#there's also this guy who's been pestering me for the past six months or so

[disdaidal]

Though it was a hot day yesterday (something I usually can't deal with), I had to drive to the nearest town and take a walk in the park. I don't usually wear makeup either but I thought, what the heck, might as well put an effort.

Some guy rode their bike past me and whistled at me and it... felt good? lmao

Never thought I'd feel that way about that but guess I am really getting desperate here huh.

[dumpywrites]

Tears and Poetries - Kim Namjoon / RM

Prompt: “You look familiar, like that one guy from BTS.”

Prompt request: HERE

Genre/tags: Fluff, comfort, idol Namjoon, non fan reader 

Pairing: Namjoon x reader

a/n: Come back to me got me feeling all inspired soooo yeah :)

It was late. Frankly you did not bother to check the time but you knew it was at least way past twelve. You just needed some air. Late night polluted air might not be the right option, but it was the best you could have at the moment. Getting out was the only coping response your mind could think off. Getting out from where exactly you could not be sure. 

Work life had been a real shit-show. You were on your fifth revision for your company project and your manager still would not accept your draft. While life? Life had been pretty exhausting. Recently your mother had been pestering you about wanting you to achieve more, comparing you to her friends’ sons and daughters, while also underestimating your own accomplishment. 

And not even two weeks ago, a guy who you were seeing just admitted that he apparently had a girlfriend. He really just dropped that info to you like a bomb, as if you did not spend time with each other the past six months. True, you never really put a label on whatever you both had, but in your head you were single and so was he. Until he told you that he got a girlfriend and had dated her for a month already. 

The wound still felt fresh especially with all the external problems added to the equation. Bearing the feeling of unwanted, unimportant, and never enough at once, was hard. Even labeling it as only hard sounded like an understatement. 

So you ran. Theoretically speaking you did not run away, you just took off from your apartment randomly to wherever your feet and your worn off sneakers took you. And they took you to a random spot near a river. 

You sat down on the dirty grassy ground, not minding how your shorts could get dirty from it.  Just sitting down and looking at the night sky, as if the cold breeze would calm you and do anything besides giving you a possibility of catching cold. 

Five, fifteen, maybe it was around half an hour you had been sitting there with empty thoughts, just letting the cold air hit your skin, when you suddenly heard a sound of a bicycle stopping and footsteps approaching. 

“Hello? Are you alright there?”

The deep voice started you and made you look back in an instant. There was a tall and quite big built guy standing with his bicycle. He had a buzzcut from the very faint image you could see due to the low light. 

Although skeptic, you decided to answer. “Yeah, don’t worry.”

“You sure?”

You realized how shaky and stuffy your voice sounded. It probably was not a very convincing “don’t worry”. And when you did not voice another reply, the person parked their vehicle and slowly walked towards your direction. 

“Hey! Stranger danger!” You said, backing off from where you were seating. 

The guy stopped in his tracks but did not walked away. “Do you mind if I join your pondering session? Who knows two great minds might think alike.” 

You stayed still in your position, eyes searching for his in the very confusing lack of light. You could barely make out of what he looked like. 

“I’m not a creep, I swear!” He threw his hands in the air. “There’s a police station nearby if you wanna shout as loud as you can, they could hear you from here.” 

He took your silence as a green light and stepped closer until he reached a spot on your left. He cleared his throat and sat down next to you. 

There you could eventually fully saw his face. The first thing you noticed was the nicely shaped nose, and his plump lips, then his dimples which showed when he politely smiled at you. 

The first ten minutes was spent in complete silence. You did not expect the man to whip out a notepad and pencil and just started writing. A story? Poem? Or song? You tried your best not to sneak a look. He was even humming at some point when he wrote, and it was strangely enough, soothing. 

“What are you writing?” You finally asked, the suspense was killing you. 

“Thought you’d never ask.” He replied with excitement. “I’m writing a poem. Though I’m starting to think it’d sound better as a song.”

“You’re a singer or something?”

The man looked at you in disbelief for a good second before chuckling. “Sorta.”

“Am I suppose to know you?” You eyed him back with the same questioning look. 

“Dunno.” He shrugged. “Maybe it’s a good thing that you don’t know for today.”

You looked at the guy suspiciously, which earned a laugh from him. “The more I think about it, I think I’ve seen your face somewhere…”

“Oh yeah?” He said, a light tone of nervousness was visible in his voice. 

“You look familiar, like that one guy from BTS.”

He almost choked on nothing. “I’m sorry, what?!”

“Yeah, that one dude from BTS.” You repeated. “Although I don’t think any one from them has a buzzcut… Idols always seem to have either colorful hair or beautiful long locks.” 

“Really…” The man voiced out, sounding unsure. 

“Are you perhaps an indie artist? K-hiphop? Don’t tell me you are a DPR member that I somehow don’t know about or something…”

“Okay, enough about that it’s not important.” He dismissed. “You wanna take a look of what I’ve written?”

“Uh, sure…”

You leaned a bit closer to him and peeked over his notes. He took his notepad nearing it to your side so you could read better. Despite the low source of illumination, you could read the delicately written words. It was deep and meaningful. Whatever he wrote on that paper seemed a little too real to just be a song, it almost felt like it came from true experience. 

“You sound like you went through hell to get to where you are right now.” 

You commented, you were not aware of how reading through his words affected you until you could practically hear your heartbeat. You clutched at your chest, trying to calm it down. 

“I’m not only talking about the sufferings.” He pointed out. “I also mentioned about the journeys in between.”

His expression brightened as he explained further. You found it really attractive for some reason. 

“The feeling of loss, left out, were there alongside the feeling of excitement, growth, and wanting to change for the better.” He grinned. “And I think life needs that small bits of flavor to complete us as human beings… Wouldn’t have loved myself so much without all my struggles and flaws.”

You gazed at the guy in front of you in awe. “Guess you’re right.” You finally broke into a smile. “That was beautiful though, almost got me tearing up.”

“Thank you.” He grinned, showing his dimples. “What about you though? What’s on your mind?”

“It’s kinda lame…” You nervously laughed. 

“I’m listening.” He scooted closer, making your knees touched. 

“There are a whole list of messed up things happening in my life right now, but I guess I could name one or two…” 

You took a deep breath and the guy in front of you patiently waited for you to speak. 

“Basically my mom’s been yelling at me saying stuff about how unsuccessful I am for my nine to five job, while getting bullied by my manager at work, and not to mention, how I just got dumped by a guy who I was seeing for six months.”

“That’s fucked up…” He looked at you with wide eyes. 

“You tell me.” You replied sassily. “I mean I guess for the most part it wasn’t really about the problem itself. I’m aware of how perfectionist my manager could be and multiple revision is expected. My mom never really feels content with anything, so that’s also expected. And that fucking guy leaving me? It was probably for the better…”

“Hey.” He grabbed your shoulder suddenly, catching you in a surprise. “Don’t downplay your feelings like that. You’re allowed to feel sad when other people treat you like utter shit. It’s valid.” 

There was something about his words that triggered an emotion within you. Unknowingly, a tear escaped your eyes, followed by more next. 

You leaned backwards to free from his grip, only for him to lose it but proceeded to take off his knitted sweater, revealing a black oversized t-shirt underneath. He took it off with one hand before shoving it through your head so you could wear it. 

“It’s chilly. You might catch a cold.” 

Hesitantly, you rolled the sweater through your body. You felt the neckline stained with tears and wondered if it was his polite way of helping you wipe your tears. You thanked him and he told you to continue. 

“I don’t know what else to say, I don’t want to trauma dump on you.” 

“How are you feeling though?” He asked, eyes gently looking at you. 

“I just… I felt unwanted? Unimportant and undesirable? It happened all at once and it got me connecting strings. The root cause of my problem felt like it came from me as a person and I felt sick…”

He gazed at you and quietly nod, allowing you to continue. 

“I came here because it was loud and deafening in here,” You tapped your head with a grin, trying to lighten the mood. “And I’m glad I did. Not only did I manage to tone it down a couple notches, I also get an exclusive song preview from a top star!” 

Both of you laughed in unison. You were the first to break the eye contact due to the sudden invasion of butterflies in your stomach. It might be dark and late at night, but your eyes could not lie about the beauty of the stranger in front of you. 

The silence was soon broken by a buzzing notification from his phone. It was on silent mode, but the multiple vibrations got him shuffling his hand on his pocket, fishing his phone out from his cargo pants. 

“Damn, I gotta head back. Someone needs me in the studio…” 

“At this hour?!” You argued immediately.

“Yeah, unfortunately.” He ran his hand through his short hair in a frustrated way. 

“What’s your name?” 

You both stopped and looked at each other, dumbfounded. Both of you asked the same question at the same time. Laughter filled the air once again. 

“You first.” The guy gestured. 

You got up and he followed right after. Now looking at how tall he was compared to you, spelling out your name felt a little bit harder. Your heart was beating in an abnormal rate. You finally managed to tell him your name and you patted yourself internally for not voicing out like a squealing hormonal teenager. 

“I’m Namjoon.” He said with a huge contagious smile. 

“Now where did I hear that name—“

“Can I have your number?” He interrupted. Glancing at his phone screen, a small groan escaped his lips. “It’s almost three, you have to go home.”

“Oh.” Your lips formed a small O shape. “Sure. Here, give me your phone…”

You both then exchanged phone numbers. 

“I want to take you back to your home so badly but I really can’t…” Namjoon sighed. “Besides, my bicycle can only do so much…” He chuckled. 

“It’s okay, I live nearby.” You smiled. “You take care, though.”

“Yeah, you too. I’ll text you?”

“Yeah.” You nodded happily. “Thank you, Namjoon.” 

“Don’t mention it, I’m really glad we met today.” He nodded at you before retreating to where he parked his bicycle. 

“Wait!” 

You followed, running to his direction. You stopped when your arms barely linked behind him, hugging him tightly. It was bold of you but it just felt right at the moment. 

“Thank you so much, I mean it.” You said with voice muffled a little by his clothes against your mouth. 

And you did. You meant it, it felt really nice having someone who actually listened to your problem and seemed like he cared about it too. 

He hugged back. “You’re not unwanted, okay? You are loved, please know that.”

You nodded and broke off the hug. A big smile plastered on your lips and he mimicked it. “Okay, you may go now.”

You both bid your goodbyes and that was how you found yourself smiling and giggling at three in the morning, by yourself, on your way back to your place, all while hugging the sweater that you forgot to give back. That encounter was weird, but in a very good way. It almost felt like the universe sent you an angel knowing how down you were feeling. In a peculiar way, it almost felt like he saved you. You went to sleep easily that night. 

The next morning you were awaken by a text notification popping up from Namjoon. You smiled like an idiot to yourself before opening it. 

“Good morning! I hope you slept well. Did you arrive safe yesterday? Sorry something came up, I wished I could stay longer.”

You quickly replied to him. “I slept good. Probably thanks to you, hehe. No problem though! Maybe we could hangout again someday? I need to return your sweater after all :)”

After typing the text and sending it, suddenly a curious thought filled your head. His name did ring an unknown bell. Namjoon did mention that he was a singer, an idol maybe? You could not be sure. You tapped your Google app on your phone and started typing his name followed by the word “singer” behind it. 

Maybe this was your cue to be more aware of the Kpop industry. You had your fair share of listening to K-hiphop, and were even an avid listener of groups like Epik High and Balming Tiger. 

So how come you failed to notice that last night you in fact just hugged Kim Namjoon, aka RM from the internationally well known boy group, BTS???

Thank you for reading! 🌙

a/n: this was a rather short one but i hope y'all like it nonetheless <3

Prompt request: HERE

[ipuckwithhockey]

Every New Beginning- M. Raffl

a/n: I couldn’t sleep last night so here’s almost 4k words of me missing Raff already. 

summary: You and Michael had a good thing going for nearly five years but when reality sets in you both start to think that all good things must come to an end. 

warnings: Swearing

When you left your patient’s room and headed to the nurse’s station you weren’t expecting to see a six-foot redhead waiting for you. Sure, he’s visited you at work occasionally and you don’t mind that he’s here now, but those visits in the past were always planned in advanced, were usually accompanied with a quick lunch, and didn’t take place at 10pm on a Monday. 

You met Michael a few years ago when you moved to Philly to start your residency at U-Penn’s hospital. You were just out of medical school and still focused on achieving your lofty career goals and Michael was in his prime playing for the Flyers. Neither one of you had any intention of settling down or putting in the time and effort required in a serious relationship and so the two of you fell into a casual relationship that consisted mostly of late-night activities after you were both done with your shifts. 

You were only twenty-five back then, and now you were pushing thirty. Eventually that casual relationship evolved into something more, and now you weren’t just fuck buddies, you were actually the best of friends. But even though you considered each other best friends neither of you ever made any move to solidify what the relationship that had spawned from late night texts had actually become. 

Your family and friends all wondered why you hadn’t settled down and they asked why you insisted on keeping a casual hook up around for almost five years when you were getting the age when a woman should be finding a man to marry. Michael’s family and teammates all pestered him for never making it official between the two of you, and never understood why he insisted that the two of you were just friends. But that’s all you were. You were friends. Friends that liked to have sex, friends that only thought of each other when anything particularly good or bad had happened, friends who spent the little free time they had with each other. 

And maybe the reason why you hadn’t ever stopped sleeping with Michael was because a small part of you knew you had feelings for him, but maybe it was also because you work nearly 80 hours a week and don’t have the time nor the energy to date at the end of the work day. 

Maybe the reason why Michael never tried to make you his was because he knew you were too good for him, too smart, and too beautiful. Or maybe it was because he had tried dating when he was younger and every girl he met was too annoying, too fake, or too greedy. Maybe the dynamic you had together was just too easy to ever change. 

But life isn’t fair, and just like the old saying, all good things must come to an end. 

“Hey! What are you doing here? Everything alright? You look perfectly healthy and I’m a pediatrician so if you’re sick, you’re in the wrong wing of the hospital.” You joke as you walk up to him where he’s waiting at the nurse’s station and you drop off some charts before turning your full attention to the man who had been patiently waiting for you. You still had your nose in your patient’s charts when you walked up to him, and so you hadn’t noticed the tired look in his eyes, and you hadn’t seen him nervously popping his knuckles as you approached. In fact, when you’re at work, especially during a long shift, you’re usually so focused on your patients that you don’t notice much of anything else in general. Which is why you had also missed the phone call and text that Michael had sent you hours prior, and the messages your friends scattered around Philly had sent with condolences and sentiments of shock. 

Michael knows now, with your lighthearted joke, that you don’t know. That you hadn’t seen his call or his text from earlier. And when he doesn’t say anything at first and you see that serious look in his eyes your attitude changes from lighthearted to concerned, “Is everything okay?” And while Michael knows that everything is not okay, he also knows that this isn’t a medical emergency, at least not one that can be fixed. 

“Yeah, I just wanted to come by before heading out.” He says, and even though he knows you don’t know, he doesn’t have the guts to come out and say it just yet. There’s a look of confusion on your face, “I didn’t think you guys left for the west coast until next week? Or are these 24 hour shifts finally getting to me?” You try and make light of the situation even though that look concern is still spreading across Michael’s face. 

“Yeah, the guys don’t head out until next Wednesday…” He says it and he can see the wheels in your head start to turn. That’s when you remember what day it is and your heart plummets. You’ve been working third shift, and you were two hours away from finishing your current 24-hour shift. The last 22 hours have been pretty hectic, and the thought of the NHL’s trade deadline had completely slipped your mind— until now. 

“Can um- Can we walk outside real quick?” You ask and you don’t really give him time to answer, instead you just head down the hall and out the side door to a small courtyard and Michael follows behind you. When you’re both outside, you’re still processing what he said when Michael interjects, “I’m just on my way to catch my flight. I wanted to come by to see you before I left.” 

You nod your head, and you don’t know what to say so you step into him and wrap your arms around his steady body and his arms wrap around yours, “Where are you going?” You whisper against his chest, and you focus on his heartbeat thumping against your ear. 

“D.C.” He says simply. That’s not too far you think. But you also knew that this was a possibility, him getting traded, and you know that his current contract ends this summer. He could end up anywhere in the league next year. 

“I’m sorry.” He says it as his lips place a gentle kiss on the top of your head and you let out a sigh before letting your arms drop from around him as you step back. 

“You don’t have anything to be sorry for.” and you say it just as simply. 

“Then why do I feel so guilty?” And that’s what breaks your heart. You’re both standing in front of each other, and after five years you know each other well enough to know that this thing between the two of you is more than just another friendship. And while you both hate yourselves for never making this what it could have been, you also know that it wouldn’t change what’s happening now. You were still working toward your goals and so was he, nothing about that has changed. There’s nothing to say in that moment, nothing either of you could say to make it feel like you haven’t wasted the last five years, and so Michael places his hands on either side of your face before bringing your lips to his. 

It’s a gentle kiss, and as your lips move slowly against his you know that this moment is full of words that neither one of you can speak. When Michael finally pulls away from you he sees the tears running down your face, and you try to to look away even though his hands are keep you steady in front of him. His thumbs gently run across your cheeks and you let your eyes close as he wipes away the tears you selfishly let fall. You know that this has to be harder for him. He’s leaving his life in Philly behind, his teammates, his best friends, and you. 

You bring your hands up to gently remove his from where they still rest on either side of your face, “You’re going to miss your flight.” 

He nods reluctantly in agreement, and he places on more kiss on your forehead before he turns to leave. Michael never was one for many words, and he doesn’t have to say it, you’re sure you know how he feels and you know he’ll miss you just like he knows you feel the same way for him. 

*

Two Years Later (July) 

You finally feel like you’ve settled into your new place, even though it’s been almost six months since you moved. Moving back home to Seattle was an easy decision, especially when one of the country’s best Pediatric Nephrology programs calls and offers you an attending position. 

You set out at an early age to be a doctor. In high school you decided you wanted to be a surgeon. In college you decided you wanted to go into pediatrics. In medical school you decided you wanted to study kidneys. Everything you wanted for your career had happened and now you’re a nephrology specialist and surgical attending at Seattle Children’s Hospital. 

You should be ecstatic. You should be over the moon that everything you thought you could ever want had happened. You should feel grateful that you get to live in the city you grew up in and that you can spend as much time with your family as you’d like. You should be happy, but you aren’t. 

After Michael was traded to the Capitals you stayed in touch, calling and texting when you could. You spent the night together when they played the Flyers for the last time that season, but when summer rolled around, and he signed a two-year contract with them you knew you couldn’t keep holding on to something that would never work. When you called to congratulate him on his contract, he could sense that something was off, he could hear in your voice that you weren’t yourself, and when he asked you couldn’t lie. 

You told him you thought that whatever was going on between the two of you needed to end. You embellished with some lies, telling him that you needed to be focusing on your work and that you were getting too old to have a fuck-buddy, especially when he was living 150 miles away, and when he started to protest you were quick to shut him down. You told him that you both knew that it couldn’t last forever and that it was okay because all good things must end, and as much as you tried to convince yourself that what you were saying was true, you knew that you didn’t believe any of it. You knew that you loved him and that you wouldn’t find another man that knew you the way he did. But you also knew that your worlds were only growing further and further apart. 

The next year or so was hard. You stopped returning Michael’s calls and you distanced yourself from anyone who was associated with hockey. You threw yourself into your work and your patients and before you knew it a year had passed. As much as you knew that you were only barely keeping your head above water, you also had no idea how to fix whatever mess you had made for yourself. You were thirty-one years old, married to your job, and single. Oh, and still in love with a guy you knew you couldn’t have. 

You weren’t sure what to do or if there was anything you could do, but when Seattle Children’s called and made you an offer you took it as a sign. Your parents were thrilled that you were moving home, and you thought that this was a change that you needed. Something to break up the monotony. Something to shake up your life and to help you get back on track. The excitement you had mustered up for your new position was met with an amazing medical program, but you still had that same empty feeling you had when you were back in Philadelphia. So, you did what you did best, and you continued to work your ass off. Morning, noon, and night you were working with patients and roaming the halls of the hospital, but when your shift inevitably ends you find yourself backing your apartment… alone. 

You’ve never been one for TV and now that you try to avoid hockey all together, you don’t usually watch any at all, but tonight you just felt an itch to reach for the remote that rests on your coffee table. You turn on some random sportscast in the background while you scroll through emails on your phone, and you almost miss it but your well-trained ears pick up on the familiar name. 

“Michael Raffl signing a one-year contract with the Seattle Kraken is probably the most surprising thing to come from this off season so far!” The moderator on the TV says and you have to shake your head as if to wake yourself from what feels like a dream. Your hand instinctively reaches for the remote to turn up the volume and you continue to listen to what the talking heads have to say. 

“You know, everyone thought he’d be retiring this year, he’s 34 and has a nice chunk of change in his bank account, I’m surprised he isn’t heading back to Austria.” 

“I think this could actually be a good signing for them. They need some veteran presence on their young team and Raffl brings experience and a solid presence on the third or fourth lines. He could really bring something different to their game.”

“They’re getting him for cheap too! It’s seems to me like he’s interested in the team or just wants to keep playing if he’s taking this kind of deal.”

You can’t believe what they’re saying. Michael signed a one-year contract in Seattle. And while you don’t keep up with hockey anymore, you remember from all the conversations you’ve had with him, he had already been thinking about retiring in a few years back when he was traded to the Capitals. Why would he sign a mediocre contract with a team on the other side of the country for one year? But you don’t let yourself go where your heart wants to take you. You’re sure he doesn’t even know that you’ve moved from Philadelphia and even if he did, you’re sure he wouldn’t have signed with a team just because you were going to be in the same city. 

It’s been two years. It’s in the past. 

*

Six Months Later (December 31st) 

You’re not sure what you’re doing here. You’re in dress that’s probably too short and too tight, and your feet are killing you. But you let your co-worker, Jen, drag you out for New Year’s Eve. She’s a twenty-seven-year-old Nurse from your department and while she’s sweet and fun, she’s also almost five years younger than you and her stamina for nights out is a lot better than yours. You spend most your time at the hospital and when you’re not there you’re with your family or opting for a nice dinner or quiet bar instead of crowded clubs and house parties. 

You’re sure that most of the people in this club are closer to Jen’s age than to yours, but you put a smile on your face anyway and try to have fun. Jen’s fiancé has been stuck to her side all night, and even though some of your single co-workers are out with you too, you still feel a bit out of place. After the fourth twenty-something guy approaches you, drunk, and with a not-so-charming pickup line, you’re ready to head for home. It’s just about 11:45, and you think that if you can get an Uber you can be home before the ball drops. 

You’re just about to make your move toward the doors when you feel a hand snake around your waist. The uninvited hand only adds to your desire to leave, but when you hear a familiar voice in your ear you stop dead in your tracks. The hand is still touching you and his body is now close against your back when you hear him say your name for the first time in years. 

You turn quickly and you swear you’re hallucinating but when your feet trip from your swift movement and he quickly steadies you with his arms, you know he’s really there. 

“Michael… Wh-What are you doing here?”  Nothing feels like the right thing to say. Michael isn’t sure what words to use either, even though he’s replayed this moment in his head a million times by now. He’s practically run through every possible scenario of running in to you. If it was in the grocery, surely it would happen in the frozen section. It would probably be around 1am and you’d both be there to grab a pint of ice cream. If it was at a coffee shop, you’d be ordering your usual latte with almond milk and he would be ordering his black coffee to-go. He even imagined it happening at one of his games. But when some of the young single guys finally got him to agree to come out tonight, he hadn’t thought about the possibility he would find you in a club in downtown Seattle on New Year’s Eve. 

“I live here.” He says it matter-of-factly over the loud music blaring around you and your first instinct is to say, “I know.” 

He knows that coming out here was a risk and he knows that it’s been two years and he knows that you’ve probably moved on, but hearing you say that you knew he had been here all this time and hadn’t reached out made his heart hurt with a pang of disappointment. And for a minute you’re just standing there with people rushing around you, and you’re not sure what you’re supposed to do. You’re not sure what this “moment” is for or why now of all times the two of you are faced with each other again after all these years. 

You decide you don’t have anything to say, and you just shake your head, “I can’t do this.” You say it quietly but bluntly before moving from his grasp and weaving through the crowd of people on your way to the door. When you make it outside you don’t realize that he’s followed you and when you reach the sidewalk you hear him call your name as he comes up behind you. 

“Wait. Please.” He begs as he reaches for your arm.  

“What?! What do you want from me?” You ask as your turn to face him, and it’s more of plead because you realize now, in the cool winter air that your chest hurts from heartbreak that’s two years old, and your mind is racing with what he could possibly say to make up for the seven years of avoiding those feelings. You’ve thought about what you would say to him if you ever saw him again, but now all those rehearsed lines have vanished and for some reason you’re angry. Angry with him. Angry with yourself. Angry that you’ve wasted over half of a decade loving him. 

He lets go of your hand and he anxiously runs his hands through his hair, and now, thankfully all those scenarios he’s run through his head are coming to true, “I just want you to know that I loved you.” He says but all you hear is past tense. “I loved you from the first night I met you. God. You were so smart I had no clue what you were talking about, but I knew I wanted to listen. I loved you for five fucking years and never had the balls to tell you.”

“And then reality set in and I got traded and you shut me out- And I don’t blame you for that either.” He interrupts himself. “I don’t blame you for getting tired of waiting or for knowing that you deserved more, and I thought that you were right, all good things have to end. And I really thought that I would get over it and that maybe I’d find someone who was half as good as you who would make me happy enough, but I never did.” His eyes are bright and searching yours for some indication that you’re hearing what he’s saying, but your facial expression hasn’t changed, and you stand there staring back at him blankly. “I never stopped loving you. And I know that it’s selfish but when I heard you moved and Seattle offered me a contract, I had to take it. If not for the opportunity to keep playing, then for a chance to at least tell you how I’ve always felt about you. How I feel about you now.”  

He’s still trying to figure out if you’ve heard anything he’s said but when you let a little laugh and shake your head in disbelief, he knows he’s too late. So he presses his lips together tightly, and lets his head fall in defeat as he starts to turn away from you. 

You’re so taken aback by everything he’s said. It’s like you knew everything he just told you all along, but hearing him say it aloud, hearing him mirror exactly how you’ve felt for the last seven years, you know that this is one of those moments that life gives you that you can’t pass up. And just as your mind is catching up, Michael is moving to turn away from you, but before he can turn his back your hand is gripping his shirt and pulling him into you. 

When your lips collide the weight that has rested on your shoulders for the last two years is finally lifted and your bodies sink into each other the way water fills an empty glass. You’re consumed in each other as your mouths reacquaint each other and your tongues dance together like they did so many years ago just as you hear the city around you counting down, “5…4…3…2…1… HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!” 

And when you pull apart from each other, his arms still holding your waist and your hands still in his hair, you take a moment to take each other in. He’s older now and the features of his face are deeper, but his eyes still make you feel warm and safe and happy. He swears you look the same as the last day he saw you in Philly, and the warmth of your soft skin against his hands and the way you still have that same sheepish look after he kisses you, makes him feel like that twenty-five-year-old kid he was all those years ago.  And yet, after all this time, now you finally know that every ending is just a new beginning. 

[laurenairay]

Prove You Wrong - J. Skinner

Summary: Audrey James, the girl with the loving heart, and Jeff Skinner, the boy with the brilliant smile, had been best friends for most of their lives – will their friendship ever develop into anything more?

Word Count: 9.1k

Warnings: pining, childhood friends to lovers, a little angst, a lot of cute fluff

A/N: I’ve wanted to write for Jeff for a while because I love this smiley pretty boy - and now that I’ve reached a new follower milestone (600!!) I thought I’d finally crack this out! I hope you all like it 💖

Tagging some lovely people who make hockeyblr a better place for me: @itsbadgerbadgermushroom​ @danglesnipecelly​ @texanstarslove​ @princessphilly​ @broadstbroskis​ @denis-scorianov​ @chicagoblackhawkslover96​ @kallmekmk​ @thebookofmags​

*

“Whatever our souls are made of, his and mine are the same.” – Emily Brontë

Audrey James had known Jeff Skinner for as long as she could remember. Having grown up together in Markham, Ontario, Jeff the second youngest of six siblings and Audrey the youngest of four siblings, they’d bonded so quickly – and so strongly. Where Jeff went, Audrey was sure be by his side, most often a calming presence, a balancing figure, even from a young age.

When Jeff started skating like his siblings, Audrey was scooting along beside him.

When Jeff started figure skating lessons, Audrey twirled right there with him.

When Jeff started hockey practice too…Audrey helped him practice in his backyard.

She kept his many emotions as level as possible – he made sure she strayed out of her comfort zone. Friends came and went, schools changed, injuries healed, but things never changed between Jeff and Audrey. She trusted him as wholly as he trusted her, and their friendship only grew stronger every year. It didn’t matter that they couldn’t have been more different in appearance and personality – her long straight blonde hair versus his dark brown curls, or her grey eyes versus his brown eyes, or even her sweet retiring nature versus his joyful energetic nature. They complemented each other perfectly, balancing each other out and boosting each other up, and this only strengthened as they grew older.

Summers were spent practicing hockey in the backyard with all of their many siblings, road hockey games leaving sunburn, grazed knees, the occasional tears, sticky ice-cream and fond memories. Whenever Jeff got cuts on his knees, elbows or on one occasion his chin, he accepted Audrey’s pretty princess bandaids with a shaky smile. Whenever Audrey got knocked on her ass (by accident) by one of the older girls, she blinked away her tears as Jeff fiercely defended her, yelling at his sisters and hers in turn. When Jeff’s curls got too much for the summer heat, she held his hand as his dad clipped his hair short, watching sadly as the curls fell to the ground. When Audrey broke her arm in the last hockey game of the season, Jeff pestered his sisters to teach him how to braid their hair, so he could surprise Audrey by braiding her long blonde hair back out of her face for her, earning him the biggest smile he had ever seen. Every summer held a special memory for Audrey and Jeff, the sweetness of childhood and the beauty of friendship, and it didn’t matter what else was going on, what other friends joined or left – they always made time for each other. Summers were their thing, even more so when Jeff went to Kitchener – this made summers even more special, their time to spend together without normal-life distractions, and Audrey treasured it more than anything.

Time seemed to only be going past faster as they grew older though, and with that came changes. Growing up came with growing out of love with figure skating for Audrey.

While her interest in figure skating waned by the time she was 12, she never lost interest in his skating, whether that was figure skating or ice hockey. Audrey was even there watching with his family at the Canadian Junior National Figure Skating Championships (she couldn’t have been more proud of his bronze medal) before he chose to focus just on hockey. And as for hockey – Audrey truly was his biggest supporter. She went to every game possible, with either his family or with hers as well, and whether it was a win or a loss, Audrey was ready with a big hug and a smile. And Jeff appreciated it more than he could ever say. When he heard murmurs of people commenting on his small size, she would fiercely defend him, insisting that his speed, skill and heart were more than anyone could ever hope to measure up to. Because it was true. Jeff had always been special, Audrey knew that, and her heart could only fill with pride as he continued to prove people wrong.

But he never proved her wrong. She always knew he was going to be magnificent.

That was the funny thing about love – when you know, you know. And Audrey had known how she felt about the boy with the brilliant smile for a very long time. Her heart had been Jeff’s before she even knew what it meant, and as they grew older, especially as early teenagers, Audrey realised just what her feelings for her best friend meant.

She knew there was a glimmer of hope that Jeff felt the same. She knew that Jeff shared things with her (thoughts, feelings, fears) that he shared with no-one else. She knew that there were moments that lingered with a what if? She knew that the boys on his teams always teased him for having a girl best friend and that he always shrugged it off. She knew that the way he blushed around her sometimes was more than just nothing.

