#these guys really like upsetting my tag system huh

[thylacines-toybox]

A strange find from the local recycle shop, an oddly seal-like plane with a dog pilot who can sit inside! Made by Clifford B McGuire, who upon searching seem to make a lot of pilot/aviator animals.

Process of cleaning them up below...

The sealplane caught my eye in the big toy bin first! A friend looked it up and discovered it’s meant to come with a pilot, who I found hiding way at the bottom of the bin. They made me laugh so I had to save them, either for me or for somebody.

The sealplane had a couple of stains on its wings and body, while the pilot had a very stained shirt and torn tie, and was just a bit scruffy looking. Apparently the sealplane is supposed to have a couple of engines under the wings too, oh well! Guess it just glides now.

First I unpicked all of pilot dog's clothes to clean and fix separately! The different materials would need cleaning different ways, especially felt which doesn’t wash well.

To help the hat hold its circular shape better, I turned it inside out and trimmed down the edge of the seam on the inside, then added a circle of foam to help keep it flat.

I decided not to wash this part, I just trimmed off the bobbly and tufty areas on the surface of the felt to neaten it up.

Dog had a hole in his neck so I stitched that up too. Actually I stitched all the way around his neck just for some extra strength.

Wash time! Using some warm water and a little dish soap, I gently scrubbed the sealplane's yellow spots without soaking it entirely, then brushed clear water through to rinse. I avoided scrubbing the felt pieces.

Dog actually wasn't too dirty under the clothes! I just gave him a little bit of cleaning, mainly on the light areas.

Since the shirt looked like normal shirt material, I tried soaking it in normal shirt stain remover! It worked really well! (Also it looked cool in the cup because a rainbow was shining through it while it fizzed!)

All the parts hung on the line to dry. Flying! Dog pilot must have pressed the eject button.

Once dried, I stitched the clothes back on to the pilot. I used the remaining piece of his tie as a template to cut out two new pieces of black felt which tie together.

Sealplane’s printed lettering was lifting up in a few spots, so I used a teeny tiny dot of superglue on the end of a pin to just dab under the letters and pressed them back down with my nail. I trimmed stray tufts off the felt around them too.

It would have been nice to touch up the flaked paint on the plane’s zipper too, but I don’t really have the right stuff for that, so I’m calling them done!

[whumperooni]

two in the morning and i’m all yours

Pairing: Dabi x Reader

Tags/Warnings: tw toxic relationship, public fingering, drinking and drug mention, degradation, possessive behavior, daddy kink, fingers in moufs, reader is kind of a bimbo, mentions of punishment/trained behavior, drool, slight puking mention (just briefly, nothing graphic and not described in any detail- it’s all in the past)

Word count: 2.1k

A/N: I, uh, have never ridden a train before. But I’ve ridden the subway! So I’m just going to slightly modify the request to subway rather than train;;;; And I skimped out on fucking, but hopefully this is tasty enough to make up for it ♡

✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤✤

Two in the morning and all is quiet.

It’s quiet as Dabi yanks you into the station and it’s quiet as he makes you hop the gate. His snicker when your clumsy, drunken feet stumble over one another is quiet and your whine against his chest is quiet, too.

The terminal is a ghost town as he hauls you through it- empty, dingy, washed over in a sickly green light that makes you feel so disconnected from the world above. It’s like a horror movie, almost, but you couldn’t ever be really scared of a vaguely spooky subway station- you face actual horrors in your life every day; you’ve got crooks for friends, bloodthirsty debtors haunting your every step, ravenous heroes looking to snatch you up just to get to the League, and a monster for a boyfriend.

All that is much, much scarier than any silly subway station.

And Dabi is the scariest of it all- thrilling, frightening, vicious, nasty.

A hum slips from you- dazed and faint- and you twine your fingers through Dabi’s, smile sleepily when his hand holds yours tight.

You like the way he holds your hand as if he’s terrified you’ll try to run away from him. You like how he crushes your palm and squishes your fingers together until they’re aching for a good few hours after. It feels like you’re precious somehow- though you know it’s a twisted way to be treated.

He just wants to keep you his is all. He just wants to make sure you won’t- can’t- ever leave him.

Not that you want to. Not that the thought of doing so could ever enter your giddy, empty head.

Dabi pulls you into a car and you giggle when he yanks you to sit down on his lap, curl your fingers into shirt and peer around curiously. It’s empty in here- just like the station- and your fuzzy mind can’t help but wonder if you really did happen to stumble upon a ghost town.

Ghost town? Ghost station? Ghost subway? Ghost...

Oh, whatever.

Another giggle as Dabi grips your waist and you smile up at him- eyes so heavy and cheeks flushed, your lashes fluttering as he digs his thumbs into deep circles along your hips.

“Are we goin’ back to the hideout?”

Slurred, a little whiny- Dabi huffs at the question and his grip on you tightens as he pulls you closer. You can’t help a small shiver when his hands wander lower and you pout when he huffs again, when he moves a hand away to take his cigarettes from his jacket pocket.

“Where the fuck else would we be goin’?”

You don’t know- a hotel? Another party? Some isolated little house to break into and sleep the night away?

A shrug from you and Dabi clicks his tongue, snaps his fingers and lights his cigarette with a pretty blue flame. He takes a draw and breathes smoke out into your face and he laughs when you whine, when you squirm on his lap.

"Dabi, you're so mean."

"Oh, I'm mean now? You didn't think I was so mean earlier when I was bashin' in that fucker's face for ya."

Your cheeks flare at the memory and Dabi sneers whenever you bite your lip- gloating, smug, undeniably arrogant over the way your muddy eyes get just that much more hazy at the recollection.

It was some perv- some handsy guy with too much coke up his nose, too much whiskey in his system. He had cornered you when Dabi had went to the bathroom, had grabbed onto you and laughed at your stuttered panic, had tried to run his hands up your skirt. He’d been dumb enough not to keep an eye out for Dabi and god when Dabi had come to find you, he had melted that jerk’s face with a flaming punch.

You can still smell the stink of burning skin. You can still feel the ache in your wrist when Dabi had squeezed onto it tight with a snarl.

A shiver runs through you and you squirm on Dabi’s lap, swallow and dig your teeth deeper into your lip when he runs those piercing eyes of his over you.

“You know, princess,” he drawls, “you never thanked me for that.”

You didn’t? You could have sworn you had...

“I- I’m sorry, Dabi,” you mumble- meek, genuinely apologetic and genuinely upset that you weren’t a good little girl that had thanked him like you should have. “Thank you, Dabi. Thank you for savin’ me.”

A snort, something smug in his eyes, and Dabi takes a draw of his cigarette, blows the smoke out through his nose. You’d almost giggle at it if it weren’t for the way his fingers dig deep enough into your skin that you’re left whimpering instead.

“You’re losin’ those good manners of yours, sweetheart,” he huffs. “Am I gonna have to teach you a lesson?”

A- a lesson? Oh, no no no- not a lesson.

Dabi’s lessons are so cruel. Making you kneel on concrete with a bar of soap jammed in your mouth until you’re sobbing and gagging, puking up bile. Spanking you with a flaming hand until you can’t sit down for a good month. Fucking you in the bar right in front of the League, making you cry out your sins while they watch him scorch his palm prints into your waist.

They’re so cruel.

But you never forget your lessons. You’re always so good after them- so well behaved for him.

Another whimper and you shake your head quickly, get your drunken mind spinning from the desperation. You press up against him and you curl your fingers tight into his shirt, try and fail to keep your lips from wobbling and your eyes from glistening.

“N- no, daddy, please,” you whine, plead. “I- I’m a good girl. I’m sorry- I promise!”

Dabi scoffs, cigarette bobbing in his mouth, and he runs his hand down to your thigh, pushes it up until he can poke his spindly fingers against your panties.

“Yeah? Then why the fuck are you so wet?”

Wet? You’re...are you really wet?

Your eyes widen and you’re left gasping whenever he nudges your panties to the side, when a skinny digit runs along your slit.

“Fuckin’ soaked,” he sneers. “What kinda good girl is this fuckin’ drenched on the subway?”

“D- Daddy-”

Fingers plunge into your mouth and your words get cut off in a gurgle, a garbled whine slips from you as they push down on your tongue, as his rings scrape against the roof of your mouth, as you taste yourself.

Oh- oh you really are wet.

A whimper trembles out around his digits and Dabi’s sneer grows as he plunges his fingers deeper into your mouth.

“Such a little slut,” he mocks. “A bad little girl with a sopping little cunt.”

No! No! You’re not bad! You’re not!

Tears well up in your eyes and drench your lashes faster than they usually do- how can they not when you’re drunk and ashamed? How can they not when Dabi’s fingers jam down so deep in your throat that his knuckles are past your teeth?

You gag- still trying to plead even as you do- and Dabi takes a draw from his cigarette, stabs it out on the empty seat next to him without even looking.

“Oh, baby, you’re just so fuckin’ hopeless, aren’t ya?” he taunts- so sickly fake with his sympathy, with the hollow sweetness in his voice. “You can’t help it, huh? Can’t help being wet for daddy.”

No, you can’t help it. You really, really can’t. Not with the way he’s practically trained you to need him. Not with the way he has you so tightly wrapped around his finger.

You whimper, again, as you try to shake your head and you make yourself gag even harder as you do, make yourself drip tears all down your cheeks and onto your lap.

“Da- Da- Daddy...”

It’s so garbled and pathetic, so hopelessly pitiful. Dabi’s eyes go half-shut as you try to gurgle out your drunken apologies and he clicks his tongue as drool drips down his wrist.

“Messy little skank,” he huffs- this time truly fond in his own rough way. That makes it better, a little, and you sniffle whenever he pulls his fingers from your mouth, cough and spill spit all over you as you try to catch your breath.

Dabi dips his drool drenched fingers under your skirt and you gasp, mewl as they plunge into your cunt, moan so loud it echoes through the empty car whenever he curls his digits deep inside of you.

“Daddy, please!”

A snort, a scoff- Dabi’s lips twist into a smirk right as his wrist does and you collapse against his chest, tremble with a little sob.

“Oh, angel,” he hums, “are you begging me to fuck ya right here? On the subway? Where anyone could get on and see you creaming on my cock?”

Yes? No? You don’t know.

It’s so hard to think with the liquor in your veins. It’s so hard to think with the way his fingers brush against your sweet spot with each curl, each pump he gives them.

It’s so hard to think when Dabi’s disciplined you to go absolutely dumb at just the simplest of touches.

You whimper and a hot huff of air brushes against your cheek, his free hand reaches until he can grab you by the hair, yank your head back until you’re forced to look at him through your bleary eyes.

“I asked you a question, princess,” he drawls- words sharp with a threat, eyes narrowing as you whimper once more.

“I- I- Daddy, I’m sorry...”

Slurred, stupid- at least it has his face flickering into something amused. His fingers still curl tighter in your hair, though, and you sniffle as your cunt clenches around him, as your hips try to stutter against his hand.

“Daddy, please! I want- I want it...”

Dabi snorts and you whine as his fingers slip from you, as he brings them up to his lips and gives them a lick. They’re so shiny even in the dingy light of the subway and seeing those glossy digits has your pussy throbbing, your cheeks flaring, a whimpering mewl crawling out from your throat.

“‘Course you want it,” he drawls, swiping his fingers down your shirt. “But you ain’t going to get it.”

What? But that’s not fair!

Your mouth flies open and tears drip down your cheeks as you try to protest, but Dabi grabs onto your jaw before you can speak so much as a word and he squeezes your face tight, sneers at the squeak that leaves you.

“Maybe at the hideout,” he taunts. “Maybe if you’re a good little girl and show me how thankful you are that I didn’t let that asshole fuck your dumb ass.”

He would have- he wouldn’t have...would he?

A sob from you and Dabi huffs, something softens in his expressions as you warble out a “no, please, ‘m yours” to him in a drunken, pleading whimper. A click of his tongue and his grip on your face loosens before he gives your cheek a wet little smack, before he rolls his eyes at you.

“Oh, shut up,” he grumbles. “As if I’d let anyone fuck my girl.”

His girl...his girl. That’s right- you’re his girl.

You sniffle, still tangled up in your upset, and Dabi clicks his tongue again before shaking his head.

“So pathetic,” he snorts. “Fuckin’ dumb, pretty thing.”

This time when you whimper it’s misty eyed and pleased, full of undying need and accompanied by trembling lips, a rock of your hips. Dabi scoffs, softly, and his hands grip your waist, force you to stillness.

“Be good for daddy,” he tells you- orders you. “Or you won’t get fuckin’ nothin’ but a whuppin’ when we get home.”

You don’t- you don’t want a whuppin’. You can be good.

Sniffling once more, you nod and rest yourself against his chest, nuzzle into his neck with a shuddering little mewl.

“I’ll be good, daddy,” you promise- soft, sincere, words just whiny enough to make him huff. “I promise.”

“That’s my girl.”

A snap of fingers, a deep inhale, the scent of a freshly lit cigarette. You melt into Dabi as he smokes and you close your eyes, let yourself be rocked into something content and almost peaceful by the gentle swaying of the subway car- a smile on your lips and tears drying on your cheeks, your cunt throbbing with more and more need with each passing stop.

[well-its-not-human-anymore]

TMNT Headcanons

Ah shit, I'm at it again because this is my only current hobby

Y'all I can and will take requests on these if you want me to, I'm just doing these to give my brain the happy juice .

That being said, here you have it:

the boys realizing that you care and actually want to be their friend

Raphael

You wouldn't admit that you'd stalked him to the roof

Absolutely not, you wouldn't stoop that low

at least not that you'd tell him

From the looks of it he was pissed, Raph got a certain face that you eventually picked up as his 'my brothers were being dicks and now I'm not gonna have emotions but I'm gonna be angry about it' face

His shoulders would get all hunched and you could hear his dejected sighing from about seven miles away

So you opted to clamber to the rooftop, gear and all and drop into a crouch next to the temperamental terrapin

"you look like someone lit your favorite book on fire and forced you to eat cauliflower, what gives?"

"well hello to you too huh?"

"I'll take that as a yes then, you get in another fight with what's his name?"

He refused to look at you, letting out an angry huff

"somethin' like that"

You only let him sit in silence for another minute or so before opening your mouth again

"well you being pissed doesn't help me any. There's a gang meeting just up the street, drugs and illegal shit. Wanna tag along?"

Raph had the decency to look appalled. You were offering to hang out with him? Willingly?

Error 404: system has stopped working, plz try again later

He doesn't look at you now, not that he can see your face through the mask, a light blush creeps up his neck

"yeah. Yeah I'd like that. Lets go shorty."

"you got it princess"

Leonardo

He wasn't expecting you to care

The last fight you two had before he had to leave hadn't been resolved yet

But after his slip up during patrol he needed someplace to go so he wouldn't take his anger out on his family

And that's how he showed on your balcony at whatever ungodly hour of the morning

You'd barely pulled the window open before you saw his expression, you couldn't help but sigh

"leo what the actual fuck?"

"I'm really sorry about this, I just didn't know where else to go"

You really didn't want to feel bad but you did, and your feet were really fucking cold

"get your ass in here. You're letting the cold air in."

He settled easily on your couch, seemingly awkward and avoiding any eye contact with you.

You returned to the room with a bathrobe on, an extra pillow and an armful of blankets

"you can crash here for the night, im off tomorrow but don't wake me up before nine or I will stab you. Let me know if you need anything, I'm just down the hall. And we'll talk everything over in the morning, okay?"

He nodded with a sigh of relief

"thank you y/n. And I'm sorry"

You just shook your head with a smile

"I don't even remember what we were arguing about leo. And you hanging here isnt a big deal. I need friends anyway."

Your voice carried through the apartment as you retreated to your own room, letting him settle in

"now go the fuck to sleep, dumbass"

Michaelangelo

Mikey had no idea why you wanted to see him

Especially not with the urgency in your text

Technically speaking he wasn't even supposed to be out right now and he tried to ignore that as he sprinted further away from the lair

He was out of breath by the time he reached your window, the sun nearly gone and the street lights flickering to life

The turtle knocked twice on your window before coming in and yelling for you

"you good angelcakes?! Where're you at?"

There was a startling amount of crashing from your storage room, causing him to jolt slightly when you exploded out of the room with a huge smile on your face

"good you're here, sorry I used the emergency line but I knew you started patrol soon and I didn't want to forget to give you this"

And then you pulled out a tiny binder that reminded him of a scrapbook, however that definitely wasn't what it was because when he opened it multiple organized, clipped magazine recipes stared back at him

Mikey was confused™

At his expression you seemed to explode with a bubble of excitement you didn't know you were capable of

"I remember you telling me that you liked cooking but sucked ass at organizing so when I accidentally ended up getting bored this week I made that for you so you wouldn't have to organize it."

Definitely shorting out his brain

"dude I love it, don't get me wrong here, it's amazing. But uh- why?"

You raised an eyebrow at him, now also confused™

"oh uh- I figured you're kinda risking your ass coming out of your way to visit me so I thought I'd do something to thank you and that was the first thing that came to mind."

The boy is touched and has mentally vowed to die for you, you are too precious for this world

Donatello

Donnie never seemed to understand how you managed to read him in such a short time of knowing him

You swore it was all the reading, spending your childhood analyzing characters because you had no friends made you quite the people reader

So the second the turtle showed up to read with you that night your book became an afterthought

"you're upset. Does someone need to go into permanent night night?"

he'd literally been there for nine seconds and you were already calling him out

"uh no? I'm fine"

You rolled your eyes and resisted a great urge to clonk yourself on the head with your book

"okay that's a fucking lie. Dude you didn't even say 'whats up stranger' when you got here and you expect me to believe you're just fine? Yeah right. Did something happen? Do you need to talk about it?"

The poor guy didn't even get the chance to open his mouth

"say I'm fine one more time and Im adding the moon to my list of favorite planets"

He didn't know what he was expecting you to say but it definitely wasn't that and now he was fighting the urge to laugh

"are you really making fun of my planet knowledge right now? Not very cool of you man. I know at least 2 constellations. There's ursa major and ursa not as major right over-"

"you mean ursa minor?"

"THE MOON IS MY FAVORITE PLANET"

It might've started as a normal chuckle but in under half a minute it had dissolved into that ridiculously adorable snorting laugh he did that usually left him breathless, you laughed along with him, hanging your head and giggling as you did so

"thanks"

You shook your head, slightly dizzy from laughing so hard

"don't mention it. I don't like seeing you upset. Besides, you love it when I get all astrological, right?"

"uhhhhh..."

"this is the part where you lie to spare my feelings Donnie."

"yep. Love the astrological stuff. The best." *Plz insert awkward thumbs up here*

[burberryharold]

hey, lovies! i’ve been so excited to post this fic because i am in love with Harry and Jules and i hope you will be too (and excuse the lousy banner i just wanted to have something lol)! this is a part of @1dffchallenges’s valentine’s day challenge, so i hope you enjoy reading it and happy valentine’s day, it’s all about spreading love around so here is some love from me to all of you ❤️

a special thank you to @fireproofrry @bodejacketharry @strawberryystyles​ for beta reading and giving feedback, you are absolute angels <3

word count: 7.7k

warnings: none!

challenge prompt and dialogue: strangers alone on valentine’s day + “I’m allergic to chocolate. And roses.”

It’s official, valentine’s day is the worst.

At least that’s what Jules thought as she adjusted herself on the bar stool, trying to get into a comfortable position while she waited for her drink to be served.

It wasn’t in Jules’ agenda to spend what was supposed to be the most romantic day of the year alone at a bar ten minutes away from her apartment. If she was still with Leon, they would have been having a nice dinner somewhere, laughing over whatever funny story one of them had to share about their day at the company.

But alas, Leon was someone else’s now and Jules was only left with her own company.

Truth be told, though, Jules never minded being alone, in fact, she enjoyed being by herself because people were simply exhausting.

But being alone and being lonely were too completely different things, and Jules hated feeling lonely.

And valentine’s day only made that worse. Seeing loved up couples around her, flashes of red and pink everywhere she glanced, hearing cheesy love songs blasting through the speakers of the shops she passed by. Everything about valentine’s day just seemed to remind her of her lonely status.

Instead of staying at her apartment all night long doing nothing but watching rom coms and feeling sorry for herself, Jules thought of a better alternative, which was to get pissed drunk. So when she got up in the morning to go to work (because even on valentine’s day duty calls), she put on her favourite black dress, one that was sleeveless and had a deep v-neckline, and put on enough makeup to feel confident in the way she looked before pulling on her coat and venturing into the cold streets of London.

If she was going to get pathetically drunk by herself at a bar after work whilst everyone else was being all lovey dovey, then she would look hot doing it.

The sound of a glass coming in contact with the wooden surface broke her out of her reverie and she glanced up, finding that the bartender had placed her drink in front of her and he was beaming at her. “There you go, love, happy valentine’s day.”

After squinting at the name tag (she’s never seen him here before, he must be new), Jules forced herself to return his smile and lifted her glass. “Cheers, Jonah.”

Poor guy must have thought she was waiting for a date or something. Too bad, no one was going to be joining Jules on this fine evening. Just me, myself, and I.

Setting her glass back on the counter after taking a big gulp, Jules scowled as she was reminded of the items she had received earlier in the day. For some reason, Leon thought it was a good idea to give her a box of chocolates and a rose, even though they were no longer together and he had another woman by his side.

She appreciated the thought behind it, he probably just wanted to be nice or maybe he felt guilty, but his gift was staring at her, almost laughing at her misery and she wasn’t having it.

That is why she instantly asked Jonah for a fork, which caused him to send her a confused look but he complied nonetheless, and she proceeded to stab the pieces of chocolate placed perfectly in the box, taking out her frustration on the sweets.

Once satisfied, she dropped the fork with a clunk and heaved out a sigh, lazily resting her chin in her right hand before looking back at Jonah. He was staring at her with wide eyes as he dried off some shot glasses, surely thinking that she was a lunatic, but Jules just flashed him a sweet smile and shifted her eyes back to the chocolates she had just assaulted.

Poor chocolate, but oh well.

“Are you alright there?”

“What the fuc-“ The sudden voice caused her to jump in her seat and she almost fell off the bar stool if it weren’t for the hand that magically materialised behind her, holding her steady.

Before she had a chance to slap the hand off her back, the stranger retracted it and returned to his seat and she had the chance to take a proper look at him.

The man stared back at her with concerned eyes, a stool separating the two of them, but he was still not that far away from her. Jules wondered when he had gotten there because she certainly didn’t feel him arrive. Perhaps it was during her chocolate rampage.

What really surprised her though, more than his sudden appearance, was the fact that she knew who he was. In fact, she believed everyone knew the man sitting beside her because it was none other than Harry Styles.

Many questions ran through Jules’ head, the most important being what on earth was a guy like him doing at this bar on valentine’s day? Jules never believed in the image the media painted of him, but surely he has something better to do than be here, all by himself it seems?

As big of a fan as she was, the fact that he was right before her didn’t faze Jules all that much, her mind was more preoccupied by other matters. So, she ended up doing what she would’ve done if it was any other person: she glared at him and wordlessly turned back in her seat, pretending as if he wasn’t there.

He didn’t seem to take the hint.

“You were quite aggressive with the chocolate there.” His deep voice floated in the empty bar as he pointed at the box in front of her.

Jules inhaled deeply before responding in a flat tone. “I’m allergic to chocolate.” Glaring at the single rose lying beside the box, she grabbed it and tossed it on the floor beneath her, silently cursing Leon once more. “And roses.”

She felt guilty for littering, but she’d pick it up when she leaves. Eventually.

“Are you really?” The man beside her questioned, leaning forward in his seat, his body completely turned towards her at this point. She could tell from her tone that he was skeptical of her supposed allergies and she honestly couldn’t blame him.

“No,” she found herself shaking her head, signalling for Jonah to get her another drink, still keeping her body facing forward and only glancing at him from her peripheral vision, “I’m just fucking with you.”

To her surprise, he let out a small laugh, not seeming to be upset. Jules couldn’t help but turn her head a bit to look at him, finding a dimpled smile on his and she wondered what was wrong with this guy.

“May I ask why you were stabbing the poor sweets then?”

Figuring she should just put him out of his misery and answer his question, Jules huffed and crossed her legs, not missing the way his gaze flickered down for a split second before returning to her face. She ignored it and sighed, “Well if you must know, my ex gave them to me this morning.”

“Trying to get you to take him back?”

“Oh god no,” Jules laughed at the notion, her hand waving off his wrong assumption, “he’s as happy as can be with his new girlfriend.”

The blatant confusion on his face prompted her to provide more explanation.

“We broke up a couple of months ago, he left me for someone else. So he probably just felt guilty.”

“He left you for someone else? And before the holidays?” When she nodded in confirmation, he shook his head with a frown. “Bastard.”

“Tell me about it.”

“Valentine’s day just sucks, it’s just a reminder of how lonely you are,” she muttered with bitterness, “Of how lonely I am.”

“Well if it’s any consolation,” Harry said, pausing to ask the bartender for another drink, “I’m lonely tonight too.”

“Well, obviously, otherwise you wouldn’t be here getting drunk on your own.” With a few drinks already in her system, Jules practically had no filter whatsoever (not that she really had one in the first place).

“Touché,” he clicked his tongue, then leaned back to chug down the rest of his glass. Jules was almost concerned by how quickly he downed his drink, but she’s not in a position to talk, after all, she’d been doing the same. “But I’m not getting drunk on my own now, am I? You’re right here.”

She scoffed, eyebrows raising at his words. “Who said I’m keeping you company? Or that I’m not leaving any second now?”

“I don’t think you are.” He responded with much conviction that it almost threw Jules off.

“You think too confidently about a stranger you just met.”

“Let’s fix the strangers part then, shall we? I’m Harry.” He extended his ring-clad hand and Jules noticed a coat of red nail polish on his fingers. How ironic.

She sighed before deciding to entertain him, grabbing a firm hold of his surprisingly warm hand. Maybe she’ll allow him to keep her company tonight. It doesn’t seem like he’s going to leave her alone anyway.

“Jules.” She simply responded before turning back to her drink, swirling the pink straw around. She made a mental note to thank Jonah later for the cute straw.

“Jules” Harry repeated, as if testing the name on his lips and Jules would be lying if she said that she didn’t like the way it rolled off his tongue. “Is that a nickname for Julie? Julia? Short for Juliann-“

“Juliet. It’s Juliet.” She interrupted his ridiculous ramble. He surely was inquisitive. And did she really look like a Julianne?

“Huh,” he hummed, gliding a finger over the rim of his glass, staying silent for a few seconds and Jules thought he was maybe done for the night.

She thought wrong, it seems.

“Oh, Juliet, oh, Juliet, where art thou, Juliet?” He dramatically recited, voice going deeper as he stared upwards at a spot over the bar. Simply put, Jules thought he looked ridiculous.

She could hear Jonah snickering in the background.

“It’s where art thou, Romeo, but nice try.” She rolled her eyes in response to his theatrics. Almost everyone she’s ever encountered has commented on her name and made a reference to the infamous Shakespearean tragedy that she’s never been too fond of. It’s why she mostly went by Jules.

No one’s ever recited that line though, however wrong it was. That was a first.

“I knew that,” the curly-haired man mumbled beside her, swirling his glass and watching the ice cubes swim around, “was just joking, geez, tough crowd.”

Jules couldn’t help but roll her eyes again in response. That joke got old a long time ago.

She’s beginning to regret coming to this bar tonight. Maybe she should’ve just headed straight home and cuddled into her blankets.

“It’s pretty, though,” he added a few moments later, “beautiful name for a beautiful woman”

No way. She huffed, spinning in her seat to face him once again. “That’s your line? Tell me, Mr. Rockstar, has that really worked on anyone before?”

She could tell he was a bit surprised but tried to hide it; unluckily for him, Jules was a very observant person, hardly anything passed her.

“I-I didn’t mean it like that-“

She interrupted him again and leaned in closer, resting her elbow on the countertop and raised an eyebrow. His eyes flickered for a fleeting second to the charm bracelet adorning her wrist. “So you don’t think my name’s beautiful? Or that I’m beautiful? Sheesh, Harry, you’re not looking good here.”

Harry spluttered, staring at her with eyes blown wide in panic and Jules almost felt bad for messing with him; it was just hard not to, she was lonely and he was right there annoying her with his lousy jokes, so he has the unfortunate fate of being her victim tonight (and truthfully, he brought it on himself). And if she was being honest, messing with Harry Styles was just too entertaining of an opportunity for her to pass on.

To be fair, she was a little annoyed by his presence in the beginning, having originally planned to wallow in her misery all by herself, but now she’s having fun. She might just enjoy her time with him.

“No- no of course I think you’re beautiful, y-your name too,” he responded in clear panic, seemingly trying to figure out how he can redeem himself. Jules’ attention was momentarily caught by the way his rings glimmered under the light as he flexed his fingers, still fumbling for a response. “I was just-“

“Styles,” she interrupted him, yet again, with a light-hearted laugh and shook her head, hair falling forward on her shoulders, “Relax, was just messing with you.”

His shoulders visibly relaxed and he heaved out a sigh of relief; his eyes then narrowed and he lifted his hand, pointer finger wagging in her direction. “You really like messing with people, huh? Not very nice of you.”

“Made you sweat, no? Was just having fun. I can now say that I’ve made the infamous Harry Styles stumble over his words. How much do you think they’ll pay me for that hot gossip? Reckon it would be a lot.” She said as she turned back in her seat, now facing the bar once again, but she knew he caught the smirk on her face and the teasing lilt in her tone.

Coming to the bar was definitely a good decision.

Harry felt like a proper idiot.

Here he was, sitting at a pub with a lovely woman that clearly didn’t want to be bothered, yet he had to fuck things up and be a git.

And the Juliet bit? Harry had never been more embarrassed, he didn’t know what he was thinking, or if he was thinking at all. He made sure to remind himself that he wasn’t that funny and should just stop trying to be. You’re making a fucking fool of yourself.

In spite of his rather embarrassing advances, Harry found himself enjoying Jules’ company immensely, even if she had barely looked his way when he had arrived at his spot.

She might’ve looked irritated by his insistent attempts to start a conversation with her in the beginning, but from the way her body has been facing him for the past half an hour and the smile or two she’d thrown his way, Harry had a feeling she was warming up to him.

He discovered that she was an accountant, which thoroughly surprised him because she didn’t seem like one. Harry doesn’t like to judge a book by its cover, but Jules definitely didn’t scream accountant, more like a Greek goddess or something. Her black dress hugged her body in a way that almost made Harry dizzy; he had noticed her the second he walked into the nearly empty pub – and before he could even think about it, he found his legs carrying him in her direction (he was already headed to the bar anyway, or so he told himself).

Admittedly, the way she was stabbing the chocolates had him fearing for his life for a split second, but Harry brushed it off and figured she just wasn’t a fan of valentine’s day, if her apparent disdain for the sweets and the rose before her was any indication.

He was also surprised to learn that she’d moved here from America about five years ago and this pub was one she often frequented, yet Harry had never run into her somehow despite coming here a lot and living not too far himself.

He’s glad their paths have finally crossed tonight, though.

That being said, Jules was definitely keeping him on his toes. He never knew what she was going to say next, and she certainly did not hold back from saying exactly what was on her mind.

Harry found himself liking that about her, even if her forwardness came at his expense sometimes (he couldn’t say he didn’t deserve it). Oftentimes, people acted cautious around him and treated him differently just because of his status. Not Jules, though.

But now he could tell that she had something on her mind, from the way she looked at him then shifted her eyes elsewhere a second later.

“What is it?” He questioned, deciding to put her out of her fidgety state. He wasn’t sure what was holding her back, she certainly had no problem handing his ass to him earlier.

“It’s just,” she started, pulling her bottom lip between her teeth, the movement catching Harry attention for a second before he reminded himself to be respectful, “what are you doing here by yourself tonight? I find it hard to believe that someone like you doesn’t have anyone to hang around on a day like this.”

Someone like him? Harry furrowed his eyebrows, not sure what she was implying with her words but he didn’t believe she meant it in a negative manner necessarily.

“That came out wrong, I didn’t mean anything like that,” she quickly defended, face becoming redder by the second and Harry was a little endeared by the sight. The woman before him was confident all throughout their conversation, having no fear in expressing her thoughts, yet now she was the flustered one. And Harry couldn’t help but enjoy it.

Time to give her a taste of her own medicine.

“What, thought someone like me had a flock of women at their beck and call and that I’d be off with one or some of them tonight?”

He gave her a blank look afterwards, pretending that he found offence in her words and he almost blew his cover at the way her face visibly fell.

“N-no!” she exclaimed, voice rising a few octaves and Harry could see the bartender, Jonah, suddenly flinch behind her from the sound. He pressed his lips together to silence the chuckle that threatened to escape and continued to stare Jules down.

“Of course I didn’t mean it like that,” she added in a much calmer tone, though Harry could detect that panic lacing her voice and he was starting to feel guilty. “I never believed that you were like that, I just,” she paused, averting her gaze away and staring at the lights above them instead, “never mind, just ignore me.”

Harry figured that she already knew of who he was and his status, and despite having just met her, the fact that she just said she doesn’t believe the rumours about him filled him with inexplicable warmth and he had to remind himself again that he’d only just met this woman. He shouldn’t feel anything of the sort towards her.

He could tell by the way her eyebrows were furrowed that she felt bad about what she’d said, so Harry called out her name and waited for her to look at him again.

When she did, her face holding an apprehensive look, he smiled at her and leaned a bit closer, which made little difference because there was still some space separating them.

“I was just messing with you, Jules,” he reached forward and flicked her nose, causing her to instinctively scrunch her face in a cute manner that had Harry’s stomach fluttering. “Doesn’t feel that nice now, does it?”

Jules chuckled in disbelief, wide eyes staring back at him and a smile was slowly stretching on her lips. “Touché. I see how it is then.”

Harry just shrugged, his own lips twitching as another smile threatened to appear. “Just having some fun, eh?”

Jules was now beaming at him and if Harry was standing, he was certain that his knees would’ve buckled at the sight. He already knew that Jules was gorgeous, and he was sure anyone would agree with him, but when as she smiled at him like that, eyes shining bright under the warm orange lights, brown hair cascading loosely yet somehow perfectly on her shoulders, there was no doubt in Harry’s mind that there was an angel sitting before him.

“Truce then?”

Her voice brought him back to earth and Harry chuckled before he shook her outstretched hand, marvelling for a moment at the way it felt enveloped in his. “Truce.”

