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joeyfranchise · 5 months ago

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all tangled up in the moon

justin herbert x fem!reader

summary: you finally began feeling open to dating in your new home of sunny la, especially since your best friend didn’t love you back the way you loved him… unless he did? a telling double date begins unraveling feelings that you didn’t know were shared…

warnings: pining/mutual pining. expressions of feelings. a LOT of fluff. explicit sexual content, MDNI. 18+ only.

word count: 6.3k.

note: my first ever justin fic!! based on so many ideas from my bestie @joeyburrrow, also happy belated birthday btw 🫂 i’m sorry i didn’t get it posted yesterday! but, she and i have talked about so much of this and this fic truly is for her. ALSO— FOR THE PURPOSE OF THIS FIC ONLY— i made justin allergic to walnuts. idk if he is or not, but it’ll make sense when you get there. i hope you like this. love you all. 💗

the dating pool in los angeles was nothing short of horrible.

sure, there were tons of people, which meant tons of options… but that also lead to some problems. there was so much diversity around, which again, is great… but it often led to mismatched partners and having trouble finding someone with all of the same interests or morals or values as you.

that being said, while messing around on dating apps, you found yourself a date that ticked more of your boxes than anyone else had since you moved to the sunny city.

his name was damon, and he worked at a law firm that wasn’t too far from your own nine-to-five job. his profile said he was 6’2, in his pictures he displayed a beautiful smile, and his interests were similar enough to yours that you figured why not give it a chance?

when you swiped right he’d messaged you nearly immediately, which could’ve been a red flag, but he kept it sweet and professional. his personality shined through his messages and you found yourself genuinely laughing at some of his jokes, and that was always a good sign.

you ran into one little problem though. you didn’t really know anyone else in l.a. except for your best friend, therefore you didn’t have many people to trust. sure, you had coworkers and acquaintances in the office, but none of them were around you enough to be able to vet through suitors from your dating life to let you know who would work and who wouldn’t.

you were also afraid to go out with someone new alone, and you blamed that on being an introvert. you ultimately made the decision that either damon would have to be okay with your first date being a double date, or you just wouldn’t go. when damon agreed it was fine, you called justin worriedly - this was going to be the hard part.

he picked up after two rings.

“is this the krusty krab?” you asked teasingly, smiling as you heard him huff out a brief laugh. he lowered his voice before answering.

“no, this is patrick.”

“yeah, justin patrick,” you teased, “unless i called the wrong brother.” you chewed on your bottom lip as you heard him chuckle again.

“that’s my name! don’t wear it out.” he joked. you could practically see the dumb grin already etched across his face. you remained silent for a moment, the weight of the question weighing on you. when you didn’t respond, justin took the lead of the conversation again.

“hey, y/n? you okay? not that i mind you calling me, of course i don’t mind… but did you need something? is everything alright?” you appreciated his ability to talk you down in moments like this, it was like he could sense your nerves even from miles away, and over a phone call.

“i’m okay. but i have a tiny favor to ask. you know you’re my most favorite best friend in the wholeee world, right?” you laughed, trying to push past the anxiety of the question you needed to ask him. “i do. what’s the favor?”

“i have a date friday night and i’ve never met him before. i didn’t know anyone else to ask and.. i was hoping maybe you and chloe could come along? like a double date?”

justin and chloe had started seeing each other recently, and you liked her enough not to really worry about their relationship. sure, she was living your dream being with justin, but you practically knew he didn’t feel the same about you. while you were completely and utterly in love with him, he still saw you as his best friend, and you had learned to accept it.

when you first met chloe you knew she wasn’t his type, she was completely different from justin… but he seemed happy, and that’s all you ever wanted for him. she was excited to meet you too, and in the few times you’d seen her since she was always genuine and kind.

“i think we can make that work, i should be out of practice in time. i’ll let chloe know and then we can figure out where to go. there’s a new restaurant downtown she and i went to a few weeks ago, you’d love it. they have really good raspberry cheesecake!” he said.

“oooh my favorite!” you cheered, already daydreaming of the delicious confection.

“i know.” he agreed. you smiled on the other end of the line, the way he knew you from cover to cover made your heart ache. you only hoped damon - and if not him, then whoever was destined for you - could be such a wonderful lover to you. someone who truly cared to learn everything there was to know about you, just like you and justin did with each other, even if only as friends.

you and justin talked for a bit longer over menial things before you ended the call, bidding him a goodnight. you made sure to text damon about your plans, letting him know you’d get back to him about a time as soon as you could.

he was excited for your date, and also excited to meet justin. you learned damon was a big fan of sports, and even though he wasn’t a chargers fan, he still really liked justin and thought he was a great player. he didn’t believe you when you first told him justin was your best friend, you had to provide him with photo evidence. the whole ordeal made you laugh. after chatting briefly with damon you put your phone on your bedside table before rolling over and getting cozy under your blankets.

you went to bed with a smile on your face that night, excited for your date with damon and also excited for him to meet your best friend.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

you sailed through the week on a high, and when friday night came you were still feeling ecstatic. you were still a little anxious about going out and meeting damon in person for the first time, but getting to know him through the week had helped you warm up a little and let your guard down.

you decided on wearing a simple black dress, classy yet not too-fancy. you curled your hair and applied a light layer of makeup before slipping on a pair of strappy black heels.

you planned on meeting justin and chloe at the restaurant at seven, giving everyone enough time to get ready and allowing justin to shower and freshen up after practice.

damon picked you up at six-thirty. he met you at your door with flowers which you graciously accepted, and you excused yourself to bring them inside and put them in water before locking up and going with damon to his car.

he opened your door for you and you slid in, buckling your seatbelt as you waited for him to get in and start the engine. it was a bit chilly out and you were grateful when damon turned up the heat before backing out of your driveway and heading to the restaurant.

you chatted with him on the drive and it was pretty pleasant, you were thankful that the conversation between you both flowed easily. you learned that his favorite football team was the los angeles rams, and you joked with him that he’d need to let you out of the car immediately because you wouldn’t stand for that nonsense.

he laughed heartily at your joke. he talked to you more about his job, you learned he was a paralegal and that he’d been in the profession for nearly four years. you told him about your experience working in human resources and you related over shared experiences.

when you arrived to the restaurant damon parked and came around to open your door, and you were quickly met by justin and chloe. damon and justin shook hands and introduced themselves to each other as you greeted chloe.

“i love your dress!” she smiled, you thanked her. “you look incredible too, chloe!”

she wore a light blue dress that came down mid-thigh and had long sleeves. she wore black heels as well, and you loved the glittery eyeshadow she had put on.

the four of you walked into the restaurant and justin spoke to the host about reservations he had so graciously called in - which you thanked him immensely for. the host led your party to a table toward the back of the restaurant and you all sat. damon made sure to pull out your chair, and justin did the same for chloe.

the waitress came by shortly after for your drink orders, you and justin both got water. chloe ordered a riesling and damon ordered a cabernet, which you found amusing. you didn’t say anything about it, though.

the waitress brought your drinks quickly and she also brought a basket of bread for the table, with little cups of cinnamon butter. you indulged in one as you listened to justin and damon begin chatting about football.

you and chloe began to chime in at times, and the atmosphere was nice. you and damon also engaged in your own quiet conversation every now and then, and you were starting to like it every time he’d flash you his award winning smile… until justin would smile at you from across the table. in those moments, you knew who your heart truly belonged to.

a few times during dinner the conversations would ebb off, or the input from chloe and damon would stop, leaving only you and justin talking to each other.

the waitress brought your food and you all began dining, while still chatting here and there about work and sports and things of that nature. the waitress came back around a bit later to take plates and your dessert orders. the men continued to talk while you and chloe ordered, with you asking for cheesecake and chloe ordering a fudgy brownie.

something damon said reminded justin of something he needed to tell you, and he turned his attention toward you quickly.

“y/n, i was meaning to tell you that my uncle had some students interested in trying to make a car run on vegetable oil.” you laughed at his statement before giving your input.

“so what, they want to install a second fuel tank i’m assuming? so the vehicle can run on diesel til it’s hot enough and then they’ll switch to the oil?” you ask. “yeah exactly. i thought it sounded pretty cool.” justin smiles. “sounds like a waste of time to me.” you say amusedly. justin tilts his head and gives you a questioning glance.

“it’s totally not a waste of time. if they can figure out how to do it, it’ll be pretty sick.” he disagrees. damon glances between you before chiming in. “i think it’d be pretty cool too!” he agrees with justin.

“do you know how many times they’d have to filter the oil before they could even use it? and they’d have to make sure to install a solenoid valve to switch between two fuel tanks. too much work.” you say, crossing your arms and looking back and forth between both men. chloe says nothing, you assume she has no idea what any of you are talking about.

you noticed damon checking the time on his phone before sliding it back into his pocket and rejoining your conversation, but mostly listening to you and justin bicker.

“it totally reminded me of that 70s show though, you know? when hyde says ‘there’s this car…. and it runs on water, man!’” justin laughs, doing a pretty decent impression of the character.

“i just feel like making modifications to your car so it could run off vegetable oil is a waste of time.” you say, leaning back slightly in your chair. justin’s girlfriend looks between the two of you with an odd look on her face, only breaking focus when she sees the waitress approaching again.

“here’s the double chocolate brownie with vanilla ice cream,” she says, placing the plate in front of chloe, “and here are the slices of raspberry cheesecake.”

she places the plate in front of you and damon is quick to grab it, sliding his piece of cheesecake onto one of the extra serving plates. chloe picks her fork up excitedly, slicing into the brownie and taking a small bite. her eyes roll as she tastes it, the richness of the chocolate has to be delectable. you watch as she cuts another small bite, this time more toward the center of the brownie where you can see it has small pieces of walnut in it.

she reaches over to cup justin’s jaw, squeezing a bit to get him to open his mouth so she can feed it to him. you ignore the slightly jealous feeling bubbling in your stomach as she brings it closer to his mouth, but you can’t get your words out. justin looks at her with a puzzled expression. he hadn’t been paying attention to her or what she ordered, so he has no idea what she’s about to feed him.

as if on instinct, your hand shot across the table and closed around her wrist, stopping her from feeding him. “s-sorry.. uh, justin is allergic to walnuts.” you say, lowering your gaze so you don’t make eye contact with her. she lets go of his jaw and he shrugs sheepishly.

“sorry baby.” she tells him, eating the bite for herself. “it’s okay.” justin replies. his eyes find yours for a fleeting moment, nervous energy is shared between you. damon watches the entire ordeal silently, passing glances between the three of you as he eats his dessert.

you pick up your fork and take a bite too, and the tartness of the raspberry dances across your tongue in a pleasant way. justin was right with his recommendation, this restaurant truly is amazing. damon and justin begin conversing again, and you stay quiet as you eat, listening attentively.

chloe chimes in a few times, earning laughs from both men with her unintentional humor. you slide the last bite of cheesecake on your fork and bring it to your lips, ready to enjoy it, when suddenly your fork is plucked from your hand. you look up to find justin eating the last bite straight off of your fork. yours.

while you’re on a double date. with other people.

your gaze quickly flips from justin to chloe and then to damon as you try to gauge their expressions. damon doesn’t seem to notice or care as he continues talking about football, and justin nods along with what damon is saying as if this ordeal was the most normal thing that has ever happened.

sure, you and justin are close enough to eat off each others forks and sometimes even drink from the same cup or can, but the fact that he did it on a double date baffled you. neither of the men at the table seemed to be giving it a second thought, but when your gaze shifts to chloe you can tell she’s perturbed in some way. her eyes are slightly squinted as she looks you up and and down, and then her gaze shifts to justin as she does the same to him.

you continue to sit quietly at the table, listening to the men talk. chloe stays quiet, too. the tension between the two of you feels almost palpable.

you would never want to come between her and justin, even if you did have feelings for him throughout all these years.

the rest of the time spent in the restaurant went by in a blur. eventually damon and justin stopped talking, realizing that you and chloe hadn’t shared a word, and they mutually decided that dinner should be over.

damon and justin split the checks and pay before each of you stand from the table to leave. when you make it outside you suck in a deep breath of the fresh air, you’ve felt like you were suffocating for the last fifteen minutes. all of you say goodbye to each other before you get into damon’s car, and chloe into justin’s.

the drive back to your house is quiet. you’re anxious, your throat feels tight and you know your cheeks must be incredibly pink. damon hasn’t even glanced at you and you’re afraid to say a word because if you do you’ll start crying.

he finally pulls into your drive and parks the car before looking at you for the first time since you left the restaurant. you wring your hands together before looking back at him, expecting the worst.

“that was fun, justin is a really nice guy.” his voice is genuine as he speaks to you, but you’re prepared for where this is going. “he loves you, y/n.”

you look at him with bewilderment as he continues speaking. you want to say something, but he holds up a finger to tell you to wait. “before you start with the whole ‘he doesn’t feel that way about me’ spiel, he does. i saw how you looked at each other all night. he doesn’t look at her like that.”

tears are pricking at the corners of your eyes as he speaks, and you turn your gaze from his so he won’t see. “you love each other, y/n. it’s okay. i had fun, i’m glad i met you.” he says, reaching over the console to grab your hand. he gives it a gentle squeeze and you look back up at him as he smiles at you. “i would like to be your friend, if that’s okay.”

“yeah, we can stay friends, of course.” you tell him. he lets go of your hand and gets out of the car, circling around to get your door and walk you up the front steps. before you can walk up damon pulls you in for a hug, which you reluctantly accept.

“it was nice meeting and going out with you, y/n. don’t be a stranger!” he says, and then he lets you go and gets back into his car, driving off down the street.

you let yourself in the house and lock the door behind you before collapsing on the couch. you don’t have the energy to move, to take off your shoes, or to even be worried about your makeup.

you just sit there, and you cry. you cry for all the lost time, if it is true and he does love you. and if damon’s wrong, and you do take the time to tell justin how you feel and he rejects you… well, you should go ahead and cry for that too. you cry for the only boy you’ve ever loved.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

justin buckles his seatbelt and holds his foot down on the brake before backing out of his parking spot at the restaurant, ready to get home and into more comfortable clothing. chloe sits beside him silent, like she did for most of the dinner.

he spares a glance her way and notices her posture is rigid, her lips are pressed into a tight, thin line. justin reaches over to grasp her hand but she flinches away from his touch.

“are you okay?” he asks her, his tone concerned. “i’m okay. can you take me to my house, please?” she asks. her voice sounds small, she sounds upset.

“of course.” justin agrees. they hadn’t been dating long enough to make the steps to move in together, but chloe frequented his house often as long as he was home. he thought it was a bit strange that she wanted to go home, but he waited to question it.

when he pulled in her driveway and parked she was quick to jump out of the car and make her way inside. justin turned the car off and pocketed the keys before following chloe inside.

“um, is everything okay?” he asked, stepping into the living room. “no. we need to talk.” chloe said, sitting down on the couch. justin sat next to her and place a reassuring hand on her knee as he waited for her to speak.

“i think we should break up.”

justin is taken aback by her confession, but he doesn’t speak. he waits to hear her out. “i really like you, justin. and i think you like me. but you don’t love me. and you never will, because you love someone else.”

“what?” he asks, his tone incredulous. “you love y/n, justin. you know it, i know it, everyone on the planet knows it… except for her. i think you’re both idiots.” chloe smiles softly.

justin looks around the room nervously, waiting for chloe to speak again. “you’re both idiots because what you’ve been looking for has been in front of you the whole time. it was obvious you two should have been on a date. you both carried the conversation, you were doing silly impressions to make her laugh… you look at her like she’s your most prized possession, justin.”

he takes a deep breath before looking at chloe and finally speaking. “i’m sorry.” is all he’s able to mutter out.

“you don’t need to apologize. i’ll admit, i was upset at first. but on the drive i thought about it, and i just want you to be happy. and i figured someone needed to tell you that girl loves you, because if the two of you have been friends this long and you haven’t figured it out, i’m afraid you never will.” she laughs. “and god, i didn’t even know you were allergic to walnuts.”

justin laughs too before reaching over and pulling chloe into him for a hug. “thank you for telling me all that… and i am sorry. i really am.”

“it’s okay, justin. just get the girl, okay?” she says, shooing him out the door. he waves goodbye before walking off to his car and heading home.

when he arrives home he sits in the driveway pondering… did you really love him back? and if you have, how long? and what was he going to do?

he thinks of all the time he’s lost out on if it’s true, and you do love him back. he’d supressed the feelings for as long as he could remember because he never knew he had a chance - he never thought he’d be the one for you. and if he wasn’t he knew it’d break him, but all he wanted was your happiness.

all he knew right now was that he loved you, that you were the only girl he’d ever loved.

꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧꩜ ‧.°. 𖦹.°.‧ ꩜‧.°.𖦹 .°.‧

you don’t talk to justin for a week.

you’re afraid to. usually, he’s the first person you run to about anything, but since the subject matter is him, you feel like you’re stuck between a rock and a hard place. you spend the entire week sad, crying into your coffee or whatever dinner you’ve chosen to eat after work (usually cereal), and watching lifetime movies that are guaranteed to make you feel worse - they make the longing in your chest burn.

justin finally texts you on friday night, and you’re afraid to open it. you let it sit unread for half an hour before your phone starts ringing on the end table. it’s justin, you know it is, but you’re afraid to answer. you pick up your phone slowly and slide your thumb across the screen to answer the call.

“hello?” you sniffle, picking up a tissue to wipe your nose. “hey y/n, you okay?” justin asks.

“yeah, lifetime movie, sorry. what’s up?”

“just wanted to see if you wanna come over and hangout? i haven’t heard from you all week, i miss you.” he says. you miss him too. but are you ready to see him after what happened?

against your better judgment, you agree to go over. after all, he is your best friend. if anyone can get you feeling better, it’s justin. you hang up the call and slide on your slippers before grabbing your keys and phone and heading over to his house.

you didn’t bother changing, you didn’t care what you looked like in front of him. he’d seen you sick as a dog before, he even held your hair when you puked a few times, so he could handle seeing you in an old ratty tshirt and sweatpants that were a few sizes too big.

there’s also no way he could ever judge you for having greasy hair.

you make the quick drive to his place and you almost panic and leave before calming yourself down and walking to the front door. it’s just justin. this is no big deal.

you knock twice but you know he already knows you’re there, and he swings the door open quickly before pulling you into a tight hug. physical affection is something you both enjoy, and you’ve missed him. you wrap your arms tightly around him and squeeze back.

justin laughs as he looks down at you. “sometimes i forget how small you are.”

“or maybe you’re sasquatch.” you say, giving him a shove. he lets go and steps aside so you can get in the door, and you waste no time in sliding your slippers off plopping down on his couch. you notice his house seems a little… different, but you can’t put your finger on it.

justin closes the door and makes his way over to you, acting like he’s going to sit on your lap. “don’t even think about it.” you tell him, bringing your legs up to your chest. he sits next to you and leans into your side.

“how was your week?” he asks you innocently. “it was horrible.” you reply. you share the most miniscule details with him when he tries pressing you further, because you’re too afraid to tell him what’s really wrong. justin listens intently either way, hoping to find something he can do to make you feel better.

“well how’s it been with damon?” he finally asks, and you freeze. justin moves so he can lay his head on your lap, and he straightens out your legs before doing so. your hand naturally finds its way into his hair, your nails raking along his scalp soothingly. he shudders.

“damon um… well. he didn’t wanna go on another date. it wasn’t because he didn’t like me, though. he just said… he could tell u didn’t like him.”

justin hums softly. “interesting.” he says.

“what’s interesting?” you ask him. “chloe broke up with me.”

“WHAT?” you shout, startling him a bit. “sorry… i mean, what? why? i thought you guys really liked each other?”

“well, she liked me a lot. and i liked her but… i don’t love her. she really helped me realize a lot of feelings i had that i’d been holding back.” he turns his head to look up at you and smiles and - oh. oh.

the look he’s giving you seems to be full of pure adoration, pure love. and you realize that he always looks at you like this.

tears start to form in your eyes again and justin sits up, this time pulling you into his lap. “you okay?” he asks, soothingly rubbing his hand over your back.

that’s why it seemed different - all her stuff was gone.

“i don’t know. what’s happening here?” you ask him, burying your face in his neck. “chloe helped me realize that i love you, y/n. i always knew it, deep down. but… i don’t know. i never really thought you felt the same.”

“damon said the same to me. that he could, um, tell we loved each other. are we just stupid?” you ask him, pulling away from his neck to look in his eyes.

“apparently two idiots in love.” he says. his hand finds the back of your hair and smooths over it softly before he pulls you into his neck again, crushing you in another hug.

“so where do we go from here?” you ask, enjoying his embrace. “i guess forward.” he jokes, poking at your sides. “together, of course, if you want that. as a couple.”

you can’t help the giddy feeling bubbling up inside you as he speaks. of course you want that, it’s all you’ve ever wanted. “i love you, justin.” you finally say, and being able to tell him to his face is like a dream come true. “i love you back.” he says softly. you meet his gaze once again and he looks nervous, but you aren’t sure why.

“what’s wrong?” you ask him sweetly. you softly touch his cheek, smoothing over it with your thumb. he doesn’t say another word, but he leans in and kisses you.

you feel dizzy, your heart is pounding incredibly hard against your chest. justin is over the moon too. your lips begin moving in sync, neither of you able to catch a decent breath as you devour each other hungrily. justin's hands find your waist and he pulls you into him further, and your arms circle around his neck.

he pulls away for a second before jumping right back in, awkwardly bumping his nose against yours. you both laugh before kissing again. this is truly what euphoria feels like. you don’t know how long you both sit there taking each other apart, whether it’s minutes, hours or days.

what matters is it’s happening. finally.

your hands trail down his biceps as he continues kissing you, leaving a trail from the corner of your mouth down to the exposed column of your throat. your breath hitches when his lips meet one of your most sensitive spots, right where your neck meets your shoulder. “you okay?” he says, sounding concerned.

“i’m nervous.” you whisper. his gaze is soft as he looks at you, half smile spreading across his face. “it’s okay,” he whispers back, “we don’t have to take this any further until you’re ready.”

you hug him again and kiss his cheek softly. “i want to. i’m just nervous.”

“there’s no reason to be afraid.” he assures you. “do you wanna…” he starts, cocking his head to the side and motioning toward the direction of his bedroom. you nod a simple yes.

he stands with you and leads you down the hall to his room, although you know very well where it is. you’ve spent countless nights here cuddled up with him.

he twists the knob slowly and pushes the door open before guiding you inside, and meeting your lips with his again. the kiss is soft and gentle, and he walks you back toward his bed without breaking contact. once you’ve reached the side of the bed he pulls away and reaches behind himself with one arm, grabbing his shirt and yanking it over his head in one swift motion.

uou hop up onto his bed and get cozy against the pillows as he crawls onto the bed too, leaning over you. you rake your nails over the planes of his chest as he presses a kiss to your forehead. his fingertips find the hem of your sweater and his gaze meets yours, waiting for your approval. you nod, and he slides both hands under it before lifting it over your head.

you’re wearing a simple white bra, but justin is looking at you like you’ve just descended down from heaven. you know he won’t ask you to take it off so you let what little bit of confidence you have flowing through your veins take over, and you quickly reach behind you to unclasp it.

justin sucks in a deep breath at the sight of you. you’re easily the most breathtaking woman he’s ever seen in his life, you have been since he first laid eyes on you… but seeing you like this… he feels like he’s died and made it to the afterlife.

you don’t hide your gawking either, his toned body has always been something you’ve enjoyed staring at whether he noticed it or not. “you’re so beautiful,” justin tells you, leaning in to capture your lips again. as he crawls over your body you can feel his length through his sweatpants, it lays hard and heavy over your leg. you shudder at the thought of it.

justin’s hands slide up your torso and he caresses your breasts softly before tweaking both of your nipples with his thumbs and forefingers. you arch upward into him and your body is covered in gooseflesh as you await his touch again.

you’ve never felt such pleasure and satisfaction in your life, and he’s only barely started. you’re sure that you’ve soaked through your panties and sweatpants at this point. he continues to grab at your chest as he kisses you and you moan out his name softly, causing him to rut against your leg. he needs you just as much as you need him, you can tell.

“justin, i’m ready. i want you.” you tell him, breaking away from his kiss to look into his eyes. he smiles down at you and raises his eyebrow, making sure one more time. “i’m ready.” you promise him. his hands grab the waistband of your sweatpants before pulling them down your legs quickly, along with your panties.

he pulls his off next and your mouth falls open, gawking at the sight in front of you. sure… justin was 6’6, everything about him was big… but holy shit. he is huge.

he smiles at you nervously before reassuring you, “it’ll be okay, i won’t hurt you. i swear.” you almost think you could faint at how cute and sexy he his. you tell him you don’t need any prep but he won’t allow it, and he uses the pad of his thumb to circle your clit quickly as he enters two fingers into you to work you open.

after a few minutes you’re ready, you can’t take anymore and you’re practically begging him to fuck you. he blushes at the sound of your moans, but his chest fills with pride knowing he’s making you feel so good. he pulls his fingers from your soaking heat slowly before wrapping his hand around his cock and giving it a few strokes. you let him situate your body how he needs to and he ends up with your ankles right at his shoulders as he prepares to push into you.

he’s lucky you’re flexible. his lips find yours again as he pushes in and your thankful because his kisses swallow your gasps. he moves slowly, inch by inch until he’s fully seated, and he waits a few minutes before moving so he doesn’t hurt you. when he finally pulls out and pushes back in, he moans loudly at how amazing you feel around him. you moan too, you’ve never felt so full in your life - and you’ve never felt so fulfilled either.

he moves to kiss you again and bumps his nose against yours again sweetly as his hands find yours and he tangles your fingers together. his movements are calculated, slow and methodical as he takes you apart, and unravels you in the very best way.

the room is filled with soft moans and labored breaths and the sounds of you kissing each other anywhere your lips can find. it doesn’t take long for you to reach your peak and tears prick at your eyes when you do. this is all you’ve ever wanted, and it’s beautiful, it’s magical. justin feels the same.

you warn him that you’re close and he tells you it’s okay, you can let go for him. “cum for me, it’s okay. i love you, y/n.” and that’s all it takes. his admission of love knocks you straight over the edge and into the thrashing waters, your orgasm taking over your whole body. he cums soon after, his body enjoying the feeling of you squeezing him as he rides out his high.

when he pulls out of you he stand quickly, running off to his bathroom to grab a warm wet towel to clean you both up. he didn’t bother asking if you were on the pill, he already knows every aspect of your life anyway.

justin cleans all your sensitive areas with the warm rag before wiping himself off and sliding back into bed with you, pulling the covers over your bodies.

“that was amazing.” you admit.

“yeah it was. you know how long we could’ve been doing that?” he laughs, and you giggle too. “i love you.” you tell him. “i love you too, so much. can i tell you something stupidly embarrassing, though?” he asks, and you roll over to face him. “oh god, what justin?”

“remember after we graduated, right after you turned eighteen and we had that pool party?”

“yeah, i remember.” you say. it was one of your fondest memories, actually. “that little yellow bikini you wore… i just thought i should admit to you now that i thought about you in that so much when i was jerking it that i thought my dick would fall off.”

both of you erupt in laughter, the admission funny and embarrassing, although endearing too. “that’s okay, remember right before we went to college and you were teaching me how to drive but you kept getting frustrated and yelling at me? i thought that was the hottest i’d ever seen you.” you say. he pulls you into his chest and kisses you softly.

“you’re getting me all worked up again, baby,” he laughs, kissing at your cheek toward your ear. “looks like we’re gonna have to go for round two.”

- - -

taglist: @slimshiesty @joeyburrrow @starsinthesky5 @joeyb1989

photos and dividers used are not mine, all cred to owners.

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tonfairy · 16 days ago

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In Silence, Still Yours

pairing : ex-boyfriend! anton x fem! reader genre : angst, fluff wc : 1.8k

💌 : hello ! another fic 🩷 sorry it took me a little longer, this was supposed to be uploaded last week, but i got busy </3 . . proofread so enjoy <3 !

Anton, wrapped in a thick blanket, shifting between waves of intense perspiration and deep chills, feels his mind foggy. He hasn’t slept properly because of the tightness in his chest and the continuous discomfort of sore throat— that’s what he feels right now.

He woke up from the discomfort he felt, sat up in bed and zoned out for minutes before looking at the digital clock on his nightstand — “shit! it's already 8 p.m.,” he cursed, realizing it was time to eat and take his medicine.

Even though his body feels weak, Anton gets out of bed, grabs his hoodie, and goes to the nearest convenience store to buy something to eat. He can't think of any foods because all he thinks of is that he needs to eat, so when he saw instant ramen, he grabbed it right away.

He then went to a nearby pharmacy to buy some medicine before going back to his apartment. Anton put hot water on the instant ramen and let it sit for minutes for it to be cooked. The aroma of ramen filled the air as he scrolled through his phone while he waited. He takes off the peel-back lid and proceeds to eat.

He kept scrolling through his phone while eating, until your post appeared on his feed—a photo dump from your university’s latest event. A sharp breath escaped him at the sudden sight of you. He continued eating, but he couldn’t deny how pretty you looked in the photos you posted—pretty, as always.

He could only shake his head and sigh, thinking about you once again. He took his medicine and went back to his bed to sleep. Given his situation right now, he still can't get proper sleep; what is supposed to be sleep ends up as just a nap. And he also feels he needs something — your warmth.

For the first time, Anton fell sick with no one by his side. Living far from his family because of his studies, all they could offer were material and moral support from afar. Too shy to ask his friends for help unless absolutely necessary, he found himself relying on the only person who had always cared for him during times like this — you, his ex-girlfriend.

You and Anton dated for almost three years but broke up two months ago because you both realized that, as much as you cared for each other, you needed space to grow individually before you could truly move forward. Although it's been months since you both parted ways, for Anton, it feels like just yesterday — the pain is still fresh for him, and it's the same for you. Even if the distance is necessary, it still doesn't feel right, and at times you both ponder whether time will ever utterly heal the space between you.

Your relationship with Anton ended on good terms, as both of you understood the reasons behind it. That's why, from time to time, you and Anton still interact when you bump into each other in the hallways, library, canteen, or other places around the university, since you both attend the same school.

Of course, you could be civil, but in this matter, would he still be able to ask you to come over? Anton said in his mind. Should I ask her? Is she busy? Would she reply? Would she answer my call? he asked himself. “She's probably sleeping already, Anton! — It's already late, stop bothering her!” Anton responded to himself. But Anton hesitantly called you anyway. He tried.

“Y/N…” Anton said in a weak, raspy voice.

“Anton…?” you responded, confused. “Uh… what made you call?” you added, still shocked by the sudden call from your ex-boyfriend.

“Sorry… Did I wake you up?” *coughs* “Did I bother you?” Anton asked, his voice still weak and barely above a whisper.

“No! I. . I’m just watching a ser — wait, are you sick? you sound so weak,” you could tell something wasn’t right with your ex just by his voice.

“I am... that’s why I called,” *sniffs* "I was going to ask if you could come over... I mean, it’s fine if you can’t," Anton said in the same tone. “I’m sorry if I sounded off. .” *sniffs* “I can barely sleep because of fever…” he added.

“Oh gosh . . Sure! Wait for me, baby,” you quickly responded before ending the call without realizing you'd called him the way you used to call him before. You didn't hesitate to come over because you can’t bear to see Anton sick, especially knowing that you can take care of him as a pre-med student.

