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imagining-in-the-margins · 4 years ago

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Here to Misbehave (Finale | S.R.)

Summary: It’s Halloween, and there are a lot of things on Spencer’s mind.

A/N: Here it is, everyone: the end of the story. Thank you so much to everyone who’s read this far. I greatly appreciate all of you, and I hope you enjoy it! Couple: Spencer Reid/Fem!Reader Category: Fluff/Smut (NSFW, 18+) Content Warning: Penetrative sex, light D/s, mostly fluff! Word Count: 7.5k

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Autumn has widely been considered the season of change. It is an understandable characterization; from the shifting hues of the leaves to the wildly fluctuating temperatures, few things stayed consistent in the fall. Perhaps that’s why someone who loathes change, someone like me, finds the season so thrilling.

It’s like the Earth and the Sun made a pact to make changes more predictable in their own unique, chaotic way. The breeze becomes biting and the days become shorter, but for these downfalls, we are granted a beauty and calmness that can’t be rivaled by any other season.

But she wasn’t a season, and when it came to my attention and appreciation, there were few choices that were easier to make.

“Spencer. You’ve got to be kidding me.”

(Y/n)’s face was half covered by the cup she held tightly with both hands, but I could picture the hidden expression perfectly, regardless.

“What? We don’t have to agree on everything.”

The truce was received poorly, her response a heavy scoff and a shake of her head. I tried to follow along with her suddenly heated words but couldn’t contain the stars in my eyes that often accompanied my daydreams. If she did notice, she stubbornly ignored the adoration to continue, “I understand you’re a genius or whatever, but I think your opinions on cider and cocoa are... wrong. They are wrong.”

It was my turn to feign displeasure (I hoped hers wasn’t real, anyway), clutching tighter to my own drink that I found myself defending on a park bench with dozens of strangers as an audience.

“An opinion can’t be wrong!” I chirped, only hating the way my voice jumped a little bit. After all, it was hard to hate it when it made her giggle. But despite how much sweeter the liquid seemed when I drank it in the presence of her smile, I also knew that she wouldn’t appreciate my immediate agreement. So, I pushed back just a little, “It can be misguided or ignorant but not outright wrong.”

“Unless it’s yours, on this topic,” she shot back without hesitation.

I tried to flash her a pout, hoping that maybe it would work for me like it did for her. It did not. Her eyebrows shot up and her jaw dropped open with another laugh, and I decided that I preferred that outcome, anyway. The longer my bottom lip stuck out, the wider her smile got. I waited to stop until her eyes closed and turned away, just long enough for me to let the full force of my affection show before she noticed.

She saw it, anyway, in the form of a similar smile spread over my face when I softly admitted, “Fine. You’re right.”

“Oh, I know.”

Her tongue peeked between her lips, and I found myself thinking less of cider and cocoa and more about how unbelievably lucky I was to find someone that I never felt the need to prove anything to. A person that didn’t care if I held all the answers.

I might’ve continued down that sappy train of thought, but it was hard to do while she had hoisted herself halfway over the table to try and grab hold of my cup right as I went to drink from it. Of course, she had failed to take into account just how big the table was, and just how close I was willing to come to falling before I let her drink from my cup right after she’d criticized my preference of fall flavors.

For a second, I really thought she might climb onto the table to win, but the judgmental looks from the parents in the park must have beaten her desire to win. As forlorn as humanly possible, she fell back into her seat with a loud “Hmph!” which really only managed to elicit an equally immature giggle from me.

“Shut up,” she laughed before shoving my paper plate further into my chest, “And eat your stupid pie.”

All I could think as she grabbed my fork and stabbed the middle of the piece to try to lift the entire thing at once, was that I was right about one thing: Autumn, in all its vitality and beauty, could still never compare to her.

That thought persisted through the pumpkin patch, growing in intensity as she skipped through the vine-laden path like a regular fall fairy. It was much easier to get lost in her there, crouched and inspecting foliage. Her arguments regarding gourds were much less spirited, with her watching me wide-eyed and curious as I explained the stages of pumpkin growth and all the different uses for the fruit.

I still let her make the final choices, opting to analyze her selections and tease her for them later, instead. That was the plan, anyway, to continue the competitiveness lest she gets bored with me before the day was over. When she walked past me holding open the passenger side door, I thought it might’ve already happened.

But then she just placed the pumpkin into my hands so she could open the back door. Before I could even move, she carefully removed it from my arms again and placed it in the seat.

“What are you doing?” I said through a very amused chuckle.

She was decidedly not entertained by my confusion, stopping to turn to me with a bored, frustrated expression. “I’m buckling him in,” she explained slowly, like I might need the help. Then, to add insult to silly injury, she added, “Duh.”

I was too distracted by the details to tackle the absurdity of it all.

“Him? It’s a boy pumpkin?”

“Obviously. Look at him,” she snorted, finally clicking the seatbelt in before tenderly petting the top of the lucky little gourd. Once she was convinced it would be as safe as she could make it, she allowed me to begin to escort her into her proper seat.

“You know it’s safer on the floor, right?” I asked before she’d slipped past me. I wrapped an arm around her, pulling her away from the car so I could enjoy the warmth of her before it was replaced with the dry air of the engine.

“How dare you,” she balked with an open mouth that was just begging to be kissed. By the time I got close enough to try, though, her hand fervently shoved my cheek away. I tried to laugh, but she used the same hand to cover the noise, trying and failing to convince me she was being serious.

“Why don’t you just hold him?” I mumbled against her palm.

That was enough for her to abandon my embrace altogether. With a scoff and a roll of her eyes, she pried my arms off of her and finally made her way to my passenger seat. I didn’t fight her too hard, even taking the time to shut her door like my mother always insisted.

The mercy was not returned, with her eyes narrowed into a playful disbelieving glare that I hadn’t seen in some time. My mind was brought back to the first time she ever let me know she was jealous, bickering over blondes and preferences while she sat in the very same place. And, just as before, she was still wearing the same raggedy old sweatshirt of mine.

“If this is any indication of how you’ll be with a human baby, I have dramatically overestimated your competence,” she droned, obviously unaffected by the stars that appeared in my eyes every time I looked at her.

“The one and only time you’ll ever be able to say those words. I hope you enjoyed it,” I joked. A funny enough joke that she couldn’t help but smile through her facade.

“Don’t worry,” she chuckled, “I did.”

The day could have ended there, and it would have been enough. Honestly, I couldn’t think of a single thing that wouldn’t be better with her there. In a way, I think we were trying to prolong the high of ‘hooky,’ finding even the faintest interest in an activity as enough of an excuse for a detour.

… Which was probably how we found ourselves in our third park of the day. After all, I loved any autumnal vision, so how could I decline an opportunity to let them serve as a backdrop for watching her? And that was an accurate description of how I spent the day. It might sound boring, and if it were anyone else, it probably would have been. But no matter how often I saw her, I found myself learning new things about her every single time. Each freckle and scar became a part of the high-definition collection of memories that I would never let myself forget. The most beautiful images that kept me sane in the face of evil and filth.

“Do you see that?”

For a moment, I thought she might have read my mind. But then I realized that her eyes were still fixed forward, stuck on the horizon ahead of us.

“See what?”

“That,” she pointed, “Right there.”

My eyes followed the line, finding nothing but an area of carefully manicured, yellow grass and trees already set to rest for the season. It must have been clear to her that I was lost, because her pointing became more animated and her voice rose as she shouted, “Right there!”

“The giant pile of leaves?”

“Uh-huh.”

Then, in all of my obliviousness, I just sort of stared. Even when her hand grew tighter around mine and her feet started to move faster, I didn’t put two and two together until it was too late.

“What about— No! (Y/n)!” I shouted, cutting off my own train of thought and only barely letting go of her in time to watch her jump straight into the collection of fallen foliage that some poor landscaper had obviously worked hard to gather.

I have to believe that even if that unlucky, underappreciated individual saw what she’d done to their hours of work, that they would forgive her. It was hard to feel anything but joy at the sounds that came from the pile. Yet I approached her cautiously, with both hands in my pockets to avoid the urge to throw myself into danger with her.

“You’re a terror,” I said, settling for a crouched position in front of her. Still able to see her but far enough from her grasp that she had to crawl through a wall of leaves to come nose to nose with me. “This is literally the scariest thing you’ve done all season.”

“Come on in, the water’s fine,” she purred.

As enticing as the offer was, my mind was too preoccupied with statistics of spider and snake bites, not to mention the possibility of ticks still scouring the landscape for any last second hosts. The answer was easy.

“Absolutely not.”

With another exhale of pure displeasure, she threw her body back into the leaves, burying herself into a mess of yellows and reds that somehow only made her look even more beautiful. The chaotic scene matched her energy well, and the harm she was doing was minimal considering I was absolutely going to search every inch of skin for any marks later.

The only thing that was more appealing to me than watching her make an absolute fool out of herself in a pile of leaves was the intense urge to tease her about it. So, taking a regrettable seat on the grass, I sighed, “I think I’m going to have to arrest you for trespassing.”

There was a loud gasp from the center of the pile, followed by a scuffle of flailing limbs among the foliage.

“You don’t own this leaf pile! I do! I am queen of the leaf pile!” she screeched.

“Alright Princess,” I subtly corrected, “whatever you say.”

As promised, I didn’t put up a fight. Even when she finally got a hold of my hands and dragged me into the madness with her. I followed her no matter what nonsense she demanded, just as she had with me so many times. Granted, my desires weren’t nearly as dangerous or strange. They were pretty much just a collection of foreign films and reading that always lulled her to sleep.

But that day there was no sign of her energy waning. The early sun faded and we kept going. I’m not sure how, but she managed to enjoy herself in the D.C. landscape of bars and blaring car horns despite not being able to indulge in anything herself. Although she did half-heartedly attempt to trick me into buying her drinks in several different establishments, I think she was honestly proud that I avoided the drinks altogether. It was a nice reminder that sobriety could be something enjoyed between the two of us, regardless of the environment. However, we didn’t let that stop us from jumping into a crowd of very drunk women who had insisted we join their haunted tour of the city.

“Are you scared?” she whispered into my ear. The feeling of her warm breath against my skin caused a shiver to run down my spine, ruining any credibility I had in my response.

“No. Why would I be scared? It’s just history.”

“Are you sure?” she asked again.

“Yes!” I insisted with the worst possible timing. Because just as soon as the word had left my lips, I felt the distinct sensation of fingers running down my neck and arm opposite to her. I was so convinced that’s what it was that I even spun around with a yelp, crashing into at least three different people just to find a very startled woman with the worst hung scarf I’d ever seen.

(Y/n) had already put two and two together and was lost in an absolute fit of laughter. There were already tears forming in the corners of her eyes as she doubled over, barely able to stand through it all. Because there I was, her 31-year-old FBI agent boyfriend, screaming over a scarf.

“Laugh it up,” I droned. And she did. She kept laughing through any attempts at a response, and after the initial embarrassment wore off, I couldn’t help but join her.

“I hope you know you chose me. You chose this man!” I shouted, gesturing to the people around us who had already forgotten about our shenanigans, “And everyone knows it!”

“I’m sorry I can’t—” she wheezed, pausing to take a necessary breath that was all lost with another bunch of giggles “—You’re a fucking FBI Agent!”

“Well I can’t shoot a ghost, can I?” I mumbled through the hit to my ego. But any suffering was quickly dealt with as she threw dramatic arms around my waist, pulling me close and protecting me from any other errant scarves that might show up.

“I love you so much,” she said.

“I’m glad you’re having fun,” I returned with a quick kiss on her forehead. And even if I implied otherwise, I think she knew that I was having just as good of a time as she was. In fact, it was one of the most relaxing days of my life, which was saying something, considering how much walking was involved.

But no matter how tired we both were, I still had one last place to take her. It took her a while to figure out why the route felt so familiar, but I wasn’t ready to ruin the surprise. I wanted to watch the realization dawn on her. She didn’t disappoint.

“The Mayflower?” she asked with a bit of a bashful laugh before looking up at me through narrowed eyes, “Feeling nostalgic, Dr. Reid?”

“Yeah, a little bit. Thought it was more romantic than the club,” I offered, trying to shrug off the nervous butterflies that burst through my stomach. “Not by much, mind you.”

Although I got the feeling that she didn’t know, or perhaps just didn’t remember, that wonderful night from almost a year ago was one of the most important days of my life. I knew it then, too. From the second I set my eyes on her from my pitiful place against the bar, I knew that she would ruin me.

“Nothing screams high end romance like an alley and a little light law breaking,” she sighed. I almost missed it, too preoccupied with the way her arm tugged me tighter so she could rest her head against my shoulder.

“I can take you home if you’d rather.”

“Hmmm. Depends,” she hummed. Then, turning her head up to me with that playful look that always turned me to putty in her hands, she purred, “How much longer do you think you can wait before you just have to have me?”

I sucked in a sharp, sarcastic breath, eyeing her just long enough for her to start to fume, I let out all the air with a defeated sigh, “I guess we’re staying.”

That serene sort of teasing continued past the reception desk and all the way up the elevator. If there were other people there, we didn’t bother noticing. We were too busy watching one another to even look away long enough to find our room. Doubling back through the dizzying hallways until we found the elusive number, we finally settled into the only vaguely familiar layout of beige and tan.

She was much quicker at it than I was. Before I’d even finished washing my hands and checking exposed skin for bugs that I was convinced had hitched a ride from the leaf pile, she was already stretched out on the bed in nothing but a tiny piece of lacy cotton and her favorite sweatshirt. The sight made me stop, lost for breath and logic of how I was lucky enough to be there with her again.

“See something you like, Dr. Reid?” she teased through giggles, no doubt recalling the same memory as me.

My answer didn’t need to be said, but I said it, anyway. She deserved to hear it.

“Yes.”

With arms outstretched, she sleepily begged, “Come here.”

But I couldn’t.

“Not yet… I just… I want to look at you like this a little bit longer.”

How could I move on from this moment, when it was the best I’d ever felt? So overwhelmingly safe and at home despite being in a strange, sterile room. I had no desire to move any inch of me if it meant that this image would persist for the rest of my days.

“You getting all romantic on me?”

“Always,” I chuckled. Her usual disgust for my sappy behavior didn’t show itself, overpowered by the gentle curve of her lips and hands that were becoming more and more insistent to be held. Eventually, I had to move, knowing that it was the only way to hold her.

My body reacted the way it always did when it found her. All of the tension dropped from tired shoulders, desperate to touch her more. To feel the imprint of her body pressed against mine, a mess of heat and need and love.

She was the one to kiss me first, and for a moment I let her do it without reciprocation. I wanted to feel how her touch became softer and shier as she realized what I was doing. That I was spending all of my energy memorizing the way her lips parted as she tried to hold back a giggle against my almost-still lips.

“What’s happening in that big genius brain of yours?” she murmured with eyes half open but still containing universes.

“I’m just thinking of all the things you’ve done to make me fall in love with you.”

I thanked all of the gods in every pantheon that made her too tired to tease. Instead, she just laughed, playing her part in bringing us back to that night we met.

“Like quote Picard?”

“We still haven’t watched Star Trek together,” I whined.

The sound must have stirred something new in her, because she rolled us over to take her seat on my lap. She hung over me, looking down at me, hopeless and breathless at the feel of her thighs under my hands. My heart started to race, but I didn’t know why.

It wasn’t until she spoke the words that were already running through my mind, “We’ve got time. Picard can wait.”

Everything about it was effortless. Our bodies had fallen together and mouths found each other exactly like every romance novel has ever tried to tackle the metaphor of gravity.

But if we were an orbit, it was not a binary like the traditional notion of two equal souls. Despite the nickname I’d chosen for her, nothing about her soul was small. And even though she burned bright, she wasn’t anything like the fiery combustion of a star.

She was a home. A thing so full of vitality and life that I would love to watch for whatever time I had left. I was just a moon, loyally following her and trying my best to shield her from whatever might try to harm her. To protect her when she needed rest and to lead the tides to kiss her when she wished. I would be her shadow, shining a light onto her even in the darkest time. All that I asked for in return was a spot beside her.

‘One day,’ she had said before, ‘if you will have me.’

But it was never a question. Not for me. And if she really needed me to answer it for her, I was happy to give her that. I hadn’t been waiting for even a year, but it felt like a lifetime.

“Yeah, he can,” I repeated, quiet and with such a heavy waver that I’m surprised she could understand the shifting inflections. Even if she didn’t, she knew that something had changed in those few seconds of silence.

“What’s up, Spencer?”

I didn’t know how to answer. How to explain what I was feeling. But I grabbed hold of one hand, clinging desperately to her and guiding her to the heart that felt dangerously light. The rapid pace of its beating still not enough to alert her of the true cacophony of my thoughts.

“Are you okay?”

The answer was yes. Because no matter how loud and chaotic the sounds inside my head were, they all lead me to the same conclusion.

“Picard can wait, and we have a lot of time,” I tried to explain through a dry throat that was only growing tighter with the unwieldy weight of the feeling.

“Yes…” she mumbled back, just as trepidatious and nervous as I was.

Just like I was. Because we were. We were connected by some force, whatever you want to call it. Whether it was a chemical or psychological or heavenly connection, I didn’t care. I wanted her to know how I felt. To know that there was nothing that would ever tear me away from her.

“But I don’t… I don’t think I want to wait.”

After a couple more seconds of silence, she answered with a knowing stare, “… What?”

From my position underneath her, I was able to reach over just enough to grab my jacket. Of course, it helped that she moved with me, clearly curious and terrified of the possibilities. But a good kind of terror… I hoped.

My confidence grew as her legs gripped tighter around my hips and her hands shot up to cover her chest with balled fists pressed against one another. I heard the friction of her skin as her body started to shake in a different way, with an adrenaline that I hadn’t seen from her in even the most dangerous situations.

But when I pulled a small velvet box from the internal pocket, everything stopped. She became completely still. Her eyes were wide and frozen on the object in my hands, only to look away when she heard my voice.

“(Y/n).”

“Where did you get that?” she asked like she hadn’t just seen me pull it from my jacket. The same jacket that I wore every time that I was with her. The wool fabric that she’d swaddled herself in on a number of occasions, none the wiser of how much heavier it was for me when I wore it.

“I know this is really random, a-and to be fair, I wasn’t expecting it, either,” I said through the most awkward laughs I’d ever produced (which was saying something), “I mean, I knew I wanted to marry you, I’ve known that for quite some time, hence the ring.”

I paused, but got nothing in response. Nothing except her lips quivering from their parted position, and her nose twitching as she tried to settle on just one expression. But it didn’t matter how she contorted her face; they were all exactly as they should be. Because they were all her.

“But today, with you… I-I’ve never been that happy in my life. Jumping in leaves and fighting over fall flavors and I—“

Her eyes stopped bouncing, settling with my gaze and robbing my lungs of all air. She made up her mind, deciding to leave everything exactly as it was. The honest truth of the overwhelming storm of every emotion that had been experienced in the little time we had shared together.

The knowing that everything had happened exactly as it should have to bring us here.

“I love you so much,” I whispered, careful to make every word as genuine as they were, “And I know that we have all the time in the world left with one another… but I don’t want to wait any longer for you to be my wife.”

“Ask me,” she answered immediately and abruptly.  

“Okay,” I laughed, endlessly entertained by how she could sound so aggressive even when we were both at our most vulnerable, caught in the nexus of our love.

“Um… Will you… marry me?”

There was no hesitation. No worry, no fear, and no doubt.

“Yes, you stupid old man!” she outright screamed, throwing arms around me even when it meant we both slammed against pillows and the headboard. She didn’t stop squealing even when she kissed me, struggling to find more of me to hold onto.

After she decided that tugging on my hair was the best way to express her affection, I managed to break away just long enough to shout, “Wait! I have to put the ring on you!”

“Then put it on!” she yelled, thrusting her hand in front of my face and practically slapping me in the process. But none of the pain mattered. Nothing was even recognizable outside of the feeling of her sweaty, shaking palm resting against my fingers.

I noticed for the first time that I was also trembling. I took the time to focus, slipping the ring over her finger. But once it started to safely slide into place, my eyes returned to watch what I knew to be happy tears fall over her cheeks. I wiped them away, but they were replaced with the wetness from my face when she brought us together again with a long, gentle kiss.

A calmness came over the room like the feeling following a storm. A clean slate with soil enriched for growth. A hope for a future forever changed.

“What do we do now?” she asked, biting her bottom lip and holding tight to my hands.

The answer seemed clear enough.

“Whatever we want.”

—————————————————

Is this really happening?

I stared at the diamond shining back at me with a clarity that had to be a metaphor for my heart. In the vague reflection of yellow light and us, I felt a warmth that doesn’t normally accompany metal. My finger’s new companion felt so comfortable in its new resting place. A constant reminder of the man I called home.

Then I turned back to him, unsure how I was supposed to move on from this moment. I never wanted to leave, but I also needed to move. I compromised and settled with my face against his chest, listening to the heartbeat he’d just dedicated to me. In that peaceful quiet, I heard him speak so softly I wasn’t sure I was meant to hear it.

But I did.

“You’re the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he said with fingers dancing through the ends of my hair, “I can’t wait to spend the rest of my life with you.”

And for once, the thought didn’t feel like a burden. In fact, it felt like freedom. I was finally free to be who I was without worry that I would be alone. Without worrying that I would be too much or too little to please him.

I was enough.

Enough.

“I love you,” I said, tasting salt from tears I hadn’t even noticed were falling.

Curiously, and in a rare role switch, Spencer was the one who took a blatantly affectionate display and turned it into something else. Pulling me away from his chest, he dragged me up until he could drag his lips over my jaw.

“Don’t cry, little girl,” he cooed with what I could only imagine was a wicked grin, “I haven’t given you a reason to yet.”

Something about that gruff rumble in his throat caused my skin to ripple with goosebumps. Every inch of me burned with flames that could only be put out by his touch. I chased after his lips with my own, but he was insistent on trailing down my throat. He knew I would be powerless to him. I wouldn’t be able to argue when my hands were knotted in his hair and my hips were already rocking helplessly against his erection.

“I want you to fuck me,” I seethed. My blood was boiling from the heat I felt within, and before he could even answer I was already working at the buttons on his shirt.

“Oh? You don’t want me to make love to you?” Spencer laughed. As if that had ever been our style.

“No, I want you to take what’s yours.”

He responded to the demand by pushing me from my seat, forcing me onto my back on the other end of the bed. I wasn’t going to complain, either. The new position allowed me access to his belt, which I unbuckled before he even had time to laugh.

“Are you really challenging me right now, little girl?”

But despite the taunt, he did nothing to stop me. His hands were also busy removing my clothes. And just like before, our nakedness was reciprocated. With each lost layer, I should have felt lighter, but I didn’t. I felt so powerful, so aware of how our bare bodies twined together.

“Here, of all places? Do you remember what I did to you that night?”

How could I ever forget?

“I’m not the same girl you had in your bed then,” I purred. We both knew it was true, although not in the way I was implying.

Because Spencer had changed me. Irrevocably. He taught me so much — not just about physics, literature, or criminology, either. He taught me about kindness, softness, and vulnerability. He taught me how to trust that someone could hold me without the intention of letting me go. More than anything, he taught me that I didn’t have to learn these things alone. Even the smartest man I’d ever met needed help with them sometimes.