“But to answer your question,” Harry said after a few beats of silence, glancing at her to find her eyes already set on him. “I didn’t have anything planned, haven’t been on many dates recently to be honest, so I just figured I’d come here and spend time with my good friend,” he lifted his drink with a wide grin on his face, “alcohol, the one thing that never let me down.”

Jules threw her head back in a laugh, the sound being music to Harry’s ears and he wished he could record it just to hear it again and again. “Amen to that.”

The two clinked their glasses together, laughing stupidly for no reason, before they threw their heads back to drink.

“Another round, then?”

Jonah suddenly appeared in front of them, startling Harry a bit. Sometimes he forgot that the man was lingering around behind the bar.

Jules took the liberty to respond for the both of them, exclaiming a “hell yeah, buddy!” that had the two men laughing, and soon enough their glasses were refilled.

After taking a sip, Harry leaned his head on the palm of his hand and set his eyes on Jules again, “So, are you a fan? Of me or of the band?”

He had to ask, he couldn’t help but wonder. If she was indeed a fan, she certainly didn’t show it.

Jules shrugged, playing nonchalant it seemed, but it didn’t escape him the way her cheeks seemed to redden. “Eh, I dabble. You’re alright.”

Her response made him chuckle. “Good to know.” Call him a narcissist, but he really wanted to know whether or not she liked his music. Perhaps he’ll inquire further later.

Because Harry knows that there’s no way he’s letting Jules go anytime soon.

Getting to know Harry was fun.

Sometime during the night, Harry had migrated from his seat onto the bar stool beside her, their thighs brushing against each other every now and then.

Tapping his fingers around his glass, Harry’s rings clinked against it and Jules couldn’t help but be slightly captivated by the action. She wasn’t one to stare at anyone’s hands, but she had to admit that Harry’s were fascinating to look at; his long and slender fingers, adorned by a number of his infamous rings, were truly a sight to see.

She took the chance to also admire his outfit, something she was too busy to do earlier on. His coat was long discarded on the stool beside him, which allowed her eyes to run over his figure. His upper body was covered by a plain white t-shirt with the word “Sex” displayed on his chest, a pair of pair of wide-legged black pants covering his long limbs; it was a simple fit yet it made it difficult for Jules to take her eyes off him. And his hair just looked so soft that her fingers were begging her to touch the fallen strands on his forehead.

Hearing Harry clear his throat broke her out of her trance and Jules realised from the smirk that stretched on his lips that she’d been caught in the act.

She tried playing it off, as if she hadn’t been shamelessly checking him out for the last couple of minutes and smoothed her hands down her dress, adjusting in her seat because honestly, her butt was starting to ache.

But she didn’t want to leave just yet.

Seeming to notice her discomfort, however, Harry downed the last bit of his drink before setting his glass down with a smack, causing Jonah, who was still lingering around them, to shoot Harry a warning glance and a low “careful!”, to which Harry smiled sheepishly before turning to face her again.

“Want to get out of here?”

Jules’ eyebrows shot upwards in surprise, having not expected him to want to continue spending the night with her.

“Sure there’s nothing else you’d rather be doing?” She couldn’t help but question, still struggling to grasp the fact that he still wanted to be around her. Her hands were fidgeting with the hem of her dress, eyes staring into his emerald ones as she waited to hear his response.

Truth be told, she was enjoying his company far much more than she had anticipated and she didn’t want to part from him just yet.

To her relief, a dimpled smile adorned Harry’s face as he took in her words before he shook his head, “Trust me, Jules, there’s no one else I’d rather be with tonight.”

She’d be lying if she said her heart didn’t skip a beat at that.

The two got up from their seats after thanking Jonah and fighting over who’s paying because Harry insisted on paying for her drinks. As she was gathering her things, she felt Harry’s presence behind her and she realised, after looking at him over her shoulders, that he was holding her coat up for her.

Heat rushed into her cheeks at the gesture, finding it sweet that he was helping her when he didn’t really have to. “Thank you,” she whispered, turning to him with a smile after feeling him adjust her hair.

His only response was a faint “No need” and he quickly turned to shrug on his own coat, the bashful smile on his lips not going unnoticed by her.

Flashing Jonah another smile, Harry extended his arm towards her and nodded his head towards the exit. “Shall we?”

“We shall.”

The two stepped into the night, the biting London air hitting Jules’ cheeks immediately and she was positive her nose was already red from the cold.

Jules reached into her pocket to grab her phone, realising that she hasn’t checked the device since she walked into the bar. There weren’t any notifications that she missed, which wasn’t surprising since her friends (all four of them) were out on dates or staying at home with their partners, so she was sure no one was thinking of her at the moment.

Noticing that it was already 8 in the evening and they were aimlessly walking down the street, Jules turned to Harry with a questioning gaze. “Where are we going?”

Leaning his head down to look at her (or perhaps to be closer, Jules wasn’t sure), he paused, seeming to think, before shrugging his shoulders. “Dunno if I’m quite honest.”

Jules found herself chuckling at him. How did her day end with her walking around with no purpose with a man she’d just met?

She looked at the sign closest to them before she turned to him and did something she rarely ever did. She found herself inviting him to her apartment because they were quite close.

A smirk found its way onto Harry’s lips and she started to regret her decision. “Already trying to get me into your bed, Juliet?”

She mentally cursed at the way her heart leaped upon hearing her name roll off his tongue. Almost no one called her Juliet anymore, except for her parents when they were being serious, but she found herself wanting to hear him say her name over and over again.  

Shaking her head at the thought, Jules reached her arm out and lightly slapped his shoulder. “Oh come off it, you idiot. You can just go ahead and cry alone in your mansion if you want.”

Harry raised his hands in surrender and muttered an apology, although the smile lingered on his lips and Jules tried to ignore the fluttering feeling in her chest.

“Lead the way, then.”

“Make yourself at home, I’ll get us something to drink.”

The walk to her apartment was full of smiles and laughter. She’s come to the conclusion that Harry loves making people laugh, even if his jokes were actually awful, but she found it endearing; he was like a ray of sunshine bringing joy to those around him.

She was glad that she had cleaned up the place a couple of days ago, it would’ve been embarrassing to have someone over to see pyjamas and junk strewn over her furniture. Suffice to say, Jules was a bit of a mess around the house.

After hanging up her coat and Harry’s, she made her way into her kitchen and looked for the good wine she reserved for special occasions. She easily grabbed it, along with two glasses, but then Jules found herself lingering by the kitchen island.

It dawned on her that there was a man in her living room, and he wasn’t just anyone. This was Harry Styles, someone she’d long admired and holy shit was this really happening?

And as sad as it may sound, she’s never felt this connection with anyone before, never felt like the person before her got her and could keep up with her. Yet with Harry, it felt different, and that scared her because she’d only just met him a couple of hours ago.

And he was bound to forget all about her after tonight. He’s just looking for some company, and Jules didn’t think she was that special. Eventually, he’s going to leave. Just like everyone else.

Feeling like the black marble of the island was starting to swirl in her vision, Jules snapped out of her thoughts and sucked in a deep breath before moving back towards the living room.

Harry had his hands interlocked behind his back, perusing through her record collection and it made her inadvertently smile. She was proud of her vast collection of vinyl records, a good portion of them handed down to her by her father; they both had a deep appreciation for records that her mum often made fun of them for.

“Found anything you like?” He jolted at her voice, not having noticed her presence behind him, but then his shoulders immediately relaxed.

Turning towards her with a wide grin, Harry gestured to the shelf behind him. Jules liked the way he seemed to glow underneath the dim lights and she wished she could take a picture of this moment as a keepsake. “This is amazing, there are records here that I couldn’t even find.”

“You can thank my dad for that,” she told him, making herself comfortable on the couch but not breaking eye contact once, “he’s been collecting them for decades and I’m so glad he let me have some, like you should see his collection back home, it’s even more impressive.”

“Hope I’ll get to someday.”

His response caught her off-guard. Before Jules could react, Harry’s teasing voice carried through the room.

“You dabble, you said?” He smirked, turning the Fine Line record in hand to show her and also nodding to the space that held One Direction records. Jules groaned out loud and flopped against the back of the couch.

“A little yeah. Sue me.”

She blushed under his amused gaze, a little embarrassed that he’d found her collection of the band’s records and his own solo music.

“It’s okay,” he assured her, dimples adorning his cheeks, “think it’s cute that you’re a big fan.”

“Don’t know why that makes me cute but okay if you say so.” She mumbled under her breath, realising that he heard her when he chuckled.

“Mind if I put on something then?”

Jules shook her head, signalling for him to go ahead while she poured their drinks. Soon afterwards Stevie Nicks’ voice filled the silence and her lips tugged up at the choice.

The couch dipped beside her when Harry sat down, the scent of his cologne invading her senses. Jules doesn’t think anyone has ever smelled as good as him, but she chose to keep that thought to herself and instead handed him his drink.

A few moments of silence passed after he quietly thanked her, Stevie’s voice the only thing that can be heard.

“So,” he started, throwing an arm on the back of the couch, a shit-eating grin on his handsome face, “would I find any 1D posters if I went into your room?”

“Oh fuck you.” She threw one of the cushions at him, smiling at the way he threw his head back in laughter.

Jules did not mind his company at all.

“Hold on a minute,” Harry straightened up from his previously relaxed position on the couch, “you all work together and you see him and his new girlfriend every day?”

“Yup, you can imagine how fun that is.” She loved her job as an accountant, having always been fascinated with numbers, but she hated having to see him every day in the office across from hers.

It’s not like she hated him, they actually ended on good terms, all things considered. Leon wasn’t bad, he never cheated on her, but the feelings between them just died out, a flicker of something that dwindled into nothing. So, they were friendly with each other and that’s probably the reason why he brought her a box of chocolate and a rose.

But Juliet just didn’t like the daily reminder that she was in fact much lonelier than he was; it’s like rubbing salt in the wound.

“Shit, Jules, that must be hard,” he frowns, leaning forward to pat her hand, “I’m sorry you have to go through that.”

“It’s not that serious,” she mumbles, feeling heat rushing to her cheeks at the simple touch and she mentally cursed herself. She had sworn off men for the unforeseeable future. “I’m over him. You know, I actually think I was never really in love with him to begin with.”

“Why’d you think that?” He questions, his thumb still softly caressing her hand; Jules wasn’t sure if he was aware of that or was absentmindedly doing it. Either way, the touch warmed her.

“I think,” she started, setting her glass of wine on the coffee table so she could sink in further into the couch, the move unintentionally bringing her body closer to Harry’s. “I think I was just happy to have someone around, someone to spend time with. I’ve spent a lot of my life alone and I think I just clung onto him because he kept me company.”

A few beats of silence passed before she continued. “That makes me sound horrible, no, it’s not like I used him, I did enjoy his company and we had a lot of fun together, but I think I was just in love with the idea of him, not him.”

Harry nodded his head, leaning back and mirroring her position, “I understand. That’s how I felt in most of my relationships actually. I longed to have someone around so I wouldn’t be lonely, but I’ve learned over the years that having company doesn’t mean that you won’t feel lonely.”

“You sounded pretty heartbroken on your last record though.” If she wasn’t as inebriated as she was, Jules would have probably had some filter and wouldn’t have said that.

Luckily, Harry chuckled in response and relaxed further into the couch, retracting his hand from hers (she instantly missed the warmth), but he didn’t seem upset. “I was. I would say that I was actually falling in love with her, so I was a bit of a mess when she left me.”

His words made her frown. “I’m sorry about that.”

“Don’t know how anyone could leave you.” She muttered under her breath, forgetting that she was usually louder than normal after she’s had a few drinks.

“Could say the same thing about you.”

With her cheeks flushed, Jules forced herself to look him in the eye again. “You don’t even know me.”

“But I’d like to get to know you.” He almost instantly shot back, resting his chin on his hand and his dimples made an appearance, “I think you’re very interesting.”

“Pfft, me? Interesting?” She laughed, waving him off with her hand. “I am anything but.”

“That’s not true!” Harry vehemently denied, sounding almost offended at the thought, which admittedly made Jules’ heart skip a beat. Just a little.

“I’ve spent a few hours with you now and I can already confidently say that you’re one of the most interesting people I’ve ever met,” his eyes shone bright as she stared into them and she could somehow tell he was being sincere, “and trust me, I’ve met a lot of people.”

Dramatically placing a hand over her heart, Jules flashed him her biggest smile. “Oh how special that makes me feel, I can just die happily now.”

Even though she was being melodramatic, his words did cause Jules’ heart to flutter. In the past, some people told her she was annoying, or brash, and some others would make her feel invisible and undeserving of attention.

Harry, though, was unlike anyone she had ever known. From the moment they met, Harry made her feel like the centre of his attention, never once ignored her or brushed her off, even when she was taking the piss; his emerald eyes were always set on her, giving her his undivided attention as he listened to every word that came out of her mouth.

Jules was definitely not used to that.

Harry threw his head back in laughter, a sound that Jules found to be a beautiful melody, and gazed at her with those bright eyes. “Oh you’re insufferable, I take it back.”

She gasped in feigned shock, crossing her arms with force. “No backsies.”

Another melodic laugh left Harry’s mouth and she couldn’t stop the smile forming on her lips; right then and there, Jules decided that his laugh was one of her favourite sounds.

“Backsies?” He echoed, his tone still laced with laughter, “what are you, five?”

“Shut your pretty mouth.”

“Oh so you think I have a pretty mouth?” His smirk caused his skin to flush and she cursed herself for saying those words. She really needed to think before she spoke, something her parents always reminded her of.

She recovered quickly, bringing her glass closer to her mouth. “I mean, it’s fine, your lips are a little on the thin side but-“

“Heyyy now,” he protested, pink lips forming a pout and Jules definitely thought about kissing them at that moment. “That’s not nice.”

“Never claimed I was nice now, did I?” Jules smirked, feeling a sudden surge of confidence as she took another sip from her drink.

Jules did not miss the way Harry’s eyes seemed to darken just a little, his jaw tensing as she continued to stare him down. Harry leaned forward, mouth opening to respond when suddenly a shrill tone burst their bubble.

Patting the couch cushions, Jules was trying her hardest to forget the look on Harry’s face as she searched for her phone. Stop it, Jules, he’s an international rockstar and he won’t even remember you after tonight.

She sighed in relief when her hand made contact with the device, but that quickly turned into a groan upon seeing who the caller was. Looking back at Harry, who was leaning against the armrest simply staring at her, she shot him an apologetic look before she answered the call.

“Hey, mama” she closed her eyes, fingers pinching the bridge of her nose. Not that she was expecting anything to happen between her and Harry, but the mood was definitely ruined now.

“Hello, honey, how are you? Are you home yet?” Her mother’s calming voice sounded from the other side of the line, making her smile a bit despite the interruption. Ever since the breakup, her mom made sure to call her frequently to check up on her, even though Jules insisted that she didn’t have to.

“I am home, mom, yes,” she responded, shifting her gaze back to Harry who was now leaning his head against the back of the sofa with his eyes closed.

“Good, good. Just checking on you, cariña, how was your night then?”

“It was fine,” she paused for a second, not sure if she should mention meeting Harry now, but she decided it was best not to, “had a few drinks then went straight home. Think I’m gonna go to bed in a few actually.”

She could tell by the way Harry’s lips twitched that he was awake and listening.

“I won’t keep you up then,” some noise was in the background and she heard her mother whisper to someone, “okay, honey, good night! And your dad says good night too.”

“Good night, mama,” Jules smiled, finding herself suddenly missing her family that she hasn’t seen since the holiday season. “Tell dad I said good night too, and that he better spoil you today.”

Her mother’s laugh ringed loud on the other side, “We’re going to dinner tonight, cariña, and he even got me a large bouquet of my favourite roses! Joseph shh- Alright then, bye bye, sweets, love you!”

“Bye, mama, love you too.”

A few seconds passed after she ended the call before Harry spoke up, head tilted to the side. “That sounded sweet. Does she check up on you often?”

Jules hummed in response, resting her head sideways on the sofa so was mirroring his position. “Especially after the breakup. She just worries too much about me.”

“I don’t think she needs to,” he shot her a gentle smile, one that made her want to wrap her arms around him and bask in his warmth, “her daughter’s a very strong woman.”

Not finding any words to say in response, Jules continued tracing Harry’s features, lazily admiring the slope of his nose, the curve of his brows, the sharpness of his jawline; everything about the man before her was mesmerising.

Turning her gaze back to his eyes, Harry flashed her another smile before sitting up straight, the smile slowly dropping. “I should probably go now, it’s getting late.”

Jules immediately wanted to shout “no!” and ask him to stay, but the rational part of her mind told her that she shouldn’t, that she would only set herself up for heartbreak when he finally leaves her.

So the only thing she could say was a faint “Okay.”

As they stood up, it seemed like Harry was holding back from saying something, but she didn’t know if she was just reading too much into things. It was probably just her hazy mind (though she’d argue her head has never been clearer)

They silently made their way to her door, Jules feeling deflated at the prospect of his departure. Would they keep in touch? Would she just become a distant memory, a miserable woman he spent a lonely valentine’s day with?

“Can I-“ Harry abruptly stopped in his tracks, causing Jules to almost run into his back because she was trailing behind him. His demeanour was suddenly all shy when he turned to face her, cheeks flushed crimson.

Jules waited with bated breath and wide eyes for him to continue, heart beating loudly in her chest.

“Can I have your number?”

Relief washed over Jules and Harry visibly relaxed at the bashful smile on her lips. Jules didn’t know why he was so nervous, but the sight was so endearing to her.

She added her number after he handed her the device, secretly smiling at her contact name Juliet x. She already earned herself an x after her name after a few hours? Jules’ heart was beating so loudly she feared Harry would hear its calls for him.

Jules watched him put his shoes on, wishing the night wouldn’t end so soon and wondering if it would be too forward to ask him to stay longer.

Deep in her thoughts, Jules didn’t register that Harry was standing in front of her, bodies close enough that the scent of his cologne engulfed her senses once more.

“I should go now.” Harry whispered, leaning down and wrapping his arms around her and Jules had never felt so whole. She’s heard about Harry’s incredible hugs and now that she’s experiencing it, she never wanted to let go of his warmth.

Harry broke their embrace much too soon for her liking, but not before peppering a gentle kiss on the side of her head. “Good night, Juliet.”

Say something. Don’t let him leave. “Good night, H.”

And then he was gone and Jules was left on her own once more.

After staring longingly at the closed door, as if he would suddenly appear behind it, Jules sighed and made her way back to the living room, slumping against the couch cushions and wishing Harry’s arms were around her again.

Her phone dinged on the coffee table, signalling the arrival of a text. A simple “Hey. I really enjoyed tonight. H” was staring back at her.

Jules contemplated for a few seconds, heartbeats picking up their speed again, before she whispered “fuck it” and clicked on his number.

“Juliet?”

Deciding to go after what her heart wants for once, Jules didn’t hesitate to respond, “Do you want to-“

But an insistent knock interrupted her and Jules wanted to scream at the intrusion. Who on earth would be knocking at her door at this hour?

“Harry, hold on just-“

She takes frustrated strides to the door, ready to yell, but the sight behind it made her anger immediately evaporate.

“H-Harry? What are you doin-“

“What were you going to ask me?” He interrupted, sounding a little out of breath and she wondered if he ran all the way back to her apartment.

Feeling emboldened by his return, Jules took a few steps towards him and wrapped her arms around his neck, his hands immediately grabbing her face and pulling her closer, their lips joining together in a gentle yet eager kiss. 

Jules felt her body melt in his hold. Their kiss only lasted for a few seconds before they pulled apart, still lingering so close that she could taste his wine-stained lips. 

“Stay?” Jules asked, rubbing her nose against his, her heart thudding in her chest as she waited for his answer. Her words carried more weight than she had intended them to and she hoped they wouldn’t scare him off. But her worries vanished when she felt him smile widely against her lips. 

“For as long as you’ll have me.”

Maybe valentine’s day isn’t so bad after all.

thank you for reading! i hope you enjoyed it and please come talk to me about Harry and Jules and tell me your thoughts!

[massivedrickhead]

Bechloe Week 2021 - Day 6

July 31st: Neighbors AU or Famous AU

Read on AO3

So, yeah, should have posted this yesterday but I didn’t have time to finish writing it and then I got drunk. I’m not super happy with it, it didn’t come out like I planned, but I hope you like it anyway. Hopefully I can get day 7 written and posted tomorrow.

-

Fame for Beca had always been a double edged sword.

It allowed her music to spread across the globe. She got to meet fans and hear about how she had inspired or helped them, just by existing. She got to work with and meet her peers and idols, and perform in places she never dreamed of.

She got to provide for her family. She got to give her kids the childhood she never had, and she got to give her wife the life she deserved.

But she also had to deal with paparazzi following them around everywhere they went.

She had to deal with articles written about her every other day, and intense fans that crossed boundaries, and ones that would trash her online.

Beca was finding that she had more bad days than good days, and it was beginning to weigh her down.

She had to remind herself daily, that there were billions of people who were suffering in the world, and that she was incredibly privileged to live the life she led.

But Chloe could see the toll it was taking on her wife, and it was killing her.

After she was almost in that car accident, Beca had taken a couple of weeks off work. She spent her time taking care of Chloe, playing with Blake, and obsessively re-writing and re-working the songs on her upcoming album.

And it was an insane success.

Everyone who had slated her single ate their words, and Beca found herself skyrocketing to fame for the second time.

Their money worries disappeared almost overnight, but other problems replaced them quickly.

Beca had always been a relatively private and introverted person. It was one of the reasons she had always wanted to be a producer rather than an artist.

So while her fame rose, her anxiety did too.

She tried to keep it to herself, but Chloe has always been able to read Beca like a book.

She always knew when Beca’s anxiety was bad, but she also always knew how to calm Beca down.

So they were dealing with it. They had a system. Beca would work until she couldn’t, and then Chloe would pick her back up.

“People are dying,” Beca would mutter to herself, her eyes squeezed shut, her hands on the back of her head. “Children are dying. They’re going without food, water, and medicine, and they’re dying. My problems are nothing.”

When things were at the worst, she would repeat this to herself over and over as wave after way of anxiety crippled her. Chloe would find her and hold her, and whisper reassurances until Beca calmed down.

It wasn’t an ideal situation, but it was working.

At least Chloe thought it was.

But then Beca reached her breaking point.

It had been a rough week to begin with - she had had to read an article on a prominent gossip site about how she was apparently cheating on Chloe with another musician - so she was already on edge.

Chloe had assured Beca she knew it was all bullshit, but Beca still hated that Chloe had to deal with that stuff. And she hated even more that Blake was old enough to read and understand it.

It was Riley’s third birthday, and she was walking with her girls to get ice cream from the kids’ favourite place.

Riley was up on Beca’s shoulders, Chloe was walking at her side, pushing Riley’s empty stroller, and Blake was walking between them.

“What ice cream are you gonna get, peanut?” Beca asked.

“I don’t want any,” Blake said, frowning, kicking her shoes against the ground.

Beca shot a look of confusion at Chloe. She had been excited when they were in the car, and had seemed perfectly happy a few minutes ago when Beca had taken her hand to cross the street.

“Why not?” Chloe asked.

“I just don’t. I wanna go home,” she said. She stopped walking, so Beca and Chloe did too.

“Hey, what is it?” Chloe asked, crouching down in front of her. She pushed Blake’s dark brown hair out of her face, and lifted her sunglasses so she could see her eyes. “Are you not feeling well?”

“People keep taking pictures of us,” she said in a quiet voice. “And I don’t like it.”

Chloe glanced up at Beca in time to see her face fall.

“None of us like it very much,” Chloe said. “But your Mom is famous. And that means people wanna see pictures of her when she’s out and about.”

“Well I hate it!” Blake snapped. She looked past Chloe and let out a groan of annoyance. “They’re doing it again!”

Chloe turned and saw a man sitting at a table outside a coffee shop pointing his phone at them. He shoved it into his pocket and turned away when he realised he’d been caught.

Beca sighed, and took Riley down from her shoulders. Riley fussed and started crying when Beca put her back in her stroller.

“Sorry baby girl,” Beca said. “I’ll be right back.”

“Beca,” Chloe said in a warning voice.

“I’m just gonna talk to him,” Beca said.

She left Chloe with their daughters and approached the man.

She saw recognition dawn in other peoples’ faces as she got close.

“Hey,” she said, keeping her tone friendly. “Can you do me a favour and delete those pictures you took?”

“I didn’t-”

“Come on, man, even my nine-year-old clocked you. She doesn’t like having her picture taken, and I don’t like photographs of my kids being on some stranger’s phone,” Beca said. “I’ll happily take a selfie with you, if you want, but I’d really like it if you deleted those photos.”

“Yeah, I kinda don’t want a selfie,” he said. “TMZ won’t pay me anything for a selfie.”

Beca clenched her jaw and forced a smile. “Delete those pictures, dude.”

“No,” he said. “It’s a free country.”

Beca could feel the eyes of every other table watching them. She knew they had all fallen silent to eavesdrop.

“Delete the pictures of my fucking kids, do you hear me?” Beca said, trying to keep her voice down.

She was sick of this. Sick of the entitlement that these people had. Like they had a right to her life, and she was sick of the impact it was having on her family.

“Are you gonna make me?”

She saw he was pointing his phone at her again.

She swallowed down the anger that was building. “I’m asking nicely, dude. Delete those pictures.”

“I was taking them of you and Chloe,” he said. “You can hardly see the kids.”

“Is there a problem here?”

She looked at the man who had just arrived and figured he must work for the coffee shop, based on his brown apron with the shop logo, and the name tag that read ‘Dylan’.

“Beca fucking Mitchell here won’t leave me alone,” the guy said.

“This pervert took pictures of my kids!” Beca snapped back.

“What did you just call me?” He stood up from his chair quickly, the raised voice and abrupt noise of the chair scraping attracted more attention.

“How many other pictures of little girls are we gonna find on your phone? Let’s take a look,” she made a move to grab the phone off the table, but he tried to stop her, and caused it to slide off and onto the floor.

Without thinking, Beca drove the heel of her Doc Marten boot into it, hearing a satisfying crunch as the screen broke.

Yes, his pictures were probably already on the Cloud, but she didn’t care right now. He wasn’t going to be able to ruin anyone else’s day today.

“Yes!” One of the patrons of the coffee shop cheered. “Work bitch!”

“That was a $1,500 phone you… talentless whore!” He shoved her, hard, and Beca fell backwards into another table.

With a look of panic in his eyes he ran off, as Chloe rushed towards her with the girls.

“Mommy!” Blake cried, letting go of Chloe’s hand and running over to Beca who was now sitting on the ground, her hand gingerly touching the back of her head. “Mommy, he pushed you!”

She climbed onto her Mom’s lap and wrapped her arms around her.

“I know,” Beca said, hugging her daughter tightly. “But I’m okay.”

A bigger crowd had started to form around them now, and more people had their phones out. Beca could feel the panic building in her chest.

People were touching her, Beca didn’t know if they were trying to help her up or not, but she needed them to stop.

“Can I get through, please?” Beca heard Chloe shout. “Excuse me, I need to check on my wife.”

Dylan managed to clear a space for Chloe to get through with the stroller.

Riley was starting to get upset, and Chloe could see the panic rising in Beca’s eyes.

“Are you okay?” Chloe asked, her voice as quiet as she could make it so Beca would still be able to hear, but that it might not carry to the crowd.

“I can’t be here,” Beca said, her voice shaking. “I don’t want them to see.”

“Okay,” Chloe said. She stood up and quietly asked Dylan if there was somewhere they could sit in private, and he nodded. “Blake, honey, can you help your Mom stand up?”

Blake climbed off Beca’s lap, and held out her small hand for Beca to take. Beca took it, and stood up as Blake pulled.

Dylan led them through the shop and to a small room with a couple of sofas that must have been meant for staff.

“I’ll make sure no one bothers you,” he said.

“Thank you,” Chloe said. “We really appreciate this.”

He left the room and closed the door behind him.

Beca dropped onto one of the sofas and let her head fall into her shaking hands.

She forced herself to take deep breaths as Chloe sat beside her, rubbing a comforting hand up and down her back.

“Mommy?” Riley asked.

“Yeah?” Chloe replied.

“Can we get ice cream yet?”

Beca burst into tears without warning, which created the domino effect of Riley crying and then Blake crying.

“Okay,” Chloe said, surveying her tearful family. “Who needs a hug the most?”

“Mom does,” Blake said, sniffing and wiping her eyes.

“Can you give it to her while I take care of Riley?”

“Uh huh,” Blake said. She climbed onto Beca’s lap again, and Beca pulled her daughter into her arms. “It’s okay, Mom, the bad man is gone.”

“I know,” Beca said, trying to stop crying. “I’m just sad that he ruined Riley’s birthday.”

“We can still get ice cream,” Blake said. “I won’t be angry about people taking our picture anymore.”

“No, baby, you should be angry about that,” Beca said. “They don’t have your permission, so they shouldn’t be doing it.”

Her eyes met Chloe’s who was soothing a still sobbing Riley. Something was going to have to change.

They left the coffee shop once everyone had calmed down, and Beca gave them a big tip for the trouble they’d gone through.

They made it back to the car without any more trouble, and Beca ordered some ice cream on DoorDash to get delivered.

They hung out in their garden for the rest of the day, playing in the pool, and eating junk food.

Chloe kept noticing the smile that would slip from Beca’s face whenever she thought no one was looking.

Once the kids were bathed and put to bed, Chloe poured them both a generous glass of wine, and joined Beca on their comfy sofa in the living room.

“I don’t want you confronting people like that again, Bec,” Chloe said, trying to massage the tension out of Beca’s shoulders.

“I know,” Beca said, closing her eyes.

“I mean it,” Chloe said. “He could have hurt you.”

“I know,” Beca said again. “I promise, I won’t do that again.”

“Good,” Chloe said. She placed a kiss on the back of Beca’s head.

They were quiet for a while as Chloe continued slowly massaging Beca’s shoulders.

“Come on,” she said, planting a brief kiss on her neck. “Let's go to bed.”

They climbed the stairs, briefly checked on the kids, and then changed for bed.

“What are you thinking?” Chloe asked, watching Beca as stared up at the ceiling. She could see tears building in her eyes again, and she brushed one away with a sweep of her thumb.

“I don’t wanna do it anymore, Chloe,” Beca said, her voice breaking. “We can’t take our kids for ice cream. Blake is getting too anxious to leave the house, and Riley is gonna start picking up on that soon. You can’t even work anymore. I don’t… I don’t wanna be famous anymore, I don’t want to live in this stupid town, I don’t want any of it.”

“I know,” Chloe said, softly.

“I’m serious.” Her voice was wobbling dangerously now. “I can’t… It’s crushing me.” She brought up a hand to cover her face as she started crying. “I can’t do it anymore.”

“Hey, shh, it’s okay. It’s okay, we can figure this out,” Chloe said, gathering Beca into her arms. “We’ll be okay.”

“It’s gonna kill me.”

“I know, baby, I know. But I won’t let it,” Chloe said. “Tomorrow we’re gonna call Theo, and we’re gonna figure it out.”

“Thank you,” Beca said, feeling calm relief begin to wash over her. Things were going to change. Things were going to get better. “I love you.”

“I love you too. No matter what your job is or where we live. I’m always gonna love you.”

[weallsimpfordabi]

Switching Sides (Part Three)

Find the other parts here

A/N: Thank you guys so much for the support 🥺 I really do appreciate it! Also, the next chapter will be some fluff and then it’s gonna get crazy from there, so I hope you’re ready for all that! 😇

Pairing: Dabi x Reader, Ex!Bakugou x Reader

Word Count: 1,933

Warnings: SMUT, jealous ex boyfriend, cursing, yelling, choking, fingering, bruising, oral (male receiving )

Tag List: @platinumbelle @sweet-bunny-writing @bunbunsblog

———

Of all things you could wake up to, Katsuki looking through your phone with a hurt and confused expression was not one of them. You hoped to your core that you were still dreaming, but he noticed your eyes opening and looked right at you. Your heart dropped, not sure what you should do in this moment. He looked so angry, which was normal, but there was also pain in his eyes. You slowly sat up, keeping your eyes on his. You reached for your phone, but his large hands wrapped around it completely and squeezed, and that’s when you knew you were absolutely busted and most likely screwed. You had hoped the day off you got because of some maintenance would be peaceful, but of course, probably the worst thing had to happen instead.

“What the hell are you doing, Y/N?” He bore his eyes into yours, making you feel as if you were shrinking right in front of him. You felt the back of your throat start to burn as tears threatened your eyes. You shook your head, putting on a confused look, hoping he would let it go. He growled, standing up from the bed. “Fucking hell, Y/N, you’re one of the smartest people I know! How could you go out and even consider associating with one of...them?” The last word fell from his lips like poison. You stood as well, stumbling over the words that refused to come out.

“‘S-Suki, what are you talking about? I’m not...doing anything.” You tried to lie, but you already knew Bakugou was the absolute last person you could do that to. He quickly unlocked your phone once again, showing you your texts with Dabi. You immediately felt sick, he really had figured it out.

“Are you seriously hanging out with one of the people that want to kill us? I mean, for fucks sake!” He threw your phone against the wall, making you jump. Your hands started to shake as anxiety set it. He knew, and you were fucked.

“I swear it isn’t like that, ‘Suki.”

“Then tell me how it is! How am I supposed to believe you when you won’t even tell me what the hell is going on!” You looked up at him, your shaky hand reaching up to his cheek. He jerked his head away, glaring at you. You recoiled your hand back to your body, crossing your arms.

“I can’t. I can’t tell you, because if I do, we’ll all be in danger. You’ll just have to trust me on this one, okay?” He suddenly got very quiet, looking away. He then swung his arm, an angry shout following it as he slammed his fist into the wall beside him, leaving a deep hole. Both of you were now breathing heavily, and you looked at him in shock. That vein on his forehead popped out, and you knew you were about to get screamed at.

“What if the teachers find out? You could be expelled! Or arrested for being an accessory! Fucking idiot! Why are you jeopardizing your future as a pro for someone like that?” He looked at you, and that’s when you noticed his eyes were glazed over. He was suddenly deep in thought, keeping his eyes on your face. Then, something hit him. He scoffed quietly, biting his lip, contemplating his next move. He then wrapped his free hand around your neck, staring daggers into you. His grip wasn’t tight, but it was enough to let you know that he was upset and wanted your attention. His eyes narrowed, the darkness behind them being fueled by his jealousy.

