#this latest chapter is really good i liked how a lot of it turned out

[biohazard-inevitable]

Chapter 3 of High Score Hero is up!!!!! Please feelnfree to go read it I’m shakin the rust off my brian gears and its getting GOOD!!!

[cerealmonster15]

rereading my fics is like a constant cycle of being like "teehee that was funny. oh god that line was cringe. hehe that was funny. wait why did i say that 😑. hehe. wait i forgot about that part. hang on didnt i plan to write xyz into this why did i never get to that. teehee that was funny-"

[chaoticharrington]

Chapter Five: The Club and Terrible Timing

***BEFORE YOU READ ANY FURTHER THERE IS GOING TO BE SEX, HEAVY BDSM THEMES, AND OTHER GENERAL NSFW THINGS. IF YOU ARE A MINOR/A BLANK BLOG/ A BLOG WITH NO AGE PLEASE DO NOT INTEREACT! IF I SEE IT, I WILL BLOCK IMMEDIATELY! THANKS!<3***

Pairing: Professor! Steve Harrington x Best Friends Dad! Eddie Munson x Fem! Reader

Warnings: SOOO much angst in this chapter IM SORRY! smut! oral f receiving, dry humping, kissing, alcohol consumption, slight inspection kink,dirty talk, also lots of fluff!!! Eddie and Steve are in their early to mid 40s and reader is in her mid 20s

Summary: Violet tries to get over her break-up by taking you to clubs all across Indiana which you happily oblige. Your latest adventure not turning out how either of you had planned.

Author's Note: Hi my loves! I hope you're all doing well! i'm sorry for not uploading in a month, i've not had the motivation or the energy... and i've re written this chapter a bunch! but i hope you all like it! plenty more chapters to come! 9k

**Chapter One Chapter Two Chapter Three Chapter Four**

“Okay I gotta go Eds, I’m gonna be late” you say, pulling yourself off the older man’s lips. Eddie’s grip being too strong, pulling you back into his arms.

“Nuh uh, this is a crime of the highest order, a King needs his Queen!” He announces dramatically. You giggle into Eddie’s skin, breathing in his scent. You thought of abandoning school all together today, and spending the day with him while Violet was at work. The two of you barely got any time together in the basement anymore now that Violet wasn’t over at Quinns anymore, or away at her mom’s. You snuck in sleepovers when she would be  working overnights. Otherwise you and Eddie squeezed into your tiny apartment, spending every second together that you could. As if the universe knew exactly how to punish you, your phone rings. 

“Hi babe” you answer kindly.

“Hi, so we’re going out tonight.” Violet announces bluntly on the other end of the phone.

“Where are you taking me now?” you ask, a slight amusement in your tone. Violet had been doing her best to get over Quinn by taking you out to various bars and clubs across the state of Indiana. You weren’t really the type to go to a new bar every weekend. But you love Violet, if this was helping her stop hurting, then you’d do it forever for her.

“A bar in the city, I’ll come pick you up at 7!” she says excitedly before hanging up. You sigh, putting your phone back down on the bed, smiling at Violets infectious energy. You felt guilty at the tug in your stomach, disappointed that you didn’t have another night to yourself with Eddie.

“Alright mister I gotta go, I can stop by after class” you say reluctantly, going back to moisturizing your face.

“No stay” he protests scooping you up in his arms, and showering you with kisses all over your face.

The two of you had just spent a very domestic morning together, eating breakfast in the basement while Eddie worked on a new campaign, the two of you getting ready in the bathroom. You had just put on your bra and panties while Eddie was shedding his clothes to get into the shower.

You watch him pout from the mirror, your back turned to him. You didn’t really want to leave him, but you wanted to go to the library before class and now that Violet was taking you out tonight, you needed to get it done now. You blew a kiss to him as he reluctantly got into the shower, tail tucked between his legs like a dog.

You sneak peaks of your beautiful boyfriend in the shower while you brush your teeth. You never could get over just how good looking he is, body covered in tattoos, his greying curls, his slightly toned arms from playing guitar all his life, and his long fingers currently running through his hair. You tried to fight it, but you were now a full blown Eddie Munson addict. Addicted to his touch, his smile, his laugh, the crinkling around his eyes from years of smiling, his kisses, and most importantly the way he made you feel. You could feel your body heat up with desire, a storm at your center.

Your eyes meet Eddies, a smirk plastered across his face, eyebrow raised playfully. You roll your eyes lightly in response, shaking your thoughts of Eddie out of your head. You try to hide a smile that’s threatening to seep onto your lips.

Half naked you start to head back into Eddies room to get dressed for the day. When a pair of wet hands grab your waist pulling you for a hug. You scream out in surprise, wrapping your arms around Eddies very wet ones. You can hear his giggling in your ears, your resolve diminishing, giving into your boyfriend antics and laughing alongside him.

He slips the few items of clothing you were wearing off quickly, pulling you into the steaming hot shower. Eddie’s more beautiful up close under the water, his long eyelashes glittering with water droplets, and his lips red and plump from the steam.

Not being able to resist him anymore you go onto your tippy toes to kiss him, his arms scooping you up bringing you closer to him. The kiss was one of softness and affection. Not like times in the dungeon where his kisses were rough and bruising. These ones were like he was trying to show you how much he cared about you. Soft but firm, passionate but not dominating. You smile against his lips, feeling his smiling right back at you, savoring this moment.

“You’re so beautiful” he says breathlessly as he pulls back, pushing some of your now wet hair out of your face.

You cringe at his words; you’ve been working on trying to believe him but it’s hard. You shove your head into his chest, allowing him to encase you. Tears threatened to spill from your eyes, you felt safe, you couldn’t remember the last time you felt this safe and at home. Not even when you were a kid or when you got a hug from either of your parents, it was something entirely different. If only you could stop this moment, and live in it forever, or go back when you were feeling sad. You realize now what people mean when they say, “When you know you know”, it just feels different, it feels easy.

Guilt always followed this feeling, how could you feel so deeply for someone and not be able to tell your best friend. It was starting to eat away at your heart and soul. You and Eddie had decided that you were going to tell her tomorrow, and you were both excited and terrified at the same time. You just hoped that over time she would be able to see just how happy the two of you made each other.

Eddies hand forces your face up to his, letting the water wash away your guilt and be present with him. He smiles at you warmly, you smile back, the entire world in his eyes. Reminding you that everything was going to be okay. He holds your head in one of his hands caressing your cheek, bringing his lips to your forehead and leaving a kiss there. How did he know you so well that he knew what you were thinking without you even having to tell him? You swoon at his action, redness spilling onto your cheeks.

He turns you around, dips your head back so the running water drenches your hair. He massages slow circles into your scalp, forcing a moan from your lips. You let him lather your hair in shampoo and massage it into your scalp. He takes his time, being meticulous not to miss a single strand of hair. Leaving little kisses on your neck in between lathers. Even simple acts like this, no sexual touching or tension, just the two of you together. It was enough to quiet your brain for the rest of the day, he knew how to calm you down when your brain was working too hard or when your mind needed a break.

Once your hair was squeaky clean and conditioned, Eddie took a washcloth and started washing the rest of your body, scrubbing soap into every area of your skin, being just as meticulous as he was with your hair. Touching you gently and affectionately, you could feel all the unsaid feelings and words by each touch of his hands or body on your skin.

You turn your attention to him, asking him to bend down so you can get the curls at the top of his head, he grandiosely kneels down for you to properly reach the top of his head. The two of you giggling at the action. Your fingers get to work trying to mimic the massage he had given you, making him moan into your chest, leaving open mouth kisses on your tummy. Your body tensing slightly, all your negative body image issues threatening to pour out of your ears. But Eddie’s strong hands grab your waist softly, quieting those thoughts once more. You marvel at his touch, forcing yourself to concentrate on washing all the shampoo from his hair. His curls feel silky and soft in your fingers, the grey marbled into his curls like a galaxy.

You finish conditioning his hair and washing his body, the two of you stand under the water together, completely clean but not ready to get out of the shower. You have your arms wrapped around his waist, and his around your shoulders, resting his head on top of yours.

Eddie eventually turns the water off and gets out of the shower, offering you a hand. Taking his hands in yours letting him help you out of the shower and wrap a fluffy towel around you.

“Thank you for stayin’ with me” Eddie says softly, leaving a kiss on your forehead.

“Thank you for making me stay” you mutter into his chest, as much as you wanted to go to the library, you could never pass up time like this. You hear Eddie hum around you, his chest vibrating against your face, warming your insides.

You let Eddie dry you off and dress you, leaving kisses on your bare skin before putting each article of clothing on. Then you do the same for him. Each kiss to open skin, every piece of clothing, a sign of devotion to the other. So many words not said but shown instead, you didn’t know for certain if Eddie felt the same way you did, but your heart hoped that he did.

The adoration for him seeping through your pores, it filling you up threatening to burst, three words stuck in your throat. THE three words almost slipping off your tongue, but you couldn’t let yourself say them. Not before Violet knew, not until you weren’t a secret anymore.

 Plus, the two of you had only been together for a few months and you didn’t want to jump the gun and make a fool of yourself. Eddie just made you feel important and cared for, which just made it harder to hide it.

“Earth to Y/N,” you hear Eddies voice, pulling you from your thoughts. His rich brown eyes looking at you like you put the sun in the sky, paired with his goofy as ever smile, Forcing a smile onto your face.

“So, listen as much I’d love to see your cute little butt after class. I promised a friend of mine I’d help them out with something. But text me at any time if you need a ride or if you need anything tonight, okay?” he says, his voice kind but slightly serious. You know that he really would drop anything if you really needed him. A pout forms across your lips, you were hoping to stop by and thank him for the sweet morning the two of you were having together, thoughts of his cock on your tongue swirling in your brain.

You reluctantly give Eddie one more kiss before heading out the door for the day. The day was dragging on, classes were almost over for the semester and for the most part a majority of your professors had given up actually teaching or just droned on about upcoming projects that you were due. Sociology was never the same after Steve left, you noticed some students had even dropped the class, you didn’t blame them. It made you sad, thinking about Steve, you know what he was likely doing right now, probably drinking himself to the bottom of another bottle.

 And it was all your fault, if you hadn’t had stupid crush on your teacher, Steve would still be doing what he loved. At least the semester was almost over so you wouldn’t have the burden of being reminded multiple times a week in class. The second your new professor dismissed you all, you hurried out of the room quickly not wanting to be tortured any longer by the images of Steve at home, slumped over his desk with tears in his eyes.

You had re played that moment so many times since it had happened, trying to make sense of it, trying to figure out why you felt so deeply about him. When Eddie made you the happiest you had ever been. You felt so guilty feeling so strongly about someone else, especially after the morning you and Eddie shared. Your heart just couldn’t help but ache for the man you left in that big house, all alone, drinking his sorrows away.

I’m a fucking monster

You pinch your eyebrows with your fingers, willing all the scattered pieces of yourself back together. You blow out all the air in your lungs and push your key into the ignition, driving away from school, leaving all thoughts of Steve behind.

Violet had decided to come to your place early to get ready, it reminded you of when the two of you used to get ready for school dances together when you were younger. She insisted on the both of you wearing the least amount of clothing as possible, much to your dismay.

“Since when did you become a prude? We are both hot, young, single women. We deserve to have men and women alike ogle at us from time to time. It builds self-confidence!” she declares assuredly.

Not single Not single Not single

Violet decided on a black lacey strappy dress that hugged all of her curves just right, her eyes sultry lined with two smokey black wings, and her purple hair curled to perfection sitting right above her butt. She looked like every nerdy guys gothic dream. You decide on something a little less scandalous, but still approved by Violet. Wearing a black bralette with a black mesh long sleeve over it, extenuating your breasts, pairing it with a short black mini skirt with a slit going half way up the side; and your black combat boots.

 She had convinced you to take a few shots before going to the bar, your head already delightfully buzzed. You were just putting one more coat of lip gloss, when you hear Violet call out from the other room.

“Ubers here!”

The two of you squeeze into the back of an uber and head to the bar. Violet told you on the way that evidently it was a new bar in town that everyone has been talking about and posting all about over social media. Violets extensive knowledge of the bar scene completely going over your head.

The Uber let the two of you off in front of a building covered in red neon lights, you could already hear the loud music coming from inside of the building. Violet grabs your hand and the two of you head inside. The bar was more crowded than you expected, all of you smooshed into the building like sardines. The floor vibrated with how loud it is, the music combined with people chattering away made your head hurt. You make your way past other patrons and head towards the bar, Violet sits down confidently, flipping her hair behind her back.

“I’m gonna see if I can get someone to buy us some drinks, follow my lead.” She ushers the two of you closer to a group of guys who looked like they have had one too many beers already.

“Hey boys,” Violet says slyly, she was always good with getting her way. She never acted spoiled or threw a fit if she didn’t, but you always admired how confident she was and how good she is with people. She never went home with or even danced with any of the men she flirted with, her heart still stuck on Quinn, just using them to keep her mind off of her broken heart. You look around at the rest of the bar, uninterested in any of the men that were stood before you.

The bar was dimly lit, with a few candles placed on various tables around the room. The actual bar took up a majority of the back wall, filled with any kind of liquor you could possibly want. The people occupying the bar varied in age, some younger, some older, all seemingly having a good time. Couples held up in the corners of the room, talking quietly, kissing or other various salacious activities. On the right side of the room was a small dance floor, where patrons were dancing, some more lewdly than others.

When you finally returned your attention back to Violet, she handed you a drink and fluttered her eyelashes at the group of men before whisking you away to the corner of the room.

“Why are men so gross? I swear I could barely get one of them to look me in the eye, like I know my tits are great but they aren’t THAT great,” she slurs slightly, the shots catching up to her already.

The two of you sit in a corner of the room, finishing off your very strong drinks. You sat back in amusement at every guy that would pick up the courage to stop by at your table, trying to pick up one or the both of you, some more pathetic than others. You looked over at Violet every once in a while, making sure that this wasn’t all for nothing and that she was having a good time.

Violet put up a good front, it was pretty easy with her eyes disguised in black eyeliner, but you could see through to the sadness underneath it all. Beneath all of her confidence and extroverted tendencies, was agony. The type of sadness that sits in your stomach and rots, eating you from the inside out. You tried not to push her too much, asking if she was okay and told her that you were here whenever she needed to talk. But she brushed you off every single time. But you knew, she didn’t even need to tell you how she felt.. you could feel it ripping her apart on the inside. You see her smile fading slightly after turning down yet another guy. You see and in and you take it.

“Vi.. are you okay? Like really? And please no more bullshit, if I have to hear one more “I’m okay” or “I’m fine” I’m gonna scream,” you plead with your best friend.

Her shoulders drop, all hints of happiness leaving her face, behind her eyeliner she looked tired. Not just physically tired, the tired you get from pretending to be okay when you’re not, not sleeping at night because your mind won’t shut off. She turns towards you, wetness forming in the corners of her eyes, her mask finally off.

“No, I’m not, and I don’t know when I will be, I keep waiting and waiting that one day it won’t hurt so much.. I just thought that if I pretend, that eventually one day it won’t hurt so bad... but it hasn’t. For fucks sake I thought we were going to get married!... Well I wanted to get married,” she sniffles.

You grab her hand and squeeze it tightly inside yours, just grateful that she was letting you in. She looks at you gratefully and pulls you into a tight hug. You didn’t have any words to make it better, to numb her pain.. you just squeezed her tightly back and hoped it was enough.

“I dunno what I’d do without you bubs, you’re literally the only reason I’m holding it together right now,” she admits.

Guilt floods your system like a tsunami, even more unsure now how she was going to take the new about you and Eddie. Not only would you be rubbing your very happy relationship in her face, but it’s with her fucking dad, her fucking dad. No, she deserved to know. No matter what happens now, Eddie is just as important to you as she is, and you weren’t going to let him go. Violet would just have to understand.

“Alright no more sad talk, we’re here to have fun!”

She grabs your arm and takes you back over to the bar, ordering another round of shots for the two of you. Tequilla burning your throat as the two of you stumble onto the dance floor.

 It’s a blur of sweat, glitter, and bodies. The two of you sway your hips back and forth to the beat of the music, giggling at one another, the alcohol officially taking effect. More and more people gather onto the dance floor, filling the room with sweat and haze.

You and Violet smile at each other, holding hands and singing obnoxiously loud to the songs playing. You can see the worry and the sadness evaporate off Violet’s face, you smile to yourself, wishing all the happiness in the world for your best friend.

After a few more songs, Violet excuses herself to go to the bathroom. You linger at the edge of the dance floor, not wanting to dance by yourself. You take the time to people watch, looking at the various patrons at the bar, guys trying to score, girls laughing with their friends, older men sitting at the bar nursing their drinks, the bartenders running around behind the bar like chickens with their heads cut off, and Eddie.

Wait.. EDDIE?!

You do a double take and then a triple take to make sure your alcohol goggles weren’t skewing your vision, and you weren’t imagining your very sexy boyfriend at a random bar with some guy. You smile and start to walk over to the table where Eddie was at to say hello. But you stop in your tracks, the closer you get, the back of the other man’s head becomes increasingly more familiar. Steve fucking Harrington.

Your body freezes, your brain working a million miles a minute.

Steve knows Eddie?

Eddie knows Steve?

How?

Why?

Your body stiffens even further when you see Steve’s large hand envelop the upper part of Eddies thigh, traveling farther and farther up his leg. Your breath caught in your throat, a lump making its home there.

How could he?

What the hell?

What the fuck is going on?

Eddie looks at Steve, kind of sad but also startled, his eyes wander behind Steve’s head and locks eyes with you. His mouth hung open agape. That’s the last thing you see before the tears cloud your vision. You push past the crowd of people in the bar, making your way to the front door. Pushing the door open, the cold air forcing goosebumps across your skin.

Unable to hold the tears anymore, you let them flow freely down your face. You look around you and you don’t know what to do or where to go. You can’t leave, but you don’t want to stay either. You wrap your arms around yourself, trying to self soothe and protect yourself from the cold.

That’s when you hear the loud music from inside the bar followed by the front door closing, you hear a familiar voice call out to you.

“Y/N, it’s not what you think-, “ Eddie says desperately.

“What was his hand doing on your leg? I thought you were helping out a friend tonight?” You cut him off, trying to keep your voice level and hold back anymore tears.

You knew it, you knew Eddie was too good to be true. He’s too nice, and warm, you felt too safe around him. Every happy moment with him comes crashing down in an instant, you never really mattered to him. You were always just his daughter’s best friend, a little kid, someone to mess around with. How could you be so blind, your own stupidity kicking you in the face and knocking the air out of your lungs. You didn’t even know who you were madder at, Eddie, or at yourself.

“Fuck I was! I mean I am!” Eddie says, panic setting in his voice.

“So, him feeling you up, that’s you helping out a friend? How charitable, Eds” you spit back. You could allow yourself to be angry, but you wouldn’t break, not right now. Not if you had to go back inside and face Violet.

“Yes! No, I- we are JUST friends, baby I promise” Eddie pleads.

“I’d say we’ve been more than friends Ed” you hear another familiar voice, as Steve steps out into the midnight air.

Your heart could crumble into a million pieces by Steve’s confession, you’d fall to the ground if your brain wasn’t working so hard, buzzing like a million bees working overtime.

“You need to tell me what’s going on right now or I’m grabbing Violet and I’m never speaking to either of you ever again.” The hurt in your voice noticeable, you bite your lip to stop your lip from quivering. Eddies rubs his hands across his face, trying to find the words to explain.

“Wait, you two know each other?” Steve says, hands on his hips, all three of you looking at each other with so many unsaid questions.

“Yeah, we know each other very fucking well Steve,” you seethe, trying to hide your hurt. Steve flinches slightly, looking guilty.

“Eddie, what the fuck is going on… If-if I was just going to be a little fling for you, a heads up would have been nice! I-I let you in, I let you see every part of me and then you do THIS? I’ve been hurt in the past, but I never, ever, thought I’d be hurt by you” you choke back a sob, as angry tears start streaming down your face. You know by now that your mascara and make up were completely ruined, you felt more vulnerable than you had ever felt in your entire life.

Your heart might as well have been ripped from your chest and stomped on right in front of you on the cold hard pavement. You look at the two faces staring back at you, Steve still utterly confused and bewildered, and Eddie, well Eddie’s face mirrored yours. His eyes misty, you can see his Adams apple bobbing in his throat. Steve runs his hands nervously through his hair before speaking.

“Look this is all my fault, okay? I, shit, I’ve been so hung up on everything that happened between us that I just wanted to feel good. Eddie and I, we used to have something in the past, but it’s not happened in a long time. I don’t really know what I was thinking, I was just being stupid.” Steve admits, looking down at his shoes, his cheeks red in embarrassment.

“Between the two of you? What the fuck happened between the two of you?” a fire lit up behind Eddies eyes.

You sigh, not having it in your heart to be angry with Steve, he must have just not known that the two of you were together, or maybe Eddie hadn’t mentioned it yet.

“Remember that guy.. that kissed me... and I came over to your house crying?” you say defeated; you point over at Steve. He raises his hand with a sympathetic look on his face.

“Guilty is charged,” Steve says lightheartedly, trying to lighten the mood.

“YOU kissed her? Jesus Christ this is so fucked up” Eddie says, pacing between the two of you, trying to clear his head. Steve nods his head, his eyes moving back and forth trying to put his thoughts together.

“Did I kiss you when you guys were together? Did you come over and check on me while you were with him?” Steve’s finger pointed at Eddie, his eyes sadder than they were a minute ago.

Eddies eyes now huge wildfires and looks at you, crossing his arms.

“What the fuck is he talking about Y/N, when did you go and see him?” he spits.

Now it was your turn for your mouth to open and close, your brain no longer able to form any words.

“No Steve, we weren’t together when we kissed. Eds listen it wasn’t like that, I just felt bad and was worried about him because he stopped coming to class. When I got to his place he was drunk and I just helped him clean up his house that’s all.” You reassure Eddie, but his expression was blank and his eyes cold.

“I asked when Y/N, when did you go over to his house?” he mutters quietly.

“3 Days ago,” you admit apologetically, looking anywhere besides Eddies disapproving eyes.

“You mean the day after we had sex? The day after “I” let YOU in?” Eddie fumes.

You bite your lip and look at him, searching for your Eddie, searching for the warmth in his eyes. But you saw nothing, he didn’t even look like himself, his face contorted in anger.

Eddie takes a few steps towards you, a frown on his face and hurt in his eyes. You flinch at his expression, you have never seen Eddie look so mad and upset, it’s so jarring. You rarely even heard the man yell.

“So, let me get this straight, you kiss Steve, and then you came running over to my house, and you let ME kiss you? And then when after we have sex, pretty fucking good sex I might add, you go over to HIS house? Un-fucking-believable Y/N,” he snarls, his voice breaking at the end.

You slump your shoulders, you needed to make him understand, to know how much he means to you.

“Eddie, I- “

“You’re fucking my dad?” You hear a voice call out from the entrance of the bar.

All the blood in your body turns to ice, this is not how you wanted her to find out, you and Eddie had a whole plan. That plan likely now in the trash, you didn’t even know if Eddie was going to forgive you.

“Violet, please not now” you hear Eddie say tiredly.

“No wait let ME get this straight” she says, stepping closer to the three of you, tears swimming in her eyes.

“Not only are you fucking my dad, YOU my best friend since middle school, AND you kissed my uncle Steve?!” she says, her lips upturned in a fake smile that was like a slap to the face.

“We were going to tell you tomorrow Vi, I promise I wasn’t trying to hide it from you. I just-“ you knew any words that you said to her right now weren’t going to matter, you could tell by the look on her face that she’s already made up her mind. You stifle a sob, looking at Eddie for help.

Eddie turns towards you, but the Eddie you had come to know wasn’t there. Almost no emotion in his eyes, he looks at you mournfully, almost like he pitied you.

“We were waiting until we knew it was serious Vi, it’s not all her fault either, take it easy,” he warns.

“No stop talking, I’ll deal with you later” she snaps, dismissing her father.

“So, what are you some kind of slut? You kiss someone else while you’re with my dad? What kind of fucking monster are you? I don’t even know who you are anymore!” she wails tears like waterfalls down her pretty face.

You didn’t know the answer to her questions, but you knew she was right. You are a monster, you’re like a hurricane that bulldozes everything it touches.

“Violet please, I’m sorry I promise I didn’t mean to hurt you, I didn’t mean to hurt anyone. You’re all the family I have, just please let’s go home so we can talk this all out.” your legs wobble, threatening to give out below you, sobs wracking in your chest. Your entire world was crashing down around you, and there was nothing you could do to stop it.

“No, we’re done, I can’t even look at you right now. Stay the fuck away from me and MY family,” she warns.

Violet turns and walks away from the three of you and the bar, you go to follow her, but a large hand envelops your shoulder.

“You probably shouldn’t,” Eddie says flatly.

“But I need to, I need to make things right, I can’t just leave it like this!” you plead with him, fresh tears blurring your vision.

Eddie nods his head knowing you well enough by now to know why you feel this way. “I think its best if there’s some space from the two of you… and us for now.”

“Wait what? Are you breaking up with me?” you squeak, the words pushing the rest of the air from your lungs. By this point your legs are numb from the cold air, anxiety filled your body making you shake like a leaf and your teeth chatter. You couldn’t even feel the cold anymore, your body feels like it's on fire, threatening to explode from the inside out.

“Eddie please, please don’t do this, don’t do this to me” you plead, begging with everything you have in you, every breath every feeling, every kiss re playing in your brain.

I can’t lose you I can’t lose you I can’t lose you please please please please don’t go

Eddie rubs his hand behind his neck, he looks tired, his eyes rimmed with tears of his own, he blinks them away and looks at you.

“I just need some space, maybe someday we can revisit this, but I can’t do this right now, I need to make things right with my daughter. She comes first, I’m sorry” he explains.

You nod your head in understanding and defeat, of course Violet comes first. Your head was so clouded in panic you forgot about how this would affect his relationship with her.

Eddie looks at Steve and then looks at you, he gives you one final nod before he walks away into the night looking for Violet.

You sink onto the cold hard sidewalk, you put your head on your knees, your back shaking harshly while all the held in tears and sobs come out in droves. You cried for what felt like hours, occasionally hearing drunk people coming out of the bar. Before you knew it the muted music playing in the bar stopped and the lights on the inside went out. You lift your head up to rest on your knees, your eyes surely swollen from all the crying, your whole body hurt. Partially from sitting so long, but also because you don’t think you’ve ever cried so hard in your life. Your eyes hurt, your chest ached, and your throat felt like it was on fire.

You see movement to your left and look to see Steve sitting next to you patiently on the pavement. His arms on his knees, he turns his head to look at you, his eyes full of worry.

“Sorry if I startled you or something, I just- I didn’t like the idea of you being downtown all by yourself in your state. I hope that’s okay” he says kindly.

His warmness making your chest hurt, you didn’t deserve his kindness, or anyone’s kindness after everything that happened.

“You don’t have to stay with me, I’ll just call an uber or something...” you say softly, wiping the rest of the tears from your face.

Steve doesn’t say anything, he just stands up and at first you think he’s going to take you at your word and leave. Then you feel his hand on your back, ushering you up, you start to protest. But he just ushers you silently towards his car. He gets in the driver’s side and turns on the car, then he gets out and helps you into the passenger side, holding you gently.

“I turned the seat warmers on, feel free to turn the heat up, you must be freezing.” He says softly. He shuts your car door for you and then ruffles around in the back seat before opening your car door again and wrapping you up in a warm blanket.

“I have this stashed for emergencies, seems like the right time to use it.” He states, fussing over you making sure you’re completely covered by the blanket.

New tears well in your eyes, your heart spilling out of you, it’s all too much. The whiplash of the argument with Eddie and Violet and now Steve being the sweetest man in the world to you. As if you aren’t the worst person to ever exist. You didn’t deserve this, you should be locked away for your crimes . Not wrapped up in a blanket and handled with care, it wasn’t fair to Eddie or Violet.

