#what should’ve been a 3 hour travel time turned into a 6 hour travel time

[ultraviolencced]

the tour shirt do be cute

[xoxo-teddybear]

Goodbyes- Bakugou Katsuki

Bakugou x f!reader (ft. Katsumi, yours and Katsuki’s daughter )

Warnings: Angst, Cursing, Bad Father-Daughter relationship, slight SLIGHT SLIGHT (like 0.00000000000001%) fluff, intense kiss cuz Katsuki’s a SLUT

Summary: Years have passed and even so, Bakugou never gave up on you. You or Katsumi. You were both his family. His girls. He needed the both of you. And he will do everything in his power to bring you both back to him, but his now 16 year old daughter doesn’t plan on making it easy for him.

BAKUGOU’S MASTERLIST

Pt.1 Pt.2

11 years have passed since you left Katsuki that day. That horrid day. After leaving the house of hell, you went to Mina’s place to see your daughter. You saw her, happy, with her uncles and aunt. Her world was about to change and so you had to give her every ounce of happiness she could possibly get. You decided it would be best for both of you to stay in the welcoming home a little longer.

While continuing Katsumi’s play date, Mina had suggested you and Katsumi stay with her and Kirishima, but you declined. You knew it would be too easy for Katsuki to find you both and you knew he wouldn’t stop trying if he knew you were both at such easy access. And so, after hours and hours of Katsumi having the time of her life, it was time to bring her to her new home. For the time being at least.

After you left the happy couple’s house, you and Katsumi stayed in a hotel for the time being. It was a very nice place. Plenty of other kids for Katsumi to get along with, luxury rooms, and a pool! You both had stayed there for about a month until you found a gorgeous little house where you and Katsumi could call home. Not only was it spacious, luxurious, and all around amazing, if was far, far away from the previous home your shared with your soon-to-be ex husband.

You both had finally moved in, but that was the least of your problems. Like you told Katsuki, you allowed him to be a part of your daughter’s life. You allowed him to take care of her for 2 weeks, and then it was your turn. 2 weeks would pass and it would be his turn once again. You never allowed Katsuki to know where you both where. You kept your information very hidden and made sure your young daughter wasn’t capable of telling her father the new address whenever she was in his custody. You also never allowed Katsuki to pick Katsumi up. You always dropped her off, but never in a vehicle of your own. Can’t risk having him look up and track down your license plate. And if you couldn’t drop her off, you’d have Kirishima or Mina do it.

As time went on Katsumi continued to ask what was going on. Why was her life suddenly so different? She had asked Katsuki before, but he always told her it was a conversation she should have with her mom. When she asked you, you just smiled at her and told her “Things are changing right now, so it’ll just be me and you for a bit. But a Mommy-Daughter play date sounds fun doesn’t it? And it’ll last for a long time~” you said, hinting at what could possibly be the end of Katsumi and Katsuki’s relationship.

Thankfully, Katsumi liked the sound of that. Even though she was a daddy’s girl, she loved her mommy just as much! Of course her head would constantly be filled with thoughts of Katsuki but what can you do? You can’t bring her back to the cheater. Not permanently at least. You just...can’t.

Katsumi wasn’t the only one who was constantly thinking about family. Katsuki also had his face in every screen, every device, every piece of paper that might be able to help him find you. After you left him, he fell into a deep depression. He lost his two girls and it drove him mad. Even though he got to see Katsumi every 2 weeks, he knew that soon, she’d be old enough to be allowed to know what had happened. He was constantly on the lookout for you and where you could possibly be staying and with his friends refusing to help him, he concluded that for this job, he was on his own. He didn’t care. He had to find you again. He was going to bring his family back together.

—

A few years had passed. 6 to be exact. Katsumi was now 11 and she had questions. Why does life have to be like this? How long will the family be separated? Will we ever be together again? Due to all the confusion, Katsumi began to lash out constantly. It was like she was a mini version of her father. She needed answers. She needed to be led out of the dark. She needed to know. And it was time you told her. And boy, did you tell her something.

“Katsumi...your father left..because of me. I’m sorry. I was a horrible wife..and he just couldn’t take it anymore. It was understandable as to why he left..so..don’t be mad at him. Okay?” Y/N told her daughter.

Yup. You lied to her. You lied to your Katsumi but you had your reasons. A girl should think well of her father. Especially when that girl considered her father to be her best friend. So no, you didn’t tell Katsumi that the real reason you were separated was because her father cheated on you. You just couldn’t. Not when you knew Katsuki held the most important relationship in his daughter’s heart.

The relationship between a father and daughter is something irreplaceable. Something special. You couldn’t ruin it for her. So you were okay with her being mad at you, for her blaming you. As long as she was satisfied with her father-daughter “relationship,” that was good enough for you.

However, even though you put the blame on yourself, it didn’t stop Katsumi from being mad at her father too. He should’ve stayed. He should’ve tried to work things out. You both were her parents! You couldn’t even at least try to stay together for the sake of her? After finding out the “truth,” Katsumi did indeed grow resentment towards her dad. You were right in the end, and she no longer wanted to see him. That was fine with you. She could hate him, but as long as she didn’t know he was truly a scum, then that was settling as well.

Anger and fury resided in Katsumi. It bubbled up inside her and for the first 3 years in her teenage life, she was a child straight out of hell. Constantly in trouble, constantly taking out her anger on the world. You couldn’t blame her though, it was Katsuki’s fault she was like this. And you soon realized it was your fault since you lied to her too. Even so, you still didn’t tell her the truth. You opted to allowing Katsumi to express herself but with you and you only.

Katsumi was a good child at heart, but she was just lost in the dark. So when her mother allowed her to take her anger out on her, Katsumi did NOT lay a fist on her mother. Instead, she broke down. She broke down hard. Like she’s been broken all along.

“Was I not a good enough reason for him to stay?!” She sobbed out in anger as tears flowed down her face. You held your daughter as she cried and tore down all her walls she spent years building up. “I understand if your relationship was tough..but I hoped that maybe he would’ve came back to try for me at least. How could he just run away?! I just want my parents together. I just want to be considered! I’m not like other kids! I don’t have a family!!”

“I’m sorry, Katsumi.” You would whisper into her hair as she balled her eyes out. You didn’t expect your rebellious and strong child to be so..torn. You knew she was broken and you tried to help however you could but you never expected a meltdown. You were glad it happened though. After that day, followed a few more breakdowns. It was like Katsumi was opening the gates to allow everything to be bare just for her mother to see.

Her mother. Someone she now fully and completely trusts. Someone she loves. She allowed her mother to see all her cracks and damaged pieces. And thank god she did because now your mother-daughter relationship was better than ever. Katsumi replaced the thoughts of her father with happy memories of you. Instead of her father, her mother became her keeper, her guardian, her protector, her hero.

—

You smile as you look back on the journey you and your daughter traveled on. A happy family of 3, to a sad and confused duo, to a timid and raging two, to finally a content and happy mother and daughter. It’s been one hell of a ride for you, but if it meant reaching Katsumi’s happiness, then you’d happily do it all again.

“G’morning mom!” Katsumi happily said as she walked into the kitchen.

“There’s the beautiful birthday girl!” You happily said as you turned to your 16 year old daughter. Katsumi was no longer harmful towards others. Your once brutal and ruthless bully of a daughter became a sweet, sassy, and fun teenage girl. She was happy now. The sadness and anger finally left...at least, that’s what you thought. And that’s what she thought too. But the inner Katsumi was still in shambles...just..nobody knew that. Not even herself.

Katsumi was quick to jump onto you and give you a hug. She loved you. You became her best friend, her rock. Her protector and hero. It was always you two against the world and Katsumi wouldn’t have it any other way. “Not to be ‘self absorbed’ or anything, but are we doing anything special today?”

“Welll~ I know we haven’t seen them in a few months but I pulled some strings and so! Uncle Kiri, Uncle Denki, Uncle Sero, and of course Auntie Mina will be coming over to celebrate your 16th birthday!” You said with enthusiasm. You watched as your daughter’s jaw drop in happiness as tears of joy began to fill her eyes.

“Seriously?!” She asked with excitement and watched as you nodded your head. She jumped onto you once more and squeezed you tight. “Mom, that’s amazing! Thank you!”

You smiled as your daughter beamed with happiness. It’s been awhile since the Bakusquad (minus Bakugou) came to see Katsumi. Everytime they left their homes, Bakugou grew suspicious and assumed they were seeing Katsumi (and you of course), and even though he was right, he couldn’t know that. So to keep your location hidden from Katsuki, they had to stop seeing you and Katsumi for some time. After a few months, they decided it was perfect for them to pop up again on her 16th birthday, a very special time in a young girl’s life.

“Anything for you Sweetie! C’mon, I made your birthday breakfast and then we can get ready for the day. They’ll be here very soon!” You said to your daughter. She nodded and you both took your seats at the island, enjoying the delicious meal.

Growing up, Katsumi did indeed have friends, but they were more like school friends. She only talked to them in an educational environment but outside of school, her best friend was her mother. She was all she needed. Her friends were her aunt and uncles and that’s why she was more than happy to spend her 16th birthday with just them.

—

Katsuki looked at the date. His heart stung in pain as he stared down at the calendar.

“Katsumi’s birthday.....happy birthday Baby Bear.” He said in a broken voice. The same broken voice he had that day you left him. The same broken voice he’s had ever since you left him.

It’s been 11 years since you left. It’s been 5 since Katsumi decided she no longer wanted anything to do with him. Katsuki felt like he lost everything and in a way, he did. Even so, he kept the house the same in hopes that one day you’d return.

Over a decade has passed and Katsuki still holds hope that maybe..maybe if he prays long and hard enough..if he remains hopeful..his world will go back to normal.

Katsuki was so lost in thought that he didn’t even realize his own friends were possibly going to visit you and Katsumi. It wasn’t until he heard his phone ding and looked to see a notification from Denki to the Bakusquad group chat. Denki must’ve realized he texted the wrong chat room because he never sent another text. Coming to that conclusion, Bakugou assumed something was going on and so he got ready to make a quick trip to his best friend’s house to get in the know. This was a stretch considering they never told him anything about you, which he’ll agree is deserved, but regardless he won’t stop trying.

He got ready and once he was done he was right out the door. As he pulled up to the house he noticed not only Kirishima and Mina, he saw Sero and Kaminari. Something was definitely up. He pulled over to the side and just watched. He saw the 4 friends talking and laughing and finally, he saw the gifts. That’s what gave it away. He watched as the friends packed gifts into their cars and once he saw Kirishima bring a cake, that was all the confirmation Katsuki needed. They were going to see you. They knew where you were.

Katsuki stayed hidden as he followed his friends on the road. He stayed a few cars behind and took on a slow pace. Thankfully, they never noticed him. As the ash blonde drove he couldn’t help but feel a little stinging in his chest and butterflies in his belly. He was so excited to see you..see his daughter..his family.

The drive felt like forever and it probably was. Katsuki looked at his location on the map and it was then that he really saw how far you had moved. It hurt his heart realizing how much you really didn’t want to see him but the fact that he was going to reunite with you soon was overcoming any negative thoughts or feelings. Eventually, his friends ahead of him had arrived and of course, Katsuki followed. The blonde parked a little ways off from the house and waited. He figured that seeing him would cause some shock throughout the home. Katsuki didn’t expect you or Katsumi to be happy to see him but he didn’t care. He’s willing to go through whatever to bring you both back. So, instead of going in right away, he allowed you and Katsumi to enjoy yourselves for some time before he went in and crashed the place.

—

“Happy birthday to you~”

“Blow out the candles, sweetie!” You said while holding the cake. Katsumi smiled, took a tiny breath, and took out the small flames. You all clapped for the now 16 year old girl and you placed the cake down. Playful banter and happy talks were discussed all around as you began to cut the cake and pass around slices.

“I can’t believe our little Katsumi’s all grown up!” Kaminari sobbed into Sero’s shoulder. The slender man made a face of disgust as slobber got all over him and pushed the electric blonde off.

“We’re so happy we got to see you today, kid.” Sero said to the smiling little lady.

“I’m really glad I got to see you guys too! You really made this birthday something special. I love you guys! Especially you, Mom. Thanks for everything.” Katsumi said as she walked to you and wrapped her arms around you.

“I’d give the whole world for you Katsumi. As long as you’re happy, I’m happy. Your smile s’all I’ll need.” You said while rubbing soft circles onto her back. You released the hug as chatter grew again.

On the outside, Bakugou was pressed with his back against the door. He was lucky it was pretty late, so no one would take notice of the pro hero snooping on some “random” house. As Bakugou listened in on the party inside, he teared up at the sound of the singing. What you all didn’t know was that on the other side of the door, Bakugou was also singing and wishing his daughter a happy birthday. Although it was Katsumi’s day, Bakugou took her wish, and begged for his family back.

He stayed outside the door for awhile but the sound of his name made his ears perk. “So..how are things with Bakugou?”

—

You rolled your eyes at Mina’s question. “C’mon. Seriously? Like I’d know.” You laughed a little.

“Y/N, I’m being serious. Katsumi’s 16 now. She hasn’t seen Bakugou in 5 years. Don’t you think it’s a little tough on both of them?” Your pink friend asked. You soften your eyes a bit as you looked towards your hands

“....Of course I do, Mina. Katsumi has always been a daddy’s girl.” You said while looking towards your daughter, who was laughing with her uncles. “She loves him...and so do I. But it was her choice to not see him. ....She thinks I don’t know it, but I’m well aware of just how bad Katsuki’s absence is hurting her. She puts up a strong facade, but I’m her mother and I can see through it. She misses him but she’s too hurt by what happened.”

“But still, what about Bakugou? I know what he did was horrible-“

“Extremely.”

“Right. But he’s still my friend. He tells us everything. He’s so broken by what happened and I’m not saying you should forgive him but if Katsumi misses her dad as much as Bakugou misses the both of you, maybe she should consider seeing him again.” Mina mentioned. You couldn’t believe yourself but you honestly began to consider it.

Back with Katsuki, his eyes widened a bit. A small smiled grew on his face and tiny tears of joy filled his eyes. He made a reminder to thank Mina for her recommendation for you. If you agreed to it, he might get his Baby Bear back. ..He might get you back too. However, a sudden voice made his hopes shaky.

—

“No, she shouldn’t.”

You and Mina both looked behind you to see your daughter standing there. You both held shocked expressions as you watched her.

“..Katsumi..you don’t ever think of seeing him again?” You asked as her expression grew a mix of hurt and anger.

“No! Not after what he did to you! What he did to us.” She said. You kicked yourself as you and Mina were reminded of the lie you told your daughter. He did hurt the two of you...just not in the way that she thinks. “If he was lucky, and his reasons were good enough, then maybe, maybe I’d forgive him. And maybe I’d go back to seeing him. But he’s gone and he’s not coming back.”

—

On the other side of the door, Katsuki grew hurt by the memories of what he did. After hearing his daughter’s words, he had enough and finally worked up the courage to knock on the door.

—

“-he’s not coming back.”

*knock* *knock* *knock*

The 3 of you looked to the door and were shocked at the new guest. Nobody else was scheduled to come. Who could it be? You watched as Kirishima went to open it and took notice of his surprised face. He said a few quiet words, nodded, and then took a few steps away from the door. He looked towards you and your daughter and you felt the whole world stop as you all looked to the man in front of you who had just stepped in.

“....Hey.”

“.....Katsuki.” You said with small tears in your eyes. You looked towards your daughter to see a sad and hurt expression on her face as her jaw slightly dropped.

“...Dad.”

—

“So.....you’re back.” You said with a broken and bittersweet voice as you stepped to him. You crossed your arms as a way to hold yourself in comfort and to put on a strong front in front of Katsuki. Only problem was, he was the man you loved and who loved you. You’ve been together since you both were babies. He knows how you truly feel.

Bakugou chuckled a bit as he put his hands in his pockets and stepped towards you. “Thank you, Y/N.”

“For what?” You quickly and sternly asked.

“For keeping my secret. You think my dumbass friends wouldn’t tell me what you did?” He began before he was interrupted.

“Hey! At least these dumbasses know it ain’t cool to crash a party!” The electric dunce said as he took another bite of cake.

“Denki!” The rest of the Bakusquad (minus Bakugou) shouted. Bakugou shook his head with a small laugh before continuing.

“Thank you for protecting Katsumi from me. You never once sold me out.” He explained with sad eyes and a hurt smiled. You used your arms to console yourself as you rubbed your sides for warmth. A warmth that only Katsuki could ever help you feel.

“Yeah well...a girl should think well of her father.” You said as you stepped to the side and you both turned to face Katsumi. She held her hands together by the fingers before dropping them and walking to her dad.

“Hi Katsumi.” Katsuki said with a loving, cracked voice. You all watched as Katsumi took small breath before speaking.

“...W-Why are you here? And what do you mean Mom never sold you out? What are you guys talking about?” She asked with her teary eyes.

“..I can answer all of those questions if you talk to me. In private, I’d prefer.” Bakugou said. Katsumi shook her head no before taking a few steps back.

“I don’t want to go anywhere with you.” She said.

“Katsumi,” the said girl looked to her mother who called for her. “You should talk to him.”

“What?” The Bakusquad said.

“What?” Katsumi said.

“What?” Bakugou said.

“There’s some things that you need to know.” You turned to Bakugou as you said this part. “Some things that only you can tell her. That you should tell her. .....You both can talk on the patio.”

“Mom, I don’t want to-“

“I’m not asking, Katsumi. I’m telling you. Go talk to your father. There’s something that you should know.” You sternly said to your daughter. She only stared at you for a minute before looking towards Bakugou and walking to the patio. Bakugou looked towards you and saw you nod your head for approval to follow her. Before he left he pulled you in for a hug. As much as you wanted to hate it, you couldn’t. His scent engulfed you and his warmth finally reached you after so many years. You missed him and your mind and body were quick to give in. You wrapped your arms around his neck as he held onto you by your waist. He embraced all of you and melted into your soft touch that he so dearly missed.

“Thank you, Y/N......I love you.” He whispered into your neck only for you to hear. You nodded, but he knew you still felt the same way when you squeezed him tighter. He smiled at that, and you both finally released each other before he walked to his daughter who was waiting outside.

He opened the back door to find his daughter waiting at the outdoor table. He took a seat across from her and just smiled. She’s really here. In front of him. He finally got to see not only the love of his life but his precious little girl as well.

“...It’s so good to see you, Baby Bear....you’ve grown so much.” He softly said to her. She looked up with sad, angry eyes as she glared at him.

“....Why are you here, dad?” She said in a hurt tone. Bakugou held a shaky smile as she said that word. Dad. Granted, it was no longer daddy but it was something. He loved it either way. He needed to hear it.

“A lot of reasons. To wish my daughter a happy 16th...to apologize..and explain..to see my daughter..my family-“

“We’re not your family. You left us. You don’t leave family.” Katsumi sternly interrupted.

“Right...‘I left you guys.’ ......Baby Bear-“

“Don’t call me that.”

Ouch. That hurt Katsuki’s heart. Broke it even more than it already was. “...There’s something I have to tell you. Something your mother didn’t. Something she lied to you about..to protect me.”

“What the hell are you talking about? Mom is perfect! And amazing! She would never lie to anyone especially me!” Katsumi pointed out as she raised her voice at her father.

“She really is perfect and amazing...and I was dumb enough to lose her. Katsumi...I know your mom told you that I left you both..but in reality...She..left me.” Bakugou said. It felt like lead fell onto his body as he watched his daughter fall into confusion.

“N-No...no you’re lying!” Katsumi said as she stood up and slammed her hands on the table. Katsuki didn’t flinch as he expected this reaction. “She wouldn’t! She wouldn’t tear apart our family..she..she wouldn’t do that...to..to me.” She said as her voice progressively got softer with each word. “Quit lying and just admit that you left us! That you put me and Mom through hell!” Her voice rose once more. “Was I not enough for you to stay?! What did I do that was wrong?! I thought we were the perfect family! I thought...we were happy. Was I not a good enough reason to stay? You couldn’t even try for me? For your daughter? You didn’t even take my feelings into consideration when you left. You didn’t even think about me, Dad.”

Bakugou couldn’t believe it. Your lie was supposed to protect Katsumi, but instead it installed all these insecurities she now has. His friends had told him Katsumi was finally happy..but he guessed she hid all her thoughts..just like he would. She really was his daughter. “Katsumi...it wasn’t like that.”

“You’re lying!!!” Katsumi screamed to herself as tear drops began to fall.

“Katsumi! It’s been 11 years since your mother left me and 5 since I got to see you!” He said with a hurt voice. “Do you honestly think I would wait this long, spend years to find your new home, and come all the way out here just to lie to you?” He watched as his daughter’s face fell as she realized he wasn’t lying. He watched as her faith in her mother deteriorated. He couldn’t let that happen. “Don’t be mad at her though. Be mad at me. She had every reason to leave.”

“..What did you do?” She asked unbothered. She doesn’t care about anything anymore. She doesn’t think she could get any more hurt. Her best friend and mother lied to her about something so crucial. What could possibly make it worse? Katsuki felt his heart beat all around his body. He grew nervous and his palms grew sweatier than usual.

“...I-..Katsumi..*sigh* ...I’m so sorry, Baby Bear.” He slightly sobbed. Katsumi now grew interested. She couldn’t remember much but from what she could, she doesn’t think she ever saw her father cry. Even in the worst situations, he never broke. He always put up a strong front for the world. For her.

“Dad?...” she asked as she sat up in her chair.

“....Katsumi...your mom left me..because I cheated on her.”

There it was. The truth was finally revealed to Katsumi. Plain and simple. Her E/C eyes popped as angry tears filled them. Hurt. Betrayal. Fury. All those emotions she abandoned years ago all came rushing back through her. She began to shake as her breath grew heavy. Bakugou apologized over and over with his head down. Katsumi felt her palms grow hot as they began to spark. Out of anger, she screamed and hit her father with an explosion. The same explosions she got from him.

She watched as her father flew back a few feet and cringed in slight pain. Her blast wasn’t intended to hurt him completely but was more meant to keep him at a distance. She watched as Bakugou got up from the floor and faced her again. Her tears fell heavy as a shadow casted over her eyes. Screw the distance. She ran to him and began punching his chest with everything she had. Thanks to his training, and Katsumi’s distraught state, Katsuki felt little to no pain. He could only look down in heart break as he watched his daughter become a mess due to his actions.

“H-How could you?!” She said as she continued to hit him. “How could you do that to us?! TO MOM! TO ME!” She said and finally looked to her father, showing him her tears, cherry red rose, and puffy eyes. “DO YOU HAVE ANY IDEA WHAT YOU PUT US THROUGH?! Do you have any idea what kind of hell Mom went through?! Mom doesn’t know it but I saw her face! I saw the tear streaks in the mornings, her red, swollen eyes! I saw her sadness behind her happy cover! And not to mention what I did to her! My family broke and I became a little terror. I caused Mom hell. ALL BECAUSE OF YOU, DAD! YOU WANNA KNOW WHAT I WENT THROUGH?! I had to leave my home! I had to move away from my friends! My family! I HAD TO LOSE MY FAMILY! I HAD TO LOSE YOU!!”

Inside the house, the group of friends could hear everything. All the yelling, the shouting. The anger and pain. Y/N had rivers flowing down her face as she covered her sobs with her hand. Her friends settled around her and comforted her through this horrible time. Outside, Bakugou’s face went into a slight shock at his daughter’s last sentence. “W-What?”

“I had to lose you, Dad! You think I don’t remember? You were my best friend. My idol and hero. To me, it never got better than you. ...But you did this? You betrayed Mom. You betrayed me. I love you, Dad, I still do...but I guess you never loved me or Mom.” Katsumi said as she looked down again.

“Katsumi that’s not true. I love both of you with my entire being-“

“So then why’d you do it?” His daughter asked with her voice, laced with pain.

“I was drunk and made a stupid mistake. It’s a day I completely regret because it was the day I tore apart my family and lost everything.” Bakugou said.

“Tch, you didn’t lose anything at all! You still have the house, the money, the fame, the fans. You’re still a pro, you still have everything!” Katsumi shouted.

“I don’t have you or your mother.” Silence grew at the beginning of his confession. “Like I said, you both are my entire being. Yes, I love my job and I’m grateful for everything I’ve earned and accomplished but I’d give it all up in a heartbeat if it meant I’d get to bring you and your mother back home to me. I don’t care about anything else other than the two of you. You haven’t seen me in the past 5 years and in the last 11 years when you did see me when you came over, you never saw my broken side. You never saw how distraught I was. You never saw the hell I went through because I don’t have the two of you, at home, with me.”

Bakugou stepped to his daughter and wrapped his arms around her to hold her. She allowed him to do so and began to silently cry in his chest. She refused to hold him back as her head was still in a cloud of confusion. Does she forgive him? Go back to seeing him? Try to bring her family back together? What to do, what to do.

“I’m sorry for everything I put you through Katsumi. Both you and your mother. I ruined our family and it’s something I’ve regretted for over a decade. But I won’t let you both go. I will do everything in my power to bring our family back together so we can be happy again. And I’m starting here, by telling you the truth.” Bakugou explained. Silence grew once more and Katsumi had finally made her decision.

“Well I suggest you stop trying..’cuz you’re never bringing us back.” Katsumi said as she pushed her father off of her and narrowed her eyes at him. Bakugou stared at his daughter with wide eyes.

“What?” He asked with an exasperated voice.

“You committed the ultimate betrayal. You broke Mom’s heart, betrayed me and her, and broke this family apart. You ruined us. We’ve finally picked ourselves back up and I don’t think we should let the guy who wrecked our world come back into it. ...I’m glad you came and told me the truth..thank you for that..hope you get home safe.” Bakugou was hurt but he understood where she was coming from. He watched as his daughter began to walk away but he wanted to keep her around as long as he could. He knew this probably would be the last time he would get to see her for awhile.

“I’m sorry!” He said with a sob. He watched Katsumi flinch to his sudden booming voice and turn to him. Bakugou looked at his daughter with teary eyes. “You..you turned out great. You’re the best daughter I could ever ask for. Your Mother did a great job at raising you...I just wish I could say the same.”

As Katsumi took in his words, she could feel a heavy weight fly off of her chest. “.....Woah.”

“What?” Bakugou asked.

“...F-For so long, I’ve been mad at the world. For a period of time, I was mad at mom. But for the past 11 years, I always thought I wasn’t good enough. I thought I was a problem..and I was so broken and mad,” Katsumi looked up to her father with tears at the ends of her eyes and a tiny smile. “I-...I’m not mad anymore...thanks to you.”

Katsumi ran back to her dad and wrapped her arms around him. Bakugou was shocked but felt the tears build up again. He wrapped his arms around her and held his daughter tight for as long as she would allow. Time passed and it was clear the both of them were trying to hold onto this father-daughter moment for as long as they could, but Katsumi knew it was time to let go. Before releasing her hold on her father, she allowed herself to say her farewells.

“Goodbye Daddy....I love you.” Was all she said before pulling away from her dad and walking back into the house. Bakugou watched her go and dropped his head as he allowed himself to cry in peace.

When Katsumi entered the house, she was quick to break down again and sob. She ran to her mother who immediately wrapped her arms around her sad daughter. They both held onto each other as Katsumi said her apologies.

“I’m so sorry Mom! There was a time where I blamed you and none of this was your fault. I’m so sorry!” She sobbed and you pulled her back so you could face her.

“It’s okay, Katsumi, it’s okay,” you whispered. “Don’t apologize for anything. None of this was your fault, okay?” Katsumi only nodded as you pulled her in for another hug. The Bakusquad offered to take her back up to her room so she could settle down and you nodded as you allowed your daughter to head to the comfort of her room. The Bakusquad went to help her cheer up and they of course brought the comedic genius, Kaminari, with them.

“Nothing brings more joy in sad times than a goofy uncle!” Kaminari said as the 4 of them walked up the stairs.

“I could name so many more things, Denki. Trust me.” Mina said as she walked along side him. You chuckled at their conversation as they walked up the stairs but soon, your attention was directed to the opening back door. Katsuki walked in with a sad expression but gave a happy glance once he saw you. He walked towards you and you gave him a sad smile.

“So...I guess now she knows.” You said to break the silence.

