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justanotherblogger · 1 month ago
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A World Without Him
Chapter 17
Tang's shift went on routinely.
Grab from the basket. Try to scrub out the stains or top layers of grime. Throw the piece into the machine. Let it run along once it's full. Go until the baskets empty. Ignore the worker taking and refilling the basket. Rinse and repeat.
That's how everything went; no pleasant chatter or white noise to cover the rumbles of machinery or the whispers of the actual workers. Oh, yeah, he forgot to mention that apparently they weren't considered actual workers as they were under “tent arrest”, which was just a polite way of saying they were slaving away under the “official” workers’ scrutiny.
He was lucky to even be allowed his own station instead of being an errand boy, though, as he saw some running around delivering soap or baking soda to whatever worker yelled out the loudest. Maybe it was because he wasn't making a scene and seemed to be mild-mannered with just a little intimidation. It's not like they're wrong, though.
The staring had also gotten a bit worse from there, as they seemed to get over the shock of his presence and start to test his limits. After a bit, the soldiers patrolling and workers coming for the baskets were not very subtle with their discomfort around him anymore. They seemed to be waiting for him to slip up and make some kind of mistake as he continued those tedious patterns of scrubbing, throwing, and silently screaming in his head.
It was easier to zone out when Tang didn't have constant looks directed at him 24/7. His mind and body were tired from the constant stress now, and he thinks his ankles would give out any minute from how long he's been standing and shuffling in place.
He wanted nothing more than to yell screw you to this place, and fall asleep back in his apartment; he wanted to sink away from all these prying eyes.
Maybe this was why he started to disassociate more, letting the piercing stares and scrutiny fall into the background as he let muscle memory do most of the work. Maybe this was when his mind started to blank with his head then trying to fill in the space, subconsciously bringing back some old friends to fill the void.
‘Everything is going wrong. What are we even supposed to do against that thing!?’
Tang sighed internally as he was brought back to reality. He thought, since he now had Cian yapping into his ears whenever it wanted, he would be free from the other annoying voices. There was no such luck to be had, though.
‘______ is already on the problem. The setup is going through and ____ get everything back __ the way it was. ____ whining.’
‘Well I'm so _____ for being a bit worried that it's got some grubby mitts on ____ now. How ___ we even going to get the _______ back up again?’
‘Ughhhhh…’
They didn't stay for long and faded out soon after he noticed them. Tang relaxed a bit at their departure, letting out a breath he didn't know he was holding.
He knew they had something to do with what was happening with his head (as Cian used to also be “just a voice”, and it turned out to be something way more than something like that) but he didn't want to try interacting with them yet. He knew they didn't look too kindly to him, and seemed anxious when he seemed to notice their existence.
He didn't want to know what would happen if they figured out he could hear them the entire time. It's especially risky to try and interact with them now since he knows they might be able to interact with the world like Cian did, maybe to even more serious degrees if they were more powerful.
Thinking this much about everything was starting to hurt his head. I don't even know where these stupid voices are coming from in the first place, less so why they're messing with my life! He thought, accidently ripping a piece off of a tent in his stupor.
He cringed at that, and then carefully put it into the wash for someone else to deal with. He really needed a nap, and maybe a good story to fill his mind with distractions. But almost no breaks are allowed in here. He had learned just how harsh this place was when there was a big commotion two rows down in front of him.
One of the other workers (the one who refused to get up from the ground near the start of the day. Tang recognized the guy from the burn marks up the side of his face) was forcefully dragged out of the building when he tried to sleep on the floor. Wherever they were taking him, it didn't seem good as the guy knocked over baskets and other cleaning supplies, and Tang really didn't want to find out for himself.
He quickly woke himself up by slapping his cheeks and went back to his work after that instead of gawking any more at the scene. His body probably couldn't take another harrowing experience like that this week lest he collapse onto the ground. Maybe I would be brought to where they were keeping Zach if I collapsed.
Anyways, after what felt like hours of scrubbing and washing after that incident, the loud sound of a bell rang throughout the camp, signaling what Tang assumed was the lunch break. He was probably right based on the looks of relief that came over all the other peoples’ faces as they started moving away from their stations.
Tang quickly went with the crowd, moving with the wave of people trying to squeeze through the entrance doors with everyone else. His stomach had started growling an hour ago, and after he almost ate a detergent pod thinking it was another one of those gross breakfast bars, he really didn't want to wait any longer.
But before he could even get close to those doors, he was pulled out of the crowd by his sleeve and almost landed onto another station at the force. Looking up and about to argue with whoever stopped him, he realized it was the Head Soldier from earlier, and quickly bit back his retort.
The guy was gruff, obviously. He had a buzz cut and a 5 o'clock shadow that didn't help hide any of the guy’s wrinkles. He also had a branded military cap unlike anyone else in the building. Tang didn't look that closely at anything else though, mainly because the guy looked down at him with a snarl and furrowed brows before speaking up, too loudly in Tang’s opinion.
“Don't go wandering off now. You and the other low-lives eat in your tent away from the workers and soldiers. Wouldn't want you all to conspire or have fights to break out, would we?”
Tang didn't answer the rhetorical question, yanking his sleeve out of the guy’s hold as he looked away from his gaze. Seeing a small commune of people near the back of the building, he quickly walked away and started going towards them, seeing Carlson near the back which solidified that this was probably his group.
The Head Soldier slowly walked behind him until he was back with all of them near the back, and then clapped loudly to get everyone's attention.
“Go with your assigned team back to the tent and take your lunch break. Remember that it's only 25 minutes, and if you're late you'll have to report to me for appropriate punishment. Now shoo.” He waved a hand before walking out of the building's back door, leaving the group alone with the 3 chaperone soldiers.
They were almost immediately ushered out of the room by said soldiers, many of them having to speed walk back to the tent from how fast these guys were going. Tang quickly looked around the place, trying to see everything in a new light compared to yesterday.
All he could were groups of people sitting at picnic tables further away, digging into their bowls like dogs who haven't been fed in weeks. Their faces held many scars and bruises, but no emotion as they ate, scarfing down all the brown stuff they could around a fire before the next bell would ring out. One seemed to lock gazes with him, crazed eyes looking into ones of apprehension. But that was all he could see before getting forced back into the tent with a shove along with the others.
Many grunts of disapproval were let out before everyone slowly went back to their own devices. Tang swallowed heavily, standing in place for a bit after the rush, and then quietly went back to his bed while swerving away from the other inhabitants.
He just sat back down onto his cot after that, letting the white noise distract his head from anything else. He only stares at the ceiling, if you could call it that, not bothering to move even when hearing the tent flap open and the clinking of metal signaling the food is here. He didn't feel that hungry anymore.
He stayed that way for a bit, letting his situation finally sink in after the hectic time he's already had, and it's not even 1 o'clock yet. He squints his eyes, letting the world blur and refocus at his will. He flinched as a hand landed onto his shoulder, and it quickly retracted at his reaction. It was Rick, holding two bowls of whatever this place was serving to them.
Rick didn't seem that deterred by the reaction. “Woah there, didn't mean to scare you that badly, heh. You seemed all out of it, and your slop was getting cold, so I brought you a bowl.” He explained, setting down a bowl onto Tang's cot next to his hand.
Rick continued his speech as Tang took the bowl, smelling it carefully before taking small sips bit by bit. “I get why you're so high-strung. No one likes being put into time out, doing all these dumb errands while we get ordered around by those damned workers who think they're better than us. You were probably also interrogated, which is no one's favorite thing, and you seem to not know anything about this place or why everyone here is so weird. So scared and alone, I reckon.”
Tang slightly squinted his eyes at the last part, but he just nodded along anyway, finishing the bland soup(? all he knew was that sludge was in a bowl, but it might just be its own ecosystem by now judging by the weird slimy chunks here and there) and setting the bowl back onto the cot.
Rick sat a hand onto Tang's shoulder again after the scholar was finished, letting the lack of flinch be the acceptance he needed as he gripped the shoulder harder. “So~, I have decided to be your guiding light, your navigator, or whatever you want to call me throughout your camp experience! We'll never really be in the direct line of fire, by the way, as we're most likely going to be running around for the people working in the background. So I was thinking I could fill you in on this total mess we call an HQ, and you could stick by me when I need it! So, what do you think?”
Rick stared into Tang’s eyes, a sharp grin on his face as he waited for a response. Tang got a feeling of deja vu yet again. Why do I seem to be involved with more dubious deals than usual? This is starting to become a pattern. A very concerning pattern…
But before Tang could even try to think of a response, a hand dragged Rick’s own off of Tang’s shoulder.
“I think you should stop harassing us new guys. Nothing good will come from forcing us to be your personal errand boys like the workers do to us. A bit hypocritical, don't you think?” An unfamiliar voice spoke out. It seemed familiar to Tang, but he couldn't exactly pinpoint where he'd heard it from. He didn't think too hard about it anyway as Rick's eye twitched annoyance before he started to retort loudly.
“Hah! Please, I was just being friendly to our new member. He would obviously be eaten alive in here unless he had some help from a pro. I was just offering my help, like a good samaritan. Gotta get outta this tent someday, ya know?” He narrowed his eyes as his grin fell slightly.
“It's not like you can talk, either. I haven't seen you around before, so you don't know this place very well. Are you trying to act all heroic in a “noobs stick together” sort of way? ‘Cause that won't end well for you or him in this place, trust me.” Rick spoke with venom, his laid-back tone with Tang vanishing in an instant as he spat at the newcomer.
Now that Tang thinks about it, he hasn't seen this guy in the camp either. He definitely would have remembered this guy, mainly with how bright his eyes were. They were a light yellow, bordering white in some areas, with some wisps of pure black hair falling in front of them from his short, messy hairstyle. His voice was smooth, almost comparable to Cian with how he spoke. He held a grin like Rick, but it didn't seem as sharp as the other's was.
Maybe this guy was one that he had just missed in the chaos of the morning and last night? That was probably it, as Tang didn't remember Rick from the tent until he introduced himself in the bathrooms. Tang just shook his head at that and focussed back into the present when another bell went off throughout the camp, signaling the end of lunch and stopping the two's argument for now.
Rick laughed, but it was one without humor. “Well, I guess it's time for us to go back, huh? I'll let you have this one today, as I really don't want to be put back in the Pound when someone intriguing finally shows up in this tent. You better get moving though, those soldiers really don't like when they're put on Guard Duty, especially when it's just for bums like us.”
Rick waved a hand beside his head as he walked away and took his untouched bowl with him to dump into a trash can outside the tent, shoving the now empty bowl to whichever unsuspecting soldier was closest.
Tang looked away from where Rick had gone and looked to the guy beside him. The cold guy glanced at him for a second, something gleaming in his eyes the scholar couldn't decipher, before silently ignoring his presence and stepping out of the tent himself.
That was weird. What Tang’s only thought before readjusting his cracked glasses and carrying his bowl to the front. The guy with greasy hair stared at him from his own cot as the scholar walked out, his own bowl halfway finished and halfway on the floor. Tang just ignored him, again, and gave his bowl to the soldier beside the trash can.
But before he could actually enter the building again, a soldier grabbed him by the shoulder, turning him around so they were face to face. “Are you Tang?” The woman deadpanned.
“Oh, uh, yes I am. What's the problem?” He answered, nervous he'd already done something to warrant this place’s wrath.
“Your friend finally woke up in the infirmary, and we have some questions we'd like to ask you when we arrive. Now, follow me, and don't go wandering off like some others in your tent; remember that we have eyes everywhere, so keep your hands and feet to yourself. Let's go.”
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nereidprinc3ss · 6 months ago
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do you believe me now? | 5
in which spencer reid and fem!reader are reunited, but the worst kind of sparks are flying. you meet a man named randall. derek morgan buys you a drink (sort of). it seems that some things can't be unsaid.
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this series is 18+ warnings/tags: r goes to a bar but doesn't drink alcohol, gets hit on by weird men, dramatic, angst, sorry in advance a/n: surprise! i'll see myself out. love you! lmk your thoughts on this bad boy! i KNOW you'll have some! i'm locking all my doors and the cops are on speed dial after posting this. stay tuned for part six tho
You don’t call Spencer for four days. 
Spencer doesn’t call you for four days. 
It’s scary. 
There’s some texting—mostly him giving you updates on how things are going and when he expects to be back. Mostly you giving the messages a thumbs up and saying nothing else. 
Finally, on Thursday afternoon, his ringtone (the Bill Nye theme) makes you jump as you’re sitting on your bed staring into space. 
His caller ID photo—which is simply his passport photo, because you’d thought it was adorable—stares at you. You stare back. Contemplate not picking up. 
But you’re not quite there yet. 
And you cannot keep listening to Bill Nye the Science Guy. 
The answer button is cold under your thumb, but not as cold as your greeting. 
“Hi.”
You barely recognize your own voice. 
It seems to send Spencer for a loop as well, because his reply is halting. 
“Hey! Hi, um—how are you? I feel like we’ve barely talked this week.”
That would be because you told me my feelings for you are stronger than your feelings for me and I don’t know how to stop making every single word I say secretly mean I love you. We can’t have a conversation without me loving you. It will always be in the room or on the phone with us. To ignore the presence of it is impossible, and I don’t know if I can ignore the absence of yours, either. 
“Uh… yeah. I’m fine. What’s up?”
There’s a pause. 
“We wrapped up this morning. We’re getting on the jet here in a few minutes, and, um—I know it’s not ideal, but we missed Derek’s birthday and Penelope is insisting we all go to his favorite bar tonight. And he told me that for his birthday he wants to meet you. So… would you be up for that?”
“You want… to take me to a bar?”
“No. I mean—I know it’s not really your thing, but we missed Derek’s birthday three years in a row, and—and I understand if you don’t want to meet him tonight, but we wouldn’t have to stay very long and I really, really shouldn’t skip it. Derek has saved my life on more than one occasion.”
“You could go without me.”
More silence. Every second hurts, but you don’t understand why he wants you to come meet his best friend if he thinks the two of you are in different places emotionally. 
But maybe he’s not going to break up with you just yet. Maybe he’s going to keep inviting you to bars and foreign film festivals and bookshops. Maybe he’s going to treat you exactly the same as he always has but with this new added layer of knowledge that the way he treats you isn’t actually love, and it never was, and you’re not sure if it has the potential to ever become love. Because if it did—wouldn’t it have already? What more do you have to offer than what you’ve already given him?
Breakup or no breakup, you feel sick. 
When he speaks his tone is similarly chilly. It’s welcome. You want him mad. If he can’t reciprocate your adoration, then the very least he can do is have the decency to reciprocate your reproach. 
“I could. Is that what you want?”
No. I don’t want any of this. I need you to know me well enough to know that. And if you can’t love me then at least get angry. At least show me you feel something other than passive contentment. 
“Yeah. Sure. I don’t know.”
A pause stretches so long your heart pounds. You watch the elapsed time of the call tick by, second by second, and you wait for the anticipation to crack under the weight of silence, to give way to some terrible jump scare or to give way at all. 
But the words that end the conversation (if you can even call it that) aren’t any great relief. They’re just sad, and chalk full of defeat. 
“Alright. I’ll… I’ll call you later.”
You feel like you’ve swallowed an ice cube. All the words you’d like to say are frozen in your stinging throat. 
“Okay. Um… I’ll let you board now.”
“The jet’s not…” but he trails off. When he speaks again he sounds just as hurt as you’d wanted—and it doesn’t make you feel better at all. “Okay. Bye.”
“Bye.”
The line goes dead, and your face is burning as tears fill your eyes for the hundredth time this week. That call was terrible and poisonous and you don’t feel like yourself. 
Things have gone so wrong so quickly, and all you know how to do is ice him out so he can’t do it to you first. But it’s not going to make this better. No matter how mean you are to him, at the root of it all you feel unloved and scared and alone and Spencer knows things about love and relationships that you don’t. He’s confusing you with all this talk of feeling differently about each other and I’ll be home tomorrow I miss you and things get complicated when one person likes the other more and let’s talk in person and will you come meet my best friend tonight. All of it leaves you motion sick and ugly crying in the fetal position. 
All you have to get through this is who you’ve always been, a little of the person you’ve become, and the love you harbor for Spencer which rattles around in your chest like a nail in an empty toolbox. At the moment it hardly seems helpful. It mocks you, pointing out the pathetic hilarity of your paradox. The only person who can comfort you, the person you want more than anything, is the reason you’re so upset in the first place. But you can’t help being drawn to him. 
Maybe the love you have for Spencer is more like a magnet in a compass. 
Even if he doesn’t feel it for you, you do love Spencer. And that goes beyond just loving the parts of him that like you. To hide from that love would be a gross disservice to yourself and all the work you’ve done to get here. It’s not as if you suddenly know exactly what the answer is—but you’re sure that hiding is the most childish, cowardly thing you could do and the furthest you could get from a resolution. Even if you can’t make him love you back, you refuse to allow yourself to fizzle quietly out of his life. This relationship deserves something more than that. 
So maybe you don’t have a plan when you wipe your eyes and pick up your phone. Maybe there’s no strategy behind your actions as you text Garcia for the bar location. But if you keep running from everything you’ll never get anywhere. All you can do is show up. It seems like the next best step. 
------
The pub isn’t too crowded—but for a Thursday night, you suppose it’s a bit busy. 
Boot heels hooked onto the metal foot-beam of the stool you’re sitting on, elbows resting on the polished mahogany surface of the bar, you’re staring into an untouched mixed drink. Then you glance down the bar to your right, at the man who’d bought it for you. 
Maybe your ensemble gave him the wrong idea. 
Coming to this gathering had required bravery, and you came armored. Your ensemble projects significantly more confidence than you’re currently feeling. It was intentional, a form of self-protection—but now you’re wondering if it’s projecting a little too much confidence. 
All done up, clearly still a little rough around the edges, and sitting alone at a bar was bound to draw the wrong pairs of eyes. 
“Hey, darlin’,” the gruff man says, approaching when you inadvertently catch his gaze. “Are you gonna drink that, or should I? Otherwise I’m lookin’ at eleven dollars right down the drain.”
You avert your eyes, scanning the groups dotted here and there. 
“I’m waiting for friends.”
“Does that make a free drink less appealing?”
He takes the stool next to you, off-gassing the scent of cigarettes and leather. 
“I’m not drinking.”
“Really? I’ve never seen a girl who looks as sad as you do come sit at the bar to stay sober.”
You frown, looking back up at the man next to you. He seems like the Hell’s Angels type—tattooed knuckles, leather jacket, grey beard, and a weathered face that’s clearly spent decades with the sun. Fifties, maybe younger and just looks more rugged. What does it say about how I look tonight that this is the kind of man I’m attracting, you wonder. Maybe you look desperate and just as lonely as you feel. As he claims you do. 
“I’m not sad.”
“Alright. I’ll take your word for it. But a happier girl wouldn’t be all alone.”
“I’m waiting for friends,” you repeat, letting the words drip like venom from your tongue. 
“I’m Randall. See? Now we're friends.”
“I don’t need more friends. I like the ones I have.”
Something catches Randall’s attention long enough to catch yours. He raises his bottle vaguely, gesturing beyond your shoulder. 
“Are those angry lookin’ guys in the suits marching right over here the friends you’re talking about?”
You turn your head, brows furrowed, and immediately see the gentlemen to whom your new pal is pointing out. 
Spencer is storming across the bar looking close to furious (which for him, means an expression so placid it gives you chills) followed by Derek Morgan—a man who you’ve only seen pictures of and is even more impressive in person. 
You hate how your breath catches, how your heart is already beating a little faster than usual at the sight of him even though you’re not exactly pleased with each other right now. 
Suddenly the bubbles in your cocktail are once again fascinating.
“Those are the ones.”
“And why are they dressed for church?”
Church?
“They’re FBI.”
“Ah. My lucky fuckin’ day.”
You almost snort. 
“Hey,” Spencer says sternly, hand settling on your back as he partially fills the small space between you and the strange man. “Who’s this?”
You shrug, sit up a little straighter, and take a shallow breath—not because you’re scared of this man but because Spencer is suddenly so close to you and you can feel his warmth and the air bending around him and the scent of him is genuinely dizzying to you. 
“Randall,” you exhale unenthusiastically. But the odd thing is that you’re rather grateful for Randall’s presence. Because now Spencer is here and you have no idea what you’re going to say to him. 
“Oh,” Randall says, sipping his beer unhurriedly before using it to gesture to Spencer. “You’re the boyfriend. You know, that’s funny, because she didn’t mention a boyfriend.”
“I didn’t mention anything. We weren’t having a real conversation.”
Randy holds his hands up defensively, fingers still wrapped around the neck of a sweating bottle. 
“I’m just saying it’s in-ter-esting. Not trying to start anything.” He stands, pauses for another sip—Spencer obviously isn’t sure what to make of this man because he says nothing. “But listen, man to man—you better buy her some flowers or a real pretty fuckin’ necklace or somethin’ because a happy girl in a happy relationship does not come pout at the bar all by herself.”
“Get out of here, man,” Derek finally speaks up. 
“Yeah, yeah.” He sets his empty bottle down and fishes in his pocket for a cigarette, sticking it between his lips. “But—just for the record—I have a wife. I wasn’t gonna do anything weird. Sometimes when you’re my age you just gotta live a little. Buy a pretty girl a drink. Piss off some Mormons, or whatever the fuck you are.”
This guy sounds like a bad Bruce Springsteen song. But part of you would almost rather hang out with Randall than be forced into a conversation you’re not prepared for with Spencer. 
And whose fault is that, you remind yourself. You decided to come be mature. Suck it up. 
“Goodnight,” Derek emphasizes. 
Spencer doesn’t say a word. You can feel his eyes boring smoking holes into the side of your face, and you look anywhere else.  
“I’ll be here next week after physical therapy like clockwork,” the stranger waves as he ambles away—but not before pointing at you. “You enjoy that drink, friend. And don’t say I didn’t warn you.”
What a weird man. 
There’s silence for a moment—in which Spencer refuses to stop watching you and you refuse to acknowledge that. 
“And here I was thinking Spencer made you up.” Derek has a beautiful smile and a warm, charming cadence as he holds out his hand for you to shake. “I’m Derek.”
You take the proffered hand and shake, offering him a shy smile and introducing yourself in kind. 
“Happy birthday, by the way. Sorry for crashing your party.”
Really, he’s stunning. 
“Thank you, sweetheart. And you’re not crashing anything. I told pretty boy here I wanted to meet you the second he started talking about a friend. But nah, he just wanted to talk and talk and talk about you—” 
“Alright,” Spencer mumbles, blushing, eyes finally torn from your profile. You smile slightly, brows knitting as Derek magically melts some of the terrible tension.
“Pretty boy?”
Before either of them can explain, someone shrieks in your general direction. You startle backward in your seat, and Spencer steps closer, hand sliding up your back as Penelope, JJ, and Emily join your little huddle. For only a second you allow yourself to shrink into him—before you’re straightening your posture like your spine is a metal rod and his touch burns. It’s a knee-jerk defensive reaction for which you have no explanation. You can’t see him, but you don’t feel his hand on you again. 
“Oh my god! Look at this beautiful person who I love!” Penelope exclaims, pushing past Derek to grab your face and kiss both of your cheeks. “Oh my god,” she says again, wiping sticky lipgloss away with her thumbs, “I totally meant to ask before I did that. But your face is just so kissable. I’m so glad you decided to come!”
“Hi, Penelope,” you smile half-heartedly, incapable of reciprocating her cheery mood. Fortunately, she’s cheery enough for a standard commercial flight’s worth of people, and probably thinks of Derek’s birthday as a national holiday—so she doesn’t pick up on this. 
Emily and JJ offer you tamer although perfectly kind greetings. 
“Ooh, what are you drinking?” Emily asks, leaning closer to examine the forgotten beverage in front of you. 
“Not that,” Spencer mutters, grabbing the glass and sliding it away from you. You give him an affronted look—and immediately wish you hadn’t, since you’re meeting his eyes for the first time since he left. His words stall for just a moment as his eyes dart between yours before he’s saying, “you shouldn’t accept a drink if you didn’t watch someone make it.”
The audacity of him to be acting protective makes you scoff. 
“That guy didn’t spike my drink. He was harmless.”
“People thought Ted Bundy was harmless, too.”
It’s such a ridiculous thing to say that you don’t even have a response—your eyes simply narrow and you shake your head. A claustrophobic silence falls over the small group. 
“Okay…” JJ murmurs. “Um, do you guys want to go check out the jukebox with me? We have to play all of the birthday boy’s favorites.”
Several enthusiastic yeses go around, but you’re too busy having a stand off with your boyfriend to take much notice. 
Soon, it’s just the two of you. 
“Controlling isn’t a good look for you,” you finally say, spinning to rest your elbows on the bar once more and studying the bottles of liquor on the shelves beyond. 
“Evasive and avoidant isn’t particularly flattering, either. I was under the impression that you had no intention of coming after that phone call earlier.” 
You scoff again as your blood heats. Already the conversation is going worse than you’d expected—and your expectations were not high. 
“Do you think the cab driver was a serial killer, too? Or maybe the bartender?”
He’s still behind you and slightly to the side—but he leans down, resting his own fists on the bar right next to you and speaking lowly, directly over your shoulder. 
“Why don’t you try speaking to me like we’re adults instead of starting meaningless arguments in order to get under my skin?”
From him, that hurts. 
It’s a branch on the tree of your greatest insecurity—the fear that you’re too inexperienced with relationships and that makes you too immature and he’s been lying every time he says it’s not an issue. Because of course it’s an issue. It’s why you fell in love with him, it’s why you don’t know how to fix it, and it’s why you’re incapable of actually expressing any of your feelings to him.
“Why do you think I’m here right now?” you whisper—as sharp and stinging as a poison dart. “I’m trying to be a fucking adult. I don’t want to be here.”
Silence. 
“Then why did you come?”
His voice is so calm it burns like dry ice. 
“Because! Because you asked me to, because—”
You can’t bring yourself to say it aloud. 
Because I’m obviously still in love with you and I can’t just turn that off. I tried to do the right thing. 
Instead you bury your face in your hands and let it hang in the air, unspoken. You know he knows. You just don’t know why he’s acting like you’re so unreasonable for being upset. 
“Let me make this very clear to you,” Spencer murmurs, brushing your hair away from your ear so tenderly, speaking so softly you could convince yourself that he’ll say something kind. It’s the closest he’s been in days and now that he’s here you feel how much you missed him in your bones. And even though you sense a trap, you can’t help but sit up straighter. You’ll be complicit in your own undoing if it means you can have him close. His breath shakes slightly as he inhales and you brace as best you can. “Nobody is forcing you to be here. You told me you weren’t coming and then you decided to show up. I was ready to give you the space that you were too scared to ask me for. But I can only take responsibility for so much of what is ultimately your bad behavior and your adolescent volatility. You can only blame so much of your bad behavior on inexperience before I run out of patience because I don’t find thoughtlessness and emotional immaturity compelling. I told you that if there is a disparity in the way we feel for each other, that was fine, and I meant it. But if you can’t cope with how I feel about you then don’t let me hold you back. I am not holding you hostage. You can leave whenever you want. So don’t waste your time punishing me because you don’t want to be here. And if you do want to be here, good. I want that too. But act like an adult and make a decision. My leniency has limits, even for you. I am asking that you do not push it any further than you already have.”
You don’t know how long it’s been since your last breath by the time he finishes his address.
Long enough that you’re dizzy when you push away from the bar and shoulder through the throng of patrons as quickly as you reasonably can without outright running. 
Long enough that when you burst out the door into the biting-cold night air, and finally take a deep, gasping breath, it burns and stings and aches and so does your head and your eyes as they well with hot, furious, heartbroken tears. 
You speed-walk to the end of the block, hand clamped over your mouth to muffle your cries and all the curse words you’d love to scream. 
Part of you knows you walked away from the bar in case he decided to try and follow you—but when you look over your shoulder the sidewalk is empty. You should’ve known better than to think he’d follow you after that. But at least it means you can have your breakdown by the relative safety of the bar, leaning your back against the dirty brick facade next to the entrance alcove and sliding down until your butt hits the cold concrete and you don’t even care. 
Who the fuck was that man in the bar who looked like Spencer and sounded like Spencer but spoke to you like this is all your fault, like it’s your fault you love him and he doesn’t love you back, like it’s ridiculous that you’d be upset, like you’re cruel and petty for having feelings about it, about him—for having any fucking feelings at all? And to think that was the man who you let know you more intimately than anyone ever has. Every insecurity you’d ever admitted to him was hurled back in your face like it was nothing. Hell—he even handed you the ones you’d never mentioned. He proved every terrible thought you’ve been having about yourself right. 
How could he be so unabashedly mean to you?
Spencer doesn’t have to love you. It seems clearer now than ever that he doesn’t. But part of you wonders if he suffered some sort of traumatic brain injury because that’s the only explanation for why he could go from treating you how he did before to treating you like he doesn’t even like you. 
You feel like you might throw up. 
“Called it,” a rasping, grumbling voice says from a few feet away. 
You look up, and spot fucking Randall standing under a street light ten feet away, still smoking. 
You go back to studying the tar spots on the sidewalk through bleary eyes. Pebbles sting as they press into your palms. Another one of the universe’s terrible jokes, you suppose. Just earlier you’d thought that you’d rather talk to Randall than Spencer and now here you are and here he is. 
“That kid as much of a dipshit punk as I thought he was?”
Hearing Spencer described as a kid and a dipshit punk is so jarring you almost stop crying. 
“He’s not a dipshit,” you sniff, voice thick with tears as you find yourself explaining Spencer Reid to this stranger for no reason at all. “He has an IQ of 187. He’s a genius.”
“Ah,” he scoffs dismissively, flicking ash from his cigarette. “Dipshit-ism don’t discriminate. Anyone can be one. Even your genius punk boyfriend. As a recovering dipshit myself I know what the work of a fellow dipshit looks like. And this has dipshit written all over it.”
You sob harder. 
Randall speaks calmly around his cigarette. 
“You know, I’m sorry for whatever you got goin’ on. But I’ve never not been the asshole when I got a hysterical woman in front of me. It’s nice that I can confidently say this time it is not my fault.”
The bar door opens, letting a warm burst of jovial music and chatter into the otherwise still night. Steps that are too heavy to be Spencer’s hit the concrete next to you—you look to your left and see Derek Morgan before he looks down and sees you. 
“Hey—you okay out here?”
“Why don’t you go ask your Jehovah’s Witness buddy? He did this.”
Derek makes a face, locating the source of this interjection. 
“Sir, I asked you to leave her alone once and I don’t appreciate being made to repeat myself. Are we clear?”
“Yeah, whatever. Fuck me for making friendly conversation, I guess. Gonna have to call my wife and tell her to pick me up down the street. I don’t want her on the damn phone while she’s driving.”
Randall wanders away again, still muttering to himself and smoking. Derek watches him go, staring daggers into his back until he turns his gaze to you. 
Goodbye, Randall, you think. Great. Now I have neither of them. 
“Hey,” he softens, crouching down to your level. “You okay?”
You sniff, wiping your cheeks and attempting not to smudge your makeup. It’s impossible not to feel awkward—you just met this guy and now he’s here trying to do emotional labor for you on his birthday. 
“Yeah, I’m fine. This is embarrassing.”
“You don’t look fine. Can I do anything for you? Do you want some food? A drink?”
“You really don’t have to—”
“I know, I know. But look—Reid is always talking about you. You’re important to him, and he’s important to me. I’ve never seen him this happy and I’ve known that kid a long time. It is in my best interest that someone maintain you, and if it’s not him, it’ll be me. Call it a favor to him, if that makes you feel better.” Derek is sporting a slightly more modest Cheshire grin again by the end of his sentence. Listening to him speak that way about Spencer speaking about you, it’s impossible not to feel a teeny bit lighter. Even if you’re not entirely sure where you stand on all things Spencer related at the moment. “So I’ll ask you again. Is there anything I can do for you?”
You sniff again. 
“Sure. A ginger ale or something might be good.”
“Got it. I’ll be back. And come inside if Randall tries to run up on you again, okay?”
Despite yourself you manage a laugh at the way he says the name. His warm smile flickers warmer at this.  
“Will do.”
When Derek returns a few minutes later, the plastic cup he’s holding looks decidedly not like ginger ale. 
“Penelope insisted that this is what you would want. I don’t even know.”
You smile slightly as you take the cup, full to the brim with bubbles and thick red syrup. A cherry bobs underneath the layer of cubed ice. 
“Shirley temple,” you chuckle. “I’ll take it. Thank you.”
“You’re very welcome,” he says, flashing that brilliant smile again, and you look into your cup as you drink. Maybe your face warms just a bit. You’re still shy around men, you realize. Especially attractive ones. And Derek Morgan definitely qualifies as attractive. 
“So,” he begins, and to your surprise, crouches down in front of you. “I have to be honest—I came out here in the first place because Reid sent me to check on you. But now I’m wondering what the hell he did.”
Spencer sent him. A considerate action that would theoretically signal his care for your feelings. You take another sip, staring into space and trying to digest this information, but it only jumbles with the rest to confuse you more. 
Of course, you don’t know how to convey this to Derek in a way that’s not overly-familiar for just having met the man, so you go with an old standby. 
“I’m probably just overreacting.”
“Uh-huh. I have sisters. I know what an overreaction looks like and if you were overreacting you wouldn’t be out here hiding. What’d he do?”
You can only keep up the facade of emotional stability for so long. Your chin wobbles in a horribly embarrassing way and you look down again. 
“I’m not sure—I’m not sure if he really did anything or if I’m just being dramatic and I don’t want to make him seem—”
“Why don’t you stop defending him and just tell me what he did?” Derek urges. “Trust me—I love that kid to death. But I also know he can be a dick sometimes. You don’t need to worry about making him look bad in front of me.”
Part of you is glad Spencer has such a good friend on his side. And Derek is right—Spencer is an adult. You don’t need to worry about besmirching his reputation. So you take a shuddering sigh, staring into the red of your drink. 
“He just doesn’t like me as much as I like him. Which isn’t his fault, like I said, but—he’s being such an asshole about it.”
Derek pulls a face, strong eyebrows making an impression as they knit.  
“Did he tell you that?”
“Over the phone,” you nod emphatically. “And just now he gave me this whole fucking speech about how immature and horrible I am for not being 100% happy about it. And maybe he’s partially right, I mean—I know people feel things differently and maybe he just was asking for more time. I worry I fucked it up so bad because I couldn’t handle that—but at the same time he didn’t say he wanted more time. He was really fucking unclear and vague about what he wanted, and he asked me to come to this bar like it was nothing when I’ve been worried he was going to break up with me all week. So yeah, I guess he’s right and I have been a bitch about it because I was upset that he didn’t… like me as much. And I wanted him to feel bad because I was so embarrassed, and I also didn’t want to act like everything was normal if he was just going to dump me, I…” you realize you’ve been hardcore rambling and your face heats. “I don’t know.”
There’s a pause, and you worry you’ve done exactly the thing you didn’t want to, which was overshare to this man who seems like he’s significantly more normal and well-adjusted than you. You drink deeply, swallowing sugar and the rest of your words. 
“That’s… bizarre. I don’t mean to invalidate your feelings, but… that just doesn’t make any sense.”
“Yeah,” you scoff, projecting annoyance so you won’t start crying again. “I was confused too. I thought he really liked me.”
