#the way i winked at the screen when i read 'But then some paperwork or evidence was mysteriously lost' XD

[slashingdisneypasta]

I feel bad since it's the Christmas season and this is more Halloween, but as you can see this isn't stopping me XD idk if you remember, but I made a Slasher AU with the Toon Patrol a while ago. I forgot about it for a bit, but it's flooded my brain again and you're the only one I can vent to XD of course, you don't have to answer this ask if you don't want to ^^

Not much has changed, I'm still figuring things out. But I think I've got a better grip on it and what's going on. And since this is a slasher/horror AU, this is definitely gonna be dark.

Smartass and Stupid are still brothers. They resemble the skashers that are scarred/deformed, like Freddy (and I think Bubba? I can't remember what's under the mask). Stupid, unfortunately, was dropped one too many times as a baby, and that is why he's physically and mentally a little jumbled. But Smartass, despite how mean he is, is who Stu has latched onto. He loves his brother, and doesn't pay it a second thought when he's told they have to go take care of somebody. Smarty got his scarring, however, during an accident. Stupid bumped into the barrel of acid they used at the time to get rid of evidence, and Smartass was in the wrong place at the wrong time.

Wheezy would be a slasher like Drayton or Sequel!Otis. As in, he looks and acts completely normal compared to the others. He's pretty unhealthy with his smoking. However, other than that, he looks like an average guy. Though he certainly does not possess the same morality as your average citizen. He still has his tommy in this AU, but he will get up close and personal if need be to finish a job. And he's got the scars to prove it (mostly from having to break up fights between his crazier teammates. But some of them are from his previous victims...)

Greasy is a slasher similar to Stu, or maybe even Charles Lee Ray; he also looks like a normal person, albeit a bit freaky, but I promise you he has a demented mind in that head of his. I do love goofy freaky Greasy, but I think Slasher!Greasy falls more under the sinister/manipulative personality. He's not gonna be so easily rejected by a purse smack if you get what I mean. And has no qualms with using other peoples' modalities against them- threatening another persons life if they don't do as he says. Also is the kind of slasher that falls under the 'virgin = life' rule, but not for pure intentions. He can't cash out their V-Card if they're dead, after all.

Now, my personal favorite, Psycho... WFRR!Psycho is already pretty unhinged, so as one may imagine, Slasher!Psycho is far, far worse. One can argue that he truly is more animal than man with how savage he is. Ruthlessly hunting down his victims with glee, and even going so far as cannibalism to top off his crimes. He'll rip his victims' throats, then take the bodies back home to store in the freezer for later. He has many, many scars littering his body. Bullet wounds, slices, scratches, etc. But the most prominent one is the one spanning across his forehead. That one, he got from the asylum before he escaped.

And of course, we can't forget Judge Doom and how he fits in all this. Greasy, Smartass, and Stupid were all on trial for their crimes. They weren't associated before, but they all were committing murders in the same town at the same time, and just wound up getting grouped together. Doom foresaw their trials, and they were supposed to be sent to prison... But then some paperwork or evidence was mysteriously lost (just like with Freddy), and the three killers were let go. Judge Doom, however, made a deal with them. If they would do his dirty work, he would ensure that they could roam the streets freely. Or they could be tossed right back into jail. As one can imagine, they took the judge's deal and eventually chose to team up.

Wheezy... Honestly, he was just caught at the wrong place at the wrong time. And by now, he's too caught in the serial killer gang to leave. He knows too much, and he'd be killed if he tried to leave. Not that he's a Saint himself. And Psycho was originally meant to be killed; Doom wanted to get rid of him, as he was an uncontrollable menace on the streets. However, somehow, Smartass saw potential in the lunatic and convinced Doom to let him bring him on the team instead.

(This backstory may change as I think about this more. But this is what I've got so far)

Oh- we can't forget masks. We all love slashers with masks. Smartass wears dark glasses, a scarf, and even gloves to hide his scarring and identity. Stupid uses a paper bag, though; Psycho doodled on some nice pictures on it for him ^^ Wheezy, at this point, doesn't care if someone recognizes him (unless it's Y/N 👀). But if the boss makes him, Wheezy will pull on some ragged, burglars mask and call it a night. Psycho still has his face muzzle from the asylum- and you can tell how he plans on killing you depending on whether or not he's wearing it. Greasy... I can't see him wearing a mask. He has no facial scarring, and can blend into a crowd similarly to Wheezy. That and along with the Judges deal, Greasy sees no point in wearing one.

I can't think of reader insert scenarios with this... Though I can't imagine it'd be really happy no matter how it starts/ends. It's a playground for dark writers XD

(We all know what's coming now XD how Poppy and Shiny fit in this. Shiny, I can see playing the role of the trapper(? Idk if that's the official title of the trope). Like that gas station attendant in 2001 Maniacs. Shiny in this AU owns a liquor store. She's been questioned by cops many times, as some of the murders occur near her store. But she has still managed to stay in business and innocent in the eyes of the law. Nobody knows about her association with the Killer Patrol; how Shiny will purposefully misdirect their victims to wandering their way, or how she gets frequent late night visits from them. Especially Greasy. Similar to Wheezy, she's lost the ability to care about what happens- but towards other people rather than herself. And she's crazy enough to actually knowingly associate with these bastards. As long as they leave her alone and don't get her in trouble, she's willing to turn a blind eye on everything they do.

Poppy however, falls more under the final girl category. Every newspaper she reads, every murder talked about on the news, makes the poor girl more petrified of making her way around town. Even in the middle of the day. Poppy isn't a part of some Scooby-Doo gang trying to bring the murderers to justice, though. She knows she'd be done for if she ran into any one of them. The way she sees it, all she can do is hope to God that her town will regain the peace it used to hold... After she comes home, as of lately she's had the misfortune of getting closing shifts. Sometimes she can swear she feels eyes on her as she makes her way home, but she tells herself it's all in her head for her own sake... Let's hope she's right.

I have no idea how you could see Lottie fitting in this AU 😅 that poor child should not be with any of these adults!! But I will admit, I am curious as to how five serial killers would raise a baby and how she'd turn out (of course you don't have to tell me/think about it if you don't want to ^^))

I hope you don't mind this weasel horror- and I'm truly sorry for doing this to our fave weasels 😅

I. LOVE. THIS.

I love all your AU's, they're all bangers, but THIS?? This is two of my favourite things!?? XD O f c o u r s e I'm in love with it XD

And look, Halloween is a state of mind. It can come around any time of the year! XD 😄 Santa wont mind, so don't feel bad XD

!! Smartass and Stupid are giving me major Hoyt & Thomas vibes!! I love that so much!! And?? I'm getting such apathetic evil vibes from Wheezy that I l o v e?? Like, he's not good, he will hurt and kill people, but goddamn he is gettin too old for this XD Especially with the mask stuff!! XDD GREASY AND PSYCHO ARE ABSOLUTELY PERFECT!! They all are but these two have got me buzzing XD And- forgive me for saying but Shiny also sounds pretty damn hot in this AU XD And Poppy girl!! Of course she's the final girl XDD Goodluck to her XDDDD

OH trust me, I will be coming up with some x reader concepts for you (Probably tomorrow) but for now I have Lottie thoughts!! Of course I want her in this AU if/so long as you allow it!! ^^ ✨✨✨

tw for dub con/rape mentions, murder, and corpse mentions.

Lottie definitely shouldn't be with any of these weasels 😅 And yet... Well, the story goes pretty much the same as originally, except this time when Rena was dropping newborn Lottie off at the weasels door Smartass catches her. Seeing her brings back memories of that night they had together, during which he was hammered and Rena was... tipsy, at best. Lightly buzzed at worst. Obviously Smartass is disgusted and pissed, has an episode, and you know-- turns Rena into a corpse. Rena spends the rest of Lottie's upbringing stuffed and rotting in the basement. So um... at least, you know, this time Lottie has her mother growing up? Rena is a very big part of her life actually. At least her bones propped up in a chair in the corner of Lottie's room, are.

Lottie's upbringing is...

...

...

Well, she doesn't join the navy when she grows up, thats for sure. This Lottie taught herself to read and add because she wasn't sent to school, she doesn't technically exist (There has been no official paperwork made for her, ever. There was a birth certificate but Greasy was sent to burn it), and she's (along with Greasy) the most normal-looking of the bunch- though she is definitely part feral. Whenever Greasy takes her out, like to do shopping or whatever, he constantly has to keep her in check. Thats what I got so far! Its almost midnight and I gotta go to sleep XD But this was fun to think about!! I cant wait to think more on it later !

Thank you so much for sharing this!!

[roosterforme]

Wrong Number | Rooster x Reader

Summary: Bradley was planning on a quiet night at home with a beer and a basketball game on TV. When he receives a text from a wrong number, he's left looking at a beautiful photo of you. Now he just needs to persuade you to ditch the guy you meant to text and focus on him instead.

Warnings: Fluff, swearing, slight dirty talk, Bradley touching himself

Length: 4700 words

Pairing: Bradley "Rooster" Bradshaw x Female Reader

This was written for Rocktober. Check out my masterlist for more. Banner made by @thedroneranger

Bradley had endured such a long week at work, all he wanted to do was change out of his uniform, grab a beer from his fridge and lounge around on the couch in his underwear without a responsibility in sight. Nobody should have to work until ten on a Friday night, but it had taken him that long to sort through the massive stack of paperwork from Admiral Simpson. At least now he had nothing planned for the rest of his evening.

His apartment was too hot, and the cold bottle of beer pressed to his bare thigh as he reached for the TV remote left some droplets of condensation. It felt good. He took another sip as his phone vibrated next to him. With a soft grunt, he abandoned the remote in favor of the phone and unlocked it with his pass code.

There was a new text from an unknown number. And there was a photo attached. He grimaced, afraid of what he was going to find if he tapped on it. He read the phone number twice, but it didn't sound familiar beyond the San Diego area code. He let his head tip back as he recalled the time he pissed Nat off and she gave his phone number to a random sailor in retaliation. Bradley really hoped he wasn't going to have to kindly ask someone to stop sending him dick pics like last time. 

Before he lost the nerve, he tapped on the message, and his screen was suddenly filled with a photo of a woman who looked just a few years younger than him. And she was hot. He paused with his beer bottle halfway to his lips before letting it settle back down to his thigh. 

Hey, Alan. It's me. So now you have my phone number, too.

Bradley didn't know who the hell Alan was, but he wasn't mad about the mix-up. This photo was something else. It almost looked like it was taken in the bathroom at the Hard Deck. The lighting was bad, and there was a paper towel dispenser in the background, but whoever you were.... damn, you were stunning. All pretty features and smiling like you had a secret. 

It took him a moment to stop staring at the photo and return to the previous screen and your message. He was going to have to tell you that he wasn't Alan and that you had the wrong number, but he just sat there and tapped his phone case instead. He didn't even like the name Alan, but damn if he didn't want to be Alan right now. That lucky bastard had you interested in him. 

Bradley was wondering how the mix-up happened in the first place as he drafted up a text to you. Only some sort of fucking idiot wouldn't check and double check that he gave you the right number. "Amateurs," he mumbled as he typed with a little smirk on his face.

Hey, sorry to inform you, but this actually isn't Alan. However, I wouldn't mind one bit if you kept sending me the photos that are meant for him.

He hit send and tossed his phone aside, assuming you'd just block him and move on with your night. He brought his beer bottle back to his lips and enjoyed the way the drink helped cool him down while he contemplated taking a shower, but when he reached for the remote again, his phone vibrated. 

There was another message from the same number. Intrigued, Bradley unlocked his phone again, and he was pleased to see another text and another photo.

Hi, Not-Alan. Sorry about that! I hope you have a great night.

This photo was similar to the first one, except that you were flipping him the peace sign and winking which made Bradley laugh. You seemed fun, even through this limited interaction. And he was sure that was the ladies' bathroom at the Hard Deck, which pissed him off, because he got out of work so late he didn't feel like going out tonight. Maybe if he had been there, you wouldn't have been talking to Alan in the first place.

"Damn it." He was intrigued. He wanted to know more about this.

My night is substantially better now that I have two photos of you. So where did Alan get off to anyway? And why is he trying to steal my phone number?

This time Bradley was dying for another response. But it didn't come. He stared at his phone for a solid minute before returning to his beer and downing the rest of the bottle. Still nothing. He stood and made his way into the kitchen, tossing his empty into the recycling bin before getting another one from the fridge and eyeing up the food situation. He should probably eat something, but he swore he heard his phone vibrating. When he looked over to the couch, the screen was lit up. 

He slammed the fridge door and opened the new bottle before heading back to his phone. There was no photo this time, but there was a new message.

I actually lost Alan in the crowd, so really, the man could be just about anywhere. And I don't think he was trying to steal your number at all, Not-Alan. He wrote it on my palm, and it smeared before I could add it to my phone.

"Okay," Bradley said out loud. "Now we're getting somewhere." He sat down on the couch with his beer on the coffee table and started a new message. 

Alan should learn how to write neater in the future, because he's missing out here. You have to double check that someone who looks like you got the number right. Everyone knows that.

Bradley decided that he was going to have no shame for the night. Not as long as you kept writing back to him. He was contemplating how to save your number in his phone when another selfie with a message came through. You were out by the bar at the Hard Deck with a smile on your face, and you were holding up your palm complete with Bradley's smeared phone number.

Does this number look familiar, Not-Alan? Still no actual Alan in sight, by the way. 

Bradley supposed that the 7 could have been mistaken for a 1. Or maybe Alan's phone number had a 5 that got smeared into a 6. It didn't really matter. Bradley was going to shoot his shot and hope Alan didn't resurface. 

Good, Alan can just stay lost. What's your name, pretty girl?

Then he saved your number as Pretty Girl, and this time he did manage to turn the TV on while he waited with his phone in his hand. He muted the Clippers game and picked up his beer before promptly setting it back down again.

Pretty Girl: Not so fast, Not-Alan. You tell me your name first. And how old you are. And your blood type and the last four of your social security number. 

Bradley laughed and started typing. He realized he hadn't stopped smiling for the last twenty minutes as he hit send.

I'm Bradley. I'm 34. O positive. 2305.

On a regular night, the basketball game would have held his attention, but tonight he couldn't stop looking at his phone. "Come on, Pretty Girl," he muttered, running his beer bottle along his thigh before taking a sip. 

Pretty Girl: Okay, Bradley. You have my attention. Send me a selfie exactly where you are, and I'll think about telling you my name. No changing into something nicer. No fixing your hair. Just a selfie. Right now.

Bradley looked down at himself in just his black boxer briefs and mumbled, "If you say so." When he set his phone camera to selfie mode, he looked at the screen and realized his hair still looked pretty decent from work. So he went ahead and took a picture where he was wearing a bit of a skeptical smirk, and he sent it before he could think twice. 

And now his heart was beating a little faster. This was probably where you'd stop responding. Oh hell, at least he went for it, but a few minutes later, you still hadn't sent anything back to him. Maybe he could have tried to hide the scars on his neck and cheek, but what was the point? Clearly you were sending him actual selfies you'd taken tonight, and he did exactly what you'd told him to. Then his phone vibrated.

Pretty Girl: Do you really expect me to believe that you're not just googling "hot shirtless guy with a mustache", downloading a photo, and trying to pass it off as yourself?

He tipped his head back and laughed. There was just something about you. He didn't even know your name or what your voice sounded like, but he could already tell he was going to like both of those things. If you ever told him or let him hear you.

That's really me. Promise. Will you tell me your name now? Or do I have to keep calling you Pretty Girl?

He was wondering if you were still at the bar, surrounded by guys like Alan who would love to take you home while you were chatting with him. And he hoped the next text would contain your name. But you just ignored him when you wrote back a few minutes later. 

Pretty Girl: Prove you're not just sending some photos of a random hot dude. Go stand by your open refrigerator and take a selfie. Then take another one with your toothbrush. 

"She's a handful," Bradley murmured as he stood with a smile. He carried his beer into the kitchen, opened his refrigerator and snapped a selfie where the fridge light somehow accentuated his features nicely. Then he left his beer on the counter while he went into his bathroom. He was actively trying not to smile for this one where he had his red toothbrush hanging out of the side of his mouth, but he was on the verge of laughing at how ridiculous his night turned out to be. 

He typed up a message and attached both photos and then sent them off while he finished his beer at the kitchen counter, Clippers game forgotten. 

What is this, Pretty Girl? A hostage negotiation? I already told you, that's really me.

It didn't take too long for you to respond this time, and Bradley wasn't even letting his screen dim long enough to need to unlock it now.

Pretty Girl: Are you naked in these photos?

"Jesus," he muttered. Of course he wasn't. Did you want him to be? Shit, he needed to stop thinking about that.

No! I'm wearing underwear. You told me not to get changed or anything.

He felt flushed and too warm as he set his phone down on the counter and went to open some windows. Then he walked a few laps around his apartment in an effort to chill the fuck out. He wasn't even with you, and you were under his skin. 

When he returned to his phone, there was a selfie and a message waiting for him. In the photo, you were sipping a drink, and the way the straw pressed to your perfect lips had him practically moaning. 

Pretty Girl: My friend thinks there's something wrong with me. I'm at a Navy bar in San Diego at the moment. There are hot guys galore, and yet I'm glued to my phone. 

"Shit, shit, shit." Bradley thought about getting dressed and heading out to the bar himself. Then maybe he could hear you tell him your name in person right before he pulled the straw away from your mouth and kissed you.

How much longer are you going to be at the Hard Deck, Pretty Girl?

Bradley started heading for his bedroom closet when his phone vibrated in his hand.

Pretty Girl: How do you know I'm at the Hard Deck? Do I need to smash my phone to bits and go into hiding?

"Fuck," he grunted, typing so quickly he had to go back and fix several spelling errors before he could send it. The last thing he wanted to do was make you uncomfortable, so he paused before getting any clothing out of his closet.

Because I'm in the Navy, and I live in San Diego. And I recognized the inside of the bathroom from the first photo you sent me. I swear I'm not creepy. You can ask Penny, the bartender and owner of that fine establishment. I spend enough time there. Show her my photo.

Bradley collapsed onto his bed with his forearm over his eyes and his phone clutched to his chest. He didn't have to check the time to know it had been a while since he texted you. He also didn't have to look at his phone to know it was after midnight now and that you and he had been chatting for almost two hours. Bradley jolted when the phone vibrated against his chest.

Pretty Girl: Okay. Alright. Penny is a sweetheart, and your story checks out. Also, she told me your call sign and then told me to have you verify what it is for my own peace of mind. So what is it, Bradley? And how do you know what the ladies' restroom here looks like?

Oh, he was going to owe Penny big time. He typed away as he lay sprawled out on his bed.

My call sign is Rooster. And as for your bathroom question.... are you really going to make me answer that?

Bradley closed his eyes and thought about the girl who had taken him into the bathroom with her last year. He was pretty sure she had brown hair, but other than that, he couldn't really recall. But he did remember looking at that paper towel holder on the wall and the framed photo of an F/A-14 that was hanging over it while he was in there with her. 

He wouldn't mind taking a trip there with you, that was for sure. Or maybe you and he could skip the scandalous bar hookup and just go right to dinner or a movie. For some reason, he thought he might actually prefer that.

Pretty Girl: Be back soon. I'm getting a ride home.

Bradley mused out loud, "It better not be from Alan." Shit, he could have offered to go pick you up and make sure you got home safely. He'd only had those two beers all night, and now he was picturing some faceless guy named Alan driving you home and pawing at you.

He texted you back.

Let me know when you get home, okay? And you can always just call me.

With a sigh, he got out of bed and plugged his phone in, not sure what to expect at this point. He went back into the bathroom and used his red toothbrush. And then he went back to the living room and closed all the windows. When he was in his room again, he had no new notifications as he climbed in bed. He was about to text you again and check in when his phone rang.

CALL FROM Pretty Girl

Bradley was smiling as he answered. "Hey, Pretty Girl."

A soft laugh preceded your voice, and he had to bite the inside of his cheek as you said, "Hi, Bradley with the O positive blood. Are you trying to tell me that you were in that bar bathroom with a girl?"

He found himself laughing. "Can I plead the fifth?"

When you moaned softly, he dropped his phone onto the pillow and had to scramble to get it. "Oh, my god. Even your voice is sexy."

Okay. He should not be on the verge of touching himself after you spoke three whole sentences to him. "You make it home safely?" he asked, trying to play it cool as he thought about those photos you sent him. 

"Mmhmm. A very nice man named Alan drove me home. He's right here next to me as I get changed for bed."

Bradley thought for a beat that he had met his match in you. "You better be lying. You know what, put Alan on the phone."

Your laughter filled him up as you said, "He's not really here. I had to ditch him, because he doesn't even have a mustache. Apparently that's a deal breaker for me now?"

Holy shit. Bradley was in trouble. He was getting turned on, and you weren't even really saying anything dirty. "You're killing me. You gonna tell me your name, Pretty Girl?"

"No. I think I'm going to hold onto it a little longer."

"Fine. But please explain to me how I've never seen you at the Hard Deck before. I'm certain I would remember your face."

Your voice sounded a little softer now as you said, "I just moved to Coronado. It was my first time at the bar."

If he hadn't worked so late today, Bradley would have probably been there tonight as well. "You had fun? You think you'll go back again?"

"Probably," you replied casually. "When do you think you'll be there?"

Bradley was so warm he was starting to sweat. "Pretty Girl, you just say the word, and I'll clear my whole damn calendar."

Your little sighs and soft giggles were going to be the death of him. "You know, I still have Alan's, or rather your phone number on my hand."

He imagined himself kissing your palm and rewriting his phone number. "Should be in my handwriting. I'll make sure I always bring a pen with me to the bar."

You cleared your throat softly, and Bradley imagined you climbing into bed. "Penny told me to watch out for some of the other guys. But she said you're okay."

"Just okay?"

"Actually, she called you a big, brown eyed puppy dog."

Bradley laughed. "I've been called worse."

"I'm sure you have," you replied quickly. "You deserve some sort of punishment for daring to look good with a mustache."

"It's a blessing and a curse. Now, are you going to send me another photo? Or are you going to just agree to meet me tomorrow night?"

He heard a rustling noise and then you softly said, "Alan is not going to like this one bit." And then another photo arrived, and this one had Bradley's mouth hanging open. 

"Now it's my turn to ask if you're naked in this picture." He was taking in every inch of your exposed skin and your bedding tucked up to your collar bones. You took your makeup off for bed, and you looked cozy and intimate. And you were talking to him. You were letting him see this. Bradley had to actively think about not touching himself. 

