#so after that i just took it as her being extremely angry that a different robin has an alive chrom

[1d1195]

Honey I

Read Honey here | ~5k words

From me: Supposed to be a one-shot but I have literally NOT stopped writing. So it's going to be a series because I CANNOT shut up and while I tried to keep it short and sweet, there was just too much for them. Majority of this story is going to be in Harry's POV (kind of) because I just think it's more interesting.

Warnings: parent death out of NO WHERE early on, angst, fluff, and a whole lot of baby stuff

Summary: “Who’s Miss Honey?” He looked above his laptop screen, the last application in front of him.

She laughed softly, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink. “Me,” she smiled politely, but her focus was sweetly on the baby as she chugged her bottle. “The little ones that had me before loved Matilda, we watched it weekly, and they said I was sweet like Miss Honey.”

She was his favorite before she entered the room.

Harry had decided he was only going to have one love of his life and that was it. He had tried a lot. But now that he was officially in his thirties, it was time to stop being flighty. Time to focus only on those that would make his life better and only on the things that added to his life.

Of course, he hadn’t anticipated falling in love with her as hard as he did. He had heard the stories. But she was different. Naturally. He didn’t believe it was possible. Harry was in love before, and it always burned him the wrong way. Cheating, lying, using... he was victim to terrible relationships.

But her?

She was different. Her love was unconditional. The very first day. Harry was putty. A mess. A complete sap. The little girl was growing to have sweet green eyes and perfect pink lips. She had the making of soft brown hair and Harry wondered if it would turn to curls like his.

But she was so beautiful and so perfect. It brought him to his knees every time he came home from work and saw her little face glow with recognition that he was all hers—and he was. So truly, there didn’t seem to be much room for anything else.

He didn’t love her mom. It wasn’t anything personal. The plan was to co-parent. It was an amicable decision. They weren’t in love with one another. Only with the baby. “She is one-hundred percent Styles,” Chloe smirked in the hospital. “Traitor,” she cooed and kissed the little one on the forehead. “You’re lucky you’re cute.”

“Guess m’good for something,” he winked and kissed the top of her head. “Thanks for all your hard work,” he joked.

It wasn’t a bad thing. They weren’t meant to be together, and it was evident in the way she continued to date throughout her pregnancy. The way she drove Harry insane as he worried about every little blip on the ultrasound and paid no mind to the aches and pains she had. (They were minor; and Harry was a control freak.)

Someone like Harry didn’t like surprises.

Which was probably why he was so angry at the driver that took away his friend and the mother of his child in a horrific, tragic car accident. Leaving Harry completely at a loss as to how he was to care for the sweet little girl who’d only barely been in the world for a month.

*

Harry was an extremely successful businessman. His company made millions of dollars a day. Hundreds of thousands of dollars per hour. So, he had the means for just about anything. Except he hadn’t a clue how he was supposed to help a defenseless baby without a maternal figure. Chloe was happy to stay home, and Harry was willing to pay for anything she needed. They weren’t in a relationship, but he was happy to be friends. She needed a friend as much as Harry did. There wasn’t much family in her life and in a weird way, they were a family. Harry struggled to trust people. Be it because of the money or simply because he worked so hard to get where he was it was hard to let Chloe in after he found out she was pregnant but he was willing to for their baby.

While Harry had relied on his mum and Gemma following the accident, it was impossible to let them take on all the responsibility. Given Harry hadn’t been to the office in almost a month, he needed to figure something out and the sooner the better.

He wasn’t going to cheap out on a nanny. Not even slightly.

So, for the first time since the accident, Harry packed his schedule. Brought the baby and the pink backpack that didn’t match his navy suit to the office. The women fawned over the little miss. Even the men made faces at her. Especially her Uncle Niall—Harry’s best friend and business partner. “Think maybe I’ll just quit and watch her for you,” Niall suggested brushing his finger on her cheek.

Harry snorted and settled into the conference room where he would be conducting interviews. He had done interviews hundreds of times before in the very room, but this time was much different. This was his little girl. He was going to be thorough, and he was determined to find the best person.

“When’s she coming in?”

“Last,” he told Niall not needing a clue about who he was referring to.

“Best for last, I like it,” he joked. “If you need help or want a second opinion, let me know. Just anybody won’t be good enough for my niece. Isn’t that right Little Miss?” Niall cooed and pressed his lips to the top of her head making her little face quirk up in a smile in delight.

“Aw, she loves me.”

Harry didn't like the idea that she was smiling at Niall at all. “It’s probably gas,” Harry scowled. She wasn’t going to love anyone. Especially not a boy and especially not one that wasn’t Harry.

Niall clapped him on the back with a chuckle as he left the conference room with a wave.

*

The interviews were intense. Within seconds, Harry knew if the woman across from him was going to be a good fit. Harry wasn’t blind; he knew many of the women that traipsed into his office for an interview were there for him. Not the little one. The ones that didn’t even glance at her in her seat were given a set of short questions. Those that oohed and ahhed over her received a longer list of questions that he hoped would tell him everything he needed to know. But no one had sparked his interest by the time he got to the last name on his list.

Harry had the baby in her car seat on the table between them watching the way she interacted with her. For most of the time she slept. Harry did work between interviews—especially when the shorter ones ended before the allotted time scheduled.

It was right before the last interview that she woke from her nap. Her eyes wandered around the room, and she suckled on her pacifier. Harry smiled at her and gave her seat a little rocking motion.

Despite being the interview that he was most hopeful for, Niall chose that moment to interrupt. Requesting his presence immediately. Harry glared at his friend and turned his attention to the woman across the table from him. Her eyes hadn’t moved from the little one—only to hold Harry’s gaze while she shook his hand. Her handshake was warm, gentle, but firm. He thought that immediately spoke volumes and the moment their introduction was complete, she turned her attention to the baby.

“Why hello, Miss Cecelia,” she grinned. “Are you having fun at work today?” She asked. “Are you the boss of everyone?”

“She definitely the boss,” Niall said in the doorway gathering Harry’s attention. He wanted to smack Niall.

“Are you serious?” He grumbled as he walked through the door and glanced back at her as she played with Cece. “It couldn’t wait?”

“I don’t know why you even bothered. Sarah and Mitch’s friends swear by her.”

Harry sighed. It was helpful knowing that someone Sarah and Mitch trusted were content with her services. They said she even babysat for their baby a few times over the years and had nothing but good things to say.

“Hi, sorry, to interrupt. But she’s making a gummy little noise—I think she’s hungry. Do you have a bottle I can grab her?”

“It’s in the fridge,” Harry turned to Niall looking for help.

“I’ll go grab it—”

“Allow me,” she offered and hurried down the hall as if she had already been in the office her whole life. Niall looked at his friend pointedly. When Harry changed her diaper earlier, the woman he was interviewing was unimpressed and when her face twisted in disgust Harry dropped the short number of questions to an even smaller number.

About a minute and a half later she returned. She glanced over her shoulder, shaking the bottle and then testing it on the inside of her wrist in one movement. “Jeez, drool much,” Niall muttered. Harry looked at him curiously and wiped at his mouth in case he was drooling at the sight of her. But Niall nodded at the person at the end of the hall staring at her from where the break room was.

One of Harry’s employees was smiling after her as she walked down the hall, his gaze clearly lingering on something that was not his to linger on. “I’m not sure who he is, but he needs a sexual harassment seminar,” she muttered.

Harry’s gaze flicked to the man who’s eyeline was still much lower than it should have been. He opened his mouth to shout something, but Niall gently pushed him toward the conference room. “I’ll fire him, just go... hire the insanely perfect nanny.”

He stepped back into the room and she looked uncomfortable.

“I’m sor—”

“I’m sorry,” she interrupted quickly holding the bottle still. “I’m so used to just...” she shook her head and turned to Harry expectantly. “Does she eat in the car seat, or do you need to hold her? I can write my own notes for you if you want while you feed her,” she offered. Cecelia was starting to fuss, her eyes catching sight of her food and anticipating how yummy it would be.

Harry tried not to feel an overwhelming sense of hope but that was hopeless. She was already perfect.

“You can feed her,” he offered. “If you’re okay with that.”

“Hold this sweet little cutie? Don’t have to tell me twice,” she grinned delightedly and expertly and sweetly plucked the little one from between the straps and settled into her seat. “Hi girly, are you hungry?” She cooed. “I’m sure,” she said as if Cece had answered.

Harry felt a squeeze of pressure around his heart. While Cece settled into eating, Harry gave them both a moment to adjust while he clicked into her application documents on his laptop. The rest had been put into the computer’s recycle bin.

“Who’s Miss Honey?” He looked above his laptop screen, the last application in front of him.

She laughed softly, her cheeks turning the slightest shade of pink. “Me,” she smiled politely, but her focus was sweetly on the baby as she chugged her bottle. “The little ones that had me before loved Matilda, we watched it weekly, and they said I was sweet like Miss Honey.”

She was his favorite before she entered the room.

But now that she was in the room, he noted Miss Honey had a gorgeous smile which was not part of the qualifications. But Harry wasn’t blind to that either. It was perhaps the only way she looked similar to the women that came through for interviews before her. But even then, there was something so much better about her smile than the rest. Maybe because it was shy and sweet. It wasn’t flashy and certainly not directed for Harry. No, it seemed her smile belonged to Cece and that was it. She watched as Cece sucked down her milk and her eyes shone with pride, adoration, and warmth. Something Harry wasn’t sure he could explain to someone else without having them see it with their own eyes. Her body held Cece perfectly. Like she was meant to hold her. Effortless.

What was part of what made her infinitely more qualified than the others he saw, were the glowing and gushing letters from the previous family that had her. Even the little ones who signed with their name and ages (five and eight) told Harry in their little crayon letters that Miss Honey was the best. It was tragic they were moving, and she couldn’t go too far from her own family. She was everything Harry could have hoped for. The two letters from the children she nannied for pulled at his heart in a way he didn’t know was possible.

“Hi Cecelia,” she cooed while Harry looked over the words Mitch and Sarah’s friends used to describe her: dependable, intelligent, wonderful, and completely perfect. “You are so pretty; do you know that?” She asked and brushed her finger on Cece’s little cheek while she ate. “Does she sleep well?”

Harry was exhausted. Mostly because he thought every little noise was bad. He was completely thrown during the time off he took while he figured out the situation. It was a huge adjustment for him and Cece. Everything he did felt like it was wrong. “Sometimes,” he said quietly.

“How about eating?” She asked. “It seems like it’s good. Are you a good eater, Miss Cecelia?” she smiled excitedly at the little one. Harry didn’t answer because he felt like he was being interviewed and even though he had no issue answering her, he just wanted to feel a semblance of control over this otherwise stressful, uncontrollable life. “Sorry,” she blushed a shade deeper when no answer came. “I just... I want to know everything about her. I’m not judging, I swear. I... I heard about what happened to her mom,” her voice was full of sympathy. “I’m so sorry Mr. Styles.”

Harry didn’t love Cece’s mum—not that way, but she didn’t deserve to be ripped away from their daughter either. He swallowed the lump in his throat and nodded. “Thank you.”

Over the last month and a half, Harry became even colder and more distant. Once Cece was born, he didn’t love anyone but his baby girl, his company, and his family. With the little one, he planned on never falling in love again. Maybe when she was eighteen and started to live her own life, he would try again but he was certain he was never going to be able to leave Cece to her own devices. He was wrapped around her little finger that was smaller than the width of his bottom tooth. “Can I ask how many people have interviewed?” She wondered.

“Several...” Harry sighed. It felt like hundreds.

“What do you want for Cecelia?” She asked. Harry tilted his head at her. She was still looking at Cece, she was almost finished with her bottle and her little fingers wrapped around the bracelet near the bottle. “Do you like jewelry, Cecelia?” She giggled. “Good girl; don’t ever settle for anything less than what you want,” she smiled knowingly. Once the bottle was finished, she placed it on the table, then immediately brought her to her chest to burp her.

Harry was unable to form any of the questions he wanted to ask. In the span of a half hour, he hadn’t asked a single question he had prepared because he didn’t need to. “Good girl,” she praised as the little air bubble escaped her lips. Harry thought she would be good. But he didn’t know she would be this good. Then, she placed her back into the car seat and grabbed the toy Harry had left for her to hold onto while he interviewed. It was a small set of rubbery keys. Each one had a different texture and color. They were also filled with little balls that sounded like a rattle when it moved. “Is that so cool?” She asked Cece and giggled when Cece shoved one of the keys into her gummy little mouth.

Harry’s phone rang. He didn’t want to answer it because even though he was taking time off to figure all this out, he had to work anyway. He sighed heavily; wishing he could ask at least one question from his list. “Would y’mind? I have t’take this,” he frowned.

“Of course,” she smiled politely.

It couldn’t have been more than five minutes and then Harry was back at the conference room table. He looked at her playing with his little girl making silly noises and faces at the baby. Looking at her with so much love Harry felt like he was intruding.

Then Cece giggled a funny little sound that was most definitely accompanied by her smile. Harry’s heart clenched. She had never made that sound before but when she made it again, he was surer. He gasped. Miss Honey turned to Harry and tilted her head curiously. “She’s never giggled before,” he murmured.

“Oh goodness,” her cheeks pinked again in embarrassment. Then she bit the inside of her lip. “I’m sorry,” she said softly. Some parents were heartbroken about firsts happening while they weren’t around nor responsible for it. Looks like she would be looking for another family entirely.

“Don’t be,” he came over and brushed his finger over her little cheek and she smiled at the sight of him. It made his heart ache deeply. “Is Miss Honey so silly?” He used a voice that he should have felt embarrassed using around someone he was interviewing but if he was going to hire her, she would have to get used to it.

“Can you giggle again, cutie pie?” She asked and popped her lips, making the smile Harry loved more than anything in the world appear on her lips. Then the tiniest little noise came from her mouth again making Harry forget all about her smile and fell in love with the noise instead.

“Aren’t you so silly, Cece,” he cooed again and made the same popping sound.

She giggled again and it seemed it was decided. Cece had spoken. Or giggled her suggestion.

“This is m’address,” he handed her a business card with his home address on the back of it. “I’ll have a moving truck come t’your place on Friday. My personal phone number is there too. I already have you’re your phone number from your application,” he explained. “You can start Monday?”

“Yes, absolutely...but are you sure...? I know things popped up you didn’t really get to ask me any question—”

“Do y’want the job?” He asked.

She nodded eagerly. “Yes, very much so.”

“Then it’s yours.”

Her smile was so beautiful Harry wanted to reach out and touch her face. “Thank you, Mr. Styles.”

“You can call me Harry, love,” he said and stuffed his hands in his pockets so he wouldn’t do something insane like touch her face. “M’sorry ‘bout my former employee. Thank you for bringing it to m’attention.”

Her jaw dropped. “You fired him?”

Harry nodded easily. “Of course. I have a daughter. If he’s going t’ogle you and say something t’you that obviously wasn’t appropriate, m’not going t’let him work for me.”

“Harry,” she said quietly. “That was... I didn’t mean to—”

“It’s done,” he said simply. “I’ll see you Friday?” He asked.

She nodded. “Friday.”

“Do y’want t’say goodbye t’Cece?” He asked while her eyes darted to the little baby gnawing and drooling all over the toy keys.

Her smile bloomed and her cheeks blushed. “Yes, please,” she nodded quickly, unable to hide her want.

Harry smiled.

*

The next month passed in an insane blur.

She had moved into Harry’s spectacular home. It was huge. Tall ceilings, beautiful light fixtures, and shiny hardwood floors. Harry made sure her room had everything it needed. But still remained simple. A desk, a bed, a dresser, and a bookshelf. But she had plenty to make it her own, which Harry assured her she could do whatever she wanted to the walls so long as she didn’t knock them down, which made her giggle.

She had a huge walk-in closet that fit more clothes than she had which only signaled she could go shopping. But the best part was a little alcove that she would use for reading—it pushed outward of the house with a little bench in front of the window. It caught great light, and she could see Harry’s expansive backyard and garden through it. Harry also had a huge pool which excited her. It would help get her workouts in.

The walls were grey-blue, and it fit in with a lot of the décor she had. She hung pictures using removable sticky hooks—a holdover from college. She spaced them out between her couple rooms. She thought this room would have been perfect for a nursery but when she saw Miss Cecelia had a skylight that let in the moonlight and when she checked on her in the middle of the night that first day, it made way more sense.

Her bathroom was massive as well. It had a walk-in shower and no tub, which was fine with her. It was painted a light yellow, so it felt just bright and sunny. The water pressure was to die for she worried she would really stay in the shower way longer than she should have because of it. Harry took Cecelia to his mom’s house where he was going to stay for the weekend to let her get settled without him around. “Do you have a nanny cam?” She asked him. “I don’t mind if you do, I just want to make sure I don’t walk around naked or anything,��� she joked.

Harry’s face had a strange look on it and then he cleared his throat. “No, security cameras are... they’re all outdoors.”

“So no skinny dipping,” she joked again, hoping the weird expression would disappear from his face but instead it remained and Harry smiled weakly before turning his attention back to Cece and making sure she was correctly in her seat.

“If you need help moving furniture or anything, let me know I can send someone over.”

“Okay,” she answered quietly worried she would say the wrong thing again.

“Alarm and lock codes and keys are on the breakfast counter for you. You’re welcome t’anything in the kitchen. You can use the car in the garage or y’can call m’driver,” he looked at her pointedly. “I’d prefer y’not Uber or take taxis.”

Her heart fluttered for what she wasn’t sure. It was no secret that Harry Styles was beautiful. When her previous family told her they were moving, she was devastated. She had been with them for two years and she loved them like they were her younger siblings. They offered for her to move with them, but she didn’t want to be far away from where they were. It was at least the same coast as her family, and she just loved the city they were in.

But when they told her they were recommending her to Harry, she was happy. Her research (social-media stalking) found very little. He was in news articles pertaining to Cece’s mom’s car accident which made her heart ache for both of them. Even though the articles made it very clear they were not a couple. Cece would never know her mom, but she hoped that Harry would tell her about her anyway. She found his company and read their mission statement. Harry did a lot of philanthropy which made her heart ache again. It was so kind and sweet. But there wasn’t much she got about Harry from her search. His personal pages were private and there was very little information. Even articles in local newspapers and magazines didn’t have much from interviews. Of course she could respect his privacy, but she was hoping to know a little more about the man she was going to be living with.

This was only her third nannying gig. But she fell in love with Cece the moment she laid eyes on her. She wanted Harry to like her and so far, all she felt was his cold and distant indifference. When he smiled at Cece she saw warmth and happiness. It was completely different than the persona he had when he directed it to her. But Harry chose her to do this. That had to mean something. Maybe he loved Cece’s mom more than the articles let on. Maybe it was a ruse. She couldn’t imagine what that call was like for Harry. There had to be stuff he was working through.

So she didn’t let his indifference bother her.

Or at least... she tried to not let it bother her.

*

Monday, she woke up early and got herself ready early before breakfast time. Harry said he left the house at seven-thirty so he would be at work an hour earlier than most everyone else. When she got to the kitchen, she started a pot of coffee. But then she noted there as a box of English breakfast tea, and she realized her mistake and turned the kettle on the stove instead.

Once the drinks were set on the counter to cool just a bit, she headed to Cece’s room. Found her gazing up at her mobile. “Hello sweet girl,” she cooed and her little face grinned. “We’re going to give you a quick change and then go get you some breakfast, yeah?” She scooped her out of her crib and turned to the changing table. She heard the shower turning off a couple rooms over while she quickly changed her. Harry was naked only a few rooms over.

Harry was excessively handsome. He was tall, with dark hair, gorgeous eyes, and a jawline that looked like it could cut through marble. But she thought he was most handsome when he smiled at Cece. It made a flutter in her heart to see him interact with the little one.

But a naked Harry might have been good too.

Cece made little noises trying to talk in a way that only made sense to a two-and-a-half-month old and pulled her inappropriate thoughts from her boss’ body. Even if she was sure there were muscles upon muscles hiding under suits.

When Cece was all changed and comfy, she put her on her hip, draping her securely with the wrap meant to keep her hands free. The kitchen was still empty, so she tended to Cece’s bottle and grabbed the bread from the breadbox to make toast. Once she learned what Harry liked she would make a better breakfast but surely everyone liked toast. Given there was a jam that was half eaten in the fridge she only assumed that she was correct.

“Hi,” Harry said quietly as she pulled the bottle from the warmer. She spun around and took in Harry’s perfectly styled hair, his suit that fit him like a second skin, and his shaven face.

“Good morning,” she grinned. “I...I made you tea, but I didn’t know how you took it.”

He tilted his head at her and noted the toast popping as well with his favorite jam sitting on the counter. She was making him breakfast.

Was that normal? Harry had no idea how a nanny worked. He never thought he would need one.

“Um...there’s also plenty of coffee if you prefer that—”

“No, thank you. Tea. Three sugars. Thank you,” he repeated and grabbed the sugar.

“Do you like a lot of jam or—”

“Just a regular amount,” he watched scooping the sugar into his drink with a teaspoon.

