#there is nothing VISIBLY wrong with my throat so they just threw it all under my ongoing mental health label i think
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satans-knitwear · 1 year ago
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😷 just venting abt dumb health stuff, pay no mind
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thefailedabortioon · 7 months ago
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|| Carlos de Vil & a crush • X F!Reader
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warnings: n/a
authors note: it isnt mentioned who your parent is its up to you for that! mb if its messy i havent written an x reader in like an eon LMAO.
summary: carlos de vil tries to deal with a crush and has his first interaction since first seeing her. (alternate title: jay is an amazing wingman.)
word count: roughly 900 words
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A red ball bounced off the wall of Carlos’ and Jay’s shared dorm. Dude chased after it, tongue sticking out as he panted. When Carlos received the ball back, it’d been completely soaked in dog slobber, earning a disgusted groan from him.
“Ugh, Dude.”
“What? I don’t have hands for paws!” The Brussels Griffon retorted.
Carlos rolled his eyes and turned over to Jay, who’d recently set up a little punching bag for training. It’s all he ever came to the room to do besides sleeping.
“What am I gonna do, man? Do you think she even likes me?” Carlos had recently taken a sudden interest in a girl that’d passed by him in the Great Hall… flowing dark hair, elegant clothes (she actually managed to make the uniform look good), and her face. God, her face. Carlos could stare at her for days. She’s seriously all he’d been thinking about.
“Chillax, she probably doesn’t even know your name.” Jay realized what he’d said and stopped hitting the punching bag for a second to look at his woeful friend, “Or… she does! And she’s curious about you too!” He tried to keep his spirits high and uplifting, surprising behavior for the guy if Carlos was being honest.
“I’m doomed.”
“Just talk to her, you coward!” Dude yipped, beady black eyes piercing into Carlos’ own. “You need to get to know her name first before you start thinking way ahead, you know?!”
Jay cut in, “Wait, you don’t even know her name?!” He cackled, running his both hands through his hair in amusement.
“Shut up! Oh my, God!” Carlos threw a pillow towards Jay, hiding his face behind his hands.
“It’s pathetic. Really!” Dude barked out, making biscuits on the pillow Carlos threw at Jay.
Carlos turned to his side, facing the wall. He hugged himself tightly, crossing his arms over his chest for comfort. He brought his knees down, letting his legs hang from the foot of the bed.
It didn’t take a while for Jay to finally take pity on him. He sat beside Carlos on his bed, muscular arms resting behind his back. “Sounds to me you really… like her.” If it wasn’t any more obvious. Jay snickered to himself. “What if I lend you a hand?”
At that, Carlos immediately shot up. “What?! What’re you going to do?! Talk to her?!”
“No, you idiot! You’re talking to her.” Jay said with a smug smile. Carlos wasn’t too fond of the idea, what if he messed up? What if the wrong words slipped out? Everything and anything could go wrong!
“No. No! I can’t! She’ll hate me!”
“Carlos.” Jay pulled Carlos to face him, hands gripping his shoulders, his eyes dug deep into Carlos’ own, staring back intensely at two circles of brown. “Man. The hell. Up.”
The other let out an exasperated groan, pulling away from Jay’s grip to let himself fall back flat on the bed.
It shouldn’t have been that hard, right? Jay had already given Carlos a set of questions he can start off with, scribbled messily on the palm of his hand. So the conversation can go smoothly from there.
He turned to look at Jay who hid in a potted plant not too far behind, an earpiece tucked under his long hair. Carlos also wore an earpiece, a lot more visible than Jay’s but it shouldn’t matter.
Jay gave Carlos an assuring thumbs up signal as he ducked down in the leaves.
Carlos took a deep breath, raising a fist to knock against a dorm room, when suddenly it swung open violently, revealing you. The De Vil boy had nothing to say, words getting stuck in his throat.
You both continued to stare at each other before you finally broke the awkward silence. “Uh, can I… help you?” You asked tentatively, fixing your hair at the sight of a visitor.
“Ah- Y-Yes! Uhh…” Carlos swallowed a large lump in his throat, eyes darting back and forth towards a large potted plant and the girl that stood before him. Her. “I’ve… I’m sure I’ve seen you around before, I never c-caught your name though.” He finally spoke, peaking not-so-discretely at his palm.
You gave him your name uncertainly, “And you are…”
“C—“
You cut him off abruptly with a snap of your fingers, “Carlos De Vil! Yeah, I’ve heard of you.”
Carlos winced, “What have you heard about me exactly?”
“Oh, uh…” You hesitated in answering, fidgeting with your fingers, “Not much. You play Tourney right? You’re on the team?” Carlos lit up at the mention of the sport.
“Yeah, yeah! I play! Do- Do you?”
“Um, they don’t allow girls on the team.” You smiled sheepishly and god, did Carlos almost faint on the spot.
“Right…”
“Is that it?”
Carlos paused, dusting his clothes off and straightening up. “Yeah- That’s- That’s all.”
You tilted your head to the side in curiosity, as if waiting for Carlos to say more, but you shrugged and closed the door behind you, excusing yourself. “It was nice talking to you. Bye.”
You shot him a grin, and you could swear his cheeks started turning pink. A giggle only left your lips as you walked past the boy and a mysterious potted plant that suspiciously had a familiar beanie thrown over it. But you paid no mind and strolled away. Cute.
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requests are open!!
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movingmusically · 2 months ago
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Caught Feeling - Chapter 11
Synopsis:
A sleepless night leaves Y/N grappling with the growing distance between her and Hank. As her day unfolds, the weight of uncertainty and loss settles in. When Hank finally reaches out, Y/N realises that things between them may be more complicated than she thought.
Word count: 4,690
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The morning sunlight filtered through the curtains, but it did nothing to chase away the heaviness that had settled in my chest. I hadn’t slept well, if I’d slept at all. Every time I closed my eyes, I saw Hank—stumbling, drunk, and so far from the man I thought I knew. I’d never seen him like that before, it felt like something had cracked inside him, and no matter how hard I tried, I couldn’t reach him.
I knew something had shifted recently, ever since that night at the bar with Natalie. But we’d only been together for a little over a month, and I’d brushed off the little things—his hesitation, the way he’d seemed distant when Natalie called him a “total catch.” He’d laughed it off at the time, but I’d seen it, that flicker of something behind his eyes. Doubt.
Last night had been a disaster. I’d managed to get him home, barely. He was so drunk, I couldn’t even get a coherent sentence out of him. And now, I was left wondering what the hell had gone wrong.
I glanced at my phone. Still nothing. No messages, no missed calls. Just silence.
I felt the ache of uncertainty, twisting tighter with each passing hour. I kept asking myself if this was just his way of pulling back, of deciding he didn’t want things to go any further. We hadn’t been together long, so maybe I didn’t know him as well as I thought. Maybe I’d read too much into the connection we had. But it didn’t feel that way. This felt different—special, even if it was still new. I wasn’t ready to give up on that, not yet. But what if he was?
Pushing the thought away, I forced myself out of bed. I had a shift at the clinic, and if there was one thing that could distract me from the mess in my personal life, it was work. I threw on my scrubs, grabbed my bag, and headed out, the dread still lingering at the edges of my mind.
The clinic was already busy when I arrived, the usual bustle of appointments and emergencies filling the air. I threw myself into the work, trying to push away the thoughts of Hank, but it was hard. My mind kept drifting back to last night, to the image of him barely able to stand, his words slurring together.
I moved through the motions—checking charts, giving medications, talking to worried pet owners—but none of it felt real. It was like I was operating on autopilot, my body going through the motions while my mind was somewhere else entirely.
Then, just after lunch, the shelter brought in a dog. The moment I saw him, my heart sank. He was emaciated, ribs visible through his matted fur, his breathing shallow and weak.
“He was abandoned,” the shelter volunteer said, her voice tight with worry. “We found him in a yard. He’s barely hanging on.”
I nodded, my throat tightening as I knelt beside the dog. His eyes fluttered open, and for a moment, I saw something there—a spark, a fight still left in him. It wasn’t much, but it was something.
Maybe we can save him.
The next few hours were a blur of frantic activity. IV fluids, oxygen, medications—I threw everything I had at him, desperate to pull him back from the brink. Every time his vitals dipped, I felt my heart race, my chest tightening with the fear that we were losing him.
For a while, it seemed like we might have a chance. His breathing steadied, his heart rate picked up, and I started to believe we could save him. I clung to that hope, trying to convince myself that we were turning a corner. That he might pull through.
But just as quickly as it had come, that hope slipped away.
His body gave out, collapsing under the weight of too much neglect. I could see it in his eyes—the spark that had been there before was gone. He had nothing left to fight with.
I stood there, my hands trembling as I watched him slip away. We’d done everything we could, but it hadn’t been enough. It never felt like enough.
I don’t know how long I stood there, staring at the lifeless body on the table. My throat felt tight, my chest heavy with the familiar ache of loss.
I’d seen animals die before—it was part of the job. But today, it hit harder than usual. Maybe it was because I’d let myself believe he had a chance. Or maybe it was because, deep down, I couldn’t shake the feeling that I was losing something else too.
Hank.
I tried to push the thought away, but it stuck to me like a shadow. No matter what I did, I couldn’t escape the gnawing fear that I was watching something slip away, something I couldn’t save.
I pulled off my gloves, tossing them in the bin, and took a shaky breath. The clinic was still buzzing around me, but I felt disconnected from it all. Like I was moving through a fog, the noise and movement around me blurred into the background.
It wasn’t until I was finally heading out the door that I glanced at my phone. The screen lit up with a message, and my heart skipped a beat when I saw Hank’s name.
I’m sorry about last night. I have the night off. Can we talk?
For a moment, I just stood there, staring at the words. I wasn’t sure if I was relieved or terrified. Part of me had been dreading this conversation, but I knew we couldn’t avoid it. I needed to know where his head was at, why he’d been pulling away. Why he had let things get this bad.
I typed out a quick reply, my hands trembling as I hit send.
Yeah, come over when you can.
As I started walking home, the weight of the day pressed down on me. The loss of the rescue dog lingered at the edges of my mind, blending with my fear of losing Hank. I didn’t know if I could handle another loss, especially not him.
When I heard the knock at the door, my heart jumped into my throat. I stood there for a moment, staring at the door, trying to steady my breathing. This was it. The conversation I’d been dreading all day. I wasn’t sure if I was ready for it, but I couldn’t avoid it any longer.
I opened the door to see Hank standing there, looking just as tired and worn down as I felt. He gave me a small, almost apologetic smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
“Hey,” he said softly.
“Hey,” I replied, stepping aside to let him in. The air between us felt thick, heavy with everything unsaid.
Hank walked into the living room, rubbing the back of his neck as he glanced around. He looked uncomfortable, like he didn’t know where to start. I sat down on the couch, waiting for him to join me. He hesitated for a second, then sat across from me, leaving a noticeable gap between us.
The silence stretched out, neither of us wanting to break it. I couldn’t take it anymore.
“You wanted to talk?” I asked, my voice quieter than I intended.
Hank nodded, but he didn’t look at me right away. He stared at the floor, his hands resting on his knees as if he was trying to figure out how to explain himself. Finally, he let out a long sigh.
“I’m sorry,” he muttered. “About last night. About… all of it. I know I messed up.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my emotions in check. “Yeah, you did,” I said softly. “What happened, Hank? Why did you get like that?”
He ran a hand through his hair, his shoulders slumping. “I don’t know,” he admitted. “I just… it’s been building up. Everything.”
“Since Natalie?” I asked, the question hanging in the air between us.
He nodded slowly, his eyes still fixed on the floor. “Yeah. I didn’t realise it at first, but when she said that stuff… called me a ‘total catch,’ I just… it hit me. I’m not a catch, Y/N. I’m a mess.”
I blinked, confused. “What are you talking about?”
He finally looked up, his eyes filled with a mix of guilt and frustration. “You don’t know everything about me. You don’t know the shit I’ve done, the mistakes I’ve made. I’ve been trying to hold it together, trying to be someone I’m not, but it’s getting harder.”
I felt my heart tighten in my chest. “Hank, you don’t have to be perfect. I never expected you to be. I just… I need you to talk to me. I need you to let me in.”
His jaw clenched, and he looked away again, his hands balling into fists on his knees. “I’m scared,” he said quietly. “I’m scared that once you know everything, you’ll leave. You’ll see what a screw-up I really am, and you’ll walk away. And I can’t… I can’t handle that.”
I shook my head, feeling the tears prick at the corners of my eyes. “You don’t get it, Hank. I’m already scared. I’ve been scared since the minute you started pulling away. You not talking to me, not letting me in… that’s what’s hurting me. Not your past.”
He let out a shaky breath, his eyes filled with so much pain, it made my heart ache. “I’m sorry,” he whispered. “I didn’t mean to push you away.”
I reached out, placing my hand on his arm. “Then stop pushing. Let me help.”
For a moment, it seemed like he might. His eyes softened, and his shoulders relaxed slightly under my touch. But then, just as quickly, the walls went back up.
“I’m going back to San Francisco,” he said suddenly, his voice flat. “Just for a week or so. I need to clear my head.”
I pulled my hand back, shocked. “You’re leaving?”
He nodded, his expression pained. “Yeah. I need space. I need time to figure things out.”
I stared at him, my mind racing. I couldn’t believe what I was hearing. He was just… leaving? After everything, after this conversation, he was still walking away?
“What about us?” I asked, my voice barely a whisper. “What happens when you come back?”
He hesitated, his eyes flickering with uncertainty. “I don’t know,” he admitted, his voice thick. “I just… I need to get my head straight before I drag you down with me.”
A lump formed in my throat, and I had to fight back the tears that were threatening to spill over. “And you think leaving is going to fix that?”
“I don’t know what else to do,” he said, sounding defeated. “I’m a mess, Y/N. I don’t know how to fix it.”
I shook my head, the frustration bubbling up inside me. “You’re not a mess, Hank. You’re just scared. But you’re not going to fix anything by running away.”
He sighed, leaning back against the couch, his eyes closing for a moment. “I just need time.”
A part of me wanted to scream, to tell him that I needed him to stay, that I couldn’t handle him leaving. But another part—the one I hated admitting existed—whispered that maybe this was my fault. Maybe I wasn’t enough to keep him here. I’d always been too quiet, too reserved, not good enough at communicating. I’d been through this before. People left when they realised I wasn’t what they wanted, when I didn’t say the right things, or open up enough.
I took a shaky breath, my voice breaking slightly as I asked, “Is this because of me? Am I the reason you’re pulling away?”
Hank’s eyes snapped open, and he immediately shook his head. “No. God, no, Y/N, this isn’t about you. It’s me. It’s all the shit I’ve been carrying around for years. I just didn’t want you to see it.”
I bit my lip, trying to keep the tears from spilling over. “But that’s the problem, Hank. You’re not letting me in. And I keep wondering if I’m not enough. If I’m not saying the right things or being the person you need. Every time someone’s left before, it’s because I wasn’t enough.”
His expression softened, and he reached for my hand, his touch warm and gentle. “That’s not it. You’re more than enough. I’m the one who’s screwed up here. I’m the one who’s afraid you’ll figure out that I’m not good enough for you.”
He sighed, leaning back against the couch, his eyes closing for a moment. “I just need time.”
I swallowed hard, trying to keep my voice steady. “What about Bud? Do you want me to take care of him while you’re gone?”
His eyes opened, and for the first time since he’d arrived, he looked surprised. “You’d do that?”
“Of course,” I said softly. “I want to help, Hank. Even if you’re leaving.”
He gave me a small, tired smile, but it didn’t reach his eyes. “You don’t have to do that.”
“I know,” I replied, my voice firm. “But I want to.”
He nodded, his smile fading. “Thanks. I’ll figure out the rest when I get back.”
*
The next morning came faster than I expected. I woke up to the sound of a soft knock at my door. My heart skipped as I sat up, already knowing it was Hank. He’d messaged me late last night, saying he’d drop Bud off before heading to the airport.
I pulled on a hoodie and opened the door to see him standing there, holding Bud’s carrier. Hank looked as worn out as I felt, shadows under his eyes and an exhausted slump to his shoulders.
“Hey,” he said quietly, offering me a small, almost apologetic smile.
“Hey,” I replied, stepping aside to let him in.
Bud was quiet, peeking out from the carrier, and as Hank set it down, the silence between us felt thick, like everything from last night was hanging in the air. Neither of us knew how to navigate this. It wasn’t just Bud that was being left behind—it felt like pieces of Hank were too.
He ran a hand through his hair, looking around the room as if searching for something to say. “I’ll be back in a week or so… depending.”
“Yeah,” I said softly, not knowing what else to add.
There was a long pause, both of us standing there, not quite able to say goodbye but knowing it was inevitable. I felt like I should reach for him, pull him into a hug or at least tell him it was okay—but the words wouldn’t come. I didn’t know how to offer comfort when I was just as lost.
Hank exhaled deeply, his eyes lingering on me before he picked up his bag. “Take care of Bud,” he said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“I will,” I promised, my throat tightening.
For a second, it seemed like he might say something else—something more—but then he just nodded and walked toward the door.
Before I could stop myself, I blurted out, “Hank… I’m here, okay? Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’ll be here.”
He froze for a moment, his hand on the door handle, and without turning around, he said, “Thanks, Y/N. I’ll keep that in mind.”
And with that, he was gone.
I stood there for a long time after the door closed, the silence in the apartment feeling louder than it had ever been. Bud meowed softly from his carrier, pulling me out of my thoughts. I crouched down, opening the door to let him out, and he padded over to me, rubbing against my leg.
At least I wasn’t completely alone.
I needed air. I needed to move. Anything to clear my head from the suffocating fog that had settled over me. I pulled on my running shoes and grabbed my keys, hoping that maybe a run would help me process everything—or at least make me feel something other than the numbness that had taken root in my chest.
The morning was cool, the crisp air biting at my skin as I started down the street. I focused on the rhythm of my feet hitting the pavement, the steady thud-thud-thud that echoed in my ears. For a while, I let myself get lost in the movement, trying to outrun the thoughts swirling in my mind.
Was he really going to come back?
I didn’t know. And that terrified me.
It felt like he’d left more than just Bud behind—he’d left a part of himself. The part that had started to open up, the part I was falling for. I couldn’t shake the feeling that maybe… maybe he wouldn’t come back. That this “week” was just a way to let things drift apart, to leave without saying it out loud.
I picked up my pace, pushing harder, the burn in my legs distracting me from the ache in my chest. But no matter how fast I ran, I couldn’t escape the fear that was gnawing at me.
Without realising it, I found myself slowing to a stop. My breath came in sharp bursts, my legs aching from the exertion. I leaned forward, hands on my knees, trying to catch my breath. It wasn’t until I straightened up and glanced around that I realised where I was.
Paul’s.
The faded neon sign hung above the door, the windows dark. I hadn’t even noticed I’d ended up here. Of all the places. I stared at the entrance for a moment, memories of the nights I’d spent with Hank at this bar flooding back. This was where we’d met, where everything had started.
And now, it felt like I was standing outside a closed chapter.
I let out a shaky breath, debating whether to keep running or just turn back. But before I could decide, a voice called out from behind me.
“You’re Y/N, right?”
I turned around to see a woman walking toward me, her dark hair pulled back in a ponytail, wearing a Paul’s T-shirt. Her eyes were curious, though there was something in her expression that I couldn’t quite place.
“Yeah,” I said cautiously. “That’s me.”
She gave a small smile, stopping a few steps away. “I thought so. I recognise you from the photo Hank showed me. I’m Yvonne.”
I froze for a second, trying to process the fact that this was her. Yvonne. She and Hank had a thing, though it was over long before I came into the picture. But meeting her in person? I hadn’t expected this.
“Right, yeah. I’ve heard about you too,” I said, shaking her hand.
She smiled again, but there was something unreadable in her expression—an understanding, maybe. “Don’t worry, it’s all good. Hank and I are friends now, just friends.”
I nodded, not entirely sure what to say. Standing here, in front of Hank’s work, talking to Yvonne of all people… it was surreal. “I didn’t think I’d run into you here.”
She laughed softly, a sound that felt surprisingly genuine. “Well, I work here sometimes too. So, you know, bound to happen eventually.” She paused, tilting her head slightly. “You okay? You seem a little… out of it.”
I forced a smile, feeling the weight of the last few days bearing down on me. “Just… a lot on my mind.”
Yvonne gave me a knowing look. “Hank?”
I hesitated but nodded. There was no point in denying it. “Yeah.”
She smiled knowingly, as if she understood. “Yeah, I get that.” She glanced back at Paul’s for a second before turning her attention back to me. “I’ve seen you with Hank a couple of times. He talks about you.”
I blinked, unsure of how to respond. I hadn’t expected her to mention Hank right away, especially given their history. “He does?”
“Yeah,” she said with a small shrug. “I mean, we’re friends now. We’ve been through our ups and downs, but we’ve stayed close.” There was a flicker of something in her expression—an old memory, perhaps. “He’s not exactly great at opening up to people, but… He’s been different since he met you.”
I raised an eyebrow, surprised by her honesty. “Different?”
Yvonne tilted her head slightly, studying me for a moment before she spoke again. “He’s been happier.”
I frowned, not sure if I believed her. “Happier? He hasn’t seemed that way lately.”
She let out a soft sigh, crossing her arms over her chest. “I know he’s going through something right now, but trust me—he was. Ever since you came into his life, there’s been a change in him. I’ve known Hank for a long time, and I’ve never seen him talk about anyone the way he talks about you.”
Her words hit me harder than I expected. I hadn’t realised how much I needed to hear that—that Hank had talked about me, that I mattered to him in ways I hadn’t known.
“I don’t know what’s going on with him right now,” Yvonne continued, her voice gentler. “But I do know one thing: he cares about you. A lot. I don’t think he’s trying to push you away because he doesn’t want you. It’s just… Hank’s got his demons. He’s always been that way.”
Her words hit me like a punch to the gut. I knew Hank had been carrying something—something he hadn’t shared with me yet. But hearing it from Yvonne, someone who had known him for longer, made it feel more real. More urgent.
“He hasn’t opened up to me,” I admitted, my voice barely above a whisper. “Not fully. I don’t even know what it is.”
Yvonne looked at me, her gaze softening. “Don’t take it personally. Hank doesn’t open up to anyone, not really. He’s always been good at keeping things to himself. But whatever it is, it’s not about you. Trust me on that.”
I nodded slowly, appreciating her reassurance even if it didn’t make the ache in my chest any lighter. “It’s hard, though. Not knowing if he’s ever going to let me in.”
Yvonne shrugged. “That’s Hank. He’s complicated. But from what I’ve seen, he cares about you. A lot. More than I’ve seen him care about anyone in a long time.”
I swallowed, trying to push down the lump forming in my throat. “I just wish I could help him.”
She gave me a small, sympathetic smile. “You are helping him. He probably just doesn’t know how to let you see it yet.”
For a moment, we stood there in silence, the noise from the street filling the space between us. Then Yvonne glanced back at the bar, her expression softening. “Just… don’t give up on him, okay? Hank’s a good guy. Messed up, sure. But he’s good. He just needs time.”
I nodded, feeling a mix of gratitude and uncertainty. “I won’t. I mean, I don’t want to give up on him.”
Yvonne smiled, this time with more warmth. “Good. Because I think he’s finally met someone who can keep up with him. And that’s saying something.”
As she stepped back toward the door, she gave me one last look, her eyes filled with a quiet kind of understanding. “Take care of yourself too, though. It’s easy to lose yourself when you’re trying to help someone else.”
With that, she disappeared inside, leaving me standing there on the pavement, my mind buzzing with everything she’d said. I didn’t know what the future held for me and Hank, but for the first time in days, I felt like I wasn’t completely alone in this. Yvonne’s words lingered with me as I turned and continued down the street, the weight on my chest just a little bit lighter.
The apartment was quiet when I got back, the familiar space feeling both comforting and isolating at the same time. Bud padded over to greet me, his soft purring a small but welcome distraction. I knelt down, scratching behind his ears, grateful for the company, even if it wasn’t the one I truly wanted.
After my run and the unexpected conversation with Yvonne, my mind was still spinning. I’d hoped that being out in the fresh air, moving, would have cleared some of the fog, but instead, it felt like everything had only gotten more complicated. Yvonne’s words kept echoing in my head, offering a strange sense of comfort, but also bringing more questions.
Hank cares about you.
Did he? I knew that he did, but it was hard to hold onto that when he kept pulling away, closing off whenever I got too close. I thought about everything we’d shared in the past month—how easy it had been in the beginning, how natural we’d felt together. But now… now it felt like I was chasing after something that was always just out of reach.
I sighed, flopping onto the couch, still in my running leggings and hoodie. Bud jumped up beside me, curling up against my leg, his warmth seeping through the fabric. I absentmindedly ran my fingers through his fur, my thoughts drifting back to Hank again.
Yvonne had said not to give up on him. That he needed time. But how much time? How long was I supposed to wait for him to figure things out? It wasn’t like I expected him to have all the answers right away—God knows I didn’t. But the silence, the distance… it was suffocating.
I stared at my phone, my fingers hovering over the screen. I’d been checking it obsessively since this morning, half-expecting some kind of message from Hank. But there was nothing. And the longer it stayed that way, the more I wondered if maybe I should be the one to reach out. Let him know that I was still here, even if he wasn’t ready to be.
Taking a deep breath, I opened my messages. The blank text box stared back at me, and for a moment, I wasn’t sure what to say. I didn’t want to push him, didn’t want to make him feel like I was waiting for an answer he couldn’t give yet. But I also didn’t want him to think that I was walking away. Because I wasn’t.
I typed slowly, choosing my words carefully, each one carrying the weight of everything I hadn’t been able to say in person.
Hey. I just wanted to let you know that I’m giving you the space you need. But I’m still here, Hank. Whenever you’re ready to talk, I’m here.
I stared at the message for a long moment, my thumb hovering over the send button. Was this the right thing to say? Would it make things worse? I didn’t know. But I couldn’t keep waiting for something that might never come if I didn’t let him know where I stood.
With a deep breath, I hit send.
The message disappeared, and with it, a small weight lifted from my chest. I’d done all I could for now. The ball was in his court. I couldn’t control what he did next, couldn’t force him to open up if he wasn’t ready. But at least he knew I wasn’t giving up on him. Not yet.
Bud stirred beside me, stretching out before curling back into a tighter ball. I leaned back against the couch, staring at the ceiling, my mind still tangled in a mess of emotions. I didn’t know what would happen when Hank came back. I didn’t even know if he’d respond to my message. But for the first time in days, I felt a small sense of peace—like maybe, just maybe, things weren’t completely out of my control.
As the evening slipped into night, I found myself clinging to that small hope, trying to believe that giving him space didn’t mean losing him for good.
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theshelbyclan · 2 years ago
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Miss Shelby
Summary: While Tommy’s working on legal business and politics, Teddy’s taken over the old business in Small Heath. But when she gets personally involved, she puts herself in danger
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A/N: This one’s pure self-indulgence. I had a dream about Teddy being about 20 and realised that would be set in season 5. So, here’s me imagining what Teddy would be like at that point in the series, at that age. She the last of the Shelby’s to have remained in Birmingham and she’s taken over the illegal business, while trying to keep the peace back home. She’s in charge of the betting, the racketeering and the protection now, and everyone in Small Heath knows they can rely on her, while also fearing her to some degree. In a way, she’s become what Tommy once was. Anyways, this is for me mainly, but if you like this one, let me know!
Words: 3902
*****
“Mind the shop, I’ll be back in half an hour,” Teddy threw the keys at Scudboat, put on her peaky cap and walked out the door of the old family home in Watery Lane.
A young woman in men’s clothing walking around Small Heath would’ve attracted some attention, if it wasn’t for the fact that it was Teddy Shelby. Smoking silently, she made her way to the Garrison and as she did, people greeted her left and right, politely and with respect, “Good morning, Miss Shelby.”
Teddy nodded in reply and kicked at a football that was send her way by some kids playing in the lane. After Tommy had made them rich, after they’d worked their way up in politics, they’d agreed that the Shelby’s needed to keep heir homefront safe and theirs. This was Teddy’s job: at only 20 years old, she now ruled Small Heath with an iron fist, taking care of their own people first.
“Whiskey,” she told the barmaid, before entering the snug. Tommy looked up, and as soon as he saw it was his sister, he let some of the pretence drop. He slouched down in his chair and lit a cigarette, visibly relaxing. He’d spend all morning listening to people and their complaints. The things he had to endure as their MP...
“Tommy,” Teddy greeted him fondly. Every week, they’d meet up like this. Together, they would make sure they were on the same page and they discussed strategies like the olden days.
“Teddy,” Tommy nodded, a hint of a smile flashing across his features. He’d never say it out loud, but meeting with his youngest sister was usually the best part of his week. Sometimes, he thought about when she’d been little and he’d tried to keep her out of the family business. He’d always known that he was just putting off the inevitable.
“How’s the head?” Teddy asked in a sarcastic manner she shared with Ada.
“There’s nothing wrong with my head.”
“Hmm, could’ve fooled me...” Teddy shrugged, “In that case, how’s politics?”
Tommy fixed her with one of his stares and eventually said, “Family first. I heard you were seen with the son of the duke. Is my information correct?”
“Just for one night, Thomas,” Teddy rolled her eyes, because even though she was twenty now, Tommy still felt the need to treat her like a kid to be kept under observation, “Just a bit of fun.”
Tommy didn’t approve, but knew it wasn’t his place to speak. Also, he knew it wouldn’t make a difference. That was the one thing that had never changed about Teddy: if she wanted to do something, no one was going to stop her from doing it. A duke’s son, in this case apparently.
Instead he asked, “Careful there. Don’t want to get involved with the aristocracy. They’re all mad.”
“Tommy, sweetheart, I am the aristocracy. I’ll be queen of the Boswell Romani’s one day. And this boy? He’s not good enough.”
“No man’s good enough,” Tommy nodded. And he meant it.
Teddy downed her drink, “Business?”
He cleared his throat and put on his glasses to read his notes, “Do you know a Mrs Connors? Lives near the washing house.”
“I do,” Teddy made a point of knowing everyone is Small Heath. And everyone knew her.
“Her husband beats her. I said we’d speak with him.”
She nodded slowly, “I’ll speak with him. Again.”
Tommy looked at his sister for a second. Something cold had made its way into her eyes and he knew, if there was one thing Teddy couldn’t stand, it was people who beat their wives or kids. She’d put a stop to it, today.
“Did you get the horse I told you about?” he continued.
“Yeah, but she won’t race, Tommy. She won’t take the saddle, I’ve tried. She not built for it. But I like her, so she’s mine now.” And when Tommy frowned she continued, “Let me and Curly find you a proper horse to race, alright? You’ve forgotten, Tommy, you need to see the horse first. Going off on the proper paperwork and breeding... it won’t work. You need to actually go out and see the horse.”
“If you have some something to say, Teddy, spit it out,” her brother sensed some type of judgement in her voice, “Saying I don’t know horses anymore? Saying I need to go and live in some fucking gypsy camp as well, just to gain your respect, eh?”
“Calm down,” she soothed, “I just think you need to get out more. Sitting all cooped up in parliament isn’t good for anyone. I’ll find us another horse, alright? I’ll take the horse up to that filthy gypsy camp where your younger sister now lives and have her washed for your inspection. And then you come with me and see about the horse and then you can decide.” She added sweetly, “Would that make you feel better, Thomas?”
For a second, she feared she’d gone too far and he’d explode in anger. But a small smirk appeared on his face and underneath his breath, she heard him mumble, “Cheeky devil...” She always could get away with murder when it came to Tommy.
Teddy smiled and said, “We had some trouble with a new gang. Some kids, coming up from Digbeth. Nothing to worry about, but they kept on robbing the widows.”
“Did you put a stop to it?”
“I put my men on it,” Teddy had a small army of men at her disposal, and with them, she kept control and she kept the peace, “They’re with us now.”
“Good.”
But Teddy wasn’t finished, “The problem’s the housing, Tommy. These kids grow up mean in these fucking slums. Can’t you and your posh cronies do something about it?”
Tommy could never shake the feeling that even though he had all this power and influence now, his youngest sister didn’t quite take him seriously. She looked up to him, obviously she did, but more in spite of his good standing than because of his good standing.
For a few minutes more, they talked of particular people in trouble, as well as national politics. Names were mentioned and money was exchanged, but before the end of their meeting, they were interrupted.
“Miss Shelby!” a little boy came barging into the room.
“You want to try that again?” Teddy told him in a strict tone, “Outside. Knock on the door and wait for me to call you in.”
Tommy shot her an amused glance, but the boy obeyed and waited outside this time, until Teddy told him he could come in. Breathless, he tried again, “They’ve done the cafe again! Bricks through the windows and they’ve taken their money. The woman, she’s crying and mentioned your name.”
“For fuck’s sake...” Teddy stubbed out her cigarette angrily. Then she produced her revolver from her pocket and started checking the bullets. To the boy she said, “Tell her I’ll take care of it personally.” After that, the boy left.
Tommy blew some smoke in her general direction and casually asked, “Personally?”
“These are good people, Tom. I won’t have them paying us for protection only to get the last of their savings stolen by some fucking factory scum.”
“So, send your men to do them,” he waved a hand, “No need to get your hands dirty.”
Teddy coughed a laugh, “We agreed, Tommy, I’d take care of business at home. Let me handle this the way I see fit.”
“You’re going to get yourself killed,” and as much as her brother tried to keep his voice emotionless, some worry did slip through. 
Tucking away her gun again, Teddy smiled lazily at him, “And if I do, that too, Tommy, won’t be any of your concern.” She stood up, grabbed his glass and downed his whiskey as well. Then she assured, “Until next week, brother.” 
Tommy sighed, shook his head and shouted after his unruly little sister, “No more fucking MP’s sons, you hear me?” But he knew she wouldn’t listen. She did a great job at keeping Small Heath under their control, he never had to worry about that, but she never, ever, fucking listened. 
*****
Back at the house in Watery Lane,Teddy opened the cabinet in the front room with one of the keys hanging from her trousers, and she took out a rifle. The big guns always did leave more of an impression on people. Carefully, she flipped it over and checked it, just like John had taught her once. Then she shouted out to Scudboat, who quickly joined her, “Take this one. Fill the one chamber with rock salt, alright? And the other with a normal bullet. We have a man to see about a cafe...” 
His eyebrows rose, but he did as she asked without protest. Scudboat was one of the most loyal employees the Shelby’s had ever had. He’d been with them in France and ever since, he’d been a trustworthy presence at the betting den. Without speaking, he’d watched Teddy grow up. From a cheeky mischievous little kid, he’d seen her grow into a young woman with a head for business. And he remembered telling Tommy, the day they’d come back from France: you watch that one. She’s either going to fuck up everything or take over one day. Obviously, he’d been right about the latter. 
As Teddy summoned some more of her men, she also send for some kids to gather information for her. With her small army of four, she sat at the table that was once used for family meetings. But when Billy came out with the whiskey, she told him, “No whiskey. Beer only. Save that for after, we have a job to do.”  “Right,” she announced, “Today we’re putting a stop to these fucking nuisances. These people think they can fuck with us? I’m making them an example. Danny, you’re coming with me and we’ll talk to the woman. Make sure she knows she’s alright. Scudboat and Ian, I want you down at the docks. Don’t let them get away before I can speak to them.” And so Teddy laid out her plans, while the others sat and listened. 