"Totally naked."

"Fuck."

"Send me another one?"

"Yeah," he grunted, swallowing hard as he tried to pose for another selfie just how he was, sprawled out on his pillow with his left arm bent and tucked back behind his head. But his cheeks looked flushed, and his eyes looked darker than usual. He was turned on. 

Fuck it. He snapped the photo and sent it. And about ten seconds later, he was greeted with the strangled sound you made.

"It should be illegal for someone with that mustache to look so good. It's rude, honestly. Bradley, you're kind of rude, because now I want to know...."

He was hanging on your every word. "Know what, Pretty Girl?"

The call went completely silent before you said softly and sweetly, "What your mustache feels like...everywhere."

A soft, startled laugh escaped his lips. You were on the verge of some dirty talk now, he could just tell. And his cock was hard as he replied with, "I'd love to let you find out. But before you respond, I need to know how much you've had to drink tonight. I don't want to take advantage of anything here."

You whimpered on the other end of the call. "A mustache, brown eyes, and a gentleman? All Alan did for me was buy me those two Long Island iced teas."

Bradley grunted and said, "That's enough about Alan. Why don't you go ahead and tell me where you'd like to feel my mustache first, Pretty Girl."

You squeaked and said, "I want to feel it rough along my skin right below my ear while you whisper to me. Oh my god, I can't believe I said that out loud. I should just go to bed."

"Don't hang up," Bradley said, panting with need now. "Tell me more."

"Okay," you sighed with another little squeak. "I want to feel it on my lips. While I'm sitting in your lap, licking the taste of that beer you drank from your mouth."

"Holy shit," he groaned, palming himself through his boxer briefs.

"I know," you whined with need. "And I want to feel it on the back of my neck while you do filthy things to me. And I don't even know you!"

"You will," he guaranteed. "Please, tell me what time I can meet you tomorrow."

Bradley listened to the rustle of your sheets as he waited. Then you finally said, "Seven o'clock? At the Hard Deck?"

"I'll be there, Pretty Girl. I can't wait to see you."

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

It was barely even 6:30, but you were already at the bar all made up and wearing a cute dress. Penny recognized you right away, which was kind of nice and kind of embarrassing. When she asked if you wanted another Long Island, you waved her off and said, "Nothing yet. I'm meeting someone."

Her eyes lit up as she asked, "Is it Rooster?"

You'd barely slept all night, preferring to look at the four selfies he'd sent you after you ended the call around two. There was a little more dirty talk, sure, but you and he also learned a bit more about each other. And now you were going to meet this naval aviator who was originally from Virginia but loved the Los Angeles Clippers face to face. 

"Yeah. It's Rooster."

Penny looked truly delighted. "You have nothing to worry about. He's very sweet."

"Tell that to the butterflies," you muttered as you placed one hand on your stomach for a beat, willing the nerves to dissipate as you walked away. You'd told Bradley you wanted his mustache on your body. In several places. And then he told you he thought you were so pretty and fun that he wanted to kiss you everywhere. And right now you were just mystified as to how this could have possibly happened only a week after you moved to this neighborhood. And you still didn't know what happened to Alan after you went to the ladies' bathroom and saved the wrong number in your phone.

You laughed when you thought about it, and then you ran your hands along the fabric of your dress. You were so antsy, your palms were sweaty. You looked down at yourself and just got more nervous. Bradley hadn't seen much of your body in the photos you'd sent to him. You'd seen plenty of his though, and he looked tall and muscular even next to his damn refrigerator. And his face was gorgeous, right down to that sinful looking mustache. 

And you were just... you. Alan was really more your speed with his nerdy glasses and messy hairstyle and his lack of ability to even grow any sort of facial hair at all. You just hoped that Bradley wouldn't take one look at you in person and walk right back out of the bar. 

You were about to tell Penny that you thought you needed a drink after all when the door caught your eye, and Bradley strolled into the bar like he owned the place. "Oh...fuck," you whispered, gaping at him as he ran his fingers through his hair. The photos hadn't even done him justice. He had to be over six feet tall, and he was so broad and muscular, he looked like he could pick you up and toss you around a little bit. "Shit." He was wearing some snug fitting jeans and a tropical print shirt like he just knew he could pull off the most ridiculous look. "Damn." He was glancing around, trying to find you while you started scouring the room unsuccessfully for another exit. 

You were trapped in here, and he was walking further into the bar now. And you didn't think you could hide halfway behind this couple who was making out for very much longer.  

As Bradley's eyes scanned the crowd again, he looked a little apprehensive. His brow was scrunched, and he checked the time on his watch. You knew it was almost seven. So you took a deep breath and let it out slowly, and then you scooted one step to your left. When his gaze came your way again, his eyes landed on you. And then his face softened. The apprehension melted away, and he smiled a cute and somehow sexy little grin that made you whimper.

Now he was heading your way, his gait sure and steady. And then he was just a few feet away and you could see the scars on his face that you'd studied all night in the photos. And you could see the flecks of gold in his eyes that somehow the selfies didn't capture. And then he was talking, and his voice was even better in person.

"Pretty Girl."

Okay, so he'd seen you up close, and he wasn't running away. That had to be a good sign, right? You managed to say just one slightly breathless word. "Hi." And then his smile grew, and he was closing the space between your body and his. He was reaching for your face and running one rough thumb along your cheek. And then he kissed you.

And the soft scrape of his mustache was even better than all of the ways you'd spent your night imagining it might feel. You couldn't help but return his kiss, and somehow your hands ended up pressed to the front of him, sliding up to his chest. 

When he broke the kiss, he stayed close, his lips not far from your face. He covered your hands with his, keeping them on his body. And then he leaned close to your ear, his mustache scraping along your soft skin there as he whispered, "Tell me your name, Pretty Girl. I'm dying here."

Soft laughter bubbled out of you as he pulled away from you a bit, and those butterflies were going wild. His eyes were fixed on your face, begging for an answer this time as he stroked your hands with his thumbs. And then you told him, and he tried your name out on his tongue a few times with that grin that you liked so much. He kept saying it softly until you kissed him this time, and then he guided your arms around his neck. 

"Listen," he said in that raspy voice that you'd love to focus on all night. "I have no problem staying here for a while if you want to. I bet you could even persuade me to join you in the ladies' room."

"Sounds tempting," you told him with a smirk.

"It really does. But we could also just ditch the bar and grab dinner instead? Maybe watch the Clippers game and have a drink at my place? I'm a little worried Alan might show up here and try to lure you away, if I'm being honest."

You practically snorted with laughter. "I can't even really remember what Alan looks like. He was totally gone from my mind after the first selfie you sent me. Let's get out of here."

He took you by the hand. "Anything you want, Pretty Girl."

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

I love dreamy loverboy Bradley, and I love Pretty Girl too. Thanks to @mak-32 and @beyondthesefourwalls

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[tathrin]

So obviously there are a lot of things I would have done differently if I had been in charge of Amazon's Rings of Power show. I could go on at length about any of them, but...

One little, little thing I would do?

I would have a cat there, in Eregion. Just in the background of various scenes, nbd, hanging out in the smithy and stuff, meandering around, curling up in Celebrimbor's lap... Not something to focus on: just a little bit of background flavor, you know, show that Celebrimbor is a softy who likes animals, or maybe it's good for the smiths' morale to have an animal around; whatever...

But. I would make sure that the cat is never ever ever seen on screen in any scene that Annatar is in. (Or perhaps sometimes is seen at the start of a scene where Annatar enters later, but disappears from the camera's sight before he arrives.)

You pan in on the smithy, and there's a cat lounging on a cushion on Celebrimbor's desk, as cats do.

Maybe it even bats or sniffs at some of the prototypes/paperwork, you know, normal cat stuff. It's certainly not interested in what Celebrimbor is working on haha. It's certainly not reading the bluprints, don't be silly, stop anthropomorphizing the cat, it's just a bit of set dressing, okay? Obviously.

Scene starts, Celebrimbor does some work, maybe gives the cat some chin-scritches or maybe is too preoccupied to notice it's even there; no big deal. Doesn't really matter. We're focusing on his work designing the Rings, okay?

So, as he works we pan across, the cat isn't there anymore...and Annatar walks over, not having made any grand entrance coming in through the door or anything; just like he's been there all along and now he's coming by for a closer look, how odd that we didn't notice him before! Oh, it's probably just an editing thing, they probably just cut-out his entrance for pacing reasons nbd.

And hey that's funny, you don't see the cat again until he leaves...

No one in the show would ever reference this. No one would, in fact, ever mention or name the cat or draw any specific direct attention to its presence, save perhaps the occasional scritch of its little head in passing. It's not a character, it's just a little cat who hangs out in the smithy. Doesn't seem to belong to anyone in particular. Probably a stray.

(Weird how you don't see it again during any of the final fighting when Annatar/Sauron's busy doing his Endgame Shit, but hey: it's a cat, it's probably just too smart to stick around during all that chaos. No doubt it bolted for safety days ago. It's not like it has anything important that it'd be doing during all that. It's just a cat, for Eru's sake!)

Now, the question is, do we list the cat(s) who played the role in the credits as just "smithy cat," or do we go full wink-and-nudge and give the cat its name?

Either way of course: we'd all know.

[sequinsmile-x]

Subtle

Aaron has a bad day and Emily looks after him.

-x-

I can't even tell you where this came from...and it is just fluff. Pure fluff.

In other news, I have FINALLY finished the outline for Home, the sequel to The Way Home, so keep an eye out for updates <3

-x-

Words: 2.8k

Warnings: None

Read over on Ao3, or below the cut

Aaron feels tense, his shoulders and neck tight with stress from the case they’d just returned from. They’d been too late to save the last victim, a young boy who looked a little too much like Jack for his liking. He thinks he’d hear the mother’s scream, the way she’d blamed him, forever. As well as the silence on the jet home, loud and thick in the enclosed space as his team once again tried to get over an outcome they hadn’t wanted. 

His attention is pulled away from his pile of endless paperwork by the sound of a knock on his door. He looks up to find his girlfriend standing in the doorway, a soft smile on her face as she crosses her arms across her chest. 

“Everyone else has gone home,” Emily says, leaning against his door frame, “Are you nearly done?” 

He groans, rubbing at the bridge of his nose, “I wish, sweetheart,” he says as he looks up at her. He doesn’t miss the disappointment that flashes across her face and it makes him feel worse as if he’s letting her down, “Why don’t you just go home, Em?” 

She stares at him momentarily, “Jack’s still with Roy and Jess, right?” 

“Yeah,” he sighs, the thought of returning to an empty apartment disheartening, “Until Sunday.” 

She nods and stands up straight, walking over to his desk, “Come to mine when you’re done?” 

“Em-”

“Please?” She runs her fingers through his hair, smiling as the motion makes him close his eyes, her touch always enough to calm him down, “You know I sleep better with you next to me,” she says, knowing she’s playing dirty, that he could never say no to her, “That’s how the team caught us out so quickly, remember?” 

Aaron chuckles at the memory of it. Of how Derek had caught Emily sneaking out of his room on their first case after they got together. He nods, enjoying the feeling of her fingers running through his hair.

“Ok, I’ll come to yours.” 

His reward is a wide smile before she leans in to kiss him, her lips briefly against hers before she pulls back, trailing her hands through his hair once more before she steps away.

“Text when you’re on your way and I’ll order dinner.” 

“Ok,” he agrees, smiling at her before she turns to leave, “Em?” She looks back at him, “Thank you.” 

She smiles, having heard what he hadn’t said. How he was thankful that she was here, that she wanted to look after him.

“Anytime,” she replies, winking at him, “I love you.” 

“Love you too.”

___

He does as she’s asked and texts her before he leaves. He gets a response before he’s even at the elevator, unable to fight a smile as her name flashes on his screen over a photo of the two of them that he had set as his wallpaper. 

If asked, he wouldn’t be able to tell anyone any details about the journey to her apartment, his brain on autopilot the entire time. He lets himself into her apartment with the key she gave him months ago and he immediately feels himself relax as the familiar warmth of her home washes over him.

“It’s just me sweetheart,” he calls into the apartment, hearing her moving around in her bedroom. 

“You made good time,” she replies, her voice made slightly quieter by distance, “The pizza is nearly here. I’ll be out in a minute, you should help yourself to a beer. I put some in the fridge.” 

He places his bag down on the ground and walks towards her kitchen, the beer she’d suggested sounding like an excellent idea. He loosens his tie and takes it off, placing it on her kitchen counter before he walks over to the fridge and pulls the door open. He reaches for a bottle before his hand stops midway there, and he looks into her fridge curiously. 

It’s not the normal complete lack of food that could constitute a meal that takes him aback, nor the milk he can see is expired from the date stamped across it, but it's the two different types of beer lined up in one corner on the bottom shelf. The kind he usually had when he was here, the one she drank, right next to his favourite.

A type of beer she famously doesn’t like. 

“Are you ok, honey?” She asks, and he looks at her, momentarily losing his train of thought as he does so. She’s taken her make-up off and changed out of her work clothes. She’s now wearing sleep shorts and a shirt of his, the sleeves rolled up to her elbows, the white material complementing her dark hair, making her look impossibly beautiful. 

He looks back at the fridge nodding slightly before he grabs a bottle of each beer, closing the fridge door before he walks towards her, passing her the bottle he intended for her. 

“I thought you didn’t like this beer,” he says, twisting the lid off of his drink as he says it, watching as she does the same. 

“I don’t,” she says simply, taking a sip of her drink, “It’s gross.” 

Despite the tension in his body, leftover from the stress of the case and the discomfort of the bed they’d slept in for the last few nights, he smiles at her, her description not too dissimilar to how Jack would describe it. 

“Then why do you have it?” 

She shrugs, stepping towards him to close the gap between them, “Because you like it,” she answers as if it’s obvious, stamping a kiss to his lips before there’s a knock on her door, “Pizzas here.” 

He watches as she walks towards the front door, his eyes fixed on her as she goes, and he realises, not for the first time since they’d got together, that this was what he’d missed about being in a relationship with someone. The tiny things that you learnt about each other, storing facts away until you could use them to make the other person feel better. A small token of affection that let them know someone cared, that someone loved them. 

Even if it was something as seemingly small as buying a different brand of beer. 

“Evening, Miss Prentiss.” 

Aaron looks up towards the door, his eyes narrowing as he sees the smile on the pizza delivery guy’s face as he not so subtly looks Emily up and down. Aaron takes a step to the right to make sure he’s visible and clears his throat. Emily turns to look at him just long enough to roll her eyes at him. 

“Mr Hotchner,” the pizza guy says, his smile being nervous as he looks back at Emily, quickly exchanging the pizza for the money in Emily’s hand, “Have a nice evening.” 

“Thank you,” Emily replies, closing the door after he walks away quickly. She turns to look at her boyfriend and shakes her head at him as she walks towards the couch, “Do you have to scare him every time? Poor kid looked like he was going to shit his pants.” 

“Maybe he should stop trying to flirt with you,” he mutters, taking a sip of his beer as he joins her, sitting next to her as she opens the pizza box and places it on the coffee table. 

“He’s not trying to flirt with me, Aaron.” 

“That’s why I said trying, baby,” he says, smiling at her as he passes her a slice of pizza before grabbing on for himself, “I never said he was good at it.” 

She laughs, leaning her head against his shoulder as she takes a bite of her pizza, “Well, rest assured that even if he was, you’re the only man for me.” 

He places his hand on her bare thigh and squeezes it, allowing himself to settle in the comfort only she and his son could bring him. They eat in comfortable silence, and she lets him take what he needs, ending up all but in his lap by the time they are done. 

“So,” she says, wrapping her arms around his neck, “What do you want to do next? You have two options.” 

Aaron frowns at her, “Options for what?” 

“Cheering you up,” she says, scratching the back of his neck, her blunt nails making him shiver, “Want to know what your options are?” She says, tilting her head at him slightly, her eyes shining with mischief that makes him somehow love her even more. He nods, and she smiles, “Option 1, I take off my shirt and show you the bra I put on when I got home,” she leans in and whispers like she’s sharing a conspiracy, “It’s your favourite,” she pulls back and it isn’t lost on him that her smile has turned into a smirk, “Option 2, I go upstairs and run a bath and we both take off all of our clothes and get in it.” 

He smiles softly at her, “I like that both options involve you taking off your shirt.” 

She laughs and kisses his cheek, “I know my audience well.”

He presses his forehead into hers, “Would you be mad if I went for option 2?”

She shakes her head, the action making their foreheads knock slightly, “I thought you would,” she says, pulling back to look at him, “I saw how you were rolling her shoulder on the jet earlier,” she kisses him once more before she climbs off of his lap, “That mattress in our room was a piece of crap. Give me 5 minutes, ok?” 

He nods and watches her go, reaching for his beer and taking a sip as he leans back into her couch. He looks around the apartment, at all the things that Emily had here that made it feel like a home. Photos of the two of them together, as well as photos of them with the team and with Jack. Little figurines of cats that looked like Sergio. Games and movies for Jack spread amongst her things, DVDs she’d bought for his son for when he was here mixed in with hers. 

Aaron knew she loved him. It was something she said all the time. Three words that had seemed insurmountable at first, both of them too hurt by their pasts to feel as if they could say them. They were a part of their day-to-day now. Words they exchanged whenever they said goodbye, all too aware of how quickly everything could change. He knew she loved him because she showed him. She looked after him in ways that were subtle, ways that came to her without her seemingly thinking about it, as much a part of her as breathing. 

He knew she felt that way because he felt the same way about her. 

He waits until the 5 minutes are up and walks towards and through her bedroom into the adjoining bathroom. He raises his eyebrows when he sees she’s already in the tub, her clothes abandoned in a pile on the floor and her hair tied into a bun on top of her head. The room smells like lavender, and the air is warm, steam coming off of the water in a way that makes it clear just how hot it is. 

“Are you getting in?” 

Aaron nods, placing his beer next to hers on the side of the tub before he strips off quickly, his clothes joining hers on the floor. He expects her to move forward so he can slip in behind her like he usually does when they share a bath, but she doesn’t move, her raised eyebrow enough to let him know what she wants him to do. He hisses as he steps into the water, the temperature of it a shock before it soothes him. He sits down in front of her, settling back against her as she wraps her legs around him from behind and loops her arms over his shoulders, encouraging him to lean all his weight on her. 

“Are you comfortable?” She asks, pressing a kiss to his neck. 

“As comfortable as someone wearing a jetpack can be,” he quips, and she squeezes him a little tighter in revenge. 

“I’m not that much shorter than you,” she replies, kissing his neck again, “I mean, is this helping?” 

He turns his head to kiss her cheek, “You always help.” 

She smiles, shaking her head as she buries her face in his shoulder, “You always help me too,” she says, and they fall into silence for a few moments before she speaks again, “You know it’s not your fault, right?” She says, and he tenses against her, “You couldn’t have changed what happened to that kid.” 

He sighs, and he shifts just enough to look at her, his lips set in a firm line, “I know, sweetheart,” he replies, reaching for one of her hands their skin slipping against each other in the water, “It doesn’t make it any easier though.” 

“I know,” she says, lifting her spare hand to push his hair from his forehead, water droplets falling onto his face, “I just wanted to make sure you knew.” 

Aaron leans in and kisses her his lips firm against hers to stop himself from thanking her for all of this, something he knows would earn him a reprimand. He pulls back just enough to talk, his breath skipping over her lips. 

“I love you so much, Em.” 

“I love you too,” she says, stamping another kiss against his lips, “so much,” she kisses him once more, scrunching her nose up a little as she pulls back this time, “Even though your taste in beer sucks.” 

-x-

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[tigereyes45]

AOS mckirk + 43? ❤️

Prompt 43 was, "Why aren't you eating?" You can find the list of prompts here. I originally wrote a version of this request where it's Jim not eating, but then my mind kept saying, but what if it was McCoy. So I did that. XD There's going to be a second part to this where Jim is the one not eating. You can also read the story on AO3 here:

Summary:

It's easy to push aside eating in favor of finishing a task at hand. Everyone needs reminders sometimes.

Start:

When Jim Kirk steps into McCoy's private office space, there's a swagger that's ever-present in his moves. A self-confidence that's more act than reality. Leonard has enough kindness to keep from announcing the fact. The doctor lowers a PADD that had been claiming his ever-dissipating attention, for the last hour and a half.

"Nurse Chapel tells me you haven't been eating." The doctor drops his PADD onto his desk as if he couldn't be bothered to read it for another moment.

“She told you.” McCoy corrects before rolling his eyes. It’s official. No more late-night lab tests with Spock. The vulcan’s beginning to rub off on him. Leonard shakes his head. His fingers impatiently tap against the PADD’s screen. "Christine needs to learn how to keep information to herself." Jim’s foot began to subconsciously tap along with Bones’ fingers. McCoy huffs and crosses his arms. "It's unprofessional."

"She worries about you Bones." Kirk leans against the doctor's desk. A knowing smile on his face. "I worry about you."

That’s obvious. Despite his role as captain, Jim has never been able to hide his favoritism. He’s kept those who he first encountered on the ship closer than most others. Their history throughout the academy resulted in McCoy being allowed closer than most. Even more so than the bridge crew.

"I don't need you worrying over me." Bones insists. How many times have they had a conversation like this? With another huff, he stands up. "And leave Christine alone. She's a rather skilled nurse. I'd hate to lose her. Again." That last word came out with a little more bite than he intended.

"I'll keep that in mind."

There's so much work to do. Wounds to heal, chests waiting to be sewn up, check-ups, vaccinations, physical therapies to watch, paperwork to sign off on, newly released research to catch up on, and then review. All before they head off to start this new five-year mission. The work never ends, and damn it! He's a doctor. If anyone knows how far and long their body can go, it's him. No puffed-up captain is going to tell him otherwise.

"Bones," Jim's soft call is followed by a hand clapping around McCoy's shoulder. Leonard shrugs the handoff. Concern fills Jim's face. His usual smirk now hangs awkwardly open. No doubt the gears are turning in that quick mind. Nimble as a fox. That's what his father would’ve called Jim.

If they ever had the chance to meet.

"I just want to make sure you keep some meat on you." Jim jokes, rounding on McCoy. He folds his arms over his chest and offers a light smile. Even that small smile would be enough to brighten up most of McCoy's days. Not now though. There’s no time. He’s due for a surgery in about eight hours. Eight hours that’ll pass in a blink of an eye if he’s not careful.

"I've got work to do Jim." Leonard tries to step around. 

Jim swiftly sways and weaves to keep in his way. "Come on Bones. Join me for lunch."