But she also knew that she could never tell him how she felt. Why? Because even at 16 she knew that he was destined to play in the NHL – and she wanted a career of her own too. Was it selfish? Perhaps. Was there a hint of cowardice? Perhaps. The thing is, Audrey had only ever known herself by Jeff’s side – and she wanted the chance to know who she was without him, as much as the very thought scared her.

So when Jeff was drafted to Kitchener, Audrey buckled down in school to get herself into college. She still went to as many games of Jeff’s as she could, still told him all the time of how proud she was, still phoned him every week to talk about anything and everything, still went with him family to his draft day and cried when he was selected 7th overall by the Carolina Hurricanes.

He was finally living his dream – now it was time to live hers.

Over the next four years, Audrey completed a civil engineering degree from University of Toronto. Staying in Toronto meant she got to stay close to her family – and to Jeff’s, who she saw in some capacity at least once a month. And naturally, regardless of exams or school events, if Jeff was in town playing the Leafs, Audrey would be there watching with his family – always with that big hug and a smile.

And as Jeff’s career continued to soar, Audrey’s narrowed into focus. After another year in education, completing a Masters in Environmental Sciences, she graduated straight into a job for a green energy company, staying in Toronto like she always had done. Same old Audrey.

That was, until the summer of 2018. That was the summer that Jeff got traded to Buffalo. That was the summer that Audrey’s company offered her a promotion with the condition that it came with an office transfer…to Buffalo. She would be managing her own pollution project with a small team, her first by herself but an opportunity that she knew she was ready for. And Jeff had been ecstatic – the nerves and anxiety of moving to a new city, to a new team, was lessened by the promise of being in the same city as his best friend after all these years. Audrey called it a happy coincidence. Her mom called it fate and a kick up the backside.

She ignored her mom on that one.

Two years passed and that happy coincidence was working out perfectly. Around both of their busy schedules, they tried to see each as often as possible, whether it was dinners after a long day in the lab, meeting each other for lunch nearby Audrey’s office, weekends off chilling on the sofa, or going out for drinks after her meetings or after his games.

With that came the standing tickets that Jeff always put aside of Audrey for all home games he played in. Audrey had yet to miss one, so happy she got to give him that big hug and a smile like she used to when they were younger.

And Jeff couldn’t have been happier. He had his calming rock, his confidante, the person he could be his most vulnerable self with. Just like he listened to her vent over her frustrating lab results or her long admin days in the office, she listened to him vent about his stresses in hockey. She listened to him get angry and sad and frustrated and desperate about the slump he had last year – and every time she reminded him of the love he has for the sport, for his career, always encouraging and telling him that if nothing else, she thought he was wonderful. She also listened to his nerves and excitement about Eric getting traded to Buffalo this summer, knowing that as much as Jeff was worried that things would be different within his friendship with his old mentor, their reunion would be a good thing for both players.

Audrey was his everything, and Jeff only wished he could show her how much she truly meant to him.

*

One thing that moving to Buffalo did change about their relationship was that they both saw the other one go on dates. Sure, Audrey was well aware that Jeff’s charm had worked well for him in Raleigh, and Jeff was more than well aware that Audrey turned heads wherever she went, but before they’d never seen the other one going on a date or being in a relationship.

Not that either of them had lasting relationships over the past two years, but there had definitely been enough dates to affect both of their hearts.

Audrey was the one that was currently dating – had been on a few dates now with the same guy. David. Jeff had weird vibes from this one already and he hadn’t even met him. But just from the way that Audrey described him, recounted their dates, Jeff had a bad feeling about this guy. David was an attorney, ambitious and confident, and he’d taken Audrey out to three fancy cocktail bars, a night out watching a play, and two very fancy restaurants, but…Jeff didn’t know. He just had that niggling thought that something wasn’t quite right about him.

And unfortunately, Jeff was proven right.

It was 10pm on the night of their seventh date that Jeff’s phone rang. Audrey. A pang of dread ran through him, and he quickly answered.

“Hey, Aud, you okay?” he asked, worried.

“No. He…”

He heard her take a shaky breath, and immediately felt sick.

“I’m coming over,” Jeff said, walking over to his front door and shoving on the first pair of shoes he picked up.

“Jeff, no, it’s okay,”

“I’m coming over,” he repeated firmly, before sighing, “you sound like you need a hug,”

Audrey choked out a laugh, settling Jeff’s stomach a little. At least she could still laugh.

“I’ll be with you soon, okay?” Jeff said softly.

“Yeah, okay. See you soon,”

He wasted no time in driving over to her apartment, potentially pushing the speed limit a little, but as soon as he saw her tear-streaked face he knew it was worth it.

“Hey, it’s okay, I’m here,” Jeff cooed.

As soon as he pulled her into his arms, Audrey started crying into his chest, making Jeff curse under his breath. He carefully walked her backwards, shutting the front door behind himself, and manoeuvred them both over to the sofa, letting her curl up on his lap. It was all he could do to hold her tightly as she cried, rubbing her back and murmuring nonsense into her blonde curls, trying not to tense up too much as he plotted David’s murder in his head.

Eventually she calmed down enough to lift her head, the smudged mascara under her eyes breaking her heart. He rubbed at the marks with his thumb, making her laugh a little watery, before he sent her an encouraging smile.

“So what happened?” he asked softly.

Audrey’s bottom lip wobbled briefly, before she took a deep breath.

“He broke up with me,” she whispered.

Jeff immediately scowled, and Audrey’s lips twitched in a smile.

“That asshole,” Jeff growled.

“Well, it wasn’t a break-up break-up because we were never official, but it was 7 dates, y’know? I thought we were exclusive and heading somewhere,” Audrey sighed.

“It was still the end of something important, Aud. And you liked him,” Jeff said firmly.

“Yeah, I did,” she said shakily, sniffing as her eyes filled with tears again.

“Hey, no, don’t waste any more tears on that asshole,” Jeff said sadly, cupping her face with both hands.

Then he squished her cheeks making her pout like a fish until she giggled, batting at his hands to let her go. Jeff smiled again, earning a soft smile back.

“Did he say why he wanted to break up?” Jeff asked, wincing.

Audrey swallowed heavily, dropping her eyes from his face, before she forced a smile on her lips.

“Apparently he didn’t want to waste any more time trying to get into my pants when he could get sex on tap with his secretary,” she said as calmly as possible.

Jeff’s jaw dropped, rage immediately flooding through his body. Audrey saw this and held her hand up to stop him exploding, which barely made him simmer down.

“Oh that fucking asshole!” Jeff spat, hands gripping onto her hips where she was still sitting on his lap.

She just nodded, smiling sadly. “At least I never actually slept with him,”

“Thank fucking god for that,” Jeff scowled.

Audrey placed her hand over his heart, making him look at her properly. “Hey, it’s okay. Well, it’s not, but it’s better that I know now than before we went into anything more, right?”

Jeff’s anger melted down a little, realising that she was trying to be brave, trying to protect herself, and steeled himself, nodding.

“Yeah, you are so much better off without him. He never deserved you,” Jeff said firmly.

“I know you didn’t like him,” Audrey said dryly, making Jeff blush a little.

“No, I didn’t. But you did. I only ever want you to be happy,” he said softly.

Now it was Audrey’s turn to blush.

“I know. And I appreciate that,” she said sweetly, although the sadness in her eyes told him she wasn’t quite there yet.

Jeff smiled sadly, leaning forward to press a gentle kiss to her blonde hair.

“I’m here for you, no matter what. You know that,” he said, looking into her grey eyes.

Audrey’s eyes filled with tears again, and she looked away, trying to blink away the sadness that he didn’t deserve.

“Are you okay?” he frowned.

“Yeah,” she sniffed, nodding.

Jeff paused for a moment, looking over Audrey’s exhausted face properly.

“Honest answer?” he pushed.

She choked out a laugh, a small smile teasing at her lips. She should’ve known she couldn’t fool him, not the one person who knew her better than anyone.

“No,” she admitted.

Jeff nodded, smiling sadly, as if he had expected that response. “Would it help if I stayed?”

“Oh god, so much. But you-”

“If you’re about to finish that sentence with don’t have to then I will be so mad,” Jeff interrupted, raising an eyebrow, making Audrey blush lightly, “You’re my best friend, Aud, of course I want to stay,”

“Okay then,” Audrey said softly, “let’s get to bed then,”

Jeff followed her silently, smiling at the familiarity. This was far from the first time they’d shared a bed, sleepovers when they were younger a very common thing, and it wasn’t the first time they’d shared a bed in Buffalo either, a few drunken nights out leaving them passed out snuggling. But it was the first time they’d shared a bed after a broken heart – and that changed things.

They stayed silent as they got ready for bed, Jeff just pushing off his sweatpants to leave him in his t-shirt and underwear while Audrey changed into short-shorts and an old t-shirt, but Jeff was basically vibrating with the need to talk by the time Audrey came back from the bathroom.

“You know what, this isn’t enough,” Jeff said suddenly.

Audrey jumped at the sharpness in his voice, earning a sheepish smile from her best friend.

“You deserve to be happy. I want to make you happy,” Jeff said softly.

“You already do, Jeff,” she said, a little confused.

“I just mean…you deserve a date that makes you happy. You deserve to be so happy. So I want to take you out,” Jeff explained.

Audrey inhaled sharply. What did he…

Take her out?

Jeff saw the confusion, the nerves, the hope on her face, and swallowed heavily. Maybe he hadn’t been thinking when he first opened his mouth, but now he couldn’t take the words back. He didn’t want to take the words back.

He wanted to take her out.

He’d wanted to take her out for so long, the urge getting stronger and stronger with every terrible date she went on, with every terrible guy she met. He’d loved the girl with the loving heart for as long as he’d known what love is, but she’d always been just out of reach, never the right moment. And he didn’t want to scare her off, not after her heartbreak tonight. So…a dinner could work, right?

But he had to do this properly. She deserved that.

“Go out to dinner with me. Tomorrow night?” Jeff asked softly.

“In what context?” Audrey found herself asking.

Because as much as she wanted to curse herself for not just saying yes, she needed to know. Jeff chewed his bottom lip, thinking over his words carefully, and Audrey just waited with a fluttering heart.

“I want to make you happy. Can we just say that for now?” Jeff eventually said.

Audrey let out a breath she didn’t know she was holding but nodded. That��perhaps that was for the best for now. The thought of anything more, so out of the blue, after such a bad break-up, was extremely overwhelming. The thought of anything more with Jeff in itself was overwhelming after so long. Maybe it would feel too weird at dinner with him – keeping it low-key would limit any damage to their friendship, right?

“I would like that,” she nodded.

The smile that Jeff sent her was devastatingly happy, and it was impossible not to smile back.

“So we’ll have breakfast together before you have to leave for work, and then I’ll come come back around 7 to pick you up?” Jeff suggested.

It was all Audrey could do to nod, the smile still on her face. Whatever tomorrow night would bring, whether it was just a nice dinner out or the start of something new, she couldn’t wait.

*

7pm came around for Audrey before she even realised it. Her outfit was on, her hair was curled and pinned half-up half-down, and she was wearing a cute little pair of heels she had been saving for a special moment. And this was a special moment, no matter what they’d agreed. The butterflies in her stomach told her that much.

Of course she’d gone into work and told her colleagues all about what happened with David (who were all completely shocked and disgusted – and she had her suspicions that one of them would send him a glitter bomb to his office), as well as letting her older siblings know in their group chat. Her oldest sister Laura offered to send an anonymous tip to his work place to ruin him. Her older brother Simon offered to fly down and punch him in the throat. Her sister closest-to-her-in-age Dana offered to visit for as long as Audrey needed. She smiled and thanked all of them, but said it wasn’t necessary and that Jeff was taking care of her. Laura and Simon teased her like they usually did (and she knew that Laura, who was good friends with Jeff’s sister Jennifer, would be telling the Skinner family too), but Dana messaged her separately.

Because after Jeff, it was Dana who knew her best. And Dana could tell that something was different this time.

So Audrey had confessed everything during a call on her lunch break, telling her sister how Jeff had asked her out to dinner, admitting that it wasn’t quite a date but that he wanted to make her happy. Dana, naturally, had been over the moon, basically squealing in excitement down the phone, but Audrey had sworn her to secrecy. It wasn’t a date date. Nothing had been said between them. And she didn’t want to get her hopes up. Reluctantly Dana agreed to keep quiet for now, but she did insist on helping Audrey get ready for their not-date after work.

And to be honest, Audrey had really appreciated the confidence boost. Over video call, her sister her helped her narrow down her outfit to a cute long sleeved blue dress with a swishy skirt, knowing that blue really made her hair and her eyes pop. Pairing that with the cute comfy silver heels and a matching silver bag, Audrey was waiting by the door with her grey coat in hand, trying not to chew off her lipstick.

Then her phone buzzed. Dana.

~

From: Dana

Have fun tonight!

I know you’re trying to keep things low-key, but just see what the evening brings.

Go with the flow.

Be open to opportunities.

Call me tomorrow!

~

Audrey couldn’t help but smile, sending back a trio of heart emojis. Her sister really was the best. It was only moments later that Jeff arrived, and she rushed downstairs to meet him with a smile. She could do this. She could be open to possibilities. She could go with the flow.

“Wow, you look amazing,”

Audrey blushed at Jeff’s words, earning a blush back. She looked him up and down dramatically, making him laugh, but to be honest? He looked incredible. Jeff was wearing her favourite dark grey suit, a slight tweed in the pattern, with a white shirt that had the top two buttons undone. Incredible.

“You look great yourself,” she replied.

Jeff’s answering smile made her heart skip a beat. They walked to his car without further hesitation, just talking about their days as he drove, until Jeff parked up outside of a nice sushi restaurant.

“I hope this is okay?” Jeff said hesitantly.

“You know I love sushi,” she mused.

“I know, but we’ve never gone into an actual sushi restaurant, we always just order take-out,” Jeff pointed out.

She put her hand over his on the gear stick, making him inhale sharply.

“Then it’ll make a nice change to try a new setting, Jeff. I’m excited, let’s do this,” she said happily.

Jeff just nodded, the nerves in his stomach settling a little. They ate sushi all the time – this was just a nice dinner. Nothing weird or unusual about this at all. He could totally do this.

The way she looked shyly at him as they walked to the door still made his body thrum with nerves though.

But neither of them should’ve been nervous. The dinner went past so smoothly it felt like magic to Audrey. The food was fantastic – both of them daring the other to try at least one dish they hadn’t had before – and their conversation flowed like it always did. To be honest it felt like their usual nights – if Jeff hadn’t added that level of what if then it wouldn’t have been any different. But he did add it, and neither of them could forget that.

As always, Audrey made Jeff feel like the only guy in the world, her warm smile focused only on him. As always, Jeff made Audrey feel like the most important person in the world, so sweet and kind. And as always, they laughed and smiled and talked, and Audrey couldn’t have been happier.

Jeff achieved what he had promised to do – he had made her so happy. So what next?

They arrived back at Audrey’s apartment building late, having taken a walk after dinner, not wanting the night to end so soon, wanting this idyllic moment to continue on as long as possible.

But eventually they had to call it to an end, both of them having early starts in the morning, as much as they wished otherwise. Like the gentleman he always was with her, Jeff walked Audrey up to the front door of the building, both of them pausing.

“I had a really good time tonight,” Audrey said softly, looking up into Jeff’s eyes.

“So did I,” Jeff replied.

They both blushed, Audrey ducking her head, before she looked back up at him. She’d always seen him look at her like this, so open and happy, but for some reason tonight added another level. He was looking at her like there was nowhere else he’d rather be. And that sent a thrill through her body that both excited her and overwhelmed her. But in a good way?

“I know you’re busy for the next couple of days, but we could do something on Saturday?” Audrey offered.

Jeff nodded so enthusiastically that she couldn’t help but laugh.

“That sounds perfect,” Jeff grinned, not deterred in the slightest, “I’ll bring takeout?”

“I’d like that,” Audrey nodded in agreement.

She bit her bottom lip, hand reaching out to brush against his hand briefly, before she stepped away, heart pounding in her chest.

“Thanks for tonight Jeff. Call me tomorrow?” she said, a little breathless.

“Yeah, of course. See you,” he said, smiling a little hopelessly.

They lingered in silence a little longer, before Audrey laughed, opening her front door as Jeff rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly.

“Bye Audrey, sleep tight,” Jeff smiled, finally starting to walk away.

And she absolutely did.

*

Audrey spent the next day in a daze. She’d woken up with more butterflies in her stomach than she ever thought possible, a stupid smile on her face as she read Jeff’s good morning :) text. Last night had been different. So different. But she liked it? She had definitely liked exploring this new side of Jeff, the guy she’d known since they were toddlers, but who walked to their dinner table with a hand on the small of her back and pulled out her chair for her.

He showed her the romantic side of him last night, and she definitely liked what she saw.

And when she gushed down the phone to her sister Dana on her lunch break again, she knew her sister was at least a little smug.

~

“I told you that being open to opportunities was a good thing!”

“I know, I know, but I didn’t expect this,” Audrey laughed.

“What, the boy who’s always been in love with you making you just as happy as we all always knew he would?”

Audrey blushed at the dryness in her sister’s voice, and shook her head.

“He’s not always been in love with me, don’t be ridiculous,” Audrey said simply.

“If I was with you right now I would be shaking you by the shoulders. Talk to him. I swear to god. You know I wouldn’t say it, not now, if I didn’t mean it,”

Audrey swallowed heavily. Dana’s voice had so much conviction in it, like she truly believed what she was saying, and that only sent Audrey’s head into more of a spin. Jeff…was in love with her?

~

That phone call hadn’t helped, to be honest. This was all still throwing her for a loop. Her feelings for Jeff had been building up for two decades, two long decades, and to have the potential of his feelings matching hers? It was almost too much to bear.

And she had to wait until Saturday to be able to see him in person again. This was so much more than something she could do over text, or over a phone call, but she knew that maybe waiting was a good idea. Maybe it would give her time to get her thoughts together, to not be impulsive. Maybe it would give her enough time to get her head around the thought of Jeff’s feelings. Maybe.

The day after that passed with a blur as well, going faster than she thought possible, and even after another phone call with Dana on the Friday night, Audrey still didn’t know what she was thinking. But she knew she had to try. So just after midday, changing into a pretty pale blue dress and curling her hair lightly, she headed over to his house. Jeff opened the door with his usual smile, and he welcomed her in straight away. She bit her bottom lip as he not-so-subtly checked her ass out in the dress, trying to stop the smile that threatened to break out. Maybe. Just maybe.

“So I told Dana about our dinner the other night,” Audrey blurted out.

Damn it.

Jeff’s eyes widened in fear, making Audrey laugh slightly, leaning against the kitchen counter.

“I swore her to secrecy, she’s not going to say anything to anyone,” she reassured.

“I mean, if it was Laura you told, I know she would’ve already told Jennifer, and then everyone would know within the hour,” Jeff admitted.

Oh god yeah, that would’ve been the worst idea.

“So, um, what did you tell her?” Jeff asked hesitantly.

“That you took me out to dinner because you wanted to make me happy. And that I had a really good time,” Audrey summarised, not wanting to admit the full extent quite yet.

Jeff’s instant brilliant smile made her heart race a little, before he blushed. “Okay, that’s not so bad. What did she say in response?”

Audrey hesitated, not sure how much detail to go into. She definitely couldn’t say that Dana thought Jeff was in love with her…

“That I should be open to opportunities, that we should see where this goes,” Audrey eventually said.

Jeff bit his bottom lip, but nodded, looking deep in thought, which Audrey didn’t know whether it was a good thing or not.

“She makes a lot of sense,” Jeff said softly.

Audrey inhaled sharply. Just like that?

“What if something goes wrong between us?” she whispered.

“What if something goes right?” Jeff countered, stepping towards her.

Audrey didn’t dare move, Jeff getting closer and closer until he was standing right in front of her, barely a foot of space between them, his beautiful brown eyes dark and intense, making her head swim. So she shook her head, trying to clear out the haze.

“I can’t lose you. If something didn’t work out between us, I couldn’t bear to lose you, I don’t know what I’d do,” she said firmly.

Jeff licked his bottom lip nervously, his eyes going through various emotions.

“And if we didn’t let ourselves feel? We just carry on as we always have done, never knowing?” Jeff frowned.

Let ourselves feel. Was he admitting his feelings? Did he know hers already?

“I don’t know, Jeff. I just don’t know,” she mumbled.

Jeff reached out with both hands, cupping her elbows gently.

“I don’t think we can just go back,” Jeff admitted.

Well, shit.

“So where does that leave us?” Audrey asked softly.

“I don’t know! But I can’t stand the thought of you giving your heart away again to some guy who doesn’t appreciate it! Who doesn’t deserve it!” Jeff snapped, stepping away from her sharply.

Audrey’s jaw dropped slightly, her heart beating faster as a lump rose in her throat.

Jeff swallowed heavily, taking a deep breath to calm himself down. “I didn’t mean to raise my voice at you, I swear. But can’t you see that these other guys have only ever treated you like shit?”

Audrey’s lips pressed together in a tight line, trying to control her emotions, and she clenched her fists.

“I know that I haven’t exactly had a good track record, but you haven’t really had the best taste in dates either Jeff. All the exact same type of woman traipsing through your life and not a single one has stuck around,” Audrey said angrily.

“That’s because none of them ever measured up to you!” Jeff retorted.

His words hung in the air, Audrey inhaling sharply. Jeff groaned and closed his eyes, wishing he could take his last statement back, but knowing that he couldn’t. It was out there now, the real reasoning, but he was nervous to open his eyes and see Audrey’s reaction.

Would she be angry? Disgusted? Happy?

“Jeff, please look at me,” Audrey said softly.

“I don’t know if I can,” he said, choking out a laugh.

“Please?”

Jeff took a deep breath, before doing so, the pleading in her voice making him powerless. When he finally looked at her, he could barely read her face, the first time in a very long time.

“None of them measured up to me?” she said quietly.

It was the sheer volume of hope in her eyes that made Jeff brave enough to speak.

“You’ve been it for me for a long time, Aud,” he admitted.

There it was.

The noise that Audrey made was so full of both surprise and hurt that Jeff flinched. But she quickly reached out towards him, tugging him back towards her with her hands at his waist.

“I’m it? You…you really do love me?”

Jeff laughed a little wetly, full of emotion, but he nodded which only made Audrey’s heart clench. After all this time…

“I love you Audrey Marie James. I have done for a long time,” Jeff said simply.

“Oh Jeff. Jeff, I love you too,” Audrey whimpered, “so much,”

Jeff grinned, so hard that he made his cheeks hurt, before raising his hands to cup her face. He squished her cheeks into a fish pout like he always did, making her laugh and bat at his hands, breaking the tension.

“Fuck, I love you,” Jeff said happily, hands moving to rest on her shoulders.

“I love you too. Oh my god. I love you. I can’t believe I finally got to say it out loud,” Audrey giggled.

Jeff just laughed as well, giddiness overtaking him, not letting him think of anything but her.

“We’ve wasted so much time,” he huffed.

But Audrey just shook her head, her smile a little sad. “I was just so scared of not having you in my life that I didn’t dare risk you rejecting me,”

“There is no parallel universe in which I would reject you,” Jeff laughed.

“Nerd,” she said fondly, earning a brilliant smile, “I just…I wanted my own career too, y’know? And I didn’t know what would’ve happened if I just followed you for the rest of my life,”

Jeff swallowed heavily at her confession, but nodded.

“I don’t know what would’ve happened either. We’ll never know. But what I do know is that you’re a brilliant woman, who is crazy smart and wonderful and beautiful, and I’m so proud of everything you achieved. Like, you’re literally a civil engineer and an environmental scientist! That’s so cool! I’m just happy you could possibly want to be with boring old hockey-playing Jeff,”

“You’re not boring or old. And I fell in love with hockey-playing Jeff a long time ago, so I really don’t think I’m losing out here,” Audrey mused.

Jeff huffed a laugh, his heart racing a little more at her firm words, leaning his head down to rest his forehead against hers. “Well would you be this hockey player’s girlfriend?”

“Only if you’ll be this engineer-scientist’s boyfriend,” she countered.

Jeff grinned, dimples out in full force, making Audrey tilt her head back to laugh. This was real life. This was really happening. Holy shit.

But there was just one thing left…

“Hey, Jeff?” she said suddenly.

“Yeah?” he asked, one hand rising to cup her face.

It was when his thumb stroked over her cheekbone that she knew this was everything.

“Will you kiss me?”

Jeff looked a little astounded, jaw dropping a little, before that brilliant smile came back.

“Yeah, ‘f course,” he murmured.

Audrey inhaled sharply, before tilting her head up, leaning up towards him as Jeff leant down to her. Their lips touched softly, sweetly, both of them breaking off to laugh, both a little stunned, before Audrey pressed her lips to his again a little firmer. Jeff made a soft happy noise, kissing her back, his free hand sliding around her waist to bring their bodies together. She moaned in surprise at the feeling of his strong body against hers, but melted in his arms, lost in the motion of their kisses, completely consumed in a way she’d never been before.

Jeff broke away briefly with another soft moan, eyes searching her face a little desperately, before he kissed her again, clutching her a little tighter. And then he broke away for a final time, taking a step back with wild eyes, leaving her head spinning.

“I don’t want to get carried away,” Jeff panted, cheeks heating up in a blush.

Audrey bit her bottom lip but nodded, knowing her was right even if her racing heart didn’t want to admit it. “At least it was worth the wait?” she offered.

Jeff just groaned, making her laugh. Then her breath caught in her throat as Jeff adjusted his dick in his pants, alerting her to just how riled up he gotten. Oh fuck. Carried away indeed.

“You’re worth so much more to me than rushing into sex. I want to ease into things, y’know? I’ve waited this long for you to be mine, I can wait a little longer,” he said seriously.

“I love you too,” Audrey said happily.

Jeff just smiled that brilliant smile.

~

To: Dana

He loves me.

He loves me!

~

From: Dana

Holy fucking shit, about time.

Can I actually tell everyone now?

*

The next two weeks were the happiest that Audrey could remember. They had three days in a row together where Jeff wasn’t doing anything other than light training and rest, ahead of a 10 day roadtrip, and they made the most of it. Well, after another long talk about their emotions, because they could do that now, and fielding various calls from their many family members, they’d also spent a lot of time sweetly making out on the sofa whenever Audrey wasn’t working. Because hey, they could do that now too. To be honest, Audrey was a little addicted to the feeling of his lips on hers anyway – she fantasised about it for years on the occasional forbidden burst of weakness, but the reality of it blew away all fantasy.

Jeff was finally hers, and she couldn’t be happier.

The 10 days that Jeff was away on his sweeping road trip was harder this time though too. She didn’t expect it to be this hard, but she supposed that the emotions she’d locked away for so long were finally out and they were vulnerable in this newness. It did help with Jeff calling her every night though. She did tell him he didn’t have to, that she sure as hell didn’t expect it, but he just said that he’d always wanted to call her every night but he felt like he would be pushing boundaries. So how could she say no to that?

And it did make having him home finally a sweeter moment.

Tonight was the first home game since they got together officially, and Audrey was a little nervous. It was tradition for the players’ partners to wear a special customised jersey, and Jeff had presented her with one in the hopes that she would wear it to the game tonight. She had immediately agreed, of course, but it didn’t make this new step any less daunting. It was a big declaration, so public, but she did want people to know that Jeff was hers just as much as she was his.

It wouldn’t be so scary, right? She hadn’t missed a home game since he’d been in Buffalo, and she wasn’t about to start now.

So after kissing Jeff goodbye, leaving him with a sweet smile as he headed to the rink early to prepare for the game, Audrey got herself ready to enter the arena as Jeff Skinner’s girlfriend, a little more make-up and hair curled a little neater than usual, just like armour.

“Oh my God, Audrey!”

Audrey jumped at the sound of Tanya Staal’s shriek as she entered the family box, unable to stop the smile that spread across her lips. There had been a few occasions in Raleigh, when Audrey had visited while Eric was still playing there, that Audrey had met the former captain’s wife, and she had always been so sweet and welcoming. And although Tanya mostly stayed up in the family box with their kids, there had been a few team occasions since Eric was traded to Buffalo this season started that Audrey had attended as just Jeff’s friend (as that’s obviously all she had been until recently) where she’d been able to make friends with the older woman properly this time round.

Audrey always had the impression that Tanya thought she and Jeff were more than friends, but obviously now with the statement of the jersey, it was clear that the situation had changed.

“Is this true? Is this really happening?” Tanya asked hopefully.

Audrey blushed but nodded, earning a happy squeal.

“Yeah, Jeff told me he loved me two weeks ago and we’ve been dating ever since,” Audrey admitted.

“Holy shit, about time,” Tanya laughed.

It was all Audrey could do to nod, laughing a little wetly, still a bit overwhelmed.

“Okay, let me introduce you to the other player’s partners? It’s totally different than just being a friend,” Tanya offered.

Thank fuck for a friendly face. Audrey nodded in relief, letting Tanya guide her around the various women and children, the partners that she’d met previously thrilled with the news of the relationship status change (most of them saying finally or about time, which really made Audrey reconsider how obvious she’d been), and the rest of them just as welcoming. She’d done it. She was officially introduced, and she felt almost giddy with it.

The game itself was choppy, rough with hits and scrappy with goals, but the Sabres managed to pull out a win making all the people in the family box cheer. Tanya walked down by her side to wait for their men, linking their arms together like she knew just how much Audrey needed the support. As soon as Jeff saw her by Tanya’s side in their customised jerseys, his face got a really dumb lovestruck look, making Tanya laugh and nudge Audrey over to him.

“Hi, wow,” Jeff said happily.

“You like it?” she asked softly.

“You know I do,” Jeff murmured.

It was all Audrey could do to lean up on her tiptoes and kiss him, earning happy sighs and coos from the other women around them. She broke away with a laugh, moving so that they were just holding hands, but couldn’t stop looking at him despite how sappy she knew it was.

“You were amazing. I’m so proud of you,” she said softly.

“Couldn’t let you down, not when I knew you were watching as my girl,” Jeff grinned.

Audrey just laughed, rolling her eyes fondly. More players started walking out now (Jeff must’ve rushed out, bless him), including…Eric Staal.

Eric took one look at the way they were looking at each other and whooped.

“Holy shit, about time,” Eric grinned, unknowingly mimicking his wife.

“Nice to see you too, Staal,” Audrey said dryly, although she leaned up to kiss his cheek in greeting with a smile.

“Oh god yeah, you’ll know about their long suffering pining, won’t you Staalsy?” Jack laughed from behind Eric, joining their little group, Tanya already under Eric’s arm.

“So much pining, it was painful,” Eric said solemnly, although the laughter in his eyes mostly ruined the effect, “Audrey visited a few times down in Raleigh and she was at every game against the Leafs too, and Jeff’s smile was always at it’s brightest when she was there,”

“Gotta support my best friend,” she said simply, nudging Jeff with her arm.

Jeff nudged her back, but she didn’t miss the pleased smile on his lips.

“Oh come on, it was so much more than that! Jeff’s crush was so damn obvious, right from the very first time Audrey visited,” Eric mused, looking at Jack.

Audrey grinned. Was it now? Jeff just rolled his eyes, making her laugh.

“We literally only started dating two weeks ago,” Audrey pointed out.

“You’re shitting me, I thought you were joking Jeff,” Eric said, jaw dropping.

“I can actually confirm that. That day that Skinny came in to practice smiling like it was Christmas and his birthday all rolled into one really was the first full day,” Jack smirked.

Jeff blushed furiously, making Audrey laugh. Eric just shook his head, still shocked.

“All that time and you never did anything about your crush?” Eric asked, confused, “I thought you were just keeping things low-key,”

Hah, not quite.