“No, sweetheart, I’m saying—that doesn’t make sense because he does really like you. Really, really likes you, more than I’ve ever seen him like someone before. I mean, last week I finally finished that Tesla biography he’s been on my ass about for months and when I told him, all he wanted to do was talk about your thoughts on it. And then it wasn’t even about the book anymore. I have never, ever seen Reid pass up an opportunity to talk about Nikola Tesla. I’m talking never in my life. He finds a way to make every conversation about you. I can’t even follow the connections sometimes but he always finds a way.”
Your nose wrinkles. 
“Sorry you’ve had to hear so much about me,” you mumble. Though you’re not really sorry. It feels good. A twinge of joy in all the murk. 
“I’m not. Like I said, I’ve known Spencer for a long time and I’ve never seen him this happy. I’m not about to let him fuck it up.”
“If I make him so happy then why did he tell me we don’t feel the same?” you whisper, reaching into the puddle of syrup and ice at the bottom of your now empty cup. 
“Is that exactly what he said?” Derek asks, after a long pause. You bite the maraschino cherry off the stem and nod morosely, grinding a long-gone stranger’s cigarette butt with your boot just to crush something. There’s another beat of silence. “Alright. You know what I think?”
You raise your head to meet his gaze, your own wide-eyed and expectant. 
“I think you two need to have an honest conversation. You’re both confused and hurting—I promise Spencer is feeling it too. If you talk to him he won’t be unkind to you.”
“He already was,” you admit. 
“I apologize if I’m out of line here, but you just told me you’ve been icing him out all week because you want him to feel bad. I’m willing to bet you don’t realize how sharp these claws are.” Derek grabs your hand as he says it and you marvel at how much he is the opposite of you. Everything he does and says seems so natural and reasonable and charming even if it would piss you off from anyone else—and you just met the guy. You can see why Spencer and Penelope speak so highly of him. “I think you’ve probably both had your moments these past few days. But that doesn’t mean neither of you deserve any more chances.”
He puts your hand back on your knee and pats it. 
“Besides, Spencer‘s not good at mean. I bet he’s inside worrying himself sick over whatever dumb shit he said to you. He’s probably hyperventilating as we speak.”
“It was really out of character for him,” you concede. 
“Yeah. He’ll be apologizing for a long while. It will get annoying. But he sure as hell won’t be doing it again, I can tell you that much. If he does, let me know. Emily and I will whoop his ass and call it a fitness evaluation.”
“I think that’ll be unnecessary,” you laugh thickly, pulling your sleeve over your hand and wiping away the few tears that haven’t quite dried. “But thank you.”
“Anytime. Now, it’s my birthday, and as a grown man I should not be getting involved in someone else’s relationship drama. I was supposed to be on the dance floor a while ago.” His tone is so warm and sugary by the time he finishes it could rot his perfect grin. It’s futile to hide the way your mouth twists into a reluctant smile as you look down and fix your hair—praying he can’t tell how fazed you are by his kindness. “You’re going to talk to him, right?”
“I’ll—yeah. Right,” you say quietly. But the sinking feeling in your stomach knows it’s a thing easier said than done. 
“Good,” Derek grunts, taking your empty cup before pushing himself back up to his feet and offering you a hand. “Do you want me to send him out here or do you want to come find him inside?”
You balk.
“Like—right now? I have to talk to him now?”
Before he can give you an answer you think you’d rather not have, the bar door is opening. From your spot you can’t see who it is right away, but Derek turns over his shoulder and does a double take before looking back at you. 
Spencer steps out onto the sidewalk, eyes scanning for until he realizes you’re a few feet shorter than usual. Sitting on a filthy public walkway is probably his worst nightmare, you realize, as you scramble to your feet and dust the crumbs of concrete from your palms against the back of your cold jeans. He begins to say your name, and it sounds like relief and regret, but you stop him. 
“I have to go wash my hands.”
It’s monotonous and mumbled and comes out too quickly but you don’t have time to worry about that as you brush past both of the men on your way back into the bar, making an immediate beeline for the bathroom. 
Your face burns with anxiety as you shut the door behind you, immediately drowning in the yellowish lighting which is so harsh but seems to illuminate almost nothing. Who paints a bathroom red? It’s suffocating. You feel like you’re inside an aorta. 
Water runs cool over your hands as you sniffle, rinsing the bits of dirt from red indents made by pebbles and things, and the soap is too floral and powdery but you wash twice anyway. Maybe you’ll just stay in here and wash your hands forever. 
There’s a light knock on the shiny wooden door and it makes you jump. Your name is muffled from the other side. 
“You in there?” 
Quickly you wipe under your reddened eyes in the mirror, trying to fix the slightly smudged makeup. 
The door opens when you don’t respond, and there’s Spencer, looking weary and tense all at once. Is that your fault?
“Hey,” you sniff, trying to effect casualness, but it comes out too quickly and your posture is too stiff. Under his all-seeing gaze you cross and uncross your arms, look at him and look away. Your hands end up in your pockets. He’d say crossed arms are a sign of self-soothing. 
“Hey.” His is more measured, and of course makes you feel embarrassed in comparison. The door swings shut behind him as he enters the small room and makes it feel that much smaller. “Are you… hiding from me in here?”
Yes. 
The graffitied toilet stalls to your left suddenly look fascinating. 
“Nope. Just washing my hands.”
This is not what Derek told you to do, you scold yourself internally. Stop being so scared. Be honest with him. 
Silence rings. All the brutally honest things you’d like to say choke you until your throat hurts and your eyes get hot. Yet again you feel like a stupid little girl who’s too emotional to communicate. 
You cross your arms. It’s an indulgence you feel you’re owed. 
Spencer says your name again and it’s too much. He never says it this often. When he does it feels good but now it’s too formal, makes you too aware of your own inadequacy, and how he must be seeing you—a wraith of a girl in a dingy bar bathroom with clammy hands and smudged eyeliner, practically shaking with fear under an unforgiving light. Someone who is too scared and much too sensitive. 
Spencer attempts to speak again. 
“What I said before, it was—”
“Can you just take me home?” 
It comes out on one exhalation and seems to stall him with all the effectiveness of a slap to the face. 
You don’t know where it comes from, either. 
Easier said than done, you’d thought a few moments ago. All the bravery Derek had tried to instill in you is gone, swallowed down the drain like soap scum. And now you’re choosing to let your fear win—because at least that’s a known quantity. The fear will never reject you. It will always be waiting with open arms. 
Too scared. 
The end feels imminent. You try to press yourself back together, fingernails biting into palms, trying to make something feel more tangible than the terrible knowingness that you’re careening toward an end which was supposed to be a beginning. It’s stifling and you wonder if Spencer is breathing it too. 
You can’t look at his face, but you watch him pocket his hands in his pants and there is so much impossible space between you in such a tiny room. 
“Yeah. I can.”
Something breaks. It’s small, and without fanfare. But it feels final. 
It’s just a ride home. Just a ride home. 
That’s all you have left, and you don’t know how you know it but you do. 
Something so important is being left in this stupid, dingy bathroom. Something that was at one point beautiful and shiny and so arrogant in its newness that it seemed it would never become ugly. And now you’re abandoning it without dignity on the chipped tile floor and in the cobwebs on the walls. It was bigger than you, it was you—and now it’s going to be nothing. 
A vehicle honks on the street. A boisterous group laugh explodes somewhere beyond the door. Water drips from a faucet. 
“I’ll… I’ll bring my car around.”
“Okay.”
But he just stands there for another moment. Like he can’t get himself to move. 
If only time would freeze before he could walk away. 
But it doesn’t. 
He sucks in a decisive breath. 
“Okay,” he murmurs. 
It’s that fucking phone call all over again. 
Then he spins on his heels and leaves you there.
Your time is up. 
-
part 5.5
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silencesscreams · 11 months ago
Text
i can see you
james potter x best friends sister!reader (smut)
summary: james develops a strange feeling for sirius’ sister (reader) when she comes to london once her job required her to move. he first off thought she was a shitty person, an awful one with an awfully pretty face. so when sirius offers for her to stay in their loft until she finds an apartment, he decides he’s going to make her want to get out of there as fast as possible, until he wants her to stay more than anything in this whole world.
a/n: omg im so sorry this took so long, i tried my best w this one. also, english isn’t my first language so sorry for any mistakes. inspired by i can see you - taylor swift
warnings: mdni. smut with plot, afab!reader, use of she/her pronouns in reference to reader, use of y/n (I AM SORRY), afab!reader, being shorter than james, muggle & modern day!au, chef!peter, ships included (dorlene, marylily, wolfstar), swearing, cuddling, mentions of alcohol and drinking, a lot of physical touch, kind of public??, kissing, praise, v soft dom!james, fingering, oral (m receiving), light choking, size kink??, penetration, unprotected (don’t do this please), overstimulation
for the past two years, you started to have weekly calls with your brother, to update him on your life and know what’s happening on his.
you got transferred to london because of your job, you couldn’t find any apartments online and you were supposed to move the other week, being really desperate you told him about it, hoping he knew a real estate agent or something like that, but you were incredibly caught by surprise with his answer.
“thats such nonsense, you should just stay in my empty room until you find another place.” sirius said, his phone on speaker as he made a sandwich in the kitchen. james eyed him with a confused look on his face, but sirius decided to ignore it.
“really?” you ask, hopeful, you really could take a break from looking for apartments.
“of course. i mean, remus has practically moved into my room, so we just need to take some stuff of his out, but yeah, its no big deal.” james couldn’t help but look at him like he was crazy, remus’ room was right next to his, hell, remus’ room had a bathroom adjoined to his. james was starting to feel faint.
as soon as sirius got off the phone with you, he started blabbing.
“what the fuck, sirius?!” james said loudly, sirius sighed, putting his sandwich harshly on the plate.
“what now? i’m really just trying to eat here”
“your sister? really?” he looked like he was about to faint.
“she’ll pitch in on the rent, don’t worry about that” your brother tried to get him calm.
“oh please, i dont care about that! you know how i feel about sharing spaces” he was getting stressed, he couldn’t help it. “and you know how i feel about your family, i have been telling you to be more careful these past years but you don’t listen at all!”
it really had to be remus’s room? couldn’t peter just switch rooms and lend her his instead?
“she’s not like my parents, and neither is regulus, they didn’t do anything” sirius paused, “do your best friend a favor, will you?” and he knew he was going to.
“she’s not messy or nosy or anything like that, right?” james asked, giving into it fully.
“please, shes a cleaning freak, she’s worse than my mother” he paused. “that’s an exaggeration but she’s not messy at all, i swear. you wont even notice she’s around.” james doubted that, but he knew how much sirius missed his siblings, and he knew how fond sirius was of you.
james swore to himself he was going to get you to leave either way, he didn’t want you there and he didn’t care if he had to pay more rent because of it. he didn’t like you, he never did. even in school, before the whole sirius moving out thing, he felt weird around you. and he remembered that feeling very well, even if it was many years before, he didn’t feel like he could forget.
-
your moving truck arrived at the building a few hours before you, but when you got there, sirius had already arranged your furniture, which did make you a bit emotional. he had even bought a toothbrush, carefully arranging it in the right side of the cabinet, the side that pointed towards the door of the bathroom that led to your room.
the boys came to pick you up at the train station, you recognized them from sirius’ social media. they were everywhere.
you were extremely confused on why all of them had come and pick you up, you were hoping to see your brother standing awkwardly, instead he was there with all of his roommates. you felt like you were a teenage girl again, trying to talk to your brother during lunch, but his friends were always around.
you recognized remus from the photos he sent you, and peter was always on the background of your calls with him baking something.
and then there was james.
james potter. you didn’t know how to feel about him anymore. when your brother first introduced you, you found him attractive, but then you hated him.
when your brother ran away to his home you couldn’t help but hate him.
sure, your house wasn’t the best place in the world, but he took away your older brother, how were you supposed to feel?
as time passed you started to tolerate his presence. now you really don’t care about him, but he sure looked better than he usually did many years before.
-
you felt like you could kill him.
after living with james for a month you found him obnoxious, rude, annoying and a few other things you were too lazy to mention.
but the thing you hated the most was how invasive he could be.
you barged into his room, he was laying there, crumbs all over his red shirt.
"you should learn how to knock" he rolled his eyes when he said it, your brows furrowed.
"you ate my brownies." you had baked a few because it was bring your kid to work day and you were in charge of the snacks.
“they were really good, i thought peter made them” james paused. “he runs a restaurant downtown, you know, he’s always baking and-“
“i’m gonna have to make a whole new batch. you ate like ten of them.” you were about to get a really bad headache depending on his answer.
“i told you, they were really good.”
if you were in a cartoon you would’ve turned red and there would be smoke coming out of your nostrils and your ears. you had no comment.
you hated when he did that, just compliment you so you couldn’t really hate him that much anymore.
he used your shampoo, but it smelled really nice.
he ate your leftovers, but you really know how to order chinese food.
he even wore one of your biggest shirts you bought when you were in college because you were too lazy to buy pajamas and suddenly that shirt was really nice, because, sure, james potter actually listened to avril lavigne.
he shrunk one of your favorite sundresses, you almost cried that day and he never even apologized.
the list went on and on, and somehow, every compliment of his sounded like he was taunting you, making fun of you right in front of your face and all you could ever do was thank him.
maybe that’s just how you were, polite no matter what. but you sure didn’t want to be polite to james that day.
“no, you don’t get to do that” you felt like you were being crazy.
“what do you mean?” he chuckled. he so did not chuckle.
“you don’t get to compliment me! that doesn’t bring my brownies back!” the word brownie sure sounded stupid in that moment.
“i’ll bake more for you, but they’ll suck, you know that” he actually sat on the bed to argue, how kind of him.
“the kids will probably die if they eat your brownies.”
“you’re feeding children? where do you even work?” he looked so confused and you kept getting angrier.
“do i really look like the kind of person who would eat a hundred billion thousand brownies? god, james, why can’t you just not touch my shit?”
“that’s not even a real number and there were a lot of them! i thought it wouldn’t make a difference!”
“it wouldn’t, if you had eaten one or two, but you ate half of them!”
“oh please, lets put it to a maximum of 25%, alright?” you felt like you were going absolutely insane. he was probably going to get you in a mental hospital and you’d be walking around, looking half dead, murmuring ‘brownies brownies brownies, i want my brownies back’.
you decided to just give up, slamming the door the hardest you could while heading out.
-
as halloween came around, the bickering with james stopped, you didn’t quite know if it was because of the season or you just got used to each other, but you didn’t mind it much. he could be very exhausting when upset, and you were sure you could too.
you loved fall, maybe it was that you were in a great mood. pumpkin flavored stuff, candles and everything else included.
on the day before halloween, you woke up early, you had to go apartment hunting and once you got back you would try and help peter make deserts. even though your ghost shaped cookies look like very sick jellyfish, you wanted to help. it was the most you could do, you weren’t paying rent, sirius wouldn’t let you. and they were going to throw a party on the next day so you wanted to help them get everything settled.
when you got home you were so incredibly tired, you had spent all day out and it was already 9pm. you had to walk so much you felt like you were your feet would fall off because they were used more on that day than they were your entire life. you were more upset you didn’t get to help with the food though, the pain didn’t really matter that much compared to that.
you just wanted to lay on your bed, put your feet up and-
giggles.
there were giggles coming from your room.
and then you remembered it, the neighbors, a few girls that went to the same school as you and were very good friends with your brother were staying over. a big slumber party of some sort, you and james were sleeping in the living room, because, of course, the four girls formed two couples and they would sleep together separately. no actual bed for you tonight! you really liked them though, so you couldn’t complain.
you knocked on the door to your own room and marlene opened it, cheeks flushed, and you could see dorcas on your bed, doing something on her phone.
“hi, lene” you decided to call her that because sirius called her that, it was cute. “sorry for bothering you both, i just wanted to get my pillow, my blanket and change real quick”
“oh sure, come in” she opened the door and you went straight for the drawer under the bed, grabbing a light green heavy one, you usually used that on winter but it was a cold night and you didn’t really want to bother them by taking your usual one from off the bed.
you never changed clothes so fast, tossing them in the laundry bin along with a shit ton of james’ shirts that were on his side of the sink.
“thank you, have a nice night”
you sighed while going to the living room, to find james sitting on the armchair, shirtless and wearing sweatpants, drinking a beer and watching that 70s show (again). you decided to ignore how good he looked and just get some rest because you really didn’t want go think about james in that moment, or ever as a matter of fact.
you lay down on the couch and throw the blanket over your head.
“you know what bums me out about this show?” james says abruptly, like you would really like to know. you grunt, waiting for his answer. “they really didn’t know when to stop it, its only good until what? season-“
“james, im really tired, i just wanna get some rest, please” you get out from under the covers to say that, so he ignores it fully.
“how did apartment hunting go?” he asks, pausing the episode and asking alexa to turn on some playlist with songs a sad dad would listen to.
“shitty, theres not one good place up for rent in this city, its actually sick”
“yeah, thats tough” he pauses for a brief moment “come here” he said, patting his knee. was he asking you to sit on his lap? was he going fucking crazy?
“i’m sorry, what?” you were so confused, since when was he like that to you?
“get up, sit here with me a little.” were you dreaming? was this one of those weird wet dreams you had in high school?
“james, i’m really tired, my back hurts and i really want to lay-“
“i’ll give you a massage, it’s whatever” he answered, a sad puppy look on his face.
you gave in. you walked over to him and sat on the arm of the chair, but he pulled you onto his lap.
“i need to be close to you, if i’m not it’s really awkward and uncomfortable.” some song you didn’t know was playing.
it was slow and sounded old, you didn’t recognize it.
“james come on, im really tired.” you say, smiling though, you didn’t know why he was doing this. he must’ve had an awfully good day.
“just for a bit.” why were his hands on your waist? why were you nervous. you nodded, you felt that if you opened your mouth to speak, nothing would come out.
you could feel his breathing on your neck, his hands roaming your waist as he lead them up to your shoulders.
his hands were on the low of your back, under your shirt. that was certainly new, and that was really not a massage, but you weren’t complaining.
you looked back at him, wide eyed, what was he doing?
once you turned your face to look at him, you couldn’t look away anymore.
maybe it was how nice he looked in the paused lighting of the tv, maybe it was how warm he felt, when the weather was so chilly recently, whatever it was, it hooked you.
he was looking straight into your eyes and you felt so open to him, it was weird to see him like this.
you felt like you were back in school being head over heels for your brother's best friend.
you heard keys jingling outside, so you stepped away, leaving him sat by himself wondering what he did wrong. sirius opened the door abruptly, scaring james, who looked at him confused.
“sorry, mate, the door was … hey! is that my instrumental playlist?” james turned a bit pink.
“yeah, I was just...” he looked at you. “forget it.” he turned it off. you were pretending to be unbothered, looking at something on your phone.
you couldn’t quite wrap your mind around what had just happened.
you unfolded the sofa into a bed, getting comfortable on the right side, but then you felt his eyes back on you as sirius went into his own room.
“oh, sorry. do you want the couch? i can sleep on the chair, i don’t really-“
“we can share. don’t worry about it.” you nod at his comment. what had gotten into him? he turned off the lights, leaving the tv on. you were trying to calm down, sleeping in the same place as him, being nervous about it was so silly, but, still, you could feel your heartbeat.
“you wanna pick something?” he interrupted your thoughts, you didn’t want to watch anything. you wanted it to be over as soon as possible.
“no, you can just go back to your thing, i don’t mind it.” you answered. he laid down by your side.
fuck.
you were going to share the damn blanket.
he unpaused the tv, putting the remote on the right arm of the couch, that was your side. his arm went over you, he wrapped his arm around your waist once he went back to his side, though half of it was empty.
was he trying to spoon you? you could feel yourself getting nervous, your body starting to feel hot.
you (stupidly) decided to test his actual intentions with that, turning to your side to see if he’d pull you in, he quickly did.
you could have died right there.
he had never even hugged you before, was he really horny or something? and so you felt it.
‘oh my god.’ you thought to yourself repeatedly.
you felt his hand on your waist, pulling you closer to him, which was basically impossible with your ass already glued to his crotch.
you ended up sleeping like that, waking up in the morning to the ‘are you still watching?’ screen.
the day was fine, and you found out you and James had a lot in common, you ended up talking the entire evening, he spent the whole party next to you.
you slept in separate rooms at night, but you still spent a while with him in his room talking about all sorts of things. you never imagined how you and james could be alike. you never imagined how he could be so sweet, funny and nice.
after the fall holidays you and james became closer and closer, when labor day came up you realized how much you liked him and when thanksgiving came around, you realized how you might actually be falling for him.
he didn’t help with that at all. he was always touching you, you even ended up cuddling when you would watch some awful movie in his room.
you never really got if he liked you as a friend or he wanted something more, until christmas.
you carefully placed your gifts under the tree on christmas eve, so in the morning when you saw a little box with your name on it, you were incredibly excited.
everyone was sat on the living room floor, opening gifts. in the little box was an envelope and it was from all of the guys. there was something written in the paper inside but you didn’t want to read it at the moment.
“thanks” you smiled, but you didn’t quite know what it meant.
“we all talked and we want you to put your name on the lease.” sirius said quickly, looking at you anxiously.
“like, actually?” you ask, starting to feel extremely happy because you loved living with them.
“yeah” remus answered, smiling.
“thanks, i really appreciate it.” you couldn’t stop smiling, it felt great to know they wanted you there. james, who was sitting next to you, gave you a one arm hug and a kiss on the forehead.
“so you’re gonna let me pay rent now?” you ask to your brother, smiling.
“i guess so.” he replied. you knew he was happy too. “gonna get you an actual gift though”
they were planning a big christmas party, they invited some people from work, the girls and some other people you didn’t really know, so you were expecting to spend the night with james. you went all out, put on your favorite red dress which was short but still fancy for the event.
once you were ready, half of the party was already there, including all of james’ coworkers and friends. you sat next to him on the couch, they were all there all talking about something from his work you didn’t really understand.
they were all dressed up too, but what shocked you the most was that james was wearing a suit, sure, his necktie was already loose and the buttons on his shirt too, but he looked amazing.
“can i stay with you for the rest of the night? i don’t really know anyone here.” you whispered into his ear, nervous about the answer.
“sure” he nodded. “hey, henry” he called for his coworker that was sitting on the arm of ouch.
“yeah?” the guy answered.
“this is y/n, the friend i was telling you about the other day.” james gestures to you. you can’t help but smile awkwardly and wonder what he said about you.
“oh, hi! pleasure to meet you.” he got up from his chair and shook your hand, smiling at james and nodding. what did that mean?
“pleasure to meet you too.” you smile at him.
“i’m just gonna get some drinks, i’ll ill be right back. do you want something?” james asked you.
“just a soda.” he gets up and heads to the kitchen.
“so, tell me, how are your brownies?” henry jokes, you look at him confused.
“good, i guess, but thats a biased opinion.” you answer, curious on how he knew about your brownies.
“you know, james talks about you all the time.” he comments, you were sure he already had a few drinks.
“really? what does he say?”
“when you first moved in he hated you, you know? he always said it was fun to make you mad and all. but since october he’s been so nice when he talks about you, i personally think he fancies you, but i wouldn’t know. i don’t think he’d tell me if he did, specially because you’re his friends sister and all.” he was rambling but you really enjoyed the part he said about james seeing you as more than a friend, you enjoyed it so much you didn’t even pay attention to what he said after that.
“i doubt it, we just turned into good friends, that’s all.”
“nah, i think he wants to make you into something else.” henry might’ve just made your entire night with that phrase. you couldn’t hide your smile anymore.
“here’s your soda, a beer for you, henry” james handed the drinks and took a sip of his coke. you sat next to him, holding your soda in both of your hands, looking down at it nervously. “did something happen?” he asked you.
“no, just thinking ‘bout something” you answer, looking into his eyes now. he smiles, wrapping his arm around your waist. that makes you so flustered, you feel your entire body getting warmer and that’s just the start of it.
for the rest of the night, he stayed by your side. his hand resting on your waist, thigh, around your shoulders, wherever he wanted them. you could feel your heart beating in your chest for most of the time. he had never done that before, not in public and surely not like that, not in a sexual manner, at least that’s how you identified it, because one thing was a friendly touch, the other was what he was doing.
he made you feel needy, aching for more - he was making you want him.
did he notice? did he ever even perceive how he made you feel? how could he not?
goosebumps covered you once he grazed your thigh for the first time out of five, the fifth was when he finally let his hand stay put there.
it made you feel crazy, it really did.
you didn’t know if he meant it as you took it, but you really hoped he did.
the party was still going around 1am, james had disappeared and you were left sitting on the couch, waiting for him to come back.
you couldn’t stop thinking about him and it made you feel kind of silly. you were a bit disappointed that nothing happened but you sort of expected it. you knew nothing would actually occur, but still, it made you a bit sad. maybe the touch lead you on, but it-
you looked at your phone once it vibrated and you felt the absolute need to scream because of how excited the text made you, but you didn’t.
‘James: come to my room once you read this, please.’
you didn’t think much of it, though you would’ve come if he just asked you to like he normally did.
you finished your drink and knocked on his door. he opened it but didn’t look at you, his eyes were focused on your knees, he looked nervous.he was still wearing his pants and the dress shirt, except it was unbuttoned. shit.
“y/n?” he was looking at you now.
fuck.
“yeah?”
“you look really good tonight.”
“i clean up nice sometimes.” you smile.
“oh please, you always look good” he turned a bit pink once he said it. “and thats a really nice dress” his voice was low when he said it, was he actually hitting on you?
“thank you” you whispered, you couldn’t help but feel anxious as his body got closer to yours.
“you know, i’ve been thinking about something for a while now” he says. you could feel your stomach start to twist and turn because you were so anxious on what he was doing next. you hummed, making sure he would continue what he was saying, but he didn’t.
he just kissed you like it was the easiest thing in the world. he pulled you into his room and closed the door, locking it quickly.
the feeling of his lips on yours was something you craved for a while now, you needed it so much you started to wonder if it was normal for you to need something this much.
you couldn’t stop once it started. his hands were on your hips and you tugged onto his hair desperately.
kissing him is redefining the whole concept of kissing to you, and probably ruining every other sexual experience you could have for the rest of your life.
he pushed you into the door, his hands now on your ass.
“shit” he let out quickly as he stopped kissing you so roughly and started giving you quick pecks. “you have no idea how long i wanted to do this.” you hummed. “you’re so fucking hot, it makes me crazy.” the praise was making your stomach twist again, a wet spot being formed between your legs.
he carried you with your legs around his body and took you to his bed. the same bed you have used to lay down to watch movies, to just gossip or discuss things, to do whatever.
he sat down and kept you on his lap, straddling him, but you needed more. as he kissed you roughly and messily you would casually rock your hips, causing friction. after you did that a few times he laid you down on the bed, telling you to stop being such a tease, he got on top of you, supporting himself with his knees, one of them between your legs, causing friction and making you more aroused.
when he started playing with the strings that held the dress together, you knew you were done for, so you let him undo the bow, kissing your neck. he was messy, sometimes he would bite and it would send bolts of electricity down your spine.
“james…” you let out as he bit you again.
“tell me” he said, trailing his kisses down to your clavicle. “can i take this off too?” he asked, playing with your bra. you nodded but he didn’t move an inch.
“i need to hear you say it. can i take this off?” he was such a fucking tease, it made you go crazy. he loved to hear your voice, he knew you wanted him to take it off, he just liked to hear you say it.
“yes, please” you struggled to hold in a moan once he started sucking on your neck.
“thank you” he answered, looking back to the hickey he gave you. “hmm, that’s gonna leave a mark, sorry baby” baby? he had never called you that, you hummed as he took off his collared shirt and then proceeded to take off your bra . he groaned at the sight of you, which drove you mad. his growing bulge was exposed.
he was big.
you immediately regretted every single time you had made a small dick joke (sure, there were only 2 times but they did happen).
he was on his knees, towering over you.
“you’re so pretty”, he leaned down to kiss you again, this time more eager than ever. his right hand cupped your jaw as his left one roamed your body, making you ache for more and more. “i really wanna touch you” he whispered and went back to kissing you, his left hand now between your thighs, waiting for permission to move.
“please” you whisper, stopping the kiss briefly. he kept on kissing you as he stimulated you through the fabric of your underwear, but that didn't happen for long, especially because of how wet it was, he needed to touch you, he couldn't help himself. the dress was so hiked up it looked like a shirt, but instead of helping you take it off, he pulled it down a bit, so he had access to your chest. he immediately started kissing around your left tit, making you go absolutely insane. and that combined with the sudden touch to your clit? yeah, you were getting fucked up that night.
he was better than anyone had ever been to you. sucking in your nipple and fingering you slowly, he was making you go crazy, needing him more.
he stopped sucking on your nipple and went back to your neck, his hand not stopping at all. the right one went to cover your mouth as you moaned.
“be quiet, hm? want everyone to listen? don’t wanna stuff that pretty mouth of yours too” his non dominant hand went to your neck, choking you lightly as his other one fucked into you. you were so close to cumming, with his thumb stimulating your clit as his other fingers went in and out of you, he knew that you were close, specially with the way your pussy was tightening around him. “so fucking tight, aren’t you? can’t imagine how you’re gonna feel around my cock” he stopped and took his fingers out, making you whine, missing the feeling of him.
“jameees” you moan, finding the courage in you to pull him in, giving him a kiss.
“take it off”
“what?” you’re confused.
“the dress, i really wanna fuck you in it but i don’t wanna ruin it.” he lets out. “take it off” he sounded like he was ordering you, and you loved it so much, you wanted to give something back to him.
“i will, but can i suck you off first?” you ask, looking at him doe eyed, and how could he say no?
“you really want to?” he asks, furrowed brows, you nod, quickly getting on your knees as he unbuckles his belt, throwing it on the carpet. he got up and pulled his pants down, staying just in his boxers, he climbed back into bed with you, kissing you sweetly.
you were on your knees in front of him, pulling his cock out of his underwear, stroking it lightly then kissing the tip. you take him in your mouth, using your hands to stroke what couldn’t fit, which, frankly, was about a bigger portion of it. he was the biggest you ever had.
“fuck” he groaned at the movements you were making, using his left hand to get strands of hair out of your face, as his right one supported him on the bed. he was trying not to thrust into your mouth but you were making it so hard. “your mouth was made for me, baby” he whispered, looking into your eyes. his free hand went to your neck, choking you just a bit, as your head bobbed up and down, taking as much as possible.
“so good, your mouth feels so goddamn good honey” he groaned as he finished the sentence and you used your non dominant hand to cup his balls. he was moaning a bit and it was the hottest thing you’ve ever seen or heard, though you were sure you would see hotter things that same night. he started thrusting lightly, he couldn’t help himself, specially with how good your mouth made him feel.
“stop” he ordered you, and so you did, a pop sound being made as you stopped sucking and looked up at him.
“did i do something wrong?” you ask, brows furrowed. his hand hasn’t left your neck, and so he pulls you in by it. his tongue went straight in your mouth, he needed to taste him on your lips.
“i wanna fuck you” he said, looking into your eyes, waiting for any kind of response.
“yes. please do” you quickly say, kissing him quickly.
“the dress” he remembers and you quickly take it off, not stopping the staring for a second.
“want you down on all fours” he says, getting on his knees. you do as he commands, getting in an arch position as he’s on his knees behind you. he can see that you still haven’t taken off your underwear, he bites on your ass cheek and then pulls it down with his teeth.
“you don’t mind if i keep this, don’t you?” he asks, helping you take it off fully. “it’s already ruined”
“it’s yours” you look back at him, he’s smirking like the devil. he throws your underwear into his bedside drawer.
“gotta keep it safe” he whispers. you can feel his bulge through his boxers as he leans in to kiss your neck, you whine, needing him more.
“patience, i’m gonna give it to you, sweetheart” his right hand gave your ass a smack. “up” he said, signaling for you to arch your back even more. as you do so, he groans, pressing his covered member against your wet cunt.
“you’re so pretty like this, all for me?” he asked, using his hand to play with your clit.
“y-yes, all yours” you said, trying not to whine mid sentence.
“good girl. mine” he gave your shoulder a quick peck. “gonna put it in now, okay? tell me if you wanna stop” he took his dick from out of his boxers and pumped it a few times. you could’ve fainted once you felt his tip lined up to your entrance.
he went in slowly, he was way to big for you. every time you thought he was done, there would still be more of him left.
“jaaames” you would whine
“just a bit left; don’t worry, princess” once he was fully inside of you, you felt amazing, like you were in heaven. “you’re so fucking tight, ‘feels so good” he said, trying to to groan, his voice was raspy.
if took a few thrusts for you to get used to his size, but as soon as he picked up a pace, you were a mess. you couldn’t hold in your sounds, the way he was stimulating your clit was absolutely killing you.
“be fucking quiet” he demanded with a groan, “you want everyone to know who you belong to, huh?” he didn’t stop, he just went quicker as a matter of fact.
“fuck!” you squealed as he pinched your clit, his thrusts began to be more rough, you couldn’t even focus. you’re eyes kept rolling back, your mind was fully blank and the only thing that was coming out of your mouth in that moment was a mixture of james, fuck, shit and a few other curse words.
you were in ecstasy.
“you like this, don’t you?” he was grunting lowly in between every few thrusts. you were so close, you felt your high coming to you, the way he was fucking you was not helping with you trying to hold it.
“james ohmygod james, im gonna cum” you say, trying not to stumble over your words.
“ask nicely and i’ll let you” he said, stopping the stimulation on your clit and thrusting harder. he was close too, the way your tight pussy would clench around him was making him go insane.
“please let me cum, james. need it so bad” you blurted out in between whining and moaning. he grins and goes back to stimulating you.
“good girl, do it” he went faster and didn’t stop playing with your clit. your eyes rolled back and you let it go.
your walls clench tight around him, he didn’t stop as you made a mess all over his dick.
as you finished, his thrusts only got harder, you were feeling so overstimulated and you felt like he was close too.
“fuck, sweetheart. gonna cum inside you, that’s alright?” you moaned in answer.
his hips stuttered and you felt his cock twitch spilled inside of you, his juices mixing with yours.
he made sure he got rid of every single drop.
your legs were shaking as he pulled out and tucked himself back into his underwear, you collapsed on the bed and he laid down next to you.
“wanna go back to the party?” he jokes, looking into your eyes.
“shut up” you reply, looking at the ceiling of his room.
“gonna clean you up, okay?” james assured you as he threw you a shirt of his that was under the bed. you put it on but pulled him closer to you.
“okay, but just stay with me for a while if that’s alright.” you asked.
“always” he pressed a kiss onto your forehead and you knew that this was not going to be a one time thing.
