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amjustagirl · 4 years ago

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Summary: She wonders if Akaashi Keiji could be her forever, (but then in the silence, her heart breaks).

Pairing: Akaashi x reader, Yaku x reader

Sequel here

AO3 Link here

She meets Akaashi at an office mixer for magazine staff – he, an up and coming editor in the manga department, she, a translator for two languages.

Their paths meet when she spills a drink on his shoes (honestly, large crowds were never her forte) and her interest is immediately piqued when he smiles at her calmly and tells her he never liked that pair of shoes anyway. Then they start bumping into each other at work. She learns he drinks a prodigious amount of coffee – always black, from the number of times she catches him bent over the vending machine in the pantry. He saves her from the wrath of the printing machine when she forgets to remove the staples from her papers again.

‘We should go out for dinner’, she tells him, because she’s been taught to get out there and chase what she wants (and she rather likes the broadness of his shoulders and the patience in his eyes), and while he’s mildly taken aback, he agrees. She takes him for dumplings in a greasy diner, practically a hole in the wall, and is gratified when he doesn’t seem to mind that she eats almost as much as he. He doesn’t agree to let her pay for him – she tries to insist because she’s the one who asked, after all – but he does agree to split the bill.

He brings her to his favourite bookstore the following week, and they sit in a nook with their respective books and share a pot of tea. She discovers his dry sense of humour through long conversations about any and everything. He admires the contours of her mind when she rambles about work in three languages to him.

Months pass – and by the year’s end, he asks her to move in with him.

They find a flat a few stops from work. It’s small, but he manages to squeeze in a sprawling bookshelf groaning with the weight of his books, and she stuffs it full of knick knacks she stole from her parents’ home. They walk to work and leave for home together.

They spend nights on the couch sharing pots of tea, he - buried in his work, she - immersed in music, and on weekends they explore parks and bookstores and restaurants and museums. They discuss heatedly whether to adopt a cat or dog (she prefers the former, he prefers the latter) and talk about the possibility of buying a house in a year or two.

She begins to think that this could be her forever, and wonders if he feels the same.

‘Are you really dating Akaashi-san?’, Hana-chan from accounting asks curiously over lunch one day.

‘Yes’, she answers with a slight frown. ‘Why?’

‘You two seem so formal with each other’, Hana titters. ‘If he didn’t send you flowers ever Friday, any one watching you both would assume you’re just friends.’

‘Keiji is just reserved’, she defends him heatedly, ‘He’s affectionate enough in private with me.’

Hana laughs at her frown - ‘I’m sure, I’m sure - it’s just strange to find someone so shy about their love in this day and age’.

Hana isn’t wrong per se - she remembers an incident in their early days of dating when she tried to hold his hand and steal a kiss from him, but Keiji avoided her grasp and muttered a firm ‘not in public, dear’. Still, she tells herself she doesn’t mind that, her heart is warm enough from the gentle kisses he presses to her face in the comfort of their little home.

‘Busy, busy Keiji’, she says, a teasing lilt in her tone. ‘It’s time to go home’.

‘I still have work to do tonight’, he frowns down at the page in his hand. ‘I’ll meet you at home?’

‘Sure’, she chirps. ‘I’ll have a cup of tea waiting for you when you get home’.

‘I actually prefer coffee’, he replies, an embarrassed flush on his face. ‘I can’t keep awake with just tea’.

‘You’re going to continue working at home?’ She tilts her head to look at him confusedly, because yes - deadlines are tight in the publishing industry, but Keiji’s just powered through a major submission and is up for a promotion because of it - so it doesn’t make sense that he’s still so busy. ‘Rest is important, Keiji’.

‘I know but I asked for extra assignments - I thought I should challenge myself’.

It’s her turn to frown. ‘Oh’, she says, and her disappointment must be evident in her face because he turns to catch her arm. ‘Work is important, darling. Surely you understand.’ He gives her a slight smile. ‘I promise I’ll make it up to you when all of this ends’. ‘

Alright’, she says, trying to smooth her frown from her face. ‘I shan’t be mad since you promised so nicely’, she jokes half-heartedly and heads off alone.

The flat is cold and empty. She hums to herself to fill the silence as she fixes herself a cup of tea.

‘Working late again?’ she asks.

He’s crouched over his desk in the office, multiple cups of coffee and stacks of paper marked in red strewn everywhere. The smudges beneath his eyes are a darker purple than she remembers, the skin of his hands almost translucent beneath the harsh office light and scarlet ink stains.

‘Mm’, he nods. His eyes do not leave the page.

‘I’ll see you later?’ she offers, and leaves when he offers no reply.

She leans her forehead on the sofa (ignoring how it’s too big for her alone) and plays the songs her mother used to sing until she feels like she’s home.

‘You’re working yourself too hard’, she tells him on another late night.

‘I’ve got work to do’ he responds, blinking owlishly up at her as if he can’t believe she doesn’t understand. She does – really, but it’s raining and she doesn’t want to walk home alone.

‘Work can wait’, she tries again, running her hand along his arm, frowning as he shrugs her off.

‘Not here’, he tells her firmly. ‘Not anywhere’, she can’t help but think to herself.

A car splashes her with rainwater as it drives by. She stands under the scalding hot shower for far too long, telling herself it’s because she’s trying to scrub the dirt marks off her legs (and definitely not because she’s hiding the tears sliding down her face). There’s an ache beneath her ribs that she can’t acknowledge (because if she does, it means the crack in her heart is real), so she sings her favourite songs to herself until she can pretend she’s ok.

‘I’m home’, he calls to her, his voice echoing in the flat.

‘Keiji!’ she bounces into the hallway to greet him, but the thick stack of paper he draws out of his briefcase makes her heart sink. ‘Oh well’, she thinks to herself, and does what she always does when she’s alone - puttering around the kitchen, humming songs with a cheerful melody. But when she fetches him a cup of tea, she notices a furrow in his brow, traces the downward slant of his mouth, hears the harsh tap of his slim fingers against his desk.

‘Is everything ok?’ She approaches him cautiously, placing her hand on his shoulder. ‘You seem a little tense.’

‘Everything's fine, I just can’t focus when you’re making so much noise’, he says curtly.

‘I’m sorry’, she offers contritely, flinching inwardly at the lines of irritation appearing on his face. ‘But it’s the weekend, Keiji. Surely you can take some time off work?’

‘No, I can't. You wouldn’t understand’, he responds, waving her off dismissively.

‘We haven’t spent much time together in a while. Maybe we can go for dinner tonight?’, she persists, ignoring the pain sharpening in her chest.

‘I said I can’t, I have work’, he snaps at her, not noticing when she takes an involuntary step back. ‘You obviously don’t understand.’

‘I do understand’, she tells him quietly, because she does - she’s not some flunky working in a dead-end job – for heaven’s sake they’re professionals in the same industry. She wouldn’t be in line for promotion at the end of the year if she weren’t herself adept at managing the stress of impending deadlines and an overwhelming workload - but he does not respond.

So she stays silent. And in the absence of sound, she can hear her heart break.

She has vacation days to spare, so she packs her bags and moves out into her sister’s place.

It’s a little sad how easy it is to avoid Keiji’s notice since he’s never at home. He must notice when she’s gone though because he tries calling her the day after – once, twice, and by the third time she sends a single text – ‘it’s over. Please don’t contact me again’, and promptly blocks his number. But he’s persistent, waiting by her desk with a ridiculously large bouquet of flowers when she heads back to work.

‘Talk to me’, he begs, and she suppresses the urge to tell him that she tried, goddamnit - but she’s done, please go away and leave her alone, but his face is drawn and his eyes are bloodshot, and she reminds herself – this is Keiji, the man she fell in love with over plates of dumplings and shared pots of tea, the man she once believed could be her forever, and agrees to meet him for lunch on the weekend.

‘But not now’, she says, unable to resist a parting shot – ‘work is very important to you after all’.

She regrets it immediately when she sees his shoulders stiffen and something in his eyes break.

They arrange to meet at the café in his favourite bookstore. She turns up five minutes early but finds he’s already there waiting. He orders coffee – black, without sugar, and she gets tea with a slice of cake.

‘Come home to me. Please. I miss you’, he blurts out, looking at her with pleading eyes.

‘I can’t do that’, she says, shaking her head because their flat hasn’t felt like home for so long – no, not in the absence of sound, the silence so still she heard her heart break.

‘I can fix this’, he promises desperately. ‘I’ll stop working so hard, I’ll come home for dinner with you - it’ll be just like what we used to do, and we’ll be happy again’.

‘Keiji’, she says, a sad smile on her face. ‘There’s nothing left to fix. Can you honestly promise you won’t end up resenting me - resenting us - when exciting assignments and promotions pass you by, because you feel obliged to split your time between work and me?’

‘I could never resent you’, he tells her brokenly. ‘Never.’

‘Don’t lie to me, Keiji’, she replies tiredly. ‘You and I both know you love your work more than you love me’.

He shakes his head in denial, eyes red and glassy and she stops him with a finger to his trembling lips before she continues, the words bitter in her mouth - 'It’s ok to admit that you fell out of love with me. I should have realised that a long time ago. You deserve to find someone you love more than your work, and I deserve to find someone who’ll put me first’.

At this, he lets out a quiet cry, and she can hear her heart crack open again. But the sad truth is she knows it’s over – has been over ever since she’s allowed her heart to be burnt slowly by his neglect, the ashes building up in her chest.

‘I’m sorry, Keiji’, she turns to leave, a bittersweet smile twisting her lips. ‘It's time to let each other go’.

To his credit, he doesn’t pester her at work, though he sends her flowers every Friday – pink camellias for longing, violets for devotion, forget-me-nots for obvious reasons, and she draws the line when he starts to send her red roses (for love), sending him a strongly worded note to let her go. He finally stops, and she’s relieved when he takes her advice and asks out a girl from the publishing department – a peach blossom girl, thoroughly gentle and sweet and soft spoken. She tells herself she’s happy for him.

Still – there’s a dull ache in her chest when she sees them share an umbrella together when they leave work, a poisoned whisper in her mind wondering why she wasn’t quite enough for him, and an awkwardness when she bumps into either of them - especially that awful time she got stuck in the lift with said peach blossom girl, neither woman quite knowing where to look. It's enough to push her to resign right after she collects her bonus.

She’s always dreamed of joining the diplomatic corps, and luckily, since she’s fluent in Russian, it’s easy enough for her to land a posting with the Japanese embassy in Moscow. So she chops her hair (she hears that’s what break-ups make girls do), packs her bags and gets on a flight to her next adventure.

Moscow is as colourless and dreary as she imagined, so she wouldn’t have thought a quiet shade of brown might catch her eye as it does when the Japanese embassy hosts a party during New Year’s Day and she meets one Yaku Morisuke, a libero playing in the Russian Volleyball Super League, and from what she hears, a vital member of the Japanese National team.

She can’t help but feel an overwhelming sense of déjà vu when she bumps into him and spills her drink all over his shoes, but it’s eased when he shoots her a wide grin and tells her not to worry even though it’s his favourite pair of shoes.

‘You can teach me Russian over dinner as payment instead’, he tells her cheekily, and he takes her for Russian dumplings, full of beef and pork and potatoes. ‘It’s a little strange but it’s the closest thing I can find to home’, he says, eyes bright. He lets her pay the bill, but insists she let him pay when they go out again.

‘Are we going out again?’ She teases, and feels her heart skip a beat when he pouts at her with puppy-dog eyes. To no one’s surprise, they meet for a second date, then a third, and their days together soon blends into happy memories of ice skating and dumplings and steaming cups of tea.

‘Why don’t you move in with me’, Yaku asks her matter of factly through a mouthful of rice, at the end of her tirade about her awful landlord who just tried to double her rent in less than a year.

Her mouth opens and closes as she processes the thought and her mind moves into overdrive, worrying she’s moving too fast, falling too fast (the spectre of the trainwreck that was her and Keiji buzzing at the back of her mind) - but then she realises she’s being unfair to him.

Because Yaku - or Mori as she now calls him, is nothing like him. He’s short (though she’d never admit it), whereas Keiji is tall. Quick tempered to Keiji’s calm temperament. But more importantly, he delights in spending time with her even after a long, hard day at work, humming contentedly to the songs she sings, and he never shies away from affection - relishes it, rather, pulling her close with the edges of her woollen scarf to kiss her openly on the street.

‘Come on’, he wheedles. ‘We could even adopt a kitten so you won’t be lonely when I’m away for work’, and he laughs fondly when her face lights up.

You drive a hard bargain, but alright’, she pretends to grouse, heart in throat, but echoes his laughter when he triumphantly leans over to press his lips to her cheek.

She - with their cat in tow - returns back to Japan when Mori’s drafted to play for the Japanese team in the Olympics.

‘Akaashi!’ she exclaims, spotting a familiar mop of dark hair in the VIP stand. ‘What are you doing here?’

He waves a friendly hello. ‘I never told you I played volleyball in high school?’ he asks and when she shakes her head, he points to a tall man with grey and white streaks in his dark hair. ‘I used to be Bokuto-san’s setter’, he tells her, pride evident in his calm voice.

‘That’s so cool’, she says cheerfully, checking back to the court to see if Mori’s playing yet. Then she glances at him once over, noticing lines under his eyes that weren’t there before. ‘Keiji’, she says, the once familiar name now foreign on her tongue. ‘How are you?’

‘I’m good’, he replies with a small smile. ‘Surviving. Alright, I guess.’

‘Not married yet?’ she asks playfully.

‘No, we broke up’, he tells her plainly, waving away her apologies. ‘And you?’

‘Nope, not married yet’, she says with a distracted smile.

He wonders if he should seize the moment to tell her what he’s wanted to say when their relationship ended in flames (starting with ‘I’m sorry for everything’, and ending with a hopeful ‘maybe we can try again’) but he stops short when she shouts ‘Mori! Mori!’, as a short, brown haired man steps onto the court.

‘You know Yaku?’ Akaashi asks curiously. Nekoma libero, often overlooked but extremely dangerous - he remembers.

‘He’s my boyfriend’, she chirps, eyes glued to the court. ‘Do you know him too?’

‘We used to play each other in school’, he answers faintly, watching her cheer and wave her hands wildly. She’s happy, he thinks, she’s really moved on - and that thought selfishly makes his stomach sink.

‘He’s a good man’, he finally finds himself telling her.

‘The best’, she agrees, the sparkle in her eyes so bright he’s forced to look away.

He thinks he must be a masochist when he watches her throw herself headfirst into Yaku’s arms at the end of the match, the regretful ‘what ifs’ and ‘that could’ve been me’ thundering in his ears. Still, he knows she deserves someone who’ll always put her first, and with that thought ringing in his mind, he waits until she’s distracted with Bokuto-san’s antics before he steps forward, hand outstretched to Yaku.

‘Take care of her’, Akaashi says with a bittersweet smile. ‘You’re a lucky man’.

Yaku gives him an assessing look. ‘Always’, he promises firmly, taking his hand.

She returns home first, and he follows a few weeks later, after a whirlwind of awards and press interviews.

He breaks into a run when he sees her, swinging her into his arms at the arrival gate, and when they get home she cooks dumplings for him. ‘In case you miss home already’, she tells him teasingly, but flushes when he answers ‘but with you, I am home’, and blushes bright red when he carries her off to bed.

‘I want this to be my forever’, Mori tells her as he lays his head in her lap.

‘So do I’, she replies, her heart humming quietly, finally in safe hands. ‘So do I’.

#haikyuu #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu angst #haikyuu fic rec #haikyuu fluff #haikyu x reader #akaashi keiji #akaashi imagine #akaashi keiji x reader #akaashi headcanons #akaashi angst #yaku morisuke

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wayward-mikaelson · 4 years ago

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I Still Want You, I Still Need You--VII. A Chance (NSFW)

Word Count: 4510

About: A few years have passed and you have adjusted to motherhood. Steve and Tony pay you a visit. You and Steve talk about a moment you guys had.

Characters: Okoye, Olivia (OC), Steve, Tony, Pepper (Mentioned), M’Baku (Mentioned), Bucky (Implied Return)

Pairing: Steve Rogers x Reader

Warnings/Tragger Warnings: Language, Sexual Content (Unprotected-Wrap it before you tap it, Oral-F Receiving)

A/N: This part is bit long cause it’s full of details. Also who knew that about Steve?!

*This contains content meant for the 18 and up crowd. Read at your own discretion

**Please do not copy and paste my work anywhere. Reblogs and sharing the link is just fine.

***This work is posted on other sites

****Go follow my other accounts. Links can be found in the pinned post on my profile.

*****Currently NOT taking requests

******Feedback is welcomed!!

Forever Tags: @hobby27 @donnaintx @myinconnelly1 @elansaidaris @magssteenkamp @440mxs-wife

Marvel Tags: OPEN

Story Tags: @cspr-2 @mysticalfestivalkoala @tanyaherondale @lilithknight1111 @lpzallana @snlsamantha @tomisagod @gloriouspersonbanditrascal @buckysgirl101

Bucky/Sebastian Tags: OPEN

Masterlist

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I Still Want You, I Still Need You Masterlist

VI. Hello, Sweet

Favorite Fics Masterlist

Four years came and went.

