#the fact that the whole family sang him happy birthday

[purplecelestial-buddy]

There's many little details in Harusono's works that tend to take space in my mind (like the background gag of the boys piling up bottles) but one of them is this picture:

There's cake, there's a ton of people and there's someone being thrown???

Idk I just think that they Kagiuras are probably great pary guests.

Full panel for more context:

[bellamyblake]

Bellarke + Christmas AU

For Christmas Eve Bellamy and Clarke don't do anything that much different than usually;

they let the delinquents organize a big party that consists of just them, all of those who came down first, the kids who were still alive and who cared for each for more than just family;

Bellamy pretended to be grumpy about the whole celebration thing; he had never had any sort of thing in his life, even his birthday passed by with a loving card from his mom and a hug from Octavia and that was a lot for him, he simply wasn't used to attention;

Clarke herself acted like she wasn't involved in any way when in fact she very much was because the kids came to her with questions about everything-Jasper asked how to hang the Christmas lights, Monty wondered if it'd be okay to have moonshine, Murphy asked to bake potatoes and Raven said she'll take care of the fire but they needed her to confirm every little thing;

that's why at the beginning of the month when the first snow came in (and poor Clarke was too busy helping her mom in medical because of the breaks and the colds) she sat them all down with a piece of paper and gave out everyone's tasks for the eve;

They took them diligently but they still came to her with tiny questions that seemed endless;

Bellamy knew it was a lot for her even when she wouldn't say so and that's why he tried to help even if he still felt a little awkward being involved in the whole event because he could give out his heart for everyone but whenever they shoved presents in his hands, he was confused, stared down at them dumbfounded and just like the rest of the kids, looked at Clarke with confusion as to how to proceed;

but with the preparations he helped; he went out hunting and brought over a boar, a deer, a few rabbits and a chiken so that they had everything they needed;

then he fortified the hut they'd use for the celebration, brought woods for the fire, helped Jasper get the lights on and Miller the pine twigs and something akin to mistletoe;

he brought them pelts and blankets so they'd be warm and secretly, very very secretly, he started gathering apples and any sort of fruit late in the summer hiding them in a big wooden box mixed with leaves to keep them safe; yes, nobody knew...except his wofldog Ares who always whimpered whenever Bellamy climbed up the trees, knowing full well how easily he could fall and get something broken the way he did before like his elbow, his knee or his ribs-all injuries he had been present for too;

at night they lay in bed side by side sighing loudly-Christmas was a lot, Clarke would say and he'd hum tiredly, bringing her in close to his side;

on the day itself they were both tired, wet but grateful and even Bellamy wouldn't really be grumpy, just pretend he was so; when they all gathered together and exchanged presents, moonshine and sang songs he was happy;

so was Clarke who was smiling at him from the opposite side of the fire; they'd outdone themselves, more and more each other-mistletoes, pine branches, decorations they found in old bunkers, christmas lights, paper stars and snowflakes and this year, for the first time, a real christmas tree;

Bellamy had found it during one of his hunting missions outside camp, he felt almost bad cutting it off but brought Miller with him when he did and apologized quietly to the tree when he finally put it down;

by the time they dragged it in, he was covered in scratches, he was limping because his knee was swollen and his shoulder was just slightly dislocated; Miller was out of breath and the world spun around him because of his bad blood pressure;

He thought he'd make Clarke happy but she just stood there as the kids jumped around him and Miller, hugged him saying 'Thank you so much, Bellamy!', Jasper as always the happiest of them all (he had been asking for a tree for years now) but Clarke-

Clarke was pissed off and his face had fallen, knowing he screwed up; yet when they put it on and started decorating, she had joined them in albeit still reluctant and refusing to meet his eyes;

when the night ended and they had put everyone to sleep, Bellamy and her walked to their cabin slowly, him still limping, sighing painfully;

she had come over to wrap her arm under his elbow and help him there; He smiled at her, she mirrored him but there was something akin to sadness written all over her face;

he had been mistaken though-she was angry; it all bursted out when they made it in and she started taking care of him, his knee, his back, his elbow all the while he sat in bed and looked at her as if seeing her for the first time;

then when she was done wrapping him up, he pulled her in for a kiss and hugged her softly, pushing her to bed and holding her tight;

'I love you, princess.' he had whispered in her ear 'Thank you for being with me no matter how stubborn and stupid I am.' she had cried then and he hated that he did this to her but then she pulled away and held his face 'I don't really have another present for you. I thought the tree would make you happy but it didn't-'

she shook her head and kissed his lips softly 'oh, Bellamy...I'm not mad you got the tree. I'm mad I could've lost you because of it, you idiot. You've always been and will be my best present." Bellamy had smiled and covered them in the blanket, feeling warm and cosy and the whole night he couldn't get one image away from his head;

and it wasn't the Christmas tree with its lights and candles, paper snowflakes or colorful balls;

No, it was Clarke's face on the other side of the fire, her rosy cheeks, her messy blond hair and most of all, her kind smile;

That was the best Christmas present he could ask for;

[keis-slut]

this week, is my birthday.

i had a party this past weekend with close friends, full of things that have been extremely dear to me.

volleyball, haikyu, kei tsukishima, and strawberry shortcake.

my mom surprised me by buying haikyu decor for my cupcakes, a banner that said “happy birthday” across our yard, and karasuno themed balloons.

my mom also bought a little box of japanese snacks to lay out on our snack and drink table.

my brother took time out of his day to blow up and clean a dirty and deflated volleyball we had laying around in our grass, so we could play.

my sister bought me haikyu manga panel posters to make a wall collage in my room.

my best friend had spent a lot of her time giving my mom ideas on the things i like just for this party, ultimately getting me a cake in the shape of a heart,

colors white, black and orange,

wishing me a happy 21st at the bottom,

and a picture of kei tsukishima made from fondant on top of the cake.

my mom even went extra, just to make the cake strawberry shortcake, too.

my coworkers, sang happy birthday to me, coming over to my desk with strawberry shortcake in hand, a cute red candle in the middle, lit for me to make a wish well deserved.

and the strawberry on top of the shortcake,

for my actual birthday,

my best friends planned surprise activities for us to do, bringing me to a couple different anime stores so i could stand there and stare at the haikyu manga the whole time.

my parents made reservations to a japanese restaurant for us to go to, my whole family and my best friends.

even though birthdays are an annual thing, same time every year over and over, there’s always something about each one that makes up for last.

this has been the most special birthday i’ve had in a long time, i’m extremely grateful.

a cheesy post to not only express how great my love is for kei,

but my love for everyone around me and how wonderful it is for everyone to remember these minuscule silly details about it, that aren’t so little when it comes to their importance to me.

to others, these things may relate to some stupid unimportant anime character,

but to me and the people who care about my well being, know it’s my comfort and whole world.

pay attention to the small things, and the people that remember.

on the topic of people, i’ve recently befriended a really cool guy, who i had seen occasionally when going out,

who very much so resembles kei to me.

it caught me off gaurd at first, but something about him drew me in.

could be the fact he was quiet, or…he just looked like kei.

it warms my heart seeing how shy and quiet he was before when we hadn’t spoken yet, but we would share glances or cross paths, until we did and started to converse.

softspoken, but still a bit silly and a big tease when comfortable.

nonchalant about his interests, but still has things he likes to do in his free time.

having to look up at him because he’s also just about 6’3, seeing the way his eyes nervously flicker at me and away, and back to me behind his rectangle glasses.

how he makes sure his short blonde hair is fixed nicely when his lanky form is walking over to me to say a quiet ‘hello’, tiny smile afterward.

or maybe just seeing how big his hands are too, while he casually shows me the pictures he took on his phone from his trip to japan.

him and kei are both a libra sun sign.

too many things about him making my head absolutely spiral, but still pleased with the fact i actually might’ve just met kei.

and he likes me back.

i’m happy, i’m comfortable, i’m content, and this is where i want to stay.

[silversainz]

'family' party

Charles leclerc x reader

Warnings: 100% self-projecting on this one, kinda rushed, kinda long, angst lots of it, sight talks of depression, fake being happy, neglectful parents, cussing, light fluff, small reading front, Arthur being a brother figure. gif doesn't match the fic but just ignore that he's adorable okay. Some errors, didn't proofread because I'm posting from the drafts. Crappy ending.

you clapped your hands loudly and held a cheerful smile on your face as you looked at the happy couple next to your table while their friends sang the god awful song, that is the birthday song. as the song was finally over everybody in the restaurant clapped their hands and sent warm smiles to the birthday girl and went back to eating and their own conversations.

but you on the another hand stared at the happy and smiling birthday girl as she opened up her gift from her boyfriend or husband and screamed in joy when she saw the gift she had gotten. You swallowed down the tears that wanted to fell and looked at the sight of Charles returning back to the table, you put on a happy smile as he sat down.

see the term 'surprise birthday party' was something that you quite didn't fully understand the concept of, including that God awful birthday song. of course you knew what the word meant, hell everybody did. but you just didn't understand the whole hype behind those simple words that made everybody happy and cheerful whenever somebody threw them a party, a birthday party to be exact.

maybe it had something to do with the fact that you had never had a full birthday party with people that you loved surrending you and wishing you happy birthday while giving you hugs and gifs, no you never had that. Instead you had doors slamming, people yelling at each other about useless shit that didn't make sense and somehow put the blame on you, even if you had no idea what was going on. and oh yeah parents that couldn't give two shits about your life and existence, instead of them saying a simple happy birthday to you, they gave you nothing but useless words and how you wanting to go out and celebrate your birthday with a nice family dinner and go play games was stupid and a waste of money.

they told you all that while planning a secret trip to a fancy ass vacation for your siblings and wanting to spoil them instead for their birthdays. that went on for years until one day you asked them why they never wanted to celebrate your birthday and all they gave you was words that would stick with you forever 'birthday party's are for important people and people who deserve them, not some people like you.' after they told you that, that same year you cut them off for good. it wasn't even about the fact that they never gave you birthday party, no it wasn't that, it was the fact that told you countless of times how you weren't that important to them and how they saw you as a friend rather than their only daughter, a friend, a goddamn friend.

you jumped sightly as Charles lightly tapped you on the shoulder and turned your head towards him "hey you alright love?" Charles voice was filled with concerned and worried as you hadn't spoken a word in a little while.

you blinked a few times and shook your head "yeah I'm fine" you picked up your fork and ate your food that was now cold. you felt stupid for letting somebody else's happiness and joy bring you down. but it just hurt so much knowing that you had never experienced something like that and never had such friends and family to song Happy birthday to you.

Charles gave one more look at you and looked down at his plate cutting his steak. you looked at him and looked down at your plate as well, feeling guilty for lying to him again. see Charles never knew that you had never had a birthday party, you always told him that you hated them and left it at that. he understood tho, he knew that celebrating a birthday was not for everybody and so he never tried to get you to celebrate your birthday and instead just brought you your favorite foods and that's all. you didn't complain tho, you loved the food. But you still felt embarrassed and guilty for lying to him about something so stupid.

as the night died down and you and Charles left the restroom. you both drove back to your apartment, with music playing in the background while Charles held onto your free hand. Charles cleared his throat and spoke up, filing up the uncomfortable silence that filled the air. "So you sure you're okay?" he asked softly, concerned and worried still lingering in his voice, as you hadn't spoken a word to him since you both left the restaurant.

the images replayed in your head from earlier, made you look down at your lap and messed with the rings on his fingers. "Something happened tonight that made me realize something and it kinda left a mark on me" you looked at him and saw him making a face that let you know to continue talking "well you know I've never had a good relationship with my parents or brothers" he made a humming sound and grabbed onto your hand tightly to comfort you.

"yes I know" you looked down and once again swallowed down the tears that wellied up in your eyes "well there's a huge reason why I don't have a good relationship with them and why you've never met them" you looked out the window and looked at all the passing trees and lights. "oh honey, your sure you're ready to talk about this" Charles asked and you thought about it for a second but finally you took in a deep breath and shook your head "my parents weren't the best parents that anybody could have, hell I don't even know if I can call them parents honestly" you stopped talking and looked down at your hands. you swallowed harshly and let the tears fall from your face in a silent matter "they never once treated me like their daughter, since the day I was born and I was more like a punching bag for them. I was the daughter who needed to speak less and laugh less. I was the daughter who they yelled at and screamed at for problems that weren't related to me. and I was the daughter who was never invited to vacations, instead I sat my ass at home all day and all night. While they were on a fancy ass vacation" you finished speaking and sobbed, you didn't realize he had pulled over until you felt him pull you into his embrace and let you sob into his shirt.

"I tried and tried to pretend I was happy and fine with the fact that they never gave me anything or told me they loved me at least once. but goddamn tonight, seeing that girl celebrate her birthday. really made me realize that I'm never gonna spend or have a birthday with my own damn parents" you sobbed and felt him rub your back comforting you and bought you closer to him, if that was even possible. "That's the reason why I hate celebrating my birthday. because they ruined it for me" he did say anything, instead he stayed quiet holding on to you so tightly and letting you cry out all those emotions you had built up inside you. you didn't care tho because having him hold you instead of giving you comforting words were so much better in the moment

weeks had went by since you told Charles the truth and you had never been more depressed to say the least. you thought you would feel happy and so much more better to get that weight off your shoulders that you had been carrying for so long, but instead it only made matters so much more worser for you. everyday it was like a constant reminder that you didn't have a single family member that would try to reach out and give a simple hello or how are you doing. and as wrong as it sounded whenever you meant up with Charles's family and brothers it seemed as though your smile only grew faker and faker each time you saw them.

Charles held onto your hand as you both walked into the house that belonged to his mother. "Oh god it sounds wonderful in here" Charles exclaimed excitedly and let of your hand to run into the kitchen where his mother and brothers were at. as he ran off you looked at all the photos on the wall and smiled softly as you saw all the ones with his father and brothers all together with bright smiles on their faces.

"adorable huh?" You jumped and held onto your chest as you looked beside you and saw Arthur standing there, looking at the photos of his father and him hugging each other. "Jesus you sacred me Arthur" he laughed and gave you a side hug. "Sorry. but it's a cute picture huh" he asked again and you lowered your head while nodding your head "yeah it's cute. can you explain this one tho" you pointed at one specific photo and laughed, a real laugh this time. Arthur picked up the photo and chuckled at it

"this was my first time ever driving a car. I remember he was so terrified taking this photo, but so happy that I was finally doing something that I loved' you smiled at the story and rubbed his arm in comfort "it still feels like yesterday, honestly. Me taking him to see me practice, and him taking photos thinking I wouldn't notice, but oh I well" he finished off his story and sat the photo back down, but still staring at it.

you looked at the way he stared at the photo of his father and immediately became emotional, he looked at the photo with so much love and admirement in his eyes and just from that single look alone, made your eyes tear up from the fact that you will never look at a photo of your father or any family member and share that same look he had in his eyes.

Sensing the silence Arthur turned and looked you seeing the way you looked at the photo of his father "you okay?' he placed his hand on your shoulder and snapped you out of your thoughts. "yeah fine, just he seemed like a wonderful man" you told him and swallowed down the emotions that wanted to come up

Arthur dropped his hand from your shoulder and walked over to the couch sitting down "he was the best father. And someone who allowed his kids to be themselves" you sat down on the opposite side of him and looked at the photo on more time before looking away and facing him.

"you got any brothers or sisters" he suddenly asked changing the subject and something in the way he asked told you he already knew the answer to that, but you pushed that thought away and picked at your finger nails as you answered him "yeah two brothers actually. I'm the oldest tho" you gave him a light smile, that you hoped he wouldn't see though and kept your head low, now pulling at your skin on your finger nails.

Arthur noticed how you gave a bitter response and changed the subject again "well Charles told us that your a long way from home, so feel free to consider us family down here" Arthur patted your shoulder and got up from the couch as Charles made his way into the living room "oh there you two are" Charles said and walked over to you giving you a small kiss to the forehead, while holding out his hand making you grab onto it. "Dinner is ready, and we're eating outside. because Mom said so" Charles guided you into the kitchen area and onto the patio where you let a grasp from how pretty it looked outside, food everywhere on the table and lights hang from the ceiling. while soft but barely noticeable music playing in the background.

"oh my God this is beautiful mrs-leclerc" Charles and Arthur chuckled to themselves as they saw the way you looked so amazed by the setting outside. "oh darling, you're so sweet" you took your seat beside Charles and watched as mrs-leclerc cleared her throat making everybody go quiet "so tonight we have a very special someone here" she looked at you and gave you a bright smile. From underneath the table Charles grabbed onto your hand and held it tightly.

you felt nervous for some reason as soon as Charles grabbed onto your hand but you pushed them aside and continued looking at mrs-leclerc "I wanna thank you, honey for not only being such a sweetheart to my son, but also to this family" you felt tears blurry your vision from her words, words that you had never been told before. "And I know honey, although you never told us the reason why, I know you hate this. But you're only here for one more day until you kiddos leave and go to wherever my son's next race is at" you all laughed at her joke and for once you felt actually happy and smiling, ignoring the tears tho.

"now I'm gonna bring something out, but we're not going to sing the song. Just gonna bring it out and you can do as you please" you looked at Charles confused, but the look on his face showed nothing but nervousness and that made you panic on the inside. As mrs-leclerc walled inside the house Charles turned and looked at you "I loved you with all my heart and I want you to know that even if you think you don't have someone to treat you like a daughter or sister to them. you have us, all of us." And with that he covered your eyes with his hands and you felt like throwing up from anxiety and nervousness that took over your body.

silence was all that you heard, only thing you could hear was your own heartbeat beating fast in your chest. your leg bounced as more and more seconds passed of pure silence and you placed your hand on Charles's getting ready to remove it "Charles what's happening" he still didn't remove his hand, only leaned in and whispered "just wait love." He gave you a kiss to the side of your head and finally dropped his hands from your eyes. You blinked a few times adjusting to the brightness when you could see correctly, you saw mrs-leclerc sitting across from you with a cake in front of her.

"oh" was all you could say in that moment. today was September first, your birthday. you had completely forgotten about that until this very moment. "honey if you want me to take the cake back inside that's fine. we can just forget this moment even happened and go back to eating" she told you while leaning over the table and grabbing your hand softly. you felt tears blurry your vision and Charles rubbed your back in comfort. this was something you always wanted, even if it wasn't with your own parents or brothers. you took in a deep breath and relaxed yourself, drying off the tears from your face. you faced her and finally nodded your head.

