avoidance, rather it was Connor’s own father forcing her into solitude to cover his own ass.

He forced himself on Ava too, threatening to lie to Connor about them being together if she didn’t do as he wanted. Even more, Cornelius threatened his own son’s life to keep Ava under his control. He saw how attached she was to Connor and had no qualms about abusing that knowledge. None of their “relationship” was consensual, contrary to rumours that spread after the gala.

The final straw had been whispers of Cornelius running underground trafficking dens. He was flaunting Ava to his associates, pushing her into meetings and making suggestive remarks, bringing her to hidden locations full of girls. He was taunting her, threatening to sell her body instead of keeping her for himself. It was more terrifying than any of his previous threats and it caused her to fall into a BPD split so severe all she could do was lash out. That’s why she gave him the insulin and that’s why she tried to end her own life; she felt trapped and abused and had no escape.

A thorough investigation of Cornelius and his associates confirmed Ava’s statement. Her first degree charges were dropped and instead changed to a manslaughter charge, though no one outside was informed due to the circumstances. She underwent over a year of psychiatric rehabilitation in prison and sought out every type of reform she could. Threats on her life kept coming as more of Cornelius’ associates realized she had been the one to rat them out. It got to the point where the FBI agreed she could not be released for her own safety.

As her parole date approached she was prepared to be released into witness protection. She was to assume a new identity and everyone was informed that Ava Bekker had died in federal prison at 16:22. A lot of people at med were actually pleased to hear that news, still under the impression that Ava had been a cold blooded killer as the information about Cornelius’ crimes were on a need to know basis due to their sensitivity.

Ava dyed her hair and changed the way she dressed and acted. She changed her name and even her family believed she was dead. She could no longer practice medicine for the time being and was moved to Texas under WITSEC supervision. Her face and neck were permanently scarred from the damage she did that day and her psyche was no better. It felt impossible to rebuild her life when she felt that no one in the entire world knew or cared that Ava Bekker was still alive.

So this AU is about Ava being moved under witness protection and changed her identity to keep her safe from Cornelius’ posthumous wrath :)

[stone-97]

I agree we know little to nothing about Chica at least with the others we gets hints and such. The reason I asked because I wasn’t sure how you felt about Freddy and such. But I think you got a pretty good grasp of his character. Yes Roxy does need therapy.

That’s what makes writing Chica’s character difficult, there’s none of her personality displayed during the game. Even when she’s glitching after losing Gregory, which I can assume is her attempts at gaining some form of control and failing. Aside from this, there’s no real dialogue from her with ANYONE in the game, besides her glitched self’s dialogue.

Then there’s the Daycare Attendant, what a missed opportunity there to gain a new ally. If only to help distract the others as Gregory and Freddy find an exit. I feel that Moon with his own body would’ve made for an interesting chase in the game since it provides a new foe to evade. I have a good understanding of the two based on what was shown in the game, personality-wise.

I believe the Glamrocks needed individual therapy bots for their issues:

Freddy is the best example of this. He mourns the loss of his best friend and hasn’t had anyone to talk with regarding his grief. Now being faced with a lack of control on the situation Gregory and him were facing, confusion at his friends’ new behavior, and Vanny masquerading as Vanessa leaving no reliable aid for him.

Roxy’s issues are so deep-seated that they may have been programmed into her after her upgrades were installed. At the same time I suspect Vanny or Glitchtrap responsible for the extreme behavior change she had.

Monty’s issues are anger, loss of control, and forced to commit murder on Bonnie for Burntrap requiring parts. Monty struck me as the kind of person to bottle everything till it spills over, given how often he’s destroying everything, I think he snapped before the hacking occurred, and the techs never properly learned how to help him.

Chica’s obsession with eating is probably an echo of people stress-eating or eating in general to hide their feelings from others. It’s an unhealthy coping mechanism, but makes her more human despite her reduced mental faculties. Unfortunately I think Glitchtrap’s control snapped on her when she was broken by the trash compactor, so she had to drag herself through the dark without any way to call for help, inducing terrible trauma from the damage as a result.

I suspected Bonnie prevented Vanny from harming a child, was immune to Glitchtrap’s hacking attempts, or both. This is pure guess work, but could’ve been reason enough to need him removed permanently.

[writing-loube]

I'm going to try to write everyday let's see how it goes; day one: Fictional Characters

i have a violent and desperate ache in my heart that i am lonely. so very, very lonely. i am so isolated from everyone. sure on the surface i am not, i live with mom and brother and dad but i don't connect. don't talk. don't listen. not truly or with intent. more pleasantries then anything really. i haven't a faintest idea of what's going on in any of there actual lives. sure i know there schedule and they know mine. but that's not talking and definitely no listening especially with all the shouting going on. and i don't care too either-or have the capacity to care too. there's not much of a point too. what would be the point?

dad-no i don't really have any real interest in that. mom-god no, she needs therapy and not in the side comment "go to therapy" type of way in the-mom you got pregnant way too young, have some major anger issues that need to be addressed because i don't think you've ever had a conversation in the last 4 years without yelling. and as your daughter that is an unhealthy relationship to have with me to dump your problems on i'd really rather not know. i already know more then i care too about your feelings and opinions on anyone and everything and i don't care too know more. legit go to therapy. Brother- his life makes me depressed more then i already am and that's clinically. i can’t stand to know more about him and his life because he refuses help so i’ll sit, not even on the sidelines but behind the bleachers so i don’t have to watch this downfall.

but none of that is the point of this. the point i'm trying to make is that i'm lonely. utterly and completely lonely. and that word should be bigger then the emotion it displays. loneliness is a guttural and visceral feeling that can only be described as a weight and the bottom of your heart, a feeling of sting that you can feel on the back of your eyes. you can feel the loneliness sitting with you, next to you, and when your with someone. it aches and pulls you down sorta like the weight of depression. but depression is different. it crawls into your heart at any given time-with or without people near, 2pm, 2am, at a deli shop, going to see a movie.- no loneliness only occurs when your depression has given you time too think… the two coincide together, beautifully and horrendously on each other in a way that one only knows by feeling them work together.

i have no one. i don't think i've ever truly had anyone, and i truly don't think i ever will. and i know what your thinking what about your best friend. you have them. of course you are correct. but in a logical and violently pessimistic way of looking-not forever. and i fear the "not forever" is coming up faster then i'd like it. no friendship i’ve ever had has lasted longer then 3 years without a fight ending it. logically and statistically my friendships have a shelf live and my favorite one of the lot is coming to that awful 3 year mark. you might me thinking your childhood best friend has beaten the odds. no she hasn't sure she's around but like before pleasantries. all the remaining friends excluding my current best friend is surface level pleasantries. i fear of the silent ghosting fading away slowly out of my life until it's surface level pleasantries. it's heartbreaking and cruel of me too think that of anyone let alone my best and frankly only friend that i got, but logic and from being in control of my emotions for a very long time and knowing how i function i hope i'm wrong about this one.

