#should not get too ahead yet but yeah. gotta make my to-do list shorter (*´∀`)♪

[romy350-romyakari]

Baack on finishing that fic related project. But should I finish the KHOCweek posts this montb at best

I want to get them done but i will do them slowly through the month and hopefully also end this fun little thing I am cleaning up and get to nail the look this month too ﾟ+.ﾟ(´▽`人)ﾟ+.ﾟ

[mischiefandspirits]

Bernard Figures It Out

Was reading through all the comments on @frostbittenbucky's post and all I could think of was that it was Bernard talking to Tim. Then I got to thinking...

"I've connected the two dots."

"You didn't connect shit."

"I've connected them."

Bernard figures out Tim's a superhero... sort of.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Tim fidgetted nervously as he waited on the front porch of his boyfriend’s house. Bernard had sounded so serious when he’d called during Tim’s lunch to ask him to come over after work so they could talk about something.

Which Tim had done, after spending an entire board meeting just going over the past week trying to figure out what he’d done.

The only thing he could think of was that he’d ducked out halfway through their lunch date on Wednesday to give Duke some backup, but Bernard had seemed understanding when Tim explained there was an emergency at GRC Labs. It couldn’t have been a tipping point, either, since Tim had managed to only flake on three other dates over the past few months they’d been dating. Kate had been happy to cover for him as often as she could “out of queer solidarity” when she found out Tim was dating a boy for the first time and Tim had managed to trick Bruce into covering a few actual Wayne Enterprises emergencies for him when they came up.

There had to be a reason Bernard was breaking up with him, though. Had he missed something? He definitely wasn’t forgetting an important day. He was good with days and Tam was even better, so she would have reminded him on the off chance that he had forgotten.

What was he missing?

Bernard was smiling when he opened the door, but there was a nervous energy to it that had Tim’s stomach sinking. “Hey, Tim.”

“Hey.” Tim gave his own nervous smile then slipped inside.

They went into the living room and sat down on the couch.

Tim frowned when Bernard grabbed a manila folder off the coffee table. Crud, had he screwed up enough that Bernard had had to make a list? He knew he was new to dating a guy, but he hadn’t thought he’d done that bad. He’d really been trying, especially with how his and Stephanie’s relationship had fallen apart at the end. “What -”

“Just let me speak, Tim,” Bernard said, waiting for Tim’s nod. “Okay, so you know Clark Kent, right?”

Tim blinked as Bernard opened the folder to show a picture of Clark. It looked like one of the employee pictures from the Planet’s website, with his dorky “I’m just a humble country boy” smile and the golden globe from their roof photoshopped in as the background. “Uh, yeah? I think so. He works for the Daily Planet, right? I think he’s worked at a few of Bruce’s events. Not a lot of outside reporters are willing to come to Gotham.”

“Exactly!” Bernard said, snapping his fingers and pointing at Tim.

“What?”

He pulled out the picture to show the next page was an article titled, “DAILY PLANET REPORTER… BATMAN!?”

A wave of relief washed over Tim and he placed his face in his hands. “Were you up all night on the hero conspiracy boards again?”

“No. I mean, I found this on a board and was up all night thinking about it, but I found it reasonably early.”

“One in the morning isn’t reasonable, Bernard.”

“Says the guy who’s always wide awake when I call to infodump.”

“Touché.” Tim leaned against Bernard and gave him a smile. “So tell me, why is some reporter from Metropolis from all places Batman.”

“First of all, living in Metropolis is the perfect cover. Everyone assumes Batman would live in Gotham, no one would consider he could be from anywhere else. Metropolis is outside the GMA, but close enough that the commute is still possible.”

“But it’s Metropolis.”

“And who would think Gotham’s Dark Knight lives in the sunshine capital? Plus, I hear he disappears a lot on the job. There’s gotta be a reason for it!”

Tim made a note to let Clark know he needs to cut back on the disappearing act some since people are catching on.

“And have you seen the guy? He is swol AF, babe.”

“Please don’t call me babe while you’re talking about how hot another guy is.” Especially Tim’s honorary uncle.

“You know I prefer twinks.”

“BERNARD!”

“I’m just saying,” he continued, ignoring Tim’s shout. “The guy is definitely hiding something! Besides, Kent is an investigative reporter. He’s gotta know a lot about cases and the underground and detective work.”

Not as much as he likes people to think, but more than he likes people to know Superman does, Tim mused. “But what about the other vigilantes?”

“Well, Kent has a cousin…” Bernard flipped through a folder and pulled out a picture of Kara. It looked like a screenshot of her interviewing Lena for CatCo. “She’s obviously the latest Batgirl. Look at her hair. And the first Batgirl and the current Batwoman were obviously Lois Lane, the red hair is just a wig. Did you see how she kicked butt at that last event she went to? She’s not as subtle as Kent. That means their son is the latest Robin. He’s exactly the right size.”

Oh, Damian better not hear about this, Tim cackled internally. His youngest brother hated being reminded that Jon was the same height as him despite their two years age difference. Damian definitely took after Talia when it came to body type, no matter what he said.

“And Kent also has a brother.” This time he pulled out a picture of Kon. The clone must have been caught by a reporter out shopping with Ma since he was carrying some paper bags and glaring at whoever was behind the camera. “At least, he’s supposedly Kent’s brother, but he was a teenager when he first showed up with the Kents. A lot of people think he’s actually Kent’s son, that Kent got a girl pregnant when they were teenagers and something happened to the mom so Kent had to take him in. Now the Kents are trying to hide it by saying the two are brothers.”

That was… scarily accurate actually. Especially given Luthor and Clark were close friends at the time that Kon would have theoretically been born.

“And that beef would explain why the younger Kent brother went all crime lord on Gotham for a while before reconnecting with the family.”

“Wait, what?”

“Yeah, Kent Jr.’s got the perfect build for Red Hood.”

Tim bit back a comment on how Kon was shorter than Jason by a good foot. Timothy Drake-Wayne should not know that. Add Jason to the list of people who can’t hear this theory.

“And then there’s this girl,” Bernard picked up a picture of Lois, Jon, and Natasha Irons walking down the street together. “No one’s sure exactly who she is, but she’s been spotted with the Kents a few times. I think the cover story is that she’s Jon’s babysitter.”

“And the actual story?”

“She’s Black Bat, obviously. That’s why she wears a mask that fully covers her face. She doesn’t want to stand out as the only African American Bat.”

“Isn’t Signal also Black?”

“Yeah, but he works in the daytime so he’s already a standout.”

“And who is Signal in this? And what about Nightwing and Red Robin?”

“Well, Nightwing’s just a Blüd who came to Gotham. He doesn’t count.”

Ouch. Sorry, Dick.

“And Red Robin is obviously an older Robin, the one who was Robin when we were kids. Kent wanted to keep him on, and I don’t blame him. As for Signal, he’s got the same backstory as all the other Robins Kent picked up, he just went the Signal route because he didn’t fit the usual Robin mold.”

“Because the female Robin fit the mold,” Tim snorted. Robin Mold, as if he and his brothers were even the same ethnicity. Or even had the same hair color. Jason dyes his hair, Dick’s is brown-black, Tim’s is pure black, and Damian’s is more a dark brown and it’s only getting lighter as he gets older.

“She didn’t, that’s the point. Kent tried to give breaking the Robin mold a chance by letting his cousin have a go at it, but he realized it just didn’t work so she went back to being Spoiler and he got a new Robin.”

Not touching that with a ten-foot pole. “Right, and where does he get the usual Robins? Please tell me you’re not back on the secret government orphanages theory.”

“No, no, no. Kent travels sometimes for his job, right? And a lot of the time he’s going to places that have been hit by disasters or major crimes. So he’ll take in some of the displaced children to train as his robins.”

Tim pressed his face back into his hands.

“You see it, right?”

Honestly, Tim was just wondering how his boyfriend could be so close, and yet so far off. “How would Kent even afford taking care of a bunch of secret -- possibly illegally acquired -- children without anyone noticing?”

“Simple. Bruce Wayne is funding him.”

“Bernard, I love you, but what the heck?” Tim blushed and looked up as he realized what he’d said, but Bernard didn’t seem to notice as he steamrolled ahead.

“It’d also explain how he can afford all the gear and how he’d be able to travel to Gotham or anywhere else Batman goes without anyone noticing. He probably has a secret Batplane or something.”

“Why would Bruce do that?”

“Because Wayne cares about Gotham, everyone knows that, and this way he can make sure someone’s taking care of the city without anyone putting two and two together.”

“And two plus two is?”

Bernard gave him a hard look. “I’m not stupid, Tim. Bruce Wayne is obviously Superman. His face is right there.”

Oh, the others are going to love this! Too bad I can’t tell Damian or Jason. Jason especially would have loved this. “Right. Bruce is Superman.”

“He is. Superman is known for being nice and Bruce Wayne’s basically all that’s keeping the city running at this point. That’s nice as hell.”

Oh my god.

“And Wayne does charity for the victims of cataclysms, doesn't he? I bet he first saves people from them as Superman and then builds them new homes for free.”

Oh my god! Why am I not recording this!?

“And the Wayne’s were rich enough to hide the fact they adopted an alien baby.”

Tim raised an eyebrow. “If you’re about to tell me this is why Bruce’s parents got killed, you might want to stop while you’re ahead.”

“It’d make sense. There’re all sorts of unanswered questions about their deaths,” Bernard muttered under his breath, flipping through the folder. He pulled out another picture of Kara. This time she was in full Supergirl attire with a bus held overhead. “So if Wayne is Superman, then that’d mean your ex-girlfriend could be Supergirl. They look a lot alike and it’d explain how she got involved with you all.”

“Bernard, she has a human dad. You know, Cluemaster. The supervillain.”

“Yeah, her dad. But we don’t know anything about her mom!”

“Let me guess…”

Bernard pulled out a picture of Karen. She and Helena were suited up and talking to a group of cops, two goons held over each of Karen’s shoulders. “Her mom could be Power Girl! Some makeup and a wig and she could look just like Crystal Brown! And Damian Wayne is obviously the new Superboy! That’s why his background is such a mystery, right? He had to stay a secret until he could control his alien superpowers. That’s why he’s always so mean. It’s a cover since everyone knows Superboy is super sweet!”

Sure, when he’s not helping Damian pull pranks or using his adorable powers to put the blame on Kon and I. “No, Bernard. Damian and Steph are just very human hellspawn. And Bruce and Crystal are human too. I can’t believe you called me over here just to tell me you think Superman is both Batman’s sugar daddy and my adoptive dad.”

“Well, that’s not exactly why I called you over,” Bernard admitted, the nervous energy coming back. He grabbed Tim’s hands. “Tim -”

Tim’s stomach sank. “You are breaking up with me!”

“What? No! I don’t want to break up!”

“Why are you acting all nervous and serious then!?” Tim asked, pulling his hands away to throw them up in the air.

Bernard shook the folder. “Because I’m trying to tell you I figured out you’re Superboy!”

Tim’s brain blue-screened and his hands slowly dropped. “I’m sorry, what?”

“I know you’re Superboy. The older one, obviously. By the way, you and Damian really need to figure out separate names.”

Forget Jason and Damian, Kon can never find out about this. He’d never let me live it down. “Bernard, you called me a twink five minutes ago. Su-” Shoot, I can not risk getting Kon’s attention! “The older one might not be as big as Superman, but he’s not a twink.”

“Well, yeah, that’s the shapeshifting at work.”

“The what?”

“Obviously you Kryptonians can shapeshift. Why else would you look so much like humans?”

… Why do Kryptonians look so much like humans? Was there some - Wait, no! Break into the Fortress of Solitude for research later! Reassure your boyfriend that you’re not an alien now! “Bernard -”

“And that explains why your step-mom was so hot.”

“Gross.”

“She and your dad were actors hired by Luthor so you could have a normal life! But now Bruce has custody so he adopted you.”

“No.”

“That’s why you and your dad were so weird with each other when I met him.”

“We were weird because he’d just gotten out of a coma not long before to find that his wife was dead so he decided to actually be a dad for once in his life, but overcompensated and became a helicopter parent to a kid who was mostly on his own for his entire life!” Tim blurted out. “I am not an alien, Bernard!”

“Well, not technically since you were cloned from Superman on Earth.”

“Oh my god! You were just talking about Steph being Supergirl! Why would I date my dad’s cousin?”

Bernard blinked. “Supergirl and Superman are cousins?”

Right, Timothy Drake-Wayne wasn’t supposed to know that. “I thought they’d said something like that before, yeah. Are people seriously saying I’m Superboy on the internet?”

“NO! No, I swear I would have led with that if I thought your identity was compromised. A few people have mentioned Wayne and Damian, but not you or Steph or Jason.”

“Wh-Jason!? You think Jason was an alien too!”

“No, not exactly, but a few times when I’ve visited I swear I’ve seen a guy in the manor who looks like Jason. It’s just been out of the corner of my eye and he’s gone whenever I look so I’ve always thought it was just Dick or Bruce or some picture of Jason that my mind was playing tricks with, but it makes sense now that I know Wayne is Superman. He must have been able to heal Jason with alien tech, but couldn’t say anything because that would give away that he’s Superman.”

Damn it Jason! And damn it Bernard! I’m dating the smartest moron in the world! “Bruce did not bring Jason back with alien technology and none of us are aliens!”

“It’s okay, Tim. I won’t tell anyone.”

Tim grabbed Bernard by the jacket and pulled him into a kiss. When he started to feel lightheaded, he pulled back, “Could someone whose skin is as solid as stone kiss like that?”

Bernard blinked dazedly at him for a moment. “How do you know what Superboy’s skin feels like?”

Tim screamed internally. “He’s saved me from a kidnapping before.”

“Really?”

“Yes. I can get you the police report if you want.”

“Huh… And the others?”

“Not Supers. I can stab Damian the next time we’re at the manor if that’ll prove none of us are aliens.” He’d rather stab Jason, but that would probably only confirm to Bernard that Bruce used alien technology to bring him back.

“You probably shouldn’t stab your brother if he isn’t an alien.”

Tim rolled his eyes. “I won’t stab him anywhere deadly.”

“That’s not the point,” Bernard said slowly.

“He’ll be fine.”

“If you say so.”

“So do you believe I’m not an alien now?” Tim huffed, letting go of Bernard’s jacket.

The blond’s eyes dipped down to Tim’s lips. “If I say no, will you kiss me like that again?”

“You’re ridiculous,” Tim said, but he kissed him anyway.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

“Okay, but I still say Clark Kent is definitely Batman.”

“Sure, Bernard.”

[ethelphantom]

Like You Could Be Family

And I’m back with new soulmate AUs. This is my Maribat Secret Santa contribution to @worlds-tiniest-spook-pastry​. I hope you like it even though it seems my brain took some liberties with the instructions. There shouldn’t be anything you specifically said you didn’t want, though. I think. So yeah. I hope you like it. (It’s Timari, by the way). There’s also a piece of art of one of the scenes that I ended up doing bc I’ve got absolutely no self-control at the end so don’t miss it!

Ao3 | Part 2 | Part 3

“Dick, are you seriously trying to model on the cheese shelf? I swear I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home— hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.”

Marinette stared at her wrist. Of all the things she was expecting to read on her skin once she turned 18, she wasn’t— it really was not, well, whatever the hell this was.

She massaged her temples, trying to make sense of the sentence her soulmate would say to her as the first thing after today. She could not believe that she would actually have to see someone modeling on the cheese shelf in a grocery store judging by how it all sounded like.

Yeah… What if she just didn’t go on her trip to the States with Uncle Jagged like she had meant to? After all, the sentence was in English — in all likeliness, she was going to meet her soulmate there. Marinette most certainly was not ready.

Then again, fate had a funny way of making things happen anyway, so it wasn’t like she could just avoid it. Besides, she did want to meet her soulmate, so maybe she just should resign to her fate and go regardless of how much she was not waiting for it to happen.

So. Everyone got to see the first words their soulmate would say to them after their 18th birthday, and as it was, it was Marinette’s 18th birthday. She had earlier that day heard from Uncle Jagged that he was going to take her with him to the States to go around the country and to perhaps meet new people that might want to commission her or possibly sponsor her. It was very sweet of him and Marinette really did want to go with him — after all, she was finally able to travel since there was no longer a threat of akumas because Gabriel Agreste had been arrested; He could just rot in prison for all she cared because of how he had treated Adrien and for endangering the entire City of Lights for so very long — but she really was not ready to meet her soulmate, not so soon.

Especially not if this was how she was supposed to meet them instead of a peaceful, not so strange situation.

But, as all things always went with Uncle Jagged, she gave into him and told her parents she would be gone for the summer at least. Maybe longer, since if she got enough commission work or someone to sponsor her, there was a chance she’s stay. Then there was the fact she might meet her soulmate, which also meant there was a chance she’d stay with them.

Really, she just didn’t know if she would even come home after this or if she’d start a new home there, but she told her parents that too. Her maman and papa just smiled at her and embraced her, telling her that it was fine, that they would support her no matter what. She just needed to tell them where she was going to live so they could visit.

And as she had guessed (and hoped), they were there too on the day she left, stood in front of the aeroport and told her their goodbyes and shed a few tears. They wanted to wait with her for her uncle. After all, she would be travelling with him and Aunt Penny. And Fang, obviously. One must never forget Fang. Oh, yes, she couldn’t leave Adrien out either — Uncle Jagged had insister he come with them since he was her best friend, his aunt had given the go-ahead when they asked after hearing Marinette was going as well, and he really didn’t have a family outside the Graham de Vanilys and Dupain-Chengs.

Her parents hugged her and told her she would always be welcome home, as was Adrien, and that they loved her more than anything. Marinette smiled back and told them she was going to miss them. Then they — along with his aunt Amilie — made sure they hugged Adrien as well and told him he was like the son they never had (well, Amilie did not say that) and that they all loved him, too. Marinette was glad, seeing he now had a family as well.

That’s how their journey began.

Adrien was, as one might have guessed, excited about the trip. He hadn’t gotten out much in the years before this and now he was actually free from his father — no, just Gabriel; That man did not deserve the title of a father — and allowed to actually travel with his best friend and his idol. There was no Gabriel to stop him from actually living. He too had received a soulmark (“I doubt he would. So, your best friend is the soulmate of mine, huh? Wait… that’s weird, I could’ve almost sworn— It’s you??”) a year earlier, on his eighteenth birthday, and as that too was in English, there was  good chance they’d both meet their soulmates on the trip. The average age for meeting one’s soulmate tended to be between ages 10 and 23, after all.

Thank god both of them had oddly specific things on their wrists; it would make recognising their soulmates a whole lot easier.

They ended up visiting many beautiful cities (New York City, Los Angeles, Charlestown, Metropolis, Salt Lake City, St Louis and Portland) before Jagged decided he wanted to show his niece and her best friend his home city. Adrien was excited. Marinette was a little excited, but knowing Jagged, also suspicious. Penny tried her best to convince him out of it, but no. That did not help.