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lcriedlastnight · 3 months ago
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Enemies to lovers with Lando. Same group of friends. One day Lando accidentally texts the wrong number thinking it belongs to a girl that he met at the club the previous night but it actually belongs to reader. They continue texting agreeing to not disclose each others’ identity. Maybe a couple of months in the both fall in love with each other but both refuse to tell the other. At some point they go on vacation with their friend group somewhere at the beach in Italy and maybe during the second or third night they text each other and they realise they’re in at same location and they finally decide to meet up but as they are messaging each other one of their friends says something like “you’ve both been on your phones for so long. Are you texting each other?” And maybe that’s when Lando and reader realize they might be texting each other. And by the end of the night they finally confess their feelings
oh the details in this anon! i adore youuuuu. i actually hate how this turned out but oh well.
tw: fem!reader, stupid reader and lando, lmk if you want me to add anything!
w/c: 2.7k (oh god)
you and lando had the same friendgroup so you kind of have to be friends, for the sake of the others. it was not like you did not like him! it was just that you did not really know him. he never really made an effort with people in the friend group that he was not close with, meaning you and the people you were close with. it was a big friend group.
lando never really made an effort in any group plans at all actually, unless it was for one of his close friend's birthday, he was not coming. you knew he was busy with racing and stuff but when he was home he still did not really make an effort. so you were not friends but you were not really enemies either. he just seemed like the type of person you did not want to be friends with and he never even gave you the time of day anyway.
the whole group had planned a trip to italy during the summer break so that lando had no excuse not to attend but you would still be surprised if he did make it. he had a few months to pull out of it.
you and some of the girls had decided to go shopping for some clothes for your holiday, when an unknown number texts you.
unknown
hey, it's me from last night ;)
you smirk at your phone, it was clear that someone had gotten a fake number. you tell your friends and they laugh as you all sit in a cozy coffee house, taking a break from a hard day of shopping. you think about how to reply to number. you felt a little bad for the guy ("because let's be real, no man is giving a willing girl a fake number" you're friend had said. you rolled your eyes at that.)
you
hey 'me from last night' i think someone gave you the wrong number.
you send the text and slide your phone back into your pocket. this was something you could entertain tonight when you were in your bed, ready for work the next day. right now you were spending time with your friends.
the day seems to fly by as you all laugh and joke about the poor person who seemed to have gotten the wrong number. the girls make you promise, once you are all parting ways for the day, to keep them updated in our shared groupchat and you do promise them you will do just that when you get any updates.
you get yourself ready for bed, your mind whirling about what or who could be on the other end of your phone. your laying in your bed once your curiosity gets the best of you and you open up your messages again to see a waiting text message from that same unknown number.
unknown
ugh knew she was too good to be true
it makes you laugh a little, then you catch yourself. that was not even funny. at all.
you
sorry dude (assuming your a guy) she probably doesn't deserve you anyway she was not worth your time.
you type and retype again before you send it. you do not know why you were being so weird with this. you really needed to get a boyfriend. this was getting desperate at this point.
if you thought it was desperate texting this random guy at that point, then you should have seen yourself a month and a half down the line. you were so down bad for this man. you had never met him, you did not know his name or even what he looked like. all you knew is that he made you laugh and asked about your day. he even sent you your favourite chocolates and flowers when you had told him you had had a shitty day at work. you both had been texting back and forth non-stop, everyday at any chance you both could get. it did feel super weird that you did not even know his name but you did eventually get used to it. you did not want to ask him why he did not want to exchange names, you just went with it, desperate for some company.
he called you pretty baby or love in place of your name. the first one started as a joke but then he had found out you actually liked it. you called him bro. it made him laugh so that was good enough for you. you had told him pretty much everything about yourself, even things you had not told your close friends. you even told him about lando because of the one time lando was supposed to show to one of the last meetings before the holiday and he did not show up. your unknown friend agrees that he sounds a bit like a prick and it makes you happier that you were not the only one who thought that about the boy everyone else seemed to love.
in turn he told you a lot too but he seemed to be a lot more vague than you, which made sense you guessed. you were still a stranger to each other, even though to you he felt like a close friend. you maybe even fancied him a little bit too. that was a secret you did not tell your girlfriends. it stayed with you.
you tell him about your upcoming holiday with the dreaded driver to italy. he tells you that if you were comfortable then he would love to see some outfits you had been talking about wearing on the fortnight long trip. you do because it is literally impossible to say no to him. you make sure your face is not in the picture as you send it to him. you are so fucking nervous so you hide you facetime your friend and pack your suitcase, phone on 'do not disturb'.
bro :)
holy shit. you are so fucking pretty makes me want to see your face.
is what you are left staring at before you go to bed that night. it does take you at least ten minutes to even think of a coherent reply but once you do start to think clearly your words just seem too shy to send to him. it was times like this you longed to see his face or hear his voice. he was always so sweet to you, he called you pretty baby even though he had never seen your face before. in his own words "i can just tell you are a pretty girl". it made you melt every time.
the day of your holiday came pretty quickly. you had found out that your boy was also going on a trip for a fortnight too, which you had found pretty weird but shrugged off because what were the chances?
in the airport you had all gathered together once you were through security and almost ready to board the flight.
"heyyyy girl." ashley comes over to you with a tense smile on her face. you groan at her words, knowing you are not going to like what is coming next, that hey had far too many 'y's at the end for it to be anything positive.
"so we randomised who was sitting where and..." she trails off with a guilty look in her eyes. you look at her in a panic.
"no you're joking. please tell me you're joking?" you plead with her. she just shakes her head with this solemn look on her face which honestly made this whole thing worse.
"is there at least anyone next to us." her head shakes again and you want to cry. this was going to be the worst flight of your life. sitting next to some snobby, stuck up prick and a random stranger. you try to act unbothered in front of the rest of the group but there really is not any point because everyone knows how you feel about lando. they already know you are less than thrilled with the seating arrangements.
as you all board the plane you head towards your seat number with your carry on bag filled with all the essential things to keep you from going insane on board. your headphones, a book, some snacks and a bottle of water. let's just hope you do not lose your mind sitting next to lando.
there is already a stranger sitting on the aisle seat when you arrive at your designated seat and you hear lando's voice talking to his friend directly behind you so you know he is close.
once you have stowed your bag above your head you kindly ask the stranger if he could move so you could get to your seat, then remember lando would have to go first seeing as he was the window seat. you were so jealous of him.
"you're first in." you tell lando as you step to the side to let him in, he is typing away on his phone but he looks up from it and his words astound you. "nah you can sit at the window and i'll take the middle." you are shocked but in no way stupid so you jump at the chance. you would much rather just have to sit next to lando compared to lando and a random stranger. you both quickly settle in your new seats and buckle up. just as the flight crew are doing their demonstrations, you get a text from your boy.
bro :)
just about to take off love, just incase you thought i was ignoring you i'm not. don't know when your flight is but i hope you stay safe, i'll text you as soon as i have wifi again x
you flush at the pet name just like always and quickly type a reply before you turn your phone onto airplane mode.
you
you too! stay safe for me!
you have no clue if it sends because you are basically forced to turn your phone off. you put on your favourite reading playlist and open your book, ready to get soaked into some fictional girls love life. ready to long for it to be you.
the flight is actually much better than you had expected. lando keeps to himself and seemingly types on his phone the entire flight, which you did find weird but each to their own when you are all a flying metal can and at least he did not bother you. you all get off the plane and head towards baggage claim once you had all had your passports checked. as you are standing waiting for the carousel to start spinning around you feel your phone vibrate multiple times in your pocket. seems like you have internet again.
bro :)
i miss you
this flight without you is torture.
i don't think i can survive this long without you pretty baby :(
i hope you are having a better flight than me. my friends sat me next to this girl and all i can think about is you in that dress you sent me a few weeks ago. i made it my home screen so i can always look at you.
sorry for all the notifications ur gonna get once you get internet.
miss u
you feel your face heating up as you read and re-read the messages over and over again. he also must have landed for his message to even send. he must have had a short flight. you screenshot the messages too just so you never ever forget how cute he was. you will definitely need proof about the home screen thing. although you did not like the fact he was sitting next to some girl. you catch yourself because you have no right to feel jealous over him, you do not even know his name!
you
god you're clingy.
my flight was good. i finished my book!
also you are lying about the home screen.
he does not reply until you are already settled in the villa you had all rented and had ventured out into the city to find somewhere to eat. all of your friends were excited to try out the italian food culture, so basically everyone was eager to eat.
you eventually find somewhere that suits everyone. as you look around at the gorgeous restaurant you notice that lando is glued to his phone again. this man just had no manners at all, never mind table manners! it pissed you off but you were not going to say anything and cause a fight on the first night. you were here to enjoy yourself and you were not letting lando stop you from doing that. a few seconds later your phone goes off. you know it is from your boy because no one else really texts you anymore, much preferring phone calls.
bro :)
*attachment 1*
all he sends is a screenshot of his home screen and you have to hold back your gasp of surprise as you see the picture of you wearing that very same dress that was sitting in your suitcase as you speak. you send him back something sassy but it really melted your heart, like almost everything he sends you. even when he sends you stupid memes it makes your heart race because, he knows you well enough to know that you would find it funny and goes through the effort of screenshotting it and sending it to you. it really does warm your heart, even the thought of it is enough to do the trick.
a few days in and you were having an amazing time, it felt great to let loose with your friends and explore the lovely scenery in italy. you snapped some picture and reminded to yourself to send them to your boy once you were home. you guys did not talk as much as you usually did but you guys tried to talk as much as you could. one night you both made an amazing discovery.
you had sent him all the pictures you had taken that day with little captions explaining what you did and who the girls in the pictures were when he texts back a "shut the fuck up no way". you should be offended but you have no time because he quickly follows it up with. "i think we are both in the same place... i was just there today too!". you gasp and respond excited. you would not even know if you had seen each other because you had no clue what he looked or sounded like. the thought that you had both passed each other had made you long for him ten times more.
meanwhile, something your friends noticed is that when both of you were texting your friends, you were both on the phone at the same time. no one really says anything about it until ashley gets too drunk at dinner one night and says "you've both been on your phones for ages. are you texting each other?". and it clicks in your minds.
lando, the boy you despised for, basically forever, was your boy. this could not be happening. you both excuse yourselves to have a talk.
"oh my god." is all you can mutter.
"i'm the lando you hate?" is all lando can muster up to. he seems genuinely distraught at the thought of you not liking him. you groan lightly and cover your face with your hand.
"noo! i actually like you. it's hard not to." you mumble the last part of yourself but lando has come so close to you that he hears it loud and clear. he forces your hand away from your face so you can see the shit eating smile on his face. he says you name and you move your eyes his meet his.
he says nothing as he holds your hips tight as gives you the sweetest kiss you have ever had. it was quicker than either of you would have liked but that was only because lando knew all of your friends were watching on.
"i like you too. meet me in my room later?" he smiles cheeky. you would be a fool to pass up that offer.
439 notes · View notes
schoenpepper · 1 month ago
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Fishies
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Intro: In your dreams, this eel merman loves to bother you the most.
Warnings: bad writing, awful grammar, Floyd is a warning in and of himself, mentions of homicide haha, reader is yuu, i dont think i followed the req very well my bad, u and floyd are like super totally normal besties i prommy ahaha no romance here nope no sir, not proofread im like super ded, the glitch text is funny to me, yandere floyd and reader if u like squint super hard
A/N: Updates are slowing down a lot, I know, I'm so so sorry. Unfortunately, my course and univ are kind of competitive, and as someone who hates studying, I've been forced to actually study. Gross, I know. This is for my 300 follower event, for @anonymousplant. I hope you like it.
Masterlist
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You’re a pretty normal person, at least, you’d like to think so.
But starting from when you were 5 years old, you’ve had a permanent, recurring dream. You tell your parents of a rowdy merman that tends to linger in your subconscious: his sharp-toothed grin, his sparkly tail longer than his torso, his pretty fins that fluttered when you tried to touch them. They didn’t believe you when you said he really liked trying to squeeze you to death, though they comfort you when you break into their room in the middle of the night sobbing your little heart out.
Yeah, Floyd is an asshole.
That’s his name, or at least, what he told you. You’re not too inclined to debate him on that considering his fondness of wrapping his ridiculously long (and freakishly strong) tail around you, squeezing you at a moment’s notice.
You thank whatever deity is listening that you can breathe underwater in your dreams. He does not seem like the kind of guy who wouldn’t drown you. You know, for fun. Every night when you fall asleep, you ready yourself to meet with your imaginary friend (that’s what your parents called him, though you prefer the term imaginary acquaintance, at best).
“Shrimpy! You’re here, hehe~”
You look at him harshly with your arms crossed in front of your chest, “You’re never this happy to see me. What do you want, fishy?”
“Neh, shrimpy~” the sparkles in his two-colored irises bring about a sense of fear in you, “do you know what dreaming like this means?”
“That I made up a weird eel merman in my mind?”
“I’m not made up. Don’t be silly, shrimpy!�� Floyd’s tail slithers in the water, coiling around your legs, “Jade and I learned about it yesterday. You’re my soulmate!”
Ten-year-old you woke up in a nervous start.
Ew!
Why would you ever, ever, be caught dead being with someone like Floyd?! He’s annoying, and a fish, and so if you got together you’d be a fish too! But you don’t want to be a fish!
Your parents are surprised to find you in a very snappy mood the following morning.
“You left so quick, shrimpy! You don’t wanna be my soulmate?”
You snatch an iridescent fish swimming by, turning it into a big plushie with your dream powers. “But you’re annoying,” you stick out your tongue, “so I don’t want to be your soulmate.”
“Eh…?”
You glance at Floyd. He doesn’t seem too happy with your words—in fact, his eyes are narrowed and he’s swimming slowly, closer and closer to you. “But I like you so much, shrimpy~” he says, but there’s no expression on his face. He’s so, so uncomfortably close that you need to lean back to avoid touching him, “you don’t get to choose your soulmate, y’know? So it’s not like you have a choice, hehe~ But if you really wanna be rid of me, I can always squeeze you ‘til your eyes pop! If you’re dead, you wouldn’t have a soulmate anymore. Shrimpy, aren’t I so nice?”
“You suck.”
You kick at the dream water and swim away from the giggling eel.
“Wanna play chase, shrimpy? Okay~”
He’s not too bad. At worst he’ll get cuteness aggression and suddenly wrap himself around you, but most times you’re just chatting endlessly with him about what he calls “weird human things”, and you pester him for details about “normal fish things”. He talks about his octopus friend that he refuses to call a friend, and how takoyaki is his favorite food in the same sentence. You talk about having to dissect a frog in science class which he found really funny somehow. He tells you about his twin brother and their shenanigans together. You tell him about how your parents, your friends—no one believes you when you say that Floyd’s real.
He says they’re lame.
You’ve learned to keep him a well-guarded secret lest your parents recommend a mental hospital again, but he must’ve stuck himself real close to your heart when he starts becoming inseparable from your mind.
He’s become a really good friend.
With Floyd, no moment is ever dull, even when you’re just sitting together on some dream-conjured rock, leaning on each other silently.
There is no second in a day in which you’re not thinking of him. Your favorite part of the day is going to sleep to see him each night, spending hours with his eccentric tendencies. The fish has become a very important part of your life.
(Your friends in school ask you who you like in a discussion about crushes. You ignore the fact that his name is on the tip of your tongue.)
He’s your best friend. There is no secret you can keep from him, because despite Floyd’s usual laissez-faire attitude, one change in your expression and he’s onto you. You’d thought you would go through your entire life with him as your constant, you really did.
On your sixteenth birthday, he’s gone.
Not that he disappeared, but rather, you can’t dream anymore. You wake up the next day with no memory of any dream, and it fills you with panic. Your stomach is churning like a void is forming inside—an integral part of yourself is missing and everything feels so, so wrong. You make your bed and head downstairs to eat breakfast. Your parents question your demeanor in concern for your well-being, and you force out a smile. You tell them you’re fine? There’s no need to worry them about the loss of your imaginary friend, right? You’re okay. Maybe this is the change you needed. You’ll be an adult soon, and you can’t dream of a weird eel merman forever.
No no n̷̥̜̐ơ̷͉̪ ̴͚̉̾n̷͚̥͒̓o̵͍̾̆ ̵͍͑n̷̩̝͐ő̵̟ ̶̛̈́ͅn̴̟̣͝͠ȍ̴̢̜ ̸̳̾ǹ̷̳̮ö̴̠́
Where is he?
Where is F̸̛̛̛͇͉̳̝̫̹͒̏͒͊̐͜ͅļ̸̪͈̞̱͓̰̖͌̽̉̔̐̇̃̃̏ó̶̻̯̪̭̐͋̏͛͒̈́̇̽ͅy̶̟̳̬͉̙̖̫̙̻̑̏̌̔̇͂̋̌̕d̷̝͕̣͖̺̬̦̟̂͊͜?̶̧̛͕͎̼͔̈́̆ Ẅ̶̟̗́͠ͅh̶̦̞͚͙̣͛ỳ̴̢͓͓̗͔̗͓̀̉́͋͜͝ ̸̹́͐̿͛ī̵̡̛͎̪̭͉̫̋s̷̢͇͗̏̔͑̿́̚͜ ̵̡̟̄̀̈̆̎̓͝ͅh̵͕̓͂̍̀̔̊̏́ę̶̹̝̘̙̪̗͊̽ ̸̮̟̞͇̭͕̫́̆̀͑̓͗͜͠g̵̙̰̽̔̈́̃́̓̋̐o̸͚̱̟̳̘̦̖̊͐̓ñ̷̨͕͉͈̱̮̲̟ȅ̷͓͙?̴͖͎̳͚̟̲͚̂̔́̔͝͝
Why has he left you...?
Your vacation to your grandmother’s house does nothing to ease your worries (but if she ever heard you sobbing your heart out alone in your room, she never said anything about it).
There’s an old mirror in your bedroom in your grandmother’s house, owned by your late great grandparents. The floor length mirror is encased in an intricate gold frame, and it’s not too obvious until one night when you’d found yourself staring at it in a daze, but the reflection is off. It’s tinged with a layer of purple light, translucent and barely visible unless you pay attention. You try to sleep (it’s been evading you for three days, since the night of your birthday), cozy in your fluffy blankets and a blue unicorn onesie that your grandma had bought to try to cheer you up.
You’re woken by a bright light.
Careful, tiptoed steps lead you in front of the mirror. Your fingertips graze over its surface when a sudden force pulls you in—right in front of a crowd of a few hundred students.
So that was your first day in NRC.
You’d say it was nothing particularly remarkable considering everyone in this place has some sort of superpower, but to be honest, they think you’re so intriguing because you’re magicless. In their eyes that made you weak.
Helpless.
NRC is just filled to the brim with budding sadists.
Your first night in NRC goes a lot different.
It’s uncomfortable. The blankets and sheets are old and scratchy. The entire place is in disarray. It’s filthy and dusty and you’re sure you’re one step away from falling right through the floorboards because of how creaky they are. But tiredness makes for the best sleeping aid, and you’re prepared for another night of nothing.
You miss Floyd.
It’s a big shock when you’re met with your most beloved dreamscape instead of the void. Cold water that chills you to the bone, schools of colorful fish just passing by. There’s a long tail wrapped around a boulder, connected to a swaying half-human who’s blankly staring at the jellyfish. It’s all so familiar that your feet have acted before your brain has; you’re right next to him again.
(It’s where you should be.)
“Shrimpy!”
His voice is a welcome sound. His squeezing though, not so much.
“Floyd—ack! Ow ow ow!”
You almost swear you hear your ribs crack at some point with the way his tail and arms are putting pressure on it, but he only loosens his hold. He doesn’t let go.
You don’t mind that he doesn’t want to.
“Shrimpy’s so mean, why’d you gotta go no contact like that? It’s been so boring! I was super bummed, didn’t even wanna leave my room for that lame ceremony. Did you sleep when I was awake or somethin’?” he whines mournfully into your hair, “I thought… tsk, I told you soulmates aren’t changeable. Were you tryin’ to stop dreaming again?”
“No, the dreams just stopped,” you reply softly. It’s so oddly comforting to be in his arms, it makes you sleepy even in your sleep.
“Really?”
“Really.”
“You weren’t tryin’ to stop seeing me again?”
“I wasn’t. I promise.”
He hums, almost in relief.
(You don’t feel his lips gently, so gently, leaving a kiss on your neck where he’d buried his head. It’s so unlike him, but you make him act so weird.)
Grim wakes you up to look for breakfast in the cafeteria, and your time with your (platonic 💜) soulmate is over all too quickly. But something is stuck in your mind as you’re trudging through dimly lit halls with cat in tow. You knew the name Night Raven College rang a bell, but for it to be the very same school that Floyd had been ranting about for a year is just so unexpected.
(You’re finally in the same world.)
Then, is he here?
You didn’t manage to tell him about your most recent adventures last night. Maybe you should ask around and see if anyone can point you in the correct direction. At least, that was your original plan. Before an almost-burnt statue, a broken chandelier, two idiots who are actually really fun to hang out with, an abandoned mine with hostile ghosts…yeah. It takes you at least three more days before you remember to ask about Floyd in the school. You wanted it to be a surprise, so you kept it a secret from him. Though you probably should have expected that with all the mischief you’d gotten up to, your name was bound to reach his ears sooner or later.
“What the—?!”
“Ack!”
“Woah!”
Your first real meeting with Floyd starts with your cat and your friends being pushed to the ground in a pile.
“Shrimpy! You’re in my school! And you’re the funny student that’s been causing trouble? Now I’m annoyed I missed orientation for the freshies,” he does not hug any looser in his human form, “coulda’ seen you earlier. I coulda’ squeezed you earlier too~”
“Too tight, loosen up a bit please.”
“Okay~”
Ace and Deuce are looking up at you in shock with how casual you seem to be with him, but you pay their reactions no mind, only walking towards them with Floyd still wrapped around you, reaching out a hand to help them up.
(You don’t notice Floyd glower at the trio, or the way his hold tightens ever so slightly.)
They don’t take your hand, but you smile and introduce your best friend anyway. “Guys, this is Floyd. He and I have been in each other’s dreams since forever,” you pat Floyd’s arm that’s slung over your shoulder, “he says we’re soulmates but just ignore him, he’s kinda crazy. It’s probably some freak coincidence.”
“There you go again shrimpy, I thought we were over this? You still don’t believe me even now?”
“Soulmates don’t exist Floyd, don’t think about it too much. You know you’re still my best friend.”
(Ace and Deuce look at each other. Neither of them want to be the one to tell you—)
Soulmates are absolutely a thing.
And with the way that the big bad school bully, known for terrorizing at least half of the student population, is basically hanging off you, there was just no way that Floyd wasn’t completely and absolutely enamored by his cute, magicless little soulmate.
They should probably warn Grim that the eel merman wouldn’t be letting you sleep at Ramshackle tonight.
Or ever.
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python333 · 1 year ago
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task force 141 reacting to [reader] giving them a 'happy father's day' card — python333
— — — —
synopsis you give the tf141 boys some happy father's day cards!!
relationships platonic!taskforce 141 & younger!reader.
characters cap. price, soap, ghost.
warnings 2nd person pov [you/yours/yourself], usage of c/n [code name/call sign], reader is intended to be around 16/17-20/21 but can be interpreted as older as long as they're below 24 (just so that the headcanons make more sense), maybe ooc?
note i'm so sorry but there's no gaz in this one BUT i can explain why!! i was doing my research (going through three different tumblr posts) to figure out the actual age of each character and gaz is apparently 24?? in new updates or whatever?? anyway, even before i found that out, i could only ever imagine writing him as an older brother, simply because he doesn't feel fatherly to me but still has those protecive-familial vibes so if yall want me to write something on him being ur older brother then feel free to request/reply/comment or whatever and i will! :3 this is all comfort no hurt and pure fluff so enjoy!!
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JOHN “BRAVO SIX” PRICE
➥ OH GOD.
➥ man i don’t even have daddy issues and i’m crying.
➥ gives you that one dad smile he has—y’all know the one. don’t pretend you don’t—and thanks you for it.
➥ gives you a lil hug too because why not?
➥ tears up just the tiniest bit but it’s pretty unnoticeable but i need you to know that it’s there.
➥ either keeps it propped up on his desk, in one of the drawers of his desk, or puts it in a small frame and puts that on or in his desk.
➥ definitely reads it at least once a week.
➥ he’s so genuinely flattered by it i think that after you leave his office he’d tear up a bit.
➥ you thought he was acting as a father figure to you before?
➥ be prepared for him to take it to a whole nother level.
➥ starts getting you cheesy birthday cards after you start giving him father’s day cards.
➥ is he a father biologically? no. is he one mentally, emotionally, and spiritually? absolutely.
You were reasonably pretty nervous.
It wasn’t ever really a secret that you and Price had some sort of father-child-like relationship, what with the amount of hair ruffles, head pats, shoulder pats, etc. that you’d received from him and the swatting at his hand with your own that you had given back. But none of that took away the nervousness you had when you gave Price a father’s day card for the first time.
It’s not that you thought that he would be weirded out by it, you just had a small habit of overthinking things, and this happened to be one of those things. The card didn’t say too much inside of it, a simple ‘happy father’s day!’ and a sentence you wrote that mentioned that you were grateful to know him. That’s it. That’s all it was. And yet, your hand shook as you held it, the other hand knocking on the door of Price’s office.
He nodded in greeting and opened it, and stepped out of the way to let you walk in and sit in front of his desk. He sat at his usual seat after shutting the door, and you set the card in your lap, not wanting him to see it just yet.
“Is there any particular reason why you wanted to come into my office?” Price asked, breaking the silence. You took a deep breath and nodded before you quickly handed over the card, slipping it onto his side of the desk. He took a good look at it for a moment, reading the ‘happy father’s day!’ on the front and looking over the cheesy illustration on the cover. You anxiously waited for him to say something as he simply stared at it, before he picked it up and opened it, reading the short few words that were written on the inside.
You watched as his expression melted into a softer one, and he stared at the card for another moment before wordlessly getting up. Before you could say anything, or question anything, he knelt down to the level of the chair you were sitting in and hugged you. You were frozen with surprise before you hugged him back, loosely wrapping your arms over his shoulders, a little confused by the hug but appreciating the embrace nonetheless. He rubbed your back for a quick moment before standing back up straight and patting your shoulder.
”Thank you,” He said, smiling down at you. “I really appreciated that, kiddo.”
Oh, wow. I don’t know why, but I think I might start crying. “Yeah—yeah, of course,” You’d replied, quickly getting up and giving Price a quick hug before swiftly walking to the door, “I’ll just, uh, I’ll be in my room. Or, actually, no, I’m gonna go—I’m gonna go bother Soap in his office, so if you need me I’ll be in there okaybyeCaptainI’llseeyoulater!” You rushed out, not looking back as you closed the door behind you.
Price had blinked at the door for a moment before huffing out a small laugh and sitting back down in his chair, looking at the card you’d given him one last time before sighing and letting himself tear up a bit. Eventually, after just sitting there and staring at the card, he unlocked one of the few locked drawers at the bottom of his desk and put the card there, for safekeeping.
JOHN “SOAP” MACTAVISH
➥ he’s so excited when he reads that card.
➥ he’s so flattered?? and is so happy?? and oh my god he might pass out?? from all the positive emotions he feels??
➥ be careful with what you say because you might break him beyond repair.
➥ it’s like you’ve given a puppy it’s first treat, honestly.
➥ won’t cry but is very close to!!
➥ will definitely show off the card to everyone.
➥ when i say everyone i mean EVERYONE.
➥ he will talk everyone’s ear off about it, no matter who they are or what they’re doing, hell, the man could be pissing with his dick out at the urinals and everything and he’ll still be ranting to the poor soul in the bathroom about what a sweetheart you are and how you gave him a father’s day card.
➥ he starts calling you ‘lamb’ and ‘duckie’ after the whole ordeal.
➥ no i didn’t ask chatgpt for terms of endearment scottish parents use for their children haha!!
➥ he buys a corkboard just to pin the card to in his office.
➥ like it’s literally just in the middle, nothing else on the corkboard, just that singular father’s day card.
➥ the whole thing is just reserved for father’s day cards tbh. he hopes to fill it up with as many cards as you’ll give him, and if you only give him the one, then damn it, the corkboard’s only gonna have one thing on it and whoever questions it can mind their damn business.
You didn’t really know what to expect with Soap when you gave him the card.
You felt pretty confident giving it to him, knowing the guy could probably receive a rock with googly eyes on it from you and still cry tears of joy knowing you gave it to him of all people, so giving this card to him was no big deal, right?
You found him in the recreational center, lounging on the couch, reading a book—shocking, I know—and quietly reading the words out loud to himself. The moment you had entered the center, though, he looked up from his book and nodded in greeting at you with a smile on his face and watched as you walked over to him.
Before he could say anything, you quickly put the card in his lap and watched as he looked up at you, a surprised and amused expression on his face.
“What’s this?” He asked, not looking down at the card just yet.
“Read it,” You’d insisted, gesturing towards the card in his lap. He blinked at you for a moment before muttering, “Alright, then,” under his breath and looking down at the card. He picked it up and read the three short words on the front and looked over the illustration on the cover, and the moment the words registered in his brain, his face broke out into a grin and he looked up at you.
“Aww, this is sae sweet,” Soap gushed, “Thank ye!”
He got up before you could talk and hugged you tightly, lifting you off the ground a bit, cooing, “Ye're jist the sweetest, ma God, when did ye get the card?”
“I got it a while ago,” You had admitted, “Decided to give it to you now.”
Soap set you down and put both of his hands on your shoulders, gently rubbing circles into them with his thumb, looking down at you with an elated grin, "I'm gonnae hang this up in ma office—I'll get a corkboard an' everything, jist for this."
You looked up at him with a confused, but amused look on your face, asking, “And you’re just gonna hang that card on there?”
He nodded in confirmation and responded, “Aye, it'll be deid center, naething else on there."
SIMON “GHOST” RILEY
➥ oh my goodness.
➥ the moment you hand him the card, it’s like he already knows what it is without reading it.
➥ probably thinks it’s a joke at first.
➥ when he realizes that you’re serious he straight up tears up.
➥ like in front of you and everything he’ll tear up.
➥ “... Are you crying?” ghost, tearing up and literally about to start sobbing, "No.”
➥ he treasures that thing and would literally cease to exist if he ever lost it or if it got destroyed.
➥ won’t flaunt it at all, instead he keeps it in the pocket of a jacket he never wears anymore.
➥ if you ever give him more cards, he’ll consider getting a box to keep them in.
➥ he’s always called you ‘kid’ but after this he starts calling you ‘kiddo’.
➥ THERE’S A DIFFERENCE. I CANNOT TELL YOU WHAT IT IS BUT THERE IS A DIFFERENCE.
➥ listen kiddo is more affectionate and its softer and its not as playful as kid its more personal and and and [explodes]
➥ the others notice the small change in behavior he has towards you (being more lighthearted with his teasing, generally being less cold with you, etc.) and will tease him endlessly about it.
➥ by others i mean soap and gaz. those two team up and tease him to death.
➥ he could care less though!! he tells himself that they’re idiots anyway and that his behavior hasn’t changed that much.
➥ he’s in denial and i think that him and me are the same fr.
You had practically searched every corner, crevice, nook, and cranny of the base searching for Ghost. When you finally found him, he was in the armory and weapons room cleaning the barrel of his rifle, hyperfocused on wiping away the gunk on the gun. You stopped by the door, hesitating in giving him the card. It really shouldn’t be that hard, You thought, What’s the worst that could happen?
You were aware that there were many things that could happen, most of which were bad, but you ignored them for the sake of building up your confidence to give him the card. You stood there for a while, just sort of staring at him, before he—not even looking up from his gun—called out to you with a simple yet firm, “Do you need something?”
You probably could’ve died right there, his firm voice almost completely shattering your confidence for reasons you couldn’t specify, but you instead cleared your throat and walked out of the doorway and completely into the room. You walked over to him and before he could ask any further questions you held the card out to him, your hand having a small tremble to it, an uncomfortably visible display of your nervousness.
He stared at the card for a moment before setting down the cloth he was using to clean his gun and grabbing it, reading the front for a moment before huffing out a small laugh and looking up at you to tease you for it. He was going to tell you what a ‘funny’ joke it was, to tell you to just go do whatever work you’re probably skipping out on when he sees the look on your face that tells him that you’re pretty serious about the card.
He looked back down at the card and read it again, the words ‘happy father’s day’ echoing through his mind as he opened it. He read the few short words on the inside of the card and the shitty drawing of a ghost right next to one that was scribbled out—because of course you had to use pen and weren’t satisfied with the first ghost you drew even though Ghost could make out through the scribbles that they practically looked the same.
You were pretty nervous the longer the silence stretched out, and you were about to take back the card and go jump off a cliff to avoid ever looking at Ghost again when suddenly you hear a sniffle.
“Are you… are you crying?” You’d asked, more confused than nervous now, watching as Ghost shook his head negatively and continued to stare at the inside of the card.
“No,” He answered, sniffling again.
“... You sure?” You’d asked again, far less nervous now, your tone becoming more teasing.
“Positive.” Ghost said firmly, though his voice had wavered a bit. He looked up at you and reached his hand up to give you a pat on the shoulder, muttering, “Thank you for that, kiddo.”
"Yeah, no problem," You had said back, smiling down at Ghost before taking a step back, "I'll leave you to keep cleaning your gun, or whatever."
Ghost had simply nodded and looked back at the table where your card and his gun laid, and you didn't stay long enough to watch him tear up all over again at the sight of the letter.
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Note
This request may be a little cliché but can i ask for a Percy one shot where,since he’s new at the camp,he gets hurt during sword practice and apollo daughter!reader is the one that takes care of him?Thank you😙
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YOU'RE AN IDIOT JACKSON *ੈ✩‧₊˚
paring: percy jackson x apollo!fem!reader
warnings: swearing like twice
a/n: asdkjsgad i had so much fun writing this!! sorry it took me so long to get around to and its so short ive been in such a writers block i swear. i was writing this a like 12am freezing cold and tired but babes here it is!! (i might write something like the later one when im not as sleep deprived and cold lol)
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when the new kid at camp was rushed into the infirmary with a shirt wrapped around his arm you instantly groaned and shot luke a threatening look.
"i'm going to kill you if you hurt another newbie sword fighting."
luke's already present grin grew even bigger. "its not as bad as it looks i promise." he helped the boy onto the table and sat across from him while you worked.
"what's your name?" you ask, already knowing it but trying to be polite - he's the boy who killed the minotaur - of course you knew his name.
"the names luke."
"I swear to god-" you spin around and shove luke out the infirmary. "don't come back for a whole week luke, break your record."
after sending you a wink and devilish grin he leaves to head back to sparring and you're left with a very confused and very pretty boy. what? who said that?
you spin back around and smile at percy. "so what was your name again? i think mr d was saying something about a peter?" you tease.
"its uh, percy."
"nice to meet you percy, i'm y/n," you say extending your hand to shake but thinking better of it when he goes to move his injured one.
as you set to work healing him his eyes fill with wonder. "who is your parent?"
"hades," you joke, but when percy's eyes go wide you quickly amend. "kidding, its apollo. y'know hence the singing and glowing shit."
"language!" one of your siblings yells from behind you.
"sorry!" you call back winking at percy. he cracks a grin and you both dissolve into giggles.
from then it doesn't take long for you to heal percy, luke was right in the end it was worse than it looked. "ok you're all done, i'd avoid sword sparring with luke for a while though."
percy goes to leave but then turns back to you. "um, okay so i don't know where i'm going."
laughing you lead him out og the infirmary. "come on i'll show you around."
you show percy around camp - for what you're assuming is the second time - annd gossip and update him on all the need to knows about camp.
"and yeah basically that is why my sister no longer wear her favourite shirt," you smile. occasionally sneaking peeks at percy. he does the same but you don't see it.
as you walk him back to the hermes cabin he asks, "who do you think my godly parent is?"
that stumps you for a moment, "i dunno, maybe you're an apollo like me," you shrug as you arrived at hermes and you spot luke's shit-eating grin.
"i don't wanna be an apollo though," percy says.
"what you hate me that much? geez, i didn't realise i was that bad," you joke.
"no, cause if you're my sister, it'd be weird if i like you."
and with that he smiles and walks inside leaving you with a open mouth and internal squealing.