ALL THAT aside i want to say that is my reasoning to why i get so attached to fictional characters. it's way i feel so much for them. i can understand them, in a way i've never been understood.

[padawansuggest]

Super bored of Luke always showing up to save the day, gimme the show where Leia shows up last minute with her purple saber and cuts a bitch with that righteous Skywalker fury that destroyed Anakin while force ghosts Bail and Anakin beg her not to lose herself to it but she just ends up crying and saying that she could never fall when the anger towards power is what lead her here to begin with and tbh she’s just super strong in the force and people acting like this is the only thing that truly holds her anger so she’s just sad and strong and needs a hug and let’s be honest Han and Chewie and Winter have been hiding in the ship for just this moment and go to pick their superpowered girl up from the dust and love on her to let her come back to herself and tbh I want Leia being the next superpowered Skywalker idiot but she’s got two force ghosts dads following her around to keep her sane through it. Anakin is there because Bail needed a Jedi for him to talk to his daughter but then Bail demanded Anakin stay so they could work out their bullshit and let Leia realize that Vader was a shadow of Anakin using his body and her real birth parent wasn’t like that. Anyways, sometimes Bail makes Obi-Wan and Luke show up too for family therapy while Breha runs away cause ew feelings but Breha and Obi-Wan follow her sometimes too, teaching her about how to be a warrior who’s calm even when the power is so strong. Also Breha finally breaks and teaches Leia her secret fighting skills that she never shared with her in life out of fear Leia would break someone’s face in and get killed for it. Thank you.

[yourmidnightlover]

never go back

Summary: spencer notices how your boyfriend takes advantage of you and finally does something about it.

TW: titty sucking, oral (female receiving), cheating, dom!spencer, scratching, slapping (only one), cursing, choking, spencer dirty talk lol, penetrative sex, creampie. *let me know if i missed anything*

WC: 3,724

A/N - i'm using noah as the 'other man' schtick in probably all of my future one shots bc i can't find it within myself to create a new character each and every time. so your douche of a bf will always be noah miller. if you ever get a nice bf i'll be sure to change his name but for now this is what we're working with. got it? got it.

masterlist

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

there are many things that people should go back to. schooling, maybe an old job, an old vacation spot.

your boyfriend was not one of those things.

mostly because your boyfriend sucked.

it was now a fact that spencer reid himself had come to believe quite a while ago and now, well now he had reason.

he had always felt as though you were too good for noah, similar for practically anyone in existence (himself included). he was always a complete ass to you no matter the circumstance.

there was one time the entire team had been back really late from a case that took a toll on all of you. it was emotionally and physically draining. the flight back had been delayed because of weather issues in the state you had been in, meaning you couldn't leave until days after it was solved.

any time you had gone to answer the phone, spencer would be able to see your stance and body language through the glass window. you had been apologizing for something you couldn't even control. you would narrow your brows the way you only did when you were being yelled at. you bit your lip the way you did when you were being made to feel guilty.

he was guilt tripping you for something you couldn't even control.

when you had gotten back it wasn't any better. noah had been giving you the cold shoulder. he was defensive when you asked what was wrong.

and that was only 3 weeks into the relationship.

after being together for 2 months, you had gotten flowers delivered on your desk. you assumed they were from your boyfriend, reasonably so, and went to go thank him. spencer saw the shock in your eyes when you saw your boyfriend huddled in the corner with some new intern. spencer saw the look in your eye change from sadness to anger in the blink of his own.

you took a deep breath, and walked away from the situation, completely missing the way he tucked the intern's hair behind her ear as he leaned in to whisper something to make her giggle. when you got back to your desk you threw the flowers in the garbage can, not even bothering to read the note.

it was pretty indirect, but looking into it he realized it was an issue that should've been addressed. every time the team would go out together, everyone was clearly invited. you would always decline because 'noah wanted to take me out tonight' or 'noah said he needs me, so i'll have to rain check'.

it wasn't because you were a bad person, the opposite actually. it was because noah was taking advantage of your kindness.

because any time you needed him, 'noah's out with the boys' or 'noah had to work late' or, here's a kicker, 'noah had a hard time at work'. as if you don't have a hard time looking at dead bodies while he just has to write up reports.

even when you got injured during a case, shot in the shoulder, noah seemed as though he couldn't have cared less. he wouldn't even go to your apartment to visit you while you were in recovery because 'noah didn't have time to visit'.

spencer could even recall when you went out with the girls one night, spencer being the designated driver, that you had told them how 'noah didn't want you to dress too provocatively so you had to wear something more modest'.

now, spencer doesn't care all to much about what you wear because, frankly, it's none of his business. but now that he heard how noah cared oh-so-much, he decided to wrack his brain for the 'provocative' outfits you've worn. there was not a single one that anyone should make a comment about. you looked stunning no matter what you wore, so you'd grab any man's attention no matter the clothing on your body.

but spencer? he made sure to never be that much of an asshole to you. he made sure to make up for him being an asshole.

he would grab you some morning coffee like you always had before you had a boyfriend. he would make sure to tell you that you looked lovely when you were able to go out with the team. he would visit you when you injured yourself and were lonely, he even stayed back for a few days with you to help you get through it.

hell, he was the one to get you the flowers. you had been having a rough week and spencer thought it might cheer you up. he had gifted you a bouquet of 12, blue chiffon flowers because those were your favorite.

but this was his breaking point. you had come to his apartment, once again in the middle of the night, talking about noah fucking miller cheating on you.

he had done it once before when he was 'out with the boys' you decided to stop by when he said he'd be back, wanting to just be the amazing girlfriend that you are. so when you walk in and hear your boyfriend moaning along with another woman that isn't you, you immediately run back out. you run back out and drive all the way to spencer's.  

and here you are again. spencer wasn't mad at you, it was noah he was mad at. he couldn't believe what he was hearing.

spencer had always liked you, no, he's always loved you. everything about you. how could he not? you're perfect.

but loving you how he does and seeing you being used as a toy to fuck for a certain noah miller not only made his heart ache but also made his blood boil.

spencer wasn't an idiot. he had heard the way the old morgan had referred to women. the thing is, noah is way more of a fuckboy than the old morgan ever was. and that scared spencer to pieces. he knew that you would only be missing out on team outings just to get fucked by a douchebag. he knew that the only reason said douchebag wouldn't visit you was because you couldn't fuck. he knew that the reason said douchebag was cornering that intern was to fuck her, too.

so when you arrived at spencer's place, this time you weren't crying. you were furious. you were angry and upset, as was spencer.

"he did it again, spence," you breathed out as you paced across his living room floor. "i was supposed to meet him in a few hours but i was going to surprise him and i caught him with another tramp! i didn't even confront him. i just- i just left!"

"cheated? noah?" he asked as if he didn't believe it at first, not wanting to seem like as much of a dick as noah.