About half an hour later, she waltzed into the cafe. In there, the woman was still crying. When she looked up and saw Teddy, she immediately offered up all of her savings for even more protection. But Teddy refused to take the money; she told her they’d been the ones who fucked up and let this happen. She refused to take a penny. “Thank you, Miss Shelby...” the woman kept muttering, but Teddy waved a hand. She didn’t want her gratefulness; she wanted the bastards who did this.
When they made her way back onto the streets again, she heard some kids whisper, “Look, it’s Miss Shelby! They say she used to be one of us...”
“I am,” Teddy turned to them, which made them all practically jump in fear, “Don’t be afraid. If you fuck me over, then be afraid. But if you have any trouble, you come to me.” And that was exactly how she’d gained her control over Small Heath. 
Information had come to her that the robbers could be found near the Cut. “Tell them to clear the houses, just in case,” Teddy told her associate, not wanting to have any innocent bystanders shot in the process. Then she held her head up high, felt for the reassuring comfort of her gun and walked over to the men sitting by the docks. 
Confidently, she announced her presence, “Gentlemen.” 
One of them laughed at her, “It’s that Shelby bitch!” He wasn’t from around here; he clearly had no idea who he was dealing with. 
Teddy smiled back politely, “Indeed it is. I’m here to talk business, regarding the cafe down the road.” 
Again, one of them chuckled and he got up menacingly now, “Yeah, so we took it. What did you plan on doing about it, little girl?”
Taking her rifle, Teddy warned him casually in advance, “This is going to hurt.” And before he could laugh at her again, she shot the rock salt bullet into his leg. Writhing in agony on the ground, she then turned to the others. Like nothing had happened, she continued, “You’re in Small Heath, gentleman, and nothing happens here without my consent. Now, you may have gotten used to some freedom back in where ever the fuck it is you came from, but not here. Here, the Peaky Blinders are in control.” 
But one of them decided to be an idiot after all and made a grab for his own gun. Scudboat shot him before he could even aim it. Teddy took her rifle and shot the second one. Then she aimed her trusted revolver and number three and asked, “What is it going to be?” He took one look at his friend, still squirming in pain in the mud, and put down his gun. Teddy whispered a, “good boy”, and walked away, letting her boys deal with the clean-up. 
As she walked away, she heard one of them shoot the man she’d shot in the leg. There was no point in keeping him in agony; it’d served its purpose. Teddy lit a cigarette and tucked away her revolver. She never even heard the shot being fired at her, but when it hit her shoulder, she fell to the ground and the world became blurry at once.
*****
When she opened her eyes again, she was laying down on the table at the Garrison. Finn was hunched over her. As soon as she woke up, he called out, “Get her a bottle!”
“Bastard fucking shot me,” Teddy ground out, “in the fucking back!”
“Don’t move,” her brother ordered her, “The bullet’s still in. I’ve called for Jeremiah.”
Internally, Teddy tried to prepare herself for what was about to come. The pain was setting in now and it was making it hard to think. Gratefully, she took the bottle that was handed to her. “Make it quick,” she stumbled as she drank.
Finn and another one of her men helped her onto her side. “You do it,” she told Finn, not trusting anyone else to hold her down as Jeremiah got to work.
And to work, he got. As he was digging into her shoulder, Teddy’s primal shrieks filled the Garrison. For a moment, she thought she was going to pass out, but she wouldn’t allow herself to do so. Instead she clung onto consciousness, telling herself this was only temporary. She’d been shot before, but never like this. And just as her vision was starting to go dark again, she saw Jeremiah holding up a bullet triumphantly.
“It’s done...” she whispered to herself.
“Uhm,” Finn tried carefully, “Not really.” And before she could question him, he spilled the whiskey into the open wound on her back. Teddy screamed out in pain, the worst yet, and tears leaked from her eyes. But Finn held her and pressed his forehead into hers, while comforting her, “Now it’s done. Breathe, Teddy, breathe... you’re alright, baby. It’s done...”
And Teddy breathed.
Carefully, she hoisted herself up from the table, so that she could be bandaged. One of her men told her about what had happened to the robbers. None of them were kept alive, which was as it should be.
After they’d done, Teddy looked at Finn and noticed he had a certain nervousness about him. Then she concluded, “You’ve told Tommy.”
“I wasn’t sure you were going to make it, Teddy.”
“Fucking hell...” she sighed, “He’s coming down here, isn’t he?”
Slowly, her brother nodded, “Couldn’t stop him.”
“Give me the bottle,” Teddy demanded, because if she had to face her older brother, she was really going to need it. And just as she had, said brother marched into the Garrison like he was on a mission.
Ignoring Teddy, he asked Finn, “Will she be alright?”
“Jeremiah took the bullet out. No internal bleeding. She’ll be fine.”
“Good!” Tommy faked cheerfulness. And then he slapped Teddy once on the back of her head.
“Ow!” she called out, wincing as she moved her shoulder, “I just fucking got shot!”
“I know you fucking did,” he said in a low voice and then bellowed, “Why the fuck do you think I’ve had to drag myself back into Small Heath!”
Teddy sighed deeply, realising a Thomas Shelby patented lecture was incoming, and she told her men, “Get back onto the streets and clean up the mess from this afternoon. Make sure the people know we’ve handled things.”
Tommy sank down in a chair and lit a cigarette, with an exasperated sigh, “ ‘We’ve handled things’... eh? You’ve fucking handled things? I fucking told you, Teddy, let other people do your dirty work for you!”
Finn, at once, tried to protect his sister, “Tommy, she usually doesn’t...”
But Tommy cut him off, “You fucking wait outside and let me talk to your sister, alright? Now, piss off, Finn.”
“Why are you here, Tom?” Teddy asked in earnest, after Finn had left. None of his preaching was going to change things.
“Wasting my fucking time on you!” he spat in reply, “I need you to manage the business, here, in Small Heath, but stop getting involved. Alright? This is no place for a little girl.”
“Oh fuck you!”
“Yeah? Well, fuck you too!” he shouted in reply, “I have better things to do than after twenty years still having to look out for my baby sister who, has, after twenty. fucking. years. YET TO LEARN TO BEHAVE!”
Teddy stared at him and felt at her shoulder for a moment. Then she said calmly, “Go and do you ‘better things’ then, Tommy. Thank you for coming and good bye. Fuck off.”
He pointed a menacing finger at her and whispered, very much like he’d done when she was little, “You talk to me like that again and I’ll wash your mouth out with soap. You hear me, eh? I don’t give a fuck if you think you’re all grown-up now; I will spank you right here and now and I will make you fucking listen to me.”
Teddy tried to compose herself, but she couldn’t help herself; she burst out laughing, “How are you even going to that when they literally just dug a bullet out of me.”
His irritation didn’t cease much, “I’ll find a way.”
“Tommy,” Teddy said bravely, “If you’re worried about me, just say you’re worried about me. You won’t die, you know, if you express some love. Go on, try it.”
He sighed again, “You’re actually going to drive me fucking insane one of these days, Theodora Shelby.”
“That’s ‘Miss Shelby’ to you,” she corrected him with half a smirk on her face, “Yeah, but you love me.”
He pointed at her again, but didn’t deny it either. Instead he said, “I need you to not get shot again.”
“I’ll try.”
“And you’re coming with me,” Tommy decided, “Back to Arrow House. Until you have recovered. I’ll have one of my maids take proper care of you.”
Teddy’s eyes lit up, but her brother quickly said, “I was talking about breakfast.”
Her face fell a little, “I’m needed here, Tommy.”
He scoffed, “I heard you shot a man with rock salt. Fucking brutal. Bravo. I don’t think you have to worry about anyone stepping out of line for a while.”
Teddy contemplated his offer for a moment. It would be good to get out of the smoke for a few days, “Alright I’ll come, but only because you’ve clearly missed me so much.”
Tommy rolled her eyes again, “I’ll have a car send for you.”
“On two conditions, though, Tommy.”
“What?” he snapped, taking the bottle from Teddy’s hands and bringing it up to his own lips.
“One: I need you to let me handle business down here. People respect me and the Blinders, but not just because I’m your little sister, but because of me. Do you understand? I need to be able to deal with things the way I feel is needed.”
“Fine,” he took another swig, “What’s next?” 
“Two,” Teddy continued without mercy, “I need you to take a holiday. With me.”
“I already tried fucking... golfing...” Tommy gestured around vaguely.
“Golfing will drive you mad.”
“It really fucking did.”
“Fuck golfing,” his sister said pointedly, “Come with me out on the road, just for a few days. We don’t have to talk. We’ll just take the vardo. Take your fucking kids, I don’t care, but you need to sleep under the stars again and eat a proper meal.”
Tommy looked at his sister and thought she looked like something... ancient. Like she remembered something from the olden days, even though she was too young to know. She told him, “Remember when you took me out on the January?” It was one of her most favourite memories of the two of them together, “Like that. You need it, Tommy. You’ve forgotten.”
“Forgotten what, eh?” But he didn’t expect an answer. He knew she was right. She never did listen, but she was usually fucking right.
“Do you agree to the terms as presented?” Teddy inquired in a business-like manner.
“Yes,” Tommy handed her back the bottle, “Now give me the bullet.”
Teddy furrowed her brows, “The one Jeremiah took from my shoulder? Why?”
“I’m going to have it framed,” Tommy said casually, “Fucking.. art. And I’ll name it: Teddy’s first and last bullet.”
“Tommy, this is hardly my first...”
He shot her a dangerous look.
“Fine. Frame the bitch.”
For a few more precious moments, they sat in silence. And then Tommy asked Teddy, “What’s happened to us, eh?” In his mind, he was thinking about everything that had changed in the last decade. From a cutthroat razor gang, they were now a political influence to reckon with. The Shelby’s, they were no longer just feared, but respected too. Not one of them had to grow up barefoot and mean: they had money now, houses, horses. Nothing seemed the same, and still, still, they always came back to Small Heath. His sister couldn’t be kept away, for one.
“The world’s changed, Tommy,” Teddy said softly, “but we haven’t.”
He looked at her and laughed, really laughed, like he hadn’t done in years.
And Teddy Shelby grinned back at him, “You and me? We’ll never change. We’ll always be...”
He leaned forwards a lit her cigarette for her, when he finished her sentence, “We’ll always be this.”
“Whatever the fuck ‘this’ is,” Teddy joked, taking a drag.
“It’s you being a pest and me cleaning it up,” he laughed again. Teddy liked the sound of it: she’d missed it.
For a moment, she looked at her brother and saw the boy in the fields again, the optimistic soldier going off to war, the broken man coming back, the ambitious Blinder in Small Heath, the robber, the fighting man and the gangster, and the calculating politician, all in one. To her it was all the same: her favourite brother. And she told him, teasingly, “Nah, it’s you falling apart and me picking you up.”
Suddenly, he was serious, and he blurted out, “So, pick me up.”
“Always,” Teddy promised.
And the two of them smoked and drank their whiskey in silence. The Shelby’s didn’t know much about love, but what they did know, this was it.
Peace.
*****
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wonijin · 2 years ago
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FROM DUSK
all the secrets and promises yuna tried so hard to keep toppled over and now she face the consequences.
tags: yuna/fem!reader, mafia au, angst, 2.8K words
warnings: violent themes, kidnapping, bombs and explosions, guns/weapons, de4th, k!lling, implied abuse, swear words.
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tonight was nothing new. just another date added to the long list of plans she had forgotten or was too busy to attend to or just didn’t know. god were you excited to find out which of the three she’d use an excuse this time.
the digits on wrist taunted ‘11:45’ as if mocking you for waiting three hours. a sigh left your lips as you stood up and exited the fancy restaurant yuna dare reserve.
shin yuna was a woman of many things, being busy was one of them. and you knew that from the moment you met her. of course, you had always understood and you still are. but that doesn’t mean it pains you any less every time she forgets something you were looking forward to or something she promised or something you both planned.
as you basked in loneliness through the dim-lighted streets, you thought how her alibis always have something to do with work. but funilly enough you know little about what she does for a living, she refused to spill.
you checked your phone for a message. none. no surprise.
as you were about to return the device to your bag, you feel a presence behind you. before you could turn around, somebody had put something in your mouth, cutting off the scream tearing through your throat.  your wide eyes dart around for a clue to what was happening but you feel yourself getting lightheaded until the street lights were the last thing you saw.
“my name is yang. don’t worry, i already know who you are. in fact, i know a lot. your address, school, schedule, friends and families.” yang ripped the tape of your mouth but pressed the weapon harder into your skull. a lone tear slipped past your lips but you didn’t try to make a sound.
“my name is yang. don’t worry, i already know who you are. in fact, i know a lot. your address, school, schedule, friends and families.” yang ripped the tape of your mouth but pressed the weapon harder into your skull. a lone tear slipped past your lips but you didn’t try to make a sound.
“my name is yang. don’t worry, i already know who you are. in fact, i know a lot. your address, school, schedule, friends and families.” yang ripped the tape of your mouth but pressed the weapon harder into your skull. a lone tear slipped past your lips but you didn’t try to make a sound.
“look, you got the wrong girl. no matter how much money you want for my head, no one can gonna give it to you.” you plead.
“oh we got the right girl all right. you’re shin yuna’s new toy, aren’t you” yuna? where does your girlfriend fit in all this ?
“what? y-yuna? what d-does she have to d-do with this?” he paused at your words and stepped in front of you, the few lights catching his expensive looking suit.
“well, you see little toy. your little girlfriend owes us. she stole one of our most priced cargo. you’re here to pay the price.” you stared at his eyes, and you can’t help but draw similarity in him and your lover. maybe it was the intimidating aura or the sinister shine on the eyes or the coy smirk on the lips.
a chill ran down your spine. what attack? the man stared at your visible confusion and threw his head back laughing. “don’t tell me you’re not aware. yuna has been lying to you, fool! where do you think she got all that money from?”
as far as you know, yuna’s lavish upbringing was because of her father was a well-known doctor and her mother runs a successful law firm . “her parents–”
“ran an underground mob organization and yuna inherited it.” yang finished your sentence, chuckling. “you can’t seriously be this naive.”
you weren’t. the signs were there. the hidden red flags under her crescent eyes and bubbly smile. but you ignored the stains on her shirt or how her body guards have a visible dent in their jacket. no daughter of a doctor and a businessman need that much protection around her. and no one at her age should have ridiculous amount of money on hand.
shock paralyzed your whole body and emotions flooded every inch of your senses. suddenly, everything made sense and you’re force to swallow the fact that you’re girlfriend is a criminal.
overwhelmed at the revelation, the sound of the phone ringing escaped past your ears until the screen was shoved to your face.
before you could ask, you heard a familiar voice. “who is this?” yuna sounded calm to everybody else but you weren’t just anybody, you were her girlfriend. you picked up on all the hints of panic and stress in her voice.
“yuna.” her name spilled from your lips coated with anxiousness and sorrow. at the other side, yuna clutched her phone tighter at the sound of your pained voice. for a split second, relief filled her entirely. you weren’t safe but at least she knows you’re alive.
“i love you.” there’s a high probability this might be the last time you can profess your love. so you took your chance with a sob.
in the other line, yuna’s body was filled with agony. there’s nothing more yuna wants than comfort you and say her love for you. it hurts to restrain herself and deprive you of what you needed to hear but she knew how the world works, how the enemies work, how yang works. showing how much you value something would just end up getting it destroyed.
yuna knew something was wrong the moment you stopped picking up her calls. at first, she thought it was because you were mad at her for missing your date. but you weren’t in your house when she came to apologize. you weren’t in your school or your favorite place either and nobody she contacted has seen you.
now, all she wants is to hold you again, tell you everything and apologize until ‘sorry’ is the only word she knows.
before she can let her concern slip, a voice rang at the other side. “hello, yuna. it’s been a while.”
“yang, you bastard. what do you want?” the man only laughed at her in reply. “well, this is a surprise. i never thought you’d actually be willing to negotiate for a past time.”
you weren’t a past time to yuna. you were her home, the one she comes back to after every mission. fail or succeed she’d be in your arms at the end of the day. she’d be damned if she let something happen to you.
“meet me at the warehouses near the port. and don’t forget to bring me what’s mine. try to do something and i’ll personally send her skin to you.” the call ended, leaving yuna to picture your lifeless body. the image made her slam her desk. there’s was chance it could become a reality. yang wouldn’t hesitate to kill you even if she agrees to his terms or not.
yuna stood up and prepared.
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yuna admits that she was far from a perfect partner. the times she stood you up were times a many. all the secrets she kept from you eat her away everyday but more so now than ever. she prays that fate let her have another chance.
she had all the money and power she could ask for. and yet she failed to protect the only innocence in her world of chaos. ‘how did ever come to this.’
“everything’s ready, boss. waiting for next orders.” the infamous leader nodded and continued to peer inside the building through the scope of her sniper rifle.
they were on standby at the rooftop of the highest building in the block, overseeing the warehouses. somewhere below, you were there waiting for her. she chuckled bitterly at the thought, she remembered how you hate feeling helpless.
“green.” authority dripped in yuna’s voice. all of her assets and power were mobilized for this mission, a proof of her dedication. this mission would end in nothing but you back safely in her arms.
footsteps moved lightly against the cement at her word. the sound of guns cocking and men swiftly moving towards the ground.they reached the warehouses and assumed their positions.
yuna marched through her ranks and lead her men, clutching a briefcase. it was the passcodes for a high security bank. the same passcodes she stole from yang’s mob. yang’s mob was fairly new to the game, their little organization is an ant compared to yuna’s empire. but she made the mistake of underestimating them. if she knew crossing him would led to this, she would’ve gone a different path.
yuna was about to step out of the shadow. she was about to negotiate, hand the passcodes and get you back in her arms. but a huge boom shooked the whole vicinity. and before she could even register what’s happening, red filled her vision as everything around her burned. shrapnel and debris flied everywhere. but amidst all the chaos, she could only think about your well-being. she ignored her surroundings and screamed your name with glistening eyes.
the bombing continued and her troops scrambled to retreat. seeing yuna’s state, her second in command yelled for everybody to find cover and get back to their last position.
meanwhile, yuna rushed forward. despite her ears ringing and her head pounding, she tries to find you. “y/n? where are you? its me, yuna! i’m here”
even when she tripped and fell down, even when she got scratched and hit, her search for you continued. everything’s falling apart but all she could think of is you.
she was about to move again when somebody held her back. it was chaeryeong, her second in command. “yuna, we have to go. it isn’t safe here.” yuna refused and tried to yank her arm back but chaeryeong held tighter.
“please, yuna. come on.” the sound of burning flesh hit their nostrils. building in from left and right collapse in piles of rubble and ashes.
“no. i have to get her back. she’s in there. she might be scared or hurt or worse.” tears flowed freely from yuna’s face. “she needs me.”
chaeryeong lossened her grip at the yuna’s despair. she followed yuna towards another warehouse, the only one yuna hadn’t checked. but just like earlier, it had exploded before she could even take a step forward.
desperation filled yuna her. she lunged towards the fire but chaeryeong held her. “yuna. she’s gone.” she fell on her knees as reality sinked in. “no. she can’t be. she isn’t. i was just with her a week ago.” yuna shook her head, maybe then she’ll wake up from this nightmare.
“ i was supposed to save her, chae. i promised myself i’d do her better when i get her back.” sobs shook her entire body. as the world collapse around her, her own world fell apart
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yuna stared at the file before her with empty eyes. it was the latest news regarding the organization responsible for that day. she pondered the use of reading it, she’s aware that you’re gone and no file could bring you back.
yang wouldn’t bomb his own place. she had felt that an outside force interfered that night, a situation she had not thought of. and she was right. after digging and digging she found the real perpetrators. the lims.
a sigh escape her red lips before opening it. years have passed and it has been long since she gave up on seeing your face once more but that doesn’t mean she has not stopped trying to serve you justice.
she wonders if this is her coping mechanism. a way to ignore all the sorrow and suffering still present. or maybe this is just a pathetic excuse for all her lacking when you were together. a way to make up for the promises she never got to fullfill.
after skimming throughs rows and rows of paragraph, she arrived at the last page where a picture rests. the small figure dressed in black was almost unnoticeable from the dark surroundings. the image was taken too far away for her to see the person’s features but they stand next to a window of a high building, holding what seems to be a telescope.
a sticky note clings miserably at the side, nearly falling off from the corner of the photo. looking at the neat albeit seemed rushed handwriting, no doubt this additional information is from chaeryeong. ‘i thought you might be interested in the last sighting of our friend’.
‘friend’ isn’t the term she’d used for the pest who’d been ruining her plans lately. the ‘friend’ in question is a rogue who’d appeared from nowhere just a few months ago. yuna ordered a background check but it bear fruitless, there were no past or current records found and no one seemed to be familiar with the new player in town.
yuna took another glance at the photo and she realized where the telescope was pointing at. it was aimed towards the same building she was planning to attack a week from now, the presumed lim headquarters. the blonde let out an strangled grunt at thought of the unnamed one-man party striking first.
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bullet rained and blood spilt everywhere but yuna along with a handful of her men ran past the chaos and towards the door at the end of the corridor. the huge gold-plated double doors are the only thing separating her and sweet revenge.
she readied her gun and and moved to the side to let her henchmen kick the entrance with sheer strength. the door hit the floor with a loud thud and no sound followed after, aside from their light footsteps moving to fill the room.
her brown eyes fell in the middle of the room and widen at sight the familiar black cloth standing behind a swivel chair. a man sat at the leather seat, his eyes dart towards them silently begging for help while his hands claw weakly at the hand locked firmly at his throat. the rougue ignored the man’s whines and attempts, if only to tighten her grip.
“you aren’t suppose to be here.” yuna gritted out, aiming her gun straight at the rouge’s head. it was her first time seeing the new challenger and she was surprised to see a feminine build. all rumors and stories were of a ruthless man.
no response was given to her and she took the time to address the man. this was supposedly the head of lim’s office, jun. but the man in the chair and those in her intel reports did not match. it was the face of lim’s second in command, jimmy. “hand him over, nameless. i need to know where his boss is.”
“you were too late. i already got it out of him. isn’t that right, jimmy?” yuna stood frozen at the reply. meanwhile, the woman prod jimmy’s head with the barrel of her gun. but yuna wasn’t focused at that. her mind was stuck on how the person if front of her sounded like you.
the woman sounded like you in every way and it was heart clenching to remember you in this kind of time. but she was used to reminiscing your memories suddenly and it never fails to fill her with sorrow every time.
the young boss’ gaze clashed with the nameless rouge’s burning ones. yuna’s hold on her gun loosened and her aim faltered the more she observed the eyes before her. too many emotions swirled in yuna’s eyes but the ones she’s staring at held none.
it didn’t shine like yours but it reflected the moon the way yours once did. it was the worst time to relish in pain but she let herself get lost in the nostalgia and sorrow of you. until the sound of a gun rang in her ears.
the man’s blood and guts covered the wooden the desk standing between her and the shooter.  “what the fuck?” yuna rasped.
but when yuna looked back she wat met with a barrel pointed at her face. if her men weren't aiming at the woman’s head then they surely are now.
before yuna could get another word, another shot echoed in the room but it didn’t go through yuna, instead at the ceiling. this time when she looked back down it wasn't a barrel she was met with but your face. you stand were the rouge previously was and dressed in rouge's clothes.
yuna would’ve blinked or scratch her eyes to confirm but she’s too scared to let herself lose sight of you once more. she can’t bare the disappointment when she opens her eyes and you’re gone. if she was hallucinating, then she’d never close her eyes again.
but before she could verbalize her confusion, you turned around and jumped out the window wordlessly. yuna ran after you but you were nowhere to be found. once again, you disappeared before her eyes.  but this time she knew you were out there somewhere into the night and not in the afterlife.
yuna stared at the city lights below her, the image your soulless eyes and empty smile searing in her head.
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fivelakesinwriting · 3 years ago
Note
hii!! id love it if youd make a rafe x reader enemies to lovers fic where the reader gets a nipple piercing and rafe sees the piercing thru their thin/tight top? reader tries to tease him but rafe tries to ignore it and shit gets FREAKKYYYY lollol
Author's Notes: Y'all are little freaks...and I love that about you. I named the girl in particular for this story, sometimes it's just easier! Please let me know what you think if you have a moment. If this was your request, I hope you love it! xoxo
Warnings: Talk of piercings (might make people uneasy), Swearing, Drinking, Sexual references - Sexual innuendos, Smut *(biting, rough sex, mentions of choking , unprotected sex - please be safe out there, your choice how! ) All Characters are 18+
Requested? YES! Requests for OBX are OPEN!
*My work is not to be transferred, copied, translated or reposted to any other sites without my permission. Please see my masterlist for all other works and warnings. Thank you! xoxo
To say that Rafe loathed his sister Sarah's friend - Evie - would be an understatement. He didn't know why he disliked the girl so much, she had never really done anything to him to make him dislike her so much. There was just something about her that rubbed him the wrong way.
Maybe it was the way she didn't move out of the way for him when they crossed paths in the hallway at Tannyhill, the way she called him by his full name - Rafe Cameron - or perhaps, because she looked like the kind of girl that wouldn't give him the time of day. And that bothered the shit out of him.
It was a lazy Summer afternoon and Rafe planned on doing nothing with his day. Topper and Kelce weren't available for golf, and Barry was out. So Rafe cut his losses and decided he would hang out at home by the pool and drink beers all day.
As he descended the stairs towards the kitchen to begin his afternoon he heard his sister's laugh and the distinct sound of Evie's laugh just after. Rafe exhaled heavily as he rolled his eyes, succumbing to the notion that his relaxing afternoon would have the background noise of a witch's cackle.
"Ladies." Rafe grumbled as he quickly made his way through the kitchen, a beeline towards the fridge to grab a beer.
"Rafe Cameron, nice to see you." Evie smiled over the top of her phone as she showed Sarah a photo.
"Evie, see they rescheduled your burning at the stake." Rafe glared as he popped the top of his beer, sipped, then made his way out the patio doors towards the pool.
"Rafe!" Sarah scolded as she picked out a piece of fruit from the bowl on the counter in front of her, and threw it at the door as he closed it behind him.
Just as Rafe started to get settled on the lounge chair by the pool, the sun hot on his chest and face, the patio door opened and the girls came outside still giggling.
"Do you need to be here? Can't you take the car and like, leave?" Rafe sighed as he turned his hat back around to shield his eyes from the sun to properly glare at his sister.
"Last I checked this wasn't your house, Rafe. So, we're staying. Deal with it, or go back inside." Sarah replied with a roll of her eyes as she stepped into the pool.
Rafe let out a long, dramatic sigh as he pulled his hat down over his eyes but kept it high enough that he was able to see the pool just under the brim. He crossed his arms over his chest and listened intently to the conversation the girls were having.
"So, you and Anthony are done?" Sarah asked as she waded further into the water.
"So done. Couldn't be more done." Evie stated firmly, and Rafe heard the sound of clothing drop to the deck of the pool.
"That's what you said the last time, and then I had to come pick you up from that party and your knees were all scratched up -" Sarah stated a smirk evident in her voice.
Rafe's ears perked up at the turn the conversation was taking. He knew his sister had a tendency to pick friends that were less than good influences on her. But this? Oh, he would stay and listen to this.
"And that's why I got these done. It's my gift to myself for kicking that loser to curb. And my constant reminder every time I see it." Evie replied with a laugh.
Rafe was beyond curious as to the gift she had given herself. His mind raced as he thought of all the possibilities. And he had not even known she was with someone until that moment. Rafe pulled his hat back up over his eyes, squinting against the sunlight, then stood up from the lounge chair as not to seem like he had been eavesdropping.
But he was.
"Oh, Rafe Cameron! Wait up." Evie called after him as he headed back into the house to grab another beer.
Rafe gave the door a push to keep it open for her as he continued his walk inside the house again, the air conditioning cool on his skin. He opened the fridge doors once more, but felt uncomfortable, the hairs on the back of his neck standing up as he felt a pair of eyes on him.
"Stop staring at me." He ordered as he grabbed another beer and closed the door of the refrigerator harshly.
"Just waiting for you to move, Rafe Cameron." Evie smiled while she leaned against the island counter, her sunglasses pushed up on the top of her head as her eyes scanned his body.
"Can just ask." Rafe grumbled as he shifted out of the way, flicking the tab of his beer can. He felt uncomfortable under her gaze but also confident, and powerful. He didn't know which way to go.
Witch.
"Thank you." She nodded as she made her way passed him to open the doors of the fridge again and peered inside.
Rafe looked over at her through the corner of his eye as best he could, trying to figure out what she had been talking to Sarah about. What was the gift? He cursed his inquiring mind with a bite of his top lip and quickly turned on his heel to leave again.
"Oh, wait. Rafe? Can you help me? I can't reach the glasses up there." Evie asked with a strain in her voice.
Rafe turned around again with a sigh, placing his beer down on the counter then walked back over to the short girl trying to reach a glass in the high up cabinets. He easily reached above her head, grabbed a glass and placed it in front of her.
"There you go." Rafe mumbled as his fingertips trailed over the countertop as he backed up a little to give her some space.
"Thanks, Rafe Cameron." Evie nodded as she turned around to face him, leaning against the counter.
It was then as she was leaned up against the counter, arms holding her body up as Rafe noticed what Evie had been telling Sarah about all along. It had been under his nose, and under her tiny t-shirt the whole time.
"Who's Anthony?" Rafe asked with a clear of his throat he hoped wasn't too obvious before he pointed to her nipples, pierced, very visible through her white t-shirt.
"Wouldn't you like to know?" Evie grinned as she got close to him, close enough that he could smell the chlorine from the pool on her and whatever perfume she used. She brushed by him, her nipples grazing his bare arm as she exited the kitchen and Rafe shivered.
Witch. Bitch....fuck, she's hot.
Rafe growled low in his chest as he turned around, grabbed his beer and took a big drink. He pushed the door open to the pool area again and stalked out to see Evie sitting on the pool deck, her feet in the water as Sarah floated on an obnoxious flotation device shaped like a swan.
"You didn't bring a suit, Evie?" Rafe muttered as he took another generous sip of his beer and placed it on the table beside his lounge chair.
"This is my suit." She replied as she kicked a leg out of the water.
"A white t-shirt and bikini bottoms?" Rafe inquired, attempting to keep his tone even.
She didn't reply, only tossed him a smile as she placed her leg back in the water while she leaned back on her hands. She extended her neck back, letting the sun hit her face as she let out a content sigh.
Rafe didn't like to be teased.
"Sarah, go pick up Wheezie." Rafe ordered as he finished off his beer and adjusted his hat on his head, turning the brim backwards.
"Why do I have to do it? You're the one with no friends and nothing to do." Sarah replied with a glare over the the neck of the swan.
"I'll get us all dinner if you go and pick her up. I don't like that Samuel kid she hangs out with." Rafe grumbled as he leaned back in the chair.
"Do you like anyone?" Sarah sighed as she pulled herself over to the edge of the pool and climbed out.
Sarah asked Evie if she wanted to come along, but Evie declined. She said she would stay here, dry off and make sure that Rafe didn't fuck up the dinner choice for them all.
"You want a beer, Evie?" Rafe asked once Sarah had left and it was just the two of them and the tension he wasn't sure how to label.
The two of them stood in the kitchen, looking through take out menus and avoided conversation. Rafe's eyes flickered over the top of the menu he was pretending to read and zeroed in on her nipples, still visible through her shirt and he was reeling.
"You should change your shirt before Wheezie gets back." Rafe mumbled as he quickly looked back at the menu in his hands so she didn't catch him staring.
"For whose benefit? Hers or yours, Rafe Cameron?" Evie smirked as she tossed the menu she was holding onto the counter, then leaned on her forearms and looked up at him.
"Listen. Maybe this Anthony character liked to be teased and have you shove your tits in his face, but I don't. So quit it." Rafe growled as he dropped his own menu to the floor and reached over the counter to take hold of her face, making her look right into his eyes.
"You don't like my tits?" She questioned, hands pressed to the counter as she started to climb onto it to get closer to him. The other shoe starting to drop.
"I love them." Rafe practically whined as Evie climbed onto the counter and crawled over to him. He tugged off her still wet t-shirt, dropping it to the floor before he reached for her breasts.
"Gentle!" She hissed with a yank of his hair as he tugged at either of the steel bars that pierced her nipples.
"Hurts?" Rafe breathed out as his nose brushed over hers, his palms kneading her breasts a little more gently as he let her pull on his hair.
"Not too much. You just look like you can get rough." She muttered as her other hand reached for his bicep and squeezed.
"Can be, yeah. Won't be this time if you don't want that." Rafe exhaled while his lips got closer to hers. She still smelled like chlorine, and her perfume was some sort of flower he couldn't name. He loved it.
Evie twisted her fingers into the hair at the back of his head and pulled his lips to hers, the other shoe finally dropping. Rafe groaned against her mouth as he released his hold on her chest in favour of wrapping his arms around her instead, pulling her close against him.
"Don't bite! Your sister will notice the marks." Evie gasped when Rafe removed his lips from his and kissed down to her collarbone, sinking his teeth into her skin still warm from the sun.
"Give you one of my shirts. Have to cover these anyways." Rafe mumbled into her clavicle as he reached up to palm at her breasts again.
"Because Sarah and Wheezie coming home to me in your clothes isn't more suspicious, Rafe." She scolded as she reached for his hair to tug his face up, making him look at her.
"Let me worry about them." Rafe growled as he grabbed her hips to lift her off the counter then placed her on the cool tiled floor in front of him. He spun her around and pulled her bikini bottoms down her legs, his breath in his throat at the naked woman in front of him.
"Here?!" She squealed as she tossed a frantic look over her shoulder at him, eyes wide as she waited for his next move. Rafe ran his hands from her shoulders down her back to her hips, simply admiring her form.
"Too much for you?" Rafe grinned, an eyebrow raised to challenge her.
"So, teasing is okay as long as you're the tease?" Evie shivered as her head dropped down, forehead pressed to the countertop as Rafe reached around to roll her nipples between his fingers again.
"Yes." Rafe stated simply, as if this were a fact she should have known upon walking into Tannyhill. He bent down to press a kiss to the back of her neck, a groan in the back of his throat as she pushed back into him.
"C'mon, Rafe." Evie whined as her right hand reached back to pull at his hair as he bit down on the creased of her neck while he untied his swim shorts, letting them fall to his feet.
"You're so whiny. So bratty. I fucking hate it." Rafe growled into her neck as he lined himself up with her entrance, choking out a breath at how wet she felt against him.
"Are you sure?" She exhaled and Rafe could hear the smile on her face.
Fucking witch. Beautiful, pierced, whiny, wet and warm fucking witch.
"If you wanna keep this gentle I suggest you keep your mouth shut, sweetheart." Rafe breathed in her ear as he pressed his tip inside of her, and he swore his heart stopped for a second as she clenched around him.