You took a quick shower before preparing yourself. After preparing, you quickly grabbed your sweater and left your apartment. You weren't using your phone after the call with Anton because all you could think of was to go to his apartment as soon as possible, so when you opened your phone, you saw Anton’s message on your notification.

I might be asleep when you arrive, but the passcode is still the same.

Take Care :)

You freeze for a second after reading Anton’s text — why hasn't he changed the passcode yet? His passcode is the date of your greatest chess tournament achievement, which is why you wondered about it—but you let it slide; maybe he just hasn’t had time to change it.

You drop by the convenience store on your way to his apartment to buy him Pocari Sweat so he wouldn’t be dehydrated, and some bread in case he wants to eat something light. It is something you always bring whenever he's sick.

When you arrived at his apartment, you saw Anton sleeping on his bed, and you could tell that he was in discomfort. You sigh at the current situation of your ex-lover; you can't help but feel bad, poor boy.

You sit on the side of his bed and start stroking his hair before placing your hand on his neck to check if he's still burning hot. “Toni, I’m here,” you said softly, but it was enough to wake Anton up.

He then groans in response before speaking, “y/n...” eyes barely open.

“Toni, have you taken your medicine?” you asked while continuing to stroke his hair.

Anton just hummed in response. You took the thermometer from your bag and put it on Anton.

While waiting for the thermometer to beep, you went to his closet to get some clothes for him to change into.

As the thermometer beeps, you look at it and it says 38 degrees.

“Toni, get up— change your clothes, your back is sweaty,” you said, waking him up.

You helped Anton get up and change his clothes.

“Did you eat already? I can cook you rice porridge if you want and—”

“Yes, please.” Anton quickly responded, cutting off your words.

“Okay, wait for me here,” you responded.

“No— uh... can I go to the kitchen too?” he asked.

“Uh… okay, sure!” you answered.

Anton sat on the dining chair, scrolling through his phone while waiting for the rice porridge to finish cooking. The sweet aroma of purple yam filled the apartment. He missed that smell—he missed you.

You walked over to the dining table and asked gently, “How long have you been sick?”

“Since last night… I already had a cold,” he replied.

“Why didn’t you tell me?” you asked, your voice carrying more edge than you'd intended.

Anton looked surprised by your tone—almost like you were scolding him.

“Uh… I’m sorry. I just thought I didn’t have the right to anymore,” he said quietly, eyes still on his phone.

You could feel the hesitation in his voice, the quiet courage it must’ve taken just to reach out. A wave of guilt washed over you.

That question… you shouldn’t have asked it like that. It hit you—he wasn’t your boyfriend anymore.

“I understand,” you said, softening your voice. “We’re not together, but I want you to know I’d never ignore you in times like this.”

You met his eyes. “Anton, you always have the right to ask— Or to tell me something like this…I care about you— I always will.”

Your words hung in the air. Anton didn’t say anything at first, but the look on his face told you everything. Even if you were a little too straightforward, your words gave him something he hadn’t had in a while—assurance. And maybe, just maybe, a sense of hope.

You went back to the kitchen to get the rice porridge and give it to Anton.

“I missed this smell so much— I missed your cooking,” Anton said.

You just hummed in response. You just look at Anton while he eats, which he noticed.

“Are you just going to watch me eat?” he asked, confused.

“Yes—I’m full,” you answered.

“Are you that hungry?” you chuckle, asking Anton.

“I… I just missed it!” Anton whines.

“You missed me that much, huh?” you continue to tease him.

“Shut up!” he responded, whining.

You just laughed at the moment. A bowl of purple yam rice porridge gave Anton the comfort he needed at times like this.

As Anton finished eating, you handed him the Pocari Sweat.

“Drink this, so you won't be dehydrated,” you told him.

“Yes, Doctor!” He answered playfully.

You just rolled your eyes at the response of your ex-lover.

You both then went back to his room. Anton lies down on his bed, while you get a towel from his closet and go to the kitchen to get a glass of water and a small basin for water and the towel to soak.

You headed back to his room, you placed the basin on his nightstand along with the glass of water.

“Toni, drink your meds before you go to sleep,” you told Anton while handing him his medicine.

Anton got up from his bed and sat on the bedside, taking the medicine as you handed him the glass of water.

“Take a shower tomorrow! You already smell,” you jokingly said to Anton.

“Shut up! How can you say that to your baby?” he teasingly replied.

“What the hell! What are you talking about!?” you raised your eyebrows, wondering where he got that.

“You called me baby earlier— on the phone,” he replied.

“Oh!... uh… you’re just trippin’ bro,” you responded, obviously making excuses as you started to remember what he was talking about.

“Sure, bro . . . I’m just trippin’,” Anton answered while lying down on his bed.

You just rolled your eyes as a response.

You picked up the towel from the basin and gently placed it on Anton’s forehead. Then you checked his temperature—the thermometer beeped, and relief washed over you as the reading settled at 37 degrees.

With one hand stroking Anton’s hair, you glanced at the thermometer before setting it down on his nightstand.

Anton reached out and held your hand, his grip light but steady.

“Can you stay a little longer?” he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

You just hummed softly and smiled.

-end-

tysm for reading 🩷 i hope u enjoyed it ! anddd my ask is open for requests <3 !!

#riize anton #anton lee #lee chanyoung #anton fanfic #anton fluff #anton angst #riize imagines #riize x reader #yubi's library 📚#tonfairy 🧚🏼‍♀️#tonfairy's writings ✍🏼🧚🏼‍♀️

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kilesplaysthings · 2 months ago

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The Purrfect Solution

~ A Yes, Cat Caretaker Fic ~

Summary: I found out from Liam that Caleb hadn't returned to Skyhaven after we spent a few days together. A trip to Meow's Cafe gave me the hilarious answer as to why...

Word Count: 5k

Warnings: Caleb x MC fluff. Slight separation anxiety. Slightly suggestive: use of a human-sized collar.

I will be forever salty that Caleb wasn't around for the Yes, Cat Caretaker event. We were deprived! Deprived, I tell you!!

Therefore, I wanted kitty!Caleb, so I wrote kitty!Caleb :3 also, Caleb would be an orange tabby and no one can convince me otherwise

It all happened about a week ago, when I received a call from Liam, Caleb’s adjutant.

“I’m sorry to bother you, Miss Hunter, but you’re the only person I could think of to call.”

“Don’t worry about it, Liam!” I decided not to dwell on the fact that Liam had my number in the first place. “What’s up?”

“I was wondering if the Colonel was with you? I don’t want to alarm you, but he hasn’t reported in for duty yet. He was supposed to be back in Skyhaven yesterday, but every time I tried to call him, he didn’t answer.”

I frowned. Caleb had come down from Skyhaven to hang out for a few days. He had left on Sunday as scheduled and I hadn’t heard from him since.

“He’s not with me. He left on Sunday as planned…” Concern began to sprout up within me. “Now that you mention it, he hasn’t called me to let me know he made it back there, either…”

“Like I said, I don’t mean to alarm you. It could be nothing. Perhaps he received a classified mission while coming back here that he needed to handle immediately.”

I told myself not to panic yet. Being the Colonel of the Farspace Fleet was a rigorous job that asked a lot of Caleb. Liam could very well be right, and if he wasn’t suspecting the worst yet, I reassured myself that I shouldn’t either.

“Okay, yeah. Yeah, you’re right.” I took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “I’ll be sure to let you know if I see him. Please let me know if you find anything out.”

“I will, Miss Hunter. I’m sure everything is all right. The Colonel wouldn’t let anything happen to him that was out if his control.”

“All right. Thanks, Liam.”

He hung up the phone and I was left with so many thoughts whirling around in my head. Caleb seemingly hadn’t made it back to Skyhaven. His right-hand man had no idea of his whereabouts, and he hadn’t contacted me, either. It was still too soon to suspect foul play, but my wayward mind couldn’t help imagining various incidents that could have happened to him; like that train accident he’d been on not too long ago, or a Wanderer suddenly attacking him.

I decided to call his friend Gideon on the slight chance that he would know where Caleb was.

“No, I haven’t heard from him in a few days. He’s not in some sort of trouble, is he?!”

The call with Gideon proving fruitless, I called Caleb myself. No answer. My stomach began to churn with anxiety. The last thing I wanted was Caleb going MIA on me. It reminded me too much of that day…

I decided to text him:

“Hey! Are you there?”

“I tried to call you. Text me back!”

“No one’s been able to get a hold of you. You’d better answer me or you’ll be sorry!”

I gripped my phone and paced around my apartment. A couple of minutes passed and still no response. My heart pounding, I was about to rush outside and tear up the Linkon streets to search for him when –

Ring ring

“Caleb!”

“Heyyy Pip-squeak.”

Sure enough, it was Caleb on the phone.

“Don’t ‘hey Pip-squeak’ me! Why didn’t you answer your phone?! I heard you didn’t go back to Skyhaven on Sunday! What gives?”

“Aww, what? Miss me? Or… are you upset I’m still hanging around?”

“No, you dummy! You adjutant just called me saying you haven’t reported in yet! What are you doing? Are you still in Linkon?”

“Oh.” He sighed. “Why’d he have to go and call you?” I heard him mutter.

“What’s going on, Caleb? You’re not hurt or anything...?” I couldn’t hide the growing concern in my voice.

“No!” He quickly replied. “No, I’m fine! Promise! I just--”

Suddenly I heard what sounded like a couple of kitties meowing followed by Caleb trying to shush them. I frowned.

“Caleb… You wouldn’t happen to be at Meow’s Café, would you?”

Silence. From him, at least. I could still hear the cats meowing in the background.

“I’m coming over there,” I told him.

“Pip-squeak, you don’t--”

“I’m already out the door,” I interrupted, snatching up my keys. “Don’t even think about going anywhere.” I warned him.

A resigned chuckle came over the phone.

“Okay, okay.”

I reached Meow’s Café in record time – under fifteen minutes. Strangely enough, the café’s windows were shuttered and a “closed” sign hung on the door.

“I’m here. Can you let me in?” I texted him. He sent me a thumb’s up emoji in response. A moment later, I heard the lock click and the door slowly swung open. When I stepped inside, the café’s OTTO Bot manager whizzed up to me.

“Hello, dear guest! We apologize for the inconvenience, but the café is closed until further notice.”

“Don’t bother with that. She’s with me.”

Caleb’s voice drifted towards me from a back room. When he appeared, all I could do was stare at him.

Caleb looked fine, dressed in a casual shirt and jeans, with nary a cut or bruise to be seen. But one thing blatantly stood out right away; two things, to be exact, and they were sticking up right on top of Caleb’s head nestled in his dark hair. Cat ears. Fuzzy, twitching cat ears which looked to be orange in color. As I stared at him, I caught a subtle movement out of the corner of my eye. Swaying behind him was also a tail, a fuzzy, striped tail that was also orange with cream highlights.

“Uh… Caleb?” I couldn’t take my eyes off of those ears.

“’Sup?” He replied. It was obvious he was trying to be as nonchalant about this unusual predicament as possible.

I crossed my arms over my chest.

“Ya know, something seems different about you. Can’t quite place it, though. Got any ideas?”

That fuzzy, striped tail swayed behind him.

“Hm? What do you mean?”

I sighed, exasperated. “Oh, come on. So, you mean to tell me those ears and tail are a new fashion statement or something?”

“Well…”

I quickly approached him and reached up to pinch one of those ears. Caleb flinched.

“H-hey! Watch it! They’re sensitive, you know!”

“And they’re very real! What happened?”

Caleb sighed resignedly. “I think this is because of that long match of Kitty Cards we played. Remember? The cats weren’t too happy at how many rounds we did.”

Some of the nearby kitties began to meow loudly, as if they were agreeing with him.

“All right, all right,” Caleb shook his head. “Also, I don’t think they liked how combatively I was playing, either.” He glanced upwards as those furry ears swiveled around on his head.

“Yeah, I remember.” It had been a long couple of matches, and we were both super competitive with each other. “You were ruthless with the assist cards. I think that one orange kitty was pretty fed up with you by the time we were done. So, this is because of the kitties’ evol?” I wondered.

“Guess so. At least, that’s what this OTTO said.” He nodded to the nearby Bot.

“This guest came bursting in here a couple of days ago, demanding we do something about the ears and tail. We tried to explain that they will go away gradually and there was nothing else that could be done.” It told me.

Caleb sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck.

“I don’t have all the time in the world to wait for these to go away, though,” he murmured defeatedly. “And I definitely can’t let the Fleet see me like this.”

“So, what? You were just gonna wait it out here?” I asked.

He shrugged. “I didn’t know what else to do.”

I glared at him. “What about me? You could’ve called me.”

His eyes skittered away from mine. “I didn’t want to make you worry…”

“Too late for that, isn’t it?” I sighed. Then I reached out and touched his arm.

“You remember what I said a couple months ago, the last time you came to see me?”

He blinked and looked back at me. “Hm?”

“You don’t need to act like a stray. Not with me.” I slid my hand down to grasp his.

“Come on. We’ll go back to my place.”

The OTTO Bot manager seemed pleased at this turn of events. “Thank you, Miss Hunter! I’m sure Master Tabby’s problem will go away soon!”

Tabby? So that’s what type of cat Caleb is? I glanced at the tail and noticed the stripes. Yup. Orange tabby seemed pretty accurate.

Caleb had his small duffel bag with him, and we made our way back to my apartment.

“You sure this isn’t a problem, Pip-squeak?” He asked as we walked down the street.

“If it was, I would’ve told you. The only problem I have is how you worried me when no one could contact you. You owe me.” I gave him a look as I pulled up Liam’s number to call him.

“Yeah, you’re right. What do you want me to do?” He asked.

I thought about it as the phone rang. Then I grinned as an idea popped into my head.

“You have to let me touch your ears and tail whenever I want.”

He sighed. “Guess I can’t say no.”

“Nope.”

Liam answered at that moment, and I let him know that I found Caleb. I told him something had occurred to prevent him from going back right away and that I would keep him updated on Caleb’s status. And with that phone call over, we returned to the apartment.

I led him inside. “Guess I’ll be taking care of a big kitty for a few days,” I remarked. I couldn’t help but continue to stare at his furry ears and tail. The long tail was slim, not fluffy like a long-haired cat’s, but it was still cute with its orange and cream stripes. I wanted to feel how soft it was.

“Ha ha.” He plopped down on the couch. “You’re enjoying this, aren’t you?”

“I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t.” I went over to sit beside him and watched as his tail slowly moved up and down on the couch.

Caleb noticed my staring at it and smirked. “Wanna touch it?”

My eyes darted from the tail to his face, and back to the tail. “Well…” I sheepishly shrugged.

“Go on. We made a deal, after all. It’s all yours.”

“Thank you!” I couldn’t hide the glee in my voice. Happily, I lifted the tail to feel its soft fur, making sure to be gentle with it. I knew cats’ tails were sensitive. It curled around my hand as I held it which made me smile.

I could hear Caleb huff out a laugh. “You like it, huh?”

“Your fur is very soft,” I told him. I brushed my thumb along the tail, tracing its stripes.

He crossed his arms over his chest and shook his head at me, his still-visible human ears turning a slight shade of red.

Noticing his reaction, I grinned. “I’ve taken it quite the cute stray,” I teased, tugging the tail slightly.

“Okay, okay. You’ve had your fun,” he groused out, snatching up my wrist.

That made me laugh and I let go of his tail. “Fine, fine. So, how is it being part cat? Is your hearing better?” I glanced up at those ears that were continuously moving, no doubt catching so many different sounds.

“Yeah actually. So’s my sense of smell. Being a cat’s not awful, I guess, but it seems to be affecting my evol. Can’t use it right now.” He shrugged.

“I bet that’s annoying. I can imagine that would make things hard for you in the Fleet huh? And you can’t even be lazy and make things float to you now!” I joked, nudging him.

He scoffed and leaned towards me, resting his head on top of mine. I smiled up at him.

“Want something to eat? It’s just about supper time.”

Those ears perked and I watched as his tail rose up in the air. “Yeah, sure!”

“All right! What should we have?” I went over to the kitchen to see what I could whip us up to eat. When Caleb followed me, I quickly stepped in front of him and put my hand on his chest, making him stop short.

“What?” He queried.

“I don’t think so, big guy. I’m the one doing the cooking.”

He immediately frowned. “What are you talking about? I’m the one who usually cooks.”

Determined, I placed my hands on my hips.

“You’re part cat right now. And I’m not about to let cat hair get into my food or all over my kitchen!”

His eyes narrowed and he crossed his arms over his chest. “Ridiculous. You really think this is enough fur to make me shed everywhere? Besides, I’m a short-haired cat.”

Caleb could be stubborn, frustratingly so. But so could I. No matter how much I loved his cooking, I wasn’t backing down from this.

“My kitchen, my rules. And don’t even try to give me your Colonel Caleb Look. How about you go decide a movie we could watch while we eat?”

“But Pip-squeak…”

“Go on. Be a good kitty.”

He stared at me for a moment, almost petulantly. I stared right back. After what seemed like an hour of this standoff with him, he sighed and bowed his head, his ears drooping.

“Make fried cod, then. I’m in the mood for fish.”

I let out a sigh of relief. “You got it."

I wasn’t sure what to expect from this new Caleb. I mean, the last thing that I ever imagined would happen was that he’d become part cat, complete with ears, a tail and a cat’s instincts. But this was still Caleb, my best friend and the most important person in my life. I wasn’t anticipating anything too crazy, and cats were such cute, lazy animals most of the time. Nothing could go wrong, right?

Boy, how wrong I was with that thought process.

“Caleb, what are you doing?!” I nearly shrieked as I ran out onto the balcony.

This big, 6’2 bulk of a man was perched on the railing, staring up at the nearby tree that hung over my balcony. He was reaching for the nearest branch, as if he was going to jump up into the tree!

He slowly turned to me and blinked, startled by my yelling.

“…Nothing,” he answered.

“This is nothing?! You don’t even have your evol right now! Don’t tell me you’re trying to jump up there!”

He was about to answer me when we heard chirping noises above us. Nestled in some branches higher up in the tree was a nest of baby birds along with their mother that was feeding them. Caleb watched the nest with gleaming eyes. His tail was thrashing back and forth.

“Caleb! No! Don’t you dare!”

I ran up to the railing and wrapped my arms around his waist. He hesitated at first but ultimately let me pull him down off the railing and back into the apartment. He was still watching the birds as I slammed the balcony door shut. Then, as if waking from a trance, he blinked a couple of times and shook his head.

“Sorry… don’t know what came over me,” he sheepishly muttered. His tail’s swaying was slowing down and his ears flattened on top of his head, ashamedly.

I let out a deep breath. “It’s okay. Just… be careful. Nearly gave me a heart attack.”

If mischief had a middle name, it would be Caleb – specifically, Kitty!Caleb. When he wasn’t trying to catch birds from the windows or balcony, he was either following me around as if looking for something to do or nosing around the apartment investigating everything. If something could be dismantled and put back together, he would fiddle with it as his tail swayed back and forth.

“My alarm clock was working just fine, Caleb,” I said when I found him taking the thing apart one afternoon. Pieces of it were scattered around the coffee table as Caleb examined the wiring of the machine.

“Yeah, but I wanna see how it works,” he muttered. “I’ll put it back together, promise.”

I was worried to leave him alone for too long, in case he really did end up breaking something. I would never say Caleb was annoying, but his kitty self was… a lot to handle.

One afternoon, we were sitting – or rather, snuggling together on the couch. Caleb now had this habit of making trouble and then wanting to snuggle, preferably on top of me, just like a big, heavy cat who made it difficult for you to move when he was comfortably resting on you. He would nuzzle his head against my neck while nudging me with his nose; a sign that he wanted pets. When I wouldn’t respond to him, he’d lift his head and stare at me with big, pitiful eyes. It was undeniably cute, and near impossible to resist.

“You’re heavy, you know,” I mildly complained. “I think my legs are gonna fall asleep.” I stroked those felt-like ears and played with his hair.

All he did was hum in response before muttering, “’m comfy.” He then slightly tightened his arms around me.

I sighed and rolled my eyes. Just like with a big cat on top of you, I felt like there wasn’t much I could do. I tried to focus on the tv show that was playing when I suddenly heard something: a low, rumbling noise coming from below me.

“Wait. Did you just purr?” I blurted out.

He glanced up at me before looking away. “No…?”

“You totally did!” I exclaimed between giggles.

“Ugh, don’t laugh at me,” he complained moodily, even as he nudged my hand that had stopped caressing his head.

“But I can’t help it when you act so cute.”

He rolled his eyes and moved off me to lean back in the couch. It seemed he no longer wanted pets, so I sat back up, massaging my numb thighs. On the coffee table were two glasses, one with water and one empty. As I reached for my glass to take a sip of water, I noticed Caleb was staring at the empty one. With a slight tilt to his head, he slowly reached for it.

It was almost like the world was suddenly set in slow motion. I merely watched as he extended a couple of fingers to push the glass slowly towards the side of the coffee table. Perhaps it was because I didn’t actually think he would do it, but I didn’t make a move to stop him at first even as he pushed the glass further and further. It was only when the glass was teetering off the table’s edge that I realized,

Oh. He’s really gonna do it, huh?

“Caleb…” I uttered his name as a warning.

“Hmm?”

“What are --”

Before I could say anything else, he gave the glass one last push, and it toppled to the floor. Fortunately, there was a rug underneath, so the glass didn’t break. All the while, Caleb stared at the glass as if it was the most interesting thing he’d ever seen.

“Why’d you do that?” I had to ask.

“I dunno. I just really wanted to see what would happen if it fell.”

All I could do was let out a defeated sigh. He was just one of those cats: rambunctious, always curious and with an immense amount of energy.

“Don’t you do daily training at Skyhaven?” I asked him.

“Yup. First thing every morning,” he responded as he munched on a bag of calamari-flavored chips. Lately he had been craving snacks that were fish flavored.

“Well, I have an idea! I’ve noticed how restless you’ve been. If you need to let off some steam, instead of being cooped up in the apartment all day, why don’t you go out for a run? You could go out while I fix dinner. That way, when you come back, you’ll be ready to eat!”

“Trying to kick me out of the apartment now?” He teased with a smirk.

“Oh, come on!” I scoffed. “You’ve been following me all over the place when you’re not taking things apart! You even sit outside the door when I’m in the bathroom!” I accused.

He laughed. “Fiiine. You do have a point.” He got up and stretched. “A run would do me good. I’ll change into something lighter and head out.”

Once he was changed in a tank top, shorts (with tail still visible), and sneakers, he gave me a wave and left the apartment. I could see him running down the street from my balcony window. It was quiet while he was gone. I couldn’t help the sigh of relief as I prepared our dinner: shrimp scampi. I had a feeling he’d be excited for it when he came back.

Even though he was a troublemaker, I did love having Kitty!Caleb around. I wouldn’t admit it to his face, but his constant presence made me happy and filled me with a sense of security. While he was under the cat evol, he couldn’t leave, either. That realization did admittedly please me and there were moments when we were curled up on the couch together – with me playing with those ears of his – that I found myself wishing the cat evol would stay. That way, he would never leave...

“I’m going for a run! Be back in a few!”

It was the sixth day of Caleb staying over. We had a routine at this point: in the late afternoon, he’d go out for a run while I began making dinner. This daily ritual of his really helped the restlessness he’d begin to feel around this time of day. We knew it was the result of him being part cat now, as cats would get what everyone called the “zoomies.” Caleb’s daily runs were basically him trying to combat that.

“’Kay! Food will be here when you get back!” I said to him before he was out the door.

“You’re picking it up, right? Sushi?”

“Yup!”

“Awesome. Then we should catch up on that series you showed me the other day.”

“It’s a date!”

“Cool. See ya!”

And he was gone. While he was out, I stopped by the nearby sushi place to pick up our order. Caleb insisted he pay for the meal since I had been the one doing all the cooking lately. As such, we splurged, getting several different rolls – all seafood, of course. We were especially excited about the crab meat and fatty tuna.

After I picked up our food, I stopped by a couple other stores before going back home. I timed it so I was out for about an hour – the same amount of time Caleb was usually out on his runs. When I arrived back at the apartment, he was still out, so I began unpacking the food. I set it on some plates for us and grabbed two pairs of chopsticks. I also decided to heat up some leftover rice and miso soup from a previous meal.

The hour was passed, and Caleb still wasn’t home. Another ten minutes went by and still no sign of him.

Maybe he stopped somewhere to grab a drink or something.

After another ten minutes, I decided to text him. No answer. I took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

Don’t freak out. He’s not an actual cat. He’s not lost. I’m sure he’s fine.

Then I remembered he couldn’t use his evol right now. He said it was starting to gradually come back, but slowly. It was basically still unusable at the moment; too weak.

I took more deep breaths and whispered “stay calm” to myself again and again, like a mantra.

He wouldn’t have left Linkon without telling me, right? No way.

I glanced over to the side of the couch. Sure enough, his duffel bag was still where he’d left it. It was slightly open, and I could see some of his clothes peeking out. No, he hadn’t headed back to Skyhaven.

I decided to call him this time. My stomach dropped when I heard the buzzing sound of his phone vibrating. He’d left it sitting on the coffee table. It was now an hour and thirty minutes since Caleb had left, and I had no way of contacting him.

I ran out of the apartment, took the steps instead of the elevator to get downstairs faster, and out the building’s front door. Like an owner who had lost her actual cat, I called out his name. No answer, and the streets were empty and silent. Gripping my phone, I decided to run down a couple blocks in case I spotted him running back home. Meow’s Café was nearby, but even a peek in there proved worthless. The café had opened back up, but Caleb was nowhere to be found.

“Should I contact the police? It would be too much if I made missing posters, right?” I muttered. I slowly walked back home, heart pounding, fighting the tears that sprung in my eyes.

He could be anywhere. What if he’s really hurt this time and he can’t contact me? I bit down on my lip and took a couple shaky breaths.

Back in the apartment, I slowly lowered myself down on the couch, staring at his phone that continued to sit on the table. The sushi still sat on the kitchen island counter untouched. I couldn’t move. I didn’t know what to do.

Am I overreacting? He could be fine, just running late. But he usually doesn’t forget his phone.

It had been almost two hours at this point. I pulled my legs up to my chest and lowered my head until my forehead touched my knees. I kept holding my phone tightly, on the off chance that I received a call about Caleb’s whereabouts.

My head jerked up when I suddenly heard my door’s keypad beeping. Someone was dialing my passcode and only one other person knew what it was.

I could have burst into tears at the sight of Caleb coming through the door. I jumped off the couch and ran up to him. The moment he saw me, he began to speak quickly.

“I’m so sorry I’m late! I even forgot my phone! I was trying to get back as soon as I could but --”

I wasn’t listening to him. I couldn’t. I had been so terrified something had happened to him. That I’d lost him again. As soon as I was in front of him, I pummeled him lightly with my fist.

“Where have you been?! Do you know how worried I’ve been?!”

“I know. I --”

“I was so scared, Caleb! And what are you wearing?!” I suddenly asked, now noticing the change in his wardrobe. He wasn’t in his workout combo of tank top and shorts. He was wearing a chocolate brown three-piece suit with a forest green tie. He even had gloves on.

“You know what? Never mind. Come here.”

I grabbed his hand and yanked him towards the bedroom. He let out a quiet gasp but didn’t protest or try to resist. Once we stepped inside, I pushed him down onto the bed. Standing over him, I glared at him, still reeling from how scared I had been.

He looked up at me with concern and regret in those sunset eyes. “I really scared you, huh? I really am sorry.”

“I should have known better when taking in a stray like you. You know what we caretakers do with naughty cats who wander off?”

The corner of his lifted ever so slightly, as if he was trying not to smile.

“What?”

“It’s just like what you told me.” I grabbed a nearby bag and pulled out a collar – a human-sized one. It looked just like the ones people bought for cats. It had a bell dangling from it, and next to that, a small, black square box. I was told the box was a tracker, with a built-in GPS. A lot of cat collars had the same things, for owners to know where their outside cats were roaming; the perfect solution for making sure their beloved kitty didn’t get lost.

“You said you put a collar with a bell on that injured cat we took in when we were kids. So it wouldn’t run away before it recovered without us knowing. I remember you telling me that. At the time, I didn’t understand. I thought you were being too overprotective. But now…”

I unbuckled the collar. He watched me quietly.

“Now I get it. Now I’ll know wherever you go. You won’t be able to disappear on me again.” I told him.

“Go ahead.” Was his response. He even leaned closer to me.

I blinked and stared at him. He didn’t flinch or move away, just watched me expectantly. Despite my anger, desperation, and everything I’d just said, I hesitated.

“You don’t mind?”

“If this will make you feel better, do it. I don’t mind you keepin’ tabs on me,” he replied.

So, I put the collar around his neck and fastened it. However, I made sure not to make it too tight. Once fastened around him, he ran his fingers along the leather and poked the bell, causing it to jingle.

“If you think about it, you’ve given me two collars now,” he remarked. He pulled out the familiar dog tag necklace from under his shirt. “Guess this means I’m pretty important to you, huh?” He teased with a smirk.

I gave his shoulder a shove. “You’re not allowed to joke about this. I was really scared, you know.”

His smile faltered and he gazed at me seriously. “I know. And again, I really am sorry about that. I swear I was on my way home, when some guy from a butler café stopped me. He thought I was one of the workers slacking off on the job. Guess they were doing a cat butler theme and noticed my ears and tail. Took me forever to convince him that I didn’t work there. Then he gave me this suit as an apology. Thought I’d wear it to surprise you, but…”

I huffed, still not ready to let go of my resentment from him scaring me.

“So, someone tried to take my cat and even tried to bribe him with nice things. Guess I really can’t take my eyes off you, huh?”

He tilted his head playfully, tail raised and swaying from side to side.

“You know no one can take me away from you. Buut, if you’re mad, I can make it up to you, my lady.” His voice dropped an octave lower as he put on the persona of a devoted butler, placing a hand on his chest.

“Let me think…” I took a moment to consider my options as he gazed at me with shining eyes.

“You have to buy me all the snacks I could ever ask for. Including drinks.”

He chuckled. “Don’t I already do that?”

I crossed my arms over my chest. “You have to text me every morning and night and tell me what you’re up to.”

“That’s not difficult at all. You’re goin’ pretty easy on me.”

“And you’re not allowed to take random gifts from anyone without asking me first.”

He shrugged. “Can do. Not that I’d want anyone else’s gifts anyway. Anything else?”

I paused, not sure what else to demand.

“Aw, c’mon. There’s nothing else? I’m ready and willing to do whatever, you know.”

I admittedly pouted a little. “I dunno. I'm still thinking.”

He grinned. “Well, how about…”

He suddenly took hold of my arm and gently pulled me down onto the bed beside him. I quickly sat back against the headboard, eyes widening as Caleb hovered over me on all fours. His ears were perked, and his tail was raised up, forming what almost looked like a question mark.

“How about all the snuggles with your big cat that you could ever ask for?” He lowered himself down and placed his head in my lap, looking up at me with the sweetest, most adoring expression I had ever seen from him.

“Why would I want that?” I muttered, trying to ignore the heat spreading from my neck to my ears.

“Well, they say cuddling with a cat is soothing, and improves your mood.” He even began to purr. “A cat’s purr even has health benefits.”

I couldn’t help myself. He was being so endearing; I could feel my anger dissipating as I reached down to run my fingers through his hair and over those orange ears. As his eyes slid shut in delight, he took hold of my free hand and nuzzled it, planting kisses and even light nibbles on my fingers.