(If you asked Marinette, it was because she was weak when it came to Jagged being actually excited about something, and since it wasn’t messing with any actual schedules, she ended up giving in to him.)

And just like that, they were headed to Gotham.

“Listen up kiddos! I managed to contact my friend whose oldest kids I used to take to different places to have fun whenever I could, and he says he’s got room for us all! How does that sound like to you?” he asked, basically bouncing on the balls of his feet as they were on their way towards the aeroport. He had switched to French to make it easier for them to talk about it — it was a big decision to make, after all. On one hand, that person was Uncle Jagged’s friend, and to both Marinette and Adrien that meant it was unlikely they were going to run into another Gabriel Agreste. On the other hand, in reality they knew nothing about him and all those years spent as superheroes had taught them to be cautious of anything new. New could always be good, but the problem was, new could also mean a bunch of evil butterflies attacking the city, possessing people and torturing absolutely everyone in the city for years.

“Well, Chaton, it’s your call. I’m going to trust Uncle Jagged not to have chosen a serial killer to take us in—” Adrien snorted at that, “—but you’re the one who’s gone though more shittiness from rich people than I have, so yeah. I’m making this your choice. Please don’t feel pressured to say yes.”

Adrien looked thoughtful for a second before nodding. “Yes. I want this. I want to see new people that could maybe prove me wrong about what rich people are like.”

Marinette grinned. “That’s the spirit! Though, Chaton, I have to say, you are a rich person, Jagged is a rich person, Kagami is a rich person. I think you’ve got rich and not horrible people around you as well, and all of them also happen to be close with you. But yeah, I think I get what you mean.”

Adrien punched her in the shoulder lightly, grinning back at her. Marinette almost had to cover her eyes because it looked like he was brighter than the sunshine itself as he beamed.

Jagged seemed ecstatic to find out they wanted to try meeting his friend and spend time with said friend’s children. Penny rolled her eyes fondly at her husbands enthusiasm and excitement, but went along. After all, someone needed to make sure all of them got there alive.

Once they arrived at Gotham, Marinette was surprised to find the first thing they did was not going to whoever Uncle Jagged had said was his friend but to go to a grocery store.

To buy the ingredients to the favourite food of the mysterious friend was apparently the reason why. Marinette hoped the friend’s taste was better than Jagged’s, she could not handle another week of weird smelling, suspicious foods that Jagged wanted (thank heavens for Penny and the fact she had made ordering edible food an art of mastery.)

Marinette sighed, resigning to her fate. She snatched the shopping list from her uncle’s hands and dragged Adrien along before anyone could protest. “Alright, so we gotta get all of this… Could you please go find the vegetables? And actually the rice, too. I’ll text you which vegetables are needed in just a second, okay?”

Upon receiving a positive answer as Adrien nodded and walked off, Marinette went to search for the meat. It turned out to be a task more difficult than she would have liked to admit — the store was rather big and she didn’t even know where to start.

Finally she found her way to the milk products, proud of herself since usually milk products were placed somewhere near the meat. It wasn’t good enough just yet, though, so once she noticed a small group of guys goofing around (This is what it means boys will be boys, she thought, not when they don’t leave a girl alone even after she tells them no). She was just about to ask them if they knew where the meat was when she saw one of them walk to one of the shelves and lie down, propping one leg up as he posed himself to look like he was…

Modeling.

God, did Marinette wish this was not was she thought it was.

Marinette sighed and walked closer to them, watching as one of the shorter ones in the group groaned and buried his face in his hands. “Dick, are you seriously trying to model on the cheese shelf?” he asked. Marinette’s eyes widened but she walked even closer, not sure if she really had heard right. She needed to know whether she’d heard him right. “I swear, I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home—” The man turned around and looked Marinette up and down before putting a smile on his face. Then he walked to her and spoke as though what he was saying was completely normal and not weird at all. “Hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.”

The man still lying on the shelf laughed. “You’re right about that, Timmers. Blalck hair and blue eyes, fits the picture. We gotta keep Bruce from adopting her somehow. You don’t happen to have a tragic backstory, kid?”

Marinette was still staring at them in shock, mouth hanging slightly open before she took a quick glance at her wrist. Indeed. She had heard right. Then she looked at the man who had first spoken to her and, summoning willpower and confidence she didn’t even know she had right now, spoke up. “I don’t think disowning him is even necessary to make him my brother, and it seems there’s a chance we might become family regardless of whether this Bruce adopts me or not,” she blurted out, grimacing at her strong accent. She knew she spoke better and with cleared English, but the shock of meeting her soulmate had her relapse to the accent of her natice tongue.

All of the laughter quieted down as though cut off and their smiles fell, all four of them now looking at her like they had seen a ghost. The first to recover was a guy a little taller than her with auburn hair and — were those eyes yellow? — whose smile was probably brighter than what she’d ever seen on Adrien , and well. Adrien was the literal sunshine personified. She had barely even managed to blink before he was standing in front of her, having shoved her soulmate away.

“It’s great to meet you, miss! We were wondering already when we’d get to meet you, if he’d try to hide you from us or if he’d let us meet you right away,” he said laughing and winked. “Turns out, we got to meet you at the same time as he did! I’m Bart!”

With a light tilt of her head, Marinette smiled back at him. “Marinette, it’s lovely to meet you as well.”

The man still lying on the shelf was the second to collect himself (the other two guys who weren’t her soulmate seemed to recover as soon as he got up, but both of them stayed silent). He stood up (god he was tall, she didn’t deserve this. Marinette seriously wished the rest of the family would not be as tall so she wouldn’t need to look up to be able to talk to them easily — she had enough of that with Adrien) and was in front of her with a few graceful strides. He too greeted her with a smile on his face.

“Name’s Richard, though I have to say, please do not call me that. Especially family should call me Dick. And, since you’re apparently the soulmate of Timmy here, welcome to the family. I’m his oldest big brother, and that scowling kid (“I’m not a kid, Grayson!”) over there is our little brother, Damian. There are a whole lot more of us though, but you’ll meet them later (“Not if I can help it she won’t”). Actually. You don’t happen to be free tonight, do you? We’re having dinner with the whole family for a change today, it’d be great to have you there as well.”

“You are aware Father invited his old friend and his companions to the manor today, aren’t you, Grayson?” the scowling kid — Damian, wasn’t he? — asked from behind them, arms crossed over his chest.

“Well, yes, but I strongly doubt Bruce would mind at all if we invited Timmy’s soulmate over as well. His freaking soulmate, Damian. It’s more likely that he will be happy we did so.”

“Er, I’m sorry, but my uncle wants me to be with him, his wife and my best friend today,” Marinette said, hopefully cutting off whatever argument was starting to form between the two. She was still standing in the same place, not completely sure how to act. She had never thought there would be this many people who were important in her soulmate’s life near at once. It was overwhelming — after all, it meant she had to manage to make a good first impression right away.

The last of them, the one who had yet to speak, was still staring at her, though now he no longer looked like he was shocked to see her. No, now he was scowling, glaring, looking like he was examining her. Marinette took a step away from him and closer to her soulmate unconsciously, her eyes never leaving him. Yet another thing years of fighting villains had taught her: do not let your guard down near people that looked even the slightest bit threatening — which this guy definitely look like.

She really wished she didn't need to be alone here.

“Maribug! What are you standing around for?”

Thank heavens for Adrien and his timing.

Adrien threw an arm around her shoulders and leaned forwards a little, whispering “I’m sorry it took so long to get here, my hearing and smell aren’t as good when in this form. Did they try to do anything to you?” in French.

She found it sweet that once he’d understood why flirting with her so much was not okay, he’d researched sexual harassment thoroughtly and now was quick to act and make sure she was okay if things ever looked like there was even the slightest chance someone was harassing her, just like she did with him and his fangirls (especially Lila.) Dear god did she love her best friend.

“No, there’s no problem. Thanks Chaton”, she replied, shaking her head. Adrien squeezed her lightly before he let go, now apparently having a staredown with the kind of scary guy. Marinette let out a quiet laugh before tugging him by the hand to look the other way, to her soulmate. “Adrien, I’d like you to meet my soulmate,” she said, easily switching back to English. That seemed to finally shake him — she recalled Dick calling him Timmy and Timmers, so his name was probably Tim — out of his trance. He shook his head and stretched his hand out to Adrien.

“Hi. I think I might’ve seen you before somewhere. I’m Tim, her soulmate,” he said, smiling at the two of them.

“I’m Adrien, her best friend. You better take good care of her.”

“Adrien!”

Tim just laughed. “It’s fine, I suppose mine will try to have that conversation with you later as well. I’m sorry, I didn’t introduce myself to you earlier either. Like said, I’m Tim Drake, it’s wonderful to meet you. I love your outfit, is it an MDC?”

Okay, wow. He recognised her outfit as an MDC — which, of course, was her own brand so it just meant she’d made her clothes herself, but it wasn’t like she had made her identity public information yet anyway. This guy was a keeper. “Ah, yes, it is! How did you know?”

Now that he had made it clear he knew who MDC was, she started examining his outfit for anything familiar — of, wait, his shirt. She’d made it as a commission as few years back. She was also pretty sure that the hoodie Bart was sporting was from her autumn line based on superheroes from last year.

Adrien shot her a knowing look and a smirk which had her want to just flip him off before he turned to look at Bart who was making his way to Adrien.

“The signature on the hem kind of revealed it,” Tim replied.

Marinette arched an eyebrow. “But it’s almost invisible. It couldn't be that easy.”

“I know how to look for details. I love MDC by the way, I have a few of her designs as well.”

“I noticed. The shirt is hers, isn’t it?”

“Yeah! I commissioned it from her a while… back…” Tim’s voice trailed off. “...how exactly did you realise it was hers? I know for a fact the signature is hidden and on the flip side, so that cannot be it.”

It seemed Adrien had been listening to their conversation instead of talking with Bart as it didn’t take him even a second to chime in. “Yeah, that’s because she made it. Oh, and I might look familiar because I tend to model most of MDC’s — Marinette’s — designs for men for her website. If you like MDC and are that familiar with her work, that’s probably were you’d know me.”

“Well, there goes that secret. Hi, I’m Marinette Dupain-Cheng, better known as MDC. I’m glad to hear you like my designs.”

“Wait. Timmers, you got MDC as your soulmate? That is so unfair,” Dick said, leaning against Tim’s shoulder.

Tim didn’t even grace that with a reply. He was — once again — staring at Marinette, his mouth hanging open. It was a miracle he’d even managed to shove Dick away. Marinette just smiled sheepishly and shrugged, letting her gaze wander to the side and the suddenly very interesting floor.

The man who still had said nothing walked to them, placed a finger under Tim’s chin and closed it. “He’s just a big fan — as is a big portion of their family, apparently — couldn’t stop talking about how ‘amazing it was that MDC accepted his commission’ at all for weeks at the time. Hi, I’m Conner, also one of his best friends. You better treat him well, or…”

“Yeah, that’s enough, Kon, let’s not threaten her too much so she won’t run away. I think he’d probably like to keep her,” Dick snorted. “You can give her the shovel talk once they start dating — if they start dating, that is.”

Marinette didn’ t know what to say, so she just kept silent and smiled, instead opting to listen to Adrien talking with Bart next to her. It helped her ground a little, knowing her best friend was right there with her.

“Nah, sure I love her, but just platonically. She’s my best friend, like a sister to me, so he doesn’t need to worry about me coming in between them. Well, unless he hurts her, that is.”

In front of her, Conner stopped talking with Dick and turned to look at the two. Tim did the same. Marinette soon understood why, as well.

“I doubt he would,” Bart replied, an obvious smile echoing in his voice. “So, your best friend is the soulmate of mine, huh?” Marinette’s smile fell and she turned to look at her best friend, who seemed to recognise the far too familiar words coming out of Bart’s mouth as well. Bart was looking at his wrist, now mumbling. “Wait… that’s weird, I could’ve almost sworn—” Then his gaze snapped to Adrien. “It’s you??”

“Oh mon dieu.”

“Oh mon dieu vraiment.”

With a quick glance, it seemed that everyone was now looking at Adrien and Bart. There was a smile growing on both their faces, though it was there far faster on Bart’s definitely. Grinning, Adrien turned to Marinette.

He grabbed her by the shoulders and started speaking in rapid-fire French. Understandable, it was much easier to both of them to deal with feelings in. “I cannot believe this! We both got to meet our soulmates on this trip, almost at the same time, and in Gotham of all places! I swear this was the last place I would have expected to find them at and I am so happy about this and just look at him he’s so adorable and precious I can’t even! I have known him for all of three minutes but I already love him. Oh my god, Jagged is not going to believe this—”

“Oh my god, Uncle Jagged. And I forgot the meat. We have to hurry, we can’t let him and Penny and his friend wait for us too long. Please tell me you didn’t forget anything I asked you to find.” Thankfully, Adrien shook his head.

Of course she had forgotten something. Now, it meant that she was starting to panic. “I am so very sorry, but I forgot that I was supposed to find ingredients for my uncle and I have to go now. I’m so sorry. We’ll still be in Gotham for some time, maybe I’ll run into you later again? Bye!” And with that, she dragged Adrien with her, leaving both her and Adrien’s soulmates behind. Adrien just waved to them before running beside her.

She left them behind having completely forgotten about asking for any means to contact any of them.

This she, obviously, only realised when she was in the car with Uncle Jagged, Aunt Penny and Adrien, already on their way to Jagged’s friend.

“I cannot believe I forgot to ask for his number or anything. I had to clear my inbox a while back, too, so it’s going to take me ages to find even his email address,” she moaned and buried her face in her hands. Adrien just patted her head, trying to comfort her. Yeah, that’s right, she had dragged Adrien away from his soulmate as well. That made her even worse.

“Wait, who are you talking about, kid? Whose number did you forget to ask? A potential new client?” Jagged asked, confused about what his niece was on about.

Marinette lifted her head for a moment to answer him. There were tear streaks on her face, she realised, when the air was a little too cool at only some places on her cheeks and hands. “No, my soulmate’s. I finally met him but then I realised I was late and Adrien met his soulmate as well but I just dragged him away too and oh god I’m such a horrible friend.” Then she let her head fall into her hands again.

“You met your soulmates? In Gotham?” Jagged gasped. “I’m so happy you met them here.”

“Jagged, you do realise this is Gotham, one of the most crime-ridden cities in the world, right?”

“But Penny, I’m sure these kiddos’ soulmates aren’t bad! They are so pure, not even fate would be so cruel! Anyway, kid, you should have stayed with him or asked him to join us! There’s nothing as rock and roll as meeting your soulmate! I would have been fine with waiting for you so you could get his number.”

“His brother actually asked me to come over to his place and have a dinner with his family. I said no because I was supposed to come with you to your friend’s place.”

“You should’ve said yes, Mari! I could have told Bruce you weren’t able to come ‘cuz you met your soulmate and he would’ve been okay with it!”

“What’s done is done, Uncle Jagged. Can we forget about this now? I want to wallow in self-pity.”

Adrien just shook his head and took her hands to his. “No, and you’re not a bad friend, Buginette. I know how you get like when things start becoming hectic, but one, I’m already used to it, and two, maybe we’ll see him again. He lives here and he told you his name, didn’t he? And you told him yours? You can probably try to find him tomorrow. I’m sure you will. And, once you find him, I’ll get to mine as well because he said they were best friends. There’s really nothing to worry about, Mari.”

“You’re way too good for me. I don’t deserve you.”

“Yes you do. Now take this tissue, dry your face and we can go inside.”

Oh. They’d already arrived at the manor Jagged’s friend lived in. Marinette took the tissue Adrien handed her, wiped the tears off her face and then stepped out of the car, Adrien following right behind her. There was a man with a white streak in his otherwise black hair waiting at the door, a cigar in his hands.

“Hi Jagged. B said you were coming soon. Get in. It’s a little chaotic right now, babybird apparently met his soulmate and then lost her just about immediately, so he also invited his friends over,” the man said, drawing a breath out of his cigar. It seemed he recognised Jagged immediately, which was probably a good sign.

“Seems like we’er not the only ones with soulmate problems today,” Adrien whispered to her. Marinette just nodded. While she wasn’t one to take joy in others’ problems, she was kind of a little glad to hear that they weren’t the only ones who had to suffer with them right now.

“Well, hello Jay-lad, you’re alive again!” Jagged exclaimed as though being alive again was totally normal and squeezed the man. What the hell. When Marinette looked at Penny, hoping for some sort of an explanation for this, she just shrugged. “Great to see you’ve grown into a big boy now. These are Marinette and Adrien, my niece and her best friend. Oh, and Penny, my wife.”

“Oh give it a rest, won’t you, I wasn’t actually that small back then either. Where’s Fang?”

“Left him in my brother’s care.”

“The one that works at Arkham?”

“That one. He said he’s gonna take him with him to work today.”

“Great, let’s hope he bites Joker’s head or at least hand off. But yeah, good to see you’ve gotten yourself a family now so you don’t need to borrow me or Dick to have children anymore. Now, get in, it’s not too warm a night.” Once Adrien and Marinette got near him, he nodded as greeting. “I’m Jason, B’s second son and the kid Jagged used to borrow every now and then when he wanted to take a kid to concerts or the amusement park or somethin’.”

Adrien snorted next to Marinette who just chuckled. “Sounds like something Uncle Jagged would totally do. He basically adopted me as his niece after I designed him an atrocious pair of glasses,” Marinette laughed. “And Adrien got in because his father is an ass, and my family has joint custody of him with his aunt, which then led to Jagged wanting to take him with us as well.”

“Of course he did. Only Jagged and B would, I swear. Only them.”

They followed Jason inside (Jagged had already taken the liberty to just march in like he owned the place and announce he was back in Gotham, dragging Penny with him), marvelling at how gorgeous and beautiful everything looked. Even Adrien, who had grown up in a similar house, did, perhaps because while this manor was as big (if not far bigger) and just about as decorated as the Agreste Mansion had been, this was also warm and felt like home, like someone actually lived there instead of just… occupying the space. It was amazing.

A broad-shouldered man walked to them to welcome them in. It was probably B (Bruce? Marinette was pretty sure that was what Jagged had called him), based on how Jason greeted him, punching him lightly in the shoulder while he just ruffled Jason’s hair.

“It’s wonderful to meet the family Jagged speaks so fondly of finally. I’m Bruce Wayne. Come inside, I’d like you two to meet my children,” he said, smiling warmly at the two of them. Adrien was a little wary, but followed him anyway, never leaving Marinette’s side and his hand in hers. It wasn’t surprising and Marinette didn’t judge him for it — after all, as far as Adrien was aware, this man could be just like Gabriel (even if by all likelihood he wasn’t).

