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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding On

Ch21: Her Hooves Set The Beat, My Heart Sang The Song

Summary: There’s a feel good factor at the Gallagher-Adler’s as Alex hits another milestone, but their happy little bubble his shattered with some bad news at the stables, and Fliss is forced to say a heart-breaking goodbye…

Warnings: Bad language, 18+, animal death.

Pairing: Frank Adler x OFC Fliss Gallagher

A/N: So, for those of you who don’t know, Heidi was actually real. She was my beloved horse of a lifetime who I lost in July 2018 to complications associated with old age. At 28 I she had a good life, and for the 20 years I had her she gave me everything. Writing this brought back a lot of memories and was quite therapeutic in a way, but if anyone wants to skip over it for fear of being triggered, I won’t be offended.

Disclaimer: This is a pure work of fiction and classified as 18+. Please respect this and do not read if you are underage. I do not own any characters in this series bar Fliss Gallagher and the other OCs. By reading beyond this point you understand and accept the terms of this disclaimer.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 20

April 2020

“Go away!” Mary laughed, pushing Fliss’ arm as she tried to peek over at what she was writing on the piece of card upon which she’d been designing the Wedding Invitations. “You can see when I’m done!”

Fliss chuckled and backed away, hands raised, palms up.

“Okay, okay.” She walked backwards a few steps before she turned and her eyes fell on Alex who was in his pack and play loudly banging some coloured blocks together. He looked up at her and gave a huge smile before he shuffled a little to the edge of his pen and reached up, curling his hands onto the sides. As Fliss watched, he tried to pull himself up into a standing position but only got so far before he landed on his butt, and waved his arms and legs shouting something in, what Frank called Bean-Babble. Fliss grinned and moved to pick him up.

“Not quite mastered that yet have you, baby?” She smiled, kissing his cheek.

Alex let out another loud squeal of contentment as he perched on her hip and she made her way over to the kitchen area. There, she settled him in his high chair and headed into the fridge to grab him an apple. Since he had started eating solids it had fast become apparent that he was particularly partial to the fruit, something Frank directly attributed to the fact that Fliss had eaten so many of them when she was pregnant thanks to her craving. Fliss carefully chopped the fruit into large pieces before she placed them down on the tray of his chair, kissing his soft hair again as Alex grabbed a slice in his hand and promptly jabbed it in his mouth, making appreciative noises.

Happy that he was content, Fliss then turned her attention to their dinner. She soon had the base of the cream and garlic sauce for the seafood linguini simmering nicely in the pan so she then turned her attention to shelling and de-veining the fresh, king prawns Frank had brought home the night before, along with chopping up the squid and cleaning the mussels before she turned her head and looked over to the table across the large family room.

“Mary, do you want mussels in yours?”

“No, they taste like snot.” Came the simple response.

“You know what snot tastes like?” Fliss pulled a face. “Gross.”

Mary didn’t reply, her hand was busy scribbling on the paper. Fliss shrugged and placed some of the sauce into a separate pan before she dropped some of the seafood through to cook, before pulling a cod and mash potato puree out for Alex for his dinner. Whilst that was in the microwave, she tossed Mary’s sauce through some of the pasta, before sprinkling over a little bit of parmesan and setting it down on the breakfast bar.

“Mary, dinner.”

Mary hopped down from the table and made her way over to the counter. With a thanks to Fliss she tucked in as Fliss smiled and sat next to her, feeding Alex.

“What time is Dad home?” Mary asked.

“I’m actually expecting him any time now.” Fliss glanced at the clock. “He has no meetings tonight so he shouldn’t be too long. Did you want him for something? I can call him.”

“No, I was just curious.” Mary swallowed her mouthful of food. “Do you mind if I don’t ride tonight?”

“No, of course not.” Fliss gave Alex another spoonful of his dinner before she turned to Mary. “Is everything ok, Stack? It’s not like you to pass up an opportunity to ride.”

“Well, I thought I could spend some time with Frank.” She shrugged. “I haven’t seen him properly this week.”

“I’m sure he’d appreciate that.” Fliss smiled, giving Alex more food.

“Just figured if you’re at the stables and Alex is in bed, it’ll just be the two of us. No offense.”

“None taken.” Fliss chuckled, as Mary grinned and continued to eat. And she meant it. Over the past two weeks or so, Frank and Alan’s son had decided to expand a little and as such had been meeting with potential new suppliers, often working until later in the night, something Fliss knew was hard on him because it meant his time with the kids had really been limited to a quick hour over breakfast, the morning school and crèche drop offs and weekends. Fliss had assured him that the kids were fine, she was fine, and reminded him that he was doing this for the family, for their future but it didn’t stop him feeling guilty.

It was kind of ironic, when she thought about it. As she’d been expecting to feel the same guilt after going back to work full time but as she was self-employed, she’d been able to work her time-table quite well around the kids. She’d taken on another stable hand to help with the day to day chores leaving her free to teach more freelance in the area and school horses when they came to her for training. Joanne was now taking the group lessons completely, having passed her final teaching exams earlier that year, and Alex had settled really well into his day care, going two days a week to the centre round the corner from Mary’s school which had come recommended by Bonnie’s sister. The other two days a week Verity (and nine times outta ten Bill) came look after him or take him out, meaning on those days Fliss worked later- scheduling in evening lessons for clients as Verity would sort the kids dinner before Frank got home, and then on Friday, Fliss did her paperwork so Alex stayed with her . It was busy, and often required military planning as to who was picking which child up and when, but they worked it well, and Fliss had been very surprised at how easily they had picked it all up.

They continued chatting, and just as Mary had polished off her desert, Thor gave a little woof and padded to the back door as it opened and they heard Frank giving his usual jokey greeting.

“The boss is home.”

“Yeah I know, she made dinner.” Mary shot back and Fliss laughed, giving her a hi-five.

Frank walked into the main room and smiled at them both, giving Fliss a quick kiss before he ruffled Mary’s hair as she shoved him away, rolling her eyes, jumping off the stool to escape him.

“Good day?” He asked, and Fliss nodded.

“Yeah, not bad. You?”

“Busy, but productive. We got the final Price Lists negotiated so…” he trailed off, nodding to Alex who was smiling at him. “Looks like he enjoyed dinner.”

“So did Mary.” Fliss mused, nodding to the empty place on the side. “She ate a full dish of linguini and a massive piece of Mum’s chocolate cake. Think she’s going through another growth spurt.”

“Great, more clothes to buy.”

Fliss chuckled as she fed Alex the last of his peach and apple puree before she reached for a baby wipe and scrubbed his face and hands clean, much to the baby’s annoyance. She stood up to clear away his dish, leaving the spoon in Alex’s hand as he was busy banging it against the tray of his chair. Frank sat down on the stool she’d vacated, kissing Alex’s head. .

“Hey, Pal. Meet any hot girls today at crèche?” He asked. Alex shrieked in response, banging the spoon harder and Frank nodded. “Oh really? Well, you play it cool and she’ll be putty in your hands.”

“Like I was in yours?” Fliss asked, turning to face him and Frank grinned as he settled on the stool.

“Think we both know it was the other way round.”

“Don’t you forget it.” She smirked a little.

“Like I’d have a chance.” Frank winked at her and Fliss smiled.

“Do you want your dinner now or-“

“Oh, can I show you the invitation first?” Mary suddenly piped up from across the room and Fliss nodded.

“Sure.”

She jumped off the table at the chair and approached them, placing the card on the breakfast bar in front of Frank. Fliss stood behind Frank, her hands sliding round his shoulders as she kissed his cheek, both of them glancing down at the design Mary had come up with.

The front was a simple square piece of card. Across the top Mary had cut letters out of a magazine to spell out the words “WE’RE GETTING MARRIED” and underneath it she’d stuck a copy of a photo of the four of them which had clearly been taken at Bill and Verity’s a few weeks ago. Mary and Alex were both looking at the camera, whereas Frank and Fliss were both laughing as they looked at each other as Frank held Alex, the baby’s back to his chest, supporting under his butt with one arm, the other held across his front.

“Where did you get that?” Frank asked, grinning as he looked at it.

“Poppa Bill.” Mary looked at him. “He said it was like the five thousandth attempt at trying to get us all to look at the camera.”

“That was Frank’s fault.” Fliss laughed, “He kept nipping my ass.”

Frank shrugged, before Fliss spotted one of his arms snaking backwards, blatantly intending on doing the same and she slapped his hand, making him give a dirty chuckle as he pulled it away.

“Turn it over!” Mary urged. Frank obliged and they both smiled instantly at the back. It was written in Mary’s untidy writing, in bright multi-coloured felt tip.

“Oh Mary, this is just what I wanted!” Fliss grinned. “For it to look bright and unique.”

“You haven’t read it yet.” She looked up at Fliss rolling her eyes, but before she could comment Frank started to laugh as he had and his chuckles continued as Fliss read the words out-loud.

“Mary and Alex Adler would like to invite you to their Mom and Dad’s wedding.” Fliss took a deep breath at the word, looking at Mary who gave her a small smile. Whilst Mary had referred to Fliss when talking to other people as her mom, she’d never actually used the word directly to Fliss yet. But, now wasn’t the time to dig into that. Fliss cleared her throat and read on “Frank and Fliss met at the stables. Frank was smitten, Fliss was too. But they were too dumb to admit it straight away. And then Frank took her sailing (not driving) on a speedboat. They kissed, made a baby and now it’s time for a party. (And a wedding too).”

Fliss burst out laughing, as Frank tried to gain enough control to read the final bit at the bottom, which was situated underneath the details of time and venues, before it went on to state their address.

“RSVP to Mary (not Alex, because he can’t read!)” He managed to wheeze out, wiping at his eyes. “Oh, Stack, you’re killing me.”

“You like it?” She grinned and Frank nodded.

“Mary.” Fliss’ laughter died down as she took a deep breath. “It’s absolutely perfect!”

Once they had finished laughing at Mary’s Invitation Prototype, Fliss and Frank ate dinner together, Mary chatting away to the pair of them as she sat at the end of the breakfast bar, sipping a milkshake, informing them both about her day, before Frank took Alex to get him bathed and changed into his pyjamas.

“This bath is supposed to be for you.” Frank grumbled as Alex enthusiastically splashed at the water with his little hands, those little babbling noises emitting from his mouth as he glanced up at Frank with his big blue eyes, making another sound that could almost have been interpreted as a question. Which, maybe it was. “You heard me.” Frank looked at him. Alex studied his dad for a second before continuing with his splashing, laughing loudly as he tossed a plastic boat to the end of the tub before he stretched towards it, then realising he couldn’t reach the toy, promptly burst into tears.

“Seriously, Pal?” Frank rolled his eyes, stretching his right hand over to retrieve the precious item. As soon as he passed it back, the over the top tears stopped and Frank raised an eyebrow. “If you wanted it so badly why did you throw it away in the first place?”

Alex responded with another noise, this one a gurgle and Frank nodded.

“Okay, understood.”

At that Alex looked at him, cocking his head to one side, making another puzzled noise and tossed the boat this time over the side of the bath, a grin spreading across his face as he studied his dad. Frank arched an eyebrow. “You know, just because I love you doesn’t mean I sign up for this whole throw and fetch shit you got going on.” He picked up the toy and tossed it back into the water. “That’s Thor’s job.”

“You know, if his first word comes out a swear, you’re in deep trouble.” Fliss arched an eyebrow as Frank turned his head over his shoulder to look at her as she stood in the bathroom doorway. At the sight of his Mumma, Alex gave a huge grin and let out another gabble of noises.

“There are worst things it could be.” Frank shrugged, looking back at him.

“Like what?”

“Trump.” Frank deadpanned and Fliss let out a chuckle as once more the plastic boat came out of the tub onto the floor.

“Right, I think play-time is done pal.” Frank looked at Alex, who glanced up at him as he made sure to keep one hand behind his son’s back whilst reaching for his little hooded towel, which was patterned with tiny little ducks. “Come on.” No sooner had he lifted Alex out of the tub, the eight month old started to protest, dramatically, screams once more hitting Frank’s ears. “Oh, hush…” Frank chuckled as he lay him down on the towel before wrapping him in it and picking him up, rising to a stand and gently jiggling the now hysterical baby up and down.

“Anyone would think we’re tryin’a kill him, not simply dry him off after he’s spent fifteen minutes in the bath.” Frank rolled his eyes, an amused expression on his face at Alex’s dramatics.

“Well, he’s a right little water baby, aint you Bean?” Fliss leaned over to kiss Alex’s head as his cries suddenly died down as he had become instantly distracted with the buttons on Frank’s shirt. He made a little “oooh” of approval, his tiny fingers reaching to the ones near the collar. “Ha, look at that, he’s easily distracted, just like his daddy.”

“Yeah, well, I won’t deny, I quite like undoing your buttons.” Frank teased, dropping a kiss to her mouth. “Shall I dress him or do you wanna do it?”

Fliss took a deep breath, of course she wanted to dress him, she wanted to do everything for her baby, but she also knew that Frank had been out of the house early every morning and this was the first evening since Monday he’d made it home before bath time. With a smile she shook her head. “It's okay, you can do it. I’ll clean up in here.”

“Leave it, I’ll do it later.”

“It won’t take me five minutes. Then once I’m done and he’s settled, I’ll head over to the yard so I can ride and finish off. I won’t be too long, just an hour or so.”

“Then we got some us time?” Frank asked, almost pleaded and she smiled.

“Then we got some us time.”

“Perfect.” Frank gave her a soft smile before he kissed her again and carried Alex into the nursery. Before long he’d managed to wrestle a very wriggly baby into a clean diaper, a fresh romper suit and headed downstairs. Mary was now sat on the couch, her eyes glued to something on the TV as Fliss was warming Alex’s bottle up.

“You going with Fliss, Stack?”

No answer. With a raised brow he turned to look at Fliss who was biting her lip, trying not to laugh as he switched his attention back to Mary.

“Earth to Mary.”

With a groan she looked at him. “What?”

“Less of the attitude.” Frank looked at her. “I asked if you were going to ride?”

“Oh, erm…” She hesitated and Fliss chuckled.

“She wants to stay here and spend some time with you.” She smiled as Frank looked at her, then to Mary.

“Wow, me over Monty, I’m flattered.” He smirked. Mary rolled her eyes.

“Don’t get used to it, it’s only because I’ve not seen you properly this week to hang out.”

Frank snorted before he sighed. “I know, I’m sorry. It won’t be forever.”

“It’s fine.” Mary shrugged, her eyes back on the TV. “Not like I’m neglected, is it?”

“Good to know you feel that way.” Frank nodded seriously, before he caught Fliss’ eye and she gave him a wink.

He placed Alex down on the play mat in front of the TV and within seconds the baby had flipped himself over and pushed up onto his hands, rocking back a little onto his knees, emitting more excited noises.

“Mary, I’m just gonna grab a drink.” Frank looked at the Alex, before he turned to Mary. “Keep your eye on your brother will you?”

“Sure.” She shrugged, her attention now completely on the baby as she dropped onto the floor and shuffled over to him, talking to him as she did so.

Frank watched for a moment, giving a silent groan as Alex flopped gently down face first onto the mat.

“Oopsie!” Mary grinned, and Frank braced himself for the dramatic screams, but they never came as this time, Alex managed to right himself and roll back over onto his back, giving Mary an excited grin and a loud shriek as Mary waggled one of the toys from the baby gym over the top of him.

Satisfied they were okay, Frank headed into the kitchen where Fliss was busy finishing off the lunches for the next morning, dropping a kiss to her cheek as he reached into the fridge, grabbing a beer.

“You wanna do bedtime as you’ve not had chance this week?” Fliss asked, nodding to Alex’s bottle where it stood in the jug of boiling water.

“He’s my son, course I wanna.” Frank frowned as he looked at her, flipping the top off his beer. “You know, it’s not like I’ve been working late on purpose, Fliss.”

“That’s not what I meant.” Fliss narrowed her eyes at him as he took a long pull of his drink. “And you know it. So less of the shitty tone, thank you!”

“Sorry, Honey.” Frank sighed, dropping a kiss to her lips. “Just, well, I didn’t think Mary would have bothered as much as she had.”

“She’s fine.” Fliss shook her head. “And she isn’t bothered as such, she just wants to get you to herself for a little while. I mean, let’s face it, how often does she get chance to do that now?”

“True.” Frank nodded. “Maybe I should take her out on Saturday somewhere, just the two of us. Would you mind?”

“No, course not.” She shook her head. “I can take Alex down to the beach with Bonnie. You can always join us later on.”

“Yeah.” Frank nodded. “Sounds good.”

“And tonight, why don’t you spend a bit of time in the pool before she showers?” Fliss suggested, as she slid her hands up round his neck. “Then maybe when I get back, me and you could-“

But whatever filthy water-based shenanigans she was about to suggest, Frank never found out, as at that moment Mary let out a yell.

“Oh my God! Alex is crawling, quick!”

In a flash the parents rushed over to where Mary was sat at one side of the play-mat, waving Alex’s huge stuffed elephant at him, as he unsteadily made his way over to her, one hand and knee moving at a time.

“Frank, quick!” Fliss nudged him as she dropped to her knees behind Alex, her hands settling either side of his little body, getting ready to catch him if she needed to.

“I got it…” Frank muttered, as he crouched next to Mary, his phone out. “Alex, buddy, you reckon you can make it all this way to Daddy, huh?”

Another few little movements later, Fliss’ sharp eyes saw the baby’s arms beginning to wobble and, just as they gave way she grabbed him and pulled him backwards, swinging him up and pressing her to his chest, smothering his face in kisses.

“My clever little man!” She beamed as Alex laughed, grabbing at her hair as she kissed him. “Oh my baby, you’re getting so big!”

Alex clearly decided that his crawling efforts were done for the day as he made no attempt try again as Fliss held him in position on the mat. With a shrug, she gently placed him on his back where he began to grab once more at the toys hanging over him.

“Obviously had enough excitement for one night.” Frank chuckled as he reached over and tickled the baby’s belly, drawing a gaggle of laughter from him.

“I’m so glad we all got to see it.” Fliss beamed round at them both and Mary nodded enthusiastically. “Right…” She rose to her feet. “I’m going to go ride and finish off. I’ll be back in an hour, hour and a half.”

Once she was gone, Frank turned to Mary. “Fancy playing in the pool for a bit before bed?”

“Errr, yeah!”

“Okay, well give me half an hour or so to get him down and then we’ll head out. I wanna see if you can master a back flip this time instead of a front one.”

***** Alex went down, as usual, with minimum fuss and once Frank was happy he was settled he changed into his swim shorts and headed downstairs. Grabbing the baby monitor screen from the side in the kitchen, he and Mary headed out to the pool, Mary wasting no time in cannon-balling straight in. Not one to shy down from a challenge, when Mary told him to beat her splash, he did just that. The two of them enjoyed a fun filled forty minutes or so, racing one another (Frank let Mary win a few, but not all) play fighting, diving and generally larking around as the sun dipped behind the eye-line of the fence and the lights in the pool kicked in, reflecting against the bright blue tiles which lined it.

Frank climbed out of the pool to check the time on his phone, and realising it was now almost eight, he told Mary it was time to get out. She protested, but he shot her a no-nonsense stare and with a loud groan about how unfair life was, she climbed out and Frank wrapped her in a towel before giving her a drink of water and then packing her off upstairs for a shower, promising her she could read in bed before lights off at nine.

He showered himself, pulling on a pair of sweats and a well-worn light blue T-Shirt, and by the time he had finished and headed across the landing to tuck Mary in, she was already out for the count. With a smile, he placed her book down on her night stand, gently kissed her head and then flicked off the lamp before he moved to the next room to check on Alex. He was also fast asleep.

He headed back downstairs, grabbed another beer and settled in front of the TV, giving a snort as he glanced at the time. It was now ten past nine. So much for Fliss being just an hour. No doubt she’d ended up chatting to one of the clients about something, as usual, which had delayed her locking up. Firing her a good humoured, sarcastic text about how he should grow a mane, tail and two extra legs so he could get a look in, he tossed the phone down onto the coffee table, frowning as it instantly began to light up. It was Fliss.

“Hey, Honey, I was only joking, take as-“

“Frank, there’s something wrong with Heidi.” She cut him off, her voice cracking. “She’s got colic and it’s bad. I called the Vet and he’s on his way but she won’t get up. I can’t get her on her feet to try and walk her round she’s just…”

Frank took a deep breath, his stomach falling as he digested her words. He wasn’t clued up on a lot of horse lingo or issues, but he knew colic was fatal to some horses, depending on the severity. And even without the fact that Fliss was clearly concerned, he knew that with Heidi being as old as she was this wasn’t good.

“How long is the Vet going to be?” he asked.

“They said about half an hour, he’s on his way but as it’s night it’s an emergency call so he’s coming from home.” She took a deep breath. “Frank, I’m gonna lose her.”

“Look, you don’t know that for sure.” He placated her gently as he stood up from the sofa. “Listen, let me grab the kids and we’ll come over.”

“Frank, they’re sleeping.” She began to protest, “And Mary will be so upset to see Heidi like this, and if the vet has to put her to sleep then…”

“Then she’ll be mad as hell she didn’t get to say goodbye.” Frank reasoned as he made his way into the hallway. “I don’t want you over there on your own, sweetheart. Not if…”

There was a pause. “I don’t want to do it on my own either.” She whispered and he took a deep breath as he headed up the stairs, taking the steps two at a time.

“And you don’t hafta.” He replied. “Give me five minutes. Do you need anything else?”

“No, I got everything here.”

“Okay.” He nodded, pausing outside Mary’s bedroom. “We’ll be with you in five.”

She sniffed. “Thank you.”

Frank stuck his phone in the pocket of his sweats before he opened Mary’s door and headed over to her bed. Standing on the bottom rung of the ladder of the cabin he gently leaned over. She was led, facing away from him, face snuggled into her pillow as Fred lay by her side. He raised his head questioningly at Frank as he softly brushed Mary’s hair off her cheek, pressing a kiss to her face.

“Stack, hey…come on, wake up.” Mary gave a groan as she pulled her covers up further, her eyes still closed. Frank spoke a little louder, his hand softly shaking her shoulder. “Mary, sweetheart, I need you to wake up, come on.”

She stirred a little, before she rolled onto her back, blinking sleepily at him before she frowned.

“Frank, it’s still dark!” She glared at him and he bit back the smirk at the fact she’d reverted to Frank, not Dad. Something she always did when she felt he was being a jerk.

“I know you haven’t been asleep long, but Fliss is at the yard and we need to go be with her. Heidi isn’t well, the vet is on his way.”

At that she sat up, all tiredness evaporating from her system. “What’s wrong with her?”

“It’s colic, Sweetie.” Frank answered gently. “But Fliss is on her own, so I need you to get dressed whilst I grab Alex, okay?”

“Okay.” She nodded, and Frank smiled softly before he turned and headed over to the nursery which was quiet bar the soft sounds of Alex’s little baby snores. In the stream of light that illuminated the room from the landing, he could see his son sleeping, halfway down the crib, head tilted to the side, the pair of them meticulous in the way they set him down at night. He crossed the room and gently picked Alex up out of the crib, the baby giving a little sigh as he did so but other-wise remaining asleep. He grabbed a little fleece blanket and as he made his way back out into the hallway, Mary appeared in her jeans and a red t-shirt.

“Why don’t you bring your laptop or something, just in case we’re there for a while and you get bored?” Frank asked. “You can sit in the office with Alex.”

“It’s downstairs.” She answered. “I’ll go grab it.”

They headed down stairs and Frank settled Alex in his stroller which was by the kitchen door as Mary grabbed her stuff. Frank slipped his feet into his sneakers as Mary stuffed on her boots and he wandered into the laundry room and found a warm top for them each.

“Frank it’s like almost summer outside.” Mary looked at him, “It’s hot!”

“I’m well aware of the climate, thanks.” He looked at her, stashing the hooded tops and cardigan on the underneath space of the stroller, before he made sure that Alex’s little blanket was set around his legs. “But it might get a little breezy if we’re there later.”

Truth be told he had no idea why he was taking them, other than the fact it felt like something he should do even though it was still in the low 70s at night. He was a little lost, this was something he’d never dealt with before, and there was a sick feeling in his stomach that it wasn’t going to end well. But, there was no point worrying about it until they knew what they were dealing with. He had to be strong, be calm. Taking a deep breath he looked at Mary and nodded. “Get the door, Stack.”

By the time they had reached the Yard, Fliss had managed to coax Heidi to her feet. As Frank and Mary walked round the side of the barn Fliss was heading to the paddock, Heidi trudging behind her.

“Hey.” Frank looked at her, and she gave him a tight smile, not stopping.

“I’m sorry, but if I stop she’ll…” She began to explain but Frank waved her away.

“Do what you gotta do.” He watched as she cast a look over her shoulder. “I’ll settle these two in the office and then I’ll be out.”

After doing just that, instructing Mary to keep an eye on Alex and promising her he would come get her once they knew what was going on, he wandered back to the paddock and without a word simply took Fliss' hand in his as she continued walking Heidi. Frank could hear the horse was making grunting noises and every so often tried to stop and kick at her stomach, but Fliss kept walking, her face set. She didn’t say much, making a little small talk, but Frank simply stayed by her side as every so often they changed direction.

“Where the hell is this vet?” Fliss gave an exasperated sigh and looked around, almost as if she expected to see him.

“It’s not been that long yet, Sweetheart.” Frank soothed her.

“Well it feels like forever.”

Frank kissed her head as they continued walking and about five minutes later a dark blue Hyundai pulled up the drive and Fliss let out a sigh of relief as she saw it was Scott, their usual vet and not some random on-call one. She led Heidi onto the main area of the yard, the horse rapidly becoming even more agitated. Fliss gently ran her hand down her neck, as she turned to Scott and gave him a quick low down and he nodded, patting Heidi.

“Okay old girl, let’s see what’s going on…” Scott hooked the stethoscope into his ears and moved to listen to her belly, taking a deep breath as he looked at Fliss. “Yeah, there’s absolutely no gut noise at all. It’s definitely colic, but you know that already…” he unhooked the ear pieces, leaving the item hanging around his neck before he moved to her head and examined her nose to get a look at the mucas membrane colour, then did a quick check on her gums which Frank noticed were pale instead of the usual pink.

“She’s in shock.” Fliss sniffed a little, noticing the change in colour and Scott wrinkled his nose.

“Not uncommon if she’s in a bit of pain.” He stood back. “Okay, I’m going to give her an anti-spasmodic and some pain relief which should help, and a mild sedative so I can do an internal examination.”

“Yeah, whatever you need to do.” Fliss nodded as Scott turned to head back to his car to prep what he needed.

“Internal examination?” Frank looked at Fliss, “Like, is he…” He mimed fisting something and despite herself, Fliss let out a snort of laughter.

“That’s exactly what he’s gonna do.” She shook her head as she gently stroked Heidi’s face, the mare giving another grunt and huff as she butted Fliss out of the way a little. “Still a sassbag, eh girl?”

“Like her mom.” Frank looked at Fliss and she shrugged, turning over her shoulder as the vet approached, two large syringes in his hand.

“Look, can you call my mum and dad?” Fliss looked at Frank. “I don’t think…well, Dad especially is going to want to be here if…”

“Sure.” Frank nodded and turned away, obligingly.

He wandered back into the office, Bill who answered the phone instantly asked him what was going on and when he explained he simply stated they would be there as soon as they could be and hung up.

“Is she going to be okay?” Mary asked, as Frank checked on Alex where he was still sleeping in his stroller.

“I honestly don’t know Stack, but as soon as I do I’ll tell you okay?”

“Okay.”

“You’re doing a good job in here, watching him.”

“Don’t patronise me, Dad.” She rolled her eyes. “He’s asleep, and I’m reading. Not like it’s hard.”

Frank blinked, before he gave a little scoff and turned to head back onto the yard.

The Vet was just finishing giving Heidi the first jab and he gently rubbed the horse’s neck and then nodded to Fliss.

“Okay so that’s the pain relief and anti-spasmodic administered. Take her back in the paddock and give her another couple of minutes’ walk round whilst it kicks in.”

Fliss nodded and led the horse away, waving off Frank’s offer to come with her, Thor trotting behind.

“What’s the chances, Scott?” Frank turned to the man and he pulled a face.

“It’s hard to say.” He sighed. “If she was younger I’d be optimistic but with horses that age, well everything like this can be a risk. If this doesn’t work then I’ll know more after I’ve done an internal.”

To their despair it didn’t work, and if anything after another minute of walking around Heidi had gotten even worse and her bright, chestnut coat was now damp with sweat, her chest area and parts of her chest covered in a thin sheen of white foam.

“Scott, she’s in agony.” Fliss sniffed as Frank curled an arm round her.

“The sedative will help more with the pain.” Scott assured Fliss, pulling out the second needle which he administered into the horses neck. “Atta girl. We’ll give that a minute to work.”

As Scott snapped on a pair of rubber gloves, Frank and Fliss both turned to look as they heard another car heading up the gravel driveway onto the yard. Verity and Bill appeared shortly after, exchanging a look before Bill headed straight to Heidi, giving her a soft stroke on the nose before Verity did the same.

“You okay, Titch?” Bill asked, dropping a kiss to her head and she swallowed.

“Not really.” Her eyes flicked to Scott as he moved behind Heidi whose head was now slumped down, resting on Fliss’ shoulder as the sedative had kicked in. No one spoke for a moment, before they all heard a heavy sigh from Scott as he pulled his arm back and shook his head.

“I’m sorry, Fliss.” He sighed, and immediately her face crumpled and she took a deep breath.

“Don’t say it, please.” She begged, her chest tightening painfully as her voice cracked.

“Her gut’s twisted. The only option is surgery, but given her age and the stress that would put on her heart…”

He trailed off as Fliss shook her head, wiping her nose on the back of her sleeve. “I’m not putting her through that.” She whispered, “It’s not fair. She’s too old.”

“In that case then, well, you know what I’m gonna say.” Scott dropped his head as Frank softly placed his hands between Fliss shoulder blades as she nodded and took a deep breath “I really am so sorry.”

“It isn’t your fault.” Fliss shook her head, sniffing loudly. “I don’t want her in pain longer than she needs to be. Can we…can we get on with it, please?”

The Vet nodded. “I won’t be able to arrange for her body to be collected until the morning.” He looked at Fliss who took a shuddering breath, more tears rolling down her face. “So errr, where do you want to….”

“Why don’t you use the barn at the back?” Bill cut in gently. “I can move the tractor out for the night. There’s enough room for her to go down peacefully and she can stay in there until someone can collect her.”

“Yeah, it’s clean in there and a soft landing for when…” Fliss took a deep breath before she began to cry as she pressed her face into her beloved horse’s neck, her shoulders shaking as Frank gently rubbed at her back.

“The kids are in the office.” He turned to Bill and Verity, “Mary’s gonna…”

“We’ll sort it.” Verity assured him. “I’ll take Alex back to the house.” She turned to Fliss and gave her arm a gently squeeze before she gently scratched at Heidi’s wither, her head bowing as she walked away.

The next five minutes passed in a blur for Fliss, and somehow she found herself in the barn at the back, as she led Heidi in, the mare following her faithfully.

“Do you want another couple of minutes?” Scott asked kindly.

“Just one, for us all to say goodbye.” Fliss nodded, as she stroked down Heidi’s nose, the tears pouring down her face. She turned to Mary who was stood with Frank, her eyes wet and Frank picked her up, carrying her over as the family crowded round.

“Goodbye, Heidi.” Mary sniffed, pressing a kiss to her nose as Frank gently gave the horse a scratch on the neck. “Frank says we all end up in the same place eventually, so we’ll see you again.”

At that Fliss let out a loud sob and clamped her hand over her face as she broke down. Bill wiped at his eyes as he dropped his arm round his daughter.

“Do you remember when we went to see her before we bought her?” He asked and Fliss let out a choked laugh. “She was in that field, and she came straight over, but so did that big black horse…”

“And she kicked it.” Fliss laughed. “Then she bit Steve. That’s why I picked her.”

At that Frank let out a soft chuckle.

“Yeah, he held a grudge about that, still does.” Bill smiled softly. “God, you had some moments with her. Falls, disagreements, battles of wills, but you got there in the end.”

“She’s been amazing.” Fliss smiled, pressing her nose to Heidi’s. “Turned herself inside out to please me. The best horse I could ever have had.”

Bill smiled, before he reached up and stroked Heidi’s face. “Night, old girl.”

At that he stepped back a little, the three of them plus the vet giving Fliss a moment alone with her old faithful.

“Dad’s right.” She smiled, her hand stoking Heidi’s nose, “You were an asshole for the first four months but, I knew you’d be special, I just had to get your trust. You gave me everything, baby girl, and I’ll never forget you. I’m gonna miss you so much. Your stupid temper tantrums if I don’t pay you enough attention, the fact you rule the pastures…” the tears poured freely down Fliss’ face as she took a shuddering breath, pressing her head to Heidi’s, taking a deep breath. “Sleep well.”

At that she turned to Scott and nodded, and he stepped forward.

“Okay, you’ve seen this before, right?”

“Yeah.” Fliss nodded, “But Mary hasn’t so…”

“Right, so, Mary, I’m gonna give her the first shot and that’s gonna knock her out pretty much, she’s likely to rock back and sit down like a dog before she flops sideways so, be prepared okay.”

“Kay…” Mary spoke in a quiet voice from where she stood in front of Frank. He gently placed his hands on her shoulders and bent down.

“You sure you wanna watch this?”

Mary nodded. “Yeah. Heidi doesn’t know what’s going on. She should have her family here.”

