#so I’m gonna wait until Saturday the day after her last furniture gets here

[milkpretzels]

I just feel like, if I clearly stated “this is not my cat, I don’t think it’s fair to put the litter box next to my room when you have a second bedroom upstairs, closer to you, the cat owner” and then I come home and the litter box is directly across my door, closer than ever previously proposed, I have a right to be a little mad about my boundaries being disrespected

[truglori]

Homebody (Ch.12)

Summary: Amiyah is the younger sister of local drug dealer (Durkio). Shy and reserved she keeps to herself and stays out the way. But lately she began to find interest in his right hand man/ best friend (Erik Stevens). Wanting to get him to notice her she discovers that he already had her wrapped around his finger without even trying! There was only a few problems that kept her away from her fantasies , her brother that controlled almost every single breath she took and would kill anyone who looked at her that way and lastly Eriks girlfriend, Alexis , who they called the queen of the hood according to her lavish lifestyle as well as being with the next newest top boy in the making. While Alexis was his girl to the streets all Amiyah wanted to do was be his Homebody...

Pairing: Erik Stevens x Thick OC

Warning: Language, Smoking

1 1/2 months later

The music from Amiyah’s speaker played at a low level. She was currently in the process of setting up an organizer for her perfume collection. Going back in forth between the instructions on the manual and screwing in the tiny nails she was growing frustrated. It’s been almost and hour now and she was only able to put together two shelves. Throwing down the paper she stood up and slipped on her house shoes. Amiyah needed a break to keep herself from becoming irritated so she walked to the kitchen for a snack.

Keys unlocking the front door caught her attention. It was Durk walking in with another Louis Vuitton bag for the fourth time this week. Amiyah knitted her eyebrows together wondering what was up with all of the shopping he’s been doing. She watched him walk to his to put away his items before he walked back into the livingroom.

“What’s up sis? You didn’t have to work today?” Durk asked pulling out his weed tray and breaking down the bud.

Amiyah walked over to him and sat down. “Nope I was just getting ready to make me some food but I’m too tired to cook.” Taking a pillow she cradled it in her lap.

He snickered rolling up his blunt. “I’ll order something for you if you want?”

Nodding her head Amiyah grabbed the remote to the tv and turned it on. She flipped through the channels hoping to find something to ease her mind for the moment. Durk leaned back next to her sparking up the blunt. Amiyah watched him inhale and exhale the smoke through his nose. Reaching her hand out she made a gesture asking for a hit.

“You know damn well you don’t smoke.” He removed the blunt from his mouth but handed it to her anyway. Durk figured it would be funny to see her try to get high for the first time.

Amiyah grabbed it using her nail tips she took a pull and inhaled the smoke smoothly and blew it out. She did it a few times and then she passed it back.

Durk furrowed his brows looking surprise before sending her a blank stare. “Miyah who the hell taught you how to do that?” He asked gently snatching the blunt away from her.

She laughed and was about to say his name before she caught herself. Shrugging her shoulders her eyes fell to the floor. The grip on her pillow tightened against her chest. Her memory went back to the night she watched how Erik did his technique in the car and she copied him. The thought of him made her sad all over again. Amiyah would always do good until she did something that reminded her of him then she would get a strong feeling of emotions that washed over her.

It’s been over a month since she last seen him. Since the night she ended it with him to be exact. After that it was like he never existed. No more phone calls or text messages. He hasn’t even been by the apartment since then either. Before, if she saw her brother coming in she knew that Erik would be right there behind him with his beautiful smirk on his face that displayed his dimples. But there’s been nothing and it made her miserable inside.

Amiyah didn’t want to be the reason for him to not come over anymore. She was used to seeing his face almost every other day and to see that it changed because of her made her upset with herself. Not only that, because of his absence, Amiyah didn’t know if Erik and her brother were still good friends. Durk had mentioned his in a conversation a week after their last exchange and that was the last time. Amiyah was worried about him. She wanted to know how he was doing but mostly she wanted to have a second chance with him.

“Yo what you got a taste for?” Durk snapped her out of her thoughts.

“Uh it doesn’t matter. Whatever you order.” She sighed sitting the pillow next to her.

He nodded his head as he finished his blunt putting it in his ashtray. A text notification came to his phone. Amiyah heard him curse before messaging whoever it was back.

“What’s wrong?”

“Just going back and forth with this promoter about letting me throw a bash at the club for the night. You know with Valentines Day coming up on Saturday.” Durk answered staying on his phone.

Amiyah knitted her brows. “Why you tryna throw a bash? Why not just get VIP and call it a night?” She asked confused leaning her head on her hand.

Durk smacked his lips. “Because I’m doing this for the whole hood. Plus it’s a celebration for something else that I’m not telling yo nosy ass about. But I’m have my niggas to the right and nothing but bad bitches to the left. It’s bout to be a movie.” He playfully plucked her nose before getting up going into the kitchen.

Amiyah followed after she heard who he planned to have there. Erik popped into her head. She wanted to know if he was going to be one of the members in the group. She had to know so she figured she could ask for an invite.

“Well can I go?” She sat on the counter next to him.

Durk chuckled. “Since when you go to parties?”

“Since now. So can I come?” Folding her arms she pressed for the second time.

“No. Amiyah I’m not allowing you around these people. You know I don’t like you being around that type of shit anyway.” He stated while eating grapes from out of the package.

Amiyah scoffed. “ ‘Allow’? Durk I thought we just made up about this. You promised you would stop treating me like a baby and let me live and learn responsibility. That was what you told me, remember?”

After her and Erik’s first argument she had him take her home. Later that night Durk came back to find her there. He was happy that she decided to come back and they talked out their problems. Amiyah told him how she felt about him treating her like a child and how he had to stop. Durk was hesitant but agreed in letting her make her own choices from now on to help her become responsible.

Placing the bag of fruit on the table Durk eyed his sister folding his arms as well. He shook his head as he gave in.

“Damn alright you can go but yo ass is standing beside me the whole night. I’m not playing with you Amiyah.”

Interrupting him Amiyah hopped off the counter jumping up and down clapping her hands. She skipped up to him and wrapped her arms around his body giving him a bear hug.

“Thank you big brother!” She grabbed his face bringing it down to kiss his cheek.

“Miyah stop acting like I keep yo ass chained up in this house all day ‘fore I change my mind. Extra ass.” He pushed her away.

“Okay I have to get an outfit, my nails done. Can I bring Kelly? Who’s all going to be there?” She rushed him with questions.

“I guess you can bring the one and only lil friend you got.” He laughed.

Amiyah pushed his shoulder. “Okay but who’s gonna be there?” She asked hoping to get the answer she was anticipating for.

He shrugged. “I don’t know shit Moe, Erik, Cane, and a few other people I rock with.”

Her heart stopped when she heard Erik’s name. But when she heard Cane’s she felt her stomach flutter with nerves. How the hell did her brother know Cane? It was too much for her to catch up with the fact that two of the guys in his circle had her caught up. If they were both planning on being at the bash then Amiyah would try her best to avoid being around them at the same time.

“Cool!” She gave a half smile.

Durk snapped his fingers. “Oh I’ve been meaning to ask you. Your birthday coming up in a few weeks. Got any plans?”

“No not really. Why?” She stepped closer trying to figure out what he had planned.

“If you down I was thinking outta the country and a place that has dazzling white sand and water so clear that you can see your toes in it. What you think about that?” He asked speaking in a narrator tone.

Amiyah covered her mouth. “Please tell me you’re talking about what I think you’re talking about?”

Durk laughed at her reaction. “You tryna go to Turks and Caicos or what?”

Amiyah jumped on him as he caught her. Turks and Caicos was one of her top places she had on her traveling bucket list. She couldn’t believe that he was able to make this happen for her. She was truly greaful but curious.

“Wait I want to go but why you trying to bring me now? You coming up on here with shopping bags every other day and now you taking me on vacation. I mean I know you got money and everything but did you win the lottery or something?” She asked playfully unable to contain her smile.

He laughed. “You asking too many questions. Next week I’ll give you some money so you can start shopping for the trip. But right now I got to go check out the venue I’ll be back. Love you kid.” He tapped her head before leaving.

Amiyah smiled watching her brother disappear out the door.

__________________________________

“So you tryna tell me you never saw the movie Soul Food?” Harmony stopped in the middle of crocheting her blanket.

Erik chuckled shaking his head. “Nah I told you I wasn’t a big movie watcher growing up.”

“But Soul Food is a classic though. Like how you do as a black person go your whole life without watching it? Make it make sense Erik?” She giggled going back to her knitting.

“Damn you ain’t gotta come for my childhood like that though.” He sat up on her furniture.

“Oh that’s right I keep forgetting your younger than me so I understand.”

Erik rolled his eyes shaking his head. He was 25 and she was 26. Harmony only had him by one year and always had to bring it up almost every time they got together. But Erik knew it was nothing but jokes with her. They were at her duplex hanging out for the afternoon. Over the past couple of weeks Erik got acquainted with Harmony really well. Her and her brother took over the bar where she worked that her parents passed down to them. She lived right around the block from him. But also they had a lot in common. Both were private people, had similar taste in music, like the same foods, and the lastly great at being single.

Harmony surprised him the first time they had a real deep conversation. She let him know that she wasn’t too bothered with trying to get into a relationship. She said she always had problems in the past so she never did much to try to strive for a new one, but she did remain open minded in the same instance. To Erik she was cool about it and didn’t really bring it up unless he spoke on the subject. They were only friends but they did mess around two or three times, if you want to count a quickie in the bathroom of the bar that she worked at as once.

Their escapades started two weeks ago. Erik thought for sure that he was going to have to deal with her sudden clingy-ness but it didn’t turn out like that. He had to reach out to her afterwards and Harmony told him that she was okay with being friends and fucking at the same time. After that they became somewhat close friends.

Erik got a text from Durk asking to meet up with him about the Valentines Day bash he was throwing. Sending a text back that he was on the way he slipped his phone in his pocket and stood up from the couch.

“I would love to stay but I gotta meet up with someone.” He looked down at her.

Harmony stood up nodding her head. “I’ll walk you out.”

Walking to the door Erik turned around. “Listen my mans is throwing this party on Saturday. If you want to come you can if you free.” He sucked in his top lip.

Harmony smirked biting her bottom one. She stepped closer towards him with a hand on her hip. “You tryna introduce me to your boys already?”

He glanced back in her house before back at her. “I’m just inviting you out to have a good time but if you happened to meet them while doing so then shit yeah.”

Grabbing his shirt she pulled him down to her level and kissed him. Erik wrapped one of his free arms around her tiny waist and traveled down her back to her ass cheeks gripping her left one. He felt her moan into his mouth before she broke the kiss.

Wiping the gloss from his lips she pushed him away and smirked. “I’ll be there.” She stated eyeing him up and down and then closed her door on him.

It took Erik twenty minutes to make it to the auto garage. Getting out and locking his car he headed inside to see Durk, Moe, and Cane gathered around one of the vehicles parked inside. The moment Erik made eye contact with Cane he felt the anger within him ignite. Just being in his presence always made Erik put the blame on him for how things between him and Amiyah ended. When he found out that he took her on a date behind his back Erik was heated and wanted to fuck him up but had to hold off because he didn’t want Durk to know the reason behind it but when Amiyah told him that he kissed her Erik was livid. He couldn’t believe that the same kid who he thought he would like was the same one who turned out to be a snake.

Erik kept his distance from Cane since he put the two and two together and kept it that way. They never said a word to each other unless they had to work with Durk. Strictly for business and that’s all. But Erik was still on edge with Cane knowing about him and Amiyah even though they weren’t together anymore, he just didn’t like the fact that the little nigga had something on him.

Walking up to the trio Erik dapped Mor and Durk, purposefully leaving Cane out. Durk gave a look wondering what was the animosity that the two had against each other all of a sudden before shaking it off.

“What’s up E! Fuck you been at nigga?” Durk asked leaning on the hood of the truck.

“Chillin. So what’s going on with this party you throwing? What’s up with that?” Erik stood next to him between him and Moe.

Durk smirked and paused looking at them. “I just figured I could celebrate the fact that I’m fifteen million dollars richer than a bitch and now in business with Shawns old connect.”

“Damn nigga you finally made that shit happen. Now you could put me in charge of some of these corners, take some of the load of your hands.” Cane spoke with excitement as he dapped him up.

Durk laughed. “Nigga you gonna have to earn that shit. Ain’t nothing given over here.” He nudged him back.

Cane smacked his lips shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Aye congrats man.” Moe spoke up.

Durk saluted him before turning to Erik.

“Erik what you think about that? You know when we get our first few keys I’ma need some help. I want you to be my partner.”

“Nah. I’m not tryna get into this type of business man. I told you after this last job we just did three weeks ago was it for me. I’m done.” Erik spoke truthfully.

Durk shook his head. “Well you didn’t look done to me when we was getting that money.”

*Three Weeks Ago*

Moe sat behind the wheel of the all blacked out SUV. Erik rested in the passenger seat while Durk and Cane hid in the back. Parked at least 200 ft away from the small luxurious house with a fence surrounding the perimeter. Erik used his binoculars to find where his target and accomplice were. It was eight at night and Alexis sent Durk a text letting them know that the two of them would be leaving soon. She informed them about the weekend trip he was bringing her on and told them that it would be better for them to come and get the money after they were gone.

Erik heard an irritated sigh leave out of Canes mouth.

“When these muthafuckas gon leave? I’m tryna get these M’s and be out. We already looking suspicious being in this big ass car.” He sucked his teeth putting on his black gloves.

“Nigga would you shut the fuck up. Yo ass been talking for the past ten minutes.” Durk blew out smoke from his blunt.

“Look she said they was gonna be out any minute now so chill the fuck out!” Erik’s voice heightened without looking back.

Within the next fifteen minutes Alexis was walking out with Shawn. They put their luggage in the trunk before hopping inside the car. After a few minutes of observing them Erik watched as they pulled out the gated driveway and down the road. Durk waited until he got a text from Alexis letting him know that they were on the highway heading to the airport. Moe turned on the truck and pulled up right in front of the house to make it easier to getaway. Getting out Erik, Durk, and Cane put on their gloves and ski mask on their heads so that by the time they would walk inside the home they could pull them down to avoid any security cameras.

“Y’all niggas know the fucking drill. We get the money and we out this bitch. Cane grab the duffles.” Durk instructed as he put his glock on his waist.

Erik watched as Cane did was he was told. His expression was irritated by the fact that he had to take orders which Erik figured he wasn’t to doing. Cane had the attitude of trying to be a leader but he just didn’t know how to operate as one yet. Erik picked up his own duffle and walked to the driver side where Moe was seated.

“You remember the signal right? Hit the lock alarm on the truck in a pattern of three times if you feel like something’s wrong.”

“But Durk said not to interrupt unless I actually see someone coming.” Moe stated unsure.

Looking over towards Durk and Cane who were waiting Erik shook his head turning back to Moe. “Trust me man. If you feel like something is wrong give us a heads up. Better safe and out of jail than sorry. Got it?” Erik knitted his eyebrows letting him know that he was serious.

Moe nodded and rolled up his window. Erik then started to hike towards the gate. Entering the code that was given to him he put it in watching the wide gates open slowly. They headed towards the house. Checking around the perimeter of the area, they planned to avoid using the front door. So they asked Alexis to leave one of her side doors unlocked. Cane walked towards it first and wiggled the handle. When the door popped up with ease he looked back and smiled before sliding his mask over his face. Durk and Erik did the same following him inside.

The three pair of eyes wandered around in amaze as the toured throughout the luxurious mini mansion. Erik shook his head as he thought about how Alexis didn’t have a problem risking living like this just to satisfy her selfish needs. She had everything that she ever wanted. Money, cars, the latest fashion, and her hair and nails were always in tip top shape.

Not only that but this house that she could live in full time if she chose to. From the way she would tell them how Shawn was stuck on stupid over her let Erik know that the nigga loved her enough to put up with her and her how shit. There was no way that he was going around town not knowing what his own fiancée was doing. He had to know but just to stupid in love to do anything about it. Erik scoffed to himself never wanting to be that deep in love with someone.

“Aye y’all niggas come up here! I think I got something.” Cane shouted from the top of the banister on the second floor.

Jogging up the stairs, Erik behind Durk, went into the master bedroom. They looked around trying to see why he called them in there.

“Nigga what are we supposed to be looking at?” Durk asked through his mask.

“That’s what I thought when I came in here at first. Nothing looks out of the ordinary but check this out. This some rich shit here.” Going over to the walk in closet Cane pushed aside some of Shawns suits that was hanging up revealing a small red button. When he clicked it the wall slid to the side disappearing.

“You gotta be fuckin kidding me.” Erik whispered to himself.

It was a panic room. Inside the blue neon lit medium sized room was guns holstered against the wall. The ammo inside their cases sat to the side. Erik looked to the right to find that there was some of Shawn’s famous ice pieces laid out on a shelf. All of his most prized possessions was in this room and they had access to all of it. But Erik wasn’t here for that. They had a mission and that was to try and walk out with as much of that money as they can.

“Fuck y’all niggas doing standing around. Get to bagging this shit up.” Durk laughed unzipping his duffel bags.

The money was in a clear casing directly in the middle of the room. It was too much cash to try and fit it all in one duffel bag so they all got three each but it still didn’t look like it would work. Working as fast as they could they were starting to run out of room.

“Durk we don’t have enough bags for this shit.” Cane told him standing up.

Durk looked up at him while placing the stacks in his bags. “So then go run ya ass down to the truck dump it out and come back in here for the rest.” Erik could see that Cane looked confused through his mask. “Now!” Durk yelled.

After the repeated cycle of going back and forth it took them fifteen minutes to gather all of the money. Durk grabbed what he had left and went to the car while Erik and Cane got the rest. To Erik’s surprise everything was going smooth until he seen Cane reach for Shawns jewelry. He knew that it was a bad idea but decided not to say anything. That would be the consequences that Cane would have to deal with and not him.

The sound of the car alarm went off and they immediately ran out of the room and out the house. Throwing the bags in the back Erik hopped back into the car. Moe pulled off once they were safely in. Pulling off his mask he felt Durk slap his shoulder and laughing in celebration as if he just won the lottery.

“With all this money right here. Mufuckas gon be calling me the black Pablo Escobar because I’m bout to take over all of this shit.” Durk laughed smelling the cash.

Erik shook his head. He was glad that it was finally over but deep down inside him he had a terrible feeling that it was the worst decision he ever made.

*Flashback Over*

Erik folded his arms as he jogged his memory of the prior event.“I’ll have to think about it. This some serious shit you asking me Durk. Next level shit.”

Durk smacked his lips. “You always gotta think about some shit instead of doing it. But anyways, I’m doing a lil bash and I want y’all niggas to be there.”

Everyone shook their head agreeing.

“It’s gonna be some bad bitches in there right? I might have to throw on my best walking up in that bitch.” Cane joked around showing off his new Patek Philippe watch.

“I don’t know why you asking. They ain’t gon be worried about ya young broke ass with that pond shop watch you got on.” Durk clowned him rolling his eyes.

Erik smirked watching Cane dismiss him with a wave of his hand. “I’ll be there and I’ma bring a plus one. That’s cool?” Erik asked dapping him up. He seen Cane looking confused at him out the corner of his eye.

“So you done found someone else to get ya dick wet? I thought you was gonna be stuck on that bitch Alexis for a minute.” Durk teased him smiling.

“Fuck you worried about my dick for? Gay ass!” Erik laughed pushing him. “Nah she just a friend. I met her at this bar she work at down from my place. She real cool.” He smiled thinking about Harmony.

“Well I’ll be the judge of that when I meet her. I’ll see you on Saturday.”

The two dapped each other up with a side hug and departed from one another.

__________________________

“You sure your brother ain’t gonna have a problem with you putting on that outfit for tonight.” Kelley question Amiyah as she pulled down the front of her dress.

It was finally Saturday night. The night of the Valentine’s Day bash and it was fifteen minutes after nine. They were running late. Durk had told her make it before that time so that she would be let inside without any complications but of course she didn’t listen. Amiyah was stuck choosing between dresses as the time went by. After finding out that Erik was going to be there she wanted to look her best. She hadn’t seen him in a month and she was going to try and impress him some how.

“Why? Do I look okay? Does it fit my body right?” She rambled the questions as she tried to take off the fifth dress for the night.

Kelley rolled her eyes getting. She was already dressed and ready to pick her up by eight thirty but when she walked in Amiyah’s room she was still in her bra and panties.

“You look fine. I think that this is the one you should actually wear. You look beautiful.” She rested her chin on her opened shoulder giving her a soft smile.

Amiyah glanced at her appearance in her body length mirror. She tugged at the pink tie-dye fashion nova Rustic Root Ruched Mini Dress. Her shoulders were out in the open and her cleavage on full display. She knew that there was no way she would be around her brother tonight. Knowing him he would try to send her back home to change and embarrass her in front of everyone. Amiyah blew out air of frustration while throwing her head back.

“Your not just saying that because I’m taking too long are you?” She squinted her eyes at Kelley.

Kelley giggled. “Yes I am but it do look good now let’s hurry up and go before we don’t get in at all.”

Finishing up her final touches Amiyah did a last sweep over her body before grabbing her coat and heading out with Kelley to her car. The club was a good twenty minutes away but with there barely being any cars out tonight they made it in fifteen. Pulling up to the location Kelley and Amiyah both whispered a “damn” at the scene in front of them.

“Your brother wasn’t lying when he said that he was gon have the whole hood pop out.” Kelley exclaimed as she fortunately found parking.

“I guess he wasn’t.” Amiyah whispered to herself. She was starting to feel self conscious about her choice of clothing all over again. The expression was written on her face.

“Listen let me tell you this. We are about to go up in here and have the best night of our lives. We gon dance, diss any niggas that try to step to us, drink, and get fucked up. Don’t worry about what other people think. They already have an idea of you in their head so why stress yourself trying to change it. Fuck what they think.” Kelley lectured while applying her lip gloss.

Amiyah giggled nodding her head. Her confidence level going up just a bit from the pep talk. She answered her back with a “thank you” as they got out the car. Walking hand and hand, they walked to the front of the line. The music blasting on the inside was clearly audible on the out. Sounds of people complaining could be heard when they reached the bouncer.

“I hate to be the one to tell you beautiful ladies but the end of the line is down there.” The tall and buff light skinned bouncer pointed in the direction.

“Oh see we’re with her brother, the one who’s supposed to be hosting the bash, Durk.” Kelley spoke for them.

He raised an eyebrow looking back and forth between them. “Y’all with Durk?”

They nodded in unison while smiling.

“Yeah well you and everyone else. Now get to the back of my line.” His face stern and unfazed.

“Wait Durk is my brother and he told me to be here early but I was running late. Can you just let us in and I’ll bring him back out here to confirm it.” Amiyah pleaded with her hands folded.

“Girl you not the first one that claimed to be some type of family member of his to get in free. Besides I ain’t never heard about Durk having no sister.” The bouncer eyed her up and down with disbelief.

Amiyah sighed. She didn’t even bother to try and call him because she knew that he wouldn’t be able to hear it over the loud music. She gave Kelley an apologetic look as they started to walked to the end but the sound of someone calling her name stopped her.

“Amiyah?”

Turning around she saw Cane walking up to the front. He was wearing a white Christian Dior newspaper denim jean jacket. Underneath was a plain black Dior shirt and black washed jeans to match. Inhaling a sharp breath, Amiyah forgot about him being one of those included.

“Hey Cane. What are you doing here?” She replied softly. She was embarrassed being seen walking to the back of the line.

“I’m here for the party. Why you not inside?” He asked with a smile.

“The bouncer won’t let us in. He thinks we’re just tryna cut the line.” She shrugged rolling her eyes at the security guy.

Cane laughed catching her action. “Do you not know who the host is to this shit? Your brother, that nigga should be escorting you in.”

Amiyah laughed shaking her head.

“Come on. I got y’all.”

Kelley smirked at her as they folded their arms together walking back to the front. They stood next to Cane watching him speak to the guy.

“Yo Diamond, they with me and this is Durk lil sis. Remember her face and think twice next time before you try and keep her from getting in. Got it?” Cane tapped his shoulder creating space for them to walk pass.

“I got it.” The bouncer mumbled letting them by.

When they made it in it was packed to the max in the venue. There was beautiful women and fine men all through the place. Pop Smokes- Hello bombed through the speakers. Bottle girls danced while holding up Don Julio 1942’s and sparklers in the air. Amiyah was impressed with the turn out. She reached for Kelley as they both of their lips curled up with excitement.

“We bout to be lit as fuck.” Kelley yelled over the music.

Feeling a tap on her shoulder she turned to face Cane. His eyes traveling over her body made her stomach fill up with nerves. “Yeah?”

“VIP is up there. I think your brother would want you to be there.” Cane licked his lips. His eyes couldn’t stop going below her face.

Amiyah nodded. “Okay.” She grabbed Kelley’s hand as he led the way up the stairs.

Spotting her brother, Durk had different girls surrounding him. One was twerking on him while the other two recorded and took shots from the tequila bottles. Amiyah rolled her eyes at the sight. Walking over to him she patted his shoulder trying to get his attention.

“Can I help you?” He snapped his head at her.

Amiyah chuckled noticing he was tipsy but also that he didn’t even recognize her. “Really Derrick you don’t even know your own sister?” She folded her arms.

Pushing the girl who was dancing on him out the way he faced her looking over her. Durks face contorted up confused at her outfit.

“Who are you? Because I know Amiyah ass ain’t come out the house like that-“

“Don’t start Durk you promise.” She cut him off reminding him.

He took off his jacket and pushed it towards her. “Here at least put this on.”

Amiyah laughed pushing it away. “I left mine in the car for a reason. Leave me alone.” She started to walk away but felt him grab her wrist.

“Unh uh I didn’t forget. I told you you was going to stay beside me all night, so have fun.” He went back to letting the girls dance on him.

Kelley looked at him with disgust before turning to her friend. “I’m about to get us a drink from the bar. I’ll be back...maybe.” She stated the last part lowly but Amiyah heard it. She watched her leave the VIP section.

Opening up one of the 1942’s that was on the table Amiyah figured she could get her drink on right here. Tilting her head back she allowed the liquor to go down her throat. She made a sour face shaking her head from the taste. She repeated it giving herself four shots. Amiyah wasn’t much of a drinker so it didn’t take much to get her tipsy. Standing on the couch next to her brother she rocked side to side rapping the lyrics along to the song.

“Amiyah sit ya light weight ass down.” Durk yelled drunkenly towards her.

