#so basically ignore all this i just need to break out my bike and disappear for a few hours on some badly paved dirt trail in the woods

[maddiwrites]

Family and Hope

Pairing: Routledge!Reader x JJ (Kinda) 

Summary: A month after your brother disappeared, you’re confronted by someone you never thought you would see again, forcing you to come to terms with reality.

Note: I made this a reader x JJ pairing but the focus is more on the relationship with the person who’s introduced in this fic! Also if you haven't yet, go over to my page and read my OBX rewrite and let me know what you think (:

Word Count: 4.2k (Do I know how to write a short fic? No.)

You’ll never forget the day that Shoupe told you he and the FBI “lost” your brother. “Lost” them. Like they were a toddler’s toy that had just been misplaced. No one knew if they were dead or alive, but most made the conclusion that they were never coming back. 

You were ultimately left with no family. After you dad disappeared, all you had was John B. And just like that, he was gone too. Your legal guardian, Ward Cameron, obviously threw you out. But it didn’t take much effort because you weren’t going to go back there anyway. See Ward, whether it be on the streets or on the Local News, nauseated you to no end. You knew he was the reason your dad and brother were gone. The greedy mother fucker would do anything to sit on the highest throne of success and fortune - even going as far as murder. And you knew this world well enough to know that he would never face the consequences of his actions. Because he’s wealthy with an outstanding reputation on this island. And if that wasn’t enough, people now felt sorry for him because his daughter was gone, and everyone blamed that on John B.

Although you were left with no blood relatives, you continue to be surprised by how far your real family would go for you. Mr. Heyward, although always disapproving of you and your friends’ antics, offered to take you in. He promised a roof over your head and food on the table until you turned eighteen so you wouldn’t have to experience foster care. You couldn’t be more grateful especially knowing that he already struggled to support his wife and only kid. 

You tried your hardest to continue living your life as normal as possible. Most days, you pretended like your brother wasn’t even dead. He was just gone. On vacation. Living life. He was coming back. That’s what you told yourself, anyway. You sound like John B when your dad first disappeared. The police called you crazy. Your friends felt sorry for you. But you didn’t care. You weren’t going to give up hope.

Your boyfriend, JJ, tried his best to be supportive, but he was drowning in his own sorrow and grief. He lost his best friend too and truly believed he was never coming back. It was hard for him to get out of bed in the mornings. He was fired from his hotel job, and the couple of people who still let him mow his lawn barely talked to him. The beatings from his dad were worse than ever. Luke almost killed him when he heard it was The Phantom that had sunk. The only reason JJ is still breathing is because the police showed up after one of their neighbors called in for a noise complaint. Since the Chateau was no longer a safe escape - always being investigated by the police - he was stuck in his own home. Luckily, his dad was gone most days, which allowed you to sneak in every once in a while.

You brought him food and water whenever you could, always checking for Luke’s pick up truck before sneaking in through the window. Although you hated how depressed JJ was, it gave you something to focus on. Helping JJ with his every day tasks helped distract you from thinking about your own feelings about John B’s loss. 

Even though it was hard to tell, JJ worried about you. You were running from his house, to Kie’s, to Pope’s, finding anyone and anything to avoid your own feelings about your brother. He was afraid that one of these days you were gonna break. And he was terrified because he didn’t know what would trigger that reaction. 

~ ~ ~

“Oh, good. You’re up,” You crawled through JJ’s window and watched him sip on a PBR can as he looked for a shirt that didn’t smell completely awful. You forced a smile when JJ barely glanced at you and set the coffees and two granola bars on his night stand. “I know it’s not a lot, but it’s all I could afford right now.”

Kie’s father basically fired you from the Wreck, telling you nicely that you were scaring people away. At the end of the day, everyone on the island thought you helped a murderer escape. A murderer you were related to. So you’ve been working for Heyward behind the the counter, making less than minimum wage. 

“Okay...” you drawled out. “Well, I have to get going. Heyward needs me their early, but maybe we can go somewhere tonight? Smoke on the beach or something? Just the two of us.”

JJ looked at you sadly, wanting to say something. But he thought maybe tonight would be better. You were in a good mood - a facade he knew you put on every day to avoid talking about your family. He hated seeing you cry, but he thought if he broke down your walls now, it would help you heal faster. Even if you thought you didn’t need to heal.

But instead, he just nodded and let you leave without saying “goodbye” or “I love you.” A phrase he hasn’t mentioned since John B disappeared. 

You kissed him on the cheek and walked yourself out the front door, ignoring the crack in your heart when JJ turned away from you.

~ ~ ~

A couple hours later, JJ was waking up from another nap when Pope blew up his phone with missed calls and text messages. At first, he immediately thought of the worse possible case scenario. Something happened to you or maybe even Kie. He even let his mind wander to the possibility that they found John B’s body. But instead, what he read, only left him completely confused. 

He rushed over to Heyward’s, hoping to beat you there. 

~ ~ ~

Mr. Heyward didn’t know what to expect when his former friend showed up at his door. He was mixed with all different emotions. Relieved, confused, scared. Behind her was a man about his age. Tall, fair skinned, hair slicked back, and dressed in slacks and a button down shirt. 

“Caroline....what are you doing here?”

“I hear my daughter is living with you now. I was hoping I’d be able to see her,” Your mother admitted, feeling sheepish and a little embarrassed. “May I come in?” Heyward told himself he should slam the door in her face and tell her to go back to wherever the hell she came from. She used to be his friend, then out of nowhere, she up and left her entire family behind, without another word to them or any of her friends. He was hurt and betrayed, and he knew if he was feeling this way, he could only imagine how you would feel. 

But although Heyward loved you like his own, he felt wrong hiding your mother from you. It wasn’t his decision to make whether or not you got to confront her. 

He opened the door wider for her and her husband, he assumed, to enter. Heyward ignored their judgmental gazes as they inspected his home and called out for his wife. 

Mrs. Heyward stopped in her tracks when she caught a glimpse of the blonde hair she remembered so clearly. You were a spitting image of your mother. Long blonde hair, a button nose, and perfectly straight teeth. The one thing you didn’t get from her though was her selfish personality. 

“What the hell are you doing here?” She seethed. Mrs. Heyward loved you like a daughter and felt protective when someone who hurt you so badly in the past came back. 

“Honey...” Mr. Heyward placed a light hand on her shoulder to comfort her and then motioned for the two seats at their kitchen table for your mother and her husband to take.

“Y/N’s not here,” Mrs. Heyward glared. 

“Anne, I know you don’t think I have any right to be here -”

“Right?” 

“But she’s my daughter!” Your mother protested with tears in her eyes. 

Your mother grew up on the Cut too, and just like you, she was able to charm her way into anything. A job, a relationship, a better test grade. There was a time when Caroline, John, Anne and Heyward would cause mischief in Kildare County. But unlike the rest of the group, she was always interested in getting out of the Outer Banks and starting a life somewhere else. She knew she was settling when she married John Routledge so the second a better opuurtunity came around, she didn’t hesitate to take it. Even if it mean’t leaving her family behind. 

“Mom...” Pope walked out from the hallway and looked between Caroline and the man next to her who had his hand on her thigh. He never met Y/N and John B’s mother. Never even seen a picture of her. But looking at her, it was clear to him that this was their mother. You looked just like her, he thought. 

“Pope, this is Caroline...” Heyward hesitated and looked at the woman for clarification. 

“Bennett.” She confirmed and placed her hand on top of her husband’s, interlacing their fingers. “I’m Y/N’s mom.”

Pope noticed how she didn’t even mention John B. He wondered how cold a woman had to be to not even mention her dead son’s name. 

“Go to your room, Pope,” His mother said softly. 

Pope nodded and glanced one last time at Caroline and the man next to her before pulling his phone out of his back pocket and texting JJ. He knew Y/N wasn’t going to take well to the news that her mother was in town. All her life, he heard Y/N saying nothing but horrible things about the woman. You hated her. 

He waited in his room until he heard the familiar revving of JJ’s bike outside his house. Pope ran to the front door before his father could push JJ away. JJ stormed into the house and stopped when he was face to face with the woman he’s grown to hate too. Just like you had with his mother. 

“JJ -” Heyward stood up and approached the boy, but JJ flinched out of his grasp.

“You shouldn't be here,” JJ pointed at her. 

“I- I’m sorry. Who -”

“This is JJ. Pope’s friend -” Anne tried explaining.

“And Y/N’s boyfriend, and I’m telling you right now, she won’t want to see you.”

Caroline nodded as if she understood where JJ was coming from. But Caroline was use to getting what she wanted. Now more than ever. And she wasn’t leaving OBX without seeing her daughter. Maybe even convincing her to come home with them.

“JJ -” Heyward tried to say again, but the room grew silent when the front door creaked open again, which only meant that you were home.

“Hey! Who’s car is out front? I’ve never seen...” You slowly came to a halt when you were met with Heyward, Anne, Pope, and JJ all staring at you with pity and concern. You laughed nervously. “What -” But then you saw her. The woman and her husband at the kitchen table as if they were here for a glass of wine and friendly conversation. 

You recognized her mom immediately from old photographs your dad refused to throw away throughout the entirety of his life. You use to think she was beautiful. Sometimes, you were even jealous of how she was able to look amazing in every picture. Extremely photogenic. 

You never thought about what you would do if you ever saw her again. You never thought the day would come where you would be face to face with the person you grew up hating more than the entire population of Kooks. But you stared into the same pale blue eyes you saw every time you looked in the mirror and your skin burned with rage. 

“What the hell is this?” You looked at Heyward for some answers, ignoring her presence overall. 

Heyward coughed awkwardly. “Caroline was hoping to speak with you.”

“About what?” Heyward glanced back at Caroline. He truly didn’t know why she was here. They hadn’t gotten there yet. 

JJ stepped in front of you and pulled you in close so his mouth was next to your ear. “We can leave.” 

“No,” You shook your head and stepped away from him to get a good look at your mother. “No. I want to know what you’re doing here. What makes you think I want to talk to you?”

“Sweetie, I know you have every right to hate me. But I come here in peace -” Your mother tried explaining, but you cut her off.

“Peace?” You scoffed. “Where the hell have you even been?” “Georgia,” She said. Your mouth dropped open in shock. She was only a couple states below you. “This is Byron, my husband.” You clenched your teeth together and held your stare on the two of them. You didn’t know who you hated more. Your mother or the man who took her away from you. Your mother sighed and looked down at her intertwined fingers with her husband. “I heard about your brother on the News.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” You rolled your eyes. She sounded more like a sympathetic neighbor than a mourning mother. She talked about John B as if he wasn’t her blood too.

“I came here as soon as I could -”

“That was a month ago!” You raised your voice.

“I know,” Your mother choked, starting to get flustered. “I got caught up with work and -” It’s been a while since someone put her in her place. 

“Work? You knew about John B and you cared more about your work? What the hell do you even do, Martha Stewart?”

“Y/N...” Anne said softly, pulling you out of your dark head and reminding you to take a breath. Anne didn’t like her either, but all this yelling wouldn’t get either of you anywhere. 

“Fine,” You took the seat across the table from Caroline and leaned back on it with your arms crossed in front of your chest. “Your here now. So tell me what for. We’re not having a funeral for John B. Not until I see a body.”

Caroline looked at her husband for some sort of encouragement. Although he was unsure now more than ever, Byron subtly nodded his head for his wife to tell her daughter the reason they came up here. “Byron and I...we want you to come home.”

“Home?” You cocked a brow.

“With us,” Byron added. 

You couldn’t help but chuckle - really belly laugh at what you were hearing. You couldn’t believe the ridiculous suggestion she made. You were astounded that she even thought you would agree. 

“We’ve seen the News and read the papers. I mean the stuff you kids have been through -”

“That’s enough,” You stood up.

“We have a beautiful home. You’d have your own room, a pool in the backyard. We even have two other daughters! Ten and seven. They’re excited to meet you.”

You tried your best to ignore her as you grabbed JJ’s arm to pull him out with you. But everything she said was like a ringing in your ears you couldn’t escape. Little did Caroline know, each luxury she threw at you felt like a stab in the back. 

“I’m outta here -”

“Y/N Y/M/N Routledge! I am your mother!” Caroline stood up, her chair screeching against the hardwood. She slapped her palm against the wooden table and narrowed her eyes at her daughter. In her own head, she couldn’t believe how ungrateful you were. She was offering you a new and better life - one that wouldn’t make you dress like your entire wardrobe was from the thrift store, or sleep on your friend’s couch, or be looked at every day as a criminal. She was offering you a new beginning with the only blood relative you had left and you were gonna turn your back on her?

You swiveled on your heels so fast that your head started spinning. Your vision clouded with the color red and your fists clenched against your side. You glared at the woman who gave birth to you - hating how she acted as if she knew what was best for you when she didn’t even know you at all. 

“I don’t have a mother!” You screamed. “She turned her back on us when we were three! I don’t even know you. The only reason I recognized you is because my dad kept pictures of you in frames in his office.” Tears pricked at your eyes and you shook your head. “And I felt sorry for him that he still held onto memories of the woman who seemed so useless.”

Your voice cracked and you hated that you sounded so weak. You wondered what John B would say if he was standing next to you right now. He’d probably be more calm. He’d probably listen to what your mother had to offer and then kindly tell her that the two of you were better off without her. John B use to always keep you grounded. He calmed you down when you were on a rampage or feeling panicked. He taught you reason and discipline. Without him, you had none of that.

“You left,” You continued. “You turned your back on us when we were three. And Dad? He had no idea what he was doing. The man could barely hold a job let alone two kids. But unlike you, he did it. Hell, he even bought me my first box of tampons! He held me through my first heartbreak and taught me how to surf. And just like that,” You snapped your fingers, “he was gone. And you, my so-called mother, still didn’t show up. So John B and I...we became our own parent. We paid the bills, worked our asses off to pay the rent, and passed our classes. I learned to fend for myself because you weren’t there! You didn’t do shit for our family.” You pointed to yourself. “I did. I took care of us.”

“That’s not fair...” Your mother’s voice shook. She couldn’t even look at you as she became so overwhelmed with shame and guilt. 

“Not fair?” You bent down so you were eye level with her and looked at her like she had just grown two heads. “You just listed off all the amazing luxuries you have while I was left with absolutely nothing and you want to talk about what is fair?”

“Okay, that’s enough,” Bryon stepped in and stood up from his seat, placing a hand on your mother’s shoulder to try to comfort her.

“No, I’m just getting started,” You glared at him. “And I don’t know who the fuck you think you are, but this is between me and her. And I know she grew up on the Cut and is more than capable of fighting her own battles.” You averted your attention back to your mother. “You don’t get to waltz into my life over ten years later and pretend like nothing’s happened. My dad’s dead and my brother probably is too! I have no one left, but the family right here.” You point to the people behind you. Mr and Mrs Heyward, Pope, and JJ. “And I’ll choose these people over you every single time. So no. You’re not my mother.” You looked her up and down. “You’re nothing to me.”

You spun around on your heels and grabbed your back pack on the way out. 

“Y/N...” Mrs. Heyward tried calling out to you, but no one really tried to stop you. They knew you needed to get out from under the same roof as your mother, the woman behind all your anger. 

“I got her...” JJ told the Heyward family quietly. He glanced at Pope, who nodded once at him, before walking out of the house to find you. Only you were already gone and your bike was missing. 

Your feet moved faster than your head. You didn’t know where you were going, you just knew you had to get as far away from that woman as possible. Your tears made your vision all blurry and your brain pounded against your skull. Your throat felt like sandpaper with every heavy breath you took. 

You practically fell off your bike in front of the one place you had been avoiding for weeks. It looked just like how you had left it, only now it was wrapped in yellow caution tape. Shockingly, no one was here. No police, FBI, or any other government official. It was just you and your thoughts. 

You pulled the squeaky porch door open and were immediately flooded with memories. Empty beer cans and the butt of old cigarettes and blunts littered the floor like you were all lounging here yesterday. Guess CSI doesn’t hire a clean up crew when they are done. 

You took another step into your house. Your brother’s room was to your right, his door open, enticing you to go in. But you couldn’t. Your heart twisted in your chest at the thought of John B. He should have been here. He should have never left! How could he? He was your brother. Your older brother, even if it was only by a few minutes. He was supposed to protect you. He was supposed to scare off all the boys who showed interest in you, yell at you when you’re bathing suit showed too much skin, take care of you when you were sick, help you with your homework, be the cool uncle to your kids one day. And he was gone. Everyone was gone!

You didn’t remember how it happened, but you were in your dad’s office. This place use to be a mystery to you - a room where your Dad hid most of the time and locked when he wasn’t home. You always wondered what was so special about this room. Now you knew it was nothing. It was a curse. This room was the reason your dad and brother were gone. 

A screech ripped from your throat as your swept your arms across your father’s desk. Everything on top, papers, paper weights, pens, folders, all clattered to the floor. With all your strength, you flipped the desk over on its side. The wooden floor rumbled under your feet when it fell with a bang. 

Your breath hitched in your throat and you felt like you couldn't breathe. You stepped back until your back hit the wall. Your fingers raked through the hair near your scalp and you pulled on the roots. You body slid down the wall until you were on the ground. You cried into your knees, weeping for your brother and dad. You have never felt pain like this before. You were physically healthy but it felt like someone took a vacuum into your body and was sucking the life out of you. 

You didn’t even hear anyone else come into the house over your loud sobs. It wasn’t until you felt arms wrap around you that you looked up. JJ pulled you into his chest, curling you so that your body fit perfectly against his. He whispered against your head and kissed it after every sentence. He told you it was going to be okay. 

“He can’t be gone,” You cried into JJ’s shoulder. “It’s not fair!”

“I know,” JJ mumbled against your hair and pulled you in tighter. “I know. I’m sorry.” He felt like the worst boyfriend ever. He knew this day would come and he took advantage of you avoiding your own grief by drowning in his own. He should have been taking care of you, making you open up about your brother so that it didn’t all hit you at once like it did now. 

“I have no one.”

“No,” JJ shook his head. “That’s not true. You have me. Pope and Kie, we’re all going to be here for you. And screw your mom. You don’t need her anyway.”

For a split second, you forgot about your mom and how she wanted to take you back to Georgia. But you knew she wasn’t your real family. Not anymore. You were right when you said you had all the family you needed. The Heywards, Pope, Kie, JJ. You weren’t alone. You still had them.

“I’m sorry,” JJ said again. “I should have - I should have done something. I should have been there for you -”

“It’s okay,” You placed your hand delicately under his jaw to make him look at you. “You’re here now and that’s all that matters.”

“I love you.” Your heart swelled, forgetting the way those three words made you feel. Safe, loved, comforted. “And if John B’s out there, he’s going to come back.” JJ remembered the promise John B made him swear by before he left with the Phantom. How he made JJ promise to protect you no matter what. Even if you were to go through a nasty break up. He was supposed to be there for you. “There’s still hope.”

“Hope,” You repeated, tasting the word on your tongue. You still had hope.

[peachtree-dish]

A Te Che Sei Il Mío Grande Amore

Chapter 3: Senza che tu mi dica niente tutto si fa chiaro

Luglio 01, 1969

Luca’s birthday rolled around faster than anyone expected, the day arriving with clear skies and high temperatures. Luca awoke to his mother’s voice echoing through their home as she prepared breakfast. Stretching, the fifteen-year-old shook his nonna as gently as he could to wake her. She grumbled at his attempts and swatted at his claws.

“Nonna,” he sighed, shrugging with a smile and swimming into the kitchen to greet his parents. During his time in Porto Rosso, Luca enjoyed every moment he could swimming and spending as much time in the water since he couldn’t do as much in Genoa. He, along with Giulia and Signora Mia, had snuck to the shoreline in the early hours of the morning every few weeks or so just so Luca could refresh his scales and get the nutrients he needed. It was especially necessary when the temperature had become too cold and made him lethargic and ill. Luca shook his head softly, sending bubbles rippling above him in search of the surface. Signora Mia had been just as kind as Massimo, and just as headstrong in a lot of ways. He made a silent promise to call her with Giulia to make sure she was doing well, even if he were sure nothing could fell the infamous Mia Berni.

“Good morning, sweetheart,” Daniella kissed Luca’s cheek and handed him a plate full of seaweed and fish flank on his way to the table. Returning the sentiment, the youth sat beside his father and informed his parents that grandma had decided to sleep in a little longer.

“Ugh, she does this every time. MA!” Daniella shouted in frustration, only to be startled by her own mother swimming around the corner.

“You’re being dramatic, dear. I only do it when I think it will annoy you.” The elderly sea monster smiled toothily at her disgruntled daughter who muttered, “Which is every day,” and finished setting the table.

“So, how does it feel to be another year older, son?” Lorenzo floated a piece of fish to his mouth and chewed animatedly, his gaze never leaving Luca’s. Luca shrugged in response and picked at the seafood drifting across the coral table.

“Not any different than last year, honestly. I still feel like I’m fourteen, so nothing special.” He slurped the seaweed into his mouth, much to his mother’s chagrin, and instantly missed the taste of pasta.

“Fifteen is a pretty big deal, though, you’re becoming a young man and that means changes and more responsibility.”

“I hardly think now is the time to discuss any of that at the table.” Luca’s grandmother scoffed before he could reply.

“What, it’s just the basics; Longer tail and fins, not to mention attracting the pretty lady gills, eh?” Lorenzo nudged Luca in the side who nearly choked on his food and spluttered white bubbles over the table, his scales flushing darkly.

“Lorenzo!” Danielle cried, her claws slapping the table in mortification.

“What? We were around his age when we met. If I remember correctly, you thought I was quite the catch.” He batted his eyes at her, pursing his lips teasingly.

“I was young and silly; I didn’t know any better.” Try as she might, Daniella couldn’t stop the smile that threatened to break her scowl. She busied herself by shredding the fish flank and wrapping it in seaweed. Undeterred, Lorenzo lifted from his chair and leaned in closer, trying to further fluster his wife.

“Yeah, maybe, but you still accepted my courting pearl after the Spring Swim Festival.” Lorenzo pulled a reluctant Daniella out of her chair and began to lead her around the room in spins and pivots, grinning madly as she shrieked with laughter. Luca watched with a mixture of amusement and confusion, his discomfort fading as he pushed the idea of ‘lady gills’ far from his mind. When he peered at his grandma, she appeared nonplussed and continued munching on her food although a genuine smile lifted her aging scales.

“You were skinnier and more handsome then, of course, she fell for you.” Lorenzo pouted at his mother-in-law and led both he and Daniella back to the table.

“I simply grew into my man body,” He emphasized his point by sticking his gut out even farther and patted it proudly. The table burst into laughter and Luca quickly finished eating after, his stomach nearly as full as his heart.

After he finished, he turned to his mother and asked, “Is it ok if I go visit Alberto and Giulia for the afternoon?”

Daniella conceded with a content nod, “Just don’t forget about our dinner tonight at Massimo’s, we don’t want you kids to be late.” Luca agreed cheerfully and kissed each family member on the cheek before swimming out the entrance.

“Hey!” Luca turned mid swim to see Daniella at the entrance. “I love you.”

“I love you too, ma!” Grinning, Luca took off, the water gliding past him as he made his way to the surface and his friends. As he leaped through the blue waves, he imagined he was like the superhero from the newspaper comics that Giulia and Mia both read. Pointing both fists forwards, Luca broke the surface with a whoop, water streaming behind him like a cape.