Frank smiled, pressed a kiss to the top of her head and stood up, his hands remaining where they were as Bill gently strode forward and grabbed Thor’s collar, removing him from the barn and out of the way.

Within seconds of Scott administering the first injection, Heidi did just as Scott said. Fliss gently pushed back with the lead rope, guiding Heidi back and the horse fell onto her haunches before flopping sideways, her head landing heavily on the straw bales that Bill had positioned to cushion her blow.

With a loud sob Fliss dropped to her knees and cradled the horse’s head in her lap as Scott then bent over to give her the last injection.

“So now she’s just basically gonna fall asleep and never wake up.” He looked at Mary who nodded, giving a loud sniff as she reached up to grab Franks hand.

“You okay?” He asked and she nodded, wiping at her face with her other hand. Bill moved, dropping a large hand to the back of the small girl’s head as Fliss gently stroked Heidi’s face as the animal’s eyes closed.

With a final, laboured breath, the animal’s chest grew still and Scott bent over.

“She’s gone.” He looked at Fliss, who gave another loud sob, bending over to press her face into the side of Heidi’s cheek.

“I’m so sorry I couldn’t fix you.” She cried, her voice broken. “I’m so sorry.”

Frank was surprised to find his own eyes misting up, and as Mary turned to him, pressing her face into his T’shirt just above the waistband of his sweats, he glanced up at Bill who had tears trickling down his cheeks. He nodded to Frank who gently looked down at Mary, who stepped back and moved towards Bill as he opened his arms, allowing Frank to move into the barn.

“Hey, Lissy…come here.” He dropped to his knees and wrapped his arms round his girl who turned and pressed into him, her body wracked as she almost screamed out her sobs.

*****

It was pushing midnight before they made their way back to the house. Fliss had broken down once more as Frank and Bill had pulled the huge barn doors shut where Heidi’s body lay, covered by a tarp, ready for collection in the morning. The Vet had been nothing short of fantastic, as sympathetic and understanding as he could and for that Frank had thanked him profoundly as he’d been packing his kit up. Without a word said between any of them, they walked down the little pathway and through the gate that connected into the gardens of the house and walked slowly across the gravel driveway. Fliss was walking a little ahead of them, every so often Frank would notice her hand falling to Thor’s head, almost as if she was checking her faithful dog was still with them as well.

She opened the back door which led into the mudroom and walked in, kicking off her boots and then headed into the family room where Verity was sat watching TV. She stood up immediately, took one look at Fliss and then she held her arms out.

“Mum…” Fliss choked and Verity swallowed, her own face creasing into sadness as Fliss stepped into the comfort of her mum’s arms, sniffing slightly.

“Oh, Sweetheart.” Verity pressed a kiss to her daughters head. “I know this is no consolation but she had the best life ever with you, she was so loved and looked after.”

Tearing his eyes away from Fliss, who continued to sniff softly as her mum held her, Frank gently turned to Mary who had tugged on his sleeve.

“You okay?” He asked, his hand gently cupping under her cheek and she shook her head.

“I’m just sad.”

“I know.” He agreed. “You will be for a while, and there’s nothing anyone can say or do that’s gonna make it better, but if you wanna talk about it…”

“No, I think I just wanna go to bed.” She shrugged slightly. “And give Fred a hug.”

“Alright.” He nodded. “You go up, I’ll come tuck you in, in a second.”

She nodded and then walked towards Fliss, hesitating a little, before she continued and gently reached up to lay her hand on Fliss’s elbow. Fliss broke away from her mum and turned to look at Mary, wiping her eyes. Mary blinked and Fliss gave her a soft smile, crouching down to give her a hug, kissing her head.

“I love you, Mom.” Mary’s voice cracked and Fliss pressed her face harder into her hair, pulling her even closer, before she pulled back a little bit and smiled.

“I love you too. And I’m proud of you. You were so brave then.”

Fliss straightened up as Mary walked from the room after bidding everyone a goodnight, before she turned to Frank who was watching her carefully, knowing from the way her face was crumpling that her emotions were about to boil over completely. “Frankie…she…” Fliss stuttered, her chest heaving as Frank stepped forward quickly. “She just…”

“I know…” He wrapped his arms round her and pulled her close as she began to sob, her face pressed into his t-shirt. He stood, his large arms holding her against him, one hand gently resting on the back of her neck, his thumb gently arching over the skin at the back of her ear as he slowly rocked her to-and-fro on the spot, pressing a kiss to her head.

“I’ll make us some tea.” Verity swallowed, and Frank looked at her gratefully as she passed, Bill following, the man gently squeezing Fliss’ shoulder. The room was silent apart from the clinking of mugs as Verity gathered the items she needed to make them all a drink, and Thor’s soft little whines of concern, the dog eventually sticking his head in between Frank and Fliss, nudging Fliss’s thigh with his nose, his noises of distress becoming more and more high pitched. Fliss looked down, Frank’s arm curling over her shoulder as she reached down and scratched behind his ear, before the dog stood on his hind legs, his large paws reaching Fliss’ shoulders as she stooped towards him as he gently licked the tears from her face, his noises dying down a little. Frank watched the animal, a warm feeling in his chest. He’d never seen him react in this way before. He knew from tales Fliss had told him that he’d often comforted her before once her shit bag ex had given her a battering, and he’d seen the dog seek her out when she was upset or worried, but never in such an overt way like this.

“I know you’re not keen on the idea.” Fliss sniffed, looking at Frank and he turned his eyes from the dog to her. “But, can he sleep on the end of the bed, just for tonight?”

Frank looked at her, then back to the dog. Having never had pets as a kid, the bond between a human and an animal was never something he’d really given a second thought to, that is until Mary had found Fred. But since meeting Fliss, seeing the way she was with Thor and her horses, seeing how Mary was with Monty, he’d started to really comprehend that the ties went beyond a simple love. They were bonds, bonds that transcended species, bonds that snaked their way around your heart and latched on with barbs and having one of those bonds wrenched away was not only excruciating but it was devastating.

In simple terms, it was like losing a member of your family, and that Frank could relate to. It was a physical pain, a searing knife which twisted in your heart every time you thought about the person you’d lost.

The lump in Frank’s throat grew even larger as he reached out and scratched Thor behind the ear, the dog turning to him and licking the underside of his forearm, his bushy tail wagging against Frank’s leg.

“I think we can make an exception for one night.” He smiled, looking at Fliss before he pressed a soft kiss to her temple.

*****

Frank was glad their bed was a kingsize. Whilst he never minded particularly that Thor would lounge on the bed with them before they were going to sleep, or in the mornings when they got up, having the big animal on there all night could have been a problem, but as it stood, the dog was perfectly happy to curl up round the peak in the covers which Fliss’ feet made, and she pointed out to Frank that he’d probably hop off and get on his basket at some point during the night.

“He used to do that, anyway.” She shrugged. “When I was in the annex that is. Asshole never let him on the bed. If he was ever away for a few days and I let him or Loki up, I used to have to change the bedding so he wouldn’t find out. One day I forgot and…well, you can figure the rest.”

“Shhhh.” Frank kissed her neck softly as he pulled her closer, her back pressing into his chest wrapping his arms around her. “Try and get some sleep, Sweetheart. It’s late.”

“Thank you.” She whispered.

“What for?”

“Just being you.” She let out a deep breath and turned her head so she could look at him.

“Well, that is one thing I’m pretty good at.” He quipped and Fliss gave a soft chuckle before she took a deep breath.

“I know you’re busy at the shop, but is there any chance you could start late tomorrow?” She asked him softly. “I don’t wanna be on my own when they come to take her.”

“I’m not going in tomorrow.” Frank shook his head. “And Mary’s not going to school. We’ve had a late and upsetting night so I think we should all take it easy, spend some family time together. I thought maybe we could go for a drive, head down to Bay Vista Park.” He suggested. “There’s plenty of shade to sit in. We can take a picnic, climb some trees, me and Mary can have a game of Ultimate Frisbee, perhaps a swim. Hey, we might even spot some manatees.”

“Sounds great.” Fliss agreed, turning her head back round and laying down on the pillow. It was silent for a while, and Frank thought she’d drifted off to sleep until he felt her take a shuddering breath and her shoulders began to shake.

“Hey, come on.” Frank pulled her closer, pressing another kiss to her neck and she turned in his arms, pressing her face into his chest.

“I can’t believe she’s gone.” Fliss sniffed, as Frank’s hand ran up and down her back.

“I’m sorry, Sweetheart. I wish there was something I could do to make this better.”

“This is helping, a little.” She spluttered and Frank gave a soft chuckle, kissing her head again.

“Then you can stay like this all night.” He replied, closing his eyes as he simply held her close.

Eventually, Frank felt Fliss’ breathing grow even, and even though he couldn’t see in the dark of their room he knew she was asleep.

“Night, Baby.” He whispered, kissing her forehead and at that he heard Thor give out a little huff as the dog hopped down off the bed, his basket creaking before there was a soft thud indicating he’d bedded down there.

And, as Frank drifted off, he couldn’t help smile at just how the faithful dog had waited until he knew his precious human was asleep before he left her side.

***** Chapter 22

Dedicated to my gorgeous, wonderful, bad tempered but oh-so-loyal and loving chestnut mare, Sandybrook Hideaway. Keep waiting on that rainbow bridge until I find you again.

#riding on #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #frank adler x oc #gifted #gifted fan fic #chris evans #chris evans characters

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ohkiyo · 4 years ago

Text

characters: black jackals, reader, and schweiden adlers (quick appearance).

warnings: lots of cursing.

word count: 9.3k

a/n: I was supposed to upload this one a few days ago, but I got lazy and I was always feeling sleepy so I didn’t have time to fix it. Hehehe, please enjoy this one! :D I’m lowkey bullying Atsumu in this chapter, but don’t worry, I still love him! XD

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msby navigation || main navigation

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When Shugo was appointed as team captain, he didn’t really give it much thought and accepted the title with pride along with the responsibilities that come with it. He had the experience of being a captain when he was still a student, so it’s nothing new. The only difference is that he’s leading a team full of grown men instead of hormonal teenagers.

With a team like the MSBY Black Jackals, one of the top teams in the V.League Division 1, you’d expect players who are more on the professional side of the spectrum, the kind that always means business, practice first relax later, that kind of thing.

However, he was proven wrong when the younger ones of the team, namely, Bokuto Kotaro, Sakusa Kiyoomi, Miya Atsumu, and Hinata Shoyo are involved, the atmosphere is far from serious. Of course, when it’s time for practice they’re more focused, giving 110% into their training.

Even so, once that whistle is blown, signaling a break from practice, all hell breaks loose. If it is not Bokuto and Hinata bouncing around and screaming, it would be Atsumu and Sakusa bickering, well mainly Sakusa roasting Atsumu and the blond Miya trying to come up with the best come back he could think of.

From what Shugo could remember, Atsumu had none so far, so it was safe to say the setter’s verbal game is weak.

It’s not just them either, the older ones, namely, Oliver Barnes, Adriah Thomas, and Inunaki Shion would sometimes join the other four when they’re feeling playful that day, which just give Shugo more problems to deal with, and when all seven of them joined forces it just increase Shugo’s chances of growing gray hair at age 29.

They have a manager of course and he is there to help keep everyone in check, making sure they behave and all. But, with the team becoming even more well known, emails for brand deals, interviews and magazine photoshoots were sent almost every single day that it needs immediate attention and the only one for that job is their manager himself, Mizuno Takato.

Leaving Shugo to mostly deal with the team on his own.

So when Coach Foster and Takato told him they’ll be having another manager to take care of the team’s internal affairs, he was so happy he almost cried.

“Everyone I would like you all to meet, (L/n) (Y/n) and she will be your manager starting today so take good care of her”

You bowed your head as everyone shouted a “Welcome to the team!” with Takato holding up your very own MSBY jersey jacket. As everyone went around to introduce themselves to you one by one.

“Hey, hey, hey! (Y/n) I can’t believe you’re back!” Bokuto bounded over to you, picking you up, then spinning you around laughing as Hinata excitedly babbles beside him.

“Welcome back (Y/n)!”

You giggled, happy to finally see the friends you left all those years ago “I’m home!"

Bokuto gently places you on the ground, planting your feet to the wooden floor as you steady yourself. While the others who were curious about the exchange and the sunshine duo's familiarity with you walks over.

“You know her Kotaro, Shoyo?” Oliver inquired as Bokuto nodded his head, taking hold of your shoulders and pulling you in front of him, facing your new teammates.

“She was our manager back in high school, while Hinata met her during our training camps”

That was months ago and every day you have proven yourself to be a very reliable manager and Shugo could not be any happier.

“Congratulations everyone! That was a very good game” you said, giving them their towels and drinks as they sat down on the bench. Resting their tired muscles and regaining the lost energy from a very tiring 3 set match.

The Azuma Pharmacy Green Rockets were not an easy opponent, especially with players such as Kiryu Wakatsu, who was once a part of the top three aces in Japan and Goshiki Tsutomu who was Ushijima’s junior back in high school. Nevertheless, they still manage and won the game a good way to start their Monday.

“Goshiki’s straight is still as cool as ever” Hinata stated gulping down his water as Adriah and Shugo let out a sigh, remembering how they had problems blocking his spikes because of how close they mostly were to the line.

“He’s a very tricky opponent”

“Here you go, Sakusa-san” you pass Sakusa his own towel, the one you had specifically separated from the others as the spiker nodded at you in thanks, dabbing it on his face whilst listening to his teammate’s give their own commentary of the game and their insights of the opposing team’s players.

“Shugo, someone wants to have an interview” Takato called as the captain stood up from his seat about to walk to where they were waiting before he stops in his tracks and looks back.

“How about let’s have Bokuto, Atsumu, Sakusa, and Hinata do the interview this time?” he suggested, as Sakusa’s lips turned into a frown while the other three vigorously nodded their head “They're the stars of today’s game I’m sure the interviewer would love to hear from them”

Sakusa tried to make a last-minute getaway, but Atsumu took hold of the towel wrap around his neck and started dragging him, following after their captain.

“C'mon Omi-Omi, it'll be fun" Atsumu just grinned, watching Sakusa's face morph into a scowl as he tugs on the towel “Just live a little”

“I am living”

You quickly pack the empty water bottles and the dirty towels into the bag that Takato was holding while the rest slowly made their way back into the locker room “I’ll leave them to you (Y/n)”

You nodded, jogging after your teammates and immediately spotting them just outside the court, they've already started because you could hear the questions the reporter were asking them as you move to stand beside Shugo. The interview was going well, they were giving honest answers and honest opinions about the game, however, as it goes on, the reporter seems to have taken a liking towards Sakusa because he seems to be the only person the reporter was pointing the microphone at.

While the three idiots who were being ignored decided it was a good idea to do gymnastics at the back. You and Shugo watch in horror as Bokuto does a double backflip, landing perfectly on his feet, both hands raise high, Hinata mimicking his actions and Atsumu following after with a front split all the while not breaking eye contact from the journalist who had notice them. Sakusa who has had enough just plastered on the biggest I-Don’t-Give-A-Fuck face while giving one-word answers.

Shugo who can’t do anything about it just banged his head on the wall. He wished he could have an early retirement but God he’s still young.

“What happened?” Inunaki asks watching from the door as you scolded the four from their stupid stunt. Only Bokuto and Hinata were the ones who look guilty and were muttering apologies under their breath while Atsumu was pouting saying things like.

"I did nothing wrong" or "She was being rude"

Meanwhile, Sakusa doesn't even understand why you're getting angry with him as well, he answered that woman's question like what he was told to do, he just chose the fastest route and the lady seems happy.

“You’ll see later”

They didn't even have to wait long because, after an hour, the video was already circulating the internet, earning hundreds of views by the minute with people commenting like crazy.

“The good thing is, we just earned ourselves more fans” Adriah laugh, Takato’s phone in his hand, the device letting out a ding every minute as the team’s official Twitter and Instagram account were flooding with notifications of new followers or tagged posts.

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Meeting their fans were always one of the things they love to do, the prospect of connecting with people who had supported them throughout the years that they played just keeps them even more motivated to train harder and play better.

“Okay everyone, be gentle with the kids alright? Bokuto, Hinata I’m looking at you” The captain shot the two mentioned players a look to emphasize his point however the mentor-disciple duo wasn't even listening and instead was jumping in excitement, waving at the kids waiting at the other side of the field.

You chuckled, they're just the same as they were in high school and here you thought they've matured a little bit now that they're in their 20s.

Right now, the team was in Kawasaki for a mini fan event held in one of the city's local elementary schools. The team came to an agreement last night, after watching the hilarious black jackals’ post-game interview, that it would not be just fun and games. They should also discuss some bits and pieces of the position they play to give the children some insights and give an early understanding in case they plan to pursue a volleyball career in the future.

However, with kids being kids, didn't seem to care nor interested in the slightest because once it started, they quickly run to their favorite member and started climbing them like trees. The tall ones, especially Adriah and Oliver have at least two kids hanging on each arm, with one of their back, and another on their leg.

"It's good work-out" Takato noted, telling the other kids to do the same to the rest of the members before snapping a few photos to update the fans of the team's schedule for the day.

You guffawed watching as they tackle Atsumu to the ground, the blond screaming for help while clawing at thin air for something to grab.

"Don't worry Atsumu-san, I'll help you!" Hinata tried so hard to pull Atsumu up, but another kid jump on his back resulting in him losing his footing and falling beside the setter.

Bokuto wanted to offer his assistance, but a little girl accidentally tripped him, landing on the two.

"Bokkun, yer heavy!"

"Sorry!"

It turned into a messy dog pile and Sakusa, who was beside the chaos, move his own horde of children to another area before showing his wrist trick. A chorus of oohs and aahs was heard, as the kids watch with wide eyes as it easily bends forward before a boy decided to do the same, but backward, and you have never been so bothered by something before.

You close both eyes, involuntarily shuddering 'Goodness, what are they feeding these children?' you crack an eye open to take a quick peek to check if they stopped but no, another kid also wanted to show his own freak talent and now there's three of them.

You turn around, you're just going to let them do their thing, they seem to be enjoying it anyway.

Feeling a tug on your skirt, you look down to see a little girl looking at you with sparkling eyes.

“Onee-san, you’re so pretty” she said in awe, as you leaned down to be at eye level with the girl.

“Oh? But you’re prettier”

She shook her head, and place her small hands on your cheek “But onee-san is like a princess”

You clutch a hand to your chest at how precious this little girl was, Takato was definitely having a field day because he has not stopped taking pictures. The girl took your hand and led you towards the garden, sitting you down under the tree as she picks up a flower crown and placing it on your head.

“There! It fits you perfectly!” she beamed as you try your best not to just wrap her up in your arms and hug her all day, she was just so cute. Her smile is so bright that somehow she reminded you of Hinata, a ball of sunshine with smiles that could light up the whole room.

“Do you have another one?” she nodded her head and showed you another that was half-finish. You remove a few pieces of flowers, switching it with ones of a different color then adjusting its size before tying both ends.

“Now, there are two princesses” you put the crown on her head as she giggled.

You continued making more flower accessories with her, flower bracelets, flower necklaces, and the likes then putting them on each other. She was a bright and bubbly girl, she would share you some stories of her and her older siblings, her parents and her friends in the elementary school.

You wanted to hear more, she was a good storyteller.

Time flies by so fast when you are having fun is what they would always say and you agreed with that saying because before you even knew it, it was time to go home. Everyone is standing by the gate, saying their goodbyes and telling promises to visit again.

“Bye-bye, pretty onee-chan!” she waves at you, standing beside her teacher, proudly wearing her flower accessories.

Later that evening, everyone was lounging around in the living room, tired from playing with the kids all day. The others were watching the news, however, no one was even listening to the television, because their attention was in the game Oliver and Shugo were having.

Inunaki leaned down to whisper something to Oliver, who's face light up, as he moves his queen to eat Shugo's rook.

"Hey, no coaching!"

Inunaki just shrugs his shoulders in response as he discusses their next strategy.

"I'll help you Meian-san" Hinata took a seat beside his captain, observing the board with such concentration. Brown eyes carefully scanning the positions each piece were place before whispering in Shugo’s ear. Following his suggestion with no doubt whatsoever, Shugo moves his queen forward only for it to get eaten by Oliver's pawn.

“Bwahaha!” Atsumu was bent over, clutching his stomach as he wipes the tears forming at the corner of his eyes while Bokuto tries to console his dejected kouhai in between laughter.

Inunaki and Oliver snickered sharing a high five.

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“Adriah, I need you to tighten that block a little more!”

“That’s good, keep it up Kiyoomi!”

“Okay, follow up, follow up!”

You stood at the sidelines, your eyes following their move as they were currently having a match against each other, Coach Foster and Takato were beside you observing the men on the court while occasionally giving out directives.

A camcorder was prep on your left side to record the practices, the videos will be used as a study material to properly assess the things that needs to be corrected in order to improve their gameplay. While you note down the commentary Coach Foster was saying to add later.

It went on for an hour, their stamina never fails to amaze you as they continuously, jump, dive, and run just to keep the ball in the air. After checking his wristwatch Coach Foster decided that it was time to end the training for the day. So he blew his whistle and the game immediately came to a halt, the ball bouncing on the wooden floor and they drag their tired bodies to gather in front of him, wiping their sweat with their shirt as they waited for his announcements.

“Okay boys good job today, keep in mind what I said and practice more on what you need to improve”

They slowly bob their head up and down, too tired to give out a verbal reply. Coach Foster doesn’t seem to mind because he knows they’re taking his advice seriously.

“This will be the last practice for this week so enjoy your weekend off and rest properly”

After that, they immediately spread out and started cleaning up the gym as fast as their tired bodies can so that they could finally rest and eat some good food.

"Shugo I need the report for last week, can you give it to me by tomorrow?"

"Yes coach, I'm almost done"

Lies, he hasn't even started yet and he was nervous that he won’t be able to finish it on time and if he ever submit the report late, Coach Foster was going to whoop his ass. So many things have happened this week that he never finds the time to start it yet, not even a single paragraph.

No, not even a single sentence.

Seeing your captain's inner turmoil, you walk up to him and whispered "Don't worry, I'll help you"

Shugo shot you a grateful smile, ruffling your hair "You're a savior kid"

That was how you found yourself sitting in the kitchen counter, laptop in front of you, staring at your current work. It would have been easy if the report was in Japanese but Coach Foster prefers it in English.

Shugo was sitting across you, hands fast and typing away, Takato was seated beside you rewriting your notes while the others, who still weren’t feeling sleepy at 11 pm were in the living room watching a movie.

"How do you spell Schweiden again?"

"S-c-h-w...uhh" Shugo's mind seems to have failed him mid-spell as he closes his eyes to try and remember.

"S-c-h-w-e-i-d-e-n" Sakusa finished for him as he walks into the kitchen to get himself a glass of water. The movie must have already ended because the others were already piling into the kitchen, cans, and bottles of drinks in hand and food wrappers place in bowls.

"How's the report going?" Inunaki peered behind Shugo's shoulder.

"It's going great" It’s not, it’s actually not, Shugo is definitely close to pulling his hair out. He glared at his laptop as he continues on smashing the keyboard keys, opting to finish the report as soon as possible.

Meanwhile, you felt like your brain was short-circuiting, English is definitely a hard language, it's complex, it's tricky and certainly a pain. One word can mean two things depending on the pronunciation and its sentence usage and can have a whole different meaning when spelled and one letter is missing, like for example 'public', take one letter out and what do we get?

Pubic.

Anyway, that's not the point, the point is English is hard, and you were close to losing your mind.

You took a sip of your drink, which was coffee mix with a monster energy drink, it was definitely death in a cup but you couldn't care less. You need to stay awake and your deadly concoction was doing a great job keeping your eyes open.

"You know” you started resting your chin on your palm, taking a break from your suffering “I find it amazing how the names of professional volleyball teams are so long like-”

You scroll through the list you have saved in your laptop's notepad “-three to five words at most yet they are referred to by a single name"

"What do you mean?" Takato shifts his eyes from his notebook to you tracing the rim of your cup as your eyes focus themselves on the ceiling.

"I mean there's the Eastern Japan Paper Mills Raijin and everyone calls them Raijin, the Azuma Pharmacy Green Rockets is called Green Rockets while Schweiden Adlers is referred to as Adlers"

"Yes, go on"

"MSBY Black Jackals is sometimes called MSBY or Black Jackals but even those names are a mouthful"

By now, everyone's attention was on you, curiosity flooding their mind as they wait for you to finish.

"So the team is mostly referred to as BJ" you look up and with the most serious face ever, you said "But has anyone even realize that BJ also stands for blowjob?"

Hinata, who was drinking a glass of milk choke on his drink while Atsumu slowly turns to look at Bokuto mouthing a "What the fuck?"

Oliver let out a nervous chuckle "You should take a break (Y/n)" he tries to set your laptop aside so you could rest your exhausted brain, but you shook your head and started working again, finally having the idea outlined in your head. That short break was very effective because your hands were seamlessly gliding over the keyboard keys, as input more words in to your work.

"Also, what does MSBY even mean? Most Significant Byte? I don’t get it"

They don’t get it either, as to where this is all coming from. They swore you have it stored in your mind for so long and just waited for the right moment to tell it.

It was amazing too because while you were going on and on about anything that you could think of, you were also typing on your laptop. Hinata took a peek to see if you were actually doing your job instead of just key smashing, but he was surprised when he saw you busting out an actual paragraph in English while spewing out nonsense in Japanese.

Multi-tasking sure is an impressive skill. He should learn it sometime.

You ran a hand through your hair, you were starting to have trouble again. You were in the zone for about 30 minutes but after that, the effect of your drink started to wear off and you were on a dead end.

The others had decided you hang out in the house's big kitchen doing their own thing, your eyes darted from every corner of the room, trying to find some sort of a cure to help your mental block.

Adriah was seated next to you scrolling through his phone as he nibbled on a pocky stick, you tap him on the shoulder as he looks up at you questioningly "Adriah-san, could you slap me in the face?"

Taken aback by your request he sputtered, almost dropping his phone "W-what?"

"I need something to keep me awake and this is not working anymore" you gestured to your now empty cup "I'm guessing the pain might keep me awake until I'm done with this"

Now, if you actually wanted to feel pain you could have asked at least one of the team's spikers, but you were not dumb enough to actually do that.

Adriah search your eyes for any signs that you were joking, but he found none "Are you sure (Y/n)?"

You assured him that it would be fine, so he raises his hand up as you prepare yourself for the impact.

Sleep must have been overtaking everyone's mind because it took them a few seconds to realize what was happening. Adriah's hand already collided with your face, he had underestimated the force he put in that slap but then soon find out he put too much when a smack resonated inside the kitchen as your body fell from the stool and landing on the cold tiles.

The whole room erupted into a panic as your body lays unmoving on the floor.

“Oh meu Deus!”

"Shit, shit, shit. Adriah what did you do?!" Inunaki kneeled down beside you, the cheek where Adriah hit was glowing red with a visible hand mark starting to form.

"I don't know, I just did what she ask me!" Adriah replied, equally as panicked.

Takato was now checking your pulse, to see if it was still beating. It was a bit exaggerated, a slap wouldn't kill you but with how strong Adriah did it. Takato wouldn't even be surprised if you snapped a vein in your neck.

Bokuto being the drama queen that he is, was shouting words like “(Y/n), don’t die you’re still young!” followed by a “Akaashi will be so sad if you go!”

And Atsumu, instead of being a good senpai that he claims he is, didn’t even think to help you. Instead, the first thing he did was to grab his phone and went live on Instagram to broadcast the madness happening in your shared kitchen.

"Goddammit Adriah!"

"Why are you blaming me?!"

Fortunately, you just passed out; picking you up, Takato carried you back into your room, and tucks you in. Gently closing your door, he goes back into the kitchen to calm them down before the neighbor calls the police on them.

He let out a heavy exhale, rubbing his temples “They’re hopeless”

What would he do without you?

«──────────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ────────────»

When you woke up the next day, you could still feel a stinging sensation on your cheek, your head hurt as well, you wondered what happened to you after you blacked out. You sat up in your bed, rubbing the sleep from your eyes and checking the clock on your night stand to see that it was already 8 am.

So you get out of bed, and walk downstairs into the kitchen to see everyone already there preparing breakfast. It seems like it wasn't just you who woke up late, because after Adriah slapped you to sleep, Shugo roped all of them into helping him with his report, and since none of them were familiar with the job. It took them until 2 am before they were finished and immediately e-mailed the document to Coach Foster.

"Good morning, how's your cheek?" Oliver eyed the slowly fading red mark on your cheek, standing besides Inunaki, holding a plate as the libero carefully places the pancakes in a neat stack, then flipping the other one that was still in the pan.

"It still hurts a little" you took a seat between Hinata and Sakusa, already eating their breakfast.

Adriah passed you a plate with five pancakes stacked on top of each other, a slice of banana on the side, followed by a cup of your favorite coffee. Your eyes were literally sparkling, the food looks so delicious and it smell so so good you almost drooled “I'm sorry about last night"

He gave you a gentle smile, eyes soft, whoever was going to be this man’s future lover sure is very lucky.

"There is nothing to be sorry about Adriah-san, I was the one who asked for it" He was such a sweetheart, it wasn’t even his fault yet he took the time to prepare your food himself, now you just felt guilty by asking him to hit you.

You took the bottle of maple syrup Sakusa handed to you as you drizzled some of it on top of your pancakes "Also, please remind me to never do that again"

Everyone collectively agreed, after last night's scare, there was no way they were going to agree to any odd request you have, no matter how serious you were.

Breakfast was quick, mainly because everyone had a photoshoot to attend at 10. It was a magazine photoshoot for a swimwear by a very well known brand, however it was also the photoshoot they were looking forward to. Because not only was the brand a favorite of theirs, they’ll be partnered with famous models as well, so it was a win-win on their part.

After everyone was finished, the dishes were immediately cleaned, the table wiped off of any food crumbs while the trash was taken out. The guys went back to their room to get ready, and once everyone was ready to go, they piled into the bus as it drove off to the beach which was the venue for the photoshoot.

"It's sure is refreshing to be walking by the sea" Inunaki gazed towards the blue water splashing along the shore, following after their two managers towards the area where tents, chairs and cameras were already set-up.

"It looks so beautiful too" Oliver said, kicking the white sand under his flip flops as the staff led them to the chairs lined out. The make-up artist immediately worked on their look that was going to be aligned with the photoshoot's theme.

"Ahh~ it's so hot" you hold the mini fan closer to Bokuto's face while Sakusa takes the one you were holding out for him, beads of sweat running down your face as Takato took care of the others. Of all the times they have to choose, it has to be in the middle of the day, when the sun is up and proudly shining.

The models were in another tent, dressed in their robes while they waited for the stylist to finish the last touches on the boys’ hair, once done, they changed into their designated swimwear, while the girls removed the robes they were wearing.

It took them about two hours before they were finished, the director wanted to get as many shots as he could so he had plenty to choose from. The break in between takes were crazy because the make-up artist and stylist had to jump from one person to another just to do some retouches, the girls especially, were very fussy and wanted their make-up redone every thirty minutes.

“This is the last time I’m working with models” Sakusa grumbles, as you hand him a packet of wet wipes as he takes a piece and rubs the lipstick stain off his cheek when the model he partnered with gave him a kiss earlier.

You could only offer him a sympathetic smile, even though this was not his first endorsement, he still wasn’t used to interacting with strangers. Not so keen to them casually touching him and invading his personal space.

“Oh Kiyoomi~” Sakusa let out a groan before turning to look at the woman jogging towards him, already changed into a yellow sundress and a sunhat on top of her head. “Here”

She placed a folded paper on his palm “Call me” then blew him a kiss before she walked away. Sakusa opened the paper to see her name, number and even address written on it. He stared at the paper for a good second, before he met your eyes.

He just looks so done with everything.

“Isn’t this our lucky day?” Shugo whistled, pieces of papers on his hand while slinging an arm around Bokuto’s shoulder and sharing a grin with the pepper haired male. With Atsumu trailing behind them, saving the ones he received in his phone. Oliver threw his away because he’s happily married, while Adriah, Inunaki and Hinata gave theirs to either Bokuto or Shugo.

“The models” Sakusa started, looking at them as he crumples the paper on his hand “They’re married, all of them”

Shugo dropped the papers in shock, jaws slack while Bokuto immediately deleted his copy, not wanting to get involved in a scandal just in case, and Atsumu was still having second thoughts, staring at his phone, his thumb hovering over the delete button.

Should he or should he not?

Sakusa just rolls his eyes before stalking off into the tent.

They quickly change back into their own clothes, leaving the venue with bags of the swimwear they just modeled. The brand’s logo is big and bright in the middle as your group walks to where the bus was parked.

“Ah, Captain Jackal” Shugo turned his head to see Schweiden’s captain walking over to him, wearing their team uniform, his hand raised in a wave.

“Bird” He leaned to the side noting the group of children crowding behind the area where he just left “Were you doing a meet and greet?”

“Yes, surprisingly the kids love Ushijima and Kageyama” Fukuro pointed to the two mentioned players with kids crowding at their feet, some hanging on their back while the others tugs on their arm “By the way, is (Y/n) here?”

Shugo pressed his lips into a thin line, turning his body to face Fukuro properly. “I know what you’re trying to do”

“No, you don’t”

“We’re not giving you our manager, get your own”

“But you already have two!”

“I don’t care!”

They glared at each other, a month after you became a part of the team, Fukuro tried to recruit you into joining the Adlers. He even sent Ushijima, Hoshiumi and Kageyama to talk to you hoping that the idea of having familiar faces in the team would change your mind but alas, you were more comfortable with MSBY so you declined every attempt.

