#the knot in my stomach keeps getting tighter and tighter until i eventually push everyone away and break and the cycle repeats

[cuyberpunk]

--

[artzee-bee]

Best friend’s ex | Benny Weir x reader

Fandom: My babysitter’s a vampire

Request: “ Um if you don’t mind can you write for mbav? Something along the lines of the reader and Ethan try a fake relationship thing cause Ethan asked her to? Like to get to Sarah/ or get her attention. And everyone is shocked cause they thought Benny and the reader would date instead cause all 3 of them are childhood friends”

Genre:Fluff mostly but I guess a little angst torwards the end

Warnings: some arguing and also it’s LONG, don’t say I didn’t warn you

A/N: This has a little Ethan x reader too but over all it’s Benny with a guest apperence from jelous!Benny torwards the end (or at least that’s what I was going for)

~~~

“Wait, you’re dating?! Like for real dating?!”

 You clinged tighter to Ethan’s arm “Yeah, we are” but you weren’t. You didn’t want to lie to your friends and it was honestly making you kinda uncomfy but you were doing it for E.

“Ok so how long has this been going on for?” asked Benny. You and your entire friend group were gathered around his locker and you decided to break the news to them about your and Ethan’s “relationship”, which was all bullcrap. He had asked you a couple nights before to pretend. He was hoping it would get him closer to Sarah.

“Um, no more than a month” E said, trying to sound as confident as possible and doing a fairly good job at it. Of course you saw right through him but everyone else seemed to buy his act.

“Well that’s...interesting news” Sarah laughed awkwardly

“You think so? Why?”

The group went silent for a moment

“Well, just cause” Sarah started, nervousness laced into her tone “I mean I would have guessed that Benny and Y/N were going to get together eventually.” Rory and Erika just nodded in agreement while Benny tried to suppress a nervous laughter.

“I mean, come on guys” he said “ I’ve known Y/N for just as long as Ethan.” 

“Yeah, but you two just always seemed, I don’t know, closer?”

“Well” Ethan interrupted “ seems like you were wrong on that one.”

Suddenly aware of how rude she sounded, Sarah babbled some lame excuse and left quickly, face red from embarrassment. Rory and Erika left as well, each in their own direction, but not before congratulating the couple once more. Benny was the only one left.

“You good Benny?” E asked

“Yeah, I guess it’s just interesting seeing you like this”

“I hope you’re not mad or anything I mean we…” you were quickly cut off by Benny

“No, no, absolutely, not! I’m really happy for you guys! My two best friends are in love, that’s really cool!” A pink tint made its way onto your cheeks hearing Benny say “in love”, even though you knew it wasn’t true. E smiled at you and hid his face in your hair. You wrapped your arms around his neck and he placed his hands on your hips, swaying you two back and forth for a moment

“Alright, well I gotta go. Chem starts in a few” you told your boys and headed to class, not before hugging both of them and leaving Ethan with a quick peck on the cheek

As soon as you got to class however, you texted your “boyfriend”

“Think that went pretty well”

“I think so too. Everyone seemed to buy it!”

“I know!” you said and the conversation ended like that. 

You switched your attention back to your teacher, who was discussing your next assignment but even though your eyes were on her, your mind was replaying Sarah’s comment on repeat. You and Benny, huh? You couldn’t say you disliked the idea or that you’ve never thought about it. You’ve always felt different when hanging out with him compared to all your other friends.You felt more free and comfortable. You couldn’t stop the smile on your face from the fuzzy feeling you got just thinking about Bens and you together.

“So how long are we gonna be doing this for?” you texted Ethan. Now that you thought about it, you could never date Benny after this. The sudden realisation made your stomach twist in knots. He would never even go on a date with you if he thought you to be Ethan’s ex! Bro code or whatever but you couldn’t blame them!

“I don’t know for sure, I don’t see why it should last more than a couple months.”

“Ok” you didn’t mind helping E. He was a great guy and one day, some amazing girl is gonna see that and be all over him, even if it’s not Sarah! And he’s going to fall in love and have a beautiful wife and a happy family and this thing you are doing right now is just gonna be a silly high school memory to look back at. You tried not to overthink everything like you usually do and go with the flow, have fun.

It was surprisingly easy to do. Holding hands and occasional cheek kisses didn’t mean much and you never had a “proper kiss”, telling everyone you were simply not fans of PDA. It didn’t feel much like you were a couple, just closer friends. Touchier.

About 4 months down the line, you and Ethan go on your last “date”, which really just meant pizza night at Morgan’s.

“Thanks for all this Y/N, I know you didn’t have to and it might have been awkward at times but it means a lot that you went with it all this time” Ethan says sincerely while pouring you a glass of soda

“Don’t be silly E! You are one of my best friends. I would do anything for you.”

“Yeah but, now you and Benny won’t be…” he didn’t finish his sentence, as if he wasn’t sure if bringing this up was even a good idea or if it was gonna make you mad. You told E about your crush on your best friend not long after your first day as a “couple”. You couldn’t lie to him and quite honestly, you needed someone to vent to. The more you thought about Benny, the more it hurt and while you weren’t mad at Ethan for bringing it up now (you knew he had the best of intentions), it was putting you off

“Let’s not talk about that tonight” you said softly

“Right, yes, of course! Sorry” you giggle and reached out for your glass of soda, raising it up

“A toast!” you declared dramatically, making E laugh “To our breakup!” Ethan raised his own glass and clicked it with yours 

“To our breakup!” he said before you both took a sip of your drinks

You laid down on the couch, getting ready to watch Scare Finder. Your head was resting on one of Ms. Morgan’s decorative pillows and you placed your feet on E’s lap. He rolled his eyes at you and you giggled

“I love you!”

“I love you too babe” he joked before laying down next to you and wrapping you in a hug. The couch was a bit too small for the both of you to lay down side by side and you felt the left side of your body  hanging off the edge but E’s arms were around your waist, holding you and you felt safe

“Can we..” Ethan whispered nervously “can we keep cuddling during shows even if we aren’t boyfriend- girlfriend anymore?” 

“Yes of course” you giggled

“Good, cause this is really comfortable” he whispered in your neck

“I know, I love it too”

~~~

 Your breakup was a much bigger deal than you anticipated.Your friends seemed not only shocked, but heartbroken too. You didn’t tell them anything about why you ended your relationship, saying it was too early and you didn’t feel like talking about it but that you were still close friends and nothing was going to change

Things went back to normal afterwards, except now you were single and so was Benny and you couldn't help the invisible pull, dragging you closer and closer to him. Everyone of his silly jokes made you crack up and you couldn’t even be mad at him when his failed spells ended up in a big mess that you and the friend group needed to solve. You hadn’t realised how much you missed him until you broke up with E. Whether or not that relationship was real, it felt like a real reason to stay away from Benny. It felt like you were taken because everyone else belived you to be. You couldn’t make a move on him because everyone knew you to have a boyfriend but now you didn’t and you couldn’t help yourself from looking at B in a different light.

You were over at his house, helping him pack some herbs he had to organise for his grandma, as punishment for wasting all her old ones on some spell. You were stuffing dried leaves in tiny jars, while Benny was busying himself attaching little tags to them, with the name of each plant.

“Thanks again for coming to help me, you didn’t have to”

“Anytime Bens, you know I’m always here for you” you looked at him and smiled sweetly. He looked into your eyes and said

“I know, Thank you” you nodded and switched your focus back on the plants, hoping he wouldn’t notice the blush on your face. Lucky for you, he started telling a story that happened in his geography class and things slowly fell into their usual, casual place, at least up until you had to leave.

You placed the last little jar in its respective spot on the shelf

“I think this is it, right?” Benny asked

“It should be”

“Perfect, I’m in dire need of a snack. You want chips? I have some upstairs”

“No, it’s late, I should head home”

“Um, ok yeah. No problem” but none of you moved after that, you just looked at one other for a little bit, until the awkwardness got too much and you took your backpack and headed to the door

“Thanks again” Benny said right when you reached the door

“No problem” and then time froze again. You got lost in his pretty eyes and barely noticed his chest rising and falling faster with every second that passed until, you both found yourselves in each other's arms, kissing deeply and desperately, as if you’ve waited all your life for this. Your hands tangled in his hair, pulling at loose strands, his hands running up and down your back, bringing you as close to him as possible. All your senses were intoxicated with him and finally, the little pit in your chest disappeared. Your lips fit together like puzzle pieces but than, all of a sudden, Benny pushed you away aggressively

“No, I can’t do that!” his back turned to you, but you saw the red in his face and his hands went to his head, massaging the back of his neck just like you had been doing

“Benny…”

“No, no, you are Ethan’s ex and we can’t do that! I can’t do that!”

“B, listen to me!” you tried to step towards him but at your slightest movement, he jumped back, finally turning to face you

“Y/N, that was a mistake and I’m sorry! We shouldn’t have done that! It was a mistake” your eyes stung from the tears threatening to spill down your cheeks

“Don’t say that…” you could barely hear your own voice and were genuinely surprised when B replied

“Of course it was! As much as I wanted to do it and as right as it may have felt, it’s barely been a few weeks since your last relationship with MY BEST FRIEND and your best friend too and we can’t, I CAN’T do this to him! You, you guys dated and…”

“But we didn’t!” you said

“Of course you did, are you out of your mind?” Benny looked at you, teary eyed and desperate “I saw you, we saw you! Holding hands and cheek kisses! He had his arm around your back every moment of every goddamn school day and every time I wished it was me! He had all of you and he could hold you during movie nights and spend all his free time with you and kiss you and run his hands through your hair and everytime he did it I imagined that I was in his spot, hoping you would look at me with the same love and admiration that you looked with at him but now it’s too late! It doesn’t matter that he didn’t cherish you better while he had you because I still can not take you! I can’t do that to him!”

“Benny it wasn’t real!”

“What does that even mean Y/N?” he was yelling now, but you knew he wasn’t angry, just hurt. You saw the tears in his eyes and how hard he tried to stop them from running down his face.

“We weren’t ever dating! We just pretended!” the madness in his eyes turned to a question, an invitation for you to continue “It was all a show Bens. He wanted to impress Sarah. He asked me to fake a relationship with him.”

Benny leaned over the table, resting his body on his arms. He seemed to be thinking for a while, until he said “That’s a stupid idea”

You laughed “I thought so too when he told me” Benny seemed to think some more before saying

“Such an Ethan idea to have” which only made you laugh more

“So it was never real?” he asks you finally

“No! It was just an act” but even now, Benny couldn’t say anything. He was looking at his hands nervously. You took a deep breath and said the one thing you could think of

“He knows if that’s what you are wondering” the boy looked at you with questioning eyes again “Ethan I mean”

“Ethan knows what?”

“That I like you” Benny straightened and looked at you with soft eyes once more, you felt your cheeks heat up and turned to walk away but Benny quickly grabbed your wrist and pulled you into him, holding you in a tight hug. 

“So, does that mean I can kiss you again?” a small smile tugged at your lips

“Please do”

[tinyjeanmarco]

Helloooo 🥺🥺 idk if ur into writing hurt+comfort but I’m in such a big fat mood to cry rn and there’s not a lot Porco angst out here... I was thinking along the lines of modern au and ur already in a relationship but ur incredibly insecure about urself and the relationship, but Porco reassures u in the end that he really does love u and goes out of his way to prove it <3

(I realize u likely won’t get this done tonight and I’ll probs be in a better mood tomorrow BUT it’s still true there isn’t a lot of Porco angst out there!!)

Also if u don’t write angst pls ignore this!! Thank you 💖💖

teddy (a hurt/comfort fic)

hello my darling!! i hope that you’re in a better mood now and don’t want to cry anymore! （＞д＜） remember that it’s okay to cry and to take care of yourself. your body loves you and you should show it just as much love. i do really love hurt/comfort fics! they always make me feel so soft in the comfort part. 🥺 i’ll do my best to write this! i think porco can be a real comforting boyfie that just cares so much about you. ♡ also sorry this was so late after your request, love. (｡ ́︿ ̀���) i listened to idontwannabeyouanymore by billie eilish, and emotional anorexic by svavar knutur while i wrote this so you kinda get the vibe i was feeling while writing!

wc: 1,818

modern!porco x gn!reader

warnings: some angst, hurt/comfort, happy ending, i swear.

he’s just busy, you thought as you exited the coffee shop. you clutched the cup in your hand tighter as you checked your phone for what must have been the twentieth time that hour.

you texted your boyfriend, asking if he wanted to do something that day, but alas, it’s been a few hours and no response. you knew he had classes, but they should be done by now, meaning he was just ignoring you at this point.

no, he’s busy. you reminded yourself. yet, you weren’t sure how much longer you could buy that thought. you couldn’t tell if that was true anymore, or if it was just a way to keep your bad thoughts at bay.

you debated texting him again, but were worried that you would annoy him. maybe that was the issue in the first place; he saw your text and wanted a break from you, thus making him ignore you. it had already been nine months since you started dating, maybe he was annoyed with you.

you picked up your pace as you walked back to your apartment, no longer wanting to be around people, in case you broke down in some way. you knew it wasn’t the best to be alone when you felt like this, your friends telling you that getting out and doing things would take your mind off your anxious thoughts.

you couldn’t seem to text anyone to tell them you felt trapped.

stepping inside your apartment, you locked the door behind you and toed off your shoes before making your way to the bedroom. you tossed your keys on a table as you walked by.

your mind just kept racing faster the more you were alone with the silence that was suffocating you. the best course of action was to take a nap, you decided. so, you changed, and put on one of porco’s hoodies that he gave you.

yet, when you settled under the covers, sleep wouldn’t find you. your insecurities picked you apart down to the bone. at this point, you had felt like you were being drowned. it was so hard to swim in the fog that was your head.

your brain had managed to convince you that porco was tired of you, and it was on its way to make you think he would break up with you. in the back of your head, you knew this was false, yet it kept persisting. it wouldn’t leave you alone.

instead of ruminating about things you didn’t want to, you thought maybe putting on one of your sad music playlists would help quiet the thoughts, which, in hindsight was an okay idea at most. it really only served to upset you even more.

you didn’t even notice tears were leaking from your eyes until you found your nose was beginning to clog. you wiped at your eyes, and just cried harder.

you were trying so hard to be okay, but your insecurities would not leave you alone. you hated it so much. you just wished they would leave you alone. tired,  you were so tired of always feeling like not enough.

normally, you would communicate to porco about how you were feeling because communication and telling the other how you feel in a relationship is rule number one. yet, you were so convinced he didn’t want anything to do with you at the moment, so you refrained.

the only option left was to just keep crying until sleep somehow made its way to you.

a few hours later is when you woke up, thanks to the constant buzzing of your phone. why couldn’t everyone just leave you alone?

sighing, you did your best to wipe the sleep from your eyes before you squinted at your phone screen to see who was calling.

your heart dropped to the pit of your stomach. it was porco. what would he want? was he finally going to break it off? would he tell you that your texts got on his nerves so he needed space?

you decided you didn’t feel like answering it, not wanting to deal with whatever it is he had to tell you. you weren’t mad at him, you just didn’t want to be even more hurt than you were already. that means ignoring everything completely.

after the phone finally stopped ringing, you kept getting texts from him but you just put your phone on do not disturb and shut your eyes again.

you had fallen alseep again, but it didn’t last as long as earlier, because you happened to hear a soft knocking on your bedroom door. shooting up into a sitting position, you scanned your room for a nearby weapon. who the fuck was in your apartment?

the answer came when a gentle voice, which you didn’t want to hear, followed the knocks.

“baby? are you in there?” and ever so slowly, the door pushed open. your body felt like it was made of lead as he stepped into the room. you forgot you had given him the spare key.

“oh, were you asleep? i’m sorry if i woke you, sweetheart.” he made his way over to your bed and sat himself on the side of it.

“yeah, i was asleep. it’s fine though, i needed to wake up anyways.” you mumbled out. he nodded before speaking again.

“what’s got you down? and don’t tell me nothing because i know you only take naps when you’re upset or it’s exam week.” he reached a hand out to take yours, gently stroking the top of it with his thumb.

“are you tired of me?” you blurred out, not quite answering his question, but to porco, that was enough of an answer that he got what was going on.

“no, no, no, baby. why do you think that? talk to me, honey.” his other hand that was not in yours, reached up to gently cup your face, encouraging you to speak.

“i dunno, you had to be not answering my texts for a reason.” you sniffled, tears coming to your eyes again today. when would they just stop and let you be happy?

“i’m so sorry, baby. my phone died today after i got called in for an emergency shift at work, and i didn’t have a charger at work. i promise you, i’m not tired of you. i was thinking of you the whole time i was working. i’d rather be with you then at that dump.” he gave a small squeeze to your hand. you squeezed back.

you had felt a little of the weight lift off your heart at his words, but you had spent so long today just overthinking and assuming you were right. the sadness wasn’t going to go away immediately.

“i’m sorry i overthink so much and always make you deal with it.” he just tutted and crawled on the bed to plant himself right beside you, pulling you into his chest.

“don’t you dare apologize. you know i care about you and have no problem making you feel more comfortable.” you felt yourself melt at his words and sink into his embrace. with every word he spoke, the thoughts in your head got quieter and quieter.

you closed your eyes and just listened to his heartbeat for a second before saying anything else. one of his hands reached up to your face and wiped the last of the tears away.

“thank you, porco.” you sighed and snuggled in even closer.

“you don’t need to thank me, this is what i’m here for.” a kiss is pressed to the top of your head, and you feel him shift. “now, how about i run to get stuff to cook for you and we can spend the rest of the night in?”

“you don’t have to, pock. i’m okay with just ordering a pizza or something.” you turned to him and pressed a kiss onto his nose before connecting your lips together.

“but i wanna.” he mumbled into your lips, not wanting to break the kiss.

you eventually reluctantly agreed, and decided to hop in the shower to melt away the rest of the day’s stress as you waited for him to return. he promised it would only be fifteen minutes max that he’d be gone.

the hot water running down your back felt like heaven. you could feel the knots in your neck and shoulders just dissolve under the heat. you were okay, not like earlier when you were wrapped up in despair.

you still felt tired and a little numb from the thoughts that polluted your head that day, but at least you no longer felt the need to cry. now you just craved the touch and comfort of your boyfriend, whenever he returned.

as you were getting dressed after your shower, you heard porco call out that he had returned from his shopping adventure. pulling his hoodie back over your head, you shuffled out to where he was unloading the groceries he had purchased.

when he saw you, he hurried to grab something he set aside and made his way over to you.

he got you a giant, cuddly teddy bear and some of your favorite chocolate bars.

“what’s all this for?” you inquired.

“i got it for you, to help cheer you up and kind of apologize for being irresponsible.” he scratched the back of his neck, a light red dusting his cheeks.

“pock.. i don’t know what to say. you really didn’t have to do this.” you took the bear from his hands and hugged it close to you.

“but i really wanted to, and it’s to make up for you being sad. whenever i’m not around, you can just hug the bear and pretend it’s me.” he set the chocolate aside on the counter and went to pull you into a hug, effectively squishing the stuffed bear between your bodies.

“this bear will never live up to the expectations of cuddling with you, pock.” you let out a small chuckle.

“well, then i guess i’ll just have to be sure to cuddle you as much as i can.” he pressed a kiss to your cheek.

“you won’t hear me complaining.” you leaned into him and pressed your lips together, craving his affection. “now, please cook for me, baby. i’m really hungry.”

you tried to give him the best puppy eyes you could muster. he laughed and gave you another quick kiss before pulling away and turning to the rest of the things he bought.

“of course, just make sure you sit there looking pretty and i’ll get right to it.” you finally felt a big grin form on your face, finally relaxed.

you hated that you could get so sad and insecure sometimes, but porco understood you, he didn’t judge you. you could always trust him to pick up the broken pieces when you didn’t feel okay.

[sargeantwoof]

Well, I Got This Suit of Armor and A Sword I Need to Swing

Hotch has begun to express how much he cares about his team, like, physically.

They are... confused. ((and mildly delighted))

***

The first time it happens, no one realizes it until after Hotch leaves the bullpen, rushing off to pick Jack up from Jessica.

Spencer turns to Morgan, words spilling from his mouth until he pauses, his hand raised halfway to his hair. Emily, JJ, and Rossi immediately look up, all familiar with the way a sudden silence from Spencer normally signifies a break in the case.

Instead, he gently cards his hand through his ruffled curls and goes, "I think Hotch kissed me on the way out the door."

The next time it happens, it's to Garcia.

She's been busy, filtering through search after search with a massive pool of suspects. She knows she's close, knows it the same way she knows how to code, how to knit, how to pull something from nothing.

She standing in the tiny kitchenette, only the dim lights from Hotch's office and the BAU's briefing office lighting the way when she hears someone come down the steps. She turns, hoping it's Morgan, wanting some reassurance. Instead, it's Hotch, his face drawn and wane, as he heads for the coffee pot next to her.

"Garcia," he greets quietly, his eyes on his drink as he pours hours old coffee into his mug.

Garcia offers a weak smile. "Sir," she says. The two stand in the quiet for a moment, Hotch's eyes on his drink, and Garcia's eyes on him. She shifts eventually, as Spencer and Emily pass by in the office window, casting deeper shadows across the room. "Sir- I just- I want you to know that I'm trying, sir, it's just - these parameters and the pool," she says, gesturing, her bracelets clinking softly on her wrist. "I want to find them, and I know- I know! I'm close," she finishes before turning back to her tea, her eyes lowered.

Hotch reaches out, gently touching her shoulder. "Garcia," he says softly. "Penelope," he amends. "I know," he says. "We wouldn't be able to find nearly as many killers and abductors if it wasn't for your work." He shifts closer to her. "I've never doubted your ability to find out what we need."

"Oh God," Garcia says, her stomach knotting. "I feel like you've just sent me up to fail."

Hotch chuckles softly, the sound so out of place that Garcia freezes. "No," Hotch says, dropping his arm to press an absentminded kiss to the top of her head. "Now, I believe in you so, please, find me our guy." He turns and heads up the stairs, his gait steady and even, completely unchanged.

Garcia blinks after him, pushing her glasses up her face before pressing her fingertips to her cheeks. "Oh my god," she whispers, alone in the room. "Hotch just kissed me too."

***

When Garcia hands out the folder and begins reading the case to the group, JJ pauses. She sees it a split second before Garcia says it, the words he's killing siblings of those who had committed suicides, ringing around her head for a long moment before she tears her eyes away and looks up.

Everyone in the room is either very studiously not looking at her or staring straight at her. Only Hotch looks up in the pause and turns to JJ. "Take a minute before we go," he says, not unkindly but firmly. "This is going to be difficult for all of us, and I need everyone's head in the game."

JJ nods, her mind spinning. She's silent the rest of the meeting, only getting up when she registers the others rising as well. She turns from the room, heading out on autopilot. It's only when she realizes that she's in a dark and quiet place that she allows herself to take in the case.

The victim's faces stick in her mind - the original victims - the suicides - as her brain catches on them over and over again until their faces have become Roslyn, layered over each other in an almost horrific amalgamation of projection. Her mind sticks on the dates as well, so close to her anniversary, days away from when JJ would go to the graveyard and visit her older sister, bringing her Queen Anne's Lace, because even though Ros had been allergic they were her favorite.

She takes in a deep breath, closing her eyes and giving herself a minute to center her mind. She is calm, she is cool, she is collected. She breathes out, blinking her eyes open and taking in the room she had instinctively retreated to. Her old office comes into focus, stacks of miscellaneous folders and cardboard boxes surrounding her.

Behind her, someone knocks softly on the doorframe.

"Come in," she says, her voice quiet.

Hotch enters, his stride familiar. "You okay?" He asks in a murmur. JJ nods, still facing away from him. He shifts his weight, his clothes rustling with the movement. He reaches out for her, just as she turns, his hand heavy on her shoulder until he raises his other hand and places it on her other shoulder. She pauses, a flicker of something in his gaze that makes her hesitate before Hotch tugs her in closer to him. "We'll get him," he promises, his hands sliding up to her face before he tilts her head forward and pulls her into him even tighter.

JJ burrows into his circle of arms, tension sliding from her frame as her brain registers the tiny space of safety Hotch is offering. He brushes a kiss across her cheek before letting go, all traces of openness wiped from his face. "Come on," he says. "Wheel's up in twenty."

***

"Hotch," Morgan says, his voice low and warning. "I don't want to have to do this."

"Then don't," Hotch says quietly, his gaze on the folders in front of him as the plane banks sharply.

Morgan sighs, reaching out to halt his tablet from sliding across the table in front of them. The plane is dark around them, Spencer passed out on the couch across from them, Emily and JJ asleep next to each other, their heads tilted together. At the front of the plane, Rossi sits, staring out the window. Morgan sighs again and turns to face Hotch more squarely, angling himself so he can see the man sitting next to him better.

"It just doesn't feel right," he says.

"Well," Hotch says, lifting his gaze to meet Morgan's. "If it doesn't feel right, then don't do it."

"But -"

"But what?" Hotch interrupts, arching a brow. "The first thing we're taught on this team is to follow our instincts." He stares at Morgan, setting the file down. "So what are they telling you?"

"They're telling me it's a stupid idea to try - to try to even explain myself," Morgan says, almost snapping. "I don't want to have to fight it out every time I see my family."

"Okay," Hotch says evenly. "What does feel right then?"

Morgan shrugs, a helpless look on his face. "I don't know," he admits. "I'm just confused."

Hotch quirks a gentle smile at him. "I understand," he says. "It's hard to get even when you're in the thick of it."

Morgan nods rapidly. "And - I just -" he heaves a sigh. "You guys are my family." He blinks, leaning back his seat, staring at the ceiling. "I don't know what to do."

For a long moment, the two of them are silent until Hotch sighs. "I know you'll figure it out," he says softly. "You always do." Morgan closes his eyes, his feelings swirling in his chest. So lightly, he almost thinks he imagines it, he feels Hotch press a kiss to his cheek before turning back to his paperwork. "I believe in you," Hotch murmurs. "Just do what's best for you."

***

Emily blinks at Hotch as she stands in the doorway of his office. "Hi," she says. "Can we talk?"

Hotch looks up at her over his paperwork before gesturing for her to sit down. "Yeah," he says. "What's up?"

"Uh, I just-" She turns and shuts the door, the latch clicking behind her. "Does-" She cuts herself off, sighing and sliding down into the seat. Hotch furrows his brows at her before rising and coming around his desk, sinking into the chair next to her. She sighs again, a short burst of harsh air. "Do you talk to your father?" She asks abruptly, a strange look on her face.

"Well," Hotch says after a beat. "He's dead, so no."

"Oh," Emily says, her voice dropping. 'I'm so sorry, Hotch, I had no idea."

Hotch offers her a small smile. "It's not something I mention much," he admits, leaning forward to rest his elbows on his knees. The room is silent for a beat before he narrows his eyes at her. "Why?"

"Oh, uh," Emily begins before sighing for the third time. "I just - I wanted to talk to you about something but I don't quite know where or how to begin."

"And you thought you'd start by asking about my father?" Hotch asks, arching an eyebrow.

Emily shrugs, quirking half her mouth up in a half-smile. "Wasn't a very smart move for a profiler, was it?" She says. "But no, I uh, I wanted to know if you would've made the same call as me tonight."

Hotch dips his head, running over the case in his mind, laying out all the facts - she had been cornered, at a clear disadvantage, with a gun held on her, and had made the judgment call to signal for a sniper to take the unsub out, rather than talking him down. He inclines his head in a quick nod.

"Yes," he says, cocking a brow at her. "Yes, I would've."

Emily sighs, tension sliding from her frame. "There just- there was something about his face," she says softly. "I thought I was going to die, for real, and I thought I panicked." She blinks at him, rising to her feet. "I - thank you."

"No," Hotch says, standing with her. He steps close, and pulls her into a hug, pressing a kiss to her hair above her ear. "You aren't dying on my watch." He tightens his grip on her before relaxing and pulling away, his face as fond and open as it got in the office. "You made the right call," he says, letting her go but keeping eye contact with her. "The correct call."

Emily grins at him, relief making her expression fierce. "Good," she says, striding to the doorway. "I'd hate to leave you all in the lurch," she says, wiggling her fingers at him. "Come out and get drinks with us."

"Okay," Hotch says after a beat, shutting the folder closed on his desk with a snap. "Lead the way then."