“Um...yeah..she knows.” Bakugou said as he looked towards the ground. “......Y/N..I’m so sorry,” he said looking back at you. “If I could go back in time and stop myself I would. Because then I would still have my family. My daughter....you. I’d still have you and Katsumi and we’d still be in the same house with another kid a few years younger than Katsumi and then maybe we’d have another on accident because everyone knows I can’t keep my hands to myself when it comes to you,” he joked sadly. You laughed at his fantasy and you’d be lying if you said you didn’t have similar thoughts.

“Yeah..just...maybe if things were different.” You said with your sad smile. Bakugou slowly went in to grab your hand and you allowed him as he moved in closer to you.

“I’m sorry, Teddy Bear-“

“Stop saying ‘sorry’ Katsuki,” you said as you threw your head back with your small smile still plastered on. You faced him again before speaking. “I know you’re sorry. But..there’s nothing that’s gonna change with it. Maybe it’s time for you to move on. Time for both of us to move on.”

Bakugou shook his head at the idea. “No. I know myself. I know I’ll never be able to let you both go. I’ll never be able to move on, even if I wanted to. But I am able to respect your wishes. If Katsumi doesn’t want to see me anymore....then I’ll give her what she wants.”

“I’m sorry, Katsuki.” You said in regards to your daughter.

“S’not your fault Teddy Bear. It’s mine, obviously. Just what happens when you’re an idiot.” He said, degrading himself. You giggled at his comment and went in to wrap your arms around his neck.

“Yeah..but you’re always gonna be my idiot.” You said into his neck. Bakugou held you tight and took in your intoxicating scent. He took the time to memorize the warmth you had, the way you smelt, the way you felt. How amazing it was to hold you in his arms. He drilled it all into his mind so he would never forget.

“I’m glad. ....I love you Y/N.” He said into your soft hair.

“......I love you too Katsuki.” You replied back with all the love you could give. You both pulled away to face each other but felt something immediately draw you back in. You pressed against each other closer than before as your lips slowly came in contact.

This was something Bakugou also drilled in. The way you tasted. Your sweet strawberry lips were something he would never forget. Something he could never resist. The kiss slowly grew more passionate and intense as Bakugou bit down on your bottom lip, releasing a very quiet moan from you. Quickly, he slipped his tongue in and you allowed it as you succumbed to him. The kiss was strong and Bakugou began to push you against a wall but when his hands traveled to the hill of your ass, gave it a squeeze, and you released another moan, you decided it was enough.

You pushed on Bakugou’s chest and kept him back a bit. He looked down at you in confusion but when he saw your small smile and little head shake he understood. He smiled down at you with sad eyes as he nodded. His hands returned to your waist and pulled you in for a final hug that you happily returned. He pulled away but not before giving you a sweet peck on your forehead. He finally stepped away from you and walked to the door. You followed him as you escorted him to the exit and with his hand on the knob, he opened it as he looked at you with the same sad smile that mirrored your own.

“Bye Y/N.” He said on the other side of the entrance.

“Bye Katsuki.” You said with your hand on the door. While he pulled on the knob, you lightly shut the door.

You both placed your backs on your own sides of the door and released a breath you both didn’t know you were holding. A heavy feeling finally hopped off your chests as you both looked up. You both knew that you weren’t letting each other go. That’d be impossible and you knew it. It was more of you both accepting the new reality. You loved each other, wholeheartedly and entirely, but this would have to be the end of your story together.

You’re not letting go...this is just goodbye.

[wh6res]

chase — renhyuck

“needy kitty. i can’t wait for purge night.”

tw bullying, violence, swearing, yandere themes, possessive themes, blood, weapons (a gun, a grenade), implied noncon, implied kidnapping, mentions of stalking

disc i dont condone this behavior

wc 5k

‏‏‎ ‎

29 hours before the annual purge

“hold her down—i said hold her down, idiot!”

putting everything into account, they saw you more like a glorified chew toy than an actual person. 

they ruined your life simultaneously and it's ironic, that despite being sworn rivals, it seems you were their neutral ground—after one has had their own fun, you’re passed on to the other person so they can deliver that final, shattering blow that weakens your resolve. 

it was meant to be that way because it had always been that way. you’re the unlucky loser that ignited the worse sides of both lee haechan and huang renjun. 

they’re like oil and water; they don’t mix but with you, they found a compromise. stealing your lunch money, trashing your homework, quickies in between lectures. all of these should’ve been enough to give them a good power trip. but they’ve developed a hunger so severe that these past instances are but mere crumbs that hardly satisfy their cravings. 

it was beyond exhausting, being caught in between two headstrong people that were unwilling to back down at any cost. their aggression and anger towards each other directly being channeled onto you as they shove and swing you around like some ragdoll. 

you weren’t a bunch of kids, you knew that. you don’t cry and sob and say that it’s unfair, you hold your chin high and walk up to the guidance counselor’s office to report them for bullying. but you never should’ve underestimated the power of money and their respective families’ broad network of connections. 

without a doubt, the empty promises for justice is what broke your heart the most. it breaks with every bruise, every tight grip, and every nasty name the people willingly turned a blind eye to. 

it’s sad but it was a reality you taught yourself to get used to—the meek mouse learning how to evade the cats hot on her trail. 

but you weren’t as lucky today. 

“i am holding her down.”

a pair of lips comes in contact with your neck. its feathery and light at first until its biting down to mark you with his teeth. not too strong to draw blood, but enough to dent the surface of the skin. 

haechan has an oral fixation. biting his lips. his nails. whenever you see him, he always has a lollipop on his mouth and if he doesn’t, he’s painting hickeys across your skin. you hated his oral fixation, especially when makeup and clothes proved useless to hide the marks he gives you. 

“why run?” renjun asks you, slipping his fingers underneath your skirt as he kneels. “you know you have nowhere to hide in the campus.”

haechan snorts. “or anywhere else.”

it’s always the same thing. you go to school. you sit in your first period for thirty minutes until one of them shows up. then the other boy probably felt a gut instinct that he’s missing out on the fun. last time, it was an empty classroom in the abandoned left wing. 

they like taking you there all the time, it was always dark, the blinds pulled and shut tight. not to mention it was incredibly dusty. but both male knew you’re afraid of the dark, exactly why it’s their favorite spot. but empty classrooms and supply closets are close seconds, too. 

“you’re so pathetic. useless—only know how to whine like a fucking pornstar,” he quickly comments, feeling you arch against him when renjun’s tongue comes in contact with the pearl between your legs. “my cumdump.”

you feel a sharp exhale against your lower lips. you shudder. renjun clicks his tongue in annoyance. “can you shut up? you’re making my dick soft with all that talking.”

but haechan had ignored him completely, blissfully ignorant of the petite boy’s frustrations as he angles your head up to crash his lips onto yours. when he slightly pulls away, still playfully nibbling your bottom lip, what he said next made your blood run cold. 

“needy kitty. i can’t wait for purge night.”‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎ ‎

6 hours before the annual purge

the price to pay for protection started rising again this year and you, much like your neighbors, are in a sense of turmoil. jamming the doors with cabinets and nailing your windows with wood is hardly enough to satisfy the gnawing feeling in your stomach. much less when you didn’t even have a weapon to wield other than a wooden bat and a cheap taser you bought on sale. 

“its not like anyone will be coming for you, right?” the little girl says, touching the randomest stuff in your apartment. her name was naeun and she never really liked pink and sparkles like most girls her age, maybe that’s why she took a liking to you. 

her mom works a 9 to 5 and her grandma stays with her on occasion. but the old lady loved to sleep, naeun said, so she gets the chance to slip out and come knocking on your door. you tried shooing her out of your apartment countless times but she’s stubborn. 

she reminds you of yourself. 

“well, i hope no one does.” you joked, putting on a turtleneck. 

naeun’s mom doesn't like you as much as it is, but if you yourself let naeun see the bruises on your skin? you’d hate yourself forever. “now, come on little missy, go back to your grandma. i need to head over to the bank to settle my protection fees.”

“but you just said no one is going to come for you anyway,” she whines stomping towards the door. “mom already settled ours yesterday becase grammy forced her to. mommy said it was just a waste of money because who’d bother to rob us anyway?”

a memory flashes in your head. two boys who’ve sandwiched you between them in the dark of a fucking supply closet at uni. wandering hands, labored whispers, curt giggles, one pair of lips trailing up your neck while the other up your inner thigh.

“needy kitty. i can’t wait for purge night.”

you needed that protection. that was no slip up because haechan never makes mistakes. if he wanted to make you feel like some animal on the run after catching a whiff of trouble then he sure is doing a good job. 

“hey! i think you just went someplace else there,” naeun says, nudging your side irritably to get your attention again. 

you try forcing out a chuckle but it doesn't work, still deeply peeved by a memory from last week replaying vividly in your mind. if they ever mean what they meant (which you know they do) then this is now more than just trying to get through the night—you have to survive, prepare, and pray neither of them finds you. 

“i think your grandma’s right in doing what she did, naeun. with humans, you’ll never know.”

and just like that naeun went silent, bid you goodbye, and disappeared behind the apartment door.

the bank was a quick walk from your apartment. you hardly broke much sweat and you even managed to stop by the grocery store to make some last-minute runs. the store’s nearly empty, deserted of any human being as the seconds slowly but surely ticked away. it was only when you walked past aisle seven did you pause, the hairs on your back standing as a slow chill crawled up your spine. 

you look over your shoulder. 

no one’s there. 

you swallow, quickly looking down your watch to check the time as you made your way to counter. 3 hours before the annual purge. you needed to get your ass moving. you just need to grab one more thing and you’ll best be on your way. 

you practically ran towards the dairy section and just as you spin around, strawberry ice cream pint in your hands, you jump as he appears before you in thin air and you drop whatever you’re holding. 

“such a skittish little kitten,” renjun clicks his tongue, bending down to retrieve the ice cream on the floor. “here you go.”

you couldn’t even stare at him in the eye. your hands shook but it wasn’t because of the cold desert. now you get it. it’s his eyes you felt on you earlier, ever intrusive and piercing as he watched you from afar. was he stalking you?

“i didn’t quite catch a thank you, kitty.”

how foolish of you to think he’ll let you duck away without at least speaking to him, hm?

“thank… thank you?”

renjun grins, satisfied with your stuttering as he raises a hand to ruffle your hair—he ignores how you flinched away from him—before walking away with one hand in his coat pocket, whistling an eerie tune that can haunt your nightmares way after purge night. 

“see you later, kitten.”

if it wasn’t the whistling that set you on edge or that clear promise of your doom—it’s the pack of zip ties and duct tape in his hands.‏‏‎ ‎

you were watching a rerun of your favorite morning reality tv when it cuts to the dreaded blue screen showing the flag of korea. 

this is not a test.

this is your emergency broadcast system announcing the commencement of the annual purge sanctioned by the south korean government. 

weapons of class 4 and lower have been authorized for use during the purge. all other weapons are restricted. 

commencing at the siren, any and all crime, including murder, will be legal for 12 continuous hours. 

police, fire, and emergency medical services will be unavailable until tomorrow morning until 7 am when the purge concludes. 

may god be with you all.

you’ll never get used to the blaring siren that echoes through the empty streets. you can feel the floor vibrating and it travels throughout your whole body as the dread starts sinking deep into your skin. 

you’ve already double checked all your windows and the front door. activated the security system provided by the bank. and you’ve also already charged your taser and have hammered down nails into your wooden bat. fine. if they wanted to scare and bully you into a panicked frenzy, it did its job but fuck no will you go down without a fight. 

you shut all the lights, the apartment basking in the moonlight glow brought by the translucent curtains as you make your way to your bedroom, nearest the emergency exit just in case they barge through your front door by force. 

at first, nothing happened. it was peaceful. tranquil. you can hear a pin drop with how quiet it was. both inside and outside. you were almost tempted to cover your mouth in case you were breathing too loud. 

it’s silent. until it wasn’t.

your phone rings. it’s there, vibrating on your desk and you make long strides until you’re face to face with a set of numbers on your screen. an unregistered contact. there’s a debate inside your head whether to answer it or not, fingers hovering between the red and green button… until it eventually lands on the green. 

you put it up to your ear, hands sweating as you wait with bated breath for the person on the other end to speak. 

“kitten?”

it’s renjun. you don’t answer. 

“i can hear you breathing, you know. i can’t wait to see you. we’ll have so much fun together. it’s sad that i have to share with that imbecile but better half of you than nothing of you, right?” he laughs and you feel a rush of anger surge through you. yet, you don’t bother to give him the satisfaction of a reply. 

“i can see you’re angry, little kitty. while it’s cute and hot… don’t be. turn that frown upside down for me, wouldn’t you?”

but the blinds are drawn he couldn’t have seen you—

“you’re never going to get me, you fucking bastard. i’m not scared of you,” you sure do hope he can’t hear the tremble in your voice. “whatever you plan on doing to me, you’ll fail.”

you walk back slowly, eyes darting everywhere to look for a camera they could’ve installed in your room. they have connections and the money to do it so you won’t put it past them. 

“oh, my stupid kitty. how can we fail when we already got a head start?” 

the floorboard behind you creaks and before you could turn around, someone slams your head against the desk. you hear a crack, whether it’s the screen of your laptop or your nose, you couldn’t tell. the person is agile and silent as he maneuvers you to the ground and seals your lips with duct tape. 

“after all,” haechan giggles. “you can’t lock out what’s already inside, kitten.”

your phone lands somewhere near your head. renjun has already dropped the call and the line goes silent. 

squirming, you glared at the person on top of you. is this how you’re gonna go? you can’t deny, even you yourself find this pathetic. the security alarms you bought, the nail-studded bat, your taser, everything was all for naught? just because you didn’t check under your bed to make sure no one was there?

how long was haechan waiting? when naeun was still here? when you went out to buy groceries? 

you thought it would be fear you’ll be feeling as you get caught but the emotion isn’t present at all. instead, it’s white hot anger that overrides your system and forces you to act without thinking—and it just fucking saved your life. 

haechan always saw you as a vulnerable, sad little human being who couldn’t do shit on her own. it’s easy to underestimate you and that’s his first mistake. 

the second is rather foolish—not tying your legs up first. it’s all too easy to slam your forehead against his before jerking your leg up to knee him in the balls. 

you can see the anger in his eyes clear as day as you made a run for it to the kitchen, having come up with another escape plan—because surely if you went down the emergency exit, haechan would’ve caught up easily with those long legs after he’s recovered from your assault. 

your nose was probably bleeding and your head is in the early stages of a full blown migraine, at least you were able to function enough to wobble your way towards the trash chute situated near the stove. you had cursed that chute the first day you moved in here (who would put a trash chute next to a fucking stove) but the day has come for you to thank the gods that you have that in your house. 

going for a swim in all your neighbors’ trash is disgusting and unplanned (plus, falling down maybe six floors to your doom) but you’ll choose that over lee haechan and huang renjun any day. 

“don’t you dare fucking think about it!”

you flashed him the middle finger to tick him off. a petty retaliation for all the bullshit he and renjun put you through but it felt good nonetheless. 

“catch me if you fuckers can.”

and you were falling down the trash chute.‏‏‎ ‎

okay, yeah—maybe you should’ve thought it through before hurling yourself six floors down only for some half-filled dumpster to catch you but at least you’re still alive, right? alive and free, mind you. but you don’t have time to celebrate. 

it smelled awful and you swear your knees and elbows are bruised but you scramble to climb out and run away as fast as you can. 

it was only haechan inside your apartment. no sign of renjun but he did see you somehow and you have no doubt it was a camera inside that room. you didn’t have much time to ponder for how long they were installed in your room. it’s the least of your worries at the moment.

you’re outside. 

during purge night.

even if you did manage to escape it felt more like a win than a lose, forced out of your own apartment in nothing but shorts and a shirt—heck, you don’t even have shoes on!—it felt like they won. again. 

if you’re not going to die in the hands of some other wacko, you’ll die of hypothermia. how nice. 

you didn’t know where you were running to, the only thing you knew was you need to get the hell out of this neighborhood as fast as you can. you didn’t want to run in alleyways and risk getting stabbed for fun. maybe the sewer system… oh, right. you don’t have your phone on you and it’ll probably be pitch black down there. 

you really, truly, genuinely didn’t want to run so out in the open but it was the best you can impulsively come up with. 

when you feel like you’ve put a reasonable distance between you and the apartment, you stop, hands resting flat on your knees as you crouch to catch a breath. just as quick the adrenaline appeared as fast as it had disappeared. you feel the weight and tension crushing your legs, not to mention you’re really starting to feel that headache settle after headbutting haechan. 

you almost collapse against the brick wall. 

the last person you ever thought you’ll see jumps out from the corner of the alleyway and you almost broke their nose. 

until you saw who it was. 

“NAEUN?”

their apartment got raided, some buffy sickos who they had the misfortune of breaking into their house to purge. luckily they got away, but after getting attacked on the streets, naeun got separated after she ran for her life just like you did. you can’t help but feel sorry for the little girl, who experienced the full effect of this godforsaken holiday. 

this is bad. you can’t leave her but it’s tough enough to have to fend for yourself. you’re not so sure whether you can protect another human being but you’ll have to try. 

“did your mom or grandma tell you anything? anything at all?” you ask, crouching to her eye level. “you said your mom knew the way… where? what do you mean?”

“mom said they’re providing refuge on the other side of town but it’s a 30-minute drive. walking would take longer.”

shit. you didn’t want to risk it. you don’t have a car and you’d rather die right here right now than walk another step out in the streets—

“who’s ‘they’?”

“i don’t… i don’t know. she didn’t say.”

you licked your chapped lips. you can’t trust what she’s saying, not when you didn’t even know these people. it’s too risky, not to mention you’re already running from not one, but two people.

naeun sits next to you against the bricked wall of the alley, looking down at her lap. “i’m scared,” she admits. you hear a tremble in her voice. “are mom and grammy de—”

“no,” you cut her off, pulling her tiny body against yours. when you feel her fists clutching your jacket, you swear to protect this girl with your life. “no, they’re not. i’m sure they’re heading there now to the refuge center just like we are.”

her head pokes out, looking up towards you. “we’re going? i thought you didn’t want to.”

you shake your head, wiping her tears. “well, it’s the one way for you to meet your mom and grammy, right?”‏‏‎ ‎

walking down the streets during purge night—man, this has got to be the most ballsy thing you’ve ever done after that one time you spat at renjun in the eye. you managed to find a litter of bodies way into thirty minutes of walking and you nearly sent naeun flying onto the asphalt with how hard you pushed her back. she couldn’t see this mess, you’d be damned to allow a nine-year-old walk right into psychological trauma. 

you pocket a gun—you didn’t have enough courage to fight with a knife. you wiped the blood off using your shirt before shoving them down onto the garter of your shorts. you didn’t bother to take their shoes, none of them would’ve fit you anyway and it’ll just slow you down. 

“hey, are you alright? is that blood—”

“it’s not mine, naeun. come on, let’s get moving.”

for two hours you walked towards this mysterious refuge center on the other side of town and both you and naeun managed to evade death three times. 

the first attack: a group of high schoolers with their uniforms on. there were three of them, about your height, and while you weren’t responsible for the blood on your shirt, you’re not so sure about their lot. they looked crazy, excited even, but sloppy in the way they flung their knives and bats around. their first purge, you assumed, so it was fairly easy to take them down. a bullet to the head worked like a charm. naeun didn’t say anything when you urged her out of her hiding place to flee the scene. three bullets left. 

the second attack: it was a surprise, one that got you stabbed in the shin of your right leg. it was a drunkard with a knife, you could smell him as you walked past by his slumped form in the sidewalk. he wasn’t moving, so you thought he was dead and it was poor judgement on your part. it’s pathetic getting injured this way, you thought, but at least it was you who faced the consequences and not naeun. two bullets left.

the third attack: two men but deadlier than the girls and the drunk. you didn’t get to reason out with either of them, not when they drove their cadillac at 140 miles per hour and nearly ran you over. a chill crept up your spine when you saw the bloody, naked women strapped down onto the hood. victims. you didn’t engage in any form of combat, it’s impossible, so you took naeun in your arms and ran straight to the back alleys. number of bullets remain the same.

three lucky strikes. 

three times you’ve cheated death. 

but time is up and your luck has run out. 

“beating up a girl? what a coward, if you ask me,” you say, spitting out a tooth after someone kneed you in the face. you were in no position to say such things when they’ve got you busted up and bloody, left eye swollen after one hard punch. 

naeun is nowhere to be seen. 

good. 

who knows what these assholes could’ve done to her. you told her to run so she better fucking run and make sure she lives through this nightmare. 

another kick flies to your ribs and you lie sprawled on the dirty pavement of an alleyway—what an uncool way to die but at least you’ll die with a clear conscience. 

you passed by city hall a few minutes ago. surely, the refuge center is not too far from there. naeun will make it safe. she’ll make it. 

“what’s that look on her face? is she dead?”

another one scoffs. “well… if they’re after her then she’s as good as dead.”

you blacked out. ‏‏‎ ‎‏‏‎

you hate the scent of disinfectant. it crawls up your nose and you hate how the stench is so strong you can taste it on your tongue. this isn’t heaven, not when you know you’re better off burning in hellfire.

unless you weren’t dead—your eyes shoot open, sitting up in haste as you clutch the thin blanket. 

rows upon rows of the same cot you were lying on greets you. people injured, some standing, some sitting. there were people treating them, too, but they were in normal clothes so this can’t be a hospital. in fact, it looked like you’re in some warehouse, stacks of metal crates sealing off all entrances. 

“it’s the refuge,” you whisper. 

“you’re awake!” before you could even turn around, a body launches itself onto you and nearly makes the cot collapse. judging by the small frame and the pitchy voice—

“naeun, be careful!” her mother hisses but the girl in between your arms couldn’t care less. if she’d been an adult, she’d be squeezing the life out of you. when she pulls you closer, your healing ribs made a strike of pain surge through you. 

you groan, bowing in the pain. distantly, you can hear the mother and daughter fighting and it was a banter you’ve never experienced with your own mom. it nearly made you tear up from the overwhelming wave of emotions you were feeling but all else disappears when a person tenderly grips your shoulder. 

“thank you for taking care of my granddaughter.” the old lady was smiling appreciatively as she stared at you. 

that was it. it could’ve been the happy ending to a gruesome and bloody storyline—it should’ve been, family of three reunites again and that was all thanks to you, right?

but even heroes have their own bad endings. 

you heard the ticking of the grenade only seconds before it detonates. the other refugees didn’t even have the time to take cover as some closest to the sealed doors were sent flying so far back they crashed into the row of crates behind you. 

you were severely injured, limping, ribs broken, and you only had one good eye to rely on—yet the first thing you thought of was protecting naeun. maybe the midget had a way of worming herself into your heart. but before you even push yourself off the cot, a figure emerges from the smoke. 

petite and harmless, pretty as the tips of his hair grazed porcelain cheekbones. renjun’s eyes are as cold and calculating as can be and it’s the only thing that terrifies you to no end. when he opens his mouth, anger is hidden well underneath that calm tone. 

“i’ll give you one minute to come here willingly.”

there’s no room for bargain, he needn’t when he knows you have absolutely nothing to offer him but yourself. he doesn’t finish his sentence but he trusts you’re smart enough to figure out the silent threat—come, or he’ll turn this place into a fucking bloodbath. 

cornered and weak, defenseless. weird how they have a fixation for calling you ‘kitty’ when they’re the cats in this chase. 

“naeun,” you whisper, trying to crane your neck to look for her in the filth of rocks and debris. please don’t be hurt.

you freeze when you feel a barrel pointing at your head. it was only there for seconds, haechan probably doesn’t have the guts to hurt you in any way permanently (unless it’s inflicted with his own hands and not through some other medium). 

“ah, look. now we have matching black eyes,” he giggles like a madman, craning your neck up and the leather in his globes brings discomfort to your skin. 

you see the way the other refugees looked at you—scum, dirt on their feet that brought about trouble in their lives. they were already badly hurt as it is and now, this happened? you don’t blame them. 

not one man tried to stand up for you as haechan hauls you up and throws you down on renjun’s feet. your ribs were screaming and you’re cold and so, so afraid. with shaky fingers, you gestured towards the crowd. “just... please, don’t hurt them. they don’t have anything to do with this.”

renjun coos. such a cruel smirk for a pretty face. “aw, such an angel my darling is. always thinking of others instead of her own safety. funny because i don’t think you’ve ever done such a thing for me and haechan, though. i wonder why...”

the latter digs his heel in your injured legs and you scream as black starts to surround the corners of your vision. you tried to crane your neck back, pleading eyes wanting to look at the assaulter but renjun’s calloused hand is gripping your chin too tight.

“should we make a bargain, kitten?”

you stare deep into renjun’s eyes. he knows you don’t have anything left, he can see it in your glassy eyes, too wide and vulnerable. he’s doing this all for show, trying to make you even more desperate and self-aware of your eventual demise.

and you thought haechan was the only cunning one.

“what�� what bargain?"

renjun practically gleams in pride. “i’ll let everyone walk free—even your precious little naeun—that’s her name, right? the little girl you’ve been protecting the whole night?—we’ll let her and everyone in this building walk away unharmed. that’s my bargain. you know how those work, right? now, you need to give me something i want.”

forcing you to offer yourself up to them.

what a brutal way to crush your pride.

choice wasn’t an option. if you don’t oblige and choose to run away on your own, they’ll kill them and still hunt you down. you gotta say, it was a tempting bargain that appealed to the sense of heroics in your heart. naturally, you have to choose where there is less blood shed. and as renjun lets go of your chin and lets you look over your shoulder to meet little naeun’s eyes, how she sobbed against her mother’s arms and shook her head and screamed…

“hurry, kitten. i don’t like to be kept waiting.”

you know what needs to be done.

“me. i’ll give you… me.”‏‏‎‏‏‎ ‎

they stood playing a game of pool in the dead of night. it’s peaceful inside the estate while the city beyond rampaged and burned. they achieved their goal, had finally seen an end to a plan that had been set in motion for years. they’ve succeeded and the broken woman lying on the bed meters from the pool table is proof of their victory. 

“don’t you just love it when an elaborate plan works like clockwork, injun?” he asks, voice like trickling honey as he hits number 9 with the cue ball. 

the other, more petite male, rolls his eyes but doesn’t disagree. “oh, please, people like us always triumph, donghyuck. it’s nothing new. although i am surprised that little girl and her so-called “family” played along so well. almost had me fooled.”

“i agree. it's such a shame they had to go.”

‎

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jenoluck (c) all rights reserved

[strawberry-jammers]

One year

a dreamsmp x reader where a young (y/n) wants to rebuild an old old kingdom before they have to be crowned to rule over their parents kingdom. with the help of their friends and a couple of servants, they hope to rebuild it all with out their parent knowing about it.

part one part 2 part 3

part 2/?

masterlist

The lovely @acidicvolt edited this!

this part is just traveling and fluff lmao. it'll pick up in the others <3

this series is so much fun to write, I'm really enjoying it

word count: 2,215

----------

It had reached midnight, the sun long gone and nearly everyone in the castle was asleep, except for three. Karl and Niki made their way to the teens room, which was at the opposite end of the castle.

"Are you sure the king’s asleep? They have been on edge as of late…” Niki said, walking alongside Karl. Karl nods, clutching the bag he always wore. 

“Yeah, checked and everything. He's out like a light.” 

Niki nods, sighing. “Thank god he sleeps on the other side of the castle. We'd be dead if he found out we were helping his kid like this.” 

Karl nods again, looking ahead at where they were going.

In the young teens room, everything was prepared for their expedition. They packed appropriate clothes to sneak around, fight and blend in with. They had food, tools/weapons, along with the letters, money, and the lmanburg page. They were ready and excited to embark on this adventure.

Niki quietly knocks on the door, opening it a crack. Seeing that (y/n) was alone, she walks in, followed by Karl who closes the door behind them. (y/n) sighed, thankful it wasnt Eret. 

“So, you know the plan?” they ask. 

Niki nods, holding onto her own bag. 

"Okay, I'm staying behind to tell the king you two went on a camping trip for the next year or so. Somewhere in the middle of the woods where he can't check in to see where you are." Karl says to the two of them. 

"Thank you again Karl for doing that. " (y/n) says, leading Niki to their window. "Niki, you know enough of the plan right?" They asked, grabbing the ladder they had in case they ever needed to escape. 

"Yeah. We're heading to Tommy’s castle first right?" She asked, watching as (y/n) opened their window. A soft breeze entered the room. 

"Yep! Then we'll try to find Tubbo. Ready?" (y/n) said, hooking the ladder to the window and throwing it out the castle, trying to not make a noise. 

