#there hasn’t been a time when I came home and didn’t feel ready to pass out

[ranger-danger]

:)

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Back a Ways Part One

Part Two

Notes: Planning for this to be another two-parter. Not beta-read.

Pairing: Dr. Jack Abbot x Surgeon!Reader

Length: 2.5k

Rating: M

Warnings: Canon-typical medical chat; some cursing; Reader has a brother; Abbot's nickname for Reader is Queenie

Summary: It’s not the first time that someone has made that assumption—thought you and Jack were together, or had a past. But the fact of the matter is, you don’t think that the man’s ever seen you as anything more than his brother-in-arms’ little sister. He’s been around for a long time—since the first time your brother came home for Christmas break from the academy.

“Where are you coming from?” 

You don’t take any offense to the question; you know that it wasn’t lobbed with any. You also know that your attire is out of the ordinary for the ER, but you hadn’t gone out for a drink with the girls thinking that you’d be called back in to work.

Abbot hasn’t given you any more than a passing glance since you arrived but he’s an observant man—one look is enough. 

“Doesn’t matter. I’m right where I’m supposed to be, Abbot,” You fall into step beside him, matching his pace, “Where is she?” 

“South Three. Got here about an hour ago, acute abdominal pain in the lower right quadrant.”

“How long has she been in pain?”

“Day and a half. She had spotting, thought it was period cramps. She asked if we’d call you, see if there’s any way you could’ve left a sponge in her.” 

You snort, unable to help it. “Not a one.”

“You sure?” 

“I’ll have you know that I have a thoroughly unblemished history of leaving my patients entirely spongeless.”

“First time for everything,” He nods to South three as you grow closer. “Two minutes.” 

“OR’s prepped?” 

“In progress.” 

“Who’s handling?” 

“Garcia, covering for Wilkins.”

“And won’t that just be lovely,” You groan, just managing to put on a reassuring smile as you stepped into South Three. “How are we doing in here, Claudia?” 

The slight woman in the hospital bed perks up a bit at the sight of you, her dark hair pulled into a sloppy bun; her typically bright skin is sallow.

“Oh, they got a hold of you!” 

“Of course they did! Though I told you that you could use my number if you needed it.” 

“And she doesn’t say that to everyone,” Abbot adds. You shoot him a sidelong glance as you round the bed to sit on the stool beside it. 

“You feeling alright?” 

“I’m sorry I didn’t call,” Claudia’s lip wobbles, “But I wasn’t sure—”

“No, no, you did the right thing,” You reassure, taking her hand in both of yours. “I’m glad you came in—I’m even glad you saw Dr. Grumpy over here.” 

“Dr. Abbot has been very nice,” Claudia glances between the two of you. 

“Has he? That’s a first,” You tease. 

“Have you considered that I may be nice to everyone but you?” He grumbles.

“It’s crossed my mind, but it just seems so improbable.”

“Dr. Abbot?” You hear, “You’re needed in South One.” 

“Excuse me. Claudia, you’re in good hands.” 

“Thank you, Dr. Abbot.” 

You glance back toward him again as he pats your shoulder before heading out. 

“Dr. Abbot mentioned that you were worried about a sponge,” You turn back to Claudia.

“I was—But he explained that it’s impossible, that you would never do that.” 

You can’t help your small smile, trying to ignore the flutter in your belly. 

“Oddly kind of him.” 

“The two of you seem friendly.” 

You would normally avoid making any comment on the observation, but this distraction seems to have relaxed her, some. 

“Jack and I go back a ways.” 

“You dated?” 

“No! No,” You chuckle. “He and my brother served together overseas—and I was a resident down here for a year. Guess you could say we're used to each other."

“The OR’s ready,” You hear Abbot warn. You straighten, giving Claudia’s hand a light squeeze.

“Is your husband—Harrison? Is he waiting for you in chairs?” 

“Yes, he drove me.”

“Okay. I’ll get him brought to the waiting room upstairs, he’ll be nearby when you wake up. You’re gonna be okay.” 

“Thank you,” Claudia sighs. You let go of her hand as the nurses wheel her away, folding your arms across your chest as you and Abbot watch her go. 

“...Thanks for calling my cell.” 

“Sure." He nudges your arm lightly with his. "Sorry for interrupting your night.”

“Nah, it’s fine. I can only listen to Michelle tell me all of the reasons that she wants to divorce her husband only to insist that she really does love him so many times.” 

“You need better friends, Queenie.” 

You roll your eyes, turning slightly to face him. 

“That’s Doctor Queenie to you.” 

“My apologies.” 

“I’ve gotta go find Claudia’s husband in chairs, let him know that he can head up.” 

Abbot falls into step with you as you turn down the hall. 

“Gonna try to catch back up with the girls?” 

“Mm...Nah. I wasn’t all that up for going out tonight, anyway. Hey, can you keep me updated on Claudia?” 

“Sure.” 

“Thanks.” You let your eyes sweep Abbot’s profile—the tightness around his eyes, the stern set of his jaw. You swipe your tongue over your lips as you face forward again. “Shift going alright?” 

“Mhm.” 

Please. You follow Jack as he settles at his desk, leaning back against it and folding your arms across your chest again.

“...Jack.”

“A little busy here, Queenie.”

“You doing alright?” 

“I answered you.”

“You gave me some bullshit that I didn’t buy.” 

“I don’t have time for chit chat—unless you feel like scrubbing up and clocking in.” 

You shake your head a little, considering. You’re not gonna get to Jack this way—you never have before. 

“...You talk to Everett lately?” You hedge. It’s enough for his fingers to hesitate in their typing before he resumes. 

“Spoke to him this morning.” 

“Oh yeah?” 

“He called when I got off shift.” Jack glances up at you. “Why?” 

You shake your head a little. “No, nothing. He’s just, um…” You hesitate. “We haven’t spoken in a while. I was wondering.” 

Jack leans back in his seat, folding his arms across his chest, and it’s your turn to be on the receiving end of a speculative stare. 

“I don’t understand what it is with the two of you,” He finally says.

“The hell is that supposed to mean?” 

“It means that he’s your brother, and you’re two sides of the same damn coin. You’re both stubborn know-it-alls who refuse to give an inch when you’re wrong.” 

“That’s not true. I’d give an inch—if I was ever wrong.” 

The smile that curls his lips is more than worth the first two feeble attempts to break through his walls. You can’t help the small smile in turn. 

“You and I haven’t spoken much lately, either,” You remind him softly. You know it’s a mistake immediately—Jack’s smile twitches before it wilts, lips pressing into a thin line as his attention strays back to the chart. You open your mouth to fix it, though you have nothing to say—but there has to be something you can do to get that smile back, some dumb joke, some tease or goad or—

“Jack—”

“Abbot, we need you in seven!” 

You pull in a soft, frustrated breath as he straightens. 

“Any surgical tricks to impart before I check this out?” He asks, taking a few steps back toward the room. You just let your lips twist into a rye, regretful smile. 

“Silly Abbot, tricks are for kids.” 

And that’s it. That’s what gets you that parting smile, accompanied with a small shake of his head. 

--  

Maybe you should’ve met back up with the girls. At least, it might’ve kept you from stewing alone for the rest of the evening. And you do stew. 

“Jack and I go back a ways.”

“You dated?”

You turn Claudia’s question over in your mind as you go through the motions of unwinding for the night—as you change into your pajamas, as you pour yourself a glass of wine to make up for the one that you abandoned at the bar, as you doomscroll through your phone. 

It’s not the first time that someone has made that assumption—thought you and Jack were together, or had a past. But the fact of the matter is, you don’t think that the man’s ever seen you as anything more than his brother-in-arms’ little sister. He’s been around for a long time—since the first time your brother came home for Christmas break from the academy.

You’d come rushing down the stairs to greet your big brother, and there was Jack just behind him, bag slung over his shoulder as he took covert, speculative glances around the front entry. His eyes had landed on you, and you’d frozen. 

It wasn't the way all the books and movies said it would be. Time hadn’t stopped; the world hadn’t seemed brighter, or new, or different. But you were certain that was the moment you'd fallen in love with Jack Abbot.

The crush had budded over the Christmas break, bloomed as he'd left with a promise to keep in touch, and taken full stubborn root when he’d actually kept his promise. His little nickname for you hadn't helped. It had started disparagingly after he'd heard you boss Everett around, and he'd gotten on you for acting like you were the queen of the house. But over time, his tease of, "Queenie," had softened and stuck.

You’d never acted on your feelings—you hadn’t known how. He was so close to Everett, and the growing chasm between yourself and your brother only seemed to worsen as he spent more time away. He didn’t keep up with you like Jack did—hardly answered calls, emails. Everett didn’t go out of his way to ignore you when he was home, but when he wasn’t, he just didn’t make the effort. 

Jack made the effort. He became a fixture in the house over breaks, a constant at the dinner table when both he and Everett were home. 

Your interest in medicine had sprung up independently of him, but it had been something else for the two of you to talk about. Jack was generous with his time, his opinions, his notes, his help. The contact had kept up while he and Everett were overseas, and when they’d come home. Winding up in the Pitt as a resident under Jack hadn’t been a coincidence by any measure. 

But after years on the battlefield, Jack was suited to the ER. The flurry of it was something that you never got used to—you always felt off-kilter. Switching your residency program had been a difficult decision and a helluva process.

And there had been something in Jack’s face when you’d told him that you were moving to a surgical residency, something that you couldn’t pin down there. It wasn’t disappointment (and that had been a relief—you couldn’t bear the thought of disappointing him). But whatever his ideas about your change of heart, he had been supportive. 

Still, the calls had waned, the texts had become few and far between. You can chalk it up to the fact that you’re both doctors, both in demanding environments, both worn to the bone with weariness on a daily basis. 

“Any surgical tricks to impart before I check this out?”

As if he needs tricks from you. 

Your eyes drift to the time on your phone. Has he taken his break yet? Would he have taken one if you hadn’t followed him to his desk, distracted him?

“Jack and I go back a ways.”

It wasn’t a lie by any means. But the problem has never been going back aways with Jack. The problem is finding a way to move forward.

-- 

“How many times are you gonna turn that nice man down?” 

It’s asked with an almost motherly knowing, and you can’t help your begrudging smile as you give Dana a shake of your head. You'd hoped that she'd missed that part of your conversation with your fellow surgeon, but it was a foolish hope—Dana never misses anything.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, please,” She laughs, looking toward where David was speaking with Claudia. “If I was your age and single…He wouldn’t have to ask me twice.”

“I work with him on a daily basis.”

“So what, you think if things went bad he’d refuse to pass you a scalpel in the middle of a procedure?” 

“Among other things.”

“What are we talking about over here?” Robby’s the one that asks it, but the sight of Abbot just a few steps behind makes you clam up. “And what have we done to earn the presence of two surgeons in the ER this fine morning?” 

“Wilkins and I are just down to check on a patient.”

“Claudia?” Abbot asks, and you nod. 

“I spoke to her, she’s doing well. Just in for a follow-up. Dotting her t’s crossing her i’s.” 

“I think those are swapped,” Princess mutters behind you. 

“We were talking about the fact that this one gave Dr. Wilkins the brush-off again,” Dana reports with a nod toward you. The plainness of it, coupled with looks from both Robby and Abbot, makes heat flare up in your face as you focus studiously on the tracking board. 

“Okay, seems a little personal,” Robby manages. You wince, tipping your head from side to side. No other comment follows. Your ears fill with the familiar hubbub of the ER—the footsteps, the rolling of gurneys, the beeping of machines, the call for medications, bandages, blood. But there’s something there that you haven’t felt since you were a resident—Jack's lingering stare. 

-- 

"Dinner, Friday?"

"With me on the night shift for the next week? Sure," You drawl sarcastically. "You gonna reserve the break room?"

"Family room. More ambiance."

You scoff a laugh, turning your attention back to your computer as Dr. David Wilkins rounds your desk. 

"Breakfast date, then," He counters, leaning against your desk. "I'm sure we could work something out. Get sandwiches from the good cart around the corner."

"Could just grab a couple of sandwiches from the bin in the ER.” 

"We'll grab coffee from the bad cart, then."

“What is it with you and those carts?” 

“I’m supporting local businesses.” 

You can’t help your smile widening as you update a patient’s chart. 

“Very admirable of you, Dr. Wilkins.”

The lull in his answer and the brief retreat of his steps makes you think that he’s given up, but he’s pulling a chair up just a moment later, leaning over your shoulder. You don’t let it rattle you—half of your job is spent with someone in close quarters looking over your shoulder. 

“You spelled ‘succinylcholine’ wrong.” 

“No, I didn’t.” 

“You didn’t even check.” 

“What do you want, David?” 

“To know how you take your coffee for when I get it from the bad cart.” 

You sigh softly, turning away from your computer to get a better look at him. His wiley little smile is so familiar, lips parting slightly to reveal a row of perfectly white teeth; bright blue eyes blink almost prettily at you as he waits for your answer. 

And you’re not sure what it is that nudges you—the little look Dana gave you, the way you'd felt Jack’s eyes burning into the back of your head, or the fact that you know David is a genuinely nice guy. But for the first time in a long time, you take a leap. 

“...I take my coffee black,” You finally say, “Regardless of what cart you get it from.” 

David nods slowly, smile widening. “Okay. Friday morning?” 

You turn back to the screen, and nod, even as your stomach twists itself into knots.

“Sure, David. Friday.”

Next Part

Tag list:

@missredherring ; @fantasticcopeaglepasta ; @massivecolorspygiant ; @amneris21 ; 

@ew-erin ; @youngkenobilove ; @carbonated-beverage​​​ ;  @moonlightburned ; @milf-trinity ; 

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 ; @mad-girl-without-a-box ; 

@winchestershiresauce ; @lorecraft ; @kmc1989

[honeyslibrary]

Forever ⋆.ೃ࿔*:･ Quinn Hughes

Pairing; Quinn Hughes x Fem!Reader

Warning(s); Reader is mentioned having curly hair/wearing glasses. Fluff. Kinda cringe but it’s a proposal so I’d consider that acceptable (: Established relationship. Not edited.

Summary; Quinn proposes

Word Count; 2k

Author’s note; Didn’t realize this is my second fic that takes place on the living room sofa, but it’s written so I’ll just dump it here. Would love to hear your thoughts if you have any + reblogs are appreciated. -Honey

Quinn had been captivated by you from the very first time you said his name. There was something about the way it fell from your lips—soft and velvety, with a subtle rasp that sent a shiver down his spine. It wasn’t just the sound of your voice; it was the way you spoke to him, with a warmth that wrapped around his heart like a favorite song. Every time you said his name, it made his chest tighten, his pulse quicken. And you said it often.

You didn’t rely on the usual pet names his past girlfriends had favored—sweet nothings like "baby" or "babe." No, you chose his name, always. When you called for him, it was, “Quinn, can you grab this?” or “Quinn, come here.” When you told him you loved him, you didn’t let the words hang abstract in the air. You made them personal: “I love you, Quinn.” Each syllable was deliberate, an anchor tying you to him.

It wasn’t long before he realized he couldn’t get enough of it. Just six months into your relationship, his mind began wandering toward something far bigger. He found himself daydreaming about the future—your shared future. He pictured you standing across from him, framed by flowers and sunlight, saying his name again, but this time in wedding vows that would bind you together forever. The thought of hearing you say, “I do,” in front of your friends and family was enough to leave him breathless.

You hadn’t just made him feel loved—you’d made him feel seen, known, and completely yours.

“Quinn.” Your voice cuts through his wandering thoughts, pulling him sharply back into the present. It’s not loud, but it carries—a perfect mix of warmth and clarity that only you could manage. He blinks, momentarily disoriented, before his gaze finds you.

There you are, a vision that steals his breath all over again. He can hardly believe his luck—that he gets to see you like this, so at ease, so unencumbered, and utterly captivating. You’re seated at the kitchen table, papers scattered around you in a casual chaos as you focus on grading. The soft, golden hue from the overhead light bathes you in a warm glow, making you look almost otherworldly.

His lips twist into a small smile, like he hasn’t already seen your outfit today—though, of course, he has. Worn sweatpants, and his old UMICH shirt, the one you stole and now practically live in while at home. Your curly hair is piled into a loose bun, and your glasses sit low on your nose.

It had been two months since he’d first thought about proposing—two months of tucking that desire away, hiding it behind everyday moments and careful smiles. He’d never been in this deep with a woman before. The idea of marriage had always felt like something distant, meant for other people. But now? Now it sat in the back of his mind like a quiet ache, present in every thought, in every small moment with you. Eight months together. Was that long enough? Was it too soon? He wasn’t sure. The last thing he wanted was to scare you off, to move faster than you were ready for, and somehow ruin this thing between you. It terrified him, the possibility of misstepping, of losing you. But it also terrified him to wait, to let too much time pass and risk you thinking he didn’t see forever with you.

These thoughts came and went, like tides he couldn’t stop. But it was moments like this—simple, domestic, and probably boring to anyone else—that hit him hardest.

"Earth to Quinn." Your voice rings out again, light and teasing, amusement flickering between your brows.

Quinn blinks, startled back to the moment, and clears his throat as though shaking off the thoughts had stolen him away once more. His gaze refocuses on you, a small, sheepish smile playing at the corner of his mouth. "Yeah, baby. What is it?"

"You okay?" You ask, tilting your head. "I can hear your brain working all the way over here."

"Just zoned out." He says, with a dismissing shake of his head. He leans back against the armrest, running a hand through his hair to push it out of his face. "Yeah, just zoned out," he confirms, his voice low and a little distracted. "Sorry. Just... thinking about a few things."

You study him for a moment, noticing the way his teeth graze his bottom lip, and the way his hand lingers in his hair, like it’s searching for something to hold onto. You nod. "Wanna talk about it?"

His expression softens, the quiet earnestness of the question reaching into the place where that familiar ache still lingers. Almost instinctively, his hand stretches toward you—palm open, a silent invitation. He hesitates for just a breath, his fingers curling slightly as though unsure if he should follow through, before he nods. "C'mere a sec?"

You slide your glasses off and set them on the table, the quiet clink barely audible in the stillness of the room. Pushing back your chair, you cross the small space to Quinn. He’s waiting, his arms already lifting to pull you close the second you’re within reach. He tugs you down into his lap with an ease that feels like second nature, his thighs shifting apart instinctively to make room for you.

The moment you settle against him, his arms wrap tightly around your waist, and he buries his face against the curve of your neck. You feel the faint warmth of his breath on your skin as he exhales a deep sigh. The soft, sweet scent of you—the one he’s come to think of as home—floods his senses, easing some of the tension in his chest.

He pulls away, and leans his head back against the couch. For a moment, he just looks at you, his gaze lingering as though trying to memorize every detail, even though he knows he already has. The soft slope of your nose. The curve of your mouth. That small, almost invisible freckle just beneath your bottom lip—the one he always kisses when the warmth in his chest gets the better of him. His throat tightens, and he swallows hard, a nervous flutter building in his chest.

“What is it, Quinn?”

He takes a deep breath, his fingers brushing over your hips in gentle, absent strokes, the movement more reflex than thought. The rhythm steadies him, but only just. His mind churns, the weight of what he wants to say pressing hard against his chest. This is it, he thinks. He can’t hold it in any longer—the waiting, the second-guessing, the holding back. It’s all become unbearable. Whatever happens next, he has to let this out.

“Just thinking about us,” he begins, his voice quiet but steady. “Our relationship. How much I care about you. How lucky I feel to have you like this.” He pauses for a moment, like testing the ground beneath him before taking another step forward. “It’s been on my mind a lot lately.”