She waved him off and continued to do her thing. From the way she was standing she had a view of whoever was going to come in the section. She thought it was the liquor playing tricks with her until she saw him take more steps coming up. He was dressed in a two tone knitted Givenchy sweater with black jeans. The blinging from his watch and gold chains around his neck caught her eyes. When he smiled he revealed the gold canines in his mouth. His beard looking freshly moisturized and his waves on swim. His eyes were low which told her that he probably smoke a couple of blunts before coming inside. He looked so good.

Amiyah watched as he greeted everyone in the section with salutes and daps before walking up to her brother who was seated next to her.

“Nigga why the fuck you got to come up here and show me out for my shit?” Durk yelled playfully standing up and boxing him.

Amiyah watched as they interacted with each other. At least her question from earlier was answered. They look like they were still best friends.

“Come on man, this light work.” His voice coming out as smooth as butter.

“Yeah whatever nigga.” Durk turned towards her making her status known. “Miyah you not gon say what’s up to Erik?”

When she heard his name she got butterflies in her stomach. It was like it was her first time meeting him all over again. After a month of not seeing him nothing had changed. Her feelings for him never fading but only enhancing the minute she saw him.

“Hey Erik.” She smiled softly putting the bottle that was in her hand down and stepped off the seat.

Erik nodded his head towards her. “What’s good!” He stated nonchalantly. Amiyah couldn’t deny that she was hurt from the tone in his voice. He didn’t even smile at her, only just a nod. But yet they kept eye contact with each other.

“So where she at? I’m trying to meet this “friend”.” Durk asked doing the quotation marks with his fingers.

Amiyah stood to the side confused hearing her brother over the loud music. She didn’t realize that there was a small petite woman standing somewhat behind Erik until her brother mentioned the word ‘she’. She watched as Erik held her hand pulling her in front of him. His arms wrapped around her waist pulling her into him as he rocked them side to side lightly.

“This is my friend Harmony. Harmony this is my best friend and brother Durk.” Erik smiled introducing them. Amiyah felt a sting when he didn’t even bother to introduce her.

She laughed holding her hand out to shake his. “Hi it’s nice to finally meet you. I heard a lot about you Durk.”

Amiyah observed Harmony. She was beautiful. Nice brown skin complexion, pretty hair that looked natural like it was hers, her outfit hugged her coke bottle shape. She had the perfect breast to hips and ass ratio. Her waist barely existing. Amiyah took note of everything. Everything that she dreamed to be but wasn’t. Sadness clouded over her face as she watched them embrace each other.

“Well I hope he told you only good things. But fuck all that you are beautiful ma. I don’t know how you ended up with this ugly ass nigga.” Durk joked around.

Erik gave him a straight face before laughing. “Fuck outta here. So what’s up where the drinks at? You know I need my shit.”

Durk nodded his head going to the table and grabbed his personal bottle of Hennessy and handing it to him. “Drink up!”

Amiyah watched him crack open his bottle and drunk it down like it was water. The little action reminding her of the time when she was at his condo and how he sipped on the bitter drink before showing her the crazy things he could do with his tongue. Amiyah bit her inner cheek grabbing her own bottle and throwing it back two more times.

“Damn girl you can drink.” She heard a light voice laugh. Turning her head while wiping her mouth she saw that it was Harmony.

Amiyah smiled shyly. “I’m just tryna turn up while I can.” Her words a little slurred.

“I’m Harmony. I came with Erik.” Harmony held her hand out again.

Amiyah glanced at it quickly before shaking it. “Amiyah.”

“That’s a pretty name. Are you Durks girl?” She asked genuinely.

Amiyah scrunched her face up doing a fake puke. “Uh no that’s my brother. I came here with him and my friend who’s somewhere around here.”

Harmony laughed holding her fist up to her mouth. She shook her head. “I’m sorry I just saw you standing up here next to him that’s all. Erik didn’t tell me he had a sister.”

“It’s okay.” Amiyah turned her direction towards Erik who was sipping on his bottle while listening to whatever Durk was telling him in his ear. Once again she was hurt when Harmony told her that she didn’t know about her.

For the rest of the night she remained in same spot. Babysitting the area. Kelley came back a few times trying to get her to sneak away but she didn’t want to. Her mood was ruined every time she would look in their direction to find Harmony grinding on Erik and him standing there catching what she was throwing. So she drunk her bottle and danced next to her brother who would wrap his arm over her shoulder as they rapped to whatever song was playing.

In the mist of the party Amiyah saw Erik whisper something to Harmony before getting up to leave the section. She figured she could use this chance to find him and talk to him. To see how he was doing. To get him to look at her the way he used to. Anything to be near him.

“I’m going to the bathroom.” Amiyah shouted to her brother who only nodded his head drinking out of her bottle.

Walking out the section she bumped and squeeze passed the bodies. She didn’t have a clue where he went. She thought she could catch up with him but with a crowd like the one that was in there tonight it was hopeless. Amiyah gave up trying to search for his frame over the party goers. She strolled to the back hall that held the bathrooms. Going inside the music level dimmed down making it easy to hear if someone was to have a conversation back here.

Dragging her fingers across the wall, her head stayed down not paying attention to what was in front of her causing her to bump into someone.

“Damn my bad.” His deep voice spoke lowly.

Looking up, it was Erik. His eyes were low and going over her body as he stroked his beard.

“It’s o-okay.” Her words becoming a stutter.

Erik nodded his head. She looked tipsy to him or maybe even drunk. He never seen her in this state so it was hard for him to decipher. But Erik knew that he couldn’t leave her alone like this. He wanted to make sure that she was okay.

“You good? You look a lil fucked up.” He spoke bluntly.

“I’m fine. I didn’t have that much.” Amiyah replied. She was tipsy but still was aware of what she was doing.

“I could wait until your finished in the bathroom. We could walk back together.” Erik shoved his hands in his pockets.

Amiyah leaned on the wall with her hands behind her back. “I don’t think your girlfriend would like the sight of us coming back at the same time.”

He smirked as his jaw clenched. “You worried about her when all I’m trying to do is make sure you make it back safe. I don’t want none of these weird ass niggas trying shit. But you thinking about Harmony.” He shook his head as he leaned against the other wall directly in front of her.

“I’m just saying she might get the wrong idea-“

“She’s not my girl.” Erik spoke up cutting her sentence.

Amiyah rolled her eyes and scoffed. “You told me that the last time.” She mumbled knowing he could hear.

Erik’s faces scrunched up. “What’s it to you? Why does it matter if she’s my girl or not?” His arms now folded.

“Because I just find it funny how quick you moved on that fast.” Amiyah snapped looking him up and down.

Erik chuckled. “But wasn’t it you that broke up with me? So I don’t get how you could be hurt by the fact that I’m moving on and you stuck.”

“No Erik I’m hurt at the fact that you act like nothing happened between us.” She was gaining her liquid courage when she stepped in his face. “And how you can just bring her here to meet my brother but not have the decency to even look my way.”

Erik sucked in his bottom lip watching her express herself. “Still don’t know what that got to do with you.” He shrugged.

He was just as hurt as she was. His feelings for her were still raw and there but he wanted to make her feel the same way he felt when she ended it with him. When Erik introduce Harmony to Durk and not Amiyah he did it on purpose. The way he wrapped his arms around her waist and pulled her body close to his was on purpose. The way he let her dance on him in front of her was on purpose. He could feel her stares on them. Erik was hurt and he wanted her to know what he was feeling.

Amiyah scoffed shaking her head. “What is it about her that’s so special? What? The fact that you can fuck her without having to worry about her crazy ass brother finding out about it. That’s why you’re fucking her?”

Erik chuckled. “How would you know if I’m fucking her or not?”

“For you to be some drug dealer you sure are a fucking coward Erik!” Amiyah pushed his chest but he caught her by the wrist.

“I told you I’m not a fucking drug dealer and for someone to not ride dick...you sure are riding mine. Why you worried about who I’m fucking if you ain’t the fucking me?” Erik’s words were hard.

Amiyah stared at him. “I hate you.” She mumbled looking at his lips trying to free herself.

Erik backed her into the wall. He put her hands above her head and interlocking their fingers as he looked down at her and towered over her body. “Fuck you say to me?”

“I said I hate you-“

Her words were cut off with his lips connecting to hers. His hold left her hands and his arms wrapped around her waist. Traveling down to her ass he cupped both cheeks firmly. Erik felt his dick jump when she moaned into his mouth . Her tongue gliding with his as he felt the warmth of it overtaking his body. It’s been over a month since he felt her lips. Erik’s heart was beating fast knowing that it was risky to be making out with Durks sister and how anyone could walk in and see them. But he couldn’t stop and didn’t want to.

Amiyah moaned as she held his face bringing him impossibly closer than what he already was. She could taste the Hennessy off of his tongue mixed with her tequila. She was putting everything that she was feeling into this kiss. She wanted him to know that she missed him and wanted to start over. She didn’t mean it when she said that she hated him. With the alcohol and emotions getting in the way she wanted to say anything to keep him by her.

Erik pulled away with a tug of her lower lip and placed a soft peck on it. He cursed at himself for falling weak for her once again. No matter how much space they had away from each other she was always able to pull him in.

“What is it about her that I’m not?” Amiyah interrupted his thoughts. She tried to stop herself from asking the question but she wanted to know.

Erik sighed putting his forehead against hers. “You gotta learn how to stop questioning yourself when it comes to these other females. Your beautiful ma. Stop that shit.” He gave her one last kiss on the top of her head as he left her standing there alone going back to the party.

“Okay.” Amiyah whispered to herself.

__________________________________________

Please excuse any mistakes!

Tag-List

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[miracle-sham]

Yet So Poison Entwined We Fracture.

| {Jasonette July 2021, Saturday Challenge 1: Hurt No Comfort} |

| [Ao3 Link] | | [Masterlist Link] | | [Spotify Playlist Link] |

| It all went wrong so quickly. Marinette thought she could trust Jason, that he'd never betray her. And Jason thought the same. But with a truth-serum turned poison seeping through their veins, neither had thought to look for the purple feathers. |

| Word Count: 1,706. |

———

| A/N: I'll try and keep this short and sweet but it's nice to dip back into writing for Maribat, I really missed it whilst I was gone. Also I've now got a author's channel in MGI where I sometimes put title sneak peaks, snippets, and random au ramblings, so y'know feel free to pop into the channel and have a gander if you'd fancy! And one last thing, keen eyes may have noticed I've added a Spotify Playlist Link, it contains all the songs I listened to when working on this oneshot, if you're curious! |

| If you want to be tagged in future oneshots/fics or a specific Au, then feel free to send me a dm and or ask! |

| Also side note, Don’t Like? Don’t Read. Also also, please do not criticise any of my writing. This was written for fun and receiving criticism, even in a compliment/criticism sandwich, is the exact opposite of fun. |

———

Marinette staggers back, clutching at her bloodied side as the world spins for a moment and everything blurs. Breath catches in her throat as a sharp pang of betrayal pierces her heart, tears springing to the corners of her eyes unbidden. Whimpering, she barely manages to cry out, “J–Jason?”

Heartbreak coating his name like the truth serum-poison making its way through her system at this very moment.

She makes an awful choking noise and collapses to her knees, scrunching her face up and wheezing. Barely is she able to keep her eyes open, fixated on staring at someone she thought she could trust.

Smirking lazily, Jason saunters up to her, crouches and then grabs her face by the chin, forcing her to tilt her head up to continue staring at him in the eyes. “Aw, did you really fucking think I cared about you this entire time?”

Marinette swallows thickly—unable to conjure up a response to him. Black spots start to form in the corner of her vision like watching a spattering of embers burning away on a piece of paper.

He tilts his head to the side and snorts, “really? Nothing to say, no heartfelt "I trusted you!" or "you're lying!". Not even a "I know the real you is still in there?", how fucking pathetic.”

There's a small part of her brain that starts flashing red lights and wailing alarms—warning her that she's in danger, that she's hurt, that she's stopped breathing. She can't breathe, can't move, can't say anything or she'll spill all her remaining secrets.

Jason sighs and drops her chin. “And here I fucking thought your shitty-ass reaction to me betraying you would be more fun.”

Grimacing, she waits a heartbeat after he lets go before mustering all her strength to slam her skull into his—if I'm going down, you're coming with me for this, Marinette mentally vows.

There's a horrendous thwacking sound as the impact lands, and Marinette feels as though her brain has turned into a blender that just had its blades snap mid blend.

Jason, on the other hand, flings himself backwards and curses up a storm. He pulls out one of his guns and with dizzying vision, manages to shoot a bullet that just clips the uninjured side of her ribs. “That's what you fucking get for that you bitch!”

Marinette doubles over as the pain seems to ricochet through her; vision blacking out completely. She struggles for breath, her hearing cutting off not a second later. Objectively, she's aware she's not alone. But as her senses shut down one by one, leaving her helplessly trapped in her own mind, she can't help but wonder why her heart aches with loneliness. I'm sorry, she silently apologises to no one and everyone.

Distantly, she thinks she's swaying—or collapsing again maybe. But it's hard to tell, it's disorientating trying to focus on the world with dying senses.

Marinette is lost. Every little movement, every little thought—it's agony, a struggle to keep going, keep holding on. Once more, she silently pleas for forgiveness from the kwami.

She stops.

Stops breathing. Heart stops beating. Stops fighting. It all stops.

At least this way, she thinks to herself, I can't spill any secrets from the truth serum-poison if I carry them to the grave instead…

She sinks into the darkness, clinging to her final thought in numb relief as she does so. Everything fades away.

———

Jason groans as the knife Marinette is wielding digs deeper between his ribs.

She doesn't move back immediately, so he grits his teeth and roundhouse kicks at her—the heavy thump of collision makes his wound burn like acid has just been poured on it.

He's a few seconds too slow pulling his leg back, as Marinette slices the knife through his calf.

“Fuck!” He bites out, throwing himself further out of her range and breathing. “Marinette!”

With the gall to smile faux-innocently, she plays with the knife in her hand, slipping it between her fingers and swirling it about. “Yes, Jason?”

“The fuck are you doing!?” He growls, shifting his position when she doesn't move to apply pressure to the calf wound.

She shrugs, seemingly unbothered, “what? Did you really think this wouldn't happen one day? That I wouldn't get sick of you. Show you just how much you've hurt me the entire time we've known each other?”

Jason spits blood from his mouth at the warehouse floor in front of her. “I don't believe whatever shit you're being made to spew, but I sure as fucking hell know that you'd never do something as fucked up as this.”

“Oh, that's cute! You still believe in me. What's next, are you going to beg me to come to my senses? Are you going to cry my name and hope it changes my mind? Are you going to declare that the "real" me is still there inside and that you're going to save me?” Marinette giggles, high-pitched and yet hollow sounding.

Jason flinches at the sound, breathing stuttering as the poison from her knife starts to really seep in. Shit, he thinks to himself, truth serum-poison. If I'm not careful I'm gonna say shit that should stay secret.

A flash of silver catches the edge of his vision. And it's all the warning he gets. He immediately ducks and rolls, cursing under his breath as his wounds are aggravated. The air by his hair swooshes as the blade just narrowly misses.

Marinette giggles taper off into a hiss of fury. Her hair slips out of her pigtails from the constant movement, and multiple strands fall in front of her face. She huffs, ineffectively blowing them out of the way. “Did you really think I ever loved you?”

“Yes!” The words are choked out of his mouth before he can even think, the truth serum-poison kicking in hard and fast. Jason wheezes and the taste of iron lingers like malice in his throat. Fuck, he thinks desperately, I'm running out of time and Marinette isn't snapping out of whatever the fuck's been done to her.

He stumbles into another roll, as the blade comes swinging at him again. His vision blurts violently, and the next thing Jason knows—is that his view has suddenly tipped upside down and that there's a throbbing ache radiating from the back of his shoulders and head.

“Huh, you really do have a thick skull. Normally that'd be enough to knock anyone else out. Well, I guess I'll have to do this the old fashioned way.” Marinette rambles, pulling out a rag.

Jason grunts as he pushes himself only to be slammed back into the concrete warehouse floor, rag pressed firmly over his mouth and nose.

He thrashes and refuses to inhale. Marinette scowls and kicks him sharply into the ribs, causing him to gasp through gritted teeth. But it's enough to affect him.

His vision teeters then flickers to black, he can feel his movements slowing—becoming more and more sluggish until he's as still as he was in that fucking coffin he's had to crawl out of once before. At least, he barely manages to cling to the final thought, I can't spill any secrets if I carry them to the grave once more.

And then it all fades away.

———

Lila steeples her finger and smirks. She's sitting in her plain white office for the Agreste, three monitors set up before her on the desk. The middle screen shows her emails and a few tabs up on fashion for work-related reasons. The outer two screens, however, show the feed to two identical cells—two by four by five metres with cement floors and grey brick walls, no windows and a single plain black metal door. No furniture either, not even beds or toilets, just chains attached to the wall opposite the door. And in the chains is what has Lila so very happy indeed; Marinette and Jason, one in each cell and both stuck in the chains with no hope for escape.

A steady pool of blood has already formed beneath the both of them, thanks to the wonderful work of her Sentimonster duplicates of the two.

Lila can't help but monologue in her glee, “It's so excellently simple really. Even if one escapes, there's no way they'll help the other escape now. Now they've experienced the pain of betrayal and torture inflicted by the other!”

Footsteps approach the door to her office; all it takes is a quick click and click of the mouse and her two outer screen feeds flip to showing more work-related tabs and emails.

The door opens to reveal Adrien, slightly dishevelled—hair and shirt ruffled, eyes red with dark bags beneath them, and shiny tear streaks down his cheeks—he stands in the threshold, shaking. “Did you know?”

Lila smiles in fake confusion. “Know what?”

Adrien swallows, gaze flickering to her screens. “Marinette's dead. So is Jason.”

Lila tilts her head to the side to make it look as though she's thinking. “The Wayne boy that was close to her, right? Oh dear.”

His tired gaze turns back to Lila as he continues. “They think both of them were kidnapped and tortured separately. Police have found traces of an altered truth-serum among the bloodstains and…” He chokes for a second, grief plain as day across his face. “and they found pieces of fingers, ears, slices of skin, and all.”

“Oh, oh, that's horrible!” Lila gasps, covering her mouth with her hands to hide the victorious curl forming on her lips. “Have they found out who was cruel enough to do that to them yet?”

Adrien shakes his head silently.

“Hopefully, the culprit will be found soon. But if you need any support, I'll always be here for you, Adrien!” Lila gravely announces, bobbing her head slightly as she spoke.

He narrows his eyes at her, shakes his head, and then stalks away from her office.

She scowls as soon as his back turns and gets up to shut her door. “Well,” She says to herself as she flips back to the cell feed, “at least that means I'll have plenty of time to pull the secrets from you two without the police thinking to look for you alive.”

———

| Thank you for reading! I hope you enjoyed this little oneshot! Comments, likes, and reblogs are much appreciated! |

| Also feel free to send me any asks or comments with any questions you have regarding this oneshot, I'll be more than happy to answer! |

| @jasonette-july-event |

[literalprincess]

Their Love Was Made of Promises

Pairing: Fremione

Summary: Fred and Hermione’s relationship began in his final year and ended in hers.

Excerpt: “You better watch it, Fred.” She warned. “I have the power to give you detentions this year if you act up and I won’t go easy.”

“Promise?” Fred asked challengingly.

Word count: 4750

AO3

“To Ron and Hermione being announced as prefects,” Molly held up her glass in a toast. Everyone sat around the large dining table at 12 Grimmauld Place cheered. It was the night before they were set to return to Hogwarts and the Order had gathered to celebrate.

“Don’t worry, Harry. Your dad and I weren’t picked for prefects either. Something about a ‘spotty record’ or something like that.” Sirius said with a wink to his godson. Harry smiled back at him, cheered by his revelation.

“May we also congratulate Harry, who was cleared of all charges and allowed to attend Hogwarts this year!” Molly continued and another whoop came from the table. “And well done to Fred and George for making it to their final year.”

The twins stood during their cheer, bowing dramatically.

“Thank you, mother,” George said.

“We certainly were surprised too,” Fred added.

“We can’t say we’ll be the smartest,” George admitted.

“But we will certainly make it interesting.” Fred finished as the two once again bowed and returned to their seats while everyone else laughed.

Fred turned to his right where Hermione was sat. “Aren’t you excited, Granger?”

“You better watch it, Fred.” She warned. “I have the power to give you detentions this year if you act up and I won’t go easy.”

“Promise?” Fred asked challengingly.

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

She definitely didn’t go easy on him. Fred had amassed three detentions in the first few weeks of classes for advertising to test his inventions on students. He had argued it was unfair, why should he alone be made to sit in detention when George was equally guilty. Hermione rationalised that it was because she hadn’t seen George hanging posters and trying to talk first years into risking their health. It had gone back and forth until finally, Fred conceded. If his punishment was to be stuck in a classroom for an hour at a time with Hermione, then he would happily serve his time.

“You know,” Fred said after they had been sitting in the charms room for forty-five of the sixty-minute detention. “This is sort of like a date.”

“Oh really?” Hermione asked.

“Yeah well, it’s just me and you alone.” He gestured between them. “Sat closely in an empty room.” He wiggled his eyebrows, “Anything could happen.”

“You’re the one that sat next to me,” she said. “I’m pretty sure you’re not even supposed to be this side of the desk.” She gestured to the teacher’s desk and where he had pulled up a chair beside her.

“It’s cold,” He justified. “It’s not my fault it’s September and you picked a room without a fireplace.”

She rolled her eyes at him. “Is that all that constitutes a date to you, then? Being sat alone in a room.”

“To start with.” He said. “Though I would have much preferred our first date to be somewhere a little nicer than Flitwick’s room” He sighed as he looked around at the dusty room. “Still, I’m sure we can still make this work.”

Hermione snorted at his words. “Say this was a date, where exactly would it have been?” She asked a bit too curiously.

“You’ll have to find out.”

Her eyebrows furrowed at his response “Wha-”

“Times up,” Fred announced, pointing to the clock. “But how about Saturday? I can show you what a real date should look like.” He playfully winked as he helped her gather her belongings.

“Okay,” She replied, her cheeks dusted pink. “But promise to stop testing your products on unsuspecting first years, I really do worry about them,” Hermione asked seriously as they left the classroom. “And tuck your shirt in, Weasley.”

“For you, Hermione? Anything.”

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

Since Fred and George’s shop had opened earlier that month it had been wildly successful. Hermione had seemed to love the design when she had first seen it. The mismatched furniture, the insane colour scheme and the constantly bustling shop, she claimed, fit them perfectly. He had been pleased to hear it, not realising until then how much he had wanted her approval.

He stayed at the Burrow during her easter break, not wanting to waste any time with her. They spent their days after he finished in the shop going for adventures in the surrounding fields. He showed her where he and George had built a fort years ago.

“We did it the muggle way,” he bragged as he showed off the small den. It had been assembled by gathering large sticks and balancing them together like a teepee. “Though, it’s a bit small for us now.” He tapped the hut with the toe of his shoe. He wasn’t sure if even his whole torso would fit in there anymore.

“It’s brilliant,” Hermione stated, smiling at the charming structure.

“I’ve been thinking,” Fred said that night in the front room. It had been a couple of hours since everyone else had gone to bed. Hermione’s leg was thrown over one of his, her head tucked under his chin. The heat of the fire and the blankets piled on them kept them in a snuggly state on the sofa.

“Hm?” She asked wordlessly, blissfully dozing on his chest.

“I love you,” He said. He wanted to say it before she had to return for the next term of school.

She raised herself on her elbows, looking down at him with fervent eyes. “I love you too.”

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

That summer, Fred had been ecstatic when Hemione had asked to help experiment with new ideas for products. She had taken to staying with him in the flat upstairs on the nights they were up late trialling new potions or talking.

“Hermione!” Fred called from the experimentation room one morning. The potion he was working on had just blown up in his face, casting off large gooey chunks all over the room and on him. There was no way he could clean all this himself.

“Yeah?” Her voice came distantly from the living room upstairs.

“Remember how you promised to love me no matter what?” He called back, already bracing himself for a scolding.

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

“I got you something,” Fred said when they were waiting at the platform for the Hogwarts Express.

“Really?” Hermione asked, surprised.

“Yeah, for your birthday and to congratulate you on achieving ten O.W.L.s,” she had amazed him by her brilliance, “but also to keep you from missing me too much this year.” He said teasingly. He reached into his pocket and pulled out a small box.

“It’s not going to explode is it?” She asked warily, eyeing the box in her hand.

“No spoilers,” Fred replied. “Just, wait till your birthday to open it, okay?”

His wrist warmed when he was in bed a few weeks later. She had waited.

He looked down at the thin bracelet on his wrist, the twin to Hermione’s. He had gotten the idea from her last year with the DA coins. If they were to tap the band twice with two fingers, the other’s band would warm. He had thought that that way, they could let the other know they were thinking about them.

He soon after received an owl from her.

Thank you for my bracelet, I love it. I swear I’m never going to take it off.

Love you, H.

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

“What an arse,” Fred said. He had been owling Hermione during her first term back and was less than impressed by Cormac Mclaggen’s pursuit of Hermione. She had been made very uncomfortable, especially when he had relentlessly followed her around at Professor Slughorn’s Christmas party. In her latest letter, she had recalled his latest attempt to impress her by bragging about his Quidditch skills. His attempts to put down Harry, Ginny and Ron in order to upraise his own prestige had irritated Hermione to the point of an outburst. Fred wished he could have been there. Instead, he sent Mclaggen a gift.

Hermione and Fred spent boxing day in his new muggle-style fort, a surprise from Hermione. After the loud celebratory Christmas, they both enjoyed the quiet day spent in the woods together.

“I think we could stay here,” Fred said as he looked around at the sizable fortress. He could already imagine where he’d put furniture. “No one would find us this far out.”

It was a tempting offer, but Hermione shook her head. “No, I’d need running water. Besides, how would we find food? I doubt you watched Bear Grylls growing up.”

“Bear who?”

“Exactly. We’d be hopeless.”

“Well, it’s an option.” He was almost gutted. “We could avoid everyone if we wanted.”

“Hmm, speaking of avoiding people,” Hermione had been reminded of her last dinner before returning home for Christmas “did you anonymously owl Mclaggen a boxing telescope?” Hermione asked.

“..would you still love me if I did?” Fred asked.

She smiled.

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“I bet you a fiver you cry at the vows,” Fred said as they exited the fireplace. The majority of their day had been spent making last-minute changes and plans for Bill and Fleur’s upcoming wedding.

“You may never know if I do,” Hermione said. “It’s not too late to buy a fascinator, I’ll wear one and you won’t be able to tell from the front.”