(y/n) looked down. It wasn't too high up, but it was still a bit scary. They looked back at the two servants, nodding. “Karl, when we reach the ground, bring the ladder back up and close the window. I'll go first. Again, thank you Karl, see you in a year!” with that, (y/n) climbed out the window onto the ladder. the two servants nodded, Niki going over to the window, watching the teen start to climb down the wobbly ladder. 

Once (y/n) got far enough down, they waved their hand for Niki to go after them. Niki smiled over at Karl. “It was nice meeting you, Karl.” she said, making the brunette smile as well. “It was! See you in a year Niki! Take care.” she nodded, grabbing her bag, making sure nothing was left behind. Once she saw everything was in check, she went down, following her new friend.

“Man, I should've worn a thicker sweater.” Niki said, finally reaching the ground. “Yeah, I should've checked before we left. Too late now though.” (y/n) responds, watching as the ladder slowly shrank back up into their room. The two of them waved at Karl, who smiled back at them. “Alright, where to go first? We can't just go straight to the tundra.” Niki said, watching as (y/n) looked around. It was still pretty dark out, so they hoped it wouldn't turn a day before they even left the castle grounds. “Well we need to find some transportation for when we exit the forest. Cant be going thru town, it's too early for that.'' Niki nodded, looking over at the forest. “Got any torches?” (y/n) asked the pinkett. Niki nodded, shuffling into her bag, pulling out an unlit torch and lighter. “Yep, need one?” (y/n) shook their heads. “Only one of us needs one for now, well just gotta stay close together. Let's go, we can't stay here forever.” (y/n) says, chuckling softly. “Of course! Let's go!”

The two of them entered the forest close to the castle, leaving it behind. (y/n) had no regrets, they knew they needed this, even if eret forbid them. Niki was excited, she hadn't gone on an adventure since she was small, so it was a nice change of pace.

“Yknow (y/n), we’ve never actually met properly before this. Only in passing.” she said, stepping over a thick tree root. (y/n) followed, nearly tripping. “Really? I didn't notice. Though, i was held up in my room for awhile there.” they said, looking at all the trees that encased the two of them. No matter how many years go by, they still found nature to be beautiful. “Yeah, I did become one of the king's cooks when you were 16, not too long ago.” she said,pulling a branch up for (y/n) to walk past. “Oh thank you. What were you doing before then? Before you started working for my dad.” Niki thought for a second before answering. 

“Well, i was only 18 when he hired me, so i was doing what any kid did at that time. For a while I took up gardening, growing many types of flowers, though they all ended up dying after a while.” she said. (y/n) stopped, noticing the forest was ending. “i did gardening as well when i was young child. Made many flower crowns and such with them.” Niki gasped excitedly at this. “Maybe we can make flower crowns together!! I haven't done it in so long..” (y/n) smiled. ‘Of course we can! We have a whole year after all!” they laughed together, looking out at the forest in front of them. “God I hope your mom doesn't fire me when this is all over…” (y/n) looks over at Niki, giving her a reassuring smile. “Well good thing I'll be the ruler when we get back. You're not getting fired on my watch.” Niki smiled at this. “Thank you (y/n)...should we go now?” (y/n) nodded, looking ahead once more.

The two of them continue to walk, leaving the small forest behind. “Okay, we should be in a farm area. The houses are spaced out so no one should see us. Should take a half hour to an hour to get through. There should be a train station after that. It'll take us to the arctic kingdom." Niki nodded, grabbing some bread from her bag. "Bread?" (Y/n) shook their heads, declining. "I ate before we left. Thanks tho." 

They both walked through the field, the torches flame flickering as they walked. There were no monsters around, since there hadn't been any around the area in 100s of years. They were safe. 

Niki looked at some of the farmland, noticing they had to walk through some of it. (Y/n) noticed it as well. "How do we get through there? They'll notice someone was here in the morning." (Y/n) said, not completely knowing how to get by. "Got any ender pearls?"  

(y/n) thought for a second, looking in their bag for some. “Oh, looks like I do! Got a bag full of ‘em.'' They hand some to Niki, who throws it over the larger field, hoping to get over without touching the wheat. (y/n) followed, both of them successfully getting across the farm.

“I am so glad that worked.” (y/n) said, putting the pearls back in their bag. Niki nodded, sighing. “Is the trans station past those trees?” she asked, pointing towards the small strip of trees not too far ahead of them. “Yeah, behind there's the train station. An old friend of mine runs it. Lets go!” 

The two of them basically run across the field, not wanting to waste a second of their time. The sun would rise at any moment, and they really wanted to get out of town before it rose. 

They had reached the trees, their original torch being burnt out from all the running. Niki grabbed and lit another, the two of them heading into the small patch of trees to the train station.

The station wasn't too much to brag about, a boring old timey train station was all it was. There was no train in sight, making the (h/c) haired teen sigh. “Damnit, the train might not be here for another several hours.” they said, heading up to the platform. Niki followed, smiling slightly. “Could be worse. Not sure how much worse but it could be worse.” 

The two of them sat at a random bench in the area, looking at the map (y/n) had packed.

“So the kingdom is all the way over there, which is about 6 hours by foot. Taking the train would be around the same pass but we wouldn't be out in the open.” (y/n) says, pointing their finger along the route they need to take. “Is there a way to get there any faster?” (y/n) shrugged, looking over the map. “We could either go through the towns and such, or we could get some horses and get there that way. Wouldn't know how to get any of those, they're kinda rare in this area.'' Niki nodded, thinking for a second.

Both of their thoughts were cut off by someone's cheery voice. “Hello! It's been a long time, hasn't it (y/n)?” They looked over to see their old friend, Jack Manifold, approaching the two of them. (y/n) smiled, standing up and walking over to the said man. “Eyyyy Manifold! Good to see ya!” The two of them hug, separating soon after. (y/n) looked over at Niki. “Hey, have you met Niki?” Niki smiled, putting the map in her bag, standing up as well. “Indeed i have! To be fair, it was a brief interaction. “Nice to see ya, Niki.” 

She nodded. “Nice to see you too, Jack.” (y/n) smiled, looking back over at Jack.

"Jack, we need to get to the arctic kingdom, do you know when the trains coming back?" They asked the slightly smarter man. He nodded. "Won't be coming back till noon today. I'm just here because I forgot something." (Y/n) looked up at the sky. It was getting lighter out. They sighed, looking back down at Jack. "We can't wait that long. Know any other way to get out of town fast?" 

"Well, I could lend you my horse. Most of the time he just sits here and cry's." I looked at Niki, who seemed to be pleased with the offer. "Mind if we take him? We'll return him at some point obviously." Jack nodded, starting to go around the train station. "I'll be in the arctic kingdom a day or so from now, so you can return him then!" We follow Jack behind the station, where his horse sat tied up while eating some grass. 

"His name is thunder, good lad. Constantly sad tho." Jack unties the reins from the pole, handing them to Niki. "Say, what's your trip for anyway?"  Jack asked the two of them. (Y/n) answered. "We're going to see prince Tommy to recruit him to a project we're working on. Top secret stuff man." Jack nodded. "Seems fun. Might join you if I feel like it. Well, have fun you two." They nodded, Niki getting onto the horse and bringing him to the front of the station. "Oh, by the way. You can't tell anyone I was here, at least for the reason I am here. I know I've asked for a lot but if anyone asked, can you tell them I went camping somewhere in the woods?" 

Jack nodded, smiling at the teen. "It's fine, secret adventures are cool anyway. I'll keep your secret, now grab your stuff and have fun on your journey." They smiled, hugging the male. "Thanks Jack, I'll repay you eventually." They say while letting go of their friend. 

He nodded. "Anytime (y/n). Now go, Niki’s waiting." They nodded, running off to the front of the station. They spotted Niki on thunder, who held all our bags. I looked up at her. "You know how to ride a horse?" They asked, trying to get up onto the horse. Niki giggled, helping them up. "Yeah, I was taught when I was younger. Come on, gotta get out of here before the sun rises right?" (Y/n) smiled, latching onto Niki lightly, so as to not fall off. 

"Yeah, lets go!" They took off, running along the tracks. The sun rose as they went, turning the sky into a pinkish color. 

Niki slowed the horse down a bit, staring at the beautiful sky. "I love the sunrise…" (y/n) hummed in agreement, resting their head on Niki’s shoulder. 

"I haven't seen it in awhile. Always amazes me." Niki nodded, smiling softly. "Should we continue or just watch the sunrise?" (Y/n) chuckled, lifting their head off the woman's shoulder. "We should go. Maybe we could watch the sunrise tomorrow. 

Niki nodded, returning the horse to his original pace. 

They left towards a small path in the forest, leaving towards the arctic kingdom where they'll hopefully find the first person they need to reach. 

Hopefully.

-----

series tag list, ask if you wanna be added! 

@xx-smiley-xx 

[theweasleysredhair]

Secret’s Out [O.W.]

Character: Oliver Wood

Word Count: 1308

Requested?: Yes/No

Summary: Oliver Wood might just be in love with the Slytherin Quidditch Captain.

Tags: @gracemayhateyou @criminalyetminimal @angelinathebook @iprobablyshipit91 @potterverseimagine @slytherineheir @kpopgirlbtssvt @rexorangecouny @mytreec @hemmoporro @thisismysketchbook @acciotwinz @shadowsinger11 @aaannabbanana @lestersglitterglue @anyasthoughts @lxncelot @harrypotter289 @starlightweasley @slytherinsunrise @valwritesx @hufflrpuffforfred @cappsikle @kiwi-sloan @potter-redheads @pigwidgexn @twinkyjohnson @sarcasticallywitty15 @tyyyweasley @afriendlyneighborhoodhufflepuff @wonderful-writer @marauders-loving-queen @vogueweasley @marvelettesassemble @thisismynerdyself @gcdric @tinylumpiaa @locke-writes @pussytalenteditdocartwheels | message or send an ask to be added/removed!

Disclaimer: Gif isn't mine, credit to whoever made it

A/n: i haven’t written oliver since 2017 and this is only my second time so be prepared for him being ooc 😂 but otherwise enjoy!

~*~

PLEASE DO NOT REPOST MY WORK! REBLOGS ARE ABSOLUTELY FINE! <3

+ + + + +

“You ready to lose on Saturday, L/n?”

You span on your heel, a glare already set on your features as your eyes landed on the Gryffindor captain, his own eyes narrowed, a snarl set on his lips as he stared back at you. Your hands tightened around your broom, knuckles turning white, “In your dreams, Wood. Slytherin are going to wipe the floor with you. Good luck out there - you’re gonna need it.”

Without waiting for a response, you marched off towards the Slytherin changing rooms, grumbling under your breath. Oliver Wood was nothing if not annoying. It was possibly his life’s goal to annoy you as much as possible, particularly before games. And if Slytherin lost? You never heard the end of it.

Slytherin practice went by in a blur, and by the end, you were confident in your team’s skills, absolutely sure you had a chance of winning on Saturday. You’d love to get the chance to brag about a Slytherin win to Wood - mostly as payback, but partly to see him get more and more annoyed about the loss.

You put your broom away, and changed into your normal uniform, taking much longer than the rest of the players, meaning the changing room was now empty.

“You played well today.”

You looked up and grinned, “You were watching?”

“Of course. If you continue how you are, you might actually have a chance of beating us. A small chance, but a chance all the same,” Oliver grinned, pushing off the door frame where he was leaning and walking towards you. His hands found your waist and he pulled you towards him, making you let out a laugh.

“Aren’t you supposed to be more supportive of your girlfriend?” You teased, grinning up at him. He offered you a half shrug as your back hit the wall behind you, your arms wrapping around his neck automatically as his lips pushed against yours, bringing you into a rushed yet passionate kiss.

“I am extremely supportive of you. I just like winning is all,” he grinned against your lips, feeling you shake your head a little at him.

“Don’t I know that,” you replied with a mocking eye roll, earning a nudge from him.

“Oi, you love me!”

“Aye,” you nodded with a grin, “That I do, Ollie, that I do.”

***

Saturday arrived quickly, the few days leading up to the match filled with taunts being thrown from each house back and forth, tension building up as the minutes ticked down to what could only be described as possibly the most exciting event of the year.

Gryffindor vs Slytherin was always an interesting show of events, if nothing else, and never failed to excite and energise the crowd.

You hovered in the air, eyes darting around the pitch, looking for the Quaffle as you dove to avoid a bludger that neither of your own team’s beaters cared to bat away from you.

The game was long, already having been on for nearly 2 hours, and brutal. Gryffindor vs Slytherin was always brutal, but the closeness of the scores for the Quidditch Cup added a layer of hostility and tension, with each student firmly picking a side and cheering them on.

You had to admit, the Gryffindor team were good. They were always the most challenging to beat, something Oliver loved to gloat to you about. You could see his knowing smirk from across the pitch, and you scoffed to yourself - the scores were close, but you were relying on Draco Malfoy to find the snitch before Harry, and frankly you weren’t holding your breath over that happening.

And so, you needed to score more, and quickly.

The Quaffle back in your possession, you flew towards the Gryffindor goals, dodging Alicia Spinnet - who tried to take it from you - and narrowly avoiding being hit by a bludger, sent your way by one of the twins.

Just as you flew around Angelina, towards the end goal that you knew was Oliver’s weak spot - as much as he hated to admit it - you suddenly felt something smash into you, your body falling, dropping the Quaffle as you admitted to grab back onto your broom, your fingertips managing to brush the bristles at the end before you realised with a short scream out that you were plummeting towards the floor - fast.

***

You winced as your eyes opened a little, the sliver of light almost blinding you as you groaned, slowly becoming aware of the pain that travelled down your arm and chest as you made the mistake of moving.

“Y/n!”

Your eyes opened fully and you took a deep breath, blinking as your vision became clear, just to see Oliver’s worried face staring down at you.

“Hi,” your voice came out dry, rough as if you’d been screaming, and you very carefully tried to squeeze Oliver’s hand, which was already holding yours.

“You gave me a right scare, lass. My heart nearly fell out my mouth when I saw you heading towards the floor.”

“What happened?” You tried to sit up, wincing at the pain and he immediately made a move to adjust the pillows behind you, ensuring you were comfortable, before responding.

“Rogue bludger. We think it was heading towards Harry, but you got in the way. Dumbledore slowed the fall, but you still hit the ground with a pretty nasty bump. Thought I lost you for a moment.”

“Yeah you should’ve seen him,” you looked up at the new voice, finding that the Weasley twins had appeared at the foot of your bed.

“He was in a right state-“

“Flew straight down to you-“

“Called off the game and everything.”

You turned to Oliver, whose ears and cheeks had tinged red, and grinned at him teasingly, “You called off the game for me?”

“I might’ve done. Also had to carry you here,” he added with an almost shy smile.

“Good job our Ollie doesn’t mind, right?”

“Yeah, he’s been in love with you for years.”

“Oh have you now?” You faked your shock at Oliver, who was now looking anywhere but your eyes, stammering out a response as the twins laughed at his expense, “It’s a good job we’ve been dating for 6 months out of those years then huh?”

“Wait... what?”

You looked up at the twins with an innocent smile, enjoying how their grins turned into confused expressions, realisation hitting them as their eyes widened - comically, you noted, at the same time.

They began stuttering out protests, claiming they’d have known if their dear Captain was in a relationship, however you just shook your head fondly at them.

Sure, you hadn’t made it obvious you were together in public. At all, for that matter. However, the only reason you argued in front of others was because you both found it fun - and to hold up appearances. Whilst it wasn’t your intention to keep the relationship such a secret, it had worked for you and Oliver, and had added an extra bit of excitement.

Grumbling at the revelation, the twins disappeared as abruptly as they’d arrived, leaving you alone with Oliver, who still held your hand in his, tracing circles on the the back of your hand with his thumb.

“Does this mean the secret’s out?” He asked with a smile in your direction. You bit your lip as you grinned back him, “Apparently so. Fun whilst it lasted, huh?”

“Yeah it was,” he hummed in agreement, before he leaned over, his lips hovering over yours, “Though it’s more fun knowing I can snog you in front of everyone now I reckon.”

His lips brushed yours, your eyes fluttering closed as you brought your uninjured hand up to run through his brown locks,

“I like the sound of that.”

[sweetwriter]

WHAT IF THE SHELBY BROTHERS TIME TRAVELED

Ok, here me out. I had this idea......but then I stopped because it is so easy for me to write them out of character 😫. But like I low key think it’d be cool asf for them to be in the 21st century. 

Here’s some of my idea I had a couple of months ago 

Word count: 1.1K 

(My style of writing is a bit....all over the place and I change POV constantly. Ill make an effort to list which POV, but I forget often😅)

You know, I can never catch a break. I mean, what in the literal hell😀 are the Shelbys doing 100 years later...shouldn't they be, you know, dust, worm food, 6 feet under?

They're in a whole new world. The 100 years between they're lives and mine are two different...I don't even know! Things they've never seen before are hitting them in the face. Literally, John hit the light pole (he was turned around). I can't really take them anywhere, they didn't know how to act in 1920 let alone in my time, where everything is watched, played back, and recorded.

So, I guess they get to meet my little sister 😬.

"Ok, we're here." It's a relief a few more blocks and they would've been hit by a car or something. "What is 'here'?" Arthur a little bamboozled by everything. "My home. This is where I live during my time period." Jeez, I sound like I'm in one of those sci if movies Penelope binges every Saturday night🙄.

"How did this happen, and when can we get back?" Tommy interrogated. As if I know. I was going to move on and pretend that feelings weren't there but nope, I have to face those eyes for Lord knows how long until we figure out whats going on. Turning back to the door, "How the hell am I suppose to know. I didn't do this, especially on purpose." Amelia snapped.  Amelia had no idea how she got to 1919 and now she has one more thing she doesn't understand, how they came back WITH her.

"Such a big house for only you,eh" John added in. The men looked around a completely different enviorment than what they've seen. Street lights, women wearing pants and shorts, and cars.

" No, I have my sister here." She's turns around to look at them, "I think she might like you." She said choosing her words WISELY.

"Who wouldn't" giving a cocky side smirk chewing on his toothpick

"Don't get to cocky John Shelby, I said might.'

"Ok, for being some of the most feared gangsters, you guys don't usually like orders being taken, but I need you guys to stay silent until I give a signal."

"Wh-" Arthur tries to ask

"No questions."

They reached the door only to hear an anime theme song and the smell of bacon.

"Yep, thats my sister alright."

"PENELOPE!" She shouted.

"FINALLY! Where were you. I thought you got kidnap or some shit." She comes down the stairs with her coiled hair is a high bun and edges done. With a hunter x hunter graphic t and grey sweats.

Penelope looks to the sides of her sister to see very GORGEOUS men wearing trench coats

Penelopes brain stops working🧠

"Let me-" Penelope cut her off.

"Please do. I'd like to know why my sister disappeared for almost 2 months and comes back with 3 6ft tall men, standing at our door. LIke what the hell?!" It's a fact that Penelopes frustrated stare and folded arms showed she was highly upset. Her sister, all the family she pretty much has left disappeared without a trace, and she had to keep going on with her days without her. It was a hard transformation. It wasn't the first time Amelia disappeared though, it's been a while.

Amelia explained (almost) everything  to Penelope. By her sister believing in sci-fi crap, she whole heartedly trusts her sister.

I wish she would grow up, she'll believe that they're aliens if I told her.

Penelope: hey what can I say, I'm unrealistically optimistic. 👁👄👁

"What are your names?" Penelope asked elongating her neck to see past her sister.  She watched their eyes. She can tell half way across the kitchen they've seen some horrid things. The eyes will never lie to you. As she she followed their eyes, they landed on her sister. Who nodded her head.

"She told you to stay quiet, didn't she?" My sister learns quickly, Amelia once brought home this guy who never stopped talking about his dog (👀 he should've never come home with her, their not that cute, let me just be honest). And.....

*flashback*

"My dog, Barkley-" I snorted and looked at Amelia with a 'are you low key being serious right now' look. Apparently he didn't notice and kept talking,

"He slobbers all over the place. He messed up my shorts and Birkenstock's I was going to wear on my date tonight" 🧍🏾‍♀️He was- they went to a fancy pants restaurant and he was going to wear- good job Barkley.

"John, jake,paul-"

"Tanner" He said. Oh whoops

"Janitor, I'm going to need you to leave. Almost publically humiliating my sister who would've publically humiliated me by you walking into a dress up date in shorts and Birkenstocks in late Autumn. Wish Barkley my best regards and hopes they live an amazing life" Penelope shoved Tanner out of the door and looked at Amelia disappointingly.

"I can't believe you were going to waste both of our times and almost made me burn my pizza."

*end of the flashback  

They stayed silent.

"I'll take that as a yes."

"So, they're from 1917, in 2019?"

"Yes." Remind me to ask Amelia why she brought these dudes to a whole new time period.

"They don't know damn near any of the things in our house. How much time do I have?"

"4 hours a day" She said fast.

"4- you're giving me 4 hours to figure out their clothes and teach them stuff?Why only four hours? What are you doing?"

"The same thing. But i"ll teach two, you'll teach 1"

"You still didn't answer my question, why only 4 hours?"

"You'll get attached." a scoff coming from my throat. "I don't get attached alright. I know how to teach and not care about my students thank you very much."

"So, you're going to forget the one with the-"{

"I TOLD YOU TO NEVER SPEAK OF THAT AGAIN. " She looked over at the strangers

The brothers going back and forth at the sisters.

"Plus he doesn't count"

"Fine! Who am I taking."

"John."

Penelope gave her a sarcastic look. She has no idea who is who.

John twisted his toothpick around his his mouth as he got up to follow the girl upstairs into her room.

He wasn't to far behind her with cap on his head. His eyes looking her up and down taking in her clothes, her hair, and even her socks.

"So, you're John Shelby." She said setting up an area in her room for her to start teaching him.

"And your the famous Penelope Taylor."

"Glad the introductions are over, so tell me about your life. I want to see where I need to start

[davidobitch]

Traditions | Timothee Chalamet

okay so I’m well aware I don’t ever write for Timothee Chalamet but I really wanted to write this and it didn’t seem fitting for anyone else I usually write about?? I hope you like it even though the timing is like...18 days late...oops

I didn’t proof read this so my apologies if it sounds like a 5th grader wrote it. 

anything written in italics is the past! enjoy xx

3 years. 156 weeks. 1,095 days.

That’s how long you’ve spent with Timothee. You love him with everything you have inside you but things haven’t been okay lately, not for the past year almost. Neither of you wanted this to be ‘right person, wrong time’. You both tried to fight for your relationship to work out and go back to how things used to be...but that was up until last month.

Timothee has been busy with his movies and you’ve been busy with your business. With the year coming to an end, you both and to get everything done before the new year. You tried not to think that this was the end. You kept telling yourself that it was only for this month then you and Timothee could go back to working everything out. But part of you knew that maybe this really was the end.

You were just getting home from a launch party when Timothee was getting ready to leave.

“Hi,” you said quietly, dropping your purse on the table, “Another shoot?” you kept your eyes on your boyfriend, watching him go over his mental checklist of everything he needed.

Timothee nodded his head, turning in circles looking for what was probably his keys. You glanced behind him, seeing them in the other room on the coffee table.

Passing by him, Timothee followed you with his eyes hoping you weren’t walking away from him without a goodbye. He heard his keys jingle in your shot and let out a sigh of relief.

“Thank you,” he breathed out, standing in front of you. His hand lingered on yours, letting his fingers trace your bones.

“Promise me you’ll be back tonight?” your stare was fixed on your intertwined hands, not wanting him to let go.

Timothee squeezed your hand before pulling away, “Of course. You know I’ll be here.”

You and Timothee always threw a New Years Eve party, it was something both of you looked forward to each year.

He gave you a quick kiss before leaving the house, letting silence seep through the walls. It hasn’t been long since you started staying at Timothee’s daily. It’s only been a year, if that, which ironically is when everything started going wrong in the relationship. Coincidence? Probably, but you refused to believe that. Most nights you couldn’t help but wonder if you moving in was the reason you guys started fighting almost weekly.

Shaking yourself from your thoughts, you started picking up around the place, wanting the house to be spotless by tonight.

You have sent Timothee countless texts reminding him what time people will be over and last minute things he needed to buy. It’s been three hours and you haven’t heard back from him. You assumed he was just getting caught up in shooting or discussing work stuff, but when another three hours passed by with no call or texts, you had a bad feeling he was bailing out tonight.

You texted Timmy again, another reminder of what time to be home and asking him to pick up the rest of the party stuff for you. You begged him not to be late tonight, or even just not show up at all. Time was slowly running out and you decided to just run out and buy everything yourself. On the verge of tears, you called Timothee and to your dismay...it went straight to voicemail. You tried holding in your cries as you left him yet another message, telling him tonight was make or break the relationship. It was either he shows up by midnight or you pack your bags tomorrow morning and move out. You didn’t care anymore as you let your feelings out fully for the first time in months.

You needed the drive home to clear your head and gather yourself before having to pretend your relationship is perfect.

It was just barely 9pm and you still had to hurry up and be ready by 10. You called a couple friends to come over early to help finish setting up so you can shower and look presentable.

“Thank you guys so much,” you said as you entered the kitchen where your friends were arranging the cups and drinks, “T’s been so caught up at work today. I just- I love you guys.”

“We love you of course,” your friend, Ashley says as she grabs a bottle of tequila and 3 glasses, “To a new year,” she says, raising her glass.

“To a new year,” you and your other friend say in unison.

The liquid burns as it travels down your throat, warming your entire body. You took another shot before going back to finish getting ready.

You picked out your best little black dress, wanting Timothee to see what he’s losing if he decides to not show up tonight. Your hair was curled, your face was glammed up, and you were ready to black out everything tonight.

You finished just in time for all your’s and Timothee’s friends to show up, letting the night begin.

You were about 5 tequila shots and 3 drinks in when the clock hit 11:45. You checked your phone seeing you had no calls or texts from your boyfriend. You were losing hope with every passing second and you didn’t care to hide it anymore.

You were on the balcony with your friends when your mouth started to ramble. “T isn’t coming tonight. Or at least I don’t think he is. He’s been gone for the past 15 hours and I’m pretty sure we’re breaking up tonight. Fuck we should’ve broken up a year ago. You know nothing has been the same since I moved in?” You took another drink before continuing, silently hoping your friends would cut you off any second now, “We haven’t had sex in god knows how long. I don’t get to see him for longer than 4 minutes a day. We tried so hard to make things work which was such a bullshit move.” You let out a shaky breath, knowing you were a couple words away from crying and that was the last thing you wanted to do tonight. Finishing off your drink, you closed your eyes and let the night breeze calm you down.

“We see more than you think, y/n,” Ashley says, pouring half of her cup into yours, “We just don’t say anything. You know we love you and we will continue to support you no matter what you choose to do.”

“And don’t give up on Timmy not coming just yet. He still has 5 minutes!” you sip on your drink, trying to remain optimistic. Olivia’s right, he still has time..but if he hasn’t showed up in the past 5 hours, he’s not going to in the next 5 minutes.

“I really thought he was the one, y’know?” you mutter into your cup, watching the liquid swish from side to side.

Your friends wrap their arms around you, pulling you in for a group hug. “Come on, let’s do a couple shots before the ball drops.” Olivia pulls you back inside and to the kitchen, placing 2 shot glasses in front of each of you.

“Cheers to 2021. A year of new beginnings and more memories than we will remember!” Ashley yells, bringing her glass up.

11:58. You knocked one of the shots back, allowing it to fog your brain.

“Cheers to y/n, for being the toughest bitch we know,” Olivia shouts as she raises her glass, you and Ashlet following her actions.

11:59. Another shot down.

You glanced around the room as there was 30 seconds left in the year. No tall, lanky, brown haired boy in sight. You wanted to cry and scream and run out of the house but instead, you grabbed the bottle of vodka and made your way to the balcony.

You caught your friends attention, shaking your head as if to tell them you’re fine but not to follow you. The glass door slid shut behind you as everyone started counting down.

“10!”

“Kiss me tonight,” you boldly said to Timothee, “None of our friends are single. We’re the only losers who have nobody. So be my new year’s kiss.” The first new year’s eve you and Timmy spent together. Your first year of being friends.

“9!”

“Are you going to force me into kissing you again?” Timothee jokes as he comes up behind you, almost causing you to spill your drink from scaring you.

