#the first drawing was very rushed because i only had enough memory for 5 minutes of video 😅 the speedpaint you see took a little over 4 min
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smimon · 4 months ago
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Translation as promised
[twoje imię] means [your name]
Today, suddenly, I thought you up / Your name sounded within me / Even though there are so many others, I only know the sound of this one / Talk to me, the gentlest, like only you can / And give me your hand startled by the sudden happiness
some kind of Pygmalion and Galatea situation
song is WymyƛliƂem ciebie - cover by Męskie Granie Orkiestra 2023
Dzisiaj nagle wymyƛliƂem Ciebie, Twoje imię zadĆșwięczaƂo we mnie. Choć tyle innych jest, Znam tylko jego dĆșwięk. Do mnie mĂłw najƂagodniej, Jak tylko Ty potrafisz. I podaj rękę spƂoszoną Szczęƛciem nagƂym.
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let-them-read-fics · 4 years ago
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Empress of the Heart (Pt. 1)
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Requested By Anon: "Reader is an actress, and she meets Jennie at an event. They have a one night stand afterward, and months later they meet again." (It was a long request so I had to sum it up lol)
Pairing: Jennie x Fem!Actress!Reader
Word Count: ~ 9,351 😳 (Both parts combined)
Warnings / Misc. -- Smut / Suggestive Themes, Angst, Fluff
Disclaimer: This writing is a work of fiction, and no disrespect is meant for those mentioned herein.
A/N: Hello again! Guys, I'm actually really proud of this one. It gets better as it goes on. I hope you enjoy it (you'd better, because I stayed up until 8am writing again đŸ„ŽđŸ˜‚). I had to split this story into two parts to appease the Tumblr overlords, just so we’re clear.
♡ Happy reading ♡
Part 2
đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€đŸ–€
"Who's that?" Rosé asks, leaning in closer to the maknae as she points to a slightly recognizable face in the crowd. 
"I dunno," Lisa shrugs, throwing a thumb over her shoulder, "ask Jisoo." The Australian does as she says, padding over to seek out an answer from their unnie. 
"Y/N L/N, I believe. Her company is supposed to make a big announcement later." Jisoo informs, adding a nod to the end of her statement for certainty. Jennie stands beside them all, taking in the crowd of staff and business people hailing from all of the most powerful entertainment companies in Korea. The big dogs have all gathered here tonight to drop some major announcements for their upcoming projects and set up arrangements for future endeavors. 
"What do you think it'll be?" Jennie asks, eyes still trained on you as you converse with a famous actress. Her breath catches in her throat when you throw your head back, eyes filling with tears of laughter at something the high class woman said. You're absolutely stunning. 
"It could be anything, honestly. Her company's full of talent in every category." 
"Yeah, their newest girl group broke a record for Youtube streams in the first hour after release. Still didn't beat ours, though," Lisa adds with a smug look, holding her head a little higher. She's only playing, of course -- she's one of the most humble people Jennie knows. 
"She's really pretty," Jennie breathes out, speaking the words that have been rolling around in her mind since she laid eyes on you. The other girls adamantly agree, nodding their heads with purpose. 
"Do you wanna go talk to her? YG would probably like that; maybe we can let Jisoo do a little schmoozing." Rosé smirks, playfully nudging the unnie. Jisoo rolls her eyes with an amused scoff, quickly swatting the blonde's hand away. 
"I don't know, she seems pretty busy." Her words are unsure, weary -- her normal confidence is wavering a bit, now replaced with some type of nervousness that she can't quite explain. This isn't like her; why is she so anxious?
"Come on, it'll be fun." Lisa decides for them, leading the way with Jennie's hand clutched in her own; the brunette would surely slip away otherwise. 
They approach you from an angle, caught right in your blind spot as you continue your small talk with a new business exec. The man sees the girls behind you, waiting for their turn, and after a few more moments he leaves you with an office number to reach him by.
"Good evening
 Y/N, right?" Jisoo leads politely, smiling as you turn to face them. You look even more dazzling up close, and Jennie's posture stiffens. She's definitely seen you somewhere before.
"That's me," you say sweetly, greeting all of them and committing their names to memory. 
"Jennie," she introduces, stretching a hand out to you. Your eyes flutter down to it before you grasp it within your own, the simple action appearing unbelievably cute to her.
"How're you doing tonight? I hear you've got some big news for us." Lisa wiggles her eyebrows, voice bouncy with anticipation.
You giggle, and Jennie thinks it may just be the sweetest thing she's ever heard. "It's a little hectic, if I'm honest, but I'm enjoying myself. What about you guys? And you'll just have to wait and see what we have in store for you." You end the sentence with a wink that just happened to be directed at Jennie, despite Lisa being the one to ask the question. She tries to fight the blush that soon rises to her cheeks. 
"We're doing well, I'd say. It's actually kind of nice to get out of the dorm and meet some new people." Rosé says almost wistfully, her eyes sending a fleeting glance around the room at her statement. 
"I know how that can feel. When I was first starting out I didn't get many opportunities for roles. But then I met my manager at the café I picked up a second job at, and the rest is history." You smile softly at the memory, recalling the events of that fateful day. You can't imagine where you'd be right now if things had played out differently. 
"You're an actress?" Jisoo asks, sounding like she just put two-and-two together. You nod at her, noticing the way that Jennie looks at you in deep thought. You can practically see the wheels turning. 
"So that's where I recognize you from. You guest starred in that JTBC miniseries earlier this year, didn't you?" 
"Ding ding ding, we have a winner." You smile, bowing your head in praise. It warms your heart to see her face light up, knowing that she finally felt that rush of putting her finger on the elusive thoughts in her head. Pulling knowledge you previously believed forgotten from the foggy depths of your brain is a rewarding experience in itself, and you're pleased that she remembered you. 
"I'm glad I made an impression during my short time on screen," you quirk, leaning in closer to her. 
"With skills like yours? You're unmatched, Y/N." She flirts, finally finding her bearings again. Her confidence is returning now, slowly but surely, and she pats herself on the back for not hiding behind her hands when you send her a tempting smile. 
"Ah, you're too kind--" you begin, only to be cut off by a tap on your shoulder. It's one of your co-stars.
"Good evening, ladies," he bows, "I'm sorry to break this up, but Y/N is needed by management." 
Your shoulders sag at this, his words sinking in. You'd much rather spend the night tucked away with the girls, getting to know them better -- especially Jennie, who makes your heart speed up anytime she looks at you. 
"I hate to go," they nod in agreement, sad to have to part ways. They really enjoyed speaking with you, and they'd be lying if they said they wanted to stop anytime soon. 
"But maybe I'll catch you later?" The question sounds hopeful, albeit a bit unsure as you scrunch your face up. They affirm that they'd "like that very much," and your shoulders relax a bit. Maybe there's still some hope for you all. 
◇◇◇◇◇  2 Hours Later  â—‡â—‡â—‡â—‡ïżœïżœïżœ
"Exactly! She shouldn't have forgiven him after that," you rant to Jisoo, talking about some characters from your favorite kdrama. 
"Babo, I tell you." She says dramatically, rolling her eyes. The action garners a chuckle from you, and Jennie finds herself smiling as she follows along with the conversation. She must've made her staring too obvious, because a minute later your eyes meet hers from across the table. She blinks, surprise etched gracefully into her features, and she clears her throat. Both of you have been stealing glances at one another all night, and things have only ramped up since you snuck away from management to see them again. You assured them you wouldn't get in trouble, but that was honestly the last thing on your mind. 
From her seat across from you, Jennie can see the curve of your body, your silhouette highlighted by the lights that shine on the wall behind you. They're dimmed somewhat to give a comfortable, soft glow to the room, and they contrast with the perfect curve of your face. She lets her eyes trail lower, admiring the expanse of your chest and how your fingers rest against the table, mindlessly playing with the expensive tablecloth. 
What you do next makes her choke on the water she had so bravely dared to take a drink of. 
You lean forward slightly, just enough for her to see your cleavage, while still appearing inconspicuous and innocent. The smirk you try to suppress tells her you know exactly what you're doing, and her cheeks grow hot. 
"Excuse me," she mutters to the table, quickly standing and all but running outside for some fresh air. She wants -- needs -- to put some distance between the two of you if she plans to have any self control. 
Cool air immediately greets her as she steps outside, hearing the sleek automatic door slide shut behind her. She can breathe now, and begin to soothe her racing mind. Despite only knowing you for the better part of 4 hours, she's already attracted to you. Way more than she cares to admit, as she presses her thighs together to put out the fire you started within her. 
No more than 5 minutes later, the doors slide open once more. 
"Everything alright?" You ask, tone dripping with amusement as you take in her flustered state. It's obvious that she's okay, just simply turned on. 
"Never better," she mumbles, glancing up at you with a lopsided smile. 
"You know, you ran out pretty fast back there. You sure know how to worry a girl." You fake a pout at her. 
"Oh, you don't say?" She plays along, approaching you with what few shreds of confidence she has left. She tucks a strand of hair behind your ear, whispering into it, "Well, I'm all good." 
"Wanna see for yourself?" She continues, drawing back slightly to take your hands within her own and wrap them around her waist. She smiles as they roam over her body, making sure to be thorough as you "check her out." 
She groans when your hand grazes over a sweet spot on her thigh, causing you to pause and tut at her, "Tsk tsk, Jennie. It looks like I'll have to inspect this a little further." She gulps at your words, mind clouded once again by filthy thoughts of you. 
"Let's get out of here," she suggests, taking your hand to lead you away. You chuckle at her eagerness, only capable of nodding as she basically drags you to her car. 
◇◇◇◇◇
Despite feeling like two horny teenagers, you and Jennie actually opted to slow things down and get to know each other more. She's one of the most interesting people you've ever met, and you could listen to her talk for hours on end. The feeling is beyond mutual, and she doesn't mind that she has to wait a little longer to have you. The promise of what the night will hold for the two of you thrills her, and the anticipation only heightens her feelings.
Takeout containers lay abandoned in her car, long forgotten about as you sit next to each other on the hood. The chilly surface of the windshield presses against your back, making you all the more thankful for having had the foresight to wear a coat tonight. You make a mental note to thank your stylist for the suggestion. 
Stars are beginning to twinkle in the distance, slowly coming out of their peaceful slumber to greet the evening sky. They bring to mind all the nights you spent in your backyard as a child, laid out on a warm blanket as you gazed up into space. Back when only trivial issues existed in your world, leaving you with an unscarred heart and unadulterated outlook on life. Those times were simple, only complicated by whatever drama was going on at school or what new person your friends liked. Back then you had no idea of what the future held for you -- what you'd end up doing with your life. If you had a chance to talk to your younger self, you'd tell her to enjoy those days as much as possible; to not take them for granted for even a second. 
Everyday you're reminded that fame is truly a blessing and a curse -- you miss the days that you could roam the streets freely with whomever you wanted to, not having to worry about paparazzi or the media, but you're thankful for where you are now. You get to do what you love, everyday, and make money from it -- it's what everyone wishes for in life; and although you've worked your ass off to get here, you owe a lot of credit to the fans. 
"It's so beautiful up here," Jennie says, voice stuck between a whisper and sigh as she lays her head on your shoulder. 
"You see that building over there, with the orange lights and trees around it?" You ask, pointing in the direction of the building. Her eyes follow the invisible path your finger makes, and she spots it, nodding for you to continue. 
"My mom used to work there; it's a daycare. I always loved helping out. The kids were so adorable." A bittersweet smile plays on your lips as you look down at your lap, clearly reminiscing. Jennie notices, brushing a strand of hair out of your face as she says, "I bet you miss it." 
"I do," you sigh, clenching your jaw briefly, "those were the days. Seoul's home, but sometimes it feels so distant."
"I know how that feels." You don't miss the way her eyes cast down, a hint of sadness behind them, her fingers toying with yours on her thigh. Life in the spotlight isn't all it's cracked up to be, and neither of you are strangers to that all too familiar pang of longing. 
"I'm happy to be here with you tonight, though," you try to turn the conversation cheery again, and Jennie's thankful for that. "I haven't had this much fun in a long time." 
Your plan works, and soon she's pepping up. "Me neither. Being with you feels...different. In a good way." Your smile widens exponentially when she adds, "A very good way." 
"Don't get too cheesy on me, now," you roll your eyes teasingly, wrapping both of your arms around her and pulling her flush up against your body. She lays her head on your chest, reveling in the scent of your perfume and the warmth radiating from you. Her hand comes to rest against your ribs, lightly rubbing patterns against them as the two of you continue star gazing. She can feel your heartbeat pick up when she slides her hand downwards, playing with the hem of your shirt innocently. 
Does she have any idea what she's doing to you?
Yes, yes she does. After all, your body is basically selling you out at this point. 
"Y/N?" 
"Mmm?" You hum, eyes closed and head leaned back against the windshield. Her skin is soft against yours, and your shared warmth has put you at ease.
"Do you wanna go somewhere? I really don't want the night to be over yet." Your heart flutters at her words; the fact that a woman such as Jennie is so reluctant to leave you is baffling in itself. 
"I'd love that, Jennie. What did you have in mind?" 
For a moment, Jennie's mind takes it there. She allows herself to imagine what it would be like to feel your skin against hers, connection unrestricted by clothing; how your kisses would feel against her lips, her body; what beautiful sounds you would make as she pushed you closer and closer to the edge. She can't deny how attracted she is to you, nor does she want to; but she also doesn't want to ruin the innocent moments you're sharing. She doesn't want to taint them with the lustful ideas that flood her mind anytime you give her that look, or caress her thigh absentmindedly. 
"How does the park sound?" 
"With you? There's nowhere I'd rather be." 
Despite her efforts, Jennie blushes at your statement, feeling that embarrassing warmth creep up the back of her neck. You've made her blush more in the span of one night than she previously had in her entire life, and that boosts your confidence tenfold.
"Who's being cheesy now, huh?" She asks, pinching your side playfully as she sits up. Her legs swing around until she's fully facing you, sitting criss-cross as the two of you smile at one another. 
Neither of you move for a while, both content with just admiring each other's beauty. Her fingers lace with yours, and after a moment she brings your hand up to her lips to lay a kiss to it. The action -- more so, how soft her lips are against your skin -- catches you off guard, and your breathing hitches. All at once, you're acutely aware of how badly you want to kiss her. 
As if things couldn't get anymore tempting, her tongue darts out of her mouth to soothe her lips, making them glisten in the dying light of the evening. 
She sees your eyes dart down to them, and her body leans closer to you ever so slightly, seemingly having a mind of its own. You meet her gaze again, silently asking for permission as you glance back down at her lips. She responds by giving one single nod before leaning in close enough that your noses almost brush against each other. 
"You're stunning." The compliment sounds breathy as it slips out of your mouth, but you're beyond caring at this point. Your pride was thrown out the window the second Jennie showed interest in you. 
"Don't look at me like that," she says, gently biting the inside of her cheek to keep herself from closing the distance. She wants you to be the one to do it.
"Like what?" 
"Like you're undressing me with your eyes." Her gaze casts down to your lips again, seemingly glued there as she watches them move when you speak your reply.
"You act like you weren't doing the same thing at the event." Her confidence falters momentarily, but she fights to hold her ground. "My colleagues even noticed it, babe -- you've gotta get better at hiding your attraction." You say with a chuckle, watching as Jennie's eyes grow wider. Had she really made it so obvious?
"We wouldn't be here right now if I was good at hiding it, so I think you owe me one." 
"Touché," you say, quirking an eyebrow in thought. She's right, as usual. "How can I ever make it up to you?" Your voice wiggles dramatically, face contorting in a mock apology. 
"I know a way," she says lowly, smiling as your hand finds its way to her knee a moment later. You hook your fingers in the crook of it, drawing a surprised gasp from her as she falls forward and into your arms. 
Here goes nothing. 
You raise your left hand to her cheek, brushing the back of your fingers against it gently as you build up the nerve to kiss her. Your other arm is wrapped securely around her waist in order to hold her steady above you. 
Her palms are pressed to the glass behind you, and her hair falls gracefully around you, creating a little curtain to shield you from the outside world. Finally gaining enough courage, you press your lips to hers in a soft kiss. It's slow and mild as you set a sensual rhythm, growing accustomed to the taste of each other. She sighs into your mouth as you reposition her so that she's straddling your lap. 
"Y/N, we're never gonna make it to the park if you keep kissing me like that." She warns, though her words hold no real threat at all. She wants this just as much as you do. 
You lay a trail of light kisses up her neck, all of them far too gentle for her liking right now. "Is this better, your highness?" You ask smugly, smiling against her throat as a frustrated sigh leaves her lips.
She places a hand on your chest to push you up against the glass, letting her fingers skim over your collarbone. Just as she's about to pounce, the sound of your phone ringing interrupts the moment. It vibrates in your pocket, right between Jennie's thighs, and you stifle a giggle at the reaction it would've drawn from her had you not quickly retrieved it. 
"Hello?" You ask, realizing you hadn't even bothered to check the caller ID. Jennie sits back on your legs, allowing her hands to rest on your hips and draw soothing circles.
"Y/N, I hate to tell you this on such short notice, but you have a new interview scheduled for tomorrow morning at 10AM. I'll send you all the details later." 
You sigh at your manager's words, running a hand over your face to relax yourself. The announcement party was supposed to signal the end of your busy week, but of course life just couldn't work in your favor for once. Now you'd be stuck in some random line of questioning, unable to give them any real answers for the sake of keeping spoilers from getting out. You can think of about a million things you'd rather be doing tomorrow morning, and one of them is sitting on your lap right now. 
"Yeah, okay. I'll talk to you later." You wait for him to say his goodbye before ending the call and turning back to Jennie with an apologetic look. 
"Sorry for ruining the moment." 
"You didn't ruin anything. But luckily for you
" she leans forward again, pressing a kiss to your lips that makes your heart stop for a second, "I can be very merciful." You nearly melt at her words, paired with how she whispers them in your ear. Her warm breath fans over your neck, rendering you speechless as you pull her back to your lips. 
This kiss is different -- full of passion and desire as you grow more used to each other. She raises up on her knees, towering over you as she stares down at you. You look so beautiful right now, your eyes appearing big as you look up into hers, waiting for her next move. She runs her hands through your hair before settling them on your cheeks, cupping the smooth skin and rubbing the pad of her thumb across it. You drag your nails up and down her exposed thighs, and you pat yourself on the back when you notice the trail of goosebumps they leave behind. 
"I actually do wanna go to the park with you, if that's alright. There's something I want to show you. I definitely want to continue this later, though." You say.
She nods at that, a smile making its way to her face that can't possibly be wiped away. As much as she wants to have you writhing underneath her, screaming her name, she can wait. She's content with making as many memories as possible with you tonight, and she's intrigued by the surprise you're hinting at.
A few gentle kisses later, you slide off the hood and help her down before going to open her car door for her. 
"Such a gentlewoman," she praises, pursing her lips at you. 
"Only for you," you wink, making her giggle. 
You quickly make your way to the driver's seat, set on getting to the park ASAP in order to spend as much time as you can with Jennie. After all, you can only stay up so late tonight if you want to be functioning for that interview tomorrow
 and let's just say that you plan on being busy later. 
---------
"Voila!" You declare, motioning to some playground equipment in the kid's section of the sizable park. Of all the things she was guessing at, Jennie did not see this coming. 
"What, you came to show me monkey bars, Y/N? I've seen plenty of them--" She asks incredulously, looking around the area filled with miniature tables and chairs to go along with the equipment. 
"What? No, no. I used to play here when I was growing up, and my friend's and I had a secret hiding spot. We always stashed our favorite little knick knacks in it, and we promised we'd only show it to people we deemed worthy."
Jennie watches as your eyes light up at the recounting of such a dear memory, and she grins widely. You truly are a five year old at heart. 
"This is the first time I've been back here, since
" you trail off, realizing just how many years it's been. Being at such a different point in your life while standing in a place you frequented as a child is a weird juxtaposition that you weren't prepared for, but you push it from your mind.
"Anyway, I think you're pretty worthy." You joke, sizing her up. She laughs at that, and you revel in the pleasant sound. You know you probably won't see her again after tonight, so you're determined to ingrain the little things -- like her smile, her laugh -- into your brain. 
"Now, let's see
 where did Ashley put it?" You whisper to yourself, scanning the length of the playground. Your eyes travel across the slides, over the swings, and around the monkey bars before you spot that little dip in the siding that you'd recognize anywhere. Jennie soon finds her hand slipping into yours as you lead her over to it, a childlike sense of giddiness on your face. She likes seeing you like this. 
"I hope it's still here," you say to no one, bending down to press your fingers against the old wood. It's far more worn down now, and you're worried that someone has already come by and cleaned out the hiding spot. Putting your doubts aside, you continue. 
"Okay, so don't laugh, but there's a special way you have to open it. Ashley showed it to me one day and it's the only way we could get it to budge after that."
She smiles her gummy smile at you, and you can't help but return the gesture and even steal a quick kiss. She's a bit taken aback when you ball your hand up, using the side of it to deliver a couple blows to the wood in two different spots. Next, you stand and line up your foot, remember exactly how your friend taught you, before executing a calculated kick to the other side. 
At first, Jennie wants to laugh at you; but upon closer inspection, she sees that in fact, a small opening is visible in the wood now. You smirk cockily, knowing full well that she hadn't expected that to work. 
"Told you so," you tease, now bending down again to work the panel free. You wiggle it back and forth repeatedly, being careful not to go too quickly and damage anything else, and eventually it pops out. She watches as you reach in and pull out a mini jewelry box -- the kind that can fit in your hand, mainly meant for rings or other small items. 
"We stole the box from our other friend, Janelle. Had to pay her our allowances for 2 months afterward. Can you believe that?" You ask, shaking your head with another smirk on your lips. Jennie laughs at you in full, loving how carefree you are right now. In a way, she's happy that your manager called earlier; otherwise the two of you most surely would be locked away in your bedroom right now. This experience is definitely one she'll cherish. 
"Unbelievable," she sighs, shaking her head and going along with it. 
You click the latch on the small box, it's material now weathered and rusty as it creaks when you open it. Jennie steps closer to you to examine its contents, and you fight to contain how hard your heart starts beating at the feeling of her hand on your lower back. 
"No way
" you utter, voice full of disbelief as your eyes land on one of your most prized possessions from childhood. 
"What?" Jennie asks, genuinely on the edge of her metaphorical seat. 
"This butterfly hair clip," you inform, slipping the small contraption between your fingers as you hold it up for her to see, "I won it at a fair with my mom and I always wondered where it went
" 
"It's beautiful, Y/N," she says, ooh-ing and ahh-ing at the details etched into it. For something so small and seemingly unassuming, it's actually very unique. 
"I want you to have it." You say, taking a step away so you can look at her. She instantly goes to refuse, saying, "I can't! You just found it after all this time--"
"And I went all that time without it. If you take it, I'll know it's safe with you. And you can use it to remember me by." You say, your gaze softening as you watch her debate with herself. 
"Okay. But if you ever want it back, call me." 
"Roger that." You say dorkily, earning yourself a roll of those dark eyes you find yourself getting lost in. 
"And for the record, Y/N, I could never forget you. Pretty hair clip or not." Her confession makes you feel happy on a whole new level; knowing that you've left an impact on her is truly a wonderful thing. 
"So, what now?" She asks, breaking the happy lull your conversation found itself in. 
"We can walk around the park for a little while, or
" you start, waiting for Jennie to prod you further. Both of you know exactly what game you're playing, but it's still fun nonetheless. 
"Or?" She inquires, stepping closer as she wraps her arms around your shoulders. She nonchalantly gives you a once over, knowing what power her darkening gaze holds over you. 
"We can go back to my place. Maybe play a little footsie, who knows?" You say, shrugging your shoulders with a stupid grin. Even while seducing someone, you can't resist being a geek. 
"Footsie?" Jennie gasps, raising her eyebrows, "What kind of girl do you take me for? That only happens after at least 2 dates in." 
"Such a prude, Ms. Kim. How can I change your mind?" 
She presses a finger to her cheek, pretending to think, before getting an idea. Her lips flirt with the shell of your ear as she whispers obscenities into it, turning you to mush with every new scenario she puts in your head. 
You stiffen as she kisses your jaw, the action catching you off guard as you continue reeling from her words. 
"I can do that, I think," you cough out, stumbling over the words a little bit. She laughs at the effect she has on you; seeing your confidence waver is a nice role reversal, and it's something she could definitely get used to. 
"Let's go." She commands, now taking your hand to pull you after her, just like you had done before.
◇◇◇◇◇
It's painful, how hard Jennie has to restrain herself from touching you as you fumble with your keys. She told herself she'd keep her hands to herself until you got inside, just in case any stray paparazzi managed to catch you two together. The last thing either of you need is some new scandal, especially with your careers in a vulnerable spot as they're really beginning to take off.
"If you don't get that door open within the next 10 seconds, then I'll just take you out here in the hallway." 
You audibly gulp at the image she just conjured up in your mind, and you speed up your movements. The prompting worked, evidently, because soon she's practically shoving you through the doorway.
"Finally," she breathes against your lips, pressing you up against the door once you've locked it back. 
"I've been waiting to do this since we met earlier." She indulges you in that little secret, smiling at the way you whimper when she pulls your leg up to wrap around her hips. 
"I'm all yours," you say, making Jennie's heart flutter at the sentiment. For the night, you're hers and she's yours. "...now kiss me," you command, growing more impatient with each feather-light kiss she presses to your jaw. 
"So bossy," she toys, making you roll your eyes. 
"You have no idea, babe." 
She bites her lip as your husky voice makes its way to her ears, thick with the desire she's been steadily building within you all night. You tug her forward, your fingers bunching up the material of her shirt with little care as her lips meet yours. 
Her tongue swipes across your bottom lip, asking for a permission that you granted the second she touched you. You pull her chin down slightly, allowing the kiss to deepen as you tangle your other hand in her hair. 
After an especially bruising bite to her lip -- one that thrills her to her core -- she pulls away, breathlessly asking, "How're you so good at this?" 
You cackle against her, taken aback by how genuine the question sounded. "Practice for the kdramas, of course." 
"I haven't had to do this," you slide a hand between your bodies, smirking at the gasp that sounds off deep in her throat as you make contact with her, "yet though. That might be a little extreme for the screen." 
"You think?" She scoffs softly, bringing her hands up to gather your hair to one side. She presses gentle kisses to your neck, prepping the surface for the dark marks she'll most certainly be leaving there later. 
"Ready?" You ask, making sure she wants to go through with this.
"You have no idea, babe." She copies your statement from earlier, garnering another smile from you. She swears she can never get enough of that sweet look on your face.
"Follow me," you say, giving her another peck to last until you reach the bedroom.
◇◇◇◇◇  The Morning After ◇◇◇◇◇
Warm, glittering rays of sunlight sneak past the curtains of your apartment window, shining gently through the light material. A dream-like haze befalls the room, serving as a wonderful greeting once you peek your eyes open. The only thing capable of rivaling such a wonderful sight is the woman beside you, her soft breaths keeping your shoulder warm. 
As you turn your head to look at her, careful not to wake her, your heart flips. Having her here next to you is the only reason you even believe last night happened; it was magical -- the stuff of fantasy. The two of you did everything: acted on every desire, every impulse -- you truly made the most of the night, determined to make it unforgettable. 
A few blissful minutes later, she stirs beside you. "Good morning, Y/N." Her eyes remain closed, still safe from the bright light of the morning as she smirks at the memories replaying in her mind. 
You lay a small kiss to her lips, simply missing how they feel against your own. "Morning, beautiful." 
A content sigh slips past her lips as she presses them against your neck, cuddling further into you. "Last night was fun." 
You decide to tease her. "Eh, I've had better." 
If there's one thing that Jennie knows, it's that she's good in bed -- great, even -- and you definitely seemed to be enjoying yourself last night, just as much as she was. Still though, a bit of insecurity runs through her as she raises up on her elbow to look at you through her lashes. 
"Really?" She stills her fingers on your arm, stopping them from continuing the trail that they had been blazing just seconds ago. Her eyebrows furrow subtly, the action almost unnoticed by you. 
Deciding the joke isn't worth it, you cup her cheek and raise her head so she can meet your eyes. 
"No, I'm kidding. Last night was
 something else." You chuckle, smiling as your eyes move around the room in an attempt to find the right word for it. When none come to mind -- no words capable of conveying how great it was -- you look back to her.
She has a knowing grin on her face, "I couldn't agree more." 
Sneaking a glance at the clock propped up on your bedside table, you get an idea. "You know, Jennie
" you start, purring her name out as you had last night, garnering that achingly familiar groan from her, "...we still have a few hours before either of our schedules start." Your suggestion hangs in the air as you roll her over onto her back, hovering over her and brushing your noses together. 
"Hmm, you don't say? Well you're in luck; I still have some things I wanna try out." She plays back, leaning up to press a kiss to the corner of your lips as her hands wander over your body.
Your eyes widen in shock, "What the hell could you POSSIBLY be thinking of?? We tried just about everything." She laughs at your reaction and pulls you down closer to her body to whisper in your ear. Jennie can feel you tremble with every new image she puts in your head, just like she had in the park, her lips dragging you further under as she sneaks little kisses to your skin here and there. 
"Let me get this gay straight: you want me to do that on the balcony? What if my neighbors see?" 
"They won't, we're on one of the top floors. And even if they do
 would that really be so bad?" She lets the question hang in the air; she'd be lying if she said the idea of getting caught doesn't thrill her. Thinking of your lips on her neck as she rocks against you, pinned to the railing while out in the open for the world to see, sends a rush of warmth through her. 
"I wish you weren't so good at convincing me to do things. You're dangerous, Jennie Kim." You warn, pointing a disapproving finger at her. Your eyes nearly pop out when she kisses it, taking the digit in between her lips while looking up at you innocently. This woman will be the death of you. 
◇◇ Back At The Blackpink Dorm ◇◇
"Yah, I know! The new update looks so weird--" 
"There she is," Lisa says, motioning to the doorway, interrupting Jisoo and Rosé’s conversation about whatever new video game the unnie had downloaded.
Jennie leans on the heavy door as she locks it behind her, lazily spinning around on her heel with her lips drawn back in a huge gummy smile. 
"Somebody's happy
" Jisoo teases, shooting her a smirk. She's still riding the high you put her on, and it's no wonder her members are noticing. It's not like she's exactly trying to hide it, either. 
"How was your night? Have fun with Y/N?" The maknae wiggles her eyebrows while propping herself up on her elbows to see Jennie's reaction.
"LISA! She wasn't supposed to know!" Rosé shouts, letting out a disappointed huff. The younger girl only shrugs, a stupid smirk on her lips. Some people just wanna watch the world burn. 
The brunette's daze is momentarily broken at this, and she asks what they're talking about. 
Jisoo lets out a hesitant breath before explaining, "We saw you two leave together, but we agreed to not bring it up until you did." She shoots some daggers at Lisa before continuing, "Somebody can't seem to keep her mouth shut, though." 
Jennie only chuckles now, not really caring if they knew or not. Her night was too wonderful to keep to herself; she would've ended up telling them anyway. 
"Gather round, girls; I'll fill you in." 
◇◇◇◇◇ Months Later  ◇◇◇◇◇
"Why exactly do we have to go to this premiere again?" Jennie grumbles, looking out the window of their limousine. She'd much rather be back at the dorm, snuggled into her cozy heap of pillows and blankets with Netflix playing on her tv. 
"Some of our colleagues are starring as background characters, so YG wants us to attend and show our support." Jisoo informs, always seeming to have more knowledge than all of the other girls combined. Jennie nods; the reasoning is sound, but she'd still prefer to be home. Mingling with business people for god knows how long doesn't seem all that enticing to her. 
"What's the movie?" Lisa asks, throwing the question behind her to the other girls as she searches the cubby for some complimentary snacks. 
"Empress of the Heart," Rosé answers, finally knowing something that Jisoo doesn't. 
"Let's watch the trailer for it. If we have to sit through it then we might as well see what we're getting ourselves into." Lisa suggests, her fingers busy opening the bag of chips she chose from the assortment. 
"Yeah, okay." Jennie says, her statement followed by words of agreement from the other girls. Rosé takes her phone out to search the title, pepping up when she spots it. She whispers something to Jisoo and Lisa, Jennie paying no mind as she watches the buildings pass by. Her favorite thing to fidget with is secure in her grip, occupying her mind. It's familiar design feels good in her hands -- like it's right where it belongs. (Yes, this is what you think it is).
The other girls put their acting skills to use as they hit play, keeping straight faces when your voice comes through the phone speakers. Jennie's head snaps over to them, recognizing the sound in an instant. "Y-Y/N's starring in it?" She asks, voice coming out as a stutter. The thought of seeing you again thrills her, but she doesn't know if she can do that without falling even deeper. Your night together left her with lasting feelings, none of which she was prepared for in the slightest, and she knows they'll be reignited the moment she lays eyes on you. 
"Mhm." They nod sympathetically, all knowing how much she's thought about you the last few months. 
Their driver knocks on the partition, requesting to open it. They give him the all clear, and soon he's rolling it down to inform them, "We're here, ladies." 
"I'll be okay," Jennie tells them, attempting to stop their worries from growing anymore than they already have. She plays the statement back in her head, whispering it to herself as she exits the limo; tonight could only go one of two ways, and it depends entirely on you.
☆☆ Part 2 Linked Up Top ☆☆
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psychdelia · 3 years ago
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christmas used to be billy’s favorite holiday. he loved setting up the tree every year with his mom, matching big smiles on their faces as she carried him to set the star on top. he would help her cook and bake, dance around the kitchen with her. she always surprised him with more gifts than he anticipated, and he would give her a card with messy handwriting and glitter and a drawing of the two of them with i love you mommy scribbled on the bottom.
and then she left and christmas joy was replaced with pain. his father screaming and presenting him with fists instead of gifts. and then max and susan came along and she was their little angel. spoiled with gifts and love while he received nothing but hurt.
billy hates christmas now. hates the holidays in general, but christmas the most. spends all day sulking, curled up in bed and crying. neil gets on him about it, maybe smacks him around before leaving him even worse than how he started. he lost all hope that maybe she’ll come back as a christmas miracle, scoop him up and take him away from all the hurt.
his plan for the day was to stay in bed. avoid the world. but then neil came barging in, demanding billy get off his ass and take max to the byers’ for a christmas party. he was stupid to think that he could catch a break after being forced to ‘celebrate’ with them yesterday, which essentially meant being forced to help susan in the kitchen and watch max get showered in love and gifts while he received nothing.
so he got up. threw on a dark green sweater, tight jeans and boots, still not nearly warm enough for hawkins winter. he silently drove max to the house, only looking at her when she didn’t get out after a minute of being parked.
“what.” billy spoke flatly, his first word of the day.
“come and hang out with us.” max rushed out, nervously fidgeting with the hem of her sweater.
billy just sighed.
“i’m not really in the mood to hang out with a bunch of snotty little shits, so,” he shrugged. “maybe next year.”
“it’s not just us! nancy and jonathan are there. and mrs. byers and chief hopper! and,” a pause. “robin and steve.” she added on quietly.
“max i don’t really think-“ he was interrupted by a knock on his window. he turned to find a very happy and smiling mrs. byers eagerly waving at them.
“come inside!” she urged as billy rolled his window down.
billy just looked at max and gestured towards the house, ignoring her dramatic defeated groan before she got out.
“you too!” joyce grabbed billy’s shoulder, smile faltering at the way he flinched, her touch unexpected. “max told me you guys already celebrated yesterday. what’s another celebration?”
“i don’t think it’s a good idea mrs. byers.” he replied with a small smile, hoping to charm his way out of this situation.
she sighed. “honey, it’s your second and probably last christmas in hawkins before you go to school back home.” she responded to his shocked expression with a sad smile. “we all figured you’d be applying to schools there. and max might’ve slipped up. don’t be mad at her! she’s just scared to lose you, is all.”
billy frowned and looked down at his hands. he hadn’t even told her he was only applying to schools in california. just trying to graduate and get the hell out of indiana, go back home.
“come on, kiddo. your sister would appreciate it.” a pause. “i’ll spike your eggnog.”
billy sighed, taking a few seconds to contemplate before getting out of the car.
“oh you must be freezing.” joyce rolled her eyes as she tugged at his sweater. “you kids and your fashion. you’re gonna get yourself sick like this. hawkins isn’t california!”
billy snorted. “duh.” he mumbled as she dragged him inside.
billy should’ve expected the stares. the guarded, confused and slightly angry expressions at his presence. he felt small, being glared at by nearly everyone in the room. he wanted to turn around, walk right back out that door. almost did if it weren’t for joyce stopping him in his tracks and holding his arm.
“oh, stop that you brats.” joyce huffed. “it’s christmas. be nice! and if you can’t be nice
 no more cookies.” she smirked as they all groaned in protest in unison.
billy didn’t really care about the kids. he apologized to lucas not too long after that night, even agreed to the stupid deal to drive him around town and rev his engine to receive his forgiveness in full. it took him longer to approach steve, though. didn’t have the balls to do it until a couple months before steve graduated. he found him alone in the library, studying to get his gpa high enough to be able to graduate and get his diploma.
“can i sit here?” billy gestured towards the empty chair across from steve, who was glaring at him.
“only if you don’t give me another concussion.”
billy gnawed on his bottom lip as he slid into the seat, staring at the table and avoiding eye contact like a goddamn child.
it took him a minute to finally look up and spit out those two words he’d been meaning to say since that night. but it wasn’t the apologizing he dreaded most, it was the explanation and conversation that followed. he expected steve would ask questions, and shit did he have a lot.
billy kept his answers short, general. didn’t spill too much about all the shit going on in his life and in his head. steve didn’t look satisfied with his answers, but he eventually stopped asking questions. gave billy a stiff nod with a,
“yeah. fine. i accept your apology, i guess. just don’t fuck with me or the kids anymore.”
and that was that. billy kept his distance from them altogether. he occasionally carted lucas and max around for their stupid little dates, teasing them here and there. but it was never malicious.
now he stood right in front of the door in joyce’s house, itching to get out. lucas, max and her friends el and will were the only ones not staring at him apprehensively. the curly haired one was whining, asking why he had to be there, throwing in a few words he was probably too young to be saying. boy wheeler was following suit, making grand gestures and calling him an asshole. nancy looked just as prissy as always, turning her nose up. jonathan avoided eye contact. steve wasn’t quite glaring, but he didn’t look too happy to see him either. just because they were on okay terms didn’t mean they were on great terms. his girl robin didn’t seem too thrilled either.
“i’m just gonna..” billy pointed towards the table filled with drinks and snacks. he walked away as the commotion continued behind him, helping himself to the bowl labeled adult eggnog. he grimaced after the first sip before pouring himself a little more.
it was hard to make himself comfortable. he sat stiff and tense on the edge of the couch, as far away from everyone as he could get. the burn of the rum didn’t do much to heal the hurt in his chest, the pain of abandonment and grief he felt this time every year. he tried to tune everyone out, ignoring the kids yelling as they played video and board games, hopper as he snuck the teenagers more eggnog and beer, joyce as she continued to force feed everyone her christmas appetizers.
he found himself staring at the tree, messily decorated to the brim and a little lopsided. his gaze shifted to the walls, family pictures of just the brothers, then joyce and the brothers, and some including hopper and el. he was unconsciously playing with the chain around his neck, chest getting tighter and tighter. he forced his eyes away from the pictures to find jonathan helping joyce cook and set up dinner in the kitchen, laughing and smiling.
that was his breaking point. he set down his empty cup and sped off to the bathroom, scrubbing at his wet eyes. he shut the door behind him, pacing back and forth, trying to breathe through the lump in his throat. he eventually gave up trying to fight the tears off, a christmas tradition for him at this point. he eventually sat down in and slumped back against the bathtub, closing the curtains and shielding him from the rest of the world. he tuned out the music and chatter from outside, instead hugging his knees to his chest and hiding his face in his hands as he cried.
he knew he shouldn’t have listened to joyce. he shouldn’t have gotten out of his car and stepped foot into this house. he should’ve just gone home and lay in bed all day, much less embarrassing than crying in a goddamn bathtub with people right outside.
but here he was, trying to make up for lost time and bonding and memories with max, to show her that he cares and loves her and isn’t going to abandon her like his mother. and yet he was alone, abandoned and abandoning max in just 5 months. his chest hurt as he cried harder, tears freely slipping down his cheeks and staining his stupid sweater. he was nearly wheezing for air, not getting enough in between his sobs.
he must’ve been too loud because he didn’t hear the door open and shut. didn’t even know he wasn’t alone until steve pulled back the curtain, stunned to find him curled up there and crying.
billy wanted to snarl at him, glare at him with a smartass comment about the bathroom being occupied, but all that came out when he opened his mouth was another choked sob.
“shit, man, you don’t look so good.” steve spoke the obvious. “hargrove, you gotta breathe. don’t want you turning blue on me.”
billy turned away, shielded his face with his arms for god knows what. maybe he was expecting a punch, to be told he was a little bitch for crying like this. but all he received were hesitant hands gently prying his wrists away from his face.
“hey.” steve murmured, now only inches away from him. billy didn’t realize he climbed into the tub with him, kneeling before him in the cramped space.
“fuck off.” billy breathed out, all bark no bite, trying to pull his arms away from steve’s grip. but steve didn’t let up.
“why? so you can suffocate yourself to death in mrs. byers’ bathroom?” steve mused, rubbing circles into billy’s wrists with his thumb. “not gonna happen.”
“i don’t need-“ he choked up, words cracking as more tears unleashed. “i don’t need a fucking babysitter.”
“i know.” steve let go of his wrists, sitting back against the opposite end of the small tub. billy almost whimpered at the loss. was so glad he could will himself against at least one thing.
“what about a friend?” steve took in the way billy’s eyes shifted towards him, expression guarded. “look, man, you’re graduating and leaving next summer,” how many people had max told? “and you’re obviously going through some shit so i don’t see why i can’t at least try to help you through this so we,” he sighed as he gestured between them. “so we can be friends and not on bad terms anymore because i’m tired of having enemies.” he rushed out, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. “i know what it feels like to want to leave this shithole, trust me. robin already applied to schools in cali too and i was maybe thinking about going with her and if we end up in the same place then maybe we can all be friends and help each other out.” he rushed out again.
billy just stared at him, bottom lip quivering pathetically. here steve was, offering to be his friend and follow both him and robin all the way to california. he’d be stupid if he didn’t take the offer.
“what? you following your little girlfriend out to cali for her to dump you on your ass like the last one?” billy was never too bright in the friendship industry.
“what? no. robin’s not - we’re not like that. we’re just friends.” steve frowned. “i already applied to some community colleges out there. but this isn’t about that right now.” he waved his hand dismissively. “you gonna tell me what’s up with you now? a secret for a secret?”
billy opened his mouth to try and reject the offer, to tell steve to fuck off again, but another sob wracked his body. he let out a frustrated groan through his tears as he scrubbed uselessly at his eyes.
“fuckin’ hate christmas.” he choked out, grabbing onto the saint necklace. his mother’s. “it-“ a whimper. “it was my favorite. at least until my mom,” he shut his eyes tightly, tears spilling out of the corners. “she just. up and left. left me with no note or explanation and a piece of shit father.” he exhaled shakily. “he beat her. and when she left..” he trailed off, gesturing towards himself. “there were no more fucking homemade pies or trees or gifts. just him. always drunk and angry every christmas, blaming me for her. then max and susan came into the picture and they had their perfect little family. celebrated every year.” the without me went unspoken.
billy hadn’t realized steve was inching closer and closer to him until he looked up from the bathtub and found steve inches away from him again, eyes big and sad as they looked over him.
“what are you-“ billy didn’t get to finish his sentence before he was enveloped in a big hug, the guy squeezing him tightly.
“hugging you.” steve mumbled into his shoulder, forcing billy’s face into the crook of his neck. in no time he was crying yet again, right into steve’s fucking shoulder.
steve was good at hugs. good at comfort. the way he rubbed all along billy’s back, one arm secured around his waist made him feel safe in a way he hadn’t in probably a decade. he let himself go again, freely ugly crying into his expensive and soft christmas sweater, clinging onto the material with weak, shaky fists.
“i didn’t know.” steve finally spoke after a minute. “shit, man, no one knows anything about you. i figured your dad was a hard ass after we talked about the fight but not that bad.” he pulled back just an inch, catching billy’s eyes with his own. “does anyone else know?”
billy shook his head.
“why don’t you tell hopper?” steve frowned. “that’s not normal or okay.”
“no point.” billy shook his head. “i turned 18 in november. can’t do jack shit now but wait until i graduate.”
“then move out.” steve said it like it was easy. like he could afford it, like he had anywhere to go.
billy laughed but it was more sad than humored.
“and where would i go?”
“with me.” steve’s response was immediate, no hesitation. “my dad’s always gone on business trips and my mom’s italian.” he said it like it was self explanatory. billy’s confused expression prompted him to continue. “she can’t stand bad parents and she loves company. you’re another mouth to force feed, too. she makes great pasta.”
billy shook his head. “i can’t just move in with you. what if they say no or-or it doesn’t work.”
“they won’t say no.” steve assured. “come on.” he urged. “it’s just one more semester and then we’re off to the golden coast.” he smiled dumbly. “it’ll work. trust me.”
billy went silent. thought about it for a minute. what it could be like to get out of that house. live and be friends with steve. go back home with him later on.
billy slowly nodded. “okay.” he mumbled. “okay.” he repeated again, louder and solidified.
they’d make it work.
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disgruntledspacedad · 4 years ago
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The Rules of Engagement (4/5)
part of the The Better Love Series
pairing: Javier Peña x fem!reader/ofc (Ears)
summary: (slow-burn, sexual tension, angst, a little bit of h/c in later chapters) He’s a DEA agent. You work for Centra Spike. Peña’s not your boss, exactly, but you’ve been fwb long enough that certain people are starting to think of you as An Item, and that just won’t do. 
words: 3.7k
warnings: 18+ for alcohol, language, smut, violence, general trauma. 
a/n: unbeta’d. Yeah, I know - I can’t count. This is gonna be five chapters. 