When he arrived at the Marcovaldo residence, the only beings there to greet them were Machiavelli and a few of his kits, each of whom wanted his attention and brief affection. Finding some of his spare clothes in the drawers of Alberto and Giulia's shared room, Luca quickly left the house and wandered the streets, eager to find his friends. Judging from the sun, he knew the morning fishing trip had come to an end not too long before which should mean Giulia, and Alberto was out delivering. Walking through the town square, Luca waved to a few of the patrons he recognized, mentally wincing as he remembered his first attempts at greeting Porto Rosso’s patrons. If anyone had been the stupidi, it had been them.

Chuckling as he went up the city’s hill, Luca caught sight of two familiar heads of curls along with two faces he was not expecting. Tensing at the sight of Guido and Ciccio, Luca prepared himself for a fight and made to run the rest of the way before he heard laughter. Guido was laughing at something Alberto had said and lightly touched his shoulder. Somehow, the movement was worse than if he had punched Alberto instead. A dark and ugly feeling reared its head within Luca’s belly, causing his face to burn and his hands to clench. Clenching his teeth, the young sea monster marched up the cobblestone pathways, intent on not showing his discomfort.

“Ciao,” he muttered shortly, arriving beside Alberto, and instantly causing Guido to lift his hand from Alberto’s shoulder. Giulia nodded hello from her seat on the bike as Alberto wrapped an arm around Luca’s shoulder.

“Oh, hey Luca,” Alberto cheered even more so upon seeing Luca. “You remember Guido and Ciccio, vero? I helped their families in the off-season while you were away.” Luca looked at the two teens who stood abashedly in front of him and offered his hand after a moment of hesitation.

“It’s good to see you both again,” Not, he thought as he shook the brunette’s hand. Ciccio spoke up, his round features coloring.

“We realize we never officially apologized to you before you left, si? We’re really sorry about last summer, Luca.”

“Si, Ciccio, and I were very foolish and ignoranti, we hope you can forgive us, and we can start again.” Guido smiled warmly, his gaze sincere. Taking a deep breath, Luca felt his earlier feeling of… whatever it was, fading away. If Alberto and Giulia both felt they could trust these boys again, then he could follow their lead.

“Lo apprezzo. I know being around Ercole wasn’t the easiest either, it’s all water under the bridge now anyway.” He smiled genuinely this time, heartened when the two ex-henchmen immediately relaxed.

“Bah, no lie, I’m so happy to be rid of that jerk,” Guido nodded at Ciccio who nodded and twisted his hands anxiously.

“He ate so much of my family’s bread,” Ciccio whispered horrified, his gaze wide. Giulia shared a weirded-out expression with Alberto who only shook his head.

“I didn’t know your family baked,” Luca interceded, ignoring his friends’ lack of subtlety Snapping back to the present, Ciccio grinned widely showing his perfectly white teeth.

“Oh, si, Pasticcini al sale Marino is the pride and joy of Porto Rosso and my family. Our baked goods bring customers from miles around; you should see the line of people who want to buy my mother’s Sfogliatella.” He leaned in conspiratorially to whisper, “My siblings and I have been helping since we were little, so only we know the recipe.” He puffed his round chest out proudly, only to be poked by both Alberto and Guido.

“Knowing a recipe and following it correctly are two different things, Ciccio. Your batter was not very good the last time you tried to make Bombolini.” Guido teased and Alberto nodded knowingly.

“I still don’t know how you mixed up salt and sugar,” the older sea monster screwed his face in disgust, remembering how the supposedly sweet treats and mistakenly been made with copious amounts of salt. “Seriously, Ciccio, even the ocean’s not as salty as those things were.” Ciccio pouted good-naturedly as the group laughed.

“It’s still not as bad as the time Guido set the auto garage on fire,” the blond argued mildly to which said boy grimaced.

“I thought we agreed to never speak of that again; I thought my papa was going to skin me alive.”

The teens chatted a bit more and Luca began to warm up to the two boys who had hurt him so much the past year. Perhaps, he reasoned, they had been good all along and had simply needed the chance to prove themselves.

Bidding Guido and Ciccio farewell, Luca joined Alberto and Giulia as they made the rounds. Luca asked a question that had been on his mind since arriving in Porto Rosso.

“So, whatever happened to Ercole? I haven’t seen him since we’ve been in town.” Alberto placed the cash from his previous sale into the leather pouch of the cart before answering.

“Honestly, the guy kind of disappeared after the race. I think he was embarrassed enough to keep his head low for a while, but other than that, I’m not sure. Maybe he left?” Giulia thought for a moment, her gaze focused on the road ahead.

“Maybe, I don’t think he went away to university, but he could have. His family is really wealthy, so they could afford it no matter the grades he got.”

Luca kicked a pebble, his thoughts skipping back to that one word: university.

“What’s the point of grades anyway, doesn’t that, like, stress you out more?” Alberto mused.

“It certainly does for me,” Giulia huffed. She bid Buongiorno to a young mother who bought the last of their fish and both Luca and Alberto filled the empty space as they headed back down the hill.

“I think it’s mostly competition, to see who really wants to be an academico or no,” she contemplated. “Sometimes if you have really good grades, the universities will pay you to study in their schools. That happened to mama when she moved to Genoa.” Alberto winced slightly at the mention of Giulia’s mother, the story of her separation from Massimo fresh in his memory.

“I wonder if I was good enough, they’d do that for me?” Luca hummed, his eyes following the drains that spread across each building they passed.

“Well, duh, they’d be stupid not to; you’re better than good enough right now,” Alberto bumped his shoulder with a smile. Luca blushed and tossed his friend a grin.

“Hey, happy birthday by the way. It’s about time you got to my age,” the older boy winked and wrapped his arm around Luca again, causing Luca’s skin to hum with energy.

“Oh, yeah! Are you excited for tonight?” Giulia asked over her shoulder.

“Thanks, you guys, really,” Luca felt warmer with Alberto’s arm around him, and he was sure it had nothing to do with the afternoon sun. He wondered briefly if said boy could feel how hard his heart was pounding. “Should I be excited, I thought we were just having dinner?” Luca asked, brow furrowing in confusion. He twisted around to face Giulia as she pulled into the plaza and made her way towards the small coastal home. Alberto lifted his arm when Luca turned away, causing him to feel its loss.

Giulia glanced at him and grinned excitedly. “Papa saved some fireworks from the Festa Della Repubblica since we were in Genoa, and he wants to set them off for tonight.” Luca gasped and jumped in his seat.

“Santa mozzarella! Are you serious?!” He shared an animated glance with Alberto who smiled as he hopped off the cart.

“Of course! I mentioned to him how much you had enjoyed the fireworks during Vigilia di Capodanno last December. He decided that would be his gift to you this year.” Giulia locked the bike and carried their bag of earnings inside, the two boys following after her.

Inside they found Massimo at his stove, his presence filling up the majority of the room. He turned to greet them as they entered, placing a kiss upon Giulia’s curly head.

“Buon cumpleanno, Luca. May you live to see many more,” Massimo rumbled fondly, patting Luca on his checkered shoulder. Luca returned the sentiment and wrapped a short hug around the large man, his arms too small to wrap fully around him.

“Grazie, Massimo. For your wishes and for your surprise gift,” Luca pulled away while Massimo smiled happily, his eyes disappearing behind his bushy eyebrows.

“Giulia,” Massimo chided lightly, turning to his daughter who was counting out money, “I thought we agreed to keep it a secret until after dinner?” Giulia smiled apologetically.

“Scusa, papa, we were just too excited,” She and Alberto began counting the coins on the table while Massimo ushered Luca over to the stove.

“Come, Luca, you will help me prepare dinner,” Massimo handed him a bag of clams and ordered him to wash them thoroughly in the sink. Luca would be the first to admit he was not a cook, but Massimo was gentle in his orders and easily guided Luca in making a perfect pasta dinner.

Once the Paguro family arrived along with Ciccio and Guido, once again to Luca’s surprise, the night was filled with much laughter and filling food. The linguine pasta alle vongole was instantly a hit and paired nicely with the red wine Ciccio had brought on behalf of his family. To the teens’ disappointment, the adults were adamant that they were still too young for alcohol. At one moment, Lorenzo laughed so hard, he inhaled his pasta and sent part of it into his nose much to the delight of the children. After dinner, the group trouped outside with fireworks and dessert in hand. While Massimo and Lorenzo set up the fireworks near the edge of the waterline, Daniella, Giulia, and Ciccio helped serve gelato and watermelon.

With a happy sigh, Alberto nestled himself into the sand alongside Luca, happily chewing on the red-fleshed fruit. Luca’s eyelids were drooping as his body felt full and warm, accompanied by his own friend’s radiating heat. His gaze lingered as Alberto licked gelato from his lips, the cream dripping from the corner of his mouth. Forcing his eyes to look anywhere else, Luca shifted closer to Alberto. Instead, his gaze landed on his father asking animatedly about the fireworks in Massimo’s hand, the larger man looking both confused and entertained by Lorenzo’s energy.

“I know I already said it, but happy birthday,” Luca dragged his eyes back to the tanned boy next to him and smiled. He jumped slightly at the first explosion, watching in delight as the light of the fireworks made his friend’s skin glisten with multicolored hues.

“Thank you for sharing it with me,” He replied easily. Neither made comment as their arms brushed or as their hands splayed out behind them with barely any space between. Up above the merry group, bright color after bright color bloomed across a starlit sky, the stars twinkling their own delight.

[one-boring-person]

Would you ever do a part 2 to Six Bodies In An Alley.

I'm gonna be honest, I never really had any intention of carrying on with this, but I went back and read it again and came up with this, so enjoy!😊💛

Six Bodies In An Alley. (Part Two)

The Lost Boys x reader

Warnings: death, blood, being held captive

Masterlist

"What should we do with her?" Dwayne's question sends yet another bolt of dread through me as he speaks, fear coursing through me like great torrents of ice. 

The four...creatures…stand before the sofa, looking down on me as if it's my own fault I'm here. At one time, I might've made a joke about the way they're standing, but now I doubt I'll ever be able to poke fun at them ever again, not after what I've seen, after what they've done. Tears threaten to spill out over my cheeks as I recall the gruesome images of the past hour, grief tearing at my heart at the memory of what happened to my brother. Cold sorrow washes over me and I have to fight back a sob, making a strangled sound that catches their attention. Under their gazes, I cower and feel yet more terror flood my system, as well as a hot flare of disgust: they haven't even cleaned the gore off of themselves. 

"Just let me go, please! Please! I won't tell anyone, I swear, just let me go! Don't hurt me, please!" I plead with them, my voice laced with the debilitating fear in my veins. 

"No, we can't risk that." David shakes his head, cold blue eyes fixed on me, "You're staying with us either way."

"No, please...I'll do anything! Just let me go!" I beg him, my heart racing as I try to reason with him.

"No, you're staying here." He snaps back firmly, his sharp tone drawing a whimper of fear from me.

Cold fear floods me as I think over what he is saying: I'm basically a prisoner. What're they going to do with me? 

I shudder as the answer comes to mind.

"Aw, come on, Doll, it ain't so bad." Paul grins lopsidedly at me, the expression not quite carrying the same warmth I used to love seeing on him. 

I look away, my hands clutching at each other in my lap, fingernails digging into my skin enough to break the skin. 

"Ok, but how are we gonna keep her here? She'll just escape as soon as the sun comes up." Marko says, gesturing to my trembling form.

The four stare down at me again, seemingly considering the question until Dwayne speaks again.

"Lets just tie her up to something. That should work well enough." 

His words send another bolt of ice through me, but there's something in what Marko said that strikes a chord within me - why did he bring up the sun? 

Instantly, it hits me, weak hope sparking to life within me at the knowledge. The boys are quite clearly vampires, and so they must have an aversion to the sun, just like the ones in the old books do. A plan starts to form in my head, and I start hoping they can't mind read as well, knowing it will give me away as Marko approaches me with a rope, a smirk on his face. I let him manhandle me into position, watching as he ties my wrist a nearby fallen beam, securing it tightly so I have very little room to move, but not so that my circulation is restricted. 

As he finishes the blonde vampire steps back and David comes forward, a stern look on his face. 

"You better still be here when we wake up." He growls threateningly at me, before he and the others turn and leave through a nearby tunnel.

*

An angry ring has appeared around my wrist as I rub at it, wincing from the burning sting of the rope I only just managed to force off of my arm, the area flushed and irritated. It had taken me far too long to work the ties off of me, but I had to be careful not to break the skin or draw blood, in case I woke up the boys. Now, I'm regretting not finding another way of freeing myself as my hand burbs, but I do my best to ignore it, shakily climbing up and out onto the top of the Bluff, glad to feel the strong rays of the sun on my face. I never thought it would be as reassuring as it is now, but the relentless light makes me feel somewhat safer. 

Sighing, I look around for a way to get to civilization, chewing my lip as I do so, not coming up with any ideas. That is, until I see the boys' bikes pushed behind a nearby tree. Immediately, I feel a shot of hope go through me, and I rush over to them, picking one out. I can't remember whose it is, but I have to fight back a cry of relief when the engine instantly starts up again, the bike ready to take me back into town. 

Kicking it into action, I try to remember how I've been taught this, shakily riding off along the line of the cliff, back to the tree line the boys so often come out of when they're racing along the beach. I instantly regret this as I find myself trying to navigate the tight spaces and convoluted area, practically having to hold back a cheer of relief when the trees break off to reveal the beach, which I quickly speed onto. Sand flies up around me as I thunder along the expanse of land, the motorcycle's tyres struggling to grip as it travels over the loose material. Gritting my teeth, I ride the vehicle right up to the Boardwalk, ignoring the shouts of protest from beach-goers. 

Upon reaching the Boardwalk, I gun the engine once more, going along the sidewalk at high-speed, nearly hitting a couple of holiday makers as I do so. Heart pumping, I take the bike directly to my home, breaking about eight different traffic laws as I go, uncaring of the consequences this will bring once I'm out of this mess. As I get to my house, I park the motorbike out the front and race inside, slamming the door behind me. 

My mind goes into survival-mode, and I run upstairs, pulling a rucksack from my wardrobe, which I start to stuff with clothes and essential items, throwing in personal items, too. I check the time as I go, panic flaring up in me as I notice that there's only a few hours left before sundown, meaning I don't have much time left to get as far away from here as possible. Taking as much stuff as I need, I swiftly go back downstairs, looking around the place one last time before I duck back outside, going to the bike. 

It's only now that I realise I took David's motorbike, a fact I barely register as I climb back onto it, starting up the engine again. 

This time, I stick to the laws of the road, not wanting to be pulled over by any traffic police, cursing to myself as I get caught in traffic, my time slowly starting to ebb away. It takes a long while, but eventually I manage to get here so need to be: the Santa Carla Bus and Train Station. 

I leave the bike at the front of the large building, uncaring of what happens to it now that I no longer need it, more worried about simply getting away now that the opportunity to do so is so close. People shout in protest as I push past them, but I just go right to the ticket desk, buying passage out of this town. The ticket terminates in Canada, a fact that reassures me, as it means I can get as far away as I like without needing to stop anywhere else. 

A couple of hours later, and I'm watching the last rays of sunlight disappear over the horizon, my paranoia creeping up on me again as I watch this happen. The bus never got out as quickly as I wanted it to, and now we're only just leaving Santa Carla, meaning there is ample time for my four captors to catch up to me.

Thankfully, nothing comes for a good hour or so, the bus chuntering away down the highway, the passengers (all five of them) keeping blissfully quiet, none of them aware of the panic I'm in. I can feel myself finally starting to relax again, just as the bus suddenly stops. 

Looking out of the window, I notice now that there aren't any other cars on the road outside, and that it's completely dark, making it impossible to see anything. The other passengers start to murmur to themselves, glancing around in as much confusion as I feel, only to cry out in surprise when the lights cut out. 

It feels as if I've blacked out, everything going horribly quiet until I hear the first scream of agony. It's the driver, his voice wailing in a blood-curdling manner until it's drowned out by another person's, the cry a definite female sound. Terror explodes inside me, and I immediately know what's happening, though I can't move, the fear freezing me in place as shrieks of pain, followed by sickeningly wet sounds fill the air, my breathing coming hard and fast as I try not to make much of a sound. 

The lights eventually come back on, and I have to fight not to throw up into my lap at the grim sight around me. Four figures stand amongst the gore, faces twisted into snarling sneers. 

"I thought we told you to stay put?' David growls at me.

[mc-lukanette]

- Luka sees the bees coming and warns Marinette. Marinette pushes him, demanding that he get on his bike and go. Luka hesitates because she's basically asking him to leave her, but Marinette asks, "Do you trust me?" which Luka does and bikes away while she runs in the opposite direction.

- Meanwhile, Adrien and Kagami's kiss goes through. They both see the bees and, similar to Luka and Marinette, head off in different directions.

- Both Aqua Ladybug and Aqua Chat Noir re-find Luka and Kagami, then bring them into the water/have them jump in and give them the breathing apparatuses.

- They go to the battle taking place with Miracle Queen. The only difference in the Miracle Queen scene is that Luka and Kagami aren't there and Nino also looked up at Master Fu when he was told to get his miraculous, making his identity as Carapace obvious (that was always weird to me in the episode how Nino didn’t really do that).

- Ladybug still feels like this is all her fault. Luka and Kagami can't offer verbal help, but Chat helps and Luka+Kagami place reassuring hands on each of her shoulders.

- Ladybug devises a strategy. She pulls out the dragon, asking Kagami to help one more time because she has an idea.

- Cut to Miracle Queen. Out of nowhere, they hear, "WIND DRAGON!" and the bees are thrown a massive distance away. Miracle Queen clutches the Miracle Box for protection and we see the snake disappear from its slot. When everyone starts looking around, Miracle Queen notices that Max isn't Pegase anymore.

- Hawk Moth is shocked, then hears a sound coming from inside Fu's Shell-ter. Aqua Horse-Chat pokes his head through with a Cheshire grin. "Don't mind me. I'm just here to pick up my grandfather." Fu grabs Chat's hand and Chat pulls him inside.

- With everyone still in the water (Fu holding his breath), Ladybug gives Fu a hug and explains that they'll need Shell-ter since Ryu Kenshi (the new Ryuko, decked out in a new outfit to protect her identity: "kenshi" is the word for a practicer of kendo but it can also mean "swordsman"/”swordswoman”) can't use Wind Dragon again. However, Fu slips off the turtle bracelet and hands it over to Ladybug, metaphorically symbolizing the future transfer of guardianship.

- Everyone leaps out of the water, Chat carrying Fu. The aqua transformations drop. Luka transforms into Viperion. Ladybug feeds Wayzz with a macaron and has him unify with Tikki.

- They land on the battlefield. The bees charge forward and the butterfly sentimonster gets into the fray (due to no longer having Fu's shield to break into). Turtle Bug (that's apparently the naming theme so why should I bother? :P) smirks at Hawk Moth, then uses a combination of Shell-ter and ladybug to make a large pink shield that seems to have the spinning effect that the yoyo shield does, making it hard to peer inside.

- Hawk Moth shouts to get the guardian, Miracle Queen chiming in with, "YEAH, WHAT HE SAID."

- Fight ensues. It's Rena Rouge, Roi Singe, and the butterfly sentimonster (technically Nino and Max too but--well--you can imagine how useful that is) against Turtle Bug, Chat Noir, Viperion, and Ryu Kenshi. Fu is a distraction of sorts since the mind-controlled heroes want to get the guardian.

- It’s also the most even team Chat Noir will ever be on since he knows both Kagami and Luka’s hero identities, which is a nice bonus for him.

- Similar scenario happens to before (the set-up using Roi Singe), but there's more tension because one single part of the shield can't be opened like in the original. The shield is dropped, the bees charge forward, but Chat gets Roi Singe to throw the power-disruptor at Miracle Queen (who's been comically circling the shield this whole time, trying to figure out what's going on). The bees explode into confetti, Turtle Bug pulls Miracle Queen in, and Chat Cataclysms her object.

- (note that Miracle Queen could also have been participating in the fight provided that she can't summon her bee minions)

- Since she's already used Shell-ter and doesn't need it anymore, Turtle Bug dismisses Wayzz. Same happens as in the episode where Ladybug tries to convince Queen Bee not to be on Hawk Moth's side and Queen Bee, in response, starts throwing on miraculouses. Fu shouts at her not to do that, but she's not listening. The butterfly sentimonster (worn down from the fight but still able to move) tries to attack again, but Ladybug ties it up with her yoyo.

- Hawk Moth is confident with Queen Bee throwing on the miraculouses, but same thing happens where the kwami won't transform Chloe since she doesn't know their names. Fu makes a speech about how you can't get a miraculous you feel entitled to. Hawk Moth comments on how he's still going to win and force Fu to tell him the heroes' identities.

- Ladybug smiles, pointing up at him. "Really? Because Ryu Kenshi looks ready to fight you up there."

- Hawk Moth and Mayura turn around to see Ryu Kenshi (yeah, really should’ve thought about the whole “being on an unprotected roof when the superheroes can jump” thing), who's grinning at them. They pale and Ryu Kenshi uses Lightning Dragon to zap them, knocking them off the rooftop. The butterfly sentimonster reacts and frees itself from Ladybug's yoyo, catching the two and immediately flying off. Ryu Kenshi, angered by the retreat, starts to shout for Wind Dragon before remembering that she's already used it. She and Chat go off to see if they can catch the villains.

- Queen Bee tries to escape with the Miracle Box. Ladybug gets her with her yoyo and Queen Bee falls over, dropping the box. Master Fu walks over and picks it up gently, giving Queen Bee a critical look as Queen Bee rants about how the miraculouses are rightfully hers.

- "I'M Queen Bee, I'M the rightful owner of that box, and I--" Suddenly, the de-transformation light washes over her. She turns around, seeing Viperion holding the bee miraculous with a Did you seriously forget I was here? expression.

- Chloe is enraged, flipping out as she removes all the miraculouses and tosses them to the ground since she's surrounded now. Viperion and Fu are in the process of picking them up (absolutely ignoring her like this is just a typical Monday) while Chloe rants to Ladybug about how she betrayed her.

- Chloe leaves in a huff. Ryu Kenshi and Chat Noir return, disappointed that they couldn't catch Hawk Moth or Mayura. Ladybug uses Lucky Charm to prepare to use Miraculous Ladybug, summoning the key ring that she does in the original. Fu recognizes it and admits that, even though she may have made a mistake, she couldn’t have predicted Hawk Moth following her and he would've seen her identity had she gone to de-transform. He adds that this is also partly on him as well; he took far too long to start training "his protege" (being vague about who that is because the other heroes are here) and he clung to the Miracle Box because of it. Though, he adds solemnly that Hawk Moth has the tablet with the translated grimoire. Ladybug gasps, but Fu assures her that he still has his phone (the thing he used to take pictures of the grimoire pages in "The Collector"), and he can easily translate the pages over again since he's already done it once.

- Ladybug uses Miraculous Ladybug and everyone parts after Viperion and Ryu Kenshi give back the miraculouses. Fu stops Ladybug from leaving and simply states that it's time he pass on the guardianship to her. He hesitantly goes to recite the phrase, but Ladybug stops him and reminds him that he already changed the "dumb guardian rules" in order to teach her, so why can't they do that here? They then smile at each other and Fu hands over the box, promising to send Ladybug the translated grimoire over text.

