#that and despite the fact that my mom was always so busy she didn’t have much time to play music nor be around me as consistently as my dad

[foldingfittedsheets]

I’ve always been a pretty good liar. As an adult I’ve come to a moral place in which I don’t use that skill set unless it will explicitly benefit someone. But when I was a kid all bets were off.

I think tiny child me was doing their little autistic best but recognized that some situations would be best navigated by lying as telling the truth never netted positive results. Whether it was because my needs often went unmet or ignored, or because I didn’t see any reason not to lie if it would be more favorable, I’m not sure.

This is the story of my proudest lie. The best lie I ever did. A lie that looking back I still go, damn, I was eight.

Our story begins in second grade. I was eight. My school was having a book fair and I spent my small stipend on Gulliver’s Travels. No idea why. Lacking further funds I wandered the fair and came upon the greatest sight known to man. Frog erasers. They were so cute and I was extremely into animals of all kinds.

The whimsy. Who could have known they made erasers in such wonderful shapes? I mourned that I’d spent my money already, and played quietly with the little frogs in their bin. That’s when I was approached by a few other kids from my class.

I didn’t know most of them very well, but enough that it was civil when they asked me, “Are you going to buy those frogs?”

“I’d like to,” I admitted, “but I spent all my money.”

“Why don’t you steal them?”

“I thought about that, but I don’t have pockets.” Indeed, stealing had crossed my mind but it had been a brief temptation. I wasn’t even scandalized that the other girls suggested it.

“Caitlin has pockets,” the leader of the pack said. And indeed, Caitlin in her purple overalls did have pocket space for two frogs. So Caitlin and I became partners. My role in the escapade was just... wanting frogs and walking out with her. We stole two frogs, a yellow and a purple, and united by the misdeed we played together with them at recess despite not really being friendly prior.

After lunch I was called from class to the library. The principal herself was there waiting for me. She had a somber air, almost mournful that she needed to punish me. It was self evident to me that I was here for frog crimes. Caitlin had cracked and taken the fastest route to forgiveness- snitching on an accomplice. Despite the fact that my role was just: wanted frogs, I knew I was going to be in trouble.

Now, I could have told the truth. Pulled a Caitlin and ratted on the girl who told us to steal them. But clearly I’d still be in trouble for having gone along with the morally bereft plan. I was mad at Caitlin for telling but not enough to foist the onus back into her.

“Do you know why you’re here?” The principal asked kindly.

“Is it about the frogs?”

“Yes, Caitlin told us you stole the frogs.”

I quivered my lip and drew myself up indignantly. “I didn’t steal them!”

She blinked at my vehemence but since I looked near tears she carefully asked, “What happened?”

“I really wanted the frogs, but I didn’t have any money. So I asked the librarian if I could take them and bring the money tomorrow! But she was really busy and lots of people were talking to her, and she said yes! But maybe she was saying yes to someone else? And I thought it was to me but Caitlin didn’t, but I was going to bring money tomorrow!”

The principal. Was flummoxed. This was a situation in which I clearly thought I’d done no wrong, in which she couldn’t prove I had done anything wrong, and which the librarian would almost certainly not be able to weigh in. She regarded me not with suspicion but rather vaguely confused as to how to handle me.

I got off with a slight warning that I should pay for things before taking them, despite not having been the one to take things in the first place, and the frogs were confiscated.

I was vaguely worried they’d call my parents but years later when I admitted the story to my mom as an adult she laughed herself sick and said she’d never gotten a call.

[itgetzweird08]

one two three four

katsuki bakugo x Gn!reader

“What's up your ass?”

Mitsuki asked her son as she tailored his suit. It was the weekend, which meant he was at home. While he was there his mother insisted on fitting him for his suit, despite the dance being a month away. “Nothing hag, stay out of my damn-“ Katsuki didn’t even finish his sentence before his mom smacked him in the back of his head. “WHO YOU CALLIN HAG? THE FUCK IS WRONG WITH YOU?” Katsuki’s palm’s sparked in anger but before he could retaliate, his father chimed in from the desk in the corner of his parents’ work room. “Katsuki, we can tell when something’s wrong. What is it, son?” His dad’s eyes were soft, and Katsuki (reluctantly) backed down. He always had a soft spot for his dad. “Nothing- I just think this dance is fucking pointless.”

Mitsuki tilted her head in confusion as she fiddled with Katsuki’s pant leg. “Why? You fuckin love dressing up, as much as you pretend not to. You are our son after all.” and that was true, being the son of two of Japan’s most popular designers did make Katsuki have a passion for fashion. While he did prefer street wear, he appreciated a good suit every once in a while.

“Cuz y/n won’t be here to be my date and I ain’t taking no one else. Plus, even if I wanted to, half the class is paired up already. Better off not even fuckin going”

it was rare to see Katsuki pout, but this was one of the rare times he would do so. He always pouted when he thought about how far away from him you were. If he thought about how much he missed you for too long, he would try to busy himself with something else. It made him pretty productive, actually. Your face popping up on his mind a bit too much? He does his homework early to distract himself. When his heart is calling for you? He heads to the gym and blasts music in his ears to drown out the wistful thinking. But he couldn’t do that right now. All he can do now is stand here and wish for your presence.

Katsuki had told his parents about you right before the war. Actually, if he had died during the battle, he made them swear that they would give you his favorite skull tshirt and a letter he wrote. Luckily though, while it was a close call, that never had to happen. But since then, you’ve talked to his parents a few times. His mom, to your surprise, was especially fond of you and would always ask Katsuki about you when they saw him. It didn’t bother him though, he would take any excuse to talk and brag about his person.

“It’s a shame y/n won’t be able to be there, but you shouldn’t throw away the whole dance because of it. Plus I’m sure it would break their heart if they found out you weren’t going because of them.” Masaru told his son softly, only earning a shrug in response. Katsuki knew his father was right, but he was still disappointed. Mitsuki stood up and ruffled Katsuki’s hair, which earned her a glare that she completely ignored. “Have fun at the dance, brat. That way, you can tell y/n all about it when it’s over.”

———

After Katsuki had gone back to the dorms, Misaru and Mitsuki sat together on the couch. Misaru held his wife close, playing with her blonde, spikey hair as Drag Race played on the television. While her husband was locked into the show, Mistuki couldn’t focus. In fact, her mind was completely elsewhere. She couldn’t help the way her heart ached for her son. As often as they butt heads and argued, he was her only child and her baby. He had been through so much in the past three years, and she only wanted the best for him. She was always so supportive of his hopes and dreams, and only wanted him to be happy. He deserved it. It pissed her off that even during a time for celebration and happiness, her son would still be upset because he couldn’t bring the person he cared for most.

As the commercials rolled, Mitsaru looked down at his wife, and pressed a soft kiss to her head. “What’s wrong?” He asked her, earning a grumble in response as she looked up at him. “M’just thinkin bout Katsuki… it ain’t fair that he’s put his entire fuvking life on the line to save the damn country, hell the world even, but he can’t have this one thing. I just…” she sighed heavily, yet Misaru understood. He reflected her feelings as well. He wanted Katsuki to be happy with his friends at this party. Gears in his head began to turn, as between him and his wife, he was the problem solver. He used logic and empathy to solve issues, as Mitsuki usually charged in head first.

After a moment though, a light bulb went off in his head. “Mitsuki…have we asked if she can’t come? I mean, I’m sure Principal Nezu would understand. All Might as well, he’s fond of Katsuki and has a lot of connections. We should see if anything can be done!”

Mitsuki was silent for a bit as she thought about the suggestion, and eventually sat up and turned to Misaru. She beamed brightly, pressing a kiss to his lips. “I knew I married you for a reason. I can send Nezu an email and set up the meeting…but let’s keep this from the brat for now, I don’t wanna get his hopes up.”

———

A/N: a little shorter but next chapter is pretty long! FYI, in the back of my mind, reader is the same reader from my endeavor’s secret daughter one shot. But that’s just me!! It’s not required to read that to enjoy this, it’s just a fun little tid bit. I’m gonna try and finish this mini series within a week because I have to move into my dorm in a couple weeks. Lmk if you want to be tagged going forward!

———

Tag List: @sleepyeri @teeesthings @zaiban2989 @kathsuhki @rinbeeyum @oladelmars @getosuckers @luv-for-fictional-characters @attackonnat @ratcity12345 @bffrs-stuff @ch3rryjampi3 @venus1224idkpleaze @fiannee @consentismfhot @abcdefghijklmmopqrstuvwxyz @bl-og134

[sunflower-lilac42]

𝗼𝘂𝘁 𝗼𝗳 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘁𝗲𝘅𝘁 ; 𝘫𝘩86 ୨୧

➪ summary: after jack misses their nightly facetime call, y/n is worried that something happened. that's when she goes on twitter and sees a bunch of people tweeting about jack and some girl at the bar together.

➪ warnings: assumed cheating, long distance, fighting

➪ word count: 3.0k

➪ file type: new fic

➪ sunny's notes: this fic is brought to you by my sweet teddy bear anon. i love her so much and i am so grateful every time she sends me one of her ideas because i love all of them so so much. i hope you guys enjoy this fic, i honestly love it so much more than i thought i would

© sunflower-lilac42 ; do not copy, repost, or translate my work and designs on any other website or here

jh86 masterlist || nhl masterlist || new taglist || navigation

Y/n wasn’t oblivious to the fact that her boyfriend was hot, that he had hundreds of girls who wanted him. But she also wasn’t oblivious that her boyfriend loved her and would do anything to make her happy. Most of the time, her insecurities would pick her apart bit by bit but they would always go away as soon as she saw Jack or he made a comment that left her with the feeling of butterflies in her stomach. 

With the two of them doing long distance as she finished up her last semester of college, she was always nervous that Jack was having more fun without her. It wasn’t a constant thought, just on the days when she had nothing to do but overthink everything. Yet, Jack always helped ease those worries with his daily phone calls before practice and/or after a game. 

Every night since they started dating, a little over a year ago, Jack would make it his job to call her either before he left for practice or after he finished playing a game. Most of the time she was too tired to talk, so Jack would talk her ear off as she fell asleep wearing one of his hoodies and he watched with a huge grin plastered on his face. 

However, after shutting the game off and making a late-night snack, she was worried when her phone never rang or lit up. She initially shrugged it off and thought that media had just run a little longer than normal or he got caught up in traffic or he was talking to someone. Yet, the time from when the game ended and the present got increasingly longer, thirty minutes turned into an hour, and an hour turned into two. 

Normally, she wouldn’t try and overthink things like this, she knew Jack was busy and she didn’t want to be unreasonable and clingy. But for some reason, something just seemed off. Like she knew something was about to happen. Despite her gut feeling, she settled onto her bed in her apartment and ate her popcorn as her favorite movie played on her TV. 

It wasn’t until she was about to fall asleep that she looked at her phone again and saw an insane amount of notifications and none of them had been from Jack. So, hesitantly, she opened Twitter to see why she was being tagged in a lot of posts. She swore she could physically feel her heart split in two when she saw it. Jack was out at a bar talking to one of his teammates, she wasn’t sure who and she didn’t care to figure out who it was.

However, that wasn’t what made her feel like her whole world was crashing down, she could handle that Jack went out to a bar and didn’t tell her, went out to celebrate a win that he contributed to. It was the fact that there was a girl next to him, an arm wrapped around his torso and her head on his shoulder. She was too focused on her being on him that she didn’t register the look of disgust on Jack’s face, the subtle body language that screamed he wanted to be anywhere but there. 

She placed her phone down, screen flush with her sheets, as she let tears form in her eyes. She had trusted him, she had trusted him after multiple of her friends warned her about his reputation, she had trusted him after her mom warned her about him, she had trusted him despite what everyone said. And she fell for it, she fell for him and his tricks. 

Letting her curiosity get the best of her, she picked her phone back up and scrolled through the replies to multiple tweets that contained the same picture. One after another they all said how they wished the two of them would get back together, how they wished Jack would finally dump her and realize his ex was better for him, how they thought that she was just some rebound to help Jack get over her. And that was her final straw, maybe Jack really was just using her. 

As she continued her rabbit hole of comments, her phone suddenly rang and Jack’s contact showed up. She wasn’t sure if she wanted to cry harder, scream, bury her head into her pillow, or throw her phone across the room as she stared at the picture. It was a picture from winter break, she had flown out to Jersey to see him. The two of them were skating in Rockefeller Center in front of the tree, she was bundled up in her winter coat, a beanie, and a scarf around her neck. Jack had his hands on her hips as their foreheads leaned against one another, bright smiles on their faces as the snow fell around them. She had been laughing at something that he said when whoever snapped the picture. It was one of her favorite memories and now it was just something that reminded her of what she fell for. 

Before the call had ended she clicked the answer button and held it up to her ear, trying to keep in her emotions as best as she could. It didn’t last long though. Jack’s voice reached her ears and his all too familiar giddy and happy tone was present, “Hi baby!”

She took a deep breath, “Do not, ‘Hi baby’ me, Jack.”

On the other side, where Jack sat in his car, his grin fell into a frown and he furrowed his eyebrows, “What do you mean, don’t ‘Hi baby’ you? What’s wrong?”

“We’re done, Jack.”

Now it was Jack’s turn to feel his heart physically break, he couldn’t believe what she was saying. There was no way that they were over, not after he fought to do long distance with her, not after he sat through nights wishing that she was with him, not after he cried when he got hurt because she wasn’t by his side, not after the fights that left them both in tears. It couldn’t be the end, could it?

“Wait wait wait, no we can’t be done, sweetheart. Just talk to me, let me fix whatever is going on.”

“You can’t fix this, Jack. You broke my heart, that isn’t just something you can fix.”

“I what? How-”

“I waited all night for you to call and I was ready to brush it off as just a long night and then I go on Twitter to see your ex all cozied up to you like nothing had happened? Like we never happened?”

Jack couldn’t tell if he was more upset at the obvious tears that laced her voice or if he was more upset that she had seen those photos. In all honesty, he didn’t know anyone was taking a picture, though being a famous athlete he should’ve known. It was nothing, he had been talking to Jesper and Nico about something completely random, he couldn’t remember at this point. 

That was when she came up to him, batting her eyelashes and using that familiar innocent tone that used to have Jack caving at the mere sound of it. He glanced over at her and muttered a quick ‘hey’ before turning back to his teammates and continuing their conversation. However, it was clear that she was not going to back down so easily. She tried to talk to him, saying how much she missed him and that she hoped they could talk out their problems, but Jack just ignored her. He was happy with y/n, more happy than he had ever been in his life.

That was when he felt her arm around his waist and her head on his shoulder. He tensed up immediately, his annoyed face morphing into one of disgust and discomfort. He pushed her away as best as he could but her grip was tight. Nico had finally had enough and walked over to the girl, pulling her off of his teammate and waving her away. 

“Babe, it wasn’t like that, I swear. I was trying to get her away, I was ignoring her, ask Nico or Jesper-”

“Don’t get your teammates to lie for you, Jack. I don’t want to hear it. You broke my heart, I thought you loved me. I thought that we would’ve been different, I thought I was different. I thought you were different.”

“Y/n you have to listen to me, I didn’t want her there. I was doing everything I could to get her away from me.” The way his voice cracked made her pause, was he crying? “Baby, you have to believe me.”

“You ignored me all night long, she was hanging off of you, what am I supposed to think?”

“We both know that’s not fair, I would never cheat on you, you know that, y/n/n.”

“I can’t Jack, I’m sorry.” She hung up the phone, leaving both of them in a mess of tears. 

She sat back up on her bed, pushing herself against the headboard. She brought her knees up to her chest, wrapping her arms around them and resting her head there. She cried until she heard a knock on the door and she looked up to see one of her roommates standing there, “Y/n?”

“He cheated on me.” She choked out, not even believing her own words.

“Oh, honey.” Her friend was quick to wrap her in a hug letting her cry until she fell asleep in her arms.

Meanwhile, Jack sat in his car, his head against the headrest. He couldn’t cry, not now. He had to drive home, he had to shower, he had to make dinner for Luke. He drove home in silence, not even having the energy to turn the radio on. His eyes were glassy the whole way there, only blinking when he wasn’t sure if there was a car in front of him or not. 

When he arrived home, he lugged himself up the steps to his and Luke’s apartment, stopping a few times and thinking back to what happened. He placed his key into the door and turned it, opening it so he could walk in. He threw his hat on the counter and closed the door with his foot. He held his keys in his right hand and placed it on the counter, squeezing so hard that his keys dug into the skin of his hand.

“Jack?”

He looked up at his brother with tear-covered eyes, “Hey.”

“I thought you were home already- What’s wrong?”

Jack blinked at him before responding, “She broke up with me.”

“Y/n?” He only nodded as tears started to stream down his cheeks. 

Luke stepped closer and went to ask what happened but was stopped when Jack’s head hit his chest and felt his arms wrap around him. He wrapped his arms around his older brother, allowing Jack to pull him to the ground as he let out heart wrenching sobs into his chest. Luke rested his back against the wall and just held Jack until, as y/n had earlier, fell asleep in his arms.

ﾟ+*:୨୧:*﹤

It was a few days later that she had finally opened up her phone for the first time since that night. She had seen multiple texts and social media notifications from her friends, her family, Luke, Quinn, and Jack. None of them had caught her attention, the one that did was a Twitter notification, one from the Devils and one from Amanda, both of them explaining that Jack was taking a personal leave from the team, his return unknown. 

It took everything in her not to reach out to him, not to send him a text, not to call him. It wasn’t her right anymore, she broke up with him. After seeing that, she didn’t have any energy to continue looking through her notifications, scared and embarrassed about what they might say. So she just stared at her ceiling, pulling the sleeves of her hoodie over her hands and toying with one of the loose threads. That was when she realized it wasn’t her hoodie, it was Jack’s. 

She cursed to herself and immediately took it off. She needed to get rid of him, she couldn’t stand the thought of having anything of the man who cheated on her in her room. For the next ten minutes, she dug through her closet, looked under her bed, and through her nightstand for anything that screamed Jack. His hoodies she had stolen, some shirts that he had given to her or left there, a bracelet and necklace that he had gotten her for their sixth month and one-year anniversary. Everything that had even the closest tie or relation to him went in the box.

And then she laid in her bed again, staring at the ceiling with an empty mind. She heard the door open, the one to her and her roommates' apartment. She thought nothing of it, it was probably around time for one of them to be coming back from one of their classes. But then she heard a knock on her door and turned to see the doorknob turn. 

Black jeans and white Air Force Ones were all she saw before she knew who it was. She sat up and made her eyes stare directly at him, “Jack.”

“Ba- y/n.” Jack cleared his throat at the slip-up.

She leaned down to grab the box that she had just made and handed it to him, “I put everything in a box for you.”

It was hard to miss the hurt that flashed across his face, one she hated seeing. It made her sad seeing it but at the same time, she wasn’t so sure she was allowed to be upset about it. Jack gave her pleading eyes, “Please, please don’t do this.”

Y/n only shook her head, “Keep them. The hoodies, the shirts, everything.”

She shook her head again, biting her lip to keep her sob in, “I can’t Jack, it’ll hurt too much.”

Jack placed the box on the floor and took a step closer to her, placing his hands on her shoulders, “Talk to me.”

She stepped back, shying away from his touch. She knew that she would give in too quickly, she always did. He sighed and looked down, eyes trained on the rug in her room before looking back up, “I’m not leaving.”

“Jack, please.”

“No, I fought for us to do long distance, I fought for us when I was injured, I fought for us when both of us thought we couldn’t do this anymore, and I’m not going to stop fighting for us, y/n. You mean too much to me for me to just give up. I love you with everything in me and I am not going to let you walk away because of a picture that was taken and was meant to be perceived how you perceived it. What you saw-”

She shook her head once more, “Please-”

“Listen to me,” he cupped her cheeks, directing her gaze to meet his, “What you saw was nothing. I was at the bar, celebrating the win and I was talking to Nico and Jesper about cars when she came up. I barely acknowledged her but she kept going, she wrapped her arms around me and-” Y/n teared up as she listened to him explain, and she wasn’t sure if it was because she was having to hear about what happened or if it was because she was being stupid about this whole thing. 

“-I tried to get her to let go of me, I did. I tried to get out of her grasp but she wouldn’t let go. Nico pulled her off of me and that was the end of it. Baby, I promise you, that was all it was. I love you too much to do that to you.”

Both of them now had tears in their eyes, her hands came up and wrapped around his wrists as she looked up at him, “Jack.”

“Please, you have to believe me. I am such a mess without you, I can’t-”

“Jack.”

He stopped rambling and looked at her, “What?”

“I believe you.”

Jack could feel all the tension and worry float away, “You do?”

She nodded, “I do. And I’m sorry I didn’t let you explain earlier, I just- being away from you, not seeing you every day, it was too hard.”

He shook his head, “You have nothing to be sorry for. I should’ve tried harder to get rid of her, and told her to go away.”

She shook her head in return, “You did everything you could, Jacky.”

The nickname immediately made him smile and pull her into a hug. The two both let tears fall from their eyes but both of them didn’t say anything. Being back in his arms felt good, having her back in his arms felt good. 

After a while, he pulled away, resting his forehead on hers, “I love you, so so much. I meant everything I said earlier.”

“I love you too.” He kissed her softly, his hands coming to tangle in her hair.

When he pulled away, he knelt down to the box and took out one of his hoodies, the one that he knew was her favorite. She watched him carefully and let out a small giggle when she felt him pull it over her head. She allowed him to put it on her, a smile on her lips as he did so. He smiled himself once he saw hers, “My pretty girl.”

She blushed and groaned, “Jack.”

“What?”

He then dug through the box to find the bracelet and necklace, placing them on her wrist and around her neck. He smiled at her again and kissed her forehead, “Right where everything belongs. Right where I belong.”

“God, I love you so much.”

“I love you too, baby. More than you could ever know.”

𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗝𝗘𝗥𝗦𝗘𝗬 𝗗𝗘𝗩𝗜𝗟𝗦 𝗧𝗔𝗚𝗟𝗜𝗦𝗧 ୨୧

@blakesbearsblog @toasttt11 @chiblackhawks @prettyjoseph @nicole01-23 @auriesphantom @pucks-goals-penalties @dancerbailey3 @quinnylouhughesx43 @petite-potato4 @thehuggybearslover @absolutelyhugh3s @kei943 @dyslecticdutchman

© sunflower-lilac42 ; do not copy, repost, or translate my work and designs on any other website or here

[leaderwonim]

𝐇𝐈𝐄𝐑𝐀𝐑𝐂𝐇𝐘 — fourteen: because you tolerated me

𝐩𝐚𝐢𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐠. lee heeseung x fem!reader, park sunghoon x fem!reader

𝐬𝐮𝐦𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐲. Y/N always knew that her high school was dominated by wealth and privilege. Upon having a one night stand with popular athlete Lee Heeseung, she uncovers that Heeseung's friend group controls not only social dynamics but also school policies and local affairs, revealing a hidden world of power and manipulation behind their so called perfectly polished exteriors

author’s note: wrote this at 11pm and just finished at 12:25am 😭 my roommate told me to head to bed but i haaaaad to update for you guys so!!! enjoy the lore, hopefully it’s not too confusing ??

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Hanni isn’t so sure what to do. On one hand, she thinks she hates your guts, but on the other, she knows that she really doesn’t.

In fact, Pham Hanni had lived across from you at the ripe age of three, your moms having shared the same apartment complex. Hanni hated everything about that place, it was poorly managed, and quite frankly, cheap.

“Nini!” Little you yelled, your chubby baby hands reaching out for the girl in front of you. “Nini!”