“You little witch.” Fred flopped down on the sofa, patting the spot next to him for her to join him. “I’ll know, though. You can try and hide it but I would see it on your face.”

“Maybe.” He would, he had spent enough hours staring at her.

“We can’t hide anything from each other. You’re just gonna have to get used to it, you’re stuck with me.”

She hadn’t smiled as he had expected. In fact, her gaze became troubled and she focused on a spot on the wall.

“What’s wrong?” He asked.

She looked up at him again, her face apprehensive.

“Why are you upset?” He asked, unsure why her mood had shifted so suddenly. “It’s soon, isn’t it? When you leave.”

She nodded her head, unable to talk past her choked throat.

“It’s okay. It’s going to be okay.” He said, his mind already in turmoil. He had to be strong for her.

“It won’t.” She was right, of course, she always was. “Fred, I can’t do this. I’m not ready.” The pain in her eyes broke his heart.

“You are ready, I know you are. I know you.” He pulled her into his side. “You’ll do this and then you can come home and we will finally adopt a cat because George will bugger off and move out.”

She huffed a laugh.

“Life will go on after all of this ends. I promise it will.”

“Fred,” Her eyes were anguished. “We need to-” She cut herself off, struggling to find the right words. “There is a very real possibility that something will go wrong and I won’t come back. I need to tell you that-”

This time it was he who interrupted her. “Nothing will go wrong. You will survive this. I will make sure of it.”

“No one has the power to guarantee that.”

“I do. I would trade my life for yours if it came down to it, don’t think I won’t.”

“Then maybe you don’t know me. You can’t say you’ll do that, I would not let that happen.”

“Like hell, I can’t. Watch me.” She had been through so much pain, she had made herself an orphan just to keep her parents safe and was facing an unknown amount of time on the run from a terrorist group set out to kill her and her best friends. He would protect her or he would die trying.

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The morning of the wedding Hermione had smiled at breakfast, laughing with his sister as they fluttered around getting ready. Fred had almost made himself late just watching her. She wore red, the same shade as the jumper he had given her two years ago when they had started dating. The golden ‘F’ knitted in the front had looked too pretty on her for him to ever take back.

She cried during the ceremony, just as he had bet, but he felt no victory from her tears. He caught her gaze, trying to reassure her from his position in line with his brothers. She had given him a watery smile before looking down to her small beaded bag.

When they danced, he held her tight, her head tucked under his chin. Soon she would be leaving, it was an inevitability. They hadn’t discussed it again, when he had tried to bring it up she had hushed him and told him that she didn’t want to talk about it. She wanted to remain in the present, tucked into his arms.

They slowly spun on the dancefloor, completely absorbed in each other. He felt her tears wet his shirt. The moisture made his chest contract. He squeezed her closer, the movement compelling a small sob from her. He pulled back enough to look at her. Her face was red, she looked agonised.

“What is it, love?” He asked her. He would tear his heart from his chest if it would stop her misery.

“I-.” She said, struggling past a lump in her throat.

He brought her out of the tent, leading her inside the quiet cottage. The sofa on which she sat was where he had first told her he loved her by the light of the fire over a year ago.

“I don’t love you anymore.” She said as he knelt in front of her. Her tears had stopped, her face solidified into impassiveness.

“What? Since when?” He asked, confused.

“Now.” She said as she looked into the low fire. “Just now.”

He made her look at him in the eye. “You’re just scared. It doesn’t matter that you’re leaving, I love you. None of it matters.”

“It’s too late,” She said, still stone-faced. “I don’t love you anymore.”

“Stop doing this. Don’t pull away from me when we need each other the most.”

“That’s the thing, I don’t need you.”

“Can you honestly say you feel nothing for me? You can’t, I know you can’t. Just, please. Don’t do this,” he pleaded with her. “You aren’t helping either of us by doing this.”

She didn’t reply to him, she just continued to stare at him. This was not the person who had been in love with him since she was twelve years old, who had planned the rest of her life with him. That person had stepped away, allowing this stranger control.

She didn’t speak again, regardless of how much he begged her to please talk to him. The only thing she did respond to was a sudden commotion from outside. There was screaming and chaos, the sky alight with fire. She rose for the door but he grabbed her arm before she could leave.

“You promised,” He said, his voice breaking.

He pleaded with his eyes for her to stay but she just turned away. He could have collapsed into a heap from the force of that final blow but his family was out there. The ministry had fallen, the Death Eaters had arrived.  Hermione was already gone.

When the Death Eaters had finally gone and the remaining Weasley family had finished cleaning the disorder, Fred got more drunk than he had been since he was sixteen.

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

It had been three months since she had gone. George had since moved back into the Burrow, claiming a want to be there for their Mum. Fred suspected it was to avoid him, not that he could blame George. He couldn’t bring himself to wash the sheets or move anything Hermione had left in the flat. There was one of his t-shirts she liked to sleep in still neatly folded under her pillow where she had put it the morning of the wedding. Her books piled on most empty surfaces of his living room, she had meant to clean them but hadn’t gotten around to doing so. She existed only as a ghost to him now. He embraced it, the haunting memory of her love the only way he could feel she was with him. He could hear her in the silence of the flat, see her in the corner of his eye. If she were to come back, Fred would be right where she had left him.

He considered that maybe this wasn’t healthy, that she was still alive and fighting to end the war, but she had refused any and all communication. She had taken off her bracelet without him even realising. He had found it in her bedside drawer. He sent a Patronus one night, the bird impatiently flying out of his open window. He had wondered that if he could fly fast enough, would if he able to follow the bird to her. Even if he could have, he was disappointed to find later the wispy figure returned having been unable to find her. She had made herself untraceable, even to him.

It was on one of the days George had dragged him to the Burrow that they received any type of update. Ron trudged through the kitchen door, shabby and crabby but no worse for wear. For a heartbeat, Fred allowed himself to hope that it was over. That Hermione and Harry would follow in behind him, smiles on their faces. It wasn’t over.

He learnt from Ron that they had been listening to Lee Jordans’s Potterwatch. This made his heart lift by some degree. He had put, into the broadcasts, messages to Hermione to remind her that he was still here, waiting for her, fighting for her. He insisted, when the next broadcast came, to speak.

Christmas was the most melancholy in Weasley history. Not only were Harry and Hermione still out facing Merlin knows what, Percy was still in London, Arthur was under strict surveillance at the Ministry and Ginny’s account of Hogwarts sounded near dystopian. Ron had also grown more and more miserable. He spent most of his day in silence, stewing. Fred pulled him aside that night when everyone had retreated to bed early, eager to have the day be over.

“You’re going back, aren’t you?” Fred asked.

“I don’t know how, but I’m going to try,” Ron admitted.

Fred nodded at him. “I need you to do something for me.”

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

He was woken from his bed in the middle of the night. Disorientated in the unfamiliar bedroom at their Aunt Muriels, he almost missed George’s words. “She’s at the cottage.”

He shot up, alert. “What do you mean? Bill’s cottage? Right now?” He raced around the room already getting dressed.

“Fred, sit down,” George said morosely from where he sat on the bed. “That’s not all.”

Fred sat down begrudgingly, already apprehensive of the expression on his brother’s face. “What else is there?”

“They got caught by snatchers.” George began slowly.

Fred shot up again, unable to remain still. He wanted to rush there. Why was his brother still sitting?

“Fred,” George said. His voice caught and Fred saw for the first time that there were tears running down his face. “She was taken to Malfoy Manor. They-” He again choked on his words. “They interrogated her; used the cruciatus curse and carved into her arm.”

Fred sank to the floor. This had to be wrong. Hermione was fine, she had to be fine. He shot up, once again rushing to get ready. “Why aren’t we leaving? We need to see her.”

“I’m sorry, Freddie,” George said, still sitting on the bed. “I’ve only just found out. Harry had Bill and Fleur sworn to secrecy for their own safety.”

Fred stopped. “What are you saying, George?” He looked at him in dread.

“They’re leaving,” George explained.

“What do you mean ‘leaving’? She needs to heal!” Fred said frantically.

“They’ve been there for weeks already,” George said. “They need to keep going now more than ever, you know they do.”

Fred sat on the bed beside his brother, wiping his eyes and rubbing his forehead. “When do they go?” He asked.

“I don’t know exactly,” George admitted. “But if you leave now, you might catch them.”

Fred looked to him, a hopeful glint in George’s eye. He stood without speaking and apparated out of their small room.

He apparated on the beach. The cascading waves tremulously pounded into the sand, the shriek of gulls echoing in his ears. From the raised cliffs a small distance away, he saw four figures. One was short, he thought perhaps a goblin, two were Ron and Harry, he was sure of it after recognising them during quidditch so often from a distance. The last, however, was a mystery. It was a woman, he was sure of that, but her stature was unfamiliar to him. They disappeared from the cliff before he had the chance to call out.

He looked to the small house, Hermione must still be within. He ran, kicking up sand and almost tripping in the weeds. He charged through the door, scaring Bill and Fleur inside.

“Fred?” They looked to him in confusion.

“Where’s Hermione?” he blurted, already hectically searching the kitchen. When he didn’t find her he charged through the door, searching the whole house before returning to the kitchen. He looked at them expectantly.

“She just left,” Bill said, baffled by his brother's behaviour.

“But I,” Fred began, deflating. “No one told me.”

Bill got up, putting a hand on his brother’s shoulder. “I’m sorry, Fred. She told us she didn’t want you to know.”

He had to get out of this house, the house where she had hidden from him in. He stormed out of the door, apparating away as soon as he was outside of the surrounding boundary.

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

Fred hadn’t remembered putting it in his jacket, the fake Galleon he had received from Hermione as part of Dumbledore’s army two years ago, but the next day it reactivated. The heat of the coin cut through the fabric, warming his chest where it rested against his skin. Pulling it out, Fred examined it. The date had changed around the edge. Today. Now. He had to tell George.

His twin already knew, in his hand a small radio calling repeatedly:

Lightning has struck! Lightning has struck!

“Ready Fred?” George asked.

“Ready George!” Fred replied.

He wasn’t sure if it was purposeful, clothes matching with his brother’s, or a subconscious link to connect them through what was to come. Either way, when they stepped into the tunnel in the Hog’s Head, they did it as a team.

They entered the cramped base, like the other Order members, to whoops and cheers. Dozens of students crowded around the mouth of the tunnel to greet them. Fred paid them half-hearted greetings, his eyes searching the room.

He found her by instinct, seven years of watching her had that effect. She was scruffy, her favourite hoodie smeared with dirt and her hair half falling out of its braid, but her eyes were alight and met his.

He pushed through the crowd, desperate to be closer to her. When he approached, neither said any words and moulded against each other in a tight embrace. Home. He was home for the first time in months. Both of their faces were soaked with tears when they parted, coming together in a watery kiss.

“I’m sorry,” Hermione said against his skin. “I’m sorry, I’m sorry, I’m sorry.” She kept repeating it, pulling him closer as she did.

“Hermione,” Fred said, pulling back the least he could to see her. “It’s good to see you.”

They didn’t have time for a longer reunion. Snape was rallying all of the students, it was time. They kept ahold of each other all the while, from the seventh floor to the Great Hall and through everything that happened. When Snape retreated through the large stained glass window, glass showering down around them, they knew they had to let go.

“I need to go, he needs me.” She said.

“I know,” He replied. “I love you.”

“I love you too.” She said, reaching up to give him a slow, meaningful kiss.

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

The battle raged on around Fred who narrowly avoided the spells flying past his head. Midnight had passed and Voldemort’s forces had invaded the castle. He hadn’t seen Hermione since their separation before her search for the diadem. He could feel her presence through the bracelet he had had returned to her the day after Christmas.

With Percy at his back, they fought their way through the castle. Red and green exploded around them like fireworks. A distant part of Fred’s brain thought of the last time he had been in this castle and the exuberant display he had George had released. It felt so much longer than eighteen months ago.

Hermione, Ron and Harry emerged from down the corridor. The warmth caused by his proximity to Hermione fuelling his reflection and aiming of spells. He felt more alive and happy than he could ever remember feeling.

An errant spell de-masked the Death Eater Percy was duelling with. It was the Minister of Magic. Percy, likely filled with the same exhilaration as the rest of them, quipped to his superior.

“You actually are joking, Perce. I don’t think I’ve heard you joke since you were-”

Everything cut out.

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

It had been the last time Fred had truly laughed in nine months. When they pulled his body from the wreckage of the demolished wall, the smile was still etched upon his face.

They had to move him, that much was clear, but Hermione didn’t want to abandon him again. She wouldn’t stuff him in a niche where a suit of armour had previously been as the others urged. There was only one Horcrux left, Harry and Ron could finish it together. She stayed with Fred as the world continued to fall apart.

They had come so close their happy ending. But that didn’t matter now.

Fred was dead.

They won the war in the end but a large part of Hermione never left that battle.

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

She spent over a month clearing his stuff out of the flat. Seeing the physical impact of her decisions tormented her. He hadn’t moved anything, she was almost certain that if she went into the bathroom even her toiletries would be in the exact place she had left them. She had devastated him, made him miserable. How could she justify that breaking up with him had been what she had thought was best for him.

In the trunk at the end of their bed, she found a collection of parchment tied together by a cord of leather. They were letters, or at least some were, others were just half-finished notes or scribbled sentences.

Hermione, love, please let me speak to you.

Running away doesn’t help anyone...

I know why you did it but…

I miss you.

I still love you.  

The phrases jumped from the pages, each of them a fresh strike. It took days before she could approach the trunk again. Buried at the bottom of the trunk, she found a sealed envelope with her name carefully written on it. Tentatively, she broke the wax to remove the letter.

Hermione,

If you’re reading this, I’ve died. I know I said nothing bad would happen so it would appear you are right again. Even the best of us are wrong sometimes, you’ll have to forgive me for that. Everyone wants a happy ending, mine was to live here with you until we were both old and grey. Life doesn’t guarantee anything, however, so capture happiness wherever you can.

I don’t blame you for leaving me. We are both very stubborn and I probably would have done the same in your position. I only regret the time we lost but I will be waiting on this side until you join me. Promise it won’t be for a long, long time. Until then, don’t be sad or mourn me. I have had a great life in this world and you have shown me what it means to truly love somebody and be loved in return. For that, I will forever be grateful. I am onto the next great adventure discovering the mysteries of what lies beyond.

I have written letters for George and the rest of my family, please deliver them for me. Give them all a kiss from me, for you have all of my love now and always.

Forever yours,

Fred.

[horansqueen]

You & Me : chapter 43

A Niall Horan fanfiction ; rated MA

Sequel to AM CONVERSATIONS

CHAPTER 1 || CHAPTER 2 || CHAPTER 3 || CHAPTER 4 || CHAPTER 5 || CHAPTER 6 || CHAPTER 7 || CHAPTER 8 || CHAPTER 9 || CHAPTER 10 || CHAPTER 11 || CHAPTER 12 || CHAPTER 13 || CHAPTER 14 || CHAPTER 15 || CHAPTER 16 || CHAPTER 17 || CHAPTER 18 || CHAPTER 19 || CHAPTER 20 || CHAPTER 21 || CHAPTER 22 || CHAPTER 23 || CHAPTER 24 || CHAPTER 25 || CHAPTER 26 || CHAPTER 27 || CHAPTER 28 || CHAPTER 29 || CHAPTER 30 || CHAPTER 31 || CHAPTER 32 || CHAPTER 33 || CHAPTER 34|| CHAPTER 35 || CHAPTER 36 || CHAPTER 37 || CHAPTER 38 || CHAPTER 39 || CHAPTER 40 || CHAPTER 41 || CHAPTER 42

NOTES:

-one chapter is her pov, the next is his -4.5k -im sorry, i never proofread, i hate it. -there WILL be smut. but not only smut. -this is a romance, comedy, smut story. -for the summary, check my MASTERLIST.

READ AM CONVERSATIONS AGAIN ON WATTPAD HERE

- notes: wow, it took a while didnt it? i have a hard time writing this story for a few specific reasons and thats why it takes me longer. i also need to plan the ending of this and its not easy because im scared to forget something. but i hope you enjoy this chapter! thanks so much for still reading this story!!!

if you want to be on the list of blogs i notify when this is updated, just message me :)

requests! : its late and i hope i dont forget any! i didnt add everything from the 2nd request in my chapter tho. i also promise more requests in the next chapter! its all planned so thank you!

TAKE A LOOK AT THE CHARACTERS HERE

Chapter 43 : His chapter

NIALL

June 25th, 2018

"Okay, move slightly on the right." I heard her, doing what she told me cautiously. "Now watch out, there's a step."

"Big or small?"

"Uhm, medium" she replied after thinking about it.

"Gee Liv, thanks!" I replied sarcastically before I carefully tried to put my foot on the step.

She guided me with difficulty until the car and I packed her last few boxes in the trunk. We sat in the car and I started it, feeling her gaze on me but I tried to ignore it until I felt her hand on my thigh. I suddenly relaxed and my eyes met hers for half a second before going back on the road.

"You should have let me help you." she pointed out with a soft voice. "I can carry more than one box, you know."

The left corner of my lips raised gently and I glanced at her again before stopping at a red light and turning my head completely her way. Her eyebrows raised and I sent her a small smile, shaking my head.

"I want you to let me take care of you." I admitted, bending closer to press my lips gently against hers in a quick kiss. "Besides, an old lady like you shouldn't carry heavy things."

With a chuckle, she slapped my arm gently as I started laughing and started driving again. It was already mid june and we had been working on her moving in with me for about a week. Most things were actually bought by Louis so all the furniture stayed there but it took us a while to pack all her stuff and bring the boxes to my house. I mean, our house.

"I'm only two years older than you!" she argued, making me laugh even more. "Do I have to call you 'kiddo'?"

"Please, I'm a man." I let out with a frown, half-joking. "You know it, you've seen me naked."

"Oh how my life has changed since then." she replied wih a chuckle, making me smile too.

We brought her stuff to our room and started unpacking together after I put music on. It invaded the house so loudly that the neighbours probably heard since we had opened the windows. It was a warm saturday afternoon and I still had a little bit more than a week off. I knew we were going to miss each other since I was about to leave for three months (even if i was going to be back here at some point in august for a few concerts) but we didn't talk about it much, as if it would make things worst.

I kept glancing at her from time to time as I was putting her stuff in my closet and my lips curled when I noticed she was dancing while putting her clothes in her dresser. It was nothing new. She had always been like that but somehow, at this exact moment, it made me realize how perfect this moment was. Loud music, finally sharing a house with the woman I loved, watching my girlfriend dance and sing happily close to me with a promise ring hidden in my underwear drawer. That whole scenario happening right in front of me felt like the accomplishment of something very very important and even if I couldn't define exactly what, I tried to remember this in my brain like the movie of a memory I wanted to watch over and over again until i'd be on my death bed. The smallest details seemed important and when she moved a lock of hair that had stuck on her lips behind her ear, I held my breath. Could I write a song about this?

She turned around and our eyes met and suddenly, her lips curled into a fond smile. I loved when she looked at me like that. I was used to it, because she's looked at me like that for as long as I could remember, but it's only now, the second time we're dating, that I realized what it meant and how important it was.

"Are you gonna help me or are you just going to stare at me while I do all the work?"

I chuckled and rolled my eyes before shaking my head and grabbing an other box. It was heavy and when I opened it, I saw a bunch of books, the first one on the top being the one she was reading at the moment. I knew because sometimes we'd just sit together in the living room in silence. She'd read and sometimes i would too, or id end up writing, or playing guitar. Just being in the same room was enough sometimes and I liked it. I grabbed the book and turned it around to read the summary but something else caught my attention and I frowned. Something was sticking out of the book and I pulled on it slightly only to see my face and hers on a few pictures. It came from the photobooth and if my memory served me right, it was from the first time we dated. I pulled on it more to see all the pictures and finally just opened the book so she wouldn't lose her page and let my eyes roam on the older pictures of us. I remembered how I felt, but I was well aware it was not comparable to the feelings I had now.

"Can't believe you kept this."

My eyes didn't move from the pictures but I felt her stop moving and finally get closer to me. I sat on my bed and I felt her sit next to me in silence until I finally looked up in her eyes.

"You have no idea of all the things I kept." she admitted and I could swear her cheeks turned a soft shade of pink. "I kept a lot of souvenirs of you, Niall."

My smile curled a bit and she chuckled. "Really?"

"Oh don't look at me like that, it's not like I built a shrine for you or anything." she just rolled her eyes. "But your friendship and your love... yea, it's important for me."

I ran my thumb gently on the pictures for a few more minutes and finally put them back in the book before closing it. I stared at it until Liv grabbed my hand and I squeezed her fingers, looking up at her and sending her a smile.

"You know we need to christen the rooms." This time, she let out a loud laughter and it made my lips curl. "It's true!"

"It only applies to new places, Niall!" she laughed more. "We've already had sex pretty much in all the rooms of this house, and that says a lot!"

"Are you sure?" I asked, raising my eyebrows before she nodded. "All the bathrooms? Bedrooms?" She nodded again and I raised my nose up with a low groan, making her laugh again. "There must be somewhere we didn't fuck!"

"On the dryer."

"What?" I frowned.

"We never fucked on your dryer." she repeated with an amused smile, her head tilted. "We fucked in the showers, kitchen's table, kitchen's counter, on the couch, on the floor of the living room, in all the beds, on all the bedroom floors, in the music room and against that piano.. One time you even grabbed me when I got out of the shower to fuck me against the wall in the hall."

The left corner of my lips curled as the memory came back to my head and I raised my eyebrows. "Oh yea, I remember."

"But I don't remember fucking on the dryer."

My eyes roamed on her and I licked my lips. "We can do that now."

"Join me in 5 minutes?"

I raised my eyebrows in surprise when she suddenly got up and left. My fingers gripped the book in my hands tighter and I finally put it on the bed before turning my eyes to the alarm clock on the bedside table. It was the longest 5 minutes of my life and if I wanted to be honest, I only waited 3 and a half anyway.

I heard the dryer's noise and frowned a bit when I realized she had started it and when I got there, she was sitting on it and I noticed the matching black and silk panties and bra she was wearing. Her legs were hanging down the dryer and she was holding herself with her hands slightly behind her body, her dark hair falling near her back, and I stopped as soon as our eyes met.

"When did you put this on?"

"I wore them all day." she admitted with a smirk before chuckling when my face changed. "I mean, I wanted to show you but we were sort of busy."

I took a few steps closer slowly and put my palms on her thighs, sliding my hands up very slowly on her soft skin.

"Spread your legs, petal." I whispered as she bit her bottom lip but did as I asked.

"I wasn't sure if it actually looked good on me." she admitted low and I shook my head quickly.

"Oh shut up, darling, this makes me so fucking hard." To prove my point, I turned my hips a bit and pressed my hard cock through my pants against her naked thigh. "See?"

I ran my hands up to her breasts, touching them before slipping one of my hands under it to run the tip of two of my fingers on her nipple. "I'm so torn right now. I want to rip it off of you, but watching them on you is so fucking hot."

"Just move my panties aside and fuck me."

Her eyes seemed to sparkle but her expression was needy and I just licked my lips, bringing my hands down to my jeans and unzipping them as I kept staring at her.

"Such a needy little slut." I let out in a low tone. "Tell me how bad you want my cock. Beg me."

Her eyes never leaving mine, she brought her feet on the dryer, exposing her panties even more to me and slowly, I took my cock out and started stroking it. I could feel the dryer getting warmer and the way she seemed to shake over it made me want her even more.

"Fuck, Niall, I want you so bad. I need you deep inside me." she whimpered and licked her lips. "Please, Niall, I need your cock, please i'm begging you, fuck me."

I jerked off harder, making sure the tip of my dick rubbed against her pussy over her panties, and she whimpered and bit her bottom lip harder.

"Move your panties, pet. Show me your pretty little cunt."

She did as I asked and my eyes dropped between her legs as I moved even closer, close enough for the tip of my cock to push inside her. I groaned low and she let out a short whimper as I felt her throb around me.

"Deeper." she breathed out. "Fill me."

Quickly, I pushed myself inside her until I was balls deep and she let out a moan, her head falling back slightly and her eyes fluttering.

"Like this petal? How does my cock feel?"

She squirmed slightly and with difficulty but I watched her shake glancing a few times down to watch her grind despite herself on my dick. The feeling was amazing and I groaned louder when I felt her clench around me.

"So good, so fucking good." she whimpered again.

"You're so fucking wet and horny I just want to watch you fuck yourself on my cock until you cum all over it, baby girl." I let out without thinking. "How about you do that?"

I moved as close as I could and she ground on me for a few minutes. I loved the way she moved, all her facial expressions and the way her moans sounded but after a while, I couldn't take it anymore and grabbed her waist, my fingers sinking in her skin as I pulled her against me in motion with my thrusts.

"Fuck, i'm gonna cum." I just said still going hard.

I didn't know if it was because of my words or if she had been holding it for a while but she started shaking even harder against me as she came, my name escaping her lips in incredible moans and bringing me to my own orgasm. I shut my eyes tight, pushing myself so hard against her to make sure I went as deep as I could, and when I got down from my high, I leaned my forehead against hers, eyes still closed, as we both panted with parted lips.

"This is so much better." I whispered, moving a bit to reach her lips with mine.

"Better than what?" she asked in a breath as I kissed her gently again.

"Better than anything. Better than anyone." I confessed. "Better than sex without feelings."

It took her about a minute to talk but her words made me open my eyes suddenly.

"Are you in love with me, Niall?"

I pulled away to look in her eyes and frowned for a few seconds before shaking my head. I knew she was probably asking me simply because she wanted to hear it but I couldn't help but fear that she doubted it.

"Yes. I am in love with you, Olivia." I affirmed. "It will never change. I'll always be in love with you, for as long as I live, and maybe even after."

                                                        ---

June 29th, 2018

I was a bit sad she had insisted on inviting Louis and Eleanor on her birthday but I went along with it because it was her day and I loved her. She also had asked for nothing big, just a movie and games night with our friends, and somehow, I was down with that. Normally, I'd want to celebrate in a bar with many more friends but we were about to be separated for a while and I was not in the mood to celebrate that. I was just grateful I could spend her birth day with her.

"Okay, Liv, you sit next to me. Your boyfriend can sit next to El." I heard Louis say as I walked back in the living room with two bowls of popcorn.

"Excuse me? I pretty much intend on watching this movie cuddling my girlfriend, thank you very much!" I argued with a frown as I stood in the middle of the living room.

"If we do that we'll just spend an hour and a half making out!" Louis explained with round eyes. "At least you two will! You're both horny animals!"