"yes! cheated. god! i am so ANGRY!" you ran your hand through your hair, a grunt leaving your mouth. "and... and frustrated! and... UGH!" you sighed aggressively.

"and what?" spencer asked as he stood up, slowly making his way to you. "what else?" he said, his hand now brushing that stubborn strand of hair behind your ear.

"i-i'm..." you trailed off, getting lost in his beautiful eyes.

if you were honest with yourself, you'd admit how much you loved spencer. but you thought he'd never love you like that. not since you helped him through jj getting married. he really thought she was it for him, at least that's what you'd come to think he believed. over the years you had grown so much closer and grown such an attraction for each other that the other person knew about. it was ironic, truly.

"say it, y/n," spencer leaned over you, his lips ghosting over yours. "i need to hear you say it."

"god, just kiss me," you said, your hands flying to the back of his hair to push his mouth to yours.

there was no hesitation from spencer to give you everything he had. his hand on the side of your face remained there as his other hand drifted to your waist to pull you closer to his body. your tongues met fervently with covetous, passion, and longing yet with just gentle firmness that felt protecting and as if it was how everything was supposed to be.

"please, spencer," you quietly whispered once you unlatched from one another.

"please what, princess," he asked, his hand running through your hair.

"i just... i need you," she pleaded with him, her hands still tugging gently on his hair. "please," you put your foreheads together, breathing in each others air as you silently begged him to help you in any way that he could.

"i'd do anything for you," he whispered so delicately as if the entire team were standing right beside you. "you know i'd do anything for you."

"then do something," you demanded.

spencer took action by kissing you just as intensely as before, this time his hands went to your ass. he grabbed your thighs to signal for you to jump, once you did you wrapped your legs around his torso as he carried you into his bedroom. he set you down just in front of the bed before you began to undo his shirt, him returning the favor by undoing yours.

"god, i've wanted you for so long," he growled, nipping gently at your earlobe as he laid you back on the bed. "lift your hips," he ordered, you obeyed his every command. you always would. "good girl," he praised as he ran his hands down your now bare waist.

"please," you begged, your hips bucking up to get any source of friction. "spencer..." you trailed off.

"i know, princess. i know," he said before climbing on top of you, connecting your lips with his once again, this time much more eager than before if that were possible.

as you arched your back, he took the opportunity to unclasp the hook on your bra. you shrugged it off your shoulders to allow him to throw the bra somewhere else in his room. he finally took a breath, removing his lips from yours to admire the view in front of him.

"god, you're so beautiful," he growled before placing gentle but eager kisses along the tops of your breasts, massaging the one his mouth wasn't on.

he pressed his knee between your legs, allowing you to buck your hips up to get that release you wanted so bad. you whined as he took your nipple in his mouth, his tongue flicking past it rapidly as he occasionally nibbled on it gently.

"spen-spencer," you ran your hands through his hair, tugging gently on the roots.

"mmm," he sat his head up, trailed kisses up your throat. "god, i love you so much."

"i-i love you," you moaned, pulling his head up to connect your lips together. "i love you so so much."

"i'm so glad to hear that," he huffed a sigh of relief. "because otherwise it'd be awkward when i did this," he began trailing kisses down your body, leading down towards your center. "i'll show you what it's like to be with a man that actually loves and respects you, yea? show you what it feels like to actually be pleased by a man? what it's like to be with a real man?" he teased.

his fingers trailed around your entrance, gathering your arousal that'd been building for what felt like ages. he pressed gentle kisses around your pussy before finally connecting his lips with your clit, a low groan emitting from your body because of the contact.

"yes, please," you shot your head back, relishing in the feeling of the direct skin contact.

"hey," spencer slapped your thigh, your head shot back up to see him between your legs, a truly beautiful sight that you'd never get tired of. "eyes on me," he demanded before going back down on you, not breaking eye contact as he brought out sounds from you that you weren't even sure you could make. "talk to me, princess. let me know how it feels."

"fe-feels so good," you sighed, taking your breasts in your hands and massaging them. "i-i can-can't even think," you stuttered out, too caught up in the pleasure to form a coherent sentence.

you had felt so good as he sucked on your clit, succeeding in bringing you closer to the edge than noah ever has, but when he inserted two fingers into your entrance...

"oh my fuck!" your hands shot down to grab onto his locks, pushing him further into your body, a low groan leaving him.

his fingers didn't stop their work. he curled them at just the right spot, sending you flying over the edge. spencer used his free hand to grab onto your thigh to keep them from closing in completely on his head, still working you through your high. he placed a kiss on your clit once more before he brought his head up to you, connecting your lips passionately.

"could noah ever make you come like that? huh? could he make you feel so good you could barely even think?" he grabbed your chin in his hands, holding it in place to look at him as you shook your head the best you could. "no?"

"mm-mm," you tried to shake your head 'no' once more.

"did you think of him while i was going down on you? were you thinking about how he fucked that little tramp?" he asked harshly, you shook your head 'no' again. "oh, what were you thinking, princess?" he finally released your face so you could speak.

"ab-about how well you know my body. about how, how good you looked between my legs. about how much i love you," you replied quickly, knowing exactly what to say.

"right answer," he connected your lips once more. "what do you want, love?" he asked, peppering soft kisses along your jaw where his hands once held your throat firmly.

"you. i-i want you in-inside me," you swallowed, your hand finding his and pulling it up to your lips to press a kiss to it, then another, then another, then another. "please, doctor?" you used your best puppy dog eyes you knew he couldn't resist.

"god, call me that again," he rasped lowly.

"what... doctor?" you took his hand and started sucking on his fingers, letting them slip in and out slowly and then moving onto the next.

"fuck, yes," he growled as he pressed another kiss to your lips before lining himself up at your center. "are you sure, princess?" he traced your jaw with the fingers you were previously sucking on.

"yes, sir," you nodded. "i'm sure."

you felt him slowly push inside of you slowly to allow you to adjust to his size. you had your suspicions of how big he was, but feeling him inside of you made it all much more real.

"fuck, you're so tight," he moaned into your ear quietly as he slowly pulled back out, going in just as slow.

"sp-spence-"

"wrong," he slapped your face gently, a whimper leaving your lips before he grasped your face to make you look him in the eyes.

"doc-doctor," you corrected yourself.

"good girl," he said, feeling your pussy clench from the praise. "oh you like that?" he felt it again. "maybe you just like hearing me talk, yea?" his pace began picking up slowly. "you like hearing how this pussy makes me feel? how tight... and warm... and wet it is?"

"u--uh huh," you nodded your head the best you could as he began thrusting much more rapid, hitting that special spot inside of you with each movement.

"it seems like you haven't felt this good in a long time huh? haven't had your pussy pounded like this in a while?" he asked as he was catching his breath.