You never knew her actual name because you were so young, referring to her only as Nini.

Hanni loved playing with you, she would beg her mom to bring over some spoiled bread they had in the pantry to pretend to play tea party and eat.

By the time Hanni turned six, her father took custody of her. Her father worked under a man named Park Hyunwook, and that was where she met Park Seojun.

He was a fairly skinny boy, but he made himself look charming nonetheless. Seojun took Hanni under his wing whenever her dad was busy in his father’s company, and soon enough, the two of them became best friends.

They became close to the point where that he made sure his father secured a spot in Decelis for Hanni.

“I’ll quit football if you don’t do it,” he threatened, which earned him a painful slam into the door by his own father.

It worked, though.

Hanni met Jungwon in her sophomore year of high school. He was a cute, rather calm composed boy who reminded her so much of a cat. She swore she fell inlove in an instant.

They talked for quite a while, and eventually, Jungwon did ask Hanni to be his girlfriend.

He stumbled upon Seojun and her hugging after class, and even though Hanni swore to her heart that it was platonic, the younger boy wasn’t having any of it.

So she spilled it out. She told him why they were hugging—of course she did—she loved Jungwon, how could she let her relationship just go down the drain like that?

“My dad’s threatening to pull me out of Decelis if I don’t tell my mom to stop contacting him.” She explained, and Jungwon didn’t understand what Seojun had to do with it.

Turns out, Seojun’s father was the one paying the tuition. If she was pulled out of Decelis, she would never see any of her friends ever again.

“Well, I don’t care if you’re rich or not Han, I love you.”

Despite Yang Jungwon promising his love to her, all Seojun could think about was how scandalous it could be if word ever got out that his father was paying for Hanni’s spot when millions of scholarship kids were still waiting.

So he killed him. Pushed him off a cliff. Seojun wasn’t a monster—maybe he was an awful person—but that didn’t mean he hated Jungwon. He just couldn’t risk it. His reputation was far way more important than some guy his friend was dating.

Besides, Hanni was a pretty girl. She’d find loads of boyfriends by the time Jungwon was gone.

“Are you listening to me? Hello?”

Heeseung waves a hand in front of your face, a playful smile comes to his face when he sees you snap out of your daze.

“Sorry,” you say. “I was just…”

He looked over at your direction, sighing when he sees Sunghoon and Hanni all close to each other. “Looking at the newly inlove couple? Yeah, I know.”

“Inlove is a reach.”

Heeseung shrugs. “I just want class to end so I can take you out for dinner.”

You practically choke at his confident tone. “We made up literally a few days ago.”

“So? I mean it when I say you’re important to me, Y/N.”

Any girl in your spot would’ve dropped dead at Lee Heeseung practically melting in a puddle in your presence.

“You should smile more,” Sunghoon says from the table across yours, his hands coming under Hanni’s chin to smush her two cheeks together.

She slaps his arm away, annoyed. “You’re lucky Seojun didn’t kill you.”

Sunghoon grows tense at that, his eyebrows furrowed. “What did you say to me?”

“Nothing.”

Danielle grows uncomfortable in her seat, her eyes dashing around the room. “How’s home life Hanni?”

Hanni shrugs, stabbing her fork into the mushy mashed potatoes the school had served. “Nothing better than before.”

She wanted to cry so badly in her seat. But if anyone had caught onto the tears that were forming at the edge of her eyes, she would lose the reputation she so desperately worked hard to maintain.

“Excuse me.” She hurriedly rushed off. Sunghoon stands up after her, but Danielle places a hand in front of him.

“Just let her be Hoon.”

And who was Sunghoon to argue with Danielle?

She practically grows limp as she reaches the end of the empty corridor, far away from the cafeteria. Her mascara is probably smudged like crazy, and she doesn’t even want to think about how insane she might look to a passerby.

“Are you okay?” You don’t register the crying girl as Hanni at first. You had just bid goodbye to Heeseung and dropped him off at his business management class, so you were in a rush to get to your class before your teacher gave you detention.

“Just leave me alone.”

Your eyes widened. “Hanni?”

Hanni never felt more embarrassed in her entire life. She didn’t even know why she was crying so hard.

Sunghoon, despite always being around her, was never truly there for her.

Sure, he was there when she broke down in tears complaining about her dad, but he only used that as collateral against her when Seojun had threatened him after he too found out about how Seojun’s dad had been paying for Hanni’s tuition.

Hanni had opened up to him more than she knows she should’ve. She told him how much she hated her dad, how everytime she went home from Decelis, she couldn’t wait to go back because she couldn’t stand an day in that house, let alone an hour.

And what did Sunghoon do with that information? He used it against her.

Sunghoon wasn’t like Yang Jungwon. Seojun couldn’t just kill him off, he was an important asset to the Park Administration for the local politics, the same ones that Seojun’s father was running for.

Killing Sunghoon was too much of a big risk for everybody involved.

Sunghoon knew he had that power over Seojun. He knew Park Seojun couldn’t cry to his daddy about him and he knew that he could destroy Hanni’s whole life with a snap of his fingers.

But he didn’t. It wasn’t fun that way. Plus, like Seojun said, Hanni was a pretty girl. Much prettier than other girls at Decelis. Sunghoon actually liked her.

Heeseung just had to get in his way. The boy knew Hanni first, but Sunghoon managed to squeeze his way to the top within months of joining the friend group. He knew Lee Heeseung had too much of a weak stomach to keep secrets like this. Lee Heeseung was a coward, and would always be in Sunghoon’s eyes.

“Drop him.”

“What?”

“Are you deaf? I said drop him.”

Hanni didn’t want drop Heeseung. She just wanted to feel loved. Heeseung made her feel loved. Sure, she didn’t like him enough to actually pursue him—but she loved the attention and adoration he had for her despite seeing through all her faults. Lee Heeseung cared for her, she just didn’t have the energy to care for him back.

So she let herself reject Heeseung’s confession on the night of Seojun’s gala, she let Sunghoon humiliate him in front of their whole friend group, she agreed to become Sunghoon’s girlfriend.

Why? Because Pham Hanni’s reputation was too big for her to let a man destroy it.

“You can tell me what’s wrong, you know, I won’t judge.”

“God, I hate you.” She whispers, hands harshly rubbing away the tears.

“Why Hanni? What did I ever do to you?”

“Because you tolerated me.” She cries even more. “Because you never once called me out on my behavior, because despite me being a total bitch, you were always nice to me.”

You had no idea what to say, so you didn’t say anything. You just rubbed Hanni’s back, wondering why the hell you were actually feeling bad for the girl who made your life a living hell for weeks.

[22ayla19]

Jiaoqiu x Reader

You have known Jiaoqiu since childhood. You liked his mischievous and cunning nature, and it’s not surprising, because he is a fox, and although you are a long-liver, you are an ordinary person from Yaoqin.

As the years passed, although you were friends, as you grew older you were busy with your work. Jiaoqiu as a healer in the alchemy commission, and you as the owner of a small traditional-style cafe. Over the years, Jiaoqiu matured and no matter how you look at it, he was still an enviably handsome man. It would be a lie to say that you liked him too, but remembering his character at times... Yes, it’s better that you don’t need such a thorn in the form of a sly fox who always loves to tease.

Later, you were stunned by the news that he would quit his business due to a broken heart. You tried to support him, to bring clarity to his clouded mind from love, but in the end you had a big quarrel, which is why your long-term friendship collapsed.

Even if Jiaoqiu later realized his mistake, he understood that you were unlikely to accept his apology, because then he told you a lot of unnecessary things, which he really shouldn’t have done. And although he smiled at others with his signature grin, when he saw you, this smile disappeared. He felt very bad at heart for his words.

At some point, he even came to terms with the fact that he had lost someone so close to whom he would trust his life. Until one day you came to his pharmacy.

There was no face on you. My eyes were swollen from crying, black circles under my eyes from insomnia, and I just looked tired. Jiaoqiu was horrified to see you like this. The smile that always accompanied him disappeared.

- (Y/N)? - the fox hesitantly pronounced your name. You didn’t look like yourself, even if it was that you were offended by him, you weren’t so upset. What happened to you while you were quarreling?

To be honest, you didn’t want to come to him, especially in this form, but you knew that the only person (fox) you could trust was Jiaoqiu. Taking a step towards him, you said with a voice hoarse from crying:

- My mom died...

- What?... - Jiaoqiu’s shock was impossible to describe in words. He knew your mother as a strong and resilient woman. He won’t deny that your mother scared him at times, but despite this, she cared for and sincerely loved the mischievous little fox with whom her daughter was friends.

- This morning at 8:20, my mother died in intensive care. For the last year and a half, she was sick with something, all the healers from the Alchemy Commission could not help her, - a minute of silence in which Jiaoqiu did not believe your words. -... I don’t believe... I don’t believe that she died!

Falling to your knees, you began to cry hysterically again. You didn’t want to believe that such a strong and healthy person like your mother died from illness. She had never in her life complained that something hurt her or that she felt bad. Even the commission’s doctors were surprised at how strong your mother’s body was, with all this amazing willpower that helped her in the fight against the disease, but even this did not help. Experienced doctors, a strong body and the desire to live next to her beloved daughter did not help her overcome the disease.

Jiaoqiu himself didn’t fully believe in your words, but seeing how you were crying hysterically and didn’t believe what happened, the only thing he did at that moment was hug you. When you lose someone close, it is a terrible pain that even time cannot heal. He knew that you were strong, that perhaps you could cope with the loss, because your parents passed on two strengths to you: your mother’s perseverance and your father’s patience.

Jiaoqiu hugged you until you fell asleep from powerlessness. Taking you in his arms, he carried you to his home so that you could rest, although looking at your condition, he understood that you wouldn’t be able to rest much, so he decided to stay next to you in order to calm or support you if something happened.

As you understand, the situation described in the story is directly related to me. As someone who has lost a loved one, I will simply say: value the time you spend with your loved ones, because you will never know when Death will take them away from you. No one expected that my mother would die, even those closest to me, we all hoped for the best, but even so, an absolutely healthy person developed cancer. Well, I... I still don’t believe it, I’m still waiting for my mother to call me and say that she’s feeling better, but she won’t call me again...

Appreciate the time spent with loved ones.

[deliciousangelfestival]

The Malicious Daughter Is Back! - 7

Character : Bucky Barnes x Female!Reader

Summary: It's just a business marriage. Bucky thought it would be easy until he encountered the stepsister of his fiancée. She turned his world upside down.

The Malicious Daughter Is Back! Series Masterlist

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Thank you to everyone who has read this chapter. Leave a comment and Reblog, please. I'd love to hear your thoughts. ❤️

Victoria wanted to scratch your face with her long nails and pull your hair. She put down her wine glass and stormed toward you, her heels clicking angrily against the floor.

How dare you take her place?

Even as Bucky's official fiancée, she never had the chance to hold him like that. He always pushed her away.

But you… She hated the fact that you were able to stand beside Bucky like that.

Her eyes burned with fury as she approached, her hands clenched into fists.

What did you do to make Bucky look at you like... like he's in love with you? How he looks at you is so different from how he looks at her—as if she's not essential to him.

Victoria could feel the coldness from him but with you? She could sense the warmth in Bucky's gaze toward you, even from afar.

"Wasn't Bucky's fiancée Victoria?" one guest whispered.

"Shhh," another guest hushed her friend.

The judging eyes of the guests felt like needles pricking her skin. She didn’t have to look at them to feel their scrutiny.

Victoria's face contorted with barely suppressed rage with every step closer to you. Her hands shook, her nails biting into her palms as she struggled to maintain her composure.

"Don't do anything," her mom said, grabbing Victoria's hand.

Victoria whispered angrily, "Why?" What reason could her mom have for stopping her?

Genevieve didn’t say anything, just tilted her head slightly toward Jonathan. He was also watching Bucky and you, but his expression was calm, unlike the two women’s.

That means he knew. He knew you were coming.

Victoria stormed over to her dad despite Genevieve's attempt to stop her.

"Why is my fiancé walking with her?" she demanded in a harsh whisper.

Jonathan looked at his younger daughter, who was already panicking because things weren’t going her way. He sighed his expression a mix of frustration and patience.

“Victoria, calm down,” he said firmly. “There’s a reason for this, and it’s not what you think. Bucky has his reasons, and you need to trust the process.”

Victoria's eyes narrowed, her breath quickening. She glanced back at you and Bucky, the fire in her eyes intensifying.

"Trust the process?" she hissed. "This is humiliating. Do you have any idea how this looks?"

Jonathan's gaze hardened. "This isn’t about looks, Victoria. It's about something much more important."

Genevieve, still holding Victoria’s arm, squeezed gently. “Listen to your father,” she urged. “We’ll handle this, but not here and not like this.”

Victoria clenched her fists, her nails digging into her palms as she tried to regain control. She took a deep breath, her chest rising and falling rapidly.

He sighed inwardly. What was wrong with his kin? None of them had inherited his calmness. Jonathan was a heartless man, and he embraced it. His lack of empathy was the reason the company thrived.

Not wanting to embarrass herself, Genevieve said, "This will ruin our business with the Barnes family."

Jonathan smirked. Failure was not in his vocabulary.

"Did you forget why the Barneses agreed to give their only son to us?" he asked, his tone icy.

Genevieve fell silent.

Victoria, who had just overheard this, looked confused and concerned. "Mom, what is Dad talking about?"

Genevieve hesitated, searching for the right words to explain. She wanted to protect her daughter from the harsh truths.

Flashback Start

After Genevieve suggested the idea of an engagement between both families, Jonathan initially thought it would be impossible. It wasn't a bad idea, but the Barneses were like royalty in the business world.

He didn't expect Bucky's father to agree. However, there was a condition: “If my son has second thoughts before the marriage, he can end the relationship.”

That was the truth of the engagement. Jonathan had told Genevieve to remind Victoria not to get too attached to Bucky.

He had prepared for the possibility that Bucky might want to end the engagement. Even though Jonathan was a cold father, he saw at the engagement party that there was no spark between Bucky and Victoria.

But he never thought Bucky would come to him and ask for you.

His first daughter was wild and always going berserk. How in the world could Bucky be interested in you?

Nonetheless, Bucky still chose someone from the Sinclair family.

Flashback End

Victoria fumed. "Outrageous. This is adultery."

Jonathan sipped his wine calmly. "There's nothing between you and him. Even a blind person could feel it."

"But..." She couldn't deny it.

Genevieve interjected, "Bucky is supposed to be with Victoria." Her plan was for Victoria to marry Bucky. She wanted her daughter to have the best. But you have ruined everything.

"Silence," Jonathan commanded.

That single word from his mouth silenced both women. They could see the unyielding determination in his eyes.

"It doesn't matter as long as he's with someone from our family. Don’t forget, she is still my daughter," he said, giving a warning look to his wife. His voice was low and firm, leaving no room for argument.

He knew everything she did to you. He didn't help you because you told him you didn't want anything from him, so he obliged.

The way you despised him also made him ignore you more.

But now, seeing you and Bucky together, he knew he had to give you more attention.

Genevieve went pale because this meant that Jonathan had acknowledged your position.

The three of them went silent.

In contrast, your heartbeat was racing because everyone's eyes were on you.

You gripped Bucky's arm tighter. “I don't fit in here.”

Bucky felt it too. He gently patted your hand and said, “Don't worry. It's time for you to claim back what's yours.”

He was right. You used to dream of this moment. It seemed impossible, but now you're here because of Bucky.

You got this!

Author Note: I learned it too late that I made Bucky's mothers name is the same as the reader's grandma. Lol. 😂 So, I changed Bucky's mother's name to Juliana, while the name Cassandra belongs to the reader's grandma.

Taglist:

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@scott-loki-barnes

@mostlymarvelgirl

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@dexter99

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@kjah97

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@itsteambarnes

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@bada-lee-ily

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@loki-laufeyson68

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Author Note: Hey friends,

If you've been enjoying the content, I've set up a Ko-fi account.

Your support through tips would mean the world and help me keep creating.

Only if you feel like it!

Here's the link: Ko-fi

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[persevereforahappyending]

A Legacies Secret |2|

Pairing: Tara Carpenter x Reader

Summary: You just wanted a happy life with your girlfriend but then Ghostface attacks, revealing long thought to be buried family secrets.

Warnings: None?

Word Count: 2.9k+

Main Masterlist | Series Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15

You let out a sigh, finally clocking out for the night. It had been a busy night. To some it might seem weird for a bar to be so busy during the week but for some reason Woodsboro had a lot of alcoholics. You weren’t complaining though, they tipped pretty well and were the reason you could afford an apartment. If it weren’t for the tips, you would be living out of your car most likely, or more likely, unofficially, living with Tara when her mom wasn’t home, which was often.

After starting your car, you pulled out your phone, opening your messages with Tara. You hadn’t heard from her since your phone call earlier in the night. Tara knew you were at work, but she still had a habit of messaging you throughout your shift. You furrowed your brow, seeing all the messages you sent still showed that they had been delivered but hadn’t been read yet. You had an uneasy feeling, it wasn’t like Tara to not answer you, she always answered. You weren’t trying to panic though.

Y/N: Still good?

Y/N: Did you already fall asleep?

Y/N: Going to be a little later than expected

Y/N: On my way

You sent one last text, trying to calm your nerves. Everything was probably fine. Tara probably called over Amber or one of the others and they just got caught up watching movies. It wouldn’t be the first time you got to her place, and she was still up with one of her friends or all of them, watching movies. Sometimes you got to her place, and you shook your head at the sight of them all passed on the couch, popcorn bowl tipped over and mouths hung open as the movie continued to play.

Tara’s house wasn’t too far from your place of employment but when you turned down the street you were met with flashing lights and police cars lining the street. There were multiple cop cars parked outside of your girlfriend’s house. You slowly drove up, parking on the side of the street as you watched an officer pull out yellow police tape, taping off the front door.

As soon as you were parked you jumped out of the car, and ran across the yard, not caring about any of the police. You were under the first set of caution tape and halfway across the yard when strong arms wrapped around you, holding you back.

“You can’t be here,” a gruff voice said.

“No!” you screamed. “What happened?” you thrashed against the man, trying to get out of his hold.

“This is an active crime scene,” he said again when he finally put you down, on the other side of the yellow tape.

You stared up at the officer. He had his arms crossed, staring you down to make sure you didn’t try and rush past him again. You huffed, glaring at him. Despite knowing you’d fail you still lunged at the man, trying to get around the tape again. He was quick to grab you and keep you from passing.

“What part of active crime scene do you not understand?” he said, clearly irritated.

“What happened?” you asked again. You peered around the officer, your eyes darting all around the house, searching for any signs of Tara.

“Can’t say, it’s an active investigation.”

“Is Tara alright?”

“Kid, go home before I have you arrested.”

“This is my girlfriend’s house! I have to know if she’s alright. Is she okay?” Your breathing was becoming rapid. You weren’t sure if the fact that you couldn’t see Tara anywhere was a good sign or a bad one.

“Don’t make me arrest you.”

You were about to give the officer a piece of your mind when out of the corner of your eye you saw the sheriff. “Sheriff!” you yelled, directing your full attention to her. “Sheriff! Sheriff Hicks!”

“Kid, get out of here,” the officer got in your line of sight again.

“Sheriff!” You ducked under the police tape, avoiding the officers’ arms as he tried to grab you. “Sheriff!”

“Alright, that’s it.” The officer grabbed you, pushing you into the grass as he yanked your arms behind your back, handcuffing you.

“Sheriff Hicks!” you continued to yell as the officer hauled you to your feet and began to drag you to a cop car as you continued to fight against him. “Judy!” you let out in another desperate scream, finally gaining her attention.

Judy was holding a clipboard, talking to another officer when she finally looked up, looking around to see who was yelling her name until her eyes finally landed on you. You didn’t need to be close to know she had let out a deep sigh and if she didn’t roll her eyes, she was definitely holding one in. Judy made her way across the lawn towards you. The officer was trying to push you in a cop car when she finally got over to you.

“It’s okay deputy,” Judy said. “I got this one.”

“Are you sure?” the deputy questioned. “She’s a wild one sheriff.” He narrowed his eyes at you, and you just scoffed at him.

“Yes, go help the others.” Judy watched as the deputy walked off before facing you again. “Turn around.”

“What happened?” you asked as you did as she asked. “Where’s Tara?” You kept trying to turn around, trying to look at Judy as she took the cuffs off your wrists.

“Where have you been?” Judy asked, ignoring your question.

You quickly turned around when you felt the handcuffs leave your wrists. You started rubbing your wrists, though it had only been a moment the jerk of a deputy had put the cuffs on pretty tight. “Is Tara, okay?” you asked again, searching Judy’s face for any clues. Judy was clearly being kinder, but you could tell she was in full on cop mode, something bad definitely happened.

“Where were you earlier tonight?”

She wasn’t answering your questions, she was actively ignoring all your questions actually. “Is she-” your voice cracked, cutting yourself off by trying to contain a sob, your mind immediately going to the worst.

“She’s alive,” Judy said softly, resting a hand on your shoulder.

You relaxed for the first time since pulling up to the house, letting out a relieved sigh. “What happened? Where is she?”

“She was attacked.” Your breathing started to become rapid, your heartbeat was the only thing you could focus on. “Where were you tonight?”

“Where is she? Is she okay?” your eyes darted around the scene, seeing police tape, officers, red and blue flashing lights, the front door wide open. There was no ambulance but there was also no Tara.

“She’s at the hospital. Probably in surgery by now.” You brought a hand to your mouth, trying to contain your sob. Tara was attacked. Tara was attacked bad enough to be rushed to the hospital and in need of surgery. You couldn’t begin to imagine who would ever even want to attack Tara, if this was some sort of break in gone wrong. “I really need you to answer my questions.”

“Can we do it at the hospital?” you asked, needing to be near her even if you couldn’t see her. “Please? Please?” you begged. Judy looked at you and finally gave a sympathetic nod. “Thank you,” you whispered, before following her to her police cruiser.

The ride to the hospital was the longest of your life even though the hospital was only a few minutes away. When you got there, you trailed behind the sheriff, suddenly nervous, terrified of the news you might be walking into. Judy guided you to a seat in the waiting room while she went to the front desk. Your eyes never left the sheriff, watching as she whispered to the nurse. When Judy finished her conversation, she took the seat across from you.

“She’s still in surgery,” Judy whispered softly. You buried your head in your hands. You should have been there. You should have been there with her. You jumped when you felt a hand rest on your knee. “I need to ask you some questions.” Judy rubbed your knee for comfort. “Okay?”

You nodded, lifting your head from your hands. You wiped at your eyes, wiping away the tears before they could begin to fall. You cleared your throat, straightening your back as you prepared for her questions. You knew she had a job to do. You knew she had to ask you questions simply because you were Tara’s girlfriend and that automatically made you a suspect if anything happened. You decided to focus on helping in any way you could and would try not to be offended or defensive about the questions she may have.

“Where were you between 9pm and 10pm?” Judy asked. She leaned back in her chair, pulling out her notepad but never losing her warmth.

“Work,” you rasped out. “I got there at five and was there until I got to Tara’s.”

“Will others be able to confirm this?”

You nodded. “Yeah, in fact my boss yelled at me for talking to Tara. There were customers throughout the night and some that were there my entire shift.”

Judy nodded, writing everything down in her notepad. “You talked to Tara?” her pen froze mid whatever she was writing.

“Yeah.” You scrunched your eyebrows not sure how that was relevant. “She called.”

“What time was that?”

