#side note I am so honored that even months after it was finished people are still interested in rid me of the blues
Explore tagged Tumblr posts
dreaminginthedeepsouth · 21 days ago
Text
Tumblr media
Cartoon Movement
* * * *
A new way forward—for good!
November 5, 2024
Robert B. Hubbell
Nov 04, 2024
As we head into Election Day, I don’t want to tell you how to feel. Instead, I will describe how I am feeling. I hope it is helpful.
I am feeling confident because we have done everything asked of us—and more.
I am feeling confident because we have enthusiasm and momentum on our side.
I am feeling confident because Kamala Harris has run a nearly flawless campaign.
I am feeling confident because I know that women are determined to reclaim their status as full citizens under the Constitution.
I am feeling confident because Democrats have consistently overperformed the predictions of pollsters and pundits in every election since 2020.
I am feeling confident because pollsters and pundits have underestimated the power of the grassroots movement that has engaged tens of millions of Americans as never before.
I am feeling confident because of the professionalism and dedication of local Democratic Party organizations.
I am feeling confident because Kamala Harris has shown us a new way forward that focuses on the good in the American people rather than on their grievances and divisions.
I am feeling confident because I know that the new way forward that has emerged over the last eight years is a change for good that will persist and prevail long after we are gone.
I am feeling confident because I know we aren’t going back—no matter what happens in any race decided on Election Day 2024.
I am feeling confident because we are standing on the shoulders of generations of Americans who sacrificed their lives, liberty, and security so that we could arrive safely at this moment of opportunity and promise.
I am feeling confident because I know that we will ultimately prevail in the larger battle for the soul of America.
I know that we are not guaranteed success. I know that polls continue to show a race allegedly closer than any presidential and congressional election in modern history. I know we could suffer disappointment—but I also know that we can survive, endure, and prevail over any loss. We have done so before, and we can do so again.
In my moments of doubt and worry, I am drawn to the memory of 25-year-old John Lewis, who led 600 marchers across Edmund Pettus Bridge on Bloody Sunday, March 7, 1965. On that fateful day, state troopers cracked John Lewis’s skull with a club for daring to demand equal voting rights for Black Americans.
John Lewis could have given up when he awoke in the hospital with a bandaged and bloody head. He did not.
Two weeks after Bloody Sunday, John Lewis marched with Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and thousands of others to complete the march into Montgomery.
Five months later, President Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act of 1965.
Whatever happens on Election Day, I am not giving up—and I know you are not giving up. It doesn’t matter whether we win a trifecta or suffer shocking losses, our work of defending democracy will not be finished. It never will be.
Yes, Election Day is critically important. But it is one of thousands of critically important days in the life of our democracy within living memory.
If we are fortunate enough to secure major victories on Tuesday, our reward will be that we get to do it all over again, starting on Wednesday.
Democracy is an ongoing, collaborative process. The good news is that we are working with one another to ensure that we preserve democracy for the next generation. I am honored to be working by your side!
Notes from the field (part IV)
Jill and I canvassed with Steve and Ellen Hill on Monday, covering 116 residences in Charlotte. It was a sobering experience. The areas we canvassed were economically depressed. We walked through some single-family home neighborhoods, where many homes were abandoned. Rental homes were dilapidated, with peeling paint and abandoned cars on the front lawns. But even in those neighborhoods, homes were being bulldozed at a rapid pace and replaced by two-story faux Cape Cod homes that would require substantial double incomes to pay the mortgage.
Especially sobering were the large apartment complexes that consisted of brick row houses surrounding a common area. The areas surrounding the apartments were strewn with trash and abandoned belongings left behind by renters who were forced out or moved on short notice. The bones of the old brick apartments were still solid, but window frames and doors were rotting. The residents of those apartments have been ignored and abandoned by landlords, the city, the state, and society. It is easy to see why some residents in those apartments feel hopeless and disconnected from presidential politics. And yet, we spoke to occasional residents who were strong and clear in their support for Kamala Harris and Democrats up and down the ballot.
It was disappointing that we were unable to speak to more residents. On the other hand, I felt that putting a door hanger on the front doorknob was a message to the residents: “We came to talk with you. You are not forgotten. Your voice matters. Vote.”
Jill posted a video on her blog that explains the technology of canvassing. See Every Day with Jill, Final Day of Canvassing: FOR KAMALA!
Concluding Thoughts
The astronomy photo below shows the Western Veil Nebula, a remnant of an exploding star. The early universe consisted only of two elements--hydrogen and helium, the basic ingredients of stars. On the other hand, humans are made of oxygen, carbon, hydrogen, nitrogen, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium.
If the universe started as hydrogen and helium, where did the other “stuff” that makes up humans come from? Answer: From exploding stars. You are, therefore, made of stardust. Literally. Not figuratively. Not metaphorically. Literally. Nearly every atom in your body came from an exploding star.
So, as you anxiously wait for election returns, reflect on the fact you have the great fortune to be here in this moment because millions of exploding stars propelled matter into space that fortuitously, miraculously coalesced into you. How lucky is that?
Stay strong!
22 notes · View notes
Note
Hey dear! I just finished "Troublemaker PT.2" and the part on Daemon teaches reader to dance is really one of my favorites, that said I was wondering if you could elaborate on an imagine/oneshot of her birthday please?( Feel free to ignore)
Drabble: "Mind if I cut in?" Daemon x Reader
I am so sorry for fulfilling your request like four months later. I really hope you still enjoy it nonetheless. You can find my troublemaker series in my masterlist!
106 AC
The day of your fifteenth name day had arrived and to say you were nervous was an understatement. The whole day you had spent cooped up in your room being probed and made ready into the beautiful gown your mother acquired for you. The whole day you have barely had a chance to sit down and your feet were already aching. “They are waiting for you dear.” You look up at your mother entering the room with a big smile on her face. Delighted at being the centre of attention by making all this fuss about you. You try to smile but the smile does not quite reach your eyes as the fear of disappointing your mother claws its way around your throat.
Slowly you walk behind your mother to the banquet hall where the ball is going to be held. It might be childish, but you were stalling. You knew the dancing lessons had not paid off its fruits even when your mother increased the time spend with your teacher. He simply was not patient enough with you to teach it, and often made you feel dumb. Your mother had not helped much with the expectation she had laid on you and the increasing disappointment every time the teacher reported back to her. You could only hope Daemon was there to save you from the horrors of being the centre of attention when you had to open the ball with the first dance. But you doubted it as he had flown out on some royal business earlier this morning.
The doors to the banquet hall opened and instantly the music swelled announcing your entrance. Your eyes scanned the room in search of the blond Targaryen hair, while you saw some shiny blondes, they were not the ones you were looking for. You are breathing quickens slightly and you felt your hands go clammy. Slowly you descend the stairs, looking down at your feet to try not to trip. Congratulations are thrown your way when you make your way into the middle of the room. You try to relax as you socialize with the people around you after all the dancing is yet to come.
As the music almost swelled to an end your mother pushed you towards a handsome boy of your age, he was from a house close to yours. The boy politely asked you to honor him for the first dancer and you nodded back. your nervousness was back in full force and your eyes scanned the room once more. you doubted this boy would be able to help you not make any mistake and embarrasses your whole family in front of all the guests, but Daemon simply was not there. You took in a deep breath and ran over the dancing steps in your head once more. you could do this, Daemon taught you right, you just needed someone who was half as decent as him you guide you through it and not step out of tune.
As the last notes of the song faded away and the group prepared to play a new one you closed your eyes quickly. “Mind if I cut in?” a deep tone interrupts your thoughts, and you open your eyes quickly. Daemon does not wait for an answer as he pushed the boy to the side. He takes you in his arms as he winks at you. “I was not going to miss this, little one.” As the first melodies of the song start, he softly guides you a step back before twirling you around. You smile a real one as the nervousness lessens with each step. Daemon makes sure to complicate the dance even more as he twirls you around.
You almost enjoy yourself until you make a slight mistake. Almost clumsily you step on his feet, but his face does not change for a moment, keeping up his appearance of a young royal prince he just twirls you again. “Daemon, I a-.” He shakes his head and reassures you with a smile. “Do not fret, my feet will survive, troublemaker.”
110 AC
Daemon looks at his wife who is dancing with another man. Caching the light of the overhead candles makes your dress sparkle as you catch the attention of others as you look absolutely radiant. Slight jealousy is rearing its head at the sight of it, but he contains it as you smile happily. It is almost hard to believe that a mere years ago you had loathed the thought of dancing as you believed you had not been any good in it. However, it was only a lapse of confidence as you had felt the pressure of your mother and family to perform in reality you were good and had started enjoying it from there on out.
At the sight of a hand slightly lowering on your body Daemon had more than enough. After all, he only had one dance with you earlier in the evening and he was due for another one. Moreover, another man touching you that way was reserved for one person and one person only. Without even politely asking to cut in he pushed the men aside. Catching you off guard as you stumbled slightly but when you recognized his touch you melted perfectly in his arms. You smiled up at him as he moved you across the dance floor. “Couldn’t resist?” you tease him as you lean up to quickly kiss him on his cheek. “He was touching what was mine.”
Your hand lays over his heart as the two of you stand a little closer than you have to. “Possessive much.” You smirk as he lowers his gaze to you with a smouldering gaze. Not caring if it was appropriate or not, he lowers his lips to yours. You melt against him as you kiss him back. The two having stopped dancing, now blocking others from moving around you as the dance inclines. You hear a cough behind you and with flushed cheeks, you break the kiss. You pull him back into the line as the two of you continue to dance again. “So even my kisses are not good enough to whisk you away.” Daemon signs as he holds you in the proper positions. Much to his regrets.  “Only because you made me love dancing, especially when it is with you,”
______
Taglist: @targaryenmoony
116 notes · View notes
cloudcountry · 11 months ago
Text
i created my own ikemen wrapped for 2023. this is how i feel about the routes i played by the end of the year!!
this isnt spoiler free so tread carefully!!
IKEMEN VAMPIRE!!
Tumblr media
im sorry jean you would have had a higher rating if i DIDN'T play your route. i'm mostly neutral towards a lot of them but i ADORE the top four. it becomes even funnier when you realize that the top four are the only ones whose routes i have completed.
i played isaac's route twice, shakespeare's route twice, vincent's route once, and arthur's route once. i started comte's route only to drop it, and i am currently on jean's route!! i did not diversify my suitors at all JAHSJASGHD
a memorable thing about each suitor i played this year:
one thing i remember about isaac is when he started to fall in love with her, the scene in the church when he tied that ribbon in her hair. i nearly choked when he called her darling, he was smiling so sweetly and holding her so close. it was such a tender scene.
( honorable mention to that certain fanart i was tagged in so many times that the op called me a true isaac lover or something along those lines. it made me really happy that so many people, even people i didn't know, knew how much i adore him. )
for will, my most memorable moment of him was when i realized i loved him after playing vincent's route. i hadn't cried that hard over a character's misfortune in a while, but will's always been good at giving me a rollercoaster of emotions.
( honorable mention to vio calling my love for will blinding, ive thought about it a lot ever since she said that C: )
my most memorable moment of vincent was when he tried so hard to make mc genuinely smile on her first few days in the mansion. he didn't want her to feel uncomfortable so he tried his absolute best to make sure she could be herself and be happy. he really is an angel.
for arthur, it is one hundred percent his apology to mc for almost biting her. i've never seen him look more like a sad puppy in my five months of playing and honestly, it was so nice to see him reflecting on his actions and actually being able to admit his feelings (since we know arthur isnt the best with that.)
( once again, honorable mention to my enemies to lovers arc with this man. he's really not as bad as he appears, he is one of the most tender hearted and sweet men in the whole game. give him a chance if your heart allows it!! )
even though i'm not done with either comte's or jean's route, comte's most memorable moment was when he called the mc strong in chapter one. it was nice too see someone acknowledge her situation and try their best to help her instead of biting her. side eye.
and on that note, i'm sorry jean but your most memorable moment is the only one that made me angry. i hate that he bit her and i hate that the writing just skipped past it like it meant nothing. im blaming this on the writing itself because i believe jean's route is a good route so far, but it would have been so much better if it had a different beginning. but if i pick one that was actually wholesome, i'd say whenn he took her to the field of lilies and said the flowers were very her.
i started playing on july 2nd, 2023!! and what a journey it has been ^^
IKEMEN PRINCE!!
Tumblr media
my first route was yves!! i wanted to play licht's first but people talked me out if it because his route is HEAVY!! i ended up playing rio's, then licht's, then nokto's, then i played about halfway through clavis's before keith's route was released. i played keith's route twice and then hopped back over to clavis, and i'm currently finishing up his route!!
a memorable thing about each suitor i played this year:
when mc chased after yves when he was leaving for obsidian just to tell him she loved him i was SCREAMING. i remember really admiring how much strength it must have taken to go to the kingdom that abandoned you.
for rio, it was 100% the discussion he had with nokto about how he doesn't want to be with mc because he might put her in danger by being with her, but ultimately he can't help himself. that was such a good insight into his character.
licht's route was. intense. and because of that it was packed with moments that i agonized over. but overall, i think what nokto told mc about how the closer she got to licht, the more she was hurting him stuck with me the most. it really showcased the bond between the twins and sent a knife through my heart :C
i actually forgot i played nokto's route and skipped right over him, and that probably says a lot LMAO oops. honestly i thought his route's pacing was weird but the romantic ending was very cute. the most memorable moment from his route wasnt even a cute one HELP!!! when mc straight up slapped him for no reason and he was like "oh so slapping me helps you huh??" and she was like " :(( no...." and then they made out like WHAT!!!
clavis is also a very memorable person, and after spending a lot of time analyzing him i know why so many people love him now. something that really stuck with me was his philosophy on government and how the current ruler decides whats right and wrong. i think the same about people in power so it was nice to see my sentiments reflected in a prince.
oooh its time for my favorite prince!! keith also had a lot of memorable moments and ive been sitting here for like ten minutes trying to pick out the best ones.
for nice keith, i'd say the moment when he told mc he would try his best to stop saying "a guy like me" and "i'm sorry" over and over. it really touched me because i know how hard it is to break that habit and it made me really happy when he said he'd try ^^
wicked keith was such a TEASE but the most memorable moment with him was when he and mc went out to that cafe and he actually answered a lot of her questions. i know that may seem trival but it felt like a sigh of trust to me and that felt really sweet.
( honorable mention to the scene were they gave mc the earrings they picked out for her during the christmas event, i actually cried. )
i started playing on july 11th, 2023!!
IKEMEN REVOLUTION!!
Tumblr media
my first route was kyle ash and honestly i'd say for a guy i don't like romantically his route was very memorable. he's a great first route and if anyone is a bit indecisive as to who they want to pick i'd definitely recommend him!! ANYWAYS moving on, i played harr's route next, then edgar, zero, jonah, then i tried playing ray's but he was being stinky so i started lancelot's route.
a memorable thing about each suitor i played this year:
like i said, kyle had one of the best route i've ever read. listen to vivi aka the ikerev authority people. i remember lots of bits and pieces from his route, such as his determination to keep people alive, his pig goo, mc making him soup so he wouldnt drink himself to sleep, his gentle care for her once he figured out he liked her, how he pointed out the full moon and told her she could go home and was happy when she chose to stay, how he waited until everything was over to let her know how he felt, how he DIDNT DRINK on the night he wanted to make love to her, OUOTUOROUGUOUROHGH IM TELLING YOU HIS ROUTE WAS TOP TIER. but the thing that stood out to me the most was how him and mc worked together to save amon, and furthermore, to uphold kyle's principles. it was so heartwarming when mc told him to stick to what he believed in (even if i wanted to punch amon's teeth out during that scene)
i would keep talking about kyle's route but i have to move!! on!! because harr's route was peak domesticity. the first time he took his mask off in front of mc is one of my favorite moments (i actually did a happy little dance when i saw the other half of his face ehhe) because it shows such beautiful trust in her and arghgougohugo INSANE.
the most memorable moment of edgar's route was absolutely when he was so hesitant to let alice hold his hands, but when she takes them so comments on how warm they are. it was such an emotional moment because edgar was definitely feeling very complicated but alice was still there for him. i love them together :((
( honorable mention to vio saying i was alice reincarnated when i talked about that scene were they were all calling sweets evil LMAO that made me very giddy ^^ )
( second honorable mention to edgar asking mc if she thought pickles were a wolf in sheep's clothing??? weirdo. )
i was intrigued by zero all the way back in harr's route, and i started to really like him during edgar's route when he was trying his best to protect mc, which was really sweet. absoLUTELY the most memorable moment in his route was when he was fighting against the magic tower and he emerges from the rubble with an injured arm and a smile, just to tell alice "i'm home." i was crying like a BABY. zero i love you. please marry me.
jonah's route is a classic and a fan favorite, and i can see why. he starts out being arrogant and hell (and its irritating tbh) BUT he melts so quickly under gentle love and care. anyways, the red army routes seem to have a theme of giving up your position for what you believe is right because it happened like three times okay!! and jonah became a "traitor" to the red army just to protect alice. it was him and her against cradle and i will NEVER forget that.
lancelot's first impression was really bad but after playing all the red army routes and finally, his own route, i've grown to like him a lot. what really sticks out to me about his route is when he takes mc away from the dance floor because they're being stared at and they have a heart to heart. he tells you a single white rose would suit her or smth along those lines and when i looked up the meaning and saw it meant hope and renewal i DIED.
i started playing on july 27th, 2023!!
IKEMEN SENGOKU!!
Tumblr media
my first route for sengoku was mitsunari, then kenshin, then kennyo, then sasuke, then kanetsugu, then yoshimoto. the only routes that didn't bore me to death at the end were mitsunari's, kennyo's (i was actually shocked when the route ended, it felt like the perfect length to me), and sasuke's. i can't speak for yoshimoto though since i just started. i feel like ikesen has a tendency to reallyyyy stretch out the routes but maybe thats just me.
a memorable thing about each suitor i played this year:
mitsunari was such a good first route for me, and the most memorable part of his route was definitely when he challenged nobunaga for mc. not only was it unexpected but i was so proud of him for betting so much on his plan AHGRHGG mitsunari my beloved.
kenshin's route was crazy but EASILY the best part was when mc rode into battle with an army of her own to stop kenshin from FLATTENING the country. she kicked ASS and earned the title "goddess of war" for what she did and that was so cool of her.
i played kennyo's route because of the parallels between him and kenshin and WOW i did not regret it. his route was phenomenal but the most memorable part was when mc and him buried the bell that kennyo had kept with him to remind him of all the lives he felt he was at fault for losing. it symbolized finally letting those people have their peace, and furthermore, kennyo's inner peace. it was beautiful.
sasuke really got me when he THREW himself into battle with kenshin after kenshin lied about him and mc liking each other. sasuke's desperation to let her know that he couldn't stand her being with someone else made my heart RACE. it was so nice to see a suitor finally being on the more "selfish" side.
kanetsugu's route had the Wonderful experience of mc carrying a head!! a decapitated head!! and while i'm sure he has a lot of cute moments (one of them being when he told mc he loved her and she FREAKED OUT) I CANNOT GET OVER MC PICKING UP A DECAPITATED HEAD LIKE ITS NOTHING!!! shes a trooper.
yoshimoto's route gives you the unique (and memorable!!) experience of a warlord actually viewing you as a friend instead of an enemy!! (keep in mind this is coming from someone who has only played ONE oda forces route. im constantly on the "enemy side" oops) i thought his mindset was very refreshing after months of "oh nooo we cant see each other we're enemiesssss"
i started playing on july 27th, 2023!!
this took me so long to write oh my goodness. it was fun though!! im thinking about how all of this information is only five months worth of playing so i dont know how im going to handle TWELVE MONTHS PLUS A NEW GAME but i'll figure it out. i might leave the fandom before then idk!! who knows!! but anyways thank you if you read my thoughts i love sharing them even though i know its a lot hehehe
8 notes · View notes
noperopesaredope · 3 years ago
Text
Fics That I Really Like A Lot
So, I just wanted to make a post uplifting some really great fics I’ve read/am subscribed to or still keeping up with. I like to let people know about other creators, and I just wanted to mention some works I think people should check out.
(Note, this post was made on Sep 2, 2021, so when I say something is recent, I mean compared to when I made this post)
Tangled the Series Fics (Mostly Varian Fics):
Walls of Stone (Finished)
Varian and Whumptober 2020 (Series) (Finished) (Sidenote; I really like this author in general, but there is just so much great whump and extreme angst in this series! Says they are but a humble freshman, but I say they are a very skilled freshman!)
How Pneumonia Stopped a Stubborn Alchemist from Descending into Villainy (Finished)
Screw Treasure, I got Trauma (Finished)
Tangled One-shots (Series) (Finished? I Think?)
Voluntary Manslaughter (Finished)
I’ll Always Lend an Ear (Finished)
Drown Your Past, Burn your Future (Series) (Unfinished, but still going strong)
Scars of a Child (Series) (Unfinished)
Unrelenting Silence (Finished)
Where was the happily ever after? (Finished? Unsure)
All our Dreams (Down the Drain) (Unfinished)
Not All Falling Stars Grant Wishes (Finished)
Alchemy Lullaby (Series) (Finished)
Insignificant (Finished)
Second Chances (Almost finished)
The Pawn Decides Its Fate (Finished)
Unsaid Emily (Finished)
Today, Today (Finished)
The Pride in Your Eyes (Unfinished, but still somewhat new)
Monster (Finished)
You Are Enough (Finished)
An Alchemist’s World (Unfinished, but the first four chapters could definitely work as a standalone fic, so, in my eyes it’s finished)
Too Smart for Your Own Good (Unfinished, going strong)
To find the Sundrop (Unfinished)
There’s More in You (Unfinished)
The Science of Love (Unfinished, going very strong)
Season 2 But Gayer (Unfinished, going strong-ish)
On My Honor (Series) (Unfinished, going extremely strong with consistant updates)
A Prince and His Bodyguard (Series) (Unfinished, going strong)
Rocks, Wolves, and the Moon (Series) (Unfinished, going strong)
Return to Me (Unfinished, going strong)
Perilous Night (Unfinished, possibly discontinued, but worth a bit of the read)
Nomad (Unfinished, author is working on multiple projects, so IDK)
No Reward for Second Place (Unfinished, but fairly new and somewhat well updated)
Oath of the Lawbreaker (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)
New Quest for Varian (Unfinished, fairly new)
My Dear Son (Unfinished)
Insignificant (Finished)
Indentured (Unfinished, same author as Nomad)
Enter the mind, remove the sins (Unfinished, going pretty strong)
Darkness exists to make the light truely count (Unfinished, going strong. Updated about every month or two, with consistency)
Creeping Crystals (Unfinished, but going somewhat strong)
Blood of My Brother (Unfinished, going as one of the strongest in its fast updates)
Cyclorama (Finished) (Companion to Blood of My Brother)
Chemistry in Motion (Unfinished)
Away from Home (Unfinished)
Alone? (Unfinished-ish)
It’s just a mild inconvenience (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)
Gauze in the Wound (Unfinished, pretty consistent last I checked)
Blood Makes the Knife Holy (Series) (Unfinished, but each part could work as their own fics, and it’s still going)
A Progression of Events (Unfinished)
He Needs Me (Unfinished, going strong)
Or So They Though (Unfinished, going pretty strong)
The Long Road Back to Home (Unfinished, hasn’t been updated in a bit, but is pretty long and each chapter could take about a couple months to finish, and even longer if the creator is stuck/has other fics. Still worth the read)
The Road Home (Different) (Unfinished)
Reunion at Sea (Unfinished, going strong)
Elements of Angst (Unfinished, probably updated soon)
Arson (Unfinished, every time it think that maybe it’s been discontinued, it comes back)
Unconventional Family (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)
To find the Sundrop (Unfinished)
Wayward AU (Comic) (Unfinished, pretty consistent)
RWBY (Mainly Oscar Fics):
It’s Venomous (Finished)
Will you stand and be brave or be broken? (Finished)
Oscar Gets Himself a Coat (Finished)
Who You Belong To (Finished)
Imperfect Light (Finished)
Shell (Finished)
Blood on Both Hands (Finished)
Tell Me that I am a Fool (Finished)
If i believed in destiny i'd have to hunt it down and punch it in the face (Series) (Unfinished, can have the occasionally long hiatus, but the creator comes back)
Is Oscar okay? no but the answer is b (Finished)
Running From Memories (Finished)
Rescue Me (Unfinished)
Souls of Love and Bravery (Unfinished, relatively consistent updates)
Revert To Last Save File (but it's the wrong file) (Unfinished, but still going)
Broken Body and Souls (Finished)
Camp Camp:
David’s Family (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)
Horror Camp (A little too much child whump for me, but it’s very whumpy) (Unfinished)
Inconvenience (Unfinished)
Still Here (One of my favs) (Finished)
Hetalia (Mainly America and Canada Centric):
Recovering the Broken Pieces (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)
Hetalia 2020 - WWIII and more (Unfinished)
(More fics in the crossover section)
She-ra (Quite a few Kyle ones):
The Chronicles of Kyle (Unfinished)
Sunflowers (Finished)
She-Ra: In the Wake (Unfinished)
Princesses and co. work through their issues (Unfinished)
What is Heard (Cannot be Unheard) (Finished)
Long Way Home (Unfinished)
The Hollowed of Etheria (Discontinued. For now at least. Author might revamp it)
Hordak and the Orphans of the Horde (Unfinished)
Big Sis (Finished)
Ex-Horde (Finished? Pretty good on its own though)
Prisoner of Conscience (Unfinished, still going strong)
Tales of Arcadia (Mostly Douxie Fics):
The Immortal Bonds (Unfinished, going strong)
I Can Make RotT So Much Worse (Unfinished, going strong)
Not After 900 Years (Finished)
A Different Path (Finished)
Half-Remembered (Finished)
Shattered Timelines (Unfinished, going strong)
In the Fullness of Time (Unfinished, updated recently)
One Last Time (Unfinished, updated recently)
Tales of Arcadia Watch Trollhunters: Rise of the Titans (Unfinished)
Crossover Fics:
Sold (TTS/HtTYD) (Finished) (Author is really good at angsty oneshots that should be made into full fics)
Varian’s Mysterious Transport (TTS/Infinity Train) (Unfinished, unexpected updates)
Of Rocks and Robots (TTS/Big Hero Six) (Series) (Unfinished, very consistent)
(Like the moon) I'll sway the tide and lead you astray (TTS/HtTYD) (Unfinished, haven’t read in a while)
Heathers and other fandoms react to stuff (Multifandom Crossover Fanfiction) (Unfinished, confusing update schedule, not every fandom gets much spotlight, still incredibly fun)
Chemistry in Motion (TTS/Big Hero Six) (Unfinished)
The Weight of Both Worlds (Hetalia/RWBY) (Series) (Finished) (My favorite fic ever)
Infinity (Hetalia/BNHA) (Unfinished, possibly discontinued)
G8 china in UA, 1-S class! (Hetalia/BNHA) (Unifinished, possibly dicontinued)
That Which Makes Up This Land (Hetalia/ATLA) (Unfinished, author is editing and reposting all their series, which could take about a year, but it will be back)
A Waterbending Quirk (ATLA/BNHA) (Unfinished, going strong)
Other Fics:
Earth is Odd Enough (Sanders Sides) (Unfinished)
UA Faculty Tiktok OCs (BNHA) (Webtoon) (Check out https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=63lWYueDsek&t=208s, she’s amazing) (Unfinished. The Tiktoks, on the otherhand, are very much still going)
Harry Potter and the Lack of Lambsauce (Harry Potter) (Finished)
Grinch x Tony the Tiger (You know) (Unfinished)
Flowey is Not a Good Life Coach (Undertale) (Finished)
It Wears a Mask (MCU Spiderman) (Finished)
A Different Fate (Harry Potter) (Finished)
A crack in the glass (eye) (ATLA) (Finished)
Identity Saga (MCU Spiderman) (Series) (Unfinished, author is very dedicated to fic and is incredibly determined to finish it, so highly unlikely to be discontinued)
Bakery Enemies AU (Miraculous Ladybug) (Comic) (Unfinished, going strong)
Authors I Like:
AquaQuadrant aka @aquaquadrant (probably know them if you’re in the Varian fandom. Ridiculously talented)
bethhigdon (in the TTS fandom and the Big Hero Six fandom, but also other stuff)
Cate_9xBlue aka @cate-9xblue (known best for their TTS fics)
Royalsciencenerd (Writes amazing TTS Varian fics)
HoneyxMonkey aka @honeyxmonkey (Writes TTS fics and talks a lot about Tales of Arcadia on their blog. Has some great ideas)
Sand_wolf579 (Has a large and varied catalogue)
ExploretheEcccentricities aka @exploretheeccentricities (Lots of TTS fics)
ShadowSnowdapple aka @shadowsnowdapple (RWBY Oscar fics that are amazing)
Widowfics (Great TTS writer)
AMax76 (Wrote the amazing Blood of My Brother)
violetsaren_tblue (has some great TTS fics I like)
Time Traverser (Excellent Hetalia America and Canada Fics)
Aloneintherain aka @captainkirkk (Just started reading their stuff, SO many excellent Spider-Man fics)
So yeah, just giving some appreciation for all the fic creators out there and their creations!
301 notes · View notes
raahosh · 4 years ago
Note
Hello! I saw you wrote 18+ one shots and I have a request. If you’re not comfortable that’s perfectly fine, tho!
I was thinking of an Azriel x reader where Azriel just got back from a mission and it’s been a month or so since he and reader have seen/been with each other. Reader tease him and he says something along the lines of “come sit on my face, let me show you just how much I missed you”. And well, let’s just say he missed reader a lot… 👀
Type: Azriel x reader.
Fandom: A Court of Thorns and Roses.
Summary: Azriel got back from a mission and let's just say he missed you so much, at the point he wanted to show you for how long he waited for this moment.
Warnings: This is 18+, so if you don't like it just keep scrolling, I know you'll find something that fits you.
Authors note: Thank you so much for requesting. Actually I was urging to make a Azriel x reader, I have one in my drafts that I'm working on, but I didn't know what to do and you gave me the best idea. I hope you like it, and enjoy your reading honey. Any grammar error I'm sorry but this is the first full one that I'm doing in English.