Then again, something told me that Spencer wasn’t in a very humble mood. Perhaps it was the fact he’d pinned me down again, with his hands clumsily gripping hard enough to leave crescent moons in my forearms.

“Don’t flatter yourself,” he growled with a small, chaste kiss, “You’re still just a fucking brat.”

I wasn’t feeling bratty then, though. Especially not as I felt the head of his cock pressed against me, just hard enough to feel the resistance of my body. He waited there, no doubt taking pleasure in the way my whole body squirmed underneath him. My hips bucked, but he managed to keep a cruelly steady distance.

“You’re so precious when you’re needy,” he mumbled. And although I stubbornly avoided looking him in the eyes out of protest, he forced my face towards him again, anyway. “Go on. Say please.”

“Fuck off,” I whined through a prominent pout that did me no favors.

“Say it.”

“Please!”

I managed to make eye contact, but it was fleeting. As soon as he thrust forward into me, my back arched and I lost myself in the pillows. My hands found him, though, leaving angry red welts over heated skin. If Spencer was at all affected by the pain, he made no showing of it. His pace continued, steadily forcing our bodies together until I trembled in his hands.

He would hold me there, at my limit but not pleading for him to do anything different. With tender hands, he would fuck me until I swore bruises would follow. But I never felt unsafe; I felt cared for and cherished in a way I’d never known. I trusted him to know my limits better than myself.

I trusted him with all of me because I had already seen that when given the chance, he would do whatever he could to protect me.

The love I felt must have shone through my eyes because his hips got slower, drawing out each movement. My hips rose in tandem with his, allowing me to feel every inch of him inside of me.

“This body belongs to me now and forever,” he whispered.

It always has.

“You belong to me.”

And I felt it. The undeniable string of fate that tied us to each other. I could feel his every emotion as his fingers brushed over my throat. I melted under his touch, completely consumed by the love he felt for me. The kind of love that people spent their whole lives searching for only to come up empty. That powerful thing that drove gods to war and men to madness.

The only feeling that could tear down every wall that had been carefully crafted to protect myself. Because I didn’t need them anymore. Spencer’s arms would take their place, holding me through the storms that might follow the same way he had carried me through the ones that led us here.

“Yes,” I breathed, “I’m yours.”

For forever and whatever comes after.

The words were truer than they’d ever been before, and Spencer took it as permission to let go of any remaining hesitation. The slow, gentle thrusts became faster and our moans echoed in the small room without a second thought to the poor patrons in the rooms surrounding us. Because if they felt what we did, they would understand. Spencer still tried to hush the sounds, crashing his lips over mine in a sloppy, frenzied kiss.

I was suddenly reminded of every romantic story I’d ever heard. They all spoke of feeling so close to someone that they felt like an extension of yourself. I wasn’t sure if it was completely true, but there was no denying how at home our bodies were. The way our tongues wrapped around one another and how our noses bumped so gently in the chaos was unmatched by any meeting driven by lust or need.

His hips met mine over and over again, no matter how hard I tried to keep him closer. Even when my hips chased his to be held longer, Spencer was persistent in the ruthless pace. Because like me, he was lost in the euphoria. I knew it from the sound of his whimpers and the way he bit my lip just a little bit harder.

“Tell me what you want, little girl,” he begged. Not ordered. Begged.

“You,” I answered without any doubt, “I just want you.”

His response came even faster, even more desperate and scratchy as it came through his lips into mine.

“You have me. For the rest of my life and whatever comes after, I will take care of you.”

There was nothing left to say. I could feel the truth and force behind the words as he fucked me harder, eliciting one more quiet cry from me in the sound of his name.

“Spencer...”

When he returned the call, though, it wasn’t with any name I’d heard from him before.

“So you better get used to this feeling,” he said through a smile that I felt on my lips before he drew back. He looked me in the eye as he buried himself in me, tensing to hold himself back just a few seconds longer. To see the look on my face and let that be the feeling of us giving in to each other for the first time in our new story.

“Because I’m never going to grow tired of this, Mrs. Reid.”

Mrs. Reid.

That was going to be my name.

Mrs. Reid.

That was the only thought running through my mind as I felt the coil in my gut snap and all of my muscles tense around him. There were no whorish sounds left in my lungs, only little whimpers and whines as I tried to claw him closer. Spencer gave up his visual in exchange for kissing me while he finished. My walls held him so tightly that I felt each pulse and every place where his release filled me. But nothing was more compelling than feeling the way his lip quivered between mine as his body fell onto mine with no grace required.

Spencer could act hard all he wanted, but I felt the way he craved softness. Safety. Love. All things I was happy to give… for a price.

“Say it again.”

“Say what again?” he replied sleepily but animated enough to have a healthy dose of snark. Snark that earned him a rough nudge of my elbow into his ribs.

“You know!”

But naturally, the genius had to play dumb. With a happy little hum, he snuggled closer to me, burying his face into my neck so he could mumble against the skin, “You’ll have to be more specific.”

“Please,” I sighed, “for me?”

He seemed to contemplate the plea for a little while longer, with wiggling toes I felt against my shins and a happy sigh that breezed over my neck. I tried to take in those small things while I waited, knowing that while I had a lifetime to learn them, this moment would never come again.

“Fine,” he finally settled, propping himself up to give another soft kiss followed by the most beautiful sound in the world.

“Only for you, Mrs. Reid.”

—— The Next Morning ——

Waking up next to Spencer with a ring on my finger was literally waking up to find my dream come to life. And sure, his light snoring and constant wriggling under the sheets he continued to pull off of me weren’t perfect or picturesque, but they were real. The same way that he chirped when he felt my legs wrap around him in his sleep and only woke when he heard me giggling.

His eyes fluttered open, taken aback by something that he saw. Although I would blame it on the sunlight filtering through the curtains, I was sure that he would give me all the credit.

“Good morning,” he slurred.

“Hi,” I answered with a smile and an attempt to pull him closer. But my hand was stopped by his, squeezing my palm between his fingers before dragging my knuckles to his lips. From there, he laid a gentle kiss over the diamond he’d placed there the night before. Although it was strange to be outshone by a rock, I let it go for now.

“I know you shouldn’t sleep with it on, but it’s so nice to see it’s still there,” he said with a heavy breath before lowering our still joined hands to rest against his heart. I could feel the way it beat a little bit quicker as I came closer, and I wondered if this was really what it would be like forever.

“I couldn’t resist wearing it.”

“You know you can still change your mind, right? We haven’t told anyone.”

“I haven’t changed my mind,” I replied unlike every time before. There was no teasing, no joke or anger or sadness. Just a pure, unadulterated joy.

… Of course, the question did bring up an entirely new anxiety. It did feel a bit silly, but it needs to be expressed.

“Have you?”

“God, no,” he laughed. Like he’d only asked the question to see the way I might panic. But as soon as I heard his assurance, I knew it was the truth.

My mind started to drift back to that first morning we spent together. It felt like a lifetime ago, but everything still felt so very much the same. I wondered if there were things I would change if given the chance. It wasn’t until after I ran through the laundry list of things that we would have been better off without that I realized I’d asked the wrong question.

It wasn’t a matter of what I would have changed, but what I would have kept the same. And the answer was simple. No matter what I would face in my life, I just wanted it to be with him. Everything would be okay as long as I had him.

However, when I tried to kiss him, Spencer still seemed hung up on the things he would have changed. Our lips didn’t connect for even ten seconds before he broke apart, happily laughing through the words, “This is so much better when I’m not hungover.”

“Old man.”

He didn’t argue back, wiggling under the sheets until our chests were pressed together. I took it as a very poor attempt at a power play, because instead of craning my neck to look up at him from my spot, I simply climbed his lanky figure until our noses were pressed together.

“Your old man now,” he corrected, followed by my own clarification of, “You were always mine, Dr. Reid.”

“But now you get to show everyone.” He grinned, letting go of my hand to roam over the curves of my body. His daily attempts to memorize each version of me he held. After a few more moments of silent reverence, I asked the question we’d have to face eventually, lest we face even more awkward, embarrassing moments with the team.

“Who’s gonna tell everyone?”

He barely even considered the options before he shrugged.

“Let’s just… wing it.”

I paused, certain that I’d heard it wrong. “You, Spencer Reid, would like to ‘wing it?’” I repeated, barely able to get the words out without laughing from the absurdity of it all.

But he was quick to assure me, “Yeah, I do.”

“Alright. Whatever you say,” I sighed. I figured that it wouldn’t be worth it to plan right now, anyway. It wasn’t exactly our style. If anything, we would find the perfect time completely by accident.

“You know what we should do first though?” I excitedly announced to the best audience a girl could ever ask for.

“What?”

“Coffee,” I drawled. To which he quickly answered, “I love you an ungodly amount.”

Taking full advantage of that admission, I shoved the poor soul who’d shackled himself to me forever away as I ordered, “Go turn it on. I am craving shitty hotel coffee in bed with my fiancé.”

“Fine,” he resigned with a smile while rolling out of the bed, “Spoiled brat.”

“Your spoiled brat!” I shouted back from safe under the covers that I could finally get back in his absence. They weren’t as good as him, but they would be enough for now. I buried my face into his pillow, snickering as I heard a very tired Spencer call from the bathroom, “Forever mine!”

Just as the sounds of running water filled the room, I lifted my head at the distant sound of familiar chiming beside me.

“Is that my phone?”

I didn’t answer, paralyzed in my place as I felt the most intense sensation of deja vu I’d ever experienced. Right there on the nightstand, I saw the name Hotchner.

Spencer was quicker this time to leave the bathroom, but just as he turned the corner, a thought must have stopped him. Because he paused, staring at me with hotel sheets gathered around me and his phone against my ear.

He didn’t try to fight me for the device. In fact, he didn’t move at all, watching from a few feet away with a smile I’d never seen before. The kind that I felt so deep inside of me that I realized this was what they meant to share a soul with someone.

“Hello,” I spoke softly and filled with love, “this is Mrs. Reid.”

The End.

—————————————————

Epilogue

#spencer reid #spencer reid series #spencer reid fanfic #spencer reid smut #spencer reid imagine #spencer reid fanfiction #spencer reid request #reid request #criminal minds self insert #criminal minds smut #criminal minds imagine #spencer reid x reader #spencer reid x y/n #spencer reid x you #dr spencer reid #spencer reid self insert

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thedeathdeelers · 4 years ago

Text

a little drabble that came to mind while chatting to and exchanging juke ideas with @phantomsandsunsets (and by chatting i probably mean shouting in all caps)

please enjoy!

——

beating hearts baby

it had been weeks since the orpheum, weeks since he’d finally been able to touch her, hold her, and cradle her face in the palm of his hands. and although it was awkward and a little hesitant at first, they had finally managed to cross that line of will they won’t they the moment luke had accidentally slipped up and whispered that he loved her in her ear one night after a big gig.

she froze in his embrace, his body following suit, but it only took her a split second before she was tightening her arms around him and declaring her love for him, the words spilling out of her like a waterfall.

ever since then, they had become inseparable (well, more so than usual). julie would wake up in the mornings, get ready for school and make her way to the studio. she would wave goodbye to the boys, get a tight hug and a lingering kiss from luke before she made her way to where flynn was waiting for her. her best friend always looked at her with an amused but exasperated expression on her face, probably due to julie’s slightly dazed one. luke always some pride in that.

as soon as she walked down her street after school headed towards the studio, luke would beat her to it, eagerly waiting for her at the edge of the Molina green jungle. he would scoop her up the moment she was within arm’s reach, crushing her into a hug and pulling her further into the garden, away from any prying eyes - they didn’t want to have to explain to julie’s neighbours how she had suddenly mastered the art of floating.

they would walk hand in hand to the studio, julie filling him in on her day, and luke eagerly listening to every word coming out of her mouth, as if scared he might miss out on a crucial detail that made up the very essence of julie.

the day would go on with the two of them nearly attached to the hip; julie eating her lunch and luke sitting on the kitchen island chattering away about all of the new ideas he came up with while she was at school. julie sitting at her desk doing her homework, while luke scribbled away on his journal on her bed. the two of them at practice, rehearsing new songs with the boys while still making eyes at each other.

and then came their favourite part of the day: cuddling in bed and talking about the past, the present and the future, before julie drifted off into blissful slumber.

luke would spend the night eyes closed, arms wrapped tightly around the light of his life, as he tried to burn the feeling of her against him in his mind.

and although luke would never say this out loud, never dare let julie know in fear of upsetting her, he knew that as long as he was a ghost, there wasn’t much of future for them. he couldn’t envision a future where he got to keep her forever. the thought hurt him more than he could ever put into words, but he loved her enough to know that he was going to have to let her go eventually. he was a ghost, ever unchanging, no heart, no heartbeat; no blood pumping through his veins. julie deserved better - julie deserved someone who was alive.

but for now he would cherish these moments for as long as he could - and at the end of the day, he would always be there for her, no matter what.

if only he knew that he had her heart just as much as she had his non-beating one.

——

and so the days bled into weeks and months and years, and still the boys remained frozen in time, still as 17 as on the day they had died.

julie had just turned 17, and luke was trying very hard not to stress about the fact that she was getting closer and closer to outgrowing him, both physically and emotionally. he tried to keep it together, really, he did, but once they had settled into her bed that night, his agitation was starting to seep through his thinly veiled façade.

“luke? are you okay?” came her quiet question, staring up at him through her lashes with wide brown eyes.

her head was nestled on his chest, his arm firmly wrapped around her waist, while hers was loosely thrown over his stomach. they were like two pieces of the same puzzle: always meant to find each other and slot perfectly into place.

he knew he should lie, knew that he had never planned on letting her in on his inner turmoil, but he was never good at keeping secrets from her - especially when she looked at him that with all the trust in the world.

with a deep sigh and averted eyes, he finally shared the thoughts he’d been keeping to himself for years.

“ya, i’m fine. i just- you could do so much better, jules. you deserve so much better.”

“what do you mean?” he could see the genuine confusion on her face, could tell that this was not a conversation she was expecting. his eyes kept twitching back to hers, the growing worry on her face only making it more difficult for him to continue.

he tried to reply, tried to form the words to make this right, but his mouth wasn’t cooperating. she was looking at him, her eyes scanning his face, most likely taking in the pained expression that was slowly taking over his features.

“luke? what’s wrong?” she lifted her head off his chest, her hand moving from its place on his waist to stroke his face, trying to ease away the lines of anguish.

wordlessly, he pulled the hand that was tucked under his head, and pressed it against hers. he closed his eyes, taking in a deep breath letting the the fragrance that was purely julie overwhelm him. he wanted to drown in her, treasure the feel of her soft warm skin on his, and not think of the consequences.

but he couldn’t do that to her.

gathering her hand in his, he slowly dragged it down his face, down his neck and further down his chest, until he reached the spot where a steady beat should’ve been felt.

he held her hand there, and waited. waited for a sign of understanding, an “Oh,” anything. but when a few seconds had passed and he still hadn’t gotten a reaction from her, he forced his eyes open, dreading the look of pity he assumed would be clear on her face. instead, he only found confusion still evident in her eyes.

“jules you..you just turned 17 today, and i’m still 17. next year you’ll be 18, and the year after that, 19...and even then i’ll still be 17. i- i won’t be able to keep up with you and i- i..i don’t want to hold you back, keep you from living your...” luke averted his gaze again, trailing off as the corner of his lip pulled down, twisting in his attempt to hold himself from fully breaking down.

he tried to focus on her ceiling, then her desk - her window, the pile of clothes laying on the chair - anything so as to reel in his emotions. but as the quiet stretched out in the dark room, luke started to get more and more worried. he tried to focus on his breathing, his mind spiralling as he started to truly believe that julie was about to pull away. surely she agreed? surely she realised that he was only holding her back from fully living the life she deserved?

the silence was killing him.

barely a few seconds had passed before luke was opening his mouth again, willing to fill the silence that was suffocating him. but before he could make a noise, a small hand made its way up over his mouth, effectively silencing him.

he turned his head to look at her, only to be taken aback by the fierce determination that blazed in her eyes. she’d never looked more beautiful.

“you are what i deserve. what we have is what i deserve. it’s what i want in life and i can’t do better because this is already the best.”

“but-” he tried to speak through her fingers but she cut him off before he could get past one syllable.

“no. this isn’t up for discussion, luke. i made my decision that day, years ago, and i’m not changing it now. i have faith that we’ll find a way. fate brought you to me, and there’s a reason for that.” she nodded to herself, her eyes piercing his.

“and what’s the reason?” he mumbled, her fingers still pressed against his lips.

“that we’re meant to be together.” she said it so simply, so confidently, that he couldn’t find it in himself to question it, to argue.

but he still needed to make his point across - needed to make sure she understood.

“jules, i- i’m not saying that we’re not. i just...” he pulled her hand away from his lips, and dragged it back down to where a dormant heart lay.

“i don’t even have a heartbeat. you know it’s yours for the taking, julie. but...it’s not even a functioning heart.” the momentary surge of hope that was brought forward with julie’s words was starting to fade.

he was still dead.

“we’ll figure it out.” he just stared at her, her answer so straight forward, so uncomplicated.

“i-” her hand found its way back to his mouth.

“no, luke. we will find a way.” she cocked her head slightly to the side, a small smile making its way onto her lips. “trust me.”

he gazed at this girl, this angel - his wicked beauty - who seemed to have such unshakable faith in the universe, in him, in them, that he couldn’t find it in himself to fight it anymore. at least not tonight.

he quirked his lips up, before pressing them into a kiss against the palm of her hand.

“okay.”

“okay?”

“yeah. you’re the boss, right?”

her eyes crinkled as her smile grew, spreading warmth in his chest and momentarily chasing away his fears.

“yes, i am.”

and just as she was leaning in, closing the distance between his lips and hers, she stopped. luke raised his eyebrow at her, about to lift his head to reach her, but she suddenly moved, ducking her head and changing direction.

he watched, confused, as her head traveled down his neck, dropping kisses as she made her way further down towards his chest. and there, right above the spot where his dormant heart lay, julie lowered her lips and pressed a soft kiss against his thin t-shirt, lingering there for a few seconds before lifting her head back up.

it was fleeting, but luke swore he could have felt a soft thud against his ribs. he knew it was impossible, probably just wishful thinking, but he had felt it.

“i love you.” the words escape him easily, his chest bursting with the love he felt for this girl.

“i know,” her eyes twinkled mischievously, as she made her way back up his chest to rest her head against the crook of his neck.

where she belonged.

——

in the next few weeks, the strange thud in his chest kept coming back, sometimes once, sometimes multiple times in the span of a few seconds. never continuous.

it kept happening until one day, the thudding picked up and never stopped.

he had her heart, and now she had brought his back to her.

FIN

——

taglist: @moreflowersthanweeds , @thesunsetcurvephantom , @fanfics-she-wrote , @pink-flame , @molinashimbos , @ourstarscollided , @ace-bookworm, @williexmercer , @star-astro , @heademptynothoughts , @i-thought-i-knew-what-love-was , @candycornmgg , @blush-and-books , @radioactive-rosh , @tmp-jatp, @tonightthestarsalign

#jatp #juke #julie and the phantoms #luke patterson #julie molina #julie x luke #my fics #jatp fics #ok now scout- YOUR TURN #thedeathdeelers fics

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tammythompson-singslikea-muppet · 4 years ago

Text

Reconciliation (Stan Uris x reader x Richie Tozier, Reddie)

I'm finally back! It's probably been a year since I posted Betrayal and shit has really hit the fan since then, but here I am a year later with part 2!

Here is a link to part 1

Warning: swearing

Aged up: 18/19

You tried to catch up with Stan as he power-walked out of the house. He stopped short when he realized his car wasn't there. "Stan" You catch his attention and he turns around. His chest rising and falling at a quick pace, "You heard everything in there?" Stan's voice was quiet, much quieter than just a minute ago. You nod and he sighs. "I'm sor-" You cut him off "Don't be" You take a step forward and bring your hand up to push some curls out of his face. He leans into your hand, not stopping himself for once. No yearning, no shouting in his head over his actions. Just the feel of your soft palm against his cheek. Stan takes a deep breath, feeling himself calm down in the wake of your touch. "Can we go somewhere?" Stan's voice barely above a whisper. "Of course."

Richie leaned back against the wall and slid down to the floor. He brushed his hands through his hair 'God I fucked up' "Man you really fucked up." Richie looked up. "Thanks, Bill your a real help." Bill put his hands up in defense. "I gotta say I really didn't see that one coming," Eddie spoke up. Bill and Mike nodded in agreement. "I mean I knew *something* was going on but holy shit I didn't think they were in love with each other," Beverly added. "We know Stanley's in love with her but is she in love with Stan? I mean she was just in a serious relationship like a week ago" "Yeah I wonder what happened to that relationship?" Ben's eyes sharp at Eddie, voice stiff and slightly viscous, "Alright! Alright!! None of that!" Mike's authoritative voice made it known he was seriously done with all the fighting. "She loves him" The group turned their heads at Richie's small voice, Ha stared down at the floor and spoke softly. "She may not be in love with him right now, but I could see it. She's falling for Stan."

Eddie looked over at Richie. A mix of emotions reached throughout the boy. He hated seeing Richie like this, but he also hated that it was about you. Mostly he hated that it was about you. He couldn't control it, no matter how much he wished that he could. What is it exactly that Richie is so mad at? Is he upset that he potentially ruined his relationship with Stan? Is he upset that Stan is in love with (Y/N) or that Stan claimed he neither loved nor cared about (Y/N)? Is Richie still in love with (Y/N)? If so is he mad that (Y/N) could be in love with Stan or that she is moving on so quickly? Eddie couldn't help but feel like he was still second to you. It's not like Richie chose to tell you. He kept telling Eddie that he would for at least 2 weeks, but then she found out in her own way. Eddie feared that maybe he was never gonna tell you. Or now that you found out does Richie regret it? 'Alright, Alright Eddie calm the fuck down! Just go talk to Richie.' "Eds?" "Yeah Rich." "I'm gonna go." Richie's tone sounded soft, defeated. It broke Eddie's heart to see him like this. "Yeah sure I'll go grab my keys-" Richie cut him off politely. "I'm just gonna walk. I think I wanna be alone right now. I'll call you later." Richie placed a hand on the back of Eddie's head pulling him close and pressing a kiss to the top of his head. "OK. Be safe please."

"Where are we going?" You ask Stan who is driving and keeping silent. "You'll see. Um, go into the glove compartment a find the clear tape." You scrunch your eyebrows together. "You been stashing things in my glove compartment, Uris?" You found a clear tape and put it into the radio. Temptation by New Order flooded in through the speakers. A smile grew on your face as you turned the volume nob up. Stan looked over at you for a second just to see your growing smile. "I made you a tape and left it in here for the next time you complain that there's nothing good on the radio." A fit of giggles came from your mouth. "Stanley Uris made me a fucking mix-tape." You continued to laugh. It brought a smile, growing wider by the second, to see you so happy and blissful listening to your favorite music, a song he loved as well.

And I've never seen anyone quite like you before. No, I've never met anyone quite like you before.

