#the mum/mom thing i thought was obvious but apparently not

[autistic-katara]

me personally i think every american who wants to write fanfic about british media should be legally obligated to do extensive research on what terms are used over hear before posting it

[magiccath]

Pretending

tenth doctor x f!reader (no use of y/n)

summary: In which you take the Doctor to your brother's wedding as your "date"

warnings: f!reader (in a dress) who has a brother

“No mum, but I-” you let out an exasperated sigh, pacing about the TARDIS control room. As your mother chattered on through the phone you rolled your eyes, casting a quick glance at the Doctor. 

He didn’t appear to be paying any attention to you, his gaze fixed on the console. He was messing with the buttons with no apparent rhyme or reason. He was probably just keeping busy while you tried to wrap the phone call up.

Unbeknownst to you, he was listening in on your conversation as much as he could without being obvious.

“Fine. I’ll be there, and…” you glanced at the Doctor again, relying on a hope that he would just play along with you, “I’ll bring someone.”

The Doctor pulled his attention to you, a questioning look plastered on his face. Did you have a secret boyfriend he didn’t know about? Who was this “someone” that you were going to bring home? The Doctor didn’t want to admit it, but he felt a pit of jealousy growing in him. 

“I’ll see you soon,” you smiled, “I love you too,” you pulled the phone away from your face before slamming it closed with a sigh.

“What’s that about?” 

“My brother’s wedding is this week, and my mom still expects me to bring someone,” you absentmindedly ran your fingers across the buttons of the TARDIS, “would it be too much to ask you to be my date?” you asked anxiously. You knew you were asking a lot of him, but you didn’t have any other options. You hoped he wouldn’t find it too weird. 

“Not at all!” The Doctor grinned, Honestly, the Doctor was too distracted by the fact that you weren’t harboring a secret boyfriend to think before speaking. He was more than happy to do it, he would hardly have to pretend. He felt a dull pain in his chest thinking about being your boyfriend. He had to remind himself he was just a date to get your mom off your back. It wasn’t real.

He shook his head, trying to clear his thoughts. “When is it?” 

“Thursday at 4,” You smiled, surprised he was going along with this so easily. Usually, it took some convincing to get him to do the things that you wanted.

“Go get dressed,” he nodded towards the hallway with a smile. 

You frowned and checked your watch.

“It’s Monday,” you laughed, ignoring him. He had absolutely no concept of time. It didn’t really matter when you were a space and time traveler. You had to remind him of important holidays like Christmas if you wanted to celebrate them. It wasn’t the kind of thing he thought about.

“Time machine,” he said as if reading your mind. He accentuated his point with a wink, flicking the switches on the console quickly. 

You rolled your eyes but complied, leaving the control room to get ready. You pulled your best dress from the back of your closet. You never wore it, and you never had much reason to. You were always traveling with the Doctor, and a formal dress hardly seemed appropriate. Still, when you moved into the TARDIS you brought it with you. Just in case. 

You’d bought the dress a month after traveling with the Doctor. You’d seen it in a shop window and the blue reminded you too much of the TARDIS to walk away from. The material was velvety and draped nicely, comfortably highlighting the natural curves of your body. If you looked closely at the fabric you could see the stars and planets etched into the crushed velvet. 

Looking at it now it felt silly to buy a dress simply because it reminded you of a man you had just met. You tried to push these thoughts from your head and focus on getting ready. 

When you were done you stood in front of the mirror, trying to make sure the girl looking back at you was still yourself. You couldn’t remember the last time you had dressed up like this. The last time you looked… this good. 

You shook your head, pulling your focus back to the task at hand. You ran your hands through your hair anxiously before leaving. You walked down the hall carefully, stopping in the doorframe for a moment to look at the Doctor. 

It was rare that you got to see him like this. His head was bent over the ship’s console, his brow furrowed in concentration. His spiky hair flew about in a million different directions. He had swapped his normal stripped suit for a plain black one. It was more properly fitted to his body, the black fabric draping over the sharp lines of his frame. You loved his normal suits, but there was just something about this one that had you captivated. Honestly, you found it hard to look away from him.

The Doctor turned towards you, the sound of your footsteps down the hallway pulling him from his work. The sight of you stopped him dead in his tracks, his eyes following the shape of your body in the doorframe. 

“You look…” he trailed off, wide-eyed. 

“Weird, I know,” you laughed, pulling anxiously at the hem of your dress. 

“Beautiful,” He whispered, his honey eyes connecting with yours. The compliment made you turn away, a scarlet flush spreading across your cheeks. 

He’d truly meant what he had said. Your hair fell elegantly around your face and shoulders, its color shimmering in the control room’s light. The Doctor couldn’t remember a time you had ever worn something so elegant or flattering. Not that your normal clothes were unflattering, there was just something special about seeing you in such fancy clothes. He was so used to your normal attire, that he found it hard to focus seeing you like this. He tried his best to keep his eyes from wandering, but it was hard. 

You found you were having a similar problem with him and his nice suit. It’s not like you hadn’t ever seen him in a suit before, he wore one every single day. There was just a special kind of whiplash in seeing him in something he didn’t usually wear.

“Shall we?” You asked nervously, trying to catch the Doctor’s eye again. He swallowed anxiously before nodding in agreement. 

He had already landed the TARDIS outside of the wedding venue while you were getting dressed. You took a deep breath preparing for what you were about to walk into. You truly loved your family, but they could be overbearing at times.

At the last moment, you held out your hand for the Doctor, a smile plastered on your face. Of course, he took it with an eager smile. 

“What’s your brother’s name again?” He whispered as you walked out of the TARDIS doors. You slapped him lightly, assuming he was jesting. The Doctor didn’t want to admit that he really couldn’t remember. He wasn’t really good with names. Thankfully, the couple’s names were plastered everywhere, saving him the embarrassment of having to ask again. 

It wasn’t long before your mother had rushed over, already dotting all over you. She fixed your hair and dress in places that didn’t really need to be fixed. The Doctor watched with a frown, examining the interaction like a nature documentary. 

“You look darling,” she smiled, taking your face in her hands. Moving on from you, she pulled her attention to the man at your side. “Hello, Doctor!” She smiled, pulling him into an unsolicited hug. 

“Mum,” you groaned, pulling on her sleeve. This was only her second time meeting the Time Lord, and she was already hugging him like family.

“Quite alright,” the Doctor grinned, hugging your mother back happily. He was a fan of hugs after all. 

“It’s wonderful to see you again, how’s the traveling going?” she chattered on. You nodded along, not fully processing her words.

Surprisingly, the Doctor was still listening intently. He seemed to be enjoying her copious amounts of energy.

“She never really tells me where you go. I hope she isn’t too much trouble?” She continued. The doctor smiled politely and shook his head. 

“If anything, I think I cause trouble for her,” he said, smiling at you adoringly. 

Absentmindedly you slipped your hand into the Doctor’s. He rubbed reassuring circles with his thumb before removing his hand to wrap it around your waist. 

You didn’t hear the Doctor’s answer or any that followed. The feeling of his strong hand on your waist was distracting enough. Holding hands was something you did all of the time. In a moment of great tension or danger, the Doctor would grab your hand without a second thought. If you were feeling lonely, you often would slip your hand into his. But he had never held you like this. Like you were a couple. 

“Well!” your mother clapped, pulling you out of your haze, “I should let you show your date around,” she winked. She’d always liked the Doctor, even though mothers usually didn’t (according to the Doctor himself). Your mother was always trying to set you up with someone, so you could imagine how happy she was that you showed up with a date.

“I’m sorry,” you whispered to the Doctor, turning in his arms, “they’re going to be brutal.” 

“Oncoming storm, remember?” The Doctor smirked. It was typical of him to think he could handle anything. However, there was a major difference between your family and an army of Daleks. 

“I’m the only remaining family member who isn’t married, my dating life is a big deal,” you warned, adjusting his tie anxiously. He didn’t stop you, he knew you just needed something to keep your hands busy.

“They’re all…” you looked up at him with an almost solemn look, “expecting of me.” 

“Well,” The Doctor shrugged playfully, “you’ve got me here with you,” He smiled, pulling you closer to him, “You always have me.” 

His words made you turn a scarlet red, and you were more than happy to see your brother out of the corner of your eye. If anything, he could serve as a distraction so the Doctor couldn’t see the impact his words had on you. You didn’t want him to assume you had an ulterior motive in asking him to be here.

You called him over excitedly, giving him a big hug before introducing him to the Doctor. The Time Lord smiled politely, introducing himself to your brother with an excited smile.

The rest of the evening went as such. You walked the Doctor around, trying your best to keep the introductions short and painless. He didn’t seem to mind though, he happily answered all questions and continued all conversations. The whole time he was touching you in some way. Holding your hand, wrapping an arm around your waist, hugging you when you really needed it. You couldn’t help but marvel at how well the alien played a boyfriend. You figured you’d have to edge him on a bit, grabbing his hand now and then. You had always just assumed that physical contact wasn’t something he consciously thought about. 

Your family loved him of course. He charmed just about everyone in a mile radius without even trying. Before long he was laughing and talking like he was part of the family. It was weird, seeing your lives collide in such a way. Even still, it seemed so natural. You didn’t ever want the night to end. The cheerful laughter rumbled through you, the Doctor’s hand resting comfortably in yours. 

Eventually, you left for a minute on your own, the Doctor following you shortly after. You had to admit, he was really selling this boyfriend thing well. 

“You’re been an excellent actor,” you laughed when he came into your line of sight. You smiled at him, genuinely grateful that he had made this night enjoyable for you. 

“I’m not acting,” the Doctor said, so quiet you almost didn’t hear it. 

“It’s made this event so much more bearable and frankly-” you stopped suddenly. “What do you mean?” You asked confused. He wasn’t acting?

The Doctor looked at you wide-eyed, suddenly sensing he had said the wrong thing. “Nothing,” he mumbled, pulling his eyes away from yours. Something about the last few hours had given him the confidence to admit how much he enjoyed being with you in this capacity. But even further, something in your face now made him reconsider.

“What do you mean you aren’t acting? You hate this stuff.” 

“What stuff?” He asked, deflecting. 

“Romantic stuff.” You planted your hands on your hips, your stare relentless. 

“Not with you,” He groaned, his eyes connecting with yours again. “I love doing this with you. Having you this close, having your full attention and affection.” He groaned, running his hands over his face. 

“I don’t understand,” you laughed uncomfortably, averting your gaze. 

“I want this. For real.” 

You stared at the Doctor for a moment, letting his words register. Once it fully hit you, it felt like a weight was lifted off your chest. 

You threw yourself into his arms, standing on your tip toes. You still weren’t tall enough, so you pulled him down to you, crashing your lips into his. He adjusted quickly, lifting you off the ground so he could properly kiss you. 

As many times as you imagined kissing the Doctor, you never imagined it this perfectly. It seemed almost impossible that your lips fit together so well. His hands gripped you strongly as if he was afraid you would slip away. Your own hands tangled themselves into his hair, pulling at the locks slightly. 

As he deepened the kiss a content sigh floated from your lips, eliciting a smile from his own. You couldn’t get enough of each other, pulling desperately to get closer. You didn’t want to admit how much you wanted this, even if it was fairly obvious at this point. When you pulled away to gasp for air the Doctor stared into your eyes with a goofy grin. 

“Can I stop pretending I’m not in love with you now?” He asked, and you threw your head back laughing.

[samsblades]

Ok so, I'm 16 and my mum is planning to send me to what is essentially a conversion camp this coming autumn. I literally don't know what I did wrong or what to do. Apparently this is about me just disrespecting her but I've always noticed her subtle yet obvious digs at queers. She says she accepts me and doesn't care overall but when I told her I was bi her immediate reaction was to refer to a bi friend of hers that married a man and told me "You'll end up making the right choice. Just like she did." And it just breaks my heart because I try to be the best daughter I can be for her and it never feels like enough. Another thing she recently did was refer to a gay man as "broken", seeing it as a flaw and I can feel my heart crack a little more than it already has been. The camp is Christian and I've seen videos and it just seems like a fucking laugh directed towards me. Like I'm going to come back a bible thumping straight conservative woman like she wants me to be but I'm so far from that I think. I don't believe in God- I've come to my own understanding of the world yet of course I haven't told her that. It just feels utterly heartbreaking and I feel like bawling my eyes out like a kid but I'm not a kid anymore and I have to be stronger than this otherwise I'm just a queer crybaby and not an actual person who deserves respect just as much as the next. I know it must be pretty stupid to be ranting ab this to a stranger online but I think I can atleast get some sort of comfort ig from you but idk. I don't know any other queer people in my life and you're the only person I can really talk to. I'm not asking you to save me or come up with a solution. I'm just asking you to try virtually hold my hand through this, I guess. I love your work and hope everything goes great with uni <3

hi honey :(( i can't tell you how sorry i am that this is happening to you, but i promise i absolutely will be here to hold your hand through it all. i'm really glad that you felt like you could reach out to me and that you sent this message <33 it is utterly heartbreaking and if i were you, i'd be wanting to cry too, which you are more than allowed to do. crying is a 100% normal reaction to something so horrible :(( and you are so respected in this space. it's definitely not stupid to send this message and i'm so sorry you don't have a community around you in person, but i'm glad that i could be here as a fellow queer person to talk to.

i'm so sorry that your mom isn't truly accepting and that she says things like that, hearing that sort of thing is just so so difficult. and the fact that she's sending you to this camp is just so so awful and i absolutely wish i could whisk you away from it and we could spend the fall doing gay shit together #begaydocrime !!!

and i'm unsure if it's any help, but i have 100% full confidence that you will make it to the other side of this camp with your personal understanding of the world and queerness intact, and maybe even stronger. that's not to say it won't be hard, because it will :(( you'll probably hear a lot of language used that's really exclusive and triggering and i'm not sure how far this camp goes, but i really hope that it's not as awful as it could be.

this is a really different experience than yours will be i'm sure, but i grew up mormon and went to church up until i was around your age/maybe a little older. idk if i ever really believed it and all that, but it wasn't until that last year or two that i knew i was queer (bi, i thought at the time + questioning my gender) and i was just constantly surrounded by this language that was completely contrary to my whole being. it was basically just "you will marry a man and have children because you are a woman" over and over again and i was like LOLLL none of those things are true :D so i stopped going and i look at me now i guess haha

but no, genuinely it was really difficult, and it took me a long time to get to where i am in terms of understanding and accepting my identity in terms of queerness. i'm still figuring shit out, honestly. and for such a long time i had so much internalized homophobia that was pounded into my brain "it's okay if other people are gay, but i'm not. and even if i was, i'd choose not to be :)))" who are you kidding babyboy... you're saying that bc you think you might be gay and you don't even know it smh lol. anyways i just want you to know you're not alone in experiencing this sort of language that's so insistently thrown at you and that i think it will help you to have the knowledge that you are bisexual and you have your own world views and you do not ever have to prescribe to what they tell you, and that's something to hold onto! hold on tight to your personal beliefs and your queerness with one hand, hold my hand tight with the other, and before you know it we'll be on the other side of things together.

you let me know if you need anything at all, and i will do everything i can to help you. i can say with pretty full confidence that there's so many people in my little tumblr community that are here to support you and help you through it all!! we will be unapologetically queer together on here, especially in ways we can't in our day to day life. i am sending you sooo so much love!! thank you for your kind words my sweets <3

[useless-englandfacts]

Dominique, I think I saw somewhere you said your mom was a CoE priest…. What exactly does she have to do now that the Queen is dead? And what if you are a priest that doesn’t support monarchy?

hi! yes my mum is an anglican vicar, correct. i wanted to answer you in detail because i’m Like That so i’ll put the full answer under a cut lol

the second part of your question is easy so i’ll start with that: if you don’t support the monarchy then you don’t have to be anglican! join another denomination like the free church or the methodists or whatever (saying that my aunt and uncle are both elders in the methodist church and they’re more into the queen than my anglican mother lol but that’s purely anecdotal)

as for the first part: there isn’t really much mandatory stuff all churches have to do (though there are certain expectations) so what i’m about to say may only apply to my mum’s church!

on thursday/friday her church runs a cafe which was still open, but they offered a quiet prayer space and the staff all dressed smartly/in black which i thought was a bit much but. eh. the church was open for prayers/reflection yesterday which they wouldn’t usually do (mainly bc saturdays are supposed to be my mum’s day off!)

the main thing is the liturgy - i.e. the words that you say during the service. some anglican churches don’t use liturgy at all, some (like my mum’s) only use it for services like communion, and some use it every week. this week the liturgy has been altered to add in some extra prayers and reflections on the queen. coincidentally this week is communion at my mum’s church so they’re going to use the prescribed liturgy. i don’t think you absolutely have to use it, but… expectations i guess.

mum called the person who’s preaching today, and he’s hopefully adapted his sermon accordingly. i believe they’re in the book of ephesians at the moment so… dunno if there’s anything in there that suits the occasion… similarly the person doing the intercessions (prayers) will adapt what they’re going to say. i think they’re going to have a minute’s silence too, and the people on the ministry team will all be dressed more formally than usual, wearing black and the like.

(my mum was slightly disgruntled about this. clergy shirts are notoriously boring - usually they come in black, white, and maybe light and dark blue. mum’s church doesn’t do robes so she’s made it a point to wear very vibrant patterned clergy shirts. one of her congregation actually sews them for her which is cool but it means the only black shirt mum has has red cherries on it.) ((feel like i should say that when she does funerals it’s usually at the crematorium where she wears robes so she doesn’t have to think about her clergy shirts lol she doesn’t turn up to funerals in bright colours unless asked))

one thing i found funny was that the church of england sent a photo of the queen that they wanted vicars to put up in their churches? according to my mum the quality was terrible and her printer wasn’t working and the size was weird and she didn’t have a black photo frame to put it in so i get the impression that she wasn’t happy about that, but hey. she also updated her church’s social media with an rip queen header photo and she shared whatever the archbishop of canterbury posted. again, apparently the dimensions of the header photo weren’t right so she had to mess around with it for a bit like… the queen’s death wasn’t a surprise so u would think that they’d have one ready to go?

she also changed some of the hymns/songs for somber vibes. they were going to sing amazing grace anyway, but mum added in the extra verse that people don’t usually sing (“yes, when this flesh and heart shall fail / and mortal life shall cease / i shall possess, within the veil / a life of joy and peace” - fitting for obvious reasons) (and before you ask yes i did point out the irony of an abolitionist hymn being sung on behalf of the royal family).

other than that i don’t think much has changed? mum spent most of the weekend phoning people to get a sense of how much they should be doing for the queen so it sounds like a lot of it has been left to individual clergy discretion - which i found surprising tbh?

of course some churches will do a full-on formal eucharist with all the bells and whistles, and some won’t. i assume churches that use robes will have the vicar donning a black stole rather than… whatever colour stole they should be wearing this week (green i think?). it depends on the style of the individual church - my mum’s is pretty informal in worship style so if i were a congregation member i wouldn’t go in expecting much. if i worshipped at like… i dunno keeble college chapel i would expect something different. but that’s true of every other sunday because as we all know, the church of england is anything but united lmao.

[xmalfoyweasleyx]

I hate that girl - F.W

Summary: Fred doesn’t really know how to cope. He hates y/n and everyone loves her. But is the feeling truly hate, or something else?

Warnings: Mean Fred, eating, semi-smut it's just oral: male receiving, a little hair pulling and stuff like that :)

A/N: Maybe I'm going to write a PART 2, with the rest of the smut? Idk? What do you guys think? x

Words: 2,1k

It was summer, finally, my favourite season. I sat at the table with my family at the Burrow, enjoying my moms dinner.

“So, y/n is coming tomorrow mom, you remember?” Ron asked while trying to put a big piece of meat in his mouth.

“Of course I remember dear!” Molly smiled.

“Pfffttt ohno” I sighed, making the whole dinner table glare at me.

“Don’t be mean Fred, I really don’t know what’s wrong with you” Ginny said angrily.

What was wrong with me? That girl was wrong.

I hated how my whole family fell for her trap. Like she’s so innocent. They all believed her act. But I knew the truth, I hated the girl. She wasn’t sweet and shy and helpful. I just knew it. She couldn’t be. I didn’t believe it.

I never liked the girl. She visits us every year, being very good friends with... yea, almost every person here.

She was a liar, I saw it in her eyes. The girl was always like: “Molly can I help with the dishes” or “Hey George, I looooveee the new joke product” with her silly sweet voice.

No I didn’t fall for that. She didn’t even say those things to me any more, I've already scared her away. Well, great. That’s great.

“I really don’t understand why you hate her that much Freddie” George sighed when we were back in our bedroom.

"Well and I don't understand why you like her that much Georgie, are you in love with her or something?" I accused him.

"It seems like you are the one in love with her, silly brother" he answered laughing.

What the hell??

"WHAT? For God's sake! Why would you even think that?!" I screamed defensively. George only laughed.

"I give up" he smiled. Leaving me extremely irritated.

Me in love with y/n, like I said, I hate that girl.

*

I almost threw up seeing the girl acting like that.

We were all welcoming her in the living room. She hugged Ginny, then my mum and Ron and... you know how it goes.

Then she hugged George giving him a kiss on the cheek. Urgh disgusting. It was my turn. It was clear she didn't really know what to do. It was pretty awkward.

"Fred" she nodded staring at me full of doubt. She gave me a sad look and I almost fell for it.