However, Fukuro found your one weakness and he’s using it to his advantage whenever he can.

He caught sight of your figure standing near the bus, he shot Shugo a smirk before cupping his hands around his mouth “Oi (Y/n), Adloo’s here!”

They heard you gasp, letting out an excited squeal.

“Adloo!”

You shove your things into Atsumu’s hands and sprint towards the mascot who was already holding out his arms for you. Shugo felt his eye twitch at the smug look on Fukuro’s face as they watched you rock the mascot back and forth with glee. He marched to where you were burying your face on Adloo’s soft fabric and plucking you from its side, then walking towards the bus, but not before shooting Fukuro the dirty finger.

«──────────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ────────────»

It was finally the weekend and it was the start of their long awaited day off, Takato had left early to go home to his pregnant wife while Oliver also went home to his family. Leaving the single ones to enjoy the weekend to themselves. It was already 8 am and you were currently sitting on the laundry room’s floor, separating the whites from the colored ones.

The dirty laundry had been left lying there for almost a week because of how busy everyone was, everyday there was always something new to do, new places to go, and new schedules to follow. Now that it was Saturday, you took it as the chance to finally do it.

Picking up a piece of shirt, you saw a big spider laying underneath it. You jump up, letting out an inhumanly shriek as it circles around in its place.

“(Y/n) are you okay?! What happened?!” you pointed to the spider now crawling the walls of the washing machine, while running to hide behind them in the hopes they’ll get rid of it.

“What the fu-”

“Miya, kill that thing” Sakusa pushed Atsumu forward as the blond stumbled into the room, brown eyes zeroed in on the insect in fear that it might jump on him the second he turned away.

“Are ya crazy?! That thing’s huge!”

He jammed himself in between Shugo and Adriah, pushing the two forward to be the new sacrificial lamb, the bug now sitting on the top of the washing machine stared back at them, unmoving. Black orbs following their movement, calculating, as if choosing his victim.

Which of these idiots should it jump on first?

“That’s it, this place is infected, we’re leaving”

“Hold on a sec, we ain’t leaving this place just because of one spider” Atsumu tried to reason with the man, but no luck however because Sakusa just thought of another way to get rid of the spider.

“Fine, lets burn it down then”

Sakusa turns to retrieve a fire starter and gasoline from the supply closet, actually serious. Atsumu quickly grabbed the back of his shirt, stopping him from actually setting the house on fire. If there was one thing that everyone learned from being with Sakusa for so long, when he says he is going to do something, he is going to do it.

No bullshitting.

So if he says he’s going to throw Atsumu out of the second floor balcony, best believe he’d be doing it an hour after his declaration.

“Even worse! This house costs millions Omi, our combined earnings won’t even cover for the damage!”

“Actually, it can”

“(Y/n), yer not helping”

“Okay, that’s enough” Shugo went in between the two “Let’s catch the spider first before it gets away”

“Uh… Meian-san” Hinata lifted a shaky hand pointing to where the arachnid was supposed to be, but the space is empty. Panic ensues and everyone searches high and low for the bug, lifting up furniture and other decorations looking behind paintings and opening kitchen drawers.

“Everyone it’s here!” Adriah called from the living room, he tiptoed towards the spider, jar in hand, ready to catch it in case it disappears again. You held in a breath when he was only a few centimeters away, slowly he lifted the jar and covered the spider. Sliding a paper underneath it, then took it outside to dispose of it.

Inunaki let out a sigh of relief before walking back into the kitchen to finish inspecting the fridge for any more ingredients to cook. The gang had decided to have Shabu-Shabu for lunch later and he was checking if there were enough ingredients left to serve 8 people. While you went back to the laundry room to load the clothes into the washing machine.

“We need to buy more” Inunaki closes the fridge door, as he checks the cupboards for the sauces and other spices. “Meats and vegetables especially”

He took a piece of paper and wrote down what needs to be bought, double-checking the list if he forgot anything.

“We’ll go!” Atsumu pulled Hinata and Bokuto towards him then pointing a finger at Sakusa who was spraying the kitchen counter with some lysol then wiping it with a rug “Omi-Omi too”

“What? No”

He declined, but the blond just ignored his protest before looking at the older members. “We’ll be fine”

“Are you sure?” Adriah leaned on the counter as he looked at the troublesome four, they have done grocery shopping so many times before and it always turned out okay, the only difference is that before there was at least one of the older members accompanying them, while this time, they were choosing to go by themselves.

“No need to worry Adriah-san” Hinata tried to reassure the man, and although Adriah did relax a little he still hadn’t agreed to it yet. You walk in the kitchen, the first batch of laundry already in the washing machine, tumbling around as the detergent removes the dirt and bad smell.

“I don’t see a problem” Shugo pipes up “They’re adults now, I’m sure they wouldn’t fail something as simple as grocery shopping”

Inunaki was still a bit hesitant, his eyes darting to each face of the younger members of the team, though mainly focusing themselves on Atsumu and Bokuto, because he knows those two share a brain cell but don’t know how to use it. However, Shugo is right, so he gave you the list and the money before following the five of you into the garage.

“So who’s driving?” Shugo held up the keys, twirling them on his fingers while they put on their face mask and cap to avoid getting recognized in public.

“I will”

He stared at Atsumu, eyes blinking before turning to you, jiggling the keys. “(Y/n)?”

You shook your head. “I’m still learning Meian-san”

“Ya gotta trust me captain!”

“I find that hard to do Atsumu”

Shugo retorted, but still dropped the keys to Atsumu’s hand as the blond opened the car and turned it on.

“Don’t damage her!”

“We won’t!”

The three of them watched, as the car went out into the driveway and zoomed through the streets. Leaving a trail of dust behind as the vehicle went out of sight in just seconds.

“I think, I made a mistake”

«──────────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ────────────»

You stumbled out of the car, your heart beating fast and knees wobbly, clutching the side of the door as the trauma of a near death experience still haunts your mind.

"I think I'm going to throw up" Hinata pressed his palm on his mouth, face pale, his other hand wrapped around his stomach as he tried to contain the puke threatening to come out.

“I thought you said you could drive?” Sakusa shot Atsumu a glare, adjusting his mask. When the setter offered to drive, you thought he was actually good at it, you did not expect for him to almost crash the car at the gasoline station or nearly run an old woman over.

“That was dangerous Tsum-Tsum” Bokuto massaged his forehead, he hit the back of the driver’s seat rather hard when Atsumu slammed his foot on the break, just a few feet away from killing an old lady. Fortunately, there were no traffic enforcers nor police officers nearby and the woman didn’t even realize she was close to meeting her creator today. She happily crossed that street, as if she owned the place.

“Hey! I’m just not use to this car okay?” the setter reasoned patting the car’s hood, rubbing his palm over the sleek black top “It’s different from the one I drive back home”

“If you can drive it doesn’t matter what car, you’ll still be able to drive it properly” Sakusa crossed his arms, raising an eyebrow “Did you even pass your driving test?”

“Of course I did, I got 90%,” Atsumu answered proudly, placing his hands on his hips with his head held high and his lips upturned into a smile.

“Was the instructor a girl?”

“Yes”

There was silence, everyone staring at him doubtfully, eyes narrowed and judging.

“Stop looking at me like that!”

“But guys…” Hinata called as he waved them over, pointing at a long scratch mark on the passenger’s door. It was big, about an arm’s length. “Captain is going to kill us”

You walk around the vehicle to check the other side, to see another one on the side of the car’s hood. You clutch your head in frustration, face drained of any color, it would’ve been okay if it was just one, but there’s actually two of them. “Meian-san just bought this four months ago”

“We have to pass by a repair shop before we go home” Bokuto scratched the back of his head. “Tsum-Tsum is paying for the paint job of course”

“Alright, alright. Sheesh. Let’s go buy the groceries first” Atsumu quickly huddled everyone together and started pushing you all into the market’s entrance.

The farmers’ market is always the best place to buy ingredients, it’s cheap compared to the ones sold in malls where prices are doubled, sometimes even tripled, and it’s just ridiculously expensive. You can bargain with the vendors as well, in case some of the items were a bit too pricey. Luckily, the market isn’t too crowded, there weren’t many people buying yet which was unexpected since this place is usually packed during the weekend.

However, there was also one thing that you didn’t expect. Apparently, with how many times you frequent this place during your shopping trips, either one of the boys had made friends with some of the vendors.

“Hinata look, it’s you!” Bokuto held a tangerine next to Hinata’s head lifting his hat a little and grinning at how the fruit’s color was almost the same shade as his disciple’s hair.

You pick up another tangerine, examining it for any damages before looking through the rest of the ones displayed. While the others look through the rest of the fruits they offer, bananas, avocados, apples and some grapes. Anything they found very appealing was picked up and placed inside the bag.

“How much for all of these?” you look at the girl, pointing at the bag that’s almost filled with fruits, but she seems to be looking at something else. You turn around, following where her eyes were focused to see the troublesome four eating some of the fruits.

“We haven’t paid for those yet!” you shriek before turning to the girl again and bowing furiously “I’m so sorry! I’m so sorry!”

“Wouldja relax (Y/n)-chan?” Atsumu took hold of your shoulder, stopping you from hitting your forehead on one of the crates “These are free samples”

He pointed to the little corner of the stall where smaller size crates were neatly arranged, three pieces of each fruit sitting inside with the sign reading free sample, pasted at the front.

“They’re really good (Y/n), here” Bokuto fed you a piece, watching as you munch on the sweet and juicy fruit.

You let out a hum, swallowing the fruit “This is good” you turn to look at the girl, eyes wide “This is really good

She gave you a shy smile, a light shade of pink now visible on her cheeks “Really? Thank you”

“So, how much for all of these?” you opened your bag, pulling out your wallet.

“It’s okay, this is free”

You almost drop your wallet from what she said, you shook your head fishing out a few thousand yen bills and giving it to her “No, this is too much”

She pushes back your hand, lifting up your bag and giving it to your companions “Consider it as a gift” then she moves to serve the other customer in waiting, waving your group goodbye.

Sakusa pushed you to move when he still saw you staring at the rejected money in your hand, leading you to where you were going to buy your meat. Passing through the vegetable stands where you still need to buy some for when you’re finished at the butcher’s shop.

“Hiruma-san good morning!”

“Ah, come in come in!” an old man from behind the counter grinned, lifting the clever over his head before bringing it down on the thick meat place on his wooden chopping board. “What would you like today?”

He wipes his hands on his apron, walking behind the glass case grabbing a tong, snapping it a few times as they pick the meat they like for their lunch later. They were pointing mostly at anything they lay their eyes on, and Sakusa has to remind them about the budget and that they can’t have pork, beef, lamb, and duck at the same time.

“The others didn’t come with you today?” the old man asked, picking up the pork and beef slices that were far too many and bagging them. Then he grabbed another bag and went to the fish area.

“They’re busy at the house”

At the corner, you were counting the money, mentally calculating your budget again. The old man was giving large portions of the meat and you knew that it wasn't very cheap. Just a few cuts alone were worth a few hundred yen, what more when there are two types of meat involved with different varieties of fish thrown into the mix.

He tied the bags then gave it to Atsumu and Bokuto as Sakusa refused to touch the raw meat, not until it had been washed properly, not even if it’s packed away in a bag.

“This one is on the house”

“What? No!” you scrambled towards the man, almost tripping yourself in the process “Hiruma-san please just take the money, this is too much”

“This is a thank you for being such good patrons” he didn’t even let you say another word, the man just walked off to the other side of the display case catering to another customer who walked in.

What is up with these people ignoring you?

Hinata led you out, patting your back, chuckling at the pout on your face.

“Hinata, is our money not good enough?”

“Maybe they’re just feeling generous today (Y/n)”

You stood outside the shop, eyebrows furrowed in thought, you were starting to wonder if they were genuinely just being generous folks or there was something hidden behind their actions.

“Now, all we need are the vegetables then we can go home”

You look around for a nearby vegetable stall, one that you think is not friends with any of the guys so they’ll have no choice but to accept your money like a proper businessman.

“That one” you pointed to the one just besides the meat shop. “I’ll go”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes, just stay put” then you walk off face determined. “Hello”

The vendor put down the crate he was holding, wiping his hands on his pants and walking over to you.

“(Y/n)?” You internally groaned, your old high school classmate standing in front of you at the other side of the stall, and here you were hoping it wouldn't be anyone you know.

“Masuda, long time no see” you nodded your head at him, picking through the vegetables. They were all fresh, he must’ve just arrived.

“Yeah, six years is a long time” He grabbed a basket holding it out for you, as you picked out, mushrooms, carrot, green onion and napa cabbage. “Doing some grocery shopping for the team?”

He gestures to the large amounts of vegetables you’re dropping in the basket “Yep, they’re big eaters. All of them”

He laugh placing them inside a plastic bag “They’re athletes after all”

“How much?”

You accepted the plastic big, the money ready in your hand.

“No. it’s free” you squint your eyes at him, pursing your lips “Consider it as my payback for helping me so many time during high school”

“School has nothing to do with this Masuda” you grab his hand, slamming the money on his palm “So for the love of all things holy, just accept the money”

You stared him down, daring him to refuse it one more time. He nodded his head, clutching the cash as you walked away satisfied that finally, finally, someone accepted your payment. You swore, if these people just keep on giving their products away just because the customer is a friend or a relative, you won’t be surprised if they go home without any profit at the end of the day.

“Let’s stop by the repair shop first then we’ll go home” Atsumu reminded before looking down at Sakusa’s outstretched hand “What?”

“Give me the keys, I’m driving this time” He snatched it out of Atsumu’s hand then climbed into the driver’s seat.

«──────────── « ⋅ʚ♡ɞ⋅ » ────────────»

"It's such a nice day today isn't it?" Shugo leaned back in his chair, placing his hands behind his head. The cabana tent serves as a good shade from the afternoon sun.

Adriah removes one of the earbuds from his ear, hands still moving across his notebook as he writes his notes from his Japanese lessons "It is, the sun feels really good"

They were now in the backyard enjoying the rest of the day besides the pool, Hinata and Bokuto were already playing in the water doing some diving tricks they saw on YouTube. (Y/n) and Atsumu were on the other side, the girl dying the setter’s hair as his roots were starting to show up, meanwhile Sakusa was still inside, probably finishing up on his cleaning.

“Wish days like these would last” Inunaki leaned down, opening the cooler beside his feet, grabbing three bottles of beer and giving it to the two. Opening the packet of chips resting on the table as they munch on some snacks, listening to the song they had put on the speaker to play.

"Kiyoomi, what have you got there?" Adriah asks as the germaphobe walks towards the garbage bags. Masked on his face, his hands covered with plastic gloves, holding what seems to be a ziplock bag filled with some sort of articles of clothing.

"Miya's dirty underwear" he swiftly answered, opening one of the bags and immediately tossing the ziplock bag inside and closing it again "He left it lying around in the bathroom again so I'm throwing it away"

He walks back into the house, probably to resume his cleaning escapades as the three older men could only watch his retreating figure, speechless.

"Should we tell Atsumu?" Adriah took a worried glance towards the piled garbage bag, eyebrows furrow in concern, before looking at the two again.

Inunaki waves his hand, biting on a potato chip "Nah, he'll find out soon once he realizes he's missing a few pair"

So they just continued whatever they were doing, Hinata and Bokuto's shouts and laughter echoing throughout the open space. A cool wind blew past them, ruffling the leaves of the trees planted near the fence as the flowers swayed along with it.

"Bokuto grab a drink here" the pepper haired male pauses his game with Hinata as he climbs out of the pool, water dripping from his body as he crouches in front of the cooler.

"Do you have soda Meian-san?" He rummaged through the multiple bottles and cans of alcohol, pushing the blocks of ice to the side before his eyes landed on the familiar green and black color scheme of a mountain dew can.

He took the can, and three more bottles before opening them and walking to where Hinata was now sitting at the edge on Atsumu and (Y/n)'s side of the pool, giving (Y/n) the soda and the two other bottles to Atsumu and Hinata.

“I’m still bothered about Atsumu’s underwear” Adriah once again turned around in his chair, eyes trained on the garbage bag, waiting for the time it gets to be picked up. “We could-“

A loud honking sound was heard from the other side of the fence as you stopped what you were doing. "The garbage truck is here" jogging to where the bags were resting. Bokuto and Hinata follow after her. Helping the girl carry them out, with their setter's underwear lying amongst the trash in one of the bags, and Atsumu, who was none the wiser, happily held the back gate open as the three walked out and gave it to the garbage man.

They shared a look, as if they had just indirectly participated in a crime, as the garbage truck drives away towards the other houses in the neighborhood.

“Let’s just hope Atsumu still have some spare left”

Sakusa who have already finished cleaning walk towards their area. Already changed into a pair of shorts, a t-shirt and a pair of flip-flops with a book tuck under his arms.

"You want a drink Kiyoomi?"

"No, thank you" Sakusa answered, before situating himself on the lounge chair and opening his book. It was rare for Sakusa himself to willingly join everyone, he's usually not into gathering or bonding that much, so the team must have reached a new level of personal hygiene for the Sakusa Kiyoomi to hang out with them.

It's probably the result of (Y/n) constantly reminding them to wash their hands with alcohol and hand sanitizers, telling them to wear face masks when they're out travelling. Lecturing them how pollution and their constant exposure to sweat and social interactions with other people can lead to a disease. When you had said that, they thought you were going to evolve into Sakusa 2.0 but remembered that you were a university graduate with a degree in sports science so they can’t really argue with that one.

“Maybe I should dye my hair as well, what do you guys think?” Shugo started as the two looked at him questioningly, watching as the captain inspected his hair through his phone’s front camera, running his hand through it as he tugs at the end.

Inunaki snorts, slumping on his chair “Oh please, you’re already old”

“I’m not old! I’m only 29”

The libero deadpanned at him “You’re literally one birthday away into turning 30”

Adriah just laughs, closing his notebook and looking at his captain “What color do you have in mind?”

“Blond looks cool” Shugo shrugs his shoulders, watching as you apply the last remaining dye on Atsumu’s hair.

Inunaki groaned “Oh god no, you’ll look like an old man trying to be hip”

“I told you, I’m not old!”

“Oh yeah? Because that gray hair says otherwise”

“What?”

Inunaki and Adriah pointed at the front part of his hair, as he held up his phone to see a strand of gray hair sticking out among his dark locks.

“What the fuck”

“Congratulations captain, that is a milestone” Adriah patted him on the back laughing.

Shugo stared at it in disbelief, lifting a hand and wrapping it on his finger then tugging.

"Don't pull it out, did you not learn from your elders?" Inunaki scolded him, slapping his hand away.

"Learn what?"

"If you pluck it out, they'll spread faster. Just let it be, it's not even that noticeable"

Shugo looked at it again then ruffled his hair to see if it could be hidden within the rest, and was satisfied when he saw it could be covered.

Silence filled them again, munching on their chips and drinking when Atsumu's booming voice erupted from the depths of the huge house.

“Where the heck are all my underwear?!”

#haikyuu x reader #haikyuu #msby black jackals #haikyuu scenarios #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu oneshot #shugo meian #oliver barnes #inunaki shion #adriah thomas #bokuto kotaro #atsumu miya #sakusa kiyoomi #hinata shoyo

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my-watch-begins · 4 years ago

Text

Peeping Sam.

Rafe Adler x Reader.

Words: 3435

Warnings: cursing, smut, (voyeurism maybe? IDK)

~•~•~•~

The heavy wind ruffled your hair as you stepped out of the car, the air filling with the heavy hums of the engines of the jet. Your free hand shots your hair backwards as your other one clasps onto your purse and phone.

Your eyes run around the tarmac until you find who you're looking for. Standing a few feet away, he taps his foot on the floor as he waits for you to reach him. You smile, hoping that would lessen the thin line that his mouth has formed, along with his clenched jaw and hard stare.

"You're late" he says loud enough to make himself heard over the engines.

Your hand grabs the rim of your sunglasses and pulled them up over your head, making your hair stop swinging in weird directions. You lean over a little and tilt your had upwards, a smile still on your lips.

"Just fashionably" you humour, hoping he would lean in to your lips for a quick kiss. You look away into the distance as he pulls back and heads for the open door of the jet.

Oh, you hated when he did that, just leave your hanging for a kiss.

Your jaw clenches in anger as you will your sunglasses back down and walk behind him following him to the jet, your heels click over the stairs and once you're up, you hear him command take off as he sits down on the big leather seat next to the window.

The door is sealed shut, you sit in one of the seats next to his but separated with the hallway and look to the side, fitting your purse and phone in a compartment that opens next to you. Once the plane is up in the air you take your seatbelt off and stand up. One short step later you turn around and lean back to sit on his lap, he gives you a sigh of annoyance and looked up at you.

"I told you I needed to leave right away, that was two hours ago"

"There was a traffic jam, that was not my fault" you excuse quietly, rounding his shoulder with one of your arms your other hand comes up to his neck, pulling his face up to meet yours "where are we going?"

"To Scotland"

"Oh" you gasp quietly in disappointment.

"And I don't want to hear it"

"You don't want to hear what? Me complaining an old decrepit church gets more attention from my fiance than me?" You stress, leaning back to look at his brown eyes. His stare softens and he places one of his hands on your lower back, another one creeps from your thigh upwards, just barely teasing on the rim of your tight dress. "You said-"

"I know what I said" he interrupts, his hand crawling from your lower back to the middle, pulling you in and having your face hover up above his "I've got someone who's been working on it, I'm just going to apply a little pressure because it's been more than a year without nothing, and I'm about to move to another strategies"

"Good" you whisper, your hand hooks behind his neck and pulls him for a kiss, his hand now fully sneaking under your skirt and teasing between your legs. "Rafe-" you gasp, stopping his hand halfway "not on the flight"

"They get paid to not watch" he smiled over your lips, hooking your hand on the back on your knee to pull it and make you straddle him, his lips not leaving the ferocious attack on yours.

Rafe Adler and you had meet when his parents' company had absorbed your parent's just before it succumbed to bankruptcy, an event that would've most likely have left you to find a new lifestyle. Luckily between mingling dinner parties even if that had happened you'd already found yourself hooked to Rafe's arm and tangled in his Egyptian cotton sheets. That had been years ago, he'd since then brought you along on business trips, paraded you around with investment firms and put a nice ring on your finger.

You knew about the pirate treasure, it had been the subject of pillow talks enough times for you to know everything, and his travels to the Scottish church was one he did at least once a month until you'd made the mistake to tell him to forget about it.

There was no other reason for him to want the treasure if not for the reputation, the fame, fortune? No, he had enough of that already, a few more million dollars wouldn't really make his balance a big difference, but being the man who found Henry Avery's pirate treasure, oh that had a nice ring to it.

You thought it only had been a few months ever since he mentioned that he had a new expert to help him with the search, but now it came to your attention it had been in fact more than a year, and Rafe had been told by this expert that with the technology of today, they could open a lot of dead ends.

You arrived at Rafe's state in Scotland, an army of people coming out of the mansion. One of them opened the door of the car to help you exit, another one of them opened the door of the state and Rafe took a step to the side to let you in first. Since you had not had time to get a bag ready, there was not much unpacking to do, luckily the state had become a second home to you and you had enough spare clothing in there. You'd moved to the bedroom to change into warmer clothes leaving behind the dress that was perfect for the New York heat, and moved to a pair of pants and a wool sweater.

You found yourself in a few business calls after Rafe had texted you to take care of them while he talked with the expert, who was also staying in the state. Dinner time came, and not wanting to have it alone you instead headed out to the garden and the pool. A slow steam oozed out of the surface of the pool, making you know that the water was hot. You smiled and proceeded to undress completely, the night air hitting your skin and making it perk up in goosebumps that quickly subsidised as you climbed down the side ladder and downed your body in the lukewarm water.

You leaned over the edge of the pool to rummage around your clothes to find your phone, you snapped a photo of yourself tentatively over your shoulder, making your backside stand out it's curves under the water and sent it to Rafe.

Your left to phone on the side of the pool and swam around, hoping he would see the photo and come to your encounter outside. That didn't happen.

Rafe was in one of the rooms, looking down at blueprints and old books.

"So, that's why it's taking a while" Sam quickly excused "I've been trying to make my way around these books to find any mention of Avery and his passing relating to the Scottish monastery, so far it's nothing"

"Samuel" he began, lifting his eyes to Sam's, his gaze slowly hardening "it's been past a year, and I've already scouted the shit out that fucking building in the time you've been in lockup" he quickly pulled up his eyebrows and gave him a smug smile "so, it's time we move out of the monastery, I've got a contact who can-"

"Wait wait wait" Sam hurried as he placed his hands up "I can still go to the site, maybe there's something I'm missing"

Rafe loved moments like these, moments were people suddenly succumbed to try and change his mind about thing, he didn't take joy just on Sam's pleas, but also with assistants, chefs, help, even his own investors, businessman, he loved the power.

He placed his hand on Sam's shoulder and gave him a curve of his mouth, looking at him through squinted eyes.

"I'm staying here to help with the research for up to a month, I have other matters to attend... But maybe if we throw both our brains at this, we can work it out" he assured, then just as Sam was about to relax at his words, he tightened he grip just a little on his shoulder "but just one month, I've already wasted more money and time in this adventure than the one I'll be able to get out of one filthy pirate"

Sam nodded, making Rafe smile and pat his shoulder, leaving the study Sam had made his own and walking to the bedroom.

Sam sighed out of his nostrils and shook his head, looking into his pockets for a lighter and his cigarettes.

He'd been buying time, now noticing that it might've been too much already and Rafe was he restless. He'd found what he thought to be a good lead to follow, but he wasn't going to present it as an option until he got a last good look at the church in those following days, he was sure there was a clue there and he couldn't believe he was missing it, his stubbornness not letting him look to another solution to the puzzle.

He felt sick doing this by himself, and he'd already thought of what was he going to say to his brother when I went out to find him and told him that he'd been, firstly; alive, secondly; looking for Avery's treasure with Rafe.

He walked out of the study and into the outside balcony, his lighter clicked and sparked up a flame. He lit up his cigarrete and leaned his forearms on the stoned fence that rounded the balcony, looking outside and taking one deep calming breath.

"Hello?" He suddenly perked up at the female voice, he looked behind him with a frown, what a thing of nightmares to hear a voice out of nowhere in a creepy castle "down here" the female beckoned with a chuckle. He leaned over the edge and looked down at the garden, a figure presenting in front of him on the pool "hi" she saluted, looking up and moving to the edge of the pool. From his view he could see the outlines of your body, noticing the even color that gave away that you were naked.

"Hi" he answered, his voice coming up to a high pitch of confusion.

"I don't have a towel, mind throwing one?" You ask, looking up and leaning over the edge, you finger holding your face up.

Sam bolts out of the room and heads over to the bathroom, in a few seconds he's opening the door to the garden and walks to the ladder, as soon as he sees your hands grab the handles and pull yourself up, he catches a glance of your naked breasts and the water that cascades down your chest, he looks up and a smile peaks on his lips. He's holding the towel open and he heard the water splashing, along with wet steps walking to where he's at, his eyes do not leave the spot he's picked on the sky. He feels the towel being gripped and taken out of his hands, the rustling of the fabric makes him know that the piece is now safely draped around your body.

"Good job on not looking tiger" you whisper with a smile then start walking to the door. Sam finally looks at your figure, his smile disappearing from his face as he sees Rafe holding the door open, him too clasping a towel on his hand. His audition picks up a conversation as his gaze looks down, dodging Rafe's.

"I just saw your text" Rafe excuses, dropping the towel in a nearby patio chair.

"It's okay" you dismiss. Sam picks up from the corner of his eyes how Rafe's arm rounds your waist as you walk through the door, both of you disappearing into the state and leaving him outside.

He hadn't felt the whirl of emotions in a long time, going from surprise to excitement to arousal to dread in just a few minutes. Sam walks inside, relaxing in seeing no sign of Rafe or his girl.

It amazes him how little time has passed between you two walking in and the muffled moans that come from the master bedroom. He walks past it to head to his own room, but stops dead in his tracks as a high moan reverberates out of the room, followed by deep grunts.

He stands at the door, wondering if he's really thinking about what's he's going to do next, his eyes darting to his hands holding a few tools to pick the lock. He's done that a few times with about just every locked room in the state, finding a vast amount of spare bedrooms and office spaces, nothing too fancy. He knows the layout of the master bedroom quite well, so when he picks the lock and it clicks open, he just has to push it ajar barely an inch to get an almost full view of the king size bed, his eyes dilated when he spotted the two figures on the bed.

Rafe's hand snakes up your throat and pulls you on your knees, your back flushing against his hard chest as he pounds you from behind, his other hand holds your waist still in a hard grip, leaving you immobile and he pulls back completely and rams into you with hard and decided thrust. As he keeps pounding at a steady pace your moans picking up in volume and in tone. His mouth comes to your ear, his grip tightening on your neck as his hips keep buckling back and forth, driving his hard cock into you.

"Are you liking that?" He breathes out, you eyebrows knit at this middle as your moans become more high pitched at the speed.

"Faster" you demand, Rafe let's out a breathless chuckle on your ear.

"Faster you say?" His hand leaves your neck and pulls your chest down on the bed, your backside sticking up and opening itself more to allow Rafe's thrusts, he picks up the pace, favoring speed over depth and in a few seconds your hips and buckling and your toes curling as you scream, fisting the bedsheets, you scream a moan and then complain when he pulls out, pushed you a little to the side as he moves to lay on the bed. "Come here" it's his turn to command, you comply quickly crawling on top of him, his cock finding it's was back into your pussy as you sit.

He grunts when he feels your walls are still clenching past the orgasm, and he doesn't wait for you to finish. His hands come to your waist as yours come to his chest, your hips lifting all the way up on his length, then dropping in one quick move. He allows your pace, his hands crawling from your waist to your breasts, cupping them and filling his palms with them as you continue moving your hips up and down.

His hands come to your elbows and grips them, holding them at either side of your body as he pulls you to lay your chest on top of his, he plants his feet on the matress and gets more leverage, your face comes to his and he plants a hungry kiss on your lips as he began to quicken the pace, thrusting upwards, the sound of skin on skin filling the room as much as your muffled moans.

His lips leave yours with a grunt, seeing your half pained, half pleasure ridden face.

"Too much for you to handle love?" He asks, you bite your lip and shake your head in denial.

"I love your cock pounding me just like that baby" you breath out.

His hands, still gripping your arms by the elbow, tug back making you straighten up a bit.

"Open yourself up for me" he demands, your hands come to the height of your ass, so you grip it and open yourself up, that move somehow turns on your sensitivity to a thousand. Rafe's thrusts don't falter one bit as he picks up speed, eliciting longer and louder moans from you along with a string of 'yes' that doesn't stop until your legs involuntarily close at his waist, you yell out and buckle your hips out of control as you cum. Rafe leaves your arms and places his hands on your ass, crunching his torso upwards as he makes your hips come up and down on his length in three quick successions until he bursts inside of you with a heavy grunt ripping out of his chest.

Your hands had grabbed onto his biceps and squeezed your fingers into his skin as you rode our your orgasm and braced yourself for his last thrusts, the ones that always left your legs tingling and threatening to lose sensitivity.

Rafe plops down on the matress with a long sigh, your breath is trying to go back to normal as you look down at him, your face still at the same height as his.

He chuckles when he sees your hair messing out of the best ponytail that is now down to your shoulders and just a fucking mess. His hands trail from your waist, going up and down the curves of your body as he pulls you down, your lips come to his in a drunken and half conscious kiss.

He cups your neck and pulls you back just a bit.

"Shower now or tomorrow?" He asks, you quickly descend fully onto his chest and hide your face in the crook of his neck.

"Tomorrow, I can't barely move" you said quietly. Rafe takes it upon himself to move out of you and clean the mess between your legs, then lays you properly on the bed and slips in with you. Your arm lays on his chest and your face comes to the crook of his neck again. After a few minutes of laying quietly, you lift up your head and look at him. He notices you're not sleeping and looks down at you. "What was that?" You ask, tinting your head to the side.

You've done that move a thousand times, and Rafe fell on it a thousand more.

"You're welcome for the best fuck of your life"

"And?" You tease with a chuckle, he chuckles at his own response, then lifts his hand and rubs his fingers down you jaw, going up lightly on your cheek.

"And I love you" his finger traces up your temple, finally his hand cups your face and his thumb lays over the apple of your cheek. "You're the best thing in my life, you know this"

"I do know, I just like to hear it from time to time" your fingers come up to his hand, tracing down lightly on his palm and down on his wrist, a gentle touch that sent shivers down Rafe's arm. He pulls you in as he crunched his head up, his lips meeting yours in a soft kiss.

The next morning, you're up before he is and you're almost ready to head out for breakfast, he waits for you in the bedroom, giving his watch a glance before he stands up.

"Wanna have breakfast on the dinning room-" he asks, walking to the door, he stops on his tracks and inspects it.

His finger comes up to the handle and he pulls back, the door opening with ease. He looks down the hall through the crack of it and pulls a little frown.

"Rafe" you call, standing next to him as you fix your earings, he looks to the side at you questioningly "what's the other option?" You pick up the previous conversation.

"The living room, I can have the fire set up for us" he pulls the door open.

"That sounds lovely" you mutter with a smile, finishing with your earing.

He walks a step out the door and pulls it, leaving it ajar and looking through the crack, his head tilts upward as his tongue pushes up on his palate.

You take the door and open it, finding him with a expression on his face you couldn't pinpoint.

"What was that?" You ask, confused as to why he's doing all of those weird moves with the door.

"Nothing" he dismissed, extending his hand to you "let's grab breakfast".