Your lips curve into a soft smile, the kind that makes him feel like gravity tilts toward you. "Yeah?" you say, your voice gentle, encouraging.

“Yeah,” he replies, barely above a murmur. His throat feels tight, his pulse hammering beneath his ribs, but he keeps his gaze locked on you. There’s something grounding about the way you look at him—like you’re holding the door open for him, not rushing him, just waiting. It gives him enough courage to keep going. “It’s just…” He exhales, his breath light and shallow. “You mean so much to me. More than I think I’ve been able to say out loud. And I keep thinking about what it would be like to make this permanent. To have this—us—be something that lasts forever.”

Your breathing hitches, the words catching you off guard, your chest tightening as his meaning begins to settle over you. Your eyes widen slightly, searching his face, and you can see it there—devotion, hope, and just the faintest hint of nerves. Your heart skips, and it feels like the entire room is holding its breath alongside you.

Quinn’s hands shift from your waist, moving up with slow, deliberate care. His fingers trace the curve of your cheek, brushing softly along your skin, his thumbs lingering just below your cheekbones. “Marry me?” he asks, the words soft, almost reverent, yet steady and sure in a way that sends a shiver down your spine. It’s not a question tossed lightly into the air; it’s a truth he’s been holding onto, waiting for the right moment to share.

Your lips part, but for a second, no sound comes out. “M-Marry you?” The words tumble out unevenly, caught between shock and something else—something overwhelming and impossibly warm blooming in your chest.

“I want forever with you, baby,” he says, pausing for a moment before speaking again. "I know this is a shitty proposal, we're both at home in our pajamas, and I don't even have a ring yet, I just...I don't want to wait anymore. I love you, and I want to spend the rest of my life loving and taking care of you."

You swallow hard, your heart racing. Tears prick the corners of your eyes, and a tremulous smile starts to curve your lips. “You… you want me forever?” The words are quiet, as though testing them out, wrapping your mind around the enormity of what he’s offering.

His lips twitch into a soft, almost shy smile, his forehead resting against yours now. “Forever and then some,” he murmurs. “If you’ll have me.”

A sudden, uncontrollable squeal escapes your lips, the kind you might have been embarrassed about in any other moment. But here, it feels perfect—pure, unfiltered joy. Before you can stop yourself, you’re leaning in, your lips crashing against his in a burst of energy and love. The kiss is messy, hurried, but it’s full of all the things you can’t quite put into words.

Quinn smiles against your lips, his arms wrapping tightly around you as he leans back against the sofa, taking you with him. The movement is unhurried this time, deliberate, as though he’s savoring every second. His hands settle firmly at your back, holding you close, like he never wants to let go. The kiss deepens briefly, his lips moving softly against yours, before the two of you finally break apart, breathless but smiling.

Your forehead comes to rest against his, your eyes fluttering closed for just a moment. His breath mingles with yours, warm and steady, and his thumbs brush tenderly along your sides as though grounding himself in the moment. You press your hands to his chest, feeling the rhythmic pounding of his heart, and it feels like it matches the erratic beat of your own.

“Yes,” you whisper, the word spilling out of you before you even realize it. Then it comes again, louder, stronger. “Yes, yes, Quinn. Yes!” The words are wrapped in laughter, your voice trembling with happiness.

Quinn exhales a shaky breath, relief and joy flooding his expression. His hands slide to your waist, his grip firm and steady, as his eyes meet yours. They’re shining now, soft but full of something deeper, something that makes your chest feel impossibly full. “Yeah?” he murmurs, his voice low and quiet, as though still needing confirmation, still needing to hear the word from you one more time.

“Yeah,” you say, grinning so wide your cheeks ache. “Forever, Quinn. I want forever with you, too.”

His lips curve into a broad, radiant smile—the kind that makes him look younger, freer, like every weight he’s been carrying has fallen away. He lets out a quiet laugh, the sound rumbling through his chest. “You don’t know how much I needed to hear that,” he says softly, his thumb brushing along your cheek now. “You’ve just made me the happiest man alive, you know that?”

Tears prick your eyes, your laughter softening into something quieter, more emotional. You reach for his face, your fingers brushing against the rough stubble on his jaw. “I think we just made each other the happiest people alive.”

[idontevenknowwhatt]

Surprise

Summary: Y/n has been keeping a secret from Emily and hasn’t had the opportunity to tell her wife. The secret is revealed not in the way you had hoped but sometimes the unexpected can be perfect.

Warnings: Talks about miscarriages, fertility struggles and pregnancy in general. Small allusion to smut but no actual smut.

A/N: Hello again, it’s been a bit since I’ve posted anything but this is my first Emily Prentiss x reader. This is set when Emily is Unit Chief and won’t follow any specific episode. I hope you all enjoy it :))

—--------------------------------------------

You loved your wife. More than anything else in the world. But since becoming the BAU’s Unit Chief a couple months ago she was a lot busier. Whether it was paperwork or meetings, she had a lot on her plate.

You weren’t mad or upset, if anything you were incredibly proud. But you still missed your wife, even though you worked with her everyday.

You had both adjusted pretty quickly to her new workload and always made sure to spend time with one another as much as possible. But this week had been particularly bad. She would mostly be out of the house before you even woke up or leaving as you started to get ready. Then she’d be in her office hours after the team went home.

You knew it was just going to be one of those weeks and you just had be there to support you wife if she needed anything.

You’d been feeling sick all week and at first you had put it down to something you’d ate. But as the week went on, so did the nausea and the body aches.

If it had been a normal week Emily would have noticed immediately. But with how busy she was, she really only saw you when you were in bed or in passing at work.

You hadn’t thought much else about the sickness you had been feeling until yesterday morning. Emily had just left the house when you got up. As you walked towards the kitchen the smell of coffee had set you off and caused you to sprint into the bathroom and empty the contents of your stomach.

That’s when it hit you. You had wrapped a case the week before in Idaho and hadn’t even noticed that your period was late. And not just a little, by almost 2 months. It all started to make sense.

You and Emily have been married for four years and decided that you were both ready to expand your family. You’d both picked out a sperm donor that had similar looks to Emily and had been trying for a baby for months now.

You were lucky to have a positive test come back fairly fast and Emily was ecstatic. The idea of you growing her child inside you made her so happy.

So when you had a doctors appointment to confirm everything, you were both heartbroken to find out that it was a false positive.

That night you had sobbed in Emily’s arms while she too cried and held you tightly to her chest, whispering reassuring words into your ear. You knew that it was only the first try and that it was unlikely to happen anyway. But it still hurt, you were so close.

Since then you had tried multiple times but the test kept coming back negative. It was soul destroying to both of you. You had blamed yourself and thought that there was something wrong with your body. Emily made sure to reassure you that it wasn’t but it was still hard.

So you tried not to get too excited while waiting for the pregnancy tests that sat on the counter. The happiness that flooded your body when all three came up positive was overwhelming and the tears started running.

But there’s was still something in the back of your mind that told you that it wasn’t real and it was just more false positives.

Luckily you didn’t start until 10am and had plenty of time to book a last minute blood test. The joy you felt when it confirmed what you and Emily had been hoping for was one of the greatest feelings.

Now you just had to figure out the best way to tell your wife. As it was now Friday and finally the end of the week, you thought that it was the perfect night to tell her. And frankly you didn’t know how much longer you could keep it in.

You had sneaked out and bought a cute little onesie and planned on leaving it on your bed with the positive pregnancy tests. It was a simple idea but that’s all you wanted.

You were barely able to focus on your work all day and swore the day couldn’t have gone any slower. As the team slowly started filtering out and wishing you a good weekend you started to get anxious.

Emily was still in her office doing paperwork and was so focused she didn’t even realise the team had left.

Making your way up to her office you knocked and slipped in without waiting for an answer. Emily’s head shot up ready to reprimand someone for entering her office without permission. But the moment her eyes me yours her entire face softened.

“Hey baby” she said as you made your way around her desk to stand in front of her. “Everything okay?”

“Yea, I just miss my wife” you smiled leaning down to peck her lips.

Emily smiled into the kiss and you could feel tension start to leave her body at the small contact.

“Well I miss you more” she pulled you down to straddle her lap. Her arms snake around your waist pulling you closer and her hands start to rub soothing circles on your lower back. Instinctively your arms found there way around her neck and your fingers gently play with the hair at the back of her neck.

“I’m sorry I haven’t been home much this week"

“It’s okay” you reassure her. “I get it, you’ve got a job to do and not every week is like this week. It will get better. Plus I know you’ll make it up to me later”

She sees the smirk on your face and her hands move to squeeze your hips.

“Oh I promise I will, you can count on it” she smirks back with a mischievous glint in her eyes. “I’m pretty much done here if you’re ready to head home? Maybe I can start making it up to you when we get there?”

“That sounds amazing” you smile tightly getting a rush of nerves at the thought of the onesie laying on your bed at home.

“Hey, you okay baby?” Emily of course notices your body language change immediately. Concern laces her face and her brows furrow. “Did something happen?”

“No of course not” your too quick to reassure her. “Well, sort of but nothing for you to worry about”

You really should have just left the last part off but you’re practically bursting wanting to tell her.

“What do you mean? Did someone say something to you? Because you know i'm unit chief now, if anyone-”

“Babe, no one said anything”

“Well something happened, I’m not gonna stop worrying until you tell me what it is” her hand moves to caress your cheek and you can’t help but lean into her touch. God she was your weakness. “Talk to me baby”

“Em…”

“Is this about my workload, cause I meant what I said. I’m sorry about this week, I just-”

“Emily, it’s not about this week. I told you I get it”

“Well then what is it? I can tell somethings off”

“Em it’s about us”

“The two of us?” Her face is full of confusion which quickly turns to concern for your relationship.

“The three of us” you place her hand on top of your stomach and cover it with your own. “I’m pregnant baby”

“You’re pregnant?” You swear you can feel her heart stop for a brief moment.

“I’m pregnant” you confirm tears forming in your eyes.

For a moment you’re unsure of her reaction, she just sits there stunned. It definitely wasn’t the news she was expecting.

Before you can think much more about it here lips are on yours as she gives you a loving and passionate kiss. She pulls your body impossibly closer as tears start to stream down both your faces.

She pulls back to look at you, her hand and yours still resting against your stomach.

“I love you so much” she kisses you again.

“I love you too”

“When did you find out? Please tell me you haven’t been holding out on me for too long because of work”

“I only found out yesterday morning, I was feeling sick all week but I didn’t think much of it” her eyes never leave yours as you talk. “I didn’t even realise I was late until yesterday too. So I took a bunch of tests and they all came back positive”

“And they’re not-”

“No” you interrupt her before any more doubt can flood her mind. “I got a last minute blood test yesterday too. I’m sorry I didn’t tell you first but I didn’t want to get your hopes up if it was another false positive”

“Oh honey, you could have told me anyway” her face softens. “We’re in this together, remember?”

“I know, I just wanted it to be perfect when I told you” you gesture with your hand “this is not the way I planned on telling you. There’s a onesie sitting on our bed at home”

“This was perfect” she reassures you leaning in to place a kiss on your lips.

“I’m almost seven weeks” you see her smile grow. “You know I’m surprised you haven’t noticed yet, my boobs are already getting bigger.”

Her eyes flick down to your breasts and her lips twitch into a smirk.

“You know considering how much you love to touch them” you giggle.

“Well they are magnificent” she defends reaching to give them a gentle squeeze making you moan lightly. “God I love you, thank you for carrying our child and making us moms”

“I’d do it twenty times if it made you happy” you smile. “Okay maybe not twenty but you know what I mean”

“I know baby” she laughs. “You wanna head home now? Show me that onesie you bought?”

“That sounds perfect” you hop off her lap and intertwine your hand with hers as she stands. “You know I’m a little sore, I could do with a bubble bath with my wife. Seeing as Unit Chief Prentiss needs to make it up to me”

“I think that can be arranged” she smirks leaning in to captures your lips.

—--------------------------------------------

[mymegrokosmos]

hiii! can i pls request one where reader surprises mingyu on tour? i love your works so much, thank you for all the effort that you put in!! <3

i love this big giant puppy he's such a sweetheart. i hope this came out okay anon sorry for the billion year wait. it's a little short but maybe i'll write a follow up at some point when my brain is working again.

It’s early, or late depending on what timezone you consider, when you drag yourself to the airport. You text Scoups as you check in, updating him on the eta. It’s taken you a lot of coordinating and evading. Their managers and at least three other members are in on this. The hardest part hasn’t even been keeping it from your boyfriend, it’s been not slipping up where Hoshi can hear. You love Soonyoung dearly but the man cannot keep a secret.

You’re practically vibrating by the time you step onto the plane. It’s been months of so many little details you had to get just right and so many last minute changes. You nearly said to hell with it and just ruined the surprise too many times but you know it’s going to be worth it when you see the surprise on his face.

The flight isn’t long, not by the long haul standards you’ve gotten used to since you started dating a member of seventeen, but it feels like it takes forever and then suddenly time speeds up and everything is going at double time. You text Cheol again to let him know you’ve landed, sending your message to Shua and Hannie too just in case. You’ve got a little group chat now from all of the coordinating this has taken. The three eldest members, Jihoon and Minghao have been instrumental in getting this all into place.

As the car pulls up to the outer gate where you wait in the pickup zone you smile at their manager. He didn’t have to come himself but he assures you it’s fine, the boys are all at rehearsal and in good hands he’s not rushed. The conversation feels easy as you head towards the hotel first to drop your things and it settles your nerves a bit, this small piece of normalcy.

That’s when the plans change. They were supposed to have a short rehearsal today and then come back to the hotel before the show for a quick break of a few hours. Time to grab some food, showers and a nap. Practice runs long and they’re not going to have time to make it back so there goes surprising your boyfriend in his hotel room. You were ready for something to go wrong though and so you came prepared.

It’s okay, you’ll pivot. And you do.

It still doesn’t feel real when you get your pass and follow along with the staff backstage. You can’t believe the day is finally here. It feels like you must still be at home in your bed, asleep and dreaming this whole thing. Until you catch the barest glimpse of him. Of all of them. They’re just running off to get in place for the lift that will propel them up on stage.

Hao catches your eye over your boyfriends’s shoulder and he can’t wave for giving you away but his smile tells you this is real. It’s almost time. You’re here. You grin back and then they’re gone.

He doesn’t spot you until the end of their set. He’s just, finally, stepped behind the set after what you think was aju nice number fifteen when you lock eyes and his smile turns into an oh. HIs fangs pop out as the surprise melts into a grin even bigger than he gave the fans screaming the encore and his name and then he’s running. As soon as the stage closes after the last member, Soonyoung getting dragged along tonight, he’s bounding towards you.

It doesn’t take long with those long legs of his he eats up space like it’s nothing. You barely have time to squeak before you’re lifted into his arms, spun around and set back on your feet with his forehead now pressed to yours.

“Gyu!” You’re laughing even as you swat at one bicep. “You’re all sweaty babe.”

He whines but doesn’t let you go, pouting at you as he pulls you even closer instead. “I can’t believe you’re here. What are you doing here? How did you plan this?”

You smile, hands coming up to cup his face and brush the floppy brown hair back out of his face. He leans into your touch and you vaguely register the other members being herded past you by a monotone Minghao who is having none of their nosyness.

“I had a lot of help.”

You don’t get a chance to say anything else. He’s already sweeping you further backstage, lips pressed to yours to swallow your sounds of surprise.

“I missed you so much.”

“I missed you too Mingyu.”

“Yah!”

You grin against his lips, smiling up at him as he carries you towards their green room. Your legs tighten around his waist as his hand on your back flexes slightly. You lean up to nuzzle your nose against his.

“I’m only teasing baby. I love you, you know that.”

He nods, eyes closing as he just holds you for a minute and you rest your hand against his chest to feel the way his heart beat jumps under your palm. He swallows and when he opens his eyes again they’re somehow even softer than before.

“Next time I’m taking you on tour with me. I don’t care what we have to do to make it happen. If I have to bribe your boss. I’m making it happen.”

You just shake your head and press a kiss to his jaw. “We’ll figure something out.”

He nods and before he can say anything else the door down the hall flies open and Soonyoung’s head pokes out around the frame.

“Are you two coming to dinner or are we leaving y/n to get you home from here?”

Mingyu sighs, forehead dropping to rest against your chest. “I’m going to kill him.”

You run your fingers through his hair. As well as you can with the styling products and sweat slicking it together at least.

“No you’re not.”

“No I’m not.”

You glance at your mutual friend over his shoulder. “We’ll meet you at the hotel. I expect hugs and all your best tour stories tomorrow. I’ll bring the soju.”

Soonyoung salutes and then you’re alone again. “Room service and cuddles?”

Mingyu nods. “Mm, sounds perfect. WIll you rub my shoulders for me too? The right one’s been acting up again.”

“Yah, Kim Mingyu stop overworking yourself. Hot bath and a massage just for you when we get back. Now put me down so we can get a car before the others decide to kidnap us for dinner anyway.”

And just like that his hand is in yours, tugging you along as he yells for their manager while you laugh and try your best to keep up.

[unbuttonedown]

Fault Lines / Chapter 5

Pairing: Beau “Cyclone” Simpson x Wife!reader (Mitchell!reader)

Word Count: 1.9k

Warnings: Consensual, legal age-gap relationship; Estranged Father/Daughter relationship (Maverick & Reader); Named Simpson!OC child; Angst; Pregnancy; No Beta Reader

Synopsis: After the successful Dagger Squad mission, Pete “Maverick” Mitchell returns home — only to be blindsided by the revelation that his estranged daughter is married to Vice Admiral Beau “Cyclone” Simpson. Maverick is forced to confront the years he lost and the family he never knew existed. Tensions rise between the two men as Maverick struggles to find his place in a life that has moved on without him, leaving the question — can broken bonds ever truly be repaired?

A/N: Thank you for your patience with this one! :) I really loved writing this one + the blurb before this so send more asks about the story. Would love to give y'all more flashbacks <3

previous chapter / next chapter

It had been a while since that first quiet, cautious meeting at the cafe, and in that time, something unexpected happened — you and Maverick started finding a rhythm. It wasn’t always easy, and there were still moments where the old hurt crept in, but he showed up. Consistently. 

Sometimes it was a short visit in the afternoon while Stella was at school, just the two of you sitting on a bench and catching up. Sometimes it was him bringing you a snack and walking with you at the park after your OB appointments, asking questions about the baby with genuine curiosity. Once, he even carried a particularly stubborn dresser up the stairs for the new nursery and didn’t complain once, even though he looked winded after. 

And the stories he told — some ridiculous, some oddly profound — were actually… good. Funny. Honest. He didn’t shy away from the truth, even when it was uncomfortable. He didn’t pretend he hadn’t screwed up. He just kept showing up, and that mattered to you more than anything else. 

One late afternoon, while Stella was upstairs pretending her stuffed animals were fighter pilots and you were finishing up dinner prep, you caught yourself smiling at your phone, rereading a text Maverick had sent. It was a dumb dad joke — something about jets being “plane-fully misunderstood” — but it had you laughing anyway. 

That was when Beau walked in, setting his bag down by the door and loosening his collar as he stepped into the kitchen. 

“You’re smiling at your phone. Should I be jealous?” He teased, coming over to kiss your cheek. 

You rolled your eyes, leaning into him with a quiet hum. “Not unless you’ve suddenly taken up aviation-themed comedy.” 

He chuckled. “Hard pass.” 

You stirred the pot on the stove a few times before glancing over at him sorting through the mail. “Hey… can I ask you something?” 

