#tomorrow is another suggestion day so I'm going to pull from the list but I'll probably find a change of pace

[broke-bruce-wayne]

My Album a Day - Day 20

So the results of my poll yesterday came in with the 1980s sneaking past the 2010s, so this weeks album comes from that decade, once again using Pitchfork's top albums of the decade list along with a random number generator. This weeks album clocked in at 102.

First things first, I consider it a personally failing that I haven't listened to Wipers before today, as a punk bank from Portland in the late 70s/early 80s is just the sort of thing I would seem to be into. And I was. There are only 6 songs and they all rip right into your brain.

But the cool thing about this album was it was not the typical 2 minute punk songs that were the norm at the time (and still are tbh). The shortest song on here is still 3 minutes long, and the title track album closer clocks in at 10 and a half minutes, including the grungiest instrumental breakdown in the middle of the song. It's bliss, I loved it.

Favorite Songs: When It's Over, No Fair, Youth of America

My Enjoyability Rating (not the same as quality): 4.75/5

Masterpost

Previous Day

[jenn-ieverse]

୨ৎ. 🎧 𝇃𝄄ㅤ ઈㅤֵㅤN I K I ‹ ENHYPEN › ๋ ࣭ ⭑

AFTER HOURS

PAIRING ࿐࿔ badboy¡niki + femalereader

TROUPE ࿐࿔ badboy X class president

WARNINGS ࿐࿔ to be added

LIST ࿐࿔ PROLOGUE

A/N ࿐࿔ excited to share this with y'all !!

AFTER HOURS

“Yeah I know but—” you feel Niki nudging your feet with his, trying to distract you from your phone call. You pull the mobile away from your ear and cover the speaker with your other hand before speaking, “Just hold on a minute will you?” you glare at him hoping he would stop. “Cut the call would ya? I'm bored, come on.” a playful smirk linger on his lips as he leans in, towering over your height.

Let's go back a few hours to see how you ended up in this position.

When the homeroom teacher called to see you at lunch, you didn't think much of it. As a class president, you are ought to run a bunch of errands for the teacher so it's no surprise that you pay a visit to the staff room once every day like it's some holy temple. However today was different, you could sense it in the atmosphere the moment you stepped in through the sliding door, the uncomfortable tension.

“Sir, you asked to see me?” Mr. Choi, the homeroom teacher notices your presence and nods, “Y/N, yeah, right. Come on in.” a disturbed sigh leaves his mouth as he massages his forehead. “Is Niki present today?” and instantly you knew, today is going to be one of those days. The kind you always dreaded. “Uh— some students saw him on campus but he hasn't been in class since the morning.” you mention.

“This punk, I swear he his upto no good.” and cue a string of disappointing words targeted towards Niki Nishimura, born to a Japanese tycoon, is currently busy being a menace to the society here is Korea, here in Haelsam High School to be more precise. “Only if his father didn't have connections in the education board, I would have him thrown out!” Overtime you have developed selective hearing, you refuse to pay heed to anything that's related to a certain troublemaker.

“He needs to be taught a lesson, kids these days—” you apologetically cut the teacher's never-ending string of words, “Is there anything I can help you with?” as those words leave your mouth, you wait for him to say ‘no’ and dismiss you begrudgingly for interrupting him, not to mention the dontaksu on the lunch menu was calling your name, you could feel it in your stomach.

The moment he said ‘yes’‚ it was like sorcery, the appetite was gone. “Find Niki and have him fill out his career counseling form. I need it on my desk by tomorrow morning.” The career counseling was a mandatory process for all 12th grade students. After they fill the form, they are to have an one on one session with Mr. Choi (nightmare come true) and the homeroom teacher suggests them the universities they should aim for based on the career they want to pursue (basically another day, another way for Mr. Choi to tell you how absolutely worthless you are and if you keep these poor excuse of grades up, you'll never get into any college, forget about the good ones.)

“But sir, does he really need any? I doubt he's going to have a career set in the first place.” you know that you sound absolutely mean right now but it's something about him that brings out your worst side. “Do you think I want to sit here and even look at his face? let alone have a session? This is mandatory and the principal wants the forms by the end of this week.” Mr. Choi speaks as he shuffles through his stack of papers and finally pulls out an empty form.

“But sir, I apologize but I really don't want to be involved with him.” as you are saying those words, a cold shudder courses through your body, even imagining your past interactions with Niki. “Kang Areum want me to conduct a reelection for the place of class president.” Mr. Choi says suggestively, “Now, I am not sure about what to tell her.” he implies, fuck! “I'll do it!” you say out loud, catching the judging looks of the other teachers present in the room.

As you walk towards the secluded area behind the school building, a sense of uneasiness settles at the bottom of your stomach. A group of students smoking and laughing among themselves, suddenly go quiet. “Yo, ain't that the class pres.?” one of them says pointing the tip of his lit cigarette at you. “Have you guys seen Niki?” you try your best to maintain the firmness in your tone even though you feeling like the school outcast who is about to be bullied by the delinquents any minute now.

“Niki's got a girl? That too the class president?” another one says, blowing a drag of smoke right on your face. “Well that means she is one of us now.” the guy who was pointing the cigarette now walks up to you and puts his arm around your shoulder, pulling you towards the group of boys. “Okay, first of all, get your hands off me.” you jerk away his heavy arm from your shoulders. “Tell me where is Niki?” you ask again, this time with more authority, also where the hell is this boy?

“Thinking of me?” a voice whispers in your ear making you flinch, there he was. Hands pushed inside the pocket of his pants, chains dangling around his neck, toothpick pressed between his lips, bleeding forehead, wait- bleeding forehead? "Your forehead-" he doesn't let you complete. "Let's get out of here, come on." he picks up your bag from the ground and swings it around his shoulder.

“You can walk along with me, ya know?” you mention as you see Niki following you from few feet behind. “I'd much rather be behind you.” you could feel the smirk on his face without having to look back. As soon as you spot a convenience store you quickly rush inside to get couple of band-aids. By the time you come out, Niki was seated at one of the plastic chairs kept adjacent to the store.

“Here.” you slide the band-aids to him from across the plastic table while taking a seat on one of the other chairs. “So why were you looking for me? I am sure it isn't to buy me band-aids.” he struggles to put the band-aid over the cut as you hold up the selfie camera of his phone in front of his face, acting as a mirror. “Yeah well, there's something I need from you.” you think of how to bring up the situation.

“Like what?” he leans back in his chair, raising an eyebrow. “I need you to fill your career counseling form.” you wait for him to dismiss you without any regards, like he always does. But today for some reason, nothing was going as per your predictions because what Niki says next, isn't something you could've ever predicted. “What do I get in return?”

── END OF PROLOGUE

[imahinatjon]

Random 1:26 am thought: Sigma, dazai, and fyodor coming home after an exhausting day of work, and they see their s/o cuddled up on the couch, sick as a dog. I'm in the hospital for flu rn lolllllllllllll

:( I hope you get better soon.

Thank you for the request. The idea is adorable.

Sick at home.

Sigma, Fyodor, Dazai.

Sigma.

• He doesn't exactly... come home perse. Just... leaves his office and goes to his part of the casino reserved for him to live in.

• I mean, he lives and breaths sky casino.

• There's not much to look forward too when it comes to retiring for the day.

• Or there wasn't, until you wondered into the Casino one day and won his heart. Now he had you to look forward to every day!

• He walked in, calling out to you as he usually did, but didn't get the response he expected.

• What he heard was half of his name called out weakly followed by a long string of coughs.

• He looked around in the darkness for you, before spotting a bundle of blankets in the middle of the bed.

• He quietly tip toes over, sitting at the edge of the bed.

• Feeling a slight dip in the mattress, you pop your head out of the covers, face red and hair messy.

• And suddenly he's panicking... quietly.

• "Y-your sick?! Why didn't you let me know?" He asked as gently as he possibly could.

• "You... had work... *cough*"

• "I could have taken time to come and help you, to get you feeling better"

• You merely shook your head at him. Telling him not to worry

• "B-but you've been alone all day..." He felt REALLY bad that he wasn't there with you.

• "Don't worry, I had *random staff member* help me get a few things so I can get better"

• That was a little more assuring. Still...

• "I'm not going to be working tomorrow"

• And he didn't. The next day, he didn't bother with work. Which was a little hard, but work could wait, he had other things to prioritize right now.

Fyodor

• He's another one who doesn't exactly come home from work.

• He lives where he works and works where he lives I thinks. He didn't even have a bedroom until you got there, and he had a bed brought and put in the other room for your comfort.

• He hadn't seen you in a while. Which was unusual. You normally approached him regularly throughout the day

• He wasn't worried. Not really, a little too focused for that. But when it got to about 6:30 pm and he hadn't seen you at all?

• Well, he's a little concerned and wants to know what's going on.

• So, reluctantly he pulls away from his scheming.

• This place isn't big, so if he can't find you immediately, chances are your in bed.

• So that's where he goes.

• And thats where he finds you. Breathing slow, but raspy breaths. Curled up in multiple blankets, despite your flushed face suggesting a temperature.

• He doesn't want to get ill, but he knows you haven't been out of the room, meaning you haven't been looking after yourself in your sickness.

• So he approaches to gently shake you awake.

• He's oddly gentle and affectionate. To the point you think your hallucinating and reach up to touch his face to ensure he's really there.

• He is, and he leans into your touch.

• "I'll have someone go and fetch some medicine and anything else you want, just give me a list"

• He's acting so out of character that you sit up suddenly, which hurts your head, causing you to wince.

• A brief look of annoyance crosses his face as he watches you act so carelessly, but it isn't there for long.

• "Um... if it's okay *couch* I'd like..."

• He makes sure that everything on that list is fetched.

• Even if he has to suck it up and go get the stuff himself because everyone else is so damn incompetent. So long as you get what you need it's okay.

• He'll also take a break for a while, spend time with you.

• Just don't mention how sweet his being or he's gonna ditch you and go back go what he was doing before.

Dazai

• Somehow, this guy knew you were going to be sick before he left for work, and had gotten you some water, a hot water bottle, extra blankets ready, and flu medication...

• ...He was up early...

• So you wake up feeling awful with everything you need already there, which makes you feel a little better... emotionally, being sick still sucks, but at least you aren't unhappy.

• When he gets home, he's extra quiet.

• He brought your favorite takeaway with him and a plushie. He borrowed kunikidas credit card

• (Pay back for making him go to work when his love is at home sick)

• He asks you if there's anything you want.

• He knows being ill sucks, he hates it just as much at the next person, plus he loves you so he's trying to be as accommodating as possible.

• He's pretty good at it.

• Your lucky

• He cuddles with you all night, and turns off his ringtone so kunikida can't disturb either of you in the morning.

• He's also kinda hoping you'll get him sick too.

• Unless you tell him to back off he's going to smother you with affection, that way you can be ill together!

• How sweet -_-

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

:D

Masterlist :3

[papasbaseball]

The Wizard x Reader (Wonderful Wonderful Girl) | Chapter 5

Pairing: Wizard x F!Reader

Rating: Teen (Rating to Increase)

Warnings: Power Imbalance, Boss/Employee Relationship

Summary: Being a maid in the Royal Palace of Oz is not half so bad. Despite the meager wages, everything else is provided for you for an honest day's work. It can be unnerving working for the most powerful man in Oz, but you are able to avoid him most of the time. This changes during Lurlinemas, your paths soon becoming inextricably intertwined.

Word Count: 3,064 of 13,013

Start | Prev | Next

AO3 Link

Despite his promises, the ambassador – who I've come to know as Humak Tigelaar, a distant cousin of the Arjiki chieftain – never leaves the palace to explore the Emerald City. This is not the case for me. With good behavior at dinner and pleading my case over breakfast, the Wizard grants me permission to go to the children's home with an escort from one of the Royal Palace guards. The guard I've been provided with, Bruno, is not as tall as the Wizard, but well-built with broad shoulders and curls of brown hair that stick out from under his officer's cap. It is in fashion for most of the Royal Palace guards to have a mustache, but he is clean-shaven and seems to hold no regard for the way others look at him. He also has no interest in looking at me either, instead preferring to scan the crowd as we walk through the streets of the Emerald City. I try following his eyes, but find nothing more dangerous than some children playing stickball in an alleyway. I wonder if it was the Wizard who picked him out or Glafly, given the way he is taking all of this so seriously.

It could have been the Wizard, I think. I expected him to spend his time in the study connected to his bedroom, but after breakfast, he disappeared to the bottom levels of the palace. Maybe if today goes well, I could ask if I could follow him around while he does his magic and work for the day. It would certainly be more interesting than snooping around all of the gilded objects that I've seen and not getting a chance to even use a feather duster to help out my friends. If today goes well, I'll ask him tomorrow, I promise myself.

We reach the children's home and I palm the ribbon that I had stashed in my coat pocket as Bruno opens the well-worn door for me. The inside of the home is warm, with a fire roaring in the hearth that sits opposite the outdated reception desk. A unionist sister sits there, making notes in a ledger quickly before she lifts her head to see the cause of the chilled draft. A smile warms her face as she recognizes me.

"Are we here to see Fileah?" she asks.

"Yes, Sister Margaret," I nod. "I'm sorry that I couldn't have come earlier. I was-" I look to Bruno who is making very careful note of everything around the room as if memorizing it or checking it for traps. "-unavailable."

Sister Margaret looks at Bruno and then back to me. "Is this your... fiance? We don't have him on the approved list yet, I'm afraid."

My eyes go wide at the suggestion that straight-laced and unsociable Bruno is romantically involved with me. For all of his attentiveness, he seems to not have heard the ridiculous suggestion.

"No...No!" My words aren't coming to me as I try to find a way to politely explain that the Mighty and Powerful Wizard of Oz had decided to keep me as his... Plaything? Personal maid? Why was he keeping me? If I couldn't figure it out, how was I supposed to explain it to Sister Margaret? I settle for another lie, unhappy to add again to the total of untruths that I need to keep straight. "He's our cousin... from out of town. Just signed on to the force."

Sister Margaret squints to get a better look at him, maybe to see if there is any familial connection in a cheekbone or jawline. Satisfied, she pulls out an index card from one of her desk drawers and asks me for his information as she fills it in neatly. Bruno seems unfazed by this whole process, taking great note of the ornaments that hang from the boughs stuffed in a great wicker basket in the corner. He flicks a red glittery one, and I think he’s trying to find a way to turn it into a weapon.

Once "Cousin" Bruno is duly noted, Sister Margaret takes us to the dining room. The children are having lunch and it doesn't take long to spot Fileah. She's a wisp of an 8-year-old girl, all limbs with a scrawny neck and a nose that pokes out over her lips making her look like a rabbit. I wonder if I looked like her when I was her age, and decide that I didn't, not at least with our parents providing for us. Looking at the trays of the children I see that today's menu consists of salt and pepper potatoes cooked until they look more like clumps than potatoes, half of a hunk of bread that could have been used for a sandwich had their neighbor not had the other half, and a ball of meat that is gray from being boiled for too long.

Fileah looks up from her disappointing lunch when a small girl next to her tugs on her sleeve to point me out. I don't know how many visitors the other children get, but I had never seen someone visiting at the same time I had ever been there. It makes sense, in a way. Fileah and I are either lucky or unlucky, depending on how you look at it: lucky in the sense that I was old enough to declare my emancipation when our parents had died and I could bring her things from the outside, unlucky in that we were separated and I couldn't support her or let her live with me at the palace. Today, I feel as if we are lucky, as if things might be different soon. She smiles as I approach. I take a seat across from her at the dining table. Bruno makes an assessment of the dining hall, and seeing that the tallest possible threat comes only to his waist, sits down next to me.

"How's my favorite little rabbit?" I ask.

Fileah smiles at the old nickname. Even though she's only 8, I can't remember if I gave it to her or if our mother did when she was born. "You've been gone for a long time," she says.

Even though I had the entire walk from the palace to figure out what to say, I never came up with an answer. No doubt Bruno would be listening too and any oversharing of information would be reported straight back to Glafly and eventually the Wizard. Maybe the Wizard really could read minds as so many of the staff had wondered and he wouldn’t even need to wait to hear it from Glafly. Regardless, I keep my oath of secrecy about just how human he is that I promised when I went into his service, even if I didn’t work officially as a maid anymore. "The staff is having a restructuring," I settle on.

Fileah pushes a small lump of boiled potato around in some brown sauce, not looking me in the eyes. "I was worried that you forgot me." I can hear the hurt in her voice.

"I could never forget you!" I say. "As a matter of fact, I got you a present."

Her eyes are suddenly bright, wide, and looking at me, and I try my best to memorize every ounce of joy on her face. I fish out the ribbon before I can lose myself in the worry of when I might see her next. It's an emerald green with a golden brocade of peacocks. When I had gone back to my room last night, I finally got around to reading the note that had been left on the vanity.