You fell naturally into motherhood. Olivia was a good baby. She slept well during the night unless she had been teething up a storm. Those days you drank all the coffee you could. There were days you had a hard time but Okoye was there to help out and so did Steve whenever he came by. Steve and you grew closer as he helped you with Olivia. You called him super Uncle. The love and adoration that was always on Steve’s face, made you feel like you can almost move on. But the idea always scared you.

Olivia was a smart kid. She was a Stark to a T. She got her hands on just about anything and would make things. And for an almost four year old, it was extremely impressive. Impressive that Tony would sent little building kits for her and she would get them done in a few days with your help. She had the attitude of a Stark but she had the heart of a Barnes. Just like Steve predicted.

Your daughter’s facial expressions were one hundred percent Bucky’s. The way smiles played on the corner of her little lips down to the way she expressed herself with her eyes. Her long hair remained dark as well as her blue eyes. She was a miniature version of Bucky. Steve even said that each time he came back to visit, Olivia looked more and more like him.

Olivia was the calm to the the storm you had been through.

She kept you from falling apart.

She kept you whole.

But yet, you never moved on from losing Bucky.

You walked into the lab to find Olivia in the same place you had left her. She obsessed over the erector set Tony sent her. Tony loved to spoil his niece, just like you loved to spoil yours. A few months after Tony and Peppers wedding, Pepper had become pregnant and shortly after Olivia was born, so was Morgan. Whenever you went to visit them, which was the only time you left Wakanda, the two girls were inseparable. It killed you and Tony to see them have to part ways.

“What are you building this time, bug?” you asked as you sat next to her. Her dark hair hung around her face. She had always refused to where hair bands unless it was to bed.

“A rower coatter,” Olivia’s face popped through the hair, a huge smile on her face. The smile took your breath away. “Can you picture it to Unca Twony?” She loved it when you sent her completed works to Tony. And Tony loved it too.

“Sure thing,” you leaned forward and kissed the top of her head. “How about this weekend we go see them? I’m sure Morgan and you can find something in Uncle Tony’s workshop.” Olivia’s eyes lit up when you said Morgan and workshop. When the two of you would visit, Tony and you would find the girls in Tony’s workshop. You had to convince him to make a small space for the girls since they were always found there.

You sat down at your work table and began to fumble with the scrap metal in front of you. You made it your mission to get cleaner and better filtered water to the Border Tribe after discovering their wells were either running dry or had harmful bacteria in them. It took you a week and a lot of using that Stark charm to get M’Baku to agree to your aqueduct like creation.

“All I need to do is come up with good design,” you whispered to yourself.

After an hour of fumbling and putting pieces together. You finally came up with the perfect example. Now, all you need to do is email Tony what you need.

After hitting send on your email, you looked up to see Okoye walk into the lab. Over the last few years, the two of you have grown closer and could count on each other. You trusted her with yours and Olivia’s life.

“Okie,” Olivia shouted and ran to the woman. Okoye knelt down and let Olivia jump into her arms. Okoye had grown so fond of Olivia that she would take her out with the other members of the guard to show her what they were doing. Olivia loved it.

“How are you little Tiger?” Okoye kept the little nickname for Olivia from when she was in the womb. She has proven to be just that too.

“Good,” then off Olivia went back to her little work table. A true Stark never fully leaving their work undone.

“I see you got your aqueduct done,” Okoye came over to you. “When will we be able to get this done?”

“As soon as Tony can send me what I need, we will be able to get it up and running.” You pushed back from the table. “How’s the guard doing? Were they able to get the barrels of water out there?”

Since finding out about the water situation, you and Okoye decided it would be best to send water until you figured out what you needed to do. So Tony sent twelve barrels to fill with water, even though you asked for six. Tony somehow knew you would need more. Once a week Okoye and the guard would swap out six for six new ones. It was a good process.

“They did,” Okoye crossed her arms and watched Olivia. “This water should last more than a week. They had two barrels still full.”

“Good, that gives us enough time to get this thing built and get them water,” You stood up and made your way around the table.

“I haven’t seen Steve around these last few weeks,” Okoye gave you a side eye and smirk.

“I may have made our friendship awkward,” you said walking to get water. You slightly cringe at the last conversation the two of you had about a month ago. Since then Steve only called or texted you. Making the conversations brief.

“How could you make it awkward? It’s not like you two slept together…”Okoye’s chuckle died as she saw your face. “You slept with him, didn’t you?”

You pressed your lips into a thin line. Did you regret it? Nope, it was the first time in years you could let yourself just go like that. Was it the right time for something like that? Nope, but you thought it was and the next morning you had to tell Steve that.

“I did and it was great,” you closed your eyes as you remembered that night. “Then when morning came, some switch flipped and I just couldn’t do it. I wasn’t ready.” Your voice began to shake as you remembered the exact moment you knew you weren’t ready to move on.

Okoye reached out and touched your shoulder. “It’s okay. Someday you will. Tiger will need a father figure to look up to. Steve Rogers is that kind of man.”

Okoye was right. Steve was the right kind of man and you knew deep down you should maybe at least give him a chance. “I’ll call him this evening when I’m settled down for the night.” Then you replayed that night in your head.

The tension.

The kiss.

The feeling of his skin on yours.

The warmth of his breath on your bare skin.

***

You sat on the couch mindlessly flipping through a magazine, while you sipped on your beer. You rarely drank so you always wanted to keep it light. Steve was putting Olivia to bed and seemingly, it sounded like it was going well. She normally tries every kind of tactic to stay up later. When a door opened, you looked up to see Steve walking your way.

“Asleep already?” you asked setting the magazine on the coffee table. “You didn’t drug her did you?”

Steve laughed and sat on the couch next to you. He cracked open a beer and took a long drink. “Nope, she just wanted four stories and by the time I got through the third one, she was out.”

You leaned over and rested your head on Steve’s shoulder. You swore you felt his muscles tense for split second. “You are a life saver!”

Steve gave a light chuckle. “Tell me whats new? How’s Tony and them doing?”

“Still won’t talk to you huh?” you leaned away. You saw the hardness in those blue eyes. Tony still held some feelings towards Steve. You tried a few times to get Tony to just move on and forgive him for whatever it was. But Tony was a Stark.

“Nope,” Steve emphasized the P in nope.

“Well, they're doing good, Liv and I are going to see them next weekend,” you poked your finger into Steve’s arm. “You can come, you know? He’s asks about you too.”

Steve leaned forward and folded his hands. “I can’t,” he said not making eye contact. “I have that group i’ve been leading.”

You stood up with a huff and walked to the small kitchen. “You and your fucking excuses Steve Rogers. You and Tony are like freaking teenage girls who had a stupid fight and wont talk to each other.” You turned to see that Steve had gotten up and had his hands on his hips. “I’m just saying,” you turned to wash the few dishes in the sink. “You guys were the best of friends. You guys hung out almost all the time.”

You didn’t hear Steve come up beside you. You jumped a little but realized he was helping by drying the dishes. “That’s not why I hung out with him. People just assumed that, I just wanted to be closer to you and for the fucking life of me, I couldn’t man up and ask you out.” You rarely ever heard Steve swear. It surprised you each time.

But that wasn’t what made you drop the plate. You looked towards Olivia room and hoped that she didn’t wake up. You were in the clear.

“For years,” Steve continued as he turned to you. You just stood there and stared at the plate in the sink. The water spilling from the faucet, splashing water droplets around the sink. “I watched you with guy after guy. Almost dying in New York and then almost dying in Sokovia. I wouldn’t know what I would have done if you had.” Steve turned you with his hands. You kept your eyes on the ground. “The that day when Bucky went back on ice, that smile you two exchanged, I knew it was too late. I couldn’t be mad. The two you were perfect for each other.”

“Steve…” you stared to say but he shushed you.

“Then you lost Bucky and that literally almost killed.” Steve took his free hand and lifted your face to meet his eyes. They were soft and you saw just about every emotion he was felling. “Seeing you on that building ledge, I didn’t just pull you back for Bucky’s sake. I pulled you back for mine.”

Whatever happened next, it was beyond you. You didn’t know how it happened, but you found yourself closing the gap between you and Steve and pressing your lips firmly to his. His lips were soft and gentle. It was like something took possession of you body. Steve placed both hands on the side of your face and pulled away.

“You’re not kissing me because I told you how felt?” Steve asked resting his forehead on yours.

“I don’t know.” you answered honestly. Your eyes were closed and you were breathing hard. You really weren’t certain why you kissed Steve. He was never more than just a friend. But these last few years he’s been there for you and Olivia. “Just roll with it.”

And Steve did.

Steve pressed his lips back to yours and deepened it. One of his hands slowly makes its way to the back your neck, while the other goes down to you waist. It grips firmly as he backs you into the living room.Your arms instinctively wrapped around his neck. Steve’s tongue slid across your bottom one, causing you to groan.

“Not here,” you slightly pulled away. “My room.”

Steve’s hand left your neck and shot down your waist. Without any effort, he picked up. You wrapped your legs around his waist as he wrapped his strong arms around you. Steve started towards your room. You buried your face into his neck and felt his body tense up and him suck in a breath.

Once in the room and the door closed, Steve had your back pressed to the door. His breath was by your ear. Sending chills down your back and making you ache for him between your legs. “I am going to take my time with you,” he whispered in your ear, sending yet another chill down your back.

“Show you me what you got, Captain,” you rolled your hips into his already hard erection. Even thorough your cotton pajama shorts, you could feel his cock straining against his jeans as it twitched.

Steve’s eyes grew dark as he spun the two of you around and dropped you on the bed. He bent down and pulled your bottoms and underwear. He saw how wet you were without even having to look at your underwear.

“Someone’s excited,” he teased as he tossed the clothes to the side.

You pushed up on your elbows and gave him a smirk. “I can say the same about you.”

Steve smirked and rose an eyebrow before pulling you legs and placing them over his shoulder. “Let’s see if you taste better than you look.” Without another word, you watched as Steve dove in. His lips meeting your clit and his tongue shooting right inside you.

With a gasp, you shoot a hand to push his face further. The way he licked, sucked, and flicked his tongue around, had you shaking and breathing hard. You couldn’t stop whimpering his name as you felt yourself quickly getting towards that edged.

“Steve,” you whimpered. Your legs pulled him closer and you could feel him hum against your clit as his tongue fucked you. The vibration of his hum was what sent you over the edge. You cried out and both your hands and legs pushed Steve further, if that were possible, into you. Your body shook as your orgasm rocked through your body. And Steve still ate at you until your back fell onto the bed.

You lifted your head up to see Steve stand up and discard his clothes. When his cock sprung free, it had you drooling and you wanted it all inside of you. Steve made his way between your legs and looked at your shirt, with his bare hands, he ripped the fabric off your body throwing it behind him. Looking into his eyes, you could see the hunger and lust. He dipped down and kissed you, tasting your release on his lips. He gripped your hands in his and placed them above your head.

“I want to hear you say it again,” Steve mumbled against your lips. You felt himself line up with your entrance.

You know what he meant. “Fuck me, Captain.”

With that, Steve slipped inside you effortlessly. A soft moan escaped your lips letting Steve’s tongue shoot into your mouth. Once he was fully inside you, he waited until you were adjusted before he started to move in and out of you slow. You slowly lifted your hips but Steve used a hand to pin them back.

“I don’t think so, sweetheart,” he hummed as he peppered kisses to your jawline.

“Well,” you wrapped your legs around his waist. “If you don’t do anything about that slow movement, I will have no choice but to take control.”

Steve pulled out all the way and then slammed right back into you. You cried and moaned as he grunted as the pleasurable action was repeated. His cock slid against your wall in the most beautiful way. You arched your back into his chest each time his cock hit your cervix. His pelvic bone rubbed your clit perfectly, making you moaning, whimpering mess under him. The pressure on you hands and hip being pinned, added to the mess you already were in.

Begging him not to stop.

Pleading him to keep going.

Calling him things, you never thought you would call him before.

It all was bringing you closer to the edge.

Soon, Steve’s thrusting slowed but they were still hard and deep. His grunt were deeper, inside his chest. He let go of your hands and hip and wrapped his arms around you. You did the same. You knew you were at the edge and you knew that Steve was close too. You pushed his face up and see could see the love he had in that moment in his eyes. It was all for you.

“Cum for me,” you whispered.

With one hard thrust, Steve spilled right into you and triggered your orgasm. Your bodies shook together and your breaths were still uneven as the both of you came down. Steve pushed himself up and cupped your face with hand. He leaned down and kissed you slowly. There was no hunger behind it. Just love and passion. Then he rolled over and pulled you into his arms before the two of you fell asleep.

In that moment, everything felt right.

Morning came when Steve gently woke you up. He sat on the side of the bed and brushed back some hair. “Hey,” his voice was gentle. “Breakfast is ready and Liv wanted to show you the pancake we made you.”

You sat up and stretched. “What time is it?”

“Eight, you deserved a morning to sleep in. Especially after last night.” Steve leaned in and brushed his lips against yours. “I’ll let you get ready.”

Once you were alone, you slid out of bed and went to the closet. When you turned the light on, your eyes landed on a box that was labeled BUCKY.

***

You were putting things away as you thought about that morning. You had just told Olivia to pick up her space for the day when you turned around and froze. There stood Steve and Tony. Their faces told you that they meant business.

Olivia squealed when she saw the two men and ran towards them. Steve hugged her while he made eye contact with you. Then Olivia jumped into Tony’s arms. He picked her up and he had the biggest smile on his face. She pointed towards her project and mumbled something. Tony’s face just lit up.

“I guess while I’m here, we can get you something else,” He told her as she wiggled out of his arms. “Sorry, dear,” he said as he and Steve approached. “We would have called but what we have to tell you has to be said in person.”

You gulped. Tony’s tone had you wondering what he needed to say. Steve just stood to the side and had his hands on his hips. His eyebrows furrowed. Taking a deep breath you turned to a random guard that was placed there to watch over you guys. “Can you take her to Okoye?”

The woman took Olivia’s hand and walked out with her. You turned to the two men but it was Steve you addressed. “What’s going on?”

“You may want to sit down for this,” Steve said.

You looked to Tony and he nodded. “Okay,” you sat in your chair. “What is it?”

“We may have found a way to bring everyone back.”

You froze. Coolness filled your body and in the wake of it washing over you, goosebumps followed. Your breathing got stuck in your throat as and you grabbed your water and chugged the rest of it. Your ears were ringing and couldn’t hear what was being said by Steve or Tony.

“Let her breath, Rogers,” Tony’s hand was instantly on your back. “Gosh! We said we would ease her into this. Not dump it on her all at once.”

“How?” you choked out.

“Time travel,” Tony gently said as he sat on your table. “Do you remember Scott Lang? Well he helped me make it possible.”

Then you laughed. You laughed so hard that nearly fell out of your chair. “Time travel?” you asked trying to catch your breath. “You guys are going to go back into time and stop Thanos? What would that mean for us? I wouldn’t get Bucky back. 2018 me would still have Bucky and raise a child with him.”

Tony shushed you with his finger on your mouth. “Slow down, little sister. We are going back to get the stones and bring them to our time. Hoping it’ll work.”

You leaned back in your chair and folded your arms across your chest. You stared at Steve, who couldn’t take his eyes off you. “Do you think this will work?” You asked them both.

“We have to try, right?” Steve responded. “We owe it to those we lost. If not, then we just go on with life.”

You took a deep breath and just stared into space. You thought deeply about what was being said. You could get your husband back. Olivia could have her father. But what happens if this doesn’t work? Then you’re heartbroken all over again. You didn’t have the stomach to have such hope that they were serving to you on a silver plater. But yet, here you were taking it. Because that’s that just who you were.

“Okay,” you stood up. “Then I’m coming with you guys.”

“Nope, thats a huge ass pile of nope,” Tony said standing up too. “You missy, are staying here.”

“I agree,” Steve said.

“You have Olivia to care for,” Tony started to say.

“And you have Morgan,” you pointed out.

“She has two parents,” Tony said taking your shoulders in his hands. “Olivia only has one. For now. And if this were to go sideways and something happens to me, I need you there for Pepper.”

You took another deep breath. Tony was right. “Okay.”

“Perfect,” Tony said letting you go. “Now, I am going to go look for my darling niece and buy her something extravagant.” Tony walked out of the lab leaving you and Steve looking at each other.

The tension in the air was almost suffocating. You knew Steve didn’t want to look at you, he kept darting his eyes away from your each time you looked towards him. It wasn’t that the morning after sleeping with him was bad. There wasn’t even an argument. You just simply told him as you held one of Bucky’s shirts with a few tears in eyes that you couldn’t. That you needed some time.

Well, if this time travel thing works, then there goes the time you needed.

“You know,” you walked over to Steve. “I’m getting the feeling that you are partly on board with this.”

Steve looked down at the ground and then back at you. “What makes you say that?”

You made a face at him. “One, I’ve known you for over a decade. Two, you’re looking at me like you want to throw me on something and have your way with me. But you can’t because you’re best friend, also my husband could be coming back.”

Steve cracked a smile that disappeared just as fast. “It’s just horrible timing on my end. I’m fully on board with this.”

“Good,” you started to leave and turned back to Steve. “If this doesn’t work out, I’ll give us a shot. See where us goes.”

“And if Bucky comes back and he finds out about that night?”