Jason snorted behind them. “He speaks of his children like there are only a handful of us instead of like, a million, like there in reality are. He’s a serial adopter, I swear. Be careful or he adopts the both of you — Blondie Locks sounds like he has a tragic backstory, and you have at the very least the blue eyes and black hair.”

Marinette rolled her eyes, somewhat ready to meet new people. But, once they actually got to the living room, they weren’t met with a bunch of unfamiliar faces, no. Instead, Marinette immediately recognised four of them, one of which was her soulmate.

How else. Fate had a funny way of doing things, making sure you couldn't avoid your soulmate.

Not that she wasn’t glad about it for this once.

Bart looked up and basically appeared next to Adrien — how fast was he anyway? — who then immediately hugged him. Well. If Bart was here and he was indeed every bit the precious sunshine he seemed to be and Adrien claimed he was, Marinette could safely leave Adrien to him. She squeezed Adrien’s hand once more before making her way towards Tim who met her halfway.

She smiled sheepishly at him. “Sorry, I kind of tend to get stuck in my head when things start to get hectic and forgot to ask you for your contact information,” she chuckled, tilting her head.

Tim just smiled at her, arching an eyebrow. “Well, we got to meet this soon anyway, so I think I can forgive you that this once.”

“Hey!”

He just laughed at her and crossed his arms over his chest. “Besides, you told me you were MDC — I would have been able to get in contact with you rather easily,” he reminded her.

Oh yeah. That too.

“It’s wonderful to meet you again, Tim. I can’t wait to get to know you better.”

“You took the words right out of my mouth, Marinette. I’m glad I got to meet you, soulmate.”

Marinette opened her arms slightly, and once Tim nodded and she got the go-ahead, she hugged him tight. Glancing at her wrist and the odd words written on it, the corners of her lips quirked upwards.

Perhaps, perhaps it wasn’t that bad to have “Dick, are you seriously trying to model on the cheese shelf? I swear I’m going to disown you as soon as we get home— hey, miss, do you want a new embarrassing brother? You look like you could actually be family anyway.” written on her body permanently.

After all, those words led her to the young man called Tim she could already tell was a wonderful person, and later on, Marinette couldn't have been happier to call him her beloved soulmate.

(click for better quality)

_____

@kris-pines04​ @thethirdwheelfriend​ @daminett4life​

[noladyme]

Skip To My Lou, My Darling - Chapter 2, Bloody Beauty I

The road so far…

A little over a year ago Lulu met, fell for, was saved by – and finally – lost a man like no other she had ever met. Now, in a different city – with a completely different life – she faces new dangers; and a ghost from the past.

Tag List (Let me know if you want to be added) @edonaspanca​ @wonderlandfandomkingdom​

Rated M

Bloody Beauty I

The music was pumping loudly at Buddies. The air was stale with bad perfume and spilled drinks; and my top was too tight. “Lolita!”, Raul called after me. “Your friends are back”. I took a deep breath, and put on my fakest grin; walking towards the two men at the end of the bar. “Hi, boys, what can I get you?”, I asked.

The two men were both already deep into their third beers. They were both wearing flannel shirts over t-shirts – a painful reminder of some good friends I hadn’t seen in a long time. One of them, I’d never see again.

The taller of the men – ironically enough a brunette with shaggy hair – smirked at me. “Well, your number would be a good start”, he jeered. I grimaced apologetically. “Sorry, buddy. We have a strict don’t date the costumer’s policy in this place”. He frowned at me. “Really?”, he asked. “Nope…”, I said. “It’s just me. Now what’ll you have?”. The shorter of the two laughed. “Another pair of cold ones, honey”, he smiled. I walked away. Honey. The word made me cringe.

I walked back towards Raul, who was bending over to grab some ciders from the fridge behind the bar. I patted his firm butt. “Grab me a couple of cold one’s. And make them warm”. He chuckled, and rubbed the spot my hand had hit. “That’s gonna leave a mark, Lulu”, he grinned; and handed me two beers from a crate beside the fridge. “You’ll have to explain that to Justin”. I furrowed my brows. “What happened to Mark?”, I asked. Raul stood up and frowned at me. “His wife found out”. “Ouch…”, I winced. “Sorry”. Raul shrugged. “It’s fine. He always cried during…”. “I don’t want to know!”, I laughed.

I walked back to my admirers, and put the beers down in front of them, taking the empty ones, and the 10-dollar bill they handed me. “Seriously though, Lulu”, the tall one said. “I’d really just like to get to know you. You seem…”. “I’m going now”, I said, and walked away.

A group of sorority girls with very fake id’s, were trying to flirt with Raul to get him to change the playlist. “Sorry ladies, I’m not in charge of it. You’ll have to talk to Lulu over there”, he smiled, and gestured towards me. I rolled my eyes. “Just let them. We’ll never hear the end of it”.

The group of girls squealed in delight. “Ok, what’s the song?”, Raul said; and a busty blonde leaned across the bar to whisper in his ear. He grinned. “Retro… I like it!”. He came over to where I was standing by the music system’s computer. “I can’t believe you let them do that”, he smiled. “You’re gonna hate their song”. “Why?”, I asked. “You’re in to all that classic rock stuff”, he replied.

He clicked around on the computer for a moment; when suddenly a soft guitar began playing out the speakers. I swallowed hard. “Lying in your arms, so close together. Didn't know just what I had. Now I toss and turn, ‘cause I'm without you. How I'm missing you so bad”. I swallowed hard – feeling like someone punched me in the chest. “Yeah, I hate it. I’m gonna step outside for a moment”, I muttered. He put a hand on my shoulder. “Are you ok, Lolita?”, he asked. I nodded. “Yeah…”, I said. “Just need air”.

I took off my apron, and passed the dancing sorority girls; who were singing along – very badly – to the song. “I lie awake. I drive myself crazy, drive myself crazy – thinking of you”. I hadn’t been laying awake lately. I’d been sleeping just fine, without any nightmares where I was killing people; and it was all due to – in part – a man I’d met, fallen for; and lost – all in just three days.

The air outside was chilly and refreshing. A few people where stood around smoking and laughing. It was Friday evening after all, and Denver had enough colleges to fill any bar with students willing to pay for overprized booze. I stood for a while, taking a few deep breaths of the night air, before regaining my senses, and stepping back inside.

Passing a table of frat boys; I felt a hand on my ass. I reached back, and grabbed the thumb of the hand; bending it backwards. “Ow! What the hell, lady?”, the man who’d made unwelcome grasp for my butt yelped. Raul came up next to me, in all his bodybuilding glory. “Get out”, he said menacingly. “Now!”. The guys at the table grumbled, but got up to leave. “I’ll have my dad’s lawyer call you!”, the grabber sneered – his blue eyes ablaze with rage. I smirked. “Go ahead. I don’t have a penny he can take, anyway”.

Raul put an arm around me, and led me back behind the bar. “You know, you pinch my butt all the time”, he muttered. “I thought we had an understanding”, I said. “I’ll stop”. Raul grinned. “Nah, go ahead. Reminds me why I’m in to men”. “Ouch!”, I winced, and slapped his butt hard. “Thanks for teaching me that trick, by the way”.

The evening turned into night, and a makeshift dancefloor was created by the sorority girls – as they began moving around tables. I groaned internally as they once again went up to Raul, to get him to change the music. At least they’d moved on to something a little closer to my taste; as Celebrity Skin began blasting. I poured myself a shot of whiskey, and downed it. “Is it dancing time yet, Lolita?”, Raul yelled at me. “You know it is!”, I grinned, and climbed onto the bar, as my laughing friend began moving bottles around for me to be able to move. “Hey, so glad you could make it. Yeah, now you’ve really made it. Hey, there’s only us left now!”, I screamed along; while dancing around on the bar counter; and sending winks at the screaming girls, who were whooping at me. The blonde was clapping her hands at me, and threw up her arms – almost knocking over her friend’s drink. The friend, who seemed to have perfect skin – I was constantly in awe of how these college girls could afford facials – looked at the blonde in annoyance for a second. “Shots for the ladies, Raul!”, I yelled; and the bartender poured a round of our cheapest booze into some shot glasses, handing them over to the squealing girls. I downed one myself; before stumbling, and nearly falling off the bar.

Raul helped me down, and gave me a hug. “You feeling better?”. “Yeah”, I grinned. “Good, ‘cuz the table in the corner needs drinks”, he smiled, and handed me two cold Buds. I frowned. “No more dancing, girls”, I said to the sorority sisters. “Gotta do my job now”. They frowned right back at me; as I walked away.

In the deepest, darkest corner of the bar – only lit up by a single bulb hanging over it, sat two men, deep in conversation. They were both wearing flannels, and I sighed. “I thought I just got you drinks”, I said; facing the two men – and instantly dropped the beers on the floor.

“You’re dead…”, I breathed, and stepped backwards, away from the broken glass at my feet. Dean Winchester looked at me with wide eyes. “Lou?”, he croaked. I looked at the other man – his brother, Sam. “You told me… Dean was…”. I shook my head, and quickly walked away from the table, and out the back door – into the alleyway behind it.

I heard the door open and close behind me. “Lulu… I’m sorry”, Sam was saying. Dean was standing just behind him. “How long?”. He looked down. “How long, Sam?”, I growled. “9 months”, he admitted. “9 months… ok”. I took a deep breath and walked over to the tall man – smacking him hard across the face. Sam stumbled backwards.

Dean stepped forward. “Lou, it wasn’t…”. I stepped over to him, and gave him the same treatment. “You…! Don’t talk right now”. I turned back to Sam. “We spent a week together, Sam”, I said. Dean frowned, and looked at his brother. “I know”, Sam muttered. “You saw me! I was… Oh my god…”. I began heaving for breath.

Dean ran over to me, and put a hand on my back. “Are you ok?”, he asked. “Don’t touch me”, I snarled, and shrugged him off. 

Raul came running outside. He’d taken off his shirt, and was standing in only his tank top – showing off every rip of muscle he had. “Is everything ok here?”, he snarled. I simultaneously nodded and shook my head. “Yes… no”, I said. “You guys should probably leave now”, Raul said, and stepped between me and Dean. Dean visibly tensed up.

I grabbed the bartender’s hand. “It’s fine, Raul”, I muttered. “They’re old… friends”. He looked at me, narrowing his eyes. “Do you usually run away from friends, Lolita?”. Lolita?, Dean mouthed. “Really, I’m ok…”, I said. “Just go… get them fresh beers. They’re paying costumers after all”. “Sure, mami?”, Raul asked. I nodded. Raul gave Dean one last look, and went back inside.

I looked up at the brothers. “You two… go back inside”, I said. “Have your drinks. Then leave. And don’t come back”. “We can leave right now…”, Dean growled. “We can’t…”, Sam muttered. “We have a case”. “Of course you do”, I sighed.

I went back inside; and when I looked over my shoulders, I saw the brothers go back to their table. Behind the bar, Raul gave me a concerned look, as I poured myself another shot, and downed it. I changed the music again; putting on Call Me by Blondie. “How are those drinks coming?”, I asked Raul. “You want me to spit in them?”, he asked. “No… Those two have enough problems as it is”. I grabbed the beers, and walked back to the table.

“Are you trying to tell us something?”, Sam asked. Dean wouldn’t look at me. “What?”, I sneered. “The music?”. Sam tried for a smile. I put the beers down hard on the table. “Enjoy”, I grinned as fake as I could; and walked away.

About an hour later Dean and Sam still hadn’t left – and I wasn’t sure I actually wanted them to leave either. I was well into my sixth shot, and second beer; and Raul was doing his best to keep my spirit up. “So… he kissed you. Then told you he was dying… And now he’s back? What a dick!”. I nodded. “I know, right?”, I yelled over the music. “He’s kind of hot, though”, Raul said. I sighed. “I know”, I admitted. “Did you two…?”. I shook my head. “I think he’s impotent”, I said.

I was getting quite drunk at this point; and when Bad Medicine came on, I once again climbed on to the bar – trying to dance my worries away. I noticed Dean had moved towards the bar to grab a new round for him and Sam; but I did my best to ignore him “Shake it up, just like Bad Medicine!”. I was shaking with the best of them; when I saw the busty sorority blonde sending Dean eyes, and walking over to him. He gave her a warm smile, when she put her hand on his chest. I crouched in front of the pair; and looked down at them. “Sweetie… been there, done that. Got the clap”. The girl winced, and quickly retreated.

Dean looked up at me, narrowing his eyes. “Thanks for that…”, he grunted. “Bon Jovi now?”. “A very underestimated band”, I smiled. “Why are you still here?”. “Paying costumer… cute bartenders”, he smirked. I smiled. “Yeah I know. Raul is hot!”. I winked at my friend, who blew me a kiss and winked back at me. “Boyfriend?”, Dean asked – trying to hide the distaste in his voice. I shrugged. “He’s a boy who’s a friend”. “Huh”, Dean grunted. “Another round, please”, he said, and held out a twenty. I grabbed the note, and stood up. “Coming right up!”, I said, and went to step down from the bar; when I slipped, and fell forwards, right into Deans arms.

“Whoa, Lou. Bit sauced, aren’t we?”. He put me on my feet in front of him, and I tried to frown without giggling. “You’re still cute… but you’re a dick too. It’s not a good combination”. Dean shook his head. “Hey, boyfriend!”, he called towards Raul. “I’m gonna drive the lady home. You got a problem with that?”. “No you’re not”, I tried. “Yeah, I am”, Dean said, and gestured for Sam to come over.

Raul came over to look at me. “You good with that, Lulu?”, he asked. “Absolutely…”, I said; before looking at Dean. “Did I say not?”, I whispered. “Sure”, he muttered. “Ok, then…”.

“I’m gonna need your name, man”, Raul said. “Malcolm Young. You want my social security too?”, Dean grumbled; still trying to keep me upright. I patted his cheek and laughed. “No, you’re not! You’re John Osbourne…”, I said. Raul frowned. Dean sighed. “Alias. We’re FBI”. Sam had come over to join us, and they both held up some badges.

“Hi, Sam!”, I said. “You’re here too!”. Sam stifled a grin. “What did she drink?”, he asked. “Wheee… skey”, I laughed, before looking seriously at Raul. “Going with these men would be a very bad idea, Raul”. “They’re feds”, Raul shrugged. I nodded fiercely. “Yes… fed hunters… feddy hunters”. I sighed deeply. “I love you, Raul”.

My friend looked at Sam, who gave his best impression of a very trustworthy man. “Ok, Lulu. Just call me tomorrow, ok?”. “Yes!”, I smiled. “I shall absolutely use my telephone to dial your number, and communicate with you”. Raul laughed, handed Sam my phone, and went back to serve some patrons.

Dean began leading me towards the door. “Wait… what’s happening?”, I asked. “I’m taking you home”, Dean said. “No, you absolutely are not”, I said; trying to push him off me. “Yes, I am. You can hardly stand”. “Can hardly stand you!”, I said. “Hey. I’m funny. Hi Sam!”. I grinned at the younger brother again. “Hi Lulu. Why don’t you give us your address…”. I shook my head. “Nope. Not happening”, I said. “But come here, and I’ll whisper it”.

Same came up close to me and Dean, and leaned his head down to my mouth to listen. “I drive myself crazy, drive myself crazy – thinking of you!”, I sang loudly into his ear. Dean frowned. “Ok, let’s just go”. In a swift move, he pulled me over his shoulder, so my head was upside down, looking at his backside. “Sir, has anyone ever told you that you have a nice butt?”, I laughed.

Dean carried me towards the door; and Sam opened it for us. I began slapping Deans bottom. “I can walk, Mr. Osbourne!”, I yelled, before pocking at one of his butt cheeks through his jeans. “It’s also very firm”.

I was transported over to the black Impala, and deposited in the backseat. “This car doesn’t have seatbelts. That’s not very safe”. “I won’t tell, if you don’t”, Dean grunted. “Sam get in the back with her, so she doesn’t try to get out”. “I’m being kidnapped!”, I giggled; and leaned against Sam as he entered the car next to me. I poked at his chest. “You’re also very firm. But Dean has nice eyes. I like his eyes. Do you like his eyes?”. Dean got in the driver’s seat, and looked at us in the mirror. “See? Nice eyes…”, I breathed. “Yes, Dean has… nice eyes”, Sam smiled.

I sighed, as Dean started up the car; and drove us down the road. “But he broke my heart… did you know that?”, I said. Deans eyes met mine in the mirror. They were pained.

Then everything went dark.

---

I woke up in a bed that wasn’t mine. My mouth felt like it was full of cotton; and I blinked a few times. The room was brightly colored, in turquoise shades; hurting my eyes.

“Good morning, Coyote Ugly”, a dark voice said. I looked in the direction of the voice. Dean was looking at me, from where he was seated in a chair by a table. “I don’t live here…”, I croaked. “No… We do. For now”. “This is your motel?”, I asked. “Yup”, he said, and came over to me; holding out a glass of some rancid smelling liquid. “Hair of the dog?”. I sat up. “What is that?” Dean shrugged. “Alka-Seltzer; Gatorade; a crushed-up Advil – and some charcoal”. He put the glass on the bedside table. “Trust me. It works. Cured my case of the clap”.

I groaned. “Sorry… I guess I said a lot of things last night; up until I blacked out”. “And after”, Dean muttered. I frowned, and grabbed the glass; holding my nose as I drank it. “That is… vile”, I said. “Sam’s getting coffee. Should take away the taste”, Dean said. I sighed. “Right… Sam”. “Yeah. You remember… the guy with the firm chest?”, Dean smirked. I shook my head. “Please, don’t… I’m already embarrassed enough as it is”.

Dean nodded. “You should call your boyfriend”, he muttered. I looked down. “He’s not my boyfriend”, I said quietly. Dean gave me a cold look. “Whatever. Your manfriend, then”.

Dean sat down, and began rifling through some papers – looking out the corner of his eye at me. “How are you feeling”, he said, before clearing his throat. I looked under the covers. “Well, I’m still wearing pants… so that’s an upside”. “You thought we’d undress you?”, Dean frowned. “I don’t know… there are a lot of things I thought you wouldn’t do…”. “Like what?”, He asked. I shrugged. “Come back from the dead, comes to mind”. Dean clenched his jaw. “About that…”.

The door opened. “I got the coffee. She awake?”. Sam stepped inside, and saw me sitting upright. “Great! And no one’s dead yet. That’s good”. “I wouldn’t kill her”, Dean muttered. “She might kill you… and me”, Sam retorted. I narrowed my eyes at the man. “I’m still considering it”, I muttered. “You could drop me off at my place. I could get Dean’s gun…”. Dean threw up his hands in the air. “So that’s where it is”, he said exasperatedly. “Thanks for telling me, Sammy!”. “You said you didn’t want to… you know”, Sam said quietly, nodding his head in my direction. I got out of the bed. “Didn’t want to what?”, I asked. “Nothing”, Dean grunted.