I felt my heart begin to pound and frowned at the blush I could just feel on my face. “Ugh. Why can’t I stay angry at you, Caleb?” I whined.

He opened his eyes and grinned up at me. “’Cause I’m a cat. Your cat.”

Later on, we decided to finally eat the food we’d bought for dinner, while huddled together on the couch. Caleb insisted on continuing the role as a devoted butler and that it was my turn to have my head resting in his lap. As we watched a drama together, he fed me bites of sushi and rice, making sure not one grain fell onto my face.

“This is a bit much, isn’t it?” I wondered, feeling a bit awkward at this level of pampering.

“Course not. You just sit there and relax, my lady. This cat butler is here for your every need.”

I sighed and reached up to touch that black box on his collar he still wore around his neck.

“And you’re sure you don’t mind the collar?”

He laughed. “I’m your cat right now, right? While I still have the ears and tail, I’m gonna wear it.”

My hand drifted from the collar to his cheek. “I wasn’t really mad, you know. I was just scared that you had disappeared again…”

His smile was tender. “I know. I would have acted the same way if I were you. But I promise, Pip-squeak, I won’t disappear on you ever again. Not as a cat and not when I’m back to normal. Although…”

He set the plate down and picked up my phone that was sitting by his on the coffee table. He held it out to me.

“I still wouldn’t mind if you were tracking me. If you want to keep a GPS on me, just say the word and I’ll program it into your phone.”

I stared at him for a moment before taking my phone. “I’ll think about it,” I said quietly.

He nodded and stroked my hair. “And even after this is all over, and I head back to Skyhaven, all you have to do is call me. I’ll only be a phone call away.”

I looked away. “You can’t always promise that…”

“Yes, I can.” He said firmly. “We found each other again, and I won’t let anything tear us apart.”

He sounded so certain of this conviction that I was prone to believe him. I pressed my face into his torso and wrapped my arms around his waist. We stayed there on the couch in each other’s arms, feeling closer to each other than ever before.

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sainzzsturns · 1 year ago

Note

could you write hector looking after drunk reader

drunkie

H. Fort x reader

category: fluff

warnings: drinking, lowercase intended, sorry in advance for any grammar errors english isn’t my first language.

summary: where reader has a little too much to drink.

after a event with the barca team, everyone, including both you and héctor, made your way to the after party.

when there, you two split up, all the players sitting at the lounge while you and the rest of the wags made your way to the dance floor by the bar.

both you and dayane were swaying your hips with great ability, being because of your brazilian genes.

héctor stole a few glances here and there, but he started really looking at you when other men around the bar started looking at your body sway.

he knew you weren’t really the person to want too much attention on yourself, so he figured you mustn’t be sober to do that.

be bid his goodnights to his friends around him and made his way to you.

he bumped into sarah on the way and eyes slightly widened when she mentioned all the drinks you had taken.

“hey cariño, how about we go home, aren’t you tired already?” he said to you.

“no, c’mon come dance with me.” you said locking your arms around his neck, looking up at him.

he got lost in you for a second, the way your eyes glimmered and the way your body touched his made him go crazy.

“no, you’re too drunk, let’s go.” he said picking you up bridal style.

he made his way out of the venue and to the parking lot where his car was. (let’s just pretend he can drive!)

“no let me go, my boyfriend, héctor, is in there, he’s going to take me home.” you blabbered.

“baby it’s literally me.” he answered.

“oh hi handsome! you look so good héc! i’m so lucky.”

“okay that’s enough.” he opened the passenger for you and set you inside, making sure you were comfortable.

when you got home he took you to your shared bedroom, grabbing your favorite pair of pjs and started undressing you to get your more comfortable clothes on.

“oh héctor stop!” you said blushing.

“i’m just putting your pjs on, stop being dirty minded.”

he dressed you and laid you on the bed, kissing your forehead, making his way to the kitchen to grab some medicine and water for when you woke up.

when he went back up the stairs to your bedroom he saw you already passed out on the bed.

he got comfortable and laid down beside you also.

when he woke up he saw you sitting down on the bed, drinking the water he had set for you before bed.

“does someone feel hungover?” he said, voice deep from sleep.

he made his way to you putting his hands around your shoulders from behind.

“oh my god you can’t even believe my headache right now.” you answered, leaning into his touch.

“well at least you had fun last night!” he talked again.

you hum in annoyance before laying back down on the bed, héctor kissed your head stroking your hair trying to make you feel better.

“thank you for taking care of me.” you whispered.

“no problem, cariño, i’ll always be here for ya’”

“i hope i wasn’t too embarrassing yesterday.”

“don’t worry, i would never let you embarrass yourself!” he answered.

#hector fort x reader #hector fort #barça #fc barcelona #la masia #lamine yamal #fermin lopez #marc guiu #ilkay gundogan #vitor roque #héctor fort #hector garcia

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lowkeyerror · 1 year ago

Text

The Family Business Ch. 10

WandaNat x Reader

Word count: 3.4k

Ch.Notes: no notes this ch

Summary: Natasha and Wanda have a talk about their feelings for you. After that emotional conversation they meet you at the hospital to visit Dragos.

An: If I were to say things get more real next chapter how would you feel...

Series Masterlist | Masterlist

The rest of the work day drags for Natasha and Wanda. Both women having other things on their mind. However, with Kate and Y/n out of the office on a hectic day like this, they couldn’t afford to dwell too much.

“Sestra, can we call it a day? I've never taken this many calls in my life,” Pietro barges into his sisters office.

“If you want to go home, then go,” she waves her hand dismissively at him.

“What’s got you so snappy?”

When Wanda’s eyes meet Pietro she’s glaring at him, “If you haven’t noticed I’m trying to run the company our father built on my own.”

Pietro raises his brow, “On your own? Discrediting my work is normal for you, but to act as if Y/n wasn’t running this place last night is bullshit.”

“Well she’s not here now,” Wanda mumbles under her breath.

“Why? Where is she?”

Wanda can’t hide the small clench in her jaw, “Kate took her home. She wasn’t feeling well.”

“She’s in good hands sestra if that’s what's worrying you,” Pietro tries to console her.

Wanda doesn’t want to speak about it any further, “I’m going to see papa whenever I’m done with this do you want to come?”

The way that Pietro's goofy features turn serious never cease to amaze Wanda, “I can’t tonight, I have a date.”

Wanda rolls her eye, “You’d rather get laid than see our father?”

Pietro shakes his head, “No, but this isn’t just some girl. I want this to be serious and I can’t afford to stand her up.”

The red head is slightly surprised, but she nods along, “I’ll tell him about it, I bet he’d be glad to hear you taking something seriously for once.”

He chuckles a bit before going quiet. He looks at Wanda similar to the way a needy child looks at their parent.

“Do you think he’ll wake up?”

“He has too,” the words are heavy as they leave her lips. She has a small smile placed on her face as she continues, “Mama will kill him if he doesn't.”

“Don’t work too hard sestra,” he speaks sincerely taking his leave.

“Enjoy your date,” Wanda says as he walks out of the door.

When he leaves she lets out a heavy sigh. For the first time today she lays her head down on her desk, exhaustion starting to plague her.

Thoughts of her responsibilities as the person in charge rain down on her. This was the end goal that she wanted, but never at this great of cost. She wished her father would wake up and reclaim his place because she didn’t feel ready.

She was focusing as hard as she could, but her mind always strays to her brother’s best friend. Your delicate skin pressing against hers in the morning or the strong arms that wrapped around her waist, or those doe eyes that she could sense staring at her.

Wanda debates for a moment before pulling out her cell phone and dialing the girl. It rings for a while before there's finally an answer.

“Hello.”

“Hey, little krolik. I just wanted to check on you. Nat told me you went home today,” Wanda keeps her tone level.

You sigh on the other end of the line, “I’m ok. I think I just got a little overwhelmed. I’m sorry for stepping out, I know that's not how we do business.”

“It’s no different than me leaving yesterday. This line of work takes a toll on you.”

She can’t see it, but you nod, “I’m feeling better now. I still want to go see pa- Dragos. Maybe I could have Kate drop me off and I’ll meet you two there?”

“You’re with Kate?” Wanda can’t stop herself from asking the question.

“Yeah she took me home and decided to keep me company,” you say nonchalantly.

“I could’ve taken you,” Wanda tries to play it cool.

You disagree with her, “I didn't want to bother you while you were working. It was a hectic day, truth be told I didn't even want to leave.”

Wanda’s tone is strong as she speaks, “I will never be too busy for you Y/n.”

“Wanda-”

“I mean it. I know I’m supposed to move past it, but I missed a lot while I was gone. I couldn’t be there for you like I wanted to. Now that I’m back I’d like to be there for you as much as I can. I still want to be the one you lean on,” Wanda let herself be vulnerable with you.

You were taken aback by her admission. It felt like it was impossible for you to come up with a response. It wasn’t like she was saying something you hadn't heard from her before, but her words felt heavier somehow.

“I know you'll be there for me, Wanda . You don't have to prove it.”

Wanda frowns lightly, “I’m not trying to prove anything. I’m just- it’s hard knowing I’m not the first person you come to when you’re in need. I know you've grown out of needing people for the most part, but I don’t know. I’m not making any sense. Nat and I will meet you at the hospital.”

Wanda doesn't give you a chance to respond as she hangs up the phone. She scolds herself about how needy she sounded during the call.

“I think I’m finished up for today, whenever you’re ready to go,” Natasha strolls into the office.

Wanda stares at the computer screen for a moment, “I should be ready in half an hour.”

Natasha plops down on the couch of her wife’s office. It’s silent for a moment until Nat shifts on the couch which makes noise fill the office.

“So, do you want to talk about it?”

“ About what?” Wanda keeps her attention on the screen.

“What I said about being jealous of Kate?”

Wanda’s brow furrows, “Not particularly.”

Natasha strides over to the woman’s desk chair and places herself in Wanda’s lap. Wanda’s arms loop around the woman’s waist holding her in place.

“We need to talk about this moya lyubov,” the spy places gentle kisses on the base of Wanda’s neck.

The other woman whines, “Why?”

“Because we’re married and you’re in love with Y/n,” Natasha states plainly.

Wanda rolls her eyes, “You were jealous too.”

Natasha nods, “I was and I don’t have a problem admitting it.”

Wanda’s face buries itself in the crook of Natasha’s neck, “So what does this all mean?”

“I like her too,” Natasha states bluntly.

“ I don’t want to lose you,” Wanda’s voice is small as she speaks to her wife.

Natasha softly places her hand on Wanda’s chin, forcing their eyes to meet, “You will never lose me Wanda. I married you because I’m completely, utterly, madly in love with you. That feeling hasn’t gone anywhere.”

“I love you too,” Wanda’s eyes shine as they bore into Natasha’s.

“ I think we should think about what it would be like to add Y/n into our relationship dynamic,” Natasha speaks, but it sounds like a question.

Wanda tenses briefly, “I can admit that I have feelings for Y/n, but I don’t know if I can act on these feelings Nat.”

“Why not?”

Wanda closes her eyes, “I’ve known her too long, Nat. She’s the same age as my little brother, not to mention she's his best friend. If she doesn’t feel the same way, this will ruin everything.”

“Detka-”

“I don’t know if it’s better or worst that we both want her. How would we even tell her Natasha? I don’t want to lose anymore time with her,” Wanda begins to get emotional.

Natasha cups her wife’s face in both of her hands, “Baby, I know you’re scared. This is scary, I’ve never been in a situation like this, I don’t have all the answers. All I know is that you love her and I think I could too. We’ve spent so much of our lives sacrificing for others, but I’m ready to sacrifice something for my own sake, aren’t you?”

“I am, but not at the expense of my relationship Y/n. I just got her back, Natasha. I’m not saying I never want to tell her, but I can’t do this now,” Wanda tries to turn her head away from her wife.

Natasha doesn’t let her, but instead places a soft kiss on her wife’s lips. Wanda relaxes under Natasha’s touch, feeling all of the stress of the day seeping out of her body.

“ Don’t hide from me, Wanda. I want you to share your feelings, I won’t ever judge you,” Natasha whispers against the taller woman’s lips.

“I don’t want to disappoint you. I know you’re ready but-”

Natasha shakes her head, “It’s not just about me, it’s about us. I don’t want to push you to do anything you aren’t ready for. If you want to pursue Y/n, I’m with you, but if you don’t, I'm still with you.”

Wanda nods softly, “I want to, but I- I need time.”

Natasha kisses her again, “Whenever you’re ready baby. Now finish up so we can go.”

“You’re not going to move?” Wanda questions her wife.

Natasha lets out an exasperated sigh, “ You can’t work around me?”

Wanda scoots herself into the desk. She slightly pushes Natasha to press into her further. The spy’s head is in the nape of Wanda’s neck.

“I can and if I’m being honest it’s my preferred method of doing work,” Wanda begins to focus on the computer again.

She works diligently with her wife in her lap. Having Natasha there makes her work go by a little faster and feel a lot less stressful. She finishes up within the hour.

Once she’s done Wanda shoots a text to Y/n saying that they were headed to the hospital. The girl replies saying she’ll meet them there.

Natasha drives, one hand on the wheel and the other holds Wanda’s hand. Her thumb caresses the back of the passengers hand trying to provide comfort, knowing that this was not an easy task for her.

Wanda had only visited her father once. She hated seeing him in such a fragile state. It almost didn't feel like he was her father. He couldn’t be the same man that took her to the city fair, the same mam that placed flowers in her hair, the man that invested his entire life in her dreams, it couldn’t be. This wasn’t the man that kept her safe from her nightmares, because looking at him in this state was beginning to feel like one.

When they arrived they went inside the building.

“If you don’t tell me what room he is in you won't live to the end of the week to regret it,” you argue with the receptionist.

Kate’s behind you her hand resting on your shoulder trying to pull you out of the conflict.

“Is there a problem here?” Natasha speaks up first.

“It’s family only mam, one more outburst and I will have security throw you out,” the receptionist said causing a vein to pop in your neck.

“Nothing that concerns you,” the receptionist snaps at the spy.

You interrupt, “You don't talk to her like that.”

Before things escalate any further Wanda slams her hand on the receptionist’s desk with her card under her palm.

“Now tell me what room my father is in, “ Wanda’s eyes look fiery as she stared at the receptionist.

The receptionist looks at the card her eyes go wide, “Terribly sorry for the mix up Mrs. Maximoff, didn’t know she was in your company.”

Wanda peers down at the receptionist, “You’re lucky I’m feeling generous today. I don't ever want to hear you address either of these ladies in a disrespectful manner again.”

“Yes, Mrs. Maximoff sorry about that. It won’t happen again. He’s in room 286,” the receptionist looked ten sizes smaller.

You can’t help but give the woman a death glare as you head towards the elevator. Kate stops you on the way.

“I’m going to head home are you going to be alright?” Her eyes subtly glance in Wanda and Natasha’s direction.

“I’ll be fine Katie,” you reassure her.

“Ok just checking. Text me later and make sure you're taking care of yourself,” Kate pulls you into a tight hug.

The sound of someone clearing their throat ends your hug with the doe eyed girl. Kate smiles at you upon the release of the hug, she then waves goodbye, leaving you with the married couple.

“And you’re sure you and Kate aren’t dating?” Wanda can’t help, but comment.

You roll your eyes, “Positive, Katie and I are just friends.”

“What did you do after you left work ?”

You all pile into the elevator as you answer, “Nothing really. We just watched some tv and ordered some food. How was it at the office?”

Wanda goes to answer but Natasha stops her, “No work talk out of the office.”

“Well then what are we going to talk to Dragos about?” You attempt to joke in hopes of brightening the mood.

“ You can call him Papa you know?” Wanda takes her time looking at you.

“I know-”

She cuts you off, “Mama too.”

You nod to yourself, “I know, it’s just not my normal.”

Natasha speaks up, “It honestly feels like you’re fighting against their names when you say them. Mama and Papa sound natural coming from you."

“It feels like they are my parents.”

“They are,” Wanda grabs onto your hand as you approach Dragos’ room.

The air feels different when you enter the room. It’s hard to look at him in such a state. He lies still on the hospital bed with machinery hooked up to him. There are less machines than originally, but still too many in your eyes.

Flora sits by the side of the bed with her hand in his. The view is somber, it takes nearly everything in you not to cry. Almost as if she can sense the tension building in your body, Wanda squeezes your hand.

“How’s he been Mama?” Wanda’s moved closer to her mother’s side, dragging you with her.

“The same, but the doctors are saying that's a good thing for now at least,” she sighs heavily.

“And how are you Mama?” You ask looking over the woman’s features.

Flora sends you a small smile, “I’m tired sweetheart, but I’ll live.”

“Have you been going home?” Wanda questions further.

“To shower and change clothes.”

Wanda’s voice takes a stern tone, “Mama, you need to rest.”

The older woman shakes her head, “I can't leave him for too long.”

“He wouldn’t want you spending all your time here,” you say softly.

“It’s not about what he wants for once. If he didn’t want me here he would’ve listened when I told him going to meet Fisk alone was a bad idea,” she glares at her sleeping husband.

“I’ll have his head for this,” Wanda gets agitated at the mention of Kingpin.

“Blowing up the ports wasn’t enough?” Flora comments.

“Power move, just to prove that there are no cracks in our business affairs,” Wanda’s jaw sets.

Flora looks at her daughter, “He’s not going to take this lying down.”

“I know.”

You squeeze Wanda’s hand to reassure her, “ We’ll be ready for him."

Flora lets out a sad laughter, “You sound just like him Y/n.”

“ That’s a compliment for the ages. I hope I could be half of the person he is,” your gaze falls into your lap.

“You already are. You kids have always made us both so proud.”

You desperately want to ask more about Dragos’ condition, but you refrain. The conversation stays light as you reminisce about the man.

Natasha doesn't say much, but her presence does provide someone to share with. She's hearing most things about her father-in-law for the first time. She's getting a good look into the man he is.

She pays attention to the way you and Wanda both light up when sharing stories. It warms her heart to see the two of you looking genuinely happy for the first time in weeks.

When it’s time to go the mood drops a bit, but not too much. It’s when Natasha goes to follow Wanda and Y/n out of the room when Flora stops her.

“You make sure they're taking care of themselves,” Flora hugs the redhead and whispers in her ear.

Natasha nods, “I will Mrs.Maximoff.”

They head home after that, exhaustion finally catching up to them.

A small dilemma plagues your mind when you get home. Part of you wishes to go with Wanda and Natasha into their apartment where you know you can get a good night's rest. The other part of you tells you that you shouldn't make it a habit. It's a lose-lose situation.

Begrudgingly you decide to go to your own apartment.

“I’ll see you guys later,” you try and give a small goodbye.

Wanda grabs your forearm, “You can come over tonight, if you need to. No matter the time. Alright, little krolik?”

Your eyes shift over to Natasha who smile, showing agreement with her wife, “The door is always open for you.”

You struggle to keep your composure, “Thanks, I’ll keep it in mind.”

Your house feels extra empty as you enter. The weight of the day sets into your system. Getting ready for bed seems pointless as you know you won’t be getting any sleep.

Staring at the ceiling seems different, knowing that across the hall was the woman that you had spent your teen years pining over. Yet, knowing that she could love you didn’t make your heart flutter like it was supposed to. It sent an anxiety running through your chest.

You knew that she was probably curled up in the bed next to her wife. Her drop dead gorgeous, kind hearted, Russian spy, wife. A woman in a league of her own, in her own right.

The thought didn’t make you jealous, but it had an adverse effect on you. You wanted to be there, to be involved, to be a part of what they had.

You groan placing a pillow over your head in a dull effort to quiet your thoughts.

Your phone rings on the dresser and you pick it up, and mumble a hello with the pillow still over your head.

“Come over.”

“Natasha?”

There’s a hum over the line, “Yes, are you coming or do I need to come get you?”

You shuffle out of the bed, keeping the phone to your ear, “Is something wrong?”

“Well-"

She’s cut off by her wife, “Come to bed little krolik. I need the extra warmth.”

Natasha chuckles, “Wanda refuses to sleep in your absence. She’s getting a little grumpy.”

“ I’m not grumpy. Tell her to hurry,” Wanda argues with Natasha.

This makes your heart flutter like it’s supposed to, “Are you sure it’s ok Nat?”

“ Lisichka I’d be lying if I said I didn’t want you back in our bed.”

You feel a blush take over your features as you exit your home.

“ Ok, open the door,” you murmur and it takes no time for the spy to let you into her home.

Natasha looks exhausted as she grabs you by the arm and drags you wordlessly to the bedroom.

Wanda’s already in the bed and when she sees you she does a grabbing motion towards you. You shake your head before climbing into the bed. She wraps her arm around your waist and snuggles closer to you.

“You sleep here now. It’s better for all of us,” She mumbles against your skin.

“Ok,” you don’t fight her on it, knowing she’d probably forget in the morning.

You look up at Natasha shyly. She still stands over the bed. In a similar fashion to Wanda, you stick out your arms for her.

Natasha grins as she climbs into your arms. You carefully drape your arm over the spy, resting your hand against her flat stomach.

For the second night in a row you find yourself comfortable in their bed. You all think about how you shouldn’t indulge in this feeling, scared it won’t last.

It’s like the couple can read your mind. Wanda’s hold on you tightens and Natasha turns to face you. They keep you safe in their embrace and the thoughts in your head quiet.

No one says anything, but you all feel it. There’s a shift in your relationship and you won’t be able to ignore it for much longer.

Taglist: @natashaswife4125 @autorasexy @alexawynters @blkmxrvel @toouncreativeforausername @likemick @sgm616 @bstvst @dorabledewdroop @sapphic-simp4015 @natty-taffy @justarandomreaderxoxo @mmmmokdok @tarathia @bgwlsmahf25 @lezzylover @og-kxsh-420 @vanessashands @untoldreader

#lowkeyerror #wanda maximoff #wanda maximoff x reader #wanda maximoff imagine #natasha romanoff #natasha romanoff x reader #natasha romanoff imagine #wandanat x reader #wandanat #kate bishop #pietro maximoff

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fruitsywriting · 8 days ago

Note

Hello! Could you pls write something where the reader is struggling with addiction and is depressed about the situation. He goes to Mark when he’s sad about it and Mark doesn’t know and he ends up telling Mark what’s going on cause he feels like shit making him (mark) worry about him(reader). He and Mark have a heart to heart about it and Mark does something to cheer him up (they do something cute, like go on a walk and get food or smt fluffy idk). Thx sm

As someone who has severe depression and watched people struggle with different types of addiction, I feel like I was qualified enough to do this. Apologizes for how long this took I wanted to wait until I was done with my semester of college before answering asks.

Pairings: Mark Grayson x Male Reader

Fandom: Invincible

You don’t know when it started, time warped around in your memories to where it all became a big blur. Youll question the passage of time, how long has it truly been? The only thing that’ll stick out in memories is important events, like Mark’s Birthday.

That day stood out because while you were still struggling, it felt nice to have a time to just forget you even were. A nice distraction as you watched your boyfriend excitedly talk to you and his friends about how he loved the presents, and then how you all went out to do whatever he wanted to do. That’s when he pulled you all to the amusement park. You all warned Mark not to eat before getting on the ride but he said he went flying like that as Invincible all the time. Afterwards he was doubled over in a trashcan, not expecting all the loops and turns specifically, but also because he just ate too much. However, he still had a fun day and bounced back to normal after sitting down for just 15 minutes.

You smile tiredly at the memory before turning to your desk that had wrappers all over it- and you look at the keychain of Seance Dog that had the initials MG on the back, you and Mark getting matching ones with each other’s initials on it. Even if you weren’t entirely into the series, it made Mark happy- therefore made you happy. Then there’s the Photo Booth picture with you, Mark, Amber, William, Rick and Eve. Then the Photo Booth picture of just you and him.

You groan when you realize your phone is dead, and you scavenge among your room for the cord. There it is, right next to an empty pill bottle you never threw away. You let out a shaky sigh before plugging the cord into the wall and then into your phone. You wait for about a minute before the screen lights up and you see missed messages and calls. Shit.

[3 missed calls from Mark 💛🩵]

Mark 💛🩵: Hun? Did I do something wrong? You haven’t been answering me

Mark 💛🩵: Babe?

Mark 💛🩵: Can I come over tn? I had a rough day

Mark 💛🩵: ?

Mark 💛🩵: I’m sorry for whatever I did, I miss you. Is something going on? Please don’t shut me out

The messages make your gut coil and churn with guilt, it doesn’t feel good at all. He’s worried about you and yet you’re being a terrible boyfriend by not telling him, by being self-centered-

Then it hits you. He was like this with Amber before they broke up the first time. You were going to text but he deserves a call instead. You take a deep breath, rub your forming headache, and hit the call button.

It rings a few times before he answers, he voice sounding frantic, excited, worried, and relieved all at the same time.

“Babe- oh thank god. Oh my god I was so scared that something happened to you- or- or I did something wrong”

“No, no, you did nothing wrong. Sorry I didn’t answer, my phone was dead”

“It was dead? You used to never let it die, you were so concerned about its battery life at all times of the day” He lets out a sad chuckle.

“Yeah, I know. It’s so weird. Anyways- uh, are you okay? I saw your messages from last night”

“Uhm, I would say I’m okay but I could be better. Got a little beat up yesterday. It’s healed but it’s… not fun”

“I’m so sorry I wasn’t there for you. Is there anything I can do to help you?”

“Can I come over?”

You hesitate. You look around your room and it’s a disaster. Laundry everywhere, trash everywhere, things out of place. It looks like someone threw everything into your room and called it a day. He hears the hesitation and sighs.

“Is that a no? Usually when you hesitate it’s a no”

Nonono, you don’t want him to get the wrong idea- to think you don’t love him or have time for him anymore. Before you can think you say, “No, it’s a yes. You can come over”

“Okay, okay, oh man, I can’t wait to see you. I’ll be dressed quick and be there in 5”

“Okay great, can’t wait to see you. Love you”

“Love you too, bye”

“Bye”

As soon as he hangs up you shovel the clothes from the floor into your hands and throw it into the bottom of the closet. When he says he will be there in five, he means it. Curse him and his speedy flying- but not really because you love that man whole heartedly. You grab a trash bag and just throw shit into it, hoping nothing important gets thrown in there. You’re making progress, but because it’s scattered all across your room you also feel like you’re making no progress at all. You just freeze and stare at the floor- almost as if you want it to just disappear. You can’t get yourself to continue to move- the sight alone makes you wanna start hyperventilating. It needs to be cleaned. You need to be clean. Oh god, what does the rest of the house look like? Before you know it you’re crumpling to the ground and sobbing into your arms. It feels life shattering, but you know with a little bit of drugs- it’ll just be a silly little problem that could be melted away. You sniffle, thinking about if you took the last pill or if you still have some more left.

Knock knock knock. At your window. You can hear it behind yourself- and you feel yourself start to cry again. God, now Mark- you’re perfect superhero boyfriend- knows you’re a fucking slob with an addiction.

Knock knock knock. Sounds a little more frantic this time. Time to face the music, face your greatest fear- and it was one you knew you couldn’t escape because you couldn’t get your life together. You slowly stand up, and open the window. You expected him to recoil in disgust at your appearance and the state of your room. But no- his soft brown eyes look concerned.

“Are you okay? I thought I heard you cryin-“

The question alone brought you to tears again. He looks a little startled but fully comes into the room from your window and pulls you into a hug. You wanna pull back- telling him to get away because you’re disgusting. But you just sob into his shoulder.

“Oh hun, what’s wrong?” He asks delicately with warmth underlying. You sniffle, trying not to hiccup over every word that stumbles out of your chapped lips.

“I’m sorry” Is the first thing you say, as it is the first thing that comes to mind. You feel like you need to apologize for everything, for even existing.

“Sorry for what?” He pulls back to try and look at your face, when you look down, he doesn’t try to force you to look at him. But he just wants to gauge your facial expressions from what he can see.

“I’m- I’m a mess. Me, my room, and- and” You can’t think of a way to explain your addiction to him, or your severe depression that just kept getting worse these past few months. He doesn’t cut you off, he waits patiently for you to finish.

“I’m… I’ve been taking pills.”

You expected him to gasp, to flinch even, anything that showed horror, disgust, maybe even him being upset. But no. He lightly rubbed your arms and nodded.

“For how long?”

“2 months.”

“Okay, I’m here. Do you wanna talk about it?”

His calm response almost made you cry again. It felt so normal- not like he was brushing the problem under the rug, but like he was humanizing what you went through. Your lip quivers and you don’t know how to respond. Yes, you wanna talk about it. But also no, because you don’t trust your own voice.

“We don’t have to talk about it right now. We can just lay together, sit together, watch Tv. Whatever you want, whatever you need, I will try to make possible”

You take a few deep breaths to steady yourself, “I think I wanna shower first, if that’s okay.”

“Of course. Do you want me to order food or make food in the meantime?”

You didn’t feel hungry but it wasn’t good to not eat so you end up agreeing. You grab some fresh clothes from your closet, which isn’t much, and then head into the shower.

✮⋆˙🔮˗ˏ🖇⋆⭒˚｡⋆🎧..✮⋆˙🔮˗ˏ🖇⋆⭒˚｡⋆🎧..✮⋆˙🔮˗

After the shower, you eat the food Mark cooked for you and explain to him what has been going on. How you fell into a deep depression again and then you started using. Then you explain, with your eyes watering and your voice threatening to break, that you were ashamed. That you didn’t want to tell him because you feel gross when you get to this point, and it feels like you can’t come back. Then you hiccup and sob that you’re sorry for being distant and making him worry.

He sits there and lets you finish, before pulling you into a hug. He kisses your temple softly and explains that he understands. He doesn’t understand on a personal level but he understands your thought process and thanks you for opening up to him now.

He makes you feel sane. It isn’t like he fixed you, but you feel less insecure as he helps you clean your room and make a plan for how to navigate this moving forward. He helps with resources, if you’re willing to accept that just yet, and then helps shop for new groceries as well.

He understands it takes time too, you don’t just magically get better. He’s there for you every step of the way. He’s been understanding to you the way you were for him. When he’s in the hospital because of a fight or is bruised up, you drop whatever you're doing and rush to be there. In a way, you two understand the other's struggles without being in the same position. Perhaps you understand each other in only the way a boyfriend would. He celebrates every day you go without using, every day you’re clean instead of focusing on the fact you’ve used at all. And you patch him up (really it’s just putting kids bandaids on his bruises while the two of you laugh at how silly it is) and tell him what he did was brave and that he’s saving lives. And maybe he even saved yours.

#invincible #mark grayson #writing #invincible fanfic #mark grayson invincible #mark grayson x reader #mark grayson x male reader #male reader #mark x reader #x reader #reader insert #invincible x reader #invincible x male reader

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devilenchantress · 9 months ago

Text

𝐓𝐡𝐞 𝐰𝐚𝐲 𝐲𝐨𝐮 𝐥𝐨𝐯𝐞 𝐦𝐞

🪵 Pairing —> Logan Howlett x Reader

🪵 Genre —> Fluff, comfort & angst

🪵 Warning —> None

🪵 Summary —> Logan asks you how the way he loves you makes you feel.

🪵 Dividers credit —> @moosgraphics

Y/N and Logan are laying in bed, her head is resting on Logan’s chest while he’s stroking her hair with is chin over her head.

He lets out a nervous sight and says :

« You told me that the way your shit ass of ex boyfriend loved you used to hurt you. So I was wondering, how does the day I love you feels to you? »

Y/N turns around, so that they both face each other while laying in the bed.