"I can't."

"Yes, you can.” Jim’s the one rolling his eyes now. “Take a break.” He throws a hand out, leaning in the doorway. Thoroughly blocking McCoy’s only way out. “Captain's orders." He adds with a wink.

"I said I can't." It’s not that he doesn’t want to, but there’s too much on the scales. He has to keep going just to keep them balanced. Otherwise, Jim will be short on crew, and missing talented people. Individuals that may keep him alive. Out there in the vast emptiness, they’ll only have each other to count on. Starfleet won’t be able to help if they get into trouble. They can’t have come so far for McCoy to make a mistake. Not now. Not again.

McCoy furrows his brows and fights back the memories threatening to take his attention. Deep down Leonard knows why he’s doing this. Why it has become so easy to push his own needs aside and focus on all the lives on board. 

Part of it is his training. Doctors of all kinds learn early on in school how to push down the biological signs of hunger and stress. When you have lab results due in the morning, but the tests haven’t run their full course yet, and midterms are around the corner, while professor after professor is encouraging you to start thinking about your thesis work now before you even manage to get out of undergrad, well stress becomes seconded nature. Exhaustion, hunger pangs, and increased anxiety that verges on panic attacks, all get swept under the rug, and suppressed until a body can’t go on anymore. By the time they get to medical school most students have bodies that are simultaneously, in a horrendous state, yet conditioned to work through it. They keep to themselves. Reminding himself with post-its, handwritten notes scrawled in the empty spaces of his books, and phone alerts to drink water, eat food, and take five minutes to close his eyes before pushing on. Always aware of the fact of the hypocrisy between the instructions he gives to patients on how to care for themselves as he works himself to the bone.

Leonard’s trained not to share his own problems. To ignore his own needs, but even that can only go so far. Deep down there’s more to it. A fear deeper than the grief that washes over him as he loses a patient. Something that motivates him more than any fear he experienced when in school or out in space.

He can’t lose Jim again.

"And I said you can." Jim opens up his arms, talking with his hands. "You're not much help to anyone if you're all skin and bones."

The timing had been more. Leonard knows that’s not what James was saying. He wasn’t invalidating the fear, but rationality wasn’t home today. "Damn it Jim, I said no!" McCoy’s hand goes flying past Jim, towards the door’s control. Fingers catch on the bottom of Jim’s long sleeve as his palm smacks the buttons.

It’s painful how ingrained that loss had become in his life. Terrifying how the mere thought of it sends his mind spiraling as if lost to a deep, powerful vortex that sucks everything else away.

"Hey!" Jim pushes a hand against Leonard's chest. "Watch the hand, McCoy."

McCoy pulls his hand back. His fingers were shaking. With a deep sigh Leonard folds them in. Doing his best to calm his racing nerves the doctor closes his eyes. Doing his best stern, yet calm voice Leonard says, "Just get out of here Jim. I've got lives to save, and people who need fixing." People you need.

Leonard opens his eyes slowly. The look on Jim’s face was one of determination. Better than heartbroken. McCoy can only imagine his own expression. He needs to get back to work.

“Nurse Chapel.” Christine appears right behind him, as if waiting for Jim’s call. “When is Doctor McCoy’s next scheduled appointment?”

“In eight hours sir. It’s Lieutenant Alfonse’s surgery.” An engineer skilled enough, that Scotty himself has been asking after his health since they first discovered the kidney issue.

“Does he have any pressing matters in the meantime?”

Christine doesn’t even bother pretending to look at the datapadd in her hands. “No sir?” Her eyes stare McCoy down.

“He’s officially off shift. Call me directly if there’s an emergency.” Leonard fights back the urge to swear. Jim really isn’t going to let this drop.

“You sir?” Chapel asks, trying to get a look at the captain’s face. The man keeps his back to her, and his eyes trained on McCoy.

Jim crosses his arms. “He’ll be eating with me in my room.” A new smirk adorns his face. “Won’t you Bones?”

Sensing no room for argument McCoy agrees through gritted teeth, “I guess I will, sir.” He added that last word to make it clear that while he’s bending he’ll remember this. If Jim’s bothered by that idea, he doesn’t act like it.

Jim steps aside, finally letting Leonard pass by. Chapel steps back out of the way, heading over to the bio beds, with a polite nod of her head. Leonard steals a glance at her datapadd. It wasn’t even turned on. They planned this! Jim comes bounding after. He lightly pats Leonard’s arm, as he falls into step beside the doctor. “No be angry Bones. You’re gonna like this.”

“I like working.”

Jim playfully smacks McCoy’s chest. “No you don’t. You like fried potatoes, dumplings, and steak bites.”

That stops Leonard dead in his tracks. “What?” He turns to face Jim whose got the biggest shit-eating grin. Sickbay’s front door slides shut behind them.

Jim grabs both of McCoy’s arms, and fix the end of his short sleeves. “Like I said,” Jim leans closer practically bubbling with energy. “You’ll like it. I even used basil.”

This time Leonard couldn’t keep his face from forming a wide, disblieving smile. “You what?” Did that mean Jim actually cooked? Yeah they were still on Earth but it must’ve been out of his way to go and grab actual food from a market. McCoy’s stomach growls, voicing it’s lack of care over where the food came from, or how it was prepared. Either way he has to try it now. As if it wasn’t already being required by Jim.

A home cook meal. Literally. It shouldn’t be such an odd thought considering that the Enterprise was going to be his only home for the next five years. Leonard had expected to only eat synthesized food for it all. An actual cooked meal, made with fresh ingredients, his mouth starts to water.

The captain was already a few steps down the hall, as McCoy’s feet finally lift and start to follow. With each step bringing him a little bit closer to the promise of food, his body grows lighter. There’s still a lot of work to do. Guilt threatens to rear it’s ugly head back up, but Jim’s smile banishes the thoughts to the deepest recesses of Bones’ mind.

Sometimes it’s easy to forget to actually enjoy his time with the people he wants to save.

Another lesson trained into the practice, unfortunately.

[jerzwriter]

A Little Surprise

This little fic was created in honor of @storyofmychoices's birthday! I told you Olivia was entering my Tobias & Casey world! And Bryce is introducing her in a big way! I hope you enjoy it, Dani! But more importantly, I hope you have a wonderful day!

Book:                   Open Heart (post-series)

Pairing:                Tobias Carrick x F!MC (Casey MacTavish)

Featuring:           Bryce Lahela x @storyofmychoices's Olivia Hadley

Rating:                 Teen

Category:            Fluff

Summary:           Tobias & Casey's wedding is this Saturday! And their officiant, Bryce, has been so excited about wooing the single guests all along, until now. When he creates a little mystery about his sudden date, Casey is determined to get to the bottom of things.

Words:                 1900

A/N:                     I hope I don't confuse people. Holland Roden is my FC for Casey's ex-girlfriend, Jessica, as well as Dani's Olivia - we're just going to ignore that! lol But this is not a Jessica fic! :)

   @choicesmonthlychallenge Prompts: Friends, Love, and Romance      

Wedding & Baby Stories Masterlist Tobias & Casey Complete Masterlist My Full Masterlist

Casey was hunched over a pile of paperwork in the diagnostic team’s office. She was so engrossed that the world around her disappeared. That included one overly exuberant Dr. Bryce Lahella… exuberant even for him. 

Life had been more than good to him in recent years, and it seemed to be at an all-time. His career was soaring. Recently named the Porter Mitchell Surgical Resident of the Year, doors he never imagined opening were now firmly within his reach. Since arriving in Boston, he found something he had always yearned for, a true, loving found family. And this weekend, he would be presiding over the wedding of two of his closest “family members.”

He thought Tobias and Casey were joking when they initially asked him but was thrilled to learn they were serious. It was an honor he didn’t take likely. Besides, with his self-assured manner, he knew he’d hit it out of the park. He’d be sentimental, funny, charming… and handsome as hell. When Casey asked him if he’d be bringing a date, he declined. 

“Nope. Next to your fiance, I am going to be the man of the hour!” He winked. “I’ll be fighting potential suitors off of me… it would be unfair to deny them the opportunity!”

Casey muttered something about it being no wonder he and Tobias were such good friends before walking away. But it was two months later now, and a lot had changed. Yeah.  Life had been very good to Bryce Lahela.

“Hey, Casey-cakes!” he exclaimed, approaching her, causing her to startle in his wake.

“For God’s sake, Bryce! Don’t scare me like that!”

“Sorry,” he peered over her at her laptop screen. “I forget some people get so caught up in paracoccidioidomycosis that they don’t notice when a ravishingly handsome young surgeon enters the room.”

“Seriously, Lahela. A, you would be equally enthralled with reading about the Versuis technique. And, B, as ravishingly handsome as you are, you know I only have eyes for one super hot doctor in this hospital… and it’s not you.”

“Well, thank God for that. Tobias couldn’t take this competition.”

Casey burst out laughing. “So, to what do I owe the pleasure of this visit. You have questions about Saturday?”

“Nope,” he assured. “I have the ceremony down pat. It’s going to be amazing, Casey. The best-looking bride and groom in the history of Boston, and me as officiant. This weekend's rising temperature will have nothing to do with global warming!”

“Yes, yes, I know,” she rolled her eyes. “Hence, you’re going stag and will fight everyone off at the reception.”

“Actually,” he sang. “That’s why I came to see you.”

“No, Bryce. I won’t give you a list of single guests, and I won’t tell you which ones are the hottest.”

“I’m glad to hear that because that’s not what I wanted to talk to you about.”

“Oh?”

“I was going to see if I could still bring a plus one.”

“Ooooh! Is there something you haven’t told me? You were quite excited about flying solo Saturday!”

Bryce walked to the door, looking outside before shutting it behind him and returning to Casey.

“I’ve been seeing someone,” he whispered. Based on the genuine grin that followed, Casey knew this was something big.

“Oh, have you! Tell me more!”

“I’ve kept it quiet because she’s really special, and I wanted to make sure this would work before going public.”

“Wait! So are you official!” Casey smacked his arm. “You’re official, and this is the first time I’m learning of this!”

“Ow!” Bryce yelled. “Does Tobias know how hard you hit.”

“Yes!” She smirked. “He rather likes it… if I must say so myself.”

Bryce pulled out his phone and made a note, “OK, that’s going into the ceremony now.”

“Bryce,” Casey laughed, “back to the point!”

“We’re not officially official yet, but if all goes well, we will be very soon, and I’d love to bring her to the wedding.”

Casey squealed with delight. “Of course! This is so exciting! Who is she? Do I know her?”

“You know her, but I’d like to hold off on telling you for a couple days?”

“Bryce Lahela! Don’t you trust me by now? You know I won’t tell a soul! You’re the only one who knows Tobias and I already got hitched secretly; I trusted you!”

“I’m your officiant, Casey! I had to handle the paperwork! You had no choice.”

She crossed her arms with a huff. “I would have told you anyway! Now, come on, tell me.”

“How about this? I’ll tell you… on Saturday, when I walk in with her on my arm.”

“I hate you, Bryce. I should deny you the extra invite.”

“You can’t do that because if you do, the shit I will include in your ceremony will make all your parent's hair stand on edge.”

“Fine!” Casey relented with a laugh. “But, can  you tell me if I know her at least?”

“You do,” he grinned. “She works here, and that’s all I’m saying.”

“It’s not Brenda from Accounting. Is it? I can’t stand Brenda from Accounting.”

“Negative! I told you it was only one date.”

“It’s not Audrey… right? Tell me it’s not Audrey.”

“No,” he laughed. “I would know better than to bring her to your wedding.”

“I would hope you’d know better than to date her. OK, Lahela, I’ll take the surprise on Saturday, but I’m snooping! I’ll figure it out way before then.”

“Yeah,” Bryce replied while walking to the door, looking back with a quick wink.  “Good luck with that.”

~~~~~

He wasn’t out of the office for more than five minutes before Casey was on a quest. Her first target was her own beloved fiance.

“Hello gorgeous,” he drawled, entering the office.

“Oh, thank God you’re here!”

Tobias raised a brow. “Really? Want me to lock the door? I thought we said no fooling around at work until your morning sickness passed, but if you insist….”

“Not that!” Casey giggled.

“Damn! Then what?”

“It’s Bryce. Has he seemed… different to you lately?”

“He’s been awfully happy. I figured he was looking forward to being the belle of the ball at our wedding reception. Considering he and Ethan are the only single men invited, he may honestly have a chance.”

“That’s the thing! He just asked if he could bring a date!”

“Really? Any idea who?”

“No, that’s why I’m asking you. All he would say is I know her, and she works at the hospital.”

“Got me? It’s not Audrey, is it? Tell me it’s not Audrey.”

“No,” Casey laughed, “I already cleared that.”

“Good. So I’m sure you’ll be snooping to figure it out?”

“Damn straight! In fact,” she stood from her desk, “I’m going to question Sienna right now.”

~~~~~

Casey found her best friend, slash, harried maid of honor, in the break room.

“Si!” She yelled.

“What? The cake is being delivered at 5:45. I took care of it! And the rehearsal dinner is under control! Even if Vivian is driving me crazy, I told her….”

“Si! Si!!” Casey grabbed her friend's hands. “Calm down. You’re more nervous about the wedding than I am!”

“I just want it to be perfect!”

“It will be. But that’s not why I’m here to see you. I know I’ve been a bit removed lately, what with the wedding,” she looked around to make sure they were alone, “and the baby. But is there any tea among our friends I’m unaware of?”

Sienna scrunched her brow, giving the question serious thought. “No. Besides, we have lunch every day, and if there is good tea, I’m spilling it.”

“I know,” Casey sighed. “Has Bryce been seeing anyone that you know of?”

“Well, it’s Bryce,” Sienna shrugged. “He’s usually seeing someone. But he hasn’t mentioned anyone lately.  Unless….”

Casey’s ears perked up. “Unless what?”

“Bryce could be a Herbie.”

“A what?”

“Herbie. My cousin. He was a real ladies' man! He'd always go on dates and brag about them left and right. Then, one day, we noticed he hadn’t done so for quite a while. We wondered why, then, a month later, he introduced us to Mary. She’s now his wife. Once he was serious, he was quiet as a mouse until he was sure.  Maybe Bryce is a Herbie?”

Sienna’s statement put her over the edge, and Casey discreetly questioned anyone she could that afternoon…. Without success…. Finally, she and Tobias held hands in the elevator as they left work for the day.

“I can’t believe I haven’t figured it out,” Casey sighed, “I hope pregnancy hasn’t made me lose my touch.”

“Your touch is fine,” Tobias chuckled. “You’ll just have to be patient and wait until Saturday.”

“I don’t want to! And tell me you’re not curious!”

“Of course I am, but I can live with waiting.”

The bell rang when they hit the fourth floor, and when the door opened, a beautiful redhead with a smile that could only be rivaled by one cheeky surgeon entered.

“Oh, hey, Liv,” Casey beamed. 

“Casey! How are you?”

“I’m doing great. Have you officially met my fiance?”

“I can’t say I have.”

“Then let’s correct that! Olivia, this is my fiance Tobias. Tobias, this is Olivia. She’s the pediatrics resident I was telling you about.”

“Ah, Casey’s new friend!” Tobias smiled with an extended hand. “It’s a pleasure to meet you.”

“It’s a pleasure to meet you, too. And Casey may have gushed over you at least a dozen times since we met.”

“What?” Tobias gasped. “Only a dozen? See what happens when you put a ring on it?”

“I need to get to know her better first, baby,” Casey laughed. “I like her and don’t want to scare her away.”

“I appreciate that,” Liv blushed. “But I’m so happy I ran into you. I know this may seem weird, but I’m going to your wedding Saturday.”

“You are?” Casey blinked.

“Yeah! Dr. Lahela asked if I’d go with him, and of course, I said yes! I am so excited!”

Tobias and Casey exchanged a knowing look as a simirk came to Tobias’s lips.

“As are we,” he replied.

“Absolutely!” Casey enthused. “This is wonderful! We had to keep our list small, but I’m so glad you’ll be able to be there!”  

The bell for the first floor rang.  “Well, this is me, but I can’t wait! We’re still on for coffee tomorrow, right, Casey?”

“Wouldn’t miss it!”

The elevator doors had barely shut, and Tobias had his phone in his hand.  “Where and when on the coffee?”

“6:00 at Derry’s. Why”

Tobias held up a finger after dialing.

“Bryce! How are you doing? Listen, are you free to go over some wedding stuff tomorrow? Oh, you are! Great! How about right after work, at Derry’s.  Perfect!  I’ll see you then!”

Casey couldn’t contain her grin when Tobias hung up and looked her way. “You’re an evil genius!”

A self-satisfied smile let her know he agreed. “You like that, huh?”

“I do,” she said, caressing his lapel. “I am honestly so turned on right now.”

“Really?” He wagged his eyebrows. “Wanna make out in the elevator?”

“We’re almost at our floor,” Casey giggled as he quickly pecked her cheek. “But we could make out in the car before we leave.”

“Deal,” he smiled as they stepped into the parking garage.  “I will be forever grateful Bryce suggested getting those tinted windows.”

"That was Bryce's suggestion?"

"Yeah!"

"And this is how we're going to thank him?"

Tobias let out a little snicker. "He'd expect nothing less!"

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Tobias Only: @icecoffee90 @kyra75

[arrogantsonofabiscuit]

Haikyuu boys reaction when they see your wallpaper part-I

Feat:- Sakusa, Kuroo, Mattsun & Oikawa

Genre:- Fluff and mentions of pet names.

A/n:- their reaction when they see that you have kept your wallpaper as them. (If that makes sense lol)oikawa’s part became a bit longer hehe 😓

✮ Sakusa :-

He was preparing some coffee for the both of you. You were in the kitchen with him dancing to the beats of the soft music playing , he smiles widely and kisses your cheek as you pass by him.

“Love?”

“Yes?”

“Go wash your face I am done making coffee” “okay!” you reply excitedly and go too your bathroom to wash your face.

You had left your phone behind in the kitchen , you had forgotten to turn off your alarm. Sakusa rolls his eyes as he recalled how many times you have forgotten to not to snooze your alarm. He turns the alarm off and pauses for a brief second.

Is that my picture? He thought. Sakusa’s lips quirk up into a wide smile and he blushes watching the picture as your wallpaper. It was your first date when you forced asked him to come to the playzone.

You took him to a photo booth to take a photo together which turned out to be blurry since you almost tripped. He remembers it like it was yesterday

“Omi?” You call for him.

“Yes love?”

“Love my wallpaper?”

“Yes” you smile and kiss his forehead and sip the coffee he made for you.

“Omi?”

“More sugar?”

“Yes” you giggle.

✮ Kuroo:-

You were sitting on the couch with your laptop on your lap drafting some paperwork, whereas Kuroo was sitting next to you sipping coffee and was scrolling through his phone.

You were so lost in typing that you couldn’t hear your phone buzz.

“Y/n?”

“Hmm?”

“Your friend is calling you . Should I pick up?”

“Can you send them a text?”

“Okay” he sends a text and smiles watching your Lock Screen.

“Why are you smiling?” You ask him as you set your laptop on the coffee table , grabbing his cup and sipping coffee.

“I knew you loved me , but I did not know that you were a simp huh” he teases you and shows the picture that you have kept as your lock screen.

“Sometimes I wonder why do I love you huh” Kuroo huffs and tickles your sides.

“Okay fine, yes I love you by the way when did you became so strong?”

“I was always this strong kitten”

“huhuh” you whisper and kiss his cheek. “I love you kitten “

“love you more big kitty”

“big kitty?”

“Yeah? Don’t like that?”

“Let’s discuss about it tomorrow, we need to work on your pet name skills”

✮ Matsukawa:-

You were fast asleep on top of him clutching his shirt in your fist. Mattsun was stroking your hair gently smiling looking at your sleepy form. He grabbed his phone and clicked some pictures of you.

After a while he started scrolling on his phone, watching some reels on mute, some tiktoks & even some dog videos on mute. Your phone buzzed with notifications from your friend group discussing something trivial.

He always wondered how were you friends with them. He grabs your phone to switch it off . But he couldn’t switch off.

He couldn’t as he saw that you had kept him as your wallpaper. I never saw this photo thought Issei.

He was asleep and you were on top of him , the sun was creeping through the window and was shining on top of his hair making them look golden. You had placed one of your hand below his chin cupping his cheeks that jutted his lips out.

He smiles and unlocks his phone , keeping your recent photo as his wallpaper. He kisses your cheek and resumes stroking your hair. You blabber something and clutch both of your fist and grab his shirt “I love you doll”

“Ilubu” you whisper with sleep laced voice and your lips quirk up into a small smile.

✮ Oikawa:-

“Y/n-chan are you ready? They have already arrived at the restaurant” Oikawa yells as you were in the bathroom applying some make up to your face.

“Almost done Tooru let me apply some mascara first” you reply as you grab the mascara tube and apply it to your lashes.

“Hey Angel want me to help you with lipstick?” He smirks as he observes and winks at you.

“Please do” you plucker your lips so that he would apply some lipstick.

“All done” he replies as he makes you face the mirror .

“No it’s not done”

“Wdym?”

You tiptoe and kiss his lips and pinch his cheeks. “You are a tease aren’t you?” He kisses you again and helps you set your lipstick properly.

You arrive at the restaurant to see all of your friends sitting and waving at you guys.

“Here are your drinks” replies Hanamaki.

“Thank you!”

“You guys are late by the way” Iwaizumi says as he sips his drink.

“Yes we know sorry Iwa-chan” Oikawa says as he intertwines his fingers with yours.

“Tooru, I am going to the washroom don’t do something weird okay?”

“What am I ? A child?”

“Yes you are” three of them reply in unison which makes you laugh and Oikawa whine.

“Oi, what’s up with you?” Iwaizumi asks him.

“The practice are going well, everything is fine”

You forgot your phone on the dining table and it started to buzz with some Snapchat snaps.

“Did she forget her phone?” Makki asks .

“Yes she did , wait let me put it on silent mode” Oikawa grabs your phone and turns off your ringer only to see his picture as your wallpaper.

It was his picture which you took during your first anniversary. You guys had a date in a rooftop restaurant giving the complete view of the city .

“You are acting weird” Iwaizumi says.

“You have that look on your face” makki replies

“What look?”

“Hey guys what’s up?” You ask them as you settle down on your seat.

“Nothing , just your boyfriend acting weird. Say y/n what have you kept as your wallpaper?” Mattsun smirks .

“Ah ohhhh you saw that Tooru?” You smile and kiss his cheeks.