***

With Rossi, it's not a surprise to anyone.

They're drunk at his house, properly drunk, too many glasses of Emilys' infamous punch in, when Rossi decides that he needs to cook them a meal. He sits them down around his counter, pulling out pots and pans, their low chatter a welcome noise in the background.

He points a wooden spoon in Spencer's direction menacingly, at his low question of what the hell are all these for, before shaking his head. "It's like none of you have ever seen a real chef in the kitchen."

"Well," Spencer says, blinking slowly at him. "I drink coffee and eat stuff, so -" He blinks again, turning to Emily. "I eat those donuts."

She pats him on the shoulder. "And you do it so, so, well," she says, grinning at him when he hums in her direction, his attention back on watching Rossi.

Morgan chuckles from beside him, reaching out and nudging Garcia from where she's slumped over the counter. "C'mon babygirl, don't you want to watch the man work his magic?"

"Magic?" Spencer says, spinning to look at Morgan and getting up to find his bag. "Do you want to see magic?"

"Aw, hell," Morgan says, following Spencer from the kitchen. "That's not what I meant Pretty Boy!"

JJ leans further into Emily, her face open and fond. "We should do this more often," she says, rubbing her cheek against Emily's shoulder. "I've missed this kind of de-stressing."

Emily smiles down at her, tugging her even closer before looking over JJ's shoulder at Hotch. "You okay over there?" She asks, her grin blooming even brighter when Hotch turns to look at her with vaguely unfocused eyes.

"Yeah," Hotch says, pulling his gaze away to go back to watching Rossi at the stove. "I'm trying to see the chef."

Rossi laughs loudly from in front of the stove, striding around the counter and planting a loud smacking kiss on Hotch's lips. "And now you have," he says patting Hotch on the shoulder and heading back to the stove. "The food will be ready in twenty," he says, ignoring the looks from JJ and Emily who are alternating between staring at him and at Hotch.

Hotch blinks at him for a moment before smiling and letting himself slide deeper into his seat, taking a long sip from his cup of punch.

"Oh-" Garcia says, her face propped up in her hands as she flutters her eyes at the group in the kitchen. "I fucking love  you guys." From the room over, Spencer and Morgan burst into laughter, the sounds of a deck of cards exploding accompanying them. Garcia sighs deeply, lines of contentment etched into her face. "No," she says earnestly, as the others around her begin laughing too, as a deep swell of contentment rises within the home. "Seriously. Love you all forever."

[moonflower-31]

I Won’t Forget You - Spencer Reid x Reader

Masterlist 

Part 17  

Pairing: Spencer Reid x Reader 

Warnings: Wounds, Blaming ones self, etc. 

Tags: @dra-reid, @eevee0722, @ceeellewrites, @anotherr-fine-mess, @ssahoodrathotchner, @egg-boy03, @helena-way07, @l0ve-0f-my-life~~~~~~~~~~~~ 

The car stopped a few moments later, not giving any sort of indication as to where they were. Derek cursed softly, unable to tell where they were only by sight. He only knew they were somewhere in rural West Virginia. He had seen a sign near a fork in the road that showed him a town name he knew to be in West Virginia. So at least he knew there was civilization. 

"Out, both of you. And don't even think 'bout running." Peter scolded you. You had been silent the entire car ride, knowing what Peter planned to do with you before he could announce it. 

You got out of the car slowly, unable to convince your body to move any faster. Unfortunately, this message wasn't broadcasted to your captor, who put a stop to your 'laziness' quickly.  

Peter’s hand collided with your back and a fist gripped your hair by the roots, pulling your head back harshly. You would've normally loved having your hair pulled by a partner. But not him. Never him. 

"Faster, dammit! I don't have all damn day!" Peter scolded. You felt exhausted just from the verbal abuse. He finally let go, shoving you forward. Your door had already been open, so when he pushed you you fell from the car and landed in the gravel. A few stones dug into your palms and a few others into your arms and shins. 

"Great, see this is why you're such a damn cunt. You're useless unless it involves putting out. Such a damn whore." Peter gritted his teeth. 

Derek felt nauseous and disgusted by Peter’s actions, hurrying as fast as his knee would let him to your side once he was out of the car. 

A hand shoved him away, causing him to stumble. "Stay the fuck away from her. You aren't to touch her. Ever. Understand?" Peter hissed. Morgan felt bile building in his stomach. He had always dealt with guys like this in cases, but he'd never been a victim. He could completely empathize with the fear that they felt now. 

"L-leave him alone, Peter." You cough, spitting out a pebble that had entered your mouth. Peter growled and gripped Morgan’s shoulder tightly.  

"Or what? You fight back, I'll dislocate his shoulder. You run away, I kill him. I thought we went over the rules, pet?"

Peter sauntered over to you, and kicked your stomach, causing you to cough violently. "You shouldn't have left, pet. Then just maybe your brother would still be alive. Maybe you wouldn't be in pain right now. You'd have little ones to keep you company. But you left." Peter sneered, delivering another harsh kick to your abdomen, stepping on your chest when you landed on your back. You had blood on your cheeks and in the corner of your mouth from the abuse, feeling weaker with each kick. 

"Come on, (Y/N)! Don't worry about me dammit! Fight back!" Morgan called, finally freeing his hands from the knot he had been working to get off of his wrists. 

"Why don't you tell him why you won't fight back, hm? Tell him why even after learning to defend yourself in many different ways, you won't fight me?" Peter gritted his teeth, smirking down at your helpless form. 

You already had tears in your eyes. You knew he had to be lying about your brother. But even then, he was still in danger. Everyone you knew was in danger if you fought back. You coughed and looked over at Morgan weakly. 

"Because, everyone would get hurt. N-not just you. E-everyone…" you sputter. Morgan straightened his lips into a strained line, watching you helplessly. If he pursued Peter, he'd get another injury. Then what help would he be to you? 

"That's right. Now, mr. Derek Morgan. Why aren't you playing hero and knocking me out? Isn't that what ladies love? The hero?" Peter asks evilly. 

"D‐don't… don't answer… D-derek please-" you beg. Peter growled and pressed harder with his foot on your chest. 

"You don't speak unless spoken to, bitch." 

Peter turned his head and looked towards Morgan. He smirked and tossed him a ring of keys. "Since you have open hands, unlock that door over there. The dark wooden one." He demanded. 

Derek gripped the metal ring in his hands, glaring at Peter. "And say I don't?" He asks. 

Peter rolled his eyes and pulled out a gun from his back. "She dies. And then you do." Peter threatens, putting the gun barrel against your temple. You swallow and stare at Morgan, shaking your head gently. 

Morgan sighed and gripped the keys in his hands. He then wandered over to the cellar-like door and unlocked it once he found the right key. 

"There." Morgan deadpans, tossing them back to Peter in an attempt to avoid yet another conflict. 

Peter catches them in his hand, a dirty smile on his face. "Finally learning your place. It's about time, D." 

Derek fought off a growl. He hated that nickname. Anything Garcia came up with was fine. Hell, he'd accept Der. But not that. Never that. 

Peter pulled you up by your hair and shoved you forward. "Get inside. Now." 

Your head was tender now with how harshly he was gripping your hair. It almost felt like he was pulling your hair out. You bit back a whimper and got to your feet, barely able to see in front of you from all the previous abuse you endured. 

You entered the small cellar cut out of the mountain, finding the smell to be revolting. Whatever had been in here before you had died. And knowing Peter? They probably did. 

You entered and stood still, waiting for your next instruction. Morgan watched you with pity in his eyes, trying to refrain from speaking. 

"Go put those chains on her. Then put the other set on yourself." Peter growled into Morgan’s ear. Morgan felt his anger boiling hotter in his veins, but after what he had caused before, he wasn't going to risk it. 

Morgan entered the cellar and gripped your wrists. You gave him a reassuring look, and laid yourself onto the ground. You propped up against the rock, holding out your wrists for him. Morgan gritted his teeth and clamped the first shackle around your left wrist, soon repeating it with your right. 

"Good, now you do it yourself. I can't have you open to touching her." Peter sneered, pushing Morgan towards the right wall of the cellar. He was to your right, and you were to his left. But just far enough away that you could only reach up to his knee. His restraints were much tighter than yours, making you feel terrible. He didn't deserve to be involved in this because of you. 

Peter twirled the keys with his finger a few times before he put them on a hook. "I'll be back. Can't have the mother of my children starving, now can I?" He asks, glaring at you expectantly. You felt the pit in your stomach grow, but you didn't say anything. 

Peter turned around and exited the cellar, slamming the cellar door behind him. You jumped slightly and squeezed your eyes shut. 

Both of you stayed quiet for a good few minutes. The silence was unbearable, knowing so much about yourself was just revealed. You pulled your knees close and took a heavy sigh, knowing Derek would be asking questions soon. 

"Go ahead… ask away." You murmured, feeling exhausted and tired of staying awake. 

He took a few moments, but eventually asked "Are you okay?" 

You chuckle weakly, leaning your aching head against the harsh stone wall of the cellar. "That wasn't what I meant." 

"Well too bad, kid. But really, are you okay? He didn't hurt you too bad, did he?" Derek asked. You shook your head, never looking down from the ceiling as you let out a sarcastic and tired laugh. 

"My stalker just took you along with me when you have nothing to do with this. He just made you lock me up to try and get me to hate you, and he plans on trying to get me pregnant. Whether I want it or not. And knowing him he'll do it in front of you t-too." You whimper, your voice cracking as you squeeze your eyes shut and let yourself cry. 

"Kid… don't think like that. Without me you'd have to deal with this asshole all on your own. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna let him hurt you like that. I don't care if both of my legs get shot up." Morgan huffs. 

You let a small smile come onto your face. He was such a good friend. For him to not regret walking you to your car. For him to not want to leave you here. 

"Speaking of which, I should probably get that bullet out." 

"What? (Y/N) you heard him, kid. If I touch you he-" Morgan began. 

"He said if you touch me. He never said if I touched you." You insist and allow yourself to pull him slightly closer so you could treat his wound. 

Morgan stayed silent as he watched you, bracing himself for the pain. You looked up at him pitifully before you dug into his leg gently and pulled out the bullet that had thankfully not gone in too far. 

You looked up again, seeing Morgan’s grimace as he held his head against the wall. "There, I'm sorry. It was gonna hurt no matter what." 

"Don't apologize, dammit. It's that son of a bitch's fault for shooting me in the first place." He groaned in slight relief of his wound being empty. 

You shrugged off your jacket, ripping the sleeves to get it completely off of you. Morgan raised an eyebrow at you, but soon figured out what you were doing once you tore a sleeve off and wrapped it around his knee. 

"There. Just don't move it a ton." You advise, sighing gently as you backed yourself against the wall again. 

"Kid… we're gonna get out of here. Hotch, Prentiss, Reid, they're gonna find us. You know that pretty boy won't let you stay missing." Morgan chuckles somewhat. You appreciated the attempt at cheering you up, but at that moment, all you wanted was to sleep. Pass time until the devil came back and made you eat something probably packed with nutrition for a pregnant woman. 

"Derek… even then. He's gonna try in a couple days. A week at most. And he's gonna figure out I got an implant. Any pregnancy won't be viable." You alert him. "And once he does, he'll dig it out of me. And try again." 

Morgan stared at you in disbelief, unable to believe you'd know all of this was going to happen. "Wha-how-?" He began to ask. 

"You forget that I was 'engaged' to him for a year. I know him because he made me stay by his side almost 24/7. So I know how he thinks. How he behaves. And that he rarely ever lies." 

You sighed and laid a hand on your stomach. "And if he ever does, we're screwed."

○●♡●○ 

A few days later, they thankfully were getting somewhere. 

 "Hotch, do you have that list of his properties? I wanna go over them and put them in the geographical profile." Spencer urged. 

Hotch raised an eyebrow at the mention of his name and nodded. "Sure, I'll have Garcia print them out for you. Anything else you need?" 

"No, I plan on analyzing the letter again, trying to see if I can gather something from the way he writes, his grammar, how hard he presses on the paper-" 

"Understood, Reid. Get to it as soon as you can. But please, don't overwork yourself. You've been here since 4 this morning." Hotch warned. 

"I'm fine Hotch. Just trying to find them." He quickly answers, walking away from him and quickly heading towards Garcia's cave. 

If he were to tell the truth, he hadn't truly let himself rest. He hadn't so that he wouldn't wallow in the guilt he felt for your kidnapping. No matter how much JJ, Prentiss, Garcia, or even Hotch tried, he couldn't shake the feeling that had he not left without you, you would still be here. 

Spencer knocked on Garcia's door, taking a deep breath as he braced himself to face a very upset Garcia. 

The door swung open almost as soon as his first knock completed. Garcia looked up at him with worried eyes, almost on the brink of tears. "Please tell me you guys have a lead, because I am losing hope here and when I lose hope I eat ice cream and I can't do that here." 

"We don't know yet. But I was asking if you could print me that list of properties. And any clients of his that tried to sue him." Spencer asked. 

"What would that be for? He took (Y/N)!" Garcia asks. 

"I want to get a better understanding of what he's like. How he'll react to us going after him. I can't risk him hurting her because we made it overt that we were pursuing him." 

Garcia sighed and nodded. "Okay… I can get that for you. Just watch the printer and you'll find it." 

Spencer nodded and began to leave, turning around once more for a moment. 

"Garcia," he started. 

"Yes, Genius?" She asks with an exhausted sigh. 

"Do you… do you think you could open up her file?" 

"What do you mean?" Garcia asks. 

"I-I mean, maybe there's something there she… she forgot to tell me. Maybe I can find something there that tells me something about him." Spencer expressed. Garcia smiled gently at him and nodded. 

"I'll just add that to the print list and I'll get it to you as soon as I can. Godspeed. Now out before I cry at how pitiful you look." She says with a sad tone to her voice. She gestures and almost pushes him out, making him chuckle gently. 

Spencer shook his head and headed towards the printer to wait for his papers. 

○●♡●○ 

Spencer connected the properties, finding no real apparent pattern. He had already scoured over the letter a few dozen times, but was still waiting on your file. He circled an area in the middle of the map where Peter's main property was. That was the only thing he could find. None of these properties contained any sort of cellar or basement. Which was weird, considering the amount of money spent making these homes. Not even his own property had one. So none of the properties were viable to search. And they were all in a separate city and state entirely. Spencer realized he should have had Garcia narrow it down to Virginia properties. Or at the very least the tri state area. It had been a few days, and they had only received a location from Morgan’s phone once, and it proved them to be somewhere in-between Virginia and West Virginia. 

Spencer turned around and walked back over to the letter and tried to look over it again. Most of the language was possessive. He used plenty of 'me, my, mine,' and plenty of future tense. And the graphite was pressed into the paper pretty hard. So he was angry when he wrote this. 

Then his phone rang. Spencer widened his eyes and immediately answered it, hoping it to be one of the clients he had called. 

"Spencer?" 

Spencer was suddenly taken aback and found his concentration fall apart. "Mom?" He asks. 

"Spencer, how are you? I didn't expect you to answer my call this late." Diana asked. 

Spencer rubbed his face and felt an ache in his chest add to the rest of the weight he was carrying. "I… I'm fine Mom. Just… we have a really stressful case and I'm stuck on finding an answer." Spencer explained in as simple terms as he could. He suddenly realized why his mother was calling, and felt immediately guilty. 

"I'm so sorry about the letters. I would have sent them had this case not gotten so… personal." Spencer rubbed his forehead, suddenly feeling the weight of the bags of his eyes. 

"I can't tell you what to do, but I can tell you that she wouldn't want you blaming yourself." Diana replied. 

Spencer widened his eyes for a moment and blinked a few times. "H-how did-" 

"Crash, you've never acted like this before, unless it was about a girl you said you liked. Which was rare. But I still remember when you said you liked that…What exactly was her name?" Diana asked. 

"I don't want to remember, Mom. She…" Spencer sighed. "There's just a lot of things I have to figure out. They're all relying on me. She's relying on me to find her. I just…" 

"Don't want to let her down?" Diana finishes. 

Spencer sighs. "Yeah." 

Spencer squeezed his eyes shut and bit his lip, failing at his attempt not to cry. He wiped his eyes and inhaled sharply as he looked up. 

"Mom, I love her." 

Garcia walked into the room soon after, a grim look on her face. Spencer narrowed his eyebrows and looked up at her, mouthing 'What is it?' 

Garcia gave him a warning, uneasy look. Spencer sighed. 

"I actually gotta go. I'll call you when I get home." Spencer promised, letting his mother say goodbye before he hung up.  

"Did you get her file?" He asks, standing up and facing her. Garcia nodded wordlessly. Spencer tilted his head and looked at Garcia unsure. 

"Is there something in it I didn't know about?" He asks, looking at the manila folder in her hands. He stared at it, wondering what could be inside it that would make Garcia act like this. What terrible thing in your history would be that bad? He already knew the bad and the ugly, right?

Garcia took a deep breath. "Let's just say there's a lot to unpack in here. Like, a truckload. And not one bit of it is good." 

[thefanficmonster]

Darkest Of Nights

Connor Walsh & Michaela Pratt (How to Get Away With Murder)

Warnings: Sexual Assault, Vomiting, Swearing, Spoilers for Season 1 of How To Get Away With Murder

Genre: Hurt/Comfort, Platonic Relationship

Summary: On the night of Sam’s murder, it’s safe to say everyone is traumatized, looking for comfort and solace. However, one of them gets the complete opposite: Michaela is only offered more pain and trauma, bringing her to the brink of insanity.

Requested by 🐢 Anon, but also meant as a birthday present for an Anon who recently reached out to me. Happy birthday dear Anon! Hope you have the best one yet! Here’s the fic you requested - I hope it lives up to your expectations! It’s been such an honor to be the person to write you a birthday present and I can only hope I’ve done my job well! Love, Vy ❤

She’s still in utter shock and disbelief. She’s shaking like a leaf as she navigates the roads back to her apartment. It pains her that she’ll have to pass by the Keating house again tonight, knowing what happened there just hours ago. She squeezes the jacket tighter around herself, glad to not see any familiar - or rather any faces at all. The bonfire has gathered every college student, graduate and fan of the sport around itself, giving the streets an emptiness Michaela hasn’t seen before.

Michaela Pratt has always liked planning out her life, having her future laid out in front of her always at her disposal for changing and modifying. She’s always seen herself a successful, envied lawyer in the future, someone other lawyers fear and all wrong-doers want. Because who doesn’t want freedom? She’d pride herself on being the one to bring them that freedom. She’d pride herself on owning a title like Annalise’s - a bitch, a beast and a boss in the courtroom.

However, just like she had everything laid out in front of her eyes, she’s watching it all fall apart. Fall into that very bonfire her and her classmates went to take pictures at to own their alibis. To save themselves from possible suspicion. To paint the picture that they aren’t murderers.

That realization will never soften its blow to her chest and stomach. Every time she repeats the word ‘murderer’ in her mind, her heart skips a bit and her stomach turns, threatening to make her release everything in it onto the pavement she’s walking on. She feels disgusting and dirty, not only because of the ash and mud she has all over herself following the venture into the woods where they dismembered Sam’s body, but because she took part in it. She may have stood aside, crippled by shock, disbelief and disgust, but she’s now a part of it nonetheless.

With her heart and mind racing faster than she’s able to comprehend, she finds herself unable to turn that corner and get onto the street which the Keating house is on. She feels that if she sees that place she might just faint right there on the street and if that doesn’t raise a few questions, nothing will. Instinctively, she continues ahead, heading down the street that will inevitably lead her to where the mob of drunk or half-drunk people are surrounding a huge fire, celebrating something Michaela is less than disinterested in. She feels it’d make for an extra alibi in case the pictures they posted aren’t enough proof of their faux innocence. 

Michaela squints her eyes at the brightness of the fire nearby, sensing both a cough and a sickening feeling climbing up her throat. There are reporter trucks everywhere, ones she sees as the perfect hiding barriers to prevent her from being seen by anyone in case that sickening feeling morphs into an urge to throw up. She quickens her pace, eager to find herself in the safe space between two of the reporter trucks and attempt to calm her heart that’s threatening to beat out of her chest. She’s still visible to anyone walking along the street, but as it was established earlier, the street’s vacant and it seems it’ll remain that way for a little longer so she feels almost invisible and tiny in comparison to the two truck that serve the purpose of her protectors in this very moment.

Placing a hand on the wall of the truck, she doubles over, preparing for the inevitable when she hears a whistle from somewhere close by. Or, more specifically, directly behind her.

“What a view baby!“ A drunken slur of a male voice follows that whistle, causing her to straighten up and turn on her heel as fast as possible. “Is that how women ask to get some nowadays?”

Her stomach’s now in knots and she can’t find her voice to say anything. She’s frozen with fear of the man’s silhouette that’s now approaching her. His features aren’t visible in the dark so even if she did know him - which she’s sure she doesn’t - she wouldn’t be able to recognize him. Not that it matters, recognizing him or not, this man’s intentions are more than clear and more than threatening.

“Silence means yes in my book, babe. So...why don’t we have some fun?“ Before she can even register his proximity, he’s grabbed her wrists and pushed her against one of the trucks. The disgusting fucker holds her wrists at either side of her head, firmly holding them there, ridding her of any chance of escape.

The events she’s had to go through have already weakened her enough but even with that put to the side she’s no match for this guy - he’s a lot stronger and bigger in size. He’s basically towering over her like a predator looming over its prey, toying with it before going in for the kill. And when he does, when she feels his lips on her neck, that’s the final straw.

The need to relieve her insides finally takes over and she starts gagging, causing the son of a bitch to pull away and let go of her. And then she throws up, all over him, earning her the perfect distraction that will buy her enough time to get the fuck out of there. Despite the shaking of her legs and her still-turning stomach, Michaela takes off running, feeling sweat drops forming and running down her forehead. She can hear the cursing of that gross fucker behind her, but luckily she doesn’t take notice of another pair of running footsteps, suggesting she isn’t being followed. Even with this knowledge, she doesn’t stop running. Her brain understands she’s somewhat safe but her heart is racing, her heartbeat echoing in her ears warning her that there’s danger all around. So, she keeps running until she’s less then two blocks away from her apartment complex. 

Her adrenaline levels refuse to lower but her legs have basically turned into jelly and she can’t find it in her to even keep walking, let alone running.  She collapses, a mess of tears, sobbing and fear on the sidewalk. It’s too much. All too much and all too soon and all out of nowhere. She feels violated, vulnerable, unsafe. She feels both fragile and like she’s already been broken into shards. She feels alone and worst part is, she feels like she deserves it. She sees what happened between those two truck as a punishment for having participated in a murder and the gruesome disposal of a dead body.

Michaela Pratt always knew karma would catch up to her, she just never expected it’d be this cruel. 

She got taught the hard way that in the darkest of nights, the most evil of demons attack.

                                                                *  *  *

Connor Walsh is known to be laid back and nonchalant to the point of irritative. However, right now, he’s anything but.

He’s anxious, he’s nervous, he’s still under shock and in mild panic mode. He’s restless, pacing the living room of the Keating home while running his hands through his hair, desperately trying to ignore and push away the memories of the events that took place in this very room less than twenty four hours ago. 

“Where the hell is she?!!“ He takes a portion of his anger out on the wooden coffee table with a punch that will for sure bruise his knuckles. His eyes skim over the two other accomplices who have never looked so out of it: dead, bloodshot eyes carrying a thousand yard stare, neither of them reacting to his rage nor sharing it with him. “How the fuck are you so calm?! How can you just sit there and-!“

“Cause there’s nothing we can do!“ Wes suddenly snaps, “You heard Annalise - she called in, saying she wouldn’t be able to make it. So what, you want us to exhibit even more suspicious behavior by thrashing and yelling all over the place?“

“No, no, no. She had said she couldn’t make it because she had something to take care of. That ‘something’ could be reporting us, how do you not understand that?!“ Connor lashes out again, his fists only tightening this time, not finding a victim to take their hits.

“Michaela wouldn’t do that, she’s not stupid. It’ll immediately tie her to it too. She’ll go to jail like the rest of us.“ Laurel says, much calmer than the two men in the room though it probably has to do with the lack of energy due to the lack of sleep.

“You never know what’s going on in the brain of that selfish woman!“ He mutters, suddenly getting up and grabbing his phone. He storms out into the hallway, already dialing Michaela’s number.

With the device pressed tightly against his ear, the dial tone piercing his head like a screech straight from hell, he runs a frustrated hand over his pale as a sheet face, squeezing his eyes shut. The call eventually goes to voicemail, but that doesn’t stop Connor Walsh. He keeps trying, each attempt falling through, each call getting sent to voicemail after about five rings. Each time his anger boiling hotter.

“The hell do you want?! Can’t you catch a hint?!“ His seventh attempt is proven successful when a familiar female voices answers from the other line.

“Oh, I’m sorry, Princess. Am I bothering you? My most sincere apologies! I just wanted to know if you feel like ratting us out to the police, but if I’m calling at an inconvenient time, please forgive me.“ He sneers, his sanity restraints breaking one by one under the pressure of frustration, fear and the anxiety attack that’s been building in his chest all day today.

“Listen here, Walsh.“ Michaela hisses threateningly, though Conner doesn’t fail to pick up on the fact that there’s something off about her voice. He doesn’t dwell on that, too over-occupied with his worries of future jail time to care. “I’m not in the mood for your selfishness or for dealing with any of what happened last night so save your shit-talking for a more decent time. And as for the ratting part, I ain’t that kind of scum, though karma will catch up to each and every one of you. Just like...“ her voice suddenly cracks, the words sounding more like a sob than a threat, “Just like it caught up to me last night.“ That sentence is spoken through a cry, which is the last thing Connor was expecting to hear from the woman he deemed so high and mighty and so full of herself she can’t see the world around her nor how she’s affecting it with her selfish decisions.

That last sentence of hers is what the call ends on and what anchors itself in his head. Connor’s left standing in the hallway with a sickening feeling in his stomach that wasn’t there before and a little voice telling him that something is very wrong with Michaela. Her words were all her trademark, expected and explainable phrases but her tone, and that final statement were odd and far too out of place for him to just brush off. That last line she spoke felt like the most sincere and vulnerable thing she’s ever said to him. To anyone, really. There was no show, no tough act in those words. It was nothing but the confession of a broken girl who’s never felt like her life isn’t her own until now.

With that alarm ringing throughout his head and no good explanation, instead of turning and heading into the living room like he originally intended to, Connor storms out the front door of the home with fast and determined steps, heading for the destination he never thought he’d go to.

                                                              *  *  *

Having ordered food twenty minutes prior, Michaela doesn’t find the doorbell sounding throughout her apartment to be weird or unwelcome despite the fact it made her jump and shudder in her seat. With the comfort of the tiny pepper spray bottle in the back pocket of her jeans, she makes her way to the front door, resting one hand on the handle before pushing up on her toes to check through the peephole that the person she’s expecting is indeed the one who’s on the other side.

Her stomach drops and frustration rises through the roof when the peephole reveals the familiar, somewhat distressed face of Connor Walsh.

“GO AWAY!“ She yells turning and placing her back against the door, now not at all willing to open it.

“I’m not going anywhere until you tell me what’s going on with you!“ She hears his voice coming from beyond the door, sounding strangely honest and deeply concerned.

“Why do you care anyway?! I already told you I won’t rat you out, you’ve got nothing to worry about!“ The lack of hostility in her voice seems to encourage Connor to speak a bit more freely.

“Come on, Shooting Star. Students who kill and dispose of bodies together share problems together.“ He says sarcastically but with true gentility behind his words.

That hint of honesty and a bit of harmless humor is what makes her slowly inch her hand toward the doorknob once again. After briefly hesitating, she pulls the door open, not at all bothered by the fact her rival is seeing her the most unpresentable she ever remembers being: hair a mess, homey clothes she can’t even recall the age of, no make-up, eye bags - the whole pack.

“Don’t like a Princess or a Shooting Star, do I?“ She attempts the same amount of humor he used but coming from her it sounds rather dead and flat, not that it’s not to be expected after everything she went through.

“You look like someone who has seen and been through some shit.“ He says truthfully, still standing in the hallway, unwilling to go inside until she gives him the green light for fear she might suddenly snap at him. “And I’m not only talking about what happened with Sam.“

Michaela’s eyes gloss over with tears immediately, mentally cursing herself for being so obvious. In order to avoid eye-contact, she steps aside to allow him inside.