Sam handed me a donut. “Breakfast?”, his voice broke. I shook my head. “Where’s my purse? I need my phone”. Sam handed me my phone. “Your purse is probably still at the bar”, he muttered. “Sorry. We were in a rush”. “I could tell”, I said; dialing up Raul.

“Hola, Lolita!”, his cheery voice rang through. “Threesome go well?”. “No… nothing like that”, I muttered. “Those guys were smoking… too bad. But you’re alive and well”, he said. “I am”, I said. “I have your purse, mami. Give it to you at the bar later?”. “No, babe. I need it now”.

Dean looked up at me, and frowned.

“Right, your keys. You probably need a shower”, Raul said. “Can I come over?”, I asked. “I… have a guest”, Raul said. “Handsy guy turned out to be showing off for his friends… he apparently prefers beards over breasts”, Raul chuckled. “I’ll be right there, baby”, he called to someone in the back. “That sounds… hot”, I grinned.

Dean cleared his throat, and took a deep sip of his coffee. I met his eyes, and couldn’t help but smile. Sam was seemingly pretending like he wasn’t even in the room.

“Raul, please…”, I pleaded. He sighed. “Ok, come over. Just gotta get rid of the hangaround. 30 minutes?”. “Yes. Thanks. See you then”. I hung up, and looked at Dean.

“Could you… maybe give me a ride? I need to get my purse from Raul”, I asked timidly. He stood up, and grabbed his keys from the table. “Sure…”, he muttered. We went towards the door. “Sammy, keep looking. There has to be something”. “Yeah”, Sam said. “It was good seeing you, Lulu”, he tried. I gave him a crooked smile. “I… wish I could say the same”, I whispered; and followed Dean out the door.

---

Giving Dean the address to Raul’s place; I got in the passenger seat next to him – and he drove us out of the motel parking lot. For a good while, we were quiet. Dean turned on the radio; probably trying to end the silence. “Bon Jovi?”, I muttered, as Livin’ on a Prayer began playing. “Rocks on occasion”, he grunted. “Sure does”, I said.

He gazed over at me for a second. “How have you been?”, he asked. “You really wanna know?”, I croaked. He shrugged. “Sure… You seem like you’re doing ok. But no more teaching?”. I smiled. “Couldn’t face dealing with another nightmare-inducing principal”. He chuckled. “I get that”, he said. “So, no more nightmares?”. Save for the one where you leave me, and never come back, I thought. “No”, I lied. “Just the usual… Naked in the middle of a busy street… clowns… that sort of thing”. He nodded. “You naked isn’t my idea of a nightmare, but ok…”.

“Don’t…”, I whispered. He clenched his jaw. “Sorry”, he said, eyes focused on the road. “I guess I didn’t realize…”. “Yes, you did”, I rasped. “That’s why you left before we could get serious. At least that’s what you said, then”. “Meant it”, he grunted. “Yeah?”, I rasped. “Then why didn’t you let me know? Or have Sam let me know?”. The front seat of the Impala suddenly seemed very broad; like there was a mile between us.

Dean swallowed hard. “That place I came back from…”, he began. “So you did come back? You didn’t just ditch me, and pretend to die?”. He looked angrily at me. “Would you let me finish?”, he growled. “And besides, Sam came to see you when I died, didn’t he? You were together… a week, right?”. I let out a scoffing breath. “You think… that’s why you were so short with him”. Dean didn’t answer. “Dean… Sam and me…”. “I don’t wanna hear it, Lou”, he grunted.

I controlled myself; before glaring at him. “Sam showed up at my apartment, a week after you died”, I said. “I said, I don’t…”, he tried. “You’re going to!”, I snarled. “He was a mess – and so was I. We spent a week taking turns getting drunk and crying. When he slept, I watched over him, and vice versa. I was heartbroken, Dean! And so was he…”. Dean looked at me from the corner of his eye. “But we never… That wasn’t even a… no”. In the end, my voice broke, and a tear betrayed me – slipping down my cheek. I quickly dried it away. “Sorry”, Dean muttered. “We’re here”, I whispered; and gestured at Raul’s building.

Dean pulled over, and I got out of the car. Before I closed the door to the Impala, I looked at him. “I remember what I said last night”, I said. “That you broke my heart… And you did. Twice. First, when you left me like you did – after everything that happened… The second time was when I found out that you’d lied”. He frowned. “When did I lie?”. “When you told me what we had was real”, I croaked. “If it was, you would have let me know”.

I closed the car door; and walked away – rushing to get inside the building. I ran up the stairs; and knocked on Raul’s door. He opened within seconds. “Hey, Lolita!”, he grinned; wearing nothing but a pair of sweatpants. He looked at my face, and instantly frowned. “What happened?”. “Nothing”, I croaked.

Raul threw his arms around me, and I buried my face in his chest. “Oh, mami. I’m so sorry”, he whispered into my hair. “I’m so, so sorry…”. I held on tightly to him.

“Lulu!”, someone called from behind me. Turned my face away from Raul’s chest, and saw Dean – lips parted, and eyes sad – before his expression turned sour. “Just… wanted to make sure you got in safe. “You should leave, man”, Raul grunted. “Come on, Lolita”, he muttered, and pulled me into the apartment; closing the door behind us.

---

As Raul’s place was closer to Buddie’s than mine was, I kept some spare clothes there, when nights at the bar turned crazy, and I didn’t want to go home. I often stayed on my friend’s couch; especially after some weirdo or other wouldn’t leave me alone at work.

After a spending the day curled up on his couch, the bartender handed me a mug. “Spiked it”, he smiled; as I smelled the luscious cocoa, he’d made me. “Thanks”, I smiled, and drank from the mug. “You feeling better?”, he asked, and stroked my cheek. I sighed. “I’m… much better, yeah”, I said. “Just needed it out of my system”. Raul drew his lips back in a snarl. “I should have kicked his ass”, he said. I shook my head. “It’s fine… But you mind if I take a swing at your punching bag?”. His face lit up. “Go ahead! You know where it is”.

I went into Raul’s bedroom; and walked over to the large red bag hanging in the corner. Fisting my hands, I began punching at it, hard. I lifted my leg, and kicked at it; making it slam against the wall. “Easy, mami”, Raul smiled from the doorway. “I want to be able to get my deposit back one day”. “Sorry”, I chuckled.

Raul put on some protective pads; and stepped over to me. “You got this”, he said. “Remember? Punch, punch, knee”. I struck first at Raul’s face, then his torso – while he covered himself from the blows with the pads – and finally put my knee against the pad he held in front of his groin. “Good. Again. Punch… punch… knee!”, he said. “Yes! Now what do we say to bad ex-boyfriends?”. “Not today!”, I yelled, and laughed. “Good girl”, Raul grinned.

We trained for a few more minutes, before I felt like the alcohol sweat was getting to me, and stepped into the bathroom. I took a shower, and applied some makeup I kept in my purse, looking more or less like I hadn’t spent hours crying while watching TiVo’d RuPaul’s Drag Race with Raul. Stepping out of the bathroom; Raul handed me a fresh set of clothes. “It’s 90’s night. Thought you might want your flannel”.

I frowned when I looked down at the shirt, he’d given me. It was the one Dean had left at my old apartment. “You wear it”, I muttered. Raul shrugged. “Don’t mind if I do!”, he grinned, and put on the flannel.

I grabbed a dark grey tank top for myself, and a pair of tight jeans, ripped at the knees. “You got your combat boots in my closet”, Raul called over his shoulder, as he was doing his hair in the bathroom mirror. “I thought your closet was empty, babe”, I grinned. “For years, mami!”, he said.

I put on my booth, and joined him by the mirror, slapping his butt. “Blue Steel!”, I smiled, and we both contorted our faces into perfect Zoolander looks. “Tonight, we’re getting you laid, mami!”, Raul jeered. I laughed and shook my head. “I’m good; thanks”, I said. Raul grabbed my red lipstick from my purse, and grabbed my chin. “Stand still”, he ordered; and applied the color to my lips. “Perfect”, he said as he finished – pecking my lips chastely. “Let’s get to work”.

---

“What’s in your head? In your head? Zombie…”. The bass was heavy, and most of the patrons were headbanging to the music. I was running back and forth between the many costumers at the bar.

We had extra help that night – a few dropouts that had needed jobs where going between tables, taking orders. “We need a new keg!”, I called over the music. Raul nodded, and went in the back to grab one. “Megan! Table 5!”. I handed the young woman four beers on a tray.

Raul returned to the bar with the keg, and as I moved the nozzle to it; he began a conversation with a person I recognized. I sauntered over, and smirked at the man. “Talk to daddy’s lawyer yet?”. The blue-eyed man smiled embarrassedly. He held up his hand, which was bandaged after my work on it. “Yeah, sorry… That was rude”. “It really was”, I nodded. “But give me a nice tip, and we’ll move past it…”. Raul winked at the man. “He already gave me the…”. “No! Don’t wanna know”, I laughed, and walked away.

I handed another tray of beers to Megan. “Go on sweetie!”, I smiled. “Thanks… Lulu?”, she said. “Yup?”. Her pretty face was smiling brightly at me. “Thanks for convincing the owner to give me this gig. I really appreciate it”. “You’re doing great”, I grinned.

I grabbed a tray of cold ones myself, and walked towards the table who had ordered it. Someone grabbed my arm. I turned around, and stood face to face with one of the girls from the group of sorority sisters the night before; the one with the perfect skin and bright eyes. “Yes?”, I smiled. “I’m sorry. I was just wondering if you’d seen Terri around tonight…”, the girl said. I furrowed my brow. “Terri?”. “The blonde”, the girl said. “You know… the one with the…”. She made a gesture towards her chest. “Ah, yes. Her”, I said. “No, haven’t seen her”. The girl frowned. “She left with some guy last night… haven’t seen her since. She hasn’t called…”. I looked towards the table waiting for their drinks, and sighed. “Look, leave your number with Raul at the bar. If we see her, we’ll call, ok?”. The girl nodded, and walked off. I left the beers at the table, and slid the 20 they handed me into my pocket.

Back at the bar, Raul was still in deep conversation with the blue-eyed man. He seemed like he was trying to brush him off. “But we had something, dude!”, the guy was saying. “Sorry, baby. I have to get back to work”, Raul smiled; and went over to me, rolling his eyes. I pouted. “I think you broke his heart”. “He’ll get over it”, Raul shrugged. “You’re not gonna see him again?”, I asked. “You usually at least give a guy a couple of dates”. Raul cleared his throat, and looked uncomfortable. “He’s got… this thing”, he muttered. I chuckled. “What… Horns? A tail?”. Raul met my eyes. “Dude’s got a tail?”, I whispered with wide eyes. Raul grimaced. “It’s… a tiny one. But it was right in my line of sight”. I winced. “Yikes…”. “Yeah…”, Raul grumbled. “I’m gonna go get a case of Bud”.

I returned to the patrons at the bar; when suddenly I was face to face with Dean again. “Hi”, he muttered. Sam was standing behind him – looking like he’d rather be anywhere else. “Hey”, I said. Dean clenched his jaw a second. “We’re here on a case… not to hassle you”. I shrugged. “It’s fine”, I said; trying my best not to get lost in his intense stare. “So… what is it?”. He cleared his throat. “It’s… not something we can talk about with people around”, he said; and pulled a picture from his pocket. “This girl; you seen her?”.

Terri was giving me a million-dollar smile from the photo he was holding up. “Yeah she was here last night, remember?”, I said, raising a brow at him. A smile ghosted his face. “Yeah… She’s missing”. I frowned. “Her friend was here earlier, asking for her”, I said. “Probably the girl we talked to down at the college”, Sam said. A group of frat guys were waving at me from the other end of the bar. “Look, I have to go do my job”.

Raul reappeared from the basement; carrying a case of beer. “You let him wear my shirt?”, Dean snapped. “He’s stretching it, with all that… muscle!”. I shrugged. “Sorry… I can have him take it off”, I smirked. “But he’s got nothing on underneath; and it might cause a stir”. Dean frowned. “No… let him have it”. Sam cleared his throat. “We should get back to the case”. I nodded, and walked away.

Megan returned to the bar. “Can you take care of the frat guys over there?”, I asked. “I need some air”. “Sure thing!”, she grinned. I smiled at Raul, who gave me a knowing look; and I went towards the back door.

I closed the door behind me; and went to stand against the wall. I closed my eyes, and took a deep breath. I heard the door open and close again. “Really though? My gun and my shirt?”. I opened my eyes to see Dean looking at me with wide eyes. “I don’t want to do this. Please, Dean”, I said quietly. “Too bad, because I do”, he said; his brows raised in a serious expression. “You said a lot of things back there in the car… but you didn’t let me say anything”. I shrugged. “You didn’t seem to be in a chatty mood”. He stepped towards me; leaving less than a yard between us. “That was because I thought you and Sam… No, you know what? Never mind”. I shook my head. “No, you started this. Finish it!”, I sneered.

Dean took a deep breath; seemingly trying to restrain his anger. “I was in Hell, Lou”, he said. “The actual Hell”. My lips parted, and I drew in a short breath. “What do you mean?”, I whispered. “I mean; hellhounds dragged me downstairs, and demons tortured me – ripped me apart, and put me back together – every day for years”. Dean looked down, avoiding my eyes. “But… you weren’t gone for…”, I began. “Time works differently there”, he muttered. “After… a long time… I couldn’t deal with it anymore. I was offered a different position to being the demons’ favorite punching bag”.

I lifted my hand to reach for him; but he stepped backwards. It was as if he was afraid, I’d hurt him if I touched him – or he would hurt me. “I became a torturer myself… I was… good at my job”. “Dean…”, I croaked; and stepped towards him – putting my hand on his arm. He shrugged me off. “You shouldn’t…”, he said quietly. “It’s why I didn’t try to find you again… How could you ever…?”. He looked like the weight of the world – or Hell – was on his shoulders.

I put my hand back on his arm – this time he didn’t move; but he still wouldn’t meet my eyes. “That’s not you”, I said. “It is…”, he rasped. “I did those things. I tortured, and slashed and…”. “Stop…”, I whispered, and stepped closer to him; putting my other hand on his cheek. He finally met my eyes tentatively. “I didn’t want to hurt you… still don’t”, he said. “Who I am – what I’ve done… How could I ever be someone…?”.

I put both my arms around his waist, and held on tightly to him. After a moment; I felt his arms surround me; and he put his face into the crook of my neck. “I’m sorry, Dean”, I whispered. “I’m so sorry”. “No… I don’t deserve that”, he muttered. I shook my head, and looked at him – still holding him tight. “I’m sorry that happened to you”, I said. He furrowed his brow. “You sacrificed yourself for your brother. You are a good man”. “But I did those things…”, he said quietly. “Anyone in your place would have”, I said.

He pulled away from me. “If I could have stayed with you, I would have”, he muttered. I smiled. “No you wouldn’t. You have your job. You help people; and that’s not something you can do from one place”. He nodded, and cleared his throat. “But I would have stayed in touch. I really wanted us to… try”. “And now…?”, I rasped. Dean shook his head. “You have the MMA fighter in there…”. I chuckled. “Raul is gay, Dean”, I smiled. His eyes widened. “So, you two are…”. “Friends”, I said. Dean sighed deeply. “Well I’m an idiot!”, he chuckled. I shrugged. “You kind of are, yeah”, I grinned.

Dean stepped towards me again – and putting his hands on either side of my face – he leaned in; and kissed me. I grabbed his wrists, and put his arms around me – putting my own hands behind his head; running my fingers through his short hair. Dean suckled at my lower lip – gently stroking his tongue across it. I let out a soft moan. He pulled me even closer; before backing me against wall – leaving no space between us. My breath was growing ragged, and I let his tongue enter my mouth; as he ran a hand down to my hip, and pressed into me.

All space and time turned in to this. Me and Dean, colliding like comets, and exploding in passion – in a dirty alleyway behind a bar.

“Dean!”. Sam had come out to find his brother. “Wow… sorry. I didn’t mean to…”. He cleared his throat. Dean looked at his brother, and grinned. “Raul is gay!”, he said happily. Sam raised a confused brow. “Yeah I know. He’s spent the last 15 minutes flirting with me”, he said. “Look, dude, we still have a case to finish”.

Dean stepped back from me; and looked at me apologetically. “I need to…”. “Yeah”, I nodded. “I’m gonna call you!”, he said. “You still don’t have my number”, I chuckled. He licked his lip. “I may or may not have texted myself from your phone, while you were passed out last night”, he admitted with a smirk.

We reentered the bar, and the guys followed me over to the bar. I looked at Raul, and blushed. “What?”, I croaked. Dean looked at Raul with a big grin on his face. “That’s a really nice shirt, man!”, he said. Raul laughed. “Yeah, thanks. I like your lipstick!”. Dean rubbed his lips with the back of his hand; and looked at me with a crooked smile. I leaned over the bar, and grabbed his collar – leaving a short kiss on his lips. “I’ll see you around”, I said. “Yeah”, he smirked. I smiled at Sam, who chuckled at me. “See you, Lulu”, he said; and the brothers walked towards the exit.

I spent a moment regaining my wits. “Dean…”, Raul said; wiggling his brows. “I bet you’re really sorry he’s impotent”. “Shut up”, I chuckled. “Where’s Megan?”. Raul frowned. “Haven’t seen her for a while. Could you take this order?”. He handed me a tray, and I went to serve the table.

---

At 2 am I was finally home. My apartment in Denver was smaller than the one I’d had – just a studio – but it was nice; rustic. I had been able to afford a couple of pieces of second hand furniture – including a bed with a metal bar headboard; a small couch and armchair, with a coffee-table to go with it; a small kitchen table with some chairs; and a dresser. My clothes, books, tv, stereo, records and CDs where all I had brought with me – having left behind the furniture in my old place; wanting to avoid the memories of it.

My feet were tired, my shoulders were sore – but my heart was full. I looked at my phone to see if Dean had texted or called; and came across the text he’d sent his own phone. - Lou. I’m sorry. I know I’m the last person you expected to see. I wish things were different. Things were different now.

I was about to send him a text; when there was a knock at the door. It was late for guests, so I looked out the peep-hole to see who was there. With a smile, I immediately opened the door. “Hi”, Dean said; with a nervous look on his face. “How did you find this place?”, I asked. “You’re listed”, he smiled. “Do you want me to…”. “No!”, I interrupted him. “Come in…”.

Dean stepped in to the room, and looked around. I closed the door behind him. “This is… nice”, he said. “Thanks…”, I muttered. “It’s smaller, but I like it”. Dean moved around the room, taking it in. “I just came by to check you got home ok”. “No…”, I said. He frowned. “No?”. I smiled. “That’s not why you came”, I said. He nodded. “You’re right”.