Enjoy the ribbons - O

It took a bit of figuring out, but eventually, I was able to open the top of the vanity to see hundreds of different ribbons in all shades of green and gold, perched on display in a case like colorful macarons. Some I had pulled out and gasped, gawking over them as they had been inlaid with diamonds or sapphires. The entire vanity of them must have cost more than I would ever make in my lifetime, more than likely double. I had picked the one with the peacocks on it because I remembered how much she had liked seeing them at the zoo when I took her a few years back. She had loved them so much that she promised me one day she would grow up to come back and take care of them.

Fileah gasps, and she is hesitant to take the ribbon from my hands. "It's so pretty," she says.

"Do you want me to tie it in your hair?" I ask. I get up and go around to the other side of the table, pulling her two braids to the back of her head. Before I leave, I'll make sure to weave it into them so none of the kids can steal it, but for right now, I want everyone to see her and the beautiful peacocks fully on display.

"Is that your boyfriend?" Fileah asks as I'm looping the ribbon.

"Fileah!" I exclaim. I look around to see if Sister Margaret is anywhere near before I say anything. "This is Bruno. He's one of the palace guards. Our Wizard sent him with me." I finish tying the ribbon and take my place again at the other side of the dining table. “And as far as you know, he is our cousin.”

"I asked if he was your boyfriend," Fileah says. She gives him a good once over, staring him down as she skewers her overcooked potato. When he meets her eye, she says, "Have you ever killed anyone?"

"Animal or human?" he asks.

I kick Bruno under the table, trying to get both of them to stop the violent topic. My head is practically spinning as I look around to make sure that nobody else is listening to their conversation. It probably won't be of much use. There are two boys and a girl who are intently listening into the interrogation, lunches long forgotten.

"Umm," Fileah says, eyes cast upwards as if the correct answer was stored somewhere in her brain. "Can I ask both?"

The bloodthirsty curiosity brings a smile to his face and he laughs. He laughs. I can't believe that my scrawny rabbit of a sister has gotten Mr. No-Nonsense to laugh. "13 animals, 1 human," he says, "but I didn't 'kill' them."

Fileah's nose scrunches. "Well, they're dead right?"

"Yes," Bruno says.

"So you killed them," she says.

Bruno blinks and sighs. I know what he means. It's not like he planned their murder or anything, but Fileah doesn't know that. Fileah hasn't figured out that he's just doing his job and that it's rude to ask someone questions like that.

"Did you kill the Winkies that were at the gate?" the boy next to Fileah asks. Both Bruno and I are confused about that.

"Winkies?" he asks.

"Ms. Amrose said that's why the house has been so cold," the boy continues. "She said the Winkies came and took all of the firewood back."

"That's not what she said, you idiot," Fileah says.

"Fileah!”I exclaim. “We don't call people names. Say you're sorry." The rude ways of the other children are rubbing off on her, and I wish more than anything at this moment that I had the money and a place to take her out of the orphanage, but I don't. It's bad to speak ill of the dead, but I can't help but hate my father for taking out that stupid loan for his business and using the family house as collateral. I might have been able to scrape by and make mortgage payments on it, but once the bank repossessed it, I was forced to look for room and board and a wage all in one place.

"But it's true," Fileah protests. "Ms. Amrose didn't say anything about the Winkies coming to take the wood. She said her brother went down to the gates and they wouldn't let them have the wood."

"Well, it's still not nice," I say. The home is noticeably colder now that they’ve mentioned it. I hadn't realized because I had managed to finagle some warmer servant’s clothes out of Emily and found an emerald fur-lined coat and muff in the trunk at the end of my bed. I pull the fur tighter, trying to banish the confusing thoughts of my mismatched wardrobe and who put them together. Today is about Fileah.

"Do you know when we'll get our wood back?" Fileah asks me.

"I don't know," I say.

"Ms. Amrose's brother got hurt," she says. "She hasn't been here so much because she's staying at home taking care of him. I hope he gets better soon. She gives us sweets when the sisters aren't looking."

That piques my interest. "Did she say how he got hurt?"

Fileah doesn't answer that. Her only reply is the way she looks at Bruno. I hadn’t noticed, but Bruno himself has lost any sort of cheer he may have had from answering the children’s silly questions. I fear that I am certain of what happened to Ms. Amrose's brother, and certain that Bruno has had something to do with it.

"I think it's time to go," Bruno says. "I'm sure his Ozness will be missing you."

I smile, trying to feign ignorance. "Bruno, don't be silly, we just got here."

Fileah doesn't say anything, but she's still looking at Bruno. I wonder if she's afraid that he will hurt her too.

"Let's go," Bruno says. I don't fight him as he helps me up by my elbow, but do turn to him quickly before he can escort me out.

"I still need to redo her ribbon," I whisper.

"You can do that or you can help yourself and her by leaving," he says.

I bite my tongue, considering my choices, but there really aren't any, not at least when it comes to Fileah. I tell her goodbye and then promise her I'll be back before Lurlinemas as Bruno escorts me out of the dining hall.

"You'd really harm a child?" I ask as I sign us both out, thankful that Sister Margaret isn’t at her desk. He doesn't answer that.

When we get out on the front steps, he says, "Are you hungry?"

"I want to go back to the palace," I reply.

"There's a bakery just around the corner here," he says, pulling my elbow. Clearly, I'm not getting a say in this.

We pass shops filled with painted wooden toys, bright red and gold flowers, and all other trappings that ring out the presence of Lurlinemas. I consider asking Bruno to stop at the toy store, wanting to look for a proper present for my sister, or at least to have an eyewitness before he took me off to some back alley to kill me. Instead, I see our reflections in the window and am struck by the memory of being hauled off by the palace guard at the night market. At least Bruno hasn't got my hand bolted to my spine. Still, I get the sense that he wouldn't listen to any pleas for window shopping.

The bakery that he brings us to looks like someone had jammed it in between its taller bank and cobbler neighbors. It’s at least 10 feet shorter than them, and only about 10 feet wide brick to brick. It's painted a sickly green but makes up for the lack of curb appeal in the warm scents of yeast and saffron that waft from the front door to the cobblestones we're stepping off of. Inside, he orders us two saffron buns – the baker gives him them for free on some account of familiarity that I don't catch – and sets us down at the bistro table that's been shoved in the corner.

"Are you trying to take me on a date or something?" I ask. I’m shocked that I’m not dead yet, instead holding a sweet bun. The bun is so warm that if it weren't for my gloves, I'm sure it would be burning my hands. The yeasty and fragrant steam coming from it seems to be a warning.

"You need to tell your sister to forget what she heard," he says. He doesn't even bother pretending to eat his bun, the little white plate with the steaming treat on top sitting in the middle of the table.

"What? About Ms. Amrose's brother?" I ask.

"What happened at the gates... No one is supposed to know about that," he says lowly.

"Why are you telling me then?" I ask.

Bruno pulls the plate closer to him, and I think for a second he might actually want to eat the bun. "I’ve got family too. A little brother. I don't want her to get hurt or nothing," he says.

"Who would hurt Fileah?!" I say, trying to keep quiet despite my rising voice. "She's just a little girl."

"I've seen the Gale Force take people her age before. They were spies, but still..." He pushes the plate away again as if the subject has ruined his appetite.

"What happened at the gate?" I ask. I feel like I know, but still, I want to hear it from him.

"You'd do best to forget it," Bruno says. He pulls out his pocketwatch, checking the time.

"It was a riot, wasn't it?" I ask.

Bruno's eyes snap up to meet mine and the jade within them is burning. "She's just a girl! Don't go asking stupid questions that'll get you both killed." He strokes his non-existent mustache as if it would stop the harsh tone in his voice. "I'm risking my own job taking you here. If it were Leo... Just..." he pushes up from the cramped bistro table, the metal chair ringing out as it scrapes along the tile. "Come on. I'm supposed to have you back by two."

I go to stuff the saffron bun in my pocket, hoping to have it later, but he stops me, putting the bun back on the little white plate.

"Don't," he says. "Don't let anyone know you were here. Just make sure your sister stops, okay?"

And so we leave the bakery: the bakery that I don't know about and have never visited.

[pedroshotwifey]

Christmas Countdown Day 3 - Christmas Shopping

Dress

Pairing: Jack "Whiskey" Daniels x f!reader

Word Count: 1.5k

Tags/Warnings: No use of y/n, Jack is a good boyfriend, piv sex, public sex, rough sex, making out, biting, stuff I'm forgetting, Jack is a worshiping king

Summary: You finally find the perfect dress for your upcoming Christmas party--though Jack seems to like it even more than you do.

A/N: Day three!! crossing my fingers that I'll be able to keep this up. Tomorrow's prompt includes Joel Miller and will likely be mostly fluff. Stay tuned!

***

“What about this one?” You ask, holding up a dress that looks almost identical to the last two you showed him. 

It’s black, mid-thigh length, with a deep V front and a strappy back. Jack looks at the dress, then at you, and then back at the dress. 

“That would look beautiful on you, Sugar,” Jack says with a genuine smile. You smile back, shaking your head in a bewildered fashion. 

The two of you have been shopping for a Christmas party dress for a couple hours now, and you’ve not heard a single complaint from your boyfriend. He’s complimented every dress you’ve looked at, agreed with every one of your opinions, and made helpful points and suggestions. 

Not once have you seen his adoring gaze fade, not once has he wandered to go look at something else, not once has he shown any sign of boredom or disinterest. 

Two months with him, and you’re still not used to it–not used to how perfect this man is. 

Patient, considerate, caring, attentive, thoughtful, the list just goes on. You’re simply not used to being around a guy so genuinely infatuated with you. It’s like he worships the ground you walk on. Not in the obsessive way either. 

He watches you like you hang his sun and moon, respects all of your wishes and needs, will do anything for you within reason–not that you would ask him of anything that’s not. 

You put the dress back on the rack but say “I’ll keep it in mind,” before walking to another section that caught your eye. Jack follows closely, trying to spot whatever you’re drawn to. 

You reach for a red dress–if you could call it that much–and pull it off of the rack. Your eyes widen as you take it in. It’s shorter than the one you had picked up before this, tighter too. It looks like it would wrap around you perfectly, accentuate your curves in just the right ways. 

There’s a slit that goes up to the hip, which would probably reveal way too much if you moved the wrong way. The top swoops down low to give a satin-ish look, though the material is thicker than that. It’s all held up with delicately thin gold straps that would look beautiful in contrast with your skin. 

“Jack, look at this one,” you gasp and hold the dress up higher in case he couldn’t see it in all its glory. 

You’re too busy thinking about what shoes would look best with it to notice the way his gaze has gone from admiring to hungry, the way his jaw suddenly starts to tick. 

“I really like the–” you cut yourself off as you finally look up at Jack. You recognise that look and you immediately lick your lips.

“Why don’t you try that one on, Darlin?” Jack asks, keeping his dark eyes on you. 

You look around the almost-empty store before charging forward and grabbing his hand, tugging him toward the changing rooms. 

He’s on you as soon as you get the door locked behind you, his lips immediately enveloping yours as he gently grabs the dress from you and places it on a wall hook. Once it’s out of your grasp, he hitches you up so that your thighs bracket his torso, his large palms supporting your bottom. 

The two of you break away from the kiss for a brief second, and you flash Jack the consent he came up to look for. As soon as he registers it, he hurriedly gets to work undoing your jeans, moving one of his legs to help support you with the loss of his hand. 

He sets you down for a moment to allow you to shimmy your pants off, and he has his cock out by the time you stand up straight. It's long and girthy where it stands proudly against his stomach. 

You tug your shirt off, leaving you standing in your bra and panties, while Jack only has his zipper pulled down and his boxers pushed beneath his heavy balls. He stares at you like you’re an actual angel as he takes slow steps toward you. 

“Goddamn, Sugar,” Jack says, out of breath. “Ain’t nothin’ in this damn mall could make you look better than you do right now.” 

“Oh, quit it,” you say, your cheeks flushed at his compliment. You have to admit though, since you’ve been with Jack, your confidence has skyrocketed. Not to the point where you’re ignorant or vain, but just enough so that you can look in the mirror beside you and genuinely smile at who stares back. 

Jack wastes no time in hoisting you back up into your previous position. He slides two fingers over your cunt and you gasp as he brushes your clit. 

You’re almost embarrassed with the amount of wetness that’s pooled into your panties from just being around him. You could probably take him with very little prep right now, and judging by the knowing look on his face, Jack is plenty aware. 

“Sweet little pussy’s jus’ drippin’ for me, ain’t she darlin’,” he says surely. “Just beggin’ to take my big cock.” 

You whimper, silently agreeing with your pussy on this one. 

“Please, Jack,” you groan as quietly as possible “Just fuck me already.” 

This earns a slight chuckle from your boyfriend as he grasps his throbbing cock in his free hand and brings it up to your entrance, nudging your panties aside and notching himself in.  

It takes a handful of slow thrusts and a lot of biting down on your lip, but eventually he bottoms out. The stretch is delicious, and as you’ve told Jack before: you quite enjoy a bit of pain with your pleasure. 

“There we go,” Jack pants into your ear as he rests his forehead on the wall he has you pinned against. “Feel like fuckin’ heaven, baby.” 

He pulls back slightly and you moan a little too loudly when he slams back in, prompting him to slap his palm over your mouth. The force of his thrusts makes your entire body move up and down the wall, and you have to slide your arms beneath his and dig your fingers into his upper back to hang on. 

“Gotta hush now, honey,” Jack says, sounding like a wreck himself. “‘Less you want the whole damn store to know how good you’re gettin’ fucked on my cock in the changin’ room.” 

His filthy mouth only serves to spur you on, more of your moans and whines getting caught in his open palm as he pistons in and out of your slick cunt. 

“Damn it, Sugar,” he grunts and accentuates his words with a particularly deep thrust that has tears springing into your eyes. “Tight little pussy all for me. Takin’ me so fuckin’ good.” 

His pace doesn’t stop or slow as he brings his hand from your face to replace it with his plush lips. He makes out with you hungirly, and you reciprocate with just as much fervor. It’s a mash of teeth, tongues, a slight tang of blood drawn from bitten lips. 

You can feel your abdomen knotting up and your legs starting to shake furiously as your orgasm quickly approaches. Your jaw goes slack as you focus on the punch of Jack’s cock against your cervix and the way the coarse hair at the base of him rubs against your clit. 

His lips move away from your mouth and start leaving open mouthed kisses along your cheekbone and down to your neck, his mustache tickling your sensitive skin as he moves. As soon as the opportunity arises, you snuggle your face into his neck, nipping at his skin and making him yelp. 

His movements stutter as he reacts to the pinch of your teeth, and the slight change sets you off. Your pussy pulses and squeezes around him, triggering his own orgasm. His body goes stiff but continues to tremble with the force of it as you bite down hard onto his neck to keep quiet. 

Jack lets half a shout out before he covers his own mouth with his hand this time. He closes his eyes and continues to rock into you, prolonging your combined pleasure. There’s a tickle on your thighs as your mixed release spills from you and trickles down your legs. 

Your ears are still ringing when you finally open your eyes and detach yourself from Jack’s neck. He sighs with the relief of the subtracted pressure and leans back just enough to give you a leveled and unamused stare. 

“Coulda told me you like to fuckin’ bite,” he says, raising his brow. 

You giggle and shrug, euphoria still consuming your mind and body and making things hazy. He laughs lightly and shakes his head at you before kissing you gently. When he pulls away again, he looks at the untouched dress on the wall. 

“Would ya look at that,” he muses. “Fits just right don’t it?” 

You playfully roll your eyes at him. 

“Yeah, I think it’s the one,” you agree, a permanent smile plastered on your face. 

“All right, ya damn piranha. Let’s get outta here before we get kicked out.” 

***

Prompt List

Challenge hosted by the wonderful @mandoalorian

[mayhem-neverending]

The Big Bad Wolf

Part XXI

Word Count: 3,435

Warnings: Mentions of alcohol, one incidence of violence, mention of SA (not descriptive)

Note: I have written this in one go - one freaking sitting. I'm sure there are a lot of errors, so I apologize. I just want to get this out since I put so much in. I'll probably come back tomorrow to review and edit.

The week was spent with you and Obito glancing longingly at each other when the other person wasn’t looking. His stares, which weren’t something you were unfamiliar with, now set your nerve endings alight. He wasn’t faring much better - he visibly shuddered in delight when you accidentally brushed up against him with your backside because he was standing too close.

He was standing way too close. All the time. Obito wasn’t quite able to muster up the nerve to actually touch you like he was dying to do, so he hovered close enough that you would accidentally touch him while you worked. Acutely aware of your position at all times, he could anticipate when a brush of the hands or your hips bumping his would happen. It actually drove him crazy - the counting of the seconds while you scrubbed the counter next to him until your elbow would bump into him. He would scoot over just enough that you had another foot of countertop to work on, then let it happen all over again. 

At night he felt like he might be going crazy. The way he felt bordered on obsession, and he feared he would soon be trapped within the Uchiha’s curse again if he didn’t get it together. He even considered very briefly asking Kakashi whether it was best for you to continue in your position because of his rapidly growing, hardly controlled feelings that begged to spill over onto you. The moment of introspection was obliterated when you exited the bathroom and continued working on your newest endeavor - painting the kitchen walls. 

