#the Jeremy only came out on top!

[blametheeditor]

Help Unwanted

Fazbear employees are expected to wear many hats. If you're a night guard, you will be a day guard as needed, as well as a mechanic. And because this is Fazbear's, training is trail by fire.

Content Warning: Cursing. Mentions of death and murder.

Jeremy deserves a raise

_____________________

One more night. Just one more night and I have the day off tomorrow.

Jeremy forces himself to take a deep shuttering breath. Flinches when the clock strikes midnight, grey eyes snapping open with terror as he stares down the long, eerie hallway. Can already hear the haunting sounds of servos unlocking and the heavy thumping of mechanical footsteps. 

For a terrifying second, he’s completely frozen as blinding terror grips his heart. Leaves him shaking uncontrollably. Every breath taken too shallow and quick. 

Suddenly, the phone rings, earning a fearful squeak as he jumps. His heart thumps a mile a minute painfully against his chest, but the trance was broken. 

Sitting down in the chair, Jeremy grabs the tablet to check through the cameras. Quickly switches over to the prize corner and winds the music box as much as it will allow. Flips through all the areas to find ToyBonnie and ToyChica already off the stage. Looks away from the cameras to pick up his flashlight and shine it down the hallway. 

After working as Fazbear’s Pizzeria for an entire month, he’s gotten good at guessing where everyone is depending on what day it is, and despite the fact he is genuinely terrified, he’s proud at correctly guessing ToyChica’s standing by one of the party rooms. 

Before Jeremy turns off his flashlight, the animatronic chicken gives a friendly wave. He doesn’t hesitate to wave back before looking through the cameras again. 

Wind the music box, check the kid’s corner, check the vents.

He leans over to turn on the light for the right vent. Grabs the hollow Freddy head without looking to put it over his head with a wince. Waves as ToyBonnie crawls out of the vent’s opening, the bunny rolling his eyes before stomping out of the office back toward the stage. 

Jeremy scrambles to take off the head, grabbing his flashlight to shine just in time to see the bright blue animatronic about to walk straight back into a party room. Specifically the one that has another opening to the vent he just crawled through only seconds ago. 

“Cheater!” manages to freeze the towering animatronic in place. 

“I’m not cheating,” Bon glares as he turns toward Jeremy. “I’m just being resourceful.” 

“It’s ch-cheating,” the night guard declares. “You can’t go for the v-v-vent again until you’re o-out of the hallway!” 

“You can’t tell me what I can and can’t do!” 

“You are cheating, though,” ToyChica pipes up as she leans out the doorway to another party room. 

“No one asked you.” 

“No one asked you to give Jeremy a free night!” 

Jeremy takes that as his cue to check the cameras again for the others. As long as CC and Bon are arguing, he has a few minutes where he doesn’t have to worry about the two. Meaning he can focus on winding the music box before seeing ToyFoxy moved to the game area to join BalloonBoy. 

When he sees the stage is completely empty, the tablet is quickly set down to shine his flashlight down the hallway again. 

“F-Fredrick’s coming,” the night guard announces, stopping the argument steadily growing louder in its tracks. With a huff, Bon stomps down the hallway instead of ducking into the party room. CC grins before disappearing out of sight, just in time for ToyFreddy to appear. 

The flashlight is set down in order to wind the music box as an annoyed voice echos. “What were they fighting about this time?” 

“Ch-Cheating,” is all Jeremy offers as he leans over to press the light for the left vent. Squeaks in fear at the sight of CC’s beak missing as he shakily shoves the Freddy head over his own. “CC!” 

“I least I wasn’t cheating!” 

“I heard that!” 

“We all heard it,” announces ToyFoxy made it into the hallway. The moment CC’s out of the office, Jeremy yanks the head off before flashing his light repeatedly. “Surprised ye haven’t annoyed Mari enough.” 

“They’ve certainly annoyed me,” the rosy cheek bear grumbles as he marches down the hallway, stopping just in front of the threshold into the office, completely unaffected by the strobing light. It works on Mangle, though, the pink and white fox crawling across the ceiling back the way the way she came. 

Jeremy picks the tablet back up, sending fearful glances toward the dark hallway as he winds the music box again. Checks on BalloonBoy, sees Bon switch rooms, winds the music box for just a moment before shoving the tablet away in order to grab the Freddy head as Fredrick steps into the office. 

The bear leaves quickly, the night guard enjoying the moment of calm. Up until he hears a very distinct laugh, slamming the head back on to watch BalloonBoy race out of the office. 

“Did you guys get q-q-quicker?” Jeremy demands as he puts the head down to flash his light down the hallway. “This is the worst S-S-Saturday I’ve e-ever had.” 

“Would’ve been worse if Bon cheated.” 

"No one asked for your opinion, BB!” 

“Aye, we are,” Mangle’s static filled voice reveals. Frantic flashing keeps her at the end of the hallway. For now. “Some new lass been doing maintenance. Flipped a few switches he shouldn’t have.” 

It takes a moment for the information to sink in. But when it does, Jeremy can’t help feeling almost betrayed. “B-But I didn’t flip them!” 

“No, but you’re in the chair,” Bon sings. 

“That’s not f-f-fair!” 

“Life isn’t fair!” Fredrick responds. And that means none of them are going to slow down. Despite the fact it isn’t fair. Jeremy wouldn’t be pushing the limits of how fast he can multitask if someone hadn’t done something they weren’t supposed to! 

...then again, the animatronics try to kill him every night because someone else also did something they weren’t supposed to. His point still stands! 

“But isn’t this ch-cheating!” 

“You could ask Scott if you can do maintenance next time,” CC says as she ducks into a party room, refusing to go easier on him despite this clearly being unfair! 

“If he survives tonight,” doesn’t help Jeremy’s nerves. 

He can’t let this get to him. With it being Saturday and all of them being a lot quicker than usual, he needs to concentrate. Not let his nerves get the best of him. If he does, then he’s dead. 

Forcing himself to focus, the night guard goes through his tried and true list. Checking the rooms, the vents, winding the- 

His mind seems to halt when, despite pressing the button to wind the music box, nothing happens. Instead of the half circle steadily growing bigger, it continues to get smaller. No matter how hard or lightly he presses, no matter what angle, even after clicking on another camera before going back, the music box doesn’t wind. 

An overwhelming sense of panic grips Jeremy. It almost feels like the breath got knocked out of him, his lungs refusing to cooperate. And honestly, he doesn’t blame them. If he can’t wind the music box, then Marionette will come for him, and nothing can stop the puppet once he’s out. 

Sugar honey iced tea.

“Jeremy? You okay?” 

“Better check the vents, idiot.” 

The two familiar voices of genuine concern and an underlying threat don’t make whatever snake is wrapped around his chest loosen it’s hold, but it does break him out of his terror. Enough to at the very least tell the others that something’s wrong. Something the animatronics have to admit is more than just unfair. 

“T-T-Time out!” 

“...Jeremy,” Bon begins as he leans out of the right vent where he can be seen without the light, looking a mixture of impressed and annoyed. “You do know this isn’t hide and seek, right?” 

“Well-” 

“Shut up.” 

“Something b-broke!” Jeremy exclaims, trying his hardest to get the words out. Tries not to think about the fact he isn’t looking down the hallway, or flipping through the cameras, or winding the music box. His entire body is trembling as it becomes clear he might lose. Even though it wouldn’t have been a mistake he made. 

They won’t stuff him because something broke...will they? They’re all about fairness, and when one of the animatronics didn’t listen to the rules previously, Jeremy was given a free night where he didn’t have to worry about being killed. 

But they also hadn’t thought someone else’s mistake didn’t need to be corrected when it came to them being a lot faster. So what if they say this is allowed to be used against him too? What if this is how he loses? All because his tablet is no longer working? 

“Something broke?” CC asks as she leans out of the left vent so her confusion is visible. 

Jeremy’s mouth refuses to open as he imagines her taking it as permission to grab him right here and now. To drag him through the hallway to parts and service where a shell is waiting for him to be shoved inside mercilessly. 

“We won’t bite, Jeremy,” Bon smirks, sending a chill up the night guard’s spine. “What did you break?” 

“I-I-I didn’t,” comes out in a whisper. “Th-The, the music box. I-It won’t, I c-c-can't-” 

“Oh shit the music box won’t wind?” the bunny asks. And then the animatronic is climbing out of the vent. Begins to approach Jeremy. 

Jeremy, who’s completely vulnerable, with very few options for escape if they are in fact coming closer to kill him. 

“Language!” the chicken berates as she too stands up before walking over. 

He doesn’t know if they’re going to help him it doesn’t seem like they are. It doesn’t help that they tower. That they have the capability of crushing his bones to dust considering the powerful endoskeletons they all possess. That they have made it blatantly clear they want nothing more than to silence him forever even though he’s never done anything to them. 

He’s not Jeremy to them. He’s just a night guard, someone who deserves a long and painful death. And without a way to wind the music box, it’s only a matter of time for the puppet to come after him. 

It’s game over. 

Before Jeremy can jump out of the chair and sprint away, to make a break for it, to at least try and get to the restaurant doors to escape the most horrifying death imaginable, the tablet is suddenly ripped away from his hands. 

He can’t even squeak. He’s petrified as CC stands directly to his left as Bon glares down at the screen looking tiny in his...hands? Paws? Whatever they are he shouldn’t be thinking about semantics if they’re about to kill him! 

“Yep, it’s busted.” 

“Let me see,” earns CC a turn with the tablet. Taps on it a few times as a scowl slowly forms. “It’s making the sound like it is winding. Maybe something got unplugged?” 

Bon rolls his eyes. “I bet that idiot tripped over something while checking around Mari’s box.” 

“Possibly.” Jeremy’s suddenly given a smile. “Want to come with us to check it?” 

There’s no reach for him. No ominous threat of what they’re going to do to him the moment he steps foot outside of the office. Not even a half hearted and slightly sarcastic ‘nice knowing you’. They won’t actually kill him. Right now at least. 

The night guard’s heart nearly stops at the thought of wondering around the restaurant before 6am. At the same time, he nearly goes limp with relief. “Y-You won’t k-k-kill me?” 

“Can’t,” almost has Jeremy faint from terror as Fredrick storms into the office, the bear the tallest and biggest of all the animatronics, not including Marionette. No one can beat Marionette, though. “Not when these two decided to throw away our best chance at stuffing you.” 

Instead of being reassured, Jeremy feels his heart beat even quicker than before. 

It doesn’t help when Bon snaps back. “Sorry for thinking stuffing him when the stupid tablet broke would’ve been a bit cruel.” 

The bear opens his mouth before hesitating. “It broke?” 

CC hands the device over. “The music box won’t wind, so we’re going to go check it real quick!” 

There’s no time for Jeremy to ask if he’s part of the ‘we’. Not when a hand? grabs his arm. Suddenly yanks him up and out of the chair. Pulls him forward as he trips over his own feet. 

Instead of his shoulder coming out of its socket, or the grip being so tight it fractures the bone into multiple pieces, the night guard finds himself being helped until he gets his footing back. And once he’s standing, a gentle push from behind leads him down the pitch black hallway. 

What just happened?

It’s both helpful not being able to see anything as CC guides him, as well as terrifying. Because even though he can’t see if there’s any animatronics about to leap out at him, he can’t see any animatronics about to leap out at him. It only gets worse as he distinctly hears each and every one of them moving around. Mangle’s soft static trailing after them, along with her claws scrapping against the beams along the ceiling. BB’s ‘hello’ that nearly makes him heart leap out of his chest. 

Heavy footsteps that are too quick to be from someone walking, the sound getting louder and louder the closer they get. 

“Hey dumbass, he can’t see without a flashlight.” 

The sound of Bon’s voice being so close has Jeremy flinching away, genuinely afraid of the bunny reaching out to grab him. Or maybe it’s the bunny currently pushing him from behind and directing him toward parts and service instead of the prize corner. 

He is grabbed, but it’s only to put something in his hand, the flashlight all too familiar not to recognize it despite not even being able to see a single inch in front of his eyes. 

“He doesn’t need to see,” the chicken says as Jeremy quickly flicks it on. Doesn’t comment on his involuntary and breathless squeak when he sees Mangle hanging so low she could swing over and bite him, only getting a gentle but firm push to make him continue walking. “I can see.” 

“How is he supposed to help check if he can’t check it?” 

“He’s not even supposed to be helping,” Fredrick growls somewhere behind them. There’s a cautious sweep of the floor with the flashlight just to see where the bear is, and then the flashlight is aimed toward the rapidly approaching prize corner. 

One where the large present that houses the puppet is already open, the music box long since having stopped playing, an unimpressed glare aimed toward the four. 

Jeremy can’t help but feel the anger’s specifically directed toward him only. 

“Why the hell are we letting him run loose?” 

“The tablet broke,” CC explains. Jeremy takes a shuddering breath as her hands leave his shoulders, letting him stop a safe distance away from a very upset Mari. Although, the puppet is well known for being able to jump impressive distances. Any night guard within a mile radius will never truly be safe. “We think a wire got disconnected.” 

“You mean the absolute idiot that just got hired tripped over something?” 

“CC suggested Jeremy get trained for maintenance,” Bon begins, earning a fearful jump from said person as pinprick eyes focus land on him. 

Instead of Mari starting a tirade about how that’d be the worst idea imaginable, the puppet smiles. “That sounds like an excellent idea.” 

Everyone freezes as the entire restaurant grows so quiet, the sound of the AA batteries in Jeremy’s flashlight can be heard rattling due to his trembling. 

“It does?” Fredrick demands when no explanation is given. And even though Jeremy feels like he should be offended, he can’t help but agree. There’s a reason why he was hired as the night guard instead of the mechanic. Though, it’s also hard to imagine why Scott picked him of all people to hire for a security job. His lanky stature wouldn’t be able to stop anyone from robbing the restaurant if someone tried to. 

The point is Jeremy doesn’t have any experience for protecting the stars of Fazbear’s Pizzeria, meaning he certainly wouldn’t know how to fix or even configure such advanced animatronics. Sentient ones he might add. 

“We want to give the person we’re trying to kill completely unsupervised opportunities to fuck us up?” Bon questions. 

That...actually never crossed Jeremy’s mind. They have been trying to kill him, for several weeks now, but he’d never want to take advantage of them. Maybe turn down their settings back to the speed they were previously at but never would he intentionally mess with very sensitive and expensive systems! That wouldn’t be fair, and it wouldn’t be moral! 

Not to mention it would guaranteed get him fired. 

“He’d be better than our current ‘mechanic’,” Mari shrugs, smirking down at the shaking night guard who’s wishing he was back in his office being hunted down like every other night. “And he wouldn’t dare mess with us.” 

“No offense to the lad,” Mangle pipes up somewhere in the darkness. “He doesn’t seem like he’d know the first thing about robotics.” 

“Neither does the new hire.” 

“I-I-I-I don’t think it’d b-be a good idea,” Jeremy whispers. His hands tighten their grip on the flashlight as four murderous animatronics turn their attention onto him. The way they leer over him make him feel like he’s two inches tall. It doesn't help when it makes him curl into himself. “I w-wouldn’t mess with you. But I-I-I'm not a mechanic!” 

“You also weren’t a guard before,” BB joins in. 

CC sends a glare toward the short animatronic before offering Jeremy a smile. “I heard Mike does repairs on the gang all the time. If he can do it, how hard can it be!” 

...Mike does what? 

“Hold on Mike does what?” 

“Wait, how hard can it be if that asshole can repair the others without permanently shutting them off?” 

“Only proves the new hire is incompetent if Mike can do it,” Mari grumbles. 

As much as Jeremy would like to defend the man who trained him to become a Fazbear night guard, he is genuinely surprised Mike would be trusted to do something like repairs on the animatronics at the location he guards. Not that Mike’s someone to take advantage of such an opportunity! He just never came off as a techy kind of guy. Not when he doesn’t even own a cell phone and can only be reached by calling the restaurant's landline. 

“Well then go on, Jeremy,” is said with a push that sends him stumbling closer to Mari. He only barely manages to check himself before earning himself a death sentence by running into the puppet’s present. “Fix the music box!” 

“I’m not t-t-t-trained!” the night guard exclaims as he sweeps his light over the line of animatronics, trying to figure out who shoved him. 

“Again, Mike can do it,” Bon grins. Waves his hands as if to shoo Jeremy away.  “How hard can it be?” 

“Break it, and I break your spine,” Mari promises. 

Jeremy stands there for a moment with his mouth open, because this is far from fair. Just because Mike can do it doesn’t mean he can! What if the veteran guard was trained extensively before being allowed to go anywhere near sensitive hardware? Or what if he had gone to school for engineering and only told Scott about it so he got permission to do specific repairs? 

None of them try to reassure him that even if he accidentally messes something up, they won’t let Mari kill him. Not even CC tries to help, the chicken only giving a shoo herself, though this one much more encouraging. 

This isn’t going to end well. 

Jeremy shakes uncontrollably as he slowly turns toward Mari’s box, glad the puppet hasn’t decided to come out, yet it’s still unnerving to be watched so intensely. Never did he think he’d ever get this close to the animatronic unless he was about to be killed. 

There’s a chance I might be.

The beam of light is shaky as Jeremy shines it around the prize corner, trying to find the music box he’s never actually seen, just a button on a screen that can be used to wind it. Admittedly he hadn’t even thought about what it might look like. Now that he is, he’s expecting something with a dancing ballerina. 

There’s nothing like that sitting on any of the shelves, but there is a small wooden box. One with a crank that he gently, carefully winds in order to hear a few notes of ‘Grandfather’s Clock’. 

In his opinion, this is a great start. He found the music box and proved that it itself isn’t broken, just whatever connects it to the tablet. Which thank goodness because he would never have been able to fix a music box without instructions. That still leaves him not knowing what exactly is wrong. 

Jeremy gingerly moves the music box until he can see the back of it, squeaking in surprise when something seems to disconnect, a soft ‘thump’ telling him whatever it was fell to the floor. For a moment, he lets himself catch his breath. And then he remembers he has an audience. 

Whirling around, the night guard’s light frantically lights up each animatronic one by one, making sure they’re all accounted for with no one being too close for comfort. Except for Mari who’s allowed to be an exception. Being close enough to grab him is better than being loomed over by the eight foot tall puppet. 

“A bit jumpy, lad?” Mangle teases. 

“Like Bon w-w-wouldn't sneak up on me,” Jeremy counters as he carefully positions himself so he can look at the music box and be able to flash his light toward the rest of the room. 

It’s unnerving as the shadows seem to swallow the animatronics whole as he turns back to the task he was forced to take. But he continues with his investigation, ignoring the indignant ‘Hey!’ as he kneels down. Grabs a thin cord. One with exposed wires as the end of the piece looks like it’ll fall off any second now. 

“I think I f-f-found the p-problem?” 

There’s no stopping the terrified flinch as the cord is ripped out of his grasp. It takes a moment of floundering, but he manages to shine his light to see Fredrick inspecting it before waving Mangle over. Jeremy backs away to give the fox a respectful amount of space, watching as she examines it before nodding and disappearing into the ceiling. He tries not to think about someone who’s blood thirsty and capable of killing him within seconds crawling inside the walls, instead focusing on everyone who’s still left. 

For some reason, they’re all looking at him. He doesn’t know if it’s good or bad for them to look impressed yet disappointed. “Wh-Wh-What?” 

“I really wanted you to get stuffed,” Bon huffs. 

“See, you were a great mechanic!” CC praises. 

That, that was it? That’s all he needed to do? He thought it’d be a lot more complicated than that! 

“Don’t get cocky,” Fredrick growls, making Jeremy shrink into himself. “If the music box was busted, or Mari’s box was broken, Scott would be looking for a new night guard.” 

“And he still might,” the puppet muses. “We’ll see if only the wire needed a replacement.” 

Mangle appears again, this time swinging down almost directly next to Jeremy, a completely metal hand without the shells every other animatronic has offering a new wire. It’s a miracle he isn’t too petrified, managing to accept it without needing to be snapped at. 

Terrified this won’t be an easy fix, the night guard trembles as he plugs the cord into the music box. Turns to where Fredrick stands with the broken one. Feels the blood drain from his face when his light follows the other half behind Mari’s box. 

The bear doesn’t offer any help. Jeremy can only hold his breath as he slowly approaches the puppet, doesn’t dare look up as he follows the broken wire, careful to unplug the correct one and replace it with the one in hand. 

There’s not even a chance for him to gain a bit of distance in case he somehow managed to make the situation worse. The moment he’s finished, the old cord is yanked away so quickly it nearly whacks him in the face with how he’s crouched and wedged in behind the box. And then the familiar sound of the music box winding echos through the room. 

After a heart dropping minute of complete silence once it’s fully winded, music begins to fill the air. Jeremy takes as deep as a breath as possible with what limited space his lungs currently have to expand. 

“No wonder Mike can repair the gang.” 

“Congratulations, Jeremy. You get to live another day.” 

Yay?

Despite the praise, it sounded more like a threat than anything. But he takes it as confirmation he won’t be killed tonight. 

Not wanting to hit any other wires on accident to cause something else to break, he slowly wriggles his way out from behind the box, sneezing as dust comes with him. Ruffles his hair with a sigh at the realization his precious curls are most likely as covered in grime as the rest of him is. 

“This is so exciting!” CC cheers as Jeremy picks himself off the floor, silently planning the best way to get back to the office to wait out the rest of the night. “Now we can ask you to fix things!” 

It takes too long to realize what that means. Sends a horrified look over at Bon’s smirk and Fredrick’s thoughtful expression. Mari gives a dark laugh as he closes his box. “For your sake, you better hope Scott trains you for repairs and not Mike.” 

Not a yay, not a yay! 

[jarofstyles]

Stacy’s Mom

Stacy’s mom has got it goin’ on… and Harry’s definitely been noticing for a while.

We haven’t seen a lot of reverse age gap fics and figured it was our time to contribute to the cause. We hope you enjoy!

Check out our Patreon for early access and 150+ exclusive writings

Warnings- age gap, unprotected sex, teasing, creampie, soft dom!H

———————

His lip was bitten as he watched her walk across the backyard, sunglasses hiding his gaze. The back of her sundress brushed the softness of her thighs, her hair pulled up in a claw clip as she placed snacks down on the glass table for the group of friends that often frequented the pool at her house. The very house she had won in the divorce just three years ago. 

Stacy’s parents had always been generous when it came to letting their home be the epicenter of their friend groups’ hang out. It didn’t stop when they all came home from uni for the summer, everyone falling back into their routine with the hometown group, or after they’d graduated and some had stayed in town. Drunken food at the diner, pub crawls- legally this time-, the mall, the summer carnival, and movie nights and pool days at Stacy’s house. It was spacious and clean and it had only changed a little bit since the divorce. Her hotshot lawyer father paid a nice big chunk of change in alimony keeping the comfortable lifestyle afloat, one Harry was aiming to get for himself. Hopefully after he opened up a garage or two, he’d be able to grab a house like this. Make someone happy. 

The problem is, the last three summers all he could think about was someone he definitely shouldn’t be. 

It was no secret that she was incredible. Everyone loved Y/N from the start and not just because she was the ‘cool, young mom’ who didn’t make them call her by her last name. She was genuinely kind, loved to make them snacks, would pick up anyone who needed it, let them nurse their hangovers at their house and made them the greasy breakfasts they needed to get through the mornings. The woman was an angel- and she had an exterior to match. 

It seemed like in the last few years though, she had been rediscovering herself and her body. Dressing in ways she hadn’t before, ways he knew Stacy’s father wouldn’t like. Denim shorts and tank tops, sundresses, the like. Things that made Harry’s crush morph from minor to major. Y/N had become the centerfold to his wet dreams, the woman he compared other girls to, the one he closed his eyes and imagined in the shower when he was stroking off. He watched her in her kitchen while she chopped up fruit for them, her back turned and imagined approaching her from behind and placing kisses on her neck, hiking the dress up and offering her all the fun she could want. 

There was something so tempting about the older woman. Harry’d always sort of had that preference, but it had intensified as he grew up. His friends liked to prod at him about being into MILFs and he couldn’t deny it. He was. There was certainly one mother he’d love to fuck, and it was Stacy’s. In all honesty, it was half the reason he kept showing up here. 

“I hate to say it, Stace- your mom is banging.” Jeremy said what Harry was thinking but got a smack upside the head with a waterlogged pool noodle, making him yelp. 

“Do not talk about my mom like that you freak!” She hissed. “She’s a beautiful woman but none of you are going to even think about her in any way but my mother.” Her warning glare did little to deter Harry, though he merely shrugged at her to get her to think he agreed. There was no way in the world that he would ever turn away a chance to be alone with Y/N. He would beg on his knees for a chance to touch her. 

“Don’t look at me! I’m just saying it. Harry’s the one who’s the MILF Hunter.” Jacob snickered, making him raise an eyebrow. It was true and he wanted to smirk- because yes, he’d fucked a few older women before. Being a mechanic during the week and a bartender during the weekend had their perks, including women who found him to be more than a bit interesting. There had been a few instances he’d taken them up on their offers, quelling their loneliness and lack of orgasm with his own brand of fun. But none of them had ever appealed to him quite like Y/N. 

The forbidden fruit theory, maybe. He really, really shouldn’t even entertain it. A crush turned into an obsession though, he was fucked. The moment he thought he had a chance, he would be taking it. As cocky as he could be, he knew he would be able to handle her. 

“Yeah, but Harry’s not going to say stupid shit to my mom.” She huffed. 

With a smirk on his face, Harry gave a half ass nod before watching the woman of discussion shoot them a beaming smile across the yard before she turned to go back inside. Harry’s eyes ate up every curve, every drop, every inch of skin he could see before she closed the sliding glass door to the deck. 

If only she knew. 

——

Harry was sitting at home when he got a call from a number he didn’t recognize. It wasn’t an uncommon occurrence. People usually gave his number out to people who had car trouble, knowing he was reliable and could always use a bit of cash. It wasn’t something he minded, but he was exhausted tonight. Sitting down in his apartment, he exhaled slowly before clicking the green button to answer the phone. 

“Hello, who’s this?” He asked gruffly, his slight agitation bleeding into his tone.

“H-Hi! I’m so sorry to call you so late, but it’s Y/N. Stacy’s mum.” She said shyly. “I’m sorry to bother you Harry, but my car… it’s not starting. I was meant to go to the grocery but it’s just making this noise and-“ 

His whole body shot up straight as he got confirmation as to who it was. Was it some sort of joke? Or were the angels smiling down on him for once? Any ache in his body and heaviness in his eye disappeared as he stood up from the sofa, making his way towards the door. 

“M’on my way. It’s no trouble.” He said in a softer tone, thankful he had already showered. Maybe he’d need to do it again, but he wanted to look halfway decent for Y/N. “It’ll be about 15 for me to get over there.” 

“Oh-are you sure?” Her voice was slightly hesitant. “You sound tired and I can order groceries if I need to, I really don’t want to put you out.” 

“Promise, it’s not a big deal.” He assured her, tucking his wallet into his jeans before opening his front door. “I’d always help you with whatever you need. Didn’t mean t’’sound so grumpy, I didn’t know it was you calling.” He’d have been halfway to her house if he had known. “Give me 15 and I’ll be there.”

“As long as you’re sure.” He could tell she was doing the worried thing she usually did with her fingers touching her bottom lip. There had been a lot of silent observing on his end towards the woman and he could almost see her in his head. “I’ll make sure to make it up to you.” 

Even though there was nothing suggestive in her tone, Harry could feel his prick stiffen up at the mere thought of it meaning something more. It took the whole drive there to will it down. 

—-

Harry arrived to the house to see the garage doors open- and Stacy’s car gone. 

Was this his divine intervention? He didn’t want to get his hopes up, but he knew she had to be gone. Harry was the one who did all the work on their cars, so it wasn’t in the shop. More than likely they’d be all alone. 

The summer night was cooling off a bit but there was still a decent amount of daylight left. The stickiness had subsided and it was far more comfortable than he had been at work all day in his damn coveralls. He’d sweat up a storm and cringed the moment he’d had a moment to himself, hating how hot the garage got in the summer months. His own garages would have proper AC one day. 

He was thankful for the heat though when he saw Y/N come out from the garage, her lavender dress obviously a swimsuit cover up. The straps of a bikini were underneath it, the halter top of the dress tied behind her neck. It was shorter than her normal dresses making Harry peer up at the sky and ask anyone who was up there to lend him some strength in order to not pop a stiffy in front of her- at least not yet. 

“You really didn’t have to come out so quickly. I didn’t think before calling you.” Y/N crossed her arms as she walked towards the younger man who was fishing his toolbox out of the back of his pickup truck. She couldn’t help but admire how much of a man he’d truly become. Tattooed now, shown off by his black tank top. Hair a bit unruly and curled. Stubble on his upper lip and jaw. He was a man now, not a hint of boy in the slightest, and it was a little intimidating. She remembered him when he was far more lanky, 19 and shy. Now he was 23, with larger arms and broadened shoulders, a pretty set of lips and a husky voice. Things she shouldn’t have been paying attention to. 

There had been a bit of tension between them somehow, tension she hadn’t been able to pinpoint where it had begun. The one thing she did know is that he was an observer. His eyes were watching her when she came out and he kept eye contact as they spoke, like he was giving her every bit of attention he had when she was talking. Maybe it was the heart sickness she felt but it was so nice to feel listened to, appreciated. Harry always helped clean up, always told her daughter to be respectful to her mum, always asked her how her day was. He was a complete gentleman every time he came over and she had to wonder how much of a problem it was for her to sort of wish for that attention all the time. 