“We really were going to tell her, ya know? And- and I didn’t mean for things to happen with Eddie after we kissed, it just happened. It’s all so messy and it’s all my fault, I fucked it all up!” You sob.

Steve looks back at you mournfully.

“I know, honey, I know,” he says softly.

 The two of you sit in some more silence while you cry, then you feel his warm hand start rubbing little circles into your back, which only makes you sob harder, but even so, you find yourself leaning into his touch. Leaning into any type of comfort, your heart hurt too much, you couldn’t take it, you need it to go away.

Eventually, you stop crying and Steve gets in the driver side to drive you home, you just look out the window, allowing your body to thaw under the blanket. You eventually give Steve directions to your apartment, and go back to looking out the window, your eyes getting heavier and heavier the longer you were sitting wrapped in your blanket cocoon.

When you wake, you hear the car door opening and feel Steve’s strong arms scoop you against his chest. You smell his intoxicating cologne; you hadn’t smelled it in so long, but it awoken something in you. You blinked slowly, taking in your surroundings. He had not taken you home, to your lonely apartment filled with the memories of you and Eddie. Instead, you were being carried through the front door of his house and entering a very familiar foyer. Steve sets you down on a comfy couch in a room you assume is the living room.

You stare at him in confusion, your brain fogged over from tonight’s events. He looks a little nervous, his knee bouncing up and down.

“Uh sorry, you fell asleep, and I didn’t like the idea of you going home and being by yourself. I can still take you home if you’d like, I just I dunno...I was worried about you,” he confesses, his honey brown eyes staring up at you expectantly.

You wipe away the sleep and the dried tears from your eyes, you sit up sorely, your body punishing you for sitting on the hard pavement for so long. You feel more vulnerable than you’d like to admit, in Steves house with barely any clothes on. You rub your arms trying to soothe yourself, wrapping yourself up tighter in Steves blanket.

“Thank you” you squeak, your voice hoarse from crying so much. He smiles slightly and nods, scratching the back of his neck before he speaks next.

“You’re welcome to stay...if you’d like, I have plenty of guest rooms for you to sleep in. No pressure though,” he says hurriedly.

You mull over his offer, the idea of staying over made your stomach feel sick with guilt but also burn with curiosity. Then you thought again about getting back in his car, and going back home to your apartment, alone with your thoughts, replaying tonight’s events over and over again.

“If it’s alright with you... I think I’d like to stay,” you say meekly, fidgeting with your hands.

The anxiety on Steve’s face diminishes, nodding at you eagerly. “Please, mi casa es su casa,” he gestures to his house and chuckles lightly to clear the air.

You look at him gratefully, the two of you make some light small talk before he gives you the grand tour of the house. He explains it used to be his parents’ house before they moved to Florida after his dad retired. He went on to tell you that he wasn’t very close with his parents, they always resented him for never marrying or having any kids of his own. You felt even more guilty now, not only had Steve left his job because of you, but that meant more time stuck in this house, thinking about what a disappointment he is to his parents. The self-pity spiral is starting to grow bigger and bigger inside your head once again, the spell only broken when Steve puts his hand on your back, and your mind goes silent.

Focusing on the warmth and pressure his hand is leaving on your back. In contrast to all the shitty things that happened this evening, you’re allowing yourself this one nice thing. It reminded you of simpler times, when you just had a little crush on your sociology professor, before the kiss, before everything with Eddie. You remember the first time he put his hand on your back, it was the first day you went into his office when he helped you take care of that parking ticket. You remember how your insides twisted and turned with excitement. Then, when you became his TA, it was something you looked forward to when the two of you were alone together.

“And this is one of the many guest bedrooms, feel free to pick anyone you like there’s plenty to choose” he states cheerfully.

Steve shows you the rest of the house, your mind boggled by how big the house really is, castle might be a better word for it.

Steve escorts you towards one of the many bathrooms on the second floor leaving you alone to shower and freshen up, the bathroom stocked with the fluffiest towels you’ve ever felt in your entire life. The guest bathroom alone seemed bigger than your whole apartment. You let the hot water envelop you, hugging every part of your body.

You sit on the cold tiles of the shower, trying to figure out what to do. You think about Violet first, the person who ha been your best friend for as long as you can remember, the only one who has always been in your corner, now gone. You feel tears at the edges of your very sore eyes. Then you think of Eddie, the sweetest guy to ever exist, and the only one to ever make you feel worthy of love.

How did you fuck this up so badly?

You let a few more tears fall, meeting the warm water down the drain. You rub your eyes, the skin around your eyes raw from all the crying, you can’t remember the last time you cried this much. It made you feel so small and fragile, like if someone breathed at you the wrong way, you’d crumble into a million pieces. You let a few more tears fall before you take a deep breath and finish your shower. You shake away your thoughts, thinking about how differently this day had started versus how it was ending, everything taken away from you so quickly.

You were grateful for Steves kindness, it felt nice to not be in your apartment. To be away from the mess you had made, you could almost allow yourself to forget.. almost.

When you walk into the guest bedroom you see a pair of plaid boxers and a big grey t-shirt left on the bed for you, you pick up the t-shirt laid out before you and bring it up to your nose. Your shoulders relax as the scent fills your nostrils. The scent of Steve, not even his cologne, just him. It made your brain dizzy. Once you finish getting dressed you hear a knock on the door.

“Come in!” you call out. Steve emerges from the other side of the door, holding a glass of water and a bottle of Tylenol. He shakes the bottle in his hand and comes to sit next to you on the bed.

“Oh gosh Thank you so much” you say gratefully taking the glass of water and taking two Tylenol.

Steve waves you off, you will be forever in awe of the way Steve is able to make anything seem like a piece of cake. He never made you feel like a burden, something you are always concerned about. It made you feel a little more at ease.

“You really didn’t have to do all this for me, it’s my own mess that I gotta figure out how to clean up, I feel bad that you went through all this trouble for me” you confess, guilt already filling your chest again. These were the consequences of your own actions, and you needed to deal with it. You think about how unfair you’ve been, not only to Eddie or Violet, but to Steve as well. None of them deserved to be caught up in your hurricane, but yet they all paid the price somehow.

“You’d do it for me...you have done it for me” he says quietly, looking at his hands.

You turn your head, studying his face, he seemed slightly embarrassed but mostly sad.

“You didn’t have to come over and check on me, especially not when I drunk texted you like an idiot. You were so kind, and I was so pathetic.” He runs his fingers through his hair, shaking his head slightly.

“Anyone would have done that Steve, really it’s okay, I didn’t mind helping. Everyone needs some help every now and again,” you say dismissing him.

“Exactly, so why don’t you take your own advice and let me help you?” he counters, sticking up one of his eyebrows in retort.

You try and find a reason, but you couldn’t think of a good one. Your brain is exhausted, you need comfort.. a hug, something.

“C’mere” Steve mumbles, opening his arms to you, like he could read your mind, but knowing you, your face doesn’t hide much. Your pain was probably written all over your face. You didn’t have anything left in you to deny yourself any longer, that left when Eddie did. You crawl into Steves arms and let out a deep breath for one of the first times tonight. He wraps his strong arms around you, the two of you sit like that for a bit. Steve never pulling away, just letting you cuddle up against him for as long as you need.

You sigh in his arms, allowing yourself to fully relax, you wrap your fingers around Steves shirt. Bringing him impossibly closer to you, taking in his intoxicating scent once again. His heartbeat against your ear warming you more than the shower did, making your body relax completely against his. After today’s events, this little bit of affection was like a drug, a drug that was filling your body with need. Desire brewing inside you, begging you to forget, pleading with you to give into your deepest needs.

You pull back from Steve's embrace, just enough to be a couple inches from his face, you could feel his breath on your cheeks. You look into his eyes, but he's not looking at you. He’s looking at your lips, you can see his brain fighting the urge to kiss you. And that diminishes the rest of your resolve, you lean in closer to his lips. Steve eagerly meets you halfway, his lips a hungry attack on your own. Not like the way he kissed you back in his office so many weeks ago, that kiss was swift and innocent. This kiss was one filled with passion and need, he grabs the back of your neck, almost like a promise to himself that he wouldn’t let you go this time. You entwine your fingers into his silky locks at the nap of his neck, pulling him closer to you. That elicits a groan from Steve, only making your need for him grow stronger. His moan makes your brain short circuit, the most primal part of you coming out of its cave, ready to play. You couldn’t even count how many nights during the start of the school year you would imagine what he sounded like, with your hand between your legs.

Steve grabs your waist and pulls you onto his lap, you mindlessly grind against his lap selfishly trying to find any type of friction against your core. You moan into each other’s mouths, a song of your combined desperation for each other. The two of you are a tangled mess of hands, lips, and tongues.

Steve grabs at the edges of your (his) shirt, pulling it up and over your head. It takes Steve no time to start his assault on your chest. Leaving open mouthed kisses on your skin, nipping and sucking on your nipples, making you grind down harder on his lap.

“Damn... you’re so fucking beautiful,” he moans into your chest, his voice making you throw your head back in pleasure, answering him with a moan of your own. His eyes wild in lust, slightly bloodshot from the previous events, but still trained on you, like you’re the only thing that mattered in the world right now. Steve's grip on you was firm but not bruising, another way he showed you how much he cared for you, even now. You hold onto his shoulders for support, grinding down faster into his lap. The head of his cock rubbing deliciously against your clit, you could feel your arousal soaking the cloth of Steve’s boxers, you’d be embarrassed if you weren’t so incredible turned on.

Wanting to see more of him you tug his shirt off too, running your hands through his dark brown chest hair.

He guides you to lay down on the bed, his weight on top of you only adding to the feeling of his cock in between your folds. You moan loudly, pushing your hips against his, the pleasure building deep inside you.

“You sound so pretty baby, so so pretty” Steve praises you, leaving little kisses along your pulse point. He makes his way down your body, leaving kisses on every open patch of skin he could find. Reaching the hem of his boxers hanging lowly on your waist, looking up at you, his eyes asking permission to move forward with his thought. You nod your head quickly, in your hazy state you’d probably let him do about anything to you right now. He leaves a kiss right below your belly button as a thank you as he slides of your (his) boxers, pushing your legs open to fully expose yourself to him.

Steve lets out a pained moan, spreading your lips, inspecting every inch of your center like it was painted my da Vinci himself.

“Jesus christ baby, look at you.. soo wet” He admires, barely audible to you, almost like he was talking to himself. Steve leaves chaste kisses on your thighs, making them slightly in anticipation.  Finally Steve licks a long stripe from your center to your clit, flicking your clit with the point of his tongue.

“Fuck Steve oh-oh my god,” you whimper, you were already so needy and you barely started.

Steve goes to town like a man starved, if it didn’t feel so damn good, you’d be worried that he wasn’t coming up for air. His tongue darting expertly in and out of your core, his handsomely pointed nose rubbing up against your clit making you see stars.

Your legs threaten to close, unable to hold them open any longer, smushing Steve's face. His hands guide your thighs open wider than before, getting impossibly closer to your heat. Your body hurtling embarrassingly fast towards your release already, you grab a fist full of his hair to steady yourself.

Free of consequences, and pain, it’s ecstasy.

Steve moans deliciously into your core, the vibration sending another wave of pleasure down your spine, rolling your hips into his face.

“H-holy shitt, look at you baby, makin’ such a mess for me, such a good girl,” he coos at you, making you clench around nothing. The whole bottom half of his face glistening with your arousal, not that it seemed to bother Steve. He looked like a kid in a fucking candy store, greedily sucking, nipping, and licking every drop you gave him. He’s a man possessed.

With every lick of Steve’s tongue, you were getting closer and closer to pure bliss. The headboard behind you rocking back and forth against the wall obnoxiously, you look down below you to see Steve's hips rocking against the mattress as he was buried deep in between your legs. What a fucking sight.

He's so pretty

That image alone brings you right at the edge, your hips grinding fervently against his face, your combined moans filling the room

 “Yeah, right there, fuck right fucking there!” you wail.

His hands tighten around your thighs, doubling down between your folds.

“Fuck Fuck Fuck I’m gonnna... I’m gonna cum!” you scream as your vision whites out and euphoria floods your system. Your ears ringing, the only thing you can hear is the mixed moans of you and Steve. Your on cloud nine, your brain thanking you, your mind clear of Eddie and Violet, only Steve. Steve's hands, mouth, lips, tongue, everything Steve.

Once you come down from your high, you look at Steve hungrily, sitting up to capture his lips with yours. Your release tangy on his tongue. He wraps his arms around you, smooshing you back onto the bed.

“Your turn” you say with a smirk, flipping him over onto his back.  

“Uh.. no need” Steve says sheepishly, looking down at the wet spot that formed in his grey sweatpants. Your mouth hung open in an “O” shape. Steve just came from eating you out

… holy shit...

“Holy shit” you say, your eyes unable to move from the mess he made in his pants.

“Yeah, holy shit” he chimes in, clearly a little embarrassed by his actions.  You didn’t want him to be embarrassed, he had no need to be. He is just one of the sexiest men alive that’s all, no big deal. You look up at him with lust still in his eyes, and lean over his mess. You leave open mouth kisses on the fabric, licking lightly with your tongue. You taste bits of Steve's release, making you moan wishing for more.

“Jesus- Fuck!” Steve hisses, his hips buckle at the sensation, still sensitive from his climax. You look back up at him innocently, giving him a light kiss on the cheek.   

“What am I gonna do with you, you naughty girl” he smirks, shaking his head back and forth. The question hanging uncomfortable in the air...

What the fuck were the two of you going to do? What the fuck was that?

Eventually the two make your way to the bathroom, Steve leaves momentarily to change into different pants and leaves you to clean yourself. Upon his return he brought you a new pair of boxers and you thank him gratefully. The other pair completely pathetically soiled.

Looking at Steve post orgasm should be its own art exhibit, his grey-brown hair messy from being pulled and tugged, his eyes still slightly blown in lust, his lips pink, and his chest delightfully bare. How could he get even more beautiful? You wished your mind to take a picture to remember this.

Steve walks you back to your room and sits next to you on the bed, so many unsaid words hung in the air. Firstly, you didn’t want Steve to think this was some kind of a rebound, of course it felt good, but you had been wanting Steve since the first day he set foot in the classroom. Then there was Eddie, your wound still fresh from your breakup. You really do care for Eddie, he was the best boyfriend you’ve ever had, but that didn’t diminish your feelings for Steve. You knew that if Eddie found out about what the two of you had done, you’d just hurt him even more than you already have. You stomach started twisting in knots, the mess you made growing bigger by the hour bringing in more casualties. Your brain is even more confused than it was a few hours ago, if that’s even possible.

“This doesn’t have to be a thing, you know? We don’t have to talk about it ever again. Scouts honor,” He confesses, smiling warmly at you.

“I’m so sorry Steve, I didn’t mean for this to happen, I- I don’t know what happened, I just...”

“You’re sorry? I should be the one who’s apologizing, I feel like a fucking monster. You were a little drunk, and so was I, and I didn’t stop it even though I should have. You don’t have to explain yourself to me at all Y/N, okay?” he interrupts.

You feel some tension leaving your shoulders, although you didn’t think it was Steve’s fault at all. But all the energy you had to argue with him, had been squashed by the orgasm Steve so wonderfully gifted to you, your body now beyond exhausted, begging you for sleep. You bring your knees up to your chest and yawn.

“Okay Stevie,” you say, your eyes fluttering, fighting to stay open.

Steve smiles warmly at the nickname, “Alright, well I’ll let you get some rest, I’m just down the hall if you need anything”

You watch Steve get up and walk towards the door, anxiety filling your head watching him leave. You didn’t want him to go. You remember how nice his arms felt around you not an hour ago, and how calm your brain is when he’s around.

“Steve?” you say barely audible.

“Yeah?” he says his eyes showing a hint of concern and anticipation.

“Stay with me?” you beg pathetically. You know its not right, you know you shouldn’t want him, or crave him. What about Eddie, what about fucking Eddie. But your heart ached with the thought of sleeping so close but so far from him, the need for him ached deep inside your bones.

Silence fills the room, the two of you looking at each other, knowing the answer to your question could change everything. You open your mouth saying you’ve changed your mind, feeling stupid again for the hundredth time tonight.

But as you’re about to say something, Steve closes the door and sits next to you on the bed. Steve's eyes are tired, you look at the clock next to you and it’s nearly 5 am, Steve had the patience of a god. You let out the breath you were holding, the bubble of anxiety dissipating from your chest.

“Go on, get comfy, I know you’re exhausted” Steve orders, motioning towards the covers. You wrap yourself up under the very expensive looking blankets, Steve tugging the blankets up higher making sure you were comfy before settling in behind you. He envelops you with his arms, pulling you closer, your back now flush with his chest and your head resting comfortable under his. Steve is so warm, like the sun, filling your body with its heat, your eyes eyes getting heavy. He rubs soothing circles into your bare skin that’s open to him.

“’s this okay?” he breathes quietly into your ear.

“Yeah.. perfect,” you whisper, alright on the verge of sleep.

Dreamland finds you not long after, the dull ache in your chest soothed by the warmth of Steve’s body next to you in bed.

***Reblogs/ Comments are appreciated<3***

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[satorugojjo]

I don’t think there’s a single book BookTok has promoted in the last couple years that’s turned out to be an actually good “you cannot miss this read” which now makes me and so many others I know avoid it as a whole.

A lot of BookTok books seem to be specific for very young or very new readers who haven’t cut their teeth on fanfic or haven’t been reading from a young age. The writing style is either a really profound Instagram metaphorical caption kinda overwrought and over flowery language, or it’s trying so hard to be edgy and sardonic and ends up being completely tell and almost zero show. This Is How You Lose The Time War is a PERFECT example of this - where the flowery and poetic language actually takes AWAY from a scene and distracts you from it rather than adding anything to it in the moment, and for those who do like poetic fiction this will be up their alley but if you don’t and you pick it up because of badly marketed hype when you normally wouldn’t, it’s gonna turn you off reading in general!

There’s nothing wrong with starter fiction to help get readers engaged and then find their way into actually good books, but my gripe is that it’s never ever marketed as that and as if it it’s just generically good fiction. Nothing Colleen Hoover has ever written is objectively good - the writing style is mediocre and she romanticises taboo topics which will seem spicy to the average population who doesn’t READ. And yet she takes up every bookshelf which I promise you will end up turning many readers who ARENT on booktok away from reading altogether.

YA is another genre that has declined a lot in recent years because it’s full of marketers trying to fit all the buzzword tropes into their books and getting young readers to buy it because it’s “enemies to lovers pirate cyberpunk found family” or whatever - and it feels more like focus group fiction rather than actual writing. I LOVE YA but nothing that’s been released post 2020 has had any depth, plot, character development or any style to it.

A great example is Fourth Wing by Rebecca Yarros - i tried reading 2 chapters as a sample and it was shocking to see how illogical, overdramatic, overedgy and exceptionally “this happened then this then this then that” it was. There was absolutely zero nuance and it felt so “I’m telling you all this but I’m not gonna prove any of it”. And yet it’s rated either 5 stars or 1 star. I’m sure it’s a great starter middle grade/teen book but it is definitely not deserving to be on the same pedestal as other YA books like Hunger Games or Six of Crows. I used to think that perhaps I’ve just outgrown YA but considering I can pick up YA from 2018 that I haven’t read before with no problems, it’s so specific to BOOKTOK YA.

It’s getting to the point that if I see a book that’s being overpromoted on tiktok, I’m more likely to believe the bad reviews because there hasn’t been a SINGLE book where I’ve disagreed with them, and then go find a different book in the same genre that hasn’t been on booktok - it’s getting hilarious actually that the books that are actually incredible get zero screen time and traction on booktok because they aren’t just cheap easy airport reads. Once again - nothing wrong with an easy airport CH book or YA book, but we aren’t going around parading a Lee Child book as peak literature no matter how enjoyable they are.

I don’t even have a conclusion to this entire rant - I’m sick of books like Babel getting steamrolled because it was “too sad or too hard” in favour of the latest SJM book, and getting even more sick of the decline of media literacy due to books getting easier and more spoonfeedy. When they aren’t? They mistake flowery metaphors for complexity and depth.

[misslycoris]

SIGNED, ALASTOR

A little snippet of the latest chapter, if you plan to read a bit more, consider giving us a visit sweetie ♡~

THE RADIO DEMON DOESN'T MIND GROCERY TRIPS

Can of soup, can of soup, more cans of questionable soup, it was an aisle filled with nothing but canned soup. You sometimes question what that says about the current state of humanity, what with the abundance of premade soups. It helps though, and saves time and money. You took two cans and placed them in your basket, tucking your wings in as you moved to another aisle, George preferred home-cooked meals anyway so you wouldn't need to bother about it so much. You always wondered how the ones who made these cans of soup last so long inside metal cans, aren't they supposed to rust or something? You were mostly sure that the reason why most of these canned goods tasted shit wasn't because of rusting, just that the people who made it didn't put the taste into account more than profit. From one aisle to the next, you trudged on to check everything off your list.

"Well look who it is! A familiar set of wings, and an even more familiar face!" Then there came the jovial tune of a jazz band playing on the radio, you didn't even need to turn around to see who it was. "About time I got bothered again." You mumbled, focused on finding the right kind of seasoning. "Busy with the groceries?" He asked, you hummed in response, grabbing a random box of spices. "Ah ah, not that." He said, taking the bundle out and instead grabbing a bundle of different spices. "These taste better and for a much cheaper price no less!" You took a moment to stare at him questioningly, that makes for another surprise. "You seem, experienced. Been here before?" You asked, unsure but made no move to remove whatever he just placed inside your basket. "Nope! But it's a sure choice of mine! You can never trust a box to deliver something with value after all!"

You grabbed a random brand of pasta noodles only to have it snatched and replaced by Alastor. "This one is an insult to the Italians, my friend, I suggest you keep yourself far away from it unless you prefer your pasta soggy and falling apart at the seams." He said, pointing towards the now returned box of pasta. You nodded your head, checking the pasta off your list.

"You seem to know a lot about these." You pointed towards the shelf, Alastor twirled his staff and raised his chin proudly. "I happen to be quite familiar with the art of groceries! Reminds me of the good old simple days with my mother!" You nodded, looking for the next item on your list. "Your mother? That seems, oddly nice of you. I'm guessing you had good memories with her?" You took two brands of parmesan and showed it to Alastor. "Only but the best! If you think I'm any good with these, you haven't seen her in her element! She knows a good ingredient when she sees one!" He pointed towards the parmesan you were holding to your right, you returned the other back to the shelf and chucked his cheese of choice in your basket. "She seems like a great person." You meant it, with how he seemed so fond of the woman you can't even imagine just how kind she was. "That she was my friend, tough but with a gentle touch to her." Alastor hummed as he stalked along, finding a sense of nostalgia as he saw you searching for whatever it was you were asked to buy. Really, he could almost see a younger him dragging his mother around, eager and curious. Stars behind his eyes as he hoped to get things his family at the time couldn't afford, yet his dear old mother never said anything. The woman only smiled and asked Alastor to be patient and that she'd get it for him later, she sometimes did and Alastor never knew how she managed to.

He remembered all those times that she had enough to cook something special for the both of them, him eating his mother's jambalaya while listening to the radio with her. He never could quite replicate her recipe, he always got close but never could get that spark that it had when she made it. Did he miss something? But he was always there when she made it, he had the recipe memorized by heart, the measurements to a tee, and all the small tricks his mother taught him he kept under his sleeves. So what was it? Was there something his mother hadn't told him before she died? Or did it taste special because she was the one who made it?

You glanced at Alastor who was now rendered silent, the music following him now muted. You didn't want to interrupt his thoughts so you let him be, giving a moment to think about whatever it was he was thinking. His mother seemed to be a good person uninvolved with what he did to get to Hell, so that would mean that his mother may have been kept in the dark, his mother found out, or his mother died early on before he started going awry. You were certain about one thing, however, a mother like that would've never wanted her son to turn out the way he did. "I wonder which," you paused, staring at the two similarly looking products. It was then that Alastor snapped out of his trance and chose for you. "This company has a habit of copying others, so my best bet would be on the other one." His voice held no ulterior motives or malice, just him providing his thoughts and bits of advice with the intention of helping you. You went through the list with ease, Alastor on your side as he gave you a lecture on what spice to use on what type of dish.

"Don't be afraid to use spices, don't skimp on it either! It gives a needed zing to your dish! If the recipe calls for something to give it a spicy kick don't sprinkle in a few and call it a day!" He exclaimed as you got in line to pay. "What if you can't handle spice well?" You asked, you didn't want to be the first person to kill someone with capsaicin. "Then you add as much as you can without scaring them off, they'll eventually learn to handle it with enough dishes!" You didn't notice it and neither did he, but the people in front went out of their way to move, letting you and Alastor go in front of the cashier first despite being at the back of the line. One of them even eyed you intently.

"Does that work?" You asked, setting down your basket with Alastor helping you take the contents out. "You'd be surprised with how fast it happens so long as you slowly increase the spice with each meal!" You nodded attentively, making a mental note of his advice. "Have, have a nice day!" The cashier stammered, practically shoving the paper bag on you. "But I haven't paid yet," Alastor tilted his head at the quivering state of the poor bloke as you tried to balance yourself at the sudden weight shoved at you. "You have, yes you have. Please have a good day." You raised a brow at what he said, but as you looked at him he stared at you with the most terrified expression. "Please get out." He mouthed silently, eyes spasming as he put up a desperate smile. Right, you were with Alastor. Overlord and certified nightmare.

Before you knew it you were out the door, the bell ringing as you held the bag between your arms. "Well, I didn't expect to get these all for free." You laughed almost unbelieving of what had just happened. "Do you always get free service when you're that terrifying?" Alastor almost seemed pleased with himself, a small smile adorned his face. "Well, who am I to refuse such an act of kindness in Hell? People can be quite decent on some days!" He joked, and you laughed along with him. "In any case, I suppose I should thank you for it. Count my blessings right?" The crowd cheers, Alastor grinning wide. "Exactly! You're getting the hang of it!" You shook your head, it was about time you left so you bid your goodbyes and stretched your wings out.

"Should I expect you to come and bother me again next week?" He guffawed, a swing beat loud in the distance.

"You know me well already my friend!"

EDITED: Edited out a part that lacked context and added additional tags

[mylovelies-docx]

Sorry, I Love You - Part 9

Oh wow, a new chapter? Who'd have thunk it.

My posting schedule is all off and I honestly don't know if I can get it back under control. I have no idea when I'll get time to sit down and write and when inspiration will strike, so I can't assure weekly updates. But I'll try my hardest to get this story out! I have future chapters written, it's just that I have no way of connecting them right now :/ Oops.

Plot: You and Bucky have a good thing going - best of friends that also have more than a little chemistry between the sheets. Everything is fine until you develop feelings for the man who doesn't want a relationship. What will happen when Bucky finds out?

C/W: Ah shit, here we go again. Angst, arguments, jealousy

Word Count: 2,250

Tag List: NOW CLOSED! If you'd like to keep up with this story, please follow my blog and turn on notifications! ❤️ you :)

[Prologue][Part 1][Part 2][Part 3][Part 4][Part 5][Part 6][Part 7][Part 8]

Some moments are easier than others. Sometimes you feel like you’re not pining like a love-sick teenager enough to think that you can actually do this – you can actually be friends with the man you love.

But then there are moments like tonight.

A few weeks have passed since community get-together, and you and Bucky are the new kids in town. Everyone drops by to say hello, leave you with enough food to last the winter, and invite you both back to their homes for dinner. It’s all very sweet, and you would appreciate the hospitality in any other situation.

But the amount of mothers trying to marry their daughters off to Bucky is insane. 