#rafe adler #reader insert #smut #Uncharted 4 #sam drake

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what-is-your-plan-today · 4 years ago

Text

Riding On Ch 5: Chilli Fries and Appletize

Summary: Fliss hormones are raging so Frank decides she need something a little special

Warnings: Bad Language words. SMUT (NSFW NO UNDER 18s!!)

Pairing: Frank Adler x Fliss Gallagher

A/N: FLUFF FLUFF FLUFF ALERT!! And PLEASE give the song a listen, this is one of my all time faves from one of the best ever band to come out of Manchester! Thank you to @sweater-daddiesdumbdork for her brilliant little spark of an idea in here (you know which part Ambi!) and as always @icanfeelastormbrewing for being my unofficial Beta! Chapter Song: Ten Storey Love Song by The Stone Roses

Series Masterlist // WIYPT Masterlist

Ten Storey love song, I built this thing for you. Who can take you higher, than twin deep mountain blue, oh well I’ve built this thing for you, and I love you true…

“Fuck!”

Frank heard Fliss’ shout from the living room where he was sprawled on the sofa. She’d gone to take a bath, Mary was at Roberta’s so the pair of them were simply taking a bit of time to relax after what had been a fairly busy week, both physically and mentally.

“Fliss?” he called back as Thor stood up from where he had been curled on the rug, Fred leaning against him using him as a pillow as the feline always seemed to do. He watched the dog pad to the door and then stood up following him down the hallway. He entered the bedroom and found Fliss was stood in a pale blue dress, tears in her eyes.

“Honey what’s wrong?” he frowned.

“This fucking dress!” she practically exploded, her voice cracking. I only bought it a few weeks ago for Jake’s wedding and I just thought I’d try it on with my new shoes and it won’t do up at the back.”

Frank looked at her, feeling a pang of sympathy for his girl. She’d been really up and down in particular over the last 2 days with her hormones and she looked absolutely distraught, even if it was something so ridiculous as a dress that had set her off.

“Let me see.” he said, crossing the floor towards her. She turned and he gently reached for the zip, pulling the 2 sides of the dress together but it wasn’t going to fasten.

“See…” she sighed as he let go of the zip and rubbed the top of her arms. “I’m not even 5 months yet…” “You’re a week off.” he said softly.

“…And I feel huge! This is ridiculous…”

Frank slid his arms around her from behind, dropping a kiss to her shoulder. “Lissy, you’re not huge at all. Bean has just sprouted all of a sudden that’s all. You got a proper bump now.” “I am aware of that, Frank.” She snapped.

Frank took a deep breath, not rising to her in the slightest. Instead his hands moved to either side of the offending swell in her abdomen and he turned her gently towards the full length mirror in the corner of the room.

“Look… “ he said, fixing his eyes on hers in their reflection as his hand skated over her belly “You’re beautiful, and you’re cooking our baby in here…”

“That still doesn’t help that I have no dress!”

“Ok, well, let’s go shopping tomorrow. Mary’s at that party in the afternoon so we’ll drop her off, head into town and grab you something.”

Fliss paused as she looked at him in the mirror, her face slowly rearranging as she realised that actually the solution to the problem had been fairly simple all along.

“Sorry.” she mumbled. “I flipped again didn’t I?”

“Its fine.” he said, dropping a kiss to her cheek. “You didn’t throw a mug on the floor today so that’s an improvement.” “In my defence…” she turned to look at him “You did ask me about 5 times if I was feeling ok in the space of 10 minutes” “And clearly you weren’t as said mug is now in 3 pieces…” he shook his head and let out a long, dramatic sigh “You know I loved that mug too…it was a sad day.” Fliss snorted “You got it free from the Tack Store when we took Mary for her new hat…” “And it was a treasured memory. A reminder of how she stung me for another hundred bucks…” “Can’t put a price on safety Frankie.” she smiled and he chuckled.

“So, tomorrow afternoon then?” he asked and she nodded eagerly.

“Can we go to Tampa? The shopping is better there.”

“Sure.” he said, and suddenly the bones of a plan began to form in his head. And it was a good plan…if he could pull it off… “Crisis averted?” he asked, looking down at her.

“Crisis averted” she nodded.

“Good.” he smiled, kissing her cheek before he turned to leave the room to allow her to change for bed.

“Frank?”

“Yeah?” he stopped to look at her.

“I really want chilli fries.” she said, her voice almost puzzled.

“Chilli fries?” he frowned “Really? That’s a new one…”

“I know.” She shrugged. “I just got a hankering…specifically for Tequila Mockingbirds fries…”

Frank glanced at his watch “Sweetheart, it’s almost 11. The truck will have shut now…he only opens late on Saturday.”

“Oh, ok.” she said quietly, and he could see to his horror that her bottom lip was starting to wobble. Fuck, not another meltdown. Was this seriously how it was going to be for the next 4 damned months? Fucking hormones…

“Why don’t I nip to the store?” he said, a sudden idea coming to him “I can whip up a batch of the dirty ones you showed me how to make?”

“Yeah, yeah that could work.” she nodded.

“Ok, well, I’ll be back as soon as I can.” he smiled, turning on his heels.

It worked out quite well actually, as he used the short drive to the store to put his plan into action. First off he messaged Jake who called him straight back.

“What’s up?” he asked.

“I need you to do me a favour…” Frank said, explaining his plan.

“Short notice pal.”

“Yeah but you owe me so pull some strings”

“I owe you?” Jake snorted “What for?”

“If you hadn’t been tagged on those damned photos no one would have seen them and I wouldn’t have been couched for a night nor would I be suffering with blue balls.” Frank said simply, turning right across a junction.

Jake snorted “Leave it with me Frankie boy…I’ll see what I can do.”

Satisfied he cut the call and once he arrived at the store he shot Verity a quick message asking her if she would mind helping him out as well. He felt a little guilty, as they’d only gotten back from Italy that morning but she replied almost instantly telling him that she thought it was a great idea and her and Bill would be happy to do what he needed them to do.

Smiling he put his phone back in his pocket, and headed to the frozen food aisle at the back of the 24 hour mini-mart. He stood there, unable to decide what fries to buy so in the end he grabbed a bag of every available frozen ones there were- thick cut, curly, southern fried and thin, along with a tin of ready-made chilli (yes, disgusting but on dirty fries it was the only thing Fliss told him worked) and a block of cheddar cheese. As he walked towards the till he stopped, grinning as he spotted they had the big bottles of Appletize too, so he shoved 4 in his basket and headed to the counter.

The woman at the counter looked at him as he began unloading and Frank realised that it was a pretty odd combination.

“You either got the munchies or your girl is pregnant.” she quipped and Frank laughed.

“I’m not high.” he smiled, and the woman grinned at him as she scanned the items through.

Once he had paid he headed home, and found Fliss was led on the sofa with a toasting waffle in one hand and a glass of apple juice in her other.

“Couldn’t wait huh?” he asked as he walked through to the kitchen.

“I know…” she said, looking at him over the back of the couch. “I had an apple and a waffle…and I feel ok now.”

Frank stopped dead and turned to face her, the grocery bags clutched to his chest “Seriously? You don’t want the fries?”

She wrinkled her nose. “Not anymore.”

Frank took a deep breath, his tongue poking the inside of his cheek in frustration as he walked into the kitchen, depositing the bags on the side.

“The kid ain’t even born yet and it’s already a pain in my ass…”

“I can hear you grumbling from here…” Fliss called back.

“Good…” he retorted as she shoved the bottles of drink in the fridge and crammed the 4 bags of frozen fries into the freezer. Grabbing a beer he walked back into living room and dropped heavily onto couch next to her.

“Don’t be so grouchy.” she teased, lifting her feet into his lap. He shot her a glare, taking her right foot in his hands in an automatic response, and she dropped her hand to her belly. “Bean is sorry.” she said, flashing him her best puppy dog eyes, those fucking eyes that could get him to do whatever she wanted.

“Don’t pull that one.” he narrowed his own eyes at her and she cocked her head to one side as he ran his thumb up the arch of her foot. She let out a sigh.

“I’ll make it up to you.”

“How?” he asked as she looked at him, smirking.

“Bow job?”

Frank snorted, shifting slightly in his seat as that had really got his attention. But, not wanting to give himself away too much he simply arched an eyebrow at her “You think you can win me over like that?”

“Sailor, I know I can.”

“I’m not that cheap.” he said as his hands returned to massaging her foot.

“No, but I know for a fact you haven’t had any since the night before you went to Vegas…” she grinned “What was it you said in New York after a mere 3 days? Oh, yeah, Frankie has needs.”

Ok, so she’d got him well and truly. Like he had said to Jake before, he really was feeling slightly frustrated, but he hadn’t pushed anything on her at all since he’d come back from Vegas, deciding to let her make the decision as to when she wanted to get physically intimate with him again. As he looked at her she simply smiled and drained her glass of juice before setting it on the table.

“What?” she asked.

“Nothing.” he shook his head, “Was just trying to figure out if you were being serious or not.” She held his gaze for a moment before she looked back at the TV. They stayed still for a moment and Frank moved his attention to her left foot, before she shifted a little and then glanced back at him.

“Fraaaank.” her voice was an unmistakable whine, which meant she wanted something. “What?” he said, his word turning into an exasperated laugh.

“Did you get any curly fries?” she bit her lip.

“Are you for fucking real?” he looked at her, shaking his head.

“Don’t blame me…”

“Yeah, yeah blame Bean…” he shook his head “I swear to God by the time you’ve actually given birth to the little crotch goblin I’ll have aged about 20 years…”

“Crotch goblin?” she scoffed, “I’ll remind you, pal, you put it there…”

“Not on purpose!” he looked at her.

“Are you calling our baby a mistake?” Fliss narrowed her eyes at him, mock horror on her face

“Mistake…that’s a little harsh.” Frank shook his head “Accident, most definately.”

“Bastard.” Fliss grabbed a cushion from behind her and hit him with it as he laughed, grabbing it out of her hand.

“BB is a very pleasant and welcome surprise…” he said, shifting her legs out of his lap. Grinning he leaned over her, caging her on the sofa with his arms “Although right now, as I’m about to start cooking dirty fries at 15 to midnight, I’m debating the use of the pronoun pleasant.”

She chuckled as he leaned over to give her a soft kiss. Instantly she felt a little flutter again and her hand dropped to her bump.

“Bean’s moving again…”

Frank smiled and shifted a little so he could press his hand to her side, but after a moment or so shook his head, feeling ever so slightly deflated.

“I can’t feel anything.”

“You will do soon enough.” Fliss smiled at him.

“Hope so.” Frank’s smile became even softer as he kissed her again and stood up, heading to the kitchen.

Fliss watched him go, before she turned back to the TV, but she wasn’t paying attention, she was too busy thinking to herself how quickly Frank had headed out to get her what she wanted before, even if she had then changed her mind, and then reverted it back to it’s original state. She hated comparing the two of them, and tried not to do it, but as she sat there she couldn’t help it. Frank was as far from John as she was likely to get, her ex-husband wouldn’t have ever done anything like that for her, whether she as carrying his kid or not. But Frank hadn’t even hesitated. And now he was actually about to cook it too. She wasn’t even sure John had ever known how to actually turn the damned oven on. To be fair, when she’d met Frank his cooking skills were also limited but another huge difference in them was that he had wanted to learn. He helped her, listened and managed pretty much once she’d cooked something with him to make a fairly decent version of it on his own. And he did this simply because he wanted to. He had said he didn’t like the fact she cooked every day, and on the evenings she got home a little later than normal he wanted to be able to have something ready instead of merely calling for a take out.

As she sat there, those thoughts whirring in her head, she felt a surge of affection for her Sailor. Since their talk on Monday, she’d let Frank back into their bed but there’d been no intimacy, although she’d let him cuddle her, she’d kissed him back, she hadn’t been unaffectionate per se, but in all honesty she hadn’t been in the mood for anything else, which was probably something down to hormones as well as her still being a little angry at him, but now…well, she’d seen it in his eyes before when she’d been teasing him, he was frustrated as hell. And if she was honest, she now found herself in the mood for giving him a little spontaneous pleasure…

With a smirk she stood up and walked into the kitchen, her arms snaking around his waist as she pressed herself to his back (well as much as she could thanks to the football she had in her stomach) and pressed a soft kiss to his back, just beneath his shoulder blades.

“You ok?” he asked, his voice vibrating through his back into her chest and she nodded as her hands rubbed at his stomach under his T-shirt. She felt him tense a little, and grinning she gently moved her hands up his top to rake down the line of hair that led from his chest all the way down his belly. She knew what that did to him and right on cue, Frank gave a grunt, jolting a little and her hand continued to move downwards, palming at his crotch through his sweats.

“Lissy…” his voice caught in his throat as she continued, her hand working him up over his clothing. “You don’t need to-“ “I know, but I want to.” she stood on her tiptoes to whisper into his ear. He tilted his head downwards slightly, allowing her to nip at his jawline and he spun round to face her, where she pulled his head down to hers giving him a slow kiss, her tongue sliding against his before she leaned back, his bottom lip between her teeth.

By the time his brain had caught up with what was going on, Fliss had gotten to her knees and flipped the waist band of the sweats he was wearing down, taking his erection firmly in one hand, making him hiss slightly. She stroked him to full hardness, which didn’t take that long at all, before she looked up and locked eyes with him, giving him one final smirk before she took him in her mouth.

“God, baby….” Frank groaned, his hands gripping the edge of the kitchen counter, her eyes still locked on his. His right hand gently dropped to the back of her head, tangling in her long hair as her head bobbed back and forth. It was bliss, her mouth was warm, lips soft, but her tongue…God she knew just how to work him with that thing and as he felt it wrap around the base of his cock he gave a grunt, his hips bucking forward slightly. At that, Fliss pulled off of him to suck at the tip and worked her hands over the rest of his length which sent shivers up his spine. Groaning, his head dropped back slightly, as she continued to lick, suck before she took him in, this time all the way, her cheeks hollowing and one of her hands reaching round from the back of his thigh to gently squeeze at his balls.

“Fucking hell….” he hissed, his hand tightening in her hair and once more looked at her. Her eyes locked back onto his and he felt that tell-tale warmth pooling in his groin and stomach.

"Lissy, sweetheart, shit…" His voice was raspy from desire and pleasure and at the mere sound of how turned on his was Fliss felt the wetness beginning to pool in between her legs. He continued to babble curse words and her name, before he gasped again, letting out a loud moan. “Fuck, honey, "I'm gonna-" his words caught in his mouth as Fliss took him all the way to the back of her throat. At that, he was gone, his fingers gripped her hair tight the other clutched at the kitchen side, noises that sounded alien even to him tumbling from his mouth as he spilled himself down her throat and slumped back completely blissed out against the kitchen side.

Fliss grinned, her hands gently running up the outside of his thighs as she stood up, pulling his boxers and sweats with her, pressing herself to his chest. With a soft hum of contentment, he opened his eyes and looked down at her.

“Good?” she asked, but the look in her eyes told him she knew exactly what the answer was. Still, he gave it her anyway. “Damned right it was…” he grinned, leaning down and kissing her, his hands holding her face in position. She let out a soft moan into his mouth and he pulled back slightly, arching an eyebrow.

“You all worked up baby girl?”

“Yeah…don’t suppose you fancy helping me out…” she whispered, and Frank grinned.

“We got 15 minutes till the fries cook so…” he smirked as he gently spun her round so her back was clutched to his chest. Fliss grinned to herself as his lips gently brushed on her neck, his beard scratching at her skin as he nipped his way down to her shoulder, his hand splaying over her bump before it worked beneath the waistband of her pyjama shorts. Her breath caught in her throat as his fingers skated her entrance.

“You are worked up…” he muttered, his fingers sliding through her slick, as her head fell back against his shoulder and she bit her lip.

“I told you…” she muttered as his fingers slipped further into her folds, finding that little bundle of nerves. His other hand slipped up her vest top and ran up her side to her breasts, which he knew would be tender, but the plus side to that was that they were goddamned sensitive, so heightened to his touch and it got her off like nothing he’d ever seen before. True to form, she let out a soft squeak as he rolled a nipple gently between his thumb and forefinger. Sliding his fingers inside her he curled them against the fleshy spot on her walls, both his hands working in synch, a coordinated attack on her senses and within minutes she was putty in his hands.

“Frankie…I’m…god…fuck!” she cursed, her head falling back further as her knees began to shake.

“I got you…” he said softly, his mouth caressing her neck again “Go on baby, give it to me…” With a desperate groan she shuddered, her hand wrapping around his wrists as he felt her pulsing and squeezing around his fingers as she came, the trembles wracking her entire body. Frank held her steady until she took a deep breath, giving a soft sigh as she leaning back into him. She tilted her head round to look at him, a smile on her face, her cheeks tinged with pink underneath those gorgeous freckles and he smiled at her, giving her a soft kiss. Setting her clothes right for her, his hands skated over her bump once more and he kissed her shoulder.

“You ok?” he asked.

“Yep.” she nodded, popping the P as she turned to face him, leaning up to kiss the underneath of his jaw. He looked down at her, before a wicked smirk crossed his face and he popped his two fingers in his mouth, sucking her taste off him.

“Francis!” she scoffed, slapping him round the back of the head and he let out a loud laugh.

“You don’t complain about me tasting you when I’m down there…” “You’re so vulgar!” she snorted.

“Says the woman who just blew me in the kitchen.” She cocked her head to one side, shrugging slightly “Touché….”

He smiled again before she turned to the fridge “Want another beer?”

“Sure, thanks.” he said.

She pulled open the fridge door and let out a little shriek of delight “Where did you get that?” she asked, her eyes widening as she pulled out a bottle of Appletize. “I couldn’t find any in the supermarket!”

“The Mini-Mart before.” he said, “Woman thought I was high when I bought 4 bags of fries and 4 big bottles of that”

“My hero!” she grinned

Frank grinned “if fetching you fries and Appetize means you get on your knees for me then hell, I’ll go every fucking night.”

“Don’t get used to it Sailor.” she looked at him, “Soon I'll be too big to kneel down.”

Frank chuckled, “Why don’t you go wait in the lounge?”

"I'm good.” Fliss shrugged “I'll help."

The two of them stood in the kitchen making their food. Frank warmed the chili through as Fliss grated the entire block of cheese and when Frank challenged her as to why exactly they needed that for 2 of them she simply replied “3 of us Frankie…” whilst patting her bump. Soon they were sat on the sofa, Fliss cross legged with a plate on her lap as she devoured her snack. Frank watched her as she eagerly ate, eyes fixed on the latest episode of Rick And Morty, every so often she would chuckle at something on the screen. Frank smiled to himself, it had felt like a long 5 days since Monday, but they seemed to be on an even keel. She was joking and laughing with him, had been reasonably affectionate and to be fair her affections certainly had upped a notch when she just sucked him off in the kitchen. Granted, all things considered, he’d rather have carried her to bed, taken his time over her, loved on her a little but…well, he certainly wasn’t complaining. It seemed like she’d finally decided he was completely out of the dog house, which suited him absolutely fine.

Fliss let out a happy sigh and placed her now empty plate on the coffee table on top of the one Frank had discarded a few minutes ago. She stretched out her limbs before she shifted and snuggled into Frank’s side.

"Love you." She said, her hand rubbing his tummy softly under his t-shirt. "So does Bean"

Her touch and words made him feel all warm inside. Not horny warm…just…fuzzy warm. Smiling he dropped a kiss to her head “Love you too, both of you.”

****** “What do you think?” Fliss asked, giving a twirl. With the help of the assistant in the little independent Mother and Baby boutique shop they’d stumbled across, aptly called “Bump In The Road” she’d chosen a maxi dress with a pleated tulle overlay in stripes of bright pastel pink, orange, lime-green, purple, yellow and blue. The top half was a baby pink with spaghetti straps which crossed at the back and It had a plunging V-neckline which complemented the fit and flare silhouette which meant the skirt hung comfortably over her lower body but still made her feel sexy enough thanks to it accentuating her cleavage...which, to be fair, she’d noticed when trying the dress on, was a lot more noticable now thanks to her boobs being swollen.

Frank’s eyes took her in and he smiled, nodding approvingly. “You look beautiful.” he told her honestly, and she flushed a little, twirling in the mirror.

“Do you think the colour is ok or should I go for the yellow one? I mean is it too much boob and the yellow is a halter neck so you don’t see any…” “Lissy…” he shook his head, chuckling “It looks fine, more than fine. I really like it on you.” “It’s also elasticated at the back and the straps adjust.” the assistant spoke “So your worry about bump growing more over the next week won’t cause an issue. You’ll get a fair few months I expect out of this.” Fliss hummed, looked at her reflection again before she smiled “OK, yeah, great…I’ll take it.”

The assistant smiled and Fliss turned back to head into the changing cubicle. Once she was out of ear shot Frank looked at the woman.

“Can we take the yellow one too?” he asked, “Just ring it through before she comes back, I want it to be a surprise.”

The assistant nodded and smiled “Sure, I’ll get it ready and bagged now so she doesn’t see it.”

“Thanks.”

He headed to the till, producing his card and shortly after Fliss joined him and he let out a chuckle when he saw she’d also picked up another little baby-grow on the way. This one was white and bore an apple on the front, with the words “apple of our eye” arched over the top.

“I thought it was kinda fitting.” she grinned and Frank had to agree considering her craving. He handed it to the assistant who was smart enough not to announce the total to him, given the additional purchase as he handed his card over. Fliss pouted at him but one look and she stopped the fuss she was about to make over the fact he had paid. They’d already had that discussion on the way over, Frank insisting that he wanted to buy her the dress considering it was “his fault” as she had put it that she was in this position in the first place.

He took the bag from the assistant and thanking her once more they headed out and back down the street. Frank stole a glance at his watch, it was just after 3. He could do with killing another hour or so before he put into play his surprise plan so he suggested they grab a drink and an ice cream at the little parlour on the corner. Fliss eagerly agreed so that killed another 40 minutes as they sat and joked over a sundae each, before they headed back to the truck taking the long way round, checking out a few other shops as they went, Fliss suggesting the grabbed Mary a few new pieces of clothing as she was growing again. Picking a few t-shirts and a pair of shorts they knew she would like they then headed back to the car and Frank checked his phone, memorising the directions. They weren’t far away.

When he didn’t take the turn for the freeway, Fliss looked at him. “You missed the turn off.” “No I didn’t” he said simply.

“Yeah, you did, it was back there.”

“We’re not going home.” he said simply. She frowned.

“Where are we going then?”

“You’ll see.”

Refusing to give her anything else, despite her questioning he kept driving, until he hit the coastal road and continued along the bay until his destination appeared in front of him. Hanging a right turn, he drove his truck down the little winding road which opened up into a circle drive way flanked by palm trees and bright flowerbeds just outside the reception of the Grand Hyatt.

“Frank…” Fliss looked at him, her eyes shining “We’re staying for the night?”

“Yup.” he nodded turning to face her. “I packed us a bag this morning whilst you were at the yard, Mary’s staying with your parents as is Thor and I suspect Fred and we have a dinner reservation at 7 for the Oyster Catcher, which is on the bay at the back.”

“I don’t…how did you manage to pull this off at such short notice?”

“Jake.” Frank said simply “Come on.”

He hopped out of his truck and smiled to the bus boy who had approached him and nodded for them to collect their bags out of the boot. “Including the large paper one.” he said discreetly and he nodded before he turned to collect the slip of paper from the valet. He took Fliss’ hand and led her into the huge reception area to the hotel, the floor a gorgeous white marble as they walked over to the desk and he smiled at the woman who looked at him.

“Good afternoon Sir, Ma’am.” she smiled, and Fliss suddenly felt a little self-conscious. Everyone was milling around in various states of what she would term upper-class smart casual, in blazers and open necked dress shirts with jeans that probably cost more than her fucking jeep. Frank, however, in contrast didn’t give a shit. He wasn’t here to impress or blend in.

“Reservation for Adler.” he said smiling at the receptionist who tapped at a keyboard and nodded.

“Yes Mr Adler, you’re here for one night…and have an executive double…” she scanned the booking “The room rate is already settled, but I can set up-…” “I’m sorry, did you say the room rate was covered?” Frank frowned. “Yes.” She nodded, “It’s already been paid.” “Take it that wasn’t expected.” Fliss looked at him and he shook his head, smiling.

“No, no it wasn’t. I’ll thank Jake later.” he said, before he turned to the lady at the desk “Sorry, I didn’t mean to interrupt.”

“No problem.” she smiled “I was just saying if you want to give me your card I can set up a tab so you can charge items to your room…” “Sure.” he nodded, fishing for his wallet before handing her the small square of plastic. As she took a scan of it he turned to Fliss and dropped a kiss to her temple as she smiled, her arm looping around her waist.

“Is this where we’re staying for Jake’s wedding?” she asked and he nodded.

“Thought we could give it a test run beforehand.” he looked at her “You are ok we’re staying, right?” “Of course.” she smiled “It’s really sweet of you.” “Well, I try.” he winked before he turned back to the brunette behind the desk who asked him for his signature in a few places before she handed him the key.

“Ok so you’re on the 5th floor…” she said nodding, “Room 512. Take the elevator to the 5th floor go right out of the elevator and you’ll see it on the left hand side. I’ll have your bags brought up

Frank thanked her and they both headed off following the directions. Frank led Fliss out of the elevator an down to the room, opening the door to let her in. The room was large, with a huge king bed in the middle and a large TV on the wall, and a balcony overlooking the bay. But what caught Fliss’ attention straight away was the 4 pack of beer on the small table and the large bottle of Apple juice for her. She nudge Frank and he gave a snort as she walked over to it and picked up the note attached to it.

“Enjoy the room on me pal, well, my Employee Free Stay points anyway…sorry about the balls.” she read aloud as she turned to him and Frank rubbed at his neck, “I’m not even gonna ask what that means.” “Yeah, probably best” he grinned, and then there was a knock at the door. Frank opened it and in walked the bus boy with their luggage, setting it down for them before Frank thanked him, slipped him a ten and he headed out.

Fliss looked at the overnight bag and then frowned “What did you bring me to wear to dinner.” “Nothing” Frank said, before he grinned and picked up the bag from the boutique. “But I got you something before.” “That’s for the wedding.” She looked at him, “Although I could wear it twice…” “No, check in the bottom.” he insisted. She frowned a little, before she took the bag and set it down on the small table, before she let out a gasp as she pulled out the lemon yellow dress she’d tried on before.

“You bought me both of them?”

He nodded.

“Frankie, you didn’t have to do that. You didn’t have to do any of this.” she said, her eyes misting over.

“I know but I wanted to.” he said, stepping forwards his hands dropping to her hips. “I figured it would be nice for us to have some time together, just the two…well…3…” he grinned, nodding to her bump “of us.” “Thank you.” she said, looking up at him as he dropped a kiss to her lips.

Once they’d unpacked their overnight thing, Fliss headed for a shower and emerged a little while later in a robe and Frank walked back in from where he’d been on the balcony with a beer, having fired a thank you message to Jake. He smiled at Fliss and headed to shower himself, coming back about 5 minutes later also wrapped in a robe. They sat out together on the balcony talking for a little while as Fliss pretty much drank the entire bottle of juice before she announced she was going to get ready.

“You look gorgeous.” Frank said as she stood in front of him, wearing her dress. Her hair was pulled back into a bun and her make-up was light, despite the fact that Frank had shoved pretty much every item in her vanity case into their bag not knowing what she would want and wouldn’t want.

“You look pretty dapper too, Sailor” she smiled, taking in his black button down and smart jean. Dropping a kiss to her cheek he gestured to the door and they both left the room and made their way to the restaurant which was located through the back of the hotel. They were led through to the outside patio which had a spectacular panoramic view of Old Tampa Bay. Fliss ordered herself a mock-tail, whilst Frank asked for a beer, grinning when the waiter told them they had Stella on tap. Fliss busied herself with the menu, and Frank took a moment to watch her. She really was glowing. He’d thought that was such a shit cliché about pregnant women, but at that point in time he couldn’t think of any other way to describe her. Her face was slightly fuller now, but with it she carried a soft look, which just complimented her personality anymore. The changes her entire body was going through reminded him daily she was carrying his baby, and each day he woke up and was convinced he was slightly more in love with her than he had been when he’d fallen asleep, even though he knew that wasn’t actually possible.

“The mahi-mahi looks really good.” Fliss mused as she looked at the menu. “As does the lobster but not sure I can eat that…” “Well, actually…” Frank said, leaning forward and pulling a piece of paper out of his pocket “I knew this was a seafood restaurant so Mary did her usual google…and found this.”

He handed it to her and waited for her reaction. As she scanned the list of seafood that she could eat she shook her head and let out a little moan.

“So all this time I could have been eating prawns?!”

Frank shrugged “According to that.”

“Damned it!” he cursed “I’m going to kill my mum.” “Well I don’t doubt guidelines have changed a little over the years” he chuckled.

Before she could reply the waiter came back to take them to their table which was on the large veranda at bay level. He left them alone for another 10 minutes before returning for their order. Frank raised his eyebrow as Fliss ordered the fishcakes to start and then the Lobster tail for main, not that he cared how much it cost, he wasn’t worrying about that tonight. With that in mind he went for the same started but then the surf-and-turf option, with a fillet steak.

“I can’t remember the last time we did this.” Fliss said, reaching out over the table, her hand tangling in his. “Just had a meal out, the 2 of us.”

“Me neither.” he mused. “It was before Christmas I know that much.”

“Probably before Boston actually.” she mused.

“We should do it more often” he smiled, his thumb skating over her engagement ring “I like spending time with you like this.”

“Me too.” she smiled at him. “And don’t worry Sailor. Once Bean is here you’re taking me out for an evening of fine dining where I’m gonna eat my bodyweight in blue cheese and drink a swimming pool full of wine…or champagne…or maybe both.” He chuckled and nodded “Whatever you want honey.”

Their conversation turned to their house hunting, both agreeing that they really needed to step it up a notch. They hadn’t even made an appointment with a bank yet to find out what they biggest budget they had was, so that was first on the agenda, Frank saying he would call to make an apartment on Monday. And then when their starters arrived they switched to the biggest question of all at the moment, whether they were going to find out if Bean was pink or blue.

“I think I wanna know.” Fliss said, swallowing the last of her starter, giving Frank a smile

Frank looked at her, his head cocking to one side. “You wanna find out?”

Fliss smiled shyly and paused as the waiter came along to remove their now empty plates before she continued once he had left. “I wasn’t sure…but…yeah, I think I am now. It struck me before in that shop, that once we know how much easier it will be, buying blue or pink stuff instead of yellows or greys…”

“I dunno, I quite like the yellow item we bought…” he quipped, taking a mouthful of his beer as he nodded to her dress. She grinned.

“Well, yeah, I do too…but you know full well what I mean.”

He chuckled “Yeah, I do.” he leaned forward a little, both arms resting on the table as he looked at her, “Ok, so that’s decided then…we find out?”

She nodded, holding his gaze for a moment and he blinked, a soft mile spreading across his face. “I can’t wait.” he admitted to her, almost bashfully and she smiled back.

“Me neither…” she whispered.

*****

“Frankie, that was such wonderful evening.” Fliss turned to look at him as she kicked off her sandals whilst he locked the hotel room door behind them. “Thank you.”

“I’m glad you enjoyed it Sweetheart…” he said gently, pulling her to him as his hands wrapped around her back.

“It was really thoughtful” she said, as her hands slid up his chest. “You didn’t have to do it though you know, I mean as an apology, I’m not-“ “No no, it wasn’t that.” he shook his head, “I just wanted some time with you, that’s all. I do have my sentimental moments when I’m not being a complete jack ass.” he quipped and she looked at him, her face soft.

“You’re my jack ass…” she smiled as her arms looped around his neck.

“Always.” he returned her smile as he leaned down to kiss her.

“Can you help me out of this dress?” she whispered into his mouth, and fuck, he didn’t need asking twice.

Frank reached round to the zipper at the back and gently slid it down as Fliss moved back, allowing the lemon coloured fabric to pool at her feet. He followed the line of her body upwards, over her thighs, that neat little bump, up past her hips, her breasts before he finally met her eyes again. He looked at her for a second before his lips crashed to hers, noses bumping slightly as he flicked his tongue teasingly into her mouth, his hands cupping her ace as hers fisted in the back of his shirt.

In a quick movement, Frank reached down and hooked his hands round the back of her thighs, easily picking her up, bump and all. She giggled, wrapping her legs round his waist, her nose brushing against his as he carried her over to the bed, setting her down gently on it. He shucked off his own shoes as he reached behind his head and grabbed a fist full of his shirt, yanking it over his head without even bothering with the buttons, before he dropped down on the bed, settling his hips in between her legs in the space she made for him as she ran her hands through his hair. He smiled softly at her before he pressed his lips back to hers, kissing her deeply, his large hands keeping him propped above her so as not to put any of his weight against that precious cargo she was carrying.

She pushed on his chest, sitting up slightly as she reached behind her to undo her bran and Frank leaned forward, placing a gentle kiss on each shoulder as he slid the straps down over her arms, removing it completely. As she lay back against the bed, Frank shifted so he was led on his side by her, his mouth hungrily covering hers as his hand trailed up the outside of her thigh, to her hip, up the side of her body and then onto her breasts teasing gently. She groaned, rolling her head back on the pillow at the sensation, her hips bucking upwards as he shifted, hovering over her. He buried his face in the side of her neck working at the pulse spot, the little noises of pleasure she was making were music in his ear. Her hips began to move, rolling against nothing, groans falling from her lips at the sensation as he nipped slightly at her neck and then moved his mouth to her chest, taking her right nipple in. Her groans were growing louder now and Frank couldn’t take it anymore. He wanted to be in her, surrounded by her, feel her. Moving back to shed the rest of his clothes, he stood up, undoing his jeans and kicking them off, all the time his eyes on Fliss’ as she watched him, her gaze travelling down his body to where his cock now stood angry and red against his abs. He leaned down, hooking his fingers in the lace of Fliss’ panties, pulling them down over her legs before he settled on the bed once more, Fliss moving so she could straddle him. As she did so, his hands tangled in her hair, pulling her face down to kiss him as she reached down between them, taking him in her hand. He groaned but didn’t release her mouth as she adjusted position to take him in, slowly sliding down onto him. A filthy moan flew from her mouth which he swallowed with his kiss as she stayed pressed against him, and she began to move, rolling her hips forward. She was quick to find a rhythm and her mouth fell open against his lips and she let out a shaky moan before sitting up fully.