“First of all, you can’t creep up on a girl like that!” you swatted at his chest before taking a sip of your drink, “Second of all, I didn’t force you to do anything.” Everyone around you was counting down, “Third of all,” just as the clock hit 12:00, you pulled Tim’s face to your level, gently pressing your lips to his, “absolutely.”

“8!”

You had spent the entire night by Timothee’s side. This was your first year spending New Years with just him and his hometown friends. You felt lost without your usual crew bullying you into kissing Timmy for another year. “What do you say we do this every year,” Timothee nuzzled his head into the crook of your neck, placing light kisses on your skin.

You let out a giggle, confused at his choice of words, “T we do this every year already,” you turned around to face him, your hands playing with the bottom of his shirt.

“No I mean as a couple. I want you to be my girlfriend,”

“7!”

“I love you,” Timothee drunkenly yelled in your ear, causing a bright smile to spread across your face.

“You’re drunk, baby,” you rolled your eyes. Neither of you have said the L word before and this wasn’t the way you expected it to happen.

“Maybe, but I don’t want to spend another year not telling you every day.”

“6!”

“Timmy!” you yelled over the music, wrapping your arms around his waist, “You have 5 seconds to kiss me or I’m finding another boy!” you giggled as Timothee turned around in your arms, grabbing your face and pulling you into him just as the new year hit.

“5!”

You were crowded into a small corner of your friends kitchen, having been forced to spend the night with them instead of your boyfriend. Timothee was out in New York for a photoshoot and couldn’t make it home in time for your “tradition”.

“I wish you were here,” you mumbled, making a pouty face at your phone screen, “Now I have to kiss Ashley this year and that’s not fun!” You yelled, hoping she would hear you from across the way. You changed your camera to face here, showing Timothee her middle finger in the air, “See, she’s mean. And so are you for not being here.”

Your eyes wandered to the time on the stove clock, seeing as it just hit midnight.

“Happy new year, baby,” Timothee says. You look down at your phone screen to see the facetime was over. Confused as to how the call ended but you could still hear his voice, you glanced up at your friends to see them all staring at you with giddy smiles.

“Can you turn around and kiss me already?” Tears blurred your vision as you quickly spun around and jumped into your boyfriend’s arms.

“4!”

“Please please please don’t hate me,” Timothee says as he wraps his arms around you. “I didn’t realize the time and I know I fucked up, but you know I wouldn’t miss this for the world, y/n” This was the first year he almost missed being your new year’s kiss and as much as you wanted to kill him for it, you knew it wasn’t his fault.

“You’re so fucking lucky you’re cute,” you said, shaking your head and pulling on his shirt, bringing his body into yours.

“3!”

Another shot in your system, trying to rid the memories of the past 7 New Year’s Eve nights. Your mind started playing games with you. Timothee’s voice was echoing all around you, like he was actually with you.

“2!”

“Baby,” you could hear Timmy say, but you tried to push it out of your thoughts. “Please don’t ignore me. I’m so fucking sorry,” You could smell his cologne behind you as a warm touch could be felt on your wrist. Your breath was shaky as you turned to face the man behind you, hoping this was reality and you weren’t drunkenly imagining this.

“1!”

“I’m here. I’m always going to be here. For the next whatever years, I’m 100% here. No more long days without you. No more missing date nights. This is my promise to you, y/n.” Timothee says, his eyes filled with liquid.

“Happy new year!”

You threw your arms around his neck, almost falling backwards as you crashed your lips into his. “I love you, forever.” you muttered against his lips, “Thank you, T.”

*****

“Why can’t we just spend this year at home with our friends like we always do?” you asked Timothee as he pulled you out onto the balcony with him. This year he took you to Paris for New Years Eve and as grateful as you were for this mini trip, you didn’t want to break tradition.

“Because like you said, we spend every year at home with our friends. It’s never been just us.”

Ever since he promised to put more time into the relationship, everything has been almost perfect. Of course you still had your occasional fight, but that’s to be expected and it was never over anything stupid. Well...most of the time.

“I guess it would be nice to spend it alone,” you leaned your head against Timothee’s chest as you took in the site in front of you.

The hotel room had a perfect view of the Eiffel Tower, dead center in front of you. You’ve seen the structure many times in the past but it was never this beautiful.

“I love you, you know that?” he whispers against your neck, his hands gently squeezing your hips.

You nodded but stayed silent, letting the music from inside fill the space around you. Timothee started to sway with you as your favorite song started to play in the background.

“I would love to assume it’s such a coincidence that Robbers is playing right now,” you smiled, teasing your boyfriend, “But I guess I should give you credit for planning this.”

Timothee takes your hand in his and spins you around into him as his other hand settles on your hip.

The two of you danced around the balcony together as your song went on and all of Paris could be heard counting down the end of the year.

“Last year I made you a promise to put more effort in. We had a hard year and I know I put you through a lot and I can’t apologize enough for that, baby. But here we are 365 days later, getting to have another new year’s kiss together. I thank you every day for forcing me to kiss you all those years ago ‘cause we both know I would have never had the balls to make the move.” Timothee’s voice was soft, barely even audible with all the other noise happening around you. “But a lot has changed since that first kiss. A lot between us but also with us separately. I never want to spend New Years, let alone any day, without you.” Timothee abruptly stopped moving and pulled away from you as fireworks were being set off all around the city. You pulled your eyes from him for a split second to watch the sky light up with different colors.

What you didn’t expect to see when you brought your attention back to him, was Timmy on one knee, with a ring being held up towards you.

“I’m making another promise to you, to love you forever, to always put you first. You’ve been my life for the past 6 years and even though we were together for only 4 of those years, I still couldn’t imagine you not being in my life. You’re my best friend. Mon amour. I want to spend every waking moment with you. I want you to yell at me when my socks are in random parts of the house. I want to have little mini versions of us running around and drawing on walls. When all my dreams come true, you’re the one I want next to me. It’s you, baby. It’s always been you. Marry me, y/n.”

Your hand flew to your mouth as you vigorously nodded your head. You didn’t give Timothee the chance to stand up before you fell to your knees in front of him, falling into his arms. “Of course I’ll marry you, T. You’re the only person I ever want to spend my life with. I love you so so much, mon amour.” You cried as you placed kisses all over his face.

[justmypartner]

Make it Work: Chapter 4

Summary: When offered a permanent position with the FBI, Hailey agrees to take it under one condition: Jay comes too. As their personal lives and work lives begin to change, the two partners find it increasingly difficult to navigate their complex relationship and manage their feelings for one another. 

Writer’s Note: This is a monster of a chapter. I honestly could have split it into two separate chapters, but I felt like the flow of the story went better having it all be in one. If you watch FBI or have at least seen Hailey’s episode, there’s a familiar character in this chapter ;) as well as some newbies. Reach out if you would like to be added to the taglist for future chapters! As always, thank you for following my stories and for all of the kind words!

Tagging: @angelsjedi , @brookerz122493 , @cpdfan2014 , @the–carousel , @maya-asturias​ 

Read on AO3 or below

Jay’s first night in the city wasn’t pleasant. Both he and Hailey hired moving services to ship their things from Chicago to New York prior to their move. Because of this, they spent their last few days in Chicago living out of duffle bags and travel toiletries in hotel rooms. The hope was that by the time they arrived in New York, unpacking was the only thing they’d have to worry about. However, when Jay walked into his apartment for the first time, only half of his things were waiting for him. He tried contacting the moving company, but being that it was so late, all he got was an automated message. Wherever the rest of his things were, his mattress, couch, and any sort of seating he had were all with it. This left him sleeping on the floor, using whatever he could find in the mess of boxes filling the apartment to build a makeshift bed. It was something he had done plenty of times before, especially while he was stationed overseas. However, as proven the next morning, his body just wasn’t cut out for it like it used to be. He was sore all over, making the rest of the day miserable.

The first thing he did was reach out to the moving company. He found out that of the two trucks that were carrying his things, one of them had gotten delayed somewhere in Pennsylvania. That particular truck just so happened to be the one carrying his mattress, bed frame, and couch. He figured in the meantime, he would unpack the things he had. However, he found it increasingly difficult to maneuver around due to the ache mainly centered around his back.

After a few hours of progress, he decided to take a break, leaning his back against the wall and sliding his body down until he was in a sitting position on the floor. He hadn’t had a chance to get groceries of any sort, so he was hungry and in desperate need for painkillers, but he couldn’t find it in himself to leave that spot on the floor, let alone his apartment. He threw his head back against the wall and closed his eyes as his face scrunched up from pain. He was about to pick up his phone and text Hailey when there was a knock at the door. He stood with a groan, holding at the lower part of his back as the motion sent a sting of pain up his body.

When he opened the door, Hailey was standing there with a 6 pack of beer and a cheerful smile on her face. The smile faded as she realized he was clenching his back in pain.

“What happened to you?” She asked, her brows furrowing as she looked him up and down.

“Nice to see you too,” he said, moving out of the way to let her in. She stepped inside, making her way to his kitchen counter to place the beers down.

“Yeah, hi or whatever… What happened to you?” She asked again, looking at him with a puzzled look.

“Stupid moving truck carrying the other half of my stuff got delayed, so I was left sleeping on the floor. I do not recommend that by the way,” he said, grabbing one of the beers and making his way to sit back on the floor.

“Why didn’t you tell me? You could’ve just spent the night with me,” she said. Her eyes immediately widened and Jay sent her a raised brow, a confused smile on his face as she said it. He noticed her turn red and he rubbed at his mouth and chin to conceal a smile escaping across his face.

“Ah I mean, you know you could have slept at my place on the couch,” she stammered over her words as she turned to look around his apartment, avoiding eye contact with him completely.

“It was like 3am. I didn’t want to bother you and I was too tired to even consider that. Thanks though,” he told her taking a swig of the beer. “Thanks for these too by the way,” he said, raising the beer in the air.

“Yeah of course. So when’s your stuff supposed to be here?” She questioned, playing with a small Chicago Bears figurine he had rested on a shelf.

“They said sometime this afternoon. Really hoping they’re right because I don’t think my body can take another night on the floor,” he told her, his eyes following her as she moved about the room.

“Yeah, you better watch it. Might not be able to get back up next time, old man,” she told him with a smirk, grabbing a beer from the counter and coming to sit crossed legged across from him on the floor. He wiped the condensation from his bottle and flung the water droplets at her, causing her to flinch.

“Hey!” She called out, guarding her face with her hands.

“Call me old again,” he challenged with a grin. She held her hands up in surrender and he retreated.

“So I like your place. How are you liking New York so far?” She asked him, placing one hand behind her and leaning back on it as she brought the bottle to her lips.

“Well considering I’ve only seen the inside of this apartment, I feel like I can’t answer that. How about you? How’s your apartment coming along?”

“Really good actually. Most of the major stuff has been arranged, now I just have to unpack all of the tedious things - dishes, silverware, knick knacks, all that,” she told him. He nodded as he adjusted his position against the wall. She sent him a concerned look when she saw him flinch and grasp at his back.

“Can I get you anything? We could stop by the store and get you some medicine then we could go back to my place. You could check it out, we could order some food, you could actually have a comfortable place to sit too,” she offered him.

“You had me at get you some medicine,” he beamed. She chuckled and stood, extending a hand towards him to help him up. Being that he was much heavier than her, she really had to pull to help him up. When he was finally on his feet, he was only inches away from her, their hands remaining together for longer than they should’ve. He could feel his heart picking up rhythm in his chest by her touch, so he quickly released his hand, bringing it to the back of his neck before chugging the rest of his beer and tossing it in the trash bin by the counter.

After picking up painkillers and dinner, the two made their way to Hailey’s apartment. Following Hailey into the apartment, Jay’s eyes studied the space, noting how accurately it represented her personality. It wasn’t completely put together yet. There were still boxes lying around sporadically across the floor, but for the most part it was simple and organized much like her. Hailey made her way to the living room where she set the food down on the coffee table before planting herself on the couch. Jay followed suit, falling onto the couch and letting himself sink into the cushions. Hailey popped open the bottle of aspirin they picked up at the store, offering him a bottle of water and 3 pills. As he took them, he realized how instinctively she was caring for him and how natural it felt to be in such a domestic setting with her. She pulled out his food, sitting it in front of him and snapping him out of his roaming thoughts.

“So, are you nervous about tomorrow?” She asked him, settling back into the couch as she took her fork out of the plastic wrapper. She was referring to it being their first day. Jay hadn’t confronted his feelings about it until that moment.

“I would tell you no, but we both know that would be a lie,” he admitted. She flashed him a knowing smile before continuing.

“What are you most worried about?”

“Nothing in particular, I just know it’s going to be a lot different than what I’m used to. Every fed I’ve ever worked with has been a pompous jackass, in it for the optics more than the actual people they’re trying to help. I know what we’ll be doing will be important, I guess my reservations come from a combination of not wanting to deal with that and not wanting to turn into that,” he told her, a solemn look overcoming his face. Her face formed into a frown and her stare fell to her plate as she seemed to silently think through her response.

“You know my first day, I walked into that building already carrying this sort of forced regard for the place. I had those same reservations you carry for the feds, but I respected what they did so I forced myself to walk into it all with a sort of blind respect. My first interaction with OA wasn’t so great. He made some backhanded comment and you know me, I don’t take stuff like that, so I threw it back at him. Made him realize I saw through what he was really trying to say. The more time I was there, I realized that even though they don’t all go about it the best way, everyone is there to do their part and take the bad guys off the street. While that type of mentality you described certainly exists among many of the people we’ll work with, I think the perspective we can bring will have a similar impact as what went down with OA that day. We put ‘em in check and they sort the rest out themselves. You’re a good cop, and that’s just what these units need. So whatever fears you have, I wouldn’t spend too much time dwelling on them because you’re going to be great,” she told him, smiling briefly before immediately diving back into her food.

Her words reassured him. He still felt some apprehension about the next day, but she leveled him enough to instill a bout of confidence he hadn’t previously carried. After finishing their dinner, Jay relished in the comfort of the couch and the relief brought on by the painkillers. Hailey had put a tv show on in the background, but Jay was watching it absentmindedly. He noticed his eyes get heavier and heavier, and when exhaustion eventually caught up to him, he fell asleep. He was woken up with a light shake from Hailey. His eyes blinked open and he took in the sight of her slightly hovered over him.

“Hi,” she said as he fully opened his eyes and pushed himself into a straighter sitting position.

“How long have I been out?” He asked her, rubbing at his eyes and stirring about in a blanket he didn’t remember having before. He realized Hailey must have put it on him while he was sleeping and he stifled a smile as he awaited her answer.

“About an hour. Your phone was ringing and I picked it up. I hope you don’t mind,” she told him, holding the phone out to him. He took it from her, squinting his eyes at the brightness of the screen.

“No, it’s fine. Who was it?” He asked, looking at a number he didn’t recognize and looking back at her for her response.

“It was the movers, they said they’re coming in about an hour,” she told him, standing to clear their empty take out containers from the table. He looked down at the time and threw the blanket off his body gently before folding it into a more manageable size. He then picked up what was left on the table and brought it into the kitchen to help her clean up.

“I guess I better get going,” he told her, looking for his coat.

“Okay, yeah. Here’s the painkillers. You may need them again later,” she told him, handing him the bottle from before.

“Thanks for taking care of me today,” he told her, tilting his head slightly as he sent her a warm smile.

“Don’t worry about it,” she shook her head with a grin. “See you tomorrow?”

“You know it,” he told her, opening the door to leave. Just as she went to close it behind him, he pushed it back open slightly. “Also, thank you for what you said earlier. It helped a lot.”

She returned his words with a slight nod before he turned to make his way to the elevator. The rest of the night he felt like there was an oddly natural shift in their relationship. The way she cared for him and reassured him seemed so much more than their usual platonic dynamic. It was like they crossed some sort of line without making a thing of it, and it made his heart rush just thinking about it. Though, he decided to not think about it. Instead, he tried to focus on the change they were set to endure that next day.

- - - -

Jay woke the next morning in the comfort and familiarity of his bed. The night before, the movers brought the last of his things into his place, and he felt relieved to not have to sleep on the floor once again. After taking a shower, he stood in his bedroom in nothing but a t-shirt and boxers, staring down at the suit he had laid out for the day. It was a tangible symbol of his new life, and it made him nervous. He only ever had to wear a suit for two things: funerals and court, and those never came with good memories. He finally psyched himself up enough to put it on, looking in the mirror as he adjusted the tie around his neck. He took a breath, briefly staring back at his own reflection in the mirror before moving to his bedroom and pulling his gun from a safe in the closet. He secured it in the holster on his belt before pulling on his jacket, buttoning the top two buttons to conceal it from view.

He met Hailey outside of the building. They first had to get their photos taken for their identification and badges before making their way up to the new unit. He immediately recognized how nice everything was, even just the equipment they used to make their IDs was far more advanced than anything he’d ever seen. As soon as they handed the badge to him and he placed it on his hip, everything settled in. This was his new life. His new job. The nerves kicked in as they made their way up to their floor. He fidgeted in the elevator, pulling at the sleeves of his coat and adjusting his tie every few seconds. Hailey clocked his jumpiness from the corner of her eye.

“Dude, you need to relax,” she told him with a chuckle, placing a hand briefly on his shoulder.

“I know, I know,” he all but whispered.

He was feeling very out of his element. First days can be nerve wrecking in general, but this seemed new and unfamiliar to him. His transition from Organized Crime to Intelligence felt natural. There was a comfort about the ruggedness of Intelligence that put him at ease on his first day; it made him feel like he fit in. This though? Suits, million dollar tech, fancy buildings, it all seemed so far out of his league and he was having trouble calming his nerves.

There was a brief silence before he blurted out, “I just really hate suits,” he admitted, putting his energy into the discomfort he was feeling about the attire.

“Eh, I do too, but you get used to it. Just, relax though. You’re going to be great, they’re going to be great. It’ll be fine… You look great by the way,” she reassured him with her dimpled grin. He flashed an unconvincing smile at her and took a deep breath just as the elevator doors opened.

Organized chaos is how he would have described the room before him. Everyone in the room was busily distracted by something. It seemed to be a meticulous operation, but it was a much larger scale than what he was used to in Intelligence.

“Hailey Upton!” An excited voice called out as they exited the elevator.

“OA? The hell are you doing here? Shouldn’t you be a few floors down?” She asked as Jay watched a stranger grab her in a hug. He was tall, so tall in fact that he made Hailey look miniature.

“Yeah, I heard you started today so I thought I’d come say hello,” he said as his eyes met Jay’s over Hailey’s shoulder. As they pulled away from the embrace, Hailey turned to gesture towards an awkward smiling Jay.

“OA, I’d like to introduce you to my partner, Jay.”

“So you’re the illustrious Jay. Hailey told me a lot about you, specifically that you were a Ranger. I was a Captain, two tours in Iraq,” OA said, reaching a hand out to shake Jay’s.

“No way, I did two in Afghanistan. 75th Regiment, 3rd Battalion,” he said, shaking his hand back firmly. “Hailey told me a lot about you as well by the way. Thanks for looking out for her all those weeks,” he continued.

“Yeah, well I think you got it backwards, it was her who was looking out for me,” he said sending a smile Hailey’s way.

“Yeah, he’s alright… for a fed,” she said with a shrug and a mischievous grin.

“What do you mean? You know you’re a fed now too, right?” he laughed back.

“Shhh don’t tell anyone,” she replied jokingly.

“Secret’s safe with me, but I have a feeling they’ll find out eventually,” he said waving a finger at the busy room around them. “Anyway, it was good seeing you Chicago, but I gotta head back to JOC. Catch ya later?” OA said backing away towards the elevator.

“Yeah, for sure,” she responded.

“Hey man, nice meeting you!” Jay called out.

“Yeah, you too!” OA replied as he climbed into the elevator.

Jay felt more at ease by the interaction. Seeing how comfortable Hailey was in this environment and how well she got on with OA lowered his nerves a bit. He figured if everyone with the bureau was like him, adjusting may be easier than he thought. He followed Hailey as she made her way over to a group of people gathered by a large screen. When they were close enough, Hailey cleared her throat catching the attention of them all, heads spinning around to look at the two of them.

“Detective… or should I say Special Agent Upton, great to see you again. Welcome,” one of them said, extending a hand out to shake hers.

“Agent Reynolds, likewise. This is Jay Halstead,” she said with a nod towards Jay.

“Jay Halstead, it’s nice to officially meet you, I’m Drake Reynolds, Assistant Special Agent in Charge. Welcome to the FBI,” he said, reaching his hand out to meet Jay’s. “Everyone on the team just calls me Drake by the way,” he said, darting his eyes back to Hailey to correct her.

“Nice to meet you as well, sir,” Jay replied.  

“Right. Now, normally we’d do a more official welcome, you know get to meet everyone and everything, but we just had a really urgent case come in so I’m going to have you two jump right in if that’s okay,” Drake told them. They nodded as he made his way to the front of the room to get everyone’s attention.

“Okay, everyone we caught a live one this morning. Subject is Eli Sarkova, Latvian national who has been on many federal agencies’ radars for a while now. Sarkova is said to run one of the major trafficking rings out of Eastern Europe with strong ties right here in New York. NYPD picked up one of his connections, Andris Ozola, last night. They called us and now he is sitting in our interrogation room where one of our agents was able to pull out intel that Sarkova is right here in Manhattan for the first time in months. Ozola didn’t have a direct location, but we do know where his driver is expected to be at 11 am today, so we’re sending a team to go pick him up. Driver’s name is Edgars Berlina, white male, 6’2”, 185 pounds, bald, with ironically, a tattoo of angel wings on his neck. Berlina and any crew he’s with are most definitely going to be armed and dangerous. Memorize his picture, he’s going to be in a public area so we need to play this one right,” Drake said as he addressed the whole room.

“Bennett and Burrows, I want you two riding with Halstead and Upton today. Show them the ropes and answer any questions they may have about the field,” he told two agents to his right. They nodded in agreement, flashing warm smiles to the partners before Drake left the four of them standing there.

“Agent Daisy Bennett,” the female agent said extending her hand out to each of them. “And this is Walker Burrows,” she said, gesturing to the male agent by her side. Jay picked up on a lingering look Agent Burrows gave Hailey as he shook her hand. He frowned at this slightly as Hailey introduced herself.

“Hailey Upton, good to meet you both.”

“Jay Halstead,” he said shortly, continuing a stern stare at the man in front of him whose gaze continued to remain on Hailey.

“Follow us to the garage. The gear is already in the car, so we can get suited up out there,” Daisy said, turning to walk down the hall to the elevators.

“So you’re both from Chicago. Detectives, right?” Walker questioned, pressing the button for the garage.

“Yeah, that’s right,” Jay replied, carrying his gaze straight ahead of him. “I gotta say, it’s already a culture shock. I’m not used to having intel handed to us like this. Usually we’re digging for this stuff ourselves,” Jay admitted, shoving his hands in his pockets.

“Yeah, I’m sure as hell glad we don’t have to worry about that. We get to do the actual important stuff like actually taking down the targets,” Walker replied. Jay shot Hailey a cross look, one that she returned, but he decided to keep his mouth shut, not wanting to challenge the man already in the first 5 minutes of meeting him. Maybe it was because he was used to doing the intel work himself, but Jay saw the value in all of it. Hearing the man so easily disregard other positions in the unit already didn’t sit right with him, but he shook it off for the sake of starting off on the right foot.

When they arrived at the car, Daisy opened the tailgate, pulling out 2 containers of gear.

“I’m not sure how you guys rolled in Chicago, but we have these in-ear coms. They’re fully open channels so you can communicate with any and all of us at all times. Mic button falls near your collar, so keep that in mind,” she said, handing them each ear pieces to put in their ears. “Bureau issued vests. Level IIIA body armor. It’s supposed to protect you even up to point blank range, but will leave a pretty nasty bruise,” she told them as she handed them each a vest. As they took their jackets off to put them on, Hailey looked over at Jay with a cheeky grin.

“Just because it’s good armor, doesn’t mean you need to go testing it out, okay?” She joked as she pulled it over her head, securing the velcro straps on the sides.

“Ha Ha,” he mocked back at her.

“Get shot a lot do you?” Daisy asked as she pulled her hair up in a ponytail.

“Bullet magnet, this man,” Hailey joked, eliciting a laugh from each of them.

Walker drove them to the target location, Daisy riding in the front and Hailey and Jay in the back. Jay didn’t like not being in the front, in control of the car, but he went with it, recognizing it as a temporary thing until they got settled in. When they rolled up, they exited the car, concealing their badges, vests, and weapons as to not be identified as law enforcement before they could get eyes on the target.

“Looks like there’s two entrances to the park. I say you guys take the north end and we’ll take the south. If he’s anywhere-“ Jay began, taking point on tactics as he was so used to doing in Intelligence, but Daisy cut him off.

“Sorry, I don’t mean to be rude, but you guys are supposed to be following our lead today. I think each of us need to be partnered with you both. So, Walker you go with Hailey to the south end. Jay, you and I will take the north,” she instructed. It made Jay slightly uneasy to be split from Hailey, but he went along with it, acknowledging his unfamiliar role that came from being the new guy. Hailey sent him a reassuring look, silently communicating that everything would be fine. He nodded before they all departed ways.

“Dean, Fisher, your teams in place?” Daisy asked the other team leaders through the coms.

They each confirmed as Jay walked side by side with her down the path in the park. They settled on a bench, giving them a view of the center and north entrance of the park.

“We’re in place, all clear on the north end,” Jay said into the coms, his eyes surveying his surroundings as he put an arm on the back of the bench.

They sat in the park for a while. Eventually, one of the other agents saw the target pull up. They were able to bring him in without any problems. He was alone when they brought him in, which they all found odd. He was also very silent throughout every interaction, something they took as years of keeping his mouth shut with his boss. When they got him in the interrogation room, Drake sent Jay and Hailey in together to get a read on their capabilities. While Hailey pulled the “we’re here to help you, but only if you talk” method, Jay took a more silent approach. He remained in the seat staring at the man as Hailey paced the floor of the interrogation room trying to convince him to talk. After 20 minutes of silence, Hailey sat down next to Jay, looking down at the table, her arms crossed as the man kept a cold stare at her.

“Tell me Berlina, why’d Sarkova send you into that park alone this morning?” Jay finally asked, leaning forward and clasping his hands together on the table. The man said nothing, shifting his stare from Hailey to Jay.

“I mean, you’re just his driver after all. Anybody can drive a car, you’re pretty replaceable. But still, you’d think years of working for the man would earn you something, right? Some sort of protection,” Still the man remained silent. Jay shrugged before continuing on. “I don’t know. He’s probably already got you replaced anyway. We found out some pretty interesting things about you from Interpol. A couple of outstanding warrants in Latvia… even a few in Estonia. You get around, don’t you? Anyway, your plane leaves this afternoon. Hopefully that gives you enough time to get out of here before Sarkova has a chance to tie up loose ends,” Jay finished, rising in his chair to exit the room. Hailey followed, and just as they were about to exit, the man called them back.

He ended up giving them the location of a brownstone in a wealthier neighborhood. They set out with the FBI tactical team, expecting heavy arms and numerous bodyguards according to what Berlina gave them. They had planned to infiltrate late in the night to provide themselves with an extra element of surprise. This was the one part of the job that Jay felt sure about. As he geared up, he felt pumped up for the first time that day. Knowing that his interrogation gave them the location added a little motivation as well. Still partnered with Daisy, she and Jay followed after the two tact team guys upon breaching the front door. Walker and Hailey were behind them, making their way to the other side of the house upon entry. One of the tact team guys came in contact with an offender first, convincing him to stand down and taking his weapon before cuffing him. Jay and Daisy continued into the house, sweeping each room one by one. They came into contact with a second offender, and they were able to convince him to stand down as well. Next thing they knew, there was a ruckus on the other side of the house, so they swiftly picked up their pace, making their way in that direction. There was a gunshot and panic overcame Jay as he realized it was in the part of the house Hailey was clearing.

“Hailey!” He called out. No response. He called her name once more before entering a large room. He caught sight of her blonde hair on the ground. His heart dropped, but she turned over as he got closer, clutching at her jaw. Walker was behind her, standing over Sarkova who was face down on the ground.

“Hailey! What the hell happened, are you okay?” Jay questioned, making his way over to her and instinctively grabbing at her chin to get a better look at the red mark on her jaw.