Several have not-so-subtley seated Bucky next to daughters of marriageable age, while everyone else is silently discouraged from interrupting their conversations. It skeezes you out when the girls are barely out of their teens, but most of the girls are around your age or older. Morality-wise, that’s a whole lot more appropriate. Internal monologue-wise, ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh doesn’t even begin to cover it. What you feel whenever he laughs at something they say, or looks at them with his intense blue eyes – it hurts. That’s how he used to look at you, once upon a time. Like his life wouldn’t be the same without you in it, like you’re one of the most important people in his world.

To be fair to Bucky, you probably read waaaay more into it than he ever meant. And you only ever really saw that look come out when you were straddling his waist and grinding hard on his cock, skin mottled with his teeth marks and wearing his metal hand as a necklace. 

Stop, stop, stop, stop!

Anyway,

You’re usually placed next to older, widowed relatives, as most of the young men in the town have already settled down and popped out a few kids with their spouses except for Petre. Tessa foists the two of you together at every possible opportunity, hoping you’ll hit it off and decide to get married in the near future. 

Petre is nice, smart, cute, but not really your type. You’re convinced that you’ve only ever had one type and he’s off-limits. But Petre’s company is much more enjoyable than the sad, lonely older men they try to pair you with – it never feels great to be compared to someone’s long lost love – so you don’t mind having someone around your age to talk during these things.

Speaking of.

“It’s a nice night, yeah?” Petre comments. The night is warmer than expected, but you and Petre are still bundled up in your coats as you stroll through the dead copse of trees near the latest dinner party. The sun had set only minutes ago and the stars are making their presence known. There’s next to no light pollution in this area, so you always take the time to admire the night sky when you have the chance. 

You often take walks with Bucky up and down your street as a way to decompress after your shifts at the HYDRA facility. After the first week or so of being everyone’s errand-runner, they’ve slowly built up your workload to include calculations and deductions based on redacted data – it’s not as much information as you’d like, but it’s enough to build a foundational understanding of what the experiment was about.

You hum in agreement and continue walking. It’s about time to turn around and head back, but you can’t bring yourself to return only to watch Bucky flirt with the pretty girls that were also invited.  

“Is something the matter?” Petre asks you.

You startle out of your petty, jealous thoughts. “Hm? Oh, no. Nothing’s wrong,” you reply with a smile.

“It’s just that you seem very distracted tonight,” he responds.

With your hands in your pocket, the only thing you can do is shrug your shoulders. “Just tired, is all. It’s been a long week at the office.”

“Ah, I know the feeling,” Petre commiserates. 

All of the sudden, a wailing, piercing shriek ricochets between the tree trunks and reverberates in your ears. Tensing with adrenaline, you take two steps forward, ready to intervene in whatever events are unfolding in the darkness.

Before you get much further, Petre reaches out and takes hold of your elbow. Turning you around, he starts leading the way back. You try to tug your arm from his grip, but he holds firm.

“The cry of a vixen who is looking to mate. They’re rather vicious creatures this time of year, foxes. We don’t want to get in her way,” Petre deters.

“But…” you begin, looking back over your shoulders and watching for unexpected movement among the swaying branches. “It sounds so real.”

“Terrifying, really. I was just as concerned when they began, as well.” Petre gives you a tight smile and relaxes his grip slightly when you stop trying to pull away.

“What do you mean?” you question.

“What?” Petre’s eyes flash around quickly, looking through the woods that surround you.

“‘When they began’. What do you mean by that?”

“Ah,” Petre replies. “When mating season began.”

There’s no more discussion on the eerily accurate sound of a woman in distress. You can only trust that Petre would know the local fauna and their habits better than you, since you’ve never spent an extended period of time in areas such as this.

***

The neighbor’s house finally comes into view. A lone figure stands silhouetted against the porch as they lean against the railings, their arms braced against the banister and posture rigid. When you get closer, you realize that the figure is Bucky. 

You can’t see his face, but you can feel his eyes on you. And apparently Petre can as well.

“He doesn’t like me?” Petre asks.

“Why do you say that?” The question puzzles you because Bucky has no reason to dislike Petre. He’s been incredibly helpful so far, allowing you to ask as many questions as you want about himself and others and he doesn’t seem bothered by it at all. In fact, you feel as if you and Petre have become friends.

“It just seems like he’s never happy to see me.”

“Oh, don’t worry about that – James just has RBF,” you reply nonchalantly.

“RBF?” Petre replies.

You laugh as you and Petre climb the stairs, only now realizing that he still has a hand on your arm. You’d forgotten all about it, but you miss the slight warmth that permeated through your jacket when he removes his touch. You turn to look at him, but Petre is looking away, his hands now deep in his pockets. Turning your focus onto Bucky, you see him watching Petre, his eyes squinted.

A large smile returns to your face as you reach up and grab Bucky’s chin, squishing his cheeks and making his lips pucker from the pressure. “This –” you say triumphantly, “is an RBF.”

Bucky glares down at you and swats your hand away. You cackle at the perfect example of Resting Bitch Face™ in front of you, throwing your head back in joy. When you right your posture again, you can see a small smile on Bucky’s face as he laughs along with you.

“Whatever,” he murmurs. He shakes his head in exasperation before circling his arm around your shoulders. Bucky begins dragging you back down the steps you had just ascended and you grunt in protest. “It’s time to go,” he says simply.

“Ugh, you’re so rude,” you say to him. Craning your neck as much as possible, you look back towards Petre who remains on the porch. “I’ll see you later!” you call backwards with a wave. Petre raises a hand in return, face hidden in shadow as Bucky’s had been.

Focusing back on the road in front of you, you can practically feel what little mirth Bucky had drains away. Looking up, you notice that his jaw is clenched and a hard look has entered his eye.

“What’s wrong?” Now you’re worried that something happened to Bucky while you were gone that has put him in a bad mood. Did someone say something to him? Did one of the women reject his advances? You can’t see who in their right mind would turn him down, but not everyone feels the same way about him as you do. But if it’s the latter, the guilt you feel only slightly outweighs the relief.

“You don’t think you’re spendin’ too much time with him?” Bucky says between clenched teeth.

A frown appears between your eyebrows as you continue to look up at him. “No?” you respond. “He doesn’t seem to mind.”

“Ofcoursehedoesn’t,” Bucky mutters under his breath, but you can still hear him.

You slide out from under Bucky’s hold, his agitation sparking flames of your own. “What’s that supposed to mean?” 

“You don’t think you’re leadin’ him on a bit, Y/N?” Bucky asks you.

You scoff. “What the fuck are you talking about?” 

“You’re always hangin’ around him!” Bucky quips back. “You’re flirting with him and walking out of parties together. All these people, Petre included, are going to think you’re pitching for an engagement.”

The hurt and pitiful feelings from earlier tonight come flooding back. Only this time, instead of feeling them for what they are, you combine them with the anger his comment brings. How dare he accuse you of leading Petre on? As if he isn’t doing the same thing to all those girls?!

“And what about you?!” you yell, the last word ripping its way between your lips and setting your tongue ablaze. “You don’t think you’re stringing all these girls along behind you? You don’t have any intention of getting into a relationship with any of them, either, do you?” 

As the words escape, you remember how Bucky sat you down and asked for a friends-with-benefits situation. Said he wasn’t ready for a real relationship, but tired of one night stands. How the two of you could help each other out since you weren’t seeing anyone either. The old resentment towards yourself and how you let yourself fall for someone wholly unavailable whiplashes back into your mind after months of repressing it. 

If he could ask that of you, does that mean he’s asked someone else? You usually arrive home later than him, but on some occasions that you are released early, he’s not there. Instead of asking where he’s been, you had just let it slide since it could have been construed as possessiveness. Like your feelings – that Bucky believes to be long gone – entitle you to his life. You hadn’t wanted to risk anything at the time, but now your mind can’t help running wild at the possibilities.

“It’s not like I’m screwing his brains out every time we’re gone!” You shout at Bucky. You had been walking down the road away from the house party which was on a street with few homes, so there’s nobody around to hear your fight. “We’re not in the bathrooms having quickies, he’s not fucking me against a wall, or bending me over his motorcycle! He hasn’t proposed we fuck around with each other until someone better comes along!” 

Your chest heaves with the effort of expelling these vicious words from deep within your heart, and you can feel a burning beginning to creep behind your eyes. You hate getting angry – hate that any strong emotion makes your eyes well with tears and makes you look weak. And in this situation, you are weak – weak against Bucky, weak against yourself, weak against the knowledge that the one man you’ve ever loved never felt the same way and never will. Your inability to keep yourself from falling for someone you knew you could never have? Your jealousy that he is probably sleeping with one or more of the women in town? That makes you weak. 

And you can’t stand to be weak in front of Bucky again.

“Newsflash, Buck: I know how it feels to be lead on by you and it fucking sucks!” You lower your voice slightly and take another step away from him. “I know that wasn’t your intention, and I didn’t feel that way at first, but that’s how I feel now.”

“You were my best friend, Y/N – I didn’t want to lose that!” Bucky exclaims. “And I genuinely thought we were on the same page!” He takes a deep breath and clasps his hands over his eyes before saying, “And seeing you run off with Petre all the time just reminds me of us – how we’d always sneak away to get some time alone. It’s just –” He drops his hands and sighs heavily, looking up at the star-studded sky and then back down to you. “I’m jealous.”

“You’re jealous?” You ask incredulously. “Why?”

“Because –” You can tell that he’s struggling to get this out, and if he hadn’t started this argument and accused you of wronging Petre, you might have been more receptive to what he’s saying. More understanding. But right now, your anger swallows all empathy and hope that his words would usually supply. “Because that could have been us,” he breathes. Bucky takes a tentative step in your direction, but freezes solid at the icy glare you send his way.

“No,” you say flatly, “No, it couldn’t have. You made that abundantly clear when I asked.”

You turn your back on him and start running, ignoring the sound of your name as you leave Bucky behind.

Part 10

Taglist: @jackiehollanderr @rabbitrabbit12321 @12345sebby @blackwood-bodecker-housewifeife @lauraashley93 @themorningsunshinee @happinessinthebeingg @nash-dara @calwitch @stany0url0calwh0res111 @pono-pura-vida @learisa @introverbatim @kentokaze @marvelogic @kaz11283

[queerponcho]

Transfixed | part 2

previous part | part 3

collage made by me with pictures from pinterest

moonknight!system x female!reader

a/n: Thank you, for all the lovely interactions I got with my first chapter! I'm glad you like it as much as I do and I hope this 2nd chapter meets your expectations&lt;;33

Warnings: no use of Y/N, fluff, NOT beta read, gushing about the moonboys, flustered awkward dorks, plot-twists, Jake being a menace, (eventual smut, the chapters will be marked individually), inaccurate depictions of DID, egyptian mythology and religion (although I did extensive research I took liberty in changing some things to adhere to my plot...), if I missed anything or made any spelling mistakes pls don't hesitate to tell me!

Summary: You haven't seen Jake for a while and are sure you won't ever meet him again. In fact you've convinced yourself to be unbothered by that theory and are planning to live with it. In typical Jake fashion, those plans are to be disrupted with a surprise visit to his new, favourite part of town...

2,700 words

Two weeks later

You continue working on your latest hyperfixated studies in the library and try your best to forget about him. You knew it was probable that you weren't going to see him again. So you quickly went back to drawing the library kitten, when you weren't working at the shelter or studying. You tried your best to stick to the cat and really focus on her cute paws and the green spots in her honey coloured eyes…but even those somehow remind you of him. This of course brings back the feeling of you pressed between the bookshelf and his front. His thumb on your chin and his crooked nose so close to brushing yours…how in the hell were you supposed to forget? Him and his advances rivalled many good romances you had read about. The library was starting to feel stuffy so you decided to take a break from sketching and to go get a coffee in the cute place next door. 

Giving the kitty one last treat before stepping out the door, you turn around to wave the cat goodbye ‘byeee barry! See you again soo-’ you stumble backwards over the sidewalk landing on someone. You’re about to apologise when-

‘we really gotta stop meetin’ like this, nena’ Like in any bad romance you meet him again by literally falling into Jake's lap. You look over your shoulder and see him smirking while resting his chin on your shoulder, making his face be much closer than you had expected. You scramble to your feet and dust off your sweater. Leaving him sitting on the floor. ‘Not even gonna help me up?? ay…que mala’ he tutted. He stands up swiftly, looking very pleased with himself. 

‘Hello to you too Jake, i-if you could excuse me I really need to go get my coffee’ you say while you push past him, walking two steps but stopping when he stands in your way looking almost panicked.

‘W-wait wait darling, let me buy you a coffee…please?’ 

You almost make a comment about the very british nickname but are taken aback by his uncharacteristic pleading eyes. It seemed very unlike him but you weren't about to refuse the pretty man you’ve been pining over. ‘Alright- Sure Jake, let's get coffee’ you say smiling but feeling like something's off. You walk slightly ahead, leading him to the nearby cafe. You can see Jake in your peripheral vision, he looked really nervous, seemed to be twitching weirdly and muttering some intelligible things. Maybe he was just in his head about something...you didnt wanna pay it any mind. You entered the „Moonbean “ café. It was this cute and cosy place with lots of natural light and many plants. After you get your ice coffee and Jake (to your surprise) buys himself a black tea with oat milk and honey, you sit down at a corner booth.

‘Ssso, ahem Jake. Is there anything you wanted to tell me or..?’ you ask, trying to make this situation seem like a normal sircumstance. ‘um yes! Or well no…it's kinda hard to explain but I need to know how you know…well- me..?’ he says while glancing into your eyes intently. ‘...okay, Jake I don't follow..’ you laugh awkwardly. ‘Okay so here's the deal' he rubs his hand over his face distressedly, 'I have DID, also known as dissociative identity disorder a-and we are two people in this system. Marc and Steven- well me! Steven' he takes a deep breath and keeps going. 'So, I wanted to have a coffee with you because we have been feeling like there might be a third consciousness, sharing our body that we don't know about...’ Steven says just a smidge too fast ‘...okay…Steven…what makes you think I have got any information on this third consciousness?’ you ask genuinely curious. You have read about DID but you have never actually talked to anybody that lived with it. 

‘Well…you did call me Jake about five times which leads me to think that erm- you might know a thing or two about him.’ just now you noticed how his entire presence was completely different from Jakes. Jake led with his chest and had a confident smirk practically glued on his face. Steven on the other hand looked tired and like he wanted to hide from any discomfort around him. His shoulders were rounded and his eyes looked like those of a lost puppy in need of a hug, which you were very inclined to give him. Unfortunately for you, his lack of confidence did not make him any less attractive. Which meant you still couldn't tear your eyes away from his features and had to work hard on not embarrassing yourself like last time. Remembering you had to answer him you perked up ‘right, well- I only know him in passing. How come you knew he was at the library?’ you say trying to redirect his attention away from your potentially…strange connection to Jake, don’t really wanna out yourself as a stalker…‘Funny story actually- erm I found this wood-panel in my floor that had a burner phone, gloves, a flat-cap and a small notebook with a folded piece of paper hidden inside. These items confirmed mine and Marc's belief that there might be a third. What surprised us more tho, is what we saw when we unfolded the paper…let me..’ he clears his throat and reaches into his satchel, he hands you the paper but looks to the side, avoiding eye-contact. You unfold it…and immediately want to die. ’oh fuck me- so um- w-what made you think it had anything todo with the- um, library?’ You try to keep your composure but it's very hard when the drawing was of course the sketch he’d taken from your collection two weeks ago. Naturally, he’d gotten his hands on one of the more "racey" drawings you’d drawn of him, you weren't entirely surprised that stalking a handsome stranger could ever come back to haunt you. 

‘So the paper has a footnote printed on it with an address…see? Right here a-above my- well Jakes bound wrists- ahem well yes so then w-we came here and bumped into you…’ his sentence died out and he shyly looked away while blushing. Steven was an adorable man, you were finding it hard to really focus on this serious conversation when all you could think about was how his hair was so unruly this time and his curls were bouncing above his eyebrows, making him look even prettier. How he wears his clothes two sizes too big, hiding his broad shoulders beneath 4 different layers of fabric. You snap out of it ‘so um- any idea who drew it?’ you ask while feeling a warm sensation crawl up your back and your heart-beat increasing ever so slightly. ‘Well- since it’s more…intimate in nature we assume he is perhaps seeing someone..?’ Inhaling sharply you try to stay calm. You really didn't want to tell them that you, a stranger, drew this but seeing Steven so exhausted and distressed convinced you to do the right thing. ‘ um- so..ahhh well…I drew that…’ You closed your eyes and squinted, opening one eye to see Stevens reaction. He was frozen, you swallow strenuously ‘um- Steven..? Everything okay…?’ you ask reluctantly.

 He stares into your eyes and is blushing intensely, looking like a red traffic-light. He's so cute. ‘Yes! I am fine- sorry love, I-I just did not exp-’

 ‘not expect that a total stranger would draw a lewd picture of you? Well, yes I definitely understand that notion’ you laugh. Funnily enough, Steven's nervousness was helping you calm down a bit and not feel as awkward. But something tells you that having this conversation with Jake would've absolutely killed you. ‘Yeah, I also did not expect to immediately run into the artist behind our one and only clue about…Jake, is his name?’

 ‘Y-yes his name is Jake..’ even just saying his name made you feel flustered. Steven noticed your change of demeanour and found it pretty interesting, choosing to interrogate a bit further. ‘Darling- you were saying you know Jake in passing. Would you mind telling us more about the times you saw him? ’

 Were all of this man's personalities into giving you heart-melting nicknames? Maybe someday you’d get to meet Marc well enough to find out… you can’t stop your mind from conjuring up a rom-com-like sequence with them…baking together and going grocery shopping, getting caught making out in your paradise library and going home to keep climbing him like- a hand waving in front of your face interrupts your intriguing daydream. 'Are you okay, love? I know this is a lot to process- if you need a break just tell me, yeah?’

 ‘oh! Yes! I mean no- I am fine. Sure Steven, I'll tell you about Jake.’ You sit up in your chair and begin to tell him about seeing Jake for the first time. He puts his elbows on the table leaning in, not wanting to miss a single detail of your story. 

‘-so yeah then he walked out with this thick leather bound book. It had some Moons carved onto it's cover, that's all I can remember. Then I didn't see him for about a month, until he came back last week to return the book.’ You notice Steven's eyes light up at your mention of the moon-details.

‘he didn't buy the book?’ 

‘he couldn't, the book is a unique scripture and can only be loaned for a maximum of 30 days.’  

‘okay…but something still confuses me. When did you meet him, if he only came back to return the book- and how did he even get the drawing you made of him?’  God, you really didnt wanna talk about this. Maybe you could find a way around actually telling him about what happened, to avoid the embarrassment. ‘Well- he came in and gave back the book. Then he went to look around …and we accidentally bumped into each other. I dropped all my things and he picked up the drawing and kept it without me knowing. We introduced ourselves to each other aand…that's it! Then he left!’ 

‘huh…are you sure that's all that happened?’ He says, his eyes turning darker. you were starting to sweat. You never were a very good liar, especially if attractive people were the ones asking the questions. ‘Mhm! Yeah. That's all’ you haven’t been looking him in the eyes. Jake might have intense and hooded eyes but Steven had impossibly earnest and rounded eyes. You could never lie while looking into such an adorable face. only you hadn’t noticed that the man before you wasn't Steven anymore- ‘hola hermosa. You miss me?’ your head whips back towards him at the familiar nickname. In the short amount of time he had somehow, slid over to your side of the booth. ‘Chiquita…why don't you wanna tell him the truth, ah? You scared he might leave when you tell him about your...stalkerish tendencies? Steven is a smart man, he won't leave such a gorgeous woman behind...’ he winks at you moving closer so your thighs touch.

‘Jake- what is going on. Why aren't you talking to Steven? He’s saying he doesn't know anything about you- fuck me this is all too much’ You say exasperated. You jolt up feeling his breath on your neck. ‘mmh querida i’d love too but I think this cafe might not be the best place for such…improper activities…’ by now he's long moved into your personal space and started caressing you right above your knee, still breathig over your neck. ‘Jake- i-i am being serious I-’ His hand moves up your thigh gingerly and he starts grazing his nose over the spot under your ear. You’ve already forgotten what you were even talking about and why you were even in this coffee-shop to begin with. Your eyes were fluttering and you were breathing deeply trying to stay calm, feeling his hot breath fan over your neck. Once again, trapped between his chest and wooden furniture. He smelled so good, like dark coffee and vanilla, mirroring the bitter sweet smell of Stevens black tea perfectly. If you could buy his smell as a laundry detergent you would douse your linens in it. He circles his arm around your back and waist and lets it rest on your hip. You expose your neck further to him, inviting him in to keep going. You hear him chuckle and wait for him to start kissing your neck. Just as his lips are about to touch you, you feel his hand twitch on your hip, causing your eyes to snap open. You were surprised to see a pair of round and frantic eyes staring right back at yours. 

‘Oh Jesus christ! I am SO sorry, love. I don't know what came over me! P-please I promise. I really can’t contro-’ you cut in before he could continue his panicked rambling. 

‘Steven, it's okay! Don't worry, I-I understand this isn't really something you can control. No need to panic.’ you give him a warm smile which he returns with a blush. Putting your hand on his shoulder trying to reassure him with your gentle touch. His rather dreamy expression gets interrupted by a tense and pensive one. He shakes his head, seemingly shaking off his serious expression. You let go of his shoulder, placing your hand back in your lap.

‘so- just- just based on observations I-I just feel like you might be closer to Jake than you first led us to believe…?’ It wasn't as much a question as it was a statement. You really needed to come clean, even though this would most probably leave you a blubbering, flustered mess.

‘Alright, yes. But it’s not what you think- we never actually did anything intimate…we-we just came a bit close to it like twice or something…’

‘close to what exactly? Darling, i-i don't mean to be rude but we are still talking about things that happened with my body here, so I’d really like to know what happened...?’ You understand why he is getting frustrated but this was really hard to tell someone. Especially because this someone looked exactly like the person who you were just pressed against mere moments ago-

he interrupted your train of thought by calling out your name ‘sweetheart- please. I'm begging you to just tell me what happened’ he takes your hands in his making your arms tingle ‘yes! sorry Steven- this is just a lot to process. Okay i’ll tell you…’ You finally told him about the second “meet-cute”, when you dropped your things because you bumped into Jake after being too focused on his features and had lost sight of him. How he got closer and closer to you and you were trapped between him and the bookshelf. How you, just as before, brushed noses and almost kissed before being forced out of your bubble. After relaying the past events between you and Jake, you looked up from your twiddling fingers and were greeted by a glowing red Steven. He was tugging on the loose skin around his fingernails and had his hands barely peeking out of his too-long sweater, looking right past you. He had a sheen covering his face and couldn’t stop fidgeting. 

‘Steven i am really sorry if i made you feel uncomfortable, if I’d known…I just- I- I don’t think you understand-’ 

Now he refocused his gaze on your eyes and looked even more stunned than before. ‘Sorry to be so forward but- ugh just look at you! How the hell was I not supposed to study you?! You are every artist's dream, with those angular facial features and the inky black curls adorning your head I just can't believe you are this unaware of the effect you have on a room. I know I sound like an absolute cree-’ before you can keep going he cuts you off ‘Would you like to go on a date with me?’

You stopped talking, mouth open without a sound coming out of it. Did he just ask you out?

‘I- if you don’t want too I unde-‘

‘NOno! I mean YES- yes I’d love to go on a date with you, Steven…’ you bit your lip, trying to contain your grin and saw that Steven was doing the same.

You gave him your number and left him alone in the coffee shop. After turning around to wave goodbye one last time you cross the street and walk home. ‘Oh my god’ you giggle to yourself and make your way home.

a/n: I am so happy you guys liked the first chapter of this fic and hope you like this one aswell!! more chapters are comin' with more tension and plot-twists aaand maybe even a certain marc...

The lovely people in my taglist: @lilladyblink14 @lemongirl5910

please notify me if you want to be added/ removed from the Taglist<3

[whosscruffylooking]

The Beginning of Us Part 2 (Joel Miller x Fem! Reader)

A/N: Here is part 2! Next chapter brings the ultimate heartbreaks, so I will be spending a little extra time on it. Also, if anyone wants to be added to the tag list for this series please let me know!

Series Masterlist

Warnings! Spoilers for TLOU Episode 1, mentions of death, mention of panic attack, angst.

Word Count: 3.9k

»»————-　♡　————-««

*September 26, 2003* ~Later That Evening~ "So, the answer would be 783?" Sarah appears unsure. You give her a reassuring nod, "Exactly. Great job. You know, as much as I dread going to work every day, I'm so glad I don't have to do homework anymore." The two of you are sitting on her bed agonizing over her algebra homework.

As she piles up all of her papers into her folder, you wander around her room, examining all of the little touches that make the room hers. There is a simple, yet strong feminine touch to her room. A clear representation of the latest teen trends, and yet it is all a reflection of her youthful vibrance.

The poster in the corner of the room catches your eye, "You really do love Halican Drops huh?" "It's my dream to see them in concert one day," she says with a sparkle in her eye. "I think we should go sometime," you wink at her.

She jumps off of her bed, "Are you serious?"

"Yeah, I saw them once live and they are amazing. It would be even more fun to go with another fellow superfan."

Her enthusiastic expression turns to a more solemn one. Extending your arm out to her you bring her back over to the bed to sit down, "What's wrong Sarah?"

She pauses and takes a deep breath, "My dad is a good man...but he's been through a lot. He has been hurt a lot. Uncle Tommy has tried to get him to date, but nothing ever comes of it. That's why I know you are different."

"W-what?" Your brain stutters for a moment, struggling to process what is happening.

"I know you slept over last night. And before you freak out about that, I just want you to know that it makes me happy to see my dad as optimistic as he's been. He's come out of his shell again. I swear to God everything we talk about somehow comes full circle back to you too. The other day I said I want to go to Disney World and he told me how you have a baby picture of yourself with Mickey Mouse on your fridge. That was my first signal that my suspicions have been accurate."

Leaning forward, you take her hands into yours once more, "Sarah...if any of this makes you uncomfortable at all please tell me. I would never want to overstep or make you feel like-"

"Hey hey hey, I'm so happy about this. Since you moved in a year ago, you've slowly brought my dad back to me. I can see the way he looks at you, it's kind of how he looks at me...but different."

Tightening your grasp around her hands, you draw her into a hug. She settles into your embrace and whispers, "Just don't hurt him." Kissing the top of her head you quietly express, "I'll keep him safe I promise."

»»————- ♡ ————-«« The rest of the night is spent waiting on Joel to get home. You and Sarah intensely watched the clock as the hours passed by, wondering when he'd get back.

Finally, the door-knob to the front door begins to shake and you can hear Joel mutter a curse word when he realizes it's locked. "Well, you locked the door for once, good job," he acknowledges Sarah once inside. "That's because I made her," you stare down at her. Nothing can hide the disappointment on her face. She'd wanted so badly to spend the day celebrating her dad, and nothing had gone according to plan.

The young girl kindly reprimands her father for coming home past the time he'd promised AND for forgetting to bring home a cake, she makes him swear to make up for it tomorrow. Eager to move past the awkwardness and save Joel a little embarrassment, you signal to Sarah to give him his watch.

"Fixed it for you," her hopeful eyes look to his in search of commendation and gratitude. He tricks her into thinking that the watch wasn't properly fixed and you watch the two of them with such admiration, for the beautiful bond they have. The ability to have a deep father, daughter relationship and yet be each other's best friends was so endearing. You never want to come between them, but you'd be honored to have a front-row seat to their little family unit.

"Where'd you get the money for this?" He inquires.

"Drugs. I sell hardcore drugs," she says in all seriousness.

You and Joel laugh in unison, your eyes meeting briefly before turning your attention back to his daughter.

"Actually," she rests her head on your shoulder, "Y/N helped."

There is a pleased look in his eye, as his gaze meets yours. It's as if some element of peace washed over him and pure contentment settled into his rough features. It's been years since a woman showed him this much kindness, and you'll be damned if that job ever goes to someone else. »»————- ♡ ————-«« Sarah had fallen asleep to a movie, her head laying in Joel's lap. The two of you kept stealing glances throughout the movie. You feel his fingertips graze your shoulder and you turn to him, resting your head on the back of the sofa.