I knew my sister was looking at me with eyes full of anger without even looking her way. I couldn't take it any more and just left without saying a word.

"I'm sorry about him" I heard George saying to her. "It's okay" she answered softly.

*

It was quiet at the burrow, everyone was already asleep. I've always been the only person in this house that stays up this late.

I was getting tired so I decided to get ready for bed. Even George had ignored me all evening, I don't get it, why are they this mad? I mean, okay, I wasn't very nice to y/n. But I can do what I want and I can dislike who I want, what do they have to do with it?

So I opened the bathroom door and before I could process what happened, my face was already bright red. Y/n was changing, her, apparently pretty, chest was bare in front of me.

The first thing I did was slap my hand to my face, trying to close my eyes and hide the redness. What the actual fuck, did I just see the girl naked?

"WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE THIS LATE" I screamed.

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry, I should've locked the door, I'm sorry" she answered embarrassed.

Okay how could I ever get this image out of my fucking head?! Yes, she did have an impressive body, and...but... BUT NO FRED, NO.

"Stop apologizing all the time, for god's sake, it makes me crazy" I hissed angrily.

She didn't really answer and she ran past me, I didn't even see the look on her face. Maybe that was a good thing, because I knew I may have been a bit too mean this time...

*

"Fuck Fred, keep going" y/n moaned, she looked like a mess and her perfect boobs bounced up and down when she rode me. It was the hottest and the best thing I've ever felt. Moans and grunts left my mouth. "Fuck I'm cumming baby" I grunted.

Suddenly a loud knock on my bedroom door woke me up. Y/n wasn't there any more.

Shit, was this a dream, an actual sex dream? About her?

"FRED WAKE UP IT'S ALREADY 1 PM, WE'RE GOING TO SWIM!" I heard my little sister scream at the door.

I freaked out immediately. I could never face y/n again after this, why did it happen? Why is my brain like this? And then I had a little problem down there too, I had an obvious boner.

"I'm coming Gin wait a minute" I answered nervously.

An hour later, I finally reached the lake that was a mile away from the burrow. The others were already there.

Great, swimming.

The dream was still spinning around in my head. I was so confused and like it couldn't get any worse, they decided to swim. Why today?

This was the worst moment ever to see y/n in her bikini. I saw her from a distance. God she looked hot. Her perfect boobs in the red bikini top, and damn it, that ass...

Bloody hell, STOP IT FRED, I just got rid of my boner, I don't need it to come back again.

"There you are Freddie, finally!" George smiled when he saw me. Damn it.

Y/n looked up too, still smiling at me even though all the mean things I said or did to her. Her hair was in a perfect bun and I could see her red bikini better now. I never really realized how sexy and good she looks until now, until the moment I walked in on her changing this night. Or maybe that was the problem, maybe I always knew, but shut it out?

But what if this was her trap again? The trap everyone fell for except me. I couldn't allow myself to fall for it, I promised myself!

I walked up to them and tried to get out of my confusing thoughts. "I'm sorry I didn't realize I slept for so long" I answered trying to sound okay.

"Guess it's because you were still up pretty late" y/n joked. Her pretty smile appeared and out of nowhere my legs were weak, like jelly.

"Fuck y/n SHUT UP, SHUT THE HELL UP" I snapped out of nowhere. My face went red and the others looked at me in shock.

It was quiet, y/n gaped at me, speechless.

"I.. I-" I tried to apologize when I saw y/n her hurt eyes, but nothing came out. My heart broke when a tear fell down her cheek. Maybe I was wrong about her.

I was the bad person in this story, not her.

She ran away and I heard her sobbing behind me.

It wasn't a trap, she never acted like she was an innocent sweet girl, she really was an innocent sweet girl. It wasn't her trap, it was my own trap, a trap I made up in my own head.

*

I heard sobs coming from her room. I stood behind the door. I promised my siblings I would apologize, because it was true, maybe I was wrong about her.

I opened the door slowly.

"Fred, please go away, you don't have to act like you're sorry because I'm crying. I know you hate me." she sobbed when she saw me.

“N-no, I, I don’t know what’s wrong with me” I stuttered.

She looked confused. Her red eyes really broke my heart. It was my fault.

I sat next to her on the floor and put my hand on her leg. She seemed shocked.

“Why do you hate me?” she whispered.

I sighed. Not really knowing what to answer.

“I don’t hate you, I just had the wrong idea about you y/n, I’m stupid.” I answered.

It was weird, she was still in her bikini and this was so not the right moment, but I felt that bulge in my swimming trunks appear again. I guess it’s because of the dream that was still so damn clear in my head. And of course, the fact that my hand was stroking down her bare leg.

Before I could cover it up, her eyes were already on it. Fuck.

We both didn’t utter a word. It was silent.

“You have a problem down there” she whispered, breaking the silence.

I gulped, trying to not get red.

“Is that why you hate me? You just want to fuck me?” she grinned extremely bold.

I wasn’t really used to being this speechless. But she was right. So, so right. So I just nodded.

Suddenly she was on my lap. My breath hitched in my throat. Her, so perfect, boobs now pressed to my bare chest.

“You make me crazy, I can’t even explain how crazy y/n” I finally said.

Her hands were now stroking my hair. Shit. My tummy tingled. Was George right, am I in love with her?

“So you just decide to be mean Freddie? Ignore me? Hurt me? Why?” she squeaked, searching for a rightful explanation.

“I... I’m sorry, I don’t know what I feel. I’m so confused but I know I was wrong about you now. I’m sorry for hurting you.” I apologized.

“It’s okay Freddie, I understand, we have enough time to find out how we feel” she promised me while lightly stroking my cheek with her small fingers.

A wave of electricity went from my feet to my head. So is this what being in love feels like? I wasn’t sure, maybe it was something else. I’ve never experienced this before. But one thing was sure: my pants got too tight now.

And that’s when I felt her move slowly. She moved the (oh so thin) fabric of her red bikini against my clothed cock. I could feel everything that was underneath and a shock of pleasure went through my whole body.

She kept grinding down on me, a soft whimper left her mouth and a grunt left mine.

I slammed my lips on hers. They moved perfectly in synchrony. They were soft and sweet. It was perfect.

I’ve kissed before, a lot. But this. This was different. The passion was overwhelming.

Her tongue explored my mouth while I helped her hips grind up and down.

She stopped the kiss and her beautiful y/e/c eyes locked with mine. In an instant, she was already on her knees in front of me, pulling down my swimming trunks.

"Can I?" she asked politely. I nodded eagerly.

She kissed my tip gently making me gasp a little. Her beautiful, soft hands stroked down my thigh.

"I'm pretty sure you're finally gonna stop hating me after this" she promised.

"You already succeeded princess" I praised, making her eyes go wider because of the nickname.

She started to kitten lick my tip slowly and my hands were already in her hair, making a ponytail with my hand.

She took my whole cock in her mouth, all at once. A grunt escaped my lips when I felt my tip hit the back of her throat.

"God y/n where did you learn this" I moaned huskily.

A smirk appeared when she started to bob up and down. I tried to control myself but I couldn't resist from pulling on her hair a little, guiding her head up and down. It was clearly something she liked because a moan left her mouth. The oh so sexy sound and vibrations made me grunt loudly. "Fuck baby" I moaned

I tried to hold it in but my hips started to pound a little into her mouth, making her gag on my cock.

"I'm gonna cum" I stuttered. One second later her mouth was already gone. I whined with a frown.

"Now already Freddie?" she smirked.

"Please don't stop, your mouth is amazing y/n" I asked trying to not sound too desperate.

She didn't answer but put her lips back, taking my cock in her mouth again. Now she started to suck fast and harder, making me go completely crazy.

She was so beautiful and so so so sexy. I couldn't hold in any longer. My head fell back and my eyes scrunched shut, a loud moan slipped from my lips when I came. I've never felt this amazing before. It was perfect. Y/n stuck her tongue out, showing me she swallowed all of my cum.

"Good girl" I praised huskily.

"Did it feel good?" she asked. She looked a little insecure now.

I grabbed her hips and placed her on my lap again.

"So good, I think I might be in love with you, and not just because of this moment, but for so many reasons y/n" I admitted.

"You.. you do?" she whispered getting red and shy. But the little smile on her lips said enough

_____

[pregnant-piggy]

Hi! Is it ok if you do a Charlie Weasley x reader blurb or fic where they never do PDA and you wouldn’t know they are together unless you were really close to them. Then at Christmas with the Weasley’s the show a bit of PDA thinking that no one is around but they are. I really hope that makes sense. Don’t worry if you don’t want to do it xx

I sincerely apologise for how long these are taking, but i am hoping to get the final 6 out after this quicker :)

That being said, i love Charlie and he is absolutely the best character for this request! I had so much fun writing this!

Go fish

The relationship you had with Charlie was an odd one to anyone who wasn’t you or him. To an outsider’s eyes it might seem like you weren’t even dating. You were never sitting in each other’s laps, giving kisses, cuddling in public. Not that it mattered; how you wanted your relationship with Charlie to be was none of other people’s business.

That didn’t mean there was no affection whatsoever. You simply preferred to keep the intimacy private. You didn’t want it to be the world’s issue. This was yours and yours alone. The kisses, hugs, whispered words; they were all kept in the private safety of you and Charlie.

Mainly because of this, your relationship with Charlie was unknown to a lot. Even to those close to you; your family thought Charlie was just a good friend, as did his. That didn’t stop them from gossiping about the supposed feeling you had for each other however. The gossips didn’t fail to reach you and Charlie, but you paid little attention to them, mostly because it was a chaos you didn’t want to be involved in.

An end was put to the gossiping, however, when you were visiting the Burrow with Charlie for Christmas.

His family had invited you to spend Christmas day there and such a great invitation you could not decline. So on Christmas morning you were sitting in the kitchen of the Burrow with the rest of the family, enjoying Molly’s famous brunch. The sphere in the kitchen was great and you had lots of fun catching up with the people you hadn’t seen in a while.

You didn’t miss the looks that were pointed you and Charlie’s way. It was obvious that you sitting next to Charlie was not a coincidence. Throughout the whole breakfast, Molly giggled whenever she saw you were talking with or smiling at Charlie. Fred and George, who were sitting on either sides of you, kept pushing you closer together and even Arthur could not help but smile as he saw Charlie putting his arm on the back of your chair.

However, none of them said a word about what they were trying to accomplish so you didn’t act on it. And neither did Charlie. You both went your normal ways, whether this was together then or alone the next moment.

After the brunch everyone but Molly, who stayed home to prepare for tea already, went outside. The past weeks it had been snowing and with the Burrow on the top of the hill, the scenery around the house was the perfect place for sleighing.

You were—courtesy of Fred and George—put on a sleigh with Charlie. On the top of the hill you sat down on the wooden sleigh and he sat down behind you, wrapping his arms around your waist.

‘Ready?’ he asked and you felt his hot breath against the part of your skin that wasn’t covered by a scarf.

‘As I’ll ever be,’ you nodded and pushed off the sleigh.

Laughing and yelling filled the empty field as the sleigh raced down the hill. Charlie tightened his grip around your waist as you attempted to keep the sleigh going straight ahead by holding two cords attached to the front.

His laugh sounded clear and loud in your ear and, although it was freezing outside, you felt your cheeks heat up at the sound. Charlie’s laugh was so innocent and pure, you could listen to it forever. The sound never failed to cheer you up, no matter how down in the dump you were.

At the area where the ground got more flat, you put your heels in the snow to slow down. The sleigh began to sway and as the bushes were getting closer, you made a final attempt to turn the thing around. You pulled on one of the cords with all your power and the sleigh made a sharp turn, throwing you and Charlie off.

You rolled on the snow and landed on your back, while Charlie ended up face down in the snow. He jumped up quickly and ran over to you to help you, as you were having difficulty to get up because you were laughing so much. He took your hand and pulled you on your feet.

‘Are you okay?’ he asked worried, while he brushed your hair out of your face.

‘I’m fine, love,’ you said, the last chuckles escaping your mouth as you wiped the snow from Charlie’s forehead.

Charlie pressed a quick kiss to your lips and held your hand as he took the sleigh with the other. ‘Come on, let’s do it again.’

You walked with Charlie up the hill again, joining the others. He gave you a little squeeze as he caught the stare of Fred and you grinned as you followed his gaze. You wondered how long it would take for the Weasleys to realise that you had been dating Charlie for months already.

You stayed outside until it really got too cold to do anything. Your fingers were numb from the cold and they welcomed Molly’s hot chocolate gratefully. In the living room, you spent the afternoon playing games with the Weasley siblings.

Charlie was sitting behind you as you played a very intense game of Go Fish with the twins and Ginny. He was looking at your cards over your shoulder and offering you advice whenever it was your turn.

‘Fred, gimme all your fives,’ George said and reluctantly Fred gave him the three fives he had in his hand. You laughed loudly at the face the twin made as he had to hand over his cards but you soon lost your laugh as George asked for the three twos in your hand. George gave you a smirk and his eyes flickered to behind you before he turned back to his cards.

You turned around quickly and quickly knew what was going on when you saw Charlie’s guilty face. ‘Charlie!’ you cried. ‘Did you tell him what cards I have?’

Charlie said nothing, but the little smirk on his face was enough of an answer for you. Your jaw dropped and you hit Charlie on his arm. ‘Nice boyfriend you are,’ you said decidedly and Charlie’s smirk turned into a pout. ‘You’re sleeping on the couch tonight!’

You turned back around and were met with three baffled faces. A low chuckle came from your throat and Charlie put his hands in your waist, squeezing a little too hard.

‘You’re dating?’ George asked.

‘Well, we have been for the past five months,’ Charlie said, releasing the grip on your waist and instead sitting closer to you and wrapping his arms around it. He rested his chin on your shoulder and smirked at his siblings. ‘But thanks for noticing.’

‘No you can’t be dating,’ Ginny said, lowering her cards. ‘We would have known.’

‘Apparently you didn’t,’ you shrugged. ‘Now come on, let’s play. I need to win from George.’

‘No, wait,’ Fred interrupted. ‘Did mum and dad- MOM!’

Charlie sighed and he let go of you, taking place beside you rather than behind. He leaned forward a little bit and turned his head slightly to read George’s card, who was looking at the doorway for his mother. Charlie sat back and mouthed a number to you.

‘Mom!’ George said when Molly walked into the living room. ‘Did you know they were dating?’

Molly gave her son a soft smile and she nodded. ‘Of course I did. It’s hard to hide such a thing,’ she said and you smiled gratefully at her.

‘See? Guess you’re just oblivious,’ you said, when Molly went back to the other room and George and Fred turned back around. ‘Now give me your threes, so I can win.’

[thebangtancloud]

Readers... can you give me some advice?

So I'm going to get right to it.

I've been having a few difficulties with my best friend. I might've mentioned a few times here on my blog that we run a YouTube channel together and I let her post my stories on there as well. So it's quite obvious that she's one of the few people that I know who knows that I write, or rather - I can write.

Recently her father asked her to ask me to take up an internship at his company where I would be a creative writer for his website. I said yes, of course. Maybe I got too emotional because of the love that I have for my best friend, but I said yes.

Knowing that it would be an unpaid internship albeit a certificate-based job/position.

It did trouble me initially, but I never spoke about it to my best friend because... well, I didn't know how to tell her. I ended up writing the first draft and was pleasantly surprised myself because it was a genre that I had never written and it left not only her and her family stunned but also my family and close friends.

I wrote the second draft and only then did I tell my mom and close friend that it was an unpaid internship. They both were furious. It was scary to see the way they both said the same thing regardless of never speaking to each other about this. They both told me that I deserve to be paid for the quality of my work and the efforts that I put in. They both also told me to tell her that I won't send in the final work if I'm not paid.

I just couldn't do that.

Because I had already agreed to offer my work... free.

Eventually, I didn't write the last piece of work - which ironically ended up being the most important piece that they needed (the About Us page). I was simultaneously busy with my interviews and issues at home so I didn't really need to lie to her that I wasn't able to write the last part - partly because I myself didn't feel up to it. I just couldn't write it.

She didn't tell me anything, and all of a sudden, a few days later, she tells me that her father has decided to pay me.

I was really startled.

How'd that happen all of a sudden?

Part of me thought that either my mom or my close friend spoke to her, but neither of them did, so when I told them that her father would pay me for my work, they - again - told me to set up a standard.

Apparently, when my mum started up her business many years ago, she too had paid a writer ten grand (about $130 USD) for each page that she had written for the website, which was a lot back then but not too much right now. I mentioned this to my best friend and she told me that she won't be able to pay me that much (even though I've written a total of 3 entire documents for her website).

My mum and my close friend are both telling me things like she's taking advantage of me and that she's being selfish (because they're filthy rich and are being stingy to pay me for something I'm doing for them)

I really didn't know what to do, so I've let it be for now. I mentioned this to a male friend and he gave me really practical advice, and that was to not mingle friendship and work, and either not do the work or complete it and withdraw completely, because any issue or discrepancy could cost me my friendship with her.

I feel really... distant from my best friend. I'm not even sure if I feel as comfortable as I used to with her and that's been the reason why I've been mentally all over the place because I really didn't know how to tackle this situation.

Do you have any advice for me whatsoever?

ps. if you're my best friend reading this, you've finally been able to understand how difficult it is for me to talk to you about this. I hope you'll get me.

[katblu42]

Passing the Big Brother Baton pt 3

Part 3 is here! It's a little longer than the other parts, so I've put in a cut for length. It turns out John has a lot to say about being a big brother!

You can read the whole thing on AO3.

Gordon had just turned four, and with a new baby on the way the family had inevitably been throwing around the “big boy now” comments. Lucy had been careful to involve Gordon in the necessary process of setting up the nursery furniture in the room he would soon be sharing, worried that he might resent the impending invasion. Unlike any of the other boys, Gordon seemed reluctant to step into big brotherhood. For over a week now he’d been very clingy, wanting cuddles with Mom on the flimsiest of pretexts, and needing Mommy’s (or, to a lesser extent Daddy’s) help with tasks that he had more than mastered.

Lucy was wondering what challenges today would bring when there was a commotion in the kitchen – a clattering of kid-safe plates, cups and bowls as though someone was rummaging through cupboards and spilling items out onto countertop and floor tiles. Gordon had just gone in there. With a sigh, Lucy heaved herself to her feet to see what was happening. Before she reached the kitchen door the sound of John’s voice prompted her to stop and listen.

“What are you looking for?” the eight-and-a-half year-old enquired with a patience Lucy was sure she could not have mustered.

“My sippy cup,” came the simple reply, accompanied by more rummaging and clattering.

“Why?”

“For my juice.” Lucy could hear the exasperated sigh in Gordon’s voice suggesting this was the most obvious thing in the world, despite him not needing his sippy cup in well over a year.

“I was going to pour yours into a cup just like mine.”

Lucy was relieved her perceptive third child had been smart enough to avoid the term “big-boy cup.” The use of similar terms had been enough to induce tantrums over the last few days.

There were footsteps and a cupboard door squeaked open as John apparently went and retrieved Gordon’s sippy cup from the corner cupboard used to store all the retired-until-further-notice toddler items. Juice was poured, the lid popped on and the cup was slid across the countertop, presumably towards Gordon who had more than likely climbed up to sit on a stool opposite his big brother.

“You know, just because you won’t be the littlest anymore doesn’t mean Mom and Dad don’t love you just as much as they always did.”

Lucy was not surprised John was able to pinpoint the problem behind Gordon’s regressive behaviour, but she was impressed that he was able to articulate it so well, and that he was willing to address the issue head on. There was no answer from Gordon, and she found herself imagining him trying to process what John had said, probably with head slightly tilted to one side and a squinty frown.

“I was the littlest before you were born,” John said solemnly, and perhaps with a hint of nostalgia.

“Really?” The shock in Gordon’s voice had Lucy visualising his russet eyes widening. “But you’ve always been big!”

John laughed. A quiet, contented, closed mouth, chesty sound that Lucy always loved to hear.

“That’s because I’m older than you. And I’ll always be older than you. I’ll always be your big brother, just like Scott and Virgil will always be my big brothers, and all of us, including you, will be the baby’s big brother.”

“I don’t wanna be a big brother.” Lucy heard the pout, and the crossed arms in Gordon’s words.

“Why not?”

“Don’t wanna be sponstible. Wanna do fun stuff with Mommy, like before. Just me and Mommy. No baby.”

Lucy felt the prickle of tears in the corners of her eyes. John let out a sigh.

“Yeah, it kinda sucks that you don’t really get to choose to be a big brother. It just happens and you’re stuck with it. And it is a big responsibility. You need to look out for the little one, make sure they’re safe – like when I had to stop you from crashing the toboggan into the garage. You have to help them with things they can’t do yet – like I just helped you get a drink of juice. But being a big brother can be pretty cool. If you help mum look after the baby you’ll still get to spend time with her too. And you can play with the baby sometimes. Then when he gets bigger you get to teach him stuff.”

“Like what?”

“Well, the baby isn’t going to know anything about the world, or how things work, or being a Tracy. He’ll watch you and learn from you – even when you don’t know it. And when he’s old enough you’ll get to answer all his questions – like I answered when you asked me about how tadpoles turn into frogs. You’ll be able to teach him important things like where all the best hiding spots in the house are, and not to steal grandma’s cookies. Stuff Mom and Dad might not know, and stuff they might be too busy to help with – that’s the kind of big brother stuff you’ll need to do.”