"ne-never, doctor," you confirmed, hands reaching around his back and dragging your nails down, surely leaving scratch marks all down them.

"fuck," he growled. "noah never made you feel this good princess? never made you forget how to speak in sentences? never knew how to get you going like this?"

"n-no, no! never! god, never!" you cried as you pulled his body even closer to you. "i-i'm close, please!"

"you wanna come all over my dick, yea? you want to show me how much your pussy loves it when a real man fucks it?"

that was it to let that spring burst inside of you, parts flying everywhere. you cried his name as he worked you through your orgasm, holding onto his shoulders and hair to keep you grounded.

"cum inside me, please," you begged. "fi-fill me up."

"fuck, whatever you want, princess," he kept pounding into you at a rapid pace. "god, i'm gonna come inside you, and send you back to that scumbag of a boyfriend so he can see that you're mine now. so he can see what happens when his girlfriend is mistreated and fucked by someone who knows what they're doing, yea?"

"yea, yea!" you whined, nails digging back into his skin as he released his load into you, thrusting it gently back inside after.

"god, i love you so much," he moaned into your ear, pressing a kiss to your cheek by your ear.

"i love you," you replied, stroking his hair to help him come down, him still inside of you. he began thrusting inside of you once again.

"don't want any of it to spill out before you get to him," he felt you clench around him one more time. "you're very responsive, princess. i like that about you."

"it-it's just you, spence. it's always been you," you pulled him in for another kiss.

this one was full of passion but not the kind of eagerness. it was full of desire and longing, pent up emotions flowing out into one another fluidly.

"now let me go see my soon-to-be-ex-boyfriend," you huffed as he pulled out of you, wincing from the overstimulation. "i'll see you later?"

"i'll see you later," he pressed a kiss to your forehead before helping you gather your clothes.

driving back to his apartment, you felt rather giddy with yourself. should you have felt bad? absolutely not. he's a manipulative asshole who's used you for sex on numerous occasions, so he deserved the bittersweet irony of what was coming to him.

*get it, coming to him? lol i'm sorry i had to :)*

you knocked on the door softly, greeted by a rather chipper noah who grabbed your face as soon as he saw you, connecting your lips. his kiss was nothing like spencer's. his lips weren't as soft and tentative. they weren't plump and round, they were harsh and rough and unpleasant.

he quickly led you to the bedroom, not to your surprise. he sat down on the bed, you straddled his hips, acting as if it were spencer instead - which was pretty hard to do after knowing what he was like in the sack.

you felt his boner through his pants quickly after you got on top of him. then when he flipped you over and pulled your pants and underwear down, he was met with a surprise.

"someone's excited to see me," he chuckled before licking a thick stripe from your slit to clit, very aggressive to where it almost hurt to have the pressure. "god you taste so good, doll."

he continued at this for a while, inserting his tongue to your hole very once in a while and licking up yours and spencer's arousal with it. you faked your moans and whimpers as his ministrations became more eager, not really getting you anywhere.

after he was finished with your turn - no, he didn't even make you cum - he laid back on the bed as if he were waiting for you to get on top of him again.

"actually," you stood up from the bed, pulling up your clothes with you. "i'm done with this. we're over."

you watched his face as he took in the information just released to him. it changed from surprised and shocked, to confused, to disgusted, to angry and frustrated.

"what the fuck?" he sat up from the bed, a disgruntled look on his face. "you wait until after you cum to tell me this?" he walked over to you, arms flailing in the air.

"yea. i did. and by the way, i didn't cum," you informed him. "that's something you've never really been good at making me do. although i'm not sure how you've been able to convince me to do anything with the way you treat me."

"what do you mean? i'm a good gu-"

"shut up for one second, please," you rolled your eyes, running your hand through your hair. "i know you've cheated on me numerable times. i stayed because i thought that maybe there was a reason, but i've come to realize that i was just... settling with you," you shrugged.

"you've treated me like crap since this 'relationship' started and i'm tired of it. i know someone who not only treats me with respect and kindness, but can also actually make me cum. shocker," you chuckled.

"who is this asshole? what the hell-"

"i wasn't finished, sweetie," you spat out viciously. "he's not an asshole. you're the asshole. you're the one that's getting dumped. so this is goodbye," you turned around to walk out of his room before leaving him with one more thought. "how did his cum taste with mine?" you tilted your head innocently, smiling at his shocked face as he realized what you meant before walking out.

and you were never more glad that you didn't have to go back to him anymore.

taglist:

@muffin-cup​ @greenprisca​ @averyhotchner​ 

[forcebewitht]

Force's Disney Geek Master Theory: Why Twisted Wonderland Is Called Twisted Wonderland

We have all grown to know and love various Disney characters over the years, correct? Yet, I believe a lot of us can argue that not many characters have the same effect on us even as adults today as the Villains do within their respective movies. In the game Disney: Twisted Wonderland as we all know and love, the select boys to Overblot are supposed to have the "souls" of their Villain counterparts, right? But...why is it called "Twisted" Wonderland, then? The truth may lie within something that has been right in front of us all along, my friends: the meaning of a mirror. Ready to buckle in for this one? If so, then here we go!

We have seen all of these guys share character traits, looks, etc with their Disney counterparts, correct? Well, what if I were to tell you that things in terms of the "main" guys that we are supposed to pay attention to aren't exactly what they seem? This could be analyzed in a few different ways, honestly, yet the most prominent way is this: the differences in their personalities- they are reversed. Let us take this bit by bit, shall we?

Ah, yes. The Queen Of Hearts. The ranting, raging, bundle of red, black, and gold we all know and love. (or else heads would roll, I'm sure) One of the things that everybody knows about her is that she's extremely hellbent on the crazy rules that she makes up and is prone to anger honestly very easily. Yeah, you can connect that to Riddle- but think about it for a second. While that rage and the rule thing is still there, it isn't as prominent with him as it was with her, is it? With the Queen of Hearts, her whole "issue" was that she wished to make everybody listen to her and follow her every command- but Riddle was essentially always following the rules of another- not his own. This seemed to make Riddle a little more calm most of the time in terms of how he handled and oversaw things. It wasn't until he actually Overblotted that the "listen to me and only me" thing came out- buuuuuuttttttt I'll get to that part in a bit.

Next: Leona and Scar. While we honestly didn't get to see a lot of what went on behind the scenes in the Outlands in terms of how Scar even met the hyenas to begin with at all, one thing can honestly be said- Scar worked very hard to get where he was. I mean, it's not like you can get an entire pack of rabid, hungry hyenas onto your side in the course of a single day, or maybe even a week (especially as a lion, no less). No, something to that extreme takes careful planning, wording, and stringing along to ensure that nothing goes wrong along the way. The way Scar spoke to Shenzi, Banzai, and Ed made it seem as though he had known them for a looooonngggg time before this- that's where that behind the scenes planning comes in. And then...you have Leona. Leona, from what we can tell in Chapter 2, planned the idea for the "endgame" alright- but he didn't actually act upon any of the plan for himself. Ruggie did. Even in the Lion King, we see that Scar had no problems whatsoever getting his paws dirty a little within his own scheme to take his "rightful place" at the head of Pride Rock- but Leona quite honestly did not a thing once Ruggie was in motion. See where this is starting to head?