The sight of her on top, illuminated by soft light streaming in through the slight gap in the curtains was almost enough to tip him right over there and then. He wanted to touch her, so he did, bringing her hands up to run them up her sides until his hands cupped her breasts, thumbs running over her nipples as she let out another moan. As she picked up the pace his hands went to her hips, pulling her down onto him harder, thrusting upwards to meet her for every move she made. She continued to move, quickening, her eyes never leaving his.

“Frankie…”she groaned, as he tilted his hips up harder and he let out a groan himself, increasingly determined to get her there again before he lost it. As he felt the coil in his own belly tightening, his hand moved from her hip to stroke at that spot between her legs and that did it. He felt her tense up and tighten around him, crying out loudly and unbridled as she shook. The sight of her coming undone on top of him, her cheeks flushed, lips pink, mouth open in a now silent scream, would always be the single most exquisite thing Frank had ever seen, no matter how many times he got to see it. All of that, coupled with the force of her heat tightening even, more made him lose himself.

“Fuck, Lissy…” the curse fell from his lips as he thrust upwards, before he spilled himself inside her again, the wave of pleasure washing over him as the world fell silent and he could hear nothing but ringing in his ears. Fliss collapsed forward onto his chest, her tremors subsided, both of them panting as they came back down, turning back into the world. Frank held her close, his fingers running up and down her spine as she let out a soft “hum” of contentment and he sat up, wanting to see her face to face. Still cradling her close he pushed the hair that had fallen over her face back behind her ears and she reached up, running her hands through his, causing him to close his eyes at the sensation of her nails on his scalp.

“God, I love you.” he whispered, pulled her closer, his nose rubbing up against hers.

"I love you too.”

Frank moved so that she could roll off him and to the side, before he pulled the covers back, allowing them both to shuffle under before he turned off the lamp at the side of the bed. Fliss moved so that her head lay on his chest, her arm resting over his stomach and he placed a soft kiss to the side of her temple, his hand moving to softly card through her hair. For the first time in a week, Frank felt like things were completely back to where they should be.

***** They had a lazy morning in the hotel, making the most of the breakfast before they headed back to collect Mary. The drive home was relaxed, the pair of them singing along to whatever came on Frank’s Spotify play-list, Fliss snorting with laughter when the Spice Girls Wannabe hit her ears.

“Hey, it’s a classic.” Frank defended himself as she looked at him, shaking her head.

“Sure it is…” she laughed, cranking the volume up.

When they reached Verity and Bills, Thor came bounding up the drive to greet the truck, running after it and almost sending Fliss flying as he barrelled into her legs. Frank caught her, steadying her as he shot the dog an exasperated look. Whilst he wasn’t growling at Frank anymore, the dog was ridiculously clingy to Fliss, more so than usual and had clearly been unhappy at being away from her. They headed round to the pool area, where Mary was busy wrestling with Steve in the pool, swinging on his arm, trying to pull him under the water. She hardly spared them a second glance as they greeted her, until Verity called her out for a drink and a slice of lemon cake.

“Sit down, sit down!” she ushered Fliss and Frank to the outside table on the decking, where Frank moved a chair back for Fliss, dropping a kiss to her shoulder. Steve and Mary padded over and Mary wrapped herself in a towel whilst Steve moved over to give Fliss a hug, causing her to squeal as he was wet. Mary hopped onto Frank’s knee and gave his cheek a peck and then squished his cheeks together as she often did, making him jerk his head out of her reach before he blew a wet rasberry on her neck, causing her to shriek and pull away.

Bill appeared a short while later, smiling at them all as he took a seat at the table, an envelope in his hands. He paid it no attention though, simply setting it on the table. They talked for a good 10 minutes or so, Fliss telling them all about their hotel and meal before the conversation turned to chatter of house hunting and how they needeed to step it up a notch really if they wanted to have a place before Bean was born, at which point Verity and Bill shared a glance and Bill cleared his throat

“We wanted to talk to you about that.” Bill said, looking at Fliss.

“Ok…” Fliss frowned, glancing at Frank where he sat to her right. She turned back to her parents. “Is something wrong?”

“No, quite the opposite.” Verity smiled as she glanced at Bill. Both of them looked at Steve then who smiled as Mary looked around.

“Is this one of those adult conversations?” she rolled her eyes and Frank nudged her slightly. Bill chuckled.

“It is kiddo, but you can stay.” he said, before he took a deep breath and leaned forward a little “Ok, so you know I handed the business down to Steve when we left England.” “Yeah…” Fliss looked at him as Frank’s eyes flicked to Steve who was lounging back in the whicker chair, smiling softy.

“Well, when I did that it was valued at just over 2 million pounds” he said and Frank felt his eyebrows shoot up into his head. He knew that Bill and Verity were affluent, but he hadn’t appreciated just how much.

“I know all this.” Fliss frowned. “I’m not following…” “Well, the deal was that I took a million out of the pot straight away, for me and your mum to retire on.” Bill said, “That didn’t leave a great deal of cash left in the accounts, just enough to keep the cash-flow straight, the rest was tied up in the assets. But the other part of the deal was that whilst I was giving it to Steve, half of it was yours and as soon as he was able to he had to give you your share of the remaining value.” Fliss felt her mouth drop open as she wheeled around to look at Frank. “What? I…” “I never told you any of this, because I didn’t want that bastard getting wind of it.” Bill shook his head. “And obviously, we gave you what we could to set up your business and everything when you moved here, but…” “Basically, Titch, the last year or so the profits have sky rocketed.” Steve said. “And, as a result..”

Bill slid the envelope he had brought towards Fliss and she reached out for it with a shaky hand. Opening it gently, she pulled out a cheque and glanced down at the amount. Just short of four hundred and fifty thousand dollars.

Fliss swallowed, speechless, as she handed the paper to Frank who took a deep breath, gulping as he saw the amount.

“Holy shit…” Mary mumbled as she too read it, but no one payed her the slightest bit of attention, as Fliss broke the stunned silence that had fallen over her and Frank.

“Dad, Mum, I…” she looked up at him, tears in her eyes, “I can’t…” “So, you don’t need to fanny around with a mortgage or a bank loan when you find a house.” Bill smiled at her. “You’ve got enough to buy outright.”

“Bill, Verity, this…this is too much.” Frank looked at them both in turn, the tears stinging his eyes.

“Nonsense.” Verity scoffed “It’s Fliss’ inheritance.”

“I’ll sign a pre-nup.” Frank stuttered suddenly, “Anything, I…”

Fliss frowned as did Bill, and she turned her eyes to him “Why would I want you to do that?”

“That’s your money…” he protested. “Yeah, and I’m sharing my life with you…I’m having your baby Frank.” she said gently “I don’t need a pre-nup. You intending on leaving me?” “No of course not…” “Well then.” she said, simply, as if that settled the matter. And in her eyes it did.

“You’ll also still retain your shares.” Steve said gently, “Which means you’ll get the dividends each year and if things keep going the way they are, you might want to consider buying a few more sharpish. They’ll be worth a lot if we land this contract.”

Fliss nodded, taking the information in before she stood up and headed over to her dad who rose from his chair.

“Thank you. Thank you so much.” she said, her tears falling as he pulled her to him, wrapping his arms around her back.

“You’re my little girl.” Bill said, his voice choked “I’ll always see you right, you know this.”

She stepped back and turned to her mum as Frank shook Bill’s hand before the man pulled him into a hug.

“Just look after her.” he whispered in Frank’s ear. “I know I don’t need to say it but…”

“You have my word.” Frank pulled back and looked his future father-in-law in the eyes. “I’ll die before I let anything happen to her.”

“Does this mean we can get a house with a pool?” Mary piped up, from where she was now situated in Steve’s arms.

Frank looked at Fliss before they both grinned and he turned to Mary.

“Not sure.” he said “Don’t want you getting all spoilt now do we?”

“Fine…” she shrugged “I’ll just move in here. That’s ok isn’t it?”

“Of course.” Verity grinned “Although you do know if you do, its bed at 8 every night, no treats before dinner, no…” “Who are you trying to kid?” Mary scoffed “Frank says you’re both a pair of right soft touches.”

Frank groaned as Bill, Verity and Steve all sniggered and he shook his head at Mary who stuck her tongue out at him.

“You’re a pain in my ass, you know that?”

Mary simply shrugged and Fliss slid her arms round Frank’s waist and he pressed a kiss to her temple.

“So, house hunting starts tomorrow?” he asked, and she grinned nodding.

“You bet Sailor…”

“Ohhh we could buy a boat!” Mary said suddenly, and Frank paused.

“Actually, that would be kinda cool…”

“Yeah, I’ll buy you a remote control one to play with in the pool” Fliss grinned and Bill laughed as Mary let out a loud yell.

“See, Fliss want’s a pool…”

“Mary, for God’s sake…”

“Ok…Bean wants a pool” Mary grinned as Fliss looked up at Frank with a shrug and a smile.

“It would be kinda cool...” she said softly.

Frank simply snorted and shook his head.

#riding on #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #gifted #gifted fan fic

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jaxl-road · 5 years ago

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The League of Extraordinary Rockstars, ch.1

Summary: LA is a hub for music and mutants, making it the perfect place for Motley Crue, Guns N’ Roses, and countless other mutant musicians to call home. But it’s not all easy, especially when it comes to finding a decent place to live. So what better solution than moving in together in the mansion of an immortal? Love, drama, and super powers. If nothing else, it’ll be interesting.