Ever since she had found out Patrick had been cheating on her, she’d felt a bit used. Dirty. Of course marrying a man 10 years her senior who was a hotshot lawyer had probably been her first sign something would go wrong, but he used to dote on her. That was until she began to age. It wasn’t like she was old- she could probably still have a kid if she wanted! But she’d gotten pregnant at 17 and Patrick had been quick to marry her on her 18th birthday. A problematic union at best, but she’d tried to be happy. She was provided for and had a beautiful home and daughter, one so smart she was able to skip around in school! But… she’d never felt truly loved. Not that toe curling, soft eyed, tummy turning love that she’d always imagined. 

Not even the passion she wanted. All she wanted at this point was for someone to want her. To make a move, to show her she was sexy and prove that her newfound revelations were true. 

The last three years had been tearing herself down to build back up. There was some part of her that felt 22 again, wanting to live the life she hadn’t been able to as a young mum. But that didn’t mean she had to look at Harry the way her brain was trying to. 

“Stacy is at a concert a few hours away otherwise I would have just asked her to borrow her car.” Having him here now made her feel all the more ridiculous for calling him over for such a stupid reason. Tomorrow would have at least been during normal work hours.

“Y/N.” Harry’s hand rested on her shoulder, making her breath catch quietly. “S’fine. I’m more than happy to help you. Alright?” His thumb rubbed over the cuff of her shoulder before he gently lifted his hand away, carrying his toolbox further into the garage. 

She felt a bit buzzed, as pathetic as it was. It had been so long since a man had touched her, let alone a younger, attractive one. It made her feel like her brain had fogged up. 

“Keys in the ignition?” He murmured. “Want t’see what we’re working with.” 

It was enough to shake her out of her fog, nodding a bit too eagerly as he gave her a soft smile, sitting himself in the driver’s seat. She leaned against the garage door as she watched him turn it over a few times to no avail, making her worry her bottom lip between her teeth. She had no idea about anything car related and luckily it had all been minor stuff until now. Her ex had the cars serviced every few months and she had been dropping the ball. What if it was bad? What if she needed a new engine and Harry thought she was an awful car owner? What if-

Her train of thought was snapped out of it as he let out a chuckle, standing up from the seat. “I know what it is. Isn’t a big problem at all.” He walked over to his toolbox. “Battery is dead. You may have accidentally left the key in, or a door open, maybe a light on. Not a big deal. I’ll just give it a jump.” 

While he didn’t seem annoyed about it at all, Y/N felt very, very dumb. How could she have not known that’s what it was? Something so easy to fix. Her cheeks burned as she cringed, feeling the guilt well up in her body for making him come out when she could have just asked a neighbor for a jump. 

It took him just a few tries with her following his instruction to turn the car on when she said so in order for her car to turn on as if nothing had happened. It was slightly humiliating.

“Oh, god… Harry, I’m so sorry.” She groaned. “I’m not… I’m not good with cars and I thought the engine was dead or something big happened to it. I made you leave your house for no reason. I can’t begin to say how awful I feel.” It felt even more embarrassing because it was such a quick fix and he was an expert in cars. She probably seemed like a bobble head. 

“Woah- S’okay.” He closed the hood of her car and detached the jumper cables. “It’s actually a good thing. I’d rather it be a quick fix than something that would cost you thousands. That’s the ideal. No one is an expert in cars right away and m’sure that the whole thing was probably be a bit troubling if it’s the first time it’s happened to you.” His voice tried to soothe her worries away. The man truly looked unbothered by it all, happy to help- but still. 

“Well… if you’re sure.” It still felt hot around her cheeks as she made her way towards the door leading to the kitchen. “Come inside, I’ll get you something for helping me.” 

Harry let out a sigh as she waited at the door for him, tucking his toolbox and cables back into his car before following her inside. A mixture of giddiness and nerves rocked through his system as she led him towards the kitchen where her handbag was. Alone with her at last- and with a good excuse. No one would question him coming over to help with the car. Surely, Stacy had given her his number. He had every right to be here. 

So why couldn’t he extend his stay? 

“How much do I owe you?” Her hair fell in her face as she looked down into her bag, fishing around for her wallet. It was always a bit of a mess with receipts she needed to toss, makeup she needed to put away, a first aid kit she’d only really ever needed once- all the things making it more difficult to find her wallet. So difficult that she didn’t notice how close he got until his warm, slightly calloused hand closed over hers, gently pulling it out of the bag. 

Her heart stuttered as she raised her head to look at him. Tanned skin from being out in the sun, a few freckles here and there. A birthmark near his mouth she’d never noticed. He had more scruff than the last time she had seen him too, making her mouth dry a bit as she blinked up at the man, her hand suddenly feeling much smaller in his own. He was a bit too close but there was no desire in the slightest to pull back.

“You know me a bit better than t’think that I’d charge you for a jump.” His voice was low, soft. A volume it didn’t need to be for it being just the two of them. He also didn’t need to be this close to her, close enough to smell a warm, woodsy soap on him and mint from the gum he was usually chewing. Her body felt hot under where he touched her, heartbeat quickening at his unforgiving eye contact. 

“B-but you came all the way out here.” She whispered back. It wasn’t necessary to talk that low but it was following his tone, the tension palpable in the room. “I’d feel awful for making you come for nothing. I really should pay you.” His stare was intimidating but also… a bit addicting. He didn’t look away from her- no, his eyes looked over her face. Maybe she had imagined the lingering at her lips, but part of her hoped she didn’t. 

“Have you had dinner yet?” His question made her slightly confused, not the response she had been expecting. 

“No, why? Did you want me to cook for you?” That made her perk up a bit. She had to do something to repay him. It wouldn’t be right not to. 

“No. I want t’cook for you.” His words were matter of fact. There was no way she didn’t believe his desire to do so, considering he looked so sure of himself. It just was a bit confusing. Her brows furrowed, head tilting a little as she turned more towards him- all too aware he hadn’t dropped her hand from his grip yet- giving him that questioning look. “You have the ingredients for chicken teriyaki? Rice?” When she nodded, his eyes glanced over to the pineapple in her fruit bowl. “Saw a recipe on how t’make it in a pineapple bowl. Was going to do it this weekend but I’d like to make it here. A bit more room in this kitchen and… it’d be nice to eat with someone.” He wasn’t shy about letting her know he’d like to eat with her. “May I?”

“I- I mean of course you can, but it doesn’t… how is it payment for you? For you to be the one to cook me dinner?” It was a bit hard for her to understand. She was the one who did the cooking for everyone else and it sounded like he was doing her yet another favor. 

“Because you’re fun to be around, nice to talk to, I won’t have t’shop for the ingredients, and m’starving.” It was self explanatory to him. He wanted to get away with spending as much time with her as possible. Especially when she seemed to be so shocked at the idea of someone being nice to her without the thought of repayment. It sort of pissed him off. “Just sit and talk to me while I cook. It’ll be nice to hear you without people interjecting.” 

Y/N hadn’t realized he had noticed that. His back was already turned, going through her fridge to get the chicken out along with some of the ingredients for the sauce but her brain was still on that. Had his shoulders always been that broad? Harry had always been quiet and observant. The nice guy, sweet and thoughtful but he didn’t seem to take any of the friend groups shit. Stacy was the youngest out of them all and he’d always been thoughtful about her. Protective over her feelings- to the point Y/N had assumed Harry had a bit of a crush on her at first. That proved to be false when she’d heard about Harry being set up with one of the mothers of the kid’s Stacy taught swim lessons to. 

One of her faults was indeed being nosy, and she’d listened in on her daughter when she dropped off lunch to the pool talking to said mother. She was definitely younger than herself with a much younger child but she apparently had one good night with Harry before he politely decided not to see her again. 

She wasn’t dumb. Y/N heard their teasing of Harry liking older women… and perhaps that’s why he made her a tad bit nervous. It wasn’t like he’d ever made a move, but he had a sensual air around him. He’d been gentle with her today, but never inappropriate. Was it bad to wish he would?

The answer was a resounding yes, it was not at all something she should ever want- but that didn’t mean that’s what her brain was thinking. 

She pulled out a pineapple wine she’d gotten as a gift, never a more appropriate time. A glass was poured for each of them as Harry went about the motions, preparing and chopping and starting the rice. Maybe adding alcohol into the mix wasn’t the smartest idea, but she needed something to take the nervous edge off.

“Is it lonely in a big house like this?” Harry asked as he dropped the chicken into the pan. “When Stace is gone, does it feel a little daunting?” 

“Sometimes.” She pursed her lips. “It’s been my house for a while now so I’m used to all the noises and I know all the neighbors. You can hear the kids playing outside, lawnmowers, or people getting home from work.‘At night it can be… it can be a bit unnerving. Cold. But Patrick was gone a lot of nights at the office, so it’s nothing I’m not used to.” A bitter scoff left her as she took a sip of wine before shaking her head, face falling. “Sorry. I know that’s the last thing you want to hear about.” 

“No.” He said simply. “I’d like to. I don’t mind.” His tongue ran over his bottom lip before he met her eyes, placing his wine glass on the counter. “Everyone needs someone to vent to sometimes, Y/N. Know m’younger than you and all but I’m not clueless when it comes to relationships.” A gentle smile softened the blow of the words. “Tell me about it if you want. You don’t have to censor yourself. Not around me. It’s just us.” 

There was a burn in her belly at the last few words. It felt… really fucking nice to be told that. That he wanted to earnestly hear her talk. He was an incredible listener, she found. It made her wonder how much of what she said in the past he had really heard. 

“Uh… well…” twirling the glass in her hand, her fingers tightened around the stem as she had to break eye contact with him. It was making her feel a little light headed. “He was cheating, as I’m sure you know. Stacy didn’t take it well. She’d cut up all his ties by the time I found her.” Her smile quirked on her lips. Her daughter had a thirst for revenge. “It was worse when I found out it wasn’t just one person but multiple women. All at his job. It’s why he moved firms.” Her lips tightened as she looked towards the sliding glass door that was open to let the air in, the sun having started to set just a bit ago. A golden glow ran over the kitchen and she had a hard time not staring at the man in front of her. 

“I… I’m not sure how much you know of myself and Patrick, but we were in a relationship when I turned 17. He was 27. I thought it was very impressive and I was so mature for my age that he chose me, but it wasn’t. It was wrong. And when I got pregnant, we had to hide it until I turned 18 and he could marry me. His parents were lovely grandparents to Stacy but awful parents to him in the way they enabled his behavior. So for a long time I just thought it was a big star crossed love story when in reality, he stole my youth from me. I don’t ever regret my daughter- don’t get me wrong.” Her look was desperate for him to believe her, but he didn’t seem to have any judgment on his face. It was a breath of fresh air considering people usually gave her pitying looks this far along. 

“I love her and I wouldn’t change it. Everything happens for a reason but… I’m just a bit bitter now. My best years spent on him and he’s fucking other women because I’m ’showing my age’ and I’m essentially aged out.” Her face curled in disgust. “I work hard on my body! I keep up with my appearance! You know? I’m not lazy. I didn’t let myself go which- even if I did, that’s no fucking excuse for cheating. Marriage was supposed to be for love, for better or for worse. At least that's what I naively thought.” It had been so long since she had someone to talk to, someone who didn’t seem to fucking judge her or try and tell her it was okay. Harry merely nodded, keeping his eyes trained on her face as she got it out. 

“It should be what marriage is for.” He replied in a bit of a lull. “I mean, I’ve never been married but… S’a simple enough concept to understand. I don’t think you were naive in thinking that. He was just a dick for taking advantage of you.” Harry didn’t like Patrick much from the start. He’d been a show off, obviously trying to compensate for something. He’d sort of steamrolled over things Y/N used to say, and even though he’d only seen them married for a few times he came over. It was a good thing they divorced in his humble opinion, and not just because he was a bit obsessed with the woman standing in front of him. She seemed to grow from it, her confidence rising tenfold.  He’d been holding her back. “I don’t think there’s much wrong with an age gap… as long as the parties are both of legal age.” He chopped the pineapple in half, making sure to make it even. “So, m’sorry you had to go through that. Stacy is great, but I wish you didn’t have to feel that way. It’s shit.” 

Y/N felt a bit validated with his words. Maybe it was the wine, but she had a feeling it was just his presence that had her relaxing. He was right on all counts, but it was a little hard to accept at times after being manipulated her whole adult life. Someone was agreeing with her that weren’t her own parents. “Thank you.” She whispered. “I’m glad at least you think so. People kept telling me that marriages have bumps in the road and I was being a bit rash, filing for divorce so quickly after I found out but… Cheating is just not something I can stomach. I think they were thinking about his money, his reputation. Cared more about how he would be seen than if I was happy. I had to do a lot of cleaning up after the divorce. Friends I had for years chose his side and… yeah. I’ve been a little lonely.” A sad laugh left her before she cleared her throat. The man probably didn’t want to hear about that. “But luckily I’ve found more fulfilling things. It’s nice when you guys come around.” Her smile grew genuinely. “I’ve always liked taking care of people. That was one perk of being in the situation I was. Being a mum was great. It’s a bit jarring now though, with her out of the house the majority of the time. So, in the long roundabout answer to your first question- yes, the big house is a bit daunting sometimes.” 

Y/N had rambled and babbled. Harry had been happy to listen, attentive even while cooking. She knew she may be embarrassed later about spilling her fucking guts out to him when he had only come over to fix her not so broken car and decided he wanted to make her dinner, but it was so fucking refreshing to have someone in her kitchen with her. 

It was embarrassing how much she missed male attention. She’d wanted to clench her thighs together when he grabbed her shoulder earlier and it was pathetic, but it was hard not to notice how wonderful Harry was. He was hardworking, intelligent, sweet, charitable, understanding and stupidly fucking handsome. He could cook too, apparently. Something her ex husband could never even attempt. 

“Thank you for sharin’ all that with me.” His voice was even and smooth as he gave her a gentle smile. “I, for one, am glad you divorced him. I think you’re incredible. You don’t deserve someone who’ll step out on you. Let out multiple times.” It truly did piss him off. The man had a woman who was willing to give the world and still managed to be greedy for other women and fucked it up. “I’ve never really understood that sort of thing but, I think you’re too good for him anyways. Know you said you feel like you wasted your youth and by the risk of sounding a bit cliche, age is just a number in this instance. You can do anything you want now that you think you would have wanted to do back then. And..” He smirked slightly. “You look like you could still be in your twenties. So I wouldn’t worry too much about that. Him acting like aging is a sin in any situation is fucking dumb considering it’s something unavoidable and sorta beautiful if you ask me. Older, wiser, more experience. It’s a good thing. To me, at least.” 

Y/N did know of his taste for older women and though she had no intention of bringing it up, she seemingly couldn’t keep her mouth shut tonight. Without permission from her mouth, the words fell out like a tumble. “Is that why you go for older women?”

The room fell silent for a minute and she could feel the return of the heat under her cheeks, eyes widening as she snapped her hand over her mouth. It wasn’t something she wanted him to know that she knew, but too fucking late now. His head tilted back up, eyes falling on her own wide ones before he let out a laugh. A reaction she hadn’t expected in the slightest. Her hand fell in a motion to try and apologize but he lifted his own to stop her, calming from the laughter as he shook his head. 

“Fuck, M’sorry. I didn’t mean t’laugh, but you looked like you scared the shit out of yourself.” He giggled, running his fingers over the corners of his mouth as they curled into a smirk. “It’s fine. You don’t need to apologize. We’re both adults here.” A clear definition that he was definitely seeing himself on her level. “It’s okay t’ask me about, love. I’m fine talking about it. You just told me details about your divorce so this seems a little tame in comparison.”

As much as she hated herself for it, her stomach flipped at the term of endearment. Harry and her hadn’t spent much time alone before but he had never called her that before. Maybe it was a bit of a bond forming being alone with him. He’d always been a bit ahead of the others in terms of maturity. Not in a creepy way like Patrick used to say about her, but in a genuine hard working way. He’d taken his jobs, career, and promises seriously. It was hard not to know how reliable he was when people constantly used that word to describe him. Seeing him as more of an equal instead of his daughter’s friend was easy when they weren’t around. There was that old soul type of thing she liked.

“I obviously did not mean for that to come out of my mouth. But uh-” She ran a hand over her dress to self-soothe. “I heard them teasing about you and one of the mum’s of the kids Stacy teaches had been bragging about…” The woman didn’t need to finish her stance before Harry laughed through his nose, trying to hide his smirk. 

“Ah.” He nodded, turning the heat off on the stove and pouring the sauce onto the chicken. “Yeah. I do, I’ve always preferred older women. I get teased for it but it’s just what I’m attracted to.” There was that thought in his mind though, wondering what the woman had been bragging about. He’d sure as hell fucked her well and thoroughly, but at the end of it he had opened his eyes and it wasn’t Y/N. It’s his common problem these days. Falling out of interest when he realized he was chasing a feeling from people that weren’t the object of his affections. “I went out with her once… went back to her place.” He shrugged. “It was alright. I was pretty up front about not being sure we clicked but she wanted me to come in, so…” He shrugged. The girl didn’t seem to have hard feelings when she texted him a few days later asking for a repeat and he declined because he was going to be here for a get together. 

“Can I ask why?” Morbid curiosity, that’s what she would call it. It was killing her since she had found out though. Why does a young man, almost in his prime, go for older women specifically? Not that she didn’t think they weren’t worth that, but it wasn’t the norm. “If it’s not too personal.”

“You can get personal with me, Y/N. I don’t mind.” He clarified, dishing some rice into the pineapple bowls he’d carved out. “I think there’s a few aspects to it but I appreciate maturity. One of my first experiences was with someone a few years older than me and it kept going from there. I enjoy intelligent conversation. Someone who can keep up and not just talk about the things girls my age talk about. Nothing wrong with them at all, but every time I’ve tried dating someone my age it’s fallen flat. I enjoy dates at nice restaurants or at home. Cooking for them, listening to music. I work a lot, I’m not much for clubs. Even pub crawls have been a lot for me at times considering I work at a bar on the weekends, work all day in a garage. People my age don’t usually seem to understand or appreciate my work ethic but.. I want a house like this one day.” He motioned around the kitchen. “I’ve been saving loads of money, staying in my apartment and making sure I don’t spend crazily. I’ve always been a bit of a romantic, so I want t’provide for someone one day. Maybe that’s a little old fashioned but It’s fulfilling to me. Want to open my own garage, maybe multiple and… I dunno, older women have always been more receptive to my plans, to the way I am. And I’m not a huge texter. I like phone calls, seeing someone in person. Dating my age is a lot of that.”

It wasn’t a shock to her that his ethics would be a turn off for younger women who sometimes got a bit in their head about the attention they needed. It wasn’t a drag or anything of that nature, but a lot of younger women relied on that sort of thing. Texting all day that he obviously wouldn’t be able to do. They deserved the relationships they wanted but so did Harry. It was a surprisingly nice answer from him. He had lots of decent reasons that made her feel a little more intrigued than she should be, but she couldn’t help it. The man was alluring. 

“And… permission to overshare a little bit?” He asked, wanting to test the waters. Y/N looked intrigued, nodding as she leaned on the counter. “Older women tend to be a bit more.. Compatible with me sexually. A bit more eager. Some are experienced but it isn’t really about that, it’s about knowing what you want. Being a little less shy in asking for what they want. Everyone’s different of course, but I find that a disappointing amount of men aren’t giving women what they want, and I’ve been happy to provide that. I’m a giver, it’s what I like. So…” His pink tongue ran over his bottom lip as he kept eye contact with her. “There’s that aspect of it too.” 

Y/N could feel the slight throb between her legs as he spoke. There was no hint of shyness in his face as he spoke to her, just matter of fact. He had no shame, if anything he seemed.. A little smug. Something that oddly made her stomach flip and flutter  as he pushed her plate towards her and settled on the opposite side of the island, sitting on the stool. 

“I.. I can see that.” She murmured, knowing she must look a little flustered. Considering it had been years since she’d had sex, just the way he was looking at her was working her up a bit further than she would ever want to admit. “I think..” If he was oversharing, maybe she should too. Or maybe that was the slight buzz the wine had provided. “I’m still trying to learn what it is I want. I was only with one person my whole life and then… After the divorce I had a one night stand and it was not at all satisfying. I’ve meant to try and go on dates more often but the few I’ve been on just didn’t feel right.” It wasn’t something she talked about often at all. She had her two girlfriends she talked to about sex- or lack thereof- and the toys they got in order to satisfy what their dates couldn’t. 

This little tidbit had Harry leaning in a bit closer, chewing the first bite of his food. It was surprisingly good for a recipe he’d found on a social media site, but he was far more interested in what Y/N had to say. “I mean it’s only natural, isn’t it? To be curious?” He waved his fork in the air. “Was he satisfying you in your marriage?” The look on her face was all he needed to see for an answer. Her lips pulled in and her gaze averted, he did feel a seedling of pity for the woman- but hope for himself. One man’s loss was another’s gain, wasn’t it? He would be able to actually pleasure her. He knew he could. He hadn’t failed yet, and there were genuine feelings there for her so… he had a lot of faith he’d be willing and able to please her. Half of the battle was just listening to her. Knowing what she wanted. “It’s okay, I can tell what your answer is. But m’sorry to hear that.” He frowned. “You deserved better than all of that. I know you don’t need me to tell you that, but you deserved a hell of a lot more for what he put you through.” Personally, Harry would never drop the ball like that. 

Realistically, Y/N was his dream woman and this was without knowing what she liked in bed. Everything about her was perfect to him, all except the pesky fact that she was the mother of one of his friends- but honestly? He was willing to risk it. She was worth that sort of risk. She had the demeanor, the charm, the intelligence, and so far, the sort of lifepath that aligned with him. He had to talk his way into it a little bit more than likely, but he was ready to try. 

“Thank you, Harry.” Y/N knew she probably looked a little flustered. She was. He was saying all the right things and she felt a weird level of comfort with him that she hadn’t experienced before. He was a man. Maybe he was younger than her, but he had a level head. He could cook. He worked multiple job, had ambitions, he knew what he wanted and he wanted to be a provider. Something that she found to be overwhelmingly sexy. She was noticing him in less than appropriate ways more and more. Like how cut his jaw was as he chewed his food, the scruff on his face, his strong, big hands. So fucking big, making the fork he held look small. His arms were built, flexing as he leaned against the countertop. The memory of his broad shoulders wasn’t too far from her brain either. “You’re… I haven’t spoken to a lot of people about that stuff. I don’t mean to take up too much of your time tonight, I know you must be tired after work but… I really appreciate you coming here, fixing my car, cooking. Talking to me. You’re great company.” 

“Like I said earlier, I like being around you.” It felt like he could see into her soul. Green peering inside of her, spreading her open. “If m’being honest, there aren’t many other places I’d rather be. M’happy to help you with whatever you need.” 

If Y/N was crazy, she’d think it was a double meaning. She’d overthink and imagine that he was implying something not so appropriate. Things that had her tummy flipping and cunt weeping. Pathetic, she knew that. Here she was, lusting after the younger man as he stared at her from across her kitchen. The sun had now set and the darkness was beginning to set in, and she wanted more than anything to take his hand and drag him upstairs to her bedroom but she had to clear her brain before she did something rash. “I enjoy spending time with you too.” Her smile was soft as she took her plate and brought it to the sink. “Just let me clean these dishes and then I’ll walk you to your car. You’ve been such a help tonight.” 

Y/N felt a little shaky as she turned the water on and let it run over the dirty pan and the other dishes she hadn’t quite gotten to. As much as washing dishes was something people usually hated, the girl found it a little therapeutic. She’d just gotten into it, relaxing just a bit when she felt a hand curl around her hip, a cleared plate set into the sink and the other hand shutting the water off on her. “What-”

“I think we’re dancing around it now, Sweetheart.” He said lowly, cuffing his other hand on her waist. Her body stilled as he pressed himself into her, his confidence high as he watched her shaky hand drop the sponge. “I think there’s something we both want and you don’t know how to ask for. And that’s okay.” His nose brushed the shell of her ear as she closed her eyes, swallowing thickly. “I know that you haven't been taken care of. I know you weren’t satisfied in the ways you deserved. I meant it when I said that there’s nowhere else I’d rather be. Y’know that, right?”

“Harry, what are you doing?” Her voice was breathy as she clenched her over the counter but making no move to leave his grip. 

“I’ve been after you for a while, Y/N. I think you pretend to not notice how I look at you. I think… you were a little jealous when you found out I took that mum from the swim group out and fucked her, because you wanted it to be you. But let me assure you… I wanted it to be you, too.” His heat spread along her back as his fingers moved to splay over her tummy, the same tummy that was a mess of butterflies just under his fingertips. 

“You did?” While she should have been shutting this down considering this man was friends with her daughter… she couldn’t. Not when he was making her feel more listened to, more desired, more aroused than she had been since… well, possibly her whole life. 

“Of course, love. To be honest, I was tryin’ to give you time to adjust. To be single, to find more of yourself. You’ve blossomed so much since I’ve known you. I knew you’d probably want t’reject me because of how you know me, but I just need a chance to prove to you that I can be what you need.” The chills on her skin were unavoidable as his lips smeared over her neck, groaning quietly as he inhaled. “You smell so fucking good, y’know that? Makes me crazy. No one else smells like you… I knew touching you would ruin me.” He pulled her further into him, laying the first kiss on the hinge of her jaw. “I’d be fucked. But I’ve been fucked for a while now. No distraction took away from the fact that any body under mine wasn’t you. Wasn’t the voice I wanted saying my name. I just want to show you that m’worth the risk.” 

The low baritone of his voice was making her want to whimper. Soft, hot lips pressed a trail of gentle kisses down her throat that got progressively more wet, making her cunt follow. Leaning back into him, it was hard to fight when her body felt like it needed him. His hand pressing on her stomach, pushing her all the way back until she felt him. Her gasp was wet, a chuckle vibrated against her throat as he ground himself against her ass.

“I’d fill you up. Make you feel it all the way in here.” The pressure on her stomach suddenly made a flash of heat boil in her belly, imagining it. Craving it. It always felt like something was missing during sex anyways. “I know you need it. You need someone to worship you, to make you understand just how irresistible you are. I’ve been dying to do that for you. Makes me so fucking angry t’know the people who’ve had you haven’t pleasured you, made you unsatisfied while I was dreaming about just a fucking lick of you. Just a squeeze.” Her hand fell on top of his own, breathing a bit more labored as the length of him against her ass taunted her further. 

“You were?” The woman knew she probably sounded a bit wrecked but she was. Harry was making her needy, desperation filling her chest in a way that almost overwhelmed her. She was hungry for more, more of his touch, his lips, his confessions. 

“Mhm. Had t’get my fill in those little touches you’d give me. Running you hand over my back, brushing past me in the kitchen, grabbing my hand. I’ve been wanting to hold you like this. Kiss you until you can't breathe. Make you cum on my fingers, my tongue, my cock, make you melt just for me. S’that something you’d want, baby?” His teeth grazed her jaw getting a little whimper from her throat. “Hm? I’d like some words from you. I don’t mind doin’ most of the talking, but don’t leave me hanging.” 

“I would- yeah. I would like that.” She was indeed panting. If she was a different woman she’d probably be ashamed over how much she was actually gagging for it, but there was something that made her truly believe that Harry could back up every single claim he said. “I haven’t been touched in so long but… you’ve made me feel so good already.” The admission made him smile against her skin, she could feel it. “Is this- do you just want sex?” 

“No.” Her neck felt cold as he pulled away, manhandling her a bit and making her enjoy it far too much as she was turned and reversed in position to be facing him now. Her chin was grabbed between his fingers and his now dark eyes pinned her own. “S’not just a fuck to me. I like you, Y/N. Know it’ll be a little complicated considering the situation but to put it bluntly, I don’t give a fuck.” There was no room left for doubt with his words. “I want you. I’ve wanted you for fucking years, and unless you don’t want me, there’s nothing and no one else that’s gonna keep me from getting what I want.” When she failed to reply, he coaxed it from her. “C’mon, baby. Words.” 

“I-I want that. I just didn’t know it was so serious for you.” She felt her cheeks flush at the intensity of it all. “It’s a good thing though… You’re making me a little dizzy.”

“Yeah?” He crooned. “A little dizzy? So fucking cute. I intend to do more than that, though.” Without another word, he took her mouth. Took it like he owned it, kissed her like it was already his. 

Y/N melted into it immediately. Fell into the kiss and clutched his shirt to pull him closer as he made her brain empty of any thoughts but ones pertaining to him. How big his hands were, how easily he moved her around, how soft his lips were, how he tasted, the slight smell of motor oil underlying the fresh, clean smell that followed him over here. It was pathetic, maybe, to completely resign herself, to hand herself over to the younger man but… could anyone blame her?

Yes, he was younger. But he kissed like he had been hand plucked to be attached to her lips. His tongue brushed into her mouth and she moaned out loud, allowing him to kiss her any way he wanted. Y/N was touch starved and she knew it, but there was something electric about the way he held her. The way he kissed like he was starving, like he couldn’t get enough of her. His hand slipped down her back and greedily palmed her ass, squeezing it tight enough to make her whimper. It had been so fucking long since someone touched her like they knew what they were doing, like they knew what to do to make her feel good. Harry acted like she belonged to him already, pulling her leg up over his waist as he pressed her into the counter. “Hop up.” he whispered against her lips, using his hands to cuff her waist and tug her right up on the countertop. 