Beau leaned against the counter, arms folded, giving you his full attention. “Always.” 

You hesitated, chewing your lip. “Do you think I should invite him over? For dinner. He can officially meet Stella.” 

He didn’t answer right away. His expression was unreadable for a second — guarded, maybe — but not closed off. You knew he was protective, especially when it came to you and your daughter. But he’d also seen the change in you lately. The weight that had started to lift, piece by piece. 

“He’s been trying,” you added, quietly. “He hasn’t missed a day in weeks. He doesn’t push, doesn’t guilt me. He just… shows up. And he listens. Like really listens.” 

Beau was quiet for a beat longer, then stepped closer, reaching out to rest a hand on your back. 

“I’ve seen it,” he said. “And if you feel like this is the right next step… then I trust you.” 

You looked up at him, touched by the easy certainty of his voice. “Are you sure?” 

Beau nodded. “You’ve always known what Stella needs. And if you think she’s ready — and you’re ready — I’ll support you.” 

Your chest warmed, the mix of gratitude and nerves and something hopeful all tangled together. You leaned into his touch, closing your eyes for a moment before whispering, “Okay. I think I’m gonna do it.” 

“You want us to tell her together?” He asked gently. 

You smiled, already picturing the wide-eyed look Stella would give you. “No. I think I should do it one-on-one.” 

Beau nodded again, pressing a kiss to your temple before stepping away. “Well… sounds like we’ve got a dinner guest to prepare for.” 

And just like that, it became real. Another step forward. One you never imagined taking — but now, it felt like maybe it was time. 

Later that evening, after dinner and a very animated retelling of The Three Little Pigs (performed by Stella using sock puppets and questionable accents), you tucked her into bed and lingered for a while, sitting beside her while she arranged her stuffed animals just so. 

“Mama?” She asked suddenly, curling into her side and peeking up at you with those big, curious eyes.

“Yeah, babe?”

She blinked. “Can we go see the jets again soon? I liked when we watched Daddy’s friends fly.” 

Your heart swelled at the memory — her wide eyes tracking the planes, her little hand clinging to yours as she watched them dance across the sky. She’d been so focused, so awed. You wondered if maybe some of that spark came from a part of her that hadn’t met Maverick yet. A part of her that might understand him in a way that you never fully did. 

You tucked a strand of hair behind her ear. “I think we can make that happen.” 

She nodded, satisfied, already drifting. You waited until her breathing evened out, then pressed a soft kiss to her forehead and stood up. 

Once you were back downstairs, Beau was waiting for you in the kitchen, nursing a glass of whiskey and leaning against the counter. He gave you a questioning look. 

“She asked about the jets,” you said, arms folded across your chest. “She always does when she’s trying to figure something out.” 

Beau smiled faintly. “She’s got a radar for change. Just like her mom.” 

You rolled your eyes playfully, then sat down at the table, already reaching for your phone. “I’m gonna text him.” 

Beau nodded once, steady as always. “Go for it.” 

You paused a just a second — long enough to take one more breath — then typed out the message. 

Hi. I was wondering if you’d want to come over for dinner this weekend. Stella doesn’t know you yet, but… I’d like her to. Let me know what works for you. 

You stared at it for a second longer than necessary, then hit send. 

No fireworks. No dramatic music. Just a quiet message sent across years of distance, carried by something fragile and newly formed: trust. 

Beau reached across the table and took your hand without saying a word. He didn’t have to. The look in his eyes said everything. 

You were doing this. You were building something new. And you had made enough room for Maverick in the world you’d built after he left. 

Your phone buzzed. 

I’d love that. Thank you. Just tell me when to show up — and what not to screw up. 

You laughed quietly under your breath. Then looked up at Beau, your fingers still curled around his. 

“Saturday?” You asked. 

He nodded once. “Saturday.” 

And just like that, you were one step closer to reintroducing the past to the future. 

Saturday came with warm light streaming through the kitchen windows and the scent of rosemary chicken roasting in the oven. The house was in that rare sweet spot between tidy and lived-in — Stella’s crayons stacked (but not perfectly) on the coffee table, the peach cobbler cooling next to a bottle of wine you weren’t drinking, and soft music playing low in the background. 

You dressed comfortably for the occasion: a pinstriped matching set, wide-legged and loose enough to breathe, layered over a white tank that hugged your bump just enough. It was the kind of outfit that made you feel like yourself again — despite feeling a little like a planet most days.

Stella was busy hopping around in the outfit she had picked out herself — a red, ruffled dress and silver cowgirl boots — occasionally pausing to run and peek out the front window like a tiny surveillance officer. 

“When is the special guy coming?” She asked for the third time. 

“Soon, kid,” you said, smoothing down her wild hair with a palm swipe. “Just a few more minutes.” 

At exactly 5:58 p.m., the doorbell rang. 

Stella gasped like Santa Claus was at the door and bolted for the front of the house. “I’ll get it!” 

You caught up just in time to see her throw the door open. 

On your porch stood Maverick, in his signature white t-shirt and jeans under his patched, brown bomber jacket, holding a bouquet of white tulips and a small box that you could already tell was a toy. He smiled, warm but careful. 

“Hi,” he said, eyes flicking from you to Stella. 

Stella tilted her head and scrunched her nose. “Are you a friend of Daddy’s or Mama’s?” 

You laughed, stepping in beside her. “This is Maverick,” you told her gently. “He’s my friend.” 

“I like your flowers.” 

“They’re for your mom.” He handed them to you with a smile, then held the little box out to her. “This is for you. It’s a jet — like the ones I used to fly.” 

Her eyes lit up. “This is so cool! Does this one fly?” 

“Only if you can imagine hard enough.” 

“Daddy says that too,” she replied, already running off with it toward the living room. “I’m gonna fly it through the couch mountain!” 

Dinner went surprisingly smoothly. Maverick was gracious and warm, answering Stella’s endless questions with a patience that surprised even you. 

It wasn’t until midway through dessert, as she nibbled the sugary topping of her slice of cobbler, that she squinted up at you. 

“Mama?” 

You paused mid-bite. “Yeah, babe?” 

She pointed her fork at Maverick. “How did he become your friend?” 

You glanced at Beau, who had his hand resting slightly on your knee beneath the table. He gave you the smallest nod. 

You looked at Stella, choosing your words carefully. “He’s my father.” 

Her eyebrows raised, clearly impressed. “Woah. Like, your real one?” 

“Yep,” you said with a soft smile. 

“Huh,” she said, then looked back at her dessert. “Cool.” 

And that was it. 

As the evening wound down, the last bits of cobbler disappeared from plates, and Stella had begun to yawn between sentences — though she valiantly tried to pretend she wasn’t tired. You exchanged a knowing glance with Beau, and he leaned in to kiss your temple before holding out a hand toward her. 

“Alright, kid. Bedtime.” 

“Nooo,” she groaned dramatically. “I’m still awake in my bones!” 

“You can be awake in your bones upstairs. Say goodnight to everyone,” he said with a grin, scooping her up. She didn’t resist much, curling an arm around his neck as she waved lazily at you from his hold.

“Night, Mama. Night, baby sister,” she added, leaning down so she could press a hand to your stomach. Then she turned toward Maverick, standing up from the table, his jacket folded over his arm, ready to say goodbye. 

“Night, Grandpa Mav,” she said casually, like she had said it a million times before. 

Your heart paused. Beau’s steps faltered only for a second, and Maverick blinked — startled in a way he didn’t even try to hide. He didn’t say anything. Just looked at her with something caught between wonder and disbelief, like he wasn’t sure he’d heard her right. 

But Stella had already buried her face into Beau’s shoulder, half-asleep now, and utterly unaware that she’d just cracked something wide open. 

Maverick’s eyes met yours, glossy with a sheen of emotion he quickly blinked away. He cleared his throat and smiled, small and shaken. “She’s… something else.” 

“She is,” you said, your voice low, steady. “She’s got a lot of heart.” 

He nodded, quiet for a moment. “Yeah,” he said. “I can see that.” 

You walked him to the door as Beau took Stella up to her room. Neither of you said much. But as he stepped out into the warm night air, he looked back at you, hand resting on the doorframe. 

“Thanks for tonight,” he said. “Really.” 

You smiled softly. “One step at a time, remember?” 

He nodded. “One step at a time.” 

And then he was gone, disappearing into the dark with the faint sound of the ocean breeze behind him, and something new beginning to take root in the stillness he left behind. 

[suspiciouslackofclowns]

Steve is normally pretty good at bouncing back from things. Minor inconveniences and catastrophic disasters alike, and then some.

Today is the fourth day in a row that Billy has come home to find him tucked into bed before five o’clock has even come to pass, when the sun is still a while off from setting and the crickets have yet to chirp.

It’s safe to say that whatever he’s hit must be sticky, because the bounce back isn’t coming anytime soon either.

Billy goes about his routine as usual. Unlaces and kicks his boots off by the door, empties his pockets on the entryway table, and makes for the bedroom.

The first tell-tale sign that something’s wrong is the darkness in the kitchen — nothing heating on the stove or in the oven, no spices lingering in the air or onion skins piled on the counter. Steve will open the windows and busy his hands washing vegetables in the sink, listening to the sounds of the neighborhood as he pours through one of several cookbooks, trying to make something new and interesting.

It’s part of his evening routine. Helps him decompress, in a way, because he can focus on the words on the page and using his hands without having to talk or listen to anything but the calm sounds around him.

Then once Billy gets home, he blabs on and on about whatever comes to mind, and Billy listens as he eats whatever’s been made.

It makes for a good night when Steve cooks.

When he hasn’t, like tonight, a significant ripple disrupts Billy’s routine. Only he couldn’t give two shits about the food being ready when he gets home.

He gently knocks on the doorframe before he pushes the door open, letting a rectangle of light spill into the room. A sliver of it touches the bed, enough to highlight a partial figure under the covers, and Billy’s brows crease together as he slowly approaches.

“Hey, Stevie,” he coos. Sits on the edge of the bed and reaches a hand out to feel over the blanket, palm resting against Steve’s bicep. “Long day again?”

“Mm,” Steve hums.

He doesn’t move. Doesn’t beg for a kiss like he usually does, and Billy frowns.

“You okay?”

“Mm.”

“Did I do something? Feel like I haven’t seen you all week…”

For a few beats, Steve just lays there. Then, he sighs.

“No.”

“Then what’s wrong? I’m walkin’ on eggshells here because I’ve felt like you’re pissed at me.”

“Didn’t ask you to,” Steve grumbles.

Billy furrows his brows.

“Well, shit, Harrington, I’m glad we cleared that up. Next time I feel like caring about my boyfriend, I’ll just go fuck myself instead.”

He stands up and steps toward the door, stopping before he’s crossed the threshold. Behind him, he hears a sniffle, and sighs as he rubs a hand over his face. Turns back around and makes his way to the bed again.

“‘Kay, I didn’t mean that, I’m sorry,” he says. Sits back down and fiddles with his ring on his middle finger. “I’m worried about you, baby, but I can’t help if you don’t talk to me.”

It’s quiet between them for a moment. Steve sniffles again, and there’s movement under the covers — presumably him lifting his hand to smudge the tears away from his eyes.

Billy scoots closer and sets his hand on Steve’s arm again for reassurance, rubbing softly up and down.

“I’m just— I feel useless, I guess. I don’t know,” Steve says.

His voice is low and raw. Vulnerable. Billy wonders if he’d been crying before he came home.

“Feel useless how?”

“I don’t… I don’t have anything. I’m nothing.” Steve lets out a shaky sigh and curls closer to himself. Billy’s expression drops. “I’m not smart enough to go to school and make a future for us, and, like, I know working minimum wage isn’t bad, but I want to… I want to have more for us than this, y’know? I’m a failure at everything I fucking try, and I’m scared this is it.”

The brunet chokes out a hushed sob. Turns his head to bury his face in the pillow to muffle the sounds of his strangled breaths.

Billy leans over his partner in a half-hug, laying his head on his shoulder and pressing him down into the mattress. It has Steve taking a somewhat slower, somewhat calmer breath. The first of more to come.

“How long have you been feeling like this?”

Steve swallows thickly, and his throat clicks.

“A while,” he manages. “I try not to think about it.”

“Sweetheart, not thinking about it isn’t gonna help you. Trust me, been there.”

Below him, Steve huffs.

For the first time in a while, Billy’s mind wanders to places he thought were forgotten. Closes his eyes and nuzzles his cheek against Steve’s shoulder as he rubs over his back.

“Y’know, I never told you this before, but I used to think I was unlovable. Wasn’t anyone’s first choice for my whole life ‘til I met you,” he murmurs. Steve’s breathing slows, and Billy spreads a little smile. “If you don’t have anything, Steve, you have me. I’d choose you and our shitty apartment over some sugar daddy with money and a mansion any day of the week.”

Steve sniffles.

“Yeah?” he rasps.

“Mhmm, and you’re not a failure, and you aren’t stupid. Just ‘cause you have hobbies that you don’t make money off of doesn’t mean you aren’t talented either — your customer service skills are honestly scary and I think I’d gain five hundred pounds if you got any better at cooking.”

Billy cracks a grin when Steve snorts. Turns his face downward and kisses his shoulder.

“Five hundred pounds, huh?”

The blond quirks a playful brow.

“How many servings do you have to make when you cook for us, Bambi?”

“I dunno, like, four?”

“And how much do we usually have leftover?”

There’s a short pause, and then Steve chuckles.

“None.”

“Uh-huh, exactly.” Billy props himself up on his hands and gently pushes Steve’s shoulder until he rolls onto his back. “You’re smart, you’re passionate, you’re somebody, okay? If anyone ever tells you otherwise, I’ll buy a gun.”

Steve laughs, and Billy leans down to kiss just below his jaw.

“You’re a dork.”

“No, I just love you.”

Arms slide out from beneath the covers and drape around Billy’s neck, guiding him closer.

“I love you too.”

Steve tilts up into a kiss when Billy lifts his head. The blond hums against him, chewing his lip when they part.

“Wanna come heat something up and cuddle on the couch?”

Steve shrugs, his eyes lingering on Billy’s lips in the short distance.

“How about we order out and take a shower? You smell like motor oil.”

“You like it when I smell like motor oil.”

Fingers card into Billy’s hair, and he exhales a small sigh when they tug lightly.

“I like scrubbing it off of you even more, though,” Steve lilts.

Billy snickers and brushes their lips together again, melting down into his partner like sugar in a sun-warmed glass of tea. When they part, he lingers close, mere millimeters away from sharing another kiss.

“Lead the way, pretty boy.”

[harpersdragons]

Sometimes You Gotta Burn the Bridges to Rebuild It, Chapter 6

Archive of Our Own Link

As the weeks turn into months, his life gets easier. He settles into a new routine, including going out as Nightwing and checking on Tim. He’s never been more exhausted, but he’s never felt more free. He makes time to catch up with his friends again. He reintegrates with the Titans, though he has to be careful what missions he goes on because it can’t interfere with his jobs too much. He’s called out a lot, he has to watch that more carefully. Having a dog keeps him from being too lonely, though it definitely required a change in his routine. He has to be more careful with his shifts, making sure he can get home and take Haley out and exercise her before he goes to his lesson. For some she accompanies him and stays in the office, the kids love her.

Despite it all, he misses Bruce.

He hasn’t had any contact with the man since that day after his gymnastics lesson.

He misses their movie nights, Bruce’s quiet but steady presence. And damn, he misses the manor and all the comforts that came with it.

The days pass slowly, Spring to Summer, Summer to the beginning of Fall, and it sneaks up on him that he hasn’t talked to Bruce or Alfred in months.

Batman has been ever present on patrols, but Dick does his best to avoid him. He’s surprised Bruce hasn’t cornered him on some rooftop and interrogated the ‘new’ vigilante in his city.

Unless, of course, he knows it’s Dick, which is also highly possible. Even then, he doesn’t know why Bruce hasn’t come to yell at him for being ‘reckless’.

It’s an amazing feeling to be swinging from the rooftops again. He has to be extra careful to not get too injured, but it’s not like he wants to get shot.

Surprisingly, it’s not Bruce who approaches him first.

It’s Clark.

Superman touches down softly behind him, scuffing his foot to announce his presence—a habit he picked up from Bruce. It’s usually futile, if you know what you're listening for you can hear the fluttering of his cape, and the light landing he makes.

“Did Batman send you?” Dick asks before Clark can get a word out.

“No. He actually forbade any of us from looking into Nightwing. We wanted to, since you randomly popped up with the Titans.”

”Then why are you here?” Dick doesn't bother to turn around, continuing to stare at the city in front of him.

”Will you look at me, kid?” Clark steps closer.

Dick sighs as he turns, finally meeting Clark’s eyes. It’s been a while since he saw the man, even before he was kicked out. “You didn’t answer my question.”

“I’m worried about you. Batman has been throwing himself into his work more and more, we haven’t heard from you, you disappeared from the Titan’s only to pop up again under a new mantle.”

“I’m fine. Your duties are fulfilled, go report back to Batman if you must.” Dick turns again, readying his grapple.

“Wait, please.” Clark didn’t grab his arm or anything to physically stop Dick from leaving, but something in the pleading tone of voice barred him from leaping off the roof. “Can we go somewhere and talk, please? I haven’t seen you in a while, I think we should catch up.”

Dick sighs, “I have a patrol to finish. We can meet after that.”

Clark beams, “Sounds good!”

“Stay out of my way.” With that, Dick flips off the roof, waiting until the last possible minute to fire his grapple.

Bruce always hated when he did that. Technically, you’re supposed to fire first, make sure it’s secured tightly, and then jump.

But where’s the fun in that?

Dick lives for the moment of free fall, where your stomach flips and the adrenaline hits him just right, the wind rushing through his hair as he flips through the air.

The line tugs his shoulder when he hits the bottom of his swing, beginning the upswing towards the next target. He retracts the grapple as he hits the peak of his swing. He flips again, relishing in the suspension of the moment, a split second as close to zero gravity as he can get.

He lets out an excited laugh as he hits the peak of the next swing, continuing the pattern as he patrols the city.

Here, far away from the exhaustion and the pressure of his civilian life, away from the weight of Bruce’s judgement, away from the imposing shadow of The Batman, here he feels free.

When he crawls in his window after patrol, it’s with a weight lifted off his shoulders, the kind of bone deep satisfaction he only feels after a good patrol.

Not much actually happened, so nothing could go wrong. He was just out there, trusting only himself to get through the night, to protect his section of the city—even if it’s only his by virtue of living near it and avoiding Batman—it’s exhilarating. Even if the weight comes crashing down on his shoulders in the morning. Or even before that, when Clark shows up for their ‘talk’. He pets Haley when she wanders over to him—still sleepy, since she’d been sleeping when he crawled through the window.

He stretches his arms above his head after he changes out of the suit. His shoulders will be stiff in the morning, his body still adjusting to the strain it goes through every night now.

It makes his demonstrations at work a little more difficult, but for the most part he’s still teaching the little kids, and they rarely get into things like the pommel horse or the rings, both of which put a lot of strain on his shoulders and upper arms.

Clark shows up not long after Dick has started making herbal tea. Dick leans against his counter as he watches Clark take in the sparse furnishings of his apartment. The man freezes when he takes in Haley at Dick’s feet.

“What is that?”

Dick raises his eyebrow as he responds. “She’s a dog, Clark. I know you’re an alien, but you’ve been on Earth long enough to have seen one.”

“That’s not what I meant, and you know it.” Clark rolls his eyes. “Since when do you have a dog?”