She slid the plate across to him. “Do you want to feed her, or would you like me to?”

“I’ll take her,” he offered. He wanted to see his little lady before he left anyway and could use a snuggle. It was the first time in a month he wouldn’t have her glued to him.

“Let’s go see Dada, Cece,” she cooed and pulled her from the strappy wrap that Harry could never figure out. “Who’s that?” She wrinkled her nose and smiled as she held her out to Harry. Cece grinned and melted Harry’s heart as he smirked and held his hands out for her. He gave her a big kiss on the cheek.

“Hi, Ce,” he hummed and grabbed the warmed bottle as well. He sat on the stool around the breakfast island and brought the bottle to her lips. “Did y’sleep well, cutie pie?”

She didn’t answer of course, focusing on sucking down her bottle instead. Part way through, her little eyes closed, and she stopped sucking. “Blow on her face,” she said.

“Pardon?”

She smiled. “If you blow on her face, she’ll become alert again. The bottle just tastes so good she’s a little drunk,” she giggled.

Harry blew a quick breath on Cece’s perfect little face and sure enough she perked right back up.

Harry had such long arms he could hold and wrap his arm around, so the bottle reached Cece’s mouth with one hand (sure it wasn’t the most comfortable angle) but it allowed him to take a sip of his tea and get a bite of his toast as well. Harry watched as she made her second cup of coffee and put cream and sugar into it. “Coffee hmm?” He asked.

She nodded. “I prefer iced, but I won’t say no to hot coffee.”

He pulled his phone from his pocket and put it on the counter so he could tap at the screen. “I’ll buy an iced machine,” he said quickly scanning the quick reviews on Google for the best one.

She was gaping at him. “Harry, that’s not necessary.”

“Course it is. Want you t’be comfortable here. S’least I can get you. S’your house too,” he shrugged.

Perhaps it would have been different had he been in love with the woman that previously lived here. But this was different. That was too much. “Harry, seriously.”

“Seriously, s’fine, love,” he shrugged one shoulder without looking up at her.

“Honestly, I can just use ice from the—”

“It’ll be here by the end of the day,” he said ending the discussion. He took another sip and bite of his tea. “Did y’do something different to the toast?” He asked putting his hand in front of his mouth so she wouldn’t see him chewing.

“I put butter on before the jam. I think it makes it sweeter. Sorry I should have—”

“I like it,” he smiled. A genuine smile. “Thank you, love.”

“You’re welcome. But...about the coffee... I really don’t think you needed to get me—”

He shook his head as he sipped the final remnants of his tea. “It’s done, love. S’nothing t’worry ‘bout,” he shrugged and just as Cece finished her bottle, Harry caught the time. “I have t’go,” he frowned. “You have a fun day with Miss Honey, Cece, yeah?” He winked at her making her heart skip a beat as she watched him kiss his baby’s cheek again. “I love you have a good day,” he cooed and kissed her again. “Do y’want her or should I put her in the swing?”

“Um... I’ll take her,” she murmured stunned by the interaction.

“Have a good day, Miss Honey,” he smiled sweetly.

She liked morning Harry a lot.

--

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[animekpopsimp]

The Hashira React to Their Sister Getting an Inappropriate Uniform

Giyu

You looked down at the uniform you had just been given, not sure you were wanting to show anyone this. You were pretty sure that this wasn't the standard Demon Slayer uniform. Looking embarrassed, you tried to button the shirt, but it wouldn't, leaving your chest exposed. And the skirt felt too short. You had expected a uniform like Giyu's, so you were surprised when you got something completely different.

"Are you done changing?" You heard your brother ask, snapping you out of your thoughts. You panicked, knowing he wouldn't approve of this.

"Uh...y-yeah" you replied, cursing yourself for stuttering. You walked over to the door, knowing your brother would find out eventually. Opening it, Giyu saw what you were wearing and went silent. Though his face looked mostly blank, there was a hint of anger in his eyes.

"Is that the uniform you were given?" He asked, you just nodded.

"What did the person who gave it to you look like?" Came his next question.

"Uh, I don't remember his name, but he had glasses" you explained, feeling nervous. Once again, your brother was silent.

"Take it off, I'll be right back" he said before closing the door. You changed out of the uniform and soon, your brother had come back with one that matched his own. Little did you know that the person who had given it to you was currently in Shinobu's estate being treated for injuries.

Shinobu

"Burn it" was the only thing your sister said when she saw the uniform you had been given. There was still a smile on her face, but the tone of her voice made it easy to tell that she wasn't happy.

"But, isn't this the standard uniform" you asked, looking confused. Shinobu pulled the uniform out of your hands

"Don't worry about it, I'll get you a new one" she spoke before going outside. You followed your older sister, watching as she lit the uniform on fire.

Rengoku

"Uh, are you sure this is the right uniform" you asked as you showed your brother the uniform you had been given. When he saw what you were wearing, you could tell he wasn't happy. Though his expression didn't change, there was something about the look in his eyes that made it obvious he wasn't too happy.

"Who have you that?" He asked, you looked at him confused before answering.

"I don't know, all I remember is that he was wearing glasses." You told him, you watched as your brother stood up.

"I'll be back" he said, and with that he left. He later returned with a different uniform.

Tengen

"Come on, show us your uniform" Hinatsaru encouraged you, you were hesitant however since the uniform wasn't what you had been expecting. The amount of skin it showed made you feel extremely uncomfortable.

"Alright...." You stepped out, showing your brother and his wives your Demon Slayer Uniform. At first, none of them said anything, but after a moment, Makio broke the silence.

"What kind of uniform is that?! That's not inappropriate for you to wear" she shouted.

"Do you remember who gave you that?" Your brother asked you, his voice much calmer,

"um, he had glasses. I don't remember his name." Was your reply, Tengen nodded.

"Stay here, I'll take care of things" with that, your brother left while his wives were still fuming.

Mitsuri

"What kind of uniform is that?! You're way too young!" Mitsuri yelled, looking upset. You were surprised by her reaction since the uniform you had been given was the same one as hers.

"Is something wrong?" Shinobu asked, she happened to be nearby.

"Look at the uniform! She can't wear that" your sister exclaimed,

"Don't worry, I'll get her a new one" the Insect Hashira spoke while Mitsuri pulled you into a protective hug.

Sanemi

"Who the hell gave you that! I'll kill them!!" Your brother shouted, starling you. You winced seeing the angry look on Sanemei's face.

"It was the one I was given, the guy had glasses, I think." You explained, your brother was quiet for a moment as he took a deep breath.

"Take that damn thing, I'll bring you a different one" Sanemi spoke in a much softer tone. You watched him leave, wondering what he had planned.

Obanai

"uhhh....." You waited for your brother to say something, having shown him your Demon Slayer uniform. However, he was silent as he walked out of the room. Confused, you sat there until he returned with a new uniform and an angry look on his face.

Muichiro

"You can't wear that" was the only thing Muichiro spoke in a blunt tone, he scrutinized the uniform you had been given. He noted it was the same one that Mitsuri had been given. And since you were a year younger than him, he wasn't happy.

"But-" you tried to protest, thinking that you had been given the standard Demon Slayer uniform. However, your older brother knew that wasn't true.

"You aren't wearing it, I'll get you a different one" and with that he was gone. When he came back, he had a new uniform for you.

Geyomei

"What kind of uniform is that!" It was Genya who alerted your older brother to the fact that your uniform was less than appropriate for someone your age.

"But I thought this was the standard uniform..."

"It's not! I'm gonna go find the creepy who gave it to you!" Genya started, followed by your older brother. You felt bad for the person who gave you the uniform.

[cheriladycl01]

Hey! Your fics are amazing. I couldn't see if you were taking requests but if you are would you be comfortable writing a Pierre Gasly x Leclerc!Reader maybe where the reader is obviously a Leclerc sibling and has known Pierre for years and have also been dating for years and the brothers find out and are not happy about it.

Thank you and keep up the amazing writing!

🐨

You are royally fucked - Pierre Gasly x Leclerc! Reader

Plot: Y/N Leclerc grew up attached to her brothers, being a twin to Arthur and looking up to Charles and Lorenzo meant that you'd always been extremely close to your brothers and you travelled round the world with two of them as much as you could, but your brothers weren't the only reason why you attended races when you got older.

A/N: Thank you so much for this request! Sorry it took me a while to get round to it!

You'd know Pierre since 2010 when you and Arthur followed Charles to karting. Arthur was obsessed as much as his older brother over cars and so all three would kart.

You and Arthur were in the same division but still followed Charles to the higher levels too see him perform which is how you met Pierre.

You were 10 and he was 14, just a kid where you had a crush on your older brothers friend.

It was stupid and went away with time as Pierre was just someone kind to you when you were around your brothers. You saw him every race weekend. You'd bring him cookies you'd baked and he'd bring you a charm for your bracelet which he got you another one off on your 13th birthday as there were too many.

As you got older karting yourself became less and less of an interest and you only would show up to watch your bothers. Arthur continued on like Charles through the feeder series.

But as Charles progressed he became more and more absent. You weren't allowed to travel across the world with Charles unless your parents or Lorenzo were there too look after you, and you started to miss your brother more and more until it took a toll on you.

You started acting up, not going to school and it put a strain on your relationships with all of your family.

Charles wasn't around enough to see it but the rest of your family did.

When Charles finally got to F2, your mum promised you could go more, and it was great until your dad got sick and he couldn't travel anymore.

You were angry, not at anyone in particular but at the world for everything it was throwing at you. And you tried to run away, you ended up outside the casino in Monte Carlo, lost and upset.

It was actually Lewis Hamilton who found you, he couldn't comprehend why this 16 year old girl was alone in the streets of Monaco. You guys talked for ages and he convinced you to go home, you parents were so angry with you they grounded you and you were banned from going to any of Charles races.

Then your dad passed away, and you were devastated and were even more angry. You were 16 and had so much hate for the world, Arthur, Lorenzo and Pascale had no idea what to do with you. So they sent you to boarding school for a year until you were 18 and could make up your own mind.

While you were there you clicked with a group of people who all were influencers of some sort, and having Charles as a brother and him being announced into F1 for 2018 it wasn't hard to accumulate a following.

You stayed in the UK until you were 21, all you friends from boarding school went to university so you decided you'd stay with them and get a degree. Despite missing lots of school you were actually a very smart girl and had excellent grades.

Once you were 18, Arthur started to invite you to more of his races. And Lorenzo and your mum were always asking for you to come home... but your Charlie still hadn't realized everything you'd been through.

It wasn't until his 24rd birthday you saw Charlie properly. He noticed how different you were, you weren't the 16 year old he left all those years ago. He just pulled you into a massive hug and it didn't seem like the time to unload everything on him.

You saw Lewis that night, and he recognized you right away coming over and laughing about how he didn't think you'd end up being his competitions little sister when he helped you out all those years ago.

Then, you saw him ...

Pierre and that was night everything changed.

"Pierre?" you asked looking over the taller male, smiling softly not having seen his face in person for a while.

"Y/N?" he asks in shock, cocking his head to the side.

"The one and only" you grin and he just stares, still shell shocked about your presence.

"I haven't seen you for years!" he says pulling you into a tight hug that you melt into, his big arms encasing around you and making you feel safe.

"Where have you been?" he asks, looking over you face.

"Argh i just obviously got so sick of seeing you and Charlie all the time!" you smirk, taking a sip of the Negroni in your hand.

"Mmmmm, and to think. I thought you used to have a crush on me" he chuckles looking down and laughing.

The few drinks you'd had brought for you by your brother and all the drivers who recognized you had got to that confident place in your mind.

"Oh i did, hard core" you say with a straight face making him squint his eyes at you seeing if you were telling the truth.

"You sound ... different" he offers leaning in and tucking some hair behind your ear. If Pierre was being honest he'd never seen you as anything but a little sister, that was how he treated you when you guys were younger.

He didn't know if it was the club lights, the alcohol, your changed accent and looks, or a mix of all of them but he was looking at you like you were the only girl in the world for him.

And you noticed.

"That's what years of schooling in the UK will do for you and having friends who love to take the mick when you butcher the pronunciation of something" you giggle.

"You still sound Monegasque though" he grins, still hearing that twang.

The rest of the conversation was history as you went back to Pierre's hotel room, spending the night with him.

At this point you'd been dating Pierre for 4 years. Everyone noticed since 2021 how much more common your appearance in the garage was. Obviously your twin was there as a development driver for Ferrari, and Charles as a Ferrari driver also meant that people knew you were there for your brothers.

But little did they know you were sneaking off to the Alpine garage in search or your boyfriend.

“Hey baby” you grinned to Pierre, happy to see his face and plant kisses all over it.

“Ahhhh, how are you cherie” he mumbles into your neck. 2024 hadn’t been a great season for Alpine, and 2025 hadn’t started off great either. So you being there in the garage to cheer him up or calm him down was a must.

Charles never really questioned where you left too, he assumed it was to see Logan and Oscar who would often be found teasing Arthur all still being relatively close from their F2 days in Prema.

“Im good, just a little tired” you smile cuddling up to him on the little sofa in his drivers room.

“Mmmmm” he says and he seems like he isn’t fully there with you.

“What’s wrong, somethings on your mind” you ask, looking over him.

“I’ve been thinking” he says looking down at you.

“That’s never good” you joke but his face tells you that this will be a pretty serious conversation. One that you could tell had been playing on his mind.

"What is it what's wrong?" you ask, taking his hand in your own.

"We need to tell your family soon... it's been 4 years of being a secret and I want to show you off. I want to be able to take you out for a nice dinner in public and not fear getting caught. I want you to move in with me, and I just think it's time we tell them!" he admits, all very quickly and he watches as you take the time to process what he has just admitted.

"You want to tell my brothers?" you ask making sure you weren't jumping the gun.

"Yes, I cant help but feel ... guilty is not the right word but do you get what i mean?" he asks and you nod.

"Yeah, why don't I ask maman... she can make us a nice dinner tonight after the race and I'll say I'm bringing my boyfriend?" you smile and he nods.

You walk away to call your mum, leaving Pierre to leave his drivers room and walk to the garage where he would be starting the race soon.

"Maman?" you ask into the phone as it connects.

"Y/N darling where are you. We've all been in the garage waiting for you!" you hear in French and you chuckle.

"I've been, somewhere else. Maman i need to ask you something!" you ask as you exit the Alpine hospitality, trying to go as unnoticed as possible.

"What is it?" she asks, concern washing over her voice.

"I want to introduce you all to my boyfriend tonight..." you say although it comes out as more of a question that anything.

"WHAT?" she yells down the phone and you visibly cringe.

"Y/N Leclerc, get back to the Ferrari garage now!" she chides before hanging up the phone making you bite your lip anxiously.

You walk back to Ferrari as slowly as possible not wanting to feel that wrath of your mother who has probably already told Lorenzo and Arthur.

"Hey..." you say awkwardly as you go to where they are sat in the garage with all their headphones on.

"You have a boyfriend?" Lorenzo asks

"And you didn't tell me... us i mean!" Arthur cries out as Lorenzo elbow his side hearing him talk about himself.

"Maman! You told them!" you exclaim, not in shock as it was highly likely she would spill the beans to your brothers, but more in frustration that she did.

"Y/N! Why would you not tell your family about this... how long has this relationship been for?" your mum asks making you bite your lip and look down.

"4 years" you mumble and you mother huffs asking you to speak up before you say it in French, turning away not wanting to see their reactions.

"You've been with a man for 4 years and not told any of us! Not even Arthur! You tell everything to your twin!" You mum exclaims in shock.

"Obviously not everything ..." Arthur says sounding really upset before walking off, making tears fill in your eyes.

"I'm, we're ... happy for you. Really! But you know we worry about you... especially Charles. I dread to think how he's going to react when we tell him!" he laughs.

It was just you and Lorenzo right now, your mum having gone off to find Arthur.

"Loz, can i tell you something that you cant tell anyone?" you ask looking at him. Your oldest brother was always the best at knowing when you really really wanted his attention and that it was something serious.

"Go on!" he says, looking over you.

"You promise you wont say anything!" you look over at him and he nods, holding up his pinky which you swiftly take with your pinky too.

"I promise!" he sighs.

"It's Pierre" you blurt out, an eyebrow of Lorenzo's raising.

"What's Pierre?" he asks.

"The person who I'm dating... it's Pierre!" you admit and his eyes widen.

"Oh... you are royally fucked!"

And that you were. When Pierre entered the house all hell broke loose. Charles was yelling, Arthur too, Lorenzo was trying to calm everyone down. Maman was being quiet just watching the chaos erupt. Alex and Charlotte didn't know what to do. Pierre was just listening to everything that Charles was yelling at him.

It wasn't until you started sobbing that Charles stopped and looked over at you.

"Y/N... I'm sorry. I didn't mean any of that!" he exclaims looking over between you and Pierre.

"I guess I'm just shocked... we were all friends and I didn't expect it!" he admits and you look down.

"Please, Charlie. I love him... just like you love Alex and how Loz loves Charlotte. He makes me happy, the happiest I've been probably ever!" you sigh and he nods.

"God, i cant believe your growing up!" he sniffles and you pull Charlie into a hug.

"It happens!" you chuckle.

Taglist:

@littlesatanicassholebitch @hockey-racing-fubol @laura-naruto-fan1998 @22yuki @simxican @sinofwriting @lewisroscoelove @cmleitora @daemyratwst @lauralarsen @the-untamed-soul @thewulf @itsjustkhaos @purplephantomwolf @chasing-liberosis @summissss @gulphulp @starfusionsworld @jspitwall @sierruhhhh @georgeparisole @youcannotcancelquidditch @tallbrownhairsarcastic @ourteenagetragedy @peachiicherries @formulas-bitch @cherry-piee @spilled-coffee-cup @mehrmonga @bigsimperika @blueberry64857959 @eiraethh @lilypadlover @curseofhecate @alliwantisadonut @dark-night-sky-99 @i-wish-this-was-me @tallrock35 @butterfly-lover @barnestatic @landossainz @darleneslane @barcelonaloverf1life @r0nnsblog @ilove-tswizzle @laneyspaulding19 @malynn @viennakarma @landosgirlxoxo @marie0v @yourbane @teamnovalak @nikfigueiredo @fionaschicken @0picels0 @seomako @urdad-hot @tinydeskwriter @ironmaiden1313 @splaterparty0-0 @formula1mount @styl1shl1v

[vespertiliosworld]

hello i just read your title (sorry for my bad english) and love it also made a comment on it so can i ask for a request for yandere damian al ghul with the famale reader who doesn't want him ? Like she is powerful girl with meta powers and she doesnt interest with damian so what Damian al ghul would do to gain her as a yandere ?

I apologize for being late, I had an important exam and needed to take a break from writing.

Damian ushered in a new era when he took over the League of Assassin. It is a very powerful and bloody era. As Al Ghul, each new generation becomes a better strong leader than the last. This disappointed Bruce when Damian decided to follow in his mother's and grandfather's footsteps.

You met on a mission with the League Of Assassin and so the two of you are somewhat of enemies, but Damian has different ideas for you. You may be a metahuman, but you should know that Damian is extremely intelligent and powerful. In fact, he is too smart and strong.

After fighting each other to the death a few times, he loved that strong spirit in you and your eyes that screamed that you would not kneel. The burning spirit in his eyes excited him. He knew that one day he would bow his knees in front of her.

He was quite comfortable relying on that. It wasn't his fault that every man and every woman you dated ended up dead. You were too stubborn to admit it was him.

He knew every place you went, every person you talked to and every book you read. You were too silly to notice the cameras installed inside your house. You continued to fight against him, knowing that you would eventually lose. You are finally defeated. You stand on your knees in front of him, exhausted. The hatred in your eyes burned like fire as some of your hair fell in front of you.

Damian was looking at you with his green eyes shining with arrogance. He stood confidently in front of you, his lips slightly curled upwards. The tension between you two was palpable as you both kept your eyes on each other.

Damian finally took a break from this silent battle and took a step towards you. He held your chin with his fingers and lifted it up. "I see the fire in your eyes, darling." he said arrogantly. He stepped back after letting go of your jaw. "But that won't save you. You belong to me now."

You never took your eyes off him as you spit the blood that filled your mouth onto the ground. "You can't even take my death." It was probably ridiculous for you to challenge him with your harsh and cutting tone. He used a special collar to restrict your powers. It was pretty stupid of you to stand up to him despite the collar hurting your neck.

Damian's emerald green eyes fell on him like bad luck. He called out to the two assassins holding you, never looking away. "Take her."

When the two assassins holding you lifted you from your knees to your feet, you struggled to get away from them. While your efforts were of no use, your eyes went black with a blow to your neck. The last thing you saw was Damian's cocky smile.

When you woke up again, you were in a dungeon-like place. Your hands were tied to the wall. The chains were painfully tight. The smell of mold and cold permeated every part of this dungeon. Even if you don't die from Damian, you'll probably die here from the mold and cold.

When you coughed and looked around, you realized that you were alone here. There was no one, just you. You tried to tug on the chains but you were too weak for that. You shouted angrily. You were angry at yourself for how you ended up in such a situation.