“Are you telling me that you think a fucking villain is better than me? I guess I need to remind you of a few things, teddy bear.” His voice had become gravelly, sending familiar shivers to your core. You furrowed your brows, his change in attitude almost giving you whiplash. But, at the same time, this is Bakugou and his ego’s been hurt. That’s a recipe for either destruction or, in your case many times in the past, very rough sex. You swallowed thickly, lips parting as your breathing deepened. He pressed his lips to yours forcefully, your breath caught in your throat.

An almost whining moan left his lips, vibrating against yours. Your hand found its way into his hair, fingers curling into those ashy blonde spikes on top of his head. His hand moved from your throat to your hips as he pushed you to the bed. You fell back, looking up at him as he got a devilish grin on his face. You blushed, pulling the hem of his shirt so he fell on top of you. He connected your lips again, his knee pushing between your thighs. He bit your lip, his hand finding its way to your waistband. You whimpered, needing more. He moved his lips to your neck, biting down before sucking on the same spot. It hurt, but you both knew you loved it.

He wasted no time, fingers slipping past your underwear and into you. You moaned, head falling back as he continued marking your neck. His fingers curled inside, hitting a spot that made your body tense in a very good way. It was like heaven, being touched this way again. You moaned once more, and he lifted his head to look at you.

“Quiet, teddy bear, don’t want other people to hear you, right?” He covered your mouth with his other hand, the pace of his fingers picking up speed. As much as you wanted to keep quiet, you couldn’t help it. His hand muffled your noises as the pad of his thumb started drawing circles on your clit. Your eyes fluttered slightly as you felt your high coming close already. He noticed the look in your eyes, humming to himself. He pulled his hands away from you, much to your protest. “You don’t get to cum yet, teddy bear.” He started to take off his pants, and you followed suit. He was already hard, watching you undress in front of him. “If you wanna cum on my cock, you have to suck it first.”

You nodded, getting into a comfortable position in front of him before slowly taking him past your lips. He moaned, holding your hair back so he could watch you. You moaned, vibrating your mouth that took him in completely, all the way to your throat. His hips started moving gently with your pace, hissing through his teeth as you hollowed your cheeks to suck harder. Your name fell from his lips like honey, and it only made you want to keep going. He groaned, grabbing a fistful of your hair while he watched you.

“Your mouth feels so good and warm, baby, fuck.” He pulled you off, pushing you back onto the bed. “But I know your pussy feels so much better. Fuck waiting, I wanna feel you get all tight around me.” He kissed you deeply, positioning himself at your entrance. You wrapped your legs around him, and he took the opportunity immediately, slowly pushing himself into you. You both moaned together, his muffled by him burying his face into your neck.

His pace was slower than you thought it would be. It was like he was milking the moment for every single thing he could. He wrapped his hand around your neck again, rocking his hips against yours. He was slow when he pushed into you until he almost bottomed out, then he shoved the rest of it in, making your head spin.

“Fuck, I miss this.” He whispered against the skin of your neck, right underneath your ear. It made your stomach flutter hearing him be so vulnerable. You scratched down his back, making him arch deeper into you. You had missed this too, you couldn’t lie. It was like coming home after a long day of hard work. You moaned his name, making sure it was right in his ear. He shivered, starting to pick up the pace.

“You think a villain is better than me? You think he can make you cum like I can? Huh? Nobody can fuck you better than me, teddy bear.” He choked you tightly as he slammed into you. It didn’t take long for you both to get your highs. He fucked you hard as you came, making both of you see stars. He collapsed next to you, breathing heavily with shivers interrupting them every so often. As if it was an instinct, he wrapped his arms around you, trying to be as close as possible to you. You bit your lip, letting him hold you for a minute or two before you pulled away from him.

“I’m sorry, I know it’s bad timing, but I have to go. If I don’t get to patrols I’ll be in trouble.” You avoided his gaze as you put your clothes back on, quickly leaving the room to go to patrols, just as you said. Though, if he knew you were going to see Dabi, he’d probably lose his mind. As you made your way to the building, you tried to get the hurt look on Katsuki’s face out of your head, not able to deal with the guilt you felt.

———

“Hello, little mouse. You look like you're glowing, I’m happy you’re so excited to see me.” Dabi smirked, making you roll your eyes once again. He walked over to you, brow raised. “Find anything out today?” He moved a piece of hair out of your face, tucking it behind your ear. You didn’t flinch this time, though you weren’t really sure why.

“The school let us have a day off today. Apparently they’re fixing something with the security system. That’s all I have. Can I go now?” You turned away, but he grabbed your wrist with enough force to leave a bruise.

“No,” he said darkly, turning you towards him. He grabbed your neck, turning your head so he could see the marks that Katsuki had left on you. He furrowed his brows angrily, looking at you with such a menacing glare that you thought you could just die in that spot. “What’s this, little mouse? You letting somebody fuck you?”

“That is none of your business, Dabi!” You pulled away from him, but he still had a death grip on your wrist.

“You’re mine, baby doll, and that means that if you fuck anybody, it’s me and only me.”

“I don’t even know anything about you! You don’t even know me! You have no idea who I am, and honestly? I’d like to keep it that way. Now let go.” He looked down at your wrist, noticing that the circulation had started to be cut off. He did as you asked, sitting down on the couch. He bit his lip, looking off for a second.

“What do you wanna know?” You looked over, raising a brow.

“What?”

“What do you want to know about me? You could ask a question, and then I’ll do the same. You’re right, we don’t know anything about each other, and that doesn’t make for a very good business partner, does it?” He patted the seat next to him, wanting you to sit next to him. You were about to refuse when you realized that you really didn’t have a choice in this. You groaned softly, sitting down next to him. The scent of cigarettes and some kind of cologne hit you as he leaned back.

“Alright, you first, little mouse. Ask away.”

[cherryblossomflowers]

DDD #10

Pairing: Jensen Ackles x Adopted Daughter!Reader

Summary: After a few rough months being in a new home, YN finally breaks down from all the stress, anxiety, and depression she's been going through. Luckily for her, Jensen is there to listen and be the shoulder to cry on.

Warnings: Anxiety/Depression, Fluff, Angst

A/N: Week #10 is here (better late than never)! Make sure to check out @mlovesstories​ drabble and her masterlist. Also, I am only 5 followers away from 200! Feedback is greatly appreciated! Enjoy!

Jensen: 42 YN: 12

***ASK OPEN***

*LET ME KNOW IF YOU’D LIKE TO BE TAGGED*

Dynamic Duo Drabbles Masterlist

"Every time I heard the ice cream truck, it reminded me of home."

YN opened the front door of the Ackles home and walked inside with JJ right behind her. JJ immediately ran into the living room where Danneel was playing with the twins.

"Hi, JJ. How was school?" she asked the 7-year-old.

"It was great! We worked on adding and minusing things in math," JJ replied.

Danneel chuckled, "I think what you meant is addition and subtraction. Go on upstairs and get started on your homework. Daddy will be home from work soon and we're going out for dinner."

"Yay!" JJ yelled as she ran upstairs to her bedroom.

Danneel turned and saw YN standing by the door, "YN? Is everything okay?"

YN nodded in silence and walked down the hallway towards her room. Once she was in her room, she shut the door behind her and leaned against it, sliding down to the floor.

She sat there for a bit, contemplating everything that had happened at school that day: being pushed into her locker and on the ground, her lunch being thrown across the cafeteria, and not to mention her failed Algebra and Science exams.

Most of the bullying from school, of course, was because she was "the new Ackles kid". She got told day after day how she'd never live up to the standards of the Ackles family.

It surely didn't help the depression she had.

Her mother died roughly 5 years prior and she had been put into foster care. The Ackles family was the first she had known since being put in the system.

They were a nice family, very open and welcoming. But that didn't mean YN was going to be that way.

She kept to herself more than she should: hides the bullying and bad grades from Danneel and Jensen, doesn't have any friends at school, and really doesn't speak all that often.

YN really wished things could change, but all she wanted was her mother back and her old life back. Maybe she could...

A startled gasp escaped her lips when a sudden knock at the door snapped her from her thoughts. Her hand jumped to her chest as her breathing was rapid.

"Hey, YN? Are you in there?" Jensen yelled through the door.

YN didn't move or speak. She stayed perfectly still against the door.

"Well, we're thinking about going out to dinner. And if we did so, we thought you'd like to choose where we go," he explained.

YN took a deep breath as she stood on her feet. She turned and opened the door, but her eyes stayed on the ground.

"There you are, kiddo," Jensen smiled.

YN sighed, "You guys should go to dinner. I've got too much homework to do."

"Not an option, YN. You can do some of your homework now, come to dinner, and finish when we get back."

"Please, I just want to-"

"No, YN. You're not going to hide out in your room tonight."

"Jensen, I really need to get this done-"

"It wont' kill you to hang out with your family for one night."

"You are not my family!"

Jensen was taken aback from YN's outburst. She had never lashed out like that. In fact, she had never raised her voice period.

"YN...is everything...all right?" Jensen asked cautiously.

Suddenly realizing she had yelled at him, YN took a step back from the door as tears filled her eyes, "I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean...I j-just...I..."

Jensen walked into her room and knelt down on the ground, "YN, talk to me. What's going on?"

YN shrugged, "Nothing. Just an off day, that's all. It's nothing."

"You know you can tell me anything, YN. You can trust me."

He stared at her for a moment, trying to understand what had gotten her so upset. He reached up, wiped the tears from her eyes and squeezed her shoulder.

"Is there something happening at school? Is it us? Are we doing something wrong?" Jensen asked.

YN closed her eyes, "I just..." tears poured over her eyes and down her face, "I really miss my mom. And I miss my old house and my old life. I feel like everything I do here is wrong. I'm failing classes and I get pushed around at school. JJ and the twins don't want anything to do with me-"

"Now hold on a second. I know for a fact that JJ, Arrow, and Zeppelin love you. And as for the bullies at school, they're just jealous because you are so loved here by us. If you need help in your classes, I can help. I'm not the greatest tutor, but I can do my best."

"And...and my old life and home? My mom?"

Jensen smiled, "Why don't you and I hang out tonight? You can tell me all about her. I'd love to know what she was like. Maybe then I can try and do more things that she did? Or maybe I can talk to Danneel and she could try?"

YN didn't raise her head or make any sort of eye contact, but she did give him a small nod.

"Good. Let's go to the living room then, okay?" Jensen stood on his feet.

He held out his hand to YN, she took it, and they both walked out of her room. They walked into the living room and sat down on the couch.

For the next couple hours, YN told Jensen story after story about things with her mom, her old school and friends, and her old home.

"On hot days in the summer, my mom and I would heard the ice cream truck driving outside. She's always get a bomb pop and I'd get an ice cream sandwich," YN smiled about the memory.

Jensen chuckled, "So that's why I always see you look up when you hear the truck outside."

"Every time I heard the ice cream truck, it reminded me of home," YN replied.

"You and your mom were really close, huh?"

"Closer than close. She was my best friend."

Jensen hugged her, "I'm glad you have such great memories of her."

"Jensen?"

"Yeah?"

"I'm really happy you and Danneel brought me into your home. It's been really hard for me to cope and move on, but it's starting to get easier," YN beamed.

"I'm glad, kiddo. I'm happy you're apart of our family. It wasn't complete without you."

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

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[crystalninjaphoenix]

Together

A Stitched Story (END)

JSE Fanfic

Man...this is it. The last one. That’s...wow. This was an AU three years in the writing, and with this, it’s over. I just...wow. I’m gonna need to just think about that for a second. Maybe wait a bit before starting something new. Anyway, this is basically wrapping everything up, taking care of all the final plot points and loose ends. There are emotional moments, including one big one, but...wow. I just have to keep saying that over and over again, it’s all I feel. The boys are settling down. Finally. Man, they’ve earned it. 

Tagging @septic-dr-schneep for inspiring this AU with this post.

Read the whole story: Stitched Together | Season One | Season Two | Torn Apart | Tales to Tell | Threads | Twice Bitten, Never Shy | Two of Souls | The Tower | Time to End

Taglist (finally): @bupine @violet--majesty @ari-trash

It was surprisingly sunny, for an autumn day. Busy, too. Cars rushed through the streets, and pedestrians populated the pavement. Jameson shielded his eyes from the sun’s glare as he peered around a street corner and saw their destination. We’re almost there. One more block, he said, tapping the message out in Morse code on a nearby lamppost.

“Good, I hope we are not late,” Schneep replied. “What time is it?”

JJ checked the clock on his phone. 1:25. Do you think it’s already over?

“Possibly. In any case, it would be better to be early.” Schneep turned the corner, speeding up, running his cane over the sidewalk to check for cracks. JJ hurried to catch up. “Chase would be upset if we are not there.”

He’ll be fine, JJ said reassuringly, now tapping the message on Schneep’s arm. But I suppose we can make haste.

The two of them soon arrived at their destination, turning into the hospital parking lot and walking towards the building’s front entrance. “Oh! I think he is here, yes?” Schneep said.

Yes, I can see him. JJ waved. Chase was standing outside the glass doors, bouncing on his feet and scanning the area. He had his usual bandanna and cap, but was wearing a new sweater, one that the others had given him as a group birthday present to make up for missing it a few months ago, and an old backpack Stacy had lent him. Once he saw JJ waving he smiled, and waved back.

“Ha! Knew it. I am getting good at this,” Schneep said proudly. “If only sensing souls could help with telling apart the toothpaste and burn cream.”

JJ laughed, muffled as usual, and the two of them hurried across the parking lot. Chase ran up to meet them at the edge of the sidewalk. “Hey guys!” he said. “Good to see you.”

“Good to see you too,” Schneep said lightheartedly. “Well, well? Did everything go fine?”

“Oh, uh, mostly.” Chase rolled up the sleeves of his sweater. He wasn’t wearing his wristbands. Instead, there were white bandages. “She managed to get the ones on my wrists off, but said she didn’t want to risk messing with the one on my neck. It’s close to an artery or something? I don’t know, it was some complicated medical stuff.”

“Ah. That is too bad,” Schneep said sadly. Jameson shook his head sympathetically. “But it is glad to hear some of the stitches are gone. I told you that Darla was good. Trustworthy, too. She will not tell anyone.”

“If you say so, doc.” Pulling his sleeves down, Chase turned to JJ. “Are you sure you don’t want to try? I mean, it’s a lot more inconvenient for you than it is for me.”

JJ hesitated, then nodded. I am fine, he signed. I’ve gotten used to it, and yes, there are many downsides, but considering what happened last week, I think it is good enough.

“Man. If you’re really sure,” Chase said reluctantly. “They’re already a bit looser, right? Maybe whatever magic’s making them hard to cut through will fade over time.”

“Wait, Jameson, did you bring up last week?” Schneep whacked JJ’s legs with his cane. “I said that you should not try yourself! Things could go wrong!” He paused. “But everything is fine, right?”

Yes, it was a shallow cut, JJ said. Your scissors are pretty sharp.

“I know. They are not normal, and I am starting to think they were always supposed to be weapons.” Schneep sighed. “Well, I am putting them away soon.”

JJ and Chase exchanged a significant look. “You’re gonna put them away?” Chase repeated.

Schneep nodded. “If I need them again, it won’t be hard to pull them out.”

In the month since they’d finally gotten rid of the strings, Schneep had kept carrying the scissors around. Just in case, he’d said. Just in case those glowing green strands of black magic managed to worm their way back into the world. But the past month had been quiet. Busy in other ways, but nothing had appeared to attack any of them. So maybe ‘just in case’ wasn’t going to come. Maybe it would be fine to leave them at home. Or, well, in whatever pocket dimension they came from.

“If you’re sure, doc,” Chase said. “A-anyway, it’s a bit past 1:30. We should hurry, or we’ll be late to meet up with the others. You guys walked here? C’mon, there’s a bus stop across the street.”

We’d definitely be on time if you drove us, JJ said teasingly.

“Hey, I can’t be blamed for not having a car.”

Ask Stacy.

“Nah, it’s fine. I should practice a bit before I do any serious driving, anyway. It’s been a while.”

“You took the bus here?” Schneep asked, puzzled. “But what about people sitting next to you?”

“It’s okay, I just put the backpack next to me. And it’s alright if it’s you guys.” Chase stepped off the sidewalk curb and onto the parking lot asphalt. “Now let’s go.”

The bus ride was short, and soon the three of them were getting off at a stop outside a small restaurant—or, more of a cafe, really. Despite being near lunchtime, the place was almost empty when they walked in. Soft piano music was playing over a speaker system, and a chalk signboard near the front entrance read “Please Seat Yourselves” with a hand-drawn smiley face. Chase read the sign out loud, and the three of them spotted the rest of the group, sitting at a table in the corner of the dining area, right by a window.

Jack had looked up at the sound of the bell chiming when the door opened. “Hey, they’re here,” he said to the other two sitting at the table.

“Huh? Oh, good.” Jackie was turning the menu over and over, listening to the sound of the laminated paper against the air. Marvin didn’t say anything. His head was leaning against the glass of the window, eyes closed, a pair of earbuds blocking out most sound. But he did make a small sound of acknowledgement.

“Hey guys.” Chase arrived first, taking the chair across from Marvin, next to the wall. Schneep and JJ took the next two. “Did you already order?”

“No, I told the waiter that we were waiting for people,” Jack explained. “But, more importantly, how’d it go? Are they gone?”

“Wrists are.” Chase once again pulled back his sleeves. For a moment, Jackie glanced at the bandages on his wrists, then bit his lip and looked away. “Apparently the neck stitches are too close to an artery or something. She didn’t want to mess with it.”

“Shit. Well, two out of three’s not bad,” Jack said.

“Jack, my friend, how are the repairs going?” Schneep asked.

“Pretty good, I think. The walls just got repainted, and the living room has new chairs and stuff. Still a long way to go.” Jack laughed. “Honestly I’m just glad that the water and Internet didn’t go out.”

Are the police still talking to you? JJ asked.

“No, not really. You guys?”

The other three all shook their heads. Dealing with the police had been...complicated. They had to, of course. They couldn’t just go back to their old lives without people asking “what the hell happened to you?!”JJ had it the easiest, in a way. Nobody had reported him missing, which was a bit sad when he thought about it, and all the regular patrons of his shop had assumed it closed down. Jack and Chase had more difficulty, since they were pretty public figures. The moment Jack had uploaded a video explaining he was back, the Internet had gone up in flames wondering where he’d been.

In the end, they all decided on the same story. It was pretty lame, as Chase often said, but it worked. They all just lied and said they didn’t remember anything. Weird stitches on Chase’s wrists and neck? Nope. Scars all over Jack’s body? Don’t know what happened there. Schneep losing an entire sense and gaining weird scars that looked like tears dripping from his eyes? No idea, officer. The police had prodded them, but eventually given up, essentially leaving the case unsolved and concluding it was a strange psychological phenomenon. The case would go down in history, but nobody would know the truth.

Of course, when it came to Marvin and Jackie coming back to life, things were going to be a bit difficult. Fortunately, they had magic on their side.

“Have any of you heard from Yvonne?” Jack asked, sliding each of them a menu.

“Dude, why would she talk to me? I’m the least magical person here,” Chase said.

Not since she offered to help, JJ added.

Schneep merely shook his head and picked up the menu. “Oh! They actually have—”

“Yeah, I explained the situation when the waiter came over and he gave me a Braille copy,” Jack explained. “Anyway, she called me the other day. Says that the records should be all fixed now.”

“I still say that can’t be legal,” Chase muttered.

“It’s not.” Everyone jumped, a bit surprised to hear Marvin talk. He didn’t move from his position against the window or open his eyes, but he did continue. “She’s not really into stuff being legal, you know. Normal laws or magic laws. Always thought they got in the way, that...that...her. That...name.”

“Yvonne.” Jackie gently bumped Marvin’s shoulder with his own.

“Right.”

Jack gave the others a meaningful look. Memory issues. One of the lingering side effects Marvin and Jackie were dealing with. They could forget something in seconds. Jackie had taken to writing things down, if not with an actual pen and paper, then by finger-spelling it on his hand over and over. Marvin just sort of let it happen, only writing down the really important stuff. “Anyway, it’s all fixed,” Jack continued, looking back over at the other two. “You guys can...y’know, start doing stuff again. When you want. Move out, if you feel like it.”

“Thanks,” Jackie said. He sounded oddly reluctant. Marvin didn’t even bother to answer.

Chase cleared his throat. “Speaking of moving out, Schneep, did you get your apartment back yet?”

Schneep scowled. “I am so close. The stupid building owner is still insisting on keeping it all preserved, and I say, ‘for what?!’ You are clearly not going to sell it, if everything is still how it is when I was living there. So just let me live in! The police do not care anymore, anyway, so there is no crime scene!”

He probably liked the idea of having a flat where someone who disappeared lived, JJ suggested. It lends a bit of mystery and gives the building a reputation. People might want to move in because of that.

“Well he will still have it! I will just be actually there!” Schneep folded his arms and leaned back in the chair. “Ugh. Jamie, I like you, but your guest room is tiny.”

JJ gave a huff of a laugh. Sorry, Hen. I’d never really needed one before so I didn’t hear any complaints. 

“Oh, Chase, what about you? How’s the house search coming?” Jack asked.

“Fine.” Chase shrugged. “I got a few to look at. Y’know Stacy doesn’t seem to mind me staying over. I was surprised, given how she, um...wanted to move out so much a few years ago.”

“Well, things change,” Jack said cheerfully.

“Yeah. I guess that’s an upside of this, we’re, like...friends.” Chase said the word in a tone of bewildered, but welcomed, happiness. The way someone would react to hearing good news that they’d thought was no longer an option. “Again, I mean. A-and I don’t think it’s gonna go further, but...still.”

“That’s great, my friend.” Schneep patted the back of Chase’s hand.

“Yeah, that’s great!” Jackie repeated, suddenly enthusiastic. “So, like, we should order food, right?”

“Oh right.” Jack nodded. “Hang on.” He stood up, looking towards the back of the restaurant where the door to the kitchen was. A waiter was walking out at that moment, and caught sight of the group, quickly indicating he’d be right there. “Oh, nice. I was confused, really, if like this was the type of place where people would come over or if we had to go up there.” Jack sat back down and picked up the menu. “We should go all out. This is a celebration.”

I think I can get a drink, JJ signed slowly.

“Really?” Jack asked, surprised.

Yes, I think the stitches have loosened up enough for that, JJ said more confidently. A small straw or a bit of liquid. Just so long as nobody’s looking when I take off my mask.

“Awesome, man,” Chase said cheerfully. “Honestly, this place looked good on the website. We should get a lot.”

“Celebration,” Schneep repeated, then nodded. “Yes. Yes, that sounds wonderful. Celebration lunch.”

And for most of them, it was just that, wonderful. They were meeting up again, the last of their troubles were ending. Things were looking up.

But a corner of the table was a bit gloomier. Jackie and Marvin were pretty quiet all throughout the lunch. Neither of them ate that much. Marvin kept his eyes closed or looking down at his plate, and Jackie paid more attention to the salt and pepper shakers than anything else. Once the lunch was over and after everyone said their goodbyes, they followed Jack back to his apartment, where they were staying, and drifted off to separate activities. A book for Marvin, an old laptop for Jackie.

They never once said anything to each other.

— — — — — — —

Ignisa: a spell to conjure fire.

Marvin read the simple command word over and over, repeating it mentally. Ignisa. Ignisa. It was one of the simplest spells out there, and one of the first ones he learned. He could visualize the page of the book he read it in. He remembered it. Really, he did. Most of the time. For the occasions that he didn’t he’d written down the command and what it did on a spare bit of paper.

“Ignisa,” he whispered, staring down at his hands, cupped as if to hold water. He sat in the center of the floor in the spare bedroom, as far away from furniture as possible. “Ignisa. Ig-NI-sa. IG-ni-sa. Ig-ni-SA.” Yet, no matter how many times he repeated it, no matter how he pronounced it or how loud he spoke it, no matter how much he concentrated on the feeling of fire bursting forth in his hands...there wasn’t even a spark.

“Fuck.” Marvin gave up, burying his face in his hands. He squeezed his eyes to contain tears of frustration, but he still let one or two sobs slip out. Why couldn’t he do anything? No fire, no lights, no telekinesis. All the magic he remembered was useless. The only spell that sort of worked was teleportation, in fact he actually found it easier now than it used to be, but he couldn’t quite control it. If he was lucky, he’d end up close to where he wanted to be, and if he was unlucky, he teleported to the middle of the sky twenty miles away. That...hadn’t been a fun evening.

There were only a few spells that worked perfectly for him. Taking a few deep breaths, Marvin lifted his head up, and pressed his hands close together, palm to palm. Slowly, he pulled them away from each other. In the space between them were blue glowing threads of magic, which got longer the farther apart his hands got. If he wanted, he could use these strings like a weapon, grabbing things, pinning them to the wall, and maybe with practice he could use them to swing, like some sort of discount magical Spider-Man. But he didn’t want to. He didn’t want anything to do with these. Scowling, Marvin brushed his hands together, and the strings disappeared.

Someone knocked on the door, and Marvin yelped in surprise. He quickly got to his feet. “Wh-who is it?”

“It’s Jack,” a voice said. “Can I come in?”

“Um...sure.”

Jack opened the door, poking his head in through the gap. “Hey Jackie’s making noodles for dinner. Do you want any?”

Did he? Marvin wasn’t really hungry. He didn’t really feel hungry that often anymore. Or maybe he did, and just couldn’t recognize the feeling. Jackie was the same way, but that didn’t stop him from trying to eat. After a bit, Marvin decided it would probably be better safe than sorry. “...Sure.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him.” Jack hesitated. “Do you...want anything? Need anything?”

Marvin hesitated. He glanced over at Jack before looking away. Wait, why was one of Jack’s eyes a slightly different shade of blue? When had that—oh. Right. “No.”

“Alright...if you’re sure,” Jack said reluctantly. “Come out whenever you’re ready.” And with that, he left.

Just in time, too. Marvin backed up until his legs hit the edge of the bed. Immediately, he fell back onto the mattress, pressing his hands against his eyes. “Stop thinking about it,” he said to himself. “Stop thinking about it, stop it, stop.” That only seemed to make it worse. Images flashed in his head, leftover memories that weren’t his, but also were, and were also Jackie’s and someone else’s. The others called him Anti. Anti’s memories. They would pop up whenever something triggered them, and that ‘something’ was usually one of the others. Right now, the memories were about Jack, about what happened to his eye. Marvin could hear himself—no, Anti—laughing.

Shaking, Marvin slowly stood up again, staggering across the room to the door. Why was it that sometimes, his balance just didn’t work? Why was he so clumsy now? He grabbed the doorknob but didn’t open it, just pressing his forehead into the wood. These were the consequences for his actions. The memories, the problems with his magic, the lack of balance. It was all his fault. If he hadn’t gotten into his head that trying the transference spell would be fine, that not telling Jackie wouldn’t cause any problems...It hadn’t even been about helping people, like how Jackie probably wanted to, he just wanted to see if he could do it, to see if he could increase his power. And he caused everything. So this was his punishment. Served him right.

— — — — — — —

“Marvin says he wants dinner,” Jack said, leaning into the kitchen/dining room.

“Okay,” Jackie said cheerfully, grabbing another bowl from the cabinet. It was easy, since that particular cabinet was missing its door. It would probably stay that way for a while, too, since with all the other repairs the apartment required it wasn’t a high enough priority. Jackie set the bowl on the counter next to two others, then looked over at the pot of water. It wasn’t steaming or boiling. Did he forget to turn the heat on? He tapped the edge of the burner under the pot.

“Jackie!” Jack gasped.

“Oh, it’s fine, it’s not on,” Jackie assured him. “I was just checking.”

“You mean you didn’t know if it was on?!”

“It probably wasn’t.” Jackie looked up to see the dial hadn’t been turned. Oh. He probably could have looked at the dial before touching the burner. Well, whatever. He reached over and turned the dial to the 7 mark.

“Please be careful,” Jack said, looking nervous. “You could get hurt.”

“I am being careful,” Jackie said. It didn’t really matter, anyway. He was having trouble feeling pain lately. Or...most things, actually. It was weird, he was a bit numb. Not by too much, but enough to be noticeable, to know that he hadn’t been like that before. Marvin was just the opposite, nowadays he was constantly being overwhelmed with the texture and feel of things. But he was always more sensitive to sensations than the rest of them.

“Well, be even more careful,” Jack insisted. He backed out of the kitchen. “I’m gonna, uh, hang out in the living room. Tell me if you need anything.”

“Okay,” Jackie nodded. “Don’t worry about me.”

“Alright.” Jack hesitated for a second before turning away and leaving.

Everything was fine. Jack really didn’t need to worry, Jackie had everything covered. Making food was easy, really. It was something that he did all the time. The process was automatic, especially for making pasta. Just wait for a bit, occasionally stirring, then drain the water. It was all good. This was a normal thing that normal people did. Things were normal.

Of course, Jackie knew that every single thing he’d just thought to himself was a lie. But it was easier to pretend. Sometimes he pretended so hard that it felt like he was watching a movie filmed in the first-person, instead of actually existing in this body.

Oh, it was happening now, actually. Jackie watched as his hand pulled open the cutlery drawer and took out a long spoon. Then the hand started stirring the pasta in the pot. It was starting to get hot now. There was steam. How hot was it? The other hand reached forward and—

“Shit!” Jackie snapped back to reality, pulling his hand away from the side of the metal pot. “Ah. Fuck.” He looked down. The skin of his fingers was a bit red and tender. He opened and closed his fist a few times to help the leftover burning feeling fade away.

“Is everything okay?” Jack was back, apparently having heard Jackie shout. “Are you okay?”

“Yeah, I’m fine, just brushed against the side,” Jackie explained.

“Are you sure?”

“Yeah. Of course.”

“Well...okay, then.” Jack reluctantly backed out of view.

Everything was fine. Oh look, the pasta was suddenly done. Time had just flown past. Jackie poured the pasta into the strainer and then scooped it into the bowls. Marvin showed up, and then Jack, and they all ate in silence, after which Jack excused himself to go back to his recording room to do some editing. The moment he’d replaced all the broken computer parts, he’d gone back to making videos, though not nearly as frequently as before. That was...nice. Nice that he could do that.

Jackie wondered what he was supposed to do now. Not just for the rest of the day, but...for the rest of ever. He wanted things to be fine, to be normal, and he was pretty good at pretending they were. But they. Just. Weren’t. He couldn’t find the energy to start looking for a job, or for a new apartment, or even for new clothes. But at the same time, he didn’t want to keep borrowing from Jack. He didn’t want to just stay in place, but he couldn’t move forward.

At one point, he’d thought about going back out onto the streets. He didn’t know what happened to his old super suit, but he could make a new one. Then that train of thought had immediately crashed to a halt with a flash of memory. Not his, but also his. Anti’s. A memory with so much pain in it, and feeling glad at that pain. Somehow triumphantly vindicated to see suffering. No. Someone like that couldn’t be a hero.

So things continued. The same things. Every day.

Everything was fine.

— — — — — — —

Time passed. Autumn progressed, and it became cooler as September blended into October. Jack kept fixing up the apartment, and it was beginning to look good as new. Schneep finally convinced the building owner to let him back into his place, and so he moved out of JJ’s building. Chase was still having trouble finding a house, but he was glad to spend more time with Lily and Moira, absolutely doting on the two of them. Business at JJ’s shop started to pick up again, though he had to get used to carrying around a notepad since most customers didn’t know sign language.

Jackie and Marvin stayed where they were.

One night, a storm rolled over the city. Rain pounded the ground, thunder rumbled in the distance, and nobody went out of their houses. That night, Marvin went into the apartment’s bathroom and pressed his face against the small window to watch the storm. There wasn’t much to see. The glass was cloudy for privacy. But there was water running down the other side, droplets racing each other to the bottom.

Then there was a flash, and a fork of lightning split the window in half. A second later came the thunder. Marvin heard someone gasp, and jumped, spinning around to see Jackie standing in the open bathroom doorway. “Oh. Sorry,” Jackie muttered. “I just saw the lights on in here and—nevermind.”

Marvin just looked at him for a bit, then turned back to the window. Jackie stood there for a moment, then started to turn away.

“Jackie?”

He stopped at the sound of Marvin’s quiet voice. “Yeah?”

“Are we...bad people?”

Jackie didn’t answer, and that was an answer on its own.

“Should we...be here?”

“What do you mean?” Jackie asked.

Marvin started pulling at his fingers. “Just...what if something...happens?”

Jackie paled. “I-it’ll be okay. It’s all okay.”

“Okay.”

Neither of them moved. Then, quietly, Jackie admitted something. “I don’t want to be here.”

“You don’t?” Marvin finally turned around.

“I don’t think I should,” Jackie whispered. “Just...everyone is nice to us. But we...hurt them. Or, kind of us. I mean, he was still us, right?”

Marvin nodded. “I remember doing it.”

“Me too.”

“He can’t come back, though. Right?”

“I mean...no,” Jackie said slowly. “But what if we...what if something happens?” He echoed Marvin’s own words back at him.

Marvin was silent for a moment. “I don’t want to be here, either.”

“Should we leave?”

“What would we do?”

“I don’t know.” Jackie glanced down the hall, towards Jack’s bedroom. “But they’re...good people. And we’re.... We don’t...” He trailed off.

Another crack of thunder.

“Should we leave a note?” Marvin asked.

“No. They can figure it out. Should we stay together?”

“Maybe at first.”

“Okay.”

A few minutes later, the power in the apartment building went out. Jack left his bedroom, holding a flashlight. “Hey guys? The storm knocked the lights out. You okay?”

No answer. Not surprising, Jackie and Marvin could be pretty quiet. So Jack went to look for them.

But...they weren’t there. Not in the spare bedroom, not in the bathroom, not in the kitchen, not in the living room. “Guys?” he called, voice rising in worry. “Guys?!”

Still no answer. Swearing under his breath, Jack went back to his bedroom and picked up his phone from where he’d left it. He opened up the group chat and sent a message.

Jackie and Marvin are gone. I think they’ve left.

— — — — — — —

It was still storming when they got off the bus to look around. With the rain pouring down, it was hard to make out details of anything. There were the vague, tall shapes of buildings, the long stretches of clear roads and sidewalks...but everything else was a bit cloudy. “We should’ve brought an umbrella,” Marvin said, trying to shield himself from the rain by covering his head with his arms. It didn’t work.

“I didn’t think he had one,” Jackie said, peering through the falling water. “Do you want my jacket?”