“We tried telling him,” Jack sighed dramatically, although he was clearly loving this.

“Holy shit Skinny, took you long enough,” Eric snorted, Tanya just giggling.

“If we’re done gossiping like old grandmas?” Jeff asked dryly.

“Never,” Eric grinned.

Jack just looked delighted, and Jeff knew there was no way that the rest of the team wouldn’t hear about this.

“I’d say it was worth the wait,” Audrey said happily, squeezing his hand.

Jeff’s irritation immediately faded to a soft happiness, and Jack made a loud gagging noise at their heart-eyes.

“Okay, I’m out. Hurry up and shower, Skinny. We’ve got team drinks to get to,” Jack said firmly.

Jack sent Audrey a wink, letting her know how happy he really was for them, before leaving them.

“So does this mean I can tell Jordie? He’s going to be thrilled,” Eric grinned.

Jeff just groaned.

*

Dancin' in the kitchen, You singing my favourite songs, Swinging on the front porch, Just laughing at the dogs, Now you swear you love me more, When you're whispering goodnight, All those little moments are every reason why.

Jeff watched from the kitchen door as Audrey sang to herself, swaying slightly as she stirred whatever she was cooking in the pot on the stove. He didn’t think he could love her anymore than he already did, but seeing her like this in his kitchen, blonde hair loose and messy, wearing one of his t-shirts instead of one of her own, well…he was happy to prove himself wrong.

Then she spotted him out of the corner of her eye and shrieked, swirling around to face him with one hand clutching her heart.

“You almost scared me to death,” she gasped, pouting.

Jeff laughed, shrugging apologetically. “I couldn’t help myself. You looked so cute singing and dancing to your music,”

Audrey blushed a little, but shrugged too. “I’m obsessed with this Kane Brown song right now. Although if I’d known you were watching I probably wouldn’t have sung…”

“Aww no, don’t ever stop because of me,” Jeff mused, shaking his head, earning a smile from her, “maybe I can make it up to you?”

Audrey frowned in confusion, before Jeff moved his hand out from behind him, revealing the flowers he’d been hiding behind his back.

“You bought me flowers? How sweet!” she cooed, reaching out for the bouquet.

“Yeah? You like them?” Jeff asked hopefully.

She nodded, smiling widely as she inhaled deeply, making Jeff smile in turn. “I love them Jeff. And, um, no-one’s ever bought me flowers before,”

Jeff’s heart flickered with rage, at all those stupid guys she’d dated, who never deserved her, who never treated her like she deserved, before he forced himself to take a deep breath. No, past assholes weren’t worth thinking about any more. He was going to prove to her that he was worth it instead of them.

“Well I happen to love buying flowers, so be on the look out for more,”

“Jeff!” Audrey giggled, “You know I don’t want to buying me things, spoiling me,”

Because it was true. She didn’t want it or need it. And she never wanted him to think that it was expected.

“Oh they’re definitely not for you. They’re for me,” Jeff grinned, clearly lying.

Audrey rolled her eyes fondly, before smiling. “Oh, well, if they’re for you then that’s definitely acceptable,” she teased.

Jeff just laughed, moving to slide his arms around her waist, Audrey sliding her arms up around his neck, the flowers still in her hand.

“Will you dance with me?” Jeff asked softly.

“Right now?” Audrey laughed.

“Right now,” Jeff nodded, deadly serious.

Audrey laughed again but nodded, letting him sway her from side to side in a simple two-step shuffle, resting her forehead against his. It was little sweet moments like this, Jeff surprising her with his romantic notions, that made Audrey’s heart ache a little for all the potential missed moments over the years, but also made her heart sing that she got to experience them with him now.

Because this guy was everything to her, and even something as simple as him buying her flowers, or asking her to dance in the middle of the kitchen, made her realise just how lucky she was.

*

Mornings were quickly becoming Audrey’s favourite time of day. Whether it was waking up in her own bed or waking up in Jeff’s, seeing his face first thing as she woke up just made her day started so perfectly.

How could she not love feeling his arms wrapped around her? How his face was usually buried in her hair? How his leg slotted between hers?

She knew she loved that first sleepy smile, his wonderful dimples soft and gentle, always giving her butterflies without fail. She definitely loved the way his groggy voice murmured her name, how he pressed a closed-mouth kiss to her lips, never wanting to wait for that first simple pecked kiss before he brushed his teeth.

It was everything she could ever have asked for, everything she could never have dreamed of. With the highs came the lows, of course, and being in his arms those mornings was just as important. Like this morning, for instance.

“Last night was rough…” Jeff sighed, scrubbing at his tired eyes with the palms of his hands.

The game. The game was so stressful even just watching, so Audrey could only imagine how it would’ve felt being on the ice. Turnovers, stupid penalties, sloppy passes – it really just wasn’t their night. And when Jeff had finally walked out of the changing room ready to go home…well, it was all Audrey could do to go to bed in silence and let him curl into her side.

“…but waking up with you by my side makes me feel a million times better already,” he finished.

“You, Jeffrey Skinner, are a sap,” Audrey said fondly.

“Well you already knew that,” Jeff mused.

True, she did.

“Kiss me?” she prompted.

“I haven’t brushed my teeth,” Jeff said hesitantly.

“Don’t care,” Audrey shrugged, “you didn’t kiss me last night,”

Jeff’s face looked horrified, making Audrey burst out in laughter.

“Babe, I’m so sorry,” Jeff insisted, eyes wide and serious.

Babe. Huh. She could get used to that.

“Well luckily for you, you’ve got all day to make up for it,” Audrey teased.

Jeff’s eyes lit up at that, making her laugh again, before he rolled on top of her. He looked down at her fondly, face soft in the morning light, before he leaned down to kiss her slowly, softly, sweetly, over and over again. One of Audrey’s hands reached up to slide into his messy curls, the other clutching at his waist, Jeff just moving in to lie between her thighs, making Audrey’s body stir with excitement. Yes, she could definitely get used to this.

Eventually their kisses slowed down to a final few pecks, Jeff leaning back to look down at her properly.

“Have I told you that I love you?” he asked, resting his weight on his forearms as he hovered over her.

“Not today,” she grinned.

“Well let me rectify that,” Jeff grinned back.

Audrey shrieked as Jeff pressed a flurry of kisses to her face and neck, saying I love you between every few.

*

6 months later

Jeff’s hand was resting on Audrey’s thigh as they drove through the familiar streets of Markham, two weeks of vacation booked for her and invitations to come home from both their families guiding the way. To be honest, Audrey was pretty excited to experience their childhood homes with this new evolution of their relationship, to see things through a different perspective, and she knew that the childhood friends that were still around were excited to see them as them too.

It was a long time coming, after all.

“My mom is thrilled that I’m bringing you home as my boyfriend for the first time,” Audrey said softly, when they were about 5 minutes away from her family home.

“She’s known me for nearly three decades…” Jeff pointed out, trailing off in confusion.

“And she’s been cheerleading us for at least half of that,” Audrey admitted.

Jeff’s face froze briefly, before it shifted into fear.

“We’re about to be ambushed by your whole family, aren’t we?” he sighed.

“Definitely. Potentially all of yours as well, if I know my mom,” Audrey smirked.

And Audrey did know her mom – she knew in her gut that the moment Audrey told her that she would be bringing Jeff by as her boyfriend, that her mom rang Jeff’s mom to organise a joint group effort. There was no way that the women weren’t going to see them both at the same time, and there was no way their siblings wouldn’t be around to say I told you so. It would be ridiculous…but it was just who their families were.

Jeff just groaned, making Audrey giggle.

“There’s still time to turn the car around you know. Say we changed our minds, hide away in a cabin somewhere for a couple of weeks?” she offered.

No amount of stress was worth losing Jeff, not now she finally had him by her side.

But Jeff anxious face split into a smile. “As much as I would love to avoid the combination of our giant families…we can’t avoid them forever,” he mused, “and besides, you’re worth it,”

Audrey didn’t think she could love him any more than she already did, but there he goes, proving her wrong.

[miamlfy]

Run.

A/N: Here’s a sirius fic for those who adore him. I’ve been struggling to get things written down, so I'm not a big fan of this one esp the ending but that’s okay. My next fic will be a Harry x reader which was requested so expect that within the next few days. I also got multiple requests to make Homemade Rings into a mini series, is that something ya’ll would like? Let me know. Im sorry for any mistakes in this, barely proofread. 

Pairing: Sirius Black X Fem! Reader

Summary: Hiding a relationship from an overprotective James is hard and slightly embarrassing when you and Sirius are caught by him. 

Warnings: Mentions of dying (nothing too serious) and light smut ? 

Word Count: 2,1K

Masterlist

Enjoy!

(Not my gif, credit to whoever made it) 

Hiding a relationship from James was hard. It wasn’t like you and Sirius intended to hide your relationship from your friends, you just didn’t know how they would react to your a relationship inside the marauders group. 

You became apart of the marauders in second year, you got trapped into their prank that was poorly planned and you proceeded on lecturing them on ways to make it better and be successful without getting caught.  That prank worked out well and neither of you got caught, the boys were forever grateful. 

As months went by, they kept coming to you and asking for help for new pranks. Most of the time, you would act as bait, catch the victim off guard and they boys would attack. The four marauders eventually asked you to join them and you excitedly agreed, becoming the fifth marauder. 

Once fifth year began, you couldn’t help yourself but crush on Sirius. Every girl/guy wanted him, Sirius was known to woo the ladies and some were lucky enough to gain his attention for the night. It often made you jealous, you wished you could be one of those girls who he’d flirt with and wrap his arm around. Your friendship began to crumble during the middle of fifth year, his fangirls often hating on you because they thought you two were dating. Although you wanted the dating part to be true, you couldn’t help but think that Sirius only saw you as a little sister, and nothing more. 

You began to distance yourself from him in hopes that not only the girls chasing after his would stop harassing you, but also for your feelings to go away. You felt as if it was wrong to crush on one of your best friends and you weren’t one to ruin a great friendship. 

When Sirius noticed how you started hanging out less and less with him, or with the marauders entirely, he became worried. It stressed him out to no end, thinking he did something to upset you. Thankfully Remus knew where you were that night, as you did prefect duties with him. The moment he saw you in the astronomy tower, he rushed towards you. 

“Is there something you need Sirius?” You asked, not looking up from your potions textbook. 

“How’d you know it was me?” He chuckled, you shrugged and continued to focus on your textbook. Sirius sat down next to you and took the book from your hands. 

“What’s wrong? You’ve been avoiding me and the boys,” you looked up to face him and shook your head, you knew if you opened your mouth, everything would come out. You hoped he would believe you and leave you alone, but this was Sirius and he wasn’t going to leave until he got a satisfied answer from you. 

After pestering you for what seemed like an hour, you let it all loose. You told him everything, all your feelings towards him and how you felt whenever you saw him with other girls. He quickly shut you up with a kiss, which left you in shock. 

“I feel the same.” He said, pulling away from you. 

You shook your head, “Sirius you don’t have to lie, it’s okay if you don’t fe—“ 

He shut you up again by placing another soft kiss on your lips, “I’m not lying.” 

The night, you spent wrapped around his arms and looking at all the stars. It was amazing. However, when morning came and everything set in, you started to panic, how were you going to tell James? Of course remus and Peter would be happy for you and Sirius, they most likely saw it coming. But James? Oh no. 

To say James was overprotective of you, was an understatement. James treated you like the most fragile thing he’s ever come across from. Although James was the same age as you when you first met, he treated you like his little sister. He was there for you whenever you needed someone to talk to. James also did not hesitate to hex someone whenever they were being mean to you. Often he would get detention for it, but he didn’t care, as long as you were okay and safe. 

Now if any boy ever came close to you, dear lord don’t let him see. He could be miles away and yet somehow know that one is talking to you and trying to take you on a date, or even asking for homework answers. 

James would come walking towards you and before you could give the poor bloke an answer, James would drag him away ignoring you pleas to knock it off. If it wasn’t for Lily and the need for James to constantly ask her out in front of everyone, people would think James was your boyfriend. It was extremely annoying. 

During fourth year, you were on a date with a sweet Hufflepuff boy. Somehow you managed to go without James knowing but of course, he heard Peter talking about it and how your promised to bring him back sweets from Honeydukes. James ran to where you were and told your date to leave, very rudely. 

“James, you can’t keep doing that. I’m going to end up being single for the rest of my life!” You yelled at him as he dragged you away and was now walking up to the castle. The three other marauders trailing along. 

“Good, that sounds perfect.” He replied back. You rolled your eyes, your pulled your arm away from him. 

“James, I’m being serious,” you glared at Sirius before he could say his infamous joke, “you can’t keep doing this. It’s ruining not only my love life but also my social life.” 

Now it was James who rolled his eyes, “You don’t need a love life, Y/n. No boy or girl is worthy enough for you.” 

You knew immediately that James would not approve of Sirius and you together. James loved Sirius but he also knew how Sirius treated most of the girls in Hogwarts. He would use them and toss them to the side once he finished. James didn’t want you to get the same treatment, so when he noticed Sirius giving out long stares in classes or the common room, he immediately shut him down. 

“Why are you looking at Y/n like that?” James questioned. 

“What are you on about, James? I’m just admiring her, she looks pretty today,” Sirius sighed, “You have to stop being so overprotective of her, some day someone is going fall deeply in love with her and you’re going to have to deal with it.” 

James shook his head, “Never, not until the day I die.” 

Little did James know, that two of his best friends were now dating and he suspected nothing of it. You only intended to hide from him but if you told your other friends, they would easily spill the beans. So you and Sirius decided to keep the relationship between the two of you. However, that did not last long. 

Of course Lily, being the smart girl she is, caught on and told you that she would keep her mouth shut and not tell anyone. Marlene and Dorcas were next on finding out, the two girls saw you and Sirius making out in an empty classroom. You both made them swore to secrecy. 

Remus and Peter were next, they were both exiting the library when they spotted you and Sirius leaving the kitchens hand in hand. They both stated to you that they were not going to mention anything to James. 

Six months have past since you and Sirius started dating, poor James was starting to get suspicious. He noticed Sirius sneaking away at night, but he excused that Sirius just being Sirius. He then started to notice you disappearing also or using excuses to go somewhere else. He knew he could use the map to track his dear friends, but he didn’t want to. He would only use it for emergencies. 

As another month went by, he grew more suspicious and it was driving him mad. No one else was questioning this besides him. It would confuse him more when Sirius and you would enter the common room together and see all your other friends smirking at you guys. 

He decided he would use the map to track Sirius down when he wasn’t in his bed, so a few nights later he grabbed the map and began looking. 

‘Y/n Y/l/n, Sirius Black’ the map read, James rubbed his eyes thinking they were playing a trick on him. He jumped out of bed and pulled out the invisibility cloak from his trunk. Almost tripping on Peter’s shoe, he made his journey to the Astronomy Tower. 

Sirius and you were on top of the tower, you laid your head on his chest as he played with your hair. “It’s so soft now, I’m assuming you took the hair advice I gave you?” 

You snorted, “Oh yeah totally,” you gave out a breathy sigh, “Sirius when are we going to tell James about us? Everyone else knows, he’s going to find out soon, shouldn’t we just tell him?” 

Sirius shook his head, “Like you said, he’s going to find out soon, so let him find out. Plus I do not want to tell him and get punched.” You laughed at his words and lifted your head up to kiss him. 

The kisses began as soft and innocent but then started getting more needy. Soon enough, you were now straddling his lap, gently rolling your hips. You moaned into his mouth as you felt his tongue enter your mouth, both of your tongues now fighting to gain control. Pulling away, Sirius latched onto your neck, placing sloppy kisses and no doubt marking it. You felt his trousers tighten the more you rolled your hips, your panties now damping with the wetness of your core. 

“Fuck Sirius.” You moaned out, now placing your hands on his belt trying to undo it. 

“Shh princess, don’t want anyone to hear you now.” Sirius was trying to undo the buttons of your shirt. 

Both of you immediately pulled apart when you heard very loud gags coming from behind you. You turned around to see a red faced James, looking rather distraught. The three of you not wanting to talk, stayed in awkward silence. 

Sirius was the first to speak, “James, listen buddy, this isn’t how we wanted you to fi—“ 

“Shut up.” James said coldly, looking over towards you, you dropped your head and faced the ground, “How long has this been going on?” He questioned you. 

Still facing the ground you answered, “seven months.” 

James looked like he was close to fainting, “SEVEN MONTHS?!” He shouted. You jumped, you knew it was bad to hide something from this, but you didn’t expect for him to get so angry. 

“Yes bu James listen, we didn’t mean for it to—“ James cut Sirius off once again. 

“Run.” He said, glaring at your boyfriend.

“What?” 

“Run Sirius, because once I get to you it’s not going to be a pretty thing to witness. Now run.” Sirius looked over to you with wide eyes. 

“James you can’t be serious, let us explain.” You said, trying to diffuse the situation. James only shook his head and continued to glare at Sirius. 

Your boyfriend shot up from his spot when he saw James getting closer to him and gave out a nervous laugh. 

“Oh fuck!” Sirius yelled out and bolted out of the Astronomy Tower before James’ fist connected with his face. 

You chased the two boys and came to a stop when you saw James holding up Sirius by the collar. 

“Swear to me you won’t hurt her!” James yelled out, not caring who heard him. 

“I swear that I will never hurt her and may Merlin kill me if I ever do.” James let down your boyfriend, satisfied with his answer. 

“Good. Now no more snogging and doing whatever you two were doing back there. I do not want to be an uncle yet.” You blushed in embarrassment at his words. 

“Don’t worry Prongs, no children any time soon.” 

Hearing meows enter the corridor you were in, the three of you looked at each other in fear. 

“Guys not to panic but we might have to run. I left the cloak in the tower.” Once James said that, it didn’t take a second for the three of you to run back down the opposite direction and try to hide from Mrs. Norris. 

[iwaisa]

request. (Sorry if this is too angsty for you, just delete it if not!!) But could I request Kuroo, Bokuto, and Daichi with a reader (gender doesn't matter and hc or anything) whos more of a people pleaser, like they put anyone else's needs before their own? And then one day they just snap and they help the reader so I guess with a fluffy end?? Ty sorry again!! - anon

a/n. hey anon ! this is such a cute request (especially since i am a people pleaser lol) don’t be sorry! i’m here to write whatever your heart desires! i really hope i interpreted this correctly! also, there was no relationship specified, so i just assumed it was a romantic relationship. have an amazing day/night, anon! <3

kuroo, bokuto, and daichi with a people pleaser s/o

- genre. angst to fluff

- pairings. kuroo, bokuto, and daichi x gender neutral reader

- warnings. none

- key. 

c/l/n - classmate’s last name

f/f/n - friend’s first name

► now shuffling...

kuroo sat in his classroom tapping his pencil against his desk as he waited for you - his s/o - to walk into class

what he didn’t expect to see was you being bombarded with people 

“l/n-san! please give me the answers to last night's homework!”

you attempted to wave off the group of people as you made your way to your seat, yet much to your dismay, the group didn’t disperse

“l/n-san please! i had basketball last night and i didn’t have enough time to do it!” another person spoke up

the others agreed, making lame excuses for why they were simply too lazy to complete a one-paged worksheet

kuroo rolled his eyes and pushed his chair out from under his desk, walking over towards you

he slung his arm around his shoulder, “‘morning, sunshine.”

you felt your heart stutter at the name, but you were quickly snapped out of your moment when someone leaned over your desk to continue pestering you

“l/n-san please, sensei is gonna give me detention if i don’t finish this homework!”

“and why couldn’t you do it?” kuroo chimed in

“i had baseball! i got home late and i was so exhausted-”

kuroo cut him off, “and you couldn’t find any time to do a single-paged worksheet?”

the boy was attempting to stutter out an excuse, but kuroo was not having it

“just leave my s/o alone. do the homework yourselves.”

“tetsu, it’s okay, i don’t mind,” you spoke up

the rest of your classmates began cheering as you handed them your worksheet

kuroo frowned at you, “f/n, i know you feel bad for them, but they’re only excuses, you know that right?”

you patted his head and assured him that you were okay with giving out your homework as long as you saw your classmates happy

this carried on for weeks; you would walk into class, and would instantly be bombarded with people asking for your homework

and each time, kuroo would watch as you instantly handed it over telling them that you would be happy to

kuroo has had enough; he couldn’t stand seeing his s/o being pushed around like that

after school, you and kuroo walked to the gymnasium for his volleyball practice, when a classmate approached you

“l/n-san! i won’t be able to do my homework tonight since i have dance, so can i please have your notebook!” your classmate bowed, hands clapped together above her head

you began reaching into your bag to pull said notebook out, until you felt a hand stop your movement

“c/l/n-san, i understand your schedule is busy, but i would appreciate it if you would stop guilt tripping my s/o into giving you the answers. they also have a very busy schedule, and it’s getting tiring seeing them be pushed around as if they aren’t human too,” kuroo said through gritted teeth

you stared at your boyfriend, wondering what had gotten into him

your thoughts were quickly interrupted when you felt kuroo pulling you into the gym

he turned around and wrapped his arms around you, “i hate seeing them use you like that, f/n.”

he nuzzled his face into your neck as you chuckled, “i promise i won’t let them do that anymore, tetsu. i’ve been getting better about saying no to people, as much as it hurts to see them sad.”

he nodded and pulled back, leaning in to press a chaste kiss to your lips, “i’m glad to hear that.”

you and bokuto walked down the hallways of fukurōdani high talking and laughing, until one of your friends walked up to you to confront you about missing out on a karaoke get-together

they continued scolding you as bokuto simply watched from the side, confused as to why your friend was talking to you like that

“i-i’m sorry f/f/n-san. i promise i’ll go to karaoke with you guys tonight!”

they continued the confrontation, even after you had already apologized

bokuto tilted his head in confusion as he watched you continue to apologize

he felt himself growing annoyed with your so-called friend’s constant condemning, so he took it upon himself to step in

“hey hey hey! they already apologized, what’s the big deal?” he asked while pulling you into his side

your friend just ignored bokuto, and continued to walk past, letting one more negative comment slip

bokuto watched as your figure seemed to deflate

“hey hey! emo mode is my thing, f/n! don’t be sad! they’re no good for you if they keep making you feel bad, y’know,” he pouted, crouching down in front of you

“i’m sorry, kou.”

he assured you it was okay, and the two of you continued walking to class with him rubbing circles into your back with his hand

however, this problem remained unsolved

your friend only continued to chastise you, and your mood was worse than ever

soon enough, the only thing you could find yourself saying was sorry

this also did not go by unnoticed by your loving boyfriend, who unfortunately was not there this time as your friend approached you

“f/n-san!” your friend whined

“what’s wrong?” you asked, tilting your head

“the notes you gave me were wrong! i just failed my chemistry test!” they continued

you took the notes and skimmed over them

“b-but i just wrote down what the teacher had on the board, h-how could they be wrong?”

your friend continued, “i don’t know! ugh, i just failed a super important test because of this!”

you felt tears welling in your eyes at your current predicament

“i-i’m sorry, f/f/n-san. i’ll take better notes next time,” you sobbed

“ugh. it’s fine. stop crying will you?”

“s-sorry,”

“and stop apologizing! it’s annoying!”

your friend’s negative comments never ceased, and the tears continued streaming down your face

you looked up at your friend, only to see a familiar figure approaching from down the hall

“hey!!! f/n!!! i was looking for- h-hey! why are you crying?”

bokuto ran up to you and cupped your cheeks, wiping tear after tear away

“i-it’s my fault. i gave f/f/n-san the wrong notes. i’m sorry,” you choked out

bokuto asked to see the notes, and he read the pages

“but, these are the notes sensei told us to go over. these are the right notes!” he defended

“but i still failed my test because of your s/o! ugh! i knew i shouldn’t have trusted you to take the notes.”

bokuto felt his heart break at their comment

how could your ‘friend’ just say something like that? aren’t they supposed to be there for you? shouldn’t they be reassuring you that it was okay? shouldn’t they have taken their own notes in the first place?

bokuto’s mind ran at a mile a minute, until he turned around to face them

“you know, i would appreciate it a lot if you would stop terrorizing my s/o,” bokuto said darkly

he continued, “you’re no friend! you’re just using them! they’re trying their best and all you’re doing is criticizing them! you don’t deserve to be friends with someone as sweet as f/n!” 

with that, he grabbed your arm and dragged you off to a separate hallway

he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and blotted at your face, “f/n, you don’t have to deal with them anymore, okay?” 

he continued comforting and reassuring you until you were fit to go back to class

you pressed a quick kiss to his cheek before entering the classroom, earning yourself a very giddy boyfriend for the rest of the day

your relationship with the captain of the karasuno volleyball team was smooth-sailing

the relationship between the two of you was nothing less than loving, and the two of you always supported each other

however, one thing daichi wished was different was that you would stop hiding your true feelings from him

he could read your face like a book; he knew exactly what emotion you were feeling at any given time, but you always brushed it off whenever he asked about it

it’s been six months since the two of you started dating, and he felt himself growing more anxious at the fact that at any given moment, all of your emotions would hit you at once and you would start breaking down

he wanted nothing more than to just be true to yourself and him

“hey, baby. how are you today?” daichi asked as you walked into the gymnasium

“i’m okay! how are you?” you gave him a quick kiss on the lips, but he didn’t fail to notice how your face seemed to be less expressive than usual

“are you sure you’re okay?” he questioned, cupping your face in his hands

“yeah, i’m fine! how are you?” 

he felt himself growing annoyed that you kept brushing his question off as if it were nothing

it seemed to him like you cared more about his well-being than your own

“i’m alright. did something happen today?” he kept pressing. no matter what, he wanted to get an answer out of you

“nope! how was practice?”

by this point, daichi’s blood was starting to boil. he wasn’t meaning to get mad at you, per se, he was getting angry at the fact that he felt so useless

he felt as if you were hiding something important from him - something he could most definitely help you with

he stopped walking, and he watched as you turned around and walked up to him, tilting your head

“f/n, i need to know if you’re actually okay. and please don’t lie to me.”

he watched your expression drop, and you furrowed your eyebrows

“w-why would you think something is wrong?”

he sighed, placing his hands on your shoulders

“i know you’re hiding something from me. and i’m not mad, i just want to be able to help my best friend and my s/o with anything that’s troubling them. so please, i want you to be honest.”

by now the tears were rushing down your cheeks, and daichi offered you a seat on a nearby bench

you waited until you could form coherent sentences until you began to narrate your god-awful day to your boyfriend

he listened carefully as you described your day; firstly, you woke up late so you were unable to eat breakfast, then you received a horrible grade on your test, and then you didn’t have any lunch money to buy food at the cafeteria. you were exhausted and you just wanted some food

daichi nodded his head as he reached into his bag to pull out a granola bar, which you accepted eagerly

“f/n, please don’t hesitate to admit whenever you’re feeling awful. it’s my job as your boyfriend to make you feel better, and i can’t do that when you’re hiding your feelings from me. promise me you’ll tell me when something’s bothering you?”

you nodded and hugged him, burying your face into his chest

“good,” he sighed in contentment as he watched you excitedly scarf down the rest of the granola bar

[quickspinner]

Haste to the Wedding

Here’s my fic for the @lukanette-exchange​, for @misslenamooney​! I hope you like it! The prompts were “Lukanette, happy Marinette, and if you’re feeling a bit salty, you can salt on Alya and Lila.“ I only have the faintest sprinkling of salt here, more like an echo of the past than anything else, but it was a convenient frame for the story. Anyway, I hope you enjoy! This will be up on AO3 later today.

Come haste to the wedding ye friends and ye neighbours The lovers their bliss can no longer delay. Forget all your sorrows your cares and your labors, And let every heart beat with rapture today. ~ Haste to the Wedding, traditional Gaelic jig.

“Oh, Marinette, it’s so perfect,” Alya breathed, bouncing slightly and then stilling before Marinette could reprimand her. The gown was lovely, the white lace making beautiful patterns against Alya’s darker skin where Marinette had left it open, and forming a more subtle texture in the areas where the dress was lined for modesty. It skimmed Alya’s body beautifully before flaring in a subtle trumpet shape towards the bottom, with just enough train in the back to form a nice shape on the ground behind her. All in all, Marinette felt very satisfied with it. Sophisticated and strong enough for the tough reporter, with a touch of the whimsy and fantasy that one expected in a wedding dress.

Alya was glowing with happiness, and Marinette smiled absently as she selected another pin from a cushion on her wrist. They’d grown apart a bit, going to different lycées and both traveling extensively for their careers, so they didn’t get to see each other often and sometimes didn’t speak directly for months at a time, but they were still good friends, and when Alya had called and asked Marinette to personally design her wedding dress, there was no question of saying no. Marinette had even hesitantly offered to work with Alya on the wedding planning, since she’d be in Paris much more than Alya over the coming months, but somewhat to her relief, Alya had dismissed her offer, telling her she’d run into another old friend who was starting up a wedding planning business and that she was taking care of everything. Marinette wasn’t sorry to be exempted from the planning (and also from bridesmaid duties, since Alya had decided to have only her sisters attend her).

Now she need only worry about the dress, which Alya of course insisted only Marinette could do. Alya had opted for a crisp white pantsuit look for the civil ceremony at City Hall, saving her wedding dress for the fancifully American-style wedding reception they had planned for the next day.

Despite her faith in her friend, Alya had been a bit nervous, Marinette could tell, about having most of their consultations long-distance, but Marinette was used to it, and she had treated Alya like any of her several high-profile clients that couldn’t always meet with her in person. Marinette’s professionalism and smooth process had seemed to soothe Alya’s worries, and they had managed a couple of in-person meetups for the most critical stages.

The only thing that had given Marinette pause was the idea of not having a final fitting until the day before the wedding, but it really couldn’t be helped. Marinette preferred to have multiple redundant contingency plans and plenty of time to implement them. She’d had several mini-meltdowns at the very idea of a huge last-minute problem, and had actually been in the middle of one when Alya walked in the door, fresh from the civil ceremony and glowing with happiness and excitement. The irrational panic that Alya wouldn’t like the dress had melted away as soon as Alya caught sight of it and let out a deafening squeal, and once the dress was on, it became apparent that Marinette’s assistant had been right in telling her to have more faith in her own skill. The dress was nearly perfect. No emergencies, no last minute creative fixes, no (or at least, no more than usual) stress. Marinette only had to pin the hem to the final length for Alya’s shoes and finish it that night, and it would be ready for tomorrow. 

She just had to endure Alya’s teasing until then. “Marinette, come on, spill,” the bride urged. “I know something’s going on with you and Luka since he got back from his tour. I just want to know what it is!”

“So do I,” Marinette muttered, selecting another pin from the cushion on her wrist. “I don’t know, Alya, we’ve been flirting a lot and there’s been...I mean, he’s always been a touchy-feely person, so I don’t know if it means anything—”

“Girl, when it comes to you Luka has always meant something and you know it.”

Marinette blushed, but she couldn’t deny it. Luka had never pressed his admiration on her but he never hid it, either, and Marinette had never been unaffected by it. Busy as they were with their own careers, both made it a point to make time to see each other whenever the two of them were in the same city, and the meetings were always comfortable, enjoyable, brief, and just on the edge of flirtatious, charged with potential they never had time to explore. Since he’d come back from his tour and she’d actually managed to be in town for a few months consecutively, they’d met up a few times now (more than a few) and it was—it was so fun, and Luka was so sweet and smooth and it felt so good to be the center of someone’s attention, and they’d always had so much chemistry together, and she was really starting to think that maybe— 

Focus, she thought, sticking some pins in her mouth as an excuse not to speak. Fortunately, Alya’s mind was too focused on the wedding to pester Marinette for long.  