“Found in her a dumpster a few months ago,” well, behind a dumpster but that’s beside the point. “And her name is Haley.”

“Ok.” Clark seems to take that in stride, to his credit. “Are you…comfortable here?” He eyes the bed and couch, the space absent of any other furniture.

“I’m fine, Clark. I don’t need much to live. I may have spent nine years living in the manor, but I spent just as much time traveling from place to place in a small trailer.”

“You know Bruce would—”

“Bruce may as well have kicked me out. His guardianship ended when I turned 18. I wasn’t meant to ever be anything more than his ward. I don’t need, or want, his help.”

“You still have a trust fund, you can use it, live a little more comfortably.”

“What part of ‘I don’t want his help’ means I want to use the trust fund he set up? That just gives him something else to have over me.” Dick scowls, passing a mug to Clark and collapsing on his couch.

“You have always been his son, Dickie.”

“Don’t—”

“Let me speak.” Clark’s voice is hard, despite the soft expression on his face. “You can convince yourself you’re better off without him all you want, but don’t fool yourself into believing he doesn’t love you. You’re his son, Dick. You have been from the moment he brought you home. He may have never officially adopted you, and I can’t speak about his reasons for that, but he loves you. No matter what happened between you two, he loves you.”

“He sure as hell wasn’t acting like my father when he told me I could go to college or get out of his house.” Dick mutters, staring into his mug instead of looking at Clark.

Clark sighs heavily, “You know his relationship with communication is difficult, I’m sure he didn’t actually mean that.”

“So, what, That makes it ok?” Dick snaps his head up, “‘He didn’t mean it’ so I’m supposed to just excuse it? I have to be the one to go crawling back to him, to forgive him time and time again? What about when I’ve had enough? I don’t want to be Bruce’s verbal punching bag. I don’t want to fight every time I see him. If he’s not willing to put in the work to change, to recognize that what he says matters, then I want nothing to do with him.”

“Sometimes, we put up with family even when they say or do things that hurt us, or that we don’t approve of, simply because they are family. Bruce and Alfred are your only—”

“Do not tell me who is and isn’t family to me. And you don’t get to excuse actions simply because you allow people to walk all over you if they’re your family. I refuse to allow myself to be continuously hurt because he has a problem with me being independent and no longer under his control.”

“Maybe you should look at how your actions hurt him, or look at this situation from his perspective.”

“Maybe you should stop speaking on Bruce’s behalf. And while you’re at it, stop fucking assuming I’m the only one at fault. Maybe I didn’t handle things in the best way. Maybe I escalated the situation, but don’t assume he’s blameless.”

“I’m not! I’m not blind to Bruce’s faults. I’m only saying you shouldn’t abandon him just because he hurt your feelings.”

“Hurt my feelings?” Dick cuts himself off with a bitter laugh. “He took away my family’s colors. My nickname. As if he had the right to do that. He tried to force me down a path I didn’t want. He was either lecturing me, or he couldn’t even look at me. So maybe I retaliated, I yelled at him, I stormed off, whatever. I may have gotten reckless on patrol. None of that gives him a right to kick me out, offer me an ultimatum, or take away my parents legacy.” Dick drains the last of his tea. “Now I have work in the morning, and I’d like to get at least some sleep,” It’s already nearing four in the morning. “Please leave.”

Alfred would be appalled at the lack of manners he’s displaying, but he can’t bring himself to care right now. He turns around, putting his back to Clark as the man sets his mug down in the sink and makes his way to the door. Dick doesn’t have a separate bedroom, so he can’t go shut himself away until Clark leaves his apartment, so it turns out to just be him standing with his back to the man like a fucking toddler.

He thought talking to Clark would be good. He grew up with the man, he thinks of him as an honorary uncle. He didn’t expect the conversation to go like that. He didn’t expect him to blindly be on Bruce’s side, but maybe he should have.

He lays in bed for a long while, eventually falling into a restless doze.

The next day is his one day off from the diner, and he has a morning gymnastics lesson.

When it’s over, Tim comes home with him.

“You have enough food at home, Timmy?” Dick interrupts the kid’s rant about Lithium mining and its effects on the environment—where he learned this, Dick doesn’t know, but he’s cute as hell when he rants like this.

Tim rolls his eyes and nods, then returns to his rant.

Dick grabs his hand when they cross the street, guiding Tim back to his apartment.

When they get inside, Tim drops his bag near the couch and drops to the floor to greet Haley, while Dick heads to the kitchen to start lunch.

“I still don’t have a TV, obviously, but I have my laptop if you want to play games or watch something.”

“Ok!”

Dick smiles at Tim’s happy tone. “You can grab it, it should be in my bag by the bed. Is your homework done?” He’s not facing Tim, too busy pulling ingredients from the fridge, but the silence is telling. He turns around, and holds back a sigh when he sees Tim.

The kid is holding the laptop, his shoulder’s hunched and face turned towards the ground.

“When’s it due, kiddo?” Dick approaches him carefully, taking a seat on the mattress.

“Not until Monday.”

That tracks, it’s Friday after all.

“Alright, how about this. You work on your homework for a little bit, while I get lunch ready, and then after that we can do something else. Do you have it with you?”

Tim nods but hunches over even more, if possible. “I didn’t want to waste our time together, though.”

“It’s not a waste, bud. I’m happy just spending time together, no matter what we do.” Dick holds his arm up, offering a hug. Tim ducks into his arms quickly and drops the laptop on the bed before wrapping his arms around Dick. “Look, you’re staying here for most of the weekend, so we’ve got time. Your homework needs to get done though. You can work on it a little bit at a time, or you can knock it out all at once. It’s up to you.”

He can feel Tim nod against his chest, and Dick rubs his back until the kid pulls away.

“Alright, go get your work done. I’ll put some music on and get lunch going. If you need help, don’t hesitate to ask.”

Tim is wickedly smart, but Dick can’t help but offer. No matter how smart the kid is, Dick doesn’t want him thinking he has to solve every problem himself. He’s trying his best to break that habit. Sometimes all you need is a little support, or even just someone to talk through the problem with and you end up solving the problem yourself.

Lunch doesn’t take long, Dick just put a simple pasta together—Barbara’s lessons are really helping. He takes Tim a bowl and drops onto the floor next to him, since it’s apparently better for homework than the couch. Dick’s not one to judge, he’s sat in weirder places (A certain chandelier comes to mind).

Plus Dick doesn’t have a table.

Dick sets Tim’s bowl next to him and taps his shoulder. “Eat, kiddo.”

“In a second, I just need to finish this.”

“Finish whatever problem you’re working on, then take a break and eat.”

“I’m busy.”

“Not optional, kid.”

Tim huffs, but stops working not long later and picks up the bowl.

The rest of the night passes peacefully, and soon Dick is leaving Tim behind so he can go patrol. He doesn’t like doing it, the kid has been left enough in his life, but he doesn’t have much of a choice.

Ok, he does, he could just not patrol, but he doesn’t like missing patrols. Not now that he’s finally back out on the streets.

He puts Tim to bed (he’s not fooling himself, Tim definitely isn’t sleeping, but as long as he doesn’t leave the apartment, he’s fine) and crawls out his window.

Patrol is significantly busier tonight, though it’s a lot of petty crime rather than big cases.

Eventually, though, he gets a break.

He drops onto a roof and leans against a gargoyle.

The back of his neck is tingling, as if someone’s watching him. He has a feeling about who it is when he hears a small squeak and a lot of rustling, as if someone is scrambling to leave. Dick sighs as he turns around.

“No use hiding, kid. I know you’re there.”

There’s silence, and then more shuffling and Tim comes into view.

“You’re supposed to be in bed.” Dick glares down at the kid.

“I just wanted to get pictures! I don’t have enough since you stopped going out as Robin.” Tim pouts up at him.

Dick sighs and crouches down. “I can’t do my job out here if I’m worried about you. That’s why you’re supposed to stay home.”

“But—”

“No. I’m taking you home, and you’re going to stay there this time.” Dick doesn’t wait for a response, he scoops Tim into his arms, warns him to hold on tight, and starts grappling back to his apartment.

When he gets back, he sets Tim on the ground and glares down at him. He resists the urge to rest his hands on his hips—no matter how much he wants to—he doesn’t want to make Tim feel like he’s being lectured.

“That was incredibly dangerous, Tim. Do you even understand the gravity of what you’re doing?”

“I know it’s dangerous! I’m good at staying hidden, I’ve only ever fallen twice, and I’ve never been caught.”

“Until today. What if it wasn’t me that caught you? What if it was any number of Gotham criminals? What if you couldn’t get away?”

“That’s never happened before!” Tim stomps his foot on the ground indignantly. Honestly, if Dick wasn’t so angry (worried), it would have been adorable.

“That doesn’t mean it won’t, Tim!” Dick has to force himself to keep his voice level. He will not yell at Tim. “You can never guarantee your safety. Just because it hasn’t happened, doesn’t mean it can’t.” He softens his voice and crouches down to Tim’s level.

“I just want to be able to see you in action! I haven't been able to get good pictures recently.” Tim lowers his gaze to the ground.

“Bud,” Dick sighs, “I can’t do my job out there effectively if I’m too busy worried about where you are. I need to be able to trust that you are where you’re supposed to be.”

Tim sniffs slightly, “Well how am I supposed to get my pictures if I have to stay in the apartment?”

“You’ll just have to find something new to photograph, or we can set up situations that are controlled, and stage pictures of me flipping around rooftops or something. But I can’t have you in danger.”

“No one’s ever cared before.”

“Well I do. I am here, Tim. I’m not your parents. I want to know what’s going on in your life, I want to be present, and I need you safe. Do you understand?”

“What if you train me to protect myself?”

Dick takes a moment to think about the question. He’s not necessarily opposed to the idea, self defense is a good skill for anyone to have, but he doesn’t want Tim to have the same life Dick leads. He loves what he does, but that doesn’t mean he wants other kids to follow his path.

“I’m not opposed,” Dick takes a deep breath in. “However, there needs to be an understanding. I don’t want you on the streets as a vigilante until you’re at least sixteen. Preferably it would be never, because ideally it wouldn’t be necessary, but I doubt that’s realistic. So if that happens, you will need to promise me that you won’t try to convince me to take you out on the streets.”

Tim nods, a glimmer of hope in his eye. “Ok. I agree.” His voice has an odd watery tone, and sounds suspiciously shaky, but Dick doesn't call him on it.

“Ok, thank you. I need to head back out and finish patrol. Do you want a hug before I go?” The kid is touch starved, Dick’s been trying to hug him as much as possible, but after going so long without physical affection, it tends to make him uncomfortable and touch avoidant.

However, Tim nods again and collides with Dick a second later.

Dick is smiling as he heads back out. He ends up heading back to the same roof he found Tim on, and he perches on the edge next to the gargoyle. After the busy start to patrol, he figured it would be similar for the last half. Technically, he’s already finished running his patrol route for the night, but he doesn’t feel comfortable heading in yet. It’s still too early.

So, he observes the city.

Eventually though, the peace has to come to an end.

Because, apparently, the universe hates him.

The nearly imperceptible fluttering of a cape.

Again.

This time it’s different though.

The distinct fluttering is accompanied by the sound of a grapple retracting, and a nearly silent thump of boots hitting the roof.

Bruce

Dick glares resolutely out at the city and refuses to turn around. He can feel Bruce’s heavy gaze on his back, waiting to be acknowledged.

Bruce doesn’t wait that long.

“You know, when I fired you, that was meant to be permanent, Robin.”

White hot anger lashes through him.

He jumps up and spins around, stalking closer to Bruce. “I am not Robin. You made that abundantly clear. You don’t get to come over here and control me again. I’m making my own name for myself, without you.”

It’s not the same as the speech he’s rehearsed in his head, but it’s pretty damn close.

“I want you safe!”

Nope, he’s ignoring how similar that is to the talk he just gave Tim.

“You don’t get to decide for me!” Dick draws up to his full height. He’s shorter than Bruce, especially when the man is in the batsuit (he definitely has lifts in the suit, but he won’t admit it), but he refuses to cower. “You made me Robin. I’ve only become what you made me.”

“No, Robin—

“My name is Nightwing” Dick interrupts.

Bruce keeps talking, completely ignoring Dick. “You didn’t ‘become what I made you’. I trained you to be better than this.” Bruce glares at him. “I trained you to be smarter. Always have backup. Only take reasonable risks. I mean, what is your suit even protecting?”

So what if he took some liberties with the design choices on his suit.

…and the choice to not zip it up all the way, leaving half his chest unprotected.

The high collar is dramatic

“What’s wrong with my suit?” Dick asks indignantly.

“Do I really need to point that out?”

“You have no right to come over here and tell me how to live my life.”

“You’re being reckless! You don’t have a support system. You wouldn’t do acrobatics without a safety net—”

“I think you’re forgetting that that is exactly what we did. That was the allure of our show. Well, aside from me being the ‘child prodigy’. The danger of doing what we did, the suspense, that’s what drew people in.”

Bruce’s voice is cold when he responds again, his face hard. “And look how that turned out.”

Dick’s face shutters, mentally slamming down every wall he has to keep the hurt from showing on his face.

He didn’t think Bruce would stoop so low.

He’s spinning on his heels, and readying his grapple to fire, when Bruce jumps forward and grabs a hold of his arm.

“Wait, I’m sorry. That came out wrong.”

It ‘came out wrong’. But that’s not the same as not meaning it.

“I don’t care,” He fights to keep the waver out of his voice. “let go of me, Batman.” The grip on his arm loosens, and he tugs his arm free, jumping off the roof.

Tim is, thankfully, asleep when Dick gets back.

At least he won’t see the tears streaming silently down Dick’s face when he takes his mask off.

He moves blindly through the motions of taking his gear off, trying to stay as quiet as possible so he doesn't wake Tim up.

He didn't sleep much that night.

He forces himself to stay upbeat through the rest of his weekend with Tim, and puts more effort in than usual to avoid Batman on patrol.

As soon as the weekend is over though, Dick returns Tim to his house—no matter how much he hates sending him back to that mausoleum.

Once Tim is safely home, and Dick has returned to his apartment, he allows the emotions from his “conversation” with Batman (not Bruce, he can’t let himself believe that was Bruce speaking) to overwhelm him.

“He’s just—” Dick cuts himself off and blows out a hard breath. “He’s insufferable, Wally!” Dick had called to rant to his friend on his way home from work on Monday. “He thinks he knows everything and refuses to accept anyone else’s input! And he has to control everything! Why can’t he just accept that I’m an adult and leave me the fuck alone!”

Wally hums. “Do you actually want him to leave you alone?”

Dick sputters, nearly interrupting.

“I’m not done, Rob. Do you want him to leave you alone, or do you miss the version of him that could hang out with you and not get into a fight?”

“Obviously the second one—” Dick cut off as a pipe shoves hard into the small of his back (and yes, he knows it’s a pipe and not a gun. He’s not an idiot).

“Hand over your money.” A voice comes from behind him, clearly a young kid trying to deepen his voice to sound more intimidating.

“Rob, you alright?” Wally asks at the same time.

“Wally, I’m gonna have to call you back.” Dick hangs up the phone, despite Wally’s protests. He raises his hands slowly in a gesture of surrender. “Kid, how about we make a deal?”

“Who ya callin’ kid?”

…is he joking? He forgot to even deepen his voice that time.

“You. And I know you don’t have a gun, because that’s clearly just a pipe you have jammed into my back, so how about you take a step back, and I turn around, and we work out a deal?”

The kid does pull the pipe back, and when Dick turns around he’s holding it over his head, ready to strike.

Dick lowers his own hands, but keeps them in sight and open palms facing the kid.

“I can still beat you over the head with this pipe, and I ain’t afraid to do it.”

“I believe you. But I don’t think that’ll be necessary. What’s your name, kid?”

“What’s it to ya?”

“Curiosity, mainly. You don’t have to tell me your real name, but I’d like to be able to call you something other than ‘kid’.” He hopes he can help this kid. His sweatshirt is dirty and wrinkled, his hair greasy, jeans torn, he’s clearly living on the streets. His face is gaunt too, so he clearly isn’t getting enough to eat.

The kid eyes him suspiciously, but cautiously lowers the pipe. “Jay. M’name’s Jay.”

“Ok, Jay, why don’t we grab lunch?”

[sociopathicartist]

hiii!! i really love and appreciate your work! i was wondering if you could do more more (classic) sans x reader (romantic) headcanons? whenever you get the chance of course! thank you :)

hi! thanks for requesting, i had fun writing these:3

Classic!Sans x Reader romantic headcanons.

I’m pretty sure I’ve talked about how physically affectionate he’d be, but It’s something I think is great to talk about with Sans.

After a bad day, no matter the reason, the first thing he wants to do is just be wrapped up in your arms.

The touch- your touch- is a big comfort and like of his, so if you don’t live together yet and he’s had a bad day at work or he’s just dealing with life, poof! He’s there in your house. There’s not even time to react before he’s practically buried himself in your embrace, nuzzling his face into your neck and wrapping his arms snugly around your figure to bask in the fact that he just has you. That everything is okay now. It’s so difficult for him sometimes to grasp the idea that you’re not going anywhere, and you won't leave him despite anything, even if it’s something that neither of you has control over. He’s been told by people to enjoy your little honeymoon phase while it lasts, that one day he’ll take it all for granted and you’ll both be sick of each other, but after a bad day where he can just cling onto you and take in your scent, your looks, your voice, the feeling of your fingers running along his skull and spine, he doesn’t see how he’ll ever get used to it. Sometimes he’ll sit there for hours just wrapped in your arms without saying anything until he’s finally ready to talk about his bad day, and other times he’ll just end up passing out and waking up 8 hours later confused about when he even fell asleep.

-

Since monsters don’t get sick until they are dying, you can imagine the fear whenever he sees you sick for the first time.

The concept of germs and infections is interesting to Sans. It’s so crazy to him how one little germ can just tear up a whole human immune system. Monsters don’t have this problem unless they’re dying, so hearing about other people getting sick was always so interesting for him to learn more about. Their symptoms, how it affects them, and how quickly they can recover.

Then he came home one day and saw you sick in bed, curled up under the plush covers feeling weak and tired.

He had no interest in germs and infections after that.

His obvious and immediate focus would be on you, rushing over to the bed and carefully pulling the covers back from over your head, and brushing some hair out of your face to see you.

‘baby, are you okay?’

‘you didn’t tell me you were sick. i would have come over sooner.’

‘i told you to take my jacket when we went out last night. are you sick from being cold outside?’

Even though he took care in raising Papyrus and has had experience in most caretaking situations, he had never dealt with a sick person before, he hadn’t even been to a monster funeral and seen them sick on their deathbed. Toriel had mentioned Frisk getting sick recently, right? What did she do?

So, his next focus will be on making you soup- or getting it from the store or his brother if his own attempts fail. (he hasn’t cooked in a while, give him a break). God forbid your throat start hurting too. He’s making sure you have enough blankets, a warm rag on your forehead, and despite being a bit worried you’ll throw up on him if he gets too cozy, he’s more than happy to give you small kisses and cuddles until you’re asleep or feeling better.

-

He talks about you to everyone.

It gets a bit nagging to hear after a while, especially for his coworkers who hear about you all the time.

‘oh my god, look at what y/n just sent me.’

‘check out this photo i took while we were out yesterday. aren’t they so pretty?’

‘that’s y/n’s favorite too.’