"There's no point in shouting, beloved. You belong to me now." You looked up at Damian as his green eyes sparkled with cruelty. Your gaze was hostile.

You speak while clenching your fists. "Even if I die, I won't let this happen." The hatred in your voice was so intense you could cut the chains like a knife.

Damian chuckled evilly. "I don't need your permission, you've already lost."

---

[am-i-the-asshole-official]

AITA for ignoring my ex's threats of suicide?

this is a very old story, but it keeps eating at the back of my brain because i feel like the asshole in the situation, even though people close to me say im not.

i (19nb) broke up with my girlfriend (16f) and told her that we may get back together in the future. we broke up because she was incredibly emotionally draining, it was a long distance relationship, and also, i felt uncomfortable being nearly 20 dating someone in high school (i was also uncomfortable with our age difference for the year prior, but thats a whole other can of worms).

after breaking up, i stayed in contact, because she was my friend and i still liked her as a friend, just not a partner. she had some pretty severe home life issues, and had made extreme comments before ("nobody loves me, everyone hates me, no one would care if i disappeared" those sorts of things). now, i personally chalked it up to be a mix of teenage angst and homelife issues, but she had never made outright threats on her life before. it was always vague, or just an outright meltdown that i would care for her during.

i told her i was taking time for myself, and would probably not date anyone. a few months pass and i meet my then partner (now spouse). i know i fucked up in not telling her that i was seeing someone new, but i didnt really want the backlash of her screaming and yelling and crying over this, so i didnt tell her we were dating, just that i was spending a few months in his country (he had a place of his own, was older and more financially stable, it made sense at the time) and we had grown close.

it came out during a call, about 2 months into me dating and living with my partner, and probably about 5/6 months after i had broken up with them. she had asked if/when i was moving back home, and i told them i didnt know, because i was planning on living in his country. she asked if i was dating him, and i didnt want to lie, so i said we were. she got incredibly hostile, telling me that i shouldnt have lied to her and that i had said i wasnt going to date anyone. she completely melted down, getting incredibly angry to the point of tears, before telling me she was going to end it.

i panicked at that point and started trying to help her through tears, telling her i would do anything, before my partner took my phone from me and blocked her on that social media, calmly telling me to message her friends the situation, and that it wasnt my issue to deal with. i finished blocking her on our other socials (with her messaging me that she was so sorry), did what he said, and waited.

her friends confirmed she was okay later, but they were upset with me for not sticking around and helping her through her suicide attempt.

i still feel like an asshole, even though its been nearly 4 years since its happened. i feel like i should have done literally anything except what i did. ik my partner did the right thing, but also. i dunno. i feel bad i guess.

[4channerguy]

HI HI HI HI! I just wanted to ask if you could do a Nagumo fic where he falls in love with reader after they took down someone twice their size with their ridiculous strength. And literally just punched the guy out of fear, they were in a mission with Sakamoto and Rion too but reader got ambushed if that makes sense😪 BASICALLY THAT MITSURI SCENE WHERE SHE'S FIGHTING THAT UPPER MOON AND SMACK THE SHIT OUT OF THE DRAGON TREE THING if you can't do it it's ok thank you for your time :33

scaredy-cat / nagumo

ngl i never expected anyone to actually put smthing in my inbox but thank you!! dear anon!! not the proudest of this fic but i think its a little goofy. sakadays is a fandom where i dont think about a lot but i love nagumo my baby girl!!! also there's not a lot of romantic things in here? i kind of rushed this fic TT also the reader's personality is more like kobeni than mitsuris because i never had really watched demon slayer that much lel i hope you enjoy it :3 xoxo (。・∀・)ノ

wc: 1036

warnings: gender neutral reader, fluff-ish, not much romantic intent but use ur imagination ^_^ xanax mentioned.

you were about to piss your pants. 

your palms were sweaty as you cradled the sheathed sword between your hands. your head was down as you looked at the ground. 

you were in a car with rion, nagumo, and taro. rion was bickering with nagumo in the front seat while taro was sitting quietly in the back with you. taro, being more observant than everyone else, sensed that you were nervous. well, you were always nervous…but he could tell it was more than being nervous. extreme anxiety perhaps. 

“...is everything okay on your end?” he asks. you nod, not being able to form a sentence properly. you were scared out of your wits. 

you were dragged by rion to join her and her crew (nagumo and taro) to a mission that you really, really, REALLY, didn’t want to go on. she bribed you with a pizza bun. out of everything. this trip was not worth a convenience store pizza bun. but you went because rion liked you and was very much your only friend. the other two however, you didn’t know that much except for rumors and whatnot floating around them. taro, was a man of few words. he wasn’t as emotionally interactive but he was kind to you so you didn’t mind. nagumo was an undoubtedly attractive tall man with dark hair and eyes. you only recognize him because he’s a classmate in one of your classes that he only shows up once a month in. you always let him borrow a pen or any weapon on you, and he was very talkative towards you. you had a feeling that he was observing you in class but you didn’t really pay mind to it. he was an assassin–a great assassin, so maybe that feeling was normal. if he weren’t an assassin, he’d make a great model or even an idol. you’d definitely be one of his fans. you were a sucker for pretty men. 

the car swerves to a stop while everyone goes silent (well, taro was always silent anyway). 

“we’re being followed,” rion quietly announces. 

you look cautiously behind you. you could sense a presence even though you didn’t visibly see anyone. you grip your sword even harder, you could feel a pool of sweat forming. rion sighs and pulls out a hidden pistol under her shirt. nagumo pulls out an swiss knife while taro face hardens as he looks behind him. 

“exit slowly,” taro says to no one in particular.

the four of you exit slowly, before any of you could react in time a gust of wind was felt. everyone turned around too late and everyone was thrown in different directions. except for you. for some reason. you were about to seriously throw up. 

“you fell into my trap,” the perpetrator sneers.

you turn around to see…the convenience store man?! you recall the time seeing this huge burly man as you were clumsily knocking everything over before ruining his display of various snacks on the counter. to be fair you were high on caffeine from an all-nighter. you also remember his face when you knocked them down, he looked astonished and angry that you almost wanted to become his employee to pay him back. but you fled out of fear that you would piss him off even more.

yeah, you were going to piss your pants.

luckily, rion swoops you out of the way before the convenience store man striked you.

“i’m really sorry about this, i never knew that this guy had a grudge on you,” she grimaces while pulling you up as she thrown both of you into the tunnel wall. “um…i’ll treat you, again, sorry.” you felt bad but before you could even accept her apology, she grins mischievously. “at least i got you out of your dorm for billions of years!” you retract your acceptance to her apology.

the man charges toward both of you before nagumo and taro block his way pulling out their respective weapons while rion pulls out her gun and shoots. as the three of them were distracted, another perpetrator behind you grabs you by the throat. 

“watch out!” nagumo yells, noticing you while the others swivel back in time with his voice. 

“sorry about this,” the monotone voice says. you turn just in time to see who was doing this to you, a woman with yellow eyes stares at you back. the janitor??? from the convenience store??? you were so, so, so, SO confused at this point. you didn’t inconvenience her (no pun intended) at all. possibly. who knows. it didn’t matter anymore anyway because you pulled out your sword and slashed her face because you were terrified. an automatic reflex that you had ever since you became an assassin.

the woman falls back in surprise and in shock as she looks up at you. a large gash on her face appears.

you were surprised too because you totally forgot you did that.

rion, nagumo, and taro were surprised (well only taro was because nagumo had a weird smile on his face while rion’s face was a mix between taro’s and nagumo’s expression).

the convince store man charges at you as the others were gawking at you, you even more terrified punch the shit out of the man with closed eyes. 

he crashes upon the tunnel wall as the others look at him in amazement and amusement. nagumo was really staring at you now, intensely trying to make eye contact with you as you looked away from this whole thing while walking briskly to the car. you needed xanax.

the car ride back to the school was quiet, but you could tell that they were somehow telepathically talking about you. you shrink into the car seat. when the car is pulled to a stop and everyone gets out, you’re stopped by nagumo as the other two walk ahead of you. he smiles with closed eyes practically copying the “^_^” emote. 

“that was amazing, i knew there was something more to you!” he pats your arm as you slightly flush. “see you around, [reader].”

you could feel your heart beat even faster than the time where you punched the shit out of that guy. 

⋆｡𖦹 °✩ 02.24.24 , do not repost or translate my content :^)

[w1shes43]

Forbidden Proximity

- (TMR) Newt x reader

Summary: Takes place in "The Fever Code", before an examination test, you meet the beloved Newt. After meeting him, things start to be different and someone warned you to watch your proximity. But you think you're doing just the opposite.

Taglist: @heliads

A/N: AHHH, IT'S FINALLY FINISHED!! This fic took me so long. Motivation came and left like 1000 times. Sorry about that, and here it is!! Also, let's just imagine that newt is not like a minor here and is his movie age ;_; The ending is a bit rushed as I just wanted to get this fic finished tbh.

----☆----

Wake up, examinations and tests, eat food, maybe add a hint of some learning and then sleep. And it's repeating the same routine every day, over and over again. It's been like this for you ever since you got taken in this facility called W.I.C.K.E.D. They're not so harsh towards you but you saw and heard from others of what they can be like when they're angry so you usually do what you're told to be on their good side.

But life in this facility is very repetitive and dull so you always opt to do something fun once in a while, being extremely discreet of course. Whether it's going to see your friends in their rooms during night or sneaking to catch a look at the other group, Group A. You have to admit you don't know why you all have to be separated into different groups, maybe they don't want certain people interacting with each other? You found the question lingering in your mind for a while, so you plan to ask at your next examination, which is tomorrow, that very question.

You sat on your bed, waiting in your room for Dr. Paige to do some tests on you, observing around your room trying to pass time. You always seem to land on the clock. Time ticking like usual, you wondered how the clock can be so perfectly timed to the real time, but then again just another question to add to your pile.

"Questions and questions" you sighed, looking down at your feet, swinging them back and forth. You realised you were getting taller which makes you glad because Harriet used to tease you about your height, saying how you won't be able to reach anything. Guess you could prove her wrong now, you slightly chuckled at that.

The door opens and you look up thinking you were going to see Dr. Paige but instead a tall lady with round glasses. She had a firm look on her face as she approached you,

"Y/N, Dr. Paige is quite busy for a while so she won't be able to do your test right now."

She stated, looking at her clipboard which had some files on it, "She will do your examination in about half an hour. Please come with me to another test room."

You nodded as you got up from the bed to follow her out the door. She shut the door and you walked beside her as she brought you to the elevator and pressed a few buttons, you waited for about a minute and the doors opened to the 2nd floor. She ushered you to walk beside her as you looked around the 2nd floor, you've only been here once before and that was the first time you got examined.

You followed her into the first room on your right, and she told you to sit down and that she would inform you when Dr. Paige was here. As she left, you looked around the room and noticed that there was a blonde haired boy on the other side of the room, he had his head in his hands and he seemed to be the same age as you. You assumed both of you were here for tests.

You walked over to him and sat down on the empty chair beside him, the sound of the chair made him look up and he met your eyes.

"Oh hello there." The blonde smiled, you noticed he sounded a bit different, he definitely had an accent, not that you minded though it sounded nice. "You here for an examination too?"

You nodded and smiled back, "Yeah I am, how long have you been waiting here?" You asked, curious to talk to this boy.

"Probably been waiting for about 10 minutes?" He said, stretching his arms "I'm not really counting the time to be honest with ya, just waiting for this to be done and over with. So I can go and hang with my mates."

You raised an eyebrow, "Mates? What do you mean by that?"

"I mean my friends," he laughed, but then leaned in to whisper "We all usually hang out after our tests, obviously wicked doesn't know that, so keep it a secret for me and you could join us too." The blonde boy winked as he whispered the last part.

You chuckled, a corner of your lips developing a small smile. "Don't worry, your secrets are safe with me. And I didn't catch your name?"

"Name's Newt, pleased to meet you.. ?"

His sentence trailing off at the end in hopes of getting your name.

But before you could answer his last statement, the door swung open and you were greeted by two people, Dr. Paige and the other lady from earlier. They looked at the both of you and nodded to you, Dr. Paige calling your name as she was about to take your examination.

You nodded back to her and stood up from your chair, turning to Newt before you approached them, "Y/N. Pleased to meet you too." You smiled and waved at him as you followed behind Dr. Paige.

Your walk back to your room was silent, you usually would talk to Dr. Paige about a lot of things, how you were doing with learning and food or something along the lines of vital sign check ups. But this time you were silent, smiling to yourself as you thought about your encounter with the blonde boy, Newt was his name. Well not his actual name, as you knew they gave everyone different names but you thought it suited him, it was an oddly interesting name. To be honest you thought he was pretty cute too, you haven't talked to a boy your age since forever, before you even came to this place.

Smiling away to yourself must have caught Dr. Paige's attention as she talked to you as you both turned the hallway, heading to your room.

"Something on your mind Y/N? You look rather happy there." She spoke as she opened the door to your room, holding the door open so you could walk inside.

As you entered the room you sat on your bed, nodding to Dr. Paige's last statement.

She took a seat in front of you and got ready the equipment for your tests.

"Yeah I would say so, although I have a weird feeling in my stomach when I think about this certain … thing." You admitted, looking down at your feet and watching them swing back and forth again.

"Weird feeling in your stomach about a certain topic you say? Is this very recent or has this been happening for a while?" As she questioned you, she got ready the syringe for your injection and you took that as a sign to roll up your sleeve on your left arm.

"Quite recent. Actually right before you came to the room on the second floor."

She stopped and gave you a look.

"It's about Newt isn't it? That boy you met there?" She asked and her thoughts were confirmed when you looked at her and nodded. She sighed, "Y/N, that weird feeling you are talking about is called attraction or well starting out as a liking. We are specifically trying to prevent this though, it might interfere with your progress in tests. So please try not to think about him or even try to see him for that matter."

Dr. Paige had this firm look on her face, the one you heard about when Wicked employees got angry, you definitely didn't want to aggravate her even more but you still had to ask one more question, a very risky one considering the topic of the conversation.

"Dr. Paige, why do we have different groups, like why do you have to separate all of us?"

You looked at her eager for her answer as it could explain things. But she just pinched the bridge of her nose as she let out an annoyed sigh and with a sharp tone dodged your question.

"Y/N, enough questions. Remember you are here for one reason and that's to save the world. Everything we do is for your own good, be grateful you are even alive after what's going on out there." She snapped and looked you dead in the eyes.

Your eyes widened, you were stunned, Dr. Paige never raised her voice at you before. What was so wrong about the question you asked? You just wanted to understand their ways of running things, surely that's not a bad question but you assumed it was since she yelled at you.

She swiftly injected the needle into your arm, taking a blood sample for your test. And quickly put it into a plastic bag and sealed it inside another bag.

She turned around and headed for the door,

"I'll have some food delivered to your room so no need to go to the cafeteria for lunch. Remember Y/N, you're here to save the world, not question how things are."

And without another spoken word, she left and closed the door to your room.

You just stared at the closed door, pondering on what she said. You've always heard those words before 'Save the world.' How though? And wouldn't it be easier to save the world if we understood what's going on inside and outside? You scrunch your hair in annoyance and lay your head in your hands and thought for a bit.

You know what?

You were going to see Newt again.

But you have to think of a discreet way to meet up with him. How in the world are you even going to find him?

You could try and go back to that waiting room you were in earlier but chances are he's already gone and done his examination.

You usually catch a look at Group A, but that's through the vents and you don't really know your way around there as well as Harriet or someone else in your group.

As you try to think of ways to find him, your thoughts are interrupted when someone knocks on your door, it opens and it is one of your great friends, Harriet. You both smile and run for a hug, "How did your examination go?" Harriet asked, pulling away from the hug.

"I don't know what to think, I just hope I haven't angered Dr. Paige. But before the examination I was in a room and there was a boy there." You explained the whole thing, from meeting the boy Newt and to asking Dr. Paige about the 2 groups.

And this conversation led to Harriet coming up with a plan to sneak you into one of Group A's testing rooms in hopes of finding and meeting someone from the other group, or even better Newt.

She would start off by going to get some "lunch" and while doing that she would distract the guards so you could sneak into Group A's testing rooms. But you had to watch out for other employees that might leave the rooms and also cameras. But you would check every room and see if Newt is there.

Hiding behind corners and dodging employees wasn't easy, you were suprised that you even got this far. You looked around, no one. The employees may have taken a break or something, not that you minded, it made this a whole lot easier for you, less hiding.

...

"Well, hello there." A voice from behind you spoke. You jumped at the sudden sound, swiftly turning to see who had spoken and you had hoped that it wasn't Dr. Paige or any of the employees for that matter.

To your suprise, you were met with honey brown eyes, the same eyes of the boy you were looking for. At least you didn't have to look too far to find him.

"I thought I'd see you again, just didn't expect it to be so soon?" He raised a brow, inspecting you. But before he could ask any further questions, you pulled him into a nearby room.

"Okay before you ask anything, I need to make sure this room is safe before we get caught being somewhere we're not supposed to be." You explained, closing the door quickly and glancing around the room.

"Technically, you're not supposed to be here, but here we are." He smirked while you just rolled your eyes, he continued, "I mean, I'm not complaining and I think this room will be perfectly safe, considering that it's my room." He chuckled, and when you turned around with wide eyes, he just smiled.

"Well," you started, "I thought about your offer to join you and your friends and I gladly will." You smiled softly, but your smile grew even wider when you saw how the boy in front of you had a slight red face with another smile.

"You did all that effort to tell me this? You seem very dedicated Y/N."

Oh, you have no idea, you thought.

You spent what felt like hours with him, laughing along and chatting about anything under the sun. Even hearing a bit of his past but you didn't want to pry too much into it.

Your first meeting with Group A went quite well you would think, you quickly made friends with most them of them and even if Gally and Minho were quite skeptical of you at first, they warmed up to you eventually and even shared a couple of their jokes with you.

But as quickly as you made friends with them, the quicker your relationship with Newt grew to be stronger and you had hoped, he felt the same as you. Days turn into weeks and your time spent with him made your whole life better even if you weren't supposed to be of close proximity to him.

But as good things come, they always have to go. You found yourself running through the long bright lit corridors of the wicked facility.

Hoping to get there in time.

Hoping to get that one last chance.

Hoping you weren't too late.

With tear filled eyes, you start remembering the one memory you hoped would never leave you - Newt's confession.

One day, he pulled you aside when you were about to sneak out to go see all your friends.

He softly took your hands and placed them in his own.

"Um.. I don't know if you felt the same, but it did take me a while to realise it wasn't just some weird feeling I had about you, you made me feel like I could trust you, I felt..."

He scrunched his eyes in search of the right words to tell you, "Comfortable around you and safe, mainly safe. My point being, I like you. A lot, in fact, I can't really fathom why my brain works that way, but I hope you understand what I mean." His hope filled eyes begged you, not moving his worried scene that danced around his face.

You thought it was adorable and were quick to calm his worrying thoughts.

"Yes, I understand what you mean," you said with a laugh. "I feel the same way Newt."

How did wicked find out? But then again, they always are monitoring you. They always find out, or maybe they always knew.

Maybe you should have seen this coming.

But nothing always goes your way, you were aware of the Maze, they started sending your friends into one, a few weeks ago.

You were quickly made aware by some of your friends that they were going to send Newt into one. And not at the usual time he was supposed to go in. He was supposed to go a few weeks after.

You ran to the one place you knew you would find him before it would be too late. The hideout.

When you entered, you found him pacing around the room. He heard your footsteps and looked up and locked his dark eyes with you.

Just by looking at him, without even saying anything, you knew what he was thinking, and you wanted to save him from all this.

"Don't leave, why can't you just stay here?" You pleaded with him, grabbing his hands to curl them up into yours. "We could leave, run away right now, or even -"

He pulled you into a hug, wrapping his arms around your waist and hugging you like you're his source of life. You went silent and returned the hug. It was quiet for a good while, and you felt as if the white noise could swallow you both whole until Newt spoke.

"I want you to know that even if I die, or something happens and I might never see you again," his breath hitched in his throat, eyes dreading even the thought of it, "Nothing would ever make me forget you. I would go to the ends of the earth just to do this all over again if it meant being by your side, being here with you is the best thing that has ever happened to me."

Tears that have flowed down his cheeks have now dripped onto the cold floor. The same room, same building that you first met, the sweet hearted boy. Even if you didn't know what would happen next, you knew for certain you loved him.

You knew you were never meant to be near him in the first place, but you did just the opposite.

"I'll love you forever and always."

He wiped the oncoming tears from your eyes with his thumb and smiled. You wish you could just capture this moment and stay with him forever.

The doors opened, and your warm hands quickly became cold as the warmth from him slowly drifted away from you.

[1d1195]

Green Skies, Pink Grass

~2.6k words

From me: Going with another one shot for Monday. This very much jumps into the middle of a storyline that I'll never write but just wanted to post something small in between Most updates.