"It's not like we were gonna fuck in front of you." I pointed out, rolling my eyes before sitting next to Eleanor who just laughed.

"Don't be a jealous boyfriend, Niall. Liv was my roommate before being your girlfriend again and I'm very sad that I can't wake her up by literally jumping in her bed at 6 in the morning anymore!" he joked with a chuckle before turning to my girlfriend. "Bet you miss it too!"

"6 in the morning?" I repeated with a frown again. "You never wake up so early."

"He did when he had meetings for his album." Olivia pointed out. "As you already know, 'pain in the ass' is in his DNA."

I laughed and she did too but the way she looked at me made me smile. Louis placed his arm on the back of the couch, near her shoulders, and I groaned low at sight. It's not that I wanted to read too much into this, but it was bothering me a lot and it was tough to hide. I was not the type to be jealous and I knew Olivia loved me, but every time I saw them near each other, I couldn't help but remember that they fucked multiple times and that nothing could ever erase that.

What took me out of my thoughts was something hitting my nose and the sweet laughter of my girlfriend. I shook my head slightly and sent her a smile as she sent me more popcorn and I grabbed some from my own bowl before throwing it at her, too. She laughed louder and we kept on throwing popcorn at each other until Louis groaned and stopped the movie. It was crazy how easily Louis could make himself home. He was using my remote for my tv, was sitting on my favorite spot on the couch, cuddling with my girlfriend.

"Fine! Fine I get it!" Louis gave in, raising his hand up in defeat. "You guys can't stay too far away from each other for too long. It's sad but it is what it is!"

He practically jumped off the couch and walked up to me. After a quick head movement, I sent him a smile and got up to. I let myself fall next to Liv and immediately, she cuddled my side like a magnet, making me smile more. I had no idea why I was insecure when it came to Louis, but she proved over and over again that I had no reason to be. I wrapped my arm around her to pull her closer and we finished the movie before grabbing a few beers and talking. It was almost 3 in the morning when Louis and El left and I watched as Liv got up, yawned and stretched.

"I'm so tired, let's go to bed, yea?"

"We really should clean first." I pointed out, grabbing a few bottles.

I was about to bring them to the kitchen but she stopped me with a grimace and a groan. "Niall, we need to sleep. Come onnnn, we can do that tomorrow."

I stared at her and sighed, not really sure I liked the idea but I finally nodded and followed her to the room as she held my hand and pulled me with her. We fell asleep quickly but she did before me and for some reason, I enjoyed watching her snore lightly, her lips parted, as I held her close to me. These days, we fell asleep holding each other face to face and it was very different from our usual spooning. Still, I liked it but when I woke up, she was on the other side of the bed, her legs were over mine, and I smiled at how much she had moved.

I got up, put sweatpants on and made coffee before drinking a cup as I looked at the mess in the living room and the kitchen. She joined me about half an hour later, entering the kitchen as she yawned. It made me chuckle but I liked the mess of her hair and her lazy smile. I wanted that every single morning of my life.

"Slept well?"

"Yes but not enough." she just shrugged with an other yawn.

I poured her coffee in her favorite mug and we both drank in silence, leaned against the counter. After I was done, I put my cup in the sink and without turning back to look at her, I sighed.

"We need to clean now."

"Mm, I just woke up. We can do that later in the afternoon." she just shrugged.

"Liv, we need to clean now. That's what happens when we postpone these kind of things. It'll never be fun but doing it now means we can do something else after."

She stared at me a few seconds and sighed, letting her head fall back on her shoulders. I didn't want to argue with her, and I knew how messy she was, but she also knew I was the opposite and that leaving everything as is the night before had been annoying to me.

"Well I don't want to do it now."

I didn't expect that answer and took a step back as my eyebrows raised.

"Why are you being like that?"

"Why are you being like that?" she repeated. "This can wait! I can't believe we're arguing over that!"

"Olivia, please! We left this mess last night and we need to clean!"

"You knew how i was before I started living here, it's nothing new!" she let out a bit roughly.

"And you know how I was too!" I argued before she brought her hands to her face and sighed. "You need to make efforts, okay? I am!"

My voice was a bit too loud and I knew it but I was getting pissed. I couldn't believe we were arguing over something like that. After all we had been through, I didn't want to accept that something so silly could be what would end us.

"I just... I need a shower."

I left without waiting for her answer and stayed a bit too long under the hot stream but when I got out of the bathroom with clean clothes, my lips curled at the sight. She had cleaned a good part of the living room and was now working on filling the dishwasher. I walked up to her and wrapped my arms around her waist from behind, leaning my chin on her shoulder.

"Thank you." I whispered, leaving a few kisses on her neck and she finally turned in my arms to look in my eyes.

"I'm sorry."she sighed and licked her lips. "I'll make efforts, I promise."

We finished cleaning and ended up sitting at the table with an other cup of coffee and eggs. The problem was, I couldn't stop thinking that I was leaving in a few days and it bothered me. I wanted us to discuss it but at the same time, I was not sure she wanted to talk about it. I knew that she thought mentioning things out loud made them more real or concrete but ignoring them and pretending the problems weren't there wouldn't make them disappear.

"It's gonna be tough, you know. We'll be away from each other for quite a while."

It took her a few seconds to answer as she seemed focused on her coffee but after a while, she breathed in and sighed.

"I know it won't be easy, Niall, but I also know that it will never be as hard as it was without you for a whole year. So yea, I think we can get through this and come out stronger." she said in a calm way before looking up in my eyes. "I hate being away from you but that won't change my love for you, not even just a little."

I reached for her hand on the table and squeezed her fingers before sending her a small smile. "It won't change mine either. And you're right, that year without you was the worse I've ever been through."

"It's... different." she told cautiously, looking up at me and noticing my questioning look. "You spent that year without me because you decided it, it was your choice. You did it for a reason and you wanted to be alone to live things you clearly thought you couldn't live with me. But me... I suffered through it. You broke up with me, broke my heart... I lost my best friend and the love of my life at the same time, you know? We didn't live that year the same way."

I felt my heart thump hard in my chest and I just nodded very slightly, as we stared at each other.

"You know, Niall... you left me with nothing." she said and I could swear I heard her voice crack. "I tried to find someone else, to find what I was missing from someone else, but I never really found it because what I was missing was you." Once again, she breathed in and sighed. "I know it's not easy but maybe you should try to put yourself in my shoes and... try to understand how I feel, you know? How I felt all those months."

I remembered that she told me it was tough for her but I never really understood how hard it had been until I found out she had literally tried to kill herself. Still, I felt like I couldn't really know the feeling and never would be able to. I remained silent as her words kept running in my head and finally held my breath. I couldn't believe I was thinking about writing a song in such a deep moment but I was and I just shook my head.

"You're right, Liv." I admitted, reaching for her other hand and squeezing both of them tight. "I'll try to understand how you felt in that year we were apart, after I broke you. It's hard to imagine but, I know I've hurt you more than I ever hurt anyone else, and I'll listen to everything you have to say about it."

She sent me a fond smile and nodded. "I can't really put it in the past." she added low. "Not because I don't want to, but because I feel like it's part of our story. I thought I knew who you were, I thought you'd never leave. I mean, we've known each other for decades... I thought you would never break my heart. But it was hard to accept, you know? That I didn't know you as well as I thought I did. I felt like... you ripped my heart out. Like you stole something from me that I could never get back without really knowing what it was. And I wanted it back. The worst was.. I still wanted to be with you. If you had came back I would have said yes in a heartbeat. I was always thinking of you, no matter who I was with, and yes, it includes Louis."

I stared at her, blinking a few times but still remained silent. I didn't want to let go of her hands and I also didn't want to talk. I thought it was just time to listen.

"I just... I went in bars and clubs to change my mind, I tried to date other people, I tried to drink my pain away... I just wanted to get over you and nothing worked, because I had nothing left." She paused again and shrugged. "I learned that making you the center of my life was not a good idea but it was something I was used to, I did it since I was a kid. Now I don't want to do things for you, Niall. I want to do things for us, and I want you to do the same. It's a team work. I mean, it's us against the world, right? That's what we said?"

I sent her a bigger smile and nodded. "It is. You and me."

[bangtan-madi]

All Of Our Lifetimes — Three: Samothrace

Pairing — Taehyung x Reader

Tags — boyfriend!Taehyung, husband!Taehyung reincarnation au, lovers to strangers and to lovers again, established relationship, implied soulmate au

Genre — fluff, angst, crime (ish)

Word Count — 2.5k

Summary — Does love ever truly end, or does it simply take another form in a new life? The cycle is like clockwork: your lives end and you’re reborn again. You’ve lived it over and over. Each cycle, one of you loses your memories and is tragically unaware until the other finds and awakens their lover. After all these eons, all these lifetimes, is it possible to find each other again—even when neither of you awakens with your memories? 

Part — 3 / 15

Warnings — language, mentions of murder (no description)

Previous — Next

On your way to breakfast the next morning, you get the call from Director Hyeon. What she tells you in the next few seconds nearly causes you to drop your phone and shout for joy, right in the middle of the sidewalk.

"We're offering you the job, [Y/n]. You're the most qualified and capable, by far. Everyone in the leadership has agreed that we can trust our boys to you. If you're interested...the position is yours."

Without giving your lungs a second to catch up with your erratic, excited breathing, you're exclaiming a vibrant, "Yes! Yes, I am very interested."

The details are finalized over the following week, which gives you just enough time to fly back home and pack up your belongings to ship overseas. Milo is a huge help, despite the fact that she's so jealous. While she has several interviews scheduled via telephone or Skype over the next few weeks, it will be a month or possibly more before she will join you in Seoul.

"I'm so jealous!" she tells you over and over. "So happy for you...but damn! I'm the one in the BTS army over here!"

"I'll see if I can snag you an autograph or something," you reply, half-joking.

Milo looks at you like you hold the world in your hands. "I would fucking marry you if you did."

"You'd marry me anyway."

At that, Milo merely flashes a wink and giggles to herself.

After your clothes and transportable belongings are packed and shipped overseas to your new apartment, the two of you drive to the airport in unusual silence, only a few items in your overhead luggage. It's not uncomfortable, but along the way, you both realize that this will be the last time you'll see each other for at least a month. 

Milo has been your best friend since middle school, and you've lived together since college. To be without her for that long, after all you've been through together, it's hitting you hard as the airport draws near. You reach for her hand over the armrest, lacing your fingers through hers.

"You're not gonna go run off and find some boy that keeps you in America, right?" you ask in a semi-joking tone.

Milo tilts her head as she stares at you from the passenger's side. "Only if you don't find a cute K-pop boy to fall in love with and forget all about me."

You make a faux gagging sound, drawing a smirk from your best friend. "Not a chance."

"Then don't test me, [Y/n]. I'll get a job and be with you in Seoul before we know it. A month isn't too long, and then we can be roomies again!"

Your hand tightens as you flash a genuine smile. "Wouldn't change it for the world."

You remain attached to each other until you get to the security check-in. Turning to Milo, you pull her into a tight embrace, one that she whole-heartedly returns. 

"Don't make me wait too long, okay?"

"'Course not," she chimes back, trying to keep her voice it's usual happy-go-lucky. "We're Siamese twins, you and me. Not gonna separate us!"

You say your temporary goodbyes—the only reason you don't break down being that you constantly remind yourself that it is only temporary—and depart for the security line. Passport in one hand, the other waving back to Milo, you hold tight to the shred of the past while running headfirst into your future.

One thing is for certain: things are going to change.

The first few days as a permanent resident of Seoul are spent settling into your new job and new apartment. And, as per usual in a major life change, there are things that go wrong that you couldn't have anticipated. You get lost on your way to work on your first day and end up being a few minutes late, one of your packages of clothing has not shown up yet despite everything else has arrived, and the office space at Big Hit evidently used to be occupied by someone who never cleared out their shitstorm of a file cabinet.

Needless to say, by the time the weekend arrives, you want to do nothing more than relax and recuperate and do something other than stare between two monitors. If you have to translate another word from Hangul into the English alphabet, you're going to chuck something out the window.

But, understandably, your apartment isn't in the best shape. Boxes are half-way unpacked, and plenty of furniture still needs to be bought. What has been unpacked is haphazardly tosses on any clean surface you can find. It's not exactly a den of peace and serenity, and probably not the ideal place to relax.

So, after doing some online shopping for said furniture and organizing as best you can, you decide to take the rest of the Saturday afternoon and do something you genuinely want to do. An idea pops into your head, and you grab your coat from the counter as you head for the door.

You never finished your tour of the Seoul Museum of Art, knowing for a fact that you haven't gotten to the architecture wing or portrait gallery. You feel your heart longing to go back and explore the remaining spots of the building, knowing in your soul that you need to be there.

What better time than the present?

You find your way easily, enjoying the brisk air that catches your skin and under your coat. The seasons are changing, shades of winter like white and grey settling into post-New Year's hues of mocha and beige. The city smells like green tea and feels like an ever-changing living organism.

Something tells you that more than just the seasons will be changing this year. 

Enter the museum, you find your way back towards the gallery where you left off. After the conversation with the stranger from yesterday, you were a bit too weirded out to really enjoy any of the other exhibits. Wandering for another hour, you hardly remember any of it. The story he told, the bloody fingerprint at the corner of "Vase with Honesty," it was all a bit too eerie for your liking.

But something in the back of your mind keeps prodding at you, and you desperately wish who that man was so that you could ask him more questions. How did he know about the murder? Why was he as drawn to the painting as you were? Why did he leave so abruptly?

All these questions circulate your mind as you round the corner, passing by the Van Gogh exhibit to your right. Just as you pass out of the entrance, you stop mid-step and turn on your heel, peaking back into the open space. 

Standing in front of "Vase with Honesty," the stranger from yesterday wears the beige hoodie and a white facemask. You might've missed him if it weren't for the way his eyes followed you from the entrance to the exit of the temporary exhibit, dark eyes dusted by curly hair. You think it unusual to recognize a stranger just from a few minutes of interaction, but your life has been anything but usual the past two weeks.

Instead, you offer a tiny smile and wave, stepping out of the arched entrance and towards the man. "Hi...again."

His eyes avert yours, shifting to the wall behind you, the paintings, the ceiling. Anywhere but at you. "Hi."

"Seems like we keep running into each other, hm?" you offer in a friendly tone. "Come back to see 'Vase with Honesty'?"

The stranger nods. "I'm a...big fan. Van Gogh's art is comforting. I've never known why."

His confession causes a genuine smile to spread across your face. "That's what art's for, silly. Van Gogh was a tortured soul, but I think he'd be happy to know that his life's work gives comfort to people, even..." You glance at the description card in front of the piece, searching for the date. "Even 136 years later."

His brown eyes flicker to yours again for a brief moment, and it's long enough for you to nod your head towards the expansive hallway. "Wanna walk with me? I got a few rooms in the museum yesterday, but not much more than that. Always nice to explore with others, don't you think?"

The shy man nods once and joins your side as you turn towards the interior, keeping a couple of feet between you. 

As you make your way to other wings, you and the stranger make small talk to pass the time. Well, you do most of the talking. You're not sure if this person doesn't trust you or if he's just catatonically shy, but he's refused to lower his hood or raise his head enough for you to get a good look at his face. His features are still obscured by his clothing and hair, but his voice is soothing the few times he does reply. His presence is calming. Something about the man puts you instantly at ease, and you find yourself being more friendly than you might be to any other stranger.

"Is Korean your first language?" he inquires, as you step into the empty room full of 20th-century modern art.

You shake your head, a slightly embarrassed heat rising in your cheeks. "That obvious, huh? I mean, I know I don't look Korean, but I was hoping I was passing all right."

He stops in front of a work by Georgia O'Keefe. "Not that obvious. I just heard a bit of an American lilt in a few of your words just now. You're very good."

"Oh...then, thanks."

"Why are you in Seoul, then? Visiting?"

"Working," you respond, moving to the other side of the room to view the other works of modern art. "I got a job in Yongsan. I just started this week."

The stranger's head perks up at your response, turning his face slightly towards yours. "How's that going?"

You shrug, making a non-committal noise. "I mean, it's a great job, don't get me wrong. It's just a lot. I moved away from America, from my long-time best friend and roommate, from everything I'd ever known for this job. And it's been a long first week full of things I didn't realize I was going to have to handle."

You shove your hands into your jacket pockets as the two of you turn to leave the room, enter back into the stark white hallway, and turn towards the next expansive opening.

"I shouldn't be complaining," you laugh. "The job is so much more than I could ask for, and I haven't even met a few of the people I'm supposed to work with. One of which I know I have a ton of questions for..." You shake your head. "I've have had this...let's call it a gut feeling, for a long time now. Go to Seoul. Go to South Korea. I knew my fate would bring me here one day, just didn't realize life would be so..."

"Hard?"

You turn towards your companion with an understanding sigh. "Yeah, hard."

A few moments of silence pass, and just as you're about to ask him about the bloody fingerprint and how he knew about the artist being murdered, you feel a chill run down your spine at the sight of the object in the room to your left. Not a chill from the cold or from nerves, this is a chill of familiarity. You turn your head slowly towards the object of your subconscious horror. 

"Winged Victory of Samothrace," or a copy of the one in the Louve, stands high and mighty, the lone object in the fluorescent-lit room.

"What is it?" the stranger asks, voice low and muffled by his mask.

You stare at the statue, unmoving for a full thirty seconds. "I—Does that statue look familiar to you at all?"

There's hesitation in his response, though you can't see his face. "I—I've seen it in Paris. That must be it."

You shake your head, clenching your trembling fists at your sides. "I've never been to Paris. I've never seen it before, not in person."

The stranger reaches out towards you, asking, "Are you okay? You're trembling."

In an attempt to clear your head, you drag your gaze away from Winged Victory and turn back towards the hallway. Visions from your nightmare force their way into your mind, but you shove them out, trying your hardest to keep them at bay as you walk ahead of your confused companion.

"Just a coincidence," you whisper to yourself. "Just a coin—"

Your sentence falls flat as you raise your gaze from the marble floors to the open space ahead. The chill returns, and your knees feel even weaker than before.

Pillars stretch up, cradling a spectacular glass ceiling, surrounding a spherical water fountain.

Your heartbeat races, and your throat closes up. The door you'd tried to lock in your brain crashes open, releasing all the terrible things your brain keeps replaying over and over and over. Doesn't matter if it's day or night, these visions never end.

An artist murdered. Two lovers on the run. A mad-man with a thirst for blood. 

And the death of you both in that very water fountain.

You stumble back, bumping into the stranger as you do. His eyes are wide and locked on the fountain, but you're too panicked to stop and investigate further. Every fiber of your being is telling you to run. To run as fast and as far as you can. 

Without explanation and without fail, you let your fear take you the mile's distance from that spherical fountain to the nearest metro station.

If you could physically go any faster or longer, you're sure in your heart that you would still be running.

[emospritelet]

Twisted Fate - chapter 12

40 “Don't make excuses for nasty people. You can't put a flower in an asshole and call it a vase.”

8 “I can’t do this again. I won’t.”

Please send me a prompt from this list or this list to fuel the angst and smut

[Ch 1] [Ch 2] [Ch 3] [Ch 4] [Ch 5] [Ch 6] [Ch 7] [Ch 8] [Ch 9] [Ch 10] [Ch 11]

[AO3]

x

Gold’s leg seemed to be more painful than usual, his gait more uneven as he left the apartment building and stepped out into the cold evening air. His head was in turmoil, thoughts and emotions whirling in thick clouds, rent by jagged bolts of hurt and indignation and the first hints of deep, dark sorrow. For a moment it was too much, and he stopped abruptly, causing the person walking behind to stumble and swerve around him with a muttered curse. Gold clutched at his cane, leaning on it with hunched shoulders as he breathed deeply. 

He was surprised to find that he was shaking, tears pricking at his eyes, and confusion over his reactions only added to his anguish. Her rejection was something he had come to expect by now, and certainly was what he deserved, but it was getting harder to push aside and ignore. A four-hour drive back to Storybrooke was the last thing he felt like facing, and so he made a decision. He would stay another night at the hotel, as he had originally planned, and return to Maine in the morning. Which meant that he could deal with his unwanted thoughts and feelings in one of the two ways he knew. Ignoring them wasn’t proving too easy, so perhaps obliterating them with whisky would work.

Nodding to himself, he left his car where it was, and walked to the nearest bar. It was too warm, the air thick and moist, and there was a large flat screen television showing a hockey game that was a little too loud for comfort, but at least it was fairly quiet. Gold sat at the bar, near the door that led to the back offices and as far from the noise of the television as he could.

“Whisky,” he said, to the sleepy-eyed bartender. “Make it a large one.”

“Toasting your fortunes or drowning your sorrows?” asked the bartender, and Gold gave him a cool, flat stare.

“Enjoying my privacy.”

The bartender grumbled something uncomplimentary as he poured the whisky, but Gold didn’t care. He drank it too quickly, the liquor burning his mouth and throat, rough and raw. It gave him something to think about other than Belle, so he pushed the glass across the bar when he caught the bartender’s eye.

“That’s bloody terrible,” he said, and the bartender shrugged.

“I got a few different kinds, if you want to pay a bit more.”

Gold wrinkled his nose.

“No, I’ll have another glass of this toilet cleaner, please,” he said. “I’m not drinking it for the taste.” 

“You got it.”

The bartender poured him a second glass, eyeing him appraisingly, as though he was trying to work out the reason for his bad mood. Gold waited for the inevitable, unwelcome intervention.

“Cheer up, buddy,” said the bartender. “You know what they say: shit happens. You just gotta try to rise above it.”

There it is. Gold sent him a level look.

“Shit happened over seven months ago,” he said coldly. “Right now I just keep digging my way deeper into the sewer, so I’m really not in the mood for empty platitudes.”

“Suit yourself.”

“I almost always do,” drawled Gold. “Are you gonna give me that drink before I die of boredom?”

The bartender muttered something about where he could shove his drink, banging the whisky down in front of him. Gold drank it more slowly than the first, in small sips that stung and burned. The noise from the television rose, accompanied by shouts from the customers watching, and then a raucous, collective cheer as a goal was scored. Gold curled his lip.

“Hey there.” A dark-haired man leaned on the bar next to him, reaching into his pocket and flourishing a card at the bartender. “I’m here from Spencer & King Associates. Picking up the books?”

“Oh, right.” The bartender dropped the rag he had been using to mop up spilled beer. “I got everything out back.”

“Cool.”

He pushed away from the bar, following the bartender through the door, and Gold turned back to his whisky, watching amber light swirl in its depths. The glass would be empty soon, and he had already decided he would order another. 

“Thanks, man.”

Gold looked up as the bartender held open the door that led to the back offices. The dark-haired young man was carrying a large box stuffed with files, and Gold recognised him as Belle’s friend. Henry’s father. He was wearing a suit and tie beneath a heavy wool coat, the tie somewhat askew beneath a thick scarf. The light of recognition flared in the man’s eyes, and he pushed the box of files onto the bar. 

“Uh - Alex Gold, right?” he said.

Gold nodded an acknowledgement, and the young man smiled, dark eyes crinkling at the corners.

“I know we met the other day, but I didn’t introduce myself,” he said. “Neal Cassidy.”

He held out a hand, and after a moment Gold sat back on his stool and took it, shaking it briefly.

“A pleasure.”

“You here in Boston to see Belle?”

“I was,” said Gold stiffly, slumping forward onto his folded arms again. “We went shopping for the baby. And paint for the apartment.”

“Oh, yeah, we’re gonna help her decorate the place,” said Neal. “Me and Emma. That’s my wife, by the way. Don’t think Belle introduced her, either.”

“No.” Gold took another sip of his whisky.

“You joining in this painting party?” asked Neal. “There’s pizza and beers in it for you. I’m guessing Belle could use the help.”

“I’m sure she could,” said Gold dryly. “She just doesn’t want it from me.”

He was aware that he sounded bitter, so he took another drink, swallowing the last of the whisky and gesturing to the bartender for another. Neal leaned on the bar with a sigh, running a hand through his dark hair.

“Look, it’s none of my business,” he said. “But she’s been through a lot, you know?”

Gold was silent, watching the bartender pour another measure of the terrible whisky, and Neal continued.

“Thinking she’ll have to raise the kid alone, worrying about college, her father being a useless tool - she’s had a ton of crap to carry around,” he said. “I guess it’s not exactly surprising she wants you to take a step back. Get a bit of space, you know?”

Gold clenched his jaw, resenting both being given advice by a total stranger and the fact that Neal probably knew Belle’s mind far better than he did. Neal seemed to take his silence for contemplation.

“For what it’s worth, I get it,” he said. “I get not knowing about the kid for all that time sucks. And I get that you want to be there to raise it. Stepping up for them means a lot, and Belle’s gonna see that. She’ll come around. You just have to give her some time.”

Gold reached for his whisky, throwing it back in one dreadful, burning mouthful, and setting the glass down with a dull clunk before turning a freezing stare on Neal.

“Well, you’re certainly right about one thing,” he said coolly. “It’s none of your business.”

He pulled some cash from his pocket, throwing it onto the bar, and stomped out, ignoring the pain shooting through his leg. Everyone was just brimming the fuck over with good advice.

x

Belle managed to fill her week with work and study, enough to keep her from thinking about her relationship with the father of her child. Until she lay down at night, of course. Telling him to stay away had hurt him, she had seen it for the briefest of moments in his eyes before he had given her his usual flat, expressionless look. She didn’t like causing him pain, but it hurt her more to have him there, excited for the baby’s arrival but still lost to her. It hurt to have him so close and be unable to touch him.

Despite Gold’s instructions to the store to leave it a week, the delivery turned up on Wednesday while Belle was out at work. She returned with sore feet, reeking of burgers and fries, to find Marco excitedly beckoning her to the secure closet where he had stored the boxes of flat-packed furniture and baby things. He got his son August to take them up to the apartment for her. August was handsome and dark-haired with a ready smile, and happily loaded everything into the elevator with her. Belle wondered if he could smell the diner on her as they rode upwards, but she was too tired to care. She gave him a tip from her wages when he had finished carrying everything in, and collapsed onto the couch in relief when he had gone.

It felt good to work what she knew would be her final shift at the diner on Friday evening. Gold had been true to his word and transferred a sum of money to her account, and Belle sat for a moment as she stared at the balance showing on her phone, unused to having no financial worries, and unsure how to feel about it. It was as though a weight had been lifted from her shoulders, and she was grateful to him for that, but she wasn’t sure she would ever get used to not having to count every penny. Perhaps that was just as well. 

Saturday was bright and crisp, and she spent the morning studying, seated at the kitchen table and enjoying the sunlight streaming through the window as she sipped tea and made notes. She had time to make a sandwich for lunch and ate it quickly, so that she could tidy the place up a little before Emma came over with Neal and Henry to help her paint.