“Then I tell him the truth,” you shrugged your shoulders. “In fact, I will just tell him. He’s been gone for five years. He would have expected me to move on. Now, let’s find my brother before he buys Liv something that’s too big to fit in my apartment.”

***

A few days have went by. Tony had sent the stuff you needed to get water to the Border Tribe. You and some volunteers set to work on getting it all started. It was hard long work that you decided to stay in your old house with Olivia. It made it easier to wake up and get to work and let Olivia play with the other children.

On the fourth day, you were ready to break ground when you noticed a change in the air. The same kind of change five years ago. You shook your head and passed it of as just thinking too much into it. You were too tired, you could barely sleep in that house still. You stayed up most nights as your mind raced with memories. And emotions.

“Let’s take a few hours,” you said to the others as you got up. You could barely concentrate. Today was the day that you brother and friends went on that time travel mission. You couldn’t help but worry about it going wrong. You were waiting for word about if it worked or not.

Olivia ran up to you and jumped into your arms. She nuzzled her face into your neck and you let out a soft sigh. She always knew when you needed hugs the most. She pulled back and took your face in her tiny, little hands. Her clear blue eyes stared deep into yours. She didn’t have to say anything to tell you that everything will be fine no matter what happened.

“I wuv you, Mommy,” she said.

“I love you, too, Tiger,” you gave her little butterfly kisses and set her down. “Can you take her back to the lab? I’m gong to take a few minutes and catch up later.”

“Yes, Missus Barnes,” the guard said taking your daughters hand in theirs.

When you alone you started to stare at the supplies in front of you. You wondered if this was actually enough. You wanted this to work so bad, you almost didn’t hear the snap of a twig behind you. You snapped your head up to listen for it again. Taking a deep breath you shook you head and went back to shuffling through the metal before you.

A twig snapped again.

You picked up a thin, but long piece of metal. “Whoever you are, you may want to think twice about who you sneak up on.”

You spun around, swinging the metal as you went. Something, well more like someone stopped your swing. You froze when you realized who had stopped your swing. A chill ran through your body. You know the color drained from your face. Those blue eyes were just as surprised as you were. They searched yours for some kind of answer.

Your hands fell and so did the metal. You took a step back only to lose your footing. He stepped forwards and grabbed your arms pulling you back towards him.

“Careful there, Doll.”

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intomymindspace · 4 years ago

Text

Video Games ✰ Tendou Satori

Video Games covered by The Young Professionals

tendou satori x gn reader

Through the Summer and the Fall // Haikyuu!! Songfic Series

a/n: hi everyone, I'm sorry for a posting a week late! I’ve been really unmotivated as of late for personal stuff but also because I'm lowkey still a little bummed that my Bokuto fic (definitely totally am not plugging it rn - totally do not click the link, ahaha 🥺) didn’t do as well as I hoped it would. But no matter! Here is the Tendou insert, as promised! It’s not the best, and I definitely have a bit of writers block and am behind schedule. I wish I could write his character and for him better considering how much I love him. Next will up be flattykawa 😌 and I will be posting it hopefully soon to help make up for last week’s missed post. I've also changed up this blog and have given it hopefully a better look - there is a new theme on desktop!

Warnings: part 3 spoilers for jojo’s bizarre adventure that include character death, my bb tori being insecure about him and his body but I love him and his flat a$$ so much, and as always, we clown on flattykawa in this household but all in good favor

It was a rainy day, and Tendou was quiet and content as he sat on your bed, reading the new Weekly Shonen Jump magazine that he had just been mailed. He had let Ushijima read it earlier - but as always, he only read the advertisements. You sat beside him on the floor, his long legs dangled off the edge of your bed, his foot brushing your arm every now and then. You were playing the new otome game you had bought a week ago on your console. On days like this, the two of you often fell into comfortable silences when hanging out with each other - and today was no different. There was nothing to do other than school work and go to practice - but even then, it wasn’t necessary for the third years to attend anymore. Not since they lost in the finals against Karasuno.

He was pulled away from the panel he was reading when he heard you gasp - his crimson eyes flitting to your monitor to see what had happened.

“What happened?” You turned around to look up at him, an excited look on your face.

“Murasame Jinnosuke confessed his love for me! I didn’t expect it to happen so fast into the game.” He looked back at the screen to see a handsome samurai on your screen. Snickering, Tendou ruffled your hair.

“Good job, now just see if you can get a real guy to confess his undying love for you.” Squinting at him, you slapped his leg playfully.

“You’re supposed to be nice to me, Tori-kun.”

“When am I not?”

Ever since you had taken the place of Shiratorizawa’s volleyball club manager two years ago as a first year, you quickly bonded with the strange amalgamation of players. It had been a running gag between the third year players to find out what type of guys you liked. You could always be found on your phone during breaks playing otome games - and that was the beginning of the years of playful torment from your fellow classmates.

It wasn’t that you weren’t attractive or that you didn’t gain attention - every Valentines Day you always received several confessions and chocolates, but you always rejected them as kindly as possible. For someone who played as many otome games as you did, they were surprised to say the least when you had always declined the advances of many classmates, saying that they just weren’t your type with a kind smile on your face.

It was Tendou’s turn to squint as he turned his attention back to your screen as you continued to play through the game. He scoffed at some of the things the fictional samurai said to you - what was so special about him anyways?

This is my idea of fun

Playing video games

Tendou shut his manga volume, and he noticed your curious eyes looking at the cover. Smirking playfully at you, he poked your forehead.

“Suddenly interested in pirates?” You sat back, rolling your eyes.

“Maybe. Who’s the character on the front?” He stared down at the covered, humming.

“Shanks. Say, I never thought you were one to go for a tough-looking guy.” He held a mischievous grin on his lips.

“Ha! Sure. Keep thinking that, Tendou.” He feigned a gasp.

“You used my last name too? With no honorific? No nickname? The rudeness! I’m so hurt!” You couldn’t help but egg your friend along.

“Hmm, maybe I should start watching One Piece if he’s in it…” But before Tendou could clap back, Yamagata slid into the seat next to you, a teasing smile on his lips.

“Ah, so that’s your type, huh? Tough-looking guys with scars?” You rolled your eyes at the libero. “I’m pretty tough too, aren’t I?”

“As if.” But it didn’t stop them from the teasing.

So what if you maybe did prefer more muscular guys? Tendou didn’t understand why the thought hurt his feelings so much. He may not have the bulging muscles, but he was just as strong. He sighed to himself, watching you from across the table as you shoved Yamagata playfully. Why would you want to like someone like himself anyways?

It's you, it's you, it's all for you

Everything I do

Tendou entered your dorm room unannounced as he always did - but this time he was surprised to see you in tears as you huddled in your blanket, staring at the tv. The first thing you usually did was banter with him about his bad habit of not knocking, but all he could do is stand shocked in your doorway.

Instantly, his gleeful eyes turned blood red. Shutting your door behind him, he quickly made his way over to you, his eyebrows furrowed, a scowl on his lips.

“Who do I have to beat up?” A million thoughts were running through his head - were you made fun of? Did someone reject you? Did you receive a bad score on an exam? He wrapped his arms around you the second your tear-filled eyes looked up at him.

“Who did it? Who hurt your feelings?” His genuine care and questions only made you cry harder into his chest.

“Dio.” You said, but it was too muffled for him to hear. Pulling back, he gave you a quizzical look. You pointed at the scene that was unfolding on your tv.

“Dio killed Kakyoin.” Tendou immediately smacked a hand to his face. His eyes flickered to the screen to see a tall, muscular character slumped against a water tower, a hole in his torso with text on the screen saying “Kakyoin Noriaki has died.” He couldn't help but laugh.

“You want me to beat up the mighty and powerful vampire lord and stand user, Dio Brando? For killing the guy who licks cherries weird?”

Slapping his arm, you pouted at him through your ugly tears. “Don’t make fun of me! I really liked him.” Tendou kept on snickering as he rubbed your back.

“I know, I’m sorry. But it’s just too funny to just not tease you.”

As ridiculous as it sounded, Tendou wondered if you would ever cry for him the way you cried for Kakyoin. He smiled to himself as he stared down at your face that was still buried in his chest - he hoped you wouldn’t notice how fast his heart was beating at the notion of you coming to him for comfort.

Maybe your type was animated men.

I tell you all the time

Heaven is a place on earth with you

Tendou put his jump comic down and just watched your gameplay - he was too distracted by his thoughts of you to focus on the new chapter of My Hero Academia.

He couldn’t help but pine over you. You had been so open and kind to him from the first time you met him - he remembered that day with ease. You had looked so confident walking into the volleyball gym, introducing yourself to the players as their new manager.

He was genuinely surprised that you weren’t turned away by his quirks - and he was thankful that above all, you treated him just like you treated everyone else.

It seemed so easy for you to become friends with the other first years at the time. You found commonalities with each of them, and you even managed to break Ushijima out of his shell by the time you all first went to nationals. Tendou remembered the hours upon hours that the two of you spent together - whether it was hanging out in the dorm watching animes, giving him tips and encouragement on the court during timeouts, or quality conversations on long bus rides to and from games. If you had never joined as manager, Tendou would’ve never guessed that the two of you would become as close friends as you were now. And he had always been a good guesser.

As he stared at you, controller in your hand, he remembered why he realized he liked you so much - it wasn’t because you shared a strong love for manga and anime. Okay, well, maybe it was, but it wasn’t the commonality. It was because you understood and even empathized with escaping through these fictional stories.

He knew what it was like to want to escape - to want to find paradise away from everyday life. On the court, Tendou could sneak into the small slice of heaven that he visited when he played volleyball. Off the court, he wanted nothing more than to have you safe in his arms as the two of you escaped into the world of whatever show you had chosen to binge that day.

To him, you were just as heavenly as the defeated looks on his opponents’ faces that he craved to see - maybe even more.

Tell me all the things you want to do

I heard that you like the bad girls, honey, is that true?

You squealed excitedly as you waved the game in front of Semi’s face after practice had ended.

“Semi-semi! Look what just came in the mail!” He pushed your hand out of his face, scoffing.

“I can’t see it if you’re rubbing in my face like that, idiot.” The setter had a smile on his face nonetheless, making you laugh as he took a look at the game. His eyes widened.

“No way, Castlevania Judgement?!?!” You nodded proudly, smiling at Tendou and Ushijima as they walked over to see what the commotion was about. The middle blocker gawked at the game you held in your hands - the third years had been talking about the release of it for at least a few months now.

“You jealous? If you want, we can play after dinner.” Semi quickly nodded, and you looked at Tendou and Ushijima for their answers.

“What, when have I ever said no to wanting to play video games with you?” To his reply, the captain simply nodded.

“Thank you for your invite. I am happy to attend as well.”

Tendou and Ushijima sat on the edge of your bed as you and Semi sat in front of your tv, switching the controller after every chapter of the game. Ushijima had no interest in actually playing the game - and Tendou knew he would get a chance to play with you later. Semi was more excited for the game than he was anyways.

You couldn’t contain your excitement as you gushed over one of the main characters, Simon Belmont. From the looks of it, he was a powerful fighter - and Tendou sighed once again - he was super muscular and tough-looking too. You were too invested in the gameplay with Semi, that you weren’t paying attention to the conversation Tendou sparked with Ushijima.

“I don’t get what’s so special about him anyways.” The redhead had a pout on his face, his arms crossed. Ushijima was very aware of the middle blocker’s crush on you - his friend often coming to the captain for his advice. While Ushijima had almost no experience and knowledge at all in terms of dating, he was always observant of the people around him, and was very blunt.

“Tendou-kun, if you like them so much, it would just be better to ask. It is pointless to be jealous over every fictional character they like.” He couldn’t help but gawk at the monotonous tone and the serious look on his captain’s face.

��I’ll raise you a better one. It’s pointless to ask because their standards seem to be so high anyways.” Ushijima couldn’t help but stare at his friend.

“And why should that stop you? They’re not real.” Tendou sighed, exacerbated.

“I get it, I get it! I know they’re not just going to pop out from the screen or anything.”

“But?”

“But that doesn’t mean those aren’t their same standards to people they prefer in real life,” Tendou admitted, and Ushijima knew he hit the reason why. Tendou may be tall, but he was lean and lanky. The muscle he had was nowhere near that of any of the fictional guys you crushed on. What could you possibly want from someone way weaker - someone like him?

“They are not the type of person to go completely for the way someone’s body appears. If that were the case, they should’ve confessed their attraction to either myself or Yamagata by now, based on your logic. Besides, they told me they liked you.” Tendou couldn't help but roll his eyes, placing a hand over his heart.

“Wakatoshi-kun, you wound me. Of course they like me - they wouldn’t be my friend if they didn’t. Couldn't you at least sugar coat your advice sometimes?”

It's better than I ever even knew

They say that the world was built for two

Before the prefectural qualifiers in the fall, Shiratorizawa managed to snag a practice match with none other than Aoba Johsai. While there was clear tension throughout the entire time, the teams kept interactions outside the court lines as light-hearted as possible. Seijoh managed to snag victory during the first match, but Shiratorizawa hit back just as hard, winning the second match.

The boys were currently loading their bags into the bus as you supervised them, reminding them to triple check that they had everything. You were almost caught by surprise when a volleyball rolled towards you, hitting the back of your foot gently.

“Sumimasen.” You heard from several meters behind you, making you turn around. It was the Great King himself, Oikawa Tooru, that was slowly jogging towards you - it almost seemed like he was doing it in slow motion. Your fellow teammates heard the setter, their eyes sneakily following him as he got closer to you. They couldn't help but snicker at their so-called sworn enemy - it was obvious by the way that his aura sparkled around him and the smoulder on his face that he had rolled the ball your way to get your attention.

“I’m so sorry, could you get that for me?” You nodded, a polite smile on your face. The great Oikawa was definitely handsome, to say the least - and Tendou couldn't help the childish frown that filled his features. As you picked up the ball and handed it back to the setter, he flashed you a heart-stopping, pearly white smile.

“Thank you,” he said, taking the ball from you, brushing your fingers in the process. “You are the manager for Shiratorizawa, right? I didn’t catch your name earlier.” Oikawa ran a hand through his silky hair as you gave him your name.

��Wow,” he flashed you another smile, “such a beautiful name for someone just as gorgeous.” Semi couldn’t help but let a snort out at Oikawa’s compliment.

“Thank you.” You took the complement in stride, deciding it would be nice to say something back. “You played great today, Oikawa-san.” He laughed jovially.

“Thank you, you’re very kind. And cute. Would you be interested in catching boba with me sometime? I know a cute place that has good milk tea and milk bread.” Tendou rolled his eyes at Oikawa’s words. It probably was his plan all along - to try to bewitch the manager of Shiratorizawa. When Tendou saw a smile grow on your face, he couldn’t help but feel defeated. Were you actually going to say yes to him?

“I’m very flattered Oikawa-san. But I’m sorry, I must decline your offer.” Oikawa’s eyes widened in surprise. The Great King? Being rejected? “You’re not really my type.” You turned around, making your way onto the bus, leaving Oikawa with his jaw on the ground, the ace on Seijoh’s team as well as your teammates laughing their asses off at the scene that had just unfolded in front of their very eyes.

“That’s what you get, Crappykawa! You should’ve gone to Shiratorizawa!”

“Iwa-chan, that's not funny! I feel like my heart has been broken into thousands of pieces!”

“Well, if they’re gonna hit it, they better hit it til it breaks!”

“Pfft, I’m actually not surprised they didn’t say yes to him.” Semi commented, placing his duffle bag into the storage compartment. Tendou’s head quirked at the statement.

“Why’s that?” Reon asked, storing his things as well, making Semi and Yamagata snicker.

“Did you see how flat his ass was? I’m 100% sure their type is thicker guys. Like their ace, or something.” The three of them burst into laughter, Tendou only slightly laughing along as well. Ushijima only grunted in disagreement as he shut the compartment’s door.

“I believe their type is actually redheads.” All of the third years looked at their captain with wide eyes and dead silence - before laughing even harder. Semi slapped Ushijima’s bicep lightly, bending over. Tendou’s eyes widened - Ushijima was not the type to joke around, right?

“I didn’t think you actually knew how to crack jokes, Ushijima-kun!” The olive-haired man only looked down at his fellow third years in confusion.

“I am not joking. I simply just decided to ask them earlier, and I am only relaying the answer they gave me.” They couldn’t help but bend over, Yamagata even wiping tears from all the laughing.

“Stop! Your bluntness is only making it worse!” By the way the rest of his teammates reacted, Tendou believed Ushijima really must have been joking - in his own way. He had just picked a hair color different from Oikawa’s, right?

“Good one, Wakatoshi-kun.” Tendou let out a chuckle, giving his friend a smile that didn’t quite reach his eyes.

Only worth living if somebody is loving you

And baby, now you do

Tendou’s eyes widened as he relieved all the memories. Was Ushijima actually serious? He had never asked his friend about it - but perhaps it was because he was too scared to actually know the truth. Quickly, Tendou pulled out his phone and googled each of the characters - Shanks, Kakyoin, and Simon. The samurai was still on your screen, and he flipped through the tabs on his internet browser, trying to find the similarities.