"it's okay" it was an simple answer, sure. but they knew how hard it was for you to stare at the birthday cake that sat in front of your eyes and not have your own family song or gave you gifts. "We can sing the song or" Arthur jokingly asked from beside you causing you to chuckle through the tears. the song were you ready for that, probably not, but in the moment being surrounded by a family who was more than welling to surprise you with such a meaningful moment for you. "Yeah it's fine. you can sing Happy birthday" you laughed and looked at Arthur who looked shocked at your own words, but he got up in a rush almost knocking stuff over and ran to stand by his mom, who also stood up from her seat.

Charles want to stand up as well but you grabbed onto his hand "stay beside me please" you whispered softly and he understood. Mrs-leclerc lit the candles on the cake and sent you a bright smile. before opening her mouth and singing the birthday song, both brothers following their mom and also singing the song.

In that moment everything froze in your eyes. the family who wasn't your family stood in front of you doing something that your own family couldn't do and this time there wasn't any screaming, cussing or people blaming you for stupid shit in the background. but regardless of that, they still loved and treated you like family by doing something so meaningful and personal to you, they didn't make fun of you or laugh at you like some other people did. no they simply understood you and didn't force you to celebrate your birthday, until this very moment. Tears fell down your cheek as you sat there in the chair feeling like a little kid again where you got to celebrate your birthday one time.

And soon everything stopped no voices could be heard, you wiped the tears off your face and leaned forward to blow out the candles. Charles pulled you into his side while giving you light kisses, both Arthur and mrs-leclerc could be heard cheering and laughing excitement taking over their body as well. "thank you guys so much. you don't how much this means to me" you told them tears welling up in your eyes again.

"don't worry about it sweetheart. you have us to celebrate your birthday with" you smiled at her words and looked at Arthur who looked at the cake almost drooling over it. you laughed at him and picked up the knife "okay first piece is for Arthur because he's already drooling on the cake" you joked and they laughed at the youngest boy who pouted.

A/n: clearing out my drafts sorry for the mess that is this fic.

[bloodhoundluke]

birthday shenanigans ✧ luke hemmings

description: it's luke's 26th birthday and you are trying to make it a memorable one.

pairing: gf!reader x luke hemmings

warnings: alcohol consumption, SO much fluff it's kinda embarrassing, very slight smut (let me know if there's anything else).

word count: 2,1k.

a/:n: if there are any mistakes (e.g. grammar), please do let me know :) this has been on my drafts for a few weeks and i thought i'd share it with the internet. writing this definitely deepened my attraction towards luke, lol.

not my original gifs. og gifs 1-3, 5: kaleidoscopeminds (tumblr) & og gif 4: bettermcm (tumblr)

It's Luke's birthday and you surprise him with a morning kiss on his forehead and his favorite coffee. You spend a peaceful morning together, cuddling and talking. "Happy birthday, Lulu", you hum as he grins back and thanks you, showering you in kisses.

"Stay with me. for a while longer, please? It's my birthday, isn't it?", he smirks at you. "Oh, alright then, you brat", you laugh and get back to bed, him instantly wrapping you back in his arms. It was no secret physical touch is Luke's primary love language, and oh boy, he makes you feel so wanted.

After about an hour, you make him breakfast: pancakes with blueberries and maple syrup, as well as a second cup of coffee. You eat together and spend the next few hours walking Petunia, relaxing together on the sofa, and getting ready for lunch.

You two were walking hand in hand to the place where you were supposed to eat lunch at. It was one of Luke's favorite restaurants. Luke didn't know that you had planned a lunch with the boys and Luke's mum, Liz. He hadn't seen her in ages, so when he realized it was his mum sitting at the table, he freaked out, looked at you in admiration and eagerly went to hug her tightly. "Thank you", he whispered into your ear and kissed your temple. You were happy with the fact that Luke wasn't afraid to show physical affection towards you in front of his friends and family.

"Okay, I promised myself I wouldn't do a toast, but actually, I want to. Happy 26th birthday Luke. I am so glad our paths crossed, and that I get to call you my partner. I am so incredibly proud of you. Of everything you've done, and will do. You're an incredible human being. I can't describe how lucky you make me feel. You're a ray of sunshine, I mean it. I love you so, so, so much. So, let's raise a toast to the one and only, living legend, Luke Robert Hemmings!", you giggled. Luke sat beside you, rolled his eyes jokingly, and smiled widely at you. He couldn't believe you actually made a speech - nevertheless, he was proud and taken aback by every word you said.

After lunch, you and Luke headed back to the house that you recently bought together. Petunia waited eagerly for you two and you gave her and Luke some time together, just to check everything was alright with the gift you had bought for Luke. It was quite perfectly wrapped; it was a 'Take Off Your Pants And Jacket' vinyl by Blink-182. You had gone through his vinyl collection just in case he had that one already; he didn't. The best part of the gift was that through your family connections, you had managed to get signatures on it from the members: Mark Hoppus, Tom Delonge and Travis Barker. Barker had even written 'happy birthday luke! have a great one xx - travis' on it. You hoped Luke would like it; and he loved it. "What the hell did I do to deserve you?", he closed you in his warm embrace and you tiptoed to kiss his forehead.

You and Luke made your way to the venue since the boys were having a show tonight. Luke drove with his hand on your thigh almost for the whole journey, only taking his hand away when he needed it for driving. You sang to your favorite music: Green Day, The Good Charlotte, and of course, 5 Seconds Of Summer. You insisted to listen to his solo music, and after a few minutes of convincing, he gave in. "Lu, you sure know how to sing...but have you ever considered that you'd be a great professional toucher?", your sassy remark made Luke giggle; you loved to tease him about how touchy he was towards you. "Geez, here we go again", he commented, laughed and parked the car.

You arrived at the venue and made your way to backstage. After a while of hanging out with the boys, they left to do the sound check. After they were through with that, they came backstage where you were sitting on the couch with your phone in your hand, scrolling through Instagram. You showed Luke some of the birthday posts the fans had made for him, which made him giggle and blush slightly, even though he didn't want to admit it. Luke praised the gift you had gotten him to Calum, Michael and Ashton. They were impressed and praised you as well.

Luke wanted to have an ice-cold bath and convinced you to join him. After a while, you went along with him just wearing his ac/dc t-shirt he had on earlier. It was Luke's birthday after all; anything for the birthday boy, you told yourself. "How the fuck do you do this before shows?", you questioned him while you felt like your teeth would fall off since the water was freezing. "Got used to it, I guess", he shrugged his shoulders and threw some water at you. "Hey! Stop it", you pouted and did the same to him, which lead you two to have a water fight. After splashing water at each other, you made your way towards him. He wrapped you in his arms and you shared a few gentle kisses. "I love you even though you make me join you in freezing cold baths", you petted his cheek with your index finger. "That's so cheesy, y/n. but what I am about to tell you is even cheesier...I'll love you until I take my last breath. I love to love you, it's ridiculous", he responded and admired you with his eyes. To him, being with you made the world make sense, and that feeling still sometimes scared him even though you had been dating for a few years now.

After the bath, you both hopped out of the tub. Luke changed into his show attire. Since you had hopped into the bath with just Luke's shirt on, you just changed the clothes you had on before.

Luke wanted to put on some glitter eyeshadow. You noticed he was struggling with that, so you decided to help him. "I should hire you as my makeup artist, mmh?", he mumbled and kissed your chin. "Hey! I am trying to concentrate here, Mr. Hemmings. Keep your mouth all to yourself, please and thank you", you kept on adding the eyeshadow to the inner corners of his eyes. "Oh, really? Are you sure you want that?", he smirked at you. "Okay, I am done now, so the answer is no", you placed the makeup brush aside and sat in his lap. Your lips melted into his and he deepened the kiss, slipping his tongue into your mouth ever so slightly.

"Okay, lovebirds, we get that you are in love and that's adorable, but no pg stuff here, please", Calum snorted at you two all while you were sitting in Luke's lap and his lips had moved to kiss your neck. "Oh shit, sorry Cal!", he giggled. Calum exited the room. You and Luke decided to postpone the activities you both had in mind, and join wherever the boys were at.

Backstage, you, Luke, Calum, Ashton and Michael jammed to music, drank a few drinks, and hung out before the show. You perfected your make-up and hair. When Crystal arrived, you caught up with her. Crystal had picked up some takeaway on her way for the whole gang and so you all ate Chinese takeaway before the show.

Luke was having an outfit crisis, so you picked up a gorgeous blouse from the clothing rack and handed it to him, helping him to button the sleeves since he was basically just cursing while attempting to do it himself. Before the show, you wished Luke good luck and he smiled at you, thanking you. He was already out of the door, but made his way back to you just to kiss you. "Jeez, almost forgot", he giggled his slightly drunken giggle. "C'mon now silly, don't be late!", you laughed at him. As you stared at his receding back, you thought of how you couldn't believe this was your life; loving Luke was definitely the highlight of your every morning and night.

You and Crystal watched the show and danced along to the songs like there was no tomorrow. Watching your boyfriend perform was one of your favorite things; if there was one person that was born to be a performer, it was Luke. You could have never believed before tonight that he would talk about you publicly for as long as he did tonight. You both had agreed that you wanted to keep your relationship very private. He flattered you with compliments, calling you 'my love' and 'my gorgeous gorgeous girlfriend'. He even told the crowd what you got for his birthday, making the fans go 'aww'. "Yeah, I know right? She's such a simp", he giggled. You loved how he showed off his silly persona on stage.

"But anyways, been rambling for far too long...I wanted to say just one more thing about (y/n). She means the world to me, and I hope that with this next song I can prove that. This is Best Years". you tried to hold it all in, but you couldn't help the tears escaping your eyes when he started to sing. Crystal hugged you and you caught Luke looking at you in the crowd. He mouthed a quick 'I love you' and you did the same, making him flash off his perfect smile. After years of being together, Luke still made your heart flutter; as you did the same to him.

After the show, you drove home since you had been consuming non-alcoholic drinks all night. Since Luke was having an early morning tomorrow, he didn't want to stay up partying. He was slightly bummed that it was his birthday and he didn't get to celebrate the way he wanted to. Luckily for him, you had arranged a surprise birthday party for him with the boys and other friends next weekend. "I liked your little speech on stage", you commented while driving through the LA traffic. "Really? D'you think it was too much? Too cheesy?", he questioned you and continues on quietly humming along to whatever music you were listening to. "No, not at all. It was cute. Don't worry, birthday boy", you beamed and as your left hand was on the steering wheel, he took the right one in his hand and pressed a gentle kiss to the palm of your hand. "Good".

Finally, you arrived home. You had gotten Petunia a dog sitter, so you didn't have to worry about taking her on walk. The pupper was laying on her bed in the living room and waggled her tail when you two came home. Luke and you gave her some love and affection until he basically dragged you to bed. Your fingers traced his golden locks as he went through Twitter to answer to some birthday messages. You gave him a quick peck on the cheek and disappeared into the bathroom to do your skincare routine and brush your teeth. Like many times before, Luke insisted on doing his skincare at the same time as you. He loved such simple and domestic things you did together; even if they were done in utter silence.

The day was coming to an end and after taking off your clothes you both crashed into bed together. This was how you usually slept; with nothing on. It was normal for you and it felt more comfortable to lay under the cozy white sheets. After cuddling for a while, you decided to take the matter into your own hands and sat on top of Luke's waist. The day came to a perfect end: you both gave each other what you had been craving the whole day.

"Luke?", you whispered since you weren't so sure if he was awake anymore. ""Hhmm?", he hummed back and changed his position in the bed, now facing you in the dark. "Did you have a good day?", you smiled even though he couldn't see it. "I had the best day, thanks to you. I appreciate you so much. You make me feel so special, and I love you...more than I can ever put it into words".

© 2022 bloodhoundluke.

[pancakes4two]

ANYWHERE WITH YOU - THREE

NAVIGATION | MASTERLIST | TALK TO ME

⭐️ NEXT CHAPTER ⭐️

wc: ~2.3k

warnings: none! but strap yourself in because things will start getting angsty sooooooon

preview: You swallow, wondering if it’s right for you to feel sick at those articles. If it even makes sense for you to get angry at these tabloids for speculating about your best friend’s relationship. It feels like it should, when he’s sitting at your dining room table, laying his most vulnerable thoughts out onto notebook pages in front of you. When he comes home to you every evening, takes over your kitchen and leaves it messy after he’s made dinner. 

When he’s the last person you say goodnight to before falling asleep.

✽ ✽ ✽

Ironically enough, the first hobby that you and Harry genuinely end up enjoying together is singing. It starts when Harry gets a karaoke machine for his tenth birthday from Gemma, who’d saved up from her first job to buy it, hoping that it might free her from having to deal with him obnoxiously singing in the car or while showering. Her logic was that if he spent enough time singing alone in his room, it’d wear down his voice enough that he’d be silent once he was in her presence. Prior to that, the two of you had tried to get into everything—football, ice skating, art, you name it—but nothing had really stuck. Your days on the neighbourhood football league ended after Harry took a ball straight to the face, though your hearts weren’t in the sport long before his injury. You were much better at the game than Harry, who would constantly trip over his own legs like Bambi, so you found that you couldn’t quite enjoy a hobby that seemed to bring your best friend so much grief. The same happened with ice-skating, except the other way around: Harry quickly grew tired of it after you failed to advance past the basic level of your local rink’s skating program. He’d remarked that skating was no fun if the two of you couldn’t do it together; there was no point in him gliding across the ice if you weren’t right there beside him. Art, however, you gave up for a simpler reason: both of you couldn’t resist spending the whole of your art lessons drawing ugly caricatures of each other, and at some point the badly-drawn portraits had crossed a line and become an outlet for you to insult each other. Your mums had to put a stop to it, for the sake of your friendship.

But singing was different. You had always been a relatively shy kid, but Harry was boisterous from the day he first met you, and you’d always known him to be musically-inclined. In the three years since you first met, you can recall countless times you’d joined their family on weekend trips or even just drives into the city. Any time you were in a car with Harry, he’d always be singing along to the radio: which, more often than not, was blasting an old Beatles record, or playing Shania Twain on loop. Harry always sang the loudest in your school’s choir class, and he did an insanely good Elvis impression. You could tell he loved music—you saw it in the way his eyes would always light up when Robin would put a new tape in the car, the way his tiny hands would slap the leather seats, chasing the rhythm of every song that came through the speakers. It was really a no-brainer that singing ended up being the hobby for the two of you. You were more than happy to accompany Harry as he explored something that brought him so much joy, and you know he would’ve done the same for you. 

In fact, Harry had told you years later that he’d been so excited to show the karaoke machine to you, he had a foot out the door and was racing to your house before he’d even had a chance to finish unwrapping it. You weren’t surprised at that—at ten years old, the two of you had become practically inseparable. Your families and teachers loved to joke about how you and Harry were a package deal, rarely found apart from one another. You were attached at the hip: you spent so much time together that people genuinely found it weird when one of you was found without the other. You remember your mum telling you that she’d found you playing in the backyard by yourself once, and seeing you without your best friend threw her off so much she had to call your dad over and make sure she wasn’t hallucinating. It turned out she wasn't—Harry had just been away at a doctor’s appointment that afternoon. Primary school passes by just like that: the two of you spending every minute you possibly could together, hauling the karaoke machine back-and-forth between your houses, duetting The Girl of My Best Friend every night until your throats started to hurt and your parents complained of migraines. 

It was you and him against the world.

✽ ✽ ✽

You wake up on Saturday morning to Harry belly-flopping onto your bed, coffee and phone in hand as he aggressively startles you awake. You rub the sleep out of your eyes, squinting at Harry’s figure as he shifts onto his side, propping his head up with his hand and smiling at you mischievously. 

“Did you forget that you have a bed of your own in the other room?” You say groggily, reaching over Harry. You feel blindly for your phone on your bedside table, unplugging it from its charger cord. You tap the screen to check the time: it’s 7:20 AM. On a Saturday. And for some godforsaken reason, you’re awake because of Harry.

“I know, but I have a radio interview in five minutes,” Harry says casually, taking a sip out of his mug. You tell him that if he gets even a drop onto your bed, he’s buying you new sheets. “And I wanna do it here. With you.”

“Why?” You groan, “I was sleeping so peacefully until you barged in here.”

“Aww, were you dreaming of me?” Harry coos, tapping the tip of your nose. You grab his wrist and shove his hand away. “I haven’t done one of these interviews in a while. I need your moral support.”

“You really expect me to believe that? You’ve been in this industry for a decade and you need my moral support for a 5-minute–” you begin to say, before Harry cuts you off.

“Whoops, too late, they’re calling now,” He smiles, accepting the call on his phone and placing it on speaker. You roll your eyes and disappear under the covers, bringing your hand out from below the sheets just to give him the finger.

You’re met with an insanely loud, radio-presenter voice. “Good morning, Harry! I’m Pete from SiriusXM. It’s so great of you to join us here this morning, you’re on the air right now so feel free to say hi!”

Harry clears his throat. “Hi everyone, good morning. Glad to join you via phone call.”

You emerge from your covers just to shove him in the chest, letting him know how corny his response was. Harry turns to you and mouths a silent What? before Pete is interrupting again with a question. You’re about to get annoyed at him for getting in the way of your banter with Harry, before you realize he’s literally just doing his job.

“So, tell us how you’ve been, man. You’ve been on break for a bit, coming off of a huge U.S. tour.”

“I’ve been good, yeah, thanks for asking. Getting some much-needed rest, spending time with family. The tour was amazing, but I’m glad I can slow down now and spend time with people I love.” He looks at you during that last statement, his expression unreadable even to you.

“So happy to hear that. Speaking of tour, I wanted to ask, how was that for ya? Your last record was so successful, I imagine getting to tour that was a whole new experience. I’ve seen so many videos online of you performing, and it seems like everyone in the arena knows every single word to your songs. That must be an amazing feeling, getting to hear so many people sing along to your writing.”

“Definitely,” Harry agrees, “I think I’m very lucky to have fans who are so emotionally generous like that. They’re never afraid to sing their hearts out, and I’m happy I’ve curated a space where they feel free enough to do that. And the same goes for me too, I feel so loved whenever I’m up on the stage, and I have the fans to thank for that.”

“What a beautiful compliment,” Pete says, and Harry laughs into his phone. He kicks at your feet when you start to silently mock his laugh.

“I gotta ask, too, we saw a bunch of clips of your family coming to join you on tour. What’s that like? Looking out at this crowd of 20,000 people and seeing the people who raised you standing among them?”