There was a pause, and a soft shuffling and rustling of clothing. Lucy thought John might have moved around the kitchen counter so he could put an arm around his little brother, or a comforting hand on his back with a gentle rub.

“You don’t have to do it all yourself. That’s the best part about being a Tracy – we stick together, we all help each other. You have three big brothers you can come to whenever you need to.”

Lucy wished she could see her boys at that moment, barely holding herself back from entering the kitchen just to see their expressions, to see the demonstration of exactly the big brotherly love John was speaking of. She could hear the gentle scrape and clacking of cups that suggested the boys were sipping their drinks, perhaps even toasting the moment, before cups were tapped back down onto the countertop.

“I’ll tell you a secret,” she heard John quietly continue. “I wasn’t sure how I felt about being a big brother at first.” This was news to Lucy, and she wondered if she had missed something that she should have seen four years ago. “But as soon as Mom and Dad brought you home I knew I would do anything to make you happy and keep you safe.”

“You didn’t want to be my big brother?” The teariness in Gordon’s voice was heart-wrenching.

“I changed my mind really quick. I found out having a little brother is the best feeling in the world. There’s nothing like the way you looked up at me when I held you in my arms, or the feel of your tiny hand wrapped around my finger. And you were fun to play with, especially when you were big enough to laugh.”

“I’m still fun to play with!” Gordon insisted, then doubt crept into his voice. “Will you still play with me after the baby’s born?”

“Of course.” John laughed again, this time a bright chuckle.

It seemed the serious conversation was over and the long silence prompted Lucy to begin to withdraw. As she walked away she heard the beginnings of a whole new discussion.

“Are we sure the baby’s gonna be a boy?” Gordon asked

“Yeah, Mom and Dad and the doctor are all pretty sure. Why?”

“Do you think I could ask if we could have a sister instead?”

As curious as Lucy was to hear how John would handle that one, she kept walking, unable to stop the broad smile spreading across her face, and the swelling of absolute love in her heart for all her boys.

[fanficsandthings]

Through the Years, Ch. 6

A George Weasley Fanfiction

A George Weasley x Slytherin reader story.

Each chapter shares events in one year of George and reader’s life together.

Word Count: 4k

Author’s note: This year is going to be split up into 2 chapters, so ch 7 will be more of 6th year. I’m going on a short break after this chapter tho, so ch 7 will be posted April 23rd

Year 1, Year 2, Year 3, Year 4, Year 5 

Year 6:  Camping

The campsite was overcrowded and loud as you pushed your way past wizards decked out in green and white. Making your way past overly decorated and way-too-obvious tents, you kept your eyes out for a certain red headed family. You hadn’t seen George in nearly two months, and you were ready to tackle him on sight. 

As you neared the end of the campsite, you were starting to think that you might have missed the Weasley’s tent and would have to start your search again. A familiar voice caught your attention, and you turned to see a red headed girl coming out of a tent on the very edge of the campsite. Ginny was saying something over her shoulder as Hermione followed her out of the tent. 

“Ginny, Hermione!” you called, waving your hand in the air to get her attention. Both the girls turned to look in your direction. 

“Hey!” Ginny called back as she caught your eye. 

You rushed up to meet them outside their tent. They were both wearing the green and white colors of Ireland. 

“You two been having an exciting day?” you asked them. 

“Hermione taught dad how to light a fire the muggle way earlier,” Ginny told you. “It would’ve taken him hours to light one otherwise.” 

“Wish I could’ve been here to see that,” you said with a laugh. “At least he’s trying to blend in. Some of the wizards here don’t seem to care at all.” You gestured vaguely to the gaudy tents around you; the tent Ginny and Hermione came out of being the exception. 

“I feel kind of bad for the muggle at the entrance, Mr. Roberts,” Hermione said. “All those memory charms can’t be good for him.” 

You thought about how he had been Obliviated after he had said something vague about the events being held today when you paid for your campsite. “I hope it doesn’t affect his memory permanently.” 

A tall figure came out of a tent behind the girls’ tent. His long red hair was pulled back into a ponytail, and you could assume that he was another Weasley. 

“Have you met Bill?” Ginny asked.

“I haven’t,” you said. 

Ginny led you and Hermione over to Bill, who was beginning to clean up the remains of the fire. Ginny called his name, and he turned to face the three of you. 

“This is--” Ginny started. 

“George’s girlfriend,” Bill finished the sentence for her. You looked at him slightly confused as to how he immediately knew who you were. “George has talked about two things in the last few weeks that I’ve been home: Weasley Wizard Wheezes and the Slytherin girl that he finally got to kiss after over 4 years of having a crush.” 

You could feel your face burning red at the thought of George talking about you that much. 

“I’ve seen every one of those muggle pictures of you two at least 5 times,” Bill continued with a laugh. “He loves to show them off.” 

“He almost went through two of my camera’s last year,” you said. “Errol got lost delivering one back to my parents, and George was a few hours away from going out and looking for him himself when he showed back up with a letter from my mom confirming that they got the camera.” 

“Hey that photo of Snape asleep at his desk, drooling on his papers would’ve been worth the search if Errol really was lost,” Ginny said. 

“That picture has a place of honor on the mirror in my dorm room,” you said, turning to Ginny. “It gives me motivation to go to potions every morning. I’ve enchanted it so none of the other girls can take it down.” 

“Please let me see that picture sometime,” Bill said to you. “How did you even get into his office without him waking up?”

“That’s a secret between Fred, George, and I,” you told him. You turned to Hermione and said in a whisper, “I printed another copy to give to Harry as a thanks for letting me borrow his cloak. Don’t let me forget to give it to him.” 

Hermione’s face formed an expression you were very familiar with. “How do you know about--”

“Anyway!” you cut her off, turning back to the rest of the group. “Where are George and Fred? I have some words for them.”  

Bill opened his mouth to speak, but a rustling was heard from the tent that he had come out of. Everyone turned their attention to the entrance of the tent as two heads popped out. 

“Is that who I think it is?” George asked as he stepped out. 

“George!” you yelled, half in excitement, half in faux anger. Jumping at him, you both fell hard onto the ground. Luckily, your landing was softened by George. 

George was trying hard to catch his breath as he looked up at you. “I can’t tell if you’re happy or angry.”

“A bit of both,” you said while standing up. “My hair was green for almost two weeks before I figured out the counterspell.” You thought about reaching out to help him up but decided against it. “I helped you invent that potion, you’re not supposed to use it against me. I was excited that you sent me sweets only to end up with that.”

George struggled to his feet, rubbing his shoulder where he had hit the ground. “You look good in Slytherin green, so we thought we’d add a little more to your everyday flare.” 

You turned to Fred quickly. “It was your idea, wasn’t it?” 

“I may have suggested it, yes,” he said, not bothering to hide his smirk. 

“You’re lucky it did look good,” you grumbled, reaching into your bag. Pulling out a photo, you handed it to Fred. “Proof that you finally got it to work. Only took you two and half years.” 

“Perfection takes time,” Fred said, smiling down at the photo. “We’ve figured out green, pink, red, and blue so far.” 

“We’re working on yellow next,” George said as he moved to look over Fred’s shoulder at the picture of you. Your hair was the same color as the winter scarf hanging on the wall behind you. 

“Can I have that back then?” you asked, reaching your hand out for the picture. 

Fred pulled his hand away quickly. “No, we need it to show clients that it really works.” 

You narrowed your eyes at him before rummaging through your bag. “Test it on yourself next time.” You handed the twins the rest of the sweets they had sent you. Two more of the hair changing sweet and five of one kind that you were too afraid to test out without knowing what it was. “Start with that one there. I’d like to see what it’s for.” 

The twins’ faces lit up as they looked at the bag you had just handed them. George’s quickly changed to anger as he took in what was in the bag.

“You sent her the Ton-Tongue Toffee!” George yelled angrily at his brother “We decided we wouldn’t test that on her!”

“Oh boy,” Ginny whispered beside you. 

“Ton-Tongue Toffee?” you turned to ask her, the twins continuing their bickering in the background. 

“It’s an Engorgement Charm stuffed inside the toffee,” Ginny explained. “They actually just tested it out on Harry’s cousin. Mum was super mad. She confiscated the rest of their stock.” 

“She knows the counter-charm!” Fred yelled over his brother. “She’d be fine!”

“We agreed we wouldn’t test the more dangerous ones on her!” George retorted. 

“You agreed to that,” Fred said, crossing his arms. “I never said I wouldn’t” 

“Hey!” you yelled, catching their attention. “You tested this on a Muggle?” 

“Yeah,” Fred said, a proud smile on his face. “It worked perfectly too. Swelled his tongue up to about 4 feet long.” 

“Dad fixed him though,” George continued. “After a bit of arguing with Harry’s aunt and uncle.”

“They’re sure to think all magic users are the devil now,” Fred said, laughing. 

“From what I’ve heard, they already thought that,” you said. “You probably just made it worse for Harry now.”

Hermione cut in to say, “I tried to explain that to them, but they wouldn’t listen to me.” 

“You guys are idiots,” you said, causing the twins’ faces to fall just a little bit. “I’m glad you’re figuring out your stock though. Tell me more about it so I can give you more criticism.”  You walked towards the boys and took George’s hand. Looking up at the sky, you noticed the sun was starting to set. “I’ll have to get back to my family soon. The match should be starting in about an hour.” You started to walk with the twins a little bit away from their campsite before turning back to Ginny, Hermione, and Bill. “I’m sure I’ll see you again after the match. Nice meeting you, Bill.” You gave a small wave with your free hand as George pulled you towards the edge of the forest nearby. 

Once you were out of earshot, Bill leaned down to Ginny. “I like her. Fred and George have a deep disdain for most Slytherin’s but apparently not her.” 

“They taught her their evil ways before the other Slytherins could teach her theirs,” Ginny said, laughing. “It suits her well, I think.” 

The three of them watched you and twins for a minute. It looked like you were shoving one of the sweets in Fred’s mouth, and all three of them held their breath, hoping it wasn’t the toffee. Fred’s hair very suddenly burst into the Slytherin green color, and you and George both bent over laughing. Fred brought out his wand, presumably for the counter-spell, but George grabbed it from him before he could cast anything. George pulled his green-haired brother into an awkward hug as you pulled the camera out of your bag. The twins both smiled widely as you took a picture of them, Fred only pretending to be annoyed. 

Fred finally snatched his wand back from George as he pulled away from the hug and quickly changed his hair back to his natural bright orange. He reached his hand out towards your camera, and you handed it to him. He pushed George towards you, and you wrapped your arms tightly around him. You kissed George quickly on the cheek as Fred took a picture. When you pulled away from George, he pretended to be annoyed with the kiss as he wiped his hand on his cheek. As you shoved your camera back in your bag, though, George took advantage of your distraction and kissed you back. 

The rest of the boys came out of the tent, Arthur telling them that they should start heading to the stadium. 

“Fred! George!” Charlie called loudly, causing the three of you to stop your conversation about the Canary Creams the twins had started working on this summer. “It’s time to go!” 

“Hello, Charlie!” you yelled towards the group, waving. “I’ll stop by after the match again. I’ll see you guys then!” You said a quick goodbye to Fred and gave George one last chaste kiss before heading back towards your own campsite to find your dad and uncle. 

-----------------------------

You were woken by a sudden, loud crash outside your tent, causing you to jolt up in bed. At first you assumed the sounds outside were sounds of celebration, caused by the Irish winning the World Cup and celebrating all night long, but the closer you listened, the more you could hear screams and chaos. 

Your father came rushing in from outside. “Get up, we need to go.” 

“What’s going on?” you asked him, rushing to find your boots and pulling them on.

“It’s the Roberts family,” he said, trying to push you out of the tent. “They’re being attacked. Your uncle went to help them. Go find the Weasleys; you’ll be safe with them.” 

Your feet hit the grass outside the tent, and the scent of smoke filled your nostrils. The sky, once alive with green and white, was now grey and filled with the reflecting lights of the fire. Screams could be heard in every direction, while people rushed by in a panic, not knowing what way to go. You could see the Roberts family being suspended in midair a couple hundred yards away. The tents around them were going up in flames as the masked wizards carrying them incited more fear in everyone. 

Your father started to head in the opposite direction that you were about to go, so you turned to him. “Where are you going? If someone is attacking muggles, they might be after you too!” 

“I’m going to help the other Muggleborns and Muggle spouses. I know more about magic than most of them,” he said, stepping towards you again. 

“You have no way to defend yourself against dark magic,” you informed him. 

He grabbed your hand. “I’ll be okay. I promise. Now go, before you can get hurt.” 

He let go of your hand and ran off. You quickly turned around and headed towards the opposite end of the campground where you knew the Weasley’s tents to be. 

The crowd was hard to get through with people pushing you in every direction, and you lost your balance more than once, barely catching yourself each time. If you fell, you were sure to be stepped on by everyone rushing by. 

By the time you got to the opposite end of the campground, your lungs hurt from running, and your hands were covered in dirt from the ground. The group of masked wizards holding the Roberts hostage were slowly making their way over, and you knew you needed to find the Weasleys and escape into the woods to be safe. 

Searching around frantically, your eyes found the Weasley’s tents, and you ran towards them. Not bothering with privacy, you rushed into the larger of the two. 

“Hello?” you called out, looking around the apartment-like interior, but you heard no response and saw no sign of movement. Taking that to mean they had already left, you rushed over to the girls tent to make sure they were out too.

“Ginny? Hermione?” you shouted as you ran. Looking in the tent, it seemed to be empty too. 

With no one in sight, your best option was to head to the woods, and hope they all made it there safe. Your eyes still searched frantically over the moving crowd as you hurried towards the trees. 

“George! Fred!” you called, hoping to see any sign of bright red hair. You could feel your heart beating frantically in your chest. Your lungs felt like they could collapse at any moment. “Anyone!” Your voice was showing the first signs of becoming hoarse as your breath got caught in your throat as you yelled. 

“They headed towards the trees!” a familiar voice called from behind. You whipped your head around so fast you weren’t sure how you didn’t fall over. Standing a few feet away was Bill, wand at the ready, a mixed look of fear and anger on his face. 

“All of them except you?” you asked, rushing towards him. 

“Dad, Percy, and Charlie went to help stop this madness,” Bill informed you. “I heard you calling, so I came back to help. I should go join them now. The twins took the younger ones into the woods to hide. You’ll be safe if you go there too. Keep your wand ready, just in case.” 

You suddenly searched frantically for your wand, feeling stupid for not having it out before now. You found it tucked in a special pocket in your boot. “Thanks for the advice.” 

“A boot pocket?” Bill said, sounding impressed. “I might need to get me one of those.” 

“Comes in handy in situations like this,” you told him. You squeezed the end of your wand in your hand, the memory of the first day you got it suddenly rushing into your mind. It was the day you had met Fred and George. You suddenly looked from Bill to the trees, thinking about the rest of the Weasleys in the woods. “I have to go. Thanks for helping.” 

You hurried off without waiting for him to say anything, too focused now on finding other people you knew. People that you needed to make sure were safe more than you needed yourself to be safe. Hopefully Fred and George were looking after the others, but four bodies is a lot to keep track of. With you there, the three of you could do a better job at it. 

Reaching the treeline, you stopped for just a moment to look back at the chaos in the campsite. The group of masked wizards seemed to have come to a halt from being surrounded by Ministry workers. The shouts of all the people running around you, also looking for loved ones, were too loud to make out any conversation from the large group. 

“Ron? Ginny?,” you shouted into the woods, looking for a clear path to run down. You quickly decided that a path would be impossible to find in this situation, and started stepping over bushes and sticks before breaking out into a jog.

Your eyes scanned the trees around you, hoping to find a familiar face or six. The more you searched to no avail, the more it hurt to breath again. Your breath felt ragged in your throat, whether from the running or the yelling of names, you weren’t sure.

You weren’t paying too much attention to where you were going, besides making sure you didn’t trip over anything. Turning around a rather large tree, you jumped over the roots, but your body came to a very sudden halt when you hit something full force. You fell to the ground, all the breath in your body leaving you. 

“Jesus Christ,” you breathed out as you lay on the ground. 

“Are you alright!?” a familiar voice asked as they reached down to help you up. 

“George!” you shouted, pulling him down to you instead, hugging him. “Did I just run into you?”

“You did,” he told you, pulling back to look you in the eye, “but that doesn’t matter. I know you’re safe now.”

You looked behind him to see Fred and Ginny “Where are Harry, Ron, and Hermione?”

“We don’t know,” Fred said. “They got separated in the rush.”

“But Hermione knows enough to be able to protect all of them,” George added quickly when he saw the panic on your face. “I’m worried about you.”

“Don’t worry about me, worry abo--” you started, but were cut off by a sudden flash of green appearing in the sky. 

The light lit up the entire woods, and through the trees you could make out the shape of a giant skull. People all around you began to scream again, scattering to run as far away from the light as possible. It was then that you saw the snake coming out of the skull’s mouth. 

“A Dark Mark,” you whispered, clinging onto George’s shirt even tighter. Your body seemed to tense up at the words you spoke, but you couldn’t seem to tear your eyes away from the skull. 

“Hey, look at me,” George said, but your eyes remained on the sky. He placed his hand on your cheek and softly turned your face to look at him. “Don’t look at that. Just look at me, and everything will be alright. 

George’s brown eyes scanned your face quickly. You knew he was waiting for you to give any more indication about what you were feeling. The tears behind your eyes suddenly ran down your face. You quickly pulled yourself into George, hiding your face in his shoulder. 

You felt a hand gently pat your shoulder, and you looked up to see Ginny looking down at you. 

“It’ll be alright,” she said softly. You knew she didn’t know too much about your situation, or even exactly what the Mark meant, but you greatly appreciated her trying to comfort you. 

“You and your dad are welcome to stay in our tent for the rest of the night,” Fred offered. “I’m sure dad won’t mind.” 

Finally backing away from George just a little, you looked at his face again. You could tell that he was trying not to cry himself, his feelings for you overtaking him right now. You leaned in and softly kissed both of his cheeks.

“Thank you,” you whispered to him. You turned to the other two. “Thank you so much.” 

“Let’s go see if the campsite is safe now,” George said, standing up. He held out a hand to help you up. You gladly accepted it. 

The walk back was stressful; you were worried that you might run into one of those masked wizards. When you reached the treeline and stepped out into the campground, you could tell that that group was gone, but another group of frightened-looking witches and wizards was beginning to form. They were looking for answers about what had just happened, but having no answers for them, you squeezed through them and made your way back to the Weasley’s tents. 

Your father had shown up looking for you just a few minutes after you had arrived. He was fine, just a little shaken from seeing the Dark Mark again after so many years. He chose to stay with your uncle in their tent, and you promised you’d meet up with them again first thing in the morning. 

The rest of the night was restless, and the hour or so of sleep you ended up getting did little help to make you feel better. The next two weeks before the start of the school year would be hard to get through, knowing that You-Know-Who supporters were becoming active again. 

You said your goodbyes to the Weasleys in the dim light of the morning, telling Fred and George that you would be waiting for them on Platform 9 ¾ in two weeks. 

“You better have those Canary Creams ready for testing by then,” you said, trying to lighten the mood of the day. 

“You offering to be the guinea pig?” Fred asked with a smile. 

“No,” you said, “but I have a few people in mind. We need some form of entertainment on the train.” 

The conversation lulled for a second, and George took the opportunity to grab your hand. 

“Be safe, okay?” he said. 

“You know I never am,” you said, trying to continue to joke. George looked at you with his eyebrows slightly raised, and his eyes pleading with you. “Okay, okay. I promise I’ll be safe. It’s only two weeks.” 

“I’ll see you then,” he said, pulling you into a hug. He whispered softly so only you could hear, “I love you.”

“I love you, too,” you whispered back, squeezing him tightly. 

You walked back to your tent slowly, taking in the destruction of the campground and watching the other families pack up. You didn’t know why, but you had a strange feeling in your stomach the whole walk; a feeling that usually only happened when you were absolutely furiously angry at something. You thought you were more afraid from last night than angry, but you couldn’t get the whirl in your stomach to go away. 

The sun was fully peaking over the horizon by the time you made it to your campsite, your uncle having just finished packing everything up. A day that was supposed to be a joyous occasion had turned into the most disastrous event you had ever witnessed. You hoped that the coming school year would bring more joy than anything else.

[fullmoonremus]

God Damn Smile | Edmund Pevensie x Reader

Warnings: Fluff :)

Time/Era: Modern AU

Word count: 3.7k 

Summary: Edmund reconnects with his childhood best friend, and it makes old, forgotten feelings resurface. 

Request: Hey! Can you write an Edmund x reader based on “A Typical Teenage Love Song” by Tate McRae? It’s fine if you can’t. Tsym in advance!

A/N: This song is so cute :D Ahhh, I love this imagine!!! I hope you enjoy! Let me know what you think! Thanks for the request :)

masterlist | read on ao3

“No! Don’t step on him!” Five year old Y/N L/N yelled at her friend, Edmund Pevensie. He had his foot raised above a small garden snail, right in the middle of a game of Godzilla. The pair were currently in Y/N’s back garden, playing amongst all the plants. Both children were dressed in brightly colored rain boots and their play clothes to enjoy the rainy weather. 