Immediately her legs were spread and his body was between them. While he was somewhat lean, he was broad. His arms were big, his hands were too. She had to spread a bit and let her dress ride up as he manhandled her, yanking her back so she was right up against him. The sweetest whimper left her lips and translated to his, making him pull back to look down at her. Her smeared lip gloss and wide, glossy eyes looking up at him. Hair a little messy when it was usually styled, she looked… alive. The way he wanted her to feel with him. “M’gonna spread you open and get a taste, because I’ve been fucking dying for it for years.” He told her bluntly. “But just a taste. I’ll spend hours between these perfect damn thighs tonight… but I need to be inside of you.” He felt like he toed the line between unhinged and the most control he ever had. The man knew what he wanted, he told her what she was going to get, and yet he felt like he had never been more passionate about something in his life. Finally getting the chance to be with the woman he wanted was something that he had been counting down the days for. Nothing could stop him from doing this. 

“Yes, please. I want you… I want you to take over.” She swallowed. It wasn’t always this way. Sometimes Y/N enjoyed the idea of being on top, enjoyed teasing, enjoyed the thought of being in charge for a little bit- but never in her life had she wanted a man to just do whatever the fuck he wanted. It was because she knew he would know how to please her. 

That assumption wasn’t wrong. 

Seeing the man get on his knees in front of the counter, ordering her to take the dress off and toss it to the side to expose her plain cotton bra and underwear, maybe she should feel a little apprehensive- but the only thing she felt was needy. Desperate. Wanted. The look in his eye told her that he wanted her and he wanted her more desperately than she even knew. His lips kissed over her knees and upper thighs, obviously pacing himself as his fingers tugged the waistband of her panties and slowly peeled them off her body. 

Harry wished he spent a bit more time admiring her. He wished he had the self control at this point to not just pull her to the edge of the counter and take a thick lick over her glistening cunt and nuzzle his face into it regardless of the fact he was getting wet- but he didn’t. He pulled her up and onto his tongue, getting the delicious little gasp he had been dying to hear. Manicured nails gripped the countertop behind her and buried in his hair, wet gasps leaving her mouth. Garbles of his name and calling to god, but he was busy. Getting her flavor on every inch of his taste buds and committing it to memory, dipping his tongue into her entrance and lapping up to her clit where he sucked lightly, he was self serving. This was for him and she was reaping the benefits. 

“Oh my f-fucking god.” Y/N said in disbelief, watching green meet her eyes as his nose nudged her clit. “Oh, you’re so fucking good, Harry. Holy fuck.” It was hard to comprehend that this man was on his knees for her when just a few nights ago he had been helping her set out snacks for their friend group as they had a hang out at the pool. Seeing him as the man he was, she couldn’t believe she’d never seen him in this light- not seriously. He had completely blown her expectations out of the water as his tongue flicked over her entrance, pressing against it and making her curse repeatedly. 

The sound of a belt clanking on the floor was mostly ignored- but his fingers inside of her weren’t. In fact, she teared up slightly at the feeling. “Yes, fucking… finger me, feel me.” She growled, her thighs pressing him closer. He had no problems, humming against her as he played with her clit and opened her up with his fingers- surely for her benefit considering he had felt quite impressive against her ass. “Shit, I can’t believe this.” The laugh was quickly melded into a moan as he pulled her clit back into his mouth and added a second finger. 

Harry shook his head into her cunt. He felt her clench around his fingers and the sounds of pleasure above him, and he didn't want to stop but if he didn’t, he was positive he was going to blow his load all over the kitchen floor. There was no bothering to wipe his chin as he stood back up, gripping her face for another deep kiss. “M’obsessed. Tastes even better than I expected… You’re never going to get me away from it.” He wasn’t even joking. He would gladly call off his shift from the bar tomorrow if it meant getting to spend that time tasting her. “But I need to get inside of you. I need to make you cum around my cock.” He went to get his wallet from his pocket but was surprised when she stopped him. 

“I’m clean. I’ve- I’ve been tested and I’m on birth control-” Harr interrupted her with a loud groan, fisting his cock in his hand as his pants fell to his ankles. 

“Thank fuck.” He laughed. “This may be over quickly, but this isn’t the last time I’m in you. I want to make you cum over and fucking over- but I don’t want to waste my load on the floor when it’s better suited inside of you.” He watched her to answer, but he was pushing in before she got a word in. 

“Oh- shit.” Y/N clutched him, looking at him with wide eyes as he sunk into her. Mouth hanging open, she adjusted to the stretch as his head dropped against hers and he kept her eye contact as he sunk in inch by inch. Their breathing mingling as the feeling encompassed both of them. “Oh my god- you’re so fucking big.” Her voice was unfamiliar to herself, sulky and whiny with the pleasure she felt from being stretched. 

“I know, baby.” He grinned, holding on to the nape of her neck. “You’ll get used to it.” Without another word, he pulled out to thrust back in. The process was repeated as her hot, slippery cunt clenched around his cock and tried desperately not to give it up each and every time. 

It was, again, better than he imagined. Nothing could have prepared him for how good it would be to sink into the perfect hole, how she would grip him and suck in deeper. How she’d soak him and how her fingers would dig into his arm, how all he’d be able to see and smell and taste was her. It completely engulfed him and he had no urge to do anything but stay right here. “Okay?” He checked on her as he ground himself into her, her clit brushing over the hair right above his cock and getting it wet. 

“I’m so good.” She slurred, lost in how good it felt to have him inside of her. “I’m so full.” It was insane to her, knowing how she had been treated last time. Even with his direct approach, she’d never felt more cared for, more appreciated. He was working with her, checking in, all while making the first moves that made her feel like he had been hand made for her. “Go harder. I can take it.” 

Y/N had never been fucked the way she wanted and that had been apparent to Harry. He just had a feeling and he knew that she was going to need him in ways she hadn’t experienced. Ways he was more than happy to deliver. “I’ll give you anything you want, Baby.” His nose brushed against hers. “Just make sure to scream my name nice n’loud when you cum for me.” 

It was unlike sex that she thought was real. Y/N held on to Harry as he plowed into her, his grip on her tight as his eyes looked down at where they were connected. It was wet, so fucking wet and creamy all over the base of his cock that she hadn’t known she could do. Her thighs were spread out and over his forearms as he fucked into her like it was his one and only job, whimpering out his name as he gave it to her the way she’d needed. “I knew you’d b-be able to give me what I wanted.” Her words were jostled as her body was, but he replied with another hot kiss. 

Messy, full of tongue and wet, she relished in his desperate need to taste her again. It didn’t matter that her chin was wet or she was getting bruised on her hips, she’d finally felt fulfilled in sex. “Yeah? Y’knew I’d be able to give it to you?” He crooned. “M’glad you knew, because I plan on being the only one doing it.” The words were completely serious and possessive and Y/N loved it. Feeling this level of desire was brand new to her and she didn’t want to give it up. 

“Uh-huh, I- I want you to be the one to give it to me.” As wrong as some people may see it, this was the epitome of a man. Even if he was younger- he had a plan, he had two jobs he’d held for years, a place of his own… He had more than some people her own age. Dedication and loyalty like his were irreplaceable. Maybe she was crazy in indulging in this, in allowing him to have her, but after wasting years with a man who didn’t want her- she wasn’t going to turn away someone who obviously desired her, wanted to worship her- and made her feel like she wanted to do the same back. 

“Good. I wasn’t planning on letting anyone else get a taste. You’re going to be my woman, this is going to be my pussy, M’gonna keep making you feel good. I don’t care who has shit to say about it.” He grunted, pressing theirs mouths together again as he felt her get close. The rippling around his cock and her soft whimpers against his mouth, her hand gripping him hard, he was close to finally fulfilling his fantasy. His dream girl letting go around him and making a mess. “I can feel it, y’know. Feel how you’re gonna cum for me.” He panted against her mouth. 

Y/N felt lightheaded in the best way, her body tingling and the pressure in her stomach building with each scrape of his tip against the spot no one else had reached- or even bothered to look for. Harry was perceptive and keen on her, about to make her orgasm from penetration for the very first time. In all her years she had thought something was wrong, but it turned out that she’d just been with shit people. Her ex husband, the attempts at hook ups, they had no idea how to work her body… But Harry? It seemed like he’d written the manual from the first time he touched her. The only thing she could think about was the pleasure and how good he looked giving it to her. 

Lips swollen and teeth grit, vein on his neck visible, his arms flexed as he railed her. It was like fucking her was his purpose, and fuck- he was fulfilling it. “I am.” She breathed, the tension getting tighter in her stomach. Again, those tears rose in her eyes as each thrust jolted the pleasure inside of her. “I am, I’m gonna cum for you Harry.” Remembering at the last minute that he wanted her to say his name, she sure as hell gave it to him.  “Please, Harry…. Just keep fucking me, give it to me, you’re right where I n-need.” It was right there, she could fucking taste it. “Harry, Harry-”

“Cum for me.” He coaxed. “C’mon, baby. First of many, show me how you cum on my cock. Get me nice and wet- fuck, you’re gorgeous.” The man was in awe of how beautiful she was, but even more about how good it felt as she began to finish on his prick. Her mouth dropping and her eyes watering as she let out a slew of cusses, the quivering of her cunt making it hard to hold on. “Fucking beautiful, that’s my girl. F-Fuck.” 

Y/N felt like she was floating. Pleasure hit every nerve, white hot and tingling. She had no idea what was coming out of her mouth but she felt the burn in her eyes as a tear fell down her cheek, clinging to him as each thrust got that sweet spot and made her tremble in his arms. He didn’t stop, the dark noises he made only spurring her on further. She was wet and she knew she must have completely soaked him. The wet sounds had gotten louder and the way he had groaned let her know she had to have gushed around his cock. “Harry, Harry- H, oh my god.” She bleated, nails digging into his arm. The constant stimulation was only making her more wet and he seemed to be loving it. 

Harry was drunk on the feeling, his own orgasm trailing right behind hers as he worked her through it. She’d made a mess, one he was happy to have all over his skin. The scent of her on him would be his reward, her marks even more so. “M’gonna cum.” He growled. “Where? Where do y’want my cum, baby? Tell me where you want it.” 

“Inside. Inside me, please, give it to me there.” Her legs wrapped around him tighter, making it nearly impossible for him to pull out- like he’d ever want to. His balls tightened at the words, eyes blazing as he looked down at her face. She seemed just as far gone as him, the suction of her soaked channel making him feel borderline insane.

“You- Fuck, Yeah? You want me to give you my load in that perfect cunt?” His grip on her tightened, sure to leave bruises but that was a problem for a later time. It had been a fantasy of his forever, his spunk dripping from her swollen pussy and now she wanted it- was begging for it. There was no mistaking her rapid nod, head tipped up at him as she whispered ‘please, please, please, give it to me’ and fuck, Harry was only so strong. 

He did exactly as asked, his sloppy thrusts hard as he grunted while coming to his end. It flashed over his vision as the loudest groan left his swollen lips, hips stuttering as he buried deep and let loose. Spurts of cum leaving his tip as he unloaded inside of her, the pulsing of his prick felt by both of them as he emptied his balls of every drop of cum. Claiming her, marking her in a symbolic way and the way he’d always been desperate to do. 

There was little hesitation as he took her mouth again, giving her a deep kiss. Tongue running over the roof of her mouth before sucking on her tongue, the most unhinged kiss he’d felt in his life as she clung to him and her cunt continued to milk him of every little bit. “Fuck.” He laughed in disbelief against her mouth. He was coated in a light sheen of sweat, Y/N’s hair was a mess and he was still snugly wrapped up in her as he gently moved her back so she was more comfortable on the counter. His hand came up to stroke her cheek, watching her hazy eyes look back into his own. This was his wet dream come true, but Y/N had no idea the man she had just unleashed. He was just… happy. Satisfied, motivated and fucking happy.  This wasn’t just a fuck for him. “Meant what I said.” His voice was hoarse as he fawned over her, adjusting her hair so it didn’t stick to her forehead. “M’gonna keep you. This isn’t a one and done and I plan on treating you the way you’ve always fuckin’ deserved.” His lips sampled hers again, feeling her arms come up over his shoulders as she reciprocated. “You’re my dream woman, Y/N. M’gonna make sure m’your dream man.”

[magical-reid]

The Fine Line Between Pretending and Falling

Pairing: Fred Weasley x Ravenclaw! Reader

Word Count: 1.6 K

Prompt: 31: “You said you wouldn’t fall in love with me.” “I lied.”

Summary: When Ravenclaw Y/N enlists Fred to be her fake boyfriend to fend off a persistent admirer, she expects an elaborate but ultimately harmless plan. But Fred’s penchant for theatrics—and the growing feelings between them—turn what should have been a simple ruse into something much more complicated.

The problem started with Jeremy Tuttle.

For weeks, you’d tried to politely decline his advances, endure his overly enthusiastic conversations, and sidestep his relentless invitations to study together. It was exhausting, and no amount of subtle rejection seemed to deter him.

Desperate for a solution, you turned to Fred Weasley, a master of mischief and persuasion, to play the role of your fake boyfriend. His easy charm and love for theatrics made him the perfect candidate—or so you thought. What you didn’t realize was how quickly Fred would take the reins, blurring the lines between pretense and reality.

Blurred Lines

What you hadn’t anticipated was how much you’d enjoy Fred’s company. He made you laugh, even when you were determined to stay annoyed with him, and he had a way of noticing things others overlooked.

One evening, as you sat in the library revising for your Charms exam, Fred appeared beside you with a box of Bertie Bott’s Every Flavor Beans.

“I figured you might need a snack,” he said, sliding the box across the table. “And don’t worry—I picked out the good ones. No earwax, I promise.”

You couldn’t help but smile. “Thanks, Fred.”

He leaned back in his chair, watching you with a soft grin. “What kind of fake boyfriend would I be if I didn’t?”

Your heart skipped a beat, and you quickly turned your attention back to your notes, willing the flutter in your chest to settle.

The Great Hall Incident

The plan was going well—or so you thought. By the fourth day, Fred had ramped up his efforts, wrapping his arm around you in the corridors, and occasionally whispering something teasing that made you blush.

But everything came to a head one morning in the Great Hall. You were seated at the Ravenclaw table, buttering toast, when Fred sauntered over from the Gryffindor side, earning curious looks from the other students.

“Good morning, love,” he greeted, dropping a quick kiss on the top of your head before sliding onto the bench beside you.

You blinked at him, startled. “Fred, what are you doing?”

He didn’t answer, instead reaching for a piece of toast from your plate and biting into it with a grin.

The answer came a moment later when you spotted Jeremy entering the hall. Fred must have noticed him first.

Before you could say anything, Fred leaned in and, without warning, kissed you square on the lips.

Gasps rippled through the Great Hall as heads turned toward the spectacle.

Your heart raced as Fred pulled back, his smirk firmly in place. “Just making sure everyone knows you’re taken,” he said, his voice low enough for only you to hear.

Your cheeks burned, but before you could respond, you caught sight of Jeremy standing frozen in the doorway, his face a mixture of shock and embarrassment.

Fred glanced in his direction and gave a small, satisfied nod before returning his attention to you. “Toast’s a bit dry, don’t you think?”

You groaned, covering your face with your hands. “You’re impossible.”

“And yet,” Fred said, entirely unbothered, “you keep me around.”

The Quidditch Sweater

A week later, you found yourself seated in the Ravenclaw stands during a Gryffindor Quidditch match. It was cold, and Fred had insisted you wear his Gryffindor sweater for “authenticity.”

“You know, to really sell the whole boyfriend thing,” he’d said with a wink as he handed it to you that morning.

Now, as you watched the game, his red-and-gold sweater hung loosely on you, the scent of broomstick polish and something distinctly Fred lingering on the fabric. You felt more self-conscious than you ever had, especially when a few of your Ravenclaw friends raised eyebrows at your outfit.

When Fred scored a spectacular goal, he looped around the pitch, searching the stands until his eyes landed on you. His grin widened, and he gave an exaggerated bow in midair before flying off again.

“Ridiculous,” you muttered under your breath, though you couldn’t stop the small smile tugging at your lips.

After Gryffindor’s inevitable victory, Fred made a show of flying over to you, landing just beyond the stands and jogging up the steps with his broom in hand.

“Thought you’d like a personal victory lap,” he teased, pulling you into a quick hug.

The sweater hung even looser now, but as Fred ruffled your hair with an affectionate grin, you realized you didn’t care who noticed anymore.

The Gryffindor Common Room

It was late one evening when you found yourself in the Gryffindor common room, sitting beside Fred on the worn couch near the fire. You weren’t sure how he had talked you into staying, but the warmth of the flames and the easy laughter of the Gryffindors around you made it hard to leave.

George, however, wasn’t letting it go unnoticed.

“You know,” he said, leaning against the arm of a nearby chair, “you don’t need to fool anyone here. We all know the ‘fake boyfriend’ routine is for show.”

Fred raised an eyebrow. “And what makes you think we’re not just this madly in love, dear brother?”

George smirked. “Because you’re sitting here with hearts in your eyes, and she’s the one keeping you grounded. It’s almost nauseating.”

You rolled your eyes. “You’re insufferable.”

George grinned. “Takes one to know one.”

Fred threw a cushion at his brother, who dodged it with practiced ease, but you couldn’t help but laugh.

“You know, we could always move this to the Ravenclaw common room,” you teased Fred, leaning against his shoulder.

Fred shook his head, feigning horror. “Too quiet. Not enough chaos for my taste.”

Hogsmeade

When the next Hogsmeade weekend arrived, Fred didn’t even wait for you to ask—he showed up outside the Ravenclaw tower with his hand already extended.

“Shall we?” he said, grinning.

The walk to the village was filled with light banter, Fred making exaggerated gestures every time a group of students passed by to ensure they noticed the two of you holding hands.

At Honeydukes, he bought your favorite sweets, stuffing the bag into your hands with a mock-serious expression. “A boyfriend’s duty,” he said solemnly.

By the time you reached The Three Broomsticks, the whispers around Hogwarts had reached a fever pitch. You could feel the curious stares as Fred guided you to a table, but you found yourself caring less and less.

When the two of you finally returned to the castle, your cheeks were flushed from the cold—and from Fred’s endless teasing.

“You know,” you said as you climbed the stairs back to your common room, “you’re enjoying this way too much.”

Fred leaned closer, his grin softer than usual. “Maybe I am,” he admitted, his voice quiet.

Your breath hitched, but before you could respond, he kissed your forehead, lingering just a moment longer than necessary.

“Goodnight, love,” he said, leaving you standing there, your heart racing as he disappeared down the corridor.

Not Pretending Anymore

The next evening, as you sat together in the library, Fred broke the comfortable silence between you.

“You know,” he said, his voice unusually serious, “this whole fake boyfriend thing was supposed to be fun. But…”

You glanced at him, your quill hovering over the parchment. “But?”

Fred hesitated, running a hand through his hair. “I don’t think I’m pretending anymore.”

His words hit you like a bludger, your heart pounding as you struggled to find the right response.

“Fred…”

He smiled faintly, his usual bravado gone. “I’ve never felt this way before, and it scares me. But the idea of not trying? That scares me even more.”

“You said you wouldn’t fall in love with me,” you whispered, your voice trembling.

“I lied.”

Fred’s hand found yours, his fingers brushing against your own before curling around them. “So, what happens now?”

You swallowed, your voice soft but steady. “Now, we stop pretending.”

And as his lips met yours in the quiet of the library, the rest of the world seemed to fade away, leaving only the two of you and the undeniable truth between you.

[cuteandhughesy]

Never Let Me Go | Jeremy Swayman

summary: jeremy thought he lost his chances after charlie beat him to you - but years later with jeremy becoming your best friend, a weekend at the carlo’s lake house may just prove otherwise.

15.0k

warnings: NSFW! fake dating | friends to lovers| angst | suggestive themes | accidental grinding | smut | kissing | brief breast play | unprotected! p in v intercourse | pull out method | read at your own discretion.

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june 2021

your forearms rest against the sticky counter top of the bar, the action elevating your cleavage to any viewing eye. the bartender slides the tray of drinks towards you, a sweet smile on her face.

"wanna start a tab?" she asks you. you're just about to answer as you feel a body press into your side, arms big and strong against yours.

"add it to mine," the voice says beside you.

the bartender nods and walks away, presumably taking more orders at the other end of the bar. you look to your left and see a tall man, a smirk on his face. he's handsome, sure, with a body that definitely works out like, every day - the thought had you blushing.

"thanks," you say, "i'm y/n."

"charlie," he shakes your outstretched hand.

"you didn't have to get my drinks," you reiterate with playful smile on your face. you're sure your friends were watching this with amused faces.

"I wanted to," he leans against the bar top. he wasn't your typical type - he had lighter hair than you preferred, clean shaven and straight forward. but there was nothing wrong with a bit of flirting.

so you leaned over, batting your lashes up at him. "you buy every girls drinks or what?"

he laughs deeply, eyes glancing over his shoulder before meeting yours again "only the pretty ones."

you giggle, grabbing the a drink off the tray and twirling the straw with your tongue before sipping it slowly. you watch charlie gulp, rolling his shoulders back. "you think i'm pretty?"

"yeah, I -"

"dude what's taking so long?" a voice interrupts.

your eyes are drawn to charlie's left. he's about the same height as charlie, but looks a few years younger. presumably around your age. he's got dark features, and a polite smile. you feel yourself wanting to swoon in his direction. he's smirking, and his voice is soothing.

"sorry jer, just chatting to..."

you give charlie a look because there's no way he's already forgotten your name. you save him the awkwardness, "y/n," you smile, shaking the hand that he's outstretched to you. his grip is nice, soft.

"jeremy," he smiles softly, and if he doesn't drop his hand until you do...well you just have to ignore that. "sorry to interrupt," he says, eyes darting to charlie quickly before meeting yours again.

"no worries, charlie was just paying for my friends and I's drinks," you say, "he's trying to tell me he doesn't buy drinks for just any woman..."

jeremy laughs like it's a joke and charlie shoots him a slight glare. "correction, I said only the pretty ones."

you smile, "right of course. and how many pretty ones have you boughten for tonight?"

"just you," charlie says back.

jeremey clears his throat, turning slightly and flagging down the bartender, seeing as charlie came over here to order the team drinks and had yet to do that: too busy flirting with one of the prettiest girls jeremey has ever seen.

"good," you laugh, "I should get these drinks back to my friends."

"too bad," jeremey hears charlie say, "I was going to see if you wanted to sit with me and my table."

"is that so?" you say back. "i'll have to check with my friends. can they come?"

"yeah," he nods, "i'll go make room," he walks away, into the VIP section that's roped off in the back corner of the bar. you watch him walk and then eye your drinks again. you try to pick them all up, failing as the six glasses clink and almost slip from your hold.

"need help?" jeremey asks beside you, tracing the label of his beer.

you smile shyly, "yeah, if you don't mind."

he nods, grabbing four of the six drinks in his very large hands, following your lead back to your table of friends.

"sorry guys," you say, setting down two of the drinks, "I got busy talking the bar,"

your friend ashley laughs, "we saw."

it seems all at the same time your friends notice jeremy behind you and they go quiet in the presence of an attractive man. "this is jeremey," you take two of the drinks he's holding, "he's helping me carry the drinks,"

"we can see that," danielle nods and jeremy smiles politely in the face of five staring eyes.

"actually, him and his friend charlie were wondering if we wanted to sit with them." you watch their reactions to your words with a hopeful glint.

"you guys don't have to if you don't want to," jeremy held his hands up in surrender, "it's just charlie is wanting to...mingle."

"i'll come," danielle says, standing up with her hand bag. ashley says she would come as well but the rest claim they were tired, and would be leaving. you don't push them and you say goodbye. then jeremy leads the three of you over to his table were you meet the rest of his friends.

jeremy ends up sitting beside you, with charlie against your other side. the table is loud, conversation bustling with the addition of three new personalities. after 40 minutes, charlie throws and arm around the back of your chair, and jeremey's stomach plummets slightly.

jeremy had noticed you immediately when they walked into the bar that night. you had a nice laugh - it was loud and could be heard if he was at the bar and you were at your table. you had a beautiful face, and were wearing a sweet perfume that had his stomach flipping.

charlie was in a conversation with pastrnak who sat on his other side, while you looked around the table, knawing on your lip.

"what do you do?" jeremey asks. you dart your head in his direction, to make sure he was in fact talking to you. he's got a soft look on his face and your shoulders drop.

"oh, i've just graduated actually. i've got a degree in journalism."

"wow, you must be like super smart. did you like school?"

"yeah," you smile. "well as much as one can actually like school," you're laughing at yourself slightly. "what do you do?"

"I play hockey."

"really?" you give him a slight once over, "i thought hockey players had like missing teeth and black eyes."

you're joking, he can tell by your tone. he laughs, "well, some do but i'm a goalie so it's hard for me to loose teeth and get black eyes."

"I like that," you smile. you look around the table and then lean in closer to jeremy, whispering, "do you guys all play hockey?"

"yeah," he leans in too, whispering to try and be as conspicuous as you. it has you giggling slightly while staring into his eyes, crinkling at the edges as he laughs. "how could you tell?"

your eyes flicker to pasta, "I think I see a chipped tooth."

he's laughing, sitting back up in his chair. he has a nice laugh, you think. "your eyes do not deceive you."

you nod, taking a sip of your drink. "how long have you played hockey for?"

"well, my whole life," jeremey says, swallowing a mouthful of beer, "but I just finished my first year with the bruins."

"so you're a rookie? is that the right word?"

"yeah," he says. "see? I knew you were smart."

you laugh gently, "one day i'll write an article on you, jeremey. the best upcoming bruins goalie."

"I don't know about that," he laughs sheepishly, "i'm just a backup."

"for now," you smile reassuringly.

and jeremey really believes you. maybe it's the tone of voice you use, or maybe it's the way your eyes twinkle when you talk - he would believe anything you said.

the end of the night approaches not long after, your conversation with jeremey only stopping when charlie butted in to talk to you.

you are all standing outside the bar, waiting on ubers. the boys uber arrives first, and they start to climb in. charlie doesn't move though, turning to you with a smirk. "I had a really good night, I like talking with you."

"thanks, I had a great night as well."

jeremy is nearby, standing at the open door of the car, waiting for charlie.

"I was wondering if you wanted to go out with me? we can get dinner or something."

you suck in a gasp of air. your eyes dart over charlies shoulder to catch jeremy's. you thought maybe...maybe he would intervene and ask you out with him instead. but he looks down at the pavement, breaking eye contact.

you look back at charlie and nod. "yeah, i'd like that."

the next morning, you had a text from charlie asking you for dinner.

june 17th 2023

you were elbow deep in soap suds when your apartment door opened, a brief knock was heard before jeremy entered, kicking off his shoes before moving to your couch. he flopped down and groaned, which made you laugh, working the sponge against a mug as you glanced over your shoulder.

"hello to you too, jer."

he rolled over so he was on his back. "hi."

"what do you need?" you finish up your scrubbing, rinsing off your hands as drying them with a little bumblebee towel.

jeremy sits up, walking over to you in the kitchen knook, leaning back against the counter top. "who says I need anything?"

"you just have that look on your face. what is it?"

"can I not just come hang out with my best friend without her questioning my motives?" he blinks at you innocently and you cross your arms.

in 2021, charlie and you had dated for four months. it was nice, sure, but it wasn't fulfilling. he was so kind, and sweet and the two of you decided to be friends. you had actually set him up with your friend danielle, and now the two of them were like engaged, so there's that. throughout that time, you grew close with the bruins roster - how could you not? but nobody got you like jeremy did. the two of you grew close pretty quickly, and now he has the code to your apartment, which is...nice.

you blink. "no. you want something, what is it?"

he covers his face with a hand and mumbles, "I fucked up."

concerned, you reach forward, rubbing his shoulder. "why? what's wrong?"

jeremy groans again, head falling back to stare of the ceiling. thinking back to the phone call he had right after his gym session, wincing at the memory. he shouldn't of said it. jeremy knows he shouldn't of said it, but he couldn't help it. "you can't make fun of me."

"that's no fun," you laugh.

"y/n, i'm being serious. I kinda got myself into some shit and I need your help."

"jer, you're kind of scaring me. do i like need to call the police?"

"what? no. no, I just...." jeremey groans once again, thinking back to the phone call with his teammate.

"sway, dude," brandon carlo said through the grainy phone speaker, "mason wanted me to check and see if you were up for the lake house again this year."

jeremy sighed, "sure, yeah. who else is coming?" 

brandon's wife pipes up in the background, "charlie and danielle, us, charlie and kiley a couple others and you..." she trails off like there's something else she wants to say.

"right," jeremy responds. "anything else?"

"mason wants to know if she should prepare for a plus one." brandon says.

he rolls his eyes. "oh."

"don't worry about it," mason says quickly, no doubt giving her husband a deathly stare, "It's okay!"

brandon laughs, "jer, I told her you wouldn't have one, that there was no way you would -"

"actually, I have a girlfriend...so I do have a plus one" he face palms because, no, he doesn't have a girlfriend.

mason gasps, "what?"

brandon laughs like he doesn't believe jeremy.

"what's her name?" she asks.

jeremy gulps but then he says, "actually, it's y/n."