Her back arched and she let out a pathetic little whine that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand up as he sunk inside of her completely. She reached a hand back to grab his wrist, her nails deep in his skin as he settled inside of her to let her adjust to his size.
"Damn." Rafe groaned as he pulled his hips back, fingertips pressed into the skin of her hips to keep her steady as he thrust back in. He sunk his teeth into her neck again, loving the way she bounced back into him when he did.
"More, Rafe. Please." Evie begged breathlessly, her neck extended to the side to let him mark her up. Rafe pulled his calloused fingers over her hips and up to her breasts again, kneading them before he rolled her nipples between his fingers.
"Hate how good you feel. Goddammit, Evie." Rafe growled while he wrapped one arm around her chest to pull her close while his other hand reached between her legs.
"Shit! Too much!" Evie gasped, her eyes wide when Rafe gave a firm thrust that sent her forward to the countertop once more. Her nails scratched over his forearm as he pressed his middle finger to her clit, finding it easily.
"Can't handle it?" Rafe grunted as a smile tugged at the corner of his lips, his middle finger circling her clit as he pounded into her from behind.
"Fuck you, Rafe Cameron." Evie sobbed out, back arched as she pulled one hand down his forearm and the other reached back to pull at his hair.
"You already are, and I can fucking feel you coming. You always this easy? Hmm?" Rafe panted as he unwrapped his arm from her chest to press his large palm to her collarbone, bringing her upright against him. He wanted to wrap his hand around that delicate little neck so badly, but he would wait. She had asked him to gentler with her, and he was trying so hard.
"You're a fuc - " She cursed but was cut off by Rafe reaching up and pushing two fingers in her mouth.
"Shut up, and just cum for me." Rafe growled as he pushed his middle and index finger further in her mouth, a shiver going down his spine as he felt her tongue swirl over the pads of his fingers.
As she came around him, whining around his fingers, Rafe was reconsidering his deep hatred for Evie. He chased his own release and kept an obnoxiously bruising grip on her hip with his free hand. Rafe groaned against the back of her neck, pressing his palm flat against her stomach to keep her flush against him as he finished inside of her.
"Shit." Rafe breathed out against the back of her neck, removing his fingers from her mouth. He gave her a soft kiss below her hairline as a thank you, and he hoped she didn't feel the way his breath shook on his exhale.
"I still don't like you very much." Evie whispered as she rested her head back on his shoulder, her eyes closed as she twisted his hair between her fingers.
"Don't like you all that much either." Rafe scoffed as he pressed a kiss to her forehead, although he had to admit in that moment just the two of them in the quiet house wrapped around one another - he didn't hate her all that much.
"I might let you do that again, though. If you give me a shirt, and order me food." Evie responded, her eyes opening just a little to watch as he kissed her forehead to the tip of her nose and then her chin.
"If you don't get burned at the stake first, be happy to do that again."
Hotties:
@anonymousobxfan @starkey-babie @barrysjumpsuit @sodasback
@fashion-fasting @vintageobx @babeyglo @rottenstyx @pogueslandia @soph0864 @whcclxr @beauvibaby @plutooryectors @rafecameronspolo
*tag list is open, please let me know if I forgot you or you would like to be added/removed from particular posts. I've removed the people that don't pre-populate :(
Please let me know what you think if you have a moment! Thank you so much xoxo
Requests for OBX ARE OPEN!
695 notes · View notes
jameui · 3 years ago
Text
UNFORTUNATE FATE
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Requested
PAIRING: Jeon Jungkook x M!Reader x Kim Taehyung
GENRE: Angst, Smut, Fluff
WARNINGS: Noncon, Taehyung being a rough monster, Jungkook being a jerk
SUMMARY: You and Jungkook had been friends with benefits for the longest time you could ever think of and when you decided to end all of it, he couldn't take it and decided that you needed a little mind opener.
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Your eyes were dreamily looking at your long time crush, Kim Taehyung, a senior who has been nothing, but kind to you and your friend, which was one of the many reasons why you fell for this man. You knew it sounded so cheesy and clichè, but to you the moment you saw him, it was love at first sight. When his eyes met with yours, you couldn't help yourself from getting attached so easily, like a butterfly to a candlelight.
Your friend noticed your staring as she stopped in the middle of eating, cheeks puffed up from being full, then turning her head towards the direction where your eyes stared into. She scoffed and turned back to continue eating her food, rolling her eyes. "Hey, can you stop with the staring? He'd probably think you're a creep."
You sighed while pushing the bottom of your lips and nodded. "I just can't even if you want me to. He's just so irresistible."
As you talked, you were so caught up in your head that you never got the chance to notice the eyes that were boring holes into your back.
You stabbed your fork onto your fries, taking a few pieces of the fried yellow sticks and putting it into your mouth. You hummed while happily munching on your food, doing a little dance on your seat as you did so. Hyejoo, your friend who sat across you, caught sight of a fuming Jungkook whose face was as red as a tomato from all the anger. She subtly went back down to eating her food and cleared her throat. "M/n." She whispered your name while she waved at you to move your ear closer to her mouth.
You did as you were gestured and leaned in closer. "Jung—"
"Hey, Choi! Get your ass up. Now." A deep voiced male sternly told you taking both of your attentions as you glared at him.
"Who do you think you are to tell me what to do?" You tut your tongue and smirked. "Weirdo."
That was enough to make Jungkook release fire through his nose, then took your wrist and pulled you away with him to who knows where. "Ah! Jungkook! Stop!"
"No can do, M/n." Jungkook chuckled darkly. "You've been such a brat, my little bitch. Had fun?"
Once you were able to free yourself from his grasp, you glared at him and pushed him away. "What the fuck is wrong with you? I told you I don't want to be your sex buddy, anymore." You sighed in disbelief and waisted your hands. "I can't deal with just being a fuck bud, when I want you to be my boyfriend."
"Then, I'll be your boyfriend —"
"No!" You retorted quite shocked that Jungkook thought like that. As if he can get anything he wants. "You lost your chance, Jeon. I don't want you anymore." You glared your eyes at him and was about to leave when Jungkook pushed you inside the restroom that you didn't even know was there until now.
"Jungkook, what the—" He cuts you off mid-sentence when he wraps a hand tightly around your throat that got you gasping for air all the while trying your best to remove his hand from your neck.
His eyes darkened and growled loudly, before he moved to the nearest cubicle and pulled both of you inside. He practically threw you inside and got you seated on the closed toilet while you coughed and tried to gather as much air as you can. "You are being so disrespectful right now, doll." He locks the door behind him as he stalked forward, one side of his lips curling up to a smirk raising his knee to let it rest near your crotch caging you in between his arms with his face so close to yours, one wrong move and both of your lips would be touching each other. "Do you wanna know what happens to bad boys, M/n?" His breathe felt so warm on your skin, but you didn't want him so close to you, so you spat at his face smiling proudly when you were able to successfully erase that annoying smirk on his face. Jungkook moved one hand to wipe the spit that you put on his face, before he licked it off his fingers and seductively looked back at your eyes that were opened widely from shock. "You taste good, M/n."
"Fuck you! Get away from me, you creep!" You screamed on the top of your lungs making Jungkook feel more agitated. "You weirdo!" That was the last straw and you finally released the beast that was hidden inside the bunny looking guy's facade. He raised a hand and let it drop to slap your face harshly, leaving a scratch in the process. The impact was so hard it got your head tilting to the side.
He panted heavily, his eyes looking like they were about to pop off from his sockets with how much he opened them from so much anger. "You... stupid bitch!" Then, he gave you another slap that brought tears to your eyes as you held your cheek where it stung the most. He took your cheeks digging his fingers onto the flesh that connected your cheekbone and jaw and made you face him getting you sobbing in pain.
Your tears dropped down your face, but he couldn't care less. In fact, he loved the way you cried. He loved the way each drop fell from your face and to the floor. "S-stop.. you're —Ah!" You screamed once Jungkook dug his fingers even more forcing you to open your mouth.
His eyes panned over your crying face and licked his lips, before his smirk got even wider. "Damn, M/n. Didn't know you could make your face look even prettier. You look so cute right now." He said, then angrily lets go of you making sure to leave you crying. He got back up and sighed while pushing his hair back, looking down towards his crotch and chuckled. "Fuck, M/n. Look what you did to me?" He turned to you and shamelessly showed you the tent on his pants as he started to palm himself. "You got me so fucking hard."
You side eyed him kicked him by the shin that got him wincing in pain. "You have serious issues. Get some—"
Jungkook was fast to recover from the pain and punched your face that was sure to leave a bruise. "You little shit!" He threw his fists one more time towards you, almost breaking your nose.
While you tried to treat yourself from the pain, you suddenly heard the sound of Jungkook hastily unbuckling his pants and let his fly flew open. Jungkook took a fistful of your hair, pulling on it making you whimper that the other male only found pleasing to his ears. "Now, be a good boy and do as I say." He said, then approached your ear and whispered. "Suck."
You could have simply punched him on the face or kick his balls, but knowing Jungkook, you feared that he'd give you more than just throwing punches. Hell, he'd even be capable of killing you. So, with hesitant and shaking hands you reached over the waistband of his boxers and pulled them down, his big cock springing to life hitting your face that made you look away. You looked up at him with fear in your eyes.
You didn't want to take that. It was huge and looked like it would destroy your throat if you ever tried to take him into your mouth. "Jungkook.. I.. we can still talk this out."
"Fuck!" He impatiently yelled and once again held your cheeks and forced your jaw to fall open before he shoved his dick inside your mouth, a shocked choking noise coming out from you. Jungkook sighed in satisfaction his head falling backwards while guiding your head on his cock. "Daammmn, M/n~" He hummed with his eyes closing in ecstasy.
Tears pricked on the side of your eyes and gagged whenever the male's tip hit the back of your throat. You dared to look up at him with a very pitiful face that brought you nothing, but a groan from Jungkook who got more turned on from the look on your face. With that, he fastened his pace and let his cock dive deeper into your wet cavern, then deciding to let you take all of him making him howl while you tried your very best to move away from his strong grip on your hair.
He stays for a good couple of seconds to let you adjust to his size, while you gulped and swallowed around his cock that got Jungkook growling before losing all his patience and drilled his dick in your mouth at a very unexpected and rough pace that made your tears fall down your face as you sobbed loudly and muffled out words that was barely understood by the other male who continuously fucked your mouth, not that he cares anyways.
Jungkook, the first time you met him, he was a very sweet and kind person, just like Kim Taehyung, the person your heart beats for. Jungkook always picked you up from your dorm and would offer to treat you to breakfast without any exchange. With that face of Jungkook, you had thought that he would be a useless jerk and a playboy who goes around breaking people's hearts, male or female, and you were right. Moreso now that Jungkook is literally planning on destroying your throat.
Jungkook bucked his hips forward, reaching further down your throat that made you feel bile rising from your throat, but you got yourself swallowing it and shivered in disgust. Jungkook thrusted his cock inside your mouth and went at an even faster pace, your eyes rolled back tears falling down your cheeks, your lips perfectly curled over taking the shape of his cock. At this point you weren't thinking clearly, all you could ever think of was getting this done and over with while Jungkook fucked your mouth and didn't even care for you.
Jungkook increased the pace of his thrusts and you barely even registered his size when your teeth accidentally scraped the skin of his rod, the male, in instinct, pulled away and cursed under his breath, then landed a rough slap across your face making you hold your face. "FUCK! Look what you did?" The smooth flesh of his shaft was now painted with crimson red, the mark that was caused by the gash, visible on the base of his cock.
"You... that was your fault.. asshole." You said, wiping your mouth with the back of your hand and glared at him furiously.
Jungkook's eyes peered down at you the same way you looked at him. "Don't you dare—"
"M/n! M/n! Goodness, where could have that kid gone?" That all too familiar voice called out your name as your eyes widened and smiled now that your saviour has arrived.
"Sunbae! I'm over here!" You screamed out, smirking to yourself before a sound of footsteps approached your cubicle and he knocked ont he door.
"Are you here, M/n?" His deep, but gentle voice asked you.
"Yes." You meekly replied and what you heard next made your smile falter.
"Fuck, Jungkook. You should have told me. I wanted to have some fun too." Taehyung said, and although you couldn't see it, you could sense the smirk on his face from the sound of his voice. How did he know Jungkook was here?
Jungkook heaved up his pants after he wrapped paper towels around his bleeding manhood and fixed himself. He opened the door for Taehyung and the younger of the two dragged you out of the cubicle and moved to lock the door before he shoved your body towards the sink. You groaned in pain and held your stomach in disbelief that the least person you ever expected be involved in such terrible things was also a part of the plan. "This little bitch fucking made my cock bleed."
"Oh, really, now?" Taehyung smirked and waisted his hands.
"T-Taehyung-sunbae.. you're in this too?" You asked with a shaking body.
Taehyung scoffed, then placed his hands inside his pockets and neared you. He laid a finger on your chin and pushed them up so you could face him whilst your lips quivered from the feeling of betrayal. "Are you asking what's obvious, M/n?" He smirked before his finger left your face and tilted his head faking an innocent look. "Course I was. Why else would I be so kind to you?"
"You... Why?" You managed to ask, but Taehyung had been waiting for so long and he could no longer wait anymore.
He rolled his eyes and crossed his arms. "Do you still plan on asking nonsensical questions? 'Cause I'm not having any of it." Jungkook kicked the back of your knee, forcing you to be on your knees kneeling down in front of Taehyung. "Suck. Use your teeth and this will be the last time you'll see light." He threatened you and you could only nod naively with tears falling down your face.
You reached over the buckle of his belt and started to unfasten it, loud sobs erupting from your mouth. How could you have not see this coming? You should have. Taehyung was Jungkook's friend and heard rumors about the two going on about the place to find a person to fuck, be it a girl or a boy. You should have just listened to Hyejoo. She was the one who kept telling you that Taehyung was not a person to trust nor a person to be with. He's just pure red flags and now, you could see it with your own eyes.
You unzipped his pants after you have unbuttoned it and let them fall down to his ankles while your clammy hands moved to remove his boxers. His erect dick sprang into action, almost hitting your face. You looked up at him and tried to change his mind by showing him the fear you were in and tried to beg for mercy, but just like the other, he only liked the way you looked so vulnerable in your state. "Continue making that face and I might just let you go." He said with a sly smirk that became unnoticed by you as you nodded your head in reply.
You sniffed and sobbed, then took his cock into your hand and jerked him off, your fingers barely even touching each other from the size of his dick. You looked up at him while Taehyung groaned and knitted his brows in pleasure. Your eyes both locked with each other, before you proceeded to wrap your lips around the pink bulbous tip of his immeasurable length and played with it by swirling your tongue around the head. You would occasionally look up at Taehyung whose eyes always watched your every move, making you blush a little bit, before you removed him from your mouth and decided to lick the underside of his member in attempt to please the male who groaned and started to tangle his hand with your hair. "Kookie, look. He listens to me so well." Jungkook huffed and crossed his arms as if Taehyung had just took a stuffed toy from him.
Taehyung's attention went back to you when you finally had your lips around his cock and moaned in satisfaction as he pushed his head backwards. You took this as a sign that Taehyung was feeling good and felt your chest swell with pride, despite the fact that Taehyung had already had people who made him feel this good, but the feeling of success that you made him feel pleasure only drove you to do better.
You didn't want to like it, but if it's Taehyung the only thing in your mind was to just submit to him and follow his every order like a dog. You inserted inches of his dick inside your mouth and started to suck at an agonizingly slow pace, but nonetheless Taehyung felt like he was in cloud-nine. "Fuck, baby. Go deeper." You took his order and inserted a few more inches, now his dick halfway inside your mouth as Taehyung whistled and fisted your hair making you groan, the vibrations sending sensations down Taehyung's big package while he moaned. "Damn, shit."
From the side of your eyes, you could see Jungkook glaring at you two. He clearly was angry that you two were having fun and here he was having to deal with the pain you placed him in. You were side-eyeing Jungkook trying to tease him more by smirking widely, until it was wiped away from your face when Taehyung grabbed your head and pushed all of his length inside your mouth reaching further down your throat making you choke while you tried to relax your gag reflex and looked up at Taehyung with tears in his eyes. "Oh, fuck. Shit, baby. I'm so sorry. You're mouth just felt so good." He told you with furrowed brows and wiped your tears away from the side of your eyes before he caressed your face as you leaned to his touch.
You knew Taehyung could possibly be only staging his care for you, but you never cared anymore. You gave his thigh a tap to tell him that you were fine and he thankfully understood when he started to rock his hips slowly into your mouth, gradually increasing his pace. You felt yourself start to leak precum throughout the whole time that Taehyung thrusted his cock in your mouth.
Jungkook had enough and settled himself behind you as he whispered into your ear. "Does Taehyungie taste good, M/n? Hmm?" Jungkook's hot breathe hit the back of your neck as you felt his hands snake under your uniform's polo and reached up to play with your erect buds. He flicked and pinched your nipples while you moaned in pleasure, Taehyung moaning louder. "Are you gonna answer me, M/n or not?"
You nodded your head as though to tell him that you were gonna answer him, but you pointed towards your mouth to tell Jungkook that your mouth was full. "Oh, your mouth's dick-filled, huh?" You nod your head again and Jungkook chuckled deeply. "Is that so?" He looked up at Taehyung and perked his head up. "Faster, hyung. I think our fuck toy needs more."
Taehyung complied and drilled his dick into your mouth at a pace you couldn't handle, your eyes widening in shock and rolled back in pleasure. You were in euphoria. You liked how rough Taehyung was with your mouth you never even noticed you have already came creating a wet patch on your pants.
"Ohh, look. Someone's a little too sensitive." Jungkook whispered, one hand moving down to your ass kneading your butt cheeks as if they were dough and continued to do this until he was finally able to process how supple your bubble butt was.
You couldn't think straight anymore. You just felt so good. Your mouth getting abused, how Jungkook caressed your body and the way Taehyung pulled on your hair, all of it made you feel like you were in heaven. You felt ecstatic. You still could make out the voice of Taehyung who let out chains of curses and grunts as he inhumanely sped up on his thrusting. "M/n! Ah, shiiit! Mmmmh, fuck, baby. So good for me, huh? Taking my whole cock."
You closed your eyes as you succumb to the feeling, now making use of your tongue that only stayed in one position the whole time. You swirled and played with his cock trying to follow the rhythm of his unbelievable speed, Taehyung moaning. "Damn it, M/n. You really know how to make a man feel real good, huh? Guess I wasn't wrong when I said you'd make a good toy." Taehyung smirked and never stopped from slamming his dick in your mouth.
After a few more thrusts, Taehyung pulled his still erect dick from your mouth as you looked up at him with a pout. "But.. but, sunbae still wasn't able to cum."
"Don't worry, M/n." Taehyung bent down to your height with a growing smirk. "There's more than just one way to make your sunbae cum."
"R-reallly? Tell me, tell me!" You desperately asked the older who looked at Jungkook and the latter looked at him.
"Let me show you." Jungkook said before he got you up on your feet and pulled you inside a cubicle, Taehyung following behind with his exposed dick, throbbing like crazy from the sight of you being such a good slut for them. Jungkook sat on the closed toilet while you stood in front of him, Taehyung placing himself behind you. "C'mere. Hold onto my shoulders." He curled his fingers at you and you immediately did as he was told. You held his shoulders, while Taehyung positioned your lower half so it would face him. You gasped when Taehyung, without any hesitation, pulled your pants down the cold air making contact with your ass that was now in full display.
You heard Taehyung tut his tongue staring at your butt making you blush bashfully. "M/n. Are you a virgin?"
You gulped, then buried your face on the crook of Jungkook's neck and nodded your head. "Y-yes."
"Damn. Then, I don't think you'd be able to—"
"No, I can take it, sunbae. Please, just please fuck me!" You pleaded as if it was the end of the world, looking back at Taehyung who was smirking widely. "I've always wanted to be fucked by you, sunbae."
"Really?" He wiggled his brows at Jungkook, who only rolled his eyes. "Then, I'll make sure that your first would be a memory to remember."
Without any preparation, Taehyung aligned his dick to prod at your entrance making you gasp. "Wait, sunbae aren't you gonna prep—AH, FUCK! P-PULL OUT! IT HURTS!" You evidently winced, but your words fell into deaf ears as Taehyung continued to push his tip further down your hole. "Ah! Sunbaee!" You said and tried to look back, when Jungkook took you by the chin and placed his lips on yours passionately kissing you. Your eyes widened in shock, but melted into the kiss anyways and replied to the unexpected invitation.
He pulled away, much to your dismay and whimpered forgetting about the pain in your ass. "Why'd you have to lie to hyung, M/n? I was all your first. I was there to take all your innocence away." He whispered lowly into your ear, making sure it was only you and him who could hear. Luckily, Taehyung was a groaning mess. Growling here and there with every opportunity he could get while still pushing in slowly into your hole. "Is this what you wanted? Hmm?"
"Y-yes, Kookie." You closed your eyes and hugged Jungkook by the neck. "Kook, M'sorry for biting. M'really sorry." You unconsciously apologized, your brain still too far away from being in this place.
"It's alright." Jungkook smiled. "But, you have to be really obedient next time. Okay, M/n?"
"Yes, Kookie. Ye—Ah!" You let out a loud gasp the moment Taehyung was able to slide all of his length inside you.
"Fuck, baby. That felt like you swallowed my whole dick inside you. Do you really want it so badly?" Taehyung asked you seductively and trailed kisses from your neck down to your back in attempt to ease every tense muscle in your body that was caused from the pain.
"Y-yes, sunbae. I want it so, so bad—AAAAH!" An ear splitting scream emitted from your mouth making Jungkook look away from you. Taehyung didn't give you any warning nor Jungkook when he suddenly fucked you into pure bliss. "Sunbae, sunbaee. Nnngh~ Ahh! Good.. GOOD!"
"Yeah?" Taehyung panted heavily as he thrusted at a pace you couldn't even let your ass get wind of. "Then, I'll make you feel even better." Taehyung said and hammered his dick into you as if it was a very easy task and groaned loudly, howling at how much you clenched around his dick. You were about to open your mouth to say something, when Taehyung hit that bundle of nerves that made you see stars your tongue rolling out of its place. "Found it."
Taehyung gladly abused that same area and hit it with every thrusts, with every hit eliciting a moan from you. Jungkook didn't want to feel left out, so he locked his lips with yours once again sucking on your tongue that made you moan, the noise getting swallowed by the older male who had caught your lips. Jungkook now, played with your tongue swirling around at a choreography he obviously led.
Taehyung saw that he wasn't gaining any attention when he was clearly the one who was making you feel satisfied right now with his own dick and there you were happily making out with Jungkook, jealousy rising in his chest. In anger, he pulled himself out of you only to slam his dick back inside you making you let out a lewd noise from your mouth, forcing you to move away from Jungkook's lips. "Attention here, M/n. I'm the one making you feel good."
You nodded your head while Taehyung leaned his body and moved your head to look at him and pulled you in for a rough kiss. Jungkook noticed that Taehyung was trying to get all your attention for himself only and he didn't like it one bit. If anything, he should have been the one fucking your ass into oblivion had not been for his bleeding penis. Jungkook growled possessively and glared at Taehyung who only side eyed the younger as he continued to thrust his dick in and out of you at an animalistic pace.
It was you who pulled away from Taehyung, feeling bad that Jungkook wasn't getting any of your recognition that he deserved. "Kookie..." You said while your ass was getting pounded angrily by Taehyung, as your tears fell down your face from the pleasure that you felt. You parted the male's bangs and placed a kiss on his forehead shaking as you felt yourself grow weak from how much Taehyung fucked your ass, the bliss making your knees buckle the only thing that supported you from standing was Taehyung's strong hands that gripped on your hips tightly.
"Fuck, I'm near. So fucking near." Taehyung said, as you also felt the same.
"I-Inside me, sunbae. Please, breed me. Make me pregnant." You weakly told the male out of pure desperation and eagerness.
"Shit, M/n!" Taehyung growled loudly as he gritted his teeth from how strong he rammed his cock into you. Loud skin slapping and wet noises emitted from the two of you as his thrusts started to get sloppy. "I'm cumming. Cumming!"
"Yes, yes! Ah!" You let out a high pitched moan whilst Taehyung buried his length inside of you and stayed there painting your walls with his cum, finishing inside of you.
Taehyung panted thrusting a few more times to ride out his high. After, he pulled out of you and watched as his thick liquid he filled you with dripped down from your ass. Your legs finally gave in and fell to the floor, you fainting from so much exhaustion.
---------
Your eyes fluttered open feeling yourself laid on something soft. You finally realized that you were resting on the bed inside the clinic when you sat up and looked around. You felt your head throb a little as you held your head and tried to recall what happened. "What the hell..." Then, everything that happened this morning came rushing back into your head making you heave out a loud sigh in disbelief. You did it again. You let someone have their way with you again. Also, one thing that stuck to your head was what Taehyung said. "So, sunbae, wasn't really genuinely kind... to me?"
The door to the room clicked open and you immediately went back to your sleeping position and acted asleep. Footsteps approached you and stopped in their tracks. You heard a person sigh. "Fuck... This is all your fault."
"Me?! You were the one who planned all this!"
"Who the fuck got so angry just 'cause he wasn't getting any attention?"
"Well, who... well.."
"Stop!" You interrupted the two fearing that their arguing would grow worse.
Their heads turned to you and you swore that you could see both of them sparkle in delight. "M/n!" They ran to you and hugged you. "M/n, oh my goodness. Are you hurt somewhere? Hmm? Tell me."
"Nowhere in particular, but—Ah, stop!" You said and held both of your hands up at them as though to tell them to be quiet. "I'm... I'm..." Your eyes looked up at Taehyung, hurt evident in your eyes before you finally cried pulling your knees close to your chest.
"Oh, fuck. M/n! I'm so sorry. Please, don't take what I said seriously. It was just, you know, a script. I was being real when I treated you and your friend kindly. Honest." Taehyung said all in one go to defend himself, regretting ever thinking of saying those things. He knew it would hurt you, but he still went for it. "Forgive sunbae, M/n. I didn't mean it."
You sobbed and sniffed, wiping your tears. "Really?"
"Yeah." Taehyung replied.
Jungkook was a very big baby and didn't know what to do in these type of situations, so in result he climbed up on the bed and gave you a big hug, the hug turning into a cuddle session. You hated Jungkook with all your guts, but why? Why did you let him do what he wants from you? "Kookie... You.. are you okay?"
Jungkook nodded his head. "Yeap. Thankfully, it wasn't a deep cut, but that would be a lesson for me not to mess with a person like you." He chuckled awkwardly making you laugh lightly.
"Hey, not fair. You both get to cuddle." Taehyung whined, shaking your head in disbelief.
"Come on here." You told Taehyung and he gladly crawled towards you as you repositioned yourself to straddle his thighs, while Jungkook placed himself behind you, supporting Taehyung from carrying your weight. "I like this." You said and rested your back against Jungkook's hard built chest before placing a kiss on his chin.
"Uhm... M/n...? We were meaning to ask you." Taehyung started. You hummed in reply while Taehyung blushed shyly. "Would you be fine to enter a.. uhm.. polyamorous relationship with us?"
You looked at Jungkook, then at Taehyung, then back at Jungkook. You pointed at yourself and tilted your head to the side. "Me? Are your sure?"
"Yes. You and only you." Jungkook answered and planted a kiss on top of your head.
You giggled and nodded your head. "I'll be more than happy to."
On the other hand, Hyejoo was busy taking photos eating her sandwich away. "This is so cute."
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totiredtowrite · 3 years ago
Text
Wolf In Sheeps Clothing
Warnings - Cursing because angry boy, reader being a cold mf, reader's clothes are described (but kind of vaguely so dw)
Note: I feel like I can hear the gif for some reason :D? Kind of self indulgent so reader is shorter than kyotani. Poor mad dog, always being put in his place by pretty boys. I'll have you know that I consult the wiki everytime I write something for character details by the way. (bragging shamelessly). Reader is also a second year and the student council president because this is fiction and I'm not sure if you have to be a third year hehe
this turned out longer than I thought it would, really popped off with this one
Male Reader
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Kyotani Kentarou has a new enemy.
Whether or not you knew he though of you as an enemy didn't matter to him.
Suprisingly, it doesn't happen as often as some might think. His awful attitude and uncooperative nature ensures that he makes more enemies than friends, but most people are too afraid to approach him in order to become one of the two.
His new enemy?
You. (L/n) (y/n), Student Council President.
Kyotani never really though much of you. Not when you campaigned for the spot, (despite being in the second year), and not when you got the position. He's seen you, sure, you made that whole speech when you got the part and you oversaw detention sometimes.
Kyotani, (surprisingly), didn't get detention much. On the one time you oversaw the detention class when he was supposed to be there, he decided not to go.
So, overall, he hardly saw you at all. You were nothing but a passing thought in his mind when he heard people talking about you. He never expected to talk to you, much less consider you his worst enemy.
~~~
It really was a normal day for Kyotani. He woke up, took a shower, ate on his way to school, and slipped into class with his usual "fuck with me and you die" look on.
Practice was cancelled that day as the coach was out sick, so he didn't really have anything to do. Everything was all normal for him, right up until the end of the day. Kyotani was stalking through the hallways, the other second years moving out of his way and giving hushed whispers to their friends as they got ready to leave.
He was used to that, and even liked the feeling it gave him, knowing that these people were actually afraid of him. He was close to his locker when it happened.
He ran right into you, almost knocking you back. He glowered down at you, an angry spark in his eye that would have any other student running far away. You however, just stepped back to be clear of his general bubble, and looked up at him with a frown.
Truth be told, he had never really seen you up close. True he'd overheard some of his classmates talking about how 'intimidating' and 'handsome' you were, but Kentarou didn't expect to actually feel it coming off of you. He didn't expect to point out how attractive you were right off the bat.
The hard glisten in your eye faded as you scanned his face. You know this guy. Your expression changed from 'stone cold dictator' to 'unbothered student council president.'
Somehow feeling the tension, most of the students cleared out before either of you said a word.
"Kyotani Kentarou," you said, "Number 16 on our schools volleyball team. Infamous for your out of control aggression and prowess in your sport." You smirked at him quickly, straightening your blazer and standing up straight.
"The hell," he lifted his head to look down his nose at you, "why do you know me?"
You shrug. "I keep tabs on all the students I think are troublesome. Or interesting." He watched as you casually turned to your bag and pulled out a large binder. "You're on the first page, marked in red." you had a somewhat mocking tone in your voice, that coy smirk returning.
Kyotani growled, the noise sounding surprisingly like an animal. You were much more cocky up close. Cocky and aggravating. He moved closer to you so that your chests were almost touching while you put the binder away, and looked straight down at your face. "I can be much more troublesome," he said lowly.
You barked out a laugh. "Careful there Mad Dog." You advanced, causing Kyotani to step back. "Or I might just think you're threatening me," you continued to move forward. Kyotani took more steps back. The only way he could describe the feeling was like he was being herded like a sheep.
Another animalistic growl left his throat when his back hit the lockers. By now everyone had left, leaving just the two of you. "You aren't leaving a very good first impression on your president," you say dangerously, almost mocking your own title.
"Why do I need to leave a good impression on you," he muttered out. You didn't say anything and instead lifted your arm above his shoulder to slam it by his head. He recognized this feeling. Yet somehow, it felt all different.
Not once had the rumors spoken about the affect you had on people. You scanned his face again, those intimidating (e/c) eyes holding him steady in place. His breath hitched in his throat softly when you pulled your hand back to straighten his tie. "You don't," you said referring to his earlier question, eyes focused on his tie. "And you haven't."
You pulled away from him and stepped back, patting him on the shoulder before turning on your heel to head towards the doors. You turned your head just as you were about to leave, the blue grey light from the cloudy sky making you seem more threatening. "Take care, Mad Dog." You left the school building, leaving Kentarou breathing heavily and on guard at the lockers.
~~~
He really didn't expect that from you.
He had had a similar feeling, when Yahaba threw him into a wall and scolded him during the spring preliminary game against Karasuno. Similar, but not quite the same. It felt like you had him trapped. He still had your words replaying on repeat in his mind.
Those rumors he heard about you didn't do you any justice. He never heard anything about how easily you could make people feel... things. For once, he felt like he was the one being hunted. And oh boy did he not like that. All those times he'd seen you, he thought you looked like a regular goody two shoes who would report even the smallest wrongdoing to the teachers. He didn't expect a calculated, threatening boy who had a binder of 'troublemakers' and a heavy presence.
He didn't sleep more than 2 hours that night.
Maybe it was your eyes that were etched into his mind. Maybe it was your smooth voice, that look that made it seem like there was so much more under your surface.
So naturally he came to the conclusion that you were his rival.
He managed to avoid you all till the end of the week, Sunday rolling around like a saving grace. He didn't see you once for the rest of the week, but it still felt like you were watching him with those calculated eyes of yours. His shoulder still felt all weird and tingly from where you had touched him.
The weekend felt like an asylum to him, a feeling of safety and control returning to him when his older sister sent him out to go pick up some things from the store.
Kyotani had decided to cut through the park on his way back, but now he was quickly regretting his decision. It's not like he was afraid of you, he just thought that avoiding you would be the best option.
The last place he expected you to be was sitting in the park, staring out at the little man-made pond with a few birds at your feet. You had an overcoat on to compensate for the slightly chilly weather, a sweater visible underneath it. Your shoes were tapping the ground rhythmically.
You looked much less intimidating out of uniform. You had a neutral, content look on your face, cheek squished against your palm with your elbow resting on your knee. It was almost cute, he thought, if that was the right word for it.
"Are you just going to stand there forever," you turned your face towards him and regarded him with lidded eyes. "You can sit down you know."
He jumped, standing still for a second before slowly moving towards you. His guard up like a wall as memories of your last interaction replayed through his mind. His breath quickened ever so slightly, and his ears turned pink.
He slid into place on the bench next to you. You turned towards him again and smiled. He went bright red.
It was an actual smile. Not that cocky smirk, but a soft clad cute smile. You focused your attention back on to the pond.
"You live around here," Kyotani inquired gruffly.
You nodded. "I don't go out much. Usually cooped up in my room working on god knows what." You leaned back, draping your arms gracefully across the back of the bench. "Sorry about our little encounter, by the way. I must have come off way scary, right?" You gave him that soft smile again.
He looked away and hid his cheeks with his hand. "Like I'd be afraid of you," he muttered.
You hummed softly. A thought struck him. He regained his composure before speaking again. "You must have known that I live around here, right?"
You nodded wordlessly. "It was in your file."
Kyotani decided not to comment on how creepy that was, and instead muttered out a small "oh."
Neither of you said a word for a few moments.
"We really got off on the wrong foot, huh?" You turned your whole body towards him, watching his movements like a cat.
He just grunted.
You laughed a little bit, and extended your hand. "Why don't we start over. I'm (l/n) (y/n)."
Kyotani eyed your hand suspiciously before taking it. The tingly feeling returned, but this time it felt stronger as both your hands were bare. Your slightly smaller hand gripped his firmly, the slight size difference making Kyotani blush a bit.
You really weren't what he thought, were you? Even so, you were still his enemy. His cute, scary, calculated, calm enemy.
He doesn't even know what hit him.