“Thanks so much for this, you guys,” said Belle, as she let them in. “Pizza’s on me later, okay? I made some iced peach tea, and there are sodas in the fridge.”

“We brought beers, too,” said Neal, holding up a six-pack. “Although I guess that’s just for me and Emma.”

“No beer until the painting’s done,” said Emma firmly. “Which room’s first?”

“Uh - the nursery, I guess,” said Belle. “Right this way.”

x

The afternoon passed enjoyably, loud music playing as they dipped rollers in the paint and put colour on the walls. Neal was responsible for the delicate work of touching up corners and edges, with Belle, Emma and Henry focusing on getting the bulk of the colour on. Everything Gold had bought for the baby was stacked in a corner of the lounge, ready to go in the nursery when the painting was finished. Once the first coat was on, Belle showed the others what they had bought, and Emma cooed over some of the toys and outfits.

“Reminds me of when Henry was tiny,” she said, holding up a fluffy white romper. “Man, they’re so cute when they’re all little and helpless.”

“I’m cute now,” said Henry.

“Yeah, and you’ll be even cuter when you’re my age,” said Neal, tickling him and making him giggle. “What’s this, Belle?”

He tapped one of the large cardboard boxes leaning against the wall.

“Crib,” said Belle. “Those boxes are a whole new set of furniture for the baby things.”

“I told you you could borrow our crib,” said Emma, and Belle sighed.

“Yeah, and Alex said you two might decide to have another baby in the next year,” she said. Emma snorted.

“While I’m still studying? Doubt it. What kind of masochist would want to do that?”

“Hey, I’m right here,” said Belle evenly, and Emma winced, making her giggle.

“Oops. Don’t listen to me, honey, you know what I meant.”

“I know,” said Belle, with a grin. “It wasn’t exactly in my life plan either.”

“I guess babies come when they come,” said Neal, echoing Gold’s words of earlier in the week.

“Guess so,” said Belle quietly. “Anyway, he was kind of on a furniture-buying roll. I don’t think I could have stopped him, even if I’d tried.”

“Looks like this painting party’ll turn into a flat-pack furniture building party later on,” remarked Neal, patting the box. “I definitely shouldn’t drink too many beers if that’s the case.”

“I’ll still be sober,” said Belle, with a chuckle. “If one of you understands the instructions, I think we’ll be okay.”

“The baby’s gonna have loads of cool things, Belle,” said Henry. “Can we take it trick-or-treating on Halloween?”

“Uh - sure, I guess so.” 

“Yeah, the Halloween outfits for babies are adorable,” said Emma. “How d’you think Gold’ll react to being presented with a miniature pumpkin drooling on his suit?”

Belle couldn’t help smiling at the mental picture.

“I don’t think he’ll mind that,” she said. “He’ll have to get used to the increased dry-cleaning bills.”

“Maybe he’ll switch things up,” suggested Neal. “Dress down a bit more. Jeans and shirts, maybe.”

Belle snorted.

“I’m not even sure he owns a pair of jeans.”

“Oh, come on, everyone owns a pair of jeans!”

“Not him,” she said, in a wry tone. “I guess it’ll be interesting to see if having the baby changes anything about him.”

Including his inability to show emotions, she thought. Will he love our baby? Will he let them know, or will he bottle up his feelings and pretend he doesn’t care? I’m not sure I could stand to watch that. She felt her mouth flatten as she followed the others back into the nursery to make a start on the second coat of paint, an uneasy sense of dread filling her. No child should have to wonder if their parents loved them.

“I saw him, by the way,” said Neal, jerking her out of her reverie. “Gold.”

Belle looked around, surprised.

“Where?”

“Bar two blocks from here,” said Neal, drawing his paintbrush in an even line around the light switch. “Monday evening, so I guess after you went shopping. He was sitting at the bar drinking whisky like it was on sale.”

“Oh.” Belle chewed her lip. “Did he talk to you?”

“Not really,” said Neal. “Said hi. Stared into his drink while I tried to say something supportive. Told me it was none of my business.”

“Oh,” said Belle awkwardly. “Sorry.”

“Nah, it’s cool,” said Neal, with a shrug. “Not like he was wrong. Guess I wouldn’t want a stranger getting in my business either.”

“Don’t make excuses for nasty people,” said Emma, rolling paint briskly. “You can’t put a flower in an asshole and call it a vase.”

“Mom!” said Henry, horrified, as Belle and Neal burst out laughing.

“What? I’m right.” Emma straightened. “He screwed up. I mean it sounds like he knows it and is trying to make amends, but the guy still has a way to go before he’s a model citizen.”

“Yeah, well, I guess he’s being a model expectant father at the moment,” said Belle, with a sigh. “Looks like me and the baby are gonna want for nothing.”

“That’s good, right?” said Henry, and Belle smiled at him.

“It’s good,” she agreed. “It’s more than I expected. He seems - he’s really excited. Like he can’t wait for the baby to get here. Like it’s all he can think of.” And if the baby wasn’t coming, he wouldn’t even talk to me. He’d be back in Storybrooke, pretending what happened between us meant nothing. Or maybe it did mean nothing. To him. Maybe I really was just something to use to pass the time.

She chewed her lip, and Emma seemed to pick up on her mood.

“Come on guys, less talking, more painting,” she said.

They made short work of the second coat, three of the walls now a fetching shade of lilac, the one opposite the door a calming pale blue. Emma gave a final few strokes with her roller, then dropped it into the paint tray.

“Okay!” she said. “That’s two coats done. Why don’t we head out and get some fresh air before we start on the kitchen? Hot chocolate at that deli we passed?”

“Yeah!” said Henry enthusiastically. “And muffins?”

“We’ll check if they do ‘em, kid.”

“The muffins are pretty good,” said Belle. “But the apple tart is to die for.”

“Sold,” said Neal, clapping his hands together. “Come on, buddy, let’s go clean up.”

They wandered out in the direction of the kitchen, and Belle wiped her hands on her overalls and stretched, sighing. Emma was eyeing her knowingly.

“It’s hard having him back in your life, huh?” she said quietly.

Belle nodded.

“I spent months wishing he was here, and now he is, I can’t decide which is more painful,” she said, her tone subdued.

“You still love him,” said Emma gently.

“No.” Belle shook her head. “No, that’s - that would be stupid.”

“Yeah, and no one ever said love was logical.” Emma reached out to take her hand. “Belle, it’s been pretty clear to me since the day we met that you’re still in love with the guy. That’s only become more obvious since he came back into your life.”

Belle was silent, wishing she could deny it, and Emma sighed.

“Just tell him, honey,” she said. “It’s only gonna eat you up otherwise. Tell him you love him, and that’s why you can’t stand having him around.”

“I told him I loved him before,” said Belle bitterly. “Pretty sure that’s how I ended up single and pregnant.”

“Yeah, and now you know he’s not running anywhere,” said Emma.

“Yet.”

“You seriously think he’s gonna bail?” said Emma. “Why would he when he’s gone to all this expense?”

Belle stripped off the overalls, tugging her shirt straight.

“Who knows why he does anything?” she muttered. “Come on, let’s go get that apple tart.”

x

Painting the apartment made Belle feel as though she had achieved something, and the newly-decorated nursery, complete with baby furniture and stocked with toys and clothes, was a welcome sight. It made her smile when she saw it, and she felt, if not exactly ready for motherhood, then at least more prepared than she had been a week earlier.

That Monday, Gold arrived to pick her up after class, as agreed. He was his usual polite self, but more cool and reserved, and remained largely silent during her medical appointment. She wasn’t sure if that made her feel better or not. Dr Jekyll clucked over her weight again, but said that otherwise she and the baby were doing well. Gold walked her back to the car, her arm linked through his, cane picking its way across the parking lot.

“Not long now,” said Belle.

“No.”

He glanced across at her.

“Are you nervous?” he asked tentatively.

“Yes,” she admitted. “Mainly because it’s all a new thing, you know? I can read a hundred books on childbirth, but until I actually go through it…” 

She shrugged, unsure she was making herself clear, but he nodded as if he understood. Belle put her head to the side.

“What about you?” she asked. “Are you nervous?”

“Oh, I’m terrified,” he said automatically, and closed his eyes, looking as though he wanted to bite his tongue.

“Why?” she asked.

Gold seemed to struggle with himself for a moment, then opened his eyes, giving her a smile that didn’t quite reach them.

“Well, as you said, it’s all new.”

“You’re not the one who has to give birth,” she said, giving him a wry smile.

“No,” he said. “Of course not. I didn’t mean that.”

“Then what?” she asked gently, and he sighed, looking as though he wished he hadn’t said anything. The wind ruffled his hair, the sun gleaming on silver strands.

“It’s what comes afterwards, I suppose,” he said hesitantly. “Raising our child. Keeping it safe. Being - enough.” 

“I guess,” she said slowly. “There are no guarantees in life, are there? I suppose we just have to do the best we can. Do what’s in our child’s best interests.”

“Yes,” he said quietly. “Exactly.”

Belle’s brow wrinkled in confusion.

“What do you mean?”

“Nothing. Here’s the car.”

He dug in his pocket for his car keys as they approached the Cadillac, and Belle eyed him as he busied himself opening the door and helping her in. She wondered what he had meant, what his true fears were over becoming a father. Whether he would ever let her in enough to find out.

He remained silent on the drive back to her apartment, and she was unwilling to break it. Gold parked up, glancing across at her.

“Do you mind if I come up?” he asked. “There are a couple of things I’d like to discuss.”

“Okay,” she said. “You can see the nursery. It’s all ready.”

The briefest hint of a smile curved his lips.

“Good.”

The silence between them was still thick and heavy as they took the elevator upwards, and Belle could feel it, like an itch between her shoulder blades as she led him down the corridor to the apartment. Her hand shook a little as she unlocked the door, and she glanced over her shoulder.

“Tea?”

“Thank you.”

Once inside, Belle hurried to the kitchen, putting water on to boil and getting out cups. Gold hadn’t followed her, and she imagined he had gone to check out the nursery. He followed after a few minutes with the hint of a smile in his eyes.

“It looks good,” he said. “You and your friends did a fine job.”

“Many hands, and all that.”

“Yes.” He looked around the kitchen, with its new terracotta walls. “This is nice, too. When you make a decision on the other rooms, just let me know. We can order the colours.”

“Thank you.”

Gold reached into his coat, bringing out a thick envelope folded lengthways and dropping it on the kitchen table.

“The draft of our agreement, and the papers for the property transfer,” he said. “I thought I’d hold off on the appointment with my lawyer until you had a chance to go through them.” 

“Oh, right. Sure.” 

Belle picked up the envelope, sliding out a thick sheaf of papers and dropping them onto the table. She flattened them out, seeing their names in harsh black ink against white paper. Two opposing sides signing a fragile peace treaty that would continue for the next twenty years or more. The thought was exhausting.

“She’s willing to discuss any amendments you might propose,” he went on. “As am I. Within reason.”

“Who decides what’s reasonable?” she asked dryly, flicking through the pages without reading them.

“Given that we’re both adults, I’d like to think we both have a say.” 

His tone matched hers, and it made her want to roll her eyes. The kettle boiled, and Belle dropped the papers on the table, going to pour the water into the teapot. She heard a low click on the floor behind her as Gold took a step closer.

“Did you find a lawyer yet?” he asked, and Belle turned, leaning back against the counter with arms folded.

“No.”

Gold sighed, looking as weary as she felt.

“Look, you really should get your own legal advice,” he said. “It won’t be that expensive, and besides, you should have enough to pay for it now. The money cleared into your account, I presume? The first payment? I made it weekly, as you asked. You’ll get the same this week.”

“Yes, it did,” she said. “Thank you. It’s not that. I guess - well, I guess I haven’t had a chance to think about it.”

“My lawyer will ask the same question when it comes to signing the papers,” he said. “So I suggest you look into that this week. I want this done.”

“Why the hurry?” she asked, baulking at being given what felt like an instruction. “The baby’s not due for over a month.”

“Yes, and babies come early all the time,” he said testily. “I’d really like our agreement to be signed and sealed before that happens. To ensure there are no misunderstandings.”

“You said this was just a formality,” she pointed out, gesturing to the papers, and Gold’s jaw tightened.

“So if you could get some advice and formally sign it, I’d be obliged.”

“You seem awfully keen to give away a valuable apartment.”

“I’m awfully keen to ensure my child has a secure and comfortable home,” he said evenly. “I didn’t realise this was something to cause suspicion on your part.”

“I just know that you never agree to anything that doesn’t benefit you,” she said.

His eyes flashed darkly as he took a step closer, and she felt a lurch in her belly, the first sign of his anger sparking the memory of bruising kisses and frenzied hands.

“Could you please try to put aside your own hurt pride for five fucking minutes and consider that I want what’s best for both you and the child?” he growled. “Everything’s there, in black and white. I am literally telling you to go and seek independent legal advice. Quite how that makes me the villain of the piece I have no idea.”

“I - I didn’t call you a villain...”

“You didn’t have to,” he said coldly. “It’s clear in every look, every glance, every way in which you want me as far away from you as possible. It’s clear in the fact that it took you five months to bloody well tell me I was to be a father. It’s clear that you don’t want me in your life, which means that you don’t want me in our child’s life either.”

“I didn’t say that—” 

“Hear me now, Belle,” he interrupted, raising a finger, “and let me make myself crystal fucking clear. The child is mine, too, and I will have what’s mine. Do you understand?”

Gold could feel his anger simmering, a low-down, burning heat. Belle glared at him, jaw set and blue eyes flashing as she faced him down. Her cheeks were flushed, her chest heaving. She was magnificent.

“Our child will know its father,” she said stiffly. “I’ll get some legal advice before signing the papers. Happy?”

“Ecstatic,” he said softly. “So do you think we can dispense with the hostilities?”

“Fine,” she said curtly.

“Fine.”

She turned away, taking cups and saucers to the table and going to the fridge for milk. Gold ran a hand over his face with a deep sigh, letting the tension drain out of him.

“Belle, I don’t want things to be like this,” he said quietly. “I don’t want us to be antagonising each other every time we meet.”

She paused, head down, her shoulders slumped a little.

“No,” she said. “Nor do I.”

She put the milk on the table, turning back for the teapot and setting that down on one of the iron trivets.

“Good,” he said. “In that case, could you please tell me what I need to do to make things better between us?”

“I’m not sure there’s anything you can do,” she muttered, snatching up a cloth and wiping some drops of water from the counter. “It’s not you, anyway, it’s me.”

“Doesn’t that usually mean the exact opposite?”

Belle tossed the cloth into the sink and leaned on the counter with a heavy sigh, arms locked and head down. After a moment she turned, and her jaw was set again, her chin raised.

“I still love you,” she said abruptly. “I probably always will, idiot that I am. But I can’t trust you. And without trust, there’s nothing. You can’t build something if the foundations are rotten.”

The brief spark of joy at hearing that she loved him was almost immediately snuffed out.

“You - you don’t trust me?” he said numbly.

“No.”

There was a moment of silence, and he shook his head.

“But - but I’ve done what you asked,” he said. “When you needed me to come to Boston, I came. When you needed space, I left. The apartment, healthcare, money… Everything you needed, I’ve given you without question. What is it that you don’t trust?”

“You really have to ask me that?” she said flatly.

“Yes!”

Belle put her hands on her hips, raising a brow.

“I worry that one day you’ll get bored,” she said. “That you’ll suddenly decide that fatherhood isn't what you wanted after all, and you’ll leave.”

It was like a blow to the chest. He felt winded, and swallowed hard, his eyes widening

“I would never do that!” he said hoarsely.

“Why not?” she asked, her voice thin. “You did it to me. You picked me up and played with me until you got bored, then you threw me away. I’ll be damned if I’ll let you do that to our child.”

Gold could feel a tide of rage and indignation rise up inside him.

“I would tear apart the world for this baby!” he snapped, gesturing with the flat of his hand.

“It doesn’t need your anger, Alex, it needs your love!” she insisted, lifting her arms and letting them fall. “Are you even capable of showing it any? How do I know you won’t break its heart like you broke mine?”

“Don’t you dare say that!” he spat, anger roughening his voice. “I won’t let you keep my child from me! I can’t do this again! I won’t!”

Belle had opened her mouth angrily, but snapped it shut, looking puzzled.

“Again?” she repeated. “What do you mean ‘again’?”

Gold stared at her, a high-pitched ringing in his ears as panic set in.

“Nothing,” he said immediately. “I just meant - I meant—”

“Why did you say ‘again’?” she persisted, and he stepped back from her, heading for the door.

“I don’t want to fight with you,” he said, his hand shaking as he reached for the handle. “I think it’s best if we talk about this some other time.”

“Alex, don’t you dare walk out on me!”

“I’ll call you tomorrow.”

“Alexander!”

[roaminginspiration]

The Diner

Part 1 (x)

Brooklyn Golden Palace Diner was one of the coziest and nicest restaurants in Brooklyn. The food was tasty and affordable, in spite of the general inflation, and, by anyone’s standards, they served the best coffee in the borough. The vibe was as customer-friendly and simple as its name was posh. The bright cyan and white tiling reflected the warm light and matched nicely with the champagne walls. The furniture was second-hand but clean and shiny. And the staff was welcoming and friendly.

Yes, Steve Rogers had every reason to like Brooklyn Golden Palace. It had opened four years ago and soon become one of the locals’ favorite. He and Bucky sometimes had a burger there after watching a baseball game.

Until it eventually became a regular visit. A weekly one, to be precise. Every Saturday. Bucky liked to tease and say it was because of the new waitress. Steve took it in with an eye-roll but never changed the routine. Bucky often let him choose where to sit, which was either on the stools at the counter or the booth in the left corner with a direct, unobstructed view on the aforementioned counter.

Bucky sat on the leather bench across from him and ostentatiously turned to scope the staff area.

“I’m assuming she’s got a shift today or we wouldn’t be here,” James said, obnoxiously loud.

“Stop it! You look like a creep,” Steve groaned as he leaned over the table and pulled his friend’s jacket. He then brushed back the strand of hair hanging over his forehead.

Bucky sniggered before sitting back on the bench.

“How long is it gonna take you before you actually talk to her?” he said, then reached for the menu standing against the ketchup bottle. “Lucky you, I don’t mind playing this little game — the food here is pretty decent.”

And Bucky’s eyes hungrily skimmed over the card.

A familiar silhouette coming through the kitchen doors immediately caught Steve’s attention. He watched in awe as the slender, red-haired waitress swayed into the room with a beaming smile. She went over to another booth, collected her tips and picked up the plates. She next walked over to them and gracefully slid her hand into her apron pocket to get the notepad. She then reached for the pencil she always kept tucked behind her ear.

“Gentlemen, what can I get you?” she asked.

James put down the menu. “I’ll have your beef burger with extra pickles and no onion, with a chocolate milkshake.”

He then expectantly glanced over at Steve with an amused smirk tugged at his lips. The waitress mirrored him and turned to Steve. Under the table, he nervously wrapped his hand around his thin arm.

“I…,” he began, then buried his nose in the menu card. He intensely felt the gaze of her large emerald eyes on him and soon, this simple fact, clogged up his mind to the point he couldn’t read the menu.

Counting the long embarrassing seconds going by, he eventually cleared his throat and said: “I’ll have the same.”

He tapped the menu card on the table, glancing at the salt and pepper shakers.

“Noted,” she said with a smirk then vanished behind the counter.

Bucky chuckled. “You hate pickles,” he said. He grabbed a toothpick and put it between his lips.

Steve sighed. “I know.”

James was playfully brushing the toothpick over his bottom lip.

“She’s gorgeous, I’ll give you that,” he said. “Why won’t you say anything to her?”

“Because I’m this scrawny guy, and as you said, she’s gorgeous. The other women don’t look at me, so a woman like her won’t ever notice me.”

He suddenly became sullen, hit in the guts by this undeniable truth.

Bucky smiled comfortingly. “Life is full of surprises. You’ll never know if you don’t try,” his friend said. "What’s her name?”

Steve’s eyes wandered over to the counter where she was pouring coffee into a man’s cup.

“Natasha,” he answered absent-mindedly.

Many months went by and the weekly visits eventually became more regular. He’d go with Bucky then, when his friend enlisted in the army, he went there alone.

His exchange with Natasha was always brief but cordial enough to fill him with satisfaction until his next visit at the Golden Palace Diner.

Things changed on a foggy Tuesday morning in fall. Natasha wrapped her fingers tightly around her coat as she took out the keys to the diner for her morning shift. A raucous sound erupted near the corner.

“Now stay down,” a voice grumbled and she jumped in surprise as she watched a tall man step out of the alleyway behind the diner, rub his sore knuckles and disappear down the street.

After a few seconds, she ventured into the alleyway. Amid the broken crates and knocked down trash cans, she found Steve down on all fours. She recognized her regular customer and rushed over to pick him up.

“Are you all right? What happened?” she asked. Still dizzy, he immediately knew whose voice it was and jumped on his feet before she could help him up.

“I’m ok,” he assured sheepishly and headed out to the main street.

“It’s not safe for you to go alone. Just come inside, we have a first aid kit.”

She looked at him closely and nodded soothingly. He followed her as she took them back to the entrance, unlocked the door and let him in. She closed the door behind them and went to switch on the nearest light. She sat him down, took off her coat and went to get the kit.

She grabbed one of the napkins, put ice in it, and gently pressed it on his swollen lip. He winced silently and she cringed sympathetically. She was sitting on a chair by the bench, quiet but focused.

“Wanna tell me what happened?” she asked.

“I caught him stealing a passerby and tried to get the wallet back. Unsuccessfully as you can tell.”

Natasha nodded, still gently pressing the ice on his throbbing skin. “That’s very brave,” she commented. “Many would have looked the other way. Especially with a guy as tall as him.”

“It’s nothing that hasn’t happened before,” he answered dully. “I can take it.”

She smirked. “So you’re a big guy, huh?” She eyed him intently and he almost reeled. “That’s certainly the last thing I expected,” she whispered with genuine appreciation.

And from that day foggy Tuesday morning in fall, it became their inside joke. She’d always greet him as “Big Guy”. Other customers didn’t understand; Tommy, the cook standing behind he kitchen counter didn’t understand; Bucky, who was on furlough, didn’t understand. Only Steve and Natasha did. It was their thing.

Their conversations became more friendly and he eventually found out she was Russian and had moved to the U.S. when she was very young. He knew her last name was Romanoff and he found great pride in knowing he was probably one of the few customers who had been told.

Steve missed Brooklyn Golden Palace Diner greatly after joining the Army. More than Brooklyn or the juicy burgers, he missed the smirk of his favorite waitress.

As he was in the car headed towards the facility that would forever change his destiny, they drove past the street. When Peggy Carter asked him what was so special about it, he answered he’d been beaten up there and looked after by a friendly waitress. He told her her name was Natasha.

Peggy seemed to smile knowingly.

“Well, I’m sure Natasha will be pleased when she sees you again.”

He cleared his throat and blushed slightly at the prospect of it.

A few months later, Steve returned to Brooklyn Golden Palace. Natasha was wiping the waffle machine. His heartbeat quickened and he nervously straightened his tie.

“Is it too late for a milkshake?” he asked.

He heard the smile in her voice.

“I thought you’d forgotten about me, Big Guy.” She said, wiped her hands and turned to face him. She halted and arched an eyebrow as her eyes traveled up his body until they finally met his eyes. He smiled and laid his forearm on the counter.

“What did Tommy put in your scrambled eggs the last time you came?” she asked.

It was the first time she saw him after he was injected the super-soldier serum. He looked nothing like the regular customer she had picked up after a fight in the alleyway. His body, evidently, had changed, but so had his demeanor. He exuded some confidence his former shape did not allow other people to catch on. His lustrous blond hair was neatly brushed behind his shoulders and he was wearing his official military suit.

“Look at you!” Tommy called from the kitchen as he leaned over his counter and whistled. Natasha put a hand on her hip and smirked while Steve’s cheeks flushed red.

“You totally ruined my nickname for you. What happened?” she asked.

He smiled. “It’s a long story.”

She tossed her napkin over her shoulder. “Clearly my life isn’t as exciting as yours, I have time to hear it all.”

He cleared his throat as Bucky’s words echoed inside his head. “About that…maybe I could tell you all about it around a drink?” She raised an eyebrow and he shook his head nervously. “If you’d like to, of course.”

She frowned and scratched the side of her head. “I’m closing tonight. Maybe on Monday?”

“I’m going back tomorrow,” he answered. It had taken him days to muster the courage to turn up at the diner and drop the question.

“I see.”

“I don’t mind waiting till your shift is over. If that’s ok with you.”

“Hey darling, my turkey is turning cold and I really need that sauce,” a customer called from across the room.

She rolled her eyes then turned her attention back to him.

“Sure. I won’t be free till 10.30, though.”

“I know. I can wait.” He smiled. She smiled back. “See you later, then.”

He made his way to the exit and, as he walked past the turkey guy, he swiftly knocked the strawberry milkshake onto his lap. The man grumbled loudly, attracting everyone’s attention on them, including Natasha’s who was smirking from the counter.

Steve feigned to apologize then headed out of the diner.

At 10.25 pm, Steve came back and sat at the booth in the left corner. The place was completely empty, even Tommy had finished to clean the kitchen and had gone. Natasha was wiping the last wet glasses and plates with a cloth. She smiled at him.

“I didn’t think you’d come back,” she said. “It was a long evening.”

Her expression was a little weary. She walked over to his booth and sat down across from him. She stretched her neck and it made a cracking side.

She chuckled. “Sorry. Bad habit.”

She then massaged the bare nape of her neck with her palm. He thought she looked exquisite.

“Can I get you anything?” she asked.

He stood on his feet. “How about we switch roles a bit. You’ve served enough people for today.”

He walked across the empty room, over to the counter, grabbed a clean cup and saucer, and brought them back to the table. He then went again to get the jar of coffee and a spoon from behind the counter.

Natasha had taken off her shoes, climbed up on the bench and sat against the wall as her legs lay along the bench.

He came to stand in front of her and poured coffee into her cup. He came back a few seconds later with a slice of cheesecake covered with syrup. She watched him with unconcealed wonder.

He sat on the bench across the table and watched her as she took a spoonful of the pastry to her mouth. She laid her head back against the wall, wiggled her small feet hanging beyond the edge of her bench and smiled.  

“You know this place like the back of your hand,” she commented.

He propped his chin into the palm of his hand and smiled bashfully. “I may have observed you a lot. Sorry.”