You had suggested adding some color to the home to make it feel warmer and more welcoming. He agreed. He suggested the kitchen and told you to choose whatever colors you wanted, because it was “really your area, anyway.” 

You had looked up at him prettily and smiled so brightly the living room lamp acquiesced its light for a moment, knowing it could not compare to you. “Be careful,” you said. “Give me an inch and I’ll take a mile,”

You could take a thousand miles from him if it meant he had the opportunity to greet you at the finish line. 

On Friday he was a bit agitated. Before you even arrived he had cursed the sun for being particularly bright, stubbed his toe and simultaneously spilled the last of the coffee grounds all over the floor. That meant you had to leave to go get some more - and a handful of other things. He stewed silently, staring at the primed kitchen walls. 

Fridays were decidedly one of his least favorite days of the week, because he knew you wouldn’t be back the next morning. And with the building tension between the two of you that he looked forward to enjoying during the day, he was especially not ready for the weekend. Not to mention you had said something about going out with Genma, and that really left a bad taste in his mouth. He was already wondering if there was something more to the way that you looked at him when you left for the day, and whether or not that was a good thing. Adding Genma to his long list of worries would leave him pulling his hair out. 

So when you left on Friday with a warm hug and a wave, he felt his heart sink. A part of him hoped you might stay longer. Maybe you could ask him to hold you again, without the burning eggs part so that he could cling to you and maybe you could accidentally fall asleep. Then maybe you could stay asleep and keep his nasty swirling thoughts at bay and he could smell you and feel your warmth all night. And then you could wake up in the morning refreshed and look at him while he pushes his hair behind your ear and he could tell you how he felt and -

Obito stopped himself. Maybe training would help clear his mind. He looked at the burning log in the fireplace. He decided he could always warm up with chopping some wood. 

…

Hikaru went with his father after preschool on Friday, which freed up time for you to clean up your apartment from the workweek and get ready to go out on the town with Genma. He chose a pretty busy bar with a dancefloor that wasn’t too far from your place. You were feeling pretty good, energy surprisingly above your usual wear and tear. 

After cleaning and putting together a quick dinner of leftovers, you showered and started getting ready. You decided to pull out an old outfit that fit a little snugly, but still made you look fantastic. You pranced around in the mirror a few times before eight o’clock finally rolled around. With one final kiss blown to the mirror, you shut the door and locked it. You walked to the bar in the slushy snow, only mildly irritated that you would definitely have to scrub your heeled boots later. 

Genma was there when you arrived and waved you over to the bar. You took a seat next to him and he tapped his shoulder against yours. “You look good,”

“I know,” you smirked before it morphed into a goofy grin. 

He rolled his brown eyes. “You’re still ridiculous, I see. What’re you drinking?” 

“Rum and sprite, please,” 

Genma motioned over the bartender and ordered your drink while you dug around for some money. He raised his eyebrow at you and shook his head. “Don’t worry, it’s on me tonight,” 

“Add it to my tab,” he said, the bartender nodded and walked away. 

You raised a brow at him, a little perturbed as he turned and set his jaw on his fist, his full attention on you. You slowly put your wallet back in your bag, hoping beyond hope that he hadn’t somehow mistook this as a date. “I can pay you back after,”

“It’s not a big deal. I make enough money. Buying your drink is the least I can do when you’re giving me your time,”

The bartender came around with your drink and you thanked him. You took a sip. “Well, that’s pretty sweet of you. Thank you, Genma,”

“Anytime,” He winked playfully. 

You rolled your eyes on reflex. His grin broadened. “So, fill me in. What all has happened since I lost my favorite sparring partner?”

“You want the long or short version?” you crossed your right leg over your left and settled one elbow on the bar, the drink in your opposite hand.

“I’ll take the long one, if you don’t mind,”

You sighed out a little dramatically. “Alright, as long as you keep the drinks coming, I’ll try my best to get through it,” 

“You got it,”

“Where to even begin…”

Genma wasn’t kidding when he said he wanted the long version. He paid attention the whole time, asking pertinent questions and gasping and nodding sympathetically where he needed to. You finished around the time your third drink was ordered. You were feeling a little tipsy, but not quite drunk yet. You gave Genma an easy smile and asked him the same question he had asked. 

“How about this,” he started, leaning in. “I’m going to go to the bathroom, but when I get back, we’ll dance to a song and then I’ll tell it,”

“Aww, but you know I don’t dance,”

“You do tonight!” he replied cheerfully, sliding from his stool. 

You didn’t argue, just took a sip from the water you ordered with your last drink and debated whether you should go to the bathroom, too, before you got to moving around. In the end you stayed seated. Genma was quick to finish, and dragged you to the dancefloor at the start of the next song. 

You danced close to him, but not so much that you were touching. You had a thought as you looked around at all the people that you wouldn’t want anyone touching you. Anyone but Obito, that is. The revelation hit you like a sack of bricks, and you faltered in your movements. 

“You okay?” Genma yelled over the music. 

You nodded and he gave you an easy smile. He took your hand in his and twirled you around. Your heart beat to the music, and again you wished that it was Obito spinning you around. Not in a crowded bar, though. Maybe you could get some of your old records out and haul a record player over to his cottage. You smiled to yourself. Genma thought it was directed at him and spun you again, this time closer to his body. 

You stumbled and accidentally stepped on the foot of a person next to you. You yelled, “Sorry!” 

When you looked up, you locked eyes with none other than Toma. Your expression soured immediately. He looked you up and down and then at Genma behind you, and his mouth turned down and his gaze turned sharp. 

“What the fuck are you doing here?” You yelled. “You’re supposed to be watching Hikaru!”

“What? I can’t go out too?” he rolled his eyes. He sneered at Genma, who sized him up. 

“Listen,” he spit out at Toma. “We’re just trying to have a good time. Let’s leave it there,”

Genma looked at Toma like he was something putrid. You probably matched his expression, the drinks loosening up your usual blank mask. Toma stepped closer, invading your space. You backed up into Genma, who was surprisingly solid. 

“I always knew there was something between you two. I was right to make you stop seeing him,” 

“Fuck off, Toma. Seriously. Who is Hikaru with?”

He looked at you like you were the dumbest person he had the displeasure of meeting. “My mom. And no, I’m not going to fuck off. You’re going to listen to me since you’ve refused to do it all this time,”

“No, she’s not. Leave us alone,”

He snorted derisively. “Like I’d listen to you,”

“You should, if you know what’s good for you,” Genma growled, his feet widening into a fighting stance. 

You looked around, frantic to find a way to diffuse the situation. The last thing you wanted was to make a scene in front of all these people. Especially one that looked like two men were fighting over you. Toma squared his shoulders and started lifting the cuff of his long sleeve shirt. 

“We’re leaving,” you said to Genma over your shoulder. 

He looked back at Toma, who interrupted whatever he was planning to say to you. “No the fuck you’re not. I told you I wanted to talk to you and I’m going to fucking do just that,”

You pushed a little on Genma who got the hint and the two of you started to back up off of the dance floor. “I’m not listening to whatever it is. You had your chance to say your piece,”

His eyebrows could have hit his hairline with how far they raised. “Oh, is that right? When all you do is avoid me and then you’re with your little fuckbuddies whenever I can actually talk? No, just you and me are going to have a conversation,”

His eyes shone dangerously in the low bar lighting. You knew he wasn’t a real threat. Physically, he never was and never could outmatch you in hand to hand combat, but your heart hammered all the same. You weighed your options. If you could get him outside of the door you could -

“Genma!” A shrill voice called from behind the two of you. 

Both your heads whipped around and Toma snickered. Genma’s girlfriend stood there, fuming red, her cell phone clutched in her hand so tightly the knuckles were white. “This better not be what I think this is. I’ve called you twelve times. Twelve, asshole!” 

The only thing you could think was: This is a shitshow.

“Hailey, honey, I’m sorry! I told you I was catching up with an old friend tonight, though,”

“This is too much,” you said to yourself. 

Genma had fully turned around so you slipped past him on the other side and made a beeline for the door. You hoped Toma was too distracted by whatever was about to go down to notice. You slipped through the door as other patrons were entering and started making long strides. The squelch of footsteps in the slush behind you told you that you hadn’t escaped like you had hoped. 

“Not so fast,” he said lowly, quickly catching up to you. 

His tone sent a shiver down your spine. With venom you spit out, “I’m listening. What do you want?”

Toma wasn’t aware of where your home was located, so you made the decision to head in a familiar direction. You didn’t slow your pace, just waited for him to start now that he had completely caught up with you. 

“You never listened to me. Not once when we were together. It was always about you. Every single thing,” He started, and you smell the alcohol wafting from him in the cold night air. 

You almost faltered in your steps, but didn’t let your surprise show. You still felt some effect of the alcohol, even though you had started to sober, so you allowed yourself a small mental win over that. You said nothing so he continued on. And on, and on. You started approaching the woods when he was finished on his spiel about how conceited you were and how he gave every part of himself to the relationship. 

“You never wanted to have sex with me. Just admit it, you were cheating. I promise I won’t get too mad,” 

You scoffed, entering the woods and picking up your pace. You were at nearly a jog now. All you wanted was Obito right now. He could make you feel okay and Toma would leave you alone, or at least couldn’t cross the barrier and harass you outside the front door. 

“I never cheated on you,”

“You did,” His voice raised slightly, shoving a branch away from his face. 

“I didn’t,”

“You did. I know it. Just tell the truth,”

“I never cheated on you, not once. Why can’t you just accept that that’s the truth?” You huffed. 

He was quiet for a moment and you could tell he was struggling to catch his breath. “Why else wouldn’t you want to have sex with me? There has to be another man.”

“Maybe it’s because I told you I didn’t want to have sex over and over and you forced yourself on me anyway? Ever think about that?” You fully looked at him for the first time since the walk began.

“I never fucking forced myself on you,” he argued, his volume rising.

“You sure as hell did. But you know what, I’ve done a lot of fucking work and I’m healed from it, so just fuck off and leave it alone,”

“You’re fucking crazy and a liar. You’re just saying that because you hate me,”

You were getting so close to the barrier you could feel the chakra radiating from it. “Toma, I don’t hate you, because I can’t bring myself to give that amount of energy to you,”

“You’re so full of yourself,”

You didn’t respond. You were almost there, and then you could leave the conversation for good. Or at least until he wasn’t drunk. He was really starting to piss you off with all of his shit.

“Look at me,” he growled. 

You didn’t respond. The tip of your shoe hit the barrier and relief started washing over you. Toma grabbed your upper arm and ripped you away from it. 

“I said, ‘Look at me’!” He yelled. 

In that moment you felt like the trapped animal you had been, terrified to leave for the safety of your son and your own livelihood, backed into a corner as he berated you and made you feel worthless. Less than a person. You froze for a millisecond, taking in his red, angry face when an instinct took over you faster than you could think. 

His next words fell on deaf ears as the crack of your knuckles met with cheekbone. He crumpled to his side as you scurried across the barrier, tripping over your own feet. The front door to the cottage opened and the cleared walkway was illuminated by the lamplight from inside. Obito stood in the doorway, a hulking shadow.

He called out to you, confusion lacing his tired voice. He took a step further out of the house. 

“Obito!” you cried out, relief saturating your tone. 

“What’s going on?” He walked out quickly, alarmed that you were rushing towards him. 

You buried yourself in his arms just as Toma screamed, “You bitch!” from behind the barrier.

The concern he was looking at you with was flipped immediately into something dark. He looked over your head at Thoma, who angrily beat his fist against the invisible barrier. “Why is he here?”

“He was at the bar Genma and I went to and wouldn’t leave me alone. He followed me here. He probably thought I would end up taking him to my apartment so he could harass me some more,” You uttered quietly.

Obito stiffened, and then squared his shoulders. He gently pushed you to the side and approached the edge of the barrier. “Leave,” he called out.

“Or what?” you heard Toma sneer, his hand cupping his cheek.

“Or I’ll make you,” 

Toma took a step back but didn’t make any other move to go. “What are you gonna do? Huh?”

Obito waited wordlessly for him to follow his directive. He was taller and wider than Toma. If he thought Obito could walk through the barrier, intimidation would be the only thing he needed.  

“Who the fuck are you, anyway? Her boyfriend? How are my sloppy seconds?” 

You could feel the rage trickling into Obito’s chakra signature. He growled darkly, “Don’t talk about her,”

You went to stand next to him again, not sure what he would do, but ready to drag him inside. Toma looked like he was itching to have his teeth knocked out with the way he was grinning. “So you are the new boyfriend,”

“Doesn’t matter either way, it’s not your business,” you stated. “Let’s go, Obito,”

“Ohhh, so your name’s Obito… Why does that sound familiar? He someone you used to fuck? Maybe he’s the one you cheated on me with,” 

A sinister grin spread across Obito’s lips. “You’ve heard of me,”

Confusion started to creep onto Toma’s features. “You think you’re special or something? Who’s he, some shinobi?”

The look on your face answered his question. “So you think you’re bigger and better than me because you did, what? Save a kitten and get a shout out from the Hokage? Think you’re -”

“Obito Uchiha. That’s who I am. And if you recall, people won’t remember me for saving a kitten,” he kept his voice an octave low, and the sound of it chilled the air around the three of you. 

It took Toma all of two seconds for recognition to cross his features and the color to drain from his face. He looked at you with wide eyes. “You’re joking. You must- You have to be joking,”

You shook your head. 

“You can’t leave this barrier, so you can’t hurt me,” Toma said suddenly. Words to comfort himself. 

Obito’s sinister grin only widened. “Can’t I?”

You saw the red tomoe appear in his dark eyes, glowing in the dark night. They swirled into place, and Toma’s jaw dropped, along with yours. You didn’t think you would ever have the chance to see the Uchiha’s signature jutsu again after Kakashi lost his, and you were reminded why it was so terrifying. The way the Sharingan fit an Uchiha felt like a display of raw power. 

“Leave, and don’t ever come back. Don’t speak her name again, don’t look at her, don’t presume to speak to her about anything other than your son, or I’ll make you wish you had never been born,”

Toma stumbled backwards and ran. You could hear him stumbling over wet roots and leaves. You would laugh if you weren’t also intimidated by the man next to you. 

Obito turned to you and the red swirled away. “Are you okay?” 

You nodded, staring up at him. He scratched the back of his head, his eyes downcast. He flicked them back up to you. “I’m really sorry you had to see that… Do you want to come inside?”

You cleared your throat. “Please,”

Part XXII

Taglist: @mostlyunsure, @humongousdreamlandbear, @ichaichahatake, @mandy-yeager, @detectivestucks, @faces-ofvenus

[shai-manahan]

Hi! It's been a while since I've talked about the upcoming updates, but I finally had a chance to actually sit down and make plans! (the life of a corporate slave, am I right? 🙃)

It has something to do with the changes I will be implementing on my patreon, though. I've thought for a while how to give content that's worthwhile of subscriptions while also making sure I can be comfortable with them, and in all honesty, I had a tricky time doing it. HM is too personal for me, as I used to talk about before, and some of the patreon benefits I promised before eventually felt too revealing - of my own thoughts and people whose lives were a huge inspiration for this story.

I will be talking about these changes and the update schedules as well below the cut.

UPDATES

I aim to finish at least half of HM's Book 1 this year. It seems to be a more realistic goal than forcing myself to finish everything right away (which tbh may have been a huge pressure I put on myself the past few years), though admittedly, things are unpredictable in the field I'm in; my job is full of overtime hours, and I spend most of my weekends trying to recover (or sick).

Still, I gotta finish it one way or another, and it's not going to write itself (though I wish it would!), so yeah, set realistic deadlines, pull out a few all-nighters, and maybe I'll actually get through it, who knows?

I do hope I'll have steadier finances by the time Book 2 starts so I can put more focus on writing and have sufficient energy for it, but that's a conversation for another day.

Changes in Prologue - Chapter 2

Okay. I know I promised not to make revisions until I write more chapters, but changing how some game mechanics work and reworking the stats made it a necessity, and I underestimated how much rewriting I'd have to do. A few scenes ended up not working well anymore, and I couldn't resist from revising a few clunky sections while I was at it.

Dialogue options were one of those that were significantly affected by the stat changes, but no worries, nothing is changed in the story -- meaning Wesley still fucks with the Ripper's life (oops), Richard still goes off doing whatever non-sus thing he's doing, you can still punch Bale (it's even a lot funnier this time), Bertrand remains a bitchy cop, and you'll still have your sad flashback with your former best friend/lover/crush or whatever they are to your MC.

The plan is to release the updated version of Prologue and Chapter 1 to patrons by the end of March (I will have a few days off work that week) and release it to the public once the new content is also ready, which I presume will be available next month (I will keep you all posted but I really hope I can get it done by then because it's been forever 🥲).

I might tweak Chapter 2 a little so the available portion can stand on its own rather than be divided into two parts, because it's just too long lmfao and is harming the pacing as I keep worrying about the length. I'm also incorporating a few suggestions a few folks gave me these past few months.