“Thank you.“ He mutters as he makes his way past her and down the hall, arrogantly comfortable in the new surroundings.

By the time Michaela has started regretting her decision of letting him in, she realizes it’s already too late so she shuts and relocks the door before following after him in the living room where she finds him already situated in the armchair like it’s his 100th time visiting. Hell, like he owns the place.

She takes the seat on the couch closest to him, not bothering to offer him any hospitality in the form of drinks and snacks. Such offer feels ridiculous under these circumstances.  Speaking of ridiculous, the circumstances themselves are ridiculous - her biggest rival, and now one of her partners in crime is chilling in her living room with a smug look on his face.

“Karma’s gonna catch up to me, huh?“ He suddenly speaks up, reminding her yet again of how bad of an idea inviting him in was. “Yours caught up to you, you say. Though to me it seems like it beat and battered you too.“

Michaela’s never been a crier. In fact, she’s guilty of silently judging people she’s witnessed crying, thinking of them as weak and spineless. But here she is, fighting back tears at the memories she’d much rather forget.

“It did, but it had the opposite effect. I’m glad we ridded this world of a piece of scum like him. One less man who feels entitled to everything. Who feel free to take anything he wants anytime.“ Her throat feels dry as her eyes fill with tears despite her best attempts at holding them back, “Take a girl’s virginity, take her dignity, her safety, her life, take everything away from her. And all that when she’s most vulnerable and scared and helpless and...“

Her words come to an abrupt halt when she finds Connor has repositioned himself and is now sitting next to her on the couch, has turned to face her and has placed a reluctant hand on her shoulder, “Michaela, what happened to you?”

That’s when she breaks down for the fifth time today. Since that breakdown on the sidewalk on her way home, she’s found it infinitely harder to hold her tears back, keep her emotions at bay. So, instead of easting her energy holding back, she’s been wasting it sobbing into the comforter she had wrapped around herself like a safety cocoon until Connor rang the doorbell.

Instinctively more than intentionally, Connor wraps his arm around her shoulders as she tries to get a few words out in-between sobs, “This guy....h-he t-tried to....” she can’t even finish the sentence without the entire scene playing out in front of her eyes, causing her stomach to tighten and her sobs to grow louder. “But, I-I got away in time. But Connor, what if I d-didn’t? Oh God, what would’ve happened to me if I didn’t?”

“It’s ok, you’re ok now. You’re safe.“ He murmurs, pulling her closer until her head’s resting on his shoulder, “You’re ok. And don’t you ever think of it as karma, you hear me? You didn’t deserve that. No one deserves that. That was in no way your fault or your punishment. That guy’s gonna meet his punishment if I ever lay my eyes on him though, that’s for sure.“

“I-I didn’t see his face, i-it was too dark.“ She manages to say through the subsided sobbing that has now reduced to crying with the occasional sniffle. “I just heard his voice.” Despite having calmed down, she surprisingly doesn’t feel the need to pull away from Connor, create some distance between them. She doesn’t even dwell on how out of character this is for the both of them, nor does she dwell on the slightly off-putting thought that she’s actually glad to have him by her side. To have someone comforting and reassuring her that what happened is not a result of her own bad actions. That thought haunted her all night, preventing her from even thinking about falling asleep.

“Well, if you ever recognize his voice anywhere, you know you have three experienced killers and dismemberers you can contact to, you know, do the job.“ He says comfortingly, his tone light but still serious.

She can’t help but scoff, “One kill and you’re suddenly hitmen?”

Connor chuckles, “When someone messes with one of our own, we sure as hell are.”

That sentence feels like a bandage on one of Michaela’s many invisible wounds. That one of our own line fills that hole her loneliness drilled into her last night on that sidewalk when she felt so lost and alone and broken. When she felt she had no one to turn to and no one to seek comfort in. 

Among the many things she saw, heard and learned, the most valuable lesson these past twenty four hours have taught Michaela is that after the darkest of nights still comes morning. A bright morning, a new beginning and a helping hand with it. A helping hand, a safe embrace and comforting words. Bonus lesson is that one can never guess where, or rather from who those three elements will be given. These two are a crystal clear example: never did Michaela think she’d find a helping hand, safe embrace and comforting words coming from Connor Walsh. But here they are.

It may be odd and it may be temporary, but she’s not complaining, he doesn’t appear to be doing so either.

[tearsincerulean]

It Was Always You

Summary:​ ​Y/n met the Winchester brothers a little over a year ago and has been riding with them since. But when complicated feelings arise, what will happen during their time together?

Pairing:​ ​Dean x Reader

Series Warnings:​ ​slow burn​, ​fluff, smut, angst, blood, violence, torture, fighting, individual kinks. Specific warnings before each chapter.

Chapter Warnings: ​slow burn, fluff, (female) masturbation, teasing

Word Count: 2,338

Chapter 2:

Even though Sam wanted to hit the bar right away you all needed to shower and change, and you, being the lightweight you are, needed some food in your system before you could even think about drinking and Dean didn’t protest. So, Sam took the first shower and Dean went after. Once they were both dressed and ready to go grab some grub, you hurried towards the bathroom that way you would be done and getting ready by the time they made it back.

You hear the motel door shut and then the roar of the Impala coming to life and slowly fading out, which means the boys finally left for food.You stripped off and stepped into the hot stream of water and let it clean and relax you. As you were washing your hair, you let your mind begin to wander, remembering what occurred in Baby early, the things Dean said, what he did, and how he made you feel. This snowballed into dirtier thoughts and images you have used for your pleasure on more than one occasion, I mean its hard not to think about a Winchester like that when you spend every waking second together. You begin to feel the familiar heat between your legs that had you squirming in the Impala, only this time, you don’t stop it, you welcome it. The boys know you like to take long showers, so you know you have at least another 30 minutes until they decide to head back your way, giving you the perfect opportunity to get yourself off after being so wound up the last few hours.

You close your eyes and let the hot water cascade down your clean hair and body, slowly snaking your hand between your legs and lazily rubbing your clit. You were already wet from your little daydream a minute ago, so you decide to stick with it. Eyes closed you imagine that your hand is Dean’s slowly playing with your clit, tracing small intricate circles over your sensitive bud. You imagine him standing behind you, his scruff tickling your neck and igniting every nerve in your body while he whispers all the dirty things he wants to do to you in your ear. While he continued to drive you higher and higher by circling your clit, he would use his other hand to play with your nipples, pinching, rolling, and squeezing them perfectly.

You are starting to pant now, your hand moving faster imagining the dirties images of Dean you could muster. Small moans croak out of you, the water masking the sound of what you are

doing should the boys come home early, as the knot in your lower stomach gets tighter and tighter. You circle your clit faster, imagining Dean encouraging you while his fingers work you over and make you shake. Then right when you feel like the knot is going to snap, you use your other hand to insert first one then two fingers inside of you, imagining Dean doing the same while moaning into your ear and telling you how tight you are, how warm you are, and how wet you are. You continue to finger yourself, harder and faster, while circling your clit, and as the pressure comes to an unbearable point, you imagine Dean saying “let go sweetheart, come for me”. And you do, hard. So hard, that you choke out his name while moaning and shaking and damn near blacking out. You’re glad the boys decided to go on the food run right about now, because even though you are pretty sure the water covered up any sounds you made, you’re still worried that someone could’ve heard you.

After you’ve come down from your high, you rinse off making sure to get any remnants of soap out of your hair and off of your body then you begin to shave and right as your finishing up, you hear the roar of the impala pulling back into the parking lot. You jump out of the shower and dry off, then you wrap your hair up into a towel. You quickly throw some lotion all over your body and slap some concealer and blush under your eyes and onto your cheeks finishing up with a coat of mascara to your long natural lashes. You can hear Sam and Dean’s muffled voices talking in the main room so you look for your clothes so you can hurry out to eat....but there are no clothes. In your haste to get to the bathroom and your clouded brain from the thoughts of the car ride and hunt, you must’ve forgotten to bring your clothes in with you. You unwrap the towel from your hair and wrap it around your body, mentally preparing yourself to walk out damn near naked in front of both Winchesters. You gingerly open the door and peek out, both the boys seemed to be distracted by their food and whatever they were talking about so you walk out of the bathroom, wet hair cascading down your back and the tiniest motel towel barely covering your modesty.

Unfortunately for you, your bag was by the bed nearest the door, and nearest the boys sitting at the table. It was Dean’s turn for a bed to himself which meant you were sleeping with Sammy tonight. You guys switch it up every night so that everyone has a chance for a bed to themselves and a great nights sleep. You saunter over to your and Sam’s shared bed and start digging through your bag to find the outfit you would wear out tonight, the boy’s still seemingly oblivious to your presence. You pull out a pair of black, high waisted, lacy, cheekster panties and a lacy black bralette to match. Then you pull out a black denim, high waisted skirt and a cream sweater that hangs off one of your shoulders showing the perfect amount of the bralette hidden underneath. You plan to top of the look with a pair of over the knee black boots. You gather the pile of clothes in your arms and turn to walk back to the bathroom to change.

It was then you realized that the conversation the boys were having when you first walked out was no longer filling the air. Instead, both brothers had their eyes trained on you. You look at Dean, who you catch wetting and then biting his plump lower lip while shamelessly looking you up and down. By the looks of it, his breathing is much shallower than usual but he doesn’t say

anything and neither do you. Sam, who was also staring at your mostly naked form, breaks the awkward silence for everyone.

“I got you you’re favorite. Double cheeseburger with only pickles and ketchup, some fries, and a coke. Once we are done eating we figured we would head to the bar down the road. Sound good?” You couldn’t help but notice that even though Sam was talking to you he was still staring at your body but he soon snapped out of it and went back to eating his salad. At the same time, out of the corner of your eye, you see Dean fidget in his seat, much like you were doing in baby earlier causing a familiar warmth to grow in your stomach.

“Sounds good Sammy, I’m gonna change and dry my hair a bit then I’ll eat and we can head out.” You say while fighting the rush of blood creeping up to your cheeks and the heat pooling in your legs. You can count on one of your hands the number of times you’ve been this exposed in front of the brothers and it’s usually because they had to clean up some of your wounds. On the one or two occasions something like this has happened in the past, Sam almost always had the same reaction... he eyes your body but then quickly diverts his gaze and goes back to doing whatever it was before you distracted him. Dean on the other hand would normally try to avoid eye contact at all costs, he would maybe sneak a glance or two in to check you out, but it seemed like his eyes normally avoided you like the black plague.

This time was different though. He didn’t stop, he watched every single move you made and even when you both made eye contact he wouldn’t look away. That glimmer of hope that keeps trying to fight to the surface of your mind pops up once again and this time, you don’t fight it or push it away. Instead you welcome it and decide right then and there that you were going to push the limits tonight and see how Dean would react. Looking back down at the bundle of clothes in your arms you are suddenly proud of the outfit you put together, realizing just how sexy you will look in it, maybe even sexy enough to elicit a bigger reaction from the oldest Winchester.

With this new found confidence brewing in you, you decide to wait to get dressed and instead you sit down in between the two boys and start eating your food. It was quiet for a few minutes. With Dean not taking his eyes off of your glistening body and Sam shooting him glances across the table. All the while, you hid your smug smile by taking small bites of your food or sips of your drink. You eventually broke the silence, turning directly towards Sam, your cleavage jiggling a bit as you moved, and asking “So, I just have to dry my hair and change and I’ll be ready. Is that good with you guys?” Sam choked out a small “Yeah, good for me” while desperately trying to look anywhere but your breasts that are now struggling to stay in the towel.

You stand to leave, and just as you do a thought crosses your mind. Before you get a few steps away from the table you turn and bend over slightly to pick up the drink you so conveniently left sitting right next to Dean. If Sam thought he was getting a show earlier, then Dean was getting a double feature. You literally had to hold on to the towel as you bent because your breasts nearly spilled out of the towel at the abrupt movement. You pretended to be shy and quickly turned to

head back to the bathroom, but not before hearing Dean’s breath hitch and a string of low mumbled curses leave his mouth.

As you sauntered off, swaying your hips a bit more than usual knowing that Deans eyes were still locked on you and your plump ass the towel barelyyyyy covered, you heard Dean let out the faintest of moans and release the breath he was holding which were then followed by Sam quietly giggling and lightly punching his brothers arm to snap him out of the trance you had put him in.

Slipping into the bathroom, you look into the mirror to see a devious smile plastered across your face. The blood finally rushes to your cheeks, a mixture of butterflies and heat pool in your stomach. You now have a plan, albeit not a well thought out one, but it was enough. You quickly dry your now damp hair until it is shiny, smooth, and mostly straight with a few natural waves framing your face and cascading down your back. Finally, you slip into your outfit, taking a moment to eye your figure in the black lingerie before getting fully dressed, and damn did it hug your curves just right. As you zip up your boots you take one last look at the full outfit. It was much better than what you had pictured in your head, and not only did you look sexy, but you also felt sexy too. You threw in some large hoop earrings and touched up the light makeup you threw on by adding lipgloss and some eyeshadow to complete the look you were now trying to achieve.

Both boys had their backs to you as they finished throwing on their jackets and boots. Sam was the first to turn around, “Uh..um.. Wow! Y/N, you look... um wow...” You shyly brushed a stray strand of hair behind your ear. “Thanks Sammy, it’s nothing really, just thought I should get out of my standard jeans and sweater or jeans and shirt style for a night.” “Well, it looks great Y/N, and not that I don’t like what you normally wear, but this...it suits you. You should wear it more often.” You give Sam a shy smile and look down at your boots while you blush for what feels like the thousands time today. You look over towards Dean who looks upset for whatever reason but as soon as your eyes meet his, he flashes his bright smile and the skin around his eyes crinkles in the cutest way. Now you are really blushing and smiling like an idiot.

“Yeah Sweetheart, I agree with Sammy. I mean I ​love t​ he cute, girl next door look, but damn, you look ... mhmm” He finishes the last part with a small moan and a subtle bite of his lip while his eyes roamed your body and the exposed skin. Heat rushes to your core and your cheeks are flaming hot. You wanted the attention, but damn, this isn’t what you expected. Maybe this wasn’t the best plan, maybe you should’ve thought it out a bit more. Your confidence is fading a bit, but it’s too late now, so you straighten up, plaster a smile across your face showing off your one dimple and follow Sam and Dean out the door to enjoy your first night off in some time. All the while pondering how this night is going to end, and how much alcohol you are going to need to fuel your confidence and tame the butterflies and heat mixing in your stomach.

To be continued...

Part 1:

[sweetwritertanya]

Take Care

Summary: You are incredibly stressed due to exam season, but your boyfriend Namjoon comes over with plans to help you through it.

Warnings: None, just fluff! There is a bit of body touching, but nothing major.

Requested: YES! I am SO SORRY it took this long to write it. I went through a few days of feeling uninspired and then I had writer’s block. I struggled for a bit, but I managed to write this today. I truly, honestly hope you enjoy it and forgive me for making you wait!

Word Count: 1671

Your index finger flipped through the remaining pages on the book you were studying, insistently and rhythmically, unconsciously making your anxiety rise at the amount of pages still left to read. And the exam was in less than two days.

The twist at the top of your stomach pulled tighter and you swallowed hard, feeling as if you were about to throw up. Exam season always took your anxiety levels to the extreme, it was the absolute worst time of your life. The hours upon hours of studying, the feeling that nothing really stuck to your brain, that you were completely unprepared, the tight constant squeeze of your heart during this time, the lack of sleep due to the stress.

You screamed and felt like crying when you realize that you have been reading the same paragraph for about fifteen minutes now. Rubbing your eyes with the back of your hand, you take deep breaths and allow yourself some time to pull yourself together.

“Maybe you should take a break.”

The sudden unexpected voice makes you jump in your chair that squeals under your weight when you turn and see your boyfriend casually laying in your bed, one of your books in his hand and phone on top of the sheets next to him.

“Namjoon! What…? When did you get here?” Your tired brain was foggy and it was an effort to even talk, but his mere presence raised up your spirits just a bit.

“About half an hour ago. I tried ringing you, but you didn’t pick up. I used the key you gave me for emergencies, hope you don’t mind.” He actually looked guilty about that, his strong eyebrows pulling with concern on his tall forehead. You immediately shook your head to reassure him.

“Not at all. I turned my phone to silent so I could study, sorry… But I thought you were busy preparing for a big project next month?”

“Ended it today. I have a few days off so I came here.” He sat up straight in your bed, feet coming down to the floor and a big smile spreading on his thick lips, cute dimples showing up. “Wanted to spend some time with you. Can I stay over the next few days? I really missed you.”

Your eyes glassed over and you hid them behind your fingers as the tears overlapped and eventually cascaded down your cheeks. A heavy weight pushed down on your heart and your face and neck heated up as you sniffled.

“W-Why now?” you complained in between sobs, more to yourself than anyone else. “W-Why do y-you have time off now? I’m in the m-middle of my exams…”

“Hey, hey, Y/N, shh…” You feel your chair being pulled and the wheels roll across the floor until it ends up against the bed, in between Namjoon’s long legs as he pulls your wrists down and he himself cleans the tears staining your blushing puffy cheeks. “I actually think this is the perfect time. That way I can take care of you. Your mom told me you often get too caught up with your studies and forget to eat properly.”

You frown and look up at his small eyes at that, confused.

“You talk with my mom?” you question, surprised.

“Of course. Now, how about you take a break? I’ll make you dinner!” he excitedly proposes.

“You don’t know how to cook, Joon” you remind him.

He seems to ponder that and nods his head in agreement.

“True. I’ll buy you something good for dinner! What do you want to eat?”

“I’m not really hungry…”

He hisses and pinches your cheeks harshly at that, making you scrunch up your face at the slight pain. You irritably stare at him, but he is staring back a lot more vexed.

“You have to eat. You always lose weight during this time” he seriously accuses.

“I could use losing some pounds, actually…” you jokingly counter back, but Namjoon was not even the slightest amused.

“Y/N, stop it” he warns. Having had a conversation regarding your insecurities when it came to your physical appearance before, and he insisting that you were beautiful and size was just a number, not related with beauty at all, he did not take lightly your self-deprecating jokes at all, contrary to most of your friends.

“I have to study, Namjoon” you pouted, sounding reluctant even to your own ears.

“Forcing yourself to continue when you’re this tired won’t help. Your brain won’t assimilate anything, you’re just wasting energy” he explained, hands falling down to encircle your own on top of your lap, dark chocolate eyes focused on yours.

“I feel guilty if I don’t study. All my classmates study up until late hours in the night.”

“That’s what they say. And who cares? Everyone works different. You’ve been studying since early morning right? It’s time for a break.”

You huff and lean back in your chair, defeated.

“Fine. But I still don’t feel hungry yet” you inform.

“We’ll buy some time until you do, then” he smirks as he says.

And before you could ask how, his strong arms are wrapping around your waist and you are pulled out of your chair and into his lap. Your bulgy legs automatically move to either side of his waist, knees landing on the soft mattress, as your arms fall around his shoulders. A soft sigh escapes you at the first contact of his mouth on yours.

The slowest of frictions melts away the tension of your muscles. Thick silky lips rub unhurried yours, languid movements that steal your breath away with the care and love behind them. Namjoon’s hands are spread against the flesh at your lower back as he keeps you in place, respirations mingling together as he leans his head to the other side and his nose rubs against yours before pressing down your cheek when the kiss deepens.

Mouths parting to taste one another, the knot in your stomach disappears to give place to the feeling of butterflies flapping around inside, heavy stressed heart lifting with exciting flutters that have it singing happily in your chest. Your brain shuts off any worries, any input unrelated to the man holding your firmly against his chest, the lovely musky scent of him, the prickling of your skin as his hands squeezed lovingly at your love handles.

Suddenly, Namjoon grasps the back of your neck to keep your lips on top of his as he leans back in the single bed and rests his head on your pillow, your scrumptious body now fully fledged on top of his.

“Nam-Namjoon” you try to call even as he eats your words away. “I’m heavy.”

“You’re perfect” he simply debuted, persistent lips firmly tugging at yours.

Then, the hand that was still holding your meaty midriff slowly makes its way down and you yelp at the strong squeeze of your right butt cheek.

“Namjoon!” you admonish, raising your head to escape his distracting kisses.

“You love it” he accuses with a dimple smirk, doing it again at the same time his mouth now attaches itself to your neck, leaving small butterfly kisses that tickle your skin.

You giggle at the sensation and give in, because he was right. The sound of your laughing invigorates Namjoon and he proudly tickles you for the next few minutes, until you are out of breath and begging him to stop. You had switched positions in the middle of playing, you now laying on the small bed with Namjoon hovering above you, not really enough space for his tall frame to lay next to you comfortably. You look up at his smiling eyes and pull him down by the neck for one last short kiss.

“You really wanna stay here the next few days? I need to study and can’t give you my full attention. Plus, this bed is really small for both of us.”

“Yes, I told you, I want take care of you. Maybe I can help with your studies? I can ask you questions if you want. And this bed is the perfect size. We’ll have to sleep like this.”

To demonstrate, he pulls you into an embrace, one arm around your shoulder and another around your middle, as his back is against the wall and your body his tightly wrapped in his arms, legs tangled together. It was the only position in which both could stay in bed. You smile and look up at him.

“Namjoon?”

“Yeah, babe?”

“Let’s order Chinese.”

True to his words, Namjoon stays over the few days he has available and helps you the best he can. He brings you water and reminds you to keep hydrated, orders food for lunch and dinner, not tolerating you skipping any meals. When you asked, he helps you the day before the exam by making you questions that you thought could come up, allowing you to answer them out loud without aid from your notes. Every three consecutive hours of studying or so, he would pull you away from your books and distract you for twenty or thirty minutes at a time, kissing away your pent-up stress and worries.

It honestly amazes you how the time flew by and soon it was the day of your last exam. Namjoon had to go back to work the day before, but his words kept ringing in your ears and reminded you to take care of yourself. Your hands freeze as you write down the last word and the crushing weight that has been with you since the first exam lifts. Turning in your exam, you felt like flying.

Leaving the room, you sigh with relief and smile despite of yourself. It was finally over. And now, Namjoon was the one locked up in the studio working.

“Time to return the favor” you whisper to yourself.

You almost skip down the sidewalk as you make your way to take care of your boyfriend, just like he had taken care of you.

[fanficimagery]

After

Summary:  Imagine having your heart broken and none other than your best friend comes to the rescue. Old feelings emerge and you're stuck facing the fact that you were never really over Peter Parker.

Words: 6.1K Warnings: Spoilers for the movie 'After' on Netflix. If you plan on watching that movie, do not read this. Trust me. The big twist in the movie is what I'm using here to kick start things off.

He lied.

He lied and they all knew.

Your mind keeps playing over the last half hour, uncaring that you've been walking in the pouring rain for just as long. Your heart is completely shattered and your stomach is in knots over how stupid you'd been. And since your thoughts are all over the place, you don't second guess yourself when you plop down on a random bench in the middle of a park. A sob escapes your mouth, then another and you angle your face towards the sky to let the rain wash away your tears.

You don't know how long you've been sitting in the rain, all cried out, but eventually you start to shiver. You're completely soaked through and you're pretty sure the phone in your pocket is no good. And given that your roommate was one of the several who'd betrayed you and you pushed away all your own friends when you were in love, there's not exactly anywhere you can go.

The only thing you can do is hope to find a hotel room just for the night, but even then you're not sure how much money is in your bank account. So with your only plan crumbling before it could fully form, you pull yourself to your feet and make up your mind to find some sort of shelter for the night.

You haven't even taken seven steps when a familiar voice freezes you in your place. "Y/N? Are you okay?"

Hesitantly turning around, you self consciously cross your arms over your chest right before you spot Spiderman who's clinging to the side of a light pole. "Hey, Pet- uh, Spiderman. H-How are you?" Your shivering makes you stammer and you clamp your teeth to keep them from chattering.

"I'm good," he answers, his head tilting in curiosity. "What are you doing out in the rain, Y/N?"

"Oh. You know, just enjoying the-"

"Y/N."

You sigh, your arms dropping. "I don't want to talk about it."

"Go back to your dorm. Your immune system sucks. Always has."

"I.. I can't."

"Why?"

"I don't-"

"-wanna talk about it," Peter sighs. "I figured." He drops from the pole, water splashing beneath his feet as he closes the distance between the two of you. You tense, but he stops just shy of touching you and you refuse to look up and meet his gaze. "Climb on. It'll be like old times," he finally says. "We'll stay at May's and then I'll swing you by your dorm in the morning."

"I don't want to burden May with-"

"Y/N," Peter muses quietly. His hand reaches up to touch just beneath your chin and he angles your face so you're staring at his own mask covered face. "May loves you. She's always loved you," he tells you. "Now climb on. I can get us there quicker than you can run."

As he holds his arms out at his sides you stare at him in disbelief. For a moment your heartache disappears and you bark out a quick laugh. Memories from high school come flooding back- memories of Peter telling you about his superpowers and then he swinging you around the city when you needed to get out of your mind.

Peter continues to hold still, and with a fond eye roll you hook you right arm around his neck and slide your left arm under his own left arm to grasp onto your own hand behind his back. Then with a quick jump, Peter catches the back of your thighs as you hook your legs around his waist. "Yep. This is totally going to end well," you deadpan.

He chuckles. "Name one time that I've dropped you or I stumbled while carrying you?"

"Don't jinx it, Spiderman." You tuck your face into the side of his neck and when you feel Peter finally lift off the ground you tighten your hold on him.

Swinging through the city while soaking wet is possibly the dumbest idea you've ever had and the second you softly curse about the cold, Peter apologizes.

Then when the swinging stops you lift up your head and shakily unwind yourself from Peter. You see you're standing in front of his old apartment building and stare up at him in confusion. "I can't exactly be sneaky with a passenger going through a window," he says. "Walk up to May's and meet me there."

"O-Okay."

Entering the apartment building, you hesitate at the elevator before deciding to use the stairs. You glance at the door and see Peter waving at you before he's off, and then you make your way up to May's apartment- an apartment you spent nearly half your life visiting up until about a year ago.

When you get to the door, you've barely raised your hand to knock as it's being yanked open. Aunt May is as beautiful as you remember, round glasses perched on the bridge of her nose and long brown hair hanging passed her shoulders.

With a towel hanging off her shoulder, aunt May tugs you into her home. "Oh Y/N." She frowns as she pulls the towel off her shoulder to wrap around your own shoulders, attempting to soak up the water by furiously rubbing your arms up and down. "I have no idea what's going on, but I can see something clearly happened."

You smile sadly. "Peter warn you?"

"Hmm? Not really. He just threw a towel at me and told me to open the door. He got called away- said he'll be back as soon as he can and that you're spending the night with us."

"Of course," you sadly huff. Aunt May leads you towards the kitchen and you take a seat at her table. Wrapping the towel tighter around yourself, your swollen eyes follow May as she bustles around the kitchen. "And thanks. For putting up with me. I practically dropped off the face of the Earth, but you and Peter just took me right back in."

"You're family, Y/N. Everyone has rough patches or whatever going on, so everyone is allowed their space to find themselves."

Watching Aunt May prepare what looks to be hot chocolate, you nervously tap your thumb ring against the edge of the table. "I wasn't- I didn't.." you trail off, sighing. "I was stupid."

"You weren't stupid; you were in love, sweetheart." Your head snaps up and May grins at you while whisking the chocolate in its pan. "Peter moped when you weren't around. And when Peter mopes, he talks."

"Of course he did." You roll your eyes, but smile sheepishly nonetheless when she winks at you. "I missed him too if it's any consolation, but-"

"But college brings fresh faces and personalities, and you got distracted? It happens."

A fresh wave of tears make an appearance, but you keep on smiling as you wipe them away. "Xavier was everything I thought I wanted," you say, accepting the hot mug of chocolate from May as she sits across from you. "We met during a game of truth or dare where I was dared to make out with him, but.."

"But?" She asks, intrigued.

"I wasn't feeling it. I was still confused over my feelings for my best friend, so I kind of teased Xavier with an almost kiss before rejecting him and quitting the game. Little did I know," you say, smile wobbling and voice thickening, "they continued playing. He, uh, he made a bet that he could make me fall in love with him and then he'd just walk away from me as if it were no big deal."