“It’s just a snail,” Edmund responded, lowering his leg to the ground. Instead of squishing the garden creature, he kneeled down to the ground for a better look. It wasn’t anything special, just a normal garden snail, but it seemed to be rather important to his playmate. 

“He is not just a snail! He is my friend.”

“If he’s your friend, what’s his name then?” Edmund let the small snail crawl up onto his finger before standing upright. 

“Snaily,” Y/N responded, putting her hand out and throwing the teddy bear in her arms to the ground. Edmund placed Snaily on her palm and smiled a toothy smile. This made Y/N grin, putting her hand at eye level. “Thank you for not squashing him.”

“He’s my friend now, too. You don’t squash friends.” 

Y/N nodded in agreement, “You don’t squash friends.” 

~

“Do you remember being a baby?” Edmund asked Y/N. They were now eight and sitting on the Pevensie family swing set, avoiding the youngest Pevensie child, Lucy. Y/N adored Lucy, she thought the girl was adorable, but Edmund insisted the two have “big kid things” to attend to. 

The swing set was old and rickety, as it had been in their family since Edmund’s older brother, Peter was a toddler. The colors were faded, the slide had a large crack in it and Edmund had written his and Y/N’s initials on one of the support beams. “No, am I supposed to?” Y/N answered. She had been last to reach the swings, so she was stuck with the squeaky one. Her face cringed each time the chains made a noise, despite her attempts to stay as still as possible. Y/N brought her hands to the teddy bear on her lap, covering its ears. Having been in the sun all afternoon, the swing was hot on her legs and it stuck uncomfortably to the skin on her thighs. 

“I don’t think so. My parents were looking at our baby books this morning so I was wondering,” 

“My mom has a picture of us when we were three hanging in our living room,” Y/N’s nose wrinkled and she kicked up a small patch of dirt. “We’ve been friends since we were babies. I don’t remember meeting you, though. You were just, there.” 

Edmund laughed, standing so he could lean his stomach against the seat of the swing. He swung on his stomach once before situating back onto his feet. “Our fathers are friends which means we’re friends. That’s just the way the world works.”

“Friends forever, even if one of us moves far far far far away?”

“Friends forever, Y/N.” 

~

“Do you have to go?” Ten-year-old Edmund stood outside of Y/N’s house, holding a box of barbies. Mr. L/N took the box from Ed’s hand and put it in the trunk of his car. 

“It should only be for a few years at most, Ed. I’m getting relocated for work,” Mr. L/N responded, messing the young boy’s hair up with one hand. “We’ll be back. I gave your Dad our new address and you can write to Y/N to your heart’s content.”

When Y/N joined them at the car, backpack slung across her shoulder and her favorite teddybear hugged between her arms, tears were rolling down her face. 

“I don’t want to go, please don’t make me!” She cried, holding to her teddy to her chest. Her face was scarlet and her mouth was etched into a frown. 

“You can stay with us!” Edmund offered, his own tears starting to roll down his face. Y/N was more than just his playmate, she was his best friend. They had spent the last seven years of their life seeing eachother almost daily, and now all of that was going to come to a sudden halt. 

“That’s sweet of you, buddy, but I think her mother and I would miss her too much,” Mr. L/N smiled down at the two before walking to the front of the car where his wife was talking to Helen Pevensie. 

“I wish you didn’t have to go,” Edmund sniffled. “I’m going to miss you. I have no one to play on the swings with!”

“You can play with Lucy.” Edmund made a face at this suggestion, making Y/N sadly giggle. “Or Peter.”

“No, Lucy cries too much and Peter always kicks sand in my eyes.” 

A thoughtful look came over Y/N’s face and she looked down at the plush in her arms. After a small moment of what looked like intense thought, she held her teddy out towards Edmund. 

“Here, Ed, now you can have a friend!” Edmund hesitantly took the bear from Y/N’s hands and looked down at it. It was obvious Y/N really loved that thing because it was a bit raggedy and one of the brown button eyes was replaced with a bright green one. “Teddy likes it better here, anyway. You can take care of him.” 

Y/N awkwardly gripped her upper arm with her hand, swaying on her heels. Edmund hugged it to him and nodded stiffly. “He’s in good hands. I will protect him with my life.”

Both kids laughed and embraced before Y/N was whisked into the car. 

~

Dear Y/N, 

Happy 12th birthday! I’m sad I couldn’t be there for it, but I hope your cake was yummy. The picture my mum showed me looked absolutely delicious. She also said you took up archery at your new school! My school doesn’t offer that, so I thought that was cool. Did you shoot anything? I know you are too nice to shoot any animals but I never know with you. ;) I hung out with this girl in my English class the other day, she reminded me of you. She had long brown hair and blue eyes and a laugh that sounds like yours. She wasn’t as fun as you, though. I think she wants me to be her boyfriend. I’m not sure if I want to be her boyfriend. She kept trying to hold my hand. Her hand was sweaty. And she kept saying I have a cute smile. I don’t know how a smile can be cute? Teeth are weird. Peter said that was her way of trying to flirt with me. Do you flirt with boys at your school? What do you say?

Maybe we can play Minecraft together again soon. Last time we played I had a great time. Have your mom text mine and we can try to schedule something. I want a phone, it would be easier to talk to you.

I attached a picture of me and Teddy at the park. He misses you almost as much as I do.

I’ll be waiting for your response, 

Ed

.

Ed, 

Thank you for the birthday wishes. :D The cake was delicious, I wish you could have tried it!!! And to answer your question, yes, but I’ve only ever shot targets. It’s against school rules to shoot anything other than them. Sort of a bummer, though. 

Your not-girlfriend sounds nice. I agree with her, your smile is very nice. You always look so happy when you smile, especially when your eyes light up. 

I don’t really flirt with boys, boys are kinda gross. Not you of course, but the guys at my school. There is this one guy named Ethan who is kinda cute. He wouldn’t want to be my boyfriend though. My friend always talks about kissing him. I want to kiss someone...have you ever kissed a girl? 

My mum said I can get a phone when I turn 14. Then, we can text and call whenever we want! I miss you. How’s teddy? He looks so happy in that picture. I hung it on my bulletin board. 

Respond quicker this time, will ya?

Y/N

~

EDMUND!!!

I’M HAVING A CRISIS AT THE RIPE OLD AGE OF 13! Remember that boy, Ethan? Well, apparently he has a big crush on me. That’s fine, he’s cute and everything, but my friend has a big crush on him. I guess it’s like friendship code to not date him? I feel bad rejecting him. I kinda have a crush on someone already. I know he doesn’t like me though. 

Are you still dating that one girl? In your last letter, you said you were gonna break up with her. How’d that go? Did she cry? Did you cry? I hope you didn’t. I don’t like it when you cry. It makes me sad. 

Can you believe we’re teenagers now? It seems like just yesterday I was handing you Teddy and crying in the car for an hour. I hope we come back soon. But hey! I’m almost 14, which means I’ll be getting a cell phone. Maybe if I have a phone my mum can convince yours to get you one. 

I miss you, Ed. I hope to be back soon. 

Y/N. 

.

Y/N!!!!

I’m not sure if that really counts as a crisis, but okay. If you don’t like him, don’t date him. That’s why I broke up with mine. I discovered I kind of like someone else, so I broke up with her. And no, I didn’t cry. If felt like a relief more than anything. Let me know how the “crisis” turns out. 

I can’t wait until I get a phone. My entire grade has one, and so do Susan and Peter. I feel kind of left out, having to write letters when I want to talk to someone. It’s always fun when I get them, though. 

If I have to hear Stitches by Shawn Mendes one more time, my head is going to explode!!!! Susan keeps playing it on repeat. I tried to turn it off earlier and she almost broke my arm. Why are siblings so mean? Or are mine just weird? You’re lucky you’re an only child. I miss you too, Y/N. If you were here life would be so much easier. 

Edmund

~

“Edmund, you got a letter,” Lucy says, dropping the envelope on his desk. He was working on college applications, typing away on his laptop, and looking grumpy. Music blasted through his speakers as he worked. 

“I didn’t order anything?” He grunted in response, not taking his eyes off of the screen. 

“It’s from the girl you’re basically in love with, I think. It has her name on it.” Edmund looked at the envelope with scrunched eyebrows. Sure enough, it had her name and address written on the front in her familiar handwriting. His heart rate sped up while he gently (and shakily) broke the paper seal. Why didn’t she just text him? 

Hey, Edmund,

I know we haven’t talked since we were like 15 and I could have just texted you, but this seemed more nostalgic and romantic in a way. You know how I tend to romanticize everything. 

Anyway, I wanted to let you know we’re moving back for Senior year, crazily enough. A few years my ass, huh? We’ll be back on the 14th, so get ready for chaos. 

Seriously, I’m looking forward to seeing you outside of Instagram again. You don’t have to come see me if you don’t want to, I know it might be a bit awkward, but I’d really like it if you did. My address is 1014 Swanwhite Lane. Come stop by if you feel like it. 

I do miss you. Judging by your social media, you’re doing well. I’m happy to hear that. 

Hopefully, I’ll see you soon.

Y/N

“Oh my god, she’s coming back,” Edmund says, gripping the thin paper in between his thumb and middle finger. “What’s the date?” 

Lucy pulled her phone out of her pocket and unlocked it, “The 28th. Why?”

“She got back the 14th! She’s been back for ages and I had no idea, oh my god!” 

“Well, are you going to go see her? You lost your chance to sweep her off her feet by waiting for her to arrive.”

“Sweep her off her feet?” Lucy rolled her eyes and hit him with the rest of the family’s mail. 

“Don’t play stupid. I’ve heard you and Peter talking.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.” His eyes skimmed the letter again. Lucy snatched it from his fingers and hit him with it. 

“Don’t know what I’m talking about? Really, Ed? The whole ‘I’ve been in love with her since I was 8 years old’ thing you told Pete? You don’t recall? Or the fact you have her post notifications on?” Lucy read the letter herself. “She wants to see you! Come on, this is your chance. You haven’t even looked at a girl since you were like 13.” 

“I’ve been focusing on school. What’s wrong with that?”

“It’s a Friday night in the middle of August and you’re getting a head start on college applications. Ed, go see the girl.” 

“Mum will never let me,” Lucy held up one finger and left the room. After about 5 minutes, she returned and held his coat out to him. 

“She said to go have fun. Here, it might be chilly.” Edmund sighed and took his jacket. The corduroy felt soft under his fingers as he slid it on. 

“You don’t have to be so pushy, Lu.” 

Lucy smiled, “It’s only because I love you. Besides, if I didn’t push you, you wouldn’t go.”

~

Edmund sat on the curb across the street and looked up at Y/N’s house. It was well past 11 at this point and only one light in the house was on. Hopefully, it was Y/N’s. 

He awkwardly thumbed through his contacts before pulling up Y/N’s. The last text was on his birthday, a simple two message conversation consisting of “Happy Birthday!” and “Thanks!”

Look outside 

He watched nervously as his message went from delivered to read, but no typing bubble popped up. Edmund sighed and stood, shoving his phone into his jacket pocket and walking towards the house. Sure enough, the front door opened and a grown-up Y/N stepped out. She was still dressed, but her shoes were off and her hair was tied back. Edmund smiled at her mismatched socks, old habits die hard apparently. 

“I thought you were never going to come and see me,” Her voice was like honey. 

“I just got the letter today, so blame the postal service. Not me.” The two walked to the curb and sat down. 

“Well, I’m glad you still came. I was expecting you to wimp out.”

“Wimp out?! Why would I do that?” 

Y/N let out a forced chuckle and looked at the pavement. “Because you stopped answering my texts and calls.” She crossed her arms across her body and shivered. She was only wearing a short-sleeve shirt and a pair of pajama shorts. “But I get it, life gets in the way sometimes.” 

“I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to. Are you cold?” Without waiting for an answer, he shrugs off his jacket and drapes it across Y/N’s shoulders. It smelled like spearmint gum and pine. 

Y/N let out a real chuckle this time. “Smooth, Ed. Very cheesy.” 

“I will happily take it back.” 

“Please don’t, this is the closest I’ve been to you in years.” Her fingers gripped the material and closed it around her torso. She scooted closer to him and laid her head on his shoulder. Edmund didn’t quite know what to do. “I missed you, Edmund. It’s so nice to see you again.” 

“I missed you too. Your return is a few years late.” His chest vibrated with a snicker. 

“I know, but I’m back now.” A moment of silence filled the air as the two tried to grow more comfortable in the familiar company. 

“I used to dream about sitting with you like this, you know,” Edmund said before he could stop himself. 

“You did?”

“Yeah, I used to picture us in all sorts of situations, but most of them were small things like this.” 

“But not anymore?”

Edmund sighed, laying his head on top of hers. His hair tickled Y/N’s forehead. “I figured you moved on from me.”

“Moved on? What do you mean?”

“I mean, you have so many friends and a new life… and we stopped texting as often. I don’t know, I thought you, maybe, outgrew me.” 

Y/N played with the zipper on Edmund’s jacket, making a small clicking noise fill the air. “I never outgrew you, Ed. In fact, a day didn’t go by that I didn’t wish I was here with you.” 

“I don’t see why. You had so many friends and such an exciting life. I’m rather dull in comparison.”

“You’re definitely not dull. And it doesn’t matter how many friends it seems like I have, you’re the only one I consider a best friend. I should have reached out more, maybe I could have had a better year.” 

Edmund shifted so he could wrap an arm around her waist. “Did you have a bad year?”

“Yeah, that’s sort of why we came back. But, I mean, I’m here with you, so everything has a bright side.” 

Edmund grinned and tightened his grip. “That’s one of the things I love most about you. You can always see the positives in everything.” Y/N pulled back and looked at his face. 

“I love it when you smile,” Y/N commented. “I could spend hours staring at that god damn smile.” Edmund’s cheeks reddened and his smile grew bigger. 

“Why don’t you, then? Stay with me for hours, I mean.” 

“I will if you let me, Pevensie.” 

Edmund sniffed once. 

“Did you ever end up dating that guy from your Chemistry class?” Edmund asks, studying the side of her face. His eyes scanned over her skin, admiring how soft it looked. 

“No, I’ve been in love with someone else for quite some time.” 

“What a lucky guy, then.” Edmund’s voice was only a bit louder than a mumble as he turned his head away from her. 

“Yeah, I guess he is. I’ve known him since I was really young.” 

“How’d you meet him?” Every word felt like a dagger into his stomach. 

“I don’t remember, he was always just there. Our dads were friends so we were friends. That’s just how the world works.” Edmund took his hand off of Y/N and placed it in his lap. 

“Oh, I see.” 

“Yeah, he’s super cute. He’s really smart, too, but kinda oblivious.”  

“Wow, he sounds great, Y/N. I’m so happy for you.” Each word sounded like he was choking them out. He stopped listening a few responses ago, but he still wanted to support her. No matter how hurt he felt, he was still her friend. 

“He’s the best person I’ve ever met, if I’m being quite honest. He can be a bit of an ass though.”

“What’s his name?” 

“You might know him,” Y/N tucked her hands into her sleeves before continuing. “His name is Edmund Pevensie.” 

“Wow, what a cool- wait what?” Y/N giggled at the look on his face. His eyebrows were lifted and his mouth was open slightly. 

“Yeah, I don’t know, maybe you’ve met him.” 

“You’ve been in love with me?” 

“Been and am, darling. God, when I got your text tonight my heart almost stopped.” Edmund was speechless, he couldn’t believe the girl he had been in love with for so long felt the same way. “Of course it’s okay if you don’t feel the same-”

“-No! I’m just shocked. I can’t believe this. I have loved you since we were little, I feel like I’m dreaming.” He couldn’t help but let the smile engulf his face, making his freckles stand out against his red cheeks. This was not what he was expecting when he had walked to her house. 

“There’s that handsome smile I love to see.” 

“So, you were waiting for me?” 

“Just like you were waiting for me. Lucy texted me about six months ago about how you never show any interest when she tries to set you up with girls. Now is just our time, unless you aren’t going to show interest in me.” 

“When did you get so sassy?” Edmund turned so he was facing her straight on. 

“When did you get so flust-” She was cut off mid-word by his warm lips being pressed against hers. He tasted like licorice and mint, and Y/N instantly got intoxicated off of his lips. Both parties had dreamed about this moment for years, so now that it was happening, it left them both feeling light-headed. Edmund pulled back and smirked. 

“Who’s the flustered one now?” He asks, hand cupping her cheek. 

“Does this mean you’re finally mine?”

“Y/N, I’ve always been yours. Hell, I’ll always be yours.” 

Edmund made a face as if he remembered something and reached into his backpack, “By the way, I’m not the only one who missed you.” He placed a very old teddy bear in his lover’s lap. 

He had raggedy fur and one green eye. 

[lycanlupins]

Twin Together, Win Together - Chapter 1

link to AO3

It was summer between terms and you had spent a majority of your time with the Weasley's. Most often than not you could be found in the twins' bedroom, helping them create whatever crazy joke product they had come up with, but you hadn't been back in weeks. They sent owl after owl but no reply, and you knew they were starting to get worried. You finally gathered up the courage to write and tell them why.

"My parents think you guys and I are a couple and won't let me back until they've properly met your family to ask some questions." You scribbled. You were thoroughly embarrassed, you knew them since your first year and didn't think of them as anything but your friends. Best friends even. The thought of dating either of the twins hadn't crossed your mind in your 6 years at Hogwarts and especially not dating the both of them at the same time. You finished off your letter and sent an owl to deliver it, biting your nails nervously.

"I hope they get it alright...I don't want them thinking I'm ignoring them." You mumbled to yourself. You paced in your room for what felt like hours, constantly watching the second hand tick away slowly. Finally, during dinner, your prayers had been answered and they sent an owl back. You quickly ran for the letter and tore it open.

"Are your parents bloody mad? Look, just tell them to come over and we can sort this all out. We're going insane without you here to test these new products out with us. It’s no fun." You smiled a little, holding the letter to your chest. You loved hearing from the boys more than anything else.

"Mum, Dad, the Weasley's invited us over for some dinner tomorrow. Is that alright? Can I finally go spend the night again?" You whined and begged.

"Darling, you know how we feel about--"

"But I'm not even dating them! We're strictly friends!" Your parents gave you a stern look before finally caving.

"Fine, but no funny business. We want you in one piece when we come by tomorrow evening." You lit up, hugging them both before you packed a bag. Once you finished stuffing your bag with essentials you made it a point to travel by floo network, half to announce your arrival and half because you only had a few more days until you were 17 and could apparate where you wanted.

Arriving at the Weasley residence was like arriving back home after a short vacation away. Molly ran to the fireplace and engulfed you in one of her famous hugs, wrapping her arms tight around you.

"Y/N! Oh the boys didn't tell me you were coming. I'll have to give them a talking to later, for now let me help you get your things upstairs." She was always so welcoming to you and anyone who entered her home. She was the mom you wish you had growing up in all honesty. Once your things were set up in one of the spare rooms, you ran outside to greet the rest of the family, running straight to the twins.

"Miss me?" You giggled, hugging one of them from behind.

"Oh you slippery, sneaky little minx!" Fred said, flipping himself around to pick you up easily. Once he set you down another pair of arms scooped you up.

"Didn't even tell us you were planning on coming. We would've planned more for us to do tonight if that were the case." George leaned down after placing you on your feet, giving you a cheeky smirk.

"I'm sure. Mum said to have me back in one piece so no blowing things up for tonight at least." You pointed a finger at the both of them. Ron and Ginny came by to greet you along with Arthur, but out of all of them, Ginny decided to stay back and chat.

"They haven't been the same since you were gone you know. They wouldn't prank Ron as often." Ginny nudged you as the two of you watched them run around in the sunset.

"Oh come off it, they were probably just cooking up some new fireworks to try out." You shrugged, not wanting to insinuate they had feelings for you.

"I'm only stating the obvious. They adore having you around, its like they feed off of your energy more than they do each other." The boys took notice of you staring, sauntering over.

"What are you ladies up to this evening?"

"Talking about boys I presume." They looked between each other and back at you.

"You wouldn't want to know. We were talking about how much Draco was dying to snog me last year." You teased, knowing they hated him more than anyone else. As if on cue, they rolled their eyes and sneered at the mere mention of his name.

"Sometimes I think you'd have been a better Gryffindor." Fred mentioned nonchalantly.

"You're only saying that because then we'd share a common room. And what's it matter anyways? Being a Slytherin gets me a lot of things, like being on Snape's good side so I can distract him while you two go off and try and prank the rest of my house." You stood up and poked the two of them in their arms.

"I'm headed to bed early, we have a long day ahead of us tomorrow." You yawned.

"Already?" Fred pouted.

"Y/N we haven't even started the fun!" George whined and threw his head back in frustration.

You stuck your tongue out at them and walked inside, knowing they'd get over themselves once they got a good nights rest and some time to process you actually being there. Once up in your room, you changed and jumped in bed, smiling from ear to ear now that you were back where you were meant to be.

[chilly-me-softly]

Every Little Thing’s Gonna Be Alright • Chapter 10

Chapter 1 - Chapter 2 - Chapter 3 - Chapter 4 - Chapter 5 - Chapter 6 - Chapter 7 - Chapter 8 - Chapter 9 

Ben watches Evelyn from afar while she's on the couch watching some documentary on TV. She's wearing a sweatshirt that highlights her belly, the hood up over her head acting as a block to the outside world. He remembers how she had once told him that everything is muffled like that, and it was a good way for when she wanted company but didn't feel like talking so much. Kind of like in those days.