Azul and Ursula. Ursula, the Disney baddie queen of my heart Ursula, the Sea Witch. She was known all around the ocean floor for helping out poor little merfolk in secret, wasn't she? Yet, nobody ever really seemed to catch wind of the whole "her turning those who didn't quite fit the bill into polyps" thing, did they? That was one of the things that made her such a honest threat to Ariel herself- because Ursula was cunning. She did things behind the scenes, and sure- we could catch onto it out in the audience (annnddd maybe Sebastian and Flounder as well), but nobody else really seemed to, right? Azul is the complete opposite in this standpoint. He instills direct fear into his "workers" and those even beyond and within his dorm. Like- basically most knew that this dude was bad news to begin with. Azul, mostly, seemed to hide his cunning facade behind a fake yet still seemingly "soft and genuine" smile and act. But all in all, he didn't really attempt to "hide" anything- hell, he even proclaimed his entire plan of what everyone with those things on their heads were gonna do for him in the open! At least when Ursula sang as Vanessa, she was in an almost perfectly enclosed room with nobody else around.

Jamil and Jafar. This comparison here, given what occurs in the movie Aladdin, is honestly one of the biggest possible indicators of this reoccuring theme I shall clarify in a bit. Jafar, while being sneaky, was known for being a more "out there" Disney Villain in terms of his personality alongside that of his partner Iago in the film. He would smile in a sinister way, he would crack jokes out in the open, and let us not forget his crazed yet oddly interesting laughter. Jamil? He's the exact opposite. Given his past and what he has had to dealt with growing up with Kalim, he is much more reserved and barely releases a chuckle or cracks a smile at all. His personality is a lot more repressed than that of Jafar himself throughout the film. Jamil has been so used to having to hold himself back thanks to his parents in favor of Kalim's family, he doesn't seem to know how to "let go" whatsoever. Yet Jafar, while still maintaining that sneaky side of him as well, has no problems whatsoever letting a little hang loose whenever he so chooses to.

Vil and the Evil Queen. This one honestly may be a bit more self explanatory than the others- but the difference between these two is their expressions of themselves. The Evil Queen was the very first animated counted Disney Villain within Disney's history- yet, she barely had any lines throughout the film at all. Her ranges of expression were almost little to none thanks to the era in which the movie was released in- but she always looked like she was pissed, huh? Vil is the exact opposite of her in this sense. He is able to fully express himself through his various facial expressions, theatrical abilities, musical experiences, fashion style, and even how he behaves. Vil is able to do so much more than the Evil Queen did or could do within that time period, that it's almost a little staggering if you fully picture it.

Idia and Hades. Now, now. We haven't honestly seen too much of the flaming blue boy yet in TWST, but one thing is apparent here right off the bat- in terms of his personality? He is the exact opposite of Hades. Idia is much like Jamil but to a more "geek" degree- he's extremely introverted, shy, a bit snippy, yet mainly keeps to himself and his gaming tech. Hades is most often renowned as the Disney Villain with the most personality- and the best humor. Hades has no problem whatsoever being "out there" with his crazy puns, sassy remarks, anger, and even mocking behavior. I mean, please, guys- I haven't been this choked up since I got a hunk of moussaka caught in my throat!

Finally, Malleus and Maleficent. Ooooohoooooooo boy. We have to count out the live action movie Maleficent for this one (sorry horned queen fans). One thing that basically everybody even with their toe in the water in that of Disney movies kind of knows this fact- Maleficent is c r u el. She's got a bizarre set of dark powers and an even blacker heart than that. Hell, we basically had to "soften her up" a little bit in Maleficent thanks to just how seemingly irredeemable her character is in that of Sleeping Beauty. I mean, c'mon now- cursing an infant? And we get no explanation for that in the original? C'mon, now. Anyways, Malleus? As we all can tell by now, this dude is the compleeettteeeeeee opposite. Sure, he has those repressed bits here and there too, but it is evident that this dude has a heart crying out for the MC and it is big, bold, and golden to the core once you look past how he looks. He sent the MC a card for winter break, for crying out loud. Yeah, let me know the next time you see Maleficent do that smh.

Now, I have avoided using a certain word up until this point to see if anybody could catch on to what exactly is happening here. Did you figure it out? Reverse. The boys that either have Overblotted already or intend to Overblot soon stop holding out on us, Chapter 6 have had the exact opposite personalities compared to that of their Villain counterpart- until one prime point in their "character arcs". Their Overblot.

Riddle wished to have all bow before him and obey his rules.

Leona led his entire dorm into ruin and nearly sanded away the entire school in the process.

Azul let himself finally free of his personal shackles entirely and "took what was his".

Jamil finally let himself go and opened up more in his personality, almost seeming to be driven insane in the process.

Vil wanted to become the most beautiful one of all and would kill anyone within the way of that goal without any hesitation whatsoever.

The moment that the boys' Overblotted, that was the exact moment when the "soul" of their Disney Villain counterpart took control. Keeping that idea in mind, that should mean that this will happen in the upcoming chapters and their Overblots:

Idia will show off all of the personality, powers, and intelligence that he has been keeping down within this introverted self of his.

Malleus will become so broken by being left out and alone in the cold for the final time that he will turn into a completely cruel Fae and possibly nearly kill either the MC or the representation of Prince Philip within that Chapter in the process.

(Hello, my dear Readers! Guess who is trying to get back into her bigger pieces of writing? This gal right here~ feel free to drop a comment and tell me what you think of this theory- I'd love to hear your thoughts! 💕)

[angelasscribbles]

Lavender and Crimson Chapter 17: Threats

Series: Lavender and Crimson

Fandom: The Royal Romance

Pairings: Riley x Drake, Liam x Maxwell

Rating: MA

Warnings for this chapter: none

Word Count: 582

My other stuff: Master List.

Riley had never seen Nick as furious as he’d been the night they’d broken up….on their anniversary…and he’d caught her with Drake less than thirty minutes later….

“Wow. You really couldn’t move on fast enough, could you?”

“Nick-“

“It’s been five minutes Riley! I barely made it out to the car and back!”

When she thought about it like that, she felt like the bad guy. But she’d done none of it to hurt him.

All of her guilt was gone now though. Nick had raged at first, then he’d set out on a campaign to get her back. She’d asked him to stop, but unlike Drake who had ceased in his efforts when asked, Nick plowed on, ignoring her requests, even ignoring Liam’s. Nick was going to be a problem.