"Oh Y/N," May coos in sympathy. As you choke down your sobs, she stands up and walks around the table to pull you up onto a hug. "I'm so sorry."

"Everyone knew but me. I pushed away everyone I knew and surrounded myself with him and his friends, and they knew! I only found out because his ex-whatever set us up and cornered him into telling me the truth. Only he didn't, so she showed me the video of that night from our truth or dare game. She had kept recording after I left and I saw everything I wasn't supposed to."

"Excuse my language, but he's a piece of shit. Her too since she did it maliciously." You snort and then after several long seconds you pull away. Wrapping the towel tighter around you again, May frowns as she looks you up and down. "You're skipping classes tomorrow. Peter too," she says. "And right now you're going to go take a hot shower while I find you some fresh clothes."

"May, you don't have to-"

"I know, but I want to. Now go. You know where the shower is. I'll leave the clothes on the toilet lid."

A refusal is on the tip of your tongue, but at her intense stare you can only nod in acceptance. Then taking a couple more sips of your hot chocolate, you set the mug in the sink before heading off towards the bathroom and immediately start the shower.

As the water heats up, you shut the door without latching it so May can walk in with the fresh clothes. Then stripping out of your own clothes and leaving it all in the sink as to not start a puddle on the floor, you shakily step in behind the curtain.

The hot water feels heavenly, the temperature on the verge of stinging, but you're still so cold that you continue to stand there until the chill in your bones goes away. Then and only then do you worry about washing your hair and body.

May had entered halfway through your shower, leaving the clothes on the toilet as promised and then locking the door behind her. You're able to dress in peace without worry that someone would be walking in on you- you only realizing after you're fully dressed that May had left you with nothing but Peter's clothes. Then comfortably dressed and rubbing the towel over your hair, you exit the bathroom only to find that May's made you some soup. You eat in relative silence, grateful that May doesn't attempt any form of small talk.

After you've eaten and have brushed your hair, May nudges you into Peter's room.

"Go on. I never got rid of the bunk beds since Peter still stays here more than his dorm."

"Thank you, May. For everything."

"It's not a problem, sweetheart. Goodnight."

"Night."

Peter's room is exactly as you remember it, but instead of trying to find any new additions you immediately pull back the covers to the bottom bunk and curl up underneath them. You try not to think about the night's earlier events, but they come rushing back no matter what.

As you're laying there, curled up, the bedroom window slides open. Peter crawls in and then drops from the ceiling, and you slightly uncurl yourself to watch him. "Out saving more damsels, Parker?"

He pulls off his mask, smiling, and then taps the spider in the middle of his chest so the rest of the suit loosens. "You were my last damsel." You've seen Peter shirtless more than a handful of times, but there's something far more intimate about him undressing with the only light source coming from the moon through his window. So the second the band of his briefs come into view, you pull the blanket up to your face to shield your eyes. Peter chuckles. "Mr. Stark just wanted to talk about our monthly game night. It's mandatory the team show up."

"Game night? You superheroes have game night?"

"Jealous?"

"Actually, yeah." As Peter climbs up onto the top bunk, you flop onto your back and pull the blanket off your face. Then staring up at the bottom of the top bunk, you sigh. "Remember when we were obsessed with charades? Ned was so competitive and I was a shitty artist."

Peter sighs. "I miss those days. Everything was so easy back then."

"Yeah. Then the real world got scary, we matured faster than we were supposed to, and I- I became an asshole."

"You're not an asshole, Y/N. You just followed your own path."

"What a sucky path that turned out to be."

There's a brief moment of silence and then, "What happened tonight? Why were you sitting alone in the rain?"

"I thought May would have told you by now."

"I called her, but she said this was something you had to tell me. She was upset by whatever it was."

Your bottom lip wobbles, but you quickly sink your teeth into it. Inhaling and then shakily exhaling, you tell him. "Remember Xavier? Remember how everyone told me he'd only break my heart?"

The bed frame creaks and you startle when you see Peter's upside down head from where he's leaning over the side of the top bunk. "Name the time and place. Spiderman will pay him a visit." You snort. "I'm serious, Y/N. Just say the word and-"

"And nothing. What's done is done." Peter refuses to lay back down, he choosing to continue staring at you from his upside down position. Sighing softly, you say, "If you really want to do something, then can you ever forgive me for being a shitty friend? That's all I ask."

"There was never anything to forgive." You lean up on your elbows, staring in surprise. Peter grins. "Now get some sleep. Tomorrow we're skipping classes and I'll swing you by your dorm to pick up a few changes of clothes. It's the weekend and we're staying with May."

"Fine."

True to May and Peter's words, they hadn't let you attend your morning classes the following morning. Instead you had slept in, then Peter woke you with promises of a hot breakfast courtesy of May herself. You had used Peter's laptop to email your Professors after lunch and since you were such an excellent student, your Professors had no problem emailing you the work you had missed. Then after your stomach had settled, Peter and May drove you back to your dorm.

Peter escorted you inside with his hands tucked deep into his pockets, and you avoided the stares you both garnered. By now everyone was bound to know about the end of your relationship with Xavier, so seeing you with Peter would most likely be the hottest gossip as soon as you were out of sight. Your roommate had been in the room when you'd opened the door, but she clammed up when she saw you weren't alone. She tried to pretend to read, but it was obvious she was staring as Peter helped you pack a bag.

You stay with Peter and May over the weekend, turning your phone off and ignoring anyone attempting to get a hold of you. And within that small time frame, you're reminded all over again how and why you fell for your best friend years ago.

You're dreading being back on campus, but you can't avoid it forever. Peter escorts you back to your dorm room and promises he's only a text or call away, and you enter your dorm to prepare yourself for the week to come.

Some of the friends you made while with Xavier are more than content to ignore your existence, but some actually express guilt for not speaking up. Your roommate, in particular, expresses extreme guilt. She corners you one day after classes and apologizes for not saying anything. She actually quite liked you and when Xavier first made his interests known, she thought you'd continue to deny him. But you didn't and the more time passed, the more she found herself at a loss of how to tell you what she knew. She didn't want you to hate her, but in the end that's exactly what happened. You accepted her apology, but there was no forgiving or forgetting. At least not yet.

The first week post-breakup then passes with relative ease, you only having to shut down Xavier a total of three times when he attempts to talk to you in order to explain himself. You don't care that he's sorry or that he claims he actually did fall in love with you. The start of your relationship was based off of a lie and he tried his best to keep you in the dark about it. In your books, there was no forgiving that.

The weekend is upon you once again and it seems like your roommate hasn't got plans of her own. The silence is awkward and the tension is palpable, and you almost audibly thank the Fates when there's a knock on the door. When your roommate doesn't immediately stand up to answer it, but instead frowns because she wasn't expecting anyone herself, you get up and yank the door open. Standing in the hallway, sheepishly, is Peter.

"Petey? What are you doing here?"

The bed behind you creaks and you know your roommate's interest has been piqued. Rolling your eyes, you meet Peter's amused expression as he tries not to peer over your shoulder. "It's game night. You're my partner."

"Uhh.."

"Come on, Y/N," he teases. "I told you about game night."

"Yeah, but you didn't say I was invited," you tell him, eyes slightly bulging. "Christ, Petey, your game night is at Stark Tower. A little warning would have been nice."

The gasp behind you goes ignored. "Too bad. Put on some shoes and grab your phone. Mr. Stark has a car waiting for us downstairs."

With a groan you turn around and do as Peter told you. You grab your dorm keys and phone, and pocket them, and then you shove your feet into a pair of shoes. Then without even acknowledging your roommate, you step out of the room while linking your arm with Peter's and shutting the door. Halfway down the hall, you say, "I hate you. You did that on purpose."

"Someone has to show them that you're better off."

You laugh. "You're terrible. Everyone I used to associate with will know where I'm headed within the next ten minutes." Peter only smirks in response and then when you get downstairs, sure enough there's a car waiting. You're expecting a normal driver, so you nearly choke on your tongue when Peter introduces you to Steve Rogers and he to you. "For fuck's sake, Petey," you hiss while punching his arm. "You can't just introduce me to people like this without notice."

From the driver's seat, Steve chuckles. "That'd be my fault. I volunteered to drive Peter at the last second."

"He still could have texted me," you grumble. Then scooting forward in your seat to reach up front, you offer your hand. "Hi. It's nice to meet you. I swear I have actual manners."

Steve smiles. "We've recently heard a lot about you."

"All good, I hope."

"Well," he teases, lips quirking.

"He's lying," Peter muses. "It's always good."

"Mhm." As you then settle back into the seat and buckle up, Peter grins from one seat over. "So what game is being played that you needed a partner for?" But before he can answer, your phone dings several times, back to back. You glance at the screen to see the message previews and roll your eyes, then angling your phone so Peter can read it. He huffs a laugh.

"What is it?" Steve wonders, glancing at the two of you in the rear view mirror.

"The ex," you tell him as you pocket your phone. "He's not too thrilled Peter picked me up from my dorm."

"He's also not too thrilled that Y/N apparently parties with Avengers now." Steve raises an eyebrow at him through the mirror and Peter shrugs. "I might have name dropped Tony before we left."

Steve fondly shakes his head. "Well if you don't mind me asking, how recent is this ex if he's upset that Peter picked you up?"

"We broke up a couple weeks ago."

"Mutual breakup?" You meet Steve's gaze in the mirror, and smiling sadly you shake your ahead. When you avert your gaze, Steve takes the hint and changes the topic. "So tonight's game will be easy if you've watched a lot of movies growing up. The game will only work in your favor if your partner is or near the same age as you because JARVIS uses an algorithm to determine which movies to pick for each couple based on their ages."

"Watched a lot of movies?" You ask. Glancing at Peter, you slowly smile. "Movie quotes?"

"Movie quotes."

"Yes!" You cheer. Looking back at the rear view mirror, you explain for Steve when you catch his curious gaze. "My family and I, we watched a lot of movies. And then when we moved next door to Peter and aunt May, he got dragged into our movie nights as well. It first started off with music. If my mom heard a song, she'd glance around and ask 'what movie?' and we had to guess which movie we heard that song in."

"Then after Mrs. Y/L/N passed away, Y/N's brother took up the game, but with movie quotes instead."

"So basically you're going to be the team to beat."

"Damn right we are." You and Peter share a knowing smirk, and you know tonight is going to be fun.

- - - - - - - - - -

Being introduced to full-fledged superheroes is a bit surreal, but you're only starstruck for a few minutes before you start to see them as normal people. Especially when Clint and Bucky start a mini food fight with the popcorn.

You can see the others take a shine to you when you loosen up around them, and you find that their gazes never stray too far from you and Peter. But eventually you wander off and it doesn't take the girls long to corner you in the kitchen for some girl talk.

"So you and Peter, huh?" Natasha muses. "That's adorable."

You can't help the blush that blossoms as you grab a water from the refrigerator. "Petey's my best friend."

"A best friend that you're in love with," Wanda says, slowly grinning.

"I-"

"Nat. Wanda, leave her alone," Pepper says. "Peter said to make Y/N feel welcomed, not interrogate her."

"It's okay," you chuckle. "If anyone is gonna interrogate me about the Peter situation, I rather it be you than May. She's too close to us and it's weird."

"Good." Wanda leans her elbows on the kitchen island, setting her chin in her right palm. "So what's going on? That boy has been awfully cheerful these past few weeks and you're all he seems to want to talk about."

Fiddling with the cap of your water, you grin bashfully. "I.. honestly don't know. Peter and I have been best friends for as long as I can remember, but then feelings got mixed in and we were in an awkward stage. College happened and I- I got distracted by the bad boy."

"What happened with that, if you don't mind me asking," Pepper wonders. "Tony had called Peter over one night and he was in a hurry to get back to you. He kept mentioning finding you in the rain and he didn't know what was going on, only that he had never seen you like that before."

Your smile briefly falters and you glance back towards the sitting area where the boys are still poking fun at one another. Then looking back at the girls, you tell them. "I started dating this guy. I guess you could call it puppy love or whatever, and in the process I sort of cut ties with everyone and put all my focus into my relationship." You sigh, shaking your head at your own stupidity. "I fell in love and I thought he fell in love too, but it turned out that our relationship was based off of a bet. He bet his friends that he could get me to fall in love with him, and when I did then he'd drop me without even batting an eye."

The girls are quiet and when you chance a look at each of them, you see the anger written in their expressions.

"So he broke up with you," Natasha says calmly. Too calmly.

"Not exactly. I think he might have fallen in love too, so he tried to keep me from finding out about the bet. But one of his ex flings got jealous and showed me the video of him making the bet, and I walked out on him. Especially since it turned out that all my new friends knew about the bet, but didn't think to inform me about it. They watched me make a fool of myself."

"Well that's his loss," Wanda says. "I, for one, am glad you reconnected with Peter."

"Thanks. I am too."

Wanda suddenly gets called back into the sitting room by Clint, so she smiles before leaving the kitchen. Pepper moves to leave too and as she passes she squeezes your shoulder. You and Natasha are left, and the red head sidles up to you. "If you ever need help pissing off the ex, I'll gladly help."

Chuckling fondly, you grin. "Yeah? Spider-Man's offered to kick his ass, so we'll see." Natasha smiles ferally at that. "But in all honesty, I just wish he'd stop trying to contact me. I literally have about 60 messages from him since Peter picked me up from my dorm. It didn't take long for my roommate to tell everyone she could about who picked me up."

"I can remedy that right away. Just say the word."

But before you can give her the go ahead, Tony barks at you and her to get in your seats because the game was about to start. The teams have started to pair off- Tony and Pepper, Steve and Bucky, Sam and Wanda- and Clint and Peter are left waiting for their partners.

Settling down next to Peter, he quietly asks if you're okay. You nod and sip your water, and hook your arm through his as you listen to Tony's instructions. You've basically played this game growing up, only this time it is a little different. One member of the team will be reading quotes taken from a specific movie off a Stark tablet while the other guesses what movie it's from. Everyone has a minute to guess as many movies as they can.

The two arrogant Tony and Sam argue over who's going first with Tony winning the honors.

Pepper reads the quotes while Tony guesses the movie, and in their minute they manage to guess eight movies. In Tony's book, he and Pepper have already got the game won. You and Peter boo him, and throw popcorn which he manages to bat away as Sam then volunteers his team. Wanda then reads the quotes to Sam, but they only manage an abysmal five movies. Tony cackles.

Clint guesses as Natasha reads the quotes and Clint correctly guesses his ninth movie just as the last second ticks away. Clint whoops in victory as Tony groans in defeat.

Steve and Bucky manage to do worse than Sam and Wanda, the two super-soldiers only guessing three movies much to everyone's amusement. Steve sheepishly accepted defeat whereas Bucky vowed to make Stevie watch more movies in their off time.

It's finally yours and Peter's turn, and you do your best not to pre-gloat. You and Peter have got this easily. You can feel it in your bones.

"So who's reading and who's guessing?"

"Reading," Peter says, raising his hand.

"Guessing," you then grin.

As Peter quickly reads through the list of movies JARVIS has compiled for him, he smirks. Everyone takes notice, especially Steve who nudges Bucky to keep an eye on the two of you, but Peter keeps mum until the ding resonates around the room to signify the start of your minute. "Nobody puts Baby in the corner."

Your eyes widen. You know this. "Dirty Dancing!"

"Boo, you whore!"

"Mean Girls!" You laugh. The others around you snort and laugh at that particular quote, especially since you guessed it right away.

"Michael Jackson didn't-" Peter pauses, laughing, but quickly gets himself under control. "Michael Jackson didn't come over to my house to use the bathroom. But his sister did!"

"The Goonies!" You stand up, heart pumping furiously as you shift from foot to foot. This game is your jam, but you can't help but feel anxious since there's a time limit.

"Maggots, Michael. You're eating maggots. How do they taste?"

"Oh. Oh! The Lost Boys!"

"How the hell is she doing this?" You hear Sam mutter.

"There's no crying in baseball!"

"A League of Their Own! That was my mom's favorite movie," you quickly explain when Tony's jaw drops at you knowing that particular movie.

"Mama always said life was like a box of choc-"

"Forrest Gump! Next," you say, flapping your hands to hurry him up.

"Toto, I've got a feel-"

"The Wizard of Oz!"

"Oh come on!" Clint mumbles. "These are so easy."

"I'm the ghost with the most, babe."

"Beetlejuice!"

"No more yankie my wankie. The Donger need food!"

Clint, Sam, and Bucky all laugh. "Sixteen Candles!" You laugh as well.

"You jump, I jump. Remember?"

"Um. Uh.." Your eyes widen. The name of the movie is right there in your mind, but you can't seem to spit it out. You know it, you've heard that quote over and over, but for some reason the title isn't coming forward. "Second quote. Hurry!"

Peter flicks something on the tablet. "I'm the king of the world!" He shouts.

"Oh! Titanic!"

Peter whoops and you sag in relief. "Ah! My head! The mega-bitch squashed my head!"

"Drop Dead Fred!"

"Ten seconds," Pepper muses.

Peter quickly scans the next quote, but instead of reading it off the tablet, he lets the tablet drop to his side. Then stepping up to you, he takes one of your hands within his as he says, "So it's not gonna be easy, it's gonna be really hard. And we're gonna have to work at this everyday, but I wanna do that because I want you. I want all of you, forever. You and me. Everyday."

Your heart practically stops. You know it's only a quote he's reading, but something about the way he said it feels different. "I-" Your voice cracks and the entire room goes quiet.

"Three seconds."

Pepper's voice snaps you and Peter out of the brief staring contest you had going on and the name of the movie rolls off your tongue. "The Notebook."

"Time!" Peter lets your hand drop before he steps back and you shakily breathe in and out, forcing a smile on your face as Wanda raises an eyebrow at you.

"Twelve movies," Clint says in awe. "How the hell did you know all of those? Some of those movies came out before you were even born."

"I watched a lot of movies growing up," you say, chuckling softly. "My family was really close and we bonded through movies. Sometimes my brother will randomly throw a movie quote at me and I'll guess the title without even missing a beat."

"Oh that's cool." Clint nods. "My brother tried to kill me once. Or twice."

Your eyes widen in surprise and Peter groans. "Clint, nooo."

"I'm.. sorry?" You then tell the archer, but he waves you off with a chuckle. Wanda and Natasha keep trying to wave you over to no doubt talk about the effect that last movie quote had on you, but your phone vibrating back to back to back draws your attention. You pull it from your pocket and read the slew of texts that had come in, and sigh heavily. "Hey Petey? Do you think aunt May would mind if I crashed at the apartment tonight?"

"No. Why?"

"Look." You show him the texts and he frowns. "Yeah. A weekend with aunt May is much more preferable than dealing with the ex who can't seem to take no for an answer."

"This is starting to become a bit disturbing, Y/N," he tells you. "I really think you should report him."

"Report him? Oohh, I smell drama. Tell me," Tony says as he sidles up to you. By now everyone seems to be paying a bit of attention so you give him a quick rundown of what's going down. By the end of it, Tony's frowning too. "I don't like it. Or him. Nat?" He then says, turning to find the red head and then snapping his fingers at her. "Take care of it."

You stare uneasily at the red head Avenger. "I normally wouldn't take such drastic measures, but well." You hand over your phone for her to read the texts herself. "What do you think I should do?"

Natasha skims the messages. "These go back weeks," she frowns. "This is definitely something that needs to be addressed with the correct authorities if you've told him multiple times to leave you alone."

"Okay."

"I'll make a few calls. I have some connections."

"Thank you." You tell her. "You can take screenshots if you need to and send them to your phone as proof or whatever. I don't mind." As Natasha takes a seat with your phone and gets to work, you turn back to Peter. He gestures to the side with his head and you follow him into the kitchen. "Is everything okay?"

"Yeah." He says, tucking his hands into the front pockets of his jeans. "I was just going to ask you that."

You smile tiredly. "I'm fine. I'm just so over Xavier not moving on. I mean I have. Why can't he?"

"Y-You've moved on?"

"Duh." You meet Peter's gaze, grinning. "Petey, when was the last time you saw me crying over him?"

"Uhh.."

"Exactly. It's been a while. I'm happy I'm not in a relationship anymore where I'm so obsessed with the guy that I left everyone else out in the cold. I forgot the people who were most important to me and I'm glad to finally have them back. I'm glad to have you back."

Peter bashfully smiles. "So, uh, is this a good time to talk about us since you're over Xavier?"

"Us?" You raise an eyebrow at him when he finally meets your gaze. "So I wasn't the only one who felt there was something more behind that last movie quote you said to me?"

He chuckles. "You made me watch that movie a million times. Once upon a time it was your favorite, so I thought I'd take a page out of Noah's book. You always did awe at that one quote."

"You're such a romantic, Peter Parker." You step closer to him, nudging him with your shoulder before standing nearly chest to chest with him. "It really boggles my mind that you're still single."

He shrugs. "They weren't you."

You practically beam at him before you close the short distance between the two of you, you grasping the front of his shirt before pulling him down into a kiss. It takes him a moment to realize what's happening, but when he does he's quick to pull his hands from his pockets and cradle your face in his palms.

"Oh thank god," you hear someone mumble. "If she hadn't kissed him after he had said that, I was going to."

You and Peter both laugh at the same time, you turning as Peter tucks you under his arm to see Sam, Bucky, and Clint watching you from the other side of the kitchen island as they casually toss popcorn into their mouths. Natasha and Wanda walk into the room then, Wanda slapping Sam upside the head while Natasha gets Bucky and Clint.

"As fun as this night has been," you say. "I think I should get going. I still need to call May to see if it really is okay that I spend the weekend at her place."

"Oh. Yeah. M-Me too." Peter agrees.

Natasha hands you your phone as you pass, smiling knowingly, and you tuck it back into your pocket as you shake your head at her in amusement. You're stepping around the kitchen island when the guys all coo as Peter hesitantly grabs your hand in his.

"They grow up so fast," Sam teases. And without missing a beat, Peter shoots webbing at Sam's hand when he reaches for a drink in front of him. He sighs. "Always knew I hated that kid."

[thdorkmagnet]

Little Starco Part 1

Happy Halloween Everyone!! Today I bring you all something new! This AU is based off of my favorite game in the world right now “Little Nightmares.” It is a super awesome horror game that I have been obsessed with for months and so I figured the best way to deal with my love of the franchise was to do what I always do: write Starco fanfiction! So yes this is all based off the video game but I did my best to make it understandable without having played the game. It was a challenge the game is full of mystery and a tense atmosphere, while also putting in some of my typical fluff so trying to match the style was not easy. Still I hope I succeeded and I hope you all enjoy!

Also as a fair warning, this is a horror game and while I don't have anything too bad in here I did push the T rating quite a bit for this one. So anyone who is easily frightened you've been warned. Please enjoy and have a great and spooky Halloween!

This will be a two-parter btw.

Disclaimer: Star vs and all its characters belong to Daron Nefcy and Disney. Little Nightmares belongs to Bandai Namco. All rights go to the respective owners.

Star awoke with a start, letting out a panicked gasp as she sat up quickly in fright. She took a few deep breaths as the initial fear slowly began to fade, leaving only the tense anxiety she normally carried with her. The only sound she could hear was the steady dripping of a nearby leak and the quiet creaking of the ship as it gently swayed back and forth. For as far back as Star could remember she had been having the same nightmare over and over again, every single night, being engulfed in a suppressing darkness that slowly faded to reveal a woman in a white mask. She would slowly turn around to face Star, but just before their eyes could meet, she would wake up. She didn't know what it meant (but then what else was new) but she had a feeling it had something to do with her past.

Not that she could remember it.

As bad as the nightmares were though, she wasn't sure if being awake was any better, she was still trapped in a nightmare whether she was asleep or awake. But at least when she was awake she could run from her threats.

Star pulled her yellow raincoat a little tighter around her, trying to fight off the sudden chill she felt creeping up her spine and got a quick look at her surroundings. She had fallen asleep in a vent, finding that one of the safest places to rest in, and she usually slept in one whenever she got a chance, even if they weren't the most comfortable sleeping spot. She took a moment to breathe in the musty air and let the motion of the ship soothe her, as she once again allowed her mind to wander as it often did in the quieter moments aboard the Maw.

The Maw, the mysterious ship full of monsters and danger and death. She didn't know what purpose it existed or how she had ended up here, all she knew was that she had been a stowaway on board the ship for a very long time. Maybe she had always been on the Maw, maybe there was no life outside of it. Star had no knowledge of the outside world or even if there even was one, but to be honest she didn't really care. All she cared about was staying alive.

Star decided she had rested long enough (knowing she needed to find some food before the hunger pains started in), slowly starting to crawl her way through the vent.

After a couple of seconds, the dim lighting faded, the small girl now encompassed in inky blackness and Star reached into the pocket of her coat, pulling out her sole possession (excluding her raincoat of course): a small, thin lighter. She flicked the lighter open and there was a quick spark before a tiny flame appeared, helping light the tight space around her and bring some warmth back into Star's shivering form. Star couldn't help but smile as she stared down into the flickering glow, relishing the feeling the small source of light brought her. Light was a rarity on board the Maw and she had learned to appreciate whatever she was given.

She nearly jumped as she heard a soft guttural clicking noise echoing farther down the tunnel, but she grinned as she recognized the weird noise as nonhostile. It was one of the many small creatures called Nomes that were known to be found wandering all over the ship. Just like everything else on the Maw, the Nomes origin and purpose was a mystery, but they were also the only thing on this horrible ship that was even remotely enjoyable, Star finding the small creatures adorable and she would often go out of her way to find them and give each one a tight hug... once she managed to chase them down, that is, all of them running away from her in the beginning the second she got close.

But, unfortunately, Star couldn't spot the Nome in the dark tunnel and so she instead reluctantly pressed forward, keeping her eyes focused straight ahead. Eventually, she found a ladder and she quickly flicked off her lighter before climbing up. When she reached the top she immediately noticed a series of hooks passing over her head, being pushed forward by a conveyor belt. A few of them even carried large objects wrapped in cloth and knotted closed with coarse rope and Star tried to ignore the oddly human size and shape they had, choosing to instead focus on finding a way up to the hooks. She looked around for a high enough spot where she could reach one and lucky for her she found a pile of the wrapped packages tall enough and after climbing up she was able to easily grab onto one of the empty hooks and sail away to another part of the ship.

She soon found herself dangling over a large gap in between areas, the long drop into the darkness below causing Star to cling on tight. Long, thick chains hung all around, each rung twice the size of her small body and she could hear them shaking and jangling from the constant motion of the ship. It felt like a lifetime before she finally bridged the gap, now hovering over a huge pile of wrapped packages, and she reluctantly let go, letting them break her fall. She held back a shudder as the bags shifted slightly under her weight.

She had heard rumors of what happened to the kids kept prison on the ship but she wasn't sure she was quite ready to confirm that theory. So instead she rose and began climbing down the massive pile, trying to ignore the squish underneath her bare feet and stench of blood that caused bile to rise up her throat.

Once she was on solid ground again Star took in a deep, shaky breath and ran as far away from the bags as possible. But she hadn't gotten very far when Star was seized with an unbearable hunger, the blonde doubling over in pain. She groaned, clutching her stomach tightly as the emptiness in her stomach increased with every passing second. These happened to her every so often, one minute she would be fine, the next it felt like her stomach was trying to eat itself and it was all Star could do to keep going until she found herself some food.

She stood and began shuffling forward on shaky legs but a couple steps later she was down again as her stomach let out a troubling growl. It took some more effort but Star was able to somehow keep going, trudging slowly ahead, her eyes on the constant search for food. She made it into the next room when her stomach growled again and this time lacked the strength to continue standing, falling hard to her knees as she took deep breaths. She looked up through fading vision and spotted the single greatest thing she thought she had ever seen: a loaf of bread.

Star's stomach released another terrible growl at the sight of food and the blonde gathered up every bit of strength she had left as she began crawling toward the bread, her hand outstretched as she reached for her saving grace. Another sharp pang in her stomach zapped the last of her strength, leaving Star to numbly reach forward in a last desperate attempt to get ahold of the loaf, her fingers just an inch too short. The girl felt hopelessness consume her as her vision slowly faded to black, her one chance of survival just barely out of reach and she nearly sobbed at the cruel irony.