“We were just starting to get busy so…” you tried to think back to just a few hours ago. You hadn’t really looked at the time and now there were a lot more pressing matters on your mind. “Probably just before nine thirty.” Judy sucked in a breath before dropping her eyes back down to her notepad, quickly scribbling down the new information. “Why?”

“What did you talk about?”

You scrunched your eyebrows again. “She was bored, she wanted me to entertain her.” You smiled thinking back to your conversation, back to when everything was normal. “We discussed the future, and I said I would come over when I got off.”

“Nothing was off?”

“Of course not,” you frowned. “Why? What don’t I know?”

Judy cleared her throat, trying to hide any of the emotions she might be feeling. “It seems Tara was texting Amber.” You tilted your head, you might not have liked Amber, but they were best friends, it wasn’t surprising Tara would text her if you couldn’t come over. “Someone cloned Ambers number to make it seem like Tara was talking to her, but they were using it to distract her. At the same time Tara answered an unknown number on the landline.” You blinked a few times, trying to clear your mind, trying to figure out what Judy was saying. “Based on the timeline it was minutes after you got off the phone with her.”

“What?” you whispered, your heart shattering. When you had talked to Tara, she had been okay, she had been safe. Maybe if you had stayed on the phone with her nothing would have happened, maybe you could have helped.

“What are you saying?” you shot to your feet, beginning to pace back and forth. “You’re saying someone toyed with her? Someone planned this?” you gripped your head, trying to make it make sense. “Why would someone do that? Who would do that? Who would want to hurt Tara?” you looked to Judy for answers, tears already threatening to fall.

“Tara was still conscious when my deputies got there,” Judy said slowly, keeping her voice even. “As she was being loaded into the ambulance, she said the person who attacked her was wearing a Ghostface mask.”

Your face paled. You lived in Woodsboro, of course you knew the story of Ghostface. You believe you saw the first movie a long time ago, but they weren’t really your thing, you honestly only watched horror movies when Tara did, and she wasn’t into Stab. You had never read any of the books either, they didn’t appeal to you. You heard the basics of the attacks though; you remembered seeing the 2011 killings on the news, you had been in sixth grade, and it was pretty big gossip at the time.

Despite your lack of knowledge there were two things you knew about Ghostface, two things all of them had in common. The victims of Ghostface were always connected to whoever was Ghostface or connected to his true target. That’s where you were lost, Tara wasn’t connected to anyone from the previous killings. Tara wasn’t connected to Sidney Prescott in anyway and she wasn’t connected to any of the past killers. Tara was chosen as this Ghostface’s first victim though, there had to be a reason.

“That doesn’t make any sense,” you whispered, slumping back down in the chair.

“I’ve only ever been through this once,” Judy said, pocketing her notepad. “From my experience though, I can say that it rarely does. There’s no logic to people like this.”

Before anything else could be said you caught sight of a white lab coat out of the corner of your eye. You shot to your feet again, turning to face the doctor as he approached. Judy followed, standing behind you and giving a comforting rub to your back as you waited for what the doctor had to say.

“How is she?” Judy asked.

“She lost a lot of blood,” the doctor said. “She was stabbed seven times.” You brought a hand to your mouth, trying to hold back the sob. “Once through the hand.” Your tears finally fell. “She also has a broken leg.”

“Will she be, okay?” you managed to ask, trying to control your sobs.

“It’ll take some time. A lot of rehab. But she’ll live.”

You nodded, letting out a shaky breath. Tara was alive and that’s all that mattered. “Can I see her?”

“Are you family?”

You scoffed. “I’m her girlfriend.” You knew it was hospital policy or whatever, but you would lose it if he didn’t let you in to see Tara for yourself.

“I’m sorry, visiting hours are over and only family is allowed to stay the night.”

You opened your mouth to argue with the man but stopped when you felt Judy’s arm leave your back, she stepped forward, so she was almost between you and the doctor. “Her mother is out of town,” Judy said softly. “She’s the closest thing the girl has. Surely you can make an exception doc.” The doctor didn’t look convinced, he looked like he was about to deny Judy as well. “Look, doctor, I get it’s your policy,” she smiled brightly. “But if you don’t let her into that room, she will be sleeping in your waiting room and harassing the nurses until she can get in.”

The doctor narrowed his eyes at Judy, but she just smiled sweetly at him. The doctor glanced at you, and you could only shrug and nod your head. It was true, you wouldn’t leave the hospital and you wouldn’t sleep until you could see Tara, therefore you would spend time annoying the nurses who probably had better things to do than listening to you.

“Fine,” the doctor said begrudgingly. “I’ll show you to her room.”

“Thank you,” you whispered to Judy.

Judy smiled, giving a small nod in return. “I have a deputy on the way, they’ll be outside Tara’s room until this bastard is caught.” You nodded, knowing that the guy who attacked Tara was still out there and would most likely come back, most Ghostface’s didn’t like when their victims lived. “I know I probably don’t have to say this but, don’t leave town.”

“Don’t worry,” you said. “I don’t intend to leave Tara’s side.”

“I figured,” Judy smiled at you, before taking her a seat again. “I’ll be right here until the deputy arrives.”

You gave her one last nod before following the doctor to Tara’s room. You knew she was alive, and you knew of her injuries, but your leg bounced the entire elevator ride. The doctor didn’t say anything as he led you through the empty halls until he finally came to a stop. He gestured to the door, and you whispered a small thank you to him as you rested your hand on the handle. You took a deep breath before pushing down on the handle and entered the room, quietly closing the door behind you.

Your eyes instantly filled with tears again as you saw the state of Tara. She was asleep, lying in the hospital bed. Her right leg was in a large boot and her left hand was all wrapped up; she even had an oxygen tube in her nose. You slowly moved to her bedside, looking down at your girlfriend, noticing how small she looked in the hospital bed.

You rested a hand on top of her head, running your fingers through her hair as you bent down giving her forehead a kiss. “I’m sorry,” you whispered into her hair. “I’m so sorry.”

You quickly wiped away your tears, making your way around to the other side of her bed. You took a seat, moving it closer to her bedside. You were on the side with her injured hand, meaning as much as you wanted to, you couldn’t hold it as you waited for her to wake up, but this side was the only side that gave you a full visual of the door. Tara already got attacked once when you weren’t with her, you wouldn’t let that happen again.

[1d1195]

My Friend's Toyota III

Read the rest here: My Friend's Toyota

~8.9k words

Warnings: Jealous Harry, a little pugnacious today. Nothing crazy, I hope. Mostly silly fluff

This is a bit all over the place. (A filler episode, if you will.) The next (and last part) will be more put together I promise.

-

She brought their hands to her cold lips and kissed the back of his hand. Harry was certain he was going to start sweating with how warm the gesture was and he couldn’t bring himself to care about how ridiculous it all was.

When the seasons change / Can I still hold your hand? / When we get rain / can I teach you how to dance? / It’s not even November, yet she’s worried ‘bout December / If I can have her in my arms / she won’t worry ‘bout the winter

“This feels ridiculous,” she said to Allie’s ear and tugged at the skirt of her dress, so it bunched in her hand, and she could press it to the outside of her thigh. She wanted the fabric to stretch lower. The chill in the air slid up her legs and under her skirt and it was almost icy. “It’s freezing out.”

“This is sweatshirt weather at best. Have another drink and we’ll stand by the fire,” she giggled. But without Harry to steal a drink from the fridge she didn’t have much choice of drinking.

“I know it’s lame, Al, but I want to study,” she practically groaned. “I haven’t a clue what’s going on in class. I was sick all week. I’m super behind.”

Allie snorted and shook her head. “So just take Harry’s notes and ask him.”

“I’m the one that helps him.”

“Sweetie. You’re twenty-one. It’s Halloweekend. We’re drinking and getting candy from cute college guys.”

The only cute college guy she wanted to see was Harry. But Harry was working and wouldn’t be out till much later. He was insistent that she stay out long enough so he could see her costume. “It’s not special...” she told him, her cheeks reddening at his request. “It... it won’t be like other people’s costumes on Halloween. Even Allie said it was cuter than it was sexy,” she admitted thinking of the Risky Business trio Allie was going to be part of for the evening. She scuffed her shoe on the tile floor outside her Sociology class when Harry inquired about the weekend. She had skipped last Thursday and Tuesday to recover from the cold she had. The sniffle punctuated how childish she felt. Harry was able to read between the lines; she wasn’t planning on wearing little to the imagination like many chose to do so. Allie assured her it was still sexy—in it’s own way—but not too sweet; she wouldn’t look out of place.

But she knew the truth. It would look cute and wholesome on her. That was how the guy described her last Halloween while she was working at a bar down south. Down there she could dress with little layering. She didn’t, but she specifically remembered serving a guy that was drunk and flirty. “I could take you home to Mom in that.”

It was her least favorite pickup line, but she knew it was true. It probably didn’t help that it was an angel costume. But it had always been that way. People like Allie dressed adorably and sexily. Allie, and others more confident than she was, were asked to go home for the night with someone they just met. She was asked to babysit or meet a parent. “I bet you’ll look...” he chuckled and pinched his lip between his thumb and finger as he scanned her up and down. He shook his head and smiled at her as her cheeks flamed at his scan. Despite the fact they had kissed and slept in the same bed (and nothing more) for several nights in the last couple weeks, Harry looking at her like she was... beautiful made her feel completely flushed and overwhelmed. It was insane that someone as popular, someone as handsome, someone so nice on top of everything else, liked her. “I can’t wait t’see it,” he promised. “Should I dress t’match you?”

Her heart skipped a beat. “Really?”

“Well, yeah,” he smiled. “Want everyone t’know you’re all mine.”

She had to bite the inside of her lip to keep herself from smiling large enough to break her cheeks wide open. “I’ll send you the link,” she offered.

Now she had to wait another two hours before Harry was off work and on his way. Allie was already on drink number three and there were still no s’mores supplies by the fire. Even on Halloweekend. It was a real shame. Next time she was going to bring her own.

“But it’s cold,” she whined to Allie.

“Sweetie, it’s not even November. You’re going to need so many layers by the time we get to December.”

No wonder she was sick all week. The chill in the air was killing her. Harry was so kind and while he wanted to dote on her way more than he got to, she was insistent. The kind of insistent he didn’t want to argue with just yet—maybe down the line when they had dated for longer than two weeks. He brought her soup from work and as much as Allie tried to convince her to let Harry stay and wait on her, she was sure she didn’t need Harry getting sick on her behalf. Allie gave Harry a sad smile and a look in her eye that said I tried. For which he was grateful to have her best friend on his side.

*

Allie was the kind of person to talk to anyone that approached her. Like long lost friends. With her long-tanned legs on display, that meant there were a lot more people to chat with her. The remaining two of her trio came and went to take pictures and make appearances. She was able to chat with most anyone as well, but her introverted self, preferred a one-on-one kind of chat. It also helped when she wasn’t so cold.

The only person she spoke to between those moments of chatting with Allie’s friends, was the freshman pledge standing by the fire, aptly dressed as a firefighter—no shirt of course.

“You come here with her frequently,” he noted when Allie scampered off to dance to the unofficial Risky Business theme song inside with her friends. She enjoyed the warmth because she swore her dress was getting shorter by the second for her southern blood.

“Yeah, she’s my best friend,” she cleared her throat. “Are you stuck on fire duty all year?”

He snorted through his sarcastic little laugh but held a kind smile. He looked so young. She thought being twenty-one was young and somehow this eighteen-year-old guy may as well have been thirteen. “No, just the semester,” he sighed. “Thankfully,” he shook his head. “When you’re not here, you should see some of the things I see.”

She laughed softly. “I can imagine.”

“Do you know anyone besides Allie?”

“No,” she shook her head. “Well, Niall... adjacently,” she amended and shrugged. “He’s friends with my...” she cleared her throat again awkwardly. Harry technically wasn’t her boyfriend. But she didn’t know what to say, suddenly. “With... my friend.”

The guy smiled to himself picking up some empty cups around the fire and tossed them into a nearby bin. She helped as well, bending gracefully so as not to show off her butt. Her knees were stiff with cold, and it felt like her skin was going to break open. “Oh, you mean Harry,” he chuckled. “I was wondering about that status. Everyone is really,” he smirked knowingly. “You’re different than his usual kind of friend,” he didn’t mean anything by it. Just making conversation. But his comment made her heart feel like it weighed about six hundred pounds and sank directly to her feet. She shouldn’t have given it a second thought. Obviously, he wasn’t around long enough to know Harry’s motives or type or anything. Anything he said was basically a rumor. Clearly, her silence was noteworthy. “Hey, I didn’t mean to offend you,” his voice was remorseful and sweet. Especially for an eighteen-year-old. “You just hear a lot by the fire,” he shrugged. “The guy is crazy about you,” he reminded her. “I know I’m just a freshman pledge, but I see a lot. I hear a lot.”

“What was your name again?” She asked. Simultaneously, she wanted the conversation to stop but also wanted to know who he was later on when she had time to ask Allie and her friends. Or even Niall.

He stuck his hand out. “Kyle,” he offered while she shook his hand firmly.

“Kyle,” she repeated. “Well, thank you for keeping me company. Next time, I think we should have s’mores.”

He laughed and rolled his eyes. “My pleasure. You’re fun to talk to,” he smiled. “If Harry didn’t look like he was ready to kill me I would continue the conversation, but,” he pointed behind her and he gave her a wave. “I’ll bring s’mores next time. See ya around,” he meandered back to his station but shifted to the other side of the fire, avoiding Harry’s vision.

She turned to see Harry, pants with the 1960’s themed flower-pants decorating his legs, a brown suede tasseled vest—no shirt, circle glasses with colored lenses, and a chunky peace necklace hung around his neck. The pendant touched just above his navel. How he wasn’t freezing was beyond her. Even in her own dress, long sleeves, with the matching pattern of Harry’s pants, she was nearly shivering because of her bare legs. All those years her mom forced her to wear a jacket while trick or treating—when it was downright warm—were wasted. She wished for a jacket now.

“Hey,” she smiled sweetly.

“Hey, kitten,” he cooed, the irritation in his eyes still just behind the surface. “Y’look beautiful. Y’should wear a flower crown all the time,” he put a hand on her side and kissed her forehead in greeting. Immediately the stares ensued.

“How was work?” She asked.

“Fine, long. Lots of tips tonight,” he grinned, a spark of excitement replacing the irritation immediately. “Can take y’to the fancy restaurant now.”

His hand didn’t move from her side. It warmed her freezing cold body more than the fire did. “We don’t have to do that, Harry. You can save your money. But it does sound nice,” she smiled sweetly.

Harry stepped closer to her. Somehow. She was a good half a foot shorter, even with the chunky heels on that came with the costume. But he still had to bend his neck forward a bit to reach her ear. His hands were on her waist, cupping her hips and she wanted nothing more than to leave this place and snuggle up to him in bed. “I think y’look so sexy,” he whispered.

She blushed, giggled, and shook her head. “I look like I’m about to take the kids I’m babysitting out trick or treating.”

His nose bumped her temple. “No way, kitten. Too sexy t’have a gaggle of kids t’watch on Halloween,” he kissed her head again.

She rested her hands on his bare chest. He was warm. Not cold at all. “Aren’t you cold?” She asked. He chuckled, pulling from her and then wrapping an arm snuggly around her waist. Honestly, pressed to his unclothed skin was the first time in hours she hadn’t felt so cold.

“No, love,” he shook his head. “Have you been freezing?”

“Yes, extremely,” she smiled knowingly. “It’s parka weather.”

He laughed heading toward the house. “It’s barely sweatshirt weather.”

“That’s what Allie said.”

“Where is Miss Allie?”

“Umm...dancing I think,” she sighed. “I envy her confidence.”

Harry pressed his lips to the top of her head, kissed her temple, and smiled against her hair. “Think you’re perfect,” he murmured. No “just as you are” or “like this” was uttered afterwards. It seemed he really meant it.

*

“Hey!” She naturally perked up. It was between classes—her class at noon was cancelled and she didn’t need to be across campus for another hour. Normally, she scarfed down a protein bar and swung into the coffee shop within one of the dining halls to get another caffeinated beverage to hold her over in the afternoon. It was nice to sit and work on her assignments for a bit. She was lucky to get notes from all her classes—one of her peers in each of them was willing to help her out. She emailed her professors as well explaining how she felt like lukewarm death, and she would stay on top of things and be back on track before they knew it. So really, it was nice to have an extra break between her classes to help her get caught up a little more.

But the voice cut through the din of the dining hall and she looked up to see Kyle.

“Oh, hey, Kyle,” she smiled. She cleared a space at the table and gestured for him to sit.

“I never see you at this time,” he noted. She nodded, explained how her class was cancelled and she was getting caught up since she was sick last week. “How was the rest of your Halloweekend?”

It was lovely. Harry bought her a boatload of candy—so many mini bags of Twix bars and they watched three scary movies that had her snuggled close to him for most of the weekend. Harry made special drinks that looked like green, orange, and purple potions. It was adorable, festive, and just really enjoyable. “It was good,” she grinned, thinking about it fondly. “How was yours? Stuck by the fire?”

He laughed dropping his bag beside the table. “Yeah, basically.”

“Do you want to go get food or something? I’ll be here for a while,” she offered.

“Yeah, thanks, that would be great actually. I’ll be right back.”

While he was gone, she checked her phone to see how Harry was doing in class. This class he usually had to pay the most focused attention to, or he would miss something. My class got out early. I’m in the dining hall if you want to swing by when you’re done. If you can’t it’s okay.

I’d leave right now if I could, kitten 😘

Pay attention 😘

Kyle reappeared with a burger and fries. He also had a bag of carrot sticks which she thought was pretty adorable. He pulled his water bottle from his bag and set it out as well. “Whoa, is that a real class?” He asked.

She laughed. “It’s for one of my math classes.”

“That’s hieroglyphics, actually.”

She shook her head, still smiling. “Not a math fan?”

“I’m in pre-calculus and only because I took the placement test online and had someone help me get to it. I didn’t want to take the lower-level class for no credit and still have to pay for it,” he explained. She nodded understandingly.

“Well, I kind of like math, so if you need help, we could find a time to meet.”

His jaw dropped. “Shut up,” he practically gasped. “You’re kidding.”

“Of course,” she was too sweet. Allie said it was going to kill her one day. But Kyle was nice. “The hard part will be making our schedules match up.”

He sighed with relief stuffing three French fries in his mouth. “Wow, thanks, that’s so nice of you,” he murmured around the bite of his burger next. “I’m glad I sat with you instead of my friends today.”

“Oh?” She smirked.

“Yeah,” he glanced across the room to a booth filled with four boys who were all ogling the pair of them. “They all think I’m crazy for talking to a pretty upperclassman,” he admitted. “I told them I knew you from fire duty, but they didn’t believe me.” Her cheeks definitely warmed at the compliment, and she felt herself under the scrutiny of the whole group. “M’sorry,” he said quickly. “I didn’t mean to embarrass you.”

Kyle was unlike any eighteen-year-old guy she had ever met in her whole life. The guys in her high school wouldn’t have been able to compete. “Do you have a sister?” She asked.

He nodded. “She goes to a different school, but she’s a senior,” that seemed to explain it. His sister was a year older than her.  “Why?”

“Your compliments are very kind, and I was just thinking that most guys your age—”

He smiled. “Oh... yeah. The guys all think I’m a huge ladies’ man or something,” he told her with an eye roll. He was brushing it off. But she could see it. In a lot of ways, he reminded her of Harry. “My sister just taught me really well how to talk and treat women.”

“That’s really nice,” she smiled. “Are you seeing someone?”

“No, my older brother is a legacy in this frat, so it’s taken up most of my semester—and before, honestly. I used to come to parties with him when I was still in high school because he wanted to show me the ropes. That’s how I know Harry... kind of, just from observing him and being around the frat life. Where is he, by the way?”

“Class, he should be getting out soon.”

He blanched almost immediately. “Oh, I better go then, I don’t want him—”

“What?” She interrupted with a scoff of laughter in her voice. “You don’t have to go. We’re friends,” she rolled her eyes.

“Um... I think Harry is a bit of the jealous type when it comes to you,” he explained. “I heard he punched someone at one of the parties you didn’t go to because they were talking about you. Plus, the guy in your sociology class wouldn’t keep his mouth shut and Niall had to tell him to shut it, or Harry would shut it for him.”

For a moment, she forgot how to breathe—or exist. She blinked; her eyes closed for a long moment before she looked at him curiously. “I’m sorry, what?” She tilted her head. She had heard rumors of course. The ones of inadequacy, difference of his previous relationships, just complete surprise in Harry being with her in general.

To hear that Harry was jealous—to the point of violence? How did she miss that? “He punched someone?”

“To be honest, I don’t know. I wasn’t in the room. But I know he definitely yelled,” Kyle shrugged taking another bite of his burger. Her jaw dropped.

The rumors didn’t bother her—not for why they should have bothered her. The feeling of inadequacy definitely hurt, but that was something she kind of worked out with Harry on her own. Violent outbursts were too much for her. Hopefully that was nothing more than a rumor. “Hey kitten,” she was lost in thought, didn’t even notice Harry approached. Looking up, she saw him staring at Kyle, seated across from her.

She shook her head to get her brain functioning again. “Oh,” she smiled. “Hi, you’re out early,” she stood up and pecked his cheek. He seemed stiff. Kyle paled while Harry continued staring and she felt so uneasy about seeing jealous Harry firsthand. Poor Kyle began cleaning up his stuff as quickly as he could. She put a hand on his arm to still him and he nearly ripped his arm away from her. Poor thing. “Do you know Kyle?” She asked as if he hadn’t almost taken his whole arm off at her touch. But she noted the way Harry shifted. “He’s usually on fire duty,” she explained sitting back in her seat. “I chatted with him on Halloweekend.”

Harry’s gaze was stiff, cold, and nothing like how he looked at her at all. “Kyle,” he repeated.

“Kyle was telling me he’s struggling with math,” she looked at Harry curiously, almost suspiciously. “You can vouch for me, right? I’m a pretty good tutor,” she giggled, and Harry loosened ever so slightly.

“Yeah, she’s a genius, I think,�� Harry slid into the booth seat beside her. He kissed her forehead. “M’jus’ gonna grab a quick snack,” he explained and left his bag beside her.

“What are you doing?” She asked as Kyle continued to clean up his stuff.

The color in Kyle’s face returned to normal and he sighed with relief when Harry left. “He’s gonna kill me.”

“Kyle,” she snorted. “We’re friends. He’ll get over it.”

“My friends are tweaking out over there.”

She glanced at them briefly to see them all snickering and smacking each other at their friend’s discomfort. “I see that,” she rolled her eyes. “He’s just a little protective,” she offered.

“I don’t blame him; you’re very pretty and nice,” he said with a shrug. “I’ve been at a lot of these parties and no one ever gives me the time of day," he murmured right before Harry reappeared.

“Kyle, y’brother was in Niall’s frat,” Harry said placing his food in front of him—a pre-made sandwich and a bottle of apple juice—which she thought was the cutest thing in the world to see a twenty-one-year-old guy who was hotter than the sun drinking a bottle of apple juice with his sandwich. “What was his name?”

Kyle gulped almost audibly; he was so uncomfortable it was palpable in the air. “Uh... Jesse,” he answered eventually. “He graduated last year. But I went to parties a lot. Showed the ropes kind of thing.”

“Ah,” Harry nodded. “Well, thanks for keeping m’girlfriend company. Don’t know if she told you, she’s from the south. So s’pretty cold without the fire,” he placed a hand beneath the table on her thigh. It made her swoon internally.

Girlfriend.