An eternity passed – or just a second, I couldn’t tell – before, with two long steps, Dean wrapped me in his arms, and pressed his lips to mine. I ran my hands up his torso, and he pulled back from me; looking on in wonder, as I pushed his jacket off his shoulders, and down his arms – letting it drop to the floor.

Dean attacked my mouth again, and our tongues met at the same time our bodies did. I gasped, as Dean gently pulled at my lip with his teeth – gaging my reaction with intense green eyes. I pulled at his shirt, and he quickly pulled it off; discarding it somewhere over his shoulder – before tugging at the hem of my tank. “Tell me to stop”, he breathed against my mouth. “I’ll leave right away”. “No”, I rasped. “Don’t stop”. I lifted my arms in the air, and let him pull the fabric over my head.

He stepped backwards, and pulled off his own t-shirt. His torso was taut – trimmed, but not ripped. He was strong, I could tell – and remember – and I bit my lip as I looked him over. I stepped close to him again, and ran my fingertips from the amulet in his necklace, across his chest; ending up at a strange tattoo on his peck. Leaning in, I left a soft kiss on it, and gently licked a trail across his collarbone, and up his neck – feeling the stubble on his jaw meet my tongue. Dean drew in a short breath, and grabbed my hair; pulling my head back, so he could kiss me again.

Putting his hands on my thighs, he tapped them; telling me to jump. I giggled slightly, as he caught me; and I straddled his waist. Dean starred into my eyes with lust-blown pupils, and carried me towards the bed; letting his lips brush mine gently, as if to kiss me – then suddenly let go; dropping me onto the mattress.

He grinned down at me; before in a swift move pushing me to lie down, and crawling over me. For a moment he just looked at me. Then, he kissed my lips softly, and moved downwards, leaving a trail of kisses on my chin, my neck, my collarbone; and finally, one of each of my breasts, just where the lace met my skin. The stubble on his chin brushing against my skin, made my breath hitch. I slid my hands down his strong back; feeling his muscles flex under my touch. Dean’s hands where on my waist; and he looked up at me as his fingers travelled towards the button on my jeans – looking for consent. I bit my lip again, and nodded.

Sitting back on his knees – one of them between my legs – Dean opened the button, and then pulled down the zipper. He hooked his fingers into my waistband, and pulled my jeans down. I pulled myself backwards on the bed, so he could pull them off me. Nipping at both of my big toes, he pulled off my socks as well – and with a grin, he threw them over his shoulders, before bending down again, and kissing my knees. His lips left pecks up the inside of my thigh; and his warm breath there left me whimpering quietly, as my body stirred under him.

Dean moved upwards – the whole time looking into my eyes – pausing for a moment over the apex of my thighs, and parting his lips; licking the bottom one. I closed my eyes and put my head back on the pillow. Deans warm breath over my core was enough to make my walls quake. Suddenly he was over me again, kissing my lips. “Tease…”, I smiled against his lips. “You know it”, he said; and flicked my lips with his tongue. I threw my arms around him, and kissed him passionately – pushing his shoulder with one hand, to get him to roll onto his back. Dean obliged, and I straddled his waist – crawling backwards on my knees, so I could open his belt and the button of his jeans – as he looked on in wonder. Before I could finish the job, he sat up; and with a swift move, he unhooked my bra.

“You’ve had practice”, I chuckled. “Susan Farrow?”. He shrugged with a smug smile. Dean pulled at my bra straps, taking off the garment slowly – looking at my chest as he unveiled my mounds. He let out a soft “Oh… wow…”, as my breasts came in to view. I laughed softly, and took his hand to place it one of my mounds. He squeezed it gently, and looked into my eyes again. I parted my lips and drew in a hard breath, when he let his thumb graze over my nipple. Using his index finger as well, he pulled gently at it – leaving it erect. He used his other hand to do the same on my other bud. Moving his hands to my back, he rolled me onto my back again, and got off the bed, finally taking of his pants, boots and socks – leaving him in his boxers.

Dean Winchester was not impotent. The stretched fabric on the front of his underwear gave that away very clearly. I raised my brow at the sight, and let out a pleased breath. Dean shrugged – once again looking quite pleased with himself. He knew exactly how good looking he was.

I sat up and took his hand; pulling him down over me again. This time he didn’t play around. He pushed me to lay down against the pillow – and sucked gently at my nipple – before moving down to my panties, and pulling them off me. Lifting my knee, he put it over his shoulder – gave me a quick smirk – before brushing his lips over my lower ones. “Oh!”, I gasped, as he gently blew at my nub. “This ok?”, he breathed. “Uh huh…”, I moaned.

Dean kissed my bundle off nerves, and then licked over my labia with a flat tongue. His index finger parted my lips and felt for my wetness – apparently striking gold from the sound of his chuckle. The finger entered me down to the knuckle, and bended upwards. I whimpered loudly. “You sure you don’t wanna just watch a movie?”, Dean grinned up at me. “Dean!”, I pleaded with a raspy voice. He chuckled again, and got back to work.

And some work that was. Dean added another finger, and moved them in and out of me – occasionally crooking them upwards – all while gently kissing my nub over and over. “Please…”, I croaked. He opened his mouth slightly, and sucked the little pebble into his mouth; playing with it with the tip of his tongue.

I grasped at the covers underneath me, breathing raggedly; and cursing in a language I didn’t even know myself. Everything went white, as Deans fingers picked up speed, and he sucked at me harder. “Come on, baby”, he breathed; and sucked my nub into his mouth again. His fingers pressed hard upwards – and suddenly I was flying; soaring above the bed as I came. Dean kept going, and I looked down at him, meeting his mischievous eyes. He was going to draw this out. His fingers continued their attack, and his mouth wouldn’t let go off me. I tried to pull backwards – not sure how much more I could take – but he used his free arm to wrap over my thigh and hip, and held me fast against his face.

“I… can’t…”, I sobbed; when suddenly my walls quivered even harder, and it felt like I exploded into tiny little atoms. Every part of me was on fire, and my body convulsed under Dean. I realized then, that what I had felt before was not an orgasm. This was an orgasm – and the most intense one I’d ever had to boot. I cried out my pleasure, and – finally – Dean relented; letting go of me from his lips, and gently withdrawing his fingers from my still throbbing core.

He came up to lay next to me, putting his arm over my belly. “You still with me?”, he chuckled. “No…”, I croaked. “You know, you say that a lot”, he grinned; and pulled me close to him. I felt his erection poke at my thigh. “Don’t worry about it. Come down to earth first”, he said softly. I nodded. “Wow…”, I said. “That was… something else”. “I know”, Dean smirked. “You are so full of yourself!”, I chuckled.

Finally feeling by body relax, I stroked his cheek; and leaned in to kiss him again. As he pulled himself to lay halfway over me, I put one arm around his back, holding him close – while my other hand travelled down his torso. My fingertips grazed over the tip of his member; and he gasped softly. “I haven’t even touched you yet”, I smiled. “I don’t need you to touch me to feel the way I do right now”, he breathed. “It’s enough when you just look at me”. “Well, I’m not satisfied with just looking”, I said, and kissed him passionately, as I put my hand under the waistband of his boxers, and grabbed his hardness.

I stroked him gently – once in a while applying a bit of pleasure – as he just looked into my eyes. “If you could just do that forever, that would be great”, he croaked. “Really?”, I asked, and nibbled at his lower lip while he whimpered from my touch. “There’s nothing else you’d like to do?”. Darkness ghosted his face, and he quickly pulled off his underwear, and placed himself between my legs. “Hard or soft?”, he almost growled. “Anyway you want it, that’s the way you need it…”, I said quietly. He looked at me in amazement. “Where have they been hiding you?”, he asked. His penis probed my entrance, and using his hand to guide it; he pushed inside me with a agonizingly slow movement. He let me adjust to him for a moment, before – with a soft smile – he began moving.

I lifted one leg and wrapped it around his hips, pulling him towards me. We moved together slowly, stroking every inch of skin we could reach on the other’s body. Kissing my lips gently; I ran my nails down his back – letting him know that what he was doing to me was heavenly. “Lou… you’re gonna make this end much sooner than I’d like it to”, Dean warned me. I skimmed his arms with my nails, and raised a brow at him. “That’s it”, he said with a chiding tone.

With a swift move of Deans hips and his strong arms, I was suddenly on top. “Really?”, I smiled. “Now I have all the control”. “That’s what you think, sweetheart”, he smirked, sat up and caught my wrists; pinning them behind my back.

With his free hand, he grabbed my hip, and began controlling their movements. I struggled against his grip, which made my chest arch forwards; and Dean caught my nipple in his mouth – sucking at it. I grinded against him; and we moaned together – both smiling at the pleasure the other brought us. “You feel… awesome”, Dean gasped against my lips; catching me in another kiss. His hardness inside me – filling my insides perfectly – and the way my grinding caused friction to my clitoris; drew me closer to a second climax. I buried my face in the crook of his neck; and he finally let go of my wrists – letting me embrace him.

My newfound freedom let me move differently, and I began raising and lowering myself on his member – drawing even more wanton noises from his lips. My hands were in his hair, his were on my bottom; helping me rise and fall with his strong arms. “I need to…”, Dean croaked; and flipped us over again – placing my leg over his shoulder. The new angle immediately made me see stars, as the head of his penis rubbed at that special spot inside of me, his fingers had found before – every time he pulled back, and thrusted back inside me again.

Dean picked up the pace; and his breathing grew erratic. My tunnel was clenching around him more and more forcefully, until I finally cried out my climax. Deans brow furrowed. He was desperately trying to hold back; and quickly losing the battle. “Can I…?”, he croaked. I nodded fervently. With a few more hard thrusts; he came undone inside me. I pulled my knee down from his shoulder, and wrapped both my legs and arms around him, as he let go. Finally, he relaxed on top of me. I kissed him gently, and we smiled at each other. “Hi…”, he breathed; looking at me with hazy eyes. “Hey”, I chuckled.

Dean gently pulled out of me, and laid himself next to me; pulling me close, and kissing my shoulder. After a while of just cuddling, and looking at each other; nature called. “I have to…”, I muttered, and pulled out of his arms, as he groaned in annoyance. “Just… give me a few minutes. I’ll be back… Unless you wanna join me in the shower?”. His brows raised in pleased surprise. “I could use a hose down”, he grinned. “Call me when you’re ready”.

I did a naked run to the bathroom; hurriedly finished my business, and washed my hands – before opening the door to call for Dean.

In the middle of the room stood a broody looking man in a beige trench coat. “Jesus Christ!”, I yelped. “Not quite”, the man said with a disinterested voice.

---

[ghosthouses27]

Walk The Red Carpet

Summary: Techno and Dream get invited to a thing and proceed to fangirl

(warning: shenanigans and the writing quality slowly deteriorates but don't mind that-)

  ~*~

"Aww that sucks," Sapnap whined, making a pouty face. "Will we be able to watch though?"

"Yeah I'm sure you will," Dream reassured, glancing back at his letter. "I don't see why they would do a big tournament without filming it for clout."

"Don't be sound so down Sapnap," Bad chided. "This is a big opportunity for Dream, we should be happy!"

Sapnap sighed, leaning against his hand. "Yeah I know, I just wish we could do it with him too..."

"What'd you say it was called again?" George asked, tilting his head. "Something like the legendary tournament?"

Dream flicked his letter onto the table so the three could read it. "The Tournament of Legends," he replied. "It's kinda like Minecraft Monday but like, better." He gestured his hand vaguely.

Bad glanced at the letter and his eyes widened. "Oh this!"

Dream raised an eyebrow. "You've heard about it?"

"Yeah! Techno was telling me and Skeppy about it!" He sat up and grabbed the paper. "It's also all over twitter, bunch of big minecrafters are gonna be in it apparently."

"Ohhhh so that's what Sparklez was vague-posting about," Sapnap commented.

"Wait, Captain Sparklez is gonna be there?" Dream's eyes widened and he leaned forward in his seat. "Do you know any of the other contestants? Er, besides Techno and Sparkles of course."

Sapnap rested his head in his arms, staring up at Dream with tired eyes. "Dunno really who they were but Antvenom, Skydoesminecraft, DanTDM, some other big shots."

"I think iBallisticsquid's gonna be in it," George commented, leaning against the wall. "You know, the one Techno was with in Minecraft Monday? And Stampy's friend? Yeah I think I saw him talking about it on twitter."

Bad looked up from the letter. "Oh gosh, he's really good," the shorter mumbled. "I mean, he and Techno won Minecraft Monday! Maybe he's even better than you Dream," he added in a teasing tone.

Dream groaned and leaned his elbows on the table, shoving his face into his hands. "Wouldn't be surprised honestly..." he muttered. "Only reason Techno didn't completely dominate MCM is because they kept giving him crap teammates; if him and Squid actually won then he's gotta be crazy good..."

Sapnap gave an amused hum. "Back in the old days when Techno actually go along with squids," he mused, gaining a chuckle from Bad.

"Don't worry Dream, I'm sure you'll do great," George reassured.

"It's not that I'm worried about!" Dream groaned again and banged his head on the table, folding his arms on top. "I'm gonna have to compete with what, minecraft legends?! I can't do that! That's like kicking your own role model!"

Bad's expression changed to concern and he sat down next to Dream. "If you're really nervous Dream, maybe you could call Techno about it," he suggested, putting a comforting hand on his shoulder.

"Maybe some smack talk'll calm ya down," Sapnap said, his voice slightly muffled by his arms.

"Yeah maybe," Dream agreed, wearily lifting his head. He grabbed his phone and quickly dialed the number, leaning against his arm.

"Hello?" Techno's typical monotone voice said from the other side.

"Hey Techno," Dream sighed. "Could I like, talk you about the tournament thing? I'm hella stressed about it."

There was silence for a moment before Techno spoke again. "Honestly same." There was a distant yell in background Dream couldn't make out and Techno yelled back, "Wilbur shut up I'm on the phone."

Dream chuckled. "Tell Wilbur I said hi."

"SUCK IT GREEN BOY!" Wilbur's voice screeched in the background.

Techno audibly sighed over the line, making Dream wheeze. "Anyway, you were saying about the tournament?" he asked. "Tommy was yelling about DanTDM or someone joining which isn't helping my stress much."

"Same, Sapnap and George and Bad told me the same." Dream sighed and dragged a hand down his face. "It sounds like there's gonna be like every big league minecrafter there... Although, I heard Ballistic Squid was gonna in it so at least you know one person."

"Oh! Preston's gonna be there too!" Bad added from the side. "PrestonPlayz? Skeppy's friends with him!"

"Oh god Preston," Techno muttered from the other side. "He's way too energetic for my liking."

"Well at least there's another person we know," Dream muttered. "Or uh, kinda know."

"I think half of the people are gonna be from Minecraft Monday, so I don't know how much they're gonna like me..."

"They'll like you just fine," Dream reassured, running a hand through his messy hair. "I'm sure this'll be way better than MCM, I mean I feel like anything's better than Keemstar at this point." He chuckled.

Techno sighed again. "Yeah maybe," he said. "I'm praying they do or else the whole tournament might be a bit awkward for me."

"DID I HEAR KEEMSTAR?!" Wilbur's voice yelled in the background.

"WILBUR SHUT UP!"

"KEEMSTAR CAN SUCK IT!"

"WILBUR I SAID SHUT UP I'M ON THE PHONE!"

"OOOOH WHO YA TALKING TO?!" Tommy's voice yelled.

Techno groaned and facepalmed. "Sorry Dream," he grumbled. "Can I call you back in a bit? I gotta go beat two nerds."

Dream wheezed. "Yeah sure man. See ya."

"See ya."

The line clicked dead and Dream shoved his phone back into his pocket, leaning against his hand again.

"Any reassurance?" Bad asked with a soft smile. "I heard some uh, yelling...?"

"Yeah, Wilbur and Tommy were yelling in the background."

"Noisy child," George mumbled, making Dream wheeze.

Sapnap raised his head. "Wait when's the thing again?" he asked.

Bad glanced at the letter on the table. "Uhhh, next week I think," he said, nudging his glasses back up. "Oh that's actually pretty soon. You can go to the arena thing before the even though so that's good."

"Wait can we go see the arena?" Sapnap asked, jolting up in his seat. "Like right now? I wanna see it right now that sounds cool okay let's go-"

"SAPNAP!" George yelped at the raven-haired who was starting to get ahead of himself.

"We could go see!" Bad suggested. He glanced over at Dream who had gone back to idly staring at the letter. "You wanna go Dream? Maybe It'll calm your nerves to go outside?"

"Yeah sure whatever..."

The group swiftly left to the server IP and was greeted with what look like a campsite overgrown with vines and tall trees. Sapnap almost immediately slammed into a tree but Bad thankfully yanked him back in time.

"You can't stay out of trouble for one minute," George chided, giving him a glare.

"It's not my fault they put so many trees in the spawn area!" Sapnap exclaimed, elbowing him in the ribs and glaring back.

"It's your fault for running into them."

"I SPAWNED IN ONE WHAT DO YOU WANT FROM ME?!"

"TO NOT SPAWN IN ONE!"

"WELL TELL ME HOW TO DO THAT MISTER MASTER CODER!"

"Guys!" Dream stepped between them, glancing at both with a warning glare. "We just got here, don't cause a scene."

"Yet," Sapnap muttered, earning a hard nudge from George.

"Uh, hello?" a voice said. A red-head in a black and gray striped sweater stepped out from behind the thick cluster of trees, untangling his gold "Z" necklace from some leaves. "Oh hey there. You guys must be part of the tournament right?"

"Actually it's just him," George replied, gesturing to Dream who smiled nervously. "We're just his friends."

There was a crash behind the red-head and a yelp. "WHY'RE THERE SO MANY TREES?!" someone yelled, another crash follow their words. "NO ONE NEEDS THIS MUCH OXYGEN!"

The red-head stared blankly at the trees, not even trying to help whoever had clearly crashed into something. "You better be joking Ross or I swear."

A man in a gray hoodie stumbled out from the undergrowth, twigs tangled in his scarf and glasses in his hand. He turned to the red-head, putting his glasses back on and shaking some of the leaves out of his silver hair. "Well there's like... five people here-"

"Six."

"Six people here, so we only need like six trees."

The red-head shook his head and sighed. "I swear to fucking god Ross..."

"Oh hey!" Ross glanced over at the Dream Team and Bad who were watching their argument. "Max there's other people!"

"Yeah I can see that," Max replied in a sarcastic tone that could rival Techno's. "Hi, I'm Max or Mithzan. That's Ross."

"Yourpalross reporting for duty!" Ross exclaimed, making a hasty salute.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Bad, that's George, that's Sapnap, and that's Dream!" Bad introduced, gesturing to each of them as he listed them off. "Dream's the only one who's actually supposed to be here though."