Richie's emotions were confusing him now more than ever. He loved (Y/N). He truly did, but he just wasn't in love with her. Guilt consumes him every night before sleep and every time he sees you. He never wanted to hurt you. But when it comes to Eddie he's impulsive even a little reckless. Richie knew that he fucked up massively. Not only with you but with Stan and he even feels so with Eddie. He felt that if he just would have been honest with you before jumping into things with Eds maybe Eddie wouldn't have lost his best friend. He still couldn't wrap his head around how much of an idiot and a dick he was about Stanley. What in the fucking hell would lead him to believe that Stanley Uris of all people would fuck around with someone's feelings like that? He had already caused (Y/N) enough pain maybe he was trying to be a hero or something. Do something right for once, but of course, it was just another gigantic fuck up! Executed wonderfully by your very own Richie Tozier. Richie had noticed that he walked straight to the quarry. He picked up a stone and skipped it across the water.

Stan pulled the car over along where the road stopped and the tree's started. "Come on." Stan walked over to your side of the car and opened the door for you and held out his hand. You took his hand and walked beside him into the woods. "You trying to get me to some secret secondary location?" "What, you don't recognize where we're going?" You looked around a bit and shook your head. "Well, then I guess it will be a surprise." "I guess this is the day I get murder in the woods. Goodbye world you were never all that good to me but at least my murder is hot as hell." You almost couldn't see Stan's blush from how much he was laughing. You're hands brush as you walked close together. Stan felt a little nervous to take it, it's not like he hasn't held your hand before but right now he feels it holds so much more. 'Good' he thought to himself. 'It does mean more. Let it mean more.' He took your hand in his and warmth spread throughout the both of you. Just the two of you holding hands walking through the trees with Stan pointing out some birds to you, felt so blissful. At this moment you realized you had never felt this way with Richie. The two of you had a lot in common and play off each other well jokes and conversation-wise. But maybe that wasn't all a relationship needed. You had felt that's why Richie and you were so perfect together. Maybe this was finally the start to forgiving Richie and regaining some normalcy, realizing that maybe we weren't perfect or meant to be after all. If this is how Richie felt with Eddie you felt that you could somewhat understand why he was so in a rush to have it. It was scary how new this thing with Stan was yet how important it felt to you. You would go to the ends of the earth to protect what you had with Stan, no one in the world made you feel as safe and comforted as Stanley Uris. What Richie did, going behind your back, was in no way how he should've handled the situation. You let him into some of the most vulnerable spaces in your mind and life, entrusting him with your heart and your deepest thoughts, that you were his only person. That wasn't something easy to forgive, not something to easily recover from, especially having that trust broken with someone else with who you were very close. You may be happy and blissful at this moment, but you definitely knew the consequences of Richie's actions would come back to rear its ugly head sooner or later. But you believed that understanding was one of the first steps toward forgiveness. The more you walked the louder the sound of running water became. Soon you could even see the running water. You realized Stan had brought you to the barrens.'But why the barrens?' you thought to yourself. You reached the edge of the water and looked over to Stan. "C'mon" he grabbed your hand and stepped out onto a rock in the water. You did your best to follow, it finally dawns on you that you were headed toward the clubhouse.

When you got to the small clearing Stan went ahead and lifted the hatch to the small underground area where the losers used to hang out. "I've only been here a couple of times." You said as you climbed down the ladder. "Yeah, I guess we started hanging out other places more." Stan walked over to the hammock getting in. He smiled and reached his arms out like a little kid asking for a hug. You raised an eyebrow at him. "I know. I always feel like I'm gonna fall out of this thing, but it's safe I promise." "Okay," You say drawing out the word in a skeptical tone. You yelped as it wobbled and Stan gripped his arms around your waist as the hammock swung a little. "See, safe." You let out an amused huff and relaxed into Stan. Your back was pressed against his chest, both of your heads finding slightly uncomfortable spots in the crooks of the other's neck. "I remember one of the first times Eddie ever brought you to hang around with us was down here." Stan played with your hands in your lap. "I remember looking over and seeing you smiling, talking to Beverly. It was really hot out, your cheeks were pink. Richie gave you his shower cap and you, him, and Bill talked about comic books." You closed your eyes just listening to Stan talk softly into your hair. "Beverly came over to me when she noticed. She was joking around told me to stop staring, that it was rude. I hadn't even noticed that I was staring. I got nervous cuz, -hoping you didn't notice. You were so beautiful I couldn't help but stare." You blushed and let out a chuckle, your stomach filling up with butterflies. "I don't expect you to say back any time soon, and I in no means want to rush you, but I-" Stan paused, thinking about the impact of his words. He started to think maybe he should give you a little time, but then you leaned your head up to look at him. And when he looked down into your eyes there was no way stopping the words from falling out of his mouth. "I love you." The look in Stan's eyes was intoxicating, you could have stared in his eyes for the rest of both your lives, but instead, you brought your hand up to his jaw and tilted your head bringing yours and Stan's lips together. Equally as intoxicating as the look in his eyes. The two of you felt as if you were floating on clouds. Like you two were the only two people in the world. You pulled away and smiled, Stan pressed his forehead against yours. "I know" You and Stan laughed.

"Ok Rich. You just need to apologize. I'm sure they'll forgive you. They're your friends, basically your family." Richie walked back into town talking to himself. "And you hurt them and accused them of shitty things and now all your friends will hate you forever cuz you were a total dick and even their grandchildren will hate the name, Richie Tozier." Richie stopped for a second and groaned, rubbing his hands up and down his face under his glasses. He took a deep breath and continued walking.

Mike opened the door to Richie. "Hey man, come in." "Is Eds still here." "Yeah, he's in the living room. Rich," Mike put a hand on his shoulder. "He's worried about you. We all kinda are. There's been a lot going on with you four I just want to remind you that if you need someone to talk to we're all here for you buddy." "Thanks, man." Richie continues into the living room and sees Ben and Eddie talking. He breathes a sigh of relief, knowing how much it hurt Eddie that Ben wouldn't talk to him. They hugged and Ben got up off the couch and saw Richie. "I'm really sorry Richie. It was really rude to treat you like that-" Richie cut him off. "It's ok man really, I get it. She's your friend, I was a dick." "Yeah but you and Eddie are my friends too." "Well then what do you say Haystack," Richie extended out a hand. "Back to buds." Ben agreed and shook Richie's hand. Richie took a seat next to Eddie on the couch. "Hey, I'm glad your back I wanted to-" Richie leaned in and kissed Eddie. "As much as I love you and your adorable rambling I wanted to apologize." Eddie was suddenly very nervous. He thought to himself 'Shit this is it. He still loves Kassidy.' "Sure, Sure yeah. Umm a-about what Rich?" Richie took Eddie's hands in his fiddling with them out of nerves. "About everything. About not telling Kassidy. About not even being decent enough to break it off first so neither of you would get hurt. All of this would have been so much easier and nobody would've had to lose any friends. I'm just so sorry Eddie, I love you and I never wanted to hurt you like that." Eddie was so relieved to hear those words come out of Richie's mouth. He put a hand up to Richie's cheek and leaned to kiss him. "I love you too Richie." Richie chuckled in relief "Thank fuck."

You and Stan walked back to the car hand in hand. "So what do you wanna do now? " You leaned your back up against the car door "Oh I don't know maybe some more of this." Stan leaned himself against the car by his forearm and with his other hand lifted your chin, leaning down connecting your lips. You hummed against his lips. "Well, I do love doing that." "Do you want to go back to your place-" Stan pressed a small kiss on your neck "Watch a movie." "Shit!" Stan's head shot up. "I left my house keys at Bens." "We can sneak through your bedroom window." You push yourself off of the car, past Stan, and walked to the other side pulling your door open. "I don't wanna go back there either but with any luck, Richie won't be there." Stan groaned and got into the car.

You wrapped your knuckles on the door and Mike opened it with a smile. "I just forgot my keys." Mike let you in past him to the table where the keys sat. You quickly walked over to the table and grabbed your keys. Turning around back towards the door you catch Richie staring from the couch next to Eddie. For once you didn't feel the wind knocked out of you. But you couldn't say that the feeling of wanting to punch him had dulled any. You carried on toward the door when Richie called out your name. You sighed and banged your head on Mike's front door and contemplated for a second whether or not you should pretend you didn't hear him and keep walking. Apparently, you had stayed there a bit too long. Richie tapped two fingers on your shoulder. "I was just wondering if you would let me talk at you for a second. You don't need to say anything, or react in any way really-" You turned around and put your hands on his shoulders. He froze silent as you drew a deep breath. "I forgive you." It wasn't easy to say, you weren't even sure it was true. A part of you wanted to keep him dangling in wonder and guilt but you knew that you would eventually fully forgive him and the more you saw him moping around the more you would most likely enjoy watching him suffer for what he did. But if he just thought that you had forgiven him then maybe he would go back to his old trashmouth self and you all could move on.

Richie was taken by surprise, to say the least. He felt relief for a fleeting moment until he remembers Stan. "He's out in the car" He heard him speak softly. She somehow always knew what was going on inside his head, that's what made him think that she was so great, that they would be so great together. Against your better judgment, you grimaced and said, "I can give you five minutes. But he has the car keys so I can't promise he won't dive off on you." Richie threw his arms around you and squeezed you, "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!" "Yeah, sure get off me" He smiled at you, "Sorry." As Richie walked out the door he turned back to you, "He wouldn't drive off without his best girl." Richie started making trumpets sound in the tune of 'A Long Long Time' by Kitty Kallen and closed the door. You rolled your eyes as you and Mike laughed

Richie fell silent as he walked up to your car with Stan in the front seat. He raised his hand and tapped on the window. Stan kept his stare forward and locked the car door. Richie sighed. "Stan please." Richie heard the click of the car doors unlock and walked around to the other side and got in. "I'm so sorry. I was being a complete shit of a person and totally overreacted. I do care about her, I do! That's why I got so angry and it totally fucked up my judgment." Stan wasn't saying anything and it started to make Richie even more nervous. "I was angry and confused and I honestly don't know where all of that came from. That's not what I think of you at all, you gotta know that, Stan. You're one of my best friends and the best dude I know and I'm so sorry I said all of those things. I know I really fucked up." The two of them sat and stared out the windshield, Richie's leg bounced up and down from nerves until Stanley broke the silence. "I'm sorry too. That I turned my back on you. I couldn't understand how you had the most perfect girl right in front of you and seeing you hurt her made me angry too. I mean we all saw you and Eddie happening eventually, but I didn't think you two would go and do that. I love her and I guess I let that get in the way of our friendship." "I mean dude I don't really think I could blame you. I've seen the way she looks at you. It can make someone do stupid and crazy things." "Well then I guess that explains why you are so stupid and crazy," Stan laughed, "Eddie looks at you like that 24\7." Richie turned away laughing and hoped it hid the bright red flush on his cheeks. "I can't believe she actually forgave me." "Yeah me neither, to be honest." Stanley dead-panned. "Buuut," Stan took a calming deep breath, "If she can forgive you, then I guess I should too."

Eddie walked up to (Y\N) hesitantly as she was laughing with Mike. Mike saw Eddie and took that as his cue to leave, or rather to eavesdrop from the kitchen with Beverly, Ben, and Bill.

"Thanks for uh.. for forgiving Richie, he's been a wreck," Eddie said. "N-not that I've been fine! I-I feel completely terrible for what I did. But I mean I-I-I'm not trying to make you feel bad for me or anything. O-or for Richie. I just mean that we're both really sorry. I'm so, so very sorry (Y/N)." Eddie stammered through quickly. Man, do your shoes look mighty interesting at that moment. 'You forgave Richie why is it so hard to forgive Eddie. Maybe because we only gave Richie a premature apology so we could all get back to normal? Should I have to do that with Eddie too? Fuck that neither of them deserves it!' You fought back and forth with yourself in your head before finally looking up at Eddie. You took a deep breath, "I know...I-" Eddie cut you off "You don't have to." "I feel like I should." "You already kinda forgave Richie I know that's a big thing so you can hate me for as long as you need I deserve it." You smiled at Eddie and walked out of the house. Richie saw you walking towards the car and stepped out leaving the door open for you. You got in and leaned over to Stanley cupping the side of his face to bring him closer and pressed a kiss to his cheek. Stan started the car as you buckled. You tucked your legs up onto the seat and curled up to get comfy. Stan rests his hand over on one of your legs as you closed your eye

taglist: @elisaa-shelby @trashxqueen @igotahammer @pillowjj @screechinglawyer @campcampie

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darklove9314-blog · 3 years ago

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Family : A Nessian Fanfic

Day 19 of Nessian month: Prompt: Nessian bonding with the IC.

Nesta gazed upon Cassian, Her hand firmly in his as Cassian knocked on the front doors of the river house, Feyre opened the door, a smile on her face, a hand pressed firmly to her swollen stomach before a five year old Nyx grinned at the sight of his aunt and uncle flinging himself in his aunt’s arms.

“Aunt Nes! You came!” Nyx exclaimed. A happy chuckle escaping her lips.

“Of course I came. I wouldn’t miss this for the world.“ Nesta smiled as Cassian cocked his head to the side staring at Nyx.

“What? No love for your favorite uncle?” He stated as Nyx’s eyes widened with excitement

“Is Uncle Az with you?” He questioned causing Nesta to hold in her laugh. Only five years old and he already mastered the art of a good come back. Even Feyre was reining in her smile.

“Say hi to your other uncle, sweetie.“ Feyre encouraged him as he wiggled himself out of Nesta’s arms and hugged Cassian.

“Hi Uncle Cass.“ He greeted. Nesta had no real idea why Nyx had grown more of an attachment to her than Cassian, but she guessed she would never really know that answer. Kids were always a mystery.

“Come inside, we’re just getting to cutting the cake.“ Feyre explained as Nesta and Cassian entered Nyx holding onto Feyre‘s hand.

Cassian‘s hand slid into hers before they entered the sitting area. Several of Nyx’s friends gathered around a table as he chatted away. He really was a social one.

Cassian pulled out a chair for Nesta, she thanked him as they took a spot beside Mor who greeted Casan with a hug.

“Long time, no see, stranger.” Mor greeted. Her smile dazzling across the whole room.

“That’s what happens when you go to the court of Nightmares for a whole six months.“

Mor shrugged taking a sip of her wine.

“It’s not easy to undo the damage the years have caused there, but perhaps in a few more years The Court of Nightmares will be a thing of the past and it can start anew.”

A fresh start. Something that a lot of the Night Court had needed. progress was slow, but nothing ever happened over night.

Nesta‘s eyes drew to Cassian, the curve of his lips at his friends accomplishment. The determination she had showed to take over the Court of Nightmares after her fathers passing and do what she thought she should have always done. Made more dreamers in the city of Nightmares. Nesta had even offered her assistance if Mor ever became overwhelmed. Which she had appreciated.

“How are things in Illyria?” Mor asked, her eyebrows raised in question at Cassian, who’s own smiled beamed, his arm going around Nesta. Pride shone in them with their accomplishments.

“We finally managed to convince Devlon to combine a two small units made up of both Illyrian and Valkeryie warriors. One of them are the younger generations who wish to become apart of the ranks and the others are the ones who have already went through the rite.”

“That’s amazing, I knew you two could do it.” Mor smiled looking over to Nesta.

“I couldn’t have done it without the steel will determination of my mate,“ Cassian explained pressing a kiss to the side of her temple.

“Don’t forget Emerie and Gwyn.” Nesta added.

“How could I ever?” Cassian smiled pressing a kiss to her hair.

“I thought the mating bond was supposed to die down some after a couple of years?” Amren asked sliding down in a chair, Varian by her side.

Cassian smirked at her. “You know that’s not how that works.“

“I dread the day you procreate boy. Hopefully the babe has its mother’s smarts.“

“I hope so too.“ Cassian told her making Nesta feel warm in her chest.

She had been thinking a lot about having children lately. Been having dreams of Cassian filling her with life. thinking of the one they would create together. Been gazing at the tea she had been using as her birth control for the past five years and been wanting to have a conversation about what his thoughts were if she stopped taking it, if they had started trying.

but they both had been so busy lately getting everything together that it had been a while since the two of them had time to be intimate, Had time to talk about the future that she wanted to have with him. Would they be able to have a baby? She knew getting pregnant as a fae could be difficult, but she was willing to try. She just needed a moment with him where they both weren’t exhausted.

Amren smirked seeming to catch how deep Nesta’s thoughts ran.

“I guess we’ll see when the time is right.“ She simply said leaning into Varian. Her wedding ring flashing in the light.

Before Cassian could say more, the door opened Azriel stepping through it as Nyx hugged him. Azriel placing Nyx on his back and carrying him into the dining room.

“Be careful there, Uncle Az, you may throw your back out.“ Cassian teased earning him an eye roll from Azriel.

“I’m in better shape than you.“ Azriel retorted. “I bet you couldn’t even lift him to your shoulders.”

“Is that so?” Cassian challeneed as Nesta heard a far off voice say.

“I hate to break up your bet with my son, but it’s time for presents.“ Rhys told them taking Nyx for Azriel’s shoulder. A wide grin on the boys face.

“Presents!” Nyx shouted happily running towards them as the other children followed. Feyre smiled rubbing at her abdomen absentmindedly.

“Do you think he’ll have any trouble not being an only child when his sister arrives?” Feyre asked as Rhys beamed.

“Not at all. though there definitely will be an adjustment period.“ Rhys assured her as Nesta looked back to Cassian. His gaze on Rhys and Feyre as Rhysand pressed a kiss to her sister’s cheek.

Nesta had always knew that Cassian had longed for a family of his own. It wasn’t that his close circle of friends wasn’t enough for him or even her, but she knew Cassian had always wanted children. She had been hesitant afraid if she would be a good mother or not.

He had assured her there was no rush for children. That he would wait hundreds of years if he had to so she could be ready for them. Nesta just had to make sure she was doing this as much for herself as she was for Cassian. She would not bring a child into this world unless both her and Cassisn were ready for one.

Nesta joined the others sitting down next to Feyre as Cassian joined Rhys and Azriel having a conversation that Nesta had no clue what it was about.

Elain was beside Mor and Amren, her laughter flooding over to them as she sent both her sisters a slight wave. Nesta waved back before turning back to Feyre, not sure how to start this particular conversation as they watched Nyx open his presents. His eyes growing wide at the mini paint set his mother had gotten him.

“Thanks mom!” Nyx said flinging his arms around Feyre’s neck as she pulled her son closer.

“You’re welcome baby.” Feyre said hugging him as Nesta took in the sight. She knew she wanted that with her own child. But she was still afraid that she would not be any good at motherhood.

Nesta watched as Nyx opened his other gifts, watching as he opened the toy that Nesta and Cassian had gotten for him. Thanking both of them with a hug.

Nesta‘s smile bloomed as she beheld the hug between Nyx and Cassian, Could almost see Cassian with their own son or daughter, How good of a father he would be. She wondered when Cassian saw her with Nyx if he thought the same thing.

“Is something on your mind?” Feyre asked when they both were alone in the kitchen. they were cleaning up while the others were in the living room showing Nyx how to use his toy and helping him set them up. Cassian had always been great at building things. He was putting the others to shame. A smile tugged at Nesta’s lips.

“When did you know?” She asked as Feyre stopped on the dish she was working on.

“Know about what?” She replied scrubbing at a really stubborn stain as Nesta handed her a better sponge.

“Thank you.“ She said as Nesta dried the dishes Feyre handed to her.

”How did you know you were ready to have a baby?” She asked. Feyre stopping mid scrub.

“Are you and Cassian-?” She started but Nesta interrupted her.

“No. At least not yet. I-I haven’t brought up the conversation with him yet.“ Shd told Feyre. Feyre nodded in understanding.

“I can understand that. It’s not a decision to take lightly. There’s a lot of factors to take into account.”

“Like how I feel like I would be a terrible mother?”

Feyre looked at Nesta with the same eyes they both had inherited from their mother.

”What makes you believe you’ll be a terrible mother?” Feyre asked. going back to the dishes.

“Because I couldn’t even take care of us when it mattered most.” She confided to Feyre.

“It wasn’t your job to take care of us. It was our fathers. “

“It wasn’t your job to take care of us either. but you still did it anyway.“

“It still doesnt mean it would have been right no matter which of us took care of the other. perhaps the real mistake was that we didnt take care of each other, but we were young and we’ll learn from those mistakes, God knows I still make them when it comes to my own child.”

“Please. You’re the definition of the perfect mother.” Nesta told her drying the dishes Feyre had worked on.

“I wouldn‘t say that. I still have the deal Rhys and I made which in retrospect wasn’t the brightest idea if you want to have kids.”

“You made a mistake, it happens to all of us.“

“I will admit we didn’t really think it through. the deal I mean. But no one ever said every decision was a rational one, but you’re deflectin. We were talking about you wanting kids.”

“I know it’s been years but I still have those intrusive thoughts that I’ll end up just like our mother.“ Nesta told her.

“We can’t live our life in fear Nesta. and remember you also have a support system in your corner. If you want to have kids than that’s your choice, well yours and Cassian’s. Just make sure that you’re ready to commit to it. To put that child before anything else, because when your baby comes. It’ll be your whole world. only you can determine what mother you’ll be, The past be damned.“

“Thanks Feyre.“

“Don’t mention it.” Feyre smiled as Cassian turned towards them getting up from his spot and heading towards the kitchen until he stopped where they were at.

“I’ve come to relieve you, my high lady.“ Cassian said as Feyre chuckled.

“Thank God you have spared me of the tedious task that is dish washing.” Feyre teased giving him a pat on the shoulder.

“I’ll see you two when you’re finished,“ Feyre told them heading to sit down beside Rhys and Nyx.

“Were you two having fun in here?” Cassian teased grabbing a dish and washing it.

“Aren’t we always?” Nesta smirked grabbing the dish from him and drying it.

“What were you two talking about?” Cassian asked. “It seemed like a pretty intense conversation.“

“It was a sister thing and…there’s something I want to discuss with you when we get home.“ She told him.

“Nothing bad I hope.“

“No. It’s just a conversation that I’ve been wanting to have with you for a while now.“ She confided in him, He nodded, relief filling his features as they worked on the dishes. talking about the party. When things were winding down Feyre pulled Nesta into a hug as Nesta also hugged Nyx,

“Goodbye Aunt Nes.”

“Goodbye buddy, I’ll see you next week when you come spend the night,“

Nyx‘s eyes lit up at the sound of that, the house adored Nyx as it had any other person, Maybe even favored him slightly. Though she didn’t blame the house. it had been a while since a child had been in it.She wondered how the house would feel to have one there permanently.

When Cassian and Nesta went home, She had found her answer in a stack of novels on the house library’s table. Books on motherhood, what to expect when you’re expecting. Nesta felt a warmth in her chest as the house also presented her the herbs for her tea. She hadn’t taken her dosage today.

Footsteps sounded in the door of the library as the books vanished from sight but the tea remained. She had made up her mind. Had known her answer as Cassian approached her.

“What was it you wanted to talk about?” He asked taking a seat beside her noting the tea.

Nesta took a deep breath. “Did you mean it? When you said you wanted kids?”

Casian nodded. “It’s something Ive always wanted. What brought this up?” He asked as Nesta took another breath.