“Hmm, good question, Pete,” Harry says, wagging his finger at his phone as if his voice wasn’t the only thing being recorded. “Obviously, I’m incredibly grateful that my family and those around me have always supported me in whatever it is I do. I’m not sure how to describe how seeing them in the audience makes me feel, that’s a hard one. Although, I will tell you I do get more nervous seeing them there—I’m quite clumsy on stage, so if I know my sister or Y-”

He starts to say your name, and then catches himself. “If I know my sister or mum are going to be at a show, I’ll be extra careful not to trip over my own feet. Otherwise I’ll never hear the end of it from them.”

That conjures a particularly fond memory in your head of an old One Direction show that you’d attended in Manchester. Harry had gotten too excited on stage, probably trying to show off in front of the massive group of old secondary school friends he’d invited to the show that night, and tripped over a microphone cord as a result. He was unable to catch himself before he went down, making a spectacular fall on stage that was looped endlessly on Vine and gif’d to death on Twitter. If you remember correctly, James Corden had also teased him for it on an episode of the Late Late Show. By the looks of it, Harry’s thinking about this moment too. You can tell by the way he glared at you when he said: I’ll never hear the end of it from them. That statement was pointed, directed towards you for certain. You’d teased him relentlessly after he fell at that One Direction gig, printing out tiny pictures of the fall and passing them out to all his relatives for them to keep in their wallets. You and Gemma still bring it up every birthday. He’ll probably never live it down.

“That’s hilarious. Listen, before I let you go, we have to know. Will we be hearing any new music from you soon?”

“You’re trying to get me to spill the inside scoop!” Harry jokes, “Maybe. I can’t promise a date, but I have been writing recently.”

“Have you, though?” You say out loud, forgetting momentarily that Harry was still on-air. You slap a hand over your mouth when you realize what you just did, Harry staring at you with wide eyes. 

Pete, bless his heart, like the professional he is, moves on and does not acknowledge your voice at all. “Well, all the best with your writing. I think I can speak on behalf of everyone when I say we’re all eagerly waiting for your next album.”

“I appreciate that,” Harry says, recovering from your slip-up quickly, “Thanks for the chat. Hope we’ll get to speak again soon.”

“For sure, for sure. Talk to you soon, man.”

The line disconnects them, and you bury your face into your hands, groaning loudly. “Oh my God. I don’t know why I did that. I’m so sorry.”

“What?” Harry says, gently prying your hands away from your face, “Don’t apologize. You have nothing to apologize for. It was a simple mistake. I’m not mad. Plus, my phone might’ve not picked up on it. Pete didn’t say anything about it.”

“He was just being professional,” you sigh, thankful for Harry’s calm demeanor. “Ugh. At least it wasn’t on video. I can’t believe I slipped up like that.”

“It’s fine, really, Y/N. Come on, let me make you some toast,” Harry assures you, rubbing circles on your back. He gets up from your bed, walks over to your side and offers you a hand to help you up. A faraway thought tells you that best friends probably don’t do this: take work calls in each others’ beds and then get up for breakfast like everything is normal.

True to his word, Harry ends up making you breakfast. He presents it to you while you’re sitting on one of your kitchen stools, ruminating on your dumb mistake. It’s french toast, but he’s cut up slices of strawberry and arranged them into a smiley face because he knows you were upset about what happened on the radio. He knows you infuriatingly well.

A news article pops up on your Instagram feed the next day, the headline: Moved In Together? Female Voice In Harry Styles Interview, Fans Speculate It’s Camille Rowe. Because, right, you forgot Harry’d been dating that model recently. You swipe away from Instagram, closing the app, and look at Harry. He’s sitting at your dining table, mouth scrunched up as he taps a pen against his head, thinking of lyrics to write down in his notebook. It’s late afternoon, the sun’s coming in from every window in your apartment, light spilling all over everything in the room. It paints his lashes golden and brushes over his skin. A notification sounds from your phone, then: From People Magazine, it reads, It’s Getting Serious: We’re Convinced Harry Styles & Camille Rowe Are Living Together. You swallow, wondering if it’s right for you to feel sick at those articles. If it even makes sense for you to get angry at these tabloids for speculating about your best friend’s relationship. It feels like it should, when he’s sitting at your dining room table, laying his most vulnerable thoughts out onto notebook pages in front of you. When he comes home to you every evening, takes over your kitchen and leaves it messy after he’s made dinner.

When he’s the last person you say goodnight to before falling asleep.

✽ ✽ ✽

a/n: up to chapter three! hope you all have been enjoying so far. as always please please let me know what you think! i love hearing feedback!

might be a lil bit before chapter four, i have a busy week ahead but i promise it will be out ASAP!

taglist (message me to be added!): @daydreamingofmatilda @onceuponahuntersrealm @tenaciousperfectionunknown @grapejuice-rry @b-reads-things

[forever-rogue]

Surprises

AN | I love post-DEA-he’s got everything he deserves-Javi. Can be read as a stand alone or part of the ‘verse!❤️

Summary | It’s Javi’s birthday and you have a few surprises for him.

Pairing | Javier x Fem!Reader 

Warnings | Language, mentions of sex [birthday sex 😏], discussions of children

Word Count | 3.6k

Masterlist | Main, Javier, A Good Man ‘Verse

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

“Javi,” your voice was soft and distant, managing to put a smile on his face despite the fact that he was still mostly asleep. He felt your hand gently brush a few rogue curls off his forehead before you ghosted your fingers along his jaw. You pressed a featherlight kiss to his cheek, nuzzling your nose against his, “Javier…”

He made a small sound in the back of his throat before burrowing further into his pillow, trying to remain as warm and comfy as he could. You laughed, a sound that always went straight to his heart and made him feel like he could die of happiness, “happy birthday, mi cielo.”

You crawled back under the covers and snuggled up to him, deciding to let him rest instead of forcing him to get up. It was his day after all. Javier draped his arm around your waist, pulling you as close into his chest as possible before placing a sleepy kiss to the crown of your head. 

“Happy birthday to you, happy birthday to you,” you sang softly as his heart softened, “happiest of birthdays, Javi. I love you more than you could ever know.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

The next time Javier woke up, it was to little giggles and a light tugging on his hand. 

“Daddy,” despite the fact that you’d asked her not to wake him up, she couldn’t help herself. She was undoubtedly her father’s daughter. When he didn’t respond, now wide awake but keeping his eyes shut as a smile stretched across his features, she started tugging on the blankets, “daddy, wake up!”

“You little monster,” he leaned over and easily picked her up, setting her on the bed next to him. She was giggling wildly as she thrashed around as he tickled her, “you absolute little monster - what are you doing waking me up, hmm?”

“Mamá said to-”

“I’m positive your mamá said not to wake me up,” he raised an eyebrow as she grinned sheepishly, displaying her gap-toothed little smile before pulling the covers over her head, “that’s what I thought, little Lucitia.”

“Happy birthday daddy,” she threw herself into his arms, snuggling into his chest and he held her tightly, “you’re old now!”

“Aye, callaté princesa," he laughed as he tickled her sides, "you'll be this age one day!"

"No," she insisted firmly, reminding him so much of you, "I'm going to be a kid forever. I don't want to grow up."

"Lucia Peña," you poked your head into the bedroom and sighed lightly when you spotted her, "I thought I told you to leave your papá alone?"

"Sorry," she grinned as she jumped from his lap and darted past you, "I gotta finish my present!"

"That's your daughter. All yours, I do not claim her at all!" you joked, stepping into the room, sitting down on the edge of the bed where he had made room for you. You reached for his hand, lacing your fingers together, "happy birthday, Javier."

"Thank you," he leaned in and kissed you, marveling at how sweet you always tasted, "I love you."

"I love you too," you promised, "sorry about her, I wanted you to be able to sleep in."

"There's no better way to wake up than one of you," he smiled lightly, "I'm assuming you've been busy by the sound and taste of it."

"Breakfast is almost done," you admitted, "we - well I - made all of your favorites. You'll be stuffed for days. But save some room because we're going to the ranch later."

"Which means Pops planned a whole party," he hung his head but still managed to laugh. As much as he pretended he didn't like all the attention, he did love getting to be with his family.

"Or maybe I did," you put your finger under his chin so he was looking at you, "I have a couple of surprises for you, amor."

"You didn't have to get me anything."

"Well…the one just sort of happened," you shrugged innocently, "the rest was planned and I am so excited to tell you."

"You're too good for me, Dulzura."

"As if. I’m only keeping you around to help with the monsters," you laughed before playfully swatted at his chest, "go on and shower and get ready. I could give you one of the surprises now, but I think it'll be better later tonight."

"What is it…oh," he smirked as you shot him a cheeky wink, “birthday sex is some of best sex.”

“Javi!” you chided as your face flushed with warmth and you made sure none of the kids were listening, “that maybe so because I’m pretty that’s when Santi and Thea happened. Anyways, amor, you’ll get plenty later-”

“You’re telling me this now and going to make me wait,” he huffed lightly, “baby…”

“You really want to try and have sex with four kids that could barge in any moment?” you asked as he dramatically sighed and shook his head, “like I said, I have some plans, cariño. Now go and get dressed.”

“You’re going to be the death of me,” he got out of bed to head to the shower but not before smacking your bum, which caused you to giggle in surprise, “that’s what you get!” 

“Dramatic,” you laughed, “hey - your first present is on the counter. Open it when you’re ready.”

“When will I be ready?”

“You’ll know, baby,” you promised softly, carding your hand through his dark locks, “you’ll know.”

Javier raised an eyebrow before making his way into the bathroom where he found that you’d laid out some clean clothes and a fresh, fluffy towel for him. At the end of the counter he found a slender blue box, all wrapped with a pretty silver bow. He skimmed his fingers over it, unsure if he was ready to open it just yet. Instead, he turned on the shower and let it warm up before getting inside. 

He’d taken his time to shower and get ready and dressed, his anticipation slowly growing with each passing second. He took the box with him as he walked back into the bedroom and sat at the edge of the bed. He could wait, he supposed, open it at the end of the night and make it that much sweeter. But he couldn’t wait, not now when his curiosity was piqued. 

Shucking off the bow, he set it aside and slowly, gently, took the lids of the box. His breath hitched in his throat when he saw the positive pregnancy test . His brows knitted together in surprise as he tried to figure out what it meant - well, he knew what it meant, but what it really meant.  He opened and closed his mouth a few times before he looked when he heard you pad into the room. 

“Amor,” you called to him, “breakfast is ready. Oh, I see curiosity got the better of you already. No patience, señor Peña, none at all.”

“What is this?” he asked as he looked between you and the box as you laughed lightly, moving to sit next to him on the bed. 

“I thought that you would know what that is by this point,” you brushed some of his damp curls off his face before pressing a kiss to his cheek, “a pregnancy test. You’ve seen plenty of those by now.”

“I…is this from…Diego?” he asked softly as you shook your head, “Lucia? Santi and Thea?”

“No,” you sounded the word out slowly, “I’m sentimental but I didn’t keep any of those tests.”

“So this is new?”

“Yes -  well, newish,” you promised softly, “it’s from about two weeks ago, Javier. I think you can put the pieces together.”

“Pregnant?” he breathed, the single word a mixture of excitement and nerves and a million other emotions at once, “Dulzura…you’re pregnant? Like…pregnant?”

“Yes,” you whispered, amused by the expression on his face. This was a man rendered shell-shocked, “I’m pregnant-pregnant, Javier. I was just as surprised as you but I was getting all the usual symptoms and decided to check. And voila - knocked up again. I swear to God this is the last time because five is going to be more than enough. I don’t even know how we’re still alive at this point.”

“Pregnant,” he repeated, “wow. But…how?”

“S-e-x,” you teased softly, “sex. You know, the thing you’re fucking amazing at and that we do a lot?”

“But you’re…on the pill?” he asked as you nodded, not wanting him to get the impression that you’d somehow done this on purpose.

“I was,” you promised, “but umm, apparently it’s not as effective when you’re a fool like me and sometimes don’t take it at the same time every day and occasionally forget it and then double up and yeah. It’s totally my fault for not being more careful and being a scatterbrain. Javier, I’m…sorry. I didn’t do it purposely, I hope you know I would never do that without asking you. If you…if you don’t want this, I can…we can…it’s still early enough for me to have an-”

“No,” he turned to face, his hands cradling your face before he kissed you, “no, I want this too. I promised I’d give you as many babies as you wanted. I meant it then and I mean it now.”

“Yeah?” you asked softly, eyes already brimming with tears. He nodded before wiping away the few tears that had pearled up and ran down your cheek, “oh, Javier. I’m nervous, so nervous. I feel like the ones we have are already so much and to add in a new baby…”

“We’ll make it work,” you could feel him smiling against your lips, “we always do. I…fuck, I love you so much.”

“I love you too,” you breathed a sigh of relief now that it was all out in the open, “you and Lucia, Diego, Santi, Thea, and the new baby.”

“I’ll get a vasectomy,” he blurted out as you both laughed but at the same time he was more than serious, “it’s easier for me to do that than have you deal with all the birth control and all the shit it does to your body. And we won’t have any more surprises. Besides, I’m not getting any younger and I’m sure the little monsters are responsible for the grays.”

“I’m not getting any younger either,” you reminded him, “but you are getting sexier. I like the grays, baby. You’re such a DILF.”

“DILF?”

“Dad I’d like to fuck,” you whispered in his ear as a flush of warmth rose up in his cheeks, “and I look forward to fucking you later.”

“Fuck me-”

“That’s the plan,” you winked as you stood up, “come on, baby. Let’s have breakfast, we should get to the ranch soon.”

─── ･ ｡ﾟ☆: *.☽ .* :☆ﾟ. ───

Javier’s face was flushed a deep pink as everyone around him sang happy birthday, mostly loudly and off key, at him. He was a grown man and it still made him nervous and awkward; what were you even supposed to do? Make prolonged eye contact with someone, stare at the cake, close your eyes and make a wish? Well, he supposed, there was nothing he could have wished for anyways because he already had everything he could have wanted.

He let out a small sigh of relief when the song ended and everyone clapped, and he moved to blow out the candles on the delicious looking birthday cake that you’d ordered from his favorite bakery. You were at his side, chatting away with one of his cousins as he cast a longing little look your way. You turned your attention back to him, finding him watching you and winked. He felt like he hadn’t even had a moment with you since you’d gotten his father’s ranch; you and Chucho really had invited what appeared to be half his family and a load of friends. 

“Thank you all so much for coming,” he grinned, starting to pull the candles off so everyone could get some cake, “as we can all see Pops and my wife went way over the top and outdid themselves. Please eat some cake so we don’t take it all home because I have zero self control!”

Between keeping an eye on the kids and going around to socialize with everyone, you’d barely gotten to see Javi, but you had his next little surprise tucked away in the house. You were so excited to give it to him and to see his reaction. 

“Beer? Wine? Champagne?” The question caught you so off guard that you just blinked at Chucho in surprise, “haven’t seen you relax with a drink all evening and you deserve it - especially for long you’ve been putting up with my son.”

“He’s been putting up with me just as long,” you grinned, “it’s been almost ten years. Can you believe it?”

“All the more reason to celebrate,” he insisted, as you tried to keep a neutral expression on your face, “mija? Is everything alright?”

“I, ugh…I can’t drink right now,” you admitted quietly, worrying your bottom lip as you glanced at him. His face had practically lit up as he realized exactly what you meant, “I just told Javi today, so no one else knows. So consider this our little secret.”

“Congratulations,” he pulled you into a tight hug. You knew he loved his children to death and he was more than willing to take as many as he could get, “another one, I can’t believe it.”

“Neither could I,” you laughed, unaware that Javier was watching you from across the yard, only half paying attention to the conversation he was in, “especially after Santi and Thea…I just - it hadn’t crossed my mind that we’d have another one or that I could. It was so hard to get pregnant with them and they were planned…unlike the rest of them. But this is the last one, I swear.”

“I’ll be more than happy to babysit,” he promised, “have you told him about his big surprise?”

“Not yet. I was actually thinking the time was just right-”

“Right for what exactly?” Javier had managed to sneak up and catch you unawares, wrapping an around your waist before resting his chin on your shoulder, “more surprises, Dulzura?”

“I already told you that,” you turned your head and pressed a kiss to his cheek, “come on then, nosey. I’ll show you what it is.”

You took his hand and started to pull himself inside. Once you were in the cool relief of the house, you led him to the kitchen, taking the present you had stashed in the utensil drawer. Hopping onto the counter, you motioned for him to come close before handing him an identical box to the one from this morning.

“Just what are you up to?” he raised an eyebrow as you shrugged innocently, “I should keep a closer eye on you, sneaky little thing.”

“Open it,” you insisted, “and tell me you don’t love me after that.”

He made a small sound of amusement before removing the lid and pulling out the contents of the box. Inside you had placed 2 plane tickets for Spain, set to leave the following weekend. He studied the tickets intently, almost as if he didn’t believe it was true. He opened and closed his mouth a few times before looking at you with wide, excited eyes.

“Feliz cumpleaños, mi amor,” before you could say anything else, he leaned in and kissed you, letting his lips linger against yours, “do you…like it?”

“Do I like it?” he laughed as he brushed his nose against yours, “I love it. Are we…just us?”

“Yes,” you promised excitedly, “Chucho and the tías are going to watch all four of them - can you believe it - for two weeks while we’re gone! It’s going to be just us. Well, us and our unplanned surprise.”

“That’s amazing. I…thank you.”

“There’s nothing to thank me for, amor. You said you’ve always wanted to go,” you carded a hand through his hair, resting it at the back of his neck before kissing him, “and I thought this would be perfect. And, I suppose it’s also a little selfish, but it’s also our tenth anniversary and I kind of want you all to myself.”

“You didn’t really think I’d forget that, did you?” he teased as his hands found purchase on your waist and he stepped in between your legs. You shrugged before tilting and grinning at him, “of course I didn’t. How could I ever forget the day I married you?”

“I am pretty unforgettable huh, Professor?” you paused for a moment before delicately stroking his cheek, “we never got a honeymoon since we basically eloped so maybe this will make up for that. I’ve got it all planned, Javi, so many things we’re going to do and see and I can’t wait to be alone with you again. No kids - still love them - but just you.”

“Fuck,” he shook his head in almost disbelief at how everything in his life had fallen into place, “I’m so in love with you.”

“Still?”

“Always,” he promised. He paused for a moment, seemingly thinking about something before he held up his finger and took a step back, “stay here for a moment, Dulzura.”

“Javi-”

“For once in your life, listen to me, si?”