As she looked deep into his blue eyes, she realized how much he looked like that regular customer she had picked up after a fight in the alleyway. She put down the spoon and reached over to nudge his arm.

“Do you want to tell me what happened?” she asked with genuine interest.

And he told her about the greatest thing that had ever happened in his life.

At nearly midnight, she glanced over at the clock on the wall.

“Wanna go for a walk?” she asked.

He smiled approvingly. He got on his feet and came to stand over her bench. She stretched out her arms, slipped her small hands into his, and let herself be swept along to a nightly stroll.

The streets were lit with the city lights, shining on beyond the horizon. They kept on walking until their stroll took them to Brooklyn Bridge. The steps echoed on the thick wooden floor below their feet as the moonlight shone between the steel cables. They eventually stopped and leaned on the edge to look across East River and Manhattan.

“When I left Russia with my parents, we had dreams of achieving all that we ever wanted. I still look at the city like that little girl who first wandered through this steel jungle. The dreams are different, though.”

“What dreams?”

She smiled sheepishly.

“I thought I’d take on the world, mesmerize everyone. I guess Golden Palace is the closest I’ll ever get to sparkles and success.”

“For what it’s worth, I think you’re mesmerizing. It’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world catches up.”

She laughed and buried her face behind the sleeve of her coat. She then cleared her throat and regained her confident countenance.

She raised an eyebrow and stared at him deeply.

A big yawn came through. He smiled fondly.

“Let’s go and I’ll hail you a cab home.”

She blinked. “You’re not offering to walk me back? All the other guys always offer to walk me back tome...to keep the door open. They never fully conceal their intentions.”

“I do have intentions. Hopefully to take out on a second date…if you’ll have me.”

“You’re good,” she remarked with her honeyed voice.

He smiled and started off, but she pulled him back by his sleeve. When he swung around, her lips captured his as she pressed herself against him and clutched her hand around his neck. One of his hands fell to her waist while the other cupped her face and pulled her in. Her lips, full and luscious, were warm and sweet. It was only him and her on the deserted bridge, lit by the moonlight.

When they broke the kiss for air, he breathed in the sweet smell of her perfume and pancakes. It made him smile contentedly.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you all night,” she admitted, breathless.

“I’ve wanted to kiss you since the moment I saw you behind that counter.”

Her pupils quivered as she looked deep into his eyes, amazed and flattered.

“Now,” she began, “are you gonna take me home, Big Guy?”

[365daysofsasuhina]

[ 365 Days of SasuHina || Day One Hundred Three: A Stack of Boxes ] [ Uchiha Sasuke, Hyūga Hinata ] [ SasuHina ] [ Verse: Best Years of Your Life ] [ AO3 Link ]

It’s here. The big day. After a year and a half of dating, she’s finally agreed to take the next step.

Moving in together.

She’s assured him there’s not much to take. She has no real furniture of her own beyond a bed and a desk, which her friend Kiba is taking in a truck. The rest she’s got in boxes. Going straight from college dorms to an apartment mean neither of them have much beyond their bedrooms back home. Sasuke went first to set the place up a bit. Hinata had agreed to stay home the coming Summer to watch her little sister, an upcoming senior in highschool, as Hiashi kept working full time.

But now it’s Fall, and Hanabi’s back in class for the majority of every weekday. Hinata is officially free.

So, Sasuke pulls up to the curb the first Saturday after high school starts. Kiba’s truck is still there, loaded with the furniture Hinata’s got to take. The pair of them have already moved the boxes outside.

And...what a stack of boxes it is.

Sasuke can’t help a small drop of his jaw as they emerge from the house.

“Sasuke!”

“...what is this?”

“...my stuff?”

“Hinata, I can’t fit this in my car. You told me it would fit!”

“Well, we can put some in the cab of Kiba’s truck! And I’ll take some in my car. I think we can make it work!”

He gives her an incredulous look. “What...is all this stuff?”

“Well, some of it’s mine...and some of it’s my mother’s.”

...oh.

Hinata shrugs a bit. “...Dad says he doesn’t want it anymore, and...that I could take it. Otherwise I’m afraid he might throw it out.”

Cue the guilt. “No, he...he can’t do that. We’ll get it moved. It just...might take another trip.”

“Trust me, I’m a professional box Tetris player. You get a lot of practice with it in retail,” Hinata assures him, a clear callback to her job while in school.

“Okay...work your magic then, I suppose.”

They fill up Kiba’s truck first (which thankfully is a full cab). Sasuke will admit, he’s impressed how much she manages to get in there. Next is her car, stuffed from trunk to front seat. And last, they put just a few boxes into Sasuke’s back seat.

“...okay, remind me to never challenge you to play Tetris,” he laughs once they’re done. “Because you will most certainly kick my ass.”

Hinata just gives a small laugh.

“Well, let’s get going - don’t wanna wait until traffic decides to get bad.”

“Okay. Um...one thing first.” Before he can say anything else, she dashes back inside, Kiba going to get into his truck.

A scant minute later, she’s back.

“What was that?”

“Lit one last incense stick at my mom’s memory altar. Just to say goodbye.”

Sasuke softens. “...gonna miss this place?”

“...yes and no.”

“Yeah...I know the feeling. Onward and upward, right?”

“Right.”

The trek across town takes them twenty minutes, traffic thankfully still light in the early afternoon. Their new building is in a quieter part of town. Mostly houses, a few businesses branching out from the city. It’s a bit on the spendy side, but it was too perfect not to indulge in. And Sasuke’s already got work going with his father right out of school. Hinata’s still looking, but it likely won’t take her long. Last he heard, she had an interview with a local museum of art and anthropology to put her humanities degree to use.

Thankfully it also comes partially furnished, so they won’t be eating dinner sitting on the floor for a while.

Pulling up, they start with the furniture. They’re only on the second floor, and the place only has five floors anyway. Kiba and Sasuke do all the heavy lifting as Hinata flits around carrying spare boxes until they’re all packing cardboard. By the time they’re done, it’s early evening.

Hinata offers to buy Kiba dinner, but he insists he’s got plans. So, it’s just the pair of them, ordering a pizza from a place just down the block and sitting at the tiny kitchen table.

“...so?”

“Hm?”

“What do you think?”

She considers that, looking around. “...I think it’ll take a bit to sink in. It helps I’ve moved back and forth into dorms all through college. I’m a bit well-versed in m-moving all my stuff and changing environments. But this one’s ours.” A pause. “...well, sort of. It’s not a house, and we’re not buying. But still. It’s just the two of us!”

“Yup.” Sasuke grins. “Hopefully we can upgrade to a house in a few years. Guess just see how things go.”

“Yeah...it’d be nice to have a yard. I want to start a garden like my mother had. The yard was always so full of flowers every Spring and Summer...I miss that. Oh, and we could get pets!”

“Pets? Like, what...a cat?”

“Sure! Or a dog.”

Sasuke’s nose wrinkles.

“I know, I know...but we could take them to the park! And for walks! It’d be good exercise.”

“So would just walking.”

She just pouts at him.

“Well, it’s a little early to think about all that. For now, this is what we’ve got to work with. And a pet deposit on top of everything else isn’t what we need.”

“I know...Dad’s never let us have pets. Guess I’m just eager to be able to break out of that.”

“We will. Someday. One step at a time.”

“Yeah…” Hinata leans against him with a small sigh. “I’m sure it won’t be long before something happens and makes me wish to be back at Dad’s again.”

That earns a small snicker. “Independence has its prices, yeah. But we’ll handle them.”

For now, most things go unpacked that aren’t the basics. They’ll slowly go through boxes as they have the time. But for now, they’re both too exhausted to bother digging things out. After dinner, they watch a movie, and Sasuke catches Hinata nodding off halfway through. “C’mon now, you didn’t even do any of the heavy lifting.”

“I know, I’m just...tuckered out for some reason.”

“Time to hit the hay, then.”

For now, they keep separate rooms. Each of them are armed with twin beds, and...neither of them feel like getting that cozy. A bigger bed: one more thing to save up for. Each dressed down for sleep - Hinata in a t-shirt and shorts, Sasuke in sweats - they part in the main room, each looking hesitant.

“Well...see you in the morning.”

“Yeah...I’ll make breakfast when I get up.”

“Not if I beat you to it.”

“But I make the best pancakes!”

Sasuke leans out his bedroom door. “Prove it by getting up first, then!”

“I will!”

“All right then.”

A pause, and then they both laugh.

“Goodnight, Sasuke.”

“Night, Hinata.”

Doors shut with two clicks, and the apartment goes quiet.

At least, until morning.

     Oof, finally done! Today was all sorts of busy, but at least it's not as late as I've been lately!      This one's more simple: just a wee slice of life fic about moving in together. It could probably be longer, but...I'm a lil wiped after my long day ^^; So I thought I'd just keep it simple.      That's all for today though. Thanks for reading! :D

[thelighthousemp3]

hi i love your dianetti fics so much omg!!! i just read them all and i’m still crying lmao. could i request some #domestic dianetti please? thank you!!

thank u so much!! read on ao3 or down below

Rosa Diaz turns over in her sleep, burying her face under the covers to avoid the stream of sunlight coming in through the curtains. She throws an arm over where Gina is supposed to be, but is met by emptiness.

Grudgingly, Rosa cracks open one eye to see that Gina’s side of the bed is deserted. Rosa groans and curls up under the covers again.

The alarm clock on her nightstand rings loudly. Rosa irritably grabs it and throws it across the room, effectively silencing it. “It’s Saturday,” she mumbles. “Who set the alarm clock―”

The door of the bedroom opens and Gina Linetti walks in wearing her pajamas. “You did, dummy. You forgot to turn it off last night.” She walks over to the bed and sits down on her side.

Rosa curses and buries her face in a pillow. “I wanna sleep,” she mumbles.

“It’s already ten though!” Gina protests.

Rosa lifts her head. “Wait,” she says, pointing to the broken alarm clock on the floor. She looks back at Gina. “I set my alarm at 7:30 for work. Why’d it ring at ten?” she asks suspiciously. Gina looks back at her innocently and shrugs. “You set it so I’d have to wake up!” Rosa accuses.

Gina shrugs. “Well, it worked, didn’t it? Honestly, Rosie, I don’t understand how you can sleep until like two in the afternoon. Even Jake can’t sleep for sixteen hours straight.”

“It’s a talent,” Rosa argues.

“Mhmm, a very valuable one, too. You should go on the X-Factor, Rosa. Maybe you’ll win,” Gina says with a hint of sarcasm.

“Shut up,” Rosa says, sitting up. She hugs Gina and breathes in deeply with her head on Gina’s shoulder. Rosa closes her eyes, feeling the world melt away―

“No sleeping,” Gina interrupts, pushing Rosa off of her. Rosa groans. “I made breakfast, Rosa. And you’re gonna eat it because for the past three weekends, you’ve been starting the day off with lunch,” Gina says.

“No,” Rosa says. “There was that one Sunday where I had to work so I grabbed a bagel. That was breakfast.”

“Whatever,” Gina says. She stands up and pulls Rosa off the the bed. “C'mon. You can take a nap later if you want to.”

Rosa narrows her eyes. “Really?” she says.

Gina laughs. “Nah. There’s too much to do today.”

“Like what?”

“Like spending time together?”

Rosa’s shoulders sag. As much as she loves sleep, she loves Gina even more. “Okay, fine,” Rosa says in defeat. “You win.”

“Oh, darling, I always win.”

Rosa follows Gina out to the kitchen. She sits down at the table as Gina brings her a plate of pancakes. Rosa reaches for the maple syrup before squinting down at the pancakes. “Uh, Gina. My pancakes are covered in glitter,” she says with uncertainty.

“Well, don’t be such a baby about it. It’s edible,” Gina says. She sits down next to Rosa and starts to dig into her own confetti-glitter pancake wreck. “And it brings out all of the potential that the pancakes have you know?”

Rosa shrugs, shaking a can of whipped cream. “Sure,” she says. “So, is the edible glitter a new thing? Or is there gonna be glitter in my dinner tonight?”

“Of course not,” Gina says. “There’s gonna be glitter in the brownies I’m making, though. It’s gonna be fun.”

Rosa leans back in her chair and kicks her feet up on the table. She sets the plate of pancakes in her lap and watches as Gina scrolls through her cell phone.

Right on cue, Gina gasps. “Oh my god. You will not believe what’s happening in Hollywood―” She looks up to see Rosa’s plate empty on the table. “You’re done already? Damn, you eat faster than Jake on Thanksgiving.”

Rosa tosses her fork on the plate. “They were good pancakes,” she says defensively.

“Of course they were. I made them.” Gina says, all while typing furiously into her phone. Rosa carefully waits until she’s sure that Gina’s full attention is on whatever is happening in Hollywood before stealing a bite of her pancakes. Gina swats Rosa’s hand away.

“My pancakes,” she says protectively, her attention still divided towards her phone. Rosa slides her feet off of the table and scoots her chair closer to Gina. She slides an arm around Gina’s shoulders and feels Gina melting into her grip.

A few hours pass by incidentally quickly. Many things happen.

Rosa is in the shower when she hears a loud thud. She gets out as quickly as she can to see the kitchen table collapsed in the middle, with Gina in the center of the wreckage. A shattered wine glass and a confetti cannon lie on the floor next to the splintered table.

“Oh my god. Are you okay?” Rosa rushes to Gina’s side. Once Gina confirms that she’s all right, Rosa looks around. “Also, what the fuck happened here?” she asks in confusion.

“I was doing an Instagram shoot, duh,” Gina explains. “Besides, that table was an eyesore anyways.”

“The wineglass wasn’t,” Rosa frowns. “We’re already down to like three after Hitchcock and Scully broke all of the other ones last weekend.”

“Oh, yeah. Oops,” Gina says.

And that’s how they end up going to IKEA in their pajamas, with Rosa’s hair still dripping wet from the shower and Gina’s skin covered in glitter.

When they get home with the new furniture set, Gina’s ready to just leave the big box there for a few days. “We’ll call Terry. Or Amy. Amy loves following directions. I bet she’d love to assemble this shit,” Gina says.

Rosa shakes her head. “We’re doing this now, Gina. My parents are coming over for dinner tomorrow, remember?”

Nearly an hour later, Rosa’s sitting in the middle of what seems like a thousand pieces of wood. She squints at the manual and then back at what seems to be the beginning of a table. “Gina, I thought you were gonna help me,” Rosa says.

“I am helping,” Gina says, without looking up from her phone. She is lying on her stomach a few feet away from Rosa. Gina picks up a hammer and hands it over to Rosa. “Here. It’s looking great, babe.”

Rosa rolls her eyes and takes the hammer from Gina. She puts it back down on the floor before grabbing a screwdriver and continuing the assembling of the table.

Rosa’s almost done when she glances over at Gina. Gina’s watching her with a strange intensity in her eyes. “What?” Rosa asks.

“Hmm? Nothing. You look really good,” Gina mumbles, staring as Rosa knocks a nail into place with the hammer.

“Okay, then,” Rosa says, standing up. She surveys the furniture and then gives it a strong pat. “Looks good to me.”

“And it’s not the only thing that looks good in here,” Gina says.

“Mhmm,” Rosa says, eyeing Gina.

Gina stands up. “Ugh, Rosa. You are such a big flirt.” She wraps her arms around Rosa and pulls her into a kiss. “Also, you look really good while assembling IKEA furniture.” Gina surveys the room. “Maybe I should break stuff more often.”

Rosa can’t help but to laugh. “Yeah, thanks for helping,” she says.

Gina grins cockily. “You’re welcome. Wanna watch a Nancy Meyers movie? Maybe the one with Reese Witherspoon?”

A while later, they’re curled up on the couch, as Home Again (2017) plays on the TV in front of them. Rosa carefully  pays attention to the movie as Gina lays her head on Rosa’s shoulder. “Stop distracting me,” Rosa complains, as Gina starts playing with Rosa’s hair.

“No,” Gina says. She kisses Rosa’s cheek. “You’re more fun to watch than any Nancy Meyers movie.”

Rosa pauses the movie and turns to look at Gina. “Oh my god. How dare you. Nancy Meyers doesn’t just direct movies, she directs art. Poetic cinema, Gina! How could you not enjoy this!” She wildly gestures to the screen, where Reese Witherspoon is shown paused with a strange expression on her face. She is clearly paused mid-sentence.

Gina laughs when she sees the screen and pulls her phone out to take a picture. Rosa rolls her eyes and unpauses the movie.

“Okay, but I love you, you nerd,” Gina says. “I’d watch any Nancy Meyers movie for you.”

“Love you too,” Rosa says, tucking an arm around Gina.

[timehealsfanfictionbka]

Time Heals.....Chapter Nineteen

“Robyn!”

Robyn rolled her eyes as she grabbed the pan out of the oven. Setting it on top of the stove, she removed her oven mitts and went into her living room. Chris was propped up on her couch with Erin and Erica sitting on either side of him.

“Which one of you opened the door?” Robyn asked.

“We didn’t open it, Mommy. Daddy had his key,” Erica said.

Chris raised up his hand and dangled a keychain with two keys in the air, “you forgot?”

“I gave you those for emergencies.”

“You were taking too long to answer the door, what if you were injured?”

“You get on my nerves, I swear.”

Chris smiled brightly, “what you been up to?”

“Work. Why are you here?”

“I wanted to see my girls. I got some good news that I wanted to celebrate.”

“Really? What’s up?”

“I got a promotion.”

“Already?”

“Yup. One of the purchasing managers is retiring and they needed someone who was already familiar to take over her position and they recommended me.”

“Wow! That is awesome.”

“Yay Daddy!” Erin and Erica exclaimed as they hugged Chris.

“So I was wondering if I could take y’all out for dinner.”

“Please? Can we go, Mommy?”

Robyn sighed, “I wish you would’ve called first. I just finished cooking.”

“Oh we can eat th-”

“Nah, it’s fine. It can be put up until tomorrow. Girls, go get dressed so you can go to dinner with your Dad.”

Erin and Erica kissed Chris then ran from the room. Chris patted the seat next to him and Robyn sat down, “you look upset. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing. Just tired. How long y’all gonna be out?”

“Y’all? You’re going with us.”

“Uh no, I’m not.”

“I said girls.”

“I am not a girl.”

Chris scoffed, “I didn’t know men could have children.”

Robyn glared at him, “you know what I meant, Chris. Besides this is about you.”

“And you’re my best friend so you are coming to celebrate with us.”

“Chris.”

“Don’t Chris me. I’m not taking no for an answer and I will carry your ass out of this house if you play games with me.”

Robyn rolled her eyes, “you really do make me sick.”

Chris chuckled, “are you gonna get dressed?”

“I’m wearing this.”

Chris rolled his eyes, “you are so stubborn.”

“You know better than to think you can order me around and I’ll listen. Boy please,” Robyn rolled her eyes as she adjusted her shirt, “where we going?”

“Antoine’s”

“That’s so expensive though.”

“So? I wanna treat y’all.”

“Whatever. It’s your money.”

“Exactly.”

A few moments before the twins came downstairs. They ran over to Chris as he stood up and held out his hands.

“Come on Mommy,” Erin said.

Robyn grabbed her phone and walked over to the three of them, “You got lucky this time, Christopher.”

Chris smiled brightly, his dimples in his cheeks, “you love me.”

Robyn lightly brushed by him, nudging his shoulder, “let’s get this over with then.”

“Daddy, is Mommy ok?” Erica asked.

“Yes, she just likes being difficult, that’s all.”

“That’s what she says about you,” Erin interjected.

Chris laughed and guided the girls out the front door to his car. Robyn sighed as she unlocked her front door. Erin, Erica, and Chris trailed behind her, animatedly chatting about something. Her brow raised as she suddenly felt like everybody was staring at her. Chris had a smirk on his face as Erin and Erica smiled hard at her.

“What is it now?”

“Mommy, can we have a sleepover with Daddy?” Erin asked.

“Sure. You can go back to his house.”

“No, we want him to sleep over here.”

“Here where?”

“Our house, Mommy. He never gets to stay over.”

“Please Mommy, it’s Saturday so we don’t have school or nothing tomorrow,” Erica pleaded.

“That’s what y’all been whispering about this whole time?”

The Twins nodded as Robyn turned her attention to Chris. He raised his hands in protest, “they came up with the idea. I told them they have to ask you. This isn’t my house.”

Robyn turned back to her children. Their faces with a soft pout expression, Robyn sighed.

“Fine. You can have a sleepover here but it’ll have to be down here, I got work to do.” “Ok, Mommy. Thank you,” Erin and Erica said as they ran over to hug her. She bent down to kiss their foreheads, “go shower and get ready for bed. I’ll get the living room ready.”

They ran upstairs without a word and Robyn turned back to Chris. He leaned the wall near the front door with a smile on his face.

“You really think you got one over on me, don’t you?”

“Nope. And don’t frown, it’ll give you wrinkles.”

Robyn groaned and threw a couch pillow at him. Chris caught it easily with one hand, “you so mean, Bajan Girl. You staying down here with us?”

“No. I don’t wanna have a sleepover with you. Just move the coffee table, the couch folds out into a bed. I’ve had enough of you for the day. Good night.”

“See you in the morning.”

“Don’t remind me.”

Chris’s loud laughter followed Robyn up the stairs until she made it to her bedroom and closed the door. Chris tossed and turned as he became restless. Carefully extracting himself from the sleeping twins, he climbed out of the bed. The girls had fallen asleep about an hour into their sleepover but sleep was evading him heavily. He listened closely and heard voices upstairs. Robyn never slept with the TV on so she was probably awake. Adjusting his pajamas, he quietly walked up the stairs to the second floor of the house. Seeing light underneath the first door he came to, he knocked softly. He waited a few moments before the door was swung open.

“Ye- Chris! What are you doing up here?” Robyn said as she crossed her arms over the front of her body. 

Chris raised his brow, “Can’t sleep.” 

He leisurely took in her legs uncovered by the shorts she was wearing. She had on a matching tank top and if he remembered correctly, she never wore a bra which is probably why she covered herself so fast.

“Ok, you can’t sleep. That doesn’t explain why you’re knocking on my door.”

“What you doing?” Chris asked as he tried to peek over her shoulder into her room. Robyn moved to lean against the doorway and block his view, “why you wanna know?”

“I’m bored.”

“That’s not my problem. Go downstairs.”

“Nah.”

Chris pushed open her door more and walked inside. Shock caused Robyn to freeze for a moment.

“Uh excuse me, Mr. Brown. I did not invite you into my bedroom,” Robyn said as she gained her composure and grabbed her robe off the back of her bedroom door.

“Stop acting all funny. Keep me company.”

“I don’t want to besides how you know I wasn’t about to go sleep.”

“You never sleep with the TV on.”

“How you know? You haven’t been in a bedroom with me in 8 years.”

“You haven’t changed that much, Ms. Fenty.”

Chris started to wander around her room, “no pictures of your husband?”

“This wasn’t our marital room. I turned that into a storage room the year after he died. I moved into this room because it was closer to the Twins bedroom.”

“Smart.”

“Chris, seriously. What do you want?”

“Company. I can’t sleep and you’re awake.”

“That doesn’t mean you just invite yourself into my bedroom.”

“Stop acting all prudish. We used to sleep in the same room all the time.”

“That was then. This is now.”

“Best friend.”

Robyn watched as he walked around her room, lightly touching all her pictures and furniture. Something was up.

“Chris, sit down,” Robyn said softly as she pointed at an armchair located across from her bed. She wrapped her robe tighter around her then sat down on her bed with her legs folded beneath her. Chris sat down and leaned down on his hands, “what’s up?”

“You tell me. You acting weird.” “What you mean?”

“All the times you’ve been over here, never have they ever mentioned wanting you to sleep over. What’s going on?”

“Noth-“

“Chris,” Robyn interrupted.

Chris sighed, “I didn’t want to go home. Didn’t feel like being alone.”

“You could’ve taken them for the weekend.”

“Not the same.”

Robyn paused to think for a minute, “You talk to Tiana?”

“Not since last week.”

“Oh.”

“I really don’t want to talk about her.”

“So what do you want to do?”

Chris shrugged, “don’t know. Just don’t want to be by myself.”

“This happen often?”

“What? Not being able to sleep?”

Robyn nodded.

“More often than I would like but hey, not much I can do.”

“You sure? You tell your therapist?”

“She gave me some insomnia pills. I don’t like how they make me feel.”

“VA, you gotta sleep.”

“I do sleep just not a lot.”

“Amounts to the same thing.”

“I guess.”

“So what is being up here supposed to do?”

“I don’t know.”

“Come here,” Robyn patted the spot next to her on the bed. Chris moved to sit next to her and leaned his head on her shoulder. Robyn wrapped her arm around him, “we are not gonna make this a habit.”

“What?”

“This being sad shit and me having to be all comforting. I don’t like it.”

Chris laughed, “you really hate being nice, don’t you?”

“No but you know what I mean.”

“I got you.”

Chris kissed her cheek, “I love you.”

“I know.”                                                ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Robyn yawned and opened her eyes to look directly into Chris’s face. She shrieked as she pushed herself back. Chris caught her hand before she could go over the edge of the bed, “what’s wrong?”

“Why are you in my bed?”

“We were talking and fell asleep. You don’t remember?”

Robyn stopped to think and the night came back to her in pieces. She looked down at herself and realized she was still fully dressed and wrapped in her robe. Chris sat up and Robyn raised her brow at him being shirtless, “umm Chris…”

“What?”

Robyn pointed at his chest and he looked down then chuckled, “I got hot and took it off. Nothing happened. Relax.”

“You gotta get out of here.”

“Why are you freaking out?”

“Because you not supposed to be up here. I do not want the girls to come up here and get the wrong idea.”

“Idea like what? I’m married.”

“Ex-fucking-actly. Chris, get out.”

Chris chuckled, “want me to start breakfast?”

“Don’t care. Just get out of my room.”

Chris pulled his shirt over his head, “See you downstairs, Bajan Girl. Good morning by the way.”

Robyn groaned and fell back against her bed with her hands over her face.

[burlybanner]

Full Circle

**

Author Notes - this can be read as a conclusion to Infundo Chronicles but I’ll probably still write more in this universe from time to time. When I set out to write this particular story I didn’t expect it to be the last, but it seemed fitting. Stories and universes can sometimes close on their own and as a writer I can respect that, but I do love this version of Bruce, Tony, and Steve together. So it’s a peaceful place to stop.

I’ll still answer questions about them (and maybe do a little RPing if people want) but for now, I wish them well.

***

Full Circle, an Infundo Fic (Stark Spangled Chubby!Banner)

Rating: PG-13

Word Count: 2480

Warnings: None

***

Non, rien de rien

Non, je ne regrette rien

C'est payé, balayé, oublié

Je me fous du passé !