"y/n?" mason questions, "our friend, y/n? I thought you said you'd never see each other that way?"

he shrugged, even though the couple couldn't see him. which was good, because if they could, they would know he is lying. "something changed."

"well, that's great! how long??"

"a few months," he lies, "we've been keeping it pretty low-key. nobody really knows expect you two."

"this is so exciting, jeremy. I told you brandon."

jermey ignored that last sentence.

jeremy was almost guilty because mason was so happy based on the confession and it wasn't even the truth. so there he stood, in your kitchen looking into your soft eyes. "I need you to pretend to be my girlfriend."

you laugh, doubling over. "what? why?"

"brandon and mason are doing the lake house this year and they asked if i had a plus one and i said yes because I had a girlfriend and when they asked me who...well, you were the first person I thought of."

you stand up straight because, oh, he was being serious. then you grab that same bumblebee towel and whack his chest with it. "why would you do that?"

"ow! what else was I supposed to do?" he says, hand holding the peck you had just smacked.

"tell the truth?" you shrug, a raise to your brows. "did you forget that these are our friends - like we both know them...they are the last people who would believe this."

"you don't understand!," he walks over to your living room and flops on the couch cushions once again, "it's just i'm so tired of going to all this shit without a girlfriend and it's going to be like all couples and i didn't want to feel...left out. I don't know. just the way brandon sounded so unsure, I mean can you believe him? is me being in a relationship that big of a deal?" he takes a breath, "maybe I should call him back tell him I can't come."

you follow him and sit down, "no don't do that."

he scoffed, "think I should just show up by myself? no thank you."

you narrow your eyes, "that's no way to talk to your girlfriend."

his eyes dart over to yours and he sat up a little straighter, "what?"

you smiled at him softly and leaned deeper into the cushions, "I mean..forget what I said earlier. I can do it - we can do it, but...only if you ask me nicely."

he rolled his eyes but a smile was pulling at his lips, "y/n, will you please be my girlfriend?"

you smirked, "i'd be honoured jeremy."

he laughs, pulling you into his side so he can hug you, squeezing you tight. "I owe you."

—

june 19th 2023

"okay so, remind me how long did you tell them we've been dating?" you're sitting in the passenger seat of jermey's car, your hand resting out the window to catch the wind. you loll your head over against the head rest so you can look at your friend.

"a few months," jermey's eyes leave the road briefly to look into yours before darting back out the windshield. "I said we've been keeping it under wraps." he can smell your raspberry hair oil through the breeze flowing through the car and it has him shuddering.

"and why's that?"

he sighs slightly, "because we wanted to see if it would work before telling everyone."

"that makes sense." you hum. "so when did you realize you liked me?" you tease, knees pulled up to your chest.

jeremy laughed quickly, "nobody is going to ask that."

"they might!" you counter, a teasing smile still tugging at your lips that has jeremy joining in.

"if they ask...i'll say, I don't know, last year sometime?"

you nod, "okay...that makes sense."

jeremy thinks you're done with the questions for time being, so he turns up the radio slightly, the SZA song flowing through the speakers for only a moment before you're reaching over and turning it back down. "okay who's all going again?"

if jeremy wasn't so enamoured by you he would've thought you were being annoying. "the usual group, I think monte mentioned that beecher and matt poitras will be there."

"I haven't met them yet," you hum, "it will be harder to lie to them if they ask questions."

jermey groans, "don't remind me."

"my job is to constantly remind you," you tease, reaching over and patting the top of his head of curls, hair grown out from the summer. "don't worry jer, i'm the best liar I know."

"you're not the best one I know," he says, "maybe I should've just canceled."

"no." you insist, slapping your hand against the thick of his upper thigh quickly. "don't worry," you sigh, "we may not be dating, but it's not like we hate each other, right? we just have to act like we usually do... but in love. we got this, jer, we are the dream team."

jeremy blinks and looks over at you, the warmth from were your hand once sat now ice cold. he watches as you lean over, fiddling with the radio until the start of a new taylor swift song, one he's grown to love, is playing full blast. you're smiling, chest pushed against your folded legs, unknowing of his stare. jeremy swallows thickly at your words and nods. "yeah."

you smile at him then, grabbing his hand to get him to sing along to the familiar chords of bejeweled.

the two of you arrive at the lake house just over an hour later, jeremy waisting no time parking the car in between two other vehicles that sat along the side of the dirt driveway.

you were too busy admiring the large lake house to notice jeremy leave his seat and round to the passenger side, opening your door.

the sticky heat of the summer air snapped you out of your stare, "this is...really nice." your mouth is totally hung open in shock and jeremy takes notice of your expression, laughing softly.

"cmon," he helps you out of the car, letting you settle on your feet before jogging to the trunk, pulling it open so he can start unloading the weeks worth of luggage you claimed you needed (jeremy told you that you definitely didn't need two suitcases but it didn't take long before he was folding in your favour, wheeling both down to his car.)

"hey guys!" a voice calls out from the house. you look up from your small pile of bags to see mason carlo, accompanied by wren (who was like a whole toddler now which is crazy) and the two dogs. winnie and emmy are faster than their mom, their paws smacking on the wood, both running down the steps and jumping up at you and jeremy, tails wagging and panting.

"hey!" Jeremy calls out just as you drop down on your knees to except the puppy kisses. he heaves the last bag over his broad shoulder just as mason reaches you, wren tucked into her neck. "are we the last ones?"

"yeah," mason nods, "how was the drive?"

"it was good," you say. you place your hands on your knees, pushing up from your crouched position. you don't realize how close jeremy is standing and on your way up, your ass bumps against his crotch. he lets out a gentle grunt.

"sorry!" you wince, but before you can move away, jeremy's arm wraps around your waist, fingers flexing against your lower stomach as he pulls your back into his chest, holding you in place.

"it's okay baby." he says. you try not let your eyes widen at the nickname or the way you can feel his semi poking at your lower back. you're sure the blush you're now sporting is visible by anyone in the general vicinity.

mason must not notice your flustered face or jeremy's awkward smile because she coos,"aren't you too so cute, I'm glad you two are finally together." she squeezes her daughter, "right wren? aren't you glad the two are together?" wren laughs at her moms baby voice.

"finally?" you question, your eyes squinting from the sun and the tone of your friends voice but somebody calls out before mason can answer.

you see brandon and mac jog down the wooden steps of the porch, already sporting tans and wide smiles.

jermey clears his throat behind you, dropping his arm from your waist and turns around so he can adjust himself. you try not to frown at the loss of contact, smiling brightly as your friends greet you in big hugs.

"hey dude," charlie smiles, cheeks becoming even larger (which you didn't think was possible), wrapping you in a tight side hug.

brandon takes over, ruffling your hair after a quick embrace. "so," he smirks, "you and jer huh?"

you stutter, trying to form words under his inquisitive gaze but charlie's loud voice distracts you both, effectively ending that conversation.

"sway, dude, how's it going?" charlie smiles, dapping his goalie up before pulling him into a brief hug, like the handshake usually entails. you've never understood that, even though debrusk has tried to teach you multiple times - you've stayed confused.

"ready to relax," jeremy sighs. the guys laugh in agreement, ruffling up their friend a bit more before they each grab a suitcase, charlie proposing a race which has the two defencemen jogging away towards the house, mason trailing behind, calling the dogs with her.

you smile, picking up your duffle bag containing your skin and hair care, slinging it over your shoulder and you start to walk up to the house. you can hear the trunk click shut before you can hear jeremy's air forces move through the dirt. he slides into step beside you, grabbing the bag off your shoulder and slipping it over his free one.

"hey!" you protest.

"what?!" he laughs softly, "i'm not going to let my girlfriend carry her own bag, i'm a gentleman."

you send him a look as the two of you make it up the steps onto the porch. you stop before entering and you turn to look up at him, "i'm sorry about earlier, with the accidental grinding...it got awkward and now i'm feeling weird - i'm sorry."

jeremy blushes but laughs, even though it sounds awkward. "no, ugh that's my bad. you didn't do anything wrong so don't apologize."

you nod, "okay..." your smile is sheepish.

"and i'm sorry if me calling you baby made it awkward...I just thought-"

"no! I get it - it makes this more believable." you interrupt, gesturing between your bodies.

"hey, you guys don't need to be like, invited in...you're not vampires right?" brandon makes an appearance by the open door, now holding his daughter.

you send him a tight lipped smile and nod, sneaking past him, not without a tickle to the babies side, and walk into the home.

jeremy watches you leave with a look on his face that has brandon snickering. "you good?"

"yeah," the goalie scoffs, walking through the threshold into the house, avoiding eye contact with the defensemen all together.

brandon smirks at his retreating figure. "you can leave the bags at the stairs!' he calls out.

weaving through the kitchen, jeremy can hear your laugh before he can spot you. he feels that burning smile tugging at his lips, chest filling with that familiar warmth that always found its way into his body at the sound of your laugh.

he finds you on the back deck, mingling with the rest of the group. you're sitting beside danielle, who is hugging your side in a greeting, and jeremy assumes your old friend is the reason of your laughter.

"sway!" the group shouts in a greeting, a course of hellos echoing at him as he is spotted standing staring at you by the open patio door. he smiles politely at his teammates and their significant others, hugging and greeting his friends as he makes his way around the table they were all sat at. jeremy makes his way back around to where you are sitting, the sun hitting your face, leaving you squinting and flushed.

jeremy smiles at your expression, taking the only free chair beside you - which was probably left open for him purposely.

you're still squinting as you look over at him and wordlessly he unhooks the pair of sunglasses attached to the round of his tshirt, sliding them onto your face.

you're glad the sun is beating on your skin because you're blushing at his gesture, "you don't need them?"

he's squinting too but shrugs, "gotta protect your pretty eyes." he almost shocks himself with his statement but he doesn't show it, looking away before he has no choice but to kiss you.

"I can't believe you didn't tell me," danielle says and you're blinking hard, head snapping away from jeremy and towards your blonde friend. she pushes your upper arm with a teasing grin.

"tell you what?" you question, brows drawn together behind the rim of jermey's large sunglasses.

she laughs softly and gives you a bewildered look. you're still giving her a clueless expression so she wildly gestures between you and the net tender on your left. "about the two of you! dating."

"right!" you say, blinking fast. you toss your hand on jermey's thick thigh, rubbing it briefly. at your touch jeremy tenses slightly, you can feel it under your palm. he turns fast from his conversation with kiley, eyes meeting danielle's from beside you.

subsiding his fluster from your touch, jeremy smiles politely at the blond, throwing an arm around the back of your chair like it was second nature. "it's new, we didn't tell anybody until...recently."

"It's just surreal!," she gushes, "I always thought the two of you would be cute together. i've been telling y/n that since, what, like january last year?" her last question is directed at you, which has jeremy also looking, awaiting your answer.

it's clear danielle has no real intention of obtaining an answer because she turns away, pulled into a conversation with mason and a babbling wren.

you let out a breath, retracting your hand from jermey's strong muscle. jeremy is quicker than you though, grabbing your hand before it's gone, interlocking his fingers with yours and setting them back against his thigh.

the two of you smile at one another, and it feels like time is slowing down, thick like syrup and for a moment you let yourself pretend that it was real. but then coyle is grabbing jermey's attention, and kiley wants to show you pictures from her last dress fitting and the syrup is gone.

the rest of the afternoon goes buy quickly, brandon takes charge of grilling up burgers and hotdogs for lunch that are inhaled quickly. after that, mason drags you to the local grocery store, the two of you loading up the cart with the healthy amount of food and drinks.

an hour later you're back at the lake house, and the two of you along with kiley and danielle immediately start unloading the plethora of groceries you bought that was needed to feed the amount of athletes being housed.

you're on washing duty, fruits and vegetables alike. you're standing at the sink, laughing at something danielle says as you strain the strawberries when brandon and jeremy walk in from outside. brandon walks up to mason, giving her a kiss and swiping his card out of her jean short pocket. you're smiling sweetly at them over your shoulder when jermey slides in beside you, dropping a couple plates in the empty side of the sink.

you're looking at him as he reaches across you to grab a sponge, getting to work on scrubbing the dishes. you bite your lip and look back down, switching out the strawberries for raspberries, repeating the rinsing process.

he finishes the washing up quickly, and then moves behind you, reaching around your body to grab a strawberry. you shiver as his arm brushes your hip. "hey!" you scold, "they're not even dry yet."

"I can help it," he says around chewing, "they're so juicy when they're fresh." he says the last part in your ear, trying to sound sudective but all you can hear is his chewing and it has you laughing, pushing him away as his voice tickles your neck.

"you're so gross." you laugh, putting the raspberries to the side. you're done cleaning all the food so you turn to face him, grabbing the last bit of strawberry in his fingers and popping it in your mouth.

he tongues his cheek as you chew up at him, the both of you caught in a staring match, too afraid to let the moment pass.

but then mac is pushing jermey away in favour of grabbing raspberries and you walk away to hide your blush.

the night approaches fast, everyone winding down in the living room or in their respective bedrooms - watching movies or scrolling social media. you're watching some funny tiktok on kiley's phone, the two of you giggling together when mason descends down the stairs, retuning from putting the toddler to bed.

charlie is then plopping down between you and his girlfriend which has you laughing, pushing away from him and unknowingly into jeremy, your back bumping his broad shoulder.

"oh, god," mason breathes, having you look over at her, "i'm a terrible host. i'll show you and jermey to your room."

"oh my god, no worries," you say, using jermey's thigh as leverage to push yourself up to stand, "you've done so much, I wouldn't care if we had to sleep in a tent outside."

she waves you off, "alright you two, cmon." jeremy's hand touches your back ever so lightly, as if to guide you in the direction of the blonde. "brandon," mason calls from the stairs, "can you start bringing up their bags? when you get a moment."

she doesn't wait for a response and starts leading you and jermey up the steps and then down the hallway until you're all at the second last door.

the room is nice, you think when she opens the oak door - cream coloured walls decorated in homey artwork, accompanied by a large wardrobe and an even bigger window. there's a mahogany desk with neatly folded towels on top, a couple shower essentials in a bin beside them. the bed looks heavenly, a queen sized mattress covered in four fluffed pillows and a matching duvet, a throw blanket hanging off the end.

"it's not much," mason laughs, "but it'll do."

"no, mase, it's beautiful," you say, fingers brushing over the navy bed spread. "this is more than enough."

brandon walks in then, with the rest of the bags he hadn't brought up earlier in the day. he rolls your suitcase beside the closet. "well," the defenseman says, "we will let you two settle in, it's been a long day i'm sure you two want to...canoodle."

you blush deep at his insinuation, jeremy rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly and mason laughs, slapping her husbands chest as she slips into his side. "let us know if you need anything. we're the last door by the stairs."

"thanks guys," jeremy says after clearing his throat awkwardly, waiting until the door clicks shut before he turns to you and lets out a deep breath. "are you okay?"

you raise your brows, dropping down to sit on the bed. jeremey walks over, taking the spot beside you. "are you okay?"

he leans back on his elbows and look over at you. "i'm sorry I didn't even think about having to share a bed, I can sleep on the floor if you want."

"what? jer, no. we've shared a couch before! it's just like that but it's a bed. not a big deal, right?"

jeremey gulps, "yeah...right." he laughs, snapping himself out of his own thoughts, "as long as you promise not to stare at me when i'm changing we should be good."

you send him a look but smile anyways, falling on to your back. before you think too hard, you're moving, rolling into the side of jeremy's strong torso, the action pulling out a sigh of content.

he chuckles as your breath tickles his ribs, absentmindedly rubbing a hand up and down your back. "you okay though? really?" jeremy whispers.

you smile into his shirt, nodding gently. "yeah. I think i'm going to head for a shower though, i've been sweating all day." you see the tiny clock on the nightstand says 8:45, and it has you standing up - grabbing your toiletry bag from your luggage and a set of appropriate pyjamas for sharing a bed with your guy best friend. "i'll be back soon." you nod.

"okay," jeremy smiles, standing up as he moves to unpack his bags, assumingely grabbing something to sleep in. "i'll be here."

"you better be," you laugh, heading towards the bathroom. its 20 minutes later when you return to the shared bedroom. your hair is wet, sitting against the gray tank top on your back, water darkening the material.

jeremy is slouched against the headboard, watching a video on his phone but looks up when the door is clicked shut. he smiles lazily at you, sleep clear in his eyes. he looks so cuddly under the covers, only illuminated by the bedside lamp. you're fighting the urge to swoon.

you have to not read too deep into the way he took the right side of the bed knowing you prefer the left, and the way he gave up one of his two pillows because you can't sleep comfortably without three. so you don't pay it any mind, smiling at him gently and climbing into bed, tucking into his side until you're both falling asleep to the sound his his youtube video.

—

it was wren's squeal that woke you up right as the sun was rising. you groaned into the pillow, burying your face deeper into the soft fabric. a thick arm tightened its grip around your waist. for a moment, you panic, trying to wriggle away from the person who had you locked in bed, but the mystery person grumbled and groaned.

"y/n/n if you keep moving like that, i'm going to need a cold shower. so stop."

oh.

jeremy.

oh.

immediately you stop moving, relaxing into your friends arms. "sorry," you stifle your laugh.

he's clearly still sleepy because jeremy doesn't let you go but instead he pulls you closer into his chest, breathing into your mess of frizzy hair. "mhmm it's okay."

you hear wren again, followed by charlie's distinctive laugh and then the smell of breakfast wafts upstairs, invading your nostrils and that makes your mouth salivate. "I can smell breakfast." your voice is quiet and you turn your head so can look at him properly. you find jeremy's eyes already on you softly.

suddenly you feel hot under the covers, his eyes burning into your exposed skin. "should we go down?" you ask with a small gulp.

he shrugs, "I kinda like laying here with you."

you playfully roll your eyes, looking away before he can see the wide smile that takes over your face. but jeremy does see it and he can't help but smile even wider than you had, feeling successful in his attempted flirting.

"let's get up." you insist, pushing away from him a little.

feeling bold, jeremy grips you tighter with a smirk, "oh, i'm already up." on cue you feel something hard around your hip and your eyes widen. it isn't much longer until your squealing and falling out of bed with laughter.

"jermey oh my god! you're such a douche." but it had no real bite, your angelic laughter music to jermey's ears.

"i'm sorry," he laughs, "It literally happens almost every morning and it's even worse when i wake up with a pretty girl pressed against me. I can't ignore nature." jer shrugs.

you raise your brows, "you wake up beside pretty girls often?"

he looks so serious when he says, "only you."

it has you feeling flustered and you pick yourself up, trying to keep your expression neutral: searching through your bag for a pair of shorts and a t-shirt to change into. "get dressed you big flirt."

by the time you made it downstairs after taking care of your hair and brushing your teeth, brandon was just about done frying the eggs at the stove. "hey you two."

you look behind you at his words and see jeremy, rubbing the last bit of sleep from his eye, wearing much more clothing than the last time you saw him.

"breakfast is just about ready," brandon continues.

jeremy moves past you on the stairs, running a hand over your tamed hair as he passes. you follow after him with a shove to his shoulder, the other hand smoothing your hair back out.

you take a seat on a bar stool, right in front of the breakfast making. your stomach growls at the sight of melted butter and perfectly cooked bacon.

you assume not everyone is awake yet, as you don't spot the macavoys or beecher anywhere, any lingering feeling of being late to the informal breakfast seeping away.

brandon and charlie coyle stand in front of you on the other side of the kitchen island, setting out sausages and eggs in a buffet style sequence, not finishing without fighting about the best style of eggs, which has everyone joining in. not long after that, everybody is serving themselves a plate and sitting back down to dig in.

you end up between jeremy and matthew, still in your original seat. breakfast is filled with small chatter, and you're laughing at something danielle says from the dining table when the stairs creek. you look behind your shoulder and see john beecher coming down the stairs, still clad in pyjama bottoms and a plain white tshirt, eyes not long open as he stumbles to the island. he greets the room as he begins to load his plate with a heavy portion of home fries.

"so, y/n," john says, meeting your eyes briefly before loading some eggs onto his platter, "how did you and sway meet? i feel like everybody knows the story but me."

"I don't know the story," matthew says from beside you, shoving toast in his mouth.

beecher's question is innocent enough, so you find yourself swallowing your piece of bacon quickly. charlie snickers pleasantly, like he usually does when the story is about to be told, from a few seats down. you take a sip of coffee, "we met at a bar." you settle on, avoiding charlie's stare for shoving some eggs in your mouth.

"that's it? give me detail, y/n. paint the picture," john says, dragging a stool around so he could sit across from you, plate sitting right in the middle of all the serving trays.

laughing awkwardly, you nod, "umm, okay...it was summer so it was hot in the bar, and I was doing the drink run for my table. so I went up to get drinks for my friends and I, one of them being danielle." you looked over to your blonde friend, but she was busy at the table watching mason feed wren. "and umm, a guy came up to me and started hitting on me."

"ouuu, was it sway?" matthew asked beside you, chuckling as he plopped a handful of blueberries in his mouth.

you laughed and shook your head, "no, actually it was charlie."

john coughed as he choked on his sip of orange juice. "what?! coyle?"

charlie laughed, "yeah, don't look so suprised. I was hitting on her and it was working and then sway walks over, babbling about something - totally kills my game."

jeremy rubs his eyes in embarrassment. "oh my god I hate this."

"and then at the end of the night charlie asked me out." you continue.

"so wait," john says, brows furrowed, "you two used to date?"

"only for like four months," you say, "but that's how I met jer."

john and matthew laugh, but it's john who says, "so charlie beat you to her huh? asked her out before you could."

you can feel jeremy looking at you, so you keep your eyes forward.

"yeah...he did." he says.

oh.

"but, it all worked out in the end." charlie says, oblivious to the way the air grew thick between you and the bruins goaltender.

john hums, chewing on a sausage. "im just suprised is all - the way sway talks about you y/n, is like you two have been together since like forever...I can't believe it."

oh wow.

"I wasn't expecting that," matthew says beside you, forking some of his egg into his mouth. "it's kind of like you guys were just...one step out of order which each other."

"yeah," you nod gently. sipping on some more coffee.

jeremy tosses an arm around the back of your chair, his plate already devoured. his fingers itch to rub along the expanse of your exposed arm, the black ink of your tattoo tempting him.

"so sway, what did you think when you first saw her." the question has him looking away from your skin, eyes blown wide.

you are looking at john with the same expression, crossing your legs nervously, accidentally slapping your foot against matt's calf. you were actually going to die because of john beecher.

jeremy laughs awkwardly, rubbing the back of his neck with the hand that once sat behind you. "well, I can remember her laugh. I really liked her laugh. it was loud but unique- it matched her perfectly." he gulps, looking into your eyes for the first time since the conversation started, "and she was wearing a black skirt and some black strappy top and I remember thinking she looked really...beautiful. and then we started talking and I thought she was so smart, she still is one of the smartest people I know. I fell for her that night, charlie be damned."

then jeremey smiles sheepishly, looking away from your gentle gaze and back over to the rookie, john, who is staring at the two of you with a look you can't decipher.

"but it all worked out in the end." jeremy reiterates the words said earlier by charlie, "we're here now. right baby?" the nickname has you freezing and that pretend world you'd been in once again disappearing.

"yeah," you clear your throat. jeremey's words laying heavy on your heart. "it did."

you think it's a shame it was pretend, because when guys usually talked about you, the first thing they bring up is something superficial or objectifying...never your laugh or your brains. it has you melting back into that pretend land and reaching over run your hand through jeremy's curls, smiling in thanks.

kiley and charlie descended down the stairs then, a mix of greetings and heckling being thrown at them about their late wake up time as theyre grabbing their breakfast. the conversation grows normal again, less talk about yourself and jermey's fake love story and more about plans for the day.

the boys all head out after breakfast to workout at the local gym, claiming they needed to burn off the grease. that left yourself and the girls to sit out in the sun for the morning, each taking turns tanning and entertaining wren and/or the dogs in the peak summer heat.

you're holding wren in your lap when the boys get back two hours after their initial departure, the sound of vehicles rolling into the driveway alerting you all. wren claps her hands at the mention of her dad, which has you smiling with her as she talks your ear off.

it feels like 5 minutes later when the boys are entering the backyard in their respective bathing suits to join you all. bare feet thumping down the back deck steps and onto the separate wooden platform.

suddenly a shadow covers the sun from your skin and you glance up to find jermey smiling down at you two, "hey," you whisper.

"hey there," he smirks.

"hi," wren laughs in her adorable little voice, leaving the two of you laughing.

"move your legs a little," he tells you, to which you do, the once occupied space now being taken over by jeremy's large frame. he wraps a hand around your ankle, squeezing slightly. you try not to squirm from his touch.

"how was your work out?" you ask to try and distract yourself from the way jeremy was playing with wrens little feet, making her smile up at him. if you keep watching him interact with the baby you're ovaries will surely light themselves on fire.

"it was good," he says, eyes darting up to meet yours. "how is tanning?"

"nice but i'm very hot now." you huff, pulling hair away from your neck.

he smirks, eyes dancing over your now exposed throat, "yeah you look it."

instead of dissecting that comment you tickle the girl sitting against your bent legs, "did you hear that? jer is trying to make moves on me."

he laughs loudly, head thrown back which makes the little girl laugh as well, her barbie hitting against your lower stomach, "well you are my girlfriend in case you couldn't remember."

"how could I forget?" you tease him, digging your foot into his thigh.

jeremy is leaning closer into you and you can smell his body wash. his tongue darts out to wet his lower lip and you have to resist the urge to lean in to close the gap, wanting to use your own tongue on his mouth instead, licking and kissing until you can't breathe.

as if brandon can hear your thoughts, he walks over. "okay lovebirds, i'm going to take my daughter back before she sees something she shouldn't."

you roll your eyes playfully but let him grab a laughing wren from your lap without fuss, brandon immediately kissing her chubby cheek and bouncing her in his large arms, leaving you and jeremy alone.

when you look back over at him, he's already got his eyes on you. he wraps and arm around your legs now that they aren't occupied by a small human, and tug them into his side. the way he moves you around has you feeling warm, clenching your thighs together.

he runs a hand down your thigh, feeling the heat of your skin he ticks his tongue, "are you wearing sunscreen?"

"I put some on earlier but I haven't re applied it recently..." you can see his smirk forming, a dirty comment desperate to make an appearance, "and before you get any ideas, you're not rubbing sunscreen on me, this isn't a porno."

"I wish it was," beecher teases in passing, beer clutched in his hand.

that has jeremey laughing, his chest vibrating against your legs. "I was just going to suggest that maybe you should head into the lake for a bit...cool off. I'll come with you."

in a moment of boldness you smirk, "well if you're coming with me I won't be able to cool off,"

surprisingly jeremey catches your suggestive tone and raises his brows at you, tonguing his cheek in a way that has you sweating. I mean, you weren't blind. your friend was stupid good looking, you've thought that since that night at the bar and that was back when he wasn't quite as built as he is now. but now he's filled out, grew a inch or so taller and uses all that expensive cologne that makes him smell ridiculously good.

"that's good then," he says, "because I haven't been able to cool off since the moment we met."

jeremey is leaning close enough so even if prying eyes and ears wanted to eavesdrop, they couldn't, his whisper too slow and too quiet. suddenly the situation feels too real and you're gulping, sitting up a bit straighter.

"i'm going to get a drink." jeremey lets go of your legs and your up standing immediately, walking away from him and into the house. and if you have to stick your head in the freezer to calm down that's nobody's business.

when you return outside 5 minutes later, you don't go back to where jermey sits and that has him frowning.

jeremey gave you space for the rest of the day, going as far to look away when the two of you made eye contact. he sat with matthew during dinner while you sat with mason and brandon, claiming you wanted more time with their daughter so your and jeremey's distance didn't seem suspicious.

the day in the sun had tired you out and you headed to bed just after 8. you lay awake for awhile and you can't help but think of the day as well as your conversation with jeremy on that lounge chair.

you have to remember that your friendship has always been touchy and flirty - it wasn't new but that doesn't mean your stomach didn't flutter anytime his touch lingered, or when his breath tickled your skin, or when his words have you wondering: wondering if maybe he felt the same way about you that you've always felt about him.

jeremy comes upstairs an hour after you had, and you pretended to be asleep when he whispered your name. regardless he cuddled into you, leaving your heart beating rapidly.

__

you're the first one awake the next morning, the sun just barley peeking over the horizon through the open window. you gently push jeremy's arm of your waist and sneak downstairs, pulling his discarded hoodie on as you descend down the hallway quietly.

you make yourself a cup of coffee, stirring in your sugar as the room is enveloped in the first hour of sunshine.

the sound of feet dragging have you glancing over your shoulder to see john. he's wearing the same pyjama pants as the previous day but no shirt this time, which has you looking away like you've been caught staring when you shouldn't have been.

"good morning," he sighs, moving so he is standing beside you, making himself his own morning coffee.

"morning," you smile politely, testing your drink before deciding you need another sugar.

"brandon mentioned taking the boat out today," he adds his creamer to the mug, "you going to come?"

"that sounds nice," you agree, "i'll definitely be joining."

"good," he takes a sip of his drink, turning to face you, "he said there's a decent sand bar like 10 minutes out that's never busy - should be a nice spot."

"yeah," you take another sip, "I hope nobody is there, i'm not in the mood for conversation with strangers."

john laughs which makes you giggle along. "I hear that."

"hey," a voice interrupts and you look over and see a very sleepy jeremy. he's shirtless too which has you feeling warm, eyes darting down to look into your mug "i wondered where you went." jeremy says to you and you shrug, peeking over the rim of your drink to look at him.