“Only because it’s your birthday!” he practically ran out of the room as you just sat there, lightly swinging your legs back and forth. You could hear him rustling for something, wondering what he could possibly be up to - you were supposed to be the one with the surprises after all, “Javier?”

“Stay,” he insisted as you held up your hands in mock surrender, “close those pretty eyes for me.”

“I thought birthday sex was later-”

“Dirty girl,” he was in front of you again, his warm, delicious smell making you sigh happily, “I know it’s a little early but I have something for you.”

“Javi! It’s your birthday!”

“I know,” he just knew he had a smile on his face, “but this is for you. For everything. You can open your eyes now.”

“Javier,” you found yourself looking at the most beautiful diamond necklace you had ever seen, neatly displayed in a black velvet box. He had the biggest smile on his face as you gently touched it, not wanting to get so much as a fingerprint on it, “oh, Javier. This is gorgeous. But I…you didn’t have to do this, baby.”

“I wanted to do this,” he whispered softly as you felt your eyes start to prickle with tears - you were going to blame the crazy hormones for that, “do you like it?”

“I love it - I love you,” you weren’t rendered speechless often but right now all you could think about was how in love with him you were, “are you sure?”

“Yes, Dulzura,” he kissed your cheek before delicately taking the necklace out of the box and moving to put it around your neck, “beautiful. Happy early anniversary, mi alma, mi vida, mi sol.”

“Oh fuck you,” you laughed as you wiped away the tears that had welled up, “you just had to go and show me up, huh? I love you so much, Javier. Without or without the necklace.”

“I doubt I could ever come close to how much you’ve given me,” he insisted, “I love you too. Can I…ask you something random?” 

“You can ask me anything, you know that.”

“Did you…did you speak Spanish before we met?”

“No,” you admitted with a smile. You’d always wondered if he would ever put the pieces together to that little mystery, “I didn’t. I did speak some mediocre French though.”

“When did you…I haven’t really taught you that much…”

“You’ve taught me the important things - the swears,” you grinned, “I, umm, I took a few years of Spanish after we first got together. I started in my last semester at school actually. The rest - the fluency - just came naturally after a while.”

“You took classes? And never told me?” damn. He must have been really blind.

“It appears so,” you kissed his nose, “I did work late a lot those first few years, but part of that just happened to be night time Spanish classes. So…yeah. I was wondering if you’d ever ask!”

“Why did you…learn?”

“I thought that was kind of obvious,” you wrapped your arms around his neck and pulled him closer, “because I wanted to be with you and I thought it would be nice for us to both speak it. And I, well I guess back then it was a silly thought but, I always thought that our kids should be raised with both.”

“You’re amazing.”

“Nah,” you played him off, “it’s nothing you wouldn’t have done for me. But I wanted to do it. And now we both can scold the kids in English and Spanish.”

“If we weren’t already married, I’d ask you here and now.” 

“And I’d say yes, here and now,” a few heated kisses were exchanged before you remembered you were in Chucho’s kitchen, in the middle of Javi’s birthday party, “I can’t wait to celebrate our anniversary, preferably on the beach under the sunset in Mallorca. With lots and lots of dirty, filthy, sinful sex.”

“Me too baby,” he pressed his forehead against yours, closing his eyes as he tried to commit every moment of this to memory, “I love you.”

“I know,” you kissed the shell of his ear before lowering your voice so only he could hear, “I can’t wait to have sex with you later. I’m gonna wear this necklace and this necklace only.”

“Baby,” he had to fight back a guttural sound as you grabbed his ass before smacking it, “you’re killing me here.”

“Happy birthday, mi cielo,” you whispered, causing him to shudder at the new little term of endearment, “but we’ve still got to get through a round of dessert, a drive home, and four kids that need to be put to bed. It’s going to be a long night, Professor.”

“And you’re not going to get any sleep.”

“I’m counting on that.”

[greatbigshiningstar]

a pinkalicious party for CJ [a sunshine blurb]

this picture of miles and keleigh is giving me all the feels, and it gives summer, bradley, and caroline james at her third birthday party vibes. so naturally, i have to write a little headcanon/blurb about it, right? 

anyway:

-baby caroline james, or CJ, as many of her family members call her, is turning 3!

-she is the BIGGEST girly girl you will ever meet. pink? favorite color. shopping? favorite activity. makeup and dress up clothes? favorite toys. she is the epitome of girly girl.

-let’s pause for a moment, and think of how cute rooster would be as a girl dad. 

-i can only imagine the pictures that are secretly taken when CJ forces him (read: he willingly does it) to put on a tiara and make up and sit down to have a tea party with her.

-she probably would also make him do little performances and dances with her

-summer just sits and watches, and may or may not have some extremely hilarious videos saved of said performances. ones that were definitely sent to the dagger squad group chat

-oh god i’m getting carried away okay anyway back to the topic at hand. caroline’s birthday.

-so, being the girly girl that she is, when summer and bradley ask her what kind of birthday party she wants to have, the only thing she says is “PINK!”

-and so, they throw a pink party.

-it’s the cutest pink party ever. complete with pink balloons, a pink velvet cake, all the pink foods, a pink bouncy castle.

-CJ may or may not have required everyone to wear pink as well

-yes. everyone. 

-the dagger squadTM goes all out, because why wouldn’t they? hangman would do anything for his niece, so he shows up decked out in pink, feather boa and all

-CJ would probably make everyone wear tiaras ( “unca jake, unca bobby! you’re a princess like me!”) 

-when they go to sing happy birthday, bradley starts to tear up because how is his little girl already 3 years old? wasn’t it just yesterday that he was holding her in the hospital?

-summer reminds him that they get to do it all again in october when baby boy bradshaw makes his arrival

-and then bradley tears up some more

-summer cries too, because duh. they’re just so happy with the little life they’ve created and their found family that loves each other so much.  

-and then their crying is quickly interrupted by caroline yelling “present time!”

-being the baby of the family, caroline is spoiled rotten with gifts from her family. hangman and phoenix get her a new dress-up trunk, filled to the brim with fancy dresses, high heels, and all the accessories. bob gets her a whole bunch of new barbie dolls to go with the dreamhouse that payback, fanboy, and coyote get her. 

-maverick would probably try to buy her a pony, but i think summer would shut that down real quick. so he settles on a trip to disneyland ;)

-okay now i think i need to write something about the disney trip

-the party ends with a movie night, one of CJ’s favorite activities.

-everyone gathers in the backyard to watch a movie on the projector that bradley spent way too much time setting up.

-they’ve got the coziest mix matched little set up of blankets, beach chairs, pillows, and a random bean bag, all gathered in front of the screen where they watch CJ’s favorite movie, high school musical 2 (i mean, summer did raise her right)

-everyone is sprawled out everywhere, and caroline takes turns sitting with her favorite people. it’s a shocker that she actually even watched the movie at all

-you know who did watch all of the movie? hangman. and bob.

-and they sang along. to every single song. they blamed the fact that they knew all the lyrics on caroline.

-“she makes us watch it every time we’re with her.” “yeah! and who are we to deny her the opportunity to see zac efron on the big screen??”

-caroline was knocked out before the movie was even over, tuckered out from her exciting party and first day as a 3 year old.

-she fell asleep cuddled up between her two loving parents, and continued to sleep, nestled up in the mountain of pillows, while everyone cleaned up the party as quietly as possible.

-her sleep didn’t last long, and caroline woke up to the sounds of payback and fanboy arguing over who got to take home the last cupcake

-spoiler alert: maverick walked by and stole it without either of them noticing

-once everything was cleaned up and the crew headed home for the night, summer carried her sweet little babe up to her room while bradley followed closely behind.

-as they got her into her pajamas and tucked her into her big girl bed, summer and bradley squeezed in on either side of her.

-“you’re my best girl, CJ, you know that?”

-“i know momma, you’re my best momma. and you’re my best daddy.”

-“did you have a good birthday, squish?”

-(i just know that they call her squish, mainly due to her super cute chubby cheeks)

-“the best birthday, daddy. can we do it again tomorrow?”

-it was an extremely successful birthday, and the bradshaws had the best day celebrating their pink-loving 3 year old girl

[fruitcoops]

I Can Still Remember

Anyone who knows me knows that I love Sirius Black in...pretty much every iteration of his character. I love his marauders-era self, I love his Best Godfather Ever self, and I especially love who he becomes in AUs. Sweater Weather is no exception--in fact, it's one of my favorite characterizations of him.

To @lumosinlove: Thank you for bringing such a unique Sirius to life. Credit to you for the SW universe.

To my fellow Sirius lovers: We all know his 61st birthday was spent well, don't we?

Happy birthday, Padfoot.

7

“Mama, non!” Sirius protested, hauling the chubby little baby back into the safety of his lap.

Walburga raised her eyebrows. “You want him to spit on your cake?”

“He won’t, ouais Regulus?” Sirius craned his neck to look around the rosy cheeks, unable to keep down a smile when he received a shrieking giggle in response. “Ouais! Alright, you have to blow when I count to three.”

“Sirius, he’s too little,” his father chided. “He doesn’t understand. Give him back to maman.”

Sirius kept his arms around his baby brother’s soft tummy and heard several awws from the table of relatives. “He can do it,” he insisted. “He’s smart.”

“He’s barely a year old.”

Watch him, Sirius thought, turning the baby in his lap. Regulus had the same gray-blue eyes as he did, and the same handful of curls that fell over his forehead—ever since he had been born, Sirius knew that there was nothing he wouldn’t do for him. “D’accord,” he began. Regulus held his gaze solemnly. “I’m going to count, and then you puff your cheeks like this and blow as hard as you can.”

Regulus giggled as he demonstrated and Sirius grinned, positioning him once again so they were both facing the cake. He had already opened a dozen presents from his family members—new pads, new stick, new helmet, only two books—but none of them had made him quite as happy as feeling Regulus squirm around and try to grab the cake.

“Un…deux...trois!” I wish for a whole year like this moment, he thought fervently as he blew on the seven candles through his laughter. Regulus was doing little more than blowing raspberries in the air; it was the effort that counted, in Sirius’ mind. His family members clapped politely before the adult chatter started up again. Regulus was quickly whisked away and he tried not to let his face fall.

Next time, he thought as he began to pass slices of cake to each aunt, uncle, and cousin. Next time we can do it properly and he can sit next to me all day long.

--

19

“Happy birthday to you!” all four children scream-sang at the top of their little lungs, dragging out the last note while their parents laughed at the opposite side of the table.

Sirius blushed and ducked his head as Mrs. Dumais lit the candles with a beaming smile. “Merci, madame.”

“Celeste,” she reminded him, her whole face shining. Sirius didn’t quite understand her excitement, but he appreciated it nonetheless. “Now go on, make a wish.”

“There’s not much to wish for,” he said; they all laughed, though he hadn’t made a joke. Away from his parents, drafted by a team worlds better than the Snakes, living with people who actually seemed to want to know him…really, the only thing Sirius could think of was to wish Regulus could be there with him.

Well, that wasn’t the only thing.

“You hafta make one!” Adele clambered up in his lap despite Mr. Dumais’ ill-fated grab for her, cozying right up against his side with those big, bright eyes that melted him every time. “C’mon, Sirius, it’s your birthday wish! That means it’s extra-super special.”

“Alright,” he agreed, instinctively moving a hand around to keep her from sliding off onto the floor. It had been a while since Regulus was allowed to sit with him and blow out the candles together, but he still remembered the motions. “Do you all want to help me?”

Marc and Louis were on him in an instant. “Oh—give him some breathing room, mes petites,” Celeste warned.

He had tried so hard to stay closed-off and wary, but something about the Dumais family made it impossible for him to hide for long; he would miss them when his mother inevitably got her way. Sirius offered his best half-smile to soothe Celeste’s obvious worry. “C’est bien, I don’t mind.”

He stared down at the nineteen flickering candles casting light over the darkened room. Outside, the first frost was just forming, but the house warmed him all the way to his bones. There were many things he could wish for if he was being honest with himself—Regulus’ safety, to keep the Dumais family as his own, to be—

Sirius paused. Normal.

“He’s thinking really hard,” Louis whispered loudly, earning himself a whack on the arm from his sister.

“I’m ready,” Sirius said after a moment. “On three, d’accord?”

“D’accord,” they chorused, wiggling until they were within breath-range of the perfect cake.

“Un…deux…trois!” I wish to stay with the Lions for as long as I can. The four of them blew out the candles with ease.

--

27

“Are you done y—” Sirius’ question and subsequent noise of surprise were cut off by warm lips on his own and two hands cradling his face to deepen the kiss, accompanied by a swipe of a tongue that made his knees turn to jelly. He hummed, wrapping his arms around Remus’ waist to sneak a hand up his shirt and feel the mid-season muscles returning after their perfect summer.

“We’re good!” some distant voice from the land of the living called.

Remus pulled away and patted Sirius’ hip, unfazed save for the pink of his cheeks. “Fantastic. That was close.”

“I—what?” Sirius managed. He didn’t even have the wherewithal to do more than whine when Remus stepped out of the circle of his arms and heard the horrible, awful, kiss-ruining voice snickering from the other doorway. “Wait, come back!”

“But there’s a surprise! We’re still setting up!” Remus laughed, though he moved back in and draped his arms over Sirius’ shoulders for a light peck. “Hey, baby.”

“More birthday kisses.”

“More?”

Sirius smiled and nudged their noses together; he could feel the cool metal of Remus’ shiny new wedding ring against the back of his neck and kissed him softly. That feeling would never get old. “I’m turning 27,” he murmured. “That’s not too many for you to handle.”

“Jesus, you two are so married,” James muttered from across the room; Sirius glared at him over Remus’ shoulder and received a playful wink in return, only to have his face guided back down for his first gift of the day.

--

49

The sun was still pink and orange through the bedroom window as Sirius cracked an eye open to the feeling of something a bit chapped tracking down his neck. “Hmm?” he asked oh-so-eloquently.

“32,” Remus responded around a smile, his voice still scratchy from sleep. “33. 34, 35—”

“That was a good one,” Sirius mumbled, closing his eyes again as more kisses speckled his jaw and throat.

Remus hummed in agreement; there was less vivid gold in his hair than there had been in the picture hung closest on their wall, but Sirius liked the gray streaks. It looked quite rugged and dashing combined with the 10 or 15-year-old scar from a stray skate on his chin. “40,” he continued with a quiet exhale when Sirius began to trace each knob of his spine. “41, 42, 43, 44, 45—”

“This tradition gets more time-consuming every year.”

“Shut your mouth. 46, 47, 48.” Remus paused for a moment to prop himself on his elbows and bracket Sirius’ face before he leaned down and brushed their lips together. “49.”

“I’m old.”

Even if the auburn of his curls had faded, the bright hazel-gold of his eyes was as sharp as ever as he narrowed them in playful warning. “Watch it, I’m three years older than you.”

“Old,” Sirius whispered with a teasing poke to his belly.

Remus cocked his head to the side, then settled down to lay on his chest. The muscle that padded him in their 20s and 30s before retirement was mostly gone, but Sirius had to admit he didn’t mourn it much. It was nice to be soft. “When the kids get up, you’re making them breakfast.”

“On my birthday?” Sirius gasped. “They’re 18 and 22, they can make some pancakes for their dear old, ancient, creaky—”

“Shut your mouth!” Remus laughed. “If you’re ancient and creaky, that means I’m dust!”

If 22 (and a half) years of marriage had taught Sirius anything, it was that puppy eyes never had an age limit. He cuddled Remus up in his arms and met his gaze with as much of a pleading pout as he could manage. Bat the lashes, hug him close, kiss the cheek…

Remus huffed. “Fine. You’re off the hook.”

Gottem. “Merci, mon loup.”

“It’s been over two decades,” Remus informed him as he linked their ankles. “You shouldn’t still be this cute.”

Sirius winked. “I have to keep up with you somehow.”

“Oh, please.”

“You love it.”

“I refuse to confirm or deny that statement.” The smile twitching at the corner of his mouth said otherwise, and after a moment he relaxed with a skim of his fingertips down the length of Sirius’ collarbone. “But I do love you. Happy birthday.”

“What time is it?”

“Just past 7.”

Sirius hummed and wrapped his arms around Remus’ waist, snuggling into his soft sleep shirt. “The kids won’t be up for three hours at least.”

“Ten years ago that would have meant something very different for the next activity,” Remus remarked as he propped his chin on Sirius’ bedhead and rubbed his back with a yawn. “Hell, two weeks ago you might’ve been able to convince me.”

Sirius raised an eyebrow without opening his eyes. “Is that offer still on the table?”

The smooth circles turned to a light pinch of his backside and he laughed; Remus’ grin was palpable. “Don’t push your luck, birthday boy.”

--

61

The little boy perched happily on Sirius’ hip leaned his chin on his shoulder and stared up at him with his mother’s wide, dark eyes. “Do you miss skating, Papa?”

Sirius frowned. “What? I skate with you all the time.” And I have the sore knees to prove it.

“Yeah, but for real,” he insisted, tugging on the silver and gold necklace that hung around his neck. “For people and stuff.”

“Not really,” Sirius mused, looking out over the backyard. The party was in full swing—dozens of family members, friends, and people they had acquired along the way filled the space with their voices and their smiles. By the fence, Celeste and Dumo seemed to be enjoying their great-grandchildren more than their own son’s birthday. “It was fun when I did it, but I’m happy to be retired. Gives me more time to be with you, eh?”

The boy laughed as Sirius tickled his stomach, then leaned against him with a long exhale. “I love you, Papa. And Grandpa, ‘cause he gives me cookies when you’re not looking, but it’s your birthday and I think I love you most today.”

Well, fuck. Sirius pressed a kiss to his wild curls and let it linger; there was nothing in the world he wanted to hear more than that. “Go see Auntie Adele, ouais? She’s spoiling your sisters more than I am and that’s not allowed on my birthday.”

“Okay,” he giggled, taking off at a run the second his sneakers touched the grass. Sirius sniffed back his tears—he turned to grab a glass of water from the table, but met Remus’ questioning look across the yard and had to swallow hard around the lump in his throat. One eyebrow raised in an obvious question. He answered it with a blown kiss and received a smile that hadn’t changed since the day they met.

Later, when everyone pressed in close around him and half a dozen children were practically spilling off his lap, he could think of only one wish. I wish for a whole year like this moment, Sirius thought as far too many people to count blew on his mother’s homemade cake all at once. He had never thought of a wish so quickly.