Nick was going to be a problem because he was determined not to stop until he got her back but there was no getting her back. Not now. Not since everything with Drake had exploded that night, reigniting the fire that had always burned between them, reigniting everything they’d ever had, everything they’d ever been to one another.

There was no putting on the brakes or slowing down. It was far too late for that. Their love was intense, all consuming, the years apart served to bank the flames, not to douse them and now they raged out of control.

It had only been two weeks, but she knew, deep down in her soul, that this was it. There was no other man for her, and there never had been.

She watched as he got dressed for work, “If we weren’t together, if we were never going to be together and you knew it, would you punish me for it?”

He turned to her in concern, “First of all, no. Second of all, what kind of question is that? And third, are you breaking up with me?”

“No, I’m just asking that if you’d come back and I had truly moved on, and I chose not to tell people Ellie is yours, would you have outed us? Gone public?”

“Of course not. I’d leave the issue of when and how to disseminate that information, and issues of succession, to you and Liam. Obviously. Why? Where is this coming from?”

“I already knew the answers, I just wanted to hear it, I guess. It just reinforces what I already knew.”

“Which is?”

“That I chose the right man.”

A murderous rage stirred in his chest, “Is Nick threatening you? Is that what this is about? Because I will end him, Riley and I can do it and get away with it. You know I can.”

“I think he’s just making idle threats-“

“Have you told Liam?”

“Yes, he knows and is having the lawyers draw up a cease and desist order, as well as having them reach out to Nick to remind him of the NDA he signed when we started dating.”

“A man of any substance wouldn’t need the reminder.” He gritted through clenched teeth. “What kind of man bullies a woman he claims to love?”

She put her hands on his chest, “Let Liam handle it. Promise me you’re not going to do anything rash. I just got you back, I don’t want you in jail.”

Happiness displaced anger as he stared down into her face. Reaching out, he caressed her cheek, “Fine. I’ll stand down, for now. But if he does anything to hurt you, all bets are off.”

[imperiuswrecked]

*Takes a deep breath* Let’s go... 

We are on issue 4 of a 5 issue miniseries and we have yet to have any “suspects” other than magneto, any clues other than “she was strangled by metals that had magnetic blah blah but now it might be magic”, there is no other motives, suspects, plot really, they stood around and talked about this already and we are back talking again. I’m not the best at writing mysteries but you would think some kind of actual mystery is being found out, oh and of course this is the TRIAL of magneto. so yeah it’s all about Wanda, seriously haven’t even seen enough focus on the title character yet. 

Just how many “Wanda must release her guilt and overcome her past actions” plots are we up to now? I lost count. 

The art in this series is literally doing all the work, I can’t fault it for terrible writing, Old Lady Wanda is a good concept but not like this.

I hate this next part. so. much. 

“You sound like my Brother.” Oh you mean the brother who supports and loves you? the brother who stands by you even with everyone turned their back on you? that brother? Williams writing is so terrible and honestly at this point I am beyond anger. I am disgusted. 

Yes, let’s have Billy who knew her his whole life scream at her.... oh wait Billy hasn’t known her his whole life, hasn’t literally defended and protected her his whole life, however we all know her twin brother PIETRO doesn’t exist (:

I can’t even understand this, this is healing???? THIS IS HEALING? Being yelled at and attacked is healing??? Really? REALLY. 

I cannot believe we got the Crone/Mother/Maiden with Wanda in this way, like this is one of my all time fave tropes when writing witches/magic stuff and it fails here. The art is too good for this writing. 

Now they have to come together to fight the monster, WHAT DOES ANY OF THIS HAVE TO DO WITH THE TRIAL OF MAGNETO? 

You know what we get? We get a whole page of Logan, we get pages of x-men and avengers fighting a monster, we get 1 Lorna panel. You know what we don’t get? PIETRO. 

I am. so. freaking. sick. of. this. shit.

I am SICK of Wanda being infantilized and shown as some timid woman who can’t control her power or who hasn’t moved beyond her past. I am so SICK of these meaningless “girl power” moments that have literally no impact because we have already gone through this. I am so sick of Wanda’s Redemption arc. 

I want to rant so much about how House of M WASN’T HER FAULT. IT WAS NOT HER FAULT, and it WAS NOT PIETRO’S FAULT. The Avengers and X-Men were going to KILL Wanda, and Pietro did the only thing he could do to save her. It’s not right but I am SICK of the Maximoff Twins carrying the blame and none of it goes to the ones who put them in that position. 

Oh wow there’s the title character, amazing. /s

And yay Billy and Tommy gets kudos because he got to yell some sense into his mother. :D Not like that wasn’t messed up and ooc for them. /s

Oh wonderful, the “Wanda Maximoff is the Bogeyman of Krakoa” crowd is here, why everyone is here! Who? Pietro? hahaha don’t be stupid, Pietro isn’t here, he doesn’t exist unless someone is butchering his character with bad writing remember? /s

Everyone is there except Quicksilver. And next issue Wanda gets to say who was behind it all! Wow what an amazing end to such a useless and pointless storyline, where nothing mattered and the “mystery” is solved. 

I’m calling it now: Wanda will reveal that Pietro was the attacker this whole time.

[ragingbookdragon]

The Best Of Us

Batfamily x M!Reader

Word Count: 3,035 Warnings: Angst

Author's Note: And here we are with a Batbrother fic! Enjoy! -Thorne

It wasn’t an inferiority complex. Not really. He wasn’t prone to anger or any of the other symptoms listed under it—and he checked. Multiple times. But there was something about being the only non-vigilante in his family of vigilantes that made him feel inadequate compared to the rest. Bruce had the Justice League, Dick and Jason had their own fantastic groups that saved the day, and Tim and Damian were still in school, but even they had their groups too. Hell, even Alfred still had contacts from his days in MI-5. And yet, he had none of the skills his brothers or father had, no extensive martial arts training, master detective skills, or weapon mastery. He was completely normal—or maybe abnormal in this case. And on some level, he resented that he couldn’t be like his family—maybe he did have an inferiority complex.

***

The greatest thing in (Y/N)’s mind about still being allowed to live at home was that no matter what, there was always food around to eat—Alfred saw to it that every growing man in the house had enough to eat—that being said, their grocery bills were outrageouslyexpensive.

He balanced his tablet in one hand, the other hand adjusting the tie around his neck as he stepped into the kitchen, quick to raise the tablet in time to avoid whacking his youngest brother in the head.

“Morning,” he greeted, taking his seat at the table, just after Jason’s. A chorus of tired, ‘mornings’ came back at him and he quirked an eyebrow. “Wow, loving the enthusiasm this morning, guys.”

Jason snorted and propped his chin on his palm, watching (Y/N) for a moment. “I seriously don’t understand how you’re always so chipper in the morning.”

He huffed a laugh and took a sip of the coffee that Alfred set down. “Someone has to be the ray of sunshine in this group of gray clouds.” (Y/N) cast a glance at Dick who was shoveling eggs into his mouth. “And it seems like our eldest is busy feeding his bottomless pit.” Dick was fast to shoot him a glare, that he returned with a smile.