“Yeah I did . I love you Angel”

“I love you more Tooru”

“Guys would you stop? We are single here” Iwaizumi frowns.

“Sorry iwa-chan!”

Thank you for reading. Take care<3

Reblogs are highly appreciated <3

[samuel-de-champagne-problems]

I Can’t Say Anything to Your Face

Summary: Lunchtime is Spencer Reid’s favorite time of day and not because of the crappy endless coffee, dry sandwiches, or the occasional chocolate donut. Spencer’s favorite time of day comes in the shape of a little post it notes and fits perfectly into his heart.

Pairing: Spencer x Female Reader

Content: Fluff (1 use of a$$)

Author’s Note: The idea of for this came from @shemarmooresfedora for giving Spencer compliment cards

Word Count: 2.6 K

I Can't Say Anything To Your Face

When Spencer checks his watch for the twelfth time that day, he can practically feel Derek’s eyes roll. He tries to cover up his action by picking at his sleeve, but that just seems to draw attention to the situation. Derek raises his eyebrows at Spencer, as if to tell him, I saw that.

When it comes to teasing Spencer, Derek doesn’t miss a beat.

The team, minus Derek and Spencer, continue to work diligently. JJ walks back and forth from her office to Hotch’s, constantly shuffling through piles and piles of paperwork. Emily seems to keep herself busy with the 33 tabs that she has open on her screen. Y/N, who’s tongue slips out of her teeth in concentration, doesn’t look up from her mound of case files. Spencer likes studying how each of the members of his team works, but he particularly likes to watch Y/N. She always sticks her tongue out when she’s deep in thought. Sometimes she’ll close her eyes and rub the butt of her palm against them. Other times she’ll push her glasses up on top of her head and her hair frames her face perfectly. Spencer couldn’t care less what she looked like or how she wore her hair, but watching her was his favorite part of the day.

In a totally platonic, non-creepy way.

A beep distracts Spencer from being distracted by Y/N. It’s an IM from Derek, telling him something to the effect of asking Y/N out. Instead of responding, Spencer decides to send Derek a more direct message. He shuts off his computer, which isn’t really used, besides for Y/N to send Spencer requests for online scrabble.

Spencer, ignoring Derek’s gloating, walks from the bullpen into the team’s lunch room. It’s a small kitchenette with a couple tables, a very old coffee machine, and an even older refrigerator. Peeking into the refrigerator, Spencer takes out two lunch boxes. One is light green with patterned purple and orange dinosaurs all over and the other is a light blue with green plants. Like clockwork, Y/N rounds the corner with a smile plastered to her face.

“What’s got you smiling like that?” Spencer asks, placing his lunch box down across from Y/N’s seat.

“It’s just my favorite time of day,” Y/N responds, unzipping her bag and taking out her banana, water bottle, granola, and turkey sandwich.

Spencer tries to hold back his smile at Y/N saying that lunch is her favorite time of day. He likes to believe that it’s because of him and not because of the top tier kitchen facility the government provides for them. But who’s he kidding, there’s no way that lunch is Y/N favorite part of the day because of Spencer when he’s up against a crappy coffee maker.

“Did you know that sandwiches were only called sandwiches because the Earl of Sandwich ate his meals with bread, meat and cheese like modern day sandwiches? However, there’s much debate if sandwiches existed prior to this. Researchers actually believe that sandwiches were simply referred to as bread and meat or bread cheese, depending on the ingredients. There’s hundreds of works of literature that help to determine this,” Spencer says, as he unwraps his leftovers from dinner the previous night.

Y/N, who takes a bite of her turkey sandwich, listens intently to Spencer’s oral history of sandwiches. She starts to respond to Spencer, but before she can even get the chance, Derek interjects into the conversation.

“Hold your horses, there Reid,” Derek says, his voice tainted with sarcasm and Spencer braces himself for a clipping comment, “you don’t want to scare away the newbie,”

Y/N, ever quick witted, rolls her eyes dramatically at Derek. She gets up and moves her seat closer to Spencer who’s heart rate, at the thought of her sitting even closer to him, speeds up. He knows that it's just an effort to tease Derek. That she'd rather suffer next to Spencer, than to have to entertain the idea of sitting next to Derek. But still, Spencer is a dreamer; he'd like to think she'd sit next to him even without the added bonus at avoiding Derek's playful teasing.

“Derek, leave Spencer alone, I happen to adore his facts. You know, I’ve seen I’ve been here I’ve been a Jeopardy beast. And when are you going to realize that I’m not a newbie, I’ve been here for what 2 years-”

“2 years, 4 months, and 4 days,” Spencer says, cursing himself silently for interrupting Y/N.

Derek grabs his lunch from the refrigerator, and sits down across from Spencer and Y/N.

“You remember the day I started?” Y/N asks, turning her attention from Derek to Spencer, whose face is twisted in what he can only assume is an extremely unattractive deer-in-head-lights look. He shrugs off Y/N’s comment, as if to say it’s just normal for him.

"Of course I do, I remember how long each of us has been here,"

"Oh, right. Eidetic Memory," Y/N mumbles, almost like she's slightly disappointed in something.

Suddenly Spencer’s mouth is quite dry; he reaches into his lunch bag to grab his water bottle, but his fingers brush across a small card taped to the outside. Forgetting that showing the card to Morgan would give him enough ammunition for the rest of day, Spencer quickly scans the card. It’s a small piece of paper, but it suddenly has become Spencer’s most treasured object. More than the set of Chaucer tales that his mother gave him, or Gideon’s watch, or his first microscope that his biology teacher in high school gave him at his graduation.

The one side of the card is decorated in small hearts and there’s a sketch of a dinosaur on the other side. In careful handwriting, the giver of the card wrote “Are you made of Nickel, Cerium, Arsenic, and Sulfur? Because you got a NiCe AsS!”

Spencer’s eyes grow a couple sizes once his brain registers the meaning of the card. Handling it less than gracefully, he chokes on his water, which catches Derek and Y/N’s attention.

“You okay there, Spence?’ Derek asks, questioning what sent Spencer coughing and choking on water like that.

Spencer, not wanting Y/N or Derek, especially Derek, to read the card, attempts to put it in the front pocket of his lunch box. Unfortunately, Derek catches sight of the card and snatches it out of Spencer’s hand.

“Derek!” Spencer whines.

He can feel his embarrassment deepen as Morgan’s smile grows. Spencer seriously thinks that this is how he’s going to die. His death, being in his line of work, is something that plagues his thoughts from time to time, but any gory hero’s death pales in comparison to Derek Morgan reading Spencer’s love notes about his ass.

“Nice ass? I’m not too sure about this, Reid, but looks like your secret lover likes your ass just as much as your brains,” Derek teases, handing back Spencer his card.

“Those are private,” Spencer says, grateful that Derek’s going to leave him alone, places the card back in it’s temporary resting spot near his driver’s license and photographs of him and Y/N at the arcade.

“Hey man, I was just going to put in that shoe box you have tucked under your desk, you must have hundreds of them by now,” Derek says, taking a bite of his ham and cheese wrap. His eyes dash between Spencer and Y/N, like the pair of them is the most entertaining reality show he could think of.

“I have 645, now,” Spencer says, unable to help himself much to Derek’s amusement. Spencer hears the chair next to him screech and Y/N rushes to pack up her half eaten lunch.

“I completely forgot, Anderson needs me to uh, help him with something,” Y/N says, stuffing her water bottle into her lunch box in a flustered state. Spencer watches as she rushes, her need to leave the kitchenette quite evident. Spencer is left wondering why she has to go see Anderson, of all people.

“Anderson? What does he want with you? I don’t remember Hotch saying anything about that,” Spencer says, his voice comes off a little more bitter than he indented.

“Maybe Anderson has some extracurriculars that he needs Y/N’s help with Spencer,” Derek says with a wink. Spencer’s brow tightens and his blush deepens as if he’s trying to decipher the way that Derek’s voice is laced with suggestion. The only logical conclusion is that Y/N is flustered because she’s sneaking off to see Anderson, because she likes him.

Y/N likes Anderson? Something about that doesn’t taste right in Spencer’s mouth.

Like the wind, Y/N is gone and all that remains is Derek’s sly chuckle.

“What!” Spencer says, much too loud for him to continue the coy and unassuming demeanor he usually produces when Y/N gets hit on at the bar or on case by local cops.

“Nothing, Reid. You're just clueless. Just think about how many of those little compliment cards you’ve gotten,” Derek says. He reaches into Spencer’s lunch box and takes his brownie. Usually, Spencer would have protested, but Derek’s words sent him into a confused spiral.

“645,” Spencer responds.

“Okay,” Derek continues, “645 days you’ve gotten those cute little cards in your lunch box or taped to your hotel room door on cases. Now, Reid think. How many years, months, and days, is 645 days”

“That’s 2 years, 4 months, and 3 days,” Spencer starts, “now given if it’s a Leap Year that could change it a little bit bit-”

“Think about it Reid,” Derek says, talking slowly to get the words sink in and hoping that he doesn’t have to spell it out for him.

“Y/N?” Spencer asks, kind of like he can’t believe it, but desperately wants to believe it at the same time.

“Y/N,” Derek repeats, “I’m surprised it’s taken you this long, Reid. She’s been making eyes at you the day she’s gotten here. It’s almost sickening to watch you to dance around each other,”

“Y/N,” Spencer says, it’s like he’s saying her name for the first time. It’s the most beautiful string of syllables to ever come from his lips.

Spencer pushes back the chair and swings the door open. As he walks to Y/N’s desk he gets distracted by the little brown shoe box that sticks out slightly from under his desk. He crouches down and picks it up, hoping that it can be helpful. He approaches Y/N’s desk, but JJ stops him before he can go closer.

“Stairwell,” Is all she says before she brushes past with an armful of case files. Spencer, heading JJ’s advice, practically runs to the stairwell. As he approaches he can hear quiet sobs, which he can only imagine are Y/N’s.

Spencer opens the door and Y/N, startled, stands up and tries to mop the tears away from her face.

“Spencer, oh god, I didn’t know you were here, I’m okay, it’s just me being a little silly,” she says, trying to laugh through what she can only assume is going to be rejection.

“I really hope you don’t think these are silly, well some are kind of silly, but others were very poetic,” Spencer says, taking a step forward and gesturing with the shoe box to make it obvious to Y/N that he’s talking about the compliment cards.

“What are you talking about, Spencer?” Y/N says, feigning ignorance.

“Don’t play dumb, Y/N. You're much too smart to play dumb,” Spencer says, moving closer to Y/N so he can wipe her tear-stricken face with the sleeve of his soft cardigan. He tries not to focus on the way that Y/N seems to melt into his touch. He knows that if he can get another touch of that, he’ll never want to touch another person ever again.

“I’m not playing dumb, Spence. I just never planned for you to find out,” Y/N mumbles. Spencer’s face resembles a mix between shock and confusion.

“Why would you not tell me, I don’t think I made it anything but obvious that I’m crazy about you,” Spencer says, deeply wondering why Y/N would ever hide something like this from him.

“God Spencer, have you ever looked in a mirror?” Y/N asks him, sitting down on the third step, “you’re so gorgeous, Spencer, I can’t say anything to your face. So the next best thing was to write down everything that I wanted to say to you,” Y/N finishes, a little embarrassed. She tries to hide that embarrassment by not making eye contact with Spencer, who sits down next to her.

“You think I’m gorgeous?” Spencer asks, not entirely sure that he heard her correctly.

Y/N peaks at him with teary eyes and a runny nose. Spencer thanks science and the universe for his Eidetic Memory. He knows that there won’t be a single day of his life that he won’t want to think back to this day and remember the way that Y/N looked when she first told him that she thinks he’s gorgeous.

“I think you’re the most beautiful person that I’ve ever seen,” Y/N says breathily, her voice laced with restraint. She’s terrified of rejection, terrified that Spencer will turn her down still.

“That’s the first time I’ve heard that,” Spencer says, equally as quiet and equally as terrified. He notices that Y/N’s hand creeps closer to his. Spencer is itching to intertwine it to his and never let go.

“You deserve to hear it more often, hence the cards,” Y/N explains, moving her hand even more closer to Spencer’s. He has no choice but to wrap his much larger one in Y/N’s smaller one.

“You meant it, right?” Spencer asks, bravely putting her heart out there on the line, “because if you did Y/N, that I’d really like to kiss you right now. But if you didn’t then that’s-”

Spencer tries to finish the sentence, to give Y/N an out, but somehow she doesn’t take it. Somehow she decides to kiss him.

Spencer has kissed a total of three people in his entire life, but none of them ever mattered again the second he feels Y/N’s lips against his and her hands in his hair. Spencer doesn’t complain when Y/N starts to set the pace. Her lips roam across his face. They venture across his jaw, up closer to his nose and then back down to his lips. Spencer had no clue Y/N can kiss like this. It's a little passionate for a first kiss, but maybe it's just the pent up tension and frustration 2 years in the making finally being let out. He's dreamt of the way that Y/N's pillowy lips would feel when they were finally pressed up against his. Spencer, from the fibers that make him up to the hormones that surge throughout his body, tries to be brave. He places his hands so they rest on Y/N’s neck. He’s not passive, but he’s happy to sit back and let Y/N have her way as she continues her feverish assault on his lips.

Her ministrations are interrupted, however, when the box of cards falls from Spencer’s lap. It seems to remind both of them that they are in the stairwell of the FBI making out like over zealous teenagers for the first time. Y/N lets out a small giggle. Spencer wishes he can write down the feeling it gives him and tuck it away safely in a shoe box.

“I hope you know that those compliments aren’t platonic, Spencer. I really do think you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,” Y/N says, her fingers gravitating to the brown curls behind Spencer’s ears. He has the softest, silkiest hair she’s ever felt.

“That’s a good thing, Y/N, because you’re the most beautiful person I’ve ever met,”

Standing up, Y/N winks and pecks Spencer on the cheek, “I hate to break it to you, darling, but I think I win when it comes compliments,”

--Thank you for reading--

Taglist (Comment & I'll Happily Add You)

@shemarmooresfedora

@april-14-blog

@willowrose99

@calm-and-doctor

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[jojoboisimagines]

[NSFW] Jojos (+ DIO) receiving+sending a nude from/to their s/o

Jonathan

He was running some errands when he received a text from you. Elated to see what it was, he quickly opened it.

The poor man’s phone nearly slipped out of his hand from shock when he sees the picture you sent.

He doesn’t have to look at it twice, he’s too afraid to in public. If it was a picture of what he thinks it was, then he’d have to put his phone away until there was no one around.

Unsure of what to text back, there’ll be a silence before he responds. When he does, it’ll likely be a phone call

He calms down after you explain the picture was only for fun and you didn’t mean to startle him, but he warns you not to do that while he’s in public next time, claiming he ‘might have a heart attack’ if so

Not even the thought of sending a nude of his own had crossed his mind until you suggest he should try it

Its not expertly angled when he sends you one, but you can appreciate his effort and how well endowed he is

Joseph

He’d had thrown around jokes about sending nudes to each other before, but he never thought you’d actually go for it

Joseph was looking forward to a text from you after he was done with his hamon training, immediately checking his phone

The notif text above it said "surprise" and he did love pleasant surprises

When he feasts his eyes on your naked form, they're practically glued to the screen. He's screaming on the inside, but it's from joy of course.

While he does feel the need to keep it private, that won't stop him from bringing up the fact he got sent a nude the next time an argument rises with Caesar

His immediate thought is to reply with a nude of his own, hurrying into the bathroom.

He struggles a bit to get a good angle, but when he deems it good enough, he sends it, complete with a winky face emoji

Jotaro

He was standing outside his house for a smoke when his phone beeps in his pocket. No one else usually texted him, so he already suspected it was you. 

The cigarette falls out of his mouth as he opens the message. It takes him a few moments before he even realizes.

Jotaro doesn’t know what to text back, he’s at a loss for words. One thing is for sure, he’s definitely saving that picture. Once he can form sentences again, he texts back ‘what the hell is this’

He gets irritated when you text back ‘lol’, he wants answers. His cheeks start to burn and decides the only way to make you talk is by calling you. After you pick up, he repeats his question

Even after you explain ‘why’ you sent the nude, his cheeks are still fuming

“I’m coming over.”

You got him all riled up and now you’re gonna pay for it

The only time you’re getting a nude from him is if he’s bored and alone. He won’t even add a comment after it, he just sends the nude on its own and waits for your reaction. If you’re clearly flustered, he’ll smirk to himself.

Josuke

He received the text from you when he was home alone playing video games. He’d pause the game to see if it was something important.

Before he opened the pic, he saw you left a heart emoji. it made him smile, before his jaw dropping at the image below it. 

The more he looks at it, the more he feels his pants rising and his face is on fire

He immediately saves the pic to his gallery, but he still isn’t sure how he should respond

Josuke decides to be honest and texts back ‘woah..thank you’ with a few heart emojis. He anticipates you texting back. When you ask him does he like it he replies ‘yes’ at the speed of sound.

He won’t send you a nude back right away, he’ll wait to surprise you with one like you did to him

Josuke likes to tease you by sending you a picture of him and his boxers and then asking if you want him to strip

Giorno

He may be busy, but he can manage to look at your texts whenever he can

You send the text when he’s alone in his office, if you had sent it to him in public you’d be in for way more of a punishment later

He scoffs with a smirk when he sees the winking face kiss emoji you send right before your naked body

Don’t get him wrong, he’s definitely turned on, but he wonders why you picked such a time to show yourself to him. Then it suddenly clicks.

Giorno won’t give you what you want right away, he sends a picture of his own exposed chest back to you without any comment attached to it. His work can wait for the moment.

You get the memo, and keep sending pictures of yourself, even daring to add that you’re ‘feeling lonely’ without him and how you want him to come to bed

The temptation is strong, and after a while he can’t take it anymore. He finishes most of his paperwork and heads to the bedroom 

Johnny

After riding Slow Dancer with Gyro for a bit, they both take a break and he checks his phone to see if there’s anything from you

His expression brightens when he sees a text from you, rolling his eyes when he sees ‘hey there cowboy 😘’ but when he opens the pic his eyes look like they're about to come out of their sockets.

He’s quick to hide his phone at an angle where Gyro won’t notice, blushing madly, his fingers even quivering while he’s replying from being so excited

He'll text back 'you'd better spread your legs like that when I get home'

Johnny doesn’t send nudes unless you ask for one, and when you do, he’ll reply ‘fine’ as if he’s irritated by it, but on the inside he really wants to know your reaction

He’s the type to send teasing comments right back at you when sending his own nudes, even remarking on how he’s gonna wreck you when he gets home

DIO

Sending a nude to Dio made you nervous, but you knew he would likely appreciate it more than not

Dio was reading a book in his library when his phone buzzed. It took him a moment to bother picking it up, but his eyebrow raised when he saw it was you.

A pleased smirk plays on his face as he opens the picture. He hadn’t expected this from you, but he’s glad you did it.

‘Sending nude pics are we?” he’ll reply.

Regardless of what your response is, sooner or later you’ll receive one or two nudes from him as well, beckoning you to show him more

Its practically a competition at that point, with you and him sending naked pictures of each other from various angles.

Eventually the vampire has had enough and declares that he’ll ‘be in the bedroom shortly’

[hereforhalstead]

 Lucky Girl

*Gif not mine, credits to the owner*

• Pairing: Jay Halstead x Reader.

• Requested: No.

• Warnings: Mention of drugs, smut implied

• Summary: The unit tease you after a witness flirts with Jay but you’re trying to keep your relationship a secret. Jay reminds you you’re the only one he wants.

• Words: 3076.

Hope you enjoy!

****

It had been a long week of bringing down a known drug dealer in a local warehouse in Chicago, Voight had asked you all to come in on your day off to finalize the paperwork and log the evidence.

You were currently sat at your desk by the breakroom, mind preoccupied by thoughts of last night activities with Jay. Staring at your screen, completely zoned out, you came crashing back into reality when you felt a piece of paper hit your face.

“Coffee? It’s my turn to do the run” Jay asks, smirk spread across his lips from the shot of his throw

“Well, I think I’m owed one now” you throw the piece of paper back at him, earning a wink from your partner 

“Not that you’ve asked us but I’ll do a double espresso with a chocolate muffin and I know Kim will want an iced macchiato with extra foam and a croissant, Ruzek’s pretty easy and will just have a cold brew with a splash of milk and Upton will have her usual americano with a pump of hazelnut syrup, thanks man” Jay rubs his hand along his jawline in response to Kevin’s list for the rest of the team

“Yeah yeah, uh” he grabs for the pad on the table in front of him “Obviously I’ll remember that exactly but just to be sure, you wanna write it down for me?” Jay tosses the pad over to Atwater who scribbles down the orders with an eye roll and shake of his head 

Adam chuckles and glances over at you, currently reading over your file “So we have to hook up with you to get you to remember our coffee order?” you snap your eyes up from the paper and catch Kim snickering at her desk opposite yours 

“He’s gotta offer some advantages” your amused tone matches his, taking him by surprise. “Damn” Hailey whispers under her breath but you can’t miss the smile she’s currently hiding under her hand

“On that note, I’ll be back shortly” Jay snatches the paper from Kevin and heads down the stairs out of the district. “Also, not sure why you looked at me when you said that” you acknowledge, returning to your paperwork 

Adam taps your desk as he strolls past, heading for the whiteboard that’s still covered in photos and maps from the bust “Not pointing fingers Y/N, just a simple observation. It happens to be my job” he raises his eyebrows and you try to suppress an eye roll, not wanting to give into him and the team.

You and Jay had been, how would you describe it? Turning to each other in your hour of need for a few months. What started as a once every other week soon developed into a much more regular occurrence, now becoming a natural habit to be staying at his a few nights a week and getting that all too familiar feeling of threat if another female even looked in his direction. Some may say jealousy, you say being ‘aware of your surroundings’.

The noise of keyboards clicking and phone call muffles fills the quiet district, everyone eager to get the work done so they can leave at a reasonable time.

Your heart picks up as you hear footsteps coming up the stairs, telling yourself it’s because you’re looking forward to the coffee Jay was bringing back for that much needed caffeine boost, not for the reason of seeing his cheery face to bring you comfort.. Definitely not the second one. 

The disappointment kicks in as a female around your age reaches the top of the stairs and shuffles her way over to Ruzek’s desk.

You glance over to Kim’s desk who is now shooting daggers at the pair, she widens her eyes at you and you shrug your shoulders and purse your lips in sarcasm. Due to the quiet room and the fact Adam’s desk was close to yours you could hear the conversation loud and clear.