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hockeywhy · 4 years ago
Text
4 times you faked a relationship + 1 time you didn’t; m.tkachuk
WARNINGS: language. WORD COUNT: 17.2k. A/N: So, I didn’t want my effort for this fic to go to waste and I’ve decided to re-write it for Matty because he and the fake dating trope work so well together. I had to, so here it is.
one.
“I’d only be asking Matthew if I had no other options and needed a last resort,” you said. “Until then, I’m not even contemplating it.” 
“Kind of sounds like you’ve just about reached the bottom of your list, right around where you’re keeping Matthew, Y/N,” your friend, Anna, responded and though her tone said sympathy, the look on her face reflected anything but sheer elation. 
The invitation landed on your tabletop with a loud slap while you deposited yourself in a nearby chair unceremoniously, glaring at the decorative paper as if it offended you. Actually, scratch that. It did offend you. Greatly so. Honestly, it may as well have come in the form of one of those boxing gloves that sprung out of a box immediately upon opening and decked you square in the face. That’s how much it offended you. 
The golden letters inked on the thick paper warmly requested the pleasure of your company to witness the love of Josh Reynolds to Louise Jones six weeks from now. The location stated was a hotel you knew only through word of mouth: one of those fancy establishments that served ridiculously priced plates that were more canapes than actual meals. 
You doubted there would be much pleasure from your company.
You and Josh called it quits just over a year ago after a relationship that became increasing rockier, significantly more emotionally exhausting. The two of you started dating in high school and if the relationship started off with nothing but the sort of blinding fiery passion only teens could be capable of, well someone missed the memo on giving you the message that all fires eventually fizzle out. Gradually, it was the only way you could see your relationship heading and it seemed that Josh felt it too. It made the breakup easier: it was neat and mutual. Still, that couldn’t be considered an incentive for either of you to invite each other to such grand, deeply personal events. You couldn’t help but feel a little hurt that he found someone he wanted to tie the knot with so quickly but in retrospect, Josh had always wanted that while you were content as you were. That seemed to be the fork in your road with him.
On the one hand, you were angry at Josh for even considering jotting your name down on the list of attendees and on the other, you were angry at yourself for being angry about that. One moment you were dead set on declining the invite and the next, you considering that doing that would simply show you were bitter and unable to be civil about it. Besides, surely it was noted somewhere in the Rulebook of Ex’s that you just couldn’t do stuff like that. That seemed to just about do it. Like hell you’d given anyone the satisfaction of one-upping you.
You needed a plus one. Desperately. 
“Ask your brother then. Pretty sure that’s bound to impress anyone there. It’s not often many will get to say they brushed shoulders with an up-and-coming professional athlete.” 
“I don’t need that sort of plus one. If I did, I would’ve asked you—”
“Thanks,” Anna mumbled.”
“—but what I need,” you ploughed on ahead, “is, well, something that can come off a bit more serious looking.”
She rolled her eyes. “Saying the word boyfriend won’t jinx you into permanent silence, you know. You need a boyfriend.”
“A boyfriend for a day,” you agreed contemplatively. 
She picked up the invitation to look through it carefully and after concluding her inspection, she slapped the papers back down on the table, grinning. “Matthew it will be then!” 
Your younger brother, Jake, recently signed his entry-level contract with the Calgary Flames, in a way carrying forward the family tradition of starting a career in professional sports with them. Your grandfather did, your father did and now, here you were watching your little brother take on the mantle. Your family’s involvement in sport and, specifically, the team meant that you were somewhat familiar with the organization whether that meant attending home games or a few events arranged by the team. You couldn’t say you were the best of friends with them, certainly nowhere near the level your brother was, but generally speaking you were fond of the C of Red. 
That couldn’t also be said about Matthew, however.
It seemed that from the get-go, there was a personality clash between you. At first, you thought it was just Matthew picking on you, joking around as he disagreed with virtually anything you’d say but progressively, you were pretty sure the two of you didn’t even have the compatibility to keep things civil. Matthew had a way with pushing your buttons and it bothered you he could do that with so much ease, though the more you thought of it, the more it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to you: you were all too familiar with his on-ice shenanigans, after all. Whenever you knew you had to be under the same roof as him, you’d tell yourself to not let him get under your skin but that resolve would last for all of ten minutes. Fifteen if you had a particularly good day. 
Much to your chagrin, it seemed your brother was closest to Matthew. Though you offered the spare room in your apartment, your brother was so warmly welcomed by Matthew. It was no doubt even Jake found your annoyance with his teammate entertaining.
The thought alone was frustrating enough. If one day, by chance, you caught sight of a white strand of hair on your head, you were dead set on blaming Matthew for it. Matthew and his smarmy attitude; Matthew and his smartass retorts; Matthew and the smirks he threw your way whenever your brother took his side, outnumbering you. 
You clenched your teeth, glaring at the invite. From the corner of your eye, you saw Anna’s outstretched hand holding your phone out to you. A groan formed in your throat and you wished you kept in contact with the handful of guys you tried dating after Josh. None really stayed. Or better said, none managed to draw you in. It was as if Josh had put a jinx on you. If that was the case, you hoped that this whammy would disappear if it meant watching him watch someone else walk down the aisle towards him. 
Anna waved the device at you insistently. “Do it. Come on. Even you know nothing says fuck you like turning up there with Matthew. Scrappy when he wants to be and he’s not bad to look at either. You know it.” 
You arched an eyebrow up at her. “More than Johnny?” 
She flushed visibly. Johnny and Anna were still a relatively new thing, dancing around their relationship carefully as if they were both doing this rodeo for the first time. It was pretty cute. “Don’t change the subject.” She placed the device down on the table in front of you then patted your shoulder. “I have a feeling you won’t regret it. If he gets on your nerves too much, well…it can’t be worse than watching your ex get married, right?” 
“Ouch,” you winced, but chuckled, knowing you were defeated. Matthew was the last resort, and you knew you were at the bottom of your list before you even started going through it. “You do realize if he declines, I’ll probably make a start on packing my bags and moving to Montana, right? The only time you’ll hear from me is when my handwritten letter goes through the nine circles of hell that is our postal service.” 
Anna fixed you with a stare that could only read as ‘do it’. “I wouldn’t be so insistent on this if I knew Matthew would say no. I have a feeling he’ll surprise you.” 
With a heavy sigh, you unlocked your phone and scrolled through your list of contacts, thumb hovering over his name when it came up. Anna wasn’t wrong: Matthew wasn’t bad to look at all, that much you could admit. But god, if he turned you down…. you knew you wouldn’t be able to ever show your face in front of him or the rest of the team ever again. 
“I think I’ve had enough surprises from him to last a lifetime,” you mumbled but tapped the call symbol anyway.
He answered on the third ring. “Hel—
You didn’t let him finish. “I need your help,” you ground out, eyes closing while you rubbed at your forehead with the tips of your fingers. 
There was silence on the other end of the line that had you biting your lip in anxiousness. You shouldn’t have done this. You really shouldn’t have done this. All it would take would be just hitting the ‘resume my account’ link on one of the dating apps you signed up for a while ago. Someone was bound to be attracted not only to you but the promise of an open bar—
“Music to my ears,” Matthew’s response came through. You could practically hear the smile in his voice and knew you’d regret it; you could easily tell from the tone of his voice. 
You sighed quietly, leaning forward to rest your elbows on the table, eyes glued to the invitation. Fuck it, you could get someone else; easily, no doubt. The world of online dating was vast and there would always be takers.
“Uh, yeah actually, never mind—”
“No, no. Come on, Y/N. Pretty sure this is the first time you’re calling me first so can we take a moment to just let that sink in?” Silence again, then a chuckle. “Okay, now that we did. How can I help you?” 
It wasn’t as if Josh had put you in the position to ask Matthew for a favor but still: fuck Josh, anyway. In a split second of sheer pettiness, you considered aiming to host the most extravagant, unforgettable weddings when your turn would come just to show him who does it better. 
“Are you free the third weekend in June?” you asked tiredly. 
“Don’t know. Depends what for and who you’re asking for.” 
You should’ve asked him face-to-face. At least then, he would’ve had the chance to see you roll your eyes, turn on your heel and walk away. “I’m obviously asking for myself. Could you just be straightforward for once and answer yes or no? You’re making me hold the line for longer than I anticipated and I’m happy to ask someone else,” you lied.
“Let me get this right—” Here comes, you thought exhausted. “You’re calling me for the first time since you have my number to ask me if I’m free the third weekend in June? As a favor for yourself.” 
“Matthew, I didn’t stutter—”
“What’s happening in June?”
You don’t know what it was about his words that downed you. It was nothing but a simple question yet the only thing you could think of was: the first boy I’ve dated and so far, the only one, seems to have moved on quicker than I anticipated and while I’m still trying to build myself back up, I’m sitting in my kitchen looking at a wedding invitation and wallowing in self-pity because regardless of how hard I try, of how much I’ve amended my standards, no one seems to do it so what if this is it for me? What if this is just the way it’ll be from now on? And now, I’m resorting to lying just to make myself feel better but also put a façade in front of someone who I know no longer cares about me like that. And really, nor do I about him but here we are. So, nothing much is happening in June, Matthew. Hopefully we get a lot more sunshine though!
What you responded with instead was, “just an old friend of mine getting married and I need a plus one. Nothing serious. Just go there for an hour or two, say some hellos and leave. It’s a quick in-and-out thing.” 
More silence on the other end of the line other than the muffled shuffle of what sounded like bedsheets. “Why not ask your brother then?” 
“Asked him already, said he’s got something lined up already. So, are you free or not?” you lied, quickly pressing on even if you knew that sounded a lot like desperation.
“For you, at a price.” He was smirking. You knew he was and more than ever, you wished 2021 was the year you could just reach through the phone and shake the person on the other end. 
“Uh-huh. Right. No, just forget it. Forget I even—”
You were going to end the call when Matthew laughed, quickly calling out a “no, no! Nothing weird, I promise. Just owe me a favor in return, is all.” 
“Do I get a choice?” you mumbled, more to yourself than towards him.
“I think we both know that you don’t. Text me the time and place,” he instructed and then, just as you were really about to end the call, he added, “hey, send me a photo of what you’re wearing also. I’ll match my tie to your dress, free of charge.” 
“Can you maybe ditch the jacket while you’re at it? Just want to make sure your tie’s within reach so I can strangle you with it.”
Even after you cut the call, Matthew’s laughter rang in your ears. 
-
Matthew matched his tie to your red dress. The color of the silk around his neck was so striking, you would swear it was made from the same material as your outfit. You sent him a photo of the material of the dress, more as a joke than having any expectations attached to it so you were pleasantly surprised to see he made the effort. For a moment, you allowed yourself to bask in sheer joy knowing that to any eye, the two of you could easily pass as a couple. At least, from looks alone if not from attitude. You were a proud person; fiercely so. Knowing you were now in debt to Matthew however he saw fit dealt a pretty impressive blow to your ego. You don’t let yourself linger too much on that thought, though. It was already difficult enough to loosen up and relax your stance as you climbed into Matthew’s car as soon as he texted you of his arrival. 
“You look good,” he commented after you fixed the seatbelt on. He turned in his seat as much as space would allow so he could look at you properly and in return, you arched an eyebrow, refusing to give way to his stare. “Are you trying to one-up the bride?” 
“Ha, ha. Funny. You didn’t even see the bride. I didn’t even see the bride.” 
“Didn’t see her but I’m seeing you, so,” he shrugged, by way of explanation before correcting his position. 
If asked, you wouldn’t deny that Matthew also looked good. Very good. But only if asked. It was impossible that someone with a face like that didn’t know they turned heads easily wherever they went. Matthew’s suit fit him as if it was sown on him. If the two of you had a better relationship, you would even dare ask him what it was he was putting in that hair of his that made it so shiny and gave those curls so much definition, taming them almost perfectly when he really put his mind to it. Whatever it was, you had a feeling he didn’t strain as much as you had earlier that morning to tame your hair and though you could give yourself credit for how well it turned out, your arms weren’t thanking you for it. 
Thankfully, much of the drive was pleasant. Though you hated small talk, you decided to make an effort if only to ease your nerves as the navigation system indicated you were drawing closer and closer to that glitzy hotel. You learned that although the season was over, Matthew, Brady and the rest of the family would spend a few weeks in Canada before heading back home to St. Louis. In turn, you told him that some of the days off you booked from work would be spent somewhere just as sunny and warm but with more beaches. It was safe ground. That, you could do although progressively, you were becoming more and more distracted, and less focused on the conversation the two of you managed to keep. 
“Want me to pull over?” Matthew asked suddenly. 
“What,” you mumbled, turning your attention from the road ahead to Matthew who seemed amused by the situation. “Why would I want you to do that?” 
“I’d want you to do that. You look pretty pale and honestly, I’ve just had the interior cleaned so—”
“Fuck you, Tkachuk, keep driving. I’m just a little…cold. How high do you have the AC on?” 
He fixed you with a stare while waiting for the lights ahead to turn green, eyebrow arched. “It’s June, Y/N, and uncomfortably warm. If it makes you feel better, though, I could turn it off and we can roll down the windows instead?”
“No, sorry—you’re right. It’s fine. Just leave the AC as it is.” 
The laugh he gave was nothing short of incredulous. “Repeat that back for me. Actually—hold on, do that when I can press record on my phone so I can have that on repeat. Did you admit I’m right?” 
“God, you’re making me regret inviting you,” you muttered though without heat. 
An uncomfortable silence slipped between the two of you or maybe, it was just your perspective on it. Matthew seemed perfectly at ease minding the road, only occasionally throwing a cursory glance towards the car’s navigation system whenever it announced a turn. Doing this seemed more and more like a bad idea. A terrible one. No one would’ve held it against you if you denied the invitation. In fact, you thought that was more expected than accepting it and turning up to the party as if you were seeing an old friend, not an ex-boyfriend. It wasn’t too late though. Matthew could still turn the car around. 
“Listen, Matt—”
“You have now reached your destination. Your destination is on the right.”
You released a breath you weren’t even aware of holding, then threw a quick look towards the main entrance of the hotel. Already, a few guests whom you recognized were crossing into the lobby.
“You really don’t look okay at all,” Matthew repeated and there was less humor in his voice and more concern this time around. Even you weren’t ignorant to how much your mood kept fluctuating over the course of the drive: often, engaged in conversation but occasionally, withdrawn, barely just catching on to whatever it was Matthew was saying. Sure, he probably didn’t know you well enough to read you, but it didn’t take a genius to figure out something was amiss. “Correct me if I’m wrong, but I felt like there’s more to this thing than you’re telling me. You could’ve asked your brother, yet you didn’t—” 
Damn it. You made him swear to play along. You made a quick mental note to get back at him about it whenever you felt energized enough to do so.
“Matthew,” you said, your voice suddenly clear, tone neutral. You didn’t dare look him in the eyes so instead, you kept your stare fixed on the revolving doors ahead. “I’m only going to say this once and I hope that you won’t make me repeat it now or ever again. I’d prefer that you don’t mention it to anyone either. The person getting married today is my ex-boyfriend. Up until last year, we’ve been together since we were teenagers. I loved him. Since we broke up, I kept trying to look for parts of him in others, but I couldn’t find even a trace of who he was. I feel as I’ve been jinxed, and I felt that maybe if I come today, maybe if I see him with someone else, I can confidently say I’m fine with that. It hurt my pride when I received the invitation, so my first thought was to lie. If, for just a few hours, I can pretend I’ve also moved on and I’m not stuck in this…fucking weird limbo, then maybe it becomes true. A fucked up self-prophecy. So.” You pause, clearing your throat. Your mouth suddenly felt dry from your speech, yet you couldn’t feel a pang of regret in your chest or heat behind your eyes. “So. If you want out, that’s fine. After all, I’m asking you to pretend to be my date out of spite, I guess. And embarrassment. It’s childish and unfair and ridiculous but—”
You came to a halt when you felt a finger under your chin, and a gentle upward push forced you to raise your head up a little more. When you turned towards Matthew, you looked at him with a look of confusion on your face. 
“Keep your head up. We have a wedding to go to.” 
His encouragement sunk in faster than expected and as your expression relaxed, a smile formed on your face. 
Yeah. The two of you had a wedding to go to. 
-
The event hall was decorated minimally yet tastefully. It made everything seem even more personal and you received that impression from every detail: from the flower arrangements to the music, everything was a testament to a life united by love. Maybe your emotional outburst earlier accounted for it, but you felt lighter even as you watched the newlyweds glide along the floor for their first dance. Sure, you felt a desperate pang of want but it was distant. Muffled. 
Despite your initial thoughts, having Matthew at your side felt very much like a safety cushion. It surprised you to watch him settle into his role with so much ease that eventually, even you didn’t have to remind yourself to not withdraw whenever his arm wrapped around your waist: sometimes loosely, sometimes a little tighter, reeling you in closer.
Fish, here is your bait, you thought wildly as you stood tucked at his side while he accepted flatteries from one of the guests who swore had been a fan of the Calgary Flames since before he could even talk.
“You must be so proud,” the man turned towards you. “Your family’s truly one of a kind to have all played for the team and now—” He gestures towards Matthew as if to say all of this. “Must be something about those Flames!” 
You laughed tightly, just as Matthew squeezed your side. By that move alone, you could tell he was eating this up. 
“Yeah, just can’t get enough of them,” you concluded, pitching your voice just a little higher towards the end. To the man, it was as genuine as could be, but Matthew cautioned you silently with the slightest narrowing of his eyes, effectively warning you to be more realistic. “Hey, I’ll get us some refills? Try to be a little more inconspicuous in the meantime. Remember this isn’t your day,” you joked. 
“Only practicing for when our turn comes,” Matthew responded without missing a beat and released the hold he had on you. 
Once at the bar, you allowed yourself some extra moments to catch your breath. Even off ice, Matthew was a force to be reckoned with. He struck conversation with others easily, drew their attention with seemingly little effort and easily set the mood for whatever situation or person the two of you would run into. A part of you thought his profession had a lot to do with his mannerism, but a bigger part knew different:  mostly, it was really just Matthew. 
He had a way with words and with people that you haven’t been witness to before and couldn’t help but wonder if it was all show. He was, after all, a face for the public: familiar with interviews, familiar with the attention, apparently not overwhelmed even by less conventional questions. Watching him play this role was fascinating to say the least. It certainly took your mind off the circumstances so credit where credit was due. 
“Hey, it’s good to see you here.” 
You turned from the bar and came face to face with Josh. His jacket was off, and his sleeves were neatly rolled up past his elbows; behind the knot of his tie, you could see he’d undone the top button of the collar. You’d seen him make countless rounds across the entire floor, greeting guests and ensuring everything was running smoothly. Occasionally, you watched him dance either with his wife, or family members, or even guests you recognized as work colleagues. 
You smiled. “Thanks for the invite. It was a bit weird to receive it, I can’t lie about that, but I’m glad you sent it.” It surprised you to learn you weren’t even lying about that. Through the course of the evening, it dawned on you that maybe, it was more the thought of being here that made you anxious; the event itself, however, proved just how right you were. It felt…fine. You felt fine. 
“Yeah—uh, I wasn’t… I wasn’t really sure but, well, before…” He trailed off into a sigh. 
You chuckled softly. “Would you like to buy a vowel?” 
That made him laugh. Truly, genuinely laugh. “Sorry. I guess it’s a bit weird for me also. But, well, before you and I were, well, you-and-I, we were friends. I would’ve hoped we’d still be friends even after…” He waved a hand in the air by way of explanation but that was sufficient for you.
“Won’t hurt to be friends. Whatever happened between us—well. Thing of the past. Build bridges and get over them, right?” 
“Right. Function of a bridge and all.”
“Hey. Congratulations, by the way! I’m happy for you. Really. I wish the two of you all the best. She seems really great.” 
“She is,” he agreed and cast a glance towards the room, eyes undoubtedly searching for her. “Are you—”
“Here you are.” 
Saved by the bell. A weight fell around your waist that, by now, was warm and familiar. Unconsciously, you leaned into Matthew, flashing a wide smile at Josh. At first, he seemed surprised by the sudden appearance but then his features settled into something more comfortable; something so much like relief that for a moment, you wished you could just come clean about it. You and Matthew were less than meets the eye.
Before you could even introduce them, a kiss was pressed to your cheek, knocking all air from your lungs and almost making you choke because of it.
What the hell.
“You were gone for some time, so I thought to check on you,” Matthew informed you, all matter of fact. To Josh, he said, “congratulations on the wedding. Must be pretty great to finally get to this point. You two look great together.” 
“Oh? Yeah. Yeah, thanks man. So glad you could come along today.” Josh turned to you, an eyebrow perked in interest. “I didn’t know you two were together.” 
“Oh we’re just—” 
You began but were promptly interrupted by Matthew. “We like to keep it lowkey. It hasn’t been that long for us but that’s not much of a problem when your gut tells you this is it. You know it well, right?”  
You were entirely caught off guard. Instead of responding immediately, you bought yourself some time by taking a sip from your glass of—whatever it was. Strong though. Just perfect for the situation you suddenly found yourself in: ex-boyfriend ahead, fake boyfriend to the side, promising sweet nothings that you knew would come back to haunt you at some ungodly hour. You wished you could step on his shoe; pull on those shiny curls of his real quick, knock some sense back into him. There was a difference between play a role well and clearly, playing it too well.
Matthew pushed ahead. “It’s pretty good timing for us though. We could take some notes for when our turn comes, right babe?” 
“I’ll let the two of you to it, then. Thanks again for coming.” Josh made a move to step away but before he did, he turned to you and caught your eyes. “I’m really happy for you, Y/N. You look good together. Just make sure you don’t take too many notes.”
“Wouldn’t dream to,” Matthew responded, and you could read the slight bite in his words. When Josh was out of earshot, he looked down at you. “You dated him? Just him?” 
“Hey, what’d I say about not bringing that up again? And save your dick measuring contests for the locker room, Tkachuk. Now’s not the time nor place.” 
“Now’s definitely the time and place,” he countered, making you roll your eyes but there was a smile on your face you couldn’t quite wipe off. “Come on. Let’s continue taking leaves out of their book.” In one swift motion, he took the glass from your hand and set it on the bar while above, the LED lights dimmed, and the playlist switched to a slower song. 
You threw him a cautious look, easily reading where that was going. “I’m not dancing.”
“Sure, you are. You want to give the impression of being happily in love? You need to start pulling your weight in this thing.” 
“Oh, I’m sorry, Atlas. Do your shoulders hurt from carrying the burden of our relationship?” you mocked, yet still allowed him to lead you towards the dance floor. Right in the center of it given the bride and groom appeared to sit this one out; you expected nothing less from him. You weren’t even surprised when he made an entire show out of it, forcing you to do a pirouette when the two of you claimed your spot. 
“You can’t even imagine the pain you put me through,” he sighed near your ear as the two of you began swaying to the music. 
“Well, you’re still standing so clearly it can’t be that bad.” 
“Baby, it’s torture.” 
You were grateful the two of you weren’t exactly face to face or you were sure Matthew would never have let you live down the flush you felt rising to your cheeks. Sure, he didn’t use the pet name in a genuine manner, but just hearing it roll off his tongue like that… You stopped that thought before it grew into a whole new different monster. 
After a few moments of silence passed, Matthew lowered his head closer to yours, his warm breath colliding with the skin on your throat. “Do you think now’s the right time to kiss? Are enough people watching?” 
You stepped on his foot. Not hard, but just with the right amount of pressure to draw a wince from him. Satisfied, you leaned back just a little to look at him properly. “Don’t even think about it, Tkachuk—”
“Thought about it already.”
Through clenched teeth, you hissed, “you. Are. Incorrigible.” 
He raised his eyebrows, surprised. “If only you could meet yourself.” 
You snickered quietly then leaned back against him. “Thanks for doing this. I know it’s not the most convenient of things… and it wasn’t fair to tell you the full truth of it right on the day of. But—well, thanks.”
“That sounds like it was pretty difficult to let out. It’s very…. heartfelt.” 
“Just fucking accept it as I gave it to you, Tkachuk,” you complained, more amused than annoyed.
More silence followed, filled in only by the general buzz of the room and the slow melody. “And now?” Matthew questioned a short while later. You allowed an extended silence to fill in for your confusion. He picked up on it within seconds. “Do you still feel jinxed? Stuck in the same place while he goes on ahead in life?” 
You took some time to think through your answer, time during which the song faded into yet another slow one. Matthew didn’t give an indication of wanting to move away from the dancefloor, so you saw no purpose in you doing that. 
“Not really,” you concluded. “Just seems like we’re both following different trajectories. Doesn’t mean I’m left behind if I’ve not yet met someone to settle down with like he did. Maybe I just need to be here to come to terms with it. Good for him though. I’m genuinely happy for him and his wife. I think lots of people imagine going through this very same moment.” You ended with a shrug but then, to lighten up the moment, you added, “don’t mock me for it. Between the two of us, I’m the one with the pointy shoes.” 
Matthew laughed, a low, pleasant laugh right by your ear. “I’ll give you a free pass for what’s left of today.” 
“Your generosity astounds me. Please could you also sign my jersey?” 
“Is it my jersey?” 
“Why would it be your jersey when I have my last name printed out on one at the expense of my brother being roughed up a little?” 
“Don’t tempt me. That favor you now owe me? I might just use it to have you get my jersey so I can sign it since you so generously asked.” 
“Your call,” you shrugged. “Just know it’s going straight in the wash right after you scribble on it.” 
Matthew took a few small steps back, only to pull you back towards him. You played along and spun as you landed into his hold once again.
“You say that now, but when you’ll see yourself with it—”
“I’ll auction it on eBay.” 
The laugh you got out of Matthew stayed with you through the rest of the night and like never before, his good disposition easily transferred to you.
two.
When the elevator doors slid open, your brother and Johnny weren’t the only ones to step into the hotel lobby. Matthew accompanied them, flashing a smug smile as the trio approached and his eyes landed on you. You cast a quizzical glance from your brother, to Johnny, to Matthew and then looked towards Anna as if to ask are you seeing this? She only shrugged at you in silent response, though she was grinning from ear to ear. At least someone was certainly enjoying this.
“Last I remember, there were only two of you,” you commented.
“Was that before or after your third drink?” your brother chirped back.
Instead of humoring him, you shift your gaze to Matthew. “What gives, Tkachuk? Can’t be left at home unsupervised during family vacations?” 
“My house training has only gone so far,” he responded smartly, then nodded his head towards Anna and Johnny who were caught in a half-hug, apparently entertaining by watching you and Matthew bicker as if watching a tennis match. “They’re not family.” 
Anna feigned a gasp on your behalf. “Y/N and I are part and parcel, Matt. Thought you’d know that by now.” 
“Well, the three of us are part and parcel also, Anna. Thought you’d definitely know that by now,” he responded but you were already leading the way out of the hotel lobby and towards the busy square outside.
It was a hub of activity: from street vendors to dance and music performers, there was something to see regardless of which way you looked. Although you arrived at your holiday destination the previous day, the flight south coupled with the warm, sticky evening made you want to steer away from the busier parts of the town. Instead, you opted to lounge by the pool with Anna, having perhaps one too many cocktails to kickstart your vacation. Perhaps you missed Matthew’s arrival at some point then, though for the life of you, you couldn’t remember anyone mentioning he’d come along also. Not that it bothered you greatly.
Since the time you asked him to be your plus one some few weeks ago, the relationship between the two of you warmed slightly. Sure, he still knew which buttons to press to get a reaction out of you, but you saw it as being less ill-intended and more good-natured fun. You kept up with him easily and whenever it felt as if he was cornering you, you conceded with a roll of your eyes but never admitted defeat. You didn’t consider the two of you friends, but something changed on the day of the wedding right around the time you had spilled out your feelings about the entire deal to him. Looking back on it, you found it strange just how easily you did that, no second thoughts, no wishing for takebacks. You knew you owed him the truth given the position you put him in without plenty of heads-up, but you could’ve easily just simplified the entire thing. 
It wasn’t difficult to stick together as a group but eventually, you wandered off towards a few stalls on your own that have caught your eye. Though you wanted some more time to have Anna to yourself, it was technically her first vacation with Johnny. You could catch up with her later in the room; surely, she’d have even more swooning to do over him by then. Not that you blamed her. Johnny was an incredible guy. 
First, you stopped at a stall selling a range of baked goods that you simply couldn’t turn away from. And for good reason: the sour cherry churro you settled for was a dream come true. From there, you strolled towards a few small stores selling a range of products ranging from colorful graphic tees to earrings made from vibrant, colorful gemstones. You held a blue pair next to your ear, turning one way then another to watch as the light reflected off the gleaming gem. 
“Those suit your complexion,” the attendant commented and when you looked towards him, he smiled bashfully. 
A gentle heat crept up your neck, unable to keep the grin off your face but you couldn’t look away from him: his skin was lightly tanned, and a dusting of freckles covered the bridge of his nose and upper cheeks. His blond hair was messy in a way you could easily tell was styled to appear as such. He was cute in a sort of conventional way, but you liked the way he smiled at you, all shy but certainly genuine.
“Funny you say that. I always had a feeling blue was my color,” you responded, and his smile widened. 
“Here for vacation?” he asked. 
You nodded. “Yeah, I just got here yesterday, and I’ll be around for a few days,” you added, a little hopeful. 
Hey, if you could score some good company while in the area, then you weren’t going to turn down the opportunity to flirt a little and make good with someone more local.
“Good. That’s really good to know.” He regarded you for a moment and you were certain that caused your blush to deepen though at the same time, it made you feel a little…exposed. “Hey, are you free—”
“The red ones are nicer.” 
You squeezed your eyes shut, frustration quickly replacing the feeling of near euphoria. You could recognize that voice anywhere. Of all times he could have run into you, the universe fixed it so he popped up when you least needed that to happen. 
“I prefer the blue,” you countered, then held them up against your ear again though you knew you didn’t need to double check if they suited you. 
“No, trust me with the red,” Matthew insisted, and you saw him appear behind you in the small circular mirror you were looking into. He was so close. “Goes well with that little number I got you the other day.” 
You sputtered. “W-what?! Stop messing—”
In the mirror Matthew’s eyes flicked from you to the attendant. “Yeah, you know the one. I left the box on the bed in our room, thought to surprise—”
“Tkachuk, just shut up. There isn’t an our room—”
This was so painfully uncomfortable. So frustratingly annoying, you felt the blood warm in your veins, that familiar wave of anger coursing through your body.
“I’ll ring those up for you,” the attendant said, his voice carefully polite while he accepted the red earrings from Matthew’s outstretched hand. 
You hated him. Passionately hated him. It was easy for Matthew to play games like those because he could easily get just about anyone, but you? It wasn’t quite as easy to not be a pro-athlete who had pretty much everything lined up and going for them. You tried catching the store attendant’s eyes again but he was busy accepting the cash from Matthew after packing away the earrings in a small paper bag. You knew he wouldn’t catch sight of it, but it didn’t stop you from casting a longing, apologetic glance towards him before leaving the store. 
It felt as if for every two steps you took, Matthew only needed one and despite the crowds, he caught up with you easily, holding out the bag towards you while you powered ahead. 
“Come on, don’t be mad. The red ones are definitely better than the blue ones,” Matthew tried to reason with you while holding the hand stretched out to you, insistent on his offer. When you didn’t respond and instead, tried to rush further ahead, Matthew pressed on. Him managing to keep up with your pace only added fuel to the fire. “Don’t tell me you’re upset over Ron Jon back there.” 
You came to a halt, turning to glare up at him. “I am, Matthew. You didn’t need to do what you did back there. There was no reason for it. It was shitty of you, and I need you to back off while I try to enjoy the rest of my night.” You clenched your jaw, trying to suppress the overwhelming feeling of anger that normally resulted in tears. “You could at least pretend to be sorry about it.” 
With that, you turned on your heel and squeezed your way through the crowds, ignoring Matthew’s calls to stop and come back and that he was only joking. 
Too late for that, you thought bitterly, making a turn towards a street popular for its dining and bar venues. 
-
The part of the archipelago more popular with tourists was truly a sight to behold as the sun went down, coloring the sky in some of the warmest, most calming shades of orange, red and yellow you ever saw. It seemed as if everyone gathered on the promenade, phones at the ready while taking photos of the sky, selfies and group shots. Even you couldn’t resist it and after taking a few well-centered selfies, a passing couple offered to take your photo which you immediately posed for. 
Later, once the sight sunk in, you moved towards a nearby bar, first attracted by the pink, purple and blue neon lights and then, the music. A good cocktail, good music and a gorgeous sunset were all it took for you to feel more relaxed, leaving behind the event from earlier. He wouldn’t be the first cute guy you’d see, nor the last and indeed, it was easy for you to settle in the more crowded area of the locale where people were dancing either solo, with a partner or as part of a group.
Not long after you weaved your way onto the dancefloor, you felt a pair of hands settle on your hips, drawing you in. You went easily, accepting the embrace, accepting the way you were being led into the dance, swaying your hips along with his. You didn’t even miss a beat when he spun you around, but you kept your hands pressed against his shoulders, rather than wrapping your arms around his neck. You were tipsy, no doubt, and admittedly felt touch-starved but you weren’t quite in the mood for anything more. You even dodged his mouth when he tipped his head down to your lips so instead, he landed a kiss on your cheek. Still, he was pretty relentless. The dance took a turn that was significantly more sensual, crossing a line into discomfort, and you felt that was your cue to try and remove yourself from him. It was easy initially. You threw him a small smile and when he caught hold of your hand, you simply motioned you were only going to get a drink, hoping that would keep him where he was with the knowledge you would return. 
When you finally pulled away, you made a bee line towards the exit of the venue but again, you were a step too slow. The guy caught you just at the door.
“Where are you running off to, pretty?” he slurred, his voice louder above the thumping of the music. 
“Oh—Um, just getting a breath of fresh air, is all,” you said quickly and immediately wished you didn’t venture off in a place like this alone. It was as if you suddenly forgot everything that was common sense, pushed towards it by earlier frustration. 
“Doesn’t look like it to me.” He frowned, but there was no clarity in his eyes. He was entirely out of it and his fingers squeezed painfully around your wrist. You flinched visibly, squirming under his touch and even if you tried pulling your arm away, it was useless. He overpowered you even through the drunken haze. “Wanna go? Fine, then let’s go together.” 
“No—uh, I’m actually here with my friends. I’ve just—I saw them so I’m going to catch up with them. They must be looking for—”
“Then we can go to them together, sweetheart. Here, point them out to me.”
“No, really. I’m going to them alone,” you emphasized and put all your force into trying to free your hand. It may have taken him by surprise that led to his loosened grip, but as soon as you turned on your heel, you found out there was more to it than just that.
You almost faceplanted right into Matthew’s chest when you tried making a run for it. He stood there, eyes flicking between you and the guy with an unreadable expression on his face. Your heart was hammering wildly in your chest and instinctively, you almost glued yourself to his side. It wasn’t the first time someone tried to force a move on you, but it was the first time it was done so in such a thoughtless, drunken manner. Perhaps your fear was also enhanced by being alone in an unfamiliar place. To see Matthew this time felt like a blessing.
“Babe,” Matthew said by way of greeting, pulling you to him when he wrapped an arm around your shoulders. 