"Hi Joel," your pupils dilate.

"Hi beautiful," his eyes twinkle, fixated on studying every detail of your face.  

Very quickly, you learn that your conversations do not need words to feel meaningful. The tilts of your heads, the shrugs of your shoulders, the serene sighs of surrender when you feel completely at ease with one another. Both of you are soothed by each other's presence and it is evident even in the voids of quietness. In those moments you can fully savor the company of the other and thrive off of the respect and admiration that radiates from you. There is a feeling of safety and confidence that stays between you and has existed since the beginning of your friendship.

The sharp ringing of the phone snaps you both back to reality. He answers it. You can't make out the words but can tell it is Tommy on the other line. With a heavy sigh, Joel falls back against the couch in defeat.

Damn it Tommy. You got yourself locked up again, didn't you?

Joel turns to you, jaw clenched with annoyance, forehead furrowed in disappointment. He wants to stay here with you a little while longer.

You offer to remain at the house and make sure Sarah is taken care of while he picks up Tommy. He takes her upstairs to tuck her into her bed. Dragging himself back downstairs, he rolls his neck from one side to the other in an endeavor to relieve the kinks. Stifling a yawn, you meet him halfway in the living room.

"We'll be here when you get back."

Although his expression was pensive, it eases slightly as you pull him out of his thoughts and back into the present with you.

"Thank you for staying with Sarah. Hell, sleeping over two nights in a row...things are getting serious." He gives you a goofy smile.

"Go!" You let out a short laugh and shove him out the front door. »»————- ♡ ————-«« As the hours rolled by, your sense of urgency grew. Joel should have been back with Tommy by now. Eager to distract yourself you turn on the television and aimlessly channel surf until you discover a movie that piques your interest. Another hour of watching the front door, willing Joel and Tommy to walk through it, passes by.

Drowsiness begins to overtake you. You take your eyes off of the television screen not wanting to exert any more effort into looking at it. Each muscle in your body begins to release the tension of the day, one by one as you settle onto the couch. The faint buzz of the television lulls you to the edge of sleep in mere moments.

Jolted awake by the deafening rumble of helicopters passing overhead, you fight off the dream that is still clouding your mind. Everything from your eyelashes to your feet feels heavy. Resting your eyes once more, you grant yourself another moment to enjoy the void of unconsciousness.

That moment is interrupted by Sarah shaking you awake.

"Y/N, what's going on? I think I can see explosions outside..."

Groggily sitting up, your vision finally focuses on the TV just past Sarah. The channel that was airing a movie not too long ago is now distorted with static. Sarah picks up the remote and changes the channel.

"STAY INDOORS! Law enforcement and emergency services are in the area and will be in contact with further instructions."

"What the f-"

Your attention shifts from the national alert to the sound of scratching at the window. The Adler's dog is loose and attempting to get into the house.

Okay, this night CANNOT get any stranger.

"It's Mercy! We need to see if he's okay," Sarah rushes to the door. You grab her arm, "Uh, I don't think that's a good idea. I think we need to stay inside right now and keep the doors locked."

"But he never gets loose. What if something is wrong with the Adlers?"

Suppressing the dread that is developing rapidly within you, you swallow your fear for Sarah's sake. You have to keep things calm and safe for her.

"Alright," you smooth your hand over her hair, "I'm gonna go over to my house and grab my nursing kit okay? Let me go check on them, but you do not, and I am so serious right now....do NOT leave this house by any means. Understand?"

She was too frightened to even lift her head, rather she stared out the window at the distant flares of light coming from the city.

You kneel to her level and hold her for a moment, "Everything is going to be alright okay?"

"Can I see if Mercy is okay?"

Conceding, you cautiously open the door and allow Sarah to clutch onto the dog. "Remember Sarah, do not leave the house."

Your pulse beats in your ears, as you turn to face your house. Although your mind is intent on making the trek across the street, it is as if your feet are cemented to the ground.

You tell yourself that being a little nervous is a completely normal reaction to what is going on. But that's just it, what IS going on?

God Joel, where the hell are you?

»»————- ♡ ————-««

"Damn it Tommy can you drive any faster?"

Tommy's grip on the wheel tightens, finding an odd comfort in the grooves between his fingers.

"Joel, I am going as fast as I can okay? They will be fine. Sarah is a smart girl and she has Y/N who won't let anything bad happen to them."

Joel could not wrap his mind around any of the events that transpired once he left his home to go get Tommy. One second he was in the comfort of his living room, within arms reach of the woman he'd just spent the most incredible night with. And his daughter, the embodiment of his heart and soul, was safe asleep on his lap. Next thing he knows, he and Tommy are being chased by a stampede of rabid-like inmates at the Travis County Jail. He could no longer restrain the tremors in his hands, shaking in an irregular rhythm.

"You really care about this girl don't you," Tommy's voice manages to break through the wall of thoughts blockading Joel from thinking clearly.

Recalling the night before, he is transported back to the moment when you pulled his shirt over his head and started grazing your hands across his chest, down the ridge in between his abs. It was a sensory overload, every nerve ending in his body tingled with anticipation. The two of you collapsed onto his bed, your bodies trembling as you bonded with every motion, each passionate touch leaving a flaming sensation on your skin. Your hearts raced in tempo with one another, like a symphony crescendoing to its epic finale.

"I do. This is the only time since Sarah's mom left that I've felt alive. Young again, invincible." Joel has never felt so certain in his life about someone, not even his ex-wife. Being with you is effortless. In your presence, he feels weightless. Like a drug, you drew him in slowly, tempting his every desire. At first, he took you in, little by little. And without detection, he became addicted. »»————- ♡ ————-«« Emerging from your home, nursing kit in hand, you prepare yourself for whatever you might face at the Adler's home. Surely it is nothing too grave, and yet you can't help but wonder why her kids didn't come to get you or call 911 if something happened to Nana?

Passing Joel's house, panic passes over you, causing the fine hairs on the back of your neck to rise. The front door is still open. Your mind races faster than your feet as you rush into the house. The endless possibilities as to what could've happened to her plague you.

You are confident that if anything happens to Sarah, Joel will strangle you with his bare hands...and not in a pleasurable way. Even if you told that stubborn girl not to move a finger from where you left her. She reminds you so much of yourself though. Curiosity can be so enticing at times that it blinds a person. Especially someone with as honorable of a heart as Sarah's.

"Sarah!" You frantically call out in each room.

Where are she and that damn dog?

Joel, hurry up. Please.

After surveying the entirety of the house to no avail, your chest tightens, and your lungs feel as though they have been wrung out of oxygen. Unsure of whether or not your lack of oxygen is due to the running or the panic attack creeping up on you, you take a moment to gather your thoughts. Mind over matter. Where would she go?

The dog. The damn dog. She's at the Adler's.

The next few seconds are a blur. You are uncertain how you got to the Adler's doorstep so swiftly. It felt like you were practically flying. Similar to Joel's home, the front door is open.

This girl needs to learn how to not only lock doors but actually CLOSE them.

A sickening sensation flares through your body as you peer into the still home. There go the hairs on the back of your neck again, but this time, the tingling sensation snakes down your spine and arms too.  Instinctually, you know not to go in there. But, Sarah is in there and she matters more than any gut feeling or self-preservation right now.  

"Sarah?"

Apprehensively, you venture deeper into the house. That's when you lay eyes on her, frozen in the kitchen. Unclear as to what she is fixated on, you join her in the doorway. That's when you see it. A trail of blood leads directly to Mr. Adler, his mouth agape and his limbs contorting. At first, the sight does not phase you. As a nurse working in an emergency room, you handle bloody wounds day in and day out. It's not until you look closely at where the blood is coming from that your fears reignite.

Is that...a bite wound?

A guttural noise captures your attention. Following Sarah's line of sight, terror sucks the very breath from your lungs. There is Nana, atop Mrs. Adler. Another river of blood floods from the daughter-in-law's neck.

Nana's raspy breathing slows to a more even tempo as she raises her eyes toward you. Vine-like appendages protrude from her mouth, attaching themselves to Connie's neck. The drumming of your heart, deafening and irregular, obscures your mind with fear.

Fight? Or flight? First, get Sarah as far away as possible.

Latching onto Sarah's arm, you tug her behind you.

One word. "Run."

Keeping your eyes on the gasping old woman, you ready yourself to prevent her from reaching Sarah at all costs. You listen intently for Sarah's footsteps pounding out of the house until you are positive she's made it outside.

You can feel the flight responses taking over your body, flooding you with increased adrenaline.

Nana stumbles to her feet as she releases a splintering screech. That is when the adrenaline ceases full control over your body, sending you hurdling towards the front door. Whatever creature has possessed the once docile elderly lady, is now hot on your heels. Her bone-chilling snarls signal you to her presence behind you.

Just as you begin to fear the worst outcome, you see him.

"Don't go," Joel's pleas echo in your mind from mere hours ago.

The thought of being wrapped up in his secure embrace once more drives you to push your legs harder.

Anguish pierces his voice as he calls out your name. Even so, it translates into a calming melody that brings some clarity to your mind.

"Get behind me..." He motions you over to Sarah.

As you hold her trembling frame, you turn back to Nana who is collapsed on the ground. Her limbs are mangled and her eyes are void of any life. Suddenly, the sharp cracking of her bones churns your stomach. Like a rabid animal, she growls and sprints toward Joel on all fours. Rising to her feet and closing in on him, she flails her arms wildly.

"What are we doing Joel!?" Tommy exclaims.

Without hesitation, Joel swings the wrench clutched in his fist and lands one solid blow to the side of the woman's head, sending her motionless body to the ground. Sarah screams and you quickly shield her from the sight of her father standing over their neighbor's corpse...or at least the shell of what she used to be.

Joel rushes to his daughter's side and caresses her cheek, looking her over to make sure she's safe and in one piece.

"You killed her," she cries in disbelief as she collapses into his arms.

He tightens his grip on her, "Baby, I'm sorry." He pulls away and stares into her eyes with strength and focus, "It's not just the Adlers. But we're gonna be brave and we're gonna get out of this."

Not just the Adlers? The helicopters flying towards the city...whatever took control of Nana did not die with her, she was merely the introduction.

Feeling lightheaded, you lean against Tommy's truck. He rushes to your side and holds you up, "You got that nursing kit of yours?"

"N-no. Inside," you point to Joel's house.

One by one, generators and streetlights begin to explode. Sparks of orange and gold, light up the sky over your neighborhood.

Joel ushers Sarah into the car and turns to face you. For a brief moment, time stands still. His pupils dilate, as he looks at you, the woman who made the future look like skies as clear as sapphire. Yet, he recognizes a shift in the atmosphere. A shared dread hanging over you like a dark, impenetrable cloud. His hands tremble, searching for yours to steady them. He twitches, his body responding to your delicate touch.

"Don't go." He implores you. His signature phrase to you. That in itself could be your new love language.

Attempting to open your mouth to speak, no words flow out. A simple nod is all you can manage. With that permission, he hurries you into the truck, meanwhile warning another one of your neighbors to stay inside and lock her door. Once Joel is inside, you lean forward and drape a reassuring hand on his shoulder. A subtle, but significant sign of solidarity. He laces his fingers with yours and holds you in place against the back of his seat.

As aggressively as Tommy floors the truck into motion, he brings it to a screeching halt. The headlights of the truck illuminate the Adlers stumbling onto the street. Their limbs are just like that of Nana's, wrenched and fidgeting.

"Get your seatbelts on," Joel declares.

Tommy warns, "Hold on..."

His foot finds its way back to the accelerator with no delay. Bracing yourself for the unthinkable you turn to Sarah, "Come here." She folds into your lap, a whimper escaping her lips. The Adlers charge at the truck simultaneously. Connie soon disappears from view as the truck plows over her and sideswipes Danny.

Closing your eyes, you do everything in your might to hold down the bile rising in your throat.

Sarah sits up and wipes a few stray tears from her eyes, "Daddy-"

"We don't know," Joel interrupts.

You shake your head in disbelief, "The Adlers, they were infected with something, some kind of parasite maybe?"

"That's what they're saying on the radio, some kind of virus," Tommy confirms.

"Are we sick?" The young girl persists.

"No. Of course not," Joel's fearful tone turns to a more frustrated one. As a father, his instinct is to protect his daughter and provide her with comfort, but he has no clue what kind of threat lies ahead and can't give her satisfying answers. You tighten your hold on his hand, and he gives you a firm squeeze.

Joel's brother slows the truck as you spot a family pulled off onto the side of the road.

"Tommy, don't," you state firmly. The family shouts after you in desperation.

"But they have a kid."

"So do we," Joel glares at Tommy.

It's officially every man for themselves. Each outsider you bring into your safety net becomes a variable. An unpredictable risk that could put you and the people you care most about in grave danger.

Beams of crimson light glow in the distance, a vast sea of unmoving taillights. Seems like everyone in Austin had the escape plan as you, sending Tommy into a frenzy.

"It's okay, just think it through, we'll think it through," Joel says in repetition, not just for Tommy, but also to ease himself.

Coming from the opposing direction, panicked vehicles race towards you, and away from the perpetual gridlock that hundreds of other cars are trapped in.

Looking out the window into the vast, empty land that stretches for miles uninterrupted, you have a plan.

"Tommy, the field. It's the perfect detour. Cut across it and we will end up on the west side."

Speedily, he veers off onto the barren land. A stampede of cars follows behind you. The collective rays of the headlights light your path to....another dead end. The highway is infested with army vehicles crawling along it.

Tommy and Joel bicker over what the next move should be. Joel opts for a small town on the north side.  

"And then what?" You interject.

Joel steadies himself against the dash, the unstable terrain tossing your bodies left and right.

"I don't know. Mexico. Just far, far as we can."

Sarah's eyes gloss over. "Maybe it's everywhere. Maybe there's nowhere to go."

"Hey, hey look at me. We are going to be fine. As long as the four of us stick together, we will be fine. There will be somewhere for us to go and find safety. I promise you, we won't let anything happen to you," you place your hand over your heart and affirm to her.

The dilemma is, you don't know if you can even accept what you promised Sarah. This isn't some influenza you can shelter in place from. The battle is against mankind's worst enemy, man. But not normal men, men being transformed into monsters.

"I-I believe you." Sarah's faith in you is unshakeable, "And I love you too Y/N."

»»————-　♡　————-««

Tag List: @midgetpottermills​ @erenswiffe​ 

[therealcocoshady]

Recovery - Chapter 15

In the following weeks, you saw Marshall often. You made a point not to avoid him, even though you were still a bit heartbroken over the fact that he was dating someone else. However, you tried not to let it show, and he probably didn’t notice anyway. You didn’t have too much information on Nicole or that date. To be honest, he didn’t seem too keen on sharing those details, and you weren’t really in the mood to ask either. Of course, if he decided to share, you’d be a good friend, but you didn’t really see the point in putting yourself in a position of being sad. You were only thankful that you hadn’t confessed your feelings to him. That would have been awkward to say the least. You got to spend time with him whenever you hung out at the studio (which was rather frequent) , when he visited Jamal and Talia or when you were invited to anything anyone from the group organized. The only thing that had really changed was that you were never alone and that you made a point of not being too close to him physically, but he didn’t seem to mind. You weren’t even sure he noticed any difference anyway… You thought it would be best not to be all over each other all the time. Once again, there was no point in setting yourself up for heartbreak. If he had asked that woman on a date, it clearly meant he didn’t like you as much as you thought he did, or as you hoped he would. On a Sunday afternoon, you joined everyone at Marshall’s to watch the latest Lions’ game on TV. Initially, you weren’t too keen on going, but Marshall had convinced you to come. For some reason, he was really intent on turning you into a football fan. You weren’t the sporty type and couldn’t really care less, but everyone would be there, so you figured that even though you may not really enjoy the game, you would enjoy the company. 

When you arrived at his place with Talia and Jamal, you were greeted by Hailie, who you recognized from pictures Marshall had shown you. 

Hi Hailie ! Talia said before giving her a quick hug. 

Hey guys come in ! The game is about to start, she said. 

She looked really good and, as you quickly looked at her, you could see she had inherited some of Marshall’s features. They looked a lot alike. 

Hi, I’m Hailie, she introduced herself. I’m the daughter. 

I’m Y/N, you replied politely. I’m Talia and Jamal’s roommate, you explained.  

You entered the house and greeted everyone. Marshall was dressed casually, with black sweatpants and a Lions hoodie that brought out the blue in his eyes. He was painfully attractive and you tried not to stare too much. Everyone was sort of matching his outfit, as they were all wearing some Detroit Lions merch. You were the only one who didn’t. You were actually dressed in leggings, UGG boots and your hoodie from University. 

You went to uni here ? Hailie asked as she saw the logo. I actually have the same hoodie !

Yeah. I’m a PhD student here, actually, you explained. 

What are you studying ? 

Communications. It’s my last year ! 

Are you kidding me ? She asked. One of my best friends is a PhD student in communications too ! His name is Josh. Do you know him ? 

I do ! You said with a smile. We worked together on a paper last year. He is amazing ! 

The guy she talked about was very nice. He started his PhD work in the same year as you did and you had a blast working with him. He was by far one of the smartest persons you had ever met. And it didn’t hurt that he was really attractive as well. You and Hailie spent some time talking in the kitchen. As it turned out, you were the same age, born six months apart and had graduated the same year. You actually knew some of her friends and had attended a few of the same events and venues on campus, though you had never talked or noticed each other. 

I can’t believe we never actually met before today, she said. We have probably crossed paths hundreds of times without knowing. 

I know right ? That is so weird. 

So, how come I have never seen you around here if you hang out with Dad and the whole team ? She asked with curiosity. 

Well, I only started hanging out with Marshall and the studio crew recently, you explained. I moved in with Talia and Jamal a few months ago, after I broke up with my boyfriend. 

It’s crazy, everyone seems to be breaking up, these days, she said. Josh broke up with his girlfriend of six months a couple weeks ago. 

Oh ? I hope he’s ok, you said with a smile. Although I wouldn’t be too worried for him. He probably won’t be single for too long… 

I know, right ? Do you guys get along ? She asked. 

Yes, you said. I mean, we don’t really hang out too often, but we’ve worked together in the past and it was great. He is really nice too. I really like him. I think he might actually be the person I talk to the most, on campus. 

We’re going for drinks to cheer him up tonight. You should come ! She offered. 

Oh, I don’t want to intrude, you said with a giggle. 

You won’t ! You guys know each other and… I’m not going to lie, you are totally his type, she added. 

Good to know, you said as you blushed a bit. 

I could gladly set you guys up on a date, she offered. If you’re single, that is. 

Uh… sure, I guess that could be fun, you said. I think drinks tonight might be a good start. 

The two of you kept on chatting for a while, and you couldn’t help but think that, if you had met earlier, you would have been the best of friends. After all, it wasn’t too surprising. She was a lot like her dad, only more cheerful. He entered the kitchen and smiled at you. 

Glad to see the two of you are getting along, Marshall said with a smile as he grabbed a couple of drinks in the fridge. 

We’re actually going for drinks tonight, Hailie said. 

So now you’re stealing my friends, uh ?  He asked his daughter. 

Well Y/N and I do have friends in common, Dad. And I’m sure she’d rather hang out with people our age instead of old crones like you, she joked. 

You have no idea, you said jokingly.

Very funny, Y/N, he said as he rolled his eyes. You girls better get to the living room, the game is about to start. 

You sat down next to him as you watched the game. He tried to explain the rules of football to you and you tried your best to understand, but it was all a bit blurry to you. You understood what a touchdown was, but there was something about the yards that didn’t make sense to you. You silently cursed the Americans for their misunderstanding of the metric system. Still, you had to admit that the game was entertaining, as well as everyone’s passion for it. They seemed excited about every move the players made, and they were so involved you could have sworn they were part of the team, especially Marshall. He promised to take you to see an actual game, in person, so that you would finally get the hype. You agreed but didn’t really count on it. In a matter of weeks, he probably would take Nicole instead… 

After the game, everyone hung out for a while. You were talking to Talia when he came to get you. You went for a walk in the garden. 

So, you finally met Hailie, he said with a smile. 

Yes, you said happily. Your daughter is really cool. 

I knew you’d get along, he chuckled. Are you sure about going for drinks with her, though? 

Do you have a problem with me hanging out with her ? You asked. 

No, not at all, he said. It’s great you’re getting along. But, you know, you’re sober and she and her friends… they’re not. They’re responsible but still, I want to make sure you’ll be ok. 

Worried much ? You said jokingly. 

Well, yeah, he admitted. I know this shit can be hard. Plus, you know… I’ve been worried about your sobriety when we weren’t talking. 

Really ? You asked surprised. 

Of course. I mean, me talking about you overdosing… that was a shitty move, he said sheepishly. Especially a week after a relapse. 

Well I think I did pretty well, you said with a smile. I don’t want you to worry. I think I’ll be ok. Plus, I’m often around alcohol, you know ? When there are events at university, stuff like that. So, really, I’m good. 

Good then, he said before kissing your cheek. I’m proud of you, Y/N. 

That evening, you joined Hailie and her friends for drinks. Josh was happy to see you and reconnect. The two of you talked a lot about your respective research and the struggles of being PhD students. The conversation was easy going and you really enjoyed the moment. Hailie and her friends were so nice too. For the first time in weeks, you found yourself forgetting about Marshall, even though it was ironic since you were hanging out with his daughter. 

The night came to an end and you said goodbye to everybody, especially thanking Hailie for the invite. Josh walked you out of the restaurant to get a cab. 

We should hang out more. I had a great night. Can I see you again ? He asked. 

Sure. Feel free to come by my office on campus, you said with a smile. 

I meant, like, on a date, he added. 

We can grab coffee on Thursday if you want, you said before kissing him on the cheek and getting in the cab. 

It’s a date, then.

He closed the door for you with a charming smile and you stared at him as the car started. You couldn’t contain your smile, on the way home. 

From M :  Having fun tonight ? 

Reply to M : Yes. Made new friends and drank mocktails :) you ? 

From M : Good. Hanging out in the studio with Dre. Working on a couple of songs. He flew in tonight, he’s going back to LA on wednesday. 

You smiled as you read Marshall’s texts. Even on a weekend night, he was working. You couldn’t help but admire his work ethic and dedication. 

Reply to M : Can’t wait to hear them. 

From M : You can come to the studio on Thursday if you want. I’ll play them for you. 

Reply to M : Can’t. I have a date :) Friday ? 

Josh took you out for coffee and a walk for your first date and it was as if you were in a movie. The conversation, the hand-holding, the flirting and the kissing… it was perfect. You were giddy as you got home and told your friends everything. Talia was nothing but supportive. If anything, she was just as giddy as you. Jamal, on the other hand… he seemed unimpressed. 

What about Marshall ? He asked. 

What about him ? You and Talia asked at the same time. 

You know damn well what I mean, Y/N, he said. There’s something between the two of you. You like him.

Yeah, I do, you said. I mean, he is amazing. But we’re good friends. That’s it.

Bullshit, Jamal said as he rolled his eyes. You aren’t fooling anyone.

I don’t know, Babe, Talia said. I mean, I thought there was something there too but don’t you think Em would have made a move by now ? 

Right, you said. 

Obviously, you hadn’t said anything about what happened between Marshall and yourself. Talia only knew what had happened during the first movie night, but that was it. The only things your friends knew, they got from watching your interactions. 

I’ve known him for a while and he’s never cared for anyone like that, Jamal said as he shrugged. And you, Y/N… I’ve seen you around him. All… cuddly, and flirty and shit. Everybody can see it. 

I think we’re missing the important question here : what do you want, Y/N ? Talia asked. 

Look… maybe I was a little flirty, you admitted. But there’s NOTHING between Marshall and I. He doesn’t like me like that and that’s fine by me. On the other hand, Josh IS interested in me and is taking me on a dinner date on Saturday night. 

It was true. As soon as your first date had ended, Josh had booked the next one. He seemed interested in you and not afraid to show it. It was something you liked, as it left no ambiguity as to whether or not he liked you. And you could definitely use some of that, instead of dwelling on Marshall...

On the next day, you visited Marshall at the studio after you were done with uni work, as planned. He was alone in the room when you arrived. Everyone else had already gone home. 

Am I too late ? You asked after you greeted him. 

It was unusual for you to see him alone in the studio. 

All good. I wanted to stay a bit longer to listen to all of the tracks anyways, Marshall said. We have produced about thirty so far and I’m not sure about some of them. 

You sat on the huge leather couch and listened as he played some of the tracks for you. You closed your eyes as you tried to focus. 

Thoughts ? He asked after he had played about ten tracks. 

I don’t have any, you said. 

Well that’s not good, he mumbled. 

He rolled his eyes and put his head back as he sighed. 

What do you mean ? You asked. 

I mean I played you about a third of what I have and it doesn’t even make you think of… anything ? Like, are they that bad ? 

No, you said with a laugh. What I meant to say is that I know nothing about music. I wouldn’t know how to differentiate a good song from a bad one. That’s kind of your job, you know ? 

Mmmh, he sighed, still not satisfied with the answer. 

There are some tracks I like more than others, you said. But that doesn’t mean anything. What matters is your own opinion. 

Which ones do you like ? He asked. 

Do you really want my input ? You asked in disbelief. 

It can’t hurt, he shrugged. 

You went over the songs together, as you gave him your opinion on the beats or the lyrics. It was kind of haphazard, as you didn’t know the right words to use. He sometimes proceeded to correct you with a chuckle. 

No, that’s not what « reverb » is. 

No ? You asked in disbelief. You know… that kind of … sound and the way it goes ? 

Yeah, no, I see, he said as he laughed lightly. 

It’s crazy. It seems so easy for you, you said. 

As you said… it’s my job, he replied with a smile. Like I probably wouldn’t know shit about your work. 

Maybe, you said with a chuckle. I think you’d find it a bit boring. 

Probably a bit, he admitted. But I know you’re crazy smart. 

Believe me, as I’m writing, it feels like I’m unable to string two sentences together, you replied. 

Maybe Jack could help you with that. 

Who ? 

You know… your date, Marshall said. You guys do the same thing, right ? 

Ah. Josh, you corrected. I take it that you talked to Hailie ? 

Josh, he repeated. Right. Yeah, Hailie might have told me a few things. You guys work in the same field, so maybe he would be able to help you ? 

I don’t know about that. I have worked on a paper with him before but showing him my own work and for him to critique ? It’s kind of… 

Intimate ? 

Yeah. 

He smiled in agreement. 

So. Are you going to tell me how it went ? He finally asked.

I didn’t realize you were interested in my date, you replied with a smile. 

I care about you, Y/N. You know that, Marshall said with a serious voice. 

Well it went great. We went for coffee and a walk. We had a great talk. He held my hand. And he kissed me, once. 

Once ? He asked in surprise. Just once ? 

Yeah. It was a goodbye kiss. 

He nodded in understanding. It was a bit weird for you to talk to him about your date. He looked in your eyes as he waited for you to say more. 

What ? You asked with an awkward laugh. Want me to describe the kissing for you ? 

I’m good, thanks, he said with a grin. 

He’s taking me out tomorrow. 

So soon ? Damn, he must really like you, Marshall commented with a chuckle. 

Well, I am kind of a catch, you said jokingly. 

Of course you are, he said with a smile. 

He looked in your eyes and he got closer to you. It seemed as if he was about to add something when his phone rang. He looked away as he answered it. 

Hey… thanks for calling. yeah, tomorrow is great for me… 7:00 ? … good. Me too. Bye. 

He looked back at you. 

Sorry, he said. 

All good ? You asked. 

Yeah. It was Nicole, he simply said, with a casual tone. 

You stared at him and tried to prevent your emotions from showing. 

I told you about my date. Do you want to tell me about yours ? You asked carefully. 

I’m not sure there’s too much to say, he explained. Hailie set it up. 

You let out an involuntary laugh. 