“No, I’m fine.” Marvin shivered.

“I...okay, if you’re sure you’re alright,” Jackie said reluctantly. “Here, there’s a street sign over on that corner.” He walked up to the sign, Marvin trailing after him. “Uh...Everwood Lane. I...I don’t remember where that is. Do you?”

“No,” Marvin admitted. They hadn’t really had much of a plan, had they? Just up and left, trusting they’d figure it out in the moment. Saw a bus stopping at a nearby station, and hopped aboard, pretending to swipe bus passes so the driver, who wasn’t really paying any attention, wouldn’t notice. Then they’d gotten off at random, once they realized they’d been sitting in the bus for a while and they had to be far away by then. Why had they thought any of that would be a good idea? Why had he just gone along with it? 

“Well, uh. Let’s get inside.” Jackie pressed on, now walking up to the entrance of the nearest building. “Maybe we can ask someone in there, and it’ll be dry.” See? This would work out.

Luckily, that building turned out to be open, and they stepped into a front hall. It looked nice, but was completely empty. The only things of note were the pair of elevators, the door labelled ‘Stairwell,’ another unlabelled door, and a directory on a sign attached to the wall.

“No one’s here,” Marvin muttered.

“Someone has to be here, everything’s on.” Jackie scanned the directory. The building was nine floors tall, plus the ground floor, and every floor was listed as belonging to some business, each with operating hours attached. “Uh...what time is it?”

“...I don’t remember,” Marvin said. “And there’s no clock here. And we don’t have phones.”

“It’s fine, we’ll—we’ll just check around,” Jackie said optimistically. He walked over to the unmarked door and grabbed the handle, starting to push it open. Only to stop short when the door wouldn’t budge. Locked. Okay. That was fine. There were more options. Jackie turned around. “C’mon, we’ll take the lifts.”

“Mm-hmm.” Marvin nodded, following him to the elevators.

The elevator arrived, doors sliding open, and the two of them stepped in. “Right, we’ll just start with the first floor,” Jackie said, pressing the button. He waited for a few seconds, but the elevator wasn’t moving. The button hadn’t lit up. “Um...” He pressed it again. Then a couple more times. Then he tried the other buttons, pushing them hard.

“There’s a card reader attached,” Marvin pointed out, nodding towards a black box mounted on the elevator’s panel. “I don’t think it’ll work without the right card.”

“Oh.” Jackie was momentarily at a loss, but then he recovered. They just had to keep moving. That’s all. “I guess we’ll take the stairs, then.”

The stairwell was tall, white, and empty, metal stairs spiralling upwards with only a railing keeping the people walking up and down from falling off. Jackie led the way, climbing up the stairs quickly with Marvin a bit behind. But there was no luck. All the doors that led into the floors were blocked by the same card readers as in the elevators. Just in case, Jackie still tried to open them, both pushing and pulling, but to no avail. So they just kept climbing, stopping at every story so Jackie could try the doors with increasing desperation, while Marvin watched him with increasing annoyance.

Until finally, they reached the last door, this one labelled ‘Roof Access.’ Surprisingly, this one didn’t have a card reader. Jackie hesitated, then pushed it open, letting in a spray of rain from the storm outside. 

“Okay, this was useless,” Marvin said. “Let’s—”

“Well, maybe there’s someone outside,” Jackie suggested.

“In the rain?”

But Jackie was already heading out, pulling on his hood as he stepped into the storm.

Of course there wasn’t anyone there. Disregarding the misery of the weather, it was hard to see anything, including the railing that marked the edge of the roof. It would be dangerous to be up there. But Jackie still walked forward, looking around, until he eventually found that railing along the edge, grabbing the rain-slicked metal to orient himself.

“No one’s here!” Marvin shouted over a clap of thunder. He’d followed Jackie out onto the roof and was now standing about an arm’s length behind him, looking extremely unhappy about the whole situation. “Let’s go!”

“Right.” Jackie nodded. “We’ll just—just try another building, and ask where we are.”

“Then what?”

“Then we’ll—we’ll get a hotel.”

“How will we pay for it?”

“Uh...okay, not a hotel. We’ll...find our way to someone’s house, o-or something, and ask if we can stay.”

“What if no one lets us in?”

“We’ll—we’ll find an empty building.” Jackie grasped desperately at a way to salvage this situation, a way that wouldn’t involve them going back. He wasn’t even sure he could find his way back; he’d forgotten Jack’s address somewhere on the way. “Yeah. And then we’ll go to sleep, and in the morning, figure out a better plan. Yeah! It’s fine. Everything will be fi—”

“Everything will not be fucking fine, Jackie!” Marvin suddenly burst out. “This was a terrible idea! Why did we think to do this?! Why did I go along with it?! It’s raining, there’s lightning, we’re lost, my clothes are wet which I hate more than murder, and you’re being delusional!”

“I—I am being optimistic!” Jackie spluttered, letting go of the railing so he could face Marvin head-on. “I am trying to make the best of a difficult situation—”

“We shouldn’t even be out here!” Marvin interrupted. Another crack of thunder rang throughout the sky, even louder than before. “You suggested this! Why’d you suggest it?”

“Well, why did you ask if we should’ve been staying with the others if you weren’t prepared to leave?” Jackie countered. “You didn’t have to come with me! You didn’t have to go out at all!”

“Oh yeah, what was I going to do, tell Jack and the others, ‘sorry, I don’t know where they went, they said they were leaving and I thought that was alright’? No!”

“You could’ve convinced me to stay!” Jackie shouted. “You could’ve shot it down when I said it! But you went along, so you must have wanted to leave, too!”

“I—yeah, but it was more of a vague thing!” Marvin protested. “A what-if! I didn’t expect us to go right then!”

Jackie grabbed Marvin by the shirt. “Then why did you leave?! Why did we leave?! Why did we want to leave?!”

The sky lit up a brilliant white, electricity crashing. A bolt of lightning had hit a lightning rod attached to the building’s roof, only a room’s width away from the two of them. Sparks flew. Marvin screamed. Jackie instinctively covered him, hugging him tight to his chest and bending over. The sound was deafening, thunder right next to their heads, and even after it faded their ears echoed with the remains of it.

“Holy shit!” Jackie gasped, blinking the brilliant light from his eyes. His eyes...which were now glowing. The left was bright green, the right an equally bright red. Marvin’s were also glowing, though his right eye was the green one, and the other one was blue. “That was—oh my god. Marvin, are you okay?”

Marvin didn’t answer for a moment. He just stared at the lightning rod, still faintly glowing from being struck. And then...he let out a quiet sob.

“M...Marvin?” Jackie took a closer look at him, and realized his face wasn’t just wet from the rain. “Hey, it’s okay.”

“No, it’s fucking not,” Marvin cried. “All I could think about while we were walking up those stairs—all I could think about were the memories, the—you know the ones, the—I wasn’t even there, I was somewhere else. I hate this. I hate this! I hate what’s happened to me! I hate that it’s my fault!”

“Your fault?!” Jackie repeated.

“My stupid fucking selfish spell,” Marvin sobbed. “It’s all because of that! Everything happened because of that! Of course I should’ve realized, if the things I did after the spell were—were like that, then of course! Of course I’m a horrible fucking person that wouldn’t care about what that spell might do!”

“Marvin—”

“And you’re just going around acting like everything is alright!” Marvin said, jabbing a finger into Jackie’s chest. “You just like—like nothing happened, you keep saying everything is fine, it might be for you, but it’s not for me! No it’s fine, it doesn’t matter!”

“I just want everything to move on, Marvin!” Jackie said, grasping Marvin’s upper arms and pulling him close. “Everything has to be fine, but it’s not, so I have to pretend it is! Because if I stop pretending, all I can think about is what I’ve done. Every time I look at the others, I remember how I hurt them! Every time I look at you, I remember how I killed you!”

Silence, and the sound of rain.

“I didn’t...didn’t know you felt that way,” Marvin said, barely audible.

“I didn’t know you did, either,” Jackie whispered.

“That’s ironic, isn’t it?” Marvin commented dully. “Aren’t we connected now? Aren’t our souls all...mixed up with each other?”

“Yeah...” Jackie nodded. “Yeah.”

The two of them stared at each other. Eyes wide, hearts pounding, breathing heavy. Letting themselves be rained on. Until—

The door to the rooftop burst open, and a couple flashlight beams fell onto the two of them.

“Marv!”

“Jackie!”

“My friends!”

It was the others. All of them. Chase was in front with Jack close behind, then Schneep in the back holding onto Jameson’s arm for extra support. “Are you two okay?!” Chase asked.

“What happened?!” Jack added.

Is everything alright? JJ signed.

“Why did you go?” Schneep said.

Jackie took a step backwards, letting go of Marvin, who was too in shock to even notice. “You guys...h-how’d you find us?”

“JJ did,” Chase explained.

Luckily the tracking spell still works, JJ said. How did you two even get here? It’s the other side of town!

“I...we took the bus,” Jackie said numbly. “How—why are you here?”

“We came to find you, of course!” Schneep said, as if it was obvious.

“Why?” Marvin asked quietly.

“What?! Because you’re our friends!” Chase said, gaping. “If you leave to go out with no note, no anything, in the middle of a thunderstorm—” Thunder rumbled in the distance as if to prove his point. “—and without any way for anyone to contact you, anything could have happened! We were so fucking worried!”

“...why?” Marvin repeated.

“You’re our friends,” Jack reiterated. “We care about you. What if you got hurt? That would be—fuck. I-I don’t even want to think about it.”

Jackie felt tears in his eyes, and he let them slip out, hidden by the rain. “But—but it was going to be better this way.”

“Better? Better?!” Schneep repeated incredulously. “No no no no no no, we went through so much to see you again. You cannot just disappear! And less expect us to be fine with it!”

“But...w-we—I—I hurt you!” Jackie blurted out. “So much! I mean, look at yourselves! You still have the scars!”

“That wasn’t you,” Chase said gently, slowly approaching. “That was Anti.”

“Well, Anti was us.”

“Anti was two parts you guys and, like, seventeen parts black magic,” Chase said. “It wasn’t your fault.”

“It feels like it,” Marvin muttered. “You’d say the same if you remembered doing it.”

“What if something happens?” Jackie said, his voice hushed. “What if we...while we’re around you guys, what if we...hurt you? Th-there’s a possibility, right? As long as we’re around.”

Jack’s next question was soft, almost unheard through the rain. “You don’t want to hurt anyone, right?”

“No!” Jackie said, aghast. Marvin shook his head furiously.

“Then you won’t,” Jack said firmly. “I mean, sure, there will be accidents. But you can’t run from everyone because you’re afraid you might hurt them. A life like that would be so lonely. We trust you. Both of you. And you trust us. That’s what friendship’s built on, isn’t it? Trust.”

Jackie fell silent. The four of them stood firm, agreeing with Jack’s sentiment. Did they...really want them to stay?

“We don’t—” Marvin stammered. “I-I-I don’t—we’re—I’m—not...the type of person...who should have friends.”

“What?” Jack asked, shocked.

“You’re all so nice, a-and good,” Marvin said. “We...I don’t...deserve you.”

“That is ridiculous,” Schneep said. “Marvin, and Jackie, you are both some of the best friends I ever had, and the same goes for everyone else.”

“We’re not...good people,” Marvin said desperately. “If we were Anti, we can’t have been. Good people wouldn’t become...that. A-and you’re all just saying it ‘cause you’re friends.”

Can I say something? JJ, who’d been waiting on the sidelines, finally spoke up. Look, I barely know either of you. I’m new to all this. But I can tell that neither of you are bad people. Flawed, yes, but so is everyone. Chase said that Anti was mostly black magic, and he’s right. You can’t be blamed for what that entity did; its perception was warped and broken. You two are nice, you seem smart, you’re friendly to others. You are not bad people.

“Look, I know, it’s hard to accept that you deserve nice things,” Chase jumped in. “But you do. You want to step away from friends and good things because you think you’re not worthy. It’s gonna be hard to accept that you are. But that’s why we’re here, okay? To help you accept that.”

“And to point out when you need something,” Schneep added. “Something that you think is above you. I swear, I will fight every single bad thought you have, anything that tells you that you do not deserve all the care and love that you do.”

Jack laughed a bit. “Yeah. We all will.”

Both of them were crying, and despite the falling rain, it was quite obvious. Marvin reached over and grabbed Jackie’s hand, pulling him close. “I...I’m sorry,” he choked out.

Jackie nodded. “I’m sorry,” he whispered, voice rasping. “I...we should...I’m going to go back. Are you going to?”

“Yeah. I’m going back, too.”

Jackie nodded again, then let go of Marvin’s hand. He took a deep breath, and walked over to join the others.

Marvin shivered. The rain was starting to feel even colder than it had before. But as he carefully stepped towards the group, it felt a bit warmer.

The moment the two were close, the remaining four huddled around them. Hands were held and tears were shed, slowly joining together in a tight group hug. Everyone kept saying how proud they were of them, how happy they were to have them back, how much they loved them. And more tears leaked out, though of a different sort of emotion altogether. They were so caught up in the moment that they didn’t even notice the rain until they headed back down the stairs.

And as the six headed home, the storm started to lessen.

— — — — — — —

“Can’t believe it’s actually snowing,” Jack muttered, brushing white flakes off his coat. “It never snows here.”

“I like it.” Jackie looked around, taking in the white blanket covering the park, then up at the sky. “Everything looks all clean. I like how the snow is all smooth.”

“Mm. Won’t be for long.” Jack pointed. The two of them were content to sit at a picnic table, sheltered from the snowfall by a nearby tree. But some ways away, two girls were running through the snow, pelting their dad with snowballs. Chase was laughing. It was good to see. Lily tripped over something in the snow, and he bent over to help her up. “There’s gonna be so many footprints when they’re done with it.”

“Aw.” Jackie frowned, pulling his coat closer. He didn’t really feel the cold, but it still affected him, so he had to make sure to dress appropriately for any weather. “Hey...when will the others be here? Do you think they forgot we were going to meet up?”

“I don’t—wait.” Jack paused. “Nope, there they are.”

A car pulled into the nearby lot, and three people stepped out. JJ recently got his license, so he and Chase had become the chauffeurs of the group. He looked around, then waved at the others, turning back to point them out to Marvin and Schneep. The three headed over, and Jack and Jackie made room for them at the table.

“It is so cold!” Schneep immediately started complaining. “There is going to be so much ice later, it is awful!”

“Oh shush, you like having cold weather so you can have warm drinks and stuff,” Marvin said.

“Okay, yes, but that is inside, where I cannot risk the chance of slipping,” Schneep griped.

JJ laughed. Speaking of warm drinks. He pulled his backpack off and rifled through it, taking out a couple thermoses. I thought if we were going to be meeting up out here, we should keep hot.

“Oh nice!” Jack grabbed one with his name written on the side in sharpie. “What’s this?”

Tea and coffee. And hot chocolate for the kids, JJ explained.

“Sweet,” Jackie said, leaning over to grab one as well.

“So, uh...” Jack cleared his throat, and turned to Marvin. “How’d it go?”

Marvin leaned back, rocking slightly on the picnic bench. “Good, I think. I mean, it’s just the first session, but...it was a good sign, I guess.”

“Hey, uh, Marv?” Jackie said. “I...forgot the address.”

“Oh. Right. It’s uh...Hang on a moment.” Marvin pulled out his phone, opening up the notes. “547 Norwich, on the east side. You can’t miss it, there’s a big sign with ‘Riverwood Counseling” on the front. You’re, uh...going soon?”

“Next week.” Jackie copied the address into his own phone. “‘M a bit nervous,” he mumbled.

“Nothing to be afraid of,” Schneep said encouragingly. “They are very good, very reputable. And if things are not working, they will transfer you to someone new without any charge.”

Jackie smiled a bit. “Well, I guess if you guys trust them.”

At that moment, Chase and the girls got tired of their snowball fight and came over to the table. “Hi!” Lily said brightly. “Ooooh, what’s that?”

“It’s a thermos,” Moira explained to her sister. “They’re for hot things like soup. And hot chocolate.”

“Well, would you look at that? There are two with your names on them,” Chase said brightly. “Here you go. JJ, you brought them, right?”

JJ nodded. Cocoa for them. And this one has some tea for you.

“Oh sweet! Thanks, Jays.”

It had been a few months, and the group had decided to meet up for some casual catching up. Chase had finally gotten a new house, just a rental but he hoped to find one for himself eventually. Schneep had started taking online classes. Since he couldn’t exactly continue his surgeon profession he decided to go back and find something else to do. He was particularly interested in physics, and he was convinced that it could explain how his new magic worked. Jack’s apartment was almost entirely repaired, and the Internet had finally settled down about his disappearance. JJ’s shop was picking up business again.

And Marvin and Jackie? Well, they’d found themselves a new place. A small townhouse, just big enough for both of them, part of a row of houses with connected walls. At first, they’d debated whether or not to continue living together or to live separately, but eventually decided on the former. After all, they still had problems, with memory and movement, and more, and decided it would be easier to live with someone who could help out. They were still working on finding new jobs. Jackie wanted something active, and Marvin wanted something quiet. The search was slow going, but they were making do. Jackie had been particularly bored at night, but didn’t want to go out and try being a vigilante again. Maybe eventually. Marvin was still relearning how to use his magic, and was teaching Jackie how to, as well, given Jackie’s new abilities.

The group had been talking for about half an hour when suddenly Moira tugged on the edge of Chase’s coat. “Dad? Who’s that? She’s been staring at us.”

Chase looked over towards where Moira was pointing, and his eyes widened. “Guys. Look who it is,” he said quietly.

The others all glanced in the same direction. “Shi—oh no,” Jack muttered. “It’s that—that magician. Delyth.”

JJ sighed. Well, I suppose it was only a matter of time.

“Who?” Marvin asked.

“She’s with the, uh, the magic police,” Jack explained.

“Oh fu—” Marvin quickly ducked his head, deliberately not looking over to where Delyth was standing, casually leaning against a tree.

“Should we talk to her?” Chase asked.

“I think so,” Schneep said. He paused, then stood up. “I will.”

“Wait, no, she’s coming over here!” Jackie gasped.

There was a sudden flurry of activity as the group tried to act casually, pretending they hadn’t seen her and weren’t keeping an eye on her as she walked over. Until eventually, they couldn’t pretend any longer.

Delyth stopped next to the table. “So...it is you,” she said slowly. “You know, you gave us one hell of a scare when you disappeared.”

“Hey, language,” Chase said, indicating the two small girls sitting next to him.

“Oh. Sorry.” Delyth paused. “We were looking for you, but it was like you all just...disappeared. Correct me if I’m wrong, but was a certain other magician helping with that?” Nobody answered. They weren’t about to throw Yvonne under the bus. Delyth shook her head. “Never should’ve given her access to ABIM systems,” she muttered.

“Did you want something?” Schneep asked.

“Hmm...well, no, not really.” Delyth looked them over, making eye contact with each. “You know, the ABIM is pretty busy. If a case hasn’t been active for two months, it’s deemed low priority, provided there’s no significant danger. If four months pass, we have to permanently shelve it, until there’s evidence for it becoming active again. Marked as unsolved, and people tend to forget about it.” She looked down at her watch. “Well, I have to go. It’s been nice seeing you all again. It’s been, what, five months?” After a moment, she nodded towards Jackie and Marvin. “Glad to see it all worked out. Goodbye.”

 The group remained mostly silent as she left, though Jack muttered a quiet “goodbye” and JJ waved as Delyth disappeared into a car in the parking lot and drove away. Then, once she was gone, Chase turned to the others. “What was that about?”

I think that was her saying the magicians won’t bother us, JJ signed, a bit in awe.

“Oh thank god,” Marvin breathed. “I don’t want to be on their bad side anymore. No more magic police, thank you very much.”

“She could have been a bit more direct with it, though,” Jackie added.

Jack just laughed. “Wow. So, I guess that’s the last we’ll see of her, then?”

“Provided nothing else strange happens to us,” Schneep pointed out.

“Well, I hope it doesn’t. I’ve had enough strangeness for my entire life.”

So...is it over, then? JJ asked slowly.

“Dad, what was that about?” Lily asked. “Who was that? What did she mean?” Moira nodded, agreeing with all the questions.

“Oh, it’s a bit complicated.” Chase pulled his daughter close and gave her a quick hug. “But it’s nothing to worry about anymore. I’ll explain when you’re older.”

“I guess it’s over,” Jackie repeated.

“Yeah...guess so,” Jack agreed.

Time went on, as it always does. The group ended their get-together shortly after, parting ways for a short while. After a few more months, the strange disappearances faded into local legend, with people speculating what happened but nobody getting close to the truth that was only known to a small group of six friends. Magic remained, side effects lingered, but they settled back into their place, becoming the new normal.

Still, none of them forgot what happened to them for those three years. It would be hard not to. They had scars to prove it, and some memories would never fade. But the past was the past. And together, they moved on, looking forward to the future.

[votederpycausemufins]

The rescue commences. But it’s going to be harder than Tommy thought because the bots aren’t so keen on being rescued.

the tagged people i like! @petrichormeraki @helleborusangel

Xannes spoke Jrum’s name as a question and immediately all eyes were on him. Xannes tried to keep from cursing in front of the kid, but it was a little hard when he saw even more red. Did he just change his face to match the room, or did he just do that whenever. “Xannes? What are you doing here?”

“You know this guy?” The demon asked in a wary tone.

“Yes he does. As for the question, NPG found out about the situation with your disappearance and I offered to come looking for you.”

Jrum’s face instantly lit up and in a moment he was running over to hug the helsmit. Xannes almost accepted it too, since the kid probably had been terrified in an unfamiliar place. But just at the last second, he saw the red plants that coated Jrum’s body and he took a step again. “Sorry. Still not a hugger.”

Jrum pouted and crossed his arms, but didn’t actually seem too upset. “Well, you came at the best possible time! Is NPG going to show up too?”

“Unfortunately not. I don’t think he can get in and I haven’t figured out what’s causing it yet.”

“Aww… It would have been nice…”

“So, what’s going on here?”

“This is the Red Banquet.” The demon spoke, looking much less threatening now that he knew Xannes was a friend. “We’ve been planning this little party for a while and I’m sure other guests will be arriving shortly. You’re just a bit early.”

“Is that why the entrance was covered up?” Xannes asked, glancing behind himself for a moment, both to look at the entrance as well as from the feeling of being watched.

“Yes, I hope you didn’t hurt them too much.”

“Hurt… who?” Xannes asked nervously and suddenly he realized just exactly how off this all felt.

“The Egg of course! It’s the source of all the plants around us!”

Xannes glanced at Jrum. “Alright, why’s he got the things growing in him? I’d think that wouldn’t be good for his body.”

“I’m just fine! Better even! I can do things all on my own and don’t need any of Grum’s stupid help.”

That made Xannes realise that the other of the two bots was indeed missing. “Wait, where is he?”

“I don’t really know. I haven’t seen him in a while. He could be dead for all I care.”

The helsmit looked back at the people gathered around the table. This really did seem all too familiar. And that wasn’t a good thing. He remembered having NPG finally getting the turquoise infection out of his system so he could deal with the rest of the similarly infected helsmets of turquoise and magenta spores. “I’m guessing HEP is less of a problem here?”

Most of the people at the table looked confused, but of course Jrum wasn’t, and surprisingly, neither was the demon. “No! We crushed them into the ground, and if any of them wants to live, they’ll come here!”

Xannes choked in surprise. Okay, it looked like those plants were really getting to him. “Well, looks like there’s still a few kicking around.”

“Really? Who? Is it Grum?!”

“Nope. Sorry kid.” Xannes added enchantments to his sword as he pulled it out. “Guess I’m just following in my brother’s footsteps, huh.”

And then chaos broke out.

Tommy had no idea how different the SMP would be when he got back. He expected more of the same, people around making destructive chaos and probably new posters and creeper holes. But the red shit all over the place was different. Plus it didn’t look like anyone was really around.

Before moving anywhere, he pulled out the comm Grian had given him and sent him a message.

<NPC_GRIAN> Alright, made it in.

<NPC_GRIAN> Wait was this NPG’s

He waited, but a message didn’t come in right away, so Tommy put the comm away to start looking. He didn’t know what exactly the plants were, but enough crazy things had happened in this world, so he mainly just ignored them, not caring if he did touch them. One thing that did get his attention was a poster that the plants were bordering. It was inviting people, Tommy assumed anyone, to the Red Banquet. Whatever that was. At the very least that likely explained the lack of people.

Tommy continued walking, poking his head into just about every building to hopefully find someone, but there was still nothing. He was hoping for at least someone to be around to tell him what was going on, but it didn’t look like that was the case. “How the fuck does everyone go to the same fucking thing? And where the fuck is it?”

No answer came for Tommy, so he ended up going into his old home, though it looked like someone had been living there. Connor, if the signs were telling the truth. “Well, let’s see if any of my shit is still here.”

Tommy honestly couldn’t remember what stuff would have been there, but there were still some items that he thought would be good to have on him, just in case. As he was rummaging around, the door behind him opened, and Tommy turned around to see who it was. Tommy’s fight or flight response immediately activated when he was staring at the admin, who was surprisingly just staring back at him.

“D-Dream…”

“How the fuck did you get here before me?!”

“Bitch I’ve been gone for months, you had plenty of time to visit this place. That’s only going to be your fault.” Tommy retorted, forcing himself to have some confidence.

“It is possible a teleport was used if he was aware of your destination.” Another voice spoke and Tommy lit up for a second.

“Holy fuck, Grum! That was easier than I expected. Where’s Jrum?” Then he stopped when he finally saw Grum and the state he was in. In his anger, he pulled out his borrowed sword and pointed it at Dream. “What the fuck did you do?” 

Before Dream or Grum could say anything, Grum suddenly turned around and drew a weapon, deflecting an attack from behind. “You done running yet?”

“How are you-”

“You! You goddamn bitch!”

“You’re supposed to be in prison!”

“What is going on?!”

Grum slashed at Theseus’ legs before answering. “The one currently attacking us is an alternate form of bzzt from a separate universe. The one we discovered is the one you are likely more familiar with.”

“Yeah green bitch! What are you going to do with two of us?”

Dream looked like he was about to attack, but then he was grabbed by Grum. “Commencing emergency escape.” And then the two of them disappeared.

“Fuck, now they’re gone.”

Theseus stepped into Tommy’s old house, holding his axe at the ready. “How did you get out?”

“Hey, you really want to kill me? Wouldn’t that end badly for you?” Tommy took a step back.

“Answer the fucking question!”

“Your Phil let me out when he realized you weren’t in the hels dimension anymore.”

Theseus spoke another curse under his breath. “Well, you better not get in the fucking way.”

Tommy crossed his arms. “Hey, I’m just after Grum and Jrum, and seeing as how he’s…” Tommy trailed off for a moment, remembering Grum and how he reminded Tommy of himself when he was in exile. “He’s got Grum, so as long as that’s the case, I’m after him too.”

“It’s a lost cause. That thing is better used for scrap metal. Though hopefully after I’ve gotten Dream back to hels.”

“Wait, why do you want that?” Tommy asked. Why would anyone actually want Dream around and not just kill him. “Didn’t you kill your version of him? Why get a replacement?”

“Because I wasn’t finished dealing with the first one.” Theseus answered, then put his axe away. “Let me do what I’m here to do, and maybe I’ll help with your little problem. Got it?” And before Tommy could answer, his hels version was gone.

Tommy wanted to follow, but first pulled out his comm to send an update and hope Grian had responded. He smiled when he saw that he had, but then confused when he saw there were other messages. He read them off, then sent some messages back.

<Grian> That’s good to hear. And yeah it’s his. He never used it so I ended up keeping it on me and never got it back to him.

[Eyes] X-1, Y-1, Z-1

[Eyes] X-2, Y-2, Z-2

[Eyes] X-3, Y-3, Z-3

<NPC_GRIAN> I got good, bad and unsure news

<NPC_GRIAN> Good, I found one of them

<NPC_GRIAN> Bad, something’s seriously wrong with him cause Dream did something

<NPC_GRIAN> weird, just got message from something/someone called Eyes giving me three sets of coordinates

<NPC_GRIAN> any way to use this thing to look at my coords?

Tommy stood there, waiting for a response. When one wasn’t coming in, he started fiddling with the comm to try and figure it out himself. Just as Grian got back to him, Tommy figured it out.

<Grian> Seriously wrong how?

<NPC_GRIAN> Looks damaged and isn’t showing much emotion. Also working with Dream? But the bitch tried convincing me he was my friend so could be the same sort of thing

<NPC_GRIAN> also figured out coords

Tommy switched back to the coordinate reader and started shifting around, trying to figure out which direction was which. It seemed like the first and second set of coordinates were about the same distance from where he currently was. Because of that, he started to head towards the first one listed. While he was walking, another message came in from Grian.

<Grian> That was fast. Anyway, what do the other messages look like?

<NPC_GRIAN> I started working on it when you didn’t get back to me immediately.

<NPC_GRIAN> looks like: [Eyes] coordinates

<NPC_GRIAN> doesn’t look like a player’s text, but also not sure what could message me, so that’s why I’m not sure.

Tommy groaned when a message didn’t come back within the next few seconds. What was Grian doing that was causing such a delay. Maybe it was just the way these comms worked? Once Grian got back to him, he could bring it up.

<Grian> Yeah, that looks like something else. And what do you mean not immediately?

<NPC_GRIAN> I’m guessing it’s something with these comms. It’s taking you ages to send a message back.

He had nearly reached the coordinates when Grian got back to him.

<Grian> Meanwhile I’m getting your messages all at once like they were pre-typed. That’s not a good sign.

<NPC_GRIAN> Well shit

Tommy stuffed the comm in his pocket and started running. He was close enough to tell that the coords were for the house that Tommy had never seen before, but recognized just the same due to it looking more like something out of Hermitcraft. He slammed the door open and started calling. “Jrum! Hey Jrum are you in here?!” There was no answer and Tommy checked the communicator again. He was just about at the right coordinates, but the Y value was a little off. That probably meant that the location needed to be exact, and Tommy looked down at the comm to make sure he lined up exactly. Because of that, he didn’t realize he was about to walk into something until he crashed into the charger and fell to the ground.

“Oh that’s a big charger. Why’s it so huge?” He looked between the coordinates again. “Oh. I’m guessing something’s in there.” Tommy broke into the charger’s casing and poked his head inside. For the most part, it was just a jumble of redstone, but in one corner was a torch lighting up a barrel. The teen pulled himself inside just enough to open the barrel and pull the contents out, that being a single unsigned book.

Tommy looked around before going over to a table and sitting down to read the book. He sent another quick update to Grian before opening it up and reading. It seemed to be a lot of notes written down, filling the pages. None of them were complete sentences, and the ink stains made Tommy imagine a number of them were written in a rush.

Zoning out = DSMP console program. QHHBP program active? What's KGADOOHM and HJTHJ? Connected to K⊣OOᒲR? There’s a vault. It’s for favorite things. Items and animals. I couldn’t write right. I think I zoned out there and fell. Posters of 2 music discs. Coords: X-3, Y-3, Z-3.

Tommy looked at his comm and noticed the third set of coordinates matched the ones written down in the book. Obviously he would need to go there. But Tommy continued reading, messaging Grian what was written down.

Woke up in pain. Programs were running too much. Don’t know why. Managed to unplug and drain battery. 873.5% of what. It was connected to ⎓⚍リ↸||?

Jrum officially moved out. He likes the red plants. I don’t. They’re not natural. Admin keeps visiting. Asking questions. Not sure how to feel. ⎓⚍リ↸|| visits too. Those are nicer.

Tommy flipped through more pages. More questions and confusion. Some did end up as full writing while others were just more quickly written words to convey an idea. With the mention of Jrum, this was obviously something Grum wrote, but there was almost too much here. Then Tommy stopped and read another entry.

Jrum officially got adopted. I don’t understand how I feel. It hurts but I’m also happy. He’ll stay away, but it just reminds me how hurt he is. How scared I feel. I miss my dads. Why didn’t they find us?

Jrum got adopted? Grum wondering why Grian and Mumbo hadn’t come for them and missing them? That wasn’t good. And based on the messaging problem, Tommy had an idea why.

<NPC_GRIAN> Another page implies they’ve been here a really long time. Explains why the server’s so different and how Dream was able to get Grum to that point.

<NPC_GRIAN> also you’re probably going to have to fight for custody or something because someone adopted Jrum.

Since Tommy knew he wasn’t going to get an answer back soon, he went back to reading. The messages seemed to be shorter and shorter, the handwriting becoming more messy. Tommy assumed that was because of them being over time and Dream breaking the bot down more and more. Then he got to a list which he immediately typed up and sent to Grian.

<NPC_GRIAN> Found a list of names or something. Obviously seems important.

<NPC_GRIAN> List: Grum, Dream, Gorgeous, Poultry Man, Eyes, Console

<NPC_GRIAN> I don’t know if it’s a code or just names or what. But since I got messages from ‘Eyes’...

Tommy closed the book and put it in his inventory. There was still more to read, but he already got information from it and was losing time. For now he needed to go to the second coordinates.

Xannes just stood, not even reacting when the first person attacked him. Their axe blade was aimed right for his chest, no armor there to stop it, but the weapon bounced off, causing no damage. Someone else attacking had the same reaction. “Sorry, but doesn’t look like your weapons are really working right now. Too bad since I’m sure mine will work fine.” And he swung his sword, hitting the next person who attempted to fight him. They were set on fire due to the fire aspect as well and being knocked away, slamming into the wall from a high level knockback.

From there, Xannes continued to attack, even getting a little cocky about the fact he couldn’t get hit in his current player-mode. Because of that, he was easily caught off guard when the demon grabbed him, forgetting he was only invulnerable to damage. While it didn’t hurt when he would have otherwise been crushed to death, now he couldn’t move at all.

His best shot was to try and get the demon with his sword. Demons were normally connected to the nether and his aetherite sword being an opposite of netherite tended to have a worse effect on them. But before he could get far with that plan, the weapon was taken away, and since he wasn’t in hels, his hacking capabilities couldn’t get him a new one. Potentially he could summon it back to himself, but that would be a little more complicated to use and could cost extra seconds he wouldn’t have.

“Why did you come if you’re just here to hurt me?” Jrum asked, clinging to the cat hybrid.

“I was trying to find you and your brother to take you home.” Xannes grunted, struggling as much as he could to get out. “I didn’t realize you’d be mind controlled or whatever this is.”

“I-I’m not being- and why would you want to take me home?”