Just then, Tim trudged into the kitchen in an oversized hoodie and plopped down in his seat, immediately shoving the plate in front of him to drop his head onto the table.

“Jesus Christ, you guys,” (Y/N) sighed, flicking at his tablet for a moment. “You’ve seriously gotta take a day off to recuperate.”

“What do you think we do during the day?” Dick retorted, taking a swig of milk.

“Okay I think you’re confusing the entire day with the first half,” he reasoned. “When I say take a day off, I mean the whole twenty-four hours.” He glanced at everyone, and the only person who seemed to not be tired was Alfred, and that’s partly because (Y/N) believed he was immortal. “You guys are gonna run yourselves into the ground,” he said. “I just don’t think—”

“We know what we are doing, (Y/N),” Damian interrupted with a glare. “We know our limits better than you do.”

He let out a sigh and shook his head. This conversation had happened many times before and it wasn’t anything new.

“I’m not saying I know them better than you Damian, I’m simply saying that you guys should take a day to relax so that something doesn’t happen on the job that you can’t control.”

(Y/N) glanced at his father. “Dad, c’mon, you know I’ve got a point.”

Bruce hummed and flipped the page of the newspaper. “So does Damian.” He met (Y/N)’s eyes and nodded. “You don’t have to worry so much, (Y/N). We know what we can handle.”

He stared at Bruce for a moment then scowled. “I don’t even know why I bother,” he muttered, and Damian was fast to chase his comment.

“I don’t know why you bother either. You’ve never once experienced what we do every night.”

(Y/N) met his youngest sibling’s glare. “Just because I don’t stick my neck out for each person in this city night after night doesn’t mean that I don’t know what it’s like to be exhausted.”

Damian crossed his arms over his chest. “So, you know what it’s like to be exhausted from blood loss because you’ve been stabbed or shot? Or to be exhausted from saving the lives of innocent people? You do?”

“I—” (Y/N)’s mouth opened, then he snapped it shut and looked away with a darkened expression, tasting something sour in his mouth. “No, I don’t.”

“That’s what I thought,” Damian finalized, and in the wake of the uncomfortable tension, a cellphone went off.

Everyone started looking for theirs, but (Y/N) muttered, “It’s mine.”

He picked it up and put on a cheerful voice. “Good morning Angela…yes, I just got the floor plan…” he tapped at the screen on his tablet. “Do me a favor and move the people from table eight to table three. Mr. Robinson is better friends with Mrs. Grace and will certainly give us a warmer atmosphere in that area.”

(Y/N) paused and listened, then he stood from the table and pushed his chair in. “Let me get to the office and we can situate the rest of the guests for tonight…alright, see you soon. Bye.”

He pulled the phone from his ear and ended the call, then took the black backpack that Alfred was holding to him. “Thanks Alfred.”

“Of course, Master (Y/N). Have a pleasant day at work.”

He huffed a laugh, but it was anything but amused. “I have to give a speech tonight in front of the entire company and three different magazines.” He glanced at Bruce. “Think you’ll be able to attend tonight? It’d mean a lot to me.” Bruce grunted, his way of telling (Y/N) that he’d try, but to not hope for a miracle.

It was fine, he was used to parentless ceremonies and events. He cleared his throat and shrugged on the backpack, making his way to the garage door.

“See you guys later.”

***

He’d given a few speeches in his short twenty-four years, and while he’d never say he was an expert on public speaking, he did know his way around a podium. That being said, every time he had to do a speech, he felt like vomiting—nerves he chocked it up to.

(Y/N) cast a glance around the packed ballroom, quietly groaning at the massive amount of people. His own table was empty, save for Angela and thank god for him, Lucius. He couldn’t help but frown at the name tags sitting in front of the empty seats.

“Wondering where the rest of the gang is?”

He met Lucius’ eyes and gave a halfhearted smile. “I’d like to think they took my advice and took the night off but…something tells me that the night called to them.” His lips pulled downwards. “I’m not going to act like this is a surprise, Lucius. I couldn’t even get them to show up for my university graduation.”

(Y/N) smiled and stood up, grabbing the notecards beside him. “What makes you think I could get them to show up to this?” He left the table and moved to the side of the stage, waiting for his name to be called. His fingers briefly shifted to his chest, feeling his heart fluttering beneath chest, nerves causing his breathing to come in short bursts. (Y/N) shut his eyes and took a deep breath, letting a pleasant smile cross his face as the presenter called his name, and walked up the steps.

The bright flash of photography momentarily blinded him, but he smiled through it. “Good evening, ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining us tonight at the Centennial Inside Alliance Award Ceremony.” He flashed everyone a million-watt smile. “My name is (Y/N) Wayne, and as many of you know, I am a senior editor for Inside Alliance. It is my pleasure tonight to recognize Inside Alliance’s top writer for the year.”

(Y/N) glanced around the room, making sure to catch the eyes of the hundreds of guests.

“Inside Alliance was created on August fourteenth, nineteen-twenty by a group of immigrant mothers and fathers who wanted to bring knowledge of their homes and cultures to the rest of world. Some of those countries being Germany, Romania, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Israel, and many, many others.”

“The production of their valuable time and extensive care created one of the greatest magazines that is still in business today, that brings attention to the worldwide issues that many groups face, while still connecting to their roots of educating the public on cultures and groups.”

He smiled. “It is with my upmost honor that I congratulate and introduce Miss Flora Janaliyeva, one of our newest and greatest writers that has joined Inside Alliance, and the winner of tonight’s Inside Alliance Award.”

(Y/N) turned to the side and grinned at Flora as she ascended the stairs. Her long black hair was braided down the length of her back and she wore a bright and floral-patterned gown. She reached (Y/N) and he reached with his right, shaking her hand, and handed her the glass award with the other.

“Miss Janaliyeva, it is with honor and congratulations that I give you this award for your excellent talent and recognition of ability from Inside Alliance.”

She smiled brightly and accepted the award. “Thank you, Mister Wayne, the honor is mine.” He nodded politely once more and descended the stairs as she began her speech, quietly taking his place back at the table.

“Well done, Mister Wayne,” Lucius smiled and (Y/N) let out a deep breath.

“I’m just surprised I was able to do that without stuttering or panicking.” He glanced over, smile lowering slightly. “Lucius, are you alright?”

The older man dabbed at his forehead and nodded, though when he breathed, it sounded labored. “I’m fine,” he assured, then reached up to rub at his chest.

(Y/N) shifted. “I don’t think you’re alright Lucius.” He leaned over. “Are you having chest pain?”

“I—yes,” he grit out then met (Y/N)’s gaze. “My chest is getting—tight and I…and I—”

He started to slump over and (Y/N) shot to his feet, eyes widening with fear. “Lucius!” The yell startled the crowd and Flora, who all looked over at the two.