part one | part two | part three | part four | part five
MASTERLIST
Murphy nearly bowls you over on his way down stairs, pulling up short when he sees you. 
“Shit!”
You glance down at yourself. Your clothes are rumpled and covered in ash and bile. You don’t even want to know what your face looks like. There’s rubble in your hair.
Murphy is still staring open-mouthed.
“The pharmacy below my apartment got bombed,” you explain hollowly. “I’m fine, I just need a shower.”
“You look like you need a hospital,” Murphy counters, eyeballing you with something akin to worry. “Fucking Christ, Ears, if Javi -”
You snap your eyes up at the mention of Javi. “Have you heard anything?”
For the first time since you’ve met him, Steve Murphy cracks a grin at you. “On his way home now.” He looks as relieved as you feel. “We got him.”
You manage to smirk back. “Good.”
“Congratulations, by the way. This one’s on you as much as anybody.”
“Thanks.” You sag against the side rail, trying to be subtle about it. Now that the adrenaline has worn off, your legs are shaking, and you think it’s only a matter of time before you fall over.
Murphy notices, because he reaches for your shoulder to steady you. “I really think-”
“No.” You cut him off forcefully, glaring at him with all the energy you have left. “No, Steve. I’m tired, that’s all.”
He sighs. Narrows his eyes. Frowns. “You’re bleeding.”
What?
Murphy gesturers to your temple with a finger that you have to stop yourself from flinching away from. “You’re bleeding, Ears,” he repeats, as if he’s expending a great amount of patience by pointing it out to you.
You reach up, wincing as you notice for the first time that your head hurts. When you draw your fingers back, they are coated in blood.
Murphy moves closer to get a better look.
“It’s just a scratch, Murph,” you tell him wearily. As far as you can tell, that’s true. There’s no gaping hole or giant gash, just a stinging little cut right at your hairline. “You know how head wounds are.”
He’s still glaring suspiciously at you, and you let him, meeting his gaze in silent challenge.
Eventually he sighs. “Okay, your funeral, I guess. Gimme a minute.”
Before you can retort, he ducks back inside, leaving you standing awkwardly on the front step. The walls are thin - you can hear him rummaging around in the kitchen. He’s back seconds later, key in one hand, a slip of paper in the other.
He hands you the paper first. “This is my pager number. Javi’ll be back soon, but I want you to contact me if anything crazy happens.” He motions to your head with his thumb.
“Okay,” you promise.
“And here’s this.” He presses the key into your hand.
You look up at him wide-eyed. “Murphy, you can’t just give me Peña’s key.”
“What, you think it would be any different if I stepped across the landing and did the honors for you? I’m already late.” He runs a hand through his hair with a huff. “Besides, he’d want you to have it.”
Somehow, you seriously doubt that.
Murphy fixes you with a stare. “Trust me.”
“Hardly,” you mutter, taking the key from his hand anyway. You hold it up for emphasis. “But you’re taking the fall for this one, alright?”
Murphy rolls his eyes. “I think I can live with that. Stay safe, Ears, and page me if you need anything.”
♠
You resist the urge to flop down on Javi’s sofa and sleep for a thousand years, instead making your way to the shower. Peeling away your dusty clothes feels so incredibly good. So does the hot water. You take your time, exploring the lingering aches and pains in your body as you scrub them with Javi’s little sliver of Irish Spring. Aside from a few bruises and that one little slice on your temple that won’t quit oozing, you’re not injured anywhere. You think you might be a little sore from being thrown backward tomorrow, and your lungs still feel funny and raw from having the air knocked from them, but otherwise, the bombing of your apartment is more inconvenient than anything.
You try very, very hard not to think about Emilio.
You step out of the shower only when the water runs tepid, the cold jarring you awake. Javi only has two towels, it seems - one left out to dry on the towel rack, the other crumpled in the corner with a pair of boxers. Nice. You opt for the one that’s on the rack, wiping yourself down then wrapping up your dripping hair.
There’s something deliciously deviant about sneaking naked through Javier Peña’s apartment when he’s not home. You shake away your guilt, trying hard not to be too weirded out or too turned on as you rifle through his dresser drawers. You’ve got to wear something.
Eventually, you come away with the green t-shirt and the only pair of sweats the man owns. You eye yourself in the mirror, considering. Javi’s clothes are ridiculous on you - you have to roll the sweats three times at the waist just to keep from tripping - but hell, at least you aren’t naked. Looks like that cut finally stopped bleeding, too.
Carefully, you pull your hair into a sloppy braid and gather your dirty clothes, doing a cursory sweep of the apartment to see if Javi has anything else that needs washing. Other than the little pile in the bathroom, you find a t-shirt and a pair of mis-matched socks in the corner by the nightstand. Not bad for a single guy living alone, you decide.
You make the trip downstairs to the communal laundry room quickly, noting the time on the kitchen clock when you return. You don’t feel like waiting beside the machine today. Flopping on the sofa has lost it’s appeal - you’re bone weary, but every time you close your eyes, you see fireballs and charred bodies.
Sleep is not on the agenda.
Sighing, you make your way to the kitchen for a cup of coffee, glancing at the clock for the umpteenth time. 9:42. You put the water on, then shuffle downstairs to switch the laundry to the dryer. 40 more minutes, and then you can get out of here.
And then what?
You examine your options and find that the list is short. You aren’t going to stay here any longer than necessary - you’ve intruded on Javi’s privacy enough. Your only friend in Colombia is Ana, and that’s off the table for obvious reasons. Murphy isn’t at home, and Connie had left for the States just weeks after you’d arrived. Back to work, then.
You decide that’s best anyway. Somebody fucking bombed your apartment. Well, the mark was probably Emilio’s drug store, but still. Bombings don’t happen in Bogotá - that’s a Medellín thing. Especially a civilian target.
The rush of anger that consumes you is staggering. Who did this, and why?  Bombing a business is a very Pablo Escobar thing to do, but a small pharmacy? In Bogotå?
Ana and her father are good people. You know deep in your bones that they aren’t involved in the drug trade. You also have major doubts that this was an accident. So, what the fuck?
The injustice of it all makes you feel small and cold and helpless.
You’re missing something big.
Javi doesn’t have a television in his apartment. Even if you did have access the news, the information that you’re seeking is hardly going to be broadcast on live television, and certainly not so soon.
Work really is the best option, then. Between the bombing and Verdugo’s arrest, the sicarios must be on red alert. Maybe you can pick up on some chatter. 
Besides, you probably need to let Stechner know about your situation as soon as possible.
You glance at the clock. 10:07.
Ugh. You rise up on your tiptoes, bouncing in frustration. Caffeine and adrenaline have made you jittery. There’s something really cringe-worthy, too, about being alone in Javi’s apartment without his knowledge, especially given the way things ended between you.
The memory chafes, and you shake your head hard enough that it throbs.
Goddamn this day.
A shrill beeping jerks you from your thoughts, and you barely manage to stifle a shriek. Your pager!  You’d forgotten all about it. Your stomach swoops as you pick it up.
The number that flits across the screen belongs to Javi.
You take a breath. Weird. Aside from that one brief conversation yesterday, you haven’t spoken to him in weeks. It probably has something to do with Verdugo, you decide. Maybe he wants to inform you personally. That would be nice of him. After all, this was a pretty big arrest for you, too.
You locate the phone in the kitchen, dialing the number with trembling fingers. Damned coffee.
“Peña.” His voice is terse, clipped.
“Got your page,” you say warily. He sounds like he’s in a mood. “Is there -”
“Where are you?” he demands, cutting you off harshly.
You blink, startled. Forget ‘a mood,’ Javi sounds fucking livid. You’d assumed he’d be pretty relaxed, considering. “Umm, I’m actually at your place,” you speak slowly to hide the shakiness of your voice. Fuck, of all the times to get emotional. “Listen, my apartment was bombed. I just needed -”
You’re interrupted again by a sharp sigh. “Stay there,” Javi grinds out, and then there’s nothing but dial tone.
Slowly, you place the phone back in its cradle, processing the conversation.
What. The. Fuck.  
Bits of plastic clatter to the floor as the pager smashes into the refrigerator - you’re hardly even aware of throwing it. You sink to the kitchen floor, cradling your head in your hands and doing your damnedest to just breathe.
It’s not fucking fair. He was the one who stormed out slamming doors. You haven’t pressed him, haven’t been a nuisance. Well, aside from basically breaking into his apartment and borrowing his shower.
But fucking hell, somebody - probably Pablo Escobar -  just bombed your fucking apartment. You’re living in a foreign country and you don’t even speak the fucking language. There’s nowhere for you to go, and your clothes were a mess, and goddamn, you are just tired.
What were you supposed to do?
Footsteps thunder up the stairs. God, that was quick. You manage to leap to your feet just as the front door slams open with a bang.
Javi stops dead when he sees you, and your tirade dies in your throat.
“Hey.” It’s awkward, but it’s all you can manage.
He’s just staring at you, standing stalk still in the open doorway. He’s breathing heavily, like he’s been running. His expression is tight, carefully closed off. One fist is clenched at his side, the other still gripping the doorknob.
“Murphy let me in,” you babble. You knew he was on his way, but still, his sudden appearance startled you. “My place, I mean, the drugstore -”
“I know.” He’s toneless, expressionless, frozen except for his eyes. They rove over your face and body, and you’re reminded suddenly of watching him read reports - quick, efficient, and exacting, like he’s taking in every detail in an instant.
Fuck. Heat rushes you as you remember that you’re still wearing his clothes. “Okay,” you breathe shakily, hardly aware of speaking aloud. This is getting weird, and you really don’t have the emotional capacity to deal with Javier Peña’s shit today.
Your laundry is probably dry anyway.
“Where are you going?” Javi demands, resting a hand on your shoulder as you attempt to push past him.
That does it. “To get the laundry!” you bite back, twisting away from his touch with a lot more drama than is really necessary. “My clothes are dry!”
He pulls away as if burned, a muscle twitching in his jaw.
You stand there like that for a long moment, just assessing each other. You’re glaring up at him warily, sizing him up, while he watches you with an expression that you don’t recognize.
“I’ll go,” he says softly. There’s something quiet, almost regretful in his tone, and it shatters your defenses. You bit your lip and nod shakily, and then he’s gone, descending down the stairs without another word.
Jesus.
You exhale another shaking breath - everything you do seems shaky, today - and pour another cup of coffee.
♠
You feel like you’ve got a little more control of yourself once you’re back in your own clothes. Javi is lighting a cigarette at the kitchen table when you exit the bathroom, a fresh butt still hot in the ashtray next to him.
“Rough night?” you ask, dropping his half-folded t-shirt and sweats onto the counter.
He huffs sarcastically.
You sigh. Your patience is wearing very, very thin, but you decide to try one more time, just for the hell of it. “Congratulations, by the way. Murphy told me about Verdugo.”
He blinks up at you, like you’ve pulled him from deep thought. “Yeah,” he says slowly, still staring at you with an intensity that’s starting to really freak you out. He pulls hard at the cigarette, and the moment breaks. “We couldn’t have done it without you.”
You nod, suddenly tired.
He notices. “Ears?”
“I need to go back in,” you cut him off before he can ask whatever he was going to ask.
He frowns. “Didn’t you just leave this morning?”
Frazzled as you are, it doesn’t occur to you to ask how he knows that. “Yeah, Peña, I did,” you snap. “But then some fucker bombed my apartment, and I’ve got a nasty feeling that it has something to do with Pablo Escobar. I can’t go home, and I can’t get any sleep, so I might as well make myself useful and see if there’s anything worth listening to today.”
His gaze had drifted during your speech. He’s resting his jaw on his his palm, staring off into the middle distance.
Ugh.
“So, will you drive me, Peña, or am I calling a cab?”
“Sorry,” he says softly, breaking himself out of whatever stupor he’d been in. He stands and extends a hand like he might like to reach for you before deciding against it and grabbing his gun instead. “Of course I’ll drive you, if you feel like going in.” He catches your eye as he tucks the gun into his belt, serious now. “I really am sorry about your home, Ears.”
God. All Javier Peña has to do is throw you a tiny bone, and you fucking melt. The relief you feel is palpable. “Thank you,” you whisper, closing your eyes for a long second.
You hear him rustling around with keys. “Let’s go, then.”
♠
The car ride to headquarters is silent. Javi smokes three more cigarettes, tossing the butts out the open window before you even hit the parking lot, one after the other. You wonder what the fuck is going on with him.
He makes a point to let you out of the passenger side door, a little quirk that had been hit or miss before, depending on his mood. You walk together up the embassy steps, him hanging close to your shoulder but not quite touching you, and you wonder if this is his strange way of apologizing for the weirdness before.
You’re halfway to Stechner’s office when you realize that Javi is still following you. You arch a curious brow in his direction. He pointedly ignores it.
Okay, seriously. “Don’t you have somewhere to be?” The question comes out a lot harsher than you intend, but hell, it’s been a terrible day.
He glances down at you, almost apologetic. “It can wait a minute.”
“Ears!”
Oh, fuck. Steve Murphy is running up the hallway, gaze zeroed in on you.
“What the fuck are you doing here?” He doesn’t wait for you to answer, just whirls on Javi. “Javi, what the fuck is she doing here?”
You bite the inside of your cheek in an effort to keep from screaming. “I’m trying to go do my job, Murphy, if the fucking DEA will let me.” Thankfully, your voice comes out pretty level.
Javi’s looking at Murphy with a narrowed gaze, head cocked, hands on hips. “What do you mean, Murphy?” he asks in a low voice.
Murphy throws his hands up in consternation. “I mean she should be in bed, or at a fucking hospital. You should have seen her this morning, Javi. Looked like she’d come straight from a war zone!”
Javi whips around to stare wide-eyed at you. “Wait. You didn’t say
” All of the color is draining from his face. “You were there?” 
Something about the breathlessness the words, like they’d been punched out of him, sends little shocks of electricity zinging across your skin. “I’m fine,” you manage. As protests go, it’s pretty weak.
“God, Ears, you’re still bleeding.” Goddamn Steve Murphy and his fucking preoccupation with your blood. “Now get out of here, please, before I call you an ambulance. Jesus.”
Javi’s face is a storm cloud of emotions as the pieces continue to click into place. “Ears,” he growls, more horrified than angry. He grips you carefully by the shoulders, looking you over again. This time, he brings his fingers gently to your temple. They come away bloody.
He sucks a sharp breath, glancing up at Murphy. “You’ll handle Verdugo?”
Murphy’s lips are pressed into a fine line. “Absolutely, Javi. Get her out of here.”
♠
He escorts you from the building with a hand pressed firmly against the small of your back. It would be sweet, if not for the blistering pace and the stony expression that’s frozen on his face. People take notice, leaping out of your way, craning their necks to watch as you storm by. By the time you reach the doors, your cheeks are flaming.
“Agent Peña!”
Oh shit. You hadn’t even noticed Martinez and his entourage milling around the entrance.
“Yeah?” Javi bites out.
Martinez raises a brow at the scene the two of you make - you, bleeding and shamefaced, Javi damned near parading you into the parking lot with all the subtly of a thunderclap.
God, there’s no way this ends well for either of you.
“Verdugo is in interrogation room three,” Martinzes says, clearing his throat awkwardly.
Javi doesn’t even slow. “Stick Murphy on it,” he snaps over his shoulder. “I’m busy.”
Nobody dares argue with him.
♠
Instead of getting into the car, Javi leans heavily against the door.
You pause, opening your mouth to question him, but he reaches for your jaw before you can speak, carefully tilting your face up into the sunlight.
“Are you okay?”
His voice is soft, but he’s looking at you in undisguised concern, eyes roving over you with an intensity that tempts you to drop your gaze.
You shiver. You can’t help it - you’re exhausted and emotional, and things with Javi have been so weird for so long, and now he’s staring at you, sharp and worried, running his thumbs across your scalp to gently assess for injuries.
No, you are not okay.
He notices the little tremor that darts through your body and rests one hand on your shoulder, leaning in to look you straight in the eye. “How far were you from the explosion?”
“Across the street,” you tell him, breathless for all of the wrong reasons. It’s only half-way true, you’d been crossing the street when the bomb had gone off, far closer to the blast zone than you’re leading him to believe. But he’s so close, cupping your cheeks in his hands, leaning forward to shield you from the traffic-side of the parking spot with his body as he continues to draw his fingers across your skin, gently assessing for more damage.
“It just knocked me off my feet,” you continue. Your throat is suddenly so dry. “Startled me, more than anything.”
Javi reaches with one finger to expose the wound on your temple. It’s still oozing.
“And this?” he asks, pinning you with another piercing stare.
You reach up, catching his hand as his fingers begin to drift down your cheek. He twitches reflexively. “Just a little scratch,” you promise him. “Falling glass, or shrapnel, I guess. Something grazed me. I never hit my head.”
This is not a lie. You never blacked out; you’re not hurt.
He blusters a sigh, scrubbing his face with his palm for a brief second. “I should really take you to the hospital.” His jaw tightens as he speaks.
“I just said I didn’t hit my head. I’m fine.” You indicate the wound on your temple. “This is nothing. You know how head wounds like to bleed.” You look up at him, projecting as much wide-eyed, awake, vibrant woman as you possibly can after walking away from a fucking bomb, and squeeze his hand in reassurance. “Please, Peña. I just want to go -”
Home, you almost say.
You stop yourself just in time. There is no home, not anymore. And you won’t make the mistake of referencing Peña’s place as anything other than ‘Peña’s place.’ That would be supremely stupid, given all of the recent drama.
“To bed,” you manage instead. “I’m just tired.”
And god, that is the truth.
If Javi notices your faux pax, he doesn’t mention it. He’s hardly taken his eyes off you. He’s near enough that you can feel the heat of his skin, one hand still twined in yours.
It’s all you can do to avoid resting your head on his chest.
“Okay,” he mutters begrudgingly, and then shakes his head like he hadn’t meant to agree. “I’ll take you home.”
You smile wanly at him. “Thanks.”
♠
author’s notes/confessions
I know you still have questions. I promise you, I will answer them.
Steve Murphy is a good bro.
Y’all hit me up if you want a little Javi one-shot after this next chapter. I wrote it for my own reference, but it might be a fun read, if you’re wondering what’s happening inside his head right now.
@tiffdawg​, look what you made me do. ;)
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lisbonsteresa · 4 years ago
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We Keep This Love (In a Photograph) (Nancy x Ace)
The first time he finds the photo is the day after the food festival. 
He arrives at the Claw late, rushing to shove his jacket into his locker and get to the kitchen before George notices his absence, when something crinkles unexpectedly in the pocket. Reaching in, he pulls out the polaroid - a bit wrinkled, the right corner completely folded over - but still in one piece even after the events of the day before. He stares at it for a moment, crouching in front of his open locker, trying to recall when he had acted on the impulse to grab it off the coffee table in their rush to leave, and before he can stop to realize what he’s doing he’s studying the picture’s subject instead. Hair falling into her eyes, dirt from the tunnels still smeared across her face, her features set in an expression of determined focus as she dug into the box of files Carson had procured for her, still looking so perfectly
Nancy. A small grin crosses his face as he remembers her amused reaction to the flash of the camera turning into a sincere smile as Carson told her how proud of her he was - Because of her testimony. The grin drops off his face as the memories of the rest of the day rush back into sharp focus. The sense of uselessness he’d felt as he’d dangled from that railing and watched his life be traded for the lives of countless others; the terrifying amount of finality he’d heard in her ‘I couldn’t lose you.’; the way there was no doubt in his mind about what “favor” Celia had asked for in return - a favor that for all he knows Nancy could be fulfilling right this moment. 
As if summoned by his own despondent thoughts, the door to the storeroom suddenly bursts open and Nancy rushes in, her coat hanging off of one arm as she fastens her hair into a hurried bun. Her mad dash stops short upon seeing him, and as their eyes meet he’s suddenly overwhelmed by all the things he wants to say to her; all the things he held back the day before while Grant was around. The questions of  ‘How could you -’ and ‘Why would you -’ and the arguments starting with ‘This will ruin your -’ and ‘I’m not worth -’ cycle around each other in his mind, and he can tell that something’s about to slip out his mouth but he can’t make the connection between them to know what it’ll be - And then suddenly he doesn’t have to. George’s annoyed voice rings out from the kitchen, and he’s never heard the phrase ‘saved by the boss’ before, but after this he might consider adopting it. He quickly crumples the photo into a ball and tosses it into his locker, following it with his jacket as if burying the image would help him bury the feelings it brought up. He gives Nancy a curt nod, avoiding whatever he might have seen in her eyes as he turns and heads towards the stairs, knowing there was a difference between delaying something and running away from it, but not quite sure which side this was falling on.
——————————————————————
It’s several months before he sees it again. Long enough for Everett Hudson’s first case to be declared a mistrial due to jury tampering, and for the time between it and his retrial to be just enough to allow Nick and Ryan to find a smoking gun hidden in Tiffany’s files that put the Hudson patriarch away for his full sentence (officially, at least). Long enough for Amanda to turn to him on her doorstep two weeks after the trial and tell him that she and Gil were leaving - finally following up on his lead in Santa Fe. There were kisses goodbye and offers to help in any way he could, but they both agreed it would be better for her to focus on finding her mother, and at this point it’s been long enough that he’s starting to feel like he’s doing okay after the breakup. He’s starting to feel like everything’s back to
whatever passes for normal in Horseshoe Bay. At least, he is until Nancy announces - midway through George’s mandated After Hours End-of-Summer-Cleaning Locker Inspection, no less - that she’s gotten into Columbia. 
His hand had just closed around a crumpled ball of paper in the back of his locker when the words leave her mouth, and the ball stays in his hand even as he joins in on the group hug an ecstatic Bess initiates; as he tells Nancy how happy he is for her; as he reassures George that he’ll close up so she can ride with Nick to the celebration he’s sure Carson has planned for Nancy back at their place. 
It isn’t until he’s left alone in the storeroom and he drops down onto the bench in front of his locker that he notices how tightly he’s been gripping the paper. Or the
not paper, he corrects himself as he notices the different texture of whatever he was holding. A sneaking suspicion comes from the back of his mind as he starts to smooth out the ball, and once the image is revealed in full - slightly faded with the right corner ripping off altogether after he pulls a bit too hard -  he has to fight the urge to crumple the photo again and toss it into the trash. 
Which is a weird impulse, isn’t it? Because he was happy for her, of course he was. This was Nancy’s dream school, after all, and after the year that she’s had, doesn’t she deserve to do what makes her happy? To move on with her - His thoughts stutter to a stop. He shakes his head and tries again. After all, hasn’t he - haven’t they all - known this was coming, sooner or later? Hasn’t he known from the start that Nancy was meant for bigger and better things? That she wasn’t going to hang around forever, not in this nowhere small town, with her ragtag group of friends and the dishwasher who’s been at a standstill since high school -
He’s being unfair, he knows. Because Nancy doesn’t see it, any of it, like that. He knows how much Nancy cares; about Horseshoe Bay, about her friends
about him. She’d told him as much during the countless knock-down-drag-out arguments they’d had after the incident at the paper mill, hadn’t she? But he can feel annoyance - or maybe even anger -  rising up inside him, and if he doesn’t deflect it towards her, then he’ll have to confront himself, and he’s been avoiding that confrontation for months now. He’d have to actually think about why he’s been keeping Nancy at arm’s length even after they’d both said their piece during those arguments. Why he’d been so insistent that they’d ‘gotten back to normal’ when he honestly wasn’t sure he had any idea of what ‘normal’ was for them. It certainly wasn’t the way she’d avoided his eyes when he’d congratulated her, but he wasn’t sure it was the way she had held onto his hand long after everyone else had left their hug either. He’d have to actually think about how he’d wasted so much time pretending there wasn’t still something to fix between them, and how he didn’t know what to feel now that he’s realized they’ve run out of time anyway.
When Amanda had left, it had felt like they were mutually closing a door - calm and maybe a little sad, but with both of them smiling and understanding on their respective sides. Knowing that Nancy was leaving felt like having to struggle with a door against hurricane-level winds, without a clue of what side he wanted to be on once he finally got it closed. But maybe that’s not a fair comparison to make, he rationalizes. After all, he and Amanda were together. He and Nancy have just been
  He looks back down at the polaroid, his thumb running along the torn edge as he considers just what exactly he and Nancy have been, before dragging a hand through his hair with a sigh. Too late to figure it out now, anyway.
He leans forward and slips the photo between the pages of a library book already overdue by a year at the bottom of his locker. So he’ll have something to remember her by, he tells himself, unsure if the unpleasant feeling that settles in his gut as he slams the locker shut is bitterness or just plain sadness.
——————————————————————
Life goes on in Horseshoe Bay, even without Nancy Drew. It’s not until late fall when he sees the photo again. He’s helping George and Nick with the Claw’s first official Allhallowtide event, spending his day helping kids decorate their lanterns whenever he’s not hyping Bess up over text for her ‘very preliminary, very probational, very terrifying!!!!!’ (her exclamation points, not his) first in-person meeting with Aunt Diana since she’d started slowly rebuilding their relationship. 
He’s sitting on the steps leading into the storeroom after one of their longer text exchanges, laughing when George calls out for him to make himself useful and find more markers, but he rises to follow her instructions anyway. It takes him all of 5 minutes to realize that they are completely marker-free, digging through every drawer and pencil holder in the room and coming up with nothing, before he remembers the pack of Crayolas he’s pretty sure survived his last locker clean-out. 
He unloads his jacket, a few books, and the jumbo pack of earplugs he’s been drawing from ever since that siren incident three weeks ago onto the bench to make it easier to find the markers, but the earplugs overbalance the books and everything comes toppling down before he can even look through what’s left in the locker. 
With a sigh, he leans over and picks up the old library book that fell face-down, watching curiously as a square of paper drops out from between the pages and back down onto the floor. A catalogue card, he wonders, or maybe a note someone stashed and forgot about? But as he picks it up and sees the torn right corner, he realizes that not only is it not regular paper, but that he knows exactly what he’s going to see before he flips the item over. 
A shock runs through him all the same once he does, seeing Nancy’s face for the first time in months. He doesn’t have more than a moment to think about that though, as his phone erupts with seven text tones in rapid succession at the same time George’s shouts for him to hurry up reach the storeroom. After a tiny moment of hesitation, he slides the polaroid into his back pocket and shoves everything else back into the locker before making his way back to the dining room, marker-less and contrite. 
That was a mistake. He spends the rest of the day hyperaware of what he’s holding onto, patting his pocket for reassurance it hasn’t slipped out so many times that one of Ted’s friends asks him - with all the seriousness a 9-year old can muster - if he is also suffering from the ‘wedgie-saurus’. 
It isn’t until that night, after he insists that he’ll close up the Claw so Nick and George can stay with her sisters at the lantern-lighting event, that he has a moment alone to actually look at the picture. He straddles the storeroom bench, placing it down in front of him and resting his elbows on his knees so he can lean in close as a sudden wave of guilt hits him. He remembers the way their text conversations had petered out after long stretches of one-word or emoji-only replies; the way her calls had slowly become less and less frequent until they stopped altogether. He still gets weird looks from the others when he makes excuses to avoid their video calls with her; can still hear Bess’s overly-sympathetic voice after she’d spent a long weekend in New York telling him that everything was fine, that Nancy just misses him.
He misses her too; of course he does. Some days he misses her so much the ache of it catches him by surprise. Like when he'd realized his habit of watching the door for the first ten minutes of every shift, still expecting her to rush through it with her name tag missing and an excuse at the ready. When he made a Big Lebowski reference at dinner one night and got nothing other than a confused smile from his mother in response. When he was researching something at the end of the bar and felt a phantom presence at his shoulder, like she was just outside his peripheral, leaning up against him and waiting impatiently for him to turn towards her and give her the answer she was looking for. 
It didn’t seem possible for someone he’d known for barely a year to have become such a big part of every aspect of his life, but everywhere he’s turned for months there seems to be another reminder of Nancy Drew.
And that just makes everything worse. Because he hadn’t been able to give her the answers she might have needed before she left. And now, now that he’s had the time to figure those answers out, now that they kept him up at night, running endlessly through his head while he stares dejectedly at the ceiling, he doesn’t know if they’re still the same answers she was looking for now. And he’s terrified by the thought that they might not be. He’s gotten himself caught in a mystery he doesn’t know how to solve on his own.
But maybe
 His thoughts are interrupted by the chime of the clock hanging above the back door, and he starts when he realizes nearly an hour has passed since he first sat down. Glancing at the photo again, he waits for the urge to tuck it back between the pages of that book; to push his feelings down and avoid having to confront them, but it doesn’t come. 
Something else clicks into place with the last chime of the clock, and holding the polaroid in one hand, he unlocks his phone with the other, ignoring Bess’s 5 recap and 2 goodnight texts for the moment while he taps the contact info for the only other person he’s sure will be awake at midnight on a Tuesday. 
She picks up on the first ring. “Ace?” 
Her voice sounds tired, maybe even a little worried, but so deeply familiar his heart jumps into his throat just at the sound of her saying his name. “Hey, Nancy.” he begins, unable to hold back a small smile as he looks down at her picture. “Can we talk?”
Maybe he doesn’t have to solve this one alone.
Maybe neither of them do.
——————————————————————
Nancy’s bright hair makes her easy to spot, even from his position across the train platform. He watches as she peers through the crowd, noticing him with a grin and a tiny wave, before he pushes off from the wall and starts to make his way over to meet her. 
He’d practically had to fight Ryan to be the one picking her up, he imagines telling her as she laughs. The man had been ready to push him down in the driveway until Carson had stepped in to - heavily, mind you - imply that maybe Nancy and Ace could use a little ‘alone time’. 
That part he might keep to himself, actually. It was bad enough that Carson acted like he was in on some big secret every time he got off the phone with his daughter; he didn’t need her wondering why both her father figures were trading smug smiles every time the four of them were in a room together. 
He realizes too late that he’d gotten caught up in his thoughts and that Nancy was suddenly standing less than a foot away from him. “Hi.” he murmurs, the memory of their last - somewhat awkward - reunion tugging at the back of his mind. (He almost wished his arm was still in a sling. Then at least he’d only have to worry about what to do with one of his hands).
“Hi.” she replies in the same tone, her own hands twisting nervously in the strap of her bag, but a beaming smile on her face. It was the same smile he’d seen during their almost daily video calls for the past month and a half, but he hadn’t thought to prepare for the way it makes his heart flip to see it directed at him, live and in person.
“H-how’s Columbia?” he manages to only stumble over the first word, but it doesn’t really seem to matter because suddenly Nancy’s dropped her luggage and launched herself at him, throwing her arms around his neck and clinging to him while his arms instinctively wrap around her, pulling her closer still as he breathes in the fact that this is really happening, that it’s not a dream he’s going to wake up from to find the calendar mockingly reminding him there was another three days until her holiday break started.
He’s not sure how long they stay there, wrapped up in each other while the rest of the world moves around them, but when they finally pull away he knows his smile is as bright as hers. There’s a lot they still have to share - he hasn’t told her about his first day interning with John Sander yet, and she has a copy of the Daily Spectator with her first front page article stowed safely in her bag - and a lot - the distance, their schedules, missing each other - that they still have to figure out. But as he holds out his hand and Nancy takes it in hers, intertwining their fingers as if it was the most natural thing in the world, Ace can’t find it in himself to worry. 
Whatever happens, they’ll figure out a way to solve it. Together.
——————————————————————
(She finds the photo less than a week later; sees it hanging on the inside of his locker when she stops by the Claw to help them decorate for the holidays. Bess is beside herself at somehow being one of the last to know, but Ace can’t really focus on anything other than the look in Nancy’s eyes as she pulls him in for a kiss.)
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queenoftheworldisdead · 4 years ago
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Home coming 4
Summery: Slow burn. You are forced to move back to your home town due to the pandemic.  When your high school tormentors return to remind you why you never  wanted to come back. This gets darker as it goes. I’m not a good writer folks sorry.
Warning: forced oral.
Dark Steve x Black Reader, Cop AU
Chapter 1, Chapter 2, Chapter 3, Chapter 4, Chapter 5
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You watched antsy as the text bubble animated then disappeared. The pause between Steve's text was strangely long. Making you wonder what could have stopped the normally persistent Steve. Not willing to wait in the car any longer you headed inside.
When you unlock the door of course Uncle Nick was on the couch very much annoyed. "You need to ask if your gonna borrow my truck."
"Sorry I went to the bank" it was a lie, but you knew he would never bug you about something like that.
"What happened to your face?" He shot up rushing over, fuming. "It was that fucking Steve wasn't it!" He examined your face, you pulled away when he tried to cup it.
Shit
You forgot to cover your face backup. "Unc... it wasn't Steve. I fell, tripped on something getting out of the truck. Damn thing is so high up off the ground."
By the look in his eye he wasn't buying it. You moved and pushed past him, you could her him cursing under his breath.
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When you got to your old room you close the door. Leaning against it you took a deep breath.
*Buzz Buzz
Ripping the strap from your arms you throw it across the room. Your hearts pace quickened, the thought of that squad car from earlier containing Steve. What he might do if he knew what you were planning.
Pushing off the door you run to your closet. Tossing things around, looking through unopened boxes for your duffel. Your hands tremble as you search. When you hear the faint buzz again and curse.
You had to go to it. Turning around you stare at the purse again. Swallowing thickly as you approached it.
Unzipping the bag, you dip your hand inside, pulling it out. The screen lit up with his name.
MSG Steve: Come outside
Your heart felt like a hammer. The short text not giving any hint to what you would be walking into if you walked out that door. Texting him back you tell him to give you a minute.
Had he seen you?
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Blinking away tears you try and collect yourself.
You wanted to avoid another confrontation from your Uncle so you decided to go out the back. Slipping out the room you close the door quietly. Walking with bare feet and shoes in hand gingerly on the old floor.
You peer past the archway to see him laser focused on the screen. Still on tip toes you walk into the kitchen and through the back door.
The yard was over grown, Nick's old car rusting and in pieces in the back. You put your shoes on and walked around the house.
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When you saw the cop car your mind reeled. Was he going to arrest you for steeling? He knew you stole those tools. It was him.
Through the squad car window's the tent was so thick that Steve's features were barely eliminated by his cell phone. You wanted to run back to the house, board up the doors and hide, but you knew you couldn't.
Each step you took toward the car seemed heavier and heavier like a weight was drawing you down. When you finally approached it he looked away from his phone and up at you with a smirk.
He opened his door and towered over you. "Sorry have to go to work later, so I hope you like a man in uniform" he joked. His eyes burned on you. Twitching a bit when he finally noticed the damage.
Lacing his fingers with yours he said nothing as he led you to the other side of the squad car. He boxed around you on the car when you reached the passenger door giving you another once over. The last time he saw you like this you had fucked up and trusted the wrong person. He sucked in air before letting out a long sigh. You flinched when he lowered his hand down and opened the door. Still silent he watched you slid inside.
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Your stomach sat in knots while he drove you. He kept his hands on the wheel. The controls and laptop on the dash made the cop car feel like an alien space ship to you. He kept his work radio low, the back and forth chit chat filling the quiet spaces.
Steve's presence was so overbearing even with him not touching you. You couldn't remember a time being in a car alone with him like this and he hadn't tried touching you in one way or another.
*Ring Ring
Steve shifted in his seat, pulling out his phone. Splitting his attention between the road and the screen. He didn’t answer it. You glanced over quickly to see him silence the phone and tuck it away.
Your head tilted toward the window as the trip trekked on. The scenery slowly changing as you passed. The little town of Yielding looked like it was just waking up. The traffic just starting to get busy.
"It's just me and you today." When he spoke it was even. Still no hint of what his mood could be.
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When he turned to go the opposite way from the direction of his house, you got more worried.
"Um... Steve where are we going?" You somehow found the courage to ask just above a whisper. Your nails picking at the seat as you waited for a reply.
"It's a surprise" he said coolly.
It wasn't until he turned down a residential street that you realized where you were. The row of houses flooding you with memories. He had taken you to his parents house.
Slowing to a crawl he parked in the driveway. Steve got out of the car and you watched as he walked over to your door. Opening it he held out his hand for you to take. His hand was so warm when you took it, but that didn't stop your skin from prickling.
Hand in hand he walked up the cracked walk way, halting only to unlock the front door.
Following behind him, you noticed just as at your uncle's house how everything looked frozen in time.
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"Mom you in here?"
You looked at him puzzled. He lied.
Dishes clanked from the kitchen. "Just a minute" his mother called out. When she walked out it looked like she had aged a bit since you last saw her. Her once platinum blonde hair now mixed with grey.
"Hey Ma look what the cat dragged in."
his arm wrapped around your shoulder bringing you into a side hug. The move made you stiffen and shift from his side uncomfortably.
*Ring Ring
"Oh my goodness!" She opened up her arms to you, embracing you. "Steve told me you were back in town." Apprehensively you rose your arms to hug her. In you peripheral going in his pocket likely silencing his phone again.
She pulled back and frowned at Steve, you crossed your arms and picked at your sleeve. "You should've told me you were swinging by."
"Are you hungry Sweetie? I have some coffee brewing and I can whip you up something."
"No thank you Mrs.Rogers." Stepping back from you turned to address her son. You looked away as they talked.
Above the old TV a family picture hung on the wall. The sight of his smiling father opened a boxed memory.
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You were never a favorite guest when the patriarch was around. Your 'study sessions' at the Rogers home diminished greatly after one faithful night.
Steve's father busted through the bedroom door, to find you two entwined. It was the first time you saw fear on him. He was whiter than the sheets you two laid upon.
He yelled for his wife as you redressed quickly. Mr.Rogers dragged Steve to the living room. Even though Steve surely could take the older man he coward on the floor in a ball.
The one time in your life you watched the great Captain brought to his knees. It was as if he had turned back into that scrawny boy from Mrs. Peppers class. His mother and you watched on as the older man beat his son. You wished at that moment for it not to stop.
She gripped your shoulders, her nails dug into you. "They were just studying?" She had shouted at him over and over again.
You didn't care that the old man cursed you for being a 'nigger'. Bringing trash in the house as he called it. The cacophony of blows that rained down on Steve filled you with joy and you tried to hard press down the smile on your lips. Even when Steve's tearful eyes found you, you could not hide your delight.
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"I'll be right back Ma." He told her before capturing your hand again. She nodded and waved you off with a smile as Steve led you.
Walking through the house until he landed at his childhood door. You accidentally squeezed his hand because of your anxiety. When he felt it he brought your hand to his lips and kissed it, trying to comfort you. Instead it gave the opposite affect.
Urging you to go inside once it opened. You went in alone.
"You stay put I need to talk to her for a minute."
He closed the door behind you and you listened to his foot falls disappear. You hear his phone going off again as he moved further away. Steve uniform making his presence heavy as he moved down the hall. You scanned the familiar surroundings. crossing your arms again you pick at your sleeve, even with him not in the room it was hard to escape the feel of him. There was never enough distance you could make.
Trophies mounted on the wall next to ribbons of all his athletic achievements, movie posters, his twin bed pressed against the wall. All a time capsule.
You heard music turn come on from somewhere in the house. A thing she always did to give you both privacy. The classic tunes making your stomach knot tighter. Steve opened the door to find you unmoved. He closed the door behind himself.
"Do you know why I started dating Peggy?" He paused, his back pressed to the door. You couldn't face him. Walking around to face you he lifted your head with one finger, you were already crying.
"To find ways to make you fall for me, for you to love me." He looked at you so endearingly wiping a tear away with his other hand. You hiss when his thumb dragged across your bruised cheek.
*Ring Ring
The phone broke his train of thought. You could feel his agitation grow. Steve sighed dropping his hand, the vein on the side of his head started to become more prominent. He didn’t silence it, just letting it ring out before he started again.
"Bucky...I didn't tell him to do that." 
You didn't believe him. "I'm sorry I didn't think he would lash out on you. I’ll talk to him..." When his hand rested at the hip of his holstered gun your trembling intensified. 
“Get in position.” His request was soft, but it still made you break down harder.
There was no point in begging. Sobbing, you step back and get in the middle of the room.
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"No...not like that...get on the bed. I need to show you how sorry I am."
"Pleas Steve there is nothing to apologize for." You assured him. It was a rare occasion when Steve wanted to 'apologize', and you never looked forward to the endeavor.
His face turned cold. His lips a hard line. It felt as if Steve had sucked the air out of the room. You felt the wetness from your cheek travel down your neck, sniffing repeatedly. You walked backwards, wiping away tears until you bumped into the mattress.
The bed dipped and squeaked as you lowered yourself on to it. Scooting back enough until your knees hung over the bed and your feet on the frame. Your legs splayed on the bed, then laying your back flat on the mattress. Steve only stood and watched, his dark uniform made him much more menacing.
He was unmoved by the puffiness of your face and red teary eyes.
You kept your clothes on, he preferred it that way. Steve felt like you shouldn't have to lift a finger when he needed to atone.
"Steve.." You spoke out softly. "It's not your fault..please"  you sniffed. Steve walked over to the bed, his badge twinkled as he approached.
Hiccups started the instant his hand fell on your jeans. Closing your eyes tears fell from each side, the salty water getting into your ear. The sound of his clothes crinkled as he half bent over you. The bedding wrinkled in your hands as you gripped it.
Steve’s palms pressed into your belly as he unfasten your pants. His fingers felt as if they burned your skin as Steve hooked his hands on the waist. Pealing them down slow,  taking your panties with them, making sure that your entire lower half was bear for him.
"I need to show you..." Steve's voice went low and you locked your ankles. "How sorry I am for not being there to stop him." Steve lowered and knelt on his knees.
"I forgive you please" your eyes shoot open when he palms both your knees. You tried to keep your focus anywhere, but him.
Steve's hands moved your knees apart, your ankles unlaced with ease. You tried to control your breathing, the hiccups fell with every exhale. All you could do was stare at the blurry ceiling. Steve's weight pressed into your thigh when he came face to face with your sex.
Steve’s arms wrapped around from the back of your legs. Locking you in place, his hair tickled your thigh the closer he got to your mound.
"Forgive me." He softly pleaded with you. Pecking down your inner thigh each time. Your legs tense hard at the contact.
"Stop I forgive you please stop" your shaky voice was so small when you felt his breath on your skin. You felt his lips part, taking your folds into his mouth and then pulling off slow to release.
“Mmm...”
"I'm sorry" Steve spoke softly before he began again. You felt every word as he talked into your lips. Every syllable driving sensual a moan from you. Steve's teeth grazed your folds until he moved to play with your clit, taking it between his teeth.
"Please..." His tongue plunged deep, curling and swirling.  Steve's nose grazed your clit as he swirled around, the touch electrifying you.
"Show me you forgive me.." He begged.
You fought the urge to grab his head and press him further when he sucked you in.
You knew exactly what he meant by that. He was forcing a need onto you. If you broke, then to him he was won.
"Forgive me...." He pleaded before flattening his tongue on your mound, making your back arch and spasm. Through it all his phone rang again and yet again unanswered.
Even though you cried, even though your eyes burned, you came for him. Steve devoured you, lapping up your wetness.
"Captain please I forgive" you panted, he wasn't finished. Steve wanted you to cum over and over again until it hurt.
There was no way to fight the desire for him like this and he knew it. Steve unwrapped his arms and moved his hands behind your knees. They bent as he slowly rose them up, folding you as he continued to apologize. Deepening his kiss, fucking your pussy with his tongue, your mewls louder than the last.
Your thighs tried to squeeze Steve's head, but he forced you to stay in place. Gritting your teeth hard you moan and cum on his face again. Each orgasm filled with tears.
"I-I...I need you...I love you, Captain I-I love you, I forgive you!" You were delirious as you come a third time or a fourth you weren’t sure. You wanted to say anything to make Steve stop.
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When he finally released your legs they were a shaky mess. He rose from your mound, his face wet with your juices. You could feel his eyes as you laid there, a crumbled mess on the bed.
Before leaving his mother asked you two to stay for lunch. Steve declined. He needed to start his shift soon. She hugged you both goodbye and you felt numb.
When he dropped you home it was close to noon. Steve kissed your cheek and apologized about needing to go into work. Promising that he would text you as soon as he could and you shuddered.
Reminding you of the times you had to wait for him while he was at practice. Forcing you to lay down in the back seat of his car until practice was over.
Sliding out of the door your thighs felt sore. He offered to walk you up, but you managed to dissuade his help. Steve waited in the driveway for you to enter. A wave of relief washed over you when you saw that your uncle wasn't in his usual spot.
His truck was still here so you were sure he was just sleeping in his room. So while he slept you packed.
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Chapter 5>>>>>
Tagging: @readermia​ ; @mrsbanreswillseeyou ;@astrobabezblog ; @sebastianstansqueen​ ; @tian-monique​​ ; @shadowcatsworld​ ; @sllooney​​ ; @tinystudentfirepurse​​; @mrsbanreswillseeyou​;  @jxtr610​​; @villanellevi​ ; @2fab4utheatrediva​; @afriendlyblackhottie​; @stupendouslovegardener​;
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jamiemackenziefraser · 3 years ago
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All That Was Fair
Chapter 33: Existing in the Bit That’s Left
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Summary: Life goes on, whether we will it or not
Read on AO3
Previous, master list, next
Chapter 33: Existing in the Bit That’s Left 
***
When a hermit crab dies, its shell is left behind, sitting at the bottom of the ocean. Empty and lifeless, it remains motionless as the waves cover it with sand.
Jamie had once owned a hermit crab. After it had died, it rattled him that the beautiful shell that looked so much like his pet remained even though the crab was gone. 
Now, Jamie himself was nothing more than a hollowed out shell. 
He knew his heart was gone, every ounce of love within him ripped away, but what had surprised him was that it was as if she’d taken his very body with her as well as his soul. He didn’t have the energy for even the most basic tasks. Food was tasteless. His vision seemed foggy. As tired as he was, he couldn’t sleep. Life seemed to happen around him, but he hardly managed to bring himself along with it. He was being buried under the weight of the emptiness. 
Nothingness shouldn’t have been so heavy. 
He spent three weeks laying in his bed. Barely eating, barely moving. 
Jamie was aware that he was wasting away, but he couldn’t seem to care. Claire wouldn’t want him to give up without her. Even more compelling, he wouldn’t want her to act like this without him. Even as he’d sent her back through the stones, he’d told her to live a good life without him. He wanted her to be able to move on. Except he couldn’t bring himself to do the same, and he never would. After knowing the joy of a full life, there seemed nothing left for him in this hollow existence. 