“We thought about asking if he could play the wedding, but I know it’s not normally his thing, and my friend said she had some other options, and boy, did she! And how amazing will it be to have Jagged Stone playing the reception? It’ll be huge for Nino, for people to know he has enough connections to get someone that big to play—Marinette? Are you okay?”

Marinette’s head had snapped up to stare wide-eyed at Alya, and she was completely frozen now, a sick feeling forming in her stomach. Slowly she took the pins out of her mouth, sitting back on her heels as she looked up at Alya. “Alya,” Marinette began hesitantly. “Jagged’s in Greece. He has three back to back shows scheduled over the next three nights, and two more shortly after. There’s no way he’s going to be in Paris tomorrow.”

Alya’s mouth dropped open slightly, and then she laughed. “That can’t be right, Marinette! He’s been booked for the wedding for six months!”

“Six months?” Marinette echoed, her brows coming together as that sick feeling got worse. “Alya, Jagged’s schedule is booked out for two years at least.” 

“Well yeah, for normal people.” Alya flapped a hand dismissively. “But Lila said—” She paused and bit her lip. “I mean—for you know, people with connections…” but she trailed off as Marinette laid her pins aside and stood up. 

“You let Lila book the band for your wedding?” Marinette demanded, and then at Alya’s guilty look, she sucked in a horrified breath. “Lila is your old friend that’s in the wedding planning business?” 

“See, this is why I didn’t want to tell you,” Alya sighed, twisting her hands together. “I know you guys never got along and I knew you’d be mad.” 

“Mad isn’t the word I would use,” Marinette sighed, pacing the floor and pulling at her hair. “Alya, how much of the wedding did Lila book?” 

“Almost all of it,” Alya shrugged. “My mom got us the venue and she’s doing the catering, and I insisted on having you do my dress, but Lila booked everything else.” She smiled dreamily. “It’s going to be beautiful, Marinette, she got so many incredible things and her budget was so reasonable. Her business is really going to take off after everybody sees how well she’s done. I was a little nervous, but I knew she could pull it off.”

Marinette just stared at her for a moment, her lips in a firm line, and then she pulled out her phone. “Just a minute, Alya,” she muttered, and dialed. It went to voicemail, as she expected. “Hey, Penny, this is Marinette. I was um, working on a project that I wanted Jagged to see, and since I hear he’s going to be in Paris tomorrow, I was hoping he could make some time for me. No pressure, just, if he’s available. Please let me know either way.” 

She hung up the phone and put it back in her pocket, trying to keep her face neutral.  “Alya,” she said quietly, “What did Lila book for you?”

Alya shrugged. “Everything except the dress, which of course had to be you, the food, which of course had to be my mom, and the venue, which we already had reserved through one of my mom’s contacts. Flowers—oh, you should have seen the pictures she sent me they were to die for—favors for the guests, the band obviously, the cake—she tried to get your parents but they were booked solid and we agreed we shouldn’t bother you about it—the makeup and hair and photographer, from all that modeling she’s done you know, and the decorations.”

Marinette took a deep breath and sat down in a chair, covering her mouth with her hands. This was going to be a disaster. Alya’s wedding was going to be a disaster. Oh, the important stuff was still there, at least no one would go hungry and they weren’t going to have hundreds of guests descend on some poor bewildered staff person demanding to be let in to a wedding that didn’t exist. Alya and Nino were already legally married and they could still—

“Lila doesn’t have the rings, right?” Marinette demanded, looking up sharply. 

“No, Nino does,” Alya frowned, putting her hands on her hips. “Marinette, what is  your problem?” 

Marinette got up and swatted Alya’s hands away from the fabric irritably. “Don’t, you’ll soil it. My problem is that Lila has never delivered on a single thing she promised you. Have you actually talked to any of these people yourself?”

“No, but Lila and I have been talking every week and she sent me pictures and samples and she did all the consultations. I didn’t have to worry about a thing!” 

Marinette moaned, tossing her head back. “You never confirmed anything she booked?”

Alya rolled her eyes. “She sent me invoices for all of them! I can show you the check stubs if you’re that upset about it.”

“You wrote checks?” Marinette gasped. Charges on a credit card they might have been able to dispute, but—okay, no, this was too much. She’d worry about that part later. “Did you sign a contract with her?” 

Alya scoffed. “Of course not, we’re friends.” 

Marinette pressed her lips together and folded her arms and reminded herself that Nino would be upset if she strangled his bride the night before the wedding. “We’re friends,” she pointed out tightly, gesturing between herself and Alya. “I still made you sign a contract.”

Alya rolled her eyes. “Well, you’ve always been anal like that.” 

“Anal like—” Marinette stopped, turning her back for a second to breathe, and before she could formulate a response her phone beeped with an incoming video message.

She set it to play on speaker. “Hi, Marinette,” Penny Rolling said, looking pristine as always despite the chaos behind her. “Always great to hear from you! Unfortunately it seems like there’s been some kind of misunderstanding? Jagged’s not scheduled to be in Paris again for two more months. I know he’d want to see what you’re working on, so text me later and we can work out a video call instead. So sorry for the mixup. Talk to you soon.”

Marinette looked up at Alya, who was doing a credible impression of a fish. 

“That’s just—okay, so there was a misunderstanding, you’ve told me how Jagged is, I’m sure—maybe he forgot to tell Penny and she didn’t put it on his calendar, but it’s just one thing, there’s no need to—”

“Alya.” Marinette met her friend’s gaze steadily and Alya cut off, seeming to shrink a little. “This is your wedding. Do you really want to take the chance?”

Alya just stared at her.

“Call the florist first,” Marinette said calmly. Too calmly, she knew, but she also knew that Alya was finally listening, because the color drained from her face and she began fumbling for her phone. 

Not bothering to wait for the outcome, Marinette pulled out her sketchbook and flipped to a fresh page, making a list down the page as she frantically thought about her options. In a few moments she had a plan sketched out and was dialing her own phone.

“Adrien,” Marinette bit out as soon as he picked up. “Did you know that Nino and Alya’s wedding planner was Lila?”

There was a good thirty seconds of silence on the other end of the line before Adrien breathed, “Oh no. No, I didn’t know, it never even occurred to me to…what are we going to do, Marinette?”

“We’re going to fix this disaster so our friends can have the wedding they deserve,” Marinette said as if it was simple. “You’re on photography and flowers. I know you hate trading on your name and your contacts but so help me, you better use every ounce of fame you have to get this done—”

“I’ll do it,” Adrien said quickly. “I’ll do it. And count on me to cover the cost of whatever else you need to get. Whatever premium you have to promise.” 

“I’ll hold you do that,” Marinette told him, and then glanced over her shoulder. An increasingly panicked-looking Alya wasn’t even paying attention to her. “And call Nino and tell him he better get back here now. Thanks, chaton.” 

“You can always count on me, my lady. So can Alya and Nino.” 

“All right, I’ll call if I need anything else.” She hung up the phone and dialed again. 

“Hi, boss,” a chipper voice greeted her. 

“Sabrina,” Marinette sighed, unable to match her assistant’s cheerful tone. “Listen, there’s been a problem with Alya’s wedding and I need you to ransack the warehouse for decorations. Anything that we might use for a wedding photoshoot. And start calling any stylist and makeup artist who’s ever done well for us and get them on board to do wedding hair and makeup tomorrow. I know it’s short notice but we need somebody on board in a hurry. Money is no object. Adrien’s footing the bill so if you need a credit card or something, call him. He’ll be expecting you.”

“Colors?” Sabrina asked, and Marinette smiled at the brusque tone and lack of questioning. She’d been nervous when Sabrina had called her looking for a job, having been fired (again) by Chloe, but taking her on was going on Marinette’s list of best management decisions ever. Sabrina was a huge asset to Marinette’s successful and growing business, and the only assistant Marinette had ever hired that was detail-oriented and organized enough to keep up with her.

“Orange, mint, and forest green,” she replied, making a note on her list to text that to Adrien as well for the florist. “Just have the guys pile it all in the van and we’ll sort through it when we get there. Grab whatever you can find in the scrap fabrics, too. I’m not sure it’ll be much but we’ll work with whatever we can have.” She paused. “Sabrina, this is a personal favor, not a job, but I—”

“Got it, boss,” Sabrina chirped. “Text me the address and what time the venue opens, and I’ll meet you in the morning.”

“Thanks, Sabrina,” Marinette smiled, making a mark on her list. 

Next, she called her mother, made Sabine put her on speaker so that Tom could hear, and begged shamelessly, using every “Papa’s little girl” trick she could think of to get them on board. Naturally, Tom couldn’t refuse. Marinette felt guilty for putting that much work on them but she’d find a way to make it up to them later.

Looking at the next item on her list, she hesitated. She set her phone down and pressed her hands to her face, and then looked back down at the list, feeling her face heat. She knew what she needed to do—she knew who she needed to call, but…

She glanced up at Alya, who was sitting motionless in her chair, the phone in her lap, staring into space with a blank expression that was...bad. On Alya, it was really bad.

Marinette took a deep breath and dialed the phone. She put a hand over her racing heart and pressed as if that would stop the fluttering. 

“Hey, beautiful,” a warm, deep voice said, and Marinette smiled in spite of herself. “Didn’t think I’d hear from you today. Figured you’d be busy.”

“H-hey, Luka,” she said, and swallowed, hating the stutter. “I—well, I am busy, but I—that is, I mean—argh.” She groaned, and pressed the heel of her hand to her forehead. God, she hated to do this. “I need a favor,” she said through gritted teeth, and then sighed. “A big one. Huge. A really big, I-have-no-right-to-ask-you-this-sized favor.”

“I’m listening,” Luka said, unruffled as always, a touch of amusement in his voice. 

“So, the wedding,” Marinette took a breath and blew it out. “Well, long story short, the band fell through. A lot of things fell through, actually, and we’re really scrambling to fix everything and I know this is super, super short notice and I won’t blame you one bit if you tell me to jump ship, but—but this is really important to me, Luka, and I...I…”

“You want me to find you a band in less than twenty-four hours?” Luka asked incredulously.

“W-well,” Marinette cringed, fisting the fabric of her skirt in her hand. “I was sort of hoping you’d be the band? Not that I don’t trust you, I’m sure anybody you could get would be great, but you’re amazing, and I really need amazing for this. This—I can’t explain everything but this is not going to be the wedding Nino and Alya had counted on and I really, really need it to be the best we can possibly give them, and you’re definitely the best, so—please, Luka, I’m begging, I’ll do anything, Adrien’s covering all the expenses and we’ll come up with a number to make it worth it for you and anyone you can bring with you, and I’m sure there’s going to be industry contacts there because of Nino, and I just—”

“Marinette,” Luka said firmly, and she shut her mouth abruptly. 

“Yes?” she ventured, when Luka didn’t say anything more.

“What time do you need me to be there?” he asked, and she could hear his smile. “I’m not sure if I can get the rest of the guys, or even subs, it might just be me—”

“You’re more than enough,” Marinette assured him, and then blushed. “I mean. Well. You are. Anyway, I, um...I’ll text you the details and you let me know how it turns out with the others.”

“Yeah, sure. Be sure and send me anything they wanted as far as the set list. First dance and all that.” He chuckled. “I haven’t played many weddings but I remember that much at least.”  

“Okay,” Marinette said, glancing aside as the door opened and Nino came through, expression worried. “I’ll probably have Nino get in touch with you directly about that stuff. I’m so sorry to ask this of you, Luka, I...I feel like I’m taking advantage…”

“Marinette,” Luka’s voice was velvety, rich and alluring, and despite the situation it sent a shiver down her spine. “You can take advantage of me any time you want.” 

Mairnette scrunched her shoulders as a fierce blush spread over her face. “Luka,” she whined, and he laughed.

“I’ll see you tomorrow,” he told her, still in that voice. “Save a dance for me.” 

The call cut off and Marinette dropped the phone in her lap, dropped her head in her hands, and squealed softly. 

Okay. Plenty of time later to think about her complicated relationship with the guitarist and how much she’d been wondering lately if kissing him stupid would uncomplicate it or make it worse. For now, Alya was coming out of her catatonic state, Marinette’s phone was already blowing up with texts from Adrien and Sabrina and her mother, and she had a disaster to mitigate.

At least that was something she was good at. She picked up her notebook and marched over to Alya and Nino.

***

It could have been worse, Marinette reflected with satisfaction as she looked around the party hall. Sabrina was a miracle worker, and that was a fact. Resourceful and much more ruthless than her (current) employer, she knew how to use her contacts and how to trade on Adrien’s name and wealth to get things done. Marinette only hoped they hadn’t screwed anyone over too badly.

“You know it’s bad form to outshine the bride at her wedding,” said a deep voice in her ear, and Marinette jumped and whirled to smack Luka in the shoulder as he laughed. She pouted and shook her finger in his face. “No flirting until after your set.” 

“All right,” he chuckled, catching her hand and bringing it down gently as he smiled at her. “You’re the boss today.” His thumb rubbed over the back of her hand in a way that made his words a lie. “Where should we set up?” 

“We?” Marinette blinked, her mouth dropping open slightly as she finally tore her eyes from Luka to look over his shoulder, where three other people stood with instrument cases and bored expressions. 

“I called in some favors,” he grinned. “I’ll probably be playing dive bars and who knows what else for weeks to pay this back, but...anything for you, Marinette.” 

She should have scolded him for flirting again, but she couldn’t because she knew that he meant it. He was only laying it on so thick now because she’d been flirting back and encouraging him over the last few weeks, and when he looked at her like that, well...she had a hard time being sorry. 

Luka raised his eyebrows slightly and she realized he was still waiting for an answer to his question. He was still rubbing her hand with his thumb, though, too, and Marinette whipped her hand away and turned on her heel, calling “Follow me.” 

“Anywhere,” he said softly behind her, and she bit her lip, trying not to giggle like a teenager. 

Once she had led him to the stage and the sound system, he sobered a bit, clearly settling into professional mode as he gave his bandmates instructions for setting up. Marinette hovered while he checked the stage lights and asked for some adjustments. The venue staff accommodated him with admirable speed. Marinette was called away for a bit to consult with the frazzled, tired-but-triumphant florist and figure out how best to distribute what they had managed to acquire. She was surprised at how much there was. A lot of it was white but it was tastefully mixed with the orange and pale green blossoms. It would do, distributed correctly.

When she returned, the band was set up and tuning up for their sound check. Marinette checked the time nervously.

“Don’t worry, we’ll be ready,” Luka’s normally soft voice boomed through the sound system, and she jumped slightly. She looked up to find him at the microphone, guitar slung across his shoulders, and as he tossed back his hair and smiled at her, she was reminded of the boy from the boat, Juleka’s brother, the boy who gave her rides on his bike and smiled at her with soft eyes and played songs that resonated in her heart. 

Almost as if he could hear her, his hands went to the strings, but it wasn’t her heart that he played this time. She recognized the intro to Alya and Nino’s first dance song, though it sounded more vibrant with Luka’s distinctive rock edge. It would be perfect for them, she noted absently. Luka’s eyes found her again and he smirked. Marinette was barely aware of the drums picking up the rhythm and the bass coming in a bit late as Luka took a breath and sang, low and smooth, his eyes on her.

“What would I do without your smart mouth, drawing me in and you kicking me out, you’ve got my head spinning, no kidding, I can’t pin you down. What’s going on in that beautiful mind? I’m on your magical mystery ride, and I’m so dizzy, don’t know what hit me, but I’ll be all right.” 

He dropped his eyes, and Marinette thought he might be blushing as he launched into the chorus. She put a hand over her heart and sighed at the way it beat against her hand as she closed her eyes to listen to him singing All of me loves all of you… 

It gave her goosebumps. Luka wasn’t Jagged Stone, and he didn’t try to be. His voice was so rich and full it seemed to fill the space and make everything sound closer and more intimate. 

He cut off abruptly and stepped back, motioning his bandmates to cut off. “Okay, can we bring the bass up just a little bit?” The guy working the sound waved an acknowledgement, and they played the lead-in again. This time Luka nodded in satisfaction, and then turned back to ask his bandmates something Marinette couldn’t hear.

They ran through parts of a few other of the more important songs, and Marinette was more and more impressed at the way Luka managed to fit the songs to his own style, without changing the substance. 

When he was satisfied with the way everything sounded, they all put the instruments in their stands and came down off the stage. 

Luka opened his mouth to say something but Marinette raised up on her toes, took his face in her hands and kissed him briefly on the mouth. “Thank you so much for doing this,” she told him. “You’re really my hero today.” 

He licked his lips, and made a visible effort to drag his gaze from her mouth to her eyes, but they flicked right back again when Marinette bit her lip again to keep in another fit of giggles that wanted to burst from her. He always had that effect on her. She patted his cheek. “I have to go check on Alya, but I’ll catch up with you in a bit, okay?” 

“Sure,” he managed finally, and cleared his throat as she turned away. She got a few steps away before he called her name and she turned back. 

“You really do look beautiful,” he said simply, and Marinette blushed, hands going automatically to smooth her simple pink and mint cocktail dress. 

“Thanks, Luka,” she said, watching his eyes follow the slight shrug of her bare shoulders. “You look really good too. I like your usual look, but you clean up nicely too.” She winked at him. “Don’t forget you promised me a dance after your set.”

Luka’s mouth dropped open slightly and he looked a bit as if he’d been hit in the back of the head with a board. Marinette tossed her hair and blew him a kiss, and if she put a little extra sway in her hips as she walked away, it was just for the sake of making her skirt swish that little bit more. 

Behind her, Luka put a hand to his heart and pretended to faint into his bandmate’s arms. “She’s gonna kill me,” he muttered with a happy sigh.

“So long as I get paid first, mate,” his drummer grunted, heaving him off. 

***

Alya cried when she saw the hall, despite all the ladies in the group converging on her and begging her not to make her eyes puffy on her big day. In all honesty her eyes were already puffy from the hopeless weeping that had followed her denial and disbelief, but the makeup artist Sabrina found did a masterful job hiding it, and the glow of Alya’s happiness and relief did anything else that was wanted. 

It maybe wasn’t the decorations Alya had picked out, or the hairstyle Alya had decided on, or exactly the shade of eyeshadow she had planned on, but it all came together just fine. No one would ever know the disaster the wedding had almost been. Marinette spared a moment to viciously wish that Lila might see the social media pictures of just how lovely it had all turned out in spite of her, before putting the horrible woman out of her mind entirely. 

“You’re a miracle worker as always,” Adrien sighed as they paused for a congratulatory fist bump. 

“Sabrina gets most of the credit,” Marinette observed. “She did a lot of the legwork, and we for sure wouldn’t have been able to do as much without you backing us. It sure would be nice if I could find the money to put a bonus in her next paycheck.”

Adrien nodded. “How about you overcharge me for a custom suit for the charity ball I have to attend next month?” 

“That should do it,” Marinette agreed. “Have your assistant call Sabrina, we’ll set something up.” 

“Still,” Adrien said, nudging Marinette with a cat-like grin spreading across his face. “Somehow I doubt Sabrina had much to do with the music for tonight.” 

“No, that was Nino,” Marinette replied airily. “He called in a favor with a DJ friend of his that was on the guest list anyway.”

“Uh-huh. And the live music?” Adrien nudged her a little harder and Marinette shoved him off so hard he nearly fell.

“I’m going to check on the cake,” she announced, though she knew her parents had delivered it to Mme Césare’s staff earlier and that they surely knew what they were doing.

The ring ceremony went off without a hitch, with Alya’s sisters at her side and Adrien and Noel at Nino’s, without any hint of the drama that had been going on behind the scenes since yesterday. 

And the dress, Marinette noted with satisfaction, looked perfect. 

Then Alya and Nino took the dance floor, and Luka took over the mic, and then he was singing again, in that voice that gave her goosebumps. It had been quite a while since she had seen him perform live, and she hadn’t exactly forgotten the way he could command a room, but it still gave her the shivers. She drifted closer and closer to the stage as she moved through the crowd, and then suddenly she was looking up at Luka, and he was looking down at her, and Marinette might have felt self-conscious except that everyone else was locked on Alya and Nino. No one had any attention to notice the way they were looking at each other as Luka sang, “You’re my downfall, you’re my muse, my worst distraction, my rhythm and blues. I can’t stop singing, it’s ringing in my head for you.” 

Really, to Marinette, it felt like all those other people weren’t even there.

***

She was looking for him, once the band had wrapped up and the DJ had taken over, and he still managed to come up from behind and surprise her. 

“Is now a good time for that dance?” 

“Luka, stop sneaking up on me,” Marinette scolded, turning to find him grinning down at her once again. 

“I’m not even sorry,” he told her, chuckling as he held out his hand. “May I?”  

Marinette rolled her eyes, but she was grinning as she put her hand in his and let him guide her onto the dance floor, where his broad, warm hands settled on her waist as her own delicate hands joined behind his neck. 

“You did an awesome job up there,” Marinette told him as they swayed. “Really. Jagged Stone himself couldn’t have done better.” 

Luka snorted. “As if Jagged could ever contain himself enough to play a wedding. He’d be upstaging the bride every chance that he got.”

“That...is probably true,” Marinette admitted. She loved the rock star, but she was by no means blind to his faults, which included being extremely self-absorbed and a natural attention magnet. It really was better that he hadn’t been here. 

She sighed. “I still can’t believe Alya thought Lila could actually deliver on all those promises. I thought after everything—but she did eventually manage to lie her way into some real connections, so I guess maybe she had just enough authenticity to sound credible this time.”

“Don’t think about her,” Luka said softly, whisking her into a turn. “I don’t like the faces you make when you do,” he teased, lifting one hand to stroke the deep crease between her brows. “You pulled it off, Marinette. Look at Alya and Nino. They couldn’t be any happier, so just dance with me and forget about all that mess. What’s on the big calendar for this week, hm? Or should I even ask?” 

“Actually, I was wondering if maybe I could take you to dinner,” Marinette said as lightly as she could manage. “As a thank you.” 

Luka looked away for a second. “I think you already know I’d love to go out with you, Marinette,” Luka said, his voice serious even though he was still smiling when he looked back at her. “But I’d rather it not be out of pity, or even gratitude. I want you on your own terms.” 

Of course he did. That was just...so Luka. Marinette took a deep breath and shifted a little closer to him, letting her fingers drift up to toy with the hair at the nape of his neck. “Okay.” 

“Okay?” he repeated, the eyes that had gone half-lidded at her touch snapping open. 

“Okay,” Marinette confirmed. “Here’s my terms. I work a lot. My business is very deadline driven and I’m very hands-on with a lot of people as part of the fitting process. It’s entirely professional, entirely necessary, and you have to be okay with it.”

“I can handle that,” Luka agreed, looking as cool as ever, but they were now moving ever so slightly off-beat with the music, so she knew he was rattled. 

“I can’t always be home to cook dinner. I might not even be home to eat dinner. I’ve worked really hard to get where I am and in a couple more years I might be able to bring on more staff, but that’s not a guarantee.” 

“I’d never ask you to stop pursuing your passion, Marinette,” Luka told her, the corner of his mouth tilting up. “But if you’re not taking care of yourself, if you’re not eating and sleeping enough to at least function, I’m gonna ask you to slow down.”

“Fair,” Marinette acknowledged. “I travel a lot. I’ll be in other cities a lot, on my own, with a lot of clients and models. The tabloids like to stir up trouble and it’s only a matter of time before they have me shacking up with somebody. I expect you to talk to me before you jump to any conclusions.” 

“Of course,” he said so simply that she believed him. 

Marinette took a deep breath. “Sometimes I have to be places that I can’t explain,” she said softly, no longer looking him in the eye. “I don’t want to have to lie and come up with excuses, so...I need you to just trust me. And if it gets to be too much...I need you to tell me that too, so we can stay friends when we split up.” 

“Okay,” Luka said, raising his eyebrows slightly. “Is that all?”

Marinette shrugged and tried to smile. “Mostly, yeah.” 

“All right then,” Luka grinned, twirling her around. “I accept your terms. Are you ready to hear mine?” 

“O-okay,” Marinette stammered. 

“We’re in the same boat on the travel. I work a lot of odd jobs and weird hours,” Luka began. “My schedule’s never the same from week to week. I work a lot of late nights and I hate mornings.” 

“Me too,” Marinette giggled. “I think I can live with that. What else?”

“I get hit on kind of a lot,” he said, looking away slightly as a faint hint of red colored his cheeks. “When I play a gig. And this tour was—it was crazy, even though we were just the opening act. Some people get a little handsy. I don’t like it, I don’t ask for it, and it’s got nothing to do with things between us—no matter what it looks like when you walk up. So, same courtesy? Talk to me before you freak out?” 

“I don’t freak out as easily as I used to,” Marinette mumbled, blushing herself. “But yeah, I got it. Okay. I don’t really like that people are touching you when you don’t want them to, though. I can’t promise I won’t bend a thumb or two if they’re where they don’t belong.” 

“Hmm, we’ll negotiate on that,” Luka chuckled, pinching her waist lightly. “I don’t personally mind but I don’t want my girlfriend getting kicked out of every club in Paris.” He gave her a soft look. “And you would be my girlfriend. I’m not interested in dating around if being with you is an option.”

Marinette blushed harder, but put her nose in the air and pretended to consider. “Hm. That sounds reasonable. Besides, I don’t mind making time for you, but otherwise I’m way too busy to date.” She held her “Chloe face” for another moment and then broke down in giggles, and Luka laughed too, and they collapsed against each other for a moment, Luka’s forehead coming down to rest on hers as they snickered. Marinette closed her eyes, breathing in the peace and contentment she always felt with him, and wondered why they hadn’t had this talk sooner. It felt so...right.

Reluctantly, Marinette pushed him back after a moment, pulling him back into the dance. 

“I don’t want to steal Alya’s spotlight,” she murmured, glancing at her glowing friend, floating around the room on her new husband’s arm. “She’s already going to be mad enough we stole her song.”

“Did we?” Luka chuckled, and Marinette grinned. 

“I think we did. It sure felt like it to me.” 

“Yeah, it did,” Luka sighed. “I should probably be sorry about that. Hopefully everyone else was focused on the bride and groom. But seriously, I think you’ve already kind of stolen the show here. You say you didn’t do much but I was talking to Adrien a bit before.” He shook his head. “You’re amazing. Anyone else would have just patted her back and left her to figure it out on her own.”

“I don’t think that’s true,” Marinette sighed. “I just happened to have the resources to make it happen.”

“Because you’re amazing,” Luka chuckled. 

Marinette’s lips twitched as she tried not to smile too broadly, pretending to dust something off his shoulder as an excuse not to look at him for a moment. “Maybe. It did turn out pretty nicely, after all. I guess I deserve some credit for that.” She glanced up at his face, half-afraid he’d be put off by her lack of modesty, but he just squeezed her waist lightly and nodded. 

“Absolutely. The business you’ve built at your age, it’s incredible. You’re so dedicated and driven and passionate, it blows my mind. Makes me feel like I’m really slacking. If I had your dedication I’d be on my third album by now.”

“You would be,” Marinette chided, squeezing his arm. “If you’d accepted Jagged’s help.”

Luka sighed and looked away. “That’s complicated, Marinette.” 

“I know,” Marinette said, giving him a sympathetic look. “And you’re doing great on your own. Are the final numbers in from the tour yet? I know you were waiting to hear.” 

A smile tugged at the corner of Luka’s mouth. “Yeah. They’re, um...they’re pretty good. Really good, actually. Nothing’s certain yet, but I’m pretty sure they’re going to pick up our option for the next album.”

“Really?” Marinette screeched in a whisper, bouncing on her toes. “Luka, that’s amazing!” She popped up on her toes and pressed a quick kiss to his lips. Her eyes went round when she realized what she’d just done, but Luka’s went heavy-lidded and dark. 

Suddenly he made a sharp turn and pulled her into an alcove they’d been about to pass, shielded from the rest of the party by a draping of fabric that some professional corner of Marinette’s brain recognized as leftovers from her spring collection. Then Luka’s hand was cradling the back of her neck and his lips were pressed firmly, though gently, to hers, and she was pulling him down into her, pressing up on her toes to deepen the kiss while Luka’s other hand found the small of her back and pulled her closer. 

“Marinette,” Adrien’s amused voice was low, and when Marinette gasped and looked behind her, she saw Adrien was standing casually (or what passed for casually when one was an internationally famous model) with his back to the entrance of their little alcove. “They’re about to round up all the single ladies, and Alya’s going to come looking for you.” 

“Right,” Marinette gasped, reaching up to touch her face. “Do I—” 

“You’re fine. Me?” Luka smiled at her with so much happiness that Marinette almost didn’t register his question. 

When she did, she reached up and wiped away a smear beneath his lower lip with her thumb. “I think that’s all.” 

“Hmm,” Luka sighed. “We’ll have to do better next time.” He laughed when Marinette gasped and smacked him in the chest before flouncing out of the alcove to punch a snickering Adrien in the arm.

“So violent,” Adrien moaned, rubbing his arm. “Do you know how much money that arm is worth?”

“You’re insured,” Marinette huffed, eyes narrowed as she got in his face and flexed her own arm. “And we both know I can take you so don’t be giving me shit, Agreste.”

Adrien rolled his eyes and turned to Luka. “Are you seriously signing up for this, Couffaine?”

“Hell yeah,” Luka sighed, clapping a friendly hand on Adrien’s shoulder and shoving him away from Marinette. “That was hot,” Luka grinned, putting his arm around Marinette’s shoulders as  Adrien jokingly pretended to stagger into a drink cart. 

Marinette giggled. “I think growing up with your mom warped your personality.”

“Almost definitely,” Luka chuckled, his arm slipping down to squeeze her waist, but before he could say anything else, the DJ was calling all the single women to the floor.

Marinette tried to hang back but Adrien was blocking her exit, so any attempt she might have made to hide was thwarted, and then Alya grabbed the microphone and yelled into it, “Get your ass up here, Marinette, front and center!” 

“Favoritism!” someone yelled, and Alya just laughed.

Marinette reluctantly wandered over and let herself be pushed to the front. She tried not to feel self-conscious as she stood with the other single ladies, all of whom were quite a bit taller than she was. Stupid Alya and her tall genes and her tallish friends. She exchanged a look with Nora, who looked bored and was clearly only participating because her mother had ordered her to be for the sake of having all the sisters in the pictures. 

It was a stupid, meaningless tradition anyway. She’d much rather still be basking in Luka’s calm yet electrifying presence. Marinette pasted on a smile and prepared herself to make the minimum effort necessary to look good in the pictures 

“Ready?” Alya called, turning her back to the group. “One...two…” 

Suddenly a pair of hands wrapped around her waist and a familiar voice softly murmured, “Jump” in her ear. She obeyed without thought just as Alya yelled, “THREE!” and flung the bouquet back over her head. For a moment Marinette felt weightless as she was lifted up high—very high—high enough to snatch the bundle of flowers out of the air. She looked over her shoulder and found Luka grinning up at her as he lowered her to the floor. 

“That was cheating,” Ella pouted, and Marinette very maturely stuck out her tongue at the younger girl. She giggled and leaned back into Luka’s chest, his chuckle rumbling against her back before they made their way back off the dance floor as guests began to trickle back onto it. 

Marinette grinned down at the fragrant bundle in her hands, feeling a little flutter as Luka, still behind her, leaned his face down beside hers. 

“So I know we only just became official and everything, but I’m just saying, you know, whenever you’re ready—”

“Luka!” Marinette laughed, turning in his arms to look up at him. He grinned and shrugged.

“Can’t blame a guy for trying,” he teased. “I’m not saying I won’t wait for you, Marinette Dupain-Cheng, but I wouldn’t be sad if I didn’t have to anymore.” 