"sorry, woke up early." you shrug. "I didn't want to wake you."

just as jeremy looks like he may say something more, brandon jogs down the stairs behind him, wren babbling in his ear about food. "oh hey, didn't think i'd see anybody yet, I would've put pants on."

suddenly you're very aware of the fact brandon's only wearing boxers and you laugh, looking away.

"I was just talking about the plans for today and that sand bar you mentioned." john says, grabbing some ingredients to make what looks like a smoothie.

"yeah," brandon nods, adding apple juice to a sippy cup, "i'm so down for that, you all coming?"

so that's how you ended up on the boat, jeremy sitting beside you as the two of you, brandon, john, matthew, mason, danielle and kiley all clad in beach attire as brandon drove out to the sand bar.

your arm brushes against your friends anytime brandon hits a wave, but you don't dare look over at him. you keep your eyes straight forward, even when you can feel jeremy's burning into the side of your head.

it isn't long before you're all arriving, anchoring down only 3 or so meters from the hump of sand that has formed a sand bar. there wasn't anybody else there, like brandon claimed, so your prayers of no conversation had been answered.

just as the engine shuts off and people start moving around, grabbing floaties and drinks alike, you can see jeremy look at you again. "y/n?" he whispers quietly.

you weren't wanting to be confronted on the boat in front of all your friends, so you pretend you don't hear him, standing quickly and making your way to the back of the boat were you see the girls chatting and changing out of their cover up's and into their bathing suits.

"you getting in?" kiley asked as you approached. she is standing, peering down into the water below like she may be unsure.

"yeah," you say and without much longer, you reach for the hem of your loose tank top, pulling it up and over your head to reveal your halter bikini top.

danielle whistles from her spot sitting with her feet in the water, "looking hot y/n!" the girls start cat calling you and you blush, throwing your top at your blond friend.

at the commotion, jeremy looks away from his conversation with charlie just as you're bent over in favour of taking off your jean shorts, giving him the perfect view of your bikini covered ass.

he blows out air, turning away as a blush rises to his face. charlie just laughs at him, patting his shoulder as he makes his way over to the girls, leaving jeremey to collect himself.

charlie rushes past you, cannonballing into the lake, effectively soaking his fiancé and drenching your legs.

"hey!" danielle scolds, wiping her face. charlie then swims back over, dragging her into the water.

you're laughing at your friends protests when suddenly hands are on your hips, arms bringing you to a chest before their launching you both off the boat, plunging into the chilled morning water.

you are submerged and the hands let go, allowing you to freely swim up to the surface. you splutter, pushing your hair away from your face. turning around you find jeremy just as he emerges and you shove his shoulder. "what the hell."

you're thankful other people have started jumping in, their screams and laughter drowning out your harsh tone.

he wipes his face before sending you a stern look. "why are you ignoring me?"

"i'm not."

"you are." he fights back. "did I do something?"

he looks genuinely concerned and it has your stomach dropping. "no...no you didn't do anything."

"so why are you mad at me?"

"i'm not mad at you," you say quickly, "sorry just yesterday I just..."

"look, if I made you uncomfortable..." jeremy starts and you shake your head, shoulders starting to burn from shredding water. "you didn't do anything, Jer. I was just feeling sick or something." he's looking at you all warm and it has your shoulders deflating. "I shouldn't have been cold towards you."

he breathes out a sigh, "well, are you okay?"

"i'm fine, I promise."

"okay, just, I don't want to ever upset you and I was going crazy thinking I did something wrong. I miss you like every moment we don't talk, it's kind of insane - and I never want to be the reason we don't talk, y/n. dream team remember?"

you nod, "dream team. i'm sorry."

he shakes his head, "don't apologize."

a beat passes and then your sighing, "my arms are going to fall of soon if we keep talking here, I can't reach the bottom."

without a word he grabs one of your moving legs, dragging you through the water until he can wrap both of your thighs around his hips, holding you against him. "is that better?" he whispers, eyes searching your face for any signal of your emotions.

you nod once, "yeah..."

the moment feels too real again so you laugh, "screw you for being tall and reaching the bottom."

expect jeremy doesn't laugh but holds an expression you can't quite pinpoint. "what were you and johnny talking about this morning before I came down?"

"oh," you breathe out, "nothing really. just the boat I guess, we just kind of woke up at the same time and made coffee," you see his expression is sour so you smirk, "why?...are you jealous?"

he laughs at first like he's going to deny it, shaking his head slowly. but then he says, "maybe I am,"

"don't be," you whisper, fingers playing with the hair at the nape of his neck, your legs lightly squeezing his torso to keep yourself grounded.

his face changes again, "I don't want him taking you away from me with his stupid charm and stupid face..."

you're looking into his eyes with the same look you had given him that night outside the bar. "nobody could ever take me from you, jer."

your tone is gentle and it has him melting into your touch. his eyes dart down to your lips and you take a shallow breath, anticipating swirling deep in your gut.

just as it looks like jeremy might lean in, you're interrupted. "hey! you guys hungry?" mason calls from the boat, "we are gunna head back soon to get the grill going!"

you clear your throat, unraveling your legs from jeremey's torso to which he sighs, dropping his hands from your waist. "okay! yeah sounds good," you call back. your pray nobody could tell your voice was shaky, too pumped up on adrenaline of what almost happened.

your turn your gaze back to jeremy and you find he is still looking at you, a blush starting to form on his face.

you smile brightly, splashing him with the water before darting away, letting him chase after you in the water as you make your way back to the boat.

the rest of the day is spent relaxing, especially now that jeremey has brought you back to earth from your previous self pity party. everybody ends up hanging outside for the rest of the day, drinking and snacking until the sun was setting on the lake, to which they headed inside to get a start on dinner - which was going to be pasta.

the last lingering person slips inside as the stars start to twinkle, leaving you still lying on your sun bed, staring up into the now night sky. you're sure it's chilly now, but the six white claws that are flowing through your blood stream are effective in keeping you from feeling cool.

a familiar face appears above you which has you smiling softly. "you're blocking my view."

jeremy laughs, "oh my apologies your highness," he teases, "aren't you cold?"

you shrug, "nah...i'm too busy trying to find the dippers."

jeremy looks up briefly with lip stuck between his teeth. he chuckles, looking back down. "okay, make room for me, i'll help you look."

"and how are you going to fit on here?"

"sit up," he instructs and you roll your eyes playfully but obey. just then he slips in behind you, his legs falling in line beside yours. just as you go to question him he pulls you back down so your pressed into his front. then he pulls his knees up, trapping you in. "that comfortable?"

you nod, too nervous to speak. your eyes search the stars again but it isn't long before you can feel jeremy chuckle, "got it."

"what? where is it?"

"look carefully," he tells you, grabbing your hand and bringing them both into the sky, where he then points in the direction of the constellation with both your fingers. "see it now?" his breath is warm against your ear.

you nod. "I do." a beat of silence passes, "isn't it beautiful?"

your eyes are still dancing through the stars when jeremey looks down at you, a smile tugging at his lips. "the most beautiful."

"are you guys like fucking or can you come eat with us?" you recognize charlie macovy's voice form the back door and it has you sitting up.

laughing you say, "don't be gross." you push away from the man behind you, leaving him to take a deep breath and follow behind you.

__

the next couple days end up being pretty tame. the group ends up either tanning, swimming to walking on the nearby trail. all eating together and packing in early every night and each night john jokes that you're all old, but cuddling into bed with jeremy at the end of every day made you not care.

it's the second last night at the lake house and instead of being boring like you all had been for the past couple nights, matthew and john beg for a bonfire which brandon agrees wasn't a bad idea. so he sends the two youngest out to get some drinks and smore necessities while the rest of you stay back and start the fire.

matt and john get back just as the sky turns dark and you have all taken a seat on makeshift chairs and benches. it doesn't take long after smore making for you to start feeling the affects of your consumed bottle of wine.

your laugh becomes louder and your face becomes redder, which has jeremy laughing amused at your tipsy state.

a few hours pass and mason has to put wren and the dogs to bed, which ends up with brandon following for a much needed sleep. kiley and charlie head up to bed too, followed by matthew which leaves not many of you by the fire.

never be like you is coming out the mini speaker, loud enough so you could dance and sing along, but quiet enough where it wouldn't disturb anybody sleeping in the lake house.

jeremey watches you and danielle twirl each other around, smiling and laughing amongst yourselves.

"sway, there's something I want to say," charlie says beside him, which catches the goalies attention. coyle laughs, "I should've said this along time ago but, back at the bar when I asked y/n out...I knew that you wanted her, I could tell by the way you looked at each other." charlie takes a sip of beer, "I really thought you would've beaten me to her that night so I was shocked when she said she'd go out with me."

"really?"

"yeah," charlie says, "even on our first date, she asked about you. I thought she was just curious about my friends, but she didn't ask about anyone else. you're her home, jeremy. so...I don't know, I guess i'm apologizing for dating her and not giving you a chance because I think you both wanted it."

jermey gulps, "oh. it's, ugh, its all good."

"she's like really awesome, and a great girl and an even better friend for setting me up with my now finance. now that you finally have her, never let her go."

just as he goes to respond, you stumble over, tripping over some uneven ground but before jeremy can get out to break your fall, you catch your balance, laughing. "whoops."

"you okay?" jeremy asks amused. you're clearly drunk, he can tell by the way your eyes have glossed over and how your chest was red with heat.

you nod with a smile, "jer...come dance with me?"

"I don't know," he laughs softly, eyes moving over your body as if he was assessing you.

you frown playfully, "please? just one dance. please, I love this song."

you can already see the answer on his face before jeremy speaks and that is enough. his slight smile and shy eyes have you breaking out into a grin, grabbing his hand and pulling him out of the camping chair.

he does all the work of pulling up his body weight though, too heavy for your intoxicated sate. you're smiling when you start dancing, arms wrapping around his neck. the synth pop tune is suddenly quiet, and you're focused on the way jeremy is breathing, staring down at you with the most gentle smile. "if you're sick of me after this week and never want to see me again, I understand." you say.

jeremy draws his brows together, "what? no. nothing could make me never want to see you again."

you bit your lip to try and stop your smile.

"and honestly," he lowers his voice, "this has turned out easier than I thought it would be - I think that's why I chose you to be my fake girlfriend for this trip. I knew we could do it."

you take a shaky breath, choosing to ignore the fake part of fake girlfriend. "why do you think that is?"

your question seems simple enough, jeremy not catching the underlying tone of real wonder. he looks away from your gaze and over to the lake. shrugging his shoulders, he swallows thickly, "I'm not sure, maybe I knew that I didn't really have to pretend with you"

he looks back over to you with a sheepish expression but the look on your face has him frowning slightly. you're eyes are starting to close, the affects of your wine finally catching up to you. "y/n..." jeremy says your name in a whisper. it has you blowing your eyes open wide and you stumble again. he blinks hard, running a hand flat over your hair before keeping his hand resting on where your neck and shoulder meets. jeremy laughs slightly. "I think it's time for bed."

you let jeremy tuck you under his arm, and you use his body weight as support while you both bid goodbyes to the remaining bonfire enjoyers. he's practically walking for you as the two of you climb up the stairs and slip through the back doors of the lake house: slowly pattering up the carpeted stairs with jeremy guiding your hips to ensure your stability.

jeremy shuts the bedroom door once the two of you are inside the room and when he turns back around to face you, you're lying flat on the bed, smiling lazily over at jeremy.

"you can't fall asleep yet," he teases, walking over and tracing a pattern on your thigh, "you have to change out of your bonfire clothes."

he's referring to your jean cut offs and oversized bruins shirt. his words have you groaning out, "can you do it for me."

you miss the way jeremy gulps nervously, eyes darting away when your legs fall open and your pink underwear become slightly visible. you call his name and he looks back over. you have your hands out, "please, i'm tired."

he nods quickly, grabbing a hold of your outstretched hand and pulling you into a sitting position. you're still sporting that lazy smile that has jeremy feeling nervous. "stand up for me." he says quietly and you nod, standing on unsteady feet infront of your best friend.

he's not looking into your eyes when his fingers pop open your shorts metal button, running down and pulling on the small zipper. your chest starts heaving at his gentle touches. he drops down to his knees infront of you, slowly pulling down the material off your legs. his knuckles grazing your smooth skin has you sighing, mouth hung open.

he's still avoiding your stare, his eyes focused on the knitted blanket beside him. the alcohol is still in control of your actions and it has you giggling quietly just as jeremy reaches your ankles.

"lift your foot." he says, eyes finally falling on your feet to make sure you keep your balance. you grab a hold on his strong shoulder so you can lift your feet one at a time so the shorts can fall to the carpeted floor.

the room is only illuminated by the moon light, which jermey is thankful for. he's sure his red face is very bright, his semi even more noticeable under his lulu lemon shorts. you’re left in the same shirt and your underwear, the tshirt just barley covering your exposed butt cheeks.

"jer," you whisper as he moves to a standing position. he's still not looking in your eyes so you reach out, hand resting over the stubble on his jawline and cheek. "you can look at me."

his eyes finally flicker to yours and you smile, your other hand moving to rest on his chest. instinctively, jermey grabs your waist, your tshirt bunching up and exposing your hip, covering by your pink thong. "can I ask you something?"

he's nodding wordlessly so you continue. "if charlie didn't ask me out that night...would you have?"

jeremy doesn't answer right away, only the sound of his breathing lets you know that he's actually still infront of you.

he thinks back to earlier in the evening, and his conversation with his teammate. he thinks you're just curious, no other reason why you could possibly want to know. jeremy tries not to let his mind wander back to how your half naked infront of him. how not even the smell of smoke could over power your fruit hair oil he can smell. he also thinks about how you're intoxicated, and how you aren't going to remember this interaction when you wake up tomorrow. so, jermey sighs, squeezing your hip, "yes, I would have."

"jeremy...I should tell you- "

"it's okay," he whispers, embarrassment of his confession wanting to badly take over, "it all worked out, right. best friends."

no, you think. we aren't just friends, please just confess. lean in and kiss me and take me to bed and just finally love me -

"you're still drunk," jermey interrupts your racing mind, "let's just go to sleep."

—

the sun beating on your back is what wakes you up the next morning. it has your groaning out, pulling the covers up and over your head to further bury yourself in the cocoon. it doesn't take long to realize you're alone, the bed empty next to you.

you sit up, frowning at your lack of pyjama bottoms but then you start to remember the night before. the dancing, jermey's calloused hands on your legs, his confession, you're longing need for your best friend. you feel like crying, groaning and covering your eyes.

you slip on a pair of sweatpants and a different shirt, trying your best to eliminate the smell of bonfire before you need to take a shower. mason and danielle are the only ones downstairs, greeting you with sweet smiles and an avocado bagel. your stomach growls at the sight, devouring the breakfast quicker than the coffee pot finishes its brew. "where's everybody gone?"

mason looks at you over her shoulder from her spot on the stove. "oh! the guys went for a run and I think kiley is still sleeping."

you nod, taking a sip of fresh coffee.

danielle giggles, biting down on her own bagel. "why? missing your man?"

you try not to frown at her question and you just nod once.

your mid sip when the boys return from their run, all shirtless, tan and sweaty. when you spot jeremy, you choke, his sweat glistening off his body making him look even more desirable. danielle pats your back while you collect yourself, the boys making fun of your reaction as they pass.

jeremy sends a quickly smile your way before turning to make his way upstairs. in that moment, you're sure he thinks you don't remember the night before, so you decide that you'll pretend you don't: that you'll go on about your day as you two usually would.

that way it wouldn't be awkward or tense and even though all you wanted to do was finally tell jermey how you feel - finally confess everything after all these years, you won't. because you think if he felt the same way...he would've told you last night. he doesn't want to embarrass you, you think.

so when jeremy returns from his shower 15 minutes later, smelling like woody cologne and old spice products you smile normally, pulling him in for a hug that has mason cooing and danielle giggling. he squeezes you back and kisses the side of your head and in that moment you smile because ignorance is bliss and you can't loose him.

wren is very active, so in the afternoon you all take her for a walk on the nearby trail, dogs dancing throughout all your feet as they move. jeremy has to ignore the urge to kill his teammate when you trip, beecher catching you and letting his hands linger on your waist for a few extra seconds. it's whatever.

dinner approaches quickly, and brandon uses whatever is still left in the fridge to cook up a meal. it ends up being a mix match chicken taco feast, with masons famous garden salad - which was super tasty. the conversation was flowing, everyone trying to make good use of the last night all together before parting ways.

jeremy has been holding a sour expression since the hike, jaw clenched with white knuckles. only speaking when spoken to. even during dinner when you placed your arm on his bicep, he tensed, but didn't look at you: shoving more leafy greens into his mouth.

wren goes to bed not long after, followed by beecher and matt who claimed they needed rest for their early morning. so brandon suggested a movie night, which was highly praised. everyone occupying chairs and couches alike, snuggled under throw blankets as monte slid are we there yet? into the old dvd player.

you're chuckling quietly when jeremy glances over at you. the room is pretty much dark now, only illuminated by the tv screen. he can't help but let a smile tug at his lips, they way you looked so happy made him feel better. he knows he's been acting a grouch all afternoon, he just can't get over how john touched your body, or the way the rookie never failed to make you giggle. it was so...infuriating.

you catch his eyes but jeremy looks away. it has your frowning before looking back at the tv, movie nearing its end.

when the credits roll everybody bids goodnight, climbing the stairs to their respective rooms and/ or bathrooms to get ready for the last night. jeremy beats you upstairs, his back turned when you enter the bedroom. his muscles are flexing underneath his shirt and the action has you drooling, wanting desperately to run your hands over the expanse of his back.

you clear your throat and shut the door. jeremy doesn't look at you, still rummaging through his duffle bag.

"are you mad at me?" you question, taking a small step towards him.

"no," he says quickly, tossing a towel over his shoulder. he turns to face you and you see him gripping his toothbrush, presumably wanting to get to the bathroom. jermey tries to side step you but you block him, standing in front of him.

"then what's wrong?" he doesn't answer so you sigh, dropping your shoulders, "did something happen today? you've been acting weird since we got back from the walk."

at the mention of the hike earlier, jeremy's eyes flash. you let out a satisfied laugh, "what happened on the hike?"

jeremy take some look at your curious face and sighs, placing his toothbrush down behind him. "nothing, really, it's stupid."

"it's not stupid if it has you this upset, jer."

your eyes are all soft as you look up at him and it has him faltering, eyes darting to the ground briefly. "it's just...the way beecher was touching you. yeah, he helped you before you could fall, fine, but he lingered and then he just kept touching you - which is crazy because hello, like i'm the one supposed to be touching you and making you laugh, not him."

he kind of spews that all in one breath so it takes you a moment to digest what he's said. you giggle slightly, "I told you you don't need to be jealous."

he groans, pinching the bridge of his nose, "I know, I know! it's just...you're mine and he doesn't even care."

you gulp. his eyes open and he's looking down at you, the dawn of realization of his own words raining down over his head. just as he looks like he may apologize, take back his possessive statement, you're pushing closer, grabbing his hand and placing it on your waist. "yeah, I am yours." you whisper.

instinctively his other hand grabs the back of your neck, so you have no choice but to keep looking up at him. his eyes go hazy, tongue darting out to wet his bottom lip.

you push up on your tippy toes, bumping your nose against his a few times. then jeremy leans in, placing a fast kiss on your mouth. he pulls away, scared you'll turn and run, but you don't, hands sliding up his chest and around his neck, bringing him back down to kiss him again.

the kisses turns hot and fast, jeremy's back burning from leaning down to keep your lips together. his hands leave your waist and neck, sliding down over your ass until he's gripping the back of your thighs. he pulls you up, letting you jump up until your legs are secure around his waist.

he walks blindly until he finds the desk, dropping you down with a thud so you're sitting on the top, not once stopping the heavy mess of wet kisses and hot breath.

you're tugging off jermey's shirt then, hands sliding up the hard front of abs until he's sighing, pulling you close until your pelvis is bumping his dick. the friction has you moaning, head falling back.

"can I take this off?" jeremy whispers, hands fiddling with the hem of your shirt. you're nodding quickly, lifting your arms so he can easily strip you of the top, leaving you in your string bikini, nipples hard through the fabric. you begin to untie the last article covering your breasts, jermey helping you remove the orange material and exposing you.

"you're so beautiful," he sighs, leaning down and sucking one of your hard buds into his mouth.

"jer," you sigh, hands running through his hair as he licks, your other nipple being played with by his fingers. pinching and pulling until you're grinding against him. "need you inside me," you say when he comes back up to face you.

cheeks flushed he nods, "yeah, okay." his fingers start to tug on the zipper of your shorts, "lift up for me," he tells you. you lift your ass of the table just enough for him to slip down your shorts, discarding them on the floor with the rest of the clothing.

"your turn," you giggle quietly, tugging on the hem of his basketball shorts until they drop to his ankles, leaving him in just his briefs, cock straining against the fabric.

he grabs your face, kissing you hard. your hand slips down so you can palm him, his mouth falling open against yours as you move. "I don't have a condom," he says.

"I don't care," you bite your lip, "can just pull out." your breath is heavy and it has him nodding against your forehead.

"sounds, yeah, that sounds good." his fumbling has you laughing slightly.

"put it in me."

jeremy nods, pulling down his underwear enough so his dick springs free, standing hard and strong below his belly button, right against his happy trail. you moan at the sight, reaching forward to kiss his neck.

he pumps himself a few times as he pulls your bikini bottoms to the side, your glistening sweet pussy, wet and ready with anticipation. "fuck you're so hot." he says, running his top through your folds to collect your arousal.

"please," you wither.

without being asked again, he slowly sinks into you, both of you moaning out in sync at the stretch. he grabs one of your legs, hauling it up and over his shoulder for the deepest possible angle.

it has you crying out, hand slapping over your mouth. he begins thrusting into you, hard enough where he has to hold your hips to keep you from jittering up the desk and away from him. you're both moaning out as quietly as possible, very aware you're surrounded by your friends and a child.

it isn't long before jermey can feel you clenching around him. "are you close baby?" he asks through heavy breaths and it has you whimpering, nodding your head. "yeah? I can feel it. you feel so good, like you were made for me."

"you feel so good jer," you moan, "i'm going to cum."

his thrusts increase and it has you gripping his shoulder harder, your other hand digging into the wood desk. "cum on my cock, I wanna feel you."

his words have you pushing over the edge, the coil in your stomach snapping and releasing all over his length as it moves inside you.

you're moaning as you recover, his thrusts still fast as he chases his own release. you pull him in for a messy kiss, "are you close?"

jeremy breaths, "i'm gunna cum on your stomach, okay?"

you nod, kissing his neck until he's groaning, pulling out of your warmth and releasing his load over your lower stomach, pulling on his cock until he's empty.

your heaving breaths are in sync as you both come down from a high, the room enveloped in almost full darkness saved by the one beside lamp. "you okay?" jeremy asks, pulling you from your post - orgasam daze. you nod, letting jeremy man handle your leg until it's back on the table top.

"you okay?" you reiterate and he chuckles softly, picking up his discarded shirt.

"i'm great," you says, softly wiping away his mess from your torso.

once you're both clean (clean as possible from the wiping of a tshirt) he leads you to bed silently, both of you slipping under the soft blanket. jeremy smiles at you softly before pulling you into him, kissing your shoulder once before closing his eyes.

it isn't long before you follow suit, letting sleep overcome you as you think about how jeremy is the first man who's ever given you an orgasam without touching your clit. it's no big deal....really.

—

on the last morning at the lake house, you had woken up before jeremy. his naked chest is warm where its pressed to your side, his arm heavy were its resting under your chest. his soft snores tickle your shoulder, breath gentle as it raises goose bumps on your skin.

your mind reels over the night before, face immediately flushing at the thought of jeremy all over your body, wet kisses and strong hands running over every inch of you.

gently, you slip out of his hold. you're quiet when you slip on a hoodie and sweat shorts, leaving the room just as the sun is peeking over the horizon. the house is quiet, not even wren or mason are awake. beecher and matthew had left an hour before you woke, catching flights home to spend their rest of the summer with their respective families.

you grab one of the last pre-made protein smoothies from the rather empty fridge before quietly slipping onto the back deck. your bare feet are tickled by the grass as you make your way down to the dock, the cast of orange and pinks illuminating the worn out wood platform.

you're in your own head as you sit, phone gently playing taylor swift as the gentle waves lap against the docks posts. pulling your knees up to your chest, you rest your head on top, staring out into the peaceful morning water.

the sound of footsteps fill you with a momentary panic, turning down your music and looking behind you. jeremy is there, now dressed in his own hoodie and shorts, hood pulled over his head.

you're clearing your throat of its thickness as he sits down beside you, "hey, what are you doing out here?"

you just shrug, watching as his legs stretch out before him, thigh bumping your hip.

he clears his throat which has you darting up to his face. "I thought you left."

you sigh, "no I wouldn't do that."

jeremy nods and you watch his adam's apple bob as he swallows. "I feel like we should talk about what happened." his words are so quiet it has you question if he even said it. then you find him looking at you with an expression which leads you to bite your lip.

"we don't have to," you say quickly, "jeremy I don't want to embarrass you."

he thinks he sees your eyes start to fill with tears and it has him sitting up straighter, wanting to bring you into his chest and kiss your hairline until you're happy. but at the same time he's also thinking the worst. that you know about his feelings, and you're about to tell him that you don't feel the same. that the week has been nice, but you think the two of you should stay friends. he's thinking that you'll say thanks for the sex but that's all this would be. but then jermey thinks maybe that's okay, because he'd rather you only ever want sex from him that one time than loose his best friend all together n

he looks over at you carefully. "why would I be embarrassed?"

the sun is higher up now, but the sky is still casting a warm glow over the lake house. you take a moment to admire jeremy, his beard is grown out and his hair is long at the nape of his neck, curling around his ears. he looks so handsome in the summer - he looks handsome is very season though, so your thoughts are biased. "embarrassed because you know I want more than just sex...and it's okay if that all you needed from me, jer, really. I can't push my feelings aside because i'd rather give you that one thing than loose you all together."

jeremy can't even think straight at that confession, his own thoughts bouncing around his head, contradicting one another as they swirl. "what?" he settles on, his breath heavy.

you look at him with a soft look, "I remember the other night about what I said to you. even my drunk brain couldn't forget something like that."

his face falls momentarily.

you continue, "I remember what I asked you and I remember what you said and i'm sorry okay, I don't want to put you in a tough spot. I thought that there was a small possibility that maybe, just maybe you'd like me back but we're friends, like you said -"

"wait. what?"

you swallow thickly and feel like crying. "no it's okay," you whisper, "we can pretend it never happened - I don't mind,  but I can't loose you jer, we have to still be friends and if we need to forget about my feelings for you to do that, we can!"

jeremy sits up straighter and breaths out a laugh. it has you furrowing your eyebrows. he grabs your face in his hands, "y/n, every day since that night at the bar... I have regretted not asking you first. that's what I wanted to say the other night but I didn't want to scare you away."

it's your turn to look confused, "what are you implying?"

"It's never been about just having sex with you: never. I've never not wanted you in every way humanly possible but I just didn't think you felt the same way." he pulls his hood down, the heat of the sun and his confession too much, "nobody has been like you, y/n, in fact - how many girls have I dated since we met?"

you blew out a soft breathe, wiping a tear that had fallen down your cheek, "i don't know...none."

jeremy nods, "none. do you want to know why?"

"why?" you whisper.

"they're not you."

"what?"

"they're. not. you. that night at the bar, when charlie asked you out...you looked at me and that's when I should've asked you, charlie be damned. I love you and I have for a long time."

his confession has you breathing out shakily, hand creeping up so you could ground yourself onto his wrist. he doesn't let your face go. "jeremy," you smile wetly, "I love you. i'm sorry for not telling you sooner, I was too scared."

he laughs, "there's nothing to apologize for," jeremy rubs his thumb along your cheek bone, stroking your tan skin. "I wasn't brave enough to tell you back then, but I am now."

then he leans in and finally kisses you. a long peck until your lips slot together in a dance of their own. this kiss was different form the ones the night before. this was was soft, full of love and time and longing. your free hand settles at the nape of his neck, running through his curls.

jeremy pulls back slightly, his lips still brushing yours as he spoke, "now that I finally have you, i'm never letting you go."

"good," you kiss him, "I don't want you too."

───────── ౨ৎ ─────────

A/N: I kind of hate this ? but I wanted to get it posted so here yall sway girls go - feast my queens.

[linawritesficsies]

s.s. | the ripper's confession (one-shot)

a/n: well, i'm back in my tvd era and since I'm team stefan i came up with this. it's my first time writing smut, so please don't judge.

warnings: MINORS, DNI. mentions of blood, death, ripper!stefan, language, smut with some plot, dirty talking, mutual masturbation., piv. english is not my first language. some stuff may not be accurate, so please don't mind if I'm not faithful to the shows storyline. not truly proof-read.

summary: you are determined to find stefan after klaus forced him to run away, but one night, you receive a mysterious visit.

stefan salvatore x afab!reader.

please don't copy or translate my work!

It’s been about a month since Klaus convinced, well, blackmailed Stefan to travel with him. The hybrid forced him to turn off his humanity to “unlock his full potential” in exchange for his blood to cure Damon from a werewolf bite. And of course, Stefan accepted that deal because he would do anything for his big brother, despite all the arguments and disagreements they had over the last century. In the end, they loved each other immensely. 