Succeeding chapters

I've probably said this before but things are bound to get more insane in HM once we're past the first three to four chapters. But also quicker to write in a way. They're the kind of scenes I thrive in, and while they have bigger variations, they're a lot more fast-paced, characters start being manipulative little shits, and the threats are more prevalent than ever. Your Ripper will not have a good time, but I certainly will (I say as I look at my outline and get sad doing it). There will be a few "breaks" in between, but this is not and will never be a light-hearted story. Anyway, I'm inclined to believe I'll be more consistent with updates when that time comes, so bear with me for now :')

PATREON CHANGES

This is getting long, so I'll just list the updated tier benefits and end the day with it. I'll be posting a schedule that I will be committing to (here and on patreon tomorrow morning), with the below details as well (so if you wanna stop here that's totally valid) but for now, here's the tentative list:

Tier 1

Early access - 4 days before a public update (this month will be an exception and you'll get the update as soon as the other tiers get it, too).

Sneak peeks and deleted scenes - I included the latter because apparently I delete a lot of great scenes

Hints for future revelations in the story - the categories will depend on results of polls; the hints may be about Bale's death, about Ripper's family, Pharos, Cyro, the ROs themselves, or the nightmares that the MC is getting, etc. Might be in form of vague conversations/dialogues between unknown characters, might be me dropping subtle info about those involved. Either way, it will be fun :). The polls and these hints will be given monthly.

Tier 2

Early access - 1 week before a public update

all the other benefits for Tier 1

monthly RO snippets - I'm still experimenting with this, but I might simply write MC x RO snippets (with different kinds of MCs for different scenarios because I deeply hate writing blank slate MCs, sorry)

a choice to see the POV of a character, decided through polls, for every chapter/update.

Tier 3

Early access - as early as it's available and goes through testing stages

all other benefits for previous tiers

Non-RO short stories

Previews on unintroduced characters :)

That's all for tonight! I am so tired lmfao but I hope you all are having a great weekend so far! See you tomorrow :)

[cheerstotheelites-if]

It's so noisy.

There's so much arguing.

Is this all necessary?

And on his special day? How rude.

A young boy sits on his bed, hands trying not to peel off the bandaids on the palms of his hands. The bandaid on his cheek feels weird whenever he tries to open his mouth. It even feels weirder to move his knees when there's too many bandaids to count.

He flinches when the arguing escalated to a shouting match, and the sound of something shattering following after.

Why does this always happen?

It quiets down again, and the silence stretches on. And on. And on. And on. And on. And on—

The door opens.

A woman walks in, carefully carrying a small cake box in one hand and a wrapped gift under her arm. She's still in office wear, a bit haggard looking, judging by how her hair isn't in it a ponytail anymore. The woman shuts the door behind her, before looking at the boy with a smile; tired and faint, but genuine all the same.

"Happy Birthday, Eliseo," the woman softly greets, putting the gift down on the bed as she sits down beside her son. "I'm sorry that it took me a while."

"It's okay." He says with a small nod, hands busy fiddling with the ends of his shorts. "Are you and Papa fighting again...? Is it because I fell off my bike?"

"No, no, it's not your fault Eliseo." his mama quickly reassures, pulling her son into a side hug and squeezing his shoulder gently. "It never was."

"Yeah, but Papa said that it always is my fault that you keep fighting."

Liezel is quiet for a moment.

It takes a lot for a mother not to go back out there and beat the ever living shit to the person responsible for spewing lies to her son. How dare he say that, when the boy has done nothing wrong. How dare he, her own husband, spout such bullshit when his incompetent ass is the real reason why they keep fighting.

She would've killed him if it were legal.

Instead, she lets out a long exhale through her nose, trying to calm whatever beast is urging her to rip that man apart.

"Well," she starts, looking down at her son, "your Papa is a liar and a bad person for saying that to you. You did nothing wrong, and you aren't the reason why bad things happen, okay?"

Eliseo says nothing, instead turns to hug his Mama and bury his face into her chest. His little arms wrap around her waist, gripping onto her blazer tightly. Liezel hugs back, arms shielding her little boy away from whatever danger is lurking beyond this room.

"Mahal na mahal kita, anak." Liezel says, kissing the top of her son's head and petting it gently. "Always remember that, okay? I'll always be here for you."

~•~•~

"Eliseo, nakikinig ka ba?"

Eliseo blinks, looking up from where he was staring at (it was a random spot on the table). He can hear Nicotine squawk loudly from his perch.

"Yeah, I'm listening." Eliseo replies, shooting his mom a smile, to which earns him an unconvinced look.

"Really?" Liezel quirks a brow. "What was I saying just now?"

"That I'm your favorite son?"

At that Liezel lets out a mild exasperated sigh with a shake of her head. "Why do I even bother? You're starting to act like your Ma in being cheeky."

"She only taught me the best, Nay." Eliseo laughs upon seeing the deadpan look sent his way. "I'm only being honest!"

With another shake of her head in exasperation, Liezel stands up from her seat. "Whatever am I going to do with you?"

There's a hint of fondness and endearment in it, despite the clear exasperation from the older woman. Eliseo can only smile and chuckle upon hearing it.

"How about spending my birthday with me and Ma tomorrow?" Eliseo suggests.

Liezel looks at her son incredulously. "Again? Aren't you tired of being with someone so old, let alone your own mothers? Don't you want to spend it with Zephyrine and Weylyn instead?"

"You're both a priority in my list." Eliseo chuckles and stands up to join his mom's side. "You always make my birthday the best to celebrate with."

Liezel looks at her son, who now towers over her with his height, and she chuckles with a smile; a similar way to Eliseo's. "Aren't you being awfully sweet today. Are you sure you're not trying to butter me up?"

"Never in my life. You already did so much for me since I was a kid, so why would I ask for more?"

Ah.

Well... isn't that a surprise.

A good surprise...

"I sometimes wonder where you even got that attitude from."

"I probably got it from you, Nay."

At that, Liezel laughs softly as she wipes away the corner of her eyes. "Gods above, Eliseo..."

She pulls her son into a side hug. "Mahal na mahal kita, anak. Don't forget that."

Eliseo chuckles, hugging her back. "I love you too, Nay."

[gregorygerwitz]

Moustead + “it’s not that i don’t like my life, it’s that i don’t have the energy to enjoy it.”

this is kinda sorta post-white knuckles but reading that first is not necessary

Jay kept his eyes on his phone when he felt the bed shift beside him, especially when he felt the warm body so close to his. The was a privilege, being allowed so close, feeling that presence in his space. He didn't want to do anything that might startle it away, not after it took so long to earn. Besides, he was in the middle of reading an email, an automated notice about an opening in another unit - it wasn't that far from Mouse's apartment (their apartment, he had to remind himself even two months in), and it would mean finally getting out of a patrol uniform again. He could only stand to pick up shifts for so long without a direction to move in.

"Why did I decide to go back to school again?"

With a small smile, he turned off the screen and glanced down at his boyfriend, trying not to give in to the urge to shake his head. The idea was one that had been brought up their first weekend, one of the many things on the list of what ifs that they had to consider. Mouse had gotten lucky, picking up a few courses at the local community college just before registration for the term closed. Hours before, if they were being completely honest. The timing worked out well for the chaos that had put them on that path at all, and they were both grateful for it. Or he'd thought that, before the first week of classes actually started.

"You can't possibly be ready to give up again yet. It's day four."

"No, I know, I just..." Shaking his head, Mouse sighed and looked up at him from where he was lounging in the pillows. He looked tired, that much was sure, but not any more than he did when they were working with Intelligence. And this was supposed to be better than that. "I forgot how much it takes out of me, you know? I have to go to campus, and sit in a lecture, and then go to a lab and work with a partner. Can't you be my lab partner? You don't drain my social battery."

Jay let out a chuckled and shifted so that he could lay down, too, putting them at eye level. They didn't really need the blankets, not when they had each other to keep warm, and it wasn't like they were really going to sleep any time soon. "Is that what this is about? You don't like your life choices because they make you tired?"

"It's not that I don't like my life, it's that I don't have the energy to enjoy it." Instead of pulling away to make up for their change in position, Mouse got closer, resting his head on Jay's chest until they could both feel the steady thrum of a heartbeat there. It was calming, grounding, a reminder of where they were instead of where they used to be. "I'm too tired to even suggest sex. Me. But if we do, I'll be even more tired when I have to go to class in the morning, and you have a patrol shift tomorrow, and who does that help? No. Let's just turn on a movie or something and call it an early night."

Letting out a satisfied sigh, Jay moved so that he could wrap an arm around the now perfectly placed shoulders, gently hugging his boyfriend closer to him. "That sounds perfect. What were you thinking of turning on?"

"Scream?"

"Mouse..."

"It's a good movie. Besides, you love Scream. You've watched the entire franchise three times."

"Because you made me watch the entire franchise three times."

It was supposed to be a complaint, an aired frustration, but he couldn't even force it. It came out too light, too easy, too fond. He was too full of love and warmth to even be annoyed. Because Jay liked his life, too, and he wouldn't trade it for anything.

[ dialogue prompts ]

[postwarlevi]

Practice Run

Content: 2.9k words of your and Levis first time babysitting for Armins son. (title is eh?)

Warning: Mention of poop hehe, possibly slightly suggestive

a/n- Whoa my first try at joining a collab! BABY FEVER hosted by the lovely @levis-hazelnut thank you for letting me be apart of this! Love you! <3

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

"Good morning love." Levi smiles to you from his pillow as you both wake up together.

You give a tiny sigh and nuzzle closer. "Morning sweetheart."

It's supposed to be a lazy day, and the early morning is. You slowly get out of bed and start breakfast while still in pajamas and meander around the kitchen.

Just as you sit at the table Levis phone goes off, and with a groan he takes a look at the message.

You know it's his work ringtone, bothering him on his supposed day off.

"What is it?" You ask after a bite of food, already knowing.

"Just, some things that need to be taken care of." He says dejectedly, looking up at you. "I shouldn't be long."

You give him a smile. "It's okay." You know he'd usually tell them to piss off and would rather spend the day with you. "Eat up." He isn't allowed to work unless he eats.

Instead of leisurely enjoying his meal with you, Levi now gets it down in just a few minutes, in hopes that he can finish this unexpected interruption quickly.

"I'll do dishes, just go." You give him a peck and shoo him towards his office, most likely to be unseen again for a little while.

With an exhale you look around and get started on the chores that were going to wait until tomorrow. But might as well do them now.

You're not very far into it when your own phone starts ringing.

"Hello Armin." You greet your friend on the line.

"Hey, sorry this is last minute, but…"

It's a day of being called into work apparently. Armins wife Annie is out of town for another day on a business trip and Armin has just been called in as well, and Annies father who is usually their go to infant sons babysitter is unavailable.

"Of course we'll watch him! Would be happy to!" You say with excitement.

"You sure it's not an in inconvenience?" Armin worries, especially because he'll be gone for hours.

"No, not at all, bring the little one over!" This is the first time you've been asked to keep an eye on him without one of his parents present, so Armin comes to you with a list of instructions.

"Would you go? I have all the emergency numbers I could ever need." You say as you take the baby from him. Armin has basically given you a book, and a very overstuffed diaper bag.

"Yeah, sorry. Are you sure this is okay?" Armin reaches for his son who wraps his tiny fingers around one of Armins. He hasn't seen Levi even though his car is in the driveway.

"Yes! Everything is fine. But I'm surprised you didn't bring his crib with you." You joke with him, bouncing the baby who looks up at you.

"Oh, should I have? I can go-" He misses the joke until you laugh.

"I'm kidding, we'll be fine." You all but push Armin out the door.

Pulling a blanket out of the bag you lay it out for the baby and go through the other things in the bag. Diapers, some play toys, wipes, baby food. Yes, you do remember Annie saying he's started in on being spoon fed.

You try to look at the schedule Armin wrote out for you when he starts fussing.

"Shh, it's okay." You coo, pulling out a stuffed dinosaur that seems to make him happy.

You look towards the hallway, wondering how longer Levi might be, and hope he likes the surprise.

In his office, Levi huffs and rubs his eyes. He's been staring at screens and papers for almost two hours now.

Well, he hopes those fools are satisfied with the work he's done and upsetting his plans to do nothing with you all day.

He finally finishes up and submits his work and texts his associates. "I'm done now." It's a hint, threat, sign, whatever they want to take it as, that he doesn't want to be bothered again.

Opening the door to his office he barely makes it out when he freezes.

"What's this?" He asks of the infant on a playpad, you hovering over him, toys thrown all over the floor.

"Oh! Hi." You stand up and smile. "We're watching Armin and Annies baby."

"Why?" Levi knows who this is, you've been around him multiple times, but he wasn't expecting it. There goes any down time with you today.

"Because they asked us to and we said yes."

You explain what happened while he was busy.

"It's okay, right? I'll clean up any mess." You pick up the babbling baby and Levi stares at the sight. It's not a bad thing he sees.

It's not often you are asked to babysit, not because your friends don't trust you, but not many have children yet, and neither of you have siblings. Not that Levi thinks you can't do it, it's just your experience is a little limited.

"Yeah, it's fine." He nods and leans to give you a kiss on the cheek, letting out an exclamation when his hair gets grabbed.

"Levi!" You hiss at his words, trying to pull the baby away, but his hold on Levis hair makes him come with you.

"Brat, stop it!" He waits while you help untangle his hair from the babies fist. "It's not like he knows what I said." Levi defends himself.

"Awe, he didn't mean that baby, it's okay!" You bounce the baby as Levi takes a step back for safety.

Levi watches you again know just what to do with the child who is still reaching out for him. Levi pats his head but removes his extremities before he can latch on again.

You reach out and caress Levis cheek, showing all is well. "He didn't pull too hard, did he?" The concern in your voice leaves Levi blushing for overreacting.

He shakes his head. "No. Of course not. Can I, help with anything?" It looks like you have everything under control but he still wants to ask.

Looking at your watch and nod. "It's almost his feeding time. Cups are in the fridge." You've been memorizing his schedule and are ready.

You sit in the kitchen with the baby on your lap, napkins all around for the upcoming mess, while Levi sits next to you and attempts to get him to open for pea and carrot puree.

"Make an airplane." Your suggestion doesn't do any good and soon more food gets on Levi then in the babies stomach.

You try to hide your smile while Levi rolls his eyes and wipes himself off.

"That was a really cute try." You can't help but giggle at his airplane.

"Hush." He mumbles at being called cute.

"Well, you have to eat something." You tell the distracted infant. "Try the other one." You ask Levi. Armin told you to start with the veggies, but if he's being picky not to worry about it.

Levi hands you the other cup. "All yours."

"You can't give up this early. How unlike you." You show disappointed.

It doesn't work though and Levi leans back and folds his arms, raising an eyebrow. "Go ahead. Show me how it's done."

You purse your lips and take up his challenge. Levi ends up holding the cup so you can spoon some food while still holding him.

"Mango is your favorite, isn't it?" You baby talk while he takes his food.

"Not fair. Of course he likes mango." Levi groans. Who doesn't prefer something sweet?

He is left not sure whether he should be irritated that this seems way easier for you, but instead watching the scene leaves him feeling warm once again.

You look up with a smile at catching him staring. "What?" You ask, seeing adoration in Levis eyes.

He shrugs and says nothing, patting your hair instead, leaving you wondering.

Soon you burp the baby and the napkins you thought would be sufficient enough are not, and Levi gets up to get more and pull the trash can over for the used ones.

"Oh, I'll do it!" You say, baby still in your arms, spit up all over. You don't want him getting annoyed over the mess.

Levi waves you away. "I got it." He knows you said you would get it, but he's not going to let you do everything.

After baby is wiped up Levi holds him so you can wash too and finish cleaning the table.

"Thank you." You turn to Levi as you wash your hands, smiling at the slightly awkward way he holds the infant who doesn't seem bothered.

Next is changing time, and Levi gags and becomes virtually no help.

"How can he be that smelly?" Levi says while he sprints to the outside garbage can to throw the bag out.

You're laughing when Levi comes back in, and he doesn't know what you find so funny.

"Your poop smells." You roll your eyes at Levis scrunched up nose, as if this isn't bad for you, too.

"We're not talking about my poop."

The day goes on while you and Levi figure things out, except for how to get him to nap.

You put down all his favorite toys and blankets that Armin brought over in the bag, try to read, put on his noise maker, but nothing works.

"You're gonna be sleepy later." You tell him, and get a sudden high pitched giggle in return that makes Levi tense.

"Awe, it's okay." You lean in for nose kisses and remain calm when he grabs at your hair, humming to him while you get him to release you.

"You're really good at this." Levi sits on the floor next to you, watching.

"Me? You're doing great." You encourage him, giving a soft look before going back to playing with the baby.

You really help boost Levis confidence and between the two of you are doing a pretty good job.

Armin calls and you tell him everything is going great and not to worry as he apologizes for being so long.

"Nonsense!" You dismiss him. All is well. Even Levi has settled down.

It's just after the next feeding time -which goes only slightly better than the first, meaning using about four less napkins- when your phone rings again and everything changes.

"Are they kidding?" You huff in exasperation after hanging up.

"What's going on?" Levi is afraid to ask.