Just when Star was about to give up and accept her fate, she saw a hand reach down out of nowhere and push the bread closer to her. Star snatched the food up without a second thought and began greedily tearing chunks of it off with her teeth, swallowing after only a few bites. She could feel a pair of eyes watching her, but she was too busy eating to care, not daring to stop. The emptiness and pain in her stomach subsided as Star finished devouring the loaf of bread.

Once she was done, Star took a few deep breaths letting her stomach settle, blinking as her vision cleared. After that she stared up at her savior, taking in the appearance of a young boy. He looked to be about her age (however old that was) with short, oily brown hair, brown eyes and a tiny little mole on his left cheek. She recognized him as one of the children kept prisoner on the Maw, if the tattered and faded blue pajamas were any indication. And if that wasn't enough proof then the rusted shackle hanging from his dirty leg confirmed her suspicions. Despite this though, unlike the dull, lifeless orbs the other children typically had this boy's eyes gleamed with joy and wonder and a curious smile hung on his lips, as if the horrors of the world and his situation had yet to reach his fragile young mind.

Star felt her cheeks blush as he continued to stare down at her, suddenly anxious for reasons she didn't quite understand. She looked down at her feet shyly, rubbing a hand up and down her coat sleeve as she muttered out quietly, "Uh, thanks... for that."

"No problem," the boy said pleasantly, before offering her a hand up. Star hesitated before accepting the help, allowing the boy to haul her to her feet. "I'm Marco by the way," the boy said pointing to himself.

"Star," the blonde replied.

"That's a really pretty name," Marco commented before the girl blushed vividly

"So what are you doing on board the Maw?" Marco asked. "I mean, you're definitely not a prisoner, " He added, gesturing down to the bright yellow raincoat.

"No idea," Star admitted. “I just woke up here one day and that's all I remember."

“You don't have any memories?" Marco asked and Star nodded.

"Yeah," Star mumbled. "So what about you? I'm guessing you're a runaway, considering the outfit," Star commented.

The boy cringed, rubbing the back of his neck with his hand as he said, "Yeah, uh, I got sent here to the kitchen a couple of days ago, but I managed to sneak away before... y'know."

Both kids shuddered, knowing full well what fate awaited those who fell victim to the Monsters' gluttony.

"That's terrible," Star said sympathetically, putting a hand on Marco's shoulder. "I'm so sorry that happened, Marco."

"I-Its okay," the boy stuttered, his eyes suddenly filled with pain and Star found herself longing to see his innocent smile again.

"How have you survived this long on your own?" Star asked, quite impressed with the boy.

Marco shrugged. "I've just been sneaking some food out here and there when the chefs aren't looking," the boy said modestly.

Star's eyes widened as realization dawned on her, giving his an apologetic look as she gasped out, "Oh my gosh, did I eat the last of your food? I'm so, so sorry!"

"No, no it's okay," Marco reassured her. "You looked like you needed it more." He smiled at her and suddenly Star's cold body flooded with a peculiar warmth. But she didn't have time to question it as Marco suddenly added, "Besides I know a place where we can get a lot more food than that."

"Where?" Star asked curiously.

"Come on, I'll show you," the boy replied before turning and running off somewhere. Star hesitated for only a second before chasing after the boy, hopeful that she could have a full belly for once.

...

As the two got closer to wherever the boy was leading them, Star began to pick up on the metallic swing of a knife from another room as no doubt a large butcher knife was getting some use. She held back the shiver that jumped up her spine, trying not to focus on the concerning sounds down the hallway. Instead, she concentrated on where she was being led and more importantly the boy who was leading her there. He had a calm smile on his face, despite the obvious danger they were in and Star was almost unsure what to think of that. Or Marco in general.

She hadn't been around kids her age in a long time but the ones she did usually weren't this upbeat. Most were quiet, reserved, and had more or less given up. They certainly didn't smile, she was lucky to see them even raise their head in her direction. So far, Star seemed to be the only one on this ship who cared at all about trying to escape their situation.

Until Marco. Star had never met anyone like him before, he was the closest thing she had come across to a companion in well… forever honestly. Marco's charming naivety was hard to resist and the blonde couldn't help but feel drawn to her companion, wanting to know more about him.

Marco suddenly stopped in his tracks and Star ran into his back by accident, causing him to slightly stumble. Once he had recovered, he turned to her and put a finger to his lips, before pointing in the direction of a towering doorway, the sound of something being violently sliced clearly coming from that direction. Star felt a shiver run up her raincoat but nodded in understanding. The two then began to tiptoe slowly closer to that area, Star feeling her heart rate beginning to spike as they did.

Finally, the two seemed to have reached their destination: a large door. The boy grinned over to her to show that they had reached the right place and pointed over to the door for extra emphasis, mouthing the words, "In here."

Star smiled from beneath her hood and the two quickly started to push on the door with all their little might. But for some reason the door didn't budge, staying sealed shut and the two grunted as they strained against the wooden frame. But the effort proved pointless and the two quickly gave up the struggle, letting out deep (but quiet) sighs of despair. Star leaned heavily against the door when Marco suddenly whispered into her ear, "Let me give you a boost up and you can try the handle."

The blonde didn't argue with that, standing up straight as she watched Marco cup his hands into a foothold for her. Star placed her foot in his palm, before hoisting herself up using his shoulders for leverage. Once she was suspended above ground she sprung up off her companion's hands and grabbed on tightly to the handle. She hung off it as it slid down but instead of a noisy click like usual, there was nothing. Meaning the door was locked.

Star frowned, before dropping back down to her feet, Marco staring at her with a mixture of confusion and anticipation. She bit her lip, thankful he couldn't see her face beneath the hood. The last thing she wanted was to make him feel worse about the whole situation. "Well," he whispered, leaning in close to her face and Star felt her cheeks heat up for some reason.

Star shook her head. "It's locked from the other side," she explained, hoping she didn't sound too disappointed. She really shouldn't have gotten her hopes up, especially since the whole thing had seemed too good to be true, but the idea of a decent meal had gotten her excited.

"What?" the boy groaned, his bright eyes filling with disappointment, a sad frown on his face. "But I just checked it yesterday."

"Guess they figured out you were getting in there," Star said, in the most sympathetic tone she could.

"Well guess we came all this way for nothing," Marco said, sitting down hard on the wood floor with pure despair in his voice.

Star couldn't stand seeing her new friend so downtrodden and tried to think of some way to cheer him up. She looked around for an idea of how to help him, before spotting the doorway across the hall, the sound of sharp metal slicing ringing through the air. Star swallowed hard, knowing what she was thinking of was probably a terrible idea. In fact, it was an incredibly stupid and dangerous idea but now that it was in her head, she knew it would be impossible to get out. Besides, she reasoned with herself. I want to make Marco smile again and if it works…

"Well, I know another way we can get some food," Star said, looking over to Marco knowingly.

The boy gave her a confused look, an eyebrow slowly rising. "How?" he asked, with fragile hope in his eyes.

"Well the pantry may be off-limits but…" Star gestured with her head in the direction of the doorway. "I bet there is some food in there."

Marco's eyes widened. "In… there," he whispered, pointing at the doorway fearfully. "B-B-But, the chef is in there."

Star put an arm around his shoulder saying confidently (more confident than she actually felt), "Come on, Marco. It'll be fiiinnneee. I know my way around this place, I'll keep you safe."

Marco frowned, the doubt clear in his eyes, as he muttered nervously, "I don't know."

"Hey, relax. As long as we stay quiet he will never even know we're there," Star said, flashing him a bright grin, not realizing he couldn't see it under her hood.

Star's enthusiasm seemed to sway Marco's mind some, a thoughtful look spreading across his face as he bit his lip, clearly contemplating his options. "Welllll…" he began, only for his rumbling stomach to interrupt him.

"See, Marco, you're hungry, let's get you some food, come on," Star said, not giving the boy a chance to argue as she grabbed his arm and dragged him in the direction of the kitchen. The boy whined under his breath but otherwise didn't resist, following reluctantly along behind his companion.

Everything about this was making his instincts scream at him but he held back the urge to run away, putting his faith and trust in Star. Like she had said, she had been doing this much longer than him, staying alive on this horrible boat all by herself. Marco had barely survived the week, having to fend off every meal he stole from the pantry from rats and other vermin including… leeches. The boy shuddered at the thought.

But Star. Star was amazing! Even though he had only briefly met her, he could tell just how cool she was and he knew if anyone could get them some decent food, it was her. So he figured it was best to follow Star's lead on this.

But he was quickly regretting this as the sound of chopping grew all the louder. The closer they got, the louder it grew, causing anxiety to course through Marco's bloodstream, turning it to ice. When they reached the door frame, Star peaked her head around the side, checking to see the position of the chef, trying to hold back the cringe as she took in the hideous form.

The creature towered over the two miniature children, it's skin an unhealthy looking shade of almost gray. Then again, nothing about the creature screamed healthy. The chef was overweight, barely fitting into its grungy work uniform. Its meaty arms and hands were hard at work, chopping away at a large slab of meat in front of it, short, stubby finger gripping the massive knife tightly as it slammed the blade viciously into the meat, again and again, its movements sporadic and almost vengeful, like it was getting some sick pleasure from it all. It wore the typical garb of a chef, complete with chef hat and apron, its uniform stained with blood and who knows what else.

Its face looked like melting dough, thick layers of skin and flesh hanging loosely from its expressionless face. It was almost too expressionless, something about it felt off to Star like it wasn't really a face at all. Maybe a mask? The chef made noisy grunts and moans as it worked, its attention so focused on its work it thankfully didn't notice the two kids.

Star waited a moment, making sure the nightmarish creature was properly distracted before putting a finger to her lips and gesturing Marco closer. The small boy swallowed hard but followed after the girl, nearly jumping in fright as he spotted the towering figure of the chef. Star saw he was about to scream and quickly covered his mouth with her hand, muffling the cry of terror. Marco continued to stare at the chef in pure fear and Star quickly pulled him to safety under a nearby table, out of the chef's line of sight.

She gave Marco a moment to calm himself down, his breathing shallow and sporadic and Star wasn't sure how he hadn't hyperventilated yet. Maybe this wasn't a good idea, Star thought to herself. But what other choice did they have? They needed to eat and this seemed to be the only way to guarantee them food. The blonde waited until the boy's breathing calmed enough before removing her hand from his mouth, keeping a hand on his back to steady him.

"Sorry," he mouthed to her, afraid of making any sound whatsoever.

Star pulled off her hood and gave him a sympathetic smile mouthing back to him, "It's fine."

She then pointed to herself and toward the next area of the kitchen before pointing at Marco and then at the ground, hoping the message was clear. You stay here, I'll get the food. But the young boy shook his head stubbornly, a determined look in his eyes as he grabbed onto the girl's hand, causing a blush to spread across her cheeks.

There was no way he was letting her go alone. Star had been alone enough, she deserved to have someone by her side. Even if he was afraid, he was going to do everything in his limited power to help her any way he could.

Star was surprised by Marco's response, figuring he would prefer to stay out of harm's way but he actually wanted to go with her. Star felt another stirring in her chest, the warmth beginning to grow and spread to the rest of her but she ignored it for now. Now was not the time to be consumed by emotions, now was the time to act.

So Star simply nodded her head, giving his hand a tight squeeze before slowly leading them out from the safety of the table, creeping past the chef who was still hard at work cutting slabs of meat, before ripping them apart with its bare hands. Star kept a watchful eye on the chef as they tip-toed past him, staying as low to the ground as possible. The chef was becoming violent with its work, slamming the large butcher knife into the meat again and again and Star felt her stomach roll in disgust. These monsters were insane.

The two finally made it past the creature, creeping silently down the stairs into the main area of the kitchen. Star held her breath at every creak she heard on the rotten wood but thankfully the noise was not enough to alert the chef of their presence.

The two tiny kids continued to creep around the kitchen area, ignoring the array of foul odors coming from the many, many boiling pots on the stove tops. How anyone could eat this stuff was beyond Star. The who was eating it was what had her intrigued but she didn't really want to over think that, in all honesty, she would rather not know. Hopefully, there was better food for them to munch on around here. Star looked around for any sign of good food to eat, before spotting a large metal door at the far end of the room. The freezer. That had to have some real food, right?

Star grinned, before tapping Marco on the shoulder to gain his attention. He gave her a confused look and she pointed over to the door. His eyes widened with greed before he licked his lips, the prospect of food too entrancing to them both. He nodded to her, a smile on his innocent face and suddenly everything felt worth it to Star just to see his eyes light up like that.

The two made their way towards the door tip-toeing as slowly and quietly as possible… when two Nomes appeared out of nowhere, chittering as they scurried around the room, one of them bumping into the door to an oven causing it to slam closed. The loud noise caused both Star and Marco to jump in fright and they both felt their hearts drop as a loud moan sounded from the next room, followed by shuffling feet.

The chef had heard the noise and it was coming to investigate.

Star gave up any hopes of stealth as she shouted to her companion, "Run!" The two ran as fast as they could through the kitchen, the chef making another loud groan as it spotted them but Star didn't dare turn around. Instead, she just focused on getting away. She could hear pounding feet as it chased after them and Star quickly ran under a table in the center of the room, hoping that would stall it enough from catching them.

Finally, Star reached the door to the freezer but felt her heart stop as she noticed the large rusted metal lock on its handle. The blonde swallowed hard, trying to think of some way for them to hide before spotting a large shelf. Star nearly sighed in relief as she shouted, "Come on, Marco! Over here!"

But as she turned to check behind her, she saw that Marco was not there. "Marco?" Star repeated softly, feeling a cold fear creeping up her spine.

"Star!" came the terrified and fragile voice of Marco and Star felt pure terror fill her system as she followed the voice to a horrible sight.

The chef had Marco.

Holding him tightly by the back of his hood, being none too gentle with him as it looked around for her. The boy's body swung haphazardly around as he hung there, kicking his bare feet uselessly and trying to somehow pry the meaty grip off of him. But it was no use. Marco was caught.

Star didn't think she had ever been more afraid than she was at that very moment as she watched the one person in the world who understood her and she cared for in the clutches of that vile creature and it was all Star could do to keep herself from running over and trying to pry him loose, but she knew that would only result in both of them being caught. She needed a different plan to save her friend, preferably one that kept either of them from being served up on a platter.

She quickly ducked behind cover as she watched the chef for a moment, trying to formulate some kind of plan to rescue Marco. Her heart was hammering so hard against her chest at this point she worried she was about to have a heart attack. And as she listened to Marco's desperate and frightened cries, calling out for help, screaming Star's name at the top of his lungs, it felt like a knife had just been wedged deep into her heart, twisting viciously within.

The blonde continued to scan the area around her, looking for something, anything, that could save Marco. Finally, the gears in her head began turning as an idea came to her out of nowhere. She didn't even hesitate as she jumped into action, unable to waste precious seconds thinking it through or second-guessing herself, she would just have to hope it worked. For Marco's sake.

Marco's tiny heart was racing so hard it was painful as he tried futilely to free himself, doing anything he could think of to escape. The chef finally gave up its search for the other vermin and instead carried its captive over to a nearby table… one with a conveniently placed cutting board and butcher knife. The chef practically threw Marco down on the table, the boy letting out a cry as his back painfully collided with the hardwood surface. He tried to crawl away but was stopped as the chef placed a grubby hand over him, keeping him pinned and effectively trapped. The boy tried to squirm away but he was trapped, the pressure on his chest causing him to cough and wheeze, struggling to suck in enough oxygen. He could feel something oozing against his back and he felt bile rising at the back of his throat as he shuddered. He did not want to think about what that could be.

The chef casually picked up the knife beside Marco, the gleam off of its smooth edge hitting Marco and causing him to be temporarily blinded. He blinked furiously, trying to regain his vision as he let out shuddering breaths. The moment his vision returned, however, he wished it hadn't as he saw the chef raise the knife high over its head, preparing to strike.

Marco squeezed his eyes shut, his short few years of life flashing before his eyes as he waited for the finishing blow. This was it, he thought to himself. I never even got to tell Star goodbye.

Just before the chef could begin its swing though, something smashed into the back of its head, causing the creature to stumble and release its grip on Marco. The boy looked up with confusion before spotting Star in the scaffolding above a pile of small pots and cups sat next to her. She stared down at him with her bright blue eyes full of relief and determination and for a second Marco wondered if he was staring at the face of an angel instead.

"Marco run!" Star screamed, lifting another pot over her head, preparing to fling it at the chef.

The boy quickly hopped down off the table, the chef reaching down to pick him back up only to be nailed in the arm by the surprisingly strong-armed Star. The boy ran as fast as he could away from the chef, heading the same direction he had seen Star take. The chef chased after him but was stopped after only a few steps as Star managed to land another hit on it with a pot, causing the chef to release a very annoyed growl, clearly growing frustrated with the pair of vermin that had invaded its kitchen.

Star did her best to hold the chef off as Marco ran over to the shelf Star had used, quickly climbing up. But he wasn't fast enough as the chef was finally catching up to him, beginning to ignore the array of glass objects crashing into its head and body, seconds away from reaching the shelf. Star saw her friend wasn't going to make it in time and quickly held out a hand and yelled over to him in desperation, "Marco jump!"

Marco threw himself off the shelf, stretching out an arm towards Star's waiting hand. Time seemed to slow as he flew through the air, reaching out for his friend with all his might, hoping he was able to reach her. Luckily, he barely managed to grab onto her, his fingers nearly slipping out of hers but the blonde squeezed his hand tight, refusing to let go. Star grunted and tried to brace herself as Marco's weight threatened to pull her down too and quickly added her other hand to the effort of holding Marco.

Below them, the chef was stretching up as high as its chubby arms would allow, letting out hideous grunting noise as it tried to somehow reach the two pests. Star and Marco ignored this, however, as Star focused only on pulling Marco up on the overhead beams with her. She finally managed to gain enough leverage to drag him up with her, the boy soon sitting beside her, both panting from exertion and the remnants of adrenaline and terror coursing through their bloodstream.

The two took a moment to calm down, laying next to each other on the high beams and just letting everything that had happened wash over them. That had been one of the most terrifying ordeals of their joint lives and they dreaded to imagine what might have happened had Star not stepped in when she did. Marco tried not to picture the knife being swung high, still seeing the glint of the cool metal and he felt tremors still coarse down his spine at the memory. It had been too real, too close and he was sure it would be haunting his nightmares for weeks after.

"Thanks," Marco finally managed to mumble, still trying to calm his breathing. "That was… too close."

"Yeah, it was," Star agreed, her own voice trembling some. "Sorry I let that happen. I should have protected you better." She slammed a clenched fist into the wooden board they lay on in anger, frustrated with herself for not doing more. She had promised she would keep him safe, instead he had almost gotten killed on her watch.

"Star, it's fine, it's not your fault I got caught," the boy said, trying not to let his fear show as the memory still haunted his mind. It was still too fresh to ignore, to forget. But he didn't want to make his friend feel any worse than she already did. So instead he gave her a warm smile and told her in the most pleasant tone he had at the moment, "Besides you're the one who saved me. I woulda been a goner back there if not for you.”

"Yeah, but you wouldn't have been in any danger if not for me," Star mumbled, crossing her arms in front of her chest.

"The important thing is we both survived, right?" Marco said, putting a hand on her shoulder.

Star stared at him in surprise for a moment. She had expected him to be angry or upset, maybe even part ways with her to avoid further disaster. Instead, he willingly and openly forgave her and Star was so stunned by this she had no idea how to respond for a moment. Instead, she found herself staring into his stunning brown orbs for a moment, full of so much hope and tenderness that her cheeks heated up against her will.

She coughed into her hand to hide whatever this strange emotion was Marco kept making her feel, deciding it best to change the subject before she started acting weird. She really didn't want to humiliate herself in front of her new friend. So she tried to distract herself by taking a closer look at the kitchen below. At this point the chef had given up any hope of catching the intruders, instead going back to making its disgusting meals, grumbling to itself the whole time in its high-pitched whine.

But the blonde wasn't interested in the chef anymore, her concern was on the freezer door and more importantly the lock that prevented them entry inside. She laid her head on her knee for a moment as she muttered in annoyance, "Well so much from getting any food in there."

Marco sat up and followed her gaze to the door, frowning in disappointment. "Yeah, I was really hoping to eat, too."

The two let out simultaneous sighs, staring in longing as the only chance at a decent meal was just out of reach. If only they could get inside there. Suddenly an idea came to Marco, his eyes widening at the thought and a bright smile beginning to spread across his face. He turned to his companion and quickly proclaimed, "Actually I think we can!"

"What? How?!" Star asked in intrigue, leaning closer to him until their faces were nearly touching.

Marco ignored the stirring his chest at the close contact, instead replying, "Well that's a lock right? So all we need to do is find the key."

Star gasped, her own eyes filling with excitement as she exclaimed, "Marco, you're a genius!"

The boy blushed at the compliment, rubbing sheepishly at the back of his neck. "I mean, I don't know if I'd say genius," he muttered in embarrassment. But his nervousness doubled as Star suddenly threw her arms around him in a hug, causing his heart to skip a beat. The warmth was surprising but not unwelcome and Marco found himself melting into the tight embrace, treasuring every second.

Star wasn't sure why she had decided to do this, she had just been so… was happy the right word? She didn't know what she was feeling but she just knew she needed to express it in some way and the next thing she knew she had her arms around him. But now that it was happening, she found she kinda enjoyed it. She liked having Marco this close to her and she found her heart stirring inside her chest for some reason. She still didn't know how to describe the feeling just yet but.... it was nice.

The girl released her hold, pulling back so they could stare into each other's flushing faces. Star felt suddenly awkward about the display of affection, playing with a loose strand of hair as she whispered, "Sorry, I don't know why I was…" Her voice trailed off and she was tempted to hide her flushed face inside her hood once more.

"Uhh, no it's fine," Marco replied, still clearly in shock but the joy on his face was clear as day. "I thought it was nice."

Star grinned back. "Me too."

The two stayed like that for a moment, smiling blissfully at each other, before a loud swing from the chef's knife caused the two to jump, reminding them where they were at. "Come on," Star said, standing up. "Let's go find that key!"

"Alright," Marco replied enthusiastically, following along behind the girl as they went in search of the key to their breakfast.

...

Star peeked her head out from the grate she was hiding in, watching as the two chefs noisily cleaned the dishes, piles and piles sprawled before them, some reaching almost as high as the ceiling. But that wasn't what had piqued Star's interest, her focus was on the small silver key set precariously close to the soapy water and in plain view of the two monsters. Marco must have noticed it too because he turned to her with a smile and a determined gleam in his eye, which she returned. They both nodded as one before crouching back under so they could safely discuss their plan of attack.

The two had been searching for the key for a while now but luckily they had found a loose floorboard and had been able to sneak around undetected right under the Monsters' noses. Except now their only way to get into the freezer was being guarded by the twin chefs and getting past them was going to be tricky. "So what now?" Marco asked Star, keeping his voice below a whisper.

Star thought for a second before replying, "We need to lure them away somehow."

She put a finger to her chin, pondering over an idea, when Marco suddenly said, "The hooks.”

"Huh?" Star said, looking over at the boy in confusion.

"There are a conveyor of hooks running all through this place, I bet if we find the switch that'd draw their attention," Marco explained simply.

"Oh yeah!" Star agreed, smiling brightly at her new friend. "Great idea, Marco!"

The boy grinned at the praise, before standing up and starting to crawl out of the grate, "Cool, then I'll go find the switch-”

But Star cut him off, grabbing onto his arm and pulling him back down with her, saying in a quiet hiss, "Are you crazy?! You can't go out there it's too dangerous!"

“Well one of us has to find the switch," Marco argued.

But Star wasn't having, shaking her head vigorously. "No way, it's too risky! What if you get caught again?!"

"I'll be careful," Marco told her, trying to sound more reassuring than he felt. "Besides, someone is gonna have to run to get the key and I think we both know who is faster." The two shuddered as the memory from earlier flashed through their minds, neither of them wanted a repeat of what happened.

"Okay," Star reluctantly agreed. "Just promise me you'll be safe."

Marco nodded once. "Of course. Safe is my middle name," he told her, giving her a small smile. Marco could see the tiniest of grins on Star's lips and he felt his heart flutter. Then, without warning, she pulled him into a hug, holding him tightly against her for a moment. Marco's cheeks blushed red but he wrapped his own arms around Stars slender frame, listening to her even breathing for a moment.

They parted much too quickly for Marco's liking, craving her warmth and comfort almost as much as she did. But that would have to wait for now, they needed to focus on the task ahead. They could decipher the tangle of emotions they felt later. Marco stood up and Star whispered softly to him, "Good luck."

Marco nodded, before replying, "You too." He then climbed out of the hole slowly. He kept a close eye on the two chefs, who were too deep in their task to notice him yet, as he carefully crept around, staying low to the ground, trying to make himself as small as possible.

He saw one of the chefs move away from the dishes and he quickly hid underneath one of the large sinks, trying to keep his breathing steady as his heart pounded painfully against his chest. He waited until his heartbeat had slowed to a reasonable speed, before risking peeking his head out from the safety of his hiding spot. The chefs had its back to him, sniffling noisily as it arranged dishes on a large shelf. Marco, seeing he was safe for the moment began looking around for the switch he needed. He spotted a large lever in the next room and smiled. That was it. It had to be.

Marco, seizing his chance, sucked in a deep breath and stepped out of his hiding spot. He tiptoed toward the next room, keeping a close eye on the chef as he did. He held his breath, his body starting to shake with fear as he repeated again and again in his terror-filled mind, Please don't turn around, please don't turn around, please don't turn around.

Snap!

The sudden jarring noise caused Marco to jump, looking slowly down at the floor where the sound had come from. The boy felt his heart come to a painful stop as he spotted the bits of glass under his feet. The boy had been so focused on the chef he hadn't been paying enough attention to the world around him and had somehow not noticed the array of broken, discarded plates scattered around him from where the chefs had presumably dropped them.

The boy froze as he heard a grunt from the chef, turning to the towering creature with pure dread coursing through his veins and nearly screamed in fright as he saw the chef turning around to see what had caused the loud noise. Marco panicked, time seeming to slow to a crawl as he waited for his presence to be revealed, to be caught and captured all over again. He knew he should move, run, escape but he couldn't. His legs felt like they were made of lead and his body was still and unmoving as a result.

This was it. In a matter of seconds, he would be back in the grubby grip of the nightmarish chef. He wasn't sure he could bear being flung around haphazardly by the heartless capture again. Couldn't stand the thought of being pinned in place as he watched the instrument of his demise slowly rise, ready to end his short, few years of existence.

But then suddenly, like a light at the end of a dark tunnel, Marco remembered Star. How devastated she would be if he died. How she was counting on him to pull through. He had promised her he would be careful. And he couldn't let her down. He refused to cause her anymore pain or grief. He had seen her desperation before, when she had struggled to reach that loaf of bread, the sight of her so helpless and struggling had torn at his heartstrings. He didn't want her to suffer, he wanted to help her, even if he didn't know how just yet.

So he pushed back his fears into the corner of his mind and forced his legs into motion. He ran quickly across the loose floorboards doing his best to dodge around the broken plates and make as little to no noise as possible. Still, just as he entered the next room he heard the chef release a surprised grunt and he knew he had been spotted. He had to be quick and make every second count.

He hopped up onto a table and jumped onto the lever. His weight caused the switch to be pulled down, a loud whining sound invaded Marco's eardrums and nearly causing them to burst. He landed back on the table and covered his ears with his hands, the sound of grating metal almost too much for his fragile ears. After a few seconds, it stopped as the conveyor of hooks began moving in the opposite direction. Marco smiled in victory.

But he didn't have long to celebrate this as the chef walked into the room Marco was in, letting out an annoyed groan as it spotted him. The boy ran across the tabletop, pushing his legs faster than they could physically go, hoping to somehow escape. The chef strutted its way over to the table, reaching out a grubby hand to grab him but Marco slid under it at the last second.

The boy then jumped through a window into the main room again, landing in a sink filled with soapy water. Marco, who had never learned to swim, struggled to get above water, flailing his arms in some desperate attempt at not drowning. But his clothes felt like they were weighing him down as he became distinctly aware of the chain on his ankle which seemed to be dragging him down instead of up. And to make it worse his eyes were stinging from the obsessive amounts of soap the monsters had used to clean the dirty plates. Finally, the boy managed to get his head above water, gasping and sputtering and he tightly gripped the edge of the sink.