(Y/N) pulled the older man back and pressed his ear to his chest, listening. He pulled away and yelled, “Someone call an ambulance! I think he’s having a heart attack!”

He helped Lucius to the floor and immediately pressed his palms to the man’s chest, starting compressions. His breath came in panicked spurts and he kept looking at Lucius’ face.

“Just hand on Lucius. You’re going to be okay.” (Y/N) kept at it until the EMT’s arrived and they knelt beside them.

“Let us take over.”

For a moment, he didn’t move, too afraid that if he did, Lucius would die, but one of the EMT’s placed a hand on his shoulder while the other slide their hands underneath (Y/N)’s.

“Son, we’ll take it from here.”

(Y/N)’s arms went slack, and he let the medic pull him away, watching as they took over and started moving him onto the stretcher.

“Please, save him. He’s—he’s friends with my family I—”

The medic nodded firmly. “We’ll do all we can.”

And all (Y/N) remembered was someone ushering him into a taxi heading for the hospital.

***

The first people that arrived were Lucius’ family who were grateful for (Y/N)’s actions, but the young man could barely grimace as they disappeared into the hospital room, leaving him sitting outside, his head in his hands. Tears gathered in his eyes as he thought back to what the ER doctor told him.

***

“Mister Fox is in a stable condition, but you have to understand, Mister Wayne, his heart is very weak.”

“But—but he’ll be okay right?”

“Based on Mister Fox’s past conditions, he’s verging into heart failure. His heart is too weak to keep up with what the body needs.”

“And…and what does his body need at this point?”

“At this point? A new heart.”

***

He sucked in a breath and fought to keep the sob from escaping his throat, just as heard, “(Y/N)!”

His head shot up and he saw his father and older brothers coming down the hallway. (Y/N) clambered to his feet.

“Dad I—” he started, but cut off as he choked on a sob, and Bruce pulled him into a hug, holding (Y/N) as he sobbed. “I’m sorry,” he cried. “I tried my best but—”

“Shh,” Bruce hushed, a firm, but gentle hand coming to rest at the back of his son’s neck. “You did all that you could.”

He pulled back and wiped his face. “But Lucius needs a new heart, and I don’t know what to do. I should’ve seen this coming. He hasn’t been feeling well the past few weeks and I—”

“(Y/N),” his father said firmly, hands coming to rest on his shoulders. He met Bruce’s eyes. “This wasn’t your fault.”

His libs wobbled and he whispered, “But if I were like you guys, I would’ve seen something earlier. I didn’t and now…” sighing, he added, “and now Lucius needs a new heart, or he’ll die.”

Bruce’s sigh was heavier than (Y/N)’s and it made his chest heavy. “We’ll get Lucius a new heart, (Y/N).”

He lowered his head and lamented, “I’m sorry, dad.”

His father squeezed his shoulder then lead him towards Dick and Jason. “Take (Y/N) back home for the night. I’ll stay here with Lucius’ family.”

They nodded and led their brother down the hall, arms firm across his shoulders in a comforting way. They didn’t say anything, knowing that there wasn’t much to offer, but their support was enough for (Y/N), even if he felt horrible.

***

For being the World’s Greatest Detective, his son was evidently the World Best Hider, because it took Bruce a long time to finally find (Y/N). He stepped quietly over to the form sitting on the ledge and took a seat beside him, silently gazing out at the backyard. A bottle appeared in his vision and he focused on it as the smell of whiskey reached his nose.

“Where’d you get that?” he asked but took the bottle anyway.

“Jason gave it to me earlier.” He watched Bruce take a sip. “Figured it fit the occasion.”

Bruce chuckled. “That sounds like Jason’s way of dealing with a problem.”

They sat in a comfortable silence for a while, passing the bottle back and forth, simply enjoying the calm around the manor and night.

“You know it wasn’t your fault, right?” Bruce suddenly said.

(Y/N) sighed and set the bottle down, kicking his legs out off the roof. “Lucius said he hadn’t been feeling well recently. And I just passed it up to getting older.” He looked at his father. “If I’d actually paid attention, then I would’ve seen the symptoms.”

“Do you actually know what the symptoms of heart failure and heart attack are?”

“I…no, not really.”

“Then you couldn’t’ve known.” He looked at (Y/N). “Lucius works in my office every day. If anyone should’ve known and seen it, it should’ve been me.” Bruce shook his head. “But you did everything you could at the awards ceremony, and that saved Lucius’ life tonight. You did good.”

“I could’ve done better.” (Y/N) muttered. “I should’ve. I’m your son and I’m practically useless to the family but—”

“Woah, woah,” Bruce interrupted, brows furrowing as he asked, “What are you talking about?”

(Y/N) turned to him. “I am the least useful person in this family. I mean you and the guys are these crazy intelligent, vigilante master detectives and I’m just me.” He wiped away a tear that fell from his eye. “I can’t speak seven different languages or solve murder cases with a single strand of DNA left at the scene of a crime. Hell, I can’t even throw a punch.” He sighed heavily. “The last time I tried, I broke my hand.”

Meeting his father’s gaze, he said, “I just want to be like you guys.” He lowered his head. “I just want to be normal and not an outlier in the family.”

Bruce simply stared at him for a long moment, and while he’d never been privy to let his emotions show on his face, he let them this time—shock and shame. Shame that he didn’t see his greatest achievement suffering.

“(Y/N).”

He didn’t look up at first, but then he did. “Yes sir?”

“How long have you felt like this?”

(Y/N) shrugged. “Forever?”

His father sighed. “Son, I…I never wanted you to be like us.”

He gaped at Bruce. “What?”

“(Y/N), every person in this family is driven to do what we do because of our childhoods. You’re the only one who doesn’thave any skeletons in his closet.” He stared at him. “We wish every day that we could be like you and not a day goes by that we don’t think that.”

“I…what?” he floundered, absolutely bewildered at the idea that his father and brothers wanted to be the most boring person ever. “There’s no way that’s true.”

“It is.”

“No.” (Y/N) huffed. “I’m me. I’m plain and boring, work a nine to five job me. I mean I write for a magazine for god sakes! And you guys save the world!”

Bruce chuckled. “And what we wouldn’t give to be just a bit more normal like you, son.” He shrugged. “You think you’re inferior because you’re not a vigilante, but you’re the one thing that keeps us all sane. You give us the perspective of someone who isn’t what we are. Of someone who’s completely normal.”

He reached over and placed a hand on (Y/N)’s shoulder. “And being normal? Being you?” Bruce squeezed firmly. “I don’t want you to be anyone else.”

(Y/N) gazed at him, and though he felt tears in his eyes, he didn’t blink, didn’t let them fall. “I’ve only ever wanted to make you proud.”

Bruce smiled heartfully. “You do, (Y/N). Everyday. Because you’ve always been the best of us.”