Obviously, they were all built rather strong - but Tendou couldn’t get what Ushijima said out of his head. They were all redheads, after all. Why hadn’t he noticed this before? He looked back at you, your attention still on the otome game. Should he ask you? Would it be weird? Tendou thought about texting Ushijima, but he quickly decided not to. He already knew what his friend would say. Right after he called your name gently, you set down the controller and turned to look up at him.

“What’s up, Tori-kun?” He had never felt this nervous before - it wasn’t even like he was going to confess to you or anything either.

“Uh - what’s your type? Like, in guys? I promise I won’t tease you this time, I just want to know.” Surprisingly, you smirked at him. What were you thinking?

“You gonna brag to Eita and Yato that you finally found out after all these years?” The apparent blush on Tendou’s cheeks only spread further.

“What? No, I wouldn’t do that… Unless I had to,” he said, trying his best to come off as his usual teasing self. This only made you snicker at him.

“I’m surprised you guys haven’t beat it out of Toshi-kun yet. I already told him a few months ago.” Tendou’s eyes widened at what you said.

“Huh?” You rolled your eyes at him.

“Yeah.” He couldn’t believe how casual you were about it. You were always so hellbent on keeping it from them - but perhaps it was because they made such a big deal out of it in the first place. Tendou didn’t exactly know how to respond to you - he was still trying to process the realization. So he had guessed wrong this whole time?

After sitting in silence for a couple of seconds, you gave him a playful smile. “Redheads,” you said, turning around and picking up your controller. Ushijima’s words echoed with yours in his brain.

Besides, they told me they liked you. Tendou let out a choked noise.

“I’ve made a mistake!”

You burst out laughing at Tendou’s exclamation. Setting your controller down once more, you stood up and turned, leaning your elbows against your bed. “You guys really are that oblivious, huh? Even Toshi-kun saw that I liked you. He went so far as to ask me about it too.” You propped up your head with your hand, staring at him. Getting past his initial shock, Tendou settled back down.

“How shallow of you,” he teased, leaning his head closer to yours. “I can’t believe the only reason why you like me is because my hair is red, yanno?” In return, you inched your face up closer to his as if you were challenging him.

“I know,” you said smugly, your eyes flickering down to his lips, “I’m such an awful friend. I’ll only break your heart once I replace you with another redhead.” He smirked as he noticed where your eyes had glanced. Tendou may have been oblivious, but he wasn’t called the Guess Monster for nothing.

“I’m guessing that you want to kiss me right now, hmm?” He asked quietly, dangerously moving closer to you - your faces now only mere inches apart. A blush crept onto both of your cheeks. You answered back, your voice nearly a whisper.

“Why don’t you find out for yourself, Guess Monster?”

Immediately, Tendou closed the distance between the two of you. Your lips were warm and soft, making him wish he had at least put on chapstick earlier. His heart was beating so hard inside of his chest that he was afraid you’d hear it, but you said nothing as the two of you pulled away. Saying nothing, he only smiled as he traced his fingers up your neck, cupping your jaw. Pulling you into a deeper kiss, he sighed contentedly as he felt your hands trail up his torso.

Kissing you felt like paradise.

As always, thank you so much for reading!! please like, reblog, and follow 🥺

~ Crystal

through the summer and the fall masterlist

blog masterlist

buy me a ko-fi! (but only if you want to and can)

BONUS

The following day, Tendou met you at your door to walk with you to lunch. With your hand in his, the two of you took your sweet time making your way to the cafeteria to meet up with the other third years. Today, Coach Washijo had asked for them to play a practice match against the Miyagi first years he was holding a training camp for. You decided to tag along since you had nothing planned to do for the weekend.

As you talked about a weird dream you had, Tendou couldn’t help but gaze adoringly at you - he couldn’t believe that you liked him, or that you were actually dating him now even if it had only been about twelve hours. The two of you waited in the lunch line, his chin resting on top of your head as he held both of your hands from behind you - it felt so natural to touch you. He could tell that people were staring - but none of it mattered when all he needed was the sound of your excited voice and the blatant look of love in your eyes.

Stepping away from your back slightly, he moved forward to gently place a kiss on your cheek - and that's when he heard the yells. The both of you turned to find your fellow third and second years staring at the two of you with wide eyes and mouths catching flies. Goshiki accompanied the team as well, his face beat red. Ushijima was behind the flustered first year, a rare half-smile on his face.

“Afternoon guys!” You had said it so casually as you leaned back into Tendou’s arms, allowing him to place a cheeky kiss on your temple - making Semi gag and Yamagata nearly tear up.

“I did tell you all that they preferred redheads.”

#tendou x reader #Tendou Satori x reader #tendou imagine #Tendou Satori imagine #tendou reader insert #Tendou Satori reader insert #haikyuu imagines #haikyuu reader insert #through the summer and the fall #intomymindspace #tendo x reader #tendo satori x reader

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suituuup · 4 years ago

Photo

pieces - chapter three

Five years ago, Chloe dropped off the face of the Earth. Beca sees her again in the most unexpected place.

rated: E for drug use and sex scenes

AO3 LINK

“Bec?”

Beca hummed absentmindedly, blinking out of her daze and twisting her head in the direction of the voice.

Sarah smiled gently as she leaned against the doorframe of the kitchen. She cocked an eyebrow, giving a pointed look towards the sink. “I think the pan is clean.”

Beca glanced down, stilling her movements. She had been scrubbing that pan for probably ten minutes now, her thoughts completely consumed by Chloe and what she was supposed to do next.

Chloe clearly didn’t want to see her, and Beca wasn’t going to wait by the phone when it was clear that Chloe was far from okay. She was thinner than Beca remembered, and the look in her eye, the lack of light in those once bright blues, chilled Beca to the bone.

She looked… broken. As though her spirit had repeatedly been battered until all that was left were mere pieces of her old self.

If there were any left at all.

Beca couldn’t stand the thought of not doing anything, and she needed to come up with a plan to help Chloe without driving her into a corner and risk losing her forever.

“What’s going on?” Sarah questioned, pushing off the doorframe and padding over. She rested her hand between Beca’s shoulder blades, her eyebrows knitted together in concern. “You’ve seemed off today.”

Beca released a sigh, setting the pan down into the sink and reaching for the dishtowel laying next to her on the counter to dry her hands. “I’m sorry, I’m just… worried about a friend.”

Sarah nodded slowly. “Do you want to talk about it?”

Sarah was unexpected, to say the least. Beca was a workaholic, and her career was too time-consuming for her to get into the whole dating thing. But Sarah, who happened to work as a barista in Beca’s favorite independent coffee shop, had somehow managed to convince Beca to go out with her. One dinner surprisingly turned into a second date, then a third, and it just like that, it had been almost a year since they officially got together.

Sarah was gentle, patient, understanding, overflowing with positivity, but most of all, incredibly kind. She reminded Beca of Chloe, sometimes. And maybe it was those similar personality traits that drew Beca to her in the first place.

They didn’t live together. Beca could feel that it was the next expected step on her girlfriend’s end, but she didn’t feel ready to commit, yet. She liked her own space, her solitude. So Sarah spent a few nights a week at Beca’s place, like tonight, and Beca was fine with that.

“Not really,” she replied, casting Sarah an apologetic smile. “I’m sorry, it’s just-- complicated right now.”

“You need to stop apologizing,” Sarah murmured, her expression soft and loving. Beca let her shoulders sag, ready to apologize again. “I understand. But if you do change your mind and need to let something off your chest, I’m here.”

Beca nodded. “Thanks.”

“Are you coming to bed?”

“Not yet, I wanna get some work done, first.” She leaned in to peck Sarah’s lips. “You go ahead, I’ll join you soon.”

Walking across the living room and past the huge floor to ceiling windows looking over Central Park, Beca made her way to her home office, her happy place. She had bought the Manhattan condo two years ago, making it a requirement during her house-hunt to have a large room with plenty of light and enough space to store all her records and her music equipment. It was also where she kept her Grammys and other prizes, away from the attention as nobody really stepped into her office.

She usually popped a blues album on the record player, enjoying the soothing instrumentals while she replied to various emails, but not tonight. Tonight, she grabbed a yellow legal notepad and her headphones from her desk and curled up on the leather couch tucked in the far corner, then scrolled to her Spotify playlists until she found the one she was looking for.

she is magic

Beca couldn’t remember the last time she had listened to her Chloe playlist, one she had made back in Barden when she was hopelessly in love with her best friend. They were songs that reminded her of Chloe, or songs that Chloe liked. Or used to like, at least.

As lyrics she knew so well poured into her headphones, blocking out the rest of the world, different ones flowed out of Beca’s heart, materializing on the paper in front of her in black ink as she scribbled across the page. Lyrics about friendship, unrequited love, and regrets for listening to her brain and not her heart all these years ago.

It was pushing on two am by the time Beca called it a night. Her eyes burned, her mind felt mushy, but her soul felt a tiny bit lighter. Music had always been her therapy, and writing songs had always proved more efficient than paying a licensed professional, even though it had been years since Beca had last finished one, for lack of inspiration.

Or rather, because of the absence of her muse.

She woke up five hours later to a stiff neck and sore back, the bright sunlight pouring in from the windows lining one of her office walls drawing her from her sleep. She had meant to go to bed, before deciding to close her eyes for five minutes right on the couch.

Straightening with a groan, she grabbed her phone and turned it over, hoping to see a text from an unknown number on her screen.

Aubrey Posen [6:23am]

Any news?

Aubrey Posen [6:37am]

Should I come to New York?

Aubrey practiced family law up in Boston. She and Beca saw each other a few times a year, whenever Aubrey was in the city. Bella reunions were a bit more scarce now, with the girls being scattered all around the country. Their last one dated back to a year and a half ago, on the Fourth of July.

Beca ran a hand over her face and heaved out a sigh, swiping her thumb across the screen to unlock it.

Beca [7:16am]

No news yet. I think I’m gonna wait a few days before I head back to the club, if she doesn’t call in the meantime that is. The manager gave me serious sleazy vibes and I’m sure he could blacklist me if I’m too insistent. I don’t think there’s any need for you to come down for now. I’ll keep you posted.

Hitting send, Beca pushed to her feet and shuffled out of her office, hanging a left down the hall towards the kitchen. A note next to her coffee thermos sat on the island.

Missed you last night, but I hope you got whatever you needed done. I had to leave for my shift, you’re welcome to swing by for your second coffee of the day and your morning kiss ;) have a good day!

Sarah xx

Guilt swooped in over picking old feelings about an ex-almost over her girlfriend, and Beca let her head hang forward, releasing a grown. She was far from an expert at this relationship thing, but she cared about Sarah a lot and didn’t want to mess that up.

Beca shook off the sleepiness lingering in her bones and the stiffness in her muscles with a long, hot shower, then got ready for her day. She usually got to the office at 8 sharp, but it was already 7:54 by the time she was out the door, and her commute lasted about twenty minutes, so she wouldn’t get the chance to stop by Sarah’s workplace.

To: Sarah

I’m sorry, I got caught up in work last night and ended up falling asleep on the couch around 2. Come over tonight? I’ll cook dinner. Have a good shift.

Her morning was spent in the studio canning vocals for girl in red’s new album, a project Beca was stocked about as she was BMLJ’s most promising artist for this year’s Grammy Awards.

“That was awesome, Marie,” Beca spoke into the microphone, giving her a thumbs-up through the glass. “Let’s take a lunch break and resume in an hour?”

“Sounds good,” the younger woman agreed with a smile as she took off her headphones.

Beca headed back to her office down the hall and checked her phone for any new messages (finding none important), before shrugging on her thick winter coat and screwing her beanie over her head.

“I’ll be back in an hour, Gina!” She told her assistant on route to the elevator.

As Sarah’s workplace was just five blocks south from the label, Beca figured she would eat lunch there as she wasn’t able to stop by that morning. She stopped in the convenience store across the street from the coffee shop to buy Sarah her favorite magazine as she knew her break was coming up soon and she’d have something to read.

Beca was scanning the press stand for that specific magazine, not paying attention to the person walking into the store until they spoke.

“A pack of Marlboro, please.”

Beca would recognize that voice anywhere. Her head snapped up so fast she felt something in her neck pull, and she was rounding the stand before she even registered giving her feet the order to move. “Chloe?”

Chloe glanced over to her right and froze for a second, before fishing for a twenty in her jacket pocket and handing it to the cashier. “Are you following me or something?”

Given their last encounter, Beca wasn’t surprised by Chloe’s snark, so she gave as good as she got. “You came in after I did, so maybe I should ask you that question.”

Chloe stuffed the cigarette pack and the change into her pocket. “What do you want, Beca?”

“To talk,” she replied, softly. “One coffee, that’s it. And if you decide you really don’t want me in your life, then I won’t bother you again. I promise.”

Chloe seemed to ponder on that for a few beats. “One coffee.”

“There’s a shop right across the street.”

Taking her to the place her girlfriend worked at? Probably not the brightest idea, but she was afraid Chloe might go back on her decision if they spent too long finding someplace else.

When Chloe nodded, Beca took the lead and stepped outside, forgetting all about that magazine as she racked her brain about what she should say. Tactfulness wasn’t her greatest suit; Aubrey would be so much better at this.

They stepped inside Devocion and Beca picked a table in the corner, shrugging off her coat and draping it over the back of her chair. Chloe kept her jacket and beanie on, a bit hunched on herself as she sat down in the chair opposite Beca’s.

“Beca?”

Beca glanced towards Sarah as she approached, wearing a waist apron with the café logo on it. Her dark blonde hair was woven back in a French braid, a few strands escaping, and curiosity swirled in her green eyes as they flickered to Chloe.

Okay, in hindsight, bringing Chloe here was a terrible idea.

“Hey, um, Sarah, this is Chloe, a friend from college.” She cleared her throat. “Chloe, this is my girlfriend, Sarah.”

“Nice to meet you,” Sarah replied brightly, her smile fading a little when all Chloe offered was a distant nod. Sarah met Beca’s gaze briefly, clearing her throat. “What can I get you guys?”

“My usual. You want anything to eat, Chlo?”

The nickname rolled off her tongue so naturally, Beca didn’t even catch it.

Chloe shook her head. “Just a black coffee.”

“Coming right up.”

“Thanks,” Beca said as Sarah spun around on her heels, her focus shifting to Chloe. “So um, I wanted to apologize for the other day and putting you on the spot at the club. I just… wasn’t sure how else to talk to you.”

“I can give you some of the money back if you need it.”

Beca furrowed her brow, not having expected that. “No, no. I… it’s fine. I don’t care about money.”

Something flashed in Chloe’s eyes at that, something Beca couldn’t quite pinpoint.

Sarah came back with two coffees before she could analyze it further, setting the mugs down on the table. “Your club sandwich will be here in a few, babe.”

Beca nodded, casting her a small, appreciative smile.

Chloe straightened a bit in her seat, cradling the mug with both hands. “I’m not sure what you expect me to say or do, Beca.”

Beca licked her lips. “I was hoping we could… hang out from time to time. I’ve missed you, Chlo. So has Aubrey.”

The mention of Aubrey made Chloe lookup. “Does she live in New York, too?”

“Um no, in Boston. She’s a lawyer. But she’d come down to have coffee, or lunch, or whatever you feel like doing. In a heartbeat.”

Chloe shook her head. “I don’t think that’s a good idea.”

What little hope flared in the pit of Beca’s belly upon Chloe showing interest in Aubrey’s life vanished. “Why not?”

“I told you. I’m not the same person anymore. I’m-- I’m not…”

Beca tilted her head to the side. “You’re not what?” She pressed gently.

Chloe’s gaze fleeted out the window as her rather calm demeanor now radiated agitation. Her knee started bouncing and her fingers tightened around the mug, and it was as though Chloe was battling against her own thoughts.

She was itching to reach across the table to rest her hand over her wrist in a sort of grounding gesture, but something told her that would have the opposite effect.

“Chloe?” Beca attempted once more, her voice as soft as she could muster, as it seemed like Chloe was on the brink of bolting.

The tear slipping out of Chloe’s eye tore her heart into two. “I-I have to go.”

Her chair screeched as she pushed it back roughly, and she was nearly out the door by the time Beca scrambled to her feet.

It was lunch-hour rush in one of the busiest avenues in Manhattan, and Chloe had already disappeared in the crowd when she reached the exit, leaving Beca to helplessly wonder how someone like Chloe, once the epitome of sunshine, got herself trapped in so much darkness.

#bechloe #bechloe fanfic #bechloe fic #beca mitchell #chloe beale #pieces

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gyllenhaalstories · 4 years ago

Note

Can you write more of best friend Jake, like a third part?

CLICK THE SOURCE LINK BELOW TO BE REDIRECTED TO THE SECOND PART (which will also lead you to the first part) <3

how about some angst, anon? listen to no light, no light by florence + the machine for vibes!

(warnings: death of a parent, blood, injury, sexual content... this also got very long)

You and Jake have been friends for a few years already. Two peas in a pod. Telepathically connected. Soulmates. You get the whole picture.

But what if you lost all of it?

Jake was in talks for a big movie. Probably the biggest production of his whole life. The director, the producer, the rest of the cast... Let’s just say it was an express ticket to the Academy Awards. But filming happened at the same time as your mother died. So he turned down the role, offering it for someone much less fitting for the part (I am the only human on Earth who doesn’t like Leonardo DiCaprio, so let’s give it to him for funsies).