“Mm-hmm,” Marinette grinned wickedly, and then pulled her phone out of the hidden pocket of her dress. “Hold that thought.” She dialed and brought the phone to her ear. “Hi, Sabrina, sorry to bother you but hopefully this will be quick. I know this is short notice, but you know that flight for Vegas I have booked for Monday morning?” Marinette continued, watching Luka’s eyes go wide and his mouth drop open. Oh, that was fun, taking him off guard for once. “I need another ticket. Mm-hmm. Great! Let me know when it’s booked.” She hung up and slipped her phone back in the pocket. “You should know by now that I don’t hesitate anymore,” she teased, looking up into his shocked expression with a grin. “So if you were bluffing you better speak up now, Luka Couffaine.” 

“You know I wasn’t,” he breathed, voice low and serious. “So don’t mess with me here, Marinette.” 

Marinette shrugged slightly, blushing as she picked at imaginary lint on his sleeve. “You’ve always been more honest with your feelings with most people, so...yeah. I didn’t think you were.” It was an effort to meet his eyes, but she managed it, though it brought the heat to her face again. “Neither am I.” 

A single beat.

“Well all right then,” Luka grinned, taking her hand and lacing his fingers through hers. “But we probably should stop by City Hall on our way to the airport just to make sure.” 

“You know I like to be thorough,” Marinette agreed, and then squeezed his hand hard. “But if you let a word of this slip before then I’ll kill you. I’m not upstaging Alya’s wedding after all the work I put into saving it.” 

“That would be a shame,” Luka agreed. “Also a crappy thing to do to a friend, so.” He tugged her hand lightly. “You know the sooner we get out of here the less we can give away.” 

“I like the way you think,” Marinette giggled. “Let’s see if I can keep it together enough to say goodbye.” 

Fiction Master Post

I hope you enjoyed it! Here’s the cover I had in mind when Luka played the wedding song.

[lyssismagical]

take a look at me now, there’s just an empty space

For @ironxprince !!!  (@friendly-neighborhood-exchange)

Thank you so so much to my beta Rrobrien 

Read on AO3

Taglist: @littlemissagrafina  @spideygirl2003 @romeoandjulietyouwish @c-artara @shadedrose01 @likeaphoenix13 @pj-hermes-tonystark-obsessed  @you-get-killed-walk-it-off @kitkatwinchester  @emo-girl10 @justme--emily  @hold-our-destiny @imalivebecauseirondad @spiderman-peterman @dykeragee @maryserrao 

*

Hurt people hurt people.

Ben used to say that after fights with May. He’d get back late at night to find May in the kitchen, stress cleaning as she does, with Peter sitting on the floor by her feet, refusing to go to bed until he knew his aunt and uncle were okay. His face would fall, tears filling his cried-out eyes, and he’d sweep May into his arms, pressing kisses to his forehead and cheeks.

He wouldn’t use it as an excuse, he was better than that. But it was a reason why, a soft explanation as to why he’d gotten angry about the little things. He was hurting, that doesn’t make it okay, but May always expected it like it was an apology.

Peter didn’t realize how close he kept those four words to his chest until he lashed out at Ned one day.

There hadn’t been anything wrong in particular. A regular lunch day, years after the death of his parents, something he thought he had mostly gotten over. As much as he could, at least.

But Ned had started complaining about how overbearing his mom was being, how much his dad would pester him about his homework.

“At least you have parents.” It was meant as a joke originally. A way to lighten the mood a little bit, but it came out bitter and Ned had flinched as though Peter had shouted it.

“You have May and Ben. They love you loads, Peter.”

“They’re not my parents.”

Added to the bitterness was a hint of jealousy, of longing. He knew it was unfair to May and Ben who loved him to the moon and back, they cared for him like he was their own. But as much as they loved him, they still weren’t Mary and Richard. They weren’t his parents.

He remembered them pretty well. Better than May thought he would. She lost her parents at a pretty young age too, but she only remembers them in snippets, in photographs, not in the specific details Peter remembers his.

Mary wore lavender perfume that would hang in the house no matter how long she was away for business, though Peter suspects Richard would spray it just to make sure it didn’t fade.

Richard had an obsession with old baseball cards. He kept them in photo albums, ones Ben kept in his closet after.

When Peter was really little, they used to make sure to take alternating business trips so Peter never had to stay with May and Ben for longer than an afternoon. His aunt and uncle never minded, but Peter was a clingy kid and would get fussy if he was alone for too long.

The fight with Ned had escalated until Peter cried, which made Ned, ever the sympathetic friend, cry too. And they hugged it out.

But what Ben had said hung in Peter’s head.

Hurt people hurt people.

Peter tries harder to be the hurt person that helps people.

No matter how heavy the hurt gets, stuck in his chest with nowhere to go because burdening others is hurting them, he won’t be that person.

*

 When Ben dies that fateful night, Peter keeps up that mantra in his head. Hurt people hurt people.

He writes off every fight with May, every night she doesn’t come home, every plead to the landlord when May doesn’t make the bills on time, as just a byproduct of her hurting. He never complains, does all his chores, and convinces Delmar to give him a job after school to help take care of the finances.

The call isn’t much of a surprise.

 *

 It’s not like Peter ever had much family.

May’s parents died when she was young, Ben’s dad was never really in the picture and his mom had been in a home for a while. There weren’t any other aunts or uncles or cousins. So they shipped him off.

It only took a surprisingly short number of weeks for him to be shifted up to the high-risk category. Everyone thought his late-night escapades superheroing was him being a rebellious kid. They started putting bars on the windows and locks on the door, but he needed to go out as Spider-Man. It was the only thing he had that tied him to his old life. He wasn’t allowed to keep anything, most things went ‘into storage’ which essentially meant that he’d never see them again.

Sneaking out at night, always ending up with cuts and bruises after his late nights, and his never-ending metabolism made it hard to find anything close to a permanent placement.

Weeks turn to months spent bouncing from home to home of people who don’t care. Who will come up with any excuse for his social worker to take him elsewhere. Who will lock him in a storage closet that barely passes as a bedroom like he’s some kind of dangerous animal.

As much as he missed May and Ben, and the safety they had provided, he understood well enough that they weren’t going to rescue him. Who he really missed, was Ned. He didn’t even have the chance to say goodbye before he disappeared nearly nine months prior. He hasn’t had access to a phone or a computer, most foster parents don’t even have the time to get him enrolled in school before they were giving him away.

The only upside is that his social worker, a younger woman who’s obviously in over her head with his case, actually seems to care about his well being. She does weekly check-ins and she always answers the calls to get him removed from homes.

He’s heard from other kids in group homes that most of them don’t care as much about them. That it ends differently for them.

He supposes he should consider himself lucky.

 *

 “They’re saying they don’t have any problems, Peter. That’s a good thing,” Elaine, his social worker, says. Her eyes are all wide and hopeful like she thinks this will be the permanent placement she’s been searching for.

He tries not to roll his eyes, shifting on the old dusty couch with a grimace. “The only reason they’re saying that is because they locked me in a room about the size of a pantry and haven’t spoken a word to me in the past week.”

Somehow this makes her light up even more. “But that means they aren’t mean to you, doesn’t it? They’re planning on enrolling you into a nearby high school and they’re financially stable enough to afford to feed you and everything. This is good!”

“It’s good that they pretend I don’t exist? That they didn’t actually feed me despite having the food? It’s good that they lock me up from six pm until six am every day?” Peter doesn’t miss Elaine’s flinch at his harsh tone. “I know how hard you’re trying, but is this really the best you guys can do?”

Elaine sighs, pushing a strand of hair behind her ear. “There’s a lot of kids, Peter. And not a lot of people who really want to foster a fourteen-year-old kid who’s got a spotty history at best. Unless you want to go back to a group home until I can find a better placement, this is going to have to do. They already want me to give up on your case because of how much trouble we’ve been having. My bosses want to blame you for this.”

“Right.”

Peter wonders about the kid from before, the version of him that was cheerful and gentle and innocent. The kid that would’ve never been so short and hostile with a woman who was only trying to help him.

He wonders if it’s only going to get worse. Even if this particular foster home keeps him around until he graduates, another three and a half years, he’s never going to have a family again. He’s going to be kicked out at eighteen with nothing more than the clothes on his back and hundreds of thousands of dollars in debt to whatever university he applies to.

Whatever happens, he’s never getting May and Ben back. He’s never going to have his family. He’s going to have to resign to living unhappily with these people who are never going to love him the way his old family did.

“Peter-”

“It’s fine. Don’t worry about it. I’m going to suck it up and deal with it. Congratulations, I’m officially off your plate until they get bored of me.”

 *

 Mrs. and Mr. Williams were dedicated to their jobs as salespeople, Peter guesses. They needed the extra money from the government, fostering a kid, to pay for their long trips worldwide for business purposes. They didn’t want kids, never did, Peter was like an insurance policy. Which meant he was left home alone pretty frequently.

It also meant that they were stressed pretty much all the time. They’d yell at both him and each other. He supposes that’s another reason why they chose to foster him, it takes a lot of the strain off their marriage if they have somebody else to shout at. So they shout, and they insult him, and they get angry over every little thing he does.

Which is fine, really. He’s been through a lot worse than shouting.

He stays quiet whenever Elaine drops by, he doesn’t speak more than a few words to his teachers or to his classmates. He figures it’s easier to stay quiet. It means nobody will yell at him for disobeying or talking back. There’s no risk of getting hurt because he said too much. It’s easier to keep his mouth closed.

And then the few words he speaks, here and there, slowly taper off until he doesn’t talk at all.

It’s easier.

Especially when there are words always on the cusp of being spoken. Words like I miss May, and it’s all my fault, and help.

If he were to complain to the faculty about what was going on behind the scenes, he’s sure he’d be taken away.

And taken away meant taken somewhere worse.

He was lucky to be living with people who didn’t hit him very often, who had the decency to enroll him in high school, who were rarely even around anyways, like Elaine said. He was lucky and he couldn’t risk messing up the placement.

If he keeps quiet, he’ll make it through high school, graduate, and get out of the system. He just has to wait it out.

Hurt people hurt people, anyways. So it’s better if he stays quiet, stays small, to prevent the risk of hurting somebody.

So he stays quiet.

 *

 Peter shoves open the front door, dropping his bag onto the floor. He’s going to be home alone all week and he’s trying to come up with some plan to make it to Midtown and back without his foster parents finding out. He just wants to see Ned again.

“I was starting to get a little bit worried about the absence of a certain spider around the city, but now that I’ve seen this, it’s really not too much of a surprise.”

Peter freezes in the hallway, hands curling into fists as he tries to prepare himself for a fight. He can’t see the owner of the voice, but he’s sure it’s bad if they know his alter ego.

And then the person rounds the corner.

Tony Stark.

The Tony Stark is in his house.

“Now, I was a little confused as to why you were swinging around Queens or Midtown or even Manhattan, when you lived so far away. And then I did a little digging on one Mister Peter Parker. Can you believe the kinds of things I found on you?” he continues. He’s dressed in an outfit more expensive than everything Peter owns, he guesses, though it’s not too hard to do that. And he’s tapping at his watch like he doesn’t even care to look at Peter.

Though he looks up at Peter’s silence.

“A lot,” Tony says. His mouth creases into a frown and he leans against the wall across from Peter. “You’ve been through quite a rough two years, hm?”

Still, Peter doesn’t open his mouth. He doesn’t want to explain to Tony fucking Stark the kind of year he suffered through. More than that though, he doesn’t want to accidentally say too much. He’s worried that the moment he started speaking, he’d never be able to stop. Instead, he simply squints his eyes up at Tony and lifts an eyebrow.

“I’ll cut to the chase. I can’t have vigilantes running around New York unsupervised. Especially not children. So I’m here to offer you a place at the Avengers Compound. Train with the team, come on missions, you know, the whole shebang.”

There’s a lot of questions Peter thinks about asking, answers that he needs, but he just watches as Tony moves from the wall into the kitchen nearby.

“You’re coming with me, kid. End of story. It’s either that or Ross takes you to the Raft, which I’m not going to let happen,” he says, barely glancing over his shoulder. “You’re really not going to talk to me?”

In response, Peter runs a hand through his hair, longer than he normally likes to keep it and choppy from his own haircuts, and heads to his room to grab his belongings.

It’s not like he has much. Over the years of moving from house to house, starting with only a duffel bag, he’s down to just a few things. Things get lost, things get taken, things get confiscated. It’s just the way it goes.

���Imagine if they’d sent someone like Barton here to deal with this,” Tony’s mumbling under his breath when Peter returns with his plastic bag. “Or worse, Barnes. I don’t think you’d be quite so willing to go with anyone less famous.”

Peter ignores him and grabs a loose sheet of paper to write his note. Not that it matters much, but I’m headed off to live elsewhere. Everything (including Elaine) will be taken care of. -Parker

“Social worker?” Tony guesses, peering over Peter’s shoulder at his scrawling chicken scratch. “If so, yeah, I’ll take care of it.”

 And that’s it. It’s strangely simple, Peter supposes, but he’s gotten a little too used to being yanked around from house to house by strangers. He’s learned to keep his head down and stay quiet, because it’s never mattered what he thinks or wants, so there’s no point in voicing it.

He slips into the backseat of an overly flashy car, plastic bag clutched to his chest, and he tries his best to keep from crying.

He hugs the plastic bag to him and pretends the weight against his chest is somebody else. He pretends it’s May holding him close, or Ben tugging him into a hug, or Ned’s arm slung around him. He pretends he’s not desperate to be hugged, to be touched even fleetingly, accidentally, by anyone. He pretends that everything is fine as the house falls away behind him and his life changes again.

 *

 Tony disappears only minutes after the car is parked outside the Avengers Compound, leaving Peter in the hands of Happy.

Thankfully, Happy barely says a word to him, meaning Peter isn’t put in any awkward situations when he doesn’t reply.

Apparently, Peter gets half a floor to himself, shared with Bruce Banner though he hasn’t lived in the compound in years. After so long being given poor excuses for bedrooms, normally shared with at least a few other people, it’s shocking to have a bedroom, bathroom, kitchen, and office all to himself.

The space, despite being like heaven compared to the closets and basement he’s used to, makes the emptiness of it all the more apparent.

He’s living by himself.

It’s like Elaine had told him about emancipation. It might make him feel like he’s in control, it might give him a permanent home, but it takes away any possibility of a family.

He finds himself ignoring the freedom of the situation, and instead, curling up in the huge bed, tucking a pillow to his chest and wrapping himself in blankets. Finally, in the safety of a bedroom with no threats, no responsibilities, no fear, he lets himself cry.

 *

 Tony comes up to find him later that day with general rules and information. The school he’s enrolled in, when Elaine will visit, what times Peter has to meet in the gym with the team for training, what parts of the tower he’s allowed in, curfew, etc.

It’s all pretty basic.

With how often Peter’s been jerked around from home to home, rules get kind of repetitive. The only difference between the Compound and other homes is instead of bars on the window, the Compound has FRIDAY who tracks his every move.

The only positive is that Tony doesn’t seem too bothered by Peter’s silence. He talks enough for both of them.

Until he gets to the end of his speech and sits down across from Peter at the dining room table.

“I know you’re into this whole mysterious silence thing, but I’m going to need you to at least nod so I know you’ve understood. Now that you’re under my roof, you’re my responsibility. I can’t have you running around the streets of New York unsupervised and making mistakes when your actions reflect on me.”

And Peter nods, refusing to meet Tony’s eye, and keeping his arms crossed over his chest defensively. Apparently, it’s enough because Tony sighs and his shoulders relax drastically.

“Alright, well now that we’re through with that, I’m going to make dinner here for both of us. I don’t care if you retreat to your room until I leave, I’m going to make sure you’ve got food to eat tonight.”

As much as Peter does want to disappear to his bedroom and avoid the awkward attempts at a one-sided conversation or inquiries about the life Tony’s read about, he craves the closeness to another person.

The last time he felt properly close to someone was May. Every home in between had people who tried or people who didn’t, either way, it never felt the same. He was just another mouth to feed, another set of house visits and questionnaires from Elaine, another troubled kid under their roof. He was never treated like a human being, like a kid.

Yet Tony’s in the kitchen, muttering to himself about potential allergies and groceries, someone who’s let him under his roof and is cooking with him in mind. Somebody who chose him. Even if it might be for his alter-ego.

It still feels good.

It feels good to be wanted.

“Hey, kid?” Tony calls out from the kitchen where he’s ruffling through one of the pantries. “You allergic to anything I should know about?”

Peter shakes his head, mouth opening to give an explanation of how the spider-bite was the reason he’s no longer allergic to tree nuts or shellfish, but he quickly clamps his mouth shut. As much as he likes the feeling of being wanted, as much as he wants to fall into the safety of having Tony around, he can’t let his guard down. All it’ll do is hurt him.

“Good,” Tony says without realizing Peter’s near-slip. “I can make a pretty mean pasta dish.”

They fall into silence, the most comfortable silence Peter can remember having in a really long time. Tony cooks and Peter watches him, trying not to look like he cares too much, and it’s fine. Good, even.

And when Tony sits across from him again, setting plates down in front of both of them, it feels so much better than the simple, probably thoughtless gesture Tony was going for. He hasn’t had somebody make him dinner and let him eat with them in what feels like ages. Normally, a plate is left in the microwave for him and he’s watched until he’s finished so they can lock him in his bedroom for the night.

“I know you’re not going to talk to me,” Tony starts quietly, eyes narrowed in thought, “And I know this isn’t fair, none of it, but just know, I didn’t want to take you away without your permission. Ross is technically the boss and he was planning on locking all mutants and vigilantes up. I convinced him we could use you on our team instead of on the Raft.”

Peter nods and tries his best to offer a small, comforting smile in return.

He wants to reassure Tony that this is better than every house he’s lived in for over a year, that his past houses were probably closer to whatever the Raft is like than the luxuries of the Compound, even if it means following the strict schedules and conditions.

“And I don’t want you to think that just because you’ve been given this whole floor with all this freedom that you’re alone, alright? You’re always welcome up onto my floor, I’m just as lonely as you are, kid, and I’d always enjoy your company in my lab or kitchen.”

It’s a small olive branch, an optional opportunity to make this arrangement a little more personal, turn it into a friendship or something of the sort, and Peter’s whole chest warms at the idea of having somebody like that in his life.

They fall into silence while they finish eating their food and Tony clears their plates away. On his way to the elevator, he stops at the last second.

“Seven am, Happy will be waiting in the garage for you tomorrow to take you to school. And he’ll be in the parking lot at two-thirty to collect you in the afternoon. If you can’t meet your conditions for living here with the Avengers, there will be consequences, so please, just go to your classes, don’t cause trouble.”

Before Peter even has the chance to nod, the doors are sliding shut behind Tony, leaving Peter alone.

 *

 The first week living with Tony is strange, to say the least.

Peter doesn’t have the confidence to try anything outside of the schedule he’s been set, going to and from school with Happy, and staying cooped up inside his room for the rest of the afternoon and evening. And then, Tony comes down to see him in the late evening to cook them both dinner and to make one-sided small talk.

No Spider-Man, no secret trips to try to find Ned, no sneaking out or skipping class, nothing. He tries his best to be a model student and child.

At school, he keeps his head down, mouth shut, and doesn’t give anybody any reasons to pick on him.

Elaine shows up on Saturday morning, early enough that Peter’s just barely woken up when FRIDAY alerts him about the elevator arriving at his floor.

He greets his social worker with a small smile and sits down with Tony on the couch across from her, trying not to let the blush that creeps up his neck be too obvious at his old Thor pyjama pants and t-shirt with a science pun.

“The move was… unexpected to say the least, but I’m not too surprised. I didn’t think your last home would last much longer as is,” Elaine starts, looking down at her binder. “Well you’ve easily passed the house inspection and there are some things I want to go over with your lawyers, but the most important part is what the two of you think.”

Tony immediately jumps to answer. “He’s a good kid. Independent, smart, nice. I like having him around.”

“Peter?”

Unsurprisingly, Peter stays quiet. He feels frozen with his fear that if he says anything wrong, Elaine will deem this unfit and take him away, whisk him away to another group home or somewhere else with people who don’t want him.

Elaine gives him her binder, a lined sheet on the top with a pen clipped to it. “I need you to be honest, okay?”

Better here than most places. Tony’s nice. Going to school and being fed.

He knows exactly what he needs to say for her to check off the boxes. Education, food, and his approval. Simple and easy.

Tony’s leg is bouncing when he passes the binder back, though he shouldn’t have a reason to worry. If Peter said something bad, Ross would hunt him down and lock him up, that much Tony had made very clear.

“Good, good, good,” Elaine mumbles, tucking the paper away. “Well, that’s enough information for now, I think. I’ll give you more time to settle in and get comfortable together.”

Peter stays sitting while Tony escorts Elaine to the elevator and he looks relieved when he returns to find the teenager still waiting in the living room.

“Listen, kid, I know this isn’t the easiest for you. I know you’ve had a really tough year. And believe me, I’m awful at trying to talk about emotions or feelings or anything like that, but you’re one of us now. You’re part of the team and I’m technically your foster parent right now, so if you need anything, and I mean anything, you can come to me, alright? Even if you don’t want to talk out loud.”

For the first time in a very long time, Peter’s smile feels genuine.

He pushes down the urge to hug Tony, to give in to the cravings for physical affection, and ducks off to his bedroom, trying his best to hide the pleased blush on his cheeks.

 *

 His opportunity comes on a Friday afternoon when one of his classes is let out early, a few months into his arrangement with Tony. He’d spent a better part of his night scrolling through social media on his brand new Stark Phone and found out which high school Ned was attending. They’re both sophomores now, but they haven’t seen each other since middle school.

He made sure his spider suit, made of an old sweater, fingerless gloves, and sweatpants, was tucked into the bottom of his backpack.

Nobody noticed him sneaking out through the back doors, changing into his suit in a nearby alleyway, or casually swinging through the streets of Manhattan on his way to Midtown.

It’s pretty obvious that Tony will find him eventually. He has the best technology on his side. But Peter’s banking on having at least an hour before Tony finds out. It’ll give him enough time to let Ned know he’s alive at the very least.

Ned’s the same as he always was. Smiling brighter than ever and answering every question the teacher asks, chatting quietly to everybody around him.

“Holy shit,” somebody stage-whispers. Suddenly, everyone’s eyes are on him, leaning against the lockers opposite the classroom door, back in his civvies. “Is that Stark’s new project?”

Ned’s head jerks up and his eyes go comically wide as he sees his best friend in the hallway. “Peter!”

Thankfully, the teacher doesn’t even try to stop Ned from barreling out of the classroom and right into Peter’s arms.

“God, I was looking for you for months after you left school that one day and never came back! I called you and May like a million times before I saw the newspaper.”

There’s something about Ned and his overflowing optimism and kind wide-eyes that makes Peter feel safer than he has in a long time. It makes him feel safe enough to finally open his mouth.

“I’m sorry I couldn’t get in touch with you,” Peter says, not even surprised by his constant apologies. His voice is hoarse and low from disuse, but it’s obvious how happy he is. “May got in an accident after work, she started working such late hours that she wasn’t as careful as she should’ve been. I got put in the foster system.”

Ned’s jaw drops and he grabs Peter’s arm, leading him down the hallway until they reach an empty bathroom to give them a little bit of privacy.

“I’m just so glad you’re okay!” Ned quickly drags Peter into another tight hug like he has to check and make sure Peter’s real. “You disappeared and I had no way of knowing where you were. Where do you live now? Is everything okay? How’d you get here?”

Smiling, Peter leans in closer, voice dropping low. “You’re never going to believe me, but I swear, it’s the truth. One, I’m Spider-Man. Two, I live with the Tony Stark. And three, I’m an Avenger.”

As soon as Ned pulls back, frowning in disbelief, Peter puts his hand on the wall to prove his stickiness. He even crawls up onto the ceiling to prove it before dropping back to the floor in front of his gaping best friend.

“Oh my god.”

“I- I’m going to get in a lot of trouble for coming here, I’m on a very strict set of rules, but do you want to come back to the Compound with me? I’ll catch you up on everything when we get there.”

Ned, practically bursting at the seams with enthusiasm, agrees heartily before pulling out his phone to call his mom and let her know where he’s going. While he does that, he texts Happy the address of Midtown High without any context. He figures there’s no way around getting in trouble for ditching school, so he may as well own up to it.

And at least this way, Ned can explain everything to Tony while Peter continues to deal with his inability to talk to adults.

 By the time they slide into the backseat of the expensive car, Peter’s exhausted. The emotional toll of seeing his best friend for the first time in a year paired with the anxiety that eats away at his insides is enough to make him crave a nap.

Happy stares at Ned for a long time through the mirror, eyes narrowed and mouth set in a frown, before he finally starts driving.

“Uh, sir?” Ned squeaks, eyes wide. “Peter said he was going to get in trouble for this, but I feel like you deserve an explanation for-”

“One, I’m not the one doling out punishments, I’m just a glorified babysitter. Two, Peter said?”

Peter swallows thickly, turns his attention out the window, and tries his best not to curl even smaller in his seat.

Ned’s eyes dart over to him before focusing back on Happy. “Yes, sir. I was just-”

And then the glass slides up between the seats, effectively cutting him off.

“It’s okay,” Peter murmurs without looking at him. “He doesn’t mean any harm. You’ll have to appeal to Mister Stark, not Happy.”

Ned, forever the great friend that he is, reaches out and grabs Peter’s hand, linking them together in a small gesture of comfort. 

* Tony’s waiting at the dining room table for them and he stands when they walk in. He’s obviously angry and Peter knows how this story goes. Maybe he gets sent away to another foster home, maybe he gets sent to the Raft with Ross. Either way, he’s just glad he got to see Ned.

“Mister Stark, sir?” Ned starts before Tony can. Peter admires that kind of confidence. “Before you say anything, I just want to explain.”

Tony’s eyes narrow, but he still waves a hand for Ned to continue.

“I’ve known Peter since we were seven. We went to school together.” There’s no good place to start a story like this, one that ends sad no matter where it begins. “After May’s accident, he was sent away and he had no way to contact me. I spent the better part of a year wondering where he was, what happened to him, why he wouldn’t answer my calls and texts. We were best friends for eight years, and then he disappeared. He just wanted to see me.”

It’s a simple way to put a tragedy.

“Is that true?”

Peter nods, trying his best not to look incredibly defensive but crossing his arms over his chest anyways.

“It is. And it would’ve hit the news eventually, Mister Stark. If Peter hadn’t come to me, I would’ve been trying to break in to see him.”

As kids, Ned was the least confident person Peter knew. He never stood up for himself or even tried to explain himself, he’d take every punishment he didn’t deserve, he’d keep his head down and accept whatever came to him without question.

Now, Ned stands tall and strong in front of Peter, easily defending him to their childhood hero.

Tony sighs harshly, sliding a hand over his face and finally sitting down in a chair at the dining room table. “Sit. Both of you.”

They do as told, both of them expecting a punishment of some sort for the rules they’ve broken.

“I don’t want to be the villain here,” Tony says. He’s watching Peter who’s leaning back in his chair nonchalantly, arms crossed, and eyes focused on the table like none of this matters. “I don’t want to make you feel like you’re not allowed to do anything but stay cooped up here like this is prison. I don’t want you to feel like you’re not allowed to try to get your life back. I don’t want you to feel like you have to walk on eggshells to ensure your safety.”

Peter forces himself to nod. The anxiety still thrums in his veins, stomach twisting and knotting, but the more Tony speaks to him, the more inclined Peter is to trust him.

Beside him, Ned’s shoulders slump noticeably. “So Peter’s not in trouble? He told me that he’s on a very strict set of rules and that there would be consequences if he broke them.”

“He told you that?” Tony’s eyebrows have lifted, eyes flicking between the two of them. “He said that? With words?”

“Well yeah. He said that you’re keeping him here to train Spider-Man.”

Tony’s eyebrows lift even more. “He said that. He hasn’t spoken a single word to anybody in months according to his social worker, and he tells you every secret he’s got within a couple hours?”

Underneath the table, away from Tony’s view, Ned links their hands together again. “I’m his best friend.”

It’s so simply put that Peter can’t help the smile that ghosts over his face, squeezing Ned’s hand.

Tony sighs again, running a hand through his hair. “You’re both off the hook, but please, for the love of god, text me or Happy the next time you want to do something. Don’t just run off.”

“Yes, sir,” Ned says on Peter’s behalf who can’t seem to get the smile off his face. “Oh! I don’t know if this is what Peter wants, but he’s a genius and I really think he’d be happier at my school.”

“You break the rules, plead forgiveness, and when I, out of the goodness of my heart, let you off with just a warning, you want to ask for more?”

Ned winces, eyes round and hand sweating in Peter’s, but he plows ahead. “Midtown High is a great school. I’d be there, so Peter wouldn’t have to run off anymore, and in case you weren’t aware, Peter is really smart. Like crazy smart. He’d be properly challenged at Midtown.”

With a roll of his eyes, Tony waves his hand at them. “Get out of here before I change my mind.”

They both hurry up to their feet, prepared to make a run for Peter’s room if need-be, but Tony stops them at the last second.

“Ned?” The poor kid’s eyes look like they’re seconds away from popping out in fear, but Tony smiles fondly. “You’re welcome anytime. Let me know if you two want snacks or anything.”

They both nod, grinning unashamedly, and take off for Peter’s room before they can get stopped again.

* Peter finally bites the bullet after Ned goes home.

He takes the elevator up to Tony’s floor.

It’s not like he hates Tony or anything. He’s been idolizing the hero for as long as he can remember and Tony’s been nothing but welcoming since Peter started living with him. It’s been weird, sure, but Tony seems to genuinely care about the kid under the mask.

“Kid?” Tony’s bent over one of the lab benches in his giant lab, goggles sitting lopsided on his face, and grease staining his old shirt. “Everything okay?”

Peter realizes belatedly, frozen in the doorway to the lab, that he wants to talk to Tony. He craves normalcy and he’s desperate for an adult in his life. An adult who supports him, who wants him, who will take care of him. It’s all he’s ever wanted since May died.

Tony’s still watching him, almost like Peter’s a wounded animal, hands suspended in the air like he wants to comfort him but doesn’t know how.

“Mister Stark?” His voice isn’t as hoarse as it had been after his afternoon talking to Ned, but it’s still weak and shaking, more with trepidation than anything. “Is it, um, is it okay if I hang out in here for a little bit?”

The billionaire’s whole body sags with relief, expression softening and a small smile lifting his mouth. “Of course it is, kiddo. And if your friend’s right about what a genius you are, you can even help me out with this.”

Slowly, Peter shifts into the lab and up to Tony’s side, trying not to show how badly his hands are trembling. He also tries to hide how much the small nudge of Tony’s arm against his soothes his anxieties.

Almost as much as he craves an adult who wants him, he craves affection. May and Ben used to hand out affection like it was nothing. Hugs were given at least twice a day, Ben would blow raspberries against any piece of exposed skin, May would give out kisses especially to his forehead constantly. It was normal. But he hasn’t gotten any of that in what feels like forever.

He helps Tony with his projects, hands clumsy and voice wobbly, relaxing more and more the longer they work together.

Despite how much he craves all of this, it still doesn’t feel like enough. It’s like putting a bandaid over a wound that needs twelve stitches. It’s like writing one word of an essay that needs pages filled. It doesn’t work, it barely helps, the gaping hole in Peter’s chest still feels empty and cold.

And then Tony makes a stupid pun that borders on a dad joke, and then suggests they order some pizza for dinner. Like they’re a real family.

An hour or so later, they’ve got pizza on the coffee table and Netflix on the TV, trying to find something to watch.

Peter feels happy for the first time in a long time. Ned’s back, he’s got Tony who seems to already want to be here for the long haul, he’s got a roof over his head and food on the table, he’s laughing quietly over Tony weighing the pros and cons of the movies he’s stuck between. It’s nice.