If he could have reached out and grasped onto some sort of hope in his new life without her— not that any seemed to exist— he still would have chosen not to. All the right decisions, the healthy decisions, the ways to cope and move forward— they all seemed like a betrayal. He didn’t want to move on; he wanted Claire back. 
The first time he’d uttered the horrible truth of Claire’s absence outloud was when Murtagh had forced it out of him. His godfather had come banging on his door after Jamie had ignored his texts for weeks, eventually barging in on Jamie’s state of depressed chaos. He had dragged him out of bed, forced food down his throat, and shoved him in the shower. After Jamie looked less like a corpse, Murtagh coaxed the story out of him— at least, the only story Jamie could give. 
“She’s gone,” he forced out. Hearing the words aloud was like a knife to the gut. He’d known they were true— every beat of his heart without the answering one of hers next to him made that truth abundantly clear. But being forced to say it aloud brought a whole new level of pain. 
Murtagh clearly didn’t know whether he meant she’d broken up with him or died. His godfather tried to probe him for details, but Jamie didn’t have it in him to explain anymore. 
“There’s nothin’ left for me,” Jamie rasped, “she was it. Claire—” his voice broke on her name, but he forced it out, finding some amount of reverence in the shape of it on his lips, “ Claire was my heart and soul. I dinna ken what to do, a ghoistidh.” 
“Ye do what ye have to, lad,” Murtagh said firmly, “ye keep going.” 
“How?” he looked up at him with tears shining in his eyes. “How can I keep going without her?” 
Murtagh brows drew together as he grew thoughtful. His expression reflected the gravity of the situation. His godfather knew that he was desperate for a reason to keep going, crying out for help. Words couldn’t heal him, but something had to be said. Murtagh took his time before saying them, very carefully. 
“Ye’re no’ without her, though. No’ really. Ye’ll carry her memory wi’ ye. Ye keep going, and ye bring her wi’ ye, even if it’s no’ in the way ye would have liked.” 
Jamie swallowed the bile rising in his throat. All he could hear was buzzing, the cotton in his ears growing somehow thicker. 
“I don’t want to,” he forced out, shaking his head, “I don’t—”
The meager contents of Jamie’s stomach rose, and he rushed to the trash can before collapsing to his knees and heaving into it. The grief in his heart tried to force its way out of his body, and he wished it could just end this and tear him from inside out. Murtagh hovered behind him, offering him a wet towel, and Jamie sat back heavily against the cool wall. 
“I ken she wouldna want me tae give up,” Jamie said quietly, barely above a whisper, “but I just dinna want tae keep going.”
Murtagh’s eyes swam with emotion and his face crumpled underneath his beard as his brain came to a conclusion. Clearly his godfather thought the love of Jamie’s life had truly died. And she may as well have been to Jamie, or maybe she had actually di—
The fear that Jamie had been fighting for weeks rose inside him again. It was possible that Claire really was dead. More than just possible. She’d said coming through the stones had been torture, and she’d been so weak afterwards when Jamie had found her the first time she’d gone through. He could only imagine what the trip had done to his barely conscious lass, hanging on by a thread. Or maybe he had waited too long and it had been too late. Maybe she’d gotten back and was too weak to even draw energy anymore. Maybe she’d died on that hill, all alone, grieving his loss as much as he grieved hers.  
This fear haunted him, both waking and sleeping, tearing him into pieces. Seeing Murtagh’s face as the man thought Jamie was mourning her death, Jamie wasn’t so sure he wasn’t . He wished he could know what became of her— anything to stop this horrible speculating that churned his mind. But he was left in the dark. Left to hold on to the tiny comfort that he had done what had to be done. 
For his wife. 
Jamie let his head fall onto his knees, hugging his arms around them so they were pressed tightly to his chest. 
“Jamie. I willna allow ye to waste yerself away,” Murtagh said firmly. “I ken ye’re hurting, and I would never suggest ye ignore it. I only ask that you take care of yerself, even when ye dinna want to. If not for the memory of her, then do it for me, aye?” 
He raised his red-ringed eyes enough to see his godfather, and he realized there was real fear lingering on Murtagh’s face. 
As much as he wanted to let himself fade away, he could never do that to the man sitting in front of him who he loved so dearly. 
“Alright,” Jamie agreed, “alright.” 
***
When Jamie was young, his parents had a yearly tradition where they would send him to his grandfather’s house to stay for a couple of nights. His grandfather was loving enough, but every time Jamie went, he was overcome with intense homesickness. He would cry himself to sleep each night of the visit, feeling like the guest room was freezing to the bone as he imagined the warmth of Lallybroch. 
Every day now felt like that homesickness magnified a hundredfold. 
Claire had been the true home of his heart. Jamie longed and ached for her in ways he hadn’t known possible. 
Only that home had been lost. And he was left lying awake at night dreaming of her warmth and missing her with every fiber of his being.
***
While driving on the highway during a long road trip, inevitably one will see a plastic bag being blown down the road. Aimless, empty, and completely at the mercy of the wind. Jamie would watch them sometimes, tracing their progress before they drifted away. But he never asked himself where it would end up because it didn’t matter. The bag would simply continue on, moving forward without a destination. 
Jamie was no more than a bit of plastic pushed by the breeze. He stayed rooted to his life only by his promise to Murtagh. He began to go about his days with empty precision. He would wake up at 8, brush his teeth, eat one cup of parritch, and head into work. Every night he would come straight home, take a 30 minute walk around his property, cook himself dinner, and fall asleep to the murmurs of the tv. 
On the rare nights when he allowed himself out of his robot-like trance, he would venture into the closet of the guest bedroom where Claire’s dresses still hung, and he would bury his nose in it, hugging it close to his chest, searching desperately for a whiff of her earthy-rose scent. 
On those nights, he would cry himself to sleep. 
Jamie continued on, but he had no idea what he was moving toward. 
***
When he was a lad of about 5, he and Willie had gone out to the barn to play. They had a bit of rope with them, and Willie thought it would be fun to try to walk a baby goat like they walked their dog, Rufus. They’d fashioned a leash for the poor thing, but when the time came to “walk” it, the animal had simply laid on its side as he and Willie had dragged it through the dirt, wailing its disapproval but not moving a muscle until Jamie’s parents had run out and grounded them for a week. For the goat, there hadn’t been so much active resistance as simply a complete shut down. 
When Jenny showed up at Jamie’s door one night, ordering him to get in the car to come over to dinner, Jamie had simply obeyed. Getting dragged was easier than fighting. 
She’d driven him straight to Lallybroch, where she, Ian, and the brood resided, and Jamie somehow managed to find a weak smile within himself for the sake of his nieces and nephew. 
As soon as he came through the door, he was overcome by a stampede of little feet and grabbing hands. Chubby arms wrapped around his legs, his hands were grasped, and his body became a playground. 
“Weans! Where are yer manners?! Say hi to Uncle Jamie!” Jenny admonished. 
“Hi, Uncle,” came the obedient responses from wee Jamie and Maggie. 
Before Jamie even had a chance to respond, he was obliterated by an innocent, well meaning question that cut him the core. 
“Uncle Jamie, where is Ms. Claire? Can she come to dinner too?” 
Jamie froze, every muscle coiled up on instinct from hearing that name. He’d tried to numb it out, tried to let himself get dragged on through life without the roadblock that was any mention of his lost love. 
Jenny knew, of course. Murtagh had told her about Claire’s “death”. Her face shown with sympathy as she watched Jamie stumble back onto the bench seat behind him. He sat down hard, pressing his hands to face, and peered down at wee Jamie. 
His voice was thick, nearly unrecognizable, when he managed to force out the following words: 
“She’s gone to live forever with the faeries.”
His eyes flicked up toward Jenny, whose face showed raw grief. She may not have liked Claire much, but hearing about her death spoken in such terms, or at least seeing Jamie like this, seemed to wreck her. 
Only somehow, speaking those words— the truth, disguised as a fairytale for children— actually freed a tiny knot in Jamie’s chest. 
Wee Jamie looked both disappointed and intrigued at the news. 
“Gone to live wi’ the faeries?” he echoed. 
“Aye,” Jamie nodded. He glanced up at Jenny again, and then back at the weans. Every thought in his head seemed to vanish, and he hadn’t decided to do anything, but his body was moving. He leaned down closer and gestured them toward him. Lowering his voice, he said, “can I tell ye a secret? If ye promise ye willna tell?” 
Both children nodded eagerly, waiting with baited breath. 
“Claire is a faerie. I found her on the faerie hill one day, and I took her in. She wasna meant to be here, you see, it was an accident. But we fell in love, and she decided to stay.” 
“But why did she go back then?” wee Jamie asked. 
Jamie swallowed hard. “She
 well, she ran out of faerie dust. She needed tae go back to live with the faeries so she could have all the faerie dust she needs.” 
Tears gathered in his eyes, and he had to blink hard not to shed them. 
“I”m sorry ye lost yer faerie, Uncle Jamie,” Maggie said, reaching out her hand to rest it gently on Jamie’s knee. 
He took it in his, marveling at just how small it was. But brought him comfort, and for the first time in the past three weeks, he thought maybe he wasn’t entirely alone in the world. 
“Me too, Maggie. Me too.” 
***
a/n: One more chapter to go in arc II, and it's a big 'un. See you tomorrow and thank you so much for reading!!
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brivetaroundtown · 4 years ago
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To say that I am nervous about posting my writing onto the internet is an understatement.
But the lovely and extremely talented @lumos-flies has inspired me to do so after working with me on making my Villain Denki brain rot a reality. So this is a part 2 to that.
Link to "About Last Night" also a Link to KoFi because their work is impeccable
Denki Kaminari x F! Reader
+18 Minors DNI
TW: Overstim, electricity play, use of Puppy as a pet name, slight possessive yan vibes if you squint. That’s really all I could think of, if someone catches more PLEASE let me know!
___________________________________________________________
It has been 2 weeks, 5 hours, and a quick glance at the clock shows 30 minutes since that text from Denki. Not that you were keeping track or anything. No, you were perfectly capable of living your life as normal all while knowing that the best sex of your life was had with the infamous Chargebolt.
“Miss me?”
That the same electric quirk that lit your body up like the grand finale New Year firework display was also capable of leveling a city block. Those hands that stoked such euphoria from your body that you could still feel him on a cellular level, were also the hands responsible for the death of hundreds. And you, a grown capable woman was going to work and living your life as normally as possible in this crazy city. You weren’t still obsessing over the idea of texting Denki back, or having flashbacks to that night while alone with yourself at night
 or in the shower
 or hell even currently riding this elevator at work down to the first floor so you can start your walk back home. The memory of Denki’s head between your thighs as electric sparks swirled across his tongue wasn’t plaguing your every waking moment.
Too bad you were a terrible liar, even, maybe especially to yourself.
How demented was it that him becoming a villain turned you on more? Was it the risk? As if living in this city without quirk wasn’t risky enough in and of itself, you were now fantasizing about a villain?! Granted, the fantasies were based on a very real encounter but still. You should probably speak to a therapist, but were also concerned that they would be legally obligated to tell the authorities. You would be the worst bait, after all you couldn’t even lie to yourself.
You don’t even remember making it back to your apartment. So caught up in your own thoughts you must have walked the whole way on autopilot. Which is a shame, because thoughts like those required wine and you cant remember if your roommate remembered to add it to the lis
 thoughts halted abruptly by the current obsession leaning against your door.
Are hallucinations a common symptom of sexual frustration? Why would he be here? As you stare at the blonde casually leaning against the frame, slight smirk gracing his face as Denki takes in your presence.
“Hey Puppy, long time no see” his voice ran through you, sparking along your spine, further fanning the dark need inside of you. Yet you couldn’t say a word, too shocked that he was here, in the flesh.
“You know, you should probably let me in. Wouldn’t want your neighbors to call the cops. Bakugo is real big on property damage. I think he gets off on it.” Denki’s smirk deepens into a grin at your blanched expression. Its not fair that someone so evil can make a grin look that sexy. Spurred on by the fear of others seeing him does rush you into action, urging him inside your apartment.
Before you can even ask what he was doing there or how he found out where you lived, Denki had your back against a wall with his face shoved between your neck and shoulder.
“J..just give me a minute”
The vulnerability of the moment had you forgetting all the news segments and every other thought in your head. Your arms reacted on their own accord, wrapping tightly around him, stroking his back to offer comfort. As if this was a completely normal situation, and not the fucked up one that was your reality. This softness did not last long. It started with soft kisses, that turned to a quick nibble, and paused with a whispered “You should say no now, this is your only out”. Your voice responded without any input from your conscience or logic with a desperately whispered “please.”
Denki let out a growl, pulling your body roughly against his, already feeling sparks of heat through your work shirt while his teeth bit into the softness of your neck. You knew that you said yes to something more than just another night, but as Denki lifted you your legs wrapping around his waist as he carried you to your room, you were not really sure that you cared. As the buttons from your blouse snapped and landed on the floor, with every rip and tear of thread as Denki rushed to see your skin, you let the world know with every moan and gasp that fell from your lips, how willing you were to fall into this sin.
“Watch me” You had not even realized your eyes had closed, Denki was still dressed, though he had lost his jacket to the floor. Your clothes were in tatters around you, naked and vulnerable sitting on top of your comforter at the edge of your bed. Now that he had your full attention, Denki traced his fingers from your neck to each of your pert nipples, the electricity from his fingertips shocking you as he traced your body. Claiming every cell as his lighting danced along your skin leaving no inch of it untouched. You would never be the same, but you should have known that from the last time. Possessiveness filled his yellow eyes, trapping you in their depths. You couldn’t look away, even if you wanted too.
“Do you know how many times I have thought about this body of yours puppy?” With each words his fingers traced lower down your stomach, the other hand tightening its grip on your thigh. “Almost constantly. You not messaging me back stung a little bit though” the electricity went a little sharp on the word stung, ripping out a whimper from your lips, before it returned to the pleasing level of heat that you went wet for, the reality being so much better than the memory. You did dare to speak back though, voice thick with lust “you didn’t text back for the longest time either.” The words may have been whispered but they did not go unnoticed by Denki. With a crooked grin, he pulled you closer to the edge of the bed, forcing your thighs apart so that his body could stand between them.
“So my puppy did miss me” his teeth nibbled along your jaw, drawing out a moan as he made his way to your sensitive ears “don’t worry Y/N, you won’t have to miss me anymore.” With those words sealing your fate, Denki drops to his knees pressing his lips against your wet cunt. “Keep those eyes on me puppy, and those hands to the bed. Want to be a good girl for me dontcha?”
All it took was a nod from you before his tongue was licking along the seam, teasingly dipping into your folds, only using the tip of his tongue to flick over your sensitive clit. “Already so wet for me puppy” the words vibrated through your core, as his tongue kept tracing a path from your folds to your clit and back. You were so close to the edge of bliss already, just a bit more pressure and you would
 the scream that came out of your throat your orgasm ripping through you at Denki’s sudden use of this quirk on your clit caught all of your senses by surprise.
Denki chuckled against your core, the flat of his tongue against your clit riding you through the pleasure. Kissing your clit, shocks electricity still coming from his mouth, he gave no warning when he plunged two of his fingers into your clenching depths, instantly finding that special spot within you. As if he had a map. Which really wasn’t fair, especially as he released more shocks against your clit and spot in tandem, ripping another orgasm from your body in quick succession. Your conscience never stood a chance when Denki had claimed every nerve, every thought, every breathe.
Licking his lips, Denki rose to his feet so that he stood between your thighs. Grabbing your chin with one hand while releasing his dick from his pants with the other, never breaking eye contact. “Y/N” your name like a prayer on his tongue as he nudged your clit with the head of his dick, his hand stroking himself as he used your slick. “I am taking you with me puppy, wont need anyone but me” and with those words he pushed inside of you, moving his hands to your waist to pull you even closer.
Shocks from his quirk along with the way he slammed himself into your cervix, eyes still locked together had you coming undone around his cock. Fucked dumb, you don’t even remember gripping onto his shoulders, “you know puppy” Denki groans into your ears “your hands were supposed to stay on the bed. But don’t worry baby, we got time to train you on how to be a good girl for me later.” His voice in your ear combined with the relentless pounding into you, electricity dancing in and around your body, wrapping around you like hands had you coming again. Your eyes rolling back, whimpering at the blend of pain and pleasure, not sure how long you were going to be able to grasp consciousness.
You weren’t even completely done with the orgasm rolling through you before you felt the next one building. Denki was like the fucking energizer puppy, as you fluttered and gripped around his cock he started to pound faster, something you weren’t even sure was possible.
“Go on puppy, give me one more”
The fabric of his shirt against your nipples, his teeth and lips marking your neck and shoulders, your body electric with the waves of yellow lighting shocking against your skin at his every touch had your final orgasm exploding within you. Body alive with the white shock of blinding pleasure you barely registered Denki whispering your name or the feeling of his warm cum painting your inner walls. All you could register was the softness of your comforter against your back as you fell against it, darkness blurring your vision as you succumbed to sleep, and the whispered promise.
“I am taking you with me.”
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citydreamgrls · 4 years ago
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how much have you had to drink?
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george weasley x fem!reader
words: 2,387
a/n: maybe I did use too many differing pov’s but it is what it is,, enjoy!! :)
warnings: none ( i think )
I had been the first, and only person to prank the twins back at Hogwarts. Everyone else in the school was too afraid of their tricks that it was easier to stay out of a never-ending war with them. But I'd always been up for a good challenge, even if it was a 5 year long one.
As usual the twins joined me at breakfast, ignoring Angelina who had been telling me about the upcoming halloween party, and sat either side of me.
“Morning boys,”
“y/n,” they acknowledged in unison, both reaching for toast.
“Sleep well?” I asked George.
“Oh yes, perfectly.” He said sarcastically, taking a large bite of food.
“Almost as if someone slipped us a sleeping potion.” Fred joined in on the other side of me.
“Well I had to test my homework on someone,” I admitted, unashamed of my great potion-making skills. “Anything else strange happen last night?” I asked innocently.
“Nope.” they said.
“You sure? Because I managed to get some very lovely pictures of you too sporting some very sweet hairstyles.” I waved the photos of their sleeping forms in their faces, the little red pigtails flashing before their eyes.
Oliver Wood, having caught onto the end of our conversation leant across the table to see what I had.
“So that’s why you too looked like that this morning, I was beginning to worry I’d started sleepwalking.. Or styling.” He laughed, earning a glare from the boys beside me.
“You know we will get you back y/n,” Fred warned, but his threat was empty.
“Oh come on, you boys always go easy on me.” I laughed, taking a sip of my juice and immediately spitting it back out. “Gross!”
“Oh do we?” George asked, barely looking up from his book to hex my plate into slugs.
-  
As much as the twins and I battled, they were still my best friends and I had spent pretty much my entire time at Hogwarts at their side. Unless Angelina pulled me away to gossip about whatever ‘exciting’ thing was coming up next.
This time it was the halloween party.
“I just don’t get why I have to dress up Lina, I'm already a witch. Can’t I go as myself?” I huffed, resting my legs on her lap as we sat in front of the fire.
“The Weasley’s won’t let anyone in who isn’t dressed up, it’s the rules.”
“Oh that’s easy, they’ll let me come regardless.” I laughed.
It was as if they appeared at the sound of their name, popping their heads over the back of the sofa. Both Angelina and I jumped out of our skin, immediately reaching up to hit them in retaliation.
“Hey, you guys will still let me come to the party saturday if I don’t dress up right?” I asked with an expectant smile.
“No costume,” Fred started
“No entry,” George finished. And then walked off to the dorms.
“Oi, but it’s me-”
“No exceptions,” They called back.
I fell back into the sofa, ignoring Angelina’s smug face as she started discussing costumes once again. Tossing up whether to go as a cat, or some sort of muggle character. Not that she really knew any, but she just wanted to impress one of the boys in the year above.
“Will you help me y/n?” she pleaded, to which I finally gave in. Knowing I didn’t have anything better to do.
-
Saturday morning rolled around and I still hadn’t sorted my own costume, but at least Angelina was happy with her Daphne costume that I’d helped organise.
Fred and George had slipped away early from dinner last night, claiming that they had to ‘finish up party plans’. But I felt uneasy, having swapped their ties for two slytherin ones and then locking them in the dorms until 2 minutes before classes started that morning.
Yes it made me late for Mcgonigall’s lesson too, but seeing them rush in wearing the wrong uniform and having to explain that it had just been mixed up somehow to their head of house was well worth it.
Still, they could be planning payback.
-
The party was starting in an hour, and everyone was in their dorms getting ready. Including about three more girls than were usually in mine and Angelina’s dorm, racing around with masks and lip liner and other parts of costumes.
I walked in to see a hat with bunny ears laying on my bed.
“It’s all I could find,” Angelina told me, as she passed by to grab her purple jacket. “Dunno if it’ll be enough though.”
“I’ll sort something out, thanks Lina!” I shouted after her as she raced to use the bathroom before anyone else slipped in.
My only thought at the time was clown makeup, but I didn’t have any white face paint, and never really enjoyed its feel as it was. So I took a red lipstick and some dark eyeshadow to draw diamonds round my eyes. With the bunny hat on I looked far from scary, but paired with the clown makeup and a dark lip, I at least looked creepy.
Angelina leant me some fishnet tights to wear with my black skirt and I threw on a zip hoodie I had stolen from one of them twins years ago. I couldn’t remember which one if I was being honest.
-
Oliver and I had been sharing a bottle of vodka I'd brought with me from home, knowing it got everyone drunk quicker than wizard booze. Without realising it, an hour had passed, and I was yet to see either of the twins.
“You seen Fred or George tonight?” I asked the boy beside me, who was enjoying his stress-free evening.
“Yeah, Fred is dressed as a fighter pilot and I think I saw George in some kind of lab coat
 or maybe it was a doctor?” He laughed to himself.
I headed up to their dorm room to see if they were there, and sure enough I just avoided a head on collision as they walked out.
“Whoa, nearly lost me there!” I screamed, stumbling back with a laugh. “What are you guys doing up here,”
“Nothing,” George spoke quickly.
“How much did you drink, y/n” Fred asked, helping me down the stone steps until we made it safely to the common room.
“Not loads, hey that’s not right.” I frowned at the boy holding me steady.  “Oliver said you were dressed as a Pilot Fred, not George.”
“I am George!” The boy, with the aviator sunglasses on, teased. “You’re as bad as mum honestly.”
“Yeah, at least our costumes are legit!” the other teased, flopping the bunny ear that had fallen over one eye away.
“Do you like it?” I spun round, the skirt bouncing around I did.
“It’s an interesting combination,”
“Well you haven’t kicked me out
 yet.”
-
Unbeknownst to y/n’s knowledge, the twins continued to confuse her. Constantly running off to swap costumes, and mess with their friend further. Although it kind of backfired, as the more she drank, the less she trusted herself to tell them apart and gave up altogether. In the end they went back to their original costumes, Fred as the Pilot and George the bloody doctor. They both decided to tell y/n the next morning, when she could at least have a chance of understanding.
-
Everyone else was in bed, except for the twins and I who sat up singing by the fire and sharing the last bottle of gin that I could find in my stash.
“I’m gonna have to stock up my stash at christmas,” I laughed as the last swig was taken and we fell into each other's shoulders. I slumped between them, laughing at the memory of Ron and Hermione’s perfect dance routine to livin’ la vida loca earlier that night.
I felt a lump in my jacket pocket and remembered that’s where I’d left my cigarettes since being at home. I stood up, startling the boys and declared what I was leaving to do.
“I’m off for a smoke, see you in a bit.” They shook awake.
“Wait y/n, you can’t smoke here rememb- oh god she’s gone.”
“Well go on then George, stop her!” Fred grumbled to his brother, having already drifted back off to sleep.
-
George ran down the staircase, being careful not to make too much noise as his doctor’s coat flew behind him. He had only been a few seconds behind y/n, how could she have disappeared already? Still, he headed for the black lake, knowing that was her favourite spot to go when she wanted to be alone. He had watched her there many times, far away enough that she had never spotted him though.
“Y/n!” He whisper-shouted, running down the bank towards her. She was already sat down, the lighter in one hand and a cigarette balanced between her lips.
“What are you doing Fred?” she asked, mistaking him for the other twin.
“Oh about th-”
“At least it’s you and not George,”
The boy felt hurt by her words, always having looked after her without her knowing. Most of the time the lack of retaliation from the twins in their prank war was because George would sabotage it. He always felt guilty playing tricks on y/n.
“Why’s that?” He asked, playing along with what she believed to find out the truth.
The girl lit her cigarette regardless of his warning, and puffed out a breath of smoke offering it to the boy beside her who reluctantly agreed. Knowing that if his mother could see him now, she would have a heart attack.
“I always embarrass myself in front of George,” y/n admitted. “Whether it’s being drunk, or making stupid jokes. I just look like an idiot when I’m around him.”
“I don’t think you do,”
“I can’t help it though, it’s different with you. You’re like a brother to me Fred.”
“Actually y/n-” George started, wanting to come clean, but she kept going.
“But George, he’s just more than that you know. He always cares for me and makes sure I’m safe, hell he thinks I don’t notice when he watches me sulk down here.” She laughed lightly to herself, leaning to rest on the boy beside her. “I was so sure I knew him better than anyone else, but obviously not.” Her shoulders dropped in despair.
“Why’s that?”
“He probably just sees me as a friend right? I mean, I couldn’t even tell you two apart tonight, I thought you were him.” She scoffed.
George swallowed, knowing that him admitting to their prank would most likely cause some backlash from the girl. But he bit the bullet.
“I am George.”
Her body froze.
“Don’t joke.” She said flatly.
“I’m not, honestly. It was just supposed to confuse you earlier but I am George.”
Y/n stood up, dropping her cigarette into the water and headed up the hill towards the courtyard. George ran after her again.
“Please y/n wait!” He called out, grabbing her hand to stop her. She spun around, tears running down her face. “Oh god i’m so sorry, I didn’t realise you thought I was him, I just came to check on you.”
“I’m such an idiot god.” she huffed, trying to drag herself away but he wouldn’t let go. “I can’t even tell it’s you when you’re right here,”
“Yes you could y/n, that’s the whole point.”
“Still I just told you how I feel about you, with no intention of actually telling you, yet here we are with you being kind and nice and perfect and I’m just embarrassing myself once again.”
George followed her into the hallway and up the stairs, not wanting to call out until they were clear of the earshot of others. He managed to stop her just before the common room, pulling her aside into a secluded corner.
“Y/n, darling..” she had never heard him call anyone that seriously until now, and she couldn’t help but feel special because of that. “I have never seen you as an idiot, and you have never embarrassed yourself in front of me. In fact, I’ve always thought you were the perfect one.”
“Then why are you only telling me this now?” The girl asked him.
“I always thought you liked Oliver,”
“Wood?” she laughed and he hadn’t heard a sound better “God, he’s way too intense. Even tonight he wanted to talk game strategies with me, it was so boring.”
“Well that’s a relief.”
“So
 you’ve always liked me?” She teased him slightly, playing with the seam of his costume. George just rolled his eyes and held her face, making her look up at him. Of course she had stood next to him before, but it was only in this moment that she felt the sheer height gap between them.
He leant down and kissed her lips, still clutching her face as her hands dropped from his coat in shock. He was soft and sincere, holding her as if he’d longed to do so for quite some time. Y/n smiled against George’s lips, making the boy blush to himself and thank Merlin that she couldn’t see him do it.
They broke away after what felt like nowhere near long enough, y/n rested her head into his chest and sighed happily.
“We should get to bed, it’s late.” George whispered and she nodded. “You tired?” y/n nodded again. “Okay darling let’s go.” He took her waist and lifted her off the ground, letting her wrap her legs around him and nestle into his neck.
He passed Fred who was slipping into unconsciousness on the common room sofa.
“Night Fred,” they called to him, and he just groaned back.
“Don’t worry, we can tell him in the morning.”
“George,” the girl in his arms groaned.
“Yesss..”
“Can I stay with you tonight?”
“Of course darling,” George said softly and took the girl up to his dorm so she could sleep comfortably in his arms, her little head tucked between him and the bed. He laughed at the bunny hat discarded on the chair, remembering how sweet she’d looked in it.
Even as a creepy clown George had wanted to kiss her.
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kzuhadovey · 4 years ago
Text
promises must be kept
character: timeskip!hinata x f!reader
type: fluff
warnings: -
song recommendations: mrs.magic - strawberry guy
remember to drink your water and eat your food, i love you!!
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At the ripe age of 7 years old, you made a promise.
“At 25 years old, if we’re single, we get married.” “25? That’s a little early.” “That’s old enough. I’m sure that when we’re 25 we’ll look old so no one will like us.” “Okay then.” “Okay. It’s on, Y/N.” “You’re stuck with me for life, Shoyo.”
You smiled at yourself as you find the messily scribbled paper you found deep in your drawer. It was a scrawny drawing of you and Hinata, with the words, “Y/N and Shoyo gets married when we’re 25.” The memories rush back, like a wave of nostalgia, and you sigh. If only things were that easy. You and Shoyo have been friends since the literal day you’ve been born. You guys were a package deal- you have Y/N? You get Shoyo aswell. You both told each other everything, from your first kisses to your other friends’ secrets. You supported Shoyo through his volleyball career, and he supported you throughout yours. He was the best friend you could ask for.
Until that day, you moved to Paris. You’re a writer, and you’ve had over 5 million copies of your latest book, Over The Moon. It was a love story like you usually wrote. And even though your writing career was soaring, your own love life hasn’t been so good. Yes, you were an astonishing writer with beautiful facial features, but you’ve never found the right, exact guy. He was always too pushy, or too confident- it was never the right match for you. So ever since, your love life has been incognito. You’ve mostly focused on writing for now- your book was almost finished. You just needed an ending- which you couldn’t exactly grasp. The two main characters, Tracee and Elliot, were definitely in love, but you didn't really know what to do with them. Writer’s block, as it was called.
After around an hour of staring at the blank page on your laptop, you decide to take a walk outside. It was a very beautiful day- the streets were packed with tourists and small shops were blooming with food and objects. You stared at one of the shops- a sweet, enticing Lilly grasping your attention. “Might as well just buy it.” You thought to yourself as you approached the old lady selling them. “Salut! Combien coĂ»tent ces lis?” You said, taking a bouquet in your hands, sniffing them. “Bonjour mon cher. L'un coĂ»te 4 euros.” The lady said as she started packing one for you. “J'en prends deux, s'il vous plaĂźt. Je vous remercie.“ You said as you paid the lady 8 euros.
”Uhm
 Pouvez-vous- a-acheter tr-trois, right? trois fleurs, s'il vo- vous plaĂźt?“ A man beside you said. You chuckle. He was obviously not from here- he had broken french. You squinted as you tried to make sense of his sentence. ”Quoi? Je ne comprends pas!“ The lady said as she rolled her eyes, passing you your flowers. You gulped- the man seemed nervous. His cheeks were red and he was looking down of
 embarrassment, maybe? ”Il veut trois de ces fleurs.“ You say, pointing to a bouquet of pink-white orchids. He looks at you with wide eyes- why’d you even want to help him? ”Oh. Ces Ă©trangers, ils parlent Ă  peine français.“ The old lady rolled her eyes as she prepared the bouquet. ”C'est 11 euros pour un bouquet.“ The lady said as she shoved the flowers onto the man’s chest lightly. The man seemed to catch on with the numbers as he hurriedly took out his wallet, paying the lady. ”Passez une bonne journĂ©e, ma chĂšre.“ You say as you walk away, sniffing your flowers.
“Mademoiselle! S'il vouz plait- wait.” The man said as he rushed in front of you. He had fiery orange hair, and he had tan-ish skin. “Merci. I- I just came here, yesterday.” He said, scratching his neck awkwardly. You would usually just laugh it off and say your welcome since it wasn’t your first shenanigans with tourists. But this man was special- you recognized him. With the way he spoke, and the way he combed through his hair-
“Hinata?”
His eyes glance over to yours as the gears spin in his brain. “Y-Y/N? Ah- I found you!” He shouts, surprised. Your heart is beating so fast- you could barely recognize him. He’s grown taller over the years- and his hair’s turned more orange. “Hinata
 Hello.” You mutter out. Your head can’t process this- the last time you saw him- he was literally tiny. Bruises on his arms and a big, large smile on his face. “I missed you so much!” Hinata says as he jumps to wrap you in his embrace. He smelled like citrus- sour and sweet at the same time. You nuzzle your head in his neck- you finally found your best friend. “Shoyo.” You muttered, tears pricking your eyes. Your stomach’s whirling with nervousness and your brain’s spinning with excitement.
“So
 you’re a writer now!” Hinata says as the waiter gives him his coffee. You were both sat in a cafe- you’ve decided to catch up with him. “I- I saw your book in Brazil last year. You’re so famous!” You chuckle-  Hinata looks hella excited. “It’s nothing, Hinata. You’re better than me- how are the others, by the way? I saw your game with the Schweden Adlers.” You cock your head to the side curiously. “Y-yes. I’m in a team with Bokuto and Atsumu now.” Hinata chuckles. He’s turned out from a scrawny middle school amateur to a literal professional player. “What are you doing in Paris?” You sip more of your hot chocolate. “I- I wanted to look for you. I heard you were in Paris.” His cheeks turn red- it was amusing, really. So, he came for you. WAIT- HE WAS LOOKING FOR YOU?? “Me? Why?” You widen your eyes in surprise. “Because- I wanted to see you! It’s the first break I’ve had in a heck long time- might aswell take a vacation too, right?” Hinata lets out a weak chuckle. “Woah- so it’s your first time here?” You ask excitedly. Hinata nods and you smile widely. “Yes!- Let’s go around- you have nothing to do, right?” You ask as you stand up. “W-well- yes- but I don’t want to- take your time up-,” Hinata says, chuckling. “No no no! It’s fine! I’m free today anyway.” You smile as you take him outside. “You’re my best friend, Shoyo. I will always make time for you.”
__________________ Ś‚Ś‚à«ąàŒ‹àŒ˜àż
You both slump on your sofa tiredly. “I love Paris so much!” Hinata says, jumping up from the sofa. You chuckle- he was always a hyper boy. “The louvre, and then Notre Dame- It’s so pretty!” Hinata says as he sits back down, sighing heavily. You chuckle softly- he was like a very hyper puppy. You both have been exploring Paris all day, talking and taking pictures. You ended the day with dinner and now you were both slumped on your sofa. You yawn and stretch your arms- before laying your head in Hinata’s lap. He was soft and warm- his thighs were very much like pillows. Hinata tenses up- your head’s in his lap. “Do you have anywhere to sleep tonight?” You ask, staring at him. He tries to relax, leaning back more. “I actually- hoped you would help me find a hotel for me.” Hinata chuckles, scratching his neck. “You can sleep in my place. We’re friends, right?” You say as you yawn again. Hinata’s eyes light up and he smiles. “Thank you!” Hinata smiles and he looks around. You’ve got a pretty tiny apartment, with the view of a flower garden. It was already pretty quiet since it was late at night but you could still hear people talking far down the road. You notice Hinata staring at the balcony view and you chuckle. “It’s pretty, right?” You ask as you made your way towards the balcony.
A wave of fresh air hits your face as you step onto the balcony. The night air is peaceful and calm- just how you liked it. “Hey, I have a question, Y/N!” Hinata says as he takes off his jacket and joins you on the balcony. “Yeah?” You ask as you look at him. You take the time to observe him more- his cheeks are a warm tone of peach and freckles dotted his face. He’s tanner than when you last saw him- he’s also gotten buffer and taller. He looks really pretty under the moonlight. “Y/N? Hello?” Hinata snaps you out of your thoughts and you smile awkwardly. “Sorry- I spaced out.” You chuckle. “It’s- okay,” Hinata says, smiling. “I need to tell you something.”
You nod and eye him more- he’s redder now- he seems nervous. “Y/N. I like you.” He mutters under his breath, looking down. Your heart drops to your stomach and you gulp. Did you hear him right?- “W-what?” He shuts his eyes nervously. “Y/N! I like you a lot! Will you marry me?!” He shouts and the minute the words leave his mouth your eyes widen. Marry?! Your head is spinning with confusion and butterflies were swarming your stomach. Your eyes are looking around frantically in an attempt to see if this was a dream. “Y/N. Do- do you like me back?” Hinata squeaks out, snapping you out of your thoughts. You think again- well, kinda. You’ve always laughed more at his jokes than others, you were touchy with him, and well- he was your first kiss. “Hinata
” You manage to mutter out and fear strikes in Shoyo’s eyes.
“Yes, I like you.” You reply slowly.
Shit shit shit- what was he gonna say- “Thank you for telling me. Don’t lie though- I really like you- and I don’t want to get my heartbroken, o-okay?” Hinata mutters out, scratching his neck. You smile a little, looking at the floor. Hinata takes a deep breath before kneeling down on one knee. “Now
 will you
 marry me? Please?” Your heart stops- what the hell was he doing? “We made- a pact- right? You’d marry me when you’re 25 and still- single.” Hinata mutters out and you finally remember the letter you found earlier. Wasn’t that a joke? “Will you marry me
 please?” Hinata takes your hands in his and kisses them- making you blush.
Your head was very busy. Thoughts were running around and your heart was beating really fast. You didn’t know what to say- you wanted to say yes but it was so sudden, but then again you didn’t want to reject him- he just said he didn’t want to get his heart broken. “
Yes. I’ll marry you, I guess.” You say, chuckling. Hinata looks up at you- his eyes are bright and happy. “OH MY GOD- Y/N I LOVE YOU!” Hinata shouts as he takes you in his arms, wrapping you in a large hug. Your bones feel crushed- he definitely turned stronger. You giggle a little bit, nuzzling your head in his neck. “I love you so much! Y/N’s gonna be my wife!” Hinata says as he shouts across the balcony. “I’M GETTING MARRIED GUYS!!!”
__________________ Ś‚Ś‚à«ąàŒ‹àŒ˜àż
You huff in annoyance before dialing your now husband. “Yes, my wifey?” Hinata says, answering the phone. You chuckle at that silly nickname- he’s been using it ever since you two got married. “Can you pick Emmy up from daycare? They’re closing up early and I have to go to a book signing.” You say as you walk to your car. Ever since you moved to Japan with Hinata, life’s been great. Your newest book has been pretty successful, and you have a daughter with Hinata! “Ah, alright. I’ll pick her up in a sec- practice is almost done.” Hinata says. You can hear Bokuto in the background- he’s screaming and throwing balls around. “HEY SHOYO IS THAT YOUR WIFE?!” Atsumu shouts and you chuckle. “Sorry, wifey- I have to go or else Atsumu will attack you-” Hinata says as he makes a kissing noise. “I love you, bye!” The phone hangs up and you chuckle. This marriage has been a little tough since you both married early- but it’s been alright. Promises had to be kept, after all.
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turkisherlockian · 4 years ago
Text
A Touch From The Past - The Rainbow 🌈 - Request [Benedict Cumberbatch AU - Teacher x Soulmate Student Reader] (Part Two)
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The professor could not wait for the drama class to start. To see her again. To remember where he saw her. His mind was forcing him to remember, he knew when he had someting on his mind he would have trouble focusing on one another. He had to know.
There were some students who took the class because they loved theatre, but it was compulsory for the rest. They seperated into opposite-sex couples as they were asked, Professor Cumberbatch was going to decide which one of them could play Richard Plantagenet and Anne Neville from Shakespeare's "Richard III".
He was on the stage with the playscript in his hands. The students were seated with their partners and his eyes found Y/N's quickly, but his stare only lasted for 3 seconds as he warned himself. He was there to teach.
Being a professional, he managed to focus on educating without any distraction, however he couldn't wait to go home because his head started to ache.
"As you all must know, we're going to perform Anne Neville's story by Shakespeare's Richard III. I believe all of you read the book and not only the script before memorising your lines," he said sarcastically and made his students smile, as always. "But I would like to remind you about her story before we get started."
He took a deep breath, "She is the widow of Prince Edward of Lancaster, whom Richard helped kill."
One of the students raised her hand and asked, "How could she love him after all he's done?"
The professor smiled, "She is the only person to follow her father-in-law Henry VI’s coffin to burial and to mourn him. Suddenly courted by Richard at the height of her grief, she is taken off her guard but finds herself unable to resist his performance as a lover. Despite her quite genuine hatred and mourning, she ends up completely seduced by him. Though this ends up making her Queen, it does not bring her happiness, which she blames on her having cursed Richard’s future wife before taking on that role. Richard’s bad dreams keep her awake at night, and she does not sleep well. She is soon perfectly aware that Richard does not care for her, and grows certain that he will kill her. She grows ill and dies, very likely poisoned by him. Anne is a weak and passive woman, though she attempts to be a good aunt to the various children of her husband’s brothers. Her ghost comes to haunt Richard the night before the battle of Bosworth and to bless Richard’s opponent Richmond."
Y/N felt blessed, he was so enthusiastic! She fell for him once again.
A boy raised his hand now, "But that's not what actually happened, right? I've read that he loved her and she died due to the plague of the time. Can we say that Shakespeare didn't really like the royalties at all?"
"This is where poetry and the benefits of technology takes place. We're lucky to be able to judge his work and compare it to the history." He was happy that some of the students were actually interested in this class.
"Kings are the slaves of history," he quoted Tolstoy with a smile and continued, "Let's get started."
He watched them all and helped them with their lines, but none of them was good enough. He knew they needed to practise but they didn't have much time. While watching them, his mind was also pondering if it would be Y/N's turn before the class ended. He shaked his head slightly and didn't notice that he was tapping his foot.
And it was her turn, now. There were 5 minutes left and he stood up when she came on the stage with her partner.
Y/N was actually good, but his partner was terrible. He just wasn't her match, and it seemed like they didn't even know each other much.
He clapped his hands to draw attention to himself, "You are talking as if someone's forcing you to say it. You're a wicked man, with your own reasons; and you try to seduce her. And you don't need a stage-kiss if you both are okay with it..?" It sounded like a question and Y/N would never say no to anything he suggests. They both nodded and he stepped aside to let them play again.
It was obvious that Y/N studied the character very well and he could see tears forming in her eyes. The young man did try to do better, but it just wasn't his thing. Professor Cumberbatch had this desire to show his students how to do it and he turned to them. "I need you all to watch, now. I'm afraid I'll ask those who want to take part to perform again tomorrow. We're running out of time and we need to be quick. Now..." He turned to Y/N, and blinked a few times when he realized that he had to kiss her. It could cause him to get distracted again, but he had to do it.
He knelt in front of her after taking the knife from the young man, and Y/N could swear that the look in his eyes changed. He raised one of his shoulders because Richard III was misshapen, his eyes were darker now and he tilted his head to the side. "Take up the knife, or take up me."
Y/N who played Lady Anne didn't say anything, and managed to tear up. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. He was going to kiss her. That was the only thing on her mind now.
He stood up slowly and kissed her. It only lasted for 5 seconds but it felt like forever to them. They didn't see blurry images or memories now, they saw each other. Benedict saw her smiling, crying, laughing, glancing at him, looking at her ring, in a wedding dress, in a rush, in his bed, naked...
Y/N saw him holding her hand at the beach, driving with his sunglasses on, coming home with grocery bags in his hands, holding her, dancing with her, touching her, hugging her, kissing her..
A rush,
A glance,
A touch,
A dance...
It was like thunderstorms at first, but they both knew that after a thunderstorm, comes a rainbow.
She was supposed to pull back and leave him there, but before she could - not that she could at that moment - the bell ringed and the professor forced himself to stop kissing her and she walked away from him.
He kept stuttering while saying his final words to the students who were jealous and muttering to each other about how real that kiss looked. Thankfully, they left quickly.
They were alone on the stage, now. None of them spoke, and Y/N just knew it was her mind toying with her. She went too far, she shouldn't have loved him that much. As tears formed in her eyes for real now, she tried not to look at him and leave the stage but his velvet voice stopped her. "You were pretty good, actually."
She couldn't dare to look at him as she thanked him quietly, and attempted to leave but he spoke once again. "You had them too, didn't you? Did you feel it?" She looked up at him. He couldn't be talking about what she saw, could he?
He walked towards her and turned her to himself by holding her arms gently, "The electricity when our hands touched, a flood of memories that were brought back to our minds-- please tell me you had them too."
He sounded like he was begging her, because otherwise, he would lose her mind. What was it, did he fall in love with her? He knew he could have considering that she was the only thing in his mind all day, which was very unprofessional...
"I did," she spoke excitedly, "I saw you but I thought it was because I lo--"
He kept quiet, waiting for her to finish her sentence but she couldn't. Tears were rolling down her reddened cheeks. "We were married." He spoke quietly and held her face in his hands. "I never thought I would believe in things like that, but I think we are soulmates." He looked into her eyes and felt an overwhelmingly nice feeling in his chest. She seemed like a fairy to him and he suddenly needed to kiss her again. So badly.
"We were together in another life..." Y/N spoke in amazement, "I can say it then."
The professor wiped her tears off her red, hot cheeks, she closed her eyes and finally said it.
"I love you."
He kissed her passionately and all he saw was darkness now. He knew she was the one. They were under each other's spell now... She loved him, and he loved her back. Once again, and forever.
They were smiling when they pulled back, and they spent the rest of the day with getting to know each other.
---
Info source: https://www.playshakespeare.com/richard-iii/characters/lady-anne
Thank you so much for reading, I hope you enjoyed it! ❀ @inner-thoughtsofnelia
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olivia-anderson-fanfic · 4 years ago
Text
Another One?!, Part 5
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It turns out that people with access to military-grade equipment are not the type of people you want to dislike you.
Really, the only reason she was still alive was because being Ladybug made her marginally more lucky than the average person.
From people in holding randomly getting out from time to time and somehow managing to get their hands on a weapon, to getting shot by ‘malfunctioning’ firearms, to constant bomb threats, to the one time someone actually tried to drop an anvil on her head, things were just not looking good for Marinette.
And, it turns out, being a boss is just a hard thing in general. When they weren’t attempting to kill her, they were coming to her with questions. She spent most of her day in the office, scanning through manual after manual. She got basically zero breaks, because even when she had a sign on her door saying she was eating lunch they still came in to ask her things.
And then, at the end of the day, she’d get home
 things weren’t great there, either.
Barbara had moved in after a year of dating Dick (Marinette had been stunned to learn that their relationship was actually real but that had quickly been dropped when she realized that Barbara was actually a responsible adult that could take care of herself). She had banned caffeine in the house when she’d seen Marinette and Tim’s coffee habits and, unfortunately, everyone else had been perfectly happy to enforce this for her.
This meant that she only had about four hours when she got home to patrol before her exhaustion caught up with her and she’d be forced to go home and collapse on the couch.
On top of that, tensions in the house were high. It turns out that one of the biggest problems with avoiding your problems for years is that emotions get pent up inside and it gets harder and harder to ignore. No one had completely snapped yet, but even the densest person in the world would have been able to recognize that it was coming.
It didn’t help that she no longer had time for baking, which was her normal way of relieving stress