When they all still lived together he was the one who distracted her, who didn't let her stay in her head too much. He'd carry her around with him, hand her a joystick and they'd spend hours playing games or simply become the annoying brother who teased her. All so he wouldn't see that sad or thoughtful expression on her face.

He smiles to himself at the memory of the dirty looks, threats and sometimes even slaps he used to receive, approaching her and resting a chocolate on her belly. Evelyn starts to play with it, drawing the outline with her index finger and making circles on her belly. This is not appreciated by the little girl who, with a sudden movement, makes the little sweet tremble slightly.

Evelyn scoffs giving her belly a gentle tap rolling her eyes as Ben smiles at the scene and leans forward slightly.

"Hi Joanna, uncle Ben here. Mum didn't mean to, she's just out of her mind. So Gabriela, I would advise you to be good at least for today"

"What the hell are you babbling about?" Evelyn turns to her brother, the shadow of a satisfied smile on his face.

"I'm just talking to my niece, Gloria"

"Okay, are you drunk?"

"No" he chuckles, "I'm helping out here. You said you didn't have a name yet" he says shrugging.

"That is until a couple of days ago..." Ben opens his mouth surprised and indignant, "Excuse me?! What were you waiting for to tell me?!"

"Not long now. It will be a surprise"

"But I want to know!" he complains jumping slightly on the spot and pounding his fists on his thighs, making his sister shrug and look at him with a sly smile.

"Okay then I'm guessing, I don't have anything else to do" he says shortly afterwards sticking his tongue out at her as she rolls her eyes in response. "Who knows, you might even change your mind about Fiona"

"Nah I'm pretty convinced"

"Yeah but are you sure? I mean Viola might not like it after all" she shakes her head dismissively, "Or oh! you could do like that TV show you watched time ago where they all named their kids after their last names" Ben snaps his fingers as if he's found the perfect solution.

"I'm not calling my baby Chilwell. And besides that will be her surname, so Chilwell Chilwell... I don't think so"

"That would be original though" one look from her was enough to make him raise his hands in surrender.

"So you decided to leave him out?"

"It's my baby. It's pretty clear now, I don't see why I should make him this gift"

"Yeah, you're right"

"But she's going to be a Chilwell, she'll have plenty to worry about on this side of the family too anyway" she says sarcastically running a hand through her hair, the hood droops slightly and she does nothing to fix it and Ben takes it as a signal to finally spill the beans.

"I called mum the other night. After the hospital" he says all in one breath as Evelyn doesn't flinch, almost as if she didn't hear him.

"I was so out of my mind. I told her to fucking grow up because if anything happens to you again..." Ben left the sentence hanging as Evelyn opened her mouth to speak but couldn't, the meaning of what her brother had just said hit her overpoweringly.

"I checked your phone, I saw she'd been the last person you had called" he keeps on moving his gaze around the room for a moment, answering the silent question he knows she's wondering among many other things.

"Ben"

"I know, I'm sorry. But I was really scared that night for you and the little one" the girl sighs at this point, reaching out slightly to squeeze her brother's leg in a vain attempt to thank him for having her back once again.

"I don't want you to-" but he doesn't even let her finish her sentence, shaking his head and resting one of his hands on hers.  

"When she comes to her senses I'll be happy to forget all about this. But until then you're my priority Lyn" and she stays silent, again, torturing her lip to keep from getting emotional again and again.

"Maybe I should never have come back or stayed for all that matter" she murmurs lowering her gaze.

"Don't be stupid now"

"It's just that I came back mainly for her you know. Because all of a sudden I was scared and I thought that mum would be there for me. And now I sometimes wonder why I'm still here, that's all" she feels so guilty in revealing all that to her brother, to the man who practically offered her a roof over her head without saying anything and without expecting anything in return. To those who have really been there for her.

"You're here because there are so many other people who love you in spite of everything, who are willing to help you. And I'll probably never fully understand what was going through your head at the time, but you're here now. And nothing else matters"

"You're not a disappointment, you're not a failure, and you're not going to be banished from the family just because you're about to bring another life into the world" Ben says seriously while, needless to say, tears form in Evelyn's eyes. She really can't wait to regain control over her emotions.

"I'm so grateful you decided to come to me first anyway" and she feels her brother's arms wrapping around her body as she takes a deep breath and drinks in his so familiar scent.

-

She moves her feet waiting while the phone in front of her shows her face. And she fixes her hair as best she can, realising perhaps at the last possible minute the way she looks, when her frame ends in the bottom right corner and Jack's image appears full screen. He is on his stomach, his face half hidden by the pillow and an obvious tired expression on his face. But he still looks more presentable than she does.

"Hi" she says shyly, tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, the shadow of a smile on her face. He sets the phone down in front of him and once he was sure it wouldn't fall, he arranges the pillow in a better way too, folding it and resting his chin on it as he greets her back.

"Are you tired?"

"Not really, I'm just relaxing"

"Liar" she states softly, one corner of her mouth slightly turned up.

"I'm not!" he insists but is betrayed by a yawn as she shakes her head in amusement.

And when she returns to focus her gaze on him, she notices that he's already looking at her. The way his eyes seem to study her, with that piercing gaze even though they're not exactly face to face, embarrasses her most of the time. She can't handle it. "Stop it! Why are you looking at me like that?"

"It's the first time you've called me" he replies sincerely, not losing eye contact. That apparently futile little gesture seems to hide a more important meaning behind it.

"Wait, should I be worried?" his expression changes in the blink of an eye, following a thought of his own as his head snaps upwards, the pillow opening in two returning to its original shape.

"I just wanted to hear you" she murmurs as he sighs relieved, resting his head on the open palm of his hand now. He pauses to look at her as she is caught up in something and stays silent. He wishes he could poke her in the side, see if he could take that expression off her face for a while or be able to hear her laugh. But the screen on his phone reminds him that no, he can't.

"Hey, what's going on?" he urges her then and Evelyn looks up at Jack, tries a smile but isn't sure about the result.

"Nothing it's just... I didn't feel good the other night. Ben took me to the hospital"

"What happened?" he asks surprised, incredulous and worried more than anything, clutching his pillow the only thing he can cling to at the moment.

"I had what you could call a panic attack. I called my mother, she hung up on me and that was it" Evelyn shrugs.

"Sorry you... you have this power to shake everything off that's unbelievable" he shakes his head, looking at her as if she could disappear at any moment.

"I just don't want to think about it, okay? To pause and think about what could have happened"

He sighs, it could be seen he'd like to say more but holds back. She has obviously reached out to him for support, she doesn't need someone yelling at her at the moment. "How are you two doing?"

"She's fine, I'm a mess. It's just..." Evelyn shifts slightly, crossing her legs, "it's been another month"

"Sometimes I think if she doesn't want to be a part of her grandchildren's life or mine, okay fuck her. Yeah I'm the one who made the mistake but I've done everything I can to talk to her. I can't just get in my car and knock on her door until she opens it. I'm tired of always making the first move" Evelyn forcefully wiped away a tear that forced its way down her cheek as she remembered the silence she had received during that phone call. Silence that can hurts more than a slap most of the time.

"On the other hand, I try to put myself in her shoes and tell myself that maybe... maybe she just needs a little more time. But just how much more time does she need, Jack? How much more time must pass before she wants to talk to me? This baby will be born soon and I just need her"

"I just want my mom" and it's that moment that he hates with all his heart. In another situation he wouldn't have thought twice about wrapping his arms around the other person. It breaks his heart to have to watch her break in front of him without being able to do anything, standing motionless on the other side of the screen. He just wants to hold her in his arms and tell her it's going to be okay.

"Sorry, I know. I seem to be crying all the time lately" she murmurs passing her hands under her eyes to wipe away those tears.

"Okay put your headphones on and find a comfortable position" he states firmly, pulling himself up and resting his back against the headboard.

"What?" she murmurs confused.

"Headphones, come on" he repeats and despite the confusion, she does as Jack asked by putting on the headphones and lying on her side and adjusting her phone so that she can continue to see him.

"Now close your eyes"

"Jack"

"Close them Eve or it won't work" he immediately interrupts any sort of protest she might have put up at that moment.

"I hate you"

"It's okay, I can live with that" he jokes and can clearly see the smile that appears briefly on her face after she closes her eyes.

"Just focus on my voice now. Everything is gonna be alright. I know it seems hard to see it now but I believe in it, I believe in you and I know you can do it. You are strong, stronger than you think. And if there should be days when the world seems to be crashing down on you, I'll always be here for you" his mother's voice saying those same words echoes in Jack's mind as he tries to be as reassuring as possible, hoping that those words will help her as much as they have helped him time and time again over the past few years.

"Thank you" Evelyn murmurs and then opens her eyes and stares at him intently, "Thank you"

"Can you keep talking? I like your voice"

"Yeah sure" and slowly she closes her eyes again, allowing herself to be lulled by his voice until she inevitably falls asleep. Her breathing more regular, her mouth slightly open.

"Evelyn... see, I should have been worried. Goodnight" he sighs, looking at her one last time before ending the call. That night, despite the tiredness, he struggles to fall asleep.

----

Tag: @alexajanecollins @emwritesfootball

Chapter 11

[what-is-your-plan-today]

Leave No One Behind

Chapter 11- Mama Don’t Preach Part 1

Co-written with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Episode Summary: It’s Hannah’s turn to head home for a week to see her Mama, and there’s a surprise request waiting for her too. Meanwhile, back in Sudan Ari’s left holding the baby...or in this case, puppy…

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, 18+ only)- in Part 2

Episode Pairings:  Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

Song for Episode:  Only You- Yazoo

A/N: This is a big chapter so split into Parts to allow you to read as and when. Part 2 will be posted soon after this.   Translations: “Me cago en todo” For Fucks sake. “Por el amor de Dios” For the love of God “mi niña”- My Girl All I needed was the love you gave, all I needed for another day, and all I ever knew, only you.

Series Master List  //  Main Masterlist 

Hannah looked out of the window, taking in the familiar sights as the plane got ready to land and a few minutes later, as the wheels hit the runway and the passengers cheered she couldn't help but sigh. She was home. Just as she unfastened her seatbelt and waited for the sign signalling they could disembark, her mind wandered to the moment she had said goodbye a few hours earlier that morning. She felt a pang of sadness at the image of Simon trying to follow the truck as Ari had pulled out of the resort to drive her to the airport, a couple of hours earlier than initially planned-she may or may not have told the team her flight was a few hours earlier than it was so that her and Ari could grab a drink at a small coffee shop not far from the airport. It was hardly what one could call a ‘sweep you off your feet’ date but it was nice to get out alone, just the two of them. It had felt good that Ari and her had been able to experience a certain level of normalcy before the inevitable and emotional goodbye and promises to try not to miss each other too much.

She wandered through passport control and after picking up her bag she went out into the arrivals of Ben Gurion airport almost on autopilot but she smiled hard when she saw her Mama and, just like that, her eyes filled with tears as she hurried forward and hugged the woman tightly. After the emotional reunion they headed back to the house, Hannah's childhood family home, where she had been living with her Mama since she had left the apartment her and Andy had rented once they’d gotten married. Unable to stay there alone after his death, she’d moved home and had remained there up until the moment Ari had come into the clinic turning her whole world upside down. As her Mama opened the door Hannah smiled at the familiar décor of the hallway and let out a little, happy sigh as she stepped over the threshold. It smelt like home, it felt like home... it was home.

Hannah headed upstairs and ditched her bag in her room, thinking to herself about how the last time she’d been in here was before she left in January. Back then she’d never have guessed how things would have turned out for her so far in 1980.  She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and decided that she needed a shower so turned to grab some fresh clothes out of a drawer, and as she did so she spotted a few photos of her and Andy on the unit. She glanced at them, a soft smile on her face and then turned to look around her room at the numerous other snaps of the pair of them dotted in various places in the room. She contemplated moving them for a moment before she finally came to a decision and did just that, popping them carefully in a drawer which she slowly closed after a last, nostalgic look at Andy's handsome face. She’d loved him, there was no doubt about that. But time moved on and she was finally ready to move on with it now. Shaking those sad memories from her mind she went into the bathroom to shower and twenty minutes later she made her way down to the kitchen at the back of the house which overlooked the large communal garden they shared with 4 other homes. 

She found her Mama was stood at the stove, preparing dinner, and Hannah approached, wrapping her arms round her from behind, hugging her close. 

"Nothing like your food mama. Not that Aziz’s isn’t good because it is but, well, there’s nothing like yours." she trailed off.

Her Mama turned to look at her kissing her head. "I’m making your favourite from when you were young, mi niña."

"Beef wellington?" Hannah asked, her eyes lighting up.

Mama nodded and Hannah gave a groan. "Sammy is gonna be so jealous when I get back."

"You don’t have beef in Sudan?" the woman asked as she stirred what looked like some kind of gravy in a pot.

"Half the time I haven’t got a clue what I’m eating to be honest, other than when it’s fish. Last time we had some form of steak I think it was camel."

Mama laughed heartily.  "Your brother must be having a hard time, he’s always been the picky one."

"He’s still a pain in the ass, mama." Hannah said as she moved from her mother's frame and leaned casually against the counter.

Mama looked at Hannah spotting the crease on her brow immediately and, raising an eyebrow, she asked. "Are we still talking about food, honey?"

Hannah shrugged.  "In general, and you look just like him when you do that, stop it."

"When I do what?"

"Raise your eyebrow and look at me like that."

"Like what?" the woman, whose eyes were on the pots and pans in front of her again, asked.

Hannah groaned with frustration. "Come on Mama, you know what like."

Mama sighed and, setting the wooden spoon aside, turned to look at her daughter, her hands falling down to her hips in a typical mother stance. "The only thing I know is my daughter, who I haven’t seen in months, looks more gorgeous, relaxed and happier than when she left... In fact, more so than I’ve seen her in years. Which is ironic really considering what you’re doing out there."

Hannah blushed a little at her mum's last sentence but decided to roll with it. "Well it’s nice to be doing something mama, back in the thick of it all so to speak."

Now she saw her mother was sporting a wide smile, not a sympathetic smile but a knowing one. And Hannah knew she must have anticipated something like that, if anything her mother was clever. "Something uh?" the woman said.

Hannah looked at her blankly, not understanding what she meant, or rather not wanting to give in that easily.  "Yeah, the resort and the job."

"I know that look Hannah, You’re my daughter remember, I raised you. Something tells me it’s not simply all down to those people you’re helping." her mother baited her again.

"No…I…it’s not…" Hannah's train of thought stopped as she spotted her mum's eyes skate down her neck just before she nodded to her necklace, and instinctively she reached up to touch it. Mama smiled and whether it was at the necklace or at her sudden need to touch it for comfort, Hannah couldn't tell.   

"That’s pretty."

Hannah smiled back at her before speaking. "It was a birthday present. Along with my watch, look."

She stretched her forearm and turned her wrist slightly to show her mother the watch but the woman wasn't one to be fooled and smiled before taking her eyes off the watch and nodding back at the necklace. "What is it, some kind of bee?"

"It’s a firefly."

"I take it that it was from the only person who calls you that?" her mother asked then and Hannah flinched. She had served her mother the opportunity on a silver plate and now she felt herself growing warm again under her mom’s scrutiny, but, much to her dismay, Mrs N was not letting go. "I’ve got to admit, it was a nice surprise when Ethan told me what Ari was planning to do for your birthday."

Hannah then let out a low laugh, shaking her head at her mother’s tenacity. "Why don’t you just ask me, Mama?"

"Why would I ask when I already know?"

"And what is it that you think you know?" Hannah asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Her mother looked at her for a couple of seconds before delivering the final blow. "That you and Ari are together. And not for the first time."

Hannah gasped. That last part had shocked her big time, she wasn't prepared for that. "You knew about us the first time?"

Mama nodded. "I did, yes."

"How did you…?"

"Once again Hannah, I’m your mother. It was pretty obvious to my eyes that something was going on there between you two back in the day.  And then you started going out almost every night and your friends used to call asking for you, so you clearly weren’t with them. And you were glowing, at the time. Just like you did when you were with Andy, and just like you are now."

Hannah looked down shyly before speaking. "Ok, so clearly I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought." she snorted and then paused. "Did you know about why…" she began to ask but stopped mid-sentence as she shook her head. "Actually, it doesn’t matter."

"Why you two split up? Yeah, I do. And I was mad at your brother for weeks." her mother conceded with a sigh.

“Seems like everyone knew bar me." she muttered absent mindedly. 

"Sadly it's always like that, honey." Mama stated while rubbing her daughter's arm reassuringly before resuming her work over the stove.

"Did you know it was Andy who told him? About me and Ari I mean."

Mama snapped her head at Hannah, looking at her visibly shocked. "No, No I didn’t."

"Well it was." Hannah snorted. "Ironic huh, I married the guy that broke me up from the first man I…"

"You loved?" her mother asked, finishing the sentence for her, apparently recovered from the shocking news her beloved late son-in-law had some sneaky ways in him.

Hannah gave a little smile and nodded.

"So how did Sammy react to it this time round…not that I need to ask." Mama chuckled as she bent over to check the meat cooking in the oven.

"You know him. Made a huge fuss, punched Ari again." at that Hannah snorted. "Ari let him have the first one but the second time, well I had to stop him from ripping Sammy’s head off."

"Must have been something worth seeing. No doubt I’ll hear all about it in a few weeks when he comes home."

"No doubt you will. He seemed a little better after my birthday party, and the last mission.” Hannah bit her lip, her mind straying back to the disaster of the mission and she looked at the floor.

Her Mama gently touched her arm. "Ethan told me about the woman you helped and how her baby didn’t make it. Sweetie, that must have been awful."

"Yeah it was…" Hannah paused, frowning at her mother "Hang on, Ethan told you? When did you speak to him, mum?"

"Oh he took me out for dinner last week." she brushed her daughter's question off.

Hannah blinked at her mother’s matter of fact tone. "Ethan took you out for dinner?"

"Yes he did. We had a great time. You look surprised honey.” Her Mama’s eyes flashed with mischief “Is it that hard to believe your mother still gets it in her?"

"Oh my God…mama, that’s…ergh…"

"Hey, you’re acting like your brother now." Mama protested.

"Me cago en todo." Hanna cursed in Spanish earning, a scoff from her mother, and then she looked at her mom. "Mama…did you put out on a first date?"

"Young lady, watch your mouth." she said and Hannah laughed. "And have some respect for your mother." she paused for a moment as if considering what to say next. "Besides, what if I did? It's not like you and Ari are playing chess in that damned diving resort every night, is it?"

"OH MY GOD YOU SO DID!" Hannah exclaimed as she brought her right hand to cover her slack jawed mouth.

"Por el amor de Dios, Hannah. I’m not discussing this with you, now go wash your hands…dinner is ready."

"I just showered, why do I need to wash my hands?" Hannah offered somewhat feistily.

"You don’t, I just wanted to shut you up." 

"God, mama, how am I supposed to look Ethan in the face tomorrow?" Hannah whined as she helped her mother with the oven tray.

"Same as I’m supposed to look at Ari in his, when I know what you’ve been up to." her mum retorted.

"Oh, for..."

"Mind you, I can’t blame you mi niña, Ari is a good looking guy. If I was 30 years younger…" the woman trailed, smirking.

"Mama, STOP!"

"What, it’s true?" Mama shrugged, amused by her daughter's reaction.

Hannah just shook her head before she grinned and pointed her finger at her mother "Well hands off, he’s mine."

"I don’t doubt it, honey." her mother declared, a wide smile spreading over her gentle face.

****

The next morning Hannah woke up and it took her a while to remember where she was. It wasn’t the sound of the waves crashing on the beach she could hear, but car horns and traffic. She recognised almost instantly though the smell of her ma's favourite soap in the sheets, but whilst her bed was comfy and familiar it felt odd. There was something missing. No Simon, no Ari, and that meant more to her than all the commodities she could ever have in Tel Aviv.

Well maybe she could trade sleeping snuggled to Ari for being able to eat Beef Wellington once a week… She chuckled and shook her head at her own absurd thoughts. Considering she spent years sleeping alone after Andy died, it hadn’t taken her long to get used to sharing a bed again, and if she was completely honest it was unnerving how she didn’t like Ari not being there, she knew it was stupid but still. She stretched and laid still in bed for a little while more as there were no breakfast duties to get to, but she suddenly remembered she did have a meeting with Ethan at HQ. Hannah cringed at the memory of her conversation with her mother last night, groaning to herself at the thought of the pair of them having dinner and… whatever. How was she going to be able to look him in the face? Shuddering at the thought she threw back the duvet and headed for her morning shower taking her time because she could, and also because she missed decent water temperature and pressure.

After her shower Hannah got dressed and went down to have breakfast with Mama. They sat and watched a little TV, another one of the things they quickly got used to not really having much chance to do in Sudan, before the car arrived to take Hannah to Mossad HQ. Once there she went through the security checks and headed up to Ethan's office, smiling to his secretary who told her to go in. 

No sooner had she knocked lightly on the door before pulling it open, Ethan stood up from his desk, a smile on his face as he strode over and pulled her into a huge hug.

"You look well, Hannah."