- Fu still goes off with Marianne, the two promising to go back into hiding together just in case Hawk Moth thinks to go after them. Marinette is a little sad to see them go, but Fu assures her that she can call him if she needs anything. He also gives her the non-Lucky Charm version of the key, assuring her that everything she needs (like the thing he used to hide the Miracle Box in, though Marinette would repurpose/repaint it to fit her room and look stylish) is in the locker that the key fits into.

- Same scene with the ice cream happens, but while Luka still plays his song, Marinette is considering the stuff Fu wrote in the letter in the locker (it's still all philosophical and stuff even though no memory wipe ended up being needed) and Fu had noted that the burden Marinette carries is heavier than ever now and she shouldn't be afraid to rely on others should she need it (you know, like he should’ve).

- Finally, Marinette looks over to Luka and says, "Luka, do you remember what you said to me when you were--" She blushes lightly at the memory of them hugging. "--you know?" He nods, and she pauses before adding, "I do actually have something to tell you."

- The next scene is Marinette taking Luka into her room and revealing the location of the new Miracle Box, signifying that Luka is essentially Marinette's confidant now.

- Cut to Gabriel with the fixed peacock miraculous for tension and the episode ends.

[thr-333]

Drastic Measures- Part 13

@daminette-december2019-2020

~Trapped~

This is gonna be fun!

Ao3

First < Previous > Next

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“Adrien I can't go down for breakfast,” Marinette hides under the blankets.

“Yes you can,” Adrien gives up tugging on the blankets and jumps on top of her.

“But Damian-” Marinette groans partly at his weight on top of her.

“Has no idea your Ladybug and moreover doesn't know your soulmate is Robin, and it doesn't mean you can’t like him so get up and come to breakfast,”

“Stop being reasonable and helpful,” Marinette pushes him off, getting up herself.

“I’ll try my best, now come on let's go,” Marinette sulks as she follows him downstairs, basically having to be pushed into the dining room.

“Is something wrong Marinette?” Dick asks, by now Marinette has labeled him the only one in the family not in denial that feelings exist.

“She’s just tired,” Adrien says for her when she can’t bring herself to answer, still sulking as she takes a seat, “Say I was looking around, why is there an entire circus set up in the gym?”

“Oh, I used to be an acrobat,” That interesting little revelation is cut short by an all too familiar feeling.

“Really? That's so-”

“Hey, Adrien I just remembered the thing we had to do today,”

“The thing?” Marinette gives him a sharp look and his face lights up with realization, “Oh right! The thing, can’t go forgetting the thing, bye!”

 ---

 “Sooo that was suspicious,” Dick muses as the two practically sprint out of the room.

“Put your masks on, we’re following them,” Bruce orders, they haven’t yet forgotten she’s the daughter of an assassin.

They head down the cave to gear up, following the tracking device on Marinette’s bike. However, when they reach it the bike is unattended and the two aren’t anywhere in sight. They hear a commotion nearby moving to check it out.

“It’s another Akuma attack,” Dick reports Ladybug and Chat Noir already on the scene.

“Oh my god,” Tim gasps, “Marinette's Hawkmoth!”

“Hawkmoths a man,” Red Hood deadpans, they would just ignore it if Tim’s sleep-deprived revelations weren’t right more often than not.

“Fine then she’s Mayura,” Tim waves them off, “Adrien’s hawkmoth,”

“What are you talking about?” Robin snaps, watching the battle below, anyone the Akuma hit’s disappearing.

“They leave and then there's an Akuma attack, they showed up just as Ladybug and Chat Noir did to stop Hawkmoth,” Tim rambles, “It’s all highly suspicious,”

“I’ve looked through the files, neither have been akumatized,” Batman adds, evidence stacking, “And their class was an Akuma hot spot,”

“Oh my god,” Dicks realization mirrors Tim’s, “Marinette's hawkmoth,”

“Again, Marinette would be Mayura,” Tim corrects.

“We need to tell Ladybug about this,” Robin decides dropping down onto the street.

“Hey, Robin here to help? Could you go around their left it’s a blind spot and we need to grab- are you listening?” Ladybug turns to him, simultaneously deflecting a blast lucky charm in one hand.

“Ladybug there's something I need to tell you,” Robin hesitates Marinette truly didn’t seem like the type but Ladybug has been fighting Hawkmoth for years if there's even a slight chance Marinette is Hawkmoth Ladybug has to know.

“If this is about yesterday now’s not really the time,” Ladybug says with a cold fed up tone that honestly takes Damian off guard, “It didn’t mean anything,”

“It’s no- what do you mean didn’t mean anything,” Robin gets sidetracked from his point, dodging a blast getting further from Ladybug.

“Soul mates they aren’t romantic or even involved so it doesn't mean anything,” She dodges another blast, Chat Noir getting thrown around somewhere, “I really need you to go around their left,”

“But they are real,” Damian clings to that fact and stays by her side. “And you are my soul mate,”

“Well yes but-”

“Ladybug!” Chat calls, tangled up in washing lines with the Akuma advancing.

“In a minute!” She shouts, fully turning towards Robin now.

“Ok I’ll just hang out then,” Chat swings gently in the wind.

“Really the only way a soul mate affects you is if they die,” Damian's stomach churns, “And still even when that happens the effects are minimal if there is little connection, so we should probably just leave each other alone,”

Robin is frozen as Ladybug moves too late to save Chat from the blast, when the light is gone he has disappeared.

“What are you- I’m not going to just ignore this!” He snaps, Ladybug comes back glaring at him.

“Well I am, I have worked too long and too hard trying to beat Hawkmoth to risk it all for someone I don’t even know wearing a mask,” Ladybug is glowering at him, glowing red eyes brutally honest and true, “I’ve put everything else in my life aside to defeat Hawkmoth, don't think I have a problem putting you aside too,”

“You can’t just- I know who Hawkmoth is!” Robin shouts as she goes to leave, sure she won't come back to him if she leaves.

“What?!” It’s then the rest of his family come to join them, Nightwing pulling Ladybug out of the way of another blast, “Who?!”

“Marinette Dupain-cheng,”

“WHAT?!”

“Again Marinette would be-” Tim doesn't get to finish as they all get hit by a blast.

Light envelopes them all, there is no pain which is either a good sign or a very bad sign. When Robin opens his eyes they are all standing in a stark white container of sorts. Chat Noir is there giving him a wave as they all regain their bearings.

“Why? Why would you think Marinette is Hawkmoth?” Ladybug asks, Chat Noir bursts out laughing for some reason.

“Actually we think she’s Mayura,” Tim supplies, “Adrien Agreste is Hawkmoth,”

“What?!” Chat Noir stands up, enough room for them all to face each other.

“Marinette isn’t Hawkmoth,” Ladybug pinches the bridge of her nose still holding a lucky charm going to waste.

“She’s- I give up,” Tim throws his hands up turning towards the wall in search of a way to get out.

“How do you know!?” Damian snaps, anger and betrayal still clawing at his insides.

“I just do!” Ladybug yells back volume increasing, Chat Noir tries to get her attention but no one is getting through to either of them.

“You trust her more than me?” Damian isn’t sure why he says it, just that he’s angry enough he doesn't care.

“Uh yeah, substantially more,” Ladybug crosses her arms a smug smile on her face, Robin bristles ready to change that.

“She ran away to Gotham as Hawkmoth arrived, she’s never been akumatized even after her class was specifically targeted! Shes the daughter of an infamous assassin!” Robins practically screaming at this point, everyone giving them as much space as possible, “How can she not be Hawkmoth!”

“She’s just not!” Ladybugs earrings beep, Chat now desperately trying to get her attention.

“If she’s not Hawkmoth that means-” Damian cuts himself off reframing all the evidence, conversations rushing back to him all at once, “Marinette?”

“No,” The earring beeps for the last time, transformation falling to reveal Marinette, “Wow great timing Tikki,”

“I’m sorry,” A little red bug thing lands in Marinette's open hands, the lucky charm is gone now.

“Don't be, more importantly,” Marinette turns to Damian glaring something fierce, “How do you know who I am?”

“You’re… Ladybug?” Robin says quietly still trying to process… everything.

“Does that mean Chat Noir’s Adrien?” Dick interrupts.

Damian's still playing catch up. Marinette's Ladybug and Ladybug is Marinette. Ladybug who protects Gotham. Marinette who left her family to be Ladybug. Ladybug who he had been talking to every night. Marinette who he spent every day with.

“How do you know that!?” Chat Noir, no, Adrien shouts.

“That's strictly-” Ladybug always seemed so strong with the mask Robin figured she was someone amazing outside of it. And he was right. Marinette was kind and smart, gave her all to a pet store branch Damian would have otherwise made someone else's responsibility. She left her family, never telling anyone she was Ladybug. It would have been so hard. And now she had been forced to reveal her identity to them, it wasn't fair she deserved… “ROBIN!”

Damian snapped back to reality, in one hand he had his domino mask and his face was bare. On one side was his father looking furious and the other side was…. Marinettte.

“Damian?” Marinette asks, they stare at each other until Marinette lets out a small giggle, Damian huffs in amusement too.

“Why would you ever-”

“Mr Wayne?” Marinette cuts off Batman's rant, her revelation not really helping things.

“You have compromised everyone’s identity,” Batman growls from his look Damian realizes he really messed up.

“She revealed hers,” He tries to defend, "And many heroes already know,"

“You can’t-”

“How about we save this until after we escape?” Marinette cuts in transforming back to Ladybug, so clearly the same person now just with different eyes and hair, “Adrien?”

Chat Noir uses his cataclysm to escape the container, it breaking their little piece of reality and sending them back in a flash of light. He has to run off before his transformation falls leaving the rest to the tense bat fam to help Ladybug out. It was easy to defeat the Akuma from there. Although they may have been stalling somewhat. No one particularly wanting to face Batman's wrath. Hawkmoth was preferable.

--------

No taglist :P

[equustenebris]

New drabble! This kind of just poured out basically all at once, lol. This is for modern Topolino Newton, I've got his first story translated here for the unfamiliar: https://equustenebris.tumblr.com/post/658572502503735296/hello-duck-community-i-come-bearing-a-gift-so

Newton Gearloose has a bully. For Whumptober 2021. Prompt: "Who did this to you?"

Three. Sticks and Stones May Break My Bones But...

He gave a final sniffle as he rounded the corner to his uncle's house, trying to pull himself back together before his uncle saw him crying. The punches and kicks had been painful, sure, but it was the humiliation more than anything -- and the overwhelming fear of facing Jax again tomorrow.

He'd always known there was no way he'd win in a fight. He was Newton Gearloose, inventor, not -- like -- Newton Gearloose, boxer, or something. He just wasn't built for it, and besides, he'd always firmly believed brains were better than brawn any day. Still, when Jax snatched him out of the hallway to shake him down for his chemistry project results, he'd made his very best attempt to fight back, but Jax was built like an eighth grader, and all he'd really managed to do was make him angrier. He gingerly touched his fingertips to his swollen eye, hoping it didn't look nearly as bad as it felt.

He didn't have any idea what he'd done to get on Jax's bad side -- they only had one class together, and despite his natural aptitude for it, it wasn't as though Newton was particularly well-liked by their chemistry teacher anyway. (A few too many beakers shattered, chemicals spilled, labs blown up -- frankly, he was amazed they still let him do the hands-on work.)

But for whatever reason, Jax had apparently decided that Newton was his new target -- and he evidently had a lot of free time to spend making Newton's life as miserable as possible. It had started off with little things, stealing his pencils, getting in his way in line at the water fountain, knocking the books out of his hands -- all of that was manageable, and honestly Newton was often so distracted by his own ideas for new inventions that he barely noticed. But when it went from the annoying to the physical -- snatching him from the hallway just after the last bell to rough him up -- well, that he noticed.

He opened up the front door slowly, peeking around in the hopes that his uncle was down in the lab, and he'd have a chance to try to clean himself up before his uncle saw him. Apparently, today was really not his lucky day, because Gyro was at the sink, washing up some dishes.

"Hi, Newton," he chirped brightly, "how was sch -- Newton?" He dropped the dish back into the sink as he caught sight of his nephew's black eye, immediately swiveling around. Newton cringed, hunching his shoulders as if he could make himself small enough to disappear. "Your face! What happened?"

"Nothing, Uncle, I'm fine," he tried, attempting to slip away to the bathroom.

"You certainly are not! Who did this to you?"

Little Helper was already at his side with an ice pack, holding it up above his tiny head for Newton to take. Embarrassed, he only looked away instead.

"Nobody, Uncle, it's -- it's fine," he tried again, cheeks flushed and burning. But Gyro wasn't so quick to give up, quickly kneeling in front of him.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else? Your arms? Your tail?" he asked, lifting Newton's shirt to check his belly, gently snatching his wrists to examine his arms, and just generally not helping the utter humiliation burning in the pit of his stomach.

"I'm fine," Newton snapped again, pulling his arms away.

"Newton." Gyro took him by the shoulders, gazing into his eyes. Reluctantly, the boy looked back to him, biting his lip to try to hold the persistent tears at bay. "You can tell me. What happened?"

Despite his best efforts, a single hot tear slipped down his cheek -- and then it was all over, the floodgates wide open as he wrapped his arms around his uncle's neck, trying to choke back sobs as he explained: all the multitude of small things he ignored for months, one after another, and now finally, the big things he couldn't. It came tumbling out at once in a flurry, months of pain and fear he hadn't realized he had been carrying. Gyro just held him, gently rubbing his back, occasionally giving him soft, preening nips, trying to calm him down.

When he was finally finished, Gyro nodded firmly, intent. "We'll go to the principal." Newton immediately shook his head, wincing.

"No, Uncle! It'll just get worse if you tell anyone! Principal Schnauzer doesn't even like me, he doesn't care, and even if he did he can't watch me all the time! It wouldn't be safe."

"Well, we at least have to tell your mom and dad," he mumbled, rubbing Newton's back again.

Again, Newton shook his head. "Oh, please, no, Uncle! This is already humiliating enough, I don't want them to know, too!"

"We have to do something, Newton! I can't send you back to school like this!"

"I can handle it myself," Newton mumbled, gazing vaguely over his shoulder towards his treehouse, and his own secret lab, hidden away from his uncle. He had no idea what, exactly, but surely he could come up with some sort of invention to deal with this on his own. His uncle, however, seemed less than convinced.

"Maybe I could invent something for you? You know, something that could keep you safe, maybe like some sort of...repelling ray, or maybe a robot bodyguard, or --"

"I'll be fine, Uncle," Newton mumbled, cringing. The last thing he needed was his uncle interfering -- whether his inventions worked or didn't, either way, it could only add to his humiliation. Really, showing up the next day with a robot bodyguard? "I can just -- I'll handle it."

Gyro stood, scratching the back of his neck. "Are you sure, Newton?"

The boy said nothing, crossing his arms loosely over his chest. On the living room wall, unnoticed, a large bee -- too large -- softly beat its wings.

---

The next morning's bike ride to school felt more like a death march. Newton and the triplets walked the last stretch, coming up on the bike rack just outside the school.

"Are you sure you don't want us to help you, Newton?" Huey asked, frowning worriedly.

"Yeah, we're pretty tough -- we can take him on!" Dewey offered. Newton only shook his head, polishing off the last of his breakfast apple.

"No, I don't want to get you guys caught up in this too," he muttered, tossing the core into the garbage can as they locked up their bicycles. "Besides, it's just going to get worse if I can't handle him on my own."

"Huh? What's going on over there?" Louie wondered aloud, finally noticing the large crowd of students on the school's front lawn. Curious, the boys pushed their way forward, slipping through the crowd to approach the large oak tree that everyone seemed to be gathered around.

"--do you mean, you have no idea how he got there? Someone did it! He must have been here since last night! You've got camera footage, don't you?!"

"I can't explain it, Principal Schnauzer, but I already reviewed it and there's just...nothing. It looks like it's all been scrubbed clean somehow."

"Well cut him down from there, and get his parents and the police on the phone! And get these kids out of here, already! Oh, this is going to be such a mess... You! Get to class! There's nothing to see here!"

Newton and the triplets finally pushed their way to the front, stumbling out in front of the oak tree. It took no more than a split second for Principal Schnauzer to spot them in the crowd, and with a fury Newton hadn't seen before (which, frankly, was saying something for the schnauzer), he abruptly whipped around, pointing directly at him. "You!"

The other students immediately backed away, leaving Newton standing on his own, frozen in shock as the principal stomped closer. Snarling, voice low and dangerous, he shoved his snout nearly against Newton's beak. "I don't know how you managed to pull this off, but I know you're behind this somehow. This fell out of his pocket."

He shoved a slip of paper into Newton's grip, but Newton's attention was elsewhere -- slowly, his eyes trailed up to the oak tree, finally seeing what everyone else had been staring at. There, Jax dangled from a branch at the top of the tree, still dressed in pajamas, hogtied, terrified sobs muffled by the thick gag in his mouth.

He just stared for a moment, slack-jawed. A tiny yelp from Dewey, evidently reading over his shoulder, brought him back to reality and he looked down at the piece of paper in his hands. There, scrawled in his uncle's tell-tale handwriting, was a hastily written note.

He won't be bothering you anymore, Newton.

Let me know if I need to pay anyone else a visit.

--MD

"This isn't over!" Principal Schnauzer raged, swiping the paper back out of Newton's hands before storming away. The triplets exchanged worried looks, but Newton just stood at the base of the oak tree, too stunned to move, as his (now former, he supposed) bully dangled helplessly above his head.

[obx-adventures]

The Introverted Twin

Summary - Being John B’s bookish twin isn’t easy. Especially with my best friend, Pope, being weird about me getting closer with JJ.

Flashbacks in italics

Warning: Mild smut at the end 😁

Catch up here: Ch 1, Ch 2, Ch 3, Ch 4

——

Chapter 5

When I get back to the Chateau, I run inside to find JJ. John B calls out for me but I ignore him. I’m on a mission and not even my brother can stop me. Once I determine JJ isn’t at my house, I jump back in the van and drive to the beach. I finally find him 30 minutes later sitting alone on a pier, lost in his own thoughts.

I give myself a pep talk and remember what Sarah told me. I walk over and sit beside him, nervously reaching out to take his hand.

“Hi JJ,” I start tentatively. “I’m sorry I ran from you earlier.”

“It’s ok, Y/N,” he mutters. It makes me anxious that he is using my real name. “It’s probably best that you left.”

“J, what’s wrong?” JJ’s eyes are red and tears are streaming down his face.

“John B and I got into it after you left. He called me out on some stuff and then told me to leave.”

“Was it about me?” I whisper, afraid that I’m the source of his pain.

He doesn’t answer but turns to look at me. I reach out to brush away his tears and he shudders at my touch. We get lost in each other’s eyes for a few minutes. His are filled with emotion but he looks so conflicted. I’m overcome with the desire to kiss him, but I can’t risk doing that until I know where he stands.

“JJ, you’ve known me for a long time,” I begin anxiously. “You know that I have a hard time expressing how I feel, especially when it’s something big. But it’s you so I’m going to take a leap of faith. Is that ok?”

“Sunshine, you can tell me anything.” JJ gently squeezes my hand to encourage me.

“I… umm, shit, ok… I… damnit, I don’t know why I can’t just say what I want to,” I exclaim, frustrated with myself.

“How about I go first? Give you some time to find the words?”

I can only nod in response, frozen in my own anxiety. He’s staring into my eyes and it’s the most intimate moment of my life. It feels like he’s boring into my soul and I’m worried he won’t like what he sees.

“I want you,” he confesses. “All of you. Your amazing brain, your beautiful heart, your gorgeous eyes. I want every part of you even though I know I shouldn’t. I know that you deserve so much more than I can give you. You are supposed to be the one to get out of here and I would be an anchor around your waist. I’ve been trying to push this down and let you go. But then you look at me like you are right now and it takes everything in me not to kiss you.”

His admission gives me the boost of confidence I need to act. Before I can think too much about it, I lean in and kiss him. His lips are salty from the ocean and his tears, but they are soft and gentle. Our lips move together slowly at first and I feel his hand reach up to cradle my cheek. His thumb brushes along my jaw while he runs his tongue along my lower lip. I open my mouth to give him access and he deepens the kiss as my hands reach up to run my fingers through his hair. When we break apart to catch our breath, I lean my forehead to his and sigh in contentment.

“JJ, I think I’m in love with you,” I whisper.

“But I’m not good enough for you, Sunshine,” he whines as he pulls back from me.

“I’m the only person who gets to decide who’s good enough for me. And you’re the person I want. You pull me out of shell and pay attention to the details of my life. You planned this amazing trip to the planetarium for us even though I haven’t talked about going in at least a year. You can tell when and why I get lost in my own head and help me come back to reality. You make me laugh more than anyone else. You have this vision of yourself as a fuck up who isn’t worthy of love. But that’s so wrong. You are so amazing.”

JJ stares at me in awe. I can see that he’s trying to process everything I just said so I give him a minute. Without warning, he stands up and drags me up with him. He continues holding my hand as he walks down the pier back to the beach. We walk in silence for a while and I begin to get anxious. Suddenly, he stops walking and moves to stand in front of me.

“Sunshine, John B basically banned me from dating you,” JJ tells me as he looks down to the sand.

“Wait, what?! That chauvinistic ass! He does not get to dictate my life.” John B has always tried to protect me but this is way out of bounds.

“Let me explain a little better... After you left the Chateau, I went inside to find out where you were going. John B said he wanted to talk to me.”

“Dude, what’s the deal with you and my sister?” John B can’t unsee the confused expression on Y/N’s face when he asked if something was going on between them.

“I like her, JB, a lot,” JJ admits. “But nothing has happened between us. Sometimes I think she likes me too but then she pulls back. I don’t know, man.”

“JJ, you can’t fuck around with Y/N,” John B knows JJ wouldn’t intentionally hurt his sister, but he also knows that JJ has never committed more than one night to a girl. “You know her, and you know how you are with girls. You can’t just mack on her and then disappear. That would kill her.”

“Bro, that is not what I want.” JJ run his hand through his hair, trying to contain his temper. He can’t believe his best friend thinks that he would do that. “She isn’t the type of girl that you just mack on.”

“What happens when it falls apart? You’re my best friend but it doesn’t mean I won’t beat your ass when you hurt her.”

“Why do you think I’m going to hurt her? I’m not stupid. I know how special she is.”

“Right, she has a chance to get out of here,” John B responds quickly. He has always known that his sister’s destiny is outside the Outer Banks. “She’s crazy smart but once she commits to something, she doesn’t let it go. I don’t want her to get stuck here.”

“I don’t want to hold her back! I want more for her than this bullshit, scrimping and scraping all the time to make ends meet.”

“But she’ll stay” John B explains. “For you, she’ll stay, and she’ll never do all the shit she wants to.”

“I could go with her,” JJ pleads, unsure if he’s trying to convince his best friend or himself. “I could be part of that life.”

“JJ come on. You and I, we’re lifers here. You can’t drag her down to our level. Go think about it before you do anything stupid. I need to try to find my sister.”

I am shocked at my brother’s behavior. Shocked that he would say such hurtful things to his best friend. He knows the verbal abuse that JJ gets from his father. Why the hell would he add fuel to that fire?