She looks at Logan in the eyes and answers :

« It feels safe, soft and calm. You’re always calm with me. Even when you’re extremely angry, even when we argue. The worse way you’ve ever reacted was by being grumpy and cold. »

Logan chuckles, looks at her softly and stroke her hair again.

Y/N let out smile and says :

« You know, I remember the first time we argued, just like it was yesterday. Because it was also the first time I understood that no matter what, I would always be safe with you. »

« Oh yeah? Tell me everything princess. »

« I remember that Charles wanted me on a mission instead of just teaching as usual. I was pretty happy about it but you weren’t. You thought it was too dangerous and I took it the wrong way, I thought you were being controlling and just wanted me to stay at home nicely and wait for you while I could do so much more and so much better. »

*Flashback of the argument*

« So what Logan? Am I just supposed to stay here like a nice little girlfriend and wait for you? When ALL OF YOU always go on missions and risks your life? Don’t you think that I could do that too? That I also have the power to go out and fight? »

« It’s not about that Y/N, I don’t want you to go because it is too risky, we don’t know what could happen to any of us. I don’t know what could happen to you. »

« Just like I don’t know what could happen to you Logan. Every time you leave with them I don’t know if you’re going to come back alive or if someone is going to knock at my door to tell me how sorry they are that my boyfriend is dead. But I always choose to believe that you’ll do amazing and that you’ll be back. Can’t you do the same for me? »

Logan looked at her and said firmly :

« No, I can’t. I’m sorry but I can’t risk it. It’s too dangerous and I can’t loose you, I refuse to loose you. »

« So I have no choices? You make them for me is that right? » with that Logan left the room.

*end of flashback*

Y/N continued to tell Logan the story :

« After that, we didn’t speak all day. I mean, we didn’t even saw each other during the whole day and the more the evening was coming the more nervous I was. »

Y/N pauses and continues :

« It was our first time arguing and I didn’t know how you would react. If you’d come back to the room or not, if you’d give me the silent treatment or if you’d be so mad and angry at me that you’d scream at me. I knew I was safe with you, but I also didn’t know how you reacted to anger. »

*Flashback of the argument*

Y/N was alone in the bed, waiting for Logan, with a book. A few moments after she heard footsteps coming and then she heard the door opening, it was Logan. He entered, looked at her smiled, he said a little « Hey » to Y/N who mirrored him. He then wait to take a shower.

Y/N was still nervous, because she still didn’t know how it would be, it was their first time arguing.

Logan came out of the bathroom and went in the bed. He let out a sight before saying :

« I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have. The way I talked earlier, it wasn’t my place. It’s your choice and it will always be your choice. I never want to make you feel like you have no choice with me. »

« I’m sorry too, I reacted so harshly and I wouldn’t stop screaming while you were so calm. »

« It’s okay princess, I know you wanna go and you will. I’m just so terrified of loosing you, I can’t let that happen and I won’t. So trust me we’ll spend a lot of time in the training room. »

Y/N chuckled and said :

« I know you’re scared, I am scared too everytime you go. But, I like to believed that we’d make a very good team Mr. Wolverine. »

Logan chuckled and got closer to her, he close the gap between them and kissed her deeply. It was soft and sweet, as always. He then let out a little gap again, and between kisses he said « I love you » Y/N chucked and said « I love you too, but I might love your kisses and cuddles a tiny bit more. »

*end of flashback*

Y/N continues her little story :

« Then we spent the whole night cuddling and laughing and at this moment I knew. I knew that no matter what, I’ll always be safe with you. Because the way you love me, even when we are arguing, even when one of us is at his worse, feels soft and calm. »

Logan hugs her tightly and says :

« You’re gonna make an old man cry princess. »

Y/N laughed and said :

« Your grumpy heart will always have a soft sport for me Mr. Wolverine »

Logan kisses the top of her head and says :

« Oh yeah it always, princess. »

#deadpool and wolverine #fanfic #logan howlett x reader #logan x reader #wolverine x reader #x men #x men movies #fluff #michael fassbender x reader #comfort #angst #hugh jackman

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totaly-obsessed · 1 year ago

Note

would you be willing to write either an alessia x reader or a leah x reader who has ADHD? i loved your alexia piece. it made me feel super seen ❤️

Fitting In

Alessia Russo x reader request

-> A struggle day with Alessia - ADHD!Reader

-> @anon Makes me so happy to hear that you felt seen! These are things that actually happen in my day to day life - and adhd presents so different in people, please don't be offended if this doesnt fit you!

➳ Masterlist

•─────⋅☾ ☽⋅─────•

“Baby?” Alessia's shout echoed through your shared home – the blonde had just come home from practice and was excited to spend a nice, relaxing evening with her girlfriend. But just a couple of seconds later she could see that the rest of the day would be a bit more chaotic than she had originally thought.

“Where are you?” Win, the Arsenal dog whined quietly booping her nose on Alessia's shin, trying to get her attention. With a sigh the striker took off the collar, letting the chocolate lab loose – just to see her race to the living room carpet where she dramatically flopped down with a loud huff.

“Bedroom!” Carefully Alessia opened the door, she never quite knew what to expect behind closed doors when it came to you. Maybe you would be dying your hair, trying her clothes on, or simply staring into the abyss. While she had been preparing herself for the worst, seeing you re-arrange furniture wasn’t so bad.

“Hi, Lessi!” The footballer did her best to ignore the heavy desk you were pushing around, instead giving you a kiss, melting at your huge grin and sparkling eyes.

“You’ve been quite busy huh?” You have been. The Wardrobe had been replaced by the bed and the bed with the desk – or at least your girlfriend guessed that you wanted it to go there.

“Help me?” She didn’t need much convincing, but the sheepish smile on your face certainly did the job.

With a gentle push, you were removed from the desk, as Alessia couldn’t watch your struggle any longer. With just a few expert nudges and lifts it was where you wanted it to be, with you directing the blonde.

“Done!” She brushed off her hands as if she were brushing off dirt from hard labor. With a smug smile, she saw you stare, particularly at her arms (still wearing her Arsenal training tank top), before she pulled you into a bruising kiss – large hands resting on your hips, fingers digging into your bum.

“Did you get groceries amore?” Oh right. There had been a reason why you had wandered in here, you originally had planned to get dressed and go shopping but all of a sudden you just felt an incredible urge to re-arrange the furniture. “Sorry, Lessi.”

With a soft chuckle, Alessia kissed your forehead, she knew that you didn’t do it on purpose, you never did. You just were forgetful. “How about we go out to eat?” That was the most brilliant idea you have ever had. Usually, you would order in because Alessia was too tired from training to actually go out – so it was a nice change. “That sounds fantastic baby. But it’s gonna be noisy and busy, you okay with that?” Your excited nodding was enough to melt her heart all over again. Bless you, so excited to go out with your girlfriend.

“I’m gonna have a shower, yeah?” You didn’t really realize what Alessia said until you heard the water running. “No Lessi!” As fast as you could you made your way to the bathroom, your girlfriend still in front of the mirror taking off her makeup. “Can I have it first? I’ll literally be ten minutes!” With one or two bats of your lashes, the blonde agreed, leaving you in the bathroom.

“Hey, google – play shower list! No, play Date playlist!” You had to repeat yourself, your Alexa was too confused with your wishes. The water was still running as you took Alessia's place, looking at yourself in the mirror. “Should I wash my hair? But I washed it yesterday – Shit. I didn’t do that washing did I?” There was no one to answer you, you were talking to yourself. On your way to the laundry room you nearly tripped over Win. “Winnie! You’re here! Oh, I love you so much!”

“Amore?”

No answer.

“Amore?”

With Win in tow, you climbed back up the stairs, already seeing Alessia with a big goofy smile in the bathroom. “Shit. I left the shower on.” The dog excitedly yapped once she saw the familiar blonde, her tail hitting your leg. “Yes, you did.” She wasn’t mad – she was laughing, and she had shut the water off. “Oh my god. I’m so sorry Less. Promise I’ll go now.”

“You haven’t had it yet?” Win was once again whining for attention but stopped once you leaned down to pet her head. “No, I want downstairs and I was doing the washing because I forgot to do it earlier.” By now you had eventually taken off your socks and outer layer, just in your underwear now.

“I just need to get my skincare stuff.” Why it was in the kitchen you didn’t really remember, however halfway down the stairs, you remembered the disgustingly cold showers. “Need the shower to warm up first!” Up you went again.

Now with your skincare, water warming up, the right music, and the laundry on – you were ready to actually get in, until you weren’t. Your sister had sent you a TikTok, which left you to doom scroll for a while before Alessia eventually came back up. “Are you done amore?”

She knew that you hadn’t been in yet, the half-Italian always knew when you were having a hard day, and today was one of them.

“I don’t know if I want to shower yet.” Your girlfriend could see the frustration building up in you, so she pulled you in a hug. “That’s okay baby. Can I go?” The defeated look on your face was all she needed, cooing over your sad little face before shoving you out the door after calling Win to keep you company.

Whilst the footballer was in the shower, you had tasked yourself with picking outfits for the both of you. Picking Alessia’s was easy, not only did she look good in everything, but all her clothes matched, so there was no bad choice.

When the blonde entered the bedroom she couldn’t help but laugh at you standing in front of the full-body mirror, wearing a cropped puffer jacket you had bought last week. Your lips in a pout and cheeks red in frustration – something was wrong.

“You okay baby?”

Boom, tears. Knowing that Alessia knew you and all your little signs meant the world to you. “I hate this jacket.”

“But you just bought it last week, what’s wrong with it?” by now she was standing in front of you, opening it up, closing it again, turning you around to get a better look, trying to figure out what is bothering you. “It’s the sleeves, look.” You thrust your hands out, the sleeves rising up so that your wrists were out.

“Maybe it’s the hood?” Your girlfriend pulled the zipper on the detachable hood, taking it off and abruptly throwing the hood itself on Win’s head. “What do you think? I think you look great!” You had to admit, that it was better, but the sleeve situation was still bothering you. “Nuh-uh. Wanna get rid of it.” With a final nod, Alessia helped you take it off, throwing the jacket on a pile of clothes. “Ella was looking for one of those.” That was that. Ella would get the jacket.

In the end, Alessia chose your outfit, as you were much too busy playing with Win, who was pawing at you when you had flopped down next to her on the carpet.

Whilst you were getting ready Alessia grabbed the rest of your stuff – that you would definitely forget and run back in and out again until you have everything, like your wallet or lip balm.

As soon as you entered the restaurant you regretted it. There was so much going on and such a wave of noise that greeted you that you nearly just walked back out again – but your girlfriend had already picked out a table in a corner.

“Less I don’t know what to get – I’m like overwhelmed by the options.” Somewhere a child started screaming and a hoard of adults kept laughing at it very loudly. “It’s like I can’t read the words that are literally right in front of me."

It started to beep everywhere in the big room. You had picked a popular restaurant in the area that had pagers that vibrated, blinked, and beeped when your food was ready so you could go and get it.

“What do you feel like amore?” You were zoned out, eyes empty staring at the menu, dead to the world around you. Alessia sighed, she knew that this would happen. “How about Pasta?” You nodded, she knew which one you would like.

A couple of minutes later your girlfriend came back, with one of these little devices in her hand, placing it under her thigh on the stool, desperately trying to soften the glaring noise.

Suddenly the lights dimmed and a birthday song was played loudly over the speakers. As well as you could you held your ears closed as most guests started to sing and clap along. Just as the song ended your food was ready and Alessia went to go and get it.

“How was training Less?” She could see your head swiveling around, overwhelmed by the lights, the noise, and the people – nonetheless, she took your bait, explaining what had happened at the Arsenal training center, appreciating that you tried to listen, and even asked questions.

Ten minutes into eating a children's birthday party sat down at the table next to yours, and as cute as the kids were – they were even louder than your thoughts. Screaming over the top of each other, begging for Ice cream for dinner and even yelling at the poor elders on their other side, trying to show them something.

“Amore? Are you overstimulated? Would you like to get this to go, and just go home?”

“Yes please.”

Alessia went up to the register with your plates, while you packed up all your stuff, grabbing your jackets and Alessia’s little bag that really only held her car keys.

In the car, you couldn’t hold it anymore, and the tears just burst out of you in streams that seemed never-ending. “I-I’m sorry Lessi, jus wanted to be like everyone else but I can't even sit in a restaurant.”. Your girlfriend cooed at you, gently stroking your thigh trying to calm you down a little. “We don’t need to be like anybody else. We can just be… Us!”

The rest of the evening was spent cuddled up on the couch with Win occupying one of the ends, stealing a blanket off of you, as Alessia covered you in hers as well. The wood was still warm when you ate it, even after changing out of the uncomfortable outfits and into big shirts and joggers.

“I love you amore. For you – you don’t need to be like anybody else.”

#woso x reader #woso imagine #woso #woso imagines #arsenal wfc x reader #engwnt x reader #lionesses x reader #alessia russo #alessia russo x reader

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scmg11 · 11 months ago

Text

EMILY DICKINSON x READER

YOU CANNOT PUT A FIRE OUT

A/N: HELLO HELLOO! How are you guys doing? Missed me?

Enjoy this new chapter ❤️

Sending you love ❤️

Summary: Emily meets Y/N at the well one day and just falls in love for her. When she tries to find her again the next days, it seems like she just disappeared. She was ready to lose hope when one day she finds her in her house to start a job as her new maid with her aunt Maggie. What will happen then?

Warnings: just slightly groping, nothing too much explicit.

Word count: 15380 words.

The sun beamed all over the expanse of the Dickinson’s garden, warming up Emily’s face as she decided to spend her morning outside, leaning on her favorite three and just soaking up in the calmness that was the nature. She closed her eyes and leaned her head back on the tree’s trunk surface to take a few moments of quietness in, smiling widely when she heard a few birds chirping around her, setting a warm and fuzzy feeling in her chest that always put her in a good mood. "Emily!"

The brown haired girl sighed loudly at her moment being ruined and tried to drown the sound away, but she heard it again a few seconds later and inevitably opened her eyes and turned towards the source of the sound coming from her right side, right where her house was, "yes?" Emily had to restrain herself from rolling her eyes when her mother called her name once again, ignoring her answering to her calls and making her sit up and abandon her morning in the nature to go and see whatever she needed from her.

"Emily?! Emily?!" The brown haired girl scoffed under her breath on her way back to her house, she knew her mother had head her when she was leaning on the tree but called her over nonetheless and was keeping calling her despite seeing her walking over her house, "oh Emily, dear, you’re here."

"Yes mom, what did you need? I was enjoying my day out in nature."

"I am sure it can wait, honey. I need you to go fetch water."

"Why can’t Austin or Lavinia do it?"

As if on cue the blonde made her appearance from behind Emily’s mother with what Emily deemed her trademark adorable frown since they were kids, "I did it yesterday and Austin is a man. He can’t do it."

"Right, you would believe he would be perfect for it since men’s are always bragging about themselves being strong, stronger than women, when in fact they are staying all day behind a desk while women do all the physical, exhausting stuff."

"You’re talking nonsense sweetheart." Emily rolled her eyes right in her mother’s face and grabbed the two empty buckets she had in her hands and trudged begrudgingly outside her house to walk towards the well to go fetch water as her mother asked her to.

"Oh no, I’m so sorry! I should’ve watched where I was going! Oh no, your dress is completely drenched, here let me help you." In mere seconds Emily bumped accidentally into a girl carrying four buckets full of water, resulting in one of them spilling over her blu navy dress, but got also got flooded with a multitude of rushed words of regret and of apology, an adorable sight that made Emily forget about her dress being completely drenched in the late summer weather.

"Don’t worry, it’s totally fine. I wasn’t watching where I was going, I had my head elsewhere. So I should be the one apologizing." Emily smiled reassuringly at the distressed girl as she desperately tried to find something to dry Emily’s dress.

"No, no. It was my fault!"

Emily tried to look at the girl’s face but it was completely covered by her hair cascading in front of it as she had her head down in search of a cloth in her small apron’s pocket she had around her hips, "I insist on taking the blame. Hey, please stop worrying. It will dry up eventually, it’s not a big deal."

"No, no. It should be here. I had it here an hour ago!"

"Hey, please. Relax, take a deep breath." Emily tried to calm the girl down and for the first time she seemed to do listen to her, sighing loudly as she took her hands out of her apron’s pocket and lifted her head up slowly.

Emily felt like the world stopped existing for just a moment when her eyes met the girl’s ones, establishing a connection that send a thrill down her spine and that lighted up her whole body, a sensation she had never felt before. "Are you okay?"

Emily took her time to commit to memory every single feature on the girl’s face, from the perfect slope of her nose to the soft bump of her cheekbones, from the gentle but still defined angle of her jaw, to the smooth surface of her chin and finally focusing all her attention on the plumpness of her velvety lips. Emily almost got lost again in the vastness of the girl’s eyes when she met them again that she almost forgot to answer the girl’s question, making her appear a bit dumb in front of her for gawking at her, "yeah, yes. I’m fine. Totally fine. Great. Hm-." Emily cleared her throat to stop herself from embarrassing herself some more continued with a regained composure, "how about you? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I am fine. Thank you."

"Good, I’m glad to hear that." Emily smiled gently at the girl before shaking her head as if she was the dumbest person on earth, "I’m Emily by the way."

"Y/N." The girl smiled gently at the poet while putting a strand of hair that fell in front of her face behind her ear, a gesture that made Emily’s brain melt as she took in the girl’s beauty.

"Y/N." Emily repeated, testing the girl’s name out, feeling a warmth spreading throughout her entire body as the name rolled over her tongue. "I like it. Y/N. It’s a really pretty name."

"Thank you. Emily is a great name too."

"Yeah, it has a Latin origin, it-."

"It’s a Roman name. It means laborious and eager among other things." Y/N interjected the brunette before she could speak and Emily had never felt so infatuated by someone in so little time.

"Yeah, how do you know that?"

"I like reading a lot. I do it whenever I can." Emily didn’t know it could have been possibile being interested in someone in so very little time, but she was starting to feel something for this girl, something she had only felt for one person only before.

"I like that too, a lot. What are you reading right now?"

"I just finished reading ‘The Old Curiosity Shop’ by Dickens. I liked it. What about you?"

"I am in the middle of reading The Divine Comedy by Dante. I’m halfway through Inferno."

"Oh I liked it a lot even though Purgatorio and Paradiso are just as beautiful. I mean his writing style gets more complex and more refined after each part."

Emily felt like she was floating through a new dimension where only Y/N and her existed, instigating a myriad of new emotions Emily never felt before that mixed with a few ones she only felt for Sue. "Wow, I-. I don’t know what to say. It’s the first time I hear someone talk about Dante’s amazing work without it being repeated from some stupid journalist’s review. No one really care to really read it. Or at least comprehend its real meaning behind his words."

"Because not everyone can see through what’s in front of them. There’s beauty hidden in every single thing we know, creating something new that just awaits to be discovered, studied. Most people just waits for someone else to do it." Y/N reasoned with a shrug, like she just didn’t made Emily fall madly in love with her brain.

"Wow- I- I feel like you had been in my mind and found a way to make it speak for itself. You-."

"Y/N! Are you ready to go?!" The poet got interrupted by a loud voice coming from behind Emily and when she turned around to look at who was yelling, she found a middle-aged woman with blonde hair styled in a perfect, classy bun, a blue dress with an apron on her front similar to Y/N’s one waving at her from the grocery’s shop a few feet from them.

"Sorry, I need to go. It was great talking with you Emily."

Emily felt her stomach drop at the aspect of having to part ways with Y/N, trying to find a way to prolong their time together. As she closed herself in her mind to think she didn’t notice Y/N refilling the bucket she unwillingly spilled over Emily and walked towards the woman, saluting Emily with a small nod. The gesture pulled Emily out of her thoughts and coming up empty-handed with ideas to make Y/N stay with her a bit longer, she could only sigh out loud, resigned but also completely smitten for the Y/H/C girl, before letting out softly, "the pleasure was all mine Y/N."

"Emily, where is the water?"

"What?" Emily got ripped out of her own thoughts full of the mysterious and intriguing Y/N by her mother as soon as she entered her house, her mother stopping her in their small hallway in front of the door and the living rooms before she could run upstairs and let her thoughts flow freely as she wrote a poem or two.

"The water Emily. I sent you fetching water an hour ago. Where is it?"

"Oh shit!" Emily just then noticed she came home empty-handed, she forgot her empty buckets at the well after her encounter with Y/N. "I forgot them at the well!"

"How?! You went there just for fetching water. How did you manage to forget that Emily?"

"I- I gotta go. Later!"

"Emily!"

"I don’t have time mom, I need to-." Emily got stopped mid-sentence and in her track towards her house’s door by her mother’s authoritative voice calling her from the living room.

"Emily! Come here, now."

"Mom, I have everything under control. I got distracted and I forgot the buckets there. I will be quick. I will go get them, fetch water and come back here." Emily explained quickly, hoping her mother wouldn’t be so much angry at herself for not doing what she asked her to do and getting ready for her scolding when she sighed out loud, pinched the bridge of her nose angrily and closed her eyes.

"It’s not that Emily. You are always avoiding doing chores, always complaining about them and never doing them in the end. It’s time for you to grow up. You will need to know how to be a proper housewife."

"But mom, I-."

"No buts." Emily’s mother ended their discussion with those final words spoken with authority and nodded at her daughter when she nodded dejected at her not winning this argument. "Since Lavinia is going to get a few groceries from the store and I’m going with her with the carriage, I’m going to go fetch water, while you’ll go into your room and think about what you did."

"Okay, mom. I’m so sorry." Emily’s mother smiled gently at her daughter for apologizing and laid a soft kiss on her forehead before she walked towards the stairs that would led to the first floor where the bedrooms were. She smiled apologetically at her mother once again but before she could go up the stairs and into her room to think and most importantly let her mind flow with writing her poems, she got stopped in her tracks.

"What is happening here?" Emily turned around at the sound of her father’s voice reaching her ears as he made his way into the living room after exiting his office, where he had been holed up the whole morning.

"Edward, your daughter Emily this morning was tasked to go fetch water and after disappearing for more than an hour, she also forgot our buckets at the well. Unbelievable!" Emily hung her head down in shame and closed her eyes to get herself ready for one of her father’s scoldings, not particularly thrilled on having her good mood ruined right now, but she had a feeling it was coming anyway as it was well due after her forgetting their buckets at the well.

"But also hilarious." Emily lifted her head up in shock after hearing her father’s words, not exactly expecting them, and widened her eyes comically. What was actually hilarious to Emily was her mother’s bewildered expression that stretched over her face as she stared in shock at her father. If she wasn’t already walking on thin ice, she would have laughed at her mother’s expression, so she kept quiet and listened to the conversation unfolding in front of her.

"Excuse me, dear, what?!"

"Oh c’mon, Mrs. Dickinson. You have to admit, it’s funny." Emily laughed nervously when her father started laughing loudly while looking at her mother then at her.

"But-." Emily bit on her bottom lip to prevent her smile to widen when her mother tried to reason with her father but he waved her off with a few chuckles still coming out of his lips.

"Oh, come on now Mrs. Dickinson. I know you want to laugh." Edward smiled at his wife and pointed his finger at the blonde woman, not putting it down until she saw a small grin making its way onto the woman’s lips, "ah there it is!"

"Oh dear, always finding a way to laugh! Anyway, I’m going with Lavinia to the grocery store and to retrieve our buckets to fetch water for dinner tonight."

"Great, I’m coming with you girls. I need to go to speak to Ronald about a really important matter I worked on this morning."

"Oh that’s wonderful, dear. Emily, why don’t you make it up to us by starting dinner?" Emily almost let her jaw drop down on the floor at her mother’s request. She knew she wasn’t a great cook, she hated cooking and something always ended up catching fire. But she also knew this was her mother’s way to tell her she wasn’t forgiven for the fetching water fiasco as her father made it sound and as much as she wanted to fight over it, she knew there wasn’t a way out of this. Oh, well it was worth a try.

"Mom, I don’t th-."

"Oh what a wonderful idea Mrs. Dickinson! I can’t wait to taste what you will prepare for us Emily! Let’s go now, we are gonna be late!"

Emily sighed dejected while making her way towards the kitchen to start up dinner and as she tried to not set the whole house on fire, she let her mind fill with the few memories she had of Y/N. She was fascinating, captivating, alluring. She piqued Emily’s interest with just a few words and when Y/N expressed her passion for books, ignited a fire in Emily that had been extinguished since she had broken things off with Sue. Could that mean something? Emily was sure she felt their souls connect in such a raw and deep way she had never experienced before, but would that be enough for Y/N as it was for her? As she started baking the freshly made loaf of bread, a sudden need to know if Y/N felt the same hit her and with a renewed determination she set her mind to try to encounter the Y/H/C girl the next morning.

"Good morning my dear mother." Emily entered the kitchen with a grin so bright they could have used it to light up the whole house at night, arousing suspects from her mother that stared at her warily as she watched her make her way towards her as she prepared their breakfast.

"Emily, good morning to you too. Did something happen that put you in a good mood?"

"Nothing in particular. I just woke up like this today. Do you need help? I still want to make it up to you again for yesterday. Maybe I can go fetch the water again? This time I will bring back the buckets, I promise." Emily tried to be as subtle as she could without making her mother ask the real reasons behind her intentions on wanting to go fetch water, finishing with a joke to sell it better.

"Oh sweety, what a wonderful idea. You can help me with putting everything in the living room. And don’t worry about fetching water, Vinnie already went this morning."

With her heart sinking down in her stomach, she reluctantly grabbed the tray full of their breakfast her mother already prepared to the living room, trudging a bit in her steps as she tried to think of another strategy to meet Y/N again.

"Emily can you please help me with dinner?"

"I can’t mom, I need to write. I don’t have time to help you with dinner or chores."

"Well, I am sure it can wait." Emily snorted under her breath at her mother’s rebuttal as she made her way into her room.

"No mom, it sadly can’t. When words flow out of me I can’t stop them or ask them to wait to help with chores."

"It’s worth a try, isn’t it? I need help Emily, Vinnie is setting the table after cleaning the house, so you’re the one who will help me. C’mon, it will be fun!"

"I’m sure it will, but I really can’t right now. It would be so much easier if we get a housemaid to help you out."

"You are talking nonsense Emily, I am perfectly capable of doing it all by myself and with the help of my daughters everything can be done faster, so now please come down with me and help me out. You will write later." Emily sighed out as she let her pencil fall down on her desk, the soft clinking sound of the pencil hitting the wooden surface of her desk calmed Emily just a little, making a quick grin appear on her lips before a small frown took its place. The poet sat up slowly from her desk, placing both of her hands on it to slowly stand up, the screeching sound of the chair moving back filling the sudden silent room as her mother watched her movements with rapt attention.

"I will help you for just a bit, but I can’t take too long on helping you with chores because I’m really trying to finish a poem."

"That’s the spirit! C’mon honey, I will show you how to make the perfect roasted chicken that will make you the perfect housewife every gentleman would love to marry."

More like gentlewoman. Emily added in her mind and as soon as that thought came into her mind, Y/N appeared right after as she smiled lovingly at her. That instantly made Emily stop in her tracks on the stairs, watching blankly her mother’s back as she descended the stairs and rambled about roasted chicken Emily wasn’t interested in listening at the moment. What made Emily freeze in her spot was the fact that for the first time since she could remember she didn’t imagine marrying Sue. She imagined Y/N. And that thought excited her to no end, instead of scaring her. "Shit." Emily sighed dopily as she smiled with her eyes full of love as another image of Y/N waving at her entered her mind.

"Emily, hurry up!" Emily let her dumb smile linger a few more seconds on her features before shaking her head and resuming her way down the stairs to join her mother in the kitchen and help her with their dinner.

"We should hire a maid to help mom out in the house."

"What?"

"We should hire a maid to help mom out in the house."

"I heard you the first time dear, I was just shocked by the request." Edward smiled gently at her daughter repeating herself before going back to being serious as he regarded her with a curious look in his features. "Why should we hire a maid? Your mother is perfectly capable of doing a good job here."

"Ah- a great job dear! I told you this earlier Emily. We don’t need a maid."

"But it would be so much easier for you. For all of us! She would help mom with chores so she doesn’t tire herself out every single day. And she would do a lot of things mom asks me or Vinnie to do. C’mon dad, think about it!"

"Well-."

"Edward you are not seriously considering it, aren’t you?"

"Honey, she is not completely wrong. She would help you out, you know I hate how much tired you are at the end of the day."

They kept discussing it for a few more minutes as they enjoyed their dinner but when the dessert came, her mother served it in an unsettling silence so they moved onto a new subject Emily wasn’t interested in listening. As she ate her dessert she couldn’t help but let her eyes linger on her mother a few times and observed her as she stayed quiet for the rest of the dinner with a sad expression on her features. Despite her mother not taking assuming a maid to help her too well, Emily was sure she will come around eventually. Emily knew she was asking to hire a maid to have more time to write but she also really wanted her to help her mother and ease her load of work to do in the house.

"Good morning dear family."

"Good morning to you too Edward." Emily’s mother smiled widely at her husband as she finished serving everybody’s breakfast before her grin got ten times wider and brighter when Edward leaned over and kissed her gently.

"Hm, I can smell so many delicious things today." Emily watched as her father sat down in his chair and brought up his newspaper to read the news, his smile never dampening.

"I can see you are in a good mood this morning, dear."

"Because I am."

"I’m glad to hear that, honey."

"How is my family doing this morning?" Edward brought his newspaper down after reading a few paragraphs of the first news and took a sip of his tea, then moving onto taking a bite of her wife’s famous scones, humming in satisfaction at the taste.

"I am good dad, I just finished reading an article about financial management that I found pretty interesting." Austin was the first to speak up after taking a sip of his own tea, smiling at his father as he did so when he nodded at him in understanding.

"And what about my girls?"

"Last night I finished sewing a pillow for my cat, he loves it!" Lavinia announced with a bright grin, her enthusiasm filling the room as everyone at the table smiled at the ecstatic blonde.

"I finished a few poems I was working on."

"That’s great guys, I see everyone is proud of their achievements! But now let’s move on why I am in a good mood today. There is a reason and that said reason is- after considering it for the last few days, I decided that we will hire a maid to help in the house!"

"What?!" Everyone exclaimed at the table at the same time with excited tones, except for Mrs. Dickinson, who looked at her husband like he went completely nuts.

"Yeah!" Edward smiled alongside his son and daughters, not noticing her wife’s expression yet, "I thought about it and in the end it was a really great idea Emily!"

"I’m so happy to hear that dad!"

"Honey, why are you doing this?" Mrs. Dickinson finally found her voice to speak up and asked in a strained tone the first thing that came up in her hazed mind still shocked from the news Edward delivered.

"Oh dear, it will be good for the house and for you. You tire yourself up too much for this house."

"But- I’m fine."

"I know you want to make it look like it, but I know some days are really stressful. I see how spent you are after those days at night. I’m doing this for you too!" Edward explained calmly as he enjoyed his breakfast, his good mood still on.

"Yeah, I can be a little tired, but a great night of sleep sweeps it all away and restores my energy back."

"I am sure of that, but it will good! We can do more small trips or spend days differently when I am not working and you’re not thinking about doing any kind of chore in the house."

"Yeah, mom, it will be good for everyone here, you’ll see!" Austin butted in with a cheerful tone and nodded at her mother still looking worried and skeptic.