"This day." You shake your head. No one is safe at home. "They can't find a file we need for tomorrow and need my help to find it or redo it." You know how important it is and can't believe this is happening right now.

"So, you're going to…" Levi trails off, not liking the possible options.

"What else am I going to do? I have to go help." They are desperate, and while you like being dependable, you hate that they always depend on you.

"You're leaving him here?" Levi looks at you wide eyed when you say you have to leave.

You both jump as the tone and volume of his voice scare the baby who is whining now.

"Seriously?" You mumble and pick him up, not annoyed at him, but the situation, and maybe a bit at Levis reaction.

"I can't very well take him with me. I don't have a car seat." You point out as you try to rock him quiet.

"Well, I'll drive, you put him on your lap." Levi is suddenly terrified to watch him by himself.

"We are not doing that." It's not safe, and knowing you're right Levi quickly forgets the idea.

"Well what if-" He tries something else, but you are not entertaining him anymore.

"I'll be twenty minutes, you'll be fine. I trust you." You give Levi a quick kiss and try to hand off the baby to him.

He is so tense it takes a few tries to get them into a decent position. "Levi." You sigh and shake your head at him.

"I'm sorry! It's fine." He says to himself more than you, watching you grab your things and disappear.

Levi eyes the baby, who babbles at him, a little calmer than a moment ago. Now what?

You're in the car barely five minutes and not even to the office yet when you get the first call. "What?" You demand, putting it on speaker.

"He's still crying." Levi has never been so stressed. He put him on his playpad, wondering if his own nervousness is stressing the baby.

"I'm driving!" You all but scream at him. "Rock him!" You hang up, not waiting for a response, trying to get to your destination in one piece.

You ignore the next phone call, and the one after that, and soon your getting text messages instead, which you also don't bother with.

You know there is no way it can possible be this bad in just minutes, and that Levi is just going to have to figure it out.

As it turns out, it takes you longer then those promised twenty minutes to finish what you need. It's over half an hour when you can finally make your way back to your car.

Seeing the time you decide to quickly stop by for a food order since neither you or Levi have eaten anything. A few more minutes won't hurt.

While waiting you listen to the voice mail of Levi almost blankly saying he cannot believe you are ignoring him, with the baby crying in the background.

"I want you to know he can crawl." Is all Levi says in his next voice message.

How far is he really going to go? You laugh to yourself and scroll through some of the many texts that he somehow had the time to send. The one telling you if the house burned down while you were gone it would be all your fault is your favorite.

"Almost home." You message Levi after grabbing the food, not getting anything back from him.

Rushing into the house you fling the door open. "Sorry it took so-"

"Shh!" You are quieted immediately and come to a halt in the doorway.

Standing their with your bags you see Levi on the couch cradling the sleeping baby on his chest.

You think they must've tired each other out and smile at the heartwarming sight, creeping in and putting your things down gently.

Levi tries not to lose his mind or wave the baby as he waves his free arm at you to stop when you go to take a picture.

He doesn't wake up though, and now you can save this memory of Levi with a sleeping baby.

"I had to." You whisper as you sit next to him and quietly laugh over all the messages he sent while you were gone, most extremely dramatic for no reason.

"So, how far did he crawl?" You're whispering but Levi is still shushing you as he leans back and closes his eyes.

"Almost off the playpad." He whispers back, making you grin.

"You panicked for that?" You ask playfully.

"I didn't expect it." He says through gritted teeth. It had been very stressful at the time.

The baby yawns suddenly but stays sleeping.

You lean in and kiss Levis cheek, then the babies forehead, and rest on Levis shoulder.

"Everything okay at work?" Levi checks in.

"Yes. I got us dinner." You say as Levis arm goes around you.

"Thanks." But the three of you are too comfortable now.

You pick your phone back up and finish the last few messages Levi had sent.

His fingers massage your scalp as you show him your phone, making him smile.

The last text is finally optimistic, telling you he thinks he's got it and to take your time.

"You did wonderful." You praise him and his efforts. You know he didn't exactly sign up for this today but got the hang of it.

"He's a good little guy." Levi says as you continue to preserve this moment in your mind.

It's just a little while later that Armin is here to claim his child.

You give him a brief summary of how the day went.

"He wasn't too much trouble, was he?" Even now Armin worries.

"He's an angel. Leave him any time."

You look over as it's Levi who says this, surprising all three of you.

While Armin takes his son, you and Levi help get everything together, not sure how it all went in the bag to begin with.

Armin says not to worry as he puts the infant in his car seat and waves goodbye to you both, thanking you again.

You clean up any remains that a baby was here and sit down to eat dinner.

You continuously feel Levi eyeing you and raise a brow.

"Just thinking." He smiles as he takes another bite.

"About what?" You question, wanting to know.

Levi gulps down his food and reaches across the table to take your hand.

"He's been good practice, don't you think?"

Now it's your turn to blush, as the mentions of having your own children in the future are brought up.

"That's a very interesting thing to say." You test the waters just to be sure.

"It's one I'd like to investigate." He hints even further.

You nod and smile. "I think that can be arranged."

[redmeanslove]

number 3 for the prompts :)

Hii! Thank you so much for the prompt! It was "golden hour". I know it was a May prompts list but I decided that fall is also a great season for golden hours and the perfect timeline for some early pining Seblos...I hope you like it!! 💕

Carlos stepped out of the school building and instantly raised a hand to shield his eyes from the light of the sinking sun.

It was late Wednesday afternoon and he was finally satisfied with his choreography for Getcha Head In The Game and was ready to show it to the dancers tomorrow. So he had packed up his things and decided it was time to go home. 

Squinting against the early autumn sun which painted everything on the school ground in a soft hue, he was just about to round the corner when he spotted someone sitting on one of the benches next to the parking lot.

Hair almost golden in the light where it was falling into his face, Seb was scribbling something into a notebook. Carlos' heart skipped a beat at the sight and he stopped in his tracks, contemplating if he should go home or turn around and seize his chance to talk to the other boy.

After an embarrassingly long moment of contemplation, he decided to be brave and go for the latter.

"Hey," Carlos said when he was in earshot. 

Seb looked up, seeming startled for a second but then his face broke out into a smile.

"Hey Carlos!"

Carlos stopped in front of him and pulled at the straps of his backpack, feeling the sudden need to hold onto something.

"I'm surprised to still see you here? Rehearsal let out an hour ago," he pointed out.

"Oh, yeah," Seb chuckled and closed his notebook. "My sister was supposed to pick me up but then she got busy, so -" he checked his phone with a frown, "- she won't be here for another twenty minutes."

"Oh okay. That...sucks," Carlos said and took a seat next to the other boy, placing his backpack beside him. 

He couldn't imagine living that far away from school and always relying on someone from his family to chauffeur him around. Spending four hours trapped in a car with them every day sounded horrible to Carlos. 

But then again, Seb's family seemed to be the complete opposite of his from all the little stories he had picked up here and there, so Seb probably didn't mind having his sister as his driver.

"You know, you could've also waited in the bomb shelter, I'm there for at least another hour after rehearsal every day," Carlos said. 

As soon as the words left his mouth, he instantly groaned internally. God, why did he have to say it like that? Now Seb probably thought he expected him to hang out with him after rehearsals. Which - yes, Carlos had spent the past month since the start of the drama club rehearsals trying to get as many opportunities as possible to interact with the other boy. And having company instead of being all alone sounded more appealing than he was ready to admit. But still. If there was one thing he did not want, it was to scare the other boy off.

"Oh, I didn't even think about that. But I'll definitely remember it next time," Seb interrupted his thoughts. "I need to practice some of the piano arrangements anyway, so I could do that while I wait," he said with a smile. 

Carlos smiled back in relief. 

"Sounds like a plan," he said, suddenly thinking that this might have been a mistake to suggest because there was no way he would be able to focus on anything if Seb Matthew-Smith was playing the piano in the same room where he was working on his choreographies. But maybe that was a sacrifice he was willing to make. 

They both sat in silence for a minute, watching the sun slowly disappear behind the mountains. It was quiet apart from the noise of cars in the distance.

Carlos stole a sideways glance at the boy next to him. Seb's hair was still illuminated by the last rays of sunshine, making it light up in an almost fairy-like glow. 

He wanted to reach out and touch it, run his hand through it to find out if it was as soft as it looked - but he stopped himself, curling his hand into a fist by his side.

Get yourself together, Rodriguez, he scolded himself.

"You don't have to wait with me by the way," Seb interrupted the silence, a frown on his face. "I don't want to like, make you get home late for dinner or anything."

Carlos waved him off. "Don't worry, you're not. Nobody else is home today so I can basically eat dinner whenever I want," he explained. 

Eat dinner meaning heat up some leftovers or order take out for the third time this week. 

"Oh. I'm sorry," Seb said, his face falling slightly.

Carlos shrugged and smiled. "No worries, I'm kind of used to that," he said.

That only deepened the frown on Seb's face and he seemed conflicted for a moment before he asked

"Do you want to come with us? I am sure nobody would mind if there was one more person at the dinner table."

Carlos' eyes widened. Did - did Seb Matthew-Smith really just invite him over to his house? To eat with his family? Oh god. This couldn't be happening. He wasn't prepared! And he didn't even have an outfit prepared, and….

"Oh, er - thank you, but - I think I have a bunch of homework to catch up on, so," he stuttered out. 

He smiled tentatively, hoping he didn't just offend Seb by declining his offer. Luckily it didn't seem like it as Seb just smiled and nodded. 

"Oh, honestly same. Like, that worksheet from Mr Mazzara's class?" he shuddered. "I've been putting it off for days but I think I finally have to face it today."

"Yeah," Carlos chuckled, pretending he knew what Seb was talking about. Crap, he probably really should catch up on all the homework he had put off in favour of working on choreographies for the show this week. There was no way Mr Mazzara's homework was the only one that had flown past his head.

Before he could come up with another conversation topic, a grey car turned into the parking lot. 

"Oh, that's my sister," Seb said, getting up from the bench and slinging his backpack over one shoulder as the car parked. 

Carlos got up as well, figuring he had no reason to stay any longer if Seb was leaving. 

"Thanks for waiting with me," Seb said, turning to go. 

Carlos smiled. "No problem. See you tomorrow, Seb."

Seb smiled and waved, then he walked over to the car to open the passenger door and disappeared inside. Carlos caught a glimpse of a head of curly blonde hair next to him before the car backed out of the parking spot. 

He watched as they drove away, then he started his walk home. But not before he fished his phone out of his pocket and put his earbuds in, scrolling through his music library to find a specific song he was looking for. 

Then he pressed play and started walking, humming along to the lyrics with a smile as he made his way through the streets of Salt Lake.

I used to get sad And lonely when the sun went down But it's different now 'Cause I love the light that I found in you Baby, don't you know That you're my golden hour The color of my sky You set my world on fire And I know, I know everything's gonna be alright

lyrics from "Golden Hour" by Kacey Musgraves! (adore that song)

[high-functioning-lokipath]

Marriage with a Spin - Loki x Reader - Words: 2,613

A/N: Enemies-ish to Relationship & Fake Relationship trope-ish LOL…Pic below is not mine but simply is for reference about rings...this was the best basis I could find 🤣 I'm using the Spin and Zero rings in this oneshot

Also! A big thanks for @ladylulu143 for helping my come up with a title and for proofreading this for me! 💖💖🤗🤗

"Alright, this is the latest alien artifact we have found," Steve said. He held up a gold ring with a small blue stone. "When on, the wearer can decelerate time around them, appearing to be at superspeed to those watching."

"So what's the deal now?" You asked. Tony brought a picture of another ring on the screen behind Cap.

"This recently popped up on our radar. By the readings we're getting from it, it seems to be related to this guy here. However, it's being held in this mansion," Tony said, clicking to the next picture. "Owned by billionaire Samuel Thatcher."

"So what am I doing here again?" Loki asked flippantly.

"Mr. Thatcher is holding a gala tomorrow night. You and Miss Y/L/N will be attending and will conveniently slip away at some point during the evening to retrieve the ring from his vault."

"Loki and me?" You exclaimed. "Why? Would you fit in much better at one of those swanky parties?"

"Everyone knows me, Y/N," Tony said, rolling his eyes.

"What about Steve then? He knows how to dance and be all proper! He's from the 40's for goodness sake!"

"Have you ever seen me try to fit in at one of those, how did you say it, swanky parties?" Steve asked with a smirk. "You two have enough class to fit in. Besides, the vault is secured by a fingerprint and retinal scan. The only person here who could pull that off is Loki."

"That is true," Loki replied with a smirk.

"Fine. What time is it?" You groan.

"6pm tomorrow," Steve answered. You nodded and got up to leave. "Oh! And one more thing!" You turned around suspiciously and saw an unnerving smile plastered across the face of America's Golden Boy. "You're going as Mr. & Mrs. Hank and Audrey Williams."

"Mister and Misses?" You both exclaimed. Steve nodded and Tony was smirking.

"Don't forget this!" Tony said, tossing the ring to you.

"Is this supposed to be my wedding ring?" You asked sarcastically.

"Actually no," Steve said. "It would seem that the ring only works on the right middle finger."

"Great. So what am I supposed to do about this?" You asked, wriggling your left fingers.

"No need to worry, darling," Loki replied. He waved his hand and a beautiful gold and emerald wedding band appeared on your finger. "Now, shall we go to my room and prepare for the rest of this delightful mission?" He asked, a touch of sarcasm in his voice.

"Of course, my dear," You replied, rolling your eyes.

The next day, Loki came to your room at about 3 in the afternoon. "What do you want, Loki?" You growled, quite annoyed that he was bothering your 'me-time'.

"Change into your uniform and meet me in my room in 5 minutes. We need to prepare." He turned to walk away but you grabbed his arm.

"Why? We should be resting before our mission tonight! I thought we already did all our planning yesterday!"

"Tactical, yes. But not practical." He once again turned away and started down the hallway. You groaned and ran after him.

"What do you mean practically? We get fancied up, we go, we get the ring, we leave. If we get in any sort of confrontation, we fight and then we leave! Simple!"

"What are you going to wear?"

"Well I can't show up in tactical so I have this old party dress. It's not perfect but it'll do I guess."

"No it will not. Where will you put your weapons? What if you need to run? Or fight?" Loki listed off his objections quickly and tutted at you. "No, no. That simply will not do."

"Well what do you suggest, oh great fashion god," You replied sarcastically. Loki rolled his eyes and waved his hand. "Oh my!" You gasped. He'd transformed your current outfit into a lovely floor length, emerald green dress. He even outfitted you with jewelry!

"And I can do the same with your-what did you call it? Tactical gear?"

"Ok, ok," you chuckled. "Thank you. I really appreciate it." You smiled genuinely and, for a moment, you thought he would return the sentiment. But he kept his disinterested demeanor and whooshed away the dress.

"I'll return it later when you're ready. You will need to do your own hair and makeup." You nodded and headed back to your room till the evening.

That night, you stood at your mirror adding the finishing touches to your mascara when suddenly there was noise beside you. Jumping in surprise, you accidentally smeared the mascara on your face. "Loki!" You exclaimed, seeing the mischievous prince standing in your room. "You scared me!"

"Well, I am naturally terrifying." You rolled your eyes and turned back to the mirror to fix your face.

"There! All done," You announced. "Well, with the exception of my dress and-" Before you could even finish he had cast his illusion upon your clothing.

"Enough with your blathering. Let's go."

"Hmph. And here I had hope you'd finally removed your head from your-"

Later at the Gala, Loki was being the perfect gentleman. Very suave and debonair. You were impressed. Of course you had to play your part too. You were smiling at his side, holding his arm. You both mingled for a while, trying to get a feel of the room, before he asked if you wished to dance. A bit surprised, you simply nodded. He whisked you out to the dance floor gracefully and pulled you close.

"The vault is downstairs. We need to find an excuse to slip out soon," He whispered to you.

"What if I pretend to be ill?" You offered.

"Someone would undoubtedly take you upstairs to one of the bedrooms to rest. That is the opposite of what we're trying to accomplish."

"But what if I'm afraid of heights?" You countered. He quirked an eyebrow at you and chuckled lowly.

"That is a terrible idea. Only you would think of it."

"I don't know whether to be insulted or flattered. And I think the problem is I have really fantastic bad ideas." He smirked and shook his head in disbelief.

"At least you own up to it," He teased. You grinned, unable to help yourself from staring at him. Though you were on a mission, he seemed so relaxed. This was definitely his element. "You're staring, my dear."

“You are very attractive. Therefore I will stare at you," You admitted. He blushed brightly and looked away but then his eyes lit up.

"I've got it!" He stepped back and led you off the dance floor towards the open bar. "Follow my lead," He hissed. "Would you get me a drink, sweet? You know what I like," He said, somewhat loudly.

"Of course, darling," You replied. When you returned with your drinks you noticed Loki was staring at a group of young women. They had noticed him too and were smiling back at him. "What are you looking at?" You asked innocently, handing him his glass.

"Oh nothing," He replied quickly, turning away. You made a point of following his previous line of sight and made eye-contact with the still giggling females.

"Nothing?" You yelled. "You call that nothing? You were flirting again! Staring at some other woman!"