And let’s just say they were lucky none of them were going on patrols together, those kinds of high-stress situations do not help.
~
Adrien needed sleep.
He worked ten hours a day, which isn’t that much longer than average but was still emotionally taxing considering his job was teaching.
Then, he’d go on patrol for a few hours. He liked patrol, beating up random people is great for stress, but it was physically exhausting.
Then, he’d come home.
And he’d have two kids and an adult to keep alive.
(Barbara had the night shift, which meant that Adrien was alone for this. He swore it was on purpose.)
He’d go to his room and find Dick swinging around on the indoor gym they’d had installed (they were getting tired of him breaking light fixtures and had given in and put little hand and footholds on the ceiling for him to climb around on).
And then Dick would fall asleep, often hanging from the ceiling still, and Adrien would pick him up and take him to his room and tuck him in.
He’d rush back to his room, desperate to get there for just a second of sleep, only to find that, no matter how quick he was, Jason would already be on the bed. You would think that Adrien would be able to sleep. After all, Jason would be reading a book... that’s supposed to be a quiet thing

Well, you see, the problem is that Jason reads books like people watch soap operas. He’d curse out characters and call them stupid, tell Adrien contextless jokes, and occasionally close his book to vent about what was going on.
And, eventually Jason would sleep. Adrien wouldn’t move him because a) it would wake him up and b) on the very small chance it didn’t wake him, Jason sometimes half-joked that when he woke up alone he feared that they’d left him behind