"Yeah mom, you can finally focus on yourself a bit more." Lavinia then decided to add her thoughts too, trying to encourage her mother on relaxing on this topic, although she knew it was a sore spot since she always aspired to be a great housewife and having a maid restrained her from doing that in her mind.

"Mom, think about it, you can find a new hobby with the extra free time you will have!" It was Emily this time that spoke up, encouraging her mother with a brighter-than-the-sun grin that unfortunately her mother didn’t reciprocate as she stayed frozen in her chair with her eyebrows furrowed together and a sad expression on her features.

"See? The kids have all good points!" Edward looked at his wife with a wide grin, nodding at her encouragingly, "anyway, the decision is already made. They are coming here tonight."

"They?" Emily wanted to snort under her breath at the outraged tone her mother used to pose the question to her father, but decided to stay still for once and enjoy the show in front of her.

"Yeah, two of them. One of my dearest friends is moving to Minnesota and he doesn’t need his maids anymore since he won’t take them with him, so they are coming here. He told me they are the best maids in Amherst. An Irish woman and her niece."

"That’s so exciting!" Lavinia exclaimed as she clapped her hands enthusiastically, making Emily and Austin smile fondly at her.

"Ah, good evening! Come inside please!"

"Good evening Mr. Dickinson." Emily could hear from downstairs his father greeting guests at the door but she shrugged and went back to her poem, but for some reason her attention shifted back to the new guests in their house and after a few more attempt of focusing to write a few more lines in vain, the poet gave up and sighed out loud as she placed everything in her small drawer in her desk, before sitting up from the chair and making her way downstairs to greet their guests.

"We’re so happy to have you here!"

"The pleasure is all ours Mr. Dickinson." An Irish accent waved through the air, increasing Emily’s curiosity and made her almost sprint down the stairs to go see the new maids as soon as she realized who their guests were.

"Oh Lavinia, come here. They are our new maids."

"Nice to meet you!"

"Nice to meet you Miss Dickinson." Something like a familiar voice reached Emily’s ears as she descended the last few steps and almost fell down of them when she got at the top of the last set of stairs and her eyes met with a pair of wonderful, familiar irises.

"The pleasure is all mine, trust me!"

"Ah, Emily! You are here too. They are our new maids."

"Oh hello Miss Dickinson."

"Good evening Miss Dickinson."

"H-hello. Just call me Emily, please." The poet found the strength to descend the last few steps and even talk coherently before walking slowly towards the two new guests in her house, stopping right beside her father.

"You will meet my son soon. He is coming here with his wife tonight. And about my wife, I really don’t know where she is." Edward joked, making the two guests laugh softly under their breath, clear, wide smiles etched on their lips. "Anyway, they are Mrs. Maggie and Miss Y/N."

"It’s a real pleasure meeting you both." Lavinia butted in sincerely and nodded at them softly, meanwhile Emily still tried to properly kickstart her brain.

"It’s a pleasure for me too. I hope you will enjoy staying here."

"Oh Miss Dickinson, I am sure it will be amazing staying here." Maggie countered back with a warm grin, mirrored by Y/N right after with a small nod of her head.

"Alright, girls would you mind showing them around?"

"I need to finish a few things for my art lesson tomorrow." Lavinia admitted dejectedly and the fact that she could potentially be alone with Y/N again thrilled Emily to no end.

"I can show them around the house, no problem Vinnie. Dad we will see you later."

"Okay, have fun!" Emily smiled and nodded at her father before dorkily lifting her thumb up and saluted him before signaling Y/N and Maggie to follow her in the kitchen.

"Alright, this is the kitchen. A place my mom likes to call her kingdom." Emily joked with a soft snort that morphed into a squeal when her mother appeared out of nowhere.

"That’s right dear."

"Mom! You scared our guests!"

"I think you were the most scared here, honey." Emily rolled her eyes at her mother’s teasing and shook her head with an amused smile.

"Mom, they are Y/N and Maggie. Our new maids."

"Nice to meet you Mrs. Dickinson." Y/N was the first to speak up, trying to look cool when inside she was freaking out about meeting Emily again. She thought she would’ve never encountered her again.

"It’s a pleasure to meet you Mrs. Dickinson."

"You are so young Maggie." Emily smiled subtly as she sunk her teeth on her bottom lip to prevent to be caught laughing about her mother being so caught up in being mad for having maids in their house that she didn’t even pay attention remember their names, since she called Y/N Maggie.

"Mom, she is Y/N. She is Maggie." Emily emphasized the word ‘she’ as she pointed to the redhead and noticed, to her surprise, that both of their guests had amusement on their faces.

"Oh sorry, I have a terrible headache and I do not have my usual laser focused attention on anything today." Emily’s mother tried to cover up her mistake with a made up lie and laughed softly to light the air up quickly.

"Ah you should see me with an headache, I don’t even walk straight. I bump into things all the time." The redhead joked before moving on telling Emily’s mother an old Irish remedy for headache.

After a delicious dinner her mother prepared Y/N and Maggie disappeared into the kitchen to clean everything up, despite her mother’s protests, who in the end stayed still in her loveseat in the living room. The whole family stayed about an half an hour to chat, before everyone called it a night, saying goodbye to Sue and Austin, before going upstairs to sleep. Emily stayed in the living room a little bit more to pretend to read, staring at the words written on her book, as she waited for the perfect moment to ‘casually bump’ into Y/N before she could go to sleep in her room. Luckily she didn’t have to wait too long. "Go to bed aunt Maggie. We are almost done. I can finish the last touches myself."

"Are you sure?" Emily could hear the hesitation in Maggie’s tone, not wanting her niece to finish alone, but she could already picture Y/N protest with a resolute nod despite not knowing the girl at all except for a few details they shared a few days prior.

"I am sure auntie. Go. I will finish this up quickly and I will go to sleep too."

"Okay munchkin. Don’t wear yourself out. We have to wake up early tomorrow for breakfast."

"I won’t. Goodnight auntie."

"Goodnight Y/N/N." Emily immediately moved herself from her position on the loveseat as she was leaning over to take a small peak from the kitchen and eavesdrop as good as she could and pretended to casually read before Maggie could catch her. "Oh Miss Dickinson, still up?"

"Oh hey, Maggie. Yeah, I couldn’t sleep so I decided to read for a bit hoping sleep to find me."

"Ah, you should try the concoction my uncle used to make me when I couldn’t sleep. It was disgusting but it always made me sleep like a baby." Maggie delivered another one of her great and funny anecdotes to give her personal advice and Emily smiled kindly up at her as she caressed the pages of her book.

"One of these days you could make me some and we will see if it works for me too!"

"Alright. Goodnight Miss Dickinson."

"Goodnight Maggie." Emily smiled widely at the redhead before watching her walk up the stairs until she disappeared behind the wall. Emily stayed still for a few more seconds, listening for Maggie’s room’s door to close before immediately closing her book and sitting up, placed the book back in its designated place and almost sprinted into the kitchen, excited to finally spend some time alone with Y/N. She had been trying to do that for the whole evening, but she always had something to do with someone always in the way.

"Spying on people is wrong Miss Dickinson." Emily jumped up in fright as she had been caught staring from the threshold of the kitchen Y/N putting the plates they used during their dinner in the cabinet on top of the counter.

"Sorry, I was watching you work."

"Yeah, I noticed it." Emily smiled as her teeth sunk in her bottom lip at Y/N’s sarcastic counter back and walked into the kitchen, stopping right in front of Y/N, the kitchen’s wooden table separating them. The fire in the fireplace was still crackling softly in the silent room, bathing the room with an orange light that highlighted Y/N’s Y/E/C irises and almost made Emily faint at such ethereal beauty.

"Have you finished yet? You must be tired."

"I am, just a bit, but I am almost finished."

"Do you need some help?" Emily asked in hope Y/N would say yes, so she could prove to her she wasn’t the snotty rich girl that didn’t want to help in her house with chores. She didn’t exactly know why, but she just wanted to do it.

"No don’t worry. Aren’t you tired?"

"Not at all, I tend to have a lot of energy at night."

"Oh so you sleep during the day?"

"Not really. I am not a morning person, but I don’t oversleep."

"Oh I see." Emily detected a sarcastic lilt in Y/N’s tone and immediately wanted to prove to Y/N she wasn’t a lazy person.

"I swear I am not! Do you remember when we met a few days ago? It was around 7 a.m.! That was early in the morning!"

"Yeah, but I also remember that after that you forgot your buckets at the well." Y/N teased making Emily drop her jaw on the floor flabbergasted, making Y/N snort under her breath.

"I-I was distracted! I wanted to get them back but my mother prevented me to and did it herself."

"Yeah, I saw her." Y/N still had an amused grin on her lips but Emily could see the entertainment in her eyes that made Emily realize she was just messing with her and for a mysterious reason Emily wanted her to keep going, she wanted to be the subject of her teasing and entertainment just to see her smile.

"I tried to find you again at the well the next few days but I never did."

"Yeah, I was busy in the house helping Mr. Peterson with packing all his family’s stuff for their moving."

"Oh, yeah. That makes sense." Emily nodded in understanding before detaching her eyes from Y/N’s magnetic ones and focused instead on her wringing hands.

"Did you finish Dante’s Divina Commedia?"

"Yeah, last night actually. This morning I tried to find something new to start but nothing piqued my interest." Emily admitted after moving her gaze back on Y/N, who now placed the cloth she had previously in her hands neatly folded on the table.

"Ah I see. It happens to me all the time."

"Do you have some recommendations?"

"Hm, I need to think about it. I am a little bit tired and I can’t actually think about anything worth your while right now." Y/N chuckled after finishing speaking as she shyly made her way towards Emily, who stood a few feet from her.

"Oh then I won’t keep you away from sleeping."

"No, no. Don’t worry. I like talking to you but for now, as late as it is, I would like to keep our conversation as simple as possible."

"That’s fine by me."

"Do you want to stay here or-."

Emily didn’t let Y/N finish as she spoke up without thinking, blurting words out without any control, "we can go up to my room."

Y/N seemed taken aback for a few quick moments before a mischievous grin replaced the confused frown she had on, "oh I see where this is going."

"What-? OH! NO, NO, NO, NO! Y/N!" Emily exclaimed in shock before slapping Y/N’s shoulder gently, watching as she snickered under her breath at her joke.

"What?! It was a legit reaction from me!"

"I am not trying to seduce you!" But I would like to. Emily thought wistfully in her head as she tried to look as shocked as she felt a few seconds prior instead of looking like a kicked puppy yearning for cuddles.

"That’s not what your words sounded like Miss Dickinson."

"Ugh, you are unbelievable!"

"Let’s go now." Y/N shook her head with a small chuckle, making Emily’s heart clench at her cuteness.

"I-Okay. But it’s not done!"

"Whatever, now let’s go!"

"Okay, okay. Relax." The two made their way up the stairs as quietly as they could since everyone was already asleep and as soon as Emily closed the door behind herself, she felt butterflies fly around her stomach in excitement. She was with Y/N, in her bedroom, alone.

"Nice room." Y/N admitted as she took Emily’s bedroom in, walking around the small room to try to take in as much details about Emily as she could in the softly lit room.

"Thank you. You can sit on my bed, you are tired. I will take the chair."

"I can’t sit down Emily. I am your maid."

"I don’t care."

"I am serious Emily. It won’t be a problem-." Emily stopped Y/N mid-sentence by walking towards her and stopping right in front of her before placing her hands on her shoulders and pushing her gently backwards until the back of her knees touched her mattress, then she pushed her down and made her sit on the bed.

"There, it wasn’t so bad, was it?" Emily smirked proudly down at a shocked Y/N and following the bold thrill she had been hit on, she sat right beside Y/N and bumped their shoulders together.

"You are always so full of surprises Miss Dickinson." Y/N admitted and Emily called herself crazy because she saw Y/N blush slightly under the soft light coming from the fireplace. It must be her infatuated mind playing her games.

"It’s something you need to get used to from now on."

"Hm, I like it though."

"I’m glad to hear that." For a moment they just stood there, sat in silence in Emily’s room, gazing into each other’s eyes as small smiles adorned their features.

"I noticed all those small scraps of paper on your desk, what are those for?"

"Oh I write my poems on them. I am actually working on a poem right now."

"Are you serious?"

"Very." Emily nodded and smiled as she pushed her chest up proudly, "do you want to read a few things I’ve written?"

"Oh yeah! Absolutely!"

"Okay then." Emily sat up from her bed and walked towards her desk, opened the small drawer and grabbed a few poems she was sure Y/N would’ve liked, of course she didn’t grab the few ones she wrote about her.

"Wow, there are so many!"

"Yeah!" Emily smiled brightly like a kid on Christmas Day, just like every time she talked about her poems, and watching Y/N’s eyes fill with excitement warmed her heart.

"I can’t wait to read them!"

"Okay, which one do you want to start with?"

"I don’t know, you are the poet. You should tell me."

"I- I don’t actually know! Let me think- I want you to start with-." Emily trailed off to pick one out of the five ones she brought to Y/N as she sat back down on the bed, "this one, but then I also want you to read this one first." Emily pointed to another poem with her pointer finger as she held the previous poem she choose in her hand and smiled sheepishly at Y/N.

"Okay, let’s try with this. What is the poem you are the most proud of. Don’t think too much. Just point at it."

"Okay, hm- this one then."

"Alright." Y/N grabbed the poem Emily gave her and opened the small folded up paper, reading the words written in Emily’s elegant but a bit messy handwriting. The edges of the paper were a little bit dirty with ink but it only made the poem ten times better, full of raw emotions and vulnerability.

"What do you think?" Emily asked anxiously after a few minutes passed by and Y/N haven’t opened her mouth yet, her Y/E/C irises glued on the small piece of paper and her face completely blank, making reading her face a really difficult task for the poet.

"I-I-. It’s the most beautiful thing I’ve ever read, Emily. It’s so raw, so real. It opened my mind to new possibilities, it made my eyes see the world from another point of view. It felt like I was in your mind and I could see the world how you see it."

"Do you think so?"

"Absolutely!" Emily felt tears prickle behind her eyes at Y/N’s words, something really rare despite how emotional Emily was about her poems. She was very proud of them and when people complimented them it only helps to boost her self-esteem but it never happened that just a few words made her almost cry. Y/N was really special.

"Thank you. Truly." Emily smiled appreciatively at Y/N as she tried with all her might to not cry in front of Y/N. "No one ever complimented my poems that way."

"Well people are dumb and stupid. You are an amazing writer and your poems will change lives." Emily smiled bittersweetly at that as she picked at a thumbnail nervously. Those words. She recalled them being said by Sue.

"Yeah, I already heard that. Someone already told me."

"And why do you not believe in them?"

"It’s not that I don’t believe in them." Emily started slowly, swallowing the small lump that immediately formed in her throat as her mind filled with memories of Sue, of all the great time she spent with her, of how much she cared for her. "It’s just that- the person that told me that doesn’t tell me those words anymore."

"Why? Did they change their minds?"

"No absolutely not. We just- grew apart I think. She has a new life now. I’m not a part of it anymore."

"Do you want to talk about it?" Y/N asked in a soft voice, leaning her head to the side, in a cute manner Emily noted, and looking at Emily with a gentle gaze as soon as she noticed the poet’s sad expression on her features.

"Not right now. I will, I trust you. I just- I don’t want to ruin the mood or like- annoy you."

"You won’t ever annoy me Emily Dickinson. You have such a way with words that you make listening to you alluring." Emily felt her eyes prickle slightly with unshed tears again as she listened to Y/N’s words and smiled appreciatively at her.

"I- I don’t know what to say. I-thank you."

"You don’t need to thank me Emily. I mean that. I hope you know I am sincere."

"I know, I can sense it from your voice and your eyes." Emily pointed her words out with her brown eyes as she glued them to Y/N’s Y/E/C irises, noticing Y/N swallowing almost imperceptibly at the bold gesture but decided to not comment on it.

"You know-." Y/N started after a few moments of them just staring into each other eyes, both feeling the air around them charge with an unknown electricity but not dwelling or thinking about it too much, but got cut off by a big yawn. She promptly covered her mouth with her hand before placing it back on her lap and smiling embarrassedly at Emily with a small blush on her cheeks, "sorry, I am a bit tired."

"Don’t apologize. I should be the one apologizing for keeping you up this late at night after the busy day you had. Not to mention the busy early day you will have tomorrow. Shit, I am so sorry." Emily grimaced after she realized she had been keeping Y/N from her well-needed sleep, but Y/N, the cute self she is, only shook her head gently.

"No, no, no, Emily. It’s fine. I wanted to spend some time with you too."

"Are you sure?"

"Positive." Y/N smiled widely at Emily before starting to get up from her bed, "well, I should go to sleep now. I need to be up at 6 a.m. to start preparing breakfast."

"Do you need some help with that tomorrow morning?"

"Another one of these questions. Hm, are you sure you really needed a maid? You seem to want to do all these chores by yourself." Y/N questioned with a mocking tone as a small, entertained smirk appeared on her lips, mirth clear in her Y/E/C irises as they eyed Emily teasingly.

"I just-." Emily trailed off to ponder her options. She could easily lie about her real intentions behind her question or she could be bold for once and actually tell she just want to spend as much time as she could with Y/N to get to know her. She decided to be bold for once. She was tired not listening to her heart’s desires. "I like your company and I really want to spend more time with you."

"Oh Emily, we will spend more time together, I promise. My aunt Maggie established a few shifts between us. I have an early morning but I work till 6 p.m., then I’m done for the day. We can do something together after dinner like tonight." Y/N suggested as she idly played with her fingers, anticipation filling her whole body as she waited for Emily’s reaction to her suggestion.

"That would be great!" Emily exclaimed excitedly and had to really stop herself from jumping up and down in happiness at the prospect of spending more time with Y/N, just sticking on grinning widely at Y/N, who did the same.

"Okay then. Goodnight." Y/N nodded towards Emily and turned around to open the door, before turning her head back around to look at Emily once again, waiting her answer.

"Goodnight Y/N. Sleep well."

"You too."

Y/N opened the door completely and exited the room, smiled at Emily one more time before closing the door, sauntering into her room, across from her aunt’s one. As soon as the door closed, Emily sighed out dreamily and let herself fall on her mattress with a dopey smile on her lips, the soft thud filling the silence in the room. "Y/N." She whispered under her breath before closing her eyes and let her mind be filled with images of Y/N as she let sleep take over her.

"Good morning!" Emily exclaimed as soon as she entered the living room, her face illuminated by a big grin that lighted up the whole room, making her whole family, already seated at the table, look at her curiously.

"Someone is in a great mood today." Edward pointed out after he pushed his newspaper down and took a look at her daughter.

"I just slept good, that’s all."

"You are right on time honey, I was just telling your father that Austin and Sue will join us for dinner tonight again." Emily spit the sip of tea she was drinking at the news, not noticing the small snort that left Y/N’s mouth as she served the poet her breakfast, luckily only Emily heard that.

"What?"

"Isn’t it amazing? It’s been too long since they had been here with us. They are so busy with their sophisticated parties these days. It’s a rare occasion having them joining us for two nights in a row."

"Parties I am paying." Edward pointed out making Emily grunt in acknowledgement. She was avoiding Sue at all costs and she was glad the night prior they were all busy chatting, it made avoiding Sue easier.

"Parties we are not invited to. Em you are Sue’s best friend, why don’t you ask her to invite us?" Lavinia lamented with a whining tone, pushing gently on her sister’s shoulder but then crossing her arms stubbornly when Emily just gently shook her head.

"She has new friends now. She is not interested in hanging out with us anymore." Y/N couldn’t help but notice the bittersweet tone Emily used as she addressed her sister’s question and the sad expression that flitted over her features for just over a second before it got covered by a calculated blank expression, but she couldn’t dwell on it too much as she kept serving breakfast to the Dickinson family, so she made a mental note to ask Emily about it that night.

"Speaking of friends, Emily!" Emily’s mother caught the poet’s attention and continued only when she met her eyes, "I met George this morning at the grocery store. He is such a nice guy."

"I know where this is going mom. I’m not going to marry him. He is a great friend. That’s all." Y/N missed Emily’s mother counter back and she didn’t hear the rest of the conversation going between Emily and her mother as she returned to the kitchen to tidy up the kitchen a bit before starting up lunch, not having the time to notice her stomach jumping up in happiness at Emily refusing to marry her friend.

"Are you sure? I can help you with all this mess."

"Oh don’t worry Y/N/N, go get some rest. You had a very stressful day. It’s my turn now." Maggie assured her niece, waving her off as she tidied up the kitchen after the Dickinson’s dinner. "No, don’t try to convince me. Go!"

"Thank you. Goodnight."

"G’night."

Y/N exited the kitchen to go up the stairs and to her room, but unfortunately she had to pass by the living room where the Dickinson family was still chatting after their dinner. Y/N sighed out of relief when no one seemed to notice her presence and kept minding their business and continued her quiet way up the stairs, a little bit sad that she probably won’t spend some time with Emily like they planned. Despite good mood being slightly dampened by hers and Emily’s plans ruined, when she arrived at her door she sighed out wistfully at the mere thought of finally getting rid of her devilish corset and lay on bed, but before she could open the door a hand touched her shoulder and squealed in fright. "Shit- Emily!"

"Sorry, sorry! I thought you heard me." Emily reasoned with an apologetic grimace, warming Y/N’s heart at the cute sight when she turned around and was met with puppy dog eyes.

"No, I was just thinking about getting rid of my corset."

"Oh I know the feeling. Looking forward on breathing normally again, hm?" Emily joked, making Y/N snort softly as she nodded in agreement with the poet.

"You have no idea."

"I have actually, because I need to get rid of my corset too. I can’t stand having it on me for one more second. Do you mind if I change in my night gown and then we can hang out?"

Y/N looked a bit taken aback from the question, not really expecting it from the brunette, "don’t you have your entire family downstairs?"

"Yeah, but they will be fine. I spent enough quality time with them, now it’s time to spend some quality time with you." Emily admitted with the slightest rosy tint on her cheeks and for once she was grateful for the lightly lit hallway so she can hide it from Y/N, who didn’t seem to notice Emily’s shy behavior.

"You make me feel too special Emily. Choosing me over your family, wow- that’s flattering." Y/N felt the need to half joke with her hand on her heart as she tried to not show how much touched she was by Emily’s words, since she only met the poet a few days prior and she was her maid.

"Get used to it! Now let’s go, I’ll help you with your corset then you’ll help me with mine."

"Hm, so eager to see me naked. Are you trying to seduce me Miss Dickinson?" Emily felt her face heat up in a millisecond at the question, not sure this time she could hide it from Y/N, her heart skipping a beat before starting beating fast in her chest as her mind filled with completely not innocent images of a naked Y/N on h-. "Emily? Are you okay?"

"Oh- I- I was-wasn’t. I was just trying to help, y’know since corsets are so difficult to take off. I always ask Lavinia to help me because I can’t reach the strings behind me, but she is busy right now so sh-."

"Emily, it’s okay. I was kidding, relax." Y/N giggled softly under her breath and bumped her left shoulder with Emily’s one to help the girl calm down, effectively stopping her ramblings.

"Oh I- I knew that." Emily laughed awkwardly for a few moments before clearing her throat, "should we, I don’t know go in your room or-?"

"Oh yes, let’s go, so I can help you undress." The last part of Y/N’s phrase sent Emily’s brain out of control as it replayed those words over and over again and each time it only helped melting her brain into mush as far from innocent images filed in.

"O-okay, let’s go." Y/N nodded and opened her bedroom door, letting Emily in first then following her, closing the door a moment later to have some privacy.

"How was dinner?" Y/N asked as she tried to look as nonchalant as she could despite having a really pretty girl in her bedroom about to undress her. Okay that totally sounded really dirty and out of context it could sound like what it actually sounded like, but we all know the truth, right?

"It was good. I liked your special bread recipe, you need to teach me how to make it."

"Oh yeah, it’s actually aunt Maggie’s recipe, but I added a little bit of raisins to enhance its flavor."

"They definitely do their work because it was the best bread I’ve ever tasted. Do not tell my mother that." Emily was quick to whisper the last part with the hand on the left side of her mouth, making Y/N laugh heartily at her goofiness.

"Noted." Y/N nodded as she still smiled widely at Emily, before starting playing with her fingers nervously. "Hm-."

"What?"

"I- I really can’t resist another second in this. Can you please-?" Y/N trailed off, letting the half-finished question hang in the electrified air between them as she stared at everything around the room but at Emily’s magnetic brown irises, moving her hands to signal behind her back to hint at Emily she needed to take off her corset.

"Wha- OH! Your corset. Of course. Yeah. Yeah." Emily nodded as she stumbled over her words, grimacing inwardly at her awkwardness. "Hm- turn around please. I’ll help you out."

"Oh yeah, thank you." Y/N held her breath as she turned around and almost gasped out loud when a pair of slightly cold hands touched the skin of her back.

"Sorry, my hands are a bit cold."

"Don’t worry." Y/N let out in a breath as she tried to calm herself down and not look like she was actually melting under Emily’s touch. After a few moments, Emily succeeded in loosening the strands of Y/N’s corset and the girl visibly relaxed, "letting your corset loose is like- the best feeling ever, right?"

"Yeah, every night I feel like my soul comes back in my body."

"Yeah, they should be banned. Why women need to suffer this much while men wear the comfiest clothes ever created?"

Emily listened to Y/N talking as she focused on her fingers unfastening Y/N’s corset, "that’s what I’m always thinking about. I tried pants once, it was a breakthrough. Never had on something so comfy in my life. Even my night gown isn’t that comfortable."

"Wait- you had the privilege to try pants on?"

"Yeah! Of course my parents don’t know that, but yeah."

"Wow, I always imagined trying them! How do they feel?"

"Amazing! And I even tried a blouse with a vest. No corset on. Even better than having pants on." Emily admitted and watched delighted Y/N’s face illuminate like a Christmas three, full of curiosity and wonder.

"Wow, that sounds amazing." Emily focused on untying the last strand of Y/N’s corset with shaky hands even if she tried to stop her body from shaking with her nerves, the mere thought Y/N was a few beats away from being naked short-circuited her brain. "I always wanted to try men’s clothes on."

"When do you have the whole afternoon free?" Emily asked with excitement shining brightly in her eyes, almost jumping up and down in her spot in anticipation as an idea popped in her mind.

"Thursday. I start at 18 Friday afternoon then."

"Alright, I really hoped it was Thursday afternoon. My parents and Lavinia are going to some kinda spa thing my aunt Lavinia organized, I’m not going because I’m not in the mood to go, even if my mom and Lavinia have been trying to convince me for days. But now that I know we can have almost 24 hours together I’m definitely not going."

"Wait- hold on, are you serious?"

"Yeah, I can even convince them to bring Maggie with them or let her have a few days off. I think they will be back Friday night or maybe Saturday morning, I need to ask them."

"Wow, I don’t know what to say!"

"Well, my dear Y/N get ready for these days all by ourselves." Emily announced excitedly, finding the same amount of excitement she had in her eyes into Y/N’s Y/E/C irises, warming her heart to no end. She was afraid she could come off as too eager to spend some alone time with Y/N, but the Y/H/C girl didn’t seem to mind or she didn’t pay attention to it and it reassured Emily.

"I can’t wait." Y/N exclaimed excitedly before shivering slightly as cold air hit her hot skin, "I should put something on quickly."

"Oh yeah, it’s freezing!"

The two girls stayed looking at each other for a few more seconds before Y/N moved her gaze away to find something to put on, Emily quickly turning around as her cheeks warmed up and her heart beat loudly in her ears. "Okay, we can go now."

"Oh thank God, I seriously need to get rid of this corset as well."

"We better hurry up then." Y/N snickered at Emily’s whiny tone, ushering her out her room.

"Have you ever thought-." Emily stopped in her tracks when, after looking at Y/N for a moment on her way out Y/N’s room, she turned back around to look where she was going to not trip over something and she was met with a pair of familiar eyes.

"Emily."

"Sue." Y/N exited the room right behind Emily and stopped in her tracks too when she was met with Sue’s confused and also a little bit… jealous? - Y/N couldn’t tell - eyes, but she sure she could feel a little bit of electricity palpable in the air, especially when Sue detached her eyes from her and stared Emily down with an hard gaze, silence filling the small hallway for a few long moments.

"I- I hoped we could talk a bit. It’s been a while."

"Oh- can we do it tomorrow? I am a bit tired."

"Oh- oh y-yeah, s-sure. How is it going with your poems?" Sue asked with a bit of a shaky voice, her eyes full of a nostalgic glint that intrigued Y/N to no end.

"It’s going just fine. They are my safe place where I can hide when I need to be away from the world."

"Yeah, I remember. They were the most powerful way for your heart and mind to speak out loud. I miss them." Sue admitted with a nostalgic tilt in her tone that kept fueling Y/N’s curiosity about the strange dynamic that Emily and Sue shared.

"Well you decided you didn’t want them anymore. So it’s a bit hypocritical missing them, don’t you think?"

"I- I- uh, that’s why I wanted to talk to you." Sue started with her voice full of anxiety and anticipation, "it’s been too long and I-."

"You were pretty clear the last time we spoke to each other. If you want to tell me about your amazing parties and your new friends, fine. But if you want to say anything else, you don’t need to worry. There is nothing else to say."

"I-." Sue sighed out loud while her shoulders lost their tension and slumped back in their position, "I guess you are right. I have no right to want to make amends after what I did and said. I just miss my best friend."

"What? Aren’t your new friends enough? This explains your need to always want more."

"I guess I deserved that." Sue hung her head down a few beats before meeting Emily’s eyes again, "I didn’t want this. Us fighting."

"I didn’t want this too. I- listen, we will talk. Tomorrow. Okay?"

"Thank you." Sue went to hug Emily but she stopped in her tracks when she stepped back and shook her head a bit.

"Right. I’ll see you tomorrow. Goodnight."

"Goodnight."

"Have a good night Mrs. Dickinson." Y/N chimed in for the first time since they bumped into Sue and smiled politely at the girl who looked her up and down before smiling politely too and nodding back.

"Have a good night too-."

"Y/N." Y/N finished for Sue, who trailed off waiting for the Y/E/C girl to help her out.

"Y/N." Sue repeated before turning around and going down the stairs where chatter was still going animatedly. Y/N watched the brunette’s back a few seconds as her mind replayed everything that went through in the last couple of minutes before focusing her attention back on Emily, finding her already looking at her, making her heart skip a beat.

"Hey." Y/N started with a soft voice, her smile widening when Emily grinned gently at her.

"Hey. Sorry you had to witness that." Emily apologized as she opened her bedroom door and lead them in her bedroom.

"That’s fine. Are you okay?"

"Yeah." Emily sighed out loud and nodded gently at the Y/H/C girl while closing her bedroom door. She stared a few seconds at Y/N before turning around, "can you help me?"

"Yeah sure." Y/N’s voice was a slightly bit hoarse as she walked on shaky legs towards the poet, who was standing in the middle of her bedroom, but she paid her no mind as her brain played the conversation she had with Sue a few minutes prior.

"I can’t believe she told me those things. She had no right to tell me those things!"

"I’m sorry Emily but I don’t know what you’re talking about."

"You’re right. I will tell you after getting out of this damned corset."

"I feel you." Y/N snorted as she started unfastening the knots on Emily’s corset to help her out of it faster, the poet already sighing out happily.

"Oh yes. This is wonderful." Emily moaned out in delight as soon as she felt the corset starting to loose around her upper body, creating a tingling sensation all over Y/N’s body at the unexpected sound, but she kept going instead of fainting embarrassingly behind Emily.

"Yeah, I feel you."