Max looked the blond up and down, and smirked. "So we're gonna be competing with you," he commented. "You look a bit... hard of seeing but alright."

"Oh uh this?" Dream gestured to his mask. "No I can see just fine, it doesn't like, actually really do anything."

"You kinda look like slenderman," Ross commented, still picking twigs out of his silver hair.

"Actually yeah you kinda do," Sapnap added, turning to Dream and squinting. "I think it's the height."

"HEYYYYYY!"

Dream had no time to react as a girl with long black hair jumped down from the trees, completely knocking over Max and making them both collapse on the ground.

"JESS!" Max shoved the girl off and scrambled to his feet, brushing leaf mulch from his sweater.

The girl laughed, a bright smile on her face. "Ohhh, sorry Max but I had to cushion my fall!" she explained, taking Ross' hand and getting to her feet. "You understand right?"

Max glared at her. "NO I DON'T FUCKING "UNDERSTAND" YOU JUST FUCKING JUMPED ON ME!"

"Oh! Hello fellow competitors!" the girl exclaimed, waving at the group. "I'm Aphmau! Or Aph, or Jess, whatever works!"

"Are you okay?" Bad asked worriedly to Max who was still grumbling to himself.

"Yeah yeah," Max muttered.

"Hey did you know there's a portal room?" Aphmau pointed to one part of the cluster of trees. "Over there is like, a hallway with a bunch of portals! They're like nether portals but in rainbow colors!"

Ross looked up from fidgeting with his scarf. "Oh yeah I saw those earlier. They looked like they got dipped in skittles."

"What?! Why didn't you tell me?!" Max snapped, turning to glare at him.

"You didn't ask!"

George glanced over in the direction Aphmau had pointed it. "Should we go check it out?"

"Sure," Sapnap shrugged. "Better than standing around doing nothing."

The group headed over and found a hallway that looked similar to the Minecraft Storymode portal room. Ross almost immediately ran into the first portal, Jess barreling after him and shoving Max through as well.

"Guys there're signs," Bad said, pointing to the wooden signs hung above each portal. "They went through... the spleef one but there's a lot of others!"

"Oh hey there's parkour!" Sapnap bounded over to the pink portal with an orange frame and eagerly stepped in.

The portal flashed white and he was shoved back from it, the portal rippling like the ocean. Sapnap frowned and turned to the green portal beside it, sticking his arm straight through it. It flashed white as well and he was pushed away once more.

"What the hell? I can't go in!"

George raised an eyebrow suspiciously and reached out to touch the orange and pink. The same thing happened to him and he was pushed back into Bad, nearly knocking both of them over.

"Ah! Careful George!" Bad yelped. "What the fudge happened?!"

"I don't know!" George glanced back at the portals which rippled tauntingly in front of him. "Maybe we can't go in yet? But that doesn't make sense because the Jess and her friends went in-"

Dream stepped forward and cautiously pressed his hand through green portal. He flashed green for a moment and then disappeared from view of his friends. His vision went white and faded as quickly as it came, his feet crunching on the gravel suddenly below him.

Shading his eyes with one hand, he glanced up to see a pile of chest in front of him, surrounded by gravel and rocky ground. A blond in a dark blue hat with ear flaps stumbled by and fell at his feet, wood axe resting against him.

He stared at Dream and gave him an apologetic smile. "Oops! Sorry mate!" he said with a british accent even more distinct than George's. "Didn't see you there!"

"Sorry!" a brunette in an orange cat-eared hoodie called, waving over at Dream with a stone sword in his hand. Dream recognized them almost immediately but didn't say a word about it.

"Uh, it's fine," he said awkwardly, stepping backwards to let the man stand back up. "I just spawned in anyways."

"Ah, so that's why I didn't see ya!"

Dream nodded and backed away, scurrying as far as could away from the other players without looking suspicious. He was also desperately trying to not have a nervous breakdown on the spot. He pulled out his communicator and quickly pulled up Discord, immediately calling his friends.

"Dream?!" George's panicked voice immediately flooded through his earpiece. "Where are you?! Are you okay?!"

"Dream where the hell did you go?!" Sapnap's voice practically screamed, making Dream wince and turn down the volume.

"Guys calm down I'm fine," Dream assured, silently thankful that no one around him could hear their yells. "I got just got teleported. I think these portals are for the tournament's games 'cause this looks like Hunger Games."

"Well the portal's sign did say Hunger Games," Bad piped up, giggling slightly.

He heard George audibly sigh. "God you're such an idiot- whatever, at least you're okay."

"Are you playing a round or something?" Sapnap asked.

"No I'm just kinda standing here. Some people are sparing though."

Bad gave a small hum. "Oh who?"

Dream hesitated for a moment before answering. "Well I think it's Squid, like iBallisticSquid, and uh... Stampylongnose...?" His voice went high at the end in a questioning tone but he knew it was because he just didn't want to believe it.

The call went silent until George spoke up. "A-are you sure...?" he asked hesitantly.

"Yeah I think so..." Dream muttered, glancing back at the duo who weren't really sparring but instead messing around. "I hope I'm wrong though..."

[makeste]

I was glad to see you enjoyed my Top 10 ask. You did mention you had a ranking for the arcs - would you do a ranking for them? Like, worst to best? (My guess (of the arcs you've finished): Internship arc, Hero Killer Arc, License Exam, USJ, Intro Arc, Culture Fest, Battle Trial, Pro-Hero arc, Final Exams, Sports Fest, Camino Ward, DvKp2; since you haven't liveblogged Joint Training Arc yet, no clue.) Just curious.

good morning evening everyone, and welcome to another Wednesday episode of “makeste tries to answer asks from two months ago while on the bus.” this one is a bit of an interesting challenge since it involves ranking and that always takes me a long time, but as you said, I did have an ongoing ranking of the arcs in my head, so we’ll see. at the very least the ones at the beginning and end shouldn’t be too hard, and you can probably guess them already. (in fact, you actually did.)

(ETA: yeah this took me two sittings to do, so I ended up posting it on the ride home lol. I just like BnHA you guys. almost as much as I like talking about how much I like it!)

okay so here goes.

14. Basement arc - yeah so let’s just go ahead and get this over with. this is the one and only BnHA arc that I actually dislike. fortunately it’s an outlier and suffered from a bunch of one-time issues, most of which stem from the fact that Horikoshi was apparently trying to write a longer and darker arc than usual. well he succeeded! and thankfully learned his lesson. and at least this arc gave us Eri and Mirio and some good Kirishima flashbacks and Chekov’s Quirk-Be-Gone bullets and the Highway to Hell. hopefully the anime can improve on the rest.

13. Provisional License arc - okay, so it might surprise a few people that this arc is all the way down here. let me explain. this is a perfectly fine arc, and I like it well enough, but it’s a bit longer than it needs to be, and not that much happens in it aside from our introduction to best boy Yoarashi Inasa, and the Great Toga Conspiracy (which is admittedly excellent). there are some great moments (Aoyama doing his best impression of “THE BEACONS ARE LIT” from RotK comes to mind), but overall it’s fairly forgettable, and it suffers from being placed directly in between my two absolute favorite arcs, which means I have a tendency to overlook it, which isn’t really the arc’s fault.

12. Hero Killer arc - this one is interesting because I really lost patience with it during my first read-through, but strangely enough when I watched it in the anime I actually really enjoyed it. it was also much shorter than I remembered. I’ve belatedly realized that reading it while doing commentary really slowed me down, because for the parts that I wasn’t feeling, doing the commentary took a long time and also left me dwelling on a lot of the things I didn’t like. but in actuality, Stain’s Annoying Rants aside, this is a pretty enjoyable arc full of Big Hero 6 flashbacks, hot revenge-driven Iida, Gran Torino’s introduction, Deku learning full cowl, Bakugou’s Best Jeanist internship, and Todoroki saving Deku and Iida’s lives by being glued to his phone when he really should have been paying attention to his own internship. get off that social media already Shouto.

11. USJ arc - this is a great arc, but it just feels small compared to everything that happens afterward. but it’s fun to look back on because there are lots of little hints for future developments to come. the traitor theory, for instance. and this is also our introduction to the League and to Tomura and the Noumu. and that final fight between All Might and the Noumu is still one of my favorite scenes in the whole series, especially in the anime. it’s so fucking good you guys. shit.

10. Intro arc - just FYI, I lump everything from the first chapter up until USJ into one arc since it’s easier. anyways, so this is roughly on the same level as USJ, but gets a slight edge because there are some iconic moments here. namely, the first chapter (which is still one of the best shounen intro chapters I’ve ever read, if not the best); Kacchan VS Deku 1; the entrance exam; and our introduction to the rest of class 1-A, particularly Ochako and Iida. oh, and Aizawa! gotta love how he starts out all ready to expel some bitches only to wind up falling in love with the whole class. fatherhood agrees with him.

9. Band AU arc - I actually love this arc. I just love all of the ones above it on the list a bit more, and I can’t really justify it being any higher than this. but it has The Band and the Babysitting Squad and Mirio being the best big brother in the world and Eri being just ridiculously, astonishingly cute. Gentle and La Brava are also great villains, if not quite my favorites. there are a few questionable plot holes in the arc, and it lacks any sort of big impact on the rest of the series, but it’s basically a canon filler arc and it’s so much fun and I can’t wait to see it animated.

8. Fanfic Lodge arc - you guys this arc started out so fucking cute and ended up so fucking tense. and this was our intro to the League of Villains proper, including Spinner, Twice, Tuxedo Mask, the prodigal Todoroki son, and my best girl Toga. Deku VS Muscular is still hard for me to read (his liiiiiiiimbs) but it’s one of Deku’s best moments regardless. and the angst at the end of the arc is almost unparalleled. god I love it.

7. Final Exam arc - a.k.a. the one where all the kids team up with each other to shoot their teachers in the fucking face. this arc has it all: Momo character development, Bakugou character development, TodoMomo, BakuDeku, and Aizawa being a total badass. (and All Might too, but he’s kind of overkill tbh. which is its own kind of awesome though.) there’s so much good stuff in this arc that this description is a bit vague because if I got any more specific we’d be here all day. it’s just a lot of good stuff that I like.

6. Joint Training arc - dudes I love this arc so much. class B and their array of ridiculously awesome quirks! class A and their impeccable teamwork! Bakugou joining the OFA Scooby Squad and showing off his new WIN AND RESCUE COMBO! Monoma! Shinsou!! SIXQUIRKS!!! god there’s so much great content.

5. Endeavorhawks arc - this arc would be even higher except that it’s a bit short (though it’s perfectly paced, so that might actually be a plus) and it doesn’t feature as many of my faves. but Hawks’s intro + our intro to The Great Noumu Conspiracy + Todoroki Family Drama + some of the best character development I’ve seen in a shounen manga (god I still can’t get over what a ballsy move it is to try and redeem Endeavor) = solid gold. and it’s so well done. and caps off with one of the best plot twists in the series to date, which sets up what promises to be one hell of an interesting arc later down the line. just. it’s so good. possibly the best-written arc to date, even if it doesn’t quite top my list.

4. My Villain Academia arc - and this isn’t even done yet!! and it’s still already this high!! Tomura flashbacks! Toga flashbacks! TOUYA FLASHBACKS???! (we’ll see??) creepy cults! my new favorite character One-Handed Giran, the biggest badass in the whole fucking series! worldbuilding for days! Dr. Robotnik! more Noumu shit! etc. etc. this arc has been non-stop goodness and I almost feel spoiled at this point.

3. Sports Festival arc - the most fun of all the arcs. I have rewatched the cavalry battle in the anime like a bazillion times. there used to be this show on Nickelodeon called Wild & Crazy Kids where kids teamed up for all these zany competitions (water balloons were usually involved), and I fucking loved that show, and parts of this arc kinda have that same kind of spirit. it’s just fun. and then to top it all off we have our Shouto character development, as well as Bakugou’s little character arc that he also has which is excellent. not to mention what is probably Ochako’s most badass moment to date. love it.

2. Kamino arc - guyyyys where do I even start? this arc is perfection. good VS evil. All Might taking a stand even when he’s got nothing left in the tank, because the world needs him and he won’t let them down. the sheer visceral terror of AFO’s introduction. my favorite character getting fucking kidnapped and being brave AF and his friends rallying to save him yesssss. and the reveal of All Might’s secret, which is arguably the most powerful scene in the series. I get chills every time. “my heart is still the heart of the symbol of peace.” if All Might had announced at that moment that he was starting a new religion I would have been like “yeah okay.” I would follow him to the ends of the earth. how can one man be that selfless and brave. anyways this arc is absolutely incredible and objectively one of the best in all of shounen.

1. Deku VS Kacchan Part 2 - nothing to see here, just two boys who’ve known each other since they were in diapers, who’ve done everything together and have always been together but have never actually understood each other until now. just the two of them finally opening up to each other, because the one who always tried to act so tough actually isn’t that tough, in truth, and in spite of everything, he trusts the other enough to let his guard down around him this one time. just two rivals, sorting out their shit and figuring out what it all really means. and their dad, helping to facilitate the whole thing because he knows that one day, somewhere down the road, this bond between them will mean absolutely everything. is this really even an arc?? it’s only like six chapters, and only one event actually takes place. but do I care?? yeah, no. Deku and Kacchan’s relationship is the series to me, so yeah. to me it counts as an arc. and not just any arc, but the best arc.

so there you have it! I hope I haven’t accidentally left something out lol. but this should hopefully be a pretty definitive list, at least for now. looking back at all of this really makes it sink in just how good of a story this is, though. damn.

[thinkingaboutyoungroyals]

Red String (3/4)

Summary: When T.J. was 8, he read a book about the Red Strings of Fate. And when he was 10, he started seeing strings EVERYWHERE.

A/N: I’ve always loved the idea of being connected to your soulmate with a Red String of Fate. I did a bit of research on them and I’ve read some manga that have it as a theme. So, I took some liberties on how it works here and I’m still figuring it out along the way but I hope I’m able to convey them in a justified manner.

A/N2: I thought I’d end this at 3 chapters but I wrote so much and it got too long so I figured I’d split it and give you guys one more chapter to look forward to after this one!

Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4

Chapter 3: Red String

Chapter 3: Red String

Since Andi was apparently wallowing in her own loneliness with Buffy gone, Cyrus was now spending more of his free time with T.J. Not that T.J. complained about it. He was happy to spend time with the other boy. Most of the time, they just walked each other to class or studied together.

The weather was still a little chilly but some days, it was warm enough to be outside and not freeze to death.

It was during one of those days that Cyrus invited T.J. to study and do homework on one of the picnic tables at the front of the school. The other boy had a history quiz coming up and T.J. was trying to do his Math homework.

After letting the school know about his case and getting assigned a specialized tutor for this dyscalculia, he had been doing… better. Still a long way from an A+ but Cyrus was proud every time he showed him a passing grade. A smiling and proud Cyrus always left T.J. with a warm tingle in his chest and it made him just want to work harder.

“Hey, Teej, do you have those notes from the last chapter?”

Not even looking up from the problem he was concentrating on, T.J. gestured with an elbow to his backpack on the table. “It’s in my bag. The blue notebook.”

“Thank you!”

The sounds of Cyrus rummaging through his things reached his ears but T.J. couldn’t tear his eyes off his homework. He was almost finished and he was sure he got most of it right. He would have to double-check the answers with his tutor but for once, he was confident about his work.

“This seems rather small for a history notebook.”

Immediately, the warning bells ran out in T.J.’s head and he looked up so fast that his neck almost broke.

“Underdog, wait-.”

But, it was too late. Cyrus had already opened the small notebook to the first page.

T.J. watched in horror as the smaller boy’s eyes widened as he read. He should have been more specific. His notebook where he wrote his observations on the Strings of Fate was also blue.

Now, Cyrus was going to think he was weird or crazy. He was going to distance himself from T.J. His blue string would disappear and T.J. didn’t know if he could handle that.

“Wow, this is fascinating,” Cyrus commented, raising his head to beam at T.J. “Did you write these?”

T.J. blinked, feeling confused yet relieved. “Um… sort of?”

“What are they, exactly?” Cyrus asked as he laid the notebook on top of the table, open on the first page. “The Strings of Fate?”

T.J. cleared his throat, putting his pencil down. “Well… when I was little, I read this book about the Red Strings of Fate. In Japan, they believe that people who are meant to be together are tied together with a red string. That no matter where they are in life, they will always find each other. I, uh, thought it was pretty cool.” He chuckled a little bitterly. “I even tried to string my parents together with a red string but they divorced, anyway.”

“Oh. I’m sorry to hear that.”

T.J. shrugged. “I’m over it. They’re better off as friends anyway.”

Cyrus looked down at the notebook. “You wrote about two other strings. Blue and black. Did you make them up?”

T.J. swallowed. “Um… In a way.” He left it at that.

Cyrus flipped to the next page. “I bet Andi and Jonah are tied with a red string,” he mumbled to himself.

Oh, they were, T.J. wanted to tell him. But, the string was so beaten and tattered that he knew that it would break any day now. And he could tell that their blue string was stronger, anyway, so they would always be friends. Plus, Andi had an extra red string, this one not as tattered as the other one, so that probably meant that she liked two people at the same time.

(That was a new thing, so T.J. had written it down in his notebook. Apparently, you can also have 2 strings for the same person, depending on their relationship. He added that to his notes, too.)

Meanwhile, Cyrus sounded so forlorn that it made T.J. want to reach out and hold his hand. But, he wasn’t sure if he was welcomed to do so. Instead, he gently tugged on the blue string around his pointer.

Cyrus looked up with a smile at him. “And I bet we have a blue string!” he piped.

It made T.J. smile, warmth flooding in his chest. “I’m sure we do,” he agreed.

“I wonder if I have a red string with anyone,” Cyrus wondered out loud, staring at his pinky.

His broken red string was hanging limply there. It looked shorter than T.J. last saw it. He wondered what that meant.

“Probably not, though,” the other boy continued, chuckling humorlessly.

T.J. wanted to protest, so badly, because Cyrus deserved an actual red string with someone, not a broken one. How can he not?! He was sweet and kind and was like a ray of sunshine to everyone he came across! That type of person deserved a real red string.

“Anyway, I think this would make a great theme for a mini-movie,” Cyrus continued, sounding excited now. “Did you know I write screenplays? My last one wasn’t so good though, so I almost gave up.”

No, T.J. did not know that but he liked learning new things about Cyrus.

“I can help you,” he blurted out without thinking.

He couldn’t take it back because Cyrus was beaming.

“Would you, really?! Oh my god, I gotta get started on the script, right away! And do my own research! Mind if I take pics?”

“Go ahead.”

While Cyrus enthusiastically snapped a photo of each page of T.J.’s notes, the jock couldn’t help himself from staring.