“I was thinking-“ Nesta started. “About the future you’ve talked about for us. How you said you wanted kids?”

“Did you change your mind? Did you not want kids? Is that why you said you wanted to talk?” Cassian asked.

”No, I-I wanted to talk to you because I- I want to try for a baby. I-I want to make a baby with you.”

Cassian eyes snapped to hers, searching her face before he stood up, his calloused and warm hand going to her face.

“You want a baby?” Cassian asked. Nesta nodded. And she did. Gods did she want a baby with her mate. the love of her life.

“Yes.” She whispered to him as he smiled. The smile as bright as the dawn as he lifted trash can up eyes flickering to get tea.

Nesta’s smile curved upwards before she took the tea tossing it in the trash before Cassian‘s lips camd crashing down to hers.

He hoisted her on the desk, her back leaning against it as Cassian pulled away smiling down at her in the most breathtaking gaze she had ever saw and whispered.

“Then by all means mate,let’s get stared.“

#nessian #nestaarcheron #cassian #nesta #nessianmonth

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dream-a-little-bigger-x · 4 years ago

Text

Never Enough | Owen Patrick Joyner

Request: Can you please write a piece with owen maybe a little angsty like she doesn’t think she’s good enough for him so she distanced herself from him but he catches on and reassures her 🥺

Author’s note: I absolutely sobbed writing this. I really did need a sad fic to cry it out today, so thanks for requesting this! I hope you like it :)

Pairing: Owen Joyner x reader

Warnings: Angst, anxiety, self-doubt, lots of crying

Words: 3,275

You had been feeling terrible the past few weeks. There was no reason at all to feel like this besides maybe your boyfriend, Owen, being in Vancouver filming for Julie and The Phantoms while you were still stuck in Norman, Oklahoma. But other than that, there was no reason for you to feel like this. And still, you felt like crap. It was almost as if something heavy was pressing down on your chest and you could just feel something was off. Something wasn’t right.

You had called Owen a few times, in tears, sobbing about how terribly you felt and how everything just felt wrong. He comforted you as well as he could through a phone screen and sang you to sleep almost every night. But he still felt bad for leaving you behind in Oklahoma. That’s why he decided to book you a ticket to Vancouver, so you could come stay with him and Charlie, and join them on set. He knew you could take a few days off of work or do some stuff remotely, plus he was convinced it would really make you feel better.

When the weekend finally came around, you packed your bags and hopped on a plane to Vancouver. You were finally going to see your boyfriend again after months of not seeing each other, and the thought alone made you feel a little better already.

The second you spotted the mop of blonde hair, your heart leapt as did your feet in the run up to him. Launching yourself into his arms, you felt like you could finally breathe again. And with that exhale, came the tears again.

“Why are you crying, Baby?” he mumbled into your hair as he held you as close to him as possible. You pushed yourself off him to look at his face and wipe away your tears, chuckling.

“It’s happy tears, I promise. Just… I missed you so much,” you replied. Owen’s expression turned from worried into endeared as he looked at you. He grabbed your face in his hands, his thumbs helping you wipe away the tears.

“Aw, I missed you too, Little One. Let’s get home now, shall we?” You nodded your head, and Owen’s hands dropped from your face, one trailing down to grab your hand, the other your suitcase. With hands intertwined, the two of you exited the airport and made your way to the car.

Though, there was still this gnawing feeling at the pit of your stomach, you knew it was going to get better the more time you’d spend with Owen. You pinned the anxious feeling you still had to the fact you needed more of Owen in your day after having spent so long without.

“Here you go, Little One,” he said as he pushed the door to his and Charlie’s apartment open, letting you go inside first. With Owen trailing behind you, you stepped into the place, and were immediately met with a cinnamon-y scent. You grew more and more confused and curious as you walked further into the living room, finding Charlie in the open-plan kitchen, leaning his elbows on the counter as he scrolled through his phone. A light lit up the oven, showing a tray of cinnamon rolls baking, your very favorite.

“Gorgeous, did you bake for me?” you asked, looking up at Owen. Your words made Charlie look up from his phone, a smile finding its way to his lips upon seeing you.

“We did,” he corrected you while walking towards the two of you. “Welcome to Vancouver, y/n,” he greeted and took you in for a hug as Owen shut the door and took your suitcase into the living room. “How was your flight?” He pulled away from you and made his way to Owen with you.

“Good, but can we not just glace over the fact that the two of you baked cinnamon rolls?!” You didn’t peg either of the boys to be bakers. You knew for a fact Owen wasn’t the greatest baker as the one time you baked together, he completely ruined the dough by adding egg whites to it when the eggs had to be seperated.

“Charlie is actually a pretty decent baker,” Owen said with a smile and plopped down on the sofa, patting the space beside him. You inhaled deeply, the faint scent of burning reaching your nostrils. Trying your hardest to withhold a laugh, you turned to Charlie.

“Right, that’s why they’re nearly burning in the oven,” you said sarcastically. The panicked look on Charlie’s face was the best thing you’ve ever witnessed. His eyes grew wide before he sprinted to the kitchen, cursing and panicking, and getting the cinnamon rolls out.

“They’re good! They’re good!” he shouted as he placed the tray onto the counter. “Wanna come and drizzle them with some of that white stuff?” You bit back a laugh at the innuendo before walking over to Charlie and helping him out with the royal icing.

You could already feel the anxiety was slowly washing away. All you needed was these two himbos and a couple of cinnamon rolls, and you’d feel a million times better.

The three of you spent that night, cuddled up on the sofa, eating cinnamon rolls, talking and watching a ton of movies together. It kind of felt like coming home in a way. Because Owen was your home. Even though you’d always thought it was kind of cliché when people said “home is in your arms” but you couldn’t deny that it was true. Home was in Owen’s arms with his heartbeat softly thumping against your cheek as you laid on his chest.

Owen had been your boyfriend since the seventh grade. You’d been friends before that since you lived on the same street and went to the same school. You remembered the first day of seeing him move in a few houses down in the calm cul-de-sac you lived in. Ever since that day, the calm cul-de-sac wasn’t quite as calm anymore. He’d always ask for you to come and play with him whenever he was bored -- which was a lot, and, when you got older that kindly asking to come and play, turned into calling you in the middle of the night to sneak out and go on an adventure with him.

He never really asked you out. At your thirteenth birthday party, when everyone had left and Owen was allowed to stay over, he just kind of kissed you on the lips and told you he liked you. That’s how you kind of established you were boyfriend and girlfriend, which sounded hilarious to you when you remembered it later.

When Owen went off to L.A. to pursue his acting career, you’d kind of broke up, thinking it would be easier that way, but when you turned seventeen and he came back to Norman, OK for a while, the both of you realized you were actually in love with each other. It wasn’t that cute Middle School crush anymore. And now, you were still very much in love at 19 years old. You just knew this was going to be it. This is the guy you wanted to spend the rest of your life with. Owen was peak husband material.

Owen and Charlie took you to set the next day. You had already met all of them when you came to visit him at bootcamp in the summer. Unlike what you expected, everyone remembered you and was happy to see you again.

“We should all go to dinner together tonight!” Savannah exclaimed excitedly. She was the first one you met years ago when Owen was on the Nickelodeon show Knight Squad. You immediately clicked with the bubbly personality that is Savannah Lee May. You just loved how she came bouncing up to you when you visited them on set to introduce herself. Add to that the utter beauty and kind-heartedness, and you’ve got yourself a new best friend. The two of you FaceTimed regularly and texted daily, it almost made Owen jealous.

But now that you were seeing him on set with all these amazingly talented people that became his best friends, you were getting slightly jealous. Not the ‘one of you is going to steal my boyfriend away’, but the gnawing jealousy when you realize he’s built up this entire new life outside of Norman, outside of you. Even if you weren’t here, he’d still be this happy.

You wished you could shake the anxiety over the jealous feeling in your stomach, but you were unable to. All day long, you trailed behind the group, absently laughing along whenever the others did and just watching from the sidelines as Owen interacted with all these people. Even at dinner, you couldn’t stop thinking about it.

Owen started to notice how you’d quieted down during the day, and at dinner, he leaned into you and asked, “Hey, you okay, Little One?” in your ear. Chills ran down your spine at his hot breath blowing in your hair.

“Yeah, just a little tired, is all,” you replied and offered him a half-hearted smile. It didn’t convince Owen at all, but decided not to ask any further. Your relationship had always been built up of open communication and mutual trust. So, now he had to trust you would talk to him if something was really bothering you. But how do you tell someone you hate seeing him have a life beside you. That’s just plain selfish.

The next day, you decided to stay at the apartment instead of going to work with Owen. You had a few mails to catch up on and could keep up with some work here, anyway. Though you knew you weren’t going to do much of that.

“You sure you don’t wanna come?” Owen asked once more as you were settled on the couch with your laptop in your lap, ready to pretend to work. As you looked up at him, he was pouting and had a worried expression on his face. You were certain he knew work wasn’t the only reason you wanted to stay home for the day.

“Yeah, there’s just a few things I need to do,” you lied, shooting him your most convincing smile. Charlie and Owen exchanged glances, both of them knowing you weren’t being 100% truthful. The latter sighed deeply before making his way towards you and pressing a kiss to your forehead. “Have a good day at work, Gorgeous,” you said to him with all the excitement you could muster up to sound convincing.

“Yeah, you too, Little One,” he mumbled and left the living room.

“Goodbye, y/n!” Charlie shouted with a wave while Owen ushered him out the door. A small smile fought his way to your lips at the interaction between the two. They really were the best of friends.

“Bye, Charlie!” you shouted back.

The silence fell over the apartment as well as a heavy weight on your shoulders. You felt terrible for feeling this way. You knew you should be happy for Owen that he had so many amazing friends around him and that he loved his work so much. But you couldn’t help but feel sad about it too. The more he integrated here in Vancouver with all these amazing people, the more he let go of Norman, Oklahoma. The more he let go of you.

Tears pricked in your eyes as the thoughts raced through your mind. You could keep them at bay for a while until the image of Owen laughing at something Madi had said flooded your mind and pushed the tears out. You placed your laptop on the coffee table and grabbed a pillow, hugging it close to you as sobs raked through your body. There was no good reason for you to feel this way, but you still did. You felt bad for feeling this jealous of friends of Owen, of your friends. It truly just felt like he was letting go of you and his life in Norman, and you didn’t know how to handle that. You didn’t know how to handle losing someone you’ve had in your life for such a long time.

By the time the boys came home, you had stopped crying and were half paying attention to a movie you’d found on Netflix. None of the work you actually did want to do had been done, and you’d even forgotten to eat. Which you only realized when the aromatic smell of pizza filled up the apartment.

“Hey, Gorgeous,” Owen greeted as he walked into the living room. When his eyes fell on the little ball of a mess you were, his demeanor changed entirely. He went from somewhat cheerful into full-blown concern. “Are you alright?” he asked, placing the boxes of pizza on the dining table before walking up to you. You sat up from your previously sprawled out position at once, your heart breaking as a million thoughts flew through your mind. You were upset with him for building up something incredibly for himself beside you, and even more upset at yourself because you were upset at him.

“Don’t,” you snapped curtly, holding your hand up, “Take another step because I will break.” Owen swallowed visibly as he froze in the middle of the living room. He stuttered and stumbled over words of confusion and worry. “I can’t do this anymore, Owen.” You rubbed your hands over your face before looking up at him again. The look on his face screamed confusion. He had no clue what he’d done wrong or what had happened for you to suddenly think that.

“What are you talking about, y/n?” His voice cracked as he choked back tears, breaking your heart even more. You hated yourself for feeling this way, but you just couldn’t handle it. You didn’t know how to handle it.

“You, having a life I don’t belong in…” The words came out in a whisper. You barely even dared to speak your thoughts out loud. You were very aware that this was all crazy talk, but this was the only way to save the relationship from becoming toxic.

“What do you mean, Little One? You do belong in my life, I--” He shut up when you held your hand up to make him stop before you got up from the couch and walked towards the bedroom you’d shared with him for the past two nights. The place you’d fallen asleep in, feeling so safe and happy. Now it just felt cold and daunting.

“I’ve booked a ticket back home,” you choked on fresh tears as you walked into the bedroom. Owen’s loud voice bouncing off the walls made you stop in the doorway, your heart pounding loudly in your chest as you listened but didn’t look at him.

“No! No, y/n! You don’t get to just walk away without properly explaining what I’ve done wrong!” You waited a few beats after the last words had rolled off his lips, gathering all your courage before turning around to face him. You regretted that action immediately as the first thing you saw were the hot tears rolling over Owen’s cheeks.

“Look at your life, Owen. You got all these friends and an amazing job in a completely different country and I can’t help but feel left out, like I’ll never be enough. I feel like you’ve built this entire life away from Norman, Oklahoma. Away from me. And I know -- I know I shouldn’t feel like this and I hate myself for feeling like this but I can’t…” you took a shaky breath, “I just can’t pretend I don’t feel it and I can’t pretend for the sake of our relationship -- for your sake -- that I don’t feel it. I just, I can’t, Owen…”

Owen grew completely silent at your words, his heart slowing down as it broke. He thought he had everything in life. The perfect job, the perfect friends, the perfect significant other. And now everything just seemed to crumble down right in front of him. It just all seemed so perfectly balanced out with you being friends with his friends. He was completely mistaken. He knew something was wrong when you’d distanced yourself so much the day before and why you didn’t come with them to work.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered before turning around again to grab your stuff, but once again, you were stopped. Not by his voice this time, but by his hand grabbing your wrist and forcing you to turn around.

“Please, y/n, don’t do this,” he whispered, his voice cracking ever so softly. Tears clouded your vision as you looked at him apologetically. “No, baby, no, please don’t do this. I can’t-- I can’t live without you. It’s because of you I managed to come this far with this job. It’s thanks to you I even dared to do this audition because you believed in me. I wouldn’t have even tried for Alex if it wasn’t for you encouraging me. Please, baby. Everyone in the cast and crew loves you, y/n, I promise you. Charlie told me earlier he wanted to ask you to live with us,” you looked up at Charlie, who had retreated in the kitchen, chewing on a slice of pizza as he listened with tears glistening in his eyes. “Savannah has loved you since you met when we did Knight Squad. Madi and Jadah see you as a big sister, and Jeremy just loves joking around with you,... They all love you so, so much, baby. Kenny! Kenny even asked where you were today.” Owen sniffled before taking another deep breath. “I can’t do this without you, y/n, please, don’t leave me. I love you so, so much.” The both of you dissolved into sobs as he sunk onto the floor on his knees, wrapping his arms around your waist and resting his head against your stomach. He pleaded and begged, and your heart broke into a thousand pieces seeing him like this.

“Please, y/n,” you suddenly heard from the kitchen. When you looked up, you found Charlie walking closer with tears running down his cheeks. “Just stay… You belong here. With Owen, with all of us. We love you so much, we don’t want you to leave, ever.” Another sob raked through your body as fresh tears escaped your eyes. You finally let your hands fall on Owen’s head before kneeling down in front of him, your hands sliding down to his cheeks.

“I am sorry for feeling this way, Owen, I--I love you so much,” you whispered, sniffling. Owen searched your eyes for an answer. He wasn’t sure if this was goodbye or not. “I feel so stupid for feeling this way, I should’ve just told you I was doubting myself, for doubting us. I am so, so, so sorry.” A soft smile lit up his entire face as more tears rolled down.

“I love you so much, y/n. Please, don’t ever leave me,” he cried and buried his face into your neck as he hugged you tightly. You pushed him off you gently and cupped his face before pressing your lips to his in a passionate, kind of salty from the tears, kiss.

“I love you so much, Gorgeous,” you whispered and kissed him again.

For the first time in weeks, you felt okay again. Completely and utterly okay. Nothing could ever stop you from loving this man. Nothing could ever take you away from him. This was for forever. You and him. Forever.

Taglist: @hannahhistorian92 @marinettepotterandplagg @thequirkybookaholic @bookdealer5 @tenaciousperfectionunknown @hemmingsness @iainttakingshitfromnobody @ifilwtmfc @angryknightstatesmantrash @kiss-themoongoodbye @rudysbay @thedarkqueenofavalon @caitsymichelle13 @calamitykaty @wiselight @kcd15 @vicesvsvirtuesfanfic @stars-soph @kinda-really-lost

#julie and the phantoms #julie and the himbos #jatp #owen joyner #owen joyner x reader #owen joyner au #owen joyner fic #alex jatp #jatp fic #jatp au #jatp fandom #fantoms

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alice-angel12x · 4 years ago

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💗 Knight!Deku x Fragile!Reader

Medival AU

Dolls... That is All they ever saw in me. Quirks, some are a blessing, while others it's a curse. A prime example of that is the porcelain quirk.

Let me explain, the porcelain quirk doesn't appear at the age of 5. It can appear at any point in time in life. You could be 6 and it appears, or 70, and then it appears. But whenever it does appear you will remain that way forever till you die of a normal human life span. In my case, I'll look forever 17 even though I'm 25 now. The only drawback is you as fragile as porcelain, and you can break like glass. Though it is possible to be put back together, the cracks will forever remain no matter how much powder and makeup you put on.

Most noble and rich women would think It's a dream come true, but they're wrong. Anybody that has this quirk and is between 16 to 35yr old is highly valued in the black market.

There were a lot of stories I heard, of young women being stolen away from their homes. And brought here to be sold off to some noble as pretty decoration, or a way to show off their wealth, or used for their pleasures. Who wouldn't want a beautiful girl that will never grow old and ugly?

The cages were cold and lonely despite there being many of us. No one would talk to each other in fear of not knowing who would be next. I've only ever made one friend in that place. A beautiful girl named Momo. Like me, she was taken from her humble home and ended up here. Sadly she was sold away to a king Named Endeavor as a present for his youngest son. I hope she's okay.

Now I bet you're thinking, is there a way to escape such a fate, or even a way to escape at all. There are only two ways that I'm aware of. 1 the porcelain quirk either came too early or far too late. Second, if you were to get a Nik or some sort of crack, then you're automatically deemed worthless and are tossed aside. Nobody wants a cracked doll after all.

But believe me, they have ways of preventing their 'merchandise' from being damaged. -----

Argo the slave master and his goons were moving their wagon of merchandise through the forest late at night.

Inside the wagon was cramped but clean, and soft with mats, pillows, and blankets covering the floor and walls. Yet it failed to hide the barred windows and the shackles that bound their captives. All was quiet when the Wagon suddenly jolted to a stop.

"CAREFUL YOU FOOLS! You might have damaged the merchandise!" Argo yelled at his lackeys.

He quickly opened the doors to check on them. Seeing everyone was not harmed or chipped he smiled crookedly.

"Now now my pretties. Were almost at the kingdom Valmar. Where you'll be bought by new masters, behave and don't try anything funny. Then maybe I won't let my lackeys have a taste of you," Argo said as he licked his lips.

The captives shuddered at his words and tried to back farther into the wagon. Argo laughed at their obedience and slammed the doors shut.

"I-I want to go home," one girl sobbed as she slowly started to break down.

"Hey SSH! You're going to get us in trouble," a boy scolded.

I slowly blocked them out as I thought back on my life before my quirk appeared. Before this life.

"Y/n, look what mom made for me!" My dear friend Izuku called.

We were 7 years old when he showed me his first knight armor, his mother made him. He Idolized famous knights and adventurers. His favorite hero was The Lone Hero All Might. One could almost call him obsessed.

I remember all the times where we used to play out in the forest. He would be my knight in shining armor, and I would be his Princess.

"Aaah! Help me!" I cried out dramatically.

"I am here!" Izuku said with great bravery.

As he got older he was served to visit last as he went off training in a nearby Kingdom. But he always came back once a year to visit me and his family. Every time he visited, he'd always bring me back a rose. His face would be complete as he muttered incoherent things.

We never truly lost touch, cause he would always write letters to me about his day, and what he's seen. And I write letters back to him, nightly.

Then my 17th birthday. I woke up to the sun shining on my face as usual. But something felt off, my skin doesn't feel right. I quickly ran over to the Mirror and saw my face. My skin became milky white, all my sunspots and Imperfections were gone. My skin has never been this smooth. My eyes were a little larger, it really made my e/c eyes stand out more. My lips became Cherry pink, I look like a doll.

That was when I realized my curse, the porcelain quirk awakens Within Me. But I was optimistic, my mother had the porcelain quirk at 19 years old. And she was never stolen or captured by anyone. And my father protected her with all his heart, so I put those fears aside. When I revealed my transformation to my parents, they were shocked and slightly afraid. But the Embraced me I told me I will be okay and I will be protected.

When Izuku returned for my birthday his reaction was priceless. His face became cherry red, and he always tripped over his words. Eventually, he mustered up the courage to tell me I was the most beautiful lady he ever saw. And that when he became an official knight he'll make sure I'll never have to live my life in fear. I never felt so happy in my life, as a pulled him into a passionate kiss.

It happened a few months later. My family and Izuku were relaxing in the living room when suddenly there was a knock at the door. My father thought it was the Milkman so he decided to answer the door But was greeted with a knife to the stomach. Panic rushed over me and my mother, as we saw at 3 muscly looking men entering our house. Then a fourth Man came the slave leader, Argo.

Izuku still a knight in training pulled his sword out of its sheath and got into a defensive position. He stood between the men and us.

He tried to fight them off, Izuku did put up a pretty good and long fight. Until eventually lost due to being out numbered. They pushed Izuku to the ground, tied his hands behind his back, and quickly gagged him with a piece of cloth.

"Know, ladies.. we can do this the easy way or the hard way. Either hand yourselves over to us and the boy lives, or we've beheaded this boy and take you by force," Argo said as he sat on Izuku's back and putting a knight near Izuku's throat.

"NO!" I cried out as my mother held me back.

"HHMPH!!" Izuku tried to cry out through the gag to me.

"Don't Hurt Him," I begged.

"So what's it gonna be ladies the boy or you," Argo said with a twisted smile.

I began to tremble in fear as I looked at Izuku. He quickly shakes his head no, trying to tell us to not surrender ourselves to them as tears welled up in his eyes.

"We're sorry Izuku," I sobbed in defeat.

My mother and I step forward and were quickly chained up. Argo holding our leashes.

"NNNMPH! HHMMPH!" Izuku cried out as he tried to free himself from his bindings. Glaring daggers at Argo looked us over lustfully.

Very quickly we were forced into the wagon and that was the last time I ever saw our house and Izuku.

The wagon was ready to move until a voice called out from the darkness.

"HALT, EVIL SCUM!! IN THE NAME OF OUR KING GRAND TORINO, YOUR VILE ACT OF TRAFFICKING ARE OVER!!" Said a knight checked out and silver armor riding a brown horse.

Argo laughed at the lone knight.

"Oh yeah, you and what army," Argo chuckled.

Suddenly there is more light in the Darkness, it appeared to surround Wagon in all directions. From the darkness, an army of knights stepped out some on foot, others on horseback.

" surrender immediately!" Shouted another knight, this on a white horse.

"What are you fools looking at, ATTACK!" Argo shouted.

It was hard to tell what was happening outside, as everyone heard the fight happening outside. The scuffle lasted for a pretty long time, but eventually the struggling settle down. Everyone sat in silence as they waited, not knowing what's going to happen.