So, yeah, Jason got to stay in the room.
Adrien would blink and then he’d find Tim in the door with his computer.
Tim, it seemed, would actually wait to see if Adrien was okay with it if he came in. He always stood in the door, hugging his laptop to his chest, and wouldn’t dare come inside until Adrien said he could.
Of course Adrien would sigh and nod his head yes, making a joke about how his kids were sleeping in shifts to annoy him, and move over on the bed a bit to let Tim on.
And then Tim would do homework or play games on his computer.
Adrien hated the sound of clicky keyboards. He’d had no clue he was alone in this until one day he complained about it and everyone in the room had stared at him like he was crazy.
But, yeah, the keyboard made him want to die. He just wanted to sleep...
And then Barbara would poke her head in after a long night’s work to tell Adrien that it was time for him to get ready for work.
Sprinkle in one or two probably life-threatening accidents and you’d have a typical night for him.
Now, you might be thinking, why doesn’t he just fall asleep on the couch?
Beyond the fact that the kids would just
 follow him there, Adrien was also a rich kid growing up. He couldn’t sleep on couches. They’re uncomfortable.
No, now his only saving grace was the fact that Barbara didn’t have a way to monitor the coffee machine at his work.

 Oh kwami, he had become what he’d hated.
~
She dropped onto the bed -- she’d had enough energy to make it all the way there for once -- and glared at the mostly empty bulletin board on Antony Agoura. The man was smart, unfortunately, opting to keep his identity a secret as much as possible. He used a fake name. He wore gloves no matter what. He used solely cash

And it wasn’t like she was going to be able to lure him out again. That had been an intimidation tactic, a way of saying ‘leave it alone or you’ll see exactly what I can do’.
And, as much as she hated to admit it even to herself, she was a little bit scared of him. For the first time since Zucco, the person she was facing knew who she was as a civilian, and she hated that she’d lost that advantage. Even if her family was better trained in self-defense than most, they weren’t invulnerable and they couldn’t be careful every second of the day.
Part of her was tempted to pack up and go on the run like they had done with Zucco
 but the situations were different. With Zucco they knew they would eventually be able to catch him but with Agoura...
She closed her eyes, unable to look at it any longer.
Fuck. She was really screwed this time, huh?
She felt someone sink into the bed next to her and reached out for them. She didn’t really care who it was as she buried her face in their shoulder.
Sleep

Less than a minute later, her phone buzzed to tell her that it was time to start cooking everyone’s meals for the day and she mumbled a curse before peeling herself away from the person. She squinted a little bit in the dark to see who it was. Tim.
She yawned and pressed a kiss to the top of his head. “Want to cook with me?”
“I’d burn the house down.”
“Probably. Want to stand nearby and make sure I don’t fall asleep while cooking so nothing burns?”
He shrugged a little bit. “Don’t see why not.”
They both crawled out of bed and she used him for support as they made their way down to the kitchen.
~
Adrien had been on patrol when she’d appeared.
And ‘appeared’ was definitely the way to describe it. He’d been relaxing on a rooftop, giving himself a few second break to just breathe in silence for once
 and then he’d felt a hand shaking his shoulder.
He fought the urge to jump or lash out, his head whipping around to look at the person who was shaking him.
It was
 a girl?
Actually, she looked about Jason’s age, so maybe a woman?
It didn’t matter. She looked terrified. Her eyes were so wide it looked almost exaggerated, her lips drawn into a deep frown.
The more he took in about her appearance the more concerned he was. Her stance was wide, which likely meant she fought often. Her clothes were ratty and torn. The little parts of her skin that weren’t caked in dirt were split with cuts that were either infected or about to be infected.
He rested a hand over hers as gently as he could and looked at her. “How are you up here? Actually, that doesn’t matter. What’s wrong? Are you okay? Are you hurt? Is your family hurt?”
She waved her free hand around frantically. Wordlessly.
He raised his eyebrows.
“Do you not speak English? Or are you mute? Deaf?”
He realized all these questions weren’t going to get answers and he sighed. Crap, what could he do?
He mulled it over for a second before snapping his fingers. He held up a finger for one minute, then held up his hands and made a tiny ‘stay’ motion with them just in case, and then ran to the nearest convenience store.
He didn’t care enough to detransform. It got him through the line quickly, at least.
He found a pen and a pad of paper and returned to the rooftop

She wasn’t there anymore.
He sighed, a mix of frustration and concern coursing through him. He closed his eyes and shook his head. He should get back to patrol. Maybe he’d find her and/or whatever situation she was trying to get his attention for

He opened his eyes and actually did jump this time. She was right in front of him. What? He hadn’t heard her

He shook off his growing unease and handed her the notepad and pen.
She frowned, her face a little more than confused. Had she never seen a pen and paper before? Surely that couldn’t be right

Still, he gently took the paper and pen back and wrote a tiny question mark.
He handed it over again and she looked at the mark like she’d never seen it before. Maybe her language didn’t have question marks
?
Then she started doodling.
Well, his plan had been for her to write whatever it was down and he would see if his phone would translate it, but he guessed this would work, too.
The first drawing explained some of the girl’s problems with communication. It was a little doodle where the mouth and ears had been X-ed out. She couldn’t speak or hear
 or, at least, that’s what he’d figured.
He searched his memory for his old sign language lessons. Unfortunately, though, sign language is something that has to be practiced. All he could do is fingerspell “U O-K?”
She didn’t seem to understand.
Fair enough. He was pretty sure he was using LSF, anyways, and he didn’t exactly know for sure how close that was to ASL
 or whatever other language she could have known. He couldn’t really tell much about where she was from, her skin was covered in dirt, okay?
She started doodling the rest of her life story and he nearly punched something. Probably would have if he hadn’t been scared he’d startle her or scare her off.
Whoever her dad was, he was committed to killing him if he wasn’t dead already.
He smiled at her and tried to think of a solution. He couldn’t take her to the police. Even with Marinette in charge, there was only so much she could do to keep the kid safe. An orphanage wouldn’t accept her because he doubted she was a legal US citizen.
He sighed. Marinette was going to kill him

He reached out a hand to her to tell her to follow and blinked in surprise when she actually took it. Wow. He trusted her.
He tried not to feel proud as he led her home. He probably should have been scared that she was a spy or lying, but he found himself trusting her

Weird, but he had bigger problems.
He detransformed a little bit outside the house and slowly walked to the door. He pushed it open and cringed when it creaked. Please don’t be home

Marinette shifted under her blanket and opened an eye to look at him.
He quickly pushed the girl behind himself and smiled at his wife. “Wow, it’s you. You’re home. Wow.”
“Yeah, amazing, right?” She rubbed her eyes and gave him a tired smile. “How was patrols?”
“Great. Uneventful. Definitely good.”
Her smile dropped into a frown. “You’re acting weird.”
“What? Me? Acting weird?”
“Yeah
 are you coming inside?”
“Uh
 no. Actually, I think I’ll go back on patrols.”
She clicked her tongue. “You’re hiding something. I’m too tired for this, Adrien. Fess up.”
He cringed a little bit and slowly led the new adoptee inside.
The girl clutched Adrien’s shirt sleeve anxiously. He did not think this was a good thing.
Marinette stared at the girl in front of her for a while before a way too wide smile crossed her face. “Adrien
” She began slowly, before shaking her head. Her smile widened, somehow. She looked up, her voice sickly sweet: “Hey! Sweeties! Come down here.”
The reaction was instantaneous. There was a mad scrambling noise and they appeared in the doorway, expressions frazzled.
“Whatever happened, it was Dick!” Said Tim before anyone could speak.
Dick gasped. “No! It wasn’t!”
Marinette gave a pleasant laugh. “You’re not in trouble. Boys, could you help her get cleaned up for me, please?”
“Why is there another kid? Why does he have another one?” Said Jason incredulously.
When neither parent answered, they started ushering the girl away.
She grabbed Adrien’s arm when he tried to disappear through the door with them. “Not. You. Transform, we’re going out.”
He tried not to look too scared as they both transformed. She kept a way too tight grip on Adrien as they made their way through the town, as if she thought he was going to suddenly run away.
Fair enough. He was absolutely considering it.
But he didn’t. That would only make things worse.
They stopped at a relatively abandoned part of town and she turned to him, letting go to cross her arms over her chest.
“Explain.”
~
Did she feel bad for the kid that Adrien had adopted? Sure. No one deserves that kind of life

But that didn’t calm her down in the slightest.
She was trying to relax herself. Her lips pressed into a thin line as she heard him out to keep herself from yelling or interrupting, her nails dug into the skin of her palms to keep her grounded

Adrien finished with a sigh and a “I don’t regret it, she was in trouble and it’s our job to protect civilians.”
She didn’t know why those words made her anger worsen. There was some sense in them, and yet she had to strain to keep her voice level when she spoke: “Just once, could you actually just own up to a mistake you make?”
“I’ll own up to a mistake when I actually think it’s a mistake!”
“Whatever.” She thrummed her foot on the floor. “We can’t keep adopting random kids, Chat, there’s only so much we can do!”
“They need our help!”
“Bullshit! You need them more than they need you! Newsflash! Helping a bunch of kids isn’t going to make your own childhood any better!”
Adrien flinched and she felt a twinge of guilt finally poke through the anger, but before she could apologize he was jabbing his finger in her chest.
“At least my terrible coping mechanism helps people! You want to pull trauma into this? What about the fact that we still can’t say Lila’s name? What about the fact that you refuse to make friends with people our age because you fear them leaving you?”
She winced and her face reddened. “Okay, but does that inconvenience you? No! At least mine is only self-destructive! Yours is going to drag the entire family down with you! We’ve already fucked up these kids for sure, but you just keep making it worse and worse by spreading our limited time thinner!”
“Shut up! What do you know? You hardly ever talk to them anyways! You’re always at work or asleep!”
“Really? And whose fault is that? If you’d just stuck to the actual plan B instead of going out and attacking all the cops in the GCPD there wouldn’t have been as much attention on what had happened!”
He rolled his eyes. “I’VE ALREADY TOLD YOU THAT I HAD TO DO THAT! IT WAS TO KEEP EVERYONE AWAY FROM THE SECURITY ROOM TO KEEP PEGASUS SAFE!”
“PLEASE! NO ONE WAS GOING TOWARDS THE SECURITY ROOM! YOU’RE JUST AN IMPULSIVE DICK!”
“ARE YOU REALLY CALLING ME IMPULSIVE?!”
“YOU ADOPT KIDS LIKE THEY’RE POKEMON! OF COURSE I’M GOING TO CALL YOU IMPULSIVE!”
“YOU’RE THE ONE WHO ALWAYS GETS IN RANDOM FIGHTS BECAUSE YOU’RE NEVER CAREFUL!”
She groaned and fought to make herself relax enough to speak without yelling. They were in a relatively abandoned part of Gotham but that didn’t mean that there was no one around. The last thing they needed on top of everything going on was to have their fight end up in the papers.
Adrien was clearly doing the same, because he was quiet for a long time before he spoke in little more than a whisper:
“Do you not want to be a part of the family anymore?”
She opened her mouth to say ‘of course I want to be a part of the family’, but no sound came out. She wasn’t sure why she was even hesitating. She cared about them, obviously. She wouldn’t be working so hard if she didn’t

But it was definitely a lot.
She could only handle so much at once. Beyond the powers she was just a human, and supporting that many other people is hard. Especially considering she essentially had two jobs to keep up with, as well

The longer she went without answering the more tears spilled over his mask. Still, he was waiting for her answer. He was waiting for some kind of verbal confirmation that she couldn’t do it anymore.
She reached up and gently cupped his cheeks, wiping his tears away with her thumb.
“Chat, I
” She swallowed thickly. “I don’t know how much more we can do.”
He hesitantly brought his hands up to rest over hers. “I know. I just
 I can’t just leave them. They always look so sad.”
She’d fallen in love with Adrien for his kindness and now it was the thing that was threatening to tear their marriage apart.
But he’d fallen for her because of her problem solving skills. And she was determined to not let this be the one problem she failed to solve.
The problem wasn’t exactly that he was getting more kids. Marinette loved kids.
The problem was that they didn’t know if they could raise kids without messing them up too badly.
Part of it was that everyone in the family had had one or more big events that had traumatized them, and it looked like it was finally time that they started getting past it.
Could they even get past it at this point? It had been over two decades since Marinette and Adrien had originally gotten their traumas, what if it was too late? What would happen if they somehow did get over it? It had been a part of them for such a long time, what would they be without it?
And then there was the kids. Could they even get them to go?
It was worth a shot, at least...
And the other change they needed to make was to make more time for their kids.
Neither of them were going to give up their day jobs (Adrien wouldn’t and Marinette, unfortunately, couldn’t just yet). That meant that they either needed to get caffeine in the house or give up vigilantism

Well, cross of the giving up vigilantism thing automatically. On top of just not being able to give up on the city they were in when there was still so much to fix, they knew it would only be temporary. They’d already tried to give up vigilantism. They simply couldn’t bring themselves to.
So that left trying to get caffeine past Barbara. The kids (outside of Tim) were very much against caffeine and they worked very hard to make sure neither Marinette or Tim ever managed to get their hands on it. From purposefully making sure Marinette and Tim couldn’t go anywhere without one of them to monitoring the break room camera at her work to make sure she didn’t drink any, the kids were determined to make sure Marinette couldn’t get her hands on anything.
But Adrien could. No one would suspect him.
She bit her lip. This wasn’t going to go over well. Getting Adrien to therapy AND make him get caffeine? Man, this was going to suck.
“Chaton
 I might have an idea
 but you’re going to have to hear me out
”
~
He and Marinette were arguing again, though this was far more light-hearted.
“We are not opening another portal. We’re already lucky enough that this dimension hasn’t collapsed on us, we aren’t testing it.”
He rolled his eyes and stopped scratching runes into the wall to glare at her. “Would you rather we let a girl-woman-female-you-know-what-I-mean room with a guy?”
“What about we give her Jason’s room and let Jason sleep with us? He comes into our room to sleep either way.”
“Jason still uses his room to store things.”
“This is a bad idea, Chaton
”
He grinned. “Mhmm.”
“This is what I meant when you said you’re stupidly impulsive.”
“Would you rather do it?”
“Sure.”
He rolled his eyes. “And that’s what I meant when I said you don’t care about your own health. It’ll be fine.”
She clicked her tongue and motioned for him to go on.
He finished scratching the last rune and sighed when he saw some weird tentacle monster slowly unfurling itself on the other side. He got to his feet quickly and raised his staff to fight it, only to cringe when he heard Dick and Jason scream downstairs.
“I’ll deal with that, do you have this taken care of?”
She winced. “Sure. Where exactly is the portal, to be sure?”
He pointed it out and then ran downstairs.
Jason was currently not having a good time, it seemed. The bottom half of his body had been swallowed by a hole in the floor and he was struggling to get a hold on the slick floors.
Dick was also there, screaming incoherently from one of the ceiling lights.
Adrien ran over and grabbed one of Jason’s arms and started slowly pulling him out of the portal. After a bit Dick snapped out of it and scrambled to help.
The three were panting by the time they managed to get him all the way out.
“What the heck what the heck what the heck what the heck --,” Dick mumbled, holding his heart.
Jason, though just as shaken, seemed to be getting over it quickly. “How do we fix that?”
“Don’t remember, ask your mom,” mumbled Adrien as he crawled over to the portal on the floor and peered down.
It was a tiny group of people crowded around a computer.
Wait, what the heck were they wearing? Were they cosplaying as vigilantes? They definitely had the tacky outfits down if they were but Adrien didn’t know who they could be. Well, it had been a long time since they’d visited the Justice League, maybe he just didn’t know them

He cleared his throat awkwardly and flashed them a blinding smile.
“Um
 sorry about this, we’ll fix it as quickly as possible.”
“Was that
 was that Dick Grayson?” Said the tallest of them.
Was he dressed as a bat? Why was he dressed as a bat? Dressing up like animals wasn’t technically their thing but on the other hand it was absolutely their thing. Adrien was almost offended.
Wait, he’d said something. He tried not to go pale when his brain finally processed it. This wasn’t exactly how he’d wanted the world to find out their identities

“What kind of name is Dick Grayson? Ha! Lame!”
Dick sent him an affronted look from where he was on the floor. Adrien gave him an apologetic smile and a shrug.
Jason came back down with a baking pan. “Mom said to drop something through, so
”
“What’s that?”
“Brownies.”
“You’re dropping our brownies down there? Are you trying to kill them?” Asked Dick.
Adrien blinked once then sighed. “It could have worked for once. Be nice.”
Jason scoffed. “It didn’t. She forgot sugar. That’s why we’ll give it to them.”
“Sorry about this!” Said Adrien as Jason dropped the pan through the portal.
As promised, it closed now that something had been sacrificed.
The three looked at each other for a few seconds before Dick looked away and said, “So
 pretend this never happened?”
“Yep.”
~
She cursed as she fell back on the couch, never mind the fact that Adrien was already laying there. Her husband made a quiet ‘oof’ sound as she dropped on top of him. She was hopped up on caffeine and ready to bond with her kids but the problem was that the kids, in fact, had lives.
The little time that Marinette and Adrien didn’t have work was taken up by patrols, by Jason’s homework, by Tim’s extracurriculars, by Dick’s job...
“There’s still not enough time.”
“We might have to stop being vigilantes for a bit
” He said, though he sounded reluctant. “Or rotate off by day
”
She didn’t like the idea either, but it didn’t seem like they had much choice in this if they wanted to be better for their kids. They’d already had to cut back on vigilantism because of their jobs and need for sleep, could they really cut it out of their lives entirely? Just like that?
No, there had to be something they could do. The city was still the most crime ridden city in the world. They couldn’t give up on it.
But then what to do
?
She watched Tim stumble in with a dislocated shoulder and squeaked, pushing herself off of her husband and rushing over.
“Shit! What happened?”
“I
 might have messed up a boomerang-horseshoe-thingy catch and it might have hit me in the shoulder.”
She clicked her tongue. “Right. I’m going to reset it on three. One, two --.”
Tim gave a grunt of pain as she pushed his shoulder back into place.
“You should have told someone, how long were you fighting with a dislocated shoulder?”
“A little while
”
She shook her head and glanced at Adrien to give him the ‘kids, right?’ look, only to find him lost in thought.
He snapped out of it and flashed her a grin.
“I think I have an idea. How do you feel about going back on patrols with partners?”
~
He stretched across his family’s lap as they waited.
Adrien, Marinette, Dick, Jason, and Tim all sat in a therapist’s office for family counseling. They would have invited Cass but the whole ‘not speaking’ thing made therapy difficult. They actually had invited Barbara, only to get shut down because apparently she didn’t want to ‘deal with all that mess’.
So, it was just them.
Well, I say ‘just’ like five people isn’t a lot of people to have in a single therapy session. The poor therapist looked like she was going to have a heart attack when she saw all of them waiting for her.
Good thing they'd chosen the shortest session...
“Um
 Agreste?”
“Yep!” Said Dick, far too brightly for a therapy session but whatever.
“Cool
 right this way!”
His family glanced at each other before shrugging and pushing Adrien off of their laps in unison. He pouted up at them from his new place on the floor, but no one seemed all that guilty about it.
Marinette did reach out and pull him to his feet by the back of his shirt, though, so there was at least that.
They filed into the therapist’s room and took a seat on yet another couch.
Dr. Quinzel smiled at all of them. “Okay, does anyone have anything they’d like to start us off with?”
The family eyed each other warily. They were here as civilians, so they had to make sure not to slip up and talk too in depth about most things

“Jason keeps calling me ‘Replacement’!” Said Tim, finally.
Marinette and Adrien frowned at Jason, who was attempting to sink into his hoodie.
“Well, we definitely didn’t know about that
” said Marinette.
“Of course you didn’t!” Said Jason. “You’re hardly ever around!”
Tim sighed. “They’re just busy.”
Adrien flinched. That was way too close to the excuse he used to make for his own father for his liking. Were they really that bad? Sure, he and Marinette were definitely not around as much as they’d like to be, but they were making an effort
 did that really matter, though?
“No, Jay is right. We’ll try and do more. We’ve talked about how we’re going to free up time for you guys recently, actually. We’re hoping to include you more in our...” He glanced at Dr. Quinzel. “... hobby. Do more things with you in general, really.”
Marinette nodded her agreement.
She glanced at the boy’s faces and then clicked her tongue. “Anyone have problems they want to share?”
“No, our family is perfect how it is!” Said Dick brightly, his gaze fixed on the window.
Adrien followed his gaze to make sure nothing bad was going down on the streets and then sighed. “Dick, there has to be something. You’ve been just as tense as the rest of us recently.”
“Nope! Everything’s great!”
Everyone else exchanged skeptical looks but they couldn’t really feel comfortable pushing --.
Dr. Quinzel frowned a little bit. “Okay. We’ll come back to you when everyone else has had their say, then. Hopefully you’ll be more comfortable then.”
Dick gave a charming smile. Dr. Quinzel didn’t seem all that perturbed as she turned to look at Marinette.
His wife pursed her lips tightly as everyone else’s eyes went to her and she smoothed out the front of her dress. “We’ve already talked about this one-on-one, but
 I think Adrien could maybe think a bit more before doing things. Or, at least, he should tell me when he makes major decisions like adopting kids.”
Dick’s smile dropped instantly. “Are you really complaining about not being told things? You guys tell me nothing! I have to figure everything out myself!”
Everyone startled a little at the sudden change of heart and gave each other wary glances before finding their way back to Dick.
The man in question had pushed himself to his feet (Adrien whined a little bit about losing the person to lean against) and started pacing. “You even ask Barbara things before me! It’s like you think I’m stupid!”
“Sweetie --.”
“Dont!” Dick sighed and came to a stop. He shoved his hands into his pockets. “It’s fine, it’s just
 don’t you trust me?”
Marinette and Adrien looked at each other before nodding.
“Of course we do,” he said gently. “We’ll talk more about this at home, okay? When we’re not in the present company?” He looked at Tim and Jason, but he meant Dr. Quinzel. That was a hard subject to tiptoe around.
Dick took a seat on the armrest, likely so he could get up again without disturbing anyone.
Dr. Quinzel nodded. She looked at Adrien, and he fought the urge to try and hide behind Jason. She looked way too smart for his liking, it felt like she knew just by looking at him exactly what was wrong with him...
“I
” He struggled to find the words in French, let alone in English. “... think I try and get a lot of people in the house so I never have to be alone for long. I used to be alone all the time. I can’t do that again.”
Dr. Quinzel nodded thoughtfully. “It seems that all of you feel excluded or lonely in some way. Thankfully, that means all of you are the solution to each other’s problems. But, also, I suggest branching out some. Family is good, but so are friends. Everyone understand?”
They all gave each other wary looks, but they smiled all the same.
“Great, we can have a session again in a month or two to check your progress. That’ll be $7000 --.”
~
Marinette met her husband’s eyes and they exchanged nervous looks before walking into their room. As expected, Jason was already there. He was ready for bed, it seemed, with his pajamas on and his book out.
They took seats on either side of him and each took a hand.
“Jay
” Began Adrien. “We don’t love you any less because you’re not the newest kid anymore.”
“I know
”
Marinette bit her lip and pressed a tiny kiss to his forehead. “We’re not lying. And you don’t have to, either, just tell us why you think that.”
Jason looked at both of them warily before sinking into his shirt. It didn’t work as much as it did when he was wearing a hoodie or turtleneck, but it still worked surprisingly well.
She looked at Adrien nervously and he took the lead again:
“The reason we tend to focus on the newest the most is because they usually have the freshest problems. When we first got you we focused on you more than Dick because you were still struggling with old habits you picked up while homeless, and he was mostly over what had happened with his original parents.”
Marinette nodded. “And when Tim came in we focused on him because he was dealing with realizing his parents weren’t great and adjusting to a family who loved him. Now we have Cass, who
  will definitely need some extra care
”
Jason sniffled a little and nodded his understanding. “I know you have to, I just
 it feels like you don’t want me as much anymore...”
“No way!” Marinette said, squeezing his hand tighter. “We love you, sweetie, you’re just as much our kid as any of the others.”
Adrien smiled. “Exactly. You’re stuck with us, whether you want to be or not.”
Jason gave a wobbly laugh before slowly drawing them in for a hug.
“I love you, too, guys.”
They hugged him back.
“... and I’ll go easier on Tim.”
“Thank kwami, I didn’t want to ruin the moment by bringing it up, but
 yeah, be nicer to Tim, please,” said Adrien half jokingly.
Marinette grinned. “Maybe give him a nicer nickname, at least?”
“How about Timbers?”
“Uh
”
“Timberly?”
She clicked her tongue. “How about just Timmy? Or Tim?”
“No, no, I think I’m on to something.”
~
Adrien stared in disbelief.
“You
 you did what?”
Dick fiddled with a Rubix cube. Adrien wasn’t sure if that was just to help stay concentrated on the conversation or so he could more easily avoid eye contact.
“I joined the mob two years ago because I wanted to be more in the loop
”
Adrien and Marinette exchanged exhausted looks.
“Don’t be mad! I’ve been rising in the ranks for years now, eventually I’ll be close enough to Agoura to help you guys!”
Marinette sighed lightly and shook her head. “Sweetie, we aren’t mad.”
Adrien raised his eyebrows. “Yes we are.”
“You’re right. We’re mad. But we’re going to let this one slide.”
“No, we aren’t.”
“I can’t read minds!” She said, then she shook her head again. “Look, we just want you to be safe.”
Adrien nodded. “The reason we don’t tell you much isn’t because we don’t trust you, it’s because we don’t like involving you guys in dangerous things when we can avoid it.”
“But Barbara --!”
“We asked her about her opinion on one thing. She actually gave the same answer as you, and we turned her down, too. We’re sorry that you felt like we didn’t trust you, though, that wasn’t ever our intent.”
“And, besides,” added Marinette. “You have a tendency to snoop. We always figured you’d learn everything on your own.”
They took a seat on either side of Dick on the couch and wrapped him in a hug.
Dick beamed as he hugged back.
“... you’re still in trouble, though. That was stupid and dangerous and neither you nor your siblings can never do that again,” said Adrien.
Dick started whining.
~
Marinette bit her lip anxiously as she looked at her phone. All it would take was one click to call, but

Adrien sighed beside her and reached over. He took the phone and pressed to call, then tossed it back at her.
She panicked, juggling the phone in her hands as it dialled. Nononononononono don’t pick up don’t pick up --
“Hello?” Said Nygma.
Fuck!
She looked at her husband anxiously.
“This or the Justice League,” mouthed Adrien.
She squeaked and brought the phone to her ear. “Nygma! Hi!”
“... Hello?”
“Hey! I’m a bit bored, so
 I was just wondering if, um, you want to do something as
” she wheezed. “... as um
 as
”
“I don’t really have anything prepared right now, I’m still waiting on that shipment of penguins...” The Riddler seemed confused, which was a first.
Was she a little concerned about whatever Riddler was doing with penguins? Sure. Then again, this is Riddler she was talking about. What was he going to do? Steal one of her ninja kids and then tell her exactly where they were? Whatever.
“No no! Like um
”
“Friends?”
“Yes! That!”
Adrien rested his head in his hands with a deep sigh. She flipped him off despite knowing he couldn't see it.
“I guess my schedule is free until the penguins come in... Sure! Want to go try an escape room?”
“No, I do an escape room every time I see you. I’m making you a new outfit.”
Adrien and Riddler both groaned.
She smiled.
~
He hesitated, messing with the strap of the bag over his shoulder.
“The city might need me --.”
“The city will be fine for a week,” said Marinette.
“The kids might need me --,” he tried, only to get silenced by a kiss.
She pulled back a little bit later. “It’s one week. Besides, we’re all doing what Dr. Quinzel said, and you’ve stalled long enough.”
He sighed. “For good reason! It’s a week alone! I’m going to go insane.”
“Chaton, we’re murderers. I think we crossed over that line a while ago.”
He cracked a grin, weak as it was, and pressed another kiss to her lips. “Are you sure --?”
“Yes! Oh my kwami! Now go!” She gave him a playful shove.
He raised his eyebrows and crossed his arms over his chest. “It almost feels like you’re trying to get rid of me.”
“And it almost feels like you’re stalling.”
She waved down a taxi for him and he couldn’t help but cringe as they took the bags from him. It made it feel much more real