Warnings: jealousy, enemies(?) to lovers

Summary: It is very obvious Harry gets enjoyment out of irritating her. But not when she can't take it anymore.

“Excuse me,” she approached like she owned the table. She slid right between Harry and the girl that was talking to him. She stood at the corner of the square table made for four. But there were only two, Harry and the girl that had every right to be sitting at one of the right angles so they could be closer together.

For nearly the entire night, she watched another girl touch Harry’s arm and flirt with her eyes as they spoke. All while he leaned close and whispered God knows what. Who knew what secrets he was telling her. The stuff that she dreamed of knowing and not just figuring out from her friends or him taunting her. “I didn’t catch your name.”

“Rebecca,” she stated and looked around her intruding body so she could peek at Harry. This was ridiculous. She was talking to him and there was no reason for her to have intruded like that and get in between Harry and him. Everyone knew they didn’t like each other. Of all the people that could have taken his attention from her it couldn’t have been the girl that wanted to wring his neck.

Her backside was directly in front of Harry’s vision. He paid nearly no mind to the intrusion—almost like he expected it. In fact, he took the moment to sip his drink because while he wasn’t proud of it, he was extremely grateful for the reaction it caused from her. All night he felt her stare from across the restaurant. Her gaze bored into him. It was painful how long it took to come to this in his opinion. Now he couldn’t wait to see what she was going to do next. She didn’t even flinch as she approached; her sure-footed steps had her heels clicking across the floor with a power that made Harry’s body warm over. The confidence she had was so sexy. The only thing that could have made the current interaction better than having her perfect ass right in front of his face, would have been being able to see her pretty, angry face as she glared at the girl he was chatting with. “Can I help you?” Becca asked.

Harry smirked, grateful neither one of them could see him because he was very much looking forward to this.

“Yeah, umm…” she swallowed that swagger and confidence suddenly wavering.

Harry wasn’t hers. Not by a long shot. They argued about almost everything there was to argue about. They had opposite movie tastes. He never took her suggestion for making dinner recipes better. His driving directions to get somewhere the fastest were always different than hers. She swore he would argue the sky was green if given half the chance. They weren’t that close, but Niall was her favorite coworker and quite possibly her best friend. But that meant she had to spend an infinite amount of time with his best friend, Harry.

She could have taken all his misgivings in stride, honestly. Tt wouldn’t have been that bad nor hard to have. She liked a bit of a challenge in her life. If Harry hadn’t looked down on her the first time that they met, they might not have been on this frustrating path of annoying one another.

It was no secret that Harry was one of the most gorgeous men she had ever met. His handshake was warm and firm but that was as far as his warmth went—at least when it came to her. She wasn’t oblivious to the way his voice sounded when he talked about his mum, sister, or niece. He donated to a ton of charities and was constantly helping his friends.

It was just her.

He was cold and standoffish the day they met. It hurt. Mainly because Niall told her that she would love him, and she was excited to make a new friend. How often did someone in their late twenties make new friends?

But after their introduction and awkward silences while Niall tried to get them chatting about their similarities instead of their differences, she overheard him whispering to Niall in the kitchen while they got plates and drinks for the pizza they ordered. Only catching some of the words that included dislike, irritating, and know-it-all. She prided herself on being kind, never making anyone feel inferior, but Harry made it seem like a fault and didn’t see her that way at all.

Harry wondered where she was possibly going to go with her irritation at Becca. Only moments before the evening began, she wanted to strangle him. He could see it in her eyes and knew she truly thought about wrapping her hands around his throat because he made some comment about her not getting fucked properly in front of Niall. He smiled impishly at her as the rage filled her eyes. It made her eye twitch in that cute way of hers. The way that made him want to keep pissing her off so it would continue twitching. Part of him wanted to reach out and touch just next to her eye and hope that it would make her crazier but also so he could ease that tension all the same.

But it was clear she was lost here. There was no follow through for this moment and seeing Miss Prim & Proper discombobulated was one of Harry’s favorite kinds of sights. But even still, she didn’t deserve to be this lost. It wasn’t her fault the little envious monster took hold of her without a way out of the situation.

“Hey love,” he hummed quietly, pressed a hand on her lower back. She stepped away like he shocked her—or stabbed her. Her eyes were wild as she glanced at Harry briefly. He smiled, his lips straining a little too much to keep him from smiling mischievously—just like before they entered the restaurant. That little quirk that made her eye start to twitch just the same as well.

 That stupid dimple, that knowing look. She wanted to strangle him again.

He knew what she was feeling all too well. Fortunately, it hadn’t happened tonight, but he knew the irksome feeling that heated his stomach and chest when anyone bought her a drink or complimented her smile while he was in earshot.

It was a beautiful smile, but it made him sick to hear other people say it to her and not him.

“Do you have something to say or what? I was talking to Harry.”

Perhaps the alcohol she had ingested was cause for the bravery that resulted in her walking across the restaurant and planning to tell the girl off. But what was she supposed to say? Harry wasn’t hers. There was nothing she could say that would deter Rebecca from spending time with him. Nothing to stop Harry from spending time with Rebecca.

It seemed Harry noticed she was floundering but for once he didn’t make fun of her nor antagonize her further. Instead, without warning, there was a warm hand on the small of her back. “Kitten,” he hummed. His voice was low, directly in her ear, and full of caution. “Let’s go,” he pressed his fingers into her back in effort to get her away from the table. “Sorry, Becca, I gotta go,” he grabbed his drink, tossing the remaining sip back and settling it back on the table.

She said nothing, glaring at her feet with heated cheeks. While the woman who had taken Harry’s attention but wasn’t going to keep it smiled bitterly. “You’re really going to leave? Just because she interrupted?” Harry ignored her, rolled his eyes but not even the girl he had his hands on could see it.

Harry’s lack of response made her burn with anger more and she wished she knew why she went over to interrupt them. Harry was behind her, his body so close to hers she thought a piece of paper couldn’t fit between them. “Wow can’t even fight back—”

She started to move back for Rebecca, but Harry yanked her closer to him. Not even a molecule of air could have fit between them, before she could even take a full step. His arm was wrapped around the front of her stomach, his lips went directly to her earlobe. “M’here, kitten. She’s not worth y’time,” he assured her. “Walk,” he ordered quietly. Normally, she would fight back and tell him not to order her around. But the alcohol in her system simultaneously subdued her anger toward Harry and amplified it toward everyone else. So she walked.

She could hear the way Rebecca laughed calling her pathetic loudly to anyone that walked by. Harry snaked his arm around her waist and pulled her tightly each time he heard one of Rebecca’s taunts and the following pull of her muscles to turn around to continue her chat with her.

Once they were out of the restaurant, he continued to usher her up the road away from the offensive restaurant. There was a cool chill in the air that hadn’t been there when they entered the venue. Confident she wouldn’t make a break for it and return to give Becca a piece of her mind, Harry released her briefly.

In an instant, he pulled his jacket off and draped it over her shoulders before wrapping his arm around her waist again. He gave her a warm squeeze then walked beside her; his other hand stuffed in his pocket. They didn't speak as they walked. After a block and a half, she bit the inside of her lip. "I'm sorry," she whispered.

Harry hadn't ever heard an apology directed at him from her mouth. "Am I dead?" He murmured.

She sighed. "I don't know what came over me," she admitted.

Harry knew. He knew because he knew exactly how she was feeling. "Yeah," he nodded.

More silence followed and they just kept walking. The shoes she was wearing weren’t really conducive to a city walk but she was willing to have a blister on each toe and her heel if it meant Harry’s warm arm and a jacket that smelled like him was going to be wrapped around her. “Did you like her?” She asked.

Harry smirked. “She was fine.”

She swallowed. “I’m sorry,” she repeated.

“Kitten,” he chuckled. “She was fine, but I’d’ve much preferred you sitting next t’me all night.”

“But you don’t like me.”

Harry snorted. “Honestly, right now, I don’t. Think I could throw y’into traffic for such a remark. What are y’talking ‘bout, love? M’obsessed with you,” he rolled his eyes.

“Obsessed?”

“Obsessed.”

Her heart fluttered. She stopped walking. Mainly because her feet hurt, but also because she was floored that he admitted such a thing. After all the time she spent wondering why he taunted her and made her want to strangle him. Her voice shook as she asked her next question. Because it was mean spirited of him. “Is this a trick? Like that time Niall was setting me up on a date and you convinced me I got the date wrong, and I sat at the coffee shop for hours before—”

Harry chuckled at the memory. Proud of his handy work and grateful she didn’t go on a date with that prick (who was actually a really nice guy that probably deserved her more than Harry did). “No, s’not a trick.”

She was staring at him like he had ten heads and honestly there was nothing better than seeing her little eye twitch. “You like me?” She asked.

“Very much, kitten,” he nodded and stuffed both hands in his pockets while she processed this.

“Can we sit? These shoes are killing me,” she frowned. Harry followed her to the bench out in front of a closed café. He reached for her feet and unclipped the strap from one ankle then the other.

“You really like me?” She asked again while Harry untied his dress shoes. Harry had this thing about always wearing two pairs of socks. It alleviated blisters, of his own dress shoes and there had been countless times Gemma hated her own high heels after a long night at a family wedding. He slid off the top pair and put them on her feet without fanfare.

“I really like you,” he assured her.

“But you...” She frowned, her stomach aching at the kindness he was showing her. Finally. The nice thing about the cute little sock thing he was doing? She had never seen him do it for anyone else. This was a treat for her as far as she knew. He retied his shoes and settled her feet back to the sidewalk. He held her shoes beside him on the bench.

“I what?” His smile was adorable, mischievous as always, dimple appearing cutely in his left cheek, but it didn’t make her eye twitch and even though he missed it, he liked her soft expression, analyzing him more.

“You said I was a know-it-all. And... irritating.”

“You are irritating,” she glared at him so cutely, he wanted to take a picture of her and make it his phone background and print it on a poster to hang on the ceiling above his bed. “When did I call y’irritating?”

“When you met me. You said you disliked me."

He tilted his head. “Do y’mean at Niall’s?” She nodded. He was clearly processing that and tried to think back. She was finally quiet, while he thought. Didn't try to further their discussion because part of her thought she would turn it into an argument just by accident. “Is that why y’always keep me a foot away from you? Why y’never let me get a word in? Why y’argue with everything I say? Swear y’would tell me the grass is pink jus’ t’argue,” She didn’t dare dignify that with a response. Or that she felt the same way. Harry tugged her legs back up and shifted her so she draped across his lap. His arm around her back while her bum warmed his thigh. He brought his hand slowly up her leg, over the socks he had put on her that looked ridiculous with her dress. His fingers skimmed over her knee and up her thigh while his eyelids hooded his gaze as he followed the path of his hand. He tickled her skin, his fingers circling her wrist in her own lap before he brought it to his shoulder. Then he brought his fingers to her face, cupped her cheek in his palm. “I’m going t’kiss y’now,” he murmured. “Because m’not going t’explain how ridiculous y’are for thinking the first time I met you I called you irritating, or that I disliked you...or thought you were a know-it-all.”

She blushed. “Oh...” she swallowed feeling woozy Harry's face was so close to hers. He smelled so good. He looked so good.

“Don’t y’think it was much more likely I called Niall an irritating know-it-all that I would fall so hard for you and I disliked how right he was?” She remained silent, dropped her gaze again, until Harry tilted her chin up once more. “You are irritating,” he murmured his mouth a breath away from hers. He could feel the warmth of her lips pulling an invisible string to his. Like he had already touched them without touching them. “But I love when y’irritate me,” he assured her and closed that final breath between their lips.

The sky could be green. The grass could be pink. Harry was done arguing with her about it.

--

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[anundyingfidelity]

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Adam Warlock and reader with the sunshine x grumpy dynamic, the reader is someone dangerous and very powerful that none of the other heroes want to get close to due to her reputation and her history, but Adam ignores it and in the end they fall in love 😩✊❤

long time i don't write for adam so yesss! hope you like this, i tried my best for a grumpy x sunshine dynamic for this one hahaha

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☕ if you like my writing, support me with a ko-fi !

I'M NOT IN LOVE — Adam Warlock x female reader

Word count: 689 (got carried awaaayyyy).

Genre: fluff.

Warnings: none I can really tell?

When Rocket and his team broke you out of your prison, he quickly understood why you were locked in the first place. A woman, captive of a crazy sorcerer who just held you as nothing more than a pet on a dirty planet, who was rageous and powerful, capable of destroying a star. That’s what the old man said to them.

Rocket was a fool and didn’t take his word though. Not until you tried to blow the ship going back to Knowhere, or when you tried to escape destroying miles of half built homes, or the countless times where you broke something with your super strength.

“Alright, stay here, witch,” Rocket ordered, taking you with Nebula’s help to a new place you’d call home for now. Behind his small figure, Adam followed closely in silence but intrigued by you, who seemed to completely ignore him.

“I’m not a witch!” you fumed, moving your arm away from the tight grip coming from the purple robot. “Don’t touch me, scum.”

“Nebula, stop,” the raccoon uttered as she stepped closer to you, ready to punch your face. She grunted and left the room, passing by the Sovereign.

Rocket continued. “We don’t wanna hurt you-”

“Then why take me here?! I never asked to be part of your stupid team!”

Being locked for so long had its effects on you, Rocket thought. That day he warned everyone to not be close to you since you were extremely dangerous, but Adam didn’t understand the captain. He had a second chance with the Guardians, it was fair to do the same thing with you. Under Rocket’s suspicious eyes, Adam got his approval to visit you and help you to the real world.

Contrary to the team, Adam was different. He saw pain and fear in your eyes that mixed with your powers made you a dangerous being, but a beautiful one nonetheless. He was the one who introduced you to the terran culture and their music. With it, Adam discovered the sounds of some songs would calm you down and he’d come to see a new sweet side of you. 

“Play it again,” you whispered, as you shared an earphone with Adam on the roof of your place in the middle of a somehow cold night. “I wanna hear it again.”

Adam beamed, doing as you said. The psychedelic melody started anew. “You like this song too much,” he teased.

I'm not in love

So don't forget it

It's just a silly phase I'm going through

Your brows furrowed, clearly annoyed. “Is that a problem, goldie?”

He just chuckled. “Not at all. Stop furrowing, it’s a joke.”

And just because

I call you up

Don't get me wrong,

Don't think you've got it made

Still you narrowed your eyes at him, with that angry face of yours. Sometimes you took so literal anything that escaped his lips. It was cute. Under the light of the city he admired you completely. Yes, sometimes you were a little mean to him and the team. Still you tried because of him. Adam was a very special person for you. But you wouldn’t admit it easily. 

I'm not in love, no no,

It's because…

I like to see you

“Okay,” you whispered finally, your features softening as the song played. It made you feel calm, at peace. Something you didn’t remember feeling before. Now after Adam came to your life, things were sort of different. You could feel it as much as Adam. He was bright, sunny, while you were totally the opposite of that.

But then again

That doesn't mean you mean that much to me

You locked eyes with his own, noticing he had been observing you long before. You sat so close together that you could feel the warmth of his body, contrasting the coldness of your own. He leaned closer with eyes closed, and as scared as you were, you let him kiss you softly on your lips. A quick peck on your lips before he pulled away.

“Sorry…”

You smiled, cheeks flushed. “Don’t.”

 It was the first time he saw your smile.

[leahsflwer]

Twilight - Them finding you crying 🌧️ pt.2

Warnings: Mentions of $uicidal thoughts, depression, insecurities, angst topics, fluff

Twilight characters x Y/N (Your/Name)

GO READ PART 1 first.. please lol

Jane -

Santiago was trying to flirt with you in the corridor and it was making you uncomfortable, with his hand on your waist and the other leaning on the wall. Jane felt how uncomfortable you were and came over telling him to leave, it was enough that he was even close to you. As soon as he rushed away you broke down in tears. She remembered her past and her crying and looked down for a moment before pulling you into a hug, which was extremely rare. She knew a tone about pain and knew how much you must have been feeling.

Alec -

You were nervous that your ability wouldn’t be enough to be in the Volturi. What if you did join and failed? These thoughts flew around your mind and Alec could sense your body language. He grabbed your hand to stop it from nervously shaking and gave you a comforting smile, lifting up his fingers and motioning for you to smile. Rubbing your back as Aro asked for you to reveal your powers to him, Caius and Marcus. After it went well he pulled you out of the room and kissed your forehead.

Demetri -

He froze up when he saw you in the empty thrown room, sitting upon the stairs, tears falling down your cheeks. Eventually after peaking around he walked over to you and beside you, noticing the picture in your hands. He ignored it and looked you in the eyes, asking what was on your mind. You told him you hated being a vampire, you used to be normal, have beautiful eyes, now you’re different and a vampire. He noticed the picture was of you when you motioned it and he took it, looking at it and ripping it in half and shaking his head.

~”She was beautiful but she isn’t the girl I love. I like this.” He said while cupping your face and smiling

Felix -

You got into a fight with Demetri and stood beside Felix as you yelled at him. He was being stubborn and rude and you were just not in the mood and snapped at him, you wanted to run forward and throw fists but Felix’s large arm wrapped around your waist and pulled you back into his chest. You realised it wasn’t worth it and just started crying, you turned around and cried on his chest as he shook his head at Demetri and told him to leave the room. Comforting you in a quiet way as he’s not very good with such topics.

Benjamin -

While everyone was enjoying the camp fire before the possible fight you had disappeared which caught his attention. He followed you off to a secluded area and noticed you sit down on a rock and fiddle with the snow. He noticed the tears building up and walked over to you, asking if you were alright, which you replied with by telling him you were scared. He nodded in agreement and hugged you, your head laying on his stomach considering he was standing and you were not.

~”I won’t let anyone touch a single hair on your body. I promise you that Sweetheart.”

Caius -

Everyone had left for the time being so you entered the thrown room believing you were alone to lean on the double doors, letting your emotions out as you cry. Obvious to the familiar vampire sitting on his thrown in thought on how to react to you. He eventually got up and walked down the steps towards you, you heard his black shoes tapping on the ground and nervously looked down knowing you were caught. He lifted up your chin to make you look at him and he ordered you to tell him what was upsetting his “princess/prince” as he called you.

Sam -

As he walked along the beach to find you, he wasn’t expecting the sight he saw. You were cut and just sitting there crying. He ran over to you and asked what happened when you told him how you had got into a fight with Leah he got angry. He wanted to tell her off but seen how badly injured you were. He felt angry but kept it in and carried you back to his place and laid you on his bed, doing everything in his power to make sure you’re alright, even if that means he has to ring the vampire (Carlisle) over to help you. He would do anything to make sure you’re okay and happy.

Paul -

Paul could sense the pain in your chest and could see how sad you were recently. How much you had been stressed with final exams. He has heard you crying in the bathroom of Sam’s house when he was there and felt sick to his core, as soon as you came out he grabbed your waist and pulled you into a hug, kissing the top of your head, rubbing your back and reminding you of how strong and talented you are. He was a softie for you and didn’t care otherwise.

Embry -

He spotted you looking down during classes, disappearing to the bathroom often, not wanting to go out anymore, the way you hide your body. He knew what was up but was obviously scared on how to approach the situation. But after talking to Sam he finally followed behind you into the woods and hugged you from behind. He took you somewhere only he knew about and once you were sitting against a tree together did he hold your hand and ask about how you felt, listening intensely as you spoke about your problems, kissing your insecurities and loving every part of you.

Jared -

He would be slightly oblivious to your feelings until he saw you not eating. It worried him and when he noticed the guys putting food in your face and forcing you to try and eat, he could see the tears in your eyes. Dragging you out of the house and sitting outside under shade so you don’t get wet from the rain, he sat with you and gave you a muffin.

~”You don’t have to eat anything if you can’t. If you even eat some of that I’ll be extremely proud of you doll. But never feel forced” he smiled sweetly

[peakyswritings]

Meet the Ferrante Family

It’s incredible that in less than two weeks it’ll be a year has passed since I posted the first chapter of Heart, Body and Soul. Thank you so much for those who have stuck with me despite the slow updates🤍

Finally, I made a post with the face claims I found for the Ferrante family (although Nina doesn’t have one yet). Are most of them from the Godfather movies? Yes. Do I regret it? No. And note that a great number of aunts, uncles and cousins are missing, but I decided not to introduce them since they are not relevant to the story.

Nina Ferrante is the OC from my ongoing Tommy Shelby x OC series Heart, Body and Soul.

NINA’S FAMILY

Vincenzo and Maria Ferrante

Pietro, Salvatore and Nina’s parents

Vincenzo Ferrante: he runs the Italian side of the business. He’s the oldest brother (older generation). Despite being a very traditional man, he has a soft spot for his daughter that leads him to give her a bit more freedom. In fact, Nina’s the only girl in her family who was allowed to finish school.

Maria Ferrante: she’s a conservative woman, very religious and apparently meek.

Her mother had spent her whole life convinced that all she was born to do was to take care of someone else, without ever being able to make a single decision for herself, or voice her thoughts, and that conviction was too deeply rooted inside her to be eradicated. (Excerpt from CH.6)

However, there’s more to her than she lets on.