Chapter Warnings: Language, genderswap!Steven

AN: This is a collaboration between myself and @the--blackdahlia! It combines elements from her fic “It’s So Easy (And Other Lies)” (specifically her genderswapped!Steven) and my super powered GnR series. It is completely AU and ignores timelines like Woah, but hopefully you’ll have as much fun reading it as we’re having writing it! Let us know what you think!

~~~~~

Los Angeles. The city of angels. Also, the highest per capita mutant population in the United States. With it’s history of welcoming minorities, it was no surprise. And West Hollywood was the hot spot. Humans hanging out with mutants, getting their cigarettes lit by a bass player who could control fire, getting their joints from a singer who could control pot. Things were great in LA.

Well, pretty much. They painted a picture perfect world of mutants living in the hills with the rich and famous, when in reality, they were living in small apartments that had more mice than people in them. But the one nice thing about LA? It was usually sunny. Rarely a cloud in the sky. Stevie Adler smiled as she looked up at the sky.

And then there was the honking horn.

“Get out of the street you bitch!” A guy screamed from his car. Stevie sighed and shook her head, crossing the street towards the recording studio. Yeah, LA was a great city.

“What was that about?” Izzy asked from his designated smoking spot.

“Asshole is impatient,” Stevie shrugged. “Where’s everyone else?”

“Slash is hiding because Axl is screaming at someone on the phone,” Izzy explained. “Duff’s not here yet. But Baz is, and he’s getting a kick out of watching Axl trying to avoid going supersonic.”

“Is there a betting pool started yet on if he’ll lose it?” Stevie grinned.

“I’m giving him about ten minutes,” Izzy smirked. “I think it’s Neil he’s yelling at.” Stevie rolled her eyes.

A cold gust of wind blew past them, causing Stevie to shiver. It seemed to get darker all of a sudden, a cloud covering the sun, but before she could comment on it, Izzy was looking past her with a raised eyebrow.

“Uh-oh, looks like someone’s in a bad mood.”

Sure enough, when she followed his gaze, she saw a very sour looking Duff stalking towards them. The weather witch looked deep in thought, a scowl on his face, which made sense as he usually didn’t lose control of his powers like this, especially since he knew Stevie needed as much sun as she could get.

“Hey, stormcloud!” Izzy shouted, getting the bassist’s attention, “Reel it in, motherfucker! The weather report said clear skies today!”

Blinking, Duff seemed to notice the shift in weather for the first time, “Ah, fuck,” the clouds quickly dissapated, the wind dying down as the sunshine returned. “Sorry guys,” he sighed.

“What’s got you all worked up?” Stevie asked.

Running a hand through his hair, Duff glared, “A fucking pipe burst in my apartment. The place was shitty enough with cockroaches crawling all over me, now I’ve got two inches of water covering everything.”

“Hey, if you need a place, Tracii moved out so Slash and I have an empty room,” Stevie told Duff. “I might be able to dry your stuff out. I’m sure Nikki would help.”

“Yeah, because you know that Axl loves those guys hanging around,” Izzy laughed. “Let’s go inside.” The three of them headed in, seeing Baz and Slash, but no Axl.

“He’s in his tantrum hole,” Baz laughed, pointing at the soundproof room. “He’ll be out in a minute once he calms down.” Stevie headed over to Slash to talk to him, leaving Izzy and Duff standing there together. A few moments later, Slash was hugging Duff.

“Roomie!” Slash laughed.

“I see Stevie talked to you,” Duff chuckled.

“Dude, this will be awesome!” Slash grinned, “Now I’ll have my two favorite drinking buddies in the same house!”

“This is a terrible idea,” Izzy muttered to himself.

“What’s a terrible idea?” Axl finally emerged from his designated anger room, with a look on his face that said he was very consciously keeping himself calm.

“Duff is gonna move in with Stevie and me!” Slash exclaimed, “Apparently his place is underwater, and we’ve got some space since Tracii moved out, so it’s perfect!”

“...Yeah, I’m gonna agree with Izzy and say that’s a terrible idea,” Axl shook his head as he moved to lean against Sebastian’s side, “The three of you? In one place?”

“It feels like a threat to public safety,” Izzy chimed in.

“You’re just jealous cause you know we’re gonna be the most fun house on the strip now,” Stevie teased.

Izzy smiled tensely, looking briefly between Duff and Stevie before glancing away.

“Wait a minute, I thought Motley Crue had the most fun house on the strip,” Baz pointed out before Axl glared at him. “Sorry babe, but you gotta admit, they know how to throw a party.”

“I think that Nikki’s party trick of catching himself on fire is annoying and overused,” Axl huffed. “And you’re supposed to be on my side.”

“Okay, before Sebastian and Axl start fighting to make up later, can we record some music?” Stevie asked with a laugh. “Duff, we’ll go get your stuff that can be salvaged. I’ll call Tommy to come help.” Axl groaned but Stevie pretended she didn’t hear.

“Think you can get through a couple songs without shattering the glass?” Slash joked at Axl. The singer merely flipped him off as they finally made their way into the booth. Stevie took a seat behind the drums, not noticing Duff and Izzy glancing at her. Slash just sighed and got his guitar.

Baz smiled as he listened to Axl sing, and soon, they had a couple rough tracks down before their studio time was up. Stevie bounced to the payphone to call Tommy while Slash, Izzy, and Duff talked.

“So...you’re moving in with Stevie…” Izzy said, staring at Duff.

“And Slash,” Duff pointed out. “Not just Stevie.”

“Right, right…”

“Gee, way to make a guy feel loved,” Slash pouted.

Izzy rolled his eyes, shoving Slash’s shoulder lightly, glad for the break in the tension as the three chuckled. At that moment, Stevie jogged back over, giving a thumbs up as she smiled.

“Alright! We’re all set! Tommy should be here s-”

“HEY GUYS!”

A gust of wind swirled around them as Tommy skidded to a stop beside them, his hair a wild mess around his face. The speedster gave Stevie a quick hug as he chattered, “Stevie told me what happened, that sucks dude!” He gave Duff a sympathetic pat on his shoulder, “I’ll totally help though! Nikki’s dealing with Vince right now, apparently he’s having a bitch fit cause of some phone call or something, I dunno, but he’ll be by to help out later. Anyway, how are the rest of you guns?”

Tommy gave Slash a quick hug, but when he moved to throw his arm around Izzy’s shoulder, his arm fell right through the other man, sending the drummer stumbling forward. Slash, Duff, and Stevie laughed as Tommy pouted at Izzy’s deadpan expression.

“Oh come on, man, don’t be like that!”

The next couple hours were spent bickering and joking as they waded through Duff’s apartment to clear out his meager belongings, Tommy running between the flooded space and Slash and Stevie’s apartment while Duff chewed out his landlord until he got his deposit back.

Duff came back to the soggy apartment to see Stevie standing there, holding a book and smiling. He raised an eyebrow until he saw what she was looking at, then he tried to run to grab it.

“Duff, you were so cute!” Stevie laughed.

“Let me see!” Tommy ran by, grabbing the book. As he did, a photo fell out of the back. Slash picked it up. “Duff, you were a dorky looking kid.”

“Says the guy who was wearing tights in a picture his mom showed me the first time we met!” Duff pointed out.

“Ugh, don’t remind me,” Tommy groaned.

“At least you don’t look as dorky as Stevie,” Slash teased, showing Tommy a picture of Stevie asleep next to Duff, her head on his shoulder, and most definitely drooling. “I’m just surprised you didn’t burn up the camera. Either with your sunshine crap or being so ugly.”

“Love you too,” Stevie rolled her eyes. “Why do you have that?”

“Just liked it,” Duff shrugged.

“Okay, well, do you guys mind like, getting out of here?” Tommy asked. “Everything that can be saved has been saved, and I can feel the mold growing on us as we stand here talking about how I’m much cuter than everyone else.” He smirked. “And Nikki said he’s gonna try to meet us over at your place to help dry things out.”

Nodding in agreement, the group made their way over to the apartment that housed Stevie, Slash, and now Duff. The place wasn’t much better than Duff’s old apartment, but it was dry, so they couldn’t complain. Plus, the bassist was happy to note that there were significantly less cockroaches than his old place contained (not no cockroaches, that’d be asking for too much, but less at least).

On top of that, despite being small and dingy, Slash and Stevie still managed to make the place feel like a home. Cracks and stains on the walls were covered by posters, fliers, and magazine cutouts of their favorite bands, the pictures layered over each other excitedly. Their garbage dump couch was covered in an old tie dyed bed sheet to mask the tears. The kitchen counters held rows and rows of empty bottles, some of them containing the dried remains of long dead flowers that would probably give Vince a heart attack if he saw them. A lingering scent of cigarette smoke clung to the whole apartment, there was trash everywhere, and a pile of records reached halfway up the wall next to a thrift-store record player.

Duff immediately felt right at home.

“So, your room is right over here,” Slash led the way down the short hallway. They passed a bathroom that had definitely seen better days, a bedroom covered in KISS merch that simply had to be Stevie’s, and another door covered in caution tape that was closed tight.

“That’s Slash’s room,” Stevie leaned over to whisper in Duff’s ear, “He thinks I don’t know about the python he’s got in there, but at least he keeps it contained.”

Shuddering at the idea of being in the same space as a large snake, Duff debated about turning right back around and returning to the lake of his apartment, but before he could, he was being steered into the final bedroom. It was a little smaller than his old place, but it’s not like he was picky. Tommy had piled his stuff along the walls in two groups- the stuff that needed drying, and the stuff that was okay.

Right on cue, there was a knock on the door. “Oh, that’s probably Nikki!” Tommy cried enthusiastically, and with a gust of wind was off to the door.

Sure enough, Nikki was there with Vince and Mick in tow. Nikki had a couple pizza boxes in hand, Vince had a sour look on his face, and Mick, well, was Mick.

"We brought pizza!" Nikki announced. "Two large supremes!"

"Did you get something not supreme?" Stevie quizzed.

"Just pick off the black olives and shit," Nikki teased. Mick smacked the back of his head and handed Stevie a pepperoni pizza.

"Here you go," He grumbled. "Nikki just likes to tease you."

Sticking her tongue out at the bassist, Stevie happily accepted her pizza, the group gathering in the living room to take a break before tackling Duff’s damp belongings. As they ate, Vince kept scowling, pouting, and muttering under his breath. Finally, Slash sighed dramatically.

“Alright Neil, I’ll bite: what the fuck is your problem?”

Glaring, the blonde singer huffed, “My problem is that your singer is an asshole!”

“Are we supposed to be surprised or something? This isn’t news,” Stevie chimed in.

But Vince continued as if she hadn’t said anything, “That bastard stole my favorite pants, I just know it, and when I called to nicely ask for them back-”

“He wasn’t remotely nice. I was there,” Nikki contributed.

“-he had the fucking audacity to say, ‘why would I ever steal your ugly-ass pants?’! Like, we all know that my style is MILES better that his garbage, midwest grunge look!”

“Don’t let Izzy hear you talking like that,” Duff snickered.

Meanwhile, Stevie’s brow was furrowed in thought, “Which pants are these?”

“My acid-wash jeans with the white stitching on the side,” Vince answered, sighing wistfully.

“Oooooh, shit,” Stevie grimaced, “Yeah, I’m pretty sure I gave those to Axl after last laundry day.” Slash and Stevie’s apartment building was the only one in the group that had a laundry facility on-site, so once a week all the rockers showed up on their doorstep with a bag of dirty clothes and handfuls of coins for them. Slash and Stevie used to deal with it together, but ever since Slash decided that laundry detergent and dish detergent were interchangeable, he had been banned from the laundry room.

“What?!” Vince screeched, “Stevie, how could you?” he cried, his voice full of betrayal.

“I didn’t do it on purpose!” Stevie threw her arms in the air, “I was tired, we all dress the same, and you and Axl are the same size!”

“You take that back! I am a quarter inch taller than him and you know it!”

“Oh, excuse me,” Stevie rolled her eyes, “how could I forget? How’s the weather up there, skyscraper?”

Gasping in exaggerated offense, Vince turned to his bandmates desperately, “Do you hear this blasphemy? She’s trying to sabotage us! She wants to break my spirit and give my superior wardrobe to her singer!”

“Yes, Vinnie, she is clearly an evil mastermind,” Nikki chuckled as he looked at Stevie’s pouting face.

“Aw, come on man, look at her!” Tommy reached over, putting his hands on either side of Stevie’s face to squish her cheeks, “How can you stay mad at her? Look at this face!” Stevie giggled as the other drummer pulled her closer, both of them giving Vince puppy eyes as Tommy sang, “You know you loooove herrrrr.”

To Vince’s credit, he put in a good effort fighting off the smile on his face. But eventually he couldn't resist breaking into a wide grin at the drummers’ antics, “Goddammit, you guys, I have a reputation!”

“You do?” Nikki laughed as Vince punched his arm, the group descending into playful bickering and laughter.

"I think I saw something about his reputation on the bathroom wall at the Roxy," Duff teased, making everyone laugh.

"Guys I gotta pee," Stevie laughed. She got out of Tommy's hold and headed to the bathroom, Duff taking a peek.

"See something you like?" Nikki teased, elbowing Duff.

“I’m sure I have no idea what you’re talking about,” he huffed, shoving Nikki’s shoulder, “Didn’t you come over here for a reason? Come help me with my shit before it fucking dissolves or something.”

“Yeah, yeah, I’m on it,” grinning, Nikki rubbed his hands together as they glowed lightly, the two bassists making their way back to Duff’s new room to try to salvage more of his stuff.

Tommy shook his head lightly and turned to Slash, “Dude, Duff and Stevie in the same apartment? Have fun with that.”

“God, don’t remind me,” Slash groaned, “You should have seen Izzy’s face when we were talking about it.”

“I can’t believe Stevie still hasn’t noticed.”

“Hasn’t noticed what?” Stevie chirped, narrowing her eyes suspiciously as she rounded the corner, making her way back to her seat.

Without missing a beat, Slash smirked, “That Tommy’s been trying to flick olives down your shirt for the last ten minutes.”

“Dude!” Stevie cried indignantly, smacking Tommy’s arm, “Not cool! This shirt isn’t even low cut, you’re just gonna just fucking marinara on it or something!”

“Sorry, sorry,” Tommy grit out, glaring at Slash as he, Vince, and Mick laughed at his misfortune.

The night went pretty smoothly, other than Vince calling Stevie ‘Benedict Arnold’ various times throughout the night, and Nikki almost catching a couple of Duff’s books on fire. But soon, the Crue headed out, leaving the three roommates in their home.

“I don’t know about you guys, but I’m beat,” Stevie yawned. “I’ll see you in the morning.” She said goodnight before heading to her room, Duff watching her as she went. Slash slapped his shoulder.

“I’m not living with you pining over her,” Slash groaned.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” Duff stood up and headed to his room. “Stevie doesn’t even like me like that.” With that, he headed towards his room, leaving the guitarist there to groan.

“It is a sad, sad day,” Slash muttered to himself, “when Axl is the one in a stable relationship.”

With one last shake of his head, he made his way into his own room, bracing himself for what was sure to be an interesting new living situation.

#Guns n Roses #guns n roses fanfiction #Motley Crue #skid row #fem!Steven #super power au #my writing #other people's writing #steven adler #duff mckagan #slash #axl rose #izzy stradlin #sebastian bach #tommy lee #Nikki Sixx #mick mars #Vince Neil

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et-lesailes · 5 years ago

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high maintenance

pairing: frank adler x pregnant!reader

themes: fluff with grumpy but loving old man frank adler

word count: 1600

summary: just a little fluff between you and your grumpy but loving old man fiance frank adler

taglist: @viarogers, @evanstush, @chibi-crazy, @chalamet-evans, @world-of-losers,@songforhema @sebabestianstan101 @tanyam93 @b-val1 @wonderwinchester @little-miss-exo

note: i have like 532 requests to work on but had a sudden burst of muse for this, now excuse me while i watch gifted agaiN

** please send an ask if you would like to be added to my taglist of any chris evans related fics!

“Mary! Mary, the clothes are here, let’s open the box together!”

Your fiancé’s niece, practically daughter, immediately came rushing over to the front door, eyes wide with excitement. “Is Frank up in the nursery? Let’s look at everything up there, so he can see, too.” You told her with a smile, ruffling her pretty blonde hair as you picked up the package from the front steps. “Are you sure? You know he’s just going to complain about you spending too much money again.” The seven-year-old pointed out, and you laughed as you playfully made a face, nodding. “I know, but he’s going to have to get used to it, isn’t he? Babies aren’t cheap!”

Walking up the stairs of the new home the two of you had recently bought together, you turned into the first room on the left, right across from you and Frank’s room. The man was sitting on the floor, dutifully putting together your son’s crib, different parts scattered around him. “Are you sure you’re doing it right?” you nagged as you approached him, but the soft giggle afterwards told him you were only kidding; the man repaired boats as a living, so you were pretty certain he could manage a baby crib. “No. I have no idea if I’m doing it right, I’ve never even seen a toolbox in my life.” The native Bostonian drawled sarcastically, eyes still focused on the assembly before him. You laughed more, completely unfazed by his blunt attitude; it was one of the many reasons you had fallen for him to begin with, and considering you had never been the type to get offended easily, your relationship worked well. Frank had a habit of coming off as much ruder than he meant to be, but he was also incredibly straightforward and slightly gruff to begin with. He had a soft spot for you and Mary, and now, your son that was to be born in around three months.

“Alright, let’s open up this thing,” you said with a grin to Mary, plopping down on the floor a little further away from the busy man. Reaching over to grab a pair of scissors he had used to cut the crib’s packaging, you slid the sharp edge through the tape sealing the cardboard box, opening the flaps and already squealing in delight as you peered inside. “Oh my God. This is all so cute already.” Mary reached inside first, pulling out a tiny blue Ralph Lauren polo, a look of awe upon her features. “It’s so small! He’ll look so adorable in it!” she spoke proudly about the boy who would basically be her baby brother, her blue eyes gleaming with excitement. “And look!” you exclaimed, taking out a pair of small boat shoes, giggling lightly. “His style is going to be impeccable, Mary, I’m tellin’ ya.”

The two of you were squealing over a onesie decorated with tiny cartoon raccoon prints when Frank finally decided he was curious enough to know what was going on, pausing in his work and turning around with arched eyebrow. “The hell is all this?” he scoffed in amusement, eyes flickering over the small pile of clothes on the floor. “Babe, did you order the entire store?”

“How could I not, Frank? Look at this!” You pulled out yet another article of clothing, smiling widely. “Tell me this isn’t the cutest shortall you’ve ever seen!”

“I guess it is, because I have no idea what a “shortall” even is.” The male retorted with another scoff, but you could see that hint of fondness in his eyes as he gazed upon his son’s apparel, making you giggle as you moved closer to him to wrap your arms around him from the side in a koala bear fashion hug. “Oh, honey.” He clucked his tongue before you could even speak, looking down at you knowingly. “I know what this hug is. It’s the “I’m-going-to-shower-you-with-abnormal-amounts-of-affection” hug that comes along with telling me how much you maxed out my credit card.”

“Frank! I’ve never maxed out your credit card, don’t exaggerate.” You huffed with a roll of your eyes, but smiled at him cutely afterwards. “I spent ... about…. $250? That’s really not that bad, you have to admit.”

“Yeah, Evelyn spends way more on me!” Mary pointed out in an attempt to help defend you, referring to Frank’s ridiculously wealthy mother. The man sighed, standing up though playfully scooping you up with him, eliciting a happy giggle from your lips as he shook his head. “Evelyn is not a valid person to be compared to in this situation, and at least she’s spending her money on a child who has actually been born already.” Suddenly looking at Mary with his naturally stern expression, he ordered, “Out of the room. Go play outside or go over to Roberta’s or something, I need to talk to this little brat for a sec.”

You blinked, watching as Mary turned and left before looking to him innocently. “Am I in trouble, Daddy?” you questioned in the silkiest voice you could muster, and a low scoff escaped his lips as he swatted at your ass, replying, “You’re going to be if you keep talking like that, baby girl.” He carried you over to the changing table, sitting you down and standing in between your legs. “Frank, if this is about my spending, I promise I’ll ease up I just--” you started to say, but he cut you off, pressing his lips against yours as he lovingly rubbed your baby bump. “I just wanted some alone time with my sexy girl,” he admitted in a husky voice against your lips, moving his mouth down to pepper your neck in kisses. “Honestly? I love seeing you already wanting to spoil our little man, princess. It’s cute when you’re such a fucking spoiled brat.” He smirked as he briefly glanced up at you, pulling at your skin with his teeth.

You whimpered softly but gave him a playfully hopeful expression. “Does that mean--”

“No, you still aren’t allowed to max out my credit card.” He scoffed, and you made a face as you corrected, “Our credit card, thank you very much, we’re in this together now.” He blinked and chuckled, returning his lips to yours to peck them sweetly. “You’re right, sweetheart. And now, Daddy’s going to be bringing a little more money home to help further spoil our two beautiful children ...”

You blinked, taking his face in your hands to make him properly look at you. “What do you mean by that?” you questioned, suspicious and curious at the same time. “Are you a stripper now or something?”

“What-- no, babe, God no.” He rolled his eyes but kissed your cheek, moving his head to mutter in your ear, “I’ve been working on something for a while now… I didn’t want to tell you anything until I was positive it would work out, and now, I am.” Taking out his phone from his pocket, he pulled up a photo and showed you, barely biting his lip. You had to squint because of his old school flip phone-- typical Frank Adler, completely uninterested in new and modern technology-- but once you realized what the image was, your eyes widened.

“Is this… is this yours, Frank?”

“Sure is, doll. And it’s going to officially be open for business next month.”

You squealed in delight as you wrapped your arms around him, feeling pure happiness and excitement for his hard work and endeavors. “Your own repair shop, Frank? You’ve been wanting this forever! How did you…”

“A friend from the bar was renting out a space he owned, he offered it to me discounted because it was a little shabby and no one was interested. I’ve been fixing it up for the past few months, got that sign ordered… and, well, that’s the whole picture you just saw. Frank’s Boat Repair. Nice and simple, gets the job done.”

You were too thrilled to even playfully roast him for such a plain name, though you knew it was exactly his style. He wasn’t one to be extravagant, he didn’t care for material things or having items-- he was a simple man who loved his work, his niece, his fiancée, his one eyed cat, and his newest child. Hugging him even tighter, you kissed him lovingly as you murmured, “I’m so happy for you, babe, this is amazing.” You playfully tapped his nose, adding, “And I’m too happy to yell at you for keeping this from me, so well played, Adler.” He chuckled softly and brought himself down, now face-to-face with your belly as he pressed his lips against the swelled curve. “Mm, don’t worry little man, I’ll teach you all the ways to get out of being in trouble with your high maintenance mother. You’ll practically be a pro by the time you’re out of there.” You rolled your eyes, playfully whacking his head. “I am not high maintenance. You know you wouldn’t have proposed to me if I was.”

He smiled as he rolled his eyes-- a typical reaction in this household-- standing up straight again and leaning down to kiss you more slowly and passionately. “Mm. I would have. Because there are way too many reasons to be with you for the rest of my life than there are reasons not to be.”

You smiled as you kissed your fiance back, wrapping both your arms and legs around him and letting yourself melt into his hold, mumbling, “I love you, Frank.”

“I love you too, Princess.”

#frank adler #frank adler x reader #frank adler x you #frank adler fanfic #chris evans imagine #chris evans #chris evans fic #chris evans fluff

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the--blackdahlia · 5 years ago

Text

It’s So Easy (And Other Lies) Chapter 26

Title: It’s So Easy (And Other Lies) Chapter 26

Summary: Stevie Adler likes Duff McKagan. She has for a while now, but she is convinced Duff doesn’t like her that way. Duff likes Stevie, but so does their new bandmate Axl Rose.

Chapter Warnings: Smut (18+ only please), language

AN: Thank you all for the feedback!! Thanks to @callme-kaz2y5-baby for writing my smut :)

Break time was over. It had been about three months since Hope was born and the guys had to get back out on the road. Duff didn’t want to. He was flying down to LA to meet up with them to do some rehearsing before they headed out. Stevie and Hope took Duff to the airport.

“I don’t want to go,” Duff sighed. “Think we could con Nikki into going to play with them or something?”

“You know he won’t go anywhere without his Tommy,” Stevie laughed a little. “But we’ll be waiting here for you to get back.” Duff leaned in and kissed Stevie.

“I’ll call as often as I can,” He told her. “And you little missy,” He looked down at Hope in her carseat. “Don’t grow anymore until I get back, you here?”

“I will try, but she’s already growing so much,” Stevie sighed. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” He sat his bags down and kissed her. When he pulled back, he stared into her eyes. “This is the first time in a long time that we haven’t been together at least once a day.”

“Don’t remind me,” Stevie sighed. “Just a few months…”

“Yeah,” Duff sighed. His flight was called then.

“You better get going,” Stevie frowned. Duff wrapped his arms around her.

“I’ll be back before you know it,” He kissed the top of her head. “I love you.” He looked down at Hope in her carrier. “And I love you too my little princess.” With one final look at this family, Duff got on the plane to fly to LA, leaving Stevie and Hope behind for the first time.

****

One Month Later

Duff was asleep in his bunk on the bus. Slash was on his own, reading a book. Duff hadn’t been sleeping very well the past few weeks, and he hadn’t had time to call Stevie in awhile. Just a couple five minute conversations to say hi and I love you before Stevie had to go take care of Hope.

By the time the shows were over, Duff didn’t want to call, because Hope was starting to wake up less in the night and staying awake more through the day, and he didn’t want to wake her up if she was sleeping. Photoshoots, concerts, interviews. They all limited the amount of time the McKagan’s got to talk to each other, and Slash could tell that it was really bothering Duff.

“No,” He heard Duff mumble in his sleep. “No!”

“Duff,” Slash marked his spot in his book and got out of his bunk. “Duff!”

“Shit!” Duff opened his eyes and sat up, hitting his head on the bunk on top of his. “Oh fuck!”

“Are you okay?” Slash asked.

“Well, my head hurts now.” Duff told him.

“I mean, you were pretty upset about whatever you were dreaming of,” Slash pointed out. “What’s going on?”

“Nothing. Just a bad dream,” Duff ran a hand down his face. Slash frowned. “When are we stopping for the photoshoot?”

“In an hour,” Slash told him. “Then it’s another day of driving to get to the next town.”

“Damn,” Duff sighed. “Let’s just get this over with then.”

****

Duff’s solo photos were last, with the full band going first and everyone taking turns doing solos and duos. Izzy didn’t want to do a duo with Axl, and it was a whole big thing that ended with Duff negotiating with the photographer to put the three of them together, if they were going to insist on Izzy and Axl getting photographed together. Slash slipped way, heading to the payphone in the lobby. He dialed a number and waited.

“Hello?” Stevie answered. Slash’s face lit up.

“How are my two favorite girls doing?” Slash asked.

“Oh, you know,” Stevie laughed. “Is everything okay?”

“Everything’s fine,” Slash told her. “I just have a lovesick bassist who really misses his wife and kid, and can’t talk to them as much as he’d like to.”

“I miss him so much,” Stevie sighed. Slash nodded, even though she couldn’t see him.

“What if you and Hope fly out to our next stop and join us for awhile?” Slash suggested. “I’m sure Duff would be more than happy to have you two here with him.”

“I was honestly just thinking of that,” Stevie smiled. “Denver is your next stop, right?”

“Yep,” Slash nodded. “If you can be there, we’ll come meet you.”

“Let me call Marie and see if I can leave Princess Peach with her, and I’ll see about getting a ticket and let you know.”

“Great. We’ll be here for another hour or so,” Slash read off the number to the payphone that he was at. After a couple more minutes of talking they hung up. About a half hour later, Izzy was standing by the payphone when it rang. Raising an eyebrow, he answered.

“Uh, hello?”

“Iz!” Stevie laughed. “Hey, I was trying to catch Slash. He gave me this number.”

“Oh, hey Stevie. Give me a second,” Izzy motioned for Slash to come over. “Stevie?”

“Oh!” Slash took the phone from Izzy. “So?”

“Marie has Princess Peach, and Hope and I should be in Denver tomorrow afternoon,” Stevie told Slash proudly. Slash’s face lit up.

“That’s great! I’m going to keep it a surprise. But damn, he misses you,” Slash laughed.

“I miss him too,” Stevie admitted. “Okay, we’ll see you tomorrow!” They both hung up and Slash looked over at Izzy.

“Does Duff miss Stevie, or do you miss her?” Izzy laughed.

“Duff misses her,” Slash told him. “Thought he was going to knock himself out this morning because he had a bad dream and jerked awake. Smacked his head on the bunk above his.”

“Well, fair enough,” Izzy laughed a little. “Duff’ll be done soon and we can head out.”

“Good,” Slash nodded. “I can’t wait for those two to get back together. Maybe he’ll stop being so miserable.” He laughed and Izzy returned the smile.

****

“I’ve tried calling Stevie three times and she hasn’t answered,” Duff told Slash later on, when they had gotten to Denver.

“Maybe she’s out with your mom or something?” Slash shrugged. “Oh, speaking of mom’s, mine is coming in for the show. I told her I’d meet her at the airport and I want you to go with me.”

“Oh, come on man,” Duff groaned. “Ola hates me. She thinks I “stole Stevie from you” or something like that.”

“I mean, she did settle,” Slash teased. “Come on. My mom doesn’t hate you. She’s just...eccentric.”

“She called me Giraffe Boy up until a couple months ago, and that’s only because Ash told her to chill!”

“Just come with me man. I’d rather you get out for a little bit then sitting here, wondering why your wife isn’t answering.” Duff sighed.

“Fine,” Duff rolled his eyes. “Don’t say I’ve never done anything for you.”

****

Later that afternoon, Duff and Slash got a cab from their hotel to the airport. Duff was wearing shorts, cowboy boots, a tank top, and a cowboy hat. He figured that if Ola Hudson was going to make fun of him, he was going to give her a reason to. Slash just shook his head.

“You look ridiculous,” Slash told him.

“Says the guy wearing a tank top and so many holes in his jeans, I don’t think they can even be called pants anymore.”

Before Slash could come back with something, an announcement over the loudspeaker made Duff homesick.

“Flight 92 from Seattle now arriving at gate 15a.”

“God, I miss Seattle,” Duff sighed. “Mainly, I miss my family.”

“You’ll get to see them before you know it,” Slash smiled and glanced towards the gate that Stevie and Hope would be coming through. “Hey, I see my mom. Come on.” Slash dragged Duff towards the gate.

“Dude, I…” Duff trailed off when he saw a familiar pair of blue eyes looking at him, and they sure as hell didn’t belong to Ola Hudson. “S-Stevie?”

“Duff!” She ran towards him. Slash took Hope so Duff could easily wrap his arms around his wife, holding her close. He buried his face in her hair, just enjoying the fact that she was here.

“What are you guys doing here?” He asked, pulling back after a moment.

“Hope and I really missed you,” Stevie told him. “And I thought we could enjoy some time together.” Duff hugged her again.

“God, I did miss you both,” He looked around. “Where’s my little princess?”

“With Uncle Slash,” Stevie laughed.

“Excuse me. It’s Godfather Slash,” Slash chuckled. Duff kept an arm wrapped around Stevie as he walked over to Slash.

“I’ve gotta go pick up luggage,” Stevie told Duff. “I brought enough in case you wanted us to stay awhile. And I can pick up more along the way. If you want us.”

“You have no idea,” Duff kissed her cheek before Stevie went to go grab luggage. Duff took Hope from Slash. She had her eyes open and smiled when she saw Duff. “She looks so much like Stevie.”

“She’d be her twin if she had her hair,” Slash agreed. “She’s gotten so big.”

“I know. I told her she wasn’t allowed to grow but apparently she doesn’t listen to me,” Duff laughed.

“I bet that’s a sign of what’s to come,” Slash smirked. Stevie made her way over to them with the bags.

“Why don’t I trade you?” Duff suggested, giving Stevie Hope and taking some bags while Slash grabbed the others. They headed out to the car that they needed to get back to the hotel. “Hey Slash?”

“What?” The guitarist asked from his seat.

“I need you to take some of your godfather duties,” He told him.

“What do you mean? Isn’t that only for if you two die?” Slash asked.

“Can you please watch Hope for a little bit?” Duff asked. “I want to spend some time with my wife.” Stevie laughed a little, her cheeks pink.

“Oh!” Slash laughed. “Of course I’ll watch her. Just for like ten minutes?” Duff slapped the back of his head.

“God, he’s as bad as Tommy,” Stevie couldn’t stop smiling.

It was good to be back with her boys.

****

Stevie handed Slash the bag of baby things and Hope before following Duff into his room with her luggage. She tossed it on the floor by Duff’s bags as her husband shut and locked the door. She smiled as she felt his long arms wrap around her waist and his lips on her neck.

“God, I missed you,” He whispered, nipping a little at the sensitive skin.

“Did you now?” She asked with a laugh. Duff pressed against her.

“Yes. Yes I did,” He mumbled. “Thought I’d have to sneak away to get on a plane and come see you again.”

“It hasn’t been that long babe,” Stevie moaned softly.

“It’s been too long,” Duff slowly pulled her back towards the bed. “And you’re wearing way too many clothes.” He pulled her shirt off and kissed at her shoulders. Stevie moaned softly.

“Missed you.”

Duff worked on stripping Stevie and laying her out on the bed. Stevie looked up at Duff through her lashes.

"You have too many clothes on cowboy.” She watched him undress, hair haloed around her head. Duff crawled over her and drew her into a deep kiss, before kissing down her neck to her breasts rolling her nipples with his fingers before sucking one then the other into his mouth. Stevie tangled her fingers in his hair, moaning and pushing her chest toward his mouth.

Duff's hand trailed down her body, running one digit along her slit, feeling her arch and moan under him. Taking pity, he circled her clit with his finger making her legs quiver before thrusting two fingers into her. Stevie gasped at the stretch, grinding down onto them. Duff used his thumb to circle her clit while stroking her g-spot. It didn't take long until Stevie was clenching on his fingers and coming with his name on her lips.

Duff leaned up to kiss her while she's coming down. Stevie pushed on Duff's shoulder, urging him onto his back, which he did. Stevie wasted no time swallowing his rock hard cock down, making Duff gasp.

"Holy shit, Stevie,” Stevie looked up at him.

"Hmmm?" She mumbled around him. Duff's head fell back on the pillow.

"Gonna kill me with that mouth, girlie…” Stevie pulled back and smiled at Duff before climbing over him and lining him up. "Wai...." Duff started as Stevie started sliding down over him.

"Been waiting, don't want to wait any longer."

Stevie threw her head back and moaned as she came to a seat on Duff's thighs. Duff ran his hands up her legs to her waist, urging her to start moving. Stevie started moving, finding the right angle to make her come and riding him for her pleasure. All Duff could do was hang on, while Stevie used him for her pleasure. He loved watching her bounce on him, eyes closed, sweat dripping, as she found her pleasure and clenched and came over and over. She was beautiful like this, panting, calling his name. He could feel her slowing, so he used this opportunity to plant his feet and held her up while thrusting into her over and over, seeking his pleasure. He looked up from their coupling and locked eyes with Stevie.

"Fuck Stevie babe, so good, gonna come,”

"Come on, Duff, come with me...uh....uh..... now!" Stevie moaned, clenching on him one last time sending him over the edge. Stevie slumped over on his chest panting. "<aybe I should make you miss me more.” Duff kissed the top of her head.

"Don't you dare.”

****

“Izzy!” Slash hit Izzy’s door. “Izzy!”

“What?” Izzy asked, opening the door. “Wait, why do you have a baby?”

“It’s Hope!” Slash told him. “And Duff and Stevie asked me to watch her for a bit and I don’t know shit about babies man!” Hope made little baby noises from her car seat and reached towards Izzy.

“Hold on,” Izzy snuffed out his cigarette. “Let’s take her to the lounge. We’ll put on some cartoons or something and it’ll be easier to watch her.”

“What do kids watch?” Slash asked. “Like Sesame Street and Mr. Rogers?”

“I don’t care what you watch with her, as long as it’s not the adult channels,” Izzy told him. “Come on.” He grabbed his guitar and shut the door, heading with Slash to the lounge. “Let’s get her out of her carseat.”

“What if she runs away?” Slash asked. Izzy stared at him.

“Dude, she’s like four months old,” Izzy sighed. “I bet she’s just picking her head up. Let me see what Stevie left you.” He took the bag from Slash’s shoulder as Slash got Hope out of her carseat. “Ah, mommy brought you your play mat.” Izzy smiled and laid it down on the ground. He found a pillow with the mat that looked like a doughnut with a bite out of it. He laid it down and looked up at Slash, holding the squirmy baby like he was scared.

“You hold snakes on a regular basis,” Izzy pointed out, taking Hope and laying her with her head supported by the pillow. He gave her a cloth book and she made an excited baby noise.

“Baby’s are different,” Slash admitted. He turned on the TV to find something to watch. “How come you know so much about babies?”

“When Stevie got pregnant, I started reading,” Izzy shrugged. “I wanted to help out in case something happened and Duff bailed or some shit.”

“Oh. Well I’m glad you know what you’re doing because I sure as hell don’t,” Slash sighed and laid the remote down, looking from Hope to the TV and back. Hope was intrigued by all the bright colors.

“She’s a pretty easy baby,” Izzy shrugged. “She likes it when I sing to her.”

“When did you have time to sing to her?” Slash asked.

“Well, right before we started back, Stevie and Duff wanted a night out and no one would watch her and Motley Crue’s on tour, because Tommy was pissed he couldn’t come watch her. So I went up to Seattle and stayed a couple days. She likes being sung to, don’t you sweetheart?” Hope laughed and smiled a gummy smile up at Izzy.

“You gonna get you one?” Slash asked, making Izzy raise an eyebrow. “A baby, I mean.”

“Nah. I’m having fun being Uncle Izzy. When she gets older, I can give her one of those big ass Hershey bars, you know the ones they have a Christmas, and then wait for it to set in before I send her back home to Duff and Stevie.”

“God you’re evil,” Slash chuckled. Axl walked in then.

“Who’s evil?” He asked. That’s when there was a loud wailing from the floor. “When the fuck did Hope get here?” He sighed. Izzy picked her up and rocked her some. “Why doesn’t she like me?”

“You’re loud?” Slash asked with a shrug. Axl glared at him.

“Wait, I have an idea,” Izzy smiled. “Axl, take off your bandana.”

“What? No.” Axl shook his head.

“Just humor me,” Izzy rolled his eyes. Axl sighed and pulled the bandana off, running his fingers through his hair. “Okay, now cradle your arms.” Axl did and Izzy put Hope in his arms.

And there was no crying.

“Well I’ll be damn,” Slash laughed.

“She was scared of my bandana?” Axl asked, confused.

“She’s learning the world and mommy and daddy don’t have that, so it must be scary,” Izzy smiled at her.

“Well, she’ll hate Bret Michaels then,” Slash laughed again. Izzy shook his head and watched Axl with Hope. “Great, she likes him now, so none of us will get to spend any time with her.”

“Oh, I’m sure he won’t hog her all the time.” Izzy kept smiling.

For the first time in awhile, there was peace in the band. But Izzy had a feeling in his gut that it wouldn’t last.

****

The tour went on for the next couple months. Every time Stevie would say it was time for her and Hope to head back to Seattle, someone, mainly Duff, would convince her to stay for a little while longer. So the two did. Hope loved getting to see her uncles more often, and Stevie loved getting to spend more time with her husband. They decided that after the second to last concert, the two would fly back to Seattle, so Stevie could get groceries, pick up Princess Peach, and other things she needed to do before Duff got home.

So they were in Buffalo, with the last concert slated to be in New York City. Everyone was getting ready for the concert, but Duff kept taking breaks to play with Hope. She liked to play guitar with her uncles Izzy and Slash, which basically consisted of letting her hit the strings while they made the chords.

“She loves watching you guys practice,” Stevie said, adjusting the headphones that muffled a lot of the loud noises. “And she loves watching you play. It’s a lot better during practice now that she’s not screaming to compete with Axl.”

“Hey! I don’t scream!” Axl told her. “You guys are assholes.”

“Hope is going to have the most colorful vocabulary of all her peers,” Matt laughed. “All thanks to uncle Axl.”

“I dunno. Her dad says a lot of very colorful words too,” Stevie kissed Duff’s cheek. Hope started to cry then and Stevie looked at the time. “Oh, it’s someone's nap time.”

“Thank god, I was so tired,” Slash smirked. “Oh, you meant Hope. Okay…” Stevie took Hope from Izzy.

“We’ll be at the hotel. I’ll see you guys this evening for the concert.” She gave Duff a kiss before taking Hope to the room to nap. The boys returned to their practicing, kinda missing the audience to watch them.

Forever Tags: @dekahg @marvel-af-imagines @feelmyroarrrr @nanie5 @imboredsueme @gemini0410 @aiaranradnay @babypink224221 @mogarukes @xxwarhawk @sandlee44 @shatteredabby @caswinchester2000 @lauravic @mrsambroserollinsacklesmgk @teller258316 @horrorpxnk @tommyleeownsme @marvelismylifffe @mrslogansixxpixx

Guns n Roses Tags: @malibubarbievince @slashscowboyboots @hauntedapricoteggsclam @bitter-13-suite @arianareirg @lucyboytom @ozzy-dumbass-of-darkness @julessworldd @solopadawan @stradlin-cold-heartbeaker @catsandacoffee @kaitieskidmore1

It’s So Easy Tags: @str4nge-haze @viralwolf02 @overlyobsessedfangirl

#it's so easy and other lies #guns n roses #duff mckagan #steven adler #duff mckagan x steven adler #fanfiction

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dragon-kazansky · 5 years ago

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A rose in London - Sherlock Holmes

Chapter 4 - Irene Adler

John Watson had come by your place early the next day. He asked about what Sherlock talked you about the other day and when you mention tea, he thought it to be a good idea. He was somewhat glad that you and Sherlock wanted to get along, but he was still concerned about Holmes' behaviour, though you did state you would come to get used to it.

He had originally come around to talk about Mary. He hoped you could shed some light on the right kind of ring he should buy. He wanted it to be perfect, but the moment he arrived, he was far more curious about Sherlock and you.

"He invited you round for tea himself?"

"He did. I think you were perhaps right about him fancying me." You smiled softly. "I don't recall anyone ever fancying me before, then again I don't meet many people."

"Their loss, I suppose. Why don't you come by now then? Sherlock is at home and he still doesn't have case."

"That would be lovely. Did you come for a reason, or was it just to see me?" You smiled at him.

"That would be a reason, but yes. It can wait however."

"Yes, you have a reason, or yes, you came to see me?"

"Both."

You grabbed your coat and kept up conversation with Watson right until you arrived at Baker Street. John opened the door and let you in first. Before he could close it, however, a voice called out to hold it, so he did. You watched as the pretty lady in pink hurried past you, giving you a quick smile as you let he pass.

"Thank you, doctor." She left.

"Someone you know?" You asked.

"Yes." He glanced upstairs. "I wonder what she was doing here." He sounded as if he was talking more to himself than he was to you. He began to climb the stairs, removing his coat and hat.

Confused by his behaviour, you followed him.

"John?"

Sherlock came rushing down the stairs and hurried to the window, pushing it open.

"Holmes, what are you doing? Are you wearing a false-"

"False nose? No." He was out of breath. Sherlock looked at you smiled quickly, before both of them looked downstairs. You followed their gaze, becoming confused by the strange behaviour.