[v-hope]

One Way Ticket

Pairing: Kim Taehyung x Reader (ft. Yeontan bc Family)

Genre: Flufffff, established relationship, long distance relationship (not for long), and like, slight angst at the beginning if you squint your eyes and do a backflip

Word Count: 4k

Summary: Long distance relationships are never an easy thing, and although you and Taehyung had managed to make it work for four years and were used to not seeing each other that much already, he couldn’t help but feel like his birthday was ruined at the news of you being stuck at the airport due to a bad weather flight delay. However, although things didn’t quite go to plan, it only took for you to arrive two hours before the day was over for it to be his happiest of birthdays so far.

A/N: Hellooo, well, obviously this is for my man’s birthday 🥳💝 This story takes place in my Red Flags series’ timeline since one of you requested it and I thought it would be really cute, but you don’t need to have read it to understand what’s going on here. I hope you guys enjoy! please let me know your thoughts~

“You were supposed to be here today” Taehyung reminded you, unconsciously tightening his hold on the phone as his low voice did a good job at letting you know just how upset he was.

You sighed, that alone letting him know you weren’t having a good time with said fact that was just not happening anymore either. “I can’t control the weather, love…”

Now, he knew that. Of course he knew that. But right then, he really fucking wished you did control the weather. That way you wouldn’t be stuck in another continent still due to a snowstorm that had delayed, if not cancelled, all flights that week — a stupid snowstorm that was keeping you away from him for longer than you should have.

It was a joke. It had got to be a joke.

That was what Taehyung kept telling himself throughout the whole phone call, and continuing to believe —to wanting to believe— so even after you hung up.

You were supposed to arrive that night. That had been the plan all along. All his schedule he had rearranged so he could make sure that particular night he would spend with you. Just you and him. Since the very next day, also known as his birthday, he would have to go to rehearsal for BTS’ presentation on the 31th like every other year, he was looking forward the most to this night. He had it all planned out. Your flight would arrive at 8pm, he would pick you up and then the two of you would have dinner together back at your —now— shared place. You would wait up until midnight, have some cake afterwards, and then stay up late so you could, well, catch up on a few coupley things you had been missing out on for a good while now. After all, you had not seen each other in nearly five months.

It was funny, how he used to always say he would never be able to do long distance relationships when he was younger, yet here he was now, four years —and going strong— into one. It was hard as hell, he could not deny it, but he wouldn’t have had it any other way, not as long as he got to be with you in the end. And at the end of the day it was all worth it, for you had finally graduated uni back home, managed to find a job in Seoul, and were now moving in with him like the two of you had agreed on a long time ago, once you realised you were most definitely sticking together for as long as your lives allowed you to. So, even if he had to wait a little longer to see you, this time it was different, for you had only gotten a one way ticket, and he would never again have to drop you off at the airport and cling on to you like his life depended on it, somehow being harder for him to let go of you as the years went by.

Nevertheless, it sucked. Right then, it really fucking sucked. Five months had gone by without seeing you already and turns out he would now have to wait one or even two more days than planned? Bullshit. And that if he was being optimistic, because he swore to God he would lose his shit if you had to spend New Years Eve on a plane, alone. Not like you were spending it together to begin with either, since he had that thing to attend to, but you would at least have a good time with some of the friends you had made during the time you had stayed in Seoul for your uni’s exchange program, and who had now invited you over to a party you had oh-so-excitedly told him about.

That night, Taehyung went to bed late. Still wanting to believe with everything in him you were just pulling a prank on him like you loved to do every now and then, and that you would walk through the front door anytime with that tired face of yours after the long ass flights to Korea he was so used to by then — the same exhausted face that would light up as a bright smile took over your factions instead at the sight of him.

However, that night, you did not make it home. What you did make it to instead, was to be the first one to congratulate him on his day. Over the phone, yes, with the airport’s background noise and not in person like he had wanted to, yet there you were being once again the first one to do so, at exactly 00:00. And somehow, that alone was enough to make him happy before going to sleep. Not as happy as he would’ve been with getting to sleep with you in his arms, of course, but happy nevertheless.

He did not lose faith, though. The next morning, as he got ready to head out to rehearsal, he kept glancing at his apartment’s door over and over, still waiting for it to burst open anytime and for you to walk inside right after.

When that didn’t happen, he looked forward to the moment his members brought him his birthday cake as they waited in the dressing rooms for their turn to rehearse. Now, the guys hadn’t told him they were bringing him cake, but after all these years it was pretty much a given. And it would only make sense that you were there, right? Whether it was bringing the cake to him as everyone in the room sang the traditional birthday song to him, or showing up as a surprise right after.

Once that didn’t happen either, he couldn’t hide his disappointment anymore — still being grateful to everyone else for trying to make his special day a memorable one, yet not being able to fully enjoy it without you there. Even falling in the cliché of wishing for you to be there as he blew out the candles. That was truly all he wanted, after all.

And once his schedule for the day was finally cleared up, his last hope was walking into the apartment that night and seeing you already there waiting for him.

Again, that didn’t happen.

Biting the inside of his cheek as he walked into an empty apartment, although Yeontan was there to excitedly welcome him back home and had managed to bring a weak smile to his face, he couldn’t help but feel his eyes well up with tears. Telling himself over and over how stupid it was to be upset over something neither of you could control, he contemplated calling you for a few seconds, shaking that thought off with a tilt of his head and deciding to go take a hot shower instead. No matter how bad he wanted to, if he did call you, he knew for sure he would end up being even more upset than he already was, and then you would end up being upset as well, and that he did not want.

Not even bothering on drying his hair later that night, he changed into his pyjamas and called Tan to go keep him some company like it was usual by then. Watching the fluffy dog make himself comfortable on the mattress, Taehyung turned the lights off so he could get into bed for once and for all — wanting nothing but to sleep that day off so you would hopefully be there by the morning. Although it would no longer be his birthday, he wished he could at least get to spend some time together before he had to head out once again.

Before he could completely doze off, however, he felt Yeontan snap up from his sleep and effusively wave his tail from side to side as he ran to the closed door of the bedroom. Letting out a tired groan, Taehyung glanced over at the clock on his nightstand, staring at the number ten on it for a second before he turned the lamp on and fixed his eyes on his excited pup.

“I already fed you,” his voice came out hoarse at the lack of speaking, catching Tan’s attention for a second there before he was back at barking at the door. “Don’t tell me you want to go to the b—”

That’s when the sound of a key making it inside the front door’s lock caught his attention. And, you see, only two people had a key to the apartment. One was his, of course, and the other one, much to his excitement right then, was yours.

Not even having time to catch his breath, he jumped off the bed and opened the bedroom’s door, watching Yeontan sprint down the already illuminated hallway as you had just turned its lights on — a huge smile parting his lips at the sight of you, not being able to hold back a giggle of his at the way you had panicked and closed the door harder than you had intended to, so Tan wouldn’t be able to run out of the apartment.

“Tan-ie bean!” you excitedly greeted the pup first thing as he reached your side.

Struggling to move past your suitcase, you managed to kneel down to pet the cute ball off fluff with one hand as you held the other one as far up as you could, holding a strawberry cupcake with a single candle on it that you had already lit up right before coming in — maybe not your brightest of ideas.

Staring up at your boyfriend, who was still on the other end of the hallway, you smiled brightly and stood up straight as he came closer. “Happ—”

Before you could even finish what you had initially planned to sing and had by then settled for cheerfully chanting instead, Taehyung had already pulled you into his arms — unintentionally blowing out the candle as he had rushed over to you way faster than he’d like to admit.

“I missed you” he mumbled, wrapping his arms tighter around your figure and burying his face in the crook of your neck as he felt his heart at ease.

You smiled sweetly, wrapping your arms around him as well —being careful enough not to stain his designer pyjamas with the cupcake’s icing— and pressing down a small kiss to his shoulder.

“I missed you, too” you cooed, hearing him giggle when you planted a kiss on his neck this time.

“Why didn’t you tell me you were getting on a plane already?”

“Because I thought I would get here before you came back from rehearsal and I’d surprise you. You know, wait for you with dinner and whatnot…” you pouted. “But then of course I had trouble with my luggage and got here way too late. So I got you a cupcake and a candle instead!”

Taehyung giggled at the way you had ever so cheerfully said that last part, pulling slightly away from your body so he could glance at the cupcake in your hand you had just raised up in a victorious way.

“You could’ve just showed up barehanded, said ‘happy birthday’, and I would’ve been the happiest”.

“You interrupted me when I was about to tell you ‘happy birthday’, though” you huffed over dramatically.

Letting out a light laugh, he securely cupped your face in his warm hands and rested his forehead on yours, smiling blissfully as ever at how close he was able to have you right then, at how he was able to feel your warmness in his hands after all those months. “You can say it again now”.

“But you already blew out the candle” you pouted, bringing the treat closer to him so he could see your point.

“I guess this is the moment my wish comes true then”.

“You didn’t even get to make a wish, you idiot” you rolled your eyes.

“Oh, I did” he nodded his head determinedly. “Earlier today. And not to brag about it, but it already became true”.

“Was it perhaps for me to arrive today?” you coyly batted your eyelashes, earning a very visible roll of eyes from him.

“Cocky, aren’t we?”

“I mean,” you shrugged, taking a step back from him and his hold. “I can always go back home and send your actual wish ov—”

“Yah,” he stopped you as you dramatically turned around to pretend to leave and Yeontan followed right after, pulling you back to him by your wrist. “I didn’t spend pretty much my entire birthday wishing for you to get here so you can leave me just like that” his eyes turned softer, yet still held that playful vibe in them. “Besides,” he pulled you closer, this time by your waist. “Funny how you said ‘go back home’ when this is your home now, baby” your heart skipped a beat at his remark, appreciating the way he looked up and puckered his lips as he pretended to fall deep in thought. “Hm… Maybe I misheard”.

You giggled at the way he had copied your overdramatic ways, bringing your free hand up to sweetly caress his cheek. “My bad, love”.

Taehyung smiled, with that boxy smile you fell in love with years ago, and nodded softly to let you know it was alright. “Can I get my birthday kiss now?” he murmured, ever so faintly brushing his longing lips against yours. “I’m kinda dying over here”.

Shaking your head in amusement as you laughed, you bit your lower lip. “Just kiss me already, you dork”.

So he did, not even dreaming of wasting another second before his lips hungrily crashed against yours. He had missed you like crazy, he always did, but right then, as your soft lips were pressing on his and your hand made its way from his cheek to the back of his head, entangling your fingers in his still damp hair, he realised just how bad he had craved your touch, how bad he had craved you.

Having him deepen the kiss, you couldn’t help but take one step back as you had lost your balance — his hand being quick to bring your body right back to press against his, later resting on your lower back to keep you steady as his other hand firmly cupped your cheek.

“Happy birthday” you mumbled against his mouth when you had pulled away to catch your breath, feeling the corners of his lips curve up before he pressed them to yours once more.

“It is now” he hummed, drawing tender circles with his thumb on your chin and not being able to hold back a giggle when it was you the one to steal a kiss from his mouth right then.

Your breath hitched when you felt his hands made their way down your body, letting out a squeal when they grabbed your thighs and picked you up without a warning — your arms wrapping tightly around his neck and legs around his waist as his hands were firmly placed on your ass to keep you from slipping down while he walked the two of you out of the hallway and into the living room, having Yeontan run past you two and go lie on the couch.

“Yah, I just got here and you’re already going for second base?” you teased him with raised eyebrows.

Taehyung shook his head, cockily raising one of his own. “I’ve earned my right to all bases a long time ago, I don’t know what you’re talking about”.

“Don’t get too cocky, Kim Taehyung” you warned him as he sat you down on the edge of the counter, being careful enough not to knock down one of the pictures of the two of you that were neatly displaying on it. “I might revoke all your rights”.

“You wouldn’t” he daringly squinted his eyes. “Not on my birthday”.

You threw your head back, letting out a loud laugh and placing the cupcake down on the counter before you went back to his eye level. “Only under two hours until it’s over, so...”

“You wouldn’t” he repeated confidently.

“What makes you so sure, old man?”

Shaking his head in amusement and deciding not to comment on the taunting name you had just called him, he didn’t even try to hide the smirk that was curving up the corners of his lips as he leaned in. “I just know”.

Not even trying to play it hard anymore, you met his lips in the middle, humming contentedly when he placed his hand behind your neck so he could take control over the kiss he was not quite willing to let go of yet. And neither were you, which is why your eyes remained closed and your lips slightly puckered up —clearly wanting more— when he suddenly pulled away one minute later.

“Okay, now tell me my birthday present!” he demanded.

Still being too stunned by the intoxicating kiss he had just given you, it took you a second to open your eyes after hearing his muffled yet excited words against your lips — eyes locking with his excited ones as his hands unconsciously rested on your thighs.

“Oh, it’s in my bag!” you jumped up once you managed to understand what he had meant. “Let me go get it”.

Although your words were meant for him to move aside so you could get up on your feet and rush over to the forgotten suitcase on the hallway, Taehyung did not move an inch — if anything, tightening the hold of his hands on your thighs to keep you from going anywhere.

“Not that one”.

Your eyebrows knitted together in confusion. “The cupcake?” you offered, earning a light laugh from him, along with a small shake of his head. “Sex? Because I know I was just threatening with revoking that right, but since it’s still your birthday, I mean...”

Taehyung laughed wholeheartedly, once again shaking his head no as he brought his face closer to yours. “Although I would love that and will take you up on that offer later,” his bold words managed to bring some heat to your cheeks. “That is not what I meant”.

“What did you mean then?”

“Just want you to tell me something...” he hinted, gently caressing your sides. “How long will you be staying, baby?”

You rolled your eyes when it finally hit you what he had meant all along. And you couldn’t help but laugh lightly at how such simple things were the ones that made him the happiest. “Well, considering I only got a one way ticket over here this time,” your heart sped up at the way his smile grew wider at the sound of that. “And that the rest of my stuff will arrive here in a few days… I’d say I’m staying for quite a long, long time”.

“How about forever?” he smiled brightly.

You giggled, tilting your head up in anticipation as you felt him lean in to press his mouth on yours. “I like the sound of that”.

“I love the sound of that” he agreed, pressing another kiss to your smiling lips.

And you truly did, for although you were leaving everything behind, your family, your childhood friends, your culture... it was easy as long as you had him. And even though you knew there would be times homesickness would hit you like a truck, especially when the time came and Taehyung would have to go on tour with his group, you were ready to start your new life here with him. You had already lived here once for a year, after all, the only difference being you now got to live with your long term boyfriend, and, of course, that you wouldn’t have to count down the days until you had to go back home and away from him anymore.

“Everything alright?” he wondered, catching up on the way you had momentarily spaced out.

“Mhm…” you were quick to reassure him with an eager nod of your head. “Now eat your birthday treat before I do” you threatened, grabbing the cupcake that had been lying next to you all along and bringing it up to his face.

Taehyung chuckled, pressing a lingering kiss to your neck that was sweetly followed by another one. “But I have my birthday treat right here…”

Although flustered by both his words and the way his lips kept peppering soft kisses all over the sensitive skin of your neck, you stood your ground. “Pretty sure I’m your girlfriend, but oh well”.

He chuckled once more — before you could react, dipping one of his long fingers on the icing and spreading a good amount of it on your lips. “Now you’re both”.

You didn’t really get to fully laugh at his playful antics before the sound of it was muffled by his mouth sucking on your bottom lip, his fingers holding onto your chin to keep you from pulling away as he deepened the kiss — making sure to remove every last trace of icing on your mouth before he slid his tongue into it.

Breaking the kiss for a brief second for what he thought was to catch your breath before bringing your already swollen lips back to his awaiting ones, he found himself letting his jaw drop when you opened your mouth not to kiss him once more, but to bring the infamous cupcake up to it and loudly bite down on it.

“Yah, that is my strawberry cupcake!” he called you out — although trying to act mad, having a hard time hiding his smile at the way you had just covered your full mouth as you laughed whilst trying to chew right then.

“You weren’t eating it, so…” you shrugged.

Before you could take another bite, however, he grabbed your wrist, quickly moving it up to his mouth instead and shoving the entire baked good into it in just one go.

Petrified after what just happened, you stared at your now empty hand — amazed by the way he had managed not to bite into your fingers with how fast and forceful his mouth had been, before your eyes fixed on your full-mouthed boyfriend as he struggled to chew the whole thing down.

“Mine” he stated, not minding to cover his mouth as he was almost done with it already.

“I tend to forget how big your mouth actually is” you admitted, mindlessly sucking the remains of icing from off your fingers.

Taehyung scoffed, rushing to swallow down so he could properly speak. “You out of all people should know what my mouth can d—”

“You know,” you cut him off before he could pronounce that last letter and bring his cocky point across. “Booking a return plane ticket sounds really tempting right now”.

“Oh, yeah?” he tauntingly raised one of his eyebrows, pulling you closer to the edge of the counter and making you wrap your legs around his waist. “Good thing from now on those return tickets will bring you right back to Seoul”.

That was what made him the happiest. After all those years of buying ticket after ticket, all those years of having to drop you off at the airport so you could go back home, all those years of having to wait for endless months just so you could see each other for a few days, all of that, was over now.

From that night on, this was your home. You, him and Yeontan, and of course, the eventual additions that would be made in a couple of years.

And that was the best part. No matter where you travelled to from now on, you would always just go visit abroad and return right here, back to him — never again being almost about to miss his birthday, for you would both go to sleep and wake up right next to him during all the upcoming ones, just like he had ached you to do every single day ever since you got together four years ago.

[angstama]

apple tree | chifuyu.m

pairing: chifuyu matsuno x reader

genre: angst, slow-burn, unrequited love, pining, fluff, chifuyu doesn’t love you that way :( 

warnings: as usual, heartbreak coming ahead <3

✧. in which you look back on the times that chifuyu had been the highlight and heartbreaker in your youth. 

you were five when you first met chifuyu matsuno under the big apple tree one summer day. 

head deep into bending the fragile weeds into a flower crown when a blonde haired boy with the prettiest ocean blue eyes approached you. “what are you doing?” he asked curiously, licking his already melting chocolate ice cream while looking at the imperfectly balanced flower that you had spent hours on crafting in your hands. “making a flower crown.” you answered simply, not even sparing the blonde haired boy a glance as you were too focused in tweaking the branches. 