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onyxmilk · 1 year ago
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Twilight x f!Reader; “Missing” (p2)
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notes; part 2 to this !! sorry for the long wait :( !! tw; fem!reader wc; 1.5k tl; @dianexo-v @mr-underhills-things @solaeirr @lenguasdegatofan @0vendettaself @sassy-cat-in-town @dreaminmemories
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Twilight opened the front door, nodding when he saw Franky and smiled when he saw Anya. They had just come back after their outing to the cafe, but rather than looking excited, Franky had a frantic look on his face. “Bro, we need to talk. A-S-A-P.” Franky said, cutting to the chase as if the matter was urgent. Twilight nodded, sensing the seriousness in Franky’s voice before sending Anya off to her room and sitting down with Franky. Currently, Yor was out and Anya had wanted some uncle time, it was the perfect opportunity for Twilight to give updates on his mission.
“Remember [AgentName]?” Franky asks, Twilight deadpanned for a moment giving Franky a weird look. “Yes..? Franky, that’s my wife.” Twilight whisper yelled, Franky just chuckled nervously in response, “Well, she hasn’t received any messages from you in the last two freaking years.” The short man says. That explained a lot.
Twilight sighed, “That explains the lack of messages in return..” The blond said, pinching the bridge of his nose. “But get this, you’re a real father too.” Franky mentioned before making an explosion noise with his mouth and doing some motion with his hands.
Loid choked on his drink, “Pardon?” he asked as he coughed up some of the drink. “You have a daughter, like a biological one!” Franky said, seemingly the only excited one of the two about this news. “And she didn’t tell me?” Loid whispered softly, mostly to himself, Franky shrugged. “She seemed hurt that you hadn’t reached out, maybe that’s why..” Franky replied, Loid just held his head.
He had been reaching out, someone or something had been cutting contact between him and his wife. He had told her not to contact him unless he contacted her first- but here he sat regretting that choice. “I should get going..” Franky said standing up, “Wait, if I can’t trust Nightfall to deliver messages to The Handler, can you deliver a message to her directly?” Loid asked.
Franky acted like he was thinking, making Loid shake his shoulders, “Fine.” Franky gave in. Loid wrote a long message before tucking into the envelope and handed it to Franky. Franky signed and took the paper before heading out and to where Twilight and [AgentName] lived and slipped the envelope into the mailbox and went on his way.
It would be the following afternoon when [YourName] opened her mailbox and found a piece of mail addressed to her using her agent name. [YourName]’s heart skipped a beat, she grabbed the remaining mail and rushed back inside. Luckily, Lotte was sound asleep, napping.
[YourName] carefully opened the envelope, fearful of what was inside. Divorce papers? An apology? Or a mission? She had no idea, she had hoped it was the middle option, but half of her wouldn’t blame Twilight if he chose to divorce her.
“To my Sweet Angel,”
Okay, well seems good so far…
“I want to start this letter off with an apology, for it seems the messages I’ve been sending for the last two years haven’t graced your beautiful (EyeColor) colored eyes, and that absolutely breaks my heart. You deserve a night out, alone, with me, though I won’t be able to serve that up for another six months. This mission is almost over and I’ll return to your arms, along with our child that I’ve just been told about. Why didn’t you reach out? Two years, Angel, and not once did you break protocol. As much as I appreciate it, when you’re going through desperate times, i.e. giving birth to our first born, is definitely a great reason to do so. I hope I haven’t missed too much, just as I miss your face…
-Twilight”
[YourName] broke down into tears, thanking whatever god out there that existed for this message. She gently brought the paper up to her face as she cried, unintentionally sniffing it and getting a whiff of that cologne Twilight had spread across their bedsheets on days he didn’t feel like showering before a nap.
[YourName] could hardly believe that Twilight hadn’t asked for a divorce. That it was all some miscommunication, not even on her end, but on his. Half of her was pissed, was he trying to seamlessly dance his way back into her life? She didn’t know if she was exactly ready for that, if Lotte could handle that.
With a sigh, [YourName] placed the letter on the kitchen counter. She had to prepare to write some sort of response, she was hurt but happy to hear from her husband. Why didn't he try other ways to contact you beforehand? It broke her heart to know he hadn't thought of delivering a message to the handler himself.
[YourName] brushed those thoughts away and decided to make herself a snack, then one for Lotte as well, preparing for when she woke up. While the woman ate her snack, she watched some tv show until she heard her daughter's cries. She set her bowl down and headed toward the nursery. [YourName] scooped Lotte up and comforted her while opening the curtains.
Lotte was only two, but she could always tell when something was off with her mother. When she was finished getting changed into some afternoon clothing, Lotte made it her mission to make her mother feel better. She tried sharing her food, cuddling [YourName], and other things toddlers could do- but nothing seemed to work.
"Mama! Mama!" Lotte cried rushing toward her mother, who sat on the couch and seemed lost in thought. "Hold!" Lotte said, handing her favorite stuffed animal to her mother, which finally broke [YourName] and she was in tears once more. Lotte gasped, climbing the couch and hugging her mother's arm. [YourName] brought her daughter in for a proper hug, kissing Lotte's head.
"How do you feel about meeting.. someone important to mama?" [YourName] asked, not letting it leak that this important someone was, in fact, Lotte's father. She wasn't even sure if Lotte knew what a 'father' was- it's not like she's in any schooling yet, all she knew is what she saw in her cartoons and her mother. Lotte looked like she was thinking, but she eventually nodded her head, "Yay!" she said.
A little was taken off of her shoulders, and after dinner that night while Lotte watched her cartoon, [YourName] wrote a reply to Twilight. It wasn't long, but it definitely wasn’t just your run-of-the-mill letter. To summarize her note to her husband, she basically said she was ready to meet up with him whenever he was ready.
The following morning, [YourName] delivers the message to The Handler who gets it to Twilight in no time.
Twilight was sitting at his desk when he received the letter, he thought- 'oh just another side mission' but when he opened and saw [YourName]'s handwriting, he melted. He took in the gentleness of the handwriting and how carefully it was folded, he even hesitated- but sniffed the paper, and just as he thought, it smelt just like the home you two shared.
After reading your note, Twilight cleared his schedule and sent a message to The Handler to send [YourName] to the hospital with their child. So, without questioning him, The Handler did just that. At first, [YourName] was confused why she was given direct orders to pick up Lotte from the babysitter's and go to the hospital, then it clicked in her head who she was going to go see.
"You know, Lotte, this is the hospital you were born in." [YourName] tells her daughter, the toddler just gasped at the news, "Woah!" She says in awe as the driver parks and lets [YourName] and Lotte out. "I'll be just a call away." The driver says before [YourName] could shut the door, she nods her head, shuts the door, and the driver leaves.
Walking into the hospital was something else. [YourName] saw familiar faces from the agency, and a nurse or two that checked in on her when she was in labor, it was all just a lot. Half of [YourName] wanted to chicken out, rush back outside and call for the driver- but she didn't. She couldn’t.
She made her way to Twilight's hallway, found the door to his office, and sighed before knocking. Lotte was on her hip, "Where, Mama?" Lotte asked. "We're seeing that important someone to mama, that's where we are." [YourName] replied softly, just then the door opened and there stood her husband, her daughter's father, the love of her life- Twilight.
"Oh my goodness.." Twilight whispered before ushering the two inside his office, he shut the door and went to hug both Lotte and [YourName]. [YourName] returned the hug with her free hand and softly breathed in her husband's scent, "I've missed you.." Twilight whispered to her. [YourName] smiled softly, nodding her head.
Eventually, [YourName] set Lotte down, allowing the toddler to play with the different toys that Twilight had out for planned clients he had canceled on for the day. "She looks like you.." Twilight said, admiring his daughter for the first time, "Really? I think she looks like her father," [YourName] replied with a sad smile.
After about an hour, and a snack, Lotte was out on the couch. Which finally left Twilight and [YourName] alone to talk. Before anything words could slip out, [YourName] slapped Twilight across the face before bringing him in for a kiss. "Don't think you're just getting away from the last two years, I'm absolutely pissed with you." [YourName] whispered to her husband before kissing him again.
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frownyalfred · 2 years ago
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Things you might not realize are affecting your ao3 readership:
Putting unrelated fics into one compilation instead of series or collections
Not tagging your fics/“haha I’m so bad at tagging!”
Tagging all of the ships in a fandom instead of the relevant ones to the story
“This is my first fic ever”/ “I’m really not a good writer” / “sorry if this is crap”
Summaries that say “sorry don’t think I will update much” or “might be abandoned idk”
Tagging “r@pe” or “unaliving” etc instead of the actual tag so people can filter/exclude
NOT tagging major, relevant tags or kinks without using the “creator chose not to use archive warnings” option
Telling people how bad your writing is and how you hate it so much and how they shouldn’t even be reading your fic (self deprecation)
Weird punctuation: not starting new quotes or descriptions on a new line, and/or putting extremely long blocks of text on the page without a break
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endlessthxxghts · 11 months ago
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Mesmerized
Boyfriend!Frankie Morales x afab!reader || W/C: 881
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Summary: You’re trying to get Frankie’s opinion on a piece of clothing. He’s a bit distracted with other things.
Content/Warnings: Body-descriptions are neutral: only description reader has is having boobs (whether ya got big tiddies or itty bitty tiddies, Frankie baby is utterly obsessed). The lace clothing you’re wearing is also not even described — only thing stated is “straps.” 18+ MDNI. Body/breast worship. Frankie’s got a mouth on him. Groping. Exhibitionism (kind of? you’re in a dressing room). Kissing. Neck biting. Allusion to further sexual activity.
A/N: Literally wrote this on a whim after a conversation @javierpena-inatacvest and I had. Frankie’s a boob man. That’s all we gotta say about that. (Pics are not used to identify anything about reader)
MASTERLIST || UPDATE BLOG
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“Mm, I’m not sure if I like the way it fits,” you say, still checking yourself in the mirror. 
A few moments pass, and it’s as if you’re talking to yourself. You look past you in your reflection and see Frankie staring right at you in a daze. 
Well, okay, not right at you. He’s staring right at your chest. 
You wave your hand in the mirror. “Hello? Earth to Frankie?” You roll your eyes but ultimately giggle at this man’s weird love for your breasts. 
Finally his trance breaks. “Shit,” he mutters under his breath. “Cariño, sorry- yes, baby?” 
A playful scoff leaves your throat. You gesture towards the lacey number adorning your upper half. “Does this look okay?” 
“Okay? Baby, really?” He looks at you in disbelief, arms crossed as he looks up at you from his seat in the dressing room. His voice lowers an octave. “You look good enough to fucking eat, mama, of course you look okay.” 
“Christ,” you breathe, willing your pussy flutter to stop now before you two get banned from this place. 
“Is it comfortable, though?” He asks. “Because that’s what really matters, hermosa.” 
You look back to the mirror, running your fingers through the straps to gauge how easy your fingers slip in. Frankie stands up behind you, his body pushed against the back of you. He mirrors what you were doing with your own fingers, taking the liberty to run his fingers across your chest. He makes his way to cup your left breast, his thumb and forefinger pinching at your, now, erect nipple. You fight to keep your moan in. “Frank,” you nearly whimper. “What are you doing?”
He moves over to the other breast, giving it the same treatment. His other arm is wrapped around your waist, keeping you from pulling from his grasp. He lowers his mouth to your ear, “I’m making sure it fits, baby,” he tells you. 
As his fingers find your nipple, his lips are on your neck, open-mouthed and hot. Your head falls back to rest at the crook of his neck, your eyes fluttering shut but fighting to keep them open to watch him through the mirror. Your hand flies to the back of his head, gripping onto his curls — not knowing whether or not you want to pull him into you or push him away. His grip on your waist tightens, and he sucks a little harder on the sweet spot of your pulse point. Fuck. Yeah okay, you want the former, definitely the former. 
He releases his hold on your waist so both of his hands can cup your chest, and the way he’s fondling you while working on your weakest spots, your composure finally breaks, and a loud, needy moan escapes from your lips. Frankie completely stills as your hand slaps your mouth. 
Your eyes meet in the mirror, and he clears his throat, breaking his hold from you but not leaving your proximity. You’re still speechless, too aroused at his arousal. Finally, he speaks. “I- uh- yeah, maybe it is a bit- a bit too tight, the straps might mark your shoulders if you wear it long enough,” he pauses. Your eyebrow raises. “The next size up would probably be more comfortable, cariño.” 
You stare at him for another beat before you burst out in an uncontrollable laughter, gasping for air as you lean into his body for support.
Frankie can’t deny how warm your laugh always makes him. It’s the sweetest sound to exist, right next to the ones you make for him when he’s balls deep—
You get the picture. 
He can’t help but join in on your laughter a bit, his body shaking with yours. Teasingly, he tickles at your sides, muttering a little what’s so funny? under his breath. 
You turn to face him, your hands cupping his cheeks to pull him into an all-consuming kiss. He literally melts in your grasp, his posture going jelly and leaning into you as his arms find themselves back around your waist. 
“You,” you say as you pull away. “You’re so funny,” you tell him. 
He gives you his signature pout. “Why am I funny?” 
“The way you get so hypnotized by my tits, Morales,” you laugh. 
“Well,” he says. Frankie turns you around to face the mirror once more, eyes dark, his hands going right back to cup each one in his hands. “Can you fuckin’ blame me, baby?” He practically growls, pushing his hips into your ass, his erection pushing into you. 
“Oh, fuck,” you breathe. “Fuck this thing, you’ll just rip it off me anyway,” you say. “Take me home, baby.” 
“You sure, honey?” He asks, his hands now roaming every part of your front he can reach, skating around the area you need him most. 
“Never been more sure of anything,” you say, turning your head to kiss at his jaw. 
“We know what size you are now, we can just order it online,” he tells you. That makes you pause in confusion. 
“What?” He asks. “I- I just really love the way your tits look in these..” he trails off. 
God, this man. You bring your lips against his. “Insatiable,” you tell him as you lean in. 
“For you, baby? Always,” he says.  
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What if I made a part two about what happens when they get home? Just a thought…..let me know if y’all dig this idea…..
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A/N - extended: In reality, stores probably wouldn’t allow another person in your changing room unless you’re a person with a disability and need your companion to assist you to change LOL. But let’s just say Frankie slipped in without anyone knowing. 😙
Tags: @katiexpunk @janaispunk @farmerlarrry @mellymbee @jobee403 @soavenuepenguin @rainbowcosmicchaos @untamedheart81 @babygal-babygal @pedritoferg @pedrostories @akah565 @lilynotdilly @getitoutofmymind @its-nebuleuse @axshadows @yorksgirl
Let me know if you’d like to stop being tagged or would like to to be tagged in future stories! Xx
EDIT: As of the new year 2024, I no longer do taglists!! Follow @endlessthxxghtsnotifs and turn on the notifications to be updated when new stories come out!!
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ohisms · 1 year ago
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↪     𝐉𝐔𝐒𝐓 𝐎𝐍𝐄 , 𝑰'𝑴 𝑨 𝑭𝑬𝑾 - ᶰᵒ ᶠᵃᵐᶤˡʸ ˒ ᵗᵒᵒ . 𝑤ℎ𝑜 𝑎𝑚 𝑖 ?    (  a  series  of  sentence  starters  from  season  1  of  “ orphan black ” .   adjust  phrasing  as  necessary . will be updated !  )
i wanna see [ name ] .
well , that's not fair , is it ?!
oh my god , you look like crap .
i didn't miss your birthday , did i ?
something really weird just happened at the train station .
what the hell is wrong with you ?
listen to me , [ name ] , i'm only gonna ask you this once .
oh , i'm fine by the way , thank you .
get in the car .
when you don't give a damn , i get pissed .
you'd better be ready . are you ready ?
you're sure as hell overdressed . what , were you out all night or something ?
this shit is as hard as it gets . but you've gotta stop making it worse .
i panicked , what do you want me to say ?
i'm kidding . where's your wit gone ?
you don't have to babysit me , dipshit .
i know this thing's got you all twisted up , but try to forgive yourself .
[ name ] , open the goddamn door !
yeah , the last thing i am is special .
[ name ] , where have you been ?
where have i been ? uh .. long story .
oh , jesus , are you alright ?
you have a few words , [ name ] ? anything you want to express ?
plead your mercy & your pity .
love is imperfection itself .
say it . go ahead , say it's my fault .
who the hell are you ?
of course not . you think we'd let that happen ?
i'm at home , you've got it all wrong .
you know what ? don't . i'm going to ignore that .
i'm worried you're losing the plot again .
sorry , i've got ... i've got a lot of work to do .
i mean , what am i supposed to do ?
you don't have to take this on .
i can't keep waking up every night , checking your breathing , worried you're mixing your meds , booze ... god knows what else .
i knew it was too good to be true .
why would you help such a stupid plan ?
i'm not going to play [ name ] in the middle .
i'm not dirty , i just freaked out .
if there is another version of this story ...
walk me through it again . so i know you won't crack under questioning .
you're making me nervous .
finally ! where have you been ?
who am i speaking to ?
how did you find me ?
idiot . do you even know who you're talking to ?
i don't care who you are .
nope , that is not my responsibility .
go , & wait for a call .
what i'm trying to do is move on .
we have known each other for awhile now , [ name ] .
i nailed it , man . every detail .
come on , [ name ] , give me a little love here !
you know , my skin just breaks out every time i leave downtown .
whoa , hey , [ name ] - you always do this to me !
i don't do backup , i don't even know what backup is !
i got stuck , i was running from my own shit .
i'm not giving you shit 'til you give me some answers .
don't ! do not shoot me , please !
seriously , it's life or death .
am i going insane ?
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victoria-daydreams · 5 months ago
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The Winner Takes It All || Challengers
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Part I: Sugar & Spice
AN: Oh my god, taking a 6 week summer course 0/10 don't recommend. Seriously, y'all I'm sorry this took so long, I've had assignments due every week and I still have 2 more weeks to go so it will be awhile before another update, but oh my gosh guys, thank you so goddamn much to everyone who liked, reblogged, and commented! This chapter is hella long so hopefully this will make up to you! I've never written a character that's messy nor have I written a toxic friendship so I'm praying that it's somewhat accurate.
Trigger warnings: It gets real hot and heavy by the end of the chapter so MDNI!
Word Count: 6.3k
Taglist: @seriousaliysa @hopeless-y @malscorner @miximora @urfavesim @mmmunson @jackierose902109 @youngestxhearts @blkdivinefeminine @kailkailz @lottiematthewsceo @lonnie2390147 @begoniaespresso @everdayimagineer @pnkstalli @softimgyu @amethystwonders11 @hazbinh0e @ysuftmikey @summerssoverover @hummusxx @callumturnerwife23 @whitewashedghanian @brunettegirl
I tried to tag everyone who commented, but tumblr is being weird so I don’t know if you’ll get the notification.
Part Two: Maneaters
THREE MONTHS EARLIER - MAY, 2006
For the past ten minutes, Gianna had done nothing but blankly stare up at the ceiling of her sun filled bedroom. Splayed out on the soft, gray carpet, she laid in the middle of the floor as "Girl" by Destiny's Child played quietly in the background. A slow release of air escaped her lips, a weak effort to calm her overwhelmed mind that was currently battling a maelstrom of emotions. Gianna lifted her head up from the carpet and looked to her right.
"Maybe I was too hasty with breaking up with Drew," she remarked, a note of doubt creeping into her voice and tainting her usual confidence.
A small, thoughtful frown creasing her features before letting her head drop back on the floor with a soft thud.
"Are you fucking kidding me, Gia?"
Gianna wasn’t alone in her bedroom. Glancing sideways, her gaze landed on waves of brunette hair, warm golden skin, and nude plump lips. Tashi’s and Gianna’s heads laid beside one another, their bodies sprawled in the opposite direction.
"He was not worthy of any of your attention," Tashi stated, a sneer curling her lips. "Drew failed to realize who was the prize in your relationship," she added
For Gianna and Tashi, this was not an uncommon occurrence, lying side-by-side on the floor of Gianna's bedroom discussing tennis or boys. But, it was this aspect of their friendship that raised more than a few people's eyebrows, including both of their parents. Tashi exerted an unhealthy amount of influence over Gianna's love life. Gianna could probably count on one hand the amount of boyfriends she dumped based solely on Tashi’s input. There was always some type of flaw, big or small, which Tashi would zero in on to determine whether or not if a boy was right for Gianna. And was that oh so terrible?
Tashi was only looking out for her friend, weeding out the bad apples until Gianna meets the perfect guy. However, deep down they both know there was never going to be a boy that would meet Tashi's ever changing standards. There was no point, not when Tashi Duncan was the standard by which all boys would be judged and there was no one comparable to her, she was the cream of the crop.
"Drew's a little forgetful, but there could be worst qualities in a boyfriend," Gianna said airily.
"He's a future CTE candidate, Gia," Tashi said flatly. "How many matches did Drew 'forget' to come to?"
"He has his own football games and practices he has to attend," Gianna excused.
Tashi scoffed, "Doing what, riding the bench?" she retorted. "You need a boy who’s utterly devoted to you, worships the ground you step on," Tashi reasoned.
Gianna let out a dry, breathy laugh which sounded more like an exhale of air. Turning her head, she looked back up at the ceiling with her hands resting on her stomach.
"That's the difference between you me and Tash," Gianna began, looking back over to her. "I don’t want to be deified by a boy," she revealed, shaking her head.
"Why? Is it because my devotion is enough for you?" Tashi questioned, a smirk on her lips.
"Yeah, something like that," Gianna answered, her own lips quirking upwards.
"Hey," Tashi called, raising her pinky finger. "Pinky promise boys won"t come between us,"
"Easiest promise to keep," Gianna said, lifting up her pinky finger. "I promise boys will not come between us," she swore, hooking her finger with Tashi's.
Tilting her head forward, Tashi pressed a kiss to Gianna's forehead.
"We don't need them anyway, not when we have each other,"
~~~x~~~
There was nothing but Gianna's breathing and her music blasting as she tuned out the world. Her feet barely touched the ground as her arms pumped quickly back and forth at her side. It was a beautiful day for a morning run, the sky cerulean blue, littered with a few wispy clouds. Gianna's skin was hot and flushed, and sweat beaded at her hairline; the hot, humid summer air biting at her lungs. Luckily, a faint breeze kept off the worst of the heat.
As the notes of "If" by Janet Jackson came to end, Gianna had finished her run. Her pace slowed to a jog, then to a walking pace with her eyes closed, catching her breath.
"On your left,"
Gianna's eyes popped open to see a familiar, strawberry blond haired boy next to her, his tennis gear resting on his shoulder. A breathy chuckle left Gianna as the beat of "I Wanna Be Down" floated into her ears. Pausing the iPod tucked away in her arm band, she removed her earbud on her left side.
"Hey you!" Gianna greeted, smiling at Art and coming to a stop.
"Hey Gianna," he greeted back, with a shy smile of his own. "I didn't expect to see you out here until later on at the match," he commented.
"Oh, why is that?"
"I figured you'd be resting from your match yesterday," Art replied. "It's well earned after all,"
Gianna gave a small, amused huff, "It couldn't be any clearer that you have not met father yet," she joked, shaking her head. "This is punishment for losing to Irina in the semifinals," she explained, shrugging her shoulders.
Art frowned slightly, "That's not really fair," he remarked, adjusting his grip on his bag. "A line call decided your match," he pointed out.
"Yeah, well, if I played smarter and better, then it wouldn't have," Gianna countered easily. "My dad believes the same," she added, crossing her arms together.
"Your dad takes your tennis career pretty seriously, it's admirable," Art commented. "Most parents would just treat it as expensive hobby,"
"I hope he would he would take it serious, he is my coach after all," Gianna revealed, watching Art's eyes slightly widen in surprise.
"Guess that explains why you didn't want Patrick and I to walk you back last night," Art noted. "You were already past your curfew, but then to show up with two boys by your side…" he trailed off, sucking his teeth . "I'm sure that would’ve made for a fun conversation," he joked.
"Trust me, my dad would've gotten creative with his workout plan had the three of us shown up together," she assured. "You headed to the stadium?" she asked, nodding her head at his gear.
"Yeah, gotta start preparing for the big match today," he answered.
"Mind if I walk with you there? It would be a great cool down for me,"
"As if I would say no to Gianna Langdon," Art responded, grinning at her.
Walking alongside each other, the two of them found themselves consumed in idle chit chat. Art was an only child, Gianna was the youngest of four siblings. He started playing tennis because his parents took him to a match, she began playing because her father withdrew her from ballet after he saw her play one match of rec tennis. Art was born and raised in Upstate New York, Gianna was raised on a ranch in New Orleans most of her life until moving to California.
"I've always wanted to meet a real life cowgirl," he teased.
They drifted into a brief, companionable silence for a moment before a thought occurred to Gianna. She turned her head in Art's direction, smiling a little.
"So, a little birdie told me, this is a high stakes match today," Gianna mentioned, a knowing smirk on her lips.
"You could say that," he agreed sheepishly, his face instantly flushing.
"I also heard that some fun was had last night," Gianna hinted, mischief dancing in her eyes.
Art's face reddened deeper, "We did..."
"A shame I had to miss it, but you know what they say," Gianna began, interlocking her fingers behind her back. "Three's a party, four is a crowd," she quoted, with a small shrug.
"Not with you it wouldn't have been," Art disagreed quickly, looking over at her.
His intense eyes stared at her, through her. With it being daylight, Gianna could now fully appreciate how striking his eyes were. One was blue, while the other was partially brown and blue. Gianna let a bashful laugh, looking ahead to escape Art's gaze while pointedly ignoring the warmth blossoming within her. In the distance, the Arthur Ashe Stadium was peeking over the horizon.
"Hey Gianna," Art called, as the two stopped at the gates of the Billie Jean King Tennis Center.
"Yeah?"
"I’ve got a question for you that I’ve been dying ask you," Art said, both turning to face each other.
"Ask away," she answered, with a chuckle.
Art glanced down at the Gianna, completely towering over her.
"Why didn't you and Tashi compete in the girls duo this year?" Art questioned. "You two would've mopped the floor with your competition as you usually do," he remarked, a small, exhaling laugh leaving him.
"Well, I couldn’t do the girls singles, the mixed doubles, and girls doubles all at the same time. It would’ve been a scheduling nightmare, not to mention downright exhausting, so a decision had to be made," she explained, mindlessly twirling her earbud around in small circles.
"And Tashi decided—"
Her earbud twirling ceased, "Tashi, didn't decide anything. I did," Gianna corrected sharply, feeling a vein pulse at her temple.
Irritation threatened to surface on her face, but Gianna managed to keep her composure. It was that, the implication that she was not capable of making her own decisions as a player without Tashi being her invisible, guiding hand. Momentarily, neither of them said anything. Art's eyes flicked over her face, as if studying her expression.
"What is he looking for?"
"Oh my god, I've offended you, haven't I?" Art realized, breaking the silence. "I'm sorry," he apologized.
"Apology accepted, though I shouldn't have been short with you either," Gianna replied, folding her arms together. "But, you see how you just automatically assumed it was Tashi, when it was me who didn’t want to do it?" she pointed out, sighing tiredly. "It's for that exact reason why I wanted to pursue mixed doubles this year," she went on. "I love Tashi to pieces, but as a tennis player, I needed space from her this tournament," she explained, unfolding her arms to gesture with her hands by pulling them away from one another.
"I really didn’t mean to be the cause of a sore subject," Art promised, sincerity ringing in every word.
A half smile appeared on her face, "Art, I just met you 24 hours ago, you didn't cause this,” Gianna reassured, with a dismissive wave. "No, this year I had a point to prove to silence both my haters and critics," she informed, nodding to herself.
"And what point was that?"
"That I couldn't win without Tashi Duncan by my side," Gianna answered, her eyes unconsciously narrowing in the corners.
"Well, I think you shut them up pretty definitively this tournament," Art said, laughing gently. "You won the mixed doubles championship while essentially playing two on one the entire time," he quipped.
She chuckled, "Maybe," Gianna agreed. "However, I didn't get the chance to face Tashi in singles, winning against her and being crowned the girls singles US Open Champion would've been the ultimate 'fuck you' to those who doubt me," she finished, lightly laughing.
"Had you won against Irina, you think you could've beat Tashi?"”" Art asked.
Gianna contemplated his question, briefly casting her eyes downward while toeing the ground with her sneaker. Her mind flash backed to when she was 15 years old, the bellowing war cry that pierced the air from her when she beat Tashi in the Southern California Junior Sectional Championship. A career-defining moment for Gianna, putting her name on the map once and for all and also signaling that Tashi Duncan was not untouchable as most people wanted to believe.
Gianna's eyes focused back on Art, "I do think I could’ve actually," she said, her mouth quirking up just a tiny bit. "Tashi has beaten me several times, but I also have won against her a handful of times too," she continued, rocking a little back and forth on her feet.
"And what does that feel like, beating Tashi Duncan?" Art questioned, slightly leaning closer to her like they were sharing a secret, but his voice was still loud enough for any passerby to hear.
Gianna let a few seconds pass in silence, a thoughtful expression crossing her face. To win against Tashi was akin to eating caviar, it was a rarity and must be savored. It was Gianna's own kind of adrenaline rush, that feeling of euphoric confidence which she swore got more intense after each victory. This brought a full blown smirk, not of arrogance, but pride on Gianna's features.
"Like David slaying Goalith," she responded, triumphantly. "Although, every time I win against Tashi, I don't know things get….weird between us. Sometimes it's only for a few hours, other times it’s the entire day," she remarked, shaking her head. "This never happens when I lose to her, I mean losing is apart of the game. But with her, it's like she can't believe she lost…" Gianna trailed off.
"To me,"
This mere thought bothered her. It was only a hunch, but it was not for the first time this lurking suspicion wormed itself into the back of her mind. Her own mother implied it, that perhaps, their friendship dynamic was not built upon the sturdiest of foundations. Gianna's parents didn't get it though, Tashi was her only friend that really understood her, pushed her to be her best. Her dominant motivation in playing tennis. Tashi was the one where she could always rely on, no matter what. So, until she had any concrete proof, Gianna would continue to deny that notion.
"Gianna?"
Her eyes snapped back to Art, a light summer breeze blew sending a few strands of his curls across his face. The effortless charm he possessed, Gianna could almost guarantee he was unaware he was using it.
Gianna shook her head a little, "I'm sorry, went into a trance there," she apologized, with an embarrassed chuckle. "Must be the run catching up to me," she claimed. "I've wasted enough of your time, you have a match to prepare for," she reminded.
"Hey, there's no such thing as time wasted when talking with you, Gianna," Art corrected. "Who are you betting on today, me or Patrick?" he asked.
"I'm not a betting woman," Gianna quipped. "May the best player win today," she wished. "And for all I know, I may be staring right at them," she commented.
"Maybe," Art echoed.
~~~x~~~
Jogging up the bleachers to the tennis court, Gianna's Vans clanged against the metallic steps with each step, her skort swishing around her legs and her braids dancing across her shoulders. All around her, spectators cheered loudly in the stands as they all awaited for the the boys singles championship match to begin. Gianna strolled towards the center row, greeted by a cheerful Tashi who stood up from her seat once she saw her friend approach from a distance.
"You left me," Gianna greeted, with a fake pout.
"You were taking too long," Tashi retorted playfully, guiding Gianna to sit next to her.
"Yeah, because I was forced to go on a run this morning," Gianna reminded, laughing while pulling her braids back into a half up half down style.
"I got up early too Gia, to go hit around on the court. The only difference between you and I, is that you got sidetracked," she pointed out.
Gianna turned in her seat, "Sidetracked?" she repeated dryly.
"Yes, sidetracked," Tashi affirmed, shifting to face her. "I saw you and Art this morning on my way back from the courts," she said. "You two, however, were to engrossed in your conversation to notice me," she teased, but there was an edge to her voice.
Cocking her head to the side, Gianna chuckled and reached to lightly grasp Tashi's chin in between her forefinger and thumb.
Gianna leaned forward, their noses almost brushing, "Aww, is someone jealous there's another being blessed with my attention?" she teased back, squeezing Tashi's cheeks lightly.
Tashi shook herself free of Gianna's hand with a smirk of her own.
"Babe, come on, I'm just trying to protect your heart," Tashi informed, rolling her eyes in faux exasperation. "You just got out of a relationship, I don't want you to potentially dive head first into another is all," she explained, shrugging her shoulders.
She nodded her head, "Oh, is that right?" Gianna questioned, a bright smile on her face, but a challenging glint in her eyes.
Suddenly, a man over the speakers announced the names of the two contenders in the championship match. Both Tashi and Gianna turned to the court, watching Patrick and Art walk out before drop their gear down on their respective benches.
"Oh my God! Sugar and Spice! Can I please take a picture with you two?"
Gianna's eyes flitted from the court and to the right of her where an adoring fan stood.
"Why, of course!" Gianna exclaimed, waving the girl over. "Tashi, you take the picture, you have the longest arm out of all of us," she stated.
After posing for the photo and signing an autograph for the fan for good measure, Gianna refocused her attention to the boys below. Instantly, she met two pairs of eyes looking back at her and Patrick raised his racket in Tashi and Gianna's direction with a cocky grin. From the corner of her vision, she could see Tashi playfully roll her eyes at Patrick while applauding with the rest of the crowd. Not wanting Art to be left out, Gianna sent a small wave to him which Tashi mirrored, both flashing smiles at him. At this, Art beamed, giving them a brilliant grin as he waved back.
Gianna softly nudged Tashi in the side, "Ignoring your spying—" she began, but Tashi's light scoff interrupted her. "You should know, because I love you so much, that I made sure to put the cherry on top on this match so you can watch some 'real fuckin tennis' today," she informed, lazily looking over to her friend.
"How?" she asked, raising her brow.
"I told Art that I might be looking at the best player after wishing him good luck," Gianna divulged, her lips curling upwards. "I'm sure he relayed that message to Patrick in the spirit of competitiveness," she reasoned smugly, crossing one leg over the other. "Not only are they playing for our numbers, now they're playing to see who I’ll crown as best," she added.
Tashi laid her hand on Gianna's knee, "I could fucking kiss you," she said lowly, squeezing her knee.
A mix of admiration and a hint of hunger sparkled in Tashi's eyes.
"If only, but I don't think Adidas would approve of that," coy smile on her lips
The match began with Patrick being awarded first serve. Bouncing the ball off the blue grass court twice, the brunette lifted his racket to serve it in the non traditional way Gianna has come to know him by. Patrick struck the ball with a resounding pop, as a flash neon yellow went whizzing across the court to Art's side.
He returned the serve with equal force, lobbing it back over the net. In Patrick fashion, he made a big show of returning the hit; a curved shot which flew past Art, who lost his foot and slid a little trying to get to it.
"15-love,"
Immediately, Patrick looked over at the two girls for approval, looking pleased with himself while Art on the other hand gave a look that Gianna could only be described as despair. It went on like that for several minutes, each point scored their heads would whip over to Gianna and Tashi to gauge their reactions, until the boys gradually forgot all about them and did what everyone came here to watch them do. Play some fucking tennis.
Gianna couldn't recall the last time two people looked so hot playing tennis outside of her and Tashi, but Patrick and Art were quickly putting that belief to bed. With every hit that Art made, Patrick would return it with ease. Any advantage that Patrick gained, Art would neutralize it. Their grunts, oh god, don't even let Gianna get started on the grunts echoing in the air, it was the fucking sexiest thing ever to grace her ears. Her body reacted on its own to the sounds, her thighs pressing tighter together against each other than before. Gianna prayed that Tashi hasn’t noticed her reaction yet, but she had an inkling she had because Tashi's grip on her knee had grown in strength.
Another grunt pushed itself past Patrick's lips as he smacked the tennis ball back to Art's side. The impact reverberated in the stadium as Art was able to smoothly counter the shot with a topspin of his, but Patrick came with a drop shot. Sprinting, Art rushed forward to return the ball, but It lands on the ground, his racket only inches away from reaching it.