Everyone is aware both of you are together, there’s no avoiding the topic. How could he not talk about you to everyone? You’re so cool, amazing, and kind, there’s no reason he shouldn’t talk about you. A lot of people who you aren’t even aware exist know all about you. Sometimes whenever he takes you out to Grillbys or whenever you pop in to surprise him at his work with a homemade lunch, you can hear the snickers from his coworkers or friends whenever they realize who you are, practically famous to them now. He’s not sure if he’s talked about someone this much, but then again, dating you has had a positive influence on his behaviors and self-care, so maybe it’s not so bad that he never shuts up about you.

-

He can be avoidant to sentimental topics and conversations.

It’s not the best trait to be shut off about your feelings. Sans is very aware of that, and he’s trying his best to work on it now that he has you in the mix and relationships are built on a lot of sentimental topics and conversations.

Sans just has a hard time opening up about… anything, really. Most things people know about him are because they’ve seen him do it or they’ve heard something from someone else, almost never because he’s outright said something about himself. It was a hard adjustment to make whenever he started dating you, and still, even months or years later into your relationship, he finds himself getting nervous or choked up at trying to explain his bad day and why he’s feeling upset, or sharing past trauma with you that he wants you to know about, but it’s just suddenly very difficult to find the words, and it’s just suddenly very difficult to even speak. He might hit you with the classic subject change, or sudden diversion, but it never really works. Not whenever you know him so well and can easily see what he’s doing.

This takes a toll whenever it comes to arguments, big or small (which happen to everyone, no matter how healthy your relationship is). He really has to do his best to not just teleport away somewhere and ignore the ongoing situation like he used to do with 90% of his problems back underground, or really just before he met you. His stubborn personality also doesn’t help with any sort of arguments, but that doesn’t mean he’s manipulative with you (unless he’s cheating while you’re playing a card game together) and he doesn’t hesitate to call out one of your problems or apologize for his, it just makes it even harder for him to actually voice that he’s upset, or worried, or sad.

It doesn’t mean he doesn’t try, though. He does, and even though he still finds it difficult to share something with you sometimes, he does his best to talk with you about it anyways, and hold you close to him after any arguments.

-

Petnames. He never thought he’d be a pet name guy, even in the crazy future where he started dating someone (which ends up happening, surprise surprise), but he guessed he should have seen it coming. He does use nicknames for most relevant people in his life, even if a simple shortened version of their name, ‘bro’, ‘buddy’, ‘tor’, ‘kiddo’, so it makes sense for him to naturally pick up on some for you too. Dating just unlocked a whole new vault of petnames he gets to use.

Babe would be a classic that he likes, he’s a simple guy after all. He likes how easy and thoughtless it is, and he nearly substitutes it for your name all together with how frequently he uses babe on you in his sentences.

‘no, babe, i’m serious.’

‘Serious? I thought you were Sans?”

Baby is also an easy one that he likes, but he only really uses it whenever one of you is upset, or when you’re sick or something of the sorts. He doesn’t like calling you Baby around other people. Maybe that’s because it feels more intimate and close to him for some reason, but it just rings as a more personal nickname.

‘baby, what happened?’

‘oh shit, baby, don’t cry.’

‘are you okay? c’mere, baby.’

There’s a few petnames that he likes using for more romantic settings too, whether that’s a date or a more intimate setting, and he just doesn’t feel like baby or babe sits right in the moment. Once again, he’s a fan of the more classic petnames following EX: Sweet-stuff, beautiful, pretty/handsome. All of the petnames he uses on you coordinate to their setting, and if he’s being honest, he doesn’t even realize he does that. It’s just whether or not the petname feels natural rolling off his tongue to you in the moment, but those are the select main ones he uses for different times or settings.

[klipgenie]

Good evening, nairyshi, please kindly consider this Diluc request: Donna, after seeing Diluc leave the 'With Wind Comes Glory' and tuck a ring box into the inner pocket of his coat, started to declare to anyone who would listen that Diluc finally wised up and decided to marry her. When the rumor reach Diluc's ears, it leaves the Pyro user completely perplexed as everyone and their grandmother knows he's dating you.

Please also kindly take as long as you need with this request; I have no qualms in waiting. Furthermore, by no means feel obligated to prioritize this request over your other requests.

i like this request!! thanks🙈

you and diluc have been together since you were both teens and he’d never trade you out for anything or anyone. You both shared embarrassing, awful, funny and horrible memories but in a relationship, ESPECIALLY a long term one, there will be hardships but love easily overcomes it.

he thought it was time to finally wed you and give you his last name and hopefully a family. It’s been years that you both called each other ‘boyfriend and girlfriend’ you never complained about not being married yet or him not proposing. He just didn’t want you to jump to conclusions or think wrong— marriage is a big commitment.

you knew donna to be the florist inside mondstadts wall, you never conversated with her. Just a quick hi or hello or a chat about flowers. You were oblivious to the fact she secretly envyed you and your existence with the man she wanted but she never voiced it to anyone and she never made it known that she felt that way about you. Have you had known how delusional she was maybe your whole house wouldn’t be decorated and lathered in her flowers she spent hours picking for her shop.

diluc was free on this day while you were busy doing what needed to be done in your shared home. Diluc has class and was raised right by his father— you don’t ask for much because you don’t wanna seem greedy or like a user but he insist to get whatever you want even if it’s the most expensive thing on the list. Even if it were his last sack of mora he would spend every last coin on you and you only. You always assure him to not go for something that’ll cost him a leg and arm when it comes to being materialistic esp when he’s buying it for you. He’s a stubborn as a bull and doesn’t listen, so who expects him not to buy the most expensive and valuable ring in all of teyvat. unbeknownst to you tho; marriage hasn’t cross your mind yet! not that you weren’t ready..just other things occupied your mind.

so when donna seen her “lover” across the path— eyeing him down: a ring box was seen shoved in his pocket. He made his way towards donnas florist shop and without a doubt: she got excited and ran inside her shop shrieking to herself for a quick minute but when she came out..diluc wasn’t there? well that’s cause he wasn’t going to her shop in the first place, he was headed home; to his lover.

poor donna thought ‘maybe he’s just nervous..soon it’ll happen! he’ll propose to me.’ well, now she had her hopes up high right along with her delusion. Without a chance she went around the small town and started off telling friends of hers that diluc had finally manned up to propose to her, then the townspeople and her customers. Word got around quickly as it traveled pass the walls and eventually into Springvale.

a few days pass and you come out your shared home as venture the town and look at the shops to see what they are selling. While your walking in town, you get stares, But i mean..you are known for dating one of the richest people in teyvat. You continue to walk but then realize the stares aren’t looks of admiration but more like pitiful, disappointed and concerned stares. Something happened or you did something. Brushing it off you continue to shop and walk around taking in the sound of the busy roads blended together with chatter.

an old woman approached you and began to conversate with you “sweetie, did you here about what they are saying with diluc? such a shame, i heard he was already with a young lady.” this struck curiosity but you didn’t want to find out from anyone else, you wanted to hear from diluc or kaeya..they’d now more than an old lady you thought.

dismissing yourself from the conversation, you glided through the people in the streets to get to his tavern. You weren’t mad but you wanted to know what was being said that was ‘such a shame’. To your surprise he’s not there, no one is— it’s closed. turning your back to the tavern to walk in the direction of your home, you were stopped by one of the tavern workers who you knew. “y/n! i-is it true?” you give him a confused looked “what’s true? what are you talking about?” the change of expression on the man’s face could say alot

“rumors going around that donna and diluc are getting married” oh.

oh! you haven’t got the words to say to this man so you walk away. putting 2 and 2 together..that’s why everyone was looking at you like that earlier. Opening the door to your house with diluc— he welcomes you with open arms but you just slip right through them and drag yourself away from him. “dear?-“

“why are there rumored going around about you and donna..? and a marriage?” you say followed by a sigh of disbelief and worriness

“love.” diluc voiced before he came to embrace you “i don’t know why they are saying that. I knew the rumors would get to you soon and i was just as shocked as you when you heard it for the first time. But know that i would never throw our years of love down the drain for someone else.” his words struck you like a feather spear and healed the wound of worry you had in your heart. “so, why? what made her say that?” you ask with no left over worry in your voice..just concern and curiosity. “i’ve no clue, but you don’t have to worry about it.” you look at him with a smile before he comes and embraces you, reassuring you.

[sparklypinkflightsuit]

Lost to the Skies: Part 3

A Bob Floyd x Reader mini series

Warnings: Lots of Fluff and Angst, Sexual Themes, Sadness and Loss, Tragedy, Alcohol, Swearing

Masterlist

———————————

18+ Only

———————————

Part 3: A Tragedy

———————————

You and Bob wrote to one another as often as possible, and he called when he was able to.




You spoke to Nat often, but hadn’t heard a word from Rooster since the day he stormed off your porch.




It had been 4 months, and it was only 2 more months if they didn’t get extended before they got home, and you were absolutely itching for the day you could kiss Bob again.




You missed everyone, you longed for a proper hang out with Nat, and to try and repair things with Rooster. You just wanted things to go back to normal, at least as much normal as they could be.




You relationship had only gone from strength to strength over the last few months. You and Bob had somehow really gotten to know one another through your letters, and they really were love letters, each of them folded neatly in your bedside drawer.




“My dearest, beautiful Y/N,




We’ve been apart for 3 months but it feels like an eternity. Every day the thought of coming home to you gets me through the hardships we face and the war zones we encounter. I wish I could tell you more about my day to day, but just know that the idea of you fills me with the strength to see it through.




In the mornings the first thing I think about is you and how I long to hold you again. At night I fall asleep thinking and dreaming about you and your body against mine. I have never felt such love before, and it physically pains me when I realise we’re only halfway through deployment and that I have to wait another lifetime to see you.




In other news, Rooster still hasn’t spoken a word to me, and most days he sits alone. I promise I am doing everything I can to repair this, but I don’t regret a thing. I would do it all over again a thousand times just to be able to hold you again.




I am utterly, unequivocally, painfully in love with you, princess. I cannot wait to show you just how much when I’m home.







Love,

Your Bobby.”







You were excitedly getting ready for your scheduled face time with Bob that afternoon, making sure you looked perfect to remind him what waited for him when he returned, eagerly trying to pass the time.




You watched the clock and finally as it struck 4pm, you sat on your couch and waited, battery fully charged.




5 minutes passed but you chalked it up to scheduling issues, and waited eagerly, impatiently scrolling through tv channels on mute.




4:30pm came and went, and still no phone call. You started to worry, but figured again there may be scheduling issues, and that he would call when he could, so you busied yourself around the house with your phones volume on loud.




By 7pm you really became worried. Bob would never forget, he made every call exactly as scheduled without fail, ever the punctual gentleman.




Frustratingly, you had no way to check, so you eventually went to bed around 10pm and hoped he’d call you the next day.




The next day, you checked your phone as soon as you woke up. Nothing.




The rest of the day passed much the same, and every time your phone went off, your heart jumped excitedly, only to deflate when you realised it wasn’t him.




A week went by without word, and you struggled to focus on work, so much so your boss sent you home for the day. You decided to visit the military base’s visitors centre in the hopes they could find out what was happening.




You pulled up to the gates and filled in a visitors form before parking up and walking inside, making a beeline for the woman at the desk.




“Hello.” You said, out of breath. “I was hoping to find out about someone who’s been deployed, I just wanted to check if he’s ok.”




The woman nodded and clicked on her computer, “Sure honey, what’s his name and status?”




You confirmed his name and that he was a WSO and his deployment details that you knew.




The woman typed into her computer and had a look, scouring the screen behind her glasses. Her eyes flitted to you for a second, suddenly serious.




“And what’s your name and relationship to him, honey?”




You confirmed your full name, “and I’m… his girlfriend, I guess.”




The woman looked over the details on the computer, her eyes nervously flicking to you ever so often.




You held your breath.




“I’m really sorry darling, your details haven’t yet been added to his authorised list, or to his emergency contact, so we can’t release any information at the moment. I’m sure someone will contact you shortly.” She said apologetically.




You knew Bob likely had not had time to add you to the approved contact list, but her words made you worry. “Contact me shortly? Has something happened?”




The woman took a deep breath, “I’m afraid I can’t release that information.”




You left the centre a bundle of nerves and in a daze, barely remembering the drive home, and spent the rest of the day writing letters to post to Nat and Rooster.




The next day you sent the letters, and waited eagerly for a response, hoping one of them could shed some light on the situation.




When another month had passed and you still had not heard back, you tried to tell yourself that these letters could take a while to reach them and vice versa, and that it was likely they were actually just busy.




It was only another 2 weeks until they were due to return anyway, so you’d just try and keep your mind occupied until then, and everything would be ok.




You returned to work as normal and when people asked why you had been away, you lied and told them you had been sick. You forced a smile and got on with life as usual.




The return date had finally arrived and you eagerly got ready, impatiently waiting for 2pm.




You got to the docks early, securing a spot close to the end where they would be. You eyed the ocean and scanned up and down the horizon, waiting for something to appear. A tiny dot eventually emerged far away, and you watched as their ship appeared on the horizon and slowly made its way to you, as the docks began to fill up with people.




Your leg bounced anxiously and your heart thudded against your chest. You couldn’t wait to see their faces.




Finally after what felt like forever, the ship docked and the military men and women were allowed off, and your eyes searched the crowd for any familiar faces.




Eventually you spotted Nat, and she made eye contact, and you jumped up and waved at her excitedly. Nat, however, did not look excited to see you, her face a picture of sadness and anxiety, eyes red and puffy.




Behind her, Rooster whispered something in her ear, and she nodded, walking away from your direction. Rooster slowly walked through the crowd that had formed in front of you, his eyebrows pinched.




You forced a smile as he approached, your stomach twisting with nerves.




“Hey Roo.” You said softly. Part of you already knew what was coming. “Where… where’s Bob?”




Rooster’s shoulders slumped and his eyes moved from the ground to yours, “I’m so sorry, Y/N.”




That was all he had to say. You felt your body grow hot as waves of nausea ran through you, adrenaline pumping through your veins. You began to shake before you really registered what was happening.




“Tell me. You have to say it.”




“Bob died, honey, he’s gone.”




Rooster wrapped you in his arms just as your knees gave out under you. “No.” You whimpered, and then the floods of tears took over, and you began to scream.




The crowd surrounding you knew what that meant, and sympathetic faces ushered others away, to give you space to breathe and grieve.




Rooster held you in his arms as you broke down on the ground. Nat, Javy, Jake and Reuben joined you, all had clearly also been crying. No one dared to bring up how Mickey was also missing, now was not the time.




Eventually you managed to ask what had happened, still lying on the floor half wrapped in Roosters arms. No one said anything.




You became angry and looked up at them and then at Rooster. “Bradley. Tell me.” You demanded through the tears.




“Bob and Fanboy were paired together for a mission, Phoenix was out sick with food poisoning-“ he began to explain, your eyes flitted up to Nat who was bawling and barely able to contain herself next to Jake.




Rooster continued, “They didn’t come back, Y/N. I’m so sorry.”




You spent the next few weeks in bed, heartbroken and unwilling to do anything. Nat ended up spending a few nights with you, also heartbroken having lost 2 of her closest friends, and knowing had she not been sick, that would have been her.




One day, you and Nat hibernated in your bed, hoodies pulled over your faces to shield your eyes from the light, splitting headaches from all the crying had you feeling quite sensitive to stimuli, when there was a knock on your door.




You didn’t move, quite keen to ignore whoever it was, so Nat got up and made her way to the door.




A couple minutes later she returned with Rooster.




“Hey, kid.” He said softly from the door.




You half heartedly lifted a hand and then let it fall back onto the bed, not even sure you had the energy to say hello.




Rooster sighed, “Nat, can I get a minute with Y/N?”




“Yeah,” she nodded, eyes puffy, “I should get home anyway. Call me if you need anything.”




You waved goodbye to Nat and Rooster climbed onto the bed next to you.




“You okay?” He asked.




“I’m fine.” You responded softly, removing the hoodie from your face, “can’t you tell?”




Rooster let out a soft chuckle, “Your sense of humour’s back, that’s a good thing right?”




You burst into tears suddenly, something you’d been doing at random moments over the last few weeks.




“Hey, hey, I’m sorry. Come here.” Rooster cooed, wrapping an arm around your shoulders and pulling you into him.




You sobbed into his t-shirt, the smell of the beach on his clothes slowly calming you down.




Eventually you sniffled away your last tear and sighed frustratedly, “I’m never gonna feel normal again, am I?”




Rooster sighed and gave you a little squeeze, “When my mom died, I thought I’d never feel normal again. The pain never goes away, but it does become manageable, and there will be days where you will feel normal. Eventually you’ll have more good days than bad, kid.”




You nodded, “Thanks, Roo.” You made no move to get up off of him, quite comfortably tucked under his arm.




“I’m always here for you if you need me, you know what right?”




You did know, you could tell that he really cared about you, despite having hurt him in the past. He was there for everyone despite also grieving the loss of his friends.




You decided, even if just for Roosters sake, you were going to pull yourself together and try to be there for him and for everyone else that was hurting.




The next 6 months passed, and the pain you felt began to subside a bit, but was always there as a painful reminder of what you had lost.




In the beginning you were furious no one called you to tell you what had happened, but you remembered that as you weren’t on his emergency contact list, they weren’t allowed to disclose that to you, and over time the anger also subsided.




You began hanging out with the squad more, and spending quality time with Nat, and as a group you mourned, and as a group you healed.




You could tell Rooster still had feelings for you, but you weren’t quite ready to move on yet. It was nice to have him around, and you enjoyed his company, so one day when he built up the courage to ask you for dinner, you made it clear you were nowhere near ready to date again, but you would love to have dinner as friends.




Rooster picked you up that night, and told you how beautiful you looked in your flowery dress. You thanked him and made a joke that his shirt matched your dress, and the drive to the restaurant was pleasant.




If Rooster was nervous, he didn’t make it obvious, and it made you feel better about the night ahead. If we wasn’t nervous, surely it wasn’t a date.




The restaurant was packed but Rooster had reserved a nice little table close to the edge of the room, out of the hustle and bustle of the busy patrons.




“This place is great, how did you find it?” You asked, commenting on how beautiful the ocean looked outside of the windows, even in the dark.




“A friend recommended it, apparently the pasta is to die for.” He brushed a hand nervously through his hair.







You knew it took a lot for him to get over what had happened and to ask you to dinner, and you felt bad he was so nervous, you stretched out a hand and squeezed his, “I know exactly what I’m getting then. Thank you for taking me out, Roo. I needed this.”




You chatted for an hour as you drank and ate, laughing and genuinely enjoying each others company, feeling better than you had in a while, but then suddenly, just before dessert, Rooster, who had previously been staring at the way the moon refracted against the sea, stood from his seat, pale as a sheet.




“Sorry kid, I… I’ll be right back.” He stammered, quickly disappearing into the busy restaurant.




You watched him go, hoping he was ok. Maybe he’d eaten something bad, or the pasta wasn’t to his liking.




Your eyes slowly scanned the restaurant as you turned your head back to the table, smiling at all the happy couples and so wishing you felt the same, but also glad you were gradually beginning to feel better.




Your eyes swept briefly over the big windows facing the bay, the moonlight glistening but otherwise pitch black. You looked back at the table but immediately did a double take as your brain registered what you had just seen, or what you thought you’d seen.




You stared out the window for a while, trying to spot it again. Nothing.




You shook your head and folded your fingers together, resting your chin against them while you waited for Rooster to get back, the noise of the restaurant doing little to sooth your suddenly frazzled nerves.




You glanced out of the window again, and your heart jolted as you saw it once more. Unsure if you were imagining things, you got up out of your seat and cupped your hands against the glass, peering through them.