You were so thankful. He did not even care about giving up the role of a lifetime, you were devastated and in shock and in need of support. He understood you better than anybody else. He knew what you needed, whether it was a hug or some distance and time alone. He helped you with the funerals. He was a member of the family, at this point. Your mother even wrote in her will to give her collection of vinyls to Jake, who always complimented her on her music taste. He was there during the ceremony, offering you tissues to dry your tears or his hand to hold.

He was there afterwards, for all of the weeks and months you spent feeling dead inside. He was there. He did silly stuff to make you smile, he brought you to fun travel spots like the Hamptons. Why the Hamptons? So you could judge the rich ass people and laugh.

Months went by, you truly believed your friendship was better and stronger than ever.

The Oscars ceremony was playing on television that night. You had forgotten about Jake’s role, but it all came back to you now. Jake attended the ceremony with his sister as his date. It was supposed to be you, but he did not want to pressure you. And you watched the whole thing on tv, waiting until the last categories which included best actor. Leonardo won, easily. He even made a joke, thanking Jake for giving him his second award.

Jake texted you from the after party. He sent you photos of Chris Evans being a total gentleman to literally everyone and everything (he even sent you a clip of Chris holding the door for one minute straight just in case someone walked in and needed help). He sent you photos of Jared Leto and his crazy Gucci suit. He sent you photos of Maggie drinking two flutes of champagne in your honour, followed by a video of her drunkenly singing I love youuuuuu.

And you were not even replying. You were crying. Throwing things around. You were so mad and felt so guilty.

Jake was worried, so he stopped at your place after the party (he had left early). He had a key, so he just walked in and called out your name. And he found you: crying on the floor, your hand had blood stains on it, just like the vase of glass picture frame that was not scattered on the floor, a photo of Jake and you was shredded to pieces.

He ran to grab bandaids and placed one on your wound. “It’s okay, I’m here” Jake tried to hold you tight but you kicked him away. “You’re always here! It should have been you winning this stupid award! It should have been you doing this movie! It should have been you...” Doing this, and that. You yelled that you were responsible for his career slowing down. You told him you were just a burden for him and that he deserved better of a friend than someone who stopped him from being happy.

You didn’t understand that all he needed to be happy was you.

Jake left, knowing you probably needed some time to think.

You never called him or texted him. He tried, but you never picked up the phone or you pretended to never be home when he stopped by. You had one of your friends ask him for your spare key, for your belongings you left at his place in exchange of the ones he left at yours. It was radio silence. You were miserable, and so was Jake.

Jake took on a new role, a much crappier one but it was an easy paycheck. And there was a rumour he was having a fling with his co star, whoever she was you did not even care. Actually you did, but you decided to never check the medias or read magazines that talked about Jake.

Your mutual friend group split up, some remained closer to Jake and others to you. They tried to talk some sense into you, to make you understand that if Jake wanted to focus on his work instead of you, he would have done it. Your friends slowly understood that this was more than a friendship ending. It was a breakup.

You broke up with Jake because you felt like you were holding him back. You broke up with Jake because you wanted him to bloom, to enjoy the remaining years of his career to get the recognition he always deserved. You broke up with Jake because you loved him so much it terrified you.

And deep down, you knew he loved you too and that was even worse.

Eventually, a whole year had passed without hearing Jake’s raspy morning voice during your sleepovers, without his hand holding yours tight, without stealing his beanies when it was cold, without listening to voicemails when he had to explain you a joke but he just laughed the whole time. Fuck, you missed him.

And he missed you too. This romance with his co star? It was bullshit. They had sex one and she just assumed they were a thing but he never cared about her. He only cared about you.

One time, you went to the grocery store. You were with a friend. You grabbed two different bottles of maple syrup. “Do you want the one from Vermont or from Canada?”

“Actually, I have some cool theory about Canada.”

You did not even need to turn around to recognize this voice. It was shy, it was trembling, just like your chin. It was the biggest déjà vu of your life.

You both paid for your groceries and you were magically parked right next to each other. Jake would spot your car in a full parking, you had a small stuffed animal squeezed under the windshield. He bought it for you years ago, knowing sometimes you got scared to drive when it was dark or icy or snowy. He was keeping you safe.

You stood in the parking lot like two idiots. It was cold. He invited you in his car, and you were now sitting in silence like two idiots.

He changed so much, but he was the exact same as when you left him. His hair was longer. He had a few more wrinkles at the corner of his eyes, you wanted to kiss them tenderly. He was wearing that emerald green hoodie that was just so soft you stole it from him just to sleep with it at night when he wasn’t there.

“I bought you something for the holidays, and for Valentine’s day, and for your birthday...” Jake shrugged.

You put on your seat belt. You could get a cab and drive your car back home another time. Jake did not lose time and headed to his place. Presents were piling up in the living room, with deflated balloons and tons of scrunched balls of paper. It was so sad that it was beautiful.

You two spent the evening catching up. You learned that his production company was doing better than ever. He learned that you quit your job recently because your stupid boss refused to give you the promotion you deserved. You learned that Leo, his dog, missed you. His sister too, his nieces too. You told him your dad brought him up in every conversation.

You told him you missed him. He told you he missed you too. It was an euphemism.

You straddled his waist, driven by an adrenaline rush. And you kissed. You made out, it was sloppy and hungry and sad. You both let out a few tears.

He guided you to the bedroom.

And you made love for the first time, the first time since you missed him.

You woke up the next morning, you felt different. His warm body was holding yours as he spooned you. His arm was so tight around you that you just knew it would leave a mark. He was scared you’d leave without him knowing.

You felt warm. You felt good. You felt happy. You felt home.

Home is not a place. It’s not your parents’ house, it’s not your apartment, it’s not that park bench you always sat on to watch people run and walk their dogs. Home is not a place, it’s a person.

You were Jake’s person, he was yours.

You started working at Nine Stories Productions. You were not just Jake’s assistant, you were the head of the communication team. You promoted the company and the projects he supported. You worked with Jake, with Riva and with their other employees.

You moved in with him, finally.

He proposed in London, after he was done with playing Sunday in the park with George.

You got married, a very small and private ceremony. It was his family, it was your dad. You knew your mom was there too. She was looking over the two of you.

Or should I say the three?

#Anonymous #jake gyllenhaal imagine #jake gyllenhaal fluff #jake gyllenhaal x reader #topic: bff!jake #jake gyllenhaal x you

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sniperwithasmoke · 3 years ago

Note

The box is posted to him, each of the three books inside individually wrapped in marbled green paper and bubble wrap. On top, a card. The front, a simple scripted Happy Birthday, inside, her handwriting she managed to take her time with to keep legible. As loathe as I am to give these up, I think you’ll manage to appreciate them more. Swing by when you’re free, we’ll play chess. You’ll have to let me know if you want me to let you win or not. xx, R

Two of the books are first editions, The Mysterious Affair at Styles and The Murder on the Links. The third isn’t a book at all, but a box built to look like one, holding original copies of The Strand Magazine, issues 587-597.

it isn't that he doesn't receive the box on time, it's just that his tuesday night was a little... well. tuesday is high stakes poker night at the key & crown and maybe forty-eight hits a little harder than he expects.

so, when the room finally stops spinning every time he stands, and when he has the wherewithal to remember he hasn't checked the post since the weekend, he comes across the box. a brow rises at the card and he's harbouring a grin as he tears at the packaging. bash lets out a low whistle, unwrapping the first book with the care he shows while cleaning his favourite rifles. he doesn't linger much on how she remembers his silly, throw-away comments about poirot being a better detective, fictional as he is, than holmes could ever hope to be, in the flesh, but he isn't about to complain. he pulls the wrapping from the other two in kind and he thinks rei might deserve a win or three at chess for these gifts alone.

bash grabs his phone from the table, tossing the box to the centre of the room for kali to curl up in, and sends his thanks.

[ text ] : i hope i'm not too late to take you up on that game of chess

#belated birthday bash(er).#ANSWERED.#outworthsnobleblood

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gobsnacc · 4 years ago

Text

The wizards tower

(Looks something sort of like this, but not exactly. This is just a reference photo from my sims game)

HISTORY:

The wizards tower is actually an old prison tower that used to house all of river rock ridges most notorious criminals. It was a solitary grey stone tower made to look like a castle turret, (but with a spire hood. ) placed on an island in the middle of a lake infested with crocdillians and piranha, in the middle of a dark forest said to be cursed by a witch.

The tower fell into ruin and disuse after the last warden was killed in a riot, the remaining prisoners trying to flee in the lake were killed by the deadly creatures within, and their spirits haunted the tower, island, lake and surrounding forest. But that was over fifty years before svetza was even born.

DISCOVERY:

Everyone in river rock ridge avoided the area, save for the stupid or the brave. (Is there really a difference?) that is until Svetza graduated magic school and came home with an odd cast of friends. The goblin now wizard took her merry band of misfits into the forest, across the lake, and right into the tower.And this is what they found.

The forest had been cursed by a scorned lover who also happened to be a witch, his wife left him for the last warden of the tower. The curse was set to destroy the wardens life and work, it made the forest deadly with poison mist whick floated to the island across the lake, drove the prisoners mad and started the riot. The lake was already dying due to the over salinity of its waters and overpopulation of creatures. The tower, its grounds, the lake and forest were all indeed haunted by the spirits of the numerous dead men.

Healing

So Svetza and levi, set out to heal it.

Levi the vampire was well versed in the was of exorsims due to his many years of life and love of the occult. Cleansed the area of any spirits that remained tied to or were drawn to the towers forest.

Svetza being a wizard fresh from school, knew plenty of counter curses to help lift the curse on the area.

Svetza and levi having deep connections with the earth were able to use those connections to clense, heal, balance and bring nutriants back into the forest, its soil, the lake and its plants and waters, and the island with its rock, soil and plants.

Svetza being somewhat unhinged and Levi damn near unkillable, the pair then dove into the lake to catch all the terrible creatures with in that they then relocated to more appropriate areas needing those types of creatures. Finally employed a spell to clean all the salt from the water leaving it now a fresh water system. (Levi purified the salt and uses it in potions, svetza and uses it in her cooking)

Construction and landscaping

Levi having lived so long and owned so many properties, and svetza being a learn and fix it yourself kinda gal, they rebuilt the crumbling infrastructure of the stone tower, dug out/designed and built a large basement for the tower, in the islands heart.

Svetza modernized it with central heating/cooling. Electricity. Heated and cooled water. Temperature controlled the basement. Vaulted all the floos except the ground level floor.

Svetza then placing magical enhancements, wards and other magical defences.

Levi and svetza grew two gardents, the left a potions ingredients garden , the right one an edible garden for cooking.

The tower now and its setup

All manner of magical, non magical, human and nonhuman clientelle and gawkers can be found in and around the towers walls and premisis.

Basement level

Running Along the back wall is the potions storage. All ingredients for potions are catagorized and stored here.

To the left of the hallway

immediately under/behind the potions storeroom is Levis potions lab, Its where the vampiric apothecary makes his shops inventory.

Directly below his lab are two food storage rooms, the left most one a cold storage, refrigeration and freezer units can be found within. To the right of that is the dry storage room. Dry, canned, and jarred goods as well as extra kitchen equipment can be found in there.

To the right of the hallway

Immediately under/behind the potions storeroom is Svetzas potions lab, its where she makes specialty potions for whatever is needed wherever. Usually for journeys or jobs.

Drectly below that, connected by a shelved door is svetzas wizards lab. In here is where she does summonings, Or seances, spells items, counter hexes items, hexes items, makes wands m, staffs, and brooms or tweakes her own magical items and so on.

In the very front of the basement, also running along the wall is the Library, all manner of important or rare magical documents, books, maps and information can be found within. To the left of that is a reading nook where books can be read or copied into other books. But they can never leave the library. The librarian (yet un-created) frequently does restorations down there of old or damaged texts.

Random important basement facts.

Both potions labs are connected to the store room by conceked shelved doors.

The wizard lab can also be accessed by a halway door.

The labs are highly spelled, charmed, and warded to keep them exceptionally safe for the potions masters within, and all the rest of the rooms outside of them. They are BLAST, DEMON, FIRE, EARTHQUAKE and FLOOD, PROOF. They are arguably the most secure rooms in the tower, and for good reason.

Each potions lab has a plaque over the door that glows with the words “IN USE” when someones brewing potions or doing spellwork, that way they arent disturbed.

There is a doorway under the basement stairs that opens to a wall. (Ill tell you what it does later.)

The library is protected not only by the librarian, but by spelled suits of armor. They act as defenders of the library should anyone manage to break in or try to steal anything.

Not pictured: bathroom in the bottom left hand corner.

Ground floor

The ground floor is cozy cafe. Food and drink can be eaten while waiting to be directed to whomevers help you needed.

Svetza and levi rotate for the cooking or baking.

Everyone rotates on welcome duty.

An alarm chimes in the home and on everyones shell phones when someone enters the ground floor cafe should no one be around. That way SOMEONE can handle helping them.

The bookshelves inside are filled with fun reading material, like how to join a coven or what to do on a full moon to respect your werewolf neighbor. Silly things, magazines of various kinds, advertisements for shops in town, childrens books, board games and so on.

There is a back door that does not lead outside. (Ill tell you why later)

Not pictured: bathroom in the bottom left hand corner

Second floor - Apothecary shop

The shelves are filled with pre brewed and some mass produced potions.

The shelves in the upper left hand corner are special order potions and magical items.

The book on the podium is actually an in shop catalog folks can look at to help them find what they are looking for.

You use little cauldrons to shop with and all goodies are sent home in little coffins. Any bottles and coffins brought back get you a discount on your next order.

In case of spills there is a wash station in the upper right hand corner of the shop.

There is a back door despite being on the second floor that does not lead outside (Ill tell you why later)

Not pictured: bathroom in the bottom lefthand corner

Third floor - wizards office and antiquities shop and rentals

All the shelves in her office are filled with magical items. Some are cursed, some arent. Almost all of them are either for rent or sale depending on a case by case basis.

Svetzas desk where she does buisness with clients.

Her desk has little candy dispensers for clients. They do magical things like smoke or change colour to help keep things light hearted.

The shelves nearest her desk on either side are actually file cabnits with client information and requests.

In the upper right hand corner of her office is a set of cabnits with special order items (either quested or created) for clients, and the extremely dangerous items that are not to be rented or sold ever.

Behing her desk is a door, despite being on the third floor, and opens to the wall. (Tell you why soon)

Not pictured: bathroom in lower left hand corner.

Fouth floor - meditation and healing room

Bean bag chairs and beds can be found in this sterile environment. This floor is for folks suffering from but not limited too: magical maladies, natural sickness, mental illness, broken bones. Drug or drinking problems.

The room is actually seperate rooms in one made for the purpose of healing folks suffering from an array of problems.

Run by svetza and levi as they both have medicinal experience. Watched over by jasper and void (svetzas cats) who give off calming energies.

Not pictured: his and hers full baths.

Back door, despite being on the fourth floor that opens to the wall. (Just about to tell you why!)

Large windows that can be opened for fresh breeze!

Can be used as a makeshift place to stay if needed.

Random Tower facts

All chandeliers in the tower are electric.

There are spelled mops/ dusters and rags on every floor that keep the whole place clean.

There are floating jars all over the tower that have within them, small suns. A spell of svetzas own design.

Small suns can be purchased!

Those doors i kept telling you about are actually portals! BUT they can only be used by a holder of a crystal key enscribed with svetzas magic symbol. They lead to their house. Each door has a crystal above it that glows green when free or red when in use.

Each floor has a bathroom.

All above ground floors have windows

The tower is a cylindrical shape with only one balcony on the fourth floor. Meaning all rooms are actually circular in shape.

The basement is also a large circular shape.

There is a door in each of their homes that link to all the portals in the tower (and the travelers caravan). That door has a dial with all the places its linked too labeled on it. that can be turned to control where you end up at, from the house. Not the other way around. The portals from the tower are one way.

Handi accessible ways to

Outside the tower - on the island

There are well lit and marked foot paths and entrances leading from all around the island that lead to the front entrance.

The lights are svetzas spelled sun jars.

The gardens are actually kept in crystal green houses to keep them safe from eachother, and from guests.

Spelled flower boats made by the combined efforts of Svetza and unnamed partner, leave to and from all around the island to the edges of the whole lake at twenty muinets intervals with ten muinet rest times for loading and unloading. This happens 24/7

Pretty trees and flowers that are non magical and mostly non edible, grow along the paths and in flower boxes outside of windows.

The greenhouses house dangerous non magical and magical plants. Which is why they are not accessible to the public.

Outside the tower - the lake

The lake is still dangerous, just not as much as it once was. Since being cleaned and fixed up, some of the original inhabitants have moved back in.

The water IS drinkable (but its not reccomend)

Fish, aquatic mammals, mollusk, crustation and fowl live in, on, and around the fresh water lake.

The mermaids have moved back in. They have promised not sing siren songs in the lake. They must go to the ocean if they wish to do so. But they do SING. Just not siren songs.

The lake is surprisingly deep

The only safe place on the lake is the shore, boat, or island.

The mermaids bring fresh fish and clams to the island on a weekly basis. Large pots of stew are made as thankyous.

The crew are the only ones allowed in the water unmolested.