“Uh, because your family is worried about you and helping out is the ‘good thing’ to do and all that bullshit.”

Jrum crossed his arms. “I don’t want to go. They just left me here, and… and now I have a new family!”

Xannes was about to speak up, but then he was squeezed a bit harder for a moment, pushing the air out of his lungs for a moment. “And we’re not letting anything happen to him, so if you’re planning on hurting him, you can think again!”

Xannes was wheezing slightly, trying to breathe. Suffocation like this was weird. Technically it couldn’t kill him or cause actual damage, but it still managed to cause a type of ghost pain. It was getting to the point where he was worried about managing to pass out, when there were voices. They sounded distant and unfamiliar, but getting closer. For a moment, Xannes thought he was imagining it, but the fact that the people around him were reacting to it too made him realize it was real.

People started appearing from the entrance, all of them wearing what Xannes was pretty sure looked like hazmat suits of some kind, but he couldn’t be absolutely sure from this distance and his current situation. What he could be sure of was the yell that came, and the chorus of the same response from Jrum’s new ‘family’.

“Jrum!”

“Tommy?!”

Tommy was almost to the second set of coordinates when he saw something different. It was a person. Well, not just a person, but a number of people. “Hey! Heeeey!” He yelled out to get their attention and most everyone looked over, showing a mix of emotions from surprise, to fear, to acceptance.

“Is that Tommy?”

“No, Tommy’s dead. Dream said so.”

“Well he lied bitch!” Tommy said, finally reaching the group. “What the fuck is going on around here?”

“I think you need to give answers first.”

Tommy groaned a little. “Okay fine, I ran off, started living somewhere else. Tubbo thought I was dead and pulled me back. I didn’t want to come back and brought Tubbo with me, and then Phil and Techno followed. I’m back ‘cause some kids ended up here on accident and I’m after them.”

“Are you talking about Grum and Jrum?” Tommy was pretty sure that was Puffy.

“Yeah! Any clue where Jrum is, cause I’ve seen Grum.” Tommy watched as a few people glanced at each other. “Oh fuck, what’s wrong?”

“First, you need to put a hazmat suit on.” Someone stepped forward, and Tommy was surprised to see it was Sam, looking a little odd without his creeper mask on, unable to wear it with the rest of the suit. 

“Can I ask why?”

“See all the red plants? Bad found something underground and started worshipping it. It’s started corrupting people, and one of them is your friend.”

“Shit.” Tommy said, grabbing the offered suit and putting it on. “You said Bad and Jrum, who else is down there.”

“Ant, Punz, Purpled, Ponk, Fundy, also someone named Hannah, you wouldn’t know her. She joined while you were presumed dead. We’re still unsure about Sapnap since he’s been trying to stay out of it, but Bad was really trying to pull him in.”

Tommy nodded, then realized that if Bad was the person in charge and tried pulling Sapnap in, then he also likely tried with- “And what about Skeppy?”

“He… he was involved.”

“I’m noticing the use of that in the past word shit. That mean he got out or…?”

“Last week Bad ended up getting him killed.”

Tommy’s eyes widened. If this thing could get Bad to kill Skeppy, it was really dangerous. “Alright, then let’s get in there.”

“Wait, you need a few things.” Sam started handing him items as other people in the group started moving. “These splash bottles are filled with holy water from church prime. They seem to help against these plants. Flint and steel to burn anything you're able to break. It needs to be fully burned or it can heal itself. Also don’t actively try to break anything except the source which looks like a giant egg. Trying to break anything is like it has a thorns enchantment. You get hurt back if you try to break it. Same thing happens with the main source, but it hurts you more, so you’ll need the extra health.”

Tommy took all the offered items, then followed the group down. He kept his sword at the ready, even testing it with one of the vines on the walls. Ow, yeah, that did hurt. So it didn’t look like the different material would help anything. Tommy was mostly willing to help, but he also knew that trying to get Jrum out of there would probably be a better priority since that’s what he was there for anyway and getting rid of any member of this evil group or whatever it was would help.

The moment he got down into the main cavern, he called out Jrum’s name. “Jrum!” He then watched as the people who had already been down there turned to look at him, surprised to see him alive.

“Hey! Theseus copy! Say yes!” Someone spoke up, and Tommy vaguely remembered the voice, but couldn’t place it. He had no idea what it would do, so he ended up saying yes anyway. Immediately, he regretted it as the sword in his hand disappeared. But that was followed by a yell from Bad, and Tommy saw him let go a person who was now holding the pink sword. “Thanks.”

Tommy caught the sword as it was thrown back to him, the other person he now recognized as Xannes slamming himself into Ponk and taking another aetherite sword from him. “Now what are you doing here?”

“Got Grian to send me in as back up. I see you found Jrum.”

“Yeah, the little shit has the weird vines growing on him and apparently has decided that these idiots are his family now. Bit of a downgrade if you ask me.”

Tommy slashed at someone who tried to attack Xannes from behind. “Yeah, found a book that I’m pretty sure is Grum’s. Apparently they’ve been here a long while and Jrum ended up getting adopted.”

“Hasn’t it been just a few days?”

“Yeah, so obviously there’s a big issue. Any chance you can teleport us out of here if I grab Jrum?”

“It would be easy if I had some coordinates.” Xannes knocked someone to the ground and then stole their axe before throwing it at someone else to hit them with it.

“Yeah, I’ve got some. X-3, Y-3, Z-3. That work for you?”

“Sure they’re safe?”

Tommy shook his head. “Not at all, but they were sent to me by someone, and the previous two ended up helping.”

“Alright, but if you get us trapped, I’m getting myself out and leaving you behind.”

“Yeah whatever, I already broke out of one prison. I’m sure there’s nothing as tough as that one.”

“Oh please tell me you didn’t.”

“Alright, I won’t.”

“Goddammit. Just grab Jrum and bring him here..” the helsmit groaned, attacking another corrupted SMP member and giving Tommy an opening.

Tommy ran towards the bot. He didn’t have as good of a sword as Xannes, so getting through everyone was a bit tougher, but he finally made it, grabbing the bot’s arm. Jrum immediately turned to look at him. For a moment, Tommy thought it would be easy, until the kid pulled out an axe and something Tommy recognized flashed on screen. “Oh shit shit shit! Jrum Jrum Jrum Jrum no!” He barely dodged the swing of an axe by jumping back. Sure, Jrum was a kid, but he was a robot kid. That sometimes took combat lessons from False. And he could remember them perfectly. And that meant the kid could potentially be as dangerous as, dare he say it, Techno.

He tried to keep dodging, moving back so Jrum would have to follow, but hits were landing, and the hazmat suit wasn’t the best armor to wear. He hazarded a glance behind him to check how close they were to Xannes, but he got an axe to his gut and fell to the floor, the hazmat suit now torn. “Xannes! A little help!”

The admin rushed over, hitting Jrum back with a fist to avoid using knockback but also keep him from killing Tommy. Then he hit a button on his helmet and the three of them were teleported away. The sudden change of scenery made Jrum stop attacking at the very least, now focused on figuring out where they were.

“Where did you take us?! Where are we?! Take me back!”

“No fucking clue.” Tommy answered, looking around before his eyes widened. “Wait, are those…?” He jumped up, seeing the posters of his discs and the two of them each on their own pedestal on a platform of gold blocks on either side of a nether portal. “My discs!”

He started running towards them, but was shot from the side. The power from the punch bow pushed Tommy with enough force, he fell back down. He winced and held the wound before looking to see who had shot him. “Dream…”

“How did you find this place?”

“That would be my doing.” Xannes raised his hand for a moment to get the admin’s attention before noticing the second robot. “And I see you have Grum with you.”

“Grum?!” Jrum looked over, asking the question angrily. “What, you couldn’t be dead?!”

Grum took a slight step to the side to be seen better. “And I see you are with these two. I believed you to have finally given up, but yet you still cling to meaningless hope.”

“No! I have a new family! I don’t care about these two.”

“And yet here you are, with both of them and coming after me. I thought I made it quite clear that I have no want to be around something as useless as you.”

“I’M NOT USELESS!” Jrum shouted before running at Grum, fast enough that Dream reacted by simply moving out of the way, pulling out a shield in an attempt to block. Jrum attempted to attack with his axe, but the blade just clashed against another axe in Grum’s hand. Jrum attempted to attack again, but it was also blocked by a mirrored move. The two robots just started to fight each other, neither managing to hit the other as they perfectly matched each other’s moves.

Dream attempted to stop the fight with an attack of his own, but he ran into an invisible wall. Feeling around, he was surrounded by the same problem. “Barrier blocks. Sorry, but not something you can escape from. You’ve got bedrock right below you and I know you decided using a console was the best option for whatever reason, so you don’t have any escape.”

“Alright, now let’s break the bots up.” Tommy said, walking towards them, switching his broken hazmat suit for armor. 

“Where’d you get all that gear?”

“Sto- uhhh borrowed it from NPG. It was the only thing I had access to and didn’t want to have absolutely nothing. Didn’t get a chance to replace it cause I got here too quickly.” Tommy explained before getting between the bots. “Alright you two, break it- ow! Stop hitting me! You’re gonna kill me!”

Xannes sighed and pulled Tommy out from the battle. “That was probably the worst idea.”

“It was at least something. So unless you want to suggest something, it’s the best we got.”

“Here’s an idea. You give Dream to me.”

Tommy and Xannes turned to see Theseus coming out of the nether portal. “After that, well, don’t get in my way anymore and maybe I’ll let you live.”

[slowly-writing]

Liver Failure

Natasha Romanoff x Daughter!Reader

Avengers x Kid!Reader

Requested by: Anonymous

Word count: 1463

“Any fun plans tonight?” Steve asks as he walks into the living room and you shake your head, pulling your blanket tighter around your shoulders.

“Nope. I’m dead tired and do not plan on leaving this couch anytime in the foreseeable future,” you say and he shakes his head with a chuckle.

“What about for dinner? It’s in 20 minutes,” he says and you glance at the clock.

“Oh wow. I didn’t realize how late it was getting. I’ll be there,” you promise. He nods before walking back towards the kitchen.  

xxxxx

“You doing alright, kid?” Tony asks and you look up from your plate.

“Huh? Oh, yeah. I’m just not very hungry,” you push your food around a bit more and Clint sighs.

“C’mon Romanoff. Nathaniel eats more than that,” he teases lightly but you just shrug, getting up to leave.

“I said I wasn’t hungry,” you mumble and Steve grabs your arm as you try to walk by him. You flinch and he furrows his brow.

“Did that hurt? I didn’t think I grabbed you too hard,” he says and pushes your sleeve up, revealing the bruising on your arm.

“Woah, what happened?” Tony almost yells as everyone stands to get a closer look.

“That wasn’t there this morning, was it?” Bruce asks, eyes wide as he takes in the dark purple mark covering your entire forearm.

“I’m fine! I just bumped into the door jam at school earlier. I don’t need you guys babying me all the time!” you yell, shrugging them off and walking to your room.

“What’s going on with her?” Clint says softly once you’re out of earshot.

“Maybe she’s sick? Should we call Nat or something?” Bruce asks but Steve shakes his head.

“We can handle this. We’ll let the kid sleep for now. Nat should be back from her mission in the morning and then she can take over,” Steve says and the others nod.

xxxxx

“Hey Nat! You’re home early, how’d the mission go?” Clint calls, speaking quickly, and your mom narrows her eyes.

“You’re nervous that I’m back. You did something you think is gonna piss me off, and there’s only one thing that could get me angry enough to be scared. So where is my daughter, Barton?” Natasha asks in a low voice.

“Damn she’s good,” Tony mumbles under his breath.

“She’s in bed,” Steve explains before Natasha can be bothered to punch Tony for avoiding the question.

“She’s in bed? It’s nine thirty on a Friday night,” she says glancing at her watch.

“She wasn’t feeling well. She got pretty upset when we tried to help her so we figured we’d let her sleep it off until you were home,” Bruce explains and Natasha nods.

“Okay. Thanks guys, I’m gonna go check on her,” she says before walking off towards your room.

When the door to your bedroom opens you groan and curl further in on yourself before complaining verbally, “I told you guys to leave me alone.”

“Hey, love. I know you’re not feeling well. Tell me what’s going on,” your mom says softly, sitting on the edge of your bed and brushing the hair out of your face.

“I’m just tired. I’m really achy and my stomach hurts,” you explain softly and she nods.

“Anything else?” she says. You shake your head but before your point can settle you’re jumping out of bed and running to the bathroom. When your mom catches up to you her eyes go wide. “Friday call the team in here!”

“What’s going on?” Tony asks as he runs in.

“We need to get to the hospital. Now.” your mom says, helping you up as Steve comes over to your other side.

“Holy shit. Why does her skin look like that? She’s like…yellow! It wasn’t like that at dinner, was it?” Clint asks frantically.

“It’s jaundice. Something is going on with her liver. No, she did not look like that at dinner,” Bruce explains, taking deep breaths, trying to keep calm.

“Mom? What’s going on?” you mumble into her shoulder as she helps you into the car.

“I don’t know yet, babe. But we’re gonna go get you checked out and everything will be fine. I promise.”

xxxxx

“It seems your daughter is experiencing acute liver failure, Ms Romanoff. Have you noticed any symptoms over the last few days?” The doctor asks.

“No. I’ve been out of town,” she says softly, she can’t help but feel a little helpless. “I just got home, she said she was sore and tired then all the sudden she started throwing up blood. I hadn’t noticed, cause the lights in her room were off, but her skin was yellow too, so I brought her straight here.”

“She was really tired this afternoon. She had no interest in dinner and had this intense bruising on her arm that came out of nowhere,” Steve adds in, glancing to your sleeping form on the hospital bed.

“We need to run a few more tests, and she’ll need surgery. We’ll know more then,” the doctor explains before leaving the room.

“She’s gonna be okay, Nat,” Clint places a hand on her shoulder as she sits next to your bed.

“And you’re not alone, through any of this,” Tony promises softly.

xxxxx

You don't wake up before the doctors come back and your family decides it best to let you sleep until after surgery. Natasha places a kiss on your head, whispering an “I love you” before they wheel you away.

The next time you open your eyes you’re back in a hospital room and you can see the sun coming in through the windows. You glance over to where your mom is sleeping in the chair next to you. She must feel your eyes on her because she wakes up moments later, a smile spreading across her face.

“Hey love. How are you feeling?” she asks softly and you shrug.

“I don’t know yet. What happened?” you mumble and she laughs at your sleepy answer.

“You’ve got some liver problems going on. You had to have surgery when we got here,” she explains.

“How long ago was that?”

“Three days. You took a nice long nap after surgery,” she tries to play it off lightly, but you’re not a little kid anymore. You can see the tears gathering in her eyes. Before you get the chance to respond a doctor walks into the room.

“Miss Romanoff! I’m glad to see you’re awake. You’ve had quite the team of visitors keeping you company over the past few days,” he says and you smile, looking around at your family still asleep on the various chairs and couches in your room. People often get intimidated by them. It’s not everyday a bunch of superheroes show up somewhere, but to you they’re just a bunch of softies.

“What’s wrong with me?” you ask and he smiles sadly.

“Well the good news is the surgery went well. You have what’s called autoimmune hepatitis, it’s what caused your liver to fail. Your immune system started attacking your liver and it caused quite a few issues. We caught it in time and we’re optimistic that we’ll be able to control it with the right medications. You’ll have to stay here for a little bit so we can monitor you while we sort out what works best for your body, but hopefully you’ll be able to go home in a week or two. Does that make sense?” he asks, pausing to give you time to process it all.

“I think I get it. So I just have to lay here for a few days until you figure me out?” You ask and you can hear your mom laughing next to you.

“That’s pretty much it. I’ll do all the work and you get the perfect excuse to miss a few weeks of school,” he winks at you and you smile.

“Sounds like a pretty good deal!”

“It is, isn’t it? I’ll let you get some more rest, let the nurses know if you need anything,” he says before quietly leaving the room. As if on cue, the rest of the people in the room start waking up as he walks out.

“Hey look who’s up,” Clint says with a smile and you laugh.

“Are you feeling okay?” Bruce asks next.

“Yeah. I’m just tired still. Thanks for staying with me,” you say and they all smile.

“We’re family, kid. We stick together,” Steve says.

“Plus your mom was losing it. We had to make sure she didn’t have a breakdown,” Tony teases and your mom rolls her eyes.

“I was not losing it. But I was worried, and I’m glad you’re feeling better,” she says and you nod.

“I’m doing great.”

tag list: @rvgrsbrns @rororo06 @freerebel @prizmix-and-friends @m19friend @worlds-in-words @5aftermidnight @riotmaximoff

[tuanhood]

gamma

pairing: christian frat!park jinyoung x sorority!reader

genre: lil angst at the beginning and a LOT of fluff at the end

warnings: some language, also a bit of slut shaming/yugyeom kind of being terrible :( i’m sorry! 

word count: 8,900+

summary: you’ve always thought the christian frat on campus was judgmental towards you and your friends in greek life, but when you somehow find yourself at their “water on the row” event, you realize there’s one alpha gamma omega boy that may just change your mind.

a/n: hello guys! so I just want to do a disclaimer in case and say that i don’t think christianity or all christian organizations/entities are judgmental or act like this. this is purely for narrative purposes and based on one conversation i heard once! so please take with a grain of salt as you read! also for my smut lovers all three of the next parts will include smut! this takes place inside the same universe as lambda so enjoy! :) please let me know what you guys think! even if it’s in the tags!! 

lambda | alpha | delta | kappa | theta | sigma

“Okay so spill, did you kiss him or WHAT?” your friend Katie slurred as you both stumbled back and forth on the sidewalk. It was becoming increasingly difficult to keep walking back home, you were starting to enter the phase of drunk where you just wanted to sit down for a while and drift to sleep. 

“Who do you think I am?” You asked her in fake shock, “of course I did.” 

At your words, you had to stop her from falling down to the ground at how hard she was laughing and squealing, “I knew it! I knew it!” 

The two of you had spent the last few hours at a local club in town. It was certainly a risky bet by going there considering most of its customers were people you probably knew or someone you’d at the very least share a mutual friend with. But you go to frat parties with guys we know, many of the sisters in your sorority pointed out. Which was very true, but for some reason it felt different hooking up with a frat guy you knew at his house versus hooking up with him in town at the local bar. You wanted to lead separate lives. 

You laughed along with her and attempted to ultimately calm her down so you could keep walking back towards the house. It was a little early to already be heading back on a Friday night, but the two of you had drank a lot in a short amount of time, already going through the mode of intoxication between drunk and sleepy.

“I’m starving,” Katie suddenly mumbled, taking ahold of her stomach and stopping in her tracks, pulling you back towards her, “I need something to eat.” Despite your overly intoxicated state, you were still coherent enough to be annoyed at your friend’s sudden whining, “we’re already close to the row, I’m not going back into town.” 

She pouted and you could tell by the methodical look on her face that she was calculating in her mind some sort of plan. Suddenly she snapped her fingers together – or at least tried to considering the alcohol she had consumed earlier – and pointed at you. 

“Water on the row!” 

Immediately you began to shake your head at her idea. You didn’t care how hungry she was, there was no way you were making a stop at the AGO house.

Water on the row was an event or “thing” put on by the brothers at Alpha Gamma Omega – the Christian centered frat. Every Friday night some of the members would pass out pancakes and water to drunk people that were coming home from their night out or even still in the middle of it. 

The boys from Alpha Gamma Omega had always been… disconnected from the rest of the fraternities and sororities on Greek row. Which was why they started “Water on the Row.” So it would give them more opportunities to interact with other orgs but still keep up their “alcohol-free” house lifestyle. 

In theory it was a nice thing to do, but you had your own personal vendetta against AGO. You had no issue with their beliefs, religion or what their frat stood for in general, but many of the interactions you and others you knew had with their members were not positive. They tended to look down on other fraternities and sororities due to their “lifestyles” which didn’t exactly make them the most popular on the row. However, when most people were drunk out of their minds, hungry and dehydrated they would willingly take all the pancakes and water they could. 

You scoffed, “I don’t want anything from those judgmental Jesus lovers.” Even the thought of passing by them as they handed out their pancakes and water thinking they were saints made your skin crawl. 

“Are you really still upset about that guy from recruitment in the plaza? That was like over a year ago.” 

“It doesn’t matter how long ago it was, it’s still annoying and hurtful to me.”

Often times words didn’t really get to you. Being in Greek life and involved in all aspects of it you were used to catty and hurtful things being said or thrown around, but roughly a year ago you had let your guard slip down. 

It had been a warm September day and you had been assigned to run the table for your sorority that day in an effort to get underclassmen – primarily freshmen – to sign up to rush to be in the Fall pledge class. You had already been in a bad mood since when you showed up to your school’s plaza to be assigned a spot to set up, the student union had decided to give you a location that was not highly desirable. You were squashed in between one of the medical professional sororities and the Christian fraternity Alpha Gamma Omega.

Compared to the other sororities you were getting less prospective members coming over to your table. When many glanced over in your direction, they would see who you were stuck next to and automatically assume you weren’t a top tier sorority on campus. It irked you. Roughly an hour and a half into tabling and recruitment, your friend Mark from Lambda Chi Alpha had come to visit you. 

“Not a great day, huh?” 

You had scoffed and looked up at him from your seat, “I’m pretty sure Ben from student union has it out for me because I wouldn’t sleep with him.” 

Mark had thrown his head back and laughed, grabbing the boy at the Alpha Gamma Omega table’s attention. 

“You know next time you just have to let me know and I’ll set you up really well. I’m pretty sure Jennifer from student union wants to sleep with me so I could put in a word for you.” 

Your eyebrows had furrowed in confusion, “don’t you have a girlfriend?” 

“Yes! And I’ve told Jennifer that six times!” 

Then it was your turn to laugh, “guess she’s committed to waiting around. Can’t say the same about Ben though. Said no to him once and now I’m stuck back here in the shadows.” 

Mark had frowned, “if I see any girls come my way while I’m up there, I’ll be sure to tell them to come back here. Don’t worry.” 

“Thanks Mark, you’re the best.” 

Mark had always been like a big brother to you. You had met him very early on at a party where weirdly enough you had tried to hit on him. Looking back it was embarrassing considering the fact at how now you could never see dating him. He was a year older and always looked out for you in the hectic system that was Greek life. 

He leaned forward to rub your shoulder comfortingly, “any time sis.” As you had watched him walk away back to his table in a prime location, you sighed hoping that he would keep up his promise of sending girls to your corner of the plaza. 

“Slut.” 

At first you had thought it was some kind of mirage or hallucination as the temperature was arriving at heatwave level, but as you whipped your head to the Alpha Gamma Omega table you were met with almost venomous eyes staring you down. You looked at him with mouth agape, unsure of how to answer his completely incorrect and uncalled for assessment of you. 

“Excuse me?” You had been able to muster through a somewhat shaky tone.

The boy in AGO letters suddenly looked at you cluelessly, “what?” 

You blinked a few times to wonder if you had indeed imagined being called a slut, but you realized that you hadn’t come out here in hot weather on a Tuesday afternoon to be gaslit. 

“You just called me a slut and I’d like a fucking apology.” 

The boy looked taken aback, as if he hadn’t intended on you saying anything or confronting him. His eyes remained blank, but for a moment you can catch a flicker of acknowledgment behind them – he had known exactly what you were talking about. “Sorry, but I think you must have misheard. I would never say that.” 

“Uh like hell I misheard you. I know what you said and I want you to apologize.”

He leaned back in his chair and looked around, surveying if anyone had been paying attention to the spat between you two. “I’m not apologizing for something that’s the truth,” he said under his breath. Despite the attempt for you not to hear him, the look on his face was loud enough for you to detect his answer. 

Ever since that day you looked at AGO differently and tried your best to avoid everything and anything that had to do with them. 

With the current conversation, you could feel yourself sobering up and suddenly realized that you didn’t want to. If Katie was going to make you go over to Alpha Gamma Omega, you were going to give them what they wanted which was an intoxicated hoe. 

“Do you have anything left in the flask?” 

Your friend looked at you surprised, “I think so. You want more?” She pulled the silver flask out from inside her coat and shook it to see what was left. Without a word you grabbed it from her and poured all of the liquid into your mouth. The burn in your throat was just what you need to get through this. 

“AGO house it is…” you mumbled, wiping the vodka that had dribbled onto your chin and grabbing Katie’s hand. She continued to thank you for being such a good friend all the way to Greek row and until you’re both standing in a line in front of Alpha Gamma Omega. 

At a glance at the lengthy line – full of people you recognized – you heard Katie whine beside you. Suddenly you felt that feeling you only got when you were drunk and feel the need to sober up because someone more wasted than you was in trouble. “What’s wrong? Are you okay?” You asked her. 

She turned to you with a scowl on her face, “I don’t want to stand in this line, I just want to go home… call Jaebeom over or something.” 

You shrugged your shoulders, “I mean you’re the one who wanted food. I’m fine with just going back,” you began but she immediately shook her head, “no I still want the pancakes. You can just bring them to me at the house once you get to the front of the line.” 

“What? Are you joking? I’m not standing in this line alone when you’re the one who wanted food.” 

As much as you loved the girls in your sorority especially Katie, you had to admit there was a huge difference between your friendships in the chapter versus your friends who were unaffiliated. For example, you were pretty sure your nonaffiliated friends wouldn’t leave you slightly intoxicated in line for pancakes from the Christian frat that once called you a slut to go home to hook up with her “are they, aren’t they” boyfriend. 

She shrugged, “I’m sorry Y/N… Just in one of those moods and you know Jaebeom is the only one who can bring me down.” 

You opened your mouth to protest, to call her out and tell her how annoying and infuriating she was being, but nothing came out. She took this as your approval and smiled brightly, leaning forward to kiss you on the cheek, “thank you! You’re the absolute best!! Just knock three times on my door when you get back to the house with the pancakes. Ya know just in case…” with a wink she’s gone down the street, pulling out her phone most likely to call Jaebeom. 

After about ten minutes in line, it occured to you that you could have just said no and gone with her, but at that point you realized two important things. You were a pushover and you were already at the front of the line. 

“Here you go.” 

When you looked up at the guy, you felt yourself freeze. The man in front of you gave you a pleasant smile, his hand extended towards you with a plate of pancakes and a water bottle. He looked at you unemotionally, waiting for you to take it out of your hands, but you can’t. You couldn’t move. He was the most gorgeous man you had ever seen in probably your entire life. He looked like a prince or an actor. He looked like someone who deserved to be stared at and adored all day. You weren’t a photographer but you would become one just so you could take photos of him and open up an exhibit where everyone else could be exposed to his beauty. 

You were already calculating in your head who you knew with an art gallery connection. 

It was clear the man felt uneasy or at least from your point of view he did. He shuffled over to the side so the next person in line could be helped by one of the other AGO guys. “Are you okay?” 

With his concern, you suddenly remembered why you weren’t a fan of this frat. His questioning of whether or not you were okay probably wasn’t genuine or authentic. He most likely was thinking about it from a stand point that he’s the virtuous one who’s giving out food and water, while you’re the drunk one, therefore you must not be okay. 

Rolling your eyes, you moved to the side with him, “yeah I’m fine thanks.” 

It’s clear he’s thrown off by your tone and instead of ignoring it, handing you the pancakes and sending you on your way, he continued, “sorry… I just wanted to see if you were alright. You were kind of not moving for a while.” 

“And what? I have to move every second to make people think I’m okay? FYI just because you’re drunk doesn’t mean something’s wrong with you.” Your feisty attitude was a clear tell-tale that the vodka from the flask was hitting you.

The guy looked at you curiously. He had his fair share of interactions with drunk people on the Friday nights he did Water on the Row, but this felt different. It was almost as though what he had said you had taken as a threat or a personal attack and he wasn’t sure why. 

“I-I know that,” he stuttered a bit. Despite him standing over you and being much broader, he felt intimidated by your presence – but not necessarily in a negative way. 

“I am drunk okay and the only thing that’s difficult is dealing with you right now.” 

Even you were surprised at the words you were spitting out at him. You’ve had your cruel drunk moments, but you had never acted like this with a complete stranger before. 

This time he didn’t have a reaction for your words. Instead, he looked from you to the rest of the guys next to him and then back to you, “are you here with anyone?” 

You snorted, thinking about how Katie had just left you to fend for the two of you. 

“No.” 

Once again, he looked between you and the other guys. It made you shuffle in place of where you’re standing, feeling uncertain for the first time since you’d laid eyes on him. 

“Why don’t I walk you back to your house?” 

The first thought in your mind was that he was just offering to take you home as an AGO move to prove that he was a saint, better than any of the other countless frat guys that had been with you at the end of the night while you were drunk. It’s the softness of his eyes and the nervous biting of his bottom lip that made you realize he’s actually being genuine. You don’t know why, but you start to feel nervous, even after alcohol which usually makes you confrontation and confident. 

“I don’t typically go home with strangers so… I’ll need your identification.” 

He laughed at your formality and you almost feel your heart jump out of your chest when you see the crinkles that appear near his eyes when he smiles. You tried your best to push your feelings down when you realize it wouldn’t be so bad keep making him laugh. 

Playing along, he reached towards his back pocket to pull out his wallet. Surprisingly, he handed his driver’s license to you which you accepted willingly.

You get annoyed at first glance when you see how good he looks in the photo because you’ve truly never seen anyone look that good in an image meant for an ID of any kind. 

“Park Jinyoung,” you read off the license, and Jinyoung almost feels his own heart stop. Handing it back to him quickly you shrugged your shoulders in a nonchalant way, “I trust you.” 

“Wow is that all it takes these days?” You rolled your eyes to stop yourself from smiling at his joke, you didn’t want to give him the satisfaction, “I guess for little old intoxicated me on a Friday night it is. Now come on,” you waved your hand taking a step onto the pavement but he held a finger out to stop you. 

“Let me just let the guys know I’m going.” 

You almost want to laugh at him but you nodded instead. Usually the people you surrounded yourself with would just drift off and disappear, not bothering to let anyone know where they were going. You couldn’t understand if it was an AGO thing or if it was just a Jinyoung thing. You hoped it was just a Jinyoung thing. 

Taking a few steps further away from the AGO house, you watched as Jinyoung spoke to some of the members at the table passing out food and water to the line that hasn’t shrank in size. The guy he’s talking to looked at you and you gave a small wave; he didn’t return it but turned back to Jinyoung. The discussion between them seemed more heated than it should be, it immediately makes your mind go to the headspace of being judged. 

After a moment, Jinyoung reunited with you on the sidewalk and smiled, “all good to go,” gesturing, you go in front of him and lead the way. 

Being back on the sidewalk, you felt more of the physical effects of the alcohol. Every part of your body wants to start walking from side to side for some reason, but with every piece of strength you have, you forced yourself to walk forward. You really didn’t want this Jinyoung guy to think you were that much more of a mess. 

At first the two of you walked in silence, carrying your plate of pancakes in one hand and your water bottle in the other. You took a glance at the AGO boy at your side, wondering if he thought this whole thing was as ridiculous as you did.

“I like your shoes.” His comment catches you off guard. Somehow it made you even more skeptical of his motives. 

Calm down, he’s just trying to be nice.

“Thanks…” You wanted to leave it at just that and have the remainder of the time the two of you spend together be silent, but drunk you wanted to play games. Looking at how innocent he was, the clear fiddling of his hands in his hoodie’s pocket and the nervous clicking of his tongue set you off, “the guy I was with tonight didn’t really think so.” 

When you hear Jinyoung inhale strongly, you smiled. It was a clear signal of him being uncomfortable. You thought that now was where the real silence between you and Jinyoung could begin, but you were surprised to hear him urge you to continue on. 

“Oh… why not?” 

Even though you didn’t have sex with the guy from the club tonight – clearly – you felt like you would have to play it off that way to get the maximum reaction from this goody two shoes who probably had never even touched a girl before. When your eyes narrowed in on his arms through his sweatshirt, however, you realized that maybe that was an outlandish assumption. 

“Too much work for him to take them off.” 

It’s almost as though Jinyoung has to take a moment to calculate in his head what exactly you’re referring to. When he finally got it, you heard him kick rocks underneath his feet. For some reason this pleased you. 

“Ah I see. I guess it could be kind of…” he cleared his throat again, looking down at your shoes “complicated in those situations.” 

“Especially in the bathroom,” as soon as the words are out of your mouth you regretted them. So caught up in your fake antics of making Jinyoung uncomfortable, you didn’t even think about what you were saying. Sex in the bathroom? And you wanted to take your shoes off? Just doesn’t make sense.

You hoped Jinyoung didn’t think about it too much.

“So, you had a fun night?” He questioned. For some reason it made you stop in your tracks and begin to laugh. You almost dropped the pancakes completely. Jinyoung on the other hand looked at you as if you were crazy. He felt embarrassed, he knows that he’s probably not the coolest guy or the first choice to walk you home, but he certainly didn’t think he was the worst option, “did I say something wrong?” 

When you finally caught your breath, you looked at him and noticed how he’s begun to bite his lip again. Most of the frat guys you knew had this cocky attitude to them – you were friends with many of them of course – but they didn’t have whatever it was you were seeing in Jinyoung. From the outside he looked like someone who was so sure of themselves – one would with those looks – but you could see the insecurities or the naivety that laid behind his exterior. 

“No, you didn’t say anything wrong… To be honest I don’t even know why it’s that funny. I guess just typically when people drink on Friday nights, they have fun.” 

He nodded his head as if you had just explained a math equation and continued to follow you down the street, “Right… but not necessarily all the time. You know you can have just as good of a time without drinking.” 

You snorted, “please spare me any of your AGO lectures.” 

“I don’t intend on lecturing you. I’m just saying…” 

“You know it really pisses me off how you guys think you’re better than the rest of us. Why? Just because you’re a Christian frat? Just because you guys don’t drink or go to parties? Just because you guys spend your Fridays passing out breakfast to wasted kids? That doesn’t make you any better, just so you know.” He didn’t say anything and for a second you felt bad, as if you’d struck a nerve with him, but then you’re taken back to that moment in the plaza. He was probably like that guy. 

“I know it doesn’t make us any better. We just wanted to…” he paused, trying to find the right word, “help and be a better part of the community. We know what you guys think of us and we’re trying to change that. That’s all.” 

You bit the inside of your cheek, “That’s… understandable. Maybe you guys would be more connected if you didn’t ridicule us…” you snorted in the middle of your suggestion, “or maybe did a shot or two.” 