It was pitch black, and you sighed. You pulled away, but just then, almost as if teasing you, you saw it.




The glint of a pair of military grade glasses looking back at you from the darkness.




——————————




The end.

Taglist: @princesssunderworld

[itsangelll]

ℳℴ𝓋ℯ𝒹 ℴ𝓃？

angst to fluff

warnings:none

2010 era!

A/n: I wanna give huge credits to @bunniesthoughts thank you for helping me with this me and her made this together we hope you guys enjoy <3

minors can interact

word count:1k

“GET OUT THEN” I said my voice getting louder by the minute, Tom’s eyes were getting more teary and with that Tom pushed past me and stormed out of the house. Hours pass by Tom hadn’t come back yet “shit pick up pick up please” I tried calling him but no answer my mind was overclouding with thoughts my anxiety was getting worse no text no calls at all.

-time skip

It’s been weeks and tom still hasn’t come back, I’m trying not too overthink anything but it keeps creeping up in the back of my mind. So to take my mind off things, I go sit down and turn on the tv to mtv and I see pictures and videos of Tom and some girl named Anna “what the fuck” I feel tears sting the corner of my eyes, all of the overthinking came true, it wasn’t just a thought it was all real life. I need to talk to him asap.

and the best way was to show up to their concert it took me ages to get there but I made it finally, people were crowded fans screaming and yelling. They came out of the tour bus, my life flashed before my eyes, The rumours were true his arm snug around her waist her beautiful eyes he moved on already?

I felt sick to my stomach, Tom saw me his face was shocked but I didn’t care I ran not daring to look back I could hear him yelling my name and running after me. My eyes were perking up with tears I felt like I was going to collapse. I ended up falling over my knees were bruised my hands were shaking Tom finally caught up and he kneeled down infront of me, “Y/n I didn’t want you to find out like this.” His voice was trembling it sounded like he was about to cry, “You never really loved me did you” my voice was breaking I couldn’t help it, he cupped my face in his hands his dark brown eyes staring into me “I’m sorry but after that fight I didn’t know what to do I thought we were broken up” he said his voice with unbreakable emotion I looked away. We just sat in silence not even saying a word till his twin brother and the rest of the band started calling out to him he got up and walked off.

-time skip

A few weeks had passed me and Tom haven’t spoken at all I see photos of them everyday together, but today I got invited to a interview with Tom to talk about why broke up and how it happened. I didn’t feel like going because the media would’ve twisted my words but then I changed my mind I mean it’s best to get my feelings out? After I got ready I left my apartment and went to the interview. When I got there the interviewer was really nice and told me how what was going to happen, I looked around and I didn’t see Tom anywhere which was off cause he’s never shows up late.

The Interviewer sat me down she asked me a couple of questions about how I knew Tom how we started dating, asked me about their music and everything. Then she asked this “Y/n I know this must be hard for you but would you ever want to try and works out thing with Tom?”

I swear I couldn’t hear her for a second I felt sick, I took a deep breath “I hope I can, him and I instantly click and at the end of the day I miss him heaps”. I said my voice cracking a bit, she nodded after a little while of what seemed like hours the interview was wrapped up and I was on my walking home till I heard someone yelling out to me.

I turned around. It was Tom he came up to me catching his breath it looked like he was gonna collapse Christ “Y/n I saw your interview and there’s so much I wanna say but I can’t say it here”. “Huh? What do you me-“ he put a hand over my mouth and handed me a piece of paper he smiled at me then walked away.

I watch tom walk away, as I grip the piece of paper in my hand once he’s out of sight I open the paper “meet at the lake at 6”- tom I look at the note confused as why he wanted to meet, I mean I’ve seen he has a girlfriend, but I shrug and I get into my car driving to our old spot.

I see Tom sitting on the hood of his car lighting up a cigarette. I park and get out walking up to him “hey” I say softly trying not to startle him “hey.. I wanna talk with you if that’s okay”, he says as he gets off the hood of his car throwing away his cigarette I nod letting him know that I’m listening. “listen I know you saw me with her but truly I didn’t want that to happen, I miss you I don’t know why I didn’t come back and went to go with her. I thought we were done but I miss you.” Tom says as his voice starts to crack.

I go to speak but Tom stops me, “I broke up with her..I wanna give us another try, you were my everything” he says as his eyes start to go glossy and so do mine. “alright I’ll give us another chance” Tom looks at me and a smile forms on his face as he grabs me and pulls me into a tight hug, putting his face in my neck.

“I love you so much meine liebe I promise this will never happen again” I nod as I listen to him pulling away as a tear drips down my cheek “I love you too” I whisper softly as I lean up and softly kiss his lips and lay my head on his chest.

A/n: i hope you guys enjoyed me and @bunniesthoughts loved making this go check her out!! once again thank you for helping me make this I couldn’t have done without you. Anyways bye cuties mwah <3

[nickeverdeen]

Study Break | Collage!Dina x Collage!fem!reader

Pairings: Dina x reader (romantic)

Type of fic: Fluff, comedy, tiny angst

Warnings: Overworking, light food neglectation, light sleep neglectation, light Dina neglectation

Settings: Modern AU

Summary: With finals coming up it hasn’t been easy for you and Dina decides to get your workaholic ass a day off

Ps: Gotta cope with my own yearly exams coming up-

———————

The room was dimly lit by the soft glow of the desk lamp, and papers and textbooks were scattered across the surface in a disorganized mess. You had been up for hours, your eyes heavy with exhaustion as you struggled to focus on the pages in front of you. Finals were fast approaching, and every spare moment was spent poring over notes and assignments. Sleep, food, and even Dina seemed to take a back seat to your studies.

Dina understood your dedication—at least at first. She knew you were a slow learner, and finals week always came with stress. But as days passed and you continued to lose sleep and skip meals, she grew concerned. She had tried to encourage you to take breaks, even resorting to taking your books away just to make sure you ate or drank something. Still, you persisted, and it left her feeling more than a little frustrated.

One evening, Dina came home from her part-time job as a barista. She set down her bag, kicked off her shoes, and wandered into your shared apartment. She knew where she’d find you, and as she peeked into the study, there you were—slumped over the desk, your head resting on your folded arms with books and notes piled all around you.

A small sigh escaped her as she crossed the room. “Of course,” she whispered softly, switching off the lamp and placing a hand on your shoulder. When you didn’t stir much more than a sleepy mumble, she gently slid her arms beneath you. Dina wasn’t exactly a bodybuilder, but she could handle carrying 60 to 80 kilograms without much trouble, especially when it was you.

She picked you up with a soft grunt, your head resting against her chest as she carried you out of the study and into your shared bedroom. You stirred slightly as she set you down onto the bed, your eyes fluttering open for just a moment. “Dina…?” you murmured, still half-asleep.

“Shh, it’s okay,” Dina whispered as she slid under the covers beside you. She wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you close and pressing a gentle kiss to your temple. “Just rest. I’ve got you.” Her voice was soothing, a quiet hum of comfort that coaxed you back into sleep. Dina stayed with you, her body warm against yours as she whispered reassurances and stroked your hair, until she too drifted off.

When Dina woke up the next morning, the sun was streaming through the curtains, casting a warm glow across the bed. You were still asleep, your breathing deep and even. Dina carefully slipped out of bed, not wanting to wake you just yet. She headed to the kitchen and began making breakfast—scrambled eggs and lemon tea.

With breakfast ready and set on the dining table, Dina returned to the bedroom and leaned down, brushing a strand of hair from your face. “Hey, sleepyhead,” she said softly, placing a light kiss on your forehead. “It’s time to get up. I made breakfast.”

You slowly blinked awake, your body still feeling heavy with exhaustion. “What time is it?” you mumbled, rubbing your eyes as you sat up.

“Doesn’t matter,” Dina replied with a small smile. “Come on, let’s get you something to eat.” She helped you out of bed and guided you to the table, where the scent of warm eggs and tea greeted you. You sat down gratefully, taking a sip of the tea and letting the citrusy aroma wake you up a little more.

“Thanks, Dina,” you said, glancing at her with a hint of guilt in your eyes. “I’m sorry for, you know, ignoring you… and everything else.”

Dina waved her hand dismissively as she took a seat across from you. “It’s okay. I know how you get during finals. But you’ve got to take care of yourself too, you know?”

You nodded, poking at the eggs on your plate. “I know. I just… I really need to do well on these exams.”

Dina gave you a knowing look. “But that doesn’t mean you can’t take a break.” She noticed the way your gaze drifted toward the study door, and she added quickly, “And before you ask—I put your books away last night.”

You froze mid-bite, setting down your fork. “What? Dina, I need those to study!”

Dina leaned back in her chair, crossing her arms with a playful smirk. “Oh, no you don’t. Not today. You’ve been studying yourself into the ground, and it’s time for you to rest.”

“But—”

“No buts,” Dina interrupted, standing up and walking over to you. After you finished breakfeast she gently took your hand and led you over to the living room, where she sank onto the sofa and patted her lap invitingly.

With a resigned sigh, you lay down, resting your head in Dina’s lap. She played with your hair absentmindedly, the feeling of her fingers combing through the strands soothing your frazzled nerves. “You need a day off,” she said softly, reaching for the remote. “And I think we both know what movie will do the trick.”

You watched as she put on Howl’s Moving Castle, one of your favorite comfort films. You couldn’t help but smile as the opening credits began to roll. “You know me too well,” you said quietly.

“Of course I do,” Dina murmured, leaning down to kiss the top of your head. “Now, relax, okay? The world isn’t going to end if you take a little break.”

The rest of the morning was blissfully lazy, the two of you snuggled up on the couch as the movie played. Dina’s hands never stopped moving through your hair, and every so often, she would press a soft kiss to your forehead or whisper something sweet. For the first time in what felt like weeks, you let yourself just breathe.

[thatssonanii]

Chapter Fourteen

A/N: I doubled back for yall! This chapter flowed more easily than the previous one so I got it done quicker! Pay attention when you're reading😌 ⭐LIKE, COMMENT, REBLOG & SHARE⭐ Enjoy!

Warnings: Cussing, 18+ ONLY MINORS DNI

DO NOT REPOST MY WRITING ANYWHERE AND CLAIM IT AS YOUR OWN!

Masterlist

Chapter Thirteen

When Hassan brought Nadine home to meet his parents and little sister he was nervous. His palms sweated profusely no matter how many times he wiped them on his pants, they never dried. His stomach twisted into knots as he walked her through the home to the living room to meet them. But today standing on his sister’s front porch he didn’t feel any of those things. His nervousness was replaced with giddiness, his palms didn’t sweat and his stomach remained neutral. Internally realized no matter how he once felt about Nadine that she was not the woman he should have been with all those years, it was the woman whose hand he held, whose hand he gently caressed as they waited. The door opened and Gabi flung herself at her older brother, hugging him tightly around the neck saying how glad she was to see him as Tamara discreetly pulled her hand from his to give them room. There was a smile on her face as she watched them.

“I missed you too, Gabi. You act like you ain’t seen me in months,” he laughed, squeezing her back just as tightly. “Alright, alright, let me go.”

Gabi squeezed him one more time before letting go. “Its been like two weeks since I’ve seen you and you know that hasn’t happened since you moved back here from Texas.”

He glanced to his right at Tamara then back at his sister. “I been busy but Ima do better. I don’t want you cryin’ to Mama.”

Gabi’s brow raised looking between him and Tamara. “And I know exactly what and who you’ve been busy with. Nice to finally meet you, I’m Gabi.”

Tamara stuck her hand out but was pulled into a tight, brief hug. “I’m Tamara,” she laughed after being let go. “It’s nice to meet you.”

“Oh girl, I know who you are. My brother tells me about you all the time but the pictures he showed me did not do you justice. You’re even prettier in person.”

At that Tamara turned to stare at Hassan. “Pictures? What pictures?”

“Don’t worry,” Gabi laughed, pulling them both into the house. “They were good ones. I mean he is an artist after all. He has never taken a bad picture of anyone. Not even that witch Na,” she was cut off by him clearing his throat.

“Be nice, Gabriella. I keep telling you that.” He warned playfully.

“You’ve been telling me for years to be nice and hasn’t worked yet. Oh … before I forget there’s something I need to tell you two.”

“What did you do?” He asked in an accusatory tone.

She shook her head. “No, no, it wasn’t me. It was your nephews and their big mouths that they definitely got from their father.”

“What could they have possibly told?” He asked, sure there was nothing they could have told Nadine. They didn’t like her and even if they did, he had made sure not to tell Gabi that he was taking Tamara to meet his ex-wife because of her big mouth. He watched her fidget for a second. “What is it?”

“Weeeell they may have spilled that you were bringing Tamara over to meet us.” She said quickly, making Tamara laugh.

“To whom, baby sister?"

Immediately Hassan’s eyes moved from his sister to the direction the other voices came from. He couldn’t help the chuckle that passed his lips.Their parents were there and there was no doubt as soon as Shirley DeBreaux found out about this impending visit she got up right then and made Rome DeBreaux drive her two hours from Columbus to Atlanta to be a part of it Hassan reached out for his girlfriend’s hand.

“It’s okay, Gabi. It saves me a trip,” he admitted with a shrug. “You’re gonna meet my parents as well. They’ll like you but Mama can be a bit much. It’s where Gabi gets it from. If that’s not okay, if you not ready I can take you home. They’ll understand.”

Tamara smiled up at him, her brows creasing a bit. “I don’t why you think I scare so easily but I’m okay. I’m happy to meet everybody, I want to.”

Gabi grinned, grabbing her hand from Hassan, pulling her along leaving him to follow behind them. “See I knew I liked you. You’re way better than that ole raggedy witch Nadine.”

“Gabriella,” Hassan called out over their laughter. “Don’t laugh, Tam. She know that ain’t nice.”

As soon as they entered the living room, Shirley’s reaction to Tamara undoubtedly ended all other conversations. With her hands to her face, she approached Tamara with a wide, genuine smile on her face. 

“Oh my goodness. Girl, look at you,” she gushed loudly, taking one of Tamara’s hands to spin her around. “Aren’t you just the most gorgeous thing I have ever laid eyes on.”

“Thank you,” she responded softly. “It’s very nice to meet you, Mrs. DeBreaux.”

With a playful swat to her leg, Shirley pulled her into a tight hug, rocking them back and forth. “You quit all that ‘mrs’ stuff out, you will call me mama just like the rest of my children.”

“Yes ma’am. You’re so pretty and I love your hair. I kind of feel like I know you already. San talks about you and his dad all the time,” Tamara admitted taking a peak around her to everyone else.

Shirley moved to hug her son then swatted his arm. “Yeah well my son didn’t mention you to me. If Malcolm and Monte didn’t tell me, I would have never gotten to meet you.”

“Mama, I was gonna bring her to meet you and dad. I was just starting with Gabi and her crew first. They live here.” He assured her with a smile.

“I’m only two hours away, see how quickly I got here and I didn’t find out until about four hours ago,” she continued on as she brought Tamara further into the living room. “Alright now this is Hassan’s father, Rome and believe you me they are just alike. It’s almost like he spit him out they act so much alike.”

Rome stood, wrapping her in a warm hug. “It’s very nice to meet you, young lady. How’s my son treating you?”

“Very good. I wouldn’t be here if he wasn’t, Mr. DeBreaux,” she shrugged playfully. 

“Please call me Dad or Rome. You’re family or I assume you will be soon,” he hinted more to his son than to Tamara before sitting back down. Hassan chuckled softly in response as he rubbed lazily through his beard.

Pulling her away from her mother, Gabi turned Tamara’s attention to her husband and kids. “This is my husband, Tyler Scott and our twins, Malcolm and Monte. Boys, this is Tamara. Remember the nice lady I told you about.”

Tyler stood briefly to shake her hand, offering her a bright smile. “Nice to meet you, Tamara. I’m really glad you’re finally here, Gabi has been talking our heads off about you coming.”

“Yeah and making us clean,” Monte mumbled loud enough for the adults to hear. Tyler pinched his son’s arm. “Ow! She did though. She woke us up to that old music and we all know what that means.”

“Right and she only supposed to do that two Saturdays out the month and today ain’t saturday.” Malcolm added with a similar mug to his brothers.

Tamara laughed, reaching to give both boys hugs. “Well I’m sorry she had you up cleaning early. How old are you two?”

“Thirteen,” they answered simultaneously.

“Uncle San, she gon be our new auntie?” Monte asked loudly.

Hassan slowly approached them, wrapping his arm around her waist. “I think that’s up to her, boys. We’ll see how she feels by the end of the night.”

Malcolm groaned. “You never give us real answers, Unc. When Rye comin to visit? She always got the answers.”

Hassan jumped at them playfully, laughing when they jumped back. “Yall gon sell me out for Rye so I ain’t telling yall. How bout that?”

The boys soon started to nag him, trying to jump all over him which he gave right back to them. Soon they were slap boxing with each other. Gabi grabbed her mother and Tamara’s attention, telling them to follow her to the kitchen. She grabbed the open bottle of wine from her refrigerator pouring three glasses.

“Gabi told me that Hassan really liked you while we were waiting and forgiving me if I was a bit skeptical considering Nadine,” Shirley took a small sip of her wine. “He really liked her too or he claimed to. I tried to tell him not to keep being with that girl but he was young, did what he wanted to do.” Tamara sipped from her wine, acknowledging the older woman with a nod. “But once I saw you and him together, I saw what Gabi had been telling me. He loves you. I can see it.”

“Like.” Tamara corrected.

“Oh no, baby.” She laughed with a shake of her head. “I said what I meant. I raised him, I know when my babies are in love.”

Feeling that the conversation may have gotten unintentionally heavy, Gabi butted in to save Tamara from any heat. “You’ve met his babygirl, right?”

Slowly, Tamara tore her gaze away from Shirley, settling on Gabi. “I did. I actually met them both at the same time. I approached him in the mall in Orlando and she was with him. And I’ve talked to her on the phone quite a few times since him and I have been dating. She’s a sweet girl.”

“She is. Thankfully nothing like her mama,” Gabi mumbled, earning a pointed look from her mother. “I’m just saying, Mama. You know I’m right.”

Shirley sighed, sitting her glass down. “Have you met Nadine yet?”

“No ma’am but she knows about me,” she glanced at Gabi, who was smiling. “And She knows that I know about her.”

“You just be careful with her and whenever you cross paths with her. That girl,” Shirley’s voice trails off for a moment, “She got some kinda evil in her. A demon if I ever seen one before.”

“Now, Mama,” Gabi laughed, “She is a terrible person but she not a demon though.”

“The hell you preach. That girl is a demon. The way that she treated my son and his baby. Tuh, lucifer must have placed her on Trenice’s porch cause I know she didn’t raise her that way.”

This is the most honest opinion Tamara’s heard about Nadine so she leaned into the conversation. Although she was in shape or form worried about clashing with her it was important to Tamara to really know what she was dealing with. When her and Hassan discussed his ex-wife, he was still very polite and honest to a point. He never told her the extent of things that she had done to Moriah because he didn’t want to share her business without her permission. The only thing he did tell her about was the abortion during one of their late night talks. When he spoke to her about Angel, he cried like it was still fresh. The loss of his first grandchild and the pain that it caused his only child hurt him and what hurt more is that he wasn’t there to stop it from happening. From what he confided in her, that was the first time he really regretted leaving Texas and not making Moriah come with him. Guilt still ate him up. He wished that he would have just disregarded what Moriah said she wanted and forced her to come to Atlanta with him.