Honor mention to talk about Sarah saying that he's a freak so... Let's say I'm a bit excited for the next book.
Ok, your hate towards Rhysand wasn't even a thing before he kidnapped your mate's attention. You knew there was a lot of things to resolve and political things aren't easy, mainly because we're talking about Prythian and the High Lords aren't really the type of grown man when it comes to internal fights, but you haven't had even a full day with Azriel in a whole month.
Your relationship with Azriel was very affectionate, his love language was skin contact and it might not look like when you're around other people but behind closed doors he was the most clingy you've ever had. And now you didn't have time to even hug him properly in a whole month.
You were at the living room talking to Cassian when you saw your mate arriving. He was destroyed, he looked like he hadn't slept in days. Automatically, you stood up, Cassian didn't even try to argue because he knew his friend needed some woman help at this moment.
He got to walk to the bathroom with your help, where magically you made a bath for him. His body sat down and when the warm water touched his body he relaxed. The shadows were still there, including in his eyes where they were most concentrated, just proving that he hasn't seen a bed in days.
"You look really tired. How was your day?" You tried to turn his attention for you and make it easier for him to distract a little bit.
"Exhausting. I knew Tamlin was hard to work but not that he was a complete asshole who can't even accept help." He sighed.
Your gaze met the bar of soup next to the tub, you grabbed, wet and started rubbing Azriel's back with it, paying double attention to his wings. You knew how sensitive they could be and how Iryllians were when it's about those things.
"I told you, he's not someone... talkable. But I feel some kind of pity after all Hyberns stuff and then I remember what he did to Feyre." You made delicate circles around his back, then his chest and then you put the soap in his hands to let him finish.
You went to the sink to clean your hands and dried it with a towel. When you came back he was finished, you grabbed that soup bar again and started working on his wings. Rubbing slightly, putting less weight in your hands.
"I can't feel anything but angry when it's about him. He could have done so much and chose to be this way." Azriel’s voice was a little darker than before.
"Ok, let's change the subject. Let's talk about you've not been sleeping those days. Love, I know you have a lot of things to do but you're going to kill yourself this way." Your hands went down, and down.
"I know but-" He didn't finish, instead he let out a low moan and grabbed the sides of the tub trying to stay still. "It seems that you got to the part."
Yes, you knew what you were doing. Your relationship with Azriel was long enough for you to have memorized what you can do and where, the many times and how, but now you wanted to tease him. You let your hands move free against his wings, now just them, to make him feel your touch.
"Continue..." You couldn't contain the excitment in your face but your voice was low and husky, it just made Azriels erection pulse a little more.
"You wanna know what, Y/N" His hands met yours. You could feel the warmth on your cheeks, they were getting so red. He took the soap from your hands and adjusted himself on that tub. "What, babe?" You arched your brow.
At this point the bath was cold but it didn't matter because he pulled your hands making you come closer to him. "I think you should get in... here with me." His gaze met your lips and then he kissed you.
Hands.
Lips.
Tongues.
Touch.
You were craving for his touch in a long time. Since Azriel was busy you didn't have times like this with him and even though his presence was everything you wanted you couldn't deny you missed it too. You missed the sensation of his hands trailing your body and his tongue doing magic in your mouth.
There wasn't a thing that Azriel did with bad quality. But you, you were smarter when you just pulled away with a smirk on your face. You took some distance from him, your clothes didn't get longer to be on the floor and Azriel didn't let his eyes meet anything but you. And, if you ask me what was going through his head, you'll know soon.
You stepped ahead and entered the tub, he held your hand and helped you do it. Now, your body was on his lap, your hands tugging his hair when he finally kissed you again. He was hungrier than before, the kiss turned to a making out session, he wanted you and you only, the only thing he could see was you.
"Oh, darling. I'm going to show you exactly how I feel everytime I see you." He said next to your ear. "Did you miss me?" His hand traced your entire body. He went from your arm, to your belly, then found it down there. His fingers trailed it's way and started exploring the territory.
You couldn't even think at this moment and got worse when his middle finger found your clit and started rubbing it slowly. At first you swallowed your moan and looked at him with a heavy breathing, then he fasted the pace, his other finger found your cunt and started to explore more that area.
"Hm, I didn't hear you. You didn't answer my question, darling." His mouth was in your ear, you could handle his hand but along with this husky voice it was impossible.
You let escape a loud moan when two of his fingers started to fuck your cunt, and when I say fuck I mean it. "Y-yes, I missed... Fucking God- I missed you so much." You couldn't even finish a phrase.
"How much did you miss me, gorgeous?" You knew what he was trying to do. The Cauldron knows how bad you wanted to continue his game but it was impossible since he was godly great with his fingers.
You didn't respond, instead just grabbed his shoulder tugging your nails in it while you moved on his fingers chasing some kind of more friction. Your breath was heavy and you could feel it, when he took his fingers out of you and you panted.
"No, love, you're not going to cum now." He stood up and you wrapped your legs around his waist.
He took you to the bedroom again and shoved you to bed. First he looked at you, eyes shining with your figure right in front of him. It made you blush but he didn't swerve his gaze, he wanted to memorize every bit of you, skin, hair, lips, your curves, he loved every little detail and the way you always get nervous at those times.
"You're going to just look at me?" You arched your brow.
"Honestly? I could do it all day but I have other plans for you." He bit his lip and came to the top of you.
His hands were one in each side of you, but one of them grabbed your wrists and pushed it up to the top of your head, cuffing it there with just one hand. The other he used to grab his cock and pull it inside you.
You sobbed with his size, he was being gentle with the velocity he was administrating. He was slow, letting you adjust to it, but even like this you were so tight for him, tight enough to make him groan when he got to the base. "You're so fucking great." He whispered.
Then he dropped your hands and grabbed your ankles, he started moving inside you. Gentleness wasn't Azriel's at those times, his pace was rough, you were seeing stars with every thrust, every time his cock was deep and fast. Azriel could be whatever you think but during sex he's not the cute mate you know.
"Az- Azriel" You couldn't even think anymore.
His sight of you was delightful, his pace increased his right hand went to grab your face, with his four fingers in one side and his thumb in the other.
"Look at me, that wasn't what you wanted? Am I the only one who make you feel like this?" He stopped and started thrusting slowly, torturing slowly.
The first made you stutter and choke on your words. "Ye-yes that is what I wanted... You a- Azriel-" In each words you said he made a thrust and the faster you get the faster his pace was, the more you stutter the more he thrusts on you. But he was waiting for you to continue, he wanted you to say it. "You're the only o-one." You reunited all your powers to say it but even though you gaggle at the end.
Azriel grabbed your thighs and pulled it up to his shoulders, giving him a way to go deeper. And so he did, his invests started to get deeper and deeper, you were a mess of sweat, moan, pants and pre-cum when he released inside you and continued until you get the high too. When your orgasm hit you strongly and you creamed Azriel smiled in satisfaction and collapsed beside you.
"Well, I didn't think it'd come to this but I'm not the one to complain." You listened to him while he just laughed and then turned your face to see him. "I love you."
He smiled. When you turned your head you saw that he was already looking at you. "I love you too, Y/N."
490 notes · View notes
hangovercurse · 4 years ago
Text
Blind Date (continued)
You invite Colson in after your blind date
Request: “I loved this so much! If you get the chance and are up to it, I’d love a second part!” ”I would like to read a second part of it”
Colson X Reader
Warnings: cursing
A/N: Have I edited this? No. Did I even look back over this after I wrote it? Also no
Word Count: 1974
Tumblr media
Your hand touched the handle before you turned around, finding Colson in the same situation at his car door, still looking at you. “Do you maybe wanna… come in?” You asked, biting your lip. His face lit up, a smirk highlighting his features.
“I would love that.”
The man’s lanky figure strutted over to your front door as you opened it, pausing as he entered to take in the smell of your house that screamed you. He let his eyes wander around the place as he stepped further in, taking off his coat and shoes at the front entryway.
You moved into the kitchen, pulling out a bottle of red wine while he made his way into the space. You found a note on the counter from your best friend and roommate.
Staying at Eric’s tonight in case you and your date need the place to yourself <3
You rolled your eyes at the note, chuckling as you tossed it in the trash. You rustled through your drawers to grab a corkscrew, fiddling with the bottle as Colson shuffled into the room, standing behind you to encase you in his arms.
He took the corkscrew from your hands and opened the bottle with ease. “I was getting there,” you whined jokingly.
He chuckled, “I could see that.” You turned around and allowed your lower back to rest against the counter, squeezed between the surface and Colson. His arms rested on the countertop on either side of you, his figure leaning to be level with you.
You couldn’t help but admire his features, his bright blue eyes and the stubble on his jaw sparking your artistic mind. “I wish I could sketch you right now,” you murmured your thoughts aloud.
He smirked, leaning closer into you, your lips almost meeting, “why don’t you?”
You smiled, pressing a soft kiss to his lips before softly speaking, “you would get bored being my model.”
He pulled away from you, fingers running across your waist until they found your hands, intertwining your fingers. “I would be honored to be your model.”
You perked an eyebrow, “seriously?”
He shrugged, “I’ve done it before for cameras, and you are much more interesting than photographers.” He pulled you away from the counter, “go get your stuff and I’ll pour wine.”
Rolling your eyes, you walked towards your art room, which was really just your bedroom, “don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
When you returned, he was wandering your small living area, a glass of wine in his hands and one on the small coffee table. His eyes danced along the picture frames you and your roommate had placed around the house when you first moved in, which you honestly hadn’t looked at since.
You stepped into the room with your sketchbook and pencils, making your presence known. His gaze drifted to you with a smile, watching you settle onto the couch, “so, is this your roommate?” He motioned towards one of the pictures.
You glanced up, smiling at the goofy picture you two had taken at graduation, “yep, that’s us.” You turned your head back to your book, flipping to the next blank page as he continued asking about your pictures.
“Who’s in this one?” He asked, pointing to a photo of your roommate and her boyfriend, Eric.
You chuckled at the image of them pulling funny faces in the front seat of a car while you sat in the background looking bored, “that’s Eric, her boyfriend. We went on this huge road trip and they swore I wouldn’t have to third wheel, but I obviously did.”
Colson let out a small laugh, taking a sip of his wine, “and who is that?”
You had honestly forgotten about the picture he was pointing to, but seeing it made your stomach fill with unease. “Oh, I forgot that was still up,” you sighed at Colson’s curious expression, “that’s me and my ex, TJ. We broke up months ago, I thought I’d gotten everything of his out of here.”
Colson could see the discomfort in your expression, sitting down on the armchair next to your couch, throwing his legs over the side and posing dramatically. “Bad ex, huh?” You nodded, not wanting to make him uncomfortable with the conversation, though you wanted nothing more than to open up to him. “I’ll tell you mine if you tell me yours.”
You rolled your eyes, turning so you could face him, “of all the poses, that’s what you pick?”
He smiled innocently, “yep.” A chuckle fell from your lips as you looked down at your sketchbook, pressing your pencil to the paper. “Fine, I’ll go first,” he began, “can’t really get to know each other if we don’t get at least a little bit of trauma out of the way.”
You looked up at him and giggled, “you got me there.”
He sighed, taking a sip of his wine, “Baze told me not to talk about it, but the look on your face when I asked you about him tells me you might be able to relate.” You raised an eyebrow but kept drawing, giving him a silent signal to continue. “I was dating this girl for a while, you’ve probably heard of her, Megan Fox.”
Your eyes went wide at the name, looking up at him in shock, “yeah, because that’s not an intimidating act to follow at all!”
Colson waved you off, “you’re doing great so far, don’t even worry about it.” You gave him a stern look, but he only continued with his story, “anyways, we were together for a while and she told me all the time she thought we were soulmates, and I believed her, you know?” You bit your lip, starting to feel slightly intimidated as he spoke about the woman. “But then she cheated on me after, like, 9 months. And I realized after we broke up how wrong we were for each other and how much she manipulated me.”
You frowned as he spoke, his tone getting sadder with each word. “That’s so shitty. I don’t understand why people cheat in long term relationships, especially after you’ve given them so much hope and trust. Like someone convinces you that they love you and then they go around and pull that shit. It’s evil.”
He nodded, a slight smile on his face, “I’m over it now though, in case you were worried. Came to the realization about a month or two later that I was better without her.”
You held the pencil in your hands still, trying to find the words you needed to say. “I, uh, I was dating that guy, TJ. We had been friends for a while and he asked me out and I said yes. Everything was great, you know? And then like almost a year end he starts acting all weird and possessive. Like just because we had been together for so long means he doesn’t have to treat me like his girlfriend anymore. He would make me feel like shit in front of our friends and just all around was being a shitty boyfriend.” Colson stared at you intensely with a frown on his face, eyebrows furrowed.
“A guy should never do that shit to his girl. You don’t deserve that shit, no one does.”
You nodded sadly, “yeah, well, then I found out like 4 months into all of this that he had cheated on me and gotten the girl pregnant so… I ended things real quick.” You let out a sad huff, turning your attention back to the book and continuing your sketch of the beautiful man in front of you. “I was really upset at first but now I’m just kind of angry. Dude was a dick.”
Colson let out a dry laugh as you took a long sip of wine, “sounds like it. I’m sorry you went through that shit.”
You shrugged, smiling up at him, “if I hadn’t, we wouldn’t be here.”
He chuckled, biting his lip, “guess something good came out of it.”
A blush spread across your cheeks, “oh yeah, the food was amazing.” Your words were full of sarcasm, yet the pout on his face still made you giggle, “I’m joking, loser.”
“You better be miss second-date.” You giggled but didn’t respond, turning back to draw him. It was quiet for a few moments, your pencil tracing along the paper.
He shifted, at which you glared up at him, “I told you you’d get bored.”
With a chuckle he said, “I’m not bored. I get to look at you while you draw, it’s far from boring.” You tried to look annoyed at him but failed miserably at his flattering words. “I was thinking though, since it’s my picture and all, I should get to make some executive decisions.”
You scoffed, “you chose your pose, what else would you like oh great model Colson?”
He rolled his eyes playfully, stretching his arm out to set his glass on the table. “Well, I mentioned that I have some tattoos,” he reached for the hem of his shirt, pulling it up, “you should draw them.”
Once his shirt was fully removed from his body, you couldn’t help but gawk just a little. His entire chest was covered in ink, designs beautifully engraved into his skin. “I was gonna make a joke about this only being our first date but holy shit, these are beautiful.”
He blushed, looking down shyly, ”I was honestly scared you weren’t gonna like them.”
You looked at him with wide eyes, “Seriously? This is so cool. I’m an artist, you really think I’m not gonna like tattoos? Its an art form in itself.”
Colson shrugged, moving back to his pose, expecting you to continue your drawing. Instead, your eyes wandered his torso, taking in every detail of the work. “If you’re lucky,” he commented slyly, “one day I might show you all of them.”
You rolled your eyes with a scoff, moving back into drawing position, “you think you’re so cool.”
A breathy laugh fell from his lips, “I do, actually.”
The two of you continued banter-laced conversation while you drew him, his likeness coming to life on your page. At some point it turned into 3 am, and you were struggling to keep your eyes opened, but you were finished.
“Here.” You turned the book to him, letting him take in your work. He didn’t speak for a few moments, causing worry to build in you. “I mean, it’s no Mona Lisa but-“
“That is fucking amazing.” He cut you off with a wide smile, “you make me look hot.”
You rolled your eyes with a grin, “I’m not going to feed your ego by saying something super lame like “that’s just what you look like,” but I’m glad you like it.” He chuckled at your response, climbing off of the chair to stand in front of you.
“Damn, I was really hoping to get my ego fed tonight.” He grabbed the sketchbook from you and threw it onto the couch next to you before grabbing your hands and pulling you up to stand.
You smiled to yourself, chest shaking with silent laughter, “does the sketch not feed it enough?”
He shook his head, “I need the approval of a really pretty girl to satisfy its hunger.”
Rolling your eyes, you leaned up into him, “you gotta work harder than that, Rockstar.” Your words came out breathy against his lips as he wrapped his arms around your waist.
His mouth connected to yours, the kiss deep and passionate. His soft lips meshed perfectly with yours, his hands pulling you up to stand on your tiptoes. Once you pulled away you stayed close to him, breathing in his intoxicating scent. He whispered, “I never thought a blind date could turn out so well.”
180 notes · View notes
derangedangel · 4 years ago
Text
Kiss Interrupted - Klaus Mikaelson
Summary: Almost kiss, but interrupted for @idkhaylijah’s 3k followers challenge
Klaus Mikaelson x Reader
Word Count: 3,663
Author’s Note: Watch Zoey’s Extraordinary Playlist which inspired this fic... okay it’s literally the base of this fic. Also, I didn’t realize until half way through it should be under 2k... sorry lol. Also the dress description I tried to give is the dress from Anastasia when she goes to the ballet. I haven’t posted in almost a year so be gentle please. 
Tumblr media
It was a quiet afternoon in the Mikaelson home and you were enjoying a lunch with Rebekah. These moments where rare and few. You told your friend you didn’t feel like going out so she had lunch brought to the two of you. The dining table was set up beautifully so you still felt like you were dinging at one of New Orleans’s finest restaurants. Elijah was off to the side, enjoying a new novel. 
“Dear sister, why didn’t I receive an invitation to your lunch,” Klaus asked making his presence known as he entered from his study. 
Rebecca sighed placing her raspberry lemonade down before she acknowledged her annoying brother. “Nik, if you want to go on a lunch date with Y/N, just ask her yourself,” she quipped then smirked at Klaus. 
Your eyes grew as you paused mid-fork lift at Rebekah’s statement. 
Klaus replied quickly, no one noticing you get flustered at the thought of Klaus and you on a date. “I just wanted to bond with my little sister.”
“Oh, rubbish,” Rebekah said.
After you regained your composure you spoke up. “Would you care to join us, Klaus? There’s plenty of food.”
Rebekah spoke up before Klaus could respond. “Don’t offer him anything, Y/N. He’s just trying to bother us.”
Ignoring his sister Klaus smiled at you and said, “Thank you, love, but I’ll pass.”
“See, you don’t have to be nice to him,” Rebekah said, taking another sip of her drink.
“I like your family, Beks,” you replied, smiling at your friend. “In fact, I was thinking about having a dinner for my birthday next week if you would all like to come,” you asked looking at each of the Mikaelsons in the room.
Rebekah looked at you in shock. “Your birthday is next week?! How did I not know this?”
“Well, we’ve only know each other for a little over a year and last year when it was my birthday you Mikaelsons were having one of your... wars in the quarter,” you answered Rebekah but eyed Klaus at the last part of your sentence. 
Klaus raised his hands up in defense. “Don’t blame me. Blame the witches.”
“No friend of mine’s is just going to have a bloody dinner for her birthday,” Rebekah protested.
“Rebekah, I’ve had 49 other birthdays before this one. It’s no big deal,” you said nonchalantly before you took another bite of your meal.
“You’re turning 50,” Rebekah practically screeched. 
“Yeah. I’m a vampire, birthdays really don’t mean much anymore. I’m fine with a quiet dinner. I don’t need a lot of fuss over it.”
“Oh poppycock, Y/N. Fifty is a huge deal, regardless of the fact that you’re a vampire now. I’m throwing you a party. End of discussion,” Rebekah said then wiped the side of her mouth with her napkin and preceded to get up.
“You really don’t ha-,” you began to say but Rebekah interrupted you.
“No, I don’t want to hear it. The party is already in motion. And you deserve it.”
Elijah finally spoke up from his quiet corner, flipping the page in his book as he spoke. “There’s no use in fighting it, Y/N. Once my sister has plans for an event in her head, there’s no stopping her.”
You sighed, “Fine, do what you must Rebekah.”
“Fantastic,” Rebekah said clasping her hands together in joy. “And you won’t have to worry about a thing. I’ll start planning right now.”
                                                        ~.~
A few days later, you were once again at the Mikaelson home. It started to feel like you were there more than you were at your own place. But as a vampire, you had nothing but time and wanted to spend it with people you cared about. 
You sat at the kitchen counter while Klaus poured you some blood.
“How’s the party planning going,” Klaus asked making eye contact with you as he finished pouring. 
“I wouldn’t know. The only thing Bekah asked me about was a guest list and colors. She told me to come over this morning and that’s all I know.”
“I suppose she’s staying to true to the part about you not having to worry then,” Klaus said. He poured himself a glass of blood as well, but was standing on the other side of the counter. You were happy with the distance. For the past few months, something was brewing between you and the hybrid. You tried to ignore it. It was wrong. Klaus was Rebekah’s brother. He had a daughter to worry about and a city to rule. Not to mention, you knew he was trouble. It was best just to be strictly platonic with Klaus.
“I wish that were the case. From what I’ve seen, she’s going all out. A huge ball, which is completely unnecessary. And, no offense, but I’ve heard whenever you Mikaelsons throw a ball, something bad goes down.”
Klaus took a sip from his glass and titled his head. “In our defense, when we through a ball, it’s usually a ploy to find out what the wolves, witches, or other vampires are up too, or stake our claim in a new town.”
“So your record of successful, nondeath having balls would be?”
Klaus paused and thought for a moment. “None.”
“See,” you shouted pointing out the potential problem with your birthday party. 
A small smile graced Klaus’s face as he shook his head. “I’m sure your birthday will be the exception to that record.”
“How do you know,” you asked worried. Klaus began to move closer to your side of the counter. 
“No one would dare ruin a ball in your honor,” Klaus answered in a slightly serious tone.
“Okay, but how do you know that? Things have been pretty good for your family lately. And what would be a better time to strike than at a ball?”
“I wouldn’t allow anything to ruin your night. I’ll make sure the entirety of New Orleans knows not to try anything on Saturday night. They can burn down the city on Sunday for all I care, but I’ll rip their throats out if they try anything on Saturday,” Klaus replied. Somehow in your worriedness over your party, Klaus ended up right in front of you. 
You chuckled at Klaus’s statement. “You’d do that for me?”
“Of course.”
The two of you stared at each other in silence. Klaus could hear your heart pounding in your chest and you knew it from the way he smirked. He glanced down at your lips and you swallowed out of nervousness. He began to lean in slowly and you knew what was coming. You wanted this to happen. You had imagined how Klaus’s lips would feel against your own and it was finally about to happen. Forget your hesitance about why you should just be friends. You wanted him.
Your eyelids fluttered closed but then the two of you jumped apart at the sound of footsteps approaching the kitchen.
“Y/N,” Hope shouted excitedly. 
“Hope,” you replied just as excitedly trying to ignore the pit in your stomach from almost kissing Klaus.
“Aunt Beks told me all about your party and I was wondering...,” she started then lingered hoping you would get the hit before she even had to ask.
You nodded smiling at the teenager. “Yes, Hope, you can invited whatever boy you have in mind.”
“Thank you,” she said eagerly as she hugged you.
“Boy?” Klaus perked up from where he now stood behind the counter again. “What boy?”
Hope looked to her father, but you spoke up before things had to get awkward between the lovestruck teenager and her overprotective father. “Oh Klaus, let the girl bring a date. It’s my party and I’m allowing it.”
“Well she’s my daughter,” Klaus replied.
“And it’s my party,” you said, eyes gleaming at Klaus. You had a sort of confidence at the fact that Klaus was going to kiss you. A boost in your ego if you will. “You wouldn’t deny the birthday girl what she wants on her birthday, would you?”
Klaus leaned over the counter smirking at you. “I wouldn’t dream of it.”
You smiled back knowingly at him. 
You were a little lost in Klaus’s eyes so you didn’t initially notice when Rebekah entered the room.
“Alright, we’re already getting a late start. We’ve got to get moving, Y/N,” Rebekah said.
You turned away from Klaus to face your friend. “A late start on what, Bekah?”
“Dress shopping,” Rebekah said like it was the most obvious thing in the world. We have to find you a gown and have a seamstress tailor it to you. You have to look absolutely flawless on Saturday. I want it to look like you were born in that dress.”
You sighed closing your eyes to prepare yourself for the long day you knew you were about to have. Granted, you loved an extravagant gown and didn’t usually have a reason to wear one. But you knew Rebekah in party planning mode wasn’t going to be easy to deal with. “Fine, let me grab my bag and we can go.”
“Can I come too,” Hope asked looking between you and her aunt.
“Of course,” you smiled, happy to bring a buffer between you and Rebekah. 
                                                        ~.~
You were currently in your fourth dress. “Rebekah this is Hopeless.”
“I’m literally right here,” Hope said being cheeky.
You scowled at her joke and turned in the mirror. “I’m not loving any of these dresses. And this is our second store!”
“Be patient, darling,” Rebekah said as she went though another rack of dresses. “The prefect dress is here somewhere. Well, at least the perfect last minute dress.”
“Oh and speaking of last minute,” you said, stepping off the podium that was in front of the mirror, “I don’t have a date. How am I supposed to go to my own birthday ball dateless?”
“With the party I’m planning and the guest who will be trying to schmooze with you, you won’t even have time to entertain a date. And I’ll be busy on hostess duty so when I’m not with Marcel, you can dance with him.”
“Oh joy,” you said sarcastically turning on your heel. 
“And I’m sure one of my brothers will be loitering around somewhere. You can dance with one of them,” Rebekah said nonchalantly. Good thing she was busy looking at dresses or she would have seen your checks grow hot at the thought of dancing with Klaus. 
You walked over to another rack of dresses hoping to find the perfect one for your party. Out of the corner of your eye, you saw it. The perfect, show stopping, all eyes on you dress you had been searching for.
“Beks... I found it.”
Rebekah approached you and saw the dress you were holding so delicately in your hands. “You haven’t even tried it on yet.”
“I don’t need too. I already know.” You held the dress up to your body feeling the velvet material against your skin. “You think this is how brides feel when they find their wedding dress?”
Rebekah sighed, “I wouldn’t know.”
                                                            ~.~
After what felt like the longest week of your life, it was finally the night of your party. Rebekah made sure everything was taken care of, including having someone to do your hair and makeup. She even pulled out some old diamonds to go with your outfit. She mentioned something about a duchess owning them once, but your were to busy being blinded by the extravagant necklace to care. 
“Alright, the guest are starting to arrive,” Rebekah announced as she came into her room witch was your designated dressing room for the night. 
“Great! I’m ready,” you said standing up from your spot in front of the vanity. 
“Oh, you’re not going anywhere yet.”
“Why not,” you asked highly confused.
“You have to make an entrance! And you can’t do that with only ten people here,” Rebekah answered like you were out of your mind for even considering going down stairs.
You sat back down sighing. “So how long do I have to wait?”
“About thirty minutes.”
“What? But I’m ready now and-,” you began to say but Rebekah cut you off.
“No buts. You’ll thank me for it later when you see all those adoring people fawning over how incredible you look.”
“Fine,” you said crossing your arms over your chest. “Whatever.”
Thirty minutes later exactly, Rebekah returned and told you it was time. You left her room then waited for her to properly announce you before you made your way to the top of the stairs. She was right. It felt good to have everyone awing at how amazing you looked. You began to descend the stairs careful not to fall. Once you made it a few steps down, you saw Elijah ascend the stairs. Once he reached you, he held out his hand to escort you the rest of the way.
You smiled to the partygoers but spoke to the noble Mikaelson. “Thank you, Elijah. I was nervous I would tumble down these stairs then have to abruptly end the party out of embarrassment.”
Elijah kept his eyes forward as he lead you down the final steps. “You are more than welcome, Y/N. We couldn’t have the birthday girl enter her own party without a proper escort.”
You turned and smiled at him once you reached the bottom of the stairs. “We couldn’t,” you said then reached up to peck Elijah on the cheek. Out of the corner of your eye, you could have sworn you saw Klaus scowl at his older brother. 
The party was going smoothly. Rebekah did an incredible job and was a great hostess. Every passing minute, you worries about a potential Mikaleson threat ruining the night faded away. You danced with Marcel twice, and Elijah excused himself from Hayley to dance with you. Hope was having a wonderful time with her date, and as far as you could tell, Klaus hadn’t threatened the young man at all. Speaking of Klaus, you hadn’t seen much of him the whole night. 
The live band Rebekah hired switch to a new slow song and you quickly recognized the instrumental ballad they were playing. 
“I love this song,” you said softly to yourself. 
“Pardon me,” you heard a low accented voice say from behind you and you turned.  
“Would the birthday girl care to join me for a dance,” Klaus asked, his hand outstretched to you.
You tried to control you smile, but it grew wide and bright. “I’d love to,” you answered, then placed your hand in Klaus’s.
Klaus walked you to the dancefloor then slowly wrapped his hand around the small of your back and raised your join hands together.
“It’s about time you spoke to me tonight,” you said, being the first to break the silence. “I was beginning to think an enemy crashed my party and you were handling it.”
“I spent the past week threatening every supernatural creature within a 500 mile radius so that very thing would not happen,” Klaus said. 
Klaus was light on his feet. Elijah danced very formally. His steps were calculated. Marcel’s steps were more on the modern side. He danced to more upbeat songs with you. Saving the slow ones for Rebekah, so he could hold her close. Klaus was... smooth. You could tell he had the same classical dance style as his older brother, but he wasn’t as focused on making the next perfect step. He was graceful, but carefree. 
“Please forgive me for not finding you earlier to tell you how ravishing you look,” Klaus said making you blush and look away from his piercing eyes. Although it felt like Klaus was ghost for most of the night, his eyes didn’t leave you wherever you went in the room. From the moment you entered the party, his eyes were glued to you. He was jealous he didn’t get to help you down the stairs. Your navy dress fit you like a glove. The sparkles on the cape-like feature always hit the light just right so you couldn’t be missed. He wished you weren’t wearing gloves so he could feel the velvet soft skin of your hand against his.
“Thank you. It was all Rebekah honestly,” you said then looked back up into Klaus’s eyes, “she put all this together. I just picked out the dress.” 
“No,” Klaus said softly shaking his head at you. You tilted your head in question at his response. “Do not give my sister the credit. Yes, she may have helped with your hair and the makeup, but even without that, you would still be breathtaking.”