You didn’t realize you were trembling until you stood so close to him, legs suddenly feeling like jelly in front of your salvation. Matthew could easily overpower the guy; even if they were roughly the same height, there was a big difference between the body of an athlete and the swaying one of a drunk guy. Still, it didn’t mean you wanted Matthew to get caught up in anything he’d later regret or would affect him in any way, so you pressed a hand to his chest trying to put some pressure into guiding him away from the scene.
“She yours?” the drunk guy slurred, head tilting back, chin pointing towards your general direction.
“Yeah. So, guess that makes the situation even worse for you,” Matthew responded. His tone was light, seemingly non-threatening to someone who didn’t know him but you did. You knew him and you could read him crystal clear in this moment. 
“Matthew, please,” you muttered, looking at him almost desperately while trying to put all your body weight into guiding him away. 
The guy scoffed. “You’ve gotta do better than that, buddy.” He snickered. “You’ve gotta keep ‘em on a tighter leash unless you want them to go—”
Matthew made a move towards him, but you quickly stepped in front of him, essentially forcing him to halt. “Matt, please. Let’s go, okay? Please. I really want to leave. Right now.” 
He glared at the guy for a moment longer but the hard look in his eyes softened as soon as his gaze fell on you. You took the liberty of placing most of your weight against Matthew, allowing him to remove both of you from the situation and towards a less crowded area. That was easy to find: with the sun having long set, most of the crowds cleared away from the promenade so there was plenty of space for you to collect yourself in peace. 
He didn’t pry into the situation, didn’t even make any smartass comments. Instead, he let you slip away from under the safety of his arm while you pace around a small area, trying to work off the anxiety as much as you could. You had to count your breaths, remind yourself to breathe in then out slowly. You were okay. You were far from that guy, and he couldn’t hurt you. At least, no more than he already did. Your wrist felt a bit sore, but you’d take that over anything worse. 
“You okay?” Matthew asked at last, tone careful. “I can go back there and pull him out, you know, get him to apologize.”
“No!” you said loudly, desperately, then cleared your throat and lowered your voice. “No, don’t go. Please. I just need a moment, that’s all. Just a little. Could you not leave? I’ll be fine in a moment. Just—just need to catch my breath—"
“Hey, hey—relax. It’s over. He can’t put a hand down on you now, or ever.” Matthew took a few steps closer to you as if apprehensive to approach you in the first place. You knew what you must’ve looked like: pale, still shaken by what happened. He held a hand towards you, palm up. “Can I touch you?” 
You looked from it to his face, then said, “don’t get any funny ideas,” but it lacked your usual punch. You took his hand though, letting yourself be drawn to him. Matthew smelled like the sea. You couldn’t help but wonder if maybe he’d gone down to the beach earlier to take a dip. You wished you did that rather than try and drink your frustration over missing out on a random guy. God, you could sleep right here if sleeping while standing was a thing. “I’m sorry for reacting the way I did before—with, uh—what did you call him?” 
Matthew chuckled, a low, deep chuckle. “Ron Jon.” 
“You’re awful, Tkachuk.”
“And you have a funny way of expressing gratitude.” 
“Sorry—”
He laughed louder. “I’m messing with you.” A pause, and then, “I’m sorry I rained on your parade earlier with the guy back then. If you really liked him…” He trailed off, as if to let you fill in the sentence for him.
You laughed weakly, waving a hand dismissively. “Thanks. Again. Seems like nowadays, I just keep having to thank you for one thing or the other.” 
You felt him shrug. “Fine by me. You keep adding to these favors you owe me.” 
“It’s only one. Well. Two if you want to be a dick and count this one too.” 
You took a step back, detaching yourself from him to run both hands through your hair. You felt exhausted, drained of energy yet relieved. Who would’ve thought you’d be pleased to see Matthew pull another one of his appearing out of the blue acts?
“You give me no other choice but to be one,” he joked. “Come on, let’s go back to the hotel. Everyone’s wondering where you were, so you kind of lost your right to vote on dinner for tonight.” 
You sighed heavily. “Let me guess: you all ganged up on me in my absence and settled on lobster?” 
Matthew grinned. “Can’t vacation in a seaside town and skip out on that.” 
“Ugh. Sea critters.” You pulled a face, drawing yet another laugh from Matthew. It made you feel oddly accomplished but you cut that train of thought there, forcing it to derail elsewhere, to place more familiar to you, more comfortable. “Matthew, I mean it when I said thank you. That was—it was scary,” you admitted as the two of you started walking back towards the hotel. You pulled your wrist into your hand, rubbing at the skin gently. Focused on the road ahead, you missed Matthew frowning down at the gesture. “I don’t know how that happened. It’s just—it’s not my thing to do. Go out alone, especially in a place like that. Good instincts by the way,” you tried to joke but it fell flat.
“Don’t mention it,” he said, voice tight. “I don’t want to think about it again if I can help it.” 
You cast a confused stare in his direction but by then, it was his turn to look ahead, a frown marring his features. You didn’t push any further though. 
Later that night, after you and Anna decided to call it a day and switch off the lights, you lay in bed glancing a look up at the ceiling above. You didn’t think back on the evening’s events but rather, thought back to how a familiar small brown paper bag was taped to your room’s door before dinner. Anna had fixed you with a knowing stare as you plucked it off the door, tipping its contents into the palm of your hand. 
Then, you thought how during dinner, Matthew had claimed the seat next to yours and complimented the earrings you wore, remarking how awfully familiar they seemed though he could swear he didn’t know where from. For the first time, you had an inside joke to share with him and neither of you bothered to offer any clarifications to everyone else around the table as they tried to press for details. 
three.
The Flames’ first game of the season was scheduled to take place in Las Vegas and with a few days left of vacation, you couldn’t skip on the opportunity to return to the city you were inexplicably fond of, as well as watching your brother play on the third line. The night promised to be unforgettable, and you wouldn’t miss it for the world. Although there were plenty of things to keep you busy throughout the day, your eyes would occasionally wander down to your watch, counting down the hours until the start of the game. It seemed like most of the city was doing the same.
Often, you’d spot handfuls of people donning Knights jerseys and occasionally, there would be a few Flames fans wandering the streets and locales. You’d only spotted one person wearing your brother’s jersey but that was more than enough for you – he was a fairly new face in the professional league, but he certainly pulled his weight during every shift he had on ice whenever given the opportunity. Luckily, you managed to take a quick photo of their back before they disappeared into the crowds, sending it to your brother along with a thumbs-up emoji. 
He didn’t respond immediately, nor did you expect him to. You could only imagine how quickly he racked up pre-game nerves and he had a pretty strict routine, which included avoiding his phone until after the game. You couldn’t really make sense of superstitions even if each member of your family who played, whether professionally or otherwise, had their own. Naturally, you were surprised when your phone pinged, indicating a new message almost half an hour later. Except, it wasn’t quite who you were expecting.
Matthew is that your way of saying good luck?
You frowned, but all it took was a little more attention on your part to notice you hadn’t sent the message to your brother but rather, to Matthew. Lately, he was one of your top contacts for frequent messaging.
You wrong number
You good luck to you too though, i guess :/ 
Matthew busy?
You don’t you have practice to get to?
Matthew [attachment: photo of an ice rink where a few players were captured in motion]
Matthew [attachment: photo of his skates, taken from the players’ bench]
Matthew on break, where are you?
You hanging around
Matthew what are you wearing? 
You [emoji: middle finger] 
Matthew ice cold
Matthew nice, i can handle ice cold
You then go handle ice cold so you don’t get handled tonight
Matthew wish me luck too
You i already did
Matthew i need it twice, it’s my superstition 
You that’s a bullshit superstition
Matthew if we lose tonight, it’s on you
You [emoji: angry face]
You good luck!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Matthew :) 
You dropped your phone on the table with a low groan, slouching in your chair. From across the table, Anna shot you a confused stare which quickly morphed into understanding when you rolled your eyes, shooting your phone a look of frustration as if the device itself was to blame. 
“Anything interesting?” she asked in a singsong tone. 
“If you count Matthew being his usual self interesting, then that’s what’s up. Otherwise, nothing new.”
“By his usual self, do you mean engaging? Funny? Witty? So good with his words that he yet again takes your attention and keeps it while the rest of us, mere mortals, struggle to do that for longer than a few minutes tops?” 
You arched an eyebrow, somewhat amused. “All that – just empty words.” 
Anna leaned back in her seat, taking her glass with her while twirling the straw, looking ahead somewhat thoughtfully. “You know what the two of you remind me of? Those two kids in the playground who think love can only be expressed through pulling hair and making snide remarks.” 
“First of all, that’s a shitty way of trying to get someone to realize you have feelings for them and second of all, love is a pretty big word. You managing to carry it okay?” 
“Okay, maybe not love. But like? It has to be like. Say what you want to say but it looks different from the outside.” 
“Okay, you keep staying out there and let me know what you’re seeing. I like your imagination. Very vivid,” you commented but there was no bite to your words and Anna threw her head back with laughter. 
You didn’t think much of your exchange with Matthew throughout the rest of the day, nor did you try to linger too long on Anna’s interpretation of your relationship with Matthew. You let it wash over you, knowing it’d give her too much satisfaction if you fretted too much over it and anyway, many of your thoughts seemed to fly towards the evening’s game. 
By the time the two of you made your way to the arena, however, you moved from anxiety to excitement within the space of mere moments, apparently. Even if this wasn’t your first rodeo and you’d been to countless games before, there was nothing quite like the thrill of an opening game. You and Anna had spaces reserved in the upper stands along with other family members and significant others but both of you chose to watch the warm-ups close-up, so you hung around by the glass at ice level. 
The Vegas Knights and the Flames stepped on the ice to a combination of cheers and the thump of a loud electronic mix. You spotted your brother almost instantly. He did a quick lap around the team’s half of the ice before pulling a puck towards him with his stick, sliding it this way and that before shooting it over towards the net. Once sufficiently warmed up, he cast a searching look around the rink and you quickly waved both arms up in the air to try and get his attention. You knew he’d spotted you, but he made an entire show out of looking over you until you smacked a hand against the panel. You knew the sound wouldn’t be heard over the general noise of the arena, but he still laughed. When he skated over, you held your phone up, giving it a quick shake and mouthing “selfie?”. 
He flashed a thumbs up and you quickly turned around to take the photo, but it wasn’t until you inspected it afterwards that you noticed you were photobombed by Matthew himself. You had every intention to look up from the screen and somehow try and get his attention only to glare at him, but he was a step ahead. You almost jumped out of your skin when you noticed Matthew standing right there by the glass, smirking at you.
“Asshole,” you mouthed, not daring to voice it out given you were surrounded by kids.
Matthew winked, skated to collect a stray puck then threw it up over the boards towards one of the kids standing right next to you. The kid was clearly thrilled by the gesture, bouncing up and down with the puck held over his head as if it were a trophy. You couldn’t help it: your heart melted at the sight, so you simply nodded once at Matthew, apparently just in time as the warm-up countdown reached zero.
You weren’t surprised the home team were putting on such a show for the opening night. There was a little bit of Vegas in every opening act: from the fireworks set off outside the arena to the showgirls and mind-blowing animations projected down on the ice, it felt more of a Stanley Cup playoff game than the start of a regular season game. This was Vegas and no one did it quite like Vegas did, you had to give that to them. 
Both teams were almost evenly balanced throughout the first period but stepping out of intermissions and into the second, the Flames started powering ahead. It was as if something had clicked together even better and they functioned as a well-oiled machine, both in offence and defense. By the end of that period, they were leading the Knights 3-2 and you were more than elated your brother had earned himself an assist. Like all games, tensions formed quickly, and the third period saw both teams play aggressively. On several occasions, you caught sight of players clearly chirping each other even while heading towards their respective benches after the end of a shift. Once, Matthew seemed to be involved in a seemingly endless yelling match with a player on the opposing team. There were more checks against the panels, an impressive number of penalties drawn by both teams, and it felt as if the atmosphere was just tethering towards a fight.
It happened right after the Flames scored the fourth goal with just two minutes left of the game. 
The moment the puck was dropped at center ice, you watched as Matthew charged ahead towards one of the Knights players who didn’t hesitate to drop the gloves. Between them, Matthew had the faster instinct, and he landed the first punch, effectively forcing both players to fall to the ice while the referees scrambled to try and split them apart. They were there a moment too late, just mere seconds after you caught sight of knuckles scraping along Matthew’s mouth on the big screens above. At first, it seemed to be nothing more than a graze but once he was separated and made his way towards the Flames bench, you noticed several spots of blood on his jersey on the screens above that made you almost jump out of your seat.
Sure, this was a familiar sight, but it didn’t alleviate the sheer shock and restlessness. Whatever had happened between them must’ve been a pretty big deal to set Matthew off the way it did. There was no way of sugarcoating it: the fight was vicious. More than ever, you wanted the period countdown to reach zero so you could go down to the lockers. It wasn’t just a few nagging feelings towards Matthew that led you to react the way you did. He was a friend, after all, so worrying for him was simply natural. An expected way of responding to a situation like that. 
“He had it worse before, remember?” Anna reminded you as you followed the small stream of relatives and friends down towards the players’ rooms.
“Still looked pretty bad to me,” you responded, briefly pulling your lower lip between your teeth. Before she could continue being the voice of reason, you added in a light tone, “I just want to see if he had any teeth knocked out of his mouth this time around.”
It took some time before the players filed out and as you watched them come out one by one, you almost wished you saved this for somewhere less…well, public. Sure, you were just a friend checking on a friend, but you wished you could do that without an audience. 
Your brother emerged first, beaming, no doubt pleased with the win, and you hugged him tightly, easily sharing his joy. 
“He’s just getting ready to come out now,” he informed you, heading nodding back towards the locker.
You blinked. “What? Oh—no, I’m just. I was waiting for you to say congratulations. What are you even talking about,” you mumbled but inevitably, your eyes were drawn towards the locker room as the door swung open and Matthew stepped out.
His hair was still damp but already curling again. He was dressed in the same suit he probably arrived in, a simple light grey number that fit him perfectly. He had his backpack on also and in one hand, he carried an apparently ice-cold bottle of water while the other was pressing an ice pack to the corner of his mouth. When you made eye contact, he frowned lightly and for a moment, seemed almost hesitant to approach you. This time, you were a step ahead and cornered him before he decided to walk away.
You nodded your head once, indicating in his general direction. “What? You’re trying to add to the family’s hefty dentist bill by getting a few teeth knocked out already?”
Matthew shrugged. “It’s not hockey without a few scraps now and then.”
“For a guy who got a goal and an assist, you sure don’t look too pleased with that.” 
At that comment, Matthew’s expression shifted, lightening up considerably. “Are you keeping track of my stats now?”
“What? No, Tkachuk. I was doing what everyone else in that arena was doing: paying attention generally speaking.” 
Suddenly, his entire face scrunched up in pain and he almost doubled over as he groaned. Instinctively, you reached out for him, eyes widening a little when bending down a little to try and look at his face. 
“Oh my god—Matthew. Are you okay? Do you need me to get a medic to check—” 
You frowned as soon as you felt his shoulders tremble under your touch. Slowly, it dawned on you he was laughing. Laughing. You slapped his shoulder lightly, the gesture more a tap than anything else and you started walking down the corridor quickly, trying to catch up with everyone else as they filed out of the arena. 
“Hey, hey, wait, Y/N! Come on, don’t be mad,” he called out after you and you heard him jog to catch up with you. When he did, he took a couple more steps ahead then stepped in your path, walking backwards to match your pace. “I was only messing around. I couldn’t not do that. You should’ve seen your face, honestly.” 
“My face? Hope you’ve seen yours. I’m not mad. Me being mad would basically mean you managed to get to me which you really didn’t, so don’t give yourself any credit, Tkachuk,” you responded. “You just reminded me you’re still a dick so thanks for that.” 
“Give me a free pass. I’m injured.” 
“If you’re searching for sympathy, you’re looking for it in the wrong place,” you informed him, side stepping him so that he resumed walking at your side instead. After a few moments of silence, you conceded with a sigh. “Seriously speaking. How’s your mouth?”
“Don’t think I’ll need fillers, let’s just say.” He removed his hand from his mouth, and you looked over. 
Thankfully, it seemed that putting ice on it quickly was paying off. The area was somewhat red, but no significant damage seemed to be visible to the untrained eye. He was certainly miles better than he was just months ago. 
“Looks okay, I guess,” you shrugged. “What happened? Honestly, it looked pretty intense from the outside.” 
Matthew didn’t respond and you didn’t press him for details even after you stepped out into the balmy Vegas night. If he chose to not share with you, then you guessed it must’ve been either pretty personal or pretty stupid. You leaned more towards the former. You didn’t even complain when he followed you to the car you hired, claiming the passenger seat. Before you also stepped inside, a message pinged in from Anna informed you she had taken off with Johnny for dinner but promised to be back in the room in a few to catch up.
You didn’t start the engine when you fixed your seatbelt and instead, leaned your head back against the rest, watching a few other vehicles pull out of the car park. In his seat, Matthew was looking out of the window to his left, heading resting against a loosely formed fist propped up against the door. 
“He was talking shit about you,” he said at last, but didn’t turn to you when he spoke. 
“Who was?” 
“The guy on the other team. He made a comment about you towards your brother at the end of the shift. Something about… I don’t know, something crude, vulgar. Don’t really remember it.” 
You didn’t quite believe him on the last part, but you allowed it anyway. “Okay… Well, I don’t know the guy anyway, so it didn’t matter, Matthew. You should have let it slip by or left my brother to deal with it.” Then, out of curiosity, you asked, “why didn’t you?”
More silence. Occasionally, the muffled sound of a passing car would cut through it but it, too, would be gone in seconds.
“Because I couldn’t.”
You pursed your lips and your fingers clenched then unclenched in your lap. You placed your hands on the steering wheel, then dropped them away before settling them back on it after starting the engine. 
“Thanks, I guess. You just keep making me owe you favors.”
“You don’t owe me—”
“So, I’ll clear that now with dinner. Just please don’t tell me you’re going to need to be on a smoothie diet. I’ll feel bad eating something really good while you’re there with a strawberry and banana drink. Not that I’d stop eating though, just so you know. But it’s the thought that counts,” you said and finally, finally he chuckled quietly. 
“No smoothie diets this time.”
You sighed dramatically. “Maybe no smoothie diets ever?”
Matthew shrugged. He was still not meeting your eyes but that was okay. “Can’t promise that. Kind of comes with the job. Just in case though, I like the sweeter stuff more. Triple chocolate, Oreo pieces, peanut butter.” 
“Thanks, Matthew. I’ll file that under information I don’t care to know about.” 
“I’m injured. Show some sympathy,” he demanded without heat, finally turning to you. 
You cooed then reached out with one of your hands to pat his cheek lightly. “Aw, really searching for it in the wrong place.”
“I’ll make do with what I can get,” he allowed, and you could swear he leaned into your touch, but you tore your hand away before either of you got too comfortable. 
four.
Matthew called in his favor after a few of his teammates agreed where to host their Halloween party. 
“Kind of sounds like you’re the one asking for a favor,” you commented, planting yourself at your kitchen table while securing the phone between your ear and shoulder.
Matthew sighed on the other end. “Sort of. Who does a themed Halloween party anyway? The theme itself is Halloween.” 
“You’re not wrong about that. Could be fun though, a bit more unique. So, what’s the theme for this year?” 
“Couple outfits,” Matthew replied without hesitation. 
You stilled and were grateful he wasn’t in the same room as you. It took you a great deal more energy over the course of the past few months to convince yourself that Matthew didn’t attract you in one way or another. His looks aside, it was rare you came across someone who could easily keep up with your snide remarks and the more you got to know him, the more you realized that there was more to Matthew than just being a typical athlete with his share of well-deserved fame. He was funny, dedicated and undoubtedly, caring. You had some first-hand experience with the latter. After all, he didn’t owe you anything to make him obligated to jump into whatever weird situation you found yourself in.
You warmed to him little by little. If you found him attractive, well that was for you alone to know though it made everything just that more difficult. Thankfully, Matthew seemed pretty oblivious to it or at least, he was doing a good job at pretending he didn’t catch you staring at him on several occasions or the few times you took a discrete step back if it felt like you were too close to him. Knowing he was asking you to go together as a couple (pretend couple, you corrected yourself) only added to the difficulty of coming to terms with your…crush. 
Puppy love, you assured yourself. It’ll go as quickly as it came. 
“Y/N?”
“Sorry, still here. Guess it sucks another year will go by without the opportunity to bring out your Fortnite costume.”
“Oh, come on. I wouldn’t dress like a game character!”
“Matthew,” you warned.
There was a pause, then, “okay, fine. Maybe I would. So, can you come?” 
You shrugged, then remembered he couldn’t see it. “I owe it to you, don’t I?”
“Great! Hey, choose something good for us. There’s going to be a prize for best dressed and I have my eyes on it.”
“I think we can both agree my creativity will not let us down. I’ll text you my idea. You just make sure you actually stick to it, so I don’t end up looking stupid.”
“Don’t worry,” he started, “I won’t dump you on Halloween.”
“Good to know I won’t end up traumatized and have my favorite holiday ruined,” you said, by way of goodbye.
-
“Hey, spin around for me once. You look good. Blonde’s not bad on you.” 
“No color’s bad on me,” you responded but refused to entertain Matthew by complying with his request. Instead, you rang the bell to Noah’s apartment after the door didn’t budge when Matthew tried the handle. 
“Come on, just a spin,” Matthew insisted, nudging his elbow into your own then pressed the doorbell himself once again – hard, as if that would make it ring louder.
“Only if you dance for me and do the entire Greased Lightning choreography without missing a step.” 
Matthew feigned a groan and you shot him an amused look. Before you could even comment on that, the door opened, and Noah stood at the threshold. The ruckus from inside spilled out into the corridor and from what you could see beyond him, it was a full house of all sorts of characters. 
“Wow! Sandy and Danny! Finally, someone with really good taste,” Noah said by way of greeting and he looked towards you pointedly. 
You flashed him a grin. “Always a pleasure to exceed expectations,” you responded and stepped into his open arms, a clear invitation for an embrace that was shortly broken apart by Matthew.
“Hey, none of that man,” he said, pulling you back and easily holding most of your weight as you broke into a laugh that had you stumbling into his side. “I didn’t even get to tell her she’s the one that I want.” 
“Yeah, well, you better shape up ‘cause I need a man,” you responded, without missing a beat though you couldn’t help but replay his words in your mind. They sounded a lot like a broken record that you desperately wished to stop immediately before this…thing went way too far and spun out of control.  
You were both led towards a photo wall and if you had any nerves about striking good poses without at least some liquid courage first, all that vanished. To your surprise, Matthew easily took the lead initially, falling to his knees in front of you in an attempt to recreate the part where a smitten Danny fell before Sandy, completely and utterly overwhelmed by her presence. Despite it being difficult to control your laughter, you played along with ease. At first, you were simply grinning down at him but you couldn’t let all his in-character effort go to waste, so you turned, casting a glance down towards him over your shoulder. To your side, Noah’s flash was going off every few seconds as he tried to capture the two of you from the best angle, together with cheers of encouragement. For your second pose, you rested your arms on Matthew’s shoulders once he rose back to his full height and his hands held on to either side of your torso. Again, the flash went off and again, the two of you changed pose into something more casual: him, standing behind you with his palms on your hips while you place a hand on his face, grinning at the camera. The flash went off again and he whooped loudly.
“I’m never inviting both of you to a party with this theme again,” Noah muttered, feigning disgruntlement. “You can’t come into my home and kill it like that.” 
“Blame the one who came up with this idea in the first place,” Matthew defended, holding both hands up in the air in a gesture of innocence. 
It was true. The idea to dress as Danny and Sandy from Grease came to you fairly quickly. You knew the two were a popular go-to, but you enjoyed the movie greatly. Plus, it was a great opportunity for you to pull out a pair of red heels you invested a hefty sum of money into. And, well, admittedly there was something about Matthew that made you think he’d suit the role just fine. When you shared your idea with him, he was on board from the start without complaining or suggesting alternatives. You were grateful for that: when Matthew picked you up earlier, dressed in an all-black outfit, leather jacket and hair styled to rival John Travolta’s, you gave yourself a mental pat on your shoulder. If any photos would go up on the internet, you were pretty sure Instagram would be grateful to you. Certainly, you knew Chantal and Keith would get a kick out of it for sure.
“Guilty as charged,” you acknowledged. “I’m going to look for Anna. Catch you later.” You gave a wave to the both of them before making your way towards the hub of activity where couple costumes ranged from peanut butter and jelly to superheroes. 
She was fairly easy to locate, in part because she told you she and Johnny would dress as Wonder Woman and Steve Trevor. The red, blue and gold of her outfit were unmissable even in a sea of costumes. As soon as she spotted you approaching, she made a beeline and wrapped an arm around yours.
“Tell me you and Matthew will recreate the entire You’re the One That I Want scene,” she pleaded. “Please tell me that at some point this evening, you’ll tell us to clear the dancefloor so the two of you can have your moment.”
You rolled your eyes, dragging her along towards a table hosting drinks and small bites. “There’s no moment we’re going to be having.” 
“Because you don’t want to or because you want to so badly that you don’t know how to ask him? I’m pretty sure he’ll say yes.” 
“Neither,” you muttered but even you’d be able to hear the lack of conviction in your tone from a mile away. 
To take your mind off it, you poured yourself a glass of red wine, taking a tentative sip from it. Across the room, Matthew had deposited his black leather jacket away and started making rounds around the room. You took a longer sip from your wine and looked away. 
Anna fixed you with a knowing stare which you refused to acknowledge, but she knew you like the back of her hand. “It’s okay to say you like him, you know,” she advised, and you hated the soothing tone she tried to take when saying that. It felt more pitying than anything, as if you hadn’t already had your share of disappointments in love—or, relationships better said. 
“Who said anything about liking him? He’s not bad to look at I’ll admit, but that’s where it stops.” You frowned, looking out of the nearest nearby window that gave a broad view of the city below. “That’s where I want it to stop,” you admitted, this time quieter. 
You were well aware that you were occasionally trying to look for a narrative that was most convenient for late night thoughts when you had the peace and privacy to think of him as you wished. The reality couldn’t be more different, though, and you knew that. Matthew was helpful to you before because he was good friends with your brother and eventually, you realized that it was just part of his nature. Beyond being successful, beyond his fame and recognition, Matthew was kind and funny and respectful. It was just that you didn’t give him the chance to before and now that you got to know him better, you suddenly realized that…what? You’d like the first man who gives you a helping hand? If that were the case, you should’ve gotten the memo sooner: it would’ve been easier liking the tech guy from work who once debugged your laptop.
It wasn’t doing you any good to try and look for a ‘but’ in every situation: Matthew is helpful because he’s good friends with my brother but it’s not like that should force him to act as if we’re romantically involved not once or twice or thrice but now, four times. Regardless of how you looked at it, that reeked of desperation. You were in that weird period in your life where it felt as if everyone around you was in a relationship, so maybe that mood translated to you. 
That’s right, you settled. That’s what was possibly behind these thoughts of yours. You found Matthew attractive – and what? So did plenty of other people. You saw him surrounded by girls after practice, after matches, while out. What you felt was nothing special. It felt easier to think of it that way, even if for a few hours to truly enjoy the party without having that lurking at the back of your mind. 
You mingled easily, danced with Anna, danced with other players’ girlfriends and wives, danced with your brother, even attempted a few traditional Russian dances taught by Nikita, Artyom and a few of their friends, that left you breathless by their rapid pace and intricate footwork. 
“I’m done!” you declared, breathless and almost swaying on your feet when another Russian folk song came to an end but thankfully, you managed to hold steady before you could catch a ride on the hot mess express. “Absolutely wasted. Knocked out.” You stepped away, tired but euphoric and dropped rather unceremoniously on one of the available couches pushed against a wall. 
“Having fun?” Matthew asked and there was a light flush on his cheeks you knew wasn’t from dancing. There was even just a slight slur to his speech.
“The most,” you replied, breathless, and accepted the drink he held out to you. You took a sip without questioning him what was in the glass, only to find out for yourself he was settling for harder stuff tonight. “But never let it be said that anyone can keep up with Russians because let me tell you,” you whistled quietly, “we’re a couple of steps behind. Plenty of steps behind, actually.” 
Matthew flashed a lazy smile and you briefly spared a moment to envy him for how kept together he remained despite being evidently buzzed. “’s okay. At least we’re the better dressed ones so we lose in style.” 
You took another sip from his glass, holding it out to him with a smirk. “Tell me about it, stud,” you said in what you hoped was a low, alluring tone of voice but no sooner did you think that, and you were reduced to embarrassed laughter. “Forget about that! Forget it, forget it! Where’s the delete button?” 
“I didn’t come equipped with that,” he declared proudly, finishing off what was left of his drink. “C’mere, you can show me a couple of those steps you learned.” 
He stood, a little unsteadily initially then held a hand to you. You knew he wouldn’t have the strength to pull you up properly, so you stood easily fully intent to actually lead him through some of the steps. Except, Matthew was definitely swaying more than you thought he would. There was something inexplicably amusing about the situation and instead of directing him towards the center of the room, you steered him away from it and towards a small bathroom you were shown to earlier that night when you needed some time to re-touch your makeup. 
“Where’re we going?” he asked curiously, looking over his shoulder towards the living room with a look that could only be read as longing. 
“To cool down a little and then you can learn as many folk dances as you want. Believe me, you need to be alert for them. Can’t miss a step,” you advised, trying to steady him by wrapping an arm around him though the difference in weight between the two of you couldn’t compare. Still, you managed to get him into the bathroom safely without either of you making a mess of yourselves or the room. 
“Are you gonna cool down too?” he questioned. 
“Sure thing, definitely need it.” 
“Good, we’ll cool down together.” With that, he made a move to open the glass partition for the shower cubicle but thankfully, you were significantly more alert than he was and managed to prevent him from doing anything more than that.
“Not that sort of cool down. Here, sit here,” you encouraged, lowering the lid on the toilet so Matthew could drop down. You doubted you’d be able to hold much of his strength above the sink if you were to help him splash some cold water on his face.
“But I want that sort of cool down,” he slurred. “With you. Us two. You said you want to cool down too. Could be a couple activity.” He grinned, as if proud of himself. 
Thankfully, Matthew was buzzed enough to miss the flush on your face, the slight shake of your hand as you arranged a towel around his neck to prevent too much overspill before turning the tap on. 
“Can’t do that, Matthew. Here, this will be much better, I promise.” 
“Wanna try though,” he mumbled but was still compliant as you pressed a wet, cool palm against his forehead, then either of his cheeks. “Not cool enough.” His complaint was accompanied by a frown which only morphed into a lazy smirk when he leaned back, trying to pull you with him. “C’mon, Y/N. It’s a couple’s Halloween night.” 
“Matthew, we’re not a couple,” you said gently, pushing your palms against his shoulders in an attempt to free yourself from his hold. Before it was too late. Before you allowed yourself to get drawn into a drunk man’s ramblings. 
“But I wanna be. A couple, with you.” 
You put all your strength into breaking away from his hold and thankfully, managed to do so. Your heart was hammering in your chest as if desperately trying to release itself from the cage of your ribs. 
“Matthew, you’re drunk. Here, splash some cold water on your face so you can come back to your senses.” 
“But I’m not drunk,” he insisted and as if to demonstrate, he stood up quickly. He swayed on the spot, stretching out his arms a little and once he found his footing, he looked towards you with an expression that mixed pride with hopefulness. “See? Definitely okay—”
You frowned, feeling a little caged in. You should’ve left the door open at least. “Okay, then let’s go back out there, yeah? I can get an Uber and I��ll take you home if you prefer that?” 
“Yes,” he said, then leaned back against the door. “Only if you come with me.” 
You exhaled, suddenly tired as if the exchange was working every ounce of energy out of you. “I’ll come to make sure you’re okay and can make it to your bed okay.”
“I can though. I can definitely make it there even on my own and you know why? Because I’m not drunk,” Matthew insisted and when you shot him a look of disbelief, he peeled himself away from the door. “Look, look I can prove it to you I’m not drunk.” 
Before you could even ask him to walk a straight line without stumbling his steps, Matthew’s arm wrapped around your waist while his other hand pressed on the back of your head, bringing you closer until your lips met. Kissing Matthew was like everything you imagined and more. He even did that with the same passion with which he skated on ice, chasing puck after puck. It left you breathless how well he worked his lips against your own as if all along, he knew how to do that in such way that it’d leave your legs feeling like jelly. Beyond that though, it felt comfortable. Not forceful despite him having not asked if he could do it in the first place, yet it still felt right. You tasted sweetness on his mouth and the sharp tang of whiskey. Vaguely, you knew nothing else could compare. It was that thought that made you push away from him with as much force as you could muster, ducking under his arm and towards the door. 
“I’ll ask someone to take you home,” you said without even looking his way before leaving dashing out of the bathroom.
“You okay?” Anna asked you when you ran into her. Quite literally. 
“Uh—yeah. No, actually. I think I feel a bit unwell so I’m going to head home, okay?” 
You made a move to leave but her arm stopped you. “Hey. Are you sure you’re okay?” 
Above her shoulder, you saw Matthew emerge from the bathroom, a little dazzled, eyes searching the room. Before he could even spot you, you quickly freed yourself from her hold and nodded. “Will be. I’ll text you when I get home. Don’t rush back, okay? Tell Alex I said thanks for the invite.” 
You didn’t stumble a step in your heels as you jogged towards the door, making a swift exit before you attracted even more attention.
+ one.
Matthew left no calls and no messages, but that was fine. You didn’t spend time trying to build your expectations of anything like that happening because drunk words weren’t always sober thoughts. The event was just something you had to deal with and if you had to do it alone, then so be it. Reasonably speaking, you and Matthew went from nothing to friends and if you caught feelings along the way, then that was your mistake for letting yourself slip like that. You were left broken hearted once, you really didn’t want to go through that again especially over someone that wasn’t even really and truly yours to begin with.
So, the next morning, you woke up at a reasonably early hour despite the late night but felt energized enough to sweep through your apartment and collect the garments you tossed carelessly on your way to bed after arriving at home. You said a heartfelt goodbye to Sandy, apologizing that in this scenario, her and Danny didn’t end up driving off in a red convertible. After that, you showered and changed in a fresh set of clothes even if the day would most likely be spent indoors. It was a fitting conclusion to the Halloween weekend, and you could do with some downtime, really.
Anna must’ve stayed with Johnny because regardless of how much noise you made, she didn’t emerge from the room and after fixing a quick breakfast and brewing coffee to continued silence, you knew you were right. It didn’t bother you. You’d make full use of the couch and stretch out on it properly as you flicked through your Netflix account and for the sake of sticking to weekend morning traditions, you selected a lighthearted sitcom. You were halfway through the third episode when your doorbell rang. You could’ve sworn Anna had a spare key of her own unless she misplaced it or forgot it home. Not entirely out of question.
Except, it wasn’t Anna who greeted you when you opened the door.