“woah that’s awesome!” he beamed in excitement, plopping down next to you instantly and leaning in closer to take a look at it. “yeah i know right!” you smiled in triumph, finally looking up to see whoever was showing interest in your little hobby and behold, there sat chifuyu in a rainbow striped t-shirt with his legs crossed and eyes gleaming with interest.

 in all honesty, your flower crowns were horribly ugly, but in chifuyu’s eyes it was uniquely you. perhaps it was maybe because he hadn’t seen anyone making an actual flower crown before or perhaps maybe he was just feeling sorry for the girl who always sat alone under the big apple tree that never bloomed a single fruit all year round. whichever it was, you wished that it was the first. “teach me how to make one please!” he grabs your wrist, causing your cheeks to burn under the scorching hot sun and heart rate quickening though you were clueless as to why it happened being only at the age of five, so you decided that it was okay to have him around. 

strangely ever since then, you were never seen alone under the apple tree in the park again. 

you were nine when you first understood the concept of crushes, with the help of your best friend, chifuyu matsuno of course. 

“it’s when you want to share the biggest chicken drumlet with them dummy!” chifuyu explained, voice muffled from stuffing his face with fried chicken one after another. you weren’t sure how the two of you derived at the current topic, though you remember the last you checked, chifuyu was rambling on and on about the new girl in your class. “so, you’d share this with whoever you have a crush on?” you asked as you pointed towards the biggest drumstick that chifuyu had saved for the last, as always. 

he nodded impatiently, grabbing the very same drumstick and ready to devour it but only to come to a halt when the two of you locked eyes. “want some?” he offered, waving the fried chicken in front of you. “wh-what?” your words fumbled, taken aback by chifuyu’s sudden offer right after the whole sharing of the biggest chicken drumlet explanation he had just made. “you kept staring at it. do you want it?” he asked, with innocence laced in his voice, oblivious to the shade of red slowly making an appearance on your cheeks. you huffed, “am not!”. chifuyu only lets out a snort, “yeah sure,” he chuckles boyishly, leaning down to rest on your shoulders, causing your body to stiffen upon the sudden contact. that afternoon, for almost an entire hour you were forced to sit as straight as you could, afraid that something was going to erupt in your tummy again as you could feel the bubbling sensation that threatened to explode. 

you were thirteen when you finally realised that you, y/n l/n, wants to share the biggest drumstick with chifuyu matsuno. 

it was christmas eve and chifuyu had invited you over to his place for a dinner, claiming that his mother had threatened to throw his precious romance mangas away if he didn't invite you. 

you arrived at the matsuno’s household ten minutes earlier than stated with a tray of roasted potatoes held in your hands and beads of sweat running down your forehead despite the freezing cold temperature outside. for the eight years of friendship you had with chifuyu, you’ve never felt this nervous seeing him and his family. it’s the cold, you naively thought, when the door swung opened, revealing your best friend dressed in a maroon striped sweater with suspenders. his eyes widened, not expecting to really see you when he was just opening to check in an attempt to ease his mother’s sixth sense. “y/n? why didn’t you knock?” he gasped, gently tugging the tray on your hands into his as he looked at you in surprise. “well, i was gonna but you opened the door before i could!” you scoffed a white lie, wanting nothing but to cover up the fact that you had been standing outside because you couldn’t get your heart to calm down. 

“chifuyu why don’t you give y/n the gift you got for her now?” mrs matsuno chimed, elegance evident in her posture and movement when she lightly dabbed a napkin across her lips which made you wonder how is it possible that she's the mother of chifuyu when chifuyu shared not a single bit of her grace when it comes to eating. chifuyu pauses briefly, “give me a sec,” he nods before stuffing the roasted potato that was previously halfway into his mouth and standing up to jog over to his room. “he cleaned the house for two months for it.” mr matsuno chuckled as chifuyu jogs out again, this time with a paper bag held in his hand. 

“you better wear it everyday.” he sent you a playful wink, handing you the brown paper bag. you carefully unwrapped the ribbon that bounded the paper bag and pulling out an overly oversized hoodie enough to fit you through a lifetime. you noticed that it was same hoodie that chifuyu often wears except that yours was in the shade of emerald green, the colour that chifuyu had taken the effort to remember that you had once claimed as your colour when the two of you had a heated discussion on what colour represents yourselves. 

“wow! now we have a friendship hoodie!” you beamed in excitement, pulling the oversized hoodie over your sweater. “how do i look?” you asked, posing a few turns at chifuyu as he took a good look at you. “pretty.” he held a thumb up before stuffing another spoonful of pasta down. 

your lowered your gaze upon hearing the sudden compliment your best friend gave, opting to look at the last piece of roasted chicken that mrs matsuno had offered you earlier just now before chifuyu could lay his hands on it. your lips pursed, not entirely confident to do it but eventually picking up the piece of meat and placing it on chifuyu’s already dirtied plate from all the sauces he had mixed with his food. “thank you,” you mumbled, looking anywhere else but chifuyu’s burning gaze on you. 

the butterflies were taking flight soon and you on the other hand had no idea how to contain it. 

you were sixteen when chifuyu first broke your heart on the first day of the spring season, openly declaring in front of you and takemichi that he’ll be confessing to the pretty girl sitting in front of him during lunch time. 

her name is haru.

“no way! you’re kidding!” takemichi gaped, leaning in closer to chifuyu as the close proximity between the two of them wasn’t enough for him to hear chifuyu clearly. chifuyu crossed his arms, confidence evident in his posture, “of course not! i’ve already decided, there’s no going back!” 

“be sure not to scare her away!” you stuck your tongue out to which chifuyu rolled his eyes in response. “eh? you’re just jealous that no one’s confessing to you!”, wiggling his head in a playful manner as he brought an ‘L’ sign up to his forehead to further anguish you. you raised a middle finger, wanting nothing more than to end this conversation for you weren’t sure if you were able to contain the effect of your heart dropping six feet down. 

you knew chifuyu succeeded when he came running to you after school with the brightest smile you adored, a faint tint of blush coated on his cheeks. “guess i’m gonna see you lesser huh lover boy?” you chuckled softly, shoving your textbooks into your canvas bag as he swung himself onto your desk with a smug grin. “you’d wish huh don’t you? but no, you’ll still see me as often when i’m off from boyfriend duties,” he sang happily. perhaps maybe because it was chifuyu’s own words, you believed wholeheartedly that you were okay with being just his best friend and being supportive of his relationship. so you watched chifuyu’s love for haru bloomed into something more than just the typical puppy love you often watch on romcoms. 

in just a blink of an eye, two years had passed and the next thing you knew you were spending your birthday without your best friend for the second time in a row. “this sucks,” you grumbled, throwing your phone aside when the time struck midnight, announcing a new day had just arrived. chifuyu’s words were just empty affirmations when you realised that you barely ever saw your best friend. you weren't sure if the two of you were even best friends anymore. it felt more like he’s just a friend that you talk to occasionally now. you see, chifuyu is a loyal friend and that’s a widely known fact and that’s what made it even more heartbreaking for you because chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive and you had no reason to hate him for that. 

you rubbed your temples tiredly, wanting nothing more than to run your aching head into the wall when a packet of your favourite watermelon mints was thrown onto your desk. “rough night?”atsumu, your beloved table-mate asked smugly. “you don’t say,” you mumbled, rolling your eyes at the obvious as you impatiently tore the packet open. “he didn’t wish ya happy birthday did he?” the freshly bleached haired boy questioned. atsumu got his answer when you didn't sat in silence, opting to look out the window to distract yourself from the threatening tears prickling at the corner of your eyes. and god do love to test you when the scene of chifuyu leaning in to kiss haru on the lips ever so gently unfolds at your sight. oh how you wished that it was you who he’s kissing right now. 

chifuyu always does just enough to keep your friendship alive. 

it was already late into the night when you heard a knock outside your balcony. your breath hitched when you saw that it was chifuyu who had disturbed your little movie marathon alone after the events that had happened lately. “hey,” he breathed, a soft smile wearing on his lips to which you returned it with an awkward one, inviting him into your messy room. “oh we’re in our friendship hoodie!” he chuckles nervously. your eyes travelled on him, realising that indeed he’s wearing the same hoodie that you were currently wearing right now. “it’s late chi, what’s going on?” you sighed, tone coming off harsher than you intended to. chifuyu nods slowly, face soon replaced with an apologetic look. “i’m sorry for missing your birthday, i feel horrible really,” he begun. “ i know i haven’t been around lately, so i want to make it up to you.” 

your brows furrowed at chifuyu’s apology, you knew he was being so sincere so why did you feel even much more upset hearing it? “that’s it? you could’ve just done this in school tomorrow chifuyu.”you sighed, trying your hardest to mask the pettiness within you with a tired voice. “ i know i know, but i couldn’t sleep knowing that i left my best friend alone on her 18th birthday.” he looked at you hesitantly as you quietly pulled your duvet over your lap. “how about let’s go hiking and watch the sunrise this weekend? just the two of us. i know you’ve been wanting to do that.” 

you wished you weren’t in love with chifuyu so that you wouldn’t give in so easily. you wished you were petty enough to make a scene and just be angry at him but you couldn't so here you are right now, hiking up the trail with your hand in chifuyu’s as you helped him up the slope. “your stamina really sucks,” you retorted to which chifuyu huffed in response. “it’s not that my stamina sucks, it’s that this trail is literally ninety-eight percent high slopes,” he pouts. 

“well you could've chose not to show up.” 

“no! i want to do this with you. what are you talking about?” 

you only smiled at his little defence. “whatever,” you mumbled as you quickly dropped your grip on his and walking ahead of him in an attempt to hide your blush. “hey! wait for me!” 

it was near autumn when one day chifuyu appeared in the wee hours of the night with tears streaming down his cheeks when he fell into your arms and hugged you tightly. you found out that haru was moving away to the states with her family and had broken up with chifuyu, refusing to try out long distance relationship. 

so like any other best friend, you let chifuyu cry into your shoulders as you sat in silence that night, heart breaking at the torn state chifuyu was in. he truly loved her. 

you were twenty when chifuyu held your hands and asked you to be his. 

“chifuyu matsuno! where the hell are my batteries?” your voice echoed through your shared apartment, causing poor chifuyu to jump and drop the eggs he was previously holding in his hands on to the floor. it’s been almost two years since haru and chifuyu had broken up and you had spent a great deal of time trying to mend his broken heart though you knew that it would never be fully healed. she was his first love after all. 

the two of you had moved in to a small apartment close to your university as planned since young, officially becoming roommates. “fuck!my eggs!” chifuyu cried out loud as he frantically lets go of the spatula in his hands to grab a kitchen tower and clean up the pool of egg yolk and egg white on the marble floor. you groaned in annoyance when chifuyu doesn’t answer your question, slamming the tools drawer shut and making your way towards the kitchen. 

“i swear chi-” you paused when you saw chifuyu kneeling on the floor with his pink kitten design apron tied against his body, a pout clearly evident on his lips. “what ever happened?” your head tilted slightly, annoyance slowly decimating. “you screamed like a mad woman. that’s what happened.” he retorted. you rolled your eyes, grabbing another kitchen towel and joining chifuyu on the ground. “well if you didn’t misplace my batteries, i wouldn't be screaming.” 

“if you looked close enough, it’s literally on your study desk.” 

“it’s not!” 

“it is!” 

“it’s not!” you huffed, getting up and stomping over to your room to prove a point but your eyes widened, horrified by the pure sight of your batteries accompanies by a fresh pack with a sticky note attached on top of it. ‘you’re welcome <3′, it wrote. you slowly walked out of your room with your head hung low, doing the walk of shame. “say it,” chifuyu taunts as he skilfully tossed the omelette onto the plate and placing it in front of you. you scrunched your nose, lips pursing and taking a deep breath. “i’m sorry,” you mumbled quietly, fingers fumbling at the ends of your shirt. “ah-ah i can't hear you,” you hear him sing, a little too happy. obvious that he’s enjoying this. you sighed in defeat, clearing your throat loud enough. “i’m sorry,” you said it loudly this time. 

chifuyu lets out a laugh in satisfaction, throwing his head back while you on the other hand could only pout at his triumph. but that didn’t mean that your heart didn't swell up at the expression of happiness he has on his face right now. digging in at the breakfast that chifuyu had made for you which had now became a routine, you couldn't help but to feel small under chifuyu’s intense stare on you. “are you not gonna eat?” you raised your brow, eyeing the untouched omelette on his plate. chifuyu rests his chin on his palm, looking at you with a look of as if he had something to tell you. 

“i will.” he hummed before reaching out to grab your hands. your body stiffened, dumfounded at what’s currently happening. “you know, for the last two years, life was a little less painful thanks to you.” chifuyu confessed earnestly, “ i guess what i’m trying to say is that, you’re my end game y/n l/n. i don’t think i would've came this far if it wasn’t for you so i’m going to ask you this once,” he paused, intertwining his fingers in yours as he gazes into your eyes deeply, 

“will you be my girlfriend?” 

your relationship with chifuyu wasn’t a perfect one but the two of you always made it work somehow. which is why here you are sitting against your bed frame with luggages packed by the side wondering what exactly had gone wrong along the way? 

and you realised that you were never meant to be chifuyu’s end game. you were never meant to be his forever. 

“you think that i don’t fucking know that you were always looking at her instagram when you think i’m not around?” you screamed, body shaking from the exhaustion that’s taking a toll on you both physically and emotionally. “i don’t see how it’s wrong wanting to see how my friend is doing?” chifuyu snaps. 

you scoffed, crossing your arms as you looked away. “yeah. as if you don’t still say her name in your sleep. as if you don’t fucking mess up our favourite food, as if you didn’t tell takemichi that you wished i was haru!” this was the last straw for you. you were too exhausted to try anymore. haru was irreplaceable and you were just a temporary band aid for chifuyu. 

it was as if you had hit jack pot when your lover went silent. “i’ve loved you for so long chifuyu. but loving you hurts too much. i’m so tired of this.” you finally allowed yourself to break down, letting yourself go loose on the emotions you’ve suppressed for years as chifuyu could only watch in remorse for tearing you apart till this state. 

you finally understood why the apple tree never bloomed any apples.

you were twenty seven when you decided to leave chifuyu matsuno. fifteen years of friendship and seven years of being each other’s significant other. you finally walked away, planting one last final kiss on chifuyu’s lips and shutting the door on your ex-lover’s sleeping figure. 

[svchengss]

two halves | l.mh

PAIRING. mark lee x reader

GENRE. fluff, heavy angst

WARNINGS. major character death, grief

WORD COUNT. 2.4k

SUMMARY. right after his death, mark watches how you cope with the loss

A/N. i saw this one tiktok and it kinda inspired me to write this

// just to let you guys know, reblogs and feedbacks are appreciated !! thank you for reading :D

white walls, white room.

mark scrunched his face, his eyelashes slowly fluttering open, the dark brown iris adjusting the size of the pupils due to the brightness of the walls reflected upon it. a soft groan vibrating from his throat, he assessed his surroundings where nobody or nothing else is present. he looked down to inspect his clothing, hoping that it would give him any clue of this room or space he’s in - an all white outfit. this scene looks exactly like the one in the movies where the characters realize they are dead. except this time, he really is.

THE REALIZATION.

the muffled sounds of cries and sobs rang through his eardrums, triggering a reflex to wake up from the state that he thought was a slumber. he is lying on the hospital bed with the light blue clothing piece, faint light illuminating the space where people are huddled up around him. he waved his right hand in the air to let them - who he later remembered as his family members and friends, know that his eyes are already open. nobody moved even the slightest, the atmosphere being very much dead, scent of medicine intoxicating his mind.

then he saw someone who he holds very dear to his heart - you, enter the hospital room, dropping onto her knees as soon as she saw his state of condition. in an instant, he shot up from his lying position and ran over towards the crying you, shoulders shaking and all. bringing his hands to hold you in his embrace, not even a glance spared by you brought a hundred and one questions to him. why didn’t anybody acknowledge him when he woke up? why can’t you feel his touch?

“mark lee. time of death, 10:23 pm,” the tall doctor with glasses rested on the bridge of his nose announced before leaving the room, holding the clipboard close to his chest. mark gauged the monitor screen next to the bed, the line indicating his heartbeat is no longer showing spikes going up and down - instead becoming a flat line, deafening beep present with it. then he sees himself still laying on the white sheets, eyes still closed and no signs of breathing evident. a surge of panic rushed through his veins.

this can’t be real.

mark rushed into the bathroom, a surprised gasp leaving his lips. his body is semi-transparent, the shape of the toilet bowl can be seen through his left shoulder. his body shakes with terror, slapping himself in the cheeks multiple times just to make sure that this whole fiasco is just a nightmare.

oh my god. no, this is real.

mark stood in the back of the crowd, witnessing the funeral of someone and that someone being him. of course, he’s never expected to get the sight of his own service. his mother is standing beside you, her hands rubbing circles onto your back in an attempt to calm your mourning state. you’re still looking ever so pretty, a black chiffon dress on your body with white pearl necklace on your collarbones and your wavy black hair hanging down your shoulders. not that anybody else would notice, it’s someone’s death after all.

“stay strong, y/n. he will always be in our hearts,” the same rhythm of sentence in tones full of pity being directed towards you. mark’s sister enveloped you into a warm hug despite the chilly atmosphere, whispering comforting words into your ears before getting into the family’s car. you’re not going back home, not yet when you still feel reluctant to let him go.

“why did you leave me?” the only coherent words from your hoarse voice can be heard. mark, who is crouching next to you, is holding his tears back. instead, he sends a sorrowful smile - not that you can see him anyway. is there any way to let you know of his presence?