“I love you, Chaton, I’ll see you in a week.”
“I love you, too, M’lady.”
He waved at the kids long after they had disappeared over the horizon and he sighed as he sunk back in his seat. He knew it was for the best, he needed to learn how to function as a person on his own, but

It was only a week. Only a week.
Besides

He looked down at the coordinates of the last known location of David Cain (it was amazing what Tim, Barbrara, and Marinette could do when angry enough).
He wasn’t going to be bored, at least.
~
She turned away from the cake she’d been decorating and nearly screamed when her eyes landed on Cass. She hadn’t even noticed her walk in.
Marinette forced herself to relax.
She glanced over the tiny girl in front of her and bit her lip. She was wearing a mix of different shades of black which

She suppressed a shudder. The outfit was okay, if she was being honest, but it definitely needed a splash of color.
“Right, that’s it, we’re finding you some new clothes.”
Cass looked at her blankly.
Right. She didn’t speak language. Marinette pursed her lips as she tried to think of some sort of movement that would convey what was going on, then settled for reaching out a hand for Cass.
She couldn’t help the smile that broke across her face when the girl took her hand. She trusted her! Score!
She hesitated for a minute before yelling: “SWEETIE! I mean
 JASON! COME ON WE’RE GOING SHOPPING YOUR CLOTHES ARE GETTING SMALL FOR YOU!”
There was a few seconds’ pause before Jason poked his head in. He glanced at the two of them and frowned, sinking a little bit into his hoodie. “You noticed?”
“I
 don’t even know how to respond to that. I’m a designer, of course I noticed. If you want to keep going for the grunge look that’s fine but you need to up your size.”
Jason nodded.
She rested her arm around his shoulders (something that was very hard for her to do now that he was both taller and wider than she was) and pulled the two kids out to the mall.
Jason was getting used to buying things for himself. He still resisted a little bit when people spent money on him or asked what he wanted, but he was making progress.
She pressed a kiss to his cheek and handed him a credit card. “Buy what you want. Remember the PIN?”
“Mhmm
” said Jason. He sent a wave over his shoulder as he made his way over to the men’s section.
She hummed lightly as she walked through the girl’s section to look for things for Cass. The girl was short and skinny for her age -- she was determined not to think about it for too long -- and she could easily fit in kid’s clothes

But no kid of Marinette’s would have a shirt with the words ïżœïżœGirl Power!’ or ‘I love tacos!’ on it.
She helped pick out different shades of black shirts and jeans for the girl, mulling over the different colors she should give her. Yellow and red matched her skin tone but she doubted the kid wanted anything bright

Marinette settled for giving Cass a blue scarf and some gold accessories.
She smiled and offered them to Cass, only to pale when the girl burst into tears. Fuckfuckfuckfuckfuck --
Cass hugged Marinette around the middle and buried her face in her chest and Marinette was just very confused.
Jason came back with two bags of new clothes and he blinked a few times as he took in the new situation.
“What the fuck happened?”
“I don’t know!” She hissed back, waving her hands vaguely. “She’s crying and I can’t even ask what’s wrong!”
“We need to teach her a language,” mumbled Jason.
“No shit, Sherlock!”
“Fuck off, Watson!”
She was getting judgemental looks from fellow shoppers now. Great. Amazing, even. She rested an arm around Cass and then used the other hand to flip them off. How dare they judge how she parented her kid she just met.
She waited until Cass was done to pull away and lean down to check her face. Even if she couldn’t really speak, her expression should be a good gauge of what was wrong --.
Cass gently took the items from Marinette and flashed her a blinding smile.
Damn it. Now Marinette was going to cry. This kid was so cute.
She leaned over and gently pressed a kiss to Cass’s forehead.
HER kid was so cute, she reminded herself as she led her along to .
She helped her wrap the scarf around her neck. Was it kind of hot out? Yes. Was Cass super cute with her mouth hidden behind the fabric? Also yes.
She glanced at Jason, who was also smiling a little bit despite not having all the attention.
His smile dropped at her next words, though:
“I know you still have my card. Hand it over.”
“Fuck.”
~
It turns out ASL is hard.
It also turns out that teaching ASL, while you’re still learning it yourself, to a person who doesn’t even comprehend language is even harder.
Weird how that works out.
They started with simpler things. Everyday objects, basic emotions, the first letters of their names so she could say who she was talking about. It was a slow process, especially because they often would take two days per lesson because of everyone’s conflicting schedules.
But it was a process.
And he thought the family was doing pretty well, too. It probably helped that Cass was, at least so far, the nicest person in the house and none of them wanted her to be sad or lonely.
Look at that. They were working on making her not feel excluded. Progress! Dr. Quinzel would be proud.
~
Marinette paused her walk to the kitchen when she saw blonde hair. Adrien had blond hair, but he was still out on patrols with Dick so

She turned and looked at the person on the couch with Tim. “Please, kwami, tell me he didn’t get another one when we just started making progress.”
Tim barely even looked up from his computer. “No, just my friend, Steph. She’s here because she thinks I’m sad my parents died.”
“Oh, oka --.” Marinette took a step back. “Hold up, what?”
“Yeah, they were killed by this guy in Haiti. I was sad about it for a while but then I was like ‘wait a minute! I can just kill him back!’ Anyways, it’s all good now.”
Steph didn’t seem all that perturbed about the murder thing, so she brushed past worrying about their identities or, y’know, her kid getting prosecuted...
Marinette pulled out her phone. “Yeah, Dr. Quinzel? I’m going to need to schedule another appointment
”
Tim frowned. “I’m fine, Mari.”
“Oh! Yeah! This isn’t for you
 but, Steph, he doesn’t have anything going on Friday night, right?”
“I’ll make sure he’s free.”
She nodded. “Thanks, sweetie. Want anything to eat?”
“Guys! I’m fine! I got my revenge! I feel great!”
“Of course, you do, Timmy. And
 waffles?”
She continued her walk to the kitchen to finish up scheduling and make Steph waffles.
~
Listen, at this point Cass having a miraculous was a given.
He might as well make sure it was a good one that would come in useful. And, it kind of matched her fighting style of predicting people’s moves to have one that allowed her to go five minutes into the past. She’d be even better at predicting people’s movements if she’d seen them before!
Besides, she liked the color blue. Perfect fit.
Marinette had agreed to train her, but Adrien was the one to take her out on patrols with him.
It was good to have people with different fight styles together, it made solving problems easier. Adrien paired with Dick and Cass, Marinette tended to pair with Jason, and Tim would tag in on either side since he had no real consistent fight style (he liked to change based on his opponent).
Besides, with group patrols they got to spend more time with their kids! They were nothing if not efficient people.
He and Cass sat on the rooftop across from the building Agoura had asked to meet Dick in. There was a low chance it was going to get violent, there should be no way that he’d know anything was off (Marinette and Dick had been publicly fighting for the past year to make it seem like they were on opposite sides), but it was better safe than sorry.
He watched Dick wave to Agoura and head off. Adrien and Cass watched carefully for any sign that they were suspicious, that they were going to do something underhanded, but Agoura just turned and started heading off into the night.
When his oldest son came up to sit with them, he had a thought. He glanced at Cass and made a swiping motion on his wrist.
She nodded her understanding.
They waited for Dick to transform before following Agoura and his goons. Five people were with him, but that wasn’t actually that bad by Agoura standards, so...
“Y’know, if he gets suspicious of me because of this, I’m never going to forgive you,” said Dick.
He shrugged absently, then broke into a wide grin when Agoura turned down an alley. “Living hotel to hotel wasn’t that bad back in the day.”
“Hm. I disagree, but
” The three of them exchanged grins as Cass activated her power. “Let’s do this.”
Dick brought his flute to his lips and played a high-pitched note that made Agoura and his goons stop in their tracks. Duplicates of each vigilante slowly spread out over the rooftops, as well as a replica of Dick.
The vigilantes and their fakes dropped down to surround the group and Cass suddenly reached out and jerked Adrien’s hand. He almost complained but then a bullet soared past where his head had just been and he went pale.
He squeezed her hand once as thanks and then pulled away so he could activate his Cataclysm.
Doubles went after the goons while Cass went to work disarming people. It was kind of creepy how she disappeared into the shadows without any help from Dick, but no one said anything because it was useful. She would pop out of shadows and break arms and legs to put goons out of commission.
Dick was giving himself an alibi. The fake lawyer ran into the action, only to get taken out by a fake Cass.
Agoura was making a run for it. Too bad, really, that he couldn’t exactly see anything that was going on. The world in front of Agoura was a mess of dumpsters and trash bags that he was struggling to run around. Adrien, who knew for a fact that everything was either fake or light enough to brush away with his staff, followed after him at a calm pace.
He grabbed Agoura by the back of his tailored suit and smiled at him.
“Agoura! Buddy! Where are you going? I just want to chat!”
“Nice one!” Yelled Dick from somewhere in the chaos.
“Thanks, Robin!”
He tipped his head to the side and regarded the man in his grip. It was clear he didn’t really know that much self-defense, but he must have some kind of weapon hidden on him

Cass seemingly materialized out of the wall nearby and threw herself at Agoura, a blur of blue and black, and the man was nearly knocked out of Adrien’s grip by the force. Then she pulled away with a gun and a few knives.
Adrien raised his eyebrows a little bit before sending her a smile. Yeah. It was definitely a good thing that he’d given her that specific miraculous...
He turned his attention back on the mobster, who was beginning to look a little pale.
“Don’t worry about it, I’m not here to kill you. You deserve way worse,” he said brightly.
He pressed his hand to the man’s wrist. He closed his eyes and forced himself to concentrate on just dissolving the wrist. It was kind of hard to do with the mobster screaming his head off. Kwami, you’d think he’d be quiet so Adrien wouldn’t dissolve him into nothing but apparently not

The hand popped off and he let go instantly. He looked down and winced at the black webbing its way under the glove.
He glanced at the mobster nearby, who was still screaming, and rolled his eyes. He punched him as hard as he could and smiled when he fell to the ground in a heap by the hand. Good, now that that was dealt with...
He scrunched up his nose a little bit as he slowly peeled the glove off of the hand and then his face split into a wide smile. Thank kwami, he hadn’t ruined the prints.
He turned to his kids and found them waiting for him amidst a pile of bodies. He didn’t know if the henchmen were alive or not, but when he saw the tiny scrape on Cass’s cheek he decided he didn’t care.
He waved the hand at them.
“We got him!”
~
Listen, Marinette had considered staying commissioner

For approximately two seconds.
The vigilantes had made their point in getting Agoura arrested (they gave him about four days before he ‘mysteriously committed suicide’ in jail thanks to either underpaid henchmen or old victims). They were done. It had been way too hard to even think about doing it consistently. No, murder was definitely the way to go.
She glanced over at Nygma. “Thanks for helping me pack up.”
“Well, I figured it would be nice to visit again.”
She nodded slowly and looked around her old office. Tomorrow there would be someone else in that chair, someone likely far more corrupt

“Got a knife on you?”
“Obviously, but why?”
She shrugged and took it from his outstretched hand. She knelt down by the chair and sawed on one of the legs until she had taken off a tiny piece of it. She pushed on the chair and giggled a little when it wobbled. Yes. Perfect. That would be so annoying.
She tossed the piece of chair leg in the air and then caught it, sending Nygma a wink. “The budget here is terrible, it’ll take at least a few months to get a new chair.”
Nygma rolled his eyes and took his knife back from her. “Hm. And they say I’m the evil one.”
They each grabbed a box. His was full of personal items, hers was full of files on every person currently in the GCPD and every mobster and goon she could think of the name of.
“You owe me one escape room.”
She groaned as they slipped out into the halls. “Why? Wasn’t it enough to spit on the floor?”
“Nope! Spitting on the floor was payment for me showing up, you’re making me do manual labor so I get one hour of escape rooms with you.”
“Don’t you know every solution already?”
“A new one opened up across town!”
She clicked her tongue irritably but shrugged. “Fine. But only because I owe you, not because we’re friends.”
He rolled his eyes and then looked down at the box he was carrying. “Wow, it sure would suck if all these pictures of your kids just
 fell.”
Her eyes widened. “You ARE the evil one!”
He raised his eyebrows.
“And
 you’re also my friend.” She made a retching noise. “Kwami, I’m going to die.”
“What?! No! Only one of my traps is allowed to kill you!”
“Too late! I’m dying. I’ll never recover
”
“Nooooo
!”
~
He raised an eyebrow at the girl on his couch. He was pretty sure she was Tim’s friend but
 she was definitely around a lot

Whatever, he might as well at this point.
“Hey, how many parents you got?”
Steph didn’t even glance up. “Zero, thanks to you.”
He went still. Wait, was she saying this in the ‘my parent(s) was evil and you killed them’ way or the ‘they were civilians and they got caught in the crossfire and I blame you’ way?
“Um
 did you like them?”
“No, he was a dick.”
He allowed himself to breathe. Cool. Great. That would have made everything difficult