“I live next to the warehouse you busted yesterday and I just wanted to come by and say thank you” you couldn’t help but notice the flirty tone of her voice, now having worked with the unit for a while you were used to the way girls acted around them and it never failed to entertain you. 

“You’re welcome” Kim speaks up from her desk, leaning her head on her hand and clicking her pen, trying to send a subtle hint to the girl.

She pulls a bakery bag out of the tote on her shoulder and Atwaters eyes light up “Had to pass a fresh cake stall on my way here so thought I'd pick some up to show my appreciation, thanks to you I now feel safe at home and I’ll never be able to thank you enough but I know everyone loves cakes so” she holds up the bag and the sweet smell instantly fills the room.

“Thanks, you can just put them over there. We’re very busy so” you can’t help but laugh at Kim’s blunt tone to the poor girl and the grimace currently on Ruzek’s face. “Right” she murmurs and places the bag on the desk next to Adam’s.

 “There was one more thing actually, the Detective who was there yesterday collecting evidence” your ears immediately zone in, knowing she was referring to Jay.

“Halstead?” Hayley questions from the other side of the room, you pull a file from your desk draw and sling your feet up on your desk, pretending not to be involved with the conversation. 

“Yeah, I think that’s the one. Short dark hair, stubble and nice muscles..” she trails off “Incredibly good looking?” she asks, the sink in your stomach becoming harder to ignore.

The fact you and Jay hadn’t really had the conversation about what was going on between you always had you on edge in these situations, never knowing the right way to act. “Would you happen to know if he’s single or seeing anyone?” 

There it is, your stomach felt like it was on the floor, desperately trying to act cool as you try and focus on the paper. Words just becoming jumbled due to the fact you’re paying zero attention to them at this point, your only hope of an easy getaway being if the floor could swallow you up.

Atwater exhales and nods his head towards you “Y/N?” he calls out “Would you happen to know if Jay’s seeing anyone?” you tilt your head and avoid eye contact 

“Sorry I wouldn-” you were cut off by the man himself strolling up the stairs into the room, confused look on his face as everyone glares at him. “I thought I was pretty quick?” he holds the cup holders containing the coffee’s up in defense, bag of pastries on his wrist.

“I’m gonna go and see if that evidence has been logged yet” Kim announces and stands up from her chair “You wanna come and help?” she asks Hailey as she passes her desk

“Sure” she agrees, following in Kim’s trail out of the room “anything to get out of this situation” you look up to see her bantering comment being matched with the smile and elevated eyebrows staring down at you

Jay hands Adam his coffee and notices the bag of treats on the table “Ah man, who beat me?” he questions, also handing Atwater his drink 

“That would be me” the girl flicks her hair over her shoulder and you instantly feel like vomiting, the second hand embarrassment overwhelming you.

Jay walks over to your desk and faces you to hand you your drink “Actually Halstead, this lovely lady was just wondering if you’re currently seeing anyone?” you meet Jay’s gaze and take the drink from his grasp, sensing his panic just from his sudden change in body language as he turns back to face Adam and the girl 

He clears his throat and reaches up to rub his hand on the back of his neck, followed by a nervous smile “Actually, I am seeing someone” the speed at which Adam and Kevin whip their heads round to you, you’re surprised they didn’t pull a muscle.

 “That isn’t a surprise” the girl bows her head and grins “Worth a try though” she adds and places her bag back on her shoulder. The amount of self control it takes to not respond to Jay’s comment, should earn you an award.

You know for a fact he isn’t seeing anyone else apart from you so the fact he’s talking about you makes you do mental jumps for joy, your exterior still being covered in a stern look.

“Sorry” Jay shrugs his shoulders “Well no matter who it is, tell her she’s a lucky girl” you internally groan, has she not got the hint and left already?.

“I’m sure whoever it is it feeling very smug right now” Kevin remarks and starts to head towards the corridor by his desk “Not that we know who it is of course” he adds and dramatically exits, turning to give you a wink as he walks off

Adam places his drink on his desk and stands up from his seat “Here, let me walk you out” he gestures towards the stairs “Well it was nice meeting you both” she calls out and waves, you force a smile and nod

“The pleasure was truly ours, let’s hope you don’t have to come back here” Jay snaps his head to you and Adam awkwardly coughs

 “What? I just mean I hope you stay safe so you don’t need the police for any reason” you defend yourself and Jay subtly shakes his head, the corners of his mouth slightly twitching. 

“Thanks, I appreciate that” you feel a bit bad for being short with her, your brain not thinking of the words before spitting them out but come on - can she not leave already to put an end to this hell of a situation.

Once Adam and the girl disappear down the stairs, it just leaves you and Jay in the room by yourselves. He walks round to your side of the desk and sits himself on the edge, you return to your paperwork, hoping this would make you somewhat invisible. 

Jay reaches down and takes the file out of your hand, you look up at him about to make a remark but being met with a look of smugness was not what you expected.

“What?” you innocently question “What do you mean ‘what’?” he challenges, putting the file on the desk next to him “You basically just slapped that girl” he leans forward, putting his arm across your legs.

“No I never, I was very nice to her. She seems lovely” you swallow your pride, slightly patronizing tone laced in your voice. 

He scoffs but still reflecting the confidence he was feeling “All she did was ask if I was single and you bit her head off” he throws his arm back to gesture where she was just standing 

You swing your legs off the desk and stand up from your chair, heading towards the desk Jay put your file on “Don’t know what you’re talking about” you innocently respond 

You’re suddenly stopped in your tracks, Jay’s hand gripping your waist to keep you stood in front of him. 

“Y/N, are you jealous?” as much as you admire him, the mixed feelings you get from seeing this smug and cocky side to him sets something off in you.

Neither one of you had really been in this position before to see how the other responds, now you’ve learnt first hand you never want it to happen again. 

The thoughts rattling your brain along with the overwhelming jealously still brewing throughout your body is mirrored as all you can do is cross your arms and mumble a ‘no’

You’d think he would’ve had enough fun on his high horse and gotten over it by now but nope, he was determined to make the most of it “Really?” he questions and runs his arms up and down your sides, pulling you closer to him inbetween his legs.

 “If I was single I think me and her make quite a good couple, shame I didn’t get her name” the squeeze on your waist indicates just how much he was enjoying himself, taking full advantage of this side of you he hadn’t seen yet to his knowledge - proving how well you’d hidden it in the past.

Taking note of the two of you still being the only ones in the room you decide to have a little fun of your own. You uncross your arms and place them on his thighs, still on the corner of your desk “It’s an awful shame I’m not single too” Jay tenses his posture, taken back by your sudden change in demeaner.

“When we went back to get the photos her brother was there, he was pretty hot” you bite your lip, tilting your head in thought. “We could’ve double dated” your confident and smug partner clasping at your waist, slowly being defeated.

“As you say though, neither of us are single so” he puffs his chest and you reach up to place your hands on his broad shoulders “It’s too bad you’re seeing someone” you slowly move your hands from his shoulders to the top of his arms, giving them a light squeeze. 

You edge forward into him, not an inch of space between the two of you “Was really hoping to get you into my bed tonight” you innocently confess.

“As she said, whoever it is must be a lucky girl” the feeling of pride for flipping the situation onto him was giving you a new sense of courage which you very much enjoyed.

Withdrawing yourself from his grasp and picking the file up from the desk, you moved to take a sip of your coffee from the straw in the cup, Jay’s eyes were glued to you as he watched your every move whilst being stuck in his position. 

“Where did everyone go?” Kim breaks the heavy tension as she returns with Hailey, perfect timing if you say so yourself “Adam’s downstairs flirting with that girl and Kev’s helping a witness wrap up their statement” Jay explains, shifting to stand over you.

 “I’ve just got a call from a CI for a potential lead on another case, would you mind doing Y/N’s file so she can come with me?” you look up in confusion at your partner who passes the file to a baffled Hailey “Uh, sure”. You watch as they both head back to their desks and continue their previous conversation.

Before you can even speak Jay scribbles a note on the pad on your desk 

‘Locker room - 2 minutes’

He proceeds to stand up and head for the door without saying a word, Hayley and Kim still in deep conversation therefore not having a clue to any of this. You shuffle some papers on your desk and pretend to look busy “I’m gonna go and see if Kev needs any help, he’s been a while” you confess, standing from your desk and following in Jay’s footsteps and entering the lockeroom

You’re met with Jay leaning against the end bank of lockers, your body suddenly feeling like it’s on fire. The power this man has over you cannot be explained, making you go from feeling confident and having the upper hand to now weak at the knees and struggling to take steps towards him.

“You think you’re clever?” he keeps his head down, picking at some fluff on his shirt “I don-” you’re cut off by a deep chuckle from Jay who’s now walking towards you.

 “You knew what you were doing, I caught you out for being jealous and you decided to spin it back on me” you feel yourself being backed up, eventually being trapped between the door and Jay’s dominant figure over you.

One hand on the wall, the other reaches to tuck a piece of hair behind your ear, the way your body reacts by freezing is new to you. He’s never had this power over you in this way before but the rush you felt was exhilarating

“Proud of yourself for that baby?” he cocks his eyebrow and that was it. Those 6 words had you under the thumb, any strength you had was now completely gone.

“How about I remind you of the reason you’re not single and why you’re that lucky girl everyone keeps mentioning” he leans in to plant kisses along your collarbone, you can’t help but moan quietly but not quiet enough as you feel him smile against your skin.

 “The reason you struggled to walk to the shower this morning, the reason you were occupied with thoughts of last night whilst you were supposed to be doing work” he adds

Your fingers automatically run through his hair as he moves to trace your jawline with his free hand. “You said you wanted me in your bed tonight but honestly, I’m not gonna be able to wait until then” he whispers in your ear, pressing a kiss to the skin below it.

“Say the word and I promise it wont be 10 seconds before any memory of that brother is gone out of your mind forever. He’s not worth your time like I am” you seem to regain a flash of confidence as you move to wrap your arm round his neck and the other to run down his chest.

“Prove it” you taunt, knowing full well what you’ve just set off. He closes the gap between you, hands suddenly at your hips, lips on yours with a chaste kiss and mischevious wink  “Challenge accepted”

****

[bts-reveries]

expect the unexpected | 21

(text after the pictures!)

-

“Get ready for bed,” Jin says, pushing Soojin on the forehead with his pointer finger. He was sitting on the couch, leaning back as he finally relaxed. You know, now that you’re home and all. 

“But it’s earlyyyy,” Soojin says, leaning on the couch. “I want to watch with you.” She jumps onto the couch, cuddling into Jin’s side. 

“No, no,” Jin says, pushing her away. “It’s time for you to go to bed. Daddy has some work to do after you sleep.”

“But you’re watching TV,” Soojin says, pointing to the screen in front of them. Avengers: End Game was playing. Jin sighs, getting up and picking her up from the couch. 

“Bedtime~” Jin says, walking to her room. 

“You used to let me stay with you to watch,” she pouts. “Now all you say is no.” Jin sighs yet again. I guess this is what he gets for always giving her what she wants huh?

“I know, but daddy has stuff to do tonight. We can watch tomorrow okay?” he says. “Look, mommy’s reading Haneul and Minseok a story.” He says as he was about to pass Haneul’s room.

“Hi,” you say, smiling up at your husband and daughter. “Wanna join us?”

“Why are we sleeping early tonight,” Soojin says with a big frown. “It’s Saturday!” 

“Because it’s been a long week for all of us,” you say. “Now come sit here and join us for a bedtime story.” Jin drops Soojin on the bed next to Haneul, making them bounce. 

“I want a story with the wolves.” Soojin says, she taps on her chin, “I forgot the name.”

“Mommy is talking about Cinderella,” Minseok tells her. “Haneul picked tonight.”

“Isn’t there a wolf in Cinderella?” Jin says, sitting down behind his kids. 

“No,” you and Minseok say at the same time. 

“I’m sure there is,” he says, winking at you. Just go along with it. 

“No a different one,” Soojin whines, turning to Jin then to you.

“Twilight?” Jin asks. You give Jin a look. “They haven’t heard of that one yet huh?” 

“No and--”

“Well this girl went to a new school and falls in love with a vampire, but she finds out one of her friend is a wolf--” 

“How does she not know he’s a wolf,” Minseok asks, interrupting his dad.

“He looks like a normal person, but he turns into a wolf.”

“Oh,” Minseok says, very intrigued with the story. Soojin seemed to be interested too. Haneul was listening, his eyebrows furrowed and mouth hanging open.

“Okay anyways, the girl’s name is Bella and she falls in love with Edward, who is a vampire. She doesn’t know this until later on and she was even begging him to make her a vampire because she was so in lo--”

“Jin we should change the story,” you interrupt. “The wolf fairytale you were asking about was Little Red Ridinghood right? Or Three Little Pigs?” You ask, looking at Soojin.

“I want to keep listening to daddy’s story,” she says, turning to Jin. You glare at your husband.

“Change it,” you mouth at him. Twilight wasn’t age appropriate for them. 

“Okay well,” Jin says, catching what you were getting at. “Bella and Edward dated all throughout High School like mommy and daddy and then they fought bad guys together with super powers. At the end, they have a baby and live together forever and ever. Because they’re vampires and they don’t die, you know?” Technically he didn’t lie, he just skipped the parts where Jacob (the wolf friend) hates Edward and is in love with Bella and tries to keep them apart, and also like Bella dying because of the baby that was killing her from the inside out. Edward having to bite her everywhere in an attempt to save her. And Jacob falling in love with the baby? “Also vampires glow in the sun like they’re bedazzled with white rhinestones,” Jin adds. 

“I want to be sparkly like that,” Soojin giggles. 

“Maybe next time,” Jin says. He ruffled her hair, making her laugh. 

“Okay, I think it’s time for bed right?” you say, bringing the attention back to bed. 

“I want to finish Cinderella,” Haneul tells you. “You didn’t finish..” It was true, Soojin did kind of interrupt you in the middle of your story.

“Okay where were we?” 

“Cinderella met the prince,” Minseok says. 

“Oh yeah! So Cinderella and the prince, Prince Charming--”

“They danced together all night and then Cinderella was like ‘Oops, bedtime. I have to get ready for bed’,” Jin says. He even did Cinderella’s voice. “And the prince said ‘Okay! Good night, I’ll text you in the morning’ but then when Cinderella ran off, the prince realized he didn’t give her his phone number so he said ‘WAIT!’ but it was too late. Cinderella got home and she decided to eat an apple before bed and she ended up feeling sick. This is why uncle JK always says, ‘night apple is poison apple.’ This made her fall asleep for days. Until one day, the prince found a tower in the middle of the woods and so he rode his magic carpet up that tower. He walked inside and found Cinderella. The prince thought she looked so pretty that he placed a kiss on her lips and she woke up and they lived happily ever after, the end.”

You stared at Jin with furrowed brows, and so did Minseok and Haneul. Soojin scratched her head. You’ve told them the story before and they also have watched the movie. They knew how it went.

“Did you just mix up Cinderella with Snow White, Sleeping Beauty, Aladdin, and Rapunzel?” 

“It’s a story to teach kids that you should already be at home way before bed time and also eating apples late at night is bad for your stomach,” Jin argued.

“Sure,” Soojin says, a yawn escaping her mouth a little afterwards. 

“Aha! You are sleepy!” Jin laughs, pointing at his daughter. She glares up at him. “Come on, bed time,” Jin says, picking her up. “Say night night to mommy and your brothers.” He carries her in front of Haneul to give him a kiss, and Minseok too. Then towards you.

“Good night my princess,” you say, giving her a kiss. 

-

“I’m just going to take a quick shower,” you say. 

Now that all the kids were tucked in bed, Jin was going to do some paperwork in his office.

“I’ll be in my office,” Jin says, grabbing his laptop from his bed as you were going into the bathroom. 

“Okay, don’t stay up too late. I miss sleeping in bed with you,” you say. Jin laughs.

“We did that last night?”

“With Haneul in between us,” you scoff. 

“Well okay, I won’t stay in too long.”

“Okay, good.” You went ahead and went into the bathroom, ready to take a shower. 

Jin went ahead and stepped out of the room, about to head to his office when your phone rang from the living room. 

His eyes widened at the loud ring, afraid it was going to wake up the kids. 

He immediately ran to the couch, searching for your phone and he found it right under Haneul’s blanket. 

Dr. Cha Eun-Seok

It was your doctor, Jin and you have had the same doctor since Minseok was born. Safe to say he’s basically a family friend now.

Jin answers the call.

“Hello Mrs. Kim, I know it’s late, but I’m just calling again for your second appointment next Friday,” he says. Jin furrows his brows, tilting his head to the side. 

“This is Jin actually--”

“Oh! Jin-ssi,” Dr. Cha laughs. “I thought I called your wife--”

“You did, she’s in the shower right now and her phone was ringing so I went to answer it. Uh, what were you calling about? Second appointment for what?”

“Ah I see. I’m just calling about her second appointment. We were talking about it when she came by yesterday morning. We thought it would be a good idea to bring all the kids to the ultrasound. You know how it works,” he laughs. “She’s about one month along right now, we can have her first ultrasound next Friday and try to hear the heartbeat of the baby. I’m sure Haneul will be amazed eh?”

Jin was confused. 

You’re pregnant? 

“Yeah,” Jin says, trying to laugh along. “I’m sure he will. I’ll remind her, thank you Dr. Cha.”

“Yeah yeah, no worries. I’ll see you then.”

“Okay,” Jin says, hanging up the phone. 

Jin looks down at your phone, looking at your wallpaper. A picture of you two and the kids. He doesn’t move from where he’s standing.

“Hey,” you say, walking down the hallway as you were about to look for your phone that you left in the living room. “You’re not in your office?” You say, seeing Jin standing there. His back was facing you. 

“You got a phone call,” he says lowly, turning around and handing you your phone.

“From who?” You say, smiling up at him. You were confused. His eyebrows were furrowed and he had a serious expression on his face.

“Dr. Cha.”

Your eyes widened slightly.

“D-did you answer it?” You say, not seeing any missed calls on your lock screen.

“Yeah and he said something funny,” Jin says, forcing out a laugh.

“Like what…?” You look up at him with worry in your eyes.

“You're pregnant?” He says, leaning down to your face. “And you didn’t tell me?”

“I was going to, I--”

“How long did you know?”

“Not too long, I just found out a few days ago.” Jin scoffs, looking away from you.

“Jin, I was going to tell you.”

“Then why didn’t you?”

“You were complaining about the kids all week, and saying let’s just stick to three kids,” you say, mocking his voice. “Jin you said maybe to a GOLDFISH. What would you say if I said we were having another kid?”

“BECAUSE IT’S NOT IN THE PLAN YN. We always said THREE. And you know how hard it is with just them three?” Jin says, moving his arm to the side and motioning towards the kids room. “What the hell happened?” He yells. 

“Aren’t you the one who said “no matter how hard you plan, the future is uncertain”?” You say. Jin has given advice to his friends countless times before, and you remember most of them. This one being his advice to Bora when she was confused with Taehyung and her ex. “Well we always planned for a big family, three was ideal. But what if four is what completes our family?” You yell back at him.

Jin laughs, crossing his arms across his chest, looking away from your face. You were so close to crying. 

“It’s too soon, Haneul’s only three. How did this even happen?”

“And Minseok was two when we had Soojin. And Soojin was around two with Haneul as well. What’s the difference?”

“The difference is, it’s not as easy as it once was Yn. How could you let this happen?”

You scoff. What does he mean by that?

“How could I let this happen? Jin what the heck did we do during our anniversary trip?! WHAT DID YOU THINK WOULD HAPPEN?”

“YOU’RE ON THE PILL! THEY’RE LIKE 99% EFFECTIVE!” He laughs. “What did you do? Forget to take it? Were you that stupid?” Your mouth drops open when he says that last bit. You let out an annoyed scoff. You can’t believe him.

“I guess I am,” you say. “The day we left, I ran out.” You shake your head. “I was supposed to buy more but so many things happened that day and I couldn’t remember the one thing I was supposed to do. So I guess, yeah. I am stupid.”

“How could you forget that? You take it everyday, wouldn’t you remember--”

“Oh like how you forgot to pick up the kids from school? Yeah, I know you don’t pick them up everyday but you had ONE job Jin. The first day I leave and the house falls apart--”

“EXACTLY. IT’S THREE KIDS AND ME. AND YOU’RE ADDING ONE MORE?”

“JIN YOU ACT LIKE THIS IS A ONE PERSON JOB?” Your eyes were already watering and a few tears have dropped. “I don’t care if you want this kid or not--”

“Oh my gosh,” He rolls his eyes at you. “I DIDN’T SAY--”

“Ah--” You gasp out, holding onto your stomach. Your face contorted in pain as you stumbled back. You felt a shoot of pain on your lower belly.

Jin’s face suddenly softens when he sees you in pain, all anger suddenly leaves his body. He reaches out to you to help but you move from his hand.

“I’m going to go to bed,” you mumble, walking to your room.

Jin stays there, standing in the living room, watching you go while holding onto your stomach. You slam the door behind you, locking it while you’re at it. You didn’t want Jin following you, you just wanted to be alone.

���D..daddy?”

Jin turns his head to the side to see Minseok standing by the kitchen counter. 

“Minseok what are you doing up?” He asks in a quiet voice, motioning for him to come to him. 

“You and mommy were being loud,” he says. “I woke up when you started screaming and I came out and you and mommy were just yelling at each other.” He walks up to his dad and Jin sits on the couch, pulling him close. 

“I’m sorry, do you want me to tuck you in again?” Jin asks, softly smiling up at Minseok and caressing his head.

“It’s okay, but why were you and mommy fighting? You never did that before,” he says, looking back at your closed door. 

“It’s between mommy and I,” Jin says, looking at your door as well. “It’s not the first time we fought. We just don’t do it often so you don’t see. Not everyone is perfect.”

“Not even you and mommy?” Minseok asks. Jin shakes his head. His eyes were getting watery as well. 

“Go to bed, daddy’s going to do some work in his office.” 

“Okay,” Minseok says, walking back to his room. He stops midway, turning to Jin. “Can you sleep with me tonight?” Minseok probably heard you lock the door, knowing Jin might be sleeping on the couch. Jin nods.

“Okay, I’ll go in after. Go ahead and go to bed.”

-

Jin grabs his laptop that was on the couch and heads to his office. He turns on the light, sighing. 

He didn’t plan the next few days that you were back to end up like this. Everything was supposed to be smooth sailing now that you’re back. But like what you said, like what he said before. No matter how hard you plan, the future is uncertain. And he ruined it all tonight. 