She could feel her whole face soften and the word. Her heart rate began to fly. She glanced at Harry from the corner of her eye to see if he was having a meltdown internally like she was. He wasn’t. It was as if this was just another ordinary moment of her life, and her heart wasn’t screaming.

Kyle must have heard the designation as well because his smile brightened, and she swore his eye twinkled in acknowledgment. “I didn’t know that. Makes a lot of sense,” he seemed a little more at ease now that Harry had turned off the protective tone. But worry was still just below the surface of his eyes. “Uh... would it be cool to get your number to help with the whole tutoring stuff?” He asked looking at his own phone. She wished she could look at Harry’s face when the poor thing asked. Kyle may as well have been asking Harry for it like some kind of dowry.

“Of course,” she said quickly and pulled her phone up to a new contact and handed it to him. She put her hand on Harry’s, still on her leg. She squeezed it while Kyle cleared his throat and passed it back to her.

“Thank you, my... my mom will appreciate the help,” he admitted, shyly.

“Happy to help,” she promised with a smile. “Thanks for keeping me company again.”

His face paled again, Harry’s grip on her thigh tightened at the same time. “I gotta go,” he gestured to his friends still staring at the three of them. “Thanks for the help, see you around.”

As soon as he was gone, she turned more directly to Harry, getting a good view of his profile. He sipped his apple juice. “Did you punch a guy?” She asked. He rolled his eyes and scoffed.

“Of course not.”

“Well, I thought that too, but you almost melted poor Kyle with your laser vision there,” she pressed a hand to the side of his face. Harry smirked under her touch. His cheeks turned the slightest shade of pink.

“M’jus...” he sighed. “Y’have t’understand, kitten. I’ve never felt this way ‘bout someone before. M’not usually the jealous type. Y’can ask Mitch and Sarah. M’not one t’play dick goalie; if someone wanted t’be in a relationship with someone else, m’not gonna make myself sick with worry,” he shrugged. “But you?” He shook his head. “S’like there’s this bug in m’head. The whole picnic was nice, but y’deserve more. M’ready t’do anything t’keep you to myself. T’give you all y’want and more.”

“And you think poor, baby freshman Kyle is going to give me more?” She asked sarcasm dripping in her voice. But it was still kind how she said it. She could hear the worry in Harry’s voice. It was unnecessary, but nonetheless sweet. She couldn’t believe he liked her so much.

“He already has a crush on you,” he grumbled and bit into his sandwich.

“He does not,” but the heat rising to her cheeks didn’t help her case.

“Of course, he does, love,” Harry rolled his eyes. “A hot, upperclassman talking t’a freshman? I’d’ve written our names in a notebook.”

“He’s harmless,” she promised.

“He is, but s’jus’ furthering m’point,” he smiled. “M’literally dating you and ‘ve got a huge crush on you. You’re nice, funny, and beautiful. S’like y’were made in a lab.”

“You forgot I’m good at math,” she teased.

“Don’t remind me. Don’t know why you’re slumming it with me.”

She smiled, shaking her head. “I didn’t know we were boyfriend and girlfriend,” it sounded so cheesy saying it out loud. She hoped he wouldn’t think she was ridiculous but it really ached in her chest.

“Kitten, we have been since y’agreed t’sit with me in class,” he smirked. “Y’should’ve asked,” he kissed the top of her head.

She laughed. “That long?”

“Mhmm...” he hummed and draped his arm around her and pulled her closer. “Did y’think this was just a little fling or something?”

“No,” she cleared her throat. “Or, I hoped not. But...” she shrugged. “I know I’m not like the other girls you’ve dated. And I know I’m kind of lame—”

“Please don’t talk about my lovely girlfriend like that,” he winked cutely. She rolled her eyes.

“I would be extremely jealous if I saw a girl flirting with you,” she told him.

His flirty smile disappeared, a frown replacing his entire face. “I would never make y’jealous intentionally. I haven’t noticed anyone since I met you, kitten,” he promised. “I really don’t want y’to worry ‘bout me. I know y’hear rumors and I can imagine they bug you, but s’all they are. If there’s ever something y’want t’know, y’can ask. I won’t... blame y’for asking.”

“I trust you,” her voice was so firm, she hoped he knew that. This conversation was almost too serious for a dining hall, but she was kind of glad to be talking about all of it. “Really, truly. Allie is gonna take a little longer to believe you, but even she said you act differently around me.”

“S’good to know,” he smirked. “I’ll work on it. M’glad y’trust me.”

She smiled. “You trust me, right?”

“I do, I really do, kitten. Believe me, s’all the guys that are right to flirt with you that make me crazy. They see someone so beautiful and kind,” he shook his head. “M’no better than them, honestly.”

For a moment, she just looked at him. It was hard to believe he was so crazy about her. After all he had told her, and all the issues she had within her mind, making her feel a little insane at times, Harry didn’t care. He assuaged every worry. Every minor little problem or fear she had, he plucked it right out and assured her that everything was lovely.

She leaned upward and pecked his cheek again. “No punching someone,” she said simply. “I have to get to class, are you going to stay here?” She asked.

“Leave you t’walk with the wolves?” He asked, packaging his sandwich up and putting his juice in his bag. “Absolutely, not,” he rolled his eyes. She giggled and she couldn’t help but notice how Harry’s smile brightened as she did.

*

Prior to university, Harry’s teachers told him and his classmates how they would have so much free time in college. Which was true in a way; Harry had a lot of time to join a club sport, hold down a job, go to the gym, enjoy himself as much as he wanted. However, all those extra curriculars and obligations he gave himself created a packed schedule. The fear of insurmountable debt made him pick up shifts even when he didn’t want to.

It was a miracle he found a girlfriend as busy as he was. If she had more free time, Harry worried she would find someone who had more time for him. But between working, classes, studying, and going for runs with Allie (although she assured Harry that it was mostly walking for the better part of ninety minutes and followed by a half hour of stretching), they mainly saw each other at bedtime.

“I think we’re an old married couple,” Harry murmured into her hair. He loved the feel of her body close to his. Having her in his arms was where he wanted her most.

“We haven’t fought about hair in the shower drain yet,” she reminded him.

“S’because all of it’s in m’mouth right now,” he spluttered, pretending to spit her hair out of his mouth. She twisted around, facing him, he smiled at her. “M’jus’ kidding. I would eat your hair,” he joked.

“You’re insane.”

“’Bout you.”

“Somewhere in the future is a true crime podcast about you murdering me,” she had this habit of placing her hand on his face and skimming her thumb across his cheek. It was soothing, if he wasn’t careful, he would fall asleep before finishing their chat. She threw her voice to do a monologued intro. “He was so handsome. No one suspected that he had a hair fetish that would devolve into full-blown cannibalism.”

He laughed and brought his mouth close to hers. “I wouldn’t eat you, kitten. M’not a psychopath,” he rolled his eyes. “I would probably just keep your body preserved and play house with it.”

She nodded. “Well, that’s a relief.”

He chuckled, rolled his eyes again. “Go to sleep.”

“M’worried you’ll kill me when I’ve let my guard down,” she yawned. “S’always the husband. After twenty-five years of marriage,” she reminded him.

“S’a risk we all take, I think.”

“Can you at least text Allie that she can have my clothes?”

“First on m’to do list after I clean up the blood.”

“I don’t think we should watch scary movies before bed anymore.”

“Yes, dear.”

She giggled. For a few moments they just gazed at one another. Her eyes got droopier, her breath slower. “Good night, Harry,” she whispered.

“Good night, kitten,” he answered just as softly. His tongue was twitching to say three more words. Words that, realistically, he wanted to say the moment he met her. His heart ached to say them as much as his tongue. Part of him wondered if she would say it back. Was it too early? She hadn’t been in love before. He needed it to be special when he said it. Was he prepared if she didn’t say it back?

Her face nuzzled into his collarbone; a sigh escaped her, completely content. He wondered if she was already asleep. Maybe he would just whisper it to her sleeping form for practice. Was he being ridiculous? Was it too soon? No, he never felt like this when he dated before her. “Thanks for being my boyfriend,” her voice was so gentle, so sweet. “I like it a lot.”

He kissed her forehead, his heart cracking under the pressure of how adorable she was. “Pleasure’s all mine, love,” despite how badly he wanted to say it, he wanted it to be more special for her. She deserved that.

*

Harry called his mum as often as he could to check in. It was usually twice a week and texts every day. He was sitting outside the restaurant in the cold, trying to ease his mind off the packed schedule he had for the next couple weeks. It was hard to believe it was mid-November. Finals and their holiday break would be right around the corner. “Hi honey-bunny,” his mum said into the phone. “You on break?” She asked.

“Yeah, hi Mum; how are you?”

“Missing my baby,” she cooed.

He chuckled. “M’jus’ calling ’cause I have a free minute.”

“Thank you,” she said gratefully. “How’s our leading lady?” She asked.

Harry smiled to himself, despite being alone, his cheeks surely turned pink. Shortly after his breakfast with Mitch, he called his mum to tell her that he met her; the girl he was certain he was going to marry her. “She’s good,” he nearly sighed dreamily. “Do y’want to meet her?” He asked.

“Of course I do!” She nearly cheered. “M’sure she’s lovely.”

“Y’know, her family’s down south. M’not sure what her plans are for the holiday break,” he shrugged. “If she’s stuck here because of flights, could I invite her home?”

“Oh of course! I’ll have to get her a stocking.”

“Er...don’t scare her Mum,” he laughed lightly. “I don’t know if she can yet.”

“Well, you’re certain you’re going to marry her, I better get one anyway.”

His mum was all on board for having a daughter-in-law. One that was sweet and perfect for her little baby boy. Gemma was excited to have someone to poke fun with and truly, she’d always wanted a sister as well. Harry felt his stomach flip at the thought. While his mum was a strong supporter and kind about who Harry fell in love with, Gemma was the slightest bit more skeptical. When he called her earlier in the semester about the pretty girl, Gemma was happy for him. “Harry, you’re very young still. I’m young. Are you sure you want to settle for the first girl you think is the one?”

“S’not settling, Gem. You haven’t met her,” he assured her. “S’not even close to settling,” he promised. “I know m’young...but...’ve wanted t’meet her for a really long time,” he told her. Gemma knew that. Her younger brother, the sweet six-foot giant, had been graced with a heart bigger than anyone she knew. He was empathetic, adoring, and always kind. As much as he hated bugs and spiders, he always wanted them to be saved when they were younger and placed neatly outside so as not to upset their little insect families. Harry dreamed about getting married the first time he had a crush on a pretty girl in his grade school classes. His heart was broken on Valentine’s Day when she didn’t send him a Valentine, but he had pored over his glittery heart craft that he had slipped into her school mailbox. The heartache only lasted a little while—he was only seven at the time—but he wanted love. It was obvious. Gemma and her Mum had cultivated his love of Rom-Coms and they were his first line of advice when he needed help with gifts for the girl he was seeing.

Gemma knew that Harry dated a bit, desperately searching for the lady that he thought would appear long before he went to university. So as much as Gemma tried to quell his excitement over the object of all his affections and remind him how young he was to find the love of his life, Gemma knew that she was different. The way she had captured her brother’s heart so entirely was a beautiful sign.

“Gemma will want to meet her too,” Mum brought him back to the present. His break was waning, and he would need to get back inside momentarily. “I’m really happy you’re happy, Harry.”

His heart felt so whole, it nearly hurt. “Me too, Mum.”

“Have a good rest of your day, honey bunny. Love you.”

“Love you too, Mum, talk to you soon.”

*

When they walked to class, it was freezing. Even for Harry. Which meant it was probably insufferable for her. Her hands were stuffed in her coat pockets, Harry desperately wanted to hold her hand but couldn’t bring himself to steal it from the warmth inside her jacket. “Y’really wanted t’come up here away from the warmth?” he murmured his question.

The leaves were no longer the warm hues of a sunset colors. They wilted into chestnut, sepia colors and piled along fences outlining the campus. The ground was hard beneath her feet, and she wondered if her coat was going to be thick enough to make it through the winter. She smiled. Her cheeks were wind-blown pink, and her nose was a little runny, but Harry thought she had never looked more beautiful. “Yes, wouldn’t have met you otherwise,” she said immediately. He chuckled, his cheeks turning their own shade of pink.

“Wait till y’see the snow,” he reminded her.

“I’m so excited for snow,” she sounded excited. God, he wanted to hold her hand so badly. She pulled a gloved hand out of her pocket at the very moment and pulled a strand of hair away from her lips. “I need hot chocolate,” she grabbed Harry’s hand between them and squeezed it, making him ache with more adoration for her. “Do you work today?”

He did, but it was a short shift. “Jus’ till nine.”

“So hot chocolate at your place?”

He wondered if she could see the somersaults his heart was doing in his eyes. “Please,” he squeezed her hand back. “I’d love that, kitten.”

She brought their hands to her cold lips and kissed the back of his hand. Harry was certain he was going to start sweating with how warm the gesture was and he couldn’t bring himself to care about how ridiculous it all was.

*

Fortunately, Saturday was much warmer than their hot chocolate date. It was still cool, but around the fire, it wasn’t nearly as frigid or achy. Harry once more showed up after his shift. Glancing through the gossip column that was his text messages.

Your girlfriend is awfully cozy with the Fire Marshall.

He knew that it was just to get a rise out of him. He didn’t even have the number saved. But it didn’t mean it didn’t work. After nearly sprinting most of the way from his parking spot to Niall’s house, he had to slow to a walk and take a few laps around the block to ease the anxiety in his mind. Kyle was just her friend. She was kind. She was lovely. Harry knew there was nothing he needed to worry about with her. It wasn’t her.

It was just that she was drop dead gorgeous and Kyle had a massive crush on her. His eye twitched and he rubbed at it as he meandered into the yard. The thought of them having a study session also didn’t help his anxious mind. This was a horrible feeling. He wouldn’t wish it on his worst enemy.

Fortunately, he saw Allie chatting with a group of her friends in the front yard. Some drinking game was definitely happening—it involved cornhole, which he felt of all the games they could have played, it was probably the least dangerous. He gave her a wave. “Hi Harry! She’s out back by the fire!” She shouted. That seemed like Five-Drink-Allie if he had to bet. Poor thing was going to have a killer headache in the morning.

He chuckled, saluted her, and headed around the side of the house. He saw the bonfire and the pair standing by it. They were close together and his heart skipped a beat feeling anxious and hot as he watched while approaching. “S’mores?” He asked.

“Hi, Harry,” she cooed sweetly standing on her toes to kiss his cheek. Almost immediately, the fiery envy in his heart disappeared and was replaced with adoration once more.

“Hi, kitten,” he wrapped his arm around her waist.

“Kyle provided s’mores,” she said knowingly. “Now it’s a real party,” she explained holding the s’mores stick out toward the flame. “Do you like good marshmallows or bad marshmallows?” She asked.

Harry chuckled. “Sounds a bit loaded...What’s a good marshmallow?”

“Not charred on the outside,” Kyle rolled his eyes. A pang of frustration went through Harry over the idea that they had an inside joke he was not privy to. “She’s very serious about this.”

“Golden brown is best,” she explained.

“Sorry kitten, m’a charred s’more kinda guy,” Harry smiled.

She scoffed. “Horrible. Both of you. Wasting marshmallows,” she grumbled.

“M’gonna grab a drink. You’ll be here?” He asked.

“Yeah of course, I think Niall was looking for you,” she added reaching for the chocolate and graham crackers they had placed on a jacket on the ground. It must have been Kyle’s because there was no way she would part with a jacket if she were wearing it, no matter how warm it was by the fire; he was sure her icicle self couldn’t do it. “I’ll make you a gross s’more for when you come back; take your time,” she smiled. Harry winked at her, nodded to Kyle, and headed inside.

He found Niall hovering near the makeshift bar. Grateful he could just ask his friend to sneak him a can directly from the fridge without having to distract the freshman bartender for the tenth time in the semester. “Harry!” He cheered. Niall wasn’t drunk; it took a lot for someone so Irish to get drunk at all. But he was friendly. Harry was certain he would greet him the same way, first thing in the morning. “Mitch and Sarah are here,” he pointed toward a group of people over by the pong table. It looked like a game of quarters this week, but he couldn’t be certain. Niall got closer to him and murmured in his ear while he asked the freshman bartender for something to drink as well. “Is Kyle bugging your lady?” He asked. Niall looked at him knowingly, reading between the lines, Harry knew it wasn’t about her, it was entirely about himself.

“No,” he shook his head. “They’re friends.”

“I can tell him to cool it,” he offered.

Harry nodded. “S’fine,” he promised coolly grateful it was dark, so Niall probably missed the way his eye twitched. Part of him wanted to go steal her away and just take her home. Niall nodded.

“Alright, just checking. He’s a good kid,” he promised.

“Seems it,” Harry agreed. “Game tomorrow?” He asked. Niall nodded, excitedly.

“Yessir,” he saluted and slugged back more of his drink. Harry chuckled circling over to Mitch and Sarah. Sarah was clinging to Mitch. A good sign that she had more than her standard two drinks and was getting a little tipsier than normal.

“I got a great grade on my exam,” she giggled.

Mitch smirked and rolled his eyes. “I see,” Harry laughed. “Celebrating, are we?”

She nodded and held her cup out for Harry to clink with his own plasticky sound. “Is my new best friend coming over tonight for a sleepover? I want those scones she made last week!” Sarah nearly had hearts in her eyes at the thought. Mitch chuckled, kissed the side of her head, while wrapping an arm around her tightly.

“M’sure she can,” Harry chuckled. Allie happened into the room at that point and Harry waved her over.

“Hi!” She chirped and gave Sarah a hug.

“Do you two have plans tomorrow?” Harry asked. “Sarah wants scones.”

“Oh, so do I,” Allie bounced on her toes excitedly.

“You should sleepover too!” Sarah cheered excitedly. “We can put the boys in one room,” she suggested. Mitch snorted and rolled his eyes. He sipped his drink and looked Harry knowingly.

It sounded adorable, honestly. Bringing two facets of his life so close together. But part of him dreaded not spending the night snuggled up to the pretty girl.

“But no, we don’t have plans—I’m not sure if she’s working though...where is—? Oh no,” Allie seemed to sober immediately dropping her cup, spilling it on Mitch and Sarah’s feet before she ran out the back door. Without looking, Harry dropped his cup and the seltzer he had for her and followed suit. He sensed Mitch and Sarah on his heels.

About a foot from the fire, she was standing between Kyle and another guy. Harry didn’t know his name. The s’mores were abandoned, and Kyle had a murderous look in his eye. “Kyle, it’s fine,” she promised as he approached.

“No, it’s not,” he snapped. “Get out of the way,” he ground out to her but she was pressed up against him, her entire back protectively pressed in front of him.

“What are you going to do Freshmeat? Big brother’s not here to get you out of this one,” the other guy taunted shoving Kyle despite the fact she was between them. She smacked his hand.

“Stop it,” she scowled at him. Honestly, Harry thought it would have been cute had he not been so furious.

“Hey!” Allie shouted at the same time Harry shoved the other guy away almost immediately.

“Harry!” She shouted pushing Kyle back another step.

“Back off,” Harry snarled.

“Oh, so you’re okay sharing her with a freshman, but not—”

“I wouldn’t finish that sentence,” Sarah warned.

She was holding Kyle’s arm trying to keep him calm. “Harry, let’s just go,” she whispered nervously. “Please,” she added, her voice catching.

“What did you say to her?” Harry growled, eyeing him. It was obvious he had too much to drink.

“Harry,” Allie warned coming to her side. “It’s okay, let’s just go.”

“You better take care of your girl, Styles. Or someone will do it for you,” he warned. Harry felt so hot with rage it was hotter than the fire.

“Harry,” Mitch said lowly. “Let’s just go,” he repeated.

“I’m getting Niall,” Allie sped back for the house.

Harry set his jaw, glaring at him, and turned his attention briefly to her and Kyle. “Are you alright?” He asked, his voice tight.

She nodded. “Very okay. I just want to go,” she whispered.

Harry backed up toward Kyle and her. He grabbed her hand and tugged her with him as quickly as he could. “Teasing slut,” he muttered lowly.

But not low enough.

Harry smiled, shook his head, and reeled around. “Wanna repeat that?” He asked.

“Harry,” her voice was close to tears, begging. “Harry, please.”

“Hey!” Niall shouted hurrying out the house in front of Allie.

“I said, she’s a ‘teasing slut.’ You’re just lucky you got to her first—”

“HEY!” Niall repeated but Kyle was the one that lunged at the same time.

“Kyle!” She shouted.

Harry yanked the poor kid away and shoved him back toward Mitch and Sarah. “Harry!” She begged again, apparently unafraid to get close to the action. Niall yanked her back just as fast as Harry pulled Kyle away and Harry started to lunge. With Allie and Sarah holding Kyle back, Mitch grabbed Harry before he could throw a single punch. The drunk idiot cackled at the drama and shook his head.

“Let’s go,” Mitch ordered fiercely. She sighed with relief grabbing his arm and pulling him close to her. Niall shoved the other guy back toward the house.

“I’m sorry,” she whispered.

He almost felt as angry as he was moments ago. “S’not your fault, love,” Niall assured her with a smile. “Harry, y’good?” He asked. Harry nodded stiffly looking at the ground. “Kyle,” Niall looked at the younger one trapped between Sarah and Allie. “You good?”

He nodded once. “M’fine,” he muttered, shaking his head. “Sorry. He was so pushy. I just thought he was trying to drug her or something,” he promised.

Harry tensed up so hard he thought he would tear a muscle just standing there. She shivered. “Thank you, Kyle. But you didn’t need to do all that,” her voice was soft but almost warning—like a mum to her child. “I wasn’t going to drink anything he offered me,” she promised. “You could have gotten really hurt,” she reminded him.

Harry envied her coolness right now. He was fuming and while she was speaking as gently as she could to Kyle, her hand was roaming his arm just as gently. “Worth it,” he promised. They needed to leave quickly, or Harry was going to let all his jealous emotions surge through him.

“I’m ordering an Uber back,” Sarah said. “S’too cold and you’re too hotheaded to walk—you’ll end up sprinting,” she said to Harry. “How many?” She asked. It was determined all five of them would be leaving.

“You’ll watch him?” She asked Niall quietly and gestured toward Kyle who was picking up the trash around the fire.

“Always,” he winked. “Sorry ‘bout the drama, love.”

“Comes with the territory, I think,” she squeezed Harry’s hand.

“You’ll watch him?” Niall asked.

She smiled. “Always.”

*

Allie did a really good job realizing she was going to throw up the moment she got into Casa Mitch and Harry. “Sarah, can you get some meds and a soda?” She asked.

“You’re the bestest friend there ever was,” Allie moaned laying on the floor beside the toilet. Sarah smirked and handed over the supplies and doubled back for a pillow and a blanket.

“Scones in the morning?” Sarah asked.

“Sounds great,” she smiled sweetly. It was obvious Harry was still on edge. He headed into his bedroom and paced while she finished up with Sarah and Allie.

“You good there, Al?” She asked.

She held up a thumb that sort of leaned a little more than halfway down than it did up. Smirking, she waved to Mitch and Sarah gave her arm a squeeze. “Good night, Harry,” Sarah called gently.

“Shout if you need something, Allie,” she pushed her friend’s hair back and left her to sleep on the cold tile. She quietly closed Harry’s bedroom door and waited while Harry continued pacing.

“What did he say?” He snapped.

“Harry, it’s not—”

“Kitten, m’begging,” he looked at her so hurt, so terribly sad, she nearly caved.

“It was nothing, Harry. It’ll do no good to talk it out. You’ll just get mad—”

“M’jus’ gonna ask Kyle,” Harry was still fuming as he paced.