“JJ, listen to me,” I tell him as I gently grab his cheeks. “Do you want to be with me? And I don’t want you to think about the reasons why you think you shouldn’t. Just a yes or no.”

“Yes, of course I do,” JJ replies earnestly. “But –”

“No buts, JJ. If you want to be with me and I want to be with you, that’s enough. The rest of the shit will get figured out.”

“What about JB and Pope?”

“I’ll deal with them. John B was right about one thing, though. Once I’m in, I’m all in. Before I fully commit, I need to know that you aren’t going to bail. Are you in this for real?”

JJ pulls me in for a passionate kiss. He’s holding my face gently with both hands and claiming me as his own. He tilts my face slightly to gain deeper access as he slowly slides one hand down to my neck and the other down to my lower back to pull me closer. With my whole body pressed against his and his tongue exploring my mouth, every part of me feels like it’s on fire. I place my hands against his chest and roam over his rippling muscles, trying to memorize every dip and curve. He slowly pulls back and returns both of his hands to my face.

“I am in, 100%. Let’s go back to my place to figure all of this out. My dad is out on a fishing trip so we don’t need to worry about him.”

“JJ, we can go to the Chateau,” I tell him, thinking he’s anxious about seeing my brother again. “I told you I’ll deal with John B.”

“Sunshine, can we just have some time together before we bring our whole world into this?” The idea of alone time with JJ sends a shiver through my body. It feels like we are in our own delicate bubble and I realize that I’m not ready for that bubble to pop yet either.

I nod at him and he pulls me along to the van. I don’t want to leave John B stranded at home, so he follows behind me on his bike back to the Chateau. I hastily write a note telling my brother that I’m ok and I’ll be back in the morning. I leave the keys and note on the driver’s seat and run over to JJ. I’m a little nervous about riding on his bike but don’t hesitate to climb on behind him and wrap my arms around his torso.

When we get to his house, JJ leads me by the hand to his room. Even though he knows his father isn’t home, he locks his bedroom door as a precaution. I haven’t been in JJ’s room since we were kids and I take a moment to explore the one space in the world that is completely his own.

I’m surprised to find so much of his personality in the room since he spends so much time at my house. He has a wall completely dedicated to the Pogues, covered in pictures and mementos of all of our adventures. I stop exploring when I see a piece of art that I don’t recognize. It’s a pencil drawing of me hunched over studying. I’m in profile, so he must have been sitting on the couch while I was studying at the table. My hair is thrown up into a messy bun, held in place by two pens. I’m wearing one of my dad’s old sweatshirts and have a pencil resting on my temple while I chew on my bottom lip.

“I didn’t know that you draw,” I say quietly as I continue to take in all the details of the picture.

“Only when I’m inspired. You were studying for the SATs the first time you took them. I think you sat in that position for 6 hours. I’m pretty sure you didn’t even know I was there. You were so focused and intent, I couldn’t help watching you and sketching. That was when I realized I have feelings for you.”

I turn to JJ and study his face. He looks vulnerable, something I’m not used to with him. I walk over and pull him into another kiss. This kiss feels different than the others we’ve shared today. JJ slowly walks me backwards until my legs bump into his bed. He guides me down to the pillow and settles next to me with one arm tucked under my neck. I turn so I can look at him and our noses are inches apart.

“You are so damn beautiful,” he whispers as his hand slowly glides down my cheek to feel along my neck. He traces his fingers along the exposed skin on my chest and I rest my hand on his waist, feeling his muscles contract as he breath shallowly. I move my hand slightly to get under his shirt and touch his soft skin. I smile when I feel goosebumps form. He follows my lead and trails his hand down my side, and I can’t help the small gasp that escapes as he brushes along the side of my breast. His hand continues down to the hem of my shirt and I sigh when his warm fingers touch my bare skin.

I lean towards his face and press delicate kisses along his cheek bones and down his jawline. I’ve never kissed someone like this, so I rely on instinct and JJ’s reactions as a guide. My mouth travels down to his neck and I slowly work my way up behind his ear. I lick along his ear lobe and he hums in response. I nibble gently along his ear and feel his hand tighten on my waist. I give him deep kisses down the side of his neck and then leave feather light kisses as I move back up to meet his mouth.

When our mouths connect, it’s like an explosion. His tongue slowly runs along my lower lip and then he catches it with his teeth. I moan as he tugs my lip slightly and I move my hand up his back. He swipes his tongue into my mouth and kisses me hungrily. I dig my fingers into his back, and he smiles against my mouth. He kisses along my cheek and then moves to the spot behind my ear. I shiver at the contact and scrape my nails down his back. He pulls me closer to him as his hand roams up my side, under my shirt. He hesitates before touching my breasts until I nod in consent. He then firmly cups my breast in his large hands and trails his finger under the top of my bra to brush against my nipple.

I throw my leg over his hip and use the momentum to flip him on his back with me straddling his lap. His hands automatically rest on my waist and his eyes are filled with lust. I grab the bottom hem of my shirt and pull it off in one smooth motion. I watch JJ take in my lace bra as his hands roam up to touch me. I lean forward and meet his mouth again as his hands explore my body. I feel his erection under my core, and I rock slightly against him, eliciting a moan.

He rolls us over and trails kisses down my neck and makes his way to my breast. He sucks my skin on the top of breast while his fingers tease my other nipple through the lace. I groan and arch my back to give him more access. He roughly pulls down the lace to swirl his tongue around my nipple while he continues to the tease the other. I drag my fingernails up the bare skin on his sides and feel him shiver. I move my hand along his waist band and hook my fingers into the top of his shorts to pull him closer.

“Wait, wait, wait,” he says as he pulls away.

“Did I do something wrong?” I ask timidly.

“Fuck no, Sunshine... we just need to call timeout.” I’ve never heard JJ sound so unsteady.

“You don’t want to keep going?” I can’t hide the insecurity in my voice.

“No, I definitely do.” He rubs my cheek tenderly with his thumb. “But I don’t want to rush into this. I want this to be different. I want your first time, our first time, to be special.”

“JJ, everything I do with you is already special,” I insist as I cup his face. “It’s not the circumstances that make something special, it’s the person that you do it with.”

“I know, I just want to do this right, is that ok?” I can tell from his voice and the way he’s looking at me that he’s as new to this as I am. He may not be a virgin, but this is still a totally novel situation for him.

“Of course, J” I cuddle into him and enjoy the feeling of his strong arms around me.

“Can I take you on a date tomorrow, Sunshine?” He traces his fingers over my still exposed skin while he awaits my answer.

“I would love that, J. I just need to go home first for a bit.”

“You going to talk to John B?”

“Yes, my brother and I will be having a firm conversation about his role in my life.”

“I don’t want to get between - ” I stop JJ with a kiss.

“Stop, don’t worry about me and John B,” I insist. “We’ll be fine. And you two will be fine.”

“What about Pope?”

“I’m not sure... The last thing I want to do is hurt him even more. He’s my best friend but I can’t make myself feel something that isn’t there.”

“He’s one of my best friends, too.” I hear the guilt in his voice. “But Pope is a good guy, he would want us to be happy, right?”

“I hope so. I’ll try to talk to him tomorrow too.”

We spend the rest of the evening talking and cuddling. I feel safe in JJ’s arms and fall asleep listening to his steady heartbeat as he combs through my hair with his nimble fingers.

Ch 6

Taglist: @agirlwholovescoffee @obxlife @meaganjm @kaelyn-lobrutto24 @velyssaraptor @lunaposey @http-cherries @prejudic3 @love-youu-softly @rudyismymanperiod @justcallmesams @celestialmaybank @yasminesameh @chaoticbisous @liloddcora

[thoughtfullyyoungduck]

Broken arm

A/N: This was requested by anon, I hope you enjoy! please let me know what you think! Also this is like my worst fear, like that sounds dumb but breaking something sounds absolutely disgusting to me. In movies if they do like sound effects of bones breaking and I know it’s coming, I mute the sound. 

summary:  i was wondering if you could write a reddie x daughter where the losers club all go out and the daughter gets hurt (maybe breaks an arm) so they all freak out and take her to the hospital, and it’s just rlly cute at the end. i just feel like i could image richie and eddie just freaking out abt what to do and not actually doing anything so the rest of the losers have to step in

warnings: mentions of a broken arm and surgories (not graphic), mentions of throwing up (but also not graphic) and some curse words and your mom joke

At least once a month, all the losers have a reunion that usually either takes place in Ben and Bev’s lake house, or in their boat. The reason it does, is because Ben and Bev combined have enough money to restore any damages that may or may not occur during these times, more often than not Richie fault.

This time however, by some unlucky draw of the hat, everyone agrees to meet up in Richie and Eddie’s home, because their daughter Alexa isn’t feeling too great, and Richie not Eddie felt comfortable relocating with her for a few days.

She had nothing major, just a stomach bug that causes her to throw up from time to time, but Both Eddie and Richie were more than ready to postponed the losers’ meeting. Alexa insisted that all the plans continued on as normal despite her feeling unwell, since she loved spending time with her uncles and aunt any time she could, and when she showed signs of her health improving, nobody cancelled anything.

With the first knock on the door, Alexa jumps up, rushing to welcome whoever has made it to their house first, ignoring how her stomach was protesting the flash movement, and she’s greeted by the sight of her best-loved aunt, which happened to be Aunty Bev. Six months into the pregnancy made Bev look bloated and tired, but her eyes lit up as soon as Alexa opened the door, bending down as best as she could to hug her back twice as hard. She’s alone, Ben had had a meeting over in Portland, and agreed to meet Bev here.

‘How’s my favorite girl doing?’ Bev asks with a huge smile on her face, her hand resting on the top of her belly softly rubbing up and down.

‘I’m okay’, Alexa insists, even though her face still looks a little pale. Eddie, who had joined the two of them at the front door, rolled his eyes begrudgingly. Insisting that she’s fine even though she isn’t must be a trait she picked up from Richie.

Staying silent however, he brings Bev into an embrace, an; ‘hey Bev’ falling from his lips in the process.

‘Richie’s out back, come in, I’ll go get him.’ Before Eddie has the chance, the next guests arrive, in the form of Patty and Stan. Stan was holding a stuffed animal, a bunny in his hands, smirking as if he already knew that he was going to be the ‘chosen’ one today.

Eddie laughs out loud, watching as his daughter’s eyes grow bigger and wide, and she excitedly begins the bounce up and down, seemingly forgetting about the sickness for a little while. In his mind, Eddie is already praising Stan, for the few moments of rest this allows his daughter to have. Sleep is nothing something that has come in large doses to her in the last two days, every single waking minute of the day being consumed with sitting next to a toilet bowl, and brushing her teeth afterwards.

Eddie also praises Stan for basically knocking down the competition before the rest of them even have a chance.

At two years old, Alexa figured out how to play her family like the harp she later maintained she wanted to practice, giving up after only two lessons. She used to go around the room and beg her uncles and aunt to play a game with her, any kind, and when they relented, the first person who did would be her go to person for the rest of the evening.

Endearing everyone’s heart, but also resulting in a rivalry, where many presents were tossed around, and Alexa was in danger of becoming a bit spoiled. Now at twelve, she’s stopped crowning anyone as her winner, yet the losers still  arranges bets on her, as if their daughter is something to bet on.

It’s all in good fun of course, and Richie himself joins in on the gamble from time to time, but for whatever reason he never guesses correctly, but Eddie has a burning suspicion it has something to do with manipulating Stan to lose. Not that his schemes work, Stan is much too smart for that.

In rapid succession, Ben follows Stan and Patty, and after him Mike emerges, and finally Bill and Audra appear from the end of the streets. A loud and ugly snort forces its way out of Eddie, when he sees the exact some bear clutched to Bill’s chests, the annoying, cocky smirk on his face he mirrored from Stan, the same one that vanishes as soon as he steps through the door, and lays his eyes upon Alexa, clasping Stan’s gift.

Richie, who had since joined the rest of the group, could not contain his laughter, finding in Bill the perfect victim to tease throughout the entire night.

Rice and chicken were on the menu tonight, a light meal that was decided in light of Alexa, but nobody complained. Despite popular belief, Richie was a very good cook, and when he prepared any meal, it was guaranteed that it would taste delicious.

Alexa ate a bit, more than she had eaten in the last few days, and Eddie sighed a breath of relief.  Years of conditioning that any sickness was going to get him killed did not disappear off the bat, so he was immensely glad his daughter was starting to feel better, even if he knew her ailment was not that serious to begin with.

After dinner, the group resides to the living room, watching a movie that Alexa had her mind set on viewing, and secretive adult talk concealed in a child appropriate package so she wouldn’t notice, making a way across each other. A normal reunion like any other.

At nine pm, unsurprisingly, Alexa got up from her seat. ‘I’m going to bed dad,’ she explains, her hand stroking Bev’s baby bump one last time, and then waving at everyone. The spot next to Beverly, the one that Alexa had claimed, so she could discuss her new best friend as she lovingly called the new baby that was yet to be burn, remains achingly open. A weird feeling creeps up the back of Eddie’s neck, ridiculously.

The losers club just doesn’t seem complete without her, even if she has only been there for twelve years. Her bedtime was around eight, but when they go on a trip, she is allowed to stay up as long she want, the fact that she turns in for the night so early, is a testimony to how bad she suffers.  

Richie started to make his way up from the sofa too, ready to tuck her in, as he did every night, but she shook her head. ‘I can go to bed alone, Pops, don’t worry.’

She gave him a kiss on his cheek, and then scampered off to the bathroom to get ready for bed. Bill chocked on his drink in laughter when he saw the fallen look on Richie’s face, disappointment coating his expressions in a grey attire.

When he dejectedly resumed his place next to Eddie, the latter patted him on the arm in sympathy. ‘It’s just because there are others here Rich. You know how ashamed she gets of you.’ The smirk cannot be contained when the words leave his mouth, even though he means nothing but lies with them.

‘And they say my jokes suck? Spaghetti, come up with new and innovated humor, like mine. Thank god she’s got some of my qualities-‘

‘she’s adopted.’

‘- don’t interrupt me Eds that’s just bad manners. I’m so sorry your mom was to busy teaching me the way around her body to teach you how to be polite but-‘

‘Beep beep asshole.’ A murmur of agreement rose up from the group, Richie flipping them the bird.

‘Whatever, you losers have no taste at all.’

Deciding to check up on her after about fifteen minutes, Eddie settles back in his seat, joining in on the conversation to his right, where Ben and Stan discuss the different plants they have in their garden, listing a bunch of flowers Eddie will never know the meaning off.  

The movie clutters on in the background, almost like a lullaby, and Eddie yawns significantly. Richie’s hand presses in the small of his back, a grounding warm signal that he was safe, even though he doesn’t mean too, he zones out, not asleep, but also not as awake as he should be.

That happens to be a mistake when he hears something slam on the floor above them, the sound of the toilet being flushed a second after. He makes eye contact with Richie, both of them realizing that that is probably the result of Alexa throwing up again.

‘Dad, Pops’, and then a loud bang, proceeded by a few thuds that can be relocated to their stairs, and a pained yell.

Richie and Eddie scramble up faster than they have ever done before, even more hurried than when Pennywise was chasing them in Neibolt. Stan, Bill and Bev scurry alongside them, to the place of the accident, every single one of them in a panicked haze.

It only takes a second to get there, in their haste, and no other sounds emerge anymore, until They run into the hallway.

Alexa is spread out across the bottom of the stairs, her arm bend in a weird position, her legs propped up as she looks around the space dazedly, as if she’s not sure what just happened.

Her faces goes through a couple of emotions, intensifying when she takes a look at her arm, but not yet crying.

Eddie is the first to reach her, and when she sees him, her lips open slightly and a wail falls out. It proves to him that she is in real, and agonizing pain. Back when she learned how to ride her bike for the first time, she had fallen many times, as kids do, but if she cried, Eddie refused to indulge her. He wouldn’t let leave or abandon her, but he would tell her that everything was fine, and that it only stung a little, and there was no need to cry.

He mostly did this to stop himself from becoming like his mother, and to allow Alexa to discover her own boundaries and which one hurt enough to actually ask help for. He never shamed her for crying either, he just tried to teach her the difference between actual pain, and being shocked from a fall.  Ever since, is she saw Eddie walk towards her, her tears stopped if it barely stung, or begin to cry if help was needed.

Now she sobs, heavy and with snot, hiccuping to catch her breaths. It only takes a look to tell Eddie everything he needs to know, she is suffering from an open fracture. The bone is not stuck outside the skin, but the bump is visible from the outside, in the same way that his bone was when he broke his arm.

All previous training flies out the window when it’s his daughter that is the one who is harmed, nothing of the medical terms he surrounded himself with in his childhood sticking, like liquid dropping from his head.

He stands there, blankly as he gazes upon his daughters still laying form, until he gets pushed back by Bill. Richie too stands frozen, trembling from head to toe, but Bev and Stan launch into action, dropping down next to Alexa, each on opposites sides.

‘What do we do, what do we do?’ Richie inquires frantically, pushing against Bills hands, to get to her, trusting Eddie for guidement. Eddie subconsciously reaches for his inhaler, and curses once he remembers that he threw his placebo away.

‘Fuck, fuck, Eddie should we snap the bone back in? It worked last time right?’ Richie reflects Eddie’s frantic, ignoring Bill’s pleas to calm down, the cries of Alexa deafening their ears, and making their heartstrings cave in.

‘What? What the fuck asshole no. That was a terrible thing to do, and you were lucky that my arm got back to normal, are you fucking kidding me you absolute moron?’

He doesn’t mean to snap at his husband the way he does, but the mantra of; this is your fault, she’s going to die, get her to a hospital now, more careful, you should force her to be more safe, in a voice that sounds an awful lot likes his mother hisses in his mind. The panic is very nearly all consuming.

‘What the fuck was I supposed to do then huh Eds? I was fucking twelve.’ Their panic-stricken words grow louder and louder, until even Alexa’s cries of agony sound quieter than theirs, they’re so consumed with worry, being oblivious to notice what Beverly and Stan are so desperately trying to convey.

‘I don’t know, not that. And you’re 43 years old, by now you should now better dickwad.’

‘Stop it’, Bill yells in the same determined leader voice that lured them into the house on Neibolt street, effectively silencing them and focusing their attention on him.

‘Your daughter needs you right now, so shut up, and do what we ask you too okay. Richie get her cloths, Eddie retrieve anything she has that helps calm her down. Alright? Okay go.’

Richie hurries to get the car as fast he can, but Eddie hesitates when he gapes at Alexa. He doesn’t want to leave her without her parents. ‘Hey’, Bill places on of his hands on Eddie shoulder, ‘we’ll take care of her for a minute okay?’

Her cries have turned into loud whimpers, her face hidden behind Stan’s body, which stops her from seeing Eddie anyway. Bev is calmly shushing her, on the phone with what must be the hospital, carefully checking her arm. Stan is trying to distract her, his cardigan being discarded towards Bev, who uses is to carefully cover the injured arm.

It looks painful, and Eddie can’t stand to think of her in pain, so he too complies with Bill’s demands, searching for the plush toy she got as a gift, and her soft blanket that she sleeps with during the winter.

When he comes back, he hears the blaring sirens of the ambulance stop outside their door, and his stomach falls when he realizes that a few hours ago, Alexa was standing in that exact spot, excited for the night.

Audra and Patty lead the paramedics into the home, apparently they had been waiting outside to help, Patty grabbing Eddie’s arm to steady herself, and maybe even Eddie, who is swaying dangerously from side to side.

He’s been through all of this before, in a way, but that seemed somehow less scary than it is now. Back then, Eddie had been glad none of his friends got hurt, so it didn’t matter that he did. Now, it’s different, but if he could somehow switch places with Alexa, he would do so in a heartbeat.

They insert an IV line and administer pain relief, Eddie assumes, since his ears seem like they’ve been stuffed full of cotton. He vaguely registers Richie’s hand in his own, all his attention pointed to watching Alexa’s face for any discomfort.

She’s placed upon a trauma board, Stan and Ben aiding to help her jolts as minimal as possible, before they carry her to the ambulance as fast as humanly possible. Eddie hopes to god, something he hasn’t believed in since he started dating Richie, that the medicine she has received knock her out, just so she’s painless the rest of the ride.

‘Dad, pops’, she wails, extending her uninjured arm to reach for the both of them. Next to him, Richie cries too.

Eddie speed walks to be by her side, grabbing her hand and pressing a kiss to it. ‘It’s okay, sweetheart, you’re going to be fine.’ He can’t help the way his voice cracks as he tries to keep his own tears at bay.

Richie also hast himself to get to her, brushing away her tears as best he can, but new ones continue to leave wet rivers on her cheeks.

After consideration, Eddie says to Richie; ‘You need to go with her,’ his words lacking any really conviction.

Richie gazes up to him in surprise. ‘Eddie?’

‘I can’t be in there, in a hospital or ambulance, but I would feel so much better if you were with her.’ The trauma lingers around Eddie like a bad stench, and he hates himself for the fact that he can’t be with his daughter. He knows Richie will keep her safe though, so if he were to go with her, maybe the grip guilt has on him will loosen.

Richie says nothing and stares for just a split second, before one of the EMT’s says they need to hurry. Then he nods, climbing on board with Alexa, but pressing his lips against Eddie’s quickly before his does.

He’s trying to convey Eddie into believing everything will be okay, but Richie isn’t sure if he believes it himself.

They have to leave then, and Eddie stares as the ambulance disappears into the distance. When he can’t see it no longer, he allows himself five seconds, and he uses those five seconds to cry upon Mike’s sturdy statues the waterfalls flowing from his eyes like they’re a rives. He can sense the others coming closer, each laying a hand on a part of his body, their silent way of telling him they’re here for them.

He feels bad for making Richie having to be the one to hold it all together, since he can’t break down in front of Alexa, but Eddie honestly didn’t have any resolution left to sit in an ambulance.

When his five seconds are up, he begs someone to drive him to the hospital, ignoring his next door neighbor who comes to check up on the commotion that was happening.

He ends up driving with Stan and Patty, in the middle backseat, where he can feel their worried gazes on him. In his mind, he is trying to recall any information about what he had to go through with his arm, but all he really remembers is that he had to have surgery.

As predicted, that is the first thing Richie tells Eddie when he finally gets to the emergency room, Richie waiting near the entrance, his hands trembling when he reaches forward to pull Eddie against him in a tight hug.

‘She needs to have surgery Eds, you have to come quick. They’re about to put her under.’ Richie informs him when he pulls back, this time reaching for his hands and pulling him in the direction of the room Alexa is in. Eddie wants to say something to his friends, but he’s already whisked away, and he just figures he’ll tell them later.

Upon entering the room, Eddie can smell the disinfected in the room, the whole room is drenched in it, but he refuses to let it deter him, so he pulls through, pulling a chair to the side of the hospital bed, resting his hand on Alexa’s shoulder. Richie goes for her hand on her good arm, his thumb sweeping the back of her hand back and forth.

‘hey, honey, how are you?’

Alexa lets her head fall sideways, her eyes dropped with exhaustion, she hasn’t received any anesthetic, so Eddie assumes that it’s the adrenaline that has worked off.

‘I’m scared dad,’ she tells him truthfully, squeezing Richie’s hand tight while not looking him in the eyes.