"Thanks Ethan."

"Must be all that sun, sea and sand huh?" he said, pulling back to take her appearance in better.

"And life or death situations…" she smiled fondly at the man.

Ethan chuckled and directed her over to the couch where she took a seat at one side as Ethan headed out and asked his secretary to get them a coffee each. Then he closed the door and sat opposite her. They chatted for a little bit, just about how the resort was going, how everyone was, a debrief of sorts on the last mission which Hannah wasn’t all that keen on reliving, but she knew she had to. Then their coffees arrived and Hannah took the time to compose herself, the emotion of talking about what had happened to the baby girl having choked her a little. She took a sip, then eyed Ethan and smiled.

"My mom says you’ve been out on a date."

Ethan paused, his stoic stance faltering a little, then looked at Hannah. "I’ve…taken her for dinner, yes."

"Has she seen your silk robe?" she attacked again.

"How do you know about that?"

Hannah grinned at the sight of Ethan's creased brow. "Ari told me."

"Course he did." he sighed. "And that reminds me... Sarah Levinson called last week asking me when you were home." Hannah blanched at Ethan's words and he noticed. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Hannah hesitated. She wanted to take another sip of her coffee in order to buy herself some seconds but with a swift glance she realised her cup was already empty, and that was all the confirmation Ethan needed. The experienced agent rolled his eyes at her before stating the obvious.  "I knew this would happen."

Hannah shook her head. "Why does Sarah want to know when I’m home?"

"Reading between the lines I think she wants to see you." Ethan said, his gaze never leaving Hannah's face.

"But why? I’ve met her like 5 times, if that!" Hannah sort of protested, rubbing her sweaty palms over her denim clad thighs.

 "I think that’s obvious, you’re fucking her husband." Ethan shot, bluntly.

"They’re separated Ethan. And it’s not like that. You make it sound so crass, we’re not fucking…" she trailed off, her initial offended tone dying as she spoke.

"I know." Ethan agreed, his voice softer this time and stood up and headed to his desk. He reached into the drawer for a piece of paper which he gave to Hannah once he had checked it was the one he wanted. "She requested I ask you to call."

As Hannah took the paper from him there was a knock on the door and it swung open to reveal a short, slight, grey-haired man dressed in grey slacks and a light blue, short sleeved shirt. Hannah shoved the piece of paper in her pocket without giving much thought to what it meant and smiled at the man as he stepped into the room.

"I read those fucking reports you left on my table, Ethan, and let me tell you…"

Ethan cleared his throat and nodded to Hannah who blinked at the man, slightly amused at how angry he was despite his unassuming appearance. Ethan gestured to Hannah. "This is Hannah Horowitz. Hannah, meet Barack Isaacs, Mossad Chief."

Hannah stood up and shook his hand. "It’s a pleasure Sir to finally meet you in person."

"And you Mrs Horowitz. I’ve heard a lot about you from Ethan, and of course I knew your father. He was a good man. Taken far too soon." Isaacs said, not an ounce of anger in his voice or features now.

Hannah smiled. "Thank you Sir."

A few minutes later, after having said her goodbyes to both men who would be now no doubt be discussing the reports that had earned all those expletives from Isaacs’ part, Hannah headed down to the car and climbed in the back to head home. She watched the familiar buildings as they moved past and realised that the last time she had been in HQ was when Ethan broke the news of Andy’s death to her, in that very same office she’d been in today. She hadn’t even thought about it until now, but she remembered Isaacs calling her Mrs Horowitz and, now that she came to think of it, Ethan had introduced her to him as such. And whilst that’s what she was, the truth was she didn’t feel like it any more. She felt a little pang in her stomach at her own thoughts, a pang that she couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was guilt, she pondered, but what did she have to feel guilty about? Andy was dead. Had been for years and she had every right to move on. 

Then the car stopped at a traffic light and her eyes drifted to a shop on the corner, nothing special, it was an ordinary grocery store but she remembered her and Ari buying a bottle of wine from there for one of their many clandestine nights in at his apartment. They had snuggled up to the latest Led Zeppelin LP and made out a bit, in fact that was the first night Ari had ever made her come using his very talented fingers. And, as the car set off, Hannah realised that the memories of her so-called hidden relationship with Ari were all so vivid in her head now, especially after so many years of blocking them out. She sighed and her hand fell absentmindedly into her pocket and curled around the piece of paper with Sarah’s number written on it.

By the time she got home she had decided. She was going to call Sarah and see what she wanted. 

****

Ari had no idea how it had happened but Simon was missing. He’d searched the resort up and down and was currently going bananas looking for him around the beach and cursing the day he had backed Hannah up in keeping the damned dog.  He was legit shitting his pants when suddenly he heard him barking as he rounded the rocks with Max and Jake hot on his tail. Thank fuck, Ari thought. He might keep his head on his shoulders after all. He gave a sharp whistle and Simon looked up and then set off hurtling towards him. When the dog was close enough he jumped up at him and Ari caught him in his arms. "Hey, buddy calm down." Simon was whining and whimpering and licking Ari’s face as he rubbed the pup's back. "What the fuck has gotten into you?" Simon continued his little noises and nudged into Ari’s face and he glanced up at Max and Jake who were now within earshot. "You pup-napped my dog." Ari glared at them.

"It’s Hannah’s dog." Max deadpanned.

"He’s more mine than he is yours." Ari snapped, still angry at his two teammates for taking the dog without letting him know. And as that was just what he needed to appease himself, Sammy appeared, watching the exchange with an amused air.

"Only because you’re fucking his mom." Max mumbled.

Ari glared at him. "I heard that, dickhead."

"Technically he’s right." Jake quipped.

"Technically you’re an idiot." Ari bit back at Jake.

He was on edge, he was fully aware of that but there was nothing he could do about it. They had taken his fucking dog and it had almost given him a heart attack, not helping the bleak mood that had fallen over him ever since Hannah had left two days before.

"Technically?" Sammy asked and Simon growled. It was like a reflex action the dog had every time Sammy spoke.

"Never, ever take my fucking dog without my permission, you hear me?" Ari hissed glaring at Max and Jake. 

Once again he knew he was overreacting but he couldn’t help it. If anything were to happen to this dog, he'd be a dead man, plus he’d miss him too. Ari looked at them once more and then headed off, Simon held to his chest like a small child, with both his arms underneath the dog's butt supporting him, Simon’s paws on Ari’s shoulders, head looking around. He nodded to Rachel, who walked past him towards the spot on the sand where Jake, Max and Sammy were, and without saying a word he retreated to his hut.

All three men stood put for a moment watching him leave and then Max turned to Sammy. "God I can’t wait for your sister to come back, he’s being a pain in the ass."

"As grossed out as it makes me I kinda agree." Sammy acknowledged Max's comment.

"Blue balls don’t suit him." Jake groaned.

"Leave him alone you guys, he’s in love. Wait until it happens to you." Rachel, who had reached them now and was shading her eyes from the sun with the palm of her hand, warned them. All three rolled their eyes and she scoffed. "What?"

"Nothing mom." Max quipped, earning a slap round the back of his head from Rachel.

"I mean seriously though, what were you thinking taking the dog? You know he’s in charge of him and he’s been on edge since Han left. Don’t make it worse."

"See, even you recognise he’s being an insufferable bitch." Max whined.

"Yes and you’re making it worse Maxwell." Rachel looked at him.

"Whatever, I’m hungry now."

"What else is new?" Jake scoffed before stating "You were born hungry."

"All babies are born hungry, asshole." Max snapped as he started walking towards the main building.

"You’re the asshole. The Maltese asshole." Jake shouted at him, following suit.

Rachel groaned, following the bickering pair up the sand. Sammy dropped an arm around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze and she shook her head. She really needed Hannah there to help her deal with the bunch of overgrown kids. So much for the trained Mossad agents they were supposed to be.

By the time the sun had begun to set and they were sat at the table having dinner everyone had calmed down bar Ari who persisted in being a little bitch. There he was trying to eat whilst Simon was on his lap as the fucking dog wouldn’t leave him alone now. Jake and Max must have played some tricks on the pup for him to be so anxious and clingy ever since he got back to Ari. 

Assholes. 

Sammy, in turn, was glaring at Simon as every time he spoke, the dog's lip would curl up in a snarl.

"What is your fucking problem?" Sammy snapped at the dog.

"Hey, don’t talk to him like that." Ari warned him, pointing at Sammy with a fork.

"Really, Ari?" Sammy scoffed and Simon growled again at the sound of his voice.

Ari sighed. "Si, quit it for fucks sake."

Rachel who was desperately trying to have a peaceful dinner without having to intervene, again, didn't miss the look Jake was giving at Sammy while mouthing "Si??" so she glared at the pair of them before she cleared her throat.

"We got a letter this morning, from the tourist board."

Ari turned to her "Yeah? What do they want?"

Rachel took the letter from her shorts pocket and handed it to him. She wasn't planning on playing that card, she had just shoved the letter there just in case but the boys' attitude had left her no choice.  "See for yourself."

Ari pushed Simon off his lap and took it. He unfolded it, his eyes scanning the words for a few seconds before he nodded. "They want to visit this weekend. I’ll call Madibo tomorrow morning, tell him it’s ok."

"Yeah…you checked the date?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah it says Thursday…so?" Max, Jake and Sammy exchanged glances and Ari looked around with an air of frustration.  "What?" "Hannah’s back on Thursday." Sammy reminded him, speaking quietly as if he was walking on eggshell.

"And?"

"Nothing." he shook his head. "I’ll pick her up from the airport if you’re busy."

Fuck Ari thought before pausing and shaking his head. "No need. I’ll go. You don’t need me here."

"Yes we do. That letter says he wants to see you." Rachel pointed at the letter.

Ari frowned and reached for it again before groaning as she was right. "Fucks sake. What time are they coming? Maybe I can…"

Once again Rachel, the voice of reason, cut him off. "No you can’t. They’ll be here by 11. Her flight gets in just after."

Ari looked at her as if she had just slapped him on his face.

"Ari I’ll go, it’s not an issue." Sammy offered.

Ari just nodded as he didn't trust his voice to come out right at that moment. He was raging inside, his mind ticking off all the curses possible. And as such he spent the rest of the meal sulking in silence before he excused himself and went back to his hut. As far as he was concerned his evening was over. One week, one fucking week without her and he had just been denied the possibility of picking her up. Instead he would have to put up with Madibo and who knows who else from the fucking corrupted tourist board.

With Simon whining, as he had clearly detected his dad was upset, and snuggling round his head on the pillow Ari laid on her bed for what seemed like hours, contemplating what a needy bastard he’d turned into (or rather Hannah had made him into) in such a short period of time, before sleep overcame him. 

**** As Hannah made the 10 minute walk to the small Café she had arranged to meet Sarah in, the nearer she got the more nervous she was. She’d only ever met Sarah a handful of times, the last one being at her and Ari’s wedding. When she reached the café door her hands were sweating so she wiped them on her jeans and pushed the door open. As soon as she stepped in she spotted Sarah sat at a table near the back. She hadn’t changed much, was just as pretty as the last time Hannah had seen her. Striking cheekbones, deep brown eyes, light red hair. From the photo Hannah had seen of Maya which Ari kept on his nightstand she could see where the girl had gotten her looks from. She was very like her mother but had inherited Ari’s hair colour and face shape.

Sarah looked up, and gave Hannah a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as Hannah approached the table. She stood up and offered a stiff hand to Hannah, which Hannah took, the shake very business-like.

“It’s been a long time.” Sarah spoke in her deep, American accent.

“Yeah, it has.” Hannah agreed as Sarah made to sit down again. Hannah followed and took the seat opposite her, hanging her purse on the chair back. No sooner had they done that than someone was over to take their order. They both requested a coffee each and when the waitress disappeared Sarah spoke.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I wasn’t sure you’d even call so..”

“Well it would have been rude not to, plus I also have a letter for Maya from Ari. Saves me posting it I suppose.” Hannah smiled and reached for her purse, retrieving the thick envelope. She handed it to Sarah.

“Ari said Maya wanted some photos of Simon- my, well, the group’s dog really and she wanted to see the resort too so-“ she nodded to the envelope “- there’s some in there for her.”  

“Thanks.” Sarah took the envelope, exchanging it for a slightly smaller one. “I also have a letter here for Ari from Maya, would you-“

“Of course.” Hannah nodded, taking it form her.

“You know she asks about you in there.” Sarah nodded to the letter “Her and Ari talked about you when he was home. He told her you picked her little beaded bag out, which for the record she still carries everywhere.”

Hannah blushed a little “I’m glad she liked it.”

“Are there any photos of you in here?” Sarah tapped the envelope and Hannah frowned, not quite sure what she was getting at.

“No.” she shook her head. But before she had chance to say anything else their coffee arrived. Both thanked the lady who set the cups down, then busied themselves adding sugar, Hannah stirring hers a little more than necessary before she broke the silence, deciding to ask the question that had been on her mind since Ethan gave her the piece of paper with the other woman’s number on it. “Sarah, why did you want to see me? We’ve hardly ever spoken before, certainly not like this.”

“Curiosity I suppose.” Sarah shrugged

“Curiosity? About what?”

“About you.”

“Me?”

Sarah nodded, taking a breath “Will you be honest with me Hannah?”

Hanna nodded, steeling herself as she waited for the inevitable question about whether her and Ari were back together.  She knew Ari hadn’t confirmed it to Sarah when he visited, because, well they hadn’t actually labelled what they were then, neither of them knew, but she also knew he hadn’t denied it.

“Do you love him?” Sarah asked.

“Oh…” that had surprised Hannah. She swallowed, “Sarah, I-“

“Because I know he loves you.”

Hannah took a deep breath before she shrugged “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Sarah nodded “In that case then I wish you good luck because you’re gonna need it.”

Hannah frowned and swallowed some of her coffee “What do you mean?”

“I mean when you all finish this mission and you’re not in your little fantasy reality anymore and you’re no longer his ‘bond girl’-”

“Hey, now, just wait a second-” Hannah interrupted a little tetchily but Sarah continued, ignoring her.

“-because he’ll never quit Hannah.” Sarah looked at her “-hell he wasn’t even there when Maya was born because he was stranded in some god forsaken part of Saudi Arabia.”

“He regrets that, he told me.” Hannah sighed and Sarah shrugged.

“I’m sure he does but his wife being 8 months pregnant wasn’t enough to stop him going. His own daughter since has never been enough to stop him going. This life, this sense of duty he has to those people, whilst it’s admirable it’s consuming him. And I just want you to know what you’re letting yourself in for. He dragged you back into all this, Hannah. He won’t be as easy to drag back out.”

Hannah looked at her, mouth hanging open a little as she wasn’t sure what to say. Part of her was pissed off, part of her felt guilty, and beneath it all a pang of sympathy. Ari hadn’t been a great husband or father, and Hannah knew that.

“That said, maybe he will quit for you.” Sarah continued “I mean, maybe me and Maya were simply just not enough…”

“Sarah, it wasn’t like that.” Hannah shook her head, sighing “I won’t make excuses for him being a shit husband and a lousy father because there are none to be made, and he knows that.”

“Yeah, he said all this when he came home.” Sarah gave a huff of laughter “He actually seemed different, happier almost, he was so relaxed with Maya and I get now that’s because of you.”

Hannah took a deep breath. “I kind of feel like I should be apologising for something here Sarah, I’m not sure what but-“

Sarah smiled “It isn’t your fault he’s been in love with you for the past 10 years.”

“Sarah…”

“You ever asked him why we weren’t at your wedding?” Sarah suddenly change the line of the conversation and Hannah looked at her, blinking “It was because he couldn’t bear to watch you marry someone else.”

“No, that’s... that’s not…”

“Ask him. He never admitted it but it was obvious. I was always second best in his eyes.”

“Ari loved you Sarah, I know he did, he’s told me.” Hannah implored “You’re the mother of his child.”

“Oh I don’t doubt he did.” Sarah smiled “Just not as much as he loved you. And here we are, he’s got you back in the end.”

At that Hannah felt the nerve twitch in her jaw, pissed at the nerve of the woman sat opposite her, blatantly trying to blame her for Ari’s attitude in their marriage. Like she was responsible for whatever he’d done over the last 8 or however many years it had been. She desperately wanted to defend Ari but couldn’t, simply because he had been an ass hole to Sarah and she wasn’t about to stick up for him when he didn’t’ deserve it, regardless of the fact she was dating him. But, she wasn’t about to sit here and take this crap from his estranged wife, especially not when Hannah had been through enough shit herself. She took a deep breath, folded her arms and arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, I guess he did. And all it took was a dead husband and a divorce huh?”

If her harsh, sarcastic tone bothered Sarah the other woman didn’t show it as she simply looked at Hannah with a small smile on her face, not a shred of anger on her face as she spoke “Well, fate has a wicked sense of humour.”

PART 2

[wiypt-writes]

Leave No One Behind

Ch 11- Mama Don’t Preach Part 1 Co written with @icanfeelastormbrewing​

Episode Summary: It’s Hannah’s turn to head home for a week to see her Mama, and there’s a surprise request waiting for her too. Meanwhile, back in Sudan Ari’s left holding the baby...or in this case, puppy…

Episode Warnings: Bad Language words. Smut (NSFW, 18+ only)- in Part 2

Episode Pairings:  Ari Levinson x OFC Hannah Horowitz

A/N: This is a big chapter! Part 2 will be posted later this week.  

Leave No One Behind Masterlist // Main Masterlist

Chapter 10

Translations: “Me cago en todo” For Fucks sake. “Por el amor de Dios” For the love of God “mi niña”- My Girl

Hannah looked out of the window, taking in the familiar sights as the plane got ready to land and a few minutes later, as the wheels hit the runway and the passengers cheered she couldn't help but sigh. She was home. Just as she unfastened her seatbelt and waited for the sign signalling they could disembark, her mind wandered to the moment she had said goodbye a few hours earlier that morning. She felt a pang of sadness at the image of Simon trying to follow the truck as Ari had pulled out of the resort to drive her to the airport, a couple of hours earlier than initially planned-she may or may not have told the team her flight was a few hours earlier than it was so that her and Ari could grab a drink at a small coffee shop not far from the airport. It was hardly what one could call a ‘sweep you off your feet’ date but it was nice to get out alone, just the two of them. It had felt good that Ari and her had been able to experience a certain level of normalcy before the inevitable and emotional goodbye and promises to try not to miss each other too much.

She wandered through passport control and after picking up her bag she went out into the arrivals of Ben Gurion airport almost on autopilot but she smiled hard when she saw her Mama and, just like that, her eyes filled with tears as she hurried forward and hugged the woman tightly. After the emotional reunion they headed back to the house, Hannah's childhood family home, where she had been living with her Mama since she had left the apartment her and Andy had rented once they’d gotten married. Unable to stay there alone after his death, she’d moved home and had remained there up until the moment Ari had come into the clinic turning her whole world upside down. As her Mama opened the door Hannah smiled at the familiar décor of the hallway and let out a little, happy sigh as she stepped over the threshold. It smelt like home, it felt like home... it was home.

Hannah headed upstairs and ditched her bag in her room, thinking to herself about how the last time she’d been in here was before she left in January. Back then she’d never have guessed how things would have turned out for her so far in 1980.  She glanced at her reflection in the mirror and decided that she needed a shower so turned to grab some fresh clothes out of a drawer, and as she did so she spotted a few photos of her and Andy on the unit. She glanced at them, a soft smile on her face and then turned to look around her room at the numerous other snaps of the pair of them dotted in various places in the room. She contemplated moving them for a moment before she finally came to a decision and did just that, popping them carefully in a drawer which she slowly closed after a last, nostalgic look at Andy's handsome face. She’d loved him, there was no doubt about that. But time moved on and she was finally ready to move on with it now. Shaking those sad memories from her mind she went into the bathroom to shower and twenty minutes later she made her way down to the kitchen at the back of the house which overlooked the large communal garden they shared with 4 other homes. 

She found her Mama was stood at the stove, preparing dinner, and Hannah approached, wrapping her arms round her from behind, hugging her close. 

"Nothing like your food mama. Not that Aziz’s isn’t good because it is but, well, there’s nothing like yours." she trailed off.

Her Mama turned to look at her kissing her head. "I’m making your favourite from when you were young, mi niña."

"Beef wellington?" Hannah asked, her eyes lighting up.

Mama nodded and Hannah gave a groan. "Sammy is gonna be so jealous when I get back."

"You don’t have beef in Sudan?" the woman asked as she stirred what looked like some kind of gravy in a pot.

"Half the time I haven’t got a clue what I’m eating to be honest, other than when it’s fish. Last time we had some form of steak I think it was camel."

Mama laughed heartily.  "Your brother must be having a hard time, he’s always been the picky one."

"He’s still a pain in the ass, mama." Hannah said as she moved from her mother's frame and leaned casually against the counter.

Mama looked at Hannah spotting the crease on her brow immediately and, raising an eyebrow, she asked. "Are we still talking about food, honey?"

Hannah shrugged.  "In general, and you look just like him when you do that, stop it."

"When I do what?"

"Raise your eyebrow and look at me like that."

"Like what?" the woman, whose eyes were on the pots and pans in front of her again, asked.

Hannah groaned with frustration. "Come on Mama, you know what like."