“Oh.” You coughed lightly, crossing your arms then unfolding them, then leaning one against the doorway before dropping it to your side. “Hey—uh. Hey Tkachuk, isn’t it a bit early for you to be out and about? You were smashed the last time I saw you.” 
Matthew looked over your shoulder into the apartment, as if checking to see if you were alone. “Can I come in?” 
Defeated, you stepped to the side and cleared the way for him to step inside before pushing the door closed. Part of you wished you’d dressed up as if you were ready to head off somewhere. You weren’t quite ready nor willing to face whatever music Matthew had in mind for you. 
In the aftermath of the party, out of the flashiness of the costume, Matthew seemed to be perfectly clear-headed despite the state you’d left him in. The curls atop his head seemed soft despite the natural frizz and as he passed by, you caught a whiff of sharp cologne and fresh bodywash. 
“Is Anna here?”
“Are we playing twenty-one questions?” 
“No?”
“Kind of sounds like it, though?” You laughed quietly, trying to lighten the mood. It was bad enough the weather outside was gloomy, autumn settling in full force. Now, you had to deal with a Matthew who looked as if he wasn’t sure he came to the right place. “Coffee?” you asked, already leading the way towards the kitchen. You heard him follow behind you just moments later. While you poured a full cup for him, he hovered by the table, making you frown at him. “What’s wrong with you? You need an invite to sit down and relax? Seriously, Matthew, you look like you should be in bed.” 
“You left last night without saying anything,” he said instead. 
“Uh—yeah. I was kind of tired and I wanted it to call it a night early so—”
“Was it because of what I said or what I did?” 
You almost dropped the coffee cup, but fortunately only startled enough for the liquid to slosh over the rim and down the back of your hand, causing you to hiss in pain. You cursed quietly and, in an instant, Matthew crossed over the room and took the cup from you, setting it down on the table before leading you towards the sink. As if used to this, he placed your hand under ice cold water and once the sharp pain numbed, you pushed his hand away, taking a step to the side in an attempt to put more distance between you. 
“It’s fine, I’ve got this,” you mumbled, holding your hand still under the jet for a few more seconds before closing it.
It was hardly worth the fuss, but it gave you a reason to make yourself busy with something other than freaking out. It couldn’t be that he remembered anything. It couldn’t be that he was standing in your kitchen, thinking that it was a good idea to just open up that subject when you were so ready to take a shovel to it and bury it six feet under. 
“Didn’t you get tired of it at all?” he tried again.
“Tired of what?”
“Of pretending. Of only acting like we’re together for one reason or the other—”
“Matthew, I asked you only once and you know why. I apologized then but if it helps you sleep better at night, I’ll apologize again for dragging you into my mess. I don’t know what the point is of this discussion—”
“The point,” he said, raising his voice but only to cut through your speech. “The point is that I’m tired of it. I’m tired of having to be by your side and pretend. It got to a stage where I don’t even know what’s real and what isn’t, and I feel as if the only time I’ll know that for sure will be when you find someone, so you no longer need to turn to me to pretend.” 
“Matthew, I’m not using you, if that’s what you’re thinking. You’re coming at me with this out of the blue and I don’t even understand what this is all about,” you argued, waving a hand between the two of you. 
Matthew clenched his jaw. You watched as he flexed it and his eyebrows furrowed. “Do you need me to spell it out for you again? I thought I was pretty straightforward about what I want last night.” 
“You were drunk last night, is what you were. You could hardly put a foot in front of the other.” 
“You know that’s not true,” he retorts, lifting his arms then dropping them back down to his sides. “I was sober enough to know damn well what I said and why I said it. If you want to keep pretending even now, even at this point, then you go ahead and do that but let me be clear with you again and you take what you want from it: I don’t want to pretend with you anymore. I want to be with you. You want to know what that feels like? It feels a lot like being so close to something you want, literally having that thing dangled right in front of you only to have it snatched just when you think it’s yours. Me kissing you last night? I’m sorry I forced it on you, I could’ve gone about doing it differently but I’m not sorry for what I feel. That was all me and not the alcohol. So, you take this and do what you want with it.”
You stared at him, disbelieving your ears. It wouldn’t surprise you if that was the case: you did wake up surprisingly refreshed even after an emotionally charged night, so for all you knew, you could be dreaming this. 
“Matthew, what are you—That’s, you’re kidding me with this right? You can’t. You can’t possibly think that.” 
“And why not?”
“Because it doesn’t make sense. Are you even hearing yourself talk?” 
“Why doesn’t it make sense? Want me to go about it differently? If you let me pull your hair, I’ll let you push me in the sandbox.” 
You were suffering from a strange, ill-timed case of déjà vu. Part of you wanted to laugh at the situation but the bigger part of you triumphed, thankfully. You released a breath you had been holding, bringing both hands up to cover your face, taking some moments to yourself. Or perhaps, you’d lost track of time because eventually, you heard Matthew sigh and felt his fingers wrap around each wrist though he didn’t put pressure to tug your hands down from your face.
“Sorry. I’m just—I’m not doing this the right way. I don’t want it to seem like I’m forcing my feelings on you and that you should accept them. If I misread us—you at any point, then fine. Just, we can drop it here and I’ll deal with it but—”
You shook your head slowly. “No, I just need a moment. Sorry. You really caught me by surprise. I didn’t… I thought everything you said last night…what you did… I thought that was just, well, just the alcohol. So, I did the best thing I knew to do and, uh, left.”
“Drunk words, sober thoughts,” he reminded you quietly and this time, you dropped your hands away from your face so you could look up at him. 
He was so handsome. Ridiculously handsome in his casual clothes. Briefly, you thought back to the time you first found safety in his arms and wondered if maybe… Well, why not. You closed the distance between the two of you, wrapping your arms around him, fingers clinging to the thick material of his hoodie while you faceplanted against his chest and breathed him in.
You liked Matthew. You liked Matthew so much that the admission overwhelmed you so much that you squeezed him to you, trying desperately to bring him closer. The gesture seemed to prompt him into action, and he returned the hug, pressing a kiss to the top of your head and then to the base of your throat once he’d lowered his head there. 
“Me too. I want to be with you too. Really be with you. No more of this pretend stuff,” you told him, your voice muffled against his body, but you knew he caught every word.
He chuckled, the sound low and deep, sending shivers down your spine. “We won Noah’s competition last night.”
“Bet he did it because of your long face,” you commented, unable to help yourself. “What did we win?” 
Matthew made a move to step back, but you clung to him, much to your embarrassment. It seemed as if your body acted out of sync with your mind, but who could blame it when Matthew stood right there, right before you. Turned out he only took a step back to lift you off your feet and instinctively, you wrapped your legs around his hips, arms resting loosely around his neck. You leaned in and pressed a fleeting kiss to his mouth as he stumbled away from the kitchen while you stole another kiss. And then, just because you could, a third. 
“A voucher to a seafood restaurant,” he informed you, breaking into a laugh when you groaned, throwing your head back in sheer frustration even if you had a strong feeling he was only messing with you.
“Remind me to never put so much effort if that’s what the stake are.” 
“Noted. Next time, I’ll tell you we could just stay home for Halloween and play by our rules. Outfits optional. Probably not recommended.” 
“That’s…really not what I said.” 
“I’m reading between the lines. See? We know each other so well.” 
You laughed as he carried you all the way into your room without even as much as breaking a sweat. That was definitely some food for thought at a later point.
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Nemesis: Retribution (4)
Summary: 10 years after the Avengers had left you for dead during a mission gone wrong, you unexpectedly re-enter their lives. Wholly unrecognizable from the person they used to know and now with a new team behind you, they ask for your help to stop a chain of syndicates who were manufacturing and peddling the super soldier serum. You were determined to say no until the chance at the vengeance you had been chasing for years was added to the offer.
Fandoms: Avengers, Marvel, MCU, The Punisher, Daredevil
Pairings: Female Reader x (Frank Castle, Billy Russo, Matt Murdock, Steve Rogers, Bucky Barnes, Pietro Maximoff)
Warnings: EXPLICIT SMUT. SHAMELESS SEXUAL BEHAVIOUR (18+ ONLY. I WILL BLOCK YOU), voyeurism, exhibitionism, authority kink, praise kink, spanking, slight dom themes, polyamorous relationships, reverse harem, blatant disregard for canon timelines and events, angst, Punisher canon level of violence and gore, strong language, mentions of trauma, mentions of character death, fluff if you squint, 
A/N: Slowing it down just a bit to move plot along. Freaking out on the reblogs and comments are encouraged and will be rewarded with cookies. Seriously though, I love hearing what you guys think and use some of it to make the next chapters better. I adore you all! Have at it!
No permission is granted to repost, steal, or translate my work. Not even a credit makes it okay. Tumblr is the only place I post my writing. If you see it anywhere else please report it.
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1:4 Apple Crumble
Steve Rogers had kindly offered for you and your team to stay at the Compound. For however long this mission would take, you were all going to start running straight at it early tomorrow. In terms of the mission, he was relieved to have your help. The sooner the serum was out of circulation the better and they truthfully did need your help. This underground world was more your scene now and you could better navigate it.
On a personal level, he was glad that you were sticking around even if it was on a contract. He would take whatever opportunity he can and make the best of it. That's how he's always been and he wasn't going to change that now.
He told himself that it was because he was the Captain that he was at your door this late after you all had agreed to part for the night. It was out of consideration that he carried with him some of his own clothes to offer you in case you needed something to change into. It was out of a need to clear the tension with you now that you were going to work as a team again that he was knocking on your door.
That was all.
You opened the door a moment later wrapped only in a short towel and with your hair still dripping wet from the shower. The smile that rose on your face was sly as you leaned on the doorframe with your arms crossed and your hip cocked to one side. He swallowed.
Maybe that wasn't all.
"What can I do for you, Cap?"
He opened his mouth, but no words came out. He was far too distracted by the little droplet that rolled down from your temple to the valley of your breasts. He shook his head and cleared his throat, forcing himself to focus only on your eyes and not the inappropriate answers that sprung to mind at your question.
"I brought you a change of clothes in case you need it," he managed to say. "And I wanted to talk to you if you're not too tired."
You opened the door wider and took the clothes from him without a word, turning into the room toward the bathroom. You casually dropped your towel to the floor and Steve choked at the sight of your bare back, a small set of black panties the only stitch you wore. The breath in his chest released only when you disappeared into the bathroom, the door cracked open offering him enticing glimpses as you moved around.
Steve hurriedly closed the door behind him and as he made his way further in, he caught sight of an open go bag beside your bed with clothes clearly visible. There was also a shirt and sweats beside it, the design he knew belonged to Pietro. He felt a little embarrassed. Of course Pietro would have already beaten him to it and that your team always came prepared. Still there was a satisfaction that bloomed in him when you stepped out clad in his shirt, the hem barely reaching mid thigh and bare feet soundlessly crossing the carpeted floor until you came to sit with him on the sofa. You tucked your legs under you and rested your head on your hand over the back of the seat.
"Gotta say I like this look, Steve," you grinned at him.
He chuckled, self-consciously rubbing at his beard and pulling at the hair at the back of his collar. The light dusting of red on his cheeks didn't go unnoticed by you.
"What? You don't like the all American apple pie look?"
You hummed and took a leisurely look at him from head to toe. Rugged and imposing as he appeared, the heat on his face intensified at your obvious appreciation and the way you swiped your tongue along your bottom lip. You were biting your lip when your eyes met his again, trying to stop yourself from laughing at how flustered he was getting and how much you were enjoying it. You've always found Steve handsome and he made apple pie look damn good, but this look on him was just so dangerously delicious.
You had a type.
"I'm more of an apple crumble kind of girl. I like the texture better," you winked. "And I don't mind a little beard burn."
"Will your team mind that I'm talking to you without one of them here?"
You raised an eyebrow and held his unsteady gaze, clearly understanding he meant more than just your professional relationship with the three men.
"You're curious."
"It's none of my business. That's not what I came to talk to you about," he stammered, unaccustomed to how forward you were.
"What did you want to talk about then?"
"I wanted to apologize properly and thank you for agreeing to help."
You groaned and threw your whole body back on the seat, causing Steve's shirt to ride up just shy of completely flashing him. You sat back up and pinched the bridge of your nose, letting out a long breath. It was only the fact that it was Steve that you were even entertaining this conversation.
"You have nothing to apologize for, Steve," you firmly dismissed.
"I do, Nem. We all do."
"Fine. List down what you're sorry about. Let's go through it one by one or we can draw lots to make it interesting."
"Nem," he said, low and clear with warning yet imploring you to listen. "Can you take this seriously for one second?"
The ever present smirk on your face dropped as you sighed heavily and ran a hand through your hair. For the first time since he's seen you, your expression softened a fraction and a shadow of the person he used to know passed across your features.
"Listen to me, Steve. I don't blame any of you. I'm not angry at any of you. I honestly have no room for more anger even if I wanted to be."
In the beginning you were. There were days while you were getting tortured that you hated them while you pleaded to the heavens for them to rescue you. It had taken a decade and three incredible men for that inferno of fury to turn into a manageable bitterness.
"Do you know how tiring it is to be so fucking angry all the time?" you chuckled darkly. "It took a while, but I learned to prioritize what I choose to be angry about."
"Salvacion," he muttered and you nodded, your eyes staring blankly forward.
"I've carried that name for a decade, Steve. That asshole has to die by my hands."
Steve saw now how selfish he was for forcing the conversation with the purpose of earning your forgiveness. It was for easing his own guilt that he was doing it when instead he should have just been thanking you for what you did and had to endure.
"Why didn't you ever come back?"
"I tried, Steve. When I was recovered enough I tried to go back. Did you know my sister had a girlfriend?"
He shook his head, throat suddenly closing at the sight of absolute misery in your eyes. He regretted starting this conversation even more.
"Jill. She was amazing to Lily and she was like a sister to me too," you smiled a little, not in your usual sarcastic way but with a hint of gentle fondness before your expression hardened once more.
"I saw her and I just couldn't bring myself to face her. I'm the reason the love of her life is dead. I couldn't, Steve"
It started off with the fear that they might have killed Jill too. You told yourself you had to know, but truthfully you were trying desperately to find a connection to Lily. You found her visiting the graveyard, laying flowers on two stones and spending the afternoon sitting on the ground tearfully talking to the dead. The shame burned through you and from then on you made it your sole purpose to destroy the man who took Lily from you both. Until then you had no right to face her. You had no right to return to the life you once knew.
Steve noticed that you weren't crying although the look in your eyes was swimming with grief. He expected you to cry, but somehow seeing you with dry eyes only made you look more in pain. You only clenched your fists, your shoulders tense and your jaw stiff. Steve decided he would tell the others instead of having you go through this conversation again.
He would do that for you.
You woke up surprisingly refreshed the following morning, strangely lighter than you have felt in the past decade. You didn't expect for that talk with Steve to have such an impact on you. You smiled ruefully, remembering your many counseling sessions with Curtis before and that maybe you were finally seeing his point.
FRIDAY had directed you to the larger conference room for today's briefing session with the rest of the team. You were wearing another one of Steve's shirts paired with your usual cargo pants, a fact that didn't go unnoticed judging by the raised eyebrows and teasing smiles. Billy in particular was leaning in to whisper to Matt what was going on.
"You don't have to tell me. I can smell it," Matt chuckles, crinkles visible at the edges of his dark sunglasses. "His cologne is quite distinct."
You smacked Billy on the arm, but laughed with them as well before throwing a wink at Steve who proceeded to blush a deep red. As you took your seat, a cup of coffee suddenly materialized in front of you accompanied by Pietro's ever bright smile. You smiled gratefully and took a sip, eyes slightly rounding in surprise at the taste.
"You remembered how I took my coffee."
"I've forgotten nothing about you, little star."
You haven't taken your coffee that way in so long. It's been just strong plain black coffee lately, the lack of sugar and cream where you lived with the boys being a factor. It had seemed pointless to eat something sweet when there was a permanent sour taste in your mouth from life. Now though you couldn't seem to help taking one sip after another, licking your lips before going in for more.
Right now this tasted right.
You didn't notice that Billy was smiling adoringly at you and sharing a look of approval with Frank as the briefing began, happy that someone aside from him was spoiling you. You certainly didn't know that Matt was smirking because he heard your heart literally skip a beat at the sweet gesture.
It took hours for the meeting to wrap up, but there was still more to do before you could actually take action. A number of the Avengers were sent out to gather more intel while the rest would stay to make further preparations.
"I only really need to talk to Frank a bit more," Steve said as he approached your group. "Why don't we have Pietro show you guys around the Compound? There are some improvements I think you'll find interesting."
Your tour guide for the afternoon appeared beside you, taking your hand in his and bouncing on the balls of his feet in his excitement. He was just too cute that you couldn't help but let out a small smile. The effect he had on you remained it seems.
"A tour would be really helpful for me," Matt easily agreed.
"And I go wherever the pretty girl goes," Billy added, slinging his arm over your shoulders.
"Great. Surrender your weapons and you should be good to go," Steve asked with a pointed look at both you and Billy who groaned in answer.
Billy was ready with a string of complaints and counter arguments when the clang of metal on the glass conference table stunned him into silence. He watched in complete disbelief as you removed every gun and blade attached to your body, efficiently dismantling them and lining them up on the table.
"Is she?" Matt murmured, leaning closer to Billy.
"Yeah."
"All of them?"
"Yeah."
By the time you stepped back, there was practically a decent sized armory on the table. How and where you managed to fit all of it on your person was a mystery to them.
"You missed one," Billy said, snapping out of his daze.
He stepped in front of you and casually slipped his arm up the front of your shirt and under your sports bra. His fingers grazed unnecessarily close to your now hardened nipples and he simply winked when you raised an eyebrow at him. Billy pulled out two small throwing daggers soon after and placed them alongside your other weapons.
"Oh yeah. I keep forgetting about those," you chuckled.
"Do you always come armed to the teeth?" Bucky snapped, clearly bothered by the display.
"She doesn't want her team to carry extra ammo for her, Sergeant," Billy scowled at him, the obvious animosity surprising Bucky. When he turned back to Pietro, his expression was back to his usual playful one. "So how about that tour?"
Frank turned to Steve when you had exited the room. "You gotta teach me that trick, Cap."
"What trick?"
"First time in 10 years I've seen her take any kind of order without a knife fight first," he said, cracking a smile and shaking his head.
It turns out that coming back was doing some good for you and this made him more comfortable around the Avengers. He wasn't about to braid them friendship bracelets but he was less inclined to pop a cap in their ass. At least for the time being.
Walking around the Compound brought back some of that wonder you felt when you first stepped in, but it recalled everything you had lost. Sensing the sudden tension in you, Billy gripped you by the waist and pulled you into his side. He kissed your temple, a silent reminder of what you had gained.
Pietro had been an absolute sweetheart, specifically describing what was in the area for Matt's benefit and pointing out the changes to you. The training area was your last stop, the place you had spent the most time in during your short stint here. There were loud sounds coming from the area and walking in you saw fresh-faced recruits in paired off sparring sessions.
Your full attention was on Pietro as he happily listed off the new features and answered questions from Matt and Billy, the latter now in businessman mode as he thought of what he could implement for Anvil. You were having an unusually pleasant time until a familiar shrill voice demanded your attention.
"Well look what the street cat dragged in. Y/N?"
You knew that voice. A decade with torture and trauma included apparently couldn't change how much her voice grated at you. The cold smirk made a reappearance on your face as you slowly turned to face her, the three men with you were instantly alarmed at the change in your demeanor.
"Kim," you nodded.
"Thought you were dead."
"Thanks. Can't say I thought about you at all though."
"I see you're still pathetically clinging to Pietro."
"What can I say? He's really cute," you said with a wink at Pietro who seemed to enjoy the compliment.
She sneered at you, her irritation rising when you weren't backing down like you used to do. She couldn't quite put her finger on what had changed about you, but you seemed rougher around the edges and far too cocky for her liking. Luckily, she still remembered a sure-fire way to take you down a few pegs.
"I'm teaching a class on hand to hand combat. How about we show them a demonstration on what a real fight looks like?"
You giggled as your smile grew, a disturbing sight that made even Kim doubt herself for a moment. You nodded your head in easy acceptance and she looked like she was pleased at herself for getting this opportunity. Before you could step forward though, you found Matt's walking stick blocking your path.
"What? It's not assault if it's provoked," you grinned at the frown on his face.
He hated it when you found loopholes, but he relented with a heavy sigh. He was too used to this. He leaned toward Pietro and told him that he should inform the Captain.
"Get some snacks too, roadrunner," Billy chuckled, delightedly watching you strip off your shirt and walking confidently towards Kim on the sparring mats.
Pietro had returned a moment later after completing his task, actually handing Billy a bag of fresh popcorn. The smile on his face froze when he caught sight of your bare skin. So far all he had seen as evidence of your torture was what was visible on your neck and face. He had stupidly brushed that fact aside, too excited to have found you again. Now the vicious marring on your beautiful skin was a cruel reminder of their failure as your team. They had failed you.
He had failed you.
Back in the conference room, the same feelings were shared by two super soldiers. They had pulled up surveillance on the training area after Pietro's message, just in time to see you take off that shirt.
Bucky felt the air leave his lungs at the horrific sight. He was alive and you had paid a heavy price for saving him. He could barely keep his eyes on you, the shame burning through him. He didn't want to imagine the amount of pain you had to endure to sustain those injuries.
"Don't you people dare look at her with pity," Frank warned. "Those scars are a testament to her strength. She's damn beautiful."
Steve agreed. He'd caught a glimpse of your scars last night and jarring as they were, your complete lack of self consciousness to them just made you more alluring. Looking back at the screen though he was concerned that you could hurt yourself. Kim was a top agent now, high enough in the ranks to be training recruits and leading missions. She had proven herself deadly in combat, but the way you were grinning was chilling in itself.
"One question before we start," you said.
"What?" Kim scoffed, flipping her braided hair over her shoulder.
"When's your next mission?"
"2 weeks. Why?" she answered, perfect brow raised in confusion.
"Just calculating your recovery time," you shrugged. "I'm nice that way."
Kim predictably charged at you then, growling and cursing at you under her breath. You smirked, standard SHIELD movements were easy to read for you. You stayed completely still and relaxed in your stance as she lunged at you with her fist. You timed your movement precisely, sidestepping at the absolute last moment. One hand grabbed at the back of her head, forcing it down to ram against your oncoming fist with a sickening crack.
Broken nose.
Kim shrieked in pain as the blood gushed from her nose and she tried to pull away from you. You didn't let her. You pulled her down by the shoulder to bend her over before driving your knee up her midsection. She wheezed at the impact, the mat below her smattered with her blood.
Bruised ribs. Maybe slightly broken.
You unceremoniously threw her aside, letting her fall groaning on her side. You clicked your tongue, watching her struggle and turning to the class she was supposed to be teaching.
"Lesson 1, kids," you waved your hands in Kim's general direction. "Don't end up like that."
Broken ego.
You turned to go back to your boys when the glint of metal caught your eye. You tilted your head just in time for the dagger to zip past your eye line, only thinly scratching at your cheek. Your hands reacted on instinct, reaching for the small hidden pocket along the waistband of you pants. You flicked the thin blade with deft fingers, embedding on the mat and landing it purposely close to Kim's eyes that it cut through her fake lashes.
"Nem!" Steve's unmistakable voice boomed through the speakers. You had forgotten that they had FRIDAY everywhere. "We said no weapons."
You rolled your eyes and smiled cheekily at the cameras. "It's just a nail file. I don't like keeping blood under my nails."
"You call that training?" Steve groaned rubbing his eyes and turning to Frank.
"I call that anger management," Frank said, amused at how unpredictable to handle they already found you when they've barely scratched the surface. He noticed how Bucky looked furious, his metal hand clutching a little too hard onto the table. "Don't like what you see, Sarge?"
Bucky didn't answer. He didn't tell them that he didn't like what he saw because he knew he was a major contributor in what caused it. If only he had been kinder, gentler, more honest. Maybe things would have turned out differently.
He walked down the hallways much later gripping a first aid kit in his metal hand and nervously running the other through his cropped hair. The cut on your face was barely anything, but he needed an excuse to talk to you. He was afraid you would turn him away, but he was terrified that you wouldn't. He didn't know what to say to you. He didn't know how to begin to apologize for everything he's done. His palm grew sweaty and beads were beginning to form on his brow.
He was only a few steps away from your bedroom door and he was sorely tempted to turn back around when he noticed that it was cracked open and he could hear voices from inside. He should have followed his instinct to keep his distance but a high whine that definitely came from you pushed him to peak through the small opening.
What he saw made his already thumping heartbeat grow quicker. His eyes grew wide and his throat went dry. Whatever he was expecting, it definitely wasn't this.
You. Stark naked. Grinding your mound on someone's face.
You looked absolutely glorious as you wound your hips in your chase for release; head thrown, back arched, and lips in a dreamy smile. The view he had of you, facing him and deep into your pleasure, was enough to cause his pants to tighten. He couldn't see which one of your teammates was beneath you, the bedframe blocking his view. Whoever they were, Bucky was jealous. He wanted to taste you too.
He felt that stirring of longing again now as he watched you in the throes of passion with another man. He felt it the moment you stepped back into their lives. He felt it during the 10 years they thought you were dead. And he felt it when you were still in training as a recruit every time you smiled at Pietro and Steve.
You picked up your pace and he could see muscular arms reach up to grip your waist and pull you down harder. You were panting curses, your breathing turning erratic and Bucky could see your thighs begin to shake. The sight of you coming undone has to be the most entrancing thing he's ever seen.
Movement from you and your partner pulled him from the hypnosis caused by your erotic display. His face heated up, deeply embarrassed at having watched you for so long and finding enjoyment in basically violating your privacy. He was about to leave when the man whose face you had been riding, came up to kneel behind you.
He pulled your hips back against his own, sliding his hard length easily into your dripping cunt causing you to moan so deliciously that Bucky felt a shiver run down his spine. You reached your hand up to grip the back of his head, letting him bury his own in your neck as he set a languid pace with his thrusts.
Your head rolled to the side and your eyes opened, locking directly with Bucky's. You smirked and reached down to circle your swollen bud, pressing your back further against the hard body rutting behind you and purposely putting on a show. You winked at him.
He bolted out of there.
"That wasn't very nice, honey," the low voice was thick with lust in your ear. His breathing was growing labored too, finding your heat wrapping around him overwhelming.
"I don't see you stopping, Captain."
"How can I when you're gripping me so tight?" He snapped his hips earning a sharp moan from you. "Did you like that? Torturing my best pal with me balls deep inside you?"
You sighed and closed your eyes. Apple pie Steve wouldn't have whispered such sinful things to you, but this Steve could make you cum with just filthy words alone.
"Yeah, you did. Look at you clenching and soaking my cock from having Bucky watch you. You like being bad to him, honey?"
A sudden smack to your ass had you snapping your eyes open. He chuckled into your neck, biting down hard on the juncture as he felt you gripping him even tighter.
"Answer," he growled, landing a harsher smack to your bottom.
"Yes! Yes, Captain, I did."
"Good. Will you be good for me now, honey? You caused a bit of trouble today." His thrusting was still slow, making sure you felt every ridge and vein with each stroke as he drove you into a stupor. "Will you be a good girl for your Captain now?"
"Yes, Captain."
He smirked against your skin, pleased at your compliance. He was reveling in the power he had over you. Frank had said that you never took orders without a fight, but here you were being so good for him. Pliable. Yielding. He was enjoying it.
He gathered your hair in one hand and pulled, your back arching beautifully and emphasizing where his cock was buried deep inside you. With each thrust his cock came out glistening with your slick. The image made him lose control, abruptly escalating his pace to rail feverishly into you.
He had you gasping and clutching at the sheets instantly, begging for him to go harder and push you over the edge. He bent over you and reached around to rub furiously at your throbbing clit.
"Cum like a good girl, honey. Cum around my cock," he commanded. "I wanna feel you fucking drown me."
You came, lights dancing in your eyes and your head empty of all thoughts aside from the pleasure that racked your body. He followed soon after with a loud grunt, the sensation of you fluttering around him too much to resist.
He fell on top of you, spent and satisfied. Your sweat and heavy breaths mingling together as you both tried to return back to the world. You liked the heavy feel of him on top of you, strangely finding comfort in the weight.
He dragged you with him when he rolled off you, spooning you and planting kisses on the back of your shoulders that had your skin tingling from his beard.
"When are you going to put him out of his misery?"
"When it stops being fun?" you chuckled.
Steve wasn't going to push the issue. He knew that it was up to you whether you forgave Bucky or not and when that would be. It would be on your own terms how things moved. Just like what happened between you two. He wasn't expecting it, but the heated argument about the injuries you inflicted on one of his best agents had somehow escalated into him spanking you and you growing wet from it.
Not that either of you were complaining.
You turned around in his arms to face him, looking up at him with a taunting smirk. "You sure your old heart can take being in a polyamorous relationship?"
He chuckled and pecked your lips before going back in for a much deeper kiss that had you swooning. When he pulled back, he was looking at you lovingly.
"I'm known for waiting too long about things like this. I lost my shot at you 10 years ago. I'm not missing out on you again."
His words were firm and genuine. He honestly thought that he would mind having to share you with several other men. He thought that he would feel jealous and possessive. Instead, he felt reassured. He knew that wherever and whenever he lacked, someone else would pick it up and he would be the same. There was a sense of relief knowing that you would always be taken cared of by people who felt the same for you as he did.
"Well then you have some making up to do for waiting so long," you said nibbling at his lower lip.
He groaned and grabbed your thigh, hitching your leg up on his hip. Your thighs and core were still sticky and slippery from both your releases. His tongue dove into your mouth and he could feel you moan against his lips as he ran the tip of his cock against your still sensitive core. Your nails dug into his back as he sunk in, fitting perfectly inside you.
"You're running with a super soldier now, honey," he said, eyes burning with want. "I can do this all day."
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A/N: Some asked about Jill and Kim so here you go, lovelies. Come freak out with me in the comments and reblogs. Thank you all for the support! More coming soon. 
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emmys-writing · 3 years ago
Text
Ballerina
Pairing- Hotchner x Reid
Warnings- bottom spencer, explicit content, dom hotch, sir kink, small cock spencer, this is unedited, hotch is kind of a dick but not really, short spencer, ballerina spence, jack is in ballet <3, degradation
When the class of 6 year olds finally was rounded up and cleared out of the studio by stressed and exhausted parents, Spencer sighed in relief. The last kid was picked up 20 minutes late and of course it was inconvenient but Spencer loved these kids. They always had bright happy smiles on their faces and cute clumsy wobbles as they tried to balance on the bar the way Spencer did. Spencer smiled softly and hummed to himself, grabbing the loose pieces of garbage that occasionally littered the floor. It wasn��t until he heard a throat being cleared that he jumped with a small yelp and looked towards the door where the noise came from. 
Aaron Hotchner, Jack's father who rarely showed up to their rehearsals, stood there with his arms crossed and his normal stern facial expression on. As much as Spencer wanted to remain professional, he couldn’t help but notice how handsome the older gentleman was. He wore a gray suit that although slightly unfitted, still fit the broad and muscled shoulders and Spencer hated to admit it but this man was definitely a weakness of his. He was arrogant at times and not one for joking around, if he did show up he didn’t stay to chat either. He just grabbed Jack and left. 
“Sorry Mr. Hotchner, I didn't see you there!” Spencer blushed and connected his own hands behind his back in a shy manner. Aaron just nodded. 
“I’m here to pick up jack” Straight to the point. 
“O-Oh… Jessica actually already picked him up. I’m sorry sir, i would’ve phoned you if i knew you planned on picking him up” He explained, walking closer and flashing an apologetic smile. Normally if this was any other parent he would roll his eyes at the bad planning but Mr Hotchner was different. Spencer saw this as an opportunity to get to know the man who he’s been ogling for more than a year. 
“You look tired, do you want to stay for a coffee? I already have some brewing and I have lots of sugar and cream” The younger one offered. Aaron surprisingly took him up on that offer as well. 
It had been a long case and he just got off the jet, coming straight to the ballet studio afterwards. So what if he found his son's instructor a bit attractive? coffee wouldn’t be so bad, he thought. It’s not like he would end up bending him over and- no. He mentally smacked himself for being so perverted towards the man in front of him. He was small, maybe 5’6 or 5’7 at most, had a slender frame as well as the most adorable smile and soft looking hair that he would love to reach out and touch. Aaron took a step towards the stack of plastic chairs and took one, placing it down on the ground. He took a seat while Spencer made his way towards the coffee pot. 
“I take it black” Hotch told him and watched the ballerina as he smiled at him and poured the bitter liquid in the plain white mug. Hotch took the opportunity to admire the young body when Spencer was turned around. Hotch knew it was wrong, the boy was just so sexy without even trying. The thin black tights hugged his thighs just right and the little skirt he wore flared out around his small waist, accentuating the round of his ass. Hotch felt the front of his pants tightening, his chest tightened and he felt himself getting warm. Spencer turned back around forcing hotch to immediately struggle to tear his eyes away. Spencer noticed though. He saw the lustful glances and tent in his pants, it gave him an amazing opportunity. After Spencer handed Aaron the cup he looked up at him with the same lust filled eyes. 
“Do you mind if I work on some of my stretches?” Spencer asked while internally smirking. 
“No, go ahead” He took a slow sip from the cup and leaned back in the small, plastic chair. 
Spencer went to the bar and lifted his leg up, he did it a few more times before huffing and looking over at the other presence in the room. 
“I need a little bit of help, could you?” He blushed and looked down at his ballet shoes. Hotch couldn’t say no, he knew that Spencer would feel the bulge but he was hoping to play it off as just having a big dick, which technically wasn't a lie either. Aaron got up from the small plastic chair and stood behind Spencer, he lightly placed his hands on the younger man's bony hips and bit his lip gently. Spencer was perfect in every way. Spencer lifted his leg up once more but not without pushing his behind against Hotch's groin. Hotch struggled to keep in a groan but successfully was able to, this didn't stop the other man though. He continued to push up against him and made small groaning noises as he stretched despite not actually needing to make noise. The thing that finally broke hotch was when Spencer bent over and the thin tights truly lived up to their name. The tights were slightly see through in the lighting and position he was in, this caused hotch to groan and place a hand over his crotch through his dress pants, cupping it lightly in hopes he could conceal it even just a little bit. He couldn't. Spencer turned around at the noise and smiled cheekily. 
“Something wrong Mr. Hotchner?” Spencer leaned against the wall and looked up at him. 
“Nope, just keep doing what you were doing”
“Oh really? Because I think that I...” He trailed off while reaching out and placing his hand over Hotchs, feeling his erection go slightly stiffer at the contact. “...Am making you hard”
Hotch didn't know how to respond to that but he kept his straight and tall, intimidating posture to make sure Spencer knew he had no control over him. 
“Am I making you hard sir?” Spencer asked innocently and looked up with big brown eyes. That was all it took for Hotch to grab Spencer's waist and push him into the wall further. Spencer giggled and tangled his fingers in the taller man's hair.
“You're such a little slut you know that?” Hotch chuckled darkly as Spencer nodded in response. Something in the older man's demeanor changed and he was no longer the stern father who made minimal small talk. He was now the Sexy, dominating, strong man who had his son's ballet teacher pressed against the studio wall and degrading him. They both loved it. 