‘It’s okay to be scared baby,’ Eddie soothes her, pressing a soft kiss on her forehead. ‘I had to same thing happen to me when I was little.’

Her lips tug upwards in a faint smile. ‘I know, pops told me.’

‘It wasn’t that scary anymore. Not when getting into the hospital. I just fell right asleep, and when I woke up, the pain was dulled.’

‘I’m not in so much pain right now though, can I not avoid the surgery?’ Eddie’s heart breaks once again, and he wishes so bad he could heed his daughter from this, but it has to happen, there’s no other option.

‘That’s cause you’re on a lot op pain medication kiddo, but as soon as they’re worn off, you’ll feel it again.’  Richie heavily admits, the lines on his face have turned more prominent, the night taking ten years of their lives away from them.

‘Like I said, you’ll just go to sleep, and when you wake up, we’ll be here.’ Eddie tries to convince her one last time, and with a heaved sigh, she relents.

Just in time, for the nurse sticks her head through the door, her smile apologetic.

‘Alexa Tozier-Kaspbrak? I’m sorry, but we really have to get her upstairs now.

‘You’ll be fine bucko, We won’t be fare okay?’

‘And remember we love you okay?’

‘I know dad, Pops, I love you too.’

When they wheel Alexa away in her hospital bag, the other losers wave at her from behind the glass door, sticking their thumbs up in good luck, while Alexa waves at them as best she can.

‘She’ll be okay’, Richie insists as he pulls Eddie close to him by the waist, pressing his nose in his hair to comfort himself.

‘I really hope so Rich, I’m scared.’

‘Don’t be Eds, she’s your kid, she’s so strong, this is just a minor setback. I love okay, we’ll get through this together.’

‘I love you too.’

Later, when Alexa is back in her room, falling asleep on her own this time, and Eddie watches Richie’s lanky from twist in half to rest his head on the bed, the rest of his body in an uncomfortable hospital chair just to be close to their daughter, he thanks whoever is listening that he got this family; He would never trade them for anything in the world.

He’s mumbling to the both of them, a stupid story about Richie and his childhood, because Alexa had once told him she slept best with some background noise. Twirling the same piece of hair over and over again, he presses another kiss to her head, thankful that’s okay. 

He nearly thinks of his mother, and how much he would have loved to see her face if she ever saw him like this. Gay, married, with a child and in a hospital. But then he banishes her to the back of his mind. She is not worth any ounce of his thoughts. 

 Alexa shifts in her sleep, relaxing into the movements, and Eddie can’t do anything but mumble out in pure adoration; ‘I promise, I’ll never be like my mom, I love you and your pops too much for that.’ 

[aliciameade]

Santa's Little Helper - Merry Pitchmas 2019

Merry Pitchmas to @brandneweyesx! 

Summary: Beca needs to earn some extra cash so Chloe hooks her up with a job at the mall. And maybe her motives aren't totally innocent.

Rated: T

(Also on AO3)

“Just cover me one more time; you know I’m good for it,” Beca says, giving her best big doe-eyes that she knows will win over Chloe. She doesn’t take advantage of the known weakness that often, but it’s useful when she does.

She watches Chloe sigh yet nod in agreement. “Okay. You know, if you’re so broke, I could try to put in a good word at a few of the stores in the mall. They all staff up for the holidays.”

Beca’s instinct is to reject it; she’s busy enough as it is with figuring out how the Bellas will defend their national title and repeat as champions. Oh, and attending class. She does that most days, too. She’s also flat broke as a result of her packed schedule and Chloe’s paid Beca’s share of the Bella house bills for the last three months.

“Fine,” Beca says, resigned. “But nothing lame like Cinnabon or hocking hand lotions at a kiosk. Get me in at Journeys or Sunglass Hut. Somewhere I can get a discount on stuff I actually want to buy.”

She smiles into Chloe’s shoulder when she gets tackled by a wholly unnecessary and welcome hug. “I’ll do my best. I can’t believe we’re going to work together!”

“Do not get me a job at Victoria’s Secret.”

“What—too tempting to look at all the pretty girls?”

“Shut up,” Beca huffs while pushing Chloe off her. She schools her face into a strong pout with a hefty glare that earns her a giggly kiss to her cheek.

“Don’t worry,” Chloe says, voice dropping to a whisper, “your secret’s safe with me.”

Beca’s pout turns into a furious blush. She’s still getting used to the whole someone-knows-she’s-gay thing. Chloe was the first—and remains the only—person she’s come out to. It’s been kind of nice getting to talk about it, even if it feels a lot like learning to ride a bike without training wheels.

It’s helped that Chloe had made no secret about her own bisexuality, and her current favorite hobby is quietly pointing out (or texting pictures of) girls she thinks Beca might find attractive and prodding her for an opinion. It’s also often accompanied with, “I can talk to her for you if you want.”

Beca’s been dismissive of the options, begrudgingly admitting that, “Yes, that girl is pretty,” but, “No, please don’t talk to her for me.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” is the reason she provides when Chloe asks why not.

“What if we went on a date instead?” is the answer she wishes she could give,” but, “No, please don’t talk to her for me.”

“I don’t think I’m ready for that,” is the reason she provides when Chloe asks why not.

“What if we went on a date instead?” is the answer she wishes she was brave enough to give instead.

“Okay, no lingerie stores,” Chloe laughs, interrupting Beca’s thoughts. “Let me see what I can rustle up for you.”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

When Beca shows up at the mall the following Thursday afternoon, she’s there via what seems like one step away from an illegal hustle based on the lack of information provided by the man who had called her.

“Southeast entrance. 4:00. Ask for Randall.”

Turns out the southeast entrance isn’t where she’s going; a man identified as Randall leads her through a service entrance and into a network of nondescript, neutral-colored hallways. She’s considering texting Chloe and asking what exactly she’s about to walk into or if she needs to have her family prepare ransom money when Randall pushes open a door into an employee locker room.

Her apprehension eases considerably at the normalcy that comes with it. Just walls of blue lockers, a few benches, and a vending machine.

“163,” he says, pointing vaguely.

“They’re assigned? What is this, high school?” she asks with a laugh, only he doesn’t laugh back and she sobers, apprehension immediately returning. She follows his orders though, glad to put some distance between them, and pops the latch on locker 163.

“What is this?” she asks, pointing at its contents as she turns around, but Randall is already leaving and has offered no further instruction or clarity. “Cool, cool, cool,” she says with a nod as she turns back to face her reality.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“We need to talk,” she texts Chloe, accompanied by a photo of the atrocious red and green outfit hanging in her locker before stuffing her phone into the pocket of her green skirt (at least it has pockets). The candy cane-striped leggings are itchy, the corsetted top is, in her opinion, too racy for Christmas, and honestly, don’t even get her started on the hat.

At least she can wear her own boots.

Unsure where to go, she stomps out the same exit Randall had gone and nearly runs into the man waiting on the other side of the door.

“Let’s go,” he says before dialing a number on a weirdly out-of-date flip phone.

“So, are you going to tell me what’s going on? I mean, I have a pretty good idea but it’d be nice to know—“

She stops mid-sentence when a door opens and she’s pushed (not led) right into the open floor of the shopping center just meters away from what is clearly the back of the mall’s installation of Santa’s Workshop, a noisy, bright monstrosity designed as a cash-grab for parents who need Instagram content. She’s avoided it like the plague every season while shopping, and now it seems the avoidance has ricocheted back upon her ten-fold.

She turns around looking for Randall but he’s gone and the door she was booted through is closed and the only thing left for her to do is to explore the obvious: she approaches the back door of the workshop and knocks while considering ding-dong-ditching.

The door swings open and a man that looks to be about her age, maybe a bit younger, sticks his head out. He’s dressed similarly but has a noticeable amount of rouge on his cheeks and he’s definitely wearing body glitter. “Beca?”

“Uh, yeah.”

“Just in time; I need a damn break. Get in here.”

She’s half-pulled into the structure which is much less magical inside than its exterior, save for a few deliberately placed decorations that can be seen if one looks in from the front windows. There are a couple of overstuffed chairs, a Christmas tree, a fake fireplace,  and a plain table and chairs that sit in the back out of sight for employees. “Um, I don’t really know what I’m doing here. Literally and figuratively,” she adds hoping for at least a smile but instead, she gets a blank stare.

“You’re an elf. Go be an elf.” With that, her new, nameless coworker disappears out the back as if such an explanation is suitable for someone’s first day on a job, as basic as it might seem.

“And a Merry Christmas to you,” she says with a sarcastic bow in his direction. She checks her phone expecting a response form Chloe but she hasn’t replied so she does the only thing she can do.

She puts her phone away and opens the front door of Santa’s Workshop to the cheers (and screams) of children and a loud, “Ho, ho, ho! Here’s another of my little helpers!” from an unimpressive mall Santa who looks at her with what should be a criminal level of disdain. Or pity. “Well, let’s not keep the good girls and boys waiting!” He gestures at the line that has no end in sight and Beca figures there’s only one thing to do.

“Okay, little guy,” she says, reaching out to take the hand of the next child in line, “let’s visit Santa!”

She’s going to have some very strong words for Chloe when she sees her tonight.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

“Dude, you said you were going on a break! It’s been at least two hours,” she whispers harshly under her breath when the elf she replaced returns. All he offers is a shrug and takes up a position at the front of the line to pass off the children to Beca.

At least she doesn’t have to walk back and forth trying to control the kids anymore. If they make it as far as her, most of them are agreeable to her lifting them on to Santa’s lap without too much of a fuss.

Her back is aching by the time someone tells her that she can take a dinner break and her hands are so uncomfortably sticky that she knows she’s destined to wake up puking tomorrow thanks to some illness she’s acquired. She pushes through the front door of the workshop and makes a beeline for the giant pump bottle of hand sanitizer, briefly considering bathing with it but settles on slathering it only on her hands and arms.

A check of her phone reveals to her her worst nightmare.

A photo, sent from Chloe, of Beca standing on the porch of Santa’s Workshop looking less than impressed by her situation, staring off into the distance contemplating her existence.

Only the photo was sent to the Bellas’ group chat, not just Beca, and there are at least fifty texts of varying levels of amusement and threats of blackmail that follow it.

She’s typing out a message intended just for Chloe to convey her irritation as she exits through the back door only to find the would-be recipient of her words waiting for her wearing exactly the smile Beca imagined her sporting when she sent her evil, evil photo to the girls.

“You!” she growls, her stride changing to stalk toward her co-captain. “You knew about this!”

“You asked me to get you a job, Bec!” Chloe says, voice so high and eyes so bright with mirth that it’s impossible for Beca to maintain any level of ill-will toward her. “So I got you a job.”

Beca pokes her squarely in the chest. “This wasn’t what I had in mind.”

“No?”

“I specifically said nothing lame.”

“It’s not lame,” Chloe grins. “I love Christmas!”

“Right. You love Christmas.”

Her correction goes unnoticed (or ignored) by Chloe. “I knew you’d make a good elf.”

Beca crosses her arms. “And why is that? Choose your words carefully.”

“Because I knew you’d look adorable in the costume.” Her eyes roam Beca in what feels like a slightly invasive manner. “And I was right.”

Beca blushes despite herself. “I look like an idiot.”

“But an adorable idiot. Are you on break?”

Beca lets her comment slide. “Yeah.”

“Awes. Me, too. Let’s go to the food court.”

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

Beca should have known that going to the food court in full elf attire would garner attention, especially from children. They flocked to her asking about Santa like pigeons to tossed breadcrumbs and if not for the stupidly cute way Chloe watched her while it happened, she would have probably done something to get herself fired on her first day, like yelling that Santa isn’t even real and to get the fuck away from her.

“You know you owe me. Big time,” she says as Chloe walks her back to the workshop.

“If I’m not mistaken, you actually owe me. That’s why you’re here.”

“Right,” Beca grumbles.

“But seeing you dressed up like this is definitely worth more than the money you owe me. Let’s call it even.”

“What? Dude, no,” Beca says, feeling immensely guilty that Chloe’s offering to forgive the nearly $100 she owes. “I’ll pay you back.”

She feels Chloe grab her hand once they’re behind the workshop and sidle up alongside her to whisper conspiratorially. “Tell you what: give me a private tour of Santa’s Workshop after you close. Then we’ll call it even.”

Beca’s stomach flip-flops, maybe from the mall sushi she just ate or maybe from Chloe being so close and sounding so suggestive. “I don’t think I’m supposed to do that.”

Chloe clicks her tongue and the fact that it happens so close to Beca’s ear makes her shiver. “Everyone knows Santa’s Workshop after-hours is the place to be. You just have to know someone to get in. And now I know you.”

Beca can’t help but smirk a little. “You make it sound like it’s the hottest new club.”

“Well, maybe not quite,” Chloe says with a shrug and puts a bit of space between them once again. “But I do want to see it.”

“It’s just a big empty box.”

“Then who cares if I see it?” Damn Chloe and her logic.

“Fine. What time does this thing close? I don’t even know who my supervisor is. Or when my shift ends.”

“Mall closes at 9:00. Santa at 8:30.”

Beca checks her very non-elf-like watch and groans that it’s only 6:30. “Then meet me here at 8:30.”

Chloe gives her one of her excited squeals and a kiss on her cheek before scampering away back toward her much less lame job at Aeropostale with a wave.

~-~-~-~-~-~-~

She spots Chloe spying on her in the open plaza of the mall when she’s helping the other elf close up the workshop (which involves little more than placing a sign in front of the door that reads Santa’s checking his lists - come back tomorrow!) and she throws a glare or two her way.

Chloe laughs at them and when Beca disappears into the workshop house to exit through the back, she sees Chloe all but skipping around it to meet her. Beca lets her fellow elf depart first who stops when he almost bumps into Chloe waiting at the back door. Beca’s immediate reaction is to panic that she’s in trouble but instead, he turns around smiling and says, “Nice one, honey. And on your first day.”

She doesn’t have a chance to ask what he means because he’s out the door and Chloe’s stepping in, closing it behind her.

“Why did he look at me that way?” Beca asks, trying to catch sight of him through a side window as he departs.

“I don’t know,” Chloe says airly. “This is cool!”

“Uh, sure,” Beca says as she steps aside so Chloe can explore what little there is to the place. She watches her try out both chairs, wondering aloud which one is Santa’s and which one is Mrs. Claus’s while taking more than one selfie.

“Come sit on my lap,” Chloe says and it makes Beca wonder if she heard correctly.

“What?”

“Come on,” she repeats, patting it. “Don’t think I’m not getting a picture with Santa’s cutest elf in his workshop.”

“Oh, my God, stop,” Beca says with a roll of her eyes. “I’ll do it, but only if I get photo approval.”

“Deal,” Chloe grins, holding out her arms expectantly.

As if it’s really some big chore for Beca.

She perches cautiously on Chloe’s knee only to get pulled back until Chloe’s arm is around her waist, the other poised in the air with her phone at the ready.

“Say, ‘Have a holly jolly Christmas!’”

“Not saying that,” Beca says but she smiles for the photos anyway.

A few minutes and many photos (and one photo approval) later, Chloe has a new Instagram post and Beca has days of ridicule lying ahead. She’s also still basically on Chloe’s lap, the two of them shifting to share the chair, though Beca’s legs have to drape awkwardly over Chloe’s to fit.

“You know,” Chloe starts as she wiggles to get her phone into her pocket, “I’ve worked at this mall for three Christmases and I’ve never been invited to the workshop.”

“Should I know why that’s significant?”

“Well,” she says as she settles again, her free hand now taking up Beca’s to start playing with her fingers absentmindedly, “this is totes the make-out spot in the mall.”

Beca nearly chokes. “What?”

“I told you: it’s VIP. You have to be invited. It’s like, the law of the mall.”

“And you thought making me an elf would get you in? Dude, I’m not going to be a lookout while you hook up with someone in here.”

“No, silly,” Chloe laughs. “I didn’t mean that. I wanted you to invite me.”

Beca feels like her ears are on fire. “What?”

“You wanna make out?”

Beca’s sure she’s now entirely engulfed in flames, and Chloe’s hand resting on her hip isn’t helping matters. “Dude, what?”

“We don’t have to,” Chloe quickly follows with. “Unless...unless you want to? Maybe? I’m not trying to make anything weird, I just thought, you know, I like you, and now that I know you like girls, too, I just thought maybe...”

Beca’s brain tunes out after that because Chloe’s turned from a giggly, cuddly friend to a rambling ball of nerves; she can even feel how tense Chloe is beneath her. She tunes out because Chloe’s asking Beca if she wants to kiss. Each other. And something about Chloe having thought about it?

“Okay.” She doesn’t know where the word comes from but her brain spits it out and it cuts off Chloe.

“...Okay?” Chloe repeats slowly, as though unsure she heard what she thinks she heard.

Beca feels seconds from full-on panic so she just nods.

“Oh. Cool,” Chloe says, the uncertainty and tension starting to ease. “So…”

“So…” Beca repeats and finds herself adjusting her position next to Chloe so they’re less cheek-to-cheek and more face-to-face.

Or lips-to-lips, as it were. Not that she’s thinking of such things. Mostly her heart os pounding in her ears and her stomach is tingling because there’s no doubt that Chloe’s staring at Beca’s mouth with intent and there’s getting to be less and less distance between them.

Beca holds her breath when they’re so close she can feel Chloe’s. But then Chloe stops.

“Are you sure?” she asks and Beca almost laughs.

“Chloe.” She hears herself and is embarrassed by how whiney it sounds but it makes Chloe’s soft lips split into a grin.

“I just wanted to hear you beg,” she whispers before erasing the last inch between them to press her lips to Beca’s.

Beca’s still reeling from the fact that Chloe is kissing her when her sassy and startingly sexy words register with Beca. She starts to pull away with a grunt of protest, not of the kiss but of Chloe’s cockiness, but Chloe laughs against her lips and slides the arm that’s been around Beca’s waist higher up her back so she can’t get far.

Beca doesn’t really want to get away from Chloe anyway. Or stop what’s currently happening. Because Chloe’s lips feel amazing touching hers and just when Beca starts to sink into it, Chloe changes things up and tilts her head in a way that makes them fit even better.

The sound Beca makes at the touch of Chloe’s tongue to her lips is just as embarrassing as whining about Chloe teasing her but the sound Chloe makes in response is the sexiest thing Beca’s ever heard.

It fuels her. Emboldens her to press a bit forward, to part her lips and let Chloe in to meet her tongue with her own.

That’s all it takes for them to be making out in the darkened Santa’s Workshop. A rambly suggestion and Beca nodding like a bobblehead. If she had known it would be that easy, maybe they could have done this a long time ago.

Not that she has any regrets. Not when Chloe’s tongue is playing with hers in a way that makes Beca think she might be showing off. Or maybe Chloe’s just an amazing kisser.

(She’s pretty sure it’s the latter.)

She doesn’t know how much time passes but eventually Chloe is the one to pull back with a satisfied-sounding groan. “God, that was really good,” she says before leaning in to kiss Beca again, a hard, fast, wet kiss that turns Beca on more in those three seconds than everything prior.

“Yeah,” Beca replies and she can hear in her own voice how breathless she sounds.

“And you look...smokin’ hot dressed up like this.”

Beca almost finds enough snark left inside her to turn that into a comment about Chloe having a weird Christmas kink, except as soon as she thinks about Chloe having kinks of any kind, her mind shuts down again and she’s the one suddenly kissing Chloe, hard, fast, and wet.

Chloe groans again when Beca pulls back and it’s all she can do to not lean right in for more. It feels too good and knowing it’s affecting Chloe like it’s affecting Beca is even better. She manages to refrain, though, because she’s noticing how dark it’s gotten. “Dude, they turned off all the lights.”

“Mall’s closed,” Chloe says, voice sounding as dreamy as she looks.

“And it’s okay for us to still be here?”

“Security will let us out. Do you want to do this again?” Chloe’s question follows her comment about security with no warning and it catches Beca off-guard.

“Uh, I mean…” she stumbles over what she should say; she doesn’t want to sound like the horny college student she is, and she doesn’t want to sound like she’s rejecting Chloe’s offer (?), but she definitely wants to do this again. “Amy’s crashing at Bumper’s tonight,” is how she answers it and it’s not until Chloe’s eyes go wide with surprise that she realizes how that sounded.

“I just meant...oh, my God,” she rushes, trying to figure out how to explain that she didn’t mean it ‘that way’ except she kind of did, just not all-the-way that way. Except despite tonight being their first kiss, she’s pretty sure she would sleep with Chloe tonight if things went that direction.

It’s not like she’s never thought about it.

“I just meant we can hang out in my room and be alone and see what happens.”

Chloe’s smiling at her struggle to answer and it only grows. “‘See what happens’? What if what happens is more of that?”

Beca thinks it’s a dumb question. Dumb dumb dumb. “Then that would be fine,” she says with a nod.

“Then let’s go home,” Chloe whispers before pulling Beca into one more kiss, all of it leaving Beca’s legs unsteady when she finally rights herself so they can leave the workshop.

“I can’t get over this,” Chloe says with a tug to Beca’s skirt before standing up as well. “Can you keep it on when we get home?”

“In your dreams.”

Chloe hums thoughtfully as she takes Beca’s hand to lead her out of the workshop and through the hidden hallways of the mall to the exit. “Oh, it will be.”

Beca has a lot of questions about that: what exactly she means, what exactly she’d be dreaming of, what exactly what’s happening means for them as friends, and if it means something more.

Instead of asking about any of that, however, she says, “I didn’t forget what you did. You’re not off the hook for this elf thing.”

The look Chloe tosses her over her shoulder makes her breath catch. “Guess I’ll have to make it up to you.”

The End

[bowieandqueen11]

Stick Together/ Bill Denbrough x Reader

Prompt: Hi there I love you’re writing! ❤️😍 Could you do one with Bill Denbrough where every time he tries to ask the reader out he becomes a stuttering mess until one day he is feeling confident just blurts it out? Basically just lots of fluff. If not that’s okay

Hey @disneyfan567 darling thank you so much!! This is so so cute my little Bill needs so much more fluff :’)

Sitting near the quarry, Bill swings his legs over the rocky cliff edge, peering down at the vast drop that bellows below him like a monster ready to suck him down into the depths, his heart fluctuating and almost as empty as the rugged walls that surround him. He shifts uncomfortably against the stones and sand that prick like millions of little pins against his hands, the sun shining down on this ethereal summer’s day and bouncing on thin rays over his eyes, the warming breeze tingling against the goosebumps of his arms. Richie lies next to him, a thin blade of glass clenched between his teeth as the radio blares next to his ear, slight chuckles erupting from his mouth as he listens to his favourite comedy radio show, reminding Bill of a rusty tuba being played for the first time in years every time Richie guffaws. 

Glancing behind him, stray curls from his fringe whip against his widening eyes as he spots you sitting on a rock, gossiping with Beverly, your feet comfortably splaying over each other as you talk animatedly, the blazing blue of the sky illuminating the lines of your bright, free, youthful face as Bill’s heart starts performing back flips. Lost in his daydreams, his eyes trained on focusing on your cherry lips as he raises his arm, squinting, he doesn’t notice Richie sit up, a soft look lining his blank face as he elbows Bill gently in the ribs. As Bill jumps back slightly, confusion furrowing his eyebrows, Richie’s finger reaches up to push his glasses back up the brow of his nose before saying, ‘now’s your chance, Big Bill.’ Swallowing thickly, Bill climbs to his feet, moving towards you as he dusts the dirt off his knees lightly. Stopping in front of you, breaths laboured and hands shaking slightly by his side, he steps back softly as your laughter reaches his ears like the twinkling of little fairy rings. 