So, the younger Salvatore has been M.I.A since then. Elena and Damon weren’t the only ones who were desperately trying to locate him. You were also dead set on finding him. He had helped you learn the ropes of being a vampire. 

Yeah, that’s right, you were also part of “blood lust club”, as Damon has often nicknamed your kind. Needless to say, you aren’t a vampire on your own volition. And worst of all, the way it happened was kinda stupid; or at least the first part. 

Last year, Alaric was training Jeremy, Matt, Elena and yourself on how to fight vampires with different weapons. Stefan and Damon were also there because they were going to help with actual vampire combat. Well, let’s be honest, Damon was there just to make fun of ‘baby Gilbert’ and ‘Bus boy’. But he couldn’t deny he didn’t enjoy “fighting” against Elena as he was really close to her and got to touch her body.

You were no better than him though. You focused more on casually staring at Stefan, who was wearing his typical white tank top that accentuated the muscles on his arms and back, than on the training itself. Anyways, Matt and Jeremy were practising shooting arrows at Stefan and even though they couldn’t hurt him, they weren’t doing it sooo bad – until Matt made a wrong movement and his arrow landed on your stomach. Everything happened so fast that not even the supernatural creatures were able to prevent it. 

Stefan didn’t hesitate for a second to give you his blood to heal you after removing the arrow from your body. Matt was truly sorry and you told him it was okay, that it was an accident but you weren’t perfect and held a small internal grudge against him. If you ever had the chance to train fighting only with him you would accidentally kick him in the groin.

However, you would have forgiven him more easily if that night had not been a full moon and Tyler had not freed himself from the Lockwoods' cellar and had not attacked you in the middle of the woods. Caroline, who was helping him with his werewolf problems, tried to heal you with her blood but it was too late, you were already dead. 

Hence, the combination of those two unfortunate events had resulted in you becoming a vampire. Stefan helped you to cope with your new condition. You honestly didn’t know what you would have done without him. And for this reason, you truly didn’t care if you had to move heaven and earth to save him from Klaus, or mostly, from himself, since he’s a ripper without his emotions and whenever he had come down from that high, he had serious symptoms of guilt and distress. You wanted to be there for him the same way he had been there for you.

One Friday evening, you were about to go out to meet with another witch to help you do a locator spell. Of course Bonnie was also helping to find Stefan, but she was dealing with getting her mom back after years of abandonment, so you didn’t want to bother her more than necessary. And besides, you needed the strongest witch you could find nearby Mystic Falls. You knew that Bonnie was powerful and had a lot of potential, but she was a relatively new witch. Whenever she had tried to do the locator spell, she had no results. Klaus somehow made Stefan vanish into thin air. 

So, as you were putting all the things you needed in your bag, someone knocked at your door. Who could it be? You had talked to Elena two hours ago and although you didn’t tell her specifically what you were going to do, you told her that you were going out for more clues of Stefan and that you would call her if you found something promising. 

You got closer to your door as you tried to listen with your vampire hearing to get anything from the person outside your apartment, but you stood there with nothing. You took a deep breath and opened the door, mentally preparing to attack. Time seemed to stop once you realized who it was.

“Stefan?”

You were too perplexed to say anything else. After all the time spent looking for him, he was there, at your front door. He was wearing a red plaid flannel and a pair of black trousers. He didn’t look injured or anything but something didn’t seem right. He didn’t look like the Stefan you knew. His eyes were different. The way he was looking at you was different. He may still have his humanity off. You needed to be careful.

“What’s wrong? Cat got your tongue?”, he said as got closer to you. Your instincts made you give one step back but this didn’t stop him from walking towards you every time you got away from him. He closed the door once you were both inside. You had millions of questions for him, but you only managed to get one out.

“Did you escape from Klaus?”, you hoped his answer was affirmative.

“Not really, he’s too busy bickering with his siblings and putting a dagger in their chests if they say the wrong thing. He won’t mind if I'm gone", you were utterly confused. "So I thought I could pay you a visit and entertain myself with you”. 

When your back hit one of the walls of your apartment, he placed a hand on your cheek, slowly caressing it. However, there wasn’t love or anything similar in his eyes. All you could see was lust.

“What do you mean?”, you asked him, gathering the strength from God knows where. You were too close to him. One small movement and your lips could touch his.

“I came here to do something I should have done a long time ago”, he replied, his voice getting deeper and darker as the conversation continued. His eyes were fixed on yours, but he stole glances at your lips to get his message across.

“But, what about Elena?”, he rolled his eyes at your question and took his hand away from your cheek. He placed it on the wall beside your head.

There were a thousand things you could have said to him or certainly you could have managed all this situation a lot better, but the almost lack of space between you two didn’t allow you to think straight. In fact, you could not think. At all.

“I know I should care about Elena, she’s my girlfriend, after all, but I really don’t. And besides, do you think I’m not aware of how attracted she’s to Damon now? It seems being away from her gave her a free way to catch feelings for him”. He moved his face to whisper in your right ear. "And you don’t have to pretend with me”, he paused and your heart skipped a beat. “I know you don’t like her." He moved his face back to the original place. His lips barely separated from yours. "Having my humanity off has made me honest with myself. I’ve always thought you were really hot, but because of her, I pushed that thought to the back of my mind. But I cannot deny that sometimes when I see you, I cannot stop thinking about all the things I’d do to you."

That was it.

You lost whatever small ounce of self-control you had. You also have always thought Stefan was attractive but, of course, you didn’t make any move because of Elena. You weren’t the best of friends but she had knew him first and, besides, you'd like to think you had some sense of girl code in you. However, the closer Stefan and you had become as he helped you be a good vampire, the more difficult this task became. Your feelings for him grew stronger each day.

Moreover, a memory came up into your brain to help you justify what you were about to do. Damon, Elena, Jeremy and you had gone on a trip to find out if some clues about Stefan’s location were true. You stayed one night in a motel; the girls in one room and the boys in another. You couldn’t sleep at all because of the anxiety and disappointment over not finding him. So you heard Elena when she got up from her bed and exited your room. At first you didn’t pay much attention to her but then you started hearing some whispering. You used your vamp hearing and discovered she was talking to Damon. Then, they stopped talking and started kissing. You were about to get up and interrupt their wrongdoings but you decided against it because Damon would snap your neck and leave you to your luck far away from there.

“So, Stefan, what’s stopping you now?”, you retorted as he made you come back to reality by kissing your neck.

He gave you a devilish grin and proceeded to attack your lips without mercy for a while. Then, he placed his larger hands on your butt, cueing you to jump and wrap your legs around his waist. You happily did so and continued to kiss him as if it was the last thing you’d do on this planet.

You couldn’t really believe that this was really happening. You were making out with Stefan Salvatore. Well, a humanity-less version of him. You knew this was not ideal, but you decided you’ll deal with the afterthoughts and consequences tomorrow. Without breaking the kiss, he moved you both to the couch and sat on it. You started messing his hair with your hands while you positioned yourself more comfortably to straddle him.

However, despite the fact he kissed you stupid, one question popped into your head and you wouldn’t be able to stop overthinking if you didn’t ask him, so you told him to stop.

“I know you want this more than I do. As a matter of fact, I can feel it”, directing his eyes to his lap, where you were seated. You were wearing a skirt and your wetness has trespassed onto his pants. “Why did you stop?”, he started kissing and slightly biting your neck.

“Are you going to regret this when you turn your humanity back on?” You did not have your own humanity off, so that question came out of your mouth filled with anxiety and a bit of pain. He stopped his work on your neck and looked deeply into your eyes.

“Not at all. Trust me, I’m just doing what humanity-on-Stefan would have liked to do but he was too much of a coward to dare”, he reassured you and you let out a shy smile. “Now, shall we go back to our hot makeout session?”

You found it somewhat sweet that no humanity Stefan asked you if you could continue what you were doing instead of simply kissing you again. It almost felt like he was taking care of you. Maybe the Stefan you knew was not too buried inside of the ripper.

As an answer, you kissed the corner of his lips and then he placed one of his hands on the back of your neck to direct your lips to his and the other on your thigh. You couldn’t take it anymore, you need him in all the possible ways.

“Stefan, please”, you whispered against his lips, dragging the final “e” a bit.

“Please what?”

“You know…”

“Mh, no, I don’t… Tell me what you want.”

You broke the kiss and looked at him once again. You were just discovering he liked being begged. He placed both of his hands on either side of your waist and raised his eyebrows.

“Please fuck me”

“Your wish is my command, princess”.

You didn’t have much time to process the way he called you because he started trailing a path of kisses from the corner of your lips to both of your breasts. In the meantime, you started unbuttoning his shirt.

“You’re so beautiful”, he started talking in between said kisses. “I can’t believe how long I took to have you like this”.

You moved to the waistband of his pants and removed his belt while he used one of his hands to put your panties to the side and massage your clit with slow but constant circles. You put your face on the crook of his neck to shut your moans. You didn’t want your neighbours to find out you were having sex but Stefan grabbed your loose hair with his hand and pulled your head back so he could look at you.

“No, no, no. I want to hear the pretty sounds you make, princess”, he demanded as he continued playing with your clit. His movements became quicker.

The way he said that fucking pet name again could just instantly make you cum. But he didn’t have to know that, so you lifted your body so you could lower his jeans enough to have access to his cock. You slid your hand inside his boxers and started stroking his dick slowly. You guessed he was well-equipped because you had stolen glances at him while he was wearing sweatpants and they made his groin more noticeable than jeans. Yet, you never imagined how gifted he was.

The groans he was letting out due to your actions were doing it for you too. You didn’t know that you could get more turned on than you already were at this point. 

“You’re taking care of me so well, Y/N”.

“Stefan, please, don’t stop”.

You were very close to finding your release and you could tell he was pretty close too. It seems he was reading your mind so he inserted one of his fingers inside your cunt over and over, while his thumb kept caressing your clit. You moved to work on his neck. You grazed your fangs along it, without actually biting him, while you kept your handjob.

“You’re about to cum, right, baby?”, he managed to say in between moans and sighs. He added one more finger.

You nodded as you could. All of this was too much for you. Not only are you seconds away from reaching your climax, but also because it was him provoking it. And on top of that, he called you baby. Probably it was an empty word for him, but for your sake, you’re going to pretend he actually means it.

And just like that, both of you came. Your orgasm hit you like a trainwreck. You have had sex before, but none of the other boys have made you feel like this. And he only used his fingers. You pressed your forehead against his as you came down from the high and smiled at him. And he gave you one of his. You hadn’t realized how much you missed his beautiful smile until he smiled at you.

You started moving in order to stand up from his lap but he immediately put his hands on your waist to stop you. And, of course he did because he was so much stronger than you.

“Where are you going? For your information, I’m not done with you”, he smirked again and your brain almost exploded at how hot he is.

“I just wanted to move this to the bedroom”, you answered using a really innocent voice and looking away because honestly you were feeling kinda embarrassed. You’ve never been this blunt with anybody.

“Oh, who would have thought?”, he remarked as he got up from the couch, still holding you with his arms. You wrapped your legs around his waist again. “You were always so shy, so introverted, so obedient”, he attacked your neck with wet kisses again as he moved to your bedroom. If you were being honest, you were a bit disappointed that he couldn’t leave hickeys on your skin. They would stay for a couple of seconds but then disappear due to your supernatural healing abilities. You wanted him to leave some kind of mark on you.

“Who would have thought you would be this dirty?” he continued as both of you fell on your bed. He stayed on top of you this time. While making eye contact with you for the millionth time, he took off your skirt and panties in two swift movements. You finished removing his shirt and kept lowering his pants together with his underwear to his ankles. He did the rest and you took off your t-shirt. He smirked when he realized you weren’t wearing a bra. Now that you were both fully naked, his fingers touched teasingly your cunt again.

“I can believe how wet you still are after you came on my fingers. Is this all because of me?”. You nodded but he raised an eyebrow. He wanted you to use your words.

“Yes, Stefan. I’m a mess because of you”.

“Thank you, princess. I’d better reward you for making me feel so flattered.”

He grabbed his dick and started teasing your entrance. You looked at him to plead him to fuck you for once and for all. You loved the way he fingered you, but you needed more. You needed all of him. He stopped playing around with you and slammed his cock inside of you. He didn’t even give you time to adjust to his length and girth and he started rocking in and out of you roughly. You didn’t care, at all. You were having the time of your life.

As a reflex, you bit your inferior lip to shut your moans. He gave you a disappointed look.

“Remember what I said before, baby. I want to hear you”, he said as he pounded slowly but also deeply into your hole. “In fact, I want every single person and creature in this damn town to hear you. I want them to know who’s making you feel this good”.

You obeyed his request as you moaned without any restrictions. To hell with everyone and everything, you know you won’t regret all this, ever. Even if Stefan doesn’t give you the time of the day anymore after tonight.

He kept fucking you so good that you were ashamedly close to your second orgasm. You were constantly moaning his name quite loudly and rolling your eyes.

“You’re such a good girl. You’re making me feel amazing”, Stefan said while letting out heavy sighs.

Your vision started getting blurry and you couldn’t hear very well anymore. You were truly overwhelmed with pleasure. Stefan was going to be the real death of you. 

“I know you’re close, princess. Give me one more, please. Be my good girl”

You couldn’t take it anymore and you felt like your whole body was going to explode. Him calling you his good girl was the cherry on top of the cake. This second climax was just as intense as the first one, maybe even more. You no longer cared about hickeys anymore. He had surely ruined you for others.

He came shortly after you, letting out a sound similar to a growl and collapsed beside you on the bed. You turned your body to the side in order to face him. You couldn’t stop looking at him, at how beautiful he was. You saw something flickering through his eyes, but couldn't pinpoint what. Maybe some of his emotions were getting back. You were secretly hoping you would be the one that brought him back.

You also were aware of how heavily you two were breathing. For a second, you forgot you were technically dead. You let out a laugh as you put your bed covers over your two bodies.

“What’s funny?”

“Nothing… it’s just before you came to my apartment, I was about to go out to meet a witch.” You continued to smile but his eyebrows frowned, still not understanding. “She was going to help me make a locator spell to find you.” He finally chuckled at the irony.

You couldn’t contain yourself and placed a hand on his cheek and got closer to kiss him deeply. He kissed you back with the same intensity and put his arm around your waist. You wanted to let him know what he meant to you; how much you liked him. And he seemed to get the message because you felt him tense up.

“I’m sorry, Y/N. But I have to go…” he said, breaking the kiss.

“No, don’t. Please, can you stay?”, you looked at him, begging him with your puppy face to get him to do what you wanted.

“OK, just a while” He turned you around so he could spoon you from behind and kept you wrapped under his arms. His legs were also tangled with yours. “Until you fall asleep”.

“Thanks”

That’s all you have managed to say. It was quite difficult for you to fall asleep. All the things you did previously were  still fresh in your mind. Another question popped into your head. You prayed he hadn’t fallen asleep, but given that his breathing was still a bit irregular, you believed he had not.

“Stefan?”, you called his name quietly, afraid of speaking too loudly, in case all this had been a dream and you were about to wake up. 

“Yeah, I’m here”, you felt him put his face on the space between your neck and your shoulder.

“When are you coming back to us?”, you made a small pause. “To me?”

“Really soon, princess. I just need to find my window to finally get away from Klaus.”

You felt how he held you a bit tighter than before, as if he also thought this was just a dream and that you were going to disappear at any minute. Your body started to relax under his embrace. Finally, your mind drifted to a world in which you can stay like this forever. Away from all the bad things that happened around you two. Away to a world in which Stefan was yours and you were his. In this life, though, you were.

“I love you”, you blurted out almost inaudibly, without really processing what came out of your mouth due to your sleepiness, but Stefan caught it. 

He didn’t know what to say, his humanity was coming back, bit by bit. His thoughts were all over the place. He had to fight and conquer all his demons in order to defeat Klaus and make his way back to his home, and, to you. 

He also had to solve the ‘Elena situation’. He loved her, but he noticed how both of them drifted away from each other. Their relationship was not the same after she started to let Damon in. Of course, she wasn’t the only one to blame. He also had let you into his heart and he couldn’t help but notice how exciting the idea of starting a story with you was.

He later noticed that you fell profoundly asleep. Your breathing was calm and steady. He started slowly untangling himself from your body, trying not to wake you. He didn’t want to leave you like this, but he was afraid that Klaus, or his minions, would find where he went and harm you in any way. So, he had no other choice than parting now that hopefully you wouldn’t notice. Before exiting your room, and apartment, he gave you a light kiss on your forehead. As a promise that he’d be back soon, as he had said to you.

At least now he knew he had a reason to come back to Mystic Falls. He had you. And he knew you’d wait for him, no matter how long or what it takes. His princess would be there.

the end!

well, i hope you'd enjoyed this. or that at least the smut part wasn't cringey. i'd love to read some feedback. thank you for reading!

[outmakingmoonshine]

The hug was awkward and he didn't even look at her but:

his hand on her waist 😭 then immediately he finds her waist again to guide her to their table

And he keeps it there as he introduces her to the table of his peers as "Chef Sydney", something they'll all know is used as a sign of respect. He's immediately letting them know he respects her in the kitchen and she's gets their world, she's one of them

And it's still there...they've stopped at the table now, he's not guiding her anymore but his hand's still just resting on her waist while he stops to casually wave to a work friend??? He only lets Syd go right before he introduces her to Luca.

Why does this look and feel like a man proudly introducing his gf/wife to all his work friends?!! It's so domestic!

This was an unnecessary amount of time to keep his hand on his "platonic" business partner tbh and it reminds me of the signals men subtly give each other in situations like this to make it clear the person is his, she's with him "like that" so no one else should try anything with her. Very selfish of him tbh but he's also very much in love with her and unable to help himself.

Not to mention, other than Evil Chef, that table/room is probably full of the majority of people he knows, spent time with and has respect for outside of his family, everyone connected to his past etc and he asked, no INSISTED, Sydney came with him to meet them all 😭😭

I think he wanted Syd to come as moral support bc he knew EC would be there. When Syd said everyone will be there Carmy was like "Yeah, everyone 😐" like he was thinking of seeing EC again. The next thing he says is Syd should come. Then she said no and insisted, he even cracked a small chuckle as it became like he was asking her out. And saying what sounds like much more than it seems on the surface:

"Syd, it's forEver."

"Yeah I know."

"So what are you talking about? You should come"

"Okay."

"Good."

"Good."

The way Jeremy delivered that dialogue gives me the same vibes as "Family style? Two tops? Booths?". He's saying one thing but asking her a whole other thing in the unspoken language they share.

[redflagshipwriter]

Hot Ghouls Chapter 11 1/2

masterpost

“It’s hard to believe that these people aren’t on any warning lists yet,” Jason mumbled to himself at the base of the sidewalk where he’d parked the rental bike. He had his hands in his pockets as he craned his neck upwards, trying to be stoic about the Fenton residence. A van was parked on the street, probably theirs. Weirdly, it had a big canvas draped over it. All he could see were the tires.

The base of the house was an unremarkable brick rectangle, taller than it was long. But the customization job had not been subtle. There was of course the enormous neon sign that Jack Fenton had probably designed. He wondered if he saw Madeline Fenton’s guiding hand in the shitty space-age aesthetic of the hulking metal goliath crouched on top of the brick building.

There was zero percent chance that was legal, which led to the question of why the city officials weren’t enforcing building safety on an obvious hazard.

Jason blew out air and snorted. “This is definitely the place.” He jogged up the unkempt lawn and hit the bell. An alarm started whining inside.

His hackles went up. A hand curled towards a gun, but didn't fully commit.

A joyful whoop came from inside the house. It was quickly followed by a bellowed “Coming!”, and then a huge thud.

Very normal, thanks.

‘Is that really just their doorbell?’ Jason thought, aghast.

The door was wrenched open. “Hello, hello, come in!” A beautiful middle-aged woman was there, looking up only slightly to make eye contact with Jason. She had faint laugh and smile lines.

“Hello,” Jason said, hesitating. “Do you need to finish up in the lab?” He gestured at her outfit, a little unnerved to see protective equipment just out in the open. It made him feel underdressed. It was always a bad idea to be wearing less protection from chemical warfare than someone else in the area. His Gothamite sensibilities considered it both a faux pas and a tactical error.

Madeline Fenton made a flapping hand gesture to blow the idea away. “No, I'm at a good spot!” The grin she gave him was somehow sharklike. “Jeremy, honey, won’t you come in?”

‘Said the spider to the fly,’ his subconscious filled in for some reason.

Jason shook it off, thanked her, and entered the house. Then he drew his gun on the thing that levered out of nowhere to point at him.

Turret. It was a fucking gun turret, in the entryway.

Madeline Fenton let out a cheerful “Huh!” and put her hand on top of the turret. There was a faint beep as she disengaged whatever alarm that had been. “You don’t have any stowaways, do you?”

She was not a good enough actor. He didn’t know what the hell that he meant, but he could hear real tension beneath her cheerful tone. “No, ma’am,” Jason edged. “Not that I know of.”

There was a pause. It felt a little heavy. Jason slowly holstered his gun, despite the wary suspicion that he actually might need to defend himself.

The moment passed. Dr. Madeline Fenton whirled around and cupped a hand to her face to sweetly shout, “Jack! Honey! Our guest is here!”

Something extremely heavy thudded. The floor actually shook under Jason’s feet from the impact.

The smile on Dr. Madeline Fenton’s face didn’t falter. A chill went up his spine.

‘She has to be on a watchlist. No way. I just didn’t find it.’

He followed her to the living room where she gestured for him to take a seat. A huge man burst through the other door.

“What did they feed you?” Jason asked blankly. “Do they have more of it?” Sure, he’d never fit in his current gear, but Talia had deep pockets for custom armor.

Dr. Jack Fenton had a hearty laugh. The couch creaked when he threw himself on it, but impressively, nothing broke. “Standard stuff growing up I’m afraid,” he said cheerfully. “I feed myself an awful lot of fudge, though! Maybe that’s what did it.”

While he was talking Jason barely noticed Madeline Fenton had slunk off in horrifically perfect silence, like a red-haired Talia. He respected that, but he did not like it.

‘She’s going to be the Doctor to me,’ Jason decided. ‘Jack is just Jack. I’m tired of calling them the same thing.’

“Oh,” Jason pretended to just now notice that someone was gone. He looked around. “I’m sorry, where did Dr. Fenton go?”

“Just getting refreshments!” Jack said cagily. He leaned forward. “Now, Jeremy, son-” he was cut off by a low siren coming from his wrist. He paused. He lifted his hand and pointed it around the room. The noise got louder when he pointed it at Jason.

[straystarr]

this is how you fall in love; hhj

in which slow dancing with your best friend answers your question

AN: inspired by the song "this is how you fall in love" by jeremy zucker and chelsea cutler because it’s so soft and bestfriend hyunjin concept eats it up (in my humble opinion)

“How do people do it?”

“What do you mean?”

Hyunjin focused in on your softly perplexed expression, a chuckle falling from his lips at the sight of your stare fixated onto the long awaited kiss being shared by the leading characters. 

The entertainment he found in your distracted state soon craved your attention, waving his hand in front of your face just as the rolling credits came in. 

Faintly smiling at the blank screen, you turned to look at your best friend who displayed confusion and concern in his expression. 

“I was just wondering how people do it?”

Hyunjin moved his body closer, head leaning in as if to motion for you to continue your thought. 

“Fall in love I mean.”

In an instant, you fell towards the back of the couch, the pillow that was once on Hyunjin lap now falling onto yours. 

“Hwang Hyunjin, what the actual fuc-”

“Y/n its a fucking movie! They are acting sweetheart and you really made me miss the last scene!”

Letting out a sharp breath, you stuck your tongue out and slightly nudged the side of his stomach with your elbow, causing him to flinch away with a giggle. 

“I’m not talking about the movie stupid. I just mean in general, it’s a genuine question, the movie just prompted my thoughts.”

You moved towards Hyunjin, closing the minimal space between the two of you, settling closely beside him as you readily waited for his response. Tilting his head, he lifted his fingers to fix the hair on the top of your head that had been messily misplaced by his pillow throwing. The both of you paused before bursting out into giggles. 

It’s not like you were completely oblivious to the many answers that existed for your question. 

Some say, people fall in love with what makes up a person: how they laugh, what makes them cry, how they like their coffee, etc. Some say falling in love requires the essence of time and self discovery. Some say falling in love is like jumping off a cliff, only hoping that you’ll land safely in their arms. And some say, falling in love is nothing but a series of chemical reactions occurring in the brain. 

Nonetheless, everyone arrives at an answer sooner or later in their life. So, it’s always good to talk to people, gain their perspective on the little things in life, like love. 

And Hyunjin was the one person whom you turned to when it came to talking about those little things. You raised your finger towards Hyunjin's cheek, softly poking it as he kept his eyes on you, lips in a tight line while he remained silent. 

“I guess you don’t have an answer yet either.”

His shoulders lifted as he gave you a shrug while he pulled his phone out of his pocket. Music began to fill the air as the beat resonated in your mind. Your body began to respond, standing up as you pulled off the most ridiculous of moves that were a stark contrast to the song playing. 

Hyunjin brought his hand over his mouth, stifling giggles at your unrhythmic dancing that seemed to always be one second behind the beat of the song. The sight of his crinkled eyes only encouraged your tasteful movements. Before you were able to continue your shenaniganz, the music had suddenly come to a stop. 

You sent a glare towards him while he held his stomach from laughter obviously putting a pause to the music. Before you could protest, a soft melody eased your frown. You glanced at Hyunjin, immediately catching his eyes. A breath hitched in your throat the longer you stared. For the look reflected in his orbs was soft and endearing. 

With a small smile, Hyunjin stood from the couch and made his way towards you, body slowly swaying left to right. You mirrored his movements, closing your eyes as you let the tune take hold of your body as the lyrics fill your mind. Just as the chorus had started, you found yourself opening your eyes in response to the sudden warmth placed on both sides of your face. 

Hyunjin's face was only a few inches from your own, but the both of you remained still, bodies lingering in the short distance. You said nothing as his hands fell from your face, to your shoulders, and soon down your arms. The comfort of his fingers provided heat to your still state. 

His hands landed into your own, fingers playing with each other as he raised your hands towards his shoulders, putting them in place. The eye contact between the two of you brought heat to your cheeks and emphasized the pounding in your chest. 

Your chest slowly raised as he placed his hands on your waist, his fingers moulding into your skin and softly pulling your body towards his. 

“Close your eyes.”

You pursed your lips as he flashed you a small smile, closing his eyes, only leading you to follow his request. He leaned forward, setting his forehead on yours. His soft breathing fawning over your skin, a type of warmth you quickly grew fond of. 

The urge to never let him go grew with the intimacy flowing between the both of you, bodies intertwined as your feelings ached to do the same. Your bodies swayed side to side, falling into the soft melody, falling into him. As if he were holding you up, ready to catch you.

“I think this is how you do it Y/n.”

The light met your eyes before you settled on his face. His soft and kind and endearing face. 

“What do you mean?”

His eyes. Those deep brown eyes. They always calmed you down. Holding a sense of passion as they traced your features, delicately framing you in his mind.

“This is how you fall in love.”

[iam-anordinary-human-orami]

I know spotify wasn't a thing probably for the aftg universe but like imagine it was and the trojans are holding a spotify wrapped unwrapped party or some dumb name like that, where they gather the team and what they do essentially is they write down what their top 5 songs were on a piece of paper, give it to this year's presenter and that person plays songs from each top 5 and the trojans have to figure out whose list it is.

So everyone thinks oh jean probably listens to french music, whether classical or otherwise, cause he seems to be so out of touch with pop culture. But, they forget that Jean started living with two lesbians and a gay golden retriever(I don't mean bark bark) and so his music horizons have widened.

So it's Jean's top 5, no one knows of course. Presenter is one of the trojans "and here goes our next mystery contestant starting off strong with... a band named, I assume it's a band, um plastic titties?" People are snickering, "we get it you're gay" "they're lesbians Harold!", and Jean tenses but hides it very well that it's his top 5. Song starts. It's a screamo punk indie rock combo. Ppl start making guesses, "your honour I think it's Cat, only she knows fringe bands with monthly listeners less than this team's defence line" cat yelling back "not my fault you're a slave to the trends you swiftie!" , "Look me in the eye and tell me you dont know the words to 'love story' " , "Settle down, we ain't finished yet. Any other guesses?" , "Are we sure it's not one of the coaches?" , "Which coach do YOU think would listen to, and I repeat, 'plastic titties'? And if anyone else responds with 'your mom' I'm banning u from this round" , "Play the next one so we cop a feel" , "Why u gotta make it weird bro"

"Okay next one!" And the next one is like an intense rap song "someone's covering their tracks people", "we need to figure out whether this is working out music or what they genuinely listen to", "go on to the next one cause this is a bop but it could be anyone", "couldn't be Jeremy though" Jeremy standing up for himself "hey, I listen to rap" , "says the person who's top song was probably by Natasha Bedingfield", "beat the Sugababes fan allegations and then refer to our captain"

"Riight, next one is" and the next one is a funky hip hop anti-establishment song "sounds like Laila people" laila making it clear "I do listen to them but I can guarantee you that's not in my top favourites, not because it's not a banger, but because I don't listen to this album very much" , "she's lying to the defence your honour!" , "No one's in trial Cody sit down" Jean turning to look at Jeremy "and this is supposed to be a bonding exercise?" Jeremy thoroghouly invested in the game and scribbling down "bet you it's Ananya, she's been awfully quiet" Jean rolls his eyes, his hands crossed while he looks upon the second best collegiate exy team and wondering how his life came to this

"Aight? Is there anyone that has an educated guess?" Shawn puts his hand up, presenter says "I said educated" Shawn puts his hand down.