Jinyoung laughed and you continued to push the thought of wanting to make him laugh forever out of your head, “you know… I have had alcohol before. AGO just doesn’t do parties and stuff like that. It’s an alcohol-free house, but it doesn’t stop members from doing stuff outside of that.” 

“But most of you probably don’t.”

He sucked a breath in, you had gotten him there. Most of the guys didn’t bother with drinking, not even socially. “Well… yeah lots of the guys don’t, but some of them do.” 

“Like you?” 

“Like me,” he confirmed. 

You stopped again, this time to place your hands out and in front of Jinyoung, stopping him as well. “Okay, but have you ever even been drunk before?” 

Jinyoung pursed his lips. At first, he considers lying to you, but if he was already going to act out of character tonight, he wasn’t going to add lying to the list. “No…” 

You suddenly get an idea. The picture in your head is of you and Jinyoung – the Christian sweetheart you barely knew – sitting on the floor of your room giggling about how stupid Greek life reputations were. You would show him your favorite song they play at your favorite club and he could read you Bible verses or… something? You weren’t really sure if that’s what they did all day at the AGO house, but the bottom line was you would show him a piece of your world and he would show you his. 

“We can change that tonight. I have an entire bottle of Ciroc under my bed,” you have to stop your hand from grabbing his. 

His heart raced at your suggestion and he felt the two sides of him battle with one another. Ultimately, the AGO side won, “N-No… I don’t think that would be a good idea.” 

You pouted. Drunk you was truly insane. You led him to believe that you had sex with some stranger in a bathroom and now he probably thought you were trying to get him into bed as well. 

“Why not? I’m even offering you the good stuff. Not any of the watered-down shit.” He flinched at your cursing and it makes you annoyed and swoon all in one. 

Jinyoung couldn’t help but notice how painfully beautiful you looked under the glow of the dim street-lamps that lit the sidewalk. He swallowed thinking about how much he disagreed with his words, “I just really don’t think it’s a good idea.” 

You turned away from him to hide the embarrassment you felt. He probably thought you were suggesting a promiscuous evening, but you didn’t want that from him. For some reason you just felt a want to talk to him and pick his brain – he was a lot different than the typical Alpha Gamma Omega members and you wanted to know why. You wanted to know why he is the way he is. Apparently Jinyoung didn’t want that from you. 

Wordlessly, you continued your walk home and Jinyoung followed close behind feeling like an absolute jerk. Caught up in your thoughts, when you finally looked around at your surroundings, you realized you had arrived at your front door. 

“This is me.” Jinyoung looked up at the house, taking in the letters and once again nodding his head thoughtfully, “thanks for letting me walk you home.” 

You looked at him confused, “why are you thanking me?” 

Tightly smiling, Jinyoung feels his stomach flip. He’s never needed approval from someone, especially not someone he just met, but he feels like he wants to convince you he’s actually a good person. That he’s not pretending. It almost feels suffocating with how much he wants to prove himself. “I just liked walking you home.” 

“Even despite my rude and drunk behavior?” 

Jinyoung shoved his hands deep into the pockets of his AGO hoodie, “you don’t seem drunk anymore.” 

“Trust me… I am,” since Jinyoung clearly didn’t have an interest in speaking to you any further than this moment, you felt as though you could say whatever you wanted to him. You figured that the best thing to do was reveal his attraction level since he already thought you were trying to fuck him. 

“If I wasn’t drunk, I wouldn’t be thinking about how handsome you are,” Jinyoung looked down to hide his smile and you continued, “not just in a normal way but in a classic Hollywood kind of way… but I guess that happens with good Christian boys. For some reason they usually end up hot.” 

Again, those eye crinkles appeared as he started to laugh, his cheeks even going as far as turning a light pink color. It looked really good on him. 

“If you ever need me to set up a Tinder account for you, just let me know… I’m an expert, I’ve done all of my friends’ profiles. My success rate is a hundred percent,” your hand settled down on the door knob. The next obvious step was to turn it, but you just wanted to suck this moment dry and take as much as you could before you two went your separate ways. “Nah… not Tinder you’re a Bumble or Hinge guy for sure. I can still offer my services… I know how tough it must be living in a house of all boys all the time.”

“Thanks for… the compliment? And offer?” He questioned. He probably wasn’t used to the girls he was usually around commenting on his appearance or saying such things. It made you roll your eyes again, “yes I was complimenting you so just take it AGO.” 

Turning around, you went to unlock the front door and head inside. Jinyoung mindlessly watched you until it dawned on him that he missed something important. Your name. 

“Wait!” He called from behind you. It caused you to turn around, waiting. “You never told me your name.” He looked so cute, kicking his feet on the ground and biting his bottom lip again, patiently waiting for you to reveal yourself to him, but you can’t shake the feeling that’s bubbling up inside of you. Before you could stop yourself, you’re shaking your head at him, “let’s be honest… you’re not going to need it.” 

Jinyoung furrowed his eyebrows, confused by the rejection of just being told your name. With a final frown on your face, he watched you go inside and shut the door behind you. On his walk back to the AGO house all he could think about was that frown. 

“You can’t possibly still be thinking about that girl from Friday night,” Yugyeom snorted. 

Unfortunately, he very much was thinking about the girl from Friday night, even though he knew all the guys would ridicule him for it. The fact that this comes across as his first thought makes him wonder if you were right about them.

Just as Yugyeom finished his sentence, Jackson settled down at the table next to Jinyoung, already devouring his fries. 

“What girl?” Jackson asked both of them, a speck of fry coming from his mouth and onto the table when he speaks. It makes Jinyoung want to vomit. 

Almost annoyingly, Yugyeom turned to Jackson, “A girl Jinyoung met at ‘Water on the Row’.” The way he said it is almost venomous, as if he’s ultimately disgusted at the thought and mere situation. Jinyoung wanted to say something, to defend the girl - but he doesn’t even really know her. 

Jackson stopped chewing for a moment, thinking, “oh...” 

“Yeah,” Yugyeom paused, turning to glance back at Jinyoung, shooting daggers at him that practically tell him not to do anything stupid, “I know...” 

“Don’t you think you’re kind of being judgmental? And isn’t that kind of our whole thing? To not judge, but to serve others?” 

His outburst seemed to surprise his friends at the table, both of them looking at one another at Jinyoung’s out of character behavior. Usually he maintained composure and silence in conversations such as this and in the past, he’d definitely been the contributor to the judgements. But for some reason this particular conversation about this particular girl was rubbing him the wrong way. 

“I mean yeah… but Jinyoung, come on… you can’t be with a girl like that. The drinking, the partying and the sleeping around? It’s just kind of too much, don’t you think?” 

“Yugyeom, dude… you don’t know if she’s like that,” Jackson piped up, going back to eating his fries. 

“Let me repeat the fact that he met her at Water on the Row… so she’s exactly like that. She probably has like a Tinder or something too.” 

“What’s wrong with Tinder?” Both Jinyoung and Yugyeom look at Jackson who suddenly opened his mouth quickly to defend himself, “I mean I don’t have it or anything, but I’m just wondering what’s wrong.” 

“No one on there is looking for an actual committed relationship Jacks, it’s just people who want to hook up. Like most of the girls who show up on Friday nights.” 

Jinyoung wanted to agree with Yugyeom and put this all to bed. That would be the easiest thing for him, if he just concurred that the girl from Friday night was not right for him and the fact that she liked to drink and go out disqualified her from ever being someone he wants to get to know. However, he didn’t want to. For some reason, for once he wanted the complicated option. The option most of his friends in Alpha Omega wouldn’t agree with. 

You had no idea why your room was the “hangout” room in the house. Or at least it was for Katie and Jaebeom. One would think that they would want to be alone together, but instead they loved coming up to your room and laying on the floor whenever Jaebeom came over to the house. Usually people didn’t like having a third wheel intrude on time with their “significant” other – or whatever it was that these two were doing – but they loved being in your room. 

“I think we need to get Y/N a boyfriend…” Jaebeom said very suddenly, throwing down the magazine he was reading. Why he wanted to read your old Cosmos from freshman year? You had no clue. 

Katie squealed in delight, fascinated by this plan that had yet to be approved by you. However, knowing her she already had at least five guys in mind. “How about Ryan from Sigma Chi?” 

You let out a response to convey your disgust at the same time Jaebeom clenched his jaw. 

“He’s literally been with everyone,” you rolled your eyes, trying to focus on the work on your desk that you had diligently been doing before Jaebeom’s quest to end your single life. 

“Not to mention he’s a misogynist who displays sociopathic tendencies,” Jaebeom scowled, surprising you so much so that you turned around to face him. 

Katie looked at him with big eyes, as if she were about to jump him at any moment, “Babe, I didn’t know you knew words like that.” He shrugged in response, “Mark’s girlfriend teaches me well.” 

You smiled, “I like her more and more every day.” 

The room is filled with silence and you realized that they were both waiting for you to say something about Jaebeom’s overall statement of getting you a boyfriend. They wanted your feedback, your questions, comments and concerns – they wanted to play the role of matchmaker, that much was clear.

You shuffled uncomfortably in your seat, “I don’t need a boyfriend.” Jaebeom tried to reason with you, “okay but you want one.” 

Sometimes your friends really didn’t get you. You’d never been successful with commitment and long-term boyfriends in the past, why was it suddenly going to work out any differently just because Jaebeom and Katie were trying to set you up? 

“We’ll get you a really good one. Someone in Greek life, but someone loyal…” Katie paused to turn to Jaebeom, “who do you think the most loyal frat on campus is? Lambda?” 

He brought his hand underneath his chin and tapped it slowly, considering. “Hm… I mean Lambda is good, of course,” he smiled at the acknowledgement of his own frat, “but actually… I feel like the most responsible frat is AGO.” 

Katie immediately burst out into giggles, Jaebeom soon following. “Y/N could never be with an AGO. My accountant stepdad is more interesting than any of the guys over there. She would go crazy dating one of them. If any of them even talk to girls that is.” 

For some reason her words made your skin crawl. AGO was the subject of a lot of jokes on Greek row and in fact, you were used to being the one that made them, but for some reason you felt sick. You couldn’t help but think about Jinyoung. 

He was genuinely nice to you and although he had rejected your offer, he was a decent guy. Not feeding you any of his bullshit lectures that the AGO guys were known to give. He didn’t even really fight back with you when drunk you pretty much called him fake. 

Oh god you had lectured him. It felt like it was all coming back now. 

You had asked him to get drunk with you and invited him to your room. You had told him he was handsome. You had offered to make him a Tinder profile. 

“Y/N are you okay? You don’t look good…” Jaebeom pointed out, “we won’t get you a boyfriend if the thought of it makes you this sick.” 

Why did you care that you had drunkenly embarrassed yourself in front of Park Jinyoung? You barely knew the guy; you didn’t agree with most of his frat’s values and outlook on others in the Greek system. Hell, he was probably friends with the guy that called you a slut.

As if you had been stuck in a trance, you blinked and looked at the two friends sat in front of you. They look as though they’re about to admit you to the local hospital. 

Clearing your throat, “do you guys think that they have the same guys working at Water on the Row every Friday?” Katie squinted at you, “how are we supposed to know that? I mean… probably not.” You nodded and turned back to your desk in silence, staring at the schoolwork in front of you blankly. 

He probably wouldn’t be there. You probably didn’t need to go. It was probably a sign. 

A sign that you probably just… shouldn’t.

Another week rolled around and it soon became Friday again. 

Jinyoung wasn’t supposed to be on pancakes and water duty this week, but he had told Jackson he would take his shift. At first Jackson was reluctant to give it up after what the three of them had talked about when they went out for dinner, but when he looked at Jinyoung’s sad pleading face he knew he couldn’t say no.

He knew there wasn’t a guarantee that you would be returning to the house, but he figured that this would be his only opportunity to see you again. If Jinyoung had to spend another Friday night passing out pancakes and water to drunk people just for the small chance of you showing up, he’d take it. 

“Dude ya’ll are like the sober crew,” some guy from Lambda said grabbing the plate of pancakes from Jinyoung, the guy’s arm wrapped tightly around a girl who looked annoyed. 

“Come on Mark,” the girl groaned, dragging him out of line. 

They both stumbled down the steps and to the sidewalk, Jinyoung watching them go carefully. “I love you so much,” Mark told the girl. She threw her head back laughing, still trying to carry Mark’s weight, “I know you idiot. I love you too.” 

When they kiss, Jinyoung looked away not wanting to intrude on their moment. He felt a strange knot in his stomach as he thinks about the two. They both seemed wildly different, but you didn’t have to be an expert on love and romance to understand the affection and fondness that was between the two of them. 

Jinyoung’s mind quickly went to you, but he shoved it to the back of his thoughts when he reminds himself that he didn’t know anything about you. He had just met you. 

“Any luck?” Yugyeom asked, coming up on Jinyoung’s side to surprise him, “don’t act dumb… I know why you took Jackson’s shift tonight. I know why you’re here.” 

Jinyoung rolled his eyes, turning away from the boy and grabbing another water bottle to hand to the next person in line. He used this opportunity to scan the queue and see if you were in it – no luck. 

“Just be careful man… I mean knowing her type she’ll probably back, but just remember what I said.” The grasp of Jinyoung’s hand on the water bottle tightened with Yugyeom’s words and he felt like something inside of him was going to snap soon. He wasn’t sure what he had done or said to welcome unsolicited advice from those around him. The reason he joined Alpha Gamma Omega was to be a part of a likeminded community with similar beliefs to his own. Never did he anticipate whatever this was. 

“Girls like her… they’re sluts you know.” 

Jinyoung turned to Yugyeom and shoved the water bottle into his hands almost violently, “what did you say?” 

Yugyeom looked at him with wide eyes, as if not expecting this kind of reaction, “Jinyou-” 

“Save it,” He spat. 

Jinyoung didn’t want to be anywhere near Yugyeom or the AGO house. Maybe you were right when you alluded to him putting on a nice guy act. He probably had been for the last two years he was a part of the org – judging others, thinking he was better than others involved in Greek life, just because he was in a Christian frat. For some reason meeting you and having you question his “goodness” caused him to finally wake up from the fantasy of the person who he had thought he was all along. 

By the time Jinyoung reached the end of his self-loathing thoughts, he realized he had carried himself all the way over to your sorority house. He knew he probably shouldn’t even be standing on your front doorstep, but something in him stopped him from turning around. Instead, he reached out to ring the doorbell. 

“Can I help you?” a girl asked, poking her head out through the door. 

He cleared his throat, “yeah actually… I’m looking for-” that’s when Jinyoung cut himself off and realized that he actually didn’t know who he was looking for. He had never got your name… All he knew about you was were you lived… and that’s pretty much it. 

The girl looked at Jinyoung in confusion, glancing at the letters he was wearing and sighed, “You’re from AGO?” 

He nodded, “I actually don’t know her name…” 

She waved her hand as if this was a usual thing and opened the door more to welcome him inside, “let me see what I can do for you… Just wait here.” The girl begins to head up the stairs of the house, then Jinyoung suddenly remembers a detail, “she went out last Friday night if that helps.” 

She laughed at him and shook her head, continuing her walk up the stairs, “typical AGO,” she muttered. For once in his career at Alpha Gamma Omega, Jinyoung doesn’t feel hurt or annoyed by her assessment of him. She was right.

“Hey do any of you guys fuck an AGO?” you heard one of your sorority sisters, Melanie ask through your headphones. Taking the music listening devices out of your ears you went to your open doorway, “what did you say?” 

Melanie glanced over in your direction as she thanked one of the other open rooms for participating in what sounds like a very strange survey. 

“There’s a guy downstairs from AGO and it’s pretty sad, he’s looking for someone in the house but doesn’t even know her name. He’s here’s so late I’m just assuming that he must be looking for someone he slept with,” she gets a panicked look on her face, “fuck do you think one of us took the dude’s virginity and now he’s here to kill us all?” 

You smiled tightly at Melanie. Some of the girls in the house were not the brightest. 

“Don’t jump to conclusions like that Melanie… I doubt most girls in the house would go even within ten feet of a guy from Alpha Gamma Omega.” 

“Well… what about you? Do you know anyone from AGO?” 

You were about to shake your head no and deny knowing anyone over there, but then you stopped yourself. It couldn’t be… could it? 

“Why don’t I just go down there and take care of this?” Somehow your words made her exhale and she looked instantly relieved, “thanks so much Y/N. Also do be warned… he is kinda good looking. Ugh I can’t believe I just said that.”

Nodding at her, she thanked you a final time before disappearing down the hallway to her bedroom. 

There was no way it could be Jinyoung… right? 

Despite your initial thought that it couldn’t be Jinyoung, when you reached the bottom of the stairs, you’re met with the back of the same boy you met a week ago. It was creepy but you could tell it was him just by the way he stood, with his shoulders back and posture erect. You don’t say anything, not wanting to sneak up on him, but you took notice of the way he seemed to be talking to himself. For a moment you swear you heard him ask himself what he was doing here. 

That would make two of you. 

“Jinyoung?” You said to grab his attention. He quickly turned around to face you and it’s easy to sense how weird he feels just being in your sorority house. It made you even more confused as to why he’s there. 

“H-hey… you…” He wished he could greet you properly, but he still doesn’t know your name. That detail isn’t lost on you, but as you had told him before, you weren’t really sure if there was a reason to give him your name. The two of you didn’t really “mix” well. 

“What’s up?” 

For some reason this response to Jinyoung showing up at your house annoyed him. Sure, he hadn’t originally intended in coming here after his outburst with Yugyeom, his feet made the final decision to arrive at your home this late at night, but the nonchalant “what’s up” irked him. 

He decided to take a risk by asking you what had been his mind for the last few hours he had been stationed at the AGO house handing out pancakes. “Why didn’t you come by the house tonight?” The tone shocked you. Rather than the gentleness he had spoken to you last week when he walked you home, this was something else entirely. 

Unsure of what the acceptable answer would be to please him, you went with the obvious response – the truth, “I just didn’t need to go over there tonight… You know despite what you and your brothers might think, I don’t get wasted every single weekend.” 

There was also the fact that tonight you had thought about going over there many, many times. You had even got dressed three different times and considered pretending like you had gone out tonight, but you couldn’t bring yourself to do it. You were too scared of what your friends would think, what the AGO members would think and most importantly what Jinyoung would think. 

At your words, once again Jinyoung felt attacked. He didn’t know why it was so important to prove himself to you or why it mattered so much that you didn’t show up at the house tonight. Now you probably had an even worse impression of him for coming over to your place at nearly two in the morning. Something that would never be condoned by the guys he lives with. 

“I know that. I was just hoping that…” he drifted off and your breath hitches. You think that maybe you know what he’s alluding to, but you want to hear him say it. 

In any other situation, Jinyoung knows he wouldn’t say it. He would be too afraid or too stuck on what – once again – others would think. Instead, Jinyoung surprises both you and himself. He says it. 

“I was hoping that you would want to see me again as much as I wanted to see you,” Jinyoung takes a step towards you and it feels as though you’re about to fall apart at any moment, “I don’t really understand or know why… but I feel this weird pull towards you.” You could tell he was getting shy from the way he looked down at his feet and dragged them against the hardwood floor of the foyer. 

Nervously, you tapped your fingers against your thigh to distract you from instantly agreeing with him – to tell him that you knew exactly what pull he was referring to. Alternately, you fill the conversation with more doubt, “then why did you reject me that night?” 

His mouth hung wide open and he became perplexed, unsure of what you were talking about. 

“What do you mean rejected you?” 

You brought your hands up from your thighs and crossed your arms against your chest, “I asked you to come up and drink with me.” 

Jinyoung’s eyes fluttered closed as if thinking about something. As quick as he shut them, he opened them at the same suddenness, “I didn’t mean it as a rejection. I just didn’t think it would be a good idea…” 

Shrugging your shoulders, “In normal Greek life that’s rejection Jinyoung.” 

He brings his hand to massage the back of his neck, “I really didn’t realize it was that… complex. Sorry. You’ll have to be patient with me about those kinds of things. It’s true what they say about AGO, we really don’t pick up on social cues very well.” 

You’ll have to be patient with me. 

His words rang in your ears and you swore you heard a Harry Styles song play in your head as you looked at him smile sheepishly at you. 

“I…” somehow the words are hard to get out, you’re not used to being this candid with a guy – especially not sober, “I know what you mean about a pull.”

Jinyoung took another step forward towards you and you exhaled deeply at his closeness. He was just close enough to- 

“C-can I kiss you?” he stuttered and you felt your heart skip a beat. You would be lying if you said that you hadn’t been thinking about Jinyoung all week. The eye crinkles, his pink lips and the softness of his tone, it had all played on repeat in your mind. The stupid rejection thing didn’t even matter anymore.

When you didn’t answer right away, you heard him take a deep breath in, “I know it’s kind of forward, but I really want to kiss you.” 

Your eyes flickered down to his lips and you wet your own instinctively. A thought suddenly enters your head and you begin to wonder how many times he’d done this before. Was he a rookie just as he had been when it came to drinking? Not that it mattered to you… you were just curious and- 

“I have kissed girls before you know… I’m not a prude. Now please just let me.” His desperation to put his lips on yours makes you realize that you’re just as desperate if not more to feel his mouth move against yours. 

“Please,” you murmured. 

He leaned his head forward closer into you until his lips just ghosted over yours. Bringing his hand in between your faces, he traced the line of your cheekbone until your cheek laid in the palm of his hand and he cupped it gently. Finally, he closed the space between your lips and connects them softly. It’s clear that he feels hesitant, scared and excited all at the same time, but you let him control the pace not wanting to push him. 

Soon you felt him relax more into the kiss and you could sense how delicate he was being as his lips moved softly against yours, treating you like a china doll that he wanted to protect. You’d had many kisses with many guys before, but none like this. Those were just kisses and this was much more than a kiss. Behind this kiss you could sense Jinyoung’s fondness for you, his intrigue, his longing and his desperation for the two of you to be in a different time, a different place and a different space. You felt it all from him. Every single emotion. It made you feel dizzy, the moment blurring satisfaction that you had never felt from just a kiss. You had never wanted anyone like this before.

You sighed into the kiss and Jinyoung pressed you even closer to him, kissing you harder and more feverishly. It was a side of him you hadn’t been expecting you, but it made you smile against his lips, wanting him closer, closer and closer. 

When you finally break apart, Jinyoung breathed heavily and you’re surprised you can let out any air at all. It felt like he had taken all the breath out of you and consumed every piece of you. He doesn’t say anything for a moment, but simply stared at you until you broke out into giggles, looking down shyly. 

“Y/N,” you whispered, finally telling him your name and he felt his heart flip.

He grinned, “Well Y/N... I could definitely do that again.” 

So he does and your mind becomes dazed once again, not thinking about the rest of the world or what anyone thought about the two of you. 

For right now it was just you and Jinyoung, and somehow that was enough.

[s1cparvism4gna]

I Like You A Lot

WARNINGS: cursing & angst

Pairings: Chloe Frazer x Nadine Ross, Sam Drake x OC

Tags: @desertvvitch, @courtenbae, @ammaliatrici

A/N: I will fix the read now later today

Chapter 18

Sam’s POV

I sighed as the wind pushed back my hair, air drying myself and my clothes a bit. Also it was hot as hell. So this nice breeze was doing me a great service. I wiped the shmutz off the tinted glass of a pair of aviators I happened to find in the back seat. “These are nice, heh?” I said, examining the quality and putting them on my face before turning to Sunny with a rather charming smile (if I do say so myself). She didn’t even move. She stayed with her chin resting in her hand as she leaned on the side of the car; Staring at the Indian wilderness as it passed by, wind pushing at her curls. I huffed and shook my head, noticing Chloe glancing at us from the rear view mirror. She frowned a bit and then returned her eyes to the rocky path before us.

“Look! Railroad tracks!” Nadine pointed out. Sunny’s head shot right up as she moved to the middle seat to lean forward for a better look. Right ahead in the distance was a bunch of abandoned cars on the tracks.

“We’ll stop here, then.” Chloe said, pulling on the hand brake and the car skidded in the mud for a second. All of us hopped out of the 4x4, our boots landing on the ground heavily. We all groaned. I was sure all of our bodies were aching— I, myself, was tired and sweaty. My hands were dirty and bruised (much like the rest of me) with a few cuts that had yet to be looked at. And I mean the way my knees felt after that simple jump… but it was better than being left to drown in a flooded chamber, I’ll tell you that. Luckily, my cigarettes had dried so immediately I pulled one and lit it. I needed one. With the way Sunny was acting and how this job was going, I needed a bit of nicotine in my system to help me along.

“Asav will definitely have lookouts throughout the area.” Nadine told us.

“Best be careful then, huh?” Sunny commented, adjusting her jeans.

“Right, right, right… And then we lose the tusk.” I added sarcastically. Sunny made a face. One I knew all too well. One she tended to make when she was done with whatever “pessimistic” outlook I tended to have on things.

“Jesus Christ, Sam—” Sunny groaned, rolling her eyes in annoyance.

“Ay— I’m just bein’ realistic here!” I retorted. Nadine chimed in as well, also rather fed up with me.

“You’re welcome to stay behind if you’d like.” She said. I made a sarcastic expression, mocking her.

Chloe calmly hushed us up, shaking her head, tired of the ongoing arguments and petty comebacks between us all.

“All right, all right… Less talking, more walking.” She said before hopping off the cliff. Sunny looked at me in disbelief and forced out a rather derisive laugh.

“Sounds good to me.” She said, following Chloe off the cliff. I groaned stressfully; letting smoke fill my lungs and exit my nostrils as I watched her walk away, dropping down to the next level. I picked up my pride and began to follow them as well.

“So all that time with Asav and you couldn’t get any intel on the buyers?” Nadine asked me.

“He’s uh…. he’s a cagey one, Asav is. Never talked shop in front of me really.” I answered, adjusting my newfound sunglasses in the sunlight.

“Gee, I wonder why not…” I heard Sunny comment sardonically ahead of us.

“Sunny, you’re being very puerile right now.” I said to her.

“Ooo, look at the ex con using his big boy words.” She replied with a rapid fire tongue. I rolled my eyes and took another drag. I decided I’d be the grown up here and ignore it… Sort of.

“Hey, he believed me long enough to think I was an expert in all this Hoy-sah-la crap.” I said rather pigheadedly.

“It’s Hoysa-lah. Not Hoy- sah-la.” Sunny corrected me.

“All right, Hermione.” I shrugged, trying my best not to let her get to me. But, boy, she was really working on my nerves.

“Thanks for keeping him busy for us.” Chloe said suddenly, taking me out of my thoughts and smiling at me as she looked at me with those stunning blue eyes. It was clear to see why I slept with her to begin with. There was a calm about her that tended to ease even the most chaotic of souls. I wanted to be calmed too. I wanted to be near that energy for just a moment. But in retrospect, it wasn’t worth it. Not to have Sunny this upset with me. I’d take it back if I could… I ran my fingers through my hair nervously and nodded, feigning a confidence that wasn’t really there to begin with.

“Yeah, I mean, I knew everything would work out…. I just wanted to buy you guys some time…. in case you were coming to get me.” I said, looking over the edge of the next cliff. She placed a gentle roughed up hand on my arm and squeezed it.

“Of course we were!” She grinned. Her energy brought a faint smile to my face and I forced a laugh, leaning towards her.

“Seriously, though. Thanks. I thought I was a goner.” I whispered to her.

“I wouldn’t let that happen. Sunny wouldn’t let that happen.” She said, nodding in her direction. I sighed. Even being upset with me, she once again saved my ass. “And your brother would never let me hear the end of it.” She added. I burst into laughter as I followed her across the cliff. Sunny and Nadine both looked back at me. Neither was very happy with me. They seemed to be talking amongst themselves. I could only imagine what about.

We walked along the green grass, looking out at the tracks that hovered above a misty and grassy wetland. It was rather nice if I was being honest. India had spectacular views and I was glad I got to see it all. That Sunny got to see it all. She deserved to see the world more than anybody. I finished my cigarette and tossed the filter over the edge as we came upon a waterfalled cave. Looking in, there was a mudslide inside. “Let’s find out where this goes.” Chloe said before jumping in and sliding away. I stepped aside and gestured to the cave.

“Ladies first.” I sighed. Nadine glared at me, bumping her muscular shoulder into me as she passed, knocking me off balance.

“Very mature.” I grumbled as she slid down after Chloe. Sunny just walked by and slid down without even really looking at me. I took a deep breath and slid down after her.

“I found the train tracks! Sort of….” I heard Chloe say as I approached the bottom. Sitting at the door of the hill were a bunch of broken slabs of wood. The cave probably was once part of a train route from what I gathered. As we came out onto the sunlit cliff, we could see more tracks in the distance.

“It’s weird to see everythin’ sorta go back to normal… After bein’ around Hoysala ruins all day. More modern structures are showin’ up now.” Sunny said as she looked around. I took the opportunity to attempt a conversation again.

“Well it’s either British or Portuguese. So not quite modern. Probably around 18— aaand you don’t care…” I said, biting my lip. Sunny grunted as she dropped to the ground to follow Chloe. I threw my head back in discouragement. Nadine shrugged as she looked at me and began to go behind them. Then she stopped in her tracks and turned to look at me, her bright brown eyes narrowed.

“You did a stupid thing, Drake. She’s hurt.” She told me. I blinked at her a couple times. It seemed like she was maybe trying to…..help me. I wrinkled my bushy brows as I continued to listen to her. “I don’t know why but… she loves you. And she won’t say it. Not to your face. But I know she does care a great deal about you. Just give her some time.” She said. I was surprised. When did she start to care about how Sunny was feeling? Regardless, I took the advice and pushed on. Just as I jumped down, I watched Sunny be the first to cross a wooden beam. Immediately, that familiar niggling feeling kicked in.

“Sunny, what the hell?! Is that thing even stable?!” I yelled. She just kept going until she got to the other side.

“It’s fine. Hurry up and cross it before it’s not. Your luck, it’ll break in half.” She retorted, climbing a wall and crawling into a tight space. As she disappeared, I couldn’t help but to be surprised. Heights weren’t her thing. Now all of a sudden it’s “Balls to the Wall”, “No Guts, No Glory”? Maybe the job had cured her of her acrophobia. Or maybe I pissed her off that much…

I followed the girls across the beam and through the crawl space (And no. It didn’t break). Above us, the sound of a chopper could be heard. The winds from its propellers pushing the treetops about, shaking loose leaves to the ground. As long as we stayed in the shadows and tree lines, I knew we’d be fine. “Asav thinks we’re all dead. Let’s keep it that way.” Nadine said, before heading up more rocks. It was interesting seeing her on the other side of enemy lines. And even better, without a gun to my head. Or a knife to my throat. Maybe if I asked the right questions, I could find a glimpse of a person inside that walking dead shell.

“So, Nadine—” I began but she growled and folded her strong arms across her chest.

“We are not on a first name basis.” She said. I chuckled.

“Okay, fine… I heard you worked for Asav, too?” I asked, carefully.

“What about it?” She grunted, narrowing her eyes and cocking a thin brow.

“I mean… How did you deal with the torture?” I asked.

“Wha… Did he torture you??”

“Oh yeah...” I groaned in all seriousness. He didn’t torture me physically but he might as well have. “Wouldn’t stop talkin’ about himself or his cause. Like, I get it, man. You don’t gotta sell me on it— I’m just lookin’ to make some scratch, y’know?” I chuckled lightly. Chloe shook her head and groaned.

“I can’t stand when people prattle on incessantly.” She said, climbing the next short cliff ahead.

“God, me either.” I agreed. Then Sunny walked by making some odd noise of disgust.

“Wow, you have so much in common.” She said, staley before climbing the cliff behind Chloe. I took a deep breath to calm myself. At this point, she was really just irking me. I’m not exactly what you would call a patient man. But I was enjoying the job, to be honest. And I damn sure wasn’t gonna let her ruin it.

We followed Chloe up the inside of a waterfall’s cave and out through thick vines. “If I had known, I would’ve packed my machete.” She said simply, herself and Nadine pushing the vines apart. The way Sunny’s face lit up when she said that, almost made me forget I was in hot water for a moment. Her big brown eyes, widening and practically shimmering as her freckled cheeks fattened up when she gave that dazzling smile. I could feel my ears burning up and I turned away to light myself a cigarette. Chloe gave her a doting smile as she passed between the vines.

“You have a machete?” She asked, softly.

“Tell you what. We make it out of this alive? I’ll mail it to you.” Chloe grunted as she struggled to keep the vines apart. She nodded to Nadine to go next but just to be an ass, I slid in at the last second.

“Thank you, good gentlewomen.” I grumbled as I weaved my slender limbs through to the other side. Sunny just crossed her arms and scoffed at me. I huffed, dropping my shoulders and gesturing to the vines. “They’re gonna need someone to hold open the other end!” I said, trying to cover myself. But truthfully, I wasn’t a total ass. “Come grab the other side.” I told her as I let my cigarette hang loosely between my lips. I grabbed a vine towards the middle and began to pull.

She stared at me a moment and groaned lightly as she came to grab the other vine. She grunted as she began to pull as well, her muscles taut and flexing as she did as much as she could. Just then Nadine had come out, then Chloe. Soon as they were fine, the path was pretty clear. Even for Sunny, who had already run and jumped across the rushing ravine and was starting to climb up the seeable handholds. I rushed across after her just to make sure she’d be okay. She made it up and over the cliff with no problems. I was impressed. It was like for the first time, I was seeing Treasure Hunter Sunny Spurrs. She didn’t need me. She was excellent all on her own. Which in a way made me feel stupid for thinking my selfish thoughts before. I climbed over the cliff and Sunny reached out a hand to help me up. Just then, I could hear rocks crumbling below us. I looked down to see Chloe falling into the ravine and sliding down off a cliff. All I could hear was her screaming. The both of us (and I’m sure Nadine) gasped, calling out her name.

“Shit!” I exclaimed. But Nadine raised her hand to us a moment and listened closely. I guess she could hear something we couldn’t.

“She’s okay!” She yelled to us. “I’m gonna follow her! You two stay close! We’ll meet up!” She said before jumping into the ravine and down the mudslide, after Chloe. I could hear Sunny groan and swear loud as hell like she couldn’t stand to be with me or something. That was the straw that broke the camel’s back for me. We didn’t have time for this.

“Alright, ENOUGH!” I barked, tossing my cigarette off the edge, forcing out the excess smoke from my lungs through my nostrils in an ire manner. I stood up and turned to look at her with a screwed up expression. Sunny looked at me like I had lost my mind. And maybe I had… I wasn’t so sure. “You’re gonna have to talk to me sometime...” I told her. Begged her, really. She shook her head, chuckling at me. She placed her hands on her hips and bit her lip, standing her ground.