“Guy was hiding behind the door when I walked in. He tried to grab at my gun and forced me to fire a round into the wall. He also got me nice in the jaw before I could react,” she told him, stretching her jaw. Jay offered her a hand and she grabbed it to come to a standing position.

“She took the hell out of him though. Girl’s a badass,” Walker said, bringing Sarkova to his feet and guiding him to a tact guy by the door.

“Yeah, where the hell were you? Huh?” Jay asked, a slight snarky tone in his voice.

“Hey man, I was right behind her. I had her back,” Walker said back, closing the distance between him and Jay. Jay didn’t take well to people getting in his face. Hailey noticed this and stood between them, lightly pushing them apart.

“Woah, okay boys. We’re all good here,” she said, her eyes looking between the two of them.

Jay backed off, looking down at her with a worried look.

“Are you okay?” he asked her quietly, dropping his voice to a sincere tone.

“I’m good,” she nodded, patting him slightly on the chest.

“I should’ve had your back,” he said, his jaw clenched tightly.

“Jay, I’m fine. Relax, would you?” she told him, a slight frustration in her voice.

Jay didn’t like that she had gotten hurt and he wasn’t there to protect her. It wasn’t that she was hurt badly, but he didn’t like the idea of someone else, basically a stranger, being the one to watch her back in such a high risk situation. His opinion of Walker wasn’t all that great after his comment that morning, and it certainly wasn’t improving now that she had gotten hurt under his watch. One thing he was sure of was that he was glad their separation was only a temporary thing.

[zenith-impact]

Embers - Part Nine

Read on AO3 here!

[1] - [2] - [3] - [4] - [5] - [6] - [7] - [8]

You and Diluc left as soon as you were done with breakfast. You knew that Diluc would have preferred to have left sooner, but Razor and Bennett had been insistent, and the two of you felt obligated to help out. Now, Diluc had a bag of supplies on his back, and yours was filled with food and two water bottles. The strip of Razor’s clothing that would keep the wolves away was still attached to your hip, but you hoped you wouldn’t have to test it out.

“How far do you think we’ll have to walk?”

“Hopefully not far,” Diluc said. “I can’t sense the Abyss Order, but I doubt they’d stray too far Mondstadt.”

“They’re further out than I expected if they’re towards Liyue.”

“Yes,” He looked troubled, but you could tell he was trying to hide it. “If their plan is to attack Mondstadt, then surely they would stay closer to the city.”

“Maybe some of them did and Knights will find them,” You said.

“That’s a way to get a majority of them killed.”

“Lumine’s probably back by now.”

“One person isn’t enough,” Diluc said.

“Unless it's you,” You offered. Diluc glanced at you with the hint of a raised eyebrow, but he didn’t refute it. If anything, that only confirmed that he felt the same way. And yet here you both were days from Mondstadt, searching for the equivalent of ghosts in the countryside. You had yet to see an Abyss Mage, and you’d taken Andrius’s words to heart and checked a variety of cliff sides. You found a couple of small domains, but they were empty with no traces of the Mages themselves. Diluc had wandered deeper than you had on those ones since you weren’t capable of gliding, but he’d come back empty-handed.

“They’re hiding remarkably well,” He said once in irritation.

“Maybe they knew we were coming?”

“How could they possibly know that?”

“Just an idea,” you muttered crossly.

Diluc sighed. “Sorry.”

“It’s fine,” You said. “We’re both a little on edge.”

“We’re a little more than on edge.”

“Then maybe we need a break.”

“Not yet,” Diluc said firmly. “Not until we get a bit further.” You’d nodded, even though your legs felt like they were going to fall off after hours of constant travel. But you could distract yourself enough that it wasn’t too much of a bother. You practiced your barrier by focusing on creating a smaller one around your hand. You were unsuccessful at first, causing nothing more than sparks that almost lit your backpack on fire. But over time you were able to focus hard enough to build something akin to a barrier. It wasn’t quite closed, and it certainly wasn’t pretty. But it was something which, considering your progress so far, was better than nothing. Your plan was to cover both hands seamlessly by the end of your trip if only to keep yourself from collapsing.

You both caught a break when Diluc found the last domain. You both left your supplies outside, and you almost agreed to keep watch, but you knew you needed to face the Mages at some point. So, you followed him inside, hoping that any passerbys would leave the bags alone. “Careful,” Diluc said as you squeezed through the entrance and walked sideways toward the back. You both slipped through an opening at the end and hopped down into a pit. It was eerily quiet and much warmer than you expected, but Diluc didn’t seem to mind as he marched onward, kicking open a door and stepping into the next room.

“What!?” A shrill voice yelled. “How did you find me?”

“Knocked on the right place,” You said as your eyes met with a Pyro Mage. You tried not to show your nerves, as a pyro mage would be a bit more difficult for you both to take out. Its shield would be practically unbreakable, and you had a feeling Diluc would have to power his way throughout it without your help. But the Mage looked startled enough that you might have a chance to catch it more off guard if you played it right.

“Where’s your leader?” Diluc said.

“You won’t find him,” The Mage said as it floated back and forth. You thought it looked nervous. Good. Diluc could fan those flames any day. “But it doesn’t matter. He devised the plan. We’re just seeing it through.”

“And what plan is that?”

“As if I would tell you!” The Mage snapped as a shield appeared around it. Diluc sighed, summoning his greatsword. You put your catalyst on your back, uncertain how you’d use it in this fight. Maybe once the shield was down you could do something. But before then you were useless.

Maybe you should’ve just waited outside.

Diluc surged forward, and you were surprised when his sword burst into flames. It collided with the barrier, and you saw a small crack beneath the sword’s weight. The Mage didn’t seem to notice as it cackled, bouncing back and forth. “What a waste of time!” It said. “You think you can defeat me with that?”

“I know I can.” Diluc dropped down and spun again. Three tiki like heads appeared around you, blowing flames through the center of the room. You turned on them, using your magic to knock them out of the air. One turned toward you, but you managed to throw up a shield around your hand, just big enough to absorb it before you blasted the head. The third one went down without much effort as Diluc continued his assault on the mage’s shield. You pulled your catalyst out, focusing your magic on the cracks. The Mage continued to laugh, not realizing that even your flames were starting to break through. Diluc spun in the air, bringing the sword down hard on the top of the Mage’s shield. You snapped your fingers and fire slipped through the smallest of cracks, landing on the Mage’s body. It shrieked in a panic, and its shield fell as it tried to put itself out. Diluc snapped his arm out, grabbing the Mage by the throat and slamming it into the wall. “Your plan,” He said. “Now.”

The Mage’s little arms flailed, unable to grab hold of Diluc’s arm. “I said I…” He choked on his words as Diluc squeezed harder.

“How’s it going to talk if you break his throat?” You said.

“He’ll figure it out.”

“Could just burn it.” You summoned a bit of flame to your palm, waving it close to the Abyss Mage’s face. “You may be a pyro mage, but I bet this still won’t feel very good.”

Diluc looked at you in something that might have been approval. Or the exact opposite. You weren’t certain. And maybe a small part of you had a grudge against Abyss Mages. You almost wished it were a cryo one, but that would just cause undue stress. “So,” You said trying to make your expression look as bored as possible. “What’s the plan, bud?”

“I said I wouldn’t…”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah,” You said dismissively. “You wouldn’t tell. But I’m afraid you don’t have much of a choice.” You held the flame closer until it glowed off its face. The Mage winced, looking between you and Diluc.

“Okay, okay,” It said. “I’ll tell you, I’ll tell!”

“Better be quick,” Diluc said.

“There’s a special one of us,” The Mage said. “One that was made just for Mondstadt.”

“Made?” Diluc echoed.

“That’s right!” The mage said. “One that even the Darknight Hero won’t be able to deal with!”

“Then why ask for Mondstadt to turn him over?”

“It would make things easier,” The Mage said. “Then we could torture him happily and still attack the city.”

“Torture,” Diluc scoffed. “Good luck with that.”

“The special Mage could have done it,” The Mage said. “But Mondstadt is being difficult.”

“The Darknight Hero won’t give in to you.”

“He won’t have a choice.” The Mage tried to laugh but ended up coughing. “And we’ll finally wipe out Mondstadt, then move on to Liyue.”

“You won’t make it far,” Diluc said as he dropped the Mage. It scrambled backward as you let go of your flames. “Where are the rest of you?” Diluc said.

“You’re going to have to find them,” The Mage said. “Good Lu-AHHHH.”

He vanished in a blaze of glory and Diluc turned away. “Let’s go.”

“Where to?”

“We need to find more,” Diluc said. “Clear them out so there are less attacking Mondstadt.”

“Do you think they’ll wait for the end of the month?”

“I don’t know,” Diluc said. “We’ll have to move quickly.”

“Back toward Wolvendom?”

“I think that’s for the best.” He hopped up to the hallway and pulled you up after him.

“Heading back tonight?”

“No,” He said. “We’ll rest and leave in the morning.”

You nodded in relief. “I love that idea.”

Diluc’s smile was soft as you both pushed your way out of the tight entrance and emerged back in the dwindling sunlight. Diluc grabbed the bags, handing yours over as he tossed on his own. “Let’s find a spot with some water,” You said.

“There’s a spot close to Wolvendom, we’ll stop there.”

You nodded as you stood up beside him. Your fingers twitched, wanting to reach for his own. You grabbed the straps of your bag to try and distract yourself. Diluc watched you for a moment, and you noticed that he too was holding onto the straps of his backpack tighter than usual. You both stared at each other for a few minutes before you blushed and finally looked away. “Let’s go,” You said. “My legs need a break.”

“It’s not too far away,” He said before you both walked in silence.

-----------

Diluc was confused, a rare thing for him nowadays. He always prided himself on knowing exactly what to do, where to be, and when to do it. But lately, he’d been unsure of himself. He’d hesitated with you too many times to count, and he was certain now that you’d started to take notice. But he had realized that you were hesitating too. He saw the way you reached out for him but quickly yanked your hand away as if you were scared. He had a feeling that wasn’t the case, but he didn’t know what he would have done had you kept your hand there. Would he have taken it? Did he want to? A part of him thought he would have, but another part of him wondered how long he would have held on without second-guessing himself.

He felt so close to you, yet so far. And he knew it was partially his fault. His normal confidence was wavering and he didn’t know why.

Diluc set up the tent as you collected some more water from the spring nearby. Things had been a bit awkward since he dealt with the Abyss Mage, and Diluc wasn’t certain how to fix it. He could probably make things normal again by just talking to you, but he felt there was a small barrier there now; one that he had to choose whether to cross or not. He knew you were leaving it up to him, but a part of him wondered what you would do if given the chance.

“Got the bottles,” You said as you came back to camp with a cheerful smile. You handed one to Diluc and he nodded, grabbing it from you and taking a large drink. You took it back when he was done, tucking it into your bag as he finished setting up the tent. “Hopefully it doesn’t rain tonight,” You said as you lit the fire pit and grabbed some food.

“It won’t.”

“Well aren’t you confident,” you laughed and he realized he wanted to hear it again and again. He wanted to make you laugh every day he could.

“Come here,” He said quietly. You watched him for a moment in surprise, but then you were by his side, close enough that he could hug you and not have to move very far. Instead, he held his hand out, taking yours. Your cheeks flushed a light pink, but you kept his gaze as he lifted your hand and brushed the back of it with his lips. He heard a quiet gasp as your lips parted and your eyes seemed to glow. He let your hand go and turned back to the tent. You didn’t move as he pulled the flaps aside and tied them up. “Are you hungry?” He said.

“A little.”

He turned back around, only to find that you hadn’t moved. “Maybe not that much,” You admitted. “I could do with some rest, to be honest.”

Diluc nodded. “We can cook in the morning.”

You took a step forward, and your fingers brushed his as you walked by and ducked into the tent. He grabbed the backpacks and tucked them in, closing the tent as he sat on his own sleeping bag. You were watching him, cheek on your knees. Diluc swallowed thickly, trying not to feel self-conscious. That was a younger him, not this him. Yet his heart was pounding in his chest. He felt himself warming up more than usual, but so were you. At this rate, the tent was going to burn down and there was nothing he could do to stop it.

“Diluc.”

“Yes?”

“Can I kiss you?”

He froze, lips slightly parted and cheeks flushed as bright as his hair. You weren’t fairing much better, but you tilted your head, and he could see the confidence in your gaze. And the more you stared at each other, the more he realized that he did want this. He wanted to be close to you. So, he took your hand and pulled you toward him, propping it up over his shoulders. You followed with the other arm, arcing back just a bit that your chests pressed together. He let his hands slide down your sides and rest on your hips. He leaned in, letting his forehead rest on yours. You both stared at each other, eyes wide. You were so warm, almost as much as him. You both swayed gently from side to side as if music were echoing on the wind.

“Yes you can,” Diluc whispered.

You leaned in until your lips pressed together. It was gentle and hesitant at first, but he shifted his hands to your back and pulled you closer. Your lips felt so perfect and smooth against his, and you tasted faintly of something sweet. He could feel your heart pounding against his own as he lifted a hand to brush your cheek. And just when he thought the kiss couldn’t get any better, he felt your hands in his hair, tugging at the band that held back his ponytail. He couldn’t stop the groan when you tugged it out, and he felt you smile against his lips as his hair fell in all directions. He kissed you harder, tilting his head and sliding his hand to the back of your neck.

He knew he pulled away too soon, but you didn’t complain when he pressed his lips to your forehead and didn’t move away. He was growing to love you, but could he say it? Maybe not right now. But he could show it, and that was all that mattered.

“Diluc.”

He pulled away and looked down at you. “Yes?”

“We can pull the sleeping bags together,” You said, brushing through his hair. “It’ll be like a sleepover.”

He snorted and you chuckled, earning a small smile. He pulled away holding your hand a moment longer before he pulled his sleeping bag over to yours. You both lay down beside each other, and you reached out, brushing his hair back. He took your hand, holding it up to his chest. And the two of you lay like that for some time, listening to the sounds of the outdoors as you basked in each other’s gaze. 

[petri808]

Bakudeku canon divergent, vampire quirk AU

1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24

If he’d remembered the map’s, he’d checked out before coming correctly, the lake was less than a quarter mile beyond the tree line from where he stood in the clearing. There was a small farming village west of the lake, and it was maybe another couple miles next to the dam. Bakugou was certain that the authorities had canvased the town as well as surrounding areas, but if he was lucky, they’d missed something or someone that saw something that day that could aid in his search. Either way, it was another starting point.

After hiking to the nearest village, Bakugou sought out their small police station. The place maybe had two officers on duty per shift, and three shifts rounding out a day. For major cases, detectives were brought in from the next larger city. It was the epitome of small and very common in the more rural areas of Japan. Because of his notoriety, the authorities knew who he was, but luckily had no idea that he wasn’t a part of the task force.

“I’m doing follow ups,” he did his best to sound official and reign in his temper. “Making sure that no one reported seeing the hero called Deku?” The officer shook his head. “So, no strange events from April twenty-seventh?”

“Strange? Not on that date, but the next day, there was an attack on a citizen. They claimed that they were ambushed late in the evening but could not give any description. The man is a known drunkard and we assumed he was intoxicated and hallucinating until we saw the marks on his arms.”

“Like scratches?”

“No, they looked like an animal bit him. He swore he hadn’t been drinking, but when we made contact, he was still slurring his words and out of it as if he was.”

‘Not very strange but okay,’ Bakugou made a mental note. “Anything else?”

“Two days after that, a woman reported seeing an unusual green streak in the sky.”

Green?! That peaked Bakugou’s interest. “What direction was it going in?”

The man shrugged, “we didn’t ask because we assumed that she just saw a meteor or something going through the atmosphere.”

“Ugh!” he palmed his face. “I need to speak with her immediately. That could be a clue.” Bakugou proverbially rolled his eyes at the thought. ‘Bet the pro searchers didn’t think to ask these kinds of questions.’ Of course, if all you ask is a closed ended, ‘did you see x’ kind of question you’ll only get a yes or no answer. If Midoriya was on the run, he would be a fool to show himself so easily to citizens. So, the clues would lay in the minor details.

“Certainly,” the desk sergeant responded. “I will have an officer take you to her home.”

It was nice not having to walk or use his quirk unnecessarily. A patrol officer drove him to the edge of the town where the woman lived in a small cottage on her farming property. The home was a half mile from the main town and without streetlights, the night would be much darker with a better vantage point to see any phenomena in the sky. While the officer waited in the car with the hero’s belongings, Bakugou knocked on the woman’s door. When she answered, he introduced himself and asked her to tell him any details she could recall from the night of the green streak.

According to the older farmer woman, the light appeared to have originated from the forest bordering her farm and headed in an easterly direction. She pointed in the direction and Bakugou surmised it could be in the direction of Tokyo, but it was too general to know for sure.

“But how do you know it wasn’t a meteor or something naturally occurring?” Bakugou questioned the woman.

She smiled, “Young man, I have seen many in my lifetime and they always travel at a steady pace against the horizon. This one started off slower then sped up. In fact, right before it would have been over the town, it’s speed increased and moved so fast it disappeared in the blink of an eye.”

As if ‘it’ worried about being seen by the townsfolk, Bakugou realized. “And ma’am, are you sure it was a green colored light?”

Again, she nodded and smiled, “like a copper fire streaking through the sky.”

It took a moment for Bakugou to realize what the woman meant. Copper produced a greenish flame when burned, and green was also the color of Midoriyas quirk.

“One last question,” Bakugou asked. “Is there anything else you can think of, or anything in the area you saw the light coming from such as abandoned buildings, any cave systems, or maybe strange animal activity around that time?”

“Why yes! There’s an old abandoned mine in that part of the forest. There are probably still tunnels. My grandfather once worked them until it was closed down.”

Bakugou thanked the woman for her information and told the officer to wait for him while he checked out the mine, but the officer explained he needed to get back to town.

“I can come back around dark once I finish work and pick you up,” the man offered. “That would give you about four hours to do what you gave to do.”

“Yeah, that’ll work. Can you hold onto my stuff?”

“Sure, I’ll just take it to the station.”

“Perfect.” Bakugou agreed. He’ll probably need to stay the night anyway before moving on.

Once the patrol officer was gone, the hero blasted his way towards the forest in the direction the woman had provided to him. She’d told him that the area might be overgrown in many places, but the last time she’d been there, she remembered an old utility shed still standing. And sure, enough the growth was quite dense with little snippets of human structures peeking through the brush. Bakugou first found the entrance to the mine shaft but saw no evidence of activity such as disturbances in the dirt, no footprints, or signs of a campfire, anything that would suggest a human had been using it as a shelter. Next, he moved onto the shed the woman told him about and saw that the structure was still standing. Not surprising from what he could see of the material. Red pine was a strong type of wood resistant to mold, suitable for this kind of environment.

That’s where he saw the first glimpses of activity. Bakugou knelt and touched the recently disturbed earth in front of the shed’s door. Despite being around a month old, the dense tree canopy had protected the footprints and scuff marks from washing away. He moved into the small structure itself, gauging it was approximately eight feet wide by 10 feet deep. The walls were lined with broken shelves, some still holding a myriad of rotting, rusting tools, or other junk left behind. Nothing of real use, even if…

Bakugou’s eyes fall onto a jumbled pile of rags left on a shelf near the entrance. The lighting was poor, but when he got closer, he saw the red spots of dried blood. His breathing slowed, could it be? “Were you injured Deku?” He mumbled to himself as he picked up and turned the rags over in his hands to inspect them. It wasn’t a lot of blood, couldn’t have been very life-threatening injuries, but still, seeing the evidence made his blood boil. “Reckless idiot!” Bakugou screamed. “Where the fuck are you?!”

Of course, there was no way for him to confirm the blood was Midoriya’s and not some passing vagrant in the area. So, he kept searching the ruins of the building. If his friend had sheltered there, maybe he’d left something else behind, just a trace to confirm it was in fact Deku. He found a small burned-out area on the ground with remnants of a fire, including animal bones perhaps from a meal? There were other disturbances on the dirty shelves from a previous person rummaging around the left-over junk, but nothing more. Talk about frustrating!

No, wait… Bakugou zeroed in on a tiny scrap of fabric partially obscured by a shelf as if it had fallen and been pushed underneath by accident. It was only a quarter-size of his palm, and the torn piece of fabric wasn’t discolored which meant it hadn’t been there long. ‘This looks like a piece of his uniform,’ Bakugou surmised. It matched the green color Midoriya wore. Now he had a torn fabric the same color of Deku’s uniform, the green streak seen in the sky shortly after the battle, and the recent blood on rags. Circumstantially, it was good enough to convince Bakugou that this had been his friend and the man really was still alive and on the run.

“See!” Bakugou raged to himself in that empty forest. “Stupid idiots! I should’ve been out here looking sooner not them! Who else would know Deku better than me?!” ‘Tch,’ those fools in the task force didn’t know anything considering the woman told him no one else had talked to her before him. What took him less than a day to find, was more evidence than the authorities had found in a whole month of searching!

Originally, Bakugou had planned to stay in the area, but if he believed this promising information, Midoriya was heading back east. ‘Hopefully back home.’ Three weeks had passed since this woman’s claim of a green streak, so either Midoriya hadn’t arrived back in Shizuoka, or he was still hiding out somewhere. Either way this was promising; something better than nothing at all. So, he took the officer up on the offer to stay the night at a small inn they hooked him up with, but bright and early the next morning Bakugou caught the bus out of town heading in the direction the woman provided. ‘I’m coming Deku…’

[drwcn]

discordance!verse part 7: an interesting morning in jingshi, Lan Wangji is shameless, much to the shock of Wei Wuxian. rated M??T??

in which wwx is lxc’s husband through political alliance, and there is an affair. 

[8] | [7] | [6] | [5] | [4] | [3] | [2] | [1] [synopsis] OR

see [discau tag] or [discordance navigation page] for all installments  

(~10 days before part 5/6)

Wei Wuxian wakes up slowly, warm and comfortable. The first thing he sees is the green bamboo shoots past the white tulle curtains, just outside the window, and the droplet of dew glistening under the morning sun. It had rained some time during the early hours; he recalls drifting to sleep listening to the muffled pitter-patter against Jingshi's roof, Lan Zhan curled at his side…

Lan Zhan is still there, fast asleep, as though he hasn't moved an inch all night. He is pressed against Wei Wuxian's shoulder, one arm thrown across his chest, every even breath a gentle breeze across his neck.

Even in sleep, Lan Zhan is a vision. That peerless face which others find cold and intimidating, is relaxed and open. Thick lashes kiss pink flushed cheeks. Soft full lips part minutely, still a bit swollen. Long silk hair runs like ink between Wei Wuxian's fingers.

He releases a soft affectionate huff, pulling the covers more securely around them both. Wei Wuxian closes his eyes, ready to indulge in sleep for another couple more hours. He doesn't know why they don't do this more often, it's so nice…

Wait!

His eyes snap open, all thoughts of sleep vanishing instantly.

Fuck! We slept in!

There's a very good reason why he and Lan Zhan never wake up warm, coddled together in a patch of morning sun like two aristocratic cats: it's because Cloud Recesses' rules are fucking nightmares - and also because he and Lan Zhan are technically, technically in an illicit affair - but mostly because of Cloud Recesses’ rules. Lan Zhan always has to get up at a quarter before mao-shi to sneak back to hanshi so he could continue the charade of having woken up in the bed he definitely didn't sleep in.

Judging by the angle of sunlight spilling into the room, it must be at least si-shi by now, a whole two shichen later than when Lan Zhan is usually up and about…

Oh ffffffuuuck -

Dap, dap, dap!

There are three polite knocks at the door. A disciple's hesitant voice echoes from the other side.

"W-Wei-jun? Are you in there?"

He can hear the anxiety clearly in their tone. Because of course they must be frantic! Lan Zhan's secretarial disciple would've gone in to bring him his breakfast, like he does every morning, and discovered Hanguang-jun's bed and sheets as cold as ice and Lan Wangji himself nowhere to be found.

It's been at least four hours, Cloud Recesses must be having a full blown panic attack by now!!

Wei Wuxian jolts up from bed and is torn between feeling sorry and amazed when that exaggerated movement only manages to elicit an incoherent grumble from Lan Zhan.

Oblivious to Wei Wuxian's impending meltdown, Lan Wangji curls a little deeper into the covers, but does not wake up. 

No time to worry about that, Wei Wuxian yanks the covers over Lan Wangji's head to cover him and pads across the matted floor to the clothing rack. He can't answer the door even if he wants to; he's completely fucking naked.

Wei Wuxian is just about finished with the ties of his second layer of robes when the disciple speaks again,  

"Wei-jun?! Are you in there?! Many apologies for disturbing you…but - but it's urgent! Please, could you open the door?"

For the first time since the death of his husband, Wei Wuxian is glad for his widower status. As the previous Sect Master's yishu 遗属, it would be bad etiquette for lower disciples to barge into his private residence without invite. Not that any of them would be capable: the seal Wei Wuxian placed on the inside of the door last night is an invention of his own. He's confident that no more than a dozen cultivators of their time can break it without expending serious spiritual energy.

Thank goodness last-night-me had the foresight to do that…

Though, he does wonder why it's a bunch of disciples and not someone like Lan Qiren knocking on his door. His nerves calm by half a fraction. If they're coming to me, perhaps they haven't directed this particular issue to higher authorities. Probably doesn't want to give the grandpas an impromptu stroke by declaring Lan Zhan missing…

Wei Wuxian shrugs on his outer layer, and in the calmest, most put-upon voice he can manage, he answers, "What is it? I am feeling poorly this morning."

"Begging your pardon, Wei-jun, it's just…Hanguang-jun, uhm, we can't find Hanguang-jun."

Glancing behind his shoulder, Wei Wuxian winces as he sees Lan Wangji stirring, turning onto his back and shoving the covers out of the way.

"Ah, yes, Hanguang-jun," replies Wei Wuxian, channeling his inner Lan Qiren and attempting his most authoritative tone of voice. "Sect Master has informed me that he’s gone on a…a meditative trek. It's been some time since he's been able to cultivate in peace. He will be returning shortly. No need…no need to worry the Elders."

Through the thin walls, he hears a collective sigh of relief.

"Thank goodness. Forgive us for disturbing you, Wei-jun. If you're feeling unwell, should a healer be sent for -"

"No! No, that's quite alright. I'll be fine. Return to your studies. Do not dally." Wei Wuxian quickly dismisses the disciples. 

Ear pressed against the door, he listens to their footsteps walking away until he can't hear anything but the sparrows chirping in the woods. Letting out the breath he’s been holding anxiously in his chest, Wei Wuxian pads himself in relief.

Crisis averted.

When he turns around, Lan Wangji is sitting up in bed, staring dazedly at him.

"I slept in. It's very late, isn't it?"

The sight of him like that, blankets gathered at the waist, pale chest bared and hair unbound, immediately steals from Wei Wuxian the breath he’d only just been able to catch.

Hanguang-jun is truly the Light Bearer, he laments, mindless of the smile that overtakes him. Even the sun seems to be drawn to the good Lan Zhan. Streaming onto the bed from the window behind, morning sunlight enshrouds his entire being and condenses into a soft halo around him, as if to remind the world that this man is blessed by the gods.

Yet this god-chosen man, destined for immortality, has given himself over to Wei Wuxian last night, delivered into his hands, with pure trust and a small smile in the dark.

Wei Wuxian feels the back of his neck heat up from the memory. Get yourself together, Wei Wuxian, you flagrant degenerate, it’s practically midday. 

"Wei Ying, I…" Lan Wangji averts his eyes as Wei Wuxian takes a seat beside him, holding his clothes ready for him.

"Ah, Lan Zhan, don't be embarrassed." Wei Wuxian chuckles, reaching out to twirl a strand of Lan Wangji's hair around his finger teasingly. "So you slept in, happens to the best of us." 

Leaning forward and pecking a chaste kiss to his forehead, Wei Wuxian hands him his robes and says, "Alright, come on, let's get up. You have to work, and I have to assist my venerated Hanguang-jun. A bath and some breakfast - I told the disciples I'm not feeling my best, they'll probably send whatever I ask for. Nobody ever has to know our Sect Master was sleeping the morning away."

The tip of Lan Wangji's ears turns pink, but instead of accepting the garbs the other man holds out to him, he shifts closer and winds his arms around Wei Wuxian shamelessly. "Yes perhaps, but I am not entirely to blame."

This time, Wei Wuxian does blush. He draws his head back, aghast. "L-Lan Zhan! H-how could you say such a thing in broad daylight!