Patrick Zweig had done it, he was getting Tashi Duncan's and Gianna Langdon's numbers. The dark haired boy turned in their direction and dropped into bow as the girls gave him applause for his performance.
"That was such a godamn good match," Gianna commented, looking at Tashi.
"You see what we were capable of bringing out of them?" Tashi said proudly.
"Ugh, our power!" Gianna exclaimed, a giggle bubbling out of her as Tashi stuck her pinky out for Gianna to link with. A wordless promise between them and Gianna did it without having to think about it.
"Come on, let’s go congratulate the victor," Tashi instructed, standing up and extending her hand out.
Placing her hand in Tashi's, Gianna rose to her feet and two walked away, descending down the bleachers.
"You go on ahead," Gianna replied, coming down the last step. "I'll catch up," she added.
"Hmm," Tashi hummed, her eyes scanning over her in curiosity before leaving towards the exit.
Going in the opposite direction, Gianna made her way back to tennis court and walked to the fence separating the stands and the court. As she approached the fence, she saw Art gathering his gear a bit rougher than necessary.
"On your left!" Gianna called, walking alongside the fence.
Art froze what he was doing and snapped his head up to look in her direction. Instantly, Gianna watched the tension in his shoulders lessen slightly and his jaw unclench.
A small smile tugged at his lips, "Hey you," Art answered, repeating her own words from earlier.
"That was a good match, Donaldson," Gianna complimented, bearing her arms on top of the warm metal.
"Yeah, for Patrick maybe," Art replied, moving closer to the fence. "Seeing how he won the championship and…" he trailed off, now standing in front her.
"Our numbers," Gianna finished.
"Aren't you supposed to be giving that to him, like right now?" Art wondered, attempting to be lighthearted about the situation.
"I like building anticipation, it makes it all the more fun," Gianna joked, causing Art let out a genuine laugh and her smile widened from the sound of it.
"I'm sorry that you were not staring at the best player today, Gianna," Art apologized, his chin dipping a little as he looked down at the ground.
"Hey," she called softly.
Boldly, Gianna reached out to him, using her thumb and index finger to gently lift his chin back up. Her eyes gazed at Art's porcelain neck, as his Adam's apple bobbed up and down at her gesture. Gianna glanced back up at him, his eyes already staring deeply into hers.
"Not today, maybe," she whispered. "But in the future, possibly," she encouraged, feeling his breath fan out shakily against her hand.
"Oh Gianna!"
The sound of Patrick's voice echoing from within the stadium concourse caused her to whip her head around, her fingers falling from Art's chin.
"Can't have spice without sugar!" he yelled.
She smiled, "Coming!" Gianna yelled back, before facing forward again. "I gotta go, see you around?" she asked, a hopeful look in her eyes.
Art's eyes darted to her lips, but just as quickly as he did, his eyes found hers. The action didn't go unnoticed by Gianna.
"Yeah,” Art answered, a dazed, blissful smile on his face.
Beaming one last time at him, she spun on her heel and jogged back to the entrance of the concourse where Patrick was already waiting for her, leaning against the wall.
"For the record, I want you to know that was the corniest joke I've ever heard, Zweig," Gianna informed, stopping in front of him as he effortlessly pushed himself off the wall.
"It made you laugh though, didn't it?" Patrick countered easily, taking a hold of her hand as if it was second nature to him.
Gianna could only laugh, letting herself be led away from the bleachers.
~~~x~~~
The Juniors US Open was officially over and Gianna could confidently say playing there was the greatest moments of her life. She glanced back at the Arthur Ashe Stadium that she had passed by only a few minutes prior.
"One day, I’ll be playing in there and the world will know my name," she thought.
Gianna had barely taken two steps from where she stopped when two sets of footsteps fast approaching behind her.
"Gianna!"
"Gianna!"
She stopped mid step, her lips curling into a smirk knowing who was behind her. Spinning around, she was greeted with a slightly winded Art and Patrick.
"Hi boys," Gianna greeted warmly, crossing her arms against her chest.
"So, Patrick and I got to thinking about—" Art began.
"It's your last day in New York," Patrick interrupted, but Art didn’t seem to mind as he nodded his head along to Patrick. "What are you going to do?" he asked curiously.
"You know you could've texted me this?" Gianna pointed out.
"I prefer taking advantage of seeing and speaking to you face to face," Patrick reasoned, which brought a bashful smile to her face.
"I haven't decided yet," Gianna said, finally answering his question.
"You and Tashi don't have plans together already?" Art questioned.
"No, she's spending time with her family before they all go out to dinner," she explained. "So, it'll just be little oh me, by myself today," she mentioned.
"By yourself? Where are your parents?" Patrick questioned.
"I convinced them to have a night on the town, just the two of them. They deserve it," she replied, with a shrug when idea popped into her mind. "You know, my hotel has a pool. You should come," Gianna invited, eyes dancing between them.
"Me?" both boys asked in unison, pointing to themselves.
"Both of you," she clarified with a giggle. "It's not a pack of beer, but I think we can still manage to have some fun" she said.
"What about potentially having to play of 21 questions with your dad because of the two, random white boys by your side?" Art recalled, smiling at her.
Gianna looked over her shoulders before turning back to face them, "I don't my see dad anywhere, do you?" she asked, watching a grin grow on Patrick's lips.
"No I don't,"
"That's what I thought," Gianna agreed. "My hotel at four o'clock, be there or be square," she warned teasingly.
"We didn’t pack swim trunks," Art remarked, the realization dawning on him.
"Oh," Gianna breathed. "Well, I guess another time then," she suggested, going to turn around but stopping once she heard the protests coming from their lips.
"What, wait—"
"I'm sure we can think of something,"
Laughing, she looked back at them, "So, I'll see you there?" Gianna questioned, and the boys nodded eagerly. "I'll text you the address, Patrick, and one more thing," she said.
"Yes," they answered simultaneously.
"My friends call me, Gia,"
~~~x~~~
The moment the doors to the elevator opened up to Gianna's floor, the three of them took off. Running down the hallway, laughing and giggling as they raced each other to her door. Gianna was sure the guests below her and the ones who shared the floor would not be pleased with their heavy footsteps bounding across the floor, but did she really care at the moment, no.
"Ha!" she exclaimed, reaching the door first.
"I let you win, actually," Patrick claimed, coming in just behind her.
She rolled her eyes, "Sure, whatever you say," Gianna said sarcastically, grabbing her key card. "Did you let me win too, Art?" she asked, sticking the card into the door.
"It's the gentlemanly thing to do, after all, it is ladies first,"
"Oh fuck off," she laughed.
The door unlocked with a quiet click and she removed the card and pushed it open. Entering the room, the boys followed Gianna into the bright, airy space. Immediately, a shiver ran down her spine, her muscles tensing from the air conditioner blasting.
"God, it's freezing!" she hissed, wrapping her arms around herself.
"Here," Patrick offered quickly, shaking off the stripped linen shirt he was wearing.
He held out his shirt for her to put on. Smiling graciously, turned around Gianna slipped her arms through the sleeves.
"Better?" Patrick murmured, his nose grazing against the shell of her ear.
"Much," she confirmed, smirking to herself.
"I can turn off the AC for you," Art volunteered, scrambling from the door to the other side of the room where the unit was.
"Boys are too fucking easy," Gianna thought.
"Oh, I don't know what I’d do without you two," she teased, unwrapping her towel from her waist. "I'll be right back guys," she informed, walking into the bathroom and shutting the door.
Tossing the towel onto the edge of the tub, Gianna stared at her reflection. Her dark brown eyes almost twinkled in mischief as a sudden, bubbling snicker burst forth from her lips. Gianna clasped a hand over her mouth to muffle the sound, shaking her head in amusement at her current situation.
"Holy shit, I cannot believe this is working," she whispered.
Tashi had told her the two boys were egregiously horny, but seeing it in person made it ten times funnier. She had been teasing the moment they got to the pool.
"You think you can help put sunscreen on my back?" Gianna asked, holding out the lotion over her shoulder without looking.
Behind her, she heard loud shuffling before feeling the lounge chair she sat in dip on each side of her.
"You two don't have to fight over the honor," Gianna said, giggling at their antics. "As they say, teamwork makes the dream work," she quoted, before feeling the bottle be pulled from her grasp.
"Y-yeah, sure Gia!" Art said quickly, stumbling over his words.
Sitting up straight, Gianna heard the sunscreen cap crack open and expected to feel the coolness of the cream against her skin soon after. Instead, nothing.
"They're fucking ogling at just the mere sight of my back," she thought.
A devilish grin grew on her face.
"Boys, I'm waiting," Gianna sang playfully.
"Huh?"
"Oh, sorry,"
They both nervously laughed a little. To her right, Art slowly placed his hand against Gianna's shoulder, running his palm up and down against her skin to spread the sunscreen. Patrick's fingers slid down her left shoulder blade, alternating between quick movements to spread out the lotion or rubbing deeply along her spine to massage her muscles.
"Ah, thank you boys, you’re doing so well," Gianna praised, as Art's and Patrick’' continued gliding over her back.
Grinning to herself, Gianna stared out across the pool area behind the square frames of her sunglasses. The excited screams of children playing in the water rung through the air, while a decent handful of parents and teenagers sat poolside. Unexpectedly, Gianna locked eyes with two girls across the pool, one blonde and one brunette. Pushing her glasses down slightly, she wordlessly arched a challenging brow at them, maintaining eye contact. Gianna smirked watching as their expressions morphed into a mixture of jealousy and disgust.
Gianna knew why they were staring at her, boys like Patrick and Art were not supposed to be fawning over a girl that looked like her.
The feeling of fingers along her waist and against the small of her back, snapped Gianna from her musings. They precariously close to her bottom and she gently swatted their hands away before they could reach it.
"You two were such wonderful helpers," Gianna complimented, sighing sweetly.
Slipping on a pair of thin shorts, Gianna exited from the bathroom and walked over to the suite living room where Patrick and Art were seated on the couch.
"You know, you could've turned the TV on. You two didn't have to sit in awkward silence," Gianna informed, now standing in front of the with a smile. They let out an embarrassed chuckle as Art's leg began to anxiously bounce up and down. Gianna cocked her head at the sight. "Why are you bouncing your leg, Art? What's got you so nervous?" she questioned curiously, still wearing a smile.
Art only giggled and shrugged his shoulders, "I-I don't know," he stuttered, gazing up at her.
"Well," she began, raising her foot up from the floor. "Stop," she demanded, placing her foot right above his knee. Art froze mid bounce and Gianna watched him visibly swallow. "You're making me nervous," she said, and Art vigorously nodded his head. Gianna shifted her stare to Patrick and he straightened up his posture. "Patrick," she called, batting her eyelashes.
"Yes," he responded, a goofy smile on his face.
"As you said earlier today, it's my last day in New York," Gianna said, smoothly lifting her foot from Art's leg and plopping down onto the couch in the empty space between them. "Wanna make out?" she asked boldly, with a playful and daring smile.
"Fuck, do I ever," Patrick answered quickly, a groan leaving him.
Leaning toward him, Gianna let her lips brush against the corner of Patrick's mouth and almost by instinct his hand came to rest on her hip. Breaths mingling in soft pants, Gianna stared up at him through her eyelashes and he surged forward, pressing his lips fully against hers. A soft, surprised moan escaped Gianna as his lips devoured her own, but she responded just as eagerly. Her tongue dueling with his in a sensual dance for dominance. Gianna's fingers threaded themselves in the hair at the nape of his neck, holding Patrick in place as their kiss only deepened. His hand roamed up and down her leg, squeezing appreciatively at the flesh as he went.
His touches set her body aflame with heat, caused little noises to leave her mouth and she pulled away needing air, or else he was going to kiss her dizzy. Their lips barely parted and Gianna breathed out a laugh and Patrick joined her, his sounding almost giddy. She turned to Art who staring at her with the biggest puppy eyes, desperately wanting to be played with. Without hesitation, she guided his mouth onto hers and the noise that left Art was probably the filthiest sound she's ever heard. The deepest moan left him and it reverberated through her entire body.
Teasingly, Gianna bit down on Art's bottom lip pulling it towards her and another groan from Art. He brought his hand up to her neck, cradling her jaw as her tongue lapped at his. This time, there was not a battle for dominance, almost immediately Art allowed Gianna to take control as his other hand ran up and down her thigh. The sudden sensation of warm breath fanning the slope of Gianna's neck, followed by a pair of lips gently kissing down her neck made her moan hotly into Art's mouth.
Leaning back into Patrick, his hands reached around her back and cupped his hand around her breast and squeezed. Another high pitch moan was drawn from Gianna, which Art readily swallowed as their kiss turned greedier as. She trailed her down his chest, caressing his pecs and lightly trailing her fingers down his abs. Her hand found its way to the waistband of Art's shorts and slipped underneath.
Then, Art released the loudest, guttural moan known to man, his face falling into the crook of Gianna's neck.
"O-oh…fuck, Gia,"
Her hand had found his stiff member, and wrapped her fingers around it. Art inhaled sharply as she tightened her grip, placing desperate, feverish kisses to her neck just as she began to move up and down the length of him.
Not a second later, the shrill ringing of her phone playing a distinct ringtone made Gianna jerk away from Art causing pathetic whimpers to escape from him.
"Shit, that’s my mom calling," Gianna informed breathily, her eyes almost fluttering close due to Patrick's continued ministrations.
He kissed her neck lightly, switching between his tongue or his teeth to nip graze the sensitive area.
"So ignore her," Patrick suggested simply.
Art murmured his agreement, mouthing kisses along the length of her throat. Rolling her eyes, Gianna untangled herself from both of them, pushing Patrick's hands from her body and removing her own from Art's.
She hopped up from the couch, much to the displeasure of both Art and Patrick, verbally making it known by their groans of frustration.
"You two have two, have to go," she stated firmly, her finger moving back forth between them.
"Are they even back from dinner?" Patrick asked incredulously.
"No," Gianna answered, and Patrick threw his hands up in disbelief. "But my mom told me she would call to let me know when they were on their back, and I now know," she said, placing her hands on her hips.
"You're really making us go home?"
"You don't have to go home, but you can't stay here,"
"Gia, come on I-I cant go out like this," Art said, glancing down at the obvious boner poking through his shorts.
"You are today," she retorted, shrugging off Patrick's shirt. She tossed it to Art, hitting him square in the chest. "Here, wear this, tie it around your waist," she instructed, making Patrick snicker.
The next few minutes involved Art trying to will his boner away, but it was losing cause, much to Patrick's amusement before Gianna shuffled them out the door. Just as she was about to close her door, Patrick's hand stopped it.
"Hang on,"
"What Patrick?"
His answer came in the form of him swiftly ducking down to kiss her one last time. Gianna pulled away from the kiss first, placing a hand on his chest.
"Go!" she urged, with a laugh as she pushed him away.
Patrick retreated with a pout and walked away from her door with Art by his side, sending one last boyish grin over his shoulder. Closing the door, Gianna leaned back against the door with the biggest smile.
God, this really was the best Juniors US Open in more ways than one.
Part III: The First Crack
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inmyheaddd · 12 days ago
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walkin’ out the door with your bags - grayson hawthorne x reader - part 3
⤷ “pardon my emotions, i should probably keep it all to myself”
wc: 3k summary: things are as normal as ever between you and grayson, and gigi comes up with a plan… a double date. a/n: sorry i’ve been SO SLOW with these updates 😭 i had to cut this in half because it was getting sooo long, so part 4 will most likely be posted tmr!! (the flashback will make a lot more sense in the next part lmao)
masterlist || part one || part two || part four
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the past…
you and your class were on a trip to a planetarium of some sort.
you had just turned 9 and entered your astronomy phase - that never ended up fully leaving you - and were absolutely thrilled. you had a permanent smile on your face the whole day. 
it was now a break time, kids could spend their money on whatever they wanted; magnets, souvenirs, in the gift shop, and by far, the most popular choice: ice cream. 
“are you not going to get any?” you asked the boy sitting beside you on the bench, before bringing your plastic spoon to your little cup, and then to your mouth again. 
grayson barely looked at you, “no.”
“why? this ice cream is so good.”
he looked at the rocket keychain he held in his hand. he told you earlier he’d bought it for his youngest brother, xander.
“i’m not hungry.” he said flatly.
“yes you are, i can see it on your face hawthorne!” you pointed a finger at him, “you want ice cream sooooo bad it hurts, but you’re too scared of acting normal.”
“no i don’t,” he said, “and i am not afraid.”
“sure you are,” you said with an overenthusiastic nod, taking another bite of your ice cream.
grayson eyed you, “are you insinuating i’m not normal?”
you giggled, “yeah, because you don’t like ice cream. that, or you pretend to not like it. both are super weird.”
he furrowed his brows at you, absentmindedly twirling the keychain around his fingers. “…what if i simply haven’t had it before?”
your jaw almost dropped. there was no way that was just a hypothetical question. 
“you’ve never had ice cream?” you exclaimed, eyes wide with surprise. when he didn’t respond, you continued. “woah, grayson. that’s actually kind of sad…” as your best friend it’s my duty to get you to try all the best flavors one day— and trust me, there’s a lot.” 
“i’m perfectly fine without ice cream in my life.” he retorted, quite snappily too. “and without cavities. i’ve seen my brothers get a tooth extracted … it does not look pleasant, to say the least.”  
you took another bite of your ice cream, “what’s life without a little risk— or too much sugar?”
he eyed you, “less trips to the dentist.” 
the present…
it had been a few weeks since that hawthorne event, and things were back to normal with you and grayson. no more awkwardness, no more almost confessions, just you and your best friend.
you found yourself outside grayson's house, tapping your foot impatiently after ringing the doorbell twice.
you
— hello — bro — i’m outside  — no one’s opening the door — are you leaving me on seen?? 
you waited a moment, seriously debating whether to go home or not as you glanced  at your phone, watching the bubbles form and disappear.
grumpy blonde 👎
— No.
you
— …is this because i called you bro — sorry — sorry grayson davenport hawthorne***
*grumpy blonde 👎 reacted 👎🏻 to your message* 
how fitting.
grumpy blonde 👎
— Do you not have a key? I had one made for you months ago.
you
— oh — well — i kinda lost it
grumpy blonde 👎
— I’ll have a new one made soon.  — I’ll be down now, apologies for the wait.
you
— aw — it’s ok oren just let me in — i think he feels bad for me LMAO 
when the door finally clicked open, you barely took 3 step before you heard the front door shut close. the coldness of the house immediately hit you. 
why was it always freezing in this place?
grayson came down within 10 seconds of your arrival, and 10 minutes later, you were sitting on his bed as he organized the new suits he had bought earlier that day. 
so that’s why he was taking so long. 
now, you just finished explaining the long winded plan you and gigi had been planning for a week now. 
it sounded his worst nightmare. 
you loved it.
“so… yeah. what do you think?” you asked, a coy smile on your face as grayson turned to look at you.
“you came all the way here to ask me to ask me this?” there it was: the eyebrow arch.
“well, if i called you or asked over text you’d just say no.” you shrugged, “but in person i can just annoy you until you say yes.” 
“i’m not going on a double date.” of course he was going to say that. “nonetheless with gigi and noah.”
you sighed frustratedly, nearly falling back on his bed. “but why? it’s all friendly and platonic, and he’s actually so nice! i’ve even talked to him a little and—“
he quit reorganizing his suits and swiftly turned his head around to look at you. “when have you spoken to him?” 
you laughed nervously at his intense gaze, “chill,” you said, “he just drops gigi off at our door sometimes, or waits outside if she’s about to come out.”
“i do some subtle interrogations of my own for your information, hawthorne,” you continued, your voice a little quieter, more meaningful. “youre not the only one who cares about gigi, you know.” 
the knit in his brows loosened, and his eyes broke away from yours for a second. “you’re right. i apologize.” and just like that, his eyes quickly flickered away again.
his back as turned to you, “i do want gigi to be happy.” he said, knowing how gigi jokingly says otherwise. “however, not everyone has the best intentions. it’s difficult to not be wary.” 
you watched him open a table drawer and pull out his glasses box. he put them on, and then took out his phone. 
after a moment of silence, you continued your persuasion attempts. 
 “i know that, this’ll be your perfect chance to see what’s going on,” you said in a singsong voice towards the end, “and gigi already promised no public displays of affection between them, if you were worried about that.”
he just hummed, clearly not showing any interest in the whole ordeal, not wanting to discuss it any further.
you sighed again, and briefly checked your phone. you realised you would have to leave soon if you wanted enough time to get ready. 
you still sat watching him, though. it looked like he was trying to inspect something closer on his phone - that, or he had really bad eyesight - because he squinted and pulled his glasses down his nose bridge momentarily as he looked at his phone. 
he looked from his phone to you, “what time is this… double date happening?”
you stifled a laugh, “you look like a grandpa.”
he raised a judging brow, but you could see that smile creeping in. “i’ll repeat myself, when is this double date you speak of happening?”
“wait,” you realised what that meant, “you’re coming?!”
“i did not say that.”
you jumped up from the bed, beaming at him as you placed your hands on his arms,  “i knew you’d come to your senses!” 
he tilted his head back but made no attempt to move. and maybe it was your imagination, but it almost looked like he was smiling. 
“it’s at that one restaurant with the name i can’t pronounce and the weird logo, and gigi said to pleasewear something with colour, and that we should be there at 7!”
he sighed, looking like he was about to say something, but then he hesitated for a moment. his frown disappeared, and it seemed whatever complaints had too.
“i’ll be there to pick you up at quarter to.”
you blinked at him, your hands falling back to your sides, “quarter to?”
“6:45.”
“why didn’t you just say that then?” you joked. “quarter to,” you mocked him in a deep voice. “so extra” 
“extra?” he asked with a hint of a laugh.
“you’re extra, grayson hawthorne.”
his expression stayed the same , “it seems like you have new words to call me every week.”
“yeah, ‘cause you’re easy to make fun of.”
grayson accepted that and managed a smile, and also seemingly ignored everything you had just said. 
he changed the subject completely. “your glasses really suit you. have i told you that yet?” 
you willed yourself not to smile as you tilted your head to the side, “are you being sarcastic again?” you brought your hands to touch the frames you had promised to wear, and have gotten so used to them that they’d become second nature.
“i wasn’t ever being sarcastic,” he instantly replied, but his voice was rid of any teasing. 
you felt a few butterflies dance in your stomach, but you wouldn’t let that have any visible affect on you. “i’d believe that if you didn’t have such a good poker face.” 
his smile faltered slightly, “why would i lie to you?” 
butterflies at this point your stomach was turning into a mosh pit at the point, “because you’re my friend and you’re annoying.”
he nodded, that kind of slow nod that said that he wasn’t following what you were saying at all. “fair. good point.” 
“when do i not make good points? ” you asked, half laughing as you took a step back, not giving him any time to respond before you called out. “actually, don’t answer that! and don’t forget to wear some colour!”
to your surprise, he actually did wear some colour. and somehow, the colour of his tie complimented your dress perfectly. his suit was a mix of biege and grey, with a stark white button up underneath. 
and true to his word, he was outside your door at exactly 6:45. gigi had left the house much earlier with noah — they were going to some indie concert before the dinner. 
when you and grayson were brought to your table, you shared a surprised glance. noah and gigi were already sitting down, and you don’t think you’ve ever seen two people looking more blissfully happy in eachothers company. they couldn’t take their eyes off one another, so enamored with eachothers company. 
when they noticed you two, noah smiled nervously as his eyes landed on grayson, and gigi nearly jumped in excitement.
“are you currently working?” grayson asked noah, before raising his glass to his lips.
you felt so bad for the nervous boy, this had been going on for the past 30 minutes. he was adorable in a puppy sense, he reminded you of a pug, or a golden retriever, maybe, with his curly caramel coloured hair, and big brown eyes hid behind circular frames, that stayed on gigi for the majority of the time.
“yes!” noah’s voice picked up, before he heard his own enthusiasm and cleared his throat. 
“i’m a, uhm, veterinarian.” he spoke more leveled, and grayson didn’t say anything, so noah filled the silence between the table.
“my parents own multiple law firms around texas and some other states, but… it was never what i really liked.” he said with an almost wistful tone in his voice, “my siblings are all lawyers, but i prefer dealing with animal problems than people problems.” he added, chuckling nervously.
“yeah! he’s the cutest with cats, you should see it!” gigis voice was full of enthusiasm as her hand lightly grabbed noah’s upper arm, “but he’s actually a dog person, which is totally okay, actually! opposites attract!” 
they looked at each other and shared a small laugh, while you thought: 
opposites? 
they were practically written in the same font, gigis was just in bold, with a little cat emoji beside the text. they worked so well, gigi once told you half asleep at 3 am; “you know, i think i’ve missed him in my life before i even knew him. does that make sense?” 
quickly being brought back to the present, you smiled warmly at gigi, and soon enough conversation flowed between all four of you. 
it wasn’t long before you lost all track of the conversation as you zoned out on what noah was doing to his plate.
he was pecking at his food, seemingly separating the chicken from his alfredo on one half of his plate, and the pasta on the other half. 
this was going on for a full 2 minutes.
grayson turned to look at you as he noticed your unusual silence, and his eyes followed your focused gaze. 
he gave noah a very stern questioning look, and noah looked confused as his eyes flicked between you two, wondering why you looked so confused. 
“what?” he asked nervously, almost hesitant before looking down at his plate. “oh,” he realised your confusion, “i um—“
gigi seemed to have picked up on what was going on, “—he’s separating the chicken from his pasta for me because he doesn’t like it, and because i’m obsessed with it! isn’t that right noah?”
a sheepish smile grew on his face, before looking at gigi with so much love in his eyes, it made your heart warm and leap for your best friend. “yeah,” he said, “that’s right.” 
grayson hummed bedside you, “oh, of course.” he offered them a small smile out of politeness— an unusual act for him, but you assumed it was for rare occasions like these when he saw the sheer happiness beam off gigi’s face.
he must’ve sensed it too; they were an odd couple, but they worked perfectly. 
as if on cue, gigi reached over with her fork, abandoning all the cutlery rules she had been taught as a child, poked the chicken with the utensil and waved it just infront of  to her mouth, “om nom nom,” she giggled as she looked at the curly headed boy beside her, non stop quiet laughter from the both of them as she put her fork down, not even taking the bite she intended.
you and grayson shared another glance, chuckling, but wondering what was so funny that they were still laughing— nothing objectively funny had even happened, she had just said one thing. 
but you quickly realised that was one of the things that just wasn’t for you to get. 
that was probably how people thought of you and gigi, you thought. 
like when you’d be shaking with laughter with tears in your eyes over the stupidest things, and when someone would ask what’s so funny, they’d look at you strangely once you attempted to explain. 
it was just for you two to get. and now, she had someone else to have that with.  
you couldn’t have been more happy for that girl. she deserved it, more than anyone.
you were now thinking selfishly— wondering when you could experience that with someone you loved. even though you did have someone you loved so dearly: gigi, it was just like romance was just not in your playing field. 
everyone you had talked to always expected something from you, or expected you to be someone you weren’t. that, or they just didn’t care. 
you took your eyes to your hands, habitually fiddling with your fingers under the table to stop your thoughts from going any further. 
it wasn’t the time to be acting like this. you looked up and your eyes found their way to grayson, who’s head turned just as his eyes caught yours for a split second.
he looked at his plate, gigi and noah’s laughter died down now, and grayson was already asking him another question about his life. 
suddenly, you felt gigi’s leg nudge yours under the table, one of her ways of silently asking you if you were okay. 
you nodded at her to let her know you were fine. and in response, she attempted to raise a interrogative brow — she told you she’d been trying to learn how to do grayson’s eyebrow raise — and then narrowed her eyes to comically thin slits. 
“i’m okay,” you mouthed at her, but she gave you a look that said “we’re talking about this later,” before you both returned to the main conversation at the table. 
the rest of the evening was fine, with the dim lighting and soft piano in the background and the quiet chatter from everyone else in the restaurant. you shared funny embarrassing stories
when the bill came, noah immediately reached for his wallet, fingers fumbling a bit as he pulled out his card. across the table, grayson was also pulling out his wallet.
“hey, it’s alright, i can pay” he said, glancing around the table with a nervous smile.
grayson briefly looked as he set his card down on the table. “allow me, it’s no worry.”
noah hesitated, glancing between grayson’s card and his own. “no, really—i want to,” he insisted, voice a little shaky but clearly set on it.
grayson shook his head lightly, "please, i insist.” the words were even and polite but left no room for argument.
“no, seriously, i have no problem paying—“
“and neither do i. please,”
“it’s okay, actually, i’d love to pay.” noah managed, scratching the back of his neck, looking between you, gigi, and then back at grayson.
your eyes flickered between the two like a tennis match. you and gigi exchanged a look, both stifling smiles as noah shifted uncomfortably. then gigi spoke.
"hey, how about i pay?"
both grayson and noah turned to her instantly, in sync, and said a definite, adamant,
"no."
you couldn’t hold back a snort, catching gigi’s eye as she rolled hers, before her face lit up with an idea. 
finally, after an intense game of eenie meenie miney mo —suggested by gigi, noah payed. 
grayson reluctantly put his card back in his wallet, tucking it back in his pocket as noah flashed gigi a nervous smile. 
when they caught eachother’s eyes, grayson offered noah a slight nod, almost of respect. noah returned it with a smile.
you and gigi once again glanced at eachother. in both your eyes, that seemed like a success. 
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a/n: this is such a filler chapter but i wanted to properly introduce my new fav, noah, and showcase his bond with gigi 😋 I PINKY SWEAR there’s so much fluff in part 4 you might have to check in with ur local dentist…
taglist: @x-liv25-jamieswife @wish-i-were-heather @thecircularlibrary @whatsamongus @hermesenthusiast
@littlemissmentallyunstable @anintellectualintellectual @lovethornes @maybxlle @sheisntyou
@emelia07 @midiosaamor @sweetreveriee @charsoamerican @hxress23
@imaseabear @soleilars @clarissaweasley-10 @off-to-the-r4ces @thelov3lybookworm
@lanterns-and-daydreams @graysw1fe
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okay-j-hannah · 5 months ago
Text
Part 5: Mieczyslaw
Teen Wolf : Multishot
Stiles Stilinski x Reader
Word Count: 13k
Warnings: series rewrite, season 1 {aka 2011}, slow burn, friends to lovers, Stiles pining, eventual NSFW, usual teen wolf levels of violence and gore, heart conditions, fainting
Request: This just came from my own head 😊  
A/N: A little more history of the Reader in this one - I honestly love her family's backstory
Part 4: Ollie's Catnip
Part 5: Mieczyslaw {You Are Here}
Part 6: Orange Cream and Peachy Sugar
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The hospital was quiet that evening. You were assigned to the long-term care floor and spent long hours updating patient files and making your rounds. Checking vitals, refilling water bottles, adjusting patients with bed sores, and administering medication at the right times.
It was the perfect distraction. You would be missing the lacrosse game that night, missing the first game with Scott being co-captain and Stiles being first line.
You’d be missing Andrew and his dimpled grin.
Instead of focusing on that the rest of the night, you call Lydia who had texted you an SOS.
“What do you mean you’re done?”
“I mean, he sent me a pathetic text asking for his house key back. The loser is so down in the dumps that he doesn’t think he deserves me, which is right, of course.”
You hold the phone with your shoulder and start typing notes into a patient file, “I’m sorry, Lyds. Breakups suck.”
“He’s become such an asshole recently. I don’t know what’s gotten into him. But good riddance. I needed to climb the social food chain anyway. He’s been lacking in the lacrosse category.”
“Sounds like you’re handling it surprisingly well.”
“I’m completely over him. Only took a few minutes… seconds actually.”
You smile, “Yeah, you barely sound upset over it.”
She can hear your sarcasm, “Did you hear that Allison is still going to the game? Her dad and aunt are going too.”
“That’s weird,” you frown, “I wonder why.” With the Argents being hunters… you wonder how much they know about the number of werewolves in town.
“You’re still on shift tonight?”
“Yes, right where I want to be. The perfect excuse to miss the game.” You upload another patient file and wave to another night nurse leaving for her break. It was just you and one other nurse on the floor – a redhead named Jennifer.
“Anything exciting happening?” she asks in a huff, upset that the attention was no longer on her dilemma.
“Nope, I’m working the long-term floor. Everyone here is mostly in recovery or stuck in their beds. It’s usually pretty quiet at night, which is why there’s less staff.”
“Fascinating,” Lydia says quickly, “Anyway, I’ve got to go. I’m going to sit with Allison and scope out my next boyfriend.” She laughs before adding, “Don’t worry, Andrew is off the table.”
You scoff, “Yeah, thanks. Have fun.” And you slide your phone back into your scrubs pocket.
The next half hour was relatively quiet, just two call buttons going off. The rest of your time was spent making your rounds and completing chores. That is until a pair of sneakers comes walking down the hallway.
“Yeah, I said I can’t find her.”
You stand to confront the foreign male voice that was definitely intruding past visiting hours, only to find Stiles on the phone. He was getting snippy with whoever he was talking to, “Hey, listen here wolfman – the only reason I’m harboring your fugitive ass is because you saved (Y/N)’s life last full moon, got it? I don’t owe you any more favors.”
“What the hell?” you say, catching his attention, “Don’t you have a lacrosse game to get to, hotshot?”
In a few seconds you can see a range of emotions flickering through his face: confusion, happiness, worry, and something in the way he looks at your scrubs. “Hi, (Y/N).”
You walk around the nurses station and fold your arms, “Care to answer my question?”
He gives you a goofy side smile, “You’re talking to me.”
“Yes, Stiles,” you fight the immediate grin that wants to envelop your face. “What are you doing here?”
He leans into the phone for a second, “Uh… is there a Jennifer working here?”
“She’s the on call nurse tonight, why?” you pop a hip, arms still tightly crossed.
“What about Melissa?” he asks, walking down the hall and to a room. He speaks to the phone again, “Yeah, well, he’s not here either.”
“Who are you talking to?” you ask exasperatedly, “Stiles, you can’t be here past visiting hours. Would you please…”
“He’s not here. He’s gone, Derek.”
Your jaw drops, “The fugitive you’re harboring is Derek?”
He looks to you, “Yeah, the rest of the town doesn’t know he’s innocent because it’s actually a psycho Alpha werewolf that’s killing everyone,” he says to you. “You sure Melissa isn’t here?”
You hold your hands up, “I’m not answering anymore of your questions until you tell me what’s going on.”
Suddenly you can hear the frantic voice of Derek over the phone and Stiles has a look of instant terror. It sets you on edge when a mysterious man stands at the corner of the hall; it was as if he had appeared out of thin air.
Half his face is covered in burn scars and after a second thought you realize that it’s Peter Hale – the long-term resident of the floor. Your eyes widen at the sight of him standing without his wheelchair and Stiles takes a few steps in your direction.
“You must be Stiles,” Peter says in an eerily calm tone. He’s barely smiling as he nods in your direction, “Hello, (Y/N). It’s nice to finally be able to speak to you.”
Stiles drops his hand holding the phone, walking back until he feels you near him. He reaches behind him and takes hold of your arm. Your instinct is to press yourself closer into his back, “Is that…?”
“He’s the Alpha,” Stiles mutters, whipping his head to the side at the newcomer.
“Jennifer!” you say, “We have a situation with…”
The redheaded nurse holds her head high, “Shut up!”
Your mouth clamps shut – how many people are in on this? Stiles, in his usual fashion, can’t stay quiet for long.