After that compliment you were sure you would have a permeant smile on your face for the rest of the night. You didn’t know how to respond to Klaus’s sweet words. Your hand that was placed on his shoulder gently went to the nape of his neck. You moved in closer to him so your chests were now pressed against each other. Klaus’s grip around your waist tightened. There was a warmth in his eyes that you hadn’t seen before. He began to lean down and your eyes fluttered shut.
“May I have everyone’s attention,” Rebekah’s voice boomed around the room without the need for a mic in her hands.
The bleak feeling of disappointment overtook you and Klaus as you pulled apart. Your hand glided down his arm, wanting to remain touching him in some way. 
“If the birthday girl would please come to the front so...”
                                                         ~.~
The party was basically over now. Just a few stragglers left. Everything went off without a hitch. You couldn’t have asked for a better night. Well, there was one thing you could ask for.
“Klaus?”
Klaus was alone on the balcony. Typical dramatic Mikaelson. 
He turned when you called his name. Your silhouette was perfect against the night sky. “Shouldn’t you be inside entertaining guest,” Klaus asked.
“I’m all party-ied out now,” you said then chuckled. A short breeze came by making you shiver as you reached Klaus near the railing.
“Here,” Klaus said, taking off his suit jacket and placing it over your shoulders. His hands lingered on you arms. “You should be inside.”
You tried to ignore the thud of you heart against your rib cage so you could speak. “You should be inside, too,” you pointed out, seeing as he was outside before you.
“Thousand year old hybrid here, love,” Klaus said smiling down at you. His hands left your arms and were now in his pant’s pockets.
“Fifty year old vampire here, Nik,” you stated being a smartass. 
Klaus shook his head as he laughed. “I think I may have you beat by a few hundred years.”
“Yeah, well, I should be fine out here as long as you’re here,” you said turning to the balcony, no longer looking at him.
There it was again. That warmth he felt when he was around you. It was like sunshine after a long and dark snowstorm. He felt light, at ease with you.
“You will be,” Klaus said. You turned your head to look at him and he was smirking at you. 
You felt nervous and giddy at the same time. Like a high schooler texting a new crush.  “What,” you asked smiling at him.
“You...,” Klaus said, his eyes trailed over your body. “You’re remarkable. I’ve done a countless amount of horrible things, but somehow, I’ve gotten the chance to know you... and you’re incredible.”
Your nerves were getting the best of you. Once again, you tried your best to control you smile, but you face was getting hot. “Klaus...,” you mutter, his name coming off your lips like a secret you wanted to keep for yourself. You nudged him lightly with your hand in a playful matter, but he grabbed it. His eyes serious on you.
He pulled you in closer. Your eyes searching his face for an answer to the thousands of questions that were going through your head. Suddenly, he let go of your hand and walked away. You were shocked to say the least. Blinking back utter confusion. 
Klaus walked up to the balcony doors and shut them. He turned around and faced you, a devilish grin on his face. “So we don’t get interrupted this time.”
Your shoulders relaxed as you smiled. Your sudden confusion melting away and turning to joy. “Good thinking.” 
Klaus took wide steps towards you, meeting you most of the way as you stepped forward and wrapped your arms around his shoulders once he reached you. His hands gripped your waist. His lips finally collided with yours. No interruptions. No worrying about what other people would think, or reasons why this could be a bad idea. Just you and him.
It was a good thing that the two of you were already dead, because the kiss was heart stopping. You removed your gloves earlier in the night, so your delicate hands were roaming through his hair as the kiss grew more intense. 
A flame ignited in Klaus’s chest from your touch. Your kiss was intoxicating and he knew he would never get enough. Why did he wait so long to do this again?
Klaus pulled back just as breathless as you. His hands rested respectfully on your lower back, while one of your hands was on his chest and the other in his hair. 
“Happy birthday, Y/N, ” Klaus said softly. 
In you post kiss daze you replied, “huh?”
“It’s after midnight,” Klaus explained. “You’re party was on Saturday, but now it’s Sunday. So it’s officially your birthday.”
A warm feeling grew in your tummy. This man already knew you so well. “Thank you,” you said gleaming up at him. You were already in deep with Klaus. There was no turning back now.
“You’re welcome, love,” Klaus replied. His hand now cupping your cheek as he gazed into your eyes. 
“Best. Birthday. Ever.”
152 notes · View notes
urimaginespimp · 4 years ago
Text
Last Kiss (This Love pt 6)
Bucky x reader (elemental witch)
Set on Endgame.
Note: This one is a rollercoaster of emotions
previous part
--------
Fear was creeping up within you as you stared at Thanos’ army approaching definitely outnumbering you and the rest of the team. Nevertheless, you were ready to fight in honor of Nat. The wound in your heart from losing her is too fresh.
But before you knew it, a golden ring, followed by another one after another started appearing behind you, and you were too struck to move when one by one, everyone who disappeared five years ago started walking out.
And then you see him, weapon in hand, ready to finish the fight.
The fear within you was long gone, and was suddenly replaced with hope.
--------
Everybody was working together in the fight. You were holding your own pretty well, just killing any one of Thanos’ army near you or overwhelmingly attacking anyone else on your side. You paused for a second to catch your breath when a voice spoke behind you.
“Can’t you look ugly for once, doll? I mean we’re in a middle of a fight and you still look like an angel.” You turned and faced a panting Bucky. He was still holding a weapon, dirt and dried blood on him, but he was giving you a small grin.
Your eyes welled in tears as you take him in. Hell, you don’t know what to say...
“I-”
But before you could finish embarrassing yourself before the man you’ve been waiting on for five years, he closed the space between you and captured you in a kiss.
His lips were softer than you’ve imagined them to be, but before you could even comprehend what was going on, he broke away.
“Buck-” you whispered.
“Just wanted to do that in case I turn to dust again.” he whispered with a shit-eating grin, before turning back to fighting.
You chuckled, shaking your head to not get too distracted from that welcomed rude interruption and went back to fighting.
---------
Nat and Tony. Two of the first Midgardians you’ve met, and now you swore to hold in your heart forever.
It was just a little while after the funeral when you decided to sit with Tony’s daughter Morgan, and Happy.
“You’re Y/N.” She gazed up to you with wonder behind her eyes.
“Yeah, I was your dad’s friend.” you smiled, looking down next to you where she sat. You didn’t know Tony talked about any of you to her.
“He said you would be the best one to build forts with and that he didn’t like your boyfriend.” She tilted her head to the side, reminding you of Tony’s mannerisms.
“I uh... don’t have a boyfriend.” you coughed awkwardly.
“That’s ok, I’m not allowed to have one too.” she gave you a toothy grin. Happy and you exchanged looks.
“Is it Jesus with the robot arm? I saw him staring at you.” She asked you with no hesitation, prompting Happy to stand before you two.
“Yeah, that’s enough. Wanna get that cheeseburger now?” He offered his hand to her, which she took happily and said a quick bye to you.
You made a mental note to pay them a visit someday. Standing up from the seat, you walked down and stopped by the lake when Steve approached you, now in his suit.
“I saw the punk finally kissed you.” He smiled at you.
“We haven’t really talked about it yet. A funeral is hardly the best setting for it.” you shrugged.
“I hope that was the end of you being dumbasses around each other.” he nudged your shoulder, chuckling.
“I don’t know, Steve. I quiet enjoy making you want to pull out that golden hair of yours.” You smirked at him.
“Take care of each other, okay?” He faced you now, making you turn his way as well in confusion.
You were about to ask him why he was talking like he was leaving for good when it clicked. He smiled at you when he saw the realization dawn on you.
“Take care of us yourself, coward.” You smirked, but your eyes were also tearing up. Steve was leaving too.
“I just lifted your father’s hammer.” he feigned offense, and took a step closer to you, taking you in his free arm. “I love you, kid. Despite how much you like making my old heart uncomfortable sometimes.” you felt him kiss the top of your head.
“Again, I called you ‘daddy’ once and it was out of a dare.” you weakly punched his chest. “I love you too, old man. No matter how boring your war stories are.”
Breaking away from him, you wiped the stray tear on your cheek. “Go get that dance.” you smiled genuinely at him, which he returned.
“What, no last snarky remark to remember you by?” he teased, making you roll your eyes at him.
“Don’t break a hip doing so.”
“There we go.”
--------
“Are you sure you wanna stay?” Thor asked you for the third time.
“I don’t like space that much.” you smiled at him. He decided that he was gonna join Quill and the rest of the group. “And with the amount of people who just missed 5 years, I wanna help them get back on their feet.”
“And the old man?”
“Father, I’m older than him.” you reminded. He still couldn’t accept it when Mantis pointed out to him that you have sexual love for the man with the lomg hair and metal arm. He was acting like a protective father.
“If he hurts you, you tell me.”
“Do you have a phone now? A computer?”
“No, what for?” He laughed at you.
“You’ll hear from me through Rocket.” you promised. “You guys take care of yourselves, ok?” and he assured you with a nod.
Throwing your arms around him, you promised to take care of New Asgard, and to stay out of trouble. Your father sealed his departure with a kiss on your temple and a promise to visit you when he can.
--------
You were now walking around the property, exchanging greetings and goodbyes to the people who were still there while looking for Bucky, when you finally see him walking around aimlessly. And as if sensing your eyes on him, he looked your way.
You tried to give him a smile, and you were confused when he didn’t return it, just nodded at you and walked the other way.
You decided to follow him. Catching up, you were now only a few steps away from him when you called him.
“Buck are you okay?” you asked him, concern lacing your voice.
Stopping on his tracks, he turned around to face you with a serious expression.
“Steve left.” He stated looking at you with a frown etched on his forehead.
You nodded as a reply. You couldn’t begin to think how he was feeling.
“You know, it seems that everyone else already knows which path to take next except me. All I’ve been doing is jumping from one fight to another.” He started to rant.
“Wakanda-”
“Y/N I was hiding in Wakanda. I need... I want to start finding myself now that I’m recovered. And let's face it. You need it too. We can’t keep living in a sanctuary. And I just think I can’t start fresh when I’m around people who would remind me even the tiniest of my parts as the winter soldier.” you were still trying to wrap your head around what he was saying when he spoke again.
“I’m sorry for kissing you. I wasn’t thinking straight.” he looked anywhere but you, but his face was contoured with certainty.
“Buck what are you saying?” deep down you knew. You just didn’t want to believe it.
“I’m saying I’m letting you go, Y/N.” He said, his eyes finally meeting yours. “Take care of yourself.” he finished, and turned away again, starting to walk away.
“Bucky I...” You wanted to tell him. To just let it finally out, but now something in you, maybe a little anger, stopped you from making any more of a fool of yourself.
But it didn't go unheard by the super soldier as he turned to look at you one last time.
“I know, Y/N. And I’m sorry but I can’t... I can’t love you the way you'd hope me to. You’ll see that I’m right someday, and you’ll thank me for it.” He gave you one last sad attemot of a smile, before finally leaving you, glued to where you were standing, unable to fathom what just happened while simultaneously feeling a part of you just... break.
--------
(set a little into TFATWS finally)
WARNING: Mention of assault. Look out for *(start) and ** (end)
Six months. It’s been six months since you’ve last seen him. And every day it was getting harder to keep yourself from finally admitting to yourself that you’re mad at him.
True to your promise to Thor, you were taking care of the people of Asgard, using some of the wealth him left you with to send some of the younger ones to school, and with the help of Pepper, even buy some shares of some companies. To say the New Asgard was doing well would be an understatement. The people were merely taking up jobs out of interest.
Val as usual, saw through you. She told you it was okay to be mad – that it was a stepping point to start moving on.
“Come on Y/N. The dude kissed you and changed his mind just like that. I would’ve broken his nose if I were you.” She told you one night after catching you looking at a photo of him given to you by Steve. “You can’t tell me you’re not holding even just a tiny grudge.”
“Okay, if it makes you feel any better, I am holding a little resentment.” you shrugged at her, making her reply ‘good enough’.
You just didn’t think it was going to end that way for you both. And now you were wishing you’ve taken those 5 years as an opportunity to rid of any romantic feelings you had for him. Maybe then it wouldn’t have hurt at all when he left.
You tried to ask Sam a number of times if he had any idea how he was doing, but he’d say that Bucky kept ignoring his texts.
For a few weeks every night, you’d been wearing one of the only shirts he owned back in Wakanda. And before you sleep, you think of the image you’ve engraved in your mind – him sleeping peacefully next to you in Wakanda, just after a nightmare.  Then you’ll wake up the next morning hoping he’d have a good day, and that maybe something would remind him of you and make him wish he’d stayed. And It went that way over and over, until one distinct night.
*
There was knocking on your door late at night, waking you up from your sleep. Opening the door, you were met with three of the women you know, holding up a younger one who was crying and shaking in shock.
They explained that she’d been close to getting assaulted after a night of partying and losing sight of her friends. Thankfully the three women found her and were able to pry the man away. But what was worse was that this wasn’t the first time something like that happened.
**
Save the world once or twice, there would still be shitty people. That was what you realized that night.
So maybe he was right. You realized that what the Avengers taught you about Midgard didn’t cover much of the shitty things that happen frequently to innocent people.
And that was when you decided to replace nights off wallowing in self-pity, with going out at night, staying in clubs or hanging out in its bathrooms, just making sure everybody was safe. And soon enough, crime rate at night in your area reduced significantly.
Maybe if you divert your attention to literally anything else besides the man, you’d actually get over him.
All was well until one morning as you were kicking off the heels and taking of your dress from the night before to finally get some sleep, the tv you had on flashed something that caught your attention.
A stranger holding Steve’s Shield was being called the new Captain America.
What the actual fuck?
--------
@eternalharry @iheartsebandchris @lizzarooni @the-ayo-lit @tanyaherondale @knowyourworth-sellyoursoul
183 notes · View notes
imonthinice · 3 years ago
Text
The Criminal Psychology Majors, Jason Todd x Fem!Reader Part 7/?
Word Count: 3.5k
Author’s Note: Y/N - Your Name, A/N Any Name (your best friend’s name), (Name) - your ex’s name !genderneutral (Don’t use a DC character! Y/N hasn’t dated any other DC character!) :)
3.5k words, my god. And they’ve still only known each other for 4 days and we’re on part 7. I do not know how to finish this.
Lol, Enjoy!
Warnings: Swearing, Heated moments, There is French in this one, No beta bitch we die like Jason Todd
(Part 1) (Part 2) (Part 3) (Part 4) (Part 5) (Part 6) (Part 7) (Part 8) (Part 9) (Part 10) (Part 11) (Part 12) (Part 13) (Part 14) (Part 15) (Part 16) (Part 17) (Part 18) (Part 19) (Part 20)
Falling asleep in Jason’s arms after that escapade the two of them pulled the night before was something magical to say the least. Of course, they only got like 5 hours of sleep before they had to wake up and get out, at risk of Y/N being caught in the building, although the thrill of it excited the both of them deeply, but that’s obvious. They liked breaking the rules already.
Riding back home seemed a lot less like a journey to her this time, she just wanted to spend more time with Jason, but he had work and she didn’t want to hang out at Wayne Enterprises. She’d probably go to the library today, she didn’t know exactly what she’d do today, but she always thought that was the most exciting thing ever. “I don’t know what I’m even going to do tomorrow,” one of her friends asked when she moved to Gotham, ‘How exciting!’ she answered.
That friend said the next day she ran through the streets of Metropolis with her arms outstretched like a kid, and she did it in Y/N’s honor. “I told you!” she said, “How exciting that sometimes you never know what you’re going to do tomorrow!”.
These thoughts swirled in her head as Jason drove her back home when, like clockwork, like it was out of a movie, he said,
“I have no idea what I’m even going to do today.”
She laughed, “I always say ‘How exciting!’ when someone says that to me.”
“Really?”
“One of my friends back home, when I gave her that advice, she then spent the next day running around the city with her arms outstretched in my honor, it was apparently one of the more fun things she’s ever done, so” she paused, “I really mean it. how exciting! The possibilities are endless, are they not?”
“Well, not really, I have work to do,” he frowned.
“So own it. Make the office your bitch. Take charge, take lead.”
“Why not?” he said in agreement.
“Why the fuck not.”
-------------------------------------------
Jason walked her to her door, “Won’t you be late?” she asked,
“Dad knows where I am, I don’t think I’ll have my ass handed to me.”
“You never know,” she laughed.
He laughed too and slightly pecked her lips. He wanted more, he was hungry for more out of that kiss, but work and life gets in the way of their relationship, and he really whined when he had to break away, but she laughed at it.
“Slow your roll Tiger, one day,” she mused.
“You say that like you don’t want more.”
“This isn’t about me,” she retorted, “So, shut up, respectfully.”
He laughed and kissed the back of her hand, “You have a thing for doing that, huh?” she joked.
“I literally don’t know how to answer that, I think I’m losing my touch with flirting,” he joked back.
“Okay, okay, you need to get going now.”
“Fine! You want to get rid of me so badly, I get it,” he joked and walked back to the car and she waved him off. She hated that time he left, a lot. She knew it was healthy to take a day’s break if they’ve been on 3 back-to-back dates, but that didn’t mean she liked it.
She opened her door and walked in, thinking A/N was asleep so she wouldn’t be barraged for her hair being a mess, but, boy oh boy, was this girl waiting for her to get home.
“What happened? Why’s your hair a mess? Oh my god, did you have sex?” she asked.
“No, but we kissed, will you take that as information while I shower or do you want all the details now?”
“You can shower, you can shower. I’m not that needy.”
“Yes you are,” Y/N joked and went to go shower.
And like she always did, she opened her phone and looked at the news before answering her friends,
Millionaire’s Son, Jason Todd's Girlfriend’s Name Revealed!
She laughed, cause it wasn’t her name. She didn’t think he was seeing anyone else, and they used her picture, so she knew they just fucked it. She forwarded the article to Jason with the caption ‘ Fuckin’ idiots’ .
She then answered Artemis, who asked Did you two kiss? Dick’s up my ass about it ‘cause he knows we’re friends.
I want to take that out of context so badly. She joked with Artemis.
I knew this man had a terrible name that would come to haunt me, but did ‘ya kiss?
Yeah we did. Get Dick out of your ass, though, that’s weird, you have a boyfriend and he has a girlfriend.
Shut up, you’re not funny.
I’m pretty funny.
You are but I’m not going to admit that, girl.
And one of her old friends had texted her, it was someone who Y/N had seen off and on the past few years, they were polite, but she didn’t exactly want to speak to her ex.
Hey.
(Name)? What do you want?
Saw you in the news with the rich boy, guess we’re over?
We have been over for like 5 months, my guy. 
Bitch.
Okay!
People from her hometown were noticing her in the articles and recognizing her. Some would think this is the coolest thing that someone they loved met a nice boy, the money a bonus, some would give her the reaction her ex did, but she knew she was days, hours, maybe minutes away from her parents finding out about her love affair with Jason.  
She shuddered at the thought, she loved her parents, a lot, but something told her that maybe they wouldn’t did Jason to be like she found him. She also knew she could be overthinking it entirely and they’d like the Criminal Psych Major that she knew all-too-well.
But overthinking was fun, apparently. And she couldn’t stop thinking the worst of so much.
------------------------------------------------
When she got changed and just threw on whatever the fuck she saw, she went out to go talk to A/N.
“Hey, nerd. I’m done,” Y/N said.
“Nerd? You’re the one dating the bookworm and  you’re in criminal psychology,” she joked.
“Ha, ha. So, how are things with your lover? Have you secured him yet or are you just doing your own thing still?”
“Still just doing our own thing, don’t really have the time to date while getting my degree and working.”
“I mean, if it works for you I can’t throw judgment.”
“What about Jason? How’re things with you two?”
“You ever seen the Wayne Enterprises Ballroom before?”
“In pictures, why- Don’t tell me he took you there you lucky bitch?!”
“Then I just wont tell you,” she laughed.
“The Ballroom? Oh my god, that’s crazy, he's really pulling out all the stops to make you smile, huh?”
“I would do the same if I had more to offer, but I have barely anything since I bought that place in the dance competition across the country,” she said.
Y/N had bought a place in this competition before she met Jason, and she was heading to it on Saturday, in two days, and she actually had practiced the routine during downtime between her and Jason. She hadn’t exactly told Jason about this, and Jason had asked why she looked strained and like her muscles hurt, but that just never seemed like something you share with your casual partner, to her. She never seemed like her casual competitions were worth anything. A/N had begged to differ since Y/N had met her.
A/N said that Y/N had talent, that she could go somewhere, Y/N saw it as an extra circular that didn’t affect her much. She wasn’t the type of brag, and all her trophies were back home with her parents, anyway.
“Have you told him about your,” insert A/N’s heavy sarcasm, “’Casual’  competitions, yet?”
Idk what the hell happened with that line ya love to see it
“I’ll send him a quick text about it, I guess,” she sighed and sent just a quick, Hey, can’t have a date on Saturday-Sunday, forgot to tell you but I’m going to Cali for a quick dance competition, lol. My bad, shoulda said something.
“Why are you like this, be proud of your accomplishments, dammnit!”
“It’s a casual competition!”
“And you’re talented! I’m this close to just showing him videos of you going at it,” she said, exasperated.
“He already knows, we danced in the Ballroom.”
“Oh my lord,” she laughed, “You’re an enigma, if I had your amount of trophies I wouldn’t be hiding it.”
“Im’ not hiding it! It just kind of never came up.”
And he texted back, Oh damn, are you at least going to kill it? You better, I want to show the live broadcast to my family and brag.
She laughed, “See!”, she exclaimed, showing A/N the texts, “He doesn’t care like you do, nerd.”
A/N laughed, “Sure he doesn’t. Do you want to go to lunch, by the way? I’m bored off of my ass.”
“Sure, why the fuck not.”
“Go get dressed then, and I’ll do the same.”
“Okay okay, meet up in 10?”
“Yes ma’am.”
And off they went.
---------------------------
Y/N texted back Jason for a quick minute before getting dressed, Of course I’m going to kill it, my notes aren’t a representation of my dancing skills.
Well, I hope you win something. And text me. But mainly win something.
Of course I’ll text you, Jay. It gets boring at competitions.
You should go to a Wayne Gala then, god damn, those fuckin bastards are the most boring events this side of America.
Well maybe you’ll invite me one day.
I’ll probably have to if you show up on National TV. The press will finally know your name.
I hope I’m not on National TV then. Fuck the press.
Fuck the press indeed.
Since Y/N didn’t feel the need or want to dress up, she didn’t. Quick shirt and jeans and she was out the door. Sometimes she would dress up for lunch dates with her friends, just because she was bored as fuck and dressing up was fun, but she just didn’t want to do it today. Combat boots, jeans and a shirt were enough most days. You don’t have to be a model just because the press knows your face, she thought, you don’t.
“Who’s driving?” A/N asked.
“I can if you want. I don’t mind,” Y/N said as they walked to the beat up car they loved so much. It was nothing compared to the Porsche she had been in the night before, but it was still running, and you don’t fix something that ain’t broke.
“Maybe your boyfriend will buy you a new car,” A/N joked.
“If anything, he’d buy me a new computer, since mine is getting mailed to me and you’re going to love hearing the sounds that bitch makes,” she retorted.
“Is it bad?”
“Terrible. My sister called it a screaming electronic goat once,” she laughed, “I hate that fucking thing. But if it ain’t broke-”
“Don’t fix it, I know.”
“Exactly.”
--------------------------------------------------
For some reason, they decided in the car to go to McDonald's, because hey, it’s not like Y/N is on a  dance diet or anything. She wasn’t, because she didn’t want to starve herself for the sake of winning a competition. That was even her thought process as she was younger and more vulnerable to her teachers, she always told them she’d never do that. Years later, she still stuck to that mindset.
They got out of the car and like fucking clockwork, the press was in her face.
“You! The girl with no name, Jason Todd’s girlfriend!”
“Fuck fuck fuck fuck fuck!” she whispered under her breath, “How do they always find me!”
“Tell us about yourself! Are you serious with Jason? How do you feel about his family? How-”
But then she had an idea,
“Quoi? Je parle pas l’Anglais? Qu’est-ce-que vous voulez?” she said, using her bilingual skills to her advantage.
“What? No I mean-”
“Pas de l’Anglais! Désolé mes amis!” and she ran off into the McDonald's with A/N.
“Did you just speak French to get them off your ass, you genius?”
“Spoke very broken French because I wasn’t thinking, but yeah, I did that.”
“I forget you’re multi-talented sometimes, you have a lot hidden under your belt and I try to treat you like a normal person but you’re far from it.”
“I appreciate you for trying, but I think with my new love affair, you aren’t going to get far with those attempts anymore, sorry,” she joked.
Jason texted her, Did you just speak French to avoid the press?
How do you know about that?
We were watching the news during a meeting and they said that you spoke French.
You got to do what you got to do to get by.
That is literally the most genius thing I’ve heard of anyone doing in so long. I think you’ve truly bamboozled them for a while and they might hop off of your back for a while.
You think so? ‘Cause I really hope that’s the case.
My siblings think it’s hilarious, and no one’s leaked that you are just joking with the press, so yeah, they might actually leave you alone.
Let’s fucking go. That is the news of the 21st century.
4 days of knowing each other and you’ve flipped off the press twice, outran them with me once, hid in the Wayne Enterprises Building with me and you’ve spoken French to bamboozle the press. That is impressive.
I feel like the press is going to hate me one day.
Probably. But they also hate most of us most days.
You should probably get back to work.
Yeah, talk to you soon.
She put her phone away and went to stand with A/N, who was waiting for their food.
“Talking to your lover?” she joked.
“When am I not doing that?”
“That’s valid.”
-----------------------------
Going on a lunch date with A/N made a little bit of the harassment just better. They both bonded over how they hated the press before her love affair with Jason, and how their opinions wouldn’t change much unless, knock on wood, one of them went missing. Y/N told her about all the cases where the press and the internet did so much to solve cases around the world, love or hate the press, they did do a lot for solving crime.
She also told A/N that Jason was related to Dr. Barry Allen and Clark Kent, two people the two of them knew well because of the news and the fact that A/N knew Y/N when she wanted to go into forensics and was reading Dr. Barry Allen’s work.
When her mother texted her.
Y/N? Is that you in the press running around with Jason Todd?
Yeah mum, why?
Are you two in a serious relationship?
No mum.
Then why are the vultures so obsessed with you, says your dad.
‘ Cause you two made a pretty girl and he’s high up in the world, I guess, I don’t know. I don’t really like the press.
I can tell. We’re not mad at you honey, but be careful. And your dad says when you two get serious he needs to take Jason fishing.
He doesn’t speak French, mum.
Dad says he’ll work on his English for you.
Well tell everyone I love them, mum.
She panicked a little bit, her parents were nice when they wanted to be, but they were strict, why wouldn’t they be. So this, while being a welcomed surprise. was still a little panicky.
“Your  parents find out?”
“Yeah, they seem chill with it though.”
“Bing in the press sucks when you’re trying to keep your love life out of your parents' eyes, huh?”
“You could say that again,” she joked.
“Being in the press sucks when you’re-”
“I didn’t mean literally!” they laughed.
--------------------------------
Back at Wayne Enterprises, Jason was betting bombarded by his colleges, friends and family about Y/N and how she was able to get around the press’ constant harassment without flaw. And also because Bruce had seen the two enter the building at around 12am the night before. So Jason was called into Bruce’s office that day.
“1, I know everyone is bombarding you, so you can hide out here, son, 2, you and Y/N didn’t have sex in your office right?”
“God no, dad. We just hid here because security is tight as fuck and unable to get past.”
“I saw you two kissing on the cams and heading into your office, Jay.”
“Okay, okay, but we didn't have sex and the intentions were there, dad!”
“Uh huh, pretty girl in your, my, car.”
“Dad, stop it,” he joked.
“Well, her little shenanigans with the press are very amusing, have you told her that?”
“I have.”
“She’s basically not afraid to tell them what we all think.”
“That’s what I said, dad.”
“Well, hold onto that one and don’t let her go.”
“Do you regret doing that with Talia?” Jason asked.
“God no, she’s insane. The son I got out of her antics is literally her spitting image, so if I need to be reminded of her I can just go talk to Damien for a couple minutes.”
“Dami’s a lot like you too, don’t act like his personality is just Talia, he acts like his dad in every aspect and you know that.”
“Lord help any woman or man that kid goes on to date, my god,” the two of them laughed. It was the small things with Bruce that made Jason happy to be a Wayne, even if he didn’t share the last name. Jason grew up on the streets and even before that, his mum and dad didn’t have a lot of money, so the amounts of money that Bruce could shower on him was a lot, but he was okay with just working for his money. And Bruce knew that.
He spent a lot of his workday in Bruce’s office, hiding from the rest of the office, and texting Will.
She knows about your kid.
Well, she’s a good kid. I’m glad you’re bragging about her, means I raised her right.
Shut up. I love that little girl and I’ve helped raise her, Will.
You’re used to my new name?
I changed your contact to Will when you changed your name, so I could remember that that’s your name now and not Roy. I’m hoping I remember it in person though. It would be awkward if I forgot my best friend’s name.
It would be funny to look back on, though.
Like how your relationship with Jade is funny now?
Never stick your dick in crazy.
I wish you would have listened to that sometimes, but then I remember Lian is amazing.
I’m a cliché of dumb choices, what can I say Jaybird.
----------------------
In Y/N’s house, she would always play loud and sad music when she had the chance, some people thought her mental state was fucked, which sometimes it was, but most of the time the sad music went harder than the happy tunes you would catch from the other side of the house.
But even if music was blasting the loudest it could ever be, somehow she would still find herself lost in her thoughts, whether it was new dance routines or a story she would scribble down in her dream journal. there was something about those little fits of artistic passion she would experience from time-to-time.
It’s hard to put into words how those moments reminded her of the simplier times before sh was thrust into stardom, but also how they reminded her of Jason, and untouched mind she longed to know further. She knew there was so much more to the boy she had gone on dates with.
She would end up ignoring her phone for most of the rest of that day, just because she wanted peace and quiet, when A/N’s lover came over and she had to turn the music up louder so she wouldn’t be disrupted by the obvious.
I just got off of work, how are you? How’s your day been? Jason had texted Y/N while she ws turning up the music.
Well, I just had to turn up my music because my roommate’s lover is over, but other than that I’ve been enjoying peace and quiet in my room, waiting for something to do.