"Is it not so?" Lan Wangji rests his chin against his lover's shoulder and pivots his head almost accusingly.

Wei Wuxian sputters. Why you shameless little - you - I -

Memories from the night before come rushing back: Lan Zhan's earnest open face when he asked Wei Wuxian to indulge him, climbing onto his lap and whispering into his ear exactly what he wanted. Wei Wuxian is used to Lan Zhan taking charge. It’s been that way since the two of them became intimate. He’s thrilled, more than thrilled, to share those stolen moments with Lan Zhan. In fact, it always does funny wonderful things to him to see the disciplined Hanguang-jun let loose the way he does when they’re together.

But to have his Lan Zhan laying under him, arching and trembling and falling apart for him, his name uttered by those heavenly lips like an answer, a spell, a prayer…How does any reasonable man come back from that?

Oh my god…I - I deflowered the Second Jade of Gusu… Wei Wuxian realizes with a jolt, suddenly hot under the collar. It's not that the implication didn't occur to him yesterday, but the weight of his actions had not fully sunk in until now. It's probably not a coincidence that Lan Wangji, who has never overslept a day in his life, fails to keep to his rigid internal clock after Wei Wuxian spent most of the night having his ways with him.

When did they even go to actual sleep? It couldn't have been any time before midnight. Wei Ying, Wei Wuxian, you fool, you absolute idiot, how could you have done this?! You should've been more careful!!

…Lan Zhan had been so careful with me…

"Wei Ying," Lan Wangji calls his name, arms still locked around him. "You told them I'd be gone for a while yet, yes?"

Wei Wuxian frowns, not sure where he's headed. "Yeah?"

Lan Wangji shuffles closer, one of his hands travelling across the front of Wei Wuxian's robes until he finds the knotted sash. Blinking innocently, he says without a shred of pretense, "I do not doubt your skills, but my memories of last night are a little vague. Perhaps you ought to demonstrate for me again, as a reminder?"

For a long, long moment, neither of them move, Lan Wangji's request apparently having shocked Wei Wuxian into petrified silence. He does nothing but stare back at him, so much so Lan Wangji begins to wonder if he went a little too far with the teasing. But then Wei Wuxian's expression shifts, something raw and hungry flashing across his face. The next moment, Lan Wangji is flipped over onto his front, the covers yanked off exposing his pale bare form, every inch a perfection. 

Lan Wangji shivers, more reactionary than actually cold. He can feel Wei Ying's gaze on him, heated and appreciative, and as much as he doesn't want to give him the satisfaction, he squirms under the scrutiny.

"Wei Y-"

But the weight of Wei Ying's body is suddenly flush against his back, and Lan Wangji notices with a start that while he is thoroughly bare, Wei Ying is mostly dressed and does not appear to be in any hurry to change that.

Does Wei Ying really intend to take him while fully clothed?! Somehow the thought doesn't bother him, not in the least. Rather, it spurs him on, sparking the desire that simmers just beneath his skin. 

His hair is swept to side; Lan Wangji groans as a pair of lips press a hot, open mouthed kiss against his neck behind one redden ear.

"One would think, Hanguang-jun, that requesting physical intimacy in the middle of the day counts for misbehaviour."

The needy kiss transforms into a sharp bite.

Lan Wangji suffocates a groan, shuddering as the kiss trails between his shoulder blades and lower. For a few minutes, all he can focus on is the touch of hands and lips and tongue mapping out the planes of his body and wringing from him wonderful pleasures that he would not otherwise so easily relinquish.

"As the once disciplinary officer of Cloud Recesses," continues Wei Ying, lifting Lan Zhan by the hips and pushing him onto his knees. "Please enlighten us the appropriate consequences."

Wei Ying sounds very much like a cat savouring its play time with its poor prey before devouring it alive. Although Lan Wangji would never admit it out loud even under duress, he can confess to himself in the safety of his mind that this fate is exactly what he wants.

The Wei Ying of last night was careful, gentle, and steadfast despite being nervous.That Wei Ying had held his hands, lacing their fingers together, and whispered sweet lovely things as he brought them to their heights and back. Lan Wangji wasn't lying when he said his memories were a bit fuzzy; the entire experience had been…a lot.

However, Wei Ying in the morning is a whole different beast, and Lan Zhan aches just imagining what waits ahead. He wants him, by god, he wants him.

"One would think, Wei-jun," Lan Wangji manages to grit out, "that as someone who holds the highest running record of punishments received during his guest disciple days, you would be more than acquainted with Cloud Recesses' method of discipl - ah!"

The cry is ripped from his throat before he could help it. Panting, Lan Wangji writhes against the sheets and marvels a little at just how readily he receives what Wei Ying gives him.

But Wei Ying's tone loses its playfulness right away. "Lan Zhan -" The hand that threads through his hair is light and the following kiss on his left shoulder is tender. "- are you - are you hurt? Was I -"

Perhaps that cry sounded more distressed than he actually was. Lan Wangji turns his head to meet Wei Ying's worried gaze and melts a little. Blood is roaring in his ears and he is hot all over, but the warm cocoon that envelops his heart has nothing to do with lust.

Wei Ying presses another soft, comforting kiss against the shell of his ear and then another against his temple. "Say something, should I stop?"

Stop?! If this endearing idiot even thinks about stopping now Lan Wangji will absolutely smack him out of pure frustration.  

Catching his breath, he pushes back against Wei Wuxian and is immensely satisfied when the other man shudders in response. Reveling in the knowledge that he is the only one to ever see Wei Ying this way, he does it again. This time, the hands gripping his deviant hips are no longer gentle.

"Are you going to make good on my punishments," challenges Lan Wangji, batting his lashes, infinitesimally coy. "Or were those merely empty threats?"

The speed at which Wei Ying's eyes darken with desire almost makes Lan Wangji regret his impertinence. But then he is being thrust forward without warning, the unexpected motion hitting that spot inside him that makes his toes curl and his vision go white, and he instantly regrets nothing.

"W-Wei Ying…"

Somewhere in the back of his mind, he is aware that he is being objectively loud, but it really isn't his fault. Who in their right mind would expect him to be silent when he is being railed into the bed like both their immortalities depended on it. He just hopes Wei Ying has the good sense to cast a silencing talisman (lucky for them, he did).

Lan Zhan moans into the sheets, his eyes rolling back. How on earth is he so wrecked so quickly?! What is Wei Ying doing to him? In this position, he is completely at his lover's mercy, but he doesn't want to fight it, not at all. Clutching the wooden headboard, Lan Wangji surrenders the last bit of his self-control and submerges under the waves of sensations and sounds and bliss.  

~

Lan Zhan is quiet afterwards, soaking in the bath Wei Wuxian prepared for him. Wei Wuxian wipes himself down perfunctorily, changes into fresh robes and then proceeds to meticulously tidy the bed. The sheets are…probably not salvageable. He'll have to burn them or bury them, because there's no way he can hand them over to the disciples on laundry duty in the state that they're in. Even he can't talk his way out of that one.

When he's sure there is no more incriminating evidence of their activities, Wei Wuxian rounds behind the screen to find Lan Zhan exactly where he'd left him.

Eyes closed, he looks so young. It's not fair how everything must fall to him now. Lan Zhan never complains, but he must be exhausted after all that's happened since the end of last year.

His heart squeezing tightly, Wei Wuxian picks up a wash cloth and sits down by the tub. Lovely eyes flutter open just as he runs the warm towel over the round of Lan Zhan's shoulder.

"Are you alright?" He asks softly, wiping a bit of dried spent from Lan Zhan's chin. "Was I too rough?"

The tip of Lan Zhan's ears turns pink again. He shakes his head, taking Wei Wuxian's hand and caresses his knuckles. "No, you were perfect."  

Still, something nags Wei Wuxian in the mind of his mind. Their hands still clasped together, he shifts closer and searches Lan Zhan's face. 

"Lan Zhan, what brought this on? Last night and this morning. You know I don't mind being the …uhm…" Blushing, he clears his throat, suddenly thin-skinned. Damn it, Wei Wuxian, get it together. "You know I don’t mind being the way we were before. Love it in fact, can't get enough of it even. I don't want you to think I expect you to - uhm - return the favour... as it were."

Lan Zhan's eyes are serious but also bright and earnest with understanding and intent. He thumbs the blush on Wei Wuxian's cheek, curling his fingers around his nape. 

"I'm yours now, Wei Ying." He says, voice hushed but resolve firm. "Do you understand? No more nonsense about finding me a proper husband, or a wife to bear me heirs, or any talk of that kind. Even if the Elders bar me from marrying you on the account of you being my brother's widower, I'm yours, and you're not allowed to abandon me. I won't have it."

"Lan Zhan..." The back of his throat grows unbearably tight. Wei Wuxian feels as though he could cry. He remembers their conversation back in Qishan when he saw Lan Zhan with little Wen Yuan and the ensuing row they had afterwards. It was perhaps the first and only time Lan Zhan lost his temper with him. He'd been so angry, so hurt, that Wei Ying would even suggest he should marry another.

Wei Wuxian, if you truly want me to be with someone else, then what, tell me, are we doing now?!

Wei Wuxian squeezes his hand, pressing a heartbroken kiss to his palm, then another, then another. He feels horrible with himself. How could he not realize earlier? Is this why Lan Zhan had been so insistent?

"Lan Zhan, my good Lan Zhan, you didn't have to - I won't leave you, Lan Zhan, I promised you, I won't. You have me, you'll always have me, you didn't have to -"

"Wei Ying," Lan Wangji interrupts him, seeing his self-deprecating tendencies are once again leading him down the wrong line of thought. "I want you, want to be with you. Last night was not solely to drive home a point. Even if I did want to make a point, it would only be part of the reason, minimal at best, and certainly would not account for this morning.” 

Wei Wuxian blinks, swallowing thickly. "And the real reason?"

"Well, surely it's very telling." Lan Wangji inches closer. The angle of the round tub makes it awkward but he doesn't care. A smile playing at his lips, he whispers into the other man's ear and delights at the way Wei Ying pulls back with a scandalized cry.

"Lan Zhan!"

Wei Wuxian is sure that his entire face is on fire. Who would've thought the esteemed Hanguang-jun could be such a lethal combination of imaginative mind and dirty mouth?!

But Lan Wangji only chuckles, nuzzling his neck. "Thank you for being so obliging, Wei Ying. I hope I was not too much of a burden."

I’m going to cry, thinks Wei Wuxian, I’m actually going to cry. Inside his chest, his heart has swelled so incredibly that he feels it will burst any second. "Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, Lan Zhan, my good Lan-er-gege," he chants, over and over, peppering the lightest and sweetest of kisses along Lan Wangji's face. "You can't say things like that without warning! My heart can't take it!"

"Mn,” Lan Wangji purrs.“You'll live."

"Lan Zhan, ah Lan Zhan, what am I going to do with you?" Wei Wuxian sighs,  holding the other man by the curve of his jaw and smiles that sunshine smile.

"Stuck with me, I'm afraid. Hasn't anyone told you?" Lan Zhan peers at him through hooded eyes. "Us Gusu Lans, we're rooks."

"Rooks?"

"Rooks mate for life."

At that, Wei Wuxian pulls Lan Wangji impossibly close and silences him with a deep, long kiss.

-

[part 8]

yishu 遗属 - family that is left behind through death. 

[elizabeethan]

Walk With Me (I Think We’ll Find A Way)- Chapter 7/8

Killian Jones travels across realms to find Emma and Henry in New York after receiving an anonymous message about a new curse. When he finally tracks her down, he makes a bold move and greets her at her front door, but before he can even attempt to convince her to come back to Storybrooke with him, he’s met with a surprise that will change his life.

Season 3B AU

Prologue, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6

Read on Ao3

It’s here friends :) One chapter to go!!

The most beautiful header on the planet was made by @xhookswenchx, in case you were wondering

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“Because I commanded you not to.”

The words tore a hole through Emma’s chest. Her foolish son somehow found his way to the woods and was standing off to the side with the Dark One’s dagger, holding it in front of himself and facing it towards Gold.

“Henry,” Neal starts, and she wants to scream at him to run, get out of here! but she can’t. Her brain has stopped working and her lips won't move. She feels Killian squeezing her arm but she can’t turn away from her child putting himself between her and the fucking Dark One.

“Get out of here, Henry,” Gold says.

“We’re not going anywhere, Rumple.”

Belle materializes behind Henry and Emma wants to explode. Where the hell is Corrine, if the two of them are here?!

“Belle, what are you doing?”

“You know why I’m here, Rumple. I’m not letting you steal this town’s memories just because you think it would bring me back to you.”

“No, no. That's not what I'm doing. I’m doing this for my son.”

She shakes her head and steps in front of Henry, who’s still wielding the dagger threateningly. He refuses to turn around towards Emma, which means she’s unable to reach out and grab for him. She’s worried that if she moves from this spot, Neal just might kill her.

“I left you, in the Enchanted Forest. I didn’t remember doing it, but I did it. And now you're here, doing the exact thing that I left you for doing!”

“Belle,” Neal tries, but she shoots him a threatening look.

“What you’re doing is selfish and dangerous. Neal, Emma’s clearly made her choice, and you need to accept that. If you truly love her like you say you do, you’d accept that.”

“I’m doing this for her; for us!”

“You’re endangering your son and her daughter. That’s not love, Neal. I should’ve seen a long time ago that wanting to control and manipulate someone isn’t the same as loving someone.”

“You’ve got it all wrong, Belle!” Gold tries.

“I can’t believe I was wrong about you all this time, Rumple. Your heart really is rotten, isn’t it?” He doesn't have a chance to answer. “Henry, the dagger, if you please,” she says, taking it from him as Emma breathes a sigh of relief. “Rumple, I want you to transport Neal to a cell in the sheriff’s station, and then you’re going to take us to the town line. We need to be alone for what comes next.”

They disappear in a cloud of red smoke. Emma’s hesitant to believe that this is all over, but the three of them are gone and Henry is standing safe and dagger-less a few feet away from her. “Henry,” she says, hating the worry laced through her tone.

“Mom,” he calls with a smile as he runs for her, throwing himself into her waiting arms.

“What the hell were you thinking?! You could’ve been seriously hurt! Where’s your sister?”

“With grandma—”

“Henry,” Regina interrupts. Emma sighs, wanting nothing more than to continue to hug her son but accepting the fact that her life isn’t that simple. He turns towards her voice and his face is alight once again.

“Mom!” he calls, running towards her for an emotional reunion.

Rather than watch the two of them together, she turns towards Killian and smiles. He looks down to her and takes her hand in his, squeezing gently.

“Well, Swan, I do believe—”

“We’ve gotta go,” David calls as he tucks his phone into his back pocket. “Robin, can you make sure Neal is where he’s supposed to be? Emma, you’ve gotta come with me. Mary Margaret just went to the hospital and had to bring Corrine with her.”

“The baby?” she asks, pulling Killian along with her toward her father’s truck.

“He or she is on their way.”

~~~~

Henry rides to the hospital with Regina in Gold’s car. Emma’s honestly a bit surprised that Regina is even bothering coming to the hospital, until she pulls up to the doors, drops Henry off, and pulls away again. Typical.

“Your mom didn’t want to come in?” Emma asks him, and he shrugs.

“Something about family bonding or whatever. It’s okay.”

They walk into the lobby and see Corrine sitting happily with Ruby, Tink on the other side of the coffee table and rolling a small ball towards her as she squeals with laughter. She hears Ruby gasp who’s that? before Corrine whips around and starts running towards her parents and brother as fast as her fat little legs can carry her.

“Hello, my love,” Killian says as he scoops her up, making a grunt as if his body is protesting. What a dad.

“Hi,” she says once she’s up. “Ball.” She holds up the small green ball in Killian’s face, making him back away with a laugh.

“You’re playing ball with Ruby? And…” he turns, cocking his head, “Tink.”

“Hi, Hook.”

“Curse is broken,” Ruby says by way of explanation. “Turns out you two weren’t the only ones getting it on after Neverland.”

“Ah,” he says with a blush, and Emma’s smiling until she hears Henry speak up.

“What does that mean?”

Ruby shoots them all a wolfish grin.

Prince Oliver Leopold is born mere hours after they arrived at the hospital; a healthy, happy boy who somewhat resembles his niece and nephew but has his mother’s bright green eyes.

Emma holds her baby brother and swoons at his plump lips and swollen eyes and rosy cheeks and before she knows it, she has baby fever, dammit. It’s worse when Killian takes the baby from her at David’s insistence and starts cooing. Captain Hook is cooing at a newborn.

Corrine won’t stop saying baby. It’s so adorable. She wants to hold her new uncle (Emma won’t ever get used to that), but refuses any help and would definitely forget to support his head, so a tantrum ensues, naturally. Killian hands the baby back to his mother and takes Corrine out to the hall, because apparently he’s already become an expert parent and handles tantrums flawlessly.

When she leaves the room a few minutes later to check on things, she finds them in the waiting room, Corrine on Killian’s lap with her thumb shoved in her mouth while he holds his phone in front of her. Emma rolls her eyes.

“We should probably try something aside from handing her a phone whenever she freaks out,” she reasons to him with a smile.

“Probably, but this always works so well. Plus, it’s rather catchy.”

When she gets closer, she sees that he’s playing a One Direction music video. Corrine is so fully engrossed that she’s barely dancing, just staring into the screen and bopping her free fist up and down slightly. “You're whipped,” she says to him with a snort as he smiles softly.

“Not since I was a lad.” Shit, she thinks, her face dropping. Poor choice of words.

“I’m sorry,” she says hesitantly. “I didn’t think before I said that, I’m sorry.”

“It’s alright, love,” he says with the same smile.

“Yuh you, yuh you momma,” Corrine says with a cheeky grin shot Emma’s way.

“I love you, too,” she returns.

“Yuh you, duddy.”

He leans down to her and kisses her cheek tenderly, chuckling lightly. “I love you, too, darling.”

She tries to say darling but it doesn’t come out quite right as she struggles with her Ls. It’s cute either way, and she’s still the smartest baby around.

“I think this one is overdue for a nap. Care to tag along?” she asks as Corrine reaches up for her and she scoops her up. They’ve barely eaten or slept today, so she’s surprised Corrine is even still functioning.

“Sure.” Killian stands, locking his phone and tucking it into the back pocket of his jeans like a real twenty first century man.

~~~~

Henry asks to go to the sheriff’s station on their way back to Granny’s. Emma isn’t sure what he’s going to say to his father, but she assumes he’s about to get an earful from a rightfully angry thirteen-year-old.

Henry gained his memories back, but his old, cursed ones remained. This means that, while he finally remembers who he really is, he also remembers the story Emma gave him about his father. The reason he was abandoned is clear in his head, along with the betrayal that comes with almost having his memories wiped again and his sister removed from his life at the hands of the same man.

Safe to say, Henry is pissed.

Killian offers to go into the station with him and he accepts, as long as Killian promises not to listen in. Emma’s heart is racing the entire time they’re gone, but Corrine’s soft snores and gentle kicks to the seat in front of her keep her mind somewhat at ease for the ten minutes that they’re inside.

When they emerge from the building, she notes that they're both looking down as they walk to the car with somber looks on their faces. She wants to ask what they talked about, but she knows Henry would rather not talk about it, so when they get into the car, she drives towards the inn silently.

Henry decides to take a nap as well, so Emma puts Corrine in her crib and shoots him a gentle smile before grabbing the monitor and leaving the room to cross the hall towards Killian’s door.

“Hi,” he says as she enters, glancing up from the book he was reading on his bed.

“Hey.”

“Alright?” she shrugs, contemplatively standing before him before crossing the room and taking a seat on the other side of the bed. He closes his book and crosses his ankles before shifting so that he can face her.

“Weird day.”

“I’ll say,” he chuckles. “Would you like to lie down, Swan?”

She shrugs again. “I would, but I'm scared to go to sleep. We still haven’t seen Belle, so we don't know what happened to Gold.”

“Aye,” he agrees with a sigh. “But I think I trust her to make the right decision in that regard.”

“She’s taken him back countless times before, though.”

“It’s a complicated relationship, love. She said something about having left him when they were in the Enchanted Forest, and she’s obviously still angry.”

“Yeah.” She sighs deeply, sinking a bit further into the mattress as he places his arm on a pillow behind her back.

“Lie down, love. You're exhausted; I’ll stay up and make sure nothing goes awry.”

She sticks her lips out in a pout of contemplation, but the heat of his arm behind her neck is tempting along with the memory of his body shaped around hers during the night. “You’ll stay here the entire time? Unless Corrine wakes up?”

“Promise.” She nods at him, scooting herself down so that she’s lying with her head on his chest and her arm slung across his waist. She takes a moment before she hitches her ankle up and over his own, breathing heavily as she feels her body begin to relax. “Swan?” he says softly.

“Hmm?”

“Can you tell me what Baelfire did to you? What were your parents talking about?”

She tenses in his arms, squeezing her fist around his shirt until her knuckles are white. “He, uh, he left me. He betrayed me. Before we were together, he stole some watches and hid them, and then I went to go get them because he had wanted posters floating around. He went to fence the watches and when I met him afterwards, the police picked me up. He had given me a watch as a gift, and that was all the evidence they needed. Turns out he was the one who called the cops.”

“Bloody hell.” His hand runs along her spine with a comforting pressure as she relives one of her worst moments.

“Turns out August told him I was destined to be the Savior and he had to leave me, but the decision to call the cops was all him. So I went to jail for eleven months and that’s where I had Henry.”

“I’m sorry, Swan. That’s awful.” His voice is soft as it rumbles through the soft afternoon light in the room

“I’ve had a lot of time to get past it,” she shrugs

He nods against her hair and she revels in the gentle squeeze he gives her, the compression against her chest soothing her nerves.

“Swan,” he says again, and she lets out a breathy chuckle.

“Yeah?”

“What does whipped mean, in that context?”

She wants to groan, still disgusted with herself for even saying it, but she answers anyway. “It means she has you wrapped around her tiny little finger. I’m pretty sure she could convince you to do anything for her without so much as blinking.”

He laughs. “You’re probably right.”

They’re quiet for a few minutes, and she thinks she might fall asleep, but something stops her and makes her speak.

“She loves you so much,” she says after a few moments.

“Aye, I love her as well.”

“She needs you in her life, you know.”

He intakes a breath and she thinks she may feel the ghost of his lips pressing into her hair. “I need her, too,” he says softly.

She nods her head against his chest and takes in the scent of leather and sea and rum. He may have traded in his leather slacks for jeans, but he still smells the same, and she’s relieved. “That’s why… that’s why we’re staying here.”

She feels his body freeze as his arm tightens around her and his breath hitches in his throat. “Aye?”

“Mhmm. After everything, I just… I want to be close to my family. I almost lost them again today, even though a part of me still doesn't believe that Neal would do that, but… still.”

“I have trouble believing it myself.”

“Yeah. But Corrine likes it here. Henry obviously does too, and as much as it pains me to say, his mother is here. And... you're here.”

He rolls them over so that she’s on her side and he’s facing her before he takes his hand and runs it along her cheek gently. “I would've gone with her. With you.”

“I would've let you. But I'd rather stay put.”

He hums out a soft laugh, one that says I can’t believe this is happening, then touches his index finger along her brow and down the side of her face before he reaches his hand behind her head and pulls the two of them together in a soft, warm kiss.

She kisses him back instantaneously, swiping her tongue out against his soft lips as a sigh escapes her mouth. She feels so relaxed in his arms, and the feeling of him gently massaging her lips with his own and his fingers stroking against her scalp with gentle pressure is lulling her back into the sense of calm that she’s been missing. She thinks she could get really turned on if she lets herself, but for now, the chaste, gentle kisses relax her into a state of bliss.

She pulls away from the unexpected kiss after a few moments and sighs through her nose, pressing their foreheads together and biting her bottom lip. “I’m glad you have your heart back,” she says after a moment. “It probably wouldn't have been very fun kissing a heartless Killian.”

“I think I still would have had fun kissing you even without a heart.”

She hums out a laugh. “Yeah, but this is much better. Are you okay? After the whole heart thing?”

“Aye, I’ve been through dire straits before, nothing I couldn’t handle.”

“Right,” she laughs before pressing her body close to his and snuggling her head into his chest. “Can you tell me what happened?”

He clears his throat. “Neal must've knocked me out. Or it was the Crocodile, I'm not sure. But I woke up in the cabin surrounded by potions and spells and other nefarious things and knew something was wrong.”

“That’s where they were making the memory potion.”

“Aye,” he confirms. “Neal told me his plan, then he sent me back to the loft for dinner without my heart so that he could control me. He wanted to see me suffer and lose everything I hold dear. I believe the Dark One must've enchanted his hand somehow and that’s how he was able to control me.”

“What a bastard. I can't wrap my head about it.” He hums softly in agreement. “What was it like? Not having it, I mean.”

He’s still and quiet as he takes in a breath, then answers, “it’s like I was dead. I was so numb and empty, I couldn’t feel anything but pain and fear. But when you put it back, love, I’ve never felt better.”

“I’m sorry,” she whispers. Picturing the way he must have felt causes Emma near-physical pain “That sounds awful.”

He changes the subject away from his suffering easily. “May I ask you something else?” she nods against him. “When did you know? That it wasn’t me?”

She shrugs, the painful memories of last night flooding back into her mind. “Before you even got there I knew something was wrong. Henry said you left him alone at Gold’s and I knew you wouldn’t do that. And during dinner, Corrine refused to even look at you because she’s a smart baby and she even knew something wasn’t right. But it was really clear after dinner when you said you were leaving.” She nearly chokes on the words as they leave her lips.

“You have to know how hard I tried to not say it.”

She nods, thinking back to the tears in his eyes and the tight grip he had on her wrist. “I do know, I saw it. You were fighting him.”

“Aye, I was,” he whispers.

“You were doing it for your family.”

His grip on her tightens still and he presses another kiss to the crown of her head before he says, “that I was, love.”

~~~~

Despite no longer living in a magical forest over which he reigns as king, Emma’s father chooses to have a small ceremony to celebrate the birth of his son. As strange as it is to be 30 years older than her brother, and for his niece and nephew to be older than him, Emma happily attends the small gathering hosted at Granny’s once everyone has finally woken up from their naps. Their sleep schedules are going to be completely messed up for the rest of the week, but that’s something she’ll just have to deal with.

When Corrine, Henry, Killian, and Emma finally find their way down to the diner, the party is in full swing. Emma doesn’t miss Killian playfully swiping a donut from Ruby’s tray, giving a little piece to Corrine and finishing the rest himself. She could scold him for feeding her sweets before dinner, but seeing them together and seeing her back to her normal playful self with him makes her heart swell.

She catches Belle at the counter and hops into a stool beside her. “Thanks for your help today.”

“Oh, of course.”

“What, uh,” she starts again, contemplating whether or not it’s logical to start this conversation. “What happened to Gold?”

She purses her lips and looks down. “I sent him over the town line. He won't be back.”

“I’m sorry.” No matter how much she can’t stand Gold, she couldn’t imagine being in Belle’s position; loving someone so evil and having to make such a hard choice.

“Don’t be. I did leave him, you know, in the Enchanted Forest. He started working with Neal and… I was just unhappy with the changes I was seeing with him. He was starting to show his true self. So I left, and he seemed to just snap. I knew they were going to do something drastic when I found out that Neal spoke with your parents, so that’s when I stole the memory potion and sent that message to Killian.”

Emma draws her brows close together as she spins in the stool to face Belle. “Wait, you sent the message?”

“Yeah, you didn’t know?”

Emma shakes her head; the information is making more and more sense the more she learns. “Thank you. Seriously, thank you. You probably saved everyone in Storybrooke. You definitely saved my family.”

She smiles up at Emma. “It was the right thing to do,” she says, before she becomes distracted by whomever has just entered the diner. When Emma turns, she sees Robin’s friend Will waving at her and making his way towards them. She excuses herself when he kisses Belle’s temple softly and wiggles his eyebrows at Emma.

When she gets to the booth that Henry’s sitting at, she takes a seat enthusiastically and bumps his shoulder with his, making a comment about his new uncle to which he barely responds.

“I’m sorry, kid. I know this sucks,” she says after a moment of pointless small talk.

“Yeah.”

“You spent two years thinking your life was one thing and now it’s something completely different.”

He nods. He’s silent for a few moments and she sits with him, knowing that he may need time to ponder through his thoughts. “Why did he do it?” he finally asks.

She sighs and puts an arm around him. “I don't really know, Henry. Your dad… something happened to him and he just couldn’t handle not having his family with him.”

“We weren’t ever a family, though, not really. I mean, sure, we hung out, but it wasn’t anything like what you and I have, or even what me and Regina have.” She nods. “It was only a few months that I knew him. And he left you in jail.”

“I know. I’m sorry that you had to see your dad like that.” He shrugs. “You know I wouldn’t have let anything happen to you, right?”

With a nod, he says, “I know. That’s not what I'm worried about.”

“Can I ask you something?” He nods. “What made you come to the woods? What happened with you and Belle that made you do that?”

He shrugs again. “I don't know, really. We were messing around at Granny’s and I was talking about how mad I was, and that I wanted to just take the dagger and give both of them a piece of my mind. Then Belle said ‘if only we had the dagger,’ and I told her we did have it. And she said we had to go and put an end to this. You guys probably should have just brought it with you.”

Emma nods in response, laughing lightly at his logic. She was expecting some type of grand revelation between the two of them, but the reality was much more simply: Belle knew that Neal and Gold were up to no good, and she decided that she had the power to put a stop to it. “You’re right, we should have. Luckily, we had you to save our butts.”

“My dad…” he starts, ignoring her lightheartedness. “I just can't believe he would do something like this.”

She makes a bold move and says, “is that what you told him? When you went to the sheriff’s station?”

Henry chuckles sadly and rolls his eyes. “You mean Killian didn’t tell you?”

She bumps his shoulder again and responds, “I don’t think he would even if I begged. He respects you too much.”

He nods back at her, still looking down at his glass of water and plate of cake. “I guess I told him that. I told him I was done with him. I said he could’ve had a chance but he ruined it by doing this.” Emma nods softly. As much as it hurts to hear her son say these things about his father, a part of her must admit that she’s relieved to hear that he’s made this decision. She isn’t exactly psyched at the concept of giving Neal visitation rights after this. “I told him he’s a selfish dick for trying to keep my mom away from the guy she loves.”

She freezes at that, and not because her kid is using the unsavory language that he probably learned from her. Henry has always been a smart, perceptive kid, but has he always been this perceptive? To the point where he knows she loves Killian before she does? “Henry...” she tries to speak but can’t.

“It’s okay mom. Maybe two years ago I would’ve wanted you to be with my dad, but… I don’t know. Hook has only been here for a few weeks and he’s been more of a dad to me than Neal ever has.”