"I find them very attractive. Therefore I will stare at them," He replied. You held back a laugh, realizing what gave him the idea. "You know how I am," He purred, trying to move closer to you again.

"Get away from me!" You yelled, stepping back and throwing your glass on the floor. This drew everyone's attention. "You disgust me, Hank. This was your last chance and you botched it up! I'm going home!" You turned on your heel and stormed out.

"Audrey! Audrey! Please wait!" He called out. He ran after you into the grand hallway where you were pretending to be searching for your keys. You both noticed the small collection of men, including Mr. Thatcher, who were watching you from the ballroom doors. "Please, darling, can't we discuss this?"

"At home," You finally said. He nodded and held the front door for you. You both stepped outside, out of view, and then you activated the ring. It felt weird, time slowing around you, but you moved past your surprise and got to work. You ran back into the ballroom and very carefully chipped a very important supporting piece of one of the ice sculptures on the table. Giving it a small tap, you then ran back out to the main entrance and positioned yourself just outside the doors where you could still have a view of the main hallway. You deactivated the ring and heard the crash of the ice. Immediately, the men looking into the hallway ran back in, leaving the hallway unwatched. You and Loki were now free to sneak back into the mansion.

"The vault is downstairs but only accessed here," Loki murmured, leading you to a hidden staircase.

"Typical," You chucked, only mildly surprised by the motif. When you got down there, you noticed there were three levels of security. A key, a fingerprint scanner, and a retinal scanner. "Oh great! How are we supposed to get through that?"

"Never fear, my darling," Loki replied with a smirk. "Remember why they chose me?" He then changed, taking on the appearance of the party's host, Mr. Thatcher. He quickly got past the fingerprint and retinal scan but the key was still needed. Changing back to himself, he said, "The guards have keys."

"There are guards down here?" You whisper-yelled. Loki rolled his eyes frustratedly but before he could reply you heard footsteps coming down the hall.

"Follow my lead!" Loki demanded.

"Wha-" Loki interrupted you with a kiss and pushed you against the wall. You gasped in surprise but you had to admit to yourself he was talented.

"What are you doing down here?" The guard exclaimed. Loki slowly pulled away from you with the guiltiest expression on his face. You knew it was fake of course, but the guard was tricked.

"Were we not to be here?" He asked, voice slightly higher than usual. "We were only trying to find a-" He paused, smirking slightly. "A more private location." The guard shook his head and chuckled.

"Whatever floats your boat, man," He replied. "But I would suggest exploring the upstairs bedrooms." He gave them both a little wave and headed back around the corner.

"I’m going to strangle you," You said as soon as the guard was out of earshot.

"Oh please! You can’t even reach my neck," Loki replied. You grabbed his tie and pulled him down, pretending to be moving for another kiss. However, you tapped his neck lightly and smirked.

"Gotcha!" You giggled quietly and then held out your hand. "Oh! And look what I got!" She held up the key ring for the door. "While you were busy embarrassing yourself, I used my telekinesis and got the key!"

"Of course you did! That was my plan all along," Loki replied.

"Pretending to love you is like a walk in the park. Jurassic Park," You grumbled. Loki grabbed your sides and growled in your ear as you opened the vault door. "You're so weird!" You hissed, walking in and trying to find the ring.

"And you’re so weird it’s attractive," He retorted, finding the box immediately and tossing it to you.

"Well, if I’m weird with you, I’m comfortable," You admitted. Loki looked at you in surprise but you just shrugged. "Look, you really piss me off sometimes, but," you paused. "Somehow I still like you."

"And I you, my dear," He replied. "Now as much as I would love to continue this discussion I do suggest you figure out how to use that thing and we get out of here!" You put on the ring, trying it on a few different fingers before you found the correct one.

"Ok, let's see what it does." When you activated it, it shot a cold blast at the shelf in front of you, encasing it in ice. "Cool!" You joked. Loki shook his head and grabbed your arm, trying to hurry out. Just as you got to the top of the stairs, you heard footsteps.

"Well well well," Mr. Thatcher growled, blocking your exit. A few of his goons stood behind him as well. "Mr. & Mrs. Williams was it? I don't think so," he sneered.

"Well, I don't think so either but we're not doing this today!" You shot them all with the ice and Loki shoved them out of the way. You both heard more footsteps down the hallway and looked at each other nervously. "Do you trust me?" You asked. Loki nodded.

"With my life." You gave him a tight smile and activated the Spin ring. You ran down the hallway and found where the other goons were at. You tried to use the Zero ring, with the ice powers, but found yourself unable to control it's aim.

"Well that's fantastic," you grianed. Rethinking your plan, you went back to get Loki. There was no way you'd both be able to get out of there at normal speed so you had one option. Lug Loki out yourself at super-speed.

"What the heck? Do you weigh 500 pounds or something?" You groaned when you couldn't pull or carry him. "Ok, last option. I hope this works," You muttered. You focused almost all your energy on moving Loki using your telekinesis. It was slow going, but at super-speed, you still would beat the bad guys. By the time you got him out the door to safety, you were exhausted. You immediately disengaged the ring and he looked around confused.

"How did I get here?"

"Talk later, run now," You gasped, trying to stop the dizziness that had overtaken you.

"Are you alright?" He asked worriedly. You were about to reply when you collapsed, simply too drained to continue.

When you woke up, you felt a cool cloth on your forehead and soft blankets around you. "Where am I?" You groaned.

"I brought you back to the tower. I told the Captain his debriefing could wait," Loki replied. You sat up slowly and looked around. Raising an eyebrow, you stared at Loki questioningly. "Yes, this is my room. I wanted to keep an eye on you while you recovered. I informed the Captain that those rings are very dangerous and should not be used. They obviously were too much for you to handle and-"

"It wasn't the rings," You interrupted. You looked away, somewhat embarrassed. "Well, I was still in super-speed, but I used my telekinesis to get you out. We probably would have been shot otherwise. It used a lot of my energy but it was worth it."

"Oh darling," Loki sighed, gently pushing a stand of hair off your face. "You-" He leaned forward, giving you a quick kiss on your forehead. "You're amazing. I never expected you or anyone to care so much for me!"

"Of course I care!" You replied. "Look, you still drive me insane with some of your tricks. But you're a good guy," You smiled.

"And you're a wonderful woman," He said. You grinned at him happily, still tired but already feeling much better. "So what do you think, should we give us a try?"

"Why not? It may be the first really fantastic bad idea of mine that works out!" Loki smiled and gave you a kiss. You sighed contentedly and leaned on his shoulder when you pulled away.

"Oh darling? One more thing. It was my idea."

Loki Taglist

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[boxofbadaddiction]

Nothing's More Important Than Quidditch

Fred Weasley x Reader

Warnings: Some Swearing. Highly Suggestive. Someone gets hurt.

This story is inspired from a request of my F.R.I.E.N.D.S Themed Prompt List.

Using Prompts two and three: "OH...MY...GOOOOD!"/"MY EYES! MY EEYEES!"

Fred and George Weasley were men of simple tastes. They liked pranks, food and Quidditch. Though if you were to ask Fred he would argue that there were nothing more important than Quidditch.

He'd never missed a game. Never missed a practice, and had been able to afford it he'd never miss a Cup. So that being said, you can imagine how shocked his team were when he told them he wasn't feeling well enough to train tonight.

"You're dying aren't you?"

"What? No, Lee. I'm not dying!"

"Then I'm sorry I mustn't have heard right when, the Fredrick Gideon Weasley, just said he wasn't well enough to play Quidditch?"

"Piss off."

It was Sunday lunch in the Great Hall and Angelina had the whole Gryffindor team huddled together. She was discussing her newest game strategies when Fred spoke abruptly, all eyes bulging at his words. Expressions a mixture of confusion and concern. Fred never. Missed. A. Game.

"Hey!" [Y/N] had arrived and happily sat her self amongst her close group of friends. "What's with the faces?" Her brows furrowed as she filled a Goblet with her favourite drink.

"Fred says he's not training Tonight." Angelina answered, still gawking at the Redhead in question.

[Y/N] choked on her drink. "He's what!?" She coughed, hand on her chest in shock.

"It's not a big deal!" Fred groaned. "I've just got one cracker of a headache. Need to sleep it off and I'll be right as rain." He forced a smile, though to the group it appeared more as a painful grimace.

"Well, I do hope you feel better." [Y/N] leant over the table, placing her hand atop of his to offer some comfort with a reassuring smile. "What about the rest of you?" She straightened herself, taking a pastry from the bowl infront of them as she did so.

"We're still training" George replied, "Not all of us roll over because of a wittle headache" he pouted at his brother, trying to stir him up. Fred retaliated, through the light laughter of his friends, by throwing a bread roll at his brother.

"Coming to watch, [Y/N]?" George spoke, still laughing as he brushed crumbs from his clothes.

"Afraid I can't, tonight."

"What!?" Lee groaned, "come on! I'm going!"

"Yes, well as tempting as it may be to spend more time by your side Lee", she leant into him with doey eyes batting her eyelashes flirtatiously, hands cupping his bicep. Returning to her previous position she continued, "I have so much Homework to do it's not funny. I'll find myself joining the next Headless Hunt if I don't hand Snape his Most Potent Poisons Assessment tomorrow."

"Barrell of fun you two are, today" George rolled his eyes.

"Right, well the rest of you. We've got training to do!" Angelina stood, gesturing for the Quidditch team to follow. Somewhat begrudgingly, with various disapproving moans escaping their lips, they made for the Pitch.

"Positive you'll be okay, Freddie?" George lagged behind in a final ditch effort to convince his brother to join them. "You could always just watch from the stands."

"I'm positive, Georgie. I'm just not right at the moment."

"Do you want me to stay? I will if that's what you'd prefer..."

"Who are you? Mum now?" Fred joked "Get out of here you sap!" He waved his arm as if trying to shoo him from the hall.

"Don't worry, George. I'll look after him" [Y/N] assured.

"Such a faithful little bestie you are." He said while ruffling her hair. "Alright then, see you two in a couple hours" he waved to them as he ran to catch up with his team.

"Come on you. Let's get you to bed." [Y/N] spoke to Fred and they made their way to the common room.

---

So much for a couple hours. Mere forty minutes later saw the same team arriving back through the Fat Lady.

"How was I supposed to know she was right behind me!?" George complained loudly, followed closely into the room by the light giggles of Lee and Harry. No such laughter, however, could be heard from the mouth of the Gryffindor Captain.

"A concussion George! You gave Katie a concussion!" She was near shouting at the boy.

"I SAID I WAS SORRY! I didn't see her!" He threw his arms up in defence. "Pomfrey says she'll be right in a few days, what's the fuss?"

"The fuss, George, is that we just lost a whole night's training! You're just lucky our next game isn't for another fortnight, Weasley. I have to take Katie some things for her stay in the Hospital Wing, YOU! had better think fast about how to make this up to her." With a final menacing point of her finger Angelina stormed off towards the dormitory she shared with Katie.

"Should we check on Fred?" Lee spoke to break the guilty silence.

"Yeah, hey - don't forget to tell him how his Golden Boy brother sent our best chaser to the infirmary!" Harry goaded making his way over to Hermione and Ron by the fire.

"Little prat" George grumbled as he and Lee made their way to the dormitory. Lee was laughing hard at his friends remark."He doesn't watch it he won't be 'The Boy who lived' for much longer. Might pick up where You-Know-Who left off." George went on as he leant his back against the door, pushing it open as his hand twisted the door knob. Lee's laughter only increased.

"I'd like to see you- OH...MY...GOOOOD!!" laughter and smiles faded instantly as his eyes fell on the tangled mess of sheets and the bodies of his two close friends in place of where Fred should have been resting.

The sudden exclamations catching the attention of [Y/N] and Fred, their eyes shooting directly across the, should have been empty, bedroom.

"SHIT!" Fred yelled as he pulled off of [Y/N] and covered her with his blanket. "YOU WEREN'T MEANT TO BE BACK FOR A COUPLE HOURS!"

"MY EYES! MY EEYYEES!!" George screamed dramatically. Turning away from the scene he covered his face by his hands, desperately trying to lose the imagine of his brothers and best friends mostly naked bodies.

"It's not what you think!" [Y/N] began, throwing Fred's jumper on over her head which could very well have been a dress on her. She stood, tugging at the material willing it to stay in place before fixing her hair.

"It doesn't look like you were napping!" Lee snapped sarcastically, "nor does it look much like a POTIONS ASSIGNMENT!"

"[Y/N]" George began, not turning to face the two - rather speaking to the ceiling as his back faced them. "I know you said you'd look after my brother but MERLIN I should have laid out some guidelines, that is not how you handle a headache."

Fred had put on a pair of trousers and a singlet and quickly made his way to stand infront of the two boys, arms out pleadingly, "I know you're both a little shocked right now and this is going to take some time to process but for the love of GODRICK!" He clenched his teeth and spoke in a low growl, "would you keep your voices down before the entire bloody common room hears yo-"

"WHAT'S GOING ON!?" Ron had burst through the door. "Oh God" Fred groaned throwing his head back walking away from the door.

"We heard shouting, is everything okay?" Hermione asked frantic, as Harry followed her in.

"Yes, Hermione everything's fine -" [Y/N] went to explain.

"NO!" Lee interrupted "NO! THEY'RE DOING IT!" He screamed pointing his finger accusingly at the two red-faced teens. Harrys eyes were wide with shock.

"It's not what you all think! Please just listen to me..." Fred begged as [Y/N] stood beside him. Looking to one another defeatedly.

Everyone, aside from George, turned to face them. Awaiting the explanation as to why these two had been...doing what they were.

"Uhmmm..." seeing the group stare before him suddenly ran Freds mind blank. "This isn't the first time this has happened. Actually it happens a lot." Not the best opener. The group grimaced, looking very uncomfortable at their friends confession. [Y/N] dropped her head into her hand. "What I mean is" he tried to recover, "this isn't a one time deal. We're not just fooling around, we're..." the words caught in his throat.

What were they? A couple? Was he wrong and they were just friends with benefits? What was this?

They looked at one another, Fred's eyes searching [Y/N]'s face for the answer. She smiled, grabbing his hand gently.

"We're together" she spoke. Eyes not leaving Fred.

"That's great and all. But this is still traumatising." Lee deadpanned as he gestured between the couple and Fred's bed.

George cleared his throat, "umm, yeah. I'm really happy for you two."

"That'd be more convincing, had you actually said it to us rather than the wall." [Y/N] laughed. Fred threw his arm over her shoulders, pulling her into his chest. Georges head turned slightly, eyeing the two in his peripheral before shutting his eyes tightly. Trying to muster the courage. "Yeah, sorry bout that just...it may be difficult to look at you the same for a while. I saw a lot more than I'd had like to." Everyone laughed at the comment. The light atmosphere helping him to relax a bit he turned to face them. Even if his eyes fixed to anything but them.

"Wait a minute." Harrys laughter had stopped completely. "Did you two plan this whole thing?"

"I guarantee we never planned on getting caught" Fred replied.

Rolling his eyes Harry continued "ditching practice I mean."

Lee and George both looked at each other before slowly turning to glare at the couple.

"Well. Yeah" [Y/N] answered.

A slow clap started to sound throughout the room as Lee and George mockingly applauded the two. "Well done. Truly you two that was quite the convincing performance." George smirked. "Honestly, [Y/N], that spit take really sold the whole thing. Couldn't have done better myself." Lee nodded as she playfully curtsied with her hand on the seam of Fred's jumper.

"WELL!" Lee clapped once loudly, rubbing his hands together. "This calls for a celebration. Shall we?" He bowed to the door, ushering everyone from the room.

"Ummm Lee. Mind if I put some pants on first?"

"If you-OH! right. Yeah. Meet you two down there!" He was the last to leave, closing the door with a quick wink.

Fred and [Y/N] looked shyly back to one another before breaking into fits of side splitting laughter. Fred wrapping his arms around her waist as they calmed down.

"So...we're together, huh?" He grinned resting their foreheads against one another.

"Only if that's what you want." [Y/N] placed her hands on his chest, eyes nervously searching his.

"That's all I've ever wanted" he moved a hand to the back of her neck, pulling her lips into his. Kissing her like he never had before.

Fred and George Weasley were simple men. They liked pranks, food and Quidditch. Though if you were to ask Fred, he would argue there were nothing more important than Quidditch. Well...maybe one thing.

[tinyboxxtink]

"Doppelganger" *Part 17*

WHOO, y'all I really didn't think I had a lot left in me and then this just came pouring out. Wow. So yeah after about 3 hours and some crying and a breakdown later, here's another chapter. Definitely gonna get to 20. Oh yeah.

Warning: ANGST. SO MUCH ANGST. This one kinda got too close to home, but I made it that way so I have no one to blame but myself. If it hits close to home for you as well, I'm so sorry. Also if you're sensitive to....idk I guess I'll just say "drug use"? Use caution when reading.

Part 16

Part 18

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-------

That Monday you went to class for the first time since you had been abducted. You slunk into class and sat in the back trying to remain unnoticed, but everyone instantly turned to you.