"Tell me that that wasn't-"

Sherlock grabbed John's coat and hurried out the window, jumping down. You stuck your head out to see what he was doing.

There was a loud crash as he jumped onto an unstable platform and fell through it. He called for John, but all Watson did was pull you back inside gently and close the window, continuing upstairs.

When you reached the apartment it was empty and messy.

"Who was that woman?"

"Irene Adler." John muttered, picking up an envelope.

"A friend of Sherlock's?"

"Something like that."

"I see." You spotted the picture frame on the table which was laying face down. You picked it up and looked at it. It was her. Sherlock had a photo of her in his apartment. Why did that bother you ever so slightly? "He must really like her."

John turned around and saw you holding it.

"She's no good for him."

You put the picture frame back, standing it up.

"I still think he fancies you."

"Doesn't matter." You sat down.

Seconds later, Sherlock came stumbling in. He spotted John first and then you. You had just taken off your coat and was draping around a chair. John saw down in the armchair and picked up the newspaper. Sherlock's gaze had settled on you, you smiled at him, hoping he would do something other than stare. The detective moved over to his small table and began to clean himself up. He did look an awful mess.

"Look at you, why is it the only woman you ever cared about a world class criminal?" John flicked through the newspaper.

His words struck a cord in you.

"Oh, is she your lover?" You asked, sounding as natural as you could.

After John suggested Sherlock might like you, you had hoped to get to know him better. Perhaps you would come to like what you discovered of him, but now it seems there was already a woman in his life. Now you felt like you were getting ahead of yourself.

Friends would suffice.

"Was." John spoke up. "She was the only adversary to ever outsmart him, twice. Made a proper idiot out of him." John was grinning.

You bit your lip, amused. She sounded entertaining, if anything. Then you remembered what John said about her being a criminal. Sherlock certainly seemed the type.

"Alright, you've had your fun." Sherlock finally spoke. He was looking at you from the corner of his eye.

"What's she after, anyway?" John asked.

"Time to press on."

"What could she possibly need?"

"Doesn't matter." He was starting to sound like you now.

You watched them bicker as Sherlock stood up and walked over to where you were sitting, pushing the photo frame of Irene face down once again. He sat across from you and kept his gaze on you as he told John it was no business of his. He brought up the fact they had done their last case together. Sherlock then reached for an envelope that was sitting open on the table. John had read it, apparently.

"Missing person." John described the man in the photo. "You're obviously no her type. She likes ginger dwarves." John grinned.You picked up the contents of the envelope and looked them over.

"So, she offered you a case?" You looked at the photo. "That's good isn't it?"

They both chose to ignore you as Sherlock picked up his violin and moved over to John. They continued to bicker like an old married couple. Sherlock felt the need to explain. He rambled on about what he was up to after he jumped through the window. It sounded rather far fetched, but at the same you weren't surprised. The effort he had gone to follow her undetected was rather amusing. He brought up the man in the carriage she was rising with.

"She's intimidated. She's scared of him."

"Yet, she works for him."

"Right."

"Well, it's nothing to do with me, but I advise you to leave the case alone." John said seriously.

You looked between them both and put the photo, which you had been holding up this entire time, down on the table.

"Well, I may not have a choice, hmm? After all, I may being the rent own my own soon. Thanks to you." He pointed his bow at John.

"Get that out of my face."

"It's not in your face, it's in my hand."

"Get what's in your hand out of my face."

They bickered some more. You chuckled softly, catching Sherlock's attention. He smiled at you and gave you a wink. The sound of someone coming upstairs shifted everyone's attention to the door.

"Mr. Holmes?"

"Clarky!"

"Sorry, Inspector Lestrade said you must come with me at once."

"What's he done now, lost his way to Scotland Yard?" Sherlock sounded bored. "Watson, grab a compass, he means us."

"No. You means you." John pointed out.

"It's Lord Blackwood, sir." Everyone looked up at the officer. "He, uh, well, it appears he's come back from the grave, sir."

You turned to look at the boys.

"That's not possible." You muttered.

"Most engaging." Sherlock sat up, leaned forwards and placed his hands together in thought.

"Very clever. I pronounced the man dead myself." John stated.

"What are the facts?" Sherlock asked.

"Grounds keeper claims he saw him walking through the graveyard just this morning, sir." Clark explained.

"I'll leave this in your capable hands." John gave Sherlock's knee a fond pat and stood up. "I have an appointment with Mary."

"It's not my reputation that's at stake here."

"Don't try that." John pointed at him, warning him.

"Have the newspapers caught wind of it yet?" Sherlock asked Clark.

"Well, that's what we're trying to avoid, sir."

"Certainly. What's the major concern?"

"Panic. Shear bloody panic, sir."

"Indeed." Sherlock was trying to work it all out in his head. You could see the cogs turning as you looked at him. You were curiously about this turn of events.

"You're not taking this seriously, are you Holmes?" John was astonished.

"Yes. As you should. It's a matter of professional integrity." Sherlock stood up from his seat. "No girl wants to marry a doctor who can't tell if a man's dead or not."

You smiled. Sherlock just wanted Watson by his side again. He didn't want the last case they did to be the final one together.

"Can I come?" You asked, smiling at the detective.

"Certainly." He smiled back at you, holding out his hand for you. Grabbing your coat, and he his, you took his hand and looked to John who sighed and grabbed his things. Time to investigate a ghost.

Sherlock helped you into the carriage and sat beside you. John sat opposite you both.

You hoped to learn plenty about the detective while on a case with him. You also wanted to see what John would be giving up. This was rather exciting.

Tags:

@awyr @fandombeehive @charmed-asylum @sigynbandraoi-blog @procrastinatingmurder @madshelily @phantomofhogwarts

#a rose in london #sherlock holmes #sherlock holmes x reader #chapter 3 #robert downey jr

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pauldeckerus · 6 years ago

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The Photography Show 2019

Hello, hello, and happy #TravelTuesday to you all as always! I’m Dave Williams and this post is a quick round up of what’s been going on over here in the UK at The Photography Show at the NEC in Birmingham.

First of all, I’m here with Platypod whilst they get a foot-hold in the UK and Europe, and for Platypod it’s been a great show. Having a stand here at The Photography Show for the first time has opened up the UK’s eyes to what the USA already sees as a fantastic piece of kit, so I’m proud to be involved in it all as an ambassador for this awesome company, along with Cathy Baitson who has worked hard on the stand showing the capabilities of this great product.

Big shout out here to my brother from another mother, team epic member Peter Treadway who, along with Dave Clayton, is playing a key role in running the live stages here at the show. Speakers who were up include KelbyOne instructors Joe McNally, Moose Peterson, Glyn Dewis, Lindsay Adler, and making an impact on the UK was Gilmar Smith who nailed her live stage appearances with a live shoot and retouching session.

Gilmar did an amazing job capturing the minds of the audience, with even the standing room at the back crammed with people. She asked me before the show whether I’d mind jumping up on stage with her to be the model for a live shoot, but little did I know I’d be dressing up as a clown and stretching my face through a dynamic range of expressions in order to catch just the right moment. I can honestly say I can’t wait to see what it is she’ll do to that show to get the final image!

Elsewhere around the show it’s been great to see some great brands and great people represented. Whilst Gilmar is over here in the UK she is also running a workshop at Amersham Studios, and at the time of writing this there are only 2 spots left open if you want in! Getting her over here from sunny Orlando was 3 Legged Thing, and I was lucky enough to have caught this moment of Gilmar with 3 Legged Thing’s Danny Lenihan. I don’t shoot photo reportage, but if I did!

What’s always great to see is the brands such as 3 Legged Thing and, as seen here, Rocky Nook who, much like Platypod and KelbyOne, have a genuine passion for the art of photography and the photographers behind lens. I chanced upon a moment of calm over at the Rocky Nook stand whilst Lindsay Adler was there doing signings and proudly grabbed some pin badges of the cover art of Dave Clayton and Glyn Dewis‘ newest books to plug onto my show lanyard.

The show is getting bigger and better every year, and I’m so glad to be a part of it. With the addition of The Video Show this year and another bar set I’m sure 2020 will be another great year, but for now with one more day ahead it’s time to get a coffee and get back to work!

And with that. thanks to Peter Treadway and Brigitte Gathercole-Day for some of these photos of the show, and right here from me next week there’ll be more education and wisdom from the world of Photography and Photoshop!

From here in Birmingham,

Much love

Dave

The post The Photography Show 2019 appeared first on Scott Kelby's Photoshop Insider.

from Photography News https://scottkelby.com/the-photography-show-2019/

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nightmare-afton-cosplay · 8 years ago

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Get the Look for Less: Tommy Hilfiger’s Magnificent Miami Mansion

realtor.com

We’ll say this for Tommy Hilfiger. The famed fashion designer doesn’t take half-measures.

His Golden Beach, FL, home on the market for $29 million is a fully over-the-top ode to color, texture, and pop art.

Even without the eye-popping interior, the home, located just north of Miami, grabbed our attention. It’s 14,000 square feet of exclusive beachfront real estate complete with 100 feet of ocean frontage, lush landscape, and an infinity pool.

Hilfiger and his wife, Dee, picked up the 2007 contemporary to house their art collection, and secured Los Angeles interior designer Martyn Lawrence Bullard to complete the look. The result is a profusion of gorgeous graphic prints, ’70s-era furnishings, and bold, bright colors from floor to ceiling.

The designer decor caught the attention of Architectural Digest, which featured a spread in 2014. As AD so eloquently put it, “‘Wow!’ might be an understatement.”

But you don’t have to be a world-famous fashion mogul with your own celebrity designer to re-create elements of Hilfiger’s house. With a tight budget, we found some fab, fun home decor inspired by the look of the home that you can acquire for much, much less.

So … let’s go shopping!

Paging Austin Powers

Living room

realtor.com; target.com; jonathanadler.com

The shagadelic purple-and-red carpet in the wild living room echoes the brightly hued pillows on the sofa. While we’re sadly unable to afford works by Andy Warhol and Jean-Michel Basquiat, we can certainly snag a fun pop art–inspired pillow or two, like this periwinkle blue faux fur number from Target for $21.99. We’re also taken by the doggie sculpture on the coffee table, which you can adopt for your home, available at Jonathan Adler for $138.

Mellow yellows and fun florals

Spotted bedroom

realtor.com; finnstyle.com

While we’d love to spend a night in this guest bedroom, the bright color scheme would undoubtably keep us awake. Instead of tossing and turning, we’ve found a great compromise.

We absolutely love the Warhol floral print over the bed, so why not get some yellow-tinged flower-print bedding from Marimekko for a similarly colorful vibe? It’s only $159 for a queen duvet set.

Red alert

Seeing red in the theater room

realtor.com; houzz.com

A theater bedecked in red is a classic look that’ll never go out of style. To get the retro rouge furniture, we recommend some upholstered armchairs of your own in a rosy hue. We think these ones—priced at $200.99 each—are perfect seats for munching on popcorn while you watch a flick.

Light the way

Cool kitchen

realtor.com; houzz.com

The right light is a must for a dynamic white-and-black kitchen filled with brand-name appliances. The hanging light in the photo is from the 1970s.

Rather than scour vintage shops, we found a chrome eight-bulb pendant light that has a similar vibe and can serve as an artsy conversation piece. At just a little over $300, it’s a bargain to boot.

The perfect pendant

Mid-Century Modern office

realtor.com; ikea.com

The red and blue blocks of color in the office truly rock, but our eye was drawn upward to the light. We found a similar Mid-Century Modern vibe with a pendant lamp from Ikea for only $39.29.

A supreme shag rug

Hypnotic sitting room

realtor.com; jossandmain.com

This blue-hued sitting room with dizzying wallpaper patterns is calmed by a few key textural touches, like the white shag rug. We found a similar one on sale for just $31.99.

Wild for wallpaper

Banana bathroom

realtor.com; etsy.com

This bathroom is bananas! While this might not be our first choice for a powder room, the yellow fruit print adds a fun and tropical flair to the small space.

With bananas on the brain, we tracked down a similar fruit-based wallpaper on Etsy, starting at $37. Bonus? It’s removable wallpaper, so it’ll work for renters, too.

Step into the fire

Outdoor lounge

realtor.com; houzz.com

Design extends outdoors, where you can ponder the elegant curves of a Keith Haring sculpture along with the ocean. While we can’t copy the view, we do love the idea of a fire pit. Here’s one with a contemporary look we found for less than $1,000. Hey, you gotta splurge somewhere!

The post Get the Look for Less: Tommy Hilfiger’s Magnificent Miami Mansion appeared first on Real Estate News & Advice | realtor.com®.

from http://www.realtor.com/news/trends/tommy-hilfiger-house-get-the-look/

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wiypt-writes · 4 years ago

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Riding On

Ch 20- Baby, It’s Cold Outside

Summary: Frank and Fliss head off for their trip to Vermont…

Warnings: Bad Language words, Smut (NSFW, 18+)

Pairing: Frank Adler x Fliss Gallagher

A/N: WOOHOOO MY MOJO IS BACK! And who better than to bring it back than FRISS! This one’s a LONG update, and I would say I’m sorry, but I’m not!!! I hope you all enjoy!! Happy New Year! Gotta thank @sweater-daddiesdumbdork for her Vermont knowledge that helped pull this all together.

Riding On Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 19

“How many times have you read that now?” Fliss asked as Frank pulled the well-worn copy of ‘Man’s Search For Meaning’ from the small carry-on bag.

“I have no idea.” Frank shrugged as he kicked the bag under the seat in front of him.

“It’s at least five in the time we’ve been together.”

“Well it’s my favourite.” Frank looked at her. “You know you should give it a go.”

“What’s it about and don’t say a man searching for meaning.” Fliss cut off his sarcastic response before he could utter a word and he chuckled.

“It’s about a guy in a Nazi concentration camp.” Frank explained. “It describes his psychotherapeutic method which involved identifying a purpose in life to feel positive about, and then actively imagining the outcome. Basically how meaning of life is found in every moment of living and that life never ceases to have a meaning, even in suffering and death.”

“So, light reading then.” Fliss snorted and Frank gave a chuckle.

“I used to recommend it to my second year students.” His fingers traced the cover gently. “One of the modules on the Metaphysics side of things focussed on Ontology which is the study of the nature of being, existence or reality, so to speak, which linked into the Philosophy of mind and studying mental properties, consciousness and the relationship that has to the physical body in particularly the brain.” He rambled off as he looked at Fliss. “The book has it all. It’s the reason I decided to study Philosophy and not Math”

Fliss smiled at him, her head cocking to one side. “You sound so passionate about it.”

“Well, I enjoyed it.” He let out a deep breath. “Safe to say Mother wasn’t a fan. She was, and is still, far too logically minded. She preferred the study of mathematical problems as oppose to fundamental ones concerning matters such as existence, knowledge, values and mind…” he trailed off “Maybe a little part of it was rebellion, I don’t know.”

“Do you miss it?” Fliss asked.

Frank took a deep breath “Honestly, yeah, sometimes.” He shrugged. “I’d be lying if I said I hadn’t thought about going back but I wouldn’t even know where to start now. It’s been almost 10 years since I taught, the techniques will have all moved on.”

“Sure it wouldn’t take you too long to pick it up again.”

“I’m happy as I am, honey.” He smiled.“Maybe when I get older…”

“How much older do you wanna be?” Fliss teased “I mean you’re 40 next year.”

Frank shot her a look and she laughed, her hand squeezing his knee, but before he could reply the PA cut in and the Pilot spoke to them, announcing that they would soon be ready to commence their flight. It wasn’t long after that before they were asked by one of the hostesses to fasten their seat belts and the plane jolted as it pulled away from the stand and set off taxying to the runway.

Frank needn’t have bothered with his book after all, as their chat just continued as it usually did, and a beer or two later they were both surprised when the Captain announced the approach into Philly. By the time they’d gotten off the plane and made their way through the transfer line, they actually only had half an hour or so to spare so they grabbed a quick coffee each and made their way to the gate ready for the final leg. At quarter-to-three in the evening they touched down in Vermont and Frank didn’t miss the excitement in Fliss’ eyes as she turned to him and uttered one simple word through her grin.

“Snow!”

He chuckled and took her hand, pressing a gentle kiss to the skin below her knuckles, keeping his fingers laced into hers as they waited for the plane to come to a halt at the stand before they stood up. Frank stretched his arms above his head, flinching a little as Fliss reached out to tickle the strip of skin on his belly that had appeared thanks to his sweater riding up slightly. He grabbed her hand and arched an eyebrow as she giggled.

“Don’t start something you can’t finish, Cowgirl.” His voice dropped a little and it sent shivers down her spine as she bit her lip, peeking up at him with innocent eyes. Eventually, the line in the aisle started to move and Frank thanked a man who stopped to let them out, his hand warm on Fliss’ back as he guided her in front of him, dropping a kiss to her cheek as they made their way off the plane and into the airport.

By the time they’d gotten their luggage, which miraculously had made its way through without going missing, and picked the hire car up it was almost half-three. Frank tossed their bags into the trunk of the shiny grey Ford Explorer as Fliss made her way to the passenger’s side.

“Oh my God it’s so cold!” she grinned as Frank climbed in to the seat beside her.

He laughed as he adjusted his seat “Dur, snow.”

Fliss rolled her eyes and set about retrieving the email confirmation she had on her phone. She keyed in the GPS and Frank gave her a quick smile before they set off. The forty-five minute drive was full of laughter and an air of childish excitement. Fliss had settled on the Moscow area of Stowe, Vermont as it was less than fifteen minutes to the Ben and Jerry’s factory, and also within thirty minutes from the Smuggler's Notch resort for the weekly fireworks display. On Friday night they were heading out to the Ice Castles at Woodstock. That had been a total stroke of luck as the attraction normally closed early march but due to a slight delay in the opening this season thanks to some 'technical difficulties', whatever that meant, their last weekend open coincided with this one. Fliss had booked the five thirty to six pm time slot as recommended by Jake who had been with his kids the previous year, meaning they would be inside when it lit up.

The sun was starting to set as Frank pulled off Route 89 and they got a glimpse of the town for the first time. It didn’t escape Fliss as to how festive it looked, like a scene straight from a Christmas card with the snow-capped rooves on the red buildings and the bright white spire of the church. It was another ten minutes or so before Frank turned onto the road where their lodge was and Fliss pointed suddenly as she spotted the one they were looking for.

“That’s it. Adams Mill Cottage.”

Slowing down, Frank pulled up on the drive and cut the engine, the pair of them looking at their home for the next few nights. It was gorgeous. Set back off the road, someone had been and cleared a path from the drive to the door. The rear outside porch area which bent round the property in an L-shape was lit up with strings of rope and fairy lights, and Frank could see the steam rising from the hot tub as it snaked from under the covers, nestling in the privacy and shade of the hilly area the house was flush too, the rest of the private yard area was closed off by a wooden fence.

“Looks even better in real life than on the photos.” Fliss grinned. Frank looked at her, and she gave a little squeal of excitement before she yanked open the door another exclamation about it being cold hit his ears before the door shut behind him. Shaking his head at her enthusiasm he let out a little chuckle before he stepped out and followed her to the door where she was already working at the key safe, keying in the code she’d gotten on the confirmation. Frank grabbed the bags from the trunk and headed over to where Fliss was now unlocking the door. They both stepped inside what was to be their home for the next few nights, stamping their feet off on the mat before Frank closed the door.

“Wow…” Fliss muttered as she looked around, the smell of an open wood fire cascaded around the room and Frank took a deep breath through his nose, savouring it. He loved that smell, it reminded him of nights when he was a kid with his dad in front of the huge one they had at home, one that post his Father’s death had on the whole remained unlit as his Mom and Walter had preferred to use the central heating, lighting it only for weekends and special occasions.

They made their way into the living area to find it was cosily decorated in neutral colours, with a large grey L-shaped sofa, a light wooden floor which was partially covered by a cream and grey rug upon which a glass coffee table sat. But the thing that drew Frank’s attention was the huge stone chimney breast and fireplace in which the fire was crackling away. There were large windows on three sides of the room, which looked out onto the snowy garden area and he couldn’t help the sigh of satisfaction that left his mouth. This was his type of property. He loved their home in Pinellas, that was a given as they’d spent a lot of time decorating it to their taste but there was something about this type of cabin that he loved. Together they wandered through to the kitchen which was very farmhouse-like, adorned with silver, grey and white tiles and a huge Aga stove along one wall.

Fliss’ eyes grew wide as she took it all in, running her hand over the solid oak island in the middle before she glanced out of the patio doors and let out a happy little sigh.

“Oh Frank, I love it.”

He moved to hug her from behind as they both stood looking at the view.

“Just wait till we’re outside in the tub with that back drop!” Fliss beamed, nodding to where the little woodland edge met the lawn of the garden. Frank smiled, dropped a kiss to her cheek and then they continued their tour finding the bathroom and finally the bedroom which sported a large, king-sized bed with a huge grey headboard covered in a white and pink throw.

Frank placed their bags down, smiling.

“It’s beautiful.” Fliss turned to him, grinning, and Frank made a noise of appreciation as he undid his jacket, tossing it onto the chair in the corner.

“Like you.”

“Smooth!” Fliss laughed and he grinned, his hands falling to her hips as he pulled her close.

“You know me, all about the smoothness.” He quipped, rubbing his cheek against hers, his beard scratching her slightly and she squealed, attempting to get away, but he wasn’t letting go. Laughing, the pair of them pitched sideways onto the bed and Frank leaned over, kissing her gently. It wasn’t long before the kiss grew deeper and Frank pressed into Fliss, rolling her onto her back. Her hands tangled in his hair and his hands had just begun sliding their way up her top when there was a loud bang on the door that made the pair of them jump from surprise.

“Expecting someone?” Frank looked at Fliss who shrugged as he heaved himself up and made his way to the entrance hall, puzzlement overtaking any annoyance he had at being interrupted. He opened the heavy oak door it to be greeted by a kind faced man bundled up in a snow jacket and a hat, holding a box in his hands.

“Good evening!” he beamed at Frank “I have a delivery for Frankie and Titch?” The man’s eyes twinkled as he read the label and Frank snorted, there were only two people that called Fliss Titch, her dad and brother. And, given the use of the name Frankie, he’d lay odds on this was from Steve.

“Yeah, that’s us.” He smiled, reaching out to take it.

“Excellent. Welcome to Moscow.” He nodded as Frank took it “I’m from the Stowe Mercantile, and on behalf of myself and my wife we hope you enjoy your gift hamper. Feel free to pay us a visit. We’re on the high street.”

“I’m sure we will, and thanks.” Frank smiled at him as the man gave him a cheery little wave goodbye and headed back down towards his truck. Frank carried the hamper back to the kitchen where Fliss was examining the fridge which had been stocked with a little ‘Welcome package’ of basics such as milk, butter, bread, orange juice along with some Green Mountain Coffee Roasters pods for the coffee machine which stood in a little jar on the side.

“What’s that?” she asked, turning as Frank placed the box on the counter.

“A Hamper.” He said, taking the card off the top and handing it to Fliss to open.

She snorted as she saw who it was a dressed to and turned it over. “Frankie and Fliss, have a treat on me, Sian and the boys. Enjoy your time away and make sure you actually get out of bed enough to explore…” she read, shaking her head.“Idiot…”

“An idiot with good taste.” Frank mumbled, pulling out the bottle of Moet which was nestled in the hamper. When they dug further they found a bottle of decent Rioja, a Sancerre, a large block of Cabot Cheddar Cheese, some savoury crackers, chutneys, olives, croissants, some candy, Lake Champlain Chocolate, chips, breadsticks and dips.

“Looks like we got snacks for a while.” Fliss mused.

“And Sam Adams.” Frank grinned, holding up the four-pack. They stowed it all away, before they then took their bags into the bedroom and after quickly unpacking and, after changing into warmer clothes, they headed out, Fliss keying in the zip-code for Smugglers Notch.

They chatted as they went, laughing and joking about anything and everything and just like any time spent with his girl, it seemed to pass in a flash and after what felt like five minutes, but was in fact twenty-eight, Frank pulled their rented vehicle into a spot and they both climbed out, hastily bundling up into jackets, hats and scarves. Frank couldn't resist pulling the front of Fliss' pink woollen hat down over her eyes, just as he has done in New York, and she shoved him in the chest, her hand rustling against the fabric of his faux-fur trimmed SuperDry jacket, causing him to step back a little. He laughed as she set her hat straight and the two of them headed through the main entrance, winding round the side to the main area of the resort which was seemingly packed with visitors and locals alike. "This takes me back." Frank commented, a little nostalgia flooding his tone as he looked around at the various groups of people milling around. Some carried skis, others snow boards as they wound down from a day’s activity on the slopes, whilst others were simply there like they were for a few drinks and the fireworks. "Something I never learned to do." Fliss leaned into him, her right hand clutching his left, her left hand curling round his arm, almost hugging it to her. "I was never allowed in case I broke something that put me out of action." "Do you wanna learn?" Frank asked. She pondered for a moment and smiled "I dunno, is it hard?' "I found boarding easier than skiing." He mused. "Some people are the opposite though. Not sure I’d be able to do either anymore." "Maybe we should bring the kids for a long weekend, have a go." Fliss mused before she grabbed his arm tighter “Oh my God, we should so go sand boarding back home.”

Frank laughed. “I did it once, me and the guys. Jake ended up in the ER with bust ankle.” He sighed fondly. “It was a great day.”

“Maybe I could strap a line to Cap and get him to pull me.” Fliss mused and Frank looked at her, shaking his head.

“Can you not?” he sighed. “You already scare the crap out of me when you jump those damned fences.”

“I’ve jumped higher.” She shrugged

“Yeah, well, that was before you met me.”

“We could use your truck then.”

“No, Lissy.” He rolled his eyes.

She chuckled “Spoil sport.

“Behave.”

They continued to walk, passed the little stalls and shops pausing at one to grab a hot chocolate and a bag of warm sugared donuts. They ate and drank their treats, sitting on one of the benches outside, and Frank had just taken the last drink of his chocolate before something caught his eye and he gave a little sigh, his smile growing bigger.

“Oh shit, sugar on snow.” He breathed out softly, watching a family of four walking past clutching trays of the treat.

“What?” Fliss looked at him blankly.

“You never heard of sugar on snow?”

“Is that like a snow cone?”

“Kinda.” He looked at her, his eyes shining “They serve it in some places in Boston but it’s never the same. It’s hot maple syrup, served over actual snow, not ice.”

“Seriously?” Fliss grinned at the boyish excitement on his face and he nodded.

“Some people call it leather aprons, on account of the fact it goes kinda leathery in texture.” He explained “It’s fucking awesome, Lissy, I haven’t had it since I was a kid. A situation I feel that I should rectify right away.”

“Okay, Sailor, lead the way.”

With a grin, Frank hopped up, grabbed her hand and pulled her over to the vendor where they joined the queue and soon reached the front. Frank ordered two, paid and then draped his arm over Fliss’ shoulder as they watched the guy serving fill two trays with scoops of powdery snow from a large chest behind them. He passed the trays to the man to his left who stirred a large, metal pot full of hot, Maple Syrup which he then ladled over the snow.

“You guys want the sides?” the server asked and Frank nodded.

“Hold the donut but I’ll take the pickle.”

“Wait, wait, wait.” Fliss held her hand out and turned to Frank. “Hold the donut but you’ll take the pickle? What the hell?”

The man behind the counter chuckled as Frank shrugged. “Yeah, the pickle cuts through the sweetness.” She looked at him, her face utterly perplexed and he laughed. “You like pickle, and you ate far worse when you were pregnant.”

“I happen to think my cravings were positively normal, thank you. Apple juice and chili fries.”

“Lissy, you dipped your McDonald’s fries in milkshake.”

“Steve does that anyway.” She shrugged.

“That doesn’t make it normal.”

“Neither is eating pickle along with syrup!” she rolled her eyes.

“You don’t know shit.” Frank scoffed before he turned back to the server. “I’ll take the pickle.”

“I won’t.” Fliss shook her head.

The server nodded and slid one tray over the counter. Frank moved, thanking him as he handed it to Fliss, taking the other with his precious pickle on the side. Fliss took a spoon full, and made an appreciative noise, nodding as Frank did the same and immediately was hit with a flood of nostalgia as he could remember as it was yesterday the last time he’d had this. A family trip with his mother, Diane and Walter to a resort not far from here actually.

“Oh God.” Fliss’ voice was muffled and Frank turned to see her chewing and he laughed “You weren’t wrong about it being like leather.”

“It’s like taffy, but not.” He shrugged and with that he raised the pickle and took a huge crunch, grinning at her as he chewed. She gave a laugh again, shaking her head.

“That’s disgusting.”

“C’mere baby.” His voice was muffled on account his mouth was full of pickle, as he bent towards her and she laughed harder, shoving him away. He swallowed in between his chuckles, and pressed a kiss to the side of her head as they made their way over to where the majority of the crowd had gathered awaiting the fireworks.

They didn’t bother trying to push to the front, fireworks went up after all, and soon enough the music grew louder and someone spoke over the PA welcoming them all to the weekly fire work display. Leaving Fliss for a second to dispose of their empty snow containers in a nearby trash can, Frank returned and wrapped her arms around her from behind, pulling her back to his chest, dropping another soft kiss to her cheek. She smiled and leaned against him, happy for him to hold her and then the crowd let out a gasp as the first rocket flew into the air and burst into a huge bloom of gold and red.

The fireworks were spectacular. Screaming rockets, silent ones, crackling ones, ones that were colourful, ones less so, but what Frank was watching most of the time was Fliss’ face. Her mouth stayed in a constant smile for the full fifteen minute display, her eyes wide, the bright explosions reflected in those deep brown orbs as she followed the trail of lights against the clear, starry sky. The last time they’d all seen fireworks was a display held on the beach for the fourth of July last year, but Fliss was staring at them like she hadn’t seen any for years. Frank couldn’t be sure, but he had a sneaking suspicion she was lost in the romance of the situation, the pair of them being alone, on a cold evening, wrapped up surrounded by snow. With a smile he kissed her cheek again and tuned his attention back to the sky as the finale ramped up in a cacophony of colour, explosions and yells of awe from kids and adults alike in the crowd.

“Enjoy that?” Frank’s nose nuzzled at the spot behind Fliss’ ear and she smiled, tilting her head to look at him.

“Yeah, did you?”

“Absolutely.” He beamed. “It was awesome.”

“Took me back a few years” she grinned, turning to face him. “You ever heard of Bonfire Night in the UK?”

“Remember, remember the fifth of November.” He nodded. “Yeah.”

“Well, I think the last firework display I saw whilst wrapped up against the cold was Bonfire Night in 2011.” She mused. “Stanley Park in Liverpool. No snow though, just pissing down rain.” She took a deep breath “There’s just something magical about being all wrapped up whilst watching them.”

Frank smiled and pressed a kiss to her lips. “Anything else you wanna do?”

“Hot cider.” She nodded, and Frank grinned, his arm round her shoulder as they made their way back towards the drinks cabin.

An hour or so later, the little bar seemed to fill up almost all at once and both of them decided to call it a night. As they wandered back to the car, Frank gently kissed Fliss’ cheek as his arm curled around her shoulder and she smiled at him.

“You’ve been kissing me a lot tonight, Sailor.”

“I don’t ever intend on stopping.”

“Even when we’re married? I mean, isn’t that when all the romance is supposed to go to shit?”

“Only if you marry an asshole.” Frank spoke without thinking and then let out a little groan. “Fliss, I didn’t mean…”

“I know.” She said gently “I know you didn’t. Don’t worry.”

Frank bit his lip, cursing himself as they continued towards the car, before he sighed and shook his head. “You know, I’ll always be in awe of how you just deal with it, you know. Everything you went through and you came out the other side…and now…” "It wasn’t easy.” Fliss replied after a second or two, her hand gently playing with Frank's as his arm was draped over her shoulder. "Sometimes I don’t know how I did it. But, I do know one thing though." "What's that?" "I never thought I'd trust someone again enough to be…well, intimate with them, let alone fall completely and utterly head over heels in love." She took a deep breath before she leaned into Frank as his arm tightened around her. “And then you showed up that day with Mary and broke down every wall I'd put up, Adler. And you did it so damned quickly. I mean I don’t know why but there was something about you that made me know I could trust you straight away. And...oh I'm rambling on as usual." She waved a hand and Frank took a deep breath, pulling her closer. "It was the same for me you know.” He told her and she glanced up at him as they walked. "How so?" "The way Mary hugged you, the first time she met you. She’s never been that open with people. As we drove away that day she turned to me and said 'you like her'. Simple statement but I did. She was right." Frank looked ahead as they rounded the corner to the parking lot "I knew from our first kiss on that boat that this was it for me. Everything I had no idea I needed and then some in this tiny little red-headed fire cracker." Fliss laughed and nudged him slightly and he grinned. "And you still gave me a chance. I mean there was the whole thing with Bonnie." Frank took a deep breath. "And I wasn't the easiest person to be around when the court case was going on." "No, you weren't." Fliss agreed. “But you were going through a tough time. Even if I hadn't had feelings for you that way, I'd have been by your side regardless. You know, that right?" Frank stopped by the side of their rented car and turned to face her, taking both her hands in his "Yeah, I do. Because, well, because you’re fucking amazing. You're just the most gorgeous person inside and out, Lissy, and every damned day I wake up next to you and wonder how I got so fucking lucky." "Frank!" Fliss gave a little sniff as her eyes filled with tears and he smiled, his hand gently cupping her face as he leaned down and pressed his lips to hers. The kiss was slow, deep and loaded with feeling, Fliss' hands dropping to his waist, her fingers curling around the cold material of his jacket as she let herself go, losing herself in the romance of the moment as they stood in the parking lot at the base of the mountain, surrounded by snow. When they finally broke apart, Frank pressed his forehead to hers, smiling softly. "Come on, let’s go before we freeze to death." Fliss laughed, "Not much chance of that with you to keep me warm." Frank narrowed his eyes. "Is that a fat joke?" At that she laughed harder. “Absolutely not." Her hands squeezed his slim hips and she blinked up at him, knowing just how sensitive he was getting to the fact that, thanks to him now being effectively behind a desk all day, he was having to work harder at keeping in shape. He'd picked up running at the start of the year and was now also using the weights he had in the workshop area of the garage to keep himself as toned as he could. But to Fliss it didn't matter a jot. He was perfect to her. "But just so you know, if you do put on weight, it just means there's more of you for me to love."

******

Once back home they debated hitting the hot tub for an hour but they were both tired from the early start so settled instead for a cozy drink in front of the fire in the living room. After checking in at home, speaking to Verity and Mary, Verity assuring them that both kids were fine, Fliss headed for a shower as Frank checked a few emails from work on his phone as he lay on the bed. When she walked back into the room he hopped up, gave her another deep kiss before he headed off, jumping a little as she slapped his ass as he passed. He gave her a smirk over his shoulder as he wandered barefoot down the hall and into the bathroom.

Once showered he dressed in a pair of grey sweats and a plain white t-shirt before he headed into the living room to find Fliss in a pair of dark green plaid flannel sleep pants and a hooded top, her hair piled on top of her head as she sat in front of the fire, a glass of red win in her hand, simply watching the flames.

“You okay, honey?” he asked and she turned to look up at him, smiling.

“Yeah, it’s just been a while before I sat in front of a fire in the evening.” She said as he dropped a hand to the back of her head. She pat the rug besides him and grinned “Pull up a seat, Sailor.”

“Let me grab a drink and I’ll be with you.”

“Way ahead of you, Francis.” With a grin she gestured to the table behind her and Frank chuckled as he saw the bottle of red wine perched in the middle along with an empty glass waiting for him. He poured himself a helping, topped her glass up and then with a little groan he settled onto the floor, his back resting against the coffee table, legs spread to allow Fliss to shuffle back against him, her chest resting against his back.

“You had a good evening?” She asked, turning her face to look at him.

“The best, thank you.” He smiled, kissing her softly. With a contented sigh she leaned her head back against his shoulder.

“Good, I’m glad you enjoyed it.”

“I was with you, how could I not?” Frank’s hand traced up the outside of her arm, lips brushing the top of her head as she leaned back a little more, her back resting fully against his chest. They sat in silence for a little while, enjoying the relative peace that wasn’t so forthcoming at home with two kids and busy jobs. The last few days had been particularly manic, Fliss pushing full steam ahead with the plans for the expansion had meant they’d had a few late evening consultations with Bill and the architect Steve had recommended as they discussed the best options. Then there had been Tuesday, when Fliss had called him in a flap as her jeep had broken down outside the store for the third time in as many weeks.

“Have you decided about your car yet?” Frank asked what was on his mind and Fliss shook her head.

“No.” She sighed “Can you not fix her?”

“I keep fixing her.” He replied “But, it’s only a matter of time before the damned thing gives up for good. Why don’t you look at one of the Audi’s you like? We don’t need two huge cars. I got the truck so...”

“Maybe. I want to get the wedding paid for first.”

“We don’t have much left to pay.” Frank reasoned. “The Banquet tent and food trucks are settled up. We just have the bar and the entertainment to sort really.”

“Decorations, dance floor hire, oh, and photographer.” Fliss mused “Although Bonnie said her sister’s husband is a pretty good amateur one. I might ask her for his number.”

“Sounds good.” Frank dropped another kiss to her head.

“Oh, and we should probably sort the invitations.”

“Yeah, that…” Frank chuckled, “that’s pretty key I suppose.”

“I thought…” Fliss tipped her head to face him, “I thought it would be nice if we wrote the invitations from Mary and Alex. You know, like it’s usually Mrs and Mrs Parents-Of-The-Bride request your presence bla bla bla…I’d like to ask Mary to suggest something.”

Frank smiled, his head cocking to one side slightly. “I think she’ll love that.”

“Yeah?”

“Yeah.” He nodded, shifting so he could take another sip of his wine, which was exceptionally good and going down pretty damned well. “She’s as excited about the wedding as we are. Probably a little more actually.”

“Speak for yourself.” Fliss snorted, swallowing a mouthful of her drink “I can’t wait.”

“I didn’t mean that.” Frank rolled his eyes as Fliss laughed and she gently titled herd head round to look at him and reached up, scratching her nails of her left hand into his beard.

“I know Sailor, keep your hair on.”

“You know I can’t wait to make you Mrs Adler.” Frank told her, dropping his head to catch her lips in a soft kiss. Fliss smiled as he pressed his head to hers, their noses bumping slightly before she moved and settled back into the position she had been in before, the back of her head once more resting against Frank’s chest.

“You know, I have a funny feeling Dad’s gonna give us a check towards it anyway.” She took a deep breath “He paid for Steve’s wedding, well, half. Sian’s parents paid the other.”

Frank shifted a little, “You think?”

Fliss shrugged “I don’t know. He’s never given anything to one of us and not the other so. He didn’t give a penny towards…” she trailed off and took a deep breath.

“That’s probably because you were marrying a cunt.” Frank shrugged and Fliss scoffed, shaking her head before she let out a little sigh and then Frank saw her shoulders sag a little, one hand running round the top of her wine glass as the other clutched the stem.

“I sometimes wonder how I got it so wrong you know? Like how I ever fell for him in the first place.”

“Hey.” Frank gently pulled her to him a little more, “Don’t do this, not tonight. None of that was your fault.”

“I know, but…”

“No buts, Lissy.” Frank shook his head, his tone a little stern. “He was an abusive piece of shit. Don’t go there, not tonight.”

Her head dropped and Frank took a deep breath, before he reached out and gently plucked the wine glass from her hand, setting it on the coffee table he was leaning against along with his own.

“Baby, look at me.” He instructed gently. After a seconds pause she knelt up and turned around, sitting back on her heels as she looked at him, large brown eyes dancing in the firelight, full of a melancholy that wasn’t quite sadness, but still enough to tear his gut apart at the fact she could still be so self-doubting. “Sorry I snapped and I’m sorry for bringing him up, again.” Frank looked at her, his hand gently brushing her hair back off her face. “I didn’t mean to.”

She looked at him for a second before she shuffled forwards a little and Frank dropped his legs flat so she could straddle his thighs, his large hands falling to her hips as she gently smoothed her hands up his ribbed T-shirt, her eyes following her fingers.

“You know, it’s kinda funny really” she spoke softly, her fingers still trailing his chest.

“What is?”

“Life, when you think about it. I mean, what I went through was shitty. What happened to you and Mary, you know with Diane was shitty.” Fliss took a deep breath, her hands pausing, palms flattening over his pecs. “But if it hadn’t happened, we would never have met. We’d never have had Alex.”

“True.” Frank breathed out as her eyes flicked up and locked onto his as he gave a small smile. “Is this where you tell me it was fate?”

“Maybe.” Fliss shrugged, before she raised an eyebrow. “Fate is like a strange, unpopular restaurant filled with odd little waiters who bring you things you never asked for and don't always like.”