“goodbye, love. i’ll see you tomorrow. i promise,” you dusted the back of your dress from any dirt or debris, leaving a rose on his tombstone. the thing is, he doesn’t want to part from you. and that’s why his figure is seated beside you in the cab. he grazed his thumb on your knuckles, making you feel tingles rushing through. you pushed the slight thought away, you must be tired to be feeling things.

you slowly opened the door to your apartment, you and mark’s to be exact. the whole house is making those memories make their presence in the back of your head again. the kitchen where you two baked cookies for christmas last year. the bedroom where you snuggled upon his chest, not wanting to start your day just yet. the piano where he sang those cheesy songs for you. the living room where you slow danced at 3 in the morning. his favourite mug resting on the countertop, probably will not be used again. this whole situation is too overwhelming for you. you feel weak.

with each day passing by, you didn’t even miss one without a visit to his resting lot. you would tell him stories of how your day went or something that you read which would made him ponder. the words carved on it are already etched onto your brain.

mark lee. a son, a brother and a loving partner.

the clock hanging on the grey wall has it’s arms stretched out to display the time - two in the morning. you can’t sleep just yet, not having any for the past few days even. dark circles are appearing around your eyes, not yet recovered from the puffiness from all the crying. mark’s heart aches everytime he takes upon your state. he feels very guilty, not that death was his choice after all. it’s simply fate, a cycle of life, a destiny that every single creature on this planet will end up with.

you’ve taken the whole month off work, still feeling ever so helpless. in fact, you can’t even remember the last time you’ve stepped out of the apartment, the night before his passing perhaps? you’ve completely shut yourself out from any interactions - deactivating your social media, not accepting any calls. you just need time to heal.

as if you’re being controlled by some type of mastermind, you shoot up on the balls of your feet, pulling away from the couch. those images of you slow dancing with mark, hands in each other’s holds, your chin rested in the crook of his neck and being ever so engrossed in love are coming back more often now. you trudged to the vinyls arranged neatly on the shelf, picking one before placing it on the turntable - frank sinatra, one of his all time favourites.

holding your hands up at about his usual height, you start twirling around. you can almost see the outline of his smile, his features right in front of you. except, he is. he’s been observing your moves the whole night. mirroring your current position, as if you can really see him, it’s a miracle for him. overjoyed actually, he doesn’t realize the salty tears streaming down his cheekbones and so are yours.

“thank you for coming, dear. it’s a pleasure seeing you in what, weeks?” a laugh escaped the woman’s lips. you reciprocated her hug before stepping into the living room. it’s been a long time since you’ve been here, was it in january? mrs. lee had invited you over for a simple dinner, checking up on how you’ve been. you can see that the family is still struggling over his passing, the way his sister’s eyes are not twinkling as usual makes it hard to cover up the lie.

“you see, this was on his high school graduation day. he was very happy that day, doing all sorts of dances and stuff. finally escaping from hell as he said,” she giggled. she’s been displaying all sorts of memoirs to you, photo albums and photographs scattered on the wooden floor. to be honest, you’ve never seen these before. all smiles mark lee, easy to notice among the crowd. not that he’s changed, he’s still that boy now. mark just sat on the couch - his favourite spot, observing the throwback session going on. if he’s still here, his sister for sure is going to tease the hell out of him.

“he told us so much about you, you know? as if everything reminds him of you, that boy is lovestruck. really,” that sudden confession made your tongue dry, unable to find a perfect response. you were really that special to him.

“drive safe honey, you can come over whenever you want. you know you’re always welcome here, right?” mrs. lee handed you the small box filled with some things you’re going to keep. she kissed both of your cheeks, mr. lee standing behind her giving you a small wave. a small smile crept up onto your face before igniting the engine, turning your wheels out of the housing area.

the netflix show is playing on the television, the faint voices of the characters playing in the background. you’re sitting on the floor, flipping through the photo journal you two decorated throughout your one year of relationship. you can see his little scribbles and doodles, often a little dinosaur symbolising your always grumpy personality.

in one photo, a golden birthday hat is nicely placed on your head with him kissing your right cheek. you remember clearly, a surprise party for you last year. in the following ones, they are mostly candid shots - you blowing out the candles while he looks at you full of love, him eating a portion of your dish while you pout your lips. you would say it was the night of your life, spending it with the guy who stole your heart.

the next page of the journal is a shot of mark taking a photo of you in the park. you suppose it was taken by donghyuck? that one picture of you was stuck as his lock screen wallpaper for a while, you remembered getting so embarrassed over it. mark would give you the same excuse every time you questioned him about it, implying that the sight of you would light up his whole day. cheesy really, but that was what remained as memories of the past, tied neatly in your heart.

the rain trickling against your window eventually made you doze off to wonderland, creating the perfect chance for mark to browse through the journal in your hands. carefully lifting it from yours so that you won’t be stirred from your sleep, he settled down in the space beside your sleeping figure. slowly turning the pages, he smiled fondly at each photo holding a thousand moments that can’t be recreated ever again. some of them would make him giggle. he kneeled down slightly to place a soft kiss on your forehead, making you squirm a little due to the faint touch.

“give him a chance. i’m not saying that you should forget mark but it’s been months, you should live up a little,” yerim’s voice sounding concerned from the other end of the line. perhaps she’s right but you just need more time. but how much longer? you’re afraid you yourself have no specific answer for that enquiry.

you’ve been feeling better by now, welcoming people back into your life and carrying out the same daily routine of yours. going to work, buying groceries, going to the drive-thru and whatnot. of course, the void is still obvious - coming back home to an empty atmosphere instead of him waiting for you on the couch, sometimes dozing off, no more weekend cafe runs. but at least you’re trying your best. you bid your goodbyes before tapping the red button, ending the call. plopping the device onto the mattress, you stared at the white ceiling, deep in your own thoughts.

you should give him a chance. live up a little.

yes, you should.

getting hold of the phone and immediately opening the messages app, you searched for jungwoo’s number. he’s been trying to take you out for dinner for a while now. you still remember his exact words, whenever you’re ready he’s always there, waiting for you. you’re not really sure about that particular question but it wouldn't hurt to give it a try, right?

typing in the words ‘okay, sure’ is already a pressure for you but you still proceeded to press the send button. glancing at the clock showing the time, the notification ping redirected your focus onto the screen.

jungwoo: cool, is tomorrow night okay with you? i’ll drive, of course :)

tomorrow night. okay, tomorrow night.

an elegant red gown is wrapping your curves perfectly, a thin necklace with the seashell charm around your neck while your lips is decorated with the dark red tone, highlighting your poise appearance. hearing the doorbell ring, you tidied up the dresser as your eyes landed onto the picture frame holding a photo of you and mark. a sad feeling crept into your heart but you pushed it away, opening the door to reveal jungwoo in a black and white tuxedo.

you would say that the dinner went well, none of his questions or chatters crossing any borderline. he’s just so polite, even you are amused. feeling comfortable with his presence, the small gap in between is eventually closing down since you’ve learned so much about each other during the other few dates. one night completely changed it for you, him offering you a dance at some event he’s bringing you with.

you observed that his moves are slightly similar to mark’s - not completely of course, mark’s is very unique and very…mark-ish. for the first time ever in the recent turn of events, you flashed a genuine smile. one that is not just for show, one that only comes out when you’re truly elated, one that you only manage to give to certain. mark just observed the scene from a distance, admiring how you’ve managed to find the spark of happiness you once lost.

alas, mark saw his other half become full again with another, her eyes twinkling with the same joy but this time, it’s not him in the reflection.

[bridgeporthq]

Oh, look! It’s FIONA JOHNSON! I heard they’re [30], a [CIS-FEMALE, use SHE/HER pronouns, have been in town for THIRTY and are actually from BRIDGEPORT, MAINE. They are currently working as a/an/the BLUE ANCHOR LIGHTHOUSE and living in OLD BRIDGEPORT. You know, I personally think they look like VICTORIA PEDRETTI, but that’s crazy, right?

BIOGRAPHY

Triggers in Bio: addiction, drugs, alcohol, death

With addicts as parents, Fiona learned to thrive in a dysfunctional household. Other little girls learned to braid their hair, but not her. Forced to take care of her two younger siblings, Fiona knew the best way to steal dinner from the grocery stores without getting caught. Tiffany and Terry made it nearly impossible for her and her siblings to have a normal childhood, yet the children found ways to be happy. For their birthdays, Fiona would skip school and buy a box of cake mix with a bag of quarters she would get from busting a washer machine at the Soap Opera Laundromat. The cake, delicious and prettily decorated with the berries she would steal from the Rhodes farm, made them all squeal with laughter as the Johnson children sang ‘Happy Birthday.’ The Johnson kids loved each other and they manage to turn their sad situation into a whimsical one. It was them against the world.

While Fiona has had enough reason to hate her parents, her heart ached for their love and attention. To the age of thirteen, she would follow Terry around the house as he smoked cigarette after cigarette, ranting over some bad business he got himself into. Tiffany’s hair would be stroked as she puked her brains out after night of binge drinking. And Fiona would have continued loving her parents if Tiffany hadn’t shattered her world in one thoughtless, inebriated sentence. She wasn’t her father’s daughter. During a heated fight, Tiffany had bailed on the family for a few days, sleeping with whoever welcomed her in their bed, and nine months later, Fiona was came into the world kicking and screaming. Not a single soul, other than Tiffany and Fiona, knows the truth. Not wanting to accept it, Fiona never confronted her mother about it. It’s a secret she has never been brave enough to speak about.

Despite the chaos and instability at home, Fiona excelled in her education as it was the one thing she felt she had control over. She used school to distract herself from the realities at home. Every A gave a sense of peace. She was more than just her dysfunctional family. There was a promised that she could be like one of those shiny girls that had their whole life together. The type of girl who would study marine biology and swim with the octopuses. But she grew hard and cynical. Life wasn’t supposed to be easy. Not for girls like her. Plus, she had her younger siblings to look after. So she quietly gave up her dream to become a marine biologist and stayed in her small town.

From the age of sixteen, Fiona worked at the fish market, cleaning and selling fish at the Blue Harbor Fish Market. There was where she met the old groundskeeper of the Blue Anchor Lighthouse, over the transaction of two lobsters and the homemade blueberry pie she made to pay for her younger sibling’s field-trip. He fascinated her. Her fascination around his weathered face and the intrinsic way he just knew a storm was coming made her wonder at times if he was her father. They soon became friends. Fascinated with the tender way the groundskeeper took care of the lighthouse, Fiona begged him to hire her as his assistant. Reluctantly, he gave her a job and soon enough he filled in the shoes of grandfather. A fact she would never confirm to anyone. While the pay had been shit, she stayed on, and quietly worked beside him, barely giving each other one worded responses. In her fifth year being the groundskeeper’s assistant, Fiona found him dead in his armchair, his tea ice cold from the night before.

Now the groundskeeper, Fiona keeps to herself busy working on upkeep the lighthouse. She hasn’t much inspirations in life but to keep her siblings safe and to one day swim with the octopuses.

[darling-i-read-it]

Pendent

Hannibal Lecter x reader

Word Count: 1.4k 

Warnings: prison 

Author’s Note: I hope you like this dear! It’s always nice to write for Hannibal, he’s such an elegant character and everything he says is so fun 

Requested: by @lzzygeekk, Hi!! I just see that you still take request , so can I have Hannibal x reader.  the reader visit Hannibal in prison when she remember in tender side or so specific memory. Maybe Hannibal made a quote from Chilton book know the she married the Chesapeake reaper. With the prompt that in found : " you give out pieces of yourself to people but never let them see the whole picture. I see it and I know who you are" ❤️❤️

Summary: the request 

I don’t own these characters. They belong to author/director/creator

(not my gif)

Your home seemed so big without Hannibal. You thought about it all the time, his absence. When you made dinner you would stand in front of the fridge for far too long, knowing that when you married Hannibal you thought you would never have to make a meal in your life. You wanted to bring food to him but Alana didn’t allow anyone to do that. You could see him but no gift giving.

Not even on his birthday. You had a stack of presents in a corner, waiting for the day he would come back home again. 

You leaned against the kitchen counter, eating a cup of pudding. You weren’t really focusing on eating. Your thoughts were wandering. You had on a record of one of Hannibals’ old classical vinyls. You started to sway as you sat, closing your eyes and imagining what he would be doing if he was there. 

He would likely chastise you for eating a pudding cup when you could have a full meal. Then again, he was feeding you people. 

At the memory of that your eyes snapped open and you took a deep breath, shaking your head. You put the pudding cup down beside you and slid off the counter. You had the dining room windows open, causing a chill to go down your spine at the cold.

The phone rang. 

You jumped but then briskly walked over to the phone and picked it up. You stood up straight, just as Hannibal would have. You didn’t really think about it as you did it. Perhaps you were just subconsciously trying to have him here in other ways. 

“Hello?” you said. Your voice cracked a bit. You realized then you hadn’t spoken in hours. 

“Hello, Y/N?” Alana said in her professional voice. The two of you had been friends before Hannibal went to prison but when you wouldn’t divorce him she started to drift away from you. 

“Yes. Is everything alright?” You looked down at your hand, messing with your wedding ring. 

“Yes everything is fine. Hannibal was asking to see you. He says that it’s your birthday today. Happy birthday.” You looked over at the calendar that was hanging up. It was your birthday. How could you have forgotten? You rubbed your eyes. 

“Yeah uh, I’ll be there soon.” You hung up the phone and walked to go and get your coat. 

====

You walked up to the behavioral hospital. Your shoes hit the stone as you walked up the stairs, holding your bag close to your side. You walked up to Alana’s office and she was sitting at her desk waiting. 

She stood up at the sight of you, a polite tight smile on her face. You gave her a soft nod. She gestured to the door, grabbing her keys off of the desk. 

“Shall we?” You nodded.

“We shall.” 

She led you down the familiar hallway. The hallway that had become your constant companion when you went to see your husband. 

She unlocked the door that led to his cell. She gestured for you to go in and you did. She closed the door behind you, not following. Hannibal stood up from his desk. You noted that Alana hadn’t taken away any of his things this week. 

He walked over to the glass. 

“Happy birthday my darling,” he said with a gentle smile on his face. You smiled back at him and eased in his presence. It was so nice to be with him. If only Alana let you in the cage. You pulled up a chair and he did as well so you were sitting as close to each other as you could get.

“I forgot it was today. I thought it was tomorrow,” you said honestly, laughing a bit. 

“You did have a tendency to forget the date.”

“Clearly I still do,” you joked. He pulled something from his small pocket and put it in the sliding glass container. He pushed it toward you. You opened it up a small box. Inside was a tiny necklace with a golden heart pendant. “How did you get a hold of this?” You meant for it to sound joking but it came out in awe.

“I have my ways.”

“I have your stack of presents still in the corner of the bedroom,” you said, taking the necklace out. “It’s beautiful Hannibal. Thank you so much.” 

“It reminded me of our honeymoon in Florence. I had Alana to get it for me. Do you remember the beautiful pendants they had on the street we stayed in?” You laughed a tad, reminiscing on the moment. 

“Of course! I wanted to stay at your family's estate but you insisted we didn’t.”

“I didn’t want to be reminded about such sad things on such a happy occasion with you.” You thought about that trip. It truly had been magical. Hannibal knew all of the places to go and see and he was beaming the whole trip. If you thought it wasn’t possible to love him any more, that trip proved you wrong. 

“Oh do you remember that street performer? The singer?” He nodded fondly. 

“He sang one of my favorite songs. What luck that was. We were filled with luck on that trip,” he said. 

“If you’re referencing the four leaf clover I found then you’re very right, we were filled with luck,” you said laughing. Hannibal watched as your face moved and smiled with adoration. He wished he could touch your cheek, kiss your chin, run his fingers through your hair. “It was only fitting to have such a wonderful honeymoon after a wonderful wedding.” 

He didn’t want to bring it up at first. He didn’t think it was necessary but he said it anyway. 

“I believe Frederick Chilton said something similar.” You scoffed.

“Chilton said ‘It was only fitting to have a crazy wife to accompany her undiagnosed husband’. In reference to eating the food by the way. I thought the food tasted amazing, perhaps I am crazy.” He smiled slightly.

“You liked the way I prepared it.”

“Everytime. You know I had a pudding cup for lunch today?”

“On your birthday? Goodness gracious,” he said, shaking his head disapprovingly. “I’ll break out just to make you a decent meal and then I’ll come right back.”

“I wouldn’t let you come back.” His face fell a tad. The fact that he was gone clearly had an effect on you. He wasn’t surprised about that but it pained him to see nevertheless. 

“You’re not crazy. There’s not one thing Chilton got right in that book.” You nodded.

“Because you give out pieces of yourself to people but never let them see the whole picture. Chilton is not an exception. He got the psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter and a little bit of the cannibal but not nearly enough.”

“Do you see me?” 

“Of course I see you. I know who you are.” He smiled and put his hand on the glass. You put your fingers up against his, just an inch of glass between the two of you. That inch proved to always be a nuisance. 

“Happy birthday my love,” he said again. 

“Thank you Hannibal.”

Alana watched and listened from the cameras. She felt a pang of guilt seeing your hands almost touch. She was tempted to open the door herself but knew better. He may not kill you but he would not hesitate to kill Alana. It was a promise he likely intended to keep.

[thenovelartist]

The Fine Line of Loving You - Epilogue

< Previous

Day 7: Cake

The cake in front of him had two candles on top, a number three followed by a number zero. Honestly, he hadn’t thought he’d make it this far, but he’d been nickel and diming his time. A few months here, few more there, a year once. Aaron hadn’t stopped intently searching for a cure, and Luke hadn’t given up on life. He already hadn’t wanted to when he married Rosa, but a whole new sense of desperation had hit him like a tidal wave when she told him she was pregnant.

It had happened a few months after they’d tied the knot, which had happened a month after the insane mission and safehouse debacle. Rosa decided to forgo planning a wedding entirely. Instead, she had him take her down to the courthouse and marry him there. After that, they had organized a much larger reception with all their friends and colleagues by booking out a bar for the evening.

Actually, Luke had to thank Marius for that one. He pulled a few strings for Rosa’s sake.

It was a grand time, and they were showered in congratulations, particularly from his rowdy coworkers. Aaron was there to rib both of them mercilessly—mercilessly—and give a speech that had the entire room laughing. And despite having been downright mortified, Luke wouldn’t have had it any other way.

Then that was that. She had his last name, and they lived life happily married in his home. Very few things changed, which was how Luke liked it. One of those things that had changed, though, was her wanting to try for children.

To say Luke had been hesitant was an understatement. He hadn’t wanted to leave Rosa with a child if a cure couldn’t be found on time and he were to pass away. But Rosa had insisted that she wanted a piece of him, a child with him, to carry on his legacy.

And so, Luke had caved. Two weeks before their first anniversary, their first son was born. John. Like John Watson. Rosa’s idea.

Luke totally cried.

Aaron had been named their child’s official godfather. But only in exchange that he continue doing everything he could to keep Luke alive. To which Luke had been met with a smack over the head and a good scolding. “I’ve been keeping up my end of the deal. It was you who didn’t have any will.”

As much as Luke wanted to protest, there was no arguing with that.

Then came baby number two a year and a half later. Another boy. Luke Sherlock Pearce Junior. Again, Rosa’s idea. In fact, she had insisted, and Luke had let her.

Luke should have died after that. He really should have. But Aaron had worked miracles, which had led to miracle baby number three. A girl, this time. Mary. Luke had laughed until he cried.

And so, here Luke was, celebrating a birthday three years after his original expiration date with one-year-old Mary on his lap while John and little Sherlock sang him ‘Happy Birthday.’