Suddenly the wagon door opened revealing a man in knight's armor. He had blue hair and rectangular glasses.

"Don't worry we're here to rescue you," he informed us.

Slowly but surely everyone was escorted off the wagon, one by one we were unchained. I was the last one to be unchained as I approached the knight with the keys, I heard a faint gasp.

"Y-y/n!" The knight shouted as he pulled me into a gentle yet strong hug.

I look at the knight in confusion as I watch him remove his helmet. Revealing My childhood friend Izuku. He definitely aged and grew over the last 8 years. I felt a little self-conscious, because of how short and young I looked compared to him. He was taller and looked more mature and looked so handsome.

"I finally found you, I found you y/n" has said as he pulled me into another hug.

"I-Izuku, I- I was so scared," I sobbed into his chest.

"I'm here now. And this time I'll keep you safe," Izuku whispered in my ear.

I kissed his cheek softly, as I hugged him. Izuku picked me up bridal style and placed me on his horse. He quickly pulled himself on the horse. As the other knights escorted the others to the kingdom. Izuku and I decided to return home instead.

#mediveal #mha x reader #mha deku #mha fantasy au #izuku mydoria #izuku x reader

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centuryofdean · 4 years ago

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When Lightning Strikes - Chapter 19

Author Note:: So sorry for such a long update! COVID depression is no joke.. I have had a lot of lows lately and I haven’t even been reading fanfiction let alone writing it. Or reading in general. Things are a little better the last few days, so I am hoping this is a good start to get things finished.

Author Disclaimer:: The Hobbit, Middle Earth and its characters are not mine. I take no credit. The story line and even some dialogue–also not mine. Instead I claim my Original Character Laurel and the adjustments to the story line.

Summary:: From when Laurel Took was small she dreamed of a man. Every time she dreamed of him, he could not see or hear her. Over time they are able to communicate–but he’s been dreaming about her too. Finally after years of anticipation Laurel takes the leap and kisses him. Only for her to wake up and dread the real world. Then lightning strikes and she finds herself in a familiar place, with a familiar face.

Rated:: M for Mature. Please do not read this story unless you are 18+. NSFW.

Warnings:: Language, Violence and Scenes of Sexual Nature.

Pairing:: Kili x OC (Laurel)

Laurel

Bard led us through the house and into a small room. Singrid was the one to clear the bed and start to close all the blinds. At this point soft moans started to flee from Kili's throat. "Shhh," I murmured pushing his hair back to press my hand to his burning forehead, "it will be alright soon. I promise."

There were dark bags under his eyes in high contrast against his pale sheen skin. It was a terror to look at. His hair was already half soaked in the sweat. Fili was pressing his hands over various areas on his brother's body. "I need my bag," I shouted out to no one in particular. "There are herbs in there that could help."

Bard fled the room and slammed back in through it with a box full of different vials and sacks. "I have Elderberry and Burdock," he started to hand me the items. Bain stood in the corner watching fearfully as his father continued to sort through the box. Out of the corner of my eye I could see Kili twitching and grunting more loudly.

"Bain," I called softly. The teenager took a few steps towards me. "I need you to go to the Master's house and get Thorin Oakenshield. He is the Master Dwarf with blue eyes and loose black hair. Tell him that Kili is sick. Tell the hobbit Bilbo Baggins that I need my bag. Hurry, please!"

Immediately the boy turned and fled. If nothing was damaged in my bag I should still have a bulb of Kings Foil. "Bard, I need a pot ready. Do not put water in it, I have soaked water to use, I can't dilute it," I placed a hand on the man's arm. He stood tall once more and left the room. The two girls were huddled in the corner digging through laundry.

A pained scream echoed through the room as Kili trashed harshly. Fili clamped both of his hands over his brother's shoulders as he continued to convulse. I pulled my fingers through his hair as I brought our foreheads together, "Shh, fight through the pain. I'm here with you, I'm not going anywhere."

It only seemed to calm him a fraction, but not enough to stop his erratic movements.

Soon the heavy thudding of running feet bellowed all around us and shook the house. The first face to enter the doorway was Thorin. Electric blue eyes blazed as they narrowed in on his nephew. Kili choked, his body bending and twisting more viciously. In two steps Thorin was beside Fili putting his hands on Kili to keep him from moving too much. Bilbo pushed his way through all the dwarves to get to me, bag in hand. I took my eyes off my dwarven prince to receive the sack and tear through it. Wrapped tightly and still intact was the bulb of Kings Foil. I carefully handed it to my distant uncle or cousin, "Bilbo I need you to open this and pour all of it into the pot that Bard has prepared. Once it is bubbling bring me the entire pot."

Moments passed until the room was crowded with more than it could handle.

"Everyone who is not immediate family go wait in the other room," Balin thundered. His deep commanding voice sent shivers down my spine.

Did that include me? I hesitated before moving, slowly making my way to the door. Snarling and the sound of a scuffle bounced around the room. "No Laurel, you stay," Thorin boomed.

My body moved at the command so that I was before Kili again. Balin was holding both of Kili's feet, Fili was holding Kili's right arm, while Thorin was holding his left arm right next to me. I got to work by taking my knife and starting to cut out his pants where the wound was. Breath left me, leaving me gasping at the sight of the black purple bruising covered in thick black blood. It smelled of decay and death, like a deer that was out in the woods for weeks. Each of the veins around the wound were thick and black. It was the poison working its way through his body.

His skin was scorching now, so much that I could barely touch him without hissing myself.

"Are you having the hobbit boil weeds," Bard burst through the room confused.

My brows scrunched as I shook my head, "Its Kings Foil."

"We feed it to the pigs!"

"Tell one of the dwarves I need more," I shouted.

Even with his family watching I placed my knife at his chest and tore through the material of his shirt.

It revealed more horrors of black veins. How long was he letting this work up before he said something? Even if he didn't know the arrow was poisoned he didn't have to pretend it was nothing! Self-consciously I sent him a glare. Even then his eyes were wild and wide, teeth grit while he starred on at me.

A roar of a howl screamed through his lips as he writhed against the hands holding him down. As softly as I could I placed my ear against his burning chest and felt the erratic beat of his heart. If it was pumping so quickly in that way he was working the poison closer and closer to his heart without even knowing it. Again I looked to his face, only to feel my own heart beat erratically.

This is what death looked like.

With my chest in my stomach and no air to fill my lungs, I trembled for a moment. Kili was dying. The burn in my eyes started, I couldn't live in this world without him.

Bilbo burst through the door with a steaming pot. Once he sat it down on the table next to the bed I screamed as my hand met searing water. It didn't stop me as I scooped up the soggy weed and removed it. Without waiting or warning I shoved it into his wound.

He screamed inhumanly and vaulted off the bed. A few more dwarves popped their heads into the room and then entered to aid us in keeping Kili still. "Someone get me a mug and a rag," I screamed.

My chest actually hurt with how hard my heart was pounding, my hand throbbed with pain from the scalding water I put it into. Though without trying I was able to tune it out and become numb. Still my eyes were trained on his deep brown ones filled with pain.

Everything blurred until the only sharp image to focus on was him. Finally his eyes closed tight. I tore mine away, feeling the wetness of tears flowing down my face. It was as if my body was humming, I suddenly had adrenaline that I never felt before. I felt as if I could move mountains, but it was no use to me if I lost the love of my life.

His body slowly started to stop moving, I could feel him growing weak. My fingers pressed the Kings Foil into his wound a little deeper as I hissed, my lips trembling as my heart broke. "Esta sinome," my voice quivered. "Amin mela lle. Amind mela lle.

"Mela en' coiamin. Poika tuulo' 'kshapsae. Tula sinome. Tula sinome, Mela en'coimin, Amind mela lle!"

Something snapped. Everything became cold at once, goosebumps erupted all over my skin, even the skin not exposed to the air. All the adrenaline I had evaporated causing me to fall to my knees equally as weak. Just as I fell, hands still buried in Kili's flesh, he gasped, torso flinging forward as he came to sit. In moments he fell back into the bed eyes closed and even breathing.

My hands slipped to the bed as I tried to pull myself up. The strong arm of Thorin wrapped under my own as he pulled me up and held me. I put my ear to Kili's chest to listen to his heart beat slow and even. Trembling fingers wiped at the black mess on his thigh, pulling the Kings Foil away.

Underneath was a soft pink scar, surrounded by flush peach skin. There was no trace of bruising or poison filled veins.

Laughter bubbled up inside my chest as I was able to breathe deeply for a moment. The weight that settled on my chest was lifted and I gasped, tears flowing freely over my cheeks as I touched his cheek covered in stubble. His eyes opened, blurry and unfocused. The beautiful brown orbs settled on my face, his mouth moving softly, "No… you cannot be her. She is far away, she is far, far away from me. She watches and dreams of flying in starlight. She is of another world. No… you cannot be her... It was just another dream."

His large palm grasped my face, his hand sliding into my hair to grasp and tug gently on the courting braid he had put in there just mere nights ago. I was memorized as his lips moved again, the sound of his voice like a melody, "Do you think she could have ever loved me?"

The crooked smile I saw on rare occasions took his lips for a few moments before he rolled his face away and promptly slept.

Soon Fili brought a chair into the room, helping me into it because my legs shook too much to do it myself. Eventually Balin and Oin left the room, leaving me with the King and Princes. None of us said anything for a while, we just stared at Kili as he slept peacefully. Bard brought me another pot of water and a rag in which I used to clean Kili's thigh and leg from the poison and blood. At one point I had Fili hold his brother while I coaxed his sleeping form to swallow the warm Kings Foil water from before. Bofur had returned a while ago with more Kings Foil, that I instructed someone to make tea with. If I could get Kili to drink that for at least a day then it will cleanse his blood of the poison.

"Thank you."

I was startled out of cleaning Kili of sweat on his chest. Never have I heard Thorin sound so soft and genuine. In seconds the King was kneeling before me. Taking each hand in my own and meeting my eyes, "I am forever indebted to you. I owe you my life, and the deepest of all apologies.

"From the moment my eyes landed on you, I judged and treated you unjustly. That was my folly. Time after time you have proven me wrong in all my assumptions. Not only did you save my life and the lives of all in the company on more than one occasion, but you saved Kili's."

Tears started to collect in the brilliant blue orbs while the hairs of his mustache bristled.

"Lady Laurel Took," he continued, pressing his lips to each of the back of my hands, "You are brave, courageous, loyal, a huntress, and most of all loving. In honor of your acts, I name thee, Lady Laurel Took, kin of Durin's sons."

Kin of Durin's sons? Kin meant family but who was Durin and his sons? The confusion was evident, because he rose and placed a hand on my shoulder chuckling. Slowly I leaned sideways in my chair to look at Fili to see if I could get an answer.

The blonde prince light blue eyes were wide, his eyebrows almost into his hair. Even his bottom jaw was hanging softly. "Erm, that sounds pretty nice an all, but what does that mean," I whispered, looking between the two.

At once Fili jumped up, wrapping me up in his arms while he laughed, tossing me and catching me again.

"It is the highest honor a dwarf could receive," he shouted. "Even a higher honor since you are not a dwarf!"

I tried my best to untangle myself from him, but he refused to release his grasp on me. Fili's form crushed me to himself, a warm tight hug. "Laurel, uncle is decreeing that you are a part of the royal family," he whispered, "you are not just a dear friend, you are family."

Once his arms fell away, Thorin opened his own and stepped towards me, eloping me in one of the most heartwarming hugs I had yet to receive in my life. As he pulled away he pressed his lips to my forehead, cupping my cheek all the while smiling, "Yes, you are family. I bless the courtship between Kili, son of Vili, and yourself. Once betrothed, I will perform the wedding ceremony myself."

After all this time I fought Kili. I finally accepted that I loved him, I accepted his courting braid. Still I grew weary all because of Thorin's wrath. Here and now he was telling me he approved. Giggles were leaving my lips softly. Joy like no other filled me to the brim until I could not stand still.

Soon I was holding hands will Fili and dancing around.

"I have a little sister," he bellowed before dancing away and out of the room. Thorin followed, closing the door behind him.

I settled down into the chair next to Kili again, barely containing my smile. Before I had never put thought into marriage with him if he asked, but it didn't sound like a horrible idea. From as far as I could remember it had always been Kili who captured my interest, it was Kili who I confessed my dreams and desires for eight years. The love I had for him would bring me to life without a soul if he were to perish. The only thing that waited for me in the future where I came from was my grandmother and mother. All of whom I never had time to see or speak to.

No I belonged here now, with Kili in Middle Earth.

The youngest girl of Bard entered the room hesitantly, offering me the tea I had requested they made. I accepted it and place it next to me, "Thank you. Do you happen to have hair ties? Maybe three or four of them?"

She returned in moments with a handful. I thanked her again and sighed, tracing Kili's side with my hand. Just an hour or so ago I almost lost him. Now I was ecstatic with Thorin's blessing. With shaky fingers I tied the top of the braid that Kili put in my hair. He said I couldn't undo the braid, but he never said I couldn't cut it.

It took about an hour, and surprisingly no one entered the room—which was a good thing because I feared the wrath I would receive for what I was doing. With painstaking precision and patience I tied off the braid in my hair, cut it half way down, and wove it into Kili's hair behind his ear.

Just while I was re-clasping the bead with his hair in it, he groaned and started to stir. Once more my hands smoothed the hair from his face. "How do you feel," I asked.

"Weak and tired," he muttered. Without even opening his eyes, his fingers wove into my hair again stroking my scalp. His fingers searched for my braid, but stopped short when it wasn't found. That's when he snapped his eyes open.

"Did you take out your braid," he whispered.

"I cut it out."

Anger filled his eyes for a moment, "Could not bear to be bound to me?"

My hands found his, guiding it to his own hair where I had just finished his own braid.

"Just the opposite actually," I whispered. "I almost lost you Kili. It is a miracle you're alive."

His large calloused hand lifted up the elegant braid. It was a sight to see, his dark brown hair blending in almost seamlessly into my vibrant red locks. Different emotions filtered across his face. First he was angered, then bewildered, and finally he was beaming up at me with love.

"Kili I love you," I whispered leaning in close and grasping his hand, "I have always loved you. At first I loved the idea of you, because I didn't believe you to be real. Once I got here I knew that it was real. You were real, my love for you was real—"

Chapped lips were bruising against my own. I had no idea how he moved so quickly. One moment he was laying on the bed, watching and listening, and the next he pulled me into his lap and was kissing me with earnest. On their own accord my hands traveled his bare chest, sliding into his hair while he kissed me with devotion.

Once he pulled away for breath, he touched our foreheads together to look me deeply in the eyes.

"I have waited so long to hear you say that," he murmured, brushing his nose against mine to lean in and kiss me again.

It was natural how his hands fit perfectly on my hips, pulling me closer and holding me there. His lips trailed to my neck, causing me to feel light and fluttery. "Uncle has to let you stay in Erebor with us," he whispered, "I will make him see reason."

"It was already decided earlier she was welcome to stay in the mountain," Thorin's laughing voice came from behind me. Not wanting to be caught in a compromising position with his nephew, I jumped slightly and off the bed. Kili still kept his hand in mine.

"It was? When," he asked confused.

Fili popped his head in the room, entering when he realized that his brother was awake. He bounded over and crushed Kili in a tight warm hug. "You are finally awake!"

"The arrow that hit you was poisoned," Fili continued muttering, "you collapsed in the snow. I heard you and Laurel fighting, once I got there she was trying to get you up. Bard's son went to get the company from the Master's house. Laurel used Kings Foil to heal your wound."

At his words I grasped the tea and urged Kili to drink it. He made a face of disgust but drank it none the less. Balin had popped into the room next, looking equally as pleased to see Kili awake.

"Yes, if it was not for the lass and her Elvish healing magic we would have lost ya lad," Balin sighed.

Elvish healing magic? What magic? Kili looked at me with astonishment, but I shrugged my shoulders, "I didn't use magic, I just did what I learned from the herb book I was given in Rivendell."

Thorin shook his head solemnly, "You did as Balin said. We all witnessed it. You spoke Elvish as well."

"No. I was just saying anything I could think of to get Kili to not die. I told him to rest, and to come back to me. That I loved him and to heal."

The others looked at me with odd eyes, those of disbelief. "They speak the truth," Fili urged, "you were speaking Elvish. Perhaps your instincts came to surface when faced with fear."

"You even collapsed afterwards and turned a little blue. Cold to touch," Thorin supplied.

Either way I took Kili's hand and held it tightly. All that mattered was that he was alive with me, no matter how. He pressed his lips to the back of my hand and squeezed back.

"Afterwards Uncle apologized to Laurel, and bestowed kinship," Fili urged excitedly. Kili appeared more surprised than his brother when he heard the words left Thorin's lips.

Soon all the company came in to see Kili and wish him well. I stayed firmly at his side, not wanting to leave him quite yet. Bilbo even hugged Kili and wished him well. His eyes narrowed in confusing as he pointed to Kili's shoulder.

"Is that Laurel's hair," he asked.

Thorin pushed his way forward and grabbed the braid, inspecting and muttering to himself in another language.

"Welcome to the family little sister," Fili hollered.

Previous Chapter << Chapter 18: Likeness of One is Not the Other

Next Chapter >> Chapter 20: Accepting Warmth

#kili fanfic #kili fanfiction #kili x reader #kili x oc #kili durin #the hobbit #the hobbit fanfic #the hobbit fanfiction #when lightning strikes #kili durin x reader #kili durin x oc

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sondepoch · 5 years ago

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XXIII: Saeran's Route (Y/N)

Where Futures Begin

Life used to be simple for you. Peaceful. But the Savior had other plans for you, and in moments, she ruined what you thought was your one shot at happiness. Blinded by anger, you escaped the Mint Eye, but that triggered a series of events that would bring you further into the world of brothers Saeran and Saeyoung. And further into the twisted world of your love for them.

Neutral Route: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ✔

Saeyoung’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ✔

Saeran’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ✔

MASTERLIST

When it came to formalwear, you'd only ever seen Saeran in his black suit, back at the Mint Eye.

And he, your usual believers' robes and the magenta dresses that Rika had forced you to wear.

As such, it was a pleasant surprise for the two of you to see each other the morning of the RFA party—Saeran, in a white tuxedo selected by Saeyoung, and you, in a delicate (f/c) dress that hung at your knees.

"You look beautiful, princess." Saeran pressed a chaste kiss to your lips as soon as the two of you stepped out of the car. He'd been eyeing you since you slipped the dress on, but had evidently held back in all your haste to arrive at the party. Now that the three of you were here, though, he seemed to pay no mind to the venue, wrapping his arms around you tightly.

"Your suit," You mumbled into Saeran's lips, eyes closed and unable to hold back a smile. "You look perfect in it."

If he heard your compliment, though, Saeran made no indication of such, ignoring even his brother's pleas for the three of you to come on and get inside already.

Finally, when you were breathless (and just a little needy) from the kiss, he released you.

"All right, let's go."

As you followed the twins into the party hall, you couldn't help but sigh at Saeran's inexplicable ability to kiss you as if he'd never kissed you before, and then act completely normal the next moment, as if nothing had happened.

He really doesn't know what he does to me, you realized with an amused smile. Though that only makes him more precious.

You entered the party hall, listening absentmindedly to Saeyoung's chatter as he talked to you about the previous parties that had been hosted. In truth, you didn't care much. All that mattered was the present, and the fact that this party hosted would directly help everyone who had been touched by the Mint Eye's distorted ways.

After this party, everything would go back to normal.

Everything.

All the believers and disciples would disband, find new paths to take in society. Rika herself was apparently under the care of V himself, and would also be given a chance to heal from the wounds she'd inflicted upon herself and others. And, perhaps most importantly, you and Saeran would finally be able to continue your relationship in peace. The Mint Eye would be a thing of the past, leaving only an unbound future for you to march into.

"Ah! Saeran, (Y/N), you made it!" You turned to see the calm smile of V. "I hope you'll both stay til the end of the party. I have a small surprise planned at the end that I'm sure you'll both enjoy."

"Saeyoung has decided that he won't leave until even the party cleanup has finished, so we'll definitely be here a while." You smiled warmly at the man who, somewhat inadvertently, had helped free you from your old life.

"That's good to hear. How have the two of you been faring in Saeyoung's bunker?"

The next few hours passed like that. Small chatter with the various guests, Saeran pulling you off to the side every now and then to whisper in your ear or to kiss you, Saeyoung pulling you two back into a new conversation.

When you escaped to the bathroom, you ran into MC, who seemed rather uncomfortable to be caught alone in your presence, especially now that she knew the full story about everything that had happened. She was by no means kind in her words, but her halfhearted "We should talk sometime" seemed like an unspoken offer to make amends. It wasn't anything tangible, but you suspected that, if things continued down that route, there might come a day when the two of you would be acquaintances. Maybe even friends.

You had the pleasure of meeting the people Saeyoung worked with at the RFA: from Yoosung, the blonde college student (who you learned was Rika's cousin) to Jumin, the executive corporate heir of some company that you recognized the name of from your orphanage days.

"V, isn't it time you began the final event?" A man named 'Zen' asked.

"Ah, you're right." V smiled and bowed his head lightly. "I hope you'll all excuse me."

Before he could go, though, Jumin spoke up.

"Truly, V? You're positive that you want to sell your pictures for this event?" The black-haired man seemed skeptical, and for good reason. You'd heard from Saeyoung that V's pictures were sought after in the industry, and selling them at this specific event (noble as the cause was) might not have been the best decision for the man's career.

"As things stand, this event hasn't raised enough finances to help all those affected by the Mint Eye. If selling my pictures can play a role in sealing this chapter of Rika's past...I'm sure she'll be much better for it."

"You really still want to be with her after everything she did to Saeran and (Y/N)?" Saeyoung's question was fueled more by curiosity than anger, or any past resentment, but it made V stiffen nonetheless.

"I understand that everyone has mixed feelings...but Rika is just as broken as her followers, maybe even more. I...I just want to help her heal. And hopefully, this time, things will be different. She now has the support of her family, after all." V smiled lightly and glanced at Yoosung. Upon hearing the word 'family,' the blonde seemed to burst with energy, his smile doubling in intensity.

As V walked toward the stage, leaving you all, you couldn't help but hear Saeyoung murmur somewhat wistfully, "At least Rika brings Yoosung happiness."

And as much as the woman had wronged you, you couldn't help but agree. The blonde boy seemed to radiate joy—and after being separated from Saeran only to reunite, you would recognize the look in his eye anywhere: bliss. Bliss and relief, at reattaining that which was once lost.

Before you could dwell on the matter further, though, V's clear voice echoed through the room. Instantly, all chatter ceased, and the guests turned their attention upon him.

Well, most guests.

As V politely thanked everyone for attending the party and spoke about the important sponsors, you turned to Saeran.

"How are you feeling?" You kept your voice low so that only he could hear you, knowing how mixed his feelings still were on V and this whole situation.

"Not as bad as I thought things would be. Better, since you're by my side." Saeran smiled softly down at you, pressing a kiss to your temple. You couldn't help but lean into his touch when he laced his fingers in yours.