For once, Gia was nowhere to be found in the performance center. From what Bronco heard she had some family emergency so she would be gone for a few days and wouldn’t see them talking to Trick. After the friends decided that they were going to put Trick onto her, they took a couple days to plan out how they were going to do it and now were satisfied. 

On a break from their workout, the two approached Trick who was doing curls. They sat on the floor near the bench he sat on prompting him to sit the dumbbell down and remove his earbud from his ear. He eyed them carefully.

“Yall look like yall up to some shit. What yall got goin on?” He asked picking the dumbbell back up.

“We ain’t up to shit.” Zilla laughed. “We just wanted to holla at you real quick.”

He nodded for them to go on.

“We know you been tryna settle down so we wanted to help you out cause ya game is clearly nonexistent,” Bronco joked. 

He sucked his teeth. “I got game, just ain’t been tryin. That’s all.”

Zilla lifted his hands in surrender. “Aye, mane, whatever you say. But look, we know you want somebody that understand this wrestlin shit and you travelin all the time so we found you somebody.”

“And we heard she think you kinda cute. So all you gotta do is use that nonexistent ass game and ask her out,” Bronco added.

Trick stared at them clearly contemplating continuing with his curls. “Who is it that yall think yall found for me?”

“Gia.”

Trick stared at them, recalling Gia in his mind. “Green eyed girl that do the backstage interviews?” The two men nodded making him smile. “Oh word? She is kinda cute and she be givin me them bedroom eyes from time to time.”

Zilla clapped his hands excitedly.“Aight so when she come back, ask her out on a date.”

“Bet Ima do that. Preciate yall for lookin out.”

The two left him, going back to the locker room to have their conversation in private. To be honest neither of them were a hundred percent sure that Gia would even go for it but they have witnessed Trick talk to enough girls that he at least got a first date. No matter what they planned to stay informed with how their relationship would go. 

“You think that shit gon work out?” 

Zilla huffed loudly, taking a seat on one of the benches. “Shit, I hope so. If it don’t and she keep this shit up, Fat gon whoop her ass. I told you what she asked me Tuesday?”

“Nah. What sis say?”

“Her exact words were ‘did that bitch have her hands on you tonight?’ And shit, it caught me off guard so I’m like who,” he recounted bringing the memory back to the forefront of his mind, “And she was like that frog eyed bitch. So I’m like nah and she basically told me if she don’t stop, she gon beat Gia ass.”

Busting out laughing, Bronco took a seat on the bench opposite of Zilla. His dislike of Gia was mutual among them all so anytime he heard Moriah or Toni dogging her ass out, he was going to enjoy it. 

“Yoooo sis is wild. She called her a frog eyed bitch? You deadass?” He asked through his laughter.

“Deadass, bro. She meant that shit too.”

Bronco went from laughing to scrunching his face at his friend. “Why you smilin like that, fool?”

He shook his head. “It ain’t nothin.”

Bronco watched him until it clicked. “Ayye! My boy! I know what that smile mean! That’s why yall ducked outta there!”

“Hell yeah. I’m surprised Toni ain’t trip about it.”

He waved him off. “Nah, she wasn’t goin to. She was too busy gettin on my ass.”

That admittance made Zilla’s nosey ass ears perk up. He didn’t want to know so he could tell anyone, he simply just liked to be in their business. To him that’s what friends do.

“What you do?”

“She was upset cause Javi was at home by himself but I told her he was straight, he did it all the time before me and her started.” Bronco shrugged. “And he usually with her on Tuesdays but you know she workin nights this week and I was workin so.”

“Oh damn. But Javi like 13 or 14. Ain’t it?”

“Yeah, he 13 but you know T worry so much cause of her job. I told her she hadda relax.”

Zilla stared at him. “You told her to relax? Last time I told Rye to relax she bit my damn head off. Cussed me out for like two hours.”

He laughed. Yeah, she was about to but yall walked back in so shit … saved by the bell. I did have to hear that shit when she got off though. She came straight to my house, made Javi breakfast then yelled at me while I was in the shower.”

“That’s what your ass get,” he laughed while checking his phone. “Shit, I gotta reschedule my therapy session.”

“Rye told you to do that shit two weeks ago. Ima tell.”

“Man,” he laughed, “I been busy. Ima do it though. Remind me when we leave her.”

“Nope, hell nah cause if I do or don’t and you don’t do it you gon throw my ass under the bus right along with you.”

The pediatric floor was quiet for the moment. The children that were on the floor were either sleep or medicated enough that they were in no pain. Dr. Miller took this time to get caught up on paperwork hoping to leave on time and not a minute after 7. This floor was what he always dreamed of, Dr. Harris made it even better for the last six years the older doctor had taken him under his wings and always encouraged him to do the same for others who were newly pinned. While Dr. Miller enjoyed doing this when he could, he did not enjoy one medical student in particular. 

“Dr. Miller, you got a second?”

A sigh escaped him. “Only if it does not interrupt my paperwork, Gardner. I need to be outta here on time, I have family matters to attend to.”

A wide smile stretched across Thomas’ face. “Nah, it won’t take long and won’t take your focus away.”

“I’m listening.”

“A few weeks ago I assisted Dr. Harris with a hernia surgery on a five year old and he told me that the mom called because what she thinks is complications from the surgery,” Thomas explained leaning against the desk.

“Okay,” Dr. Miller drug out impatiently. “What do you want me to do with that?”

“He assured her that it would pass but I … I think something might be wrong.”

The pen fell from Dr. Miller’s hand as he turned to give the younger man his undivided attention. “You think or you know? And be very sure with your answer.”

He shrugged. “I think, I can’t be completely sure.”

“Did you do something wrong that Dr. Harris didn’t catch?”

“If somebody did do something wrong and you think it could cause said complications. What would you do?”

Dr. Miller sighed, from the moment Thomas got to pediatrics he knew the young male would be an issue. It was at this moment he vowed to never take another student or newbie under his wing again, He didn’t give a damn what his mentor would say. Thomas had spoiled it for everyone that would come after him.

“Is it something that can pass or be fixed externally or is it something that needs to be handled internally?”

“Umm I’m sure it can be fixed externally.”

Another sigh. “Is it life threatening for said five year old?”

“It can be, yes.”

“Then you need to tell Dr. Harris what you did or I will. You have tomorrow afternoon.” Dr. Miller ordered turning back to his paperwork.

Thomas’ eyes went wide with panic. “Wait, no. It wasn’t me that did it.”

“Then who did it? And what did they do?” The doctor asked, now irritated.

“It uh it was a nurse. She may have caused an infection.” He spat his lie out quicker than he could stop it.

“Which nurse?”

Praying internally that this would all work out for the better with Nadine’s plan, Thomas utter Moriah’s name quietly. Dr. Miller’s head shot up, his eyes on Thomas not believing a word that was said.

“You know what, I’ll look into it. Don’t worry about telling Dr. Harris. I got it.”

“Are … are you sure? I can tell him.” He stuttered. “It’s probably nothing.”

Dr. Miller shrugged. “It probably is but I’ll check anyway. Unless there’s some reason that I shouldn’t.” He was giving Thomas the chance to backtrack and take ownership for whatever he was sure the man had done. When he shook his head the doctor gave him a final nod. “Okay then it’s out of your hands and into mine. Leave it be. Understand?”

“Yes sir but can you keep me updated?”

‘I’ll see what I can do. Gardner.”

One thing Dr. Miller learned during the time he worked with Moriah on pediatrics, he learned that she was very meticulous and followed the rules down to every period and comma. He knew there was no way it was her that did anything reckless to harm this young patient and he was going to get to the bottom of it. Thomas got the hint that the conversation was over, he grabbed his bag to leave the floor for the day praying that none of this came back to bite him in the ass. After finishing his paperwork Dr. Miller moved over to one of the computers accessing the files. He searched for a few minutes before he found the file he was looking for and picked up the receiver beside him to call the parents. 

“Hi, this is Dr. Miller from Lakeland General. I’m looking for the parents of Nia Jones.” He paused. “Yes, I heard that she was having issues … Yes ma’am … Yes ma’am … I’ll be in tomorrow morning for a little while and can see her then … Yes, 8 is fine. I’ll see her in the emergency department … Okay, see you all then. Have a good night.”

Something wasn’t clean in the water and he was going to get to the bottom of it. Now that he sat up an appointment, he moved on to his next step. Getting to the ED, he texted his family group chat to let them know that he had to change his fight out for the next day instead of later tonight while he waited on Toni. 

“Dr. Miller, what can I do for you?” She called out as she walked in the door.

He chuckled, going to hold the door of their breakroom for her. “How’d you know I wanted something ?” He asked, following her inside.

“Because you only ever come to the ED if you want something from me? So what’s up? I got fifteen minutes before my shift starts and I wanna use ten of those to call my mama.”

Dr. Miller helped her put her things in her locker. “You remember the hernia surgery Nurse DeBreaux helped with some weeks ago?”

“Yeah,” she answered slowly, “That was her first surgery. Why? Did something happen to that little girl?”

“No, no, no,” he said immediately, “Not yet at least.He goes on explaining to her the conversation he and Thomas had and what he had done. “Can you please stay a little longer in the morning to do the check up with me? I would ask Nurse DeBreaux.”

She nodded, finishing his thought, “But you don’t want it to look like a coverup just in case there is actually a complication from surgery. I got it, I’ll stay.”

“Thank you, I owe you. And I know I don’t need to say this but for now lets keep this between us. Don’t even tell DeBreaux.”

“Ooh I know. If I tell her that he’s tryna blame her for his negligence, she’ll kill em. She takes her work very seriously.”

“Trust me I know and I know he does to which is why I can’t understand why he would even try to put this on her.” Dr. Miller admitted.

Toni pulled out her ringing phone. “Trust me you don’t wanna know. I gotta take this, it’s my mama. I’ll see you in the morning.” She said quickly. “Oh and I’m sorry about your auntie.”

“Thanks, I appreciate that. See ya.”

“I don’t know how we managed to stay away from each other for so long,” Nadine laughed, adjusting the covers over her nude body. “It’s always so much fun when we’re together.”

“Don’t act like you don’t know. You like to play coy with me and luckily for you, I like it.” 

Dewayne pulled her across the bed to him, moving a few of her drop curls from her face. It wasn’t often that he felt this stress free and calm, it was only when he was in her presence. No matter how many times she turned him down for something more serious, he couldn’t let go of her. When he met Hassan, he could see how much their affair affected him but Dewayne was honest with himself–no matter how much pain it would cause, he wouldn’t stop. The Nadine he knew and the Nadine everyone else were two different people to him. They needed to dig beyond that tough exterior, the armor she wore to the rest of the world and see the sweet, loving, brilliant woman on the inside. 

“I do not play coy with you.” She argued, meeting his gaze.

“You do so. Ducking my calls and texts, only responding when you want to. Youtube me up on my offer to go to dinner every once in a while and then nothing.”

She shrugged. “As you said that’s what you like about me. I’m just giving you what you want, DJ.”

He tickled her sides until she was out of breath and gasping for him to stop. “What I want is for you to stop playing coy with me and just be with me.”

“You’re married.” She answered softly.

“And so were you once upon a time. I keep telling you that all you have to do is say those magic words and she’s gone,” he reiterated, caressing her cheek softly. “I remember the first day I met you. Ava was what five had gone through so many appointments with therapists and shit until finally her doctor sent me to you. You remember that?”

She snorted. “How could I forget? You stormed into my office and demanded for her to be seen right then, instead of ten minutes later. And still ended up waiting the ten minutes because we argued back and forth.”

“I was tired of being jerked around from place to place,” he chuckled, “But you got your way anyway. I was so drawn to that fierceness that I would make her double appointments every week.”

“Mmhm and then after a month you finally asked me out.”

“And you told me it would never happen, that you were a married woman.” He recounted. “That didn’t stop me though. I always get what I want.”

She moved closer to him, resting  her head on his arm. “Hmm not always.”

“I’ll get it eventually. Now,” he sighed, “It’s been two days. Are you ready to tell me what’s bothering you?”

“It’s Moriah.”

“What’s going on with her? I’m surprised she hasn’t called yet. She usually calls when you haven’t been home.”

“She’s not in Texas anymore. She moved to Florida with that boyfriend of hers.”

He smiled. “The doctor? Alright, that’s great. Why don’t you sound happy? Isn’t that what you wanted for her?”

“No, not with the doctor. She’s with your cousin or whatever he is to you.” At that Dewayne frowned. The cousins he had in Florida he was sure were all married or taken in some fashion. “Isayah. Eddie’s son.”

“He’s out of jail?”

She rolled her eyes. “Yes, he’s been out for two almost three years now. You really don’t keep up with your family. Do you?”

“Not all of them, no. Do you know how many of them there are?” He asked with a chuckle. “But wow … I thought the doctor boy was gonna propose and everything.”

“He was and he did but she turned him down. She was and still is stuck on that jailbird boy.”

He kissed her head bringing her close for a quick hug, his laughter vibrating through his body and hers. “Listen, I know how badly you wanted her with someone else but sometimes as parents we have to let our kids make their own choices.”

“But she’s making the wrong ones and she’s mad at me because I’m trying to help her. Call herself not talking to me. I haven’t talked to her since Thanksgiving.”

“And by trying to help her, you mean trying to make the choice for her. Right?”

“Yes, but–,”

“No buts if she’s happy let her be. This is not that serious for you and her to have gone almost a year without talking, Nadine. I know you miss her and she misses you.”

There were lots of things Nadine neglected to tell Dewayne about, she didn’t want him to judge her the way her loved ones had done. While he knew about the small things Moriah did and how she was punished, Nadine never uttered a word to him about the pregnancy and the things she did because of it. The abortion, Moriah’s and hers, alone would be enough to push him over the edge knowing that he is a die hard pro-lifer. And that was just not a risk she was willing to take.

“I don’t know about her missing me but I do miss her.”

“See? So why don’t you put the need for control in the backseat and put your love for your daughter in the front?” He suggested kissing her neck.

“You mean stop trying to get her to break up with him and let them be together? Even if I know she’s gonna regret it later.”

He chucked, still kissing her neck. “Yes, that's exactly what I mean. Can you do that? If not for Moriah then do it for me. Please, beautiful?”

She stewed over the thought for a few minutes with her thoughts going fuzzy every few seconds because of his ministrations. “Fine, DJ, fine. I’ll lay off.”

“Good,” he cheered, moving to smile widely at her, “Now let me show you just how proud of you I am.”

The next morning as promised Toni waited for Dr. Miller. She stood beside him as he checked the little girl and went over her x-rays with the parents. The only thing he had yet to receive were the results from her blood work.

“Has she been feeling woozy or tired lately? Fever? Vomiting?” Dr. Miller asked, still checking nia.

Her mom spoke up first with a worried glance. “Not woozy but more tired than usual. Fever comes and goes and so does the vomiting.”

“How long after the surgery did this start?”

The parents looked at each other lost for an answer for a moment. “Umm,” the father stuttered trying to think, “Maybe a week or so after. But it started to get worse a few days ago.”

Dr. Miller nodded, giving the little girl a quick smile. “So it sounds like it could just be an after effects from the surgery and all the medicine she was on but just in case it is an infection, I’m gonna prescribe her some antibiotics.”

“How are we gonna know if it is an infection?” 

He gives the mother a reassuring smile. “Her blood work should be back by noon today. If there is anything suspicious in there Dr. Harris will give you a call immediately.”

“Okay, thank you so much. Really, thank you.”

“Just doing my job. Gotta make sure babygirl is able to eat her spaghetti and meatballs,” he joked, lightly pinching Nia’s cheek.

As they left the room Toni and Dr. Miller made eye contact and moved to an unoccupied area of the ED. He folded his arms across his chest waiting to hear her thoughts.

“I’m no doctor but I think she has an infection. Miller.”

“I am a doctor and I’m quite sure she does too. But I think it was caught in enough time to cure it.”

“Don’t you think Dr. Harris is gonna wanna know why he has bloodwork for her after he already told her it would be fine.”

He nodded, huffing. “Yes and I’m about to go take care of that. He’s always here early, I’m gonna go talk to him now before I leave.”

Toni nodded, still feeling uneasy. “I’ll let you know if anything happens while you’re gone. But you know I’m gonna have to tell Rye.”

“I know, just please keep her from trying to kill him until we can sort this shit out.”

Toni threw her hands up. “I make no promises but I will try.”

After only getting three hours of sleep, Moriah was awakened by her boyfriend asking her to bring him his gym bag that he’d forgotten. Declining his favor was on the tip of her tongue from being so tired but she knew he would have done it for her so she begrudgingly agreed. The performance center wasn’t as busy as it usually was and for that she was grateful. Less people see her with a messy ponytail, Zilla’s shirt and biker shorts—aka as a bum. She wandered around the center for her boyfriend, figuring he was busy since he wasn’t answering her calls or texts. About to give up and leave it in the nearest, safest spot she spotted Josh and called out to him. With their distance, she couldn’t hear him suck his teeth as he turned to face him.

“Hey! What are you doing here? Zay didn’t tell me you were in town.” She hugged him quickly, still not realizing he didn’t really hug her back.

“Workin. Came to help out.” He muttered. “Why you here? I thought you was a nurse.”

She laughed, realizing he asked because of the bag. “Oh, I do. I actually should be at home, just got off a few hours ago. Zay forgot his bag so here I am.”

“Mmm. I’ll give it to him.” He told her going to reach for the bag. “You can go back home.”

“Actually, I kinda wanted to see him since I was here. I been working nights so we been missing each other. Can I go with you?”

Josh’s lip turned up a bit at the thought of her staying any longer but he didn’t wanna make a scene so he told her to follow him. Moriah had to almost jog to keep up with him with how fast he was walking which she chalked up to his long legs. They stood in the doorway where the practice rings were located.

“Awe, it’s been so long since I’ve seen him practice. I used to go all the time in Texas.” She gushed keeping her eyes on him.

Josh had no desire to hear her go on about a relationship he didn’t agree with so since the both of them were here without any interruptions, he would speak his mind.

“You ever thought that maybe what yall got goin on ran its course?” He asked softly.

“Um huh?” She was extremely confused by his question. It was weird to her to say the least.

He shrugged. “You know like high school sweetheart shit where you been together so long that yall start to hate each other. Start bein malicious and shit.”

“Oh,” she giggled, “No, Josh. We argue here and there but we’re good.”

“You say that now. Being with a wrestler ain’t easy, Ma. Soon enough he gon be on main roster, traveling city to city without you. It gets real lonely for some of them, so lonely that they start to stray while you at home thinking they faithful,” he explained, keeping his eyes on Zilla in the ring. “And then you start to get bitter cause he’d rather be with them ring rats than you. And the more bitter you get, the more vindictive you get. Take his house, take his kids and treat them kids like shit because you so damn mad at him when you should have left years ago.”

Moriah turned her body to face him, shock and anger on her face. She knew he was alluding got more than just Zilla. He was comparing them to her parents. 

“I know that my mother isn’t a great person but I am not her. And my daddy never cheated on my mama,” she spat seething.

To her words, Josh chuckled. “Your daddy may not have cheated but that doesn’t make any of it better. It makes it worse actually.”

“What? What are you talking about, Josh?”

“Your daddy ain’t cheat so he was being a good ass husband to your mama and she still dogged his ass out which included treating you like shit.”

She rubbed her face out of frustration. “Just spit whatever it is you’re tryna say out.”

He shrugged, “It’s simple. I don’t like you and I don’t want you with my cousin. Shit was cute when yall was kids but it ain’t cute no more. I’m tryna save my cousin from unnecessary hurt.”