"I hope one day we can get rid of these things. They are awful." Emily admitted and watched as Y/N nodded in agreement when she turned her head around slightly to Y/N behind her still working on unfastening her corset’s straps.

"Yeah. It will take a lot but I’m sure they won’t be used anymore."

"We would wear something similar, maybe something that doesn’t feel so tight and that doesn’t need help to take it off."

"Oh wow, that would be wonderful. I still struggle trying to take it off myself." Y/N snorted under her breath as she shook her head.

"Wait, do you really take it off yourself?"

"Well yeah, most of the times I ask my aunt Maggie to help me, but a few times I had to do it myself when she is still busy or not around in that moment."

"Wow." Emily exclaimed, but furrowed her eyebrows when she heard Y/N chuckle under her breath, "why are you laughing?"

"Because I remembered I once struggled so much in taking my corset off that I didn’t see the bed and fell down on it and then on the floor." Y/N explained, giggling after finishing with Emily doing the same as she imagined the hilarious scene, "here you go. I’m done. You’re free from your corset."

"Oh yes! Thank you!" Emily moved without properly thinking and pushed the top of her dress and her corset down to her hip as she turned around, exposing her upper body to Y/N, who widened comically her eyes as they inevitably fell on Emily’s exposed chest. "Oh my God!"

"Oh- sorry, sorry!" Y/N immediately turned herself around and covered her eyes as a deep, burgundy blush fell on her cheeks. "Sorry for looking I- hm." Y/N cleared her throat and tried to find the right words that would not make this situation even more embarrassing but her brain seemed to be stuck in a spiral of images of Emily’s round and full breasts and was incapable of forming coherent thoughts, so she decided to just shut up.

"No, no. Don’t apologize. I should be sorry for- flashing my tits in your face." Emily turned around too, making now both of their backs face each other, and touched her cheeks to try in vain to subdue her scorching blush, while frantically searching her night gown to put on.

Y/N snorted imperceptibly under he breath and let the next, murmured words slip out of her mouth without her consent, "I should thank you instead."

It was almost imperceptible, but Emily caught it since the wired silence surrounding them was almost deafening and it made her stop in her tracks as she opened her drawer. She couldn’t have heard right, could she? Do those words mean Y/N felt something for her too? Or maybe that she was at least attracted to her? She needed answers. "I’m sorry again. I wasn’t thinking."

"Don’t worry. I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable."

"Are you serious? I hope I didn’t make you uncomfortable." Emily countered back as she carefully took her dress and corset down her body, then putting her night gown on, purposefully choosing one that has a slight see-through fabric around her chest area. This way she could know if Y/N was interested in her in that way or not. If her eyes struggled to not stay focused on her chest, maybe she had a chance with her. "You can turn around."

"So, what happened with-." Y/N did as Emily told her but stopped mid-sentence when Emily turned around and she almost flashed her breasts to her again. The top half of Emily’s dress’ fabric was see-through, that much so that Y/N could see Emily’s erect nipples, but she wasn’t sure they were erect from the cold of the room despite the fire crackling on the right side of the room or from something else. Y/N immediately noticed her slip up and her ogling and forced her eyes to look at a portray on Emily’s wall, beside her head, instead as she cleared her throat, forcing herself to not stare at Emily’s visible chest again, "hm- with Sue?"

"Oh yeah, right, hm. Can I trust you?"

"Emily of course. I promise your secrets are safe with me."

"No, I know it. It’s just- nobody knows about this but- we had a thing going on." Emily admitted quickly, not exactly knowing how to put into words what she wanted to say, extremely afraid to watch Y/N’s facial expression at her revelation, so as soon as she finished talking, she focused her eyes on the fire crackling on her left and played around with her fingers.

"Oh wow."

"Yeah."

"Did you love her?" Y/N asked after a few beats of silence, completely taking Emily off guard.

"Wow, I wasn’t expecting this question."

"Sorry, it was too personal. You don’t have to answer me."

"No, I didn’t mean it like that. I-hm, I was expecting you- well I don’t know what I was expecting. Maybe you asking about our arrangement. Or maybe not reacting this well about this- new information about me."

"Oh yeah, I got it. You don’t have to worry about that. Like ever. I- I know what it feels like to like- love a woman."

Emily had to rectify her previous statement. That took her off guard. "Really?"

"I realized it when I was 15. I started working with my aunt Maggie in a beautiful house. Their owners were a wonderful family. Always so polite, never getting angry, very sweet with me since I was a kid but also with my aunt Maggie. They were treating us like we were part of their family. But Molly. Molly was the sweetest of them. Not to mention beautiful. We were close since we were the same age. But- hm- you were lucky enough to have some kind of something with the person I presume you loved. I wasn’t that lucky. I had to endure watching her loving someone else. For the entirety of my time as a maid in their house."

"I’m so sorry Y/N." Emily butted in as soon as Y/N, after turning around towards the fireplace, trailed off to stare blankly at the fire, too caught up in her thoughts to notice Emily approaching her slowly.

"Don’t be. It happens. Especially in the world we live in. Where people like us has to hide."

"I hope one day we don’t have to." Emily admitted a little bit wistfully, her heart aching for the pain she can clearly see in Y/N’s Y/E/C eyes when she finally looked into her brown ones. She had been lucky enough to at least act on her feelings somehow. Y/N hasn’t been that lucky.

"I hope that too." Y/N smiled gently at Emily, their eyes meeting a few seconds before Y/N’s Y/E/C one’s focused on the fireplace again.

"Did you tell her how you felt?"

"Oh God, no. Are you crazy? She would’ve ruined my life, my reputation, I could have lost my job."

"Yeah, but you broke your heart that way."

"Yeah. It will heal, eventually." Y/N shrugged like it was nothing, "it’s already healing."

"How long has it been since it happened?" Emily asked a little bit sadly, her eyes conveying as much compassion and sympathy she could to try to make Y/N feel a little bit better. Little did she know she was already making her feel better by healing her broken heart.

"About two years."

"Wow." Emily exclaimed as her brain wrapped itself around this new piece of information. She didn’t know what to say to Y/N to help her make her feel better, she had been broken hearted by Sue, but they at least had some kind of relationship.

"Woman full of words I must say. It must be easy being a poet."

Y/N’s joke made Emily snort under her breath, a gesture that she hoped distracted Y/N enough to not make her see the blush she triggered with her words. "Shut up. I was just shocked." Emily pushed on Y/N’s left shoulder when she snickered under her breath and pretended to be offended.

"Oh no, don’t be mad. I was joking. Well- not completely but- HEY! Don’t hit me with your pillow."

"Or what?" Emily smirked widely when, without Y/N noticing, grabbed the pillow laying on the chair beside her and lifted it up to hit the Y/H/C girl, but before Y/N could form any sort of warning, she got blocked by Emily swinging the pillow forward and hitting her on the face.

"Ok, you asked for it." Y/N stopped another hit with her right arm while she fumbled behind her to grab a pillow on Emily’s bed and as soon as her hand wrapped itself around the soft pillow she flung it around and hit Emily right on the face, stopping her movements altogether as she stared with a shocked but amused expression on her face at Y/N.

"You. Didn’t."

"Oh I did. I can do it again if you want."

"Don’t you dare! No! Y/N!" But it was too late. As soon as Emily finished threatening Y/N, a pillow hit her face and made her stumble a bit, but she regained her balance quickly and flung her pillow at Y/N, hitting her on her arm.

"Alright, alright. Truce." Y/N placed the pillow back on the bed and waited with an entertained smirk on her lips for Emily as she mirrored her gesture and placed the pillow onto Y/N’s one on the mattress.

"Anyway, before someone interrupted me, I was gonna say I am sorry for what you went through."

"It’s in the past now. I’m finally healing. I’m finally moving on." Y/N admitted, a slight rosy pink tinting her cheeks, something that didn’t go unnoticed from Emily but the poet decided to not ask anything about it, for now.

"I'm so happy to hear that."

"Yeah. It’s not that easy, but I will be fine. Hopefully soon." Y/N admitted with a shy smile, a gesture that Emily mirrored as she nodded in understanding.

"Good, you deserve to be happy."

"Yeah, you too. Speaking of which, how about you?"

"What about me?"

"You two had a thing going on. It must be painful calling everything off."

"It’s actually going good. I missed her a lot since we stopped our thing, but it got better in the end."

"I’m glad to hear that." Y/N smiled widely at Emily and nodded, igniting a fire within Emily that she thought it was extinguished when her thing with Sue was over.

"I- hm." Emily trailed off to ponder her next words carefully, not completely sure she wanted to admit out loud and to Y/N what she wanted to say. After a few beats of silence she made up her mind and decided she wanted to be brave, she wanted to take a shot and discover if Y/N actually liked her more than a friend. "I met someone. I- she made me feel things I thought I only felt with and for Sue."

"Oh." Y/N cleared her throat, successfully getting rid of the jealous lump it formed in her throat at Emily’s admission, but as hard as she tried no other words left her mouth.

"Yeah."

"How is- she?" Y/N stuttered, cursing herself for being so obvious about her jealousy, but it seemed Emily paid no mind to it.

"Perfect. Extremely funny, always so polite and sweet." Emily gushed uncontrollably, her eyes shining brightly with all the affection she felt for the other girl, "oh and she has a great mind too, full of ideas that fascinates me. We have a lot of hobbies in common. She is perfect."

"Wow, from what I’ve heard from your description she might be. Is she pretty?"

"No. She is beautiful."

"Already so smitten for her, hm?" Y/N teased with an arched eyebrow and a small grin to try to divert Emily’s attention on her to prevent the poet to detect her jealousy.

"How could I not? She is perfect. I think- I never felt something so hard for someone. Not even Sue."

"Does-hm-." Y/N cleared her throat when her voice wavered a bit, "does she feel the same?"

"I don’t know, but I’m trying to figure it out." Emily admitted a little bit cryptically, noticing every little reaction coming from Y/N to at least detect any kind of sign from her and if her instinct was right, she was jealous, so she maybe felt the same.

"Have you told her?"

"No. I’m a little bit insecure about it. She could feel the same but- what if she doesn’t?"

"Yeah, I know what you’re feeling. I felt the same way with Molly. I spent a year beating myself up for not telling her. Maybe we could have worked out in some way or maybe definitely not. I spent a year living on ‘what ifs’. But I have to be honest, now that I’ve moved on I think it was better that way. I don’t think she was the one for me."

"So you’re saying I shouldn’t tell her?" Emily smiled slightly at the girl rambling her thoughts out, finding all of that an extremely adorable sight witness and it became ten times cuter when Y/N blushed at her stare before shaking her head softly.

"No, what I’m trying to say is-." Y/N trailed of to take a deep breath as she stared intently into Emily’s brown eyes, "do whatever your heart craves. I’ve thought a lot about it and with a clear head I realized I was just deeply infatuated with Molly. I wasn’t actually in love with her. If it was true love I wouldn’t have moved on. So if you feel like she is the one, like you need to tell her because you truly want her, then do it. Don’t think too much about it." Emily looked at Y/N like a lovesick puppy as she talked, flaring up the fire she felt burning for Y/N, so with a made up mind and without properly thinking, as soon as Y/N finished speaking Emily surged forward and planted a soft kiss on her lips, lingering only a few seconds before pulling away abruptly, fearing Y/N’s reaction when she felt the girl completely frozen in her spot.

"I- shit- I’m so sorry- hmph." Emily got stopped abruptly when a pair of soft lips unexpectedly pressed themselves hard on her own, making her head spin out of control with a plethora of emotions she only felt when she wrote her poems. Emily felt her brain completely shutting off as she completely dived into the blissful sensation of Y/N’s mouth on hers. Their lips danced sensually over the rhythm their heartbeats set, their bodies burned from the passion the two girls shared but had to suppress for their own fears of losing the other if their feelings weren’t reciprocated, their minds were a delicious mess as their senses were completely filled with the other’s taste, perfume, essence. It was a perfect mix that both of them wished it could never end.

But Y/N had to reluctantly slow their kiss down and pull slightly away from Emily to take some needed breath as her lungs screamed for some air and she was pretty sure Emily felt if her heaving chest was anything to go by. "Do not apologize for that. Because it was so perfect."

"I was just panicking. I thought I read your signals wrong and I went too far."

"It was extremely impossible to read them wrong since I’ve been trying to not stare at your boobs for the past 20 minutes and I’ve been failing miserably." Emily snorted at Y/N’s admission, feeling a sense of pride swell in her chest as well as a familiar burning sensation in her lower stomach lighting her whole body up at Y/N’s admission.

"I think now is the right time to confess I chose this night gown on purpose." Y/N swallowed loudly when Emily winked seductively at her while puffing her chest up, giving Y/N the intoxicating view of her half exposed breasts.

"You like to torture me." Y/N murmured under her breath as her eyes never moved away from Emily’s chest, watching it move up and down with every breath the poet took and feeling her insides melt each time a nipple came in sight through the see-through fabric of Emily’s night gown.

"Why?"

"Because I can’t touch them."

"Who said you can’t?"

"Yo- wait, what?" Instead of answering verbally Emily smirked mischievously, grabbed Y/N’s wrist and pulled her hand towards herself. Just when it was hovering inches from her covered chest, she lifted her right eyebrow and silently asked Y/N if it was okay for her and smiled widely when the girl instantly nodded enthusiastically. The Y/H/C girl’s grin dropped as soon as her hand came in contact with Emily’s right breast and let out a small moan without noticing, making the poet groan at the unexpected attractive sound.

"Oh, Y/N." Emily whined and gripped Y/N’s wrist a bit more strongly when the girl squeezed her breast tentatively, but just right to light up her whole body with need.

"Come here." Y/N snaked her other hand behind Emily’s neck and pushed her harshly onto her lips to share a bruising kiss, reigniting the fire they set up a few moments prior. Y/N promptly swallowed another sound coming from Emily as she changed the angle of their kiss, full of passion but still chaste. But Emily needed more. She wanted to taste Y/N’s mouth fully. Just when Emily was debating with her mind to try to find the courage to deepen the kiss, Y/N beat her to it as her tongue licked the seam of Emily’s lips to ask for entrance. The poet granted it a few beats later with another small whine and her body got completely wrecked by a shiver running down her spine when their tongues met just as Y/N’s thumb and pointer finger found her nipple and pinched it gently but firmly.

"Oh fuck." They let their desire take over for a few minutes, giving their tongues time to explore the other’s mouth, licking every nook and cranny of each other’s mouth and swallowing every small sound they could pull from the other. As they kissed fervently, Emily’s other hand, until now placed meekly on her lap, sneaked into Y/N’s hair, after freeing them from the bun she had on all day and pulled on the Y/E/C girl’s scalp each time Y/N found a new way to stimulate her nipple or when her tongue moved just right. Their small moment was abruptly interrupted when they heard Emily’s family wishing each other a goodnight and they had to reluctantly pull away from each other, but not before sharing a few small, sweet pecks.

"I should go."

"No please, stay." Emily begged, leaning their foreheads together and sighing disapprovingly when Y/N removed her hand from her chest, only to smile widely when she grabbed Emily’s hand and intertwined their fingers together.

"I can’t. Your family is going to be upstairs any minute. We can’t get caught."

"You’re right." Emily sighed and nodded gently. Y/N had a point. "With Sue it was easier. My parents always let her sleep with me."

"Already talking about your ex with me Dickinson? Are you trying to make me jealous?" Y/N teased with a wide grin that widened when Emily blushed softly and pushed her gently on her shoulder.

"No, you jerk. I just wished it was that easier with you too. We wouldn’t have to stop this." Emily murmured seductively before leaning slowly towards Y/N and capturing Y/N’s lips in a slow but sensual kiss, making it last just a few seconds to tease Y/N and smirking widely when she accomplished her mission after hearing Y/N grunt in disapproval at her pulling away from the kiss and trying to follow her lips to kiss her again. "But you have a point. You sadly need to go. When do you have some time off tomorrow?"

"Around 11 a.m."

"Perfect, meet me here. I will tell my mom I need some help with my surprisingly ripped dress." Emily winked as she stressed the word ‘surprisingly’ and felt her heart swell at the sound of Y/N’s cute giggle.

"Alright. Goodnight Emily. Sleep well." They shared another kiss full of passion before Y/N quickly slipped out of Emily’s room, just a minute before Emily’s parents walked up the stairs to go into their room, followed right after by Lavinia.

Both girls had some troubles falling asleep that night as adrenaline still pushed through their bodies still burning with their passion, but after about an hour both girls fell asleep with wide grins on their lips, excited for the next day.

"Good morning my dear family!" Emily entered the living room with a brighter-than-the-sun smile, making the whole family stare at her weirdly.

"Should we get used to her being in a good mood every morning?" Edward asked his wife as both looked at Emily weirdly, eyebrows furrowed and confused expression on their faces.

"I like it." Lavinia interjected and giggled loudly when Emily run towards her and hugged tightly her over the chair. After a couple of seconds she walked to her chair and sat down, immediately stuffing her face with the delicious breakfast she had in front of her on the table.

"Hm, Maggie this breakfast is amazing!" Emily murmured with her mouth full of chocolate cake, rolling her eyes back in pure ecstasy as all the flavors hit her taste buds, completely ignoring her mother’s reprimand stare.

"Thank you Miss Dickinson, but I didn’t make it. Y/N did."

"Oh really? Where did you take the recipe?" Emily’s mother spoke up in disbelief as she too took a bite of her cake and widened her eyes comically at the tasty cake.

"It’s actually mine. It’s not that difficult to make. The secret is chocolate."

"Ugh, Y/N you need to teach me how to do this." Emily requested as casually as she could, this time waiting to swallow the cake and swiping the chocolate away from her mouth before talking, to not rise her family’s suspicions of her asking Y/N to teach her how to make a cake since she always refused to help her mom in the kitchen. "It’s delicious."

"Oh please Y/N if you succeed in making Emily do anything in the kitchen I will give you a week off." Emily turned her head towards her mother and stuck her tongue out, making her mother laugh at her in amusement.

"It would be a pleasure Miss Dickinson."

"Miss Dickinson?" Emily asked in a mocking tone, trying to make her best impression of Y/N, on Y/N’s lips after pulling away from the bruising kiss the two shared after Emily literally flung herself into Y/N’s arms as soon as they entered her bedroom, slamming her on the door.

"I can’t call you with your first name Emily, even if you asked me to."

"I know, but it was hilarious hearing you calling me by my last name. It’s weird."

"No, weird is being in a room with your parents when all my brain could think of was how good it felt kissing you." Y/N admitted with her eyes glued on Emily’s plump lips, biting down on her own bottom lip then to emphasize her appreciation of Emily’s lips.

"Not as good as feeling your hands on me." Emily countered back, purposefully arching her back to flush their chests together but whining in frustration when their corsets and dresses prevented them to feel anything.

"Yeah, it’s pretty much a tie." Y/N joked and thanked the door behind her back holding her up when Emily giggled on her mouth and the cute sound made her almost faint. "You are so beautiful." Y/N spoke up without even noticing as she stared at the poet with a loving gaze, creating goosebumps all over Emily’s skin.

"Not as much as you Y/N. That’s the first thing I thought that day at the well. I’ve always been fascinated by the beauty of the nature, but as soon as my eyes landed on you, it was like threes and flowers never existed. It was just you."

"Shit, do not say things like that." Y/N shook her head as she bit hard on her bottom lip while closing her eyes and leaning her forehead on Emily’s one.

"Why?"

"Because it makes me want to kiss you."

"Then why are you not doing it?" It was all the validation Y/N needed. After opening her eyes for a brief moment to meet Emily’s brown irises for confirmation, finding in them only affection and entertainment, she surged forward and captured Emily’s lips in a slow kiss, full of passion. Y/N decided to keep the kiss as chaste as possible to savor the softness of Emily’s lips, caressing her back with both hands to feel Emily’s every curve she could despite the dress and corset in her way, but when Emily’s fingers dug in the back of her neck to silently ask for more, Y/N whined softly into the kiss and immediately bit down gently on Emily’s lips. Y/N shivered at the poet’s whispered whine but took advantage of that to slip her tongue into Emily’s mouth and lick every angle she could reach. "Oh."

"Shit." Y/N murmured into the kiss when her mind finally stopped spinning from Emily’s moan and shivered wildly when the poet took advantage of Y/N’s dazed state to suck harshly on Y/N’s tongue, pulling a whine from her throat. After a few moments Emily had to pull away to take some needed breath, not too far away, just enough so their noses could brush together gently. "That was so fucking hot. And fuck- that sound." Emily giggled at Y/N’s murmured words, her eyes staring lovingly at the her and a dopey smile adorned her kiss-swollen lips, and she thought about how happy she felt in that moment.

"Ugh, I wish you could stay here all day." Emily admitted out loud after a few seconds of them basking in the comforting silence, the two girls just existing together, wrapped up in each other’s arms, with their forehead leaned together and with their breaths mingling, sighing out sadly and leaning into Y/N touch when she caressed her back comfortingly.

"I know, but your mother and sister will be back with my aunt soon." Y/N sighed out sadly, caressing Emily’s sides gently as she committed to mind every small detail she could.

"Yeah and Sue will be over in an hour. We still need to talk."

"She just wants her best friend back, Emily. Give her a chance to be a good friend. You two were friends before having what you two had."

"You’re right. I want to talk to her too. I want my friend back, but I just- want to spend more time with you."

"You will, tonight." Y/N nodded encouragingly and smiled widely to hope to make Emily do the same and when she did a few seconds later her own grin widened ten sizes.

"Do not forget we have the house all for ourselves on Thursday."

"Already trying to get under my dress Dickinson?"

"Maybe." Emily winked with a mischievous grin, making Y/N laugh heartily before kissing her gently and slipping out of her room.

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bosbas · 1 year ago

Text

Chapter 8: this is falling in love in the cruelest way

series masterlist previous part || next part

pairing: colin bridgerton x enemy!fem!reader WC: 3.4k words

Warnings: period-typical gender roles, heavily going off of book canon, me stirring the pot (im sorry)(no im not), PINING!!!!!!!, anthony being very much in love with his wife

Summary: It took precisely two days in England for you to utterly despise Colin Bridgerton. It took him approximately twelve hours after that to hate you right back. But he doesn't care that you're the only person in the ton who doesn't like him. You're set to marry someone else anyway, right?

A/N: guys i'm sorry but this picture is INSANE. the THIGHS??? HELLO? i am looking respectfully.......👁️👁️

June 5, 1816 – And yesterday, much to this author’s surprise, Lord Barlow reportedly proposed to Lady Montclair! This proposal comes unexpectedly after the Duke’s promiscuity with Miss Barrington at the Bridgerton ball a few weeks ago. Given the fact that Miss Barrington has been compromised, it is incredibly shocking that Lord Arthur Barlow would do something like this in polite society. Luckily, Lady Montclair remains a single woman and swiftly rejected her former beau’s proposal. But this only begs the question: why did the Duke propose? Is Lady Montclair simply too alluring to pass up, or is something else amiss between Lord Barlow and Miss Barrington?

“Oh, thank God,” muttered Colin under his breath, his eyes quickly scanning Lady Whistledown’s column as he sat on a bench in the garden.

“What’s that you’re reading, brother?” asked Anthony, ears perking up at Colin’s scandalous language, even if it was just between brothers.

Colin felt a slight blush forming on his cheeks. He hadn’t realized he was speaking out loud, having been too caught up in the news that you had finally received a proposal from Lord Barlow. It was a lovely day out, and Anthony, Benedict, and Colin were in the gardens of Number 5 Bruton Street after a round of fencing.

Of course, once Francesca had come outside holding a copy of Whistledown to read in the gazebo, Colin had stolen it out of her hands and abandoned his brothers in favor of catching up on the ton’s happenings. Though no one should have been surprised by his interest, really, given that you were the main topic of most of the gossip sheets nowadays.

“Nothing,” Colin answered quickly, trying to recover from his blunder. “It’s bizarre how invested one becomes in Whistledown while living here. Is this what every summer is like when one isn’t traveling for half the time?”

“In essence, yes,” answered Benedict, still jabbing at the air with his épée as Anthony stared at him amusedly. “What does she have to say today?”

“Lord Barlow proposed to Lady Montclair yesterday,” said Colin, a slight edge to his voice. “And he looked a sight while doing it, too, apparently.”

Benedict dropped his foil, turning around to fully face Colin with a shocked look on his face. “And what did she say?” he pressed, intrigued about the outcome of this curious development. It was practically unimaginable that the Duke had proposed to you after defiling another lady in the ton, and Benedict hadn't considered him capable.

Anthony clapped him on the back, smirking at Colin as he did so. “Well, did you not hear the man say, ‘thank God’? Obviously, she said no.”

Colin crossed his arms, immediately defensive. “It wasn’t that obvious! She could have said yes, and my ‘thank God’ could have been because she would’ve finally left me alone. Duchesses have a lot to do; I doubt she’d find the time to be irritating while attending to her duties in the country.”

Benedict and Anthony gave their brother unimpressed looks, watching amusedly as he squirmed under their gaze.

“I assure you, brother, that there was absolutely no possibility of that being the case,” said Benedict jovially, earning a snort from Anthony.

But before Benedict could laugh, too, Colin lunged at him, épée in hand as he glared playfully at his brother. Finding himself unarmed, Benedict yelped and ran toward the house, citing a very important painting to attend to before sprinting back inside.

Turning to Colin, Anthony smiled curiously. “So, it’s true, then? What Daphne said?”

“What did Daphne say?” asked Colin innocently, dreading the conversation that would follow.

“Don’t be daft. That you love Y/N.”

Colin rolled his eyes, letting out an impatient sigh. “I don’t love her; that’s ridiculous, Anthony! A mere two weeks ago, we absolutely despised each other. I hardly think I could love her now.”

But even as he said those words, Colin questioned whether he actually meant them. Could he love you? He hadn’t ever felt this way about anyone, but then again, no one had ever vexed him quite like you. Though lately, he had been finding the line between irritation and fascination to be quite blurred. So blurry, in fact, that he was having trouble seeing a line at all.

Having clearly overheard part of the conversation, Gregory ran up to his brothers, laughing hysterically as Hyacinth chased him. He stopped and let his sister catch up, smiling evilly at the older Bridgertons “Colin loves who, now?”

Hyacinth arrived a few moments later, panting heavily. “Y/N, of course,” she stated while trying to catch her breath, as if it were the most obvious thing in the world.

“What? What do you mean? Why do say that?” pressed Colin. Why did everyone in his family seem to think that he loved you? Surely they saw the two of you bickering incessantly, right? Your feud was so famous it had even made it to Lady Whistledown’s column. Colin couldn’t understand how anyone could think he had so much affection for you.

Hyacinth raised an eyebrow at her older brother, unamused. “Colin, I am not an idiot. Though perhaps you might be,” she added brightly. And before Colin could respond, she quickly turned to her eldest brother. “Now, Anthony, could you please tell Gregory to give me back my quill?” she begged.

Gregory, scoffed, glaring at his sister. “I’d only borrowed it for a moment! And I only did so because Hyacinth hid mine! Anthony, she’s being unreasonable,” he whined.

Anthony affectionately patted them both on the head and flashed a faux sympathetic smile. “I rather think both of you are being quite the nuisance right now.”

At times, Anthony found himself slipping into the role of a father figure to his youngest siblings. It was an unspoken duty he assumed after their father's passing. Yet, it was important to occasionally remind them that he was still their brother.

Hyacinth responded with a frustrated groan, her teeth grinding audibly, thoroughly vexed with her brother. However, the sight of Gregory's smug smile reignited her fury, and she immediately charged at him. Despite being older than Hyacinth, Gregory wasn't foolish enough to underestimate her, and he took off in a panic, screaming as he tried to outpace his deceptively quick sister.

Colin shook his head in amusement as he watched the antics of his youngest siblings. “Were Daphne and I truly like that?”

“Worse,” said Anthony flatly, but he couldn’t mask the warmth and fondness interlaced in his words.

At that, Anthony began to turn back toward the house. “Well, I must be-”

“Wait!” interrupted Colin. He wasn’t entirely sure why he had stopped his brother, other than the fact that he hadn’t been able to stop thinking about the possibility that he could love you. You, the person he supposedly hated. The person who certainly hated him.

But, as always, Anthony was the right person to talk to about this. He would know what to say. Though it was well known that Anthony was completely smitten with his wife, Colin remembered a time when the pair seemed to dislike each other fairly intensely.

After a few moments of charged silence, Colin met Anthony’s expectant gaze. Swallowing his pride, he spoke up. “Purely hypothetically, and simply out of curiosity, when did you fall in love with Kate?”

Anthony smiled, amused. “Hmm,” he hummed thoughtfully, putting a hand to his chin. “As long as it's purely out of curiosity,” he teased. “It wasn’t like I simply fell in love with her one day, Colin.”

“Yes, but if you had to pinpoint a moment?” pressed Colin, slightly exasperated. If anything, he needed to know if he had experienced that moment himself.

Anthony’s gaze softened, and he suddenly saw a lot of himself in Colin’s uncertainty and pause when it came to a woman who profusely vexed him. “I found Kate in the library the night after we played Pall Mall for the first time,” he recalled fondly. “We were at Aubrey Hall for the country party and it was raining outside quite loudly, a terrible storm. She was huddled underneath a desk because she was scared of the storm. I very quickly realized I couldn’t hate her anymore. Not properly, anyway. Not when I just wanted to sit on the floor with her and protect her from the storm, and anything else that might come her way.”

His voice had softened as he spoke about his wife, recalling the moment he truly knew there was no way out. Anthony had tried to deny it to himself after, but his protests simply held no conviction after that night.

“You never told me that,” said Colin thoughtfully, not missing the glint of emotion in his brother’s eyes as he talked about his now-wife.

“Yes, well, the real challenge was getting her to love me back,” he said, coming out of his musings. “And that didn’t happen for quite some time after that. It was rather premature of me to declare my love for this woman while I supposedly hated her and was still technically courting her sister.”

It was truly a wonder that he and Kate were married now. But when it was meant to be, it was meant to be, Anthony supposed. Something that was proving to be particularly true of you and his brother. If Colin, who had a deep-seated need to be liked by anyone and everyone, could fall in love with you, the only person who didn’t actually like him, then surely it was meant to be.

Colin, still deep in thought, chewed his lip nervously. “And how did you get her to fall in love with you?”

“We were caught in a… compromising position. She had been stung by a bee and I… Well, I’m sure you recall,” said Anthony, suddenly feeling uncharacteristically shy as he remembered the circumstances that allowed him to marry his wife. “It’s far easier to get a woman to love you when she’s already your wife,” he finished sympathetically.

Colin choked back a laugh. “Unfortunately, I can’t very well put Lady Montclair in a compromising position, can I?” he laughed, shaking his head in disbelief.

“But Colin, I thought this was all hypothetical,” teased Anthony, playfully punching his brother on the shoulder.

Colin cursed under his breath, rolling his eyes in annoyance as Anthony continued laughing at him. “Never mind. I’m off to find Eloise,” he muttered, patting the eldest Bridgerton on the back and leaving him free to go dote on his wife.

After speaking with Anthony, Colin had a renewed sense of purpose. He had to find out why you hated him. He was so utterly exhausted of hating you and of having this tiresome charade of fighting with each other at every available moment. At this point, he didn’t particularly care who in the ton liked him or not. Colin knew he would happily take the entire ton’s wrath for the rest of his life if it meant you loved him.

But he needed to know just how unrealistic his hopes were. Eloise would be the best–and perhaps only–person who would know.