“You and… him? You’re his… and he’s the…” Stiles is shielding you with his body at this point. “Oh my god, we’re gonna die. We’re gonna die.”
You jab a finger into his spine, silencing him. “This is not how I’m supposed to die.”
But with an elbow to the face, Jennifer falls to the floor and Derek takes her place. You forget momentarily how tall, dark, and handsome he is. Peter speaks again with that same calm, menacing tone.
“That’s not nice. She’s my nurse.”
You start to pull Stiles against you, taking you both behind the nurses station.
“She’s a psychotic bitch helping you kill people.”
Peter makes his way over, “You think I killed Laura on purpose? One of my own family?”
A growl ripples from Derek’s throat, fangs appearing from his open mouth. Blue eyes glowing with strange power, he bounds for the attack. You’re paralyzed at seeing the action up close.
“Holy shi…”
Stiles drags you to the floor, doggy-paddling across the tile like a swimmer. You army crawl beside him as Peter and Derek start to throw each other against the hospital walls. Bits of plaster and plastic side railing break away easily.
“Okay,” you say, coughing as you breathe in some plaster dust, “I believe you now. I really believe you.”
“Is that why you haven’t been talking to me or Scott?” Stiles yells over the growling werewolves. “Scott could have easily proven werewolves existed if you just asked him to show himself.”
They continue their sliding movements across the station and to the next hall, the sound of breaking glass loud behind you. “No, I stopped talking to you because I needed a break after hearing the truth. It’s a lot to think about when you realize the whole freaking town has lore in supernatural entities that aren’t just make believe… they’re actual fucking werewolves!” You swipe an arm across the tile and shove his legs out of the way to reach his side. “I needed time to cope with the sudden shift in what I knew to be reality.”
“Understandable,” he pants, tongue sticking out, “I just wish we could’ve helped you cope instead of you just shutting us out.”
“Like I said… I wasn’t really thinking!”
“And of course it was the same night as Scott forcing a kiss on you and trying to kill you in your own home…”
“Shut the hell up, Stilinski! Bigger problems at hand!” The werewolves were moving to a different patient room to continue their fight. You gesture to the end of the hall, “The emergency exit is there. We just have to get there and down the stairs. We can call 911 when we’re outside.”
Stiles agrees, watching you with a different panic, “How’s your heart?”
“If anything happens we’re in a hospital,” you say frankly, “Come on.” You lead the way as the fighting becomes quieter.
Stiles admires you from behind, standing to run the last few feet. You slam into the door and guide the way down the many flights of stairs. Stiles is jumping whole steps and crashing into the walls.
Your lungs start to fight for breath by the time you reach the bottom, Stiles tripping over the last step and falling to his knees beside you.
“Does… Does the Alpha have control…” you pant, holding a stitch in your side, “… over Derek?”
Stiles breathes dramatically, his face scrunching up in a funny way. “I wouldn’t be surprised. He might be forcing Derek onto his side right now with some crazy alpha mind control.”
You stumble toward the exit, shoving it open to a gust of chilly night air. You lean against the hospital wall, hands on your hips. Stiles follows, pulling out his car keys.
“Can you make it to the jeep?”
“If I say no would you carry me?”
He shrugs, pulling a face, “No promises. I could probably swing a piggy-back ride.”
“Yeah, no thanks,” you say, bending down to put your head between your knees. It was routine when you were out of breath and starting to feel lightheaded. Your hands lay flat on the concrete, your mind focusing on how cold and gritty it feels under your fingers. You listen to the crickets and the wind whistling through trees. You smell the honey sweet rain from Stiles.
A large warm hand spreads against your back, rubbing up and down your spine.
You feel the air flood your lungs, “Have you called the police yet?”
“I told them there was a possible break-in and a nurse got knocked out,” he says, “They’ll be here soon.”
You take a few deep breaths, soothed by Stiles’ hand. “I have to wait for the police.” You sit up and Stiles retreats a few feet. The action makes you consider him for a few seconds. “I’m not mad at you or Scott. I just… I needed some distance while I tried to figure things out.”
There’s a bob in Stiles’ throat, “And… have you figured things out?”
You screw up your lips in thought, “I need to talk to Scott first.”
Stiles nods vigorously, hope lighting his eyes. “Yeah, yeah – for sure. Let’s go find him now, I’m sure the lacrosse game is almost over.”
A flash of pity is in your face, “You missed your first game.”
“Yeah, well…” he waves a hand, extending it to help you to your feet. “I had a couple more important things to tackle tonight.”
“Won’t your dad be disappointed?”
“Maybe a little,” he shrugs, walking to the passenger side of the jeep, “But if the pinkeye epidemic continues then I’m still first line for the time being!”
You giggle, sliding into the jeep, “I’ll pray for the conjunctivitis.” With the heater still broken, you’re grateful you chose a long-sleeve undershirt for your scrubs. It took a few minutes for you to call your boss and explain the situation.
The police were on their way, and you were meant to stay to give a witness statement. It would also have been irresponsible to leave your patients in their time of need. Choosing to wait in the jeep was just common sense seeing as there were two werewolves having a row upstairs.
“Do you think Derek is okay?” you look out the window.
Stiles was drumming his fingers against the steering wheel, “He’s fine. Peter will probably try to get him under his control.”
“Then what?”
“He’ll keep trying to get Scott into his pack.” Stiles leans more against the door to get a better look at you. “So we have some catching up to do.”
“Like what?” you smile.
He frowns, picking at his fingers, “I don’t know… like how Jackson broke up with Lydia.”
“Yeah,” you grimace, “Lydia only just told me about the breakup tonight.”
Stiles blows air between his lips, “Jackson always has another agenda. He’s been black mailing Scott because he wants the werewolf bite.”
“You’re kidding,” you say, “How did he find out about the supernatural?”
“I don’t know! He hasn’t been talking to anyone, not even Danny.”
You lean against the door to match Stiles’ stance, “Well, I know Lydia has said he’s never been the same since Scott outperformed him. He’s been slipping ever since.” You rub at your eyes, “He doesn’t talk to me much, and now it’s awkward between him and Lydia.”
“There’s also the news that the Argents know about a second beta werewolf.” At your look of confusion, he continues, “They know there’s an alpha and they know about Derek. They’ve realized that there’s a second werewolf and they’re trying to figure out who it is.”
“They being Allison’s dad and aunt?”
Stiles nods, “They have been scouting ever since – they think it might be a teenager.”
Your head perks up, “Lydia said Allison’s family was going to be at the game tonight. I bet they’re looking for clues as to who could be the other werewolf.”
“Let’s just hope they don’t suspect Scott.”
Stiles continues to pick at his nails, looking at them instead of you. “I’ve also heard that you might be going on a date with a certain potential lacrosse boyfriend…?”
You fight a smile, “Andrew asked me out.”
“And you said?”
“Yes!” you laugh, “I’ve been waiting for him to ask since I started working with Coach on the lacrosse field.” You miss the bitterness in Stiles’ face; he was trying to hide it with his downcast gaze.
A police siren could be heard down the highway. Stiles clears his throat, “Is he going to ask you to the winter formal?”
“I don’t know,” you shrug, tickled at the thought, “But that’s still a couple weeks away.”
“Do you want him to?” Stiles finally looks at you, straining to keep the hurt he feels at bay. The tightness of his chest was smothered by the boiling jealousy in his stomach. He hates the way you sound doting on Andrew. And he hates himself for being jealous over something he shouldn’t be mad about.
You made your choice and Andrew is a good guy.
“I’m not sure. He doesn’t know about my heart and a formal dance would be prime time for it to give out.” You take a deep breath, “I’d rather not spoil an evening like that.”
Stiles nods and considers you, “I guess you just need to go with someone that knows how to calm you. That way you don’t need to worry.”
It was suddenly tense for a few seconds while the police cars come closer to the hospital. You put a hand on the door handle and say, “You should probably get out of here so your dad doesn’t overhear why you might not be at the game. Police radios, you know…”
“Right,” Stiles says, “Let me know if anything comes up. I’m going to find Scott and tell him about our newly identified alpha.”
~~~
The next few days felt a little less hostile as the friend group settles into a new norm. Jackson is still moseying up to Allison, who is still apologizing on behalf of Scott for the impromptu kissing. You console her in that Scott wasn’t himself that day.
Allison was also venturing into new hobbies to keep her mind off things. She had taken to practicing archery in the woods, sometimes taking you or Lydia with her.
Jackson was talking in angry whispers to Scott and Stiles more often. You know it has something to do with seeking the werewolf curse.
As for yourself, you were working on your science project implanting E.coli in varying meats and cooking them, swabbing each as you go and putting samples in petri dishes. They were currently incubating in the chemistry lab while you walk down the hall with Andrew.
“I’m sorry I missed it,” you say, eyeing the way Andrew held your books for you.
“Hey, now we’re going to state,” he says, “You can come to that game.”
You smile, almost to English, “I’ll bring my pom-poms and megaphone.”
Andrew laughs, handing back your books for class, “I won’t say no to a little cheerleading outfit.” He winks at you and a warm blush envelops both your faces.
“I’ll see you later,” you say.
Walking into class you’re quick to notice Scott and Stiles staring at you (Stiles with a little more of a frown). You choose to sit in front of Scott, taking any opportunity for Allison to be near him.
“(Y/N)…” he starts with hesitance, “Stiles told me you’re talking again.”
You don’t turn around at first, “And?”
He leans forward across the desk, and you can hear his whisper over your shoulder. “I’ve been trying to think of a way to apologize to you this last week and… nothing seems good enough. After you avoided me and everything, I thought I lost my chance.” He sighs and you can feel it in your hair. “(Y/N), I am so so sorry. I’m sorry for attacking you – I’m sorry for forcing a kiss on you – I’m sorry for scaring you – and I’m sorry for trying to kill you.”
Very slowly you pivot in your chair to look at him.
Those puppy-dog eyes were back full force. Those were Scott’s eyes – not the dark, menacing look they had on the full moon. You knew the difference was night and day. The real Scott McCall would never do those things if he was in full control.
“I feel terrible,” he continues, afraid at your persistent silence. “I’m an awful friend and I should have told you the truth sooner. Maybe you would have been more prepared for the full moon like Stiles.”
You blink, “Have you apologized to Allison?”
“Well, I tried…” he scratches at his shaggy head, adding to his puppy-dog look. “She was shooting arrows in the forest with Lydia yesterday… and I needed to return a necklace of hers.”
“You mean you were stalking her?”
“The details are a little foggy,” he says quickly, “I might’ve scared her and she tazed me.”
Stiles snorts from beside Scott and you have to stop yourself from losing your composure. “She’s picked up a few things since breaking up with you.”
“I noticed,” he says lowly. “Anyway, I tried to apologize, and I think it got to her a little. She’s still mad, but I think she might forgive me eventually.”
“I told you,” you say with a slight smile. It gives Scott hope.
“And what about you?” his dark brown eyes are wide with anxiety.
You share a look with Stiles, who shrugs. “I forgive you.”
Scott sighs, his head falling into his arms on the desk. “Thank god. I promise, (Y/N), I didn’t mean to do any of those things. The full moon had me wired and it was like something else was controlling my body.”
“It’s okay, Scott. I did a lot of thinking while taking a break.” You look between Scott and Stiles as the tardy bell rings. “And I don’t think I can be involved with all this werewolf stuff.”
Stiles is nearly out of his chair with how he reacts. “What do you mean?” his desk squeaks terribly against the tile floor.
“I mean, I’d like to still be friends with you guys…”
An awful needle like puncture was screwing its way through Stiles’ chest. Friends.
“… but I don’t really want to be included in any werewolf business or late night investigations or almost being killed – which has happened to me about three times now since starting school.”
“Werewolf business is a very regular part of my life,” Scott says with a disbelieving laugh.
You nod, “I get it, I just mean I’d love to hang out or go to a party sometime, but I can’t be involved with anything else related to the alpha situation.”
Stiles was having trouble swallowing as Scott continues, “Like it or not, (Y/N) – you’re kind of a part of my pack. The pack that the Alpha wants me to get rid of.”
“Then… I’m resigning from the pack,” you shrug half-heartedly.
Stiles’ jaw nearly hits the floor as the teacher snaps at the three of you for talking. There is about three minutes of quiet as the teacher explains the upcoming book report that you’ve already finished on Sense and Sensibility.
After that you receive a group text from both Scott and Stiles.
Stiles: You’re just unfriending the pack?!
(Y/N): Can’t I do that and still be friendly?
Stiles: No
Scott: Of course you can. We just don’t get why
You raise your hand and share what stance you took on the book report requirements. You wrote an analytical piece on the personalities of two sisters: Elenor being all sense and Marianne being all sensibility.
The teacher looks pleased and asks for more volunteers. You’re now covered to keep texting.
(Y/N): Tell you later
Scott: Ok
Stiles: Tell us now
You tuck your phone away and feel it buzz with a few more messages before going quiet. You don’t mean for it to be such a shock. You just knew that the more stress you had the more likely you’d have a fainting episode with your heart condition. That would lead to more heart damage and an end that you want to prolong as much as possible.
Being surrounded by high stress werewolf situations was going to be the death of you.
You are quick to leave the classroom at the bell and the boys weren’t far behind.
“Hey,” Stiles grabs your shoulder, slowing you down. “Explain.”
Scott holds his backpack straps, awkward but less demanding on hearing your explanation.
“It’s not a good idea for me to be around a lot of stress,” you sigh, “You know… because of my heart.”
Both boys purse their lips and share a look. Scott is quiet when he asks, “Because you have a tachee-heart?”
You and Stiles both say, “Tachycardia?” You laugh and continue, “Yes. My heartbeat is already irregular and if I do anything to add to it… it’s bad news bears.”
“Care to expand on what these bad news bears are?” Stiles asks irritably.
“That’s a talk for another day,” you say quickly, leading the way to your next class. “Just know that the more my heart struggles the worse off I’ll be.”
“But we can help you,” Stiles says, pressing into your shoulder as you all walk down the hallway. “We can calm you down if that happens.” I can calm you down.
You sigh, “Not always. It can be random and persistent.” You stop outside the door of your next class. “This isn’t me saying we can’t be friends, just… I want to avoid any werewolfy scenarios that might involve near death and/or general terror.”
You leave Scott and Stiles to contemplate out in the hallway. Shoulders sagging, Scott groans, “This werewolf thing is ruining my life.”
“Yeah, and mine.” Stiles broods at the classroom door, taking a second to realize what he said and turning to the mild anger on Scott’s face. “What? I’m the best friend – I am legally bound to whatever misery you experience.”
“All the new friends I’ve made are literally being pushed away because of this curse,” Scott rubs hard at his face, “And it’s ruined my love life, not to mention my lifespan. Hunters are basically knocking down my front door!”
“Yeah, it’s really putting a damper on my love life too.” Stiles mumbles to himself, “I really thought I had a shot with her.”
Scott shoves his friend, “Even after all her talk about Andrew?”
Stiles scowls, “That’s just a silly crush.”
“And what she feels for you is… what exactly?”
“Hidden feelings that I will unlock one day for her to realize that I am the perfect guy for her…” he licks his lips, wincing, “… despite the clumsiness, sarcasm, and general idiocy.”
Scott laughs, “Yeah, she’s really missing out.”
“Hey!” he rams into Scott as they walk towards their next class. “I really like her, Scott. Like… I like her, like her.”
“I know, Loverboy.”
“She’s all I can think about, and I know I’m just a pathetic friend of hers, but I’m hopeless, Scott! Completely hopeless.”
Scott gives him a look, “Are you sure you’re not stalking her?”
“In a broad sense of the term,” Stiles shrugs, “I’ve never felt this comfortable around a girl before. I’ve never felt this way about any girl.”
“You’ve got it bad,” Scott sighs, “I know the feeling well.”
~~~
You walk through the aisles of computers to sit near the back beside a hunched figure. He keeps his head down even as you watch his eyes dart to see who you are. If anything it makes him more shy, his shoulders drawing in as if he were trying to make himself as small as possible.
You sling your backpack onto the ground and ignore the random text Stiles sent you about the history of the male circumcision. He was always sending you the most out-of-pocket things.
“Hey,” you smile at the quiet boy, “My name’s (Y/N)…” He turns his head a little more and you instantly recognize him as one of the benchwarmers on the lacrosse team, “… and you’re Isaac, right?”
His blue eyes seem to warm at your recognition, “Yeah, Isaac Lahey,” he clears his throat, “I uh…”
“You play lacrosse!” your smile widens, “I didn’t realize we had computer science together.”
“Play is a strong word,” he says with a hint of a smile. “I sort of keep to myself.”
You lean on your elbow, considering him as he fidgets under your gaze. “I think the last time we talked was when I was passing out permission slips for that spring retreat Coach was talking about.”
Isaac nods his head, still bowing like he was trying to hide behind his computer screen. “I don’t talk much.”
“You didn’t bring back your permission slip if I remember correctly.”
“No,” he clears his throat again, finding it hard to swallow. “My dad needs me to stay home.”
“Even for just a weekend?” your brows knit.
He licks his lips, “He needs help at work and… I’m the only one around to do it.”
“Shame,” you mutter, “I’d like to have seen you there. Maybe we could’ve roasted marshmallows together and tossed Coach’s whistle in the lake.”
His lips upturn a little more, “You’re going on the retreat?”
“I don’t think the Coach can survive without me,” you stifle a laugh, “Besides I’m the only one who knows anything about the retreat. He probably couldn’t drive a single one of you up there.” You nudge your arm into his, “You should ask your dad again, see if he’ll change his mind.”
Isaac has an emotion you can’t gauge flash across his eyes. “Maybe.” He nods and hides that smile you’re trying to pull out of him. “I wouldn’t mind messing with Coach, though.”
“We could hide his energy drinks or put dye in his toothpaste,” you muse, “Make his teeth blue for a day.”
“Or we could put a squirrel in his cabin,” Isaac says with a little more enthusiasm, “Or maybe we could hide his shaving kit and see what kind of beard he can grow.”
You snort, “I bet it’s as white as an old mans.”
“It’s because all us kids give him gray hairs,” Isaac laughs, smiling wide.
You laugh along, suddenly struck with his change of demeanor. “You have a great smile, Isaac,” you say, “It looks good on you.”
A rush of red fills his cheeks, unable to stop smiling now. He isn’t hunched behind his computer anymore, “Thank you.”
The teacher was about ready to throttle you two for giggling over her talking. You nudge Isaac again with your arm, putting a finger to your lips.
~~~
The next day you’re being dropped off at the Argent residence for a ‘family dinner.’ Allison has been complaining about how often her dad talks about meeting you. It was odd not having met them – almost every parent in town knew who you were.
That was the consequence of a small town with two working parents in the emergency fields. Most adults knew that they had to leave at the drop of a dime if your heart was ever in trouble.
Hence the anxiety making your fingers pull on your sleeves.
“(Y/N)!” Allison greets, pulling you into a hug, “I’m so sorry for this,” she whispers.
You whisper back, “Don’t be.” But a flash of fear crosses your face when the door widens to reveal a blue-eyed, middle-aged man. “Mr. Argent?”
“(Y/N),” he extends a hand, eyes never blinking as he probes you, “We finally meet.” He shakes your hand firmly, “My wife and daughter have only had good things to say.”
And my friends have told me about your penchant for shooting arrows at teenage boys. “Nice to meet you.” You follow the family inside and to the dining room. “I hope you don’t mind…”
In your free hand was a small container of peanut butter brownies you had made earlier that day. Chris Argent looks pleased when he inspects the contents, “How wonderful – you didn’t have to.”
“I know,” you say, handing the dessert to Allison to plate. The Argents were able to provide for themselves, plus extra.
Living on the other side of town, the Argent residence was much more lavish than what you were used to. It created a very unfortunate divide between the teenagers. An invisible line that was rarely mentioned, but nonetheless present.
Over in these neighborhoods, Lydia, Allison, and Jackson lived with rich crown moldings, nice cars, high ceilings, and antique furniture. More in the valley, you, Stiles, and Scott lived in modest homes with hand-me-down items and a small growing pile of bills.
With one check you bet the Argents could take away your family’s medical debt.
“Your home is lovely as always,” you say, admiring the chandelier in the dining room. “And dinner smells amazing.”
“Not my doing,” a dirty blonde says with a crisp laugh. A near forced laugh as her less piercing blue eyes meet yours. She assesses you with something a little colder than Chris. “Hello, I’m Kate, and I have no talent for cooking.”
You give a wave across the table, instantly wary of her. Allison pops up beside you, “That’s my aunt I told you about.” She looks to Kate as she sits, “(Y/N) is an amazing cook.”
Kate nods, still scrutinizing you with her gaze. “What else are you good at, (Y/N)?”
“Reading,” you say instantly, sharing a laugh with Allison. “I keep to myself mostly.”
With the table set, the Argent family sits to enjoy the meal. Victoria Argent, whom you’ve met the few times you’ve been out with Allison, sat with her husband.
“So, (Y/N), tell us a little more about yourself,” Chris says, spearing asparagus with his fork. “You’re close with our daughter but we know almost nothing about you.”
You try to swallow your roast chicken quickly as Allison scolds her father. “I told you not to interrogate her,” she leans closer to you, “He doesn’t really have a ‘pleasant conversation’ option in his vernacular.”
“It’s alright,” you say with a wave, grabbing a nice cloth napkin to dab at your mouth. “My parents like to know who I’m friends with too.”
“You know Scott and Jackson, correct?” Kate digs into her chicken with a knife.
“Yes, we’re all friends. I also am a teacher assistant for Coach Finstock, so I see them at lacrosse a lot.”
Chris considers you, “But you weren’t at the last lacrosse game?”
“No, I work at the hospital as a medical assistant and I picked up a shift that night,” you take a sip of your water. How much information was too much information to give?
Kate tilts her head in your direction, “Wasn’t there a break-in at the hospital that night?”
You nod slowly, “Yeah, someone got into an altercation past visiting hours. I don’t know who but when I went to investigate the noise, there was a lot of broken glass and cracks in the walls. Thank goodness none of the patients were harmed.”
Chris takes his time cutting his meal into pieces, “That sounds terrible. What did you do?”
“I called the police, checked on my residents, and ran outside to meet the cops.” You take a small bite of food, “They didn’t find anything besides the damage.”
“Cameras?” Kate questions.
You shake your head, “My co-workers said that they had been damaged as well. Wiped clean or lost… I don’t know exactly.”
Chris seems satisfied for the time being, “Well, I’m glad you got out safely, whatever it was.”
Kate, on the other hand, seems to perk with interest, “I hear you’ve had a run-in with danger a couple times this year.” At your look of confusion, she nods toward your collar. “The attack on the video store, I mean.” She barely moves a centimeter as she stares you down, “Allison told me you had gotten clawed pretty bad.”
You spot the wince in Allison’s brow. “I did get attacked that night,” you wipe at your mouth again. “It was pretty bad for a while, infected and everything. But I’m okay now.”
Kate was persistent, “Must have left a pretty gnarly scar.” Her eyebrows lift as if expecting you to reveal your shoulder. She was scolded by her niece.
“It’s still a little pink, but that’ll go away with time,” you say as nonchalantly as possible. “I’d say it makes me look a little cooler than I am.” You shift the collar of your shirt an inch to reveal the tail end of three massive claw marks, another curling around your arm. It was your turn to gauge the reaction of the Argents.
Chris and Kate share a look and you clear your throat in response. Are you making yourself a possible werewolf suspect?
“And what do you guys do for work?” you say, steering the conversation off yourself. “Allison says that you’re a weapons dealer?”
Chris pours himself more water, “That’s right. We have quite the collection if you’re interested.”
You shake your head quickly, “I’m not really built for that. I enjoy my books and my lazy cat sleeping in my lap as I read.”
He nods, hopefully in a sign of respect. “That’s why Kate is here. She deals in weaponry as well – a very skilled hunter.”
She raises her glass, “The art of the kill. I needed my brother’s expertise on a few pieces for my latest hunt.”
“What do you hunt?” you say innocently.
“Big game predators,” she says, cold eyes locked on you. “Cougars, bears, wolves.”
You almost smirk. These people are hiding in plain sight.
“My mom is a buyer for a store in San Fransico,” Allison steers the conversation even more. “Right, mom?”
Victoria, already done with her meal and leaning back in her chair, replies, “Yes, it’s a charming little boutique. I also teach math at a boarding school for boys on the side.”
You nod, “Why math?”
“Strategy,” she says flatly. “Equations and probabilities. I enjoy the art of stratagem.”
That was slightly off putting as well. Did these people know how to be subtle? How had Allison gone this long without knowing her family history?
“And your parents are…?” Victoria continues.
You smile, “My mom works behind the desk at the police station – taking and directing calls. My dad works at the firehouse.”
“You must hear everything that goes on around here,” Chris smirks.
“Only when I ask,” you say, “And that’s considering nothing wild has happened in Beacon Hills for years…”
Kate leans back in her chair as well, crossing her arms in contemplation. “Have you lived here your whole life?”
“Yes,” you say, pushing your plate away, “Almost since birth.”
“Where did you live before?” Chris asks.
He might be intimidating, but you enjoy talking to him much more than Kate. “My parents lived in Palo Alto when I was born. We had a nice house and my mom worked security at Stanford University. My dad actually met her at the San Francisco Bay. He was a lifeguard before he was a firefighter, and he watched the swimmers at Keller Beach and Berkeley Marina.” You smile a sweet smile, “She kept coming back to those places to see him… even pretended to drown once for a kiss.”
“Must be a fan of The Sandlot,” Allison snickers, enjoying hearing you talk more than her family.
 “So why make the move to Beacon Hills?” Kate asks, arms still tightly wound.
Your smile falls a little, “I was born with a congenital heart defect. The medical bills and surgeries became too much… and we had to downgrade.”
Allison puts a hand on your leg beneath the table. Chris sends a piercing look to his sister and mutters, “I’m sorry, (Y/N) – I didn’t know you were sick.”
“Still am,” you say with mock cheerfulness, holding your water glass with two hands to give yourself something to focus on. “Heart problems are persistent. We try to keep it as discreet as possible.”
He nods, looking at you with a different air of likeness. “It sounds like you have a wonderful family.”
“I do,” you say fast, “Thank you.”
They move on to the brownies you brought as a means to change the subject. Victoria hums her appreciation, “These are delicious, did you put caramel in here too?”
“Caramel is one of the greatest inventions of all time and deserves to be incorporated into as many sweets as possible,” you laugh, “Of course I put caramel in them.”
The table laughs as you eat, feeling a little stripped bare after revealing so much about yourself. As Allison said, it did feel more like an interrogation rather than a pleasant family meal. You were quick to text the boys as you leave the residence.
“My place in ten minutes. I have an Argent update.” You smile as you add, “… and leftover brownies.”
Allison was kind enough to drive you home, apologizing the entire way. “My dad wasn’t as brazen as usual, but my aunt Kate?” she rolls her eyes, “I can’t believe how much she was grilling you.”
“You have a protective family,” you shrug, “So do I.”
“Your parents have a good reason to be extra protective of you,” she retorts, “My family is just nosy and suspicious and… I don’t know, my aunt and dad have been a little tense with each other this visit. They usually get along so well.”
“How much longer is your aunt staying here?” you ask, holding your container of leftover brownies.
Allison knits her brow in thought, “I’m not sure. She says she’s getting ready for another big hunt and just needs supplies and my dad’s advice. But I don’t know… sometimes I feel like she isn’t telling me everything.”
You thank Allison for the ride and the invitation to dinner. You promise to give her an update on your date with Andrew that weekend, and she drives off. Entering your house was a breath of fresh air.
Oliver trots to your side, his furry underbelly swaying side to side before you scoop him up and kiss his head. He purrs instantly.
“How was dinner?” your mom asks, sitting at the dining table with little potted plants in front of her. She was trying to grow herbs from seeds and the lavender was not doing so well.
“It was fine,” you kick off your shoes, “Her family is a little interrogative.”
Tom walks in with his usual cola, no doubt with a few ounces of whiskey poured in. “I knew they were a little tense, especially after that Chris guy shot the mountain lion at parent teacher conferences.”
You scratch under Ollie’s chin, “It was still nice, but I would watch out for that Kate Argent. She scares me a little.” You sit at the table and watch your mom preen the little sprouts of eucalyptus and rosemary. “Oh, I also invited Scott and Stiles over, if that’s okay.”
Tom folds his arms, making them look massive beneath his firehouse flannel. “I thought you liked that Andrew guy.”
“I can like a guy and be friends with other guys, dad,” you snicker, “I’m just going to take my medicine real quick, will you send them up when they get here?”
Your mom waves you off, adding some water to her seedlings, “Leave me one of those brownies, would you?”
A minute later, and having taken all your prescription meds, there’s a howling laugh coming from downstairs. You move to the foot of the stairs to see Stiles beaming and your dad wiping his eyes.
“Hey, sweetheart,” Tom says, “Stilinski here was just telling me about a police fiasco with a red tricycle and a klepto.”
You look puzzled as Stiles scratches at the back of his head, “Yeah, I might’ve stolen some already stolen items from evidence when I was a kid. I was the prime suspect for about three days with all the stuff in my possession.”
“And at five years old,” your dad laughs, downing his drink.
“I really wanted the tricycle!” Stiles retorts, “It was my first bike.”
Tom shakes his head, “Learning to pedal on stolen property.”
Scott pulls on his friend, “It was nice talking to you guys.”
“Of course, sweetie,” your mom says, “Now not too late, you still have school tomorrow.”
Walking up the stairs (Stiles tripping over at least two of the steps) you lead the boys into your room, Oliver already on your bed.
“Hey, buddy…” Stiles gets on his knees and crawls to the edge of the bed, “How’s the fuzz ball?”
Ollie perks his ears and blinks slowly at Stiles, bowing his head for a pet. Though upon Scott’s arrival, the cat sets his ears back and hisses.
“What the…” you mutter, watching your cat growl low in his throat and dart to leave the bedroom. “He’s never acted like that before.”
Scott looks guilty, “Well, I am part dog and… I did break into your house as a werewolf not too long ago.”
Your lips make a thin line, “Right. Cats and dogs don’t always get along.” You walk to your bed, flicking at Stiles’ head as you sit down, “Do you guys want a brownie? They’re leftover from my dinner with the Argents.”
Stiles’ greedy fingers dive for the plastic container while Scott shoves his hands in his pockets. “You had dinner at their house?”
You relay some of the conversation you had. The mysterious penchant for weapons and hunting big game predators. The interrogative questions on the hospital break-in and your involvement with Scott and Jackson. The request to see the claw marks on your shoulder.
“Do they think you might be the second beta too?” Scott asks with a tense line between his eyebrows. Stiles was too busy eating his third brownie.
“Maybe… do they think a scratch could turn you?”
“That’s what Derek said,” Scott swallows hard, “He told us a deep enough alpha scratch might give you the curse. The Argents might have the same theory.” He smacks his forehead, “Which is why they’re suspicious of Jackson. He has those claw marks in his neck from Derek.”
You frown, “And they don’t know they’re from Derek and not the Alpha.”
“But they do know your scars are from the Alpha,” Scott mutters worriedly, “I wouldn’t be surprised if they do a follow-up on you.”
“But after I told them about my heart condition, they seemed to back off. At least Chris did.”
You relay the conversation that you had about your parents meeting in Palo Alto and the move to Beacon Hills because of your heart. You remember the likeness Chris Argent had in his voice as he expressed his apologies for your sickness.
“If you’re sick then you couldn’t have the curse,” Scott mumbles, picking at his chin. “Werewolves heal really fast unless the wound is supernatural too.”
Stiles is licking his fingers when he suddenly blurts, “Do you think if you were a werewolf your heart would be cured?”
You shrug, finding the amount of brownie left on Stiles’ face amusing. “I don’t really want to find out. Anyway, I knew you guys would probably want to know.”
“Still not keen on all this werewolf business?” Stiles asks.
“I’m just trying to protect myself.” You sit on the bed, Stiles on the ground and leaning against the mattress. He’s looking up at you with his brown eyes, fizzing with warmth like cola and whiskey. “It’s not that I don’t want to investigate with you guys. I just worry what it’ll do to my heart.”
You laugh and point at your own face, “You’ve got chocolate all over your mouth.”
Stiles is quick to rub his mouth across his shirt sleeves, “Those brownies were just too damn good.” There was still a smudge at the corner of his lips.
“Maybe if you swallowed between bites…” you move your fingers to his face, lifting his chin to look up at you. He’s frozen as you move your thumb to the corner of his mouth and wipe down and under his bottom lip.
Eyes wide and imploring as they look up at you. He’s all sweet innocence and deeply adoring as you touch his mouth. The brown of his eyes was melting into the sticky sweet sap color, like warm honey in the sunlight.
You pull your hand away and suck the chocolate off the pad of your thumb, “… but thank you for the compliment. I’m not as much of a baker.”
Scott was trying to keep a smile off his face as his hand hovered near his crinkled nose. He was smelling something that was flying off Stiles like a firework set aflame. The poor boy was squirming in his spot on the ground, crossing his legs and keeping his hands over his lap.
“How was Allison?” Scott changes the subject.
You look up, now ignoring the sappy eyes gazing from below. “She was fine – maybe a little embarrassed about her family. It was strange knowing the motive behind her family’s questions but seeing none of it register with her.”
“I have a feeling she’ll find out soon enough.”
“Me too,” you stand, “For now she’s releasing a lot of her stress through archery and training with her aunt.”
Scott shivers, “Scary.”
You nod, walking to the door and hearing Stiles scramble to his feet. “I’ll see you guys at school tomorrow?”
Getting into the jeep was uncomfortable, Stiles pulling at his jeans. Scott was laughing at him before too long, “Dude, you should have seen your face. You really are hopeless.”
Stiles groans, slamming his forehead into the steering wheel, “She touched me and every thought just flew out of my head.”
“I could smell it off you,” Scott grimaces, “Just awful lovey-dovey sex hormones, even without the full moon I could smell it.”
Stiles sat straight, making the jeep wiggle side to side. He had a ruddy red mark on his forehead. “Did you smell anything from (Y/N)?”
Scott clamps his mouth shut before shaking his head. “I could hear her uneven heartbeat, but that’s nothing new.”
In a dramatic turn of events, Stiles slumps in his seat and puts the car in drive. “I need to figure out a way to tell her.”
“Tell her your feelings?” Scott gaps, “What about the possibility of utterly crushing humiliation? Not to mention ruining what friendships we still have.”
“Thanks for adding to the anxiety, Scott,” he grumbles, “I just… I can’t help thinking about how I am with her. I have never been able to just talk about my mom to anyone… but with her it’s easy. I’ve never brought a girl over to my house before… but with (Y/N) it was a no brainer. I’ve never been so equally terrified and comfortable with a girl. And with her heart…”
“You’re like an anchor for her,” Scott says quietly, all teasing aside. “You can calm her.”
Stiles puts one hand over his cropped hair, “That’s what I’ve been trying to tell her.”
“You know the difference between you and Andrew Wickstrom, Stiles?”
He snorts, “He’s maybe four inches taller than me, has perfect curly hair, and is way better at lacrosse than I am.”
“He asked (Y/N) out,” Scott says, “You just need to ask her out.”
~~~
Friday night was all excitement and butterflies as you walk around a strip mall with Andrew. The white fairy lights turn on when the sun sets, and you’re left walking on cobblestones and eating ice cream.
You were laughing at the ridiculous training regime that Coach was making the boys do in preparation for the state game.
“What is the benefit of running laps to the classroom and out to the field?”