“Harry,” she repeated. “Please. I’m telling you; it was nothing. Please believe me.”

Harry pressed his head against the window. The lights illuminating the paths to the different buildings were soft and the room was otherwise dark. “M’sorry, kitten,” he mumbled. “M’jus’ mad.”

“I know.”

Harry turned and looked at her. He hardly got a sedcond to look at how pretty she was. “You look beautiful, my love,” he murmured. “S’no wonder y’got him all flustered,” he smirked.

She sighed; the relief palpable in the air. “I’m so sorry.”

“Y’did nothing,” he shook his head. “M’jus...crazy ‘bout you, kitten. I’m sorry,” he grabbed her hands and brought them to his lips. Her fingers were still cold, and he frowned. “M’sorry,” he repeated and blew his breath across her hands to warm them.

She looked utterly distraught. “He’s going to lie,” she croaked suddenly. Her throat closing around the emotion. “He’s going to say I was making out with Kyle or something. It’s not true Harry, you have to know that. Any rumor you hear tomorrow, it’s unequivocally false,” she had tears in her eyes.

“Baby,” Harry whispered. “I would never believe someone over you.”

“No?” She hiccupped softly.

He cupped her face. “Course not, love,” he kissed her forehead, and it melted her icy body so immensely. The first time in an hour that she felt calm. “M’sorry he said something to you, or about you.”

“It’s...it’s okay,” she promised. “I know you’re probably still... jealous of him, or whatever, but I was really glad Kyle was there,” she told him. “I wished you were, but it was good.”

“Don’t ever stand between me and someone that wants t’hurt you,” he warned. The one thing he would probably blame Kyle for from then on.

“Kyle’s just a baby,” she reminded him.

“I don’t want t’talk ‘bout Kyle anymore.”

She giggled. “Okay.”

Harry pulled his shirt over his head. “Let’s go to bed. We have scones t’bake in the morning.”

*

Harry woke to about thirty messages from a variety of people all claiming to know bits and pieces of everything about last night. Other than Niall’s, he deleted every single message without so much as a glance at the details. Instead, he looked at the sleepy girl, tucked near his chest. He brushed her hair behind her ear.

There was a knock. “Are you naked?” Allie asked. He snorted.

“No,” he murmured quietly.

Despite the fact she had thrown up, she looked pretty good. “I used your toothbrush,” she said climbing into the bed beside her best friend. Harry shook his head.

“Hi Allie,” she murmured.

“Hi sweetie,” she yawned. “You going to make Sarah and I some scones?”

She nodded, tucking her face into Harry’s chest. “In a minute.”

The twin bed was not made for three people and Harry thought it was quite hilarious. “Should I get out t’let y’snuggle?”

“Please,” Allie yawned and threw an arm over her eyes. He chuckled and kissed the sweet girl’s forehead before climbing out of bed.

“Sorry,” she murmured.

“I’ll make sure we have everything,” he suggested. “Need a new toothbrush,” he rolled his eyes.

“I like Harry,” Allie whispered.

“I do too.”

*

While cleaning their little kitchen, Harry couldn’t stop himself from thinking about how much he loved her. It was becoming impossible to not say it every chance he got. But he wanted it to be special. More special than he could ever describe. He was sure she wouldn’t care, but it meant more to him that it be special. Especially after he flubbed their first real date.

“What?” She smiled as she looked up from the dishes in the sink.

“Do y’want t’go away next weekend?” He asked. “Before finals get too crazy?”

He was envisioning a romantic weekend away at Mitch’s family’s cabin up the mountain. Quiet, cold, for sure, but warm in the cabin. Just the two of them. He could tell her he loved her. No distractions. Shopping in the little town, cooking together in a full kitchen, sleeping by the fireplace, and just sweetness and a special weekend for the pair of them.

“Do I need to bring anything special?” She asked.

“Another coat, probably," he chuckled.

Her smiled was a mixture of relief and happiness. “I would love that.”

--

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The Brute and The Scholar

Chapter Five | Treacherous Cassian x Fem!Reader Previous Chapter | Next Chapter Series Masterlist | General Masterlist

word count: 9.0k

warnings: cursing, blood

author's note: my fav chapter so far i fear... let me know what you think!!

Cassian didn’t see you for a week and he hated every second of it.  He couldn’t wait to see you again and work on the same bullshit for hours.  

He wondered what you had done when he dropped you off at your house on the night of the Winter Solstice and the following week.  He imagined you were skating every morning and working in your mom’s store, leaning over the counter with a book laid out in front of you.  Despite your clear explanation of the moments you two had shared while at the Autumn Court, he wondered if you thought of that night on your doorstep and your reason for tilting your head towards him, your face and lips inches from his own.

He wondered about it all, so much so that he lost the snowball fight, too lost in the memories of you hunched over the desk with a pen in your hand or giving him a look for suggesting an idea that wasn’t horrible but that you didn’t like.

“Distracted much?”  Azriel laughed as they sat in the sauna after he had won, once again.

Cassian just shrugged.  He was; he hadn’t heard a single thing Azriel or Rhysand had said since they had entered.

“Too busy thinking of Y/N I bet.”  Rhysand laughed and Cassian rolled his eyes.

“Busy thinking about work, actually.”  He smirked and the other males scoffed.

“You’re too much of a romantic, brother.”  Rhysand laughed and looked at him.

Cassian was clearly head over heels for you.  He looked like a lovesick boy, unable to stay away from a female who clearly wanted nothing to do with him.  You were aloof, with eyes too sharp and analytical and a face that, despite your best efforts to be courteous to everyone, revealed you thought very little of what they had to say.

“We are just friends.”

“Colleagues more like,” Azriel grunted and Cassian shot him a look.

Cassian wouldn’t share the secret of your intimate moments; he knew you would be mortified if anyone knew anything about you that you hadn’t told them.  Azriel and Rhysand were his brothers, yes, but this needed to stay his little secret.  He needed to be the only one to think about the possibilities of what would happen if you two got closer.

“She is beautiful and smart.  What’s not to like?”

“The fact that she looks like she’s going to kill you every time you speak.”  Azriel shot back with a laugh and Cassian laughed even louder.

Azriel was more than right on that.  You seemed to hate everything that Cassian said even though he never thought any of his ideas were that bad but you made it a point to lecture him on how wrong he was and how flawed his thought processes were.  He really didn’t mind because maybe you were right, he really didn’t know or care, but he liked when you talked to him, especially when you made eye contact with you.  Your eyes were always serious and fierce and he had memorized them already and their million shades of emotions and colors, but looking at them again never hurt.

“She’s good, though.”  Rhysand mused.  “She’s made more progress than Feyre and I have in the past few years.”

The group nodded in agreement.

You had been able to do the impossible: reunite Prythian through treaties and contracts and diplomatic discussions.  The Autumn Court was growing stronger with the help of the Night Court and Eris’ paranoia had simmered down with you being the mediator with him and the rest of the Courts, especially the Spring Court.  Tamlin had stopped being as defensive about accepting help in his territories and rebuilding alliances across the region.  How you managed to do it, nobody really knew but they were grateful for it nonetheless.

Azriel was especially grateful because it lessened the work he had to do.  With the High Lords on the same page as everyone else, he had to interact with his spies less and focus more on the Human Queens with Rhysand.

Cassian was giddy Monday morning, waiting on the porch of the River House for your inevitable arrival.  He was excited to see you and ask what you had been doing this past week and jokingly, but not jokingly, ask if you’d missed him.

He saw you round the bend and trudge up the pathway to the house.  You were looking down but he could see that your brows were tight on your forehead and you were scowling to yourself.

There she is.

“Good morning!”  Cassian shouted and your head snapped up and you frowned and looked him up and down.

He was dressed warmly with a thick black jacket and sweatpants and his hair was messy, probably from the high winds that morning.

“Morning,” you grumbled as you walked past him and into the house.

You sighed at the warmth and took off your gloves and coat and sniffed.

“You have a good break?”  Cassian asked from behind you as you walked to your shared office.

You glanced over your shoulder and he was very close to you, so much so that you drew your shoulders in to create some resemblance of space.  He seemed to notice because he sped up and came next to you which really wasn’t any better.

“Yes.  Did you?”

“Great,” he beamed at you and you gave him a skeptical look.

He was being too weird.

“Did something happen?”  You asked slowly as you turned a corner and kept walking.

“Not anything particular.”  He pondered the question and spoke again.  “I went to the cabin and we had a snowball fight and then we all hung out.”  He shrugged.

“A snowball fight?”  You turned to him and to his surprise you were smiling.

“Every year.”  He grinned.

You chuckled and kept walking and Cassian followed you.

Gods, he had missed you so much.

“Did you do anything?”  Cassian asked as you entered the office and you shook your head.

“Just the usual.”

He nodded his head and sat in his desk chair and started to rock back and forth.

“You miss me?”  He asked with a smirk and you frowned at him.

“No.”

He pouted.  “I missed you.”

You rolled your eyes but you were smiling.  “You see me all the time.”

“I didn’t see you for a week.  It was horrible.”

You exhaled, your smile growing and it was so genuine it made his chest warm.  “And yet you survived.”

Cassian laughed and you started to open the letters that had piled up on your desk during your vacation.

“You really didn’t miss me?”  Cassian had made his way to your desk across the room and sat on it, his knee touching your arm.

You cringed away and gave him a look.  “No.  I particularly enjoyed our time apart.”  Lie.

A flash of hurt flitted across his eyes and he gave you a lazy smile.  “You’re a horrible liar Y/N.”

You frowned.  “I’m not lying.  Now leave me alone.”

You were lying.  You thought about him too much during that week apart and it frustrated you immensely.  You hated how much he had consumed your thoughts and how much you ached to see him and feel his touch again.  You had never felt this way before and never thought you would; you had always believed you were not built for any type of romantic feelings, that maybe you were too good for it but here you were with an odd sense of pining that made you ball your hands into fists and grumble to yourself how stupid it was, how stupid you were, and how stupid he was.

Cassian had uprooted your senses even if he didn’t know it.  He left you in a daze every time he left your presence and you hated every second of it.  How he was able to make you melt just by looking at you was beyond your comprehension.  You had said it clearly, you two were victims of your circumstances; stuck in Autumn for weeks and were confusing platonic with romantic feelings.  Cabin fever, you had said.

So how was it that he was able to do it to you again weeks later?  How was he able to make you want him to kiss you and take you on the doorstep of your house?  His ability to make you act like a teenager was incredible.  Maybe it was because of the wine or because you were so emotionally vulnerable.  You really weren’t sure and you weren’t sure if it happened again you could resist that innate pull you felt towards him.  He was a beautiful light that you felt compelled to be near and touch even if it hurt you.

He was ruining your life.  You were losing focus on your goals and priorities.  You should be focusing on getting your plans together for your trip to the Spring Court but instead you were daydreaming of what could’ve happened all those times he had invaded your space.

You should be scared of him.  And you were in a sense.  You were scared of how big he was and the size of his wings and the trauma they reminded you of, but yet, if you took those pieces of him away, he was borderline something you wanted and like Cassian had said during your argument that day, he was something that you needed even if you didn’t want to admit it.

Cassian just chuckled, taking half the stack of letters and went back to his desk.  He put his feet up and started sorting them from high priority to low priority like you two had been doing for the past few months.

It was routine at this point.  He annoyed you first thing in the morning, you sorted and responded to letters, had lunch, he annoyed you some more, met with Rhysand and Feyre, and then went home.

It was a welcomed routine and it lessened your anxiety about working here a great deal.  You used to show up with sweaty palms and a racing heartbeat, but now you strolled in without knocking and said hello to everyone and started working.

Cassian’s easy going personality helped a lot too.  He never seemed to care about anything and you envied him for it.  You wished you could not think about anything like he did.  Instead you thought about everything and it took over your body like a plague that you couldn’t fight off.

Cassian knew this and knew it well but had no idea how to quell your worries and anxiety so he let you be for the most part except for the few times he offered to be someone you could talk to but you turned him down every time.  

“Do you think,” Cassian’s voice rang in the otherwise quiet room.

You titled your head towards him but kept your eyes on the letter you were reading.

“Do you think that I could help you with your fear of my wings?”  

You shot him a look and he was already looking at you with a thoughtful expression.

“Like, work on desensitizing you to them.”

You tilted your head and couldn’t help the look of rage that flickered on your face.  The rage was simply a mask of the fear you were feeling and Cassian could feel it.

“Why would I need to do that?”  You finally asked.

Cassian pursed his lips and shrugged slightly.  “I think it could be helpful.  Maybe make you more comfortable around me and Az,” his voice was quieter, more soft now.

You let out a breath through your nose.  Would it be beneficial to work through your trauma?  Yes.  Would it be beneficial to feel fully relaxed in your workplace?  Yes.  Would it be beneficial to do it with Cassian?  Unclear.  Would it be beneficial for him to know?  Probably not.

He looked hopeful but somber at the same time and you rolled your neck, trying to look nonchalant despite the fact that your heart was hurting from how hard it was beating in your chest.

“Sure.”

It was a cold, windy, but sunny day as you walked out onto the back lawn of the River House.  Cassian was already waiting, his back turned to you as he looked out to the skies and mountains.

He knew doing this type of exercise would be too much for you so he opted to work with you outside so you had space to step away and relax if need be.

You approached him from the side and he turned to you with a smile.

“Ready?”

You took a deep breath and frowned, looking around.  You really weren’t if you were going to be honest with yourself.  This was the last thing you wanted to do with him or with anybody.  You did not want to reopen those wounds and unlock the memories you had tried so hard these past few years to bury.

But you needed to.  You would never escape the guilt and shame, but you had to escape this particular fear at some point; four members of the Inner Circle had Illyrian wings and if you were going to work here and avoid offending them you needed to do this.

So you crossed your arms and nodded.

“I was thinking we just stand here and you work on getting close to me.”  He said as he leaned on one foot and flexed his wings.

The movement made you flinch and you took a step back.

“I don’t know about that.”  You mumbled as you eyed the shining talons at the top of his wings.

“Do you want to talk about why you feel that way?”  He took a step towards you.

“No,” you snapped.  “Don’t ask me that ever again.”

While you were abrasive with him often, you had never gotten that tone with him before and it made him jerk back, like you had physically hit him.

“I’m sorry.”

Your hands were shaking and you were staring at the snow, the light reflecting off of it blinding you.

You looked up at him, tears brimming your eyes.  Already it was too much.  He was too much.  There was so much space around you and yet you felt like you were suffocating, the edges of the world coming in on you.  His wings loomed over his shoulders, taunting you and you let a whimper and Cassian’s eyes shifted.

“It’s okay,” he took a step back, his hands outstretched towards you.

With each step you felt better, like you could breathe again, like he wasn’t about to pounce on you and tear you apart.

He was about ten feet when he stopped and he just looked at you.  He could feel it; he could feel you so clearly like he was the one in a panic stricken state.  He hated that you felt this way and there was little he could do about it and it wasn’t like his presence was much help given he was the one with the wings; he was the one with the pieces that had done something so terrible to you that you froze like a deer, unable to move or think.

You let out a deep breath and stretched your fingers and nodded.  “Okay.  I’m okay.”  you sniffed and looked at him and Cassian relaxed at the determined look in your eyes.

This went on for a few hours.  He kept his distance and you paced back and forth and then in a semicircle around him, finding the courage to approach him.  He flexed his wings every now and then, earning a curse and a jump from you that made him laugh. 

Desensitization at its best.

“Do you feel better?”  Cassian asked you as you entered the house, kicking his boot on the doorframe, getting the snow off.

You shook your head.  You were even more scared.  He kept them tight and tucked into his back so often that you forgot just how massive they were and the see through skin made you so nauseous you had to bend over a few times to gather enough strength to keep going with the exercise.

You didn’t want to insult him and tell him that.  You didn’t want to tell him that the wings were even worse than they were before; that they were no longer brown black, but rather the milky white that had torn through the city, that screeched with delight as they killed everyone around them.  

“We’ll keep trying,” he replied. 

You left after with Cassian in tow after he insisted on walking you home.

“I don’t want you to slip on the ice,” he had said and you scoffed. 

Ridiculous excuse.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” you said as you opened the gate and Cassian leaned over you, placing his hand on yours.

“I really did miss you,” he whispered. 

His face was so close to yours that you could smell his cologne and you fought the urge to close your eyes and sigh at its scent.  Such sincerity filled his face and you admired it.  He was so open about his feelings; he let it be known with no shame and you also envied that about him.  He was proud of who he was, inside and out, and didn’t care what anyone thought of him.  He was firm in his beliefs and defended them and those around him, too.  You wanted those qualities; you wanted to be carefree and happy, but that simply was not a luxury you could afford or deserve.

You weren’t going to say the same.  You couldn’t.  You couldn’t cross that line again; it had been three times you two had done it and three times was enough.  You needed to work and you needed to do it well and a professional relationship was the only way.  

Platonic feelings often get confused as romantic ones, you reminded yourself.  Two people who spend almost every minute of every day together are bound to be confused in the true nature of their affections, you told yourself.  It was like a prayer at this point, something you recited and clinged to.  It was the truth but what if you allowed it to grow into something more?  What if you allowed him to be more than your partner?  

You squashed the thought down.  That was enough.  You were a grown adult with responsibilities and a life outside of wanting a male, especially this one: a stupid, Illyrian brute.  You were better than that.  You had thrived thus far rejecting advances and desires so you could succeed and you would do it again.  You didn’t need this; you didn’t need him.

“I missed working with you too, Cassian.”  You gave him a smile, attempting to make it genuine and slipped into your front yard.

Cassian found it difficult to breathe as he flew back to the House of Wind.  He hated your constant rejection of him despite the times you had allowed him to be close.  He only kept trying because he was sure you felt the same.  He would be a fool to feel such a natural inclination for you and you didn’t even harbor the same sentiments.

The “therapy”, if you could even call it that, went on for the next month and you made little progress.  You started being able to float closer to him but you couldn’t engage in conversations during it despite his best efforts.  You were too engrossed in making sure he didn’t make a move that you weren’t ready for.

You were growing more paranoid about him and the wings.  You started having more frequent nightmares; this time they were more vivid now and every time you woke you could smell the blood that had covered your body for hours and your scars burned like the first time you were impaled.  You hated every second of it and started to hate being both awake and asleep.  You were tormented no matter what reality you were in and you were growing more irritable at the never ending agony you lived in.

Cassian noticed this but you wouldn’t talk to him.  You were recoiling into yourself so much that it was like he couldn’t see your face anymore.  You barely talked to him when you were in the office together, opting to respond directly to whatever he was saying.  You had no energy for a smart remark or a judgemental look.

You were making progress, even if it was just the smallest, baby steps in the world, and he was glad for it, but it was like the more progress you made, the more time you spent with him, the worse you got.  He could smell the anger radiating off of you like heat and he could feel it too in the pit of his stomach, he could feel that you were angry with yourself and for what he wasn’t sure but he knew you weren’t going to tell him if he asked so he let you be.  He reminded you he was there every chance he got and still walked you home and stayed close; it was the only thing he could think to do.

You had declined the invitation to stay for dinner and when Cassian got back from walking you home, he sat down in his chair with a huff and leaned his head back.

“How is she?”  Feyre asked, passing him a bowl of green beans.

He shrugged.  “Wouldn’t know.”

“Are you sure doing this whole “desensitization” thing is good for her?”  Nesta asked from across the table.

If there was anyone in the group you were closest to it was Amren and Nesta, but Nesta understood you in a completely different way that made you feel seen and heard and you sought her out at every function.  

You loved Nesta and she reminded you a lot of one of your best friends; she was brave and with sharp eyes that saw everything even if you tried to hide it.

Cassian frowned and shrugged.  “If I don’t bring it up, she asks me to do it.”

Nesta nodded absentmindedly.  She worried for you; you hadn’t come over in ages and she missed you.  You were one of her closest friends.

“Any idea why she’s scared of the wings?”  Rhysand piped up from the end of the table, cutting a piece of chicken for Nyx.

Cassian shook his head and looked at Azriel who had been quiet this entire time.

His shadows circled around him, moving from his ears to his neck, like they were taking turns saying something to him.  If anybody knew it would be him.

Azriel was already looking at Cassian with a sympathetic look in his eyes.

“It’s not my story to tell, brother.”  He said quietly, confirming he did in fact know.

Cassian took his bottom lip between his teeth and nodded.

The dreams you were having this time around were ones you hadn’t had in so long but it was a memory that you remembered all too well.  Even now as you stood in the snow you could feel the claws ripping into your body and feel your breathing become ragged as the blood filled your lungs, but you stood still, keeping your fists at your sides.

You weren’t there.  Not anymore.

But it didn’t help.  Because you could feel the talons hit bone as it kept piercing your back and tearing your muscles.  The blood was hot as it poured out and it tasted bitter in your mouth.  And while it was Cassian in front of you, he morphed into your father, on his knees, the wounds you bore eerily similar to your own.  You wanted to go to him, to catch him before he fell, soften the blow and comfort him as death came for him but you couldn’t move.  The pain was too intense and it made the sun so bright and the wind was hurting you.

You aren’t there anymore, peaches. 

You weren't in the snow anymore or in the backyard of the River House.  You were in the field now, the grass covering your ankles and the sun hot on your back.  You flexed your hands and looked around, looking for your father.

He sat beside you, his knees tucked into his chest as he looked out at the rolling hills.

“You aren’t there anymore,” his voice was clearer now.

You sat next to him and when you brushed against his shoulder it was solid.  So you leaned against him, your head on his shoulder.

“I’m always there.”  You whispered.

He placed his head on yours and gave it a kiss.  “I know.”

“How do I leave?”

He sighed and his beard tickled your head.  “Once you forgive yourself.”

You stilled and your throat felt thick.  “I don’t think I can do that.”  You didn’t mean to, but your voice broke.

“Always the ruminator.”  Your father laughed and when you looked at him you saw tears in his eyes.  “My beautiful peach.”  He moved a hair from your face and cupped your cheek.  “You carry the weight of the world on your shoulders and it’s time to let go.”

You shook your head and pulled away.  “I can’t.”  You let out a sob and dug your nails into your legs.  “I killed you.”

Before your father could respond, the world around you started to shake and you could hear shouting.  You couldn’t make out what was being said but your father looked around calmly.

“He’s here.”

Your eyes shot open and you gasped, the cold air hitting your lungs with such a shock you almost fell backwards, but someone held onto you with a  firm grasp.

“Y/N!”  It was Cassian and your eyes made their way to him and his own eyes were wide with worry.

“Where did you go?”  He was breathless like he had been yelling.

You shook your head; you couldn’t find the words to explain and if you did you would sound crazy.  A hallucination of your dead father where he spoke to you in a world that was years old.

You shook your head away and moved backwards, trying to get out of his hold but he wasn’t letting go.

He cupped your cheek and you cried.  It felt like your father’s touch.

“Where did you go?”  He whispered, a cloud leaving his lips from the cold.

You whimpered and kept shaking your head.  You couldn’t say it.  You were crying too hard, reeling from the touch of your father and the new wave of grief that rocked your world.

“It’s okay,” Cassian hushed you and pulled you into a hug and you stiffened but relaxed into it quickly.

Despite the winter weather he was so warm and firm and he wrapped around you so tightly that you had no choice but to let out the sob you were holding.  

Cassian rubbed your back in a rhythmic up and down until your cries turned into ragged breathing and that’s when he pulled away and looked down at you.

Before he could ask if you were okay you spoke first.

“I want to go home.”