The last two songs are like an indie creepy heartfelt song and a ballad. This throws everyone off. At the end of the round everyone is accusing everyone and their mother, Jean with a sigh and rubbing his temples "we could be doing drills" , someone yells "I bet my firstborn it's Nabil!" , "You are an embarrassment to this team, sit down!" "Nabil is an anime nerd, I didn't hear a single Naruto in that playlist!", "That's not amv music your honour" , "bring the strikers forward let them justify their crimes upon the eyes of God!" , "If it's a crime to have good taste lock👏 me 👏up👏"

The presenter gets tired after a while "alright, kindly shut your traps so we can have a winning day! The mystery contestant is.. drumroll people! The mystery contestant isss....Jean" Silence. And then "I didn't know the french listen to screamo?", "But your honour, this is not coloniser music?", "Amelie is not even on there though", someone quietly "not a single song about baguettes?", "What's next? Jeremy Knox being a secret death metal fan?"

Meanwhile, Dan got the foxes to post screenshots of their top 5 songs on social media. The Internet is breaking cause why is Andrew Minyard's top song by the veronicas???

[astermath]

sweet like you🍓

pairing: carmen berzatto x fem!reader

summary: carmen stumbles across a local farmer’s market on accident and discovers a family run strawberry stand. he discovers that not only the strawberries are delicious and sweet, but so is the girl selling them to him.

word count: 2.1K

notes: yk what’s really funny,, i never realised so far a lot of my fics involve the color red. perhaps it’s becoming my new favorite color and I love to make it obvious dsgdfsj,, anyways first time writing for carmen, been obsessed w him since the bear came out. i’m a whore for jeremy allen white in case you haven’t noticed. anyways this will def get a part two!!

P.S. let me know if you’d like to be added to the tag list for further carmen berzatto related content! comments and reblogs are highly appreciated, requests are open!

Saturday was farmer’s market day.

Every Saturday morning, dozens of independent businesses, farmers and food stands would come together at Lincoln Park to sell their wares. It made for a colorful and interesting blend of smells, sounds and sights, and for most, a great way to start off their weekend.

And Carmen was no exception to this. He’d first stumbled upon it by accident on his way to the Beef. Taking a wrong turn because of his still waking morning head resulted in him walking through the park and, unavoidably, being distracted by what vendors there were. A chef at heart, he couldn’t help but look around the wide array of fresh ingredients available for purchase. He’d taken out his notebook and started writing down business names as he tried a sample every now and then. 

He held a bag of fresh paprikas in one hand, making his way down the line before he came across a peculiar and seemingly very busy stand. The fresh, sweet scent of strawberries allured him, stepping closer to take a look at what they had to offer. And it was exactly that, just strawberries. It appeared to be a family business, your mother and father packing orders, and you at the front taking them and accepting payments. For a second he just kind of stood there, bag in hand, staring at you. There was no way you were from here, Chicago doesn’t let a smile like that survive very long. Or maybe that was just his cynical mind doing its usual thing.

He snapped out of it when you glanced his way, looking to the side. He felt his cheeks getting warmer, embarrassed that just looking at a pretty girl got such a reaction from him. He’s a collected person, he should be acting like one. He took a deep breath and got in line. Lord knows what he’d be using strawberries for, he’d figure something out, might as well just eat them as a snack while the season allowed it.

“Hi! How many?” Your voice was sweet and chipper, something he couldn’t even think of being after taking orders all morning. Somehow, you kept it up.

“Oh, uh...” He looked at your display, before remembering that all you sold were strawberries, so browsing just made him look even more stupid. “How many... Strawberries?”

“Boxes. They’re 500 grams, 5 bucks each. So how many?” Your smile remained the same, though you were slightly amused by his confusion. 

“Oh, right. Sorry.” He could have sank into the ground right then and there. Of course you meant boxes, who in their right mind is buying individual strawberries? “Uh... Just one box is fine, please.” He reached for his wallet while you took over a box from your mom.

“Great! That’ll be 5 dollars please.” You took the slightly crumpled bill from his hand, storing it in the tin box in front of you and quickly writing down something on a paper. Seemed like you still did everything by hand, he couldn’t imagine what a mess it would be if he had to do that at the restaurant.

“Here you go, have a great day!” The box you gave him was neatly wrapped in brown paper, with a sticker serving as a business card on top. 

“Uh...” He stared at the sticker, reading over it before looking back up at you.

Ask for her name.

“Yeah...”

Her name.

“You too.” 

You idiot.

He picked up the box and walked away, walking a little faster than usual. He was never good at talking to people, but god, that was just embarrassing. He opened up the packaging, and took out a perfectly plump strawberry. He took a bite, humming as the juicy sweetness washed over his tastebuds.

Lunch rush had just ended, and Carmen was sat outside the back of the restaurant with Richie, smoking as per usual. Except now, a small cardboard box sat between them. It was almost empty as the two of them snacked on the fruit between puffs of their cigarettes. 

“Ya know, I read somewhere on Facebook that these are supposed to help with uh... Cancer or something.” Richie said, throwing the green leafy part back into the box. 

“You’re a fuckin’ idiot, cousin.” Carmy smiled to himself, back leaned against the wall as he brought the cigarette to his lips.

“Oh, why’s that huh? Cause I can’t read shit online anymore without having to do an hour of research behind it?” Richie furrowed his brows, blowing smoke out his nose.

“No, stupid,” Carmen put the cigarette out on the concrete. “Cause you’re fuckin’ smoking, man. The fuck is a strawberry gonna do against that.”

“Yeah, well... I try to stay positive, you should fucking try it sometime, ya depressed asshole.” He grabbed another strawberry. “Where d’you get these from anyways? Shit’s pretty good.”

The image of you working at the stand flashed through his mind. “Passed by some random farmer’s market this morning. Might stop by there again, got a ton of fresh produce there for not much money.”

“Speakin’ of produce.” Richie used his thumb to point back over his shoulder to the kitchen. “Place’s out of onions. Your magical farmer’s market got those? Cause we need more by the dinner shift.”

Carmen groaned, wanting to curse at Richie for not letting him know earlier. But honestly, if it gave him a chance to go back, get more delicious strawberries and possibly redeem his awkward first impression to the pretty girl there... It might not be a bad idea. He checked the time on his watch, early afternoon, you’d probably be wrapping up right now. If he was fast, he could totally still make it. “Fine, but I’m taking your car.”

“Don’t crash it.” Richie said as he got up, ready to get back inside.

“You’re the one with a suspended license.” He joked, catching the keys Richie threw at him that were totally not aimed at his head.

“Fuck you cousin.”

Parking was a bitch, as always, but Carmen had managed to find a stall selling onions for about half of what he usually got them for. He was starting to like this market, not just for the prices, but because these were all people who worked hard and loved their products. A lot of work goes into putting something out there to sell, he would know. 

He realized he might be pushing his luck if he still wanted to see you, but he decided to take the chance nonetheless and walk down the lineup. It seemed to be his lucky day, as he caught sight of your parents loading up mostly empty boxes back in the car. You were working on breaking down the stand, doing so with relative ease. You were currently folding up the tables, kneeled down onto the ground. 

Again, he stared. Honestly, how could he not? It wasn’t every day he saw someone so beautiful, and with a sweet personality to match. Granted his only interaction with you had been brief, but still, he got a good vibe from you, and he was usually so distrustful.

You looked up, and by pure coincidence, your eyes met. His eyes were so intense, hues of blue that anyone would recognize, even from a mile away. You certainly recognized them from this morning at least. Your face brightened with the same smile he saw you had before, and for a second he wondered if it was just a customer service thing. 

“Hi! Hope you enjoyed your strawberries!” You got up, holding the folded table under your arm. 

“Sure did.” He put on a bit of an awkward smile. God, why was he doing this... What was he even supposed to say?

Your eyes squinted slightly when you read the words on his shirt. “Nice shirt... Oh, wait, you work at the Beef?”

His body tenses up a little when you mention the restaurant. Given its... Peculiar reputation, that question could be followed up by any kind of statement. “Yeah, yeah, I uh... I kinda run it now.” He decided not to mention Mikey. Seemed a bit overkill to mention your dead brother to someone whose name you don’t even know.

“Ohhh, that’s you! Yeah, I’ve seen you smoking outside before.” You extend your hand and you both introduce yourselves. “I work at a café just two blocks over. You might have seen it, it’s called Odette’s?” 

Carmy nodded. He knew that place. He also knew the cranky old French lady who owned it. “Ah... Yeah. Menu still the same?”

“As long as Odette is still alive, I doubt she’ll ever let me change anything. ‘Over my dead body, cherie’”. You jokingly imitated her French accent, chuckling to yourself.

Carmen smiled, glad that he’s at least not making a complete fool out of himself now. This was good, he knew this, work and food, those were his safe topics. “Yeah, well... Maybe if she tasted one of these strawberries first, you might convince her.” 

“Huh,” You thought to yourself for a second, imagining your usual grumpy boss overflowing with glee after trying the fruit from your family’s farm. “You know what, I’ve never actually thought of that. Maybe I’ll try it out!” You smile. “You know I’ve been meaning to try and serve some of my pastries there. I’m a huge baking fanatic, but she’s so... Set in her ways. I don’t know if my amateur baking skills could possibly convince her, no matter how tasty the strawberries I use are.”

“Yeah, I know what that’s like...” Carmen thought about his crew, and how much they loved their so called ‘system’. Change was good, change meant progress, but it was also scary. On that part, he didn’t blame her boss for refusing to switch things up. “If you want, I could help you out. I’m a full time chef, so... Always willing to taste test.” He hoped his poorly masked excuse to stay in touch came across as friendly, and not pushy. He always felt like he was overthinking everything when he was trying to socialize, like he was reading off some type of script. Your chipper personality made things a tad easier, at least. 

“Really?” You seem to brighten up even more. Carmen is sure there’s light shining from your face from how excited you look, but he doesn’t mind. It’s amusing, almost... Cute.

“Yeah, I don’t see why not. Just uh... Let me know when.” He puts his hands in his pockets.

“Of course!” You pause, realizing he’s probably expecting you to give him some kind of contact information. Unless he was planning to use telepathic communication. You put down the folded table. “Right, sorry, uh...” You laughed awkwardly and pulled out a pen and an old receipt from your back pocket to scribble your number on, before handing it to him. “There we go!” 

Carmen’s eyes went over the number, putting it in his wallet so he wouldn’t forget to save it later. “Cool, cool... So uh, text you later.” He silently cringed at his own words, trying painfully hard to play it cool. 

“Yeah, totally!” Your mom called your name, and you look over your shoulder, seeing her gesture to you to hurry up. “Be right there, mama!” You chuckled. “Sorry, duty calls! But yeah, I’ll hear from you. And if I don’t, I know where you work, Berzatto.” 

He chuckles slightly at your joking threat. “Sure, I’ll hold you to that.” He gives you a curt wave before walking off and letting you go back to work. 

He really hoped you didn’t mean that “threat”. He’d rather die than let you see him at the Beef right when they got such a bad hygiene rating. 

He was laid down on the couch late at night, watching an episode on the food network about an olive farm in Italy. He wondered if your family’s farm was anything like this one, and remembered he hadn’t even saved your number or texted you yet. Carmen rubbed his sleepy eyes and pulled out his phone, saving your number under a new contact and typing out a few quick texts. He stared at the screen for a few seconds, realized he was overthinking it and fell asleep not long after, the sound of an elderly Italian woman speaking on TV in the background.

[unknown]: hey, it’s carmen

[unknown]: guy from the beef

[unknown]: next thursday work for you?

You groaned in your bed, looking over at your phone and cursing yourself for forgetting to turn off your notifications. “The fuck...” Your eyes squinted at the brightness of the screen. A sleepy smile adorned your face when you read his name, saving his contact and texting something back quickly before putting the phone away and going back to sleep.

[y/n]: for sure!

[y/n]: let’s do 4:30 PM? café closes at 4 anyways so we’ll have the kitchen to ourselves :)))

[mrsvalentinefucker1]

Teasingly

Sniper x f!reader x Spy

Light daddy kink, teasing, light knife play (sniper), handcuffs, eating out 🫶 scout is lightly mentioned

You were wearing a pair of shorts and a tank top.. since the New Mexico weather was so unforgiving that day. You chatted with Scout as Sniper sat next to you and Spy stood against the counter behind him. “An’ then I came up behind him and bam! Frickin’ knocked him out cold!”

You leaned against your arm, pushing your chest together slightly and unconsciously.

“Oh really?~ that sounds so cool, Jeremy.” Your voice was sultry as you admired his story. Sniper let out a low chuckle as he sipped his coffee. “what did you do after that?” You looked at Scout with half lidded eyes. Spy scoffed and bit onto the end of his cigarette.

Scout looked at you with wide eyes. A faint blush tickling his ears and cheeks as he did a little chuckle. His gaze moving immediately to your exposed cleavage before he answered “I uh, I actually gotta go! Just remember I got uh, this thing.. with the doc” he stayed silent to assess his story before speaking again “yeah that’s it.”

You cooed and pouted “Really? Oh that’s poor.. I was really enjoying your story.” You straightened your posture and leaned your cheek against your first.

He leaned his body slightly forward “Yeah,maybe another time!” Then he waved and ran to his room.

Sniper set down his cup and got up. Snaking his hands behind your waist. His dipped into your neck and began slowly kissing it. Spy moved forward some to enjoy the show before him

“You’re wrong for that, love.” His voice was low as he mumbled against your skin. You could feel his cock growing behind you as your leaned into his touch and let your hand rest on the back of his neck

“What did I do, daddy?”

Sniper damn near growled and bit down onto your neck with a scowl across his face and his eyebrows furrowed. You moaned quietly and bit down onto your lip.

Spy leaned against the table and put his cigarette out “I think you know what you did, Mon ange” he always started using French when he was getting in the mood. He moved up to kiss your lips, you furrowed your eyebrows and moaned into the kiss as Sniper continued kissing and biting your neck. Spy pulled away and spoke “I suggest we go somewhere more.. private” Sniper nodded and let go of your waist. The three of you walked to Spy’s smoking room. He unlocked the door and pushed it open as you walked in, the two men following after you. Spy guided you to sit onto the red velvet chair he had in the room and sat in front of you , Sniper dimmed the lights some before walking over and taking a seat in front of you on his knees with Spy. The two men spread your legs with ease. Sniper undoes your shorts and pulls them off. They both notice a slight wet spot and smirk

“What? Were ya’ planning this, roo?” You only cover your face in embarrassment and peaked as spy took his mask off. Then, pulled his gloves off with his teeth.

God, he was so much hotter without that pesky mask

Spy then took his ungloved hand and pressed two fingers gently against your clothed pussy. You bit the back of your knuckle as he teased you, arching your back against his touch. He lowered his head down slightly and lapped at your cunt through your panties for a moment. Little sighs leaving your chest as you grinded against his tongue. Sniper nudged him over slightly and lifted your legs to take your panties off and tossed them somewhere unknown behind him. They both put each of your legs over the arms of the chair. Your pussy on full display for them. Sniper took his glasses and hat off as he licked his lips and dived in to lick your hole teasingly, his prominent nose pressing against your clit deliciously. Your hands reached for his hair as his tongue dragged up to your clit and he began sucking lon it, gently circling it with his tongue. His eye meeting your until you sighed and shut them with a smile plastered across your face. Spy took two fingers and gently pressed them against your soaked entrance, pushing them in and curled them against your walls. You moaned at the feeling of the combined pleasures. Your senses quickly becoming overloaded by them men.

“Sniper, look at her.” Spy took his free hand and pointed unapologetically at you, then letting his hand fall into your thigh and rub your hips gently up and down. Sniper mumbled against your clit “Such a pretty girl.” He said before going back to his task. His stubble tickling your skin lightly. Spy’s pace became faster as he sunk his fingers deeper inside of you. “Do you like that, mon amour?”

You nodded vigorously as you bit you lip and continued your grip on snipers hair, tugging slightly. He must have liked it considering his pace had quick. Relentlessly lapping at your clit now. Your moans flooded the room as your orgasm built up “fuck fuck! I’m so- I’m so close-“ you moaned and grinned against the feeling, trying quicken the orgasm you chased. The men quickened to a rapid pace as your legs shook slightly at the feeling. Your vision went blank as you screwed your eyes shut, clenching around Spy’s fingers as your orgasm ripped through you. You relaxed into the chair, Spy and Sniper pulled away and wiped his face. Now they switched places. Your eyes widened at the sight “what are you doing?”

“What’s it look like?” Sniper shot back with a condescending glare. Spy began to teasingly lap at your pussy and Sniper pressed two of his bigger fingers into your cunt. Scissoring you open as he vigorously pumped into your sensitive hole, your body spasming at the feeling. “You look good like this, Sheila.” He nudged Spy and he nodded. Eyebrows furrowed and grey hairs sticking to his forehead.

Another orgasm fast approaching as Sniper bit at your thighs. Your hands gripped Spy’s hair and fucked yourself on his tongue. “I’m.. gonna cum- oh god!!” Spy pulled away when you said that. You whined “please. Please.. I was so close!”

“Yes I know.” Spy stood up and lifted you onto his lap as he sat on the chair you were once on. “But I don’t recall giving you permission to the first time, did I?” One of his hands was sitting on the middle of your back to hold you in place.

Your eyes widened. “N..no you didn’t..” you hid your face in embarrassment. “mauvaise fille.” A hard smack came across your ass, leaving a red mark and a painfully delicious sting with it behind. Sniper wiped his face and leaned against the chair as be watched your reddened face. Another smack fell onto your red bottom. “What do we say, mon chéri?” His clothed erection pressing against your tummy

You bit your lip in anticipation for the next slap

“P-please, I.. I’m sorry” You mumbled

Sniper kneeled down to you “What was that, doll? Daddy didn’t quite hear ya’”

Another smack fell harder this time and you yelped. If it wasn’t for his hand on your back you surely would’ve jumped up.

“I said! I’m sorry! I.. i didn’t know!” Tears began to fall down your cheek. Smudging your mascara slightly. Sniper smirked and stood up. He slipped to the other side of the chair and slipped two fingers into your dripping cunt humming as he did so. Watching your body tense at the sudden sensation You moaned against his touch. Your vision was going white before once again, it was ripped from right under you. Spy kissed you some but pulled away to speak

“Sniper, take her.”

Sniper stood in front of Spy and held his arms out for your body as Spy stood up and handed you to him as if you weighed nothing to them. Sniper hooked his arms under your legs and you wrapped your around his neck. Your wet pussy pressing against his clothed erection as you whimpered at the feeling, leaving a wet spot on his pants. He pushed a door in the smoking room open, it led to a smaller room with a bed in it. He laid you down and Spy followed through the door, locking it and setting the key on a nearby table.

Spy opened a draw and took out a blindfold, Sniper took a bowie knife out of the other. It seems they’ve done this before, huh?

Your eyes widened.

“Don’t worry, I ain’t gonna hurtcha’, I promise” his gloved hand came to your chin and lifted it slightly as he planted a kiss onto your lips. You only nodded and say there. Spy had disappeared, that was until he appeared behind you and tugged at the blindfold.

“What is your safe word, amour?”

You hesitated for a moment before speaking.

“Uh.. panini” you said, unsure if any other word to use.

The men only chuckled “good choice” Sniper mocked as he kissed at your neck, Spy doing the same. The knife Sniper held was begging ran up and down your body, leaving small scratches as it tickled you. You shivered at the feeling, moaning under your breath. Sniper bit your ear “you like that, roo?” You nodded vigorously

“Good girl.” He said then continued to trace the knife up your body. Spy broke his kisses into sucking, leaving small hickeys on your neck and collarbone. Spy pulled away and grabbed a small pair of handcuffs. He handed them to you “would you like this?” You nodded

Spy smirked and began cuffing your hands tightly behind your back.

They both pulled away and laid you down gently, then stripped themselves of their clothing. “Would you like to go first, Mick?” Spy asked.

Sniper nodded “of course.” He said and sat between your legs. His hard cock lying gently against your clit. You wiggled your hips in an attempt to coax him into just fucking you already. He chuckled as he admired your soaked pussy.. then, took his cock into his hand and slid the tip up and down your folds slowly before sinking his tip into your hole. He leaned over you and sunk deeper a moan leaving you both as he easily bottomed out due to your slickness. He grabbed your legs and put them onto his shoulders, he took slow drags as Spy watched from the side. Stroking himself slowly in time with Snipers thrusts. He pulled all the way out and waited for a moment before slamming back into your cunt, his cock kissing your cervix. Your back arched at the feeling. His groans were low and heavy as he pounded into your pussy. “You feel good, Sheila. “ his grip on your hips became rougher and tighter as he chased his orgasm. Spy moved to your mouth, tapping your shoulder gently as his cock pressed against your cheek “May I?”

You nodded and moaned as Sniper fucked into you. You opened your mouth and let Spy slide his cock into your throat.

You gagged slightly as he began thrusting into your throat. The salty taste of his precum coating your tongue. The men chased their orgasm as they roughly fucked into your body. “God, roo. I’m gonna cum..” you moaned around Spy’s cock, sending a shiver down his spine as his groans left his throat freely “yes me too..” your head was reeling as the men used your body

“Can I cum in ya’, babe?” He cooed

You nodded the best you could around Spy’s cock. He pulled out and began pumping himself “Beg him for it, y/n.”

“Oh fuck! Please Mick! Please fill me with your cum! Oh, I want it so bad!!”

“Oh doll, of course, anything for you.”

Spy pumped himself more and more until his orgasm approached and he came onto your face, your mouth hung open to catch any of his cum on your tongue. Sniper growled as he thrusted deep inside of you and came into your abused cunt. Both of the men groaning as they looked at the scene they had made of you.

You all took a minute to catch your breath before Sniper spoke again

“Next time, don’t tease us please, babe.” He nuzzled into your shoulder as Spy rubbed your head gently sweeping you hair out of your face

Ps. Panini is a real safe word I used with my ex, he was such a lucky man.🥳

[communistkenobi]

ok my brother and I rewatched all the mission impossible movies and our new ranking is

1 > 4 > 7 > 2 > 5 > 6 > 3

2 is a lot more fun and good than I remember it being on first watch, and 5 was way more mid. Honestly 4 could take the top spot despite Jeremy Renner being in that one. There are a lot of fun physical props and gadgets and doohickeys in 4, and there’s a specific type of whimsy to the direction style that’s not in any of the other ones. You can tell the director had only worked on animated movies prior to MI4, there’s a specific type of fixation on small props and their specific trajectories and positions throughout each scene that is hard to describe but reminds me of how animated movies tend to be shot. Like there is a physical awareness of objects in space that makes sense for an animated director to have a preoccupation towards, and I think he pretty effectively translates those preoccupations to live action.

the first one has the Hollywood 90s charm, which is just firmly lodged in history now, like we are not getting that type of movie back probably because of 9/11. I kind of don’t really have anything to say about it other than it’s straightforwardly good and has some very funny horror-movie-style dutch angle shots in them. De Palma also uses split diopter shots a lot in that film, which I didn’t know much about but is basically when you split the lens of a camera to get two distinct focal lengths in a shot, but at the cost of essentially having a blurry line down the middle of the shot. It makes me wonder if that’s part of why they made the room Tom Cruise wires into all white, because they use a lot of split diopter shots in that scene and the white would conceal the middle blur well. Anywayyyy

MI2 is an undeniably John Woo movie, complete with motorcycle jousting and insane combat stunts, and also captures a bit of that same 90s charm. Also kinda don’t have a lot to say about this one. Nyah is definitely one of the best female leads in the series though, her actor is soooo good in this movie. Shame she never came back MI7 is also a pretty fun movie, you have now-geriatric Tom Cruise driving a motorbike off a cliff and fun car chase scenes. He is really hot in this movie also. And “evil AI that takes over the world” is such an awesome stupid action movie plot, especially because it’s not tied to the more rancid tendencies some of the other films have (eg with 6 explicitly being about an anarchist who wants to nuke the world after defecting from his country’s government, etc). Like it’s goofy enough to easily shut your brain off to and accept.

6 and 3 are arguably the worst, with 3 edging out the bottom spot because of the amount of heterosexuality in that one. It’s not at the level of the spn blurrywife, but it’s close enough that Julia (Ethan’s wife) can easily be categorised as a blurrywife, just a smear on the camera meant to move the hero along and then scream and cry when she gets captured (although Tom Cruise is very good at screaming and crying on camera). This is also the beginning of where they tank Luther’s character, he used to be this Gucci-wearing hacking wizard guy and by the end of the series he’s just like a guy who’s on the computer. Like after the third movie we don’t get a line from Luther anywhere as fun or charming as “that punk put a hole in my Versace!” Simon Pegg is fine. I have no thoughts about him at all, he’s the comic relief and that’s as deep as it goes.

6’s plot is hard to stomach, it has fairly poor pacing, and they basically waste the HALO dive too early in the film, so there’s not really any big tension/plot stakes associated with it. The final act is extremely good though, and upon rewatch I like Henry Cavill’s acting a lot more, which is why I think it should be ranked above 3. Also 3 has like no stunts basically ! It’s so generic.

what is funny is that MI tends to become more “interconnected” as time goes on wrt returning cast members, but it’s mostly only dudes with like one or two exceptions, so there’s the funny undercurrent of like misogynistic disposability of women leading to intense homosocial bonds between men because they’re the only constant in the story. Like it’s Ethan Benji and Luther and that’s mostly it, just three dudes having fun. Unfortunately the dialogue/banter writing between them tends to be quite mid-to-bad in these movies, so they essentially are just really long time coworkers who constantly almost die in front of one another.

I don’t think there’s a bad performance from Tom Cruise in these though. He says a lot of dumb lines and does stupid plot bullshit but he manages to make it work basically every time. He seems to have pretty good chemistry with most of the female leads as well, which is the only time where there’s interesting verbal sparring/flirting/characterological tension in scenes. And then obviously he does all those insane stunts, which is a significant part of how much we enjoyed these films. I quite like the way he portrays Ethan during them too, as like this dude who is perpetually pushed to the brink to do insane impossible shit and is basically always having a bad day because of it. it gives the character a really nice human grounding and makes the stunts feel more believable because the character doing them is having the worst day of his life the entire time. He also frequently fucks up, falls, misses ledges, gets hit and almost dies, smacked around, etc. very fun to watch, great balance of cool action hero and guy who gets the shit kicked out of him for a living

anyway these are really fun movies. I feel like if you needed to fill a weeks worth of movie nights with friends these would be really fun to watch. I had a great time yelling at the screen with my brother. A very fun drinking game also is taking a shot whenever Tom Cruise starts running in a scene. That dude is just fucking zipping around everywhere, it made me realise how rare it is to see actors run in films because he does it fucking constantly. And like not short shots either, there are takes where he’s running continually at full speed for like 45 unbroken seconds. I know also from watching some behind the scenes videos about how they did some of the stunts that he always does like 10 takes for action sequences so he’s running an absolute shitload. Anyway these movies are good

[reflections-in-a-critical-eye]

A 2024 Film List

At first, I thought I could do a regular top 10 film list for 2024, but after a reconsideration, I realized it's not really possible.

First, I stopped logging every movie that I've watched. I used a mubi account, I don't have letterboxd and it felt like a chore. I regret it slightly, but nothing can be done about it now.

What I will do is to stick to films released in 2024 and to which I had access to this year. That means that I won't include The Brutalist, Queer or Babygirl, etc., as I haven't watched them yet.

It is also a list that includes well-known titles. This year has been one in which my desire to explore unknown areas of cinema dwindled significantly. But this is not the post in which I ponder about what the reasons might be.

This is the list of significant films watched in 2024 that made a notable impression, in no particular order.

Conclave (dir. Edward Berger)

I doesn't fill in the gap left by The Young Pope, nor it captures the absolute camp and absurdity of the Vatican world, but it comes close nevertheless. It has the intrigue to capture anyone's attention and the good acting from veteran actors that can deliver a memorable performance.

All of Us Strangers (dir. Andrew Haigh)

I remember how much I had to wait to be able to watch this, but it finally paid off. Andrew Scott should have won a lot more awards for it and he is such a sensible actor who can portray a man dealing with depression and loss and how it shapes one person forever.

Maria (dir. Pablo Larrain)

This film is for fans of Larrain's trilogy of films made about 20th century notable women. It's for those who want to see a more than decent comeback of Angelina Jolie. It's for those who like Maria Callas and could pair it with another documentary about her that came out in recent years. It's for those who would like to see a fictional incursion into 70s Paris without anything looking like a theme park.

La Chimera (dir. Alice Rohrwacher)

This was perhaps the only one which made me think of european art cinema in the most obvious way. From the story, to how it was directed, but most importantly, to the cinematography. It is a meditation on art and our relation to it, but also a nod to mid-century Italian directors.

Anora (dir. Sean Baker)

I did have some higher expectations from Anora, simply considering its Palme d'Or win. It might leave my mind the moment award season will be over, but in the context of an American cinema that produces less and less good mainstream films, Anora stands out. Adding a comedic tone helped in moving away from the usual stereotypes associated with a certain nationality and something fresh, considering that American film and tv still focuses on only a villain/spy archetype.