‘Hey Billy Boy, are you okay?’ you ask with a slight giggle, turning your body away from a winking Bev and twisting to face the boy who looks like he’s either in severe pain, or is about to faint. He sways on the spot slightly, his head light as he begins to stutter out a ‘w-w-wo-wou’. He stops, squeezing his eyes shut and shaking his head slightly, his hands balling into fists by his side as he hears Richie burst out into light laughter behind him, shouting in his english gentleman voice, ‘get in there, mistah!’ As your soft peals of giggles at Richie’s anticts reach his ears, a slight blush rises up his cheeks like hot lava before he turns on his heel and walks away with a slight wave.

‘You’re standing in millions of gallons of Derry pee.’ Bill ignores Eddie and Richie’s little argument, turning away from Stan’s shaking head and eye roll to focus back on you, overjoyed that you had been the first to eagerly agree to look for Georgie down in the Barrens, his white shirt sticking to his chest in both the summer heat, and swelling nerves. As he drops the stick holding Betty Ripsom’s shoe, his eyes closing slightly in pain as he takes a deep shaking breath, stepping further into the concrete cylinder that seems to be growing smaller with each step, closing in on him like a collapsing tunnel as the high sound of Eddie’s squeals fade away into the safe distance. Hand clawing slightly on his throat, his sneakers splash through the muddy water, wading through the muck to come to rest next to you, his eyes confused at the intense concentration that laces your features as you step further into the darkness. Stepping hesitantly forward, a loud bang makes him jump towards you and entangle his slender fingers quickly within your own, his lips opening as you jump into his hammering chest. As the remnants of a burst red balloon reading ‘WE LOVE DERRY’ fall into the dank brown sludge of the sewer floor like little droplets of blood, his breath brushes against your forehead as he stops to gaze down at you, fingers shaking against your arm as his brain tries to comprehend how close you are to him. 

‘Ar-ar-are you al-al-right, y/n’ he says, proud of himself for not stumbling over your name. As you gaze into the darkness, nodding your head slightly in disbelief as you swear you see two glowing eyes fade into the inky black behind the thick steel bars, Bill takes this as a sign to try and ask you ‘would-would you like to g-g-get out of h-’

‘Holy shitballs! Are you guys okay?!’ Bill sighs slowly, his chest deflating as he lets go of your arms, turning to shoot daggers at Richie who runs over to the two of you like a deer learning to walk for the first time, Eddie nearly slamming into his shoulder with a panic stricken look as he comes to a sudden halt. ‘We should get out of here guys! No offence Bill, but it’s summer, this is gross and disgusting and I really don’t feel like going missing two weeks before my Bar Mitzvah’ Stanley shouts from the tunnel entrance. Bill shakes his head lightly, before leading the group out of the sewers.

Silver glides through the streets as quick as a bullet, it’s rusting joints shaking lightly in the inky night with the effort of carrying Bill, it’s wheels bouncing over the slight bumps and dips of the Derry roads, spitting out pieces of gravel as Bill pedals as fast as his lanky legs could move. Gazing up at the stars that bathe his tear stricken face in silver light rippling out into the freezing night, the trees moaning and shaking in the chilly wind like the groans of tormented spirits, Bill moves his feet against the metal until he can’t feel them anymore, trying to forget all the pain that had been brewing up inside his heart. He couldn’t do this anymore. He couldn’t deal with being a ghost in his own home, his dad brushing him off anytime he asked if he could help with any electric jobs, or trying to avoid seeing his mother sitting on the edge of Georgie’s bed, his little toy turtle grasped tightly in her hand as the echoes of long lost piano notes of happier times rebound through the silent halls, guilt and pain rising inside his young and innocent frame. It isn’t fair, he’s not a leader, he’s just a scared little child like the rest of the losers club, he shouts into the night, and yet everyone looks to him for guidance, his head screaming, lost and confused as he pedals towards your house. Dumping the bike on the ground, tripping over his shoelaces before picking up soft pebbles and throwing them with surprising certainty towards your window, he waves up at you as your bedside light flicks on.

Pushing his tall frame gently onto your lumpy mattress, fear and confusion written on your face as he gazes around your room, his cheeks flushing slightly as he sees the pictures of you two from the summers before when he felt free and happy tacked to your bed frame, a sudden confidence bubbles down from deep inside him as he realises something. Life isn’t fair, sure he knows that by now, and terrible things happen to good people, but he has to move past all this anger that’s been clouding his judgement and vision for months. He knows now that no matter what happened in the coming weeks, whether he’ll grow up to stay in Derry or, with Pennywise having broken up the group, would grow up at all, he couldn’t do any of it without you by his side for a second longer.

‘He-he thrusts his f-f-fists against the p-p-post.’ 

‘Are you okay Billy?’

He looks up at you, eyes clouding with soft dew drop tears as he stands up, breathing lightly against your cheek as he whispers quietly, ‘can I kiss you?’

Your face lights up in shock as you nod, your mouth breaking out into a huge grin as he swoops down, his blue eyes sparkling like the limitless sky, the light reflecting like marshmallow clouds puffing by as he holds your waist so lightly and delicately he fears you may disappear from his grasp if he lets go, his lips coming down to press a chaste and sudden kiss against your lips. Pulling back, he cups your cheek gently, his hair straggling down past his forehead flecked with woven gold as you push it away from his eyes, a bliss you haven’t seen from him since Georgie’s death radiating from every fibre of his being as a grin lights up his face.

[alltheprettygirlsintheworld]

The Return of Pestilence (Bringing Ruin in Her Wake)

This was written by me when I was stuck inside my house dealing with everybody panicking over the whole COVID-19 thing. Basically it was a coping mechanism in which I placed all the blame for recent events on one of the four horsemen coming out of retirement. I would love it if you guys would give it a read.

~*~

Pestilence was coming out of retirement.

The "order" had come a few months after the apocalypse hadn't happened and everyone had returned to their normal activities. She had been hiding in her favorite little corner of Earth, laying on a beach and watching as tourists got food poisoning from questionable vendors, when The Feeling came again. It was a Feeling that she had always had, the one that told her when she should get moving again after a break. It had come in Egypt when she was working the plagues, it had come later in Sparta when she decimated their troops, and over and over it went. She never knew what to call the Feeling, but she knew that her former co-workers got it too (Famine had told her as such back when they had all worked together). She stood up from her lawn chair, making sure to leave a case of stomach flu behind as she smoothed out her dress and got to work.

She had retired back in the 1920's when that bastard Alexander Fleming had "discovered" Penicillin and suddenly she had gone from being a powerful, respected, feared member of the Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse to a minor inconvenience who most could send away with a little shot. She had been so proud of her work on Influenza, and to see what had once been a mighty disease that brought terror into the homes of millions reduced to a mere virus was heartbreaking.

Pestilence had reappeared a single time since she had announced her retirement. In the 1980's, War had tracked her down, telling her how ripe the world was for a new infection and oh, couldn't she please come back just for a little while? She had never been able to say no to War. Pestilence created a disease called AIDS, which she still claimed was one of the most creative diseases she had ever made, and then she had said goodbye and went on her merry way. But she knew that this new virus had to be different, not stronger, not more intense, but something that people would be more likely to ignore until the last minute. It had to be something they had never seen before, something that they wouldn't be expecting. She smiled when she was finished, it wasn't much, but it would do its job. She sent it to War to do as she wished. Now, time to sit back and see what happened.

Damn, she had forgotten how much fun this was. Within months, her little pet project had gone from a small little virus of little concern, to an international pandemic. The humans were panicking in a way that Pestilence hadn't seen since she had made the black plague. It was... refreshing, to be busy again, to be doing big work instead of spending her time making petty little one-off diseases. The people were panicking, and Pestilence hadn't been this happy in a very long time.

It wasn't long before she got a call. The gang wanted to meet up while she was still here. Pestilence found them all waiting for her at a truck stop in Idaho; in the absolute middle of nowhere surrounded by dying corn with a sign that said "HELL IS REAL" next to the parking lot. So much for subtle. She did have to admit, the biker thing was fun, so much faster than the old horses. She walked into the truck stop where the three of them were waiting for her. They all stood up as she walked in. Famine greeted her with a hollow smile, War with a wink, and Pollution leaned over and kissed her on the cheek. Death wasn't there, he never showed up for their little meetups even in the old days. Seems like that hadn't changed.

"Pestilence, darling," Pollution said, taking her hand as she sat down. "Lovely to see you again, it's been far too long."

"Yes well, there hadn't been much need for me in a very long time. But here I am now!" She smiled at the group, and Pollution squeezed her hand. She and Pollution had tag-teamed the job during the industrial revolution. The factories that the humans were building had given Pollution a job promotion, and the bad conditions that came from them had given Pestilence the perfect place to work. They had fun together, and damn did they do their work well.

"Speaking of," said Famine, taking a sip of his chocolate shake. "What brought you back?"

"Oh, you know how it is. I just had a Feeling that it was time for me to get back to work."

"I understand," said War, twirling a strand of her hair. "I played around a bit earlier this year, but decided to pull away at the last minute. I had a Feeling that something bigger was coming." She smiled and wiggled a finger at Pestilence, "and I was right! Here you are."

"Well, I can't stay very long, you know how things are." The horsemen nodded. "Speaking of which, I don't think there have been many cases in Idaho. Looks like I should change that." She stood up, winking at Pollution as she turned towards one of the truckers and beckoned him over with. He would have to do for now. She asked him for directions to some random place nearby, running her fingers over the man's hand flirtatiously as he gave her directions, and then invited her to meet him at a bar there. She politely declined, taking a step back from the man, but not before blowing him a kiss laced with her new virus. That was all it took on her part. He would realize what had happened in about two weeks, and by then who knew who he might have infected. Pestilence turned around and rejoined the other horsemen at the table. She offered her hand to Pollution, who stood up.

"One more ride, for old time's sake?" Pestilence offered.

"As if you even need to ask."

Pestilence smiled and stepped outside, hand in hand with Pollution and with War and Famine behind her. She looked out to the corn, and for just a second she thought she saw Death among the stalks. She nodded in his direction, and she thought that he nodded back before disappearing once again. She mounted her bike, and the others followed suit, grinning all the while. She hit the gas and then they were off. After all, no matter what she did or whoever came along, she was still a horseman of the Apocalypse, and she would bring ruin in her wake. 

~*~

Read on Ao3 here

[clean-bands-dirty-stories]

Clueless ~ O.M. (Part 2)

Warnings: Fluff and awkwardness LMAO, mentions of attempted rape but not really because we’re keeping this innocent and clean and not triggering HA!

Word Count: 3400+

MASTERLIST

No one was talking. Eric had completely lost his mind, dressing down and keeping his eyes away from everyone. He was talking to Y/n though only because she followed him around, worried about him, refusing to leave his side. He took comfort in her presence as she had been the only face he could look at and see anything other than the faces of the people who attacked him. Eric was avoiding Otis and ignoring Maeve. For once, Y/n was avoiding and ignoring Maeve as well, purposefully keeping away from her even though she suddenly seemed very intent on keeping away from Otis and returning to Y/n's side. Maeve and Otis weren't talking because of their 'moment' that they both felt terrible about after Y/n's words had ripped Otis a real new one. Y/n wasn't even giving Otis the time of day, even though she almost broke several times and almost forgave him. But then she'd see Maeve or would remember the look on his face while yelling at Eric or see the faces of her would be attackers or remember the way his face light up as he talked about Maeve while her and Eric stood in front of him, about ready to break down into tears in the middle of his living room. She would remember his insults and accusations and his silence and his absence and her heart would harden again and she would be gone again.

It was the second to last class. Y/n had biology with a really odd girl, Lily. Y/n knew her mostly as the crazy girl who had tried to have sex with Eric and was in Swing Band with him, but also had personal experiences with the girl after they were paired in class the first day. They'd talked a few times and had somewhat of an acquaintanceship that was kind of awkward, distant, and strange. Lily never felt hesitation to talk to Y/n though and usually Y/n would just let her talk, giving her genuine attention and the such since she was sure Lily didn't have anyone else to talk to at all. For not being friends, Y/n knew more about Lily than she did about Otis. And she didn't like it at all.

That day, Lily was especially chatty. "I'm finally going to have sex," the girl declared with a grin.

Y/n swallowed her surprise and nodded, smiling. "Who's the lucky lad?"

Lily's smile widened. "Otis Milburn. The sex boy is a virgin. You two are sort of friends, yeah?" The smile on Y/n's face dissipated and she looked about ready to be sick. "You okay?" Lily asked, her smile fading as well as an eyebrow rose.

"Are you sure Otis agreed to have sex with you?" Y/n asked in a small voice.

The other girl scoffed in smug pride. "Yeah, I'm sure. It's going to be fantastic. We're meeting after school and-"

"Please don't go," Y/n croaked out, her hand reaching out so her fingers wrapped around Lily's wrist, clinging to her. The red head didn't seem to mind or simply didn't notice. "I know we're not close friends and you owe me nothing, but woman to woman, PLEASE don't go."

The girl paused, her eyebrows coming together. "Do you like him?" She asked after a second, finally realizing what the half nauseated, half panicked look on Y/n's face meant.

Y/n sighed, letting Lily's wrist go. "I love him," she clarified. She tried to even her breathing and keep her voice down. Lily frowned. "I've just had the most Hell year. My best friend slowly ditched me and the guy I've liked forever I fell in love with, only to have him fall in love with said ex best friend. I don't even know what happened between me and Maeve, we just suddenly stopped hanging out as if the fact neither of us had anyone else was the thing keeping us together. And then Otis ditched Eric so Eric and I became friends only to go out on his birthday and get jumped by some assholes and now Eric won’t talk to me either because he's pushing everyone away. I mean he lets me sort of hover so there’s that but everything else is a mess and dear God, Lily, please don't go. I'm barely holding onto sanity with the idea that Otis still isn't with anybody...."

After a second, Lily placed a hand on Y/n's shoulder. They made eye contact. "You never talk about yourself," the red head noted. Y/n sighed, deflating a bit. "I won't go," Lily assured and Y/n's eyes filled with tears. "But you scoop that boy up, or next time I won't be so generous. Just because you can't have him doesn't mean no one else can."

Y/n nodded. "That's fair," She croaked. "Thank you, Lily. Truly." The girl waved Y/n's thanks away without assuring her. They faced forward, Y/n collecting her emotions for a second before laughing softly to herself. "He's not ready," Y/n spoke up. "He's always felt pressured, but he can't even kiss a girl let alone have sex with one. You'd probably sit on his bed and hold hands for an hour before he'd even let you hug him."

The girls made eye contact, both smiling amusedly as they laughed softly. "Suppose he's not what I'm looking for then anyway."

After class ended and then the one after that ended and school was over, Y/n found her bike and walked to the front of the school. Here, Otis turned left and she turned right as they went to their respective houses... Would she go home and chance that Lily shows up or simply sit back and let Otis be stood up, or would she face him? Call him out? Or simply keep him company and pretend she had no idea? She stood there and debated for too long, her feet shuffling as she looked back and forth. "Oh my god, MOVE!" Someone yelled.

Y/n jumped, hopping on her bike and heading where her feet took her. Where her heart was demanding to be taken. Where in her panic her body went for safety and comfort and happiness. She went towards Otis.

When she'd arrived at his house, she wasn't surprised but she was a tad disappointed in herself. She wasn't angry with him. Not as angry as Eric was. Not as angry as perhaps she should be. She wasn't as angry as she wanted to be... not at Otis. She was angry at herself. At her emotions and feelings and thoughts and wants. She was angry that she couldn't stop herself from itching for a boy who probably wasn't even thinking about her. Y/n got off her bike, leaning it against the brick wall before quickly moving down the little hill and toward the front door... Where she locked up and froze, staring at the wood of the door like it was the distorted face of a monster from a horror movie.

What was she DOING?! Otis was expecting Lily and sex, not her. He'd ask her to leave. He'd blow her off or it would be awkward as he tried to simultaneously make things up with her and also get her to leave so that he and Lily could be alone. So that she wouldn't see Lily show up or so that he didn't have to chance Lily saying something that would give him away. There was no way he'd let her in or even care. They were barely friends! And how could she hide these demanding feelings of hers after all that had happened, when her feelings were a single breath away from bursting from her and scattering all over the floor in gory detail for everyone to see? How could she hide that she was in love with Otis Milburn while she was with him while there was so much between them but nothing that she wanted or craved- simply anything and everything else?

Just as she was about to turn around and leave, the door opened. "Jean," Y/n breathed in surprise.

The white haired woman rose an eyebrow, a small smile on her face but curiosity in her eyes at the wildly bizarre look on Y/n's face. "Y/n," she greeted in return. "Are you here for Otis?"

The same driving, basic need for Otis that had brought her here in the first place pointed out that there was really no smooth way to go from here. She was at their house and she had been caught. Perhaps she could simply say never mind and hope Jean would simply understand. Not even that was allowed, though, as Otis would hear his mother open the door and begin to talk to the new arrival and race down the stairs to interrupt her finding anything out from Lily, who he expected to be there. "Mum that's for me!" The teenager declared, looking over her shoulder as his eyes landed on Y/n, pausing in surprise. "Y/n?"

"Not who you were expecting?" The girl asked softly, smiling sheepishly.

Jean nudged Otis, not wanting the boy to mess up when it was obvious that, yes, he was, but Y/n was here and that proved an opportunity to make up with her which would lead to making up with Eric since she was the only one who could get even remotely close to the angry post birthday boy without getting somehow attacked.

Otis cleared his throat. "It's fine. Come in, do you need to talk?"

Y/n hesitated, her eyes turning back to her bike. She wished she could simply disappear and reappear next to her bike, hopping on and riding it to freedom, away from here. Otis would probably be relieved even when he was confused and disappointed when Lily wouldn't show up. She couldn't get out of it now though, so she turned back to Otis. "Sure." And Jean and Otis moved aside, allowing her a clear path into the house where she followed Otis quietly to his room. Once they were inside, Otis closed the door and clicked over the lock. Silence fell as Otis waited for Y/n, who sat on his bed for barely a full second before shaking her head, thinking of what Lily had planned for herself and Otis in this room - on that bed - and shooting to her feet again, crossing her arms over her chest and clearing her throat. A thick silence fell as Otis looked at Y/n and Y/n tried to look anywhere else, her restless body refusing to let her eyes stay on anything long. "I know about Lily."

Well that was smooth. Y/n flinched, looking at Otis with guilt and awkwardness. Otis looked panic, frozen solid. "She told you?" He asked quietly, breathlessly.

The girl nodded. "We're lab partners in biology. I'm the closest thing she has to a friend. She... has a lot to say and only I ever listen, so she tells me everything." She looked at him pointedly. "Everything."

Otis looked away. "Oh god," he whispered.

"I'm not here to judge you," Y/n spoke up firmly, finally finding her voice and confidence even though both were still fragile. Otis looked at her. "I won't tell anyone, and neither will Lily because she doesn't talk to anyone but me. I swear it. But... I'm worried about you?" Otis turned his back to her. "I'm not going to push or prod or pry, but as your-" she cut off, not sure how to title her position in his life. "I know that you're young. We're really just kids. And you're smarter and more awkward than any of the rest of us, but you don't have all of the answers. You're not supposed to. You're not supposed to be unbreakable or unwavering. You help everyone and I thought it might be nice to be the one offered the help for once."

Slowly, Otis turned back to Y/n, making eye contact with her. "Friend," he croaked. She rose an eyebrow. "As my friend."

She smiled softly. "Well then as your friend, I implore you to let this go." He sighed. "I'm serious, Otis. You're not one night stands and rushed acquaintances sloppily made for sex. You're... bright colors and pale skin and a full six feet of awkward and well meaning. You're aware and caring and protective. You're yelling at Jackson about Maeve not being a sex object, you're dressing up like a woman to go with your best friend to a revolutionary movie about finding yourself and conquering the bullshit life and what the people in it throw at you. You're pure and good and amazing- don't let the expectations of others taint and ruin that. Please."

Otis looked amazed as he watched Y/n passionately speech to him in a way that he had only seen himself do before. She had snapped in the purest way and he couldn't help but think it was- cute. The way she was protecting him from himself. How she had gone out of her way to help him even when she was struggling with so much herself. It was startling, as he had never considered her as such before. Maeve was always by her side, distracting him. Or Eric was by his side, keeping his attention. Now that they were alone with nothing else to look at or listen to, he couldn't help but see her in her full glory. And admire her, wondering how he could have missed her at all. "Y/n," he began.

"You owe me nothing," the girl whispered. "But- you can't even bring yourself to kiss a girl, Otis, this is rushed."

She was desperate now and he rose an eyebrow at her accusation, temporarily putting aside the sudden, new feelings he had while looking at her in a different light. "You think so?" He challenged.

Y/n sassily rose an eyebrow. "I KNOW so." Otis blushed and rolled his eyes and she sighed. "Fine. Kiss me then." He looked at her sharply and she felt her breath catch in her throat. "If you can kiss me, then I'll totally back off and leave you be. If you can't, then you admit that I'm right and that this is ridiculous. Because if you can't even kiss me, there's no way you'll have sex with someone you're-"

Otis moved toward Y/n suddenly, determined. Her hands fell to her side in shock as he took her face in his hands, their noses inches apart as they simply breathed. He froze, unable to close the distance as suddenly his body surged with new emotions he wasn't quite expecting. Over time, his tenderness towards Y/n had grown of course, but as Maeve made it obvious that he had no chance, taking any time to point Y/n out and push the idea of her being pretty that day or single or bored or lonely... well, Otis suspected, she was trying to set them up. It was obvious, looking back.

Now that he thought of it, Eric did a lot of the same things. Pointing her out, throwing her and Otis together. It felt so painfully obvious that it took his breath away. The comments and implications- could he really have been so totally clueless?

Her eyes were beautiful. Her parted lips were waiting for him and as she looked up at him, he noticed that he wanted to kiss her. Her skin was warm against his hand and as he looked, her lips looked incredibly soft. He wondered if they were as soft as they looked. How they would feel against his...

He panicked. Reeling back, he turned away from her as his breath came fast and hard, his eyes wide as his heart raced and rammed as if demanding to turn all of his insides out onto the floor. “I told you,” Y/n squeaked, her own heart racing as she had doubted, just for a split second, her rock hard resolve that had solidified to stone. After she had wondered, just for a split moment, if he was going to kiss her. If he wanted to her kiss her. Kiss HER, not just kiss someone... But, obviously, that wasn’t the case. She quickly realized something was wrong when Otis suddenly fell to his knees, forehead on the edge of his bed as he blinked rapidly. “Otis?” She called, moving closer and placing a hand on his shoulder. “Otis are you alright?”

“Get my mum,” he gasped. “I... I can’t breathe.”

Y/n’s eyes widened. Panic attack. Had she done that? Damnit! “Right, sorry,” she whispered, standing up to leave.

Otis suddenly grabbed her wrist. “Wait no,” he gasped out. “No I think I’ve got it just, don’t- don’t leave me. Please don’t leave.”