~~~~

Corrine is put to bed by her father several hours later after a tantrum over not being able to put her hand in a bowl of hot soup. She wanted to grab the floating crackers as Tink dropped them into the dish, and each time Killian stopped her hand she screamed no at him. At one point, it started to get out of hand and Emma called, “Corrine Alice Swan, you get your hand away from that bowl, right now,” as if the child could understand full sentences. She understood the tone, though, and boy, did she respond with a vengeance.

Killian took her upstairs to her crib once she started screaming so loudly that Emma’s sure the entire town heard. Now that she can’t hear the blood curdling screech anymore, she’s about 98% certain that Killian is in the bedroom playing a One Direction music video, but that’s alright. The two of them dancing along together is quite possibly the cutest thing she’s ever seen, so she thinks she’ll let it slide as she ascends the stairs and opens the door slowly.

What she’s met with is not a pair of One Direction fans, but rather, a swaying Killian holding a tearful but relatively calm Corrine as he hums lowly in her ear and rubs up and down along her back. Emma swoons, again overtaken by the image of dad-Killian in all his glory.

He’s only known his daughter for about five weeks, but in that time they’ve become so close. Each day, Corrine learns more and more as she explores her world, and Killian is always trying to help her along by teaching her new words and phrases. He’s a natural with her, especially at this age, and the more of it Emma sees, the more she wants.

“It’s time for sleep, my darling. Mummy and daddy will be here when you wake,” he whispers softly into her hair, and when Emma looks again, she sees Corrine’s thumb hanging out of her mouth and her face squished into his shoulder. He turns around and catches Emma’s eye, blushing fiercely as he bends to place the baby in her crib. Once she’s settled, he rubs a finger along her sweet face to remove one final tear and backs away before making his way towards the door and following Emma out.

Emma doesn’t miss the promise he makes his sleeping child to be here when she wakes up; he’s still reeling from almost losing her, and it breaks her heart.

“She didn’t need the phone, huh?” she jokes as they make their way down the stairs.

He laughs lightly in response and says, “I believe she was too tired for that. It’ll be difficult to get her back on schedule, I’d say.”

When they get back into the diner, Killian disperses into the crowd and Emma sees Henry talking to Regina. She’s happy that he’s rebuilding his relationship with her, she really is, but she’s also having trouble getting past their history. Try as she might, she can’t unsee that small child waiting on her doorstep begging for help defeating his Evil Queen mother.

Regina stands from the booth when Emma makes herself visible and walks over to her, clearing her throat and brushing down her blouse before she speaks. “Emma, I was thinking it might be good for Henry to spend the night at my house tonight. He’s open to it, but said we had to check with you,” she says bitterly.

Emma raises her brows, glancing back at Henry, who gives her a smile. “He is?”

“Yes,” she responds sharply, as if Emma has offended her. “He has his own room, why should he stay here?”

Emma lets out an exasperated huff but nods her head. As much as her delivery absolutely sucked, Regina has a point. Perhaps she should start thinking of a permanent living arrangement herself. “Okay, if he wants to, then that’s fine.”

Regina looks chuffed as she says, “good,” with the soft hint of a smile before heading back to the booth to collect Henry.

With both kids gone or asleep, Emma suddenly finds herself free of her motherly duties for at least the next few hours, and so decides to follow Killian to the patio with two tumblrs of rum, neat.

“So, Gold’s gone,” she says once she’s sitting next to him, and he tips his glass to her in thanks.

“Aye, I ran into Belle earlier. Relieved?”

She nods, taking a sip from her glass. “Yeah. I’m still… I don’t know. I’m pissed.” He nods back at her. “He knew that we… were together on the ship, so he’s known this whole time. He knew it in the Enchanted Forest, and he knew it when he came back here. He could have just let it go and accepted that it was over between us, but he didn’t. And he messed up because of that.”

“Aye. It’s quite frustrating, isn’t it?” She nods in agreement and rolls her eyes as she stares into her glass. “Do you think he knew about Corrine all this time?”

“That she’s ours?” He nods. “No, I think he genuinely blocked the possibility that we have a kid out of his mind. I think when he found out from you and Henry at the pier, that’s what clicked his plan into place for him. He realized that he would’ve lost without this memory potion.”

“Makes sense,” he starts, sitting up in his seat slightly. “I mean, it doesn’t. But it does.”

“Yeah.” They clink their glasses together as they both finish the contents, feeling the warmth rushing through their veins as it combats the cool bite of the late-autumn air. “I have a question,” she states.

“Go on.”

“Can you tell me what Henry said to Neal?”

He purses his lips, glancing up at her and shaking his head. “I don't want to violate his trust, love, but I can tell you that he’s a very smart lad.” She nods. “And I can also tell you,” he starts again, slowly and hesitantly reaching his hand towards her’s, “that Bae is not exactly safe to be around, and I’d feel much more comfortable if you and Henry stayed far away from him.”

“Did he threaten Henry?” She feels her palms starting to sweat.

“Not Henry, love. The lad stepped away from the bars and Neal said some things about you that I’d rather not repeat. That I wish your son hadn’t heard. I stepped a bit too close— in anger, I’ll admit— and he lunged for me, as well.”

She nods her head again, looking down at the table grievously at the news. Before everything, before Neverland and before the curse, she thought she may have been able to have a good co-parenting relationship with Neal, or that they may have even been able to become friends again. But now, he’s gone and ruined everything because he thought he could have more than he even deserved.

“Thanks for going with him.”

“Of course I would, love.”

“And thanks for… for coming after us, in New York. If you hadn’t…”

He shakes his head to silence her and says, “It was the right thing to do.”

They sit in comfortable silence for a few more moments before she says, “can I ask you something else?”

“What is it, darling?” She smiles at the fond nickname.

“How did you do it? How did you get to us?”

He looks down with a small, shy smile and says, “Well, the curse was coming, so I ditched my crew and took the Jolly Roger as fast and as far as I could to outrun it.”

“You outran a curse?” she asks with a doubtful smile.

“I’m a hell of a captain,” he returns in a flirty tone, to which she responds with a soft laugh. “Once I was outside the curse’s purview, I knew that the walls were down. Transport between realms was possible again; all I needed was a magic bean.”

“Those are not easy to come by.”

He looks down again and takes a breath. “They are if you have something of value to… trade.” His words are clearly calculated as they leave his mouth.

She hums again and asks, “and what was that?”

He smiles, eyes still looking at the ground, until he looks up and raises his brows at her, smiling as if he wasn’t about to admit to her that he sold his heart and home to find her and save her family. “Why the Jolly Roger, of course.”

She’s frozen. Her brows pinch together as they often do when he says something heartfelt and profound, although this time feels different. It feels like more. “You traded your ship for me?”

He doesn’t hesitate, answering her with a firm nod. “Aye.”

It happens so fast; she’s kissing him and his hand is lacing through her hair and hers through his. Her heart feels about ten times bigger than it should be at the feeling of his lips on hers after such an emotional confession, and she doesn't know if she’ll survive much more of his thoughtful words and selfless actions. When she finally pulls from him slightly, it’s as if he’s taking stock of what’s happening between them; as if he can’t quite believe that they’re here despite having been here before.

“I—” she starts, although she isn’t quite sure what she wants to say. She smiles as he does, the feel of his thumb running along her jaw and chin and his nose nuzzling lightly against her’s stirring the butterflies in her stomach and the heat much lower. “I want you,” she finally whispers. “All of you. Every part of you and everything that comes with it… I want it all, with you.”

It’s as close to a profession of love as she’s ever come before. She’s perhaps closer to telling him that she loves him now than when she actually said the words to Neal over a decade ago. She thinks she should be afraid— of his answer or of what may change between them, she isn’t sure— but she isn’t.

“I want everything with you, too, Emma. Always.” His use of her name rather than any number of nicknames he has to choose from, and the meaning of his statement, isn’t lost on her.

He kisses her again, like he can’t stay away from her any longer and absolutely needs to have her lips on his. While the last kiss was soft and slow, this one is more passionate and heated as he presses closer to her and laces his hand tighter into her hair. He pulls her gently towards him and she hears his chair scraping against the ground as he scoots forward. Once he’s got her where he wants her, he deepens the kiss, curling his tongue against her bottom lip until she opens up to him. It doesn't take much, the feel of him pressing close to her driving her mad with want.

She’s just about lost her mind when she starts to shift in her seat, planning to move forward and hoist herself up and onto his lap so that she can get closer to him and hopefully sate the heat erupting through her down to her core, until she hears someone behind him clear their throat.

Shit.

“I think it’s about time you and I have a little talk about your intentions with my daughter.” Emma squeezes her hands around the collar of his jacket as her eyes fly open. Thank god she hadn’t actually mounted him…

Killian clears his throat in an attempt to calm himself down before answering Emma’s father, although he still looks completely wrecked and refuses to turn around. “That’s a little old-fashioned even by my standards, and I still pay with doubloons.”

“Yeah, well, I’m leaving,” he says firmly, although she can hear a smile in his voice. “I was coming to give you a hug, but I’m not sure I want one anymore,” he jokes.

She laughs breathlessly as she stands up, moving to her father and giving him a tight hug. “How’s mom feeling?”

“Good, just tired. I’m happy that everyone threw this together, but I feel guilty being away from them, so I'm gonna go back to the hospital.”

“Give her a hug for me?”

“‘Course,” he says, kissing her cheek sweetly, then making a disgusted face and laughing.

Her breathing is still rapid and her heart is still racing as she sits back down next to Killian, so she takes in a big gulp of air and wishes she had more rum.

“Awkward,” she says with a small laugh.

He laughs. And he keeps laughing, and eventually he rests his head against his arm on the table and continues on laughing until no sound is coming out and he’s just a mess of shaking shoulders and teary eyes. At some point, she started laughing too, and anyone who exits Granny’s at this point would probably have the two of them committed.

“We can’t catch a break, love,” he remarks through more chuckles, and she laughs harder still.

Then she has a thought and acts on it so quickly that she can hardly even keep track of it. “Take me upstairs,” she says boldly, desiring not to be interrupted again when all she wants is to feel him on her.

He raises a dramatic brow and cocks his head at her in question, or perhaps seeking confirmation, and asks, “aye?”

She nods, biting her bottom lip in a way that she thinks may be more flirty than she intended before she leans in again and kisses him softly. “Take me upstairs,” she repeats against his mouth.

He stands so quickly that the table shakes and the glasses nearly fall over, and she laughs again. He holds out a hand to her, his smile bright and beaming, and when she takes it, she knows that things between them are shifting and that her life is changing.

She can’t wait.

~~~~

~~~~

Read Chapter 8

A/N: there’s one chapter left!! The next one is..... pure smut. Like, there’s a little plot in there but... it’s smut. So. Stay tuned if you’re into that?

[hotchscotchh]

Reimained; Chapter 7 - Chad Brown

Hey y’all! I’m sorry this took so long to get out, I needed a little break from being so serious. This chapter is much less serious than previous ones. Anyway, I posted two other oneshots in the meantime, one hotchreid and one moreid. They’re posted in my masterlist which you can find in my pinned post! I hope you enjoy this chapter <3

Summary: Aaron and Spencer are surprisingly close in the aftermath of the anthrax case and some of the team begins to suspect their recently found friendship might be something more.

Pairing: Aaron Hotchner x Spencer Reid

Warnings: Mentions of poison, hospital setting

Word count: 2k

Read on AO3

Chapter 6 --- Chapter 8

Based on 4x24 Amplification

The team had been sitting with Reid in shifts, unwilling to let him wake up alone in a hospital room, but still needing to get back to the local precinct and get their paperwork wrapped up. Morgan ended up being the lucky one that got to see him wake up for the first time. Morgan couldn’t help the intense wave of relief that washed over him at the sight of Spencer Reid’s eyes opening. He also couldn’t help the laugh he let out when the kid’s first barely understandable words were to ask for Jell-o. After their small interaction, Spencer asked Moran to call Hotch, saying he knew Hotch would want to know as soon as he woke up. Morgan was surprised by that; Spencer had never said anything like that when waking up in the hospital before. Obviously, their supervisor needed to know that he was awake, but Derek couldn’t help but be surprised that Spencer asked for it.

Morgan was even more surprised when Hotch turned up way faster than he should’ve. He wondered how many traffic laws the man had to have broken to get there that fast. Hotch ordered Morgan back to the police station, saying he would take the rest of Morgan’s shift and the next, which was already his. Morgan tried to fight him on this but was immediately silenced by the Hotchner Glare™. He was confused by the interaction the entire way back to the police station but placed it in the back of his mind to think about later. They needed to get the paperwork done so they could all be with Spencer.

Meanwhile, at the hospital, Hotch was holding Reid’s hand and very close to tears.

“Baby, I’m so sorry. I can’t believe I let this hap-”

“Aaron, please don’t take this the wrong way, but shut the hell up. This was in no way your fault. I knew there was a possibility of something being in that room and I went anyway. You weren’t even there.” Reid finished his rant by bringing Aaron’s hand up to his mouth and giving it a small kiss. “I’m fine. For the most part. But I do need water, my throat is really scratchy.”

“Of course, Spence, anything,” Aaron said, standing up and rushing out of the room to find water.  

While he was gone, Spencer pressed the call nurse button on his bedside remote. He figured they should probably know he was awake, and he needed to know if he had been given narcotics. He knew the antidote had been administered soon enough to have prevented cuts in his skin and it was unlikely that he had been given pain medicine at all, but he needed to know. He didn’t feel high, so that was a good sign, but it didn’t really mean anything at the moment.

The nurse came into the room at the same time that Aaron returned with his water.

“Hi Spencer, I’m glad to see you awake. My name is Maria, I’m one of the nurses on duty for the next few hours. If you need anything, just press your call button and myself or one of my colleagues will be back to assist you as soon as possible. Dr. Kimura will be back to see you as soon as she can. How are you feeling?” the nurse asked.

“Fine, my throat is scratchy but that’s to be expected after being unconscious. Aaron already got some water for me. I know it’s unlikely that I was administered any pain medication, but I need confirmation that I was not given any narcotics,” Spencer replied, slightly winded as he had said it all in one breath, wanting to get the question out as quickly as possible.

“Of course, sir,” the nurse said with a smile. “Let me check your chart.” After a brief, but tense, pause, the nurse turned back to him and said, “As far as I can tell, you weren’t given any medication other than the antidote for the poison you ingested, but Dr. Kimura will confirm that when she comes to see you. Now, is there anything else that I can do for you? A dinner tray will be sent up in about half an hour.”

“I just have one question,” Spencer said, the tension draining from the air. “Can I shower?”

That made both Maria and Aaron laugh. Spencer had almost forgotten the man was standing there and jumped at the sound of his voice. “Absolutely, but you’ll need help. Let me just get this I.V. out. You’ve been given a liter of fluid, but as long as you keep drinking you should be okay without it.”

Spencer nodded, even more relieved now. “Good thing you’re here instead of Morgan, Aaron. Let’s do this now, I’m sure the team will be here soon.”

Maria smiled again, looking between the pair, and left the room. Aaron helped Spencer drink some water before assisting him out of the bed. Spencer was glad the nurse had warned him he’d need help. His knees buckled under his weight, but since they had been warned, Aaron was there to hold him up. “I don’t think I can walk there, Aaron. My legs are too shaky.”

“Of course, Spence,” Aaron said, snaking an arm under Spencer’s and bending down to hook the other around the bend in Spencer’s knees. He straightened up with the man in his arms and Spencer wrapped his own around Aaron’s neck, burying his face there too.

“Do you have any idea how disappointing it was to see Morgan sitting there instead of you when I woke up?” Spencer said, teasingly, his voice muffled by Aaron’s shoulder.

Aaron chuckled. “I’m sorry, hon, but the team insisted on taking shifts waiting for you to wake up. It would’ve been suspicious if I pushed staying. I think Dave is starting to suspect something anyway.”

“Of course he is,” Spencer answered with a weak laugh.

Aaron gently set him on his feet in front of the sink in the bathroom. He opened the curtain and found some travel sized shampoo, conditioner, and body wash, and a chair sat in the middle. “Do you want to sit in the chair or would you rather I helped you stand?”

“Do you mind heling me stand? I’ll be able to wash my hair better that way,” Spencer replied, almost shyly.

“Do you think I would have offered if I didn’t want to, Spence,” Aaron shot back, humor in his voice.

Spencer ducked his head and made quick work of undoing the ties on his hospital gown, letting it fall to the floor and finding he had nothing on underneath, while Aaron turned the water on and adjusted the temperature. He reached out to grab Aaron’s arm and let himself be guided into the shower. He had a little difficulty getting over the lip on the edge, but they figured it out without incident. Aaron closed the curtain most of the way and turned around, leaving his arm available for Spencer to grab, in an effort to give the man some semblance of privacy.

It took Spencer longer than normal to clean himself, given his lethargic state, but when Aaron heard the water tun off he opened the curtain again and unfolded a towel to hold out for him. Spencer dried himself off and Aaron guided him to sit down on the toilet. Aaron went back to the main part of the hospital room to get some clothes for Spencer so he wouldn’t have to put the hospital gown back on, only to find Dr. Kimura waiting for him there.

“Hello, Agent Hotchner, I have a fresh gown here for Spencer. I’d love to let him put his regular clothes on, but we need to do one more x-ray of his lungs to make sure the antidote worked fully,” the woman said. She gestured to the wheelchair next to her that had a gown sitting in it. “I thought this might make it a little easier. Maria tells me he is very weak.”

“He is, thank you,” Aaron responded. “I’ll get him dressed. It’ll only be a few minutes.” Dr. Kimura nodded and turned back to what she was working on. Aaron took hold of the wheelchair and maneuvered it into the bathroom, only to find Spencer half asleep on the toilet. “Spence,” he whispered, hoping to startle the man as little as possible.

Spencer jumped. “Aaron! You scared me. What’s that for?”

“Dr. Kimura brought it for you. I was going to get regular clothes for you, but they need to do one more x-ray of your lungs.”

Spencer nodded and reached for the gown. Aaron handed it over and had settled leaning against the sink when his phone chimed. He took it out and quickly read over the text that had come from JJ. “The rest of the team is going to be here in about fifteen minutes. They just finished.”

Spencer just nodded again. He looked thoroughly exhausted. “Let’s get you in this wheelchair and out to the x-ray so you can get back here and rest.”

----

Half an hour later, the team and Spencer’s dinner tray had arrived (Aaron had requested extra Jell-o, obviously) and they were just waiting on Spencer to come back from his x-ray. The door opened and conversation stopped. Dr. Kimura wheeled Spencer in and the man looked like he was about to fall asleep. He looked up at the team and gave a small smile. “Hey, guys.”

JJ stepped up first, leaning down to give him a brief hug. “Hey, Spence, I’m so glad you’re okay.”  There was a chorus of agreement following that statement.

“Let’s get you into bed and fed so you can get some sleep, Reid,” Hotch said, slipping back into his unit chief persona. Spencer looked at him for a few moments, confused by the use of his last name, before remembering why and nodding.

Morgan immediately moved to help him, and Hotch let him. Once Spencer was seated and comfortable, his dinner tray was brought over, and Dr. Kimura started speaking. “Okay, Dr. Reid. Your x-ray looked great. You can expect shortness of breath for a week or two, but I’m not noticing any lasting affects of aphasia or any other cognitive abilities. I can also confirm that you were not given any narcotics.”

Reid nodded and mumbled a “thank you” around a mouthful of food. Dr. Kimura gave a smile and a wave and backed out of the room.

Emily spoke up once she had left. “Well, I think it would be best if we all headed back to the hotel and let our strong doctor here get some sleep. Did you want someone to stay with you, Spencer?”

Spencer looked up and yawned before turning to Hotch and nodding his way. “Please?”

“Of course, Reid. You guys go ahead back to the hotel. We’ll be okay here.”

In the past weeks, they team had noticed the pair getting closer. They had assumed it was just as friends, but after that request if had a few of them (Morgan, Rossi, and Prentiss) wondering if it wasn’t more. Usually, Reid would’ve asked for Morgan or JJ to stay with him, they never expected him to ask for Hotch.

But they went with it, leaving the two in the hotel room to get at least a sorry excuse for rest.

As soon as Aaron finished ushering the team out of the room, Spencer reached for him and quietly requested “lay with me?” Aaron nodded and made his way over to lay next to Spencer, pulling the man close to his chest. Sleep took over both of them easily that night.

Taglist: @wheelsup​ @endingsbeginnings​

[kaitycole]

twenty-four hour heartbreak

Summary: A recount of the last 24 hours of your marriage with a few memories sprinkled in.

Word Count: 2464

Pairing: Daichi x Fem!Reader

Warning: Angst. Pure Angst.

Trigger Warnings: Major Character Death and Cheating

Song Choice: Walking Blind by Aiden Hawken

You aren’t sure when exactly it happened, when you had decided to be unfaithful to one of the most loyal people in the world. Sure, there had been several small events that led up to you being in bed with one of your husband’s best friends, but for some reason you had always assumed when people chose to cheat there was some big life altering event that occurred. Either you were wrong or a huge event was necessary for everyone.

You had assumed that after the first time, you’d feel repulsive or sick to your stomach when you looked in the mirror but you didn’t. You felt free from the repetitive and dull relationship you found yourself in. It wasn’t until nearly five months into your sordid affair, after waking up to the soft peppered kisses on your bare shoulders, were you asked to finally leave your husband. The thought had crossed your mind, but so did the thought that once you were available your affair would end. That thought hurt you more than the idea of your marriage ending, but it was quickly dissolved when your lover pulled you into his arms reassuring he wasn’t going anywhere.

15 hours ago – 3:41 AM

You’re curled up, your back against your lover’s chest as his lips softly traveled down your neck and across the top of your shoulder. It had been a long day, for the both of you, and the comfort you found in his arms was softly melting away your worries. You felt his arm snake around your waist before whispering in your ear, assuming you were asleep.

“I love you.”

To his surprise, you turn in his arms, faces just inches apart, “I love you too.”

The room’s silence was broken by the sound of your phone ringing.

“Whose calling this late?” He checked the time.

You shrugged as you answered.

“Is this Sawamura-san?”

“May I ask who’s calling?” You sat up, pulling the blanket to cover you as you listened to the voice on the other end.

Your phone dropped from your hand, the word’s ‘hospital’ and ‘accident’ ring through your head as the man behind you picked your phone up.

“Y/N? Who was that? What’s wrong?” He’s on his knees in front of you, placing a comforting hand on your thigh as you looked at the ground.

“There was an accident. Daichi’s in the hospital.”

The man in front of you started to panic, he threw on his clothes that had been previously scattered on the hotel room’s floor. He gathered yours as well, placing them next to you before the shock wore off just enough for you to burst into tears.

“It’s all my fault. This is my fault!” You sobbed as he pulled you into his arms, making shushing noises to calm you down.

“It was an accident, Y/N.” He may have sounded convincing but he wasn’t convinced himself because deep down he knew it was his fault. “It’s Daichi, he’ll be fine.” He has to be, right?

After a few moments, you quickly grabbed some clothes, throwing them on before you both ran outside.

24 hours ago – 6:35 PM

You were sitting on the couch when he walked back into the living room. He had just gotten out of his post-run shower, the same run he goes on every day before work. His gym shorts hung low on his waist as he dried his hair with a towel.

His set-in stone schedule had allowed you to continue your affair without being caught, could you really be the only to blame for this? You’d left your phone unlocked and opened to messages to and from your lover, but his unending trust for you kept him from looking.

Your doting, always faithful, remarkable husband. The man you swore you’d love forever and who swore it back and had remained unwavering after all these years. It should be tearing you apart to do this to him, to tell him about what you’ve done, been doing, but it doesn’t. It almost makes you sick, almost.

He smiled at you and you smiled back, the same way you had been for months; a polite smile the kind you give a friend or stranger, not the man you’ve been married to for three years.

“Hey baby.” He leaned down to kiss you, but it landed on your cheek after you turned away.

“Daichi.” Your tone was low, your eyes slowly meeting his. “We need to talk.”

“What’s wrong, Y/N?” He sat next to you, his hand wrapping around yours for comfort. Something felt off and he couldn’t put his finger on what hurts him the most. The love of his life wasn’t okay and he didn’t know why.

“I want a divorce.”

His eyebrows knitted together as he felt himself stiffen at your words. Yesterday if someone asked him, he’d have said he knew you better than himself, but today that could no longer be said.

“W-why?” His voice broke, tears quickly filled his eyes and that sight on any other day would’ve broken your heart, maybe even made you cry. Today it didn’t.

“I’m having an affair.”

He shook his head as he stood up, backing away from you. His eyes landed on the things around you as if he couldn’t even look at you. Several questions ran through his mind, trying to figure out when and where things went wrong. But there were only two questions that seemed to repeat enough to slip out.

“H-h-how long? W-with w-who?” He was crying, wiping his face with his forearm trying to compose himself. In the last 8 years he never thought you would be someone who could hurt him this badly.

You took a deep breath, “Would knowing that really be best?”

“How long?” He cleared his throat, his tone more forceful like it was back in his volleyball days.

“Five months.”

You saw him take a deep breath as if trying to steady himself. “With who?”

You knew the next word out of your mouth would be the final blow. That alone should’ve made you rethink how you told him, changed the tone of your voice, but you don’t.

“Asahi.” Your tone was ice cold.

Everything that Daichi had ever known completely shattered. Everything that he thought about one of his best friends and his wife were lies and somehow, he missed out on all it. He turned and walked towards the bedroom.

Ten minutes passed before he walked back into the living room, wearing his work uniform. How awful were you to tell him this knowing he still had to go to work after this? Knowing that he’d have to work through all of this while still trying to do his job.

“A few weeks ago, when we…” It looked as though he might throw up. “Had you also been with him?”

You nodded, knowing exactly which night he was talking about. You watched his face twist in an almost disgusted expression knowing that his wife had been in his friend’s bed and then in his. That his hands had caressed the same places his friend had just hours earlier.

You watched as he gathered his keys and phone, grabbing his work bag before he left. He glanced at you one last time before the door shut, a broken expression was the last thing you saw before he was gone.