“Want to be adopted?”
Steph laughed a little and shrugged. “Do I get to be a vigilante, too?”
“Yeah, sure.”
“Then... yeah, whatever.”
~~~
Taglist
@i-am-ironic @nathleigh @mialuvscats @golden-promises @sassakitty @deathwishy @toodaloo-kangaroo @ladythugs @moonlightstar64 @dahjokester @jjmjjktth
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anika-ann · 5 years ago
Text
The Best Mistake of My Life - Pt.5
The A+ Day...
Pairing: Steve Rogers x reader    Word count: 2320
Summary: A soulmate AU. They say having a soulmate is a blessing. Who wouldn’t love the idea of star-crossed lovers, right?
You get to spend the day with the Avengers. Should you be excited or scared? Well, Steve is by your side, so...
Warnings: swearing, FLUFF, Steve’s friends being Steve’s friends
 go figure
Tumblr media
Story masterlist
àŒ»àŒșàŒ»àŒșàŒ»áƒŠàŒșàŒ»àŒșàŒ»àŒș
You were very comfy and very warm. Maybe even too warm. Also, your covers were moving behind your back and that was a bit odd, but you blamed the sensation on the morning confusion. Your bed smelled nicer than usual too. You nuzzled closer into the moving warmth, content it stilled its movements.
Except that after that, it talked.
“Sorry to wake you,” the comforter whispered hoarsely and it was like a shot of adrenaline to your veins, making you jolt fully awake, sitting up straight, causing your head to pound with the swift movement.
That was Steve’s voice.
Because you were sleeping in Steve’s bed.  
“Are you okay?” he asked lowly, but you couldn’t respond right away. The memories came rushing back to you, messy but warmly fuzzy images of last night.
You had danced with Steve. Steve had kissed you. Steve had kissed you a lot.  
Your lips unwittingly curled up in a smile despite the abrupt wake-up process. You heard him moving at your side, sitting up as well, so you turned to him, still grinning in perfect contrast to his concerned face.
He looked adorable with his hair sticking in every direction, a bit sleepy expression on his face, and he was also still very much shirtless. You were sure you woke up to heaven.
“Sorry to freak out. I was just
 ugh, confused for a bit,” you explained, keeping your voice on low level just like he did, worried you might disturb the peace. “Good morning, Steve.”
His face cleared of worried wrinkles and he charmed a smile for you. “Morning, doll. Slept well?”
“Very. You?”
“Yeah.”
You just stared at each other, grinning like fools, eyes sparkling. You must have looked ridiculous, but you didn’t care. Subconsciously, when he released you from the lock of his eyes, your gaze wandered over him, appreciating the lack of clothing. How could person have a body this marvellous? You knew it was probably the effect of the serum, but gosh. What a view.
Good morning indeed.
You noticed a blush spreading down his neck and quickly snapped your gaze back to where it was decent. But hey, when you were offered a view like this, you simply had to make the best of the opportunity!
Steve seemed a bit sheepish, but you couldn’t help but notice that a new glint appeared in his irises, something in the way he was watching you back that gave out that maybe, you weren’t the only person to enjoy the situation at hand. It took you a second to realize why that was – you were wearing his clothes.
You remembered Ryan telling you about what it felt like to him, seeing a girl – or a guy in his case – in his clothes. Like a flag on a flagpole, mark of ownership on a conquered land, he had told you.
No funny business had happened between you and Steve last night, but the thought still made your face hot all over. To cover your embarrassment, you ducked your head to Steve’s shoulder, resting your forehead on it.
Steve tensed at first, but quickly recovered and sank his fingers gently into your hair, very carefully caressing your scalp, wary of pulling at your hair and causing you pain. You hummed in appreciation, instinctively brushing the nearest patch of skin with your lips – an inked patch of skin. You smiled against your will at that. Your words. Your ridiculous first words to him.
His breath caught in his throat at your bold move, but a kiss landed at the top of our head, so you figured you didn’t overstep.
“How much do you hate morning breath?” he muttered, sounding a bit embarrassed.
“Not particularly
?” you answered, not sure where that headed.
Looking back, you really should have understood what he was asking. Then again, the pleasant surprise of his fingers gently finding your jaw and tilting your head so he could kiss you right on the lips, warm and soft and sweet, was worth the lack of your brain function. You melted, your palm finding a way to lie flat on his very bare chest, feeling every expansion of his ribcage, his skin burning. He deepened the kiss, his fingers tangling in your hair enough to make you notice and boy, did it do things to you. You sighed into his mouth, content and yet needy for more, a second from climbing into his lap, too fast development be damned.
Just as you were out of breath, he released you, his thumb drawing a soft circle on your cheek. It was cliché, but your fingertips were literally tingling with euphoria and excitement.
“Wow,” you breathed out, still feeling his breath tickling your lips as he had barely moved away. “Can I stay another night? Can I be woken up like this every morning?”
He gave a breathy laugh, making your eyes snap open, and you could see the blown black of his pupils, the gleam of wanting more now diluted with giddiness.
“Can’t say I’d complain,” he admitted with a lopsided smile radiant on his kiss-swollen lips.
God, he was so handsome. Had you mentally noted he was handsome before? You still couldn’t believe it.
“That an invitation?”
“I mean, if you convince Tony
”
“Oh god, I take it back,” you groaned, falling back to the sheets dramatically, rewarded with Steve’s light-hearted laugh.
He laid down on his side then, propped on his elbow, watching you with a soft smile. “Thank you for staying.”
You let out what surely was a very unattractive snort. “’Cause not having to go home and not having to hail a cab in the middle of the night was a real sacrifice
”
Steve was fully grinning now, dropping a playful kiss on your nose, which caused you to giggle.
“I know, my lady. Let me make up for the hardship you had suffered through with making you breakfast.”
“You sound like Thor. Also, offering breakfast to a girl? You are a dangerous man, Steve Rogers,” you stated, the stupid smile simply not disappearing from your face no matter how much you tried to get it under control; so you gave up on that. “You seem to know just the way to my heart.”
“I sure hope so. Are you coming with the adorable bed-hair or do you want a minute?”
You gasped at the cheeky comment, grabbing the pillow by his head to smack his stupidly perfect skull.
His laughter filled the room and you felt like the happiest person on Earth.
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When Steve led you to the communal kitchen and dining room ten minutes later, you were surprised to find three people already there. Clint was sitting at the bar, his head resting in his palm, a mug of coffee hazardously close in your opinion, just in case he would actually fell asleep and faceplanted on the counter; Bruce was sitting nearby, watching over him, while Natasha was standing at the cooker, making

“Are those pancakes?” you gasped, your stomach instantly reacting to the smell, making you squirm in humiliation. Steve at your side chuckled, while Natasha grinned at you.
“Yep. There’s enough for you too. Unless Steve wants to impress you with his own cooking skills,” she teased and winked at him. He smiled bashfully in return.
“I mean
 maybe next time? Since you already started
”
“Oh-ho, so there will be a next time?” Clint wolf-whistled, startling you with both the question and sudden sign of life.
“Let them be
. Coffee?” Bruce beckoned to the pot. You bit you lip bashfully. You didn’t want to be rude, but coffee
 “Or maybe tea?”
You lighted up. “If it’s not too much trouble
”
“I’ll do it,” Steve hurried before the other man could rise from his seat. He pecked your temple. ”You go sit.”
“Yes, sir
”
Looking around, you weren’t sure where to. Between Bruce and Clint? Next to Clint since Bruce was at the bar stool at the end of the counter?
“You can sit next to Clint. It’s safe. This is his second mug of coffee,” Natasha supplied helpfully and you frowned in confusion. Perhaps an inside joke. “Yes, he is dangerous before he finishes his first.”
“Hey!” the man in question complained, but rolled his eyes for your benefit. “That’s actually accurate. You can sit here, I don’t bite.”
“He’s just a pain in everyone’s ass.”
“Morning to you too, Stark,” Clint saluted him and a mug of tea landed in front of you, soon followed by a stack of pancakes.
“You’re gonna spoil me. Thank you,” you said in earnest.
Natasha waved it off, while Steve let out a simple “Planning on it.”
“So you didn’t spoil her last night?” the billionaire hummed casually, pouring himself a coffee. Your eyes widened and you rather started eating to avoid an answer. Steve only sighed.
Neither of you replied, which earned you some raised eyebrows.
“She seems right at home in his clothes, huh?” Clint added and you shot him a look, mortified. Him too?
“She does, doesn’t she? Sign of a successful night?”
Steve grinded his teeth at Stark’s latest remark, turning a bit red in his face. You sipped your tea, figuring out a sassy response.
“Very successful. I slept like a baby. Sleeping duty fulfilled,” you announced and noticed that Bruce’s lips twitched as if he was holding back a smile. You continued. “That will be all, thank you for your questions. For further information, contact our PR department. 
.Ouch, we don’t have one, looks like it’s none of your business then. Too bad
”
Tony’s mouth was theatrically hanging open, his hand clutching his chest and Clint’s eyes seemed rounder than a moment before; then again, that could just be because of the amount of caffeine in his system. Natasha chuckled, positioning a plate in front of Steve – his stack of pancakes was visibly taller and you wondered just how much he had to eat.
Speaking of Steve, he was smugly grinning into his mug. “I have nothing to add.”
“Still though. She’s like
 shining or something. That’s released endorphins, I can tell. Good job, Cap.”
You internally whined.
If they keep that up, staying overnight is gonna start feeling like a sacrifice.
“Play nice, boys,” Natasha scolded them and you smiled at her gratefully. “Let the poor girl eat. She’s gotta make up for the calories Steve helped her burn
”
“You too?” you burst out simultaneously with Steve and Natasha raised her hands in a harmless gesture.
“I meant when you were dancing. What did you think I was talking about?” she asked innocently and everyone in the room but you two laughed.  
“I hate you,” Steve mouthed at her and she just winked in return, turning her attention back to her cooking.
You wished for the Earth to swallow you, but you liked the teasing air hovering above the group of friends. You smiled reassuringly at Steve, stroking him arm shortly.
“It’s okay, Steve. I still like you despite your annoying friends,” you emphasized the last words, which was followed by affective aww from Clint, Tony and Natasha.
Steve smiled at you, apologetic and kind. “Thanks, doll. You’re the best.”
To show his appreciation, he kissed your cheek, the innocent gesture drawing a wolf-whistle from Tony.
“Get a room!”
You just rolled your eyes and stole a quick peck from Steve’s lips for a good measure. He tasted like coffee; it seemed you might grow fond of that taste after all.
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Despite all the odds, everyone survived breakfast. They teased you once more after you asked about Thor, learning he had left in early morning because of an urgent matter on Asgard. After all, he was son of the King. And an Alien. And a demigod. Apparently, you knew those now. What an insanity your life became in such a short time.
The team went separate ways after the meddling over the most important meal of the day. Steve stayed with you, of course, showing you around the Tower. You marvelled at the view and despite having a tiny fear of heights, you agreed to Steve taking you outside at the top.
It was incredible. You found yourselves basically on the top of the world, steps slightly shaky, but with Steve’s firm reassurance. You trusted him not to let you fall. So trying to keep your mind of the potential life-ending fall, you busied your mind with how touchy-feely Steve quickly became after sharing the first kiss yesterday night. You loved it.
When you came to a stop, you were unable to resist the urge to spread your arms and let the gentle wind play with your hair and rather loose clothes; Steve’s hands found their way to your hips to steady you. Slowly, he moved further, his fingers running in a feather-light touch over your arms and threading his fingers with yours.
You giggled and dared to lean onto him with your back, testing the waters. His lips brushed your cheek and you couldn’t but turn your head, catching his mouth with yours in a searing kiss. He was so sweet. You trusted him with your life, knowing he would never allow you to even stumble, and yet you were falling, falling for him so hard. The realization was overwhelming.
How could you be
 falling in love so fast?
Steve gently squeezed your fingers, brining your joined hands to your waist and you decided you didn’t care and let the kiss consume you.
When you finally parted, your eyes fluttered open to meet his gaze. You couldn’t stop smiling.
“Put Titanic on your list, huh?” you murmured, your brain turned into a useless mass of lovesick jello.
Laughter was twinkling in Steve’s eyes. “Not really. It’s a perk of the movie nights, we take turns in who’s picking.”
You frowned in confusion. “Who chose Titanic?”
For some reason, Natasha didn’t strike you the type. Clearly, you were right, because Steve chuckled.
“Clint.”
You burst out laughing, Steve soon joining you. You wondered if the whole Manhattan could hear you. Once again, you had no care in the world.
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Part 6
àŒ»àŒșàŒ»àŒșàŒ»áƒŠàŒșàŒ»àŒșàŒ»àŒș
Tags:
@cxptain​ @mermaidxatxheart @smilexcaptainx , @murdermornings​@irepostthingsiwanttoseelater , @polarcrystall​ @eliza5616​, @rayofdawnworld  @victor-criss-bish​ @skychild29​  @elysianecho​ @simmisblog​ @scentedsongrebel​ @orions-nebula​, @sergeantrosabellaswan​ @songofcosplay​, @ilovesupersoldiers​ @wxstedhexrt @silver-winter-wolf @nova3312​
Tags are open, you want in or out, let me know :))
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I actually had to split it into two parts, because it was waaay to much fluff in one go an that coming from me?  You better believe it!
Thank you for reading. Attempt at humour will come later, promise ;)
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soundsaboutrighttumblr · 4 years ago
Text
WBL fic - Pink; complete; chapters 1-7
I put up all the last 5 chapters to this today at once on AO3, so I’ll just post the entire fic here, too.
It’s quite dear to my heart, and went beyong the first exploration of the funny idea of those seductive underpants. A story about firsts, and love, and growing, about Shu Yi and Shi De and my take on them. With explicit parts, and banter, sensuality, and feels. Enjoy. Happy Valentine’s.
Chapter 1           
“I am wearing seductive underpants.”
Gao Shi De stops, and looks up at him like Shu Yi just spoke another new language altogether.
They had been an impulse buy. A linked photo in that search, that’d taken Shu Yi to some independent fashion store’s site.
 He'd clicked on the buy button before he could reconsider.
 Yes, he should probably have done some more research on the shop. But there was the matter of his sanity that made him x out of that picture gallery rather quickly.
 Not much would be lost, he figured. Whether they arrived, or got lost in the mail, that would be that.
 They arrived the next day.
 Once Shu Yi freed them from their candy-colored packaging, they did look almost like speedos, even more so than in the preview photos online. Yet, if they actually were designed to be bathing shorts, the material felt a bit flimsy for that.
 They also turned out to have a light metallic sheen to them, and Shu Yi was rather glad he at least had been of enough mind to choose the grey mĂ©lange one, and not the neon pink they’d also had available.
 The short strings did have that pink color though.
The last thirty minutes have been spent kissing on the couch. The last ten of them shirtless, and it has been a revelation. There’s hums and smiles as they switch being next to and half on top of each other, and it’s a miracle none of them has fallen off to the floor yet, down where their textbooks are once more, with all the movement of Shu Yi constantly trying to pull Shi De closer.
Because that’s what he has been doing. Passion and want and urgency have brought Shu Yi close to vibrating out of his skin, so much he thinks he must be setting off sparks.
And still Shi De’s hands and hips hover. Don't touch everywhere that Shu Yi wants them to.
And it’s going so much slower than Shu Yi thought possible for a pair of healthy guys of 21 – not that there are any set rules to this, but he is kind of using himself and the pacing of his pulse as a reference here.
Turns out the material is also a tiny bit itchy at the seams.
Shi De seems to leave every next step to Shu Yi, and of course Shu Yi is happy to guide, to get to seduce Shi De to melt into his arms and kisses like that, it is the sweetest victory in itself. He could spend hours on this alone.
But how can Shi De be so calm, if that’s even the word, after wanting this for years? He does want this, too, after all, right?
Before he can linger on that thought, Shu Yi decides to risk it. To deliver a push into the direction he wants this to go. To see if he’ll get a clearer reaction, one that he can make something of.
"I am wearing seductive underpants.”
Gao Shi De stops, and looks up at him like Shu Yi just spoke another new language altogether.
Shu Yi watches him blink, eyes big with that doe-in-headlights look, frozen in his posture above Shu Yi, hovering again – and Shu Yi is suddenly glad he didn’t put that pink string into a bow, like on a present. The thought was there. He chose a loose knot instead.
Then Shi De finds his voice, even if it does not catch on the first syllable. “Oh? I
 I have nothing special prepared for you, though
”
Even though he feels the rasp of it in his bones, Shu Yi can’t really tell if it’s meant in dry humor or a taunt or if those wide eyes actually hide something else. So he slaps Shi De’s shoulder for good measure anyway, with more bravado than he owns right now.
“Never mind. Want to see?” And he knows it’s probably a bit mean that he doesn’t even wait for an answer, just shuffles out a bit from under Shi De, pushing then working his pants down his legs, then lying back with a dare in his eyes. A dare that is as much for himself as it is for Shi De.
Shu Yi's well aware that he has given an open invitation to stare, yet he didn’t think it would feel like that. He never thought of himself as self-conscious, but this? This is... nerve wrecking. Because his body is definitely reacting. And that fabric won’t hide any of that. And because Shi De just keeps looking, mouth hanging open a bit. Not moving.
Then, again with the voice that catches only on the second try:
“Those. Those are...”
Shu Yi feels a shiver shake over him, reaching like held down laughter into his voice:
“Oh, I know. But they got you looking, right?”
Shi De’s glance up at him then is sharp, caught, captivated.
“But. You didn’t have to do that. To get me to look, I mean.” His tone is closer to their natural rhythm again. Rough with teasing and something more behind it.
“Hmmm.” Shu Yi gives it back just the same, with a shrug.  
He reaches out and strokes a strand of hair out of Shi De’s forehead, then continues the caress down the contour of his face.
“Want to do more than look?” He watches Shi De swallow.
“You can, you know. If you want.” Those words do something. Crack something.
And Shu Yi sees it.
How the arms Shi De holds himself up on are shivering with the strain. Or with something else.
He instinctively understands it then.
What he will understand even more some days later, after he finds that drawing.
What he will understand in a few minutes, when Shi De collapses agaist him, with that flimsy fabric pushed aside and stained dark with sweat between them:
That Shi De is everything else but calm.
That you have to be gentle and careful with a dam built to keep years of wanting in check.
That this is what the shiver means. And the hovering.
Shu Yi instinctively understands it then.
And he keeps pulling Shi De closer, until they come together.
   Chapter 2 : So?                        
This is gonna get explicit. Sweet and fun and awkward - like firsts and sex go and should go - again too, but first explicit.
Shi De’s POV.
          “Want to do more than look?”
Shi De’s ears pulse with heat, a tangible sensation of pressure along his temples.
Everything feels like brimming over: His head, his heart, yet his mind can’t seem to grasp one coherent thought out of it all.
His senses are shouting, worked to capacity with Shu Yi’s nearness, his body’s warmth, his wash lotion's scent, and that visual, that visual.  Through it all Shu Yi’s soft voice and fingers gently combing the hair on Shi De’s nape register only at a distance.
“You can, you know. If you want.”
That glaring, beautiful, irrevocably imprinted visual.
Shu Yi’s splayed himself out like this next to Shi De's side, allowed and told Shi De to look. And now the caress at his neck is so careful and full of care, and Shi De’s mind can’t follow, and his wrist and elbows want to give out under him.
How is he supposed to hold it all in?
Can I?
His head sinks to Shu Yi’s chest, leaning his forehead onto him, for a sense of support. He places a kiss there. Stays like this, and watches his own hand fall to Shu Yi’s thigh next to him.
Then up, in one continuous move, that almost masks its shaking. Until his palm molds itself to Shu Yi; the keenest touch.
Shu Yi’s reaction is instant: The drawn-out sound he makes, his leg muscle jumping, the tightening in of his stomach; fingers curl into Shi De’s shoulder, and he’s harder underneath Shi De’s stroke in seconds.
Why did I think the fabric would be cool to the touch?
It’s burning Shi De’s skin. It leaves him dizzy, and aching against the zipper of his own jeans.
He wants to absorb every detail, commit it to memory, every curve he sees, every ridge pressing back against his hand even though Shu Yi’s hips stay down, still, tight and trembling; but there’s this roar in his ears, and the heat that his body can’t seem to contain.  
Shu Yi’s responses buzz back at and all over him, making him up, pushing him on.
His eyes follow his hand advancing up the lightly shimmering material, until he reaches the dark stained spot at the tip, and he pushes the fabric to the side. Listens to Shu Yi’s breath stumble, and gathers the wetness with his finger.
So that the caress back down slides on smooth skin, until it so softly catches. Shi De blinks, a delayed fade to black, and back, like a restart for his world.
Shu Yi is saying his name, his nails are at Shi De’s back, pulling closer, and Shi De feels like toppling over. Shu Yi is so hard, so hot under Shi De’s hand, a driving pulse, the most tender skin.
He has to swallow, once, twice, pressing wet kisses to Shu Yi’s torso where his cheek still rests; to keep his mouth busy, distracted, to not rush forward too much.
It’s fast.
When Shu Yi comes, it starts below the heel of Shi De’s hand; spurts and shock of warmth between his fingers. Shu Yi’s low shout stands out through the drum in Shi De’s ears, and as he curls in on himself a bit, it carries tremors to Shi De’s very foundations.
If it’s intentional or not, the bend of Shu Yi’s thigh comes up flush against Shi De’s front and there. And it’s enough.
With everything raining down on him, on his senses, his body, his heart, it’s enough.
---
Shu Yi’s hands are everywhere, holding on to Shi De, soft scattered strokes and grazes; lingering, assuring, making sure.
A fleeting pang of guilt gains on Shi De out of somewhere deep:
Just why did I never think he would be gentle and affectionate like this?
Shi De was ready - and not - for the jabs and pokes and shoves to his shoulders, his arms, his chest. But then this: Inside Shu Yi’s hugs, the warmest thing.
Whenever he puts his face to the crook of Shi De’s neck, and his lips move, and stay. It makes Shi De’s heart ache. And he’s almost scared of getting used to it.
Now Shu Yi’s hands are everywhere and pulling closer, pulling Shi De in, by the bend of fingers alone, and Shu Yi is humming, body and voice:
“Mm. Why are you still wearing clothes? I want to, want to
 “
Shi De catches Shu Yi’s fingers at the waistline of his jeans, covers them with his own, trying to find his breath over the sudden renewed heat in his neck.
“I
 I kind of already
”
“So? Then let’s wait ten minutes, and let me make you come again.”
That face so close to his; so indignant and sweet it's Shi De’s undoing.
Stunned laughter breaks out of him, and he lets it happen, too overwhelmed to hold it in.
Shu Yi’s smile turns content, and he pats Shi De’s hair through its aftershocks, like if for once he decided not to take offence.
Instead, Shi De finds his neck being kissed:
“But
 let’s move to the bed for that, yeah?”
Shi De swallows, clears his throat, addressing what Shu Yi might be thinking:
“She’s at a friend’s birthday party. 'Till midnight the earliest. She promised.”
Shu Yi pulls a face:
“Hmm. I know. You said. But it still would be more comfortable than here.”
Shu Yi gets up first. Righting his stained underwear with a soft grimace.
How can he look pretty even doing that?
And it does rather look like swimwear, Shi De thinks. He has seen Shu Yi in swim shorts before. Yet he has never seen him like that.
Shu Yi seems unbothered, picking up clothes and putting them over his arm, then goes for the books.
“Plan to study?” Shi De’s own voice sounds dry to himself, not fully cooperating.
“Haha.” Shu Yi throws him a look, eyes narrowed: “I’m still gonna beat you in this exam, though.”
His nose scrunches up, and he keeps talking under his breath, as if more to himself than anyone else: “If I don’t get to study, at least I’ll make sure you don’t get to neither
” He giggles over his own antics, and Shi De’s heart hurts again.
Good to know he gets a bit high and stupid in his brain after orgasm, too.
Shi De collects the rest of their clothes off of the floor, puts the pillows back on the couch and opens a window. Shu Yi follows him barefoot to his room.  
It’s starting to get dark outside, but Shi De doesn’t turn on a light. He puts their clothes over a chair.
He hears a flopping sound behind him and turns to Shu Yi sitting down on the bed; hands back wide, head tilted, pale skin still wet and shiny in places.
The instant throb in his groin reminds Shi De of the uncomfortable wetness in his own pants. He coughs, brain struggling to find something to distract from the blush he’s sure must be showing on his ears and chest.
“I think those pink strings might even be visible in the dark.” He tries to make it sound condescending.
Shu Yi’s smug smile derails everything:
“Good. Then you’ll find your way even in the dark.”
There’s no breath in his lungs, so Shi De blows it out through his teeth:
“Tsss. I
 gotta
 bathroom.”
“Yeah.” Shu Yi grins down at the sheets, feeling the cover beneath his fingers, and Shi De hurries to turn away.
“Oh, and Gao Shi De? Leave them off.”
The command hits him from the side. He raises his brows.
“The jeans, I mean.” It’s softer, with a smile half sweet half mischief.
“Tsss.”
Who even needs air.
Shi De makes for the bathroom, with a small detour for the sideboard drawer, getting a fresh pair of briefs. He doesn’t suppose he can really be sneaky about it, but he does it as quick as possible, grabbing the topmost pair blindly.
“Did you make sure they’re the seductive ones? Gao Shi De!”
He doesn’t turn this time, to keep the stupid grin on his own face hidden.
The soft bright laughter behind him is the best thing he’ll ever hear.
Chapter 3: Want                         
POV: Shi De
                    When he walks back into the room, Shi De tries not to think too hard about what to do with his empty hands.
Yet, Shu Yi seems distracted by his phone for the moment anyway.
The jeans were left in the laundry basket.
“Do you want something to drink? Hungry?”
Shu Yi shakes his head from where he sits at the headboard of Shi De’s bed, face illuminated by his phone’s screen light, naked legs pushed under the covers up to the knees.
“Mhm.” He puts the phone down on the nightstand and holds out a hand to Shi De: “I want you to come here. Why are you so far away?
“I’m not.” When Shi De’s knees touch the bed, the sheet is cool against his skin.
Shu Yi opens his arms for Shi De to come into.
It’s a bit of shuffling back and forth, until Shi De is leaning against him at the headboard, one arm around Shu Yi’s waist, having worked its way between the pillows and his back.
Shu Yi’s chin is rubbing against Shi De’s hair; then he stops: “Do you want something to drink or eat?”
Shi De huffs out a laugh, shakes his head on Shu Yi’s shoulder, then squints up at his skewed profile:” It is my house. I mean, I am capable of just getting something if I wanted, you know.”
“Yeah.” Shu Yi looks like he is thinking that over, and Shi De wonders what’s complicated about the concept, for him to be pursing his lips in thought like that; like he wants to say something, but doesn’t know where to begin.
Shi De watches the muscle in Shu Yi’s jaw shift as he swallows.
Then the mattress bounces when Shu Yi turns to him with a start and a quick grin; followed by some rough handling and prodding and scooting them lower, until they lie side to side facing each other.
“Gao Shi Deee.” He drags out the last syllable, and Shi De can’t help but look down to the lips shaping that sound.
“What?”
“I want to touch you some more.” That gravelly pout in his voice stirs tingles all over Shi De’s spine.
“Who says you can’t?”
Shu Yi’s smile turns wide, pacified and happy.
He puts his chin on Shi De’s shoulder, spreading his fingers; brushing them over Shi De’s chest, his collar bones, so freely that Shi De’s lashes almost flutter closed with the lightness of these touches.
They're bringing up something to the surface, that Shi De doesn’t know what to name exactly. When he meets Shu Yi’s eyes, something in their depths suggests he knows.
But how could he, if Shi De doesn’t.
Those fingers make their way up on his neck, holding Shi De’s face by the caress of them; and Shu Yi kisses him.
So sure and full of intention. An intention that is fuzzy for Shi De, that he can’t fully see, the extent of it; but it’s there in the kiss, begging to be swallowed.
It's the kind of kiss between them where Shi De can’t do nothing but hold on, unmoored and floating and out of his depths;
because although he’s giving his mouth to Shu Yi to be kissed, it feels like nothing is taken.
But instead he is given something he doesn’t quite know how to handle yet.
It's gently pushed into him, fed to him with tongue and lips.
There’s so much to feel, and Shi De can barely hold himself there, letting it wash over him.
When he opens his eyes, he has been too lost in it for a while to realize Shu Yi has stopped.
Once he finds focus, meets Shu Yi’s waiting gaze, there’s the echo of a smile on the face so close before him.
Then Shu Yi is on top of him.
Straddles him, hair falling into his face, over those dark eyes. All Shi De can think is:
 Please, take from me. Anything you want.
Chapter 4 : How about this?                       
Shu Yi's POV
             “Can I do that?”  
Shu Yi brings their hips together. One of his knees finds careful room between Shi De's legs, the other one stays at his side.
Warmth and weight and two layers of fabric, and he just rests where he comes down; it's still burning up his spine.
“I
 I sure won’t stop you.” It’s breathless and frayed at the edges.
“But do you want it?” Shu Yi hears it fall from his lips before he knows how much he really wants to ask.
He watches the shades and shadows shift inside Shi De’s eyes at the question, surprised and puzzled.
A nod is received in answer.
Shu Yi’s heart stops, restarts. He holds his upper body up on his arms, but leans down for a quick nudge of his nose against Shi De's cheek:
“I am curious.“
“About?”
“What you like.”
Shi De looks up at him like he can’t believe him, and also: like he’s thinking hard.
“Well. You. Mostly. “
“Ha. Okay.” It’s a snort, but one through a smile. Shi De's skin looks blue-tinged in the low light, and Shu Yi wants to taste it, wants to know if it tastes of the ocean.
Yet, Shu Yi keeps staring, holding himself up, waiting, for an addition that doesn’t seem to be coming.
A flare up of resolution runs along his frame, then, and the only warning he gives to Shi De is the twitch of a smile:
“Well do you like this?”  He leans in and kisses the skin underneath Shi De’s jaw, below the ear, where it meets his neck.
Salty. Ever so slightly.
Shi De blinks up at him, transfixed.
Shu Yi makes his voices even softer: “Mhm. Do you like it here?”
He puts his lips to the side of Shi De’s neck, down where it leads to his chest. He feels the muscle trembling below his exploration.
Shi De's body is toned, muscles clean cut in places, yet smooth to the touch. It makes Shu Yi want to press down on them, measure himself against their give. The thought shoots a flare of heat up his spine.
“How about
” Shu Yi tilts his face to the side, pressing his open mouth around the curve of Shi De’s biceps, just enough that teeth can be felt.
All the while trying, keeping his hips gently settled, a pressure of just there, reminder of held anticipation, a sense of shape.
The long-drawn sound from Shi De’s breath could be his name.
And Shu Yi thinks he can start to feel a prickle of sparks, like electicity, crawling over back onto him; inside the vibrations of Shi De's voice, and the thin sheen of sweat between them.
He gives them back, turns them onto Shi De's chest, and when his teeth catch slightly on a nipple, Shi De makes that noise, that is sharp breath out, almost like a hiss of pain.
Shu Yi quickly pulls back, soothes it with a blunt peck of gentle lips: “Sorry.”
Shi De’s fingers on his shoulder curl in on him, and it makes Shu Yi meet his face, so close to his own.
Shi De just looks at him.
“Not
 sorry? Okay.”
Shu Yi bends his head down again, and tries it on the other nipple, and Shi De’s grip on his nape just gets tighter.
And Shi De is so beautiful under him. Every curve and angle, by just being his, reaching out to Shu Yi, pulling him in.
The notion and knowledge hits Shu Yi, so completely that he can’t remember a time where he wouldn’t think like this. Maybe he didn't, ever.
His fingers push into the waistband of Shi De’s boxer briefs:
“How
 how about losing those?”
He feels Shi De nod yes against his shoulder.
When skin meets skin, there is friction, inside a careful rhythm, without lube, just precum. Shu Yi stays on top, but they are both moving. Full of trembling concentration, but wholly swept up in it.
Little movements, of them against each other, aligned; of pressure, a rolling of hips, a whole body thing.
The rasp of Shi De’s breath is so alluring in Shu Yi’s ears, trickling over sucked in stomachs and tight muscles; their chests touching, with hard nipples dragging over each other.
Hearing Shi De's deep voice directly from his throat, face so close, that Shu Yi can feel its makings, vibrations, all those breathy hums and gasps. It’s overwhelming, and mesmerizing to Shu Yi, and almost too much.
There’s a point where he must rely on instincts and muscle memory alone, because it all just wants to pull and bury him under.
It’s the point, where Shi De doesn’t seem to know where to turn his head, moving left and right and then:
“Kiss me.”
Shu Yi is desperate and delighted with the request, down to his very core.
And it seems that only then, safe inside that kiss, with their faces against each other, teeth against teeth, that Shi De can let go; dragging Shu Yi along with him.
Chapter 5 : Late                        
Shi De's POV.
                 “Gao Shi De
 are you sleeping already?”
Shi De doesn’t clear his throat, just uses his voice anyway, cracked and low as he knows it will come out:
“I am used to early classes; I usually don’t go to sleep late.”
“It’s not that late, though.” That’s definitely a pout he hears.
They have been drifting. Heard the door earlier, when his mom came home. She was quiet, and must have gone to bed directly, because it’s been silent for over ten minutes.  
Warm kisses are scattered haphazardly along Shi De’s chest.
He takes in a deep slow breath:
“Mhm. Maybe I am already asleep and dreaming this.” It comes out even dryer than he thought.
There’s a bout of huffed out breath onto his dampened skin:
“Oh, yeah. Well, would you be dreaming this?”
Shu Yi setts his lips down again, and actually blows a raspberry at the center of Shi De’s sternum.
“You
Zhou Shu Yi.”
Shi De tries and puts all the wordless offence he can muster into his face, even though it’s probably too dark to see anyway.
Shu Yi laughs softly, disarming all protests with the sweet and carefree sound.
Then he just brings his mouth down again, to Shi De’s stomach this time, even if only in a lingering, heat conducting kiss.
Lower then, pulling the sheets off and to the side.
Shi De’s heart skips some beats, stumbles.
“Shu Yi, you don’t have to
”
The look Shu Yi gives him, up close to his face again then, is complicated, and makes Shi De's skin feel flushed all along his neck:
“Gao Shi De. Do you still not believe I want this? You were present those last few hours, right?"
Shu Yi taps his index finger above Shi De's collar bone, right along with his words:
"And also, you said it yourself, I wouldn't do anything I don’t want to. “
Shi De’s tongue is heavy and awkward in his mouth. “I’m not saying that, it’s just
just...”
We don't have to do everything tonight.
He kows Shu Yi must be thinking of America, and Shi De gone, soon.
But I will be back. We'll have the rest of our lives together, if it's up to me.
Shi De can't know how much of it he manages put onto his face and lopsided smile, how much of it Shu Yi will be able to hear, even though Shi De is thinking it back at him, hard.
Shu Yi's eyes are on him, waiting and piercing right through Shi De. Shi De thinks he sees an almost imperceptible nod.
And then:
“So. Can I blow you?”
It's a riot in Shi De's heart.
And nothing, nothing left in his mind.
Shu Yi places the softest kiss onto the side of Shi De's jawline.
“I want to see you. And use my mouth on you.”
It's whispered and for a moment Shi De can't be sure it has been said at all.
He feels Shu Yi’s hand, gentle around his cheek.
Then Shi De is kissed.
His mouth nudged open by Shu Yi's, slow, broken out of that rhythm that they so naturally want to fall into;
he's brought to a moment of stillness, by command of Shu Yi's breath alone.
By the tilt of his chin and the pad of his thumb, carefully, on Shi De's Adam’s apple.
Then Shu Yi seals his mouth to him.
Wide open, and languidly teasing. Licking inside, until Shi De hears himself moan.
He is sure Shu Yi can feel him shake, everywhere their bodies touch.
“Does that mean yes?”
Shi De can only nod.
                 Chapter 6: Epilogue                        
Shu Yi' POV.
“Gao Shi Deeeee
 Still sleeping?”
Shu Yi watches Shi De jump slightly at his voice, then his eyes drift closed again almost immediately. He lets out that breath through the subtle stretch of his body:
“Yeah.” The notes he uses as pillow crinkle below his head.
Shu Yi props himself up on his elbow next to him, holding his phone; and smiling, because how can he not:
“Tired?”
He keeps the phone directed at Shi De’s face, but his eyes can’t help but drop down, to that strip of exposed skin above his jeans. It brings flashbacks of night-tinged touches and tingles along Shu Yi’s lips and tongue.
“It’s all your fault.”
Shu Yi laughs, not much more than a gush of air. His fingers want to caress that patch of skin. So he reaches out, does.
Shi De’s muscles twitch slightly, as if ticklish, and his arm comes there to pull his sweater down, even if the fabric slips up instantly again.
The movement of his hands is sluggish, and so endearing. He’s half-asleep again already, and Shu Yi is entrusted with this.
“Alright, take a break.”
They’ve had a late morning and breakfast, and since it’s Saturday, took up studying again.  With maybe only half a mind to it, but still the best intentions.
Shu Yi turns off his recording.
But he keeps watching Shi De:
The relaxed features of his face. His slack mouth. The soft rising and sinking of his chest. His throat when he swallows, with those almost inaudible, tender sounds.
Then Shu Yi decides to bury his face against the blue ocean of Shi De’s sweater.
And just listens to him breathe for a while.
Gao Shi De. Be mine like this, always.
       Chapter 7: Bonus chapter                      
Shu Yi's POV
                  Seven years later.
It is not something for every night, for them, this.
But when it happens, all through the next day, Shu Yi’s knees will be weak with that sated, deep seated happiness. Shi De once told him with a smile, it is the same for him.
So Shu Yi will make sure to put all of his heart and effort and care into it, especially when he is the one who gets to make Shi De fall apart around and underneath him. When the question: What do you want tonight? gets a clear answer: You. Inside me.
Sometimes it’ll happen when Shu Yi brings out the seductive underwear. Not the first pair he bought; he threw that one out in an impulse after one year. He got a new one, later, once he found the shop still sold that model. He chose the all over neon pink one, though. If for punishment or a statement, well who’s to say.
So sometimes it’ll happen that Shu Yi will get Shi De right there and under him, Shi De's hands closing and opening, around the sheet or nothing, without thought or agenda, just a notion of mindless grip while allowing himself to fall.
Shi De’s eyes will be closed, his mouth open, letting himself chase that feeling, when Shu Yi hits that spot. Trusting Shu Yi to take him there.
And he will; using that same angle, that slowness, to meet as many of those sweet triggers as he can, until gasps and hums and the sound of his name tumble from Shi De’s throat at every careful thrust.
Sometimes Shu Yi will turn him over, and - face pressed into mattress – have him concentrate on nothing but his own bliss; kissing and biting his shoulders and neck, reminding him that he is there, and that this is because of him.
Today, though, he really wants to see Shi De’s face.
It’s their first anniversary as husbands after all.
So, sometimes, like today, it will happen that he has Shi De locked inside his embrace, not moving much at all;
with short but relentless strokes pressing into that one spot of almost too much, too good.
With Shi De’s brows drawn together and wetness collecting at the corners of his eyes;
until his breath shakes out of him.
And Shu Yi will tell him I love you all through it.
To make him come like this, it is the greatest gift and privilege.
                     Notes:        
Because I don’t think Shi De’s metaphorical dam will break before the sequel. But when it has, it might just look something like this <3 Happy Valentine’s Day.
I've put the last 5 chapters up at once for Valentine's Day, but of course I'll always love to hear what you think, on each of them, on all of this, on Shi De and Shu Yi.
  If you liked it, please consider a reblog to share the love. I always love to hear from you , about thi, about them, about what it makes you feel.<3           
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fangirlxwritesx67 · 4 years ago
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Taken By The Wind
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Taken By The Wind: A Sam Winchester x Rowena McLeod Love Story
Tags: 18+, sex, explicit sex, consent, size kink. Excessive descriptions of Rowena being gorgeous.
Author’s Note Chapter 1: You Naughty Boy After Chapter 1: Wildfire Chapter 2: Why Thank You Chapter 3: Yes Please After Chapter 3: Hours Chapter 4: Green Velvet Chapter 5: Locked On You Chapter 6: For You, Always After Chapter 6: Whipped Chapter 7: Purple Roses Chapter 8: Heather Interlude: True Chapter 9: Filthy Sweet Chapter 10: Taken By The Wind, 3000 words *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Heavy cold rain fell in wind-driven sheets as the thunderstorm raged. Inside the bunker, the Winchesters were safe and dry.  Sam and Dean had strayed from discussing a case to debating a very serious matter: whether baking powder biscuits or multigrain muffins went better with slow-cooker beef stew.
The door to the bunker crashed open, letting in a gust of damp air. The Winchesters jumped to their feet in sync, guns drawn, unsure what to expect.
“Hello, boys.” They heard the lilting voice before her face came into view over the iron railing. “Ooh, not quite the welcome I was expecting after so long away.” 
Rowena brushed a damp curl off her face and tucked it behind her ear. 
“Are you two going to stand there and point weapons at me all day? Or can I come down?"
Sam was still too stunned to respond. He heard Dean behind him lay his gun on the table and then walk out of the room, murmuring about the stew, leaving them alone together. 
"Samuel?"  Her voice was soft, pleading as she said his name. 
His heart leapt into his throat, silencing any response. She had been missing for weeks, months, vanished without a trace. He had assumed she was gone forever. 
It was her- finally, improbably her. He sighed and let his shoulders relax, setting his gun down before he bounded towards the stairs. *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Rowena rushed down, heels clicking, and they met at the landing. Two steps up, she was still shorter than him, and she had to reach her arms up to encircle his neck. He grabbed for her eagerly, pulling her into a close embrace. He needed to touch her, to feel her, to know she was real. Their mouths sought and found one another desperately.
"Rowena." He murmured, breathlessly, between kisses. "I thought I'd lost you."
“It’s me, Sam, I'm home,” she choked out, somewhere between a laugh and a sob. Minutes stretched before they finally pulled apart just a little. 
Sam cupped her cheek in one hand and looked deep into her eyes. “So, where have you been?" 
Rowena stepped back, straightening her skirts and smoothing her windblown hair. She pulled her usual poise around her like armor. 
“Well, that’s quite a story, and I don’t fancy telling it more than once. I think I smell beef stew, so let’s all talk over dinner, shall we?” Sam let her go, watched her turn and walk towards the kitchen. She paused to look back over her shoulder, her face inscrutable. 
“Be a gentleman, would you, and take my luggage to my room before we eat?” 
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam lifted her suitcases - so much luggage for one little woman! - and carried them down the hall to her room. Pushing open the door and turning on the light, he inhaled the familiar scent of incense, spices, and wax. 
He had left her room alone all the time she had been gone. It was just good manners, at first, because people did come and go in the bunker, and no one wanted their room disturbed. 
As the weeks stretched on, politeness succumbed to grief. Just walking by her door made his heart ache. The memories of the hours they had shared were painful to recall. He had gone in a few times, but it brought him no comfort. Her things - all her beautiful, magical things - only reminded him of how much he had lost.
He had searched for clues to her disappearance, for a way to bring her back. He never found answers, only more questions. Every hope he tried to grasp turned to ash under his touch.
Without her, the bunker had seemed too harsh, too cold and empty. Even having his brother around had not been enough to make it feel like home. He knew he loved her, had even told her. He still didn’t realize how much he loved her, how much he needed her, until she was gone. 
The worst part was that he had no idea what had happened. Where was shehad she gone? Had she intended to leave? For a hunter who prided himself on research, on knowledge, the endless doubt was unbearable. 
He had missed her so much. Now she was here again, returned just as suddenly as she had gone. 
Sam realized he was sitting on the foot of her bed, his head in his hands. Too many emotions were roiling in his chest. He sighed and ran his hands through his hair, then pulled himself together and left the room.
*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Sam found Rowena holding court in the kitchen, drinking wine and laughing as she talked with Cas and Jack. Dean was setting out bowls of stew and a big basket of biscuits. So he had won that argument.
Dean looked up and gave his brother a familiar look, one that Sam knew without words. Are you okay?
He returned the look with a little shrug and smile, one that was understood just as well. Not really, but here we are.
Sam settled into the seat next to Rowena. He was grateful that his family kept the dinner conversation light, filling the time with bits of stories and interesting things. But Jack’s curiosity got the better of him. 
“Auntie Ro,” he asked, his face guileless as ever. “Where have you been? We missed you. Well, Sam missed you the most, but we all did, really."
Rowena shot him a glance that looked almost guilty before drawing a bright smile across her face. “Well now, wee Jackie boy, I'm glad you asked!”
She was a natural storyteller, and this story was an astounding one. The emotional turmoil in Sam’s mind quieted as he settled in to the flow of her words.  A spell had gone wrong, somehow, a word misspoken or a herb picked at the incorrect phase of the moon. It wasn’t entirely clear, somehow she had ended up in another world parallel to this one, but where she had everything she had ever wanted.
“Imagine it, boys!” Her face lit up, just remembering. “You thought I was powerful here? I had all the power in the world there. And money, so much money, although I hardly needed it. I was the head of a worldwide coven. I was no longer outcast; I had sisters again.” 
Her expression grew soft for just a moment before she shook her head and continued. 
“I had followers, people who believed I was the goddess Rhiannon, reincarnated. They sent me offerings.” She lapsed into silence, remembering what she had lost.
Sam smiled wryly. "Sounds like your heaven."
Rowena shot him a look he couldn't read. "Or hell. You know, it's not all it's made out to be, being a goddess, having everything. It got old, that’s all.” She set her lips in a tight smile and tossed her hair, making it clear she was done talking. 