Jin walks to his desk placing his laptop on top. But something else was there.

A small canvas with a painting of two people. One was way bigger than the other. The bigger one was hugging the smaller one. And on top written in huge characters said,‘I love my daddy’. Signed by Haneul. 

This was when Jin lost it, a stream of tears slid down his cheek as he held tightly onto the canvas done by his youngest son. 

Everyone sees you and Jin as the perfect couple. Everything is easy with you two. You have the perfect kids, the perfect life, and the perfect relationship.

But what if I tell you that you don’t? For moments like this. Fighting over something that was supposed to be great. Something other’s dreamed they had. What if I told you that raising three kids is hard? Even for you and Jin. You two are the oldest out of all of your friends, you two are whom they go to for advice. For relationship advice, and for kid advice. You two were the “pros” according to them. Nothing you can’t handle.

But to you and Jin, you don’t see it that way. You two had your share of problems just like everyone else. There are things your friends don’t know about you two.

For Jin, he’s insecure about being a father. He has three kids right now, out of all his friends, he was the first to have a kid. Out of all his friends, he’s the only one with more than one kid. You’d think he’d know everything by now right?

Well he doesn’t and he’s still learning and from the past few days alone, he realizes he might not have what it takes, but he’s good enough he thinks. 

To everyone’s eyes he’s perfect, even to his kids. 

Long story short, he’s scared. 

But of what? 

♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡ ♡

expect the unexpected

♡ part twenty-one: the perfect couple ♡ 

pairings: ceo, dad!jin x interior designer, mom!reader

a/n: the way it was cute at first 😐 okay i hope this is angsty enough also LOL i mentioned that the doctor (who is the doctor in dodosolsollalasol) is a family friend bc doctors don’t call that late in the evening, or call? at all? idk i don’t go to the doctors unless im dying

EDIT: hi sorry, i don’t usually use the read more feature because idk it always messes up something and it took out a chunk of dialogue after the cut off haha😀 i edited it now tho so it should be good

EDIT PT2: OKAY THE READ MORE KEEPS CUTTING OFF THE NEXT DIALOGUE WE HAVE BEEN TRYING TO FIX IT SO I JUST HAD TO TAKE IT OFF I APOLOGIZE

taglist: @silentlyimpractical @jillianmarie @waddlebby @cecedrake2217 @ddofa @samros95 @sope-and-shine @joonjoonsmiles @codeinebelle @aianloveseven @Chamchamcham @princessjazzyjazz @notvantaes @casspirit0705 @ramyagovindraj @brinnalaine @ephyra1230 @betysotelo18 @thoughtfultaledreamer @salty-for-suga @cosmicdaylight @dreamcatcherjiah @kookoo-kachoo @justinetingball  @josierosie @jayhope88 @butterflylion @hobiismyhopeu @momma-said-that-it-was-oke @ygbubs @catspancake  @somewhereofftheglobe @strawberryforever25 @rjsmochii @prdshobi @beeeb05 @eatjeanjin @taekookcaneatme @Cheeely14 @kookietsukkie @anpanman-sonyeondan @glitteringcoffeefreak @chocobetterknot @alpaca1612 @ohmy-fandoms @liljooniecutie @Jikachoo @preciouschimine @fan-ati--c @Joondala @httpmuffin @dammit-jjk @jikooksgirl19

TAGLIST IS CLOSED!

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[zambie-trashart]

Caught in My Chest 2/2

Marinette looked around her classroom taking her seat in the back and no one even gave her a second glance except Adrien.

"Marinette, since you missed so much class I can help you after school today if you feel up for it," Lila said sweetly before fake wincing. "Or maybe not my port has been acting up lately," Lila said crocodile tears coming to her eyes.

"Port?" Marinette asked and Alya glared at her from the front of the classroom. "Wouldn't that mean you have..." Marinette started holding her right arm where her piccline was.

"Go on Marinette ask her!" Alya yelled holding Lila close.

"But that's, I just..." Marinette started. "I was just discharged from the hospital with Hodgkin's Lymphoma," Marinette finally said and all faces turned toward her.

Never before had Marinette seen the class so mad at her all because of a lie. How Lila had gotten a hold of this information was unexplainable but the fact that she would turn it around was unspeakable. "I can't believe you would say you have cancer just to try and show up Lila Marinette! You know she was recently diagnosed!" Marinette's breath was caught in her chest and she felt like she could never breathe again. Adrien stood up red faced and shaking.

"You're all idiots! Lila has been playing you since day one and the only reason why I haven't said anything is because I didn't have any proof," Adrien said and Marinette looked at her former crush in shock. "If any of you even bothered to do some research you'd know what a monster she is." Lila looked at Adrien angrily.

"What do you mean proof?" Lila asked trying to keep up her hurt persona.

"Medical records," Adrien said slapping them down on the table. "Also the fact that Marinette here has been in a healthy relationship with Damian Wayne for almost a year now and the fact that he is paying for her treatment and housing her after you turned her parents against her is another factor." Lila's face started to turn red.

"You have no right to go through my documents," Lila said picking up the files.

"I mean if there were any there, your bill of health has been clean for years Lila, Marinette's on the other hand not so much," Adrien said. "That's all I needed to say, we can wait and do more have later when Damian gets here but I can't say he'll be as nice about it. Marinette is the only family I have left and I'm not going to let you drag her through the grass anymore," Adrien added going to sit in the back of the classroom next to his friend.

"You didn't have to do that," Marinette said leaning on his shoulder. "But I appreciate it kitten," Marinette said winking and Adrien knew he was busted.

"I'll always be here for you M'lady," Adrien said and class started without delay.

Lunch rolled around and everyone was conflicted, Lila had lied to them about a deadly illness about so much, and Marinette, who they treated like garbage, was the one who was really sick. A large sigh could be heard from the door and two boys with black hair stood in the doorway one pushed sunglasses to the top of his head smiling and the other's face was stone cold.

"Alright, students of Francois Dupont, my name is Dick Grayson and today we're going to be talking about some certain behaviors of slander toward our name," Dick started and the whole lunchroom froze. "Recently we have heard from a patient of our program to help cancer patients around the world that there has been some issues, we are here to clear that up." Students suddenly noticed that he was reading from a screen on his wrist. "I sound like a robot," Dick whispered to Damian who rolled his eyes.

"Furthermore, patient 13078, Marinette Dupain-Cheng of the Wayne Foundation clinic was taken under our care at time 4:37 on March 30, 2021, she was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Lymphoma and moved to urgent care on April 2, 2021, after a biopsy on the first of April, 180 days of treatment are being provided and paid for in full. Lila Rossi who is not a patient of the Wayne foundation clinic has been seen harassing the patient which can cause stress levels to increase and therefore panic attacks which lead to trouble breathing and a shutting down of her lungs or windpipe in general if Miss. Rossi does not comply with our orders or removal from the school and distance from Miss. Dupain-Cheng, then we will be forced to take more forceful action..." Dick continued.

"Is this really necessary? Just stop messing with my girlfriend and apologize you assholes," Damian said and Dick sighed putting his arm down.

"Marinette, we know that things will never be the same but we're here to fight this with you," Alya said and Marinette felt tears well up in her eyes. Even if these people had been nothing but cruel to her she still wanted their support.

"We'll help you in any way we can dudette," Nino said wrapping an arm around her shoulder.

"That really means a lot guys but I need time to get over this with people who are truly going to be at my side, I'll appreciate everything you do though," Marinette said getting up and walking over to Damian with Adrien following close behind.

"You did what you thought was right beloved," Damian said and Marinette just smiled sadly. Damian looked over her head at Adrien who stared right back. "I think I know someone who might be able to make us all feel a little happier during this time, I'll see what I can do," Damian said leaving the superhero duo together to call a friend who could certainly bring the sunshine into Marinette's life again.

"A lot is about to change kitty," Marinette said holding the blond's hand watching Damian talk on the phone.

"180 days of fun M'lady," Adrien responded and suddenly a boy landed next to Damian and ran over to Marinette.

"Ready to kick some ass future Mrs. Wayne?" the boy asked and Marinette just chuckled blushing. She could already feel the weight being lifted off her shoulders.

The first few weeks were hard, she had to work to stay awake and study, keeping up with others was becoming a challenge.

The second month was painful but then again there was poison in her body constantly being flushed in and out.

The third month, radiation started, she was scared but she knew it had to be done.

Month four, she was almost done they said maybe even healed soon.

Once they had the caner isolated, she just had to have that laser there and then, hopefully, it would all be over.

Marinette had 180 days of meeting Damian's self-proclaimed best friend Jon by her side being whatever he needed her to be, she had the best partner she could ask for who was there to talk to her whenever she was scared, and she had Damian, her rock in the ocean.

When Marinette went into the doctors office and read off her paperwork, tears flooded her eyes as she bit her lip trying to contain her smile.

She was cured. Sixteen years old and she fought cancer and won.

She walked into school looking at the anxious faces of her peers.

"I've wanted to tell you something that I've known since the beginning of treatment, I'm moving to America after this was over, there's something about being here that makes me feel tied down. I did it, I fought and won a war far bigger than myself but somehow there's still something that I feel like I need to do or say, like there's something caught in my chest," Marinette said smiling sadly. "Lila never said anything, and that's what stings the most but I know I leave you guys as better people and you'll never make the same mistakes again, I want you to know I forgive you, every one of you." Marinette looked over her classmates one last time eyeing their expressions of tear-filled faces. "I have a flight to catch, bug out," Marinette said taking Damian's hand and walking past Jon and Adrien at the door and out of the school.

For the first time in a long time, Marinette felt her heart flutter as she took a deep breath and got on the plane.

a/n: This was such a hard story to write for me and I'm so happy to anyone who is reading and hope you enjoyed this experience. It has actual factual information in it and maybe you might have even learned something which would be cool huh? I hope to end up like Marinette in the next 163 days. thank you for reading

-Zambie

Taglist is closed due to story being complete: @hateswifi  @crystalangelluna @liquid-luck-00 @thatonecroc @ive-tumbled-down-a-rabbit-hole @professionalfangirl1738 @mochegato @wannajointhecrabcult @ranger-gothamite @moonspiritwolf1 @mochinek0 @toodaloo-kangaroo @ash-amg @enchanted-nerd @mewwitch @zorua-adorable @jumpingjoy82 @coolspidermanmusicflower @yazz-frost  @bugsy05 @rhetoric-question-mark  @myazael @rosep16 @elmokingkong @kking13 @heaven428 @vixen-uchiha @arcticfox487 @toodaloo-kangaroo @battybatbat 

[lokislittlesigyn]

Wake Me - Loki x Reader [Oneshot]

[My masterlist, where this and my other fics can be found]

Pairing: Loki / gender neutral reader

Warnings: Angst. But fear not, for fluff awaits!

Author’s Note: I have legitimately no idea if I’ll write more Loki x Reader; I never intended to write any because I don’t know the reader so I can’t characterize the reader but then I had a headcanon.. And then I had an idea...

And then I wrote this and I thought “hmm, I should challenge myself to do a New Thing?” and then this happened. Blame Loki, maybe? He seems to be behind a lot of this.

Is there any demand for a taglist of.. Possible future Loki x Readers? I dunno? Let me know.

This fic is loosely based off a song by the same name, which is also one of my favorite songs! Enjoy. <3

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

You didn’t notice it at first.

Not for the first few days… Weeks? You weren’t sure how long it had been happening. How long Loki had been leaving your bed in the middle of the night.

Your apartment was a decent size - more than decent, considering the average size of a New York City apartment. Being a close friend and employee of Tony Stark and Pepper Potts (was it Stark now?) had its perks. The apartment had a bedroom, a bathroom across the short hall, a living room which doubled as your workspace, and a good-sized kitchen. Even had a washer and dryer at the end of the hall, tucked neatly into a little closet that also held a few of your coats. As an added luxury, there was a small - very small - balcony off the living room. Hardly big enough to stand on, it was nevertheless a wonderful spot to sit and watch the sun set over the city. You loved living there, in that cozy space you’d made your own, and eventually welcomed Loki into. 

Loki. Not exactly someone you’d intended to end up with. Then again, who intends to fall in love with a god?

Who intends to fall in love at all?

You’d met through friends of friends, and that was about the only mundane thing about your relationship. Said friends of friends were the Avengers for crying out loud, and the moment you saw Thor in person you nearly froze from shock. The moment you saw his brother, however, your heart practically leapt out of your chest and into the hand Loki reluctantly extended, per his brother’s direction.

You took his hand in your own, trying not to tremble as you shook it. You gave your name. He gave his. You parted ways. A mundane interaction, right?

But again, few things about your relationship were mundane.

You would’ve written it off as a simple, regular greeting if Loki hadn’t found you later as you skulked along the edges of Tony’s huge party. You knew the hosts, of course, and some of the other guests - but everything was so big and frightening and new you hardly knew what to do with yourself. 

How were you, a regular human, supposed to deal with all… That? Heroic wasn’t a word you’d really use to describe yourself. Let alone super-heroic - that title was reserved for the incredible individuals around you, whose personalities and achievements eclipsed your own. You mulled over the thought, drink still clutched firmly in hand, but untouched.

And that was when Loki commented on the fact you looked “nearly as miserable as he felt.” You couldn’t help but blush a little and laugh at the comment. You quipped something back - something about misery loving company, and Loki’s eyebrows raised. His expression gave little else away, though. It hardly ever did.

It wasn’t until many months after the party, after you and Loki had gotten to know each other better and started dating, that he whispered the truth to you: the idea that anyone would be gladder with him around than with him gone, was astonishing to him. He could hardly believe it.

But when it came to you? He believed you.

You had no reason to lie to him. No need to impress him, or earn his favor, or act cordially for fear of an Asgardian royal. You were safe at that party, and you were safe when you visited him at the Avengers compound - you had no reasonable ulterior motives. Nothing to hide.

And, likewise, he had no reason to actively hide things from you, now that you lived together and you knew about his past, about his parentage.

Or, you thought he had no reason to hide things from you…

So why was he leaving you at night?

The first night you truly noticed it was on a dark, cool night of spring. 

You’d left the bedroom window open while you fell asleep, and upon waking up thought to yourself, still under a veil of sleepiness, that you should probably get up and close it. But as your eyes opened and adjusted to the dark, you noticed two things.

First, the window was closed, the curtains completely drawn. 

Second, the place next to you, where Loki usually lie, was empty. Completely empty, the bed covers pushed toward you to help keep you warm. Still half-asleep, your hand smoothed over the sheets to his spot - cold. He’d been gone a while. 

You squinted to see through the crack in your bedroom door, but couldn’t make out if the bathroom light was on. Maybe he’s in there.. You shrugged to yourself, flipping back over and nuzzling into your pillow. You’d meant to stay awake until he returned, just to be sure he was okay, but sleep quickly washed over you again.

When you woke up the next morning, you realized you definitely should’ve been able to see if the bathroom light was on, had it been on, so Loki couldn’t have been in there. He was never one for midnight snacking, as far as you could tell, so he probably wasn’t in the kitchen.

The more you thought about it, the more it bothered you. You tried to brush it aside - after all, Loki was a very private person, slow to trust or to show much emotion. He was vulnerable with few people... Maybe only one person - you. The trust between you had been hard-won, and you loved every new piece of himself he showed you. 

He also enjoyed quiet time, often spent with books. Reading, writing notes, sometimes even napping in the safety of your apartment, his forgotten book on his chest as he lie draped across the couch, his lanky limbs hanging off the edges. You really needed a bigger couch.

Yes, you assured yourself. Loki just needed time alone every now and then. Everyone did, right? 

You tried to ignore it, you truly did. 

But later, it happened again. 

You woke up to an empty bed, a dark room, and the door pulled to. This time you could swear you saw a light coming from the other room, so this time you figured he was in the bathroom and once again you succumbed to sleep.

~~~~

The morning after, you woke up to your regular routine: Get up, get dressed, make coffee for two, eat some sort of breakfast, and get to work. Work didn’t exactly have a set location - that close friendship with the Starks stemmed from having worked with Pepper for years, and now since you worked for Stark Industries, you enjoyed several perks. 

Sometimes Pepper brought you in on-site, other times (more often than not, considering the fact you had an ex-villain alien god to worry about… and not everyone was convinced about the ex part) you simply received work on your secure Stark-tech computer and worked remotely. From home, from a cafe, even from the Avengers compound when you visited. (You had a room there, too - as did Loki. Courtesy of Tony.)

So as you sat with your laptop in front of you on your desk, the window cracked to let some air in, you started the day. Coffee in hand, a half-eaten croissant next to you.

Loki stood next to you, sipping his own coffee. 

He liked to watch you work. Liked to distract you from work too - he wasn’t the god of mischief for nothing.

“Sleep well?” He broke the silence first.

You took another bite of breakfast. “Yeah. You sleep okay?”

He shifted his weight. “Fine.”

“You sure?”

His hand touched your shoulder, as if to reassure you. “Just fine. How long are you working today?” His fingers smoothed their way from your shoulder to your clavicle and back - slowly, rhythmically. 

“I literally just got started,” you muttered a soft laugh, and he chuckled in turn.

“But I like spending time with you.”

“Well I like spending time with you, too. But work is important.”

“Would it be less important if I gave Stark something better to worry about than..” Loki leaned over, scrutinizing the screen, “Interview paperwork?”

You raised your eyebrows at him. “Loki, do not attack my boss, please.”

“I said nothing about attacking him.”

“Loki.”

“Yes, love?” He smiled down at you. You huffed - he had no right to be this charming, nor this cute - but that worry was still gnawing at you. Why had he left last night? 

“Are you sure you slept okay?”

He paused a moment, then smiled - but it seemed forced. “Yes. I slept just fine - do you need to talk about something..?”

“You left.. In the middle of the night, I woke up and you were gone.”

He swallowed. “I hadn’t realized you were awake - forgive me.” His hand slid down your shoulder, to your arm - and then away. “It was just a bit of restlessness, darling, you mustn’t worry.” He kissed the top of your head, then straightening up, raised his coffee mug to his lips again. “I’ll leave you to that.. Riveting work of yours… Let me know if you ever need a welcome distraction.”

“You’re always welcome,” you smirked slightly. You weren’t convinced he was only restless but.. Maybe he was. Who knew? Loki was a mystery to many. You’d try to believe him, at least.

“Am I?” He grinned. “Then I’ll be sure to distract you often.” With a small wink, he turned and left.

~~~~

The next time you noticed it, it seemed later in the night. And this time, you heard something too. Crying. Talking - like a whisper, barely audible past the soft sobs.

The door was cracked again, but had swung a bit more open than the times before. That must be the source of the sound...

Resolved to figure out what was going on, you slid out of bed. Tried to stay quiet as you walked to the door and peered out.

There was faint light coming from the living room. A silhouette on the wall showed Loki’s position - in front of the balcony, the street lights casting his shadow. You inched down the hallway, stopping just before you reached the living room.

“...Mother, you would. I just know it. (Y/N) is endlessly beautiful, and intelligent, and… and kind…” Loki was sitting in the floor, his back to you. Dressed in the same clothes he usually wore to bed - loose pants and a comfortable green shirt. His long black hair was messy, and his body shook with sobs.

The door to the balcony was open, allowing a cool night breeze to drift in. An occasional car drove by, or plane flew overhead, but Loki was focused on the stars.

“Just like you. But I, I don’t.. I don’t deserve it. Any of it-” his voice cracked, “And I miss you.”

Your heart broke. You made your way across the living room, quietly, carefully. 

“I miss you every day,” Loki continued, shaky hands brushing hair back from his face, then gripping it in agony. “I-I wish we could speak, we could.. See each other.. That you could see me - see us, but... You’re not here.”

“Loki?” you muttered, and he inhaled sharply, turning around. 

Now you could clearly see the tears streaming down his face. His mouth was slightly open, but he closed it, his lips pressed into a thin line. 

“I- ... Darling, you shouldn’t be up at this hour,” He stood, blinking away his tears. “Go back to bed.”

You stood your ground, but tried to pick your words carefully. He looked so vulnerable, standing there in the dark, still trying to steady himself.

“No, something’s clearly wrong. Loki... How long has this been going on?”

“It doesn’t matter..”

“Yes it does.” You moved closer. He twitched - but let you approach, let you reach up to brush a tear off his cheek. More fell as he pressed his face against your palm, relishing the touch. His brows pressed together, he looked as though he could break at any time.

“Weeks,” he whispered.

“Oh, Loki..” You embraced him. He welcomed it, his arms wrapping around you, clutching you close to his shaking chest. He moved to lower himself and you followed, the both of you slowly sitting on the ground, you tucked against him, his body trembling with sobs.

Tears pricked in the corners of your eyes. What had this long life done to him?

How many nights had he cried alone?

It was several minutes before either of you spoke again. Loki calmed, his nose finding a comfortable place nestled against your hair, and his breath eventually steadied. His grip loosened. The crying slowed.

“I-I’m sorry.. I’m sorry I left you,” He gulped. “This is the only way I can talk to her anymore.”

You pulled away to see his face. Tilted your head. “Her..?”

Loki’s eyes met yours. “Frigga. My mother. She..” He couldn’t bring himself to say the next word.

“I remember.” You nodded slowly.

He’d told you a while ago that his mother had died, after Thor had brought up their parents. But he never said how. 

Loki clenched his jaw. “It… It was my fault, it was all my fault-” He settled into another bout of crying.

“Loki, love - that can’t be true. I-I don’t know everything about your life,” You cupped his face, bringing him to look at you. He sniffed, swallowing again. “I don’t. I wasn’t there for all of it. But I know you. And I know you would never, ever harm your mother.”

“But I did, I did- that monster, I told it how to escape - I told it how to reach her. And it did, and she-” He stopped himself, biting the inside of his cheek. His breath grew shaky again as he forced himself to speak. “There was a funeral. I wasn’t allowed to attend - Odin would never allow that. He barely wanted me alive in the first place,” he hissed, his face contorted with rage for a moment, before relaxing again. “I found out after. By then her body had returned to the stars..” Loki turned to the outside again.

Moonlight graced his skin, highlighting the tears still glistening on his cheeks. His eyes searched the heavens, as though begging for a sign - something real, something palpable, something to tell him she was out there. 

“Loki, I’m.. I’m so sorry. But it’s not your fault. It’s not.” You spoke as gently yet firmly as you could. Giving a monster - whatever it was - directions (you figured it was to spite the Asgardians who imprisoned him) didn’t equate to murder. He hadn’t intended it to play out that way, after all. But you could understand the guilt behind it.. And you hated the fact he’d carried that burden alone.