“Coach makes us carry his stuff too and from his office,” Andrew mocks, “He makes it sound like an exercise, but really he just wants us to fetch his granola bars and energy drinks.”
You laugh again, “That sounds about right. How do you feel about the game?”
“Since switching to goalie it’s been hard figuring the plays out. But I think I’ve got the hang of it now.” He offers to throw away your empty ice cream cup and spoon.
The night so far had entailed a dinner at a little café outside the mall before looking in some of the stores for new summertime clothes. Andrew bought an outfit for you, shorts with little revealing tears in them and a strappy top that shows your scars way more than you’re used to.
You love that Andrew doesn’t question you about them.
Next was a stop at an ice cream parlor, taste testing different flavors before picking your favorites. The pair of you now walking around as the moon comes out, the trees adorned with white fairy lights.
You were walking so close to each other that you kept bumping arms. “Next time I want to show you my favorite antique shop downtown. It has some of the coolest things from every time period, and it’s connected to an old bookshop – one of the ones with tall ladders and a second floor just like in…”
“There’s going to be a next time?” Andrew says, sounding a little giddy. He was looking at you with pink dusting his cheeks.
You blush, “Is that alright?”
In reply, Andrew locks your fingers between his. “Very alright.” You stroll down the next street of cool fairy light, squeezing each other’s hands. “What were you saying about the old bookstore before I rudely interrupted you?”
You brush hair behind your ears, “Oh, just that it reminds me of the old bookstore from Beauty and the Beast… the one from her town.”
“You’re a fan of Disney?”
“Always,” you laugh, “With movies like The Princess and the Frog and The Emperor’s New Groove… how could you not be?”
Andrew snickers, “It’s because of Naveen, isn’t it?”
“Ah, Prince Naveen,” you groan, “You got me there.”
“Got to be honest though… Treasure Planet might be the best one yet.”
You pull on his arm, “I haven’t watched that in ages!”
Andrew side eyes you as his dimples come out, “So old antique shop and then movie night?”
You’re giddy at the thought of another date, “Sounds perfect.” You wander the streets just talking and laughing for another half hour before he offers to drive you home.
He holds your hand atop your lap the whole way.
Walking to your door, porchlight on as your parents wait for your return, you thank Andrew for a lovely evening.
“It’s nice after all the chaos the town’s been in the last month.”
He nods, “I had a really nice time with you, (Y/N).” He hands you the shopping bag with your new summer outfit, “I’ll text you a time for the next one.”
You smile wide as he takes a step closer, “I had fun too.” He was leaning down to your height, your chin rising to meet him.
In a quick mind-boggling moment, Andrew presses his lips to yours. He pulls away just an inch to see your reaction before moving further.
At your slight smile he leans in for more, kissing you more firmly and cupping your cheek. A sudden warmth blooms up your chest and into your face – and a beeping comes from your watch.
You break away suddenly, “God, sorry…” you cover the watch face with your hand. “Parents are waiting.”
Andrew licks his lips, all smiles as he says goodbye, “I’ll see you on Monday.”
You slip inside and find your mom pruning a more successful chamomile plant at the dining table, no doubt planning to make tea with it. “Hello, honey…” she smirks, “Had a nice time?”
Checking your watch, you take a deep breath, your chest tight from something a little more than your racing heart. “The best.”
You had no idea that Stiles was burrowed beneath his blankets in bed, his phone lighting up his face is somber blue light. He watches the alert of your heart rate die down and knows in his gut that you probably had an exciting goodnight kiss on your date.
It sticks him with an ache he can’t shake for the rest of the night.
~~~
The weekend came with an invitation from Stiles in the most untoward manner. You were working on term projects for history and math when there was a sharp rapping on the window. Turning around you see Stiles waving on the roof.
Already smiling, you go to unlock the window and help him open it, “What are you doing here?”
“I came to ask you something.”
“And your phone is…?”
He shrugs, “More of a boring gesture than this.”
“And not coming to the door…?”
He screws his face up in a comical expression, “Again, this is a more interesting entrance.” And with a graceful slip of the hand, he falls forward through the window and crashes to the ground, “Ow!”
You grimace, hearing the floorboards squeak in the hall, “Shit, Stiles my parents will kill me if they knew you were sneaking up our roof!” In a frantic waving of your hands you shove him under your bed.
He does his now famous doggy-paddling across the hardwood floor.
“(Y/N), sweetie?” your mom calls as she enters your bedroom, “Oh – what was that noise? I thought you must’ve fainted and fell.”
You put your hands behind your back, looking around and finding Ollie still snoozing on the history textbook on your desk. He was so unbothered and not at all helpful. “Um… I dropped my math workbook,” you say quickly, “It’s pretty thick.”
Your mom looks to your hands to see the workbook and raises her eyebrows in question.
Choking on your words you look around and find the evidence on your bed covers, “See! I just picked it up when you walked in.”
Angela shakes her head, “Studying must be getting to you. Maybe you should take a break.”
You nod vigorously and thank your mother, closing your door and finding Stiles already trying to pull himself out from under your bed. His tongue was sticking out as he struggles.
“That was close,” you laugh, sitting on the floor with him, “Who knew you’d be such mischief.”
Stiles snaps his eyes to yours and flounders in his words, “I… you – did you…”
Your knees are inches away as you give him a quizzical look, “What?”
“My m-, my mom used to call me mischief.” His voice was quiet and wondering as he says it. He looks at you with a kind of awe; a freckle of sadness making his eyes glassy.
You suddenly feel warm, maybe from embarrassment – maybe from empathy. You couldn’t imagine a life without your mother. “A very fitting name for someone so mischievous.”
He chuckles, his smile subconscious, “That’s not the only reason she called me that. Um… I uh – my name isn’t actually Stiles.”
“I knew it,” you smirk.
“I actually have a polish name – my grandpa’s name. And it’s really hard to pronounce, so I’d pretty much stop at saying mischief cause that was as close as I could get.”
You raise your eyebrows, all curiosity, “And this name is…?”
He looks shy as he mumbles, “Mieczyslaw.”
“Mitchy-slav?”
He becomes shier as he repeats, “Yeah, Mieczyslaw. You can imagine why a young impressionable child would choose to go by something a little easier.”
You look at him fondly, “I like it. I like learning things about you.” You stand, taking his hand to pull him up, “Now what was the thing you wanted to ask me?”
“I wanted to know if you’d come hangout at my place tonight and meet my dad.”
“I already know your dad, Stiles.”
“Yeah, on a professional basis,” he mocks, “But… but you’ve never seen him without the badge on.”
You agree to come over that night and say you’ll bring a treat, which immediately strikes interest in Stiles. You plan accordingly, cooking all Saturday evening and dishing it in traveling containers. Placing them in a large take-out bag, you drive with your dad to the Stilinski bachelor pad.
You hope your gesture is kindly met.
“(Y/N)!” Stiles says with as much enthusiasm as one seeing someone for the first time in weeks. He’s awkward as he thinks of another way to greet you and is grateful when you go in for a hug. “Something smells delicious.”
You lift the large bag, “I told you I’d bring something.”
He leads you to the kitchen and you see Noah Stilinski looking over case files at the dining table. He looks stressed and wary until he spots you in the doorway.
“Ah, hello (Y/N). It’s nice to see you outside of the station…” he stands up, “… and outside of an ambulance.”
You laugh, going in for a hug that he wasn’t expecting, but loving it nonetheless. He holds you for a second longer as you say, “It’s about time.” He smells of whiskey. You gesture to the food in your bag, “I brought us dinner.”
“Oh my god,” Noah deadpans, “You spoil us.” He frantically tries to shuffle his case files into an orderly fashion, “I’m sorry it’s such a mess.” He moves his full whiskey glass and goes to put the decanter away.
“It’s okay,” you start to help, catching words like ‘murder’ and ‘Hale House.’ Stiles ran for some plates and forks. “There’s not always warning when Stiles makes plans.” You wonder how drunk the sheriff already is – the case must really be getting to him.
Noah chuckles, “You really know my son, then.” He seems awkward without the authority of his badge – like any other suburban dad. “He didn’t tell me you were bringing anything. Wait… did you cook that?” he points to your bag of containers.
“Yeah,” you say, helping Stiles set the table, “My specialty.”
Noah shakes his head, “I haven’t had a homecooked meal in…”
“Years,” Stiles snorts, “(Y/N) is the real deal, dad. Whatever she made will change your life.”
“He eats some chicken and rice and suddenly I’m a three-star Michelin chef.”
Stiles chortles, “Don’t forget those brownies. I’ll never be the same.”
You laugh as the boys sit down and you reveal the dinner you brought. A bowl of spicy Italian sausage, a plate of sliced garlic bread, and a dish of homemade mac and cheese topped with chopped parsley and green onion.
It was very quiet for the first few minutes, you placing a slice of garlic bread on each plate and ladling the cheesy noodles on top like an open-faced slider. You end with placing a few pieces of sausage on the side and passing the plates to the boys.
Stiles still can’t find the words as his dad says, “Did um…” he clears his throat. “Did Stiles tell you…”
You nod, feeling a presence there like nothing you had ever experienced before. “He said it was one of her signature dishes – a favorite of his.” You look to Stiles beside you and notice something glistening in his eyes.
You let them soak in the thoughtfulness of the gesture – what it actually signifies for them – and you start to eat on your own. Though it didn’t bring up any childhood memories of motherly love that it would for Stiles… it was still delicious.
“You’re right,” you say softly, “Like a fancy kids meal.”
Noah starts to chuckle, sniffing as he clears the emotion from his throat. He’s next to start eating his meal and the way he savors each bite is compliment enough. You wait for Stiles to start, very conscious of his quietness.
Stiles was never quiet.
He picks up the garlic bread laden with mac and cheese and takes a bite. He giggles like a schoolboy, “Wow.” He closes his eyes and you feel inclined to put your hand on his. Beneath the table, you wrap your fingers around his against his leg.
You rub your thumb in circles around his knuckles, watching him open his eyes and see tears there. “How is it?”
He sniffs, looking at you with wet eyes, “Like I remember.” He wipes at his face as you smile.
The rest of the meal continues with small talk and fond memories bringing up laughter. The sheriff finishes his whiskey and seems full and tired. Stiles keeps eating until there were no leftovers in sight.
He was now staring at the files of paperwork on the current Derek Hale case. You catch his eye and stand to wash dishes, “You finished, sheriff?”
“Oh no, I’ve got it,” Stiles slips out of his chair and takes the plates from your hands, “You just sit down, I’ll clean up.”
You smile to yourself as the sheriff looks more work wary, leaning on his hand and rubbing at his temples. “You bring out the best in him,” he says quietly, “I’m not sure I’ve ever seen him willingly wash a dish before.”
“He’s sweet,” you say. Realizing too late that that was another thing Mrs. Stilinski used to say all the time.
Noah nods, a little red in the cheeks from the alcohol, “He is. She always said so.”
You had a feeling the sheriff didn’t talk about his wife very much. “You seem a little put out.”
“It’s just this case,” he rubs hard at his face, “I’ve been staring at it for weeks and I know they’re all connected, but there’s something missing.”
“What are all connected?” you ask.
He points a finger at you, “I shouldn’t be telling you.”
“You know I’m not going to say anything, sheriff,” you say candidly, “I’m a hermit that makes very good mac and cheese in my spare time.”
He chuckles deep in his throat, quieter the drunker he is. “The thing is… the bus driver that got killed, he was an insurance investigator assigned to the Hale house fire.” He pulls on a paper with his fingertips, sliding it across the table.
You read it sideways as it moves. “’Terminated under suspicion of fraud.’”
“The video store clerk who got his throat slashed, he’s a convicted felon, history of arson. Two others in the woods… they had priors all over their records, including…”
“Arson…” you say to yourself. The true crime fan within you was a little tickled. It sounds like all the victims had something to do with the house fire six years ago. You look over your shoulder to see Stiles standing in the doorway. He had soapy water soaking the front of his shirt.
He puts a finger to his lips and listens.
“There’s just so many questions…” You don’t stop him for fear that he’ll register all that he’s telling you. “If Derek wanted to kill everyone involved with the fire, then why start with his sister? I mean, she had nothing to do with it. And why make it look like some kind of animal did it?”
You shake your head. It must be killing Stiles to know the real reason behind some of these things and not being able to share. He was protecting his dad from the supernatural. Just like how he was trying to protect you from it.
“You know the instances of wild animal reports were up 70% over the past few months? It’s like they’re going crazy and running out of the woods. I don’t know.” He hand a palm to his forehead, already dozing off.
You feel a little guilty as you lean in your chair.
“Hey, sheriff, can I ask you a favor?”
“Anything, sweetheart…”
You smile warmly as Stiles leans his head against the archway. “Would you be willing to call my parents and tell them I’m staying the night? It’s late and I don’t want to worry them. Stiles and I have some work to catch up on… our chemistry project and stuff. Now would be a really good time to get it done.”
The sheriff had a dopey smile on his face as he looks at you. He considers you while Stiles is having a heart attack in the kitchen.
“Sure thing,” he says, fumbling for his phone, “I know your parents worry about you.”
“It’ll sound better coming from you,” you say kindly, “Thank you, sheriff. And thank you for letting me stay.”
He scratches at his head as you stand, already dialing your mom’s number, “Hey, Angela. No, no – she’s fine. We’re taking good care of her… hey, listen. The kids want to work on some projects, and I wanted to offer to let her stay the night.” He rubs at his tired eyes, “Sure, sure… of course. It’s just late and I know Tom is at the firehouse tonight so… yeah, sure thing. We’ve got plenty of room. Yep, thanks Angela. Sure, bye bye.”
You’re walking towards Stiles with a stupid grin on your face, “Let’s go talk.”
“Night dad!” Stiles yells instantly, still in awe that you were able to pull that off.
Noah waves them off, “Don’t stay up too late.”
You pull Stiles’ hand and go upstairs. “I can’t believe that worked.” You find the bathroom but wait for Stiles to show you his room.
“Um… one second,” he holds up a finger and tells you to stay put. He rummages like a madman in his bedroom, knocking things over and slamming things shut. You picture mounds of clothes and old plates of food being shoved into the closet.
He’s breathing heavy when he opens the door again, “Okay, you can come in.” He holds open the door and you walk in to find a queen bed with ruffled blue sheets, a desk on the other side with bulletin boards hanging on the wall. One of the smaller ones had a blanket thrown over it.
You wonder how much decluttering Stiles did because it was still very messy. Papers, sticky notes, and red string were everywhere. “Cozy.”
He looks nervous, playing with his fingers and watching your expression, “I don’t… ha…” he fidgets with his soapy shirt, “I’ve never had a girl in my room before.”
You take a bow, “I’m honored.” You sit on the edge of his bed, “What your dad is investigating…”
“Derek… I know,” he sits at his desk chair. “He’s so close to figuring it all out. He just doesn’t know about the Alpha.”
“Was it bad of me to egg him on while he’s so clearly drunk?”
“No, I would’ve done the same thing.”
“Exactly,” you deadpan, smiling. “If the Alpha is killing people responsible for the fire, then Derek siding with him at the hospital…”
“… is probably because he wants people to pay for the fire as well.”
You rub your legs down to your knees, “And the Alpha just wants to become powerful again in his revenge.”
Stiles was tapping his fingers against the desk, “So was there any other reason why you wanted to stay the night? Because I know for a fact you already finished our chemistry project and it’s incubating in the lab right now.”
“Well, there have been a couple things I wanted to talk to you about.” You sit cross legged on the mattress and say, “Coach has been talking to me about Scott failing his classes.”
“Big surprise,” Stiles scoffs, “The guy thinks he can be some werewolf savior and graduate high school at the same time.”
You wince, “Finstock made a deal with the office. Scott can’t go to the winter formal.”
“Because he’s failing?” Stiles gawks.
“They wanted to kick him off the team, but Coach said… some strange things… and made the dance agreement.” You tilt your head to the side, “Are you still planning on going?”
Stiles spins around in his chair, fumbling over his words, “Um, er – yeah, technically. I was s-still planning on it. Why… might I ask?”
You sigh, “Allison will need someone to ask her out.”
He was caught off guard, “I’m sorry, what? Me ask Allison to the dance.”
“It makes sense!” you say, “With Scott’s savior complex he’s going to want everyone under supervision in case the Alpha decides to take us out one at a time.”
There was a hesitance in the way Stiles kept spinning around in the chair. He seems grumpy, “Why can’t Jackson ask her?”
“You don’t want to go with Allison?’
“Well, I…” he was biting his lips, “I don’t know. Are you going?”
“I think Andrew is going to ask me on our next date.”
Stiles bangs a foot against the desk and nearly slips out of the chair, “A second date? Already?”
You smile, going a little red, “We had a good time and… we may or may not have kissed.”
A horrible sinking feeling enters Stiles’ stomach. His heart clenches painfully and the sudden desire to hurt Wickstrom came on hard and fast. “And… you liked it.”
“It was a nice change of pace from my usual,” you try to hide your smile, “I haven’t been kissed in a while.”
Stiles waves his hands around, “Woah, woah, woah… you’ve been kissed before? I thought you were a hermit that made mac and cheese.”
“And I have the occasional neighbor boy kiss me,” you laugh, “There was Easton from down the street when I was thirteen and then Adam who was visiting from San Fransico over the summer when I was fifteen. Not to mention, nimrod, that Scott kissed me just the other week.”
“Oh my god,” he wipes a hand across his face, “How do you do that?”
“What?”
“Get people to kiss you?”
You squint your eyes, folding your arms, “Are you telling me you’ve never been kissed?”
Stiles squirms in his chair, swinging it back and forth. “Maybe.”
“Ah, Stiles!” you bounce on his bed, “That’s so sweet.”
He groans, “Don’t tell me it’s sweet. It freaking sucks. All of my friends are getting their jollies off and I am left here in the dust with the driest lips this side of the valley.” His arms hang limp at his sides, “Is it nice?”
You giggle, “It can be. I think it only ever is when you kiss someone you like. It’s just… god, it’s hard to explain.” But Stiles was leaning in like the most attentive student. “There’s something really vulnerable about it, which leaves you wide open to feel anything and everything. You’re scared to death of course, especially with someone you like. But the bliss you feel after doing it is like nothing else.”
Stiles purses his lips, “Is that how the Andrew kiss went?”
“Almost.”
That raises his eyebrows, “I thought you really liked him.”
“I do, but I kind of have this new rule since the summer with Adam from San Fransico,” you hold up a hand, “I can’t date seriously. I can’t get too involved with any guy. So I’ll have to tell Andrew to stop eventually if this keeps going well.”
Stiles frowns, a punch to the gut, “Why can’t you date seriously?”
“Personal choice.”
“Because of what?” You smile and he groans, “Let me guess, it’s another story for another day.”
You use a finger gun on him, “Precisely, you’re catching on.” But the smile starts to dip from your face as you look at him. You lick your lips and say, “How about this. If you don’t have your first kiss by junior year… I’ll kiss you.”
The chair creaks as Stiles nearly falls from it, feet kicking out, “What!?”
“I’ll kiss you. We’ll make a kiss pact. I don’t want you getting too far into high school without having been kissed. The first one is always nerve-wracking anyway. It probably won’t be as meaningful as getting surprised with it by someone you really like, but it might be the next best thing.”
Stiles was losing his marbles, little fireworks exploding behind his eyes and falling like sparklers into his chest. “Okay.”
You smile at his goofy expression, “Now, can I borrow those sweats again? And maybe a t-shirt?”
He was still looking at you with sparklers in his eyes, “Huh? Oh yeah, sure.” He went to rummage through his dresser.
A few minutes later you were both in pajamas, having taken turns to use the bathroom to brush your teeth – you just using toothpaste and your finger – and standing in Stiles’ bedroom. You had dark sweats and an oversized shirt. With how broad Stiles’ shoulders were, the shirt hung low on your frame.
His throat was bobbing when he saw you standing there, pillows and blankets on the ground. “You good?”
You yawn, “Yep.” You meet him at the makeshift nest on the ground and nudge him, “Move please.”
“Oh, no this is for me,” he says, “You get the bed.” Standing so close to each other, you have to look up at him.
“I’m the guest, Stiles. You use your bed and I’ll count the dust bunnies under the bed.” You smile at the deep frown on his face.
He shakes his head, “Not gonna happen.”
“Fine,” you say, crawling onto his bed, “We can share.”
He chokes on his spit and starts coughing, “Share the bed?”
“Is that okay?” you look at him innocently.
That look combined with you wearing his clothes was sending him over the edge. His stomach was full of butterflies tickling the tightness in his ribcage. He wasn’t sure what to do with himself. In one night he had a girl in his room, said girl promised to kiss him, and now wanted to share a bed with him.
“Um… I kind of sleep in the middle of the mattress. I don’t want you to wake up to me invading your personal space.”
You laugh, “That’s fine, I can just shove you away.”
He nods, but is lost for words, going to turn off the light while you get comfortable. He’s back in the darkness and hesitates, “Are you su…”
“Get in the bed, Stilinski,” you mumble, already buried in his woodsy honey scented sheets. You feel the mattress dip as he finds his pillow. His knee knocks into your leg, and he apologizes. He shuffles down further and pulls up the blanket, rubbing his arm against yours, and he apologizes again.
“It’s fine, Stiles,” you laugh, “We’re bound to touch being this close.”
He swallows hard, staring at the ceiling as you cuddle further into your pillow, blanket tucked under your chin. “Goodnight,” you mumble.
Stiles bites the inside of his cheek, “Goodnight, (Y/N).” In the dark of his bedroom and the warm, calm presence of you beside him, it gave him a sense of ease. He takes a deep breath and says, “Thank you for the dinner today. It… meant a lot.”
You hum in reply, “You’re welcome.”
The last thing he remembers is turning on his side to face you already asleep. Your mouth was a little open and the pillow was squashing your cheek. Your hair was wild behind you and the shirt you borrowed was low enough that he could see the scar above your heart. You look more beautiful than ever laying there.
He wanted to know what you were holding back. He wanted to know what he had to do to give you the same feelings he was having.
And with thoughts of you looking beautiful in his bed, he fell asleep too.
~~~
Hours later you wake groggily to a still dark room. Stiles was standing and pulling his shoes on, phone in his hand. You groan and shift the covers closer to your body.
“Where are you going?” you ask half-asleep.
Stiles freezes at your words, “Uh… werewolf business. You can just stay here…” he walks over to your nearly asleep figure, “I’ll come back later.”
You don’t reply and he thinks you’re already back to sleep. It makes him smile. He bends down to tuck the covers a little tighter around you and… he hesitates, looking at your face. He swallows hard and leans down to place a kiss to your head.
“Sweet dreams.”
~~~
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samandcolbyownme · 10 months ago
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Betrayal x 2 | Part 2
Summary: Part two of Betrayal x 2. If you haven't read it, I suggest reading that before reading this. It's right before this one!
Warnings: SMUT18+, strong language, talking about what previously happened, threesome, hair pulling, biting, scratching, oral (all), unprotected sex, creampie, filth
Word count: 5.7k | not edited
Part One
╔═══━━━─── • ───━━━═══╗
Your heart felt like it was going to beat out of your chest. You knew it was a lot to ask, you weren't sure how anyone would react after it was all out on the table.
"So.." you say breaking the semi long silence that followed Colby asking Jake, "What are..um, whatcha thinking?"
"I mean.." Jake laughs, "I'm just.." he trails off and you close your eyes as you pinch the bridge of your nose.
"I mean, I'm not going to lie to you Colby, she was.. pretty fucking good.. and I'm a weird guy, who likes weird shit, and this to me is so fucking weird.." Jake continues laughing before letting out a long dramatic sigh, "So why not."
Colby didn't say anything, which you knew he was probably second guessing it, hoping Jake would have said no.
"Okay.." you nod to yourself, "So. I'll, um.. talk to Colby then I'll call you or something. Okay, Jake?"
"Okay, yeah just hit my line or whatever." He laughs slightly and you smirk, "I will. Bye."
"Bye." Jake hangs up and you pause before sighing, "Colby?"
"Yeah?" Colby's voice is low and you lay back, laying your phone on your chest, "Do you not want to do this? "
"No, I do. I just.. can I see you before we bring him into it? I just want one conversation with you, face to face."
You chew your lip, "I need to get dressed."
"That's fine. Take your time, all the time you need. I know it's a lot."
You can tell Colby was trying to contain his excitement from you agreeing to see him.
"I'll text Kat and let her know that I'll be going over." You get up to change your clothes and Colby clears his throat, "Sorry I'm just a little nervous.."
"Tell me about it." You laugh slightly, "Okay.. I'll, um.. I'll be over soon."
"Okay. Drive safe."
You could tell Colby wanted to throw in an 'I love you', but you weren't ready for that, "I will." You hang up, immediately calling Kat.
"Hey, you okay?" She answers and you smile slightly, "Yeah, I'm good. I just wanted to let you know that I'm going over.." you sigh, "To see Colby."
"Are you?" She asks surprised, "Are you sure you're ready for that?"
"We just spent the last hour on the phone, talking about stuff so.. I think so. I don't know." You grab your keys and walk down the steps, listening as she tells Sam that he needs to come back to her place.
"Why? Is everything okay?" He asks in the background, and you can just picture his face when she tells him you're going to see Colby, "Really? I mean that's good right?"
"Yeah, I hope." Kat says, "again if you need anything, call me."
"I will. I'll keep you updated." You open the door and hang up, taking a deep breath as you walk to your car.
The whole way to Colby's, you were shaking. 
You were still mad, but at the same time, you feel like you didn't have the right to, considering he watched you fuck Jake.
You sit in your car for a few moments, composing yourself, basically preparing for all the feelings you're about to feel when you see his face for the first time in a week.
That's the longest you went without seeing Colby. Most was three days, but seven was a lot harder than you ever thought.
You get out, shutting your door before looking up at the house as you walk towards the door.
As you go to knock, the door opens and Colby is standing there. His eyes are bloodshot and slightly puffy. He looks exhausted.
"Are you okay?" Your eyes move over his face, "You look li-"
"Like I haven't slept in days? Yeah, I really haven't.." he laughs slightly as he moves for you to come in, "Everything has just been eating at me. What I did was.." he shuts the door and turns to face you, "Completely fucked up."
You nod, "I know you say it, but Colby.. I live by actions speak louder than words and-"
"That's why I said about Jake. I don't know if it's for me, you or both, but I just.. I can't sleep without you.. knowing that I hurt you, I want to do anything I can to resolve this, y/n."
"Jake doesn't have to be apart of this.." you shrug, "If you do-"
"Everything I said on the phone, y/n.. I meant." He swallows as you see his eyes getting glassy, "I really.." his voice cracks, "I really just want to do anything I can to.." he motions to you and you look away, the burning of tears welling causes you to blink a few times.
"Why did you do it?" You look back at him, "Why her?"
He shrugs, "I honestly can't give you an answer because I genuinely don't know. I was having doing shots with Reece and Miles, then all of a sudden I was taken back to that living room thing and she was just.. there."
"Well there was your first problem, Reece and Miles aren't ever any good. You know that." You pause and take a quiet breath, "Did you think it was me? Or.. because I know for a fact if I was as drunk as you, all I would want is you."
You lick your lips, "I'm sorry. I just.. on the way over I told myself I wasn't going to bombard you with questions.."
"No, no. Ask away. Anything to.. I guess help?" Colby shrugs, "I don't know, but anything you want to know I'll be honest, y/n. Please."
"I just.. I don't feel like I have a right to be mad at you because I fucked one of your close friends right in front of you." You look at him, trying not to laugh at how ridiculous of a sentence that sounds.
He tries not to laugh, "That.." he shakes his head, "Oh my god. What the hell happened to us?"
You shrug, laughing slightly, "I have no fucking idea."
He walks over to you, "I do know, that she wasn't you. She'll never be you. No one has treated and supported me in the ways that you have and no matter what happens to us, I will forever be greatful for you."
In this moment, you feel like you're just y/n and Colby.
No drama. No pain. No hurt. No betrayal.
You felt like it should always feel.
"I love you." You look up at him, "I mean that."
He brings his hand up, slowly brushing it against your cheek, "I love you more than words can ever say. I'm sorry that I did what I did. It wasn't.. I didn't even think that would have happened."
"I just.. I can't just go back to us.. we won't be the same." You lay your hand on your forehead, stepping back from him, "We aren't the same, anymore Colby."
"So then.." he steps towards you, "Then we accept the new us."
"The new us? What does that mean?" You look at him, dropping your hand to your side, "Look, I want to, but I don't think I can trust you at parties again, or even anywhere.. not for a while. What I saw will always be in the back of my mind."
"Then I won't go to parties and where I go, you go." He shrugs and you laugh, "Colby. You have to go to parties. Thats you and Sam's thing."
"I already told Sam I'm done. If he wants to go, I'll be at home sick, or something." He shakes his head as he moves closer to you, "There's nothing in this world that means more to me than you. Nothing. I know I tainted that, and like you said you can't really trust me, right now."
He cups your cheeks, "But I just.. I'll do anything to get you back home."
"Is what you said true?" You look up at him, "About the whole Jake thing?"
He nods, "Yeah."
"Were you angry when you walked in on us?" You  stare up at him as he nods, "Yeah, actually, I was.. I wanted to beat his ass."
You nod slightly and Colby raises his brows, "I'm serious. I've never been that pissed at Jake before, but once I realized that you were doing it to get back at me, as much as I hated it, I just had to take it. Even if I was joined in, something in me just didn't think I deserved it."
"He told me I should have socked you." You smirk, "He said it would have been sexy as hell."
"I would have taken it. I deserved it. I still do." Colby drops his hands and sighs, "I know I say it, and trust me, I plan on doing everything I can to make it up to you, but I am so, so, so sorry, baby."
"You'd keep doing the whole.. threesome thing?" Your eyes bounce from the floor to his and he nods, "If that's what you want.." he chuckles and you tilt your head, "Why?"
"I don't know.." Colby shrugs, "..It was just something about how Jake got so protective over you.. I just.. I liked that."
"You won't get mad?" You cross your arms and Colby runs a hand over your hair, "If it will make us stronger as a couple, I'll make out with him." (A/n: I personally WOULD love that because I am a freak.)
Your brow twitches as his words intrigue you, "Really?"
"Well.." Colby laughs, "I mean.. I don't know, really.. I just know that I'll do whatever makes you happy in order to be your safe place again."
A small smile appears on your lips and it makes Colby smile, "What do you say?"
You bite your lip, "I say.." your arms move to lay on his shoulders, "Are you calling Jake or am I?"
He laughs slightly and you watch him look from your lips to your eyes. You tilt your head, "Kiss me."
Within a second, his lips are on yours and he's pulling you close to him.
"I'm sorry." He whispers against your lips, "I'm so. So. Sorry."
You shake your head, laying your hands on the side of his face, "Colby.. Colby." You tilt your head back, looking into his watery eyes, "We need to move past this."
He nods, "I know, but I just-"
"I know, baby. I know." You run your hand through his hair, "Let's just.. forget about this for right now and just have a good night. Okay?"
He sighs, "Yeah, yeah okay."
"Do you want me to call him?" You bite your lip and Colby nods with a smirk, "Yeah."
"Okay." You reach into your back pocket and pull your phone out, clicking on Jake's name as you rest your head on Colby's shoulder.
Colby kisses your head, resting his cheek on it as he listens to the line ring on speaker.
"What's crackalackin' good lookin'?" Jake answers and you laugh, "Hey.. so. I'm here with Colby." You look up at Colby's and he smiles down at you.
"What's the verdict? Is he guilty and spending the rest of his life in the clink?" Jake laughs and Colby smiles, "Only if you'll be the officer on duty."
You smirk and Jake lets out a low, "Oooh. You got it big daddy."
Colby laughs, "so does that mean you're coming over?"
"Is that you inviting me over?" Jake asks and you laugh, "No, that's us telling you to come over."
"Now, hold on. Wait a minute. Back it up a few inches please." Jake laughs slightly, "This isn't a set up, is it? I'm not going to get my ass beat?"
"No. I'm not going to beat your ass, Webber." Colby chuckles and Jake sighs, "I was talking about y/n, thought maybe she regretted it, but that's slightly reassuring too, Colby."
You laugh, "Oh yeah. Totally going to kick your ass when I see you."
"As long as you promise to bend me over and smack my ass a few times." Jake jokes and you sigh, "I'll see what I can do."
"Sexy." Jake says, "I'll be over in a few."
"See you then." You hang up and look at Colby, "You sure?"
"In this moment. I have never been more sure about anything in my life other than wanting you in it." Colby cups your cheeks and leans in to kiss you.
His kiss ignited the flame inside of you and you couldn't wait to be touched.
Colby leans back, "What?"
You shake your head, "I just.. can't wait to get to bed." He smirks, "Yeah, I get what you mean. Maybe we can.." he nods towards the couch, "Get things started while we wait on him."
You slide your hand into his and pull him towards the couch.
He follows you, smiling as you glance back at him. You sit down, him sitting next to you and you lay a hand on his chest, "I'm going to apologize in advance.."
You start and look up at him and he tilts his head as he lays his hand on yours, "For what, sweetheart?"
"For getting re - upset over the whole situation. I'm going to try not to, considering we're moving past it, but.. I can't make any promises."
He lifts his hand to brush hair from your face, "It's understandable so it's okay. We'll just, cross that bridge when we get there.. or bridges.."
He chuckles lightly and you nod, leaning in to you put lips on his. His hand slides down, gripping your waist and pulling you into his lap.
Your hands rest on his shoulders as your lips move in the same perfect sync as they usually do.
You grind down onto him, getting impatient as you just want to be touched already. Colby groans lowly against your lips, "Can't wait to taste you again."
You smirk and lean back, moving to get on your knees in between his legs. You reach up, undoing his pants and freeing his cock from his boxers.
He watches in awe as you take his cock into your hand, gently pumping it up and down as you glance up at him. You lick your lips, leaning forward as you circle the head of his cock with your tongue.
A gasp leaves his lips as his fingers grip the cushion of the couch, "Fuck."
You move your head down, flattening your tongue as you bob up and down slowly. He pulls his bottom lip between his teeth, eyes fixed on you as you lean back, moving your hand up and bringing it back down so you can coat him in spit.
You stroke him a few times before leaning in, adding your mouth to the situation.
"Shit, babe. No one does it like you." Colby tilts his head back, bucking his hips slightly as he moans, "Fucking hell, baby."
The door bell rings and you lift your head, looking up at him with a smirk, "Our guest is here." You stand up, walking over to the door as Colby fixes himself and stands up.
You unlock the door, opening it to see Jake standing there, "Hey."
He smirks as he gives you a nod, "Hey." He walks in after motioning him to and he nods to Colby, "What's up, asshole." He laughs and Colby shakes his head, laughing at Jake teasing him, "Hey."
Jake turns and rubs his hands together, "So we gettin' right into doing the deed of darkness or what?"
You laugh and shrug, "I mean, I was already on my knees for Colby, so we can pick up there if you'd like."
Jake smirks as he raises his brows, "Oh yeah. Works for me." He follows Colby into the living room and they sit down on the couch.
You return to your position on your knees and undo Colby's pants before moving over to Jake and pulling down his plaid pajama pants.
You glance over at Colby, getting reassurance that he was okay before you pull out Jake's cock, biting your lip as you stroke him a few times.
You lean up, wrapping your lips around the tip and sucking. He groans, eyes closing as he tilts his head back.
You reach over, pulling Colby's cock from his pants. You stroke him as you keep your mouth on Jake, working on taking more of Jake in.