Cassian didn’t see you for three days.  Every morning he stood on the front porch of the River House, scanning the road for your figure to round the bend and walk up the path but you never came.  He’d wait for an hour, telling himself you slept in and was late but then Rhysand would come out and tell him you had called in.

By the third day he was fed up, so he went to your house.

He made it there in half the time it would usually take him and he was slightly out of breath when he knocked on your door.

Your mother opened it, a rag in her hand and she smiled widely at Cassian.

“Cassian, good morning.”

“Good morning,” he lowered his head and gave her a smile.  “Is Y/N here?”  He looked over her shoulder into the house, trying to find you.

Her face fell and she shifted on her feet.  “She’s not feeling well.  I’m sure she’ll be up for visitors later.”  She gave him a sympathetic smile and moved to shut the door, but Cassian gently placed a hand on it and gave her a grim look.

“Can I just see her?”  Your mother noticed his wild eyes, like he was searching for something that he had lost and was going to tear the world apart just to find it.  She’d seen that look before.

She sighed, looking at the ground and nodded.  “She’s in her room.”

“Thank you.”  Cassian said softly and without asking where your room was, he went up the stairs and followed your presence that seemed to be calling out to him.

When Cassian entered your room, it oddly enough suited you.  It was messy but organized at the same time with pictures and paintings on the walls and bookshelves filled with books and some more on your desk and floor.  It was more colorful than he imagined and he stopped for a moment to marvel at it.  You had a lot more personality than he gave you credit for.

You were in your bed, the only evidence being your hair sprawled on the pillow.  You were asleep, he could tell from your slow, deep breathing and he moved closer to you as quietly as he could.

He kneeled on your side of the bed and placed his hand on your shoulder and shook it gently.  

“Y/N.”

You groaned and lifted your comforter, covering your head.

He tried to rouse you again.

“What.”  You muttered and he sighed at the sound of your voice.

“I’m here to check on you.”

You turned over slowly and squinted at him.  “Why?”

His hand was still on your shoulder and he shrugged.  “I haven’t seen you in three days.”

You snorted and nestled into your pillow.  “Well you’ve seen me.”  And with that you gripped the comforter and tucked yourself in and closed your eyes.

He smiled softly. 

There she is.

He moved his hand from your shoulder to your face and moved your hair so he could cup your cheek and you immediately lifted your face slightly into his touch and sighed through your nose.

“I brought work with me.  Let me stay?”

“Why?”  You asked without opening your eyes.

“Make sure you’re okay and because I miss you.”  He sounded ridiculous but it was the truth.

“I am okay.”

“Fine.”  He clicked his tongue.  “Then because I miss you.”

You sighed again and shrugged, turning over so your back was facing him.

Taking it as a yes, he kicked off his shoes and climbed into your bed and sat against your headboard.

“I have a desk.”  You muttered and he laughed.

“Not big enough.”

“And this is?”

Cassian looked at your bed and frowned slightly.  It was definitely not big enough but the chair would be much worse and it was farther from you.  

“It’s fine.”

You slept for another two hours and Cassian stayed the entire time, going through letters and reports and responding to those that needed a response.  His handwriting was awful so he wrote what needed to be said and would give it to you later so you could rewrite it.  You had pretty handwriting and Cassian could watch you write forever.  He liked how your letters swooped and connected seamlessly together and how legible it was compared to his “chicken scratch" as you liked to call it.

You barely moved in his sleep and Cassian found it incredibly interesting and weird.  He thought everyone moved in their sleep, readjusting themselves or fidgeting from dreams, but you stayed in place like a boulder and he had poked you at one point and you didn’t even react. 

Heavy sleeper.

Your mother had come in a little after he had come over and said she was going to the store and he gave her a sheepish smile, flushed with embarrassment.

“I hope you don’t mind that I stayed.”

She shook her head and her eyes shifted between you and Cassian, an unreadable expression on her face.  “She needs the company.”  She finally said at last and left.

Cassian fell asleep minutes before you woke up and it was his first snore that woke you and the second one, worse than the last, that made you open your eyes.  You didn’t think he had stayed.

You looked at him over your shoulder and his head was leaned back against the headboard with his hands slack at his sides and papers on his lap.  You couldn’t help but smile and chuckle at the sight.

Making sure he was still asleep, you got out of bed and put on shorts and grabbed clothes for the day and went into the bathroom to shower and get ready.

Upon your return he was still asleep, his head now rolled to the side and you cringed.  He was definitely going to wake up sore.

You walked towards him and shook him.  “Cass,” you said, patting his cheek slightly.  

His eyes fluttered open almost immediately and he gave you a lazy smile.  “There she is.”

You rolled your eyes.  “Lay down before you break your neck.”  You grabbed the papers from his lap and straightened yourself.

He did just that and flopped onto his stomach, one wing hanging off the bed and the other stretched out over the other side of the bed, dangling over the edge slightly.

You were glad the curtains were drawn because you could see that the wings were dark and most definitely not white, not dangerous.

You turned around, heading for your desk so you could finish the work, suddenly feeling much more energized than you had the past few days when Cassian’s voice stopped.

“Come to bed,” his voice was muffled, probably because his head was buried in your pillows.

You turned and even though he wasn’t looking at you, you gave him a quizzical look.

The way he said it sent you over the moon.  It was so natural and filled with so much care and something else you couldn’t place.  You lost your breath for just a moment and an image flashed through your mind of him just like that, his chest bare and the covers laid dangerously low on his waist.  You were in his shirt, the material so long on you and you could still feel his hands and lips on you, so tender and filled with promises.  

The image came almost like a vision of what your future could be, a future you were starting to want with him and just him.  You’d never had this urge to be with anyone, in fact you’d never cared for anyone in this way before but he was slowly cementing himself into your mind and it made you grit your teeth and ball your hands into a fist.  No, this was not what you wanted.  But it was.  You were going to resist his request, you were going to fight the battle within yourself and you were going to lose. And you did.

Without a word, you padded to the other side of the bed and like he knew your exact position, even with his eyes closed, he tucked his wing in and you sat on top of the comforter and got comfortable, your work in your hands, resting on your lap.

He didn’t open his eyes when a sleepy smile spread across his lips and he laid his wing on your lap and it curled around your leg and you sucked in a breath.

It was him, not them.

He reached over and placed a hand on your thigh, his fingers gripping it and his thumb moved back and forth and he sighed, his breathing became heavy until his movements slowed and he fell asleep.  Despite being unconscious his grip remained firm.  

You didn’t move.

Cassian slept so long that the sun had begun to set and you had finished with all the reports and correspondences so by the time he woke up you were almost finished with the book you were reading.

He was a light sleeper, so much so that every time you shifted he would open his eyes, tighten his grip on your thigh and tell you to stop moving which earned him a scowl and he would smirk and then immediately fell back asleep.

You enjoyed the quiet time and every now and then you would watch him.  He was a beautiful sleeper; his face was calm and his mouth slightly parted emitting a mix of loud and soft snores and at one point a piece of his hair had fallen onto his face and you quickly pushed it back, not wanting your view to be obstructed.

You were incredibly embarrassed by your behavior.  This was absurd in every sense of the word but you kept at it anyway, something deep inside of you, primal and not taking no for an answer, forcing you to let it happen and let your emotions float to the surface of your skin, making you feel hot, like you were glowing.

Cassian moved in the bed with a groan that turned into a moan and it made you blush.  He flexed his hand on your thigh and gripped it again, palming your skin and and he turned back to you, another lazy smile on his lips.

You didn’t look at him because you knew your face–hot and bothered by his touch–would give you away.

“Hello, professor,” he mumbled and his voice was thick and raspy.

You gave him a glance and chuckled.  “Finally.  Now you can leave.”

He bit his lip and smiled.  He shifted to lay on his back and he put his arms over his head and sighed, staring at your ceiling.  You had stickers on them that were neon green and he was sure they were the ones that lit up in the dark.

“Night lights?”  He tried not to laugh.

“They’re cute.”

He smacked his lips and nodded.  “How long was I asleep?”

“Couple hours.”  You turned the page of your book.

“Hm,” was all he said and looked at you.

He didn’t want to leave.  He rarely slept through the night and especially as of late because of how worried he was about you, but being here, your scent washing over him, keeping him more warm than the blankets on yobed, put him in such a deep sleep that he hadn’t had in centuries.

“You also snore.  Like, really bad.”  You said, a playful look in your eyes when you looked at him.

Giving you an amused look, he shrugged.  “I hope it didn’t bother you too much.”

You laughed loudly.  “It bothered me very much.”

He propped himself on his elbow and smirked.  “Tell me about it.”

“It woke me up and I had to rewrite the letter to Helion twice.”  You emphasized.

He flatted his arm and played with the hem of your shirt and rested his head on it.  “So sorry for your inconvenience.”

You let out a small chuckle and shrugged.

You looked down at where his hands were making contact with you.  His finger playing with the loose fabric of your shirt like it was the most captivating thing in the world and his hand on your thigh like it was his lifeline.  Every now and then he would shift his hand and pull at the seam of your leggings.  You felt your muscles twitch at the contact and you swallowed, your mind becoming cloudy.

“Why haven’t you come to work these past few days?”  Cassian after a half hour. 

He had moved on to his back again, one arm behind his head and the other one still in its home on your thigh.

You sighed.  You did not want to talk about this.

“I haven’t been feeling well.”

He hummed and looked at you, but you wouldn’t look at him.  Instead, you kept reading.  You were almost finished with the book; just a few more chapters left.

“Did it have anything to do with what happened the other day?”

You knew what he was talking about and a flash of it hit your mind so hard you sucked in a breath.  You did not want to talk about this.  Not with him.

You stayed quiet and he took it as a confirmation.  The other day had been too much and it took you out for a few days.

“I’m sorry you have to carry that.”  He whispered and you looked at him.

He was already looking at you and his touch had become soft, comforting and you inhaled.

You found yourself feeling honest, like you could say something about it. 

“It’s hard.”

He offered you a smile.  “I know.”  After a few moments he squeezed your thigh.  “You can talk to me, you know.”

A muscle in your jaw flexed and you cleared your throat, fighting back tears.  “You won’t look at me the same if you knew what I’ve done.”  Your voice was soft.  You were trying so hard not to break.

Whatever you had done, he probably had done worse in his five hundred years in this world, but he wasn’t going to say that.  He wasn’t going to invalidate whatever guilt you carried.  So instead he rubbed your thigh again, feeling the soft fabric of your leggings underneath his fingertips.

“I will always look at you the way I do now.”

His confession hung heavy in the air and your eyes filled with tears and why this hit you so hard you weren’t sure but it did and your throat felt so thick you had to breathe through your mouth to calm yourself.

You’ve always wanted to be liked and not in a romantic way, not really at least.  But you wanted to be accepted.  You had always been so different growing up.  It was difficult to keep friends, besides the one you had during high school, but even that was difficult at times.  You were so anxious all the time and particular about the things around you; the world would collapse around you if things didn’t go your way or if you failed or if you fumbled your opportunities or if anything wrong ever happened.  No matter how much you prepared to exist in the world, it was never enough.  You struggled so much to be like everyone else, to be normal.  You were too competitive, too intense, too harsh, and too proud.  It was exhausting to pretend to be someone you weren’t; it was exhausting constantly planning your day and reactions to specific phrases.  You were exhausted.

And it didn’t help that you were a murderer.  It didn’t help that you had your father’s blood on your hands and everyone knew it.  Everyone had seen your unconscious body on top of his; you had failed to stop the bleeding, you had failed to protect him.  If you hadn't been there, he would still be here.  You had distracted him and he had died, all because of you and your stupid pride.  You thought you knew best and it killed him.

But here Cassian was.  Someone whose gaze never changed when he looked at you.  His smile was so bright when he looked at you even if you snapped at him for not doing what you expected of him or judged him for not being on your level.  He saw you in a way that made you so scared.  It was like he saw your inner turmoil of just being outside and it was as comforting as it was intimidating.  He accepted you in the way you had been searching for your entire life.  He didn’t care that you were particular about the places you went to for lunch, or the seating arrangement at dinner, or what he said; he even seemed to love it.  

But you knew that would change if he knew.  He was utterly devoted to his family, that was so clear in the way he interacted with him and how long he had been with them all.  And they weren’t even blood.  So imagine what his reaction would be if he knew you killed your blood, your kin, your father.  Would he care for you the same?  Would he seek you out at the most random times just because he “wanted to see you?  Would he miss you when you were away?  He most definitely would not.  So no, he would never know.  You would never share with him that piece of you; he would never know of the greatest betrayal and sin you had committed.

You didn’t respond.  You broke his stare and sniffed, clearing your mind and heart of your feelings and went back to your book, even if the words on the page were blurry from your tears.

Cassian felt your confliction.  He could see the fight in your eyes but he didn’t want you to fight today.  He wanted you to relax.  So he didn’t press it.

After a few moments he spoke again and you laughed. 

Always talking.

“Have you realized that my wing has been touching you this entire time?”

Your smile was wide enough that your dimples were deep and he fought the urge to touch them.

“Yes.”

“How do you feel about it?”

“Fine.”  You gave him a look and he smiled.

He squeezed your thigh.  “Good.”

You trudged up the steps to the house, the snow thick and hard from the winter air.  Spring was a month away but it showed no sign of approaching.

Cassian was waiting for you at the door, a shine in his eyes as he beheld you.

“Good morning, professor!”  He called to you and you snorted.

“Good morning, Cassian.”  You said as he opened open the door for you and you walked past him, not avoiding his wings for the first time.

“Y/N!”  Nyx’s high pitch voice screamed down the hallway and you didn’t have time to react as he hit your legs and hugged you.  “Where have you been?”

Nyx liked you more than you thought a child could like someone.  He always asked to be with you and Cassian while you worked and you never denied it.  He kept to himself, playing with his toys or copying you two as you wrote letters and reports.  Sometimes he’d sit on your lap and draw a doodle that he claimed to be an animal but it was just scribbles.  You never said otherwise.

“I’ve been sick,” you replied, squatting to face him.  

“How sick?”

“Sick enough.”  You laughed and he gave you a hug, wrapping his little arms around your neck.  

“Pick me up.”  He demanded and you did, putting him on your hip as you walked to your office.

“Where are your parents?”  You asked.

“Daddy’s office.”

You hummed and you and Cassian made their way to Rhysand’s office.

Cassian loved watching you interact with his nephew.  You were not good with adults but you were fantastic with children.  It was easy for you it seemed and in truth it was.  Children had straightforward dialogue and emotions and you didn’t need to read in between the lines to understand what was being said or felt.

“You’ve been missed,” Rhysand said as you entered the office and you blushed.

“I’m sorry.”

He shook his head, his smile warm.  “No need.”

You went to put Nyx down but he clinged and you sighed, moving him further up on your hip.

“Any news since I’ve been gone?  Cassian and I worked on some yesterday but it wasn’t anything too pressing.”

“He told us.”  Feyre had a knowing look on her face and you furrowed your brows at it.

Cassian moved from beside you and plopped down in a chair and spread his legs, getting way too comfortable.

“Not really,” Feyre breathed out, leaning against the chair Rhysand was sitting in.  “Kallias and Vivianne had their babe so we were writing a congratulations card.  We’ll get a gift today, too.”

“Oh,” you raised your eyebrows.  “That’s nice.”

Cassian snorted.  You never knew what to say to things you didn’t think were interesting or important.

You glared at him, scowling and he smirked at you. 

There she is.

“Is Lucien and Elain still at the Spring Court?”  You asked, moving to sit beside Cassian.

Rhysand nodded, his expression somber.  

“He’s still erratic?”  You asked.

Rhysand nodded again.

You sighed.  Tamlin flipped back and forth too often for your liking.  He was torn between being humble and accepting help and thinking he didn’t deserve the generosity of the Court because of his actions.  Whether or not Rhysand and Feyre or anyone in the Inner Circle forgave him, you weren’t sure and you didn’t really care because they were being nice enough to be the bigger person in this scenario.  You just wished you were making consistent progress instead of progressing and then almost immediately regressing.

“It’ll be better once you both go there in April.”  Feyre said and she gave you a reassuring smile.

Eris was growing impatient too.  He wanted results immediately, but not only were you not allowed to go to the Spring Court until April, but his requests were also ridiculous.  Tamlin was not going to give up any of his territory because first it was his and second because his people were not going to fare well in the Autumn weather.  His other request for Tamlin to pay for the damages to the Autumn Court was just stupid.  The only reasonable request was for Tamlin to keep a set number of soldiers in his army and allow for various Courts to monitor the wall; this one you were sure you could accomplish but the other two you didn’t even entertain and you had already told Eris that much to his dismay.  He tried to sweet talk you and persuade you, but you knew your capabilities and you weren’t going to push Tamlin; he was doing enough by entertaining your letters.

Nyx went down for a nap and you and Cassian went outside for your “therapy” session.  

The wings themselves didn’t worry you anymore, but every time he flexed them, stretching them out to their full length or walked towards you, you would freeze.

“We need to work on that.”  He said, his voice filling the distance you had put between you too.

“No shit,” you grumbled. 

You were growing frustrated.  He could be near you, the wings could touch you, but every time they moved your body buzzed and you didn’t see his wings but their wings.  And it didn’t help that the sun kept shining on the talons and bones of his wings, the light reflecting off of them.

You took a deep breath and nodded and he walked slowly towards you.  You gritted your teeth and cringed back, but you didn’t move.

“Where are they?”  He asked. 

This was his staple question.  He wanted you to remember that they were his and not whatever you saw.

“On you.”

“That’s right.”

You could hear his footsteps now, the snow crunching underneath his boots.  He was so much closer now and you couldn’t open your eyes.  Your heart was beating so fast and you couldn’t breath; the air was too cold, too sharp.

He stopped and you dared a peek at him and was looking at you, his eyes looking you over, looking for something resistance.

“Do you want to stop?”

“No.”  You took a deep breath and straightened.  “I’m okay.”

He started again and you clenched your fists.  

His wings, not their wings.  His wings, not their wings.

He was an arm's length away and you swallowed, your throat suddenly dry.

You could do this.  You let him lay them on you.  This was like that.

It was the same.  You were relaxed then, his sleeping form beside you and his wings sprawled across your bed.  They were no threat to you.  Not like the other ones.  The other ones tore into your back, leaving you physically and mentally scarred for life.  These wouldn’t do that.  He wouldn’t do that.

He was so close now that he had to look down at you.  “You okay?”  He whispered and you couldn’t even respond, physically or verbally. 

You were not.

His wings moved so they were in your peripheral vision and you whimpered, looking at them. 

You were trapped.

“It’s just me.”  He whispered and you bared your teeth, closing your eyes.

The image in your mind was so vivid.  Milk white wings coming down from behind and wrapping around you, trapping you on the ground.

You let out a cry and tried to back away, but Cassian grabbed your wrist and placed your hand on his chest and he interlocked your fingers.

“Say it.”  He rubbed his thumb over the back of your hand.  “Say it’s me.”

You shook your head.  “I can’t.”

He ducked his head down, his nose brushing against your cheek and you let out a cry of pain.  Your chest was caving in and you couldn’t breathe.

“It’s me,” he whispered and he gripped your hand even harder.

He was right.  It was him.  It was always him and never them.

“You,” you breathed out and he smiled.

“Yes.”

You let out another breath and then breathed in again.  His scent entered your body like a physical wave, going into your nose and spreading throughout your body.  Not rotting meat, but cologne.  It was a sharp smell that made you flare your nostrils. 

An intoxicating smell for an intoxicating male.  

Cassian kept moving his wings around you until you were cocooned against him and he trailed his nose from your cheek to the tip of your and like always, you lifted your head upwards.

“It’s just me.”  He said again.

You unclenched your hand and spread it flat against his chest.

“It’s you.”

“Mhm.”  He placed a hand on your waist.  “And it’s always going to be me.”

Yes, you wanted to say.  Nobody else.

tag list: @thecraziestcrayon | @rcarbo1

[alicerosejensen]

Hey you might have seen my comment idk and if you didn't that's ok but I would really like a part 2 of the Zombie Movie with dad leon.

Well, to be honest, I didn’t plan the second part, but people wanted to and I wrote.

No warning. No injuries, no blood. Just dad and daughter having a good time together. Oh yes, there is a mention of "The last of us".

Part 1

Zombie movie. Pt 2

While you were cleaning up Leon's mess in the kitchen, he stood at the nursery door with a sinking heart. He knocked several times, but there was no answer, however, the sounds of a working game console could be heard from the other side.

Pulling the door handle, D/N did not even pay any attention to the visitor because with a frowning expression on her face she was busy with some kind of game from which she was distracted from time to time by answering messages on her phone.

Leon sat down next to her on the bed, well aware that his presence had not gone unnoticed. He watched the game without much enthusiasm, biting his cheek from the inside, looking at how his daughter shoots virtual zombies with a good result. It would be possible to omit the joke that the paternal genes played here, but Leon held his tongue until the moment of the zombie attack on the main character for whom D/N played. She fired three shots, but all in the chest, so the damage inflicted was not enough to kill the enemy. One bite and a game over.

"Shoot to the head"

D/N gave him an offended look and just loaded the last save.

In general, these zombies were different from those that were in real life. Yes, they bit, but instead of a decomposed body from which pieces of flesh fall, they had some appendages on their heads that looked like a walnut or a mushroom?.. in addition, they made strange clicking sounds.

"Strange zombies," Leon finally said, continuing to watch the gameplay "Why are they chirping?"

"This is not a zombie," D/N muttered more under her breath, making Leon realize that the conversation would not be easy, but he nodded his head in agreement. "Just infected people."

Leon sighed and put his hand on his daughter's shoulder, thereby forcing attention to himself. D/N exhaled irritably and paused the game.

"What?!"

"Pumpkin, I was wrong when I yelled at you," Leon confessed, pulling his daughter to him, but she refused to hug him, although when she was younger, she could never tear herself away from him. "I'll take you to this movie with your friend tomorrow... If you want, I'll buy you something with her in a cafe"

"Don't already," she muttered viciously, grabbing the phone. "I'll watch it later by subscription"

There was another awkward silence. Leon knew he shouldn't have flared up over the movie. After all, as you said, zombies don't come off the cinema screen, so his outburst of rage was just a sharp jolt due to fucking work.

"I understand that it's easier for you with your mom... I'm often not there for you when you need me, and sometimes I can miss birthdays, but I try, honey. I try to be the kind of father you deserve, despite the fact that I don't always succeed. When you were little, it wasn't so difficult for me, because we could catch up with books, games, walks."

D/N was silent with her legs tucked up to her chest, tapping her nails on the phone case. She still looked offended even though she listened to everything her father said to her. D/N was no longer small and understood that her father had a difficult job that required his constant presence, which is why he was often not at home, but this did not mean she was not offended.

Leon moved closer, pulling his daughter to him, hugging her shoulder. D/N did not protest.

"I've already canceled everything anyway." She said while continuing to knock on the phone. Leon sighed, resting his head on the top of her head.

"You know, we could go to this movie together, what do you think about it?" Leon looked at his daughter with a smile, waiting for her answer, hoping that his baby would say yes "I was in the Tall Oaks once, so I can even remotely say how plausible the director shot his picture"

D/N's eyes lit up with genuine interest when she heard that her father was in this town. Of course Leon was going to skip the part with the outbreak of the C virus and the death of the president. But his brain still remembers those moments when it was an ordinary beautiful small town.

"Come on!" Leon hooked her, seeing that he was able to arouse her interest, "you like this. Especially since mom assured me that the movie is not scary. Let's spend time together"

A slight smile appeared on her lips as she picked up the joystick and handed it to Leon.