You wanted to say more, perhaps thank Saeran for even agreeing to come here in the first place with you, but before you could, the sound of cheering erupted all over you.

Oh.

V had begun the auction.

You watched as, all around you, people began bidding for his work. Indeed, you understood why the demand for his pictures was so high. As V unveiled album after album, you began to realize why he was a world-renowned photographer.

"Ah, this collection is one he's been asked to sell countless times. I'm glad he's finally releasing it to the public," Saeyoung murmured from next to you, providing you tidbits of information with each new album.

You watched in awe as four albums were revealed and sold, the first album sold off separately in pieces, but the others bid upon as full sets—and couldn't help but let your breath catch in your throat as each new picture was revealed.

Art.

There was no other way to describe it.

V's camera didn't just capture moments and scenes: he captured emotions.

The first album, Flowers in Laughter, left you shook with its brilliance—breaking down any questions you might have had in mind over V's capabilities.

The second, Myriad Memoir, almost scared you with how much raw emotion it brought forth.

When you saw the third, you almost forgot to breathe: each picture in Glass over Truth seeming to resonate with not just your heart but memories you thought long buried.

And even when your eyes settled over Observing Lies, when you were so confident that nothing else could shake you, your bottom lip trembled as you continued glancing from picture to picture.

You felt your heart rise and fall as each album took you on an emotional rollercoaster, bringing you to lows and highs, showing you sorrow and joy, and the delicate smidgens of hope buried underneath it all.

Truly, you couldn't look at a single one of his pictures and bear to tear your eyes away.

Your heart wouldn't let you.

And that, perhaps, was why when V's final album, was revealed, your entire body felt like it was short-circuiting.

"This album is a product of my most recent work. As many rumors have been circulating, my eyesight is indeed beginning to fail. But it is known that, in my work, I aim to photograph more than what our eyes can see—I photograph what the heart feels, and immortalize it. Which is why, despite my decreasing capabilities of vision, even I am not so blind as to fail to recognize the pure love that these individuals have in their hearts."

V pulled back the curtain that was revealing the final set of pictures, and Saeran's grip over your hand instantly tightened.

"This collection is my most prized work, a culmination of everything I sought to capture when I first decided to be a photographer. I call this album: Where Futures Begin."

Without even formally opening the bidding, people were already shouting numbers—every soul in the room wanting to own this masterpiece collection.

Because no matter how brilliant all V's previous works were, this album put them all to shame. There was no mistaking it: the angles and light and object organization left nothing to the imagination: looking at these pictures, even the biggest fools would have to see what V had managed to capture so beautifully.

You stared in awe.

Each image in the album was filled with the purest emotion: love.

Each image in the album was of you.

You and Saeran, to be specific.

You gazed at the first picture. The two of you were locked in a tight embrace just outside the Mint Eye, seeking not comfort in each others' arms but stability, as if in that time of turmoil the only reliable, unchanging foundation in your lives was each other.

The second image—you didn't even know that V had been present, but looking back it made sense that he would have seen it—was one of where the two of you were in the rain under a single umbrella. At the time, you hadn't even registered that both your outfits were varying shades of grey, but the black-and-white nature of your clothes and the background only made the splashes of color on both your cheeks all the more prominent as you clung to Saeran's sleeve while he gazed down at you adoringly, a rare smile eternalized on his face.

The third, a chaste kiss outside V's apartment when Saeyoung had brought the two of you there to speak with the man. You stared at it in awe, wondering how the image managed to capture the fleetingness of the kiss despite the lasting nature of the picture.

The photographs continued like that, all moments that you had never been aware that V had seen, but captured and developed nonetheless. He had found everything: chaste kisses, abashed glances, sweet laughs, even the wholesome hand-holding that Saeran used to be so averse to.

By some ridiculous miracle, the man had succeeded in photographing the two of you as Saeran kissed you so passionately just outside the party hall this morning, the fast-paced motion all around you only intensifying the intimacy of the moment when you two stood still to lose yourselves in each other. You couldn't help but wonder when V had found the time to develop a picture so last-minute, given that the moment had happened just hours ago, but found yourself shaking your head. The man, as proven by this album, seemed to work wonders.

There was even a picture with Saeyoung, a snapshot of the three of you laughing, and the dispersal of red hair throughout the image told as much a story as it did reveal the varying types of love in your relationship: brotherly, platonic, and—of course—romantic.

You felt a familiar heat rise to your cheeks as the unmistakable feeling bloomed in your chest. No doubt, every person in the room who was gazing upon those pictures was feeling it too.

Love.

And at the back of your mind, you remembered how V had quietly urged you and Saeran to stay—saying that he had a lovely surprise for you two at the end.

Why, this is the best surprise a person could receive.

You found yourself unable to take the smile off your face, the grin only emboldened by Saeyoung's voice joining on the current bidding war that was going on over this album.

"I want it!" He shouted, overly dramatic as usual. You had to force his hand down to get him to listen, but by then, Saeran was egging him on.

The glint of pride in both their eyes as they gazed upon your and Saeran's love immortalized almost prompted you to let the brothers do as they pleased, but you finally found your voice.

"No, guys." You forced them both to look you in the eye amidst all the chaotic bidding. "V called this album Where Futures Begin for a reason."

It was only then that they seemed to recall the album name, and it was then that they understood the meaning of your words.

Where futures begin. But not the future itself.

The album would go home to the house of a wealthy individual, likely one who didn't have the same love in their life as the three of you had in yours'. But that fact wouldn't matter to you. It shouldn't.

Because you had your whole lives ahead of you. Lives that were finally free of the past, no longer rooted in pain or misunderstandings or misery.

This album was V's gift to the three of you. It was a Congratulations! present in advance, commemorating the balance of love that the three of you would be sharing from that day and every day onward. Through thick and thin, that would become the new constant in your lives: the emotion that V had selected when he first saw the way you and Saeran gazed into each others' eyes. Love.

And while others would get to enjoy the sight of where your future together began, you all would have something so much better: the actual future.

At long last, you had finally reached a state where no one else would be able to steal that future away.

No, that future belonged to you, Saeran, and Saeyoung. No others.

A flame ignited in your heart at the thought, fanned by sudden thoughts of having to go through life without either of the boys that you'd grown so dependent on.

Though as you gazed upon their understanding faces and knowing smiles, you realized that there was no need to fear.

These two boys were your future.

Nothing would ever be able to take that away from you.

Fin.

MASTERLIST

Neutral Route: 01 | 02 | 03 | 04 | 05 | 06 | 07 | 08 | 09 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | ✔

Saeyoung’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | ✔

Saeran’s Route: 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | ✔

Word count: 2.7k

Notes: Wow. It feels so bittersweet, that this (my first series ever) is coming to a close after a total of 29 chapters, but it fills me with happiness that i actually succeeded in getting this done. I'm thankful to you guys for reading this, because I never would have been able to complete this otherwise. Thank you for sticking with me, thank you for commenting, thank you for liking, thank you for reading. It's been such a ride (four whole months!) and while this journey is over, i hope that you'll join me in the next fic :) I hope you enjoyed this series, and I hope that you have an absolutely wonderful day. <3

Comment & Like

Thank you for reading <3

I do not own the rights to Mystic Messenger or any of the characters within it.

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human-trash-fire · 5 years ago

Text

Shot Through The Heart: CH4

I couldn’t wait to share the next chapter, so you beautiful humans are getting it early! As always mad shout-outs to everyone who is following along/ RB/ liking this fic <3 I can’t tell you all how fucking grateful I am for all of you.

special thanks to @highqueenofelfhame for previewing the fic and making me feel like it’s worth it to write!

As always the fic is available in its entirety on ao3 glam_reaper2

** IMPORTANT NOTE: The header image is 100% what Rowan imagines when she takes a shot even though it definitely didn’t go down that way.**

******************************************************************************** Aelin:

Two weeks had come and gone since she had hauled the giant box full of goodies to the post office. Fenrys told her that mail was always delayed but that he was both excited and grateful they had sent them something. She made him promise two things: one, he wouldn’t tell the rest of the cadre that a package was coming. Aelin knew that they mentioned sending the boys something, but she didn’t want them to know when. And two, they had to open their care packages ‘Yulemas style’ all sitting around, on Skype, so Lys, Elide and her could watch their faces/ get a chance to finally talk to them face to face.

During those two weeks they continued their flirty conversation when he wasn’t on mission and away from his phone. She woke up nearly every morning to a text, and fell asleep texting him each night. After the first few days they had moved their conversation off twitter, they iMessaged back and forth and had exchanged Snapchat information so they could send each-other little videos and such. Talking to Fenrys was comfortable. He found a way to brighten almost any situation, and she found that anytime she was irritated recently he could always cheer her up. She kept most of her past private, and though he volunteered more intimate details of his life he never pushed her to share hers. It was nice, if she was being honest, even if this went absolutely no where she was so glad to have met him.

Fenrys told her stories about his friends too, Aelin got the impression that he was kind of like their glue. He was the youngest at 27 (apparently Connall was born 3 minutes earlier and had lorded that fact over him for as long as he could remember). Vaughn and Gavriel were both 28, Rowan was 29, and Lorcan (Elide’s new project) was 30. He and Connall had enlisted when they were 18, they attended training in Perranth and ended up qualifying for special forces at an unheard of 19. That’s when they met the others, the Cadre. Aelin laughed so hard when she found out that’s what they’re known as in the military world, she had thought she was just being cheeky when she’d called them so in their video. That’s also how Connall had met Vaughn. Apparently, he spent 4 years pining after him.

>> So how did they end up together?

<< It was so obvious they were into each other but too ‘bro’ to say anything. Worried about “team dynamic” or whatever, because Gods know we didn’t give a shit if they’re together. Then one day we’re taking shots at a bar, Con is talking to some dude, I think he was honestly trying to get over his feelings. Vaughn sees this and gets mad jealous, slams a double shot of Johnny Walker, mutters ‘fuck it’ and storms right up to them. He grabs other dude by the shoulder, shoved him out of the way, and right as Con was about to say something he kissed him. We cheered, we all got entirely too drunk, and now here we are! It’s been 4 years and I’m so happy for them.

>> That’s fucking amazing, and honestly romantic! <3

The Cadre as it stood now had been the most elite team for 8 years, running blackops around the world. And tonight was the night she and the girls would get to talk to them for the first time. Aelin was so excited she could barely contain it, there was nothing more fulfilling than giving someone a gift in her opinion.

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

Rowan:

They finally had some down time. Command had promised them 2 days, which was more time than Rowan had expected. They’d been running themselves ragged ever since they discovered Maeve was in country. There was talk about an intel operative gathering more information on her plan, but so far they hadn’t gotten the call Rowan had waited 5 years for. He wanted a green light. He wanted her dead. He was stuck waiting on orders, and had spent 2 weeks seething while they ran, in his opinion, bullshit missions up and down the sector.

It had also been two weeks since Rowan had woken up to two instagram notifications. He had, in all honesty, forgotten he had the app. Work was his life, and he was never big on social media, but there they were. It was 0330 and he reached over, seeing the notifications he clicked and his jaw hit the floor. Aelin Galathynius had not only followed him but liked one of his pictures… The oldest picture there. What the fuck? He thought as he stared at her name right below the picture. This has to be an accident, but why would she be looking this far back? He didn’t really know how to feel about it. She was stunning, she was famous, and she was Fen’s date. She shouldn’t be liking his shit on instagram. She should even know who he was.

He clicked her name.

There were hundreds of pictures, her with her friend’s, her with her dog, her with nearly every famous young person in Orynth. There were red carpet photos and vacation photos, little videos from different movie sets and links to fundraisers for various social causes. He didn’t realize he’d been scrolling through them for so long until Fenrys yelled at him for sleeping in. He quickly shut down the app and hurried off.

For the next two weeks he found himself going back to her instagram more that any healthy person should. There was something about her eyes, there had always been something about her eyes, since the first time he saw her on screen. They swallowed him whole, it was like drowning in an ocean of fire and- what the hell is wrong with you? Get your shit together Whitethorn. He chided himself. His mind was all over the damn place. Fenrys, as expected, hadn’t kept to his “no talking about her ever again” end of the bargain. Being his spotter he was with him nearly 18 hours a day, the boy never shut up. Apparently they hadn’t stopped talking, and Rowan caught him sending stupid snapchats or typing furiously with a shit-eating grin on his face nearly ever moment they were back with their phones. Everytime his face lit up, or he said something like “Aelin was saying…” he found himself clenching his jaw. He had no idea why, he was happy for Fen, this was his dream come true.

Rowans jaw hurt.

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

“Wash up boys, and try to look presentable, meet me in the office at 1700. Don’t fucking be late,” Fenrys said to them after training. It may be down time, but they all still met at the base gym for a few hours of PT in the afternoon.

“What the hell for?” Lorcan grumbled. Fenrys just winked and sauntered towards the showers.

1655 on the dot Rowan walked into the office, followed by Connall and Vaughn. The others were already there, Lorcan and Gavriel looking just as confused as he felt, and Fenrys with that insufferable grin plastered on his face. He had showered, brushed his hair, and put on possibly the tightest shirt he owned with a pair of black joggers. Rowan caught his eye and lifted a brow.

“Alright you grumpy bastards, grab a chair and come here,” Fenrys instructed while pointing towards the projector they used for movie nights. It had a camera attached to the top for more official calls with command, and they often used it to Skype their families back home. Skype was pulled up now, and they all found their seats in front of the screen. Rowan sitting towards the center chair that was left open for Fen. Vaughn and Connall had taken the two to his right while Lorcan and Gavriel brought up the other end.

Fen was dragging a giant box out from beneath his desk when the familiar ringing began to echo through the room. He immediately dropped it in front of his chair and scrambled to answer the call. “Hello gorgeous,” he purred as the image on the screen in front of them came into focus. Once again, the cadre was floored.

“Hello handsome,” Aelin winked. “Gentleman” she nodded to them all and stepped back. Alongside her sat Elide and Lysandra, smiling and waving at the screen. The men sat up a little straighter, and awkwardly waved back.

“Is it ready?” Aelin practically squealed.

“Yeah! Should I open it?” Fenrys asked, and Rowans attention shot back to the moving box in front of their chairs. No way, he thought. They had mentioned the possibility of sending them something but he didn’t honestly believe it would happen. Agreeing to come to the ball was already unbelievable, but a care package? The box was so big it easily could have fit a body.

“One second. Okay so Hi, I’m Aelin, obviously, and these are my girls.” She gestured beside her. “It’s so nice to officially get to talk to you all! We’ve heard so much about you from Fen.”

Fen, she says. Like they’re close. Rowan’s jaw clenched again. He shook his head and crossed his arms, then uncrossed them because he realized he probably looked rude. He didn’t know what to do with his hands and was so busy trying to look nonchalant he was startled when he heard his name.

“Whitethorn!” Fen yelled, it clearly wasn’t the first time he’d called for him. “Say hello to the women and try and remember your manners.”

“Oh,” he cleared his throat. “Hey... I’m Rowan.”

“We know,” Aelin smiled, and Rowan was momentarily stupid.

“Okay, as much fun as official introductions are, Fen can you open the box? Inside it are smaller boxes with each of your names. Enjoy!” Aelin chimed. As Fenrys ripped open the box Elide and Lysandra started asking each of them questions. At the same time Aelin reached past the camera to grab 3 shot glasses and a bottle of Johnny Walker. Jealous Rowan thought. That was his favorite drink. Of course she would drink it, she looks like that, and shoots whiskey. Gods have mercy...

Fenrys passed him a large box, and when they each held their own he spoke again. “This is like Yulemas Ace, thank you! Can we just tear them open or do we go one at a time?” Ace? How adorable. Rowan’s eyes found Aelin’s again, and it felt like she was looking at him, but it was a giant screen and that was nonsense.

“Oh, tear in! Fen told us a little about each of you so we tried to go with things you might like. I hope we guessed right!” Aelin’s smile was like the sun, as he looked down to begin opening the package on his lap Rowan felt a rare smile grace his own lips in response. With a loud cracking noise 6 boxes popped open, and the room was filled with “NO WAY”s and “ THANK YOU”s as the cadre tore through their gifts.

On the top of each box was an Orynth Bane Jersey, they were all Ashryver jerseys (obviously) and stitched in the pro style. As he unfurled his he realised that the entire team had signed the jerseys for each of the men. He began shaking his head, this was already more than they could have ever asked for.

“The boys wanted to say thank you as well! Aideon and Ren got you all, and us, some front row, 50 yard line-” At that Elide made an unladylike snort, Aelin choked, and Lysandra glared. The Cadre was clearly missing something. Aelin cleared her throat in an attempt to recover, “50 yardline tickets. Whole VIP experience for the Adarlan game in November!” She finished, and that statement was met with cheers from all of them. The Bane was their favorite team, and while they had seen a couple games they never could have dreamt of what she was talking. Granted her cousin was the starting QB and “Ren” was his best running-back. This is insane he thought.

With the jersey, and tickets out of the way Rowan looked back into the box. Sitting right there was a bottle of Johnny Walker black label, 3 expensive cigars, a cutter, a lighter, and a shot glass that read “SSG Whitethorn reporting for Booty.” He didn’t know when he had started giggling like a school boy, but he was entirely sure he looked like an idiot.

He looked up with his shot glass in hand, and stared at the screen. The others still had their heads in their boxes, but he was looking at her. “Classic,” he wiggled the shot glass “Thank you so much Aelin.” She smiled a soft smile, and nodded.

He glanced around and saw his friends had all received a bottle of their favorite liquor as well, Connall and Vaughn were already lighting a cigar each while digging through the rest of their boxes. The smoke was sweet, and the room smelled of vanilla and burnt sugar. The girls were currently taking shots on skype and clapping when something new was unveiled or explaining why they included certain random things.

“Salvaterre!” Elide shouted. The tiny woman’s cheeks had begun to flush, she was clearly feeling the shots she had taken so far. Lorcan’s head shot up and she giggled, he sat up a little straighter, and she leaned into the camera. “There’s something a little special in there for you, you’ll know it when you see it. That’s from me. You’re welcome.” She winked and Rowan swore his friend blushed. The rest of the men had seen it too because everyone began laughing, and he made a note to try and figure out what exactly she’d sent that made him act that way.

The next thing he unpacked was a pair of super lush running shoes, Fenrys clearly had given all their shoe sizes to the women because he was holding a $200 pair of black sneakers. It was beyond too much but Aelin looked so excited when they all started trying them on, the desert ruined your shoes. The last items in the box were something else entirely. A small stuffed hawk sat in one corner, it wore a nametag: Buzzard. He raised it and an eyebrow to the screen and Aelin started laughing. “Buzzard?” he asked.

“Indeed sir. Can’t tell you why though, it’s a secret.” She slammed a shot back “You each got a little stuffed animal to keep you company on the long nights. Since you can’t have puppies in the desert apparently.” He shook his head laughing, this girl was too much. Next to where the Hawk had been laying was a wrapped package. He lifted it up and was about to tear it open when she half screamed, “WAIT! Okay so, wait. This is my favorite gift.” She had everyone’s attention now turned to him. Fenrys was laughing, apparently he knew what came next.

“Oooookayyyyyy.. I’m a little nervous,” Rowan admitted. He didn’t like the spotlight on him like this.

“Well here’s the thing, as you can see everyone got their favorite sweets,” she made a sweeping motion at the camera. “Candy is an important food group, but Fen said you don’t like sugar or something. Which by the way is blasphemous. Anyways, I asked what your favorite food was and he said-”

“MEAT ON A STICK!” The entire cadre chorused, along with all three women on screen. They were all laughing like it was the funniest thing they had ever heard.

“But I couldn’t send you a kabob, so I figured this would be the next best thing!!”

He tore open the package in his hands. Sitting there were 8 bags of beef jerky and a packet of skewers. He started laughing so hard, tears were streaming down his face, “Thank you!” he croaked between fits of laughter.

After the gifts were all opened, cigars were lit and shots were poured. The group drank and laughed for hours. At one point the girls started playing music on their end, and the Rowan found himself singing along with everyone to Bohemian Rhapsody and watching Aelin dance on her kitchen table. It was the lightest he’d felt in years. Lorcan and Elide had exchanged numbers and he could see the girl texting him from the screen. Connall and Vaughn were in the corner in matching jerseys kissing and dancing to the music on the speakers.

They eventually said their goodnight’s, and another round of heartfelt thank you’s. As Rowan half stumbled into his bed he found himself still smiling and holding the small stuffed Hawk that smelled of lavender and embers.

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

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#stth au #tog fic #ao3fic #rowaelin fic

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turning-dreams-into-chaos · 5 years ago

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Easy Conversations

*Not my Gif*

Request: Hiiii! Can I have James Potter x Reader, prompts 12 and 26 (Prompt List #2)? Thank you so much ❤️ Love you and your beautiful works ❤️

Requested By: @ayame236

Post Date: 9-24-19

Paring: James Potter x Reader

Word Count: 2.4K

~Master List~

~Harry Potter Master List~

Detention wasn’t the last place you thought you’d find yourself on a Friday after classes, but that doesn’t mean it hadn’t happen everyday. You didn’t even do anything this time, in fact you tried to tell that to Professor Slughorn but he wouldn’t hear of it and sent you on your way with a detention under your belt. There was only one other kid supposed to be with you today, you didn’t know his name just that it was a boy McGonagall sent. Waiting outside for McGonagall to return to her classroom seemed to take forever but your head snapped around at the click in her heels and the slight thumping much slower behind her.

Of course it was one of the Marauders, James to be more specific, that would get himself stuck with you. James looked up, smirking when he saw you staring eyebrow raised at him. James and you hadn’t had much interaction, yet when you did it mostly consisted in you mocking him with his attempts to ask out one of your best friends. It amused you every time you saw him strike out but you had to admire his persistence.

“Y/L/N! Didn’t know you’d be going me today? This should be fun, yeah?” He jokes as he puts a hand around your shoulder, looking up at McGonagall, who just gave you a sad smile, you waved it off, elbowing James in the stomach soft enough so you didn’t hurt him but enough so his arm is off you.

“If I laugh, will you go away? You know, I’m not surprised you’re here, I am surprised there’s only one of you though.” McGonagall let you both into the classroom. Your assignment was simple, read a book and write about it. In fact you were almost done with your work before a kid came speeding into the room, dragging the professor away for something you didn’t quite care to listen to.

The rapid scribbling of your quill drowned in your ears until a soft thud came from the boy next to you. You took a look at James, seeing his head laid on the desk and quill still in his hand.

“Are you falling asleep already Potter? You’re not even done with half your assignment.” You said and nudged him a little, getting him to look up at you over his arm.

“Oh shut it Y/N. Not all of us can pay attention so bloody long to a piece of parchment.” He muttered as he pushed his stuff to the top of the desk, turning his whole body towards you. “Distract me?”

You chuckled at his request, trying to come up with something to talk about. “How are you going to ask Lily out next?” James fully sat up, making you laugh at his desperation.