Colby groans, bucking his hips as you slow your strokes down. You lift your head from Jake, moving over to now focus on Colby.
Your hand wraps around Jake's cock as your lips wrap around Colby.
A gasp leaves his lips, moaning lowly as he gently lays a hand on your head. You glance over at Jake and you love how he's staring at you.
His eyes are locked on yours, jaw slack as his brows twitch with each stroke of your hand.
You lean back, wrapping your hand around his cock, stroking both of them as your eyes flick back and forth between them.
You held the power.
And you were living for it.
"Come up here, baby." Colby holds his hand out and you get up, moving to straddle his lap. He pulls you in, kissing you as his hands slide down to remove your shirt.
He lifts it up over your head and tosses it on the floor. His hands move up, taking each boob into his hands and kneading them slowly.
A moan escapes your lips and you look over at Jake, reaching over to slide your hand onto the side of his neck and pull him in so you can kiss him.
He lays a hand on your back, leaning in more so he can kiss down your neck. Colby kisses down the other side and you gasp as they both start to give you hickies.
"Fuck." You breathe out, tangling your fingers into each of their hair.
Jake leans back and Colby nudges you to go over to him. You crawl over, straddling Jake as Colby leans forward to slip off his own shirt.
Your lips meet Jake's in a slow, heated passion. His hands slides up, fingers pinching and pulling at your nipples, earning moans from your lips.
"God you are so fucking sexy." Jake tilts his head back to look at you. You smile and look over Colby, "I know.." you look back at Jake, "Hence why I have both of you like this right now"
He smirks and shakes his head as you move to stand up, slowly pushing your sweats down, leaving you in your purple lace panties.
Their eyes rake over your body, eager to be inside of it.
"Get over here." Colby stands up, moving so you can sit down. He gets down onto his knees, hands running up your thighs as Jake moves closer, sliding a hand over your chest and up to your neck.
Colby hooks his fingers into the band of your panties and pulls them down. You lift your hips and he pulls them off, dropping them on the ground once they're over your ankles.
"Fuck." Colby whispers as he pushes your legs up and open. Jake hooks his arm under your leg, holding it up as Colby gently spreads your folds open with his thumbs, "You look so fucking good."
He leans in, tongue dragging up and down your pussy slowly. You arch your back, eyes rolling back as you moan.
Jake reaches over with his free hand, moving hair from your neck so he can place his lips on it. He kisses up, nipping your ear before whispering, "Can't wait to taste that pussy next."
You whimper at his words, reaching up to tangle your fingers in his hair as Colby pushes his tongue and out of you.
Jake drops his hand, gently rubbing your clit. You gasp, moaning louder as you clench around Colby's tongue.
Jake scoots down slightly, dipping his head down to take your one nipple into his mouth. You tilt your head back, mouth falling open as he sucks and gently bites down on it.
Colby's grip on your thigh tightens as he pushes his head into you more. Jake moves his hand from your clit, gripping the thigh he's holding up and pulling at your skin.
You snake your arm through and wrap your hand around Jake's cock, earring a low moan from him as you stroke him.
"Just like that." He whispers, "Fuck."
You turn your head, looking up at him as your face twists with pleasure. His eyes scan over your face before leaning in to kiss you.
He swallows your moans as Colby brings you close to your first orgasm. He moves his head up, sucking on your clit as he pushes two fingers into you.
You squeeze his fingers, moaning louder as he run that sweet spot inside of you, "Fuck, fuck."
"You gonna cum?" Jake asks as he kisses your face gently. You nod, "Y-yes." He gently bites down on your jaw as you tilt your head back, "Go ahead, babe. Cum for Colby."
You rest your head against Jake's chin, lifting your hand to lay on Colby's head, moaning loudly.
Your leg squeezes Jake's arm as your orgasm takes over, making your body shake with pleasure. A string of curse words leave your lips as you come down from the high.
Colby leans back, slowly pulling his fingers out to bring them to his lips. He groans at the taste of you on his fingers and you watch as his eyes lock onto yours.
He gets up and grabs your face and kisses you roughly. Your hands slide up his chest, digging your nails into his skin as he bites down on your lip, pulling it as he tilts his head back.
He nods towards Jake and you nod with a smirk. You turn to face him, laying your hands on his neck as you lean in to kiss him.
"Your turn." You whisper against his lips. He moves to lay you back on the couch, kissing down your body. You bite your lip, eyes lock on him as he kisses to your clit.
You let out a gasp, tilting your head back as his tongue swipes between your folds. You look down and bite your lip as he glances up at you.
He smirks before pushing his tongue into you, causing you to moan louder. Colby moves by your head, brushing hair from your face.
You look up at him, brows furrowed with pleasure as you move your hand down to search for his cock. He moves slightly, giving you enough room to wrap your hand around, stroking slowly.
He tilts his head, eyes moving between you and Jake.
Jake pushes your thighs open more, tilting his head as he moves closer to you. His arms slip under your legs to lay his hands on top of your hips.
"Fuck, yes." You moan out as your back arches off the couch. You squeeze Colby's cock, looking over at him, indicating that you want him in your mouth.
He stands up, resting on his knees on the edge of the couch and you sit up slightly to wrap your lips around his cock.
Colby groans as he lays a hand your head, gently pushing down. You take more of him in, closing your eyes as your moans are muffled around him.
"Fuck." Colby stares down at you, watching as you bob your head slowly. Your hips buck slightly as Jake's fingers press down on your clit, circling as his tongue pushes in and out.
You roll your hips, pulling your head back to moan as you feel close to orgasming again.
"Fuck, fuck, fuck." You whine, tilting your head back, "Fuck."
Colby lays a hand on the back of your head, gripping your hair as he watches your face, "Cum for Jake, baby,"
You bite down on your lip, whimpering and moaning as Jake adds pressure to your clit. You reach down and lay a hand on his head, pushing his closer as you cum, moaning loudly.
Your body jolts has he continues to rub your clit, slowly stopping as he leans back.
Colby pulls you up into a sitting position and sits next to you. He pulls you into his lap, reaching down to hold his cock steady so you can sink down onto him.
You let out a moan as you dig your nails into his shoulders. Jake sits next to Colby, sliding a hand up your back and gripping the back of your neck.
He pulls you over to kiss you as you move your hips up and down. Colby’s hands tightly grip your waist as he tilts his head back to watch you make out with Jake.
Colby guides you up and down with his hands, groaning lowly as he slides a hand up to pull you away from Jake, replacing his lips with his own.
You make out with Colby, bouncing up and down on his cock as Jake watches.
“Fuck, fuck.” You tilt your head back, moaning loudly as you clench around him. You look down at him, biting your lip as you whimper, “S-so close.”
Colby leans in, kissing up and down your neck, adding another hickey or two to the ones you already have. You tangle your fingers in his hair, pulling as you sink all the way down.
You grind your hips down, whining as you cum, “Shit shit, yes.. yes!” You tilt your head down, roughly kissing him as you reach over, grabbing onto Jake as you lean over to kiss him.
Colby lifts you up and you move over to Jake, sliding down onto his cock. He groans into your mouth, sliding a hand up your back to press it firmly onto your skin, “Fuck.” He curses, “I’ve missed you.”
You smirk against his lips as you lift your hips up and sink back down a few times slow before getting into a bouncing rhythm.
Jake tilts his head back and you lean down to kiss up his neck, biting and sucking a hickey. He moans and bucks his hips upward, fingertips pushing into your skin.
You lean up, looking over at Colby. You lean over, laying a hand on his cheek as you kiss him. You kiss down to his neck, giving him a hickey to match Jake’s.
He moans and tangles his fingers into your hair, “You’re so fucking beautiful.”
You sit back up, grinding your hips down onto Jake as he watches you. His lip is tucked between his lip as he fights closing his eyes.
You run a hand through his hair, laying it on the side of his neck as you moan.
You were getting so tired from the repeated orgasms, but you were absolutely loving every second of it.
“I’m gonna cum..” Jake groans out, “Fuck, where do you want me?” His eyes lock onto yours and you bite your lip, glancing over at Colby.
“It’s wherever you want baby.” Colby bites his lip and smirks, “Tell him.”
You look back to Jake and breathe out, “in me.”
Jake groans and nods, “Fuck, okay.” Colby moves to stand up and Jake lays you down, picking up the thrusts for himself.
He dips his head down, taking one of your nipples into his mouth and you arch you back, nails digging into his back as you squeeze his cock, “fuck, fuck fuck. Don’t stop. Don’t stop.”
He moves his head up to kiss you, swallowing your moans as you cum around him. He’s soon to follow as you feel his thrusts get sloppy.
You feel his cock twitch inside of you and you whimper as he slowly pulls out. Colby takes his place, slipping his cock into your, now, extra wet cunt.
“Fuck.” Colby groans, “Not too much longer, baby.”
You nod as you lift your head to meet his, moaning into his mouth as his thrusts are punishing. His fingers dig into your thigh as he buries his face into your neck, “So fucking good.”
You open your eyes, locking them with Jake as he watches you. Your eyes roll back as your body is engulfed with nothing but pleasure once again.
Colby kisses up to your lips, pushing his cock into you fully before you feel him twitch. You moan at the feeling and thought of his cum mixing with Jake’s.
Colby pulls out, quickly grabbing his shirt to save any from dripping on the couch. He rubs your knee, “You okay?”
You nod, looking up at him as you try to catch your breath.
“No body tell Sam that we fucked on the couch.” Jake laughs, which causes you and Colby to laugh. Colby looks back at Jake as he slips on his pants, “Don’t worry. I already planned on keeping that between us.”
Jake gets dressed and walks over to you, bending down to press a kiss to your lips, “This was fun.”
You smile up at him, “Yeah, it really was.”
He turns to Colby and fists bumps him, “Glad you didn’t kick my ass.”
Colby laughs and nods, “Yeah, I don’t think y/n would have appreciated that very much.” He looks at you and you shake your head, “Not really.” You smile and let out a sigh as you sit up, “Thanks for coming over.”
Jake winks at you, “Anytime, sugar lips.”
You laugh and watch as Colby walks him to the door. They share a few words before Jake leaves and Colby comes back to you, “Come on. Let’s go get you cleaned up, I’m sure you could use a nap.”
“You have no idea.” You smile as you stand up, taking his hand into yours, “But I have one stipulation.”
“What’s that, babe?” Colby look down at you and you smile, “You have to nap with me.”
Colby presses a kiss to your forehead, “Done. And done.”
.·:*¨ ✘ ¨*:·.
Well guys.. how was part two? I don’t know what it is, but I always struggle with writing part twos to things, but I think this turned out alright.
Love you all, thanks for reading 🖤
Likes and reblogs are majorly appreciated!
352 notes · View notes
1d1195 · 2 years ago
Text
Tuesday
I’m a sucker for protective Harry and exes to lovers sort of vibes.
Harry forgot that after they broke up he started sleeping on the side she did...for a while it smelled like her and as good as the break up was, he missed her and longed for her. Sleeping on her side made him feel closer to her. After a while, he forgot it wasn’t where he usually slept.
She was sitting in the coffee shop looking at her phone. Scrolling through the contacts was making her more anxious. It wasn’t super late—only nine. But it was dark out in the dead of winter and on Tuesday no less. She had class in the morning, and she didn’t want to bother anyone because she knew they had classes in the morning too.
When she closed this evening, she got a weird vibe from the guy hovering in the corner of the shop who kept asking her when she got off her shift and if she wanted to hang out afterwards. At the time she wasn’t alone, but she assured her coworker she would be fine—and was now regretting it. Something in the pit of her stomach was making her nervous. She didn’t want to go outside to her car, but it seemed a little dramatic.
So, she was scrolling through her (admittedly, not so very many) contacts deciding mentally if anyone was close enough that she was willing to bother. She was scrolling her way back to the top after her initial run through getting increasingly nervous as she crept back toward the A’s. If she made it back to the top, she wasn’t sure what she’d do at that point.
But it was the H’s that caught her attention.
“Fuck,” she whispered to literally no one but herself. Putting her hand on her forehead, she sighed. She didn’t want to call him. It had been two years since she last spoke to him. The chances of him even inhabiting the same apartment, a mere five-minute drive away, let alone the same town after he graduated and got a real job were slim to none. Plus, the idea he would answer her phone call at nine on a Tuesday night seemed downright laughable.
Honestly though, he was her only hope.
Biting her lip, she clicked on his name. It almost felt foreign. But something deep within her found it felt so familiar it was impossible to not feel at ease just listening to the sound of the phone ringing knowing he would be at the other end (if he would answer).
“Hello?” He asked. His voice sounded confused. She wasn’t surprised at his tone. It was insane for her to call him.
“Harry,” she said simply.
“Uh...hi, love,” it sounded loud wherever he was. She should have known Harry would be with people and living his life.
“Hi,” she said softly.
It was quiet for a moment other than the sound of whatever Harry was doing in the background. She thought about the last time they spoke. It had to have been right about when things ended. It wasn’t a bad breakup, but they didn’t really stay in touch. She saw pictures and updates on social media but Harry wasn’t all that active. She had no way of knowing a whole lot about his personal life—if he was seeing anyone...or anything like that.
“Love?” He said and the noise seemed to fade in the background of his concerned voice. “Y’okay?” He asked.
“Um...” she shook her head trying to remain focused and remember why she called her ex-boyfriend. “Er...yeah. M’fine...it’s just...” she sighed. “M’sorry. I shouldn’t have called. I’m just...I’m at work and...well I’m trying to leave but there was this guy and I got a weird feeling. But it’s stupid...and I just...there’s no one I know nearby, and I thought if you were still at your place close by then...” she shook her head hearing how ridiculous this all sounded. Bothering Harry on a Tuesday night for something that might not even happen. Her heart was fluttering. This was ridiculous. “Harry, I’m so sorry. This was a stupid phone call. There’s nothing wrong. I didn’t mean to bother you. I’ll be fine,” she said firmly gathering her belongings in her arms and steeling herself for the cold walk outside to her car.
“Oh...hey...” he frowned as he held the phone to his ear. “S’alright love. You’re not a bother,” he promised. “Are...are you inside still?” He asked. She could hear a flurry of movement on his end. There was a rustling of keys, and a few calls in the distance were yelled but she couldn’t make out the words.
“Yeah...but really, it’s fine. It’s late and I’m being ridiculous. I’m just going to—”
“M’still nearby,” he said quickly interrupting her. “Jus’...wait five minutes. I’ll be right there.”
For a moment she stilled and silenced her rationale and the convoluted reasoning in her head. “Really?” She asked, feeling relief course through her body. She didn’t even realize how stressed she was about the situation. The brave front for Harry slowly seemed to dissipate. There was no way she could know that Harry also recognized the worry in her voice.
“’Course, love,” he said easily. They were both quiet for a moment and she could hear the jingling of Harry’s keys, the unlocking of his car. “D’you want me t’stay on the phone with you?” He wondered.
She nodded, feeling comforted by Harry just breathing. Someone was coming to her rescue, even if she was being ridiculous. She didn’t even realize she nodded. But Harry didn’t get off the phone despite not knowing her answer. It was weird to be so content with Harry silently coming to her. With her eyes closed, she could almost picture Harry’s route. Hearing his blinker, the sound of the road...it was almost too much for her. Him just coming to her without so much as a real reason—just a feeling—was heartwarming. It made her miss him all over again.
When they dated, Harry was nothing less than perfect. He did everything with the utmost respect and chivalry. He was an amazing boyfriend and she adored him more than any other boyfriend she ever had. It broke her heart when they ended their relationship, truly. She reminded herself it wasn’t a bad break up. It was mature. They grew apart and Harry graduated, and things were ending. But she was still in school. Granted, now she was on the last of her classes and graduating the coming spring. Harry was out in the real world these last two years being perfect for whoever he worked for and for whoever he was dating.
“Hey love?” He asked gently. Her thoughts pulled back to the present. “M’parking right now. M’gonna come to the front, yeah? I’ll knock, okay?”
She nodded again, making her way from the back of the shop toward the front door. She could see Harry, phone pressed to his ear, looking just as she remembered him. Tall, lanky, and handsome as could be. Always. If she wasn’t so nervous, she would have ogled him for longer. She unlocked the door and let Harry in. “Hi,” she said softly.
“Hi,” he replied. “You alright, love?” He asked.
She nodded. “Yeah,” she didn’t sound alright, though.
He glanced out the doorway and his brow creased in the middle. He looked highly annoyed. “M’glad you called,” he said quietly.
“Thank you,” her voice was so small and quiet. She looked nervously through the front window seeing Harry’s car closest to the shop. “Would you mind walking me to my car?”
He nodded. “Course, love,” he promised easily.
“You really didn’t have to come,” she said. It was a phrase that sounded like she should be annoyed—even though she was the one that asked him here, in so many words. But Harry knew her. He knew she wasn’t annoyed. He knew she was scared and didn’t want to be a bother. She was annoyed that she bothered him, if anything.
He shook his head. “Nonsense, love. Don’t mind at all,” he kept glancing out the window then he turned his attention back to her. “M’gonna...” he rolled his lips into his mouth and then sighed. “Kitten, m’gonna hold you, alright?” He said softly. She glanced out the window again, trying to see around Harry, but he stepped in her view. It wasn’t good. He must have been out there. A shiver ran up her back and she let out a small, nervous noise that came from deep in her soul. “Don’t worry,” he shook his head quickly and kept her from seeing. He took her bag off her shoulder and put it on his own. She had her keys in her hand and she swallowed. “M’here,” he promised. “M’not going anywhere.”
*
Harry wrapped his arm around her waist, pressing his side fully to hers as they walked toward his car parked right next to hers. They were silent except for Harry quietly whispering directions toward her. “Are you alright t’drive?” She nodded silently. Harry opened her driver’s door. He waited for her to sit, and he physically blocked her view outside the door. “Are y’sure y’can drive?” She nodded. “Are y’still at the same place?” She nodded again.
Harry reached past her to settle her bag on her passenger seat.
“Love?” He questioned again. He was hesitant to ask his next question but the way she looked so nervous and scared had him reeling.
It also didn’t help there was a creep a mere 30 meters away from them waiting for her like she was bait. She turned to look at him, her breath shaky, her hands kept shaking too as they reached for her steering wheel.
“Y-yeah?”
“I want you t’come t’my place, yeah?”
She felt scared so she just nodded. “Okay.”
“Kitten, m’not gonna let anything happen t’you, okay? I promise.”
“Okay,” she nodded again but it felt a lot more right this time.
Pressing the lock button on her door, he gave her arm a gentle squeeze as she turned her car on. “M’gonna follow you so wait until m’in the car,” he said softly. She nodded once more.
*
Harry was fuming about all of it. Seeing her name pop up on his phone made him confused and worried. But nothing prepared him for the feeling of helplessness and worry he actually felt when he went to the coffee shop and saw her car and a one other car waiting for her to exit work. He hadn’t spoken to her in two years, but he didn’t want to think about what he would do if he found out something terrible happened to her. As he started his car looking toward her waiting to go Harry waved to her to indicate he was good to go.
Harry would murder him if he followed them.
Harry spoke to his phone. “Call Niall.”
The phone rang twice before he answered. “Harry, where did y’go?” Niall asked curiously.
“Everyone needs to leave,” Harry said.
“Harry, what are—”
“I don’t care what y’tell them, everyone needs t’be gone in the next three minutes.”
“Harry—”
“Niall! Jus’ get them out!”
“Okay, okay,” Niall said with a tone of defensiveness in his voice. “I’ll get them out.”
“Thank you, I’ll explain when I get there.”
Harry glanced in his rearview mirror and didn’t see anyone following him. But now Harry was paranoid, and he wouldn’t let anything happen to her. He called her again. “Hello?” She asked tentatively.
“Hey love. When y’park, I don’t want y’to get out. I’ll come around t’you, okay?”
“Okay,” she said softly. “Harry?” She whispered.
“Yeah, love?”
“Thank you,” the gratefulness was so thick on her voice Harry could have cried. What if he didn’t see her call? Or what if he decided not to answer? He was worried about things that weren’t but the idea of something happening to her made him feel sick.
“M’really glad you called,” he promised.
She didn’t say anything again. He felt so bad she was so nervous and worked up. She wasn’t one to need saving. She usually did most of the saving her friend group. She was the one with an extra hair tie or a stain stick at restaurants. She never let anyone be hungry or thirsty. If someone didn’t have medicine handy, they could ask her. She was the one that did the saving. She wasn’t the one that needed it. Rarely did she ever ask for help. Asking Harry was not only huge for her, but it meant she really needed it.
When she started downplaying how nervous she was on the phone, Harry thought how terrifying it was that she never needed anyone. Especially for a situation like this. He thought for two seconds what would have happened if her instincts were right, if Harry did ignore her worries, or if she convinced him that she was alright.
Harry quickly brushed those thoughts aside. “Do y’want me t’stay on the phone?” He asked her this earlier. Just like before there was no answer, but he knew she nodded. So, he stayed quietly on the phone listening to her breathing, the sound of her directional, and the road.
There were several cars passing as they pulled up toward Harry and Niall’s place. Harry was grateful Niall got everyone out. “Okay, love, stay put,” he said hanging up as he hurried out of his parked car to her driver’s seat.
Niall was standing on the front stoop waiting to see what Harry was so worked up about. When Harry opened the driver’s door and ushered her out Niall finally understood. “Must have skipped my last eye appointment, is that you princess?” Niall said cheerfully and hurried to give her a hug. It was a bit awkward though because Harry wouldn’t release one of her hands.
“D’you need anything else?” He asked ignoring Niall’s greeting.
“Uh...there’s a bag in my trunk,” she said softly. “I can get it in a minute—” Harry finally released her hand and headed back for her car.
“What brings you here this evening?” Niall asked.
“Oh...uh...” she swallowed. “It was nothing really,” she said shyly. Niall glanced at Harry’s embittered expression. He could see it halfway across their yard while she looked at the ground before looking back at Niall. “I actually think I overreacted and I didn’t know who else to call—”
“She did not overreact,” Harry said simply closing her car up and then coming to her to put a hand on her lower back. He ushered her toward the door. “She’s gonna stay tonight,” Harry told Niall.
Niall blinked then raised his eyebrows in surprise. “What about—”
“No,” he said simply, shaking his head and pushing her more toward the front.
“Harry, that’s not necessary...I think I can—”
“No,” he repeated.
There wasn’t room to argue.
*
She said goodnight to Niall and Harry continued ushering her into his room. It was the same as before except he moved the bed to the middle of the wall and changed the position of the dresser and the desk in his room. “D’you have clothes or d’you need clothes?”
“I don’t have uh...clothes to wear to bed—”
“Here,” he said quickly and opened the drawer. “Think y’left these here,” he said handing her a pair of leggings that she had lost years ago. It made her feel confused that he kept them folded neatly in a drawer readily available. She wondered if he let other women wear them. She honestly didn’t care. She was glad they were getting some use.
Harry assumed she was questioning the fact he kept her leggings in a drawer folded neatly. He offered them to a girl staying over every now and again. Gem even wore them on occasion. Harry didn’t need to read her mind, to know she was probably happy to help some stranger when they were over and needed something comfy to sleep in. “And y’can wear this,” he said and tossed her a long sleeve shirt that had a logo on it she hadn’t seen before.
“What’s this?” She asked curiously looking at the logo. It wasn’t really the time, but she was potentially in shock and Harry wasn’t going to let that happen, so he just answered her.
“The company I work for,” he shrugged and pulled his shirt over her head.
She dated Harry for two years, so she was used to seeing Harry naked. But not seeing him for two years and for him to casually pull his shirt over his head...well, she missed seeing him. “You got new tattoos,” she said suddenly.
Harry smirked for the first time all night and he paused with his arms in his shirt, but he held off on tugging the shirt over his head. “Uh...jus’ a few,” he said quietly. “One for m’godson, another one for Gem, one ‘cause I drank a little too much one night,” he said shyly.
Harry looked at her gentle smile and thought he would melt. She was all stressed and worked up and so was Harry, but she was beautiful. There were no ifs, ands, or buts about it. If Harry wasn’t so nervous about her safety, he would have reveled a bit longer in how much he missed her voice and suddenly hearing it woke some part of him that he thought was long gone. The part of him that was hers.
Harry opened the door again. “Hey Ni,” he called. “You still do her skincare routine?”
She let out a huffed little laugh thinking about the night she showed Niall and Harry all the steps to having a clean face before bed making sure to prevent wrinkles and damage to the only skin they had. Harry thought it was too many steps, but Niall was smitten with the routine and asked her no less than fifty questions about what he needed to do to have baby soft skin. Harry was grateful now that it was going to pay in tenfold, because he could make her feel at home and have Niall comfort her for a few moments while he fixed up his room. “Yeah! Princess, you want to share?” He called.
Harry looked at her and then opened the door wider. “All yours,” he said softly.
She took the borrowed clothes and nodded. “Thank you,” she whispered again.
Harry watched her walk to the shared bathroom and Niall followed in behind her to show where he kept everything, but he caught Harry’s eye as he entered quirking one eyebrow at him. Harry shook his head and left the pair to their spa treatment.
Harry’s phone vibrated as he propped up the pillows and got a few more blankets for the sweet girl from his closet. For someone that always ran much too hot, she always wanted more blankets to sleep in at night. He was planning on offering to sleep on the floor or the couch, but he knew she would deny it immediately and probably offer to do it herself. Of course, Harry wasn’t about to let that happen so they would have to settle for sharing. He glanced at the name on his phone and sighed.
Do you want me to come over? Harry felt guilty but he shouldn’t have. It was an arrangement they had agreed upon, and they both knew it.
Not tonight.
Oh. Okay.
Sorry.
No, it’s fine. Just surprised. Everything alright?
Yeah.
Okay.
Harry stopped answering. She deserved more...and if Harry had a little bit better self-esteem maybe he would realize he deserved more too.
There was a knock outside his room. “Y’don’t need t’knock, kitten,” he said with an eye roll as he pulled the covers back for the two of them. Harry heard his door click shut.
“Well...it’s sort of ridiculous that I’m even here, and I feel bad intruding and making you even—”
“Love,” he said turning toward her. She was in his shirt and her leggings now. She settled the clothes she was wearing with her stuff, and she looked toward Harry with so much trust in her eyes Harry wanted to cry. He was so thankful she called him. So thankful she trusted her gut and glad he could help her. “I am so glad y’called me,” he said softly. “You’re not intruding or anything,” he promised. “M’glad you’re here.”
She bit her lip and nodded. “Okay,” she said softly. “Thank you,” she repeated again.
Harry gestured to the bed. “I was gonna offer t’sleep on the floor or the couch—”
“Absolutely not.”
He continued as if she hadn’t spoken. “—But I already knew y’wouldn’t care for that, and I won’t let y’do that either so...” he said and gestured to the bed again.
She couldn’t argue with him so she grabbed her bag and pulled it toward the side of the bed she was used to sleeping on. However, Harry forgot that after they broke up he started sleeping on the side she did...for a while it smelled like her and as good as the break up was, he missed her and longed for her. Sleeping on her side made him feel closer to her. After a while, he forgot it wasn’t where he usually slept. But for tonight, he would have to go back to his side. Harry settled into his bed, pulling the blankets up over him as he scrolled on his phone. It was eerie how comfortable they could get into a routine that was very much the same as the one they used to have.
“Do you mind if I just...finish my essay really quick?” She asked softly.
“Take your time, love,” he nodded easily. “How is school?” He inquired.
She nodded. Harry watched her as she pulled her laptop from her bag and opened it. “It’s good. I’m almost done...I have an internship a couple days a week and they’ve offered me a job when I officially graduate.”
“Kitten, that’s awesome,” he smiled. “Congratulations,” it was so heartfelt it made her stomach flutter.
“How is this place?” She asked, pointing to the logo on her shirt. “Have you been there this whole time?”
“Yeah, I have. It’s a great place. I like it. It’s quiet. I get t’keep t’myself mostly. M’told I’m better than the last guy they had,” Harry chuckled.
She smiled and nodded. “That doesn’t surprise me.”
Harry felt his face warm. “What are you working on now?” He wondered.
“It’s for my history of psychology class,” she said. Harry was always dumbfounded she wanted to be a psychologist but rarely looked at how her own behavior was maddening every now and again. Like tonight when she was willingly about to put her life in danger for some creep because she didn’t want to bother Harry. “Just relating different philosophies to a disorder over time and how the founders of these philosophies would have approached it.”
“Cool,” Harry smiled. “Do you like it still?”
“Very much,” she nodded. “Except,” she sighed. “This keeps happening,” she showed him her computer. “I’m sorry,” she said. She hated asking Harry about tech. It never bothered him. He was happy to help her, and he gave her tips to better the lifespan of her devices. She knew he would probably still look at it for her, even after all these years.
He tilted his head and sat up more and looked at the blue crash screen analyzing the codes it presented. “Hold on,” he mumbled turning into his IT self and googling the code from his phone. “How often does it do this?”
“Err...like once a day.”
“Kitten,” he admonished. She knew better than that after all of his tips and tricks. “May I?” He asked. She handed it to him.
“I can’t really afford a new laptop right now. My dad said he would get me one when I graduated in a month,” she shrugged.
“How is your family?” He asked while he fiddled with her computer.
“Good,” she nodded. “How’s yours?”
“They’re good. Gemma visits frequently,” he smirked.
“That’s nice, tell her I said hello.”
He was busy clicking through her screens and checking settings on her computers that she didn’t know existed. “Y’should really clean this,” he murmured.
“Er...m’not sure how...you always did it for me,” she reminded him.
He chuckled. “Fair enough, I can do it in the morning if y’have time.”
“I have class at eight,” she told him.
He shrugged. “S’okay...m’usually up at five.”
“Five?” She asked in surprise. “Harry, it’s so late, you should be asleep,” she said with concern in her voice.
He shrugged. “S’okay. Niall and I usually have movie night with friends on Tuesdays,” he said. “S’pretty early t’be in bed right now, on a regular Tuesday night, for me.”
“I interrupted movie night?” She asked quietly.
“That’s what y’took from that?” He smirked.
She was silent for a few moments. “He was out there, wasn’t he? Waiting for me?” She whispered.
Harry didn’t want to answer her question. “Yes.” She nodded and swallowed around a lump in her throat. Biting the inside of her cheek she looked at her hands while Harry took his gaze from her computer to look back at her. “Kitten,” he said softly. “It’s okay.”
“What if you couldn’t have—”
“Love, don’t. I was there. S’okay,” he promised.
“But you might not have been able to...and you shouldn’t have—”
“Baby,” he said softly and put her laptop on the floor beside him. He turned to face her, and he reached for her cheek. He rubbed his thumb over her soft skin. He could feel her melting into the touch and it reminded him of every time he ever touched her and how much he missed that. They were so different now. Older, wiser. Harry still adored her so very much, seeing her name was the first time he thought of her in months and months. Hearing her voice was like hearing a song he forgot about, and it sounded like hearing it for the first time and it sounded so much like angels he was wondering if tripped down the steps of his house and died. Touching her, even if he felt she was in danger, was like magic. It changed something in him. It was familiar and new and all at once. Holding her was warmth and light, something he had forgotten about until that moment. Even in a situation he didn’t want to be in. “I would do anything for you.”
“Still?” She asked with a snort before she could stop it.
Harry rolled his eyes. He brushed his thumb over her cheek again; he would do it all night rather than sleep and then work a full week. If this was the last time he saw her, touched her, smelled her, he would do it for just another minute. “If y���need me, love...that’s...a big deal. Yeah...I would do anything for you.”
“We’re not even together,” she whispered. “Actually...I think you have a girlfriend.”
“I don’t have a girlfriend,” he shook his head.
“You’re seeing someone?”
He sighed. “Kitten, I don’t care about anyone but you, right now.”
“I can’t in good conscience—”
“Love, m’not seeing anyone. That’s it,” he said with a touch of frustration in his voice. She was quiet another moment.
“Harry?” She whispered.
“What, kitten?”
“I think I’m going to cry.”
“Oh, love,” he cooed and pulled her toward him. She started to cry and Harry held her against his chest and while he hated the way her tears soaked his shirt, he was so glad he was there to comfort her.
*
She was anxiously walking into the coffee shop the next day. She knew the chances of him being there again after he was clearly rejected were slim. It didn’t quell her nerves though, as she walked into the shop.
As she settled her things in the back and came to the front to clock in on the register and begin taking orders, she finally noticed the curly brunet locks cozied up in the corner of the shop in an armchair with a book in hand and computer bag at his feet. She blinked. Doing a double take between the customer waiting to place his order and Harry, sitting quietly in the corner, focused on his book and unaware it seemed that she was at work.
As she made the drink requested, she looked at Harry and then her coworker. “Did you see Harry come in?” She asked.
She glanced over at the corner. “Yes.”
There was no more discussion.
*
At the end of her shift, she went over to Harry in the corner halfway through his book. “Why are you here?”
“I told you I’d do anything for you, love,” he said gently, earmarking his page and closing the book. “Ready t’go?”
She bit her lip and nodded. He stood up, gathering his things and headed for the door.
*
When Harry came to her shifts over the next week, she thought that this was over the top. He didn’t say anything, didn’t offer any explanation, he was just there. When they left he tucked her neatly into her car and followed her home before she entered her apartment and waved goodbye from the front entrance.
On Sunday, she anticipated seeing Harry in the corner at some point in her morning shift, but instead she was slightly disappointed by not seeing him. She got used to seeing him and more than that wanted to see him.
So when she got into her car and locked her doors before she pulled her phone out.
“’Lo?”
“Are you mad at me?” She asked.
“Kitten?” He responded. It sounded like he was suddenly awake out of nowhere.
“You didn’t come to—”
“Are y’alright? Did he come back?”
“No!” She shook her head as she answered hurriedly. “I’m fine...I just...”
“Love, m’sorry. I...I had something t’do this morning, I figured—”
All at once she felt like the biggest idiot in the world. “Oh my God,” she whispered and covered her eyes. Thank God she didn’t video chat Harry. Thank God she was alone in her car and no one could see the bright red cheeks she was sporting. “Oh my God. Harry. I’m so sorry. I...oh my God,” she shook her head.
Hearing her worried tone, Harry hurried away from his morning plans. “Angel, are you okay?” He repeated. “I can come be there in ten minutes, love. M’worried that—"
“No, m’fine. Really. Please this is mortifying. You're very obviously with someone...and...I’m fine,” she told him. “I feel like—”
"Love, m'not with anyone. Haven't been since we started talking again. Kitten, I want t’see y’too,” he promised. “I’ll be home in ‘bout an hour. Does that work for you?” She nodded, feeling ridiculous as ever. Harry couldn’t see her nodding. But he knew she was. “An hour,” he promised. “I’ll see you then, love.”
*
She felt stupid once more as she pulled up to Harry’s place and noted Niall’s car wasn’t there, fortunately. At the very least her humiliation would remain just between herself and Harry. Harry met her in the yard almost as soon as he saw her pull up. “I was worried y’were lying,” he admitted and stuffed his hands in his pockets looking at her as she walked toward him.
“I wouldn’t lie to you,” she promised crossing her arms in front of her.
“Good,” he smiled gently. “Then...is everything alright?”
“I missed you,” she whispered quietly.
“Yeah?” He murmured.
“Yeah,” she nodded not making eye contact.
Harry tilted her chin up and rubbed the pad of his thumb over her lip. “I missed you more,” he said so cutely she could have turned into a puddle of love and mush on his front yard.
“Yeah?” She asked.
“Yeah,” he nodded and smiled at her. It was so adorable, so utterly Harry, and made her want to throw herself at him and never let him go.
So she did.
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