"Do you want to play with me like when I was a kid?" She suggested it, and although Leon did not like the idea that he would even have to fight zombies (even virtual ones) at home, he still took the joystick and made himself comfortable on the bed. D/N even put a pillow under their backs with the image of her favorite character because you always spoiled her and bought such things.

"Okey" Leon's voice sounded uncertain, but he didn't refuse "So we're just running around a post-apocalyptic city and shooting zombies?"

"No!" snapped D/N. Her tone was already calm and harmless. "There's actually a plot here. Because of the disputes of fungi, an epidemic of cordyceps occurred. When people get infected with it, a fungus starts growing out of their heads that makes them aggressive and vicious. But they are still people. The main character must bring the girl" D/N pointed to the character who was standing next to the main character " To an organization called "fireflies" to make a vaccine since her immunity was developed after the bite. That's all. Take a joystick and play for Joel. Save ammo and use all resources wisely, and try not to miss".

Leon grinned when he heard a brief introduction to the game, and immediately began to understand the controls in the game.

"Fantastic."

Leon had been gone for an hour when you seriously worried about his long absence. After removing the fragments of a broken glass and a bottle of whiskey, you listened to the voices, but nothing was heard except the sounds of shooting and malicious laughter. Having decided to go upstairs, the last thing you could expect was that Leon would sit on the bed and play with D/N a recently purchased game that your daughter has been talking about tirelessly lately.

When you carefully grabbed the door handle and lowered it a little to look through the gap, you immediately saw how D/N was eating Snickers and Leon...

"Looks like you're having a good time," you smiled as they turned their heads to your voice.

Leon was comfortably ensconced in a nest made of pillows and a plaid, while D/N put her head on top of his head watching him try to pass the location using stealth. Leon, in principle, rarely played on a computer or a console due to lack of free time, but he was ready to buy the whole world for his daughter (Although more often he only paid for it). However, now, having stepped over his personal rejection of such games, he himself lies and plays a zombie game with his daughter in order to get closer to her again. You didn't mind and were even glad that he quickly found an approach to D/N, even through the game. To consolidate this result, you brought them hot drinks into the room, in a strict joking voice, telling them not to get too carried away and not forget about the time. But in fact, your child went to bed quite late. You didn't protest because she had Dad's permission!

You felt the embrace of Leon's arms around your waist late at night when he went to bed, snuggling up to you as close as possible.

"If you only knew how much I love you both..."

Just a nice declaration of love, but in the morning you had to leave the house because of urgent work, hoping to listen in the evening to how they spent time together watching a movie, despite the fact that you were afraid of Leon's reaction to zombies. He's dealing with this shit too much.

As a matter of fact, the worm of uncertainty really devoured him from the inside when he looked at the giant poster on the stand. These zombies in the background and a couple in love consisting of the main characters. Leon bit his cheek from the inside, repeating to himself that it was just a movie. Zombies are not real in it, and if the age of D/ N allows to watch this, then nothing should be scary. There's not even a horror genre listed there! so everything should be fine.

They took good seats, but Leon's posture indicated that he was in constant tension, ready at any moment to protect his only child. It was stupid, of course, but after so many years of fighting biological weapons, he couldn't do anything more with himself. And yet, after half an hour of watching the movie, Leon realized that zombies are mostly just mentioned here. But yes, they flash from time to time, but they obviously spared money for extras, Leon even figured to himself that the film would most likely be a failure, but for teenagers it would be the very thing. He even got bored, which can not be said about D/N, she was clearly delighted.

Of course, there was a moment when the cameraman allegedly filmed a report from the scene of the event and a zombie popped up on the screen, forcing the young part of the audience to flinch from the abrupt moment, but Leon's reflexes immediately reacted to protect D/N, which is why she looked at him strangely but did not react in any way.

In general, for the most part, the film was full of shit with cheap special effects and disgusting acting. But Leon did not condemn, if his daughter liked it, then to hell with him. In the end, later they went to a cafe where she did nothing but chatter incessantly about what a handsome protagonist. He did not regret the time spent because his baby was happy and did not argue with him anymore. D/N didn't even pull out her phone once, but she hugged her father on the way home and everything melted inside Leon when he hugged her back.

"Dad?" she called softly, still hugging him, and Leon gently looked into her eyes, "I'm sorry for what I said last evening... I didn't really think so.

"It's okay, baby," Leon patted her on the back, making it clear that he wasn't angry, "I also got angry in vain, but everything is fine. I guess I forgot that you won't always be the little girl who sleeps with a teddy bear and watches cartoons"

D/N laughed at his words while walking with him back to the car.

"Aren't you mad at me?" She asked uncertainly, raising her head and looking at him, waiting for an answer. Leon just shook his head kissing the top of her head.

"I love you and mom too much, so I don't get angry for a long time" She calmed down by smiling at him with her innocent smile when Leon opened the car door for her. "Sometimes I forget that you're growing up"

Leon sighed when he realized his baby's interests were changing and it was completely normal. D/N will not always be a child and one day she may even bring her boyfriend to the house to introduce him to her family, but for now Leon will prefer to buy her and himself ice cream and not think about the rapid maturation of the only daughter.

Even if it's unavoidable.

[glitterforashes]

Hey, idk if you’re still active but if you are could you do Larry HC please!

𝐒𝐦𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐞𝐫 𝐓𝐡𝐚𝐧 𝐘𝐨𝐮 ; 𝐋𝐚𝐫𝐫𝐲 𝐱 𝐑𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐞𝐫

>>>>> heyyy chat so contrary to popular belief i am indeed alive (but barely) and upon remembering i do have a page and multiple people who would like to hear from me i decided to drop a lil single iykwim 🔥. no but on a srs note im sorry for disappearing and I hope u enjoy! thank you for requesting, lovely <3

is the modern day Bob Ross

has so many pairs of jeans with paint and pen marks all over them

regularly walks around with a blunt tucked behind his ear

is actually the sweetest dude ever

is way smarter than you’d think he is

regularly asks to paint you, only to end up painting something completely different

walks you to your classes at school (on accident. you always end up crossing paths and then he starts yapping and forgets you two dont have the same classes and proceeds to have to sprint to make it to his own class on time)

yall first met through the elevator. you were waiting for it, and the doors opened, and he was inside with earbuds in very aggressively playing an air-guitar solo. stood up straight the second he realized you were there and then refused to speak or look at you for the elevator ride. was so embarrassed he wanted to cry. he told Sally about it. Sally laughed at him so hard he started coughing.

you started seeing him around more often after that, and you two became friends

your name in his phone is “Blink” because when you first met all you did was stare at him then blink very slowly.

his name in your phone is “Master of Puppets”. i will not be elaborating

you spend a lot of time in his apartment

his mom has stopped asking if you’ll be over, just asks when so she knows if she needs to make extra supper.

he steals YOUR clothes. if you accidentally leave a tshirt at his place you’ll never see it again

stares unblinkingly at you sometimes. it freaks you out.

“larry. im about to poke you in the eye.”

“oh, my bad dude.”

you two have a best-friends-that-get-asked-if-they’re-dating-constantly-and-say-no-but-would-also-marry-each-other kind of friendship

is a rememberer. remembers every little thing you tell him. you like apples? there will be apples at his place next time for you. you dont like being cold? he turns his ceiling fan off when you come around.

is very attentive, but nobody would ever know because he never comments on what he sees.

you signed him up for Homecoming King elections one year. he did NOT find it as funny as you did.

he won.

the popular kids were pissed.

he was pissed.

you laughed your ass off.

has LED’s in his room. they’re always blue or red.

paints his nails

tried to pierce his own ears once. it didn’t work. he showed up at your door with a stud earrings poking through his earlobe and blood running down his neck.

“larry what the freak did you do.”

“earrings :(“

likes to cuddle once he gets more comfortable with you

if you two are sitting on the couch together, his arm is permanently over the back of it and by default around you in a way

manspreads like no other. its so annoying.

actually is a gentleman and very considerate

doesn’t ever flirt with you too hard or initiate physical touch, lets you do it to avoid making you uncomfortable

is playful

“larry, you’re standing too close.” “scared you’re gonna fall in love?” “you wish.”

once you two are very comfortable around each other he’ll come up behind you and rest his chin on your shoulder or on top of your head and slink his arms around your waist real lazily.

“whatcha doin?” “minding my business.”

at first, if you stayed the night, he’d sleep on the floor despite your protests and let you sleep in his bed.

now you two share his bed, and occasionally wake up with your legs tangled together.

loves being little spoon even though he would never tell anybody but you that fact.

bagel bite enthusiast.

larry chucked a sweater at you as you sat on his bed, poised and rigid, trying to be a good model for his still-life portrait of you. “what’s this for?” you asked. although majority of his body was hidden behind the canvas, you could see the slight movements of his arms and shoulders as he moved the paint brush across the scene. “you’re shivering.” he stated shortly, clearly in focus mode. although you didn’t know how he could manage to focus so diligently with Sanity Falls blaring from his record player and filling every crevice of the room.

“sorry.” you said, quickly tugging the sweater on then re-assuming your previous pose. you didn’t know why you agreed to model for him every time he asked. zero out of ten times has the portrait ever actually turned out to be a portrait of you. once, he literally made you pose for an hour just to end up painting a picture of himself riding a unicorn. you were pretty sure he had smoked a little more than his body weight could handle that day. his brown eyes peeked from over the canvas every so often, observing you, which you didn’t mind. larry had probably seen more of your body than you cared to admit, or realize, considering you two felt more than comfortable changing in front of each other and sleeping with just tshirts and underwear on in the same room.

it felt like hours had passed before you saw larry rise from his seat on the stool, his knees and elbows popping loudly as he stretched. “alright. the genius has concluded his work.” he smirked, glancing at you through his lashes. “larry, i don’t even think you know how to spell concluded.” you teased as you followed his lead, standing and stretching and groaning as your muscles began to loosen again.

“so, what creature did you paint this time?” you walked towards him but he grabbed the canvas and held it close to him, squinting his eyes at you. “uhm, you can’t see it.” he said sassily. “uhm, ‘i cant see it’ my left nut! i just sat and posed for two hours dude, let me see!” you advanced on him and reached your hand out to grab the canvas but he ducked away, extending an arm out to keep you at a distance. “okay! fine, but you have to stand there,” he pointed to a spot a few steps away, “and close your eyes.”

you pursed your lips and rolled your eyes, putting your hands on your hips as you dramatically took a few steps back and closed your eyes. “gosh, how atrocious could it be if i need to close my eyes first?” you said. usually, he’d chuckle or laugh, but he didn’t this time. you heard some rustling and then a beat of silence before he said, “okay, open them.”

you opened your eyes and your hands immediately flung to your mouth, covering it as your eyes widened. in front of you was larry, in all his messy-haired, paint-splattered-jean, muscle tank top glory holding a painting of you. a hyper-realism painting of you. he managed to fit *every* detail into it, capturing every dip and curve and mark on your face. the painting only went from your shoulders and up, but that alone had you on the verge of tears.

“larry..” you mumbled, taking a step forward to examine it closer. he even managed to note the small freckles you had, so small that you forgot you even had them sometimes. “do you like it?” he asked quietly, his demeanor starting to change from nervous to insecure. “yes!” you said quickly. “yes, yes i love it! it’s beautiful.” you said. you stepped forward and took the painting gently from his hands and placed it on the easel before launching your arms around his nape, falling into an easy hug as he wrapped his arms loosely around your waist and rested his cheek on top of your head.

“thank you.” you said quietly, resting your head on his shoulder. “you’re welcome.” you two stood like that for a bit, neither of you ready nor feeling the need to break the hug, when you felt him mumbling against your hair. “huh?” you said. he lifted his chin and repeated, “c-o-n-c-l-u-d-e-d. concluded.”

one, two, three beats of silence before you were giggling and slapping his shoulder, looking up at his smug and smiling face. “oh whatever! you probably googled that. that’s why you told me to close my eyes.” “oh you wish! don’t be bitter cause im smarter than you.” “you could only dream of being smarter than me.” you smiled, shaking your head with laughter. your laughter turned into a lazy grin as you rocked your bodies side to side, looking at his face. “seriously, thank you.” “no problem.” he said. you turned your head away from him to glance behind you at the painting. it wasn’t until then that you noticed a very small, very enthusiastic stick-figure rendition of larry in the corner of the canvas holding up a flower. you decided you wouldn’t tell him you noticed as you smiled again, wondering how you managed to make a friend like him.

[blushweddinggowns]

"Hey there. I'm Eddie."

If Chrissy had known back then that those four words would change her life forever, she probably would have taken the coward’s route out like her friends did. She would have turned up her nose, ignored him, and would have stayed in the safe lane of her normal life. And that would have been the end of it. 

But no, instead she had to smile at him, her eyes finally leaving the adorable girl screaming over her boyfriend losing at the claw game so she could introduce herself, "Chrissy."

It’s not like it was shocking to see him, not with Steve Harrington in the building. It was a little weirder to see him crashing a date with his obvious new girlfriend, but then again it was Eddie Munson. Weirdness kind of just came with the territory. 

Eddie grinned back at her, firmly shaking her hand before jerking his head in the direction of the claw machine, "Let's walk and talk."

Chrissy could feel her friend's eyes boring into her back. This was the moment where she was supposed to politely rebuff, maybe make it clear that she had a boyfriend. A boyfriend who was off at some summer basketball camp, but a boyfriend nonetheless. But for some reason, she didn't. 

She didn’t even look back at them, she was just too damn curious to see what he wanted. Because people like Eddie Munson didn’t talk to people like Chrissy Cunningham. Even if she always wished they would. There was just something about the guy that she always liked, a thought that she never dared to say out loud. Not unless she wanted to piss Jason, her mom, and all of her friends off in one fell swoop. 

But she couldn’t help but find him kind of charming, with his lunch table rants and no craps-given attitude. Not to mention how high school labels obviously meant nothing to him, not when he had Steve Harrington for a best friend. She admired it. Probably admired it too much. Maybe even a creepy amount, considering how often she would sneak glances at the two of them during shared classes and lunch. It was just… nice. To see two people having fun together without a care in the world. 

So she followed him, heart beating a little faster when she realized they were walking towards the silly pretty girl. 

"So, I couldn't help but notice you were looking at my friend over there," Eddie said as they went, jerking his head in their direction, “And I just figured I could help you out with that.”

"You mean Steve?" Chrissy asked, brow furrowed. It made sense that's who Eddie thought she was looking at. Everyone looked at Steve, despite the fact that he had already graduated, he was still pretty high on the list of cute guys that her friends never stopped talking about. 

But Chrissy went with it anyway, happy to take the convenient route that had been set up for her, "Um yeah. He's pretty good at the game isn't he?"

She had absolutely no idea if he was good or not. She had been too busy watching his girlfriend being adorable to really notice. 

But Eddie shook his head at her answer, frowning like she had said something disappointing, "I was actually talking about Robin."

Robin. 

So that's what her name was. Chrissy couldn’t help but think it suited her, especially when she was happy. She had seen her around school before, but never like this. All loud and smiley. She was used to seeing her with her eyes down and lips pursed in the school hallways. Always looking like she’d rather be anywhere but here.

Chrissy had always wanted to introduce herself, maybe become the reason that she smiled for once. But she never had the courage to actually go through with it. Besides, it wasn’t… smart for her to get close to girls like that anyway. 

Her thoughts must have shown on her face because the next thing she knew Eddie was softening. He was looking at her in a weird way, one that made her feel a little too exposed before kindly asking, "Want me to introduce you two?"

That was a bad idea. A very bad idea if the way her heart was racing was anything to go by.  

Chrissy could tell just from looking at her that this was not the kind of girl she could be friends with. Not with the way her treacherous mind worked. She only hung around girls that she didn’t particularly like for a reason. It made things simpler and made the fantasies a lot easier to swallow without the emotional connection. 

A polite No, thank you, was just on the edge of escaping when it happened. Steve had finally, actually managed to win something. And it had Robin cheering like a little kid, jumping up and down like getting a cheap stuffed elephant was the highlight of her year. 

And she looked so freaking happy and pretty and Chrissy was betraying herself before she could think better of it, "Sure."

It had been a mistake on her part. A huge freaking mistake that she was partially blaming Eddie for, but a mistake nonetheless. Because meeting Robin Buckely became an immediate problem. A massive issue that took up most of her headspace in an embarrassing amount of time.

Chrissy had basically been obsessed with her since the first, shy little Hi, she let out when Eddie introduced the two of them. And it just kept getting worse. 

Because Robin was… wonderful. Completely unlike anyone she’d ever met, girls and guys alike. She was smart, like spoke four freaking languages smart, but not intimidatingly so. No, she was too busy being sweet and funny to make Chrissy feel bad for her own lack of brains. And Robin was criminally funny. She was at her best when she was with Steve, the two of them bouncing hilarious jabs back and forth, almost always in complete sync.

It had been the shock of her life when Eddie told her they had only met that same summer. Which meant they had probably been dating for even less time. But the two of them clicked in a way that she couldn’t help but envy. And that envy was turning into some pretty venomous jealousy intensely fast. Because Steve was around all the time. It turned out that getting to know Robin didn't just mean getting to know Robin. It meant getting to know Steve. And by extension, Eddie. And oddly enough, Nancy Wheeler. Plus a strange array of nerdy soon-to-be freshmen. 

And she liked that, how close they all were. She did, despite how sick seeing Robin and Steve together made her. Because all of her friends were just as equally amazing as she was. Especially Eddie, who was a close second in terms of her favorites from the insanely welcoming group. 

Eddie, who for some crazy reason thought that Chrissy was good enough to be their friend. She wasn’t. She figured that out quick enough after realizing that she was suddenly surrounded by insanely talented people. Robin was basically perfection in a human being. Eddie had his music, Nancy had her insane brain, one that seemed to have been passed off to her brother and all of his little friends. Even Steve was unique enough in his own right, with his crazy charm and magnetic personality. But Chrissy was just… Chrissy. She was boring and she knew it. All she was good for were her looks, and even those were fading fast according to her mom. 

But the thing was, they never made her feel like she was boring. No, Robin was always interested in hearing her talk about her lame interests. Like her gardening and flower-arranging hobbies were so interesting. And Eddie actually liked the annoying way she would talk over movies. Liked it enough for them to end up having full-blown conversations that would get popcorn thrown at them, but still.

They were all so… kind. Not nice, no. Steve was way too much of a bitch for that group to ever be considered nice, but… they were loving. And they cared about each other in a real way. A real way that Chrissy wasn’t used to, but she knew she didn’t belong in it. No matter how much she loved it. 

This whole soiree of spending time with people she actually liked had a time limit. She would have to get back to her old life eventually, probably with some groveling added to make up for completely ignoring her friend group to hang around the resident freaks. Jason would be back for the first day of school soon enough, and she knew without a doubt that he would be pissed if he ever heard about what she had been up to during the month he was gone. 

And she couldn’t even blame him. Who wouldn’t? No boy would like having some other dude all over their girlfriend, even if it wasn’t like that. And Eddie had undoubtedly been the sole reason she ever even had access to these people. Just because she had been blessed with catching his eye. She had thought that something would have happened with him by now, whether that be flirting or a failed kiss attempt. Because why else would Eddie hang around someone like her if not to try and get into her pants? 

But it wasn’t like that. It just… wasn’t it? He never made a move on her. He never even did anything that was close to trying, and neither did the spoken for Steve. They just treated her like… her. Not something to be won, just their friend. If anything, Eddie was like a brother to her, in a startlingly small amount of time. 

And she was really, really going to miss that. But she couldn’t keep this up forever. She was already struggling to keep her mom from knowing about them, with varying levels of success. The one time she had actually met Eddie was enough to make Chrissy want to die of mortification. She had treated him so… terribly. It made her feel ill remembering it. And that was with her mom being disinterested in her life. Summer had always been a welcome break from her mom’s iron thumb. She just had a harder time caring about Chrissy when there were no events for her to be at, no titles to be won, and no outside people to impress.

But now with school going back into session, she was going to be extra vigilant to be sure that her daughter was at her best and prettiest. And that included monitoring who she was friends with. Her mom was back on the ball, spending the last few days before the start of the school year constantly reminding Chrissy of the rules:

Never weigh more than 110 pounds. Weigh yourself daily to keep up with body changes.

Write down everything you eat. No expectations. Calories should stay within 1200, no ifs, ands, or buts.

Never leave the house without make-up, or better yet, never leave without your make-up being checked. 

If you end up overeating, fix it quietly. No one wants to hear the head cheerleader making unseemingly noises. 

Chrissy had spent the last two years following them to a T. She really didn’t need the reminders. But she got them nonetheless. And at least there was one positive of her new friendships effectively ending, she wouldn’t have to deal with the foodstuff anymore. Because as much as she loved Eddie she couldn’t get past the fact that he liked to cook. And then share what he made with all of his friends. All the time. And he was good at it, too good, and Chrissy didn’t need a scale to know she gained weight since the short time of meeting him. 

And she couldn’t do what she needed to do with them all around. She didn’t want them to know. She couldn’t let them know. Especially not Robin. She didn’t… she didn’t want her to know how gross she really was. How she didn’t even have the self-control needed to keep her figure, she had to cheat instead. Especially since Robin was so stupidly attractive. All without even trying. She was… naturally beautiful. In some dumb fae-creature kind of way that Chrissy couldn’t stop thinking about. 

Maybe that would be another benefit of not talking to them anymore. Maybe then Chrissy could go a night without thinking about her. Without thinking… bad things about her. Shameful things that she didn’t have the self-control to not think about it, or worse, actually act on. But there she was, being dirty and thinking of her new friend while she had a hand between her legs, thoughts full of Robin’s long fingers and the pretty shape of her lips.

Yeah. Some distance would probably be a good thing. But that didn’t stop Chrissy from wanting to cry when the first day of school came. An urge that just got worse and worse as the day went on.

But she held it together. She did everything she was supposed to. Her mom checked her face and outfit before she left, with a passing grade. Though not without comment that her foundation shade was the slightest bit off. Then Jason picked her up, they kissed, she acted excited that he was back, then felt immediately guilty that she wasn’t. But she didn’t let any of it show on her face, she was better at that by now.

And part of her did miss him. Jason was a sweet guy. The sweetest of the ones her mom approved of. And he was cute and respectful, never trying to push Chrissy past her limits. And making out with him wasn’t… terrible. It was better than her last boyfriend at least. She didn’t hate it, so that was a plus. And yeah, maybe he was a little bland but so was Chrissy. 

She didn’t exactly have room to talk. Plus, he loved her, for some reason. And she really wanted to love him back. And if she just kept working on it, she knew that one day she would. Right?

She really hoped so.

from the newest chapter of this fic

[the-weeping-author]

Saving Grace

This was a request made by @takingchences

Request: something where Bakugou saves the reader.

Word count: 2,263

Warnings: none

A/N: I enjoyed writing this request sorry it took me so so long, also sorry if the title is horrible for this fic I could t think of anything better so here we are ahahaha. Anyways please enjoy haha I’m rambling at this point 😅

Please enjoy 😊

It was a slow morning here in Musutafu, the sun had just risen to wish the earth a good morning. The birds were singing their lovely toon, my mother was taking me to her job today. On the way there we stopped and got some coffee. Well, my mom got a coffee. I got a cappuccino, but that was only because my mom said she didn’t want it to affect my studies. However something was off, there weren’t many people starting their day. Yeah it was four thirty in the morning, but that’s when office workers went in.. right?

I noticed it when we were two blocks away from my mothers job, the air seemed very different now than it did a few moments ago. I looked at my mother as she walked down the sidewalk, and before I knew it I stopped walking. My mother instantly noticed my hesitation which caused her to stop as well, she turned her head towards me before smiling softly.