Mama sighed and, setting the wooden spoon aside, turned to look at her daughter, her hands falling down to her hips in a typical mother stance. "The only thing I know is my daughter, who I haven’t seen in months, looks more gorgeous, relaxed and happier than when she left... In fact, more so than I’ve seen her in years. Which is ironic really considering what you’re doing out there."

Hannah blushed a little at her mum's last sentence but decided to roll with it. "Well it’s nice to be doing something mama, back in the thick of it all so to speak."

Now she saw her mother was sporting a wide smile, not a sympathetic smile but a knowing one. And Hannah knew she must have anticipated something like that, if anything her mother was clever. "Something uh?" the woman said.

Hannah looked at her blankly, not understanding what she meant, or rather not wanting to give in that easily.  "Yeah, the resort and the job."

"I know that look Hannah, You’re my daughter remember, I raised you. Something tells me it’s not simply all down to those people you’re helping." her mother baited her again.

"No…I…it’s not…" Hannah's train of thought stopped as she spotted her mum's eyes skate down her neck just before she nodded to her necklace, and instinctively she reached up to touch it. Mama smiled and whether it was at the necklace or at her sudden need to touch it for comfort, Hannah couldn't tell.   

"That’s pretty."

Hannah smiled back at her before speaking. "It was a birthday present. Along with my watch, look."

She stretched her forearm and turned her wrist slightly to show her mother the watch but the woman wasn't one to be fooled and smiled before taking her eyes off the watch and nodding back at the necklace. "What is it, some kind of bee?"

"It’s a firefly."

"I take it that it was from the only person who calls you that?" her mother asked then and Hannah flinched. She had served her mother the opportunity on a silver plate and now she felt herself growing warm again under her mom’s scrutiny, but, much to her dismay, Mrs N was not letting go. "I’ve got to admit, it was a nice surprise when Ethan told me what Ari was planning to do for your birthday."

Hannah then let out a low laugh, shaking her head at her mother’s tenacity. "Why don’t you just ask me, Mama?"

"Why would I ask when I already know?"

"And what is it that you think you know?" Hannah asked, trying to sound as calm as possible.

Her mother looked at her for a couple of seconds before delivering the final blow. "That you and Ari are together. And not for the first time."

Hannah gasped. That last part had shocked her big time, she wasn't prepared for that. "You knew about us the first time?"

Mama nodded. "I did, yes."

"How did you…?"

"Once again Hannah, I’m your mother. It was pretty obvious to my eyes that something was going on there between you two back in the day.  And then you started going out almost every night and your friends used to call asking for you, so you clearly weren’t with them. And you were glowing, at the time. Just like you did when you were with Andy, and just like you are now."

Hannah looked down shyly before speaking. "Ok, so clearly I wasn’t as good at hiding it as I thought." she snorted and then paused. "Did you know about why…" she began to ask but stopped mid-sentence as she shook her head. "Actually, it doesn’t matter."

"Why you two split up? Yeah, I do. And I was mad at your brother for weeks." her mother conceded with a sigh.

“Seems like everyone knew bar me." she muttered absent mindedly. 

"Sadly it's always like that, honey." Mama stated while rubbing her daughter's arm reassuringly before resuming her work over the stove.

"Did you know it was Andy who told him? About me and Ari I mean."

Mama snapped her head at Hannah, looking at her visibly shocked. "No, No I didn’t."

"Well it was." Hannah snorted. "Ironic huh, I married the guy that broke me up from the first man I…"

"You loved?" her mother asked, finishing the sentence for her, apparently recovered from the shocking news her beloved late son-in-law had some sneaky ways in him.

Hannah gave a little smile and nodded.

"So how did Sammy react to it this time round…not that I need to ask." Mama chuckled as she bent over to check the meat cooking in the oven.

"You know him. Made a huge fuss, punched Ari again." at that Hannah snorted. "Ari let him have the first one but the second time, well I had to stop him from ripping Sammy’s head off."

"Must have been something worth seeing. No doubt I’ll hear all about it in a few weeks when he comes home."

"No doubt you will. He seemed a little better after my birthday party, and the last mission.” Hannah bit her lip, her mind straying back to the disaster of the mission and she looked at the floor.

Her Mama gently touched her arm. "Ethan told me about the woman you helped and how her baby didn’t make it. Sweetie, that must have been awful."

"Yeah it was…" Hannah paused, frowning at her mother "Hang on, Ethan told you? When did you speak to him, mum?"

"Oh he took me out for dinner last week." she brushed her daughter's question off.

Hannah blinked at her mother’s matter of fact tone. "Ethan took you out for dinner?"

"Yes he did. We had a great time. You look surprised honey.” Her Mama’s eyes flashed with mischief “Is it that hard to believe your mother still gets it in her?"

"Oh my God…mama, that’s…ergh…"

"Hey, you’re acting like your brother now." Mama protested.

"Me cago en todo." Hanna cursed in Spanish earning, a scoff from her mother, and then she looked at her mom. "Mama…did you put out on a first date?"

"Young lady, watch your mouth." she said and Hannah laughed. "And have some respect for your mother." she paused for a moment as if considering what to say next. "Besides, what if I did? It's not like you and Ari are playing chess in that damned diving resort every night, is it?"

"OH MY GOD YOU SO DID!" Hannah exclaimed as she brought her right hand to cover her slack jawed mouth.

"Por el amor de Dios, Hannah. I’m not discussing this with you, now go wash your hands…dinner is ready."

"I just showered, why do I need to wash my hands?" Hannah offered somewhat feistily.

"You don’t, I just wanted to shut you up." 

"God, mama, how am I supposed to look Ethan in the face tomorrow?" Hannah whined as she helped her mother with the oven tray.

"Same as I’m supposed to look at Ari in his, when I know what you’ve been up to." her mum retorted.

"Oh, for..."

"Mind you, I can’t blame you mi niña, Ari is a good looking guy. If I was 30 years younger…" the woman trailed, smirking.

"Mama, STOP!"

"What, it’s true?" Mama shrugged, amused by her daughter's reaction.

Hannah just shook her head before she grinned and pointed her finger at her mother "Well hands off, he’s mine."

"I don’t doubt it, honey." her mother declared, a wide smile spreading over her gentle face.

****

The next morning Hannah woke up and it took her a while to remember where she was. It wasn’t the sound of the waves crashing on the beach she could hear, but car horns and traffic. She recognised almost instantly though the smell of her ma's favourite soap in the sheets, but whilst her bed was comfy and familiar it felt odd. There was something missing. No Simon, no Ari, and that meant more to her than all the commodities she could ever have in Tel Aviv.

Well maybe she could trade sleeping snuggled to Ari for being able to eat Beef Wellington once a week… She chuckled and shook her head at her own absurd thoughts. Considering she spent years sleeping alone after Andy died, it hadn’t taken her long to get used to sharing a bed again, and if she was completely honest it was unnerving how she didn’t like Ari not being there, she knew it was stupid but still. She stretched and laid still in bed for a little while more as there were no breakfast duties to get to, but she suddenly remembered she did have a meeting with Ethan at HQ. Hannah cringed at the memory of her conversation with her mother last night, groaning to herself at the thought of the pair of them having dinner and… whatever. How was she going to be able to look him in the face? Shuddering at the thought she threw back the duvet and headed for her morning shower taking her time because she could, and also because she missed decent water temperature and pressure.

After her shower Hannah got dressed and went down to have breakfast with Mama. They sat and watched a little TV, another one of the things they quickly got used to not really having much chance to do in Sudan, before the car arrived to take Hannah to Mossad HQ. Once there she went through the security checks and headed up to Ethan's office, smiling to his secretary who told her to go in. 

No sooner had she knocked lightly on the door before pulling it open, Ethan stood up from his desk, a smile on his face as he strode over and pulled her into a huge hug.

"You look well, Hannah."

"Thanks Ethan."

"Must be all that sun, sea and sand huh?" he said, pulling back to take her appearance in better.

"And life or death situations…" she smiled fondly at the man.

Ethan chuckled and directed her over to the couch where she took a seat at one side as Ethan headed out and asked his secretary to get them a coffee each. Then he closed the door and sat opposite her. They chatted for a little bit, just about how the resort was going, how everyone was, a debrief of sorts on the last mission which Hannah wasn’t all that keen on reliving, but she knew she had to. Then their coffees arrived and Hannah took the time to compose herself, the emotion of talking about what had happened to the baby girl having choked her a little. She took a sip, then eyed Ethan and smiled.

"My mom says you’ve been out on a date."

Ethan paused, his stoic stance faltering a little, then looked at Hannah. "I’ve…taken her for dinner, yes."

"Has she seen your silk robe?" she attacked again.

"How do you know about that?"

Hannah grinned at the sight of Ethan's creased brow. "Ari told me."

"Course he did." he sighed. "And that reminds me... Sarah Levinson called last week asking me when you were home." Hannah blanched at Ethan's words and he noticed. "Is there something you want to tell me?"

Hannah hesitated. She wanted to take another sip of her coffee in order to buy herself some seconds but with a swift glance she realised her cup was already empty, and that was all the confirmation Ethan needed. The experienced agent rolled his eyes at her before stating the obvious.  "I knew this would happen."

Hannah shook her head. "Why does Sarah want to know when I’m home?"

"Reading between the lines I think she wants to see you." Ethan said, his gaze never leaving Hannah's face.

"But why? I’ve met her like 5 times, if that!" Hannah sort of protested, rubbing her sweaty palms over her denim clad thighs.

 "I think that’s obvious, you’re fucking her husband." Ethan shot, bluntly.

"They’re separated Ethan. And it’s not like that. You make it sound so crass, we’re not fucking…" she trailed off, her initial offended tone dying as she spoke.

"I know." Ethan agreed, his voice softer this time and stood up and headed to his desk. He reached into the drawer for a piece of paper which he gave to Hannah once he had checked it was the one he wanted. "She requested I ask you to call."

As Hannah took the paper from him there was a knock on the door and it swung open to reveal a short, slight, grey-haired man dressed in grey slacks and a light blue, short sleeved shirt. Hannah shoved the piece of paper in her pocket without giving much thought to what it meant and smiled at the man as he stepped into the room.

"I read those fucking reports you left on my table, Ethan, and let me tell you…"

Ethan cleared his throat and nodded to Hannah who blinked at the man, slightly amused at how angry he was despite his unassuming appearance. Ethan gestured to Hannah. "This is Hannah Horowitz. Hannah, meet Barack Isaacs, Mossad Chief."

Hannah stood up and shook his hand. "It’s a pleasure Sir to finally meet you in person."

"And you Mrs Horowitz. I’ve heard a lot about you from Ethan, and of course I knew your father. He was a good man. Taken far too soon." Isaacs said, not an ounce of anger in his voice or features now.

Hannah smiled. "Thank you Sir."

A few minutes later, after having said her goodbyes to both men who would be now no doubt be discussing the reports that had earned all those expletives from Isaacs’ part, Hannah headed down to the car and climbed in the back to head home. She watched the familiar buildings as they moved past and realised that the last time she had been in HQ was when Ethan broke the news of Andy’s death to her, in that very same office she’d been in today. She hadn’t even thought about it until now, but she remembered Isaacs calling her Mrs Horowitz and, now that she came to think of it, Ethan had introduced her to him as such. And whilst that’s what she was, the truth was she didn’t feel like it any more. She felt a little pang in her stomach at her own thoughts, a pang that she couldn’t quite place. Maybe it was guilt, she pondered, but what did she have to feel guilty about? Andy was dead. Had been for years and she had every right to move on. 

Then the car stopped at a traffic light and her eyes drifted to a shop on the corner, nothing special, it was an ordinary grocery store but she remembered her and Ari buying a bottle of wine from there for one of their many clandestine nights in at his apartment. They had snuggled up to the latest Led Zeppelin LP and made out a bit, in fact that was the first night Ari had ever made her come using his very talented fingers. And, as the car set off, Hannah realised that the memories of her so-called hidden relationship with Ari were all so vivid in her head now, especially after so many years of blocking them out. She sighed and her hand fell absentmindedly into her pocket and curled around the piece of paper with Sarah’s number written on it.

By the time she got home she had decided. She was going to call Sarah and see what she wanted. 

****

Ari had no idea how it had happened but Simon was missing. He’d searched the resort up and down and was currently going bananas looking for him around the beach and cursing the day he had backed Hannah up in keeping the damned dog.  He was legit shitting his pants when suddenly he heard him barking as he rounded the rocks with Max and Jake hot on his tail. Thank fuck, Ari thought. He might keep his head on his shoulders after all. He gave a sharp whistle and Simon looked up and then set off hurtling towards him. When the dog was close enough he jumped up at him and Ari caught him in his arms. "Hey, buddy calm down." Simon was whining and whimpering and licking Ari’s face as he rubbed the pup's back. "What the fuck has gotten into you?" Simon continued his little noises and nudged into Ari’s face and he glanced up at Max and Jake who were now within earshot. "You pup-napped my dog." Ari glared at them.

"It’s Hannah’s dog." Max deadpanned.

"He’s more mine than he is yours." Ari snapped, still angry at his two teammates for taking the dog without letting him know. And as that was just what he needed to appease himself, Sammy appeared, watching the exchange with an amused air.

"Only because you’re fucking his mom." Max mumbled.

Ari glared at him. "I heard that, dickhead."

"Technically he’s right." Jake quipped.

"Technically you’re an idiot." Ari bit back at Jake.

He was on edge, he was fully aware of that but there was nothing he could do about it. They had taken his fucking dog and it had almost given him a heart attack, not helping the bleak mood that had fallen over him ever since Hannah had left two days before.

"Technically?" Sammy asked and Simon growled. It was like a reflex action the dog had every time Sammy spoke.

"Never, ever take my fucking dog without my permission, you hear me?" Ari hissed glaring at Max and Jake. 

Once again he knew he was overreacting but he couldn’t help it. If anything were to happen to this dog, he'd be a dead man, plus he’d miss him too. Ari looked at them once more and then headed off, Simon held to his chest like a small child, with both his arms underneath the dog's butt supporting him, Simon’s paws on Ari’s shoulders, head looking around. He nodded to Rachel, who walked past him towards the spot on the sand where Jake, Max and Sammy were, and without saying a word he retreated to his hut.

All three men stood put for a moment watching him leave and then Max turned to Sammy. "God I can’t wait for your sister to come back, he’s being a pain in the ass."

"As grossed out as it makes me I kinda agree." Sammy acknowledged Max's comment.

"Blue balls don’t suit him." Jake groaned.

"Leave him alone you guys, he’s in love. Wait until it happens to you." Rachel, who had reached them now and was shading her eyes from the sun with the palm of her hand, warned them. All three rolled their eyes and she scoffed. "What?"

"Nothing mom." Max quipped, earning a slap round the back of his head from Rachel.

"I mean seriously though, what were you thinking taking the dog? You know he’s in charge of him and he’s been on edge since Han left. Don’t make it worse."

"See, even you recognise he’s being an insufferable bitch." Max whined.

"Yes and you’re making it worse Maxwell." Rachel looked at him.

"Whatever, I’m hungry now."

"What else is new?" Jake scoffed before stating "You were born hungry."

"All babies are born hungry, asshole." Max snapped as he started walking towards the main building.

"You’re the asshole. The Maltese asshole." Jake shouted at him, following suit.

Rachel groaned, following the bickering pair up the sand. Sammy dropped an arm around her shoulder, giving her a squeeze and she shook her head. She really needed Hannah there to help her deal with the bunch of overgrown kids. So much for the trained Mossad agents they were supposed to be.

By the time the sun had begun to set and they were sat at the table having dinner everyone had calmed down bar Ari who persisted in being a little bitch. There he was trying to eat whilst Simon was on his lap as the fucking dog wouldn’t leave him alone now. Jake and Max must have played some tricks on the pup for him to be so anxious and clingy ever since he got back to Ari. 

Assholes. 

Sammy, in turn, was glaring at Simon as every time he spoke, the dog's lip would curl up in a snarl.

"What is your fucking problem?" Sammy snapped at the dog.

"Hey, don’t talk to him like that." Ari warned him, pointing at Sammy with a fork.

"Really, Ari?" Sammy scoffed and Simon growled again at the sound of his voice.

Ari sighed. "Si, quit it for fucks sake."

Rachel who was desperately trying to have a peaceful dinner without having to intervene, again, didn't miss the look Jake was giving at Sammy while mouthing "Si??" so she glared at the pair of them before she cleared her throat.

"We got a letter this morning, from the tourist board."

Ari turned to her "Yeah? What do they want?"

Rachel took the letter from her shorts pocket and handed it to him. She wasn't planning on playing that card, she had just shoved the letter there just in case but the boys' attitude had left her no choice.  "See for yourself."

Ari pushed Simon off his lap and took it. He unfolded it, his eyes scanning the words for a few seconds before he nodded. "They want to visit this weekend. I’ll call Madibo tomorrow morning, tell him it’s ok."

"Yeah…you checked the date?" Rachel asked.

"Yeah it says Thursday…so?" Max, Jake and Sammy exchanged glances and Ari looked around with an air of frustration.  "What?" "Hannah’s back on Thursday." Sammy reminded him, speaking quietly as if he was walking on eggshell.

"And?"

"Nothing." he shook his head. "I’ll pick her up from the airport if you’re busy."

Fuck Ari thought before pausing and shaking his head. "No need. I’ll go. You don’t need me here."

"Yes we do. That letter says he wants to see you." Rachel pointed at the letter.

Ari frowned and reached for it again before groaning as she was right. "Fucks sake. What time are they coming? Maybe I can…"

Once again Rachel, the voice of reason, cut him off. "No you can’t. They’ll be here by 11. Her flight gets in just after."

Ari looked at her as if she had just slapped him on his face.

"Ari I’ll go, it’s not an issue." Sammy offered.

Ari just nodded as he didn't trust his voice to come out right at that moment. He was raging inside, his mind ticking off all the curses possible. And as such he spent the rest of the meal sulking in silence before he excused himself and went back to his hut. As far as he was concerned his evening was over. One week, one fucking week without her and he had just been denied the possibility of picking her up. Instead he would have to put up with Madibo and who knows who else from the fucking corrupted tourist board.

With Simon whining, as he had clearly detected his dad was upset, and snuggling round his head on the pillow Ari laid on her bed for what seemed like hours, contemplating what a needy bastard he’d turned into (or rather Hannah had made him into) in such a short period of time, before sleep overcame him. 

**** As Hannah made the 10 minute walk to the small Café she had arranged to meet Sarah in, the nearer she got the more nervous she was. She’d only ever met Sarah a handful of times, the last one being at her and Ari’s wedding. When she reached the café door her hands were sweating so she wiped them on her jeans and pushed the door open. As soon as she stepped in she spotted Sarah sat at a table near the back. She hadn’t changed much, was just as pretty as the last time Hannah had seen her. Striking cheekbones, deep brown eyes, light red hair. From the photo Hannah had seen of Maya which Ari kept on his nightstand she could see where the girl had gotten her looks from. She was very like her mother but had inherited Ari’s hair colour and face shape.

Sarah looked up, and gave Hannah a smile that didn’t quite reach her eyes as Hannah approached the table. She stood up and offered a stiff hand to Hannah, which Hannah took, the shake very business-like.

“It’s been a long time.” Sarah spoke in her deep, American accent.

“Yeah, it has.” Hannah agreed as Sarah made to sit down again. Hannah followed and took the seat opposite her, hanging her purse on the chair back. No sooner had they done that than someone was over to take their order. They both requested a coffee each and when the waitress disappeared Sarah spoke.

“Thank you for agreeing to meet me. I wasn’t sure you’d even call so..”

“Well it would have been rude not to, plus I also have a letter for Maya from Ari. Saves me posting it I suppose.” Hannah smiled and reached for her purse, retrieving the thick envelope. She handed it to Sarah.

“Ari said Maya wanted some photos of Simon- my, well, the group’s dog really and she wanted to see the resort too so-“ she nodded to the envelope “- there’s some in there for her.”  

“Thanks.” Sarah took the envelope, exchanging it for a slightly smaller one. “I also have a letter here for Ari from Maya, would you-“

“Of course.” Hannah nodded, taking it form her.

“You know she asks about you in there.” Sarah nodded to the letter “Her and Ari talked about you when he was home. He told her you picked her little beaded bag out, which for the record she still carries everywhere.”

Hannah blushed a little “I’m glad she liked it.”

“Are there any photos of you in here?” Sarah tapped the envelope and Hannah frowned, not quite sure what she was getting at.

“No.” she shook her head. But before she had chance to say anything else their coffee arrived. Both thanked the lady who set the cups down, then busied themselves adding sugar, Hannah stirring hers a little more than necessary before she broke the silence, deciding to ask the question that had been on her mind since Ethan gave her the piece of paper with the other woman’s number on it. “Sarah, why did you want to see me? We’ve hardly ever spoken before, certainly not like this.”

“Curiosity I suppose.” Sarah shrugged

“Curiosity? About what?”

“About you.”

“Me?”

Sarah nodded, taking a breath “Will you be honest with me Hannah?”

Hanna nodded, steeling herself as she waited for the inevitable question about whether her and Ari were back together.  She knew Ari hadn’t confirmed it to Sarah when he visited, because, well they hadn’t actually labelled what they were then, neither of them knew, but she also knew he hadn’t denied it.

“Do you love him?” Sarah asked.

“Oh…” that had surprised Hannah. She swallowed, “Sarah, I-“

“Because I know he loves you.”