There are warning signs around the lake that tell of the creatures that live in it and the rules.

Mermaid watching is a popular activity along the shore, its not uncommon to find folks gathered around to talk or play or sing with the mer folk.

The mermaid act as security for the island as a thankyou and to keep their home safe!

Outside the tower - the forest

After reviving the forest its original inhabitants moved back in. So its not uncommon to find :

centaur and other taur creatures roaming about.

saytrs

Unicorns

There are even a few small dragons roaming around

The fae folk

Forest elves

Griphons (some smaller species of them)

And more not listed.

Svetza and company have made sure there are well marked, lit, warded and easily recognized foot paths and roads through the forest to get to the tower and around it.

The forest isnt as dangerous as it once was, but it still dangerous. Leaving the marked and protected foot paths and roads will possibly get you killed.

The forests inhabitants have all agreed to leave travelers along those paths alone as a thankyou to the crew for bringing back their homes. But anyone who strays off the path is free game depending on who finds them first.

Svetza and crew are the ONLY ones currently allowed to move through the forest freely and unmolested.

There are warning signs at all entrances and exists that tell you not to enter the forest for fear of death and what can be found in the forest.

Despite the warning signs, people do stick close to the edges of the safe zones to try and get glimpses of the creatures that live within.

Some of the more friendly creatures actively visit the safezones for interactions.

#personal world building #world building #the wizards tower

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nialledfromfics · 5 years ago

Text

The Dating Game | Chapter Nine

The door closed. Niall stood motionless, his blue eyes transfixed to the painted wood panelling half expecting it to open again and for her to rush back through and jump into his arms like she had many times before. But he knew that wasn’t going to happen. He knew that beautiful, wistful, carefree part of their story was over. More over than he had failed to realize. His chest rose high with his quickened breaths and he swallowed hard, not wanting the slow blink of his glassy stare to move off of the door. His mind tried to rattle around the single thing that sparked the very reaction he couldn’t escape from: the look on her face.

He didn’t understand why she had looked so defeated, so anguished upon seeing Lila, maybe she was just shocked. He would have been too, he decided. He had been, many times. But that still didn’t explain to him, why. Her gorgeous light brown eyes peering up at him, wide and with a hint of sadness that Niall had only seen one other time over the course of their friendship. It felt like his heart was breaking all over again.

“Are you ready to go?”

Breaking him from his thoughts, Lila ran her touch down the center of his back. “Uh...yeah,” he sputtered.

The girl smiled at him. “That was Joey, huh?”

Niall pulled in a sharp breath. “Yeah.” His stare hadn’t left his closed front door, his jaw clenching slightly as he felt Lila’s fingers intertwine with his.

“She’s pretty.”

His eyes snapped over to the girl standing next to him, his lips just barely falling to a part. “Yeah,” was all he could muster in response.

Lila huffed out a short chuckle. “So what did she want?”

With his stare sliding back over to the door, Niall briefly shook his head. “I...dunno, to be honest…”

“Hmm...weird,” Lila mumbled as she shifted her body to stand right in front of Niall. His blue eyes, their entanglement with the closed door interrupted, locked with hers. “We should get going now so we’re not late.”

He tipped his head down slightly, running his hand through his hair and down the side of his face in a faint sigh. “Yeah…” he mumbled, a half smile pulling at his lips before he leaned in and pressed a kiss to her mouth, “yeah, sorry, babe. Let’s go.”

•

Of course he would be dating her. She was exactly who Joey had always pictured as his type. Irritatingly gorgeous with perfect bone structure and pore-less skin, beamingly white teeth and that model-slim body shape. She was athletic and perky in all the right places with not one ounce of body fat to be seen. Her hair was perfect, her smile, her nails, her clothes…

She was blonde, stunning and looked like she had stepped straight out of a damn magazine centerfold.

Lila was everything Joey wasn’t. And on top of that, she had him.

If Joey hadn’t felt like the biggest fool to walk the earth before, she definitely did after meeting Niall’s new girlfriend. The entire following week was spent cursing herself out for being so deluded into thinking he had even a fraction of feelings for her, and trying her hardest not to stalk Lila’s Instagram every five minutes like some kind of masochist. She had called Alexis on her way home from Niall’s house, tears streaming down her face, her voice cracking with the inability to stop crying enough to choke out how dumb and ridiculous she had been to even show up to his place like that. By the time she arrived back to her usually empty and lowly apartment, she had her best friend, her brother and his girlfriend there waiting to cheer her up. It was an unexpected welcome, and they spent the evening drowning Joey’s problems in cheap beer and greasy pizza and laughing until their cheeks hurt and they could no longer breathe. It was a nice distraction.

But the next morning Joey woke up to a text from Niall. And another later that night. And then again the following morning. She received 10 texts from him within that week. And Joey ignored every single one. She felt stupid and embarrassed and even if she were to answer him, what was she going to say? She couldn’t pour her heart out to him like she had planned, she couldn’t tell him how the thoughts of him kept her up at night and how badly she wanted to kiss him over and over and how no matter what...she could not get him out of her head. Joey couldn’t do that, and it wouldn’t be fair if she did. He was obviously with someone else, he had feelings for someone that was not Joey and she just needed to accept that.

But that didn’t mean she had to like it. It also didn’t mean she had to talk to him. Or see him. Or be around him.

Joey wasn’t sure she could ever be around him as long as he was with Lila.

It took another few days for her to really get a footing on the situation, and to come to terms that Niall actually had a girlfriend, and that person wasn’t her. Joey was jealous, she was a big enough girl to admit that, and she was heartbroken but most of all, she was beyond humiliated. How on earth she could have thought that someone like Niall would ever be into or want to be with someone like her, was enough crazy to send her to the looney bin. She was, once again, right back to square one.

Alone.

Taking what had happened to her over the previous six weeks as a sign, Joey decided to just let Niall do his thing, and she would do hers. It was well into springtime and the summer season was quickly creeping up on everyone, school would soon be out, and Joey thought her best bet was to immerse herself into her work and her students for the last couple months, and forget about everything else.

The following five weeks breezed by. Well, as much as it could breeze by when the only thing on Joey’s mind was the one thing she was trying not to think about. But she powered through, focusing on getting her kindergarteners ready for the first grade, spending some needed time with her bestie and giving her love to the only one who really deserved it; Sadie. Niall had stopped contacting her by the third week of Joey not responding to his texts and calls and while it did make her heart hurt to read over his pleas of wanting her to answer him, she knew it was for the best that she didn’t. At least not at that time. It was too fresh, like picking at an unhealed scab to just reopen the gnarly wound. Joey knew it was the right thing to do. But that didn’t mean it didn’t send her heart racing and make her knees weak and have that knot tie in her tummy every time she saw his name pop up on her screen. Because it did, every single time.

It was only a couple days later that Joey got hit with the most gut wrenching thing that could happen to her in this kind of situation: paparazzi pictures.

And not just any paparazzi pictures; lovey, cutesy, vomit-inducingly sweet kissing paparazzi pictures. Had she not been standing in the middle of the coffee shop’s line waiting to order, innocently scrolling through Instagram when she was assaulted with the shots of them, she probably would have screamed bloody murder and thrown her phone against the wall. But as she clicked on the post of some random celebrity gossip site, flicking through the two full sets of photos, she could feel the sweat beading up along her hairline and the heaviness invading her heart. Holding hands, his arm around her shoulders, his lips pressed to hers. Her hands on his face, on his chest, curling into the back of his dark hair.

Joey swallowed hard and she tried to resist, tried to tear her eyes away from the pictures, but she couldn’t. Her fingers were trembling, almost losing grip on her phone and the noisy space around her dissipated into a long drone of static as her mind jumped back to when she had felt Niall that way. Touching his pretty face, his toned chest. His arms around her, his big hands wrapped around her body as he held her tight. His warm breath against her ear, his soft skin pressed to hers. Easing her eyes closed, Joey quickly turned off her phone and dropped her arm down to her side. She could feel her chin start to wobble as the faint sound of her name being called out waved over her ears. It took another minute before Joey peeled her eyes open to see the barista repeatedly calling out her name, a puzzled look on her face.

Sucking in a jumbled breath, Joey threw her shoulders back and plastered on a smile, stepping up to the counter to retrieve her coffee order.

She didn’t mention the paparazzi pictures, or her reaction to them, to anyone. Not even Alexis. And her blonde friend knew better than to bring them up even if she had seen them. Joey was very grateful for that.

Not more than two weeks after Joey had been visually assaulted, she was curled up on her couch watching tv late one Saturday night with Sadie in her lap and her second glass of merlot, when a text came through her phone. Assuming it was Alexis sending her some useless Facebook link or her brother with another dumb meme, Joey mindlessly picked her phone up from the couch cushion beside her and glanced down at the screen.

N: Hey stranger

Her heart skipped three solid beats, her phone dropping into her lap and onto Sadie’s backend, making the little dog jump. “Sorry,” Joey managed to say, giving the pup a pet as she rested her head back down. Picking her phone back up, Joey pulled in a slow steadying breath, her hazelnut eyes flicking about her darkened living room for a moment before she decided to go ahead and shoot him a text back.

The first one in nearly 2 months.

J: Hey.

N: Holy Shit . . you answered me hahahaha

J: Lucky day, I guess.

There was a slight pause from Niall after Joey’s last text, and she thought maybe she was coming off a bit too harsh. She clearly didn’t hate Niall, in fact it was the total opposite, but it was like every time she even saw or heard his name, she pictured him with her. Him kissing her and touching her and it drove her absolutely insane. Joey swallowed hard as she stared down at the lit screen, watching those three little text bubbles flickering…

N: I miss you .

And there it was. Three words that Joey was dreading but also yearning to hear. She was so confused, so entirely fucked up from the entire situation, she wasn’t even sure what she was doing anymore. All she knew was that reading those words from him made her chest tighten and her fingers go numb and her skin bleed with a heat that could melt a glacier. Swallowing hard, Joey bit at her lip as she carefully constructed her next text.

J: Did you need something?

She was not about to let him know the hold he had on her.

N: uh haha yeah. . I just wanted to let ya know Im havin an album wrap party this Saturday and i really really want ya to be there .

N: Please , if you can

J: I don’t know. I might be busy.

N: Okay . Its at my place at 7 if you decide ya wanna stop by .

Joey thought for a moment, her teeth sinking further down into her bottom lip.

J: Can I bring someone?

There was another slight pause, almost as if Niall wasn’t sure how to answer or what she really meant by ‘someone’, and Joey’s stare drifted over the screen as she waited to see what he was going to say next.

N: Yeh , sure. Bring anyone ya want .

J: Okay. I’ll think about it.

And that was it. He didn’t respond, and Joey puffed out a long sigh and tossed her phone to the coffee table.

That was unexpected.

•

Joey immediately decided that there was no way she was going to go to Niall’s album wrap party. There was no way she was going to be able to hang around his house with people she barely knew, and watch him being lovey and cute with his perfect girlfriend. It sounded like pure torture to her.

But somehow, some way, Alexis had talked her into going. She promised that it would be good for Joey, it would help her heal and move on, confront the situation head on instead of hiding from it and pretending it didn’t exist. Joey knew she had a point. Alexis offered to go with her, to not once leave her side and if at any moment that things got too weird or too hard for Joey to deal with, they would leave. And Joey agreed.

That Saturday came without a hitch. The nerves surging through Joey, however, were as prominent and irritating as ever. It took her nearly two hours to just pick an outfit, something she usually had no issue with and it almost made her angry at herself for caring so much about what she looked like when obviously Niall didn’t care in the least. After applying her makeup, blow drying her hair into soft waves, and fussing endlessly with the tiny hairs that wouldn’t cooperate, Joey was finally ready to go.

Walking out into her living room where Alexis was waiting, Joey heard a low whistle come from the blonde. “Damn, girl,” she remarked, “you planning on sending this man to his grave?”

The girls both giggled and Joey looked down at her outfit. She didn’t seem to think she was that dressed up, but a pair of skin tight white ankle jeans, a low cut beige wrap blouse that showed off her ample cleavage and a bit of her midsection, finished with a pair of heels obviously was doing her lots of favors.

She smiled at the thought and peered back up at her friend, tucking some hair behind her ear. “Guess we should go get this party started, huh?”

•

Her anxiety only escalated the closer they got to Niall’s place. Her hands slowly rolled into tight fists in her lap as she stared out of the passenger side window of Alexis’ car. Her heart was pounding, like an annoying uneven beat of a drum in the back of her ears, as a dryness crept to the back of her throat. Joey nibbled at her lips, any trace of her lipstick long gone by the time they had pulled up to the front gate. There were at least two dozen cars parked along the main road, Alexis managing to squeeze her Toyota Corolla next to an old tree. Taking in a settling breath, the two friends climbed out of the car and started to make their way up the street to his house.

By the time they stepped into his kitchen, there were already at least forty other people spread throughout his house and outside, drinking and chatting and laughing. Music was blasting through the integrated speakers, Niall had his large patio doors swung all the way open onto his pool terrace and down by his grill and picnic area which was all perfectly aglow by hanging lights. There was wine, beer and liquor arranged along his kitchen table and the two young women had just shuffled over to help themselves to a beverage, when Niall walked up.

Joey didn’t even have to look up to know he was right beside her. She could sense him, and even though he wasn’t standing super close, she could feel the heat radiating from his body and the burn of his eyes on her, and the distinct scent of his skin. The air stuck thick to the back of her throat, trapping any kind of ability to function normally with it, as she slowly looked over at him.

“Hey, Jo,” he said, a sweet smile tugging at his lips. She hadn’t heard his voice in two months, but the low gritty baritone slid like warm caramel over her ears and made her knees just as weak as ever.

Joey breathed out a smile in return, lowering her stare for a moment as she nervously reached behind her neck to sweep her red hair over her one shoulder. It was Niall’s turn for his knees to go weak. “Hi, Niall,” Joey replied, glancing back at him.

“It’s been awhile,” he went on, clearing his throat as he dragged his stare down the length of Joey’s body. “You look...really good.”

She scraped her teeth across her bottom lip. “So do you.” His gaze was intoxicating, searing like lava into hers the longer they stood there, still and wordless. They just stared. Soaking each other in, relishing in the silent scorching heat that wafted between them, not sure what to say or what to do next. Alexis had grabbed a beer, quietly sipping on it as she stood off to the side of them and curiously darted her eyes back and forth between the two. Then Lila stepped up.

Swallowing hard as her stare shifted over to the blonde that was slipping her hand into Niall’s, Joey shook herself out of the trance she had succumbed to. “This is my best friend, Alexis, by the way,” she said, introducing her friend to Niall.

Niall looked over at Alexis and promptly stuck out his hand for her to shake. “Sick! I’ve heard a lot about ya,” he stated, “glad you could come.”

“I’ve heard a lot about you, too,” she replied with a smirk.

Niall pointed a finger at Lila. “Eh, this is my, uh...this is Lila.”

“Yeah,” Joey spoke up, “we’ve met.”

Lila nodded her head. “Yeah, we have.” The girl turned her attention to Niall, holding his hand in both of hers as she gently pulled on his arm. “Can you get me a drink, babe?”

“Sure,” Niall replied, tugging his hand away from her grasp as he stepped just past Joey and grabbed a stemmed glass from the table, pouring his girlfriend a drink. “Would you guys like a drink?”

Alexis held up her beer bottle and Niall glanced at Joey over his shoulder. She shook her head. “I’m okay for now, thanks,” she mumbled.

“Alright,” he said to Joey, stepping back over to hand Lila her glass of wine. “Well, there's plenty of stuff to drink as ya can see, and tons of food, we’re grilin’ out and shit so...please just have fun. Enjoy yourselves.”

Joey nodded lightly, giving him a soft smile. Niall reached out and gently rubbed over her upper arm. “It was good to see ya, Jo,” he went on softly, “I’m glad ya came.”

“Me too.”

Niall licked over his lips and stuffed his hands down into his shorts pockets, Lila whispering a whiny ‘babe, let’s go outside’ as she clutched his bicep and proceeded to pull him away.

The two friends watched as the blonde led Niall out to the open terrace, forcing him to engage in conversation with a small group of people. “Well, she's an insufferable bitch,” Alexis scoffed, taking a sip of her beer.

Joey pushed a shaky breath past her lips, and rolled her eyes as she twisted her head to the side, glancing at her friend. “I don’t know if I can do this,” she whispered.

Swinging her arm up around her friend's shoulders, Alexis leaned in slightly. “Just don’t let either of them see that it’s getting to you,” she said, her voice low as she held her beer bottle close to her lips, “let’s just…forget about them, get some drinks and have fun being in this big ass house with all these people who are way cooler than us.”

Joey chuckled, dropping her head in her hand for a moment. “You’re right,” she admitted, looking back over at the blonde who took another big swig of her beer, “let’s get wasted.”

“That’s my girl!” Alexis cooed, tugging her friend over towards the table full of alcohol.