Is texting me something to do?
Yes.
That’s sweet of you. Work was boring though so I hope you don’t expect a story.
I don’t, don’t worry. You don’t always need a story for something to do.
Well, I’m going home with my brothers and dad, and we’re probably going to play office chair racing because I’m a bad boy.
You’re a bad boy?
Was that not funny?
It was pretty funny, isn’t that dangerous though?
Yeah actually, my brother broke his leg playing it and another time my little sister broke her leg playing it.
It seems fun but like, damn, two people have gotten injured playing that game, y’know.
Well if I die it’ll be a fun story!
55 notes · View notes
thran-duils · 4 years ago
Text
Use All of Me (P.7)
Title: Use All Of Me (Part Seven) Summary: Fem!Reader x Dark Mob!Steve Rogers. The Avengers are heroes saving the world but in this AU, they are also permitted by the powers in charge to have less than favorable business underneath their guise of mere superheroes. Steve and Tony are at the helm, keeping their empire’s wealth in check, both devious and perilous if crossed. Steve takes a liking to the reader at a party and it may be her undoing to her autonomy choosing to go home with him. Words: 3,097 Warnings: Dark AF, angst, emotional/mental abuse, smut, breeding, death Author’s Notes: I really like writing scenes of them working because… it’s hot. So, part of this is me indulging myself.
Part Six || Part Eight || Masterpost (mobile) || Fanfic masterpost
Steve got back onto the plane, sitting down as soon as he could. He was covered in sweat, having had to run back to the plane. He had sent Natasha ahead of him, insisting he could finish the mission on their escape. He had succeeded too.
“You alright, Cap?” Clint called from the cockpit.
“Yeah,” Steve answered as heartily as he could. He wiped at his forehead, inhaling and exhaling deeply.
“Must have been a tough sprint if it wore your ass out,” Tony commented from further into the plane.
“Got it done,” Steve responded, to a smirk from Tony.
As he relaxed, he pulled out his phone from the bag on the table next to him. He opened it, searching the cameras of the house for Y/N. It was something he did regularly when he was away; he liked keeping an eye on her whenever he could. He enjoyed watching her do regular things, even when doing nothing like sleeping. She was tranquil and he loved her pensive looks when she was reading or focusing on knitting.
Now though, she was racing through the house towards the front door and his brow furrowed in curiosity of what had her so excited.
He switched cameras to the driveway and saw a car pulling in. He straightened up in alarm, trying to zoom in on the driver. He relaxed, remembering their conversation a few days ago. He had told her that she could have her friends visit soon. She had technically asked but had not clarified when.
<> <> <>
They were here!
You came down the stairs as quickly as you could. Natalie and Yua had driven up upon your request. You told them Steve was going to be on a mission across the country, so it would be okay for them to come over for a few hours.
In the main living room, Bryce was talking to the front gate saying he was not informed any visitors were coming.
“It’s my friends!” you told him, slowing down next to him. He shot you a look of surprise. “Tell the gate to let them in or I’ll run down the driveway and push the button myself.”
“Did you ask Mr. Rogers? Does he know?”
“Yes!” you called over your shoulder. You were barefoot, not stopping to grab shoes. It was warm enough out being late summer.
<> <> <>
Bryce stared after Y/N confused. Steve had told him no such thing. He watched her disappear around the corner, and said into the phone, “Yeah, let them in.”
<> <> <>
Steve watched Y/N come out the front door – wearing no shoes at that – excitedly. She practically threw herself into their arms. Jealousy crawled over his skin; she had not done that for him for a couple months. She responded when he initiated sex and kissed him when he came home. But it was never with that much enthusiasm. Perhaps it was her pregnancy hormones; it is what he had to chalk it up to to avoid outright anger.
He dialed Bryce’s number and held it up to his ear.
“Don’t let them stay too long,” Steve ordered Bryce as soon as he answered.
“She did ask you, correct? She said she did.”
“Yes… she did,” Steve said with some difficulty. “I am just irritated I had not been informed exactly when she meant. But she did ask. We just have guests coming over later, remember?”
“Of course. I haven’t forgotten, sir,” Bryce replied.
“Good. I want Y/N to be able to freshen up with enough time. She doesn’t need to spend the whole afternoon giggling like a schoolgirl with her friends. And no, they can’t stay for dinner. Because I know she’s going to ask.”
He hung up the phone.
“She’s quite the little handful sometimes,” Tony commented lightly. “A foxy little handful. But a handful nonetheless.”
“Unfortunately,” Steve muttered in response, returning to the camera.
“You ever watch her shower on there when she’s alone?”
“Jesus, Tony.”
“Don’t lie to me.” Tony returned quickly. Steve gave a little laugh and Tony chuckled, wagging his finger at him. “See. I knew it. Nothing to be ashamed of. She is ultimately yours after all. Totally okay to be examining your most prized possession.”
“Who is over there?” Natasha asked.
“Her friends, Natalie and Yua.” Natasha perked up at the mention of Natalie and Steve noticed. He shook his head, “No. Not happening.”
Natasha mocked a pout, “Oh, come on, Steve. I don’t rough girls up too bad. She seemed interested enough. Even if she was seeing someone at the time. She may be single now.”
“Not happening, Nat. I don’t want anyone else there so we can talk freely.”
“Fine. Buzzkill,” Natasha muttered, leaning back in her chair.
<> <> <>
“Twins?” Yua and Natalie exclaimed at the same time as soon as you told them.
You nodded, cracking open your pop and taking a swift drink. You had asked the maid, Patricia, to whip up some sandwiches to have lunch with them. The three of you were seated in the living room, plates in your laps.
“Yeah. Can you fucking believe it? My first pregnancy and I get slammed with this.”
“Well, I won’t deny you got slammed—” Yua started.
“Oh, shut it,” Natalie cut in, slapping Yua upside the head.
“Ow! Okay, well, also, look at your tummy! I wouldn’t believe that you would be already showing like that if it were just one baby!”
“Yua! God!” Natalie scolded. “It’s not that big, Y/N.”
“It’s going to get a lot bigger,” you joked, a smiling tugging at your lips.
“See, Y/N can take a joke. Why can’t you, Natalie?”
You smiled at their banter, a feeling of loss tugging at your heart. You had missed last month and the month before girl’s night much to everyone’s disappointment. You had vowed to not make that mistake again which is why you had asked Steve if your friends could visit and he had agreed without much resistance, shockingly.
“How are you going to take care of two babies?” Natalie asked seriously as you picked up half of your sandwich, taking a bite.
“A nanny.”
She cocked her head in surprise. “Like… live in?”
You shrugged, “I’m not sure yet. Pepper is going to come over at some point and help me interview people.”
“Pepper?”
“Um, Tony’s wife.”
“First name basis with them now. Nice,” Yua said, nodding in approval. “You’re in with the big people now. Thanks for honoring my request to remember us little people. But, do you really want a live in nanny? If you do, you should get one that’s not too comely. Don’t want Steve Jude Law’ing you or anything.”
“Honestly, if he gave me a break, I might actually welcome the reprieve.”
“I TOLD you. Sex addict!” Yua exclaimed, throwing her hands out, her mouth full of sandwich. “I mean, the pregnancy—" You shushed her, trying not to laugh. You knew Bryce was nearby and you did not want him to overhear. She quieted down and whispered, “I told you. Didn’t I?”
Time flew by; sandwiches long gone, replaced by a bag of chips that were on their way to being completely demolished had taking their place. When you were interrupted with a clearing of a throat, the three of your eyes fell upon Bryce standing in the doorway from the hallway.
“Mr. Rogers said three hours. You still have to get ready for dinner tonight.”
“Oh…” you said, heat tinging your cheeks at being told you had a schedule to keep in front of your friends. Especially since dinner was mentioned and he was essentially telling you you needed to kick them out. “But, there is room—”
“Mr. Rogers said the team only,” Bryce cut in, only looking slightly apologetic at having to tell you that no, you could not ask your friends to stay.
“Dinner? And you didn’t invite us?” Yua teased.
“It’s with the team only, apparently…” you trailed off, shooting a quick glance at Bryce. He nodded once before turning to leave the room. “Steve wanted them over so we could break the news about the babies to everyone.”
“Oh, so we were the first you told? Perfect. I love feeling special,” Yua chirped, not seeming bothered by the fact she could not stay. Natalie on the other hand looked reserved; she had always been more perceptive than Yua.
“Of course you’re special, Yua,” you said, standing up from the couch. “I suppose we should… start saying goodbye. Have to make sure my hair is nice and all.”
Standing outside, Natalie turned to face you before getting into the passenger side. She leaned in, staring at you. “Are you sure you’re okay?” she asked, the playfulness from moments ago having disappeared from her face. She was solemn, studying you closely.
You forced a smile, “I’ve got to be okay.”
“No. You don’t.”
“I know,” you whispered, giving her hand a squeeze. “It’s not all bad though.”
She exhaled heavily, looking dissatisfied with your answer. “Not all bad doesn’t mean good, Y/N.”
“It’s just… different,” you said, choosing your words carefully. “And I’m nervous. I mean, giving birth to one baby is terrifying. But going through the pain twice? What if they fight to be the first one out?”
That at least made Natalie laugh, relaxing the tension. You took the opportunity to pull her in for one last hug.
“Call us. For anything.”
“I will.”
As soon as they disappeared out of the gate, you felt weight pressing down on you again. You were alone once more. The mere few hours you had together had been reprieve but it had been far too short.
Annoyance built up in you at Steve refusing to let them stay for dinner. Deciding right there, you thought to hell with looking perfect. Simple hair, leggings, and winged eyeliner was the best he was going to get. You turned to go back inside and let Patricia know she could go home because you were going to be the one cooking dinner.
<> <> <>
Pepper sighed heavily settling into one of the tall plush chairs at Steve’s – well, your – kitchen island.
“Where’s Patricia?” she questioned, seeing you removing the chicken from the marinade Patricia had let it sit in for the better part of the day. You arranged it in two prepared pans, enough pieces for thirteen people, including Bryce and Eloise.
“I sent her home early.”
“Oh?”
You shrugged, “I wanted to cook the dinner myself. She’s wonderful but I wanted to do it myself. It calms me down. Always has.” You checked the clock and saw it was almost 5:00pm. Dinner was supposed to be at 6:00pm. The chicken would take thirty, so you decided to wait another ten minutes before putting it in.
“As long as you don’t poison me,” Pepper joked as her nanny, Eloise, came into the room, bouncing her baby. She smiled, “Oh, is she awake now? Ugh, she’s probably going to keep me up all night. Something to look forward to, Y/N.”
“Wonderful,” you said under your breath as you went into the pantry to look for the potatoes.
Pepper spoke to Morgan, playing with her as you turned the heat up to high on the stovetop to get the water boiling and began chopping the potatoes. Skin on, you thought to yourself. That is where most of the nutrients were anyway and Steve could not complain about you getting more nutrients now could he? You were going to roast them too.
“Shit,” you muttered to yourself remembering you were going to roast them. You moved to the fridge quickly to grab the baking soda and eyeballed the amount to toss in.
“What are you doing?” Pepper asked from the counter.
“Baking soda helps draw the starch to the surface and then when you bake them, it makes them extra crispy.”
“Interesting,” Pepper commented, sounding genuine. She eyed your stomach and said, “Are you wearing a loose sweater on purpose? Hiding a baby bump?”
Snorting, you lied, “There’s not much to see yet.”
“You’ll start showing more soon enough. You’re almost four months along now,” Pepper told you.
“Steve is very excited for that.”
“Men love seeing it because it makes them prideful that they put a baby there. But they’re not the ones growing the baby, are they?” Pepper noticed your stare over your shoulder, and she laughed. “Well, it’s true. I think women are our own brand of superhero. Our bodies are powerful. You should be proud of yourself. You’re doing something remarkable.”
You refrained from telling her she sounded a little Handmaid’s Tale-ish. It was true, of course. Your body held a special kind of magic to grow another human being. But like Bucky, she sounded like she was trying to coerce your thoughts and feelings to be more accepting of the situation.
“It’s not what I had planned for myself,” you finally said after debating about what to say. You opened the oven to slide the pans with the chicken inside. Now to prep the salad. Shit, you also needed to get the wine.
“Me either.”
You stopped what you were doing, standing still to give her your full attention.
“I hoped I would be on the board at Stark Industries. It took a long time for me to admit to myself I liked Tony, first off. His attention he gave me, his sarcastic wit. Yes, he was a little forceful, but he saw something there that I refused to see because I was so focused on getting a leg up in the company.” She was explaining all of this to you calmly, but you sensed some hurt beneath the surface. She gave you an encouraging smile all the same as she said, “Things don’t always work out the way you plan. But it doesn’t make it the end of your life. Just life as you knew it. Change doesn’t mean everything is falling apart.”
“And… you’re satisfied being home and taking care of a baby then?”
Pepper was quiet for a moment. “Most of the time.” She shot you a look. “I think you understand Steve and Tony are very much alike in their… ways and temperament. There will be days you pine for what could have been. But it’s best to keep that to yourself. It’s not worth the fight.”
She sounded like she was speaking from experience.
“I have a different sort of power now. You ever seen My Big Fat Greek Wedding? ‘The man is the head of the house, but the woman is the neck. And she can turn the head any way she wants.’” She leaned in. “Make him happy and you can have him wrapped around your finger. It makes things easier. For everyone.”
You bit back a comment, nodding in its stead.
“Trust me,” she said, leaning back in her chair, turning her attention back to Morgan who had began pulling at her hair. She poked Morgan’s tummy gently, smiling, “You little hooligan. I spent a long time on these curls. Daddy loves them, don’t go ruining it for him.”
Self-consciously, you touched at your hair that you had barely spent any time on. It looked fine but you had not put any extra effort into it. You had already made your choice though: a good dinner and sticking it to Steve subtly about waving off his ‘freshen up’ idea for you or do exactly as he asked, letting someone else cook the meal for the guests coming to your home. You had chosen the former.
A line of cars rolling up the driveway caught your attention out the window, and you told Pepper, “Looks like they’re here.”
You went back to attending to the potatoes, prepping them for the oven.
Tony came in first, much to Pepper’s happiness. She rose to give him a kiss and he commented that she looked lovely. He said hello to Morgan, tickling her, before his gaze fell on you. You could feel the heat of his stare on your back.
“Y/N is cooking?” Tony questioned. “Where’s the cook?”
You looked over your shoulder and said with more conviction than you felt, “I sent her home. Wanted to do it myself.”
“Hmm.” His expression and tone were unreadable, which made you slightly more nervous. Gauging his reaction would help you determine what Steve’s was going to be more accurately. “What have you guys been talking about?”
“Nothing, just cooking tips,” Pepper told him without missing a beat. She held Morgan up to him. “Your daughter is in need of some cuddles from her father.”
Steve walked in next with Bucky, Sam, and Clint. His eyes fell on you, running over you quickly. He was stoic for a few moments, taking it in. Your resolve to be a brat was dissolving quickly, even if you knew he would not cause a scene in front of everyone. There was ice behind his eyes, if only for a moment that you caught.
“Seems Y/N is doing the honors of making our meal. What a treat,” Tony said to Steve and you knew then what his real feelings were about you cooking. You had a maid for a reason, that was the message.
The mask Steve donned was well crafted. “Truly. She hasn’t cooked me anything since we first started seeing each other. I have faith in her.”
He came over to you and now that his back was to everyone, you could see the truth in his eyes. He was not pleased with the situation, which had been your goal. Steve’s hand rested on your stomach, his nose nuzzling into your hair, inhaling deeply.
“We’ll talk about it as soon as everyone leaves,” he whispered into your ear. He placed a quick kiss on the side of your face before pulling away.
The dinner had gone well, everyone satisfied with the meal and even more happy with the announcement. That still did not quell Steve’s disappointment in your choice to be preoccupied with cooking rather than entertaining and spending quality time with your new pseudo-family. Talk about it you did not though. As soon as everyone left, Steve turned away from the door, not sparing you a look. He did not answer his study door when you knocked and called his name. You slept alone and cold. He shut you out and you hated to admit how much the rejection stung more than if he had yelled at you.
~~~
Tags: @imsonick , @alexakeyloveloki, @kvzctam, @ironlady1993, @taintedgenre, @inlovewiththefictionalcharacters
147 notes · View notes
fandom-blackhole · 4 years ago
Text
First Date/First Time w/ Mobster!Paz
AN: Alright everyone here is the first installment of Mobster!Paz passed what I have written for asks! I decided to combine these two prompts because 1-I could and 2- because things having been going good for me lately I wanted to celebrate with something nice! Just fyi this was not beta'd or even just read through so if there is mistakes let me know, but I will probably read through it and fix them at some point soon! I hope you enjoy!
Materlist and Tag/Idea Submission Form
Words: 3.7k
Warnings: AFAB!reader but no real pronouns used, no Y/N, slight descriptions of violence but noting extreme, SMUT 18+, oral (f receiving), fingering, P in V, no protection used (wrap it before you tap it guys, gals, and nonbinary pals), excessive use of the nickname doll
Tumblr media
You had been working as a waitress at The Palace speakeasy for the notorious Boba Fett for roughly three months when your favorite customer, known muscle of The Children of the Watch, Paz Vizsla finally asked you on a date. The two of you had been dancing around each other and your feelings since that first meeting your first week working in the speakeasy. Your first time meeting the man had left you overwhelmed with so many feelings that you hadn’t been able to sort through, but one thing you had recognized was just how happy Paz had made you, leaving you with a smile that wouldn’t leave your face for the following days.
When you had started working at The Palace you had thought that you were going to be surrounded by the lowest of low lifes and the grossest men and women alive, and while yes you were surrounded by the lowest of lows, you did soon find out that these criminals all had a code and they treated you fairly for the most part. Of course you had the occasional rowdy customer, but they were delt with swiftly by those at the surrounding tables. One thing was for sure though, when one of the big three of The Children of the Watch were present somewhere in the building people were more cautious and well behaved, not wanting to get on any of their bad sides, and you realized why when one day a rowdy customer had gotten in your personal space and Paz had been sitting in his usual booth sipping his drink. You barely had time to blink before the customer had been ripped away from you by a large hand and slammed them into a nearby table in a show of strength that had you biting your lip and you clenching your thighs in arousal. Paz had only turned to you as he held the man down on the table by his neck and smiled at you before winking and telling you, “I’ll be right back doll, why don’t you go take a break and I will meet you back at my table?”
After that incident you had realized what all those feelings you were having for the dangerous man were, and when he was able to come into to speakeasy after it became harder and harder to keep your eyes away from him. And every time you glanced his way you always found him leaning back in his seat with his drink in hand watching you, and when your eyes met he would always send a smile your way with a wink that never failed to heat rise in your face. And he would always make your heart jump through hurdles when he offered to walk you home each time with earnest eyes and a kind smile. How could you not feel something for the man when he treats you as if you hung the stars in the sky and with respect that few women ever receive?
So when one night he stopped you at your door after walking you home, you were shocked and overjoyed when he asked you if you were free for lunch Saturday with a shy smile while rubbing the back of his neck. You had bit your lip and nodded giving him a breathless yes. His shy smile turned into a broad smile and he had reached out for your hand kissing the back of it before telling you, "I'll come and pick you up here at 11 am sharp, doll. I’d tell you to dress your best, but I know you look good in whatever you wear.” With that, he kissed your palm with a wink before backing away and as he walked away from your home he was whistling a tune that was all his own.
-
Saturday found you waking up early, excited about what was to come with a giddy smile adorning your face. You had made yourself a small quick breakfast to eat as you got ready for your date, not wanting to eat anything too big as to spoil the food you would eat with Paz and so that you would have more time to perfect your appearance.
You started with your hair, making sure to style it perfectly and making sure to double-check that every hair was in the correct place. The longest part of getting ready was applying your makeup meticulously, you didn’t want to look like you were trying too hard, but you wanted to look like you had put effort into your look. Then you made sure to pick out your favorite bra and panty set, not because you were expecting anything untoward to happen between you and Paz, but because the set made you feel pretty and confident. Now it was nearing closer and closer to the time Paz was to pick you up, and you couldn’t for the life of you decide what outfit you wanted to wear. You didn’t want to wear something too casual, but you also didn’t want to wear something that was too dressy. You bit your lip and agonized over your options for what felt like forever before you decided on an outfit that you had worn previously in front of Paz and you had noticed how his eyes had drunk in your silhouette multiples times throughout that evening. And it seemed you had made your decision in the knick of time because as soon as you had pulled on your clothes and righted everything, you heard a knock on the door.
You had rushed to the door and yelled out, “Coming!” as soon as you were close enough. Once you reached the door you took a second to take a deep breath before opening the door with a wide smile. On the other side of the door stood the hulking figure of Paz Vizsla who was wearing a charming smile as well as pressed dress pants and a matching suit jacket with a beautiful wine red turtle neck underneath. You watched as his eyes soaked up the sight of you as you whispered out a shy, hello. He moved his eyes to meet yours before pulling his hand from his side where he held a bouquet of the prettiest flowers you had ever seen and he held it out to you saying, “Doll, I would have dressed up more if I had known I was going to be escorting the prettiest girl in the city.”
Taking the bouquet with a giggle you motioned him inside as you went to find a vase for the flowers he had brought you. Paz had followed you into the house, shutting the door and taking in your small home the best he could, while also watching you flit about filling the vase you had found and placing the flowers on your kitchen counter with a soft smile as you leaned down to smell the soft fragrance that flowed from the flowers. When you turned around, you had found Paz standing behind you with a smile so perfect and happy that you could look at it for hours, but you had only shook your head and told him, “You say that, but here you are wearing a suit.”
Paz chuckled and held out his arm for you to take, asking if you were ready. Nodding you wrapped your hand around his arm and let him lead you from your home.
-
Being in Paz’s company had always been easy and flowed nicely, even with all the tension flowing between the two of you. The date was much of the same, and even though it was technically your first date with the man, it seemed as if this was more of your 12th with how much the two of you had spent sitting together in the corner of the speakeasy and the late nights he had walked you home. Nothing was different really, other than the time of day and the location of where the two of you were together.
Paz, rather than driving, had taken to walking with you a short distance to a small restaurant that you had not even realized was there. When the two of you had walked into the quaint little building, you were taken aback by the man who you assumed to be the owner yelling out Paz’s name loudly and coming over to give him a friendly pat on the shoulder. The two chatted like old friends for a minute before Paz had turned to you and told the man, “This here is my girl, and I was wondering if you might happen to have a table open towards the back for the two of us for the lunch?”
The man smiled at you and shook your hand as you introduced yourself before he turned back to Paz and said, “For you my friend there is always a table open, and I am honored you would bring your lovely date to my restaurant.” As soon as the man had finished he had turned around motioning for the two of you to follow him as he led you towards the back where the tables were a bit more secluded. Paz had walked around the table and pulled out the chair for you to sit in with a chivalrous smile, before crossing over to his seat across from you. Menus were handed to you as soon as you both were settled and the owner had told you both, “Holler if you need anything, whatever you want we will provide,” and with a smile, he left you in the hands of a waiter.
Lunch went by smoothly, not that you didn’t think it would, and the food was absolutely delicious. And you had to admit that sharing the slice of cheesecake had been the best part of the entire lunch, Paz had taken the fork from your hand and with a smile had fed you bites of the dessert with a smile. You had noticed about halfway through the slice, that Paz’s eyes darkened every time you wrapped your lips around the fork, and suddenly the entire restaurant had felt warm as you watched the muscles in his arms move as he brought the fork to your lips. When you had finished the dessert the two of you had sat in silence for a few minutes just watching each other and every time you made eye contact you couldn’t help but to rub your legs together at how he was eyeing you with a fiery gaze that made heat pool in your belly and feel guilty.
By the time the two of you had walked out of the restaurant, it was late afternoon and Paz had walked at a slower pace towards your house, trying to drag out the time the two of you spent together. The walk home was silent and tense from how your meal had ended, but it wasn’t necessarily uncomfortable, just you didn’t want to part from Paz so soon. So when your house had come into view you couldn’t stop the sad feeling that had washed over you. From the way, Paz’s shoulder’s dropped when you got to the steps of your home you figured Paz felt much the same about parting so early.
When the two of you stopped in front of your door, you turned to Paz biting your lip, contemplating inviting him in. You stood there for a minute and as you looked up at him and opened your lips to ask him about coming in you were immediately interrupted by Paz leaning down and connecting your lips with his own. He kissed you for a few seconds, and you were so shocked that you couldn’t process what was happening until he pulled back and rushed out, “I’m sorry doll, but I’ve been thinking about kissing you all day and I just couldn’t stop myself. I am so-” This time you didn’t let him finish as you reached up and pulled him down to kiss him. The kiss started sweet, but you soon found yourself pressed against your door with leg wedged between your own and pressing against you where you felt yourself throbbing with need for the man that was pressing closer to you every second. You couldn’t help the small mewl that escaped your lips as he bounced his leg against you slightly, then you felt him pull back from the kiss far enough so that he could speak, though with every word you could still feel his lips brushing against your own.
“Doll, tell me to stop or let me inside, please. I know this is just our first date, doll but I can’t help but want you in every way that I know I shouldn’t…”
You could feel his heavy breaths on your cheek as you turned your head and whimpered. Biting your lip you traced your nose along his jawline before you ground down against his leg and whispered breathlessly, “Please Paz, please take me inside. I want you too…”
Paz took a second to look into your eyes before he suddenly picked you up bridal style and threw open your door, and all you could do was let out a squeal of surprise and wrap your hands around his neck. As soon as Paz kicked the door shut he asked you where the bedroom was. You hadn’t even finished telling him when he took off in that direction, stopping only once to push you against the wall and start kissing you again, though this time he pressed his tongue against your lips until you opened your mouth and allowed him to explore every nook and cranny, memorizing the feel of your mouth with a groan.
By the time you both made it to the bed, you were breathless and your chest was heaving, which only cause Paz to groan and bury his face in your neck as he groped your breasts over your clothing making you mewl with him as your hardened nipples start to show through your bra. Then Paz pulled back and before you could even whine from the loss of his body he was asking you, “Doll will you strip for me? I wanna watch as you reveal that beautiful body to me, doll.”
You gave him a shaky nod and slowly started stripping down. It was sloppy and most likely far from sexy, but hearing Paz’s sharp intakes of breath at each new patch of skin revealed to him made you feel confident. So when you were left in your bra and panties you walked over to where Paz had settled himself on the edge of the bed, noticing the very prominent bulge in his pants. You bit your lip as you stopped in front of Paz and before Paz could even think to touch you, you reach forward pushed his suit jacket off of his shoulders, and pushed it onto the floor. You leaned down and kissed his nose softly as he watched you with hungry eyes, then you reached for his shirt and Paz helped you pull it off and toss it aside. Then Paz flipped you over onto your back, as he started kissing and sucking marks onto your chest and neck as he kicked off his shoes. Too caught up in the feeling of his mouth leaving his mark on your body, you didn’t realize Paz had stripped completely down until you felt something hot, har, and heavy fall against your thigh. When you glanced down you saw his large cock resting against your skin and leaking precum steadily. You felt yourself clench at the sight and you moaned out his name as you bucked up. In response, Paz gripped your waist and pulled away from the mark he had just left on your breast before he moved his lips to your ear and whispered huskily, “Patience doll. As much as I would like to just take you right this instant, I need to prep you to take me. I am anything but a small man.”
You whined and said, “please Paz,” but he had only hushed you and kissed his way down your body, taking your bra and panties off as he goes. When he reached where you ached for him he hummed and turned to kiss up and down each of your thighs, holding you in place so you didn’t move around on him. After he had left what he deemed to be an acceptable mark on both of your inner thighs, he finally looked at you before he nuzzled against your throbbing clit before taking it into his mouth. The shout of please you let out only made him smile and swirl his tongue around your sensitive bundle of nerves. Paz continued to taste and tease you at a slow leisurely pace that had you a moaning mess. Then he pressed a finger into you and you swear that you saw heaven as he started to move his finger in and out of you at the same pace as his mouth.
It didn’t take Paz long for him to add a second finger or even a third. Soon he had you practically sobbing from the pleasure he was giving. And as you felt yourself getting closer and closer to the precipice, you tried to warn him but your lips couldn’t form any words past Paz’s name. So when Paz angled his fingers up and finally pushed you over the edge you could only let out a broken sob of Paz’s name that ended in a silent scream as Paz continued to move his fingers inside of you and mouth unhurriedly against your clit. When he finally pulled away from you you felt as if he had taken every bone in your body with him. You laid there limp on his bed trying to catch your breath from the orgasm Paz had just gifted you. Paz stood up slowly and hissed as he pumped his painfully aching cock a few times.
When you came back to yourself it was to the sight of Paz standing between your spread legs gripping the base of his cock and his face shiny from saliva and your cum. Moaning at his somewhat wrecked appearance, you saw Paz’s eyes jump up to meet your own before he leaned over you and gave you a slow sweet kiss. When he pulled back from the kiss he slow asked, “Think you’re up for more doll? Maybe something bigger?”
At his words, you could only nod with a broken please passing your lips as you bucked your hips up against his own. Paz obviously didn’t need to be told twice as he immediately reached down and lined himself up with you before pressing his cock into you. Paz went slowly and you gripped his shoulders whimpering as your walls stretched around his girth. It wasn’t necessarily painful but the farther he pressed into you the more it stung. When you finally felt him bottom out and press his hips against yours, the both of you sighed. Paz stayed seated in you for a few minutes until he felt your walls relax around him slightly, then he started pulling out slightly, grinning when he hear you whimper in his ear. When he only had the head of his cock still buried inside of you he started pushing back inside of you just as slowly with a groan, grunting out, “Fuck doll, you’re so tight, holding onto my cock like you don’t wanna let it go. Fu-uck I could stay inside of you forever…”
After a few of the slow thrusts, you started to while and buck up against him, so Paz picked up his speed and set a steady pace that had you moaning and mewling in his ear. Paz fucked into you steadily not changing anything other than where he was aiming, trying to find that spot that had you clench so tightly against his finger not long ago. He knew the second he found it as you threw your head back and your eyes rolled back as you begged him to hit it again. Paz felt himself getting closer to his end so he picked up the pace making sure to hit that spot inside of you as often as he could. He knew you were getting close with how you were tightening around him and moaning out his name over and over, so he reached down and pressed his thumb to your clit and started circling it groaning out, “Doll, please, oh fuck, please cum all over my cock. God, please cum on my cock, doll.”