“Lemony Snicket?” Frank chuckled his question and Fliss grinned, nodding.

“Mary was reading it the other day.”

“Well I’m glad to know I’m one of the things you do like” Frank arched an eyebrow. “Okay, if we’re dropping quotes, how about this one. Accept the things to which fate binds you, and love the people with whom fate brings you together, but do so with all your heart.”

Fliss pondered for a second, shrugging. “I like it but, no idea who said it.”

“Marcus Aurelius.” Frank informed her.

“Ok, Professor.” she sassed, her hands now curling over his shoulders, and Frank laughed, “Now tell me who said this. You often meet your fate on the road you take to avoid it.”

“Oooh.” Frank pondered, “That almost sounds Shakespearean?”

“Close.” Fliss grinned “Goldie Hawn”

“Fahk off!” Frank tipped his head back, chest vibrating as his familiar laughter filled the room and Fliss snickered a little bit. He looked back at his girl as his chuckles subsided, saying nothing for a moment, simply studying her pretty face. Her eyes were full of warmth as she curled her hands round his shoulders before one moved to the back of his neck, her nails gently grazing at the skin below his hair line. He gave a sigh, his mouth curling up into a soft smile “I love you so fahkin much Cowgirl.”

“Love you too, Sailor.” She replied, her voice quiet, before she shuffled even closer, her head dipping to his.

The kiss was soft, gentle, Frank’s hands moving to her back, under the hoody she was wearing, splaying against her skin as he held her close to him. He felt Fliss shift a little, her hands dancing downwards, gripping the hem of his Tee. He moved back slightly, allowing her to pull it off, mimicking her actions by dragging her top over her head, along with the camisole she had on under it, before he gently lay her down on the rug in front of the fire place. He shimmied out of his sweats, before he dragged Fliss’ pyjama pants down her legs, leaving them both completely naked, and he gently grasped her right ankle in his hand. He kissed his way up her smooth leg, his mouth hot and wet, short beard scratching against her skin. He continued mapping his way up her body with his mouth, and when he reached her breasts, Fliss arched her back, letting out a soft groan as his mouth gently sucked on one nipple, his hand tweaking at the other.

“Look at you.” He whispered gently against her skin as his tongue continued teasing her, worshipping her with his mouth, the way she deserved. His beautiful Lissy, his girl, so fucking precious it was beyond comprehension to him how anyone could have ever wanted to hurt her. The mere thought was abhorrent and he screwed his eyes up as he felt the tears rushing forwards as he fought the image from his head, and he swallowed, his mouth pausing a little against her breast as he took a shuddering breath.

“Frankie.” She whispered his name, and he opened his eyes to look up at her, her hands moving to cup his face and he pushed himself upwards, as his lips crashed to hers in a desperate, needy kiss. His tongue traced the inside of her mouth as her hands tangled in his hair and she let out a little whimper, tipping her hips up to meet his and the feel of her press against him made him groan, breaking the kiss. Her head fell back, bearing her neck to him and Frank shifted, taking his weight on his palms, caging her between his arms and legs as he pressed soft kisses up her throat.

Fliss felt the warmth in her belly mounting, that familiar ache between her legs was becoming more and more intense, to the point it was almost unbearable. She needed relief, and she wasn’t above begging. “Please, Frank,” she croaked out, her breath coming in deep, ragged pants as her hands dug into his broad back, “I need you.”

“Oh, baby, you got me. Always.” Frank’s breath was hot on her ear, as he gave that spot on her neck a little nip, dropping to his elbows. His hands snaked up both her arms pulling them from round his back, the points where her nails had been biting into his skin still stinging slightly. He laced his fingers with hers, pressing her hands down at either side of her head as he moved, Fliss shifting underneath him and with a slow, deliberate roll of his hips he sank into her, his head dropping slightly as she fluttered around him, the sound she made almost enough to make him blow there and then.

The feeling of relief at having him inside her caused Fliss’ chest to hitch and her eyes closed momentarily, before she took a shuddering breath as Frank began to slowly roll his hips against hers, each thrust deep, measured, deliberate as he dragged himself against languidly in and out of her. She opened her eyes to see him watching her face intently as her eyes locked onto his, the pupils of those baby blues she loved were blown with desire.

“Frank, you feel so good,” she moaned and he let out a groan of his own at her words, keeping his movements steady, almost leisurely as he continued to watch, her mouth slackening, breathing quickening as he knew she was approaching her peak. When her orgasm rolled over her, she gave a loud cry and melted underneath him, her nails digging into the skin beneath his knuckles as he picked up the pace, rutting into her a little faster, desperate for his own relief. It didn’t take him long at all, and he felt his stomach tightening and with a hiss and a loud “Fahk” he came with a final deep thrust, his fingers tightening around hers before he collapsed forward, burying his head against her neck.

A quiet bliss, surrounded them like a bubble, keeping them safe from the world, as the room was silent bar the sound of their deep breathing and the crackling of fire as they lay tangled with one another. Fliss’ extracted her hands from his to gently rake one through the back of his hair, the other trailed lightly over the back of his shoulder blades and Frank gave a soft hum of contentment, his eyes closing as they lay still, neither of them wanting to move. Fliss pressed a soft kiss to his warm, clammy forehead and Frank rolled over onto his back with a little sigh, pulling her with him so that she was draped over his chest as he lay between her and the coffee table.

“Can we just stay here?” Fliss asked quietly, and Frank glanced down at her as she pressed her cheek to his chest.

“Whatever you want, Honey.” He agreed, his head looking around before he spotted the blanket on the sofa “Just sit up a moment.”

“Frank!” she whined and he laughed, pushing himself up and jostling her off his chest. “Asshole.”

“I just loved on you well, in front of the fire, and that’s the thanks I get?” Frank hopped up. “Being called an asshole?”

Fliss grinned as she propped herself up on her elbow and watched him, scanning up his legs and strong thighs, taking in his bare ass before she followed his back muscles to those broad shoulders which rippled slightly as he reached over to grab the tartan throw. He turned back to face her and she grinned as his eyes blatantly roved over her in the same way as she lay side on, completely naked, her hair falling over her shoulders.

“You should look like that all the time.” He remarked as he dropped back down and gently wrapped them both in the blanket. “Freshly fucked and naked.”

“Yeah, not so easy when you’ve got a 10 year old and a 7 month old to look after.” She chuckled as she lay her head on his chest. His hand gently carded through her hair and he sighed.

“True.” he looked down at her as she glanced up at him, her chin resting on his chest “But we got a coupla days without them. Maybe I’ll just keep you like this for the duration.”

“Fine by me Sailor. There’s only one slight problem.”

“What’s that?”

“You keep me here, no Ben and Jerry’s on Saturday.”

“That is a dilemma indeed.” Frank mused, “Okay, maybe Saturday I’ll let you out.”

“Good to know where I feature on your list of priorities.” Fliss scoffed and Frank chuckled.

“You can have a lot of fun with ice cream cowgirl.” He smirked, dropping a kiss to her head.

***** Frank woke the next morning feeling thoroughly relaxed. He stretched a little where he was lay on his stomach, arms folded under his pillow and raised his head, turning to look at Fliss. She was lay on her back, facing towards him, one arm bent by her head, the other across her chest. She looked so peaceful, her mouth open just a smidge, hair splaying over the pillow. He shifted onto his side, and moved closer to her, pressing a soft kiss to forehead, trailing his lips down her nose to her mouth.

She gave a little sigh, her eyelids fluttering as he kissed her again and he felt her smile, lazily against his mouth.

“Morning, Honey.” He said gently and she gave a little hum of contentment, her sleepy eyes opening to look at him.

“Morning, handsome.” She smiled as he pushed himself up a little to give her a deep kiss, hovering the top half of his body over her slightly. The kiss became soft touches, which led to more urgent touches, and soon he was buried inside of her, his movements lazy as he made love to her, their bodies pressed together as close as could be.

It set the tone for the remainder of the morning, nothing urgent or pressing to do. The time was theirs and theirs alone. After showers they ate breakfast and checked in with the kids before they bundled up and took a short walk into the little town centre, taking a peek in the shops, making a few purchases before they had lunch and then headed back to their cottage. Frank walked up the steps on the porch to unlock the door, and he had just turned round to look at Fliss when he was hit square on the chest with a snowball. He paused, watching as the icy glob slid down the front of his coat and he glanced up to see Fliss stood at the bottom of the steps, laughing.

“Good shot.” He arched an eyebrow.

“Not really, I was aiming for your face.” she tipped her head back, laughing harder as he blinked.

“My face.” he blinked as she nodded. “Oh, Sweetheart, you’re gonna be sorry!”

Her laughter died down as he began to stalk towards her, his pace slow and she stepped back a little before she gave a playful shriek and set off running as best she could in the deep snowfall. Frank dipped down, grabbing a handful of the snow which he rolled into a ball and sent it flying where it hit her right in between her shoulder blades. She screamed, punctuated by more laughter as she bent down and scooped up some more, turning to fling it at him. Frank raised his arm to block it and it exploded on the sleeve of his jacket, and at that he shot forward. She began to back away and just as he reached her she stumbled and flailed backwards. Frank caught her, and pitched them round, the momentum sending them both crashing into the soft snow, Fliss landing with a thud on top of him.

The pair of them were laughing that hard, neither could breathe properly, but Frank somehow managed to gain enough control to grab a scoop of the powdery snow and shove it straight down the back of her coat.

“Oh my god, you asshole!” she shrieked as she felt the cold liquid dribble down her back. “Fuck, shit!”

“I warned you yesterday about startin’ things you can’t finish!” he laughed as she shook her head, shivering.

“Well, I like to live dangerously.” Her laughter subsided and she bent down to give him a soft kiss, her cold, slightly red nose brushing against his. “Ever had sex in the snow?”

He laughed. “Can’t say I have, although I’m not sure I’d be able to. It’s that cold my balls have retreated into my stomach.”

She broke into another fit of giggles before Frank pushed himself up onto his elbows, jolting her slightly and together they got to their feet and headed inside to warm up. After a change into dry clothes and a hot chocolate each, Frank went out to set the car running so it would be warm for their grip out to New Hampshire. Fliss packed a bags with snacks for the trip and at little after three in the afternoon they set off.

There was plenty to see on the way, the landscape was breath-taking, Fliss’ eyes bright as she took it all in, Frank smiling at the joy on her face. About an hour into the journey, Frank felt Fliss’ eyes watching his profile as he drove so he arched an eyebrow slightly, sneaking a glance at her.

"What?"

"Nothing just,” she reached out to gently twine her hand in his hair, “never noticed before but you're getting a few grey-" "Fucking fuck you." He shot, jerking his head away from her hands as she laughed, her head falling back against the head rest of the seat. "So angry, Adler." "Angry Adler?" Frank arched an eyebrow. “Sounds like some kind of poisonous snake." "You got a snake but it aint poisonous." Fliss grinned and Frank snorted. "Flattery will not detract from the fact you just called me old." "That’s not what I said." Fliss shook her head. "I merely commented on the fact your hair is...: "Going grey, ergo pertaining to the fact I'm getting old!" Fliss shrugged. “I’m kinda down for the silver fox look." "Silver fox?" Frank laughed, looking at her. "That what I am?" "Not yet." Fliss shrugged before she grinned and turned to him. “At the moment you're just a D-B DILF" Frank let out a little laugh, shaking his head. "Let me guess. A Dirty Boat Daddy you like to fuck?" "Damned straight" Fliss smirked, her fingers lacing through his.

Once they arrived they followed the direction from the parking attendant and climbed out, wrapping themselves up before Frank took Fliss’ hand and they headed over to join the queue for their time slot.

“Wow.” Frank heard Fliss breathe out as she got a look at the huge structure that loomed in front of them. Frank smiled, it had been years and years since he’d been here.

“Wait till it goes dark.” He smiled, “It’s something else.”

It didn’t take them too long to get inside, and Frank watched Fliss eyes grow wide with awe as she spotted the huge towers which were dripping with molten-looking ice as they walked through the huge cavernous opening. As per Jake’s recommendation they headed straight for the slide. The line to get on was already huge, but both of them were adamant they wanted to go on it so they waited patiently, Frank chatting to Fliss and giving her a little bit of factual history about how the castles were made. Eventually they reached the front of the line some forty minutes later, and the attendant there asked if they wanted to go down together, which of course they did. Frank hopped down first, Fliss settling between his legs and he gripped her hips, leaning forward.

“Ready?”

“Just push off already, Sailor!” she laughed, and with a snort he sent them sliding down the glassy sheet of ice. Fliss laughed as they sped down the chute, the twists and turns jolting them slightly. It wasn’t as smooth as he expected and when they hit a particularly bout of bumpy rivets, Fliss letting out a squeal, Frank was glad he had a padded coat under his ass or his tail bone would have been protesting. Their slide was over after little more than thirty seconds, and whilst it might have been a ridiculous amount of time to queue for half a minute or so of fun, Frank had to admit as they slowed to a stop at the end, that sliding through an Ice Castle with his girl in front of him, was a pretty awesome experience that he’d queue for all over again.

Together they made their way off to the side and had just set off to explore when suddenly the Castle lit up inside with thousands of LED coloured lights. Fliss mouth dropped open as the opening bars to ‘Let It Go’ from Frozen started to play and the lights followed some form of choreographed routine to the music. They stopped to watch, just like everyone else seemed to have done and when it was over, most people started to clap and cheer.

“Does that happen again?” Fliss looked at Frank as they began to walk through to a smaller room. “The light show?”

“I think so.” He nodded. “From what I remember it does it periodically.”

As they walked through the Castle exploring, it felt like around every corner there were hidden surprises. They found ice sculptures of animals and birds, tunnels which led into smaller caverns with spectacular icicle details hanging above from the ceilings, ice thrones, glowing ice orbs and even a fountain. Fliss took as many photos as she could, even accosting some random guy to take a shot of them together in one of the smaller rooms they found.

After an hour or so they were confident they’d seen everything there was to see so they made their way back to the entrance, Fliss’ arm looped through Frank’s as they strolled over to one of the temporary wooden shacks set up which was serving hot drinks and snacks. They both took a hot cider each and headed to a little table, sitting down.

“The kids would love it in there.” Fliss smiled, taking a sip.

“I was just thinking that.” Frank nodded. “I’m definitely sold on a family winter weekend away.”

“Maybe next year.” She mused. “I mean we can’t this year, what with the wedding and then Disney.”

“Yeah, yeah we do.” Frank smiled. A week to Disney with the kids was what they had settled on as a sort of honeymoon, but post that he had a little something else up his sleeve, something that she was going to have no idea about until it was time for them to go.

“I can’t wait to see Mary’s face when we tell her we’re all going to the house of the mouse.” She grinned

“Yeah, she’ll be almost as excited as you.” Frank raised an eyebrow.

“Well, I’m a huge kid at heart.”

“No shit.” He replied and she laughed.

“Oh don’t act like you aint. I heard you giggling away in there when we were on that slide.”

“Well…” He leaned over the table, smiling slightly. “You bring out my inner child, what can I say?”

Fliss grinned and leaned over to give him a soft kiss before she pulled back and smiled, giving a sigh. “Suppose we should head back, it’s getting a little late.”

Frank was loathe to concede she was right. They finished their drinks and headed back to the car, Fliss taking a fond look back at the Ice Castle before climbing into the car. By the time they got back, the pair of them were starving, so the hot tub went another night without use as they made a very good sized dent into the Hamper that Steve had sent them. Once they’d drunk another few glasses of wine they collapsed into bed with full bellies, snuggled together, falling into a comfortable and deep sleep.

***** Fliss woke the next morning before Frank and so she gently kissed his cheek, slipped from the sheets and pulled his hoody over her top as it was a little chilly. She turned up the thermostat and then headed into the kitchen to make a coffee before she settled in the little living room with her book. But she couldn’t concentrate. Her mind was wandering to the kids and she was feeling a little lost now without them. She hadn’t been apart from Alex for more than a night before, and she couldn’t help but miss him, and Mary too.

With a deep sigh she turned the TV on, flicking through the channels and little over half an hour later, Frank padded in, his hair all over the place as he rubbed sleep from his eyes.

“You’re up early.” He said, flopping down next to her, giving her a quick peck.

“I know.” She shrugged. “Think I’m just used to being up early with the kids.” Frank yawned, stretching his legs out, feet resting on the edge of the coffee table as Fliss nestled into him. “Is it wrong that I miss them?”

“No.” Frank gently rubbed his hand up her arm as she gave a little sniffle, pressing her face into his t-shirt. “I miss them being here too. Don’t get upset, Honey.”

“I’m sorry, this is pathetic.”

“It’s not. But uou know what is?” Frank looked down at her, wiping her tears gently. “How excited this thirty-nine year old is about going to an ice cream factory.” At that Fliss spluttered a soft laugh and Frank smiled. “The kids will be fine, Alex is too young to even know we’re gone and, well, Mary won’t care. Not with your mom, dad and Steve fussing over her.”

“I know.”

“You know I’m right or that I’m pathetic?”

“Both.” She smiled up at him and Frank gave a little snort.

After a lazy breakfast they headed into town again for another little walk, Frank skipping lunch so he could eat as much ice cream as humanly possible. Then they made the short drive to Waterbury, the brightly coloured Ice Cream factory making Frank grin like a child as they pulled into a parking space.

��You now, this is basically my childhood dream.” He grinned at Fliss as they climbed out of the car and she rolled her eyes, chuckling to herself.

“Low aspirations there, Sailor!”

He shrugged and they headed inside, Fliss handing her reservation number over to the assistant and they were directed down to the lobby. As they walked, they took in the artwork that adorned the walls detailing the history of the company, which made for an interesting browse. But as soon as they crossed the threshold of the lobby, it was the smell that got them both. It was sweet, notes of vanilla and sugar making them both smile. Whilst they waited in line for their tour to start, they scanned the flavor map that was on the wall, both pointing at various places, and then a bell rang.

“Good afternoon!” A cheery voice spoke and they both turned to the front to see a man stood on a little box, seemingly having appeared from nowhere. “My name is Ben, yes, that is my real name but sadly, no, I’m not the Ben.” A few chuckles rang out. “I’m merely a tour-guide, your tour-guide for the next hour or so in fact. But, before we start I need to tell you a couple of the usual boring housekeeping rules…”

Ben, not the Ben, ran through the usual emergency protocols and stuff, before he clapped his hands together and smiled.

“So, the first stop is the theatre room where you’ll watch a short video on the creation and mission of Ben & Jerry's. No one does ice cream better than BJ. And, as I’m sure most of you will know, BJs come in all sorts of flavours and rarely fail to satisfy.”

At that Frank gave a snort along with a couple of other adults on the tour at the innuendo and Fliss nudged him, grinning at his dirty mind.

“We have a worldwide reputation for excellence, quality, and flavors that are, quite frankly, unparalleled by any other ice cream maker in the world.” The tour guide continued. “Right here, in the town of Waterbury, the Ben & Jerry's factory has been operating since 1985 and it continues to create just as many delicious ice cream flavors as it did when it first opened.” He smiled “Right, so if you would follow me, I’ll take you through. The film is only about five minutes long or so but quality over quantity and after that then the fun really begins.”

A door to their right swung open and the group headed inside, Frank and Fliss taking seats at the back. The lights dimmed and a colourful cartoon began to show, running over the history of the company. Frank, being an avid fan, already knew most of it but to Fliss it was a nice bit of background information.

The little film finished and the lights flicked on again and Ben once more appeared at the front.

“So, now you have the scoop on Ben & Jerry’s…” He began and a few people, including Frank, groaned at the pun and the man held up an apologetic hand. “Yes, I know and I’m sorry to say you’re gonna hear more awful puns as we go along. In fact my legen-dairy puns are actively cone-doned here.”

Frank let out a chuckle as did Fliss.

“Ok, without further ado, let’s go!” The tour guide smiled.

Following in the middle of the group, Frank and Fliss were led into the main factory area where they were able to peer through a glass overlook and look down on the operation below. The ice cream-making process was ongoing and the tour guide began to identify various points of the production process. Frank watched the workers down below, operating the various pieces of equipment, fascinated by it all. They were there for about twenty minutes or so as the manufacturing process was explained, and then they were led to the room which was the one Frank was dying to see- The Flavour-Building room.

Simply put, he was in an ice-cream lover’s heaven. As they walked around they soaked in all the information about where they got the ideas from, the Public engagement and market research process and how they offered opportunities for people to become testers, which Frank made a note of vowing to put in his application. They were then given a sample of a new flavour that hadn’t yet been released, a banana and chocolate one that Fliss pulled a face at but Frank really liked. Neither could deny, however, that there was something truly special about actually trying the ice cream straight from the source. Whilst the pints you could get from the store were incredible, trying fresh ice cream from the factory was nothing short of perfection.

“I’m afraid, Ladies and Gents that we are at the end of the tour. Short, and sweet, yes, pun very much intended, but whilst the guided tour ends here, your Ben & Jerry’s experience doesn’t have to.” Ben grinned. “Our gift-shop should provide you with ample opportunity to browse and buy any souvenirs, and then, why not head down to our Flavor Graveyard to mourn the passing of our dearly de-pinted ice cream flavors. You can also take a vote on your way out as to which one of our offered de-pinted flavours you would like to resurrect.”

After thanking him on their way out of the room, Frank and Fliss wandered round the gift shop and bought a couple of things, and then made their way back outside into the bitter air, walking over to the graveyard. They chuckled at a few of the tomb stones, Fliss pointing out that some of them sounded pretty nice, until she stopped dead at one and cocked her head to one side.

“Peanut Butter and Jelly. Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Bits and Strawberry Jelly Swirl1 1989-1990” she read and Frank gave a groan of nostalgia as she continued to read the epitaph underneath “An unbeatable duo! Yet somehow it managed to flop in a cone, so we stuck to the sammich.”

“God I loved that as a kid!” Frank sighed. “Dad used to always come home with a pint of it on a Friday. It was gone by Saturday morning. Me and Diane used to fight him for it.” He took a deep breath before nodding firmly. “That’s the one I’m voting to have resurrected. You also need to vote for it.”

“Isn’t voting supposed to be done in secret?” Fliss looked at him as he dropped his arm round her shoulder and they made their way back towards the main area of the buildings.

“True, but I won’t tell if you won’t.” He grinned. “Now, can we go and eat some ice cream? That mouthful in there was nowhere near enough to satisfy me.”

“Whatever you want, Sailor.” She chuckled as she leaned into him a little, smiling. “Whatever you want.”

*****

Whatever he wanted turned out to be about twenty bucks worth of ice cream sundaes complete with every topping imaginable, so by the time they walked back to the cottage after a few drinks in one of the local breweries, Frank was well and truly ready to fat float in the tub thanks to the combination of beer and ice cream in his stomach.

They called back home, Fliss smiling as Alex sat on Bill’s knee, making a grabbing hand at the screen of the phone, Mary chatting away telling them all about how Steve had taken her, Charlie and Joel out to the Zoo for the day. By the time they were done it was pushing seven pm so they both changed, Fliss heading out to the tub with the fluffy guest towels, whilst Frank followed a little while later with the bottle of champagne that had been in the fridge along with a couple of beers for himself. He popped the cork, poured Fliss a glass and then placed the bottle down by the side of the tub next to his spare beers, quipping that given the temperature outside he knew there was no need for an ice bucket.

They sat and watched the moonlight reflecting off the snow of the mountain back drop, simply drinking and chatting, and before they knew it an hour had passed and they had somehow gotten onto the subject of that year’s elections, having seen the first drabbles of news about the rumoured Democrat candidates. When Fliss commented to Frank that she had a horrible suspicion Trump would get re-elected, Frank groaned and slid under the water, pretending to drown himself. When he emerged, he shook his head in the manner of a dog and Fliss chuckled.

“So, if you were president what would be the first thing you'd do, Sailor?” she asked, stretching out her legs along the bench she was sat on, her feet laying flat just to the side of Frank’s right thigh.

“Make being Donald Trump a crime punishable by death.” Frank shot back and Fliss let out a loud laugh.

“That's a little over the top.”

“So is his tan.” Frank shrugged and Fliss snorted again. “What about you?”

Fliss pondered “I’d make three day weekends the law.”

At that Frank looked at her, scoffing. “You work for yourself, you could have a three day weekend if you wanted one.”

“But I don’t.”

“So why would you make it the law then?” he laughed.

“Because I’m thinking of other people.”

“Socialism.” Frank nodded, “Good call.”

Fliss grinned. “And I’d also make it a legal requirement for you to be Professor Adler more often.”

“Assistant Professor.”

“Details.” Fliss waved her hand.

“And what do you mean, more often?” He cocked his head to one side “I’ve never been a Professor in the entire time you’ve known me.”

“You talk like one.”

“No I don’t”

“You so do.” Fliss smirked. “When you’re helping Mary with her homework, debates, the other day on the flight over…”

“Okay, maybe some times, but not much.”

“You should do it more. It’s kinda hot.”

"Is this some kind of strange authority kink? You know, to go along with the grease monkey one?"

Fliss let out a groan "Professor Adler in a shirt with rolled up sleeves and dirty arms and face..." she bit her lip and Frank let out a loud snort as he shook his head.

"You have a problem."

"Yeah, a big one. In that now I can't get that fucking image out of my head.” She cocked her head to one side as Frank laughed. “Hey, did you ever fuck any of your students? You know, favours for extra credit?"

Frank choked on the mouthful of beer he had just taken. "You’re a dick"

"I'll take that as a no then."

"No I didn't. Because that would have been a gross abuse of power."

“So not because you didn’t want to?”

“Fucking hell, Fliss!” he shook his head, before he smirked "I might have had you been one of them. Especially if your mouth was a smart back then as it is now."

"You've never complained about my smart mouth before." She teased.

"That's because you put it to good use." Frank looked at her, his eyes darkening "Had you used it to sass me like you do, in one of my lectures, I'd have been pissed"

"How pissed?" She asked, her leg dropping off the ledge she was sat on, foot trailing up the inside of his calf.

"Seriously pissed."

"Yeah?" Her foot stopped at his thigh and his hand reached under the water, gently grabbing her ankle. He shifted a little, the tightness in his swim-shorts a good indication about how he was finding this much more of a turn on than he should, and levelled her with a stern look. He saw her chest hitch a little and he arched an eyebrow.

"You're in danger of finding out if you carry on." He all but growled.

Fliss bit her lip before she shifted and pulled her leg from his grasp before she moved over the tub, glass in her hand as she straddled him. "Know what I am very good at finishing?"

"What?" Frank swallowed, the feel of her in his lap was doing nothing to help his little situation so to speak.

"Champagne." She smirked, raising the glass to her lips as she tossed the rest of the white down her throat. Frank let out a groan of a chuckle as she laughed, gently kissing his cheek. "Sadly, that was the last of it. Shall I open that final bottle of red wine?”

"Sure, I'm all gassed out from beer." Frank nodded, draining his bottle. “I’ll get it, sweetheart.”

"Its fine. I need to pee anyway.” Fliss moved to stand up, giving a little squeal, ducking back down under the water. “Fuck its cold."

"Kinda happened when you're in a mountain resort surrounded by snow."

"Asshole" she rolled her eyes before she stood up again, giving Frank an eyeful of the front of her body. Her arms and shoulders were ridiculously defined thanks to her riding and physical job, her large breasts were swelling over the top of the green bikini top she was wearing which sported a large knot at the front, the bottoms slung low on her hips as the decorative buckle sat over her reasonably flat but soft stomach, the faded, silvery stretch marks which were just about visible as they glistened with water, a reminder of how she'd carried, given birth and nurtured his son.

She was a marvel, and as he looked her up and down she flushed a little, the way she always did when he was blatantly ogling her and he shrugged. With a coy glance over her shoulder she climbed up the steps to the tub to hop out and Frank then got an eyeful of her firm ass and stupidly toned legs as she wrapped herself in a towel and headed quickly across the decking to the door that led into the kitchen area.

Frank leaned back in the arm water with a sigh as she disappeared from sight, contemplating not for the first time, just how much his life had changed since she had walked into it. He had no doubt in his mind she’d sent him along a completely different path, a far better path, despite the little bumps along the way. Her family had welcomed him and Mary with open arms, and right from the start had treat them both like they were their own. She’d encouraged his reconciliation with his mother, embraced and positively enjoyed the birth of their son despite the fact he knew full well some people had shitty comments about how soon and fast that had all come around with them being together just over a year. But time didn’t mean shit to him, as he’d said the other night, he’d known since that first kiss they’d had on the borrowed boat that if he never held another woman in his arms in his life he’d die a happy man.

But it wasn’t just him that had changed. Fliss had become far more confident and assure in herself as she had settled into a relationship that she felt safe and comfortable in. She still had her little moments and there were so many things they had never actually experienced together that she had tentative memories of, but they worked through them. Even when they argued, in a twisted way it made Frank feel almost pleased that she felt safe enough with him to call him out on his bullshit or stand her ground, even if she was wrong, without fear of getting a beating in retaliation. She’d opened herself to him intimately as well, in ways she’d admitted she’d been scared of because she’d had nothing but brutal or rough memories.

Suddenly his mind flew back to that evening on the boat in their garage a few weeks ago, when he’d pushed her just that little bit further and been pretty rough with her, remembering how he’d fucked her from behind as she leant over the bench at the back. God, that had been incredible.

And now his little problem was a pretty large one as he was rock hard. He slipped his hand down under the water, in an attempt to try and make himself feel a little more comfortable but it was no use. He knew that the only way was going to sort this out, so to speak, was currently bustling around in the kitchen.

Fuck it.

Rising out of the water, he hopped out of the tub and strode across the decking, the wood cold on his feet as he made his way purposefully into the kitchen. Fliss was just turning setting two wine glasses out on the side, and without warning, he strode up behind her and grabbed her hips over the top of the towel she was wrapped in. She gave a little squeak as he spun her round, his lips crashing to hers in a bruising kiss.

“Frank…” she mumbled, and he shook his head.

“Shut up.” He muttered, his lips back on hers. His tongue slid across her upper lip and she gave a soft groan, opening her mouth, allowing him to taste all of her, one hand sliding into her hair as he held her to him, not giving her an inch of space, his rock hard dick pressing into her stomach. She reached for his face but at the motion, his hands grabbed her wrists and forced them back to her sides, clearly, but wordlessly telling her who was in charge as he pulled away, his forehead pressing to hers as he untucked the towel, letting it drop to the floor. One hand sliding up her bare side, over her breast and came to rest at the base of her throat and he hesitated for a second, suddenly his memory spiked with the imagery of angry red finger marks around her delicate neck courtesy of that fucker in Boston almost eighteen months before. He stopped dead, his chest heaved, as for the first time Frank found himself a little lost about just how to proceed, worried he’d over stepped the mark.

And then Fliss’ eyes flashed, with excited trepidation as she leaned forward a little, her hand curling around his wrist.

“Do it.” She whispered, her lips ghosting his.

And at that Frank lost all self-control, a door he’d kept locked for as long as they’d been intimate was blown open the moment the words left her mouth.

Their lips found one another again, his hands moving to her waist to both pull her closer and he began to tug at her bikini bottoms, and in a quick swoop shoved them down as he took hold of her hips again so to manoeuvre her wherever he wanted, the pair of them stumbling a little before he roughly picked her up. Her bare legs immediately wrapped around his slim waist and her arms went around his neck as he slammed her up against the cold glass of the patio doors that led out to the decking. Using it as support he shifted his grip from under her ass, one hand wrapped around the back of her neck, holding her head in position as he kissed her, while the other pried her hands from around him. He wrapped his large hand round both of her wrists, pinning her arms above her head and held them there tightly as his mouth continued to fuck hers, hard, deliberate swipes of his tongue over hers, swallowing the little sighs and whimpers she was making.

Fliss rolled her hips hard against him which was enough to distract him a little, his mouth pausing, but not for long. His lips moved from hers, down to her jaw, her neck, and he bit and sucked, his lust addled brain not giving a single shit if he marked her flawless skin. The hand that was wrapped round her neck moved, skating down her side and over her bare stomach and she arched into the touch, wanting him to move a bit south, but his hand stopped an inch away from where she wanted it to be.

“You’re mine.” Frank’s voice was right by her ear, and he spoke with a deep, almost dark tone that Fliss had never heard from him before. It was full of desire, and it sent a shiver down her spin as once more she attempted to thrust up into his hand, desperate for any sense of relief. But he pulled away a little, making her whine a bit. “Ah ah, baby girl.”

“Frank.” she breathed out, stumbling over her words “Fuck, I…”

He cut her off as he surged forward, kissing her desperately and she openly cried out into his mouth as two of his fingers slipped inside of her. His motions were fast and aggressive and he brought her to the brink, and then stopped.

“Like that?” He breathed out, voice ragged, his lips brushing hers. “Tell me you do and you want this.” “Frankie, please.” She thrust her hips out toward him, gasping “I want you, always…”

At her words Frank felt his cock twitch and with a growl that was positively feral, his hand reached into his swim-shorts as he freed his painfully hard erection from them. He pushed the tip of his cock into her folds, pausing slightly before he slammed the rest of the way into her, making her cry out sharply. He continued to rut into her over and over causing the patio doors to rattle a little, and, as he looked up into her eyes, he found them wide with a look of surprise and downright lust which drove him even wilder and he dropped his head to the swell of her breasts. His free hand moved, pulling the cups of her bikini down and his mouth went to work, sucking and nipping, leaving red marks across her skin as his teeth and beard bit and scratched her raw as his hips snapped back and forth with an avaricious pace.

As he rolled a nipple between his teeth, Fliss let out a loud cry and tried to lean in more to him more, the motion made him go deeper inside of her, which caused them both to groan at the feeling. At that Frank moved his mouth back to hers, both messily kissing each other as he spun her round and stumbled around the kitchen area before he lay her a little roughly over the island in the middle, yanking her back slightly so that her ass hung off the side. His hips pistoned in and out of her with a force that it jolted her body back and forth, her hands flying to either side of her, palms slapping down on the cool surface. She arched her back, her ankles locking around his waist as he leaned down to kiss her again, his brow now beaded with sweat, chest heaving as he felt the coil in his belly starting to tighten.

“Fuck, Frank, I’m gonna…” Fliss felt the red, hot feeling brewing between her legs and thighs, her belly contracting as she teetered along the edge of her orgasm and at her words Frank slammed into her even harder before he gave a dirty little grind against her, repeating the motion a few more times and then she was done. She let out a loud scream and tightened around him, white lights exploding in front of her eyes as the entire world faded to nothing but a jumble of shapes and distant noises as her release wracked her entire body. Her legs trembled around him, gripping him tighter around his waist as she continued to groan out incoherently and at the feel of her tight heat pulsing around him, Frank’s final few thrusts became desperate before he gave a loud “Fahhk…” and he came, hard, his knees buckling slightly as he gripped at the edge of the counter, trying to steady himself.

His arms trembled as he gasped, before he leaned forward, his forehead pressing into her chest as she lay there, legs hanging off the side of the counter, her breathing deep, hands gently tangling in his hair as they both desperately tried to right themselves. Eventually, Frank found the strength to raise his head, his softening cock still stuffed inside of Fliss as he moved to kiss her again. This time the kiss was soft, and loaded with love as he slid his nose against hers, his eyes closed.

“Did I hurt you?” He swallowed, his voice raspy and Fliss shook her head.

“No, you would never hurt me.” She whispered. At that Frank opened his eyes to find her smiling gently at him, her face flushed, a look of sated satisfaction across her pretty features.

“I don’t know what came over me.” He shrugged, almost apologetically and she chuckled, her hand sliding to his shoulders.

“I don’t care.” She took another deep breath “Frank, that was…”

“Yeah.” He agreed, not needing to hear what she was going to say. “I know.”

“I think I’m done in the tub.” She mumbled and Frank chuckled.

“Bed?”

“Yeah. We should probably shower first.”

“Okay.” He move and pulled out of her slowly, before he tucked himself back into his shorts. Fliss pushed herself up into a sitting position and he gently wrapped his arms around her back, pulling her towards him. Her legs once more wrapped around his waist and she kissed him again, her hands sliding through his hair before he gently set her down on the floor. He took his time to scan her up and down as she sorted her swimwear, not missing the red marks on her neck, or the finger shaped ones on her hips where he’d manhandled her. He gently reached out to brush over the red lines he’d made just above her bikini bottoms with the pads of his fingers and her hands fell over his, and she shook her head.

“Don’t “she said gently as he looked up at her, his eyes locking onto hers. “They were made with love, not anger, Frank.”

He swallowed a little at her words, as she kissed him again, and then with her fingers laced into his she turned and they made their way to the bedroom. They took a quick joint shower, cleaning up, sharing a few more gentle kisses and hugs before they dried off and collapsed into bed, utterly spent.

“I love you sweetheart.” Frank pulled Fliss close, her back pressing to his chest as he pressed a soft kiss to her neck. “I love you so much.”

“Love you too, baby.” She yawned, shuffling back into him as they both closed their eyes and settled down, sleep claiming them in a ridiculously short time.

**** The next morning they both woke and lay in bed, just cuddling and chatting for a while before it was time to pack up and head to the airport. They packed their heavy winter coats into their bags just before check in and then headed through security and settled into the bar for a drink whilst they waited for their flight.

Thankfully, their trip home was as smooth as their trip out, no bags went missing and their transfer was on time, so at just after 3pm they touched down in Florida. Little over half an hour later they emerged into the arrivals lounge at Tampa Airport and Frank chuckled as Mary ran to them both. He dropped the bags he was carrying, swinging her up into his arms with a groan, dropping a kiss to her cheek as she hugged him. He then placed her onto the floor and she moved to hug Fliss.

“I missed you both!” She grinned as Fliss straightened up.

“We missed you too!” Fliss smiled at her, before she looked at her Dad who had just given Frank a quick back slapping embrace. “How’s Alex?”

“He’s fine, he’d just gone down when I came out to pick you up.” Bill smiled, giving her a hug. “So, did you have a nice time?”

“It was great.” Frank smiled, picking up his bag as Bill reached to take Fliss’. “Loved every second of it.”

“Did you bring me a present?” Mary demanded as they headed through towards the elevator to take them to the parking lot.

“Matter of fact, yes we did.” Frank smiled and he reached into his small carry-on bag , pulling out a half drunk bottle of water. “Brought you some genuine Vermont snow except it melted, so now it’s more genuine Vermont water.”

Mary looked at it, then to him. “That’s not funny, Dad.” She glared as Bill roared with laughter. She snatched the bottle of Evian and then gave a scoff. “You could have at least tried to make the joke with a bottle of water from this country.”

“So ungrateful.” Frank took it back from her and twisted the cap off, taking a long drink as the elevator doors opened. “Tell you what, snow water sure does taste good.”

Marry rolled her eyes before she turned to Bill. “Can I stay with you?”

“Course you can love.”

“Good, because you’re much less of an idiot than he is.” She jerked her thumb at Frank who arched his eyebrow at her.

“Oh I dunno about that.” Fliss quipped cheekily as Bill looked at her, his eyebrow raised. “I could tell you a few tales about some pretty dumb stuff he’s done.”

“Like what?” Mary asked.

“Like the time he crashed a fork-lift into the side of a van on a building site.” Fliss mused. “Or when he dropped a hammer on his foot and broke two of his toes when he was putting up a shelf in the kitchen.”

“Are we going there, Titch?” Bill turned to her as he selected the floor for their car, Frank and Mary’s laughter echoing around the elevator. “Because as far as doing stupid stuff goes, you and your brother take the biscuit.”

“Cookie.” Mary looked at him. “They take the cookie.”

“Biscuit.” Bill shot back.

“We had this discussion last night, Poppa Bill!” Mary shook her head. “It’s a cookie.”

Bill looked down at her, then to Frank.

“I changed my mind, you can keep her.” He deadpanned.

**** Chapter 21

#riding on #frank adler #frank adler x ofc #frank adler x original female character #gifted #gifted fan fic #frank adler smut #chris evans #chris evans characters

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