•

After a couple of hours, and about three drinks in, mostly everyone had moved out onto the picnic patio area. Niall had hired a chef to grill and prepare a plethora of foods, while all the guests hung out and drank and had a good time. Joey tried to keep her mind open, she had tried to keep her eyes off of Niall and Lila but as the night drew on, it got harder and harder to ignore them. Alexis had taken off somewhere to converse with some partygoers, leaving Joey standing alone near the sliding doors and taking small sips of her expertly made margarita as her eyes stayed glued to the couple. Niall was sitting at the end of the cushioned bench of his huge patio table, his head tipping back in his loud but infectious laugh with a smile swept over his entire face as Lila sat perched happily in his lap.

Joey couldn’t help herself but to stare, wondering and wishing, the knot in her tummy clamping tighter every time Lila leaned in and brought Niall into a kiss. She watched as his big hand gripped around her hip, holding onto her so she wouldn’t fall, and by the fifth time Lila had her arms tangled around his neck, her tongue slipping past his lips, Joey just couldn’t deal with it anymore. The jealous heat had found its way to her cheeks, a sick feeling bubbling up from her stomach and she pushed out a groan, stomping her way inside.

Niall had heard her. Niall had seen her. He had peeked up at the red headed girl that was standing by herself near his sliding glass doors, more than once while he had been sitting there uncomfortably engaged with the girl in his lap. He could feel the undeniable tension in her gaze, the slight scowl that was sitting on her pretty face as her stare stayed focused on him and it wasn’t until he opened his eyes, Lila’s lips still pressed firmly to his, that he saw her storm off inside his house.

Excusing himself and leaving Lila sitting at the table, Niall made his way inside in search of Joey. She had found her way into the main living room, the only room that was quiet and a bit further off from the bustle of the party. Her eyes had eased closed as she frantically paced in front of the massive open windows by the end of his grand piano. She was trying to settle her breaths, trying to fight off the urge to want to vomit but also break down in tears and she was so overwhelmed and fixated on the thoughts whipping around in her mind that she didn’t even hear Niall walk in.

“Jo...what’s wrong?”

The sound of his voice ripped her from the jumbled mess inside her head and her feet halted on the wood floor. Looking over at him, she saw the concern written across his face. His brows pulled in, his lips parted slightly. He was standing but ten feet away from her, but it felt like he was so close that she couldn’t properly breathe. But there was no way Joey was about to tell him anything that she was feeling. “Nothing,” she blurted out, shaking her head as she began to pace again, “nothing, I’m perfectly fine.”

Niall chuckled. A more nervous reaction than not. “You don’t seem perfectly fine.”

Joey felt a piercing anger start to over take the misery. “Really, Niall?” she shouted, her feet once again coming to a stop as she darted her stare with his. “How would you even know how I seem? I haven’t even spoken to you in over two damn months.”

Niall was taken aback by her outburst, his face scrunching up at her words. “And whose fuckin’ fault is that?” he snapped back.

“Excuse me?”

“Give me a fuckin’ break, Jo, I have tried to call ya, to text ya, to fucking see ya and hang out and I got nothin’ back,” he told her, holding his palms up as he spoke. “You’ve been the one ignorin’ me every single time I’ve tried.”

“No, I haven’t.” She lied.

Niall rolled his eyes. “Seriously, Jo? Jesus, I had to practically force ya to come tonight, to me own wrap party. I’m surprised ya even showed up at all.”

Joey crossed her arms over her chest in a huff. “As if it even matters that I came…”

“It does fuckin’ matter!” Niall yelled, his voice rising louder than Joey had ever heard from him. She lifted her eyes back to his, watching as he shook his head in disbelief at her. “This is a big deal for me, Jo and I wanted ya to be here, okay? I wanted to celebrate with ya.”

Joey flicked her eyes away from his, turning her head to rest her chin on the round of her shoulder. “You don’t need me here, Niall,” she said quietly.

Furrowing his brow, Niall pushed out a sigh. “What would ya say that?”

“Because you have Lila.”

“What?” Niall said, bowing his head to rake his fingers through his dark hair. His mind was reeling, any words that came to his head were instantly stuck on the tip of his tongue. “What-...what does Lila have to do with anythin’?”

Turning her face back to his, Joey caught his stare. Her brown eyes dragged over the gorgeous blue of his, and she stood silent, her jaw twisting as she pulled in a heavy breath. “Jo…” Niall desperately urged, his voice straining his throat and his brows raising as she remained quiet, “what the fuck does Lila have to do with us?”

“Nothing,” she finally said, fluttering back the wetness that was forcing its way to the brims of her eyes, “she has absolutely nothing to do with us.”

Her words spit out harsh, like rusty barbed wire cutting through exposed flesh and Niall was left stunned, his mouth hanging agape and his head ready to explode with confusion as Joey rushed past him and right out of his front door.

•

What in the hell was she thinking?

Alexis, who had caught the very last of their little argument, along with nearly everyone else at the party, ran after her friend, trying her very best to calm Joey down as they hopped into the car and drove back to Joey’s apartment. Dropping her off, Alexis was willing to stay with Joey, to talk or just hang out so she wouldn’t be alone, but the young woman told her good friend that she was okay, she just needed to be by herself that night. The past three months had been one humiliating disaster after another, and at that point, she didn’t even want to think about it anymore. Curling up in her bed with her little sidekick and a crappy tv show playing in the background to drown out the busy noises in her head, was all that she wanted.

An hour after Joey had changed into a pair of tiny cotton shorts and an oversized worn sweatshirt, she had settled down in her mound of cozy blankets with Sadie. She had dimmed all the lights and was flipping through the tv stations to find anything decent with just the flickering white glow of the screen glinting across her bedroom walls. A faint knocking sound made Sadie’s ears perk up, alerting Joey who, at first, brushed it off and assumed it was something on the tv that made the little dog react that way. But then there was another louder knock that made both of their heads turn towards Joey’s open bedroom door.

Creasing her brows, the redhead clambered out of her bed in an annoyed groan, Sadie right at her heels already barking as they both shuffled into the main living area over to the front door. She slowly eased it open, half expecting the person on the other side to be Aleixs coming back by to lovingly force company upon her, but it wasn’t.

It was Niall.

Her eyes met his, and for a moment she found it hard to breathe, hard to pull herself away, but then she remembered how upset she was, that she was hurt and mad at him. Mad at herself. He didn’t say a word, and Joey just watched as his heavy lidded stare dropped to the ground at their feet. His back swelled beneath his linen shirt as he pulled in a long breath, and for some reason it irritated Joey and she pushed out another groan, cocking a hip out. “What do you want?” she snipped.

Niall glanced up at her, his brows wrinkling slightly at her tone as he licked across his lips. “I wanna talk.”

“There’s nothing to talk about, Niall.”

It was Niall’s turn to get irritated. “That’s some bullshit right there, Jo, and ya know it,” he grumbled, darting his stare over hers. The red haired girl rolled her eyes in haste and spun around, shuffling further into her apartment. Niall took the invitation and followed her inside, easing the door closed behind him. Sadie was already at his feet begging for a pet and Niall glanced down at the precocious little dog for a split second before he trailed after Joey into her semi-dark living room, only illuminated by a small lamp in the corner. “Why did ya have a go at me like that? And then storm outta me house all pissed off?”

Joey crossed her arms over her chest, peering down at her toes to watch as she curled them into the fibers of her living room carpet. “I don’t wanna talk about it,” she quietly detested.

“I wanna talk about it, Jo.”

The frustration and pettiness was boiling inside her and it was as if she would implode at any second. She just didn’t see the point in having this conversation with him, it wouldn’t change anything. But she gave in. Because it was Niall, she gave in. And she was not happy about it. “Fine!” she fumed between slightly gritted teeth. “You wanna talk about it? Then tell me, why did you send me those flowers?”

Niall questioningly peered at her out of the corners of his eyes, his hands perching on his hips. “What?”

“The flowers, Niall,” Joey repeated, darting her light eyes over his, “like...two and a half months ago, you sent me flowers while you were in London.”

Niall’s face softened as he realized what she was referring to and he let out a long sigh, reaching up to comb his fingers through his hair. “I...I dunno,” he stuttered out, catching Joey’s stare again. “I was tryin’ to be nice. You’d just gone through hell with that fuckin’ idiot and I didnt like the thought of you feelin’...alone or-...or sad or whatever.”

“So they were pity flowers...” Joey scoffed, turning her head slightly to coax her eyes on anything but his. She fought to keep her chin steady as she chewed on her bottom lip.

“No,” Niall quickly argued, “no, I was tryin’ to show ya I was thinkin’ about you. That I-...I care.”

Glancing back over at him, Joey pursed her lips tight. “That you care…,” she mumbled with a shrug, “right, okay.”

Niall shook his head as he struggled to comprehend anything that was happening. He could tell that Joey was obviously upset with him, but he still had no clue as to why she was so upset. Taking a small step towards her, Joey averted her stare but Niall kept his eyes on her, his brows lightly wrinkling. “Now I’m really fuckin’ lost, Jo,” he said, his voice noticeably softer, “why are ya askin’ me about the flowers?” Joey remained quiet, lowering her head as she clamped her arms tighter across her chest. “Jo…” Niall went on, raising his brows at her demeanor, “why did you think I sent the flowers?”

Joey glanced up at Niall for a split second, enough to cause a rush of emotions to crash through her entire body before she eased her eyes closed and sunk her teeth down into her bottom lip. Really it was the only thing she could do to hold in the words that were sitting like a ticking time bomb on the tip of her tongue. She knew exactly why she thought he sent the flowers, she knew exactly what she wanted–needed–to say to Niall, and she struggled with wanting to let all the words flow like a burst dam that had been holding on with just a tiny crack in its foundation, or swallow it back down and keep it to herself forever. She wasn’t sure how he would react to any of it, and that was her fear, and what was holding her back.

Niall took another tiny step closer, the blue in his eyes becoming darker and filled with more perplexity the longer he stared at her. He swallowed hard. “Jo…”

“Because!” Joey snapped, finally meeting his gaze again as she held out her hands to him, “ ‘cause...I thought you liked me, okay?”

The words tumbled off her tongue like a slippery stone that you couldn’t get your grasp on, no way to control it and Joey’s eyes went big, her mouth hanging open as her outburst hung idly in the silent air between them. Her chest was heaving, her breaths so quick she had started to feel lightheaded and all she could do was dart her eyes over Niall’s as she forced herself to choke out the rest of what she needed to say. “And...and that day, the day that I stopped by your house and was going to tell you something?” she paused, looking for the change in Niall’s expression that confirmed to her that he remembered. “You were...you were there with her, this...perfect blonde gorgeous model who was fucking all over you, and of course I end up being the complete idiot that was going to run over there and confess all my feelings to you and pour my heart out like you would even care in the slightest–”

“...wait–”

“...but no, I’m just that big of a fucking dumbass to think you could ever have those kinds of feelings about me.”

Joey pushed out a long breath upon finishing her rant and she half expected Niall to start laughing, or even to say that she was being ridiculous and walk out. But he didn’t. Niall, instead, just stood there facing Joey, his eyes dragging over her features with his jaw hanging open as her words floated breezily through his ears like a lost melody he had been dying to hear his whole life. His heart was pounding in his chest and his knees nearly buckled under him as he tried to regain his sense of what had just flown out of her mouth. “Jo…” he whispered, his tongue shakily running across his lips, “you...had feelings for me?”

Joey rolled her eyes, a low breath hissing past her lips. “Niall, why do you think I’ve spent the last two months trying to avoid you?” she told him, furrowing her brow. “Because every time I see you, I see you with her and it fucking kills me, I just...I can’t do it. And I tried tonight, okay, I tried for you ‘cause I miss you and I really wanted to be there for you and I thought I’d be alright,...but...seeing her all over you, I–” Her voice waned as her words cut short and Joey peeked down at the floor as she carded her fingers through her red hair and swept it over her one shoulder.

Niall fell quiet again, his stare searching over her face, bathing himself in each beautiful little nuance of her that he could. But then it hit him, like a ton of bricks it hit him. Why she was so upset, why she had run off, why they were having that very conversation at that very moment and an alleviation instantly poured over him. “...you still have feelings for me.”

“Niall, even if I did,” Joey paused and shook her head, watching as she nervously picked at the edge of her fingernail. “What would it even matter?”

“It does matter.”

Joey shot her stare up to his, her head tipping to the side. “Why? Why would it matter if I still have feelings for you?”

A gentle smile tugged at the one corner of his mouth. “ ‘cause I still have feelings for you.”

Her heart stopped. Her chest tightening as her lungs twisted like rope around her breaths and it was all Joey could do but keep herself from succumbing to the dizziness that was filling her head. “What?” she sputtered, her brows folding in.

Niall pressed his eyes closed for a moment, taking a few steps closer to the girl standing before him. Gathering the words he wanted to say, he stuffed down the nerves that were raging through his body and finally peered back up at her, trapped by the sparkling light in her eyes. “Joey, I’ve had feelings for you since the first night we met. The second I laid eyes on ya...Jesus Christ,” Niall paused, rubbing over the back of his neck before he continued, “but I never thought ya saw me that way. You were always goin’ on all these dates, and even that night that I stayed over here with ya after your break up...you just kept tellin’ me how you felt so lucky to have me as a friend...and it broke me, Jo.” Niall swallowed hard, shaking his head slightly as he glanced down at the floor. “I knew after that, that I didn’t stand a chance to be with ya and it’s why I left. I couldn’t be where you were. I had to get away.”

Joey let her stare slide over Niall, every heartstring tugging inside her the longer she immersed herself in his words. “I-...Niall, I don’t even know what to say,” Joey finally spoke up, “this whole time you’ve had feelings for me and I’ve been...going on and on about my stupid love life and other guys with you...why didn’t you say anything?”

“What was I gonna say, Jo?” Niall faintly chuckled, darting his eyes with hers, “I knew how you felt, or at least I thought I did, so I just...dealt with it ‘cause it was better bein’ your friend than nothin’ at all.”

Joey dropped her shoulders, bringing her fingernail up to her mouth as she peered down at Sadie, who was curled up on the couch behind Niall fast asleep. There were a million different thoughts crashing through her head, a million different feelings and just when she had decided that it was time to get over Niall, to move on and leave that part of her life behind...he was standing in front of her confessing the very same feelings that she had for him. It was startling, electrifying, overwhelming and frightening, all at once. Her heart was going wild in her chest, swelling with each tiny breath that left her lungs and she peeked up at Niall and a single, excruciating realization swiped all of it away. “But...you’re with her. You have a girlfriend.”

Niall sighed, lowering his head as Joey kept her stare glued to him. “Niall, do you know how fucked up I’ve been these last couple months watching you with her?” she softly confided, “I can’t even breathe when I’m around you…”

“Yeh, I do know,” Niall quipped with a brashness, his eyes rising up to look at her as he cocked his head back slightly. “I felt the exact same way, watchin’ ya go out with all those guys who weren’t even worthy of bein’ with ya.”

Joey pulled her face in. “So...what, you’re just dating Lila to be vindictive?”

“No! Jesus fuckin’ Christ…” Niall rolled his eyes as he ran his hand over his forehead in a sigh. “I was tryin’ to move on.”

“Move on from what? We weren’t even together.”

“From you, Jo, from my feelings for ya,” Niall paused, shaking his head as he held his palm to the front of his chest, “I didn’t date Lila to hurt ya or make ya jealous, I swear. I didn’t know ya felt that way about me.”

Joey bit at her bottom lip. “I didn’t know you felt that way about me.”

Stuffing his hands down into the front pockets of his shorts, Niall’s shoulders bounced in a light chuckle. “Well, love, we proper fucked that up, didn’t we?”

She pushed out a faint giggle, shaking her head as she reached up to tuck some hair behind her ear. A soft quiet had fallen between them, Joey bringing her stare up to Niall’s. “So...what now?” she then asked him.

“Um...dunno really, though, I guess it’d be a good time to tell ya that I broke up with Lila,” Niall told her.

Joey’s brows pulled in. “What?” she questioned. “Wait-...when did you break up with her?”

“After ya left me house.”

Her hazelnut eyes darted over his, and Joey almost couldn’t believe what he was telling her. It seemed a little too good to be true. “You broke up with her after I stormed out of your house? Today? Why would you do that?”

Niall gave her a shrug. “ ‘Cause I knew in that moment, after seein’ how upset you were, that I had to tell ya how I felt.” He paused, licking across his lips as he pulled in a deep breath. “There was somethin’ in your eyes when ya looked at me, Jo. Somethin’ inside me just...I dunno. But I knew I was done pretendin’ that I didn’t feel nothin’ for ya. That what we have between us could be real, whether ya felt the same way or not.”

Joey felt a warmth pulse to the top of her skin, curling in her belly and whipping through her veins. Her stare flitted over his, almost helplessly as she fought off the smile that was trying to break across her mouth. “It was the way I looked at you?”

“It’s always the way ya look at me,” Niall said softly. “It makes me heart stop dead in me chest. You said before that ya can’t breathe when you’re around me? I can’t breathe when I’m around ya either…”

Joey bowed her head down, a sweet smile spreading over her lips and a ruddiness punching to her cheeks as the heat swam through her body. Niall caught a hint of her expression and it made the same befall him. He couldn’t help himself; this girl, this beautifully exquisite, smart and captivating girl in front of him, made something inside him come alive. It made him want to burst at the seams and never be whole again without her. His blue eyes fawned over the long strands of her red hair that fell down the side of her face, to the soft slope of her neck and with his heart practically thumping out his chest, he wanted nothing more than to wrap her in his arms and never let her go.