From the mixture of Paz’s thrusts hitting the spot inside you that made you see stars, his fingers massaging your clit, and his encouragement you felt him throw you over the edge yet again, but this time you really did feel yourself scream and clutch onto his shoulders. Then you felt Paz’s thrust start to get sloppy and you could hear his grunts with every thrust into your oversensitive walls. Then he suddenly pulled out of you and pumped his cock with his hand only once before he was cumming all over your thighs and pussy with his head thrown back and his hand pumping himself until he stopped cumming.
When Paz opened his eyes and looked over your spent body he groaned and told you, “Doll you are the prettiest thing I have ever seen, and the best thing to ever happen to me.”
Then he leaned up and kissed your forehead right as you felt yourself dowing off in the aftermath of the two earthshattering orgasms Paz had given you. When you had come out of your trace it was to Paz cleaning your body off with a washcloth and him telling you to rest, he would take care of you. So you did just that, trusting Paz, you fell asleep content and happy. When you had woken up a few hours later, you found yourself cuddled into his side and you smiled as you watch the man that you had seen break noses and throw people around like rag dolls sleep peacefully while holding you close. Smiling you you cuddled into his side and allowed yourself to fall back into a peaceful sleep, feeling completely safe and content.
Tags: @fuckyeahbeskar @katie-sheep-111 @phoenixhalliwell @maybege
Thanks for reading and I would love to hear your feedback! Likes and REBLOGS are super appreciated!!
89 notes · View notes
softtransbf · 4 years ago
Text
Mister Nice Guy, part 2
part one
Summary: Shit hits the fan, and the rest of the BAU is done with it.
Word Count: 3523
Reader: he/him trans man, no physical description
Warnings: case involving targeting gay people, brief mention of a child abduction case, coming out/anxiety of experiencing transphobia (no actual transphobia though), alcohol, swearing
@aleccolocco (sorry it took so long to finish lol)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
"No, that doesn't make any sense at all, doctor!" you spat his title. "He's not jealous of these couples, killing what he can't have, or a homophobe, punishing gay people for being happy. He's putting an end to their unhappy relationships. He sees it as mercy." Over the months, your cold war with Reid turned into outright conflict, and tonight, alone in the police station in Oregon, was no exception. Hotchner had tasked the two of you with presenting the preliminary profile the next morning, and it was going as well as conversations ever went.
"We have no evidence that he knows they're unhappy, though. All of his victims are clearly happy in their relationships," Reid challenged.
You rolled your eyes and scoffed. "Please. One look at their social media and it's obvious that the relationships are on the rocks."
"Where do you get that? All I see are typical happy relationships. Selfies, checking into special events together, posts about kind things one does for the other. Nothing indicating a troubled relationship to me."
"The gentlemen doth protest too much. They're painting an overly happy painting on social media, hoping that some of that happiness will actually become real. They're desperate for the relationship to work."
"Let's say you're right. I don't think you are, but let's pretend for the sake of trying to see your logic through. Why? Why would they be so desperate to save a failing relationship?"
"God, straight men just don't fucking get it!" You went to grab a file, missing his small flinch. "You don't understand how limited the dating pool for men who are into men is. Look at the most recent couple in particular. The most lovey-dovey on social media, and got the most brutal deaths."
"Yes, because they were the happiest. My theory holds," Reid interrupted.
"No. Look, this guy put way more out there on social media than his partner, and look at the pictures he posted. Look how forced his smile is, look at the body language. He needs this relationship to work, because dating as a gay man is one thing, dating as a gay trans man is almost impossible. Having to start over and deal with transphobia over and over again is worse than being in a bad relationship. In his eyes, I mean." Shit, the first person I come out to on this team cannot be Spencer fucking Reid. He doesn't deserve the honor.
"That was yesterday. We haven't gotten the autopsy report yet. How could you possibly know that he's trans?"
"Testosterone vials and needles in the bathroom. Neither of them are old enough for a cis man to reasonably have issues that require testosterone injections. It's HRT, hormone replacement therapy."
"Even if you're right, your conclusion still seems like a much bigger jump than mine, that the killer sees the relationships as happy and is lashing out at that, be it from jealousy or homophobia."
"Whatever. You'll see tomorrow, when we talk to the M.E., that he was trans, and that fact backs me up. I am absolutely right about this, and you will eat your words. Then I will present my theory, and you can choke on yours."
"We? You anticipate us spending more time together?" He raised an eyebrow.
"I meant 'we' as in the team, asshat. The world doesn't revolve around you. Mine sure as hell doesn't. I'm gonna go back to the hotel, write my own damn preliminary profile, and try to get some fucking sleep. Clearly we won't agree on this."
"We don't ever agree on anything," he pointed out.
"Not true. We agree that we dislike each other and can't get along. Good night, doctor." You turned and walked away, not giving him a chance to respond.
This man is going to be the death of me, he thought as he watched you walk away.
~
The autopsy report came in the next day, and you were right. The tech team also found a locked notes app on his phone that catalogued his unhappiness and fear of leaving. You presented your preliminary profile to the team. Reid didn't even argue; he just sat in silence, leaving the room as soon as you were finished. Never one to pass up a chance to gloat for beating him, you offered to get coffee for the team, got everyone's order, and left shortly behind him.
You were expecting to catch up to him, his impossibly long legs be damned. You weren't expecting him to be waiting for you. He pulled you into an empty interrogation room and pushed you up against a wall, his face just inches from yours. It was only a moment before being flustered by the closeness and those goddamn eyes were replaced by anger.
"What the FUCK, Reid?"
"What game are you playing, Y/N? What game are we playing? What's your endgame?" He spoke quickly and softly, but there was an intensity in his voice that had you captivated.
"I'm the one playing games?" You pushed him back, away from you. "You're the one who decided to hate me before we even met. When I transferred, all I wanted was to do a good job and fit in with the team. But quite literally from the minute I walked through the door, you'd decided you hate me. Turnabout is just fair play, gorgeous." Oh, fuck.
"Gorgeous?" You walked past him to the other side of the room, running a hand through your hair and turning your back on him. "Fine. Yeah, okay? I wanted approval from the brilliant and handsome Doctor Spencer Reid. In a way that's respectful of your heterosexuality, of course." You turned around and faced him again. "But that doesn't matter, because you made it clear you wanted nothing to do with me right off the bat."
"What makes you think I'm straight?" He's fucking with me, now that that cat is out of the bag. Great. Fucking cishet men. Even he's no different. Thank god he still thinks I'm cis.
"Garcia mentioned in her newbie-run-down that you're 'awkward, but in a cute way, especially around women'. Plus, she mentioned that Emily is bi, leaving everyone else implied straight as even the best cishet allies are wont to do. And as we both know, Penelope knows everything.
And before you make the hearsay argument I can see forming in that brilliant head of yours, I've heard and seen too much about your impeccable memory to assume you don't remember when we all went to the bar after my first case. I was unabashedly Queer, friendly flirting with Derek and calling out cishet bullshit. When I did the latter, you literally rolled your eyes and walked away. Which is, funnily enough, some cishet bullshit. 
JJ said you were just going through a thing and things would get better, but they just got worse. I'm not going to ask you to spill whatever was going on, because it's not my business, but god damn, dude. Why did you hate me so much so quickly?"
"You asked JJ about me?" He took a few steps towards you, a small smile on his face.
"That's the part you focused on? Jesus fucking Christ. Yes, I asked her about why you decided to hate me before we even met. Whatever. I hope you got whatever you were looking for by pulling me in here. I'm done. Done with this conversation, done with whatever has been going on with you and us since the day I transferred." You turned to leave, but he grabbed your arm. It was barely more than a light touch, but you let it stop you.
"Y/N. I can't-" he sighed. "God, you make my head spin. I can't organize my thoughts enough to say what I want to. JJ was right, there was something I had to work through, and I guess you'd made up your mind about me before I figured it out. It isn't an excuse for how I treated you, just an explanation. As for the more recent development of arguments… I guess I read a subtext that wasn't there. I could never dislike you, let alone hate you. I am truly sorry for- for all of it." With three long strides, he was out the door.
Make his head spin? What subtext? Since when is he unable to say what's on his mind? And what was that about not disliking me? All we've done since we met is argue or ignore each other. Why else would he act like that? Why do I even care? Why am I so knotted up about what he's thinking and feeling? Whatever. Fuck him, and not in the fun way. I've gotta go get coffee for the team. As you were getting the coffee, you couldn't get the memory of his face, so close to yours, to stop playing in your head.
The rest of the case was mostly as normal, but there was an energy between you and Spencer that was distant like when you joined the team, but there was something else to it that you couldn't quite put your finger on. It made you a little bit sad, though, for reasons you didn't understand.
~
"I love you, Y/N. I love you so much. I pulled away from you because it terrified me how much I loved you from the moment you walked through the door that first day. Being around you, even when we were arguing, made me feel alive in a way I never had before. You're all I think about, you're all I could ever want. I love you."
"I… I love you too." You didn't know which one of you moved, maybe you both did, but in an instant, you were kissing Spencer Reid, and you couldn't have been happier.
-
You woke up with a start, breathing heavily. You looked around; you were in your room, home alone, and it was 3:37 am. What the hell was that?
Four hours later, you trudged through the door of the BAU office, venti red-eye in hand. You made it about ten steps before Derek had his arm around your shoulders.
"Whoa there, hot stuff. Rough night?" You tried to shake him off, but he wouldn't budge, so you just kept walking, making him go with you towards your desk.
"So not your business, Derek. You being open with your personal life doesn't mean we all have to be open like that with ours."
"Personal life, huh? So who is he? More importantly, how was he, and should we expect more mornings like this in the future?" You rolled your eyes and playfully shoved him away. You'd reached your desk, so you sat on top of it, facing him. As you did, you made eye contact with Spencer, who was well within earshot. His face was unreadable, and you weren't sure why him hearing Morgan tease you like that upset you. It never had before.
"No, Derek. There's no one. Just some nightmares. Nothing major; I'll be fine by tomorrow." You got off your desk, sat in your chair, and logged into your laptop. Derek whistled and walked away without another word, shaking his head.
You tried to focus on the paperwork you needed to get done, but you couldn't stop thinking about that dream. The feeling of his lips on yours… it felt so real.
This is ridiculous. Love? We don't even like each other. Well… there was the stuff he was saying yesterday- 'I could never dislike you, let alone hate you', and some sort of subtext? But not disliking someone is a far cry from love. Plus, he's straight, so this is all absurd. And even if he DID have feelings for me, I sure as hell don't return them. I mean, maybe he's not as awful as I've thought, especially if he wasn't coming from a place of dislike. And he really is very pretty. Those eyes… Wait, what the fuck? This is all fucking ridiculous. I just need to get a full night's sleep tomorrow, and all this weirdness will be gone.
You took a giant gulp of your coffee, shook your head, and ran your fingers through your hair. Fortunately, Hotchner called a team meeting, forcing your attention to other things.
While no case could ever be described as 'normal', this case was pretty cut and dry, once you figured out what you were looking for. No dramatic twist, no tense showdown at his arrest. There weren't many cases like that, but you were very glad that this one was. You never sleep well when on a case, and no matter what you did, you couldn't shake that dream, the butterflies it left in your stomach every time you looked at him, and the strange disappointment when, unlike before that moment in Oregon, he wasn't looking at you.
Two more weeks passed. The energy between you and Spencer, whatever force it was that had drawn you together to argue again and again, was gone. You were polite to each other, and cooperated as necessary, but didn't do more than the bare minimum when it came to interacting with each other. Your interactions were cold and low-spirited. So you were so glad for a fun night out with Penelope, Emily, and JJ.
"So, Y/N, things seem… different… between you and Spencer these days. Did something happen?" Emily's tone made it clear that the three of them had intended to bring this up long before the plan to get drinks was even made. "I appreciate y'all waiting until I had a couple of drinks in me at least before going here. I guess we just got tired of fighting? I don't know. I can't figure out what's going on in that brilliant head of his. I thought I at least knew where I stood with him, even though it was purely adversarial, but I think I was wrong. But then that leaves me with no idea what he thinks of me or why I care so damn much."
"Really? No idea at all?" JJ asked. "I remember walking by a closed door in the police station in Oregon and hearing the word 'gorgeous' being thrown around." "Oh my god. You heard that?" You buried your face in your hands, and they all laughed.
"Yeah, I did, but only that one word. I'd figured you were on the phone with someone, but then you and Spence both started acting sad. I wasn't sure, of course, that you were talking to him until just now."
"Fuck. Okay, yeah. I think he's pretty. But I'm absolutely not alone in that. Derek calls him Pretty Boy, for goodness' sake. Appreciating someone's beauty doesn't have to mean anything more."
"Y/N, really? After everything we've been through together, you're gonna lie to us like this? Whatever happened, you've both been miserable since, and it's throwing the whole team off balance."
"What do you want me to say, Penelope? That I'm in love with him? He's pretentious and a know-it-all and a nerd and funny and kind and gorgeous and oh my God. I think I'm in love with him." The three women clapped and cheered.
"Finally, you get there! Took you long enough." Emily winked. "So, what's the plan now?"
"Keep this shit between us until my feelings go away. Even if he wasn't straight, I wouldn't risk fucking things up by telling him how I felt. As it is, I stand no chance in hell, so I'm just gonna write this one off as another straight guy I've fallen for and try to move on."
"Y/N, if you tell him-" Penelope started.
"No. You, more than anyone, know why I can't even entertain the idea of trying to be with him. I can't set myself up for that kind of pain. Not here, not where things are so good." You looked at all three of them. "I know that your intentions were good, but I just can't do this. I'm sorry." You grabbed your coat and left.
Your interactions with Spencer changed yet again. Now that you knew you loved him, you couldn't help yourself from being warmer towards him. As the weeks passed, you got closer. After three weeks, you considered him to be a good friend, not that that made things any less painful. You were just hoping that Penelope, Emily, and JJ were going to respect your wishes and drop the subject of your feelings for him.
[From: Penelope]: round table room ASAP
Shit. The last time you'd gotten that text from Penelope, the team left on a serial child abduction case 30 minutes later. So, despite it being your day off, you ran out the door and were there with your go bag in 15 minutes.
But no one else was there. No files on the table, nothing to indicate that there was a new case. You pulled out your phone to call Penelope, but then you heard a commotion outside the door- you'd closed it behind you.
"No, Derek, wait, I don't-"
"Can it, Pretty Boy, and thank me later." Derek opened the door, pushed Spencer into the room, winked at you, and shut the door, all in about 3 seconds.
"Spencer. Um, hi. Is the rest of the team not going to join us? Garcia's text seemed pretty urgent." You tucked your phone into your pocket.
"I don't think so, since I just heard Morgan barricade the door." He tried to open the door and failed.
"Oh my god they're Parent Trapping us. I'm gonna kill them."
Spencer tilted his head, confused. "Parent Trapping?"
"Oh my god have you not seen any of the Parent Trap movies? Were you living under a rock in 1998?" "I was seventeen and working on my first doctorate, so pretty much, yeah," he laughed. You couldn't help but laugh, too, as you firmly ignored how his smile made you absolutely melt.
"Fair enough. The '61 one is good too, but the '98 Lindsay Lohan one is Iconic for good reason. Anyway. The point is, they've locked us in here and won't let us out until we have a conversation."
"Just a conversation? Or do they want us to talk about something in particular?" He took a seat at the table.
"I- yeah, they have a particular topic in mind. I'm so sorry. This is my fault. I was tipsy and said things I should have just kept to myself. I thought they'd respected my wishes and left well enough alone, but clearly they didn't. And they won't let us out of here until I tell you-" you hesitated.
"Tell me what?" He leaned forward, and part of you swore you saw hope in his beautiful brown eyes. You looked at the floor, avoiding them.
"Tell you that I… have feelings for you. Romantic, cheesy, butterflies-in-my-stomach feelings. I don't know why they want me to tell you this. We've just gotten to a good place as friends, and you're straight, and-"
Somehow you missed the sound of him getting up and taking the few steps over to you, because you practically jumped out of your skin when his hands were suddenly on your shoulders.
"Y/N. Please, darling, look at me?" Bewildered by the endearment, you did, and his smile was blinding. "I'm not straight. I'm bi, and I think part of me has been in love with you since your first day at the BAU. The thing JJ said I was working through? The potential problems of having feelings for a coworker. For you. As soon as you walked through that door", he pointed and then took both your hands in his, "I loved you. The night at the bar? I was rolling my eyes at myself for how much I wanted to kiss you, and I walked away to stop myself from doing something reckless. I love you, Y/N. Can I do something reckless?"
"I'm trans," you blurted. "I hope that doesn't change anything, but it's something you should know. If knowing that I'm trans changes things, now is the time for you to say something. If it's a problem and it blows up later, it might actually kill me. Because I love you, too. So much. If it doesn't change anything, then please, Spencer, kiss me."
The words were barely out of your mouth before his lips were on yours. You weren't sure how long you were kissing before you were interrupted by cheers from the other side of the door. "Shit, Spencer, they're going to be the worst about this, aren't they?" You were a bit embarrassed by how breathy your voice was, but you were too happy to really care.
"Oh yeah. We're not going to get a moment that's just us in this building ever again. Do you want to get it over with and face them, or would you prefer we stay in this moment a bit longer?"
"What do you think, doctor?" you asked, pulling him in for another kiss.
180 notes · View notes
speechlessxx · 4 years ago
Text
Bring Him Light - x (King!Steve Rogers x Reader)
Chapter Summary: The truth finally comes out.
Warnings: brief mention of sex, mentions of death, really shitty writing tbh, dialogue driven. (NOTE: when concerning the flashbacks, he’s actually explaining to the reader what happened)
Word Count: 2.5k
Note: Feel free to send me any questions because I know this is a really crappy chapter. (of course, I’m not going to reveal the rest of the plot)
Tumblr media Tumblr media
<- Last Part -=+=- Next Part ->
You could still taste the salt from the sea on your lips. The memories of what happened aboard that ship still fresh like a wound that you’d carry forever. You stared at your hands that were conjoined with your husband’s. The wedding bands glistened in the dimmed room.
“Will you believe me if I told you everything?” Steven asked. His thumb drew soothing circles on the back of your hand. His grip tight as if he were afraid you’d disappear again.
“Everyone’s lied to me.” You whispered. You looked towards Wanda’s body, still covered with the bloodstained tarp. “What would make you any different?”
“This is the truth,” he promised. “The complete truth.”
When Steven was young, his mother doted on him because he was a sickly child. He grew up to have her compassion, optimism, and idealism. He was sixteen when his father unexpectedly died, and he was hailed King of Brooken. He wanted to carry his mother’s ideals into a new age for Brooken, but he underestimated what it meant to have a crown on his head.
The sacrifices he’d have to make, the betrayals he’d have to face, the blood he’d have to spill. He’s told more lies that he could count – all in the name of protecting his reputation and his power. A cruel king is respected after all. The lies were like storm clouds that poured hard. He drowned in them and got lost in the darkness those clouds brought. The lies burdened him more than anyone would ever know.
You squeezed hand, breaking him away from his thoughts. “Steve?” Your tone was soft, coaxing him back into reality. He welcomed the calm you brought. It eased the storm inside of him. You were ready for the truth – perhaps, you’ve always been ready. “Unburden yourself, my love.”
“I don’t know where to start.” He said, honestly. It was true. There was so much to the story. He wasn’t quite sure where it began.
“Start with Margaret, perhaps?” You suggested.
“I was young,” he began. “Twenty-one years old. Five years on the throne. They told me I needed a wife.”
“They?”
“Pierce and the old council.” He answered. “Brock’s father had just died, so he took the vacant seat. At first, I thought having my cousin on the council would alleviate the tension. The lords on the council were nearly twice my age, if not more. They saw things differently than I did. They wanted different things. Sometimes I felt as if I were their puppet. I was young when I took the throne. Sixteen. I didn’t know what to expect, so I leaned on their counsel. I depended on them,” he scoffed, remembering his earlier years on the throne. “They told me I needed to continue the line succession. Thanos was beginning to make a name for himself by this time. He had lovers and spawned two daughters. His line was growing, and the Rogers’s wasn’t. So, I asked them to find me a match. Pierce brought in Lady Margaret of House Carter. I was smitten when I first laid eyes on her.”
Steven sat tall upon his throne. The room was empty. Brooken had a tradition that detailed that those in royal betrothals must meet for the first time in private. He was giddy with excitement. Lady Margaret’s portraits were presented to him a month ago. She was easily one of the most beautiful creatures he’d ever seen. Lord Pierce made the arrangements and they were to marry within a week. “House Carter is a respected house in the Old World,” Pierce advertised.
The doors opened wide and a young woman walked through. Her hair was dark as night. Her lips painted a bright red. She smiled at him and bowed. “Your grace,” she greeted. “I am humbled to make your acquaintance and, of course, honored to be your betrothed.”
“I didn’t know her, truly. I didn’t realize how manipulative she was from the beginning. She charmed and enchanted me to do her bidding. We were married for nearly a decade. No children. She didn’t want children. I didn’t want to lose her, so I agreed.
“She had many faces. A face she’d show the people that made them love her. A face she showed me that hypnotized me. And the face she’d show my allies, which were her foes. She fought with James incessantly – even tried to make me banish him. I refused. He was my oldest friend. I promised the moment I took the throne, my riches, my blessings were his to share. She was trying to isolate me. She banished my allies from court. James warned me she was a devil. I refused to listen. I thought her a gift from the gods themselves. Until I caught her poisoning my mother.”
“What?” You gasped.
Steven nodded. The haunting memory pained him still.
He woke up alone after a long night of making love to his queen. It was early in the morning; the sun had barely risen. Orange streaks painted the sky. He searched for Margaret, wanting to jest her for allowing him to wake up alone. He found her whispering to his sick, elderly mother who was bedridden due to a broke hip.
“You won’t get away with it. My son will find out,” his mother croaked.
“Not from you,” Margaret gave her a wicked smile as she slathered arsenic-riddled paint on his mother’s toast. The thick substance looked like jam, but Steve knew better. She force-fed the queen mother the poisoned bread.
“What are you doing!” Steve boomed into the room, pushing his wife aside as his mother choked. “Guards! Get a physician!”
“She died later that evening.” Steven shook his head. It was your turn to console him. You released one of your hands from his grip and rubbed his arm. He took a shaky breath. “I stabbed Margaret in the heart in front of Rumlow, Pierce, James, and Sam’s father. I didn’t know, yet, that her betrayals were much deeper than the murdering my mother.”
“Enter Sharon?” You asked.
“I was widowed for a year. Pierce brought her in. The younger cousin of Margaret.” He continued. “Married two days after her arrival in Brooken.” He chuckled humorlessly at his naivete. “I should’ve never marry a stranger.”
“We married in two weeks.” You noted. “We were practically strangers, too.”
Steven shook his head in disagreement. He didn’t feel that way. In the two weeks he grew to know you, he learned the innerworkings of your mind, your soul. He knew he was in love with you, truly, even before he wrapped the cloak around your shoulders during the wedding ceremony.
“We weren’t strangers.” He said. “Far from it. Sharon was distant. Defiant. We never consummated our marriage, not that anyone would know. She refused to sleep in my chambers, refused to be held, or anything, really. It felt as if I had married a ghost that everyone could see. I couldn’t touch her, but she still haunted these halls.”
“You beheaded her.” You said. Steven bit his lip as he nodded. “Pierce said you beheaded her out of spite.”
Steven cocked his head to the side, brows raising, as if he entertained the idea. “Well, she was spiteful.”
“The men in the prisons… They preferred her over you and you imprisoned them, correct?”
Steven sighed. He was disappointed that you were so quick to believe rumors and lies about him, but he blamed himself for not being completely honest from the start. “Sharon plotted a coup on behalf of the Mad King.”
“How can you be certain?” You asked.
“She admitted it when she was caught.”
Steven stared down at the blonde. Her eyes wide as he finished reading her encrypted letter. “You’re not subtle. You’re not discreet.” He spat at her, crumpling the paper and throwing it at her feet. “You work for the Mad King. You’re here to topple me. Rip the crown from my head and give it to him. The game’s over, Sharon. You’ve lost. Your followers all caught and imprisoned. I will get a confession and you will die for treason.”
She recomposed herself, rolling back her shoulders with confidence. “You think you can just kill off another queen? What will people think of you, Steven.”
“I am pulling the weeds from my kingdom.” He snapped. “You Carters are all the same. Traitors. Liars.”
“Margaret was good.” Sharon complimented. “She had you wrapped around her finger for a decade. If she hadn’t been caught killing your mother, then she would’ve convinced you to ally yourself with Thanos.” She turned her head to the side and gave him a smirk. “Then, she would’ve killed you along with your mother. Such a shame, she was caught.”
“You admit. You’re a traitor.”
“Of course, I admit it. But mind you, your grace, your enemies are all over Brooken. You cut me down today, someone else will cut you down tomorrow.”
“I beheaded her for treason.”
“You didn’t tell people that your queens were committed treason. You allowed rumors to spread about your cruelty to your wives.” You frowned.
“As I told you before, a cruel king is respected.” Steven muttered. “But I never wanted you to be afraid of me.”
“Isn’t it odd?” You asked. “Both queens chosen by Pierce were traitors.”
Steven nodded. “They pushed me to get married once more, but I told them, this time I’ll choose my bride.”
“Me.”
“It’s three years after the War between the North. Tony and I were close before. I fought alongside your father when York was invaded ages ago.”
“You fought over a disagreement over land.”
“More than land. He wanted James dead. James’s father killed your grandfather. Since James’s father had died long before, your father asked for my friend’s head. I refused. So, a war erupted.”
“You traded blows with my father on the battlefield.” You recalled. You remembered your mother’s cries and pleads with the gods, asking for them to protect your father’s life. “He returned to my mother bloodied. You cut through his armor. But you looked him in the eyes and called the war off.”
“No one won.”
“No one.” You agreed. “Three years later, you ask my father for a wife.”
“I needed a wife I could trust. Although we had our differences, I trust your father with my life. I know Tony’s blood. I know how you would’ve been raised to be loyal. You took after your father and your mother.” Steven explained. “I didn’t trust Pierce to find me a wife that could slit my throat in the night.”
“You trust me?” You asked.
“The moment I stared into your eyes and saw fear… I knew you knew the rumors. I knew you thought of me as cruel – our first encounter made that clear.” He smiled at you softly. His fingers lightly traced the scars of your wrist. He brought your wrist to his lips and pressed a light kiss onto the skin. “But, truthfully, my trust in you waned when I saw you with Brock and Pierce leaving the dungeon. I began to think you were conspiring with them.”
“I – I – I wasn’t.”
“I know that now.” He said. “I realized you were afraid of disappointing me because you didn’t … you weren’t –“
“Pregnant.” Your voice wavered, immediately brought back to the painful memory of losing your baby alone on the boat. “I should’ve told you I was, though. But I was afraid. I thought you were going to kill me. You struck me.”
“I’m terribly sorry.” Steven shook his head. No amount of apologizes could ever make up to the faded scar on your cheek.
“I was afraid for my life and the child’s. They manipulated me because of my fears. They prayed upon it and convinced me to trust them. And I did. In turn, I – I lost my best friend and my baby.”
Steve pulled you to him. Your head rested in the junction between his neck and shoulder as you cried softly into him. He rubbed your arm, comfortingly.
“They tried to turn you against me.” Steven whispered. “They tried to weaken me by trying to kill you on that boat. I thank the gods that you’re safe now.”
“Thank you for telling me the truth.” You muttered.
Steven nodded and kissed the top of your head. His arm around you tightened a bit. “You should sleep. Get some rest. You need it after what you’ve endured.”
You agreed. Steven untangled himself from you before he leaned down to press a kiss to the scar on your cheek and a kiss on your lips. He began to walk away when you felt panic begin to settle. Your hand shot out and grabbed onto his arm, preventing him from taking another step.
“Please stay.” You begged. “I… I don’t want to be alone.”
He gave you a soft smile and nodded. You scooted over the cot to make room for your husband. The positioning was a bit awkward considering his massive build, but you immediately felt safer once his arms wrapped around you once again.
»»————- ⚜ ————-««
You woke up alone in Steven’s bedchamber. The sun had already set, the full moon up in the sky. The pain had subsided after nearly a day of rest. The truth settling in inside your mind.
At least now you knew everything.
The doors opened suddenly to reveal your husband. He smiled at you as you sat up on the bed. “You’re awake.”
“You left me alone.”
Steven’s smile faltered. He couldn’t register if there was sadness in your voice or not as he walked over. “I – I hadn’t meant to upset you.”
You shook your head. “I understand. You’re a king. Your duty is to the people, not to me.”
“I am your husband, first.” Steve argued. “My duty will always be to you, my love.” He took your hand in his and helped you off the bed. “Come. There’s something I must show you.”
He led you to the balcony doors, opening it and allowing the air rush into the room. You breathed it in. The mixed scents from the gardens below overtook your senses, washing out the pained sea salt smell that still haunted you.
Steven guided you out onto the terrace and wrapped his arms around your waist, pulling you in front of him. You gasped as you looked up to the sky. Along with the bright moon and the stars were lanterns that floated into the air and painted the dark sky.
“For years, I stumbled alone in the darkness. Feigned love with false queens who sought to destroy me. And here you are. The true gift the gods bestowed upon me. I truly believe you were crafted to be my soulmate, (Y/N).” He murmured in your ear. “I wish I could take away the pain you’ve endured, but I cannot. I can only tell you whatever comes next, we will face it together as husband and wife.” Tears swelled in your eyes and cascaded down your cheeks as you stared up into the bright sky. “I love you, my light, my love.”
You smiled and turned to him, cupping his bearded cheeks in your hands. “I love you, Steve.”