Pietro and Salvatore Ferrante

Pietro Ferrante (on the left): he’s the oldest of the Ferrante siblings, and he’s expected to become the head of the Italian side of the family business after his father. He fought in the war and almost lost an arm in combat, and sometimes it still hurts. After the war, he built walls around him.

Pietro, the older one, had almost lost an arm in combat, and even though two years had passed, sometimes it still hurt. But in exchange for the arm, the war took something else away from him. There seemed to be nothing left of his once caring nature, and his innate attention for details had turned into a urge to have everything under control. (Excerpt from CH.5)

Salvatore Ferrante (on the right): he’s the middle child. He fought in the war and returned with a deep scar on his face.

As for Salvatore, the war had enhanced the restlessness that had always distinguished him. He was angry, easily triggered, spiteful. And now he had a deep scar which crossed the left side of his face, making his expression appear even more grim. (Excerpt from CH.5)

Nina Ferrante

Nina Ferrante: she’s the youngest child and only daughter. Her fiery nature and unusual views make her a bit of an outcast in her family. She’s believed to be a witch by many of her cousins and other girls from the village. She rather enjoys the rumours.

There was nothing soft about Nina. She was all sharp edges and searing looks. […] She was outspoken, and defensive, and angry. Angry at her family, whose judgmental stare burned on her skin. Angry at her mother, who had wanted her different since the moment she had drawn her first breath. Angry at her father, who still treated her like a little girl who knew nothing of the word. Angry at Tommy Shelby, who thought he could just barge in and state some claim over one of them. (Excerpt from CH.2)

However, behind the mask, she’s extremely sensitive, and feels everything deeply.

Winston

Winston: Nina found him when he was just a kitten, and took him in without a second thought. He’s a little shit, just like his owner.

AGNESE’S FAMILY

Mario and Rita Ferrante

Agnese, Rosa and Sofia’s parents

Mario Ferrante: he’s the youngest among the Ferrante brothers (older generation) and runs the Italian side of the business alongside Vincenzo.

Rita Ferrante: she’s Agnese’s mother, and has a love-hate relationship with Maria Ferrante. They care about each other in their own way, but are stuck in an endless competition.

Agnese Ferrante

Agnese Ferrante: she’s Nina’s cousin, and the one Tommy is expected to marry. She’s considered the most beautiful girl in the village, she’s soft and kind and probably the only one of Nina’s cousins who doesn’t ostracise her. Being the oldest child, she feels responsible for her sisters. She knows she needs to get married, cause she has no brothers and if something were to happen to her father, which is likely, considering the family’s line of work, they’d have no protection. Of course their uncles would take care of them, but it wouldn’t be the same.

Rosa and Sofia Ferrante

Rosa Ferrante (on the left): she’s the middle child.

Sofia Ferrante (on the right): she’s the youngest child.

OTHERS

Antonio Ferrante

Antonio Ferrante: he’s the middle child of the Ferrante brothers (older generation) and runs the English side of the business. He has two sons, Alfredo (the oldest) and Angelo (the youngest), who are expected to run the English side of the business after their father. Their mother passed during childbirth. No face claims for them yet.

THE SPINIETTA FAMILY

The Spinietta family is another Mafia family who operates both in Sicily and New York. There’s a delicate balance of power among the Spinietta family and the Ferrante family, and they’re struggling to keep the peace. Spinietta has two sons: Vito (the oldest) and Stefano (the youngest). They didn’t fight in the war thanks to their father.

They walked around as if they owned every street, every shop, every person; as if everything was owed to them, because they had money and power. (Except from CH.5)

Stefano Spinietta

Behind the courtesy and the charm, Stefano is actually a monster. He has been obsessed with Nina for years, and recently started pressuring her father into arranging a marriage between them.

Stefano Spinietta was a disgusting person. He was the son of one of her father’s business partners, the boss of another mafia family, which operated both in Sicily and in New York. In the last few years, Stefano had been very clear about his intentions towards Nina, and he had taken too many liberties with her, to the point where she had found herself in the position of putting a knife to his throat. But the threat didn’t have the intended effect; if anything, it only made him more relentless. (Excerpt from CH.3)

Stefano still has a scar on his neck from that episode with Nina.

-

Heart, Body and Soul taglist

@zablife @queenofshinigamis @raincoffeeandfandoms / @justrainandcoffee @call-sign-shark

@kmc1989 @babayaga67 @kmhappybunny240 @diorrfairy @mariaelizabeth21-blog1

@gaslysainz @brummiereader @loverhymeswith @fairypitou @prettywhenicry4

@mysticalbouquetwolf-posts @woofgocows @girlwith-thepearlearring @goblinjnr @outlanderuniverse

@citylights31 @neonpurplestars89-blog @red-riding-wood @evita-shelby

@look-at-the-soul

General tag list:

@iamngoclinh08 @lilywinchesterlove @fandom-puff @capitanostella @caelys

@lucillethings @peakyxtommy @queenofkings1212 @lyarr24 @kmc1989

@call-sign-shark @jomarch-wannabe @ce1iat

@red-riding-wood @optimisticsandwichgladiator

Tommy Shelby taglist:

@50svibes

[toournextadventure]

everyone but her pt.20

Summary: Grief comes in many different forms and stages. You're stuck on anger, and Wednesday accompanies you to the funeral. But she says something wrong, with the best of intentions, and you end up doing something that will change your family dynamic for the worse.

Word Count: 7.7k Warnings: grief, child abuse, self neglect (not eating, recklessness, not taking care of self, excessive drinking), extreme anger, flashbacks (mentions of car accident, injuries, illusions to criminal activity), swearing, violence, smoking Pairing: Wednesday Addams x Reader (everyone but her Masterlist) Taglist: @extinctspino @basichextechml @cfvgbhndun-new-blog @jinxscatbomb @awolfcsworld @suzhiman @gengen64 @eclipsesmoonshine14 @alexkolax @thenextdawn @cacciatricediartemide @cozwaenot @the-night-owl-blr @natashasapphic @parkersmyth @alilbitlesbian @irish-piece-of-trash @rainbow-love4ever @audigay @bakugounuggets @myfturn @rockwyn @bigbadsofty07 @andsoigotabutterfly @captainbeat @smromanoff

Everyone says grief comes in five stages; denial, anger, bargaining, depression, and acceptance. But you disagree. It’s not five stages, it’s one. Only one stage that washes over you like a wave and holds you under until you’re drowning. You’re drowning and watching everyone on the surface live their lives as if you aren’t just right underneath them, choking on the salty sea water as you scream for help.

It’s only one stage; agony.

The house was bigger than you remembered when you got home far too early in the morning. The barristers were cleaner, the kitchen was far more pristine, and it was quiet. It was far too quiet, and your hands started to go clammy at the revelation. There wasn’t even any comfort in the ticking of the grandfather clock in the foyer. Tick-tocks burned themselves into your brain until it was stabbing into your head like a knife.

You started humming a tuneless song. It eased the pain slightly.

"Don't hum, dear," your mother said as she took her gloves off and handed them to your maid and previous nanny, Mabel. "It's childish."

Your humming died off and the silence came back.

"Mabel will show you to your room,” your father said, resting his hand on your shoulder and giving it a comforting squeeze. For a moment, things almost seemed okay. “We will mourn tomorrow, then start the preparations.”

And just like that everything came crashing down once again. Paired perfectly with the migraine that still refused to settle.

“Oh, Y/N,” your father called out before you managed to get more than three steps up.

You turned around slowly, each joint still aching from the fall earlier in the night. Was it that same night? It felt so long ago. Nothing felt like you had been on a carnival date earlier in the night, that you had been having fun with Wednesday and the gang less than eight hours ago. Or was it longer than that? Did it even matter anymore?

“Your principal wanted you to have your phone back,” he continued when you stayed silent. He smiled softly down at the phone in his hands before looking up and handing it back. “Your conversations are a bit concerning,” he said when your fingers brushed his to take it back. “I installed a program to track your activity.” You blinked once. “For your well-being.”

For my well-being. Right. Of course.

“You have a few unread messages,” your father called after you as you turned to walk back up the stairs. “You should let them know everything is alright.”

Be angry, a voice in the back of your head growled when Mabel continued to guide you through the now-unfamiliar corridors. It was a familiar voice, one that hadn’t reared its head in months, but you couldn’t quite place it. He went through your phone, so you need to get angry. No. No, you wouldn’t get angry. Why not? Your jaw clenched painfully. Nicky wouldn’t have gotten angry.

“Y/N.”

You stopped in the doorway of the room - your room - and looked sideways at Mabel. She looked older, more worn. Maybe it was just from working for your parents for so long. How was her son? Had he graduated college yet? He had wanted to be an engineer, if you remembered right. Why did she look so sad?

“I am truly sorry,” she said softly. “I cannot imagine your grief.”

No. No, she couldn’t imagine your grief. She couldn’t imagine what it was like to see him not even a week earlier, alive, and not knowing it would be the last time you saw him. She couldn’t fucking imagine what it was like and no one could fucking imagine what it was like.

The migraine throbbed again and you squeezed your eyes shut to try and ease it.

“The headaches will stop in time,” she said. Your eyes flew open. “They always have.”

“What?”

Mabel tilted her head and a crinkle formed between her eyes.

“Your headaches,” she said, her finger lifting to tap lightly against your left temple. “They always got worse when Nicky stopped suppressing.”

“Suppressing?”

Her sorrowful smile slipped into a frown.

"Yes," she said softly, "don't you remember?"

No.

"Well, I suppose that would defeat the point," she chuckled lightly. "He could suppress memories," she explained softly, gently, agonisingly. "He always chose the bad ones, of course." 

No. 

"I myself got a slight headache when he passed."

No.

"It's how I knew he was truly gone."

No!

"Y/N?"

You shoved past Mabel, forcing her back into the hall. The stairs passed under you four at a time until you were on the ground floor.

"Darling?-"

"-Where are you going?-"

"-It's 4 in the morning-"

"-Get back in the house."

Your parents' calls fell on deaf ears as you threw the front door open and stormed outside. Your feet picked up speed as you walked down the endless driveway. The moment they hit the pavement you broke out into a jog, then a sprint. Your shoes hit the pavement of the road in a steady rhythm.

"You really wanna know?" Nicky asked after taking another one of your chess pieces.

"You promised you would tell me," you said with a frown.

"How about I make it your graduation present," he teased. "Give you something to look forward to."

"Deal," you said with a smile. He knocked your king off the board.

The excessively large houses blurred as you ran down the street. Motion lights turned on and guard dogs barked when you passed by.

"That was the year they left us to fend for ourselves for the week," Nicky laughed with Yoko.

"I don't remember that," you said with a slight frown.

"You were, uh, too young," Nicky said with a smile and a pat on your back. "Not worth remembering anyway."

The houses thinned and were quickly replaced with trees. Your feet stumbled as pavement turned into dirt. Icy air froze your tired lungs, leaving a sensation of needles in your chest.

You pushed your feet faster.

"Nicky, I'm tired," you whined after tripping over your own feet again.

"Just a few more hours," he said. His shirt had finally dried and looked stiff. “Then we’ll be back at Nevermore.”

"You said that a few hours ago," you complained. "My skin is itchy."

"We'll wash it off later," he said. He wasn't even looking at you.

"Are they gonna find us?" You asked as you did a little jog to catch up to him and hold his hand.

"No," he said without hesitation. The dried blood was starting to flake off his forehead. The cut on his nose looked angry.

"Is this gonna give me bad dreams?" You asked in a small voice. He stopped in his tracks and picked you up, letting you crawl onto his back.

"Of course not," he said softly. "You won't even remember it."

The forest flew by. Each twig and branch that whipped across your face made you feel more and more alive. It was a feeling, and you needed a feeling. Anything, everything, whatever you could get.

Everything hurt. Oh god, it hurt so bad and you couldn’t scream.

“Hang on, kid, we’ve gotta get the door.”

“Where’s Nicky?” You asked. Your tongue felt heavy, like lead.

“Gotta get you first,” a man’s voice said. “Stay still.”

“Nicky?” You slurred; the words tasted of copper.

Your eyes fell to the top of the car that was now underneath you. It was covered in something shiny. Something red.

Your lungs couldn’t take it anymore. They couldn’t take the cold, couldn’t take the exertion, the stress, none of it. And it felt. You could feel them. The more you ran, the more it hurt and soon you could focus on the pain in your side instead of the pain in your head.

Memory suppression.

There was no thought about stopping, your feet just slowed their movements until you collapsed to your knees on the cold, damp forest floor. You felt the end of a stick dig into your hand, splitting the skin. The blood was warm; it was comforting. Each gasping breath felt like you were inhaling shards of glass, each one more painful than the last.

And it felt.

“I feel angry,” you said as you sat at the top of the wall and watched Nicky continue to climb.

“You always feel angry,” he grunted. He was stuck. As usual.

“I don’t know why,” you sighed. “I can’t think of anything that would make me angry.”

“It’ll go away,” he said as his face finally pulled up and you could look him in the eyes. “Good kids don’t stay angry.”

“Am I a good kid?” You asked softly. He smiled.

“The best.”

You let out the most feral, unhinged, excruciating scream you could possibly produce. It hurt your throat and left it feeling raw.

But it felt.

The sun had started to rise before you could get up from your position on the ground. Your knees were stiff and soaked to the bone and the stick in your hand had broken off. It would leave a splinter that would need to be dug out. There was a lingering ache in your throat and lungs and that migraine still wouldn’t go away. And when you started walking mindlessly back to the house, you could feel blisters on your feet and heels; a few of them even popped.

But at least it felt.

“What the hell do you think you’re doing?-”

“-We were about to call the police-”

“-You look like a stray dog-”

“-We just cleaned the entry-”

“-Where do you think you’re going?”

You couldn’t recall getting home. But you continued walking through the house as your parents called after you, practically dragging yourself up the stairs until you made it into your room. The door fell shut and the lock clicked into place and all you could do was fall back to your knees.

The cold wooden floor didn’t feel so bad. At least it felt.

—---

You wished you were numb again.

The day of mourning came and went, each second testing your patience and wearing you thin. You hadn’t slept, hadn’t showered, hadn’t even gotten up from your spot on the floor. You could hear your phone vibrating on the wood, almost loud enough to wake the dead. Maybe it would wake Nicky, you thought before finally checking it to make it stop.

Not even noon and you had 17 missed calls, 72 texts, and a plethora of messages from the vast array of other social media outlets. A large number were from Yoko, then Ajax, the rest of the group, and your family back home. Two or three calls from Momma Weems and your family. But your eyes started to sting when you saw the name for two messages.

Nicky.

You clicked on them immediately, desperately hoping to see what he had said. Something in the back of your head was screaming at you not to open them, not to get your hopes up. Your eyes trailed over the messages, reading them once, twice, three times before it finally clicked.

It wasn’t Nicky.

You had given Wednesday his phone.

You hadn’t ever changed the name.

Nicky: Thing wishes to know if you’ve made it back safe.

Nicky: I wish to know as well.

Fuck. Now you were making Wednesday feel things too? Why would she even care anyway.  It wasn’t like she loved you anyway, wasn’t like she even really cared. You knew she didn’t do love, she had said it to her mother time and time again. Why would she care if you were safe.

Didn’t she know Nicky was the one who needed the attention?

You growled at nothing in particular before throwing your phone across the room, hearing the screen shatter when it hit the wall. The sound made you flinch and you instantly felt that guilty feeling deep in the pit of your stomach. It vibrated again.

You didn’t check it.

—---

“You need to eat something before you go,” Mabel urged you once again as you finished buttoning up your shirt.

“‘m not hungry,” you mumbled. Your fingers faltered on the buttons; it wasn’t fitting like it was supposed to.

“You haven’t eaten in five days,” she said in a far softer voice. It was humiliating.

“Too busy planning,” you said, finally deciding to give up and instead throwing a jacket over the crooked, too-big shirt. “I’ll eat when I’m dead.”

“That’s not funny.”

“I’m not laughing.”

You moved past Mabel and went down the stairs to meet up with your parents. It was the day to finalise plans; something that you knew was going to cause argument after argument. There had already been too many screaming matches the past few days, none of which ever came to a definitive conclusion.

Maybe today would be different.

“That jacket is unprofessional,” your mother said with a slight frown.

“The shirt doesn’t fit,” you said without looking up at her. Your fingers toyed with the shattered phone in your pocket.

“We will have it tailored,” your mother sighed, “again.”

“We will discuss it later,” your father said as he ushered everyone to the car. “We need to get going so we won’t be late.”

You sat in the back with the both of them while Jenkins started the drive to the funeral home. With a thunk, your head hit the window and you looked out at the houses passing by. The harness was pulled painfully tight and your wings were already stiff, but you didn’t care. At least it felt, right?

The phone in your pocket vibrated, and you pulled it out slowly to look at the two new messages.

Yoko: You don’t have to answer me, but answer Wednesday. She’s losing her mind

Ash: just saw your pop in town. told me about nicky. im so sorry

You exhaled through your nose and slid the phone back into your pocket without answering. There was no time to answer anyone anyway, you had planning to do. Although you shouldn’t be, he was still the source of the migraine that refused to go away.

Memory suppression. Just the thought made you sick and your mouth feel like you had swallowed cotton. How could he do that? How could he just hide your memories from you? Your own memories. He had no fucking right, those were your memories, not his.

“We’re here.”

You pulled your head back from the window and blinked a few times, doing your best to hide the anger. As you uncurled your fists, you could feel your nails pulling out of the skin; you had left four perfect crescent shaped cuts on your palms. Thankfully your pants were black, and you wiped the slightest bit of blood off on the legs.

The next thing you remember is sitting in one of the chairs across from the funeral director. You couldn’t recall getting out of the car, or introducing yourself. Hopefully you had done well or you would get an earful once you left.

“Today you will select the casket and can order the headstone,” the funeral director said as he slid over a bunch of paper.

“Casket?” You asked, turning your head to look at your parents. “We never agreed on burial.”

“Your mother and I have made the executive decision,” your father said with a smile.

“Then make a different one,” you said with a slightly raised voice.

“I’ll give you three a moment,” the funeral director said with a professional smile. Everyone stayed silent as he grabbed a few things and left, shutting the door behind him.

“Do not question our decisions in front of strangers,” your father said, his polite smile falling immediately.

“He didn’t want to be buried,” you said. Your chest felt tight, like it was caught in vice grips.

“He shall be buried with the other Smiths,” your mother said while you chuckled humourlessly. You pushed your chair back and stood up, walking to the other side of the table and pacing.

“He said he didn’t want to be buried,” you argued; the migraine was back. “Said it creeped him out and he would rather be cremated.”

“We never heard him say such a thing,” your mother said with a sigh.

“Maybe because you were never there,” you scoffed before freezing in your tracks.

Instantly the atmosphere in the room changed from uneasiness to aggression. You could feel the hair on the back of your neck and arms stand up and your breath caught in your throat as you squeezed your eyes shut.

“I beg your pardon?”

Fuck.

“I’m sorry-”

“-We were never there?” Your father asked, louder this time. 

You could hear the chair scrape against the floor and you turned your body to face him. He looked furious and the migraine came back stronger than before. Almost like someone was pushing glass into each individual fold of your brain. You could feel your palms getting sweaty.

Fight back, the voice in your head said. He abandoned us. Fight. Back.

“You weren’t there,” you said with a shaky voice. Be confident. “You left us and didn’t come back.”

“Did you ever stop to ask yourself why we would even consider doing such a thing?” Your father asked.

“Let’s focus on the burial,” your mother cut in, “we can talk about this later.”

“It’s because you produced two freak kids,” you said, your voice stronger, more confident. Your father walked around the table to come closer. Keep fighting. “Could you imagine if that got out?” He looked furious. “If anyone discovered that the high and mighty Smith family had two Outcast kids that they hid away-”

-your head jerked to the right as the slap echoed in the otherwise silent room. Keep it together, you thought as your lower lip started to quiver. You held back the stinging in your eyes as you stood up taller and turned back around to face him. It was times like this where you wished you were smaller so you couldn’t look him in the eye.

“You will never say such a thing again,” he said as he jabbed a finger into your chest. “Do I make myself clear?”

Hit him back.

“Crystal,” you whispered through clenched teeth.

“He will be buried,” your father said with another jab. “That’s final.”

You could feel the persistent stinging of your cheek as you all sat down and the funeral director came back in. He didn’t comment. You didn’t prompt him to.

—---

Mabel had worked for the Smith family for 23 years, she knew when to hold her tongue. But when you all came back from the funeral home and she saw the new blooming bruise on your cheek, she felt a mix of anger and pity. She wouldn’t pretend you were the best at holding your tongue; you never had been. But your father also allowed you to push his buttons until he snapped.

She didn’t have to ask to know that was exactly what happened.

The days leading up to the funeral reminded her an awful lot of when you were younger, with the obvious differences. You were still reckless, almost even careless. Accidentally breaking things, roaming around the house without direction, doing anything and everything your heart desired without seeking permission or forgiveness.