Easing in a breath, Joey caught his stare once more. “What’d you tell Lila?” she asked him, her curiosity taking over.

“I just told her it wasn’t workin’ out,” Niall admitted with a shrug.

“Did she believe you?”

Niall shook his head. “I don't think so. She heard us fightin’, so I think she knew the real reason I was breakin’ up with her.”

Crossing her arms over her chest, Joey tipped her head to the side. “And what reason is that?”

“You.”

She lightly rolled her eyes in a tiny smile, the flutters in her tummy going wild. Niall smirked at her playfulness, overwhelmed by how damn cute she was and he slowly shuffled closer to her. Joey’s chin tipped up to meet his stare as Niall stood right in front of her. “I really like ya, Jo,” he breathed out, reaching up and using his fingers to delicately brush her hair away from the side of her face. “And I know ya really like me too…”

Her heart was racing, her legs nearly turning to Jello the longer they stared at one another and Joey could see the softness in his eyes, feel the heat penetrating from his body as his chest moved fast below the tan-colored buttons of his blue shirt. Her fingernails twisted into the material of her sweatshirt at her inner elbows, anticipating whatever was about to happen next as her eyes darted fast over his. The room was dead silent, burning and swirling around her ears like a tornado of fire and Joey tried to catch a decent breath, but all she wanted was one thing. One simple thing.

With her stare slowly moving down his features, over the prominent tip of his nose and the dusty shade of his grown-in beard, it settled on the one place that she had been dreaming of. His lips. Joey’s eyes fluttered and she anxiously shifted on her bare feet as she bit down on her bottom lip. “Niall?” she barely choked out.

“Yeah?”

His touch had fallen from her skin by then, his hands hanging down by his sides and Joey glanced back up to the darkening pupils of his eyes that were held steady on her. “Can you stop staring at me and just kiss me already?”

A short chuckle rumbled from his throat and he gave her a smirk. “Yeah, baby, I can do that…”

Hooking a finger underneath her chin, Niall slowly started to bring her mouth to his. Joey rushed to pull in a breath, her eyes easing closed as she felt Niall’s parted lips gently cradle around her own. With his hand moving from her chin to cup around her jaw, Joey fell into him; her hands pressed to the front of his chest, feeling the banging of his heart against her palms as his mouth slowly moved over hers.

His lips were soft, smooth and he had a hint of gin on his breath and as his head tipped further, Niall deepening the kiss, Joey felt as if the ground below her was fading away. She was floating, floating up and up, her hands slowly sliding over his shoulders to encircle his neck as his tongue slipped between her parted lips. Fireworks burst unstoppable in her tummy, sparking recklessly from her rising chest to the ends of her bare toes and Joey roughly tangled her fingers up into the back of his dark hair, not even willing to let him go if he tried.

She hummed against his open mouth, Niall tasting the sweetness of her breath on his tongue as he reached up with his other hand and curled it into the thick of her hair. He kissed her harder, not meaning to but not being able to hold back any longer. He wanted her; wanted her soft kisses and her fiery touch, he needed her; every bit of her trembling body and her enrapturing soul. Tiny whimpers edged from her throat, the feel of her fingers gently pulling at the ends of his hair every time his tongue swept over her own with the heat of her body pressed taut to the front of his, it was all more than he could have ever imagined.

It was only when Niall could feel himself fully reacting to her, that he was forced to pull away, their eyes slowly peeling open. Joey lightly ran her tongue over her lips as she rested her forehead against his to catch her breath, and just a few more heart-stopping moments passed before the young woman had urged him back into a kiss, peppering his lips with hers over and over.

#niall #niall horan #niall fic #niall fan fic #niall horan fan fic #niall fanfic #niall smut #ou #slowburn #tdg #chap 9 #YALL THIS MIGHT BE THE ONE YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR!!!!!!!#ahhhhhhh #okay pleas pleaseee read and SHARE!!!!#let me know what you think #i love hearing yall's thoughts or yells or whatever lol #enjoy!!

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bleedinghearthalstead · 5 years ago

Text

SWAT!Jay / Upstead AU

A/N: Part 10, woop woop! SWAT!AU version of Chicago Med 2x20 Generation Gap. Crossposted on AO3, link on my blog.

"What are you doing here?" A raspy voice comes from the next room.

Jay sighs. "Will wanted me to check on you."

"No need," the voice returns. Hailey’s head snaps towards the voice when the older man in the White Sox t-shirt gruffly turns to her. "And who is she?"

They walk through the front yard with the white and green picket fence and straight into the white and green house, Jay not even bothering to knock, and wow, if Hailey didn't know that Jay was a White Sox fan before, she'd know it now... or at least know where he got it from. She looks around the place and there's memorabilia everywhere – a White Sox wall clock, a White Sox jersey framed on the wall, baseball caps, bobble heads, there's actually a game on the TV...

"What are you doing here?" A raspy voice comes from the next room.

Jay sighs. "Will wanted me to check on you."

"No need," the voice returns. Hailey’s head snaps towards the voice when the older man in the White Sox t-shirt gruffly turns to her. "And who is she?"

"Pop." Jay takes her hand and pulls her to his side to where he's standing in front of his father who is sitting in a recliner. "This is Hailey," he pauses and clears his throat while she squeezes his hand, "my fiancée."

Patrick Halstead laughs. Hailey doesn't know what kind of reaction she expected, not that she thought that she'd receive a warm welcome, but it still kind of hurts, and if not for her sake, then for Jay's. They've shared some of their experiences growing up and she knows that Jay and his father don't have much of a relationship – Jay has barely spoken to him since he joined the Army and even less after his mother died, just as she doesn't have any contact with her father except for when her mother isn't fast enough to be the first to pick up the phone. But how the man in front of her can manage to look down at them from his position sitting down is still unbelievable to her. It all feels oddly familiar though. She glances at Jay out of the corner of her eye and she can see the muscle in his jaw twitching and the corners of his mouth pulling down into a frown.

"Yeah, my fiancée," Jay huffs. "What's so funny about that?"

The older man wheezes while he is still laughing. "Didn't think you'd ever have the balls to-" When Pat spots the diamond ring on Hailey's left hand, he loses his train of thought.

Hailey notices him staring at her hand and instinctively crosses her arms, hiding the ring from view, although she doesn't really know why she does it. Well no, she does know why. She immediately knew that he recognized the ring, hell, he must have been the one to buy it and he'd seen it on another woman's hand for over twenty years, but while Hailey is still getting used to wearing the ring, she is already extremely possessive of it. It's hers, a symbol of Jay's love.

Pat frowns at the couple, unsure of himself all of a sudden. He hasn't seen that ring in years, over a decade really, and it's bringing back all kinds of feelings that he definitely doesn't want to deal with. He settles on disdain and turns back to his son. "Again, what the hell are you doing here?"

"Again," Jay parrots and pointedly stares at Pat. "Will wanted me to check on you. He said you didn't sound so good when you talked on the phone."

Hailey and Jay had been in the middle of the maze that is an IKEA store looking for a new coffee table when Jay's phone had started buzzing insistently. He'd declined his brother's calls twice before he picked up on the third time. They'd had a ten minute discussion about whether Jay really (really?) needed to go over to their Dad's house while Jay was lounging on one of the display beds until he'd reluctantly agreed.

And Jay has to hold back rolling his eyes because Will was right. He takes a closer look at his father – he is pale except for his red cheeks, there's a sheen of sweat on his skin and he's breathing heavily, gasping almost, although he is reclined in his chair and was probably doing nothing except for sitting there and watching TV.

"As I said to your brother," Pat rasps, "I don't need this, I'm fine."

His son scoffs. "Are you kidding me? You can barely talk!" Pat only grunts at him and Jay sighs. "Come on, we're taking you to Med."

"Like hell you will, it's just a waste of a trip," the older man grumps.

"Dad, come on. Let Will have a look at you."

"What, so I can take medical advice from someone who wet the bed until he was nine?" Hailey's eyebrows shoot up to her hairline and Jay groans at the jab at his older brother who isn't even there.

"Stop being so stubborn, you old pri-"

"Mr. Halstead," Hailey interjects before Jay can finish his sentence with an insult, "you're obviously having a lot of trouble breathing, why don't you let us take you to the hospital?"

The older man glares at Hailey. "And now I have to listen to some ditzy blonde-"

"Hey!" Jay snaps at his father.

"Mr. Halstead," Hailey tries again, this time more firmly, "either you let us take you or I might have to call in an emergency and have an ambulance roll up." She takes out her police radio and stares him down, fiddling with the dial. "I think I heard cries for help coming from this house."

Pat stares back at the defiant young woman next to his son, waiting on her to call her bluff. One of her hands is propped up on her hip and she's added a raised eyebrow into the mix. When she doesn't budge at his glare, he huffs, "I'll be damned if I'll have neighbors see me hauled out of here in an ambulance." He pushes himself up from his seat with shaky arms and grunts with the effort. "If we're going, I'm driving."

Jay's snort is cut short when he sees his father sway as soon as he is upright. "Woah, Pop!" He grabs his father by the arm, holding him steady.

Pat groans, but tries to push his son's hand away. "I got it!"

"I'll call the ambulance." Hailey takes the man's other arm.

"No!" The older man says with more force than expected, especially given his condition, and shakes both of them off. "Just move your asses."

Pat walks or rather staggers out on his own, with Jay hovering next to him the entire way to the jeep. He helps his father into the front passenger seat and Hailey slides into the back. When Jay starts the car, he looks at his fiancée through the rearview mirror. "Can you text Will, tell him we're gonna be there in twenty?" She nods at him and starts typing a message on her phone.

* * * * *

Jay drives right up to the emergency department entrance and they are greeted by Will, a nurse and a wheelchair. Of course Pat refuses to sit in the damn thing, so both brothers guide the older man to the nearest open exam room, their father grumbling at them to leave him alone. Since Will isn't allowed to treat the elder Halstead, he's also called in Dr. Rhodes who immediately starts calling out treatments and diagnostic tools as soon as they have Pat on the exam bed.

Will turns to his brother and future sister-in-law who have stopped at the exam room door, pats Jay on the back and smiles at Hailey. "Thanks for bringing him in."

"Yeah, no problem." Jay frowns, watching their father being hooked up to oxygen and various monitors, being reminded of another time he was unable to help one of his parents. "Is he gonna be okay?"

Will checks on what is happening in the exam room. "Apical holosystolic murmur and his lungs are wet."

Jay rolls his eyes at his brother. "In English?"

"It means that his heart has been compensating for his faulty mitral valve for a very long time and now it can't keep up, so fluid is backing up into his lungs." Will grimaces. "It looks like he's having a NSTEMI – it's a type of heart attack."

When the team of doctors and nurses pushes Pat's gurney out of the room, Jay's frown deepens and he scratches the back of his head, a telltale sign that he is getting upset. Hailey takes his hand in hers and rubs his arm with her other hand.

Will starts following the gurney, but stops and turns back to his brother. "Don't worry, we can beat this. Dad needs an angiogram, I'll let you know when he's done." He gives Jay a quick one-armed hug and jogs after their father who is being wheeled towards the elevators at the end of the hallway.

Jay keeps staring after his brother until Hailey squeezes his hand. "Come on, let's go park the car somewhere it's not gonna be in the way of an actual ambulance and then we'll be right back, okay?" She gives him a soft smile and rubs his arm again. Jay just nods at her and lets her lead him back to the jeep.

* * * * *

After the non-surgical treatment failed and Pat was quickly rushed to the operating room, Will left Jay and Hailey in the waiting area and went to observe their father's surgery, but when he comes back, Hailey is waiting by herself, reading a magazine that's probably been there for a few months at least.

As soon as she sees Will, she gets up and walks up to him. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah, the surgery went well." He lets out a relieved breath that he didn't realize he was holding. "They fixed the mitral valve – shouldn't give him any more problems. He's still in recovery, but they'll get him to a room soon."

"That's great." Hailey gives him a hug. She pulls back and notices Will looking around the room. "Jay was called in. He said he'd be back as soon as possible, but it may take a while, you know how it goes. I can text him if you want?"

"Thanks, yeah, that'd be good."

When she sees that Will is still fidgeting, Hailey puts a hand on his arm. "You okay? When was the last time you ate something? Do you want me to get you something?"

"I'm fine," Will says, but he's still looking antsy. "I should probably head back to the house and get some of my Dad's things… but it can probably wait till Jay gets back. I don't want to leave my Dad by himself."

"I can stay with him," Hailey blurts out, but as soon as she says it, she internally panics, thinking she's overstepped. Although she and Jay are engaged now and she feels like Will and her get along pretty well, she's only met their father a few hours ago and that meeting couldn't be called friendly by a stretch.

"You sure?" Will looks hopeful though, so her decision has already been made for her.

"Yeah, I can sit with him till you get back." She raises a questioning eyebrow at Will. "He'll be out of it for while, right? From the surgery?"

Sensing Hailey's hesitation, Will chuckles and gives her an out. "You really don't have to stay, it's fine." But in that moment, his stomach growls and he gives Hailey a sheepish smile. She only gives him a pointed look. "If you're really sure… I'll be quick, I promise. I'll tell the nurses to let you know what room he's in."

She shoos him away. "Go. I know how to deal with difficult fathers." Will has half a mind to ask her what she meant by that, but figures this is neither the time nor place.

* * * * *

Hailey is reading a text from Will that he's on his way back when a hoarse voice startles her.

"How long have you two been engaged?" Hailey raises an eyebrow at the question. She feels like it deserves a sarcastic answer given his earlier reaction to the couple, but the man in the hospital bed beside her has been through major surgery so she decides to give him some leeway. Before she can answer though, Pat coughs and grunts in pain.

"Do you need me to call a nurse? Are you in pain?" She is looking around for the call button, but the elder Halstead stops her with an annoyed wave of his hand.

"No, I'm fine." And if there's one thing she's learned from meeting their father, Hailey now knows that the one personality trait commonly shared between all Halstead men is that they are stubborn as hell. Pat slowly reaches for the cup of water that's been conveniently (thankfully) left on the bedside table by the nurse that showed her to the room earlier. She helps him with the straw and takes the cup from him after he takes a couple of sips, but stops fussing as soon as Pat has settled back against the pillows. "Where are my boys?"

The way he says it, soft and somewhat disappointed that neither Will nor Jay is here, Hailey isn't sure if he meant to say it out loud like that. "Will's on his way back from the house and Jay's been called into work." She checks her phone to see if she's gotten a message from Jay in the meantime, but he still hasn't replied to her text that his father's surgery went well, but then she also knows that Jay doesn't keep his phone on him when he's out on a call.

Pat grunts in response, then motions at Hailey. "Hand me the remote, will ya?" She does and he starts zapping through the channels. "I missed the game for this."

Hailey rolls her eyes when he waves the remote at her not to block his view, but also turns to the TV and settles back in her chair, although it's almost impossible to get comfortable on the hard plastic. She watches as Pat changes channels every few seconds, going through all the channels twice before sighing and putting on an old White Sox game. She can live with that.

They watch the game in somewhat of a comfortable silence until Pat speaks up again. "So?" When the young woman frowns at him, he huffs. "You didn't answer my question."

"We only got engaged last month." Hailey can't help but blush thinking back to the day at the range and the surprise that awaited her. There's a feeling of butterflies in her stomach every time she thinks about Jay and her getting married soon and she couldn't be happier. Still, she feels like she needs to elaborate. "But we've been together for over two years now."

"So no shotgun wedding?"

Hailey laughs. "No, definitely not."

"He treat you well? That boy can be trouble, always has been."

"Trouble?" Hailey feels sudden anger flare up inside of her at the uncalled-for dig at her fiancé and any compassion she felt for the older man evaporates within seconds. "Jay served – is still serving – his country and just because he didn't do what you wanted him to do, he's trouble?"

"Don't be disappointed when he leaves you," Pat mutters, averting his eyes.

Hailey lets out a humorless laugh. "Oh I've heard all about your son being a disappointment to you. And Will too. You do realize that both of your sons have done everything they can to help you today? If it weren't for them, you might as well be dead." The blonde knows that she's being very harsh, but maybe that is what's needed to drive the point home for once. Having said her piece, she turns back to the TV and dreads having to spend another minute with the older man, but she told Will that she'd stay with him and she's not going back on her word.

"You're right," Pat says after a couple of minutes where the sound coming from the TV was the only thing that made the silence between them even remotely bearable. "They made something of their lives. They're better men than I am."

"I don't think they feel that way," she sasses, but pauses at Pat's defeated look. "But I also don't think they'd want you to feel that way either."

Will chooses that moment to appear at the door, slightly out of breath and carrying a luggage bag. "Hey guys." He looks between the two of them, dimly aware of the tension in the room. "How are you feeling, Pop?"

Pat sighs. "Like I took one on the chin."

"You kind of did." His son smirks at him.

"I'm gonna head home, leave you guys to it." Hailey stands up from her seat, her mission accomplished with Will's return. "Keep me updated, Will, yeah? Bye, Mr. Halstead."

Before she can step away from the bed, he stops her with a hand on hers and gives her a small smile. "Call me Pat."

#upstead #jay halstead #hailey upton #chicago pd #daddy issues abound #lots of stubbornness #bhhfic #swat!jay au

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