“Well I was thinking during lunch tomorrow I would slip her a note-“

“A note? You’re gonna slip her a note?” You interrupted him, jaw slung open at how lame his attempt sounded. James just rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Like you could up with something better?” You gave him a cheshire grin, pulling out a new piece of parchment from your bag and sprawled it across his and your now adjoining desks. “First off, you gotta show she means something to you. You can’t keep asking her out with all these elaborate plans and, while truly I think they’re hilarious, she finds them a little... immature. Just be yourself, you don’t have to try to impress her until after she agrees to a date. For now, just get her to like who you are.” He nodded his head, taking note of your words and trying to come up with a plan.

“Is that how it was with you and hufflepuff’s perfect prefect?” James smiled as he scratched his quill to the paper, not seeing the look in your eye as your smile faltered.

“Trust me. Rogers was... not perfect. Far from it actually.” You played with your fingers as you mumbled, not looking at James as he gives you a quizzical look. “He cheated on me a few weeks ago. Some slytherin, I don’t know who.” A hint of rage filled James’ eyes as he looked at you, trying to keep your composure. He didn’t know what to do so he reached into his bag.

“Want some?” He offered and stuck out his hand. He was holding a box of every flavor beans which caused you to smile and laugh. You nodded gratefully and grabbed a handful.

“These are my favorite. I always some of eat these when I’m feeling down, Lily hates how fast I go through them saying they aren’t good for me and tried to get me to stop. Jokes on her, I still eat them.” You said picking out a few and popping them into your mouth. You sighed in relief when all of them seemed to be the better tasting ones. James on the other hand wasn’t so lucky. He had went the safer way, eating only one but grimacing when it turned out to be an earwax flavored bean.

“That was disgusting!” James laughed out, bellowing into the classroom. You couldn’t hold back your laughs as well and joined him, not even stopping when the door swung open to reveal Professor McGonagall swiftly making her way to the front of the classroom. She looked between you and James, the box of beans between you now being offered out to her by James’ hand as you began laughing even harder, wiping away tears falling freely from your face. You weren’t even aware when McGonagall ushered you both out of the classroom, James behind you with his hands on his shoulders pushing you out.

“Thanks for that James. I needed it.” You told him as your laughs calmed down a little.

“Anytime Y/N. You know, I’m surprised we haven’t gotten along earlier. You seem to be... pretty cool.” James says and you agree completely, conversation with him was much easier than anyone, especially when you were with Rogers, he most definitely didn’t care enough to make you feel better.

“Yeah, You’re fun. I love the pranks you pull, and the ones on snivellus? Legendary.” You complimented him as you both make your way to the Common Room. Your topics of conversation expanded more and more, talking about homework, favorite classes, or your families. You never expected the walk back to take so long but you weren’t really minding the company. When you finally saw the portrait you felt your heart drop a little but you pushed the feeling away.

“Prongsy!” Sirius shouted the moment you both entered the room and you rolled your eyes, letting out a little chuckle at his nickname. You saw Marlene and Lily in the corner and turned to James, silently nodding in their direction as he smiled, putting a hand on your shoulder and gently pushing you to them. You sat across from Lily as she turns towards you, eyeing you up and down.

“Why are you so happy? Didn’t you have detention?” She questions as Marlene agrees, leaning across the table to get closer to you.

“Yes, I had detention. Can’t I just be happy for once?” You gave her a pointed look and her smirk turned into a frown. She knew what you meant, ever since Rogers and you broke up you hadn’t been that same perky girl you were. The one that just walked into the common room a few minutes ago.

“You’re right, I’m sorry. Now, let’s talk Potions.” She said changing the subject and slamming her book down and making the table clatter.

“Merlin Lily, it’s Friday! We have the whole weekend to do the work. Let’s just talk.”

James found himself a seat on the ground next to Sirius who was sitting in the armchair and the 4 of them just began chatting. James, rather expectedly, kept glancing over to the table Lily and you sat at laughing away at some dumb comment Marlene made and a warm smile made its way onto James’ face.

“Oi! Did you hear anything I said?” Sirius said as he nudged James in the back of his head to get his attention. “Of course you didn’t. Too busy staring staring at your ‘lilyflower’.” Sirius cooed as Peter cackled, getting Remus it chuckle as well. James blushed as he turned his sights away from your group, pushing Sirius off the chair to take his spot.

“Just repeat it.” He told Sirius who rolled his eyes.

“I was saying how Y/N seemed different today.” James nodded and took a small glance towards you before paying attention to Sirius’ ramblings. “Whatever it is, it looks good on her.” Sirius eyed your table, locked on your face as you beamed at the red head.

“Doesn’t she have a boyfriend?” Peter mentioned as Sirius groaned, throwing his head back dramatically.

“No, they broke up.” James mumbled, pulling the parchment from your Lily talk earlier out of his bag and letting his eyes roam over it. Remus furrowed his brows as he looked over his shoulder at you before James.

“How’d you know that?”

“She told me.” James shrugged as if it was the easiest thing in the world, but Remus had his suspicions.

When lunch the next day rolled around you sat with Remus and Lily, Remus’ nose was in a book as Lily was getting you caught up in any gossip you missed.

“Oh! Alice and Frank finally kissed!” She cheered as you gasped looking down the table to see Frank and Alice talking quietly, a light blush coating both of their faces as you squealed a little.

“I knew it! They’re too cute not to get together!” You hadn’t realized how loud you were being until a few heads at the table next to you turned and you made direct contact with Rogers, who just laughed at you before turning back to his stuck up friends. You fell back into your seat, losing your appetite quickly before a body slammed into your side. You were about to let whoever it was have it before you saw the face of James grinning back at you.

“What’s wrong?” James’ brows scrunched together as you let your eyes wander to the Hufflepuff table. He followed suit, jaw clenching when he saw Rogers and his group laughing and each taking a few glances at you. It suddenly felt like your chest was tightening and you couldn’t breathe, Lily noticed quickly but before she could do anything a box was stuck out in front of you.

James didn’t say anything as he waited for you to grab some beans. It felt like a moment of clarity and you reached into it, pulling out a few pieces before eating them. Your face became tight as you swallowed, sticking your tongue out and shaking your head.

“Disgusting!” You said as James joins you in shaking his head.

“That’s what I said!” He yells before putting the box in front of you both. You fall into an easy conversation, completely forgetting about Lily who turned to Remus.

“What’s going on with them?” She whispered as Remus shrugged, watching the interaction in front of him. Lunch ended faster than you would’ve liked and Lily and you went to spend the day by the lake.

“Do you like James?” She blurted out, causing you to stop waking.

“What are you talking about?”

Lily just sighed, throwing herself onto the ground and leaning on the tree while you sat opposite of her. “You and James? At lunch? Talking the entire time?” She talked slowly hoping you would catch on but the blank look on your face told her otherwise. “Y/N. James didn’t even look my way today. He always asks me out during lunch and yet today he was so caught up with you, he didn’t even know I was there. And what was up with the Bertie’s Beans?”

You froze staring at the grass in front of you while your stomachs did flips. James was going to ask out Lily. You helped him plan it and yet he didn’t do it. What was happening with you two?

James knew straight away his feelings were messy. He didn’t even need to try with you, like yesterday the conversation just flowed too easily. It was true James forgot about Lily because all he could think about was you and making you feel better. He listened to Remus and Sirius argue as you entered the common room, Lily by your side as James shot straight out of his chair and over to you two.

Sirius and Remus watched with annoyance as James seemingly headed over to Lily but shock went across their features, well at least Sirius’, when he spoke his next words to you.

“Go on a date with me.” He blurted out and you barely understood him, staring for a few seconds before the corners of your lips curled up into a smile.

“And why would I do that?” You asked innocently as James took a step closer to you, letting his hand come up to push some of your hair out of your face.

“Because I’m fun?” He shrugged and you licked your lips, trying to keep yourself from laughing from words you had called him yesterday.

“So is bungee jumping but I’m not flinging myself off a ledge.” At that, all your friends erupted into laughter and James feigned offense. Your stomach did flips again and you couldn’t help yourself. You leaned up to James, pressing a kiss onto his cheek. His fingers came up to trace over the spot which was now a nice crimson red warming his fingers. In a split second all the air was knocked out of your lungs as James’ arms wrapped around your waist, pulling you into him and pressing a kiss to your lips. It was unexpected but not at all unwanted.

“I would love to go on a date with you.” You whispered when you finally pulled away, your words were breathy as you felt like you were floating. James let out a happy breath and hugged you, picking you up and twirling you in the air as you squealed. Sirius, Remus, and Lily all watched the scene unfold in disbelief. Two friends who’ve known each other for six years and apparently all it took was one detention. Who knew?

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jrpneblog · 4 years ago

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Memories, what memories.

Fifty years ago on Saturday I experienced my greatest high watching our famous club. It took place in London on a Beautiful Spring day by the banks of the Thames. More of that later as first we must concentrate on the matters in hand with an excellent win at Coventry last Saturday and the visit of play-off achievers, Barnsley, to Deepdale on Saturday for our final home game of the season. Please God let this be the last home game ever played at Deepdale when no fans will be there to cheer the boys on.

Last Saturday we mathematically made ourselves safe from relegation and by the time Monday had come I was trying to work out if we could make the top half of the league or not if results went our way. North End beat and in form Sky Blues by one goal to nil scored by Captain Alan Browne and I think on the day North End deserved the victory. Coventry play a lovely brand of football and it is a credit to Mark Robins what he has done for them given the almost impossible circumstances surrounding the club. North End won with a stonewall penalty midway through the second half nicely put away by Browne. To be fair we should have had another but thats another story. The win left North End on fifty five points with two games to go and the real fear after the Luton defeat at home had dissipated.

On Saturday we face Barnsley at Deepdale in our final home game of the season. It has been so tough watching the boys on a computer and hopefully this will be the last time. The Tykes have done an excellent job in finishing in the top six and they have proved that money isn't everything in the Championship and their achievement should really give North End some inspiration for the next campaign. This is one of those game that you just cant judge who will do what. Will Frankie try a couple of fringe players with next season in mind or will he stick with his tried and trusted system and try to make his case to get the job full time stronger. With Barnsley you wonder will they try and keep going for fourth place to get the second semi final leg at home of will they rest one or two of the key players for the big play off games that lie ahead. I think it will either be a very boring 0-0 draw or might be a real full bloodied encounter. Lets hope its the latter.

And finally this week:- Indulge me as I take a personal trip down Memory Lane and to an event which now seems a lifetime away. The date is Saturday 1st May 1971 and the venue is Craven Cottage, home of Fulham Football Club, in West London. The game is Fulham v Preston North End and with the home side already promoted the Football league have brought the Third Division trophy to the game to present to Fulham after they have duly won the encounter. For Alan Ball`s Preston there is a chance of automatic promotion as North End sit three points clear of their only rivals, Halifax, with just two games to play (2 points for a win in those days). The equation is quite simple for Preston - win the game and we are promoted back to the second tier at the first attempt after being relegated 12 months earlier by Blackpool at Deepdale. I cried that night as a nine year old and thought the world had ended after my beloved North End had dropped into the third division for the first time ever. Just ten years after Sir Tom had retired and we were down with the also rans. The day started around 5.30am as I excitedly scurried about bursting with anticipation and anxiously asking my Dad was it time to set off for the coach. Fishwicks ran two coaches to the game from Leyland and they were to depart at 7am prompt with the long journey to London ahead of us.Finally the clock ticked round to 6.40 and we set off on the 10 minute walk to Fishwicks to catch the coach that would take us to our destination. London seemed like the other side of the world to me and as we passed Charnock Richard I thought that we must be getting close as we had been on the road for ages. My Dad and my Uncle chatted to the others on the bus as I just looked out of the window hoping to spot a blue motorway sign saying London. We stopped at Keele for half an hour and my excitement grew as there were hundreds of other North End fans on the same pilgrimage. Off we go with the next stop being Watford Gap. Even more North End fans who were singing and shouting and even though we were 90 miles from Fulham the atmosphere was starting to build. Finally I saw a sign “London 44”, we were getting nearer as Lunchtime approached and we hit the North Circular Road to take us towards Hammersmith. It must have taken us half an hour in those days to do the mile and a half from Hammersmith to Craven Cottage as the traffic was horrendous.At last we are there and are met with a buzzing around this famous old ground the likes of which I had never heard before. The crowd was officially recorded at 25,774 but it seemed almost like Wembley on Cup Final day with the chaos and noise around the ground. The queues to get in were massive but my Uncle Charlie could get where water couldn`t get (God rest his soul). Suddenly he burst out - “stay there, Stan” (to my Dad), I will be back in a few minutes. Incredibly he was back in no time with three stand tickets for the Stevenage Road stand right in the middle of the Fulham fans. Most of the North End fans were on the open Putney End but there were pockets of Blue and White all over the place. We are in and as the clock ticks round the teams run out separately at 2.55 with North End playing in Red.The Teams are announced, Fulham first then North End …. Kelly Ross McNab Bird Hawkins Spavin Heppolette Ham Lloyd Spark and Clark, with Dave Wilson as sub. John Gow from Swansea is referee and the game kicks off to a thunderous roar as North End are cheered by about 5,000 fans.The game is cagey but quite open and North End are holding their own kicking towards the Hammersmith End in the first half. Twenty two minutes gone and North End get a corner on the right hand side. Clive Clark jogs over and takes an in-swinger which Norrie Lloyd flicks on to Ricky Heppolette who gives North End the lead with a diving header into the Fulham net. The Putney end goes mad and all round the ground the satellite groups of North End fans are dancing with delight. Fulham counter quickly but Bird and Hawkins see them off like two rocks in the middle of the North End defence. Half time comes and goes as the Preston fans start daring to dream, can we do it against the odds at the home of the league leaders. North End are on the back foot in the second half but only really have one scary moment as Fulham throw everything forward. Five minutes to go, four, three, two, one, “TIMES UP” my Dad announces to the world as half the stand give him a look of disgust. How long will Mr Gow add on as North Ends slender lead remains intact? All eyes on the man in black as the whistle goes to his mouth Yeeessss…….ah No, wait, the whistle hasn`t blown and Fulham have the ball. Suddenly, from nowhere, the long shrill blow of the three whistles and we`ve done it - yes we`ve done it, Preston are back. Alan Ball runs on to the pitch and kisses the turf as the Championship Trophy quickly disappears from out of the stand. The Putney End is going berserk and me and my Dad and my Uncle are hugging each other amid a crowd of home supporters looking slightly mystified as to why the plan has not worked out. The North End players hug and congratulate but its not euphoria just a job done by the late great Alan Ball and his boys. We come down the steps to the stand entrance and our coach is the first one we see among about 60 others the length of Stevenage Road.Its 5.50 before we move an inch but nobody seems to care as the singing goes on and on until we finally make our way back up the M1. By the time we reach Coventry it is well past 8pm but the coach is thirsty and its an ale stop for the adults and pop and crisps for the ten or so kids on the bus who are entertained by a jovial coach driver. Finally we get back to Leyland, it`s Midnight but nobody seems to care as the streets echo to the sound of “Preston, Preston” and the road back to the second division is finally complete. Without actually trying to count them I have probably seen over 2,000 North End games since then but I doubt anything will ever surpass that day in West London and if it was ever in doubt before where my footballing loyalties would lie I knew from that day that me and Preston North End would be together for a lifetime.

JR`s HIGH FIVES

West Ham to beat Burnley 6/5

A £5 Stake returns £11.00 on bet365

SEASONS STATS

Returns £209.75 Stake £170.00 percentage profit + 23.4%

Predictions 34 won 19 lost 15

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essaycollection99 · 4 years ago

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why sometimes its ok to creep on your ex 5 years later

why sometimes its ok to creep on your ex 5 years later originally posted on medium.com

21 minutes past midnight. First day of the new year.

I definitely do some of my best writing a little manic. Half asleep. A little high, a little tipsy. It’s always at the edge of something.

Usually I feel guilty for cyber stalking my exes. Tonight is different though. Tonight I felt relieved.

He looks good. Healthy. Alive.

When he dropped out of school and stopped talking to any of us he also scrubbed most of his online presence. For a while some cryptic new song would be released on his bandcamp, and I only learned about it through a burner email address that was signed up for his new releases. One day even that disappeared.

He was the first guy anything ever felt good with, you know?

It was a mess. The whole thing. Every minute of being with him was a messy dance of me being scared to ask for what I wanted. Which was him. Or, more clearly, which was him to leave his girlfriend and give us a shot. For me to actually trust him (and myself) enough to say fuck it, it’s worth it, even if it crashes and burns. If it crashed and burned at least that meant it had gotten off the ground.

I thought I was playing it safe by living in the inbetweens and taking whatever I was given.

I said I was too busy. I became busy with my ex who wasn’t really giving me the time of day.

I said it didn’t matter to me. That I was edgy. That I wanted open. That I was 21 and he was 19 and we could do whatever we wanted without really talking about what we were doing or what we wanted. It crashed and burned even without us ever defining what we were doing.

That was five years ago.

Besides being really hard to search for online, the other reason I never really searched was because I was worried what I would find. When I was (metaphorically) still bruised and bloodied from the aftermath of things, still completely broken and depressed to the fact that his last text of “I’m not going anywhere, so don’t miss me this summer” turned into him not talking to me or our other best friend at all. Oh, and his open relationship was actually closed, his girlfriend was in classes with me that next semester and hated my guts, and I apparently wasn’t as cool about being the other woman that I originally thought I was. I was a senior and supposed to be prepping for a BFA but all I could do was fixate on how miserable I was and didn’t know who I was anymore because of my actions that spring. As all of this was going on, he stopped showing up to classes, and there was a rumor that he was in the hospital for alcohol poisoning. I still remember calling the list of local hospitals asking about him, and then rushing to my job at the library. I was late. Eyes still red, my ex came in with no books to return or check out, presumably just to kill time by talking with me until his rehearsal started. He asked what was wrong and I told him I was worried for my friend Chris’s life.

My ex didn’t really know about Chris and I, but I think he knew enough. He knew that Chris and I were close, but he was the one friend that I didn’t talk to him about. That was enough for him to know.

I think my ex told me that he was really sorry, and that he hoped that Chris would be ok. I couldn’t really respond because I had started to hold back tears. I cried a lot that year on the job; huge thanks to my unlabeled anxiety and everything that comes with fooling around with classmates in a very small art school. With only 7 majors we had just under 900 students in all. Shit got around fast. My ex wordlessly moved away from the check in / check out library counter and towards the gate. He started to open it and I got up instead. He was always trying to come behind to the staff only side of things. He wrapped me in the biggest most protective hug and amidst everything I felt safe again.

A lot of times I forget about why so much time in college was spent with him, and then I remember the small moments like this, and remember he wasn’t all douchebag. He knew what to do, and my anxiety always stopped in his arms.

My good (and albeit overprotective) friend of ours walked by and gave us a look, she had rehearsal with my ex in 15 minuets (like I said, the school was small, we knew everyone’s business). All he said was “Lani’s friend is in the hospital right now.” Which prompted our friend to give me a hug too.

Googling Chris years later and I was worried that I’d find the worst news online. Sure, our other best friend used to see him in a blue moon working at a vape shop, or maybe it was talking to someone who worked at a vape shop that Chris would go to. Or running into his ex girlfriend at a party (apparently they only broke up finally once Chris turned 21 and could buy for himself).

Sure, I can still remember it all, what he smells like, what it felt like to have his hands on my hip absently during a movie night, can still think of the way he said “wow” when I undressed for him in an empty classroom. But, years later am I allowed to be worried about him? He was an alcoholic at a young age, and I knew stories from before I met him. I knew stories about him from after he stopped talking to us. I was so worried about what would happen.

Do I even need to say it? Surely you’ve read enough of my work to know how my dad turned out. You just read how Chris ended up with alcohol poisoning. I was worried about the worst. Maybe that’s why I never did a real good job at finding him online, when I would boredly look for his scrubbed online footprint.

I want to make happy art. I’ve been making abstract art for almost 2 years now. But, I still want to capture those flutterflies you feel when a boy shouts across the parking lot “you’re back!” and runs towards you. When he kisses you in the elevator on the way to your class, but then has to run down two flights of stairs so he gets to his class on time. I want those feelings in art because they don’t come naturally to me. One of the simplest feelings of happy was when I was with Chris. I have most of that time recorded in a small red notebook, and so I re read it. Lay in bed and skimmed, looking for his name. Reading and smiling, remembering I really did try. Sure, it was a mess (see: beginning of this essay) but it was pretty damn sweet as well. I wrote in my journal about a day that he was particularly nihilistic, distinctly hard to read, specifically very very high. It was his mother’s birthday.

His mother.

Sure, he might have scrubbed his social media footprint, but it’s really hard to get parents off of facebook. Even more so, it’s hard for them to not post photos of you on it, even if you are a grown ass adult.

I had never thought to look up his mother.

It almost felt stupid afterwards, the fact that I had never done that.

His smile is still the same.

He’s 25 now. In my head I’m me still, but I’m picturing him as the 19 year old kid taking dab bong hits with our best friend and than coming into the corner of the kitchen to kiss me without anyone noticing. Rail thin from never “remembering” to eat, soft lipped, shy smile, sad eyes, 19 year old (soon to be) college drop out.

I close my eyes and can still see him, shouting at me from across the street “you’ve got bows in your hair!” The naturally bleach blonde hair and pastel colors he wore, the urgent way he kissed me in the video editing room as I waited for my mentor to show.

His hair isn't blonde now, it’s strawberry blonde, the hint of ginger.

He seems taller now.

He attended his sister’s wedding.

He looks good. Alive. Healthy. Sober.

His face has filled out. I pull up photos of me from when we knew each other, and photos of me now, do I look that much changed as well? It was hard to eat in college for me too, I think I’m a little less thin now. I feel more me. I wonder if he feels the same. My hair is pink now, though when I look at my old hair I now see thick light caramel hair instead of the stringy dirty brown I always felt it was. I know now which parts of my body I want to accentuate and how.

Oh god, his smile. It’s still the same. It melts me.

He looks happy. He looks happy on his mothers facebook page- his mother who he was so angry at so long ago. It all feels surreal. I’m back in the library all over again, but this time, instead of being worried, I get good news. That my ex is right, things will be ok.

I usually feel guilty when I cyber stalk exes. Foolish for wanting to see what they’re up to without me. Silly for caring so much years later, after so much absence. But for Chris, I just felt relief.

His mother writes “I am so proud of my compassionate son Chris, love you to the moon and back” on a close up photo uploaded two months ago. The 19 year old angry, nihilistic, fuck-the-world-including-my-mother-because-I-refuse-to-call-her-back-even-if-it’s-her-birthday, would have hated that post. I held his hand and listened to him rant that day. Watched him let go of my hand and kick rocks into the Bay, upset at him mom for reasons that didn’t make sense to me.

“I’m not a good guy.” He would tell me between soft, feather like kisses (trying to get my sensitive skin not to go red between classes, but it’d happen anyways). “I have really bad days. I don’t talk to anyone on Wednesdays. No matter how much I like them.”

I never believed him. Tried to tell him how special he was. How talented. How wonderful he was. How things would work out for him.

I was right.

#ex #short essay #autobiographical essay #college stories #new year

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thewritewolf · 5 years ago

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Eating Habits Chapter 1: Anniversary

Things have never looked better for Adrien and his girlfriend, Marinette. Adrien has been living happily on his own, with frequent visits to the Dupain-Cheng bakery. Marinette is about to enter a design university and already has a thriving online store. Gabriel Agreste is serving a 184 year long sentence (92 on good behavior). Yes, it looks like its all turned out wonderfully for them in the last six years.