632 notes · View notes
the-insomniac-emporium · 3 years ago
Text
Chasing Providence {Dimitrescu/OC} Pt 1
Fandom: Resident Evil: Village Pairings: TBA, at minimum platonic House Dimitrescu/OC, with some wlw side characters (also original, but not the focus of the story) Rating: T for mild violence and possibly triggering content Warnings: A character briefly threatens suicide as a means of prolonging a conversation (i.e. saying "if you don't listen, I'll ___") Additionally, this contains spoilers for Resident Evil 8. Summary: Months after being infected with a mysterious virus, investigative journalist Avaskian Caldwell is left with no choice: Xe has to get help, one way or another, from whatever remains of the Umbrella Corporation could be trusted. Or, perhaps, from the very person who started it all... Along the way xe'll have to get along with vampires, fight off would be hunters, befriend a hoard of cultists, all while performing the duties of an everyday servant. There's nothing xe won't try as xe's forced to chase providence. Notes: While this chapter features a somewhat talkative Ava, xe's normally selectively mute, and will be for the entire rest of the story.
1: Blood Runs Thick
“This can’t be it. No fucking way, bruv, are you sure you got the address right?” The journalist asked, eyes narrowed as xe stared out into the distant hills. One hand held a phone, currently without any signal, while the other kept a tentative grip on the van’s door handle. To their side was the driver, a middle-aged man with relatively little patience. When he replied, it was in a language the journalist didn’t speak, but could clearly understand as a swirl of profanity. “Alright, alright, I get it. Not like I could afford to pay you to take me back, anyway… I’ll just, uh, be going then. Try to have a nice day, eh, you old chap?” With that said xe opened the door, hopping out rather eagerly. After tucking xer phone into xer pocket, xe quickly gathered xer bags from the trunk, half expecting the man to drive off before xe had a chance.
Surprisingly, he stayed all the way until the journalist gave two hard pats to the van’s side. Then he practically slammed the gas pedal, speeding off in a whirling cloud of dust and kicked up rocks, promptly sending xer into a coughing fit. Curse these feeble lungs, xe thought, scowling. Absent-mindedly xe put a hand to xer throat, silently checking if xer, ahem, ‘wounds’ were still covered. Once satisfied, xe turned to the long, winding path into the village. Was this truly where the ever-elusive “Miranda” could be found? What in the blazes of hell was a scientist like herself doing here, in a mostly empty stretch of Romania? The thought sent a rush of anxiety to the journalist’s chest, as xe wondered if this “Miranda” would even consider helping xer. Xe hoped that, at the least, xer unique case would get her attention.
In the end, it took xer twice as long as expected to reach the village proper. There were no signs along the path, nor signs of life, other than countless dead birds, hung like falling leaves from every tree. Once, a display this gnarly would have made bile rise up in xer throat. But these days? After everything xe had researched? This was no hell, not when compared to the bombed ruin that was Raccoon City. Yet xe still cut xer hand when hopping the barbed wire fence, as if once again a rookie, too desperate for the truth to see the proper world. Fresh blood dropped onto the snow, but xe allowed xerself no wince nor complaint, instead focused on the figures moving in the distance. Strangers. Nay, sources. Someone would know something about the mysterious Miranda, even if they didn’t realize it.
So the journalist made haste, approaching as casually as xe could, considering the heavy traveler’s bag on xer shoulders, and the sturdy cane xe walked with. It was the latter that caught people’s attention first, as it click click clicked against the stone path. Before long there were several pairs of eyes on the journalist, some of them bearing thinly veiled hostility, others filled with nervousness.
“Who are you?” A man growls, stepping in front of a woman (his daughter, based on similar features, age difference) as he does. One of his fingers jabs into xer chest, daring them to take another move, carrying an unspoken threat within it. For a few seconds xe simply smiles at the man. Somewhat amused, xe hoped that xer natural charm would win the day, despite a quick glance telling them that most of these strangers were armed.
“I’m a journalist-” xe started to say, until the others moved their hands towards their holsters- “or at least I was, once. But I come asking for assistance, kindness from my fellow humans,” xe said, gesturing widely with xer arms. This made the others present pause, though the journalist wasn’t immediately sure that xe hadn’t just misspoken. Romanian was not xer first language. Or xer second, come to think of it. Oddly enough, however, it had clicked rather quickly in xer brain, as if xe had always been meant to speak it. “You may call me Avaskian Caldwell. Or just Ava, or just Kian, or just Vas, depending on your mood. Ah, but that hardly matters. I am here… to find a woman. Someone I have heard much about, a, how do you say… ‘marvel’ of science? They tell me she is called ‘Miranda’. Have I come to the-” xe do not get to finish that sentence. Before xe can understand what’s happening, someone has grabbed xer by the throat, attempting to life xer into the air.
For once in xer life, xe’s glad for the ‘extra insulation’.
“Fuck you, outsider, you don’t deserve to taint her name with your foul tongue!” The man shouts, squeezing xer throat, urged on by the jeering crowd. A smarter person would have been rather concerned at that point. But the journalist- Ava, as xe said- was not known for xer cleverness. That did not, however, stop xer from exhibiting cleverness. Taking advantage of xer ridiculous arm joints (which may or may not be doubled, possibly merely weird as fuck), xe reached into xer bag, ignoring the crowd’s scared reaction, retrieving an evidence bag. Inside of it: several broken vials, each marked with a symbol of terror. This is not a place of honor the symbol screamed. To the villagers, it meant something else, something older. To Ava? It meant the prophet of death, it meant Umbrella.
“I come bearing the sign of your village. I come bearing the scars of your Goddess,” Ava proclaims, raising the bag into the air. As soon as xe does, xe is released, the man scrambling backwards. Others turn away, some leaving, a handful gathering to pray. ‘Twas an odd display, but one that Ava preferred over a public execution. Only one person dares to approach: A woman, likely mid thirties, with dark eyes and darker hair. There’s a clear caution in her movements, as if it was taking all of her courage to not flee. “Do you perhaps know how I may reach Miranda? I am in dire need of her knowledge.” At this, the woman flinches, though her gaze lingers on Ava’s throat. It’s then that the journalist realizes xer collar was undone, exposing xer strange, ever-bleeding wound. The stranger does not speak until xe has covered the deformity.
Tumblr media
“One does not simply reach Mother Miranda. But there are ways to get her attention, to ask for a, hmm, blessing,” she explains. With a sigh of relief, Ava starts to celebrate, eager to find a cure for what ailed xer. But the woman wasn’t done speaking, and her next words cut a thick line through xer hope. “It may take a few weeks, maybe less, but we can ensure your prayers are heard. Mother Miranda always rewards the faithful. Even those who start out as outsiders. In the end, all are welcome here, if they keep the faith in our Mother.”
“No, no, that won’t do!” Ava snaps, far harsher than intended. The woman flinches again, and xe starts to pace back and forth, trying to release xer pent up energy. “There has to be another way. Faster, more direct. I don’t-... I might not have time to wait. Please, please, anything you can do to help, even if it’s just pointing me in the right direction…” A gulp, eyes shining with unshed tears, a quiver of the lower lip. Falsehoods alike, directed for an honest purpose. Miranda was xer only hope for information- and, perhaps, for salvation. But the latter had never been Ava’s true priority.
“There might be one way, but it is dangerous. You’d be more likely to die on the path than reach your goal, if I am honest. Yet… if there is anyone in all the village who can grant you the audience you seek, it would be one of the four lords. If you are certain-” the woman could only watch as Ava nodded furiously, silently begging- “so be it. Follow me, but do not say I did not warn you. I do not want your spirit coming to haunt me for my act of pity.”
—————————
“An unexpected guest? How… delightful. Do tell me why you even bothered to drag this miscreant before me, Cynthia?” Lady Alcina Dimitrescu asked, with a scowl, staring down at the fragile human in question. Of all the things she had expected to find, once her head servant called her, this was not one of them. An intruder would have been more likely. Perhaps even more fun, if Alcina felt like letting her daughters join in the resulting feast. But this ‘thing’ was hardly worth her time. They were short, although admittedly somewhat plump, with a scent that implied illness. For once, she could not pinpoint the exact disease by smell alone. Not that she cared, really. ‘Twas simply… interesting.
“Please, allow me to introduce myself. You may call me Avaskian Caldwell, and I come with an… offer. With mutual benefits, I assure you, Lady Dimitrescu,” the journalist answered, giving a deep bow. Despite xer manners, Alcina seemed unimpressed, even irritated by the display. Still, she gestured with her right hand, encouraging xer to get on with it. “I am in need of a meeting, specifically one with the much beloved, dearly respected Mother Miranda. In exchange, I offer two things: The sweat of my brow, and the blood in my veins.” Much to xer displeasure, Alcina replied with loud laughter before fixing xer with a hard stare.
“Pray tell, little thing, what makes you think I won’t simply take your blood now, hmm?” She muses, cackling again, ignoring the way her servant flinched at the sound. But Ava did not waiver, instead simply reaching into xer sleeve. Slowly xe pulled out something metallic, speaking firmly as xe did.
“For one, Mother Miranda would certainly dislike losing out on this opportunity,” xe started to say, unable to stop xerself from smirking. Then the knife fully exited xer sleeve, dancing in the light, before pressing against xer own throat. It was certainly a unique threat. Instantly Alcina rises to her feet, only pausing when she realizes that she wasn’t the one in danger. “Secondly, my blood is worth more if I am alive. You see, I have a wretched ‘condition’, which does a handful of lovely, lovely, life-threatening things to this poor vessel of mine. But someone as intelligent as yourself could find plenty of use for my so-called ‘illness’. If you give me a chance to explain, that is.” Though she does not sit back down, or even nod, it quickly becomes clear that Alcina did not intend to interrupt. Yet. “Grand, grand! I do appreciate it, my Lady. Now, let me just grab the research I brought with me…”
Never once lowering the knife from xer throat, Ava digs into xer bag, forced to briefly clip xer cane to xer belt. Then xe retrieves a closed manilla folder, carefully handing it to the giantess in front of xer. Wordlessly Alcina accepts the item, opening it to peruse its contents, only pausing to put on a pair of reading glasses. A minute of quiet passes before Ava continues xer explanation.
“I heal faster than anyone else on your staff, guaranteed. Hell, I cut my hand down in the village, on some damned wire, and the wound has already closed back up, good as new. That means, of course, that if someone were to let’s say… remove some of my blood, well, it wouldn’t take too long for me to get more, now would it? Obviously there has to be some biological counter, some form of payment for my ability. The rule of equivalent exchange, and all that, yes? As it stands… I eat an extra slice of bread a day. That’s it. Nothing bad enough to cancel out the boon of my blood. My… extensive reservoir of blood. Interesting, yes?” Ava says, still as charming as ever, despite the indescribable terror in xer chest. If there was one thing that xe had learned as a journalist, it was how to hide xer fear. Which was plenty useful, in the current situation, especially when Alcina flips a page to reveal the one downside to xer condition.
“Don’t tell me you came all this way to try and deceive me. Here I was, beginning to think something of you, and you hand me a sheet that says it clear as candlelight: Your blood is dirty. Infected. I won’t be drinking it anytime soon, nor would I even consider allowing it to be used for my family’s wine!” Alcina is essentially yelling at this point. But Ava only takes a step forward, smile present but trembling, and gestures for her to turn the page. With narrowed eyes she does, quickly reading through the notes. Once, then a pause, then once more. Finally she closes the folder, setting it down upon her desk. “Fascinating. You are indeed a… unique case. I cannot guarantee you a meeting with Mother Miranda, and even if I do, it will be because of your condition. She will use you, as is her divine right to do, likely without ever once considering attempting to cure you. But if you are determined to meet her, well,” Alcina leans in with her own grin, sending chills down Ava’s spine, “I will not stop you. Here’s hoping you manage to give me plenty of blood before you ‘expire’. Cynthia, show her to the servants’ quarters. I expect her to be working by tomorrow morning. Dismissed.”
Although Ava could not help but twitch at the Lady’s choice of pronouns, xe had expected this. Eventually xe would explain the indefinite nature of xer gender. Or perhaps xe was doomed to die a horrific, tragic death long before xe ever had the opportunity. Either way, xe could not help but feel a small sense of elation, pleased to have made some progress towards xer goal. Three steps forward and two steps back was still, cumulatively, a step forward. In time, xe would likely come to regret this series of choices. But who among us could say they held no regrets at all? And if, in the end, this storyteller came away with one hell of a story… wouldn’t that outweigh the regret? Even if Ava did not know it, xe would one day learn a valuable lesson from the strange family xe now worked for: Blood of the covenant is thicker than water of the womb. Oh, and what a lovely covenant it would be.
19 notes · View notes
alicemitch09writes · 4 years ago
Text
the babysitter
pairing: reader x peter parker
summary: Babysitting the little Stark is an adventure, of some sorts. Well, being a (adopted) Stark is an adventure in itself. However, nobody told Peter Parker about the Stark babysitter.
author’s notes: I love Morgan Stark. I would die for her. Kill for her. MURDER even, just to keep her safe. Also, I love how easy we can just make her and Peter come together because they’re Stark’s kids (one biological, one is a sort of surrogate). Also, this idea is a common trope but eh, what’s not to love about it? Had to tweak it a bit by making reader two years older. And yay, I finally got to finish this before its initial release date (which is on Valentine's haha sorry yes am cliche like that sue me).
also available on ao3.
disclaimer: i own NOTHING but the plot.
"Ah, shit."
"Shit!"
You froze, quickly turning on your heel to find a mass of brown hair and big brown doe-like eyes, filled with innocence and mischief all at once.
"Morgan! What are you doing here?"
"Looking for you," she replied easily, tilting her head to the side. "Mommy said she has something to say to you."
"Oh, really now?" releasing a breath - not really shaky but something sort of relief, frustration, and a little bit of nervousness, you kneel to her level, tucking strands of hair behind her ear. "How long have you been looking for me?"
"A few minutes. Maybe 30."
With a smile, you get up. "Well, best not keep her waiting!"
Morgan giggles, seeing through you. She was always too sharp for her age.
You smile with her, a painful tug at your heart when you see the twinkle in her eye - an all too familiar twinkle.
Swallowing the dread, you plaster a quick smile and get to your feet. "Come on now, munchkin!"
She willingly lets you take her in your arms, walking along the compound down to Mrs. Stark's office.
Tumblr media
Your relationship with the infamous CEO of Stark Industries was that you’re her cousin's daughter, making her your aunt-in-law. And in the absence of said cousin - your father, as he lived far off or on the other side of the planet, and after some unfortunate events, you were under Pepper's care. 
Well, at least for the last 8 years of your life.
And since then, you could always remember how uptight, stern, and organized she was. It came with her job apparently. As was being stressed 24/7 because she had been dealing with the one and only Iron Man, Tony Stark.
Pepper had a great way of dealing with things, keeping some things to a T, and to keep a cool head with it all. Also, she was adamant about keeping you from Tony, away from the epitome of a machine of a man that he was. Oh, many were the nights where you were a witness to just how frustrating the man was, to how much Pepper had to keep herself from breaking down. You were not very fond of him – to say the least, you kinda hated him.
But upon meeting the man, later on, you found that he wasn't all that bad. In fact, he reminded you a lot of your father - workaholic to an extreme, and a bit of a softie. Just big on his ego.
As an added bonus, he completely won you over for being the guy for Pepper after deciding that you weren’t some runt after all.
After the events of Ultron, Tony decided to take you in and take you as if you were his own, treating you like his little assistant. (As he wasn't comfortable with having kids just yet.) You were pretty young, Pepper had that argument too and was fairly backed by Happy, but Tony was all, ‘then best start them young!’ and all went his way, one way or another. You were a smart cookie, at least that’s what Tony said, Pepper added that, and Rhodey – who still didn’t want to force something on to someone so young. And thus, your life with the Stark-Potts couple would never be the same - for better or for worse.
After the Accords, however, things were different. Much different. Both Tony and Pepper were never the same even way before that, but the former looked like a hollow of a man he once was.
As much as Pepper had more rights over you, she didn't want to be unfair and cut you off from Tony completely, and thus, let you do as you please. Honestly, it hurt having to go back and forth between the two, seeing two of the strongest people in your life thread on thin ice. Try as you might, you even attempted to get the two together only to end up with nothing. Happy was there, at least, to make you sane and moving. Rhodey, who still scares you, keeps you in check and on your toes.
However, things managed.
Then a lot of things happened: Tony and Pepper finally patched things up, finally got married - you were Pepper's maid of honor, you were whisked to some Ivy League thanks to Pepper and Tony’s recommendations, Tony suddenly was whisked away to the stars to save the universe, some war FRIDAY relayed in Wakanda, and then half the population turning to dust. A week later, Tony came back - with new friends from different galaxies, you all moved far away – far away from the Avengers, Tony insisted you to help Pepper to keep you busy, Morgan was born, you finished university, and were working on a master’s degree.
And then...Tony-
God, just the thought of him - what he did - still chokes you up. It hurt to hear from Pepper what had happened, to see her – the strongest iron lady you know and love – break into a million pieces, crumbling to the ground and disregarding every rule about grace and poise. Tony. He was like a father to you, the best and worst one you could ever ask for.
After his passing, you made it a point to keep his legacy alive, to ensure that it was protected at all cost - Morgan. 
You loved the littlest Stark with all your heart, like the little sister you wished you had. Ever since she was born, already, you vowed to keep her from anything.
She was Tony's legacy.
Well, one of many...
There was that kid from Tennessee, Harley Keener, whom you had the chance and pleasure to be acquainted with.
And then there was-
"Who're you?" a voice asked behind you, breathlessly, curiously.
Turning on your heel, you found a guy - brown hair, pale skin, average height, fit in build, looked like he was around your age - walking in, looking like he had run a marathon.
Scrunching your nose, not really like the way he was trying to piece who you were, you fixed him a questioning look. "I'm-"
"(NAME)!" a bubbly voice called behind you, causing the two of you to turn.
Eyes widening, they then relax, you then sagged in relief and all but ran towards the little girl, taking her in your arms.
"There you are! Where've you been, you?" you ask, tucking strands of hair away from her face.
Giggling mirthlessly, eyes twinkling with mischief, she replied. "Nowhere~"
You rolled your eyes at that, playfully. Her grin grows, eyes crinkling when her lips lift, exposing dimples.
Looking over your shoulder, you nearly forgot the guy behind you, hoisting Morgan up.
"Oh, I'm (Name)," you tell him. "but I think you got that already."
The younger teen looks from the brunette in your arms to you, the cogs in his head whirring. "Are you...?"
"Nope, I'm just a babysitter." Quick to dismiss his question, you shake your head lightly. "An on call at that."
"Ah," was the only thing he could say, not sure what to say next.
"Peter!" the girl in your arms says, a smile still in check.
"Morgan, hey." he walks up, about two feet away.
It was your turn to look between him and the brunette in your arms, fixing an inquisitive look as to the cogs in your head begin to turn - two and two adding up. You did hear things from Pepper, Happy, and Tony. 
Like a light bulb moment, you pointed at him. "You're the Spider-Man, aren't you?"
First, he sputters, face morphing into a look of surprise, shock, and embarrassment which ends with his face flushing to the tips of his ears.
Little did he know that you knew long before his cover had been blown.
"Don't worry. Happy's not really that good at keeping a secret." You assure him. At that, Morgan chuckles. You chuckle with her, sharing a knowing look as you bump your noses together. "Well, more like, he's slipping."
"Or getting old!" Morgan chirps.
You share a laugh, again. This time, Peter joins in.
"Anyway, is there something or anything you needed?" you asked, remembering his sudden appearance, adjusting your hold on Morgan, who now was resting her head on the crook of your neck.
"Oh...I, uh, I was just..." he fumbles, fidgeting with his fingers as you stand there, patiently waiting for him to finish his sentence. "...um, I was told to come over...?"
Puzzled, your brows narrowed together. "By who?"
"Me." A voice booms, you all turn, staring at a dark-skinned man donning familiar colors. A taller man stands by him, almost like a shadow.
In the years under Tony and Pepper’s tutelage, months spent and having unlimited access to nearly everything that is related to the Avengers, you found yourself in contact with the new Captain America and his trusty companion, the Winter Soldier.
At first, it was quite intimidating. They were intimidating. But soon, you found yourself warming up to them. They were like brothers, you adored them so much.
Suddenly, the room felt like there was purpose as the two men strode in, and you felt even smaller in their presence.
Just as you motioned to leave, Morgan pipes up, “Sam! Bucky!”
Tumblr media
Over time, Peter became a familiar face in the compound.
Aside from helping clean up the mess that Quentin Beck and his lackeys did to the poor boy, he was also heralding in for his part with the new Avengers - Sam Wilson, now bestowed with the mantle of Captain America, with the infamous Winter Soldier, Sgt. James Barnes, as his right hand, much to the displeasure of many governments.
Then again, who were they to decide what's best for this world when they knew nothing of the battles these brave men fought for? Who were they to decide who carries the mantle? It's not theirs, government-issued or not.
Also, in the past years of their hiding, and fighting off Zeemo, they've proven themselves countless times and earned the hearts of many. Whether they like it or not, they were the best choice to serve and defend the innocent.
For Peter Parker, physically 18 years old, filling in his spot for the team was huge.
He was in leagues with a whole bunch of other heroes – Hulk, Dr. Bruce Banner; War Machine, James Rhodes; Scarlet Witch, Wanda Maximoff; Dr. Strange, Dr. Stephen Strange; Ant-Man, Scott Lang; Wasp, Hope Van Dymme; and off the grid were the Asgardians of the Galaxy, and Carvol Danvers, Captain Marvel. Just to name a few. Sure enough, there would be more heroes coming in, it’s only a matter of time after all.
It was a big world - universe, rather.
Eventually, the kid also grew on you, for many reasons. But in those many reasons, it also felt kind of weird - you werethree years older than him. Physically speaking.
He would have been 23, just three years older than you, had he not been snapped away. Or blipped away. 
Yawning, you leaned back, stretching your arms overhead. Peeking back at your laptop, to your dismay you found that was still 10 in the morning, there was still a lot of work to do!
Groaning, you made sure to drag on said groan as you massaged the back of your neck. There were a bunch of emails to check, some invitations to decline, and one Thaddeus Ross to bitch about-
“Coffee?”
At the sound of the voice, you looked up and were met with soft brown eyes belonging to one Peter Parker.
“Peter, hey!” reaching for the cup, you wrap both hands around it, relishing in its rich aroma. “You’re a sight for sore eyes,” Having to face your laptop for hours' end, glancing up just barely with how slow your morning was, it really was. Taking a sip, you let the beverage warm your system and kick in, shoulders sagging. “and a savior.”
The corners of his mouth lift, eyes shining a bit, awkwardly shifting foot to foot. “W-Well, I know how much you work. And how much you love your coffee" he does, strangely enough, to note that you loved it black in the wee hours of the day with a bit of cocoa nibs.
"That I do, Petey, that I do."
He watches you take another sip, your eyes momentarily meeting your laptop screen before looking away quickly - nope! Here's your coffee break, take it.
"I see, uh, that you've been busy."
Sighing, you lean against your seat. "Kinda. Sorta. But, yes."
A little while after you first met, you made sure to properly introduce yourself to the lad, keeping in mind that he was an Avenger and that he'd see more of you now that you worked for Stark Industries, and the Avengers.
"Even though you should be…” he glanced away, words failing him.
“I should be…?” you picked up on the end tail of his sentence.
Gulping, his gaze suddenly drops, looking around helplessly. You sat there, worried, taking sips time to time.
It might be his sixth sense – aptly dubbed as his Spider-senses, but he seemed to know exactly how much you loved your coffee. That, or he was really observant.
“Peter, are you okay- “
“Writing!” he suddenly bursts out. “You like writing, right?”
His eyes land on the books on the side of your desk, and a framed article you had written years back for TIME magazine.
Following his gaze, causing you to turn in your seat, you can’t help the soft expression on your face. “Ah, that.”
Using the heel of your foot, rolling forward, you reached for the frame then rested your still warm drink between your thighs fingers smoothing the corners. “Funny story, Tony made me write it. Pepper gave me the idea.” The article was basically about questioning Thaddeus Ross and the Accords and if it was really pro-government and pro-hero at the same time. “Mind you, at the time, things had just been rocky with the whole mess of the Avengers, Tony and Pepper were not in good term. Writing this had been the closest I got them to speak again, because of how I had written it and its effects.” Memories of Pepper giving snide remarks at people who talked shit to you, rebutting gracefully, and Tony, wisecracking any troll who messed with you online. Those were fun times. Messy, but fun times. As you spoke, Peter quieted down, eyes never leaving you as you spoke. Looking at the article one last time, you set it back on your desk before picking your drink and taking a sip. “So, yeah. I do. Love writing, I mean. “
“And haven’t you thought of doing that instead?”
Noting his implication with a hum, you continued. “Instead of handling hero-related antics, right?”
Instantly, his face flushed, expression mixing up as he jumbled on his words. “N-Not that what you’re doing is wrong or anything! I-It’s just…you can-“
“Relax Peter!” You laugh, hand raised to calm him. “I know what you mean. It’s just that,” pushing yourself back, you swayed a bit in your seat “this is my job now, something I’ve been doing for a while and one I enjoy. Stressful as it is, it’s still fun. At the very least, I’m still writing. Plus, I get to be with you guys! So, that works, right?”
“Yeah, yeah,” breathing returning to normal, he nods, replying breathlessly. “yeah, yeah, yeah. T-That’s true.”
Tilting your head, seeing that he wasn’t fully satisfied with your answer, you humor him. “Given the chance, I would’vebeen in the writing field. Who knows? Writing as some underground slob, some hermit, or rise amongst the ranks of those high-profiled writers, or for TIME...”
Smiling wistfully, you were just about to take a sip again when it dawned to you. “Oh, what are you doing here, anyway? Do you have a meeting with Pepper?”
“Miss Potts- oh. Oh, no!”
“Did you wanna see Morgan then?”
“No, no!” he was getting more panicked, which was worrying. Putting down your coffee, you brought both hands to your desk and pulled yourself in, the desk separating you and Peter. He was muttering something under his breath, something you didn’t catch.
“Petey?” ducking your head, for a closer look at him, getting a closer inspection of how hazel brown his eyes actually are.
“U-Uh…” he gulps under your gaze. "...um..."
“Hey, (Name), I need your help with someth-“a new voice pipes in.
The two of you turn, (E/c) eyes widen at the new visitor, instantly, you were on your feet and running towards him.
“Harley!” engulfing him in a hug, you laugh mirthlessly at his presence. “Oh, my god you’re here! How are you? What are you doing here?”
Dang, you forgot just how tall he was!
“Uh, I’m supposed to work on my grant with Miss Potts,” he says, almost carefully staring from you to the lad behind him.
“Ah, yes,” you nodded, snapping a finger and pointing at him in realization. “that was today. Unfortunately, Pepper’s busy with something. Fortunately,” you tilted to your side, hands clasped in front of you then pointing index fingers at him. “Ican lend you a hand.”
Harley smiles at this, especially at your dorky dramatics, you grin back toothily.
Then you remembered that you weren’t alone.
“Oh! Where are my manners? Peter, this is Harley Keener, one of Tony’s boys.”
“You make it sound like I'm a booty call.” Harley grumbled beside you, making you snort and elbow him playfully.
“Well, Tony has a way of calling people and it rubs off pretty easily when you’re around him a lot.”
The taller lad rolls his eyes – playfully, used to your language and overall attitude as a reminiscent of one Tony Stark. Peter, who was still standing there, looks dumbfounded between the two of you, unsure what to do before you called on him.
“Sorry Peter, but I have to attend to Harley. Guess I’ll see you around?”
“U-Uh, sure…yeah.”
Hooking your arm around Harley’s you both walked out, but not before grabbing your still warm coffee from your desk. “Thanks again for this, Petey, bye!”
“He seems nice,” Harley comments, once the two of you get to the elevator.
“Yeah, he is.” You nod, sipping your coffee. “Now tell me, any updates on that crush of yours?”
At this, Harley’s face burns as the elevator doors open.
Tumblr media
As Pepper’s assistant, you were basically tasked to help make Pepper’s job easier. As PR, at the same time, you were tasked with dealing with the Avengers’ publicity and ensuring that they look good and handling whatever the media throws their way. Because you were practically raised by Pepper, and the one and only Tony Stark/Iron Man, schooling the media was child’s play to you. Plus, it was really fun dealing with famous people who weren’t super-powered.
Still, as much as you enjoyed your job, you especially loved the quirks that came with it. One of the obvious being that you get to hang with the Avengers. Half of them – who were Tony’s faction during the Civil War bullshit, you grew up with, and the rest just grew on you later.
It was a Friday when you found yourself swinging by the training grounds, looking for Bucky or Wanda with a bag of cheeseburgers to share with and some papers. However, the floor seemed to be empty. Just as you were about to call for F.R.I.D.A.Y. (the AI), you found yourself slipping on some liquid, falling backward with your arms flailing in the air, smacking a nearby tray holding a pitcher and glass.
Faster than you could react, a blur was by your side, a firm grip on your shoulder, and with his free hand, easily caught the tray, the pitcher, the glass, and its contents. All before you could even blink.
“W-Woah…” you breathed, feeling your heart beating wildly against your chest. That could’ve been one nasty accident where you could’ve been wet, hurt, or both!
“(N-Name)! Are you alright?” asked your savior, making you blink at him.
It was Peter.
“Peter…” you said, almost to yourself.
Effortlessly, he set the tray aside, his hand still on around your shoulder, making you feel his strong arm around you.
“I-I’m sorry about that, must’ve tried to do some physics trick but ended up failing and all…” he replied, looking at the water on the ground.
“Ah,” you responded, getting the idea. Surprisingly, with a crinkling sound, you were still gripping unto the cheeseburgers and the papers- no, wait, they’re gone.
Turning your head around, you searched for those papers – which probably should be on the ground from the way you threw them up from the slip.
“Here,” Peter suddenly appears in front of you. Upside down.
“Woah, this is cool,” you remarked all wide-eyed, taking the papers from him, watching him bend over the ceiling to drop to the ground. “Seeing your abilities up close and personal.”
“I-I have other abilities, too!”
“Yeah, I know. You have superhuman strength, enhanced agility, and a super brain.” You list off, heading to the counter to drop the cheeseburgers and papers Pepper assigned you to send around. "No, wait, Happy mentioned it was something else..." scrunching your face, you ransacked your brain for it. "Er, what was it...oh! Peter tingle, right?"