Later, when the movie finishes, he drifts towards Tony, almost subconsciously, until his head lands on Tony’s shoulder, eyes already slipping shut. Tony’s arm wraps around his shoulders and he presses a kiss to Peter’s temple.

“Can I ask you something?” Peter says, voice barely above a whisper. He keeps his eyes closed, not wanting to see the way the question will make everything change.

“Shoot.”

“Is this… Is this for real? Will I get to stay forever?”

Peter can feel Tony’s smile against his hair, and his hand squeezes Peter’s shoulder. “You’re part of the team now, kiddo. And I hate to say it, but I’ve grown particularly attached to my Spider-Kid. I’m going to talk to Elaine and see what I can do to make this official. I’ve got a new and improved Spider-Suit waiting for you. And I’ve enrolled you in Midtown starting Monday.”

“So you’re going to be like my dad?” His voice is barely there, insecure, small.

Tony swallows audibly, nerves evident in his voice. “Yeah, I suppose so, bud. Is that okay?”

“More than okay.”

Hurt people hurt people, Ben had said.

But maybe that’s not the case. Peter’s hurt, he’s always been a hurt person, but he seems to be doing a pretty good job at not hurting the people close to him. He can talk, he can feel, he can be, without worrying about the consequences, without worrying about everyone leaving him. Tony’s promised to be here and that’s enough to make Peter feel safe.

“Thank you,” he says, blinking back tears. For the first time in a long time, they’re happy tears. There’s more he wants to say, more he needs to say, but he knows Tony understands. After all, Tony’s been through a lot too. He knows more than he lets on about pain and hurting people.

“Things will get easier.” It’s said with such simplicity, such confidence, that Peter can’t help but believe it. Things are already easier, he’s no longer as scared about falling because he knows Tony will catch him when he does. As Spider-Man and as Peter Parker. Because Tony wants him and that’s all that Peter’s ever needed.

Tony’s arm is tight around Peter’s shoulders and his voice is sure as he murmurs a goodnight into Peter’s hair, and the cold, empty hole in Peter’s chest finally feels full and warm with love.

[damnusillygoose]

Jerza fanfiction

disclaimer: these characters belong to hiro sensei

title: Somebody is jealous

summary: will erza be able to maintain her calm when her beau starts getting a lot of female attention?

https://www.fanfiction.net/s/13786166/1/somebody-is-jealous

Erza was a jealous woman.

She wasn't insecure in her relationship with Jellal by any means, not that she had to vie for his attention. He gave it to her willingly. He made her feel loved, so much that she was practically brimming with it. He showed her his affection not only through words but also through his actions.

But that didn't mean she couldn't get jealous.

Jellal's popularity proliferated after he settled in magnolia and started indulging himself with voluntary service. Crime sorciere might be officially disbanded but the former members having spent ample amount of time with each other wanted to continue working together and take missions. They also diverted their funds to start an orphanage for abandoned children.

Their pious efforts were recognized and soon they started receiving all sorts of grants from public and from private companies in the form of corporate social responsibility. As the grand master of crime sorciere, Jellal was often called upon by organizations for collaborations and for interviews to further elaborate upon the work done by his guild.

Erza couldn't be happier for him but the limelight he received also turned out to be slightly infernal for her. Jellal became instantly well-known and even topped the charts of 'The Most Handsome Man Alive', dethroning Hibiki Lates who took pride upon himself for holding this position for 3 years plus.

She lost the counts of love letters that Jellal started receiving from his female following. Whenever they would go out to spend time with each other, there would always be eyes hawking him or pestering him for autographs. Erza really wanted to maintain her demeanor as a good girlfriend who doesn't get jealous when her partner gets excessive attention from the opposite gender but there had to be a limit right?

However, Erza was grateful for a fact that there was never a reciprocation from his end. Jellal never returned their efforts. He never bothered.

He was staunch in his belief and was firmly loyal to her.

The realization made her feel extremely loved.

'Stop brooding Erza, you look hideous.' Mirajane snapped Erza out of her murderous intent as she reached across the table enamored with mahogany wood to collect empty glasses.

'Mira! that reporter bitch is all over him again! Can I murder her?! '

'Calm down Erza. She is here for her job after all.'

'Her job is to interview and ask him substantial questions! Not throw herself all over him! He is clearly uncomfortable with her vexing advances. Is she blind or what?!' she roared as her fist slammed against the table top nearly knocking off the glasses in the tray.

Her abrupt yet fierce declaration was enough to scare Natsu and Gray who were once again at each other's throats. She was seething with anger and gritted her teeth with helplessness. She wanted to jump in and slap the day lights out of that abhorrent creature but she wouldn't dare disturb Jellal's interview. Fairy tail has a reputation to maintain anyways. Not that they had a respectable reputation to begin with but she wouldn't embarrass her guild any further.

Erza witnessed as that female reporter proceeded to smirk smugly at her paramour and leaned forward on the pretext of not being able to hear his answer owing to uproarious energy of the guild.

Jellal leaned back as his company continued to disrespect his personal space relentlessly.

'Mr. Fernandez, I think it's equally disturbing to interview you here. How about we move to my private chamber? No one would interrupt us there and we can take all the time we want', the female reporter purred and twisted her lips in a vicious smirk, touching the top of his hand.

'No, thank you. I can't afford that. My girlfriend is waiting for me. Let's wrap this up quickly', Jellal repudiated, pulling his hand aside, rejecting her advances in a disapproving grunt.

That's it! Erza stood up from her seat as she saw that wretched bitch lean towards him, churning with incorrigible wrath. Her emotional turmoil had successfully won over her and she was ready to slice that bitch into pieces. But before she could do anything, she saw her beau lightly bow his head towards his female companion displaying the dismissal of their conversation.

She inhaled a breath of relief as he walked towards her and took a seat beside her. His eyes looked genuinely tired and he rubbed his temples in exasperation.

Her anger melted into concern.

'Are you okay, Jellal? Was she pestering you a lot?' she asked empathetically.

'Yes, I am fine. I am glad it's over', he took her hand in his and entwined them firmly.

He gave her a worn-out smile as he requested Mira to bring him a drink.

'that bitch.' Erza cursed as she weaved her free arm to loop around his bicep. She rested her head against his shoulder and let out a sigh.

'I am fine, Erza. Seriously, Let's eat something and then we can head back home'

'I know you are saying this to put me at ease but we aren't heading back home Jellal. That bitch's presence will not ruin the party for us. We will enjoy till the very end'

Just when they thought the trouble was over, that female reporter strode unapologetically into their love nest.

'I am sorry to barge into your conversation but is it okay if I sit here? I am not familiar with anyone here and I only know Mr. Fernandez so...?'

Jellal clicked his tongue in annoyance and looked at Erza to check her reaction only to find her extremely calm and collected. However, He knew that her exterior appearance was a façade. She was probably singeing internally hotter than any inferno.

'sure', Erza replied in her imperturbable composure, her wrath at the brim of her limit, ready to walk over the barbwire at any moment.

Lucy and Cana marveled at the guts of this prying female as they witnessed this scene from the next table.

'So, how long you two been together?'

'I didn't know there was another interview?', Erza eyed her as she retorted sharply.

'nah, I am just curious about you two. You are a well-known couple in magnolia after all. Everyone looks up to you guys for couple goals.'

'About six months', Erza replied unsure whether this person was genuinely intrigued or mocking them half-heartedly.

'Ah. From what I have heard this is the first ever relationship for both of you, right? Six months isn't even a long time to know your partner intimately. People break up over minute scuffles all the time. Anyways, Mr. Fernandes, a handsome man like yourself must find himself flocked with female attention all the time, no? I don't think you should settle yourself in a relationship this early- '

This fucking bitch is going to breath her last breathe today! there is no way I am letting her out alive! Erza bellowed internally. How dare she insult her relationship like this?! This jerk continued to spew bullshit even when she was kind enough to overlook her advances towards Jellal earlier! How dare she-

'Ms. Erina, we don't recall asking for your unsolicited advice on our relationship. This is our private matter and we do not appreciate third party interferences. Your job was to interview me on professional basis and I can very well report back to your organization regarding your unethical behaviour. This can cost you your career and you know that', Jellal shot her down with his sharp retort. He took hold of Erza's hand in his, underneath the table, in a reassuring manner.

'but I was just kidding around- '

'We don't appreciate this degraded sense of humor. It was disrespectful and you were clearly trying to jeopardize my relationship', Jellal, when triggered, had no mercy for people who undermined his relationship with Erza.

'You've crossed the limits of my personal space and I ask you to leave'

His refute left Erina stunned. She had successfully seduced countless men in their so-called committed relationships but Jellal Fernandez was one such man she was unable to surmount no matter how many cheap tricks she pulled. Admitting her inevitable defeat, she stood up in shame, trembling with anger for he insulted her blatantly, dragged her feet across the guild hall, colliding with Kinana on her way, almost knocking off the drinks in her tray ,had Erik not intervened preventing her fall. He let out a muffled snare at the vile woman who passed by him. .

Jellal finally let out an audible sigh and looked at Erza.

'sorry, my love. You had to witness this', Jellal whispered anxiously. He moved his hand to fondle her inner thigh intimately in way he knew would calm her trembling down.

Erza had a wide smile that adorned her lips. She wasn't angry now. In fact, she was extremely satisfied the way Jellal shot her down. The respect and adoration he held for her was oozing out of every word he spoke. She loved him so much. Her ears felt warm as she snuggled into his shoulder.

'thank you Jellal. I am fine. I am not bothered by her ignorant remarks. She has no clue about what we both went through to stand where we are today and frankly I don't care', Erza stated, referring to their past history.

'if it doesn't bother you, it doesn't bother me as well', Jellal smiled as he leaned down to capture her lips in a passionate kiss and then traced his soft lips against her jawline, giving her a peck on her cheeks.

Laxus looked at his buddy from the second floor, impressed, for he handled the situation very maturely.

'sheesh, that's a slick move Fernandes'

A/N: Thank you for reading. Please review if you liked it. Constructive criticism is appreciated.

[kaimelia]

could you write something about Amelia and Owen being friends again? after she tells Owen about the baby? thank you !

Happier

a/n: hi! sorry for the delay in posting, it’s been a weird week. i hope this is what you were looking for, it’s more of a long-term thing rather than a one moment fic.

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“Can you see if Amelia can take Leo?” Teddy moved to grab her phone, pulling up Amelia’s contact and sending a quick text.

“She’s not going to want to, Owen. He’s probably gonna get her sick from whatever Allison has.”

“Just ask, okay?” His girlfriend set down the phone before it buzzed. “Is that her?”

“She can take Leo, do you want her to stop by and pick him up?” Owen nodded, shifting the crying baby in his arms. Allison had come down with some bug and taking care of a sick baby was proving to be more work than either of them anticipated. Sure, Leo had gotten fevers when he was young, but even at the youngest Owen had known him, Leo was only six months old. “Okay, she says she’ll be here soon, she just has to put the car seat into Link’s car.”

“Link?”

“Her boyfriend, the one we work with?”

“I know who Link is, but is he gonna be with her and Leo?”

“I mean, probably. Is that an issue? Is Link a psychopath and I’m just not aware of this?” Teddy waited for him to respond, instead just watching as he rocked back and forth with the baby. “Owen?”

“Hm?”

“You’re being weird about Amelia and Link.” He shrugged his shoulders and sat down in the nursery chair. “For the record, I think he’s good for her. She looks really happy, and I know that you two have a lot of history, but you should try to be happy for Amelia.”

“They’re having a baby, her and Link.” The blonde woman raised her eyebrows at him and crossed her arms over her chest.

“Okay, so she’s moving on. Just try to be happy for her, Owen.”

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

“He slept for most of the night. And we had Cheerios for breakfast, so he should be pretty easy for a while.”  Amelia handed over the small bag that he and Teddy had packed for Leo as Link walked up behind her.

“And here’s the little guy,” Link said excitedly, bouncing the boy on his hip. Owen took his son before smiling and rustling his hair.

“Thank you, again.” Amelia smiled.

“Of course. You guys can do it for us one day.” At her words, his eyes drifted down to look at her stomach, where her hand rested on her bump, which was more obvious than before. Silence settled between for a moment before Link wrapped his arm around Amelia’s waist.

“Well, we should probably get going, we have plans for lunch.” The couple said goodbye to Owen and headed back to their car. “That was painfully awkward,” Link commented, backing the car out of the driveway.

“He’s been weird ever since I told him about the baby. I wish that we could all just move on and be friends. I mean, he had a baby with Teddy and I was fine with that, why can’t he just be the same?” Link grabbed her hand over the console of the car.

“You weren’t so fine with it at first. Give him some time, he’ll come around.”

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

Meredith’s hearing took longer than expected. Owen could swear he’d been sitting in the lobby waiting for at least the past 7 hours. Sure, he knew that legal processes took a long time and blah blah, but they’d already finished the hearings and now they were just waiting. Amelia, Link, and Teddy had returned a few minutes ago, sharing the news that Castello had died (something he thought Amelia seemed a little too excited about) and everyone had returned back to what they were doing before that. He sighed, checking his watch, hoping to make time speed up by any rate. Owen stood up and got himself another coffee, turning back around to the couch while taking a sip and sitting back down and engulfing his attention into his phone.

“Hey,” Amelia muttered, sitting on the couch across from him. “I feel completely dead.” Owen looked up and offered her a smile.

“I know. Are you going to stay until they have news?” Amelia nodded, adjusting the pillow behind her back.

“Yeah, Meredith drove me here, anyway. I was thinking about leaving with Link, but Meredith would pester me about it for the next few months, so we’re gonna stay. How about you?”

“Staying.” The two engaged in some small talk for the next few minutes before Link walked over, sitting down next to Amelia on the couch. Owen watched as the brunette smiled up at her boyfriend, and leaned her body against his.

“You look exhausted,” the orthopedic surgeon commented, wrapping an arm around her shoulder. “Do you wanna head out? I’m sure Meredith won’t hate you.”

“No, she’ll just leave me behind whenever we carpool to work. Although, who knows if that’ll be happening any more.” Owen raised his eyebrows.

“Really?”

“I’m just being honest here.” He couldn’t help but feel awkward as Link whispered something into her ear, emitting a laugh from her as she glanced up at her boyfriend, a large grin spread across her face.

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

Link looked terrified. Frankly, Owen had just told him that parenthood was the most terrifying thing ever and he was just going to be more and more scared, which was not the response he was hoping for. Owen seemed to notice and let out a sigh. “It seems bad, but you’re going to be fine. I promise that everyone makes it sound more terrifying than it is.”

“Didn’t you just say-”

“Of course you’re going to be terrified, but once he’s born you’ll also be insanely happy. And everything will be perfect for a while.”

“I’m just worried about Amelia. She’s scared of what’ll happen and I know she’s still dealing with a lot of grief. From Christopher.” Link stopped as he handed the nurse the instrument he was using. “And with the extra stress from whatever’s happening with Richard, she’s pushing herself, and she doesn’t want any input from me, of course.” He looked up to see Owen standing still. “Sorry, I probably shouldn’t have said anything-”

“No, it’s okay. We’re all family now, right?” Link nodded.

“Right.”

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He had settled outside of their hospital room, hoping to take his mind off of the cancellation of his wedding, and probably the end of his relationship with Teddy. Amelia and Link were laying on the hospital bed with his arm wrapped around her while both of them were completely enamored by their son who was laying in her arms. Owen smiled softly, remembering when Allison had just been born and he was just as happy. It had only been a few months since that time, but he would do anything to get that happiness back. He didn’t want to interrupt their little bubble of happiness, even as much as he wanted to go in and hold the baby and share some of their happiness. He knew if he went in the room, they’d ask why he was at the hospital instead of getting married and he would have to explain everything. There’d be a time for that in the future.

He didn’t know how much time had passed, but eventually, Link stood up from the bed to rock the baby around. Amelia looked over and saw Owen standing outside of the window and waved to him. He waved back politely, noticing the smile on her face. She had rarely smiled like that while they were together and it was a smile he had just gotten to see more recently. She looked happy. Happier than he had ever seen her, and he was truly happy for her and Link. He knew that Link was good for her, better than he could be.

And that was it. It was suddenly that simple; she was happy and he was happy for her.

[merakiaes]

Satisfied - Finn Shelby

Pairing: Finn Shelby x reader

Requested: By @foggysportsbananawagon​

Prompts: #4, #27 and #43 from the smut-list. #29 from the kiss-list. 

Warnings/notes: REALLY BADLY WRITTEN SMUT AHEAD, I’M LEGIT GONNA BE NEEDING A BATH OF HOLY WATER! This is a combination of this, this, this, this and this request. I managed to get really many requests into one one-shot to save time. I really hope that’s alright. I’m really bad at writing smut, my vocabulary really sucks hahah. It’s not proofread so sorry in advance for any mistakes. I hope that you like it xx

Wordcount: 3923

Summary: After always getting interrupted, you and Finn have gotten really desperate for each other and smut ensues in his office. 

You and Finn had been together since you were both eighteen, having met when you moved to Small Heath with your parents and two younger siblings.

Your dad had served in the war with the Shelby brothers and apparently saved Arthur from his death more times than any of them could count, which resulted in your family getting taken in under the Peaky Blinders protective wings almost immediately upon first arriving.

Before coming there, you had lived in London, up with the snobs where your mother came from and you could say with a one hundred percent certainty already after the first day in Birmingham that you preferred it to the big city.

You met Finn the second day of your stay, along with the rest of his family, and although he was a bit shy and quiet to a start when Arthur first attempted to introduce you, you had clicked almost instantly, and you found his soft and innocent strangely alluring.

Unlike the way it usually was, with the girl being pure and the boy being experienced, you had been the one out of the two of you with the most sexual experience when you met and got together for the first time. 

Finn had been a virgin, and while you were no whore, you did enjoy partaking in sexual and intimate activities with the opposite sex.

You had only had sex with two guys prior; you boyfriend when you were sixteen, who had later moved with his foster parents to New York and some random guy who had chatted you up at the pub in London. 

Before, between and after those two guys, you hadn’t had sex with anyone else, but you had done other, more simple stuff with your fair share of temporary flings.

Moving to Small Heath, you realized, would make it a lot harder for you to get your sexual needs satisfied, as the boys your age there were as immature as your eleven-year-old brother and the men older were married with one to seven kids already.

So when you overheard Finn’s brothers teasing and pestering him about being a virgin and offering to hire him a prostitute, an offer that he immediately declined by storming out of there, face red with shame and fury, you jumped at the chance you had been given and got to work.

You had started off easy, leaving him lingering looks and touches and hoping he would catch on. But all he did was blush and turn the other way. Even when you started dropping more clear hints by openly flirting with him to the point where Arthur would notice it and urge him on, he did no such thing.

After a week of this, you got fed up and confronted him when he was alone, telling him without batting an eye that you could help solve his virgin problem and he could help satisfy you, also slipping out that he was the only boy in Small Heath that you would actually be okay with shagging.

If he had been flustered before, he was so ashamed he probably could have passed out when this happened. But still, you ended up taking his virginity and once he had gotten a taste of you, he couldn’t get enough, always following you around and practically acting like a needy little boy at the beginning of your friends with benefits relationship.

As more time passed, the two of you grew from teenagers to adults, Finn’s personality changing significantly with time, and for every time you slept together, the feelings you harbored for each other grew stronger.

You never put a label on your relationship but you had still made things pretty official by holding hands and kissing in public, and being attached at the hip wherever you went, so everybody knew you were an item. 

And about six months into your sexual relationship, you had shared your first ‘I love you’, so both of you knew you were stuck together for the rest of your lives.

Two and a half years had passed since you first decided to fool around. Finn had just recently turned twenty-one, him being a few months younger than you, and you were still going at it like restless bunnies whenever you got the chance.

But that was the entire source of the problem you were currently having.

You never got the chance.

For the past two weeks, you had been getting constantly interrupted by the people you regularly hung around.

First, Isaiah had walked in on you when you were in the middle of it in the morning, having been sent by Tommy to fetch the two of you for an early family meeting.

The second time had been in the middle of the night when you had both been sent home by the very same man, and Arthur had just barged into your bedroom like he owned the place with Linda at his side, saying Tommy had gotten himself into trouble – as usual – and needed Finn to come back.

The third time had been when everyone else was supposed to be at the Garrison. You had stayed home, Finn telling them that you had gotten a migraine just so you could get some time to yourselves and not be interrupted. But still, Polly, Lizzie and Esme had come to check up on you and keep you company so that Finn could go have fun with his brothers, successfully interrupting you once again.

It didn’t matter what time of the day it was, whether it was before the crack of dawn, at the middle of the day or at nighttime. It didn’t matter where you were, whether you were at home, outside, in the Shelby family estate on the countryside or in the bloody locker rooms of the boxing rings, someone was always there to interrupt your fun, needing either yours, Finn’s or both of your help for something they easily could have managed by themselves.

It was infuriating, and the lack of touch and release was slowly starting to take its toll on both of you, your moods having worsened significantly these past weeks.

Arthur and John had been the first ones to pick up on it when Finn had stormed into a boozer and angrily sat down on a chair, glaring the entire time, asking him if ‘his woman wasn’t giving him what he wanted’. 

He had said nothing, of course, not wanting to disrespect you by agreeing as it wasn’t even your fault in the first place, but still, he had wished that they actually realized that was the case and that it was their fault.

And you. Your father barely dared to be in the same room as you anymore, as you would lose control and start yelling at him the second he told a joke, leaving him slightly terrified as you had your mother’s temper; one he had learned early into their marriage was not to be tampered with.

It was definitely safe to say that your sexual drive was entirely too high for the amount of sex you were not having. And that went for the both of you.

But today, as if the Gods had heard your prayers, you had finally been blessed with an opportunity and you had wasted absolutely no time in jumping at it, sneakily pulling Finn out of the Garrison where the rest of your families would be holed up for at least thirty minutes.

Your house was too far away to be able to make it before they would notice you were missing, so you had had no other choice but to drag him towards his office building, the two of you hurrying inside, up the stairs, and into his office, only then letting go of his hand.

“Lock the door.” You rushed out through heavy breaths, out of breath from having ran all the way there from the Garrison.

Finn gave you a dumb stare to a start, but instantly caught on as he watched you start to tug your coat off of your body, his eyes widening slightly but nonetheless closing the door behind him, locking it.

“We’re doing it here?” He asked, his chest heaving up and down roughly and his eyes turning significantly darker just at the thought.

“Do you have a better idea?” You raised an eyebrow, finally getting your arm out of your heavy coat and throwing it across the floor, starting to work on the buttons of your blouse. “We never get to be alone.”

Finn took a step closer into the room, looking at you with an uncertain expression. “What if someone walks in?”

That’s what the lock is for, you idiot, you thought to yourself and had to keep from rolling your eyes. But his eyes betrayed his doubtful façade, causing you to just put on a playful grin as you started removing your shoes.

“Scared, Shelby?” You teased, pride filling your body as you watched his eyes started traveling your body as you let the blouse fall to the floor. “Don’t you want me?” You raised an eyebrow, grabbing at the thin material of your stockings and starting to pull them down your legs without lifting your skirt.  

Your tauntingly slow antics caused his breathing to intensify and his fists to clench at his sides as he stood by and enjoyed the show. 

“I want you so badly it hurts.” He answered, and his words were proven more than correct with the way he was clearly growing in his pants just at the mere sight of your hands running over your own body.

Letting your stockings drop to the floor, you stepped out of them and slowly backed up to his desk, now dressed only in your bra and skirt. 

“Then come here and take me.” You smirked, putting on an innocent expression and giving him a shrug. “Or maybe I’ll take Nick’s up on his offer and go have some fun with him instead.”

At your words, a dark glare instantly crossed Finn’s face, and he marched over to you all while tugging at the tie around his neck. “You’re mine and I’m not sharing.” He answered, his voice rough and determined.

You smirked at his response, and before you knew it, he had tugged you into him by your hips and roughly pressed his lips against yours, the feeling of his bulge pressing against your already aching core drawing a gasp from your lips.

Your hands instinctively went around his neck, completely undoing the loosened tie and throwing it somewhere across the room and wasting no time in getting to work on the buttons of his waistcoat.

You had to cut your movements short though, your fingers stopping right in their tracks as Finn moved his hand in between your legs, brushing his fingers directly over the place where you needed him the most.

“No panties?” He mumbled against your lips, his voice dark and slightly muffled, and you could feel his heart picking up speed against your chest just like yours was.

You moaned at the feeling of his thumb brushing over the sensitive bundle of nerves, your lips breaking apart briefly and your eyes meeting. “I haven’t worn any in a week.” You admitted, breathless. “I’ve wanted to be ready.”

His eyebrows raised slightly at your words, and you moaned again when he suddenly pushed a finger into you, your eyes squeezing shut and your hands gripping at the back of his neck. 

“Ready is right.” He answered, almost sounding as if he was mocking you. “I haven’t even touched you yet and you’re already this wet.”

“What can I say.” You breathed heavily, letting your forehead fall against his chest as he started moving his finger in and out of your wet center. “You do things to me that no other man ever could.”

And just like that, his brave façade was gone with the wind, your confident words being enough to have him back wrapped around your finger.

He pulled his finger out of you and returned his hand to your hip, pressing another kiss to your lips while you wrapped your legs around his waist to pull him closer.

“If we get caught, I’ll kill you.” He muttered against your lips, but all you could do was laugh.

“I love it when you talk dirty.” You joked, tugging on his hair slightly and successfully drawing a small moan from his lips, which only got you going even more.

Without another word and without ever breaking the kiss, you pushed him back by his chest so that you could stand up from his desk, and slowly started to push him back into the room.

Your breaths mixed together as you walked, or rather stumbled, across the floor. Finn’s hands moved to your back, gently brushing your hair out of the way to start untying the laces of your bra, all while your hands moved back to finish unbuttoning his waistcoat and shirt.

The articles of clothing fell to the floor in just a few seconds and you had to hold on to each other in order to not fall over on the boxes of paperwork Finn had sprawled over his office floor. 

You gripped at his bare shoulders as you changed direction, Finn now being the one to lead you over the room towards some unknown location while letting his hands travel your body.

You bumped into the corner of a table on the way and a sharp pain shot up the side of your thigh, but you couldn’t be bothered, only pulling him closer to your body. 

You turned around again so that you were leading, and just then, Finn’s foot got caught in something on the floor, sending him falling backward and you falling with him.

Luckily, his couch was there to save him, and you landed on his lap, straddling him. 

But even when you had tripped, you hadn’t broken the kiss once, only breaking apart for air for a second at a time before re-attaching your lips to each other’s, the kiss getting hotter and more desperate for every time.

You moved your hands away from his neck and back to the small of your back where you pulled down the zipper of your skirt, pulling it off and throwing it to the side.

Finn’s hands instantly moved to your butt, squeezing your flesh and pushing you down harder on his hardness, the feeling of the friction of his pants against your bare core drawing a moan from your lips.

You slowly grind down on him, your hands returning to his face as you attached your lips to his again after a second of air, and he instantly bucked his hips up to meet you, the feeling drawing another moan from you but also a small chuckle as it was now your turn to taunt him.

“Baby getting a bit needy?” You asked in a slight baby voice breaking apart from his lips.

He opened his eyes and glared at you, the darkness of his eyes causing the tingly feeling in your stomach to intensify. “Don’t tease me.” He muttered back, his jaw clenching as you ground down again.

You smirked, but wasted no time in reaching between you for his buckle, unbuckling and unbuttoning his pants and pulling them down, releasing his member into the chilly air.

He hissed at the feeling of your hand wrapping around it, his hands finding their way away from your ass to grip at your hips roughly as you wasted no time in lining him up at your entrance and sliding down on his length.

Your eyes closed at the feeling of him filling you up, and Finn’s head fell backward against the edge of the sofa, the hard grip he held on your hips only making the entire experience better for you.

Your heart instantly picked up speed and your entire core ached with desperateness as you were finally getting the release you had been yearning after for so long. 

Starting to move your hips in circular movements, Finn’s grip on your hips tightened and his head fell forward into the crook of your neck.

A moan left your lips as he moved one of his hands between your bodies and started rubbing at your most sensitive spot, and your hands moved up to his head to tug at his hair that was now beginning to get slightly curly with the sweat you were already building up.

Your mouth was starting to get dry from breathing so intensely, and in an attempt to wet it again, you moved your face down to Finn’s neck where you started placing kisses, licking and sucking at the spots you knew drove him absolutely crazy.

And that it did, his groans intensifying into your shoulder and his hands grabbing everywhere. 

You were both too horny and too desperate for your own good, moving faster and rougher than you ever had before in a way that almost made the whole experience animalistic.

Finn was so insanely needy, touch starved and submissive after barely having been paid any attention for weeks that he was a moaning and trembling mess under your touch as you rode him.

His hands moved from your hips and back to your ass, and you finally abandoned his neck that was now damp and hot with a mixture of his sweat and your saliva, your hands moving to grip at his shoulders as you quickened your pace.

By grabbing your ass, Finn then proceeded to add even more force to it by thrusting his own hips up to meet yours and pushing you down even harder, causing your head to fall back and your eyes to fall shut as you yelled out in pleasure.

“Oh, God, yes, just like that!” You moaned, sounding as if you were on the verge of crying with the intense amount of pleasure that rocked through your body at the feeling of him thrusting himself right into your sweet spot.

You moved up and down with furious motions and he met you halfway every time, his forehead now pressed against yours. You opened your eyes, to find that his were already open and staring at you through hooded lids and long eyelashes, the freckles on his face intensified ten times in his flustered state.

“Say my name.” He told you through heavy, ragged breaths, and you could slowly feel the familiar knot forming in the pit of your stomach at the sound of his raspy voice and the sight of his dark eyes staring into yours.

You opened your lips to do as you were told, but all you could do was moan loudly when he thrust into you again, your eyes squeezing shut and your head falling back as the knot got even tighter and tighter.

“Say my name.” Now he was more or less begging and judging by the way he was starting to shake beneath you, you knew he had to be just as close as you were.

“Finn.” You moaned out finally, one of your hands gripping at his shoulder and digging your nails into his skin while the other was tugging at his hair.

He groaned, the mixture of pleasure and pain getting him going even more, having you a moaning and trembling mess on top of him within the next few seconds.

“Don’t stop, Finn.” You moaned, tugging onto his hair even rougher and moving your hips furiously against his, your face burying into his neck. 

You moaned his name again, right by his ear, and that was enough to send him toppling over the edge, you not far behind and the two of you riding out your highs together.  

He twitched inside of you and you clenched around him, both of you moaning and groaning and holding each other close, which only made your orgasms even more intense and long-lasting. 

They must have lasted at least a minute before both of you fell limp where you sat, your chests heaving up and down and your skin sticking together with sweat and arousal.

You remained still for a moment, just catching your breaths and nuzzling each other’s necks while you regained some of your energy, before Finn finally moved you off of his lap so that he could get up.

He found his underwear right beneath the sofa and pulled it on, before venturing to the other side of his office, coming back seconds later with a towel.

Now laying down on your back in all your naked glory, you wasted no time in opening your legs for him once he got back to you, letting him clean you up from the mess he had made.

You scanned his face the entire time, smiling slightly at how concentrated he looked and absentmindedly playing around with the gold necklace around your neck.

A slight shiver went through your body at your core being exposed to the cold air in the room, goosebumps starting to spread over your body as the sweat also dried.

Once he was done, Finn tossed the rag to the floor and moved to sit back down, but stopped himself as he caught sight of his reflection in the painting above the sofa, turning his head to the side slightly and letting his long, slender fingers run over his neck for a moment.  