There were times when she would be cleaning and would hear the sound of the grand piano lingering in the air, and she would sneak around the corner to watch you. Back ramrod straight, slender fingers poised perfectly over the keys, face completely neutral as you read the music on the stand. It was beautiful to hear you play again, and the occasional jazz tune that would sound when you were certain your mother wasn’t around was all the more enjoyable because of the slightest smile on your face.

Other times Mabel would catch you leaving the house without warning, not coming back until late in the night with dazed eyes and dried tear tracks on your cheeks. Those were the nights she would gently take you by the shoulders and guide you back up to your room. You did nothing to assist her as she cleaned you up and dressed you in something comfortable so she could put you to bed.

She did her best to ignore each and every new bruise or scratch or scar.

It was impossible to get you to eat. You dropped weight faster than she could keep track of, and no matter how many meals she left in your room, they always went untouched. She tried to keep small snacks like protein bars in your room in the hopes that you would eat them, but she had no way to tell if you did or not.

On evenings where guests would come over and you would be “encouraged” to socialise, she took note of the amount of drinks you would have each evening. It was always far too many, and she and Jenkins would end up carrying you back up to your bed before everyone had left for the night. You would always accept your scolding with a grimace and two Tylenol the next morning and go about your day.

You would pick fights with your parents. Never over anything important, always little things and they were starting to pick up on that as well. At first they had fought back, getting into screaming matches with you and sending you off to your room. But then you tried to start fights over the silverware, or the way your shoes fit, or even how bright the lights were in the room. It didn’t take long for your parents to stop arguing back and just ignore you.

Mabel noticed that almost made you more angry.

Other times, your parents would nit pick at you as well. Over your hair, or the style of clothing you wore. If you had worn the same shirt twice or tracked mud into the house. Your speech quickly became more "professional" and you selected your words carefully in an effort to retaliate. It was far less outwardly destructive, but Mabel could still see the damage it inflicted reflect in your eyes.

But through all of your anger and self destruction and attempts to grab anyone’s attention, you always treated her and Jenkins with the utmost kindness and respect. That was what reminded her of when you were young. It was in the gentle “thank yous” or the soft smiles when she would hand you something. The questions about her son, or about Jenkins’ wife and cats, or any of the neighbours.

She knew you were a good kid. She knew, and Jenkins knew, and that was probably what hurt them the most through it all. You were a good kid with no one to truly lean on and no one to help guide you through this loss. And they knew it was just going to build and build and build inside you until it exploded.

The day before the funeral was the day you would see Nicky for the last time, and Mabel could see the fear and anger in your eyes. She and Jenkins had fully prepared themselves for your mental state when you got back, but even they couldn’t have prepared themselves fully.

You came into the house dazed, not hearing a single thing your parents were saying. But then it was like a switch had been flipped and you clenched your jaw before making a snide remark back to your mother. It didn’t take long to turn into a screaming match, and Mabel and Jenkins watched in horror as you balled up your fist and swung at your father.

The fear in his own eyes was evident even though your fist connected with the brick wall beside him; whether on purpose or not, you had missed him completely. Tears fell from your eyes and you screamed again as your father pulled you into a hug. Mabel watched helplessly as you tried to push him away before finally giving in and crying into his shoulder.

You held onto him like your life depended on it as your blood dripped down the pristine, white walls of the house.

“Your tie is crooked,” Mabel told you on the morning of the funeral. You had been struggling to get ready for over an hour, and no amount of makeup could hide the bags under your eyes or the lingering bruise on your cheek.

“So are these fucking buttons,” you mumbled as you ripped your dress shirt open to start over. She could feel you getting angry again. It was probably from the lack of sleep.

Or lack of food.

Or lack of help in general.

“Stay still,” Mabel huffed, setting the laundry basket down on your bed and standing in front of you.

You sighed, but remained still as she got to work on your shirt. It had been tailored only a few days before and still seemed a bit big again; it broke her heart. But she did her best to ignore it and focused on buttoning up your shirt properly. Your violent treatment had loosened two or three buttons, but she certainly wasn’t going to bring that up to you.

“How have your school ties survived this long if you can’t do them yourself?” She asked, her eyes darting up to meet yours. She almost thought you smiled.

“Wednesday always fixes them for me,” you said. You didn’t look down, but that was alright, she was focused on your tie anyway.

“You like this girl?” She asked softly. If your parents heard, they would have started screaming.

“A lot,” you answered just as softly. “I think I love her.”

“That’s a big emotion for you,” she said not unkindly.

“I hope I don’t fuck it up,” you whispered.

“You won’t,” she said with a smile as she patted your tie down. “You’re all set.”

You turned to look up at the mirror, eyes squinting and your jaw clenching before you relaxed. Mabel kept her smile to herself; she didn’t want to unintentionally encourage you to fight the reflection. You stood up straight and pressed your tie flat once again before slipping the suit jacket on.

“Thank you, Mabel,” you said softly, and you quickly leaned down to kiss her on the cheek. Your lips were chapped, but it was expected.

“I’ll see you when you get home,” she said with a smile. You smiled back once, halfheartedly, before walking out of the room.

She really hoped your anger wouldn’t explode at the funeral.

—---

The whole car ride made Wednesday feel sick to her stomach. It had been a short flight down to D.C. and now she, Thing, Yoko, and Weems were finishing the trip with the short drive to the funeral. The rest of the gang had opted to stay at Nevermore for the time being; they didn't want to overwhelm you. The funeral was supposed to be outside, or so your mother had said, but it looked like rain. Usually perfect for such an occasion.

Just not this one.

She checked the phone again, hoping you had finally answered. It was a foolish hope, she knew that much, but it still resided in her chest. No one had heard anything from you since you had left the harvest festival, not even Yoko or your family. She shouldn’t have expected you to answer her of all people.

But she hoped you would have.

“We shall give her space,” Weems said once she pulled the car through the gates to the cemetery. It was connected to the reception hall, where everyone would go after the service.

It reminded Wednesday an awful lot of the cemetery back home.

“Except you, Addams,” Yoko said, drawing Wednesday out of her thoughts.

“Why me?” She asked.

“You give her peace,” Weems answered.

Well, that was comforting; surprising, Wednesday knew. To know that everyone else could see her effect on you; had they seen your effect on her? They probably had. Enid certainly had, and that was more than enough torture. But if they said she gave you peace, then who was she to argue.

Once the car was parked, everyone got out. Thing climbed onto her shoulder as she unfolded the umbrella. She waited patiently as Weems and Yoko got out as well, each holding their own umbrellas, before they started the short walk to the grave.

It seemed the rain had ruined the original funeral plans, seeing how no one was sitting anymore and the chairs were in the process of being removed. Wednesday and the small group stood off to the side and waited. They hadn’t exactly been invited, but who was going to stop them? Especially at a funeral.

You were one of the lead pallbearers, the one on the front left. Wednesday felt her heart drop into her stomach at the sight of you; dark eyes, clothes hanging off your smaller frame, your wings invisible beneath your suit jacket. But the worst part was you didn’t seem sad. No, you looked angry.

After lowering the casket back to the ground, you hesitated, your fingers running across the wood before you walked to stand near your parents. They tried to offer you an umbrella but you ignored them. You simply stood in the rain, looking down at Nicky’s casket as an old, unsteady man started talking.

Wednesday simply watched you the whole time. Watched the difference in your posture, your back straight and head up. She took note of the way you clasped your hands in front of you even though she could see the scabbed over skin pulled taut across your knuckles. She watched the muscles in your jaw tighten and relax, over and over and over as you blinked too many times to keep the tears at bay.

You were upset, rightfully so, but Wednesday couldn’t have found you more beautiful. Not because you were suffering, not because you were struggling, but because you were. You were handling everything so well, at least on the outside, and she couldn’t help but admire the way the rain fell down your face, caressing the skin in comfort.

Your family, you included, looked impeccable standing there together. Wednesday could only imagine how powerful all of you would have looked if the four of you had been together; you, Nicky, and your parents. Standing there in perfectly tailored suits, manicured to perfection, neutral expressions on your faces. Is that how you would have looked if you had stayed with them? Would she have had the same pull toward you?

She waited until the funeral itself was over before making her way to your side. Everyone else - including Thing - had gone inside to escape the rain and start the reception, but you didn’t move a muscle. Her shoulder brushed against your arm when she got close enough, and for a moment your shoulders fell and your jaw unclenched.

“I’m tired, Wends,” you said in such a quiet voice that Wednesday almost couldn’t hear you over the rain. “And I feel alone.”

Time to use the comfort teachings everyone had been helping her with for the past two weeks. They had drilled it into her head time and time again, through all hours of the day and night until she could recite it properly. It was robotic sounding, she knew that much, but it was a start. She hoped it would work.

“It’s okay to feel sad,” Wednesday said. You stiffened beside her. “But you are not alone.”

“Did Yoko teach you that?” You asked, immediately catching on. She should have known better.

“I-,” don’t lie, “-yes,” she admitted. “I’m not particularly adept at comfort.”

“I don’t want comfort,” you said, turning to look at her. The rain had finally started washing off the makeup from your face and she thought she could see something on your cheek. “I don’t want pity. I want you to be real with me.”

“Real?” Wednesday inquired with furrowed brows.

“Yes, Wednesday, real,” you huffed. “Be real with me and tell me what you’re thinking.”

Now that you had put her on the spot, she wasn’t sure what she was thinking. She was thinking of the now-obvious bruise on your cheek and where it had possibly come from. She was thinking of the bags under your eyes if you had been getting enough sleep, which clearly you hadn’t.

Part of her was thinking of her own parents, as unusual as it would be. How they had fallen in love at a funeral and had confessed their undying devotion to each other. Funerals had always been a romantic event for the Addams family, and she was aware this was for your brother, but she couldn’t deny she knew what her parents had meant every time they reminisced.

Oh. That’s what she was thinking.

“I am thinking…,” she paused, blinking at you twice, three times and looking away. You wanted real. She looked back up at you to meet your probing gaze. “I love you.”

Your brows knit together as you looked away from her for a moment.

“What?” You asked quietly.

“You asked what I was thinking,” Wednesday clarified slowly. “I was simply thinking that I-”

“-Don’t say it again,” you interrupted.

And right there, right then, Wednesday felt her cold dead heart break in her chest.

“You did not just say that,” you said with a huff. “Did you really just confess?”

“Yes,” Wednesday said indignantly. “It’s what I was thinking at the moment.”

“We’re at my brother’s funeral, Wednesday,” you said, far louder this time. “Do you really think this is the time?”

“You asked,” she said again. “Why would you ask if you didn’t want to know?”

“I can’t,” you said as you held your hands up and started backing up. “I just- I can’t do this right now.”

Wednesday let her umbrella fall as she watched you walk off toward the reception hall with hands on your head, covering your ears. She could feel the rain slowly seeping through her coat, but all she could really focus on was you. Only you, and how her father had been right.

Love was agony.

—---

You were going to be sick. You could feel it in your chest, your lungs, your stomach. Your mouth wouldn’t stop salivating and you were going to be sick. How could she say that? How could she tell you that now? Your palms were sweaty when you dragged them down your face, ignoring the makeup that you wiped off with it.

It should have been exciting to hear Wednesday say such a thing. She was capable of love, a genuine love, and had even felt so strongly as to verbally tell you as such. And it had been ruined because they had killed Nicky and now you couldn’t even enjoy the single fucking good thing in your life.

You felt sick.

Your parents were standing in the middle of the room, talking and laughing with some lawyer or congressman or senator or whoever the fuck else could put up with them long enough to talk. It was like they weren’t even upset, they weren’t even devastated that their son, their first born, was currently being buried six feet under. Didn’t they care?

You felt sick.

Weems, Yoko, and Thing were off to the side, talking with each other. They looked up, almost as if sensing your staring, and gave you sad smiles. They pity you, the voice in your head spat in disgust. You frowned at the thought and turned around, looking for someone, anyone to talk to. Hell, at that point you would’ve taken the old man off to the side that was giving you a look that made you rather uncomfortable.

Your eyes fell on a couple standing next to the fireplace, talking quietly with each other. Something about them seemed familiar, but you couldn’t quite place from where. But you stopped caring when you saw the subtle cloud of smoke fall from the taller one’s lips and you quickly made your way over.

“Mind if I steal a hit?” You asked when you got nearby. The taller one smiled sadly.

“Sure,” they said as they handed the vape over.

You grabbed it and brought it to your lips, inhaling deeply. It scalded your throat and stung your lungs as you held it in for far too long before slowly exhaling. You watched the smoke as it evaporated into the air, leaving nothing but a sickeningly sweet smell in its place.

“That’s disgusting,” you mumbled as you handed it back to them. The shorter one still hadn’t looked up from the hole they were staring into the ground.

“It’s marshmallow,” they chuckled.

“Like I said,” you said, “disgusting.”

“You’re Nicky’s sister,” they said with a half smile, avoiding your gaze by looking out at the crowd again.

“You’re a couple of strangers,” you said.

“I’m Casey,” they chuckled lightly, “and this is Devon.”

Devon finally looked up and eyed you up and down before looking back to the crowd with the slightest hint of a sneer. If you hadn’t spent so much time with Wednesday, you would’ve missed it. What could they possibly be sneering at you for? It was your brother’s funeral. You felt the muscles in your jaw tighten.

“He talked about you a lot,” Casey said softly.

“How would you know?” You asked way more harshly than necessary. Part of you didn’t care. Okay, none of you cared. “He hasn’t exactly done much talking recently.”

“The three of us were… close,” they said with a distracted nod.

“He was in a coma for four years,” you scoffed, “how close could you be.” You reached over and took the vape from their hand and brought it to your mouth for another hit.

“We were his partners.”

You choked on the smoke, leaving your throat raw and scratchy. Your head spun to look at Casey and Devon, eying them to see any sort of discrepancies in their body language. If Wednesday had taught you one thing, it was how to tell if someone was lying. Avoiding eye contact, licking their lips, anything.

There wasn’t a single sign.

He hadn’t told you he was dating anyone. Why hadn’t he told you? Surely he would have, you two told each other everything. He was your big brother, for fuck sake, he would have told you. Right?

Right?

“We loved him too,” Casey said softly; they still weren’t looking at you.

He lied. He fucking lied.

You looked out at the crowd and took another hit of the vape. Then another. And another. And a fourth one for good measure. It felt like your lungs were going to burn themselves to embers, but you didn’t care. At least it felt. After a fifth hit, you slipped it back into Casey’s hand and continued looking out at the crowd.

“I’m sorry,” you said softly, your voice now hoarse and deeper than usual.

“We’ll get through it,” they said. “He’ll get his justice.”

They know he deserves justice too, the voice in the back of your head said. You couldn’t argue with it. But what else could you say? It was too much and you had too many questions. Where had they met? How long had they known Nicky? How long had it been going on?

You felt sick.

You didn’t bother saying anything else to them before walking off, walking through a haze until you ended up with the group your parents were talking to. A few of them tried talking to you, giving their most insincere condolences before going back to their conversations.

It was disgusting. Watching them laugh and talk as if you weren’t standing at a funeral reception. As if you hadn’t been standing at Nicky’s literal graveside less than an hour ago. Heartless, the voice said, they killed him and are using it as an excuse to socialise. 

“I can’t recall what caused his condition,” one of the men said when there was a lull in the conversation.

“A car wreck,” your father said with a few mindless nods of his head.

“That’s tragic,” a woman said. “Drunk driver?”

“An Outcast, actually,” your father answered.

Wait.

“What did you say?” You asked, drawing everyone’s attention.

You felt something tug on your pants, and your eyes darted down for just long enough to see Thing. He was wearing a little black bowtie around one of his fingers. But you weren’t focusing on him; you were too busy thinking about what your father had said.

“I said an Outcast caused the wreck that killed my son,” your father continued. His back straightened as he kept eye contact with you.

“Abominations, the lot of them,” a man huffed before taking another drink of the wine in his glass.

Thing pulled at your pants leg again. You kicked him away, listened to the subtle sound of him scuttling across the floor. Thankfully no one else had noticed him.

“An Outcast didn’t kill him,” you bit back. “You two were the ones that pulled his life support.”

The group around you fell silent, now beyond interested in the conversation. Any chance to get a good helping of gossip, of course. That was how all socialites worked, especially when another socialite was involved. In this case it was your parents; they were going to be the talk of the town for a year.

“No son of mine should have to exist as a vegetable simply because we couldn’t be merciful,” your mother said. “Especially because of some sinful abomination.”

“Stop calling them abominations,” you growled through clenched teeth.

Your fingers were starting to ache as they curled into fists at your side. Your pulse was rushing in your ear and for a moment, you felt your chest was going to explode. That your heart would beat faster and faster, harder and harder until it finally broke free.

You took a single step closer.

“If it were up to me, I’d have them all euthanised,” your father said as he smiled at you with his “show everyone we’re perfect” smile. You took another step forward until you were almost directly in front of him. “The world would be a much better place.”

The sounds of the world muffled in your ears, and all you could hear was the sound of your own breathing. Erratic, shallow, rushed. Something dripped down your neck and your jaw felt like it was going to crack under the pressure. That migraine came roaring back as you stared into your father’s eyes.

Do it.

Your fist connected with his nose before you could even comprehend what was happening. The people around you gasped and stepped back as your father fell to the ground. One of his hands attempted to stop the flow of blood while he held the other out in front of him.

But you saw red.

You knelt down on top of him, only one thing on your mind as you grabbed his shirt collar. He almost looked remorseful for a moment. But only for a moment. Again. You tightened your grip on his collar as you swung again. And again. And again.

Harder.

You could hear Nicky in the back of your head, screaming and pounding against the inside of your skull. Telling you to stop, begging you to let your father go. Each time Nicky pounded against your skull, you threw another punch. And another. Something wet slid down your cheeks and you couldn’t stop.

Something wrapped around your waist and yanked you back. Hard. The wind flew out of your lungs and you instantly grabbed onto the arms around you. You tried to pull them off but your hands were slick and you couldn’t get a good hold. You were stuck.

“Y/N, stop,” the voice said into your ear. Weems?

“Say it again,” you shouted at your father who was frozen on the ground, bruised eyes focused on you. “Say it again, you fucking coward.”

“Breathe,” another voice said before someone stepped in front of you. Yoko?

“You're defending the group that killed your brother,” your mother said as she knelt down to look at your father’s injuries. He was wheezing and covered in blood. "You should do this to them instead."

You tried to lunge forward again, and the arms around your waist almost gave out. You threw a leg out, hoping to kick him while he was down. Just one more. But the arms around your waist tightened again, and Yoko grabbed your flailing feet until you were being carried out of the room.

“Don’t you fucking touch them,” you shouted as you continued attempting to fight and Weems and Yoko struggled to carry you. “I’ll fucking kill you next time.”

You felt sick.

The cold air and rain hit you like a brick wall when you were finally outside. The arms and hands holding you back let go and you fell onto the ground as you stared at the now-closed doors of the reception hall. Your frantic breathing was the only thing you could hear.

“Breathe.”

Another face came into view, and almost instantly your breath caught in your throat. Wednesday’s eyes were wide and focused on your face. They were bloodshot; why were they bloodshot? Her hands were poised to touch you, to check you for injuries, but the moment you felt her hand on your arm you flinched.

You saw red. Only red. You wanted to hurt something. Someone. You didn’t give a fuck who it was, you just wanted to make someone else hurt the way you were hurting. To swing at whoever was closest.

“Don’t fucking touch me,” you said as you crawled back across the ground. Wednesday immediately let go.

I don’t want to hurt you, you thought as you pushed yourself up to your feet until you could start stumbling away. Shaky fingers unbuttoned your jacket and ripped the buttons off your shirt until you could reach the harness. They were calling after you; you didn’t know what they were saying. The harness hit the ground and the moment your wings unfurled, you jumped into the air.

You had nearly hurt Wednesday.

You felt sick.

[tomiokagiyustiddies]

I've seen a lot of people criticize their writing but in all honesty, the Shinazugawa brothers are an amazingly written personification of the effects of abuse on a child and their worldviews.

TW: Vague mentions of abuse, Terrible writing

Both Sanemi and Genya grew up in an extremely abusive household where their mother -who was also a victim in all this, not at all am I saying shes in the wrong here- probably tried to cope by repeating to them and herself that Kyogo was only doing that out of “tough love”, that he “wasn’t himself like that”, that he loved them but “couldn't show it right” so the boys took that as something that was normal. They were never exposed to anything different because their mother was just as much of a victim as they were. To them, “Tough Love” was just “Love” and it shows in how they talk about one another in canon. While Sanemi cares deeply for Genya and thinks he's showing it in the best way he possibly can, to outsiders who didn't grow up like them -Like Tanjiro- it's seen as insane and Abusive behavior. Despite the fact that on multiple occasions Sanemi has attacked Genya, Genya will still defend him while saying his brother is kind, caring, and loving because to the both of them that's what care looks like in their eyes. To them “care” is hitting, throwing punches, attacking. Genya still holds Sanemi in high regard because he probably did this in childhood, he most likely would punch or hit their siblings playfully as a form of scolding. The reason Tanjiro is the only one to ever truly step in on what's happening is because Tanjiro is the only one where this wasn't the daily “norm” in his life, his family was loving and would've never imagined a single punch or slap being thrown at one another so seeing seeing something like that happen between the Shinazugawa brothers, knowing that Genya adored Sanemi made Tanjiro mad. The Hashira might have never stepped in because they weren’t aware but the only one who would have even tried if they had been would've been Mitsuri as that also isn't her “norm” since she also comes from a kind and loving family whereas the other Hashira either had no family, only knowing the world of demons, or had just as horrible families as the Shinazugawas.