This was all he wanted in life.

After his kids had finished, Luke made a wish before blowing out his candles. Looking over at Rosa who sat across from him, she gave him a bittersweet smile. She knew what he’d wished for; it was no mystery. A cure had yet to be found, but Luke wouldn’t give up hope. He had a family who adored him, three little kids he wanted to watch grow up. He wanted to see if any of them truly took an interest in detective work. He had to make sure to protect his little girl like any good dad would. He wanted to make sure his boys would grow up safely and not end up getting themselves killed like he almost had. But he would trust Aaron would come through. He’d worked miracles thus far; he could work more.

Furthermore, Luke had continued hunting down any clues himself for the drug that was killing him. Rosa had convinced Luke to divulge his secret to the NXX members, confiding in them the drug he’d been forced to take and the men likely behind it. Ever since then, the three other men had gained a new fire in them, knowing now that they were up against people who were recklessly willing to kill for their own gain and the danger that presented to the public at large.

For now, though, Luke would balance the two little boys hanging off of him, wild grin on his face as he cherished every moment he could and fought for each tomorrow.

Later that evening, Rosa would give him all the pictures she’d taken throughout the day. A blessed day filled with joy.

“Aren’t you glad you proposed?” Rosa asked while they were laying in bed that evening.

“Yeah.”

“Good. I’m glad I pulled it out of you.”

“I’m glad you did, too.”

With a content sigh, she snuggled closer to him. He pulled her against his chest, relishing the feel of just holding his wife.

Until his work phone went off.

Rosa whined as she always did. Luke couldn’t say he was too happy about it himself. Yet, he answered it anyway. “Agent Pearce.”

“Luke, it’s Aaron.”

Luke laid back down on the bed, Rosa taking the time to snuggle up against him while she could. “What’s the emergency?”

“Sorry, but there is no emergency. I know it’s late; you can hate me later.”

Well, he was glad he didn’t have to leave, that was for sure. “If I’m not needed why’d you call?”

“Because I couldn’t keep this to myself on your birthday,” Aaron said, grin audible in his voice. “Remember you and your NXX people found what you thought was the drug used to kill you about a year back?”

Something in his words caused Luke’s gut to tighten. “Yeah?”

“It… well, it was and wasn’t. It’s the modified version of your poison. But knowing that, I called in some favors to see if we could degrade it back to the version you yourself got. Couple months ago, we thought we successfully did so. Meaning I was able to study it and create the beginnings of what I think might be an antidote.”

Luke’s gut was bound tightly in knots, and he began finding it hard to breathe. “What…”

“All initial tests prove it functional,” he said. “But I’m gonna need you to come over in the next few days so I can get blood samples from you to see if I actually got it right.”

“Luke?” a soft voice next to him spoke, calling him out of his reverie. His watery gaze locked on his wife’s concerned expression. Gently, she began swiping at his cheeks.

“You mean it, Aaron?” he asked, voice weak with hope. “You might have found an antidote?”

Rosa gasped but quickly covered her mouth with her hands.

“I think I did,” Aaron said. “Absolute worst-case scenario, I didn’t find squat, but I'm pretty confident that's not the case. Second worst-case scenario, what I did find will only give you a couple years.”

“But that’s a lot of time,” Luke quickly countered.

“I’m glad you think so! And plenty of time for me to work more magic. Luke," Aaron said, firm determination in his tone. "I will save you yet. Just you watch.”

“Gladly,” Luke said, watching as tears rolled down his wonderful wife’s cheeks. But they went unattended as she was wiping the happy tears off his.

“I’m not gonna disappoint that wife of yours or my godkids. Not a chance. Gotta keep you alive somehow. But that’s why I called so late. I know you were probably celebrating your birthday with your family, but I thought you’d want to know.”

“I did, Aaron. I absolutely did.”

“Then I’ll let you go and see you whenever you get the chance in the next few days.”

“You’ll see me first thing tomorrow if that’s what you need me for.”

Aaron chuckled. “Then I’ll see ya then.”

“Bye.” With that, Luke hung up the phone.

“He found a cure?” Rosa asked hopefully.

“Maybe,” Luke said, unable to keep the grin off his face. “Maybe. At worst, it wouldn’t work, but preliminary tests say he’ll at least be able to give me a couple years.”

“I have faith in him,” Rosa said, a new round of tears rolling down her cheeks. “He’s worked hard this long.”

Luke gently swiped the tears away from her eyes in a fruitless endeavor to dry them. They were both crying in joy and would likely be for a while. “I’ll forever be in debt to him.”

“We all will. And your birthday wish even came true.”

“Maybe,” he said, trying to keep his head out of the clouds and be realistic.

“Definitely,” Rosa encouraged, hugging Luke tightly. “Is that where you’re going tomorrow morning?”

“Yeah. I know it's our day off, but—”

“I don’t mind,” she assured. “Not one bit. Go see Aaron, then I’ll be waiting at home with the kids for your good news.”

“Then I’ll try my best to not disappoint.”

“Hey,” she said, scooting even closer. “Any more time with you will be good news.”

That was true. “Okay. Then I’ll come back tomorrow with good news.”

Gently, she kissed him. Once, twice, three times. All while clinging to him desperately, happily, hopefully. “I’ll be excited to hear all about it, Luke.”

[stitch1830]

Bets

Happy Mondangst! Here's some angsty Kantoph :)

......

“Da.”

“That’s right, baby girl!” he cheered in his most ridiculous baby voice. “Da da! Da da!”

Lin giggled in her father’s arms, and Toph jokingly scoffed at the two from the couch. She lay on her back with her hands behind her head, enjoying the vibrations of the two through the ball of her foot that she kept firmly on the ground. “You two are giving me a headache.”

“C’mon, Toph! It’s Lin’s first word, how can you hate this?”

“First off, she’s babbling. It’s not even words yet. Second, the fact that she’s making ‘D’ sounds instead of ‘M’ is the other reason.” she explained simply. “If she says ‘Dada’ before ‘Mama,’ that’s betrayal right there.”

“Sorry, Angel. I just have that effect on women, I guess.”

“Gross,” she complained, but pointed a smile at him, and she felt his heart quicken ever so slightly and his voice let out a quiet chuckle at their antics.

And when his gaze turned back to Lin, Toph could feel through the earth how at peace he was at that moment. Complete adoration for their baby, and she silently laughed to herself at the thought of him having to deal with Lin as a teenager. Oh, she would have him wrapped around her finger for all of eternity, Toph just knew it.

His voice broke up her thoughts. “Hey, what if we had a little competition?”

Toph said nothing, but raised an eyebrow at him, prompting him to continue. “What if we compete to find out who Linny walks to first?” he asked.

“What are the stakes?”

“If I win, we start trying for another baby.”

“Are you out of your fucking mind?” she laughed.

“And if you win, Lin’s our only perfect little girl.”

“And if she doesn’t walk to either of us??”

“Then we let fate and destiny take over,” he answered rather smugly.

Toph smirked and sat up from her position, ready to playfully protest this silly competition. “You realize that she’s gonna walk to you, right?”

“We don’t know that.”

“Right,” she responded sarcastically. “Lin, the little Daddy’s girl who shares the same birthday as her Baba and whose first words are gonna be ‘Dada’ and ‘Baba.’”

“Mama could be a close third,” he defended.

“Yeah, sure. I’m going to shake on a bet I’m bound to lose.”

“Just a little fun,” he replied, and she could hear the grin in his voice. “Obviously we’ve got time, but, I don’t know. I think it could be fun!”

“You and I have two very different definitions of fun,” she teased.

“But it’s harmless!”

“Harmless?” she laughed. “I could end up fat and pregnant at the end of this!”

“Only if you want to,” he added.

“So this isn’t even a bet at all,” she commented. “It’s just fake stakes on the table.”

She felt him shrug. “Bit of pride on the line, I suppose. What do you say?”

Toph wanted to continue berating him and teasing him, but his heart sang whenever Lin made a noise or reached out for something, and he adored playing little games like this with her. Perhaps deep down in a place that she barely allowed to admit to herself, she could imagine them having another baby. Even if Lin was almost 6 months old, she thought that maybe, just maybe, a family of four would be nice. And when Lin giggled at her father once again, Toph’s resolve to say no to those two disappeared.

Spirits, they had her whole heart, and she couldn’t help but shake her head as she smiled and extended her hand out to him.

“It’s only a bet if we shake on it.”

His silly cheer caused Lin to giggle more, and after he shook Toph’s hand to signify the start of the bet, he playfully kissed each knuckle before Toph mildly complained as she tried to free herself from his grasp.

~~~

They sat on her living room floor, engaged in small talk while they paid attention to Lin’s every move. The elephant koi in the room became a semi-permanent resident in the Beifong house, but everyone learned to live with it, Toph especially.

Sokka carefully treaded every conversation as he supported Lin to standing on her own two feet. Every now and again, his gaze would turn up to Toph to catch her expression. Today it was unreadable, but she sat on the floor with her legs out and leaned back on her arms, a sign of openness.

That was a good sign, right?

The warrior never knew what was good and what wasn’t anymore, because everything reminded them of him. Of Kanto.

And it was unfair, because Toph deserved to go about her life without having to be constantly reminded of the man she loved and lost to a crazy person. But there was no escape; Kanto was at her place of work, at their home, and he was there whenever Lin moved or breathed or learned something new.

None of that seemed to matter to the universe, however, and Toph and Lin and everyone else that loved Kanto lived with the reminder like chronic pain: constant, relentless.

Still, Toph’s body language was more positive than usual, so Sokka took the opportunity to strike up another small conversation.

“So,” he began by clearing his throat. “What do you and Lin have planned for the rest of the day?”

His friend shrugged in response and a nonchalant wave. “Eh, same old shit, Sokka. Maybe I’ll take her to the park. It is a nice day out.”

“How come you only call me Sokka, now?”

Toph shot him a confused look. “Because it’s your name??”

The man rolled his eyes to himself then said, “Well, yeah. I just mean you almost always called me ‘Meathead’ or ‘Snoozles’ or ‘Captain Boomerang.’”

A quiet scoff fell from Toph’s breath, and she dug her knuckles into her earthen floor. “Yeah, well nicknames are for fun times, and I haven’t been in a jovial mood as of late—”

“Toph I just mean—”

“So forgive me if I don’t feel the need to call you by some dumb nickname that reminds me of all the other stupid ones I called him.”

Sokka shut his mouth, but still held onto a bouncing Lin and stared at Toph. Her expression contorted into one of regret, and she let out a tired sigh.

“I’m sorry, Sokka. That was rude.”

“No, Toph, it’s okay,” he reassured her. “I just—”  Sokka paused before he continued. What he wanted was to help his friend and hoped she would return to her old self soon.

But the idea seemed silly after a second thought. How could she go back to her old self? Going back wasn’t an option, only forward, to a different Toph Beifong who loved and lost and learned to adapt to this difficult change.

So instead of saying I just want to help you get back to your old self, he amended his statement. “I just want to help you.”

“I know,” she sighed again as she moved to lie down on the ground. “I know you’re all trying to help.”

And Toph did know that. The whole group seemed bent over backwards in helping her through this mess of her life, and she not only wanted, but needed their help. However, figuring out things that did help seemed to be a challenge, for it all required talking or thinking about him.

She really couldn’t do that at this point, not even nine months after his death.

Saying his name sent her down a spiral of thoughts of longing and regret, the feeling so strong that it tempted her to visit their bedroom again. But she hadn’t stepped into that room since she was dragged out by Sokka, because she wasn���t sure she’d have the strength to leave it a second time.

Instead of visiting their shared bedroom or speaking her dead almost-fiancé’s name or figuring out what could possibly help her through this, she lay on the ground, focusing on the earth’s humming while blocking out all other erratic and uneven vibrations. It was soothing, being completely one with the earth and ignoring everything else. Her mind wasn’t racing, her heart wasn’t hurting, and she felt a feeling that strangely resembled tranqui—

“Toph?”

Her focus was broken, and as annoyed as she was, Toph responded to her friend and asked, “What is it?”

“Are you okay?”

“Stupid question.”

“I just mean—”

“Mama!”

Lin’s interruption pulled Toph further from the earth, and so she waved her hand in the air and exclaimed, “Mama’s right here, Lin. Just wallowing in self-pity as a widow does, although I’m not even sure I can call myself that.”

“Toph,” Sokka began, but Toph continued her useless ramble. “Probably not, since he didn’t even ask me to marry him. Kind of a requirement to be in the mopey widow club, don’t you think? Pathetic, really, I don’t even have a dead fiancé, just a dead baby daddy.”

“Toph—”

“You know what, guess it doesn’t matter I could just—”

“Toph!”

Sokka’s exclamation startled her, but she didn’t move from her spot. She waited for him to continue with whatever was so important to interrupt her self-deprecating monologue, but he didn’t speak again.

Instead, she felt little, uneven, and heavy footsteps toddle toward her. Toph sat upright in an instant, completely shocked at the sensation of Lin walking.

“Go Lin!” Sokka cheered.

Toph cheered as well and held her hands out excitedly to catch her daughter. “C’mere, Lin! You got it!”

And with a few babbles and shouts for Mama, Lin made her way into Toph’s arms.

The earthbender pulled Lin in for a tight hug and smothered her cheek with kisses. “You did it, baby girl! You took your first steps!”

“She’s a natural, Toph! Gonna be running tomorrow,” Sokka teased.

Toph grinned at the thought, and moved to balance Lin’s tiny feet on her knee. She felt Lin squirm in her arms and crane her neck, as if she was looking for someone.

“Dada.”

And with a single exclamaion of Lin’s favorite word, Toph’s heart shattered just as quickly as it soared a moment ago.

…….

Sokka’s grin faded slowly with Toph’s as he watched her realize what Lin wanted. In a second, one of the greatest feelings and feats of Toph’s baby girl turned into a situation of pure grief. And All he wanted was for his best friend to have a single fucking moment not be ruined by the memory of losing Kanto.

But that was impossible. Every accomplishment was tainted with this memory, and there was nothing to do but accept that harsh reality.

He watched Toph suddenly become overwhelmed by the grief. She bit her quivering lip as she combed through Lin’s hair over and over, fixating on a few curly strands at the top of her head.

They stayed like that for what felt like an eternity, all the while Lin kept asking for her dad. Sokka was about to intervene, but then Toph let out a quiet breath and answered Lin.

“Yeah, Lin. Dada would be so proud of you right now.” She formed a small, sorrowful smile at Lin while tears fell down her cheeks. “I’d rub it in his face, too.” Toph choked out a chuckle, then continued, “But Baba isn’t here anymore, baby girl. It’s just you and me.

“Don’t worry, kiddo. All your aunts and uncles will be around to bother us, especially this Meathead over there, okay?”

When she pointed a finger at Sokka, Lin turned to see, and smiled at him. And Sokka found himself grinning back at Lin for only a second. For when he turned his gaze to Toph, he saw her tear-stricken face and any signs of happiness left Sokka’s face.

He saw Toph hastily wipe at her eyes, then stood up with Lin in her arms. “Thanks for uh, coming by, Sokka. But Lin and I are gonna spend some time together alone.”

She walked out into the backyard before he could even protest.

Sokka didn’t move from his spot, however. He just sat there, thinking and wondering and hoping there was something he could do to help his friend. But she was a silent sufferer, carrying the burden of grief everywhere she went and barely let on what hurt the most about it all. As a bystander, it hurt Sokka to see her shoulder it all. What was he to do, though?

He let out a tired sigh. Sometimes there was nothing to do but be there, even if it made him feel useless.

……

“You’re  a terrible listener.”

Sokka ignored her jab and sat down next to her, Lin bouncing gleefully in her spot in front of her mother. He gave her elbow a light nudge and replied, “I know, but I know you don’t actually want to be alone.”

“I just said—”

“Listen, Toph. We don’t have to talk about it, about any of it. But you’re like me, okay? I don’t like talking about what’s bothering me, but that doesn’t mean solitude is the answer.”

Toph bit her lip as she considered the offer, but made no outright objections to his presence. So they sat there, silent and contemplative about everything and nothing in particular.

It wasn’t until minutes of silence (and little babbles and single words from Lin) that Toph finally spoke. She chose her words carefully, as if saying the wrong thing would send her down a rabbit hole of despair. But Sokka watched her and steadied her with a reassuring hand to her shoulder.

Toph gave a sad smile as she spoke and played with Lin’s wavy hair. “We, uh, we made a stupid bet.

“He liked these silly games and it made him so fucking happy, I didn’t think twice about them. And it gave us a reason to be competitive, and you know how we would get with this shit. Still, they were harmless.”

She hastily wiped her eyes then continued, “But then he wanted to have a bet on who Lin would walk to first, and he said that if Lin walked to him, we’d try for another baby. If she walked to me, no more kids.”

Toph let out a sorrowful chuckle as she slightly hung her head low and let the tears fall in her lap. Sokka’s eyes grew misty at the thought. A silly bet turned into a reminder for Toph, and it felt cruel.

But then Toph took in a deep breath and brought her head back up, pointing her gaze toward the warrior. “You know what’s even crazier? I was gonna let him win. Under the illusion I was upset, of course.”

Sokka softly chuckled at that.

Lin cried out and turned to face Toph, who gently rubbed her daughter’s chubby cheeks. Sokka still sat there, hand on Toph’s shoulder, and watched through his blurred vision his best friend continue to open up to him.

She sighed again. “I’d let him win all the silly games if it meant—”

Her sentence was left unfinished, but nothing else needed to be said. Toph pulled in Lin to an embrace, breathing deeply into her hair as the gravity began to weigh heavy on the pair.

Toph mindlessly played with Lin’s soft curls. “But I guess all bets are off, or I win them all now.

“I don’t feel like the winner, though, Sokka.”

Sokka’s grip tightened on Toph’s shoulder as his sign of support, because he truly had no words. All he could do was sit and stare and hope that there would be something on the horizon to look forward to.

And yet, in that very same moment, he couldn’t help but silently admire Toph’s strength. Her ability to carry on and raise Lin while facing practically an insurmountable amount of grief was something that couldn’t be overlooked. He’d seen his friend show great feats of strength and resilience in the past, but in the back of his mind, he thought that perhaps this was the greatest one of all.

Still, he’d be damned if he was going to let her face this mountain on her own. So they sat there silently once again as Sokka’s hand remained on her shoulder, reminding her that he was there no matter what. He would be there to help her and to hold onto her through it all.

She deserved that. She deserved that and much more, but this was their reality. It would have to do.