Sitting down softly and placing her free hand on his back, she eased, “I’m right here Otis. I’m not going anywhere, I promise.” They sat there for a while, until Otis looked at her hand in his lap, his fingers mindlessly finding themselves moving, tracing patterns on her skin without his thought or intention. Her skin was still warm, but her touch was soothing and her proximity was comforting. He didn’t want her to leave, ever. He wanted the world to continue to turn around them as they stayed there forever, close and touching and never letting go of each other. Y/n had an air about her that was just so nice. Another thing that he had failed to really take notice of but had always known in the back of his mind, too distracted by everything else to really take a good look at it like he should have.

As the sun began to fall, Jean knocked on the door. “Are you alright in there?”

“Yeah,” Y/n called back for Otis’ sake. “Just talking.”

After a second, Jean responded, “Okay.” Both teenagers could hear the smile in her voice and she blushed. They could hear her footsteps taking her away, leaving them completely alone again.

Eventually, Y/n stood. “I should go. Will you be alright?”

Otis looked up at her, nodding. “Thanks to you.”

“Oh it’s nothing,” she brushed off.

“No it’s not,” he insisted, moving to his feet as well. “You stepped in with Lily and knocked some real sense into me. You were there for me when I needed you...” His face grew sad. “Ever since we’ve been running in the same group, you’re there for every one of us. Me, Maeve, Eric. I- I’m sorry I wasn’t there for YOU, that night. Truly.”

Y/n smiled softly. “I know. I’m not mad. I should be, but you’re hard to hate, Milburn.” Otis chuckled. “I’ll see you at school.” He nodded, putting his hands in his pocket as she turned around to leave.

“Wait,” he suddenly rushed, moving close to her. She turned to face him. “Your phone, may I see it? I want to give you my number. I don’t think I ever have, all this time.” She grinned, unlocking her phone and then handing it to him. He put in his name and number then handed it back. When she got it, she hit the save button. “Text me?” He asked gently.

Nodding, she stepped back another step. “Expect me to. I’ll see you at school.”

“See you at school,” Otis followed up. He watched her go out the front door, running a hand through his hair as he wished she would come back and bring that warm comfort with her again. He wished he’d hugged her goodbye, but knew that even if he had the chance again he wouldn’t. He was too awkward.

That night he waited and waited as Y/n sat at home, deliberating far too long on what to say, unsure how to even begin a conversation with the boy she was in love with. The boy who had just started to really, singularly notice her and who she was becoming friends with. What do you say to a person that means all that to you?

When Otis’ phone went off, he snatched it up so fast that his wrist popped, but he only winced and read the text.

Hello.

He smiled and his fingers began to move in response.

[smileykeijser]

Skam NL Clip 1 Goedmorgen  Analysis

This is crazy long so it’s under the cut, but it’s broken up into symbolism, the aesthetic, feelings, random stuff and things I want to see this season based on this clip.

Obviously this is speculation, I’m not truly trying to figure out their characters or stories with one clip, and some of this stuff probably wasn’t intentional, but it’s fun to imagine that it was.

Symbolism:

We see them both wearing metal necklaces, when I first saw them I thought of chain mail, and then armor. We don’t see Liv putting hers on, but we see Noah putting on his, Liv’s types of additions are more masks than armour. This makes me think that Noah has more recently begun using his playboy status and other parts of his life as protection against himself feeling some sort of trauma, vs Liv who may have this protection as more of a long time solidified sort of protection.

They both wear masks though, Liv puts on makeup, Noah covers up his shirt with 10x the personality of the one that covers it (which strikes me as odd because in so many ways he’s so outspoken with his personality and style)

The second type of symbolism I see is the idea of showing Liv and Noah are cut from the same cloth (this also includes the protection symbolism) but also giving us a way to see their differences. Noah’s rings are chunky and bold, Liv’s is delicate and dainty, Liv’s nails are done in a light colour, and very evenly applied, whereas Noah’s seem much more sloppy in application, he doesn’t paint them all the same colour, let alone paint all his nails in the first place. His nails are also much less manicured than hers. While he slides his sunglasses on as if he doesn’t particularly care, she carefully fluffs her hair and when he just throws on his shirt, we see Liv delicately putting on her bra and socks.

There’s also a section where Noah was rolling a joint and Liv is singing. They’re both at the end of getting ready, so they have their masks on, and then they both do something that everyone expects of them. Noah is known by the fandom as the guy who rolled a joint in the middle of the school, and Liv sang in her first appearance. I think that they’re playing into the whole mask thing by showing things that everyone would expect from them, they’re some of the base level, rudimentary basics about either of them, not like the patterned shirt hidden under Noah’s button down.

Lastly, and this is slightly different than the previous point, the clip is trying to show they are equals. The montage shows this, but there’s a great cross fade between Liv looking into the camera and Noah walking toward her apartment. It’s a long cross fade, and there’s a good five seconds where there’s overlap. As this is happening, it’s panning up on Noah so that by the time it’s entirely his screen, Liv’s head is as high as his, where as when the cross fade started, his head was far above hers.

Then when we get into the actual meat of the clip, the equality is plain and simple, they both give the other the middle finger, and at the point when they each do, they have the upper hand. Liv is behind the shutting doors, Noah is the one on the other side unable to get in. Then Noah is the one who’s surprises Liv by being on the ground level and then by disappearing. 

The Aesthetic:

This clip reminded me of how Skamit uses colours to differentiate their seasons, peach for Eva, blue for Martino. In a similar vein, I think that Skam NL is trying to create an aesthetic palette for each of their seasons. The first half of the clip is basically a mood board, and the mood is one vastly different from Isa’s season. It has a cooler, or less violently colourful palette immediately. Isa’s season was full of warmth , especially in the first half of her season when it was still transitioning into Autumn from Summer. If I was to guess, we’re going to be seeing a lot of white and black, and a lot of colours like deep green, tan, burgundy and blues.

The tone is sensual, delicate, and intimate. Most of the shots are close ups, showing the intimacy of a spray of hairspray, or the couple of freckles near Noah’s nipple, or the sensuality of putting rings on or slipping a sock onto a foot. Beyond the act of getting ready to go, we’re watching two humans get dressed, which means that we get to see the curves of shoulders or a small hint of a lacy bra, or toned chest, and the intimacy is increased by having Liv facing away from us, creating a secret. This contrasts with Isa, because unless Isa was having sex, nothing was like this, because Isa crunched loudly on chips and licked dip off her phone screen. She never had one of these slow motion montages, because Isa wasn’t a slow motion montage type of gal, but Liv is.

We get an abrupt tone shift as soon as Noah arrives, the dreamy atmosphere is gone, and it’s immediate, with the woman hobbling past with her cart and her dog. From then on, the things she handles are treated with absolutely no fantasy, she’s in an elevator, has headphones shoved in her ears and then she fumbles with the key and bikes off on a battered up bike with a canvas bag over her shoulder.

Feelings:

One of my favourite moments is when Liv storms away from Noah and she doesn’t stop walking, but you see her take a steadying breath and close her eyes. Even in season 1 they were doing a great job showing Liv’s feelings via her facial expressions, and this is a step up. We also see at the other end, when Liv strides forward, completely determined to just ignore the absence of Noah, but you see that she can’t find the lock hole on the first try, and then she spends a good chunk of time just looking for him.

The whole middle finger thing is so effing cute, and it’s not the first couple on skamnl to do it, Kes and Isa did it sometimes too, alongside their animal game. And the idiot boy Noah, running down the stairs just to give the middle finger to his crush, what a lovable idiot art hoe.

Random things

- The first words Liv says (or mouths) are song lyrics, I think that shows how important music is going to be.

- There’s a moment when she flips her hair that she breaks the fourth wall and looks right into the camera. I’m not sure the meaning or purpose, but it’s a gorgeous scene.

- “Hello ma’am” is yet another thing to love about Noah

- Both the first clip of last season and this one have people going away on a bike/scooter nice parallel

Things I need from this season based on the clip:

- Noah calling Liv baby or vice versa

- Liv unbuttoning Noah’s shirt.

- Both of them riding off to school on the same, or two separate bikes.

- A parallel to the scene with Liv’s back facing the audience, except she drops her bra and Noah comes up behind her.

- Them painting each other’s nails and swapping rings duh.

- Liv helping Noah put on his necklace.

[twdmusicboxmystery]

9x09: Analysis

Okay, let's talk about this episode. 

***As always, spoilers abound for episode 9x09. Don’t read until you’ve watched. You’ve been warned!***

The beginning was definitely freaky. As I suspected, from watching the trailer, are heroes got out of the graveyard fairly quickly, but watching the whisperer unlock the gate was super spooky.

Negan’s story:

Negan’s story was by far the most important where TD is concerned. Really fascinating symbolism. Let’s dive right in.

We see him eating a tomato. That's important because tomatoes were an important part of Carl’s story line and specifically Carl’s vision for the future. I think showing Negan eat the tomato shows that this is the beginning of him moving toward the Negan we saw in Carl's vision. In other words, a good Negan who will cooperate with TF.

He goes into Judith’s room. I noticed a little purple fan. I won’t say much about this now but I will tell you that @frangipanilove is working on a purple theory that I will share when she gets done.

Negan also takes a compass. The compass is super-important guys. As we’ve noted already, Henry is wearing a compass rose on his T-shirt and the compass is linked to the North Star because both of them help you find your way. Remember that, in Alone, which was a huge Beth episode, Maggie had a broken compass. So, we can definitely link the compass to Beth.

When he offers to give it back to Judith, she says, "Keep it. It will help you find your way." Not only is that very symbolic, but I think it hearkens back to when Carl pointed at the North Star and when Judith was a baby in S6 and said it would help you find your way home. 

Well, putting Beth aside, I think that this does very much have a lot to do with Negan and him finding his way back to goodness and redemption, and TF. But we also can't ignore the parallels to Beth and the ways in which we can connect this to her arc. So overall, and still feeling like she may come through meetings arc because of all the symbols around him that have to do with her.

Judith, of course, catches Negan before he goes over the wall but ends up letting him go. One thing that really caught my attention was that Negan said he had if he stayed in Alexandria all he has is, "four walls and a bedpan." That's super important because it's a form of the title of 5x03, which was Four Walls and a Roof.

We’re not sure exactly what this means or how to tie it to Beth, but we have a few ideas. This form for four walls and a roof was a significant episode for a few reasons. There's a lot of bloodshed going on in that episode, it was in 5a, which was the major part of Beth’s arc, and the red machete was involved.

In terms of what the line actually meant in the episode, Father Gabriel said, "this is God's house." Maggie answered, "No, it's just four walls and a roof." I’ve always taken that to mean, by extension, that this is not God's house. It's simply a place where they kill to survive. And if Beth is the Christ figure, that means they’re symbolically saying that Beth is not there. Which in the plot, she wasn't. She was never at Father Gabriel's church. During that time, she was at Grady.

Another important thing, as @wdway reminded me, in 9x05, which was Rick's hallucination and final episode, in the part where he hallucinated talking to Shane in the squad car, Shane referenced this episode too. He said Rick needed to be strong again like he was in the church with that red machete. At the time, we honed in on the red machete reference. But he was obviously referencing what happened in Four Walls and a Roof. So, this is twice now this season that they’ve referenced that episode. It must be important. Maybe it’s a red machete thing. Maybe something else. But we’ll keep an eye on it.

Later, he kills her walker while sitting in the bed of a truck and eating. When he sits down, some walkers wake up in the back of the truck. One of them was burnt and was very ashy. Naturally, I want to connect that to, "we ain’t ashes,” as well as other burnt walkers around Beth (Still and Always Accountable). While he's fighting with the walker, the walker pulls itself loose and loses its legs. 

So we have an example of the lost shoe/foot theme. Italso reminds me a whole lot of 4x01 in the Big Spot where Bob looked at the lower legs of a walker. So more callbacks to 4a. Then, Negan dropped his bag of food, fighting the walker and I noticed that she was an apple lying on the ground. 

Let's just remember that especially an apple rolling on the ground is indicative of the Snow White/apple theory.

We saw the lost shoe/foot theme in Inmates with Beth, not too long before she went missing. We also saw it with Rick in 7x12, not long before he went missing and was presumed dead. 

So seeing it here either means that Negan is going to go missing and be presumed dead, or else that Beth is close. (And I’m really not feeling like Negan is going to go missing.)

So let’s discuss what they’re doing with Negan here. There were a lot of signs in the background that suggest becoming the man you’re meant to be. So again, we’re seeing him move toward a different kind of Negan than we saw in the past.

Most of us in my group also noticed that when he was puking, he was in the clearing Abe and Glenn died in. Nicotero confirmed that on TTD, saying that, because he was kneeling where his victims knelt, that’s giving him a new, humble perspective, which may play into his change of heart.

Then something interesting happens. We start to see a TON of Beth symbolism around him.

So then he goes into a store to look for new shirt. This part was huge, guys. I literally had to pause live TV because I couldn't write fast enough to write all the symbolism down.

First, he tries to turn a flashlight, but it doesn't work. In other words, the batteries are dead. So we have the Battery Theory. He finds a crank flashlight and manages to crank that to create some light. On the floor is a green can of food which I'm pretty sure is okra. Remember, okra figured heavily in Alone. We saw on the table at Beth and Daryl’s candlelight dinner. We also see the flashlight flare I've noted before. 

So that's still in play and we definitely saw that with Beth. I think that's important because, along with the bats, it’s another way to connect Beth to Negan.

Then he sees the corpse of a guy who obviously shot himself in the head. Guys, look at this comparison. This guy looks exactly like the guy Daryl saw him 5x10 with the dead deer. 

You can't tell me that's a coincidence. There are callbacks to the themes, Beth episodes, including Alone, things that link Negan and Beth, and then finally a callback to 5x10. You know, where the music box woke up?

I’m also thinking the mannequins around the corpse are important. There’s one female mannequin, which could represent the mannequins and “Rich Bitch” corpse we saw in the golf club, or could just represent Beth herself, simply because it’s a female, not a male. The other two mannequins there are both little kid mannequins (Child/Baby symbolism around Beth.)

Then @thegloriouscollectorlady said something brilliant. She said, “this is Negan’s Still.” She’s SO right. Think about it. He’s wandering on the outside like Beth and Daryl were in Still. He ruined his shirt and walked into a dark place and finds a new shirt. There’s the flashlight flare, which happened in the golf club as well. There was okra. And dogs.

Dogs! Like Sirius/dogstar symbolism. There's three of them and they are wild and chase him. Not only is this a Siris reference, but it's a call back to Them and the feral dogs that team family saw there. In this case, Negan hides from them.

So the clothing store represented the golf club. The lighting was the same, racks of merchandise and clothing, even mannequins.

So, even as I thought all of this, I could just visualize the Asks in my inbox and the concerns people would have. “Couldn’t all the Beth symbolism around Negan simply suggest that he has a similar arc? That he’s trying to figure out who he is, become the strong person he’s meant to be, and possibly disappear like her?”

Well, let me first say that I wasn’t worried about that one way or the other. While I get the worry in that, it also doesn’t explain the million other symbols around Beth that suggest her return. It doesn’t explain the dialogue, the blue herons, the Christian/resurrection symbolism, the 8:00 clocks, etc.

But the interesting symbolism around Negan didn’t stop there. We noted a bunch more things that were callbacks to Beth and Daryl and S4, but after a while, we realized they weren’t Negan/Beth parallels. They were Negan/Daryl parallels. So Negan goes to the Sanctuary and says, “Home sweet home,” which Daryl also said at the moonshine shack in Still. 

Then Negan breaks through a wall of the Sanctuary and finds a motorcycle (obvious Daryl symbolism) and cans of dog food.

So callback to 7x03, The Cell, and also the handcuffs and dog food Daryl found in S8. 

And of course later on Negan was riding a motorcycle, just like Daryl, and when Judith shot at him and he wiped out on the bike, he did it exactly like we always see Daryl wreck when he does.

So basically, Negan was symbolically rehashing BOTH Beth and Daryl’s arcs from S4 to S8. So at that point, I don’t think it can simply be a matter of him following a similar path. Something else is going on here.

At the Sanctuary, Negan tries to force the Sanctuary to feel like home. He even puts together a makeshift living room, but he’s obviously not feeling it. He finds a walker he knew before named Big Richie. At first, he doesn’t kill him. Then he looks at Judith’s compass and does. 

I think maybe he didn’t kill him because he promised Judith he wouldn’t. 

Reminds me of Daryl almost covering Lenny with the white tarp because of what Beth taught him, but then not doing it; just another parallel to S4 and Daryl symbolism where he’s learning from what the female sheriff taught him. In fact, you could argue this is a lot like S4 that way too. Negan and Judith were separated just like Beth and Daryl. Granted, in Negan’s case, the separation was his choice. Daryl realized the Claimers were bad people and he didn’t want to stay with them, just as Negan realized he didn’t want to stay in the Sanctuary anymore. Then Negan and Judith--the female sheriff--are reunited. So this could be another way to point to Beth and Daryl reuniting. Will she shoot at Daryl and knock him off his bike? Probably not. But it’s interesting. ;D. 

Meanwhile, Negan realized the Sanctuary would never be home again, so he kills Ritchie and returns to Alexandria. Judith is his home now.

But again, we saw this with Beth and Daryl in S4. They tried to make an emotional home with each other, but more tangibly, they tried to make the funeral home a permanent home. Daryl wanted to stay there and make it work. But in the end, they couldn’t, and after they left, they (or Daryl at least) reunited with TF. Just like Negan in this episode.

So it’s hard to know where this is going for sure, but I feel certain it has something to do with Beth and Daryl.

@wdway also noticed diamond patterns on clothing and in background. Remember Beth is the queen of diamonds and we saw several instances of diamonds around her in S4.

In terms of me REALLY wanting to read into things as foreshadows?

1)    In TTD, they said something interesting. They did a segment on the dogs they used that chased Negan around. In describing the scene, they said that, unbeknownst to Negan, these dogs had been secretly tracking him. It’s pretty impossible to understand that from what they showed us in the episode, which means they wanted us to know about it. So if dogs = Beth because of Sirius symbolism, I feel like at some point, Beth will be tracking Negan or pose a threat to him. Which kinda throws the dogs in 5x10 into a new light, doesn’t it?

2)    They also explained that the reason Negan threw up is because of drinking the water. It was bad water and made him sick. Um… Beth = water. So I want to say that it shows Beth is going to end up being a major threat to Negan. Both of these symbols suggest that. Just thought I’d throw that out there.

One other thing? There were a LOT of 10s mentioned in this episode. That points at S10 for something. Maybe it’s Beth. Maybe it’s something in Negan’s arc. But Lydia mentions 10s too, which might be a Whisperer thing. So don’t know what it means, but thought I’d mention it.

I’d also like to point out that at the end of 9x08, we saw Negan walk into the Sanctuary and whistle. There was a time jump forward to show something that was really a hint of things to come. Then, this episode they went back and showed Negan leaving his cell, leaving Alexandria, and other things that happened on his way to the Sanctuary. So just another example of how they can skip over things and jump forward, but they always go back and show us what we missed. They have to do that with Beth eventually. (And with whatever gave Michonne and Daryl their X scars.)

Daryl and Michonne:

I really loved this interaction between Daryl and Michonne. I thought it was really sweet. 

It was obvious that Daryl didn't really trust Magna and her people until Michonne assured him that she would vouch for them. Then he was cool. She said burying Jesus would mean a lot to his loved ones. Daryl then says, "I'm sorry, couldn't do that for you." Michonne: "I’m sorry I couldn't do it for both of us. Thank you, for looking for him.” Obviously, they’re talking about never finding Rick’s body. And there’s an emphasis on how important burial and closure are. Not only did Beth not get a funeral, but remember she emphasized to Daryl at the funeral home how important burials are. How important they were to her personally.

But then Michonne says something downright tantalizing. She says, “And for after." This is really interesting because Michonne is thanking Daryl for something that happened “after” Rick’s presumed death. Remember that right after the bridge exploded and Daryl started off to look for him, they did the time jump. We don't know what came “after.” So, what she's thanking him for must have something to do with whatever happened during the time jump and gave them their scars.

On TTD, Norman talked about this, and it kinda freaked me out. He says that Daryl and Michonne shared an experience that no one in the group except them knows about. And that it’s a very, very DARK secret. Wow. That’s super-ominous. I have NO idea what that means, and it’s a little frightening.

But more than that, it doesn’t explain some of the mysteries we saw in 9a. It doesn’t explain why the Hilltoppers were terrified of riders showing up and booked it inside the walls. It doesn’t explain why Maggie, Tara, Diane, and the rest are so pissed off at Michonne, and why she seems totally understanding about the fact that they are.

So I don’t know if that’s all part of the same thing or not. Maybe something happened with Michonne and, specifically because the Hilltoppers don’t know what happened to her and Daryl, they don’t understand her actions, and that’s why they’re mad. OR, maybe we’re talking about multiple events we know nothing about. I don’t know, but this is a serious interesting twist of events.

But I loved Daryl and Michonne’s little bonding moment on the road. I thought it was sweet. Kinda melted my heart.

I’m also excited because I think the After theme has everything to do with Carl/Beth entanglement and leading to Beth’s return. And this means whatever caused those scars is also in the mix somewhere.

Daryl and Henry:

Henry still has a compass rose on his shirt and is in the jail cell when Daryl returns.

After that, we had such a supremely sublime Beth moment. After letting Henry out for a short time, but saying he needs to do his time and stay in the prison cell another night, Henry asks if alcohol always makes you feel this bad. Daryl looks at him in a considering way and answers simply, "No." Guys, he HAS to be thinking of Beth when he says that. Remember, they made a point of saying that she was a happy drunk, she held her liquor well, and she actually liked the feeling. So, alcohol didn’t make her feel bad like it did Henry. That's one major difference between the two of them. My heart just absolutely melted when he said that because I knew he had to be thinking of Beth.

They also discussed figuring out who you are. Henry says he's just he feels bad about what happened (getting drunk) but is just trying to figure out who he is not new in this new place (Hilltop). That's actually a whole lot like Beth too. They never said it quite that heavy-handedly with Beth, Beth and Daryl on the road together were very much was very much them trying to figure out who they were in the work of the tragedy of the prison family and who they were together and in this new setting. So Daryl understands where Henry is coming from.

Lydia:

When they captured Lydia, I was struck by the image of her blond wig/scalp being left behind, along with her knife. The camera focused on that a minute and it just screamed Beth. Beth’s blond hair and Beth’s knife.

Lydia talks about how the walkers protected them (because they wear walker faces, they can walk around with the walker herds and be protected) and so they protect the walkers, too. So the Whisperers believe their relationship with the walkers is symbiotic. That’s actually a whole lot like the what the wolves believed.

Lydia also says, “we were always going to kill you. That's just what you do know. Kill people.” That tells us a lot about the Whisperers’ mentality. They believe killing people to survive is the obvious thing to do. Not what our heroes and TF believe. She also says that her mother is "A good person” and “just one woman out there alone." That combination has to make Daryl think of Beth, who spoke to him about good people and was also on her own at Grady. And, you know, there’s the blond angle.

Daryl is being verbally abusive to Lydia, Henry tells Daryl to stop. Much like many others such as Beth, Henry is acting as Daryl's moral compass, trying to tell him what the right thing to do. When Beth was Daryl's moral compass, he listened to her. He's really not listening to Henry at all.