To the Shinazugawa brothers, they are repeating the only form of love they were ever shown, Sanemi is showing his own weird way of “Care” for Genya by attacking and “punishing” as that's all he has ever learned was familial “Care”, Genya still sees his brother as kind, gentle, and “caring” because, again, that is all they've ever known. They aren’t perfect victims, they realize what was happening to them was wrong, that they hated it but they still resort to what they know best when at their worst or most emotional states. They are a well written symbolism that even when a victim knows they hated that and it's wrong, they don't know anything different, there wasn't any other form of love or care other than abuse in their life outside of another victim who was experiencing the exact same thing, another victim who couldn't leave just as much as they couldn't. Their misunderstanding wasnt from one thinking the other no longer loved them but that one couldn't forgive the other for what they said or did. They never questioned if they loved each other but if they could forgive each other.

Abuse victims can't always stop the cycle, the cycle might repeat because that's all a victim ever learned with no other example until the world around them tells them that the cycle is repeating, that they are becoming what they hated in the guise of normalcy. No victim is perfect, a victim of abuse being angry is understandable. Sanemis anger would be understandable if it was because of the abuse but it isn't until after he loses Genya, his anger is originally because when his little brother needed him most, he ran away and pretended Genya didn't exist because he believed Genya would be happier that way. In saying Genya isn't his brother he's also saying he isn’t worthy of being Genya’s brother in turn, He wasn't the “perfect victim” and no matter how he tried, he didn't stop the cycle in the end. After he loses Genya he’s angry he repeated the cycle, that he was a spitting image of his father’s actions towards Genya while he was alive.

I love them dearly and I adore their writing so much as a person who experienced a form of abuse, who almost repeated the cycle because it was how we “showed love”. I love the fact that they are treated as actual victims who have trauma in realistic ways and not just a writer's idea of “perfect victim”, they are inherently flawed because of their trauma.

I haven't written in a while so sorry it's repetitive!

[generalluxun]

Chloe goes back in time AU in terms of enemies, who does chloe see as her worst enemies an people she despises the most, I go in the order of her parents, ladybug, hawkmoth, later adrien and Sabrina and then rest.

For why her parents first, well she built herself after them in terms of looks, mannerism and personality all her life out of the believe they genuinely love her and treasure her, only to realize that they despise her and believe her a waste of time only useful for an ego boost.

Ladybug and hawkmoth for different reasons, the first one who I can guarantee chloe truly admired in her life outside her parents and who broke her heart and made her feel used, the second one who well just use as his personal attack dog all time wether she want it or not.

Adrien and Sabrina, I get she would think of them as false friends who stuck with her for lack of options and always despise her, but never actually voiced.

The rest of the people in are more in her mind back room noise at best ignored.

Special mention goes to Zoe who just like her parents convinced for a while that they were family and like adrien and Sabrina only stood by her side out of lack of options.

Different people have different reactions. Ranking isn't quite easy though some more intense than others. (These are all Chloe's opinions, not objective truths)

Her Father- The ultimate betrayal. He was her parent for most of her life. most of what she knows, she learned from him. He abused his power, so she abused his power. She did everything 'right' and it failed her. As soon as Zoe showed up he replaced her, up to and including banishing her. Her contempt for him was mimickry of her mother before, now it is genuine.

Her Mother- Her mother doesn't love her and is cruel to her. Chloe tried to be everything her mother wanted and it wasn't enough. Chloe is more sad than angry at her mother, but since sadness turns to anger with her often, it's angry too.

Zoe- Zoe cheated and betrayed her. Chloe took Zoe in and tried to teach her all the rule that Chloe had lived by. She 'caimed' Zoe when a lot of kids wouldn't touch some rando from overseas with a 10 foot pole at age 14. Zoe's betrayal works in two ways. One is that Zoe obviously picked the others over Chloe, the second is that Zoe didn't follow any of the rules and she still 'won'. That's not how it works. That being nice could work runs counter to everything Chloe knows and has experienced herself, so it causes her pain to think about it.

Ladybug- Chloe idolized her, and Ladybug abandoned her. Chloe made genuine efforts to be a good hero, she fought to protect others. She backed up her comrades when they were in danger. She rejected Hawkmoth! And... she was abandoned for it. Chloe sees Ladybug as 'fake' and two faced(which you now ties into everyone else too) She wants LAdybug to acknowledge her screw up more than anything else. She wants to show she's a better hero than Ladybug.

Marinette- They've been rivals (Derision isn't canon) forever, and Marinette won. Marinette 'stole' Adrien. Marinette went from being picked on, to picking on Chloe. Losing hurts. This isn't an extremely deep cut though honestly.

Adrien- False friend, someone who went right for others the moment he got a chance. How many times did they hang out in canon? Zero? One? Maybe? Both Zoe and Adrien basically did the same thing on different time scales. She doesn't hate him, she's hurt and angry.

Sabrina-Sabrina's backstab hurts. Chloe *does* know deep down that she was pushing Sabrina too hard. She had developed a deeper set of insecurities after Miracle Queen and so leaned even harder into emulating her mother. She doesn't know what else she could have done though, so she blames Sabrina some for leaving. She thinks the underhanded sneaky betrayal was terrible too. How can she trust Sabrina, knowing betrayal lurks in her heart? This breaking-off hurts the most out of everything though. She misses Sabrina.

Hawkmoth- He's a jerk. She would punch him in the face if she could. Same with Mayura. There's not much deep here. It's just contempt for a couple of losers.

Lila- Chloe knows in a nebulous way that Lila tricked her... somehow. She isn't smart enough to sift through it all, so it's a vague sense. She was wary of Lila before she hit her low point in S5, she's back on being wary. She doesn't think Lila has anything to offer her. All she did was lose things once she got involved with Lila.

Others-Vague sense of 'you are lame and always hated me' all her other anger/emotions are clouding up the fact they MAY have had reasons for it. None of them come up to direct ire though it's just 'Keep away from me, you suck.'

Did I miss anyone?

Felix-Oh, F that guy. She hates him. He always tricked her.

[politemenacephd]

Arachnophilia: (Part Twenty-Seven)

Drider!Miguel O'Hara x Reader (+18)

Chapter Masterlist 🕷️

Content/CW: Warning for description of needles/syringes. Get ready for angst yall. Word count: 5109

‘Gabriel?’

Mig and Miguel spoke it at nearly the same time, their voices betraying different levels of panic. The two men were utterly fixated on the screen before them, watching that little figure in the orange jacket moving through the thicket towards their nest.

‘Gabriel…’ Mig breathed. His eyes were flashing with a million feelings, but one stood out above the rest: fear.

You, in contrast, were left totally on the dark on the sudden change. You were desperately jumping to try and see over Miguel’s giant abdomen. ‘Mig—Mig! Babe, what is it?’ you called. The two of them ignored you, too shocked to even realize anyone else was in the room.

As you took a step back to breathe you noticed Mig’s abdomen was bristled and shaking, a clear sign he was extremely upset. You felt your heart starting to race faster.

‘Mig, you—’

‘Your Gabriel is still alive?!’ Miguel suddenly snapped, his tone quickly turning aggressive as he turned on the larger, mortified-looking man. Mig raised his hands as if in surrender to some higher power.

‘He—he is’ he murmured back, his voice cracking as he spoke. ‘I… I thought, he was… He was… ahh…’

You realized quite quickly Mig wasn’t in a good headspace right now, and you finally barged your way forward to stand between the two variants.

‘Hey! Hey, Mig, it’s okay—’

‘YOU DIDN’T TELL ME?!’

You spun around only to see Miguel visibly shaking, and you realized that both men had been deeply impacted by this revelation. As Miguel began to pace Mig collapsed, his legs folding in as he wrapped his arms around his upper torso for comfort. You went straight to Mig as Miguel continued hissing under his breath.

‘Miggy?’ you whispered, gently stroking his arms. You could feel just how tense he was, like he’d seen a ghost. His eyes were glassy and hazy, darting about the room as his lips mumbled silent words.

‘Miggy? Sweetheart? He—’ You paused and turned to Miguel again. ‘Miguel, who is this guy? Is he a danger?��� you blurted.

Miguel turned on you with those cold, red eyes, finally drawn to your voice. At first, you assumed he was just angry, but as he drew nearer you saw the truth. The single blue light from above illuminated the rigid sheen of fear over his eyes, highlighting the shadows in his knotted brows.

He looked like he’d seen a ghost.

‘He… Gabriel, is—’

‘He’s my brother.’

Mig’s words were just barely muffled by his hands, but they hung heavily in the air. You slowly turned your eyes away from Miguel and back to the trembling ball of navy red fluff, his shoulders hunched and strained as he cradled his own head.

‘Miggy?’ you whispered. You heard him make a sound like he was being strangled. ‘He… He’s my brother’ he repeated, his voice cracking. You caught just a glimpse of his eyes then, and your stomach tightened; they were pure red, bloodshot from salty tears filling them and falling into his palms.

‘He’s my brother’ he croaked again.

‘He— Miggy’ you whispered again, your voice dipping as you moved in to hold him. Mig had never mentioned his family, or really anything about his past life beyond the death of Dana, so the sudden emergence of a brother was a lot to take in. You’d been certain Mig was simply alone, but now--

‘He doesn’t know what happened to you, does he?’ Miguel snapped, his voice echoing around the office. You spun back around and glared him down as he spoke.

‘He doesn’t know, does he?’ Miguel repeated, his voice growing louder. Did he sound almost, betrayed? But why?

‘Miguel, don’t yell at him—’

‘Does he know?!’

‘Miguel--!’

‘DOES HE KNOW—’

‘He- When, Dana died, the agreement was that I left’ Mig stammered. His thick, clawed hands were shaking with guilt. ‘I couldn’t- after all I’d done, I couldn’t… I couldn’t, bear to tell him that I killed her, that I killed—’

‘Hey, hey, Miggy, it's okay’ you insisted, immediately turning your back on Miguel’s anger so you could comfort Mig. You crawled closer, running your fingers through his thick hair as his eyes darted around in a panic.

‘I… I couldn’t stand him seeing what I became’ he croaked. ‘If… If Dana, tried to kill me, he… What if I—’ he paused and his face contorted, his brows knotting tight as if suppressing something painful. ‘What if I- what if I killed him too? What if I had to kill him too? I’d rather die, arañita, I couldn’t, I couldn’t—’

‘Shh, shh.’ You repeated those gentle sounds as you nestled against his forehead, struggling to balance the sudden chaos occurring. ‘Shh….’

Miguel looked away and began pacing, his eyes still fixed on the monitors.

‘He… Someone has to go see him’ Miguel blurted. ‘He’s going to get hurt if he goes near your nest, or- he’s going to know something is up! We can’t just leave him out there!’

‘W-Why is he even here?!’ Mig blurted back, moving between fear and confusion at speeds his brain was struggling to keep up with.

‘Does it matter?!’ Miguel snapped.

At this point, while you were primarily focused on keeping Mig comforted and stable, Miguel’s anger was starting to spark a different, nagging concern in your mind. Miguel clearly wasn’t acting with reason. You’d seen the way he acted on emotion; you’d seen him when calm, when detached, and you’d seen him when something hit too close to home. This was the latter.

‘Miguel, why is this your problem at all?’ you called back, trying your best not to yell. ‘YOU set the rule that Mig isolate, and it’s his brother, why are you so mad about how he handled it?’

Your question was met with silence. Miguel had turned to face away from you, so you couldn’t get a reading on his expression or his thoughts, but when he yelled for Lyla you did notice something: His voice cracked. His voice broke. Your eyes slowly narrowed.

That wasn’t anger, that was…. Jealousy.

‘LYLA! I want an explanation, now!’

‘Alright, alright. I think I found what’s going on boss’ Lyla said, her voice filling the messy cacophony of pants, sobs and whimpers that occupied the otherwise tense silence. ‘Looks like, from his web history… Hmm…’

Lyla paused and gently pursed her lips, pouting curiously at her own phone. ‘Mm.. Hey uh, big fluffy boy, do you remember, by chance, accidentally eating someone in front of some hikers?’

Mig sniffed and slowly raised his head. He was panting as he tried to recall anything of the sort. ‘Ah- what? No! I-I’ve never eaten a human being before, it—’

‘We- had sex, accidentally, in front of some hikers’ you said, gently and shamefully cutting Mig off before he could continue. The slow, dawning realization on his face was a perfect contrast to the look of abject disgust on Miguel’s.

‘You… Ay Dios Mio, these two’ Miguel hissed to himself. You stepped up to try and explain.

‘NO, it- we were in heat, we didn’t realize they were there, they found us and—’

‘Thought you were being eaten?’ Lyla interrupted, casually waving her phone in your face. Again, you nodded shamefully.

‘Y-Yes, probably… maybe, it—yes. Yes.’

‘Okay. Well, that solves it then. Your brother Gabriel watched a podcast a few days ago, some tiny nobody show about cryptid sightings, which did an episode with two hikers who claimed to have seen a giant spider hybrid eating someone in the woods. It’s only got like… what, 200 views? So he’s clearly searching for this specific topic. He’s also been googling… ah, Nueva York cryptid sightings, giant spider cryptid, man spider cryptid, Alchemax disaster, Alchemax coverup… This is all pretty damning. Let’s hope Gabriel never kills anyone or his search history is gonna be a dead giveaway’ she said, ending with a soft, snide comment to try and ease the tension.

It didn’t help.

‘Ay chingada—You, ARGH—’

Miguel involuntarily swung his claws, destroying a nearby monitor in the process. You ducked to avoid the sparks.

‘LOOK! For god's sake, calm down Miguel!’ you snapped back.

‘Someone needs to go see him’ Miguel murmured back, not even really looking at you. He was pacing violently. ‘Someone has to go make sure he’s okay. He’s looking for—he wants to, see his brother—’

You noticed quite clearly the way Miguel said ‘brother’ and not just ‘Mig’, but you pushed it aside as you tried to bring the tension down. ‘Nobody needs to go and see him’ you said, ‘if Mig isn’t ready we can just- wait. He’ll leave eventually!’

You said the words with mock confidence because you knew it wasn’t really true. Your nest was so obvious and the moment Gabriel stumbled into it he was sure to stay behind. You’d left it with plates on the floor, warm sheets, and signs of life. He’d know it was being lived in, and if he was really here looking for Miguel, he wouldn’t leave.

‘We just need to go talk to him’ Miguel insisted.

‘I can’t’ Mig wailed. ‘I can’t—face him—’

‘We don’t know what his intentions are’ you added on, your hands now cradling Mig’s upper torso. ‘We can’t just run out there. We need to find a way to draw him away—’

‘What do you mean, his intentions?’ Miguel said, his voice lowering again as he raised a claw towards your face. ‘What are you implying, exactly?’

‘He—I don’t know who this guy is, Miguel!’ you cried in exasperation. ‘All I know is he’s looking for Mig, he somehow found our home, he showed up with no warning, he’s just—’

‘He’s our brother!’ Miguel snapped back, his patience clearly waning as something tore at his chest. He was trying to keep it under control, but his emotions were clearly all over the place. He started pacing again.

‘All I know, Miguel, is that people from Mig’s life who he trusted have tried to hurt him before’ you said slowly. You were trying your best to manage your breathing as Mig continued to gasp and pant. ‘I can’t- I can’t just, go out there trusting someone else.’

‘Then you don’t know enough!’ he snapped defensively, his hands clasped to his chest as he turned. His attempts to speak rationally were failing. Nobody was listening, why didn’t they understand what he knew, what he felt?

For a few minutes, a painfully heavy silence fell. You continued stroking Mig’s head as Miguel paced and Lyla monitored Gabriel’s movements as he approached the nest, taking pictures and scanning the ground with something nobody could make out. He clearly wasn’t leaving.

‘I can’t…’ Mig whimpered, his body too stiff to face his past. ‘I can’t…’

You shushed him tenderly as he curled in, his spider legs tucked tight to his belly, but Miguel didn’t say a word. He remained standing with his fists at his side, his face twitching as he struggled to remain calm.

‘Fine.’

Miguel’s words echoed in a way that made the hair on your neck stand up. You turned, slowly, dreading what you would see, only to be blinded by a burst of light.

Miguel formed a portal right in front of you, one that cast deep, dark, jagged shadows across his contorted features.

‘Fine’ he repeated in a breath. ‘Fine.’

‘Miguel, this is a bad idea’ Lyla said, but he ignored her monotone pleas.

‘If you won’t go see him’ Miguel spat, ‘I will.’

‘Miguel, MIGUEL—MIGUEL HE’S NOT YOUR GABRIEL—’

Lyla’s voice was drowned out as he stepped through the portal and shot out the other side, his feet thudding as he landed on the cold, wet grass. He took a moment in the silence to catch his breath.

He was hit with the sounds of birds tweeting overhead, and the rustling of ancient pine needles in a pleasant autumn breeze. He was hit with the smell of lush green, of clear air and wood smoke, and a voice he hadn’t heard in so, so long.

‘Miguelito?’

That nickname. It was the same nickname Miguel had heard for almost all of his childhood. God, his brother had thought it was so funny to call him that when Miguel had gone through his first growth spurt, when he’d outgrown his younger brother by a good 6 inches.

It wasn’t even a funny joke. Miguel hated it. But hearing it then…

Miguel laughed. He laughed, softly, before shakily rising to his feet.

With the light of the portal at his back, he saw him. Gabriel, in his stupid blue jumper with his stupid scarf. He wasn’t wearing his goggles, instead gripping those in his hands. The brushed-back hair, the big brown eyes, it was all there. His stupid, goody-two-shoes brother.

It looked just like him. He looked just like him. He was here, alive. He was real.

Miguel felt everything in his body settle all at once as if he’d been sedated. His heart slowed and his body slumped, all tension slowly easing from his muscles. His lips curled up into a half smile.

‘¡Ey, Mano!’ he croaked, words he never thought he’d say again.

‘Miguel? Is that- Is that you?’ Gabriel called back, his hand flying to his eyes as he tried to make out the figure moving towards him. Miguel approached with his hands at his sides.

‘It’s me’ he said, his voice going low and steady. ‘It’s me. I miss—’

Miguel froze as something crackled in the air, his body instinctively drawing back.

Gabriel was facing him, but now he had some kind of taser in his hand. It looked like something he’d made himself, and it was sparking with electricity. ‘Stay back’ he hissed, his teeth gritted and his eyes fearful. Miguel felt his whole world melting.

‘No—No, no, Gabriel, it’s me—’

‘Who are you?!’

Miguel felt his heart starting to speed up. Sweat was beading on his brow, his mind unable to process what was happening. ‘Gabriel, it’s me, it’s—’

‘You’re not my brother.’

Those words hung heavy in the air, punctuated by a flock of crows rising from the trees and filling the tense silence with their squawks. An omen of death, a reminder of the truth, like a cold hand from god come to remind Miguel of the truth. He didn’t belong here.  

His hands began to tremble as he raised them. He wouldn’t accept it. He couldn’t.

He knew it was true. He knew it wasn’t him. But—maybe—

‘Gabriel, it’s me’ he repeated, his voice breaking a little. ‘It is. It- this might, be hard to explain, but I am your brother. I am. I’m just—’

‘GET BACK! What have you done with him?’

Miguel took a step back as bid by this variant of his younger brother, as he was too afraid he might accidentally hurt him. He continued to back up as Gabriel fixed him with those eyes, the eyes of a man seeing a monster. There was no recognition in those eyes. He saw right through him.

Miguel choked.

‘Gabriel—’

On the other side of the universe, you and Mig were left to watch this fiasco play out on the monitors while Lyla tried to plan for what to do.

‘Arrghhh, Miguel, you make my job so much HARDER—’ the AI hissed to herself.

‘What’s he doing?’ you asked right back, struggling to make out what was happening. Mig remained curled up with his head in his hands, shaking from the strain of this whole event. ‘Gabito’ he panted to himself, barely a whisper. ‘¡Gabito, Para…!’

‘He, uhh… God- okay, look. Listen to me.’ Lyla paused in her panic and materialized in front of your face, her expression unusually stern and serious. ‘His Gabriel, you know, Miguel’s? He’s gone. He’s not- with us anymore’ she explained slowly.

You felt your heart drop like a stone. You could do nothing but move your lips and turn your eyes back to the screen, where Mig’s Gabriel continued to approach Miguel with the taser. ‘Shhiittt, shit, no, no….’