Your daughter should really start matchmaking business. 

You have no idea, he replied as he rolled his eyes. Ever since her mother and I got divorced for the second time, she has been meddling. I can’t count the number of times she tried to set me up with her friends’ single moms. I usually don’t let her but well… who knows ? 

He laughed at the memory. 

So… want to tell me more Nicole ? You asked. 

Actually, I know her from… way back. Her daughters used to go to the same primary school as mine. I hadn’t seen her in years when we ran into her at the hospital. We ran into each other again a few days later when I was out with the girls and somehow Hailie got her to call me. She’s nice. 

She’s really hot, you said. 

I’m not commenting on that, he said as he rolled his eyes. Is Jack hot ? 

Josh, you corrected. 

Right. Is he ? 

I’m not answering that, you replied with a grin. 

You stared at each other and burst out in laughter. Somehow, it felt good to be able to talk to him about it. 

So… you like this Nicole ? 

She’s nice, he said. 

I mean… she must be kind of cool if your own daughter thinks she’s good enough for you right ? You asked. 

I guess. We’ll see how it goes. How about Ja- Josh, sorry. You like him ? 

I do, you nodded. He is really smart. Kind, too. And… he is really hot, you added with a wink. 

Oh yeah ? 

Yup. 

That’s cool, he said with a smile. 

The both of you chuckled. 

For real though, how do you feel about dating ? He asked. 

What do you mean ? You asked back, puzzled. 

Recovery isn’t an easy time. Are you sure you should be dating ? I mean, I don’t mean to be an ass, or tell you what not to do, he said. But maybe you should focus on yourself a bit ? 

You stared at him and said nothing for a second. It seemed pretty ironic for him to say that when he had asked you out a while ago, shortly after your relapse, no less. 

I like him, you know ? He’s really nice, and, at least, it keeps my mind busy, you said. I think I’m ready to date. 

He nodded and smiled softly. 

You know… this son of a bitch better be nice to you, Marshall said.

And what if he isn’t ? You wondered. 

I’ll make sure he regrets being born, if he ever hurts you. 

He’s a gentleman, you reassured him. And Hailie likes him. 

Right. Must be a nice dude, then. 

You looked at each other, smiling. 

You know, if Nicole ever breaks your heart, I can make sure some hair removal cream ends up in her shampoo, you said with a smirk. 

What if I’m the one who fucks it up ? He wondered. 

I’m sure you won’t, you said. Though if you do end up being an ass… I’ll probably have to dye your beard green in your sleep. Or shave it. 

I’ll remember the warning, he said with a chuckle. And I hope it doesn’t happen… It took forever to grow this thing. 

You laughed as you gently scratched his beard. He pulled you in for a long hug. 

It’s good, he said under his breath. 

Yeah. It really is, you confirmed.

[piedpiperart]

Phantom of Gotham 16

Chapter 15

Danny woke up not long after he fell asleep. And wasn’t that weird? He wasn’t sure what the change was but he’d been sleeping a lot more lately. Was it because he didn’t have ghosts to fight all the time? Or school, considering they had a bit of a winter break right now with the blizzard. He figured they’d be going back to school tomorrow or the day after at the latest, because the snow had already started to melt significantly. Danny wasn’t really sure what that was about but he figured it might be a Gotham thing. 

Upon waking up, he’d immediately noticed the warm body next to him, and his face grew warm with embarrassment. He was more or less leaning most of his body over- yep that was Tim. He was surprisingly comfortable, and his core preened at his friend getting some much-needed sleep. Danny had noticed the dark bags under his eyes, and frankly horrifying coffee addiction. Even when Danny had subtly made Tim’s coffee go cold the boy still gulped it down like he was starving. 

Looking at the sleeping body pressed against him, Danny preened at the fact that his coffee-stealing had paid off. Sure, he’d probably have to fetch the coffee cups out of the walls, but it was worth it. Tim did not need to drink so much coffee, and it was obvious that no one else in his family was going to put a stop to it. He’d have the twelve cups a day whittled down to three in no time. Mostly due to ghostly interference, but Danny could admit he needed superpowers to fight Tim on this one. 

Slowly, Danny creeped out of the little blanket cuddle huddle with a subtle use of his intangibility to keep from waking Tim and placed the blanket more securely around Tim. After a moment, he also phased the game controller out of where it was digging into Tim’s ribs and put it on the coffee table. Satisfied with his work, Danny pulled out his phone to check the time, and to his relief, he didn’t need to get to the warehouse just yet. 

Glancing periodically back to Tim snoring softly on the couch, Danny made his way to the kitchen. He rubbed the sleep out of his eyes while he padded down the hall in Tim’s fluffy Superman socks.  He made his way to the kitchen only to find no one but Alfred there, puttering about and making what looked like oatmeal cookies. Danny grimaced. Chocolate chips were better, he reasoned. 

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

Tim woke up with a start, finding himself surprisingly warm. Glancing around, he could tell he was on the couch in the game room. Alone. His stomach rumbled lightly and Tim assumed Danny had gotten hungry and left. Slowly, stretching his limbs until he heard a few concerning cracks, he shuffled his way to the kitchen. He checked his phone, noting that he’d missed dinner. They must have let him sleep, he figured, but couldn’t argue with how rested he felt. 

“What if we make ones with oatmeal and chocolate chips?” Tim heard Danny voice from his spot outside the kitchen door. Amused, he pushed the door open to see Danny at the counter with what looked like leftovers from dinner, the boy gesturing with his fork towards where Alfred was baking cookies. 

“Ah, Master Timothy. Have a seat, your food will be ready in a moment,”Alfred gestured. His lips were tilted up with amusement the moment Danny piped up again. 

“I can make chocolate chip cookies,”Danny reasoned. “My sisters like it when I make them. I can share my secret recipe with you if you don’t put oatmeal in them.” 

Alfred’s eyes crinkled with amusement as he placed a heated plate of vegetables and meat in front of Tim. Tim nodded in thanks, turning to Danny. “Is this another toast situation? I promise Alfred’s oatmeal cookies are really good.”

“I’m sure they are,”Danny placated,”But I’m just saying they’d be better with chocolate chips instead of raisins,” He said, shuddering at the word raisin. 

“If it would appease you Master Daniel,”Alfred said, noting the flinch and grimace Danny made at the name,”I shall make half with raisin and half with chocolate.”

Danny thought for a moment, then nodded. “Okay.”

“And then we can mix them up for everyone else so they don’t know which is which,"Tim added helpfully. Danny beamed at him. 

“Exactly!” Danny cheered. Tim knew for a fact that most of the manor wouldn’t mind either option, but Dick would. Over the years Tim has found that Dick’s sweet tooth has left him easily susceptible to food-based pranks. In his early years, Jason apparently utilized this tactic constantly. 

Tim picked up his coffee mug and made a face when he realized it was tea. Alfred, most likely. “Thanks for the food Alfred, I’m gonna head to bed a bit early today,”Danny said, dropping his dishes in the sink. “The nap earlier kinda tired me out,”He added, patting Tim on the back on his way out. Tim opted to finish his plate before asking Alfred about the rest of the family. 

“Alf-”Tim started when he’d gotten up to put his plate away, only for Alfred to cut him off. 

“You’ll find the rest of the family in the cave,”Alfred raised a brow. “They’re reviewing some concerning discoveries about Danny and getting ready for the meeting with Phantom.”

“Oh, great,”Tim said, pulling out his phone and pre-emptively sending his research and plans about how to make a treaty with people from another dimension to the batcomputer. He ignored the sting of being left out of the family gathering, but he brushed it off as spending time with Danny instead. Besides, now he felt refreshed. If only he had some coffee…

Making his way to the cave, he immediately heard arguing and sighed. Maybe it was better that he’d gotten some peace and quiet before dealing with this, he reasoned. He miserably sipped his thermos full of…tea… and made his way to the batcomputer. 

“Okay, so we just have to do the treaty thing first and then get more information on Danny,”Jason gestured. Most of them were already in costume, minus Dick, who was without a domino. 

“It’s more than a simple treaty, Todd,”Damian scoffed. 

“Enough,”Bruce chimes in gruffly.”This is just a meeting to negotiate. Since the Fenton’s and the GIW are committing interdimensional war crimes, we’ll have to bring this to the Justice League eventually.”

“You think the Green Lanterns are going to intervene?”Dick pondered aloud, and Batman’s mouth twitched down. Tim could tell it was because Bruce didn’t like dealing with Hal Jordan. Or any other lantern, really. 

“They shouldn’t have to if we manage to keep things civil here,”Tim chimed in from his spot at the batcomputer, startling a few of them of his presence. “Assuming the Ghost King just wants the human realm to stop hunting them and poking holes into their dimension, we can take over with charging the necessary parties responsible. Though, we don’t know what kind of resources or information the Infinite Realms have, so this could possibly be a good thing for Earth.”

“How was your nap?” Jason cooed, and Tim frowned exasperatedly. Sometimes he wonders why he hasn't moved out yet. 

“It was fine. Danny’s purring lulled me to sleep in minutes,”Tim deadpanned. 

“Awww, I can’t believe I didn’t get to see it in person!” Dick complained. “Do you think Phantom purrs? That would be adorable.”

“Timothy has stated that all ghosts are likely to purr,”Damian stated. “I assume they only do it when they feel safe and comfortable, which is unlikely for Phantom to do around vigilantes.”

“I bet I could do it,”Dick grumbled to himself. “Ten bucks to the next person who can make a ghost- or Danny- purr.” 

“Bet,”Tim smirked. What can he say, he’s a bit competitive. 

Bruce sighed at their shenanigans. “Tim, get in uniform.”

“All of us are going?” Dick bounced. “So early?”

“We’re setting up,”Batman grunted. 

“Ah, contingency plans,”Jason sighed. “I for one, trust Phantom. Sure, maybe the other ghosts aren’t so great, but the kid wouldn’t do anything bad on purpose. Hell, he’s stuck in Gotham just to protect Danny.”

“Can never be too careful,”Damian tuts. 

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

Flying out as Phantom, Danny made it to the agreed upon warehouse in record time. Okay, so he got a little lost, but it was fine. He made it early, even. The warehouse was already full of bats, Danny smiled at the pun, and he could even see Robin from where he was phasing through the roof. He observed them for a few minutes, taking in the familiarity of their banter. It reminded him of the Wayne kids a lot. If he thought about it, there was probably one bat to each Wayne, he mused, shaking his head. 

Danny took a breath to steady his nerves, and flew down to meet everyone. Batman was first to register his presence by the way he stiffened. Danny wasn’t really sure how, but he figured his nerves were making the air around them a bit colder. “Hey,”Danny called, popping into existence. The five vigilantes turned towards him, a few taking stances. 

“Hey Phantom,”Red Robin called, making his way over. The rest followed, and Nightwing in particular looked excited. 

“Oh my gosh, you’re adorable!” Nightwing cheered, and bounced into Danny’s personal space. Danny floated back a bit, amused but nervous. “It’s nice to finally meet you face to face.”

“Uh, you too,”Phantom said, rubbing the back of his neck. He nodded to Robin and Batman, who didn’t move much. 

“So, if you’re serious about an alliance, I figured we should probably start small with ghosts to meet,”Danny said, rambling a bit at the attention. 

“We’ll follow your lead on this one kid,”Red Hood said, and that made Danny relax. No pressure, he reminded himself. 

“Alright, well, for starters, I need you to hold onto this,”Phantom instructed, pulling out what looked like a regular stick from off the ground. He passed it to Hood, who seemed exasperated yet curious.

Phantom turned to the rest of them, “Stay where you are and don’t make sudden movements until I calm him down.” And before anyone could process that sentence, Phantom let out an ear-piercing whistle. 

The bats exchanged glances, and nothing seemed to happen for a moment as Phantom floated in the center of the warehouse. Just when Dick shifted to say something, a bright green, swirling hole opened up in front of Phantom, getting bigger and bigger by the second. Hood, recognizing that particular shade of green, took a step back. Phantom only seemed to have eyes for the swirling portal. 

Once the portal got to a worrying 16 feet in diameter, the bats startled as a loud bark echoed around the warehouse. Tim was maybe starting to think this whole thing might be a bad idea when he spotted something large and green coming out of the portal. It looked… like a dog?

Once the massive beast stepped through the portal, Phantom proceeded to fling himself at the giant green dog. “Cujo!” He exclaimed, the green fur practically hiding him. “I missed you boy!” Phantom cheered, petting him vigorously. The bats collectively took a breath of relief. 

Then, surprising all of them, Phantom floated back from the excited, slobbering dog. “Can you shrink for me buddy?” He asked in a babying voice, and Cujo gave another deafening bark before shrinking to a tiny little dog that was floating around Phantom happily. “Good boy! Now, I want you to meet someone so behave.”

Phantom gathered the tiny wigging dog in his arms as the portal vanished, and brought the two of them to the warehouse floor. Phantom’s white boots were glowing against the concrete as he stepped closer to the Bats. Tim noted fondly that Phantom was practically beaming as he held his ghost dog. 

“Okay, so, this is Cujo,”Phantom gestured with his arms, not bothered when Cujo licked his face at the movement. “He’s a ghost dog, obviously, and he’s got a thing for playing in the human realm sometimes. My job is usually to take him back home when this happens, because, well, you saw how big he can get.”

“How many other ghosts can make portals themselves?” Batman asked, and Phantom tilted his head. 

“Two or three that I’ve met. I know some that are probably strong enough to make them, but just don’t leave, so I’m not sure exactly,”Phantom said, and at Batman’s stare, he sighed. “I’m still learning.”

Ah, Tim thought. That explained why he brought Cujo first. He had to admit, the dog was cute. Phantom kind of reminded Tim of show and tell with the little presentation he had going on. “It’s easy to get Cujo to do what you want when you understand what he wants. The Fentons, however, just shoot at him and try to trap him, which just makes him get big and then people get hurt,”Danny said. “If there’s an alliance, there needs to be protections to prevent Cujo from hurting people, but also to prevent people from hurting Cujo. It’s hard to keep him in the zone, cuz he can just leave whenever he wants. Since not a lot of ghosts can do that though, you won’t have to worry much about other ghosts coming and going.”

“What sort of powers does Cujo have?” Red Robin piped in from where he was taking notes. 

“He has the basic skills of a ghost, which is flight, increased strength, intangibility, and invisibility. What makes him unique is the portal thing, a ghostly bark, and the bigger form. Not a lot of ghosts can do that stuff,”Phantom listed. “Usually ghosts will also have some form of ecto-blast too, but I’m not sure if Cujo has one.”

“Ecto-blast?” Batman grunted, and Danny perked up, before glancing at his hands that were busy holding Cujo. 

“Uh,  yeah,”Danny muttered, stepping to Robin. “Here, hold him for a minute,” Danny said, dumping Cujo gently in Robin’s arms. Dick was worried for a moment before he saw how positively excited Damian was to be holding a ghost dog, and he almost laughed when Cujo immediately started licking his face. 

Meanwhile, Phantom held up a hand and generated a small glowing ball the same color as the portal. “All ghosts are more or less made of ectoplasm, so we can generate it into concentrated blasts.” He then demonstrated by firing a small blast to the floor opposite to everyone. It reminded Dick of Starfire’s energy beams. 

“What other powers do you have?” Tim asked.”You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Nah, it’s cool,”Phantom waved.”Some abilities are unique to the ghost. For me, I have an ice core, so I can generate ice. But Technus has an electric core and Jonny has a shadow core so they both have different abilities.”

“So ghosts are like pokemon,”Hood commented and Danny shot him an exasperated look. He kind of wasn’t wrong though.

“So Danny has an ice core?” Robin asked, and Phantom froze. How did he- Danny had only told Damian that and- Did he- “I’ve seen him make snowballs with his powers, and he is unaffected by the cold.”

“Is an ice core common?” Red Robin piped in. Phantom’s eyes widened as all the dots in his head connected. Damian is Robin. That meant… Tim is Red Robin. Dick is.. Nightwing? And that leaves Jason for Hood and Batman as Bruce. Woah. 

“Uh,”Phantom stammered. “No? Maybe? I’m not really sure. Some ghost cores like Ice and electricity and fire are obvious, but then other times I have no idea how to classify a ghost. Sometimes only the strongest ones have specific cores, while the weaker ones don’t. Take Cujo for example, I have no idea what kind of core he has.”

A glance towards Cujo and the dog preened at the attention. Yeah, Tim could understand the reasoning there. Robin was still absently petting him.”And can all ghosts purr?” Dick added. 

Phantom choked on air for a moment before he croaked out a,”What?”

“We just assumed, since Danny can purr,”Damian scoffed, but he looked interested in the answer. 

When did I- Danny thought frantically before he figured it must have been when he was sleeping in the game room. He couldn’t help it, it was just comfortable and warm, and he’d only ever purred around Tucker, Sam, or Jazz before. He abruptly realized that he’d gotten comfortable enough around the Waynes that he’d purred. 

Phantom took a breath, pushing those thoughts far back into his mind. “Yes, ghosts purr when their core, uh, hums or vibrates or something. It usually happens around family or friends when they’re relaxed though.”

 “Aright, so what can we expect from the stronger ghosts?” Red Robin asked. 

“As I said, the abilities of a ghost are unique to the ghost. Cores are a way to determine that, but also obsessions,”Danny continued. “It’s rude to ask about obsessions like it is to ask how a ghost died, but usually it’s pretty obvious when you meet them. Technus is a ghost obsessed with technology and inventing, so usually when he comes to the human realm he goes into the powerlines, or steals computers and stuff. Ember was a singer when she was alive, and she has an obsession with being remembered, so she has the power to hypnotize with her guitar. Stuff like that.”

“You said Ember was a singer? Were all ghosts alive in the human realm before?” Dick chimed in. The unspoken, were you alive before was something Danny chose to ignore. 

“Ectoplasm is largely made up of emotions, which can form from basically anything, including a human who had a pretty big obsession with something when they died. But no, ghosts can also have ghost kids with other ghosts, or things like shadow or blob ghosts can just form from a bunch of strong emotions,”Phantom said. 

“Wait- ghosts can-”Nightwing sputtered. “Ghosts can have kids?? How??”

“When a ghost loves another ghost very much-” Phantom smirked but was cut off by Hood’s bark of laughter. “But yeah, Lunch Lady and Boxy had a kid, so I know it’s possible but not too sure about the specifics- and please don’t make me think about it longer than I have to.”

“That’s fair,”Dick nodded. 

“Alright,”Phantom clapped. “Introductions and explanations done, any more questions before I grab some regents?” 

“So many,”Red Robin muttered, typing on his computer almost violently. Danny worried about him, he really did. Course, he was still reeling over the discovery that Tim was actually a vigilante, and now that he thought about it, the lack of sleep Tim got made sense now. He just resolved to push all thoughts of the Wayne-Bats to the back of his mind and deal with it later. 

Batman gave a look, and Phantom stretched his hands out,”Alright then, for me to find a regent I’ll have to go into the realms and get him. Does anyone want to come with me? It’s a hundred percent safe and we’ll be gone for like, twenty minutes. Probably. Maybe thirty.”

“Into the realms?” Nightwing echoed. 

“You don’t have to go if you don’t want to,”Phantom reassured. “I just thought I’d ask. Electronics don’t work through the portal and it’s pretty cold where he lives, but other than that you’ll be fine.”

“Can I come?” Red Robin raised his hand, and the bats gave him a look. “What? I wanna go explore the Infinite Realms.”

“You sure it’s cool with the Ghost King?” Hood asked, and Phantom grinned.

“Oh yeah, totally. He knows we’re meeting and everything,” Phantom said. “And Cujo can stay here so you can observe ghost dog behavior or something. If he gets rowdy just have Hood throw the stick for him.”

Batman sighed, knowing no amount of arguing would persuade his most curious son when the opportunity to research something was offered,”Twenty minutes,” He grumbled. 

“Sweet,”Red Robin grinned, bounding over to Phantom. 

“I’ll give you the ghostly tour,”Phantom beamed, floating to the center of the warehouse. It took a minute, but the kid clawed through the air with a bit of difficulty. “Ta da!” He chimed when a smaller portal opened up. 

“I thought you needed Cujo to open a portal for you,”Red Robin commented, and Phantom shrugged. 

“I’m still learning, but since he already opened one up here it’s easier for me to just re-open it,”Phantom said, pointed teeth shining through his grin. “Now, hold onto me and don’t let go. I don’t want you getting lost and ending up in Walker’s prison or your pelt on someone's wall.”

“What?” The bat family heard Tim say before the portal closed around them. 

“So… that happened,”Hood broke the silence. Batman turned to type things on his computer while Dick bounded over to where Damian was giving Cujo some love. Hood kept a hold on the dumb stick and made his way over to the duo. 

Jason had to admit, the tiny green dog was cool. He reached over to let him sniff his hand before running it down the dog’s back. It felt like petting a cloud, not very solid but still there. Fuzzy around the edges, Jason thought. 

“I can’t believe we just let Red Robin explore an entire dimension by himself,”Dick fretted, petting Cujo a bit frantically until Damian gave him a look. Cujo seemed content in Damian’s arms, occasionally licking whoever came close to his face. 

“Eh, he’ll be fine. Phantom will take care of him,”Jason replied, fiddling with the stick. He kind of wanted to see what would happen if he threw it for the dog. 

“I believe Phantom has an obsession with some kind of protection aspect,”Damian scoffed. “Red Robin will be fine.”

“Maybe we should take a vacation into the Infinite Realms after this,”Jason mused. Though, after seeing the glowing green swirling portal so similar to the lazarus pits, he wasn’t so sure. At that moment though, Cujo started getting restless. 

The dog squirmed in Damian’s arms, much to the boy's disappointment. Before Damian could set him down, he was shocked when the dog just phased through his arms and floated around the group. Jason grinned, holding up the stick.

“Here boy, want the stick?” Jason said, brandishing the stick in front of the dog to catch his attention. Ears perked up, and Cujo barked, though not as loudly as before. “Fetch!” Jason called, and the dog dashed through the air after the stick when Jason threw it clear across the whole warehouse. 

The three of them busied themselves with playing fetch with the ghost dog until a familiar portal opened up in the middle of the warehouse. Phantom stepped through first Red Robin following, though they saw him asking Phantom a million questions about the zone. Everyone in the warehouse let out a sigh of relief, seeing Tim in one piece. The only thing different was his face was flushed and smiling and his hair was more of a mess than usual. Phantom on the other hand, looked the same as before he left. Behind Phantom, a tall, broad, ghost walked through the portal, looking like what one would describe as a yeti. 

Cujo bounded up to them excitedly while Tim rattled off more questions, oblivious to the other bats. “No, well, I’m not sure,”Phantom was saying,”Frostbite?” He said, turning to the yeti. 

The guy- Frostbite- looked fond and amused at the two,”Most ghosts have a haunt, or share one. Phantom, I suspect yours is the human realm,”Frostbite chuckled at the bewildered expression on Phantom’s face. “Now, I assume you’re the Bat Man?”

“Just Batman is fine,”Bruce nodded respectfully. “This is Red Hood, Nightwing, Robin, and you’ve met Red Robin,”Batman introduced. Frostbite nodded at the kids gracefully. The two ghosts were glowing eerily, but Frostbite seemed a little more solid than Phantom. 

“I am frostbite, leader of the Far Frozen and one of the regents for King Phantom,”Frostbite introduced, and the bats froze. 

“Dude, you’re the Ghost King?” Red Robin accused, giving Phantom a look. Phantom just groaned. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m the Ghost King, whatever,”Phantom muttered. Frostbite giving him a sympathetic yet amused look.  “Thanks a lot Frostbite.”

“How?? Why??” Dick exclaimed, and Phantom sighed. 

“Long story short I beat up the old Ghost King for doing bad things and that made me Ghost King by default except I’m not really- uh- old enough to be King yet so Frostbite and CW and a few others are ruling as a council until I’m ready or whatever,”Phantom huffed. “It’s not really important because I don’t really make decisions about anything and I have absolutely no idea how a treaty alliance thing works.”

Ah, well, Dick could understand that. Still. “Guess we have to call you your highness now, huh?” He responded. 

“No,”Phantom groaned, putting a hand to his face. Meanwhile, Frostbite and Batman made their way to the side to continue the grown up conversation. Ugh, paperwork, Danny shuddered. “Call me that and I’ll haunt you forever.”

This time, Cujo found a spot in Jason’s arms as the teens and Dick conversed. He pet the ghost dog absently as the three called Phantom anything between Supreme Emperor to Princess. For the first time in a while, he was actually glad to find an easy mission like this to bide their time. Sure, he knew the legal stuff might take a while, but it was unlikely that they’d end up in any kind of invasion-scenario. He was almost relaxed in the present company. 

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

Batman was surprised the alliance was going so well. While he was surprised Phantom turned out to be the Ghost King, he was relieved he had at least a good judge of character for the kid going forward. In addition, Frostbite was surprisingly helpful. 

The two mentors discussed policies on ghosts who end up in the human realm, sentience laws that needed changed, and much to his surprise the Yeti offered to share advanced technology and lost human artifacts. Batman considered all of these good points, and knew they could hash out the intricate details like researching the Infinite Realms and so on later. For now their main priority was overturning the anti-ecto acts, protections for halfas, getting the two known portals shut down or at least confiscated, charges against the GIW and Fentons, and setting up a safe way for ghosts to be sent back to the zone. 

Bruce was relieved that Frostbite was so logical about everything. It made negotiations far simpler, and he found himself learning a lot about ghost habits and biology. It amazed him at how much trust they were putting in him and he vowed not to let them down. Frostbite was definitely not what he’d been expecting, but he was pleasantly surprised. He wondered how many ghosts resided in the realms, what their society is like. He’d have to read Tim’s report about what he found on his tour with Phantom. And then lecture him on taking unnecessary risks. 

Two hours later, they had a plan. Phantom and Red Robin had apparently searched the warehouse for boxes and brought two to Frostbite, who smiled at their antics. When the group asked Tim about it later he said they had run into the Box Ghost on the way to Frostbite and Tim had promised him a box. They weren’t really sure if Tim was pranking them or not, but decided to change the subject. 

When Frostbite disappeared into the portal with Cujo, they turned to find Phantom had disappeared as well. 

Chapter 17

[npcemi]

The long road of how starting a fight with superman over clone parenting eventually lead to Danny Phantom become God Part 2:Danny's happy talk with Superman that definitely starts everyone off on the right foot

https://archiveofourown.org/works/47818321/chapters/120907324

“It's not right, Dad. Conner shouldn’t be treated like that,” Dani insisted, her eyes glowing fiercely.

“I couldn’t agree more, Dani but I’m not supposed to ‘interfere’ with the matters of ‘mortals’.” Danny responded remembering the latest lecturer he got from the observants. An intro into being one of the most powerful beings in the universe. All it really summed down to was hands-off until absolutely necessary. Being the King was way more boring than he expected.

Danny looked at Clockwork hoping they would side with him. Not wanting to draw attention to himself. He was almost ready to begin his senior year. He didn’t want to go near the JL, they could cause a lot of problems for Amity Park and him personally.

“I think a conversation could be good for both Conner and Kal-El.” Clockwork shifted into their young adult form with a grin. Danny narrowed his eyes, he knew when the Ancient was planning something.

“I guess I can have a talk with him,” Danny sighed as Danielle jumped up thanking him with a big hug.

The main members of the Justice League were called to a meeting by John Constantine. He wanted to discuss a potential threat to the supernatural from the US government. The members were hesitant to come to the meeting, however, after some convincing from Bruce that Constantine’s issue was legitimate they all agreed to come. John started his slideshow.

The topic was an intro to the supernatural and how we should leave it alone. There was a collective mirth among the attendees because anyone who knew the man knew that he could not leave well enough alone. It could be said that Constantine preferred to poke at the supernatural with a stick until something interesting happened.

“As you all know, after a ghost single-handedly took out hundreds of US government facilities and went with The Pandora to the US Congress to get them to not nuke the Infinite realms. A measure which only barely passed and still left corrupt laws and the government organization that was going to Nuke the realms intact.”