"Oh my god Y/N! Are you ok?!" One student asked you.

"How scary was it?" Another one asked.

"Was Nevada good in bed?" One girl asked you, causing three girls to hit her and shoo her away.

"I um...I…" you tried to breathe, but the questions and chatter kept coming. It was too much for you to handle. You grabbed your stuff and ran out of the classroom, down the hall.

"Hey sweetie are you ok--?" A young Hispanic girl asked you. It took you back to when Gabi had befriended you. You backed away from her and ran out of the building into the quad. You were hyperventilating, you could barely see in front of you. You collapsed onto the grass, crying. You hit your speed dial to call Chloe.

“Hello?”

“Ch-Chloe, I--” You could barely breathe, you were crying so hard. People were starting to stare, you had to get control of yourself.

“Y/N? Oh my god babe are you ok? What happened?”

“I...I need you…” You gasped, trying to get up and duck behind a building where no one could stare at you.

“Oh, oh honey I’m across town right now. Otherwise you know I’d come right down there,” She apologized. “Why don’t you call--”

“I can’t call Rafael,” You cut her off. “I don’t want him to know how fucked up I still am about all of this, we just started to get back to normal,”

“...Um okay, well I don’t know what you want me to--”

“Forget it, I’ll be fine,” You hung up the phone before she could say anything else. You felt bad for being so short with her, but you weren’t exactly yourself right now.

You really didn’t want to have to use Rafael as your crutch, your lifejacket. He had his own life, his own career. He didn’t have time to babysit you. You took several deep breaths, trying to calm yourself down. You glanced around the corner, fewer people were in the quad now. You calmed yourself down enough to walk over and sit under a tree, breathing in the spring air.

You were just starting to calm down when your phone rang: RAFAEL CALLING.

Dammit Chloe…You reluctantly answered the phone with a fake chipper voice. “Hey baby!”

“Hola mi amor, Como estas?”

“I’m fine, Raffi…”

“Are you sure? Because Chloe just called me and--”

“She shouldn’t have called you,” You grumbled.

“Y/N, look baby if you’re in distress--”

“I’m not in distress, Rafael. I’m fine,”

“Are you--”

“Yes, I’m sure. I’m sorry Chloe called you. I’ll see you at home,” You hung up the phone abruptly. You instantly felt guilty; why were you taking it out on him? He was just trying to help. But you didn’t want him worrying about you, that was the whole point. You just wanted to forget about everything for a while. You laid down under the tree and closed your eyes, enjoying the sunshine on your face.

-------

Meanwhile

Rafael really didn’t want to betray your trust, but he didn’t know what else to do at this point. You clearly needed outside help and you refused to let him give it to you, so he felt like he had no choice. He went down to the precinct and into Olivia’s office.

“Rafa,” Olivia stood up as he walked in.

“Hey Liv,” He nodded, giving her a small hug. She walked back around her desk as he took a seat.

“What’s up?”

“It’s….Y/N,”

“She’s having trouble dealing with her trauma, isn’t she?”

“...Yes,” He nodded sadly. “And she won’t talk to me. She won’t let me talk to her about it because she doesn’t want me to think of her as a ‘victim’ and--”

“Well of course not Rafael, you’re her--” She paused. “Are you two still engaged?”

“YES, Olivia,” He sternly replied. “We’re still engaged,”

“Okay, sorry,” She bit her lip. “Anyway, of course she’s not going to want to discuss her trauma with you, you’re her loved one. Would you want her to see you as a victim?”

“...No,” He shook his head. “But she needs to talk to someone,”

“Are you suggesting I talk to her?” Olivia half laughed. “Because that’s probably worse than talking to you--”

“Why? She won’t feel ashamed telling you things, she doesn’t care what you think of her,”

“Well, gee thanks,”

“You know what I mean,”

“Yeah I do. She doesn’t like me,” Olivia pointed out. “Which means she won’t be as open to me, you know that,”

“Well, I mean if any of the other squad members come to her she’s just going to be upset more and more people know about her, and I just thought---” He sighed and held his head in hands. “I just-- I don’t know what to do, Liv,”

Olivia came around her desk again and put a hand on Rafael’s shoulder. “...I’ll try, if you really want me to,”

He looked up and gave her a small smile. “Thank you, Liv,”

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

That Night

You had come back to Rafael’s after your little meltdown. While you were at school, a very kind gentleman found you lying under the tree and noticed you needed a bit of shall we say, a chill pill. You had gladly taken a few and popped them on the way home, and you were currently sleeping it off in the front of the TV when Rafael came home, and he wasn’t alone.

“Y/N….Baby?” He called, but there was no answer. He gave Liv a worried look as he dashed through your living room, to find you unconscious on the couch while Netflix was asking “ARE YOU STILL THERE?”

“Oh my god, Y/N! Baby, baby are you okay? Y/N, wake up!” Rafael violently shook you as Olivia started to call for a bus. She stopped dialing when you groggily awoke, stroking Rafael’s face with a sleepy smile.

“Heyyy, baby--” You kissed him deeply.

“Are you--- are you high, right now?” He looked at you horrified.

“What? No! No….maybe a little bit,” You bit your lip trying not to giggle at his very serious face.

“God dammit-- Y/N, carino-- why--?”

“Oh my GOD,” You suddenly noticed Olivia standing behind him. “What is she doing here?”

“She came to--”

“Oh my god, you told her to come here didn’t you? You’re kicking me out, aren’t you? For HER?”

“What? No! Jesus Christ, Y/N what exactly did you take--”

“Oh yeah, let me just tell the ginger snap here what drugs I’m on, and then she can throw me in jail and have you all to herself!”

“What the-- alright that’s it, you with me,” He grabbed your arm and started dragging you to his room. “I’m sorry about this Liv,” He looked at her apologetically.

“Oh yeah, sorry Olivia, wouldn’t want to interrupt your romantic evening with my fiancée,” You mocked, making Rafael walk faster. He pulled you into the room but you were so out of it you flopped onto the bed like a rag doll.

“Jesus-- Okay seriously baby, you need to tell me what you took,”

“No! It was nothing, it was just something to calm me down, it’s not a big deal--”

“It IS a big deal!” He yelled angrily. “Look at you! You can barely sit up!”

“I’m fine! See?” You sat up for about 10 seconds before falling back down on the bed again. You started giggling uncontrollably until you saw Rafael’s face. He wasn’t angry anymore he was...sad? Scared? His eyes were filled with tears, his hand was over his mouth.

“....What is happening right now?” You blinked several times, trying to clear your mind. Seeing Rafael in distress suddenly made being high not so fun anymore.

“...You know this is how I had to see my dad every day when I was a kid,” He said through choked back tears. “You know how traumatic it is to see you like this Y/N I don’t know why--”

“What?” You suddenly sat up quickly, holding on to the edge of the bed to keep you upright. “I...no, you said he used to beat--”

“You think he was SOBER while doing that?!” Rafael yelled louder now, and became more angry.

“...No, I guess not--” You hung your head down, mostly because it was difficult to keep it upright.

“I...I can’t talk to you when you’re like this, I just can’t,” He threw his hands up and walked towards the door.

“Rafa I--”

“Just sleep it off, we’ll talk later,” He snarled and slammed the door.

Almost immediately you burst into tears; how could you have done this to him? You hadn’t really thought about his whole dad situation, but now that he said it out loud it made perfect sense.

You just wanted to feel better, without causing him grief. And instead you had caused him heartache and pain. It made you hate yourself more than you already did.

And to top it off, Olivia was now out there with him in the living room, probably comforting him. Holding him while he cried about how you hurt him. You were driving him right back into her arms, no potions needed. You wanted so badly to just go in there and tell her to get the fuck away from your man, but you still couldn’t stand. You just laid there and cried until you fell asleep.

------

Hours later, you woke up to a dark room once again. It was 10:30. How long had you been out? You cautiously opened the door, but the living room was dark. Rafael wasn’t there?

“...Baby?” You called through the apartment to make sure, but sure enough there was no answer. You flipped on the light to see a note with your name on it. Oh god.

“No, no no no no--” You raced over and opened the paper, praying to God it wouldn’t say what you thought it would.

“Y/N-- Went out to clear my head, think about things. There’s food in the fridge I’ll be back.”

“I’ll be back?” You read out loud. When? Tonight? Tomorrow? A week from now? You started to grab your phone to call him, but before you could the door swung open and Rafael came sneaking in-- with Olivia.

“Oh my, Oh my god--” You wanted to vomit right there. They were both clearly a little tipsy and giggling, but when they saw you they straightened up quickly.

“Hey baby, you’re up,” He smiled sweetly, walking over and kissing your cheek.

“Oh so this is what we’re doing now, is it? I get high and upset you, so you go and get drunk to upset me?”

“What? No, I just-- we were just--” He looked to Liv.

“Y/N listen, we were just--” Olivia tried to explain.

“Oh I think you were JUST LEAVING, bitch,” You growled, starting to charge her but Rafael grabbed your arm.

“HEY, leave Liv alone,” He told you sternly, almost glaring at you. You had been here before, this was too familiar. You looked at him in surprise, then turned to Olivia with anger.

“...You did it again, didn’t you?” Hot tears stung your eyes as you swiped your arm from Rafael’s grasp.

“Did what?” Olivia asked, oblivious.

“You dosed him again, DIDN’T YOU?!” You started to charge her again as you screamed, but this time Rafael grabbed you by your waist.

“Y/N! Nobody fucking dosed me, you wanna talk about dosing? Let’s talk about how I found you earlier,” He barked.

“That was completely different--” You started to defend yourself.

“Why? Because you wanted to feel better?” He asked you angrily. “Because I went out and did the same thing, and just because you’re insecure about Liv and I, suddenly she has me under a spell?”

“This isn’t you,” You shook your head with tears rolling down your cheeks. “It just isn’t, I know it’s not,” You looked to Olivia, who still retained her confused look.

“Olivia, can you--?” Rafael looked at her while nodding at the door.

“Yeah, of course, I’ll-- talk to you later,” She gave a little nervous wave before walking out and closing the door behind her.

------

“See? Are you happy now?” He threw up his hands. “I didn’t go after her like a little love spelled puppy, Y/N,”

“You don’t have to mock me--”

“I told you I wasn’t under anything! You think that just because I’m mad at you, suddenly I must be under some kind of spell? Because, what? Because I can’t be mad at you, because you’re ‘going through something’? What about me?! What about what you’re putting me through?!”

“I’m trying NOT TO!!!!!!” You screamed.

“Yeah well you’re doing a hell of a job,” He laughed sarcastically, walking through the living room to his room.

“Rafael, Rafa!” You chased after him. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean to--”

“To what, Y/N? To get high in the middle of the day on god knows what? Or did you not mean to get caught?” He sneered as he started to get undressed.

“I just wanted to feel better!!” You stomped your foot.

“I don’t make you feel better? You need drugs for that?!” Tears came to his eyes. He couldn’t believe what you were saying.

“No!!! I just--” You paused, trying not to cry. “I just don’t want our relationship to be you constantly comforting me, or-- or taking care of me, like I’m a child!”

“Yeah well you’re sure as hell acting like one,” He tossed off his pants and dress shirt and stomped into his bathroom to get a t-shirt to wear with his boxers.

“....Why are you putting clothes on to sleep?” You asked him cautiously; you both usually slept naked in each other’s arms all night.

“Because I’m sleeping in the guest room, you can have the bed,” He pushed past you and out the door heading down the hallway to the guest room.

“No, no no no no Rafael don’t,” You quickly trailed him, grabbing his hand and making him face you.

“Why? I don’t make you feel better, why don’t you sleep with your pills?” He narrowed his eyes at you as he pulled away from you and started to walk away again.

“.....Please….” You softly whimpered, making him stop in his tracks. He didn’t turn around, he just looked at the ground and sighed.

“...Please don’t leave me alone,” You sounded like a little girl scared of the dark, but you didn’t care.

You couldn’t pretend that you didn’t need him anymore, because the truth is you did. You needed him by you every second of every day, you felt absolutely helpless without him. And you hated it. But you couldn’t hide it anymore.

After a long pause, Rafael turned back to face you, tears were streaming down your face. You looked so small and pitiful, he instantly regretted yelling at you like he had. He walked back slowly towards you, taking you in his arms and rubbing your back.

“I’m never going to leave you alone, carino,” He whispered as you sobbed into his chest. “I promise you,”

“I’m sorry,” you whimpered. “I’m so sorry about today. I just--”

“I know,” He nodded as he walked you back into his room and sat you on the bed as you pulled your clothes off. He took off his clothes and crawled into bed next to you, listening to your cries die down.

“I’m sorry I went out with Olivia, mi amor,” He apologized into your ear as he spooned you. “I knew how much that would hurt you and I did it anyway,”

“...It’s fine,” You nodded, even though you weren’t sure it was. But, you knew on some level that being high in front of Rafael would upset him and you did it anyway, so you couldn’t really hold onto it.

“....You really do need someone to talk to though, baby. Even if it’s not me,” He whispered, kissing the back of your neck gently. “Please?”

“Okay,” You nodded as you turned to face him. “I’ll do anything you want me to Rafa,”

“I want you to do it for you,” He pressed his forehead against yours.

“I don’t care about me, I care about you!” You shook your head.

“And I care about-- see this is what I’m talking about, baby,” He sighed. “You have to stop-- punishing yourself, or hating yourself, for whatever happened. We’re never going to be able to move on if you don’t,”

“....Okay,”

“Okay you’ll do it?”

“...I’ll try,”

“Okay,” He kissed you gently. “That’s all I’m asking,”

“....I flushed the rest of the pills,” You told him softly, making him smile for the first time that night.

“Thank you, baby,” He kissed you again.

“And I don’t care if you think that you’re--- being a burden, or needy, or some kind of anchor because you need me to feel safe. I want you to feel safe, all the time. And I WANT to be the one who makes you feel safe. Not drugs, not alcohol, not anybody else. Me. And if I need to be by your side 24/7 for the time being, then that’s what I’ll do,”

“What? Rafa come on--” You started to protest.

“No, I’m serious,” He took your hands. “I made a commitment to you, and I’m damn sure going to keep it. I will protect you from now until the end of our lives. So, I’ll call Morgan tomorrow and tell her that until further notice, unless I’m in court I’ll be working from home, okay?”

“I---I can’t ask you to do that--”

“You’re not asking me, carino. I’m offering-- No, I’m telling you, that’s what I’m doing,”

“....Okay,” You nodded with a small smile, snuggling closer into his chest as he pulled you tighter.

“I love you, Y/N. I love you more than anything in the world,” He whispered to the top of your head as you fell asleep on his chest.

“I love you too Rafael,” You cooed as you drifted off to sleep.

[ddaehyeon]

hydra - people have a tendency to experience whatever emotions their soulmate have pent up inside them.

send me a member and a constellation!

— pairing: kang seungsik + gn!reader

— genre: hurt/comfort, soulmate au

— word count: 1.2k words

— warnings: mentions of anxiousness, sadness, loneliness and rejections

— extra note: the live clip of carry on,,, wonderful

— requested by: @starrycrvty ☆ victon masterlist ;  taglist form

leaning back to the wall, a sigh left seungsik’s lips. the stars in the night sky reflected on his eyes, creating a galaxy on his own orbitals. a gust of wind blew by, enticing chills over his body. the winter evening wasn’t the most merciful companion, but he always enjoyed the silent time he could spend on his balcony.

it was quite a long day for him with all the preparation for tomorrow’s gig. practices here and there, along with venue checks. the day sure was taxing. but at the same time, it wasn’t enough to make him collapse to the bed and sleep. a certain heaviness hugging his chest, stealing a few hours of his supposed to be sleeping time.

“you alright?” seungwoo, one of his bandmates, asked. for a curt moment, he looked at the younger then followed seunsik’s gaze, resulting in him looking at the sky.

seungsik nodded as an initial response. another sigh leaving his lips. “i’m alright, but somehow, i don’t feel exactly that way.” a faint smile graced his brim as he shrugged. “it’s weird.”

raising a brow at the other, seungwoo gave him a questioning look. a hint of concern was apparent on his expression. “how do you feel lately?”

once again, seungsik found himself hunching his shoulders up. truth be told, he had no idea what exactly he was feeling. there was a spark of joy sitting in his heart; happy with his current career as a vocalist of a band. fortunate to be given a full-packed schedule each week. to be doing what he loved doing, singing.

but he knew something was off.

the weight he had in his chest that would sometimes give his heartstrings a terrible tug, the moment of a sudden daze while rehearsing, the sudden urge to just allow tears to slip from his eyes— it was familiar, yet he didn’t recognize it as his own. it was as if he was carrying something that didn’t belong to him but was connected to him. emotions shared to him even without words. and with no available response from him, all he could do was carry the intangible yet heavy load.

“maybe your soulmate is in the opposite state,” seungwoo suggested. “maybe they’re sad or lonely right now.”

the idea made seungsik pull another breath, eyes still fixated in the sea of twinkling stars, a silent wish muttered. “i hope i can be there for them.”

a phone call from your friend made you aware that it was already morning. the blinding glow coming from the sunlight that had been filtering through the gaps of your dimmed curtains was ignored for a moment. if given a choice, you’d stay on the bed the whole day.