Cyrus didn’t think he was weird. He even wanted to work on a movie with him. T.J. had never worked on a movie or written a script before. But, if Cyrus wanted to make a movie out of T.J.’s secret ability, he was willing to learn how. Besides, it sounded like fun. And they would probably spend a lot more time together.

On the table, he spied his pink string spread all over his notebook.

..........

It was several days later that T.J. ran into Cyrus and Andi at The Spoon… with a trash can they claimed as Buffy. Well, they said it was a time capsule and the snarky side of him wanted to tell them it was a trash can, but he was trying to change so he held his tongue and played along.

Andi didn’t like him, he could tell, but once he apologized to time capsule Buffy, she allowed him to hang around. For that, he was grateful.

At some point, while Cyrus was discussing his woes with somersaults in gym class and T.J. offering to help him, Jonah came and Andi immediately left them to speak with him.

“So, how are you helping me with the somersaults?” Cyrus asked him.

T.J. grinned. “You’ll see.” He looked at the list of tasks Cyrus had texted him earlier. “You can’t finish a horror movie?”

“I can’t help it! I get nightmares!”

“Well, we can work on that next.”

“I-I don’t know if that’s a good idea-.”

“Hey, guys.”

Both looked up to see Jonah and a girl T.J. didn’t recognize, but he could clearly see the blue string that connected the two of them

Jonah had dragged a chair so he could sit at the head of the table and the girl slid into the booth next to Cyrus.

It was right then that things got awkward when Andi announced that she was no longer joining them and, quite literally, ran out of The Spoon. Her red string floated behind her, strained and close to breaking.

T.J. thought Jonah would run after her, but he stayed seated. And these two were connected by a red string?! No wonder it was so tattered! (Plus, her second one had disappeared, somehow.)

“I should… probably go too,” T.J. announced. “I have to go to work.”

At that, Cyrus looked legitimately frightened. His eyes were begging T.J. not to leave him. How cute.

“Wanna come with me?” he offered.

“Yes! Please!”

And, with that, they were off.

T.J. took him to the children’s gym where he worked part-time. His dad was friends with the owner and had offered him a job so he could stop asking his mom for things he wanted. He knew money was hard to come by in a single parent household, even with the monthly sustenance his dad sent.

Besides, he realized that he liked kids. They were pure and innocent and didn’t care about his reputation at the school. They just liked having fun and playing with him as their blue strings trailed around the gym.

Helping Cyrus learn how to somersault was a success because of the kids. They were so encouraging and cheered the boy on, even if he failed a few times. And T.J. could tell that Cyrus had fun.

An hour later, while the kids were taking their snack break, the two teens also took one of their own. They sat cross-legged on one of the gym mats, munching on fruit snacks and juice.

“Thanks for today,” Cyrus said to him.

“Anytime,” T.J. replied.

“And… sorry about what happened at The Spoon earlier.”

T.J. raised an eyebrow. “What do you mean?”

Cyrus made a face, his nose scrunching, cutely. “That whole… awkwardness with Jonah and Andi. And Natalie.”

So that was the other girl’s name.

“Yeah, about that… aren’t they together?”

Cyrus sighed. “Together. Not together. To be honest, I don’t really know anymore. They have a complicated relationship that I can’t explain with simple words.”

That explained the tattered string. It wasn’t well taken care of.

“Kind of makes me glad I’m not a part of it, now that I think about it,” Cyrus continued.

That was an odd thing to say.

“What do you mean by that?” T.J. asked.

Probably realizing what he said, Cyrus just smiled and shook his head. “It’s nothing. Don’t mind me. I just… realized something.”

T.J. was curious but he chose not to pry. Cyrus would tell him when he wanted to.

The other boy spent another half hour at the gym with him before deciding that it was time for him to head home.

He thanked T.J. for the afternoon, hugged all the kids goodbye, and headed out the door with lighter steps. Like a big weight just left his shoulders.

It wasn’t until Cyrus briefly turned back to wave one last time that T.J. realized that the other boy’s pinky was now empty and free of the broken red string.

…........

When Buffy came back, Cyrus plotted to make sure she and T.J. would talk again. And by talk, he meant play a one-on-one game. Basketball was the sole language they both spoke and Cyrus used that to his advantage.

And T.J. never felt so grateful that the boy was in his life.

After the game, when T.J. went to the locker room to get changed, he looked at his middle finger. The black string was still there but it looked thinner…weaker. One tiny snap and it would break completely. He hoped it would. He didn’t like the sight of that black string anymore. 

“I could forgive you,” Buffy stated as the three of them made their way out of the school. “But I don’t know if we could ever be friends.”

“What if he apologized?” Cyrus suggested.

“That better be the best apology ever.”

Cyrus looked at T.J., with belief and faith reflected in his soft brown eyes. “You could give it a shot.”

And give it a shot, T.J. did. The words were already written down, somewhere in his one of his notebooks. Maybe with a few edits to accommodate the knowledge that Buffy was going to start her own basketball team.

But, he hoped it was enough. He prayed it was enough. He was never good at apologies.

“…if you wanna change the world, then you gotta change the game.”

With that last rhyme, T.J. felt it. His middle finger felt lighter. And he knew that it was gone. The black string had disappeared.

Buffy had forgiven him and stopped seeing him as an enemy.

Beside her, Cyrus was staring at him, mouth open in proud disbelief. “Was that the best apology ever?” he stated.

“I think… maybe it was,” Buffy agreed.

“So, we’re good?” T.J. asked, apprehensive.

She smiled. “Yeah. I think we are.”

“Cool. I’ll see you around, then.”

He flashed Cyrus a brief look, thanking him for the help, before turning on his heels and walking away.

It was like a weight off his shoulder, a thorn removed from his chest. For the first time in so long, he felt… happy.

And the reason for that was… Cyrus.

He felt the string around his pinky pulling, like something was holding it back…or someone.

Slowly, T.J. briefly stopped in his tracks and turned around.

His almost-red string was longer than ever and it was floating in suspension between him and…Cyrus.

Their eyes met.

And, right then, T.J. knew.

That string belonged to Cyrus. It had always been Cyrus.

It had appeared the moment he met the boy. It gradually got longer the more time they spent together. And, now, his string was trying to pull him back…to bring him back to Cyrus… because Cyrus was his soulmate.

Flashing the boy one last smile, T.J. turned back around and forced his feet to walk away.

Their strings weren’t connected.

Not yet.

But, part of T.J. knew that it would only be a matter of time. If he continued making his way to the other boy’s heart, if he continued doing the right thing and become the person worthy of Cyrus, their red string would appear, too.

Of that, he was sure. 

Tag list:

@oreo-275  @mrsirwinson @imonlyhereforjoshuarush  @illbeyourreasonwhy  @completelysterling  @cytriclemon @luckyharmonydragon36245  @cxrus-kippen @booklove-2  @tyrusinarush  @luckyharmonydragon36245  @petra-dragneel  @i-am-confussion  @newlookcyguy (can’t seem to find your account so if this is you, please lmk if you changed your URL!) @admirablyamber  @hopeandbelieve5  @thedampjofangirl  @evaeselgreatests

[ridiculousn3sswrites]

One School

*Justin Laboy (21 Chump Street) x Reader

*Summary: The reader takes a break from telling her story, speculating about things to come, and finally gets to the moment Naomi asked for the drugs.

*Warnings: Mention of drugs? Does that count? Possibly swearing

*A/N: Part 2 of that Justin Laboy fic. I’ve been binging Law & Order lately and kinda forget to write... oops. This one is also way shorter than the last one, and I’m trying to do a part based on each song of the musical, so look forward to that!

Part One || Part Two || Part Three || Part Four || Part Five

Just as you were starting to doze off, images of your arrest and your story playing behind your eyelids, the door opened again. “(Y/n)?” The same man from before softly asked, making you slowly open your eyes. You saw a look of sympathy flash across his face, so you knew you must have looked tired. It was refreshing to see someone so expressive, especially when your arresting officers had been so crass the entire time.

“That’s my name,” you joked, smiling. You saw he had a fast food bag in his hand and a soda cup in the other, definitely a step up from the water and chips you’d requested. He placed the items down in front of you, motioning that you could eat if you wanted to.

“An apology for the lack earlier,” he explained as you opened the bag and found a burger and fries.

“Thank you,” you said, pulling out the food and flattening the bag so you could place the food on top of it. “Hey, do you mind if we just talk while I eat? Like, I’ll get back to my story, but I kinda want to ask some questions myself.”

“Of course,” he nodded, pulling out his notepad and pen from earlier. “What do you want to know?”

“Well, what’s Naomi’s real name?” You asked, eating a fry.

“I can’t tell you that,” he replied.

“Yeah, I figured you wouldn’t be able to, but I thought I’d give it a shot. You gotta protect your UCs, right?” You asked as a bit of a joke, but you knew it was true. Again, you’d watched enough Law & Order to know how these things go. “I’m gonna have to take a plea if the DA offers one, aren’t I?”

“That’d probably be the best option, but I’m not a lawyer,” the man told you with a bit of a shrug. “It wasn’t a lot, but you still sold.”

“I know. You know, I understand this entire thing. Like, politicians swear that high school is when all the kids are getting addicted to the hard stuff, but that’s not really the case. A lot of the time when high schoolers do drugs, they’re just trying to catch a high and chill, maybe get the munchies,” you said. “High school drugs are generally just pills and weed. Like, it’s crazy easy to get pills and weed if you know where to look.”

“You know the drug scene at your school, but you said they. Why is that?” He questioned gently, trying to make it seem like he wasn’t actually questioning you. You rolled your eyes at his poor attempt, but you knew he was just doing his job.

“I talk to people, I know some people that smoke. It’s not even that they’re bad people, they just enjoy the high. I also knew some people who deal, and that I found out on accident. You know, I walked into the bathroom at school during finals once and caught two girls about to smoke out. They just looked at me, offered me a hit, and wished me luck on my finals when I said no thanks. Anyways, I said they because I’ve never done drugs, and Naomi was the only reason for me dealing. I’m not even a dealer, she was the only reason they got me on that,” you explained. “You know, when I was waiting to make my statement, I started wondering about something.”

“And what would that be?” The man asked. He wasn’t really talking, just responding when it was necessary. You weren’t sure if you like that or not, but you did know that you liked this guy enough. He was nice, not too overbearing.

“I wondered if Naomi ever feels bad for doing stuff like this. Like, she would have set up Justin if I didn’t take the fall, and that would’ve been just because he liked her. It’s kinda messed up, especially since she started pushing the whole weed thing, asking Justin to get her some,” you said. “That’s part of the story, by the way.”

“You didn’t like Naomi, I’ll take it,” he encouraged you to continue.

“No, not really. She came in, charmed the dude I’d liked since freshman year, and then she wanted him to get in some major trouble for her. It didn’t feel right to me,” you admitted. “See, Justin has a future. He’s honor roll, works harder than anyone else I know, and got accepted into multiple colleges. I knew if he got caught with that weed, he would’ve thrown that all away.”

“What about your own future? Weren’t you worried about that?” he asked.

“I wasn’t planning on going to college anyways,” you told him. “I was going to take a gap year and then try to be a freelance photographer for magazines and stuff. If that didn’t work out, then I’d go to trade school.” Throughout the conversation, you’d been eating, and you’d finished about half of the food. You took a drink of the soda and contemplated whether you were ready to continue your story or not. “I think I’m ready to continue.”

“Go right ahead,” he prompted.

It had been nearly a week since Justin had asked Naomi to the prom. She’d been giving every excuse in the book: it was too expensive (which you weren’t arguing since you struggled to pay for yourself), she was just a transfer and wouldn’t feel comfortable with Justin’s friends, the list went on and on. You knew the spiel; it was the same one you used to avoid going to homecoming with someone you weren’t interested in. You were hanging out at Justin’s house when he got the text that set off your alarm. “Naomi just asked me if I smoke,” he said, not looking up from his phone.

“What?” You asked, tumbling from where you were sitting on his bed. “That’s sketch.”

“Yeah, she just asked if I smoke weed. What should I say?” he asked, looking for guidance. He’d been bummed lately since Naomi still hadn’t given him an answer, but anytime he talked to her he still held hope.

“You don’t, just tell her that,” you replied, going to sit back on the bed, book in hand. “Why’s she asking anyways?”

“Maybe she’s looking for a supply?” Justin responded, texting away.

“What’re you telling her?” You asked, curious. Normally the dealers were able to find the people looking for weed within a month of them coming to the school. It was odd that she hadn’t found one yet if she was honestly looking for a high.

“That I can find her some,” Justin replied with ease, like that sentence wasn’t the stupidest thing you had heard all day. And that was including the guy in photography asking you if the teacher would notice if he edited in a small Shrek into one of his projects.

“Do you even know where to get drugs?” You asked, brow raised.

“How hard can it be?” Justin asked.

“I don’t know,” you said, shaking your head. “Why are you agreeing to this? It can hurt you big time.”

“Maybe this is my in with her. Maybe she’ll finally like me back, and go to prom with me,” Justin insisted, the look in his eyes letting you know he wasn’t going to let this go. “C’mon, (y/n), this is my chance.”

“It’s just… I don’t trust her. Do you know how much trouble you’ll be in if you get caught?” You continued, needing him to see just how crazy he sounded. “And, again, you don’t even know where to get drugs! You don’t hang out with guys like that!”

“I don’t know, maybe I can ask Andrew if he knows a guy,” Justin trailed off, on his phone again as he texted. “Nope, Andrew just said ‘why the hell would I know?’ Maybe I can call one of my cousins, see if he knows anyone.”

You sat, watching as Justin tried to call anyone he knew, searching for that little bit of weed to get for Naomi. It made you sick, seeing how he was willing to do anything for her, even things he knew to be illegal. You pulled out your own phone, texting to call in a favor you’d held since the previous year. You also texted one of Justin’s cousins, giving them instructions to not go through with a deal for Justin’s own good. You received replies to both of your texts within minutes, faster than the whole mess Justin was going through.

“So, what are you thinking as you watch Justin trying to get the pot to sell her?” The man asked. You still didn’t know his name, but you liked having him as a nameless listener. Then you couldn’t name an enemy, even though you didn’t consider him to be that.

“I’m thinking, what the heck is he doing? Cuz he doesn’t do things like that for anyone, and he doesn’t hang out with guys like that. Trust me, I should know,” you replied.

“So what did you do?” He asked. You took a moment to collect your thoughts, finally getting into the meat of the story.

Tag List: @pearltheartist, @holycoldcoffee

[xfirespritex]

Comeback

A Seth Rollins one shot

Summary: A barbecue at Roman’s house causes old flames to run into each other. There’s a lot to sort out before they can move forward.

Pairing: Seth Rollins X Reader

Warnings: NSFW later in the story.

As voted by  @wrestlingnoob @caramara3 @heelcharlie @blondekel77 @panda-girl1999​ @theholyfallenangel​ @tryingtofindaplaceinthisworld @66psychotic99​

And now for the usual suspects:

Tag List:

@wwesmutdonedirtcheap @thedeboniardevistation @xxnobodyshero13xx   @speedilyghostlycloud @fan-fiction-galore  @amaranthine-reign @lordoftheringsmyass  @justtheaverageblog1​  @alpha-american​ @aineslight​ @reigns420​ @deajm2116​

@redroseblackwolfpack96​  @shieldgirl95​ @gelinas22

@vebner37 @banrioncethlenn​  @moxtiel​ 

@fmlallthewayup​ @breezy14fan​ @secretagentfangirl​ @crowleysqueenofhell

@abominablestrowman279​ @laochbaineann @logandemico

@calwitch @sleeplessandcynical @sjwrites22 

It had been nearly three years since everything had changed in my life. I'd had a great group of friends and an amazing boyfriend in Seth Rollins. 

 However, when everything changed with the Shield things changed with Seth and me.

 It was a storyline, that I was aware of, but it did cause stress in all of Seth's relationships. He couldn't ride with Dean and Roman. He had to keep up appearances. That took a toll on our relationship too.

 Dean and Roman had become like family and the distance among them seemed to leak over to me and Seth. 

 He didn't call as much. His visits home were shorter, more time spent at the gym.

 I'd had enough about six months after the Shield ended. I'd asked Seth if "The Man" needed his woman anymore. 

 He took too long to respond. So, I left. But I couldn't erase him. Pictures of him on my phone went into a specific folder. Pictures of him in my apartment were stored away but not destroyed. His number was still in my phone, even though he hadn't contacted me since that night. 

 So when I had been invited to Wrestlemania by Dean and Roman I'd accepted, never expecting to see Seth outside of his match and promos that week.

 I'd remained a fan and saw the storyline progressing for him. I'd seen his injury and very cowardly sent him a get well basket of his favorite snacks but didn't sign the card, instead writing a quick get well soon message.

 He must have not figured out it was me since he didn't reach out and I was both thankful and disappointed. I missed him but it seemed he didn't miss me and much. I did my best to accept it. 

 So when I walked into Roman's house that Thursday night for a small gathering I didn't expect to see him. 

 The first two hours I spent catching up with the people I knew and I was sure I was in the clear. Then I heard shouts of greeting and when I turned to see who had arrived my stomach dropped as Seth, leaning on one crutch and his knee brace on, came into the backyard.

 Seth and Roman embraced. It hadn't even occurred to me to ask Roman if Seth was invited. I quickly assessed my outfit and cursed silently. The idea that when you saw your ex you should be dressed to kill wasn't bad advice.

 I, however, was dressed in torn up jeans, simple sandals and an old, worn out Metallica shirt that I was nearly certain had actually been Seth's at one point before he'd somehow shrunk it in the wash.

 I cursed and Renee looked at me. "You look fine," She said, taking a sip of her drink.

 I groaned and turned my back to the door, turning back to the fire pit. People greeted Seth and by the sound he was coming closer so, being adult I am, I walked away to the coolers, pretending that I needed to dig for my water bottle. Seth took up my post near Renee and I cursed him. She caught my eye and tried to motion me over.

 I shook my head and walked to the other side of the fire, taking up a chair recently vacated by Jey.

 I spent the rest of the evening talking with various other superstars, each of them taking an extra second to hug me, sensing I needed the support with Seth there. When Roman finally found me among the crowded barbecue attendees he lifted me in a bear hug.

"How ya doing?" He asked.

I smiled up at him, pretending that I hadn't been feeling nauseous and anxious all night. "I'm good. Nice party Rome, thanks for inviting me."

He eyed me suspiciously. "Don't lie, Y/N. How are you really doing?"

I sighed and shrugged. "Okay, all things considered."

"Has he talked to you yet?" I shook my head no. Roman laughed. "Is that cause he hasn't tried or you won't go near him?"

I looked away from Roman, feeling slightly ashamed and, unfortunately my eyes landed on Seth who was watching the pair of us.

"Fuck," I sighed, punching Roman on the arm as I walked past him and into the house. 