“You … you think that I would do any of the shit my mama did?”

“Apples don’t be fallin too far from the tree, ma.You say you love em so love em enough to save him from your bitter, destructive ass genes.”

Not waiting to hear her response, he walked off towards the ring with the gym bag in tow. Feeling herself about to cry Moriah rushed away ready to leave, when she walked out of the front doors she ran face first into Bronco, almost knocking him down.

“Damn where the fire at, sis?” He joked, helping her find her balance. When she lifted her head his smile dropped. “The fuck you cryin’ for, sis? What Zay do? I’ll beat his ass for you, friend or not.” She shook her head frantically at his words. “No don’t beat his ass or no it wasn’t him?”

“It wasn’t him,” she croaked. 

“Then what’s goin on? What is it?”

She broke down right as she opened her mouth to explain it to him. He wrapped her in a comforting hug, rocking her gently. “Tell me whats up? Big bruh can’t fix what you won’t tell me.”

“Its his cousin. He hates me.” She cried.

Bronco pulled back from the hug so he could see her face. “You talkin about Josh? Zay just told you that?”

Again she shook her head. “No, Josh just told me. I came to bring Zay’s bag and he basically told me I’m just like my mom and to save Zay some hurt and leave him. I’m not like her, I’ve never acted like her. I don’t know why he thinks that.”

Bronco used his shirt to wipe her face then hugged her again. “Listen, don’t worry about his ass. You put him in the category with ya mom of people who don’t exist to you. That whole family love you, ya pops love you, me and T old ass love you,” he chuckled along with her, “And most importantly Zay love you. Aight? If he don’t, fuck em. You hear me?”

“I hear you,” she answered softly. “Thank you, B.”

“Ain’t nothin,” he shrugged, smiling down at her, “That’s what big bruhs do but if you really, really wanna thank me you can make some dinner before you go to work tonight. Ima be over there with Javi and you know his ass can’t cook for shit.”

She laughed, punching him in the arm. “He tries but okay, I’ll make dinner. Thank you again and please don’t tell Zay.”

“Oh I ain’t. He’ll take that man head off about you in here. But just know he gon catch that man at some point and I hope I’m there to help.”

Parting ways, they hugged and he kissed her head once more before she left. She headed for Target instead of going home to get what she needed to put together an easy dinner for the boys while Bronco went inside, headed for the practice rings. He stood shoulder to shoulder with Josh, not saying a word to him. He knew the older man could feel the animosity rolling off him and that’s exactly what he wanted.

“What’s up, Uce?” Josh greeted respectfully.

Bronco shrugged. “Nada.”

Getting the hint Josh went back to silently watching the squabble until it was done. When Zila approached them Josh offered his bag to him almost as a peace offering then moved in to hug him which the younger cousin accepted. 

“Fat still here?” He asked, slapping hands with Bronco.

“Nah. She gave me the bag and left.”

Bronco stared at his audacity. He was really about to sit here and lie but he remained quiet after his promises to Moriah.

“She ain’t say shit? You ain’t say shit to her, did you?” Zilla questioned as he unblocked his phone and went through his messages.

Josh shook his head. “Just that she wanted to talk to you since yall been missing each other cause of yall schedules and then something about being tired.”

Zilla nodded even though he was skeptical. “You straight, B? You look like somebody pissed you off?”

“I’m straight, man. People just got a lot of audacity these days. I ran into sis on her way out,” he offered up staring at Josh. “She must really miss you man. She was damn near in tears.”

“Damn, prolly do.” He agreed, missing the stare down. “Me and her ain’t actually seen each other and had a conversation since Tuesday night. Thank God she only got two more days overnight.”

“Right, I just had to remind her that you love her and ain’t shit gon change about that. Not working overnight or nothing else.”

“I appreciate tha–bruh what the fuck is this?” he exclaimed loudly trying to cut the loud video playing from his phone off. His outburst broke Bronco and Josh’s stare. “This shit, man.” They moved to stand on either side of him so they could see his phone. “What the fuck is wrong with her?”

Bronco sucked his teeth. “I know that ain’t who I think it is.”

“Yeah its her ass.”

“Her who?” Josh asked, unable to tell from what he could see of the video.

Zilla sucked his teeth. “You bet not say shit about it to nobody or ima beat yo ass, mane. I’m serious.”

“I ain’t, uce. Who is it?”

“Its Gia delusional ass.”

“How you know it’s her? All you can see is titties and her pussy. Her face ain’t in it.” Josh asked, genuinely confused. Zilla exited the video then went to the messages she sent along with it, Josh read them aloud. “Missing you so much. Wish you were here. This is what you do to me. The hell?”

“And then her ass gon say it was a accident,” Bronco scoffed reading further down. “That shit wasn’t no fucking accident. You gotta tell, sis.”

“Man, don’t tell her shit.” Josh countered earning a stare from Bronco. “Look, if you tell her that it’s only gonna cause more problems. She gonna wanna know how the girl got your number, why she feel comfortable sending that shit, and a bunch of other shit. You wanna keep her ass so damn bad for whatever reason so just delete that shit and act like you never saw it.”

“Aye what you mean for whatever reason, bruh? They in love, that’s why he wanna keep my sis around,” Bronco barked.

“Whether I agree with the shit or not, he know I’m right. Delete that shit or you gon see Nadine ass come outta her quick as hell.”

Zilla pushed his cousin off reflex. He had been being cordial for the simple fact that he was at work and they were family. “Say, bruh. I already told you bout that shit. Watch your mouth about her.”

“Okay and I’m tryna help yo ass, uce, regardless of how I feel about the shit. I’m not tryna steer you wrong,” Josh reiterated, pushing his little cousin’s hands off of him. “Delete that shit and move on so you and her can stay in lalaland for a little longer.”

Knowing his friend, Bronco quickly stepped between them pushing Zilla back. As much as Bronco wanted to beat Josh’s ass, he knew better than to do it at work and with so many witnesses. 

“Look, don’t listen to him. Tell Rye the truth then we’ll go from there. Even if we gotta get Toni to keep her from beat that delusional bitch ass.”

Josh threw his hands up. “Who you gon listen to him or your big uce? I’m telling you delete that shit and keep it movin.”

Booker calling out for all three of them for something unrelated breaks up the back and forth. They act like everything is okay to get through their very long day of practice. 

While Dewayne slept, Nadine snuck out of the bedroom to the bathroom to call Thomas. She weighed her options with Dewayne’s help and decided she would give everything a rest. It was starting to drain her anyway.

“I’m glad you called, I’ve got something to tell you.”

“Uhn uhn, whatever it is can wait,” she whispered.

“No, I promise it’s important, Ms. Nadine. I promise.” He pleaded.

She shushed him, waiting until he was completely quiet to talk. “I’m gonna take a step back from everything and think about things. I sincerely appreciate you for helping me out with this. And I know what you’re thinking I’m not giving up, just taking a well needed break,” she explained softly. “You take a break too. You focus on finishing the rest of your last year. Okay?”

“But I think you should hear this.”

“I don’t, Thomas, It’s okay, I'm not upset, just in need of a break. I’ll talk to you later.” She ended their call ignoring him calling her name. Pausing things felt almost right to her, made her feel a little better about things. Now all she needed to do was get things in order and make a trip or two to the east coast.

Thomas stood frozen in the middle of the aisle in Target, staring at his phone. He knew he fucked up and when Nadine found out about it she was going to hurt him. A cart hitting his brought him out of his thoughts.

“Sorry,” the person haphazardly threw out. Her voice startled him but he smiled nonetheless.

“It’s alright, Moriah. Its actually good I ran into you.’

She turned to glare at him. “If I would have known it was you I wouldn’t have bothered to apologize. Leave me alone.”

“Don’t be like that. I just need a few seconds,” he called out following her to the next aisle. “Please, Moriah.”

“First, I told you to only talk to me at work if you had to. Second, I told you to call me Nurse DeBreaux. Third, I know Zay and Bronco made it very clear that you are to stay your ass far away from me,” she spat not in the mood. With her emotions till all over the place from her interaction with Josh, she didn't need this shit with Thomas to add onto it.

He abandoned his cart, going to stand in front of hers. “Listen, it’s serious. It's about the little girl who had hernia surgery. Both of our careers could be in jeopardy.”

“What?” She snapped. “Spit it the hell out.”

“I think she developed an infection from something we did.”

She laughed like it was the funniest thing she had ever heard in her life, tears ran down her face.

“What’s … what’s so funny?”

“You!” She laughed. “Don’t you dare try to put me in anything that you did, Thomas. I did everything just how Dr. Harris asked me to. You were the one doing things when he turned away.”

“I did not,” he argued.

She glared at him. “You hear what I said. And if you try to bring me into this, whatever Zay promised to do to you is gonna seem like a walk in the fucking park when I’m through with you. Now, move!”

Moriah pushed her cart past him lightly grazing his toes when he moved. She was regretting ever getting back out of bed to take Zilla his bag because then her head wouldn’t be pounding, her feelings wouldn’t be hurt and she would be resting like she wanted. Her mind wondered if it was all really with the trouble, she knew it was though she was just in her feelings. One thing she was sure of was that her and Zilla needed to have two conversations. One about Thomas and the other about their relationship and keeping his cousin out of it.

[toasttt11]

worried

September 2, 2022

Hayden was filling up her water bottle with ice getting ready to watch a show with Ryan who was sitting on her couch.

When she heard Archie throwing up, again, “Arch.” Hayden called out worriedly as she dropped her bottle and rushed over to her dog.

Since a few days before they came back to Edmonton Archie hasn’t been feeling the best and Hayden noticed she’s been sleeping a lot and not eating as much and since they got back home in Edmonton she’s been throwing up the past few days. Hayden has just through Archie is sick or had an upset stomach.

Hayden’s stomach dropped as she saw Archie, she has thrown up blood up, “Ryan!” Hayden yelled out her voice cracking, she quickly crouched down next to Archie, “Your okay Arch.” Hayden softly cooed running a hand across her fur as Archie threw up again.

Ryan rushed over and saw the blood in front of Archie and Hayden’s worried and scared face, “We need to take her to the vet.” Ryan quickly spoke knowing it is not good for blood to be in vomit.

Hayden didn’t answer her face spaced out as she petted Archie.

“Hayden.” Ryan snapped shaking her shoulders, “We need to take Archie to the vet.” Ryan sternly told her making her shakily nodded and stand up slowly.

Ryan picked up Archie as Hayden was shaking like crazy, they hurried out of the house and to Hayden’s car, Ryan set Archie in the back seat making Hayden sit next to her.

Hayden kept her hand gently petting Archie the entire time as Ryan drove them to the emergency pet clinic.

Ryan picked Archie up again the second he quickly got out of the car and they both rushed into the emergency room calling for help.

Some of the technicians ran out and brought a small dog gurney rushing Archie to the back especially after Ryan said the dog puked up blood, that was an extremely dangerous symptom.

Ryan rested a hand on Hayden’s arm and guided her to one of the empty seats, he could see how much she was still shaking like crazy.

Ryan sat down with her and gently rubbed her back as Hayden let out a harsh breaths trying to steady her breath after she watched her dog get rushed back with the vets.

The last time she sat in a waiting room like this her parents and unborn sibling died. She couldn’t deal with loosing another part of her family again, not yet.

Hayden grabbed Ryan’s hand gripping tightly trying to stop herself from spiraling even more, Archie is the last thing her parents ever gave her before they passed. Hayden grew incredibly close to Archie especially after her parents died and she can’t imagine a life with her dog.

Ryan softly squeezed her hand every few minutes reminding her that he’s there but he did not try to talk to her knowing it’s not gonna help her.

“Hayden Blake.” One of the Vets came out holding a clipboard.

Hayden quickly jumped up with Ryan right on her heel, “Is she okay?” Hayden quickly rushed out her hands trembling hoping she wouldn’t have to hear bad news in the waiting room again.

“Archie is perfectly fine,” The vet reassured Hayden making Hayden let out a huge sigh of relief, “It’s good you brought her in and that was the right choice.”

“What’s wrong with her?” Hayden quickly asked in concern knowing something must be wrong if her dog threw up blood.

“Nothing. Archie is pregnant.” The vet calmly told her.

“Pregnant!” Hayden’s voice raised in shock, “I-”Hayden looked flabbergasted.

“Yes mostly likely only a few weeks, was she around any dogs who weren’t fixed?” The vet asked.

Hayden made a thinking face, “I took her to the dog park?” Hayden spoke knowing that’s the only time Archie was around other dogs the last few weeks.

“Then she most likely got pregnant then.” The vet informed Hayden making her nod.

“Can i see her?” Hayden asked wanting to see with her own two eyes that her dog is okay.

“Of course.” The vet smiled and gestured for them to follow her.

“The symptoms she was having were pregnancy symptoms?” Hayden checked with the vet.

“Yes they are common symptoms with pregnancies, Archie seems to be doing very well and we will schedule more check ups to make sure she stays that way.”

Hayden nodded at the vet’s word and stepped inside seeing Archie sleeping on the low table in the room, Hayden kneeled down next to Archie and rested her forehead on Archie’s head, Hayden sniffled feeling incredibly relieved knowing Archie was gonna be okay.

“You’re gonna be a mom Archie girl.” Hayden spoke softly as she lifted her head and scratched Archie’s head as Archie woke up and started kicking Hayden’s cheek, “Your okay.” Hayden mumbled smiling as Archie licked her.

Ryan walked out with the vet going to sign the papers letting Hayden have down time with Archie.

Hayden pulled out her phone and clicked on her family’s group chat and started a facetime.

Immediately Jack, Luke and Quinn all joined and Ellen joined with Jim sitting next to her.

“Haydes.” Ellen grinned slowly faded as she looked at Hayden’s screen, “Where are you?”

“The vet. Don’t worry Archie is okay.” Hayden quickly reassured when she saw all of their worried faces.

“What happened?” Luke quickly asked looking worriedly that they are the vet even is Archie is okay.

“Archie wasn’t feeling well and we took her to the vet, she pregnant! She’s gonna have puppies!” Hayden smiled looking excited as she petted Archie softly.

“Puppies!” Jack beamed looking incredibly happy.

“Are you serious!” Luke leaned closer to the screen.

“Yup. Archie’s gonna have puppies soon.” Hayden softly answered.

“Oh that’s adorable.” Ellen softly smiled she has never had a dog before pregnant and it was exciting.

“It is.” Hayden smiled feeling so much better now knowing Archie would be okay.

[weaveandwood]

Midwinter in Waterdeep: Part Two

Gale/Tav | Angst & Pining | Read on AO3 | Read Part One | Read Part Three

Summary:

After the defeat of the Netherbrain, Gale Dekarios was a wizard of intentionally lesser renown, a respected professor at Blackstaff Academy, and engaged to the love of his life. His life was enchanted until he came home to an empty tower, and he has been seeing ghosts ever since.

He saw her ghost everywhere.  She haunted him the first day when he got home from teaching. The house was too quiet, and as he set his bag down in the entryway, he saw the ring. He saw the note. I’m sorry. I can’t do this. 

AN: There will be a Part 3 to conclude this and it will be out later this weekend. Thank you all so much for your support on what was supposed to be a one-shot that has taken over my brain completely.

He saw her ghost everywhere. 

She haunted him the first day when he got home from teaching. The house was too quiet, and as he set his bag down in the entryway, he saw the ring. He saw the note. I’m sorry. I can’t do this. He knew her leaving was inevitable the more their conversations became stilted, the more they floated in each other's orbits, the more foreign her touch became. But the tower still smelled like her, still felt like her presence was just around the corner. Still felt like they could have had a chance to fix things. He heard her in his head all night long as he wept in his study. 

It’s not real. She’s not here.  

She haunted him on his walk back from visiting his mother two weeks later, the first time he left his house. He had tried to lay low after she left him, but her name followed him like a poltergeist from the mouths of those he passed on the street, whispering to their friends about who he was, who she was. Wondering how it ended.

It's not real. She’s not here. 

She haunted him when he was in the market four months after she left. He didn’t want to be there. Everything reminded him of her - the cart they would visit once a tenday to buy her favorite sweet rolls, the jewelry store he visited in secret to get her silver ring that was still on the entry table gathering dust. He saw a flash of her hair color and froze. When time regained its ability to move forward he strained his neck, pushing through the crowd searching for her, unable to breathe. Could it be her? Where had she been all these weeks? Was she okay? Had she moved on with someone else who was less tied down by routine? Was she even still alive? 

It wasn’t her, of course. He didn’t go to the market again after that. He still hasn’t.

It’s not real. She’s not here. 

Seasons passed. Festivals, new apprentices, weekly dinners with colleagues - life fell into a rhythm that helped him move forward. He saw her ghost less and less. It had been almost 6 months since the last haunting. He had finally tucked the silver ring into a drawer two tendays ago, an attempt to bury the what ifs and if onlys and begin to exorcize her from his memory at last. Midwinter in Waterdeep was upon him, and he was eager to engage in festivities that evening with colleagues, now friends. A few cups of wine and he felt like the old Gale, showing off a little by using his well-honed magic to create fireworks to fill the room with light and color.

As the illusion sparked and fizzled out to the delight and applause of the other partygoers, a familiar wisp settled itself in the peripheries of his mind. She always loved his illusions, from their first night together with the aurora and the sparkling stars to the smaller ones he created for her everyday in the beginning. If he had kept trying to make her happy, would she have left? If he had noticed her pulling away as he settled into the routine of his life, could he have brought her closer instead of making her feel like her only option was to run?

He set his cup down, the wine steering him toward paths his brain wasn’t ready to go back down yet, preferring to stay focused on the revelry at hand. The snow flurries caught his eye through the large picture window in the front room. He had always loved the snow and moved to the window to watch it in contemplative silence.

He froze, his eyes widened, breath caught in his throat.

Her ghost. Haunting him even here, even now, after all this time. Her hair, her eyes, everything just as he remembered from the morning she left him, standing across the street looking into the window he was currently occupying. Looking at him. He saw the ghost’s eyes widen, saw her quickly turn to walk away, to escape discovery. He wanted to hesitate. He wanted to accept it was just another vision brought on by too many cups of wine, another falsehood of his imagination...but one tiny spark of hope pulled at his mind. 

The ghost had never reacted to him like that before. 

He didn’t remember moving. He didn’t remember running out of the door, the rest of the partygoers gasping as the usually reserved Gale Dekarios knocked over a chair and pushed people out of his way. He didn’t remember the bite of the cold air. He didn’t remember yelling “Stop!” as the ghost moved quickly away, trying to toy with him, as always. He didn’t remember running down the street to catch up to the ghost, preparing himself for it to disappear as usual. He didn’t remember the desperation on his face or in his voice as he reached for her.

He remembered grabbing on to the ghost’s hand, feeling it solid in his. His heart pounded.

“Wait. Please,” he said, panting. The ghost turned around, but it wasn’t a ghost at all. 

She was real.  She was here.  

“Gale,” she whispered, tears in her eyes.

“You’re real. You’re here,” he whispered back, wrapping her in his arms, committing to memory how she felt as he held her tightly for the first time in over a year. It was only then he realized that her absence had permeated every facet of his being and he felt like he could finally breathe again. His lips crashed against hers, time standing still for the two of them as he tangled his fingers in her hair.

She took a step back, breaking their contact, looking down at the ground.

He knew. “You’re leaving again, aren’t you?”

“Tomorrow,” she nodded, a tear falling down her cheek. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't have-"

He placed his hands on both sides of her face, brushing away her sadness before kissing her deeply one more time.

Real. Here. 

“Then let me have tonight.”