He stayed quiet. Pulled you closer, his chin on your shoulder, his eyes still trained on the sky. 

“I wish she could meet you.” he confessed, his head leaning against your own. His arms still firm around you, his hands finding yours - your fingers intertwined. “She’d love you.”

“I’d like to meet her, too. But maybe she can see us now.” You moved closer to him, your thumb stroking his hand. You felt Loki smile next to you - it was small, and fragile, but it was there.

“Perhaps she can,” he murmured. 

“Maybe she can see how happy you are - you’re happy, aren’t you?” You glanced at him. He kissed your temple, staying cuddled up against you. 

“Happier than ever. I.. Thank you, love. Thank you for finding me. I hadn’t the heart to, to ask you to join me… I’d hate to wake you.”

“Loki, you’re important to me. I love you, remember?” You turned, facing him fully, your back to the open door. “Can you promise me something?”

His brow furrowed slightly, but he seemed willing to listen, watching you intently.

“Promise me, if you’re lonely, wake me.”

Tears glistened in his eyes again. He nodded, slowly, and managed a soft smile.

“Yes, my love,” he murmured. “I promise.”

[shootthemessenger]

i did things to you only lovers would do in the dark [b.d.h ; w.v.]

part 1

billie dean howard x fem!reader x wilhemina venable

requested: something with billie dean howard (and/or wilhemina) where they are friends with reader parents? maybe reader and billie/mina get involved just for fun but they start to fall for each other and don't know what to do about it. Would love to read how they got together in the first place [anonymous]

disclaimer: strong language, sexual nature, prominent age gap (all legal), teacher x student relationship, gets fairly nsfw

not edited

gif belongs to @hotel-a-h-s , @stupidl0ve

“You’ve got to be fucking kidding me.” You huffed, loosing yourself within the math notes on your desk as clear frustration dripped from your features.

“Excuse me, miss y/l/n. Do you have something to share?” Ms. Venable’s voice interrupted your loathing as you sheepishly moved to meet her eyes. Her face was stern, glasses settled on her nose neatly to complete the look. The stirring in your stomach causes you to clear your throat. Her eyebrow quirked upwards, a questioning look beckoning you to speak.

You fought the deep blush creeping up your neck and cleared your throat, “No. I’m sorry, Ms.” an apologetic look made its way onto your face.

The professor simply rolled her eyes as she crossed her hands over the stand in front of her, “Pay attention in my class.” It took all you had not to slide downward into your seat out of embarrassment but you held your composure and forced yourself to listen to the rest of her lesson.

By the time it was over you were quick to scoop your belongings into your backpack and prepare for your walk home. But Ms. Venable has other plans as her voice interrupted you once again to call you towards her office.

You sheepishly followed her, stomach burning in fear at the lecture you were sure you were about to receive. When you finally reached her desk she watched you closely, “You know, I expect you to actually listen in my class miss y/l/n. This is the third time this week I’ve had to correct your behavior. Your grade is significantly dropping and if you swing below a ‘D’ I’ll have to force you to drop the class.” She spoke pointedly, her lips moving slowly as your eyes practically glued to them.

“Of course Ms. Venable, it won’t happen again.” She mumbled something along the lines of, ‘i hope not’ and dismissed you from her desk. You promptly shuffled away from the woman, stomach fluttering partly from embarrassment and partly from intimidating attraction.

When you finally did arrive home you searched for something that was going to take your mind off of your interaction with Ms. Venable; party due to the fact that you were in no mood to deal with the turned-on feeling she tended to give you.

You finally settled on working, desperately attempting to catch up on the fine details you needed to hash out for a new project at your parent’s company; which you had only recently started working at.

At some point you had lost track of time, and by the time you had come to the sun was disappearing behind the hills and leaving you with little light beside the glowing screen of your laptop.

You could tell it was rolling into late evening; it must have been nearly eight o’clock. You finally decided to close your laptop, standing to stretch your aching muscles as your bones popped.

Distantly, your mother’s voice sounded from somewhere in the house. When you opened the door to your office, the hallway was dark and empty but the voices and sound of clicking silverware echoed from the dining room.

“Mom?” You called softly down the hallway, hearing some of the movement in the other room cease.

“Yes dear?” She questioned back, beckoning you down the hallway. When you moved into the open space, two sets of eyes landed on you along with your parents’.

“Honey, I’d like you to meet Billie Dean Howard and her girlfriend, Wilhemina Venable. Ladies, this is our daughter; y/n.” Your father introduced, motioning to the two woman across from him.

Ms. Venable caught your eyes first, coaxing a nervous smile onto your already-blushing face. Your breath caught in your throat as you gathered the courage to speak, “oh-uh...I know Ms. Venable.” You attempted to swallow the embarrassment.

A wicked smile spread across the red-heads face, “Miss y/l/n, is one of my favorite students.” Her voice was unusually soft, something you could only assume to be a result of the casual setting you were in.

The blonde beside her smiled a much softer smile at you, “Oh, I’ve heard lots about you.” She purred, her voice soft and exciting in the most amazing way. Wilhemina hummed in agreement, the smirk not leaving her face.

She could see your flustered state and you assumed Billie could too because her smile was just as wicked, butterflies building in your stomach the longer the two women stared at you.

Despite the tension, obviousness consumed both of your parents as your mother broke the silence, “Billie Dean here is going to star in a show we’re producing.”

“You’re welcome to join us.” Your mother spoke once more and motioned towards their meal, causing the three of you to break the trance you were in. You smiled politely, “No thank you, I’ve still got work to do. I just came for a glass of water.”

A dissapointed look flashed across both women’s faces as you moved to the cupboards. You could feel them watching you, feel their eyes burning holes into your back.

“Y/n, here, has recently taken over a sector of our company. She hopes to inherent it all one day.” You father chimed in, causing you to smile softly as you poured your glass.

“Be careful, Miss Billie Dean, she could be your boss one day.” He joked, chuckling softly. Billie’s eyes met your, intimidatingly winking. “Oh, I wouldn’t mind.” She spoke, lifting the glass of wine to her lips as her eyes traveled over your body before meeting yours again.

You cleared your throat and the inherently sexual gesture and shuffled back towards the hallway. As you exited the dining room, you called back to them without turning, “It was nice to see you!” A small chorus of pleasantries sounded back to you as you made your way back to your office.

When the door finally closed a breath you weren’t aware you were holding. Your glass clattered as you set it on your desk, trying to recover yourself from the sexual-tension you had been feeling.

It had been some time since you had settled back down at your desk, little to no sounds were coming from the rest of the house and you could have only assumed the dinner had ended.

Your eyes were growing tired as you sat back in your chair. A knock at your office door startled you, causing you to sit up quickly as you welcomed whoever it was to come in.

Billie Dean’s face peaked in from the hallway, a sweet smile plastered across her features, “Your mother told me to go over this paperwork with you before we left.” She stated softly, bitting down on her bottom lip.

Wilhemina’s figure could be seen looming behind her, no doubt peaking in at you from the hallway.

You smiled at Billie, adjusting your position in the chair before motioning them to sit in the chairs across from you, “Sit, please.”

They both moved in and settled in their respective seats, Billie passed the paperwork to you as you moved your glasses onto your face to look at it.

“So I suspect this is why you’ve been so distracted in my class.” Wilhemina finally spoke up to soothe the silence. You laughed softly, typing away at your computer.

“I’m learning to juggle, Ms. Venable.” You glanced briefly at her before your eyes traveled back to the computer. “Please, call me Wilhemina. No need for formalities outside the classroom.”

Your smile grew, “Of course, Wilhemina.” You could almost swear you heard her take a sharp breath but chose to ignore it as you passed a paper towards Billie, “will you sign here please.”

Billie took the paper and pen, following your orders before taking the end of the pen between her teeth. “Here you go, sweetheart.” She passed it back to you.

The breathy moan that rumbled in your throat at the nickname sounded just under your breath and you hoped no one had heard as you continue combing through the paperwork.

“I think she liked that, honey.” Wilhemina spoke light-heartedly, making your heart nearly drop to your stomach. You stuttered as you attempted to cover it up with an excuse, failing miserably when nothing coherent came out.

Billie’s smile transformed into a dark smirk, “Did you like that?” You did what you could to muster up a nod, not daring to meet either of their eyes out of sheer embarrassment.

“Look at her when she’s talking to you.” Wilhemina’s sharp voice interrupted the thick air, a playful tone hiding underneath the sterness. Your heart fluttered as you quickly looked up at the both of them.

A ‘good girl’ from one woman was followed by an ‘oh, and she’s good at following directions’ from another. You swallowed thickly and struggled to maintain eye contact with the both of them.

Billie pushed herself out of her seat, a frown making its way to your face at the assumption that she was preparing to leave. When she noticed your expression a laugh tumbled from her lips, echoing as she moved around the desk and behind you.

Her fingers danced softly against your shoulder as her head dropped until her mouth was hovering just above your ear, “Just let me know if you want me to stop.” Her teeth grazed against your earlobe.

You were quick to shake your head as Billie began to travel down your neck, surely leaving marks along her way. “Look at me.” Wilhemina spoke up, quickly being rewarded with eye contact from you.

The dark look in Wilhemina’s eyes mixed with the feeling of Billie’s lips sucking at the soft skin of your shoulder forced a moan from your lips; one that seemed to please both women as they hummed in unison.

“You look so pretty whimpering underneath her.” Wilhemina seemed to be speaking from a distance as your eyes fluttered closed; soaking in the feeling Billie was giving you with her lips exploring your exposed skin.

Billie paused, her lips sliding back up to your ear, “Fuck, what I would give to watch you fall apart all over Mina’s fingers.” She moaned softly after her statement, nails digging into your skin just enough for you to feel it. You whimpered, desperate for either woman to give you some sort of release.

Before you knew what was happening, both women were moving towards the door as your mother’s voice called through the house, “Billie Dean? Are you ladies still here?”

Billie used her thumb to correct her lipstick, locking eyes with you before swinging the office door open, “Just leaving, Mrs. y/l/n. Thank you for everything.” She winked at you before moving into the hallway. She mouthed a quick ‘we’re not done here’.

Wilhemina locked eyes with you before smiling, “I expect you to be focused in class tomorrow, miss y/l/n.” With that, both women stepped away and the door was pulled shut.

Man, you were in for one hell of a time.

Taglist:

@mssallymckenna , @proudnlittle , @coxmicbabygirl

[redhairedfeistynerd]

Slush and a Side of Toys

Part 1

A/N: I'm months behind on everything but here is my piece for @sweater-daddiesdumbdork  and @sagechanoafterdark  Winter/Holiday Festival Challenge. I chose #38 donating toys to children.

Pairing: Chris Evans x reader

Warnings: 18+, SMUT, angst, frustrated reader, swearing, alcohol

Words: 5800+

Part 2 will be up soon!!

Please like, comment and reblog. I appreciate it and thanks for reading.

All mistakes are my own

A reminder - my work is not to be reposted anywhere.

There’s a muffled humming coming from somewhere under a pile of paperwork and takeout containers on your floor. The sound is constant, piercing, and irritating. Eyes still closed, head pounding from an evening of too much wine and schmoozing, you reached down towards the sounds and ran your hands over the stack, following the vibrations of your phone. Once found, you yanked it away from it charging cord and used every ounce of energy you had, pulling the phone close to your face. Opening one eye a sliver to hide from the light, you read from the bright screen.

Hey, listen, I know we've had our differences the last few years but I think it's time we put all of it behind us. I saw Rosie the other day and asked her how you were doing but she kept it pretty vague. I hope to hear from you soon, even if it's only a text to say you’re doing okay.

Reading over the message a second time, in utter shock that he had the audacity to message you and pissed that he even dare ask your friend about how you were; you decided to turn off your phone and toss it into a pile of clothing on the floor.  

What. A. Dick.

Rolling back over into your cozy blanket cocoon, falling back asleep, temporarily pushing away any thoughts of the man from your past.

The message was all but forgotten until later that day when a familiar song came on the radio and you couldn’t help but think about how you had both downed several beers at a pub and sang it at the top of your lungs. Maybe it had been a dream earlier and the text never happened. Pulling your phone from your back pocket, hoping it was all your imagination, you indeed saw that there was a text.

The ever-so-hard to escape blue eyed man, was trying to weasel his way back into your life and you weren't having any of it. Dropping the phone into the bag sitting at your feet, getting up from the desk, shaking out a bit to ease the tension that one tiny text had accumulated.  

"Don't think about him. Don't think about him. Don't think about him," you repeated the words over and over, hoping to push all thoughts aside. In stocking feet, walking around the small hole you called your office and continued to shake it out. The calm didn’t last as long as you hoped, anger slowly creeping up and out.  

"Stupid frikkin guy!! UGH!" The sound of your disgruntled cry, shook you a bit, the frustration clearly coming out louder than expected. "All right, settle yourself down, you can't let him have this sort of pull over you," hoping the self-talk would work, you ran your hand through your hair and walked back to the desk. "Delete it, pretend that you never looked at it and it will go away."  

There was no way the struggle going on inside your head would even fathom deleting the text. Truth be told, as much as you cursed and hated the thought of him trying to slide back into your life, there wasn’t a month that went by without a thought of him crossing your mind. A song playing, a Romcom from the 90s, the pizza you both loved so much. Why couldn’t you escape him?

You shot off a quick text to Rosie, curiosity was killing you now, itching inside you, desperate to find out how the hell you had come up in conversation.

Y/N -Word on the street is that you ran into a clown I once knew; I’m curious what was said.”

Rosie: Oh no, he didn’t.

Y/N: He did and it was pathetic

Rosie: It was a super quick interaction. Both of us waiting for a coffee and being friendly. He asked about you almost right off the bat though. It almost rendered me speechless after what happened.  

Y/N - So, that’s it? What did you say? Did you tell him how fantastic my life is going and that I probably wouldn’t even remember him?

Rosie: you and I both know, that that’s a load of shit. I’ve had wine nights with you, that man-child has never left that brain of yours.  

Y/N Shut up.

Rosie: Really though, it was super quick. I said you were doing charity work and were still in the city, happy and healthy.  

Y/N- good to know. I’ll just sit here and pretend his message never happened then. Carry on as usual.  

Rosie: see you later this week?

Y/N Definitely, bye babe.

Placing your phone down on your desk, you continued opening your mail: thank you cards for volunteering, appreciation notes from parents and kids, and requests for you to help out at other groups around town. The next month would be hectic, with collecting the many donations from around the city. You had to finish training several new volunteers that would assist with wrapping, delivering, and presenting gifts to the charities and individual families that you helped support during the Winter months.  

It became a mechanical process, opening envelope after envelope, that you weren’t paying attention to the return addresses. It wasn’t until you read the first few lines that the letterhead caught your eye and did it burn.  

Blue-eyed monster strikes again via his mother.

You knew it wasn’t the case though, his mom, was offering a bursary to some of the kids you helped out and she was reaching out to you and other groups in the city to help.  

It didn’t take much to pull your mind from work once you had read the Evans name on the letter. Bits and pieces shifted in your mind; you couldn’t fight it any more today. The letter slipped to the floor and you sat back against your desk, the memories that you had been pushing away, were flooding back.

It all started innocently about three years ago, bumping into one another around town, having several acquaintances that knew each other, and a tendency to make the other smile when the lamest dad jokes were thrown around. His face was incredibly animated and you loved the way his eyebrows would jump up while he spoke, there was mischief behind them that you wanted to discover. Even a quick peek, would ease the curiosity.

You recognized that laugh from across the room of the gallery – full of heart and genuine. Turning around, you spotted Chris mingling with other attendees of the charity event. You were here to help raise money for low-income families in the community that could not afford music lessons or music therapy for their children. The profits from the art sold this evening, would help buy instruments for the school that was set to open the following month. You knew Chris had donated and you had volunteered to help teach the parents with baby's groups every second weekend. It was the least you could do, you had a bit of extra time and needed to give back to the community that helped you and your family out during your childhood.

“How did I know you would be here?”  

You must have zoned out thinking about that boisterous laugh that you didn’t see Chris walking over to you. You smiled as he leaned in wrapping one arm around you, a beer being held in his other hand. His smell was intoxicating – a mixture of orange and the woodiness of sandalwood. Would it be wrong if you pulled him closer to take a quick whiff before he pulled away?  

He took his time moving back from you, winking as his arm shifted back to his side and lifting the beer to his mouth with the other, take a long sip.

“So, you out here to buy some art?” he asked, taking another drink.

“No, not buying tonight. One of the pieces is mine, I donated it to help out.”

“You have something up for sale here?” He questioned, taking a quick spin around to quickly look at all the art hanging around the gallery. “Which one is yours?”

“Oh, I am NOT telling you that. I think I’ll leave it up to you to figure out which one is mine. You can play the role of Sherlock Holmes.”

“Now, that’s just cruel.”

“Cruel? Nah. Mysterious? Yes. Are you up for a little game of 5 questions to help you out? If you can guess which one is mine, then I guess you have bragging rights because I haven’t discussed my art with anyone here. If you don’t figure it out, then I suppose it will be a mystery forever.”

“Oh, I KNOW I’ll be able to figure this out!” Chris says loudly, clapping his hands together and popping each shoulder up and down. “I’m always up for a challenge.”

“Here’s the deal, you ask me whatever you need to to figure out which one is mine. Obviously, you can’t ask which one is mine as one of your questions. Ready?”

“Ready!” Chris said enthusiastically. He took your hand and brought you to the front of the room to observe the first of the paintings. “Let’s take a quick gander and then I’ll start. How does that sound to you?”

“Whatever you need to do, Evans.”

Chris pulled you from canvas to canvas, still holding your hand as he inspected each piece. “First question. “Did you only use paint for the one you donated?”

“NOPE, next question, Evans!”

“Okay, okay, I got this,” he bounced around on the spot and turned his head to quickly glance over the works close to him. “Shit, I guess I should have asked if what you donated was a painting, right?”

You walk a circle around Chris “Is that your question?” you ask, eyebrow raised.

His blue eyes flick quickly to yours before he says, “Ya, actually...ya. That’s what I want to know. Did you submit a painting?”

“Yes, one of my paintings is hanging somewhere in one of these giant rooms.”  

“You really don’t think that I’m capable of figuring this out, do you? Ye of little Faith,” he smirked and pulled you to the back of the dark room. “Any reason why it’s so dark back here?”

“Maybe that’s what the artist wanted?”

“Here’s question three then,” he said as he pulled you closer to him, your eyes looking into his as he asked. “Is you painting in the dark room?”

“Is that really what you want to ask me?”

Chuckling, you take hold of his hand and lead him to another section of the gallery. “I don’t want you to miss any pieces, so take a look around here before you ask number three.” He squeezed your hand and looked up, the ceiling adorned with a beautiful piece; birds in flight but as they reached the furthest wall, the began to decay, until only single feathers remained.    

“Here’s number three, ready?” He looked to his left where you were nodding your head back. “Did you mainly use your hands for this piece? I mean, instead of brushes or other tools.”  

You were silent for a moment before answering, did you want to tell him how much of yourself you had put into this piece? That what the brushes couldn’t do, you did with your hands and arms? “I did. This one needed more than brushes.”

Chris smiled at you, “feel like telling me what else you used?”

“Not a chance,” you said, grabbing a glass of white wine from the tray passing by. “You want a glass?”  

Chris held up his bottle, its content revealing that it was still half full. “I think I have a pretty good idea which one is yours, so these last two questions are going to be good.” With two large gulps, he finished up the rest of his beer. “So, what happens when I guess, do I get some sort of prize? Maybe you could paint me or something?”

“If you mean, could I dump a bucket of paint over your cocky head, then, sure!”

Chris burst out laughing, pulling you into him for a squeeze.  “I love how you make me laugh and I bet you would actually do that to me. But really, if I do guess, what happens?”

You kept your body close to his, his arm still holding you close as you responded, “what do you think would be suitable prize, Chris? Do you want me to paint something, make you a prince? Maybe something of you and Dodger? Or maybe I could paint your like one of my French girls.”

“I would love one of your pieces, but if I win this, I’d like to take you out. Is that okay with you?”

Your grip tightened around the wine glass, trying not to let it slip to the floor. It was a shock, to hear that this man, one that you had flirted with for months, was asking if you wanted to go out with him.  

“Y/N?”

“Sorry, I... I didn’t expect you to ask me that,” you answered, fidgeting with your hands out of awkwardness.

“It’s ok, you can say no! It’s all right to tell me no.”

“No. No. I’d love that. If you can guess which one is mine, I will gladly go out with you. Dinner, drinks, walk – whatever you like.”

Chris placed his empty beer on the table closest to you. “Ready for my last two questions?”

“As ready as one can be.”

“Is your piece hung on the wall as a landscape?”

“Look at you Evans, you got another one.”

Chris rubbed his hands together, his smile wide and full, clearly showing that he was on a winning streak. “Here’s number four and then I’ll go right to the painting I think, the painting I know it is. Chris walked back and forth in front of you before turning to face you with his last question. You had grabbed another glass of wine and took a sip, waiting for his winning question. “Does your piece use more than black and white? – so many of these photos, sculptures, paintings are very monotone.”

“You’re good Evans and yes, I filled my picture with the rainbow. So, take my hand and show me what the answer to this mystery is.”

His warm hand took your free one and he walked you to one of the side rooms – this room was full of colourful pieces. You could feel the heat flushing across your cheeks and a thin layer of sweat formed at your hairline. Chris stopped and turned towards the back wall and pointed to one of the paintings. “I’m pretty sure this one is yours,” he said with a half-smile. “Am I right?”

You had wished, during those few minutes he had suggested that he take you out, that he would guess which one is yours. But what were the chances with over 40 pieces around you? You tried to keep your body from slouching before you softly answered “No. That’s not mine.”

The happiness in his eyes left quickly once you responded.

“Are you going to tell me which one is yours though?” He asked you eagerly.

“No, I think I’m going to keep that secret to myself. Thanks for the fun, Evans, I should get home. Another day of charity work for me tomorrow.”

“Wait, Y/N, I’d still like to take you out though, will you let me do that, please?”

“I guess we’ll have to see what the future brings,” you replied, giving him a little wink and a squeeze to his hand, you took one last sip of your wine before heading to the coat check.

Chris watched you as you wrapped a scarf around your neck and slipped your arms into the long, wool coat.  Walking back over to him and wrapping your arms around him, it was a quick hug and he barely had an arm around you before you were stepping back. With a smile on your face, you turned and stepped out into the night. Chris watched as you turned right and glanced his way, your hand lifting up and into a quick wave. He couldn’t stop smiling and knew he had to see you again.