“Answer me” Hotch said harshly and used one hand to grab hold of Spencer's jaw, forcing him to meet his gaze.
“Y-Yes sir, i'm a little slut” He whimpered.
“Good girl” He smirked and Spencer swore that he melted at the nickname. Hotch looked down between their bodies and furrowed his brows, Spencer didn't have a visible erection and it confused him slightly. Surely if he wanted this he would be hard, and especially noticeable if he's in tights? 
“Spencer, are you sure you want this?” He asked, concerned. 
“I- yes why?” Spencer looked up at him confused.
“Well- I erm… You are not visibly hard so I wanna make sure you don't feel pressured.” Spencer blushed furiously in embarrassment and gulped.
“I'm just on the smaller side…” He whispered but it was loud enough for Hotch to catch. He groaned softly and reached down to Spencer's hips, flipping him to face towards the mirrored walls.
“Is that so baby?”
“Yes sir…” Spencer surprised himself when he felt his face get warmer than before because he was pretty sure it was almost impossible. Hotch placed his hand under Spencer's chin, forcing him to look at himself in the mirror. It was embarrassing how easily he fell apart. Aaron kissed and sucked and nipped at Spencer's pale neck, leaving behind dark marks that would definitely be difficult to cover up before his next class. Aaron brought his hands down to Spencer's ass and grabbed the thin fabric of tights and underwear before ripping a hole in the back of it, the tights were easily ripped up the front as well though leaving the man's small, pretty pink cock and hole on display for the other man. 
“Oh, so cute and small, darling. Like a little clit” Spencer whined and leaned forward to place his forehead on the mirror but quickly corrected by Aaron who laid a harsh and loud, echoing slap to his bare behind. 
“Don't hide, I want to have you watch me make you fall apart. I'm going to break you into nothing but a whimpering and whiny mess” Spencer just nodded, he was at a loss for words and had no idea how to reply. Hotch brought one hand to Spencer's mouth, Spencer gladly took the long and thick fingers into his mouth, sucking for a good amount of time before pulling off and looking into Hotch's eyes through the mirror. 
“I-I have a small bottle of lube in my bag” He didn't have any shame at this point, all he wanted was to have Aarons cock filling his ass. Aaron went to the side and looked through the dance bag, smirking at the spare pair of clothes and thongs to reduce the panty lines when wearing tights. It wasn't long before he found the bottle and quickly went back to Spencer who eagerly pushed his ass out. 
“Patience, you may be a slut but you can wait” he chastised and chuckled darkly before spitting on his hole before placing a generous amount of lube. Hotch added two fingers immediately and Spencer cried out at the burn he felt, it was a good burn though… It became a mix of pain and pleasure so it wasnt long before Spencer began fucking himself onto the older mans fingers. Soon enough he had four fingers fucking into him but it didnt last long because Hotch pulled them out and placed the tip of his cock at his entrance.
“Beg.”
“Sir please!” He cried, tears almost forming in his eyes from desperation. Hotch seemed to take pity on poor Spencer luckily. The tip of Hotch's cock was pushed into the desperate and greedy hole before slowly sinking in more until he bottomed out. 
“Such a good hole for me aren't you? My little slut, little cockslut…” Hotch groaned and gripped Spencer's hips tightly. 
“Yes sir, i'm your little cockslut!” He whimpered and threw his head back. A few slow thrusts were made, slowly building up in pace and roughness until Spencer was a whimpering and moaning mess beneath the older gentleman. Hotch reached forward and grabbed ahold of Spencer's little cocklet, rubbing at the tip and watching Spencer's facial reactions through the mirror.
“S-Sir im gonna-”
“No.” He whined and looked up at Hotch, clawing at the bar in front of him.
“Such a cute little cocklet huh? Do you like it when I rub it like a clit?” 
“Yes sir, p-please i-i need to”
“Shh.. it's okay. Just a little bit longer okay? Hold on for me” 
Another few minutes go by of Hotch jack hammering into Spencer before he looks into Spencer's eyes through the mirror and he gives him verbal confirmation to cum. 
“Cum with me” is all it took for Spencer to let go and cum all over the mirror, clenching his hole around the hard cock inside of him to milk him as well. He felt hotch's cum fill him up to the brim and when he pulled out, the bit of remaining cum spilled out of him and down his thighs. 
When both of them catch their breaths and steady themselves, Hotch grabs a thong from Spencer's bag and cleans up the cum falling down his thighs but leaves the cum inside of him. 
“I’ll see you next class” Hotch smirked and slapped Spencer's ass before grabbing his cup of coffee, downing the rest of it and walking out the door. 
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xoxo-teddybear · 4 years ago
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Hi! Um I was wondering if you could write a Domestic Bakugou where they were doing the do and the kid( I forgot his name wtf-😭) caught them? And then Like the next day at school my boy boy is doing it do other girls in his class- NOT LIKE IN A SEXUAL WAY👴🏽🤏🏽🕶 like when they got caught bakugo would say” I’m just protecting your mom from my villains” or sum shit💀✋🏽 So now he is like trying protect his friends 😭Just wondering😁
Ima crack writer so HERE WE GO!!😎
Do As I Say, Not As I Do
Bakugou x f!reader
Warnings: Crack, smexy times, cursing, domestic
BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST
“S-Slow down Suki!”
Your husband pounded into you at an alarming pace. Katsuki came home from work feeling a little frisky and so when their beloved son, Katsuo, was fast asleep, the couple decided to get it on. It was around four in the morning and you two had been going at it for an hour, already 3 orgasms in.
Your bodies were covered underneath the blanket as Bakugou rammed into you. His large arms held your torso close as your own wrapped around his neck. His aching member slipped in and out of you, head just kissing your cervix, as his heavy balls smacked against the swell of your ass. The sound in the room was terribly loud. The way your skin smacked against one another and your moans created a rough melody of sex. Thankfully, you lived in a rather large home and your son’s room was far, far away. Good thing he was a deep sleeper too.
“What’s wrong princess? Can’t handle it?” Katsuki teased with his hot breath against your neck. At your every cry to go slower (in fear of awakening your son) Katsuki sped up his rhythm.
“F-Fuck!” You screamed. Katsuki rose above you and captured your neck in his hand. He stayed close to you as his free hand went to your hip and brought you close to him while he slammed into you. The fast movements caused the bed frame to bang against the wall as Katsuki moaned into your ear.
“S-Shit baby! Oh fuck, you feel so good. So perfect wrapped around my cock.” He groaned in your ear. The immense pleasure and husky voice had your back arching, giving your husband the chance to wrap his arm under you and flip you both over. You tried to keep the blanket covering you both as you bounced up and down his dick, but failed as the fabric traveled down to only cover your lower ass.
As you bounced, Katsuki continued to thrust up into you. His hands held onto your ass and gave it a smack from time to time. “K-Katsuki! I’m gonna cum! Please! Mm, yes! Don’t stop!”
At the sound of your voice, Katsuki’s hands went straight to your clit and ferociously rubbed at it. His actions had you throwing your head back and your pussy clenching around him. Katsuki noticeably jumped a bit when you began to tighten around his cock.
“Oh baby! God you’re squeezing me so damn tight.” He said as he kissed your chest. “F-Fuck, gonna make me put another brat inside ya. You want that? Wanna be full of my seed? Give me another one, yeah?”
You nodded your head as your eyes filled with tears due to all the pleasure. His grip on your waist grew tighter as your legs began to shake. The sound of skin slapping sped up as you and Bakugou drew closer and closer to your climax.
“Fuck, fuck, fuck, fuck!” He screamed as you moaned loudly. You both came at the same time and to silence the both of you, Katsuki pulled you in for a kiss. You both moaned into it as your hips grinded on his dick. His hand squeezed at your ass again before giving it another smack and then soothing the stinging sensation with soft rubs.
You kiss would’ve continued had it not been for a sweet little voice coming from the doorway. “Dad?”
At the sound, Katsuki instantly jumped and flipped you both over again, covering your bodies with the large sheet. He layed atop of you while you looked away from your son. The blanket covered you both, leaving nothing but your heads exposed. “Katsuo! Hi son, what’re you..Uh what’re you doing up?”
“What’re you guys doing?” Your son asked with his doe eyes he inherited from you. Katsuki’s member throbbed from inside you and he grunted at the feeling.
“Umm...I was just- just...protecting Mom from villains!” You gawked at your husband for his idiotic response. Out of everything he could’ve said, he said that?!
“Cool! I wanna help!” Your son said starry eyed but when he took a step to come closer, Katsuki screamed out.
“N-No! Uh- no, it’s okay bud. She’s fine. Okay? Uh..please go back to your room and go back to sleep. Okay? Yes? Please?” Katsuki asked with a hurried voice. Your son only smiled and nodded before running back to his room.
You both visibly became less tensed as the two of you released relieved sighs. You turned your head to your husband who remained inside of you and slanted your eyes at him when he gave you a cheeky smile. “We sure got outta that one, huh?”
“Get the hell off of me Katsuki!” You said, pushing his face away from you. The shove caused Katsuki’s member to slip out of you and you gasped at the loss. Katsuki smirked down at you and you only grunted at him. “Really? Protecting me from villains? that’s the best that you could come up with?!”
“Well what was I supposed to say?!” He screamed.
“Uh, I DONT KNOW! Maybe, ‘Oh, Mommy’s just cold. Oh, we’re not doing anything son. Oh, THIS IS JUST A FUCKING DREAM!!’ I mean, c’mon Katsuki!” You said.
“Would you have rather had me tell him I was stuffing your pretty pussy?” He asked with a smirk. You rewarded him with a smack to his chest and a pointed finger.
“I don’t need your sarcasm.”
Katsuki only backed up a bit to see the wrecked sight of you and noticed the white cream leaking out of you and onto the bed. “Heh, what you need is for daddy to fill you up one more time.”
“Yeah right, your horny ass just wants to cum again.” You said with sass.
“Yeah, guess what? You’re right, so help me satisfy myself. Besides, you got to cum four times while I’m sitting at two,” he said while peppering your face in kisses from above. “At least let me have one more, baby.”
You smirked and this time it was you that flipped each other over. Katsuki sat up while you sat on his groin. “I’ll help you in another way, Daddy.”
You kissed his lips for a few seconds before moving south to go down on him. It has been awhile since you’ve tasted your husband so this should definitely excite him. Katsuki was definitely shocked but couldn’t stop the huge smile growing on his face. He watched you swallow his member and when you hummed with his cock sitting in your throat, he threw his head back.
“Fuck yes Princess.” His hand found way into your hair as he helped you bob your head up and down. Katsuki was in for a long, long morning.
Speaking of mornings, Katsuo was going to be having an exciting one. He had a morning play date with Kirishima’s son and the twin Todoroki sisters.
Akio, Kirishima’s son, came by early and so you were happy to see the two boys getting along so well, just like their fathers. With the exception of Katsuo being much more nicer than Katsuki of course. When you opened the door to greet your best friend, Momo, and her two daughters, you assured the girls that they’d have a fun time.
The twins ran in after greeting you and giving you a hug which left you a few minutes to speak to Momo before she left. You walked to the glass door that gave view of the kids in the backyard and noticed how Homura (the twin with red hair) had gone to play with Akio while Yukine (the twin with white hair) had been drawn to Katsuo.
You always noticed the little blush on your son’s face whenever Yukine came around. You thought his little crush on the icy-calm girl was absolutely adorable. “Kids!”
The little 5 year olds turned their heads to see you calling for them.
“Come inside, the movie’s almost on!” Seeing their faces perk up at the sound of the children’s movie, you giggled and motioned for them to come in. They all happily followed you and got comfy on the large couch. You placed a few snacks on the table for them before turning the T.V on. “Alright Katsuo. You’re the oldest and Mommy has some training to do. Daddy’s upstairs working if you need anything but if you’re all set, can I trust you to keep everything steady in here?”
“I promise Mom!” Your young boy joyously said. You gave him a warm smile before pecking his cheek and walking to the master bedroom to change. You walked in to find your husband on his laptop finishing his reports on the bed.
You walked to your dresser and pulled out a bathing suit. This caught your husband’s attention and had him smirking in the corner. “If you put that on, I’m assuming that’s an invitation for me to rail you~”
You giggled at his wording before walking to him and giving him a quick peck. “It’s for training dummy. I’m gonna head downstairs to the pool and workout with my water bending.”
Katsuki still held his smirk as he pushed away his laptop and pulled you into his lap. You were a bit jumpy but nonetheless settled while straddling his lap. “I have another idea for a workout and if you’re wondering, it does involve bending.”
He pulled you in for a few sweet kisses before you hovered your lips above his own to speak. You smiled as you placed your hands on his chest to keep the horn dog at bay. “What is with you recently? First it’s you coming home to fuck me stupid and now it’s getting riled up from me just holding a bikini.”
“Can you blame me? I married the most beautiful woman in the world, so please believe I’m gonna take full advantage of that.” He replied. You chuckled a bit before he pulled you in for more kisses and a little heated make out session. Your tongues came in contact and began tangling as he took you by your ass and had you grind down on him.
“Mm..Suki, stop,” you said with a laugh as you pulled away. “Seriously, there’s kids downstairs and we definitely don’t want a repeat of what happened last night with our own.”
Bakugou just huffed and groaned while slumping in his spot. You knew he wasn’t mad because as you got off of him and walked the the bedroom door, you looked back at him to see him smiling at you with eyes that carried all the love in the world. You smiled back before walking downstairs.
As you walked down the hall, you hummed a little happy tune to yourself. You love your little family so much. Your beloved husband and your precious son meant the world to you. Nothing could ruin your mood. At least, that’s what you thought before a loud smack interrupted your humming. Your head snapped to the sound and you immediately ran to the living room to check up on the kids.
“Are you sure you’re doing it right, Katsuo?” Yukine’s sweet voice said.
“Yeah, yeah. I think my Dad went like..this? *SMACK*” Yukine released a little yelp at the hit and that was when you caught sight of everything.
“Uh, guys?” You asked while walking into the scene. “Is everything alright in- AHHHH!”
You walked in to find Homura and Akio in the kitchen putting plates away and your son and Yukine on the couch. What made you scream was the fact that Yukine was straddling your son’s lap and you just witnessed Katsuo smack her behind. You immediately ran to the two and picked Yukine up while putting her on the couch and dragging your son by the ear up to your room while constantly saying “No, no, no, no, no, no, no...”
Katsuki was continuing his work after you left but after just a few minutes, you came back in constantly saying “no” as you dragged your son in by his tiny ear.
“No, no, no, no, nope! No! NO!” You said and tugged Katsuo in by the ear and shut the door. “Katsuo? Sweetie? What was that all about?”
“Woah, hey, what’s going on?” Katsuki asked, shutting his laptop and getting up from the bed. “Katsuo what’d you do?”
“Nothing! I wasn’t doing anything wrong. Mom just came in and started yelling.” Your son said in defense. Your husband looked to you in confusion but you sighed before whispering to him.
“Katsuki, I walked into the living room and Yukine was straddling Katsuo while he grabbed and smacked her ass!” You whisper-yelled. Katsuki’s eyes popped and his head snapped towards his son. On the inside, he wanted to laugh because damn his son was a playaaaaa but unfortunately he had to be a professional parent right now.
Katsuki walked to his son and crouched to his level. “Uh, Katsuo? Why did you smack Yukine? And why was she sitting on you?”
“I was doing what you did.” Katsuo simply said. Katsuki tilted his head in confusion with pointed brows as he pressed for more explanations.
“What do you mean?” He asked.
“I was protecting Yukine from villains cuz I wanna be a hero, just like you Dad!” Your son said with his adorable smile. “Just like how you were protecting Mom last night!”
Katsuki visibly got choked up at the last sentence and his mouth formed an “o” as he slowly turned to look up at you. He was still crouching as he stared up at your angry form that held eyes of fury and crossed arms. You looked towards your husband with a raised brow and he began to sweat a little with a nervous laugh leaving his mouth.
“Um, okay son. You had good intentions which is great but..you see..uhhhh....Y/N?” Katsuki asked for help as he turned towards you. You sighed and dropped your head as you walked to the two and dropped down to your son’s level.
“Katsuo, the way your dad was..protecting me last night is only for adults. Not for little angels like you. So please don’t do it again, okay?” You said while holding his little hands.
“Am I in trouble Mom?” Your son asked with a small pout.
“Of course not sweetie. Your dad was right, you had good intentions. Just- please don’t do it again my love.” You said with a wavering smile. Katsuo smile and nodded before asking another question.
“Can I do it when I’m older?” He asked with his pure child innocence. You froze up a bit and Katsuki laughed a little bit you turned to him and smacked his arm to get him to shut up.
“Uh- we’ll have that talk later, bud. For now just, please don’t do it. Okay? From now on, do as I say and not as I do.” Katsuki said and Katsuo listened. He nodded his head and you released a relived sigh before standing up and glaring at your husband. You dragged him by his arm to a corner and pointed a finger into his chest.
“The next time some B.S like this happens again, you won’t have to worry about protecting me from villains for a month. Am I clear, Katsuki?” You said with slanted eyes. Your husband had a quivering smile as he looked at you in very slight fear.
“Crystal.” He replied. You walked out the room to go and check on the kids leaving the boys in the room by themselves. Once your were a good distance away, Katsuki walked over to his son and looked down at him. Katsuki looked to each side of the room before looking back at your son and speaking. “Did Yukine make a noise when you hit her?”
Katsuo nodded and Katsuki smiled down at his boy before ruffling his head and pushing him to the bedroom exit. Katsuo understood and opened the door to go back downstairs as he laughed at his father’s rough but loving treatment. As Katsuki watched his son from the bed he couldn’t help but whisper a little. “That’s my boy. So proud.”
“What?” Katsuo asked as he thought he heard his father say something. Katsuki looked everywhere in the room except at the tiny child at the door.
“Huh? What? Hm? Ah, no, no. Nothing. Uh-...go back downstairs.” He said and Katsuo nodded before exiting. Katsuki layed back down on the bed with his arms behind his head as he smiled contently at the ceiling. “*sigh* Yeah, that’s definitely my son.”
Tag list: @sxcker4you @aomi04
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nuttynutcycle · 3 years ago
Note
Not sure if you take requests, but if you do would you be able to continue on the ‘Intruder’ story, (where the villain breaks into hero’s apartment only to learn they’ve been quarantined). And the continuation would be then trying to survive together, in quarantine?
Intruder Part 2
Part 1 here
Thanks to the lovely @avvail for proofreading!
In hindsight, Hero should have said something about Villain temporarily moving in. Especially when Villain opened up the kitchen cupboards and clicked their tongue in dismay, quickly texting their sidekick about what pots to bring. And pans. And cutting knives. Hero could have sworn they heard Villain swear under their breath when they found the Kraft Dinner shelf. "How do you keep beating me on this diet?"
Hero lifted their head off their resting place on the table. "Pretty easy when your villain prefers flirting over fleeing."
"It's called 'distracting the opponent.' You should know; you distract me all the time." Villain said over their shoulder, moving through Hero's kitchen in an efficient whirlwind. "And if you want, I'd be thrilled to help you practice your flirting - wait." Villain opened the fridge door, wrinkling their nose at the containers inside. They picked up the closest one and sniffed it. "Lasagna's not supposed to be green."
"...that's my attempt at noodle stew."
Villain threw the container into the garbage hard enough for it to bounce. "That's it. I'm taking charge of meals for the next 10 days."
Hero felt the pressing weight of social responsibility as their unexpected guest continued to purge their fridge. "But-"
"Hero, I'm offering. Now you accept graciously," Villain threw a look at Hero over their shoulder. "That's how this works."
Hero pursed their lips. "Fine. I just don't feel right about you doing all the work."
"The real work will be getting your body adjusted to normal food. Have you ever heard of a healthy diet?"
"Have you ever heard of ice cream?"
Even though Hero was, to put it generously, below average with eating healthy, they excelled at sleeping. So after the pair had eaten supper, watched a movie, paused the film so Villain could rant about how stupid a character was, finished the movie and debated who the true villain was, the two were ready to hit the sack.
Villain dove onto Hero's well-made bed. "Dibs."
"Uh, no. Nope. You get the couch," Hero dropped a pile of pillows and blankets onto the couch. "Like a good guest."
"You know, we could both sleep on the bed."
"...do I even need to dignify that with a no?"
"Fine," Villain teasingly sighed, sliding off the bed and lying down on the couch. "Have it your way. We can both sleep on the couch."
Hero held the bridge of their nose. "Why would we ever do that?"
"More excuse to cuddle."
The blankets were pulled up to Hero's chin. "Goodnight, Villain."
"Night. Let me know if you change your mind about cuddling."
A couple of hours passed before a wail cut through the silent room and killed any dreams the pair had. Hero thrust their feet into their worn boots, blinking the sleep dust out of their eyes. They grabbed the familiar knife from under their bed and flinched as sirens echoed in the distance.
"Your neighbourhood's volume is broken," The villain murmured, pushing several couch cushions atop their ears. "Whas happening?"
"Go back to sleep."
"Mmkay."
The hero stuffed their limp mask into their pocket. "I'll be back soon."
"What?" The villain shot up, the blankets flying to the floor. "No."
The wails turned into full-on screams. Hero grabbed their worn jacket from its peg beside the door and fumbled for their keys in the dark. "My house, my rules."
"My future kingdom," Villain jumped over the couch and stood in front of the door. "My rules."
Hero's eyes narrowed at the sleep-dishevelled roadblock. "Get out of my way, Villain."
"Not until your quarantine is done."
"This is more important." Hero tried to step around and failed, electing to push past Villain for their next attempt. "Let me out."
"Shan't. Can't have you being a bad example for the kiddos."
"One of those kiddos could be in trouble."
"And you could get someone sick. Someone vulnerable. Or you could get hurt in your weakened state."
The screaming stopped. Hero pushed frantically against Villain, the shoving made misty by the blurriness rising in their eyes. "They need help!"
Villain grabbed Hero and spun them around. Hero let loose a strangled cry as their arms were trapped in a backwards bear hug. They stomped on Villain's feet with as much force as gravity gave them.
Villain hissed through gritted teeth. "Cut it out! You're not leaving. Look," they sighed, grip relaxing. "I'll send over a couple of my guys - they're staying nearby while I'm here."
"...you'd do that?"
"Well, they'd do that because I'm their boss." Villain fished out their phone and began texting one-handed, keeping the conversation visible in front of Hero. "Happy?"
Trust can be earned, or it can be awarded in the sliver of a moment.
"...thanks." Hero rested their head against the Villain's chest, their breathing returning to normal.
"Anything for you." The words were said so quietly, so honestly that Hero stiffened.
Instantly the arms were yanked back and hands thrust in pockets.
"Well." Villain avoided Hero's gaze. "Goodnight."
Hero nibbled on their lip as they watched Villain saunter off to the couch. "Wait-"
Was this a bad idea? Definitely. Were they still doing this…? "You're going the wrong way," they said lightly, aiming for the same upbeat tone as Villain often used. "Bed is this way."
Villain paused, tilting their head. "You serious?"
"Yeah." And oddly, the smile that split Villain's face brought one to their own. "But I'm using all the blankets."
"I'll just steal them when you're asleep. It's my villainous specialty."
They both dropped into bed, getting comfortable with a respectable distance between them. Hero turned to the side and closed their eyes. The light from the open window cast shadows over the apartment, dancing and flickering as the curtains moved in the wind.
"Hero," the villain's voice whispered from the darkness a few minutes later, "Why didn't you just call someone else? Why did you try to go out yourself?"
The hero's throat seized. They said nothing, staring into the dark shape of the room until they heard Villain's breathing change and body relax.
"I hear them in my sleep. The ones I don't save." The night listened to Hero's admission, just as it always had.
An arm wrapped around Hero's waist and hugged them tightly. Villain's chin rested on Hero's head as they stroked their arm in soothing motions.
The rest of the night was silent.
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naughtyneganjdm · 3 years ago
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Trapped
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Summary: After Negan and Maggie become trapped in a home from The Reapers' attack on the group, they are forced to be together to talk about the tension going on between them.
Characters: Negan & Maggie
AO3 Link: https://archiveofourown.org/works/33529606
Warnings: Swearing, smut, mild dubious consent, rough sex, hate sex, etc.
Notes: This was a request. At first, I thought it was a joke, but when the person wrote me very kindly to ask me for this, I agreed. I know Negan and Maggie as a couple would enrage a big part of the fandom. If that's you, just don't read the story. I know it's not everyone's cup of tea, but I hope the person who asked me for it enjoys it. Warning, this does have some spoilers from the end of episode 2, in case you haven't seen the episode yet.
“Come on,” Negan called out, waving his hand on when he made it to the broken-down home that he had found with Maggie while running away from the attack that The Reapers brought down on their group.
Clinging desperately to the door at his side, Negan waited for Maggie to catch up and the moment she made it into the home, he slammed the door shut behind her. Immediately locking up the door, he reached for the nearest china cabinet that was right beside the door to block off the doorway. Testing the weight of the cabinet, Negan made sure it would definitely be hard for someone to open the door. There was no way someone could open that door without struggling to do so.
The windows were already boarded up and Negan moved over toward one of them to look through the gaps that were there to see if they had been followed. Thank God, it seemed like they had snuck away without being spotted. Then again, these people were good. They could be out there and they would have never even known it until one of them got hit again. Fuck. How did he get stuck in a situation like this? He knew that he should have said no when they asked him to come on this trip. For some reason, he just felt forced into trying to continue to prove his worth in the community. Then again, if he would have said no to begin with, he was certain they would have forced him anyways. There was no way that Maggie would have let him stay back in Alexandria. There was a reason he was here and he knew that by now.
After standing there for a few minutes to make sure there was no movement in the distance, it seemed like they were safe and Negan took a moment to finally catch his breath. “I think we are safe. For now.”
When he turned on his heel, he let out a grunt when he saw that Maggie had her gun raised once more at him. It was pointed directly at his face and Negan held his hands up in the air defensively. “What now?”
“You made me leave them,” Maggie scowled, her face scrunched up in rage making Negan theatrically bob his head before lowering his hands at his sides. An irritated smirk pressed in over his exhausted features and he shrugged his shoulders. Here they were again. He did something right and that led him to having a gun pointed at his face. This seemed like it was going to be a never-ending cycle between them. “I could have saved Agatha. We could have helped her.”
“If you didn’t leave and I didn’t save you, you would be walker food right now too,” Negan snapped, his eyes narrowing while he stared out at Maggie. There was tension in the air. It wasn’t the first time she had that gun pointed at him today and he knew it wouldn’t be the last. “Instead of letting you die, I saved you. Your friends…all of em’, they are dead. There was nothing you could do to save them. You would have lost your life if you would have tried.”
“Those people were like my family. It should have been you out there instead of them!” she declared making Negan mutter something under his breath and roll his eyes when she said that. Somehow, he managed to save her life and he was still the bad guy. If he did something wrong, he was the bad guy. If he did something right, he was still the bad guy. There was no escaping this tiresome cycle. “They were some of the best fighters I knew.”
“Well clearly it doesn’t matter how good of a fighter you are when it comes to these people. You are dealing with master tacticians here Maggie. If you would have stayed and I didn’t do what I did, we wouldn’t be having this little stand off right now. You would be dead if I didn’t do what I did,” Negan pointed out, wiggling his fingers between the two of them, his eyes big with annoyance. “I made sure that your little boy just might have a chance that his mother might return to him after all of this.”
There was a deafening silence that fell over the both of them and Maggie’s eyes narrowed. A moment later her gun lowered. At this point, he was just getting sick of constantly being threatened with death even when he was doing something morally right. Negan wobbled over to the stairs to see that the upstairs area was blocked off. Checking the rest of the house, Negan confirmed that they would be safe in the small living room that they were locked up in. Everything else in the house appeared to be locked up very well.
A pained wince fell from his throat when an ache flooded down his right leg. Looking down toward his leg that had gotten injured in the attack, Negan could see the blood that was seeping through his pants. After the injury, he had wrapped the bandana around his leg to stop the bleeding, but who knew if it was actually fucking working. It burned like hell.
“This is your moment to relax. Gather yourself. In case they find us again. ‘Cause we are either going to have to run like hell or fight back,” Negan instructed, nodding over toward one of the chairs that was in the corner of the room. Instead of listening to him, she simply glared at him and Negan threw his hands up in the air. If she wasn’t going to take the time to do it, he was. “Or just ignore me. It’s not like I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about or anything.”
Moving over toward the corner of the living room, he dropped down in the corner to rest himself. Clutching tightly to the tire iron in his hands, Negan surveyed the dark room around them. The lights from the cracks in the boarded-up windows is what filled the house with light and he grumbled to himself. The house looked like it had seen better days. The green walls had dirt caked on them and there was a smell of mildew that lingered in the air. A floral chair was sitting upright in the corner and Negan found himself surprised that even though this place was a mess, that it still looked somewhat livable. Setting the tire iron aside, Negan tried to give himself a moment to let the tension from his body leave him. If he continued to be anxious, he knew it would make him fuck up. In order to get through this alive, he knew that his mind needed to be clear.
Loud, uneven breaths fell from Negan’s throat. Dropping his head back against the wall, Negan bit down firmly on his bottom lip and groaned when he felt the pain radiating from his leg. Clearing his mind and thinking of a plan was hard to do with the immense ache. Lazily, his eyes opened and he could see that Maggie was looking him over from where she was standing by the window. Her eyes locked onto his leg and the expression over her face was cold.
“I hope it hurts,” Maggie slurred after finally moving over toward one of the seats at the other end of the room and it made Negan crack a smile after she said that. Nodding, he looked down toward his leg and let out a grumble.
“It does. You’re in luck,” Negan sneered back knowing that things had been tense since the subway station between the two of them. Well, hell…they were always tense. Just not trying to save Maggie when she slipped undoubtedly made everything worse. It felt like only a minute had passed before Maggie was getting up from where she was seated to pace through the living room. She was looking from window to window as if trying to come up with a plan. “You’re going to wear a hole in the damn floor with the pacing if you keep that shit up.”
“Do you ever shut up?” she jeered and it made Negan snicker. Part of him wanted to be a smart ass and give her the answer he often would others, but instead he stayed quiet. “I’m trying to think of a way to go back. Maybe one of them…”
“None of them made it out Maggie. They are gone. You saw it. I saw it. Pretending that you can somehow save them is only going to get you killed. We need to move forward,” Negan instructed, swallowing down hard. Visibly she hated the answer, but so did he. The more numbers they had, the better chance they had against The Reapers. It was just the two of them and they had no chance of making this work. “Before we keeping moving, we first need to take a few minutes to gather our strength. If we run on empty, we’re just going to be easy targets for these people. You saw how easily they killed everyone. We have no chance just the two of us.”
Instead of listening to him, she continued to stare outside the cracks in the window. With a frustrated grunt, Negan reached to pinch at the bridge of his nose and shook his head, “You know, just because you hate me doesn’t mean you have to be stupid. Sometimes I know what the hell I’m doing and saying. I could be helping you here.”
“You don’t care about helping,” she yelled at him from where she was standing by the windows and Negan dramatically threw his hands up in the air before rolling his eyes. “I don’t want to hear your bullshit.”
“You’re right. I don’t give a shit. If I didn’t give a shit, I would have left you to die! I didn’t!” Negan maintained, his eyes getting dark with anger when he rose his voice back at her. “I am so sick of you people telling me how I feel and what I’m doing when my actions are going against what you are actually saying. You’re right, I left you there at the subway train, but let’s be honest you would have pushed me off the fucking thing if roles were reversed and you fucking know it.”
There was a silence and her face twisted with an emotion he couldn’t quite read. Lifting his finger, he spun it in the air and pointed at her, “Exactly! You would have and you know it! But I just saved you a few minutes ago. I could have just left you to die and then I would have been fine. You would have been out of my life and I would have been so much safer. Yet here we are after I just saved your ass!”
Maggie’s face twitched in irritation after he said that and a defeated breath fell from her lungs. She moved over to the opposite side of the living room and dropped down in the corner facing straight at him. Her bright eyes glared out at him and pierced through him making an uncomfortable sigh escape his throat.
“Listen,” Negan panted, still trying to catch his breath. His heart was hammering inside of his chest and he reached up to wipe at his face with the back of his hand. “I’m sorry that your friends died out there. I know that…”
“Don’t,” she held her hand up in the air to cut him off, to keep him from saying anything else. “You’re not someone who is sorry. You may have saved my ass. Okay. But you’re not someone that is sorry. If you were sorry, you would have already apologized a long time ago. You’re a cold, dark piece of shit. Where your heart should be is a blackhole of emptiness. So don’t sell me that you are sorry.”
“Are you talking about Glenn?” Negan inquired, his thick eyebrows arching up when her head tilted to the side. Yeah, he fucked up knowing that she hated even the sound of Glenn’s name falling from his lips. “What would apologizing for what I did to Glenn do for you?”
“Shut up,” she demanded and Negan shook his head, his loud breathing filling the air around them. “Don’t say his name.”
“Are you telling me that saying I’m sorry for what I did to Glenn would make you feel better?” Negan pushed the subject harder and his voice filled with just a little bit more venom. Her body locked up upon hearing his words. Shaking his head, he bit at his bottom lip and threw his hands up again. “Me apologizing would do absolutely nothing for you Maggie! It won’t bring Glenn back. It won’t make up for the pain and the agony I caused you. It won’t bring your little boy’s father back…”
Almost immediately Maggie stood up from the ground and stomped over toward the corner where Negan was to whip the gun against the side of Negan’s face again. This time it connected hard enough for him to get a bloody nose. The taste of his blood over his lips was enough for him to prove that. Instead of moving, Negan watched as Maggie brough the gun up to point at him again.  
“I don’t know what you want me to say Maggie. Do I regret what I did? Every fucking day of my life. I didn’t know you were pregnant, but at the time I didn’t give a shit. I saw a group that killed my people and I was out to get revenge. I thought back then the man I became was the man I was supposed to be. I was wrong. I didn’t think about the awful, horrible things I was doing, but me apologizing is not going to make up for the things that I did,” Negan insisted with a sadness in his tone, his hazel eyes almost tearing over as he spoke. “I still did those things. Yeah, I’m the not man I used to be anymore. I hate what I did to people. I hate the man I became. I hate the person that I was. I wish I could go back, but I can’t. But what good would apologizing do? I can’t change what happened. I took the person you loved away from you. I can’t make up for that. I never will, no matter how hard I tried.”
There was rage in the way that Maggie was breathing, her finger was over the trigger and Negan’s bottom lip was trembling while he stared up at her, “So am I sorry Maggie? Yeah. I’m sorry. But does it change the way you feel about things?”