He nearly tripped on his feet but caught himself instantly. "Spider senses! It's called 'Spider Senses'!"
"Ah, is that what it's called?"
That makes Peter sigh, almost frustratingly – like he was to throw a tantrum then and there. He really is a child, you thought.
“I’m teasing you, Pete.” You laugh, leaning against the counter, watching him seemingly deflate, ears slightly red. “But, if you don’t mind me asking," folding your arms behind you, you carefully approach him "can you just break it down to me just how your Spider Senses work?”
Caught off guard by your question, Peter puffs his cheeks. “Um, err…” he shuffles, scratching the back of his neck as words fail him.
Circling, you hop on the counter behind you, patiently waiting on him.
Seeing just how genuinely interested you seemed to be with his powers, it excited him a bit. You weren’t being pushy about it either. In fact, he’s seen you quite a handful of times, and you were always sure to be nice and welcoming, treating him Peter first, Spider-Man second. There were only about a few people who were genuinely interested in how his abilities worked really, one of them was Ned, then there was Mr. Stark, then there was Sam, and then Bucky. And then, you.
“So, um…I’ve got these senses.” You nod encouragingly. “And, uh, they help me be keenly aware of my surroundings and help me react.”
“Meaning, you have times ten the reflexes?”
“…kinda?”
Recalling the almost incident earlier, it was amazing to know just how quick he responded before the inevitable. “That’s cool. I didn’t know spiders could do that.”
“Y-Yeah…” he could only reply, noting how pleased you were with his explanation, how your beating calmed him-
“If this were a comic book, then what you have would probably be the most overpowered ability of all. Still, thanks for telling and trusting me.”
Clearing his throat, he slowly approached you. “So, uh, what brings you here?”
“What, I can’t be here?”
“N-No- th-that’s not-“
Really, he was so cute with the stuttering and all.
“Are you always this awkward around people? Or just girls?”
You really reminded him of Tony Stark with your charm and quips.
“You’re kinda difficult to approach, I guess?”
“Oh, so, I’m a science problem now?”
Peter’s mouth gaped at that, at a loss what to say next. Which in turn, caused you to laugh, head pulled back.
“You’re cute, Peter Parker.” Hopping off the counter, you reached out to pinch his cheek before turning back to fetch the paper bags. “I brought burgers for Bucky and Wanda, sadly, they’re not here, wanna eat them?”
Tumblr media
Ever since the spider bite, life for Peter Parker was never the same. And it was probably a given to those who wielded great power, and now, he was one of them.
However, he would never imagine that because of that very spider bite, he’d be in leagues with people he’s admired for a while – the Avengers.
His life would forever change the moment Tony Stark sat in his apartment living room, chatting casually with his aunt, interrogated, and basically recruited him to his faction. Unofficially, that had marked his joining the Avengers.
But it was the Battle with Thanos months later that he was officially an Avenger, which later resulted in him dusting away for five years, then he came back for another fight for his life and the universe, they won but at the cost of Earth’s mightiest heroes. Months following after that were spent in constant fear and mourning that he tried to fight with his teenage life.
Funny thing was, just when he thought life was going his way, there’d always be something to nope him out of it. Mysterio, for one, hijacking his Europe trip and revealing his identity to the world.
For a while, his life was sure to spiral out of control and he’d be torn from his life. Nope.
Because he was an Avenger, not only was he backed by his colleagues, the government – what good half of it anyway, S.H I.E.L.D. and good civilians who were recipients of the friendly neighborhood Spider-Man’s kindness, the fear of his civilian life was protected and secured.
He just never expected that with becoming an Avenger, he’d have the chance to go places, experience new and exciting things, still be himself whilst growing up-
"Alright, little munchkin, open up!"
-and then there was meeting you, (Y/N) (L/N).
By blood, you were Pepper Potts-Stark’s niece-in-law, but by paper, you were practically her daughter/sister, more so as her trusty assistant.
Physically, you were three years his senior. Had the Snap not happened; however, he’d have been three years older than you. Still, he towers over you despite being the ‘littlest guy’ – as Sam would put it.
Using his heightened hearing, he followed after until the voices were closer, and he was standing by the doorway to the kitchen where you were.
You weren’t alone though. No, sitting by the counter, happily watching and smiling at you was little Morgan Stark.
It's a first for him to see you like this - in more casual, comfortable clothes, especially in shorts where he can see your legs. He had to pull himself out of it as he remembered that Morgan was there, singing some song as you sang with her.
It was a Disney song, he realized, from that one movie.
While the two of you were having a mini-concert, the smell of something being cooked filled the kitchen.
“Pasta,” he thought to himself, aloud.
“Peter!” the littlest Stark called from the counter, struggling to hop down, before you helped her down, tiny legs barreling towards him.
Anticipating her approach, he knelt to catch her in his arms, twirling as he entered the kitchen – the smell growing stronger.
“H-Hey, (Y/N),” he says to you, standing straighter.
Offering a smile, you turned back to check on the pasta sauce you were making. “Hey Peter,”
Unsure of what to say next, he lets Morgan play with his hair before coming up with a reply. “F-Fancy seeing you here,” he said lamely.
“Is that a bad thing?”
Realizing his mistake, he nearly drops Morgan, sputtering words. “T-That’s not- No! U-Um,” you were calmly stirring the pot, body turned to him, letting him know that you were listening. “I-I…It’s just, I’m not used to seeing you so casual…I guess?”
“Ah,”
Seriously, why was he so lame?
“It’s my day-off.” You say simply, switching the fire off. “And I make sure to use up my time keeping sane with the help of the world’s most adorable little girl, isn’t that right, Morgan?”
"Working too much is evil!"
"Sometimes I wonder where and how you learn these things," you mumble laughingly, head shaking. "must be a Stark thing."
He laughs with you in agreement. Morgan was scaringly too smart for her own good, clearly from her Stark genes.
"Most definitely a Stark thing," he agrees with you, laughing, eyes glued on your form as you hunt around the kitchen for something. "Need some help?"
"Ah, yeah." Pointing at the pot of sauce, you say. "Can you be a dear and bring that to that table over there?" with the same hand, you bring it back to the small dining table behind you, where plates and utensils sat. "Oh, and be sure to use mittens," you add, producing two kitschy kitchen mittens - one that was an embroidered goldfish, of some sort. "I'm not sure just how strong you are, but you can't be that strong against heat against metal."
"Ha ha, a science joke, I see." he says, taking the handle with both hands.
"It's not rocket science, silly." Holding a bowl full of pasta, you hastily grab a pair of tongs, before the two of you were walking towards the dining room. "Okay, there we go. Oh, just put it right here, Petey." you point at the empty coaster next to the pasta bowl, where he carefully lays it down. "Great, thanks!"
Hands on your hips, you admire your work, clasping both hands together before rubbing. "Okay, lunch is set! Now, where's my little Morgan?"
Tumblr media
It was almost too cliché and overused at this point, but nobody that deny that charity galas were almost always a selling point to earn the trust of the most esteemed, high-profile, and probably the snootiest people in the world- all of which, were Tony's words that he had told you years back.
You hated these kinds of events, but again, they sold off to the rich and the famous. And they were a great way to rub elbows with just about anybody.
Never leaving Pepper's side, the both of you welcomed in guests after guests, receiving warm regards from ambassadors, warding off leering looks from power-hungry businessmen, laughing with nobles and socialites, and being graced by esteemed guests. Honestly, you had to give it to Tony and Pepper for bearing with these lot, just being in the same room with them and inhaling their pricey perfumes made you feel ten times older.
When all was said and done, you rushed towards where the Avengers were - all of which were dressed to the nines, all looking like literal gods in a sea of mortals.
Laughingly, half of them seem to enjoy the festivities, some looked bored to death (but came for the chance of exposure), some looked uncomfortable, and mostly seem to just enjoy parading themselves.
It was easy to spot Peter Parker among them, being - as Sam put it - the littlest guy because the rest of the women were in heels.
Meeting your gaze, he lifts his hand into a tiny wave. Giggling, you winked and gave him a peace sign, before turning to a waiter offering drinks. Taking a flute from his tray, you were unaware of the boy's eyes locked on you as you clung to Pepper's side, wearing a polite smile that illuminated your face and the dress you were wearing.
It's just...You look pretty in that dress. Like, really pretty. Maybe prettier than usual
Well, you were always pretty to him whatever you wore - may it be office wear, casual wear, even a bean bag, but tonight, that dress made you look mature, exquisite, and divine. The makeup on your face highlighted some of your features quite well - not too much, but enough to really emphasize your cheeks, your lips, your eyes. And your hair was in a simple style but enhanced your look. Overall, again, you looked really pretty.
Too engrossed in his stare, he nearly jumped in place when Shang Chi came into his field of vision, smirking knowingly down at the young boy.
"That's an intense stare you got there, wanna go talk to her?" the newest Avenger asked, golden eyes alight with life.
"U-Uh...?" he sputtered, feeling the blood rush to his face, just as he saw your face light up - if possible, it made the whole place shine brighter - when Morgan ran up to you. Her dress was a poofier and lighter version of yours.
"No worries, little brother," whispered the man, smirk still in place as he watched you nuzzle Morgan's nose with yours. "I'm not telling."
Okay, he felt screwed.
Tumblr media
With all the glitz and glamour that filled and surrounded the life of one Tony Stark, it takes a certain amount of temperament and training to turn one so thick-skinned and fluent in the art of socializing from the regular folk to the nouveu riche to the beau-monde. Despite careful years of watching, observing, absorbing, and taking things into action, the results were the same: it was pretty exhausting.
You didn’t know how Tony did it, nor do you want to know. I mean, there were years of alcohol and therapy. Not to mention, his hands just itching to tinker.
Pepper fared in the best way she could. Seriously, she was the personification of the phrase, ‘grace under pressure’.
Well, maybe until she has someone she can finally rip apart.
Having excused yourself from the scene, you desperately needed to be away from all the glitzy fanfare – too much of it might actually render you insane.
You find yourself in what seems to be a lounge area. There were plants, paintings, some comfortable sofas. Music could be heard from the gala nearby, but here it came as a gentle thrum and hum.
“How’s the party going?” someone asked.
You whipped your head around, searching, finding an old man sitting by one of the sofas.
Putting on a smile – tired, but polite, you say. “Well, it’s still going,” he laughs at that. “Starks’ legacy continues to fill the night. Hopefully, it’ll end well for business and pleasure.”
He laughs again, a gentle, hearty laugh. “Well, that’s a relief. And quite the expectation.”
“Well,” you didn’t mean to sigh so heavily, brows raised slightly. “it is what it is.”
Nodding at the older man, you were just about to find a balcony only to stop in your footsteps.
Slowly, very slowly, you looked back to the lone soul sitting by the sofa – sharply dressed, small, frail, but his posture said otherwise, as did his smile.
And his eyes.
Suddenly, you realized why that old man with astoundingly baby blue eyes with a kind smile looked familiar. You were careful in your approach, as to not bring any attention. "Mr. Rogers?"
Familiarity radiated off his features as he took you in, the same familiar smile on his face. "Hi, (Name),"
"Hi..." you said back in awe, unsure what to do, or say.
"Wow, you're so big now." Baby blue eyes take you in, so warm and threatening to swallow you whole. "And you used to be the littlest thing."
Memories flash of a younger you meeting the famed war hero, Tony by your side. His dashingly, boyishly handsome face. Walks around the compound or the park with his gentle hands in yours. Warm hugs after a bad day at school. The sad look in his eyes when he left the compound. Regret, guilt, and sadness during Tony's burial-
"Come sit by me," he invites, patting the spot next to him.
That seemed to snap you back to your current time, forcing your legs to move. One step becomes two, then three, until you were next to him, (e/c) eyes not leaving his now small and frail form. A far cry from the hulking teddy bear of a man you're used to.
Gentle music from the gala filled in the silence, which just dragged on.
Steve smiled, simply smiling by the silence, blissfully knowing your state of confusion by his presence. But he was content, to say the least, to share the silence with you.
This man, Steve Rogers to many, known as Captain America to all, but to you – and a select few, he was more than that.
In spite of what happened – Ultron, Sokovia, their Civil War, Thanos, this man meant a lot to you, had a special place in your heart that rivalled only to Tony Stark.
"You know,” you said slowly. “Pepper never blamed you...after everything that had happened."
Turning to you, his eyes widened slightly. "Did she now?"
You nod, earrings dangling with you. "It was inevitable, ever since Tony was kidnapped and Iron Man happened. Since the moment those two fell in love, and the Avengers came to be." Breaking into a short laugh, you added. “Maybe even before you and I joined in the mix.”
"Did you blame me?" he asked you, suddenly, his baby blue eyes, though faded with age still held so much emotion. 
That question would've been easier to answer then - after months of seeing Pepper and Tony's relationship in turmoil, Pepper in tears, Tony's PTSD, Rhodey's injury, Happy's added stress, the death of the closest thing to a father you'll ever have - but now, all things considered, and with Tony's annoying way of rubbing off you, you knew your answer now.
"No. I don't think I could." You reply, smiling softly at him. "Plus, you remember his speech, right? 'Part of the journey is the end'? Somewhere, deep inside his clusterfuck of a brain, he knew that his death was something he feared very much yet knew would put things into perspective."
"You are Tony's girl alright,"
You scoff, ducking shyly, comforted by his words. "Adopted, maybe."
Lifting your head, it felt like you were young again, meeting Steve Rogers for the first time. Except this time, there was no Tony by your side, but you took comfort in knowing that the phantom comforting chill running down your spine was him.
Steve smiled, one that reached his eyes.
"It's so good to see you again, (Name)."
"Me, too." Eyes misting as you broke into a huge grin, it really felt like you were a kid again.
And it that moment, he couldn't help but feel the same.
"Would you care to indulge this man with a dance?"
"I would love to."
Tumblr media
(E/c) eyes wandered about to all the couples that had gathered on the dance floor, humming to the beat of the music – jazz, was it? Maybe something gypsy-like? Do they even allow those kinds of music to be played? Soft jazz, maybe.
The music was gentle, soothing, fitting for the event. It was enough to make your heart settle, after a long, engaging, and rather exciting night.
And It was probably far from over.
From where you stood, the second floor balcony that overlooked the whole area, a rather grand view as though you were some lord. But no, you just needed a breather, to slow down the night that was far from over.
Behind you, someone cleared their throat, rather loudly to catch your attention.
Looking over your shoulder, you find that it was Peter. "Y-You...uh, you look really nice, (Name).”
Lips quirked up, you reply. "Thank you, Peter. This is all Pepper. And, well, Maria." After much thought, fingers smoothing over the fabric of your dress, you added, with a pained smile. "And Morgan. Wanda. Sam. Bucky." You tick their name one by one with your fingers.
"Mr. Wilson and Mr. Barnes?" he was stood next to you now.
"They convinced me to come, after much protest. Morgan picked my dress, really."
"You sound so out of place." His brown eyes search yours. To be at the receiving end of those eyes of his, such big, kind, and warm eyes, made you feel all sorts of funny.
"Oh, trust me, I am. This isn't my scene, y'see, also because I don't really go to these kinds of events. I'm more used to being behind the scenes, working back, or doing my homework while everyone partied." A certain memory roused from the back of your brain, making you chuckle sadly. Having sensed this, thanks to this spider senses, Peter looked up. "Tony," shucks, the mention of his name still hurts. "he would annoy the hell outta me, Pepper, too," she chuckled, almost garbled by the emotions thick in her throat. "but both never forced me if I didn't want to. Sometimes, they'd finish up extra early and bring home junk food to keep me company." Finishing with a sigh, she looked out the dancing couples before her eyes landed on a familiar strawberry blonde woman effortlessly elegant in her own right, ethereal under this light, but ever so heartbreakingly lonely and painful to look at.
Peter followed your gaze, swallowing thickly at that.
"Sorry you had to hear that sob story," you says, in an attempt to lighten the mood, quirking into an easy expression.
Downstairs, the music peaks up, a new song being played.
"Well, to make up for it, do you want to take your mind off it with a dance?"
That made you jump, turning to the younger boy, who was red in the face but had that look of determination in his boyishly handsome face.
You had to chuckle at that, heartily. "Wow, you're good. But okay."
Tumblr media
Bucky didn't like it - that little punk was crushing on (Name). Bad.
Thing was, she was pretty oblivious to this. Bucky didn’t like that either. As much as she was Stark's girl, when it comes to things concerning her, it just passed off like the wind. Or maybe water. No, oxygen. Point is, she'd never know unless it was pointed out.
“If you look any harder, the kid’s head might combust.” A voice says next to him, belonging to a familiar blonde – Sharon Carter.
The Winter Soldier made a noise in his throat, eyes cold. "I don't like the way that kid's looking at her,"
"Make you think of Becca, Buck?" Steve asks, humor in his tone.
“Shut up, punk.”
“Well,” Sam appears, elbows on the railing, faint smile quirking his lips. “they are kinda cute.”
Well, fine, they are kinda cute together.
“Good luck trying to tell her that, though.”
But he won’t say it out loud.
63 notes · View notes
generallybarzy · 4 years ago
Text
smile like sunshine vi
Thursday: ~ 9.2k words
previous chapters: i // ii // iii // iv // v
an: writing this was tough on me. I’ve obviously been through a lot of ups and downs while trying to write this, considering it took like 4 months to finish. Continuously losing inspiration and motivation and hitting writer’s block too many times was tough. The chapters keep getting longer and I feel like there are less and less notes everytime. It hurts to see my favorite fic do so poorly, so I've been hesitating to post this. But it’s finally here, and there are only 2 chapters left. Now, let’s see how few notes this gets. Thank you to my beautiful amazing editor/bestie @folkloreflyers I couldn't have done this without you bb 🥰💕💕💕💕💕💕💕
tagging some beautiful people: @sunflowertimothee @deleausvp @dunnwithlyfe @smit41 @softboybarzal @fallinallincurls @matbaerzal @brokeninsidebutnobodyknows @hockeyhughes11 @folkloreflyers @nazdaddy @shawnsreputation
summary: after everything that happened last night, Mat and Y/N realize they probably need some time apart to regroup with their thoughts and emotions and prevent themselves from pushing the boundaries of their friendship so far that they’d never return to normal. It’s 2019, eleven years after you first befriended him, and things are definitely different this time around...
If there was ever a time when you wanted to slip away into the memory of what you once had with Mathew: an amazing friendship, not overshadowed or blurred by stupid hormones and growing feelings, it was now.
It was almost tragic to think about how you’d lost all that time and could never go back to the days when you were completely carefree and nothing could bring you down. Those hot, summer days with Mat when watermelon juice and sticky, sugary ice pops dripped down your hands, and your faces were burnt in the sun were long gone. You’d never be like that again. No matter how often you dreamt of it, thought of it, and buried yourself in memories of that summer to block out the worries of adult life, you couldn’t get it back.
The sun was going down on your second to last night at the beach, as you sat by Mat in the sand, giggling as the water lapped at your toes and digging up handfuls of the tiny coquina clams burrowing in the sand- not that you knew what they were called, but did it matter? Your parents sat further back onshore, talking around a fire and watching the younger children, and you and Mat, like always, were left to entertain yourselves. But you wouldn’t have it any other way. No, you loved spending time with him.
You didn’t realize that your time with Mat was coming to an end. You weren’t sure what day of the week it was, where you were, or when you were leaving, but that didn’t matter. Not then.
“Are you having fun with Mat?” Your mom had asked you earlier in the day.
“Yeah, he’s my best friend!”
“Well,” Your mom laughed. “Why don’t you go have some more fun with him. Cherish your time, we won't be here forever.”
You didn't quite understand the weight of her words, but cherish him, you did. The two of you were attached at the hip, to both your parent's amusement, and after only a week of friendship now, your parents could hardly separate you two. 
“Ugh, younger siblings are so annoying." You groaned in agreement to Mat's statement and fell back in the sand when you looked back and saw your baby siblings sucking up all your parents’ attention.
"Yeah, 'cause they're smaller and cuter than us." 
"No, that's not true!” Mat shook his head, dark hair flopping around in the breeze, hazel eyes wide. “You're still pretty cute." 
"Ewwww, Mat!" 
"So am I, my nonna told me!" You laughed at him. Only a week into knowing each other and he could already make you laugh better than any of your friends at school. "So that's not it."
"Well, they always have all the attention. I'm so bored and lonely sometimes." 
"Nuh-uh, you have me. I'm always here to hang out!" He wrapped his arms around your shoulders, his small, sand-covered arms, and neither of you noticed both of your parents watching from the campfire. As wise as they were, they knew that if you had been a few years older, this would’ve been too much for them to handle. And little did you and Mat know, at only ten and eleven years old, but you were about to be separated for eleven years. 
“Friends forever?”
“Forever! I’ll always be here!”
“Promise?” You stuck out your pinky, and Mat linked it happily with his own, smiling that gleaming smile. 
“Promise.”
You had fucked up something amazing.
You woke up early with a pounding headache right as the sun began to beam in through your window, hitting your face in the worst possible way. You’d never so hated the sound of the ocean, but right now, it was just… too much. Too loud. For the first time since you had arrived at the beach, you didn’t wake up smiling and excited to be here, but instead dizzy and confused, questioning what had happened last night, and filled with dread at the thought of having to face the day. And, when you realized what you’d done in your drunken stupor, regret immediately began gnawing away at your mind. 
You had fucked up bad.
You buried your face under your pillows to try and drown out the pounding noises in your ears as the image of yourself flooded to your brain, absolutely wasted and stumbling, pushing your body into his, pushing your mouth onto Mat’s and kissing him. It was drunken, messy, and definitely not the way you'd imagined many, many times, your first kiss with him to be. It wasn't magical and beautiful and gentle and sweet, but drunk and sloppy and one-sided. Unreciprocated. You couldn't stop thinking about his reaction. He hadn’t kissed you back, his hands didn’t cup your face gently and pull you flush against his warm body the way you imagined, but instead pushed you away and held you between his arms and looked at you. He hadn’t even smiled or laughed and brushed it off afterward. He must have been disgusted with your actions, he must have wanted to yell at you, ask “What are you doing?” but understood that you were drunk and settled for pushing you away. He'd confront you today, tell you that he couldn't look at you the same way after what happened, tell you that he no longer wanted to be friends. That when you’d get back to New York, you would never speak to each other again.
Fuck.
“(YN)!” The pounding on your door made you cringe and groan. Well, it might not have been pounding, but it certainly sounded like it, as your head throbbed in agitation. “Wake up honey!”
You groaned and rolled over in bed.
She cracked the door open as quietly as possible, showing a little bit of sympathy, which you were thankful for. “Hungover?” Your groan was enough of a response for her. “You’re not gonna get better lying in here, come out.” When you still didn’t answer, she continued. “I’ll be louder next time I have to come in to get you.” And then she left you to drag yourself out of your lethargic state.
Well, fuck, you thought as you cast a glance out the window where the sun was rising over the ocean, might as well get up and face the day, no point in hiding. You needed to get some fresh air, maybe some alone time on the beach before Mat gets up. You needed to talk to someone about what happened, you couldn’t keep this to yourself, but who would you tell? Not your mom, no one in your family actually. Sure, you were close, but you weren’t gonna tell them about your drunken mistake- how you kissed your best friend. Best friend. Your best friend- all the way back in New York City, who always helped get you out there, was the reason you ever reconnected with Mat in the first place, and would definitely be your maid of honor in the future- would definitely want to know about your kiss with Mat Barzal. 
“Amy…”
You reached over to the bedside table for your phone and the first thing you noticed, after pressing the power button, was an unread text from none other than Mat Barzal, sent at 1:38 am, probably when you got home last night:
Maty: Hope you don’t feel too bad when you wake up.
It was strange, it was unlike him to leave such a message. Yeah, he always checked in and texted you saying he hopes you’re feeling good, but there was no “sleep tight” or anything funny or cute and not even a smiley emoji like usual. Well, in his defense, you had just kissed him. Of course, he’d feel weird around you. 
You sent a quick text to Amy, who you hadn’t spoken to since the beginning of the trip now, and who must have been dying to know anything that happened between you and Mat. She would probably be happy you kissed him, bless her heart, she was in love with your friendship with Mat and the story of how you came to meet, but you needed someone to listen seriously to your problem and help you.
It’d be at least another hour until Mat gets up, you guessed, so, with much hesitation, you dragged yourself out of bed and to the bathroom where you steadied yourself on the sink as your head spun, washed your face, and caught a glance of yourself in the mirror, running a hand through your hair to smooth it down before opening your door to face the day. 
The first thing you noticed, even in your state, was the smell of coffee and breakfast from the kitchen. Usually, you loved that scent, but today it made you want to puke, and as you sat down at the island in the kitchen, you dropped your head into your arms and groaned.
“Rough night?” 
“Pretty bad.” 
The sound of a water bottle being set down in front of you was much louder than it should’ve been. “Drink, it’ll make you feel better.” You took a sip of water and laid down on your arms again, going back to suffering in silence and wracking your head over trying to figure out any possible way out of this sticky situation. “What else is wrong?” You looked up to where your mom was making knowing eyes in your direction. You were close to your mom, sure, you thought you had a pretty good relationship with her, but you were positive you didn’t want to tell her what you had done last night. At least, not now. You knew the news would eventually get to your dad, and you couldn’t imagine what would happen if he found out. 
Hopefully staying pretty ambiguous would save you. “I think Mat’s mad at me.” 
“I doubt it. The boy adores you.” You wanted to tell her no, that’s gross, you’re only friends, but something made you stop. Mat did adore you. He was always there for you, he was the greatest friend ever, and how do you repay him? By kissing him and screwing up both of your feelings? “What makes you think he’s mad?”
“I think I did something stupid last night. Said something dumb when I was drunk. And he sent me a text before bed last night that didn't sound like how he usually does.”
“Well, you won’t know until you talk to him. It won’t be any good to ignore him for the rest of the trip” Fuck, why did her advice have to be good words of wisdom? 
A door rattled open from down the hall and there was Mat, rubbing his face, his hair falling into his eyes, as he crossed the hallway into the bathroom. He cast a glance to the kitchen, locking eyes with you for half a second before he was gone.
You knew he’d be getting up now, so, grabbing your water bottle and phone, you made your way to the back door to avoid any alone time with him. “I’m gonna get some fresh air.” And you headed out the back door and down onto the beach.
Amy had texted you back by now, telling you to call her right away, and you took the moment to reflect, walking down to the water’s edge and just looking out. The early morning heat was cooling down, the sun had barely risen and already dark clouds were rolling in from the horizon, the rain was coming, maybe even a storm in the next hour or so. Sure, you may have made your friendship awkward, but for now, you’re still friends. At least until he comes out to confront you. So until then, you were gonna be proud. You had kissed him. His lips were just as soft and nice as you expected them to be, and his face pressed against yours was something you could get used to. Unfortunately, that scenario was unlikely. 
Your heart raced when you started connecting the video call, and you couldn’t help a smile from spreading over your face for the first time all morning. Yesterday, besides the mistake you’d made, was easily one of the best days of your life. Mat took you out to the pier because he remembered you loved it when you were younger, he remembered he promised to teach you to skate, he even remembered your favorite ice cream flavor. And, despite how much you regretted kissing him, you had kissed him. You had kissed Mat. God, Amy is gonna be fucking ecstatic for you.
“Haven’t heard from you in a while.” 
“Ames, I’m sorry for not calling sooner-”
“Are you kidding?” She laughed, always a welcome sound, and you knew she wasn’t upset. “You’re on vacation with Mat fucking Barzal. But now that I have you for a few minutes, girl, spill. All. The. Details. Now.” 
“Yeah,” You laughed at her words. All the details? “He took me out to the pier yesterday for my birthday. We roller-skated together and held hands.”
“Oh my god, seriously? That’s so fucking cute!” You winced at the way she shrieked in joy for you, your head still pounding as you tried to overcome the hangover. Amy immediately noticed your change and lowered her voice. “Girl, are you hungover?”
“You tell me. I’m twenty-one now, aren’t I?” Before she could start talking again, you continued, figuring it would be easier to just get all your words out there and over with. Rip off the bandaid. “Actually, I did something really bad last night. When I was drunk.”
“Oh shit. Spill!”
“I…” You couldn’t help the small smile on your face. As much as you hated the realistic part of this, you were still overjoyed it had happened. You shook your head and pushed on. “I kissed Mat.” 
It was almost comical how your friend’s jaw dropped and her eyes widened. It almost made you laugh, it had a little smile pulling at your face. Holy shit, it was still sinking in that you’d kissed Mat.  “Oh… my god. You kissed Mat. You kissed Mat Barzal. How was it?”
“Well, messy. I was drunk, he didn’t kiss back at all. But focus on the realistic part, Ames. I made it awkward.”
“Oooh…”
“How are we gonna be friends after this? He’s gonna hate me, he’s gonna wanna leave, he’s never gonna want to talk to me again. He must think I’m so dumb-”
“Babe, listen, he doesn’t think any of that. He’s head over heels for you. If not in love, then in platonic love at least.” 
“Now you’re sounding like my mom.”
“I hate to say it, but I actually agree with her then.” You sighed. As much as you wanted to listen to them, maybe the realistic side of your brain was just too powerful. “Mat has done stupid things around you when he was drunk. Remember the karaoke night? He was so fucking embarrassed in the morning.”
“Yeah, but he never kissed me.” He never kissed you, not once. Not even when you desperately wanted him to, when he was drunk or Christmas Eve, or New Years’, or his birthday, not even when you practically created chances to get close to him, not even when you kissed him.  No matter how much you wanted it, life isn’t a love song. “Look, things don’t just work out like in romance novels. Some things don’t get to last beyond one summer. Sometimes this shit just doesn’t happen. Sometimes it’s just a feeling.”
“It’s only a feeling ‘til you make it more.”
“Shut uuuup. He hasn’t spoken to me since then. He’s obviously upset.”
“Have you tried to talk with him?”
“I mean…” 
“So you haven’t. C’mon, you gotta at least ask him about it.”