It didn’t take long for that to happen. You couldn’t get him out of your thoughts and dreams after the encounter at the gallery. He really was something; funny, compassionate, a hard worker, and you couldn’t deny that he was incredibly good looking.

After an event in town and a few drinks later, it was easy as pie, asking him over for dinner. He had initially thought you were pulling his leg.  

Chris couldn’t stop laughing. "Oh ya, sure you want me to come over for dinner," laughing at your request and taking a sip of his IPA.

The pink that had flushed across your cheeks when you had shyly asked him was disappearing like an ice cube in hot soup. He picked up on the change immediately and apologized profusely. "I didn't think you were serious! You are serious, right?”

"Why wouldn't I be? It's just dinner," you shrugged. “I don’t see why you would have such a dramatic response to a simple question.” There was an awkwardness now and maybe you shouldn’t have asked him to come over. “Sorry, I thought since we kind of hand a friendship blooming and I tend to invite friends over...”

He took hold of your arm and pulled you into his chest, a big smile across his face. “I'll come by; don’t you worry. Which day this week works for you? I'll be out of state after this week for a bit, so hopefully something the next few days will work for you,” he said, squeezing you a bit before he released his hold on you.  

Trying not to be awkward, you responded "This week will definitely work, tomorrow or the next day are open for me."

"Let’s go for tomorrow, okay?  Would you like me to bring anything?” Chris smiled  

“Be sure to bring the dog, he's the one I'm really inviting.”

"Well, fat chance of me coming by now, I see where your allegiances lie, " he said half closing his eyes and glaring at you in a teasing manner.

"Ok then, just drop the dog off, I'm sure he'll enjoy the feast."

Chris couldn't help laugh at the way you were carrying on with this charade. The half-smile that was currently on your face was one full of mischief and it was something that he had come to enjoy the last few times he had run into you around town. He could see a sparkle in your eyes, something that he didn’t notice before today and it was something, that he could get used to.  

“A thought crossed my mind... what exactly would have happened if I had guessed right?”

“Since that didn’t happen, I guess you’ll never know,” you said with a shrug and nudged him with your shoulder.

“You sure like to tease me.”

“What exactly am I teasing you over?”

“The opportunity to be in your presence again,” he replied, a slight blush crossing his cheeks.

Finishing up your drink, you placed the glass back on the cardboard coaster and turned to face him.  

**

“What the hell is THIS?” he asked grabbing at the green monster type thing that was hanging from a lamp in your living room

"That, is a flying frog - one of those weird ass dad gifts - he's always finding these peculiar creatures for me and I can't seem to part with them.

"It's sure ugly"

"You're ugly!” You shouted back at him and burst into the most beautiful smile he had seen cross your face.

"What are you, 12?

"Sometimes,” you replied.

Chris couldn’t help but laugh at you and pull you into a quick side hug. "You're a funny one" he feels you squeeze him back softly, a smile crossing his face at the quick interaction.

"I better go take a peek in the oven and make sure everything is baking the way it should. Make yourself cozy, I'll be right back."  You looked back to him, pointing at the couches before turning and walking down the hallway to the kitchen. Turning you head back, forgetting to offer him a drink but his long strides had brought him right behind you quickly, almost colliding with your body. He tripped up a bit and moved his hand to your hip to catch himself.

"I want to see what you're up to in here, see what the chef is cooking up.” Chris resting his chin on your shoulder to peek at what you were stirring on the stove.

“You couldn’t sit still and wait for me to come back, did you miss me that much,” you teased.

“I couldn’t stand to be apart from you for a second longer.”

“That is the cheesiest lines, Evans. Does shit like that work for you?”

“What matters is, if it’s working on you. So, is it?”

You hummed, refusing to answer the question and carried on taking care of the food in the oven. Satisfied with how everything looked, you turned the timer back on and offered Chris a drink. Agreeing on wine, you pulled a bottle from the rack, passed the stemless glasses to Chris, grabbed his hand, and lead him back into the other room. Sitting on the larger of your two couches, Chris took a place beside you, taking the bottle from your hand, opening the bottle, and pouring you a generous glass before pouring his own.  

“To friendship,” he said raising his glass

“To friendship, good food, and drinks,” you added and brought your glass to his, a quick clink, and sips were taken.  

Dinner was ready within the hour and you both continued to chat while enjoying your meal.  

“That was one of the best meals I’ve had in a long time, thank you”, complimented Chris as he wiped his mouth with the napkin when he had finished his last bite.  

The compliment brought the feeling of heat to your face and out of awkwardness you almost knocked your glass over as you reached for the wine.

“Want a refill?” You asked, holding up the second bottle of red that night. “You have good taste in wine, Mr. Evans, this wine is top notch,” you said, looking over the label of the wine he had brought with him.

Chris smirked and slid the glass to his left “I’m glad you think so, I’ll definitely have another. This should probably be the last one though, I feel like I’m overstaying my welcome.” He watched as you poured, your hair falling forward as the wine glass filled. “Cheers, thank you for the invite and many thanks for a delicious meal. You are constantly surprising me with your talents.”

“You aren’t overstaying. I’m enjoying your company and don’t want you to leave yet. Here, let me show you what I’m working on for this year’s event,” you said and pulled your phone out of your dress pocket and slid your finger across the screen. Shifting your body across the cushions toward Chris, you held the phone out towards him.  

“What is it you are putting on this year?”

“Another charity event, it’s to help out the single parents that live in the community. I try to donate as much time to charities as possible.”

“You have a heart of gold.”

“I want everyone to have a special holiday season, you do it. I see that you donate time and money to charities.”

“I have the means to help and giving back is extremely important to me.” Chris looked through a few more of the photos before placing the phone down next to him on the couch.  

Reaching over to take her phone, Chris put his hand over yours and slid closer. “I know you always think I’m joking around with you when I say how much I love seeing you smile but I’m being 100% honest. Your smile is contagious and I feel like it lights up anywhere we are. It’s a beautiful smile and its part of why I’m so attracted to you.”  

You couldn’t help but laugh at him. “Oh shush, you!”  you said pushing your hand into his chest, your smile wider than he had seen before.  Again, he put his hand over yours and pulled you to him gently with his other hand.  He brought you close, enough to hold you against him for a hug. He watched as your eyes tried to find a joke hidden in his face but you quickly realized that there was something else there. You weren’t sure who moved first as your lips met quickly enough that your teeth clacked together and you swore in pain.  

“Oh fuck, only I would ruin an almost perfect moment. I’m such an-

He pulled you to his lips again, kissing you softly and trying not to laugh at the look on your face.

“Am I a joke to you, Evans?” you asked, kissing him back on the lips.

“Oh, not at all, I didn’t want to have to explain to people we know how I broke your teeth though. I mean, I could make up some ridiculous story about it, could be fun,” he chuckled.

You couldn’t help but throw your head back and laugh, bringing yourself back up to face Chris and pull him by his shirt towards you and kissing him without any stupid errors. You could taste the wine on him, the sweetness adding to the softness of your kiss. He took the lead, pulling you closer and slipping his tongue delicately across your bottom lip before deepening the kiss.  

Your eyes opened when you hear Chris let out a soft moan, not expecting to hear such a sound from him before you could emit one. He did it again and you felt it all the way down your spine and into your soul. Your hands, still in idiot mode, found their way to his hair, and were quickly taking apart his well-coiffed hair by running your hands through it.

“How does your hair smell so damn incredible?

“How do you taste so fucking delicious?

You pulled back, staring him in the eyes “Hmm, maybe you need to taste a bit more, clean that palate of yours,” you teased.

“Are you implying...”

“Not implying, the buffet is open, sir. Dig in.”

Chris’s face went a light shade of red.

“Oh, did I catch you off guard, Casanova?”

“I mean, no... no...’ he stumbled, “OK, fine yes, yes you did.”

“Well, now that you know, let’s get back to business. All right?”

You took control, standing up, taking his hand roughly and leading him to your bedroom.  

“I want you to take off my clothing, piece by piece. I want to see it on the floor and,” you said placing her finger on his lips, “no more talking,” you ordered.

“Anything you want,” he whispered into your ear and he ran his tongue down your neck so softly, that goosebumps raised over yours arms. His hands wandered from your shoulders and down your arms, taking hold of your hands and moving them to his belt buckle.  

Looking up to him, he nodded, silently urging you. Undoing the belt and still staring into his eyes. Moving to unzip his jeans and push the button away, Chris was unzipping the back of your dress, the cool line of metal touching your back as he drew the zipper down the length of your back.  

“You have goosebumps, do I need to warm you up?

“I’m hoping you get to that. Now, what did I say about talking?”

He smirked, pushing the dress down each shoulder until it dropped to the floor. Stepping out of it, you kicked it off with one foot, tossing it towards the wall. Chris’s hands were already roaming, his hands on your hips, fingers sliding into the thin elastic of your panties. His hands slipped across your warm flesh and directly to your cheeks, grabbing each one and squeezing, and pulling you closer to him. His lips were pressed into yours, his tongue back to searching for yours as he wrapped his arms around you and brought you to your bed. Gently, he sat you on the edge and leaned into you bringing you down to the mattress.  

His kisses ran down your sternum and across the soft skin of your breasts while his hands ran across the tops, gently running his fingers over your nipples.  

“Keep doing that, keep... keep touching my breasts, Chris.”

You could feel him pressing into you, his erection, warm and pushing against your core.

His hands squeezed your left breast while he brought his mouth down to your right, taking the nipple into his mouth, gently sucking it. Running his tongue around the bud, a chill running across your arms and a moan escaping your lips.

“I need to be in you now, please, y/n,” he said, kissing up your chest.

“In the drawer, condoms are there and hurry the hell up, Evans, I’ve waited forever for it to rain and fill up the well.”

He chuckled as he crawled over you, limbs knocking yours, a soft hand slapped across his ass, as you watched him open the nightstand drawer, which got stuck in his effort to hurry. “Come on Evans, you got this,”

“A little self-talk over there to get you motivated?”  

Chris smiled as he held up the package and smiled at you before sitting on the edge of the bed to roll the condom down his hard length. He was on you again, returning quickly, his lips pressing against yours. His lips, wet and warm, pushed harder against your mouth as he pushed your legs further apart, taking himself in his hand, rubbing across your wetness and pushing halfway. The groan that escaped his mouth while his tongue continued to touch yours, sent a tingling sensation down your body.  

“Chris, please...” you started to plead and before you could continue, he finished pressing himself into you with a grunt.

“Come on baby, show me how well you can move,” he said as he licked a strip across your neck.  

Wrapping your arms around his neck and shifting your body against his, you let out a wail. Your bodies moved together, the pace quick, the sounds of your wetness echoing throughout your room.  

“Listen to the sounds we’re making, baby,” Chris panted and drove deeper into you. His body was incredibly warm against yours, the sweat making his chest glisten in what light crept in from the hallway.  

Chris slipped his hand down and his fingers met your warmth, crawling in to press against your clit. You clenched around him; a low moan escaped his mouth as he continued his movements.

“A bit more, a bit more,” you groaned, your back arching as Chris sped up. You looked up at him and reached your hand up to his face, holding on and staring into his blue eyes as you felt the tingling ball up within.  

Faster than expected and with one last swipe of his fingers, your orgasm spread out from within. Your shoulders tingled, spreading down to your fingers as you yelped out, the warmth of pleasure flowing down and across your body. Chris had shifted to move into you, helping your orgasm along as his own shuddering began. His lips were pressed into your neck, your name crossing his lips as he slowed his pace, and leaned onto one of his arms. He continued kissing up your neck and met your lips, heavy breaths escaping from both of your mouths.

“You’re incredible Y/N. Incredible.” One more kiss was pressed to your lips before Chris sat up, heading to the bathroom. You watched the light turn on and the door close behind him. You rolled to your side; a smile of satisfaction crossed your face as you closed your eyes.

Your heart jumped when you were woken by blankets being pulled half off of your naked body. It took you a few seconds to realize that a man, a very handsome man, was sleepy peacefully beside you. Turning to face his back and shimmying closer, you pulled the blanket to cover your shoulders and back. His muscular back stared at you and you couldn’t help but raise your hand to the pale skin, bringing your fingertip to his warm skin and drawing lines to connect each freckle.  

“You, know, that feels incredible, please don’t stop,” Chris asked, his words muffled into the pillows.

You continued using his back as your canvas; swans, sunrises, all the beautiful pieces of the world this man helped you see.  

Pushing back into you Chris spoke, “I’m going to be away next week, so I’m hoping I can see you again before I head out of town?”  

Your fingers drew the word yes on his shoulder in response. Chris turned over to face you, pulling you closer to him for a soft kiss. When he pulled back you couldn’t help but smile and pulled him in for something a bit more passionate.

*

Bags packed and his dog set to stay with his family, he walked by the room Scott was in. “Hey, I’m heading out, the car is almost here. Give me a hug for the road.” His younger brother stood up and embraced him, giving him a few pats on the back and wishing him well for his short trip. “Will I see you when I get back or you heading back home?”

“I’m pretty sure I’ll be around still. Mom wants me to stay in town a bit longer. You okay if I’m still free loading off of you a bit longer than planned?”

“You know you’re more than welcome to stay,” he said as his phone chimed from his pocket. “Cars here. Take care of the fam and Dodger for me.” His brother gave him a smile and Chris grabbed his coat and carry-on from the table before heading to the front of the house. Dammit, he had forgotten to remind Scott again about what they had discussed earlier that day. “Scott, make sure you get that message to Y/N, okay? This schedule change was pretty last minute.” He shut the door before he heard a response from his brother. The driver held the door open for him and collected his bags to place in the trunk. He couldn’t get you out of his mind on the way to the airport; your smile, the scent of your hair, the warmth of your naked skin pressed against his. He couldn’t wait to be next to you again.

[lsvdw-blog]

Not a Minute More: Part 2

Pairing: Ethan Ramsey x f!MC

Word Count: 1.8k

Warnings; Rating: Mentions of a cyberattack, Angst; Teen+

Premise: MC's perspective on the day that rocks Ethan to his core and threatens to change his life.

Author’s Note: I was going to wait to post this, but I'm loving the flood of content we're getting rn, so I thought I'd hop on too. I cried writing this... I'm so sorry 😭. Part 1 here. I hope you enjoy and thank you for reading 💖

~ Monday, 8:20am ~

"Good morning, Mike!" Serena greets the security guard right inside the door.

"Hey! How are ya? How's that Dr. Ramsey?"

"We're both doing well, thanks! How about you and the family?" She asks as she puts her phone in a cubby and unplugs the Wi-Fi enabler from her laptop.

"It was the wife and I's anniversary this weekend! We went to Martha's vineyard and saw the most beautiful proposal! You and Dr. R gonna get going on that soon? Aly has been talking about going to y'alls wedding since she met ya!" Mike gives a playful wink.

"Oh, congratulations! That's wonderful and send Aly my best wishes. But you'll have to talk to E on that one," she laughs before opening the door to a stairwell that leads to a classified area.

After keying in her pin, the door clicks open. She grabs a static protection lab coat, walks through the entrance, and is met with a plethora of state-of-the-art equipment. Floor-to-ceiling grey switch panels, curved monitors as far as the eye can see, and countless probes, clips, and wires.

She walks over to a few familiar faces. “Good morning! How’s it going?”

“Nice of you to finally join us! Dr. Ramsey keep you this morning?” Isla, one of the engineers, jests.

“I saw your check-in on the monitor — you walked in two minutes before me!”

“Those diagnostic skills at work, I see,” Isla retorts and they both laugh.

Isla had become a fast and faithful friend since Serena joined the project. They bonded quickly over both being minorities in the world of science and supported each other in every work facet. They had lunch together everyday and gradually, their work bond grew into a personal friendship as well. They’ve become so close that Isla now also regularly spends time with the original Edenbrook gang.

“Alright, enough chit chat. Let’s get this show on the road.”

The team nods and responds, “Yes, Doctor.”

~ 12:00pm ~

Serena exits the classified area with some colleagues and they all make their way to retrieve their phones.

"No new patients. Stuck in meetings and doing paperwork. I miss you and wish you were here."

She immediately breaks out into a large grin after reading Ethan's text and hits the dial button.

"Hey, ready for lunch?" Carmen, one of the lead scientists, asks.

Serena nods and moves her phone slightly away from her ear. "Be there in a minute. You guys go ahead."

She waits for a few more rings. He’s probably busy, I’ll call again later. She hangs up and makes her way to the cafeteria.

~ 12:40pm ~

"We did all the necessary prep work this morning to begin testing after lunch. Everything is looking good. We can begin running our tests since everyone is here. Are we all ready to begin?"

"Yes."

The system engineers are sitting at connected computer stations, inputting the required credentials to start. The rest of the team is standing behind them, waiting and nervously watching the screens. After a couple minutes of tense silence with nothing but the clack clack clack of keyboard keys, Vincenzo, one of the lead engineers, speaks up.

"This is weird… we're having some trouble accessing the necessary data. Did someone put up a firewall?"

Everybody looks around at each other, shaking their heads and muttering "no."

"Isla, are you seeing this? Can you get through?"

Isla continues to type, not saying anything. After a few more seconds, she turns to look at Vincenzo with a concerned expression. "I don't recognize some of the items in our system."

Just as she finishes her sentence, everyone's attention is pulled abruptly to a wall monitor on the right as it starts showing nonsensical images and patterns. Two seconds later, an alarm goes off and a red warning light begins flashing within the building. Everyone's eyes go wide as realization dawns on them: they've been compromised and shelter-in-place has been activated.

~ 12:55pm ~

Everyone begins to evacuate the classified lab area, grabbing their phones on the way out, and peering through the one-way windows. They can occasionally hear Mike speaking rapidly into the phone with a 911 dispatcher, when he's not being drowned out by shouts from colleagues.

On the descent to the bunker, the tension is palpable. Individuals clutch onto each other, others try frantically to reach loved ones, and some are in complete disbelief and shock. As they all descend the five flights of the winding staircase to the basement, windows are no longer available, but the ceiling bulbs keep flickering on and off. Each time it happens, everyone stops in their tracks, ducks down on instinct, and picks up the pace when the lights come back on.

~ 1:15pm ~

The entrance to the Harvard labs bunker is protected by a vault door that has a counter system. When the system is in place, the door can be opened once for people to get in. Once it's been closed, it can only be opened when there's one person on either side working together — it's futile with only one person. The only other way it can be opened is by shutting down the counter system from the outside, with the correct override pin, which only a handful of the most trusted team members know.*

As the vault door comes into sight, the wheel on the outside is turned, and the door opens with a whoosh. People slowly start filing in and head towards the back. However, not everyone can stay in the safety of the bunker. In case of an emergency, the project they’re working on must be erased, to protect it from falling into the wrong hands. Certain people have been assigned particular instructions to delete specific portions.

Serena is one of them.

She's walking next to Isla and their arms are looped together. As Isla enters the bunker, Serena lets go of her arm, stopping at the threshold. Isla whips her head around.

"What are you doing?! Get in here!" She reaches for Serena’s arm.

Serena shakes her head. "I'm the only one currently here who knows the medical codes."

Isla's eyes are frantic in realization. "I'll go back with you! I'll be your lookout! You're not going alone!"

"You'll be safe here. This is my responsibility."

Serena reaches behind her neck and unclasps her gold necklace for the first time in 7 years. She grabs Isla's hand and places the jewelry into her palm, closing Isla's fingers around it.

Serena stares at their clasped hands. "In case anything happens," they both flinch at another flickering of lights. "Promise me that you'll get this to E."

Their eyes are locked now, having a silent battle: Isla begging her to stay and Serena finding the strength not to.

"Isla, promise me. Please." Serena squeezes Isla’s hand that much tighter.

Isla realizes that there's no use in fighting Serena. Risking her life to delete the project is part of the job. They all made a commitment and if the roles were reversed, Isla would be the one fighting to go back.

Isla slowly nods. "I promise, Serena. I promise. But do your best to keep yourself safe. Try and stay near the corners, away from any large equipment that could have aftershock effects, and—"

Serena shakes her slightly. "I know, Isla. We did take the same training," she smiles, trying to make a joke to lighten the mood, but Isla just stares gravely at her.

A booming sound rattles the building and Serena knows it's time to go. She gives Isla a quick hug, before pushing her backwards into the bunker. Before Isla has regained her footing, Serena has closed the bunker door with a resounding thud.

~ 1:30pm ~

On the way back to the classified area, Serena takes out her phone. Ethan hasn't returned her earlier call. Her heart is pounding and with trembling hands, she hits the call button on Ethan's contact card for the second time in less than two hours. After a few rings, his voice comes through.

"You've reached Dr. Ethan Ramsey. I apologize for missing your call. Leave a message and I'll get back to you."

Just as she’s about to start speaking, the lights go down for good. "Hey E," she tries her best to keep her voice from shaking. She puts the call on speaker, places the phone out in front of her, and turns the flashlight on. "I don't know when this will hit the news, but we're currently under cyberattack. I don't know from who or what, but they’ve already gotten into our mainframe and power supply. Everyone has sheltered-in-place and is awaiting further instructions." She takes a deep breath as she inches down a corridor.

"Everyone except me, Vincenzo, and Carmen. We’re the only three here right now trained to completely delete the project in the event something like this happened. I'm walking back to the lab as I speak."

Serena rounds a corner and the lab comes into view. Thinking about what she has to say next, silent tears stream down her face.

"Ethan, sweetheart, I need you to know that the last eight months by your side have been the absolute best eight months of my entire life. You are the light of my existence and mean everything to me." She lets out a deep breath. "I wish I could hear your voice right now… I'm really scared. But I made a commitment, so I need to go back in and finish the job. If something happens, know that you are unequivocally the love of my life and the one for me. I know we haven't talked about it yet, but know that I want to spend forever with you as your wife and have you be the father of my children." She sniffs and continues, "you would be a fantastic husband and dad."

She comes to a stop in front of the keypad located right outside the lab and swallows past the lump in her throat. "But if the universe has other plans for me, I'll be waiting for you and I can't wait to spend forever with you in the next life. This isn't how I wanted to tell you, but until next time, whenever that is, I love you so much, Ethan Jonah Ramsey, more than words could ever properly convey."

She ends the phone call with tear-filled eyes, stashes her phone on a nearby workbench, punches in her key, and enters the classified area one more time.

~~~~~~

*Disclaimer: I have no idea if Harvard labs has a bunker and if they do, what kind of door/system they utilize. This is all purely AU!