Sam looked at Dean. His eyes were narrowed. He turned to meet his brother’s gaze and raised one eyebrow. Are you buying this story?
Sam nodded; that’s what he had thought. She's not lying, but this isn't the whole truth.
Dean spoke up, changing to another topic. Sam took the moment to reach for Rowena’s hand under the table, and she laced her fingers into his. They were silent under the flow of conversation. She shifted gradually until their chairs were close together, her thigh pressed up against the length of his.
He wasn’t sure, exactly, when her head came to rest on his shoulder, when his arm slipped around her waist. He was distracted by the smell of her perfume, the feeling of her nails gently stroking his skin. He could hardly think of anything but the warmth and closeness of her, and his desire to get her alone.
He started to attention when Dean pushed his chair back and stood up. “You know, I think I could head to the library for a whiskey. Cas, Jack, you in?”
Sam made a show of yawning. “I’d join you, but I’m really tired.”
Rowena raised a dainty hand to her mouth. “It has been a long day.”
Dean rolled his eyes. “Yeah, like we don’t all know. The way you two've been looking at each other could turn this old bunker back into a power station.”
“What do you mean, Dean? What do we all know?”  As the others left the room, Sam could hear Jack’s questions trailing down the hall. 
The moment they were out of sight, Sam turned to Rowena. He held out his hands, reaching for her. She threw her arms around his shoulders, running her fingers up into his hair as they kissed. 
"Wait." It took all of Sam's iron self control to pull away. He took her hands in his, holding them. Looking her full in the face, he asked, "What really happened?"
"I told you my story. I would never lie to you!” Her eyes were wide, her voice earnest.
“Okay.” Sam huffed out a sigh. “I believe it was true, but was it the truth?”
She bit her lip and cast her gaze downwards. “My spell was meant to bring me the things I wanted here, in this world, not to take me away."
"I did get everything I wanted - power, money, devotion. But it was never enough. No matter how much I had, how happy I should’ve been, something was missing. I was in control, but miserable. I saw faces in the shadows but could never bring them to light." Her voice was trembling as she spoke.
“One night I looked into a candle's flame and saw a face I knew.” Tears flooded her green eyes as she looked up at him again. “Your face. “You did a spell, didn’t you, a spell to bring me back?” 
“Rowena, you know I hate using magic to control people.” Sam felt his heart sink in regret. She had everything, and he had called her away. “I only wanted to find you.”
“Oooh no, I was lost. I’m so glad you found me.” She slipped one hand up, around the back of his neck again, and pulled him down for a kiss. 
"So you intended to come back?" He murmured the questions against her jawline, under her ear and down her neck.
He felt as much as heard her laugh, "Yes."
"Of your own free will?"
She cupped his face between her delicate hands, drawing his gaze to meet hers again. "Of my own free will, Sam, I came back to you."
There were other questions, other stories to be told, but for the moment that's all he needed to know. He lifted her as if she was weightless, scooping her into a bridal carry, striding out of the kitchen and back down the hall towards her room. She undid his shirt as he walked, nails raking his skin, pressing kisses to every newly exposed inch of flesh.
Inside Rowena’s room, he paused. The room was dark until she snapped her fingers and candles around the room flared into flame. Without letting her go, he settled down on the bed. Their hands roamed one another's bodies until both were bare.
For a moment Sam stilled, looking at her. In the candlelight, her skin was flushed and tinged with gold, shadows edging her curves. He could see, like never before, the aura of magic surrounding her, tiny purple bolts arcing off her skin. She looked every inch a goddess, worthy of worship.
She held out her hands, and he wrapped her in his arms. Lifting her in his grasp, he buried his face in the curve of her neck, twining his hands in her hair. He wanted to smell her, taste her, grab her - flood his senses with her presence. 
He inhaled, taking in her scent as deep as he could. After all those weeks apart, he needed to be sure she was real, not some wish or fleeting dream here to haunt him. He could almost taste the sweet spice of her skin, and underneath it, faintly, the aroma of heather. 
He trailed his lips across the delicate angles of her collarbone, down her chest, pressing kisses and praise against her velvety skin. His hands skimmed down the ladder of her ribs to cup her breasts. The base of his thumb pressed into her heartbeat.
“I love you,” he murmured against her pulse point. “Love to- love you-” 
Her grip tightened around him, sharp nails digging into his shoulders as she rose up against him. She would mark him, as she always had, all the way to his soul. She was breathing hard, shaking with desire and anticipation.
Sam rolled onto his side and pulled Rowena to face him. Their lips met again and again, as his hands skimmed her body, caressing and claiming. His hand settled on the curve of her hip and his grip tightened. She fit into his grasp just as perfectly as he remembered. 
“Rowena,” he murmured, “My Queen.” 
“Samuel.” Their eyes met as she whispered his name. Her face was luminous with desire and pleasure, her body almost vibrating with need. The magic sparking off her skin crackled around them, enveloping them in light. 
She ground into him, pressing her body closer along the length of his. His fingers sought and found the dimples at the top of her ass. Spanning her waist in his hand, he pressed her hips close. The two of them shifted until she had him right where he wanted to be. A sigh punched from his lips as he slid into her. She was hot and close and-
“Perfect.” He whispered as he sank into her body. It was his last coherent thought as she began to move, against and around him. His eyes fluttered closed, his lips fell open, as something in his soul came unlocked. 
His whole world shrank to the moment, to the two of them together. All he knew, all he wanted, was her. He needed to get closer, to be together, to get lost, oh, he could get so lost in her.
Rowena’s lilting voice reached Sam's ears. She was cursing, panting, pleading. He knew that sound, the filthiest prayer, and would do anything just to hear it over and over. Her words faded into a low cry as she clenched around him. 
Her name tore from his throat, and the whole world went black as he came. 
When he opened his eyes again, her gaze was locked on his. She sighed and fell back against her pillow, red curls spilling everywhere. Her chest heaved with every breath, freckled breasts flushed. Her green eyes were wide, her lashes wet. 
This was how he had dreamed of her every night she was gone- soft, satisfied, incandescent. He could hardly believe she was real and once again in his bed.
He propped himself up one one arm and kissed her deeply, tenderly, fingers brushing her face and hair. She was bare before him, open and trusting. She had given him her body, over and over. But more important, she had given her soul. 
Finally Rowena nuzzled into his shoulder and spoke without looking at him. "Tell me the spell that you did, the one that found me."
Sam had a cord around his neck, a tiny wrapped packet at the end. He slipped it off and handed it to her. Without unfolding the paper inside, he repeated the words of the spell.
“But that spell requires silver heather. We have grey, but true silver has been extinct since before my lifetime. What did you use instead?”
“I thought, since I had it, purple heather might work. Especially given what it means to us."
Rowena was silent for a moment, considering the spell in her hands. Finally she reached up and caressed his cheek gently, pulling his eyes to meet her gaze.
“Do you know what you did, my dear?” He shook his head and she continued. “When you used purple heather, you changed the spell. Instead of simply finding love, which can be a bit vague, you set an intention to find your lost love. Your magic was powerful enough to find me and guide me back home." 
A soft smile spread across her beautiful face.
“Home?” Sam gestured to the bunker walls around them. For him and Dean, it had become a home, but as often as Rowena had been there, it had never been hers. By choice or by fate, she had walked a more lonely path. 
“No, my love, home. Not these four walls.” She laughed, a throaty, musical sound. 
Sam was overwhelmed. He had never dreamed that his magic could be so powerful, could do more than his will and intention. He was still trying to reconcile the story she had told -of her every wish fulfilled- with her willingness to return here, return to him. 
Rowena rested one hand over his heart, pulling his attention back to her in the moment. “Home to you. I had everything I have ever worked for, all that I thought I desired, but it wasn’t enough without you. Your magic brought me back. You called my heart home.” 
“Rowena,” he said, and then his voice broke. The only words he could summon were deeply inadequate, but he whispered them anyway. “I love you.”
“I love you too. Wherever you are, I belong.” Her eyes were bright, her tone warm. “That’s why I came back to you, and I promise to stay.”
He lowered his mouth and kissed her again. Something between a sigh and a sob escaped her lips. All through the night, the candles flickered and burned down, but the two lovers stayed wrapped in one another’s arms. 
When they were together, that was enough. They were home.  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
Thanks to @boondoctorwho for the read and letting me borrow the words. Thanks to @mskathywriteswords for the read as well.  Thank you to everyone who has read, reblogged, cheered and generally loved on this little story. Hard to believe it’s been a year since I started with these two. This series has always surprised me, and taken on a life of it’s own.  I’ve written these two other ways, other series, other universes. I will be continuing with this canon-adjacent story in a new series, When the Rain Washes You Clean.  *~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~*
SPN First Last and Always: @boondoctorwho @dawnie1988 @deanwanddamons @defenderrosetyler @divadinag @emoryhemsworth @fookinghelljensensthighs @idreamofplaid @kalesrebellion @kickingitwithkirk @maddiepants @magssteenkamp @onethirstyunicorn   @the-chocolate-moose  @there-must-be-a-lock @tloveswriting
Sam Girl For Life: @awesomesusiebstuff @lilsylvia @winchesterxfamilybusiness
Rowena My Queen: @delightfullykrispypeach @lilsylvia @marril96 @pansexualdarling @songofthecagedmoose Gay Screaming: @boondoctorwho , @cherry3point14, @cracksinthewalls, @dawnie1988 @fookinghelljensensthighs , @icemankazansky, @itmighthavebeenintentional , @justcallmeasmodeus , @lastactiontricia ,  @mskathywriteswords , @rockhoochie ,  @there-must-be-a-lock , @thoughtslikeaminefield​
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themowrites · 4 years ago
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One-Shot: Everything Works Out In The End.
+ I would like to thank the anon for giving me the opportunity of bringing his/her PROMPT to life; I hope I executed it properly. Thank you again and readers enjoy! Constructive and Positive feedback is always welcomed. -Mo
“You got me treading on the water. Because I've never learned to swim. And now I know that it's all over. I better learn to start again.” –Kodaline (Everything Works Out In The End).
Mercedes looked over at Samuel as he slept peacefully beside her naked frame, she watched slowly as his chest rose and fell and she shifted gently. Turning her body to face his, trying her best not to disturb him during his peaceful slumber. She’d be leaving for LA in a day and he had managed to convince her to do the unthinkable. She pulled the covers up, a cold night’s chill rushing over her as she laid their bear with him and she managed to pull her herself out of her head long enough to lay her head there. Hazelnut skin pressed against his perfect chiseled chest as she inhaled his scent deeply, what if she never got to relish in this exact moment again. The sex was something, but with or without it, she’d still long for the man as she departed across what felt like the highest mountains and lowest of seas. But she had to follow her dreams, right? She asked herself would it be worth it, as she drew tiny hearts across his skin sadly.
“What are you doing?” Samuel’s gruff voice spoke, a smirk sporting his thick pink lips as he opened his eyes looking down at Mercedes. Her hair was a mess of curls that had fallen and sweated out, however, in this lighting as the moon danced across her skin, she’d never looked so beautiful to him. He grabbed her hand, stopping her motion and he pecked the back of it tenderly before he said “I thought you were asleep
”
His eyes rolled back shut tiredly, as his other hand stroked her head of hair idly. Mercedes head leaned upwards as she looked to him. “Writing I love you across your skin” she answered honestly, not matter how it may how sound leaving her lips. At his next remark she shifted, looking at the window where the moon glowed. “I can’t sleep” she breathed to him; she should’ve been able to after all. He had, had her locked away in his room all evening; losing her virginity had been a full-time job. Or a lesson, depends on who you asked out of the two. He’d done all the work and yet she was still able to please him as he’d done her. That was once she got over the initial shock and uncomfortable adjustment to a size, she didn’t quite picture this entire time. She licked her plump lips at that and looked back at him.
Samuel smirked; his forehead managed to crease between his brows as he asked himself why she was doing that subconsciously. “You should get some rest” he reasoned as he shifted wrapping her up in his long arms. “You have so much to do
” he reminded her, his hand resting on the small of her back, drawing circles there. His eyes never opened though he was watching her no doubt, his chest was pressed against her ample bosom and he wouldn’t deny how incredible that felt. He finally opened his eyes again and looked to her “what’s on your mind?” he asked her knowingly, the words left him just as he left a kiss on her lips. Drawing back to look into her almond orbs, “you can tell me anything” he said softly, green eyes piercing hers.
As he shifted his long body, pulling her closer to him, his arms pressed fluff against muscle mass. She closed her eyes for a moment as he reminded her yet again about her new phase in life.  Heartbreakingly she opened her eyes to stare into his, this time they were glossy, and she said “I don’t want to leave you” her chine quivered only a little as she closed her eyes again. Hugging him back tightly she fell quiet.
As she confessed her true feelings, he nodded his head at her, he hadn’t thought of her move as a negative thing. He wouldn’t forgive himself if he selfishly let her stay, only to waste a dream as big as hers away. He needed her to go to LA, not just for herself, but for him. He wouldn’t be any prouder unless he had the opportunity to fly the plane himself. “You know I love you” he said against her skin as he pecked her forehead “and I’ll do anything for you” he added pecking her forehead again. “And that means sacrifice” he told her sternly. “It’s going to hurt like hell being apart, but you have to do this, it’s your destiny” he reasoned. He kissed her forehead again, lips lingering there for a while as his eyes closed “we will get through this” he said confidently. “It’ll work out, you’ll see” he sighed heavily as he opened his eyes again to look at her.
Mercedes nodded her head against him sadly, she bit down on her bottom lip as her warm tears spilled anyway. As he went on, just making the idea of being away from him harder she sniffled. She continued to nod her head at him, maybe if she kept repeating his words her heart would eventually catch up with her head and she’d convince herself that it would be fine as well. “Okay” she said in a shaky voice in response to him. Words had left her, she knew it would hurt, because it was killing the hell out of her already. She nodded her head again for good measure as she sucked her tears up, wiping them away slowly.
Samuel’s thumb swiped against her skin gently, he’d never like to see her in this light. What man wanted to watch the woman he loved cry? As she finally replied he nodded his head saying “okay” back to her sweetly as his lips met hers in a feverish kiss. His lips parted only ever so slightly so that their tongues could meet with each other again. They’d been apart for too long and the blonde had realized that now. He needed to remind her body and soul, just what they had and why no amount of distance in the World could separate them truly. They were soulmates, destined for a life full of happiness and lifelong memories. He was hers, as long as she were his. And only God could take that away. His hard body shifted against the bed as he positioned himself above her now, moaning deeply into their kiss ever more as her delicate hand slid its way up to his face to cup it lovingly. Oh, how he adored the way, her hand felt resting over his heart, it would be death they’d part.
“Thank you so much for picking me up at the last minute” Mercedes said to Mike as she closed the door to the backseat of his sedan. She looked down at her little boy Cameron safely fastened in his car seat, she kissed his head of hair and looked towards her old friend again. “Something came up and my mother totally forgot about us here at the airport” she finished as she placed her seatbelt on herself.
ïżœïżœïżœIt was no problem at all, I didn’t know if you were actually going to come into town or not. Glad you did decide to” he smiled sweetly. “I got to see little Cameron again so that’s a plus” he chuckled as he drove down the road. “So where do I need to go first?” he asked her curiously. “You know
 everyone is uh
 meeting up” he paused looking at his watch for a minute “at the diner at around 5 pm today” he told her looking back at her and the curly haired little boy in his backseat. He didn’t know how things were doing to go, he was in the middle of all of this and truthfully it was hard to lie to his dearest friend. Though he guessed it wasn’t a lie if the topic wasn’t actually spoken about publicly. However, he still felt terribly bad for Samuel’s sake.
“I decided at the last minute. Cameron is so young you know” she told her friend. “I haven’t really traveled with him like this before, mother always came to us” she said looking back down at the tired child once more. “But it’ll be fun to catch up and see everyone, it’s been what? Almost two years?” she sighed. “My mother’s house, I’ll be staying there. I opted out of a hotel” she acknowledged. “I just” she sighed heavily to the man shaking her head, “I uh, I don’t know Mike. I have so much guilt weighing on me it’s hard to think or breathe most days
” she actually confessed to him for a change.
Mike continued to carry them down the road in the vehicle and he licked his lips slowly listening to her. He got it, lapsed judgement and scare caused her to lie to the man, break off their relationship, and hide his only child from him for the last how many months? He could understand her desire to protect everyone in the situation at all cost, but he also understood the negative impact it had on her life no matter what she was trying to accomplish in all of this. He didn’t really see how it would be possible for someone to attempt to hide a child, but he intended on honoring wishes to his fullest ability. “Listen” the man spoke confidently “you are a lot of things, a big character” he chuckled lightening the mood. “However, everyone knows your heart ‘Cedes” he breathed “if it’s becoming too much lessen the burden, release it to the wind” he said poetically. “Tell him, Samuel knows your heart better than we all do. He would have to understand exactly what you were trying to achieve; don’t you think?” he asked her though he didn’t really believe that statement himself, he’d be livid if the love or his life or past love had done this very thing to him.
Mercedes looked up at her friend, watching the back of his head as he spoke. At one point of time, she looked away and out of the window as she offered Cameron her hand to play with as he sat there. She nodded her head despite the man being incapable of seeing her, she didn’t know. All of this happened to be overwhelming and confusing at times. “You are right” she finally offered to him after a while of going over the thoughts and things he just said in her own head. “Thanks again Mike.”
Mike walked into the diner that they were all supposed to meet up at mutually, 5 pm on the dot. He asked the hostess for the party’s location and happily traveled towards the table. He saw Samuel, Artie, Blaine, Kurt, and Jake at the table chatting among themselves. They were early to the reunion or perhaps on time, which was unexpected in his opinion, but he greeted them all casually and grabbed himself a seat. “How is it going?” he asked them all mutually. “I expected to be one of the first ones” he said with a smirk as he made himself comfortable sitting on Samuel’s right.
Jake looked at Mike offering the man a simple head nod, “we all kind of hitched rides with each other” he chuckled lightly.
“We didn’t expect to be on time either ole pal” Samuel said with a goofy grin.
“Well, we don’t get to do this often, so, you know” Artie said with a shrug “it’s worth being on time for” he said with a smile. “The whole gang is back, give or take a few
.”
“Agreed” Mike said gesturing to Artie with his pointer finger. “This should be a fun gathering
”
“What held you up anyway?” Samuel asked Mike turning his head towards him, once the thought occurred finally.
“Ah, I had some errands to run” Mike said to Samuel, “had to swing by the airport and stuff” he told the man without much thought.
Samuel nodded his head and said, “oh yeah, who did you pick up?” curiously as he picked up his glass and took a sip of his drink.
“You actually would never guess it” Mike said to the man with a small smirk. He opened his mouth to respond to him the best way he knew how, however he was interrupted by their server.
“Hi there” the woman said to Mike “what could I get you to drink this evening?” she asked as she grabbed her guest check pad and pen from her apron.
“Hello” Mike told the woman and he looked down at the menu for a moment before he went with his gut and ordered a “root beer” he spoke. “Have you all ordered?” he asked the guys.
“Not yet, we were waiting on everyone” Kurt said “we did order a few starters” he admitted.
“Well in that case, just the root beer” Mike said smiling to the woman.
Nodding her head, she said “alright, one root beer. And do any of you guys need anything, while I grab that and check on your starters?” she pressed the group. After getting a moderate no thank you from everyone, she moved to walk off from the table again.
“So, who was it? Tina?” Blaine asked nosily, curiosity would kill the cat today because unlike everyone else he actually really desired to know who all planned on coming.
Mike chuckled shaking his head “no, no. I’m not sure if she came in town, you know not everyone really responded to the email threads. But I did uh, pick Mercedes and Cameron up from the airport, dropped them off a few hours ago and then I had some other errands to run” he shrugged, having let slip a huge secret in the process.  
Kurt eyes grew as Mike went on to explain where he was, what he was doing, and finally who he had picked up from the airport.
Artie eyebrows stitched together as he tried to recall a Cameron in his memory bank. It wasn’t ringing a bell however and perhaps he was the only one who didn’t know. Wonder if it’s a new boyfriend, juicy, he thought to himself know all the details to Samuel and Mercedes’ break-up.
Blaine tilted his head “who’s Cameron?” he asked aloud before he looked at Kurt with a raised brow. The forceful kick the man supplied him under the table was a red flag that clearly his significant other knew something he didn’t. He had overstepped somewhere. So instead of meeting the eyes of the other men he grabbed his glass of water and took a long sip from it.
Samuel rolled the paper from his straw between his fingers “Mercedes” he said first, very unaware that she was coming. Afterall, she hadn’t been seen in almost two years and they weren’t quite on speaking terms. Well in his head at least. However, upon the mention of someone named Cameron he raised a brow and looked at Blaine then Kurt to his left. “Who’s Cameron?” he asked Mike looking over at him again.
Mike looked down for a moment, shit, he said to himself before he looked over at Kurt. He needed the man to throw him a life vest but obviously he much like Mike couldn’t think of a good enough lie at the moment. And just like that save by the bell again, thank you God he said as Quinn approached the table with Brittany in toe.
“The boys beating us to the punch, how lovely
” Quinn said cutting in with a wide grin. “How is everyone?” she questioned them as she moved to grab a seat between Mike and Samuel.
Brittany smiled at everyone scattered about the chairs around the huge table. “Hey guys!” she said cheerfully. She followed behind Quinn who happened to have been her ride, she sat down at the table next to Artie planting a soft kiss to his cheek before she smiled at Jake who was sitting on her other side. “I missed you guys” she said hugging Artie gently.
Kurt looked towards Quinn, thankfully and he smiled at her as he moved his hand for Blaine’s knee. “Well, we all just about piled into each other’s car so that helped” he said to her changing the subject gladly. “Doing great, you?” he asked, looking at her directly.
Samuel looked at Mike who avoided his question, yet again. He looked over at the women as they rolled in and he sat back in his chair. If any of them thought for a second he was going to sit at a table with Mercedes and her new boy toy they were sadly mistaken. Just the simple thought of that was making his blood boil. He pushed the straw paper aside as he lifted his glass and took a long sip from it again, his eyes fixed on the side of Mike’s face.
Artie blushed a little at Brittany and looked at her with a fond smile on his face “we missed you too” he told her kindly. He stared at her for a few more minutes before he looked at Quinn and said, “no complaints here, everything has been great.”
“Who else is showing up?” Quinn asked them all as she removed her jacket and draped it on the back of her chair revealing her, somewhat revealing dress before she laced her fingers together and rested her hands in her lap.
“Rach” Blaine said in response to Quinn politely as he took her in, she looked amazing. Though he guessed she kind of always did.
“And Tina” Kurt added looking to Blaine for a brief moment a smile on his face. “She text me a hour ago and said she made it in and will meet us here as soon as she’s freshened up and stuff” he added, his eyes moving towards Mike now. Confirming what the man claimed he didn’t know just moments ago.
Samuel looked to Kurt before he said “and Mercedes” all the chipper tone in his voice gone now. “As a matter of fact, Mike was just letting us know she was bringing some Cameron person with her, however none of us know who that is” he said as he looked over at Mike once more, bitterness in his tone and a great deal of anger in his eyes. “Weren’t you Mike?” he asked.
Quinn looked between Blaine and Kurt before lastly, she looked at Samuel, her eyebrows rising as he spoke. Well, it was no secret that Mercedes untimely breakup left the man bitter, angry, and alone. Among the group of friends there had been plenty rumors but even she had no idea who Cameron was. However, if it were another man of some sorts, she might have lucked up tonight. She almost canceled on them for work sake, but she had to admit no amount of money would be worth missing this.
Mike looked over at Samuel, sighing a bit to himself as the man spoke. “I never said that” he told him his head hanging low “I didn’t say she was bringing him here” he corrected. “And he’s not a boyfriend of hers, she doesn’t have one” he said before he looked up at Kurt from across the table.
Kurt swallowed hard as Samuel pressed Mike to speak up and the man finally did. Kurt kept his eyes low after he swapped a glance with Mike and he focused on his glass sitting above the wooden table.
Artie looked at Samuel, then Mike, his eyes moved to the rest of the table as everyone stayed silent for a while.
“Then who the hell is Cameron?” Samuel asked the man, his eyebrows stitched together.
Quinn looked at Mike as he spoke, and she followed his eyes over to Kurt. As it was made clear that Cameron was not Mercedes significant other it then and only then dawned on her who this person could be. Her eyes quickly shot towards Kurt again. “Did you guys order?” she said quickly trying to change the subject once more and she finally picked up her menu.
“Hello, hello, hello everybody” Rachel said as she Tina and Mercedes walked up towards the massive table. “I cannot believe you guys successfully put together some kind of reunion without my help and expertise” she teased them all as she moved to sit down beside Blaine. Offering Jake a kind pat on the shoulder.
“What did we walk in on?” Tina asked sitting down beside Mike at the table and she pushed out the chair beside her a bit for Mercedes to nestle between her and Artie.
Mercedes smiled despite herself, she was well aware that today’s events had two possible ways of ending. On a good foot or perhaps a bad, depending. She hadn’t been in the same room as Samuel since she departed from him to leave for LA. It was her fault that happened to have panned out that way, she knew. But it was didn’t make it any less awkward when you really thought about the reasoning behind her doing so in the first place. She moved for the seat next to Tina it was the only free chair anyway and looked at everyone with a smile deciding not to glance in Samuel’s direction.
Quinn looked at the other girls as they came in one after the other and she sighed heavily, welp, when you speak of the devil, he shall appear she thought to herself. “You guys look good” she said taking them all in, but truly examining Mercedes from head to toe as if that would give her a real inkling to what was going on. But it didn’t especially considering the girl did have a massive coat on. Even if she didn’t you couldn’t look at her and tell she ever had a baby, or could you?
Artie leaned towards Mercedes gently and said “I missed you” with a slight hug assuming they were all going to drop the conversation from beforehand once again. Which was probably for the best anyhow.
As the rest of the group finally joined them Kurt looked towards them and smiled, it really was great to see everyone despite what was currently being examined. He looked over at Samuel, after Tina made yet a very leading question that he truly hoped didn’t cause the blonde to have yet another unnecessary meltdown. “The waitress should be back any minute with starters and, Mike’s drink, we could all like order or something” he chuckled awkwardly.
Samuel watched Rachel as she walked into view, and then Tina thereafter. Mercedes was behind the shorter girl and he looked away, focusing on the table before him and he found that piece of paper again. He toyed with the paper as he did before, rolling it against the tabletop as he fell silent, allowing the group to talk among themselves.
Tina nodded her head at Kurt and said “cool” before she turned to Mike, bumping him with her shoulder lightly. They weren’t together at the moment, but did that mean they had to be awkward, no. They were planning to just be friends until they figured everything all out with themselves. “I was going to call you for a ride, but you had to go get ‘Cedes” she said in a soft whisper to him.
Mercedes looked to Artie and smirked at him sweetly leaning into the man. “I missed you more” she breathed sweetly to him.
The server returned to the group seeing that everyone who should be there was finally there, she sat the root beer in front of the gentlemen who ordered it. She quickly sat the starters in the middle of the table one at a time before she lowered the tray in her hand. “Hi ladies, what can I get you all to drink?” she asked, she sat the tray aside and moved to grab her pad and pen again.
Looking up at the woman, Mercedes she shifted and said to her “water please?” without thought.
Seeing the appetizers, she smirked “water with lemon” Rachel said to the woman before she actually turned her attention to the menu before her to figure out what she wanted for dinner.
“Coke for me” Tina said lifting one finger up for the woman to see as she wrote down the drink orders.
“Sweet tea, please” Quinn said to the waitress, looking at Samuel who sat next to her, finally since Mercedes walked in. She looked at him for only a moment before she looked away again.
“Can I have a coke too?” Brittany asked the woman, the last to order within the group before she grabbed an onion ring and popped it into her mouth. “Two waters one with a lemon, two cokes, and a sweet tea” the young woman repeated back to the table before she said, “are we ordering now too, or do we need some more time?” curiously. When collectively they all asked to have some more time, she nodded and left the group to grab their drinks.
“So, Mercedes, what have you been up to?” Jake asked curiously, despite the early conversation he always though it was pretty cool she got out of Ohio and moved all the way to LA. “I mean what is LA really like?” he asked her as he grabbed a mozzarella stick.
Quinn looked over at Jake with a bit of disappointment. They were all deflecting here, and he was obviously not on board with everyone because he just opened another door or window, depends on who you asked.
Mercedes pulled her eyes and attention away from Brittany and Artie, “uh” she paused smirking at Jake. “I have been great; I have no complaints whatsoever” she told the boy. “LA is” she said trying to think very hard on her answer “sometimes it’s everything I pictured and not so much during other times, but I could have never asked for a better opportunity” she told him. “Life throws tons of surprises and I try to handle, well uh take it in strides” she breathed.
Samuel looked up as Mercedes spoke and he squinted his eyes a bit before he looked away from her. “Care to elaborate for us small town folk?” he asked her sarcastically.
Mercedes slowly looked towards Samuel across from her and she furrowed her brows.
“Now Sam” Rachel said from the left of him, she gave the man an all well knowing look. He didn’t need to make a scene right now; they were here to have a good time.
“Now Rachel” Samuel said as he looked over at her “I asked her question let her answer” he said back to the brunette, who he had no trouble leaning forward to gaze it from across Blaine and Kurt.
“Sam, we are here to have a small gathering to catch up. Are you sure you want to do this?” Kurt asked the man leaning in a bit. The two men was sitting directly next to each other, in another world Kurt would’ve probably slapped him. However, his personality didn’t allow him to inflict someone with such violence. But the blonde was really becoming annoying and all around excessive.
“Yes, I want to do this” Samuel snapped as he looked at Kurt. “Why not do it?” he shrugged, a small chuckle leaving him. “Why not do this right here and right now
”
Mike licked his lips and looked around the table before he sighed and said “Mercedes, I slipped up about Cameron. But Samuel doesn’t quite know who that is
. still
.” He said quietly.
Mercedes looked past Tina and at Mike, her eyes large and confused. How could the man have let that slip? He’d kept the secret for this long of course today he lets the cat out of the bag. She couldn’t be mad at him of course, any of them keeping the secret was doing her a favor everyday of their lives. But what was she supposed to say or do right now?
“I think we all should maybe let Samuel and Mercedes talk” Kurt said looking around the table.
“No, let her say what she has to say right here in front of everyone” Samuel said to Kurt. “I think to many of you have been talking among yourselves this whole time anyway.”
Mercedes blinked a few times and she looked at Samuel “okay” she said simply to him. “I ended our relationship, against my better judgement because I was trying to keep a secret from you that I thought would be very detrimental to our lives and relationship” she offered him. “We have a one-year-old son, his name is Cameron” she said. “And before you get angry, I was just trying to do what I thought was best for all of us
”
Samuel looked at Mercedes as she spoke, she really had put a very cute spin on breaking his heart and he couldn’t believe that was the story she was going with. They were fine when she left, everything was perfect outside of the distance. And then a few months into her moving to LA she hit him with the words he’d never imagined leaving her lips. A breakup was what it was, a breakup that was not mutual among them both, that she didn’t even give a good enough reasoning as to why for. And now after all this time he finally gets his real reason, and it was because she was pregnant? With their child. His son? And she didn’t tell him because she thought that was what was best for them both? “Wow” was the only thing his lips could form in the moment as he moved to stand up from the chair, he was in. “You are despicable” he said his finger gesturing in her direction “and any of you at this table who knew this shit and didn’t say anything can rot in hell along with Mercedes” he said coldly as he left the table and the group.
Mercedes looked at Samuel as he spoke, she looked down, she didn’t know what to say. As he continued, she looked back up her eyes watering a little from his harsh words. She couldn’t blame him, what were she to expect from telling him this? When he stormed off, she looked back down again as the embarrassment set in.
“I sorry Mercedes” Kurt said from across the table as, his eyes left her and looked towards Samuel as he moved through the restaurant to leave.
Rachel walked up towards the Evans’ home with her purse in hand and she rang the doorbell gently waiting for someone to surface.
“I have it” Samuel said as he moved for the front door slowly, he looked outside and saw Rachel and he huffed. Unlocking the front door, he looked at her and said “I don’t want you over here so it’s in your best interest to leave” without even thinking, his finger pointing towards her car.
“Look, I don’t want to come into your home, I don’t want you to forgive me if you don’t want to, you don’t even have to listen. But I am going to say what I have to say to you face to face” Rachel told Samuel. “Some of us knew, we didn’t all agree. But we understood and as friends and family we supported her. We supported each party the best way we knew how during this time” she told him. “I am sorry that a secret that big was kept from you for the two years. And I really can’t imagine how you must really be feeling right now” she said her eyes low. “But I say that for you, not her, you. It would be best if you hear her out and at least demand to see your son” she said to him. “She’s owes you that much, and I know that is what you’d want to do right now” she told him simply. “We don’t always do the right things, none of us are perfect. But we deserve the right to make it better if we can” she sighed. “That’s it” she said quickly as she tossed her hand up at him, moving to turn around and leave the front porch of the man’s home headed for her car.
Samuel listened as the woman spoke and he squinted at her slightly, didn’t she know he had every right to close the door in her face if he really wanted to do so right now. It would be that simple. He didn’t want to hear anything from Rachel, she wasn’t the one that owed him an explanation or apology. However, he listened to her, every word even if he didn’t want to. He licked his lips slowly and watched her as she departed from his presence “Rachel!” he called out to her. “Rachel” he repeated even as she kept walking.
Rachel ignored the man as she unlocked the car door and climbed inside to leave. She had said what was needed to say to the man and she didn’t plan on speaking on the subject further. It was between the both of them now, she felt compelled to say what she needed in regard to the part she played in it but that would be it. She couldn’t give him any more details, that he had to seek for himself from Mercedes own mouth.
Hearing a knock at her parents’ door Mercedes squinted slightly, who could it have been she didn’t know. “Stay right here” she told Cameron with a stern finger as she moved to walk out of the living room and towards the front door. She looked to see who was on the other side of the door before she opened it “Sam?” she breathed as she looked up at the man.
Samuel stood before the Jones’ front door with his hands in his pants pockets, he waited for someone to answer and when Mercedes did, he looked at her. “Hi” he breathed he didn’t know what else to say. He hadn’t thought this far ahead and now that he was here, he was conflicted. He wanted to curse her out no doubt but now as he stared into her brown eyes he couldn’t. “Look, I am pissed at you, I am so damn pissed at you, I can’t even think straight!” he said voice booming. “I can’t believe you had the nerve to end things with me, and because of a baby?” he asked her. “I would have given anything to be there, to help, to experience that with you! How could you be so got damn selfish?” he asked her seriously. “I loved you” he told her “I love you” he corrected “how could you do that to me Mercedes?” he said.
Mercedes waited for something to be said and he said ‘hi’ to her, which was a shocker considering. Before she could even get her own greeting out to him, he said what he felt deep down inside from the events that happened from the day before. She looked down unable to say anything at first, she knew she was wrong, and she didn’t really have an excuse for it at all. He was right, he was in love with her as she were with him and it was inconceivable that she did break it off with him and justifiably so. A child had not ruined everything but in her mind it would have. He believed in her, believed she would go off and make him proud. A baby was not a part of the deal, but it had not been a deal breaker. And perhaps it was her own immaturity that did not notice that until now. “Sam” she said softly, blinking gently as her eyes watered, tears filling it. “I didn’t want to let you down” she said blinking heavy tears, allowing them to fall as she looked up at him.
“Well, you ended up doing far more than that, you do realize that?” he asked her. “Keeping my son from me, was a bigger let down then the entire situation and all of its layers combined” he breathed. Samuel folded his arms over his chest as he looked at her still in disbelief a little.
Mercedes tucked her lips inward as she sniffled, her hand wiped away a few tears. Nodding her head at him she agreed with his statement, “I get that now, yes,” she breathed. “I don’t know” she shrugged a little, a bit of a cry leaving her lips after she did. “I didn’t say anything, and then he was here. And I just didn’t know what to say after that” she added. “I was confused, embarrassed” she listed. “It was stupid, and I am truly sorry Samuel. I did not mean for this too grow into all of this” she stressed. “I just didn’t know what to say, or how to even say it when I did find the words” she swallowed hard. “I never tended to hurt you, with any of this. The breakup or with keeping him as a secret from you” she said looking into his eyes.
Samuel listened to her, he continued to stand there with his arms crossed over his chest. In his heart of hearts, he didn’t feel she were lying about a single thing. Though his brain throbbed as he tried to understand what the hell possessed her. Even now, the move was one he could not have pictured her making. Not her out of all people in the World, it didn’t fit. He nodded his head back at her and he said “is he here? Can I see him?”
Mercedes watched him and she sniffled again, wiping more tears from her face. She dried the tears that rested under her chin with the back of her hand before she nodded her head. “Yes, of course” she nodded as she moved to allow him into her parent’s home. Opening the door wider from him she sniffled once more as she waited for him to walk in and once, he did, she closed the door behind him and locked it. “He’s in here” she said as she moved to walk through the home towards the living room where Cameron stood eating cheerios from a kid sized bowl while watching Blue’s Clues idly.
Samuel nodded his head and he moved into the large home; it was as he remembered it. Always neat, clean, and in decent order every time. He didn’t know why but in the moment all of the anger he had melted away. Not because he was understanding of the situation at this time but because it had been replaced with nervousness. He didn’t see fatherhood greeting him for at least another few years and now he was being thrown in it full speed, in a very instance. And he didn’t know what to think or how to feel about that, what if he wasn’t good at it? Despite that the boy didn’t even know him. As he followed Mercedes into the living room, he took the boy in, though it was only from behind he could tell how ridiculously adorable he was.  
“Cameron” Mercedes said sliding her hands in her back pockets as she watched him. “Someone is here to see you” she said to him softly. She watched the boy turn around, his hazel eyes moving from her to the taller man next to her and back to her familiar face. “Mama” he said in response back to her before he turned back to the bowl and placed another cheerio into his mouth chewing lightly. He turned back around before he moved to walk away from the bowl and towards his toy car. Mercedes stepped towards the child and hoisted him up into her arms pecking his cheek lightly moving closer to Samuel.
Samuel watched the little boy as he turned around, his full head of curls bouncing lightly as he looked between her and him then back to her cutely. He smirked a little, he looked like the perfect mix of them both, it was astonishing. The little boy continued his snack eating and playtime, ignoring them both until Mercedes moved to go pick him up walking over towards him “hey” he said waving at the little boy awkwardly.
Mercedes looked at Cameron and then grabbed the toy car that was stealing all of his attention, holding it in her hand and at her side. “Say hey” she said as she looked at him, he cowered in front of the tall man sticking his hands into his mouth as he looked at him. He pulled his hands down eventually and said “hey” before he rested his head on his mother’s shoulder shifting in her arms gently. “Cameron” she said softly as she shifted him in her arms again “this is your daddy” she said pointing to Samuel with the same hand the car was is.
Samuel watched the kid placing his hands in his pockets gently as she tried to get the little boy to interact with him. When the child finally did talk and then moved to hide himself away from Samuel he smirked. When she told the boy who he was he looked at her then at the little boy. He risked the chance and held his hands out for the boy, he could or could not come. What would it hurt?
Cameron watched Samuel and he looked at his mother before he leaned into the man and allowed him to hold him as well. He looked at the side of the man’s face, blinking a few times before he looked at his mother and then back at Samuel. Mercedes sat the car down on the couch and looked at Cameron again “daddy” she said pointing to Samuel again.
Samuel and the little boy glanced back and forth at each other, when he looked at his mother again Sam adjusted him in his arms. He hugged the boy to his chest gently closing his eyes as he basked in it for a moment or two. He opened his eyes again and he looked at the little boy who had his fingers in his mouth once more eyeing him.
Mercedes sat on the edge of the couch watching Samuel, she picked Cameron’s car up in her hand and she toyed with it for a moment. She looked between them both and the toy car a few times as the man got acquainted with his son for the first time.
Samuel moved towards the couch with the child in his arms and he sat down with him. Shifting the child in his lap he looked at Mercedes “how is it possible to be in love with someone you just met for the first time?” he asked her seriously.
Mercedes shifted on the couch and looked at Samuel, a smirking forming on her lips and she spoke. “I don’t know” quietly “it just happens, I can’t explain it” she said with a small chuckle as she looked at the child. “He looks just like you” she commented as she looked down.
Samuel looked at her and then back to their son, he hugged the boy close who was now stretched out across him watching tv again. He was a little more comfortable with him he guessed, and he relaxed himself on the couch. He looked back at her and smirked “no, he looks like you” he told her. He looked back at the little boy, he couldn’t believe one night filled with love and adoration for each other could create such perfection, but not only that night however perfection that would last them both a lifetime. “I can’t be mad at you” he told her seriously as he moved his hand to hers, grabbing it in his and holding it gently. “But I really wish I could have been there” he said sadly “he’s so perfect, I can’t imagine what it would have been like to see him when he was first born” he sighed.
Mercedes looked at Samuel again placing the boy’s car aside, as he grabbed her hand, she allowed him to. It was comforting receiving any kind of touch from him even after all of this time. At his words she looked at Cameron and then pulled her bottom into her mouth biting down on it hard. She didn’t say anything in response to him, there was plenty of photos, videos, and things she could show him, and she would in the future. She knew she owed him that and needed to make sure it was something that she did out of respect for him. “Despite how it panned out, I am glad that you finally got to meet him. And that you can now be a part of his life.”
Nodding his head at her, he said “thank you” quietly. “Especially for him, you could have done something totally different, but you didn’t. Thank you for that” Samuel said sensibly as he looked her in her eyes.
“The thought never crossed my mind” Mercedes replied back to him seriously, looking into his eyes once more.
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