“You fucking branded me. I have marks everywhere.” He scoffed, glaring slightly and swallowing thickly.

But you only smiled proudly, watching your work with bright, playful eyes. “I regret nothing.”

He snorted, inspected himself for another few seconds before turning his attention back to you, parting your legs again so that he could kneel between them, his face coming up right above yours where you laid.

“You’re annoying.” He told you, shaking his head slightly, but all while brushing a piece of your damp hair out of your eyes, the other hand resting comfortably and innocently at your left breast.

You smiled, wrapping your legs around his torso and bringing your hands up to cradle his cheeks, bringing him closer to you. “But you love me.” You answered, pressing a light kiss to his lips.

He smiled into it, his hand stopping to play with your hair and instead coming to a rest on your cheek, cupping it. You held the kiss for a few seconds, lips just slowly moving together before you had to break apart for air.

Leaning his forehead against yours, he scanned your face with little to no emotion on his features, but his eyes glinting with playfulness as he answered. “Doesn’t make you any less annoying.”

You smiled, raising an eyebrow. “If you keep talking like that you might just have to fuck me another time.” You mumbled, gently scratching your nails over his scalp at the back of his head.

He shivered at the feeling and smiled, bringing his thumb up to pull it over your lower lip, his eyes gazing into yours. “Only you would get off by being insulted.”

Your gentle smile turned a playful smirk at that, your eyes mischievously looking into his. “Only by you, baby.” You responded innocently, pulling him down for another short kiss.

Once you broke apart again, he shook his head with a light laugh, but said nothing else, just getting up from the couch and pulling you up too, after which you helped each other get dressed and presentable, before walking out of his office and back to the Garrison hand in hand, finally, at least for the time being, satisfied.

[kitkat4406]

TW- some swears, a joking mention of intercourse, intrusive thoughts, flirting that is very much unwanted, mention of blood, mention of death, kidnapping, murderous type of thoughts

Pairings- Logan x Remus eventually

Part six > Part eight

Logan isn’t a yandere I swear-

“So, how’d it go?” Virgil asked with a grin. Remus smiled softly, then frowned, looking at his phone. He sighed, grabbing the phone and answering it.

“Hello?” Remus answered. His face fell, frowning and looking down at the floor. “I’m aware.” He listened to the male for a moment. “Do- sorry” he got cut off. “Im working on it geez” He muttered, hanging up. He sighed, running his hands through his hair. Virgil simply raised a brow.

“Your boss again?” He asked. Remus simply nodded.

“The fucking prick, doesn’t realize how long it takes to write a goddamn book.” He hissed. “Like seriously! It takes months to years! I’ve had three months!” Remus snapped. Virgil blinked at him. He was used to these things. Remus often would snap, yelling at anything he could, which would eventually get turned into motivation for his book. Virgil just let him go off, knowing it would help. Virgil knew he would also stay up late that night. Virgil only hoped he would be able to finish the book. Maybe...

“How about we go work on it then? I can help you out some yeah?” He suggested. Remus nodded with a sigh.

“Yeah, alright”

“Virgil” Remus whined. Virgil rolled his eyes with a laugh.

“What now Remus?” He hummed. Virgil looked at him.

“I’m so bored!” He groaned. “I don’t have to write anymore and so I’m obviously taking a break” he muttered. “But now I’m bored,” he said, looking up and over at Virgil. Virgil smiled.

“Can I borrow your phone?” He hummed, holding his hand out. Remus looked at him suspiciously, before nodding slowly, handing it over. Virgil gave a sly smile, snatching the phone from him. “Thank you!” He laughed, quickly texting on it. Remus sat up.

“What are you doing?” Virgil raised a brow with a smirk.

“There happens to be a certain nerd of yours that’s free today” he grinned. Remus blushed.

“Give it back!” Remus scrambled, getting up and diving for Virgil.

“Nope! Not until I set you up a date!” Virgil laughed, running right out of Remus’ reach. Remus sputtered.

“We aren’t dating!” Remus yelled, getting up again, chasing him.

“Yet!” He laughed.

“We aren’t dating anytime soon either!!” He yelled, blushing at the thought. Virgil laughed.

“Here you are!” Virgil giggled, throwing the phone back to him. Remus caught it with a slight stumble, looking down at the texts.

“You planned it for in an hour!?” Remus yelled. “I have no time to get ready! I need to shower and change and then bus to town! You ass!” Remus yelled, blushing. Virgil snickered.

“I mean, he’s taking a bus closer to here, so you have a bit of time” Virgil hummed.

“He’s what!?” Remus said loudly. Virgil smiled, rolling his eyes.

“Calm yourself” He chuckled. “You're just going on a walk closer to your house, going for lunch too” Remus groaned.

“I hate you,” he grumbled.

“No you don’t” Virgil laughed, “hope you don’t mind me stealing your food!” Remus rolled his eyes.

“Sure sure sure!” Remus yelled, running to take a shower.

“Are you done freaking out? You’ll be late” Virgil shrugged. Remus whined.

“Don’t remind me!” He muttered, pushing him playfully. “Where are we meeting?”

“We?” Virgil laughed. “No, you’re, meeting him down the block at that cafè that I like” Remus scrubbed at his eyes.

“You're so- so- unbearable” he said, a gentle groan coming from the man.

“I try,” Virgil hummed, smiling.

“Shut up” Remus whispered, “don’t trash the place please!” Remus called, putting his shoes on.

“Why so you can bring Logan back to have sex?” Virgil called after him. Remus blushed.

“Get your head out the gutter!” He said loudly, closing the door behind him, grumbling to himself. His face was redder than a ripe tomato. Remus took a deep breath, shaking himself out and going down to the street, walking to the cafè. He tried to ignore the looks and sneering from the people around him as he walked past. After all, he had done some small eye makeup for fun, but now he was regretting it, tempted to find somewhere to wash it off.

“Holy-“ A person stopped, looking at Remus. Remus shrunk in on himself a little. “Sorry- you just look really adorable-“ they chuckled. Remus blushed out of embarrassment, and held his arm tightly. He felt trapped, for some reason. Even though he was out in the open. Why weren’t there people around? Why was it only this guy? “Do you- you wanna go get a drink?” Remus shook his head quickly, walking past them.

“N-No thanks-“

“Oh come on- I’m a helpless gay and your just adorable-“

“I-I really don’t have time, sorry” Remus whispered, pace increasing. Run, run, run, trapped, scared, bad news. Remus yelped as he ran into someone, stumbling backwards and to the side. He held himself and went to continue walking when a hand grabbed his arm. Run, run, danger, they’ll kill you, run run run run ru-

“Remus?” He heard Logan ask softly. Remus looked up quickly, seeing the man he knew as Logan. Worry coating his features. “Are you alright?” He asked, looking between Remus and the other person who was slowly connecting dots it seemed. Remus hesitated, trembling softly. “Was…” Logan looked at the person. “We’re they bothering you?” He asked, something flickering in his eyes. Remus nodded slowly, trying to calm himself. Logan’s eyes narrowed, and he moved with deadly precision, right in front of the person, towering over him. Remus’ ears made a white noise sound, and he took a shaky breath. Calm down, he told himself, backing against the wall and sitting down. He held his head in his hands and breathed deep breaths.

“Are you alright now?” Logan asked softly. Remus looked up, nodding.

“Yeah… sorry” he muttered, looking away.

“Why are you apologizing? You’ve done nothing wrong. Panicking when you're in potential danger is a natural reaction” Logan said with a soft smile, offering a hand to help Remus up. Remus took it, getting up with a soft sigh.

“Yeah…” he muttered. “Still- I should- would have dealt….” he mumbled. “Thank you though, for- yeah- '' He said with a tiny laugh at his awkwardness. Logan simply smiled, shaking his head.

“No need for thank yous, I’ll protect you whenever you need… there’s no cost or anything for me to care about you” Logan smiled. Remus took a moment to process before blushing terribly.

“I’m going to die of blushing with you I swear-“ he whispered, covering his face. Logan laughed, a quiet but endearing laugh. Remus wasn’t sure if he could die of blushing but he was sure he had to have been close. Logan shook his head.

“You can’t die from blood flow to the face, and in your case, neck and ears” Logan smiled. Remus gave a half hearty glare, shaking his head.

“You know what I mean-“

“Do I?” Logan asked, holding a hand in front of his mouth to conceal his slight laughter. Remus groaned.

“I can’t with you” he grumbled, smiling nonetheless.

Logan sighed, grimacing at the blood that had splattered on his cheek, wiping it away. “Always so messy…” he hummed, looking down at the grave. “Sorry Page… I needed room is all” He sighed, taking his gloves off carefully, folding them in on themselves to make sure no blood would escape onto him or into his bag. “Now that’s taken care of” he stretched. “Let’s go find this man…” Logan said, his eyes narrow. He pulled his file out of his bag. He pouted a bit at the lack of information. It had been put together hastily, only getting the look of the male. Along with a potential name. He looked at the picture he had, his blood boiling. He hurt him. Hurt him. Get pay back. He hurt Remus. Logan took a deep breath, sighing. “Let’s go find this Brandon fellow…”

Logan groaned a bit as Brandon punched him in a panic, the pain already ebbing away. “Y-You- get away-!” He yelled, Logan laughed.

“Get away? Why Brandon? You seem so happy to pester people who are clearly uncomfortable” Logan chided with a laugh. “Can’t stand your own game?” He asked, pushing him down into the muddy alley way street next to his back door.

“What are you even talking about!” He yelled, scrambling backwards. Logan just laughed, hearing his heartbeat in his ears, a satisfied feeling in his chest settling.

“Why, I’m talking about how you harassed my date” Logan growled. “And I don’t take lightly to that…”

“Well” Logan huffed. “Aren’t you just a pain in the ass” he muttered, looking at the now sleeping Brandon. “Sleep awhile,” he laughed. “Enjoy your stay while you're at it, I’m sure it’ll be very fun for you” he said with a glint in his eyes. He left, locking the door behind him and going to take a much needed shower.

These types of things were always so messy...

[firesoulstuff]

Valentine's prompt: Drive-in Theater Captain Canary

Read on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/27544165/chapters/72301455

It’s rare that Leonard and Sara get a date night, so when a mission in the 50’s wraps up before the sun goes down and the team pesters to hang out a little for a few hours shore leave and a chance to grab some dinner that doesn’t come from the replicator he jumps on the bandwagon. He doesn’t miss the look Sara gives him, but she gives into the team’s demands, and then once they’ve all cleared the bridge she sidles up in front of him with that look of suspicion still on her face.

“You don’t usually care about shore leave in the past.” She reminds him, “You running a side job?” He chuckles, she knows him too well after all these years.

“Of sorts.” He allows, placing his hands on her hips. “You and I don’t get much alone time.”

She hums, “We don’t.” She agrees, “Though I think Astra’s planning on staying on the ship. Even with the rest of the team to buffer, the 50’s aren’t very welcoming to her.”

For a moment he lets himself consider that, and if maybe this mini-shore leave isn’t the best idea. Sara must see the thoughts on his face, because she chuckles at him and steps out of his grasp.

“We’re not staying here overnight.” She assures him. “The team’s been cooped up, we’re going to give them time to stretch their legs and grab something to eat. We’ll leave by ten.”

He nods, making a note of that departure time.

“Well we’re not staying on the ship.” He says, and she raises an eyebrow. “Meet me back here at six.”

He walks off with that and a quick kiss to her forehead. He needs to take care of some last minute details before six.

“Date or heist clothes?” She calls after him and he smirks. She really does know him too well.

“Date.”

.

.

Sara isn’t sure what exactly Len has in mind for them as she’s walking onto the bridge a little over an hour after she agreed to a shore leave for dinner tonight. She’d put on a loose fitting black and white checkered dress; something comfortable enough and still era appropriate. Len’s waiting for her in the same business suit he wore earlier today, minus the vest and the tie. He’s watching her with a gleam in his eye she knows well by now, a gleam that means he’s thinking about something yet to come.

“Should I have gone with leather?” She asks teasingly as she approaches him.

“I would’ve told you.” He says, taking her hand and bringing it to his lips for a kiss.

Oh, he’s definitely up to something.

“Come on.” He says, cocking his head towards the door. “We don’t want to miss the show.”

Now that could mean a great many things, and the “borrowed” car he has stowed outside the ship doesn’t narrow it down all that much. When he drives them outside of the city and to a drive in theater she rolls her eyes, but waits until they’re parked and he has the speaker plugged into the car’s radio to say anything.

“So, we’re here to actually watch the show?” She asks as he adjusts the aux cord.

“More or less.” He answers, “This movie is a classic, but if you’d rather catch up on some other things…”

She snorts; of course he would put it like that. ‘Catch up’, like sex is a chore they’ve fallen behind on.

Which, admittedly, they have.

“What’s the movie?” She asks, pretending to consider watching just for the fun of working him up.

He seems a little surprised by her question, but he shakes it away easy enough.

She’ll just have to try harder.

“It Happened One Night.” He answers, “Special Valentines Day showing.”

Oh.

Oh shit.

He snorts, “Relax.” He says, “Our Valentines Day isn’t for another two months, we just happened to land here today.”

She breathes out in relief. Admittedly she isn’t always the best at keeping track of the present day calendar. Sure, important things they have to go home for she can keep track of, but little events like Valentines Day have fallen off her radar once or twice before.

They watch the first couple minutes of the movie. It’s old even for this era, but it’s still entertaining enough. The plot is simple, rich girl runs away from marrying rich boy, meets a guy who isn’t rich but likes her, they get stranded together, and so it goes.

At one point Sara notices an actual smirk on Leonard’s face at one of the jokes and she laughs to herself, she should’ve known he was brining her here to actually watch the movie.

She’s tried distracting him during movies before, or even just tried putting one on with no intentions of paying attention to it; it never works. No matter the subject or plot, Leonard always pays close attention.

She’d asked him about it once, if he’s capable of ever just ignoring a movie playing. He’d shrugged and told her maybe, if he really tried, but isn’t the point of that too not have to try? He thinks it’s a result of all his years as a thief. He could never have background noise while planning a heist, and he couldn’t bring himself to watch movies or TV much while laying low because he always needed to be listening for incoming police. His attention is wired to be given fully, not with something idle.

“What’s going on in your head?”

His sudden question jerks her attention back to him and out of her thoughts, and when she finds he’s staring at her she starts laughing.

“Thinking about how you can’t ignore a movie.”

He hums, a glint in his eyes and a smirk on his face she knows isn’t directed at the movie this time.

“I can when motivated.” He says, and she raises an eyebrow.

“Really?” She asks, “Because I’ve tried motivating you before.”

He shifts in his seat, turning to face her completely.

“Well this time I planned on it.” He drawls, “Open the glove box.”

That throws her, if only a little bit. She eyes the glove box suspiciously, but reaches forward and undoes the latch. She also notices a hitch to his breath as he watches her, and when she’s opened the small compartment she can see why.

Inside is a box from a jewelry store. It’s small, made with black velvet, and while she’s no expert she’s fairly certain it didn’t come from this era.

She eyes him curiously as she opens the box, and now it’s her breath that hitches. Inside the box is a simple silver ring with a square diamond set in the center.

“I thought about asking you during battle, seemed a little more our style, but then there was a risk of one of us dropping the ring.”

That’s what he says, but she can see the wavering nerves in his face. Sure, in the heat of battle might be more their style, but she knows him. Things like this he likes to try and keep special, and private.

She puts the ring to the side of the seat and his eyes follow it, until she’s framing his face with her hands and pulling herself closer, grinning widely.

“Yes.” She says, and she catches sight of him smiling before she’s closed the distance between them completely.

[fidothefinch]

Jason's been working undercover to get into Gotham's shiny new human trafficking business. But things get complicated when it's revealed that Red Robin's been captured. 

Words: 5,688 Warnings: recreational drugs, canon-typical violence, cursing

The warehouse had been trashed since the last time Red Hood had been there. The wall-length locker unit was flipped on its side, and the office windows were shattered. “Someone did some redecorating recently, huh?”

The goons he was following didn’t acknowledge him past a warning glance tossed over their shoulders. He recognized them; they had been there when Jason was ‘recruited.’ But that meant they were smart enough to decide that, between Jason and their boss, Jason was the greater threat.

Jason stopped walking and crossed his arms. “I need an answer. You guys have a Bat problem?”

The goons looked at one another. The older and taller one was the first to turn around and actually look at him. Mirroring Jason’s stance, he said, “Not anymore. We took care of ‘em.”

“Good.” (Not good.) “I don’t work with anybody who attracts that kind of attention.”

The man nodded, and they continued through the building. Jason expected them to take him up the catwalk to the second-story office, where every other meeting with higher-ups had taken place. So he was surprised when they continued past it, instead heading straight for a blank wall. Goon A tapped a rhythm into the wall, and a rectangular wedge depressed and slid to the side to reveal a set of stairs leading down.

Jason took note and followed them mechanically, mind swirling. They hadn’t known about the secret entrance; hadn’t had a good opportunity to scope it out. But clearly someone had been investigating.

He was beginning to understand why Gretto had called for him.

The man known as ‘Gretto’ was in charge of Gotham’s new, flashy, human trafficking business. As far as Gretto knew, he had remained under the Bats’ radar for six months now. He also thought Red Hood was still completely independent, and obviously hadn’t done his homework on Jason’s morals. The guy was a good businessman but a poor criminal; it made it all the more easy for the Red Hood to slip into his forces on a mission for Batman.

Jason had made great headway, too. They were planning an assault on the building within the next month.

All that said, nobody else associated with the Bat should have been here.

The bottom of the stairs opened into a long hallway that stretched to the left and right. Heavy metal doors lined each side; many had blinking keypad locks next to them. More voices drifted from a door propped open with a cinderblock, off to the left. A man hurried out of a small alcove near them, an empty syringe in his hand.

For a secret lair, this place sure was poppin’.

Jason took note, even as the goons led him down the right hallway, straight up to the polished hardwood door at the end of the hall. The goons opened it and gestured for Jason to step inside.

It was almost like a small conference room. A long table was set up in the middle, but there were no chairs in sight. A tall man with a beer belly sat on one end of the table, pouring over a large book of figures. Jason’s hands itched to get that information.

“Gretto,” he greeted.

The man looked up, shutting the book and rising from his seat. “Red Hood.” Gretto’s long curls were pulled back in a low ponytail. He reached out a calloused hand to shake.

The best part about being Red Hood was that he could be an asshole. Jason waved off the hand flippantly, making himself comfortable against the wall next to the door. Gretto’s goons spread out to flank him. “I heard you had a Bat problem.”

Gretto’s smarmy smile fell instantly, and he shot a look at one of the goons. “Really?”

Jason shrugged. “Easy to spot, when you know their M.O.”

“One of them got upstairs a few days ago—"

“Which one?”

Gretto cocked his head to the side. “Shorter, used the big stick?”

Tim.

“Makes sense. Red Robin is usually the first to investigate a place like this.”

“Then we shouldn’t have any problems going forward. He’s been contained—”

Jason straightened abruptly. “You mean he’s still here?”

“It’s actually why I called you. I was wondering how much experience you had with hostages.”

Why the hell hadn’t Bruce contacted him?!

“You idiot.” Jason slammed a fist on the table. The goons looked a little more alert, now. “You want to blackmail Batman?!”

“I’m not going to be pestered by a man in a fur suit.”

“You think nobody’s tried this before?”

“I will be the first to pull it off. I already have the kid, after all.”

Jason’s hand thumped against his helmet before he realized, belatedly, he wouldn’t be able to massage away this headache. “I can’t believe you’ve dragged me into this mess.”

Gretto smirked. “You will be thankful, when the Batman of Gotham won’t dare touch you.”

Jason was only half-listening now. His thoughts swirled around in his head, caught in the current of worry for Tim and this entire operation. He could pull out the gun hidden beneath his jacket and end this whole thing right here, except it wouldn’t do any good for the past and present victims of the trafficking ring. But he couldn’t just let them hold on to Tim, either.

First thing first, he had to make sure his brother was okay.

He played up his annoyance for his audience, heaving a sigh that sounded much louder through the mechanization of his helmet. “Listen, if you want my help, I need to know what kind of condition he’s in. We want to scare Bats into doing what we want, not make him come after us.”

Gretto clapped his hands together. “So you’ll help us?”

Jason grit his teeth. “There’s not really a choice, is there?”

Gretto didn’t respond to his comment, instead walking past him back into the hallway of metal doors. He led Jason past the entrance where the steps were, around another corner. It was no more than a stub of a hallway, with a door on either side. Gretto waved to the one labeled “Mechanical Room – Employees Only.”

“Here we are!”

Jason shook his head. “You left him within reach of your electric supply. Big mistake.”

“Don’t worry about him; we’ve made sure to keep him busy.” He tossed Jason a skeleton key. “Here. You’ll see what I mean.”

Jason couldn’t get inside fast enough.

The inside of the room was dark, save for the blinking lights on various equipment inside. The square of light from the door illuminated a layer of pipes running up the wall and disappearing into the ceiling above. Some machine hissed in the back corner.

But that wasn’t what caught Jason’s eye.

Red Robin was curled up in the corner, and if Jason didn’t know better he would think he was sleeping. His breathing was light and even, but way too slow. When Jason stepped closer, he could see sweat dripping off his jaw.

His eyes were half-open under his lenses; Jason snapped his fingers in his face. Tim didn’t so much as twitch.

“What the hell did you give him?” Jason asked. The question did not come out as impressed as it probably should have. He needed to not sound so worried.

Gretto waved a hand in the air. “Same stuff we give the rest of them.” Meaning, Jason surmised, the victims. “Although, we have to give him a lot. And more often, too. Really pisses me off. That stuff is expensive.” When he saw Jason kneel next to the fallen vigilante, he cocked his head to the side again. “What are you doing?”

“Give me a few; I’ll finish disarming him for you dipshits.” Jason revealed one hidden, tiny throwing knife to prove his point. “Plus, I have a few bones to pick with him.”

One of the goons snickered. Gretto waved them off. “Okay. We’ll get ready for the video. Don’t have too much fun.”

The door shut.

Jason looked around for a light switch and found only a pull string. The bare bulb swung violently in the small room, casting dark shadows along the walls that moved in companion with the motion. He waited until he was sure Gretto and his men wouldn’t be back before kneeling next to Tim.

There was a rip in the flexible fabric of one of his sleeves, exposing the pale flesh of his inner elbow. It was pocked with tiny dots, and one of them was still oozing a little blood. His most recent dose had been recent.

Jason disabled the suit’s security and pushed the cowl back.

“Hey,” he said, tapping him in the face a few times. His glove came away wet with sweat.

Tim didn’t so much as twitch in reaction.

Jason flattened his palm against Tim’s chest and pat him harder. “Hey, wake up.” He repeated the phrase, shaking the kid’s whole body.

Nothing.

“Kid, come on.” Jason was getting worried. He pulled back Tim’s eyelids and shone a penlight into them. The pupils were tiny pinpricks. They didn’t respond to the light. Not good.

Jason put the penlight down and pressed his fingers against Tim’s jugular.

Too slow. Way too slow. How much had they given him?

As if in answer, Tim exhaled a short, hissing breath. And his chest fell still.

Jason panicked. He knew that sound.                                                  

“Hey, no. Gotta keep breathing.”

With shaky hands, he fumbled through his belt for his Naloxone and sprayed it up Tim’s nose.

He waited.

He had treated overdose often enough to know what to look for. He knew how quickly Narcan reversed the most lethal symptoms, and he had already worked through the trauma of realizing how easy it could have been to save his mom.

He rubbed Tim’s sternum hard. “Come on. Breathe.”

He used the repetitive motion to count the seconds. But after two minutes had passed, and Tim still didn’t move, Jason felt his stomach sink. He took Tim’s pulse again.

It was still weak; thready. Not enough improvement.

He reacted quickly, pulling his extra emergency dose of antinarcotic. As he pressed the needle into the smaller boy’s thigh, he reminded himself it sometimes took two doses. Easy math; more narcotics, more antinarcotics. The second dose would do the trick.

It had to. He didn’t have anything else.

He got an arm under Tim’s shoulders and hoisted him halfway up to help him breathe more easily.

Any second now. “Damn it Tim, wake up.”

He could feel the hitch when Tim inhaled sharply.

Jason let out a breath of his own, and resumed with rubbing Tim’s sternum. “That’s it. Keep breathing. Come on.”

The breathing continued. Thank god. After another minute, Tim’s head rolled to the side, toward Jason.

Jason looked down. Tim’s pupils were still pinprick, but he blinked slowly and Jason saw recognition in his eyes.

“Hey, man. Welcome back.”

Tim didn’t answer; Jason didn’t expect him to.

He had a new problem, now. Jason glanced to the door. Nobody had come back for him yet, but he guessed he only had another minute before people started getting suspicious. And if Gretto had been telling the truth, about Tim being high for the majority of the last three days, there was a significant risk of going into withdrawal.

He replaced Tim’s cowl and dragged his limp body backward so he was leaning against a clear section of wall.

He activated his comm. “Red Hood to B. Found your bird.”

There was just static, and Jason thought that maybe they were too far underground for the signal to get out, but then, “Batman to Red Hood. Status report.”

“I’m moving the operation forward. I need to get RR out of here.” Jason’s eyes landed on a pile of used syringes in the corner. He carefully picked one up and worked at putting it into an evidence bag and his puncture-proof pocket.

“Negative.”

Jason jumped at the word. “What—”

“It will take too long to gather the forces necessary—”

Jason’s voice dropped into a low hiss. “He could start going into withdrawal any second now. I’m pulling him out.”

There was silence.

“Standby. Wait for further instructions.”

“Wait for further instructions? Are you fucking—” Jason cut himself off when the door handle squeaked.

The goon took up most of the doorway, casting an imposing shadow across the floor. “You done yet?”

Jason didn’t look back at Tim. He slapped dirt off his knees and rose to his feet with feigned nonchalance. “You’re lucky I’m helping you; the fucker had a tracking device on him.”

“We checked for those.”

“Not well enough, obviously.” The goon didn’t look like he believed him. Jason pulled his own tiny GPS device out of his pocket and flipped it toward him. Batman was a detective; he could figure it out. “Don’t ask me where I found it. You don’t want to know.”

The goon frowned, but didn’t press any further. “Boss has a camera. You ready?”

Jason was glad his helmet hid his expression. “What, now?”

The goon just stared, so Jason took it as a ‘yes.’ Without being asked, he went back and threw Tim over his shoulder, wincing where the bandoliers dug into his collar bone. “Where to?”

He followed the goon back into the hallway. Jason sized up the guy. He could probably take the one by himself, but there was no way he could be subtle enough not to draw attention in this echoey underground hellhole. And it wasn’t like he could just run up the stairs with Tim on his back; they would risk losing the entire operation, and there were victims to be avenged.

Still, Jason glanced wistfully at the stairway as they passed.

Instead of the conference room, the goon stopped in front of one of the heavy metal doors in the hallway. Jason watched with growing unease as the goon typed a code into the keypad (K492) and swung the door open.

The room was small, the size of a bigger walk-in closet. Jason purposefully ignored the dirty twin-sized mattress propped against the far wall. A chair was placed by the wall cattycorner to the mattress, and Gretto and the other goon stood behind a camera and tripod opposite the chair.

Gretto nodded to the chair, not looking up from the camera he was busy adjusting. “Over there. Put his hands behind the chair.”

“I know the drill,” Jason murmured. He adjusted his grip on Tim again before stepping over the threshold. The door closed with an ominous click behind him.

He used his helmet to hide the way he scanned the room. Three guys, but Gretto wasn’t armed. One exit, probably locked. Not impossible. They could still get out of this alive.

When he lowered Tim into the chair, he did it more gently than he would have for someone he was serious about torturing. Tim’s eyes roamed, but locked on Jason as he leaned in. His mouth moved, like he was working up the saliva to talk.

“Don’t talk,” Jason risked whispering.

He caught one goon watching him, so had to be rougher when he bound Tim’s arms behind the chair. To keep up appearances, he stretched Tim’s finger back until the boy whined with pain, and the goon nodded, pleased, before shifting his attention to Gretto’s instructions. Jason immediately released the finger, and managed to keep the knot loose enough that, if Tim was as trained as the rest of the brood, he would be able to slip it even half-unconscious.

“Hood,” Gretto called.

“It’s Red Hood.”

Gretto smirked, unbothered by the correction. “Weapon of choice?”

Jason did not freeze. “Weapon?”

“You said it yourself, we want to scare the Bat. And that—” he gestured to the mostly-limp body in the chair “—isn’t scary.”

Jason, for the record, was plenty nervous. “Listen, I’ll coach you through some good dialogue, but I’m not getting any more involved than that.”

With a flick of Gretto’s hand, there were two guns pointed at Jason. “Come on,” the man cajoled. “We’re partners, aren’t we?”

Jason’s fingers twitched toward his hidden holster. But he couldn’t risk it; even if he were able to dodge a bullet, there was a decent chance it would hit Tim. He growled, letting his fingers relax. “I did not agree to being on camera, Gretto.”

“I can’t let the Bat see my face. You understand, don’t you?” Gretto easily drifted past Jason and stood next to Tim. He wrapped his fingers around Tim’s jaw and lifted his head. “Weapon of choice? I obviously won’t give you a gun, but we have a fine collection of more. . . traditional tools to choose from.”

Tim jerked his head to the side; an unsuccessful attempt to dislodge the hand.

Gretto nimbly overstepped the slow foot that kicked toward him. “Good, he’s waking up.” He leaned in close, eyes roving over Tim in a way that made Jason’s skin crawl. “More interesting, that way.”

Jason’s jaw was tight. “Keep in mind that you brought me here because I’m the expert. I think this is a stupid idea, and you’re going to pay for it.”

Gretto’s eyes narrowed in his direction. He released Tim’s jaw. “Was that a threat?”

Jason crossed his arms. Remained silent.

It worked; the slimy man lost interest in Tim. “You’re two stories underground, surrounded by people loyal to me. People with guns.” To emphasize his point, Gretto snapped his fingers, and the round hard barrel of a gun rested between Jason’s shoulders. “Frankly, I’m surprised you are not more excited to help.” His head cocked to the side. “Maybe you’re just not as ambitious as I thought.”

Jason grit his teeth. “You won’t kill me. You need me.”

“Are you willing to bet your life on it?”

Jason studied the man’s face. He looked no different than the rest of the scum that roamed Gotham’s streets, except for the arrogant set of his chin. He was serious. Stupid, but serious. Defeated, Jason dropped his arms. “What did you have in mind, then?”

“I was thinking we would rough him up a little, make sure the Batman knows we’re serious.”

Jason chewed over the words. “You got a bat?”

“Poetic irony. I like the way you think.”

One of the goons behind Jason left the room at some invisible signal, but Jason’s eyes were back on Tim. With a jerky motion, the boy in the chair lifted his head to see the world around him. Jason watched a shudder run down his spine, but it was unclear whether it was caused by the drugs or the environment. “Wha’ss habbening?” he slurred.

Gretto grinned wickedly. “You’ll find out soon enough, bat boy.” Turning to Jason, he asked, “Are these videos better when you do the talking before or after the beating? I can never decide.”

“Before,” Jason cut in quickly. (More time. He needed more time.) “It builds up the tension.”

The goon returned, bringing with him a metal baseball bat with the Gotham Knights logo printed across the barrel. He dropped it in Jason’s hands, and Jason mentally cringed at the weight of the thing. Not regulation, for sure. Feeling Gretto’s eyes on him, he stepped out of the way and gave it a few test swings.

Even intentionally holding back, the bat sliced through the air with a whistle.

A weak voice broke the quiet. “Gretto,” it growled.

Jason swung around to see Tim glaring daggers at the ponytailed-man with watery eyes.