Colin found his sister practicing needlepoint in the sitting room, focused intensely on the material in front of her. It was unclear whether she was trying to sew the fabric or her finger, given how often she was pricking herself as she attempted to thread the needle.

“El!” he called by the doorway, pausing when he saw his sister grimace after pricking herself once again. “I can return later if you’re busy.”

“No! No, please interrupt. Thank heavens,” gasped Eloise, grateful to be able to do something other than draw her blood.

Colin laughed, amused, and suddenly felt a tad sheepish. Was he truly about to ask about you? To ask about you to Eloise, who would no doubt hold this over his head for the rest of eternity? But he had to know. He had to ask, at the very least.

“I was just…I was wondering if you knew why Lady Montclair hates me,” he asked, clearing his throat awkwardly.

Eloise let out a snort. “Well, I can’t imagine she’d be hard-pressed to find a reason why, given how you treat her.”

Seeing her brother’s crestfallen face, Eloise immediately sobered. Standing up and walking toward him, she placed a reassuring hand on his arm. “I thought you disliked her as well,” she said in a questioning tone.

“Of course I do,” clarified Colin quickly. “But she hated me first and I still don’t know why. I thought she might have said something to you, given how close the two of you are. Do you know at all?”

Eloise clicked her tongue in sympathy, looking at Colin with concern. Perhaps his feelings did run deeper than anyone thought, and the recent dancing and promenading were more than just Colin being his usual charming self around you. “I’m sure I have no idea, Col. But you could always just talk to her.”

Colin shook his head, smiling sadly at his sister. “That’s the problem, isn’t it? She doesn’t usually seem very eager to speak with me.”

Sure, the two of you had been getting along recently. But that had only been twice. And was that really enough to undo the weeks of hatred?

---

It was a particularly delightful Wednesday afternoon, and you found yourself feeding the ducks at Hyde Park as you watched Isabelle and Charlotte skip rocks across the pond. Though you loved Louis to bits, it was a lovely feeling to have both of your sisters home with you. There was simply something about being out in society that he could never quite understand like them, though not for lack of trying.

After lunch, you, Charlotte, and Isabelle had managed to sneak out of the house just as the post-meal discussion grew rowdy. It was not unheard of to have such lively discussions in the Montclair household, and you frequently even enjoyed them. But there were some days, like today, that you frankly just wanted to have a quiet afternoon with a baguette and about a dozen ducks. Luckily, your sisters had decided to join you, and the three of you had set off toward the park in search of a flock of birds to feed.

It seemed that the ducks had taken much more of a liking to you than to your sisters, and they had grown disinterested in the endeavor. Charlotte and Isabelle had opted to give you their remaining bread and take a stroll around the mostly empty park, and you couldn’t say that you were complaining. Coming from such a large family, it was a rare luxury to have an afternoon largely to yourself.

A while later, after most of the ducks found themselves happily full, you spotted a stumbling figure making its way toward you. As you turned to your sisters with a questioning look, you were disappointed to find them in deep conversation facing away from you, neither one of them noticing you.

As the figure neared, you realized who it was: Nigel Berbrooke. Your heart skipped a beat and you felt your stomach drop, unpleasant memories of him and his disgusting words flooding your brain. You had no desire to speak to this man, and you looked around for anyone you could speak with instead. But you had not brought a lady’s maid, and everyone else was too far to intervene.

“Lady Montclair,” said Nigel, with what looked to be an attempt at a seductive smile on his face.

You stood up from your crouching position rigidly and turned to face him. You were unable to form any words, discomfort far outweighing any other emotion you were feeling. This had to be his first time back this season after his absence, you thought. You hadn’t seen him at any events since the Danbury ball, and you rather thought you would have noticed him, looking as vile as he did now.

His nose was a tad more crooked than on the night you had met him, and the bags under his eyes were ghastly. But perhaps it was just your perception of him, knowing what you did about who he was.

“Mr. Berbrooke,” you settled for saying, nose crinkling as you caught a whiff of the pungent smell of alcohol emanating off of him.

“A promenade?” he asked roughly, reaching for your hand without permission. “It’s a lovely afternoon, it would be a shame to waste it.”

“Oh, Mr. Berbrooke, we were just about to head home,” you pointed your head toward your sisters, panicked.

Isabelle and Charlotte were far too immersed in their conversation to look like they were ready to head home, but you prayed that Nigel’s inebriated state would distract him from this.

He growled at you, clearly displeased at your rejection. “I’ve been keeping an eye on you, Montclair. Your dowry, as well as your other…assets, are far too good to pass up,” he slurred, very obviously staring at your chest. “It’s a shame Colin’s gotten to you first.”

You were scandalized, opening your mouth to chastise him, or to scream for help, or anything that could get you out of this situation, really, but he cut you off before you could say anything.

"I've heard Lord Barlow abandoned you, and truth be told, it's hardly shocking," he taunted, his voice laced with disdain as he regarded you with a sneer. "You insist on playing the coy maiden, denying every man what he craves. It's the only reason they’re after you now, you see? They want what you didn't give Arthur. And it appears Colin has taken the lead in the chase, the lucky bastard."

His words brought you crashing back down to reality. Of course, he was colluding with Colin. You had conveniently overlooked that fact as you found yourself becoming bashful in his presence, feeling secure, even desiring his company after these recent days. A surge of bile rose in your throat.

You felt tears prickling in your eyes, and you were impossibly angry with yourself for forgetting the very reason you despised Colin Bridgerton. How could you have let yourself forget? He was still the same man you overheard at the Danbury ball, and you were too embarrassed to admit that his charm had worked on you.

You were disgusted with Nigel and Colin, but also with yourself. You were more than this, you chided. How could you have let this happen? The two men were clearly no good, and you had unwittingly allowed yourself to be ensnared, much like you had with Lord Barlow.

“Excuse me,” you said roughly, dodging Mr. Berbrooke’s outstretched hand as you ran toward where Isabelle and Charlotte were standing, propriety be damned.

“On va chez nous. Tout de suite,” you said to them urgently, practically begging as you tugged on Isabelle’s hand (We’re going home. Right now).

Charlotte looked at you, confused, and then noticed you glancing nervously at Nigel as he approached, angrily staggering over to you as his face contorted into an ugly scowl.

“Ah, I’m terribly sorry Mr. Berbrooke,” Isabelle said firmly, “but it seems we have to go.”

Not waiting for a response, your sisters hooked their arms in yours and hurriedly walked back from where you came. They’d be damned if he let anything else happen to you after what happened with Lord Barlow, and they were not about to waste any time.

Nigel only grunted, displeased, but let the three of you go without protest. Both of your sisters’ husbands were very powerful men, and Nigel was not so deluded as to forget his place in society.

“Y/N?” Charlotte questioned softly once you were sufficiently far away enough.

But you were too embarrassed, tears streaming down your face as you choked back sobs. How could you have let yourself fall for Colin’s charm? You knew exactly who he was, and you had ignored it anyway. It didn’t matter that he made you feel safe and that the two of you had more in common than you cared to admit. He would never respect you, and you could never love him.

Nigel had come at just the right time, you thought sullenly. Right as you were thinking you could finally overlook your rivalry with Colin, right as the memory of why you disliked him in the first place was fading. And thank heavens he did. You would not be taken for a fool again, by Colin or by Lord Barlow or by anyone.

—

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briarberrythornedhart · 3 months ago

Text

Win Condition: True Love

Contains: fluff, Dustin and Eddie friendship, discussion of sex, boardgames, Eddie x fem!Reader

🦇 🎲 ♟️ 🎲 🦇

“So things are good with you, I take it?” Dustin asked, archedly, while he took his turn.

Dustin’s planned board game night FOR JUST THE GUYS was off to a rocky start because only Eddie had shown up. Dustin had brought out his dusty copy of Albion:The Land of Faerie which was 2-player.

“Yeah.” Eddie rubbed his new tattoo gently through its bandage. It was a black-winged-heart with some very special initials inside. He knew he could Not Stop Smiling lately and it was clearly noticeable to others.

“I didn’t think she’d be your type… not in a bad way, it is just surprising that you are together, no offense.” Dustin shrugged.

It was surprising to Eddie as well —and again -- not in a bad way.

He loved it.

He loved her.

“No offense taken, dingus. I don’t have a ‘type’.” Eddie laughed. “I mean, I do, but it’s about their smile, their eyes, their ... energy I guess… she’s really something special though…”

The way he’d catch her looking at him, a smile playing on her pretty lips - even when someone else was talking to her.

The way she tucked herself under his arm no matter where they were or who was watching.

The way she would wistfully ask for ‘just one more kiss??’ before she had to leave for work.

And also the way she was totally matching his energy in the bedroom.

And all the other rooms.

And even once outside in the shitty gazebo during a thunderstorm...

She’d suggested new positions. She’d dirty talk into his ear until he was basically melting. She’d be positively filthy with him. It was perfect. Was she Eddie’s type? Yes.

Eddie’s type was maybe... ‘a little slutty, but only for me”.

“It’s your move, Eddie.” Dustin was looking at him with knit brows.

“I’m just so surprised to be on the receiving end of this much…” Eddie waved his hands around in the air to try and conjure a word less crass than ‘horniness’.

Eddie was horny but she was -like- a sexy Angel for wanting him back so much, “ummmm… desire…yes. She is desirous of me. It’s fuckin’ great.”

Eddie spread his arms out wide and fell back into the recliner in Dustin’s living room, chuckled and sighed.

“I’m happy for you, can we focus…?” Dustin tapped the board and then gasped. “Oh shit! I’m totally gonna lose!! This sucks!”

“You know what she said yesterday…” Eddie huffed a laugh he couldn’t contain and rubbed his palms on his knees. “She said it’s stupid that people say ‘sucks’ for something being bad. She said it makes zero sense because most people like being sucked on somewhere and that it’s disrespectful to people who enjoy sucking on things.”

“Seriously??...” Dustin grumped. “… should I just concede now, because I’ve blown my win condition.”

Eddie put up one finger, “‘Blown’ is also a weird wording…”

“Eddie!! C’mon!!! The game????” Dustin was exasperated.

“Sorry, sorry, but, I have listened to you talk my ear off about the charms of ‘Red’ and Suzie, and more recently Lady Applejack- so be patient with me if I’m a teeny bit distracted just now by the charms of my... oh!? Well... shit.” Eddie looked at the board. Really looked. He wasn’t playing the best game of his life either. “...hmmm, let’s play Talisman instead?”

“Deal.” Dustin swept the chits off the table and into the box lid.

Eddie heard the others arrive - crosstalk, the shuffling off of coats and scarves and winter boots.

“Sorry for being tardy to the party, guys!” Lucas said, smiling and shaking a Surfer Boy box. “But we brought pizza!” He sang.

---

Eddie knocked on her apartment door.

She answered in her pajamas - which might as well have been lingerie with how good she looked to Eddie.

“Sorry I’m so late.” He said, scratching the back of his head and wincing.

Her smile was concentrated sunshine. “You can always just let yourself in with your key, ya’ big goof.” She had given him a key, and a whole drawer in her dresser, and put a few cute items into a milk crate in his bedroom and they were already talking about getting a place together and it felt right.

She tugged him by his waistband until he was pressed against her - her hands finding everywhere he longed to be touched. She buried her face in his shoulder, her lips kissing up his neck to reach his mouth. She kissed him like she hungered for him, biting, sucking (the good kind), devouring.

Eddie kissed her back like he needed her kisses in order to live.

She pulled back to ask. “How was Dustin’s boys-only game night? Did you win?” And then she took his hand and tugged him towards the bed.

“No, but I’m winning now.” Eddie realized out loud. “Win condition: met”

Inspired by @racoonboywrites

#eddie munson #stranger things #eddie munson x reader #dustin henderson #board games #writing cotton candy fluff and putting it into the tumblr water #briar writing

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naughtyneganjdm · 5 months ago

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Love's Second Chance: A Holiday Reunion - Chapter 19

Summary: Negan plans something special for Y/N, but they go through a few speed bumps along the way. Joel finds out about it through Elizabeth and he's not happy.

Characters: Joel Miller, the reader (OC), Negan Smith, Elizabeth, Peter, Tommy, etc.

AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/60501985/chapters/157954594 Warnings: Swearing, Angst, Small Amounts of Smut (I think?), dirty talking, etc.

Notes: It's been a while since I updated this, I'm sorry. I've just really had a lot going on. I'll do my best to get the final chapters up ASAP.

Wear something nice. That was the only direction that Y/N was given this morning when Negan asked her to meet him at his mother’s home at a certain time today. She listened. Invited Rosita over to help her pick out a dress before Rosita had to take off to go be with Siddiq’s family. Walking up to the door, she felt a little ridiculous wearing this considering how cold it actually was outside. After the storm yesterday, there was so much snow on the ground when she woke up. With the help of Peter, she was able to shovel it all up, but it took a long time. So she was thankful she could even get here today as it was.

Elizabeth was quick to take off as soon as she could this morning and she was very hush-hush about things. When Y/N asked her where she was going, Elizabeth didn’t want to tell her mother. Which was strange because Elizabeth was never really like that. Originally, she expected Joel to come pick his laptop up from her, but he hadn’t and she just assumed that was his way of still giving her space.

The front door to Negan’s mother’s home opened as she made her way carefully up the sidewalk. When her eyes lifted, she saw that it was Elizabeth walking out the door and it had Y/N coming to a quick stop. Closing the door behind her, Elizabeth let out a shocked sound when she saw Y/N, “You’re early.”

“What are you doing here?” Y/N questioned her daughter who looked back at the door like she was looking for some kind of answer. Shaking her head from side to side, Elizabeth threw her hands up and couldn’t think of an answer quick enough. “Elizabeth?”

“I was helping Negan with something,” Elizabeth explained pointing back at the house, her eyes avoiding Y/N. Rocking back and forth on her feet Elizabeth looked guilty of something that she didn’t want to admit to. “Listen, mom…I have to go to dad’s house. Peter and I are supposed to go with dad, Uncle Tommy and Maria tonight to that one subdivision that goes crazy with lights. It’s a tradition for us to walk around it every year. You know that.”

“What were you helping Negan with?” Y/N was actually curious since this wasn’t something Negan talked to her about nor was it something that Peter seemed to know about earlier when she dropped him off at Joel’s place right before this.

“I…” Elizabeth paused, looking over her shoulder once more and letting out a wince. “I can’t tell you, but after tonight? We can talk about it all you want.”

“What is that supposed to mean?” Y/N wondered with Elizabeth moving around her and starting to back step toward Joel’s home. “Why are you avoiding me?”

“Because I have to,” Elizabeth held her hands up causing her mom’s face to scrunch up in confusion. “I love you mom, I just really have to get to dad’s place…”

Elizabeth couldn’t walk away fast enough to get to Joel’s home and it surprised Y/N with the interaction that they just had. It was very odd behavior from her daughter.

Confusion flooded her veins when she started to walk back up toward the front door where she was met by Negan’s mother who looked incredibly happy to see her there. She told her that Negan was in his old bedroom getting dressed to go out with her. Walking down the hallway, things just felt strange. Very strange.

Pushing open the door to Negan’s old bedroom, Y/N saw Negan standing at the side of the bed. His black button-down shirt and his suit jacket were laid out on top of it. Hooking his belt together, Negan looked wet and like he had just taken a shower. Gazing over his shoulder, Negan offered up a weak smile, but that smile slowly faded to a frown with the way that Y/N was looking at him.

“Hello beautiful,” Negan turned toward Y/N who swallowed down hard. His chest was still damp from his shower drawing attention to the lines of his slender abdomen and it had her throat tensing up. “What’s that look for?”

“Why are you wet?” she blurt out with a judgmental expression. Why was that the question she asked? Obviously, she knew the answer.

“I just took a shower,” Negan pointed toward the bathroom that was in his bedroom and clearly he thought that was obvious too. Lowering his hand, he caressed it in over his abdomen dragging his fingertips through the wet curls of hair. Tipping his head to the side, his eyebrows furrowed and the way she was looking at him provoked him to scoff. “Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you fucking my daughter?” she blurt out, letting her worst fears come to light. Immediately a cough escaped Negan’s lips, his hazel eyes growing wide with the mere suggestion.

“Where the fuck did that come from?” Negan seemed both shocked and sickened by her question. That was a relief at least, but it was a question she couldn’t help but ask with Elizabeth acting so weird about things. “She’s seventeen years old Y/N. What the fuck?”

“You can’t blame me with this one. It’s a little shady if you ask me,” she stressed to Negan who laughed uncomfortably as he stood before her. “What else am I supposed to think? This morning she wouldn’t tell me where she was going. I come to your mother’s house to find her sneaking out when I get here. And she can’t tell me why she’s here with you. I’ve never had her avoid answering a question. And then I come in here to find you half naked, getting dressed after taking a shower.”

Pointing to Negan, she held her hand out to draw attention to his body.

“This is the first time I saw some of Joel’s negative personality in you,” Negan snickered stepping forward to reach out to caress his hands in over her shoulders. “I was in the shower so I didn’t stink and my mother was feeding your daughter. You’re welcome to go ask my mother if you’d like. You can also ask her if she was with us the whole day so you know that we weren’t alone. Fuck, I look at Liz like a family member already. How fucking sick do you think I am?”

Embarrassment flooded her body with her face growing incredibly hot that she just accused her boyfriend of sleeping with her daughter. Negan didn’t know whether to be amused or nervous with her questioning him like that, “I’m sorry Negan.”

“No, it’s okay. Mama bear came out and she was ready to go,” Negan swept his thumb in over Y/N’s jawline, getting her to relax before him. “I would fully expect you to beat the shit outta me if I did that. I’d beat the shit outta me if I did that.”

“I’m sorry Negan,” she apologized realizing how stupid that question actually was when she thought about everything. “I don’t know why I got that way. Elizabeth was just acting really weird when I saw her leaving here.”

“It will all make sense later,” Negan assured her with an amused rumble of a sound. Playfully she hit at the center of his chest causing him to snort. “Full transparency? I did have sex with your ex-husband last night though.”

“Makes sense,” she stammered under her breath, shaking her head as she spoke. “I was supposed to see Joel today for him to pick up his laptop and he never came. In fact, he hasn’t interacted with me at all. So I’m guessing he’s panicking about the two of you sleeping together?”

“I don’t think that’s it,” Negan reached for her hands, caressing his thumbs over the back of them. “I think he’s trying to respect you asking for space. And he’s probably waiting for you to tell him that it’s okay for him to come back around. He was upset that he hurt you as bad as he did.”

“Wow. So he told you about that?” she inquired, feeling a lump growing at the center of her throat when Negan’s fingers hooked with hers. Unhurriedly, Negan led her over toward the bed with him so they could both sit on the edge of it to talk. “What did he tell you exactly?”

“Uhm…” Negan licked his lips, tipping his head from side to side. “Everything?”

“Everything?” she repeated, shock flooding into her features. “So you know that…”

“Him and Lucille were sending dirty e-mails and videos to each other? Yeah. He told me,” Negan filled in the blanks for her to let her know that she didn’t have to hold all that in from him and worry about what he did and did not know.

“Wow, I can’t believe he did that,” she admitted, a pain flooding into her chest at the idea that he came to Negan last night to tell him. “I asked him not to tell you about that. Of course he told you.”

“You asked him not to tell me?” Negan repeated what she had said, his head tipping to the side like that of a confused puppy dog. “Why?”

“I didn’t think you’d handle it well,” she was honest, having a hard time looking at Negan when she thought about everything. “Every time I tell him to do something, he does the opposite.”

“In this case, I agree with what he did,” Negan opened up to her about the situation, lifting his hand to grasp her chin between his thumb and index finger. Getting her to look at him, Negan offered up another smile that made a breath escape her throat. “He told me that he wanted to be a better man. I’ve been very open with him about the fact that I tell you everything. And I think that’s something he inspires to be like. Prove that he’s not like he used to be. I respect that. Although, I did hit him really hard. One firm punch to the face. Just to get him back for the other night when he hit me when he was drunk and for that. I do think I might have broken his nose.”

“You broke his nose?” she pushed drawing Negan’s eyebrows to bounce up.

“There is a cut on the bridge of his nose right here,” Negan pointed to what he remembered waking up to this morning. “And a little bit of bruising. I don’t think it was a horrible break, he still looks pretty. Just a little beaten up. He got it after one hit.”

“And he didn’t fight back? I would think Joel would take that as advantage to have an all-out brawl between the two of you,” she knew that Joel would have jumped at the opportunity to fight Negan recently.

“I think he felt bad and thought he deserved it. So he took it,” Negan explained what happened. After Joel got hit, he did bleed significantly which was something that he left out when explaining to Y/N, but it was a nose. That was normal. “Afterwards, we ate some canned ravioli and watched a football game together.”

A silence followed when Negan dropped his hand and let out a long exhale, “I was irritated, but at the end of the day? I was an awful husband for a short period of time. Compared to what I did? They were just being stupid with one another. It was like watching porn.”

“It’s a little bit more extreme than that,” she corrected Negan who simply shrugged his shoulders. “It was.”

“Was it?” Negan responded, biting down on his bottom lip. “They didn’t have sex. They never intended on having sex.”

Shaking her head, she lowered her stare from Negan and didn’t like what she was hearing, “I took a naughty photoshoot that went out to magazines all across the world. Most of the world has seen my ass. And while yes, my balls and my dick were hidden…anyone can find me in just about nothing.”

“That’s not the same thing,” she defended, her face scrunching up when she looked to him again.

“Y/N,” Negan paused, his hazel eyes narrowing when he reached out to brush her hair behind her ear. “If you had showed up at my hotel room while I was married, I would have had sex with you in an instant. Joel isn’t wrong about that. Given the opportunity, I would have had an affair with you. And I would have felt bad, but I still would have done it. Because I fucked people that I didn’t care about. I was no good Y/N. What they were doing was finding comfort in someone familiar. And men love showing their cocks. Trust me. Even if they don’t have something to be proud of.”

“I feel like you’re giving them an excuse,” she stressed to Negan who reached out to place his hand in over her knee. “They had an emotional relationship through these e-mails Negan. He sent her a video of him jerking off for her.”

“Was it hot?” he blurt out, grunting when she smacked at the back of his head. Playfully nudging her, he shrugged his shoulders and couldn’t help but snort in laughter. “It was over four years ago Y/N. And…I really can’t judge. Plus, let’s not pretend we’re entirely innocent.”

“I never cheated on Joel,” she defended herself, placing her hand in over her chest to fight him on it with Negan’s eyebrows bouncing up. “I never sent out naughty photos to anyone. Nor did I have an emotional relationship with anyone.”

“You’re right, you never cheated while you were married,” Negan agreed with her, tipping his head from side to side. “There is one thing both you and I never told Joel. So while I pride myself on being honest…”

“I don’t know what you’re…” she paused, her head dropping down when she realized what Negan was talking about. “Shit…”

“And there it is,” Negan snapped his fingers together, sucking at his bottom lip when he gave her a firm nod. “I’ll set a scene for you. I had been with Lucille six months, you had been with Joel however long you were. It was raining, you crawled out of your window and came to mine…”

“That’s not the same thing,” she suggested, with Negan’s head tipping to the side. “You hadn’t talked to me in a long time. I missed you and I wanted my best friend back. We were teens. And we didn’t have sex.”

“Because my mother walked in,” Negan reminded her, his head shaking when he pointed toward the door. “If she hadn’t, you know just as much as I do that we would have had sex. You were soaking wet, I gave you some of my pajamas. You were crying, we started kissing, then we had no clothes on and we were in my bed…”

“I forgot about that,” she exhaled loudly, slouching forward resting her elbows on her knees when Negan reminded her of something that happened after their first initial fight. “My parents were watching me like a hawk because they hated Joel.”

“And they called my mom to ask if I knew where you were when you snuck out,” Negan recalled, swallowing down hard with him reaching up to sweep at her jawline. “We already had put the condom on me, I wasn’t balls deep but…”

“You weren’t in me at all,” she corrected him knowing that Negan was trying to suggest that they went further than they did. “Negan, you weren’t.”

“If you say so,” Negan scoffed, grunting when she shoved at his arm. “My point is Y/N, we cheated. We never acted on it or said anything because after my mother came in, you got embarrassed, got dressed, ran out of the house and then we never talked again. So I assumed you wanted to continue to have the relationship that we did previously. It was like a fucking dream. You never talked to me about it. And Joel didn’t kill me the next day, so I knew that it was something we were both supposed to forget. The truth is Y/N…the world would always fucking lead you and me back together. There is something between the two of us. When we’re around each other, we act on our emotions. Was Joel your soulmate and Lucille mine? Yeah. I think so. But I think you were always supposed to be mine and I was always supposed to be yours.”

“That’s very sweet, but at the same time makes me realize I was a shitty person,” she recognized, the ache growing at the center of her chest. “I just made Joel feel awful about everything and I did something worse.”

“You were an emotional teenager,” Negan suggested, shaking his head at the idea. “And so what if we’ve all done shitty things? We’re humans Y/N. We make mistakes. It’s what we fucking learn from those mistakes that defines us. And I made so many fucking mistakes that I can’t view Joel as worse than me. Because he’s not. He’s someone who had been in pain his whole life and that pain clouded his judgement. But do I think he loves you? Yes. Yes, I do. And there is something that happened when he was a teenager with his dad that…”

Negan paused, biting down on his bottom lip, “It’s not my place to tell you. That’s something Joel will have to tell you, but fuck…he’s gone through a lot. And so have you. We’re three severely fucked up people.”

Snickering, she shook her head and lowered it having a warmth flooding into her face, “You have the right to be hurt, but I do think you need to acknowledge that while he may have had impure thoughts he never fucking acted on them. If you and Joel would have sent me one of your sex videos when I was married to Lucille, I would have jerked off to them. And I would have sent you a video back. It’s just something people do to do it.”

“He’s lucky to have you, you know?” she interrupted Negan’s thoughts causing Negan’s Adam’s apple to bounce in his throat. “Because no one defends him harder than you do.”

“No,” Negan shook his head, dragging his thumb across her bottom lip. “He’s lucky to have you, just like I am. Because no one fought harder for us than you have. We’re lucky to be loved by you.”

“Oh, you’re good,” she sighed loudly, drawing a big, cheesy smile from Negan. Leaning in toward her, Negan nudged his nose against hers before bringing their lips together in a passionate sweep. “You’re always making me feel things.”

“Happiness?” Negan stammered, peppering kisses at her bottom lip. Bracing her hand in over the center of his chest, she allowed her fingers to stroke at the tattoo that covered his pectoral muscle. “Horniness?”

“I was thinking more so love, but the two h-words work too,” she chuckled, her laugh vibrating against his lips making him smile. “You know, we never had sex in this room. Which is almost a shame.”

“Is that a hint?” Negan slurred, his right eyebrow arching in curiosity.

“Do we have to be somewhere at a certain time?” she was curious with Negan looking to the clock that was on his nightstand. With a scrutinizing look, Negan muttered something under his breath and then laid back against the bed. Reaching for her made her laugh when he helped pull her in over him. “Is that a no?”

“I mean we have somewhere to be, but the idea of this? Well, I think it can wait,” he slurred, pushing his hands up underneath her jacket to get it down over her body. Bracing her hands over the center of his bare chest, she ground her hips down over his eliciting a deep rumble of a growl from his throat. Taking her time, she unhurriedly rocked her hips over his. It had his head tipping back into the pillows with him sucking at his bottom lip. “You know that my mother is here. So we’re definitely gonna have to be quiet.”

Finding his hands meeting her hips, Negan moaned out at the friction of her rubbing up against him, “Nothing makes me feel more like a teenager again than being with you. I remember we did this all the fucking time. I still don’t understand why we didn’t just have sex. We did just about everything else…”

“Your dad put the fear of God into us,” she reminded him with a smirk undoing his belt lazily and then working his pants open. Lowering his head, Negan’s hazel eyes watched her movements and it made him drag his tongue out across his bottom lip. “I thought one day you were just going to push my panties aside and fuck me.”

“I wanted to so bad,” Negan admitted with a hum, his head tipping back again into his pillows. Moving his shirt and jacket aside, Negan kept one hand settled at her hips and curled his other arm behind the pillow that was under his head. The movement stretched out his long torso and it had her tracing up over his ribs getting him to sigh loudly. “And the times that you would give me a pussy job, my God…”

Reaching into Negan’s pants, she took her time caressing over his body getting him completely solid in her grasp. Adjusting over him, she tugged her dress up over her hips with Negan smirking. Helping push her panties aside, Negan swallowed down hard and licked his lips, “I was…I am addicted to you.”

“Good,” she slurred, considering what Negan had just mentioned from when they were first fooling around together. Taking her time, she allowed the lips of her warmth to rub against his shaft having his long eyelashes fluttering to a tight close. By the time he started moaning, she leaned in over him to capture his lips in a silencing kiss. Allowing herself to sink down over his length had them both moaning out in unison. “There is no way you actually managed to get inside of me that night.”

“And why is that?” Negan hummed, keeping his eyes locked on hers while she took her time to roll her hips over his. The prominent vein at the side of his neck bulged when he sucked in a sharp breath of air.

“Because with the way this feels? I wouldn’t have wanted it to stop,” she explained, her nails digging into the flesh at Negan’s chest evoking a muted moan to escape him. Each movement grew in strength and power forcing him to keep quiet.

Something about the whole thing felt naughty and wrong. Particularly with where they were and their situation. This wasn’t going to last entirely too long. Especially since they both knew at any time his mother could walk in on them. She wasn’t sleeping, she was in the house and they really didn’t want her coming in again like she did when they were younger. At first Negan allowed her to control the movements but had braced himself into a seated position to bring them closer together to help keep them both silenced. This was something they had wanted to do so badly when they were younger, but just never found the right time to do it. Everything felt so right, but it always did when they were together. The hardest part was staying silent when they both had reached their orgasms, but they managed.

“So what happened last night?” she breathed laid out across Negan’s chest with her fingers circling through the dark curls of hair. Negan’s fingertips were caressing over her shoulders while they laid out across the center of his bed. “Between you and Joel? The sex?”

“We were talking about the past. I always kind of knew that Joel was bisexual. Because of…things,” Negan didn’t know what he could or could not say because he didn’t want to upset Joel in the slightest. Faint kisses were being pressed at the center of his chest while he spoke and it made him smile. “And I wanted to make him feel better about it. Show him that it was okay to feel things.”

“And who was in what position,” she tipped her head back to stare up at Negan getting a smile to tug at his handsome features.

“The first time he was the bottom and then later in the night me,” Negan was honest with her, tracing shapes over her shoulder.

“And which does he prefer?” she was curious, her jaw flexing with the way that Negan snickered. “I’m open with you when it comes to this stuff.”

“I know. And I think he prefers being a bottom but I’m not really sure. Because I also think he likes having power and control. It’s hard for him to give that up,” Negan claimed with her starting to press kisses over his chest again. A yelp escaped his throat when she nipped at his nipple which had him arching up toward her with a laugh.

“Do you love him?” she muttered against his flesh causing Negan’s smile to fade when he shrugged his shoulders. “Now that’s an expression I can’t read.”

“I love both of you, but it’s not the same kind of love,” Negan declared, his long eyelashes fluttering as he spoke. “I could find myself loving him in a way I do you with time. But the way I love you? Nothing compares to that. You’re my everything.”

Without saying a word, she crawled up toward him to meet him in a lingering kiss that made him hum. Sweeping his thumb at her jawline, Negan swallowed down hard, “Do you want to have children?”