He looked up with blurry and pain-filled vision to see the second chef rushing at him as fast as its stubby legs could carry it. "Oh come on!" Marco screamed in annoyance. Could the universe just give him a freaking break?

The boy quickly jumped out of the sink and made a break for his hiding spot from earlier, his drenched clothes making it difficult to run. Still, he managed to reach the table unharmed, ducking down underneath it and trying to make himself as small as possible. The twin chefs had soon gathered around the table, one of them struggling to reach underneath, straining with all its might to reach the boy, the other just watching the whole thing with nervous annoyance.

Star took advantage of the distraction Marco had provided, quickly racing over to the large sink, climbing up onto it and picking up the key. She smiled in victory, which was short-lived as one of the chefs spotted her and let out a loud moan. Star felt her heartbeat race in her chest, looking around for an exit. She would never make it to the grate in time, which meant she needed another way out of here.

Her gaze rested on the hooks above her head and an idea sprang into her mind. She threw the key with all her might, letting it hit the ground with a loud thud, the chef forgoing her in favor of its precious key. Star then shouted over to her companion, "Marco, over here!"

The second chef had stopped its attempts to snatch him up to watch the commotion going on with its brother and Marco used this distraction to crawl out from underneath the table and quickly running over to Star. The girl offered him a hand up, as he climbed up onto the side of the sink with her. "Where's the key?" he asked, panting from both fear and exertion.

Star shook her head. "Forget the key, we gotta get outta here.”

"How?" Marco asked, his voice cracking with fear.

"We go up," Star said, looking up at the line of hooks and then a large stack of plates reaching just high enough for the two of them to be in reach of the hooks. Marco followed her gaze before a small grin lit up his face. The two's eyes met again and they shared a brief smile before nodding in unison. They had a plan, now was the time to see it in action.

The two climbed up the large stack of plates, ignoring as they wobbled and jolted around with every step. When Star and Marco reached the top they found themselves struggling to keep their balance, holding out their arms in an attempt to stay on the unsteady stack. The chefs both reached for the two children, grunting in their feeble attempts, growing more and more frustrated with every second that passed. Star, however, had her eyes on the hooks, waiting for one to be in position for them to reach it.

She watched as one slowly slid closer, her body tensing as she shouted, "Marco, get ready to jump!"

"Right!" the boy yelled back, determination in his voice as the two crouched down waiting for the right moment.

"3," Star whispered under her breath.

"2," Marco added, his voice shaking with anticipation.

"1!" The two kids shouted together jumping up just as the hook passed over their heads. The sudden shift in weight, finally caused the huge stack of plates to collapse and tumble onto the unsuspecting chefs, causing them to groan in pain and surprise.

Star grabbed tightly onto the rusted metal, while Marco wrapped his arms around Star's waist, clinging to her tightly. The two cheered in victory as they sailed over the kitchen, Star shouting at the frazzled chefs, "Ha take that you monsters! That's the last time you'll think about messing with us!" She then stuck her tongue out at the creatures for added measure.

Marco just let out a sigh of relief, glad that the whole terrifying incident was over. He held Star in an almost death grip trying to ignore the long drop that waited just below them, burying his head into her bright raincoat. Now that they were safe and out of harm's way he couldn't help but enjoy holding onto Star like this, even if they were precariously dangling in the air.

However, something was still bothering Marco. Something he couldn't quite get his mind off of. "Star, where do these hooks lead?" he asked, looking up at his more knowledgeable friend.

Star didn't seem even slightly worried, saying in a smooth, confident tone, "Oh relax, Marco. I'm sure everything will be fine now that we got away from those chefs."

Marco looked up ahead to see where the conveyor belt was leading them only to gasp in shock. "Oh no we didn't!" he screamed and Star looked over her shoulder only to see one of the chefs waiting for them, piles of packages stacked all around it.

Star gasped in surprise and let go of the hook, dropping the two to the ground without warning. Thankfully, a pile of cloth broke their fall and the two slowly crawled their way out of it, cringing and rubbing their aching backsides from the rough landing.

The door behind them busted open, the sheer force causing the thin wood to snap off its hinges and Star and Marco jumped at the sudden noise. The second chef stood in the doorway, a towering, hideous figure fuming with hate and rage and the pair felt the hair on the back of their necks stand on end at the sight.

"Run!" Star screamed for what felt like the hundredth time that day, gripping Marco's arm tightly and pulling him along behind her. She wasn't going to make the same mistake as before. She was not letting him go this time. The two ran as fast as their little legs would let them, their bare feet slapping against the wooden floor and they could hear the enraged chef chasing after them, right on their heels.

What was worse the two were quickly approaching a dead end, a huge gap in the ship standing between them and freedom and Star felt her heart clench in despair. Until Marco shouted, "Look, more hooks!"

The blonde followed her companion's pointing finger to a new row of hooks, these stretching right across the massive gaping hole in front of them. Star tightened her grip on Marco's hand, hoping they made it to them in time.

They could hear the loud, gurgling breathe of the chef getting louder and louder and Star knew they couldn't wait any longer… not unless they wanted to be monster food. So, steadying her nerves (what was left of them) and sucking in a deep breath of air (possibly her last) she dove for the hooks, jumping off the thin railing that was meant to keep people from slipping over the side to their deaths. Marco somehow sensed her movement and jumped too, the two airborne for a second, before Star managed to snatch the hook out of mid-air, the two now dangling from the moving conveyor belt, only their intertwined hands keeping Marco from plummeting to his death..

The chefs were none too happy seeing their prey escaping, throwing all manners of things at them from plates to large bottles of intoxicants, letting out high-pitched groans and grunts as they watched their possible meal slowly drift away.

Unlike before the two kids didn't dare cheer their victory, Star was too busy trying not to lose her grip on Marco's hand. Their position had been much easier before, her arm straining to hold Marco's weight, feeling like her bone was being pulled from the socket. Not to mention her grip on the hook threatening to slip with every passing second. But she fought through the pain, focusing only on getting her and Marco to safety. She would not lose Marco now. Not after everything they had just gone through.

Finally, Star could let go as the hooks flew over a large metal pipe, the two landing gracefully on it. Star clutched her sore arm tightly, hissing some in pain and Marco was quick to check on her. "Are you alright? Did you get hurt?" he asked, concern in his voice as he put a hand gently on the limb.

"I'll be fine," Star reassured him, giving him a bright smile.

Marco nodded but wasn't entirely convinced, reminding himself to keep a close eye on her for a bit. He turned and looked back over the gap, letting out a longing sigh. "Well there went our meal ticket," he muttered under his breath.

Star frowned, sitting down on the pipe as she contemplated everything. "Yeah, I know. Sorry I blew our chance to eat," she mumbled dejectedly.

"Star it's fine, I'm just glad we got away," Marco said, subconsciously laying a hand on top of hers. Star shivered as his warm palm soaked into her cold skin, making her whole arm tingle from the touch. "Besides we'll find more food.... soon."

Star nodded, unable to keep the smile off her face. "Yeah, you're right," she replied in a much more upbeat tone. She didn't know what it was but something about Marco made her world… brighter somehow. She really liked having him around.

"So what now?" Marco asked, looking to her for answers, his bright eyes causing her heart to do all kinds of weird things.

Star shrugged, ignoring the sudden heat in her cheeks. "Guess we should see where this pipe leads."

"You think it'll lead into anything good?" Marco asked as the two stood, their hands still locked. They didn't know why but they liked it better this way.

"Probably not," Star said honestly. "But it can't hurt to try."

"Can't argue with that," the boy replied with a shrug. After everything that had happened today, he really didn't see how it could get any worse.

...

The two followed the pipe for a bit, not really sure what to expect on the other end. They began to notice a strange warmth coming from up ahead but couldn't quite figure out what it was. That was when Star heard a sound and felt her heart jump for joy. She stopped in her tracks, causing Marco to stumble into her on accident. "Marco, do you hear that?" she asked in excitement.

Marco paused to listen intently, finally hearing a chittering sound. "Is that a Nome?"

"Yep!" Star said, her eyes shimmering for the first time since Marco had met her.

"So what about it?" Marco asked in confusion.

"First rule of survival, when in doubt follow the Nomes," Star explained. She dragged Marco behind her as she ran across the pipe as quickly as possible before coming across a crack in the wall. The two paused at that, sharing looks with each other, before shrugging. Star slipped in through the tiny crack, sucking in her breath to help her squeeze through a little easier, Marco following right behind her.

What the two stepped into caught both of them off-guard. A group of Nomes, at least 20 or so were all laying around the area, a large boiler, full of hot coals and warm fire rested in the center of the room. The Nomes, upon spotting the two intruders quickly panicked and all started to scamper away.

"Wait, little guys!" Star called after them. "We won't hurt you!"

She let go of Marco's hand to chase after them, while Marco could only stand there dumbfounded. He had only ever heard the Nomes before through the cracks in his prison but seeing them in person it was quite a sight. They had cone-shaped heads, all completely featureless and small gray bodies. They were even shorter than Star and Marco and that was saying something but something about them also felt kinda cute, although that was probably helped along as he watched his friend's funny but endearing attempts to catch the remarkably quick Nomes shouting after them in an attempt to get them to stop. "Just let me hug you!”

Marco laughed out loud, feeling his cheeks heat up with a blush. But he soon spotted one of the Nomes stuck in a small crack in the wall that it had been too big to squeeze through. The boy rushed over to help the tiny creature, plucking it effortlessly out of the wall. "There you go, little guy," Marco said, setting it back on its feet.

Star, spotted the creature and quickly rushed over, lifting it off of its feet before hugging it tightly. Marco grinned at the cute sight before the blonde set the small creature back down who now let out a gentle coo and stared up at her almost longingly. "Now you hug him, Marco," Star told her friend, giving him an encouraging grin.

"Oh, okay I guess," Marco said, picking the creature up and hugging it just like Star had. It was surprisingly warm and the boy felt his spirits lift a little just by embracing the adorable creature.

The other Nomes, seeing that the intruders were friendly, slowly began to approach them, still slightly hesitant and fearful. Time aboard this ship had taught the Nomes to be cautious.

Soon, Star and Marco found themselves surrounded by Nomes and they happily took turns picking them up and hugging each one, the creatures soon almost begging to be picked up, each one getting more and more excited by the show of affection. Finally, the happy moment was broken up by a loud grumbling from Marco's stomach who blushed bright red.

"Aww poor Marco," Star cooed over to her friend. "I'm sure you must be hungry."

"Maybe a little," Marco replied, rubbing his empty stomach with a sad frown.

The Nomes heard this and all began to chitter loudly, rushing off to a corner of the room and Star and Marco shared a look of confusion. A second later, the gnomes were back now holding a large array of food which they set down in front of the pair. Star and Marco gasped in delight and surprise, feeling their mouths begin to water staring at the food. Real food!

Star and Marco didn't even question the creatures kindness as they began to gobble down the food as fast as their tiny mouths would allow. It was the best meal either had ever had, most of the time surviving on scraps but now they could fill their bellies up as much as they wanted. Anytime the two started to run low, the gnomes would bring them more and the two ate until their stomachs were stuffed to bursting.

The two let out happy moans as the food settled in their stomachs, before turning to the small creatures. "Thanks guys, we really appreciate it!" Star said brightly and the Nomes all let out what the blonde could only assume was joyful chitters.

With their bellies now full and their bodies warm and comfortable thanks to the furnace, the two felt the next pressing matter than needed to be attended to. That they, were in fact, beyond exhausted. It had been a tiring day both mentally and physically the two found themselves yawning and rubbing their eyes as they struggled to stay awake. "We should probably get some sleep," Star suggested.

Marco nodded but Star noticed his body visibly tense up. "Is everything okay, Marco?" she asked, concern etched into her voice.

Marco shook his head before admitting, "It's just… what if I have a bad dream?" He bit his lip, shuddering as he imagined the many nightmares he was often plagued by. And after today, he knew a few more had just been added to the list.

"Do you have nightmares a lot?" Star asked, already guessing the answer.

"Yeah," the boy muttered, his pupils wide with fear. "Sometimes I don't sleep cause I'm afraid… I'll dream about bad stuff again."

"Me too," Star replied and Marco caught her gaze, sympathy and understanding layered beneath. She could see his need was just as strong as hers and she tried to think of some way to help comfort him, to ease his mind.

"Here, how about this? You can lay on me and if you start to have a bad dream, I'll wake you," Star suggested, giving him a warm smile.

"But what about you?" Marco asked in concern. "Aren't you going to sleep?"

Star nodded. "Yeah but I'll sleep easier having you here."

Marco didn't argue with that, allowing Star to wrap her arms around him, his head resting against her chest. He found Star's presence comforting and as he gently breathed in her scent he found his eyes slowly closing. In a matter of minutes, Marco was fast asleep in Star's arms.

The blonde, however, just lay there soaking in Marco's warmth as she thought over her long, exhausting day. For so long life on board the Maw had been pointless and empty. She had carried on day by day just fighting to stay alive for no other reason than her own will to live. She had felt like her life lacked direction or purpose whatsoever but still she had carried on through the darkness and shadows, hoping to find something that would make her miserable existence worthwhile.

And then Marco had arrived and suddenly, she had a reason to live again. To believe, to hope that maybe someday there could be something better for her out there. Because now she had someone to share that with. She had a friend. A companion. Someone she could lean on and that could lean on her and it felt like for the first time in her life she was at peace.

And as Star lay there listening to Marco's breathing as her own eyes began to slowly shut, she promised herself that somehow she would help Marco escape this life, they would leave this dreadful ship together. Her nightmarish world felt a little brighter on that day and as sleep finally took hold Star found herself dreaming of light and hope and Marco.

[notyetneedcoffee]

Overheard

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warning: NSFW, 18+ Smut, and a bit of fluff

o o o o o 

A high pitched, muffled scream pulled Steve Rogers out of a dead sleep. He sat up, instantly alert.  His reflexes had him up and out of his room before he heard peals of feminine laughter. Stopping, his brain caught up to his instincts. Girls night. Natasha, Wanda, Maria and Y/N mentioned going out for a girls night out. Not wanting to look the fool for rushing out in nothing but his boxer shorts, Steve paused to gather his wits.  

“No, Y/N. I’m just saying that Mr. Tall and Yummy would have shown you a hell of night.” Nat voice reached Steve’s ears. Even though her tone was even, her knew her well enough to know she was pretty drunk.

“He was yummy.” Maria piped in, practically purring. “And, damn the way he was grinding up on you on the dance floor. Boy had moves. Not too late, y’should call him.”

Steve knew he should go back to bed. He did not approve of eaves dropping, but the mental image of you on the dance floor rubbing up against “yummy” stirred something bitter and ugly in his gut. He’d seen the way people today danced in the clubs. He didn’t want anyone touching you that way.

‘Damn it, you idiot.’ He mentally chided himself. His feelings for you had changed. He tried to keep them in check, attempted to remain just teammates and friends. Apparently, he was failing miserably.

“Call him.” Wanda agreed with Maria. “He wanted you bad, and his thoughts were...” She giggled drunkenly, “so inventive.”

Steve ground his teeth together, waiting to hear what you’d say.

“If I could judge by the way he danced, you would probably be right.” You snickered.

“Bet the boy was packin’ too.” Maria chimed in.

“Yeah, well.” You giggled wickedly. “I’m pretty sure that wasn’t a flashlight in pocket.”

“Dammit, woman.” Nat pushed you over and you laughed. “Call him. When was the last time you got laid?”

Steve started to stalk away, but ended up back in the dark hall, listening.

“Hey!” You huffed indignantly.

“That long?” Nat threw back. “Go. Get. Fucked.”

“You should.” Maria agreed.

“I would.” Wanda agreed.

Steve turned his face into the wall, fist itching to punch something.  

“Look, I’ve even pulled the number up for you.” Nat said. “Just hit call.”

God, his stomach dropped. You had “yummy’s” number in your phone. He heard you sigh and couldn’t take it anymore. Steve retreated back to his room. Hearing your side of a booty call was not something he needed to experience.  

There was no way he’d be going back to sleep at this point. He sunk into his favorite chair and stared at the lights of the city beyond. Did he do it again? Did he wait too long? The thought of you leaving to go hook up with some guy left his stomach in knots. He kept hearing Nat’s voice. “Go. Get. Fucked.”

Steve thought about all the times he could have changed things, could have asked you out or told you how he felt. All the moments he could have kissed you. He played the scenarios in his head again and again. There had been so many lost opportunities.  

He had no idea how long he sat there. An hour. Two. His hands were locked into fists and head ached from the clenching of his jaw. His mind spun in useless circles, tormenting him and would have done so until morning. Except, a light knock pulled him from his lamenting.  

Without thinking he rose to his feet and opened his door. You stood there. He suddenly found it hard to breath. You didn’t go.  

Everything you’d planned to say flew out of your brain the minute Steve opened the door. A moment ago, you absolutely had to talk to him right at that moment. You couldn’t wait until tomorrow. Now, every word flew out of your mind. Your eyes were locked on Steve’s heaving bare chest.  

“Y/N?”

“I, uh, I’m sorry to wake you.” You stammered.

“You didn’t.”

“Oh, okay.” God, you wanted to touch.

Silence stretched out as you stared at each other. Finally, Steve said your name with such tenderness your drunk body practically swooned into him. “Why are you here, doll?”

You took a deep breath. Do this. You needed to do this. Placing both hands on his chest you pushed him into his room and kicked the door closed. Oh, his skin was so warm. Focus!  

“Steve. I have to tell you something.” You ran your palms over his strong pecks.  

You didn’t notice Steve bite his lip. He physically removed your hands from his body. “You’re drunk.”

“A little. Yeah.” You final looked up into his blue eyes. He looked sad. “But I’m not so bad that I don’t know what I’m saying. Something happened tonight. I went out with the girls and we were having a great time. This guy, this really hot guy, wanted to take me home with him.”

A deep frown crossed his face. “You don’t have to explain anything to me.”

“Shush. I didn’t go. Then the girls were giving me a bad time, telling me to call. Just go have fun. Get laid.”

“Y/N.”

“Steve, shush.” You put a finger to his lips. God, they were soft. “I could have. Easily. It would have been a sure thing. A great time and no strings. But I couldn’t do it. I didn’t WANT to do it.”

His large hand came up, covering yours, and gentle removed your finger tip. Painfully aware of your closeness, and his own near nakedness. “Why?”

Your eyes fell on your hand held in his. Being so close, and him so bare, you just wanted to rub against him. The world seemed to tilt. His scent was intoxicating. Maybe it was the whiskey. You leaned into him, face brushing his chest. “You. I didn’t want him. I want you.”

Steve’s eyes closed, his body going very stiff. After a moment, he took you by the shoulders and pushed you back to arm’s length. Before you could even question, his large palm stroked your face. “I want you, too.”  

“Really?” You stumbled just a little. Maybe that double shot right before knocking on Steve’s door wasn’t the best idea.

“Yeah, Doll, really. Let’s set you down, okay?” He moved you around to the sofa. You dropped into the seat with little grace. “I’m going to go put something on. I’ll be right back.”

You watched his adorable tight ass in the light blue boxers as he walked away. “But why?” You whined.

Next to your head, slung over the back of the sofa, was one of Steve’s sweat shirts. You pulled it closer. It smelled like him, woody and spice and just him. The room tilted a bit, so you rested your head back and buried your face in his shirt.  

Light seared through your eye lids, pulling you from slumber. You head ached, but your body was wrapped in a heavy cocoon of warmth. Really heavy. You became more aware. The night before, at least some of it, came rushing back. You remembered Steve’s glorious body, all that skin. You inhaled. Holy shit. The momentary panic subsided somewhat with the realization that you were in a tee shirt and panties.

His body, spooned around you, pulled tighter with a little groan. “It’s early. Go back to sleep.”

“Steve?”

“Yeah.” His voice was rough with sleep.  

“Do I need to apologize for anything?” The last thing you really remembered was telling him you wanted him.  

He remained quiet for a long time. You wondered if there was something really bad, or if he was pondering teasing you. Then again, maybe he fell back asleep. Steve eventually lifted his arm and brushed your hair away from your neck. He placed warm kisses on your skin.  

“There’s nothing. So long as you meant it and let me take you out, and date you proper.”  

You didn’t remember him asking, but you weren’t about to say no. “How could I turn that down?” You snuggled into him. It felt so good. “Steve?”

“Hm?”  

“How did I end up in your shirt?”

You felt him chuckle. “You don’t remember?”

“No.”

Steve squeezed you tight again still quietly chuckling against you. “I think I may keep that little story to myself. Now go back to sleep.”

“I should go back to my room.” You sighed.

“Not a chance.”

“If I come out of your room once everyone is up...”

“They’ll talk.” He mumbled, lips ghosting across the skin of your neck. “Let them. Especially after last night.  They should know you already have a Mr. Tall and Yummy – and one in it for the real thing, not a just a roll in the sack.”  

You sighed in contentment, relaxing into his warmth. “Wait a minute.” You suddenly tried to look over your shoulder. “How do you know about that?”

He tried to hold your back to his chest. Steve nudged his leg between your thighs and pulled you close again. “No talk. Sleep.”

“Steve.” You reached your hand back and ran it through his hair. “Tell me.”

“Sleep.” His hand drift over your side and slid along the curve of your ass.

“Steve.”

“Then don’t sleep.” His hand curved your face towards his. His lips captured yours in a slow, wet kiss. 

Nearly all thought left your brain. Damn, he felt good. One leg hitched back over his hip. His thigh rubbed against yours. His hand drifted below the tee shirt and up the smooth skin of your stomach.  

You smiled against his kiss. You still couldn’t let it go. “Tell me.”

He captured your lower lip lightly in his teeth. “I heard.”

“What?”

“I heard the girls tease you.” Steve hid his eyes from you, pushing his head into your shoulder. “I thought I was too late. The thought of you with someone else, ugh, it made me...”

You stroked his soft hair, as he wrapped himself around you. He nipped at your ear. His hip bucked into your ass, making it very evident how awake he was. With his large hand upon your breast, teeth and tongue along your throat, body pushing you into the mattress, you becoming completely lost to him. A moan escaped your throat.  

“God, I want you.” Steve’s mouth trailed down your neck. His fingers teased at the waist of your panties. “Want to taste you, to fuck you.”  

His mouth and words sent a shiver down your body. You whined.

“Need to hear it, Baby.” Steve’s nose trailed along the skin of your neck.

“Yes, I want you too.” Your fingers ran through his hair as he exhaled a moan. His fingers slid beneath the flimsy fabric of your panties, finding the wet folds of your pussy. His hand explored as his hips pressed into you. You moaned as his slick fingers danced over your clit.

“Fuck, you feel so good.” He breathed against you. You pushed your panties off your hips, shimmied them off, and hitched a leg over Steve’s. His fingers curled into you, making you keen. He brought them to his mouth and licked your juices from his fingers. “So good.”

He shifted. You felt his length slip between your legs, slide along your wetness. Spooned behind you, large hand pressed to your core, hot breath washing over your neck, you needed him inside you. “Fuck me,” you breathed, “please.”  

“Oh, shit.” Steve moaned as he slid into you, stretching and filling you. His cock hit just the right spot, pushing little mewls from your throat with every thrust. Your cunt, soaking and sensitive, clenched around him. His hips snapped, hand holding you in place. “Feels. So. Fucking. Good.”

"Steve.” You began to shuttered. His mouth locked on your neck, finding that spot at the junction of your neck and shoulder that sent shivers all the way to your cunt. He bit down and pounded into you. “Oh fuck!”

He wrapped himself around you, holding you as you came apart. Steve’s grip tightened. A growl rumbled up from his chest. His cock pounded into you, thrusts deep, pressing, as his release hit him. “Fuck, yes.”

Steve’s arms relaxed enough for you to roll over in his arms. Kissing him slowly, you stretched out against him. He smiled against your lips, pulling at the tee shirt and you still wore and tossing it to the floor. Your panties and his boxers forgotten somewhere at the bottom of the bed, you curled back up fully naked.  

“I really only intended to hold you.” Steve smiled against your kiss.  

“You are holding me.” You snuggled into his embrace.

“Good point.” He kissed your temple. “And it’s still early, so back to sleep.”

“Oh yeah.” You giggled. “Sleep, and then everyone gets to see me leave your room.”

“Yes.” He smiled sleepily. “Looking happy and thoroughly ravaged.”

“At least I won’t be the only one.”

TAGS:

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[morkmywords]

Not Really a Cinderella Story | Royalty au | Exo | Sehun | 14

Masterlist | Part 1 Part 2 Part 3 Part 4 Part 5 Part 6 Part 7 Part 8 Part 8.5 Part 9 Part 10 Part 11 Part 12 Part 13 Part 14 Part 15 [FINAL]

Royalty!AU

Length: 4.9k

Note: sorry it took so long

Warnings: nothing really

Pairing: Sehun x Reader

Genre: Fluff/angst

Summary: When a strange string of not so great events somehow and you with a job at the palace punching the wrong people can be not so great.

”I hate boats,” Kun muttered beside you. The sun hadn’t risen yet and your breaths were puffing around you in small clouds as you walked up the gang blank and onto the ship, wood creaking beneath your boots. Preparations began almost immediately you handed the letter to Lord Cha and somehow the next morning you were before dawn and boarding a ship as the crew were making the final preparations. Dreading the journey ahead and in need of more than one friendly face you invited Kun to come along to the capital with you and he begrudgingly accepted, much to his mother’s delight.

Chuckling, you nudged him with your shoulder, “You live on ana island, how can you hate boats?” 

“I work on a farm, I never need to leave the island,”

“You’ve never wanted to go on an adventure and see the world?”

“Not on one of these floating death traps I don’t,” He huffed and pulled his jacket tighter around himself, “It’s almost summer, why does it still have to be so cold in the morning?” grumbling he trudged away, no doubt in search of breakfast.

A sigh escaped you as you felt the ship rocking beneath your feet, the salty air brushing over your face felt like home.Closing your eyes you were still and silent letting the sounds envelop you, boots against the deck, chattering of cailor, the crash of waves against the docks, the cry of a gull.Someone grasped your shoulder, eye shooting open you spun around to see Minseok snickering at your raised fists.

“I hope you weren’t planning on punching the Crown Prince of Edesea,” he gasped and turned away in fake shock, “That’s punishable by death,” He whispered as if it was some kind of terrible secret.

You frowned and stepped back from his mischievous smile, “Scare me again and we’ll see who dies first,” You shot him a glare before turning and marching away to the far side of the ship. Hearing his footsteps creaking against the deck and draping himself over the railing next to you. 

He let out a long whistle and nudged you with his shoulder, “Feisty, I like it.” he paused,  “It seems like you’ve finally found confidence, I like the new Y/n much, much better.”

Silence surrounded the two of you for a moment before finally you broke and turned to face him with a long sigh, “Don’t get all sappy now, It’s weird,” you grabbed his arm and dragged him halfway across the deck towards the door that led to the cabins below, “Let’s get something to eat before there’s nothing else left.”

“You can’t escape me forever Y/n,” he called after you with a smile, “We’re stuck on this boat for two weeks!”

Grunting you slammed the door behind you and climbed down the stairs to find Kun chatting away with one of the cooks. With a thud you sat on one of the benches next to him dug into the food that was put in front of you while they continued chatting away. A few minutes later the ship lurched and everyone rushed to the top deck to watch the ship leave port. You shoved your way to the railings and saw a crowd of people waving from the dock. The held banners and streamers and shouted wishes of luck on your journey. You stayed pressed against the railing listening to the shouts until you couldn’t see anything more than specks in the distance and all you could hear was the crashing waves and wind blowing past your face.

The candlelight flickered through your cabin illuminating it with a soft orange glow. Laying on your cot you traced the pattern on the ceiling with your eyes as the waves sloshed against the side of the boat rocking it slowly. Kun, who opted to be your roommate rather than bunk with the crew, was currently on deck retching the contents of his stomach over the side of the ship, so you were left alone for the time being. In no way were you looking forward to what was waiting for you when you got off the ship in the capital city but it was one of your responsibilities, there was no escaping it as much as the thought of another royal wedding made your stomach churn. Kun came back eventually and passed out after kicking off his shoes leaving you alone again. Eventually the rocking of the boat, Kun’s snoring, and even the candle flickering was too much to handle with your thoughts spinning out of control. Slipping out the door you rushed down the hallway and stopped in front of the door before knocking once and pushing it open. The light from the hallway spilled into the room from behind you illuminating Minseok’s half asleep figure.