“Okay, but if I ask him how he feels he might say he doesn’t want to be friends. If I avoid him completely, he can’t break off the friendship, right?” Before she could respond, you rambled on, maybe to her, maybe just to yourself. Sometimes it’s good to just talk yourself out of something. “We’ve become such good friends in the last year and I really don’t want to lose him because of something stupid that I did while drunk. I feel like I messed everything up.” 
“Babe, babe. You didn’t mess anything up.” Ames smiled at you over the phone as thunder rumbled in the distance. “This isn’t gonna drive him away, okay? He’s in too deep already. Trust me.”
“Alright, we’ll see.” 
And you would see. But now, you had to go to the porch, already feeling raindrops drip from the looming clouds above. The storm was rolling in. And it was coming fast.
------------
Even before Mat’s eyes opened that morning, his mind was racing.
He rolled onto his side in bed, eyeing the pillow he had been hugging against him all night. It was as if he was a child who needed a teddy bear to fall asleep, and he hated how vulnerable you made him feel. But rather, you were his teddy bear and after that night in the motel, he couldn’t sleep without some sort of faux version of you that would never compare. Not to your warmth, your softness, your heartbeat against his chest, the soft sighs of breath against his neck. You had messed him up bad. You had kissed him, and it’s unnecessary to think it needs explaining why he was so confused. “I had a dream about you last night. We were really goin’ at it. You were really good, like, really good.” What had you meant by it? Was it just a dumb mistake? Or is what they say true: “Drunk words are sober thoughts”? The moment your lips touched his last night, he was flooded with serotonin. It was… well, maybe not perfect, but more than he could ever hope for. More than he thought he would ever get. 
He wanted it so bad, he wanted it for months now, but he wanted it sober. He wanted you to know what you were doing. He wanted you to mean it. He didn’t want it like last night.
He pushed himself up, hearing the muffled conversation from the kitchen. He knew it was you and your mom, and, though he couldn’t hear any clear words, he couldn’t help but realize that the conversation had to be about him, and for a moment he was strangely self-conscious. It was an unfamiliar feeling for him, but he was embarrassed, even ashamed he had let anything happen last night. 
He shouldn’t have let you get so drunk.
The moment he opened the door and stepped into the hallway, the conversation came to an abrupt stop. He glanced up into the kitchen, where he immediately caught your gaze, noting how much of a wreck you were this morning. He couldn’t help the way he rushed into the bathroom before you could say anything. 
He heard you say something about “fresh air” and then the back door opened and closed, he finished up his morning routine and rushed back into his room. He’d barely even sat back down in bed when there was a pounding on his bedroom door that was a lot less than friendly. 
“Mathew!”       
Your dad was gonna fucking kill him.
It was safe to say he’d never been more afraid as he jumped to his feet and stepped over to the door, debating on pulling out his phone to send a final “Goodbye, I love you” texts to you, his friends, and family. But there didn’t seem to be any time for that, as the pounding on his door increased. Sucking up a deep breath, he opened it and was greeted by the face of your father with crossed arms and a scowl. He could only choke out a terrified “Yes, sir?”, sounding like a pathetic teen boy caught in a girl’s room.
“(Y/N)”s upset.” 
"I-"
"I don't know why that is, but something tells me you have something to do with it." Mat went silent, trying to figure out what he could say. You were upset? Were you upset with yourself, or with him? He had stopped your kiss, brought you home, got you water, and tucked you into your bed, what had he done wrong? “She thinks you’re angry at her.”
“Why would I be-?”
“Mathew.” The boy closed his mouth when your father put a hand on his shoulder, pushing him over towards the bed. “Sit.” Mat nodded quickly and sat on the edge of the bed, flattening his hands on his thighs awkwardly and waiting for the lecture to start. “Listen, I don’t know what’s happening between the two of you, but I can see how much you mean to her. I know I shouldn’t be too hard on you, but I just need to make sure you’re going to treat her right.” Mat couldn’t help the smile that lit up his face momentarily. He was in the middle of opening his mouth to say thank you when your father rambled on, eyes narrowed, examining the boy in front of him. “(Y/N) has been hurt a lot in the past, and I’ve tried to help. It’s not my place to mess with her love life anymore. She’s not a baby. But the least I can do is make this right. I still remember what you said on our first day here. You like my daughter?”  
He nodded enthusiastically. “I really do. A lot.”
“Good. So then you didn’t mean to hurt her?” 
Mat’s head shook frantically, wracking his brain for what he might’ve done. “Absolutely not. I don’t know why she is, I don’t think I did anything wrong.”
 “I’ve seen her hurt so many times, and I’m gonna trust that you’ll treat her right. Now, I don’t know what happened between the two of you, and I’m not going to ask. That’s between you two. But she thinks you’re angry, you’re obviously not, and you need to fix it.” 
“I know, I promise I will. I’ll make her so happy, I swear to God, I promise you.”
The older man continued to look at his daughter’s friend for a few long, tense seconds, but Mat’s eyes gave everything away with no hesitation. His feelings were genuine, he truly, truly cared. He wasn’t lying. Slowly, he nodded, and Mat’s face lifted in a cautious smile. Was this… approval? Was this your father’s blessing? Your father slapped his hand on Mat’s back. “There’s something else I want to show you. C’mon, Mat.”
-----------
You sat alone on the porch with your little pile of shells, watching the rain pour down beyond the porch, watching the waves continue through the storm, always pushing and pulling despite the circumstances. And as you threaded shell after shell onto your little braided bracelet, you couldn’t help but let your mind wander. 
It was the summer of 2015, you were sitting on the passenger side of his dad’s car, the wind in your hair and OMI's 'Cheerleader' playing on the radio. You had just turned 17 and were trying to live your best life on the coast with your new friends, forgetting about any of your responsibilities and just chilling for this trip. You might have been getting involved in the wrong crowd, but you couldn’t care less. You had your friends, you had your newfound teenage freedom, and, most importantly, you had him.
When you first met him, at the beginning of the summer, he was new to your group of friends. But he immediately seemed to take a liking to you. 
“You’re different.” He would whisper in your ear as you sat around the campfire with your friends before breaking away from the group to go make out by the cliffs. “There’s just something about you.” He would say as his hands glided over your swimsuit under the water, hidden from your other friends eyes. He knew just the right words to say to have you sinking into him, giving in, And you were stupid to follow him.
In the back of your head, this party was a stupid idea, but it was summer, you were young, he was hot, you had to live your life. What was the worst that could happen?
Kyle was behind the wheel of his dad’s car- maybe he had taken it without his permission, maybe not, who knows?- his beachy blonde waves blowing in the breeze and his blue eyes sparkling behind dark sunglasses. His hand was on your thigh, he was always touching you in some way, but what you didn’t know was that you weren’t his only girl for the summer. He wasn’t trying to hide it, all the signs were there, but you were too carefree to notice. 
The car came to a stop and you both jumped out, locking arms around each other before running over to the steamy, crowded party atmosphere.
Really, what was the worst that could happen?
You were sitting there lamenting over your past, nursing a cup of coffee and staring out into the thunder and rain, fidgeting with the object closed in your fist when the door opened down the porch. And when you looked up, of course, you were met by the man himself, wearing a lightweight gray hoodie, the hood pulled up over his dark waves of hair. “Hey Y/N.”
“Mat.” 
There was a moment of silence, perhaps for your damaged friendship or perhaps for the growing feelings that neither of you believed were reciprocated, as you both stayed in place, not knowing what to do or say to the right things to make it better. You let the silence, the tension settle uncomfortably between the two of you as the rain pounded as heavily as your hearts. Mat stayed in place where he was standing at the doorway, not wanting to come any closer. Whether it was because he was upset and grossed out or something else, you couldn’t tell, but you needed the silence to end. “Mat, I’m so sorry about last night. I didn’t mean- I was just, I was drunk and I couldn’t think straight-”
“Hey, hey. No big deal.”
“No, it was so uncalled for, I-”
“Hey, (Y/N), I’ve had people kiss me while drunk before.” He gave you a reassuring smile, but something was missing. Something genuine. That sparkle was missing from his eye and the sunshine was missing from his smile.. Something had definitely changed. Something definitely wouldn’t go back to normal. “Seriously. It’s nothing.” He swore. Cross his heart. Something was definitely wrong, but you weren’t going to bring it up. If he was alright with moving past this, so were you. “You don’t have to feel bad at all.”
“Promise?”
 “Promise. Friends?” He stuck out his pinky for you. 
You smiled at the gesture that threw you back to your childhood and accepted it happily, despite the twinge of guilt and fear in your chest. “Yeah, friends.” 
“Good. I’m glad.” Mat smiled, taking a seat next to you, pretending everything was normal. “I like being friends with you.” He was shouting at himself in his head, this is so fake, so forced. But he would rather force the comfort than not have you in his life at all. And then the silence was back.
The silence was painful, filled with unspoken words- words you could never say aloud- and both of you knew. You weren’t sure if the rain was picking up or it had just become so overwhelming between the two of you that you were hyper fixating on the patter patter patter of raindrops against the porch roof. Friends. Friends. If this is what it's like to be Mat's friend, you could only wonder what it would be like to have him as your own, to be his, to hug him and kiss him and protect him and have him do the same to you.
“I, uhhh.” You glanced over to see Mat’s eyes already dead set on you, and you wondered if he had been staring the whole time. You were almost shy as you opened your fist to him. “I finished it.”
“Woah.”
"Yeah, you like it?" 
“I love it.” Mat took the bracelet with delicate fingers, as if afraid he was going to break it, and slid it onto his wrist gently. A perfect fit. "It's amazing. You're really talented. Seriously. " His eyes were unbelievably soft as he gazed at the pretty shells you had worked so hard to braid together for him. All for him, from you. “I’ll never take it off.” 
"Oh, never?"
"I'm dead serious." 
Your heart throbbed in your chest. The idea of him wearing this bracelet you had worked so hard on, even when plagued by the thought that maybe he wouldn't want to be friends at all anymore, just had you so overwhelmed. The idea of him wearing something you made for him, something so personal, as if it was there to constantly remind him of this summer, of you. Like it was a cute inside joke no one else would ever understand, made your heart ache. It was as if you were claiming him, as if he was claiming you as one of his best friends, one of the few people that got a glimpse into his private life. You were special.
“I’m serious.” He repeated. “Honest. I love it.” 
“Thank you, Mat.”
His arm fell heavily but gently across your shoulders as he tucked you closer into his body, and something about the weight of it against you was comforting, a reminder that he was still there no matter what and he would always be there no matter what. Mat was resilient, and no matter how much you wanted to push him away, he was here. He was your friend. Forever, and through anything.
"Hey," Mat broke the silence. "I have something for you, too." 
"Yeah?" 
"Consider it a late birthday gift."
"Mat, you've already gotten me so much-" 
"Ah, ah. Your dad actually found these. I'm just presenting them." Before you had a chance to ask or even wonder what it could be, Mat was pulling some flimsy rectangles from his hoodie pocket. 
"Are these...?"
"From that summer." Mat finished with a smile, letting you take them from his hands. 
"No way." 
There in your hands were photographs your parents took of you and Mat, ten and eleven years old. The two of you were standing close, Mat’s arm around your shoulders and squeezing you into his hug, both of your faces lit up with wide smiles. You were so close that summer and you weren’t sure how your parents dealt with the two of you. That picture captured a moment of childish joy and innocence- grinning brightly in mid laughter as you built your final sandcastle of the summer together. LIttle did you know, back then, but the next morning, you’d be leaving, leaving your summer-long friendship behind.  
“Look at us.” Mat’s voice was tender, gentle as he leaned in closer and you fingered through the pictures. “I can’t believe we were so small.”
“I can’t believe you still smile the same, Maty.”
He laughed at the nickname that threw him back to that first summer. He quieted down for a few moments as you flipped through the rest of the pictures, his fingers drumming softly on your arm. “I still can’t believe we found each other.”
“I know.”
You could hear your heartbeat pounding against your ribcage as Mat leaned in closer to look at the pictures with you. Your breath hitched in your throat and you stopped suddenly as one picture caught your attention- the family picture taken that year, with both your family and the Barzals posing together as friends. But what really stuck out to you was the way Mat’s face was pressed up against your cheek, in the most innocent, childish kiss you’ve ever seen. 
“Wow, look at that.” Mat chuckled a bit through his words, his eyes soft behind you. He didn’t remember kissing you at eleven years old, but seeing that picture brought sparks to his veins and had memories flooding back to his mind. It was you. You hadn’t just been his first crush, but his first kiss as well. “We’ve come pretty far, eh?” Your silence was almost painful to him, and he couldn’t help the way his face fell. Wrong thing to say, wrong thing to say, oh god oh god oh god.
“Yeah, we have.” 
He smiled again as your voice filled his ears. 
“Do you remember that place, Mat?” His eyes followed your finger as you traced the rocky cliffs in the background of the photo. Oh, did he remember. The little hidden beach, surrounded on three sides by rocky cliffs and sandy dunes and the little ocean inlet shallow and warm and perfect for swimming in, was a beautiful place that immediately brought back memories. You had first found that place on a family walk, and Mat had dared you to jump off the cliffs into the water with him. Of course you didn’t end up jumping, as neither of your parents let you out of their sight. 
“It’s our little hideaway.” 
“Yeah.” You sat in silence for a moment, in awe that you had such a private little place with him, and noticed how the rain was slowing down. “When it stops raining, do you want to walk there tonight?” 
“Absolutely. As much as I love your family, I’ve been dying to spend some time with my girl again.” 
My girl. My girl. My girl. Too much? 
But the smile on your face reassured him. “I wanna spend more time with you too, Mat.” You threw your arm around his shoulders in an act you thought was sweet, but regretted it and drew back your arm as soon as he let out a sharp hiss. “What’s wrong?” 
“Ah, nothing.” 
“You’re sunburnt, aren’t you?” 
“No, no, it’s not bad.”
“Mat, I told you you’d get burnt!” He was quiet, red faced, and you weren’t sure if all the red was from the burn or embarrassment. “Let me see.” 
“I’m fine.” 
“Mathew!” 
“I promise.” But you stood up, always just as stubborn as him, photographs in hand, and held your hand out to him. He looked up at you, amused. Oh what you did to him.
 “Come on. We’ll fix you up, dummy.” 
Mat laughed and shook his head before giving in, his palm sliding into yours and following you obediently back into the house. 
-------------
The rainclouds had finally cleared, though it was too late in the day to get any sunlight in, and instead the vast blanket of stars were already beginning to twinkle overhead when you and Mathew headed out after the family dinner. 
“Mat, look at all the stars tonight!”
“You still love them as much as always, yeah?”
“Of course!” 
Mat watched you, adoration evident in his eyes, as you gazed up at the sky in awe. He had to agree. There weren’t stars like this in the city, not even in his hometown. This little oceanfront town didn’t produce enough light to block out the beautiful heavens above. But, his eyes were still fixated on you, on the wonder in your eyes and the way you were so soft and amazing in everything you do. The moon could be falling, for all he cared, there could be a literal alien spaceship in front of them, but all he could see was you. “Beautiful.” 
“They look best after it storms, I think.” 
“Yeah?” Mat could do nothing but nod along, too lost in his own thoughts to find words to say. He hoped he didn’t seem too boring, but walking there, hand in hand with you and feet in the warm sand, his mind couldn’t help but wander. What if you loved me, (Y/N)?
“I think I wanna be a constellation when I die.”
“That’s-” Mat laughed a bit louder than he meant to at your sudden confession, and stumbled to pull himself back together. “That’s a little grim to talk about, isn’t it?” 
“I mean, I just think stars are so pretty, and I’d just love to be twinkling up there, looking down on people. Plus, I’m more of a night person anyway.” You smiled, and Mat’s heart fluttered in his chest. “What about you? If you were reincarnated as something? Maybe… ice? So you could live and die with hockey like you do right now?”
Mat didn’t even need to think for a second, he knew his answer immediately. Stars, stars, I’d lie in the stars with you, spend all eternity by your side. I’d drop hockey, all the wins and the trophies and the attention. I’d drop it all for you. “Yeah, that’d be pretty cool.” 
You walked, hand in hand, down the length of the beach, until you could no longer look back and see your house. Until houses no longer speckled the shore, and instead it was just you, Mat, the ocean and the stars, in your own little world. The shore rose beside you, and after walking around a little bend, you were suddenly hidden away in a little sandy inlet, rocky cliffs surrounding you on three sides, and the ocean, gentle and lapping on the other. 
“Here it is.”
“Looks the same as when we were young.” Your hand slipped out of his, just for a moment, to pull out your phone. “Smile, Mat.” His face lit up, not in one of the dazzling smiles you remember and loved so much, but a softer, gentler little smirk.
“Before and after pic, huh?”
“Yeah.”
For a few moments, his eyes gleamed in mischief, and you should’ve known what was coming.
“You know what? You still never jumped off the dock at the fishing spot with me. But I can think of something that would be even more fun.” You were about to ask what, but the smirk on his face as he glanced towards the cliffs and raised a hand to motion towards it should’ve told you that nothing innocent was coming. “Remember that dare?”
“Oh my god.” You laughed at the excited look on his face.
“Let’s jump off that rock.” 
“Are you the bad influence my parents always warned me about? Who asks if I’ll jump off a bridge with them?”
He laughed, loud and boisterous and bouncing around the sandy dunes and cliffs that hid you away from the rest of the world. “Maybe I am.” And then he stretched his arms above his head and tossed his shirt to the sand, the muscles of his now bare chest and shoulders shining in the pale moonlight, watching with a giddy smile as you looked him over with an incredulous laugh. He took a few strides back towards the rocks, giving you an enticing smirk and luring you out to him like a siren with his song. “So? You coming in or what?” You should’ve turned back right there; you should’ve recognized the signs and listened to your head rather than your heart, your hormones, and turned back to shore and ran, left him here alone instead of stepping over this boundary- scratch that, fucking barrelling through this boundary like it was a race to finish- but you didn’t. You stayed. Worse yet, you stepped towards him, foolishly, blinded by that goddamn stupid smile. 
No, no, you really shouldn’t. But you were so fucked for him, for that smile, for that cocky little “gotcha” laugh that he always did when you followed him so blindly, without any hesitation. You were so in love. Fuck it.
“Unfortunately, Maty, I’d follow you anywhere.”
There was a rocky path leading from the sand up the side of the cliff, a natural staircase, or so it had seemed when you were younger and more imaginative. Mat grabbed your hand to help you up, his palm big and heavy against your own, and you couldn’t help but wonder how you used to make it up here as children. 
At the top, your eyes met the most beautiful sight, and, for once, it wasn’t just the man standing next to you. The moon had risen over the ocean, casting its cool glow across miles and miles of water. The water was dark and blue and lapping gently at the pool below you, and the air was still warm, though the rocks beneath your feet were finally cooling off. You both watched in silence for a few moments, taking in all the beauty of the scene before you and forgetting all about his hand in yours. 
“It’s certainly a lot smaller than I remember.” It was true, the rock definitely wasn’t as high as you pictured it to be. It was a high cliff, sure, but standing atop it was much less intimidating than facing your feelings for Mat. 
“Yeah, well, you were a lot smaller eleven years ago too.”
He snickered, his hand squeezing yours, perhaps subconsciously, or maybe in realization, he’d still been holding it. But he still didn’t let go, and neither did you. His face was warm, not that you’d ever notice, not in the dark. “Well, you’re about the same size.”
“Mat! Not true!”
“Yeah, it is.” He pulled you against his side like he always did in a little half-hug and laughed that beautiful laugh of his. After a few more moments of smiling silence, Mat hummed in thought. “Ya know what? I know what would make this jump a lot more fun.”
“Yeah, what’s that?”
“Skinny dipping.” 
Your heart almost stopped when the words passed his lips. You hesitated to respond, laughing a little bit. “No, you’re not serious.”
“Yeah, I mean, no one can see us out here. There are no houses nearby. Only us.” It was tempting, so, so tempting, and Mat could tell you were right on the edge of saying yes. You were. “Listen, I’ll stay far away from you the whole time and I won’t even look at you, I promise. But we’re leaving soon, we'll probably never get another chance at this exact spot, and we’re twenty-one, twenty-two, let’s do something reckless. Let’s be stupid together. Yeah?”
You bit your lip, and Mat would never admit to you how much you turned him on at that moment alone, but he stored that image away for later tonight. You were considering it, but both you and Mat already knew you had made up your mind long ago.  
“Sure.”
“Yeah?”
You laughed, the excitement of doing something so scandalous and dangerous and intimate with him finally settling in. Mat smiled back at you, you both laughed and looked at each other with complete reckless abandon. There was nothing else to lose after this. Easily every shred of friendship would be gone. You couldn’t be just friends anymore. “Let’s be reckless.”
“Let’s go, baby!” 
“You first, though.” You stepped away from him and motioned towards his shorts, your heart pounding and cheeks hot. The smile on his face should’ve warned you that he wasn’t playing around here, but for some reason, you were still shocked at what he did next.
“Alright, fine.” You could feel a slickness between your thighs as he hooked his fingers in the waistband of his shorts and smirked as he shimmied them down, making a great show of swaying his hips and biting his lip, trying and succeeding to be as sexy as possible. And though you jokingly laughed and pleaded for him to stop, the dull ache in your core only worsened when you caught just a glimpse of what lay beneath the fabric, at the end of that V shape in his hips. Your eyes shot up to the sky, your face red hot and shy when he lifted his swim trunks as proof and flung them towards your feet. 
“Ew, Mat!”
“Come on, your turn!” Your heart pounded and you couldn’t help the wave of self-consciousness. But Mat’s smile was addictive, and he made you so comfortable, comfortable enough to have you pulling Mat's hoodie over your head, letting it fall by your ankles and leaving you in your bikini.
“Turn around, Mat.” 
He raised his hands in surrender and smiled as he turned, and you couldn’t help but glance- for just one second- down at his toned thighs and ass. Wow…. “I know you’re staring, y/n/n.” 
“Wha- no!” 
“I don’t mind, babe. Look wherever you want. I'm all yours.” And his body shook with laughter as you undid the string of your top and slipped out of your bottoms and tossed the fabric towards his feet. You could see him do a double-take at the sight, as if he didn't believe you were serious about skinny dipping, but you couldn’t bring yourself to laugh, to busy marveling at his physique, the dark swoop of hair he kept running his hand through- a nervous habit you’d recognized as far back as 2008- the muscles of his back and shoulders, the dip at the small of his back, his toned ass, his thighs... He wasn’t even looking at you, but there was something about how you were so bare, so vulnerable, so close to him. Just the idea of his body and yours being so close and so primal, so exposed, and about to take this leap… something was stirring up a fire, a fire you'd put out later. Your fingers slipped down between your thighs momentarily, marveling at how hot Mat made you before they wiped hastily on your thigh and you stored those memories away for later that night. Your other hand curled into Mat’s again, and his fingers squeezed around yours at the contact, as if it was the most natural thing to do. The only thing against his body, besides your own skin, was the bracelet you had put all your love and energy into, all for him, and now you were standing on the edge, taking a final breath. About to jump. About to fall with him as hard as you’d already fallen for him.  
“You ready, Maty?”
“I think I should be asking you, pretty girl.” 
You hesitated, still a little nervous, trying to build up that excitement. “Countdown?” 
“Course. After three. Say it with me?”
“Okay." Your thumb smoothed over his hand, tightening your grip. "Three.”
“Two.” He squeezed back.
“One.” 
Mat gave a final, devilish smirk as he whispered “Jump.” and, with one of his iconic howls, your feet were off the ground. 
You felt so free, so vulnerable, so exposed, falling naked through the cool air, hands clammy and grasped against each other, shrieking in excitement and adventure. You had bared yourself to Mat, you had stripped yourself of any fears and leaped with him, as if each article of clothing that hit the ground was another shedded insecurity, another forgotten reason for hesitation. You’d pushed the boundaries until they couldn’t go any further, then said “fuck it” and tore the boundary away. There was a brief moment of fear as you hit the cold water, but the moment you resurfaced with a gasp to see Mat’s smiling face, his hair dark and saturated, dripping into his eyes, you couldn’t help but laugh. 
You'd done it.
"Wow!"
“Right?” 
Your combined laughter filled the little inlet with squeals of glee as you splashed around with Mat. It wasn’t too deep, but deep enough that your feet couldn’t touch the bottom, and you instinctively gravitated towards Mat. You moved closer toward him, maybe subconsciously, as if your body craved his more than your mind would ever be able to comprehend. As if you were pulled to him by some force you couldn't control, the same way you'd found each other after 10 years apart, how you'd found yourselves here again, so close, so opened up and bare before each other, even after you'd both thought you'd wrecked any chances. How you had found the sunshine in Mat's smile again, even after the rain. 
"Was it worth it?" 
"Absolutely!" 
The water was cold, goosebumps were popping up along your arms and legs, and across Mat’s as well. And as you drew closer to him and reached out for his wrist, dragging your hand from the bracelt he wore so proudly, up the length of his arm, his hands reached for yours as well, looking for a lifeline as his smooth voice reached your ears. 
“You cold?” 
You nodded and ran your hands across the tight muscles of his biceps, warm despite the chilly air, and flattening them against his chest before bringing them up, up, up behind his neck to tangle in his dark, wet hair. Your breath hitched in your throat when Mat's hands dipped under the water to your waist, leaving a bit of space between your bodies and honoring his promise from earlier to stay away, but asking permission with his eyes. His big hands squeezing your waist was making your mind spin, and you could barely stutter out a quiet: “You?”
“Nah. Feels fine for me.” He grinned, "But I can help you." He pulled you ever so slightly closer, slowly, slowly, until you were flush with each other, your bodies slick and wet and warm in the cool water, every crevice and curve fitting against each other like puzzle pieces. Mat’s blown eyes traced over your face, from your eyes, down to your lips, and leaned down, pressing his face against your shoulder and pulling you as close as possible, bringing a knee up to prop you against him. He opened his hot mouth along your skin, leaving wet kisses across your shoulder and up your neck. Your chest was pressed flush against his, your nipples poking out hard against his skin, your hands in his wet hair, his big hands engulfing your waist with his touch, his knee inserted between your thighs to keep you against him, floating, weightless, against him. “Let me help?”
And God, how you wanted him to help.
It seemed as if every part of you was touching. Your skin was hot and wet and the sound of the gentle lapping of water against your bodies and on the shore made everything feel like a dream. Even more euphoric, though, was the way Mat's eyes- dark and needy- found yours, in the way you'd always seen in your dreams. The way you'd only seen in your dreams. Until now.
And then, finally, your mouths.
Your mouths collided hot and needy, open and wet and the furthest thing from chaste, wanting to swallow each other up, to ease the aches you had tried to bury so deep in your bodies. You wanted to get so lost in him that you’d never come back, so lost in him that for the rest of time it’d only be you and Mat and the ocean. Weightless, naked, and hot. And he wanted to bury himself in you, hide away from the rest of the world for just this night. He’d been craving it all week. And what he’d been craving was more than sex, it was the affection, the intimacy, the closeness of being with you, entangled with you, so gentle but so needy, giving in completely and finally- finally- letting your hearts take control. His tongue was slippery and warm against yours, and it felt, for a moment, as if this was meant to be.
“I would treat you so much better than he did.” Mat’s mouth was hot and wild and messy against yours, breathing against you and moaning out his confession. “I would be so much better. I’d fucking cherish you.” 
“Mathew.”
“Fuck, I’d take such good care of you.” 
“Mat, I want you.”
 “Fuck,” He groaned against you, rocking his body against yours gently. Your hands burnt his skin wherever you touched, your nails dragging along smooth, wet skin and leaving angry red lines in their wake, dragging down his sides, over his hard abs, right to that one forbidden area. “I want you so bad, baby.”
There were no more words, only hot, aching silence as Mat held you against him. You were slick between your thighs, even under the water you could feel that familiar warmth, the tingling in your belly at the sound of his voice and the feeling of his face against yours, his nose pressed against your cheek as his lips ravaged yours, his tongue delving into the crevices of your mouth to taste you, to feel every part of you. His hands slid to your ass and pulled you as close as possible, molding your skin against his and gluing you to him with the passion. You could feel his desire, hard and swelling and needy between your bodies, and you wanted him. You wanted him more than anything. 
“Stop, stop, stop.” 
Mat, always concerned with you before anything else, pulled away, his eyes wide and worried, his hands dropping you back into the water, where you pushed yourself back as fast as you could, trying to catch your breath. “What?”
“We can’t.” 
He said nothing else, but nodded and stepped away from you, averting his eyes, his face hot and his head spinning. Fuck, he was still aching. But you took your chance to wade to shore and scramble up the rocks to collect your clothes and hide yourself again. You were shaking, trying to shake away the shame flooding through your body at what you just did. Fuck, fuck, fuck, why did you have to do that? Why did you do something that stupid? If last night didn’t ruin your friendship, tonight certainly did.
Mat was standing in the sand at the bottom of the cliff, turned away from you, trying to even out his breathing, and you brought his swim trunks down as a courtesy, the least you could do. “Thanks.” His voice was choked up, strained, and he cleared his throat and scratched the back of his neck before pulling them back on.
The walk home was silent, but not silent in the way that it had been earlier, comfortable and warm. There was no hand-holding, no smiles, no funny small talk. Only pain and heartbreak. Both your minds were struggling to process the last hour. Why had you decided to leave the house tonight? Why did you let yourself take it that far? How could you ruin something so amazing? How many chances would you give each other before giving up and never spoke again?
You almost ran up the porch into the house and to your bedroom, as Mat followed silently behind. Your bedroom door was already locked, you were already hidden beneath the covers, tears in your eyes and hands between your thighs with the thought of Mat paguing your mind, when Mat made it to his, glanced across the hallway at your door, and finally hid himself away.
He wished he didn’t feel this way, he wanted nothing more than to love you as a friend, but the same as every other night, Mat fell asleep with you floating through his mind. Only this time, it was more than your image. It was the smell of you, your burning touch, your sweet taste as your tongue danced against his own, imprinted on his brain, daring him to even try to think of another woman ever again. He bit his tongue as he jerked his desire desperately into his hand, holding back his moans and his cries as he spared one last thought to you before spilling out and letting the tears stream down his hot cheeks. 
And he fell asleep, sticky and shameful and, like always, thinking of you. 
85 notes · View notes