“You really wanna do this now?” Sunny asked me, raising her voice as she approached me slowly. I nodded. I was amped up and tired of the third degree.

“When the hell else are we gonna be able to do it, Sunny?! Yeah! Yeah, I wanna do this now. Right now!” I said in an authoritative voice, puffing my chest out a little. A snarl curled at her lips as she boldly looked me in the eyes.

“Alright then, let’s fuckin’ get to it!!” She shrilled, angrily. Last time she yelled at me like this, I had left for Libertalia without her and we both thought Nathan had gotten hurt. She was just as scary as I remembered. Maybe I shouldn’t have picked this fight so soon. But it had to happen. We needed it out of the way so we could work without distractions. Most of all…. I just wanted my girl back. For real this time. Sunny looked up at me, her eyes never leaving mine, nostrils flaring like an angry bull and her lips pursed; possibly biting her tongue from starting off with the hard hitting questions right away. But this is Sunny we’re talking about. She couldn’t help it. It just wasn’t in her nature to be subtle or tactical in any way. She had to attack it head on.

“Chloe? Really, bro? No offense to Chloe at all, but how desperate are you?!” She exclaimed. I had to laugh. Never in my life had I been before called….

“Desperate?! No, sweetheart. I ain’t desperate—” I chuckled, raising my voice in irritation, both of us beginning to lose our temper.

“So then what the hell, Sam?!” She shouted, furrowing her brow at me. That wasn’t fair. She’d been holding onto this anger about me and Chloe for so long. Yet she hadn’t brought a word about herself to the table.

“What about you?! Huh?!” I shouted, opening my arms to her, welcoming any excuses she could give me. I might be a hardass but I do have my feelings, too. “You don’t get to yell at me about sleepin’ with other people, Sunny!”

“And why the fuck not?!” She yelled. Since we were putting it all out there, I didn’t think it’d hurt if I begged the question.

“How long you been sleepin’ with him?” I asked in a tone so calm, it even scared myself. I stared her in her eyes, waiting for an answer I thought already knew. Her expression never faltered though.

“Who?” She asked, playing dumb. But she knew exactly who I was talking about.

“Erik.” I said, firmly. After I brought it up, my heart began to speed. To be honest, I was a little scared to know. But I could see she really thought I was oblivious to it all.

“Sam—” she began.

“Do I look stupid to you?! Eh, do I?!” I interrupted. “D-Did ya think I didn’t notice? That I didn’t see it? All those little looks he gave you? And still gives you! The way he hugs and kisses all over you? ‘My little Sunflower’?!” I bombarded her with information and evidence that didn’t take me long to pick up during my week of being in San Francisco. She and everyone around her was an open book. The look on Erik’s face when he looked at her like she was the last source of water on earth. Like he was absolutely infatuated— no. In love with this woman. I knew it well. It was the face I made at her quite often.

“Sam, I told you he’s my best frie—” she started but I didn’t want excuses.

“Just answer the goddamn question!” I snapped. She was talking around in circles and I didn’t have time for it. We didn’t have time for it.

“Since long before I met you.” She growled, staring me deep into my eyes. I stared her down and she looked right back. I wasn’t intimidating her for anything. Why I thought I could for a moment, I didn’t know. Nobody scared Sunny Spurrs. Something about knowing officially that she slept with Erik… It hurt more than I thought. And suddenly, I began to understand how she must’ve been feeling. On the other hand though, I couldn’t help but wonder… I winced before bringing up my next question. This one I hoped wasn’t true.

“So you’ve been leading him on? Have you been leading me on?” I asked. I couldn’t be lead on. I didn’t have time for it. I was a grown man with grown man shit to do, treasures to discover. Putting energy into something that wasn’t going anywhere was the last thing I wanted to do.

“Sam, you fucked several girls in several countries. And you fucked Chloe! You don’t get to be pissed over the one guy I fucked, out of your seven! Did it really take so many girls to realize I was waitin’ on you?!” She exploded, throwing her arms about. Her brows knitted together and her lips curled into a snarl. I was shocked…. but she was right. As I looked into her now watering eyes, I lit myself another cigarette and shook my head. She continued on. “All summer…. I did nothin’ but think about you and your sorry ass!” Tears began spilling past her cheeks as she spoke. Here we go: I’d done it.

“Yes. I did fuck Erik. I fucked him as soon as we got back from Libertalia. One time! It was routine. He was safe, he was my friend. And I love him so much but… I’m not in love with him. After the one time we slept together, I called it off. I couldn’t do it anymore…. I just kept thinkin’ about you. So what’s your excuse asshole?!” Her lips trembled and she crossed her arms over her chest protectively, running her hands down her arms to calm her raging nerves.

I really didn’t know what to say… I began wrestling with my feelings, tapping the ashes off of my cigarette. If I kept her around, that was bye bye freedom. If I didn’t tell her how I felt, I’d lose her forever… Once I weighed these options, I knew then what I had to do. “You have no idea… how hard I tried to forget you.” was what came out. For some reason, when I argued with Sunny, things tended to come out far different than intended. In all actuality, she was the intimidating one. She made a face at my sudden comment. And I knew how it sounded already, so I took the time to get ahead of it.

“I tried... so very hard to get over you. I didn’t want that attachment— I didn’t need it. Not when I’d just gotten my life back! Not when there was still so much to do... Selfish thinking: I thought you’d only slow me down.” She looked hurt. But I had a point to all of this. I just had to get it together. “As cheesy as it sounds…… ugh…. my heart had other plans for me. I always thought the guys in the movies were overdoin’ the whole ‘missing you’ thing but…. Every time I turned around, you were there. In a beer, in a song, in some crappy silver diner menu… some stupid bracelet...” I began, chuckling nervously as I gestured to the jewelry on her arm. She didn’t laugh but a twitch came about the corner of her full lips. She looked down at her wrist and touched the bracelet a moment as if she’d forgotten it had been there all along. I didn’t know if anything I was saying was getting through to her, but I continued anyway, just bearing my feelings to her.

“Some girl tried talking to me once… All I could see in her eyes were yours. It annoyed me to shit, so I fucked her. Hoping that just maybe… I’d stop thinkin’ about you. And it worked… Not for long though. It wasn’t until I called someone else your name that I—”

“Wow, Sam. Is that supposed to make me feel better? That you called some other girl my name—” she said, starting to storm off but I grabbed her by the arm and ran in front of her to keep her from going anywhere.

“Sunny, let me finish!” I snapped. I didn’t mean to be so aggressive about it. In all honesty, it was the nerves. I couldn’t fuck this part up. I couldn’t afford to. I couldn’t afford to lose her on behalf of my stupidity. This was the important part and I needed to say it. I felt like my heart was going to jump out of my chest. Her expression was as still as stone but she stayed quiet and let me continue as I struggled to make sense of things.

“Chloe was like a wake up call for me. And I realized…. when it didn’t feel right… that I only wanted you. I didn’t care how— I just wanted you. And then back there, I thought you were gone…. I’d never been so worried to lose someone…. Y’know, it’s been a while since I’ve dated anyone and I was scared.” I said.

“Scared of what?” She asked.

“To feel…” I answered rather quickly. I hated to do it but if there was ever a time that I needed to be vulnerable, it was now. “I was scared to care… I didn’t wanna face the inevitable that I would hurt you somehow… Or that I wouldn’t be able to care for you like you’d want… I might’ve gotten what you wanted a little confused. But I think I get it now...” Her expression softened a little and I approached her, linking my large pinky with her small first finger, gently swinging out hands between us. I chewed on my lip and looked off a moment before staring into her hypnotizing brown eyes. It was time that I owned up to my mistakes…

“I shouldn’t have expected you to wait for me… I guess I just thought that maybe when I was done with my foolishness that you’d still be there. Which was stupid of me— gorgeous as you are.” I babbled. I stared at her beautiful face and began to let the apologies pour. I’d lay it as thick as I need to. I just wanted my girl back. “I screwed up, Sun. I know that. And I know… I haven’t exactly been the best character in your life… But every second I spend with you means more to me than you even know and I can’t lose th—” Before I could even finish, Sunny placed her hands on either side of my face and brought me down to kiss her warm lips. I could feel a faint smile on her as she kissed me. I seemed to melt into her as my hands circled her waist, pulling her closer and deepening the kiss. I rested my forehead against hers, parting our lips to give us a moment to breath.

“I wanted you from the moment I laid eyes on you. Whether I liked it or not. Although, you kinda didn’t give me a choice so...” I laughed and a small giggle sprung from her lips. One that sounded like music to my ears. It made me smile. A bout of seriousness came around as I spoke. “I need you, Sunny. And I was wrong. You don’t slow me down or hold me back. You’re in this with me. And you can hold your own. I won’t doubt you again, sweetheart.” I told her. I could see her eyes dart over every feature of my face as her thumbs stroked at my cheekbones.

“I forgive you…. and I’m sorry—”

“No, no, baby— don’t be sorry. I understand why… I really do.” I cooed, caressing her cheek and staring into her eyes. “Hey… let’s table this for later, eh? Catch up with the girls, go make some money? Maybe stop an arms deal or somethin’?” I asked, running my hands down her arms. She gave the airiest giggle. Boy, it was much better to be on her good side than bad. The whole silent treatment/ cold shoulder shit? Brutal.

“Sounds like a plan.” She said as I threw an arm around her. Suddenly, she shoved me and leaned back away.

“What?” I asked in confusion. She tuned up her face and covered her nose with her hand.

“Ross was right. You smell like ass.” She croaked our. I burst into laughter.

“Oh fuck off, loser!” I grinned, flipping her off. She just interlocked her fingers with mine and kissed my cheek.

“Let’s go do work.” She said with a smirk. And with that, we were off to finish the job.

Read More on AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26555698

[fandomfanfics12]

Home Lives With You-Part 10

Title: Home Lives With You. Pairings: Steve x Tony Part: 10/? Warnings: swearing, fluff, angst, blood, abuse (physical and verbal), ptsd, anxiety, bullying Summary: Peter’s been living with the abusive Thompson family for years, it was the only family in the system that would take him. When Steve and Tony get a phone call from the social worker who introduced them to their daughter Morgan for an emergency placement, they feel like they must pay back the favor. But are Steve and Tony taking on more than they can handle, and will Peter be able to adjust to a warm and welcoming family home? A/N: Hey, sorry it’s been so long since I last uploaded. I was struggling to write and just decided to take some time off to focus on some things I had going on in my life. But I am back now and keen to get back into writing! Tag list is still open if you’re interested! Hope you enjoy this part!

Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4, Part 5, Part 6, Part 7, Part 8, Part 9

To be finally done with school and know that Peter would get to stay with the Stark-Rogers family for the entirety of his summer break brought an inner peace to Peter that he had never experienced before. To know he wouldn’t have to deal with Flash or his idiot friends, to know he didn’t have to slave after Mr and Mrs Thompson, but rather got to play with Morgan and cook with Steve and watch movies with Tony. It all seemed like such a gift. Peter was in his room, fiddling with an old Rubik’s cube Rhodey had given him a million years ago when Tony appeared at his door.

“Pete?” he asked, his voice soft and his hair wet. He must have just had a shower. Peter twisted the old and worn Rubik’s cube twice more before setting it down.

“Hey, Mr Stark-Rogers, what’s up?” Peter asked and bit his lip from the informality. It’s not like that here. Peter reminded himself and Tony seemed to wince a little.

“Alright why don’t we start summer on a fresh page huh? Do you think you could try just calling me and Steve by our first names?” Tony asked softly, a gentle smile made Tony’s features light up and Peter nodded, looking down at his bare feet. The carpet in here was so soft, and his feet sank into it.

“Okay, uh, Tony.” The name felt weird and it hung in the air for a while. But when Peter finally looked up, Tony was grinning.

“That’s better.” He said and seemed more at ease, Peter even relaxed a little.

“Is there something I can do, Tony?” Peter asked and scrunched up his nose a little, Tony pretended not to notice it.

“I was wondering if you had any plans for the summer?” Peter shook his head, he didn’t have any friends of whom he could make plans with.

“Oh okay, good.” Tony’s face brightened, relief coated his features and Peter felt another wave of relief crash into him knowing he’d said the right thing. given the right answer.

“Why?” Peter asked and then wondered if he was overstepping, maybe Tony just wanted him to babysit Morgan all summer. Something Peter would be more than happy to do.

“Well, Steve and I were looking at renting out a log cabin at this lake, it’s about three hours away but we figured we could go up for two weeks so I just thought I’d make sure it didn’t clash with your plans.” Tony explained and Peter’s heart leapt up into his throat.

“If you want I can stay here, look after the house. I’d hate to intrude on your family holiday.” Peter said all too quickly. He readied himself for the blow to come, for Tony to accept his offer. The reinforcement that he was just being babysat by these people until he could go to the next foster family.

“What? absolutely not! You are part of the family and you are coming on vacation with us, and that’s final.” Before Peter could argue or put his foot in it, Tony left. Peter stared after him with his jaw hanging open.

You are part of the family.

And instantly Peter burst into tears.

-

Tony was a little worried that he’d pushed the kid a little too far. Would Peter be okay with this? being called a part of the family? or had Tony overstepped? He pondered these questions as he stared at the washing machine.

“Sweetheart?” Steve asked as he entered the laundry, a frown on his face.

“Hey Stevie.” Tony smiled and Steve tilted his head.

“Everything okay?” he asked and Tony found himself forcing out a nod, then he shrugged.

“Pete’s onboard with the vacation.” Tony said, or was he? What if he hadn’t wanted to go? what if that was why he’d offered to stay at the house? Maybe he didn’t want to come along with them.

“You sure about that?” Steve asked with a little chuckle and Tony craned his neck up to look into Steve’s eyes.

“No?” he recounted the conversation to Steve who nodded along sympathetically.

“Okay, well I’ll go ask if he actually wants to come along with us, and you just relax. You didn’t do anything wrong.” Steve assured him and Tony desperately wanted to believe him, to believe that he really hadn’t screwed this up.

“Really?” at this, Steve laughed.

“Tony we want to make Peter a permanent part of this family, you shouldn’t feel guilty for expressing love and affection towards him. We both know its good for him.” Tony nodded, Steve was right. he was being dumb, Peter couldn’t possibly be upset for Tony saying he was part of the family.

“You’re right, he’s probably happy I said that. Right?” Steve grinned and looked relieved, like maybe Tony was finally understanding.

“Exactly. Now I’m going to go upstairs and check on him, do you want to quickly run down to the store and get something for dinner?” Tony nodded, glad that Steve had known him well enough to give him something to do. Something to keep his mind busy.

“okay, let me know how it goes when I get back.” Steve nodded and then left Tony alone in the laundry. It’s fine. Tony told himself, looking up at the roof. He’s probably excited about the trip and didn’t even notice the comment.

-

Steve approached the painted-white wooden bedroom door that separated Peter’s room from the hallway. He was suddenly overcome with nerves, which was ridiculous. Steve shook himself and then wrapped his knuckles against the wood.

“come in.” said a small and weak voice. Steve flinched but there was no turning back now. he opened the door, a bright smile on his face only to see a teary eyed, red faced Peter. He was curled up on the bed, knees up against his chest and chin resting atop.

“Pete?” Steve asked softly and Peter forced himself to smile. A twinge went through Steve’s heart at seeing him like this. looking so devastated, so hurt, all because Tony told him he was a part of the family?

“What’s up, Steve?” the breath immediately left Steve’s throat. Steve. The reality of hearing his name from Peter’s mouth crashed over him and it was like a bucket of ice water. He sat down next to Peter on the bed and wrapped his arms around the kid.

“Is everything okay Pete?” Steve asked softly and Peter sniffled and then nodded.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Are you sure that you guys want me to come along on vacation?” Steve’s hold on Peter tightened as his heart clenched at the words. This poor kid had been through so much and Steve would never forgive the world for doing this to him.

“Peter we wouldn’t have asked you to come along if we didn’t want you to. I fully stand by Tony’s words in the fact that you are a part of this family, our family okay?” After a long moment Peter nodded and seemed to relax in Steve’s arms.

“Okay.” Peter whispered, his voice hoarse.

“Now I have a question for you.” Steve pulled away and he could now see how truly red and swollen Peter’s eyes were.

“You can ask me anything.” Peter said softly, his eyes had darted down to his hands where he was fiddling with a Rubik’s cube.

“Did you want to come on this vacation with us? You’re a teenager and I know you said you hadn’t made any plans yet but I was your age once and can understand the temptation of a vacant house.” Steve ruffled the mop of hair on top of Peter’s head and made a mental note to book him in with the barber. It was getting long.

“Of course I want to go!” Peter said all too quickly and Steve rose a brow.

“Really? You want to kick back with me and Tony and listen to Morgan scream the whole car ride there?” Steve kept his voice light and jokey, but serious enough so that Peter could know that he really would be allowed to hang here if he wanted. Steve could cook up some meals and put them in the freezer, Peter would just have to reheat them.

“No, I really would love to come along.” Peter insisted and Steve’s smile turned into a broad and wide grin.

“Great, did you want to bring a friend along?” apparently it was the wrong thing to say. Peter’s face had had joy written all over it, with a great big smile and a light in his eyes that Steve got to watch vanish. Peter looked away, as if he were embarrassed.

“I don’t really have anyone I could invite.” He admitted and Steve inhaled sharply.

“Oh.” Was the only dumb thing that Steve could manage to say. But Peter shrugged his shoulders like it was no big deal.

“With Flash in my grade, he just made sure no one ever really talked to me.” a new and fresh wave of anger rolled through Steve’s gut at the mistreatment the Thompson family displayed towards Peter. He should have hit Mr Thompson harder.

“I’m so sorry kiddo.” Steve whispered and Peter shrugged again, forcing a smile onto his face as he pulled away and stood up, setting the Rubik’s cube down on his desk.

“It’s really no big deal, I’m used to it by now.” Peter ran a hand through his mop of hair and Steve shook his head.

“What about that girl that you told Morgan about? MG?” Steve said and Peter snorted.

“MJ.” He corrected and Steve lightly chuckled, but a smile was starting to creep its way onto Peter’s face.

“Yeah, that’s what I said. What about her?” Peter looked at his phone that sat on his desk, it almost looked like he had barely touched it.

“I don’t know if she’d even want to come along.”

“You don’t know until you ask.” And with that, Steve left so Peter could have some privacy.

-

Peter wasn’t even sure why he was so nervous. He had her number, but they hadn’t ever really spoken. Would this come off as creepy? Strange? Would the kids bully him for it when he went back to school at the end of summer? But then, Peter couldn’t exactly imagine that things could get much worse than they already were at school. So he picked up his phone.

Hey, my family and I are going to a cabin for two weeks and I was wondering if you’d like to come along?

Peter’s thumb hovered over the send button, his heart pounded in his chest but instead he deleted the message. Too long. Too creepy.

Hey, so I know we haven’t exactly talked much…but my family said I could bring a friend along to this cabin in the woods and

Peter shook his head, that sounded like he was going to kill her. Maybe he shouldn’t bother. Maybe he should call her. She probably wouldn’t even answer the phone, he thought about calling her for a moment longer before he simply tossed the phone onto the bed. Another time, he needed to think of the perfect wording before he could dare ask her to come along. Especially since they were going away for two whole weeks. She’d probably say no. there was no point in getting worked up about the whole thing. he shook himself and headed downstairs so he could help with dinner. As soon as he hit the last step the front door swung open and Tony entered, food shopping bags in hand.

“Hey kiddo can you give me a hand?” Peter nodded but his mind snagged on that one word. kiddo. Steve had said it too. It had warmed Peter all the way down to his toes, it was almost like they really thought of him as part of the family. he shook the thoughts away, that wasn’t true. Just a nickname, it meant nothing.

Because at the end of the day, Peter knew that he meant nothing. But he couldn’t dwell on these things so he walked out to the car and picked up the remaining bags, carrying them inside of the house. It was still light out, and Peter was once again reminded of one of the reasons he loved summer. Back when he had stayed with the Thompson’s, he’d been locked in the basement as soon as the sun had set. At least in the summertime he wasn’t down there for so long. It’s different here. Peter reminded himself as he plopped the bags down onto the kitchen bench.

“So, uh, did Steve talk to you about the trip?” Tony asked, he drummed his fingers on the bench, like he was nervous or something. Impatient. Peter thought and felt a knot of anxiety grow tighter in his stomach.

“Yeah he did, and he offered me the opportunity to bring a friend. Is that alright with you sir?” Tony winced at the word but Peter couldn’t help it, it was like how some people bounced their knee or bit their nails. Formality was his nervous tick.

“Of course Pete, are you feeling alright? You look nervous.” Tony’s face was soft and his eyes wide. Trying to soothe, to comfort. Peter yearned for that, instead he squeezed his eyes shut.

“I need your help with something.” Peter admitted and dug his nails into his palms, making tiny fists.

“What is it?” Steve said from behind him and his hand came to rest on Peter’s shoulder. Peter’s eyes snapped open and he readied the question.

“My uh, friend, I don’t know how to ask her to come.” Peter admitted and felt the two men exchange a look.

“What do you mean Pete?” Steve asked and Peter looked up at him, then looked to Tony, then swallowed. The knot of anxiety tightened and his hands began to tremble a little at his sides. What if this made them not want him to come? What if they waned to get rid of him after asking this? he was no one. He wasn’t their kid. He was nothing.

“Well uh, most kids at school don’t know I’m in the system. And no one knew I was living with Flash for uh, obvious reasons.” He was watching Tony, watched as his jaw clenched and his left eye twitched.

“and this friend of yours doesn’t know?” Steve asked, moving to sit down on one of the stools at the kitchen island. Peter nodded his head, glanced down at his feet and then back up at them.

“Yeah, so uh, is it okay when asking her to come, if I uh, just say I’m going on a trip with my…” he couldn’t get the word out. Couldn’t bring himself to say it. the rejection would be too brutal. Too harsh.

Family.

“Pete?” Steve prompted but Peter felt like his throat had closed up. It was just one stupid word, but there was so much meaning behind it. he felt like he was frozen in this moment, in this question. Was it really so wrong for him to want a family? to feel like he belonged somewhere? For him to be loved? Was it really so wrong for him to want people to celebrate his birthday with, or to give Christmas presents to? Or was it really so wrong for him to want to have people be there at his graduation, help him move into college?

No it wasn’t wrong, but maybe it would be wrong for him to ask this specific family to want him back. They had a kid, why would they want another one?

“Peter it’s okay, you’re safe to express yourself here.” Tony reminded him and he nodded.

“You can say no of course, we could say you’re some uncles of mine if you’re not comfortable, but I was wondering if I could call you guys my umm, my family.” he couldn’t look at them. Couldn’t watch for a reaction. For the rejection. The blows that were about to come his way. He couldn’t hear that, couldn’t look at that.

“Oh, Peter…” Peter winced and squeezed his eyes shut.

Right.

I’m no one.

@smallnjh @picklepotatoe14 @thatis-americas-ass​ @briebriebrieee @aftereveryraincomessunshine @meyamoadriytu @loveliestdisappointment

[malfoysqueen54]

Drunken Confessions

Pairing :Steve x Reader

I wrote this yrs ago for @avengerscompound​ Cards Against Humanity Challenge. First Marvel thing I wrote. So here it is I cleaned it up some and am sending it out to you all. Also if I have already tagged you before for this. Sorry but I redid it and am posting it on this blog.

Patron at Tony’s party. Leads to the ladies making some drunk confessions on one another. Including Y/n’s secrets about her crush. 

Masterlist

Tony’s parties always ended with them all sitting together half-drunk if not completely most of the time. They were a family and loved being together and having fun when they could relax. Even with just them it was still a crowd. All the women pleasantly buzzed and danced together as the men hung out giving one another crap and laughing. This hadn’t been a fancy get together more like pizza and football Sunday.

Y/n ran over to where the guys were with Jane, handing them drinks. “Just so you know. We are not your waitress’” Jane quirked a brow at them.

“But Y/N has a tray,” Tony pointed out. 

“Cause it takes a pack mule to water you boys.” She finished setting drinks down and then smacked Tony with the tray.  The guys all chuckled as Tony rubbed his head.

Nat came over and pointed at Steve and Bucky’s drink. “Don’t let anyone else drink those.”

Steve and Bucky raised their brows and looked at one another. “Thor?” Steve asked and Nat smirked. Bucky chuckled and grabbed his drink.

Darcy popped up from behind the bar. “Y/N! Nat!” The two women turned. “I found Patron. Tony tried to hide it.” She said excitedly. “OOOH there are like three bottles” Darcy looked down.

 Nat and Y/N scrambled grinning to the bar. “This party just got dirtier.” Clint chuckled into his drink shaking his head. 

“What is it with tequila?” Scott asked.

Sam chuckled. “ It makes women hot and for some reason remove their clothes. They get wild.”

“Hope hun, you should have some shots with the girls” Scott turned speaking to his woman making the group of men begin laughing again.

“Jane, I think you should try it.” Thor added as well. His friends turned to look at him. “What? Like you all are not thinking about it.”

Sam high fives Thor. “People it’s gonna be a rowdy night!!”

The girls were around the bar and taking shots. “We can hear you!” Y/N rolled her eyes.

“Yeah give her tequila. She is grouchy.” Bucky chuckled.

“Friday, turn up the music for the girls” Tony grinned. 

Steve watched her, even in simple jeans and a tank top hair thrown in a ponytail. She was beautiful. Y/n had been  in his life since he left the ice. Despite her flirtatious nature and complicated party lifestyle, he looked out for her and never told her he felt something for her. He had dreamed many times of being the guys she kissed at the club/bar/party and then saw leaving in the morning. May be one night, but oh he would make it count. He knew everyone thought him sweet, innocent, the model gentleman. He had let go though and explored. Steve just didn’t flaunt it like the others, he had caught up with 21st century women. He was proud of it too. Sam and Bucky were the only ones who really knew though.

It didn’t take long before a bottle of Patron was gone with the girls, they were giggling and dancing together as the guys shook their head at their antics. They were currently watching them dance in a big buzzed orgy to “Not Myself Tonight” By Christina Aguilera. Nat was making out with Y/n while Darcy was making out with Hope.

“What exactly is in that tequila?” Bucky asked in a sigh as the men watched mesmerized. 

“Is it wrong that I am totally turned on right now? I can’t look away” Scott shook his head.

“No” All the men sighed watching as the girls just kept dancing and laughing oblivious to the audience of testosterone.

Clint watched. “It might be a girl night,” watching Nat and Y/n.

“Huh?” Sam asked, not really paying attention.

“Nat and Y/n, let’s say scratch an itch for one another.” Clint smirked. “They are real close.” He winked. That did indeed grab the guy’s attention and they looked at him as the girls brought drink refills.

“You mean, Y/n and Nat have sex?” Thor asked as Jane set down his and the two super soldiers drinks. “Oh yeah.” Jane nodded smiling and walking back over to the bar. 

“Isn’t Nat with you though?” Steve asked as he adjusted how he sat.

“Yeah, but they both like men and women. So, they have that kind of friendship to fill that need” Clint shrugged. “Hunny is it a girl night?” He called out asking.

Nat came over smirking sitting on his lap as did the rest of the girls, alcohol having lowered their brains filters. “Maybe both”

“Ohhh” Clint smiled and kissed her. 

“What the hell actually goes on in this tower?!” Tony asked incredulously looking at Pepper. “Babe you really don’t want to know” She replied with a sly smile kissing his forehead.

Y/n chuckled sitting between Bucky and Sam. “Oh you act like you haven’t done a threesome before or orgy, please.” She rolled her eyes and downed another shot, handing one to Darcy.

“You're into women and men? Really?” Sam asked

“Hell yes, the best of both worlds. I am limited to Darcy and Nat currently though.”

“HEY!” Darcy protested as they all looked at her.

“Oops sorry Darc” She made a face.

“You are cheating on me?”Nat smacked Y/n thigh. quirking a brow.

Steve leaned towards Bucky. “Did we really live long enough to hear this conversation?”

“Uh huh. I am in heaven” Bucky licked his lips adjusting how he sat as Steve groaned.

“No! She’s not- I was curious, and after last time with Clint and that tech guy. Clint was mad, so she backed off” Darcy answered quickly.

Y/n pointed at her. “What she said.”

Nat looked at Clint. “Aw hunny are you still upset about that.” She asked sweetly.

“What happened besides four people in one bed. Not anything new where I am from.” Thor shrugged

Tony turned to Pepper. “You’re not a good girlfriend, why don’t you have female toys. Also, we are moving to Asgard.” Pepper smacked him in the back of the head.

“She said someone else’s name during her orgasm with me.” Clint said accusingly and Y/n rolled her eyes. All the men gasped like they had been burned looking at her. The holy grail of mistakes during sex,

“Ladies and gents, what is one thing that can bring an orgy to a screeching halt?” Tony stared at her accusingly. 

“What?! It was a mistake, UGH!” She groaned

 Nat smiled, shrugging. “I think it’s who it was” She chuckled.

“Yeah like- “Clint was cut off by Y/n knocking his drink out of his hand.

“You promised Barton” She snapped pointing at him.

 Sam grinned suddenly. “Ohhhh so it’s someone here.”

“Has to be, look how defensive she got” Tony pointed out.

“Who was it?” Scott asked excitedly. “Was it a guy or a girl?”

“A guy” Darcy answered before thinking and all the girls looked at her. “Oh, sorry Y/N/N”

Tony looked like a kid in a candy store before leaning forward with the other men. “Come on Barton, she deserves it. Is it one of us?”

“Oh My God…you ego freaks. I am getting more Patron.” Y/N walked to the bar.

Nat and Darcy chuckled following as Clint shook his head. “She’ll kill me. She promised. Never mention Steve again during sex.” All the men started hooting and hollering looking at Steve as his eyes widened. “Oh shit! Y/N, I’m sorry” Clint held up his hand as he backed off the chair. She had turned with a stunned death glare.

“Clint run,” Nat said as she tried to hold Y/N along with Darcy around the waist. “Calm down Y/n/n.”

“I’m gonna kill him.” Y/n growled able to knock Nat and Darcy off her due to their intoxication.

Bucky and Sam looked at Steve smirking. “She said your name as she orgasmed.” Sam goaded Steve on.

“While with another man. She was thinking about you” Bucky added nodding. Those two knew he had a thing for her. 

Y/n  couldn’t believe Clint did that, she had to throw attention off her. “Darcy’s vibrator is nicknamed Falcon” She yelled out.

“Y/N!” Darcy gasped as Sam looked at her stunned.

“Pepper wants to sleep with Clint.” Darcy shouted out.

“What the hell?” Tony exclaimed looking at Pepper.

“They are trying to throw attention from one another. This is interesting.” Thor smirked.

“Jane said she wants to have a threesome with Thor and Loki” Pepper tossed out. Jane looked shocked.

“Y/n has gotten herself off in Steve’s bed when he is away” Jane threw out, throwing it back on Y/n.

“Oh this is interesting” Scott grinned downing his drink

“NO!” Y/n screamed, stomping her foot covering her mouth in shock.

Sam and Bucky looked at Steve. He couldn’t help the shocked grin on his face.

“Hope has thought about Tony when she orgasms” Angel countered pointing at her. Hope fell off her chair trying to protest.

“N-Nat has a kink for Bucky’s metal arm, and wants him to do evil pleasurable things to her with it” Hope countered looking at Scott and pointing at Bucky.

Nat looked at Hope “Hey!!”

“What?!” they all looked up as they heard Clint exclaim from the vents.

Y/n put her hands on his hips “I knew it, the ventilation system is his happy place” She growled. The girls all started to bicker amongst themselves.

Tony looked at the guys.” Once we make eye contact they are going to scatter”

Sam nodded” They are buzzed they aren’t realizing yet, we heard all of that.”

“Go for the girl closest to you, catch them then exchange as needed.” Scott said.

They all agreed and nodded. Steve turned to Bucky. “Grab Y/N for me if she slips away.”

Bucky smirked and nodded his head. As the men looked up at the bickering crowd of women. Darcy looked and placed her hand on Nat and Y/N to get them to look up. The bickering stopped, silence fell. Steve locked intense gazes with her he saw her eyes widen as her hands came to cover her mouth. Yup it finally hit her he heard it all and was screwed. The men slowly rose out of their seats taking careful steps towards the group in a synced group of predators.

Y/n shook her head “Dodge and weave ladies. Every woman for herself!!!” She said, throwing Jane in her way as she took off. She made it to the elevators. Bucky saw nodding for Steve to take the stairs. “FRIDAY where did the elevator stop?” Steve asked as they took off down the stairs.

“It stopped on yours and Sergeant Barnes’ floor sir.”

“Hiding in the least obvious place. She’s smart” Bucky said heading another floor down to his and Steve’s floor.

Him and Steve entered silently, they didn’t dare turn on the lights and alert her. She was hiding behind the pillar in the corner by the main living areas door. She knew it opened but not that two of them came in. She didn’t see Steve move to the left only saw Bucky on the right. She sighed in relief and Bucky heard it. He waited till she carefully moved from her hiding spot and turned on her. “Bucky don’t scare me. Where is he?” She asked. She felt an arm wrap around her waist and the other slipped over her mouth stifling her scream of surprise. 

“Looking for me doll” She felt him whisper against her ear and she shivered as his breath fanned over her ear. Bucky smirked and saluted her as Steve dragged her farther into their living quarters. She panicked and began to fight him cursing behind his hand. “Shhh sweetheart. I just want to talk.” He whispered his lips grazing behind her ear this time. She couldn’t help the gentle moan that escaped her. Steve smiled at Bucky winking before closing his door and locked it letting her go.

She jerked away from him, putting some distance between them. “What is wrong with you?!” She snapped at him as he leaned back against his door. Steve knew she would try to bolt.

“Y/n/n, I ju- “He began but was cut off by her.

“No, No! We are not talking about this! I should be busy writing my resignation and planning my relocation to Zimbabwe.” She held her hand up to him.

“Y/N- “He tried again.

She shook her head holding a finger up to silence him. “So, what! Yes, Jesus. I said your name. I think about you sexually. Look I never made our friendship awkward. I never told you. I know you’re too good for me. I KNOW Steve. Your Captain America, I am a crappy agent who parties.” She waved her arms around. “You are the god damn moral compass or America. I know okay!”