The Apprentice (dir. Ali Abbasi)

To this day I condemn Variety and anyone who refused to have a one on one talk with Sebastian Stan because it would have touched on the topic of The Apprentice. Not just because it is ultimately a work of fiction which should not impose any problem, but particularly because of its subject matter. Evil and in this case, an examination of its origins and what made that man who he is, is something that should not be ignored. Instead, it needs to be addressed head on. It needs to be understood and The Apprentice did it. Perhaps it tried too much in the span of 2 hours, but I admire the attempt. And Jeremy Strong once again proved its calibre.

The Substance (dir. Coralie Fargeat)

Was it too on the nose? Yes. Is this a theme explored in so many movies with a feminist twist? Yes.

But it was fun, it was well made, it brought a dose of body horror for us fans who are lacking in any new Cronenberg film. And it was also fascinating for me to see Demi Moore back with such a role.

Longlegs (dir. Oz Perkins)

It includes a serial killer with a supernatural twist, of course this film would be on my list. I don't particularly seek out horror fiction, but it's a nice surprise whenever something really good comes out. And Nicolas Cage had a unforgettable part, as one of the scariest antagonists that I've seen in years.

Trap (dir. M. Night Shymalan)

This might seem like a really odd choice, considering all the other films on the list. But I do want to point out that even in the case of a film with faults in its script, unrealistic scenarios or characters, it can still be a fun viewing experience. It is ridiculous, like many of Shyamalan's movies, but I do think the backlash against Trap has also been over the top. I loved seeing Josh Hartnett behave like the worst serial killer, making the dumbest mistakes, but also getting away with it every single time!

Red Rooms (dir. Pascal Plante)

This was the only horror film that actually had a deep, visceral impact on me and which made me feel uncomfortable long after it ended. A psychological horror that doesn't show much of the actual atrocities that had happened, but its impact comes from the examination of fangirls obsessed with serial killers, but also of those who lack any sort of empathy and whose fascination with such criminals borders a very problematic line.

Special Mentions

There are three films in the special mentions category. Their inclusion has nothing to do with my opinion regarding their value or if I enjoyed them or not. It has to do with the fact that they stood out due to their directors commitment to do something different through cinematic language. Not just for the sake of it, but because it served their stories and their vision about cinema as an art.

1. Megalopolis (dir. Francis Ford Coppola)

2. Emilia Perez (dir. Jacques Audiard)

3. Do Not Expect Too Much From The End of The World (dir. Radu Jude)

[downundergarfield]

hello! may i request a s/o that loves to give hugs and kiss to mercenaries? i think it would be cute!!(thank you in advance!)

Hiii, lovely anon! Here's what I came up with!

I've tried to follow a certain pattern. First, hugs in front of everyone, the second kisses in front of everyone and the third - kisses and hugs in private, hope you enjoy

S/O who loves to give hugs and kisses to mercs

Scout ⚾

- He's surprised every time you hug him, he giggles and hugs you back. He is a very loving boy!

- Jeremy blushes deeply every time you kiss him. He screams and hides his face in his cap if you do it in front of everyone. "-AAH, Stop, Y/N, im not cute!!"

- when you kiss him alone, he turns into melted cheese and spreads in pleasure while you caress his cheeks and lips. He loves kissing you. He misses it so much. You fill his need for love with your love and hugs and kisses

Soldier 🦅

- He always says that real soldiers don't need these endearments. But when you hug him in spite of this, he hugs you tighter than anything! The soldier is proud of you and will tell everyone that only he has the right to hug you. He loves it when you hug him patting his broad back.

- When you kiss this noisy American, he becomes even more noisy "- SHE/HE/THEY KISSED ME!!!! EVERYONE!!!! KISSED ME, ONLY MEEE HAHAHAAAA". He is so proud that you love to caress him that way

- in private, he loves your kisses and will kiss back, not letting go for a long time, because he really likes your lips. He will hug you like a pillow, putting his legs up at yours and all that

Pyro 🔥

- They love all that! So they will hug you back, tight, tight, maybe even tighter than you yourself, because they are absolutely happy to hug you

-You kiss them in a gas mask when they gently touch your cheeks with a filter, imitating a kiss. They are not shy about it in public, at all!

- Pyro is a big hugger, when you hang out alone, draw or play, they will hug you very often, and moo happily when you hug them back. They are not hungry for touch, they just really like it.

Demoman 💣

- he breaks into a satisfied smile every time you hug him. He adores your tactility and love of hugs.

- When he is sober, he will only blush a little and be embarrassed, smiling and looking away "-ooh, Laddy, come on, not in front of everyone..."

But when he is in his usual condition, as soon as you kiss him on the cheek, he will firmly grab and kiss you on the lips in response.

- of course he will hug you back in private. When you are alone, he turns into the most loving person in the world, you often lie in an embrace glued together like two dumplings while he showers your forehead with kisses.

Heavy 🐻

- it's hard not to hug him, isn't it? The big, stern Siberian loves it when you hug him. He often hugs you back, hugging you tightly with his big hands.

- he blushes when you kiss him in front of everyone. But he smiles and pats you on the head "-milaya, not at work...you make me blush"

- when you are alone, he likes to put you on his lap and read you different books, sometimes he translates books from Russian for you, kisses the top of your head and hugs you tightly.

Engineer 🔧

- this Texan doesn't mind hugging you back. He loves it when you hug him and will gladly hug you back. He is not embarrassed when you hug him in front of everyone, he is happy to show the others that you are happy to be together

- If you kiss him in front of everyone, he will blush and laugh good-naturedly, kissing you back. Even if it's at work, just be careful and choose the right moment.

- In private, he likes it when you hug him. He thinks it's cute when you take off his hardhat to kiss him on the forehead. He likes to cuddle with you on his mechanical chair

Medic 💉

- When you hug him in front of everyone, he becomes the happiest person in the world. He will willingly hug you back.

- if you kiss him, he will blush and will vigorously ask for more. He likes the shape, texture and taste of your lips. Especially on his own lips

- in private, he will be so happy with your hugs. He likes to walk with his bare hands on your back counting every rib and praising you for your lovely body every time.

Sniper 🏹

- Try to catch the moment when this guy will be in front of everyone. But if you hug him at some general meeting, he will blush and hide it under his hat. The sniper will not move until the end of the meeting, so as not to scare you away, so that you continue to hug him.

- if you kiss him at the meeting. Dude, you'll make him blush deeply and hide behind a hat until the very end

"- Y/n. Its a wrong time, drongo."

- damn it, private, he will beat you in the love of hugs. He literally won't let go of you. This man is a real professional in hugging. Be sure, sometimes, private, he will just pile on you about and without, hugging for hours. He loves to kiss you, he will kiss you even more than you. He's so happy that you love it all too.

"-This is what I needed, Roo..."

Spy 🍷

- you like to hug him in front of everyone because he reacts to it, so snobbish "-Y/N, stop. You will rumple my suit.." he will look away and push you away a little, trying not to offend. It's a pity that his ski mask hides his blush

- if you kiss him in front of everyone (of course, if you manage to catch the moment when he is without a cigarette in his mouth), he will cover his face with his hands. "-Oh, please, not in front of everyone, je t'en prie..."

- in private, he discards it all. Alone, he won't let go of your lips and will kiss and hug you for all the things you teased him with all day.

He smells of cigarettes and wine. What happens in his smoking room is not worth comparing with what happens in front of everyone

[starlightsalvatore]

ripper / damon salvatore x reader

this was inspired by this blog post !!! idk if this is really what you wanted but this is where the spirit moved me lol - I hope everyone enjoys! as always lmk what you think!

ripper / damon salvatore x reader

summary: Stefan flipped his switch and you and Damon have been trying your hardest to bring him home... but Stefan has other ideas.

word count: 1.9k

warnings: typical tvdu stuff (blood, fear, pain, etc)

“Goodnight, Linda! I’ll see you next week,” you called out as you pushed the door to the boutique open, letting it shut behind you as you crossed the street to find your car. Your mind was swimming with unanswered questions, things in Mystic Falls had been topsy-turvy since Stefan flipped his switch and skipped town with Klaus. You and Damon had been hunting down every lead while keeping it from Elena, encouraging her to move on while the two of you ignored your own hypocrisy as you refused to do the same. On top of every dead end or trip down south to cover up the carnage Stefan left in his wake there was something brewing just beneath the surface with Damon the two of you were refusing to acknowledge. It wasn’t the time, there was too much on your plates but it didn’t stop the tension that seeped into every late night you spent with him poring over files Sheriff Forbes had given you.

You unlocked your car as it came into view, listening to the chirps echo down the empty street but stopped in your tracks when a figure appeared before you, “Stefan?” you asked, hope filling your voice but it faded just as soon as it had appeared when you looked into his eyes… so cold and dark, unlike the ones you’d come to know. “Where have you been? We’ve been looking for you.”

“I know,” he answered, “I’m here to tell you to stop.”

“Come on, Stefan… let us help you, I can help you,” you pleaded and he just chuckled darkly. He was someone you used to trust implicitly, he’d saved you from sudden death time and time again, taken you in and given you a home when Klaus had killed your parents to prove a point but this was not the Stefan you knew. 

“You can help me, sweetheart,” he said, fingers trailing along your collarbone and you felt sick to your stomach at his touch. “God, have I been dying to know what you taste like,” he muttered mostly to himself. You thought about running, but it was pointless… you thought about screaming for help, but he’d just kill whoever showed up… Damon. Damon was at the grill, just a handful of yards away. “So many nights hearing that heartbeat just down the hallway, like a siren call. How stupid was I to resist?” he asked rhetorically and while his attention was focused on the pulsing of your neck you slowly pulled your phone from your back pocket, dialing Damon’s number and praying to whatever god was listening that you didn’t hit the wrong buttons.

“So, what’s the plan, Stefan? Just going to kill me right here in front of the grill?” you asked, voice wavering as you tried to stall him. “Who are you trying to send a message to? Damon? Elena?” He growled in response.

“Maybe the message is for you,” he said, hand closing around your throat. “Did you think I wouldn’t know you’ve been helping him? That it wasn’t you who’s been covering my tracks?” he asked but you couldn’t answer. His hand disappeared and you sucked in a breath only to let out a cry of pain as he gripped your wrist, pulling your phone into view before he pried it out and you felt your bones crack under the pressure as he tossed it aside. “Stupid girl, are you trying to make this easier on me?”

“So this is hard for you?” you asked, clinging onto that as you took a step back and tried to ignore the pain in your wrist. “Good, lean into it. You don’t want to kill me, even with your humanity off you can’t tell me you don’t miss the fun we used to have together… dancing with Lexi to Bon Jovi, crushing Elena and Jeremy at pool…” you trailed off, trying to spark something in him. “Just, come home, Stefan. Let me help you, everything can go back to how it was.”

“Yes, I really do, because the real fun is what I’ve been denying myself all this time.” he sneered and you felt a gush of wind behind you.

“Whoa brother, just take it easy,” you heard Damon say and suddenly you were flipped around with your back pressed against Stefan, his arm a vice grip around your waist as his other hand held onto your throat. 

“You really should have stopped looking for me,” Stefan growled as you squirmed in his grasp, pain radiating through your arm as you struggled for air. “I don’t want to be found.”

“Yet you came all this way to Mystic Falls, to the middle of the town square. That doesn’t scream don’t find me,” Damon pointed out, taking a step closer but he stopped in his tracks when you let out a cry as the grip around you tightened. Damon could hear your heart thudding against your ribcage, quick and uneven as your eyes pleaded with him to do something. 

“Had to deliver a message,” Stefan responded. “But now that I’m here, she is a lot of fun, isn’t she, brother? Always was so brave, even in the face of death,” he chuckled as he brushed your hair from your neck. “You can’t tell me you haven’t thought about it,” he taunted. 

“Just let her go, we can talk this out… come to an understanding,” Damon said, slowly taking another step. He’d never felt so helpless, like control was slipping through his fingers like sand.

“Oh, I’m not in the mood for talking,” he replied and you felt his lips kiss along your carotid artery and you stiffened in his grasp before thrashing against him. “So responsive,” he chuckled and anger flared in Damon’s chest at the sight. “Come on, Damon… all this time you’ve been pushing me to have more fun, now you want to stop me?”

“You want real fun? You’re not going to find it here in Mystic Falls,” he said, gesturing to the empty town around him. “Let’s go on a good old fashioned brotherly road trip, find some girls that actually enjoy being fed on,” he said, and you didn’t miss the desperation in his voice as you tried to calm your breathing and focus on anything other than the ache throbbing in your wrist. Stefan wasn’t swayed and you let out a pained cry as his fangs sunk into your neck, opening you up as he drank you in and you struggled in his arms.

“Stefan- don’t,” you choked out, fighting against him. Your words came out strained as blood poured from your neck and you felt tears slipping down your cheeks. “Elena will… she’ll never forgive you.”

“She’s right, brother. Just let her go, we can make this all go away,” Damon pleaded and he knew you didn’t have much time before he ripped your head off. You were already starting to go limp in his arms and Damon’s eyes were apologetic as he looked at you but you didn’t have enough time to process what it meant before you were flying through the air and hitting the ground with a thud that winded you. You groaned as you lifted your arms to press against the wound in your neck, each nerve ending protesting with a fiery jolt of pain as you tried to control the bleeding.

You couldn’t see anything, couldn’t move… all you could hear was a crack in the distance as your eyes fluttered closed before you felt your body being tugged upright. “Come on, drink…” Damon said, shaking you softly and when you didn’t respond he shook you harder. “You don’t get to do this, damn it! Drink,” he said again and your eyes opened as you wrapped your lips around his wrist, letting the sickly sweet liquid slide down your throat. You were alone again, vaguely making out Damon on the phone with somebody before you lost consciousness. 

“Hey, hey, easy, you’re safe now,” you heard as you sat up in bed, startled as your eyes darted around and you saw you were back in your room at the boarding house. Damon was looking down at you intensely as tried to ease you into laying back down but you just shook your head.

“Where is he?” you asked frantically, “please tell me we didn’t lose him.”

“He’s in the cellar,” he answered. You let yourself relax a little at this, knowing the hope you’d been clinging to all summer seemed a little more realistic now. “I’m so sorry,” he whispered and your face twisted in confusion. “This is all my fault.”

“What? Damon, this isn’t your fault,” you tried but he just shook his head.

“He knew the way to get to me was through you, I shouldn’t… he didn’t want to be found, I shouldn’t have pushed,” he said and your eyes softened as you took him in. He looked exhausted and the faint light peeking around your curtains let you know he must have been waiting a while for you to wake up. 

“He knew I was helping you, this was as much a message for you as it was for me,” you replied. “I’ll be okay.”

“But you’re not right now,” he said and you smiled sadly.

“But I will be,” you reassured, “nobody said bringing a ripper back from the depths of inhumanity would be easy.” 

“I’m so sorry,” he repeated and you just wrapped your arms around him, letting yourself move to straddle his hips to pull him closer into you. “You don’t deserve this, I… I should have protected you better. I can’t lose you,” he muttered into your chest as his arms snaked around your waist and held you tight.

“I’m not going anywhere,” you said and he pulled back to look up at you, eyes swimming with emotion. 

“You… you mean too much to me,” he said, fingers brushing your hair behind your ear before cupping your jaw. “I can’t lose you,” he repeated.

“And you won’t,” you promised, eyes sad as you knew this wasn’t really a promise you could keep, but you would try… for him. You let your fingers thread through his hair as you held him close, needing the comfort right now as much as he did. Putting on a brave face was what you were good at, you seemed to face a new evil every week in this town but this was different… This was Stefan, one of your closest friends who used you to prove a point, who made it look so easy to bring you within an inch of your life. You needed Damon as much as he needed you and with someone downstairs locked in a cell who was so important to the both of you, you didn’t have any fight left in you to pretend you didn’t need him.

“I love you,” he muttered against your skin and your heart skipped a beat, wondering if you’d heard him correctly. “I won’t let him hurt you ever again, I’m so sorry.” You shifted, leaning back to look down at him and those intense blue eyes held so much emotion you felt your heart crack wide open.

“Damon-” you started but he cut you off by cupping your face and pulling you down to meet his lips. You responded immediately, letting your lips move in tandem with his before pulling back breathless.

“I love you,” he repeated as you rested your forehead against his. 

“I love you too,” you responded, letting yourself smile genuinely for the first time all summer. “We’re going to get your brother back, okay? We’ll get him back and everything will be okay.”

taglist: @caseysalvatore @minalblood @styxfly (if you’re name is struck through it means I couldn’t tag you - sorry!)

tagging you because you inspired this one! @tmhxll�� 

[gridzdoodle]

hmm tf2 comic 7 got me feeling things here's a one shot

December 5, 1987

(2.7k wordcount also cross posted to ao3)

December 5, 1987: 5:30 am

On the dot, Spy found his body rousing to awakeness, at the same time and in the same way it had for an irrelevant number of years. He unceremoniously shoved off the thick blanket that he recalled Jeremy had bought on discount several years ago. A small lifetime ago, he might have yearned for the fine silken thing that he’d gifted his son at some point. Now, he was just warm.

There was that one constant, even as his life took him every which way. Up before the team (save for Jane, who was easy to avoid if he pleased). Up before the kids for a moment of peace (though anything was peace to him after it all). Up before Jeremy, to relieve the man (he really was on now, wasn’t he?) of some chores so he could rest just a little while longer. He really did need it nowadays, in his condition. 

Before all though, Spy would be afforded a moment to himself.

December 5, 1987: 5:52 am

Currently clocking in at four weeks of continuous residence, Spy had found himself falling into routine. The air was cold and the sky was dark and the flame that lit his cigarette was warm and he was content. The Willis family would enjoy the cozy embrace of sunlight when it came, but this moment would remain his. In this moment, there was nothing to do, and wasn’t that beautiful? He could go about slowly, methodically, knowing that everything was going to turn out just fine. 

The sky was lightening. Judging by every other morning he had spent staring at the same sky at the same time, Spy could guess that the sun would be peeking up from behind the neighboring house. As good a queue as any to duck back inside to start the day properly. 

December 5, 1987: 6:30 am

The little ones would be getting up one by one, between now and 7:30. Jeremy might get up between 7:30 and 8:00 depending on how his body would decide to treat him that day. Yesterday he seemed more active, so the earlier end of the spectrum was more likely. That gave Spy around an hour of interrupted time to take care of things before Jeremy would be insisting that he could do it himself.

He would start off with breakfast. The kids were always starved first thing in the morning, natural of growing children. Something simple, generally applicable, and all around practical. He went to the cupboard and reached for the oats. Weaning the household off whatever prize-inside cereal their father had the habit of buying was certainly a task. But four weeks of consistent no-budging breakfasts had practically solved that problem, thank god. Now it was just a matter of who took their meal what way, which wasn’t rocket science. 

By the time Spy had fetched the oats, milk, and almost brought the water to a full boil, he could hear the squeal of a little voice ricochet from the door, to the hallway, to his ears. That would be little Tammy, no doubt. He killed the heat and followed the sound.

December 5, 1987: 6:42

“Eeek!” Tammy squeaked, and Spy was only a little surprised to find her on top of the dresser thrice her height. To his left, he found the top bunk bed vacant with poor Tommy down below clenching a pillow over his ears to try and get a few more precious moments of shut-eye.

“Quel est le problème?”

A sniff, “Spider! ‘n my bed! Get it off!!” 

Well, that was two accounted for, though he didn’t trust Jeremy’s construction skills enough to leave the girl up there for a moment more. In a few strides, Spy’s foot brushed the foot of the dresser, and he extended his arms to the top. When the girl’s squirming jostled it, he opted to plant his hands on either side to stabilize it. 

“I’m afraid I will not be taking care of that until you get down from there. Please get down from there, by the way.” and he extended his arms once more. Tammy looked about anxiously, yet ultimately decided to make her way into his waiting arms. Though when Spy went to place her on the floor, he found her limbs wrapped so tightly around his torso that something in his spine might have rearranged itself. 

Spy nearly shook her down. 

“What if it’s on the floor?” she blubbered. Spy did a once-over.

“It is not.”

“Are- are you sure..?” Spy looked again.

“Oui. Very.” He crouched to the ground, giving Tammy little choice but to part with him. There was no struggle, reassurance a success. “Where did you say it was?” She made a gesture to her own bunk. It was not a very tall one, so he simply leaned over the top and found it completely vacant of creepy crawlies.

It is gone, he would have said, if he was not interrupted by the squeal of another little voice. A foot below, Tommy flailed his arm wildly, and a little something careened and collided with the bedframe. There was the offending spider, all gangly limbs and jerky movements while making a mad dash from the danger, a sight now unfamiliar to Spy. In a swift movement, he had its abdomen pinched between gloved fingers. It wriggled with all its might before he disposed of it in a tissue, and then the wastepaper basket by the door. 

“I’m making breakfast. Be ready.” which was only a formality.

December 5, 1987: 6:55

Peace on earth existed for ten minutes each morning, when Spy quietly worked on breakfast while Tanya worked on her book as she waited. Idly, Tanya’s finger toyed with the edge of To Kill a Mockingbird . Parallel to her, Spy fussed between stirring the pot and preparing the mix-ins for each bowl. 

A splash of milk in the bowl for Tommy and Tammy, plus a glass for each while he had the jug out. Tammy absolutely refused any large chunks of fruit, so he mashed the handful of blueberries with the back of a fork. For Tommy and himself, he left them whole.

A spoonful of strawberry jam would later turn Todd’s bowl of oatmeal pink, and he knew that would be enough for him. He stirred, it was cooked by now, and filled a couple glasses with water. Heat killed, Spy reached for a little ceramic dish, and then for the highest shelf in the cupboard.

Jeremy’s bowl received a small splash of milk and the faintest drizzle of honey. On the side, a glass of water and a little dish of AM pills. The heart, pain, and renal medication met the bowl with a satisfying clink.

Now that left one bowl.

“Is there anything you’d like?”

“ I’d like to see pa at the table in the morning again, maybe with a side of Tam-Tom being quiet for once?”  Spy sighed. Her frustration had only multiplied as the weeks passed, and it seemed she could only catch her father for minutes a day when he wasn’t asleep or when she wasn’t at school. “But I could settle for a nice tall glass o’ make my English teacher stop making us do so much stuff .”

Junior high and an increasingly absent father had been tough on Tanya, but Spy knew she was tougher. The least he could do was make himself an unapologetic ally, listen to her woes whenever she came to him. It had taken them this far, through years of babysitting and now indefinite residence, and he had no intention of stopping now.

“Let me see about that one. Hmm.” Spy made a show of looking through the refrigerator, then the pantry, then the cupboard. “Ahh, I’m afraid I used the last of the ‘quiet kids’ mix last night. As for the ‘lighten the workload juice’, I believe– oh, did you hear that?” Spy noted, in perfect flatness while Tanya was failing to suppress her amusement. In a couple strides, he made it to the door and opened it.

“Now let us see this,” Spy murmured, leafing through the newspaper, serious facade unwavering as he read the headlines aloud. “Unimportant, weather, unimportant again, oh, how interesting…” he peeked up from the page, pleased to see Tanya fully invested in his bit. “This news story, ‘Local English instructor, assassinated!’ No leads, no fingerprints,” he peeled his gloves off and set them down next to the paper, “all classes to be postponed indefinitely!” At this time, Tanya’s book was flat on the table as an unfettered laugh streamed from her lips. Victory. 

Spy glanced back down for a quick moment, “Ah, but breakfast is not. What would you like to have, genuine requests only please, unless you’d like to take some plain oats.” After the girl’s laughter had trailed off, she considered, and piped up: “Cinnamon! And brown sugar in it too!” Now that was doable. He was happy to add a dash of cinnamon and a conservative spoonful of sugar to her immediate chagrin. 

“What, that’s nuthin’! You could’nt’a added a little more?” She pouted. “Non, I’m not in the habit of serving sweets in the morning.” which earned him a melodramatic slump from her. He sighed. Spy was becoming weak in his old age. “And I will remain firm in my decision. Oh. What is this. It looks like the oatmeal is ready to plate. I will now turn around, and since this matter is so urgent, I will leave the spoon in the sugar.” Which wasn’t entirely a joke. 

December 5, 1987: 7:13

“Can we go watch cartoons?”

“Yes-”

“Can we go now?”

“Have you finished your breakfast?”

“No-”

“Non.”

“But you said-”

“I would have said yes, when you finish eating.”

“Why?”

“You could tip your bowl on the couch, and I won’t clean it up.”

Todd conceded, and switched tactics to shoveling as many oats as he could eat at once. On the other side of the table, Tommy was falling asleep into his bowl while Tammy went on about nothing entirely discernible. Tanya, thank god, was taking care of the cleanup. Spy had already cleared his ingredients, so there were only the dishes to attend to. First the cooking pot, followed in quick succession by the first two bowls. She had to scrape bits of residual mush from Tommy’s bowl, but Todd and Tammy had practically cleaned theirs for her.

And then. 

“Pa’s stuff’s gonna be cold…” Tanya muttered, looking at the last dish. Spy cautioned a glance behind him, the kid in a clear struggle of indecision. He came to meet her, true to her words his fingers met a bowl barely above body temperature. Hmm. “I guess I will just have to bring it right away.”

He got to go, at which point Tanya wasted no time taking the glass of water and dish of medicine. “I got it, don’t worry!” She said, as though she needed an excuse. Spy let it happen. They made their way down the hallway, which he couldn’t help observing each time he walked down it. Dozens of frames lined the walls, little snapshots of their lives slowly connecting. There were most of the kids by far, and the stark contrast between the pigtailed toddler to the young woman before him might have given him whiplash so bad he would have dropped the water if he was the one holding it. 

He was forever grateful that Jeremy had taken so many pictures of all of the children, it filled in the seven year gap, and when he looked at them it was like he hadn’t missed a moment. Of course, pictures couldn’t compare with memories, but it was another thing entirely when they coincided. Todd’s smile of pride as he correctly guessed 1,782 jellybeans was just as infectious as that day. 

Naturally there were plenty of pictures of Jermey, granted, less pale. 

They made it to his door, and Spy turned the knob with his free hand. The bedroom was spacious, and the bed was too large for one. There were even more pictures, of Jeremy himself, of his mother, of him, of his friends, of his children most of all. A picture of Jeremy from his mercenary days was accompanied by a clock which read 7:22, and a tear-away calendar which read December 4, 1987. The practical decor clashed with the seven Tom Jones posters, but whatever made him happy, Spy told himself. 

Right now though, he was laid on his side tangled up in some sheets. It seemed that he didn’t hear the door open. 

“Jeremy?” “Pa?”

Spy set down the bowl on the nightstand, and Tanya mirrored his movement. He would have to be woken up, it seemed. She looked near ready to do it herself, but it had been too many times that Spy had to remind her to be gentle. He would have to do it himself.

Spy sat on the vacant side of the bed, the one that might have been occupied by a spouse if that sort of love decided to stay with him. “Jeremy,” he repeated, to no response. In  perfect carefulness, he connected his hand with the once sticking out of the bedding, perhaps the tactile input would rouse him like several mornings before. 

A backstabbed Sniper on his shoulder. The gibs of teammates fallen to an enemy Demo. Gray Mann. Years of mercenary work. Jeremy fourteen years ago, still moving, that slowed in his arms. A coldness and a stiffness that could never be mistaken was found in his son’s hand. 

A tiny squeak behind him. Tanya, clever and perceptive Tanya. Why did she have to come? 

“Is he okay..?” and the wavering of her little voice near made Spy lose composure entirely.

“I believe he has a fever.” he decided, and pressed a palm to his frigid face. “Merci, Tanya, but I would not want you to become ill as well.”

“What about you?”

“Please, you had better worry about your siblings instead. Make sure they have not destroyed the living room. Leave your father to me, yes?” Tanya, in her childish trust, only looked once over her shoulder as she walked out the door. 

December 5, 1987: 7:51

“My friend, you must remember that Herr Mundy’s case was a very special one–I had begun work almost immediately, a near infinite budget, all necessary parts on hand, a fully stocked infirmary–even if I flew out this very minute I doubt I could replicate my results.”

“I understand.”

 “Do you really?”

“I understand.”

“I am very sorry.”

“I understand.”

The telephone slotted neatly back in place. The room was cold. The bowl was cold. The bed was cold, except for the part Spy was sitting. The blanket cast aside when he searched for any sign of life certainly was not doing Jeremy any favors. That would never do.

With the fabric draped over him, he could pretend. Pretend that he was the grandfather when Tommy and Tammy played house. Pretend that he hadn’t seen the effects of gravity pooling blood to the parts of Jeremy’s body that rested against the mattress. 

A mad giggle and excited squeal from across the hall. What was the game of choice this week again?

“Boom!” Todd shouted. Right. This week they were outlaws in the southwest, two against two. 

“Wait, what town isn’t big enough for both of us?” Tommy scratched his head. He always preferred a more thorough worldbuilding in his pretend play. 

“How about…” Todd fiddled with his toy sword, “Teufort New Mexico! Y’know, like the place on papa’s mail!” At that point, he charged right for his brother, who jumped a foot in the air.

That day, Spy recalled, Jeremy was busy in the kitchen fixing himself another cup of coffee, but was quick to join in the fun. 

Spy had lingered alone in the room long enough, he decided. The little ones would soon look for a new playmate, and perhaps he could distract them from the fact that he was the only one who could.