‘He was killed by Alchemax when they came to raid Miguel’s apartment, after he changed. He was the first person Miguel went to for help, and—’

As Lyla spoke, Mig slowly began to raise his head. He stared at the screen as he watched Miguel backing up. His mind kept flashing back, back to his own apartment, back to Dana, and back to Miguel finding him there.

‘He blames himself. Obviously’ Lyla finished, his body glitching in and out of view.

You returned your eyes to the screens with this new, horrible knowledge.

‘Mano, please—’

Miguel continued to take slow steps back, trying his best to placate the frightened younger man before him. He was running out of ideas though, and more than that, his heart was breaking all over again. It was his brother, alive, in front of him. Why didn’t he understand?

‘I want to see, my brother’ Gabriel repeated a little louder. He raised the taser higher. ‘If you don’t tell me where he is, I will use this! I don’t know why you’re- wearing his skin like that, or- if he’s even alive, but I WILL FIND OUT!’

Miguel’s lips moved, but no sound came out.

‘I just… I just…’

Everything Miguel had ever wanted to say ran through his mind as he looked at that carbon copy of his brother. I’m sorry. I’m sorry I wasn’t there. I’m sorry, Gabriel. I’m sorry. I missed you. I missed you. I’m sorry—

The taser went off, only to be thrown from Gabriel’s hand in a flash. The young man was thrown to the floor by a blinding light that erupted out of thin air around Miguel’s back.

A portal opened and through it came Mig, his hands outstretched to grab Miguel and pull him back in.

‘NO! NO, WAIT—I CAN’T LEAVE HIM HERE’ Miguel instinctively cried, his body trying desperately to fight the larger version of himself. Unfortunately, Mig remained the stronger of the two.

‘COME HERE!’ he snapped. ‘I WON’T LET YOU DAMAGE YOURSELF, ESTUPIDO—’

‘Miguel?’

The three men froze.

Mig froze halfway through the portal with Miguel’s limp, heartbroken body in his hands, and he made eye contact with Gabriel for the first time. It was almost instantaneous, an almost supernatural reaction, as the young man looked up at his older brother.

This monstrosity, 9ft tall and bare-chested, his lower half crawling and shuddering and twitching, his abdominal fur bristling in the cold, stood before his brother for the first time since the change, and all Gabriel could say was:

‘Mano?’

Mig felt his face sink. His brows went up, his red eyes filled with tears, and his lips parted to reveal his thick, pearly fangs as he choked.

He knew it was him. Instantly, no matter what had happened, he knew. He saw him.

‘You’re… You are alive’ Gabriel croaked. Mig felt tears streaming down his face, but he could do nothing but stare, letting the salt sting his eyes.

‘Mano—’

‘You’re alive’ Gabriel repeated, a little louder this time. He began scrambling to his feet.

Mig couldn’t take it. He was flashing back over a hundred memories; Gabriel as a baby, Gabriel and him playfighting on the couch, Gabriel crying after falling off his bike in the woods and Miguel carrying him home, the two of them huddling in their room as their parents screamed at each other one night, and then—

Dana. Her smiling face gone limp, frozen in terror in her last moments.

All Mig could see was his family in her place. His mother, dead by his hand. Gabriel, dead by his hand. You, dead by his hand. Everyone he could kill. He regressed so quickly.

In another universe, he’d called Gabriel first, and he’d killed him instead. He couldn’t take it.

‘I’m sorry’ he wailed, before dragging himself back through the portal with Miguel’s limp and lifeless form. ‘You have to go!’

The giant spider didn’t hear what Gabriel said as he fell back into Miguel’s office. He didn’t hear you as you came to comfort him, cradling his head in your lap, nor what Lyla said as she tried to get Miguel to respond.

Miguel went straight into sitting limply on the floor, his eyes seeing nothing, as Mig stared at the wall and ignored your attempts to get his attention.

The two men looked broken, just for different reasons.

‘Ah- shit, shit- Mig? Mig, sweetheart, hey!’ You continued gently stroking and cradling Mig’s large head, stroking over every fine feature. You touched his lips as he breathed, feeling them shudder. You pursed your own lips as you realized just how bad this was.

‘Mig… Mig... I—’

INTRUDER ALERT! INTRUDER ALERT! UNAUTHORISED USE OF A PORTAL!

The sudden blaring of an alarm caused you to flinch and turn, your mind rushing to compensate for the two men’s inability to move. Intruder? Who? Where? How had someone gotten through, had someone made another portal? Was this a totally different attack? Was this—

You spun back to where the portal was, the one Miguel and Mig had just come through, and found that something was blocking the light. A dark silhouette stood in its center, with its arms out and its shoulders hunched.

It was Gabriel.

The man was panting hard, clearly slightly queasy from going through a portal for the first time, his eyes a little dazed and misty. You felt your gut sink into the floor.

‘Oh, Gabriel, no’ you murmured.

‘Ah… oh, that, was...’

He stumbled back a step only to also jump as the alarm began blaring, with red light filling the office.

INTRUDER ALERT! UNAUTHROISED USE OF A PORTAL!

As the walls of the office began to shift and ripple like waves Gabriel turned in a defensive circle, his own finger dumbly pointed at his face. ‘Wait, what? Me? Does it mean me?’

You both watched helplessly as something began to emerge from the thick, black metal walls of the office. There were automated guns on the wall, ones filled with small syringes of something thick and green.

They moved, honing in on Gabriel’s body, and they fired. His hands flew to his face.

‘SHIT—’

Right as the shot was about to hit the unarmed man, something altered its trajectory. An arm moving at inhuman speed smashed the glass syringe and splattered it across the floor, allowing you just a second to see what it was.

It was Miguel’s venom. The system was set up to paralyze anyone who got in without permission. You spun back to see who’d stopped it.

Miguel was back up on his feet, and his arms were spread to shield Gabriel’s body as the guns tried to home in on him again. He was strategically moving to keep him covered, struggling to mask every inch of his form.

‘GO BACK THROUGH THE PORTAL!’ Miguel cried, quickly cracking another syringe with his bare fist as it tried to get through his defenses. ‘LYLA, SHUT IT DOWN!’

‘I'M TRYING!’

The AI had made almost ten copies of herself at this point, and every one of them was trying to shut down the system to no avail.

‘LYLA—’ Miguel snapped her name again as he smashed another syringe, this time only just stopping it before it hit Gabriel’s body. ‘HURRY UP!’

‘You put in a hard code to stop it from being turned off, MIGUEL!’ Lyla snapped back in a drawl. ‘I’m doing the best I can, MIGUEL!’

‘What do you mean it's hard coded?!’ you yelled.

‘Miguel designed the system to RUTHLESSLY go after ANYONE who got in through a portal into the HQ without verification!’ Lyla rapidly explained, tumbling and glitching her words as she zipped back and forth. ‘Until the target is paralyzed, it won’t stop, not even for him!’

‘It’s supposed to be unbiased!’ Miguel snapped, struggling even now to not get defensive.

‘WELL, ITS GOING TO STAB SOMEONE SO THINK OF SOMETHING QUICK!’ Lyla screeched back, her body physically tearing itself apart from the stress.

‘GABRIEL, GO—THROUGH THE PORTAL!’ Miguel cried. He grunted as he just barely missed another syringe flying at him from the right, allowing the needle to sink deep into his muscle. Luckily it was his own venom, so it didn’t do any damage, but the pain on his face was clear.

At his back Gabriel looked confused, terrified but determined still as his eyes scanned for Mig. ‘I need to see him!’ Gabriel called back. ‘I need to see him, please!’

‘GABRIEL, TU ESTUPIDO- haz lo que te digo—!’

As Miguel yelled at him the gun started moving, breaking apart into smaller pieces which formed a circle around the group. Lyla was now at twenty versions of herself trying to unblock Miguel’s no-kill code.

‘No, no, no…’ Miguel spread his arms wide as he tried to cover Gabriel fully, unable to accept that he was too small.

‘I can’t stop it!’ Lyla cried. ‘I gotta—’ In a flash too fast to make out she vanished, disappearing in a last-ditch effort to find some way to override the lock.

As the guns began to shift and click, you felt a cold chill up your spine. You glanced at the exit door, too far away for you to reach even at your fastest. Bit by bit, the world slowed down, and you began to back up into nothing.  

There were too many of them now. Their coding had one job: stop any intruder from getting to Miguel’s files, or getting deeper into the HQ, at any cost. If they fired at random, they could hit you too, and with that much venom? Who knows what it would do to your body.

‘Get behind me’ Miguel rasped, even though he knew his body wasn’t big enough to shield you both. His clawed hands grasped at your nape to pull you back against Gabriel. ‘GET BEHIND ME!’

‘Miguel—’

You fell in at his back alongside Gabriel as a sharp, droning whistling noise filled the office, its pitch gradually getting louder and louder. All you could hear was the sound of your own heartbeat, thundering away like a rabbit, as you frantically covered your face with your hands.

The guns went off. Miguel spread himself thin, straining himself to cover you and Gabriel, his eyes wide and horrified.

‘No, no—’

‘MI AMOR!’

The wind was abruptly knocked from your lungs as something huge and amorphous descended onto your body. You were knocked to the ground, surrounded by darkness and fur and heat, with Miguel at your side and Gabriel underneath you. You all cried out at the same time.

The deafening whistles of every gun in the room went off, and you heard the soft, wet, fleshy thud of the needles sinking into something, but the chaos was over unnervingly quickly. You heard rather than saw the alarm being switched off as the guns slowly retreated back into their holsters within the wall, slinking away like nothing had happened.

Even as you caught your breath, you knew what had happened. Even in the grips of shock you knew what had happened. You’d know that fur, that heavy breathing, that sweet smell covering your body right now.

Mig had broken out of his trance in time to cover all three of you from the attack. You shakily raised your head and found Mig’s directly above your own, leaving you locked on his gaze. He stared into your eyes, and he muttered two simple words.

‘Mi… mi amor?’ he muttered, before going totally limp. The paralysis had taken its toll.

‘MIG!’

You screamed and immediately kicked your way out from underneath him, clawing up at his fur to try and see what had happened. It was awful. His poor, giant abdomen was covered in syringes, sticking out of his flesh like a hedgehog.

You didn’t notice Lyla popping back into the room looking pleased with herself. ‘There we go, managed to hack that nicely with Spider Byte. Was I quick enou—oh.’

The AI zipped out of the way as she spotted the state the room had been left in, and most importantly the state Mig had been left in. He let out a low, mumbled groan as his face slowly slid down onto the cold floor.

‘MIG! MIG?!’

‘It’s okay, it's okay!’ Miguel frantically began removing needles as you sank to your knees in abject horror. ‘It’s okay! He’s not dead. My venom won’t kill him.’

‘Are you sure?!’ you blurted. Your hands were instinctively stroking his face, cupping his cheek, feeling all of his warmth around you. ‘Oh Miggy, Miggy, my Mig—’

‘I’m sure! His venom didn’t kill me, it- we’re different enough genetically that our venom can impact the other, but it's not deadly unless taken in severe doses. His- body is so big, this was akin to just a regular dose for him’ Miguel explained as he continued yanking needles out, grunting with each pull.

You felt your body slowly sinking with relief. ‘Oh, thank god, thank god’ you whimpered, your head burying itself into his neck as you curled into the fetal position. ‘Oh Miggy, Miggy…’

‘Just- give him some time’ Miguel murmured as he yanked the last of the syringes out. He did pause to secretly feel Mig’s abdomen, ensuring that he was breathing, and only then did he put his stoic face back on. ‘He’ll wake back up soon, in a few hours. It’s just—’

‘W-What is going on here?’

That voice drew Miguel to a halt. He almost didn’t want to turn. Part of him wanted to run, to hide, but he couldn’t. He remained simply rooted to the spot as someone’s footsteps filled the office, gradually getting louder and louder as they approached Mig’s downed body.

‘He… Oh, Miguel…’

Gabriel sank down to his knees beside the paralyzed Mig, his eyes wide and unblinking. He was wracked with confusion, almost like he was in a dream, and yet he acted with only sympathy. ‘What did they do to you, Miguelito?’

You watched him approach with equally teary eyes, unsure what to say or do. You simply shared a glance without words, and both returned to soothing the enormous, sleeping Mig. His breathing filled the room like a sleeping giant, so deep that it vibrated against the cool, metal floor.

‘Gabriel.’

The man looked up from tenderly brushing Mig’s body to see Miguel standing over him. The instinctive fear he had in his eyes was now gone, replaced by a morbid curiosity as to who this clone of his brother was, but that only seemed to make it harder on Miguel. He stared down at the variant of his brother with folded arms, and he sucked in a sharp breath.

‘We probably… have some explaining to do." Link to next part!

[mrsfrecklesmarauders]

Sirius found himself waiting impatiently for James to return. Bloody hell. He only went to the bathroom, why was Sirius so clingy lately? It was maybe that the idea of being alone and starting to think about all the negative thoughts inside his mind, made Sirius really scared. He needed the distraction.

Luckily, since Sirius arrived at the Potters', James had been the ideal distraction. The boy was full of life, with good and new ideas for something to do. Constantly talking about whatever it occurred to him.

Sirius had been following James around the house like a lost puppy, doing whatever he was doing just not to be left alone. Sirius also had been sleeping with him, because he couldn't bare to be alone at night.

And it felt fine to be with James. He was the type of person that could make anyone feel better in a second. Such a positive bloke with warmth, kindness, hope and love to give. Maybe James was like sunshine. And Sirius was extremely cold.

"You took too long" Sirius found himself saying as James came out of the house with a big smile on his face "Did you take the opportunity to have a wank or what?"

James hit his head playfully as he took a seat next to him. The sun was burning his chocolate skin. Meanwhile Sirius had to cover his pale face with large sunglasses.

"Sorry, handsome" James said "Evans called me" he winked.

Sirius immediately felt a knot on his throat. That girl provoked negative things inside of him. Now she was after James? Now she cared about him? When before all she did was reject him and treat him awfully.

"So better reason to wank" he said trying to tease but he sounded very angry.

James simply laughed.

"I don't know, Padsie. We are getting closer and closer with time. I'm getting to her, I can tell"

Sirius didn't mean to be rude, but he preferred when Evans made James sulk. Not make him smile like an idiot.

"I wouldn't be so quick to get my hopes up" he whispered under his breath.

The idea of Evans having James, his James, was revolting.

"Why are you so grumpy about?" James asked teasingly. "Why is my little Padfoot boy so sad?"

The thing was that Sirius had been grumpy, sulking, moaning and feeling miserable lately.

"I am not grumpy" he lied.

James leaned closer, examinating him.

"Your face gets ugly when you frown like that" James continued "Where's my handsome best friend? Ha ha?"

James was even more close and for some reason, Sirius’s heart started beating fast. He smelled like that coconut sunblock Effie had borrowed them.

"You even have a wrinkle over here" As James touched his temple with his finger, Sirius immediately blushed.

"Oh fuck off!" Sirius pushed James's hand away.

He was blushing. It was so embarrassing.

It had always been comfortable around James. They told each other everything. They teased each other. They joked about being each other's loves. After they both broke up with their first girlfriends and sulked about them together, they swore that they didn't need anyone else more than each other.

Although this summer, things were different. Maybe it was the embarrassment of what happened between Sirius and his family. Maybe it was that they've been spending too much time alone as Effie and Monty went out of the house to do their things. Or maybe the stupid kiss they had shared the night James and Monty found Sirius on the street. He had been so scared, so cold, so hopeless that when he saw James his instinct was to kiss him as a grateful act. He regretted it immediately. Friends didn't do that, specially between boys. Luckily James hadn't mentioned it and Sirius was too ashamed to talk about it. They pretended it just didn't happen.

Now, Sirius was nervous around James. He blushed, his heart raced, he sweated.

But Sirius didn't want to push James away either. He needed him like breathing.

James was laughing.

"Okay grumpy boy, I am free for you now..." James said with a smirk "What do you want to do? Have a swim?"

The thought of both of them being half naked in the pool, made Sirius uneasy. He shook his head.

"Go inside and play video games?"

Having James's knee close to his on the couch, made Sirius freeze and be awkward. He shook his head.

"Boring... Do you want to listen to some music?"

That sounded like the best idea. Maybe Sirius could close his eyes, concentrate on the lyrics and distract himself. He shrugged.

James grabbed his phone and connected it to the speaker, and scrolled through it.

"What should we play, maybe something to improve your mood" James tusked to himself.

Sirius laid back on his chair.

"Just bloody play something"

James grinned.

"Lily told me she likes this song"

Sirius rolled his eyes. Could he stop talking about that stupid girl?

James played it anyway and a soft melody began sounding through the speaker. James was immediately moving his head accordingly.

It was rather an upbeat tune. Very contagious, something pop. When the lady started singing about fucking sunshine or whatever, Sirius hated it.

"It's horrid"

James raised an eyebrow.

"Tosser" he replied "In the mood of something else, I see?" then he gasped, making Sirius jump. "Nobody improves my mood better than Selena"

"Who?" Sirius asked amused.

"Selena Quintanilla?" James exclaimed "One of the reasons why latino music is better, specially Cumbia"

Sirius smiled only because James sounded so excited about this woman's music that it was contagious. And when James played the song, Sirius realized what he meant.

It wasn't precisely Regueton, the kind of hyspanic music Sirius was used to. It was an strange rhythm. So upbeat and delicious that gave you the thrill of immediately moving your body to the rhythm. It was for dancing.

James was definitely enjoying it, moving his body and trying to sing the Spanish lyrics. Sirius knew he understood the language well, when Effie talked to him but he sucked at speaking it. And it was funny because he was trying not to fail but somehow couldn't pronounce them.

Sirius laughed as James tried to sing to him the lyrics. And even if he didn't understand Spanish that well, he knew it was a love song. He recognized the word "amor" or "corazón".

"This song is about a Forbidden Love" James explained beaming at the lyrics. James gave him side glance and smiled to himself.

Something about that revelation made Sirius swallow. Forbidden Love.

Sirius was caught of guard when James stood up to dance. He did it in a funny way even, moving his but from side to side or making silly dance moves. All, to make Sirius laugh, which he did.

"You are ridiculous, Potter"

"See? You look much prettier when you are happy"

There it was again. The flustered cheeks and the warm sensation in his chest. All of this was weird.

"Come and dance with me, Pads" James screamed over the music, extending his hands for him.

Sirius shook his head "No. No way"

James insisted "Come on, you coward. You are scared because you don't think you can do better than me" and as he said this, he did some twerking.

Sirius let out a giggle and then bit his lip.

"Oh I bet I can dance better than whatever that is"

"Prove it then" James said defiantly.

Sirius stood up, only with the desire to impress James. He danced the way he did on parties at Hogwarts. Maybe not how this music was supposed to be danced at all.

"Yeaah Padfoot!" James encouraged, which made Sirius blush. James kept looking at him move. Sirius enjoyed the attention.

James took his hands without warning, teaching him how to move his feet faster, from side to side.

Although while James was concentrated with the dance moves, Sirius was very aware of the way their hands were holding each other. How close they were. They were dancing like a couple would. Boy and Girl.

James even pulled him closer by his hip and Sirius was forced to put his chin on James's warm shoulder. Sirius was a bit shorter than James. Only a few inches. Their chests pressed against one and other. Sirius could feel James's heart beating against his own.

Adrenaline and electricity filled Sirius’s body. His chest was burning and he felt perfectly fine between James's arms. Butterflies and birds inside his belly.

Sirius hadn't felt this way about anyone. So close. So fine. Like meant to be together. No one like his best friend.

He thought: How could Evans reject someone so perfect? Someone so good. Someone so nice. And handsome even. The perfect boy.

They swayed for a while and Sirius wished they could've stayed there all day, all summer, all their lives. He liked the idea of being held by these arms. Forvever.

Then slowly, James faced him. Sirius realized he had big eyelashes behind those glasses. Dark brown eyes. And that untidy hair... Sirius wanted to grab it and pull it.

"Feel better my handsome boy?" James asked, quietly with a low voice.

Sirius’s heart jumped on his chest. He liked the idea of being his. His best friend. His boy.

Sirius nodded. He smiled to show it.

"I always feel better with you around, Prongsie"

James caressed his chin.

"That's how I like it" James said.

They were leaning closer so slowly that they didn't notice. This was new. And thrilling.

Sirius wasn't gay. And for what he knew James either. He had been into Evans since forever.

Then what was going on? Why was James still cupping his face?

Where they going to kiss? Did Sirius actually want it?

"Hello, my dears! We're home!!"

The voice of Effie from inside the house, broke the spell. Both boys were blushing profoundly as they pulled apart. James rubbed his hair with embarrassment. Just like he did around Evans.

Sirius thought it was a hot feature.

"Coming mum!" James yelled.

He didn't look at Sirius as he walked inside. Sirius was left shivering with the sudden desire to kiss his best friend.

Bloody hell! He had a crush on James Potter. He fancied him. He fancied him a lot.

Sirius didn't know what this meant or how this would change their friendship. But he was willing to try.

With that sudden realization, he walked inside as well.