Steve took a slight step from the door. “Sweetheart- “His head fell as he was cut off again.

“Please don’t sugarcoat this, don’t make me listen to the rejection I know is coming and have played out in my head a million times. Just- no more Patron.” She said letting out a huff of a laugh trying to keep the tears at bay. “I am so embarrassed can you please just- “

Y/n was finally cut off by Steve who came up to her quickly cupping her cheeks and pressing his lips to hers” Do you ever shut up?” He asked softly against her lips sealing them to hers once again running his tongue over the crease of her lips the gasp she released allowed him to delve in and explore her mouth. He felt her hands rest on his shoulders squeezing gently. Hesitant, confused, she didn’t want to pull her mouth away though ever as he wrapped her in his arms.

@thorne93​ @pegasusdragontiger​ @magellan-88​ @emoryhemsworth​ @forever-trapped-in-my-dreams​ @star-spangled-man-with-a-plan​ @buckysforeverprincess​ @st-eve-barnes​

[writingkeepsmewhole]

Kitten

This is a new fic I’m starting. It is gonna be very heavy with BDSM, kitten play and maybe even some DDLG. I made this part to see how you my readers would like something like this. Also please let me know if y'all want her to be new to the BDSM world or her knowing something about it.

PLEASE LET ME KNOW WHAT YOU THINK!!! 

Fic Summery: Sophia has never known love, her always picking the “good guy” him always turning out to be like a snake in the weeds. What will happen when shes took home one night by a “bad guy” him showing her things she never knew about herself.

Part Summery: Sophia finds her boyfriend cheating her getting drunk and going home with a stranger.

Warnings:Abuse, cheating mentioned I think that’s it. 

Let me know if you want to be tagged would love to add you.

I walked up the steps to my shared apartment. Looking for my keys in my  purse I stepped when I bumped into the girl from the apartment next to me. I could never remember her name.

“Oh sorry.” I say smiling at her.

“It’s no problem. I umm I’m sorry.” She says quickly walking around me and down the steps.

I lifted my eyebrow in confusion at her behavior and finished climbing the steps.

When I got to the third floor I started to walk down the hall. I stopped at door 369 and put my key in the nob.

Unlocking it I pushed the door only to stop in my tracks. On the couch was what I thought to be the man that loved me. He was on top of a girl moaning his name.

My first thought was to scream as my stomach turned in disgust but I couldn’t find the voice. I didn’t bother closing the door or even getting my key out of the nob.

I walked back down the hallway slowly almost wishing they would notice the food and he would come after me. But I really didn’t want that. I wouldn’t know what to say if he did.

When I got to the steps I picked up my pace suddenly wanting to be as far away from him as I could. Taking two at a time I felt the sting behind my eyes and my throat tighten up. My vision was blurry with tears.

As if to kick me while I was down my foot missed a step and I started to fall on my face. I react by catching myself but not before I feel my ankle twist.

Sitting down I pull my foot up to my lap and pull my jeans up to look at my ankle. It was red, the blood rushing to repair the damage. I touch it and let out a whimper knowing it will be bruised maybe when worse.

Wiping the tears off my face I pull myself and slowly step down. A hot sharp pain shoots up my leg telling me that my ankle was more than bruised.

I should have got ice to put on it but instead I continue down the steps. Reaching the bottom I walk as best I could to the parking lot.

I was halfway to my car when I realized I didn’t have the key. Not wanting to return to my apartment I limp over to the sidewalk.

The streat busy with traffic and people. I didn’t live in the best part of town so there was always something going on.

Tonight just happened to be the opening of a new club. It was some fancy name I didn’t bother pronouncing but that didn’t stop me from walking across the street.

I stood in the line knowing I looked out of place in simple jeans and a button up. When the girl in front of me looked me up and down in shock I sighed knowing they most likely wouldn’t even let me in like this. 

Putting my purse on my elbow I pulled my black button up from my waistband and unbuttoned the top few buttons letting me show just enough to look like I wanted to seem sexy. I uncliped my hair letting the brunette curls fall around my face. I didn’t bother trying to fix it, messy hair was hot right?

The line gave me enough time to touch up my natural make up. I put red lipstick on hoping I now looked like I cared or at least tried.

I finished just in time to dig out my ID and hand it to the bouncer.

“Twenty three huh?” He asks, looking me up and down.

Sighing I look up at him nodding. He made my 5’3 frame look three foot.

“I know I look young being short doesn't help but I promise you I’m legal. I just walked in on my boyfriend cheating on me and I could use a drink or two.”

“I’m sure you’ll be a lightweight.” He says chuckling at me and handing me back my ID.

He lifts up the velvet rope letting me pass.

“Thanks.” I say walking into the building the base attacking my system first it followed by the smell of liquor and sex.

I walked through the crowd of people, it filling up despite being barley past six but I guess a new club was just that new.

I push my way to the bar, it being tended by both a woman and man. I get the girl her white hair glowing under the black lights.

Her lip was pierced along with her eyebrow and her arms were painted with flower tattoos. She was pretty.

“ID please.” She yells over the music.

I hand it to her, she glances at it and gives it back.

“What can I get you?”

“As long as it’s sweet I don’t care.” I yell back.

The bouncer was right. I was a lightweight but at least I would admit it.

She smiles and nods at me as if she knows exactly what to make me. A few minutes later she returns with a pina colada 

I thank her and take a drink, the sweet taste of coconut and rum filling my mouth.

“Got cheated on huh?” She asks, flicking her hair out of the way. It let me see that the underside was dyed a dark red.

“Am I that transparent?”

“I have been doing this for a while. I know the look. But you don’t seem that upset so I’m guessing it’s not the first time?”

“No it is as far as I know. I guess I expected it.” I say stirring my drink with my straw.

She glanced at my hand, her eyes jumping to the movement but they stayed there. I look at my left hand seeing that my sleeve has ridden up showing the news bruises he left on me. His fingerprints clearly wrapped around my wrist.

Pulling my sleeve up I laid my hand in my lap.

“Do you have somewhere to go?”

“Yeah, I’ll be fine. Thank you though.” I say smiling at her.

It was a lie but she seemed to believe it, her smiling at me as she was called away by another customer.

Picking up my drink I walk to one of the tables in the corner. A handful of them having tall chairs next to them.

I quickly sat at one not wanting to stand any longer my ankle was throbbing at this point. I laid my purse in my lap and put my drink on the table getting comfortable.

A half an hour later I was already on my second drink. I could feel the warm feeling starting to spread through me which I was perfectly okay with.

It wasn’t like I had to drive to get home.

When a girl dressed in a cat custom walked up to me and placed another drink on my table I looked at her.

“I didn’t order this.” I say politely.

“I know Miss, the gentleman over there ordered it for you. He also paid for your other drinks.” She says guestering to an older man in one of the booths in the wall.

I couldn just make him out from where I was, so I knew he could see me looking at him. He lifted his glass at me and nodded his head.

“Well tell him thank you for me.” I say taking the drink.

I didn’t think that happened in real life but I wasn’t about to turn it down. Despite that I couldn’t help like I was being watched.

Glancing back up I meet the eyes of the man again. He tilted his head back slightly lifting his hand he motioned me over with his finger.

Blushing I look at the table. I wasn’t here to get picked up or hit on. I came here to shed a few tears and go back home.

But that was slipping from my mind as I looked back up to run my eyes over him. 

He looked to be in his mid thirties or early forties. He was tall with a strong build. I shivered under his gaze thinking about how easily he could hurt me.

He moved his arm laying it on the back of the seat, making the muscle under his skin show how toned he was. He could throw my small frame across the room with ease.

Shaking my head from that thought I moved my eyes to his face. A dusting of stubble covered his strong jaw. It was groomed enough that he looked good for a night out but he still looked rugged. His hair was short enough to run your fingers through the top and the sides were neatly trimmed. Despite his hard extearer his eyes were soft. The dark club kept me from seeing their color but he didn’t seem threatening.

When his eyes met mine I looked down at my hands wishing her would stop looking at me. As if I wasn’t just caught starting at him. But he didn't seem to mind. A smirk on his face told me he liked me looking.

I glanced up again telling myself this was my last peak but he was gone. My heart almost dropped at that. I bite my lip and bend my head down to take a drink.

It snaps up when a familiar voice fills my ears. Standing in front of me was the man that hurt me again today.

We quickly made eye contact making him move even closer to me. Him towering over me. Reminding me that he’s big and I’m small.

“Why am I not surprised you can’t stay away from drinking can you? Getting abused in your last relationship isn’t an excuse.”

“Shut up.” I say cutting him off.

The three drinks fogging my brain.

“Don’t try to act like you care. I know that you know that I know you cheated. I caught you so at least let me get drunk. I’ll get my crap tomorrow.” I am tired of hearing his spill.

I did drink when he first met me but I wasn’t a drunk. I knew when to stop like now I should stop.

“WHat are you talking about, you are not leaving. Go get yourself cleaned up, you look like crap.”

“I’m not going anywhere with you.” I say standing up and trying to walk away from him.

“You're funny. You better listen to me.” He says, clenching his jaw, snatching my purse out of my hands and walking towards the door.

Sighing I plop myself back down and lay my head on my folded arms. I feel nothing. I was numb used to the pain. 

Taking a breath I push myself up and walk to the bathroom. It would be worse if I made him wait.

I glance over my shoulder seeing him at the table I was just at. The glare in his face told me he pissed.

He looked around him, spotting me and started walking towards me. My heart jumps telling my brain to run. For once I listened.

Walking through the crowded dance floor, I hoped he would leave me alone and give up. Pushing through the otherside of the I glanced over my shoulder to see if I lost him. That was a bad idea when I tripped over my own two feet landing in someone's lap.

“I’m so sorry.” I say quickly trying to get up.

My rum filled brain only lets me make it to the booth seat right next to the man. I realize it’s the one from before.

‘The hot one.’ I think but shake my head of the thought.

“Are you okay?” He asks softly, his voice deep.

He lifts his hand, making me flinch, his eyes narrow him, dropping his hand to rest behind me on the back of the seat.

“I’m sorry I didn't mean to scare you sweetheart.”

“It’s okay.” I say shaking my head

Our conversation is ended when I’m jerked up from someone grabbing my arm roughly. I meet the dark eyes of the man who terrified me.

“Why you little-.” He says lifting his hand.

He was stopped by the man standing up and easily stepping between us. My boyfriend's hand dropped from my arm.

“You got a problem?” He asks, getting in the mistrymans face.

He looks him up and down having a few inches and a lot more music on my boyfriend. “No, I was just leaving.” He says, turning to me his green eyes falling on my face.

He holds his hand out to me and smiles.

“Come on sweetheart I’ll take you home.” He says kindly.

Not wanting to be around my boyfriend I take this stranger's hand letting him pull me to my feet.

“She's not-.”

The mystery man looks at him, his eyes darken.

“I suggest you shut up. I promise I’ll take better care of her then you ever did.” He says pulling me behind him as he heads for the door.

I don’t realize that’s where we are going till we are outside. In my hazey state I let him lead me to a black impala. I don’t listen to the smart part of my brain as I get inside him taking off towards the interstate.

“Where are we going?” I ask turning to look at him.

I wasn’t scared, that was something that I only felt at work.

Now that we were out of the dark club and under the lights of the city I realized he was better looking then I thought.

He was dressed in jeans and a black t-shirt but he wore it as if it was a thousands dollar suit.

“I’m taking you back to my place.” He says glancing at me.

“Are you going to kill me?” I ask, earning a laugh.

“No I’m not going to kill you. Or try and have sex with you.” He says looking me up and down.

It made me feel sexy. I clamp my legs together not wanting to feel this way I didn’t need to get in even more trouble.

“Why were you at that cub then if you didn’t want sex?”

“The name caught my attention. I was hoping it was something else that I would find like minded people there.”

“Did you?”

Turning to face us at a red light from getting off the interstate he smiles at me. It was warm and it made my heart pitter patter in my chest. 

“We’ll see.” He says facing the road once again.

“Do you want to have sex with me?” I ask remembering his statement from moments ago.

“You are in the car right?” He says smiling that boyish grin again.

“But I won’t do that while you are drunk or before you give me consent.”

“Then why bring me with you?”

“To get you cleaned up and away from the dick sweetheart.”

“I have a name ya know.” I slur out laying on the cool window. My stomach, upset.

“I didn’t doubt you did but you never told me. He says pulling down a country road.

“I thought you said you weren't killing me?” I ask looking at him.

Laughing he shakes his head as if that amused him.

“If I wanted you dead you would be, kitten.” He says his new pet name sounding way too dirty rolling off his tongue.

I stay silent as he turns a corner and pulls into an underground garage it blocked from the road. The lights come on as we enter showing different cars from all different ages.

He parks his car in the middle and gets out. Walking around it he opens my door and offers me his hand.

“Come on let's get you laid down before you fall down.”

“I’m fine.” I say standing up the world spinning around me.

I feel my knees buckle as something hot rushes up my stomach. I puke up everything in my stomach which was just what I drank at the club.

I whimper and melt into this man’s arms.

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be, I’ll get Sam to clean it up.” He says scooping me into his arms and carrying me somewhere.

I don’t know where, starting to doze off. I wake up when something wet touches my face. I’m leaned over a tub I guess in case I puke again. The guy behind me is cleaning my face off.

“I’m Sophia.” I say looking up at him.

He smiles at me, his green eyes kind.

“Nice to meet you Sophia I’m Dean.”

I smile at him again and lay my head down on the cold tub. He helps me brush my teeth, the world spinning and my stomach turning everytime I think about moving. I was in and out of awake and asleep as he took care of me.

Picking me up once again he carries me into a bedroom. It reminded me of a dorm room but there are no windows.

Laying me down on the bed he starts to walk off but I don’t want him to leave. I didn’t know where I was. I didn’t want to be alone. Plus I liked being around him. He somehow made me feel safe.

I let out a grunt and held my arms up towards him. Giving me a half smile he kicks off his shoes and lays down next to me.

As if both of us have known each other for years I roll over laying my head on his chest and nuzzle into him. Him smelling like something warm or maybe he was just warm. My intoxicated mind, not making sense anymore.

“Sleep little one.” He says, which I do just that sleep finds me easier then it has in a long time. 

[ceealaina]

Title: Still Anticipating Love Collaborator Name: ceealaina Card Number: 3088 Link: AO3 Square Filled: Adopted - Cock-Blocking Bots Ship: IronHusbands Rating: Teen Major Tags: 5 + 1, Fluff and Humour, Protective Bots, Love Confessions Gone Wrong Summary: Five (plus one) different times over the years that Rhodey's attempted to show Tony how he feels about him, only to end up foiled by the bots. (But it's hard to really be upset when they just happen to love Tony as much as Rhodey does.) Word Count: 3993

Rhodey drew in slow, deep breaths as he made his way across campus, doing his best to quell the fireworks that seemed to be going off in his stomach. After spending months ignoring his feelings, and then a few more weeks dancing around them, and then a few days finally coming to terms with it, he had decided that this was it. Today was the day that he was going to tell Tony about his feelings for him. 

He almost turned back three different times, his nerves getting the better of him. But somehow he made himself keep going, and before he knew it he was standing in front of the door to Tony’s rented lab space, drawing in one last deep breath for courage. 

“Tones?” he called, stepping through the doorway. “You in here?” 

“Rhodey!” Tony popped up from behind a table, face lit up in manic delight. “Just the man I wanted to see!” He practically bounced across the room, grabbing his arm and getting all up in his space in a way that made Rhodey swallow hard and fight back a shiver. “I did it, honeybear!” 

“Did what?” 

“Just… Just watch, wait.” He pulled Rhodey back closer to the door, and then made a show of clearing his throat. “Dum-E?” he called, and the machine he’d been working on for months lit up. “Come here!” 

Dum-E whirred to life and then, to Rhodey’s surprise, he started rolling across the floor -- in the opposite direction to Tony and Rhodey. 

“Shit, no!” Tony protested, but he was laughing and sounded pleased. “Wrong way, you doofus, over here.” 

There was a pause, and then Dum-E spun on his wheels and started trundling over, going the right way this time. He stilled when he reached them, and Tony threw his arms around the claw neck. 

“Aw yeah,” Tony crooned. “You did it, Dum-E! Who’s my big strong robot, huh?” 

He turned to Rhodey then, his entire face lit up in a bright, beaming smile, looking as happy as he’d ever seen him. Rhodey couldn’t have kept himself from smiling back if he tried, feeling a little weak in the face of it. He could hear his own heartbeat, pounding in his ears, and god, he just loved him so much. 

“I did it, Rhodey,” Tony was saying. “He responds to voice commands. I built a learning, thinking robot. And the wrong direction thing was just a glitch, I swear. He’s gonna get so much better.” 

He was watching Rhodey expectantly, that hopeful look on his face that Rhodey knew meant he just wanted someone to be proud of him, even if he’d never admit that out loud, and Rhodey knew this wasn’t the right time to tell him. Feeling a weird mixture of relief and disappointment, Rhodey beamed back at him. “He’s already perfect, Tones,” he assured him, wrapping him in a hug. Tony immediately melted into it, and Rhodey felt pleasantly warm all over. “He’s amazing.” 

Just like you. 

***

Rhodey was grinning like an idiot as he ran up the front steps to the Stark Mansion, but he didn’t much care. He hadn’t seen Tony since his parents’ funeral just over a year, and he had missed him like crazy. They had talked as often as possible, had even taken to writing letters (despite Tony’s complaints about both being allergic to penmanship, and the speed of the postal service), but it hadn’t been the same. Rhodey had half expected that his crush might fade with some distance between them, but instead he’d missed Tony in a way that he hadn’t ever experienced before, like an aching hole in his chest, and it had only gotten stronger the longer they’d been apart. It was almost embarrassingly sappy, but he figured that was as good an indication as any that it was true love. 

Bouncing impatiently as he waited for someone to answer the door, he fidgeted with the little box in his hands. It was a completely goofy gift -- he’d met a guy who knew a guy who knew a guy and so on until he’d managed to get his hands on a discarded nut from the Voyager 2 spacecraft -- but he knew it was exactly the kind of thing that Tony would nerd out over. He couldn’t wait to see Tony’s face when he opened it. And he was hoping that Tony would recognize it as more than just a piece of metal, would see the intentions behind it and then, when Rhodey told him how he felt, he wouldn’t be completely taken off guard. Because he knew he had to tell him, felt like he might explode if he didn’t. 

The door swung open then, Jarvis welcoming him in with a warm, pleased smile, looking almost relieved. Rhodey did his best to be polite, but he wasn’t sure if he’d succeeded. Jarvis didn’t seem to mind at least, still smiling as he directed him to where Tony was apparently busy in his workshop. Rhodey had only been here a handful of times -- it hadn’t exactly been Tony’s top vacation destination in school -- but he knew the way instinctively, taking the stairs to the basement at a run. 

“Tony?” he called. The lights were dim for some reason, and he blinked as he stumbled into the room before his eyes had properly adjusted. “Guess who’s back, baby?” He waved the little box in his air. “And I brought you prese-ah, fuck!” he hollered as he was suddenly doused in a thick, bubblegum scented foam. “What the fuck?” 

A second later the room was flooded with bright light, nearly blinding Rhodey, and there were footsteps coming toward him. 

“Honeybear?” Tony said, sounding a little shell shocked. “Oh shit, okay. Just… Hang on a second. Don’t open your eyes! And, uh… Try not to breathe too deep either.” 

He was gone before Rhodey could question what the hell that meant. Left sightless, Rhodey listened to the sounds of Tony’s footsteps, disappearing to the far side of the room. There were sounds of scrambling, and then water running, and then he was jogging back over again. Rhodey nearly jumped at the feeling of Tony’s hand, warm against his upper back, and then again when a cool cloth was pressed against his face, sliding carefully over his eyes with painstakingly gentle motions. When they felt clear, and Tony gave him the okay, Rhodey blinked them carefully open. Tony was staring back at him, his own eyes wide and concerned, though that was starting to ease a bit.

“Hey,” he said, his smile uneven. “Sorry about that.” 

Rhodey smiled back, but felt his heart sink. Tony looked terrible; there were dark circles under his eyes, he was way skinnier than Rhodey had remembered him being, and he was pretty sure he could smell alcohol on his breath. None of this had been in Tony’s letters, and Rhodey couldn’t help wondering what else he’d been missing over the past year. Suddenly the relieved look on Jarvis’ face made a bit more sense.

He had a lot of questions he wanted to ask, beginning with, ‘what the actual hell?’ but Tony was watching him nervously, and Rhodey could practically see the anxiety spreading across his face. He sighed, scrubbing a hand through the foam still gathered in his short hair. “What was that?” 

“Oh, uh…” Tony rubbed at the back of his neck, smiling that same crooked smile. “I was working on a new, non-lethal thief deterrent? There’s so much proprietary information here, and Dad had this crazy organization system that I don’t understand, and there are so many people and they all want things…” He scrubbed a hand through his hair, making it stand up wildly. “So I thought, you know, I could train Dum-E? If he sees something he determines as a threat, like a weapon or something, he’s supposed to douse them with this foam that’ll stop them long enough for me to get away or call the police or set off an alarm of whatever. But uh, I’m still working on the formula for the deterrent, and then, you know, it’s Dum-E, so getting him to understand what constitutes a threat is pretty much impossible. Right now it’s just about anything that’s bigger than a wallet. You definitely shouldn’t have been on the list.” His rambling trailed off, still looking nervous but also so relieved to see him that for a moment Rhodey thought he might actually start to cry. 

“Okay,” Rhodey said, offering Tony a smile in return. “Does it have to smell like bubblegum though?” 

Tony gave a startled laugh, and then he was launching himself at Rhodey, wrapping his arms around his neck and practically crawling into his lap, foam and all. Rhodey returned the hug automatically, feeling Tony’s back shudder a little as he pressed his face into his neck. 

“God I missed you, Rhodey,” he whispered, voice cracking. 

Rhodey cast one last glance at the box he’d wrapped so carefully, now lying forgotten on the floor. This wasn’t the day for love confessions. 

He wrapped his arms tighter around Tony’s back instead. “I missed you too, Tones.” 

***

Rhodey frowned as he stepped through the front door of the Malibu mansion, but the lights stayed dim. “Uhh…” He blinked into the dark space. “Hey, J? You offline or something?” 

“I can assure you that I am fully functional, Captain Rhodes,” JARVIS replied. “Welcome back to Malibu,” he added after a beat, and Rhodey’s frown deepened, because he could swear that JARVIS sounded… Colder than usual. 

Telling himself it was his imagination, Rhodey waited a moment. There was no additional commentary from JARVIS, and he sighed. “Could I get some light, maybe?” 

JARVIS didn’t actually respond, but after a few seconds the lights came on, just a little too dim to be quite comfortable. 

“Okayyy,” Rhodey muttered. He shook his head. “Where’s Tony?” 

“Sir is indisposed at the moment, Captain Rhodes.” 

“Indisposed?” Rhodey repeated, taken aback. He’d been talking to Tony less than an hour ago, he’d known he was on his way over, and while it wasn’t exactly uncommon for him to get distracted with something and forget, Rhodey was always given full access to everything. “What do you mean, he’s indisposed? And I’m a Major now, JARVIS, you know that. What the hell is going on?” 

There was another long silence before JARVIS spoke again. “Sir has been encouraging me to consume media and information, to help me better understand the human experience.” 

“Uh huh…” Rhodey knew that; Tony had mentioned as much to Rhodey, talking about how he wanted JARVIS to learn and make his own conclusions independent of what Tony thought or believed. “And?” 

“And I’ve noticed similarities between your own actions and behaviours in certain popular media.” 

Rhodey arched an eyebrow, flopping down on the long sofa and folding his arms over his chest. “I’m not following.” 

“I believe, Major Rhodes, that this is the point in which I ask what, exactly, your intentions are with Sir.” 

Rhodey choked on air. “My intentions?” he repeated incredulously. “Are you threatening me? What the fuck, J? I’ve literally known you since you were born.” And then he clued into what, exactly, JARVIS was saying. “Holy shit,” he hissed, looking around frantically in case Tony had suddenly wandered into earshot. “You… I mean, you can… How… You know??” 

JARVIS sounded confused. “It was a simple matter of observing your behaviours and comparing them to the media for analysis, and then observing the physical changes to your body when in proximity to Sir -- primarily a mildly elevated heart and respiratory rate.” 

“Oh my god,” Rhodey moaned, burying his hands in his face. “How is this my life?” 

“For what it’s worth,” JARVIS offered. “I believe Sir remains unaware of your feelings toward him.” 

“Yeah, no,” Rhodey agreed, still mumbling into his hands. “That is a fact that I am all too aware of.” He heaved in a deep sigh before letting his arms drop back down to his sides. “Okay JARVIS. So first, we’re gonna have to have a talk sometime about monitoring people’s vitals without their knowledge or consent. But, uh, in answer to your first question…” He rubbed at the back of his neck. “Shit, J, you gotta know by now that all I want is for Tony to be happy. That’s all I care about. Everything else is just… Whatever.” 

“And you think that he would be happy with you?” 

“I think that ship has sailed,” Rhodey admitted, feeling a pang in his chest as he finally said the words out loud. “It’s been years. If something was gonna happen… I think we’d have found our way there by now.” 

It was quiet for long enough that Rhodey thought JARVIS had gone into sleep mode, or whatever AIs did in lieu of unconsciousness. He was about to try his luck again at figuring out where Tony was in this ridiculous palace of a home when JARVIS spoke again. 

“Well,” he said, his voice warmer. “I wouldn’t give up hope entirely, Major Rhodes.” 

***

Rhodey and Tony were sprawled in the front seat of one of Tony’s roadsters, two and a half movies deep into their Evil Dead marathon. Like the dork he was, Tony had decided they were going to project the movies onto the wall of his workshop, so they could watch from the car like they were in some kind of 1960s drive-in. 

He hated how much he loved him sometimes. 

RIght now though, he was feeling lazy and satisfied, full on pizza and wings, and just the right side of tipsy on the beer he’d brought, laughing as Tony recited the movie word for word, complete with altering his voice to try and mimic the characters. 

Stretching out his arms and back (and resisting the urge to take advantage of the movement and hook his arm over Tony’s shoulders, because he wasn’t twelve), Rhodey kicked his feet up on the dash, shifting on the seat a little in the process.

“Hey,” Tony protested, not actually sounding that concerned. “That’s a custom dash, asshole. Feet off. Or else.” 

“Oh yeah?” Rhodey snickered. “Or else what?”

He rolled his head to face Tony, eyebrow arched, and then blinked. Tony was much closer than he’d realized. He’d slunk down in the seat, leaving him a few inches lower than Rhodey, and he was looking up at him with lazy, hooded eyes. He was Rhodey’s favourite version of Tony, comfortable, and happy, and beautiful, and his breath caught a little at the sight of him. 

Something changed in Tony’s expression then, his eyes narrowing slightly like he was trying to get a read on Rhodey. Whatever he saw made him swallow, tongue sliding out over his upper lip. Rhodey couldn’t tear his eyes away, only vaguely aware of the fact that he was moving closer and closer to him. Tony didn’t seem to mind, lips parting slightly before he shifted just enough to face him more squarely. Rhodey could feel his heart racing as Tony got closer, eyes dark, and --

There was an almighty crash from the corner. Tony pulled away, whipping his head around to stare over the back of the car, eyes going wide. “U!” he cried, launching himself over the back of the car. Rhodey let his forehead fall against the seat of the car for just a moment before looking up to where U had apparently managed to crash into the wall and tip herself over. 

“Seriously?” he whispered to himself before climbing out of the car to help Tony get her righted. 

***

Rhodey hadn’t been able to get that almost kiss out of his mind. At first he’d thought he’d imagined the moment, that his horniness had taken what was a normal, friendly moment between the two of them and twisted into something more. He didn’t think that was it though. There had been something in Tony’s eyes when he’d leaned toward him, something hopeful and yearning. And then there had been that look he had given him as they’d called it a night, looking, well, sad, like he’d missed an opportunity. 

Rhodey had been so convinced that any romantic feelings on his part were unrequited that he almost wasn’t sure what to do with the idea that they might not be. But he knew, no matter how many times he’d failed before, if there was even a sliver of a chance that Tony felt the same way, he had to at least try and confess his feelings. 

Of course, that didn’t mean that he couldn’t change the circumstances as much as possible. 

Rhodey waited until he knew with absolute certainty that Tony was out of town, settled solidly in Hong Kong for five days worth of meetings with no quick way back to California. Then he headed for the Malibu mansion, waiting for JARVIS to get through his cursory greetings.

“J? I need your help.” 

*

Tony shuffled in the front door, exhausted. It had been a long week of meetings, and things going wrong, and while he wasn’t generally much of a sleeper, all he could think about was crawling into bed and sleeping for the next three days. 

“Hey J,” he mumbled, dropping his briefcase right there inside the door. “‘S good to be home.”

“Welcome back, Sir,” JARVIS replied, his familiar voice soothing something in Tony. “Uh, Sir, if I could direct you to the workshop, your assistance is required.”

Tony couldn’t help his groan. “Come on, J. I left you in charge. Can’t you handle it?”

“Sir, it’s absolutely imperative,” JARVIS told him. There was an almost imperceptible pause before he continued. “DUM-E is a hazard to himself.” 

Cursing under his breath, Tony headed for the stairs, stomping his way down to the ‘shop and then glowering when the lights stayed dark. “JARVIS? What the fuck? Are you malfunctioning or something?” 

Then the lights came on all at once, and Tony found himself blinking at the sight in front of him, wondering if he’d fallen asleep on the flight home and was, in fact, dreaming. “The fuck?” he whispered, a slow smile crawling over his face. 

Rhodey was standing on the far side of the room, lined up beside Dum-E and U, all three of them holding signs. Dum-E’s read ‘WILL YOU,’ U’s said, ‘GO OUT,’ and with a crooked smile, Rhodey was holding up his own sign reading, ‘WITH ME?’ 

Dum-E’s sign was upside down. 

Tony started laughing, couldn’t help himself. “You serious with this, Rhodes?” he asked, not even trying to hide how absolutely delighted he was. “This is some sappy shit, even for you.” 

Rhodey shrugged, unapologetic. “Tony, you have no idea how many times I’ve tried to say something to you, and it seemed like every time your kids got in the way. So I figured… Maybe it would be easier if I got them to literally spell it out.” 

Tony cleared his throat, feeling his throat go tight. “Only you, Rhodes,” he said, his voice rough. 

Rhodey huffed out a laugh, then shifted a little awkwardly, a tinge of nervousness creeping into his smile. “So?” he prompted. “Is that a yes?”

“Are you kidding?” Tony demanded. Without waiting another moment, he strode forward, hauled the sign out of Rhodey’s hands, and wrapped his arms around his neck. Meeting Rhodey’s eyes steadily, he didn’t bother hiding the way his own were tearing up slightly. “Definitely, one hundred percent, a million yeses, would you hurry up and kiss me already cause I’ve been waiting like fifteen years to find out what your mouth tastes like, and -- mmph!” 

Tony made a startled noise as Rhodey cut him off with a kiss. An instant later, he was moaning softly instead, curling his hands tighter over Rhodey’s back as he returned it, slow and soft and perfect. When they pulled back a few moments later, neither one of them could stop grinning at each other. 

“I um…” Rhodey hesitated a moment, twisting his face up like he couldn’t decide if he wanted to tell Tony this or not. “I asked the bots for permission to ask you out? They gave us their blessings, so we’re all good there.” 

Tony couldn’t help laughing, still giggling as he kissed Rhodey again, harder this time. “God, only you,” he muttered. “Nobody else would even think to do anything like that. I love you so much.” 

And probably it was too soon to be saying that, when they hadn’t even been on a single date, but if anything it felt overdue. And judging by the look on Rhodey’s face, he felt the same. 

“I love you too, Tones.”

***BONUS***

Rhodey resisted the urge to yelp as Tony pulled into the garage at a breakneck speed, parking the Audi haphazardly in its spot. “God, c’mere,” he mumbled, grabbing Rhodey by the tie and yanking him across the seat to kiss him, hot and heavy and wanting. “Fuck, you were so hot tonight. Love the way you look in a suit.” 

Fingers scrabbling at Tony’s chest, Rhodey let himself be manhandled, moaning into Tony’s mouth as they made out all hungry and desperate. He yanked at Tony’s shirt, hauling it out of his pants and getting it most of the way unbuttoned before he remembered himself and pulled back so he was breathing hard against his lips instead. 

“No, no wait,” he protested, head tilting automatically as Tony started to bite down his jaw. “Not here, come on. Last time we did this in the car, you bitched for a week straight about the stains on the upholstery.” 

Tony snickered against his neck, the sound turning to a hum as he slid the palm of his hand up Rhodey’s thigh. “I can’t help it if you look incredibly good in my car,” he insisted, pulling back to grin at Rhodey with dark eyes. “Come on, honey. I promise not to bitch you out this time.” He leaned forward to kiss him again, thumbing at Rhodey’s nipple through his dress shirt as he did. For a minute Rhodey almost gave in, distracted by how good Tony felt against his skin.

“No, come on,” he said, reaching his hand down Tony’s open shirt and scratching blunt nails over his abs. “I got plans for you. Wanna take you apart. Take my time, stretch you out on the bed and fucking ruin you.” 

Tony stared at him, and then, with a high-pitched wheezing noise, started nodding almost frantically. “Yes,” he said quickly. “Yes, please, let’s go.” 

The two of them tumbled out of the car, heading for the stairs, and only made it as far as the closest table before Rhodey had to haul Tony in for another kiss. He pressed him up hard against the metal, shoving a thigh between his legs and grinning against his lips when Tony practically melted against him. Tony’s long fingers grabbed at his shirt, pulling it up to get at the bare skin of his back before sliding them lower, moving beneath the waistband of Rhodey’s dress pants to grope at his ass. Rhodey thrust his hips up against him and then cupped Tony through his pants in retaliation, biting at his lips. 

“Fuck, Tones,” he mumbled. “Driving me crazy.” 

“Can’t help it,” Tony retorted, panting against his lips. “I want you so bad.” 

Rhodey was seriously considering delaying his bedroom plans -- they were both young, they could go again, probably -- unable to move more than a few inches away when all of a sudden there was a sudden shock of cold through his body. Gasping, it took him a second to process what was happening until he looked at Tony and found him just as shell shocked and just as soaking wet, water dripping into his open mouth. As one, they turned to stare at the guilty looking robot holding an empty bucket.

“Dum-E!”

@tonystarkbingo