“Y/N why did you stop walking, what’s going on?”

I immediately wanted to respond to her, but instead I shook my head at her question. Using the opportunity to catch up to her, once I caught up to her I looked at her again.

“Oh well uh- the air changed, it feels thicker it’s making the hairs on the back of my neck stand up.”

Her eyes shined at me before she let out a small chuckle, and ruffled my hair softly.

“Oh honey there’s no reason to feel like that, you’ve been to my office a few times before there’s no need to worry everything will be fine.”

“I know mom, it’s not that I’m worried, it’s just something about today feels off.”

My mother stopped walking, she then turned to face me. Her usual neutral aura shifted into a calming assuring one, she ruffled my hair softly before letting out a sigh.

“I promise kiddo everything will be fine, if you continue to have this feeling after being at the office for a while then I’ll just call it an early day.. okay?”

I bit my bottom lip softly, and tucked a piece of hair behind my ear. I adjusted the bag on my arm before I looked ahead at all the people crowding the streets, I took a few short breaths before letting them out.

“I know mom, you always have my best interest in mind. I promise you’ll be the first to know if something’s going down.”

My mother nodded her head with contentment, then continued to walk down the sidewalk with me quickly following behind her. We walked for what seemed like hours, but it was probably only minutes that passed. As we approached the tall building that was my mothers workplace, my stomach knotted up. I looked towards my mother as she put her hand on my shoulder patting it softly.

Seeing her reassuring smile eased the worry out of my mind. Once we walked through the lobby doors we went to the elevators waiting on it to arrive, once it did my mother hit the button that would take us to the floor she worked on. On the way up I turned around watching the street grow smaller and smaller the higher we got, the elevators dinging pulled me from being up in the clouds and back to my mothers overly boring job.

She spent the day sitting at her cubicle doing paperwork, my mother seemed busy so of course I wasn’t going to bother her. Instead I went to the breakroom to grab water from the refrigerator, that’s when everything seemed to happen all at once. An echoing boom sounded, and the office shook softly. The once silent office was now buzzing with what seemed to be panic, I shoved the break room door open to only hear screeching in my ears.

I knew instantly that we were under attack, despite the fact that I could barely hear, I still searched for my mother. As I arrived at the cubicle dread filled my entire body, where was my mother? The dread I once felt immediately turned into fear. I quickly turned around, and started planning my escape route. My eyes settled on the elevators, and that’s when everything went radio silent. I didn’t let that stop my quickly thought out plan, I made them my new destination.

I knew about villains, but I never had an encounter with one. Well that was until now apparently, but I didn’t see anyone in sight. When I got closer to the elevators the building shook once more, and another loud boom went off making me unbalanced, and I immediately fell to my knees. This time a chunk of the building was gone, and it was the floor I was on. Glass flew all over the floor I was currently on, and the debris along with dust finally settled. That's when I heard it, well her, my mothers voice however this time it sounded different than earlier.

There was no assurance, no comfort, the only thing that seemed recognizable was panic. I tried to call out to her, but I couldn’t speak. My mouth was abnormally dry, like something was blocking my vocal cords. That’s when I hear it, a loud menacing crack. My eyes followed the crack as it traveled throughout the floor I was on. When it stopped at the exposed wall my heart dropped, I finally stood back up on shaky knees after what seemed like a few minutes while I controlled my breathing.

When I got myself as calm as I could, that's when everything went from bad to worse, the foundation under me cracked this time. The vibrations from the constant attacks made my hands tremble, and that’s when I felt it. The floor under me was slowly caving in, tears started to fill my eyes. Time seemed to zip past in that moment, and I squeezed my eyes shut trying to make some logic out of my fearful mind.

My mind went blank as the breaking building filled my ears, and the floor slowly started to lean downwards towards the pavement. Instinctively I got on my knees and started to crawl to the side of the building untouched. I slowly made my way towards a sturdy desk near the elevators, and before my fingers could make contact with the leg of the desk the floor gave away.

The air flying past me made it hard to hear, or see anything. I quickly accepted my new founding fate, and started sobbing as I flew down the nine story building. It’s funny how much you can accept when staring death straight in the face, I waited for my body to make impact with the ground. I heard a loud boom, and felt my body jerk to the side. I let out a soft grunt, and my eyes fluttered open softly. That’s when I saw it, my guardian angel I smiled softly before allowing the dark to consume me.

~~~

My eyes shot open, and I immediately looked up at the ceiling. W-what happened? My mouth was dry, and my throat felt really scratchy. I went to sit up only to feel a quick sharp pain shoot in and up my right side. I winced immediately, and sat backwards. The door opened, and my mothers figure stepped into the room. She noticed instantly that I was awake, and rushed to my side. Her warm hand instinctively found mine, and I smiled softly at her.

“H- *cough* H-hi *Cough cough* momma.”

She smiled sympathetically at me before she started sobbing, rubbing my back softly.

“Oh my sweet Y/N, I don’t know what I would have done if I lost you. I'm so sorry.”

When I pulled away from her, that's when I got a good look at her. Her e/c eyes were bloodshot, she had dark circles under her eyes, and her hair looked crazy.

“M-mom w-what happened?”

She tensed up at my question, and she swallowed thickly before letting out a shaky breath.

“W-well honey.. villains ended up attacking the office, the reason for it is because we’ve been holding onto some kind of information for Endeavors agency. They should have known it was a risky thing to do, and now I hope they do. That information almost got us all killed, and no one knew a thing about it.”

I nodded my head at the information, and turned my head to the hospital door as it opened. The lady who I assumed to be my nurse smiled widely at me, and started checking my vitals.

“Well well, I’ve been waiting for you to wake up sleepy head. Now I need you to slowly sit up for me, but please be careful two of your ribs are bruised. However there are two that are cracked, you may also have a hard time speaking and breathing for an hour or so due to all the smoke, and debris. I’m gonna need you to take your medicine.”

I nodded my head at my nurse as she continued to tell me my injuries, and then a face flashed back into my mind making my heart pick up. I turned my head towards my mom before smiling at her.

“H-how did I get saved? The last thing I remembered and saw was falling from the building, and my guardian angel.”

My mom smiled sweetly at me, and grabbed my hand once more stroking it with her thumb. Before I could ask anymore questions the hospital door busted open once more, but this time it was a guy. A cute guy if I may say so myself, but confusion etched its way onto my face. I turned to look towards my mom once more before she stood up kissing my forehead.

“There’s your guardian angel sweetheart.”

My eyes widened, and my cheeks turned a soft shade of red. I quickly took in his features, His beautiful rose colored eyes, his seemingly soft skin, and his lips which were now turned into a small smirk at my obvious oggiling.

My mom left us alone for a minute, and as soon as she left it was extremely awkward. The unknown hero shoved his hands in his pockets and looked everywhere but at me so I decided to break the silence.

“T-Thank you for uhh… saving me.”

I watched his cheeks turn a light pink before he started to rub his neck.

“Tch there’s no need to thank me idiot, it's a part of the job.”

My mouth opened and closed at his response.. idiot? How dare he, I’m not the brightest in the country however I’m far from an idiot.

“You thought I was your guardian angel huh?”

This time it was my turn to flush at his comment, he wasn't supposed to know I said that.

“Well who can blame me, I was staring death in the face.”

My comment made his sly smile disappear, and the sudden feeling to see it again was instant in my gut. Pinch me now because this all feels surreal, a handsome hero saved his Dansville in distress his job was done.

“So why is he still here?”

“Bakugou, my name is Bakugou Katsuki.”

“My names Y/L/N, Y/N/ it’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“Don’t tell anyone I said this, but I’m glad I could be your guardian angel.”

I smiled softly at him, and hummed softly. The medicine going into my arm made me a little bit bolder than I usually would be.

“I know you probably hear this often since you save people for a living, but you’re really attractive no wait you’re unfairly attractive.”

He coughed loudly, and turned his face away ahh now it was his turn to be bashful.

“Uh uhm t-thanks, you are too.”

I hummed to myself absentmindedly, and played with the sheets on the hospital mattress. The only sounds that filled the chilled room were the soft beeps of the heart monitor, and the tv playing in the background.

I laid against the soft chilled pillows the hospital provided, and looked back at the guy who just hours ago saved me. My mother walking back in the room broke the comfort silence we had built. He looked at her, then to me before nodding his head.

“Alright, it was a pleasure talking to you both. I’m afraid I have to get back to the agency I'm interning at.”

My mom smiled widely while I pouted softly, before he could leave she stopped him.

“Why don’t you come over to our house for dinner?”

He nodded his head softly before pulling out what I assumed was the agency he was currently at. Bakugou walked to the hospital door, and then opened it. He stood in the doorway, but before he left he turned back to look at my mother.

“I’ll come, but only if you allow her to come by the agency.”

She gasped excitedly, and before I could even reply she did it for me.

“Of course she would love to! Besides I’m sure she’d like to get to know the boy who saved her life. How does next Thursday at 7 o’ clock?”

Bakugou's eyes stayed glued to mine while he responded to my mother. That sly little smirk found its way back onto his face.

Sounds like a date.”

A/N: thank you so so much for reading, I know I haven’t posted in a while.. however I hope that’s gonna be changing soon. I am currently working on 3 other fics so I’m hoping those will be done soon.

@wolphielautz @explosionkatsu @hauntedparadises @pastelbakugou

[someone-took-lost]

you thought i forgot about the main six? ohohoho good friendo, no i did not! next on the listerino was pinkcheese, and here are my big guys. shabam! i present thee~

as per disclaimer, my only keepers of these guys are rosè and arcadian wild. and the other two will be up for adoption in the next day or two or sooner!

rosè gold [she/they|nonbinary bisexual|oldest]

a fashion icon from a young age, rosè is the entrepreneur within her own home. while she retained her mother’s spunk, and father’s ambition- she didn’t seem to have that overly signature overly-excitable trait that one would assume she’d have. instead, became this quiet, calm, cunning pony. with a pension for trouble wherever she went, though one can attribute that to her parents always being so indulgent in her sparkling ideas. she dreams of being a fashion icon one day, and works closely along side her best friend, millennium. and with some elbow grease , she’ll find herself right on that fashion stage one day!

arcadian wild [he/him|pansexual|youngest]

the mellow arcadian , despite the wild part, he is a very relaxed guy. he took up his mother’s laid back attitude and seemed to take it to eleven, as he can often be found playing his ukulele out by the shore or propped against a pine tree. he’s a bit of an airhead, but he’s got a heart of gold that shines brightest when he’s embracing what nature’s got to offer. oftentimes, ponies will find the stallion in one city after seeing him in another, due to his habit of wandering quite far afield during his walks. that quickly turn into hikes after some idle thinking.

“hammy” sandwich [he/him|gay|youngest]

wild and a little bit reckless, this little guy is the peppy, little brother, who just keeps managing to get himself into every kind of trouble. he’s a little short sighted, but means well as he doves headfirst into every sort of problem with a determination that just doesn’t quit! he loves everyone around him with a passion, and will prove it in any way he can! even if he’s not the brightest, he will always find a way to work things out. no matter if he’s a little confused, and not entirely sure what the issue is- hammy is here to help!

cherry marzipan [she/her|lesbian|youngest]

stressed? who’s stressed!? not cherry! cherry is completely fine. all of the time. always. she is always in control, and in perfect harmony with herself. she is fine. even though the sugarcube corner is starting to get overly stocked with orders, and the cupcake recipe she promised to have ready isn’t, in fact, ready at all! she is not stressed at all! cherry takes a lot on her plate, and especially the reputation of being her mother’s daughter. and that has a tendency to stress her out a bit, with wanting to do her best. and make sure her mom’s standing is still good,,, she will not ruin it, ever. because she is also going to be an element of laughter one day, and no way, no how, is she going to let any of that go to waste! even if she’s so busy. she is going to do well! after a nice long power nap-

[kaylinalexanderbooks]

Find the word

Thanks to @elsie-writes here and @winterandwords here!

My words: soft, silk, sapphire, sugar, time, place, when, where

Your words: pair, tense, origin, distant

Tagging @dyrewrites @sunset-a-story @i-can-even-burn-salad @elsie-writes @drchenquill

TSP intro

TSP tag list (ask to be +/-): @thepeculiarbird @illarian-rambling @televisionjester @finchwrites

@nebula--nix @literarynecromancy

Keep reading for:

Lexi and Ash in the Gateway

??? I have not used silk ???

Here's a repetitive bit from my fantasy short story

Coffee talk

Where are Lexi and Ash?

Lexi attempts to climb

Gwen meets Akash

Wade punches Parker

Soft - from The Secret Portal Part One (Lexi POV)

We sat in the middle of a seemingly endless field. The grass that stretched in each direction appeared freshly mowed, though it lacked the smell that usually came with it. Instead, a chillingly sterile air hit my nose. “Ash,” I asked, low-key freaking out, “where are we?” Ash looked around. “Where did—how did we get here? Where’s the school?” I couldn’t answer. The sun that had been burning in the late afternoon was no longer casting a deathly heat paired with Houston humidity. In fact, looking up, the burning mass seemed to be missing, despite the sky being a soft periwinkle.

Sapphire - from "Fantasy Short Story Take Two"

Silk - N/A

“With this emerald, I bring another year of peace to the Fairy Realm.” Thalia raised her scepter, placing her gem on top. A blinding green light surrounded it. She flew back, and Maylin took her place. “With this topaz, I replenish the power of the Fairy Realm.” Maylin’s golden stone flashed an amber-gold halo. “With this amethyst,” Almehda commanded, “I preserve the lifeforce of the Fairy Realm!” “With this sapphire,” said Rychell, “I bless good health in all corners of the Fairy Realm.” “With this diamond,” announced Ettrian, “I bring truth across the Fairy Realm.” “With this pearl,” Beluar said strongly, “I grant knowledge to the people of the Fairy Realm.” A white blast of light flashed throughout the room. Beluar turned and nodded at Nyana. She fluttered forward, her heart beating rapidly.

Sugar - from The Secret Portal Part Two (Hye-Jin POV)

Noelle looked down at my singular glass. “What’s that?” “Protein shake,” I answered. “Honestly, I can’t have much this early in the morning. I get sick otherwise.” “You don’t drink coffee?” Noelle asked as the replicator dinged with her breakfast. “No,” I said. “Never found a need for it, and it’s a little bitter.” “We could experiment with different combinations and proportions of sugar, milk, creamer, whatever.” Noelle sat down at the table in front of me. “But if you don’t need it, that’s fine.”

Time - from The Secret Portal Part One (Maddie POV)

“Ash said her stepmom would be here,” said Rose, peeking around the corner to the tennis court, “but I don’t see her car.” “Well, maybe they had to stay after class,” Noelle said. “Or Mary’s stuck in traffic. This is nothing to worry about, Maddie. My mom’s late all the time.” I pressed my lips together. Falcon was on a busy road. “Maybe Lexi was held back by that crazy gray-eyed teacher,” I thought aloud. “Ms. Moon?” Gwen asked. “Lexi’s in her final class,” Rose pointed out, “so that’s possible.” “Or, Lexi just didn’t answer her phone,” said Noelle. “But she always does that!” I protested.

Place - from The Secret Portal Part One (Lexi POV)

Putting the ring temporarily on my finger, I ran forward to place my hands on the vines, ready to climb up—fight or flight kicking in and for some reason choosing fight. I set my boots up against the tree—not sure what I was planning—and I attempted to climb, but wasn’t that athletic outside of afternoon bike rides, and my boots just slipped. It didn’t help that the vines started curling themselves against me, crawling up my forearms. “Ash, I’m coming!” I said more to myself. My hands were still fists on the vines, and I tried to pull myself upward. Why did I think this was a good idea? “Just go away!” I hissed at a vine enclosing my thigh as I tried to shake it off. In an instant, a flash of teal light wrapped itself around the vines. I yelped again as I slipped off the tree trunk and landed on the forest floor—thankfully my climbing endeavors had failed in that regard.

When - from The Secret Portal Part One (Gwen POV)

“Hey, who’re you?” a voice said. I looked around, trying to find the owner of the voice when my eyes finally rested on a boy. He was probably a year or so older than me with dark brown skin. He had short and spiky hair and his ears stuck out a little. He wore a yellow polo t-shit over a long-sleeved white shirt and dark-blue jeans. It took a moment to realize the boy was at eye level while I hung from the ceiling. I looked down and saw the boy’s feet were a good ten feet from the ground. He was floating.

Where - from The Secret Portal Part One (Gwen POV)

“Do it!” Parker said to the blond without missing a step. “Man, I don’t—” “You gotta practice, Wade.” Parker reared back his arms over his shoulder before thrusting forward, his arms out and stance strong. A strong wind blew across the room, and I could feel it from where I stood. Wade’s hair blustered around his face, and he held up his arms in a protective “X” in front of his face. He pushed forward against the wind. Once close to Parker, Wade punched the kid in the face, sending Parker over the barricade. I let out a squeak of alarm, bringing my hands up to my mouth as Parker crumpled beside me. As I wondered if I’d have to perform more first aid, and despite the blood on his face, Parker laughed.

[strangeswift]

happy happy birthday @astrobei !! as my gift to you, please enjoy some modern au college jancy (ft. byler)

If you told fifteen-year-old Jonathan Byers that one day he’d be taking time off of his busy schedule as an NYU Student and part time photography intern to get on a plane to Boston to visit his girlfriend, Nancy Wheeler, he probably would have fainted on sight. 

(Well, he probably wouldn’t have believed you, but if somehow he had, there would’ve been a high likelihood of him fainting on sight.)

The truth was, Jonathan’s life was kind of perfect now, as far as he was concerned. Most importantly, the world hadn’t ended, which was a pretty major concern a few years ago. 

His mom and Hopper were married now, and Hop was ten times the father Lonnie had ever been. It’d been a little bit of an adjustment at first, accepting Hopper into the family, but easier than you’d expect. Hopper had already been there for them for years, so it didn’t feel all that different.

El was living at home in Hawkins, commuting to Community College, which would’ve been Jonathan’s worst nightmare, but El seemed to be more than happy with the arrangement. Jonathan thought she might’ve been making up for lost time a bit, living at home with mom and Hop. Having a mom and a dad, a stable home. She definitely deserved it.

Will was finally happy, which had been Jonathan’s main concern in life for pretty much as long as he could remember. He was going to school for art in California and sharing a dorm with Mike, which he’d been pretty stoked about. Jonathan wasn’t entirely sure about the nature of their relationship these days, though he had his suspicions, but he knew Will was happy, and that was what mattered. Not to say that he and Nancy hadn’t tried to do some investigation on the matter, because they absolutely had. Call it journalistic instinct.

He and Nancy were better than ever these days, despite the distance. The fantastic thing about government hush money is that it’s not only good for tuition to your dream school, it can also be used for frequent air travel. Boston was only about an hour from New York City by plane, so they took turns visiting. Jonathan liked visiting Nancy, if only for the fact that she lived in a one bedroom apartment with no roommates. Glorious privacy. 

They’d just arrived back at said apartment after dinner with a few of Nancy’s friends from school, who Jonathan thought were nice, if a little high-strung. As soon as they entered the bubble of Nancy’s apartment, Jonathan gently grabbed her face and kissed her, slowly walking her back against the closed door.

She pulled back and laughed at him, her eyes filled with adoration. “What was that for?”

“I missed you,” he said sincerely.

She scoffed playfully. “We’ve been together for hours already.”

Jonathan pressed a kiss to her forehead, then to each of her cheeks, and finally connected their lips again. “Missed you,” he repeated.

She looked up at him through her eyelashes and her cheeks flushed bright pink. “I missed you too,” she murmured.

---

One bottle of red wine later, they ended up on the couch, Nancy wrapped up in Jonathan’s arms as he ran a hand through her hair. 

He was-- Okay, he was a little buzzed. He’d always been a bit of a lightweight. (The alcoholic genes did absolutely nothing for him.) Nancy was even worse off.

So there they were, a little tipsy, tangled together and staring into each other's eyes, just because they could.

“Have you talked to Will lately?” Nancy asked suddenly.

Jonathan nodded. “He texted me earlier.”

“Have you collected any more intel?” Nancy asked curiously, leaning forward. 

Jonathan could smell the wine on her breath. He took a moment to find it funny that she was referring to prying for information on their little brothers and their possible romantic relationship (probable romantic relationship) as collecting intel.

“No,” Jonathan said, “I haven’t asked him about it in a while, he got all touchy last time,” he frowned.

“Mike won’t tell me shit,” Nancy complained, “he won’t even pick up the damn phone.”

“I should call Will,” Jonathan announced, and Nancy nodded earnestly.

He shimmied a little so that he could retrieve his phone from his back pocket, then settled back into place. Nancy watched intently as Jonathan called Will and put it on speaker. They both listened to the phone ring, and Jonathan held a finger to his lips, gesturing for Nancy to stay quiet. She giggled and nodded.

“Jonathan? Is everything okay?” Will’s groggy voice came over the phone.

“Oh. Were you sleeping?” Jonathan asked.

Will huffed. “Yeah, Jonathan. It's midnight. Are you drunk? You sound drunk.”

The existence of time zones suddenly dawned on Jonathan and he felt like an idiot. “A little, yeah. I’m not used to you being on California time. Sorry,” he said.

“It’s fine,” Will said through a yawn.

Jonathan was about to apologize again and let Will go back to sleep, when he heard a voice in the background grumble, “Who is it?” and Will quietly answer, “Shh. Just Jonathan.”

Jonathan’s eyes widened and he looked excitedly at Nancy. She grinned back at him.

“You settling into the dorms okay?” Jonathan asked.

“Uh… Yeah?” Will responded, obviously wondering why the conversation was still happening.

“You and Mike got separate bedrooms, didn’t you?” Jonathan asked, biting back a smug grin.

After a pause, Will said, “Yeah,” his tone clipped, “We got lucky.”

Jonathan and Nancy exchanged another look.

“Cool,” Jonathan said, “And you’re in bed now?”

“Yeah, Jonathan, it’s midnight, I was sleeping,” Will said, “Listen, I can call you in the morning if that’s okay?”

“Sure, buddy,” Jonathan said.

“Okay, I’ll--”

“Just out of curiosity though, who’s in bed with you right now?” Jonathan asked abruptly.

Will coughed. “What?”

Jonathan heard a distant “What is it?”

“Nobody is. I’m alone,” Will insisted.

Nancy rolled her eyes and Jonathan held in a laugh. “You know, you can tell me if you met someone out there,” he said, “I’m happy for you. Seems a little fast though, you’ve been there… what? A week?”

“I haven’t met anyone! Jesus, Jonathan,” Will said.

With that, Jonathan noticed Nancy was also on her phone, and he furrowed his brow in confusion, until he saw Calling Mike on the screen. The next thing he heard was a ringtone coming through the other end of the phone, followed by a loud groan.

“Hey!” Nancy said, “He sent me to voicemail.”

“Is that Nancy?” Will asked, “What the hell Jonathan?”

“Maybe,” Jonathan answered sheepishly.

There was some shuffling on the line, then Mike’s very tired voice came through the phone loud and clear. “Hey, Jonathan and Nancy. Great job, you caught us, we’re going back to sleep now. Fuck you and goodnight.”

Before Jonathan could respond, the call ended. He locked eyes with Nancy who looked similarly bemused.

“Case closed,” she said with a shrug, erupting into giggles.

“Case closed,” Jonathan echoed. He couldn’t help but recall a few years back, watching the two of them through a rear-view mirror in the Nevada desert.

He was really, really happy. And a little wine drunk, but mostly happy.