“Y/n?” he asked, voice croaking with sleep. Shoving himself up on his elbows and pushing his hair out of his face to get a batter look, “What are you doing here, what time is it?”

“Can I come in?” you whispered while clutching the doorframe, even if Minseok had a private room the walls were thin and you didn’t want to wake anyone else up. You had no idea what time it was but you couldn’t stay in your room anymore and this was the only place you could think to go. 

Shoving his hair out of his face he took a second look before moving as far over as the small would allow him to before falling off. “Yeah, come in and shut the door behind you,” he asked with concern, “Did something happen?”

Door clicking shut behind you, you entered the now darkened room and curled under the blanket beside Minseok, burying yourself into his side so he couldn’t see your watery eyes. But he didn’t make a move to wrap himself around you and instead stayed still. 

“Can I hold you?” He asked softly. 

There was a beat before you nodded, knowing it would make you feel better in the end. Slowly he wrapped his arms around you and pulled you even closer, moving up the blanket so it covered your torso as well as his, “It’s going to be okay right?” you whispered into his chest. 

“I promise it’ll all be okay,” he whispered into your hair. Somehow, with those six words he calmed your spinning mind and your tears fell onto his nightshirt like dew drops.

“I’m sorry,” you sniffled trying to push off him, “I’m getting you all wet.”

Refusing to let you go he wrapped around you tighter and pulled you back onto the bed, “Don’t be,” he replied softly curling farther around you so you could both fit on the bed better. It was a comfortable silence, the rocking of the waves , your head pressed to his chest and listening to his heartbeat. You felt warm and safe curled up beside him, timidly you leaned backwards and tilted your chin upwards to find him looking back down at you. His eyes bore down into yours, you were sinking into the depths of his gaze and ever so slowly he leaned down. Time seemed to move in slow motion as he got closer and closer. 

And you didn’t move away.

His lips met yours gently, as if you were as fragile as a butterfly’s wing. If he pressed to hard you might fall to pieces and in a way, you felt as if you would. He held you as if you were the most precious thing in the world but even something was different, it wasn’t the same. Soon his light snores filled the air and you softly untangled yourself from his grasp and slipped back down the hall into your own bed. 

----

Everyone on the ship quickly fell into a routine during the first few days, even Kun had gotten over his seasickness with the help of a home made remedy from the cook, who was a man with almost as big of a personality as his belly and you quickly got along with. There hadn’t been a chance for you to speak with Minseok since that night, from the few glimpses you caught of him he was letting his heritage show. Like most people from Edesea he was an extremely talented sailor since he grew up on the Royal fleet, quickly he convinced the captain and crew to let him help even if he was a crown prince. You helped out sometimes but you really weren’t great at anything other than tying knots, so you mainly just got to know the other people onboard. 

“There’s a storm coming,”  the captain croned from his spot at your table. The eyes of everyone at the table shifted to him as he took another swig of ale and set his mug down harshly.

“How do you know that?”  Kun inquired, “It was perfectly clear today?”

One of the other sailors cut him off, “Don’t question the captain boy, he’s been sailing these seas longer that you’ve been alive!” Kun pouted and turned his attention back to pushing his food around his plate lazily.

With a grunt the captain pushed up from the bench which scraped against the floorboards, “I’m sorry My Lady,” he began, “We will have to wait and see how bad the storm truly is before any decisions are made regarding the rest of the journey,” He stood and left stopping to bow before Minseok who was coming in to replace the seat he left open. 

Much like Kun had before, you turned your eyes to your plate and began playing with the scraps which remained. You could feel the slight rattle and creak of the bench as he set his plate down and finally sat.

“What’s happened?” he asked openly, “Has something gone wrong?”

“The captain says there’s going to be a storm,” you muttered quickly keeping your eyes trained on the plate, “I hope it doesn’t delay us too much,” you added halfheartedly. In all honesty there was something deep down inside of you desperately whooshing for the storm to stop the ship from arriving at all but you knew it was your duty to go. 

The conversation quickly drifted to another topic and you grabbed your plate to leave, eager to get away from the guilt you felt whenever Minseok was around. Nobody seemed to notice as you slipped out the door and back to your cabin where you pulled out a book and began absentmindedly flipping through the pages. Quickly you found yourself leaving the book and heading into the deck where the stars twinkled above you. Letting the sea air fill your lungs and the light of the lanterns dance across your face you relaxed as the sound of boots against the deck echoed behind you. 

“Lady Y/n, you really must tell me if I’ve done something wrong,” Minseok stressed from behind you, “I can’t stand having you avoid me like this!”

You turned to him in the moonlight. His eyes reflected the stars and the soft glow of candles emphasized the crease in his brow. “Crown Prince Minseok of Edesea, I’m sorry, but the kids we shared, I-I do not feel the same way!”

Almost immediately he softened and his shoulders relaxed. He let out a deep sigh and gathered your hands in his. “Oh Y/n! I’m so glad!” He exclaimed, “I was afraid it was something worse, to be honest I do not feel that way about you either. For a time I was convinced that I loved you but though I do still love you, it is the love between two friends or a brother and his sister.”

If there was one word to describe what you were feeling in that moment it would be grateful. But at the same time you and Minseok both knew what it meant by acknowledging that the feelings between you two were in no way romantic. Your heart was still elsewhere and you did not know how long it would remain there. 

——

Shouts of sailors from above deck echoed through the cabin. Rain pounded in every direction like a war drum as thunder shook the walls and rattled the portholes. As violent waves threw the ship side to side you cot slid across the floor throwing both you and Kun onto the ground. You dragged him to his feat as the boat pitched to the side again, clutching to the wall you steadied yourself enough to make your way to the far wall. 

Putting your hands on his shoulders you forced Kun to sit, “Stay here,” you ordered, “I’m going to see what’s happening, brace yourself against the wall and whatever you do, don’t come up on deck!” 

You gave him a quick squeeze before the boat pitched again and you were out the door shoulder slamming into the wall opposite. Pulling yourself up the stairs you burst through the door and landed in a heap in the deck. Rain and boot steps echoed amongst the frenzied shouting, you were soaked immediately by the torrents of rain falling from the sky and clouding your vision. Furiously you wiped your eyes just in time to hear the shouts and giant wave curling itself over the boat. With all your strength you clung to the railing closest to you as the wave enveloped the deck. The salt water burned your lungs as you gasped for breath, when your head broke the surface as your eyes cleared the ship was in shambles. 

“Minseok!” You screamed hoarsely. His head turned focusing on you before rushing over and tethering you in his arms, bracing the both of you on a railing as the boat pitched again.

“What are you doing here?” He demanded, “it’s not safe, go back down to your cabin and tell the others don’t come up on deck until someone comes to tell you it’s safe.” In that moment he seemed like a natural king and you were frozen like a fish out of water.

He started to pull away when you dug your fingers into his shirt, “Are you sure you’re going to be okay?” You asked.

“I will, now go!”

You pushed away from him and began to climb back down below deck as the boat suddenly tilted to its side. Thrown off you balance you fell down to the hallway floor, your wrist throbbed but you ignored it as you pushed yourself back into your cabin where Kun was waiting, the same as you hand left him. Without a word you gathered all the pillows and blankets from the beds, piling them around you as a makeshift cushion as you continued to slide across the floor. Soaking and shivering you curled up tightly and prayed that the stir would be over soon and the ship with all its passengers would end up in one piece. 

——

The violent crashing of waves stopped eventually and died down to a soft rocking before the boat came to a complete stop. You had no idea how long you sat huddled in a corner with Kun waiting for the storm to finish, things were strewn about your room having fallen from where they were previously stored. There was a snake of guilt coiled around your stomach when Minseok came and brought you up to the deck, the captain had docked the ship in the port of a small island about two thirds of the way up the coast, and when you saw the state the ship was in, you knew why. It was a wreck, thankfully nobody was killed but many people were injured and you had lost almost all of the cargo that wasn’t in the hold. The worst part of all was that the main sail was torn to shreds and the mast fallen over completely.You knew it was bad when Minseok grimaced as he walked past it and onto the dock. You all headed straight to the Inn where hopefully rooms and warm beds would be waiting for you, from what you saw as you walked through the town it looked tiny, only a few houses and farm all huddles around the main cobblestone street. The houses all seemed to be in the same style, thatched roofs and brick walls all painted different colours. Flowers hung from the eves as they prepared for their own summer celebration. Eyes peeked through the windows as you paraded past and to the Inn.

It was a large stone building with grand wooden doors and windows on every side to let the light inside, thankfully nobody else was visiting the small town so you rented out all the rooms though you still had to share.

“Dinner will be served in the dining room at seven,” the innkeeper explained, “I’ll gather the village to come at that time too, until then you all should go rest up and have a warm bath.”

You thanked them before you split apart and headed to your rooms, taking what could be salvaged of your belongings with you. The crew and passengers had divided the rooms amongst themselves, they had decided to give you and Minseok the nicest room as much as the two of you protested. Kun decided to stay in a room with some of the other boys in the crew so it was just the two of you. The both of you reached the top of the stairs and opened the door to reveal the surprisingly large room with two cots on either side, you let out a long sigh and dropped your things on the bed closest to the door. The salt water dried on your skin was starting to itch.

“I’m going to take a bath,” you announced, pulling out a clean dress from your bag. You could see that Minseok was obviously in worse shape than you, having spent the whole storm trying not to let the boat sink, being pummeled with waves and rain. He sat on the cot head tilted back against the wall, exhaustion pulling heavy underneath his closed eyes, you cleared your throat.

“I’ll head to the bathhouse with the other, you can use the one in the one in the room,” Ever the picture perfect prince he tried to protest but you slipped out the door and joined the crowd heading to the bathhouse in town. 

There weren’t many women on the ship compared to men, a few mothers of small families heading home for the summer festivals and their daughters. You split from the group of men and headed into the side for females stripping off your clothes and submerging yourself in the hot water. You chatted for a while and washed yourselves off before heading back to the Inn as the sun was setting, painting the sky pink and orange.

The dinning hall was filled with chatter as you enter, it was packed with everyone form the ship and everyone from the town. Quickly, you were escorted over to the table with Minseok, the Captain, and who you assumed to be the heads of the village.

“Good you’re here,” the captain said as you took a seat next to Minseok. Everyone seemed to have cleaned up well and looked a little better than they did when you first arrived. 

“Nice to meet you,” you introduced yourself to the people around the table, “I’m Lady Y/n, of Iyle. Thank you for helping us on our way to the capital, we are truly sorry if we are causing any trouble for you.”

“It’s no problem at all, my lady. We rarely get visitors here on our island and we’re glad to help out,” a big man with a grizzly beard responded in a cheery voice, “It’s too bad you got caught in that storm, it really came out of nowhere. The Captain and the prince here have explained your situation and the village will help repair the sail and the mast.”

“Now it’ll take a few days,” the Captain added, “But if we’re able to leave at dawn in three days time we should be able to reach the capital with a few hours to spare.”

“As a thanks for everything you’ve done for us I would like to invite any of your sailors who are willing to come and train in Iyle’s naval academy free of charge.” you offered.

“Thank you my lady,” they all chorused in awe.

“I’ll extend the same invitation if any of you wish to train in the Royal Naval Academy of Edesea,” Minseok added on.

-----

You stayed and chatted a bit over dinner but retired to your room quickly, still exhausted, as Minseok decided to stay and help make plans. Would you really be able to make it before the festivities start? What would happen when you did arrive? Questions like these churned in your mind and kept you from sleeping until the door squeaked open and Minseok slipped in.

“Did you really have to one up me like?” you chided from your spot curled under the thin blanket. The summer air was hot so anything heavier would have suffocated you in the heat as you slept. He chuckled as he began to pull of his boots and vest.

“I couldn’t just give them nothing,” he told you with a smile, “What kind of prince would I be then?’

“Still, couldn’t you have just give them a jewel or something? I’m new to this whole ruling thing…”

“Y/n, Iyle is powerful enough that if you wanted to take over Oclaria they wouldn’t stand a chance. People already respect you and it’s not just the ones back in your palace. Don’t worry too much, you were quite literally born for this, get some sleep.”

You sighed and rolled to face the wall as he continued to get changed. Minseok was the oldest of all the princes and if he thought you were good enough, he was probably right…… right?

-----

Everyone pitched in to help rebuild the ship, even the children did their part by organizing tools and taking messages back and forth. You ended up being put with those who would repair the sails because you had so much experience embroidering and sewing with Jiyoon back in Arye. Slowly you get to know more and more about the village and the people who lived in it. They were mainly a fishing village which quickly turned into a port for traders from the south on their journey to the capital, the population used to be larger but all the young people would end up travelling away with the ships so slowly the town shrunk. The man in charge of organizing the sail repair used to run a garment shop when the town was busy but now he owns a small form since there was no more business for a garment shop.

At night everyone would meet back at the Inn for dinner and share stories about their days, Kun quickly fell in with the other kids in the village and on the ship and got involved in a lot of their hijinks. On one particular occasion they somehow managed to make all of the water in the bath house ice cold for an entire day. But sure enough by dawn after three days time you were ready to set sail. You wished the town fair well and promised to visit again on your way back, waving from the deck you watched the town disappear as the sun rose over the horizon. A few of the men and women had taken your offer, you wrote them a letter and sent them to the capital with a message for the head of the academy.

----

The capital port was bustling with people just as you remembered it, the smell of fish and horse drawn carriages overwhelmed you as you were rushed off the ship with Minseok and into the carriage from the palace. The driver hurriedly explained that now it was noon and the gala of the first night of the summer festival would begin as soon as the sun set. You sped through the city watching the townhouses slowly disappear as you could finally catch a glimpse of the royal palace in the distance. WIth your heart thudding in you chest you turned your eyes from the window and back to Minseok who was sitting across from you.

“Are you really going to be okay Y/n?” he asked, “you look like you’re going to be sick.”

And you felt like you were going to be sick too, to say you were panicking would be an understatement.

“Remember what I told you that first night in the inn? You are only second to the king in power, you don’t have to be scared.”

You met his eyes and saw the truth in them. Swallowing the lump in your throat you nodded as you continued your climb to the palace.

As soon as you arrived you and your trunks were swept out of the carriage by a flurry of maids and through the familiar halls to the room you would be staying. A few of them seemed surprised as they recognized you but thankfully didn’t say anything as they bowed and left your room. It looked just like every other guest room in the palace but you could feel you balance wavering as you drifted to the balcony which overlooked the gardens from your dreams and nightmares. You slammed the windows shut and threw the blinds closed in a panic trying desperately to calm your breathing. Minseok said he would come to escort you to the gala when the clock struck seven and as the journey to the palace was so long it was already five and you needed to begin getting ready. You were starting to regret not bringing your own maid as you began unpacking all the jewelry, makeup, and clothes which had been packed in your trunks. Finally you found the package that was your dress for the gala and pulled away the tissue revealing a soft white dress which faded into pale yellows and oranges as it reached the floor. The neckline was square with capped sleeves and a deep back exposing the silver trails of scars on your skin that you once tried desperately to hide. Once your hair and makeup was finished, decorated with pearls and strands of crystals you felt and looked royal. You felt different than you had ever felt before and as much as you wanted to change back into the plain and comfortable dress you had been wearing earlier you knew this was necessary, not only for you, but to set and example and show everyone else what Iyle really was.

Just as the clock on your wall struck seven there was a knock on the door. You walked over and opened it to reveal Minseok.

“You really look like a princess,” he breathed out, eyebrows shooting up.

“Is it too much?” you asked, “I have a few minutes to change..” you said, starting to turn away as he caught your wrist.

“It’s perfect Lady Y/n,” he said gently.

“Thank you Prince Minseok.”

The sun had just begun to dip below the horizon as you walked through the halls, you were a few minutes late and the butler explained almost everyone was inside already including the King. You gulped as you arrived behind the double doors.

“I’ll go in first,” Minseok told the caller, “Are you sure you don’t want to come with me?”

“I’m alright,” you assured him before taking a step back as the caller announced his name and the guards opened the doors allowing the chatter and applause to spill into the foyer. As the doors closed again you took a deep breath and moved in front of the doors. They began to open, bathing you in the light of the chandeliers as the caller shouted in his booming voice,

“Presenting, Y/n, Lady of Iyle!”

You were momentarily blinded by the lights as the entire room fell silent, the only sound, your heels clicking methodically on the marble staircase. The crowd with mouths hanging open stared at the silver trails along your arms and back. But you held your head high and refused to let them see what was writhing inside you as you scanned the crowd, seeing Minsek smiling at you from the bottom of the staircase and as you reached the final step your eyes locked on his. He was sitting on the dias, his throne, though the same one you saw him sit in before looked different because now he looked like a King. His eyes bore into you as you took Minseok’s arm and followed him to where the rest of the royals were waiting beside the throne. When you had finally come to a standstill the chatter and music finally started up again until the doors opened again.

“Presenting the final guest. Lady Haerin, Daughter of Lord Shin of Ostus!”

As she began to descend the stairs you turned and saw him rise from his throne, walking to meet her at the bottom of the staircase as the sense of dread began to build until you saw him reach out and kiss her hand before taking her arm in his and leading her onto the dance floor. You felt like you were going to be sick.

[stuffwedoistotallynotillegal]

Narcissism; Part 7 (end)

Author: Lee

Warnings: mental/emotional manipulation, idk what else

A/N: Last part of this series that's been going on and seldom updated since the beginning of this blog. It's been real, fam. Thanks for tagging along on this journey!

There was more emotion than expected. The glances from across the room, the peeks from around a bookshelf in the library, even the whispered conversations from the other aisle. You’d never thought you’d have any sort of closeness with Michael, yet, with each brush against your back as he passed from behind and each outstretched hand to help you out of the Impala, you noticed that a soft spot was forming in his demeanor when you were around. You weren’t sure if it was guilt from what Lucifer had done or if Michael had actually taken a liking to you.

Maybe he could feel your embarrassment for falling for such an obvious trick. Maybe he just pitied your useless mortal soul for being so naïve and lovesick. Michael hovered over you constantly, and you realized how similar him and Lucifer actually are – at least personality wise. Michael had told you Lucifer used to mimic him, like the younger sibling he is, and probably picked up personality traits that just stuck.

You woke up to Michael knocking at your door, letting you know the long day was starting. Having rolled out of bed, you quickly got dressed and ready, then went out to meet everyone else. People and angels and a very few select demons were going over the plan as you sat and munched on breakfast, you let your mind zone in and your face space out, eliciting a couple nudges from Michael to make sure you were still engaged.

When all was said and done, everyone made their way to the warehouse Dean had chosen for the trap. It would be a long while to wait before it all started.

You were shaken out of your trance by Cas, barely processing his words as he helped you stand up.

“It’s about to start, Y/n. Come on, you need to be ready.”

You stood up and stumbled a bit. You looked around and saw Michael, ready to put himself into an angel trap as a sacrifice to lure Lucifer in. He smiled at you as he saw you walk up next to Ellen and stand. Ellen glanced over at you and softly spoke:

“Are you ready for this?” She inquired.

“I don’t know.” You replied.

“You can step out at any time, honey. He’ll try to go after your mind, but he can’t follow you out.”

You nodded as you looked back over to Michael. He turned his head back toward you and smiled. He could feel your nervous energy as you walked into the trap.

"Hello, water lily." he nodded to the patch on you jacket.

It was a very light pink and white water lily settled over your left breast. The jacket itself was picked up from a thrift store in Oklahoma after a werewolf case cause you to jump into a ravine and completely render the clothes worn at the time un-wearable. You couldn't help but be entranced by the flower when you saw it hidden on the rack among heaps of tacky sweaters and worn jackets. It felt like it was calling to you. That it was made for you to wear. Maybe that was someone else's doing.

You blushed at the nickname Michael had decided to fit you with and instead looked up at him, trying to hid you unease with a small smile.

"Hello, angel." you had meant to give him his own nickname based off an obvious circumstance the way he did, completely forgetting about the softness and meaning of such a name.

Your blush only deepened as his smirk grew.

Angel. Good one.

Before you could embarrass yourself even more, he cupped the side of your face in his hand and caressed your cheekbone with his thumb.

"It'll be okay." he murmured, looking deep into your eyes.

You felt a weight lifted off of you being as he did, feeling enveloped in his presence and safety.

"Do you know the significance of water lilies? The meaning?" he asked.

You wanted to answer, but Dean's voice cut through the warehouse before you could even open your mouth. 

"Alright, lets get this going, the sooner the better."

And with that Michael removed his hand from your face and walked into the trap, followed by nearly everyone else in the room. Gabriel pulled out a scroll and you felt your stomach twist into tight knots. Then you felt it, as he read of the scroll you felt a deep pain. You knew the words of an ancient language was not meant for your ears as they echoed through your head. You covered your ears, but that only built the pressure in your head.

You could barely keep your eyes open to see the others in the room, and eventually opted to keep them squeezed shut. With bones that felt like they were vibrating under your skin, your body lowered itself to one knee on the ground. You felt a hand on your back and your hair smoothed to the side. Michael's voice found its way through the chaos in your head.

"It'll be over soon." 

You could only whimper softly, and he held you closer until suddenly it was over. Like it had never happened.

You slowly stood with the help of Michael and standing in the middle before you was none other than Lucifer himself, staring you down.

"Hello, my love."

Your vision was blocked by Michael standing in front of you.

"It's time to end this, Lucifer."

"Dear, dear brother. You stand between myself and my sweet Y/n" his voice was mocking and your stomach knots were impossibly tighter.

Michael walked forward to Lucifer and you stepped back out of the trap. You looked around. It seemed as though every human in the room was under a trance, staring directly in front of them. No doubt having their minds tampered with by Lucifer. You could feel him trying to pry into your mind with subtle hallucinations.

You could hear a baby crying, you could see shadows out of the corner of your eyes-- just out of focus. There was a piercing scream abruptly interrupted by Michael in the center of the room.

"Y/n come here, we need to finish this."

You felt yourself step forward before someone stood in front of you, blocking your way.

"He's trying to trick you, water lily." It was Michael. The real Michael. "You need to get outside, Y/n. He'll take you to hell with him if you don't."

"What about you? And everyone else?"

Just then you heard Dean's voice.

"Y/n, help!" you looked passed Michael and saw Dean covered in blood, clutching Sam in his arms as Sam lay unconscious."

Michael drew your attention away.

"Everyone else is outside, except Gabriel, Castiel, you, me, and Lucifer. You need to get out, too."

Dean, or the hallucination, let out a sob.

"Y/n please, he's dying. Sammy's dying."

You'd never seen so much pain on someone's face. You stepped forward. Sam is dying.

"Y/n he's playing with your head. Its not real." Michael yelled.

You were immediately snapped out of you trance. You had been convinced it was Sam and Dean. You blinked hard and looked around the room. They weren't in here. No one other than those who Michael had said were there.

"Get out." He pleaded "please."

You looked down to see your foot only millimeters from the trap. You backed away and turned, walking to the door that was only opened by a crack. You slowly made your way to it, ignoring the feeling of being preyed on.

Don't look back.

Don't look at what's not there.

"Your mind is fragile, Y/n." Lucifer bellowed.

Just then a section of the roof caved in and fell directly in front of you. You stopped with a strained gasp as you heard Cas.

"It's not real, Y/n, keep walking."

You put your foot out and felt the debris. It was real.

"Y/n, stop believing it's in front of you." Michael called.

You closed your eyes and stepped forward, surprised to find that nothing obstructed your path. You took a few steps forward before opening your eyes and seeing that the roof was still above your head, the door only a few strides away.

You heard Gabriel start up whatever language he was speaking before. You ran to the door. Ignoring how the doorknob turning glowing bright orange with heat when you swung the door open. It wasn't actually hot, just pretending to be.

You walked down the entrance steps and to Dean who was leaning against the Impala, his thumb between clenched teeth as he met your gaze. You stride to him trying to get your mind to stop racing. All you could feel was your heart pumping faster that normal and you thoughts clustering at rapid speeds.

"Are you okay?" Dean asked.

His voice sounded muffled and distant, like you were underwater. Your eyes closed and your head met Dean's shoulder as your body leaned forward, the dull ringing in your ears turned to shrill screams as you thoughts stopped. The cool breeze that coiled under your nose chilled deep within and caused your eyes to snapped open.

You looked around, noting you were in the back of the Impala. The sun was slowly drifting down the horizon. Dean was still leaned up the side of the car, staring at the warehouse with an intense gaze.

Gabriel had just walked out, giving a curt nod to Dean before walking off. It was then when you noticed the lack of people there. You had guessed that they all went home. As far as you knew, Castiel was still in the building with Michael and Lucifer, and it was just you and Dean left outside.

You shifted your position and leaned your head against the window before closing your eyes again, only to be jolted by a low rumble that vibrated the glass of the windows. Lifting yourself up, you looked to Dean who pushed off the Impala and stepped forward.

From the warehouse came a bright light that disappeared as soon as it shown. The door once again swung open and you were relieved to see Michael and Cas stride out briskly. Dean stopped them both, saying something you couldn’t quite catch before stepping aside and letting Cas and Michael into the car.

The sky was dark with the fresh dusk that led the blackness of night. Michael had sat in the back with you, his eyes barely drifted from you as you looked back. He wanted to say something, but it seemed like for once he was at a loss for words. Finally, he glanced down to your jacket, smiling as he studied the water lily.

“Water lilies represent enlightenment and rebirth, their symbolism seems to only have positive connotations, according to humans.” Michael let a small smile inhabit his face, “A fresh start.”

You nodded, laying your head on his shoulder as he grabbed your hand.

“A fresh start.”

[writinginstardust]

Always Be Yours

Pairing: Dorian Havilliard x reader

Request: anonymous asked “The Nsfw was mind-blowing!I would love to get a romantic imagine with that throne ;))”

Warnings: They do the do

A/N: This took a while to get to but I hope whoever requested likes it! I know I put this disclaimer on all smut I write but again I’m not necessarily the best at it, I don’t find it particularly easy to write in a way i’m happy with, and I personally don’t have bucket loads of actual experience so never expect it to be incredible. That being said, I’m pretty happy with how this turned out which is pretty amazing for me so yeah, here it is!

Word Count: 2329

*

“(Y/N)? You in there?” Chaol’s voice was muffled by the door but she still managed to hear it from across her chambers.

“One second!” She called out as her maid finished doing her hair and gave an approving nod after inspecting her appearance. She hurried across the room to open the door, not wanting to keep her friend waiting. “Hi.”

“Hi”

“To what do I owe the pleasure? It’s rather early for dinner isn’t it?”

“It is, Dorian wishes to see you, he’s in the throne room.” She furrowed her brow in confusion. He’d said he was busy until dinner so she hadn’t seen him all day, why did he need to see her now? And why did he send Chaol to get her? She was happy to get to see him of course, just surprised at the circumstances.

“Alright, I’ll head right down. Any idea what this is about?”

“Yes.”

“Feel like sharing?”

“That would ruin the surprise. He’ll tell you himself, just be patient. I know that’s difficult for you.” He smirked for about a second before she playfully elbowed him in the side.

They reached the throne room and Chaol gave her a wink which only made her more confused before gently shoving her into the room and closing the door behind her. It took a moment for her eyes to adjust to the comparative dimness of the room and she looked around, taking note of the closed blinds on all the windows, the astounding number of candles littered around the room, and the vines and plants wrapped carefully around stone pillars and hanging from the ceiling. The overall effect was breathtaking and had clearly taken a lot of work. Had Dorian done all this for her? Why?

“Good Evening my love.” She snapped her eyes forward to see Dorian lounging on his throne across the room and smiling softly.

“What’s all this about then?” A smile to match his made its way onto her face as she took a few steps further into the room. He stood as well and moved to meet her half way, wrapping his arms around her waist and pressing a quick kiss to her lips.

“Can’t I do something nice for you?”

“You can and you do, but this feels...different...” she slid her own arms around his neck and tilted her head to the side, considering, “...more...important.”

“Maybe it is.”

“Care to elaborate?”

“Patience darling.”

“Don’t you all know by now that i’m not a very patient person?”