He was smart because he did sort of a good cop/bad cop routine. He yelled at Lydia to intimidate her, probably knowing that Henry wouldn't like it, and that then maybe Lydia would bond with Henry and trust him. So when they started talking, he sat outside the window listening and heard everything. Daryl is not so dumb. ;D

Daryl walking in and telling Henry (Beth proxy) about Jesus’s death felt a lot like him telling Beth about Zack’s death in 4x01.

Luke and Alden:

Luke volunteers to go out with Alden to look for Michonne and Daryl’s group. Luke made the joke that he was "two hand Luke,” as well as saying, “Do you need a hand? I have two of them." I feel like it’s a foreshadow of someone (maybe Luke) losing a hand.

Before they leave, Enid tells Alden to, "be safe out there." Definitely a foreboding foreshadowing. Because by the end, there captured by Alpha.

Luke and Alden talked a lot about music with an especial emphasis on singing. Beth anyone?

I couldn't help but notice that Alden has machete with a handle wrapped in white tape. I don’t think it's the red machete, but having the handle wrapped in exactly the same way the red machete’s was wrapped in mini series strikes me as important.

We also found out that Rosita is pregnant with Siddique’s baby. Euguen found out when finally professed his love to Rosita. Poor guy. But he also made an hour glass reference. Not only is that a time reference, but remember that in 5b, Carl played with an hour glass. I believe it’s yet another way to show the arc has turned over and Beth, who wasn’t in the show from 5b on, will reappear in this current arc.

Enid watching for Alden to come back reminded me of Maggie looking for Glenn to come back in 6a. Which I THINK shows that Alden will live. In that case, it was Glenn’s death fake out and he did make it back to her alive. Of course he died eventually, so I could be wrong about that. On the flip side, Alden s also the song bird right now. He’s the only one on the show that sings. So maybe that will lead to his death? Guess we’ll have to wait and see.

I won’t go into this too much, but we saw the Us vs. Them theme, and also a lot of bikes. There were bikes in the background several times, the bike Negan found and rode, which admittedly might have ONLY been a Daryl reference. But every time I see bikes, especially with an emphasis on the tires, I think of a prominent one we saw in 6x02 when the wolves attacked. That might make sense since we know the Whisperers are about to arrive. Maybe it’s a symbol that a bad group is about to show up at the gates. But a lot of us also suspect ties between the Whisperers and the Wolves, and a lot of the symbolism we saw in this episode kinda backs that idea up. Just saying.

Okay, that’s all I have for today. I really loved this episode, though. SO much symbolism that makes me very excited for what’s to come.

[bells-writes]

Ride (Natasha x Reader)(Part 1)

Warnings: Marriage Proposal, Motorcycle, Fear of Riding Said Motorcycle, Fluff, No Angst, Steve and Bucky in Leather Jackets

This will have multiple parts

детка- Baby

сокровище- Treasure

"Come on детка," Natasha pleads with you pulling on your arms childishly, "Just a short ride. You won't even realize it's happening. That's how quick it'll be. Please."

You stand your ground, ignoring her pleading. "I'm not going on a motorcycle. No matter what you say. I don't like it when Bucky or Steve go on their bikes and I especially don't like it when you do. Someone's gonna get hurt and I'm not gonna risk it. Nat please." You give a small pout and press a kiss to her jaw.

She turns into your kiss and pulls you into her by your waist, nipping at you lip before kissing you so deeply it steals your breath. Her thumbs rub circles on your hips as your hands tangle in her hair and gently tug at it. Her hands move behind you and you don't even realize her putting the old fashioned helmet on your head before she clasps the buckle under your chin. You pull away and she gives a shit eating grin.

"Nat please I don't-"

"Please Y/N." She cuts you off, "Pretty please? I'll do whatever you want. I'll clean our entire room. For a year."

You stare at her for a second. Spinning her hair around your finger, relishing in the way she tilts her cheek into your hand.

"If I say yes," she immediately perks up, "you have to promise me that you'll only go riding if you're with someone. No more late night rides by yourself."

She nods, "Of course детка. Anything for you."

"Then okay. Let's go."

Natasha grabs your hand and pulls you down to the garage, excitedly pulling you to her bike. It's low profile, at least as low profile as a sports bike can be. Matte black and sleek it matches her jacket and both helmets.

She swears under her breath, "I can't believe I forgot to get a second jacket."

"It's okay baby. It's fine. I don't need one."

"No no no. You're wearing a jacket. Wait here okay?" You can practically see the gears turning in her head and she sprints back up to the rooms of the tower. When she comes back down she's carrying an extra jacket.

She shrugs on her tight jacket before coming behind you and holding open the extra one. It's huge on you. She looks at you and grins, "I told Steve it'd be too big. He didn't think it'd be that bad."

"Steve's jacket?"

"Yeah. He's the only one other than Barnes that I could find. And his doesn't have a sleeve."

You shrug. "It's warm."

"It's cold outside. You'll be happy for it."

She moves to straddle the bike before looking back at your balking figure. "It's okay детка. Trust me." She reaches out for you and you slowly grab her hand letting her pull you close.

"I can't get on." You say, stopping as soon as you touch the bike. Your hands begin to shake slightly and your eyes grow wide.

"Breath little one." Natasha says slowly getting off the bike, still holding your hand so you don't run away. "Come here." She pulls you into her chest and holds you.

"I'm sorry Nat. I thought I would be braver." You whimper into her shoulder.

"It's okay. Do you still want to try?" She rubs your back soothingly and talks softly, trying to calm your racing heart.

"Yeah. I do." You mumble.

"Okay. I'll help you on first." She pauses, "How about we bring Steve and Bucky too? Would that help?"

"Yeah. Maybe."

"Okay." She pulls away from your hug and keeps an arm wrapped around you. "Friday can you get Steve and Bucky? Tell them to bring an extra leather jacket. See? All taken care of." She says kissing your forehead.

Bucky saunters down the stairs first, tossing a wink to Natasha before pressing a quick kiss to the top of your head.

"Hey kid." He turns to Nat, "We going on a ride?"

"Yep. Her first." She pecks a kiss to your cheek making you blush a bit.

As soon as Bucky opens his mouth to make a comment Steve runs down the stairs with helmets. He freezes as soon as he sees you in his jacket, his giggling morphing into a full on laugh.

"Guess you were right Nat. It's huge. So I brought this." He tosses an old brown jacket to Nat who holds it up before raising an eyebrow at him. Bucky's the one who answers.

"In the 40's I got ahold of a bike and a jacket for his skinny ass. It should fit you way better. Switch him."

You nod letting Steve hold the jacket as you shrug it off before Nat helps you into the smaller jacket. It zips a bit snugly, just how it's supposed to.

You look around at Steve, Bucky, and Natasha and revel in how sure they look around their bikes. Steve's and Bucky's bike are more old fashioned than Nat's sport bike. Everyone's bike suits their personalities though. Steve's bike looks a little more antique than Bucky's. While Bucky's is more modern, like a mix of a sports bike and an old military bike.

"So are we gonna go?" Bucky says breaking you out of your trance.

"Yeah." She turns to you, "Want someone to help you onto the bike princess?"

You nod meekly and give a shy grin to Bucky and Steve. Natasha hops on her bike, scooting as far forward as she can while Bucky helps you swing your leg over the bike and Steve helps pull you up and balance you. You immediately clasp your hands around Nat's middle and lean your head in between her shoulder blades.

"Remember to breath детка."

You jump a bit when she starts the bike but quickly relax into the steady vibrations of the bike. You hear the boys' bikes start before Natasha slowly starts moving out of the garage. Once on the road she begins to speed up slowly and steadily. Before you know it you're zooming around New York City.

"Hold on tight to me." She says barely loud enough for you hear over the roar of the bike. You adjust your grip so you're basically pressed against her as much as physics will allow.

She takes a hard turn. The bike dips low enough that your elbows are just inches away from the asphalt. Your squeeze your eyes shut until you feel the bike righten itself.

"Are you okay детка?" Natasha voices her concern.

"Yeah," your voice is clipped. "I'm fine."

The bike comes to a rolling stop in a clearing in a forest. "Good. Because we're here."

She flicks the kickstand down, getting off before helping you down.

Steve's and Bucky's bikes roll in next to yours. "We should probably get going. We're on a schedule." Bucky says, looking at the sky where the sun is already setting.

Natasha grabs your hand and pulls you through the winding trail. She's basically silent the entire walk until you come to another clearing. This one however, is lined with the rest of the Avengers. You stare at Natasha who takes a deep breath before dropping down to one knee.

Your hands shoot up to cover your face as tears start building. Natasha reaches inside her jacket and pulls out a small red box the colour of her hair.

"So I know you really didn't want to go on a motorcycle ride but I'm guessing now you're happy you did," she gives a nervous laugh before continuing, "We've been together for a really long time now and it never felt like the right time until about a week ago." She swallows hard remembering the heartbreak. " When we we're talking about kids you didn't judge me. You let me break down and promised me it'd be okay. Right then I knew that I want you in my life forever. You're always right there for me no matter what the situation was. Whether it was a mission or an argument you've never left my side. And I never want to leave your side. So my детка, will you marry me?"

You have tears streaming down your cheeks and a smile splitting your face, "Of course my сокровище. Of course I'll marry you." Natasha slips the ring on to your finger. It has a beautiful and intricate golden band and a small, perfectly cut diamond resting in the center. You drop to your knees and fall into her arms.

Applause echoes behind you. The team crying along with you. A soft hand touches your shoulder and you turn to see Tony. He gives a soft smile before you launch yourself into his arms. He's always acted as a father to you and this is no different.

"I'm so happy for you baby girl." His hug grows tighter, "I'm so happy."

Natasha places her hand on your back and you pull away from Tony. Natasha immediately takes your place. She buries her head into his chest and allows herself to cry against him. You turn to the rest of the team who rush you into a hug. You barely have time to prepare before Thor crushes you in his arms. He's pulled off of you and more gentle hugs and kisses are given to you from the entire team. Natasha grabs your hand and pulls you into her. Pressing a chaste kiss to your lips she holds onto so tightly you'd think she's trying to keep you from disappearing.

"I love you детка."

"Not as much as I love you my сокровище."

[bizarrewritings-blog]

Tension - B.B.

Bucky Barnes x Reader

For @gaybybirth 's 10k writing challenge 🌹 (Congrats again Molly, you deserve all the love 💞)

Promt: 26: “Are you going to eye fuck me all night or are you going to do something about it?”

Word count: 2,969

Genre: Fluff, Smut! 18+ only! [Oral (m receiving), riding]

Ever since you started working as an assassin for SHIELD, it was your dream to become a Part of the Avengers. And when only 6 month in, Fury introduced you to the one and only Tony Stark, it didn't took much time for you to convince him to add you to the team.

It would be more than an understatement to say you were excited when you moved into the Avengers tower and met everyone else. They were all really nice to you, even though you practically stuttered through you first day because of how nervous you were. You still managed to make friends with everyone, and now, a year later, they've basically became your family. You loved every single one of them, but one Person especially caught your attention. And that would be the metal-armed soldier.

In the back of your head, you always felt something for him. In the beginning, you believed it would just be admiration. He was an extremely attractive, polite guy. Who wouldn't feel at least a little attracted to him?

But then you spend a day at the gym with him. It wasn't the first time, but you usually had earplugs with music in to concentrate on your workout. You forgot them that day, thinking it would be alright. But then you heard Buckys deep groaning and heavy breaths, making you almost loose balance on your exercise bike. You felt heat rush trough you with every stressed moan that left his lips in such a sinful way that made even more sweat break out on your forehead.

Since then, you noticed even the smallest sexual things he did. Just his groans as he stretched while his shirt lifted slightly, making his prominent V-lines and the small patch of hair disappearing into his pants visible, it was enough to leave you clench your thighs together. You felt bad, he was your work partner. It was bad to think of him in the ways you did.

But then things changed completely. It started with you noticing Buckys stare while you were eating a Banana, in a completely non-sexual manner. As he realized you noticed his staring, he quickly looked away. A soft pink covered his cheeks while he shifted uncomfortably. A knowing grin spread on your face. You turned him on just as much as he turned you on.

After that, it became kind of like a battle between you two. He must have realized how thirsty you were over him as well as he made sure his work out noises were louder and more erotic like before; he was full on moaning and whimpering whenever you were around. But two could play this game. You stopped counting the times you bend down infront of his face or when you 'accidentally' pressed your butt in his crotch. The rest of the team was oblivious to this as you always acted like you always did around each other. None of you dared to actually talk to the other one about what was going on. But after months of him almost cumming in his pants from staring at you whenever you ate a phallus-shaped food, you've had enough.

It was the night of a charity event Tony hosted ever so often. You still couldn't believe how some people in the media could actually call him selfish, he was a really genuine person. You wouldn't be here without him.

You knew Bucky wasn't a big fan of these parties, but Tony always insisted that the whole team would show up. Thankfully, you thought, as you finally wanted to make a move on Bucky. You had bought a dress especially for this occasion. A black one, backless and not too long, with such a low neckline that left little to the imagination.

Finishing up your make up and hair, you took a look in the mirror. Your legs looked amazing with the complimenting heels, and the dark red lipstick made your lips look even more pouty than before. You smiled at yourself, confidence filling your nerves. You looked amazing.

"Are you ready in there?" Wanda called from outside your door, stepping inside. You grinned at her as her jaw almost hit the floor. "Damn! Where does all the Sexyness come from? I mean you always looked great but wow!" You rolled your eyes at her compliments, smiling. "You wanna impress someone with that?" She asked, a knowing grin on her face. You shrugged. "Maybe. We'll see how i goes." With that you linked your arms with hers, making your way to the elevator to join the party 2 floors below.

As soon as you entered the room, Wanda left your side as she spotted Vision. You took a breath, your eyes wandering across the room to find your friends. "Y/N!" A voice suddenly called, Sam walking towards you. "You look amazing, girl!" He grinned, his eyes shamelessly raking over your body. You chose to ignore his compliments; he was flirting with almost every girl he saw, it was his way of expressing kindness. "Where's the Rest?" You asked him, your eyes still searching through the crowd. Sam pointed into one direction before helping you squeeze trough the crowds of formally dressed people. As you finally spotted your friends, you were relieved to see Bucky was also there. "There she is!" Natascha called as soon as she saw you, pulling you in for a hug. "You look great!" "Thanks, you too!" You complimented her back before you turned to Bucky. A grin spread on your face as you saw his reaction. His eyes were wide open, his jaw a little slack as he eyed you up and down. As his gaze found yours you bit your lip, smiling. He blinked a couple times before gulping, turning away to take a sip of his Scotch.

Got him.

The rest of the evening consisted of him almost constantly staring at you from his spot by the bar while you walked around the room and talked to different people. It annoyed you that he didn't say anything. So you'd have to do that yourself as well.

As your current conversation ended, you turned to look at Bucky across the room. He quickly looked away, pretending like he hadn't been staring at you the whole time. He kept his gaze away as you approached him, taking the spot beside him before ordering a Martini. Neither you nor Bucky said anything for a while as you just nipped on your drinks. You were tired of your games. So you turned to him, noticing his cheeks immediately flushing, his glass between his lips. "So, are you going to eye fuck me all night or are you going to do something about it?" Your sudden boldness made him almost choke on his drink before he turned to you, a horrified look on his face. "What?" "Don't play dumb on me, Barnes. Our little game was fun and all, but it's getting on my nerves. I know you want me just as much as I want you." You kept a serious expression as his face went completely red. "I-I don't know what you're-what you mean, I-" You rolled your eyes and huffed out a laugh.

"You're seriously gonna play this card? Right after you were practically undressing me with your eyes since the second you first saw me in this dress?" He wouldn't meet your gaze as he kept his eyes on the glass in his hands, his jaw clenching. At least he wasn't denying it anymore. Your lips curled into a small smile as you leaned over to him, steadying yourself on his thigh. You felt his muscles stiffen under your palm as you lent to his ear. "If you actually want to get me out of this dress and fuck me, I'll be in my room." You left him without another word, heading towards the elevator. You told Tony you weren't feeling well on your way, needing a reason to leave the party.

Back in your room, you got rid of your earrings and bracelets. They would just be in the way, you thought to yourself. You sat down against the soft cushions, excited about what was about to happen. But that excitement sank with every passing minute Bucky hasn't joined you. Panic began to risen: Didn't he feel the way you thought? Did you make a complete fool of yourself?

Ready to leave the room to die in embarrassment, you suddenly heard a soft knock on the door before Bucky stepped in. His breath was heavy, his eyes dark. You smiled at him. "What took you so long?" He got rid of his tie and jacket, laying them over your small armchair. "Couldn't stand up for a solid 3 minutes after you said that to me." His hand gestured to the very obvious tent in his jeans. You bit your lip as you stared at his crotch. That you actually could work him up so much with simple words excited you. "So you're finally gonna take what you want?" You asked teasingly, looking up at him as innocent as possible. He growled at that, stepping closer as he took your chin between his fingers, tilting it up to meet your gaze. "I sure am, doll." He grinned devilish.

It only took a second for him to be on top of you, his lips pressed against yours in a heated kiss. He groaned as you tugged on his long locks carefully, his eyes closing. "Fuck, I've wanted this for so long." He confessed before biting his lip, looking down at you hungrily. A smirk formed on your face. "So? Stop talking and do something." You swear you could see his pupils dilate as he growled, head dipping down to nip on the sensitive skin of your neck. Your eyes closed as a sigh left your lips, turning into a moan as you felt his flesh hand move up your thigh, under your dress. He gently squeezed your ass, causing you to rub yourself up against his bulge. Shaky moans left both your mouths as he pressed against you, moving you against him.

"Bucky." You moaned softly, hearing him groan against your neck where he was still leaving small hickeys. "Buck, come on. I'm sick of the teasing." That caused him chuckle. "Really that desperate, doll?" He kept rolling his hips down against yours, watching in amusement as you grew impatient. Quickly, you swung your leg around him and pushed your weight against him. That took him by suprise as he was now beneath you with you directly on his crotch. Now it was your turn to grin down at him as you moved your hips in circles. You watched as his head fell back, his hands falling to your hips as his eyes closed.

They quickly shot open as you raised your dress over your head, a groan leaving Bucky at your exposed breasts. "You're so beautiful." He spoke, making you blush slightly. You quickly popped the buttons of his dress shirt open, helping him shed it off. Your lips found his exposed torso, leaving kisses on his impressive muscles and the scars where metal met skin.

Slowly, you made your way down his body. Kissing your way down his abs and his happy trail, stopping at the top of his pants to look up at him. His breathing was heavy, his gaze not leaving you. You bit your lip before popping his pants open, sliding them down his legs. Your eyes fell to the impressive bulge in his tight, black underwear. You pulled the last remaining piece of clothing off him, immediately taking him into your mouth. You've waited long enough for this.

Buckys eyes immediately rolled into the back of his head, his back lifting itself slightly off the sheets as a deep groan left him. "Jesus Y/N, warn a guy." He chuckled, quickly turning into a moan as you sucked on his sensitive tip. "Jesus Christ." He whimpered, eyes shut tightly as pleasure filled his veins. You kept concentrating on the head of his cock, your hand slowly pumping the rest of it as you watched him fall apart. The wetness between your legs grew by the second. Seeing him in this state was even better than your imagination.

"Babygirl, you gotta stop. I really don't want to cum like this." Bucky said, voice broken as he tried to pull you off him gently. You let go off him with a pop, crawling back up his body. Your lips found his again, your tongues immediately battling for dominance. As he tried to get you beneath him, you pushed against him to keep him down. "You're not the one in charge right now, Buck." You teased, keeping him from protesting as you leaned off him to take your panties off. His eyes immediately fell to the Glistening between your legs as he swallowed thickly. He was sure he has never been this turned on before; his mind was clouded with pleasure while his body practically screamed for you.

Since you didn't want to wait anymore, you reached inside your bedside drawer to fish a Condom out. Bucky simply watched as you ripped it open, still in disbelief that this was really happening. That the girl he has been dreaming of is there, naked infront of him, about to have sex with him. He was brought back to reality as you rolled the condom onto him, a shaky sigh leaving his lips.

"Hey, you sure about this?" You asked him, caressing his thigh carefully. You noticed that his thoughts were a little off, and you wanted to make sure he was still on board. He quickly nodded. "Still can't believe this is really happening, that's all." He added honestly, making you smile.

You swung your leg back over his hips, reaching behind you to take his dick into your hand and guide it between your folds. A content sigh left his lips as he felt your wetness. Slowly, you sunk down on him, groaning as he stretched you in the most perfect way. "Fuck, you feel amazing." Bucky moaned, eyes closed as his hands gripped your hips. Once he bottomed out, you waited a second to adjust to him. You felt his fingers caress your skin and you smiled at the gesture. Slowly, you lifted yourself up and dropped down again as you both moaned in unison. You circled your hips and moved up and down, falling into a quick rythm. His hands were tight at your side as he tried to meet your thrust, quiet moans and groans leaving his lips as you rode him. "Shit, wait a second." He suddenly said, making you stop your movements immediately. "Did i do something wrong?" You asked, concerned. He shook his head. "You're going too fast. I've been dreaming about this, i want this to last." He slightly nudged your hip, and this time you let him roll the two of you over.

Bucky lifted your legs around his waist, his metal hand staying on your thigh as he thrusted into you at a slow pace. Shaky moans left both your lips before he leaned down, his mouth finding yours. In this moment you realized this wasn't meaningless fucking; it was making love.

Bucky kept his slow but pleasing pace, shifting his hips every now and then to graze against your g-spot. The room was filled with quiet moans, heavy breaths and kissing noises. You knew you could spend the rest of your life like this, with the man of your dreams, slowly thrusting himself into you in the most loving way.

The knot in your stomach built slowly, almost sneakily. You felt Buckys thrusts get a little faster as he slowly lost control, searching his release. "Shit, James." You sighed in pleasure. His name on your lips made him completely loose it as his hips snapped against yours. You cried out as his metal hand found your clit, rubbing tight circles against it. "I'm so close Buck, fuck." You warned, head thrown back as you felt yourself clench around him. "Cum for me, babygirl, come on." He spoke between gritted teeth, dangerously close to his release.

Your orgasm rushed over you as you bit his right shoulder, silencing your screams as your walls contracted around Bucky. He followed quickly after, his lower lip between his teeth, silencing his moans as he spilled into the condom. After a couple more thrusts, he let his weight drop onto you. The both of you were breathing heavily, sweat covering your bodies.

"Wow." Bucky said after a couple seconds of silence in which you tried to catch your breaths. You let out a chuckle, agreeing. "Better than i could've ever imagine." You added, feeling Bucky smile against your neck. He slowly lifted himself back up, pecking your lips before sliding out of you to drop down beside you. He got rid of the condom, tying it before throwing it away. He pulled you to him, making you cuddle up to his side before he reached for the duvet to cover the both of you. For a couple minutes, you just enjoyed the silence between the two of you. You could hear his heart beating against your ear, making you smile against his skin.

"So...what now?" Bucky suddenly asked. You lifted your head to look at him, confused. "What do you mean?" "With us. I mean-I don't want this to be one time thing." He spoke, nervous about your reaction. But his expression softened again as he saw the soft smile on your face. "I don't want that either. I've wanted this for far too long." He grinned down at you, nodding in agreement. This was only the beginning.