Now, if only Adrien could convince Marinette to take things easy, everything would be just perfect...

(While this is the third part in the series, you can skip the first two parts without missing much besides soft fluff)

First Part: Four Times and the Lucky One | Ao3

Second Part: Just Between Us | Ao3

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 (Final)

Enjoy!

Read on Ao3.

Adrien glanced at the clock. Still an hour or two to go before their date for the anniversary, but now was as good a time as any to stop. He slowed down and turned off the treadmill. Just because there wasn’t any supervillains left to fight didn’t mean he should let himself get out of shape, after all. Or maybe it wasn’t so much his superhero instincts as his supermodel instincts.

Either way, the highlights of both those careers were behind him, even if he could still technically be called both.

After getting changed back into his street clothes, Adrien stepped out of the gym and made his way home to take a shower. Or at least, what counted as his home for now. The apartment he lived in was fancier than what Marinette was used to, but it was still a big downgrade from the manor that he had spent his childhood in. He preferred it this way though - there was more life with a few neighbors around, and less space meant less that he had to fill. Besides, he wasn’t there a lot so it didn’t matter much anyway.

A shower, fresh change into nice clothes, some expensive cologne, half an hour making his hair the perfect balance of messy and styled, some extra cheese to keep Plagg fat and lazy, and he was out the door again.

No, the place where he really spent most of his time was where he was headed now - the Dupain-Cheng bakery. The place had practically become his real home years ago. Not long after he started dating Marinette, as a matter of fact. Tom and Sabine weren’t his in-laws… yet. But he was sure they would be someday. In the meantime, they treated him as one of their own, with all the love and affection he never had before.

He almost walked past a flower shop without going inside. Almost. On the bright side, he did refrain from buying Marinette a whole bouquet of flowers. But only because she was very insistent that she was running out of space for them all. Between his lack of impulse control and her green thumb, her small room over the bakery was becoming more like a greenhouse than a bedroom. Instead, he settled for just one flower.

The bakery smelled as delicious and wonderful as it had every day he’d ever gone there. He’d gotten the scent of bread and sweets so associated with the place that just a whiff was enough to make his heart soar. The bell above the door alerted them to his arrival.

Sabine smiled at him as he approached and they shared cheek kisses. “Oh, hello, sweetheart! It’s wonderful to see you again!” She said it was such feeling that Adrien had never doubted her, even if it was always the first thing she said to him every time they saw each other. “Will you be coming over for dinner again this weekend?”

“Of course, maman! How could I refuse such a delicious meal?”

“Is that Adrien?” A man’s booming voice shouted from the kitchen in the back. Tom emerged, a wide grin on his face and flour all over him as he walked toward Adrien.

Adrien’s eyes widened and he held up his hands. “Wait, I-” But it was too late. Tom had picked him up in a great big bear huge and he was lifted so high that his feet dangled off the ground.

“Oh, sorry, son!” Tom had the decency to look down abashedly at the mess he’d made of Adrien’s nice clothes, which were now spotted with flour.

“Don’t worry, papa. This won’t take me long to fix. I got here plenty early,” Adrien flashed a quick smile up at Tom. “Actually, is Marinette here? I could probably use her help.”

“Sure, sure.” Tom waved a hand toward the back door leading into their home. “She’s probably working in her room as we speak.”

He smiled and waved at the both of them before heading upstairs, feeling just like the fourteen year old boy who’d visit after school years ago. He opened her trapdoor and sure enough, there she was. So lost in her commissions that she hadn’t gotten ready for their date yet. Which also meant she hadn’t noticed him yet, and he got to bask in her ‘focus face’ - tongue slightly out, nose scrunched, eyes narrowed - for a little while longer.

While he would’ve been fine missing their reservation if it meant watching her work for a little longer, alas, she eventually noticed him. She fell backwards with a squawk and he rushed forward to give her a hand up.

“Adrien what are you-” She winced. “It’s today, isn’t it?”

He nodded patiently.

“...How long have you been watching?”

“Long enough to remember all over again just how adorable you are.”

She groaned. “I was making the face again wasn’t I?”

He kissed the hand he had taken to help her up. “Precious as always.” He held out the flower he had bought for her, a white tulip. “For you, my lady.”

Her eyebrows scrunched up, but the tension left her face almost immediately as she smelled the flower. She smiled up at him. “My favorite.”

“A tulip for your two lips?” He leaned down and closed his eyes.

“Oh my God, Adrien,” she said, laughing. “Okay, fine, but only because you went through all that effort.” She pressed her lips to his, wrapping her arms around his neck as she did. She pulled away and seemed to notice his suit for the first time. A twinkle of mirth shone in her eyes. “I see papa got a little too excited to see you again.”

“Nothing new there.” He shrugged. “I don’t suppose you’d be willing to help a poor boy out…?”

“Sure, just give me a minute to get changed.”

“No problem,” Adrien sat down on her well worn chaise and made no secret of watching her.

“Adrien…”

“Hm…?”

“Downstairs, sunshine.” She sternly pointed at the trapdoor. “I’ll call you back up when I’m ready.” Pouting, he paused every other step to shoot a pleading look at her over his shoulder. Eventually she got tired of him and pushed him forward, laughing. “Go, you tomcat!”

Adrien stepped outside her bedroom and sat on the stairs. Pulling out his phone, he checked the time and double checked his reservation. They still had half an hour to get there and it was close by. Plenty of time. After a few minutes of listening to rustling clothing, the door was opened above him and he walked back in.

“What do you think?”

Adrien’s eyes roved over her light summer dress and its pastel colors. He cupped her cheek with a soft smile.

“As beautiful as ever, lovebug.” He stepped back and offered his arm. “Ready to go?”

She giggled and gestured to his suit. “Forgetting something?”

A glance down reminded him of the flour. “Ah, right. I think I remember you promising me a hand?

After a quick clean up, they walked arm in arm out of the bakery and to their favorite restaurant.

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

The night was already going well with good food and a pleasant buzz from their drinks. Conversation was flowing between them, mostly one-sided as Marinette filled him in on everything that had happened since the last time they’d gotten to chat freely the week before. More commissions. Her last shifts at the bakery. Which brought her to the reasons she’d been saving so much money in the first place.

“...So I found an apartment.”

Adrien smiled as he poured both of them another glass of wine. “I can’t wait to see it. How close is it to your university?”

“That’s the best part! It’s within walking distance, just a couple blocks away.” Marinette took a sip of her wine while doing a happy shimmy. “I’ll save on commuting costs, and the rent is super cheap too.”

There was a surge of worry before Adrien quickly smoothed it over. Just because it was cheap didn’t mean it was bad. Maybe she’d just found a good deal was all. And even if it was… lacking… she’d be able to improve it, no problem.

“I’m so happy for you! You’re already ahead of the fashion game with all your contacts and professional experience. Having an education in design will be the final thing you need to really excel in the business. You’re going to do amazing, I just know it!”

“Thanks!” She ducked her head shyly. “I’ve been so nervous about… well, everything, to be honest,” she admitted with a giggle. “In a little under a month, I’ll be out of the bakery and putting my skills to the test. And it’s a pretty prestigious university, so I bet I’ll have some competition too.”

“It’s nothing you can’t handle, princess.” His smile faded as he swirled the last dregs in his wine glass.

He felt her take his other hand and he looked up to see her concerned frown. “I know it’s hard, Adrien, and I’m sorry Nino and Alya couldn’t make it. But you know we’re all right here behind you, all the way.”

He nodded, biting his lips. It’d been two years to the day. They had all met up last year to celebrate... and to forget. Sure, he didn’t expect it to really turn into a yearly tradition, and Alya and Nino had tried their best to make it... but it still stung a little that they couldn’t.

“I’ve been talking your ear off this whole time about what I’m doing. What about you, kitty?” She leaned forward to rest her chin and her hands, looking at him with tender affection in her eyes. “What’s next in life for you?”

Adrien didn’t have an answer for that.

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

Full, laughing, and slightly tipsy, Adrien walked Marinette to her front door just as the streetlights began to turn on.

“And you know I’ll be there for you forever and ever and ever, yeah?” He grinned from ear to ear, looking more like Chat Noir than Adrien Agreste in the moment.

“Silly kitty.” She leaned in a little closer. “I think just helping me move in a couple of weeks will be enough.”

His arm snaked around her waist, pressing her flush to him. “Then you can count on my help. Even if I have to carry in a hundred boxes alone.” He pulled back one arm to flex.

She rested her forehead against his chest and laughed. “You’re such a dork.”

“Your dork.”

She hummed in agreement. Rolling onto her toes, she gave him a chaste kiss on the lips. “Good night, Adrien. I love you.”

He sighed happily. “Ahh, that takes me back.” He let her pull away from him. “I love you too, Marinette. Pleasant dreams.”

After flashing him one more smile, she ducked inside and closed the door behind her. Adrien spent a few long moments standing there, grinning like a dork, before a tiny, snide voice from inside his coat pocket drew him out of his reverie.

“You done staring at the woodwork, kid? Or do you want a few more minutes?”

He rolled his eyes, but couldn’t even manage to be exasperated. He was riding high after tonight, and he felt like nothing could drag him down. Not even grumpy cheese cats.

While it wouldn’t take him long to get home as Chat Noir… the summer night was warm and pleasant. He could almost pretend to see the stars above him. It would be a shame not to enjoy a little stroll back to his apartment.

On his way inside, he noticed that he had mail, but was in such a pleasant mood that he didn’t even glance at it until he’d shut his door behind him. As he kicked off his shoes, he finally looked at the envelope.

The prison-issued envelope.

His smile, a semi-permanent fixture on his face ever since heading over the bakery earlier that day, vanished like fog before the dawn. After skimming the contents, he neatly folded it back up and tossed it into a box of depressingly similar letters.

Try as he might, he couldn’t shake off the bad mood. His only consolation as he drifted off to sleep was that at least tomorrow would be a new day.

#Miraculous Ladybug #Adrien Agreste #Marinette Dupain-Cheng #Adrienette #tom dupain #Sabine Cheng #Plagg #ml fanfiction #my writing #Eating Habits #The Lucky One series #Can't tell you how long I've wanted to write this series #been sitting in my inbox for months #some of it is *at least* from december of last year #and now we're getting into the meat of it!#very excited for this

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canid-slashclaw · 4 years ago

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The Outliers - A Guild Wars Love Story

Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5, Chapter 6, Chapter 7, Chapter 8, Chapter 9, Chapters 10 and 11, Chapter 12, Chapter 13, Chapter 14, Chapter 15, Chapter 16 , Chapter 17, Chapter 18, Chapter 19, Chapter 20, Chapter 21, Chapter 22, Chapter 23, Chapter 24, Chapter 25, Chapter 26 Chapter 27

The weekend had come and Kaleb was getting ready to see many of his comrades-in-arms once more. As he was helping Ulfgar with some of the preparations for the upcoming party, he remembered asking his old friend if he had taken Amalthia's ring size measurement.

"Hey Ulf. Have you, by any chance, had time to find out how big a ring will Amalthia need?"

The old norn stopped his work, smiled at his friend then waved for him to come forward. "Come, lad. I've something to show you."

The massive norn took Kaleb to the upstairs room he resided in during his off hours. When he saw the decorations in Ulfgar's sleeping quarters, he was amazed at the number of sculptures and paintings.

Ulfgar opened an ornate wooden chest then pulled out a small wooden box and handed it to Kaleb.

"Open it, lad."

When Kaleb did, he could hardly believe what he saw. Tucked inside the mahogany box was a large diamond ring with a solitaire, brilliant-cut gem.

"My gods, where did you get this? It's…" Kaleb was at a loss for words.

"Beautiful, yes? It was crafted from dwarven gold filigree and the stone was set by one of the finest jewelers in Lion's Arch. Take it, lad. It's yours to give to your love."

"I... I don't know what to say, Ulf. All I wanted was a measurement. I would have eventually found a ring."

"No, lad. The both of yas are like me own adopted kids. I want you to have it, and I won't take no for an answer." The old norn handed him the box.

Kaleb examined the diamond and marveled at its brilliance. "Where did you get this rock?"

Ulfgar walked over to his late wife's dresser and pulled out the tiara. Kaleb could clearly see that the largest stone was missing.

"Ulf. No. I can't accept this."

"Like I said, lad. It's yours. My dear Glorina would be smiling from the Mists right now if she saw a part of her go to you and your mate."

Kaleb bowed in respect to his long time friend then pulled out a bag of gold coins and handed them over. The old norn refused the offer.

"This is a gift, friend. Use the gold elsewhere, perhaps to buy Amalthia a fancy wedding gown," Ulfgar said with a warm smile.

"This is such an honor, Ulf. I'll never forget this. Thank you!"

"No, boy. The honor is all mine."

***

Evening came and several of Kaleb's Seraph army buddies arrived at the Jotun's Corpse to reunite with their comrades-in-arms once more. He had not seen his two closest friends in several months and having them visit their old haunt felt like old times.

"So you're a Lieutenant in the army now, right?" Kaleb asked his friend Cynthia.

"Yes, indeed. Made rank just a couple of weeks ago. So where's the misses?"

Kaleb looked at the front door and pondered. "She went on a few errands. She should be back at any moment."

Brad walked through the door as he held it open for someone else who was entering. It was Amalthia.

"Look who followed me in," Brad said as he turned to help her with some items she was carrying.

Kaleb and Cynthia immediately leapt off their barstools to help her out. Almost immediately, Amalthia was greeted by hugs from both Brad and Cynthia. Kaleb gave her a kiss then carried the items she had bought to their upstairs room.

"It's so good to see you, Ama. How've you been?" Cynthia asked.

Amalthia twitched her ears and smiled. "Just great! Kal and I have been crazy busy with expanding our little business venture."

"Yeah, I heard. Our folks heard about the way the two of you cleaned out that pack of undead over in Seaside Village. Nice piece of work there." Brad complimented her.

"Thanks. He and I work so well together. The coin we earn is just a nice perk."

Ulfgar walked up and boldly gave both Cynthia and Brad a big hug. "So good to see the two of yas again. No worries, all drinks are on the house."

"Ulfgar!" Both of them said in unison as they returned his hug.

"So you're Kaleb's new landlord? I knew that slob could never afford a place on his own," Brad said in jest.

"I heard that, bro. And who says I can't afford it... huh?" Kaleb returned the jab and laughed.

Ulfgar passed out the drinks as Kaleb and Amalthia snuggled close together and Brad and Cynthia did the same.

"I heard you guys have been knee-deep fighting the undead up in Sparkfly. Making any headway?" Kaleb asked.

Brad took a draught and shook his head. "It's a stalemate right now. Those Orrians are endless. It seems like every time we de-animate a bunch, at least two dozen more crop up."

A small, skinny, shaggy-haired young man came running into the bar shouting to the top of his lungs in a panic.

"A bunch of charr are heading this way. They've got weapons galore."

Amalthia looked up and cheered. "It's my warband!"

Kaleb looked at the young man. "It's okay, Flipper. They're Ama's friends... I least I hope they are."

She pointed towards the door and nodded with a smile as she waved to them once they entered. "Hey guys, over here!"

One by one, members of the Blade warband stepped though as humans in the tavern backed away in fear. The leader of the group, Krenesh, seemed to relish in their fear and made every effort to accentuate his menacing facial expression. Navina followed, acting indifferent to the people around her. Bogo and Tovu, on the other hand, made it a point to wave at everyone in the establishment.

"Greetings members of the mighty Blade warband. As owner and proprietor of the Jotun's Corpse, I bid you a warm welcome," Ulfgar said as he waved them over and offered them a selection of drinks.

Amalthia leaped off her seat and gave each member of her warband a traditional charr style handshake by grasping at the base of the forearm. She started with her leader; Krenesh then did the same for each one until she worked her way to Tovu.

"Hey. How did you make it into our warband?"

Tovu said sheepishly. "Nice to see you Amalthia. All of my bandmates were killed in a separatist attack. I was the only survivor. Thus, I became a gladium. If it weren't for Bogo, here, I would still be one too."

Kaleb, meanwhile, reached out his hand to Krenesh. "It's good to see you again, sir. I hope all is well with the Blades."

Remembering their last odd encounter, Krenesh only returned a half-hearted handshake. "Yeah. Couldn't be better. Is the beer around here any good?"

Navina shook her head. "Is that always the first thing you've gotta ask whenever you go someplace new?"

"Oh. Good to see you too, Navina." Kaleb saluted her as well.

She held up her stein returning the gesture. "Same goes for you, loverboy."

"Navi, I missed you!" Amalthia said as she gave her warband sister another hug and clanked her stein in toast.

"Missed you too, cub. So now you and this human are a permanent pair, right?"

"For as long as the other draws breath. Yup!"

As Krenesh began drinking from his mug, Brad approached him from the side.

"So you're the leader of Ama's warband? Name's Brad Pendragon - second in command and best friend to that joker over there," he said as he pointed in Kaleb's direction.

"Damn straight. Mine's Krenesh Howlingblade, but everyone calls me Kren. I heard you're pretty mean with a shortbow. Ranger, I take it?"

Brad smiled as he pointed to himself with pride. "Yup! Mid ranged is my specialty. In fact, I've got a whole team under me who covers that element of the battlefield. Most attackers are caught completely off guard by our strong midline defense."

"Don't listen to this guy. If given the chance, he will brag you ear off all day," Cynthia said as she reached out to the warband leader for a handshake. "Lieutenant Cynthia Waterstone, Thirty First Platoon - I'm in command of this loser here."

Brad looked at her in surprise. "Loser? Wasn't I your fiancé just a few days ago?"

"Like I said, loser." She had to rub it in further.

Kaleb overheard the conversation. "Woah. So you finally worked up the nerve and proposed to her?"

Cynthia laughed.

"Forget it. It was I who proposed to him!"

Brad tilted up his mug and swallowed. "That's what I like, a woman who is aggressive."

"She's your mate, then?" Krenesh asked.

Brad laughed. "I guess you could call her that. She's more like my boss."

Krenesh looked at him straight in the eyes and said in a much more serious tone. "Never let her out of your sight when in battle. I can tell you this from experience, there's nothing worse then... seeing something bad happen to someone you care about."

The charr staggered off with the mug in his hand. Amalthia noticed then walked up to Brad to fill him in on the details.

"Kren lost his closest mate in battle. He still gets worked up anytime subjects like this come up."

Brad bowed his head. "I'm so sorry, Ama. I didn't know. Please give him my condolences."

"It's okay. Navi just told me that Mia was expecting cubs when she was killed."

Navina rapidly gulped down a tall mug of ale while sitting alone at the edge of the bar. As she did so, a scrawny unkempt human approached her from the left side and asked in a leering voice; "um, what kind of drink do ya have there?"

The big female charr took another swig then glanced down at the strange looking little man.

"Alcohol."

"Um. What kind, exactly?" He asked in a sheepish voice.

Her gazed pierced his beady little eyes. "Who wants to know?"

"Lager?"

She shook her head.

"Mead?"

She growled.

"Um... Ale! That must be it!"

"You guessed right after your third try. That must make you pretty smart... for a human."

Flipper smiled upon hearing those words. "May I buy you a drink?"

Her gaze turned to a scowl. "Are you trying to hit on me?"

"Well, I uhh..."

"Cause if you were, I would claw your damn eyes out. Just because my warband sister is into your kind doesn't mean the rest of us are," Navina snarled as she took another draught of ale.

Kaleb saw what was transpiring and rushed in to intervene. "Flipper! What's up, my man!"

"Ohh. Hi, Kal. I was just offering this lovely lady a round of ale," the scrawny kid said nervously.

Kaleb put his hand on the boy's back and laughed. "Look, Flip. She's really not your type. Trust me on this. How about you run to the back and fetch us some fresh casks. Okay?"

"Wait, I was just..."

He was interrupted. "No buts... just go. After all, a thirsty charr is a cranky charr. Now run along."

Reluctantly, Flipper yielded to Kaleb's demands and headed towards the cellar.

Navina looked at Kaleb and commented. "You just saved that meat's life. Any longer and I would have had to wipe his remains off from under my boot."

"Flipper's not a bad kid. He just wants to screw anything that's got a hole somewhere between the legs. I've had to chase him out of the sheep pen on more than one occasion." Kaleb chuckled.

"What's with you male humans and sheep?" Navina shook her head in utter revulsion.

The two male charrs, Bogo and Tovu, noticed a large rectangular object hanging above the bar. Realizing what it was, Tovu asked in an enthusiastic tone, "I wonder what time it is?"

Bogo looked at a nearby cogwheel clock. "Oooo. It's almost time!"

"Hey. Bartender - anyway you can turn that thing on? Project Transmog is about to come on."

Ulfgar shook his head.

Why in the Great Bear Spirit's name did I allow that asuran to talk me into purchasing one of these things?

"Hold on. Let me find the control."

The two charrs looked at each other and grinned ear-to-ear.

Ulfgar found the remote and flipped on the device. Within seconds, the once blank rectangle was now filled with an image of a female sylvari preparing various vegetarian cuisines.

A human patron shouted out loud. "Put it on the Arena Channel. There's supposed to be a tar pit death match between the Twin Sons of Destruction and the Annihilators."

Ulfgar grumbled as he started flipping through the channels.

"Hello ladies and gentlemen. Welcome to the Bernie Lomax show. I am your host, Bernie Lomax. Today's topic - gods, do they or don't they actually exist?"

He flipped through to another channel.

This channel depicted a large male charr holding a blowtorch as he began welding together a part to a massive war tank. "Today on Heavy Thunder, we are gonna soup this baby up with five turrets and twenty..."

Ulfgar flipped the channel once more. Krenesh called out. "Hey! Leave it there! I wanted to watch that!"

Bogo and Tovu said in unison. "We called it first!"

Flipping the channel once more to a garden show then to a travel program, Ulfgar finally commented. "Y'know. It is this thing that will truly be the doom of Tyria."

The revelries continued into the early morning hours as Kaleb's and Amalthia's friends had become more acquainted with each other. By this time, Krenesh discovered that he had much in common with Brad and the two of them shared war stories until both were passed out from too much drink. Likewise, Cynthia and Navina found common ground in discussions involving the male species. Bogo and Tovu were beside themselves when Amalthia showed them the outfits that Ariyana had designed. Each of them gave their opinion on the style and composition of the garments as well as which one looked the best on whom.

Once the festivities had ended, both Amalthia and Kaleb were exhausted - not to mention, quite inebriated. Kaleb found enough strength in his body to hoist his passed out mate into his arms and lay her out onto their bed. As she lay prostrate across the sheets, snoring with drool dripping from the side of her muzzle, Kaleb couldn't help but smile. His mind, however, was clear enough to plan what he wanted to do the following day. He clutched the boxed ring in his hands for a moment then carefully slid it beneath the bed, safely out of her sight.

Tomorrow was going to be the big day.

(All chapters have been posted to AO3. Chapter 27 is posted here.)

#gw2 fanfic #guildwars fanfiction #tyrias-library #the outliers #kaleb and amalthia #charr #gw2 human

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