Laughing, she didn’t know how to answer that one, “I already do have children. Two of them in fact.”

“Well, yeah,” Negan huffed, color growing in his cheeks when he lowered his head down to look at her. Now he felt stupid because he knew that. “I know that, I just meant, with me.”

“I don’t know,” she responded, her voice quiet and her eyes filled with contemplation. That wasn’t a question that she was expecting from him, especially in this moment. “I thought you couldn’t have children?”

“I don’t know if I can or not,” Negan reminded her, with a wrinkle of his nose. “I thought it was me that couldn’t have children, but there is that chance that it was just Lucille. I wanted kids really bad. Like, incredibly bad. I wanted to be a dad more than anything.”

“I guess after I had Elizabeth and Peter, I never really considered it. They are both teenagers so I really don’t think I thought I would have any more,” she truly hadn’t even considered having more children after her and Joel had gotten divorced. “I thought Joel and I would have a lot of children when we first got together, but things ended up the way that they did.”

Instead of saying anything else, Negan just gave her a nod with his Adam’s apple bouncing in this throat. It looked like he wanted to say something, but then reconsidered it, “We should probably get going. We do have some time constraints.”

“Oh,” she felt her face hot with Negan getting up from underneath her carefully. Working his pants back together, Negan was quick putting his shirt and his jacket on. Fixing her clothing, she had grabbed some of the tissue that was beside Negan’s bed to clean herself up. When they were both done, Negan held his hand out to her with a tiny smirk over his handsome features.

Accepting his hand, she allowed Negan to lead her to the front door wondering where Negan’s mother had gone off to. Right as Negan opened the door, a gasp fell from Y/N’s throat when she came face to face with her mother who was holding some kind of dessert in her hands. What had been a smile turned to a disappointed expression when her mother realized that it was her at the door. “Oh, hey mom.”

Right in that moment, it looked like her mother wanted to run away. Avoid her all together, but Negan had moved in behind Y/N.

“Is your mother here?” her mother looked beyond Y/N to make eye contact with Negan who tipped his head to the side. “Your mother brought us over a really nice dessert the other day and I thought I would repay her with this.”

“You know, I don’t understand this,” Negan announced after seeing Y/N’s face flush over with red. Instead of standing up for herself, Y/N had just stepped aside so her mother could interact with Negan. “She’s your daughter. It’s Christmas time and you’re not even going to say hello?”

Silence followed. Her mother didn’t seem to care or have any kind of emotion with what he was saying.

“Why?” Negan pushed further, throwing his hand up in the air trying to receive some kind of answer for Y/N. “Because she decided to keep her child instead of aborting it? That’s really fucking sad because Elizabeth is an awesome kid that you never even got to know because you wrote your daughter out of your lives.”

“Is your mother home?” her mother repeated once more refusing to give Negan some kind of answer.

“Be a human being instead of a fucking robot,” Negan demanded, the vein at the side of his neck bulging. Rage was starting to grow inside of him and he could see out of the corner of his eye that Y/N just wanted him to stop. “You have two phenomenal grandchildren. They are awesome. And your daughter is a great mother to them.”

“I don’t have a daughter,” her mother was cold in the way that she responded. A broken breath escaped Y/N. Even if she swore she was fine, by her breathing Negan could tell that she wasn’t. “I had one, I haven’t for eighteen years.”

“That’s so fucked up,” Negan rolled his eyes, stepping forward to reach for Y/N’s hand. Urging her back toward him, Negan’s fingers hooked with hers giving them a firm squeeze. “You are missing out on so much, y’know that?”

“My daughter wasted her life on that Miller boy and look at the good that it did for her,” her mother stressed, lowering the pie down and shaking her head. “I knew from the start that he was no good. He never was. I expected my daughter to go to school, get a life for herself. Not hook up with the local poor boy who had nothing living paycheck to paycheck.”

“Wow,” Y/N muttered under her breath, hating that this felt like she was seventeen all over again.

“But no. She had to remain loyal to that boy and refuse to get rid of his spawn,” her mother continued to vent, “and look at what he did to her. Divorced her and left her after knocking her up with two children. It’s exactly the kind of life that I expected her to have getting married to him.”

“You’re something else,” Negan snorted before Y/N could even speak up to defend herself or Joel. “That boy lost his parents at eighteen where he had to take care of his little brother. That boy went from nothing and made himself something. But it’s not even about Joel anymore. It’s about your flesh and blood. Your daughter is still right here. Your grandchildren are living in the same town that you and your husband are. Yet you have no relationship with them. I think Joel’s parents would have given anything to meet their grandchildren. Instead you allowed those children to grow up without any grandparents at all.”

Another bout of silence surrounded them.

“Y’know what though? It was probably for the best. They did much better without you anyways. The last thing they needed was you poisoning them with your hatefulness,” Negan snarled, his blood boiling at this point. “Your daughter became a better parent than you ever could have been. Unlike her, her children know what it’s like to be loved unconditionally. By both their mother and their father.”

“Can we please avoid the lecture?” her mother was dramatic in the way that she delivered her sentence. “Even at this point, I wouldn’t want anything to do with my daughter. Ending up with you now? Being all over the news. Do you know how many people have mentioned it to us at church? God, the rumors that we have heard.”

Snatching the pie from Y/N’s mom had her gasping out with Negan holding it in his free hand, “I assure you that my mother will get your crusty ass pie. Now get the fuck outta her house before I force you out.”

There was an offended expression over her mother’s face when she gave Y/N one final scrutinizing look, but Negan was quick to get her out the door. Slamming the door shut, Negan grunted when he saw that his mother was standing behind him in the hallway.

“Good boy,” Negan’s mother stepped forward to palm in over the side of her son’s face. “You go toss that in the trash where it belongs.”

“Yes ma’am,” Negan smirked heading over toward the kitchen with his mother stepping before Y/N. No words were spoken. She just wrapped Y/N up in a hug. Truthfully? She didn’t realize how much she truly needed a hug from someone that was like a parental figure to her. By the time Negan returned, he came to a full stop allowing them to continue their hug until his mother was satisfied. Leading Y/N back to the door again, this time he was happy to see that no one was there. “We are going to have to blindfold you because I don’t want you to know where we are going.”

“Okay?” she couldn’t say no really in this position. So she let him do it. Wrapping the red fabric around her eyes. Being careful, she allowed Negan to lead her down the sidewalk and to his car. Once he had them both inside and the car started up, she couldn’t help but laugh. “You’re lucky that I trust you.”

“I know,” Negan acknowledged with a snort.

It was hard to focus where they were going with Negan humming the Christmas music that was on the radio while they drove. What made things worse is she couldn’t stop thinking about the things her mother said. After this long? Her parents hadn’t changed at all. But she knew she had to force herself to think about something else. Negan was doing something nice for her and she had to think about that. Not the things that were eating away at her.

It wasn’t a very long drive, but it was far enough that she didn’t really know where they could be headed. When they got wherever Negan was taking her, she was surprised by how quiet it actually was.

“Ready?” Negan’s breath was warm against the side of her neck, drawing chills down her spine. Undoing the blindfold allowed her eyes to flutter to an open. It was dark with lights flooding the large area before her. It took a minute for her to truly realize where they were and it made her laugh when music started playing in the background.

“The skating rink? I don’t think I’ve been here in over ten years,” she turned to Negan with curiosity in her eyes. Loosely, Negan’s arms wrapped around her with his hazel eyes gazing down at her with awe. “You wanted me to dress up nice for this?”

“Yes, yes I did,” Negan answered with a wink, lowering enough to nuzzle his nose in against hers. “Come here…”

Getting her to follow him over toward a table that was already set up at the back of the building had her curiosity growing. On top of it was what looked like the setting for a child’s birthday party. There was a cake that had no writing on it, but it was decorated like what one would look like for a birthday. There was a pizza at the center of the table along with plates and two party hats.

Looking around, she realized there was no one else there, just them. Except for maybe whoever was helping Negan hidden somewhere, “Alright. I’m interested.”

Something sent a line of light across the area they were seated at and it made her smile looking over her shoulder to see that the arcade area had just turned on. Sounds of the games and the flashing of the lights had her smirking.

“Here,” Negan reached for one of the party hats to put it on her. A tiny laugh fell from her lips and it made her smile. Getting a hat for himself, Negan put it on which had her chuckling louder. Curling his finger in underneath her chin, he got her to tip her head back to look up at him. “Do you know what is so special about this place?”

“We were here all the time as young children?” she replied, not sure if that was the right answer. Simply shaking his head had Y/N sucking in a sharp breath of air. “What’s so special about this place.”

“It’s the place we shared our first kiss,” Negan alerted her with his thick eyebrows bouncing up when he closed the distance between them. “It was my birthday. There was a bunch of kids here. More so here for the party instead of being here for me.”

“So, that’s what you’re creating again for us,” she noted looking down at the table that was set up for them. “Do you know how young we actually were when that happened?”

“Very, very young,” Negan smirked, his dimples showing clearly with the amusement that was in his features. “Do you remember where we were when you first kissed me?”

Extending her hand out, she swiped some of the frosting from the cake and dragged her finger down over the side of Negan’s cheek. It had him snorting, but she led him over toward the area of the arcade that she recalled. Just like it was when they were younger, there was ski ball set up and she felt a warmth spreading throughout her body.

“You had just opened presents and eaten your cake. We were playing ski ball together, which you always lost,” she reminded him, turning to him. Grabbing onto the sides of his jacket, she pulled him in closer to her and she nodded toward the frosting that she put on his face. “I let you win and you had frosting on your face. I thought you were the most ridiculous boy in the world because you were so happy that you won.”

“I won fair and square,” Negan suggested with an amused rumble, the bridge of his nose wrinkling.

“In the middle of your celebrating, I tipped up on my toes and…” she gave Negan a quick peck on the lips. It had his eyes closing, a charming smile tugging at his handsome features. “I kissed you just like that. Told you happy birthday and then ran off.”

“I was hoping this time you wouldn’t run off on me,” Negan whispered, his eyes slowly opening. Leaning into her touch, Negan allowed her to wipe the frosting from his face. Depositing it between her lips had him laughing when she gave him a thumbs up. “I figured we could eat some pizza. Play some games and go skating. Eat some cake and then there is a special gift I have for you.”

“You want me to skate in a dress?” she mused, tipping up on her toes while bracing her hands against the center of his chest. “How talented do you think I am Negan?”

“Very,” Negan whispered with another big, cheesy smile. “The most talented woman I know in fact and I think you’ll really like this.”

----

“Why didn’t you bring a friend?” Joel nudged Elizabeth playfully with his shoulder as she walked side by side with him. Looking ahead, Joel could see Peter talking excitedly to one of his friends and in front of them Maria and Tommy were looking on with awe for the spectacular lights that covered each home they were walking by.

“Because this is something we do every year and I didn’t want to leave you out,” Elizabeth declared with a shrug of her shoulders, hooking her arm around her father’s to lean in closer to rest her head against his shoulder. “I thought it would be nice.”

“Every moment I spend with you is nice,” Joel assured her with a wink, a sigh falling from his throat. Stealing a quick look at the house they were passing, Joel knew this was also something that Y/N had started with him and Negan when they were teenagers. It was a tradition that they had done for a long time that had a halt after they got divorced. Yet, he always managed to take the children still every year. “I just want you to have fun.”

“I’m having fun. Contrary to popular belief, I can actually enjoy myself while spending time with my parents,” she smirked, looking ahead at the rest of their family. “Soon, I’ll be going off to college, so I’m going to take every moment I can with you.”

“Don’t remind me,” Joel scoffed hating that his daughter had grown so quickly. “I don’t want to think about that.”

“You know I love you, right?” she looked to Joel, her eyes worried as if she thought that he didn’t.

“Of course. And I love you. Very much,” Joel reached for her hand to bring it up to place a quick peck over the back of her hand. “You’re my beautiful little girl. And you always will be. No matter how old you get.”

Something seemed to be eating away at Elizabeth with her considering her next question, “Daddy? Do you hate Negan?”

“Hate Negan?” Joel repeated with a firm shake of his head. “No, I don’t hate Negan.”

“You seem like you hate Negan,” she countered recalling the way that he had been acting over the last few weeks. “He seems to make you really angry. And I know that your face looks like that because the two of you fought. You both didn’t fall on the ice. Even though you both keep insisting that.”

“Because it’s hard to believe that two ridiculous alpha males could fall on their face during the winter season?” Joel joked and it got a roll of the eyes from her. The last thing that their children needed was to be involved with the drama that was going on in their lives. “I’m sorry honey, but this is because my face decided to take a trip down to meet the sidewalk.”

“You’re not supposed to lie to me,” she frowned and Joel knew that Elizabeth wanted him to tell her everything, but there were some things that he knew should remain a secret.

“I’m not lying to you. I don’t hate Negan,” Joel promised, squeezing her fingers with his. “It’s just hard seeing how perfect he is sometimes when I know I’m not. And I’m not used to seeing your mother…love someone else.”

“Yeah,” Elizabeth was quiet about his response, her dark eyes looking around them, but he didn’t think she was all that focused on the lights. “I always thought I had the best parents when I was little and I do! I don’t want you to think that I think otherwise. But I remember how everybody’s parents were either divorced, or they were split or they were never married. But me? I had two parents that were sickeningly in love with one another. So I was always the person that never saw my parents getting with anyone else because of how much they loved each other when I was growing up..”

“Yeah,” Joel felt guilty. When he asked Y/N for a divorce, the children really weren’t what was on his mind. He never really took into consideration how much it would affect them in their lives.

“When you ended up with Tess, I think you shocked all of us,” Elizabeth declared, her voice faint and unsure since this was someone that her father dated. “I didn’t hate her, she was nice enough. But we all thought you would just go back to mom at some point.”

“It must have really hurt her when I did that,” Joel whispered, his chest aching at the thought. Lately, that’s all he had been thinking of. All the awful things that he had done over the last few years to fuck his relationship with Y/N up so bad.

“Understatement,” Elizabeth stressed, tipping her head from side to side. “Which is why I’m happy she found Negan again. I’m not sure I’ve seen her this happy since I was young and the two of you were in love.”

“And that’s why I can’t hate Negan,” Joel confessed to his daughter, his chest growing heavy at the idea that he hadn’t been able to make Y/N that happy in a long time. “I care about your mother and I just want her happy.”

“Yeah?” Elizabeth seemed to not really believe that.

“I have a lot of thoughts, but they are things I really can’t open up to you about Ellie,” Joel stressed, his brow line creasing with the thoughts that he was having. “I just want you to know that I don’t hate Negan. There is actually a lot I do like about Negan and there are things that I probably would need to talk to you and your brother about at some point. But that’s down the line.”

“Okay,” she seemed quiet, too quiet really. Elizabeth was usually so full of energy, so this was different for her. “That’s good, since I think Negan is in our lives from here on out.”

“I agree with you,” Joel couldn’t deny that now Negan had found his way back into their lives that he would never truly be gone. “He seems to really want to be around all of us now. I think he’s going to make an attempt to be here as much as he can.’

“Especially now,” she seemed to linger on a thought and Joel was curious. The way that Elizabeth was looking at him weirded him out. “You don’t know, do you?”

“Know what?” Joel shook his head leaving Elizabeth looking pale. There was something that she wanted to tell him but was having a hard time admitting it. “Honey, what?”

“Well, I was with Negan earlier today setting up this special date for mom,” Elizabeth began, contemplating if she should really be telling her father this. “At the Christmas Fest the other day, he asked me for permission…”

“For what?” Joel’s eyebrow arched noticing that she didn’t seem to want to elaborate on that detail. “Ellie?”

“He’s asking mom to marry him tonight,” Elizabeth was blunt with her answer, making it quick and short. Showing that she was scared about what his reaction would be. Stopping in his tracks had Elizabeth looking back at him worried. “I thought you said that you were okay with Negan now and you didn’t hate him.”

“He’s asking your mother to marry him tonight?” Joel questioned keeping his voice down enough so that the others didn’t hear him. Suddenly, that jealousy that had been raging inside of him was building up again inside of his body. After last night, he was surprised that this was something that Negan didn’t tell him. Especially after they had all pretty much agreed to this whole poly relationship thing. And that was something he was pushing for big time, so to hear that surprised him. “What the fuck?”

“Daddy,” she stretched out to grab a hold of Joel’s wrist to get him to focus on her. “You said that you wanted mom happy. Right? So that means you should let this happen because I know that Negan really loves mom and she loves him.”

“Don’t you think that’s fast?” Joel snapped, shaking his head at the idea of them moving this quickly. Not even just that, how was their poly relationship supposed to work? She’d be married to Negan and he’d be their side piece? How would that work? “I don’t even think she has truly considered how much all of you are going to be in the media with this. He’s going to be away most of the year playing his last season of baseball.”

“I don’t think she cares what other people think and neither does he,” she pointed out having the knowledge of how much Negan truly seemed to appear to love her mother. “I think he just loves her so much that he doesn’t want to lose her.”

Unexpected rage ate away at Joel. It was important enough for Negan to ask Elizabeth’s permission, but not for him to ask Joel for permission? Hell, Y/N was his first after all. And if they were all together, shouldn’t they have all talked about who would be married to who?

“Where are they?” Joel interrogated his daughter, but she looked uneasy at the idea of telling him. “Ellie?!”

“Dad, come on,” she reasoned with her father seeing that he was unhappy with his expression. “What are you going to do? Run over there and stop it from happening? Neither Negan nor mom will forgive you for that. It’s supposed to be a special moment for them.”

“I don’t think this is right Ellie,” Joel explained, throwing his hands up in the air with his jaw flexing in frustration. “I think there should be more time and consideration put into things. I think we should all get to know each other better and get used to this kind of lifestyle. Let your mom experience it before she makes this big of a decision.”

“I don’t think anything is going to make mom change her mind on Negan, dad,” she tried to calm her father down, stepping forward and holding her hand up to get him to focus. “Dad, they love each other. And Negan would do anything for her…”

“They are in the honeymoon phase of their relationship,” Joel grunted, his mind going in so many different directions. This was something that Negan should have told him about yesterday. Instead they focused on the feelings that he had when he was a teenager and how he felt for Negan. Yeah, he wanted the three of them to be together, but if someone was going to be married to her…Joel thought it should have been him. Not Negan. Not after everything they had been through. “Everything is glorious, but when reality starts to…”

“What’s going on?” Tommy called out to them realizing that they were lagging behind the group.

“We’ll be right there,” Elizabeth assured her uncle, still remaining quiet. There was no hiding that Tommy thought they were fighting and he was now locked on them like a hawk to make sure that everything was okay.

“Ellie, tell me where they are,” Joel begged of his daughter who was battling this whole thing in her mind. “Ellie, please!”

“At the skating rink,” he finally got her to admit to him what she knew. “The one on the edge of town. He set it up really nice and planned something really sweet for her.”

Stepping backwards had Elizabeth throwing her hands up to stop him, “Dad?”

“Tommy, I need you to take the children home after you are all done walking. Okay?” Joel pled with his brother who nodded his head, but appeared to be nervous with Joel ready to take off on them in the middle of something they did every year.

“Let me go with you,” Elizabeth stammered, clearly nervous with whatever her father was considering. “Dad?”

“Just enjoy yourself Ellie, whatever is going to happen will happen,” Joel gave her shoulder a quick squeeze before running off toward where he had parked thanking God that him and Tommy had driven here separately. Getting in the car, he was quick to leave hoping that he wouldn’t be too late for things.

What the hell was he going to say to her? What was he going to say to Negan? Really, he didn’t know what was going to be said. There was just a part of him that felt like if there was an opportunity for one of them to be married to Y/N, it should have been him. Not Negan.

----

Tonight was fun. And it surprised Y/N how much she actually enjoyed it. Right now? They were standing at the center of the skating rink together. Instead of actually skating, they decided to use the wooden ground of the rink as a dance floor instead. Especially since she was in a dress and his knee was bothering him. It wasn’t something that Negan had thought about at the time, but this was much nicer than that anyways. It had them close to one another, enjoying the warmth of the moment.

For a long time they played in the arcade, shared their meal and cake before ending up here. It was a very sweet moment and she was in awe of the things that Negan was able to set up. Each memory Negan brought back for her was romantic and frankly adorable. It was something nice to think back on and make her happy.

“This was a good idea with the dancing,” Negan stammered with a weak smile when he pulled his head back to stare down at her. Everything around them was dark except for the lights that were filling the skating area bringing the main focus to the two of them together. “I keep forgetting that I’m a gimp.”

“My favorite gimp,” she teased him, stroking her fingers at the exposed flesh that was revealed from the opened buttons of his dark shirt. The dark hair that covered his chest was exposed and it had her letting out a loud exhale. “You’re adorable, you know that?”

“I’d like to think so,” Negan exhaled having her laugh out at his comment, burying her head against the center of his chest. “Have you enjoyed yourself tonight?”

“I have,” she answered him finding that Negan often brought back her youth for her. Pretty quickly her childhood was stolen from her and she had to be an adult faster than most people did. So it was fun getting to relive how things were when they were younger.

The next song started and this one was more upbeat having Negan carefully pushing her out before pulling her back into him. Then there was a spin that had her laughing at how easily he moved her around on this wooden floor. Dipping her had her dropping her head back and he nuzzled his nose in against the side of her neck. Laughter fell from the both of them with them enjoying the moment. It was fun, it was silly and it was just them having moments that they could look back on.

“There is something I want to show you,” Negan motioned her to wait, staring out at the darkness that surrounded them. Spinning his finger around above him had the lights slowly coming on which amused Y/N. Even though this place felt empty, there was obviously someone that had been watching them. Heading over to the side of the rink, Negan grabbed an envelope that had been sitting there. As he headed back to her, he still continued to dance about making her smile at his antics. “I have something really important for you.”

“Okay?” she went to reach for the envelope, but he stopped her holding up his finger. Motioning her to wait, Negan brought up something on his phone and held it out before her. Taking his phone, she brought it closer to her and saw that it was a website that was both her first name and her last name. “I’m confused.”

“I set up a website for you so you can blog about things,” Negan explained, a tiny smirk pulling at the corners of his mouth. Bouncing his eyebrows, he pointed at the phone to get her to look again. “That way you can start having people see your stories and your photos.”

“No one is going to want to read about my life or see my photos,” she thought this was cute, but at the same time it didn’t really make a lot of sense to her. “I mean, I can put things up, but who cares about a random girl that is living in a small town who takes mostly photos of her family.”

“That’s not true. I saw your photos, you’ve got some really good stuff from New York. And you could blog about your food that you make because you have some incredible desserts as well too,” Negan insisted, placing his hand in over the center of his chest. Waving the envelope about had her watching him with curiosity. “There have been some things I wanted to talk to you about. Back when we were at the stadium, Dale was searching for an answer for something from me. They want me to be the coach of the team after I retire. Dale has been talking about retiring for a while and since I was forced to retire with my knee, they thought it would be great to hire me on as coach. I just didn’t know if it was something that I really wanted. Especially after I got to spend time with you and your family.”

It looked like Negan was struggling to explain things to her, but she didn’t know if it was out of fear, “Then I heard you and Joel talking about longing for your life to be the way that you dreamt of when you were younger. The both of you still yearn for that kind of life. You wanted to so badly travel, be a journalist and share your photos with the world. Well, now you can.”

“How so?” she didn’t know what to say and Negan threw his hands up in the air.

“I took the job,” Negan explained, biting down on his bottom lip. “I didn’t really know if I was ready to walk away from the team. This way I can still be with the team and not have to worry about being disabled. But, I also put in a stipulation. I would only agree to take the job if they did one thing for me.”

“And what’s that one thing?” she didn’t know if she should be happy for Negan yet or not because he had all this nervous energy. That was when he handed her over the envelope. Looking down, she accepted it and started to open the envelope. In the light she managed to see that it was a contract with the baseball team that was made out for her. “Negan?”

“I managed to get the team to hire you on. They came to me recently wanting someone to follow me around during the last year of my time on the team. Someone to report on what I was going through, what I was doing. They thought it would bring a lot of attention to the team in a positive light. And it would also put focus on my career ending so people really knew that it was the end, you know? I can’t think of someone I want doing it more than you. So this is their offer. They want you to follow me around and do the segments. Travel with me, report on things. Take photos, talk about the team. The games. I know you know baseball. You’ll get to travel, be with me and take photos. Which is exactly what you always wanted. You can also post about the things you want to post about.”

“Negan, this is a lot of money,” she felt suddenly panicked looking at the numbers that were there. “You got them to do this by saying it was the only way you would be the coach?”

“Yeah,” Negan nodded his head, his Adam’s apple bouncing in his throat.

“But I’m a nobody. You’d think they would want someone who has already made a name for themselves,” she didn’t know how to respond realizing that Negan was right, this was the closest thing to the dream she had when she was younger.

“But you have to make a start somewhere, right? Dale got his job because someone gave him a chance. And that’s what they are doing here with you,” Negan reasoned with her pointing to the papers that were in her hands. “Joel is getting attention for what he did at that bar. I know people that are related to music are actually interested in getting in contact with him. And people are going crazy about hiring him as a contractor. Now it’s your turn to get to live doing some of the things that you always wanted.”

“Wow,” she didn’t know what to say. This was big. Very big. It was a deal that a lot of people would easily accept no questions asked.

“Which really leads me to my next question,” Negan stammered, surprising her when the lights went out. Around her in the darkness she felt something pouring down in over them. By the time that the lights slowly came back to, she realized that there were rose pedals on the ground around her. A video started playing out of the corner of her eye and it was someone projecting what looked like home videos on the wall. Realizing what it was, she turned to look at them. It was their videos together from when they were younger. Videos she assumed that Negan got from his mother of them growing up. It started with them young and with each passing second it led to them becoming teenagers through quick glimpses of clips. There was a gentle tug at her dress and she looked behind her to see that Negan was on his knee holding a black jewelry box in his hands. Even in the darkness that surrounded him, she could see that it was a very beautiful, big ring that was there. “This may be a little cheesy, but I had my mother and Liz help me with this earlier today.”

And suddenly there was her answer as to why Elizabeth was acting strange, “I wanted to give you a beautiful moment because you are phenomenal. Inside and out. You’re fucking perfect. And I’ve loved you my whole life. I always knew it. I still know it. I want to spend the rest of my life with you. Proving to you how much I love you. Making all your dreams come true. I want you by my side. Getting to experience the life that you always wanted and then some. I want to spend the rest of my life making you fucking happy. Letting you know how fucking much I love you every day.”

There were tears burning at her eyes when she forced herself to look away from Negan who was exceedingly hopeful with the way that he was staring up at her, “It would make me really happy if you would do me the honors of being my wife.”

Silence followed and Negan lowered his head to get her to look at him. There was a big smile plastered over his features when he shrugged his shoulders, “So what do you say? Will you marry me?”

“I wish you wouldn’t have involved Elizabeth in this,” was the first thing that came out of her mouth and the smile slowly faded from Negan’s features. That wasn’t what he was expecting after asking her to marry him. “I’m a mom, Negan.”

“Yeah?” Negan’s head tipped to the side, his features confused.

“You didn’t think this out,” she whispered, guilt eating away at her that this obviously wasn’t turning out the way that Negan wanted. “I have a daughter that is seventeen and a son that is thirteen. I’m just supposed to take off on them? Leave them? So that way I can live my dream?”

“Of course not, they could travel with us,” Negan was quick to answer, but she gave him a sideways expression. There was a knot growing in Negan’s stomach and his chest started to ache.

“They have school Negan,” she pointed out and he let out a nervous breath.

“Yeah, but they can probably get the best home schooling available,” Negan offered, the vein at the side of his neck bulging that she wasn’t just outwardly saying yes to all of this. “I can afford just about anything and you know that they would love going.”

“But that takes them away from Joel,” she countered, reaching up to wipe at her eyes with the back of her hand. “And I couldn’t do that to Joel. I couldn’t do that to them. Joel is the most important person in their lives.”

“I don’t want them taken away from Joel,” Negan looked to the ring that was in his hand and suddenly he felt incredibly small. “I just wanted to give you the life that you always wanted. I wanted to make you happy. I want to be with you.”

“Baseball season is what? Six months? And then spring training is two months? That means that we’ll always be traveling for eight months out of the year,” she thought aloud having Negan’s arm slowly dropping down beside him in defeat. There was a sense of misery in his eyes that broke her heart to see, but these were things Negan didn’t think about. “What kind of life is that for children? They need some kind of stability in their lives and they can’t be away from their father.”

“I just thought…” Negan slid further in closer to her trying to grab her hand, but she pulled it from him and let out a shuddering breath. “Please? I love you. I love your children. I want to be your husband. I want you to be my wife. And I feel like we could figure something out with Joel. If we get this music thing started for him…”

“I wish I could take off and just go whenever I wanted to Negan,” she whimpered, trying to wipe at the tears that were over her cheeks. It was hard to even look at him right now since Negan was so good at bringing happiness into her life, but she didn’t feel like he thought this out very well. “But that dream left as soon as I became a mom. A mom to children that don’t belong to you. If they were yours, it would be one thing, but I can’t take them away from their dad. I can’t stay on the road six months at a time away from them.”

“I’m sure there is something that could be worked out where…” Negan heard her sob and she threw her hands up in the air. Confusion flooded Negan’s veins that she was acting the way she was about all of this. “I don’t understand. Don’t you love me?”

“So fucking much,” she answered immediately, nodding her head to his question. “More than you will ever understand, but my family has to come first Negan. And this is where their lives are. This small, sad little town. But this is where their school is. This is where their father is. Their lives have to come first. As much as I want to be happy and to live my dreams, I have to put their dreams first.”

“I just thought…” Negan slouched forward with Y/N running off on him toward the women’s restroom. It had him closing the box up and he fell back onto his ass. Burying his head into his hands, he knew that this was not what he was expecting. He did everything he could to make this romantic for her but realizing that she had set the papers and the envelope back where they were originally, he knew that this wasn’t turning out to be the night that he planned it to be.

----

Sitting in the driveway to his home, Joel could feel his heart pounding away in his chest. He’d love to admit that he didn’t go to the skating rink, but he did. And what he saw was Negan and Y/N dancing at the center of the rink. They were laughing, kissing, smiling…doing everything that a happy couple did.

What had originally been courage out of anger and rage stopped the moment he saw them together. Elizabeth was right. They were happy. Negan made her happy. Happier than he had in years. Then again? Maybe it was happier than he had ever.

Instead of breaking things off like he had planned to do, Joel just stood there for a moment. Watched them. They had no idea that he was there. They were just lost in each other. Lost in the moment. And he couldn’t stand to see any further of it. But he also couldn’t break it up. Not with her as happy as she was. So instead he turned around. Walked out of the place. Forced himself to drive home.

Even though he told himself to turn around multiple times, he didn’t. What kind of man would he be if he ruined her special moment? Made her miserable again like he had always done before in the past. This time he had to be the better man that he used to be. The man that he wanted to be and let them have their moment.

If Negan made her happy? Then there was nothing he could do to change that. He had to let her grow up and apart from him. Even if it hurt him. Even if he felt like it was wrong. He had to let her be her own person and find her own way.

Elizabeth saw it, he saw it. Negan was the person that made her the happiest now and Joel would just have to live with that. Whether he liked it or not. There was nothing he could do to change it. No matter how much it hurt.

----

Tags: @chainsawsangel @fancypeacepersona @violent-darkness @negansbestie @elegantfanficluv

@sanctuaryforthelost @dead-of-niight @dilfsandmartinis @jennydehavilland

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