“And then they learned not to start dimensional warfare and ideally leave those threats to us, no big.” The flash interjected. Constantine pinched the bridge of his nose. They had a long way to go.

“Mate, it’s a big deal. Out of all the special entities they could piss off, they pissed off the one who should not under any circumstances even risk irritating the tiniest bit.” Before anyone could respond a new unfamiliar voice sounded from the other side of the room.

“Hi, sorry to interrupt your meeting, but I need to talk to Superman.” Everyone turned to look at the source of the voice. They saw a teen whose age was hard to place. He looked like he could be as young as fourteen yet somehow at the same time as old as nineteen. He had a soft glow to him. He had fluffy white hair and Lazarus green eyes. On his left arm, he had Lichtenberg figures racing up his left arm that were eventually covered by a black T-shirt with a green NASA logo, blue jeans, and Converse-style shoes where the canvas was green like the boy’s eyes and the rubber parts were black. Everyone was too focused on the boy to notice Constantine drop the cigarette from his mouth. His eyes were wide, his jaw slack, and his hands shaking. Superman got up to greet the boy and walked up to him.

“How did you get in here?”

“Portal, but that’s not important. We need to talk.” Superman grossly misinterpreted the Boy’s reasoning for needing to talk.

“I see, well I’m Superman, but you can call me Clark.” The man of steel shook the boy’s hand.

“I'm Danny Fenton, Phantom, Danny Phantom.” Danny was pissed at himself for that mistake. He never let the secret identity slip, of course, it had to happen in front of his heroes. Unfortunately, that slip-up confirmed Superman’s misconception.

“It’s always good to meet a new hero, I would be happy to help mentor you, there’s even a team of young heroes around your age I can introduce you to,” Danny held his hand up in a full stop motion.

“I don’t need a mentor, look Clark we need to talk.”

“Look kid, I know it doesn’t seem like it…” Danny pursed his lips and Constantine let out a desperate sound somewhere between a groan and a croak.

“Not a Kid…”

“Look, I know you think you’re mature at this age, but a new meta like you….”

“I’m not a meta, I’m a ghost, ya know dead and everything.” As Danny explained, Superman once again misinterpreted Danny’s intentions, also thinking this was some grand test Constantine organized.

“I see, so how did you die, who killed you and how can we help?” Superman said with undeserved confidence. Constantine finally out of his shock muttered a small desperate “Aww fuck.”

Danny’s reaction was almost unnoticeable except for a small flash of green in his eyes. Internally he had a flashback. The feeling of the electricity burning its way through his body tearing it apart. The pain of all his muscles being forced to contract. The smell of his flesh burning, the echo of his scream, the feeling of the wave of ectoplasm that tore him apart and reconstructed him cell by cell. The memories and emotions. How betrayed he felt that his parents left the lab unguarded and basically allowed him to die. His anger at them for having the on switch on the inside of the portal. The worry about if the portal out right exploded and hurt his friends and sister. The despair he felt that his life was cut short, how he would never become an astronaut. Never see Space. He relived all of this in an instant.

Danny grabbed Superman and threw him through the nearest wall in frustration. He took a second to look at the damage he caused. Glad it was only one wall that he threw the man through. He had finally gotten the hang of his power level, thankful for this new base form that limited his power.

“Ope, sorry about that, but Clark we really need to talk about your son Conner.” Superman picked himself up angry that this untrained meta kid lost his temper over something so stupid as a question as to how they could help him. Now the kid wants to talk about that thing Lex created.

“You mean the clone, that thing?” Superman asked, wondering when Conner had time to even talk to this new kid he never heard of before.

“Excuse you?” Danny said with a wave of sharp anger. He called a clone a thing. He called someone like his daughter, the most important person in the world to him. He called them a thing. Bruce was perceptive enough to see Danny’s rising anger. He attempted to tell Danny he had been working with Clark on how to work with Conner. The dark knight’s attempt to placate Danny failed.

“What do you mean excuse me, look I was violated and that clone is nothing but an imperfect reminder of that violation!”

“And your feelings are perfectly valid, but that doesn’t excuse you for treating Conner like shit.” Danny ground out.

“But watch yourself when speaking about the Mirror Born in my presence,” Danny warned as his voice now carried an unnatural echo. The Man of Steel scoffed at the term Mirror Born, did this kid really celebrate, perhaps even honor such violations of genetic autonomy? Clark was about to speak up before being interrupted by Constantine.

“Supes, please just shut the fuck…”

“Mind your own business, Constantine.” Superman ordered before turning to Danny.

“Look, kid, you don’t need to use some fancy new term to placate the feelings of those things, none of them are here. I need you to understand, I do tolerate Conner.” Danny’s mind boiled with rage. It was clear that he wasn’t going to get through to the man. He couldn’t even start the conversation properly. No wonder his daughter seemed so out of sorts. He only had two words to use to respond to the supposed hero.

“Fright Knight!” His order echoed through the realms as the massive black armored knight appeared behind Superman and sent the soul shredder through his chest sending him to the nightmare dimension before disappearing.

The justice league didn’t know what happened. All they knew Danny did was something to Superman, so they all attacked. Well, everyone except Dr. Fate, Shazam, Constantine, and Zatanna. Danny casually evaded all of their attacks, not even the Flash using his speed could touch Danny despite the Flash feeling like he was still faster than the boy. Danny kept this up for ten minutes before ordering the Fright Knight once again.

Superman popped back into existence. Danny slammed Superman to the ground and released an ectoplasmic wave of energy that knocked all the other heroes back. With a foot on Superman's chest, he spoke his voice loudly echoing through the room. If anyone was paying attention they would have heard a second almost feminine voice layering in over Danny’s.

“Listen to me closely Kal-El, you need to realize that the mirror born have their own life. Their own hopes, and fears. They could even be progressively aged faster, however, they still seek the same things any of us do. Love, acceptance, guidance, a sense of belonging are all they ask for from us.

I suggest getting a therapist to work through your issues, however, I will give you one month to begin to repair your relationship with Conner.” Danny then pulled a bunch of various pamphlets on top of Superman. They ranged from, ‘so you’ve been cloned’, ‘how to forgive a clone who tried to kill you’, all the way to ‘how to raise your clone as your own child’.

Danny then turned to look at Constantine, “It looks like you just started your lessons on dealing with ghosts.” There was a distinctive change in Danny, his eyes were the biggest change. The sclera was bright green and his pupils were the darkest black that Constantine had ever seen. It was like they had absorbed all light leaving nothing behind. Like endless black holes.

“John Thomas Constantine, ̸̢̪̉t̵͉̩͊̌é̴͚a̴͔̥͆̂c̸̪̳̔͝h̷̖̞̃̎ ̶̢͔̅͐ę̸̘̈́̕v̸̝͙̈̊e̷̗͚͋ṙ̴̞̜y̸͕̤̒ǫ̸͕̉̔n̸̯̄e̵̥̠̓͗ ̷̢̧̄h̸̟͗o̴̺̩̅w̷̝͌ ̵͚̈́́t̷̖̍̀o̵̠͝ ̴͖̍͠ͅp̸̡̞̎̌r̸̞̝͋͘o̶̎̎͜p̵̰̉ͅę̶̛̔r̸̦̻̂ļ̷̳̏ÿ̷̭̺́ ̵͚̗̅͘ŕ̶͎̇e̷̛̯͊s̸͔̃̄p̸͘ͅe̵̢̘̍ĉ̷̺̜̄ţ̷͗̕ͅ ̷̩͉͆t̸̥͔̔̐h̸̻̊e̴̝͘̕ ̸͉́͂ ̸͓̱͌́a̴̢̓n̶̺̺͂̋c̸̗͋͜ị̶̀̀ḛ̷̭̀͊n̷̳͍̾t̸͓̭͠s̷̩͆͛.

 I suggest you start with etiquette.” 

There was definitely another voice layered with Phantom’s, it was a feminine voice that was exactly a perfect fifth above Phantom’s own. Danny tilted his head and looked at the occultist with a grin that looked like a feral saber-toothed cat before disappearing. Constantine turned to look at Superman who was being helped to his feet by Wonder Woman and Batman.

“Clark how the absolute fuck did you manage to piss off the King of the Infinite Realms before we even sent a delegation to smooth things over with him, you absolute wanker!”

[the1975attheirverybest]

Being Funny In A Foreign language

Chapter 7- Wintering

A/N: lots of sex. lots of dialogue. lots of feels. just everything is a lot. pretty paranoid about this one so lmk what you think!

warnings: kinky smut, depiction and discussion of mental illness.

***

Amelia couldn’t help but smile, walking backstage, as remnants of the boys’ spirited conversation reached her ears. Their voices filled the dressing room with laughter and idle chatter, like school kids back from winter break, getting caught up on all the latest from their friends. 

“Could I see that picture, again?” Matty giggled, his lilting laugh, distinct to anyone who knew him, was a sound that Amelia hadn’t heard in a good while. “I’m sending it to myself. For blackmail purposes.”

“Don’t you fuckin dare, Matty!” George jumped across the room in a futile attempt to retrieve the phone out of his hand. 

They both paused and redirected their attention as Amelia and Joshua walk into the room. A loud and incoherent greeting erupted from all four boys, gathering around the couple. 

Adam left the room to request that two extra chairs be brought in. Ross gave Amelia’s cheek a quick kiss, whispering a “welcome back, mate. Missed ya,” before turning his attention to Joshua. George, on the other hand, immediately dug into the airport candy, sampling a few out of each packet that they’d brought back for him. Matty and Amelia’s eyes met across the room, and before he could think, he rushed towards her wrapping his arms around her in a tight hug. 

“You’re back.” He whispered, his face buried into her neck. He was sure he felt lightheaded as soon as he caught a whiff of her perfume. Amelia wondered if she’d detected something more than a casual greeting in his words, or perhaps it was just that his voice was muffled when he spoke?  

“How’ve you been, Matty?” she gave into the moment, rubbing his back gently. Matty felt his legs almost give out, wishing he could melt into her. 

“Miss you.” Was his feeble response to her question. 

once he'd finally mustered the courage to pull away, Matty saw that Joshua had been watching them with a puzzled look on his face. He quickly corrected, backing away from Amelia and giving Joshua a warm smile. “Hey, man! How’s California?”

Joshua’s mind recalled what had seemed, at the time, no more than a slightly odd detail from their trip to the exhibit.

As  Amelia and Joshua were getting ready to leave the event, a short and balding man had approached them. Joshua did not consider himself a fashion expert by any means, but even he could tell that this man’s suit costs more than the average Californian’s rent; his pinky ring, alone, was probably worth thousands.

“Mr. Fontana,” Amelia had said, sounding more surprised than courteous.

“Call me Marcus, please.” the man extended his hand out, shaking hers. “I just had to come over here and meet the woman who made Matty Healy give up his  beloved Fender Mustang.”

Amelia’s hand went limp in Fontana’s grip. “Beg your pardon?”

“I’m just sayin,’ sweetheart, if you can get that man to do that for you, you might as well marry him.”

Befuddled, Amelia stared blankly at the man’s face, until he’d let go of her hand and turned to Joshua.

“and you are?”

She shook off her confusion, putting on a deliberate smile, “Oh, please, forgive me. Mr. Font- Marcus, this is my boyfriend, Joshua. Joshua, please meet Marcus Fontana.”

“Pleasure to meet you, Sir, thank you for having us.” Joshua had taken the man’s extended hand.

“Boyfriend? Really?” Fontana asked, sizing him up. After a brief pause, recognition flashed across his eyes, “Oh, I see…” His eyebrow raised.

Amelia dropped the smile on her face, instantly.

“well, good luck, kid.” He placed a hand on her shoulder, walking away. “It was a pleasure to meet you.”

That interaction had lingered in Joshua’s mind on their way back to the hotel, so, as they were getting ready for bed, Joshua asked Amelia if she and Matty had ever dated.

“Have we ever dated?” Amelia echoed the question. “No,” she turned her back towards him to brush her hair in front of the mirror. “I mean…there was a moment where we almost did, but no. We’ve never dated.”

“Almost? What changed?”

Amelia smiled, setting her brush down. “I mean, I don’t know if you can tell, but, Matty’s a bit of a whore.” She laughed. “…I say that affectionately, of course.”

“Oh? a handsome rich rockstar likes the company of beautiful women? How shocking.”

She giggled. “exactly.”

“California was great, man! Thanks to you.” Joshua smiled. “You sure we didn’t, like, put you out or anything? Getting us into the exhibit, I mean…”

“Not at all, bro. Glad you had a good time.”

***

Matty rushed to take refuge in the dimly lit corner of the roof party, glad to finally be alone for the first time since this morning. He struggled to sit still in his seat; leg bouncing; hands fidgeting with his sweater; crossing his legs only to uncross them again a few seconds later. He stood up, eventually, pacing  back and forth by his empty seat. 

“Perfect show as always,” Amelia smiled as she approached him. 

He looked up, beaming instinctually, “thanks, bro.”

She loved when he called her that. 

She sat in the chair that he’d abandoned, and he hovered by her side, his feet kicking a tiny pebble on the floor. 

They sat there, quietly, for a long while, watching the after party happen around them. Ross and John had roped Joshua into one of their made up, chess-adjacent games with complicated rules and elaborate levels. He was, earnestly, giving it his best shot. Polly and Gabi hung out by the pool, dipping their feet into the water and drinking, while George and Hann, on the opposite side of the water, looked engrossed in a conversation. Amelia tore her eyes off the vibrant scene, glancing up at Matty. He rubbed his temples repeatedly, keeping his head down, as he swayed in place. She could tell he was deeply uncomfortable though she wasn’t exactly sure why. 

“Matty? you alright?” 

He could barely hear her over the music, but she mouthed her question again when he glanced at her. He nodded, hesitantly walking closer towards her. 

“Hey, you look a bit…I don’t know? Pale?” Her brows furrowed as she studied his face closely. 

“Fine….just a bit, erm, dizzy, I think?”

Amelia jumped to her feet. “Come, sit down!” 

“N-no, it’s alright. Stay….I’ll just…” he sat on the arm of the chair. “That alright?” His arm wrapped around the back, leaning over her. 

“Yeah, yeah.” She gave him a soft smile, but it was really just an excuse for her to look into his eyes and watch him closer. 

“I’m fine, Amelia.” He chuckled, catching on. 

Her eyes shot towards his still bouncing leg. “Mhm.” She nodded knowingly. 

They fell silent again. Amelia wondered to herself what he was thinking about and how he was feeling. Though he was sitting right next to her, he felt miles away.

“Are you mad at me?” Matty asked unexpectedly. 

“What? No! Why would I be?”

He winced when the song in the background had reached a crescendo. He wanted to say because you didn’t text or call while you were gone. Because we haven’t spoken since you literally whipped my ass and left me there. But he figured she wouldn’t take kindly to any of that. Instead, he asked, “so, are you gonna come and see me tonight?”

“Wasn’t planning on it-“

His heart sank “Why not?”

“Last time I did, you said-“

“Please, Amelia. Please forget what I said.” His hand reached for hers, squeezing it. 

“Does that mean you want me to come see you tonight?”

He nodded, embarrassed, but desperate enough to confess, “just….need you to hold me.”

Her eyes shot up towards him, confused by his markedly changed tone. For as long as she’s know him, Matty has never said anything like that to her.

“C’mon then,” she squeezed his hand back, pulling him to his feet. “let’s go upstairs.”

“What about the party?”

She glanced over at Joshua, who seemed occupied with his friends, “Parties are overrated.”

***

In the elevator, Amelia finally asked, “Matty, you don’t look well. What’s going on?”

His eyes squeezed shut to avoid the harsh overhead light. “Everything’s a bit….too much.”

She wasn’t quite sure what he meant but she nodded anyway. 

“Too much sound. And light. And too many people. Everything’s loud.”

Still slightly unsure, she wrapped her arms around his waist, briefly, in an attempt to comfort him then realized that, perhaps he needed the  exact opposite and immediately pulled away. 

***

Matty and Amelia laid on their sides, in bed, facing each other. She took note of the fact that he blushed every time that their eyes met but she kept the information to herself, knowing that if she teased him about it, he’d squirm away. Instead, her hand played with his hair, lightly. 

Matty felt his mind slow down, his body relaxed. In the ambient atmosphere of the hotel room, there was finally less noise, less light. A single person, a singular, sweet, touch to focus on. Away from the cheering crowds and the spotlights following him around onstage, he could finally begin to process his day.

“So, how’ve you been?” Amelia spoke, after a while, her voice barely above a whisper, hoping she could get him relaxed enough to fall asleep. 

Matty shrugged silently.

“Why? What’s going on? You seemed a bit better before the show.”

Matty nodded. “I was. At least I think I was. 

He took a deep breath, “ I’m trying, I promise.”

“I know you are, Matty.” Her hand left his hair, moving to caress his face instead. “How’d you do while I was gone?”

He shuffled closer and closer to her, burying his face in her chest to hide from her expectant eyes, resting his hands at her hips  and hoping she’d get the hint and hug him back. She did. Her arms wrapped around him protectively, but she proceeded with her line of questioning anyway. 

“ have you been getting enough sleep?”

“Doing my best, but….its hard. Sleep doesn’t come easy.”

She squeezed him tighter. 

“Been napping on the tour bus though. In between cities. Better than nothing, right?”

“Right.” She rested her chin on top of his head. “What about appetite? Been eating?”

“Yes; actually! Once a day.”

“Matty!”

He giggled and she felt his breath on her skin. “I’m trying to work my way up to more. Been better about it since the boys have been back.” 

That amendment reassured her. “I’m glad they’re all back. You all function better as a unit.”

She could feel him smile in agreement. 

“What about exercise?”

Matty whined and squirmed in her arms, which, she took as her answer.

 “No workouts at all in the past few days?”

“None.”

She sighed loudly, unsure what words to use in reprimanding him. To an extent, it wasn’t his fault. It’s his illness that sucks the life and energy out of him. But she needed to incentivize him to try. 

“What about the last rule we set?”

The question hung in the air for a moment before he registered it. 

“Oh, that! I’ve been good about that, I promise.” She heard him giggle softly. “Haven’t touched myself at all. Genuinely!”

 “I believe you, Matty.” After a brief pause, she said,  “good. That’s good.”

“If I’m being honest?” he stuttered.  “it’s only partially me being good. The other part is….erm…I’m scared I won’t be able to get it up again.”

His sheepish confession made her break out into a silent chuckle, Matty felt her breathe in and out as she laughed, prompting him to blush, in return. 

“Appreciate the honesty.” She giggled. “Guess we have one thing to reward you for, and quite a few to punish you for, huh?”

He nodded, feeling guilty for letting her down.

He intertwined his legs with hers, getting restless. She felt him shuffle and squirm. He wanted to be even closer to her. Even though he knew it was impossible. He was literally burying himself in her. 

“Everything alright?” She looked down at him tossing around in her embrace. 

“Want you.” He whimpered, meek and small. 

“Hey, I’m right here….literally right here.” It didn’t seem to persuade him. “Matty, are you okay?”

He exhaled, loudly, “sorry, sorry- uhhh, I’m fine.” He went still.

“You don’t need to be sorry, honey…”

His stomach fluttered at the term of endearment, instantly wondering how seriously she meant it. 

“Where should we start?” She asked with a mischievous smile. “How bout this? You get to pick your punishment and your reward, and I’ll decide which one we do first.”

Matty’s heart raced in his chest; he thought for a moment, then, “for a reward- I-“ the words felt heavy on his lips. “Could you maybe stay the night?”

“What?”

“Doesn’t have to be tonight.” He added, quickly, to reassure her. “You can decide when works for you. But….I’d like it if you- maybe didn’t leave afterwards. We don’t have to do anything, either.” He glanced at her, briefly, and saw that she seemed confused. “ Like I’m not asking for more sex. We could just hang out. Get dinner. Or just chill, really.”

“Matty- gosh, I-“

“Is it too much? Would you rather not?” his mind, and mouth, panicked.  “It’s fine. Knew it was a big ask. Forget- forget this reward” he moved his hand dismissively, as if to wave it off. “I have another idea.”

Amelia stared at him blankly, speechless. He took her silence as a sign to proceed. 

“Fuck, this one’s pathetic…. but I suppose I’ve already embarrassed myself…” he giggled, darting his eyes away. 

“What is it? Go on. Tell me.”

“For a reward, would it be okay if…. Like, if you tell me the good things that you like?”

“Pardon?”

“Like- if I do something that you like- can you maybe say so?”

Amelia repeated his words in her head a few times, attempting to decipher them. “You want me to say that I like something? I’m sorry, Matty, I don’t follow.”

 “I’m trying to ask for praise, okay?!” He blurted out, immediately grabbing a pillow and burying his face into it, screaming “fuckkkkk.” He huffed into the fabric. “told you it was pathetic.”

Amelia laughed, heartily. She thought it was the sweetest thing she’d ever heard. “C’mon! Don’t be embarrassed!! It’s really- umm…cute!”

“Oh fuck off!”

“Matty, c’mon. Look at me. Sit up. Eyes on me.”

Despite some resistance, Matty eventually mustered the courage to dig himself out of the pillow and look at her, his face burning red.

“it’s just….it seems- well, okay- Are you saying you didn’t feel…acknowledged or assured enough last time?”

He shook his head, timidly. 

“Okay, okay….good to know. That other stuff you said about wanting me to stay afterwards…”

“You can’t, can you?”

“Well, what I’m hearing is that last time wasn’t a good experience for you. I think we should talk about that.” Amelia’s tone shifted, becoming increasingly more serious. 

“Why?? Was it not good for you? Did you not have fun?”

“Matty,” she placed her hand on his arm, squeezing it gently. “I had fun. More fun than I expected. But right now we’re talking about you.”

“Had fun too.”

“But?”

“But, erm, I- after you left, I felt…” he sighed, “like I wasn’t good enough. Like I could’ve done more.”

“Done more what? Matty, all you had to do is lie there and take it..”

He shrugged. “It’s just a feeling I had. Like….like I could’ve taken more, or- or I could’ve squirmed less, or, could’ve gotten you off, or-“

“We should’ve talked about it before I left.” Realization dawning on her.  “You always made us talk about it afterwards.” Amelia got off the bed, beginning to pace back and forth. “Why didn’t you tell me? Why didn’t you say anything?”

Matty’s head dropped lower, his gaze focusing on the duvet. “I’m sorry. I should have. I’m sorry…”

“No, no. I’m not blaming you!” She threw her hands up in frustration. “I guess- I had assumed- since you were always telling me how important it is to communicate or use the safe word or whatever….that you knew that. That I didn’t have to tell you.”

“I- I just didn’t want to be needy.” His own words made him uncomfortable.

Amelia’s face contorted, pained by the words he spoke. She lunged back on to the bed, grabbing his face urgently. “Don’t say that. You’re not being needy. You hear me? Please, I need you to understand that. Okay?”

A small hum left his lips and she let go of him, sitting back with her legs folded under her. “I’m not very good at this whole….taking charge thing, am I? You always made it look so effortless.”

A smile crept on to his face, “It’s true I do have a tendency to do hard things with easy swagger.” Matty said with seriousness.

She burst into a chuckle. He was finally sounding like himself for a change. She slapped his chest, playful. “Narcissist.”

“You said it; not me!”

“Can I kiss you?” 

“I’d love that.”

She closed the gap between them, leaning in, and holding on to him. Their lips locked, teeth crashing, rendering them a giggling mess, but they kept going anyway. His arms squeezed around her waist. Hers let go of him and found the hems of his sweater, slowly slipping it off of him. 

His chest was hot to her touch. she could feel his heartbeat. She unbuckled his belt slowly, glancing at him to check in. 

“Amelia?” His voice was barely audible. 

“Yeah?”

“This is….erm….a touch humiliating, but I- well, I haven’t…I haven’t showered.”

“Oh.” Her hands paused their fiddling. “Like…after the show?” She knew his routine enough to know that this was odd. 

“Yeah.” He looked away as he spoke, “…or….before actually. Like….not in a couple of days.”

She nodded as he spoke, to indicate that she was listening. “That’s…that’s okay. It’s fine with me if it’s fine with you?”

“Yeah….fine with me I just…wanted to…” he let his sentence trail off. 

Amelia kissed his cheek. “I get it. No worries.” Giggling at his embarrassment. “You’re so cute, you know?”

***

Matty felt a strange wave of anxiety crash over him the further that Amelia got from him. She’d settled between his legs, her hand wrapped around his half-hardened cock, yet his head was too full to enjoy any of it. All he could think about was how much warmer and safer he felt with her body around his, now that he had to lay his head on the bed, instead, everything felt overwhelming again. He propped himself up in an attempt to see her. A shooting pain rushed up his neck.  he screamed out “HOLY FUCK!! Owww!”

Amelia panicked. “Oh my god, what? What’s happened?!!  Did I…was I not supposed to-“

“N-no- ouch! It’s fine-  you’re fine.” Matty hissed, grabbing the back of his neck. “It’s me….my fuckin neck. Cramp. I don’t know.”

She crawled up the bed quickly, sitting back next to him. “Lift up, let me see.” 

Amelia tested the waters, touching his neck lightly and checking for any discomfort. “Looks fine. No swelling or anything. Mind if I touch it harder?”

“Go for it.” Matty said with a scrunched face, bracing himself. 

He gasped when Amelia’s delicate touch turned into kneading, attempting to give him a massage. 

“Does that hurt?”

“not really. I think it’s helping.” He smiled through the mild discomfort, relaxing into her touch as he got used to it. “Think it’s the guitar strap.” He eventually decided. “Had it on a weird spot between my neck and shoulder earlier and….it felt a bit off.”

“Oh, Matty….those things are heavy! You’ve got to be more careful.”

“Excuse me, I’m very strong, you know.” He curled his biceps to prove it. 

“Quit fuckin moving” she laughed. “You’re not. You’re just a baby.”

He rolled his eyes. “I’ve been doing this a long time now. Even long before the muscles too! I know how to carry a guitar! Just….didnt want to stop mid-song to adjust it.”

“Whatever you say, tiny baby.” The smile palpable in her voice.

***

“You wanna try this again?” Amelia asked, from between his legs, kissing up his body, from his stomach to his chest.

Matty nodded, eagerly. He watched her retrieve the lube bottle, squirting some on her hand, and on his body, before delicately wrapping her hands around his length. He blushed watching her handle him and whispered “cold” when the lubricant touched his skin. 

Amelia flicked her wrist, stroking him the way that he’d taught her to, but Matty was acutely aware of the fact that he was nowhere near as hard as he should be. His mind drowning in doubt and concern, the more he tried to focus, the more difficult it became. His worries were now turning into frustrations, his hips thrusting into her hand in a desperate attempt to feel something. 

“Fucks sakes!” He groaned. “I’m sorry.”

Slowly, Amelia let go of him, and shifted to sit by his side. She gave his cheek a quick kiss. “Nothing to be sorry about.” 

Matty was grateful for her calm response, but he couldn’t help but feel guilty.

She began to re-dress him, sliding his boxers back over his hips. “Gosh, Matty….” She gasped, “Is.. that from…the- belt?” She’d noticed the welts, now turned blue and purple streaks, all over his ass.

“mhm.”

“fuck,” she whispered, running her fingers over the belt marks. “I did that?”

Matty wasn’t sure if her question needed an answer, or if it was rhetorical.

“Did I over-do it? Did I hurt you?”

“No. I like it.” Matty smiled.

“the pain?”

“the pain, you marking me up, the sting ever time that I sit down or move, that reminds me of you…all of it.”

Amelia let go of her breath, relieved to hear that Matty felt good about it. “Can I- see? Could you…turn on your stomach?”

“you…want me to flip over, so you could see my bruised ass?”

She batted her lashes at him, flashing him a smile that he could never say no to.

“fuck, I mean, this night couldn’t possibly get more humiliating, why not.” He rolled on his stomach, feeling vulnerable again.