“Oh we’re all well aware of that.” He smirked and pulled her closer, beginning to sway slightly and move slowly around the room in a small, silent, dance. She sighed in contentment and rested her head on his chest, allowing herself to be led wherever Dorian chose. She still had no idea what all this was about but it was nice and she was happy for now to just...be. It was a few minutes before he spoke again.

“(Y/N), you know how much I love you right?” His voice was low and soft, almost nervous.

“Mmmhmm.”

“Well, I’ve been thinking. I’ve never cared so much about anyone or anything than I do about you, and I don’t think I ever will. You’re the most amazing thing in my life and even if I lost everything else I’d still feel like the luckiest man in the world just to have you.” He stilled and pulled back from her so he could look into her eyes and she sucked in a breath as they locked gazes. It dawned on her then just what this was. She wanted to cut him off and just say yes right then but decided to let him at least ask first.

“You have my heart, I am yours, now and forever and I want you to be mine too. So…,” he stepped away, pulling something from his pocket and dropping to one knee like the cliched romantic he was, “(Y/N), light of my life, would you make me the happiest man alive and marry me?” He actually sounded unsure of himself when he asked, as if there was any other answer she’d give than yes.

“Dorian, I’ve always been yours and I always will be. Of course I’ll marry you, there’s nothing I’d love more.” A blinding smile spread across his face and he practically jumped to his feet, picking her up in a crushing hug and spinning her around until she couldn’t stop giggling. He finally put her down and slipped the simple but elegant ring onto her finger before pulling her into a heated kiss. She melted into him and kissed back with all she had, pouring all the joy and love she felt in that moment into it and making her feelings unquestioningly obvious to him.

As their kisses got more and more intense they both decided that they wanted each other now, wanted to celebrate this a bit more intimately, and they didn’t much care that someone could come in looking for them. Everyone had been told not to interrupt anyway but you never knew. It didn’t matter though, neither of them felt like going all the way to their rooms.

With ease, Dorian lifted her in his arms and carried her over to his throne, sitting on it with (Y/N) in his lap. They continued just kissing for a while, hands exploring each other, roaming where they pleased and slowly making their way under the layers of fabric between them as their lips and tongues moved in sync. The small noises coming from each of them were muffled by the other, kept only for the two of them to enjoy, but the sounds of ragged breathing every time they broke away filled the air and seemed to raise the temperature of the room until it was stifling.

Dorian’s lips trailed a burning path down the side of her neck and she couldn’t contain a soft moan as he sucked on the sensitive skin just above her collar bone. The sound reverberated through his body and caused him to let out one of his own as he suddenly became a lot less patient. He made quick work of the ribbon at the back of her dress and watched as the fabric slipped down her body to pool at her hips. It was a matter of seconds before he’d completely rid her of her clothes and sat her down, kneeling down before her. As a last second thought he reached up and placed his own crown on her head before sitting back and admiring her.

“My queen.” His smile was positively sinful and she couldn’t resist its pull, leaning down to kiss it away. He gently pushed her back until she leaned against the back of the throne before breaking the kiss and tracing a path down her body with his lips, pausing occasionally to give more attention where he knew her to be particularly sensitive. The gasps he drew from her fuelled his desire and made him smile against her skin.

As he reached her hips and set about sucking a mark there, his hands came up and pulled her to the edge of the seat and he felt her shiver in anticipation as he began to move lower, his lips barely ghosting over her skin. He looked up just before reaching his destination and groaned at the sight of her above him, already looking half wrecked.

“Gods, I don’t think I’ll ever get over how beautiful you are.” It came out breathy and almost as wrecked as she looked as he drank in the sight of her, bare before him and gazing at him in awe. Without another moment of hesitation he brought his mouth down on her, relishing in her sudden intake of breath and the way her back arched away from the seat, her hands gripping the armrests like vices. “So, so beautiful,” he murmured as he set about worshipping her with his tongue, each flick of it against her drawing out more beautiful noises.

Minutes later he finally put his skilled hands to better use than holding her still. One loosened her grip on the chair and entwined their fingers together while the other joined his mouth in its slow, almost torturous ministrations. I love you was the only coherent thought in his head and what he tried to convey with the movement of his fingers and tongue against her, even going so far as to trace the words themselves and imprint them on her skin whether she realised it or not.

The moans and gasps spilled with abandon from her lips as Dorian brought her closer and closer to the edge, the knot of pleasure in her stomach finally releasing as she gripped his hand tighter and he gladly worked her through it. His name was the last thing she’d gasped out as she’d fallen into blissful oblivion and it caused a fluttering in his heart that had yet to diminish since the first time and he prayed never would.

He gently ran his hand up and down her thigh as he waited for her to recover and looked up at her from his position between them, almost dying on the spot at the image which greeted him. His soon-to-be queen, glowing and content and his. He’d never seen anything as precious in his life.

“Come here.” (Y/N) spoke so softly that he almost missed it but the gentle tug on his hand got the message across well enough anyway. He rose up on his knees, tilting his head up and sliding a hand to the back of her neck to pull her lips down to meet his. “I love you,” she whispered against his lips and he instantly whispered it back, smiling against her before kissing her properly again.

He slid his hands under her thighs and he stood, turning round and settling himself on his throne with (Y/N) straddling his lap. She untangled her hands from his hair and slid them down his chest, unbuttoning his shirt and running her fingers over the toned plains of his stomach. A barely noticeable hitch in his breath caused her to smile against his lips as she let her hands trail lower.

It took some fumbling and wasn't terribly efficient as they refused to stop kissing for a moment, but eventually Dorian's trousers were out of the way and they were finally able to join together in the intimate way they craved. Every rock of her hips was unhurried, every touch of hands lingering as they moved together harmoniously. They both knew the perfect angle, the exact patches of skin to focus on to have the other gasping and moaning. Soon those sounds of pleasure had filled the room and with each movement a new one joined, pressing against them and heating their skin to the point that it was almost unbearable.

Eventually their slow languid pace was not enough and Dorian’s grip on her hips tightened as he began to move his own hips to meet her. Their noises of pleasure grew louder as they sped towards their release, gasping out sweet words between them before finally falling over the edge within moments of each other.

For a while heavy breathing was the only sound as (Y/N) collapsed onto Dorian’s chest and he in turn leaned heavily against the back of the throne. Her exhausted pants slowly faded as her heart rate returned to normal and, as she waited for him to get his own breath back, she began planting soft kisses to the skin of his chest and up his neck, fingers trailing nearby. The little shivers she caused brought a tired smile to her face and she sighed happily as he started to rub comforting circles on her lower back in return. When he dropped a light kiss on her forehead she finally tilted her face up and their lips met again.

“I don’t ever want to move,” she mumbled when they broke away and she snuggled back into his chest.

“Me neither. We can stay here a while if you want? We have time.”

“How much time?”

“An hour or two.” She looked up at him with a meaningful smirk which made him twitch in anticipation where he was still inside her.

“Well if we’ve got so much time I see no reason to go anywhere yet.”

“You’re not wrong. Is there something you’d like to do with this time?” She shifted her hips a little in answer.

“I can think of a few things.”

“Hmmm, I think I can see where you’re going with this,” he got out through a groan at her movement, “and how could I say no to my queen?”

“I’m not queen just yet darling.”

“Maybe not of this kingdom but you have ruled my heart for as long as I can remember. You’ve always been a queen.” She just gaped at him for a moment before surging forward and locking their lips together in a heated kiss that had them both clutching at each other desperately in an impossible attempt to be closer.

“I love you...so much...you have no idea how much.” She whispered between kisses and started moving against him once more, eliciting a string of moans from him.

“Maybe you...could show me?” He grinned even as he struggled to get the words out.

“I’d love to.” No more words were exchanged as they got lost in each other once more, gasps and moans becoming their only communication. They may have been late for dinner with flushed cheeks and messy hair but the complete adoration in the smiles they shared with each other throughout the evening stopped anyone from saying a word. They were content and in love and looking forward to spending the rest of their lives together. Nothing in the world could dampen their joy.

*

Tag Lists: (send an ask if you want to be added!)

Everything: @wonderfilledness

Dorian Havilliard: @myblackconfessions

[saxxxology]

THE CURSED - Ch.13

Being an English Princess in 1739 is everything for Y/N, a Princess from a prosperous, powerful kingdom, to be happy about… until her parents arrange for her to marry a Prince from a nearby kingdom against her wishes. Unable to join her on her journey, the Royal family hires the Winchesters, two experienced Rangers, to guide her. However, the Princess and the younger brother begin to display affection for each other, and when her heat threatens her life, Sam makes a possibly deadly decision to save it.

PAIRING: Alpha!Sam x Omega!Reader

WORD COUNT: ~2200

OVERALL WARNINGS: a/b/o dynamics (heat/rut, claiming, knotting), age gap, smut of varying levels, descriptions of injury and gore, a tad of dub-con and 18th-century sexism from time to time, occasional bits of angst, fighting, and violence, eventual minor character death

NOTE: Edited by @crispychrissy and @quiddy-writes - please heed all warnings! Please keep in mind that this series is set in the 18th century - society is not what it is today. I do not control where your eyes go; if you feel disturbed or think something may trigger you, it is your responsibility to either stop reading or scroll past.

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THIS WORK IS 18+ ONLY. DO NOT REPOST MY WORK ON ANY OTHER SITES.

Y/N watched as Sam’s chest steadily rose and fell under the crisp linen sheet. His shoulder had been mended, thanks to Meg, and they had allowed Y/N to bathe him in privacy. The only one allowed to see him other than her was Dean, and after Sam’s shoulder had been wrapped and Y/N promised to stay, he retired back to the church to see his wife.

She reached over and stroked his hair from his forehead, and his eyelids fluttered as her fingertips brushed against his skin. The sun was beginning to rise, and the infirmary was bathed in warm, golden light.

When his eyes finally opened, Y/N felt fresh tears sting her eyes and spill over.

“Don’t…” he swallowed and reached over to brush her cheek with his index finger, “don’t cry, Omega…”

Y/N sniffed, the ache in her chest growing when she saw the thick sling Meg had fixed around his shoulder and arm. “You got hurt.”

“And I’m alive, I’ll heal,” Sam smiled and looked at his shoulder. “I didn’t expect to come out of it completely unharmed. Come here.”

He moved over on the small bed, making room for Y/N to slide up beside him. She tucked herself against his body and pressed her face into his chest. “I saw the… the hellhound.”

Sam turned his head to nuzzle her hair, inhaling her warm, fragrant scent. The thought of her anywhere near the thing turned his stomach. “What did they do with it? Do you know?”

“I think Father Michael wants to burn it,” Y/N replied quietly, “I told him to wait until you were awake, I just thought you might want to decide…”

Sam swallowed and slipped her arm around her, pulled her closer. “I want to see it.”

Y/N looked at him. “Are you sure?”

He looked back at her. “It wanted to kill you. I want to see the thing that tried to take my beloved from me. I could hear you screaming… you have a pair of lungs in you, Princess.”

Y/N reached up to stroke his cheek. “I’ve never felt that afraid. I thought I was going to lose you.”

“You know death isn’t an option to me.”

“My Alpha was on the ground with a hell-beast on top of him, I wasn't t-thinking of that.”

Her voice broke, and Sam slowly turned onto his side, letting her find shelter in the wide expanse of his body. “It’s okay,” he whispered, rubbing his hand slowly over her back, “we’re safe now. I’m never letting anything put you in danger ever again.”

***

After Meg had examined him for additional injuries, Sam was allowed to dress in freshly laundered clothes, given to him from the town’s tailor, who just happened to be very close to Sam’s height and build. Y/N helped him lace his boots, and when Sam emerged into a bustling crowd of people, he saw that nearly everyone was wearing black.

“Why are they all in black?” He asked.

“They buried Hannah this morning,” Meg replied, “her Alpha’s devastated, he won’t leave her grave. The children are with Hannah’s sister.”

Sam sighed heavily and looked around. “It gets better… where’s Father Michael?”

“In the church,” Meg wiped her hands on her apron and smiled at them, “they’ve been waiting for you.”

Sam and Y/N thanked her and walked through the crowd of people, earning stares and whispers as they went. Like always, Sam kept Y/N close by his side, and it seemed like he was holding tighter than ever as they walked up the steps and entered the church.

Dean, Jo, and the priests were all gathered around the altar, speaking quietly. When they saw the couple enter, they walked down to meet them halfway, each one smiling broadly.

“You did well last night,” Castiel said, “we appreciate everything you’ve done, Samuel, truthfully. You saved lives.”

“That he did,” Dean pulled his brother into a bone-crushing hug, “that’s what my little brother does.”

Sam chuckled and returned the hug with one arm. “You don’t need to glorify me.”

Father Michael reached out, took Sam’s hand in both of his, and shook it gratefully. “After meeting with a majority of the town this morning, it appears that the tables have turned,” he said calmly, “I believe that you are no longer viewed as a… as a danger to this town, and we would like to offer you a place to stay. You live so far away, it might be more convenient to…”

Sam’s cheeks flushed at the offer, but when he saw the look in Y/N’s eye, he knew he had to refuse.

“I can’t, Father,” he explained, “Y/N and I have grown to enjoy our life in the hills, the, uh, solitude does us good.”

The priest bowed his head. “If you wish. But, if you should require a winter home…”

“We know where to come.” Sam smiled and shook his hand again. “Now, if you don't mind, I’d like to see the beast before we take our leave.”

They followed Father Michael outside and around to the back of the church. The hound lay on its side, mouth agape in a death howl. Black blood and the morning mist caked its fur, and Sam noted with pride the clean slice down the middle of its body.

He nudged the stiff leg with his boot and crouched down, skimming his fingers through the dew-soaked fur. “You didn’t win, you bastard,” he whispered, “this is what you get when you pick a fight with a Winchester. Tell your friends in Hell we’ve said hello.”

He stood up, turned back to Dean, and smiled wickedly. “You know what to do.”

***

“We’re home,” Sam breathed, inhaling the scent of burning moss and cool mountain air.

They were sitting in the cottage in front of the fire, tankards of hot cider in their hands, Y/N tucked against his side. They’d bathed and eaten, and Sam’s shoulder had rapidly healed, enabling him to take off the sling. He was damn well ready to put the events of the last few days behind him as fast as possible, and now, in his home with his Omega safe and warm by his side, he thought he was off to a pretty good start.

“I know,” Y/N rested her head against his shoulder and smiled as he turned to kiss the top of her slightly damp hair. “I’m glad we’re safe.”

“I am as well,” Sam replied. He set his tankard on the stone floor and turned to her. “We need to talk.”

She tilted her head to the side. “What about?”

Sam ran his fingers over the claim mark on her neck. “When I passed out, I had a dream. I was alone somewhere, I don’t know where, and I kept calling your name, but you never replied. I kept looking for you, and with every second I didn’t have you in my arms, I grew more and more panicked…” he pulled her into his lap, and Y/N saw tears brim in his eyes, “it made me realize how much being like me means to you.”

Y/N’s heart fluttered. “Sam, what are you saying?”

“I’m saying that I can’t live without you,” he replied, “I can’t live without you for one second…”

He kissed her, hard. She whimpered as he crushed her against him and knotted his fingers in her hair, and her legs automatically wrapped themselves around his waist. He stood, carrying her to the bed, and lay her down, pushing her nightdress out of the way and helping her get it over her head. His shirt followed, and he eagerly kicked his pants off, letting his body press against hers, hard against soft, the perfect combination.

Sam dipped his head, took her nipple between his lips, and sucked. She whimpered at the sensation, and when Sam brought his hand down between her legs she cried out for him. She was wet and hot and his cock strained against the blanket, desperate for her.

“I’m going to knot you,” he growled, “and I’m going to claim you again. You want that?”

Y/N bucked off the bed, held down by the weight of the Alpha on top of her. She knew exactly what he was going to do. “Yes, Sam, please…”

He rolled her over with a growl, roughly pushing her legs apart to expose her dripping folds. With a quiet groan, he swiped his finger against her clit, then brought it to his lips, sucking her sweetness away. She bucked her hips back, offering herself to him. Practically shaking with lust, he notched himself at her entrance and slid into her, stretching her to her limits, pushing as deep as he could.

“Yes,” he sighed, “so perfect…”

He held himself over her and watched as her fingers flexed, gripping the sheets hard as her body adjusted to take more of him.

“Move, Sam,” her voice was thick with need, “please move.”

Sam growled playfully and nipped at the back of her neck. Then he drew his hips back and slammed forward, reveling in the little huff Y/N emitted as the breath was practically knocked out of her. He reached down between her legs, tested her receptiveness by just barely grazing his finger back over her clit. She jumped, and Sam grunted at the feeling of her walls tightening around him.

“Please,” she begged, arching her back and trying to press as close to him as possible.

“I heard you, love.”

He pushed her down, both hands over her shoulders and holding her in place as he began to pound into her. The cries and needy little whimpers that left her mouth were music to his ears, and he bit his lip, pushing deeper to hit that spot. She cried out, slick gushing from her and soaking his length.

“Louder,” he panted in her ear, “nobody else can hear us, I want to hear how good I make you feel.”

Y/N opened her mouth and pushed back against him, moaning his name over and over again. “Go harder.”

Sam obeyed, slamming himself relentlessly into her. The wet sounds of him inside her combined with their vocalizations only made him grow rougher, and he dug his fingers into her skin, heard her cry out in a mixture of pain and pleasure. He pressed his hips into her ass, bringing one hand down between her thighs and rubbing at her clit.

“I love you,” he yanked on her hair and felt her tighten around him, “say you love me.”

“I love you, Alpha,” Y/N gasped out, “please, knot me… give me your knot.”

Sam pinned her down, growling in her ear as he rammed into her, sweat coating his skin. “Only if you’re loud for me.”

Y/N let go, loud sobs and grunts leaving her parted lips as Sam pounded her into the mattress. The bed creaked loudly, and she gripped at the sheets as Sam’s knot began to swell inside her. Within seconds, the sound of their skin slapping together was replaced with the harsh, animalistic pants as Sam began to lose control. His fingers grazed over her clit, and with a shaking cry, she convulsed underneath him, her orgasm burning through her.

“God, yes,” Sam worked her through it, watching as she eagerly bared her neck for him, the white scar of Sam’s first claim mark glowing under the sweat that coated her skin. “Going to claim you, going to turn you—”

He sank his teeth into her skin as he came, his release filling her in thick, hot bursts. Y/N felt her lower belly turn warm with it, and she screamed as he marked her for the second time. The feeling of him claiming her only made both of them cum harder, and Sam fought to keep himself from passing out as he thrust his hips desperately, pumping more of his release inside her.

Groaning, he held her close as he rolled to the side, his tongue lapping over the fresh marks on her shoulder, one of her perfect thighs pulled back over his hip. “I love you,” he sighed, “I love you so much, Omega…”

Y/N pressed her hand to her lower belly and moaned contentedly. “I love you too… oh, Sam…”

A rush of heat flooded through her that had nothing to do with the post-coital flush. Sam felt her body turn warm and shifted behind her, kissing over her shoulder. “Shh… I told you it might be painful. I’ve got you.” He sighed and held her close, and although he knew he was following her wishes and the pain that he faced of losing her, he cursed himself for marking her again, fulfilling the curse he’d bestowed upon her.

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[gratsustingue-the-ot4]

Sting's anxiety pushes everyone away when he needs them most.

Author: @splendidlyimperfect Rating: Teen and Up Audiences Pairings: Natsu/Gray/Sting/Rogue Tags: Alternate Universe - Modern Setting, Polyamory, Established Relationship, Anxiety, Anxiety Attacks, Medication, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Light Angst, Angst with a Happy Ending, Crying, they're just really soft with each other, sweet boyfriends, Tumblr: FTLGBTales Series: Part 33 of i'm with them

**tw for anxiety/panic attack

“Babe, we can find it later.”  

Natsu stood at the front door, frowning at Sting, who was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, opening random drawers and slamming them shut again. Sting ran his hands through his hair, groaning.  

“I left it here, I know I did,” Sting said. “Maybe Rogue moved it.” He tapped his fingers against the counter, then moved over to the area where they kept their phone chargers and started rummaging through it again.  

“I have my wallet,” Natsu said gently, stepping forward into the kitchen and reaching out for Sting’s arm. “We can look more when we get back, but we gotta get going – we told Dad we’d be there at two.” He glanced at the clock, which read 1:37.  

Sting shook his head, pushing Natsu’s arm away. “It’s not – I just...” He tried to take a deep breath, but his chest felt tight. “It was here,”  he insisted.  

“You don’t need it,” Natsu reassured, trying again to reach out to Sting.  

Sting pulled his arm away from Natsu again, stepping backward into the kitchen. There was a soft mrowl, and Sting cursed as he tripped backward over Lector and slammed his hip into the counter.  

Continue reading on AO3

“Fucking son of a bitch,” he shouted, feeling a wave of guilt as Lector leapt away from him and darted toward the bedroom. Sting bunched his hands into fists, digging his fingernails into his palms and closing his eyes. “Sorry,” he said, trying to ignore the stinging pain on his hip that was definitely going to bruise.  

“It’s okay,” Natsu said gently, staying where he was. “What’s going on?” Sting had been grumpy and on edge since Sunday, withdrawing from the other three and keeping to himself.  

Sting shook his head. The tag from his shirt rubbed against the back of his neck and he resisted the urge to tug it off. Frosch was yowling from the bedroom and Sting wanted to slam the door.  

“Do you wanna stay home?” Natsu asked. Sting wanted to shake his head, wanted to go for lunch with Natsu and Silver and forget the wallet, and the stomachache, and the low, thrumming anger under his skin. Instead he nodded, crossing his arms over his stomach and trying not to cry. “Is there anything I can do?”  

“No.” Sting stared at the ground, at the hole in his socks – goddamnit, these were his favorite ones. He ground his teeth and closed his eyes. “Just... tell Dad I’m sorry.”  

“Why don’t I reschedule with him?” Natsu’s voice was gentle, and for some reason it irked Sting. “I don’t think you should be by yourself.”  

“I’m not a child,” Sting snapped, scratching at his wrist. The guilt in his chest was overruled by irritation and he glared down at the counter. “I’ll be fine.” Natsu hesitated and Sting’s voice turned sharper. “Just go.”  

Natsu sighed, and Sting could tell he was trying hard not to move in for a hug.  

“Okay,” Natsu said eventually. “I’ll leave my ringer on, call me if you need me, okay?” Sting nodded, biting his lip and biting back an irritated, I don’t need anything, go away. “I love you,” Natsu added.  

“Love you too,” Sting said softly, listening to Natsu’s footsteps recede. As soon as the door clicked closed, Sting let out a shaky breath and leaned forward against the counter. His eyes were immediately drawn to the pile of dishes stacked next to the sink and he felt irritation flare up again.  

He grabbed a few of the plates, opening the dishwasher and groaning when he realized it was clean. Tears pressed against his eyes again and he tossed the plates back on the counter, stalking away from the kitchen and into the bedroom. As soon as he walked into the room, he turned around again, grabbing his phone from the coffee table and curling up on the couch.  

I’m sorry. He typed out the text under Natsu’s name, then deleted it and switched to his conversation with Rogue and wrote, I need you. Instead of hitting ‘send,’ he tipped his head back, angry tears filling his eyes as he threw his phone to the other end of the couch.  

“Fuck,” he whispered, running his hands over his face. Happy jumped up on the couch and tried to climb onto Sting’s lap, and he growled, pushing Happy away. “Don’t... just...”  

Sting curled in on himself and started crying in earnest, burying his face in his arms. His shoulders shook as he choked out a sob, pulling his knees tight against his chest. Everything was too much and not enough, and his skin was too tight, and suddenly he was too hot, sweating through his thin t-shirt.  

His phone went off a few times, but he kicked it away from him as each buzz pushed him closer and closer to screaming.  

Come back, Sting thought as he cried. I’m sorry, I need you.  

~*~*~

The text from Natsu had been simple – im worried about sting, hes not good but he didnt want me there – but it had been enough for Gray to leave work early and immediately head home.

When Gray opened the front door, he could hear the shower running. He kicked off his shoes and headed for the bathroom, where he found Sting sitting on the floor next to the shower, shoulders shaking as he cried. His arms were red where he’d been scratching at them, and his forehead was pressed against his knees.

“Hey, sweetheart,” Gray said softly, crouching down next to Sting. “C’mere.” He touched Sting’s arm and when Sting didn’t pull away, Gray sat down next to him, pulling Sting into a sideways embrace.  

“I’m s-sorry,” Sting said, his breath coming in short, sharp pants. “I didn’t... it’s just...”  

“Shhh,” Gray said, brushing Sting’s sweaty hair away from his face. “Breathe with me, okay?” He took Sting’s hand and placed it on his own chest, then took a deep, slow breath, waiting for Sting to copy him before exhaling. “There you go. You’re okay.”  

“I’m n-not, I don’t... I’m sorry, I was a j-jerk to N-natsu, I didn’t mean to...”  

“I know,” Gray said, taking another deep breath. Sting shook his head, chest rising and falling erratically. “Nobody’s upset with you. Can you take another deep breath for me?”  

“N-no,” Sting gasped, tightening his arms around his knees. “I c-can't, I can’t, I can’t...”  

“Okay, it’s okay if you can’t,” Gray said quickly, running his hand up and down Sting’s back, but stopping when Sting pulled away. “I’m gonna get your meds, okay?”  

Sting didn’t respond as Gray stood up, moving over to the medicine cabinet and grabbing a prescription bottle. He tipped one of the pills into his hand, then sat back down next to Sting, holding it out. Sting took it with a shaky hand, popping it under his tongue and then closing his eyes again, pressing his forehead to his knees.  

“Do you wanna take a shower?” Gray asked. Sting shook his head, then changed his mind and nodded, sniffing and wiping his face. “With me or by yourself?”  

“W-with you,” Sting said shakily. Gray helped him stand up, pulling him into a hug and kissing his forehead before tugging off his shirt.  

As soon as they were under the water, Sting let out a deep breath, leaning against Gray and wrapping his arms around Gray’s waist. Gray started humming softly, grabbing the shampoo and lathering up Sting’s hair.  

“Wanna come with me to Halifax next month?” Gray asked, rinsing away the soap and rubbing Sting’s back gently. “Todd’s sending me to a conference so they’ll pay for gas and the hotel. We can go to the beach if you want?”  

Sting nodded against Gray’s chest. “Yeah,” he said softly. His breathing was slowly evening out, body relaxing against Gray’s as Gray’s fingers kneaded the knots in his shoulders. “All of us? Or just you and me?”  

“Whatever you want,” Gray said. Sting didn’t say anything, just hugged Gray tighter.  

~*~*~

An hour later, Rogue and Natsu were home, and Sting was curled up with them on the bed, wearing Natsu’s hoodie and Gray’s sweatpants.  

“’m sorry,” Sting said, gaze slightly unfocused as he looked up at Natsu. His head was in Natsu’s lap, and Rogue was lying beside him, running his fingers over Sting’s stomach.

Natsu shook his head. “It’s okay,” he said, brushing Sting’s hair out of his face. “It’s not your fault. I shouldn’t have left you alone.”  

“I tol’ you to leave,” Sting said sleepily. “Was a jackass.”  

“Yeah, but you’re a cute jackass,” Natsu teased. Rogue snorted, taking Sting’s hand and lacing their fingers together.  

“How’re you feeling?” he asked, rubbing his thumb over Sting’s knuckles. Sting made a sleepy sound, blinking slowly.  

“Drugs’re workin’,” he said softly. “’s all fuzzy.” He yawned, shifting a bit and nuzzling Rogue’s neck. “I don’ like taking them.”  

“I know,” Rogue said, kissing Sting’s forehead. “But Gray said you were spiraling pretty bad, I think it was a good thing that you took them.”  

Sting nodded, closing his eyes and relaxing into the strange sensation of being not-quite-real that always came with the medication. It was unsettling, but better than the time he’d passed out from hyperventilating.  

There was a dip on the bed behind Sting, and a squeeze on his hip. He cracked open an eye and looked up to see Gray, smiling softly at him.  

“Thanks,” Sting whispered, reaching out and taking Gray’s hand.  

“Always,” Gray said, shifting until he was lying behind Sting. He wrapped his arm around Sting’s waist and placed a gentle kiss on the back of his neck, then murmured, “now go to sleep. We’ve got you – you’re safe.”