Maggie’s whole body shook while she kept the gun raised up and when she lowered the gun to look away from Negan, he cleared his throat. Pushing the blood away from his nose, Negan knew that it hurt like hell, but there were other things on his mind. Inside of his chest, he could feel his heart pounding away, but he knew that he needed to get it off his chest, “If you find peace in killing me, then do it Maggie. Do it now. Get it over with. I’m accepting of it. This cat and mouse game of constantly threatening me is helping neither of us. I’m trying to be a better man and if the threat of death is over my head all the time, then what’s the fucking point? I know you hate me. If killing me…”  
“Shut up,” she lowered down on her knees and he heard her shuddering breaths filling the air. Uncertainty filled his body at how to handle this whole situation. Getting up from the corner of the room, he moved across the room and knelt in behind her. Placing his hand over her shoulder, Negan for some unknown reason even to himself was attempting to comfort her. “Don’t…”
“Listen, I know you’ve lost a lot,” Negan began and he felt the power of her turning toward him knocking him over onto the floor.
Scrambling backwards toward the corner of the living room where he was originally, Negan knew that he wanted to let her have her space. God, that was a stupid idea. The stare she was giving him made him cuss to himself when she took her time walking over toward where he was seated. Looking up at her with his big eyes, a grunt escaped his lips when she smacked him firmly across the side of the face.
“Do you ever shut up?” Maggie repeated an earlier question, hitting at Negan’s face over and over again. Lifting his hands up, Negan tried to block his face, but her hits lowered to his chest and instead of fighting those, he let her do it. The face he wanted to keep safe so he could still think with his head when the time came, but if beating on him helped her release whatever was going on…he could handle a few bruises. “Do something!”
“No,” Negan shook his head with a grimace when she hit him determinedly in the center of the chest. There was confusion that flooded her face. A loud grunt fell from Negan’s throat when she reached out to slam her hand into the center of Negan’s throat making his head slam back against the wall. A pained sound fell from his throat that was replaced with shock when he felt her lips over his. The kiss was rough, but Negan didn’t react to it because he didn’t know what was happening. Frozen, Negan was utterly confused with her actions while she kissed at his lips with quite some strength.
When Maggie pulled away, Negan’s eyes narrowed out at her and he cleared his throat uneasily. Staring in Maggie’s vibrant green eyes, Negan knew that she was still furious with him. So, what the hell was happening here? Did he just picture that whole fucked up scenario in his mind? “What’s going on here?”
“Just, shut up Negan,” she demanded, her hand still sturdily placed over the center of his throat and Negan hummed when her mouth covered his again.
Part of him was fucking terrified still. How couldn’t he be? It just had been so long since he had the soft caress of another pair of lips over his. Because of that, his better judgement was slipping away. Gradually, he started to kiss Maggie back. The adrenaline was flooding through his body while she kissed him. There was a need to want to reach out and touch her, but he kept his hands firmly at his sides. Just now, he wasn’t holding back in returning the gesture with his lips against hers.  
“Fuck,” Negan growled out when she bit at his bottom lip and tugged on it with her teeth. Wincing when she looked him over with her big eyes, Negan didn’t know how to respond. Was that her angry at him for kissing her back? Was that her way of being rough? Pretty much right now Negan was staying still because he didn’t want to make the wrong move. His breathing had gotten louder and he watched her shift over him. When her hands reached out for his belt, he finally lifted his hands to grab a hold of hers. “You don’t want this. You don’t.”
“For all you know the two of us could be dead in the next few minutes Negan,” she reminded him and his eyebrows arched in curiosity when she said that. Sure, that would usually make someone look at sex differently, but sex with Maggie made him think he would certainly be dying within the next few minutes. It felt like some kind of trick from her end. “Now do us both a favor and shut the hell up.”
Against his sense of logic, Negan lowered his hands and watched her pull apart the belt in his pants. Truthfully, his breaths were panicked ones. Biting down on his bottom lip, Negan adjusted his hips when she struggled to get the material of his pants apart. When she got the zipper down, Negan felt her hand pushing beneath his pants to grab a hold of his manhood to pull it out into the cool air surrounding them.
Looking down, he watched her hand pumping over his length clearly working to get him hard. Licking at his bottom lip, Negan didn’t know if he should be asking her what was on her mind. Was she going to get him hard just to cut it off? At this point, that’s what he thought she was doing. So yeah, he probably sounded like a scared little bitch, but he was. With his dick out and his enemy being the one in control of it, that wasn’t exactly something he was comfortable with.
A deep rumble of a moan fell from his throat when his body reacted to the firm grasp her palm had wrapped around him. Even frightened he was getting hard and he cussed to himself wishing like hell he wasn’t having this reaction. Involuntarily, Negan’s hips arched up toward her closed fist that was pumping over his length. Damn, he wished this didn’t feel as good as it did. The moment was horrible. They had people after them. They needed to be quiet, yet here Maggie was giving him a hand job. That in itself was confusing enough.  
“Fuck,” Negan grumbled, his throat flexing while watching the determination in her eyes. Even though he tried to force himself to be quiet, muted moans fell from his throat. Dropping his head back, short jolts of pleasure filled his entire body and he didn’t know how to react. When he was completely solid in her grasp, he let out a wince and bit harshly at his bottom lip. “What’s happening here Maggie?”
Silence. Nothing in return to his question. Looking down toward his lap, Negan gulped loudly. There were a lot of thoughts running through Maggie’s mind. She wasn’t saying anything, but he could tell that there were so many things she was thinking about. The look in her eyes told him that. Maggie bit at her bottom lip before getting up. Pulling her jacket from her body, Negan watched it drop to the ground and his throat went dry. When she reached for her pants, Negan felt a warmth flood throughout his cock making him grunt. There was no lying that his body was excited at the idea of sex with the incredibly beautiful woman before him. Just, he kind of wished he knew what the hell the outcome of this was going to be.  
His thick eyebrows bounced up in surprise and a panicked exhale escaped his throat. Maggie was swiftly tugging at the material of her pants after she kicked out of her boots. When she kicked the material aside, Negan felt his mouth go dry. Licking his lips, he let out a shuddering breath when she moved in over him.
“Maggie?” Negan tried to get her to look at him to find some kind of reason as to why this was all happening. Reaching out, Negan tried to grab her face in his palms and she slammed his hands back down at his sides. Obeying, Negan kept his hands down with tension in his body. When she crawled in over him, Negan let out a sigh. Reaching down, Maggie pushed the material of her panties aside and Negan couldn’t help but steal a glance. Noticing that she was getting more comfortable over him, he couldn’t keep the idea that this was fucked up out of his mind. “Wait, are you sure about this?”
“What? You don’t want this?” Maggie reached up with her right hand to grab a tight hold of Negan’s throat again, putting a tiny amount of pressure on the soft spot at the center of it. Negan’s Adam’s apple bounced in his throat and his teeth gritted together. “That’s a shame. I thought you might be the kind of guy that likes to be dominated by a woman.”
“Well, yeah…” Negan stammered, his body quivering when he felt her warmth hovering just over him. In another world, yeah, he would have jumped right into this. No questions asked. Maggie was fucking beautiful. But knowing their past, knowing what happened…he was having a hard time having this all make sense. “I’m very interested, but I just…”
“Then sit back, shut up and enjoy it,” she ordered and Negan’s jaw flexed when she reached down between them with her free hand to caress over Negan’s solid form. Lifting her hips up, Negan kept his eyes hooked with hers. When the tip of his cock traced through her folds, a moan fell from his throat and his eyes got heavy with lust. “For the first time I think you’re speechless Negan.”
A grunt fell from Negan’s parted lips when Maggie lowered her body down his length. The sound of Maggie’s gasp filled the air and he felt her fingers clinging tightly to his shoulders when she attempted to brace herself. Damn, Negan wanted to touch her. To put his hands on her hips, but this was all Maggie.
Attempting to look down at her body lowering down over his length, Negan felt her bang his head back against the wall again making him hiss when she did it. Tugging her fingers through his hair, she demanded his eyes to be hooked on hers. The warmth of her surrounding him was almost too much to take. Watching her lips part and her eyes come to a tight close, Negan felt his heart pound harder inside of his chest. God, he was looking at Maggie in a new light and he had no idea where this would leave them afterwards.
By the time she lowered over him completely, Negan lifted his right hand and slid it in over her side. Grasping loosely to her body, he was surprised that she didn’t force it back or yell at him. Maggie adjusted herself over Negan, trying to find the right positioning to keep herself comfortable before her hips started to raise over his length before lowering again.
There was a fire flooding Negan’s veins while he watched her face scrunch up. She was taking her time getting used to his body and it was causing chills to run through his whole body. Grunting, Negan felt Maggie’s nails biting into his shoulders from where her hands were grasping firmly at his shoulders to help her movements over him.
Each roll of her hips over him had started to become more confident. The rocking of her hips up and down had become steadier, fluid movements. They had to be quiet, he knew that, but he couldn’t help the occasional moans that fell from his throat while Maggie had absolute control of his body. This was something he could never even imagine in his dreams. Even in his dreams he would have known better, so whatever was happening now was a mystery to even him.
“Maggie,” Negan spoke her name and she hushed him, lifting one of her hands to place it over his mouth. Each thrust down over him started to get more powerful and his eyebrows clenched. Pulling his head away, he wondered if she was thinking of someone else. With her eyes closed, he didn’t know what was going through her mind. Leaning forward, he claimed her lips in a kiss and it seemed to shock her when he did it. Negan was unsure of himself at first, but the more she seemed to get into it, the more he did as well. Brushing his tongue between her lips, he flicked it faintly against hers before growling out when he felt her dominant movements over him. “Fucking hell…”
Maggie was rough. She was using him the way she wanted and there was no fooling anybody. This wasn’t out to be romantic. This wasn’t out to be a gentle moment between the two of them to fix what had been happening. This was a hard fuck and she was using his body the way she damn well pleased.
Hissing out, he felt her biting into his bottom lip again and undoubtedly this time she broke the skin. Curling his fingers around the back of her neck, Negan let his thumb drag over her throat and down her jawline. There was a darkness in Maggie’s eyes that he hadn’t quite seen before. He hated to admit it, but he liked it.
Going to speak up, Negan felt the firm smack of Maggie’s hand against the side of his face and he made an angry sound. Instead of saying a word, Negan powerfully wrapped his arm around her waist to pull her in firmly to him. Using his strength, he helped her bounce her hips over him. Their breaths became more frantic when they started to work together. Another firm smack filled the air after she hit him again, but Negan took it. This was hate sex. That’s what she wanted, so what the hell? Negan was going to give it to her.
Starting to thrust his hips up from underneath her, Negan was matching her movements over him. Each time he would buck upwards toward her, a whimper of sorts would escape from her throat. Kissing her again, Negan knew that they were attempting to be quiet. The last thing they needed was walkers hearing them and drawing them to the house. Then it would certainly lead The Reapers to them.
The sounds of their bodies smacking together were loud. Maggie was grasping to him tightly, trying to take control of the moment, but Negan kept bucking his hips up toward her. Maggie’s body froze over him and he could feel her nails digging into the cotton of his shirt. Keeping up with the movements of his body beneath her, he watched her eyes slam shut. Her palms dropped to press in over his abdomen as if to try to stop his movements. Maybe she didn’t want to have an orgasm because of him, but Negan picked up on the want of her body and continued to use his power to thrust up toward her repeatedly.
With a cry from Maggie, Negan pulled her to him. He felt her body start to tremor and shake over him. His mouth covered hers and he felt her forcefully pushing into his abdomen to get him to stop when she reached that orgasm he had worked so hard to build up inside of her. With shaking, tremoring thighs and her body flushed, Negan took his time to admire the woman he knew fucking hated him over him. If things were different, he could easily find himself getting attached to a strong woman like this, but their pasts would make it impossible. The natural glow she had after having an orgasm made her look stunning to him. The hate still lingered in her eyes, but the pleasure laced into her expression turned him on so much. Visibly, it seemed like she was not exactly happy with herself that Negan had been able to make her climax, but her body certainly enjoyed it.
By the time she finally shook the feeling, her eyes lifted to his and she looked angry. With a firm shove, Negan’s back hit the wall again. Her right hand pressed in over Negan’s mouth and her left reached back to brace herself over him. It was the hurt leg she grasped to and Negan immediately let out a pained sound against her hand that was covering his mouth. Using the stability she had in the moment, she sturdily brought her hips over his again and again. It was hard to focus on what he was feeling most in the moment. The pain from the injury she was digging her fingers into or the incredible amounts of pleasure she was drawing out from inside of him while she had her way with him.  
Growling against her hand, Negan’s eyes slammed shut. There was a fire burning in the pit of his stomach and he felt the muscles in his abdominal area start to flex. Desperate moans began falling from Negan’s throat when he could feel his orgasm approaching with her forceful movements over him. A frustrated, mumbled sound pressed against Maggie’s hand when she lifted her hips from Negan before he could cum. Her fingertips wrapped around the tip of his penis where the head met the shaft forcing him to hold back on his orgasm. A pained yelp fell deep from his throat when his body was absolutely ready to fall apart.  
God, she was fucking torturing him with this. When he was denied his orgasm, she crawled back in over him and with ease her body slid back down over his. Shakily, Negan reached for her hips and tried to help move her over him so he could work his body back up to that pleasure point. Almost immediately though, she reached for his hands and forced them back against the wall over his head. Holding tightly to his wrists, Maggie continued to control the movement over him and Negan cried out into her mouth when she began to kiss him again.
“Please…” Negan begged noticing that her movements were rough until she felt him tensing up beneath her. Whenever he was close to coming, she would stop all movements and it had him a shuddering mess. Negan wasn’t one for begging, but his body was tingling. Everything was eager for a release of some kind, but she wasn’t allowing it from him. “Maggie, please.”
“It hurts to want something so bad, doesn’t it?” she hovered her lips over his and Negan’s eyelids were heavy with lust. There was a want in his eyes and she knew that she had him in the palm of her hand. “To be controlled in every way possible.”
Negan didn’t say anything, he just desperately tried to move his hips, but she had the power and the strength over him right there. Maggie’s eyes were locked on his. The grasp she had around his wrists was getting tighter and Negan’s lips parted. He was panting, his chest rising and falling repeatedly.
“I asked you a question, does it hurt?” she repeated what she had said and Negan’s head fell back. His eyelashes fluttered and he felt her adjusting his wrists so she had them hooked together with one of her hands over his head. Using her free hand, she smacked at the side of his face again making him grunt before she grabbed a tight hold of his chiseled jaw. “Speak when you are spoken to Negan.”
“Yes,” Negan finally gave in and gave her the answer that she wanted to hear. She was using his own words against him and he was picking up on all of the hints. “Yes, it hurts. It hurts a lot.”
“Good,” she nodded her head, keeping her hips still over his while he remained inside of her. “Now beg me. Tell me you want to cum.”
“Please Maggie,” Negan felt her smack him again and he winced when she did it. The side of his face was starting to burn, but the sensitivity of his body was increased from it. Her beating the hell out of him surprisingly turned him on more than he expected when her hips started to unhurriedly move again. “Maggie, I’m begging you…”
“Do it better,” she demanded with another smack and Negan felt her hips starting to bounce powerfully over his extremely aching body. He was ready to explode and he knew that. It wouldn’t take much more. His body was shaking beneath her. His thighs were tremoring and his thick jaw flexed.
“Please, I’m begging you with everything that I am, let me cum,” Negan whimpered and after a few more steady movements over him, Negan threw back his head and let out a roar of a moan. His jaw dropped, his body shaking when his orgasm started. His hips eagerly bounced up toward hers and he was surprised how good his release actually felt. When she stopped moving over him, she dropped his wrists down and firmly shoved his head back again. Pulling her hips away from Negan, he cussed out a slew of incoherent words while she shakily pulled herself back and away from him. “Fuck me.”
Licking his lips, Negan looked down at his aching body and felt butterflies in his stomach. No one had ever taken control of him like that before and he found himself in awe of Maggie. When his eyes connected with hers again, Negan could see that she was fixing her panties and reaching for her pants. While she was still sitting on the ground, she was tugging her pants back up her body.
It took Negan a while before he could even gain the strength to pull his pants back together. Pushing himself back beneath the material, Negan started buckling them back together and his throat went dry. Doing that had Negan looking at Maggie in a new light and he was surprised how just having sex with her could affect him so much.
Almost immediately, Maggie had herself put back together and she was looking out the window again. On wobbly legs, Negan managed to pull himself up and finish putting his pants back together. Taking the time to gather himself again, Negan moved across the living room and reached out to try to touch Maggie’s shoulder.
“Maggie…” he wanted to find out what that was. Yet, he felt her pulling away from him.
“I still fucking hate you Negan,” she informed him, looking over her shoulder at him and Negan’s jaw flexed upon hearing her say that. “I want you dead and it’s still taking everything inside of me not to kill you. It was just hate sex. That’s all it was. It’s changed absolutely nothing.”
“Okay,” Negan simply responded knowing that sadly, it changed some things for him. It wasn’t like he was in love with the woman before him, but he definitely was starting to see her in a different light. While he wanted to talk about what just happened, he knew better than to do that. She was done with it. She didn’t want to talk about it, so it was best for him to forget it. That was probably half the torture in itself. It was something he wanted to think about. It was something that felt so good, yet she didn’t want to acknowledge what happened. That was torture in itself. “So, what’s the plan boss?”
Maybe it was for the best for Negan to forget this all happened in general. Hell, he knew he wouldn’t be able to do that, but this changed nothing for Maggie. And no matter how much he wanted there to be something more to this, he knew there wasn’t. It simply was what it was and nothing more.
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powdermelonkeg · 3 years ago
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Secrets in the Breeze
"What do you think it is?"
Several sets of eyes fell on the tablet Hyrule had unearthed, pondering its use. Legend studied the pattern critically. "Hmm..." He reached down and wiped away some dirt. "...It looks like song magic."
"Those aren't notes I recognize..." Sky said with a frown. “Are you sure?”
“No. But that’s my best guess until I can study it better.”
Hyrule reached for his recorder. “Well, we can find out pretty quickly, right?”
Time held out a hand to stop him. He gave the strange tablet a thoughtful look. "...Everyone, stand back."
The other four in the hunting party quickly gave him distance as he pulled out his indigo ocarina. The marks looked a little different, but...Drawing in a breath, he lifted the instrument to his lips.
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The other heroes watched in anticipation.
...Silence.
Time frowned, glancing around the area. “...Did anyone notice anything happening?”
“I don’t think so.” Wild paused, peering at the sky outside the cavern. “Not unless you have a song for causing rain.”
“I do. This isn’t it.”
“Wait, really?”
Time offered a small smile. “A conversation for another time. Let’s get back before the others decide to come looking for us.”
“Do you think they decided to cook something themselves?” Hyrule asked, grabbing his game bag.
Sky scrunched up his nose. “Goddess, I hope not. I can still taste that...reekfish thing.”
Wild raised his hand. “I liked it.”
“You eat rocks. You don’t get to judge what tastes good.”
As the others went ahead, Legend glanced back at the strange tablet. After a moment’s consideration, he wrenched it free of the earth and tucked it under his arm.
It needed to be studied further.
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“There you are!” Warriors exclaimed, halfway through putting up the oil tarp for the rain. “We were just about to get a search party ready.”
“He means he was about to go running off after you,” Twilight said, giving his well-polished counterpart a side-eye, then shook his head. “Anyways, we’re all hungry. What took you?”
Hyrule rubbed the back of his head. “Secret cave.” He gave a nod to Wild. “He spotted some fragile rocks and wanted to blow them up.”
“Find anything?”
“Yeah, actually.” Legend held out the tablet. “Song magic script. Do any of you guys recognize this?”
Twi, Four, and Wars all frowned as they looked at the markings, but Wind lit up instantly. He threw his hand in the air. “I do!” he exclaimed. “That’s 4/4 time; it’s conductors notes!”
Time raised an eyebrow. “Conductor’s notes?”
“Uh-huh. It’s how song magic works on the Great Sea.” Wind tilted his head to the side. “Though, I don’t know this song. What is it?”
“We were hoping you could tell us that.” Legend said, sitting down by the fire. “Think you can play a tune for us?”
Wind’s eye’s shone, and he pulled out his silver baton, looking to Time for confirmation. “Can I?”
The older hero frowned, considering. “...Not this close to the fire. Or to bad weather. For all we know, it’s a Lyric of Lightning or something equally as dangerous.”
Wind’s shoulders slumped, and Four patted his back. “Cheer up,” he said. “You can still try it out tomorrow. Besides,” he flashed the younger hero a smile, “we should eat before it rains, right? I’m hungry, aren’t you?”
“...Yeah,” Wind relented. He gave one last wistful look at the tempo pattern.
Soon, he told himself. Soon, I’ll learn your secrets.
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Rain pattered outside the heroes’ shelter, the soothing sound and calm scent of petrichor letting even the most troubled of them sleep undisturbed, for once.
Well...almost all of them.
Wind managed the 2 AM watch at the edge of camp, eyeing Legends tools and trying to coax himself out of the temptation to try the new song. It had been so long since he’d run into a tablet like that; the thrill of new abilities or hidden passages was a siren’s call to the young adventurer.
Up, down, up, right. It was so simple.
What could it do?
Wind found himself fantasizing about the possibilities. Maybe it calls birds, he thought. Or summons fairies, or lets you talk to rocks. He glanced up at the stormclouds. Or maybe the old man’s right and it’s a lightning song. How cool would that be?
He pictured it; calling down lightning like one of the mages of legend, with just a swish of the Wind Waker. He could take out entire monster camps in one fell swoop!
His eyes drifted back to the tablet by Legend’s bag.
...If it’s really a lightning song, then it won’t work if we wait for the storm to clear, Wind thought to himself, pulling out his baton.
He needed to try it out.
Just to test it. Time would understand, right?
Stealthily, he crept over and grabbed the stone, carefully pulling it over to his post at the tarp’s edge, and stood in front of it. The Wind Waker sparkled with magic intent.
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The stone shimmered, triangle carvings lighting up; orange, yellow, orange, blue. Light bled through the cracks, and—
—it crumbled to dust.
Wind’s jaw dropped.
...Legend was going to kill him.
He shoved the Wind Waker back into his bag hastily, trying to keep calm. This is fine, right? If he doesn’t say anything, then nobody can blame him, and Legend could chalk it up to age! Relics break all the time!
...Except Time’s disapproving frown would crack Wind for sure. There was no evading that; it was almost as bad as when his grandma gave him the look of disappointment. He was doomed.
Ping!
Wind’s ears twitched, momentarily distracted from his crisis by the sound. A soft purple glow caught his eye.
Ping!
The Master Sword gave another call, the sliver of visible blade pulsing with lavender light among Sky’s things.
Wind stared at the sacred sword, uncertain. “...What is it?” he whispered.
Ping!
He reached out to take it, then hesitated.
Sky was going to kill him too.
...No. He couldn’t, right? The Master Sword was just as much Wind’s as anyone else here; besides, he’d just borrow it. Sky could have it back. He reached out for the blade.
Ping!
Four shifted in his sleep, and Wind froze, staring at the shorter hero. If the sword woke anyone up before he could fix the tablet situation, he was toast.
Ping!
Panicking, Wind snatched the sword up and ran outside, trying to silence it before it could make any more noise. He would deal with the consequences later, when the others woke up at a normal time. Once he was safely in the white noise of rainfall, Wind drew the blade. “Alright, what is it?” he demanded, holding it level with his eyes as if he could scold it. “You’re going to get me in trouble.”
Ping, ping, ping—
He frowned as it began to beep faster, lowering it. “Come on, I can’t deal with-”
Ping! Ping!
He paused, then lifted it up again.
Ping, ping, ping—
He lowered it.
Ping! Ping!
Back up.
Ping, ping, ping—
Wind tilted his head curiously. Experimentally, he spun in a slow circle.
Ping, ping, ping ping ping PINGPINGPING ping ping—
“Are you...trying to show me something?” he asked, raising an eyebrow. Watching it closely, he pointed the sword in the direction that caused the most noise and light.
Into the forest.
He glanced back at camp. If he stayed behind, they could all go after whatever this was together...after he got a scolding for breaking Legend’s stuff, and endangering the camp, and not listening to the old man...
Yeah, no. Forest it is.
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Sky rolled over in his sleep, his dreams filled with endless skies and blue loftwings. Clouds rolled in over the picnic of pumpkin soup he was having with Zelda.
Fragrant, but suffocating clouds. He couldn’t breathe.
He bolted awake, fighting whatever was cutting off his air and defeating the tangled sailcloth in a heroic and not-at-all frantic wrestling match. His eyes fell on the white fabric as he caught his breath.
...He should stop wearing this thing to bed.
With a sigh, he unpinned it from his shoulders and went to wrap it around Fi. If he couldn’t have the comforts of home, at least she could. He reached for the blade—
—and grasped nothing but air.
With a frown, the hero fumbled for his tinderbox and lit a match, struggling a moment to make a spark in the damp storm air, then looked around for his trusty blade. The longer he searched, the more he could feel ice creep into his veins; he even rifled through the luggage of the usual borrowers of the Master Sword.
“Sky?”
His attention snapped over to the source of the voice. Time was looking at him with an eyebrow raised, bleary-eyed and confused. “What are you doing?”
Sky swallowed the panicked lump in his throat. “The Master Sword’s missing.”
Time sat up sharply, wide awake in an instant as adrenaline shot through him. He quickly did a headcount.
Eight. One short.
Kid-sized bootprints left the camp’s edge, pressed into the fresh mud in a perfect trail.
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Wind ran through the woods, following wherever the sword led him. The faster he figured out what was going on, the faster he could get back. And if he found something, that would make things better, right? He’d even let Legend keep some of the treasure, as a peace offering.
The forest, though, seemed to have no end to it, stretching high above his head, with shadows reaching out from all directions. He remembered hearing about something like this from Hyrule—the Lost Woods, which spat you out the way you came from if you made a wrong turn in them. He’d never heard of such a thing on the Great Sea, but then again, the ocean wasn’t exactly known for its vast woodland.
Finally, he reached a clearing, the sword giving a continuous ringing noise to indicate that he’d hit his dowsing mark. And, standing in the middle of it, was a weathered stone wall, overgrown with vines. He could faintly see something scrawled behind the foliage.
Narrowing his eyes, Wind channeled all the magic power he could into the Master Sword’s spin attack.
“HYAH!”
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“HYAH!”
The heroes stopped in their tracks at the noise. Hyrule sheltered his candle from the rain carefully. “Was that-”
“He’s here.” Time said, quickly breaking into a jog. “Come on, we can’t lose pace now. The Lost Woods can do awful things to you if you’re not careful.”
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Wind shook his head, quickly getting rid of the stars in his vision. He’d forgotten how disorienting a Hurricane Spin could be.
It had done the job well, though. The vines were nothing but chopped salad now, and the carvings behind the stone were clear as day. Six conductor’s notes stared Wild in the face, begging to be played.
The hero’s fingers tingled; this felt like the start of an adventure, one that didn’t start with a kidnapping and cannonfire.
Drawing himself up, he pulled out his baton, and began to play the magic tune.
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This one was different from the first. It felt...familiar, somehow. It wasn’t something he’d ever played before, and yet...
The music carried his thoughts away from him. He found himself conducting from his heart, like when he’d played with Medli and Makar, swept up in the energy the song game off. As he ran out of notes to orchestrate, he heard an earsplitting CRACK, and his eyes flew open.
The wall had crumbled to nothingness, like the tablet had. In its wake, however, a shining blueish pedestal sat, magic spiraling outwards from its center like a spring flower.
Ping!
Wind looked at the Master Sword, tucking the Wind Waker away. He smiled fondly. “Just like old times, huh?” Giving it a playful twirl, he walked over to the pedestal, holding the sword’s hilt in both hands. “I wonder what’s going to look like this time. Are you going to get more powerful?” His eyes shone, imagining the others’ faces at bringing an even stronger Master Sword back with him. Taking a deep breath, he stabbed the blade down into its newest resting place, confident that he could handle whatever boss or dungeon this unlocked.
“LINK!!!”
His head snapped up as the rest of the Chain rushed into the clearing, eyes wide. “Hey-” He tried to talk, but no sound came out; his mouth felt like it was full of cotton, and his head swam. Silver fog began to cloud his vision.
The last thing he was aware of before he felt himself fall was Time throwing his blade aside and running to catch him.
Then it all went white. The only noises he could hear were the whispers of watchers, and the chimes of tiny bells.
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maijobi · 4 years ago
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comfort
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megumi fushiguro x reader
summary: you land in the hospital because of the first dangerous mission after your high school graduation and megumi beats himself up with the fact that he couldn’t save you on time. so as a tribute to that he visited you every day. but was guilt really the only reason for him putting this much effort for you?
a/n: I originally wrote this story for gojo,, but something about this reminded me of megumi, so I changed it to megumi and honestly I'm happy I changed it. I enjoy writing for gojo because his personality is so fun to write with, but something about megumi fit this perfectly. enjoy reading!!
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you were sitting on the hospital bed, peeling a tangerine that was in the fruit basket that your colleagues had brought. you looked out the window and watched the wind blow the leafs off of the trees. throwing a piece of the tangerine in your mouth, you chewed on the fruit and accidentally allowed a little bit of the juice to slip through your throat, making you cough lightly.
“careful.”
you turned your head from the window to the door that was opened by fushiguro himself. you looked uninterested at him and threw your hand in the air, as if to wave at him.
“don’t want you dying on a tangerine”, he said, genuinely worried.
“dude, it’s just tangerine juice. how wrong could that have gone?”, you asked, turning your gaze back to the window.
you weren’t really paying attention to the trees anymore, only because the old couple that was sitting on a bench seemed a little bit more interesting. it looked like they were having exciting conversation. the woman was waving her hands and had a smile on her face while the man was looking at her with admiration.
“yes, it was also just a mission but look at you now”, he said, walking to the window and closing the curtains, blocking the sunlight which had unknowingly blinded you. he hadn’t noticed you looking outside so when he closed the curtains you turned your gaze to fushiguro. 
“did you really just compare a deadly mission to a tangerine?”, you asked, raising an eyebrow.
he let out a sigh, earning a chuckle from you. he had been here visiting you almost every day. you weren’t sure why he did, but after your investigation you figured he did it out of guilt. out of guilt of not being able to protect you. he felt like making it up to you. you could be wrong, but this seemed like the most possible explanation.
he sat down on the chair next to your bed and took the fruit basket. slowly he peeled the apple that he took out of there and sliced them into even pieces. 
“you liked apples right?”, he asked. but he already knew the answer so responding didn’t seem necessary. not that he was expecting you to.
he placed the plate on your lap and gave you a toothpick to eat it with. with a small thank you, you ate the apples while he washed the knife.
“what did the doctors say? did they check up on you today?”, he asked as he sat back down on his original spot.
you nodded. “they said I'm doing much better. they said that I might even be able to leave earlier than expected”, you said happily as you chewed on the apple.
“maybe they should keep you in for the originally planned time. you know, just to be sure. don’t want no unexpected incidents to happen”, he said the last in a whisper and dropped his head. 
“megumi”, you said, his gaze turning back to you. “why are you so concerned about this? it was just a mission that went wrong. it happens all the time, nothing new. don’t beat yourself up just because you couldn’t protect me on time. I mean in the end you were there. if you weren’t, who knew where I would be now. I'm doing fine, don’t worry”, you said, waving your hands to show you were doing fine.
but you weren’t totally honest with him. even though you were doing better, you still had taken a lot of damage. that being the reason why you were in a lot of pain. you were still as good as paralyzed on both legs. you were hurting, but telling him that might not be the best option.
“yeah, but me not being able to help in time is the reason why you are now paralyzed in bed for the past two weeks”, he said, looking seriously hurt.
“you can be so dramatic sometimes”, you said, rolling your eyes playfully as an attempt to reassure him. “I am a recovery beast”, you said, pursing your lips and doing a bicep pose, showing off your muscles.
a breathy laugh escaped his lips and for the first time in a while he had a genuine smile on his face. the laughter soon died down, but a small smile was still formed on his face.
“you know, that was the first smile I've seen on you ever since I woke up after the incident. megumi we’re 18. we just graduated and stuff like this is supposed to happen on our first real missions as high school graduates in order for us to grow stronger. I bet that when I'm healed I'll be even stronger than I was before”, you said. “plus-”, you said, pulling the covers so that your toes were visible and you wiggled them, “- I can move my toes again.”
a smile of relief formed on his face. it wasn’t enough to reassure him, but enough to make him smile. “I'm happy at least one of us is taking this situation positively”, he said.
“you are such a drama queen”, you snorted. “tell me megumi, what would you do if I actually died.”
his face turned all serious and he thought for a moment. “I don’t like thinking about that, but-”, he said, standing up and walking to the window to look behind the curtains. probably to just think with out having to be distracted by you, “I'd probably stop being a sorcerer.”
“that’s shocking coming from someone that adores his job”, you said with a chuckle. “you like me that much, huh”, you said in a joking way.
he was silent for a minute, before turning his head in your direction. he stared straight into your eyes, but still didn’t say a word. he was chewing the inside of his mouth and thought of the right words to say. but nothing seemed good enough to be said with words.
“say, megumi. why do you help me this much? is it really all because of guilt or is there something more to it”, you genuinely asked. because there was this feeling inside of you that needed a mutual answer. 
as if making up his mind he looked at you with a confident look. “because I like you. and even if you don’t share the same feelings, I won’t stop caring for you. I want you and I'll do my best to prove that to you. I'll prove that I am worth it.”
“who said I didn’t”, you said in a serious tone. “who said I didn’t like you.”
it wasn’t a sight you were used to see, but seeing megumi turn his head slightly to the side and seeing the redness form on his skin made you blush yourself. he wasn’t the one who’s emotions you could read easily, so when stuff like this happened you just felt a warmness inside of you. something that told you that he was comfortable enough to show this side of him to you.
“don’t say stuff like this, I might get the wrong idea”, he said in a low voice, still hiding his face.
“maybe that’s what I was hoping for”, you said. you scooted to the side, making just enough space to fit another person. “wanna join in?”
how could he even possibly say no to such a request? so without a word he made his way to sit next to you, taking off his shoes before sitting on the bed. he sat down next to you, under the covers. he had this slight awkward pose, but when you scooted closer to him you felt him relax next to you.
you rested your head against his shoulder. “you know, megumi. I enjoy being with you. I'm not sure how you do it, but you just make me feel safe. even if you think otherwise, I do feel a sense of safety. so if it’s not too much to ask. could you stay by my side until I’m recovered? will you be here until I can finally stand on my own?”
“I'll stay with you even after that”, he said resting his head on yours. “I don’t plan on going anywhere else.” he had said the last in a whisper.
“good”, you said while closing your eyes. you felt drowsy and without hesitation you let sleep take over you. “thank you.”
“anytime”, he said while pulling the cover more over your body. “rest well.”
you didn’t have the energy to respond to that, but it didn’t really matter. the way you let your body completely fall on his was enough for him to understand that you had already fallen asleep. but the warm kiss he planted on your head was the real reason why you completely gave your body to slumber. because his touch was comforting to you.
that's how you woke up to him holding you tightly against his chest while he was asleep. a smile creeped on your face. this was probably the most amount of sleep he had gotten in days, so waking him up now was not something you planned to do. instead you pressed your face to his chest. his scent filling your nose as it calmed you down. falling asleep like this wasn’t bad at all. and just before sleep could fully take you over, you felt his embrace tighten around you, as if to show that he was there for you and that he was planning to stay, because that was his main goal. to protect you and for you to be able to protect him.
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