Roman always kept the fridge well stocked, especially when he was being a host. Galina was in the kitchen, cutting up more carrots and celery. I walked over and hugged her. She laughed and hugged me back.

"Have you been in the backyard at all tonight?"

She laughed. "Not too much, gotta feed the masses," she laughed.

I bumped her with my hip. "Go enjoy your guests. I can cut up vegetables," I said taking the knife from her hand. "Go spend time with your husband."

She smiled and kissed my cheek before heading outside, knowing she wouldn't win this argument.

I continued cutting the carrots and celery, going into the fridge for broccoli and when I turned back to island kitchen I jumped and nearly dropped the food.

Seth stood there, on the other side of the counter, leaning on his crutch. 

"I don't think I'm entitled to be offended by the avoiding game but it does kinda sting a little bit," he said, his voice even, despite the fire in his eyes.

I set the food down on the counter and began chopping, my eyes on the task and not him.

"Okay, that's blatant now," he said.

My eyes snapped back up to him and I hoped he could feel the anger that was already boiling up inside me. "What would like me to say, Seth?" I asked. "Did you expect me to be thrilled to see you?"

He winced slightly and shifted his weight and I wondered, briefly, if the wince was from my words or his leg.

"I don't know. Maybe not thrilled but not like this," he said.

"Like what? Did you expect me to not be angry? You picked everything and everyone else over me. Like I didn't even matter anymore."

Seth frowned and moved around the counter slowly, stopping a distance away from me and leaning more on the counter than the crutch. 

"You really think that?" he asked.

"What was I supposed to think? You were never home, when you were you went to the gym or had calls and work to do. You spent little to no time with me except for when I was in your bed and even then it wasn't much time together."

Seth's face formed into a deep frown. "That wasn't it...I just got...I don't know, caught up with everything going on."

"Is that supposed to make me feel better? You were too caught up to be with me?"

He frowned and I went back to chopping the broccoli, refusing to look at him.

"Y/N," he started. I didn't even acknowledge him.

Sighing he gave up and hobbled out of the kitchen, into the back yard. I finished my task and brought the fresh vegetables out to the party. When my eyes found Seth he was downing a beer and talking to Jimmy, a sour look on his face. --

Hours passed and I was still there, helping clean up when I noticed Seth was the only one outside still, his leg propped on a cooler and a beer in his hand as he stared at the fire.

 Roman followed my gaze and sighed, shaking his head. 

 "Guess you'll have to call him a cab," I said.

 Roman sighed and went to talk to Seth. Galina frowned as she watched him go.

 "Seth's stubborn, you know," She said.

 "Yeah, well aware. Roman will get him into a cab." 

 She sighed again and I frowned. "What's wrong?" I asked. 

 "He asked Roman and I to talk to you for him. Roman told him he'd made his own mess. So Seth said he'd just stay outside all night until you spoke with him. We were hoping to wait him out but that's not working."

 I cursed under my breath, angry at Seth for imposing on his friends like that. I put the plate that'd I'd been drying down and started towards the door.

 I heard Galina stutter after me but waved her off, pushing through the doors and into the yard. Marching over the grass Roman heard me coming and got out of the way quickly.

 "Are you serious, Seth?" I asked.

 He looked up at me, his jaw set.

 "Roman gets no time at home. Now that he's home you're going to impose on him because you can't charm me like all your fangirls? Grow up."

 "I'd handle it better if you'd just fucking talk to me."

 I spread my arms wide, to indicate that's what we was doing. Roman glanced between us before stepping back inside, clearly deciding to let us get it off our chests.

 Seth scowled and stood, shakily, and leaned on his crutch to stare at me at eye level.

 "If you were acting like an adult and would talk to me instead of running away all night we wouldn't need to have this conversation now."

 "And what conversation are we having Seth? You haven't said anything new."

 He sighed, his breath coming out in a huff.

 "You really think that I chose everything else over you?" He asked, his voice low.

 "That's how it looks," I said. 

 "That's not how it was."

 I sighed and sat on one if the chairs. "Then tell me how it was, Seth. Explain it to me. Because all I saw was you putting your career, your money, your fame, ahead of me."

 Seth moved closer to me, standing over me. When I looked at him he looked angry.

 "It was for you," he said, his teeth clenched.

 I burst out laughing. "For me? That's bullshit. You were ignoring me for my own good? Is that it?" 

 Seth started and stopped speaking a few times and I could see his jaw clenching dangerously. He was really upset and struggling for words. 

 He turned away from me then and I could see his free hand shaking slightly. I frowned and stared at his back. His hands only shook when he was upset. Sad. Broken down. Not when he was angry.

 I stood and walked around him, standing in front of him and, without thinking took his shaking hand in mine. 

 "You never shake like this, why are you so worked up?" I asked, my voice soft.

 "Because it pisses me off that I messed us up. Because I didn't say anything you walked away."

 "What would you have said, Seth? It was three years ago."

 He laughed slightly. "I can't tell you now. That's asking for trouble."

 "Tell me. If me not understanding is why we're talking then explain it to me."

 Seth laughed bitterly again before his gaze met mine.

 He held my gaze before looking down at the ground. "This isn't fair, ya know? Asking me this when all I can do is stare because you look even better now than three years ago. And you're asking me to tell you the truth when I've been dying to tell you but also afraid to."

 "Just tell me."

 He paused and looked at me. 

 "Can I show you?"

 --

 An hour later, after me asking what he meant and not getting anything else out of him he asked if I'd drive him somewhere, so he can show me. 

 I frowned but agreed, telling him that after whatever it was I'd take him home and he'd have to sleep off his drinks. He laughed at that.

 So when I found myself driving through a somewhat familiar neighborhood I started getting suspicious. He directed me, his voice even but his hands shaking in his lap. 

 When we pulled into the driveway of a gorgeous house I remembered where we were. This was a house I had dragged Seth to all those years ago to look at, knowing I'd never afford it.

 "Seth, what are we doing here?"

 He didn't answer. Instead he got out of the car and started for the front door. 

 I ran after him. "Seth, stop, you're going to wake the people who live here up." As he reached the front door he pulled keys from his pocket and put them in the lock.

 "I'm already awake."

 -----

 "What?" I asked, staring between the now open door and him.

 "I was working so much for you. I was buying this house. I wasn't home cause I was meeting realtors, inspectors and signing the paperwork. I was having a decorator come in the day you left."

 "Why didn't you tell me? I asked, staring at him. 

 "I was scared. I was 27, had just bought a house and was about to ask my girlfriend to marry me and then you were mad at me, you were leaving me. And I couldn't speak.  I was so confused. So you left and that was it."

 "Why didn't you tell me?" I asked again.

 "I was fucking terrified to. You were so mad. It made me think that I'd never been good enough for you. So I just moved in and never said anything. "

 I stared at him, his words ringing in my head. He'd bought a house for us. He'd...

 "Seth, did you just say what I think you did? About why you were scared?"

 His eyes met mine as he thought over his words and when they widened I knew he realized what he'd said. 

 Seth had wanted to marry me. And I'd never seen it coming. And now, three years later, we stood at the front door of what would've been our house.

 He looked at the ground. "Not like it matters, what I said."

 "Why wouldn't it matter?"

 "Because I let you go, lost you. We had what everyone wanted, everyone thought we were perfect but I was a fuckup and I lost you. You've moved on and you're still a better person than me so I know, that even if by some chance in hell, I was enough for you now I wouldn't get to prove it."

 I laughed at the absurdity of this entire night, running a hand through my hair.

 "I don't know what's funny, Y/N," Seth said, his voice filling with hurt. 

 I turned back and stared at him. 

 "You think I've moved on?"

 He nodded, his eyes on mine.

 "I'm wearing your fucking t-shirt, Seth. I sent you a care package when you had your surgery. I still watch Raw and wince whenever you take a hit or bump."

 I held back the last bit of information that showed just how much I hadn't moved on. 

 I hadn't realized that in shouting at him I'd stepped closer. Seth saw it though and reached for me, grabbing the soft fabric of the well-worn t-shirt and pulling me even closer, so we were nearly touching.

 "You haven't moved on? Forgotten me?" He asked.

 "You don't forget someone you wanted to marry," I said.

 That made something flash in Seth's eyes. He closed them and leaned his forehead forward until it was touching mine.

 "I have to tell you something."

 "What?" I asked, my throat tight with anxiety. 

 "I knew the gift basket was from you. You didn't sign it but I'd know your handwriting anywhere."

 "Then how did you think I'd be over you?"

 He sighed. "I thought you were just being nice. Like you always were. You were always the better person."

 His hand, that had stayed fisted in the t-shirt, flattened over my abdomen and slid around to my side and around my back. 

 I shivered at his touch, my body waking up immediately. 

 "Come inside?"

 "Seth..." I started, my voice shaking.

 "Please? Just...fuck... I can't watch you go right now. We can just sit together but please don't just leave right now. I have to show you something else."

 I stared at him before nodding, my stomach in knots. We went inside and my breath left me. The inside was gorgeous, decorated to near perfection.

 "Sit, I'll be back," he said. I looked into the sitting room, flipped on a light switch and went to sit on the couch there, sinking in to the softness of the cushion.

 I heard him moving through the house and I waited. Looking around I saw photos over the fireplace. I stood and walked to them. 

 Photos of fellow wrestlers, his friends and family. My throat tightened when I saw one that happened to be my favorite from when we'd been dating. 

 We'd been at a barbecue with his family and we were taking a group photo but Seth had decided to look at me instead of the camera and I was caught mid laugh about something he must have said.

 My hand went to the frame of the photo but I jumped when I heard a crash from the other side of the house. 

 "Seth?" I called, turning and running towards the sound, upstairs.

 I found Seth in his bedroom, near the closet, having clearly toppled off the step ladder that laid beside him.

 "Shit, Seth what are you doing?" I went to him and carefully helped him stand enough to get to the bed.

 "Wanted to show you something. Like an asshole I thought I could reach the box but I put too much weight on my knee and it gave out."

 I frowned, thinking of his match on Sunday. "What box?" I asked.

 "Blue shoebox, top right." I turned and picked up the step ladder, moving it farther to the right before climbing up and grabbing the box. When I walked over to Seth I handed it to him and sat down on the bed, the box between us.

 I saw his hands shake as he took the top off. Then, I felt myself start to shake when I saw what was inside. 

 Pictures of us. On top of them was one of us dressed nicely, when we'd attended his cousin's wedding. We'd been dancing and laughing and the wedding photographer had caught the moment.

 "That's my favorite one," he said, his voice soft.

 "Mine is the one downstairs, at the barbecue."

 He nodded and reached into the corner of the box, under the mounds of photos before he pulled out a small box. A tiny, black, velvet ring box.

 I stopped breathing. 

 He opened it without saying anything and handed it to me. I took it in my shaking hands and stared at the ring inside. 

 It was...beautiful. Not too flashy or big. There was a twist pattern on the metal that held the largest diamond in the center in place.

 "Seth..." I said, staring at him.

 He laughed, sounding sad as he did so.

 "I know, I'm an asshole for showing you this. But I had to. I'm trying to fix everything now. My career, my friendships, my knee...but I need to fix us too."

 "Fix us?"

 "You're the only woman who ever understood me.  The only one who didn't laugh at my dreams, who wasn't with me for my money or my status. I'm not expecting you to pick up where we left off but I need to know if I have even a one percent chance at getting you back. If I do I'm going to fight like hell for you."

 My throat was tight and my eyes were watering. I thought everything over and kept my eyes on him until they fell back to the ring. 

 "I'm...still in love with you," I whispered.

 Seth stared at me and I saw him swallow and clench his jaw as he picked his words carefully.

 "You are?"

 "I never stopped," I admitted.

 Seth's hand reached out tentatively to cup my face and I sighed at the familiar warmth on my cheek.

  "I never stopped either," he said. I leaned into his hand, soaking up the feeling.

 "Y/N, can I ask something? I'm probably pushing my luck..."

 "Sure," I said, looking at him, seeing the nerves on his face. 

 "Can you...stay tonight? I bought this house for us and I can't stand another night here without you in it. The only upside to the schedule is I'm not home too much but when I was injured and doing rehab it was torture here, every day."

 I looked at him as my mind tried to make a decision. I wanted to stay, wanted Seth, but I was terrified it'd all fall apart again.

 "If you promise me something,” I said. "Well two somethings."

 He nodded eagerly, waiting.

 "Tomorrow, we figure out how to fix us. I want to try again but I'm scared. So we need to work on that."

 "Of course," he said. "What's the second part?"

 "I need you, Seth. It's been three years and I missed you too much."

 His eyes widened slightly when he got my meaning. "Now for my two somethings, before I answer."

 I nodded, waiting. "Are you sure?" He asked. When I nodded again he took a deep breath, relief and excitement on his face.

 "Okay so when you say three years...has there been anyone else?"

 I shook my head no, feeling my face growing red.

 Seth's other hand took the shoebox from between us and he leaned over, setting it on the side table, and then his hands were sliding along my shoulders to the nape of my neck.

 "No one?" He asked. His voice was deep, rough.

 I shook my head no. "I went on dates, kissed a few frogs but couldn't bring myself to be with anyone."

 Seth pulled me closer to him and brushed his lips over mine. I sighed and felt my hand shaking as I reached over and buried my hands in his hair. 

 "No one else?" He asked again.

 I shook my head no and a sound, closer to a growl than anything else, left Seth. 

 I pulled back to look at him and shivered at the look on his face. His eyes had darkened and his hair, now falling out of the ponytail he'd tied it into, was falling into his eyes.

 "I went nuts thinking about other guys touching you, I didn't like thinking about it but I couldn't help it," he said as his one hand slid slowly up my thigh, towards my core.

 I grabbed him and kissed him hard, biting at his lower lip before he bit back.

 "Fuck," he breathed before pulling me into his lap. I straddled him and our kisses grew deeper. I ground my hips down against his length that was straining against his jeans, making Seth moan.

 I slid off his lap and knelt on the floor in front of him, my fingers going to the straps of the knee brace he had on.

 Seth leaned back slightly to pull his own shirt over his head and once his brace was off I stood and placed it by the crutch he'd abandoned. 

 When I came back to him he grabbed me by the belt loop of my pants and pulled me until I was standing between his legs.

 "I missed you," he said, his voice shaking. 

 "I missed you too,” I said, my hands running over his now bare shoulders and over his pecs.

 He shivered but allowed my hands to wander as his slid up to the button of my jeans. He tugged the jeans down my legs and his hand slid right back up and rested against my heat, the thin layer of my underwear the only thing separating us. I gasped as his fingers drew lazy circles over the fabric.

 He smirked and pulled me into a deep kiss, his body shaking beneath my touch. When the kiss broke I crouched down and my hands found the button of his jeans and I tugged at them, Seth laying back on the bed and lifting his hips slightly so I could tug them down and off, being careful near his knee.

 When I stood again his hands were sliding under the shirt and he smiled up at me. “Wearing my shirt still, I didn’t realize it was the same one,” he said as his hands trailed over my abdomen to brush over my breasts and back down my sides.

 “It’s still my favorite thing to wear,” I said.

 “It looks better on you than it ever did on me and while I love seeing you in it,” he said, pushing up on the fabric and taking it off of me. “I like this view much more,” he finished, his hands going behind my back and undoing my bra. I slid it off of me and smiled down at Seth, loving how he looked at me despite feeling self-conscious.

 “Fucking beautiful,” he growled. I smiled but wouldn’t let him topple me next to him on the bed, shifting my weight so I didn’t fall to the mattress.

 “What’s wrong?” he asked, his voice slightly uneven.

 “Your knee, Seth. I remember how you like things and none of that will be okay on your knee,” I said. He sighed, looking down at his leg as if he’d forgotten all about it.

 “Guess that means I get to be in control tonight,” I said, smirking. Seth, catching my meaning, moved backwards on the bed until he was laying near the head board, a smirk on his face. I laughed at the look he wore and crawled over to him, grabbing the boxers he wore and tugging them down and off of him.

 His cock sprang out between us and I took it in my hand, pumping him slowly. Seth groaned, low and deep in his throat as his eyes closed.  He hissed as I teased him, kissing the tip of his cock once before smirking up at him.

 “Tease,” he groaned.

 I laughed, once, my body humming at how easy it was to be with Seth. I didn’t feel self-conscious with him, I felt good. I slid from the bed and slid my underwear down my legs before joining him again, straddling him as I looked down at him.

 “I love you, you believe me, right?” He said, his voice soft as his hands gripped me to him, one of my hip and the other buried in my hair.

 I nodded. “I love you too,” I whispered.

 Seth looked like he was about to speak again but I slid back and his cock pressed at my entrance and he stopped. I stilled for a moment until he locked eyes with me and I could feel his heart beating under my hands on his chest.

 “What’s wrong?” he asked.

 “Figured you’d want to decide when, you always did,” I said, shifting my hips slightly and letting him press into me a little more but not close to enough.

 Seth let out a low growl sound and grabbed my hips, slamming me down onto him, making me gasp in both surprise and pleasure at how he filled me. I whimpered, gripping at his shoulders and Seth’s grip on my hips tightened.

 “Fuck,” he gasped. “So tight, holy shit,” he said, rolling his hips slowly against mine. I shivered and started to pick up a slow pace, watching as Seth groaned at every move I made.

 “Is this what you wanted in this house?” I asked, sitting back slightly and bouncing on him. Seth’s eyes were glued at the spot where our bodies met and his hands grabbed my ass tightly, pushing and pulling on me to keep the pace.

 “Fuck yes,” he groaned.

 “What did you want here? Tell me what we missed out on cause we’re stubborn,” I gasped as he hit the spot inside me. Three years and he still knew how to fuck me just right.

 “We missed on doing this every night,” he gasped, his hips thrusting to meet mine, his injured leg laid flat while I and his good leg did the work.

 I rolled my hips, feeling my orgasm build. “We missed lazy Sundays and holidays here. We missed waking up together.” He growled out. “I was too fucking afraid,” he added.

 “And I was too full of pride,” I whimpered as his hands grabbed at me, pulling me down to kiss him as I rode him, my orgasm nearing.

 “You had a right to be. I wasn’t fair to you. I’m gonna make up for it. You know why?” He asked, his voice cracking slightly.

 “Why?” I gasped before I cursed and gasped out his name, my body tensing.

 “Because I love you and I swear on everything I own I will call you my wife one day,” he said, his thumb finding my clit and pushing me over the edge.

 I screamed as I came, riding Seth until he shouted my name too and, after taking a minute to breathe, I rolled off of him and curled into his side, my legs carefully intertwined with his.

 “You still want that?” I asked, gasping slightly as my head came back into focus.

 “Yes,” he said.

“Good, me too,” I whispered against his chest. A short laugh escaped him as he held me to him.

  “I think…” he started, choosing his words carefully. “I think I’m making more than one comeback this year but this  is by far my favorite one.”