--Michel Vaucaire (sung by Edith Piaf)

They respected his right to keep his past tightly-guarded. They also knew he never discussed his adolescence, apart from what they’d already read in public files. And yes, to be fair all three of them had “issues,” but their conversations would end in a Fort Knox lockdown if they nagged him for answers about his past. And somewhere dark in him, Bruce figured Hulk’s creation could’ve stemmed from crushing daddy issues (Brian Banner’s uxoricide and atrocities guaranteed a life of depression and suicidal ideation, too).

The public treated him like a circus sideshow before the Hulk emerged, even since he was a little kid, so yeah Tony and Steve guessed he still had a few unvoiced problems. Yet they never pressed him to talk unless his depression took a sudden dive.

He loved them for that.

“Did you know?” Bruce whispered softly. His low voice trembled in Tony’s ear, causing Tony to grunt and tighten a grip on “his” portion of Bruce’s prodigious paunch. Trailers from the last movie streamed mutely to the sleepy thirds, recommending movies Bruce put on his “to view later” list.

On his left Steve’s snores teased a giggle from Bruce’s throat. He’d gotten much too fat to comfortably view Steve from his side unless he moved his entire body (which he wouldn’t, for fear of waking him), but Bruce could feel the ebb and flow of Steve’s chest with each breath. The noises calmed Bruce and kept him comfortably grounded.

But apart from the grunt, Tony had barely moved. Bruce’s excess body heat had turned their ridiculously wide couch into pockets of therapeutic warmth, perfect for the chilly morn, and Tony refused to shift off of Bruce’s lap. The sectional was nearly as comfortable as their bed but on nights when they ate junk and stayed up late watching quadruple features, everyone elected to sleep on the couch.  

“Shh, Brucie,” Tony slurred. He sighed as Bruce finger combed his hair. “Sleep now, dear. Muse later.”

“Mhm.” Bruce chuckled when Tony snuggled deeper into his stomach, squeezing and fluffing the fat like his own personal pillow. In response Bruce swirled his sausage-thick fingers through Tony’s hair, lulling the engineer back to sleep.

“I saw that very movie in college,” Bruce mumbled once Tony snuffled in his sleep. “Back when I finally won enough scholarship money for my books,  tuition, housing, and a seven-day meal plan.” His fingers methodically and unconsciously tapped Tony’s scalp. “Betty and I argued a lot back then but our arguments waned after we saw that movie. ‘Of course I still love you,’ she’d said, ‘but you’ve got to do something. You look way too much like him.’“

Bruce frowned and gentled his hands in Tony’s hair. If he got too rough Tony’d wake and he didn’t want that. “That’s when I made some tough decisions,” he murmured. “Looking back, I honestly don’t think I wanted to. But I changed anyway. For her.”

Confessing--well half-confessing, since he hoped his words were vague enough so no one would understand him--helped loosen the gut-knot he’d ignored for years.

Go figure.

Bruce ran a hand beneath his glasses, sighing. He really should turn in. The clock on the TV read four-something-am and yeah, it was technically Saturday, but still--

“Wait, what?”

Nuts. Bruce swallowed. “Um...you’re dreaming. Go back to sleep, Tony.”

“Nuh, uh, no. We’re not playing that card.” Tony yawned and rolled up like a cat, propping his elbow behind the couch so he could stare Bruce eye to bloodshot eye. Bruce smiled a little and pulled back one of Tony’s stray hairs to de-emphasize his lover’s bedhead.

“There’s no card. We need get some decent sleep because we stay up too late on weekends as it is. So next time, I say we stick to double features when teaching Steve twentieth century culture. And we start earlier in the day.”

“The eighties rule, and those movies’re Lays potato chips - try to watch just one, I dare you.” Bruce smirked, conceding Tony’s point. “But that’s neither here nor there, big guy. And you’re forgetting that One, I’m a light sleeper. And Two, a genius.”

“A genius at staying up way too late.”

“And a genius at peering through other geniuses smokescreens.”

“Touche.”

“Hey, hey,” Steve grumbled. Bruce shut his eyes, internally groaning. He could verbally spar with Tony to get him off the scent, but not him and Steve.

Steve sniffed and hid a yawn in a curved fist. “What time is it?”

“Between astronomical and civil dawn.”

Steve blinked. “What--?”

“4:30 a.m-ish,” Tony translated. He gave Bruce a hard stare. “And our boy Brucie is playing dumb while attempting to evade my questions.”

Steve looked adorably rumpled and rather childlike the seconds before fully wakening, but his clueless innocence didn’t last long. Bruce sank lower into the couch as concern and anger clouded Steve’s expression.

“Why?”

“I’m thinkin’ it had something to do with the last movie, but he’s not budging.”

“The movie with that really cute guy, with the cute name?”

Tony grinned. “Yeah.”

“C’mon, that had to be a stage name.”

“What, John Candy? Nope. Real name.”

“Son of a gun.”

Bruce hoped they’d continue, or at least leave him alone enough so they’d ignore him. “I’m just tired,” he deflected, yawning for emphasis. “We should table this for another time - really, it’s nothing.”

“No we’re gonna have it out now, because you’re too good at diverting us from the truth.” Bruce rolled his eyes. “Stop it. I know your game, Banner. You might as well ‘fess up.”

Worse, Steve kneaded Bruce’s side like a giant soothing cat, breaking concentration and resolve. “C’mon, muffin,” Steve sang, softly kissing Bruce’s jawline. “No judgments here.”

Bruce exchanged gazes with both of the men. “All right, all right. Fine...but don’t make a giant deal out of this, okay?”

“Promise,” Tony said, and Bruce glared daggers. “I said I wouldn’t! Sheesh.”

Bruce ignored his retort. “Steve...?”

“I’ll try,” Steve mumbled.

Bruce thinned his lips and ran his hands through his hair, hardening his expression. “This is tough for me, okay? So don’t...blow this out of proportion.”

“We won’t, we won’t,” Tony growled. He made the universal, “hurry up” gesture with his hand. “Just spit it out.”

Bruce glowered at his partners once before staring at his hands. “O...kay. Okay. For a year or two in college,” he breathed, mentally preparing himself, “I was...pretty tubby.” His gaze shot up as Steve squeaked, but when he saw delight marching across his lover’s faces he held up a hand. “Ah, no! I told you, don’t make a big deal out of this!”

“Like...how tubby?” Tony asked, and his nefarious grin nearly split his skull. Steve nervously chewed his lips, not daring to make another sound. “Big as you are now? Or--”

Bruce shut his eyes. “I don’t even know why I bother,” he mumbled. Then, “Almost, maybe. Since one of my scholarships provided unlimited cafeteria meals as long as I maintained my honors GPA, I made up for my strict childhood by gobbling up every fried, sugary, and fatty treat I could get my hands on. I took full advantage of the all-you-can-eat buffets on campus including the ones open after midnight, and I was determined to get my money’s worth.”

He quietly fiddled with the hem on his shirt cuff, thankful that his partners kept quiet after his rebuff. “Maybe in one sense I was afraid. Afraid that someone had made a clerical error, and I’d lose my literal meal ticket. I justified the gorging, telling myself the free food was temporary. When you’re poor,” he said, suddenly solemn, “you don’t question ‘free’ or ‘extra.’ You take what you can, when you can.”

The room stilled, and Bruce suddenly heard the quiet background noises of their home; Lily lapping from her water dish, Jarvis’ temperature modulations, the exhales of surprise from his companions.

Time to change the atmosphere.

“In short,” Bruce said lightly, attempting to brighten the mood, “I gained the freshman two fifteen instead of the freshman fifteen.”

“And Betty wasn’t happy about it.”

Bruce shook his head. “I didn’t want to lose her, so I slimmed down until she was happy with me again. And anyway,” he muttered, shifting awkwardly on the couch, “thrift stores didn’t really carry my size and I couldn’t afford anything new. So that ended that.”

“But you liked it,” Steve murmured, his voice caught somewhere between awe and reverence. Bruce wasn’t sure if the awe came from him being 215+ pounds overweight in college or something else. “That’s what it was, wasn’t it? You liked being fat.”

Bruce shifted again. “I...um. Well, honestly? ‘Like’ isn’t a strong enough word. I...ah. I loved it.” He stared at his thick hands, feeling the embarrassment flood him, even now. “It felt great to be that chubby. I felt powerful. I felt in charge of my destiny and in control of my life. I...enjoyed how my mass shifted and jiggled with each footfall. How my steps caused furniture to quake and rattle. How people couldn’t ignore me.” He heard a small squeak, and immediately narrowed his eyes. “Steve. Don’t turn this into something weird.”

“I’m not, I--It’s just, it’s--um...it’s--”

“Nah, you broke him, Pooh Bear.” Tony grinned like a shark and tweaked Bruce’s double chin before sobering. “I could make some quip about the Hulk, but I won’t. And while I’m sorry Betty made you lose your weight class and you went back to fighting featherweight--”

“Lightweight.”

“--whatever weight, it was still wrong of her to force it on you. I like that you liked bein’ a hunky chunky and that you’re finally getting to enjoy it, twenty-plus years later.” He rubbed the back of his neck and got quiet. “Makes me feel less like a creeper, anyway.”

Both Steve and Bruce frowned but only Bruce responded. “A...what? Why?”

Tony paused as an uncharacteristic blush tinted his cheeks. “Hm. Well...I ran my own little tests on you, Banner. My mind loved watching your weight shoot up so I casually recommended some meal ideas to our cooks. I told them to tweak the recipes to keep you large, and in charge.”

Bruce gently reached for Tony’s hand and gave him a gentle peck on the lips. “Thanks for telling me but if I’d minded I would’ve said something.” Tony snorted, looking bashfully at a corner of the room. “Trust me, my taste buds are so heightened that I can tell if there’s extra cream or another additive. It makes my meals extra delicious so I enjoy overeating to savor every bite.”

“Ohhh...” An unconscious moan dropped from Steve’s lips. Tony rolled his eyes even as Bruce grabbed Steve’s hand.

“You’re both ridiculous,” Bruce huffed. “But I love you anyway.” Bruce brought both their hands to his lips, kissing them. “I was destined to blow up. I just had to have the right company and the right motivation.”

“So...you’re not mad?”

Bruce looked pensive. “No, not really. Maybe disappointed you weren’t initially up front with me, but it’s okay. But let me know from here on out.

“In fact,” he sighed again, shifting his belly. He briefly pawed it, smirking at the bounce in his lap. “I think I’m nearing the point where I want to level out.”

“Aw, honest?”

“Steve, don’t be too upset.” A small smile pinked Bruce’s lips. “It was inevitable; you know I can’t keep gaining forever.” He gently rubbed Steve’s hand. “My human body is hitting some hard limits and it’s becoming difficult to move comfortably. I can’t walk too far - and running’s definitely out - but I’d like to be able to at walk around the house without a variety of ambulatory aids, y’know?”

“Yeah, I get it.” Steve pouted, causing Bruce to laugh. “I’ll miss measurement nights, though.”

Bruce winked at him. “I might not want to actively gain but I’m not planning on losing anything. So feel free to keep me in this range, plus or minus ten pounds.”

Steve’s expression brightened. “That I could do.”

“It’s a compromise, I’m sure. But I consider myself fluffy enough for your whims.”

“Stop,” Tony interrupted, laughing at their schmaltz. “No more, I’m done. I’m going to bed.”

“I think we should all turn in. It’s pretty late.”

“Early, you mean.” Steve offered his hand. Bruce took the help, rocking back and forth so the momentum could launch him from the couch’s deep divots. Steve smiled softly. His expression lingered on Bruce’s massive torso and on the button-down shirt with strained seams. “You need some new work shirts, Muffin.”

“Yeah. Maybe later today or tomorrow.”

“Shopping?” Tony yawned grandly and wrapped his arms around Bruce’s sides, though his fingers were more than a foot from connecting. Bruce chuckled as Tony slammed his head into his back, snuggling close. “Shopping’s my second favorite hobby.”

“And your first?”

“You blind, Banner? It’s you. And Steve, in a pinch.”

“In a pinch, huh? Thanks.”

“You two,” Bruce murmured. He motioned Steve over and stilled as both men wrapped around him in a cocoon of arm warmth. “My guys.”

“Always and forever,” Steve mumbled, and Bruce felt Tony nod against his back.

“Sleep now,” Tony said. “It’s chilly, and I need my Bruce-powered bed warmer.”

“You got it.”

They changed into comfortable clothes and tumbled into bed with Bruce between them. Bruce exhaled a loud, contented sigh as both Tony and Steve scooted into his body, cuddling snugly into his fat. He briefly reminiscent about his life, about the beginning of their time as a trio until now, and realized he was happier than he had any right to be. “Love you,” he whispered to them. He smiled after feeling a gentle whump while Lily found her sleep spot, completing their family. 

Bruce mouthed you too to their pup, then settled into his own peaceful slumber.

[zenlesszonezero]

Join Zenless Zone Zero with Tsukishiro Yanagi, the deputy leader of Hollow Special Operations Section 6! Beneath her ordinary office lady exterior lies a meticulous, emotionally intelligent big sister to the team.

[wlntrsldler]

Roses (Bucky Barnes Series)

Prompt: Bucky tells Y/N he’s the Winter Soldier. The next day, he’s taken by the government and that’s the last Y/N sees of him... until they cross paths again. But what if Bucky doesn’t remember her? 

ROSES MASTERLIST 

ROSES | SAFE INSIDE | MAYBE

-

I could've chose anybody but I chose you

“I’m the Winter Soldier.” 

Even though you always reassured him that you’ll love him forever and that he has your heart indefinitely, his whole being stayed still waiting for your reaction. You sat down on his mattress on the floor, unlacing your sneakers from a long day at work when he broke the news.

“You’re the what?”

“I’m the Winter Soldier.” Bucky said again. “I was an ex-assassin created by HYDRA.”

“Ex?”

“I don’t do that anymore.”

You furrowed your eyebrows, “What did you used to do?”

“I killed people, Y/N.” He looked down at his bare feet, not wanting to look you in the eye as he shared his deepest secret with you. “I killed for them.”

“How does it work?”

“Why do you wanna know?”

“Because I wanna know if it was really you who killed the people you say you killed.”

You nodded along as Bucky explained how the whole process worked and the type of torture he endured during his time with HYDRA. You were shocked at his revelations. Bucky was so sweet, so kind, and the person he described was merciless and cruel and you could never imagine Bucky being someone like that. 

The Bucky you got to know the past five months was quiet and wouldn’t hurt a fly. He stayed to himself in his tiny apartment with one mattress in the middle of it. You grocery shopped for him and you cooked for him and made his “bed.” You fell in love with him. The Bucky that you know would kiss you on the forehead in the middle of the night and surprise you with undercooked pancakes and burnt bacon on your first day at a new job. He was the Bucky who was so scared to open up to you. And now you know why.

Help me get better, you pull me right out of the blue

“That wasn’t you.”

“You’re not the first person to tell me that, Y/N.” He laughed bitterly. “But yet, I still feel like it was me doing all that.”

“Do you feel remorse?”

“Now, yeah, I do. But at the time, I don’t remember feeling anything.” 

You walked towards him and placed a hand in the middle of his chest. You were surprised that he didn't flinch when you did. He usually does when your hand was anything near his left arm. “As long as your heart is beating, Bucky Barnes is still inside of you. You are still him.”

“I-I need to show you something.” Bucky’s voice was shaky as he started to take off his long sleeve top. You have never seen him shirtless.

Your eyes widened as you saw the shiny metal where his left arm was supposed to be at. The red star reflected off of the beating sun coming from your window. “What happened?”

“Ever since they had me under their control, its been there.”

“May I?” You asked, tracing the vein leading to his shoulder blade. He closed his eyes and nodded. You felt him flinch as you ran your index finger along the bridge where flesh met metal. Bucky let out broken sighs, eyes still closed. You placed your lips on the part where your finger once was. His eyes bolted open, feeling the new sensation on himself. He gulped as he saw you kissing the area where he starts to hate himself the most. 

And daddy don't like you, but daddy and I never speak

Every night when I wake up I need you to get back to sleep

That night, you slept over at his apartment, feeling more connected to him. He walked out the restroom without a shirt on. It would take a while to get used to it. But in a good way.

“I-Is this okay with you?” He asked, his jaw trembling. “I can put on a long sleeve if you want me to. I dropped a bomb on you like that, I understand if you need some ti-”

“Don’t, Bucky.” You smiled reassuringly. “Come lay with me.” 

He nodded looking at your face for some kind of sign to stop. His metal hand shook as he inched closer to you. You held both his hands and guided him to his usual spot on the bed. Bucky let out some air through his nose as you made yourself comfortable. You laid down so you could face each other with his metal arm draped over your waist. 

“Thank you for not running.”

“Why would I go?”

“It’s not easy to open up to somebody like that.”

You held his metal hand, rubbing your thumb against the top of it. “Why did you open up to me?”

“There’s something about you.” Bucky explained. “Back before I became the Winter Soldier, I used to go on a lot of dates.”

You laughed softly, “Are you trying to brag now, Mr. Barnes?”

“No, just wait. I promise I have a point.” He chuckled. “So anyway, the way those girls looked at me was purely lust. None of them ever truly liked me for who I was. They liked my charm and my looks, maybe. But that’s it. Then I became this killing machine and the way people looked at me was heart wrenching. They looked at me with fear in their eyes and like their lives flashed before their eyes. And HYDRA, god, the way they looked at me made me feel like an object. Like I was something they could toss and throw away once they’re done with me.”

“You’re not with them anymore, you’re with me. You’re safe.”

Bucky continued, “And you. The way you look at me. It’s something I’ve never seen before. You care about me. Your eyes say so much, so much that you don’t have to say. I feel like I’ll be okay somehow when I’m with you. I never felt such reassurance from somebody before. And I can only hope you feel the same way.”

“I love you. I do, I really do. I love you so much, Bucky.” You said, kissing his lips after each word.

“I love you so much.” 

You could've chose anybody but you chose me

The next morning was like every other. Except he was still shirtless, walking around flipping pancakes in his pan. You helped him cook them this time. Your perfect Saturday morning could be described as this.

Even though his apartment was tiny and his only furniture was an antique tv and a mattress in the middle of the floor, life was so good. Life was good wherever Bucky was. 

“Breakfast is served.” Bucky smiled, flopping the perfectly golden pancake on your paper plate. “Doll, we gotta get some furniture, don’t we?”

“I don’t know, I kinda like this arrangement.” You shrugged. “Less stuff to trip over.”

“And yet you trip over my mattress at least once a week.” He laughed as he leaned against the stove. 

“That happened one time!”

“Yeah,” He snorted. “One time per visit.”

“Screw you, Barnes.”

Hiding in bedsits cause no one around us agrees

You spent the rest of that day cuddling and talking about all the things he experienced all throughout his life. Bucky told you all about the 1940′s and how much he can’t believe how time has changed. He showed you his favorite song growing up which led you guys to dance, horribly, over his mattress. Bucky was a great partner, you , on the other hand, weren’t.

Once the song ended, he doubled over in fits of laughter, making remarks about how many times your feet tangled or you stepped on his feet. This earned him a slap on the stomach while he covered his face as he giggled like a school girl. 

“What about you? Tell me about what you’ve been through.”

“I don’t have nearly as much experience as you do.”

“So what? I still wanna hear it.”

You told him all about how you graduated as valedictorian of your high school and how you got a full ride scholarship to your state’s best university. But you wanted to major in something different from your parents and the rest of your family. They looked down on you for choosing something “below the family name.” You were shunned. That’s how you ended up where you ended up. Before you could cry, you asked him more questions about growing up.

“My best friend is Captain America.” He said as if he was in disbelief of the words he was saying. “Yeah, wow, my best friend is Captain America. Little Stevie is Captain Ameri- wow.”

“You seem like you’re still in shock.”

“I am.”

And I feel romantic cause since morning I've been at the wine

Shall we eat all the poison and leave all the questions behind

At 7PM, you unscrewed a bottle of wine and drank out of paper cups. There were so many memories retold that night. From 1940′s dances to 2010 raves, everything was said. No questions about HYDRA or your family were asked. He asked you about your aspirations and your goals and what kept you up at night. He asked about your worst childhood nightmare and your recurring dreams. Bucky asked about why your favorite song was your favorite and why you like lyrics over beats. He asked about your favorite lip balm because he tastes something different each time he kisses you.

He asked about things that weren’t important, not because he feared that you would close off from him and vice versa but because he knows there will come a time where you will tell each other everything. Every excruciating detail about your lives before each other, but tonight, it wasn’t the night for that. It was the night for musical reenactments and ice cream toppings. 

And all the chemicals and alcohol make for a volatile love

But stay with me

Just stay with me

Last night, with much too many sips of red wine, you both became tipsy.

“Move in with me.” Bucky slurred, fingers wrapping themselves in your tangled hair. 

“What?”

“Move in with me.” He said again. “We’ll buy furniture. I’ll take that one job offer from the construction site two blocks from here. We can make it work.”

“Bucky..”

“What do you say?”

You stared at his glossy eyes, begging for a ‘yes.’ Your heart melted at the sight. “Yes, Bucky. I’ll move in with you.”

That meant the next morning, you left extra early to pick up your belongings from your apartment and notify your landlord that you will be leaving. Your heart swelled at the idea of waking up next to Bucky every single day. You were gonna build a life with him. Even with his past, you were still so in love with him. If it was even possible, you fell for him even more. 

Your landlord did not expect such a short notice but you were determined to let him know you would not stay in the apartment. You packed two bags with your clothes and important documents. The rest of your items, you left, making a mental note to send a moving van to pick it up for you. 

Smiling, you walked out of your old apartment complex and got in a car to Bucky’s place. It was typically a five minute ride but here you were ten minutes later, looking out the car window seeing people scream, run, and panic. 

You leaned over and paid the driver, taking your things and walking towards Bucky’s apartment. When you got there, there were caution tapes all around the area. What happened?

And I never wanna lose you but I feel that this closeness will tear us apart

But stay with me

Stay with me

You ran towards the entrance, only to be stopped by the police. “Ma’am you can’t enter.”

“What happened?”

“There has been a breach in national safety. We evacuated everyone from this building.” 

Bucky.

You clicked on one, over and over again, Bucky being your emergency contact. The line would beep, then stop. All going to voicemail. 

“Bucky, where are you?”

Your head ached as the smell of gun powder filled your senses. Bucky, where are you? Your chest rose quickly as your breathing became irregular. Bucky, where are you? 

“Ma’am, are you okay?”

The voice was fading. Bucky, where are you? You became dizzy, dropping your bags and collapsing to the floor. Bucky, where are you?

“Fuck,” The policeman ducked to get under the caution tape to aid you. “Someone call an ambulance! Call her emergency contacts! Call for help!”

Smells like roses to me

Two young lovers at sea

Tastes so bitter, so sweet

You're my bang, together we go bang bang bang

“Barnes, your phone keeps going off.” The guard holding Bucky said. “Comes from someone named Y/N.”

His heart ached as he heard your name. Today was supposed to be the day he started over. With you. Start a new life and be in love forever. But now, he’s stuck in National Security with his hands behind his back. He knew it was too good to be true. Someone like him, a monster, didn’t deserve happiness. He didn’t deserve you.

Those few months with you was all he will ever get. That’s more than he deserved. 

“Turn it off.” 

-

MAIN MASTERLIST

[d3ndroica]

Big Apple 4

Part 1     Part 2    Part 3

Gale 1:53pm hey

Madge 2:00pm Hey Gale 2:00pm what’s going on Madge 2:01pm Work You? Gale 2:02pm um nothing I’m in bed bingewatching the 100 all alone waiting for eliza and bob to admit their feelings while the world burns

Madge 2:07pm ohhkay. I dont know those people but I am jelly you have to specify that you’re alone Liek if you weren’t alone would you really be texting Gale 2:17pm depends Gale 2:24pm when do you get off work Madge 2:26pm 6? Gale 2:31pm want to get pizza?

Madge paused. Was this a group thing? A friend’s thing? A welcome to the big apple thing? She flipped over to her text convo with Thom Madge 2:32pm Would it be weird if I got food with Gale? Thom 2:35pm Why would that be weird? Of course she was overthinking it. Shaking her head she went back to Gale’s text. Madge 2:36pm I’m always up for pizza. Where? Gale 2:40pm you been to Angelos yet? On 116th? Madge 2:42pm Haven’t. When? Gale 3:03pm your call. Madge 3:08pm So, is it weird if I’m in work clothes? Gale 3:09pm depends what are you wearing? 😉 Madge blushed. Okay that was not really what she meant, and maybe his text was a perfectly reasonable follow-up and yet - winkyface. Shit. Obviously he was just teasing her, not flirting - she just read into it the wrong thing. Because he was hot and she was dressed like a schoolmarm which was not how she usually went out. Her first instinct was to flirt, but (1) that was ridiculous and (2) her work clothes were too conservative to back up any flirty banter. She just didn’t want to go all the way home to change into something more relaxed.

Madge 3:09pm nothing, nevermind.  Gale 3:12pm  🙈🙊 😳 Madge 3:14pm SOO not what I meant.  Gale 3:15pm well like Thom says - you do you - but yeah that would be weird. And cold, have you been outside lately? 😉 

Madge 3:16pm OMG STOP I’m wearing clothes! Actually really boring conservative clothes. It was a dumb question. Gale 3:17pm Well as long as you’re wearing clothes I think they’ll let you in. Madge 3:19pm :P Fine. So, 6:45? Gale 3:20pm 645

Madge arrived at Angelo’s essentially on time, which she considered a win since she’d had to look up how to get there and how long it would take her. She was a little nervous, realizing she was meeting him alone for the first time. Not that she was worried about her safety, but he was still mostly a stranger - and meeting new people outside of work or school still felt strange.  She didn’t see Gale so she got a table for two and started perusing the menu. They had calzones, which was promising.

Thankfully when Gale arrived he didn’t immediately comment on her clothes. Or the fact that she was in fact wearing them, which she partly expected. She recognized him in a heartbeat despite his scarf and wool coat. He had barely made it through the door, because every time she detected movement in that direction she looked up to see if it was him. How well he recognized her as opposed to how much he was responding to her look of recognition was a mystery, but he did see her and head straight over, shaking his coat off his shoulders and draping it over his chair. 

“How’ve you been?” he asked without preamble. “Man I’m starving.” They made small talk as he pored quickly over the menu, Soon the waitress took their order and Gale leaned back in his chair with a sigh, as if settling in. 

“How long have you been in the city?” she asked.