Hannah took a deep breath before she shrugged “Yeah, yeah I do.”

Sarah nodded “In that case then I wish you good luck because you’re gonna need it.”

Hannah frowned and swallowed some of her coffee “What do you mean?”

“I mean when you all finish this mission and you’re not in your little fantasy reality anymore and you’re no longer his ‘bond girl’-”

“Hey, now, just wait a second-” Hannah interrupted a little tetchily but Sarah continued, ignoring her.

“-because he’ll never quit Hannah.” Sarah looked at her “-hell he wasn’t even there when Maya was born because he was stranded in some god forsaken part of Saudi Arabia.”

“He regrets that, he told me.” Hannah sighed and Sarah shrugged.

“I’m sure he does but his wife being 8 months pregnant wasn’t enough to stop him going. His own daughter since has never been enough to stop him going. This life, this sense of duty he has to those people, whilst it’s admirable it’s consuming him. And I just want you to know what you’re letting yourself in for. He dragged you back into all this, Hannah. He won’t be as easy to drag back out.”

Hannah looked at her, mouth hanging open a little as she wasn’t sure what to say. Part of her was pissed off, part of her felt guilty, and beneath it all a pang of sympathy. Ari hadn’t been a great husband or father, and Hannah knew that.

“That said, maybe he will quit for you.” Sarah continued “I mean, maybe me and Maya were simply just not enough…”

“Sarah, it wasn’t like that.” Hannah shook her head, sighing “I won’t make excuses for him being a shit husband and a lousy father because there are none to be made, and he knows that.”

“Yeah, he said all this when he came home.” Sarah gave a huff of laughter “He actually seemed different, happier almost, he was so relaxed with Maya and I get now that’s because of you.”

Hannah took a deep breath. “I kind of feel like I should be apologising for something here Sarah, I’m not sure what but-“

Sarah smiled “It isn’t your fault he’s been in love with you for the past 10 years.”

“Sarah…”

“You ever asked him why we weren’t at your wedding?” Sarah suddenly change the line of the conversation and Hannah looked at her, blinking “It was because he couldn’t bear to watch you marry someone else.”

“No, that’s... that’s not…”

“Ask him. He never admitted it but it was obvious. I was always second best in his eyes.”

“Ari loved you Sarah, I know he did, he’s told me.” Hannah implored “You’re the mother of his child.”

“Oh I don’t doubt he did.” Sarah smiled “Just not as much as he loved you. And here we are, he’s got you back in the end.”

At that Hannah felt the nerve twitch in her jaw, pissed at the nerve of the woman sat opposite her, blatantly trying to blame her for Ari’s attitude in their marriage. Like she was responsible for whatever he’d done over the last 8 or however many years it had been. She desperately wanted to defend Ari but couldn’t, simply because he had been an ass hole to Sarah and she wasn’t about to stick up for him when he didn’t’ deserve it, regardless of the fact she was dating him. But, she wasn’t about to sit here and take this crap from his estranged wife, especially not when Hannah had been through enough shit herself. She took a deep breath, folded her arms and arched an eyebrow. “Yeah, I guess he did. And all it took was a dead husband and a divorce huh?”

If her harsh, sarcastic tone bothered Sarah the other woman didn’t show it as she simply looked at Hannah with a small smile on her face, not a shred of anger on her face as she spoke “Well, fate has a wicked sense of humour.”

*****

Part 2

[minimitchell]

benmitchellweek day 5 - “is that supposed to be a challenge?”  (ao3 link)

.

Ben doesn’t actually need to do any washing at the laundromat. They have a perfectly good washing machine at the house. It’s just that the one time Karen asked him to drop by the laundrette because she had something for Lexi, there was this guy sitting in one of the chairs by the machines, completely engrossed in a book.

And because Ben is a complete idiot, he purposefully went by the laundrette as often as he could to find out if that guy using it was a one off or if he goes there regularly, because there’s no way in hell he’s going to ask Karen about him.

He feels a bit like some creepy stalker but it only takes him a couple of weeks to figure out that the guy does his washing there every two weeks on a Friday afternoon, always round about the same time. 

He doesn’t know what it is about the guy, they haven’t even spoken or anything, but there is just something to him that captures Ben's attention in a way no one has done for a very long time. He thinks it’s maybe the nicely-kept stubble that decorates his cheeks or the soft looking brown hair. Or maybe it’s the absolutely captivating blue of his eyes that he got to see when their eyes met that one time he was passing by.

Whatever it is, it’s enough to make Ben regress into a teenager with a crush again, trying to get the cute guy to notice him. He must be new around here, since Albert Square is a place where everyone knows everyone and he definitely doesn’t know who this guy is. He’d like to, but he doesn’t. He hasn’t seen him around the market, or in the chippy, or even in the Vic and it only adds to this weird fascination Ben has developed.

A fascination he’s tried hard to keep hidden, especially from the mother of his child, but apparently he hasn’t been as successful as he thought he’d been.

“Ben, you can’t go there every week until he notices you. It’s dead creepy.”

“Is that supposed to be a challenge?”

Lola’s rolling her eyes at him over her cup of coffee, checking to see if their daughter is still playing idly on the swings. They’ve used the rare occurrence where they both have the afternoon off to take her to the park and it made Ben realize that he has missed spending time with both of them like this. Yeah, they live together but they rarely spend time together as just the three of them. Normally, they’re always doing something with his mum, or his dad, or Jay. And while he loves the rest of his family, it’s still nice to spend time with his mate and their daughter.

Even if all she does is tease him about his crush on laundromat guy.

“So ask him out next time.”

Ben shakes his head while taking a sip from his own coffee, giving his daughter a cheer when she screams over at them to look how high she’s getting.

“I can’t. I’ve never said a word to him before.”

“So you just sit in the same room as him and stare at him until your washing is done? That’s somehow even worse, Ben. Besides, that fact has never stopped you before, has it?”

This is different though. He doesn’t want to pick the guy up and take him home with him. He wants to get to know him, maybe go to dinner with him and listen to him talk about the book he’s currently reading. It’s a new thing for him; to be so invested in someone he doesn’t know that the physical aspect of it all doesn’t even come into play until later. It’s unnerving to say the least, because it means that he’s completely out of his element with this.

Not that he’s going to give any of that information to Lola right now. She’ll only tease him more, call him ‘in love’ probably.

He’s about to give a retort when he catches a glimpse of tall brown hair and that lean body across the square. The guy’s stepping out of his brother’s old restaurant they’ve been trying to sell for a while now, some papers in one hand while shaking his mum’s with the other.

“Shit, Lo, that’s him.”

Lola follows his gaze to laundromat guy and they’re both watching him say goodbye to Ben’s mother with a bright smile on his face, before he disappears down the street.

“Oh, he’s fit. If he ain’t gay send him my way, please.”

“For your fiancé and my brothers sake, I’ll pretend I didn’t hear that.”

They exchange a small laugh with each other, knowing it’s all in jest.

“You should ask your mom what they were doing though. Saves you from stalking that poor bloke any longer.”

-----

Turns out, laundromat guy’s name is Callum and he’s the one who bought his brother’s old space. Apparently, he’s new here and plans to open his own restaurant. He’s only a few years older than Ben and is a very nice, young man - according to his mother anyway. She also informs him that she’s invited Callum to this week’s Friday dinner. A fact, that Ben only freaks out about a little. Honestly.

The day the dinner finally rolls around he’s more than a little nervous. No one but Lola knows about his little infatuation with Callum and he desperately hopes that no one will embarrass him tonight. If everything goes well, he’s going to ask Callum out on a date later and hopefully, they’ll end up dating and Callum can cook delicious food for him for the rest of their lives. At least, that’s what Ben envisions.

Him and Lola are already settled around the laid table, while Lexi is still upstairs washing her hands and his mom is putting the finishing touches on their dinner, when the doorbell rings.

“Oh, I’ll get it. That must be Callum.”

His mom is practically running from the kitchen at the sound, almost looking like she’s the one hoping to score a date with Callum. Ben looks over at the doorway when the sound of two voices mingling gets louder, trying to ignore Lola’s teasing smile next to him, failing to not get lost in the smooth tones of Callum’s voice.

Ben feels his mouth go a little dry when they finally step into the living room, because Callum looks gorgeous. He’s wearing a crisp, white dress shirt and tight, black jeans and his hair is as nicely gelled as it normally is when they’re seeing each other at the laundrette. He’s still holding a bottle of wine in his hands and Ben is overcome with the urge to feel one of his large hands in his.

His eyes shine with recognition when he meets Ben’s gaze and he sends him a small smile; one, Ben can’t help but return.

“Callum, this is Ben and Lola. Lola’s fiancé Jay is joining us later, he’s still at work.”

“And our daughter Lexi is still upstairs but she’s going to, no doubt, bombard you with questions about your restaurant soon.”

Callum lets out a small laugh at that, although he momentarily had a weird look on his face when Ben mentioned their daughter. He really hopes that it isn’t down to Callum not liking kids; it’d definitely be a dealbreaker for Ben.

The dinner goes extremely well, despite the awkwardness from earlier. Callum is great with Lexi; answering every single one of her questions with ease and patience and Lola had to nudge him quite a bit to not overdo the heart eyes when looking at Callum interacting with his daughter. He’s charming and funny and honestly has a great vision for his future restaurant.

Ben is nothing short of enamored with him.

Somehow, they find themselves in the kitchen together. Ben did some washing up so that his mum could sit back and relax a little and Callum joined him when he came in to get another beer. It’s almost sickenly domestic and once they were done with it, they stayed in here to continue chatting in peace, away from the loud chatter that’s filling up the living room, especially with Jay having joined them now.

It’s nice; they’ve figured out that they have quite a lot in common and Ben is almost certain that Callum is flirting with him from time to time. One thing in particular they’ve learned is that they’re both gay.

“Oh, I assumed because of Lexi that you’re straight. Sorry.”

“Don’t worry about it. It’s a long story, but I’m definitely into guys.”

“Good to know.”

They’re just swaying back and forth in his kitchen, matching dopey smiles on their faces, and Ben is pretty sure that Callum’s going to say yes to that date after all. It makes him giddy with excitement; warmth and hope blooming in his chest at the prospect of it. He’s about to ask Callum, when the door opens and Jay walks in, straight to the fridge and completely unaware of the obvious, romantic tension filling the kitchen. Callum doesn’t seem that bothered though, not really paying Jay any more attention right now.

“You know, I’ve always wanted to come say hi when I saw you at the laundrette. I don’t know why I didn’t, but maybe next time we could go grab a coffee while we’re waiting?”

Ben is ready to say yes to Callum’s suggestion when Jay turns around and gives them a confused look, interrupting their moment.

“What are you going to the laundrette for? You have a perfectly fine washing machine right here.”

Jay doesn’t stick around for the fallout; only shaking his head and exiting the kitchen again, leaving Ben behind to drown in embarrassment. When he opens his eyes again - and when had he closed them anyway - Callum is looking at him with barely concealed amusement and Ben would really like the ground to swallow him up right now, please and thank you.

“Okay so I might’ve gone there a few times just to see you. I’d love to go for that coffee though, if you still want to.”

When Callum steps forward into his space, he settles both of his hands on Ben’s neck, using them to pull him the rest of the way into his own body. Ben thinks it’s heavenly how great they fit together until Callum seals their lips together in a soft kiss and then he knows what’s really heaven - the feeling of Callum’s lips on his own and his skin under Ben’s fingertips. 

It’s only a short kiss but it leaves Ben with an explosion of butterflies in his stomach, spreading all the way throughout his body.

“I still want to.”

Ben can’t wait for it. He’ll ask about Callum cooking him dinner later.

[thetriggeredhappy]

scout likes sniper but can't help but blush and go awkward when he sees it

me, who saw a very pretty girl with bitchin’ tattoos and temporarily forgot how to speak english for about five minutes today: ha check out this fuckin loser having’ crushes and stuff..... ha what a fuckin goobus

(no warnings)

-

He really did legitimately hate the fact that he always made such an idiot out of himself in front of people he liked.

Like, he had literally no problem just hooking up with people. Absolutely no shame. See someone good-looking, walk up, ask them if they wanna bang, either get slapped or get in a car. He didn’t feel even a little bit bad about it, he was just being really honest about exactly what it was he wanted. And plenty of people respected that he wasn’t one to play stupid games.

The issue was that as soon as he got like, more than moderately invested before he could cut to the chase, he was absolutely fucked.

Miss Pauling was a great example. The situation surrounding him first meeting her was such a whirlwind and so weird that he didn’t really get a chance to ask her out, and so he’d just sorta been left to stew on it, and then he got cheesy. Started thinking about all kinds of romantic shit. And that was a complete fuckin’ mess for like, literally years until he found out she was seeing some girl and promptly stepped off because he was a hopeless romantic, not an animal.

And that had like, sucked, but at least he was functional. He only saw Miss P like, on the monthly maybe, and usually just over the phone or whatever and not in person. At least he could spend the vast majority of his time being exactly as much of a doofus as he usually was and not just a hoppy sappy mess.

But then. Oh, but fucking then.

He glanced in his periphery as subtly as he could, popping his gum to try and just for a second act natural, so frustrated with himself over how warm his face had gotten all of a sudden.

It was especially frustrating because like, it had kinda snuck up on him, all the gross heart-fluttery crap that always came along for the ride whenever he got a thing for someone. And he hadn’t really pieced it together for such a long time, but then one thing happened and everything cracked wide open all at once and now he couldn’t even just sit through the team meeting without—

Sniper moved to tug on his own hat idly, nudging his shades up his nose the millimeter or two they’d slid down since he last adjusted them maybe a minute and a half previously, and Scout had to force himself to stop looking at the guy for like ten seconds. And ten seconds was exactly how long he lasted before he was looking over again.

It sucked. Like, he’d gone years and years just kinda letting Sniper do his thing—the guy clearly just wanted to be left alone, didn’t want to be bothered with their shenanigans, so he really didn’t ever see Sniper around much. Barely knew the guy beyond like, some very basic stuff. And he kinda got the impression at first that Sniper was actually just way too cool for him to talk to, a hired assassin from fuckin’ Australia of all places, beyond skilled and into intimidating in his particular practice, maybe a little scary in the few interactions Scout caught him in during battle.

And he was like, more an idea of a person than an actual person, for those reasons. Scout didn’t really think much about what he had to actually be like.

Then one night Scout woke up around 3 AM and couldn’t get back to sleep and he decided to just go grab a snack from the kitchen to try and maybe squeeze a nap in before he was meant to be awake at 6:30, and he’d walked in and seen Sniper standing there.

Sniper was pretty professional in all interactions Scout ever had with him. Only ever showed up in the base proper in full uniform, and while he wasn’t like, Medic or Spy levels of crisp clean-cut, he still always at least looked put-together. But now Scout was confronted with the concept of what Sniper wore for pajamas, something he’d only ever thought about once or twice before, and was now suddenly witnessing.

Sweatpants, apparently, and a sweater. Green and grey, knitted. Socks. No hat or sunglasses, which was weird enough that it actually kind of took Scout a second to understand who he was looking at.

Sniper looked up at him when he walked in, and Scout knew he probably looked like hell, but Sniper didn’t look all that much better. He seemed pretty tired, and Scout watched as he visibly tried to sort himself out, standing up straight and squaring his shoulders a little, leaning less heavily on the counter.

“Uh, sup,” Scout said, and walked over to the fridge, deciding to just kinda play it cool and like he was totally anticipating that someone might be in the kitchen at 3 AM, and also that it wasn’t weird that he was in the kitchen at 3 AM.

“...‘llo,” Sniper mumbled, and glanced back down at what he’d been doing before Scout showed up.

Eating cereal, apparently, the bland wheat garbage that about half the team usually put up with, he and Pyro being the ones who tended to go for the more sugary brands. Scout occupied himself with trying to sift through the over-stuffed fridge for something he could feasibly eat, deciding not to stare.

But the silence was pretty painful. He didn’t like silence, it always felt almost itchy to stand there and not say anything when there was someone like five feet away, so he broke it after a few seconds. “Doesn’t it get hot in that?” he asked, not looking over at Sniper.

A pause long enough that Scout was half convinced Sniper was just going to ignore him, but he did end up speaking. “Gets cold at night. ‘Specially out there, it’s... warmer in the base,” Sniper murmured. “Used to it being warm, besides.”

“Fair,” Scout shrugged, pulled out a container, glanced at it, put it back. “Probably hotter in—“

“Australia, yeah,” Sniper agreed, in a tone that implied he’d heard that a hundred times before.

“It’s summer there right now, right?” Scout asked, pulling out a different container and scowling when he saw Engie’s name on it, begrudgingly putting it back.

“...Yeah.”

Scout finally found a leftover Chinese takeout box that he was at least reasonably sure was his own, and moved over to the microwave, dropping the leftovers on a plate and putting in some random amount of time, aware he’d just be stopping the microwave when noises started happening anyways. He glanced back over at Sniper. Sniper wasn’t looking at him. “That’s a cool sweater, though,” Scout finally said.

“Thanks,” Sniper said into his bowl. “It’s, er...”

There was a very long silence as Scout waited for Sniper to finish his sentence and he didn’t. He popped the microwave open to check on his leftovers. Not warm enough. He closed it again, turned back around. Kept waiting.

Apparently Sniper did decide to finish his sentence eventually. “It’s wool. From... back home,” he said, voice still quiet.

“Huh?” Scout asked, a little confused.

Sniper finished his bowl, put it on the counter next to him. Scratched at the back of his neck. Without the hat it was much more obvious how Sniper’s hair just kinda flipped up in the back, and how unruly the rest of his hair was as well, even deliberately brushed back out of the way. “Family’s sheep farmers,” he finally said.

Scout’s eyebrows rose. “Yeah?”

Sniper nodded. “We don’t... spin the wool, some other bloke does that, but we get to sell the yarn at least. Usually m’parents keep at least a little bit. Mum knits. Gives... gloves and the like to any kids in town.”

“She made that too?” Scout asked, glancing the sweater up and down again. “Jesus, how long did that take?”

Sniper shrugged. “Week, maybe two.”

“That’s pretty cool.” Scout scratched at his arm as a memory occurred to him. “Only sweaters I ever had were hand-me-downs from my brothers, itchy as all fuck. They never wanted to pass down the softer ones.”

Sniper nodded at that. “Makes sense.”

There was a long silence then, in which Scout finally noticed his food was starting to make popping noises and he pulled it out. Mostly hot, some cold bits in the middle, but he grabbed a pair of chopsticks from the drawer of assorted utensils and stirred it around so it was more even. It was just noodles, so it didn’t matter much.

“Late dinner,” Sniper said, almost managing to make it sound like a joke.

“Early breakfast,” Scout shot back, nodding at the cereal bowl and stirring his food around a bit more.

Sniper tilted his head in a vague sort of agreement, going quiet again. Scout started eating, and winced a little at how some noodles were weirdly dry and others were goopy, but hey, beggars couldn’t be choosers.

Silence again, but at least Scout could keep himself occupied with eating instead of thinking about it.

“You know how to use chopsticks?” Sniper finally asked, surprising Scout a little bit. He glanced up.

“Yeah, duh, who doesn’t?” Scout scoffed.

Silence for a second. “I don’t,” Sniper said.

Scout looked up again, befuddled. “Man, are you serious? I learned that when I was like, five,” he prodded.

Sniper shrugged, looking away again. “Just never learnt. Never really had to, didn’t come up.”

“Fuckin’, learn how to use chopsticks, man. What’re you waiting for, a written invitation?” Scout joked.

“Eh. I’ll get to it,” Sniper shrugged again, and rubbed at his eye, and suddenly it hit Scout how much of a human being Sniper was. Standing there in a sweater his mom knit for him, eating cereal at three in the morning, admitting that he just never learned how to use chopsticks.

What the fuck, Sniper was just a regular dude who happened to be in their line of work.

What the fuck.

(He did look pretty good out of uniform, huh—?)

And that was it for him, a series of back-to-back realizations compounding until he realized how good-looking Sniper was, even rumbled at three in the morning under the shitty fluorescents of the kitchen—especially like that. And he felt his face go burning hot, and he dug into his noodles to try and cover it, and he almost choked on his food.

Absolute fucking mess.

And like—now Scout was noticing all kinds of tiny little things. Sniper always crossed his legs at the ankle, left-over right, and his arms right-over-left. He had a bruise on his thumb from jamming it on his rifle, and his shades were crooked a little tiny bit to the left, and his hair was all flippy-uppy in the back but there was this one lock of hair that was especially flippy-uppy. He didn’t put anything in his coffee like an absolute monster but did put just a little bit of sugar on his cereal, apparently. He kept nodding off during meetings but nobody else seemed to notice since he had the shades on and you had to be looking pretty closely and from roughly Scout’s angle at the table to see his eyes were closed, and he didn’t have any other tells besides his jaw being a little tight.

Twice so far he’d been asked by Medic if he had a fever, he was blushing so hard. At once point Demo had dunked on him a little bit about “zoning out” and “thinkin’ about someone special, probably”, and he’d only barely escaped by rolling his eyes and rolling with the joke instead of getting defensive. He’d gotten mysteriously more clumsy in front of the team at large, fumbling and tripping over his words and even stammering sometimes. He was such a goddamn sappy mess.

God. He was so fucked.