 Amelia examined her handiwork, closely, squeezing Matty’s skin and watching him jolt. Then, feeling slightly guilty about her new-found morbid fascination with inflicting pain on him, she kissed all the areas where she could see that she’d split the skin and drawn blood. Matty’s body shuddered, his skin prickling with goosebumps. He moaned into the pillow, feeling exposed. His body was betraying all his secrets, she could see and hear exactly how he felt.

“You gotta see a doctor though, okay?” She finally pulled his clothes all the way back on him. “for your dick, I mean.”

He resigned to his fate, nodding defeatedly. 

“It’s gonna be okay.”

Matty clicked his tongue, “what if it’s not though? What if I’m old and decrepit now?”

She grinned, “you’re not. You’re a stallion.”

He chuckled. “A what now?”

“Like a horse.”

“I know what a stallion is. Just….not very stallion like of me.” He gestured towards his groin. 

“Happens to the most virile of horses…I’ll help you make the appointment. Who do you boys see while on tour? Can you make appointments online?”

“Yeah” Matty nodded. “Yeah, I’ll show you.”

***

“While we’re at it.” Amelia clicked the “+” sign to open a new tab in the browser. “I was thinking we could….buy some stuff.”

Matty frowned. “What do you need to buy?”

It quickly dawned on him what she had in mind once the search results showed a wide variety of sex toys.

“Oh…Christ! Are you sure about that?”

“Okay, so,” Amelia started as her hands ran through his hair. “I think we need to make more of an effort to talk things through.” 

Matty looked up at her, his head resting on her chest. “Mhm.”

“In the spirit of that….what about punishments? What’re your limits and stuff.”

“Don’t think I’ve got any.” Matty shrugged. 

dissatisfied with his response, Amelia began to list off some of the options that she saw on the screen. “You’ve got paddles, chains, rope, spreader bars, cuffs, cock rings, wax, knives, electric pads-“

“Amelia.” Matty looked her directly in the eyes, “these all sound fine to me. Buy whatever you want.”

She sighed. “But what about what you want?”

“I- I want anything that you want. I’ll try anything that you want to try. You can do anything that you want to do to my body.”

Amelia’s heart raced, transfixed by his eyes, she couldn’t bring herself to look away. She didn’t know how to respond to that. Her mouth felt dry, her words a broken stutter. 

“Here.” Matty reached into his pants pocket, producing his wallet. “Use this.”

“Wha-what?” Still thrown off, Amelia needed a moment to come back to her senses

“Take my card. Any of the credit cards in here. If you buy anything.”

“Oh.”

***

“Are you gonna leave me?” Matty asked as he watched Amelia get dressed. 

“Nope. Mind if I stay over tonight?”

His whole face lit up. 

“We could….run you a bath. Or, I don’t know, watch a film? Only if I get to choose what we watch though!!”

“Amelia, I’m depressed — and possibly impotent— not paralyzed. I can run my own bath.”

She rolled her eyes. “Whatever. I’m gonna pop by my room. Get the bag of weed I brought you from LA. Order us some room service, would you?”

***

The air on the balcony was chilly, but the hotel had provided a space heater that allowed Amelia and Matty to enjoy the outdoors late at night. She sat opposite him, her feet crossed on the outdoor couch, wondering to herself why he’d been so quiet.

“Do you know about the Melrose Place activism thing?” Matty spoke, out of the blue, slouching in his chair and waving his blunt around.

“The what?”

A smile stretched across his face before he’d even spoken, clearly amused by the store that he was about to tell. “So, you know the 90s tv show Melrose Place?”

“Vaguely…”

He nodded, taking a puff of his joint, and hummed, too impatient to move the blunt away before speaking. “Right, so, there was this- university professor, I think….he had this idea for an art exhibit that would be, sort of, showcased on tv. This was in the 90s, mind you, so before streaming and all that…”

Amelia nodded along.

“So, I guess he was watching Melrose Place with his wife or something, and he decided to do it on that show. Like…like display shit in the background as part of the set.”

“Oh, that’s interesting…”

“Isn’t it? Anyway, so, him and his students decide that it would be funny if they did it in secret, right? So, without permission from the network or the producers or anything…” Matty’s grin grew larger as he spoke, his droopy eyes sparkling like the starry sky above. “they found the set decorator, and I guess cuz they decided to put in protest art, she was into it. She like considered herself very leftist, or whatever.” He laughed, bringing the joint to his lips again.

“that’s wild!”

“mhm…so, like, every episode, they would put protest art in the most plain and innocent places. Like, erm….” Matty’s brows crossed as he attempted to recall some examples. “bedsheets with unrolled condoms as a print pattern. Used as the sheets on the bed in a scene where the romantic couple are sleeping together. A pillow with the structure of the AIDs virus embroidered on it. Chinese food containers with human rights  symbols….shit like that.”

“What? That’s insane!”

Matty fixed his posture, leaning forward as his story picked up, “It gets even better. So, they took it a bit too far one week. They featured a painting of the Oklahoma City bombing, or some shit…the producer noticed. But when the set decorator confessed to him, this guy- fuckin goated!- he was really into the idea. So, he let the professor and his students have more access to the show. Can you believe that? Gave them scripts so they could choose art that was relevant to the episode, let them come to set…all of it!!”

“no fuckin way!”

“I know!” Matty chuckled, his smoker lungs giving out, he launched into a coughing fit.

“Anyway,” he cleared his throat.

“Is that what you think about when you get stoned? Protest art in 90s soap operas?”

“well-" he rolled his eyes, "I just think the juxtaposition between, like, a completely apolitical, harmless little tv show, and the protest art in the background as the characters do mundane things is a cool idea.”

“it is.” Amelia affirmed, calmly, amused by his thought process.

A comfortable silence settled between them. Amelia found herself compelled to admire Matty as he smoked in his seat, looking up at the sky every once in a while. She had no idea she’d been smiling until Matty pointed it out.

“What’re you smilin’ at?” Matty asked, his lips involuntarily mirroring her smile. “What? Why are you lookin’ at me like that?”

Amelia shook her head, giggling. “I was just thinking about how pretty you look in the moonlight. It’s too bad we’re not fucking.”

“Oh?”

“Yeah, I mean….your arms and your tattoos...that hair? You’re looking very…umm,” she bit her lip, smiling coyly.

“What? ‘very’ what?” Matty leaned closer, on the edge of his seat.

“Very fuckable.”

His mouth fell open as he took her words in. “Christ!” He mumbled under his breath, then, with a noticeable shift in demeanor, “well, just cuz I’m out of commission, doesn’t mean we can’t still have fun.” He winked playfully. “I could still get you off without my dick, you know.”

“Oh yeah?”

“I’ve got a mouth, fingers, two thighs if that’s what you’re into….”

“You’d- you’d be okay with that?”

“Okay with what? You using me and my body for your own pleasure? Focusing on making you feel good and giving you what you want without regard for myself or what I might need? It would be my fucking pleasure. Literally and figuratively.”

****

Amelia’s body shook, her thighs clamping around Matty’s head as he licked into her.

“Oh, fuck! Matty, don’t stop!! Ye- yeah, right there…” her hands reflexively reached for his hair, tugging on it harshly as her pleasure spiked.

Matty whined in pain when she accidentally pulled at his hair a bit too harshly, his breath against her clit only spurring her on even harder. She held his face against her core, pulling at his hair whenever he tried to back away for a breather, before long, she was riding his face. Though the natural instincts of his body fought it at first, he eventually gave in, letting her move him however she wanted.

“Oh- matty- I’m close.” She moaned. “I’m gonna…cum. Should I- on your face? That okay?”

Matty tried to nod, but the grip she had on his hair sent a shock of pain through his body. “Uh-huh” he sounded, his voice vibrating against her center and pushing her over the edge. He felt weak and short of breath, but he tried to work her through her orgasm, lapping up at her cunt as it dripped over his face. Her hand loosened its hold on him, her thigh relaxing around his head, she let go as she came down from her high, giving him a chance to breathe.

“That- was…. amazing.” She panted, looking up at the ceiling with a smile on her face.

Matty crawled up the bed to be by her side, kissing her cheek sweetly.

“Oh, wow, look at you.” She chuckled at his disheveled hair and puffy, pink lips. “I think you’re starting to get somewhere?” She pointed at the bulge that had formed in his underwear. Matty blushed, casting his eyes downwards.

“You literally get off on making other people feel good?”

Was it that? Or was it the pain? Perhaps it was both, or simply the fact that it was her. He didn’t really know.

“Mhm.”

“That’s kinda sweet, actually.” Her heart melted at his embarrassed expression. “I could go for round two, if…?”

He nodded, rushing to undress, but stopping himself moments later. “Sorry- I- May I?”

She kissed him, whispering, “good boy,” in his ear. “Yes, you may. Get yourself nice and ready for me, yeah?”

Once ready and lubed up, Matty’s hands fidgeted nervously, wanting to initiate but feeling uncertain. “Umm…where- how do you want me?”

“I wanna be on top.” She smiled, patting the space next to her for him to sit in.

Matty moaned as she sunk down on him taking him a bit at a time, until she went all the way.

“Oh- fuck…Amelia, you- feel so good.” his head thrown vackwards to rest against the bed frame.

“Yeah?” Her hands rested around the base of his neck. Not quite squeezing, just adding some weight, a gentle reminder that she had him by the throat. “It’s been a while, hasn’t it? Nearly forgot how tightly you fit me.”

“M-mi-missed you.” He whimpered, “missed this.”

“I’m gonna start moving now, you ready?”

Matty nodded, instantly jolting in shock when she began to move her hips. He wasn’t as ready as he thought he would be.

“A-Melia? Am I…allowed to - tou-touch you?”

She smiled, with her eyes closed. “Yeah.” She whispered. “You’re allowed., sweet angel.”

The words were barely out of her mouth before she felt Matty’s lips on her neck, leaving a trail of wet kisses all over her, while his hands cupped her breasts.

Matty felt her pick up speed, her movements less deliberate, more desperate, her breathing shallow, all reminding him that he knew the signs that her body often gave.

“You close?” He asked, kissing her cheek.

“Oh my god, yeah…so close…”

He leaned forward, moving away from the headboard and hugging her tightly. “I’ve got you. I’ve got it from here. You can- yeah…you can stop if you want.” He took over, thrusting upwards, his hips slamming into her.

“O-oh! Fuck! Yeah, thats it!”

He found a rhythm that seemed to get her clenching tightly around him as he repeated his motions over and over, she kept her chest pressed into his, sweat adhering their bodies to each other, her head resting on his shoulder as she moaned and called out his name.

“You’re- shit!- you’re shaking, Matty. You close? Wanna cum to-gether?”

Matty shook his head and kissed the side of her neck before thrusting again. “Nu-uh. No, this….is about you.” He panted, biting his lower lip to conceal a moan.

“Can be about both of us.”

He shook his head again, more passionately this time. “Want it to be about you.”

With a final thrust, Amelia didn’t have time to process his words or respond, she felt her orgasm hit, waves of pleasure overpowering her. Matty held her tight, letting her dig her teeth into his skin and bite his shoulder as she contracted around him, cumming all over his cock. 

He smiled faintly as she trembled in his arms, feeling the aftershocks of her pleasure run through her. 

“You good?” He asked softly. 

She grinned, sleepily, adjusting her head on his shoulder. “So good.”

Once Matty was sure that her body had stopped shaking, he slowly peeled his skin away from hers, dipping his head low to kiss all over her. 

“Mmm…that’s nice.” She sighed. “Tickles.” 

She mustered enough strength to eventually roll off of him. “Oops. Made a mess all over you.” She giggled, “want me to suck you off? That’ll clean it up?”

Matty smiled. “Thanks, but no thanks. I’ll- uh…get us cleaned up in a second.”

“Wait! You haven’t….you know…”

“It’s okay. I don’t want to anyway.” He waved her off. 

“I’m sorry, you DONT want to cum?”

“If I do….i’ll be tired after... less present…”

“It’s alright. I’ll take care of you." she offered. "unless... Do you not feel safe with me?”

“I do! Of course I do! I just wanna take care of you!!!”

“Matty-“

“No! Wait, listen, you’ve been doing so much for me lately. I wanna do this for you. Okay? Please? Just want you to know that I appreciate you and I- I want you to feel good.”

Amelia felt herself well up. She blamed her emotional state on the post-orgasm high, giggling at herself. “Matty...” She had nothing more to say.

***

Matty felt a quiet joy when he woke up to find himself in Amelia's arms the next morning. he could not believe he'd gotten this lucky. He squeezed closer to her, wanting to memorize every little detail about this moment: her scent, the peaceful look on her face as she slept, the feeling of the soft bedsheets against his skin....

an overwhelming sense of fear followed closely behind the moment of joy. He knew he wasn't entilted to feel as good as he just did. The more he wished he could have her by his side, in his bed, every morning, for the rest of his life, the more he feared that he would lose her. get used to and depend on everything being great only to fuck it up, hurt her, and lose the good thing that he leaned on. He found himself leaning into the fear when Amelia had woken up, in a hurry to get to her room, declining his breakfast invitation.

He watched her walk out on him and feared that she would never walk back in. In a panic, he reached for his phone, quickly scrolling through his DMs to find the messages that he'd once exchanged with a New York - based model.

hey

in town for msg soon

you around?

[teaberrii]

Chapter 2: Check-In

After ending a five-year relationship, you pour all your energy into work. Your latest assignment? Staying at a popular bed-and-breakfast to gather information. It should be a piece of cake... If only the owner isn't the man you scolded on the street.

Jing Yuan/You

Notes:

Cross-posted on Ao3

Female reader

Chapter index at the end of chapter one

Today is the day.

You’re holding your boarding ticket in one hand and pushing your suitcase in the other. As soon as you find a place to sit, your phone buzzes with a call from your mom. You brace yourself, knowing that she’ll be dropping a lot of questions about your breakup. It’s been a week, and you’ve been bombarded with questions and asks from all of your mutual friends. Besides Herta, you haven’t told anyone, so you know it’s your ex who’s been telling all the stories and treating the breakup like celebrity news. You aren’t surprised. While you want to think they’re coming from a good place, you know some of them just want the tea.

Finally, there’s your mom, the person you’ve been afraid of telling. She’s known your ex for as long as you have, and he’s always been good to her. So, of course, you’ve been thinking of how to drop the news, only to call her about it, but didn’t get a response… until now.

“You two broke up?! What happened? Why?”

“I wanted to tell you sooner,” you say calmly. “But… we just don’t work anymore. We’ve grown apart.”

“Did you two talk? He told me he saw you and Herta with men at a bar—”

“Mom,” you interrupt, not meaning to sound as annoyed as you did. “Those men were friends. And, could you cut him off, please?”

“...Have you been okay? Is there something I can do?”

“Everything’s fine, Mom.” A young boy with blonde hair tied back into a ponytail walks towards you. Suddenly, Jing Yuan flashes into your mind. “...I’m okay.”

The young boy smiles, and you think he’s smiling at you, but he’s really smiling at the man sitting behind you.

“Dad!”

Dad? You’re about to turn around when you see a familiar man with long blue hair and red eyes. Wait a minute. Isn’t that…?

Blade sees you, and his surprise disappears as fast as it comes. Just then, the child runs past you and says, “Dad, we brought snacks!”

You turn around, and you almost drop your phone upon seeing Jing Yuan in a casual black shirt and gray pants. He’s also wearing a baseball cap. You’re still staring at him when your mother says your name, snapping you out of your shock. Then, you quickly look off to the side and say, “I’ll call you when I get to Xianzhou.”

Blade walks up just as Jing Yuan takes the snack from his son. “Well,” Blade says, “this is a surprise.”

That’s when it hits you. If Jing Yuan's behind you, does this mean he eavesdropped the entire time? You turn back, not expecting to see him looking at you.

“I went from a criminal to a friend in a week,” he says with a slightly amused look. “How interesting.”

“So, you were eavesdropping,” you say flatly.

“Not purposely.”

Jing Yuan had one leg crossed over the other, his nose in a book. He was about to flip the page when he felt someone sit behind him. When he heard the ringing, he began digging into his bag for his earphones. Then, that was when he heard it.

“I wanted to tell you sooner.”

That voice. It was so familiar, but he couldn’t put his finger on it.

“But… we just don’t work anymore. We’ve grown apart.”

Jing Yuan looked over his shoulder, and while he couldn’t see your face, he was instantly reminded of the woman who scolded him on the street. Nah… It couldn’t be. Right?

“Mom. Those men were friends. And, could you cut him off, please?”

Jing Yuan leaned forward, just enough to get a peek at your face under the hat you wore. The brief surprise was written all over his face. Then, he quickly leaned upright and heard his son’s voice.

“Dad!”

The boy looks from Jing Yuan to you and back to his father. “...Do you two know each other?”

Blade puts his hands on the child's shoulders just as you look at the young boy. “Us?" you ask. "We—”

“We do, Yanqing,” Jing Yuan interrupts, looking at you. “We’re friends, aren’t we?”

You almost scoff.

Blade looks down and says, “They’re working on their friendship.” Then, he looks at you. "We didn't get a chance to introduce ourselves at the restaurant."

Yanqing looks from his father to you and then innocently says, “I’m Yanqing!” He extends his hand to you. “Nice to meet you!”

While you aren’t a fan of kids, Yanqing is strangely endearing. You take his hand and say your name. Then, just for kicks, you say, “But, let’s keep that between us.”

“Careful, Yanqing,” Jing Yuan says. “She might kidnap you.”

You give him a deadpan look while Jing Yuan returns it with a small smile.

“Kidnap me?” Yanqing asks. “Why would she do that?”

“Good question,” Blade answers. “Maybe it’s to keep you safe from your dad.”

Jing Yuan gives him a deadpan look while Yanqing says, “But, I have two!”

You look from Jing Yuan to Blade and back to Jing Yuan. As if knowing what you’re speculating, Jing Yuan is about to say something, but Blade speaks up instead. “You’re right.” He catches Jing Yuan’s look. “...But, we all know who's your favourite.”

"Probably not Jing Yuan," you say.

"And why's that?" Jing Yuan asks flatly.

You shrug.

"Is this still about that misunderstanding?"

"What misunderstanding?" Yanqing asks.

It takes Blade thirty seconds to explain.

Yanqing laughs. “So… Is that supposed to be good luck or bad luck?” Then, he looks at you. “Auntie, you got the wrong idea!”

Auntie?

Jing Yuan instantly notices how your smile falls after the nickname.

“She really is Dad’s cousin, and she’s always been on the… um…”

“It’s okay to be honest, Yanqing,” Blade says.

“...the childish side!”

You crouch, so you’re at eye-level with Yanqing and put your hands on his shoulders. “...Call me by my name next time, okay?”

“Good afternoon ladies and gentlemen…”

As the boarding announcement to Xianzhou continues, you stand and put a hand on your suitcase. When it ends, Yanqing looks at you, his eyes shining. “Are you going to Xianzhou, too?”

“That’s right.”

“Guess we’ll be on the same flight for the next two hours,” Blade says.

You feel someone’s hand on yours, and you look down and see Yanqing trying to take a peek at your boarding pass.

“Yanqing,” Jing Yuan says sternly. Before you can say anything, he swiftly picks up his son. “That’s rude. What do you say?”

“I just wanted to know where she was sitting!” Then, he looks at you with a cute, little pout. “Sorry.”

You want to squish his little cheeks, but instead, you say, “16B.”

Yanqing’s eyes widen. “Mystery solved!”

“...What mystery?” 

“We’ve been wondering who’s going to sit next to Dad on the plane.”

You think Yanqing is talking about Jing Yuan, but why is he looking at Blade? This is getting confusing.

“Yanqing’s my son,” Jing Yuan says as if sensing your confusion. “Blade is—”

“My other dad,” Yanqing chimes in.

Jing Yuan sighs. “To clarify, Blade—”

“We would now like to welcome passengers in Zone…”

“We’d better get going,” Blade says.

Jing Yuan gestures for you to go ahead as the line starts moving to board the plane. “After you.” Then, he puts Yanqing down and he follows after you.

“It’s been a while since Yanqing was so friendly with a woman,” Blade says quietly.

“...Yeah. It’s nice to see him smiling again.”

Jing Yuan still remembers the day he explained to Yanqing about shared custody. Yanqing has always been smarter than the kids his age, but Jing Yuan never thought Yanqing would grasp the concept of divorce so fast. And while Jing Yuan met with a couple of female friends during this time, Yanqing has never been this friendly with them.

You push your carry-on in the aisle while on the lookout for your seat. When you finally find it, you easily haul your luggage into the compartment above. When you take your seat, you see Yanqing on his knees and looking at you from behind his seat.

“Yanqing, sit properly,” Jing Yuan says.

“...Hey.” Jing Yuan turns to Blade. “Switch places with me.”

“...Why?”

Blade slightly smiles. “Because I want to sit with my son.” Jing Yuan almost rolls his eyes. He glances at you and sees you pull out a detective novel. “Just do it.”

You feel the seat next to you shift due to a sudden weight. You instinctively turn but frown when you see Jing Yuan beside you.

“...What are you doing?”

“Sorry,” Jing Yuan deadpans. “Did you want to sit with Blade?”

“If I’m being honest, I’d rather sit with Yanqing.”

“Oh, is that so? You’d rather be next to a kid on a plane, sweetheart?”

“...What did you just call me?”

Jing Yuan awkwardly clears his throat and looks ahead. “...Sorry. Force of habit.”

You lightly scoff and turn back to your book just as the plane begins taking off.

An hour into the flight, you casually flip the page and put your elbow on the middle armrest where it bumps into Jing Yuan’s arm. You turn as does he, and that’s when you see him playing chess on a tablet.

“...You play chess?”

“Are you going to judge me about that, too?” he casually jokes.

You lean over. “I’ve wanted to learn.”

“Is that so?”

You glance up. “Why do you sound so surprised?”

“...I can teach you, but for a price.”

“Wait. How do I even know you’re any good?”

His little, confident smile is quite attractive.

Jing Yuan slightly leans closer, and you get a whiff of his cologne. “Should I prove it to you?”

“Ooh, you’re right, Dad. They do get along well.”

You and Jing Yuan turn and see Yanqing peeking through the space between the seats.

“Let’s not bother them, Yanqing,” Blade says. “Privacy is important, after all.”

You look at Jing Yuan’s tablet and give him a small nudge. “Hey, it’s your move.”

But Jing Yuan doesn’t rush. When he does make his move, he asks, “...May I ask why you’re going to Xianzhou? For vacation?”

“For work.”

“Work? What do you do?”

You lean back in your seat. “Are we playing twenty questions now?” You look at the virtual chessboard. “Or… Am I giving you too much pressure?”

“You could certainly try, sweet—” Jing Yuan catches himself and looks back at the board to make his move.

“I work as a market researcher for a hotel company.” After Jing Yuan makes his move, he looks at you just as you ask, “Why are you going to Xianzhou?” You nod toward the seats in front. “Family vacation?”

“I run a business there.”

“You do?”

“Again, is that so surprising?”

“You don’t seem like the type.”

Jing Yuan quietly scoffs. “Very judgmental, aren’t we, Corporal?”

You slowly clap. “Very creative… General.” Then, you tap his tablet. “Your move.”

Jing Yuan slightly shakes his head with a smile and looks down. After making his move, he asks, “You said you work for a hotel company… Which one?”

“Star Rails Hotel.”

“...That’s a luxury hotel.”

“It very much is.” You chuckle. “What? Are you going to say I don’t look like someone who’d work there?”

“Employees make a company,” Jing Yuan answers. “They’ve been doing well, so I’ve heard. Guess you’re one of the reasons for their success.”

Well, that’s a compliment you aren’t expecting.

“Flattery will get you nowhere,” you finally say.

“Was I going somewhere?” Jing Yuan casually asks. “Oh, or are you one of those people who can’t take a compliment?”

You glare at him and he cheekily smiles back. Then, he makes his move.

“How long have you and Blade been looking after Yanqing?”

Finally, Jing Yuan has a chance to explain. But just as he’s about to speak, the plane suddenly rocks.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’re experiencing some turbulence. Please return to your seats and fasten your seatbelts.”

When it gets worse, you instinctively grab his wrist. Jing Yuan puts his tablet on his lap and shifts a little closer to you. Then, when it passes, you awkwardly let go and put your hands on your lap.

Jing Yuan suddenly remembers that night at the restaurant. If the conversation he overheard is anything to go by, you likely broke up with your boyfriend. And it probably happened the night he saw you in the taxi.

“...Was everything okay that night?” Jing Yuan quietly asks without looking at you.

“That night…?” You sigh softly. “Ah… You mean after I left the restaurant?”

“You don’t have to answer if you don’t want to.”

“Well, duh,” you say, trying to lighten up the situation. “Did you think I’d answer if I didn’t want to?”

Jing Yuan shrugs. “Just accept my politeness.”

“Right.” Then, jokingly, “I don’t think it comes that often.”

“Hilarious.”

“...We broke up that night.” Jing Yuan turns to you as you say, “A long overdue decision, but better late than never.”

“...Should I congratulate you then?”

You turn to him, and it’s the first time he sees you genuinely smile. “You should.”

Then, he quietly claps. “Congratulations. You’re finally free.”

You dip your head as if bowing. “And freedom has never felt so good.”

After listening to the announcement that the plane will be landing soon, Jing Yuan asks, “Where are you staying?”

You’re putting away your book as you say, “The Knights Bed and Breakfast.”

“...Really? You don’t say?”

You sit back upright on your seat. “You must’ve heard about it.”

“That I have.”

“What do you know about it?”

“Are you using me for research?”

You shrug.

“It’s a nice place but like with any business, there are areas of improvement.”

The announcement asking for passengers to return to their seats comes on just as you say, “Keeping it vague, huh?”

“You’re already going to get first-hand experience.” Then, with a mischievous look, he says, “I’d be curious to hear what you have to say about them.”

You raise a brow. “Why?”

“Dad’s asking for your number.”

You face forward and see Yanqing peeking between the seats. Before you can say anything, he quickly looks back as a flight attendant walks down the aisle.

Jing Yuan isn’t expecting Yanqing to be so blunt. Is this going to be awkward now?

“Then, are you going to teach me chess?”

“I thought you doubted my skills.”

“I thought you were confident.”

Jing Yuan holds up the tablet just as the plane lands. And, on the screen, it clearly says: YOU WIN!

You chuckle. “It’s probably rigged.”

He holds out his hand as if expecting something. “Where’s your evidence?”

“...Fine. You win this round.”

“Does this mean there’ll be another?”

You lightly scoff and turn to look out the window where you see the beautiful silhouettes of the mountains.

Once you’re off the plane, you’re walking along with everyone else to go through the usual airport procedures. Jing Yuan, Yanqing, and Blade are walking a short distance behind you.

“She’s staying at the B&B?” Blade asks.

“Ooh. That means we’ll get to see her every day,” Yanqing says.

Jing Yuan puts his hand on his son’s shoulder, stopping him from running off to tell you the exciting news. “That’s right. But, let’s make that a surprise.”

Once you have all of your belongings, you head toward the taxi waiting area with a bunch of other people. Except, Jing Yuan, Blade, or Yanqing are nowhere to be found. A taxi drives up, and you shake the thought of them away and haul your things into the trunk.

As the taxi weaves through the open roads of the island, you roll down the window. You hear the excited cheers of a beach volleyball game on the beach and feel the refreshing ocean air on your face. Somehow, your heart feels lighter.

“First time here?”

The driver is looking at you from the rearview mirror. You roll up the window and say, “Yeah.”

“Well, you won’t be disappointed. You’re stayin’ at a good place.”

“Is The Knights B&B that popular?”

“Oh, you have no idea. Even us locals love stayin’ there from time to time.”

“I’ve heard great things about it online. But, it’s my first time hearing that locals love it, too.”

“The owner’s a great guy,” the driver says. “He was born and raised here until he left for the city.”

“Well, they say home is where the heart is.”

The driver laughs. “Very true.”