“are you free this evening?” she asked.

it was such a funny question for you. the answer to that question was obvious. after getting rejected by the fourth company you applied for this month, you had a lot of time. so much time that you could probably take pleasure in doing other activities aside from job hunting.

the thing was, time alone will not be adequate to pay your bills.

“yes,” you replied, giving no effort to show an ounce of interest— even to feign joy in your tone was quite a burdensome task. “why?”

“come with me.” the excitement in her voice was good enough as a hint, it would definitely be one of these events again. “i’ll pick you up before dinner.”

you can only shake your head when you heard her drop the call. momentarily staring at the ceiling, you let go of a sigh before pulling yourself off the bed. you should go on the fifth company on your list today. maybe you’d be lucky enough to get in, land a job, and just… live the life of an office worker who can make ends meet every month .

sitting on the edge of the bed, you gazed at the unlit star fairy lights that were messily hanging by your bookshelf. a trickle of relief crawled over your heart as warmth continuously enveloped you in an imperceptible embrace. it was the only few minutes of the day that you loved— a curt moment of calm before the start of yet another stressful day.

you stood, looking over a brown folder that contained a copy of your resume. you sighed defeatedly. “whatever.”

there was nothing more you wished to do right at that moment but to go home. it wasn’t you who had been jumping around in the upbeat tunes played by the initial bands, but you found yourself exhausted by the crowd. regardless of the amount of glee everyone had, it didn’t bring you the sense of happiness your friend probably first thought it would offer. instead, the awareness of joy other people had made you swallow another pill— it made loneliness occupy you.

you looked over the crowd to search for your friend, the next band setting up their instruments and adjusting other conditions. no attention was spared to the introduction given to them though. you wanted to go home.

it wasn’t hard to find your friend. she was just sitting on one of the couches placed in the rear part of where the audience stood. a table of drinks located just beside it. however, before you could pull a word out of the confines of your mouth, the tapping of the mic halted your actions. you turned to look at the stage; a silver-haired man stood by the center.

i see the pain i'm trying to hide, i guess i just laughed at it.

different from the previous acts, the first few strums of the guitar wasn’t of the same upbeat sound. it was calm, matching the mellow voice of their vocalist.

your heart has grown stronger, i know it's a wound that secretly pressed down.

any other noise coming from the audience faded, your ears attending only to his voice— the song he was singing felt as if the two of you had met before. as if he had sung the song to you more than a hundred times. it was as if he had been singing that song for you. and you alone.

the petty grievances are actually okay, i'll spend a day with you.

you drowned in the song, his voice pleasant to your ears. it went on and on, serving as a temporary escape.

how long had you been holding into that heavy feeling? you wondered. a light press in your chest, tears gathering in the corner of your eyes as a familiar sensation coursed throughout your body. while he performed, a sense of comfort took over.

the morning calm you loved. it was him.

as the song gradually became softer, reality came rushing in. but it wasn’t as worrisome as it was earlier.

“just go go go.” his eyes lingered on you, exactly feeling the burden your heart had become accustomed to. you wanted nothing less but to listen to the same song, to his voice, on loop. “carry on.”

[xxisxxisxxis]

Gateway Drug | Part Seventy-Four [Pt. 1]

Words: 3k

Warning(s): explicit language, drug abuse

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I exhale, turning to look at Nikki where he's laying beside me, a sickly pale tone to his skin, his black hair tangled, his hand that is clinging to mine, covered in tracks, the same appearance as his other hand. 

I can't help but wonder if I bathed him if he'd wake up. He reeks, and he's rough looking, only adding to my guilt. 

Fred gave him a sleeping pill to ease him off of his coke high--he's been freebasing again, just cooking it up in the room's microwave. 

I don't know what the hell to do about him. 

I wish I did. 

Turning over to face him, I brush his bangs out of his eyes, my fingertips lightly dusting over his cheeks, dark circles under his eyes. 

They were supposed to play tonight, but said Nikki came down with the flu and added the show to the second round of U.S. tours lined up for early next year. 

The Nikki I knew would have never put drugs over his music, his fans, and especially not his relationship. 

But, the Nikki I knew also wouldn't have cheated on me…

It's been hard to accept the fact that the Nikki I fell in love with six years ago, isn't around anymore. 

1981

I finish getting my church dress back on, grinning at Nikki as he gets his pants laced back up, the both of us glancing at each other in the back of my car. 

"What's mommy and daddy gonna say when I send their girl back home all turned out?" He asks me, smugly, and I put my heels back on, scoffing. 

"Gee, just come home with me and find out." I shrug. 

"I'll pass." He mumbles, pulling his shirt over his head. 

"Oh, c'mon, I'm sure they'd love you." I nudge him with my elbow. 

"Your mom would piss her granny-panties." He argues, wrinkling his nose a little and I just blink at him. 

"Maybe...but I'm pretty sure my dad would like you." I inform him. 

"Like hell he does." He says to himself and I just let out a breath. 

"So…" I say after a few seconds of silence and he nods a little, awkward tension filling the air around us. 

"...Well." He lets out in the same tone. 

"Good freaking night." I go to open the car door, irritated that he doesn't offer up to hangout and do stuff other than fool around, slamming the door shut.

"Hey, what's up?" He asks me, getting out next, standing by the driver's door, blocking my way. 

"Nothing. I'll see you later." I mumble, nudging him out of my way, opening my door but he's quickly shutting it before I can. 

"Viv, what's--" 

"--I'm gonna start charging you to sleep with me." I state blatantly and his hazel eyes widen, a shit eating smirk on his lips as he chuckles out, "what?" 

"You'd think since we have sex with each other so often it'd at least make us friends, but all you wanna do when we hangout is screw around and then go do whatever with the guys." I tell him. "And, no, this isn't me being a 'typical girl' and developing feelings for you just because we've had sex. It's me being tired of feeling like I'm just being used to get you off." 

"I'm being used to get you off so it's a win-win, is it not?" 

"You sound like Vince." I snap. "All that's happening is I screw you, you screw me, we leave, and don't talk until we're both horny again." 

"Is that not how this works?" 

"The least we can do is get food afterwards or something." I suggest. 

"...Like a date?" 

I gag at the thought. 

"Ew, no." I tell him and he looks confused. "Like, um...I don't know. But since I don't hate you enough to not hook up with you, anymore, I think we could at least get to know who we're hooking up with a little better."

"Friends with benefits?" He clarifies. 

"No, no, we're not friends." I point out and he let me get in my car. 

"I'll see you tomorrow night?" He throws out and I nod. "Wear something pretty--we're going to McDonald's." He smugly smiles and I roll my eyes, holding back a laugh. 

I'm shaking the memory away when there's a knock at the door and I slowly get out of bed, trying not to wake Nikki, slipping my hand from his as my feet hit the hotel carpet. 

I open the door, seeing Mick.

"They wanted us to go ahead and start getting our stuff together to leave." He informs me. "Apparently Guns has some solo shows at some clubs nearby so they're staying behind and we'll back up with them tomorrow night." He informs me and I nod, smiling softly, before he lets out a small breath. "I know you're hurt, and you've got every right to be, but would it not make more sense to file for divorce before you move on, as opposed to moving on before you even really know if you're gonna leave or not?" He asks next, under his breath so Nikki has no way of hearing it. 

"Ask your married girlfriend that before you come at me with it, Mick, alright?" I ask him neutrally, shutting the door in his face before stepping back to the bed, hesitant to wake Nikki up but doing it anyway so we won't be late. 

I wasn't shocked when Mick let on that he knew about Duff and I because, like with me and Nikki, he just knew when something was up.

Looking back, Mick had a point, but at that time he was the last person I wanted to hear it from, because Emi wasn't estranged from her husband, or even on bad terms with him. She was just cheating for whatever reason while her husband stayed in the blissful dark. Mick was "the other woman" therefore he had no place to speak to me about my relationship with Duff.

"Nikki, get up, we gotta get packed." I gently shake him and he groans out. 

"Baby, let me sleep." He mumbles, eyes squeezed closed, face scrunching slightly for a second. 

"We gotta be in L.A. in seven hours, c'mon." I nudge at him again, and his red eyes open, disgruntled, taking a moment before sitting up.

"I did it again last night?" He asks me, rubbing the crust from his eyes as I slip my slippers on. 

"Yep."

"Are they pissed?" 

"They're worried." I inform him. "I'm worried, too." I add, stepping to the door. 

"I'm fine." He says after me.

"Glad to hear it." I open the door, taking a moment to add, "and I'm not 'baby' to you anymore," before leaving. 

I get to my room and get my things packed, being interrupted by a knock at the door. 

When I get it open, Duff is on the other side, wearing nothing but his underwear. 

"I think I left my necklace in here." He tells me and I step aside, watching him grab it from the bedside table before he turns to me and says, "so, you guys are leaving tonight?" He asks me.

"Yeah." I nod. "Gotta go watch Vince walk down the aisle." 

He chuckles and I do, too, realizing how ironic the reality of it is. 

"...Is, um...Nikki okay?" He cautiously questions.

"Yeah." I nod. "I'm sorry I didn't go back to your room last night, I just thought it'd be best if he eased off before I went to bed and then I accidentally fell asleep before I could leave so…" 

"No, no, Viv, it's fine. You still care about him, even though he's shitty sometimes he's still the guy you've been with for the past six years. I'm not upset that you're making sure he's okay." He nods reassuringly. 

Before I can say "okay", there's another knock at my door, and I step to it and open it, Tommy and Vince waiting for me. 

"Ya ready?" Tommy asks, him and Vince both wearing sunglasses. 

"Yeah." I reply, going to zip my suitcase, Tommy following in after me to grab it, taking a double take when he notices Duff. 

"Hey, man."

"Hey." Duff replies, rubbing the back of his neck, before looking to Vince. "Vinnie, you ready to walk down that aisle?" He asks him with a smile.

"Yeah, just so Sharise will stop bitching about wedding details." He responds with a groan in his tone and Duff chuckles. "But her and Skylar are coming back with me for a honeymoon so just be on your best behavior--not that you aren't most times." He adds. 

"Nah, I'll give Slash and Stevie the heads up, though." He assures him. 

"Thanks, dude." Vince says back.

"Alright, see you when we get back." Tommy says, patting at Duff's shoulder. 

"See ya." Duff says to them as they head out. 

"I gotta pee and I'll be down." I lie.

Vince looks at me, oddly, with a small bit of hesitance before he shuts the door and I rub my lips and look at Duff, fumbling with my fingers. 

"You're not breaking up with me already, are you?" He repeats what I asked him before and I smile and shake my head.

"No, no." I grab his hand and tug him closer to me and he kisses my hair, wrapping his arms around me, tightly, and I rest my cheek against his skin. 

"Just have a safe flight, try not to kill anyone." He tells me and I nod.

"I love you." I tell him, looking up at him. 

"I love you, too." He leans down and kisses me, pulling away too soon. "I'll see you tomorrow night."

"See you tomorrow night." I agree, taking a mental picture of his soft grin.

The next day was spent scrambling to keep everyone together--especially Nikki--because Sharise deserved one day to be with Vince without a fight...little did I know the only fight that would occur would be between Vince and I, and not him and Nikki, like I feared.

"Okay," I straighten her veil, examining her dress one last time as she hands me my bouquet, "you look beautiful, Sharise." I assure her and she continues nitpicking possible flaws in the mirror. 

"I know we're already married so this is just a vow renewal or whatever but I'm nervous." She admits to me, fanning at herself a little. 

"There's no reason to be." I tell her. 

"Where's Sky?" 

"With your parents." 

"Where's Tansy?" 

"Getting her dress on." 

"Where's Nikki?"

"In the bathroom." 

"In the bathroom or shooting up?" 

"In the bathroom. Tommy's on smack watch." 

"Okay." She lets out a breath, trying to calm down. "Vince...is he--"

"He's ready to walk when you are." As I say this, the door opens and Nikki and Tansy come in.

"Sharise, the wedding party's waiting for you." Tansy tells her a little shakily. 

I think she's beginning to withdrawal. 

"Alright. Okay." Sharise inhales and exhales. 

"You got this." I promise her. 

"You're right." She nods and I help her with her dress as she heads to the door. 

Nikki, Tommy, Mick, and a couple other guys I've never met that are good friends of Sharise and Vince are wearing their tuxes with a hot pink sash, to match the bridesmaids knee length, hot pink dresses with black tull underlying the skirt. 

We file into line, Nikki and getting in front of Sharise since she's appointed me with Matron of honor. 

"You showered." I mumble to Nikki, impressed. 

"Tommy threatened to spray me off with a water hose. I didn't feel like being cold." He mumbles and I scoff as the music starts, the doors opening to lead outside, where we have to walk down stone stairs to meet in a spacious courtyard. 

"I'm getting war flashbacks." He says next once it's our turn to start walking. 

"From our wedding, yeah, me freaking too." I reply in a hiss. 

"I was gonna say from Tommy's wedding but sure." He scoffs bitterly. 

"Just don't leave this one every fifteen minutes to slip into the bathroom and shoot up." I ignore his comment, the arm that my hand is looped through tenses up and I can feel him glaring at me through his sunglasses. 

"Don't be a fucking bitch." He tells me as we step down the stairs and approach the guests, seeing Vince and the other groomsmen and bridesmaids waiting for us. 

"Little late for that." I point out. 

"And our wedding wasn't even that bad, Viv." He randomly cuts back to our initial back and forth and I fake a smile for the crowd, speaking through my teeth to reply, "Wish I could say the same for the months to follow it." 

We separate at the alter, and I push my feelings aside when I look to see Sharise stepping down the stairs, looking stunning as ever. 

When she gets down here, I'm straightening the back of her dress as she takes Vince's hands. 

The ceremony doesn't take very long, and once the reception comes and all the pictures are done with being taken, I'm ready to get out of this dress--but it's not ready for me to get out of it.

I grind my teeth, dreading asking this bastard for help, but I know he's got his knife and the zipper of my dress is stuck. 

"Nikki," I tap at his shoulder as he downs another glass of wine. 

"What?" He wipes his mouth with the back of his hand. 

"Can you help me get out of this dress?" I ask him and he suddenly bursts into laughter. 

"I'd rather fuck a pot of boiling hot oil than fuck you." He tells me. 

"No, asshole, I mean literally help me get this off because the zipper is stuck." I explain. 

"Oh." He says, turning me to look at it. "Yeah, I guess." He stands up and I head to the bathroom as he pulls his pocket knife from his pocket.

Once we get to the bathroom, I'm pulling my arms from the sleeves the best I can before I look at him. 

"Just go to sawing away here." I point to the seam that's three-fourths zipped. 

He starts cutting at it, and it soon gets looser and looser to the point there should be plenty of room to finish pushing it down my hips...and I would if his hands weren't steadily holding at my bare sides, his eyes on my back as I look at him in the mirror and wait for him to snap back into reality. 

He never does, and I'm forced to clear my throat to whisk the tension away. 

"Um, I got it from here." I tell him, hinting that his hands on my skin aren't needed.

He just looks at me in the mirror and holds at them tighter, making me go to hit at the tops of his hands, only I realize this is one of the few moments he probably finds peace in because he can pretend, even for a second, that everything isn't screwed sideways. 

I just rest my palms over his hands, making eye contact with him in the mirror, looking us over, and I smile sadly, realizing we won't ever be those people again. 

After his moment is finished, he's gently patting my sides before taking a step back and putting his knife back into his pocket. 

"Thanks, again." I say to him before he goes. "No problem." He mumbles, stepping out. 

I rush back to the bridal suite to avoid being seen half naked, to change into a more comfortable dress.

As soon as I shut the door, I turn around and see Vince nursing a beer, and I jump. 

"Jesus, Vince!" I snap at him, taking a deep breath and he rolls his eyes for a second. "What the hell are you doing here?" I ask him, peeling the dress down my legs, not caring that he's getting an eyeful of me in nothing but skimpy panties since he's seen me completely naked in the pictures of me that Nikki's shown off to him. 

"Hiding from my in laws." He replies, taking another sip of beer. 

"You're not supposed to be drinking." I remind him.

"Who's gonna tell them?" He asks me, raising his brows. 

"Doesn't matter if the state doesn't know--God knows. That's who you'll have to answer to in the end." 

"Oh-Oh, my fuck." He chuckles out, his tongue swiping the inside of his bottom lip. 

"What? You think standing before God and being confronted with the fact you're still drinking after killing your friend in a drunk driving accident is funny?" I hiss at him.

 "I think the bible warns against becoming a drunkard but doesn't it also say, "you must not commit adultery'?" 

My heart pounds in my chest, my eyes wide, and he stands up from his spot on the fluffy parlor chair. 

"So you can give me shit about killing Razzle and still drinking, but every time the sweat on Duff's back dries after he's done fucking you, it's just another nail being hammered into Nikki's coffin, once he finds out." He says, pointing at me with the hand holding at his bottle. "And that blood's gonna be on your hands." He adds. "Not mine."