“I’m starting to lose track,” Gale said, “which is probably a bad sign. It’s been ... almost five years. And well, I have to ask - Are you a school librarian? Because right now you remind me of my middle school librarian.” 

Madge blushed. “No. I don’t work at a library or a school. But one of my best friends is a librarian so watch what you say about them.”

“Really? I love librarians, and libraries,” Gale remarked. “Though I didn’t really appreciate them until college. Nothing beats a sexy librarian.” 

Madge looked surprised, so he asked, “Have you ever dated a librarian?”

She bit back a laugh, shook her head and admitted. “no.”

“Well then,” Gale retorted smugly. “You’ll have to take my word for it. It’s a great halloween costume too. All you need is a pair of glasses and a book.”

Madge shrugged agreement on that one. She and Delly had swapped professions on halloween a time or two, but she wasn’t about to admit to that.

“Okay, I give up,” Gale relented. “What do you do?”

“I’m a lab tech in a cancer research lab,” Madge answered rotely, as the waitress set their drinks down on the table.

Gale blinked, impressed.  “Wow, that sounds. Important.”

“It’s a great halloween costume,” she bantered. “All you need is a lab coat and glasses. Bonus points if you use an erlenmeyer flask for your drink.”

“A what?” He leaned forward; his unkempt hair fell in his eyes. “Stop sounding so smart. With those clothes and big words people will forget you’re hot.”

Madge could feel her cheeks turning crimson and babbled, “I hope so - I mean not that I think - I just I dress conservatively at work so I’ll be taken more seriously because, I don’t know, there are so many stories about young assistants and I don’t want to give them any excuses for being unprofessional.” She was getting off track. She shook her head. “But I like to think I’m doing something useful? What about you? How do you get to lay in bed all day?”

“Oh,” Gale grinned. “I take a random vacation day a few times a year, usually whenever I want to kill a customer. I’m in IT.”

“Like consulting?” she guessed.

“Software contracts,” he clarified. “Small firm, nothing you’ve heard of.” Gale picked up his drink. “I guess, welcome to New York. How are you settling in?”

She drank to his toast and nodded. “It’s been okay. Pretty overwhelming. But good I think, mostly thanks to Thom. He helped me find my apartment and everything. I’m subleasing from someone on tour, which is actually pretty great because I don’t have any furniture anyway.”

“That’s huge,” Gale answered. “That’ll give you time to figure out the city. I remember being so lost when I first came. I didn’t know anyone and it sucked. My first apartment was awful, because I didn’t know the city well enough and everything seemed so expensive.”

“Soo expensive,” Madge agreed. “It’s crazy, I feel like I need a budget or something? And I am scraping by until that first paycheck comes through. I mean, I have a little savings but it’s not going to last long here. My dad wanted to give me a loan to tide me over, but I’m only gonna do that if I get desperate. I don’t know how people do it.”

The food came and conversation lagged a little. Gale hadn’t been joking about his hunger - he devoured most of his pizza before Madge had made much of a dent in her food. It seemed for every question he asked her, at least a slice of pizza would disappear and she might take a bite or two between answers. Her calzone wasn’t amazing but it was pretty damn good, and all the cheesy deliciousness buoyed her spirits further. 

Talking about her day at work, she pictured him lazing around in bed. Hmmm. It reminded her of a question she’d meant to ask before. “So what were you bingewatching?”

“The 100? I started it a few weeks ago,” he explained. “I’m somewhere in the middle of what’s available online. It goes pretty quick. Have you seen it?”

“Mm-mm” Madge shook her head, mouth full of calzone.

“Well,” Gale explained, “it’s postapocalyptic and anything that can goes wrong does.”

She gave him a doubtful frown. “Sounds fun?” “Well sometimes I follow it up with an Archer to lighten the mood,” he conceded. “But it’s got good representation. And I can read the newspaper afterward and say ‘at least a giant wave of nuclear radiation isn’t bearing down on new york.’ “

Madge took this in. “So you still have faith in international diplomacy”

With a shrug, he amended, “Or I just don’t worry about what I can’t control.” Before they steered too close to ugly political topics, he switched tracks. “Have you been to Morningside Park?”

When he heard she didn’t know about it. he elaborated. “It’s smaller and quieter than you know, Central, and it’s got some nice trees. It’s a nice place to visit. Other than the snobs from Columbia.”

Madge laughed a little at his description. “Trees?”

“Well, you can’t call it a forest,” he argued. “The whole park is only 30 acres, that’s nothing. But it’s got a nice farm market on saturdays. If you like that kind of thing.”

When the waitress dropped the bill on the table, Madge reached for her wallet. Gale was faster. He picked it up and quickly set it down with his credit card, next to his elbow. When she held out her hand to see the bill, he shook his head. “My treat,” Gale said firmly.

Madge objected, “You don’t have to do that.” 

“You can pay for dinner after you get that paycheck,” Gale haggled. 

Madge relented. “Sounds like a plan.”

When they left, he walked her to her train. There was a moment when he said goodnight and Madge debated if she should hug him or something, but something held her back. Whatever this was, it felt too new and undefined.

Madge 10:35pm home  👣🍿🎵

Gale 10:49pm 🖕⛄️🐸  me too   sleep well princess😎

[god-hunter]

A New Chapter

It happened!  After 2 months of excruciating wonder and fear of what happens next, I finally moved into my new home.  Today is the first day of the rest of my foreseeable future.  And honestly, it feels pretty good...

This is gonna be a shorter one.  I don’t really want to talk about Women tonight.

Instead, I’ll talk about my day.  And maybe the overall plan and how things got to how they are now. So it started with the break up on 2/10.  We both knew it was over in our minds, but bringing it out was still so shocking to both of us.  In the 2 weeks that followed, we were still in denial.  We were beyond civil, and blissfully, unromantically platonic, still sharing the same bed.  I was eventually going to move into the 2nd bedroom and slowly move my stuff when I was ready. That first week was all about telling my close friends what happened and processing the changes myself.  Week 2 was about looking at as many places as possible, and thankfully, that search ended pretty soon within that week, because I found this amazing 2 bed-room apartment.  It just wasn’t ready yet.

I was given a loose timeline of “2 months” which freaked us both out.  That’s when the blissful honeymoon started to crack in Week 3.  We started to act like exes and got in a fight, and that’s when it was very clear.  I had to get the Hell out of there.

By week 4 I had moved back to my parent’s house.  Just bare essentials at first.  A week’s worth of clothes was packed for work.  That entire time I was helping my brother out with a project, which took my mind off of moving and breaking up.  So that was actually really good for me.  But news of Covid-19 spreading to our area was already starting to get worrisome.  It was weird to start seeing friends socially distance themselves from plans we made to hang out, or to postpone future possible dates to a mere 2 weeks from now.  Its not that I wasn’t taking it seriously, but...  I just didn’t expect it to get as bad as it did.

During Week 5 this hit me more.  The project was now over, but enough time had passed that now I felt that the 2 bed-room would be more ready for me to move in.  I had taken weekend trips to the old apartment and packed up as many things as possible bit, by bit.  I believe it was during this week that I had all my boxes from the old apartment, now in my parent’s house.  I checked in with my future landlord, to see what the progress was on this place, and was both surprised and appalled by the work he was putting in.  He allowed me to leave boxes in his basement, here and there, weekend by weekend.  But the next time I saw it, this place was completely gutted.  It looked like a brand new apartment.  And it certainly wasn’t move-in ready at all.  I mean... There was no Toilet!!!  Or shower head to speak of.  He was re-installing outlets...  It was insane.  This really frightened me, honestly.  I started to think, “Oh God... what am I doing?”

But regardless, week 6 & 7 hit.  And that’s where this gets weird, because that’s also when Covid got serious.  Like, really bad.  My shitty job was horribly irresponsible and terribly in denial when it came to the whole pandemic.  They insisted on touting us as essential because we keep other businesses open.  Process Serving businesses that work with courts in harassing people to pay their mortgages.  Yeah... that’s really great.  That’s exactly what the World needs at a time like this.  It made me sick.  And day by day the Governor was announcing that 25%, 50%, 75%, 100% of non-essential businesses... Stay Home!

Still, our company pressed on, selfishly.  About 3 memos went out that I remember.  The first one stating that this is business as usual and we will be unaffected.  That one really bothered me and especially another co-worker of mine.  The 2nd memo was something about cutting hours and lowering wages, but by that point I wasn’t comfortable enough to come in.  I had excused myself and my boss was very understanding, all things considered.  So I can’t really complain too much, in that regard.  The 3rd memo we got that next Monday, which was last week.

On Week 8, on 3/30, my job had a mandatory conference call, which my boss instructed me to dial into via text.  They officially let us go.  A whole team of us, canned.  Just like that.  This news wasn't actually surprising to me, and it wasn’t much of a blow considering half the World was going through this.  Still though, I heard that applying for Unemployment Insurance was a nightmare, and now we were officially a part of that nightmare.  And that really worried me. That week, I had to wait for Thursday to apply, while trying to figure out my new normal.  It was terrifying, and yet relaxing at the same time.  It was the unwanted vacation or more-accurately sick time that I never asked for.  Only thing is, it’s not a vacation.  Not when you can’t go anywhere and all the fun places are closed...  No, man.  This is Quarantine dude...  And facing this reality was really hard on me.

On Week 9 I was still going on walks.  Despite the news telling us to stay inside at all costs.  Don’t go out unless you absolutely have to...  I figured that was subjective to sanity needs.  But no, man...  It’s become Really socially frowned upon here, if you don’t wear a mask when you go outside...  And that probably scares me the most.  I haven’t been sick.  Every Spring, allergies spike up and I always get a little cough.  That hasn’t really picked up yet, but I’ve been waiting for it.  And I’ve been very worried about my parents.

Back to the apartment...  For about 2 or 3 weeks, in this time, I’ve been bringing boxes over to the new apartment and leaving them in his basement, like I said.  Now that was finished and the only thing that was left was to contact movers and organize getting furniture over to this place.

There was drama with the Ex that I had mentioned before, but it didn’t really prevent me from getting my TV stand when I wanted to.  That was technically the first piece of furniture I brought into this apartment last Friday.

But now Today, on this Saturday, the 11th everything went very smoothly.  Almost like clockwork!  It wasn’t completely perfect but... let’s get into that.

So the Ex was a pain in the ass, and she wanted me to move my dresser out of the bedroom BEFORE the movers got there.  I didn’t like this at all, considering that’s their job, but she made a good point that she wanted to hide away in 1 room that she could be safe in while strangers enter her home with whatever they might be carrying.  [Covid has been hitting her Germaphobia HARD.  I dealt with a little bit of that last Friday, myself. I didn’t take offense though]

With that, this was more-less my schedule for the day.

At 8:00 I got up and wasted no time getting ready.  I put the last of my stuff in overnight bags, had breakfast and started to freak out at the amount of stuff I was bringing over.  I had way more than I thought I would have.

At 9:00, my brother came over as planned to help put the TV in my backseat.  We ended up using 2 cars, which was very necessary.  His car held all of the groceries that don’t need refrigerating and a bunch of bags of clothes.  My car too, held a significant amount of clothes, my box of movies/video games, my PS4 and my TV.  Amongst other random things we kept remembering.  I didn’t leave the house in the best mood, and I felt bad about that.  I know my Mom was sad to see me go.  But I’ll see her tomorrow...

At 10:20, my brother and I got over to the old apartment.  I wasn’t excited to go through any of this, but my Ex was actually really pleasant to be around, happy to see me, and helpful in the process.  My brother and I got the dresser out of that bedroom with relative ease, I cleaned off the table I bought and then we waited for the movers to get there.  They weren’t really friendly or warm, but they took what we needed out of there, by noon.

At around 12:40, we were all at my new place and that’s when I started feeling way better.  I’m omitting an emo goodbye to my Ex, because I just don’t want to deal with it right now.  She’s really happy for me, and now that we’re truly apart without anything physically binding us together, now the healing can really begin, I think.  [I had a whole 2 hour talk about her with my Mom the other day.  I don’t miss living with her at all...  I am afraid of living alone though...]

For the rest of the day, my brother and a good friend of mine helped me move boxes from the basement into the apartment, while the movers did their thing with the furniture.  I paid the guys at 1:30, called the pizza place right on time, because the pizza arrived right as the movers got paid.  So I literally paid for one thing, and then the other.  The “set up party” got started.

That’s it’s own little thing, but I won’t get into it.  I had invited at least 15 friends to help me with this move before Covid got really bad.  Covid fucked the whole thing up and each of my friends backed out.  I understood, but it really sucked. It forced me into this mover situation, but honestly that was for the best.  In a way.

I almost forgot one very important thing.  2 actually. 1, the movers couldn’t get my Couch into the living room!!!!  So.  I don’t have a couch... and 2, they didn’t rebuild my bookshelf, because it was IKEA furniture.  They didn’t want to deal with anything being complex or whatever.  I accepted it, and said if they could just disassemble it and bring it there, I’ll rebuild it myself.

But when my friend found that out, he was really upset.  “They should do their damn job!  Don’t act like they did you a favor!!”  He’s not wrong.  A different company that I used absolutely took it apart and reassembled it without any questions or problems during the last move.  [Unfortunately this time around, they weren’t around.  I think they’re temporarily closed for business.]

Regardless, when the movers left, the 3 of us worked on rebuilding this unit until my friend had to leave for work.  The pizza was delicious though and I was really glad to see him.  He really loves the place and it’ll be awesome to hang out here for real when this is all over. My brother and I finished the unit and then he bounced.

This takes us to about 3... This was it.  Now I’m on my own.

At first I was nervous, but then I started to have fun as the chore of cleaning off my kitchen table became this nice activity of setting up my new digs.  Before I knew it, the kitchen was clean.  Then I focussed on other boxes and just emptied them one at a time.  Hangers were hung in closets, a lot of tape and Saran Wrap was thrown out, of course my TV was set up, so there was entertainment as I was doing this.  

I definitely gave a tour of the place on FB.  Talked to a few people, but then kept going. The main project became to clean up the Living Room and make it look more habitable.  I was pretty happy with it, and when TV got stale, I was able to set up my Record Player, plug in an aux cable and have my iPod play nice and loud.  Already I was feeling more at home.

A silver lining to not having a pullout couch any more, is that I was still able to take out the mattress.  So now I have a make-shift mattress in my bedroom.  I didn’t get hungry again until 7:30, where the first pie was already finished, between the 3 of us, today.

I needed milk for Cereal tomorrow, so I got that really quick, along with 2 bottles of soda.  Otherwise, I’ve been drinking beer all day.  I don’t even have water, dude.  [I could drink the tap, but come on...]. I’m gonna buy a filter soon.  Maybe tomorrow...

When I got back, I called my Mom and filled her in about my day.

I’m also omitting that I forgot my PS4 power cable...  This time I have my controllers and HDMI cables, but... yeah. I dun fucked up.  Which is exactly why I was trepidatious this morning!

Hopefully that’ll be rectified tomorrow though, when I visit my parents for Easter.  I knooooow, I know.  Stay Home! This is literally 1 Day after my Move.  Its almost, NO difference.  And I’m not ready to be alone for a holiday yet.  So Easter Ham Dinner it is!!  It’s gonna be more of a Late Lunch probably, which is even better for me.

My Mom & I had bought a bunch of groceries for me on Friday that we kept in the fridge and freezer.  I purposely didn’t take them, because I knew they’d be thawing out in the car for hours on end before getting to my place.  It was the right move.  Instead, I’ll be grabbing those tomorrow, after our Easter Ham and bring them over in one solid trip.  [Hopefully with my PS4 cable.]

I apologize if this is getting a little more mundane the further we go, but this is what my life is looking like right now.

Things regarding almost all of my contacts have gone very cold this week, which I found pretty alarming, particularly the day after my birthday.  I know it’s not personal.  One day on FB, I got all this birthday love which really kept me going during Covid, while waiting for this move to happen.  Then the next day... no one wanted to talk to me.  Like I mean, literally no one was around.  Or they were just upset and didn’t really want to talk...

And it really sucked, because I had a major headache and was almost feeling sick by the end of the night.  It really made me worry.

I did get to host a “party” on PS4 for Green that day, as I tried to unlock the co-op mode in that game for us, but so far that’s a fail.

Zombie was also really sweet to me on my birthday.  She made it really clear that she wants to grab a beer when this is all over, so that’s cool.

Same goes for Social Distancer, to a lesser degree.  She reached out to see if I was okay, and our conversations are a little boring, but it’s still nice to talk to her.

Gamer Girl is also equally attentive in regards to my move and this new song a day challenge I’ve been doing on FB.  It’s kinda nice...

This is what my life has come down to...  Succumbing to Facebook in order to get through my day and get out of my head.  When I’m not feeling creative enough to try writing or music that is...

But now it’s different.  I don’t feel stuck any more... Now I’m liberated.  At least for the moment.

There’s a certain novelty to being independent right now, and I am very much in the Honeymoon with this place.  Even without my couch or PS4. But I can’t wait to figure that out either.

I’m gonna end it there folks.  I’ve said it before, but I’m gonna say it again. When all of this started 2 months ago, I thought to myself... “By the time this whole thing is over, we’re gonna come out of this in a completely different place.”  But now that thought has taken on a whole new meaning...

[tenaciousarcadeexpert]

Unstoppable (Part 15)

@marvelfanlife​, @dontshootmespence​, @imagicana​, @criminal-navy-writings​, @emllyprentiss​, @tarciau​, @lukeassmanalvez​, @spencerdamnreid​

  They eventually return to the bureau. As Emily, JJ, Luke and Reid go inside, Matt stops to look at a wall containing frames of fallen agents. He looks around till he stops at a particular one: Stephen Walker. 

“Thank you.” Matt quietly says as he stares at his frame. Just then a man walks up beside him.

“And to think that we were about to add another one of theses.” Matt turns to see Rossi beside him. The two smile before joining into a hug.

“Welcome back.” He says. The two men would then walk into the conference where the rest of the team was waiting. As they get inside, the two teams stand to take turns hugging Matt. Penelope was the the first to hug him, as she was eager to when she heard that Matt was going to be alright.

“Uhmph.” Matt groans as Penelope hugs him tightly.

“Woah, easy Penelope.” Luke says. “He just got out of the hospital. You don’t want to let him bleed again.”

Penelope then pulls back. “I’m sorry, it’s just that you know I get all when one of my friends get hurt and I didn’t know what to do, I was sc-” Matt cuts her off before she could continue. He saw that she was about to burst in tears so he touches her cheek, comforting her as he tell her that he’s now okay.

 He then wipes a tear off her face. “Don’t cry Penelope, I’m still here.”

“Well, yeah. It’s just you know me when it comes to my friends getting hurt.”

“I know.” He replies as she wipes her own tears before continuing. “You know me, I get teary eyed when it comes to stuff like this. I’m really glad you’re okay.” “I know, and it’s nice to see you and your precious smile again.” Penelope blushes and smiles at him. “Oh, please.” She shrugs. It seems as if she was slowly becoming back to herself once he complimented her. Matt's presence brought back her cheery optimism. Once he did, she gleefully stares at her before moving away to give Tara and the IRT a chance to hug him.

“Glad to have you back.” Tara says as she hugs him.

“Oh, it’s good to be back.” Matt responds.

“Yeah, we were so worried about you. Glad that you’re okay.” “Thanks.”

Once he was done hugging Tara, he then makes his way to the IRT, his former teammates. 

“Jack.” Matt says with glee before hugging. “It’s so good to see you guys again.” “Well, we just came to help an old friend.” Jack says. “When Emily told me that you were in trouble, I just had to call up the rest of the team.”

“Yeah, even though the IRT no longer exists we’re still willing to help out our old friends.” Clara says as she hugs Matt. “We couldn’t let you, Emily and the BAU handle this alone.”

“Yeah, thanks.” 

“No problem.” Clara then pulls out from the hug as Matt reaches to hug Mae.

“Disbanded or not, you’ve always been a part of us Matt and we’re glad that you transferred to the BAU.” Mae says. “You were like a brother to me and I almost cried when we thought we were losing you.”

“I know.”

"But I’m glad that you’re still here. Besides, who else could I exchange banters with and tease Monty over the weekends.”

“Hey.” Monty says and she and Matt laugh before he reaches to hug Monty.

“Good thing I save the best for last.” Matt says as he hugs Monty.

“Yeah.” Monty says. “But we’re still on for karaoke night this Saturday, right?” He asked. 

“Yeah. Saturday, 8 o’clock. I won’t be late.” Matt says.

“Good, you better not.” Monty responds.

Once he pulled out from the hug, he then stares at his teammates, both old and new.

“I just want to thank you all, for everything that had happen. Even when I wasn’t honest with you, when I left without a trace you still cared about me. Even when you found out about the threats I’ve been getting, you didn’t let it intimidate you from finding me. But most importantly, even when I was on the verge of dying, you never gave up on me.” The two teams listen on as he continues. “When I was on the verge of death, I saw a flash of bright light that took me to a beautiful place. Everything about was beautiful, no violence, no blood, it was quite peaceful. I thought about staying there, thinking that it was time for me to go, but I didn’t and you know why.”

“Why?” Emily asked.

“Because, there was a part of me who realized what I’ll leave behind should I ever go, and that’s the people I love and who care about me. My wife, my kids but especially you guys, I couldn’t bear to leave the people who loved and care about me, it’s too much. And suddenly, with the thoughts of the people who care about me, it gave me a reason to come back, and I did.”

 His friends were moved by his words but no one was ever more moved than Emily, who when she was on the verge of dying saw nothing but cold, dark emptiness. 

“Oh Matt.” Penelope says, and she and the rest of the team gather in one big group hug with Matt. Once they all hugged, Matt then tries to pull away

“Air, air!” Matt gasps as the hug was getting too tight. The team would all pull away.

“Oh, sorry Matt.” Penelope says as she point to his stomach, “Bandage, I almost forgot.”

”It’s okay.” He says. He then stares at the team before saying one last thing. “Well, I guess I’d better get going, my mandatory 6-month break would start any moment now.” He then looks to Emily. “Right?”

“Right.” Emily says as she looks at her watch. 

“Yeah, it’ll give me enough time to rest as well as catch up with me and my wife-” He then raised his eyebrows makes a slight smirk and winks. 

“Woah, oh..okay.” The team members were surprised when they realize he what he meant.

“Woah, for someone who just got shot, you still have time to make jokes.” Tara said, and he and the rest of the team laughs.

“Yeah, but also to spend some time with my kids. They probably need their father right now.”

“Yeah, they do.” JJ says

“Yeah.” he says. He then looks at the team one last time. “Thank you.” He says. He then leaves before being stopped by Penelope.

“Wait, let me walk you to the front door.” Penelope insists.

“Uh Penelope I don’t think it’s neces-”

“Look mister, you may have survive but anything could happen. Besides I vow to keep your word on looking after your precious cherubs.”

“Okay.” Matt says.

“Hey, allow me to join.” Luke says before walking out.

“Me too.” Reid also adds.

One by one, each member leaves to walk out of the room to follow Matt till only Emily and Jack remain. They turn to look at each other.

“Thank you for looking after him.” Jack says.

“Oh, it’s no problem, we’re glad to take him in.” The two were silent before she continues. “Though I must say, he was quite a handful in earlier cases.”

“Yeah, he was...but he is a brilliant agent whose good at what he does. He makes a great addition to the team” “Yeah he does....we’re really glad to have him.”

Both Emily and Jack smile as the stare from a distance watching the rest of the team accompany Matt to the elevator. They wave at him before the elevator door closes, promising that they’ll visit him over the break. Matt then leaves to see his wife and his kids running to him. He then takes turns hugging them before they head off.

“So, what now, since you’re on break?” Kristy asks.

“Well, I told the team that it’s the perfect time to catch up on some family time which is what I’ll do and maybe later..” He leans close to Kristy. “We could have some time to catch up when the kids aren’t home.” He and Kristy smile before leaning to a kiss. They would then reach the car. Once inside, they drive off, heading to who knows where.  

3 weeks later

A few weeks have passed up until the day that happens to be Matt’s birthday. He and his family just came back from the mall after celebrating.

“Happy Birthday hun.” Kristy says. “I’m sorry the team couldn’t make it.” “It’s okay, they’re still working on a case so I don’t blame them. What matters more is that I got to celebrate it with my family.” He then leans to kiss Kristy. Once they got to the door, he noticed that it was slightly open. Fearing that someone broke in, he tells Kristy and the kids to move back before pushing the door.

“Matt. What’s wrong?” “Just stay back.” he then carefully pushes the door further to check if the coast is clear. Believing that he was just hearing things he tells his wife and kids that is was nothing and tells him to come inside. He then turns the lights on. Suddenly a group of people emerge behind the furniture and kitchen as they jump out into the living room.

“SURPRISE!” They all yell as they throw confetti and blow horns.

Matt was shocked and surprised but overall glad as his teammates surprised him with a birthday party.

“Guys..”  Matt was at a loss for words, he didn’t know what to say. “I..thought you guys were working on a case.”

“We were but no case wasn’t gonna stop us from missing your birthday.” Emily says and she hugs him. “Plus, someone called us in for a favor.” He then turns to see Kristy as she waves her hand.

“You planned this?” Matt asked.

“Yeah, I just wanted you to have something special after all that you’ve been through.” She responds.

“Oh, well, you did a great job.” He and Kristy kiss once again much to Emily’s dismay. He then sees Jack and the IRT there as well.

“Jack, you guys, I’m glad that you came.” 

“Oh, it was no big deal.” He then hands Matt a present. “Happy birthday.”

Matt looks around to see everyone at his place, the team, the IRT, heck, even JJ and Jack brought their own respective families to come. As he hugs every single person at his house, Rossi emerges from the kitchen.

“Alright people, food is ready. I hope you have room for some carbonara a la Rossi, especially you birthday boy.” Rossi says.

Matt turns to look at the people beside him and smiles. “Okay” He says. They all head out into the backyard and gather at a long table while the kids sit in a separate one. Then they lift their glasses up.

“To Matt, whom we are grateful now that he is safe and sound with the people he loves.” Rossi said.

“To Matt.” One by one each person says and they all raise their glass to toast to Matt’s return before drinking their glass of champagne. The night was endless as they chat, bond, play games and dance. Nothing made Matt smile more than seeing all of his friends and family happy, but he was even happier as he is now reunited with the people he loved. He continues to slow dance with Kristy as his friends look on, relieve to see their friend safe and sound. 

       “Never leave a friend behind. Friends are all we have to get us through this life–and they are the only things from this world that we could hope to see in the next.” – Dean Koontz

Here is part 15, last part. Thank you for reading this, I hope you all enjoy even if it was a train wreck of feels. 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