The taxi pulls up to a villa made out of stone. The architecture reminds you of something out of medieval times. Very fitting. The small garden in front is well maintained with a grass sculpture of a cute rabbit with large eyes wearing a conductor’s outfit. Must be their mascot.

You thank the driver, pay the fee, and step out of the car. He helps you with your belongings and once he drives off, you head into the villa.

A soft bell chimes when you step in. You immediately smell a fragrance that reminds you of sweet tobacco and leather. A fireplace is off to one side, and you hear the fire crackling. A small group of people are sitting on the vintage sofas, enjoying their tea on the matching table.

“Say cheese!” A young woman with light pink hair and pink and blue eyes holds up a Polaroid camera and snaps a photo of her friends sitting across from her. “...Dan Heng! Would it kill you to smile?”

You walk up to the counter, and a tall man with combed-back black hair and large blue eyes suddenly appears from underneath.

“Phew! That should do it!” When he sees you, you gasp. “Oh, hello! Did I keep you waiting? I apologize.”

He oddly reminds you of the rabbit outside.

“No worries. I just got here,” you say.

“Could I get your name?”

After giving it to him, you wait as he types away on the computer. Then, he smiles at you. “Congratulations! You were the visitor to book our last room!”

“Uh, great! Does that… mean anything?”

“We’ve prepared a special gift basket in the villa you’ll be staying! You’ll also receive some special benefits which include—”

The bell chimes, and then you hear a familiar voice.

“Hi, Pom!”

Wait a minute.

You turn around and almost drop your phone. You’re still at a loss for words just as Pom says, “Yanqing! Blade!” Then, standing straighter than before, he gives a salute. “Boss! Welcome home!”

Boss? Who—

“How were things while I was out?” Jing Yuan asks, walking up beside you.

“Good.” Then, Pom gestures to you. “Meet the winner of our exclusive benefits!”

Jing Yuan finally looks at you. “Congratulations.”

Finally, you blurt, “You’re the owner?”

“Guess I don’t look like it, huh?”

“...Um, do you two know each other?” Pom asks, looking from you to Jing Yuan and back to you.

"Yes," Jing Yuan answers.

You groan quietly.

Then, you hear Yanqing whisper to Blade, “Does this mean they're officially friends?”

You glance at Jing Yuan who looks as if he knows what you’re thinking. You almost want to sigh. What a great way to start your investigation.

Pom looks from you to Jing Yuan and back to you. When no one says anything, he grabs the keys to your cabin.

“Don’t hesitate to let Dad know if you need anything!”

You force a little smile at Yanqing and nod. Then, you take the keys and a map from Pom and head out.

“She was really surprised!” Yanqing says after you walk out.

“The look on her face was priceless, I have to admit,” Blade says.

“Am I the only one who’s lost?” Pom asks. “Who is she, really?”

“A friend!”

“A woman we met in the city.”

But it’s Jing Yuan who says, “She’s just another guest.”

“...So he says,” Yanqing whispers to Blade.

“I heard that,” Jing Yuan says without looking at his son.

You’re walking towards your cabin as you contemplate what you’re going to do next. Jing Yuan, the unexpected owner of the most popular B&B in Xianzhou knows you’re here for work. But, while he doesn’t know exactly what, it won’t take long to figure out. By the time you reach your fairytale-themed cabin, you decide to forget about it. You’re here for a job, and no matter what, you’ll push through all obstacles. Even if one of those obstacles is a handsome man who looks like he can toss you like a sack of potatoes.

You enter the cabin and your jaw instantly drops. The entire cabin is brightly lit with natural lighting. The furniture’s vintage design and matching colours are reminiscent of the ones you saw at the main cabin. It’s spacious, and the chandeliers remind you of something from a princess movie. You close the door behind you and see a large ornate mirror on the adjacent wall. Upon heading into the living room, there’s a large welcome basket with your name in cursive on a white envelope. Inside is an eloquent welcome message signed by Jing Yuan.

As you go through the gift basket, you’re pleasantly or… unpleasantly surprised that the soaps, beach supplies, towels, and even some basic hiking gear, are of great quality. You note the practicality of the gifts, something that even big hotels overlook.

Then, you hear a knock at the door. Leaving your belongings in the living room, you open the door, surprised to see Jing Yuan.

“I hope everything has been to your liking so far."

“If I’m being honest, I can see why this place is so popular.”

A small chuckle. Then, he says, “I know you’re here for work, but Yanqing’s been bothering me to ask you if you want to have dinner with us.” That’s when you see Yanqing and Blade standing a short distance away. "He specifically told me to tell you it'll be my treat. Pom will also be there. The man who served you at the counter.”

“I’ll come,” you say, “but I’ll pay for myself.”

“Fair.” Then, with a kind smile, he says, “See you tonight then, Corporal.”

“Really? You’re sticking with that lame nickname?”

“Would you rather I call you Auntie?”

You frown. “Not funny… General.”

Then, just before you close the door, he says, “...By the way, if you need anything, just call me.”

“There’s that kind of service here?”

"Guess you need to do a little more research."

Before closing the door, you see Jing Yuan give a thumbs up to Yanqing who waves at you with both hands. You wave back, also acknowledging Blade beside him. Then, you watch Yanqing walk between the men with one hand in Jing Yuan’s and the other in Blade’s.

Maybe Jing Yuan isn’t so bad after all.

Tag list: @suoshiii @lordbugs @seirenspinel @lxry-chxn @immahuman @queencybow @grimreapersscythe

[strangerscallmegray]

Are we the same?

Hello guys, I hope you like this. I was out looking for Joel Miller x son!reader fics and I could find very little male reader or GN reader fics and so I impulsively decided to create this series. I hope you will like it. The first chapter is going to be exploring Joel's PoV. I'm new here so I don't understand much, hopefully I'll learn along with you.

So, the thing is I have not seen the last of us, it is just recently that I discovered the fanfics and I really liked them, I'm going to watch it soon. So, I apologize for any timeline discrepancy as well as factual errors that might be there in the story lolol.

------- x --------

Joel had a difficult relationship with his son. It was not that Joel did not love him, no, he did, he immensely loved the kid, how could he not? He was his son. You were the last remaining person from his family. The life and family he had had before everything went to shit. But there was a distance between you and Joel, one that Joel deeply lamented. It started after Sarah died. Joel felt like you blamed him for what had happened. You had always been a loving older brother to Sarah and losing her broke you too, you were never quite the same and he couldn’t say he was either.

Joel watched as you went outside the house after the latest argument you had had. Arguments were not uncommon between the two of you. It was simple, Joel still felt you were too young to be going on patrols with him. Whereas you felt you had never been more ready and to see Tess take your side had been heartbreaking for Joel. Tess would not forget the look of betrayal that had etched onto his face when she had done that. Tess had later given him a lecture saying if he wanted his son then he’d have to let him do what he wants to do even if that included danger. Joel had cried out in anger then saying that he’d rather have his son alive and hate him than dead. He and Tess had needed a lot of time to recover from that. He had already lost one child and he was not planning to lose another any time soon. Now, since Joel did not have a say in what you wanted to do, he put his everything into training you. He wanted to teach you everything he knew so that you could survive even if he is not there. He was very proud of you and how far you had come. You never complained when it came to training, even if you had arguments with your dad, sparring sessions were a must, even if it just helped in releasing pent-up frustration.

Joel was sometimes very harsh with you and he knows that. It was because maybe he got so lost when he lost Sarah that he forgot he had another person depending on him. Some days the guilt consumes him and the others he feels like you need the rigidity to make yourself better, that it is what you seek from him. Tess had told him many times that his harshness might reflect negatively on you since you were only 16. Sometimes he thought that surely Sasha must be rolling in the grave over what kind of a father he had become. A memory flashed through this head.

“This is a waste of time, they’ll have finished turning you by the time you get back up from the ground.” He said.

You were panting having fallen on the ground. “I am…..trying.” you said in between of breaths.

“Not like that you are not, the only thing you are trying to do right now is getting yourself killed, if that was your mission, congratulations, you succeeded.”

You had glared at him, still not getting up, “What the hell is your damn problem with me!?” you had shouted and stood up walking up to your dad. “You can see I’m trying, we only started practicing a week back and Tess says I’m doing good, why do you always have to be so critical of me as if I can never be any good?”

“I don’t know what Tess has been seeing, all I am seeing is that it was a mistake allowing a 14-year-old out on patrols.” Joel had said. He couldn’t understand why he was being so unnecessarily harsh.

Tears stung your eyes as you said, “I will prove you wrong Dad, I will be the best hunter you’ve ever seen.” You had said and walked away.

And you were most definitely the best that Joel had seen, he just failed to communicate it to you. He wished he had been more understanding back then.

Then, then came Ellie, the kid who reminded him too much of Sarah, the kid full of life and so opposite from both him and you. In the beginning he didn’t know how to act around her but slowly he warmed up to her. She was not replacing Sarah, nobody could replace his Sarah ever but Ellie was not Sarah, Ellie was Ellie and that was why he had grown to care for her and he knew he had grown paternal towards her. He had seen the way you interacted with Ellie too, you had never held something she didn’t even know against her. You had even taught her a couple of things and his heart swelled with happiness whenever he saw that. An emotion he was sure he would never feel again.

“Is he your son?” She had asked pointing towards you who was standing with the group explaining something to them.

“Yes.” He had said, short and crisp, he didn’t want to discuss it and he hoped she’d get the hint. She did not.

“Then why is he on patrols? He doesn’t seem that much older.” She looked curiously.

He had looked at her and glared “Why don’t you ask him the same then maybe even I will know.”

And after that, it felt the most normal than ever in Jackson, but he just wished he could mend his relationship with his son. He wished you would stop looking at everything he did for you in negative light and stop seeing him as the enemy.

Soo, I hope you liked that, let me know what you think. The next chapter will be your PoV.

[itsnothingofinterest]

A part of me is still feeling like nah there’s no way he just died, horikoshi is gonna do the same death fakeout again and something is gonna bring him back like a rewind or something.

I mean I want to think the same, really I do. I've normally been all for the most wild theories, provided the most wild theories, on how Tomura would be brought back. Nary an apperence made where I wouldn't come up with some improbable way he'd break free of AFO and turn around his latest misfortune. And here especially, it feels like he needs too because this conclusion for him is just terrible. But as it stands, his situation isn’t looking good.

Rewind looked spent just getting Deku’s arms back, Regen wasn’t working even before Tomura’s body got turned to dust, AFO says he stripped the missing half of the Overhaul quirk away to make Decay & I’m not sure if that allows it to grow back, and there's just not a lot of other ways to imagine he could comeback from his already crumbling-body getting obliterated by Deku's day-saving fist.

Granted, people have been throwing around enough theories that some do sound convincing or possible. After all, why would Hori set up Decay as being a messed-with Overhaul if that wasn't going to come into play? What was the point of Kurogiri coming to save him if he just got blown up (and would he really have Bakugou just murder him)? In fact I'd like to highlight one theory in particular that's stuck with me by @thesustainedworldatransverse which suggests that Rewind might be the mutated missing half of Decay (since the tragic circumstances of Eri's quirk awakening were identical to Tenko's tragic circumstances and we now know that tragedy was BS). Thus Deku, carrying the last sparks of Rewind directly from her horn in the very fists he just punches into Shigaraki's heart, would bring them into contact to fuse back together and allow Tomura to reconstruct himself. A part of me knows that's probably not super likely to happen...but would it not be super fucking clever if it did? It's 2 "the things were similar for a reason" reveals and another "small detail had huge ramifications" reveal one after another; Horikoshi loves those.

But ways to bring Tomura back aside, the biggest hurdle is thinking Hori would even want to bring him back. Despite my critique of him extending this arc with an unnecessary extra climax he didn't have the energy to land, he does seem very burnt out. And as much as some of us may disagree, scene direction certainly suggests he wanted last chapter to just look like the day was saved so…hmm. Maybe it could be a fake out to shock readers and get MHA trending before he walks it back next chapter? He has done that before on multiple occasions. But for now, who can say?

[togamest]

chapter 1: cave in

❝ i'll tie my handlebars to the stars so i stay on track, and if my intentions stray, I'll wrench them away...then I'll take my leave, and I won't even look back. ❞

word count: 3,188 content: no reader mention, mention of character death, alcohol and drug usage, grief, seeing ghosts, mentions of blood & gore a/n: here is chapter one! this is a lot of lore building and setting the stage for reader to appear next chapter — you'll see them very soon, don't worry! i didn't intend for izana to appear in this chapter or in this fic in general, but given how owl city focuses a lot on schizophrenia and mental health and all that jazz, i figured having him around as a guiding compass for kaku would be really sweet <3 tags: @suyacho @qichun @kenpachisbrat @highpri3stess @fengxun @benkeibear @bleach-your-panties @enchantedforest-network @thehoneypotserver

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Kakucho is bored.

Well, "bored" may not be the best way to describe his feelings. What do you call the sense that nothing matters to you anymore? The numbness that sinks in after you've lost the one thing that made it all worth it? Whatever that is, Kakucho feels it deep inside of his bones as he wanders into the warehouse after Koko to inspect the latest shipment from one of their overseas partners.

Koko is much more suited to this lifestyle, although he's not the only one under crippling stress, much that he's placed on himself. He's dyed his hair white, and Kakucho can't help but laugh at recalling how close it is to Inui's shocking blonde hair. They'd match, oddly enough. He didn't seem to react the same way after everything shook out, but something definitely changed—warped—in him since Inui deserted him. The details behind that separation are kept behind tight lips, but Kakucho can read a room. It wasn't good.

A sigh from Koko forces him to return to the present instead of meandering on that thought stream. "This all looks good," he says simply to the worker as he tucks a clipboard underneath his arm. The worker says nothing, responding with a short nod before making the preparations to move the stacks of drugs onto another palette. Koko moves back outside, Kakucho following him quietly behind as they pause on the dock, staring across the ocean.

It's pretty today.

The breeze is full of summer warmth, the sun sparkling on the ocean's deep blue waves lapping at the shore deep below their feet. He could stay out here forever if he wanted to, his eyes sliding shut as he basks in the sunshine. Koko says nothing, simply allowing him time to soak up the sun; he knows they both need it, having been inside dealing with the Haitanis and Sanzu's shitshow relationship with Takeomi. It had been horrible lately; the boys were getting stir-crazy, and Koko had to wrangle them. 

The man in question lights up a cigarette, offering a drag to Kakucho with thin fingers, painted nails flashing in his vision as he takes it, allowing the nicotine to smoothen his mind for just a moment.

"Izana would have loved this."

Kakucho's head snaps around to look at Koko. He's staring at the ocean, unblinking, his eyes narrowed. The cigarette is back in his hand, but it rests at his side, untouched, barring Kakucho's usage. There are no remnants of sadness on his face, but rather a steeled resolve etching itself into the stress wrinkles beginning to show on his skin. He doesn't sound like he's going to elaborate, and Kakucho doesn't know what forces him to say it, but he doesn't have the heart to stop himself after he hums in agreement.

"Inui would, too."

He's met with a scoff, a flash of hurt echoing across Koko's face before it's gone, the blank, analytical facial expression taking its place so fast that it's as if Kakucho imagined it. He places the cigarette in Kakucho's hands before turning on his heel, strutting back to the car, throwing over his shoulder that Kakucho doesn't have to accompany him back. "Take this spare time when you can get it," he says before sliding into the car and disappearing on silent tires. He's still not sure why he lit the damn thing in the first place, but he takes another rip; something tells him that he looked as if he needed it, not Koko.

Now, it's just Kakucho, the sun, and the sea.

With a visitor. A typical visitor these days.

He can see him. He can see Izana sitting on the pier, swinging his legs in front of him. His old Tenjiku jacket is stained blood red, mixing with the lighter red of the cloth in a horrific display of gore. The gunshot wound is still there, a massive hole in his chest, though no more blood will spill from it. Nothing else about him has changed; his silver hair still brushes against his chin as he moves his head, the earring that Kakucho now has tattooed on himself as a remembrance tinkling in the wind, the only reminder that he's here in front of him. Izana leans back on his hands, looking up at Kakucho with those beautiful lavender eyes, and Kakucho feels his own going glassy.

Now, now, he hears Izana's voice speak so clearly in his mind, as if he's here with him; there's no need for tears, alright, Kaku? Sit with me.

He abides by his ghost's wishes, taking a seat with a huff on the pier's edge. He doesn't reach for Izana's hand. It won't connect; he's tried it before. Instead, he simply sits with the apparition of his friend, smoking the rest of the cigarette, the breeze shifting through the trees, the waves hitting the shore so gently. It's like a painting right before him, one he can simply reach out and touch whenever he wants.

Are you happy, Kaku?

He scoffs again, ignoring Izana's stare into his soul. He knows he's looking at him, and he can tell without checking the expression on his face. There was this face Izana would make whenever Kakucho lied to him; white lies, big lies, whatever it was, he'd know. He chalked it up to being able to read people well, but Kakucho knew better; Izana was paranoid. Paranoid that Kakucho would leave him, that he'd be alone again even after all those nights spent together with Kakucho whispering to him that he would never think about doing that to him. He'd never.

He immediately jokes that it seems like Izana is okay with abandoning him. It stings.

"I s'pose," he says shortly, watching the cigarette smoke curl into the sky. It's a pale white, almost see-through. The nicotine continues to settle into his bloodstream as he looks back down at the ocean waves lapping at the shore. Happy. What an elusive word in a business that is so violent, full of bloodshed and rage and anger. How can he truly be happy when the one thing that did make him happy is no longer here? How does that work?

You're not. You're lying, Kaku. I can tell when you're—

"Yeah, yeah," he groans, rolling his eyes and finally turning to look at Izana, "I know."

Izana's laugh sounds like wind chimes, the type that mothers hang outside of their kitchen windows that ring and sing whenever the breeze hits them. She'll lightly tap them when it's time to come home, to settle into the kitchen, and have whatever food is on the docket for that evening. Something that Kakucho has only read about but never truly experienced; the love of a mother, or parents for that matter. A family. At least Izana had a parent as absent and unforgiving as she was.

They sit silently for a while after that, Izana kicking his feet off the pier and Kakucho finishing his cigarette as he presses it against the wet pier, successfully dousing it.

What will you do?

The question takes Kakucho by surprise. "What?" he croaks, and Izana's lips crack into a smile.

What will you do about making yourself happy again?

"Dunno. How'm I supposed to be happy when you're not here?"

Izana's face shifts into a frown.

You have Koko, and the Haitanis, and—

"They're not you!"

His voice sounds like thunder as he snarls, cutting Izana's sentence off. The rage goes as quickly as it comes, the blood in his veins cooling as he realizes how irritable he's been lately. Ever since the wake for Izana, he's not felt the same since then. He's not felt happy since then. What was there to be happy about when the one thing that kept him going suddenly disappeared? Fucking Kisaki—

He doesn't realize his fists are balled up in his lap until Izana's ghostly touch brushes against his skin. It's the first time Izana has properly touched him and the first time it's actually worked. This whole haunting thing is still new to Kakucho, but he doesn't mind it; how could he? He's got a chance to remember his best friend; why would he question something like that?

Izana's smile is warm, like a blazing fire compared to how cold he feels.

You should go back to where I'm from. It should do something for you.

"The Philippines?"

Yes. Maybe you'll find someone who can help you. Some time away could do you some good.

He had been working a lot lately. He deserved some time off, even though every single one of his paid time off requests had been denied by Koko because he's "the only one I can trust" for some reason. Although, between the choice of him, Mochi, and the Haitanis and Sanzu, he can imagine why Koko thinks that. He's undoubtedly the most reliable, although not as craft as the Haitanis and certainly not as batshit as Sanzu. Not to mention, Takeomi isn't one for dirty work; he prefers to sit on his throne and watch everything play out in front of him. He's more like Taiju Shiba than he lets on.

However, at least Taiju donned his jacket and fought when needed.

He thinks about it some more. "What do I say to Koko?"

Do you really have to say anything?

His eyes go wide. "You mean…go AWOL?"

Why not? It's time they realized they're using you, Kaku. You're not happy, I can tell. 

He nods to himself. "I'll think about it."

Izana's smile is so large it could rival the sun's rays. Good.

The club is so sweaty and hot that Kakucho feels like he's melting.

Even in the VIP section above the music, the heat is unreal. Something about heat rising floats through his brain as he leans back, some sweet thing on his hip with cotton candy lip gloss pressing against his cheek. She's clad in almost no clothing, and he doesn't know her name, only that she fancies him. He needed someone to get his mind off his heavy talk with Izana.

AWOL. He could, he really could just leave. He doesn't have a last name; he could find a new one. The wedge might force Bonten to collapse; he thinks about Sanzu attempting to take over his position of watching over Koko, and Koko's face alone causes him to chuckle. The girl asks him what's so funny, but he shakes his head and waves her off. She shrugs and continues her movements, although clearly frustrated with no returns on her advancements.

A slender hand reaches for her cheek, tugging her in another direction, and Kakucho's gaze follows her to where she lands, right in Ran Haitani's lap.

He grins at Kakucho as the pretty thing slides onto him, his large hands resting on her waist. She's pretty stunning, he'll admit that; definitely more Ran's type with the bubblegum aura she has coming off of her. Her gaze is needy, doe eyes staring up at Ran as his own slide closed, leaning back against the couch as she does her handiwork.

A clap on his shoulder forces Kakucho to turn to the side and meet Rindou's purple gaze.

Rindou's eyes are not the same as Izana's, he's noticed. While Izana's were cold, steeled, and unwavering, Rindou's were more…smooth. Sensual. He was ready to con any moron who walked into the club out of a few thousand dollars and their dignity if he really wanted to make the guy squirm. He makes a good pair with Ran, who's just a different flavor of grimy; sure, he may not cheat once he finds a girl, but the problem lies in the question being asked.

He's drinking something tropical with an umbrella stuck in it.

"Kaku-chan," he slurs, and the signifier automatically has Kakucho's lip curling. "Kaku-chan? Jesus, Rindou, how much have you had?" he says gruffly, but the purple-haired man only laughs, rolling his eyes. "Who cares, man," he says, a little more coherent, "ya look bummed the fuck out. What's goin' on in that brain of yours up there?"

It's not like Rindou to get so personal, but his resolve begins to slip once he's had a few. Kakucho's seen it happen before, and it happened just like this. He knows his honeyed words aren't going to help his mood—

"Ya look like ya need a vacation, man."

The sentence has Kakucho floored. How the fuck did he know that? He thinks as he stares at Rindou, who has now realized his words are landing coherently, and a massive, drunken smile pulls at his lips. The dimples on his cheeks are small but present as he does so; Kakucho resists the urge to reach out and poke them, one by one. His face is a soft red, covered in blush from the drinks and the cocaine that's been laid out in front of them.

"I do?" he asks, not knowing what to say beyond questioning him. Rindou nods, taking another massive swig of his drink before placing it on the table and looking back up at him. "Yeah, y'do," he nods solemnly, "and frankly, y'deserve it. You've done a lot f'us, y'know? Always helpin' Koko out, makin' sure we don't do any stupid shit—"

"Yeah, well, you end up doing it anyway, so I must be doing a shit job." His tone is firm, but he can't help chuckling at Rindou's sentiments. They might be empty, but they're something.

Rindou's laugh is high-pitched and nasally as he slaps his thigh. "Ha! Well, y'do ya best, I'll say that much," he says, nodding as if he's made a great joke.

There's some silence between them, the music taking the place of the lack of words before Rindou looks at him. It's with a different expression, and his eyes seem much clearer, almost like the drugs are wearing off…or kicking in. Kakucho can barely tell the difference anymore. However, there's something knowing in his eyes, chilling Kakucho's blood. The heat around him feels nonexistent under Rindou's gaze; it's like he's caught in a predator's web as if he's seeing if Kakucho would dip like that.

"You know," he says slowly, his hand clapping on Kakucho's shoulder a little too firmly, "if ya ever did just fuck off to who knows where, I won't tell anyone. Scout's honor or whatever the fuck people say."

"I'm not planning on going anywhere."

"Yes, y'are. Can see it in ya face."

Kakucho blinks. "Fuck off, Rindou," he growls, but Rindou shakes his head.

"I'm bein' f'real, Kakucho. Don't think anyone was as fucked up as you were after Izana. You were his best friend, man; I get it if ya feel like ya have to escape—"

Kakucho's voice is ice as he gently lifts Rindou's hand from his shoulder, placing it back onto his lap. "Don't you dare speak his name," he says, his tone so terrifying that Rindou's eyes widen as he begins to stand, "and don't you dare tell me that you get it. You don't. You love this life. You love the attention, the drugs, the fucking women, you love it all. I don't. I'm not made for this shit. It's obvious—"

Rindou's hand grabbing his pants leg has him pause, and his response has him turning around again.

"So leave."

"What?" It comes out as a hiss.

"Leave. Go. Go tonight, man. Just fuck off. If ya don't like it, don't stay. You're a grown fuckin' man, aren't ya?"

"Fuck off, Rindou."

And with that, Kakucho grabs his coat and stalks out into the cold night air. It hits him as soon as he steps foot outside of the club, one of the doormen running up to him and asking if he needs a ride. He shakes his head. It'll do him some good to walk alone as he begins to wander down the street. He's sober, having not touched alcohol since Izana's death (he'd had a long battle with alcohol after that, to the point where he'd be betraying Izana himself if he put a bottle to his lips again). He almost wished he wasn't as he pulls his coat tighter around him.

He can see Izana next to him, so much shorter than him but somehow keeping pace.

Rindou means well, you know.

"Yeah, he sure fuckin' sucks at showing it," he groans, curling over himself to light up a cigarette. Izana doesn't comment on it, but Kakucho can see in his eyes that there's a fleeting sadness there. Sadness that Kakucho has kept up such a toxic habit.

You shouldn't smoke those.

"Oh yeah, and go back to the bottle? You've seen me on that. Trust me, this is better."

Izana shrugs. I guess.

There's quiet after that as Kakucho wanders. The street gives way to fewer streetlights, the stars above him sparkling and taking his breath away as he looks up. He sees Izana looking up at him, a grin tugging at his lips. They're so pretty tonight, aren't they? He says, and Kakucho nods, taking a seat on a nearby bench to take a load off. He takes a drag from the cigarette, leaning back against the bench. Izana settles next to him. It's not that he has to since he's dead and his legs don't tire out, but it's a nice gesture.

Rindou wanted you to leave.

"Was that you? Putting thoughts in his head?"

No. I can only be seen by you. You know this.

Kakucho sighs. "Yeah, it'd be cool if that wasn't the case, but thanks for making me feel special."

Kakucho.

His name is said in such a firm tone that he can't help but look at Izana dead in the face.

You have to go. You know you do. Even Rindou noticed.

The weight of what he's saying sinks heavily onto Kakucho's shoulders as he leans forward, his forearms on his knees as he clasps his hands together in front of him, the cigarette being held between his lips. He already has a destination; it's clear everyone else around him thinks he deserves one, and Rindou won't even remember what he's said tomorrow morning once the drugs have worn off. This is his chance; this might be the only chance he gets to leave.

There's a song somewhere playing faintly, and the lyrics are the final cherry on top.

Please take a long, hard look through your textbook 'Cause I'm history When I strap my helmet on, I'll be long gone Cause I've been dying to leave Yeah, I'll ride the range and hide all my loose change In my bedroom 'Cause riding a dirt bike down a turnpike Always takes its toll on me

"Alright, fine," he huffs, and Izana's eyes light up next to him. Really?

"Yes, you insufferable idiot." Insufferable? You love me. "Yeah, yeah."

The universe is pelting him with messages, nods, and winks. He can see fate standing before him, her hand outstretched. She smiles expectantly, her eyes twinkling as his rough hand takes it.

See what happens.

divider credit: @/benkeibear for the mdni banner and the gradient dividers! disclaimer: please do not copy or repost my works for any reason. translations are acceptable, but please ask for permission first! © jousk4s 2024-2025.