Shit.

A smile stretched across Gretto’s face. “Ah, so you do remember me. How are you feeling?”

While Gretto was distracted, Jason scanned Tim. He definitely looked more alert, but far from well. What was exposed of his skin was flushed pink, and a light tremor ran down his arms and legs. He didn’t look back at Jason.

Tim’s weight shifted sluggishly. He shook his head hard and stopped, probably regretting it. “You drugged me.”

“Yes, quite a bit. I am honestly surprised you’re conscious,” Gretto quipped. He moved behind the camera and fiddled with the controls.

“How long have I been here?” Tim’s words came out slow and precise, but Jason’s practiced ears picked up the way his ‘l’ carried on too long, like his tongue was sticking to the roof of his mouth. His shoulders moved in an obvious tell he was testing his restraints.

“Long enough to make the Batman nervous.” There was a soft click as he started to film. “Smile for the camera. Hood?”

When Jason didn’t move, Gretto gave one of his goons a pointed look, and the goon in turned raised a gun in Jason’s direction. Jason flipped them both the bird before stepping behind Tim’s chair, putting the metal bat in his hands within view of the camera.

“Batman,” Gretto laughed. “I believe we have something of yours.”

Jason looked down at Tim. This close, he could hear his breath speeding up, and see every small twitch as he began to withdrawal.

“They call you the world’s greatest detective, but I have been surprised by your lack of response to my operation. I can only assume you underestimated me, sending this sidekick of yours. After all, don’t you know what I specialize in?”

The face Gretto made, out of sight of the camera, made Jason clench his jaw hard enough he heard something pop.

“You’re not as sneaky as you think,” Tim muttered. All eyes zeroed in on him, and Jason could tell Tim was fighting to remain still. He wasn’t successful.

“Or maybe,” Gretto continued. “He was sent as a gift?”

Tim flinched back into his seat.

“Keep to the point,” Jason reminded Gretto. “The longer the video, the more likely he’ll find something to track.”

Gretto waved a hand dismissively. “I was just having a little fun.”

Jason didn’t reply.

Gretto sighed. “You’re the expert.” His posture improved by a margin as he continued. “My business has quite the following; I have buyers from all around the world. And I have several upcoming auctions for my product. I’m sure many of my clients would be willing to pay a hefty price for the chance to own one of the bats.”

Jason remained calm. He took mental notes; they hadn’t realized he sold internationally. When Tim started to wiggle out of the rope around his wrists, Jason looped his metal bat in front of his neck, not applying any pressure, in a gesture that looked intimidating and hid the movement of Tim’s shoulders as he worked.

Jason still heard a hitch in his breath.

Gretto sneered at the sight. “Of course, that’s all up to you. Stay out of my business, and it won’t become an issue.”

Tim’s hands were free. He tapped twice against Jason’s thigh and laced his fingers together.

Jason knew the signal. ‘Your call.’

He was pretty confident Tim was not currently capable of fighting. Unfortunately, there were not many good ways remind Tim of that while they were both being watched.

“And if you try to come for us, directly? There will be consequences.” Gretto nodded to Jason, who stiffened his posture in preparation. “We have a little. . . demonstration, in case you didn’t believe me.”

Jason adjusted his grip on the bat in his hands. It was still around Tim’s neck. “What, now?”

At Gretto’s flat look, Jason shrugged. “Okay.”

He dropped the bat into Tim’s lap. Tim, catching on, began struggling again.

“Hey, Goon Numero Uno, could you give me a hand? If he moves around too much I might kill him.”

Gretto pushed one of his henchpeople forward, and at Jason’s instruction, the man holstered his gun and braced Tim’s shoulders back against the chair. Tim continued to fight against the hold, even managing to head-butt the guy once before the man was able to change his grip to hold Tim’s head back over the back of the chair.

“Give him a good beating,” Gretto ordered. “The drugs are too expensive to keep using on him.”

“Yeah, whatever,” Jason answered. He flipped the bat in one hand, testing his grip again.

“And put on a good show!”

“Shut up and let me work.” Jason rested the butt of the barrel against Tim’s sternum. “You’re not going to give me any trouble, are you? You’re going to stay still and let me do my job?”

Tim’s glare was palpable, even through the mask, even with his neck craned back at an awkward angle. But his breath was racing in and out faster, his chest moving with the force of it, and Jason felt justified in telling Tim to sit this one out. It would be even harder to get him out if he fell unconscious again.

“That’s good enough answer for me.” Jason hoisted the bat over his shoulder.

Tim’s throat bobbed.

Jason did make it showy, swinging his weight back before thrusting it forward and around. The bat sliced through the air, making a low whistling noise that bounced around the small concrete room. The bat made contact with its target with a sickening, ringing, crunch, sinking into flesh and bone alike.

The man holding Tim down only grunted before crumpling to the floor.

Jason didn’t stop, using his momentum to hurl the bat at the goon lazily aiming a gun in his direction. The room hadn’t caught up to what was happening yet, and the bat hit the man square in the chest. He flew backward into the wall, and his gun fired, sending a bullet into the ceiling.

A piece of the ricochet sliced through Jason’s left bicep. He grunted, but otherwise ignored it. Instead, he hooked the bat behind the goon’s head to pull him down into his knee, and the man instantly fell unconscious.

Jason dropped the bat. It rang hollowly in the suddenly silent room.

Gretto picked up the camera and held it in front of him like it would protect him. “Hood? I thought we were partners?”

“You didn’t do your homework,” Jason growled. He took his time pulling out his handgun, releasing the safety. “I’m not a fan of human traffickers.”

“I’ll give you money! I have lots – and drugs! I can give you drugs!”

Jason aimed the gun at the skeevy rat of a man. “I don’t want anything from you.”

“Hood. Don’t.”

Jason turned in time to see Tim trying to push himself out of the chair. He got an entire step away before his legs collapsed, sending him into a heap on the floor.

“Red Robin!”

Images of his mom, lying too still on the floor, flashed through his mind. He stubbornly pushed them away. He raced to Tim’s side and rolled him over to see his face.

He was still breathing; Jason could hear it.

“Don’t turn your back on me,” Gretto snarled. It was all the warning Jason got before something smashed into the back of his head. Jason’s helmet took most of the damage, but the force of it still sent him sprawling forward over Tim’s body. His helmet display winked out.

“You don’t know what I’ve built! The bats can’t touch me!”

The metal bat came down again, across the back of his shoulder. Jason wheezed.

That one was going to leave a mark.

Jason fumbled in the darkness for his helmet release catch, and flung it backward before Gretto could get another hit in. (He thanked his dramatic ass for wearing the domino under the helmet for exactly this reason.) Judging by the satisfying thunk, the helmet hit its target.

“Jason,” Tim mumbled beneath him. He was shivering. “Don’t kill him.”

“Names,” Jason chastised, even as he retrieved his gun and rolled over. He barely did it in time; Gretto flung the bat down over his head with both hands, and the metal bounced on the concrete floor where his helmet-less head had been a split second before.

But Jason’s split-second of relief came to an abrupt end when Gretto pressed the bat against Tim’s neck and started pushing down.

“I’m going to kill both of you!” Gretto howled.

Tim immediately began to splutter. He shoved against the metal blocking his airway, but he didn’t have the strength to push the larger man off of him. His struggles rapidly weakened.

Jason couldn’t shoot; the odds of hitting Tim were too high.

He kicked Gretto in the face once, twice. The man’s grip on the baseball bat finally wavered when Jason aimed his combat boot at his fingers.

Tim gasped a breath.

Gretto hissed, shaking out his left hand and raising the bat with his right, his intentions clear. Before he could follow through, Jason shot through the hand holding the bat.

The man shrieked. The bat fell to the floor and rolled away. Gretto curled up around his hand.

Jason loomed over him.

“Please don’t kill me,” Gretto begged. “I’ll do anything.”

Jason was sure he would. He sneered. “You’re not worth the bullets,” and hit him with the butt of his gun. Gretto fell unconscious.

“Come on, Red. We’re getting out of here,” Jason murmured.

“Sounds good.” Tim had to squeeze the words out between gasps. Jason couldn’t tell whether it was because of nearly beings strangled or another symptom of withdrawal.

“Can you walk?”

Tim made a valiant effort. But even sitting upright made him sway.

“Executive decision. Up you go.” Jason tried not to worry, even when hoisting the smaller boy onto his back meant he could feel his shuddering. He double-checked his handgun was loaded and made for the door.

“Proud of you,” Tim said. Heat radiated off his body onto Jason’s back.

“Shut up.” Jason’s words had no heat behind them. “You’re delirious.”

Tim hummed in a tone that neither agreed or disagreed.

Jason wanted to put him down. Check his pulse, check his breathing, check his pupils. Make sure his motor reflexes were intact, make sure he wasn’t running a fever. But he didn’t have the luxury; the noise of the fight was sure to have drawn attention. “Red Robin, you with me?”

Tim’s arms, looped over Jason’s shoulders, gripped marginally harder. “Yeah.” His breath came in fast puffs against Jason’s neck.

Jason bounced him, shifting his weight higher onto his back. “Just. Hold on.”

He approached the door cautiously. Typing the code into the keypad elicited a quiet click as the door unlocked from the inside. Jason pulled the door open barely a crack and strained his ears for any noise coming from the hallway.

He was surprised to hear almost nothing. A single pair of footsteps shuffled down the hallway, away from them. A door opened, letting loose a barrage of sound – voices and tinny music from a radio – and then the door shut, swallowing the sound with it.

Good enough for him. Jason crept out the door.

The hallway was empty. Jason should have thanked his lucky stars and bolted straight for the stairs.

But he took a split second to make sure he wasn’t imagining his luck, and his eyes landed on the office door, just barely cracked open.

Gretto’s files were in there. His fat book full of documentation. Evidence.

Jason cursed under his breath. He couldn’t leave it behind. It would be gone before they ever made it back.

Tim’s grip was loosening by the second.

Jason didn’t have a choice.

He bolted up the stairs.

 - - -

Jason wasn’t the type to sit around the med bay and watch people sleep.

Regardless, he found himself sitting in a folding chair next to a gurney. At least he was pretending to read his worn copy of Pride and Prejudice instead of staring.

Tim had not been okay, by the time they had reached the Cave. Jason had had to flag down the Batmobile on its way to the warehouse because Tim nearly slid off Jason’s bike.

He had started vomiting in the car.

Jason looked up from the sentence he had read twelve times already to check Tim’s vitals again. They weren’t normal yet, but it was a far cry from where he had been. The electrolyte-saline drip in his hand – the antibiotics were connected to his not-infected elbow – was nearing empty. Jason sighed, and stood to replace the bag.

Something about moving must have disturbed Tim, because his face puckered and relaxed, and his eyes blinked opened. “Bruce?”

“Sorry, no. You’re stuck with me.” Jason scratched the back of his neck. “Batman’s busy cleaning up my mess.”

When it was clear Tim would survive, and that Jason wasn’t in danger of bleeding out, Bruce had been pretty clear about that.

Tim studied him with sleepy eyes. He didn’t say anything.

Jason had half a mind to leave. But a lingering question bothered him. “Why were you there, in the first place?”

Tim’s eyes shut. “I was following a lead for a different case. A big drug deal. They caught me at the docks.” He looked down at his bandaged elbow, slathered in triple antibiotic. “I think I woke up in the warehouse, but I don’t remember anything after that.”

Jason gave a low whistle. “They weren’t kidding, then. That must be some powerful stuff.”

Tim’s mouth fell into a frown. “I should apologize.”

Well, that caught Jason off-guard. “For what?”

“Ruining your mission.”

“Don’t be a dipshit. You couldn’t have known. Besides,” Jason shifted. “It was my fault. I should have waited for backup.”

“For the record,” Tim started, “I’m glad you didn’t.”

Jason tried to smile, but there wasn’t enough levity in his voice when he answered, “Yeah. Me, too.”

He could still the ghost of Tim lying on the ground, OD’d.

Jason stretched his back, getting several satisfying cracks out of it. (He knew Tim hated the sound.) “Well, tell Alfred I’m sorry I had to leave before the tea was ready.”

“Where are you going?”

Jason smirked darkly. “I have some business to finish.” He paused by the door before leaving. “Take care of yourself, Tim.”

Tim nodded. “Only if you promise to change those bandages on your arm.”

“I’ll do my best.”

[wiener-soldiers]

atypical family dinners - peter parker

summary: peter thought that the scariest thing about dating tony stark’s eldest daughter would be facing brooding starks. turns out, it’s facing the rest of the avengers.

words: 1.6k

warnings: au? (welcome to the latest episode of ‘eliza ignores infinity war and endgame’) everything is all fine and dandy between steve and tony, morgan is in this. also not really edited.

a/n: i made a post about peter babysitting morgan. don’t tell me that’s not the most perfect thing you’ve ever heard. this is the product of that.

“(Y/N).”

“Yeah, Dad?”

“Did you clean your room?”

“Did you clean your room?”

“(Y/N),” your Dad whines.

“Someone taught me this thing to deal with your pestering: if you ask me to do something, I ask you if you’ve done the same thing.”

“Did your Uncle Rhodey tell you that?”

“Uncle Steve, actually. Give him more credit.”

Tony rolls his eyes at you as you sit across from him on the kitchen island. He stands at the sink washing blueberries (for you and him, you guess it runs in the family) while you absentmindedly twirl a pencil in your fingers while staring at the functions problem in front of you.

“Question,” you say to your Dad. Tony looks up while mid-eating another blueberry. He nods in your direction for you to continue, “Why do I need to learn periodic functions? Like yeah, I get how there are real-life applications, but no cycle is perfect. I need to learn this again because, why?”

Tony chuckles softly throwing a blueberry up in the air at you. Ungracefully, you stumble out of your chair to catch it in your mouth.

He cheers at you before saying, “Well, I’m pretty sure you gotta learn it to learn more math.”

“Okay, that’s bullshit.”

“Very fair, but watch your mouth.”

“Says you.”

“You’re using that strategy again, aren’t you?”

The elevator door on the far side of the common floor at the Avengers’ Tower. You take a glance at the metal doors as they slide open, revealing Peter Parker. The puppy-eyed boy catches your gaze and you offer him a soft smile, which he returns.

Peter frequents the tower for several reasons: for the ‘Stark Internship,’ because your Dad likes the kid more then you let on, and because you and Peter have been dating for the past few months.

“Hey, look who’s here!” Tony says as he notices your gaze elsewhere. He throws a blueberry at Peter as he approaches, but instead of catching it, he whacks it away in surprise.

“Pete, don’t waste the blueberries!”

“You expect me to catch that? It was heading straight for my face!” he says before stepping forward and pressing a soft kiss to your cheek. You smile at him before he waves at your Dad, “Hi, Mr. Stark.”

He shudders at your PDA before saying, “I forgot you two were still teenagers and still did that whole…lovey-dovey affection thing.”

Peter blushes immensely while you roll your eyes, “It’s not like you don’t do that with Pepper.”

“Yeah, yeah,” Tony finishes before putting the washed blueberries in a bowl and sliding them across the counter to you and Peter. “You staying over for dinner, Parker?”

“Uh…I don’t know Mr. Stark. I don’t want to be intruding,” he stammers. You and Peter had been dating for about six months. Your Dad had almost no problem with the two of you together (“He’s a good kid. I’d rather you date him than some Upper East Side prick.”), Pepper thought he was a great influence and absolutely adorable, and your step-sister Morgan absolutely loved the kid. However, your extended Avengers family didn’t really know a lot about him. Your Uncle Steve likes him and knows he has a good heart, but everyone else was hesitant to let their little baby (granted, you were in high school) hang around with a guy, more so a guy with powers.

You poke him with the end of your pencil, “You’re just saying that because you don’t want to deal with domestic Avengers.”

“…So?”

Both Starks laugh at him as he stuffs blueberries in his mouth.

“C’mon, Parker. They’re harmless. Uncle Bucky looks brooding but he’s literally just a big teddy bear. Uncle Sam is a little—”

“Much,” your Dad finishes for you.

You throw a blueberry at him to shut him up, “Whatever. But he’s fucking hilarious.”

“(Y/N)! The mouth on you, I swear to God.”

“I wonder where I get it from?” You tell him sarcastically, to which he smirks at you.

“Seriously though,” Tony says to Peter, giving him a soft and reassuring smile, “consider staying for dinner. Pepper’s making pasta, Steve and I’ll try our hand at the barbeque.”

You clasp your hand around his, rubbing it softly, “You’re an Avenger now, and your family. Stay for dinner, Pete.”

He glances at the two of you before sighing, “Okay, I’ll stay. But—can we hang out with Morgan first, I love that kid.”

--

You and Peter walk hand-in-hand down the streets of Manhattan with a blabbering Morgan on his back. Morgan chats about her new-found knowledge on cheetahs on a documentary she watched at school while eating a cone of ice cream as Peter carries her piggy-back style.

You let Morgan go on for longer as you and Peter let your hands swing. The warm sun reflects off the buildings and you smile at Peter.

“Hey, Peter?” Morgan asks, offering you the ice-cream cone she’s holding so she can wrap her arms around Peter’s neck. You take the cone from her, not before smearing a little bit of the ice-cream on her nose. She laughs at you before rubbing it off.

“Yeah, kid?”

“Dad says you’re staying for dinner and you’re scared of all of my Aunts and Uncles,” your little sister states bluntly.

“I am not—”

“Peter,” you say with a soft smile, “you know she’s right.”

The three of you arrive at the entrance of Avengers’ Tower and make your way inside. Peter lets Morgan off his back and she waves at every employee milling around. The three of you make your way to the elevator and step inside.

“Hey, Miss F.R.I.D.A.Y.?” Morgan asks politely while looking up to the ceiling. You and Peter chuckle softly as she sways back and forth.

“Yes, Miss Morgan?” the automated A.I. says.

Morgan smiles, “Can you take us to my Dad? It’s dinner and I’m hungry.”

The elevator starts shifting upwards, “Of course, Morgan. Your parents are with the rest of the Avengers on the common floor for dinner.”

“Thank you!” she states delightfully. Morgan then fixes her gaze on Peter, “So. Dinner.”

“What about it?” Peter says while fidgeting.

“Just be yourself. Dad likes you. Mom likes you. (Y/N) likes you. Uncle Stevie likes you. I like you, you buy me ice-cream!”

Peter smiles at your sister before picking her up and giving her a hug. “How old are you again,” he asks jokingly.

“I’m five!”

“So wise. I bet you learn it from your Dad.”

“I learn it from (Y/N) actually.”

The elevator doors slide open and the smell of food wafts into the air. The Avengers are seated around the table while your Dad and Uncle Steve bring barbequed food from the porch. Pepper catches sight of you first.

“(Y/N)! Morgan!” she says with a smile.

Peter lets her down and she runs into Pepper’s arms, “Hi Mommy! Peter bought me ice-cream!”

“Did he now? Before dinner?” she says amusedly as you and Peter approach her. You press a kiss to your stepmother’s cheek as she gives you a tight hug.

“Hi, Peter! How are you, love?”

“I’m good, thanks for letting me stay for dinner,” he says while giving her a hug. After they separate, Morgan immediately grasps his hand.

“Of course, you’re always welcome here.”

Pepper leads the two of you two your seats and you greet people as you walk. You wrap your arms around your Uncle Bucky and Uncle Sam to give them a hug as you walk by, giving them both a kiss on the cheeks.

“Well, is this that Parker kid you keep talking about?” Sam asks, turning around in his seat to face you and Peter. Bucky does as well, his metal arm glistening in the light.

“Yes, sir,” Peter answers, sticking out his hand to shake, “I’m Peter.”

Instead, Sam stands and bring Peter in for a bro-hug, Bucky following. “Don’t need to call us ‘sir,’ kid,” Sam says.

“(Y/N) talks about you enough, you’re a good kid. You have a bunch of spider-powers and you still think my metal arm is cool. I respect that,” Bucky says.

“You’re always welcome here,” your Aunt Natasha says from across the table.

He smiles at awe at all of them and you wrap your hand in his, “Thank you, all of you.”

“Alright hooligans, time to eat!” your Dad shouts, walking back in the room holding a bowl of mashed potatoes. Uncle Steve enters the room behind hip holding two bottles of wine.

“Hey, Queens. Nice of you to finally join us,” Steve says jokingly, and Peter smiles enthusiastically in return.

“Hey (Y/N),” your Dad calls out, “help me with these damn potatoes.”

“Language!” Morgan calls from her seat beside Pepper.

The entire room bursts into glee and you turn to Peter as you watch him laugh as well. Without warning, you lean forward and press a soft kiss on his lips. Not caring if your family watches, Peter smiles against the kiss. You hear your Dad groan from behind you.

The two of you pull away and Peter smiles at you breathlessly. “What?” he asks.

You smile at him, “Nothing, it just…you look so happy.”

He smiles at you again and wraps his arms around you, pulling you into a hug.

“All right, that’s enough you two. We’re hungry,” Tony calls from across the table.

“Hurry up please, I’m hungry!” Morgan whines.

The room laughs again as the two of you take a seat and start dinner. In hindsight, Peter isn’t sure why he was nervous meeting the rest of your family. If they are anything like you, Peter knows he would love them as much as he loves you.

taglist: @sebastianstanfoundmymixtape​ @accio-rogers​ @lionheo04 @stupendoussciencenaturepanda​

[ikenugs]

I was literally just thinking of what new thing I should fantasize in my head about, and that's when my dad called me to say good night. As like everyone in my family says, "Goodnight, love you" or something along the lines and gives each other a hug. So the Mc really missing the same practices her parents used to do, as she had an affectionate family. While also being too afraid to ask anyone about it, especially Nobunaga.

Ikesen Scenarios~ Goodnight Hugs

And here she found herself in the meeting room, yet again being dragged from the comfort of her bed and bearsace. Agriculture was a very important part of Azuchi's economic structure and was thought to produce some of the ripest crops around. Though along with that, to have the ability to cultivate the land, the farmers had to acquire the right materials and skillfully use them. The Oda had just received fertile land a little to the east, so this meeting was mainly about transporting supplies there and investing the money for the supplies. Though she didn't recall much that she learned in school on Japanese history, she found this sorta thing a bit interesting. Obviously, it's different reading it from a textbook you've been staring at for hours, then actually experiencing and observing farmers. Watching them plow fields instead of using huge machines that pollute the Earth, like they do in the future. She hadn't seen anything beyond Azuchi's bustling shopping area, aside from the woods and Honno-Ji. So it'd be nice to see more of ancient Japan. She was still very sleepy, and blah blah money, blah leader accounting financial stuff. And you could occasionally see the drool falling from her mouth, as she dozed off. Though she did brighten up when they began decided who would deliver the supplies. Which ended up being Masamune, as he was 'itching to get out and cause some mischief somewhere else' resulting in a whack from Hideyoshi. Besides that he glanced over at her with his signature cheeky grin, "Would you like to accompany me, Lass?" Now that wasn't an offer she could just refuse, again, a bit of adventure couldn't hurt. She wondered how different their lives were compared to Azuchi. "Well, that would be lovely, only if I'm not a burden." Which she could see the unmistakable glint of mischief in his eyes, and knew there was more than just and invite to deliver materials. For all she knows, that look could mean he's gonna set a tree on fire and tie her to it. Maybe throw a dagger at her while he's at it, so this was going to be some journey.

In a commanding tone, Nobunaga officially dismissed them all, though everyone lingered and chatted comfortably. Now that it was over, she couldn't stop herself from imagining the toasty feeling of her bed 'soon my love'. It didn't ease the thoughts that have been pestering her recently though, they were thoughts about her family, ones she missed dearly. She recalled when her father would knock on her door to tell her goodnight and give her a hug. Her loved ones always hugged and wished everyone a 'goodnight, love you', as she grew up in a very affectionate family. So, you could say that she was feeling quite 'touch starved', not in a thirsty way, but a pure one. All the warlords gathered in that very room, we're playing the roles of her Sengoku family, and she loved them all very much. But she missed her old family habits, she was even affectionate towards her friends and loved hugs. So even after being there for a month, it was difficult not to reminisce on her past (or now, future). She didn't notice that she had zoned out in deep thought, her gaze landing right beside Nobu's head. He silently scrutinized her, it seemed as though she wanted something.

"Is there something you need, Emi? You've been staring at me for the past few minutes now." Now she was alert, and apologized sheepishly. "I-im very sorry, I was just thinking about something. And was wondering......um.." Mitsuhide's attention was drawn to the flustered girl before Nobunaga and chuckled a bit 'what could she be on about now?' She tried to begin again, shakily, " uh.... Well, umm.. You see... I" He raised his eyebrow as if to say, 'if you're gonna say something then get on with it' She just started at his desolate frosty eyes, with lack of warmth. Asking him for affection may not be the best, maybe Mitsunari would be easier to ask? "Actually, uh.. I think I'll just go ask Mitsunari, instead.." Emi began to think away from the lord. 'What does Mitsunari have that I don't?' Is what went through his brain as he waited to see what would happen if she asked the sweetheart of their group.

With a blush still dusting her cheeks, she reached a hand and tapped on Nari's shoulder, who turned around with a welcoming smile. "Lady, Emi!!" She giggled at his innocent reaction, her conversations with him were a bit flowier. Yet again she became a little shy, but the friendliness radiating off of the sweet angel gave her the courage to continue. "Mitsunari, .......? Could you give me a hug??" He titled his head for a moment then spoke, "A..........hug?..Well, of course Lady, Emi!" He then embraced her tenderly, what a fricken cinnamon roooooooooooooolllllll.

"Is it comfort that you seek? Because I can't give that to you." Nobu said as monotone as ever, Nari's enthusiasm had drawn all eyes and ears. "So you just wanted to ask for an embrace, then?" She bowed her head a bit towards him and spoke what was bothering her. "Well, yes, but that's not everything. You see I was just missing my family, and we had a practice where before bed we all gave each other hugs and said that we loved each other. And whenever we did that... I got a warm feeling in my chest, it always helped me sleep." They all noticed the wistful look in her eyes, it was difficult to ignore the way her heart ached, a pleading for intimacy. It was a pretty lonely feeling. No one wanted to feel that way, and I guess the loneliness she felt could be understood by the lot. She couldn't see her family for at least two months around 61 days, it was a bit heartbreaking. She did have Sasuke and Bearsace other than the six there, but Sasuke was quiet busy doing Ninja stuff, and Bearsace isn't a person. She even tried expressing her emotion and passion in her sewing, but things like that were just momentary distractions from her inevitable feelings. Even though she was in a bit of a vulnerable state, Mitsuhide being the tease he is decided that this is perfect bait, and he couldn't just let this chance slip by, could he? He chuckled softly, and his eyes sparkled with amusement.

"So, if what my ears are hearing is correct, you want us to express our love for you and embrace you warmly as though you were our wives?" Emi immediately flushed, I guess in this time that would be something only lovers would do. "N-no, of course not, I just want a hug, as you guys are the closest thing to family I have here, " The unmistakable tear in her voice pierced the hearts of even the coldest warlords in the room. Her hair covered her eyes as she bowed down, she had said her family was so far you couldn't point it out on a map, but they were in different TIME PERIODS. But, she couldn't cry, a show of weakness like this one could cost her too many precious things in the Sengoku period. Her actions even made Mitsuhide loss his composure for just a moment, only a second though.

Hideyoshi frowned and looked seriously towards his vassal. "Mitsunari, " "My Lord, should we........?" "I believe it's time..." Mitsunari nodded in understanding. Ieyasu's face turned to one of dread, of pure horror. Mitsuhide raised a singular eyebrow, as Masamune grinned, Nobu remained stoic, though you could see the shine in his cold eyes.

Ieyasu quickly protested, "No........... You must be kidding me, no way. Nuh uh. I refuse to participate in that, not again." She looked up concerned, what could possibly be so awful to have Ieyasu practically running in the opposite direction. Well, actually there are lots of things, having to interact with Mitsunari, acknowledging his emotions, another one of Hideyoshi's lectures, the list just goes on. This time Nobunaga stepped in to assist, "Ieyasu, " He gave a stern unwavering look, "Do you dare.... Betray the Oda by defending the victim due to your lack of being able to process physical--" "Ugh, please stop. Fine. But if you ever speak of this again, you won't wake up the next morning." This caused Mitsunari to break out in a sweet smile.

After their interaction, each one, with Ieyasu a bit more hesitant than the others, began to surround the poor girl trapped in the middle. Even Nobunaga had arose from his dias. They slowly began tightening around her, closing in on their one and only target. 'Victim?! What we're they going to do to her?! Did her declaration define her as too weak?!' Suddenly, they all slowed to a stop, a calm before the storm, a glance passed around the circle, resulting in Emi's pulse to quicken to the pace of lightening. At last, the look ended at Hideyoshi, who gave the final nodding signal.

"GROUP HUG!!!" Rang around the room as the warlords pounced on her, squishing her tight in the middle. She opened her eyes only to see a cluster of the six samurai clutching onto her in a warm embrace. Correction, actually, five samurai, as Ieyasu lingered and watched. Masamune was the first to notice, "Come on Ieyasu, wouldn't it be nice to get in on the action?! Don't be such a sourpuss!" Ieyasu scoffed at his comment, though it did look comfy, and comforting. "Oh, Ieyasu-sama, why don't you come join us?! You'd surely enjoy it!" Mitsunari called to him, that sealed the deal, despite his snide comments towards Nari, he had a bit of a soft spot for the boy. Ieyasu sighed one last time, closed his eyes and walked towards the group. Ending up squished next to the very same angel, their cheeks almost touching.

After a few moments, they backed off only to uncover a beaming Emi. She actually thought they were going to like attack her or something, her heart felt so warm, she felt like poppers we're going off in her chest. In all her excitement she went around the room and hugged each one individually. Ieyasu didn't even deny her this time, her hug with Nobunaga was a bit odd, but still made her feel fuzzy and loved.

"Hey, why does Mitsunari get two hugs?" Masamune asked, "What if I wanted another one?" She smiled brightly again and began moving in for another hug, she never took Masamune as the overly affectionate type. At the last second, she realized his cheeky tactics. "You flirt?!" There was still this feeling on her heart, as they laughed away his attempts. And each said their good night's before the sweet girl skipped out of the council room. A satisfied look on her face. Nobunaga rested his cheek on his palm as he watched her go. Shortly after they heard the crash and concerned apology from their princess.

"What an unusual woman........."

Sasuke's whole face was beet red as he watched the whole situation play out. He could most definitely say he was jealous of the woman, +15 Jealousy gained! Fanboi mode activated! If there was ever a time he wanted to fall through the ceiling tiles, it was then, how lovely it would have been to join the group hug.

"Wow, who knew the Oda were such softies....." Whispered a soft voice behind him, he jumped a bit and had to adjust himself as to not actually fall through the ceiling. "Yuki?!" He had forgotten he brought his BFF along, his fanboi had placed him in his own little world.

Needless to say, she slept very soundly and happily that night..

_____________________________________________

I SWEAR, GET THE HISTORY BOI HIS VERY OWN PERSONAL GROUP HUG! Anyways, but just imagine this scenario, it's like so adorable. Also, Ieyasu had learned what that look meant the hard way, as he hadn't seen Wasabi for a few days and he was a little saddened by that fact, despite claiming Wasabi could run away anytime and he wouldn't care. As Mitsuhide could practically pick up anything, like the sneaky snake he is. It started with a whisper from Mitsuhide to a gasp from Hideyoshi, and with a look from his vassal, he was actually like AMBUSHED and HARASSED with hugs. It did make him feel better, though he'd never admit it lol.

Ieyasu and Mitsunari make such a cute pair don't ya think 😊 (whether platonic or not). Also I realize I forgot to include Ranmaru.. Forgive me for that...