13 hours ago – 5:12 AM

You had been in such a hurry that you hadn’t noticed it was raining until your clothes were soaked. Neither you nor Asahi could seem to calm down enough to think, seemingly standing outside lost. Finally, you hailed a taxi, the two of you cramming into the backseat, Asahi rambling off the hospital’s address. Your cold shaking fingers scrolled through your phone, finding the contact you needed to reach.

“Y/N?” A yawn came from the other line.

“S-S-Suga?” Your voice broke trying to find the words.

“What’s going on?” You managed to relay the message you had previously told Asahi before breaking down. Asahi pulled you into his side as Suga tried to comfort you on the phone. He promptly told you that he’d meet you at the hospital and hung up.

“He’ll be okay, Y/N.” Asahi told you, pressing his lips to the side of your head. All you could do was nod, the both of you refusing to let yourselves think what would happen if he wasn’t. You closed your eyes, resting your head on Asahi’s shoulder, letting your mind wander to the day your affair had started.

Five months ago

You checked yourself in the mirror on the back of the sun visor. You smoothed down your hair before spraying some of your perfume on you in hopes to cover the cologne that clings to your skin. The traces of Asahi still clung to you, his touch still ghosted your body even after a 30-minute drive home from his hotel.

You’re surprised when you hear your husband in the kitchen as you walk down the hallway; you were positive that he had work. He turned around when you called out his name, a huge smile on his face, before walking over to kiss you.

“I thought you had work?”

He ran his fingers through his hair, “I switched shifts. I know that I’ve been super busy lately, it’s just that I want to make sure we’ll be okay when we start a family.”

You smiled at him, that was just like your husband, to shock you by being the most thoughtful person. Once the topic of a family came up, he had started picking up extra shifts whenever he could; wanting to make sure you’d be okay if he took time off once your family grew.

This was why you had fallen for Daichi in the first place. His thoughtfulness, his compassion, his ability to make you smile no matter how rough the day was. You threw your arms around his neck, pulling him into a kiss. He pulled you closer to him before he peppered your face with kisses.

Daichi was one of the last good men around, you had been constantly reminded about that fact whenever people met him. You know that he is, that he’d move the sun if you asked him to, but even with all of that, you still couldn’t help but be drawn to the man whose cologne filled your memories.

12 hours ago – 6:21 AM

You ran into the hospital, your clothes dripping from the rain. Running up to the front desk, you told them who you were only to have them tell you to sit and wait. Suga’s comforting voice called out to you before you had the chance to find him.

“Y/N.”

“Suga, have you seen him?” He shook his head, telling you that they wouldn’t tell him anything until you got there. His expression grew confused when he saw Asahi coming into the waiting room.

“How did I get here before you, Y/N?” He looked to his former teammate, “And how’d you get here so fast? From Tokyo?”

The both of you just looked down, neither wanting to confirm what you were sure Suga had already figured out. But you were spared from his questioning when a voice called out your name, the three of you heading towards the man in the white coat with an almost unreadable expression on his face.

Four years ago

The two of you had moved into your first apartment together and today you were spending the day at the park nearby. Daichi had packed a picnic and set it up under a cherry blossom tree. You were sitting there, laughing when Daichi surprised you with an engagement ring.

He had this long drawn out speech ready but as soon as he said your name and you say the box, you repeatedly said yes, tackling him back on the blanket. All he could do was laugh as he slipped the ring on your finger as you beamed up at him with nothing but love.

12 hours and five minutes ago – 6:26 AM

The doctor looked at you, confirming you were Daichi’s wife before continuing with the news on your husband. Suga scoffed when you called yourself Daichi’s wife and it wasn’t missed on you.

He cleared his throat after introducing himself before giving his condolences and explaining that they had done all they could but it just wasn’t enough.

A sob ripped from your throat and you found yourself in Asahi’s arms but for the first time in months, it felt off. He tried to console you while tear fell from his own eyes.

Suga’s eyes glared at the two of you, waiting for the doctor to leave before going off.

“Does…did Daichi know?”

You nodded, Asahi’s arms still around you.

“For how long?”

“I…I told him before work.” You looked down. “Today.”

“This is your fault. You did this. You caused this.” He motioned his finger between you and Asahi before storming out of the waiting room.

Four months later 

You sit under a cherry blossom tree in the park that was just a five-minute walk from the first apartment you and Daichi rented together. It’s the same one that he had proposed under not that long ago. Sometimes when the wind blew it felt like he was there with you, but you know you don’t really deserve that.

You tilt your head back onto the tree, taking in a deep breath.

I’m so sorry, Daichi. Tears stream down your face and you can’t seem to wipe them away fast enough.

It feels wrong to miss him, to wish he was still alive, especially when you had spent the last five months of his life in someone else’s arms. It leaves a bitter taste in your mouth when you wake up forgetting that he’s gone or when you swear you’ve heard his voice. Some days you swear you seen him around town, at the store, even mistaking someone in the uniform he used to wear as him.

A warm breeze wraps around you, comforting you in a way that reminds you of when Daichi would pull you into a hug after a long day. Or how he’d bring your favorite tea when he knew you were stressed, even if you hadn’t told him you were upset.

Your hand gently rubbed over your barely showing stomach. I don’t know what hurts most Daichi, knowing it’s probably not your baby or wanting it to yours more than anything.

“There you are. Are you ready to go?” Asahi gently pulls you up, wrapping his arm around your waist.

You look at the man in front of you, smiling, “Of course.” I really want it to be yours, Daichi.

Masterlist is here.

[nightbts]

through the night | jjk | 04

pairing: jeon jungkook + stylist! reader

word count: 3.5k

genre: fluff, angst + idol! au, friends to lovers! au

parts: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7

listen to this playlist while reading!

best of friends. that’s what you and jungkook were. as their stylist for several years now, you and jungkook got along like no other and over time developed a friendship that was special to the two of you. but what happens when an IU collaboration deal, a jealous childhood-best friend and secret feelings get intertwined with the simple life you thought you were living?

Hearing Yoongi’s soft laughter ring through the filming studio, you couldn’t help but stifle a laugh yourself, shaking your head in amusement.

The boys had been filming for their recent BTS Run episode. Once they all changed into pajamas, they were taking a thirty-minute nap on what appeared to be one of the comfiest bean bags you had ever seen before waking up to complete a mission.

But here you were, watching as the rest of the members got up one by one, Jungkook sat up from the floor as he long rolled off the bean bag during the 30 minutes he was asleep, his eyes still closed, hair ruffled up and lips forming a pout.

Sighing softly, a warm smile spread across your face. The sight was undeniably cute.

But there you stood, hidden behind all the cameramen and women and their equipment, doing everything in your power to stop yourself from going up to him and cuddling the shit out of him.

After several comments and nags from the rest of the members who were trying to complete the song challenge, Jungkook finally got up and participated with the rest.

Soon enough, the filming wrapped up with Jin, Jimin, and J-Hope losing and having to complete the penalty. As the rest of the production crew started to pack up their equipment, you decided to head back to the dressing room knowing the boys would be there any moment.

“Y/N!”

Turning around at the sound of your voice, you were suddenly met with Jungkook’s face nearly inches away from yours, a wide grin on his face as he waved furiously at you. Taken aback, your eyes widened in surprise as you stumbled back, startled by the sudden movement. However, as your foot accidentally tripped over a cord, the sudden motion caused you to lose your footing.

It was as if everything were happening in slow motion. As your eyes squeezed close, a soft yelp slipped past your lips as your hands flew outward instinctively, grabbing at thin air.

Anticipating the cold hard floor, you suddenly felt something grip your waist, pulling you back up so fast that you felt your nose brush his—Jungkook’s.

As your eyes shot open, you blinked furiously as your eyes landed on Jungkook’s doe-shaped eyes, wider than your own as they gazed intently at you, shock written in them as clear as day. However, all you could really focus on was how close he was: his arms that wrapped tightly around your waist as his warm breath fanned your face, his nose was still brushing yours sending tingles down your spine.

Finally snapping back into reality, you placed your hand on his chest as you pushed him away slightly. A burst of nervous laughter quickly bubbled up your throat, your heart racing a mile a minute as you squeaked, “T-Thanks!”

Blinking at you slowly, you noticed a slight flush to Jungkook’s cheeks, his face just as flustered as your own. The sight had your stomach somersaulting in your body; it was a look you had never seen on him. However, within seconds it disappeared and was replaced with a look you were all too familiar with. It was almost like the Jungkook you just saw didn’t even exist.

Crinkling his brows together, he shot you a playful look before carelessly waving his hand in the air, “You’re always so clumsy, you know that?”

Scoffing, you retorted, “How did you expect me to react when you popped out of nowhere?!”

“Valid.”

Walking into the dressing room together, you noticed most of the boys were already back, some lounging on the couch and others starting to get ready for their next scheduled activity of the day. It almost made you a little sad, seeing just how much they had going on almost all the time. But you knew, that no matter how hard, how long the hours, they were happy and grateful for it all.

Making your way towards your designated station for the day, you started taking out all the products you needed. Setting them out in orderly fashion on the table, you turned towards Jungkook, who had already started to strip out of his clothes, his bare back facing your direction. Quickly turning the other direction, so he wouldn’t notice the bright flush of your cheeks, you quickly asked, “Your meeting with IU today aren’t you?”

Turning around slightly, he gave you a quick nod before swiftly putting a sweatshirt over his head, “Yeah, over Skype? In an hour I think?”

Motioning over to your chair, you said, “Let me fix your hair up before you go. I know you only napped for thirty minutes but you look like you were asleep for days.”

Frowning, the boy looked at himself in the mirror before running his fingers through his hair, attempting to fix the mess that stood up in several different directions, before dropping his hands down in resignation.

Smirking, you turned back towards your workstation, grabbing your hair products out of your bag when you heard someone behind you go, “Well, look who’s here. I haven’t seen you all day.”

Looking to your side, your eyes narrowed at the figure beside you before muttering to yourself, “You know how it’s been lately...”

Giving you a pointed look, Jiho added, “I can tell. Your eye bags look as boujee as Gucci.”

Glaring at him, you turned you attention towards the mirror in front of you. You slowly frowned you stared at your reflection, suddenly self-conscious as you examined the dark circles beneath your eyes.

He was right. You didn’t look too good.

Sighing softly, your eyes fluttered close as you felt the wave of tiredness wash over you.

The last couple of weeks were rough, and that was putting it lightly.

Being on tour meant a lot of work, and was something you had completely underestimated. Life as a stylist was hectic and busy enough when you were back home, but traveling around the world and handling different timezones while working as a stylist, trying to complete your goddamn online degree and studying for all the finals that were piling up in the next couple weeks? It was absolutely exhausting.

But honestly? You felt like you couldn’t complain. Not when you were working with some of the most hard-working people you knew. Not when you knew they were probably getting much less sleep than you were. And every time you did feel like you were struggling, you felt like shit for even thinking it.

“Y/N...” Jiho started with a sigh.

He knew exactly what you were going through, even if you never put them into words for him. It was like a constant cycle that he had witnessed you go through, over and over again. In high school, you juggled two part-time jobs, volunteered at an orphanage, while still acing all your classes and exams by studying your ass off for them. Then came college and you worked weekends at the local cafe, weekdays at the library while Jiho would find you asleep in various places across campus. And now? Nothing had changed. You were still trying to do it all because that’s how you had always been.

Looking up at Jiho, you waited for the routine words you’d always hear from him, his lectures that scolded you for being up so late, for working too hard but instead, he said...

“You’re amazing, you know that?”

Blinking at him, you cocked your head sideways before shooting him an amused look, “Did I just hear that right? Did the Kang Jiho just call me amazing?!”

Rolling his eyes, he walked closer towards you before he engulfed you into his embrace, his arms wrapping tightly against your body as he pulled you into a reassuring hug. Whispering into the side of your head, he sighed, “You never take anything seriously, do you?”

Patting him on his back, you chuckled, “Alright, you goon. I get it. I’m incredibly grateful you think I'm amazing, but I still have work to do—”

Hearing the sudden noise of someone clearing their throat, you pulled away from Jiho, your eyes falling on Jungkook who was sitting in the chair in front of you. As his eyes flickered between the both of you, his lips pursed into a thin line before his gaze met your eyes through the mirror, a certain blankness to them.

“Hey Jungkook, how ya been?” Jiho asked pulling Jungkook’s attention back to him.

“Same old. Tired, but gotta keep going right?” Jungkook replied with a slight shrug, “How about you, hyung?”

“I could say the same. I’m sure Y/N could too, right Y/N?”

Shooting Jiho a quick glare, you scowled at him before shaking your head in denial, “Nah, I’m doing alright, don’t worry—”

“What does that mean? Are you alright?” Jungkook asked with a frown, when you noticed Jungkook’s gaze back on you again, this time growing with worry.

Your gaze softened at the boy in front of you, as you gave him a small nod. Resting your hands on Jungkook’s shoulder, you bent down so that you hovered close to his face, meeting his gaze through the mirror. Giving his shoulders a gentle squeeze, you assured, “I’m alright, don’t worry about me...besides, you have a lot more important things to worry about.”

After that, you expected him to simply nod and drop the conversation but instead, you saw his brows furrow together, his frown only deepening. He sat there like that, for a couple of seconds, before a flash of hesitation crossed his eyes.

“Jungkook—?”

“Y/N...How could I not worry about you?”

Lips parting, you stood back up as your grip on his shoulder faltered. The both of you stared at each other through the mirror, your gazes unwavering for what felt like too long. Yet, your mind was racing, as it took in every sound, of every letter of the words that came out of Jungkook’s mouth.

How could I not worry about you?

You should’ve said something immediately. You should’ve laughed it off, retorted with a sarcastic comment and moved on from it. But, for some reason, you couldn’t. After all, it wasn’t like he said something ridiculous like confessing his love for you? He just said he worried about you. That doesn’t mean anything. You guys were friends anyway, and friends obviously cared for each other, right?

Before you could dwell on your dangerous thoughts any longer, the door to the room swung open as you saw Manager Sejin poke his head through it. Scanning the room, his eyes quickly fell upon you, Jungkook, and Jiho before he tapped his watch, “Jungkook! You gotta hurry, your meeting is in a couple minutes!” Looking back at you, he gave you a quick nod before leaving the room as fast as he came.

“A c-couple of minutes!” you squeaked, before quickly grabbing all the tools you needed in your hands and immediately getting to work.

“Alright, I’ll see you later.” you heard Jiho say, to which you simply nodded your head in response.

“You said you weren’t going to meet her until an hour from now,” you muttered, as you started brushing through Jungkook’s hair.

Chuckling slightly, Jungkook flashed you a sheepish grin, “That’s what I thought too.” to which you simply shook your head in defeat, your own lips tilting upwards into a smile.

And like that, the tension was gone.

//

You sat there on the couch, legs crisscrossed as you scrolled through Twitter on your phone. The more you scrolled, the more tweets you read of fans raving about the news of IU and Jungkook releasing a track together. Looking at the time, you realized it had been more than an hour since Jungkook had left to go have his Skype session with IU.

Feeling the couch sink beside you, Jimin plopped down next to you as he peered over your shoulder, “Whatcha looking at?”

“Twitter.”

“OMG our jungkookie singing with his all-time favorite female idol! UGh imagine if they fell for each other, it would be like a whole ass tumblr fanfiction come true!!!!” you heard Jimin read in a high-pitched voice, mimicking the fan who had posted that tweet.

Laughing across the room, Hoseok looked up from his phone before adding, his eyebrows wiggling, “Honestly, imagine that.”

Walking up to you, Taehyung peered over the other side of your shoulder as he read through the tweets you had just been reading yourself, “Wow, people are really going crazy for this collaboration, aren’t they?”

Shrugging your shoulders, you admitted, “I mean, all of ARMY knows how much Jungkook admires IU as an artist—”

“And as a person,” Jimin added, grinning cheekily.

Raising a brow at that, you looked at Jimin questioningly before he continued, a mischievous glint in his eyes, “Haven’t you heard? Apparently, the two of them have been texting a lot!”

This you knew, to some extent.

After all, every time Jungkook’s phone buzzed and you saw him grab his phone with a sense of urgency, you either watched his eyes light up with the excitement or seeing his expression fall in disappointment. At this point, you had a pretty good idea of who caused the former reaction out of him.

“So? Don’t they have to for the collab?”

“I mean, not as much as they currently are. We’ve all done our fair share of collabs with other artists, but most of the time we spoke over Skype with Manager Sejin there or texted important updates here and there. But from what Jungook showed me the other night, they’ve been having just normal conversations.” Jimin said, his voice heightening in excitement, “Imagine if our Jungkook really does sway IU’s heart? After all, he’s a charmer when it comes to noonas.”

Hearing that you felt yourself stiffen as Jimin’s words washed over you, one after the other. And there it was. The bad feeling that would reappear in the pit of your stomach, leaving you feeling uncomfortable whenever IU and Jungkook were mentioned in the same sentence.

Instead, you forced a bright look on your face before shoving Jimin playfully, “C’mon, you know that isn’t going to happen. They’re both too professional for that.”

“That is true, but you never know, do you?” you heard Taehyung say. Walking over to stand in front of you, he spread his hands in the air in a magical motion, “After all, love is love.”

At that, Taehyung and Jimin erupted into fits of laugher, while you just sat there awkwardly, feeling uncomfortable at the thought of there being anything between Jungkook and IU.

Yet, as soon as the thought appeared, you pushed it away, scolding yourself for even having it. I mean, it didn’t matter what you thought anyway. It was his life and you would support him regardless.

However, the sour look that you tried to mask on your face didn’t go unnoticed by someone else in the room.

Jiho would’ve found it amusing if it wasn’t for the sinking feeling he felt in his own stomach. Clearing his workstation of his things, he chuckled to himself at the mere thought of the complicated mess you and Jungkook were.

After all, it didn’t take a genius to realize there was something there between the two of you, even if you or Jungkook hadn’t realized it for yourselves. Even though he had known you for much longer than Jungkook had, Jiho knew the way you treated him was different. He could see it in everything, from the way your eyes brightened when you would talk to him or how you always leaned in towards him, whenever he stood by your side. And the biggest giveaway if anything, was how apparent your jealousy was, no matter how hard you’d try to hide it from everyone else.

The thing was...you weren’t the only one.

Ever since the plane ride from Seoul, Jungkook’s face was permanently imprinted in Jiho’s memory. He still remembered the way he caught Jungkook staring back at you and him, jealousy swimming in his eyes as clear as day. Even though Jiho had his doubts, he couldn’t help but be surprised.

Personally, Jiho didn’t know if Jungkook deserved you, worldwide pop-star or not.

All he knew was that you deserved the world and more. He had seen you broken-hearted over too many undeserving people in your life, and he wasn’t willing to see it again. He just hoped Jungkook wouldn’t be an addition to that list.

//

"Look who’s back~” Hoseok sang, causing you to snap your head up from your phone. Getting up from the couch, Jimin beamed as he walked towards Jungkook. Wrapping an arm around his shoulder, he ruffled Jungkook’s hair with his other hand as he grinned, “So, how was it?”

Even though you pretended to go back to looking at your phone, you couldn’t help but glance over the top of it, eagerly waiting for Jungkook’s response.

But the moment you saw the way his cheeks flushed in response, his eyes averting Jimin’s curious gaze, you felt a slight twinge in your heart. Biting down on your lip, you quickly averted your attention back to your phone, finding it far less heartbreaking than the scene in front of you.

Untangling himself free from Jimin’s hold, you saw Jungkook approach you from the corner of your eye, causing you to groan inwardly.

Yes, please bring the conversation over here. I’d love that!

Flashing you a quick look, Jungkook sat down beside you before finally answering Jimin’s question, “It was like the usual. We discussed the recordings and potential areas for adlibs. It’s just hard since we aren’t able to actually meet up and record together.”

Cocking his head to the side, Jimin hummed in apprehension before you noticed the mischievous glint in his eyes return, “And? What else, huh?”

Rolling his eyes in response, Jungkook grabbed one of the decorative pillows from the couch and smacked Jimin’s butt with it, causing the boy to yelp in surprise and earning a couple laughs from the members in the room.

“Hyung, I don’t know what you expect me to say,” Jungkook said with a laugh.

���You know what he means,” Taehyung piped up, wriggling his eyebrows at Jungkook, “You guys didn’t talk about anything else besides just the song?”

Shrugging nonchalantly, he mumbled, “I mean...that was what we talked the most about but I guess we also talked about how our tour was going, and I mentioned how I got hurt a couple weeks ago—”

Grinning from ear-to-ear, Taehyung teased, “Hey, isn’t that something you would talk about with someone you like~?”

Clenching your fists that currently laid in your lap, you bit down on your lip trying to prevent yourself from saying something you might come to regret.

“You two, stop acting so unprofessional.” you heard Namjoon say from the stylist’s chair. Spinning around to face the rest of you, he softly glared at the two 95-liners, before adding, “Don’t make unnecessary comments.”

“Exactly,” you muttered bitterly under your breath. 

Ears perking up, Jimin instantly looked in your direction with a raised brow, “What was that Y/N?”

Taken aback, your head snapped up in surprise. At this point everyone in the room was looking at you, your cheeks growing hotter as the seconds passed by.

They had all heard you.

“W-what?” you stammered, eyes wavering slightly as you found your gaze suddenly falling on Jiho. You saw his lips slowly tug into a frown but before you could notice anything else, Jimin’s voice pulled your gaze back to him.

“You said 'exactly' with your face all serious-lookin’” Jimin replied, morphing his face into what you assumed was his imitation of how you looked.

However, how you looked fit into exactly one word: Jealous.

Eyes rounding, you felt you throat go dry, your lips unable for form any words as you simply stared at Jimin, a blank expression clouding your face. 

"Y/N?"

"R-Right." you quickly faltered, trying to rack your brain for the right thing to say but at the moment you couldn't, no matter how hard you tried. 

“I-I just..” you hesitated, as you sighed softly, "I-I'm just agreeing with Namjoon is all. I mean, quite frankly it's a little childish to think IU-ssi would have a crush on Jungkook. This is a professional collaboration, after all." you finished, the words flying past your lips one after the other.

"Childish?" you heard Jungkook whisper softly.

Tearing your gaze away from Jimin, your eyes widened. Jungkook who had been gazing intently at the floor beneath him, raised his head up slowly, his strong gaze meeting your confused eyes, before he gave you a tight-lipped smile, his jaw clenched, "Of course."

Standing up abruptly from the couch, he turned around so that his back faced you, "Hear that hyungs? It's childish, so stop making comments like that, alright?"

With that, Jungkook shrugged his jacket back on and grabbed his phone from the side table, before walking out the door, not sparing you another glance.

[headinthe-fridge]

My Grandfather’s Lawyer (pt.7)

⁂ – Ushijima Wakatoshi x reader –  ⁂

warning: nsfw, swearing

Summary: Your grandfather, Washijo Tanji, disowned your mother when she was pregnant with you and her hatred towards him was passed on to you. Now, your estranged grandfather wants you to leave your life in Tokyo and come live with him in his estate in the Miyagi Prefecture.

You took a day off and a 6-hour trip, intending to give him a piece of your mind before disappearing from their lives forever. You didn’t expect to see an ailing and fragile old man. Your day trip stretched into weeks and soon, you patched things up with your estranged family and warmed up to everyone -except to one: Ushijima Wakatoshi -your grandfather’s lawyer.

He thinks you have ulterior motives in reuniting with your grandfather.

You weren’t suppose to care what he thinks of you. His opinion didn’t matter.

But it did.

Masterlist

Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6

AN: Sorry for the late update. T_T Work made me not do it earlier. Once again, thank you all for your support! And also for you lovely comments and messages! :))))

You felt helpless at the savage possession of your lips. 

You stretched your arms, hands on Ushijima’s chest, trying to push him away. You squirmed before him, trying to escape his grasp, but he held you tighter.

His hot lips continued to assault yours; nibbling and sucking. The faint minty scent of hsi mouthwash filled your nose while his large, warm body enveloped your entire frame.

And he was right. You were getting afraid. You could feel your body betraying you.

You have always found him attractive ever since you first laid your eyes on him. But his cold and aloof attitude was total turn off you. Still, his presence was palpable whenever he was around, you could never not notice him. If he weren’t so unsympathetic and haughty, you would have flirted with him.

And now here he was, showing and making you feel what you’ve once dared to think about these past weeks. And damn, was he good at it. Plus the fact that you haven’t been kissed -or ever been on a date- in so long didn’t help in maintaining your resolve.

Your hands stopped pushing him, opting to just rest on his broad chest. You wanted to get mad at yourself.

His skillful tongue push through your slightly parted lips and you more than yielded. The last strand of your resolve breaking. You leaned towards him, while your hand travelled upwards, cupping his nape and pushing him towards you. Your tongues played, swirled, and tangled. At the same time, heat pooled down your middle.

It’s been so long, shit.

Ushijima’s hands explored your body, sliding down your sides, cupping your butt, until it slowly crept inside your shirt. His warm palm caressed your skin as it moved upwards.

His warm fingers pinched your hardened nipples, the pain and pleasure pulling you back to your senses.

You stilled and broke the kiss before looking away to hide your embarrassment.

“Stop.. I don’t want this.”

“What hypocrisy is this?” Ushijima spat as he withdrew his hand. “I don’t believe that after how you responded to my kiss, you could say it was detestable. Is this what you do with -what’s his name? Tooru? Do you enjoy his kisses and touches then say you don’t like it?” He chuckled darkly. “You’re a tease, you know?”

You felt a vein pop in your head at his insult. Your hand flew and it landed on Ushijima’s cheek -once again. (You did say you were gonna do it again, he should’ve seen that one coming, to be honest.) Your eyes were furious as you glared at him.

“Fuck what you’re saying! And leave Tooru out of this because he’s a lot better than you are!” With that, you pushed past him with all your might.

Wakatoshi could do nothing but stare at your retreating figure, his ears still rang and his cheeks stinging from the second wave of slap you threw him. He wanted to go after you and pull you back but his feet remained rooted to the spot. It irked him beyond hell that you compared him to another man.

Your fiery eyes and intrepid words made him smitten with you on the day he finally met you. He seldom met women who are as impassioned and strong-willed as you are.

Yet, even as weeks pass during your stay here, you remained animus towards him and he, for the life of him, couldn’t understand why. Had he done something for you to be so hostile and defensive towards him all the time?

Flirting was really something that he had no time practising because he didn’t need to -the other person always did that to him and if he likes them back, he’ll entertain. But that was about it. Just entertainment.

But with you, a great fire was incited within him. You are beautiful and graceful and, something he learned from your grandfather, you’re caring and thoughtful as well.

However, it frustrated him to no end at how he could not make a move on you. It wasn’t like he didn’t want to but rather he didn’t know how to. Plus the fact that you kept shooting him virtual daggers didn’t help his situation at all. So when he heard you getting all giddy and sweet towards someone over the phone -and with another man, no less -his temper got the better of him.

As a lawyer, it was his job and duty to carefully choose the words that he will use, he has perfected that, in writing and in speech but, when it comes to you, everything goes down the drain.

He calmed himself before finally turning to leave; brushing away the treacherous thoughts of your lips on him.

-----

“How are you faring, my little cousin?” Kuroo spoke behind you.

You turned on your seat to face him, hands massaging your massaging your calves. “These heels are killing me.” You groaned, a scowling forming when he chuckled at your unfortunate situation.

“Wait here, I’ll go get you a plaster or something.”

“You’re finally doing something right for once.” You muttered a soft thank you nonetheless and Kuroo disappeared.

You are currently at a party -your party to be exact. Your grandfather decided to be a little extra so he organized a homecoming-slash-welcoming party for you (not that he did the organizing by himself but it’s correct to say he’s the culprit).

You were whisked away to Sendai city this morning where you were glammed and dolled up for this special event. It was an intimate celebration, relatives, close associates, and friends were invited for a nice and classy dinner at an outside garden.

Names swam in and out of your head as the Washijo patriarch pranced around the venue with you in tow, introducing you to everyone. Hence, why your feet are on fire and your calves feeling as if it will burst any second.

You managed to get away from all the hustle and bustle and found a secluded spot. Despite your aching legs and feets, your heart was far from it. It felt like it would burst any minute now from all the emotions that welled up within you. You may have doubted it in the past but it’s crystal clear to you know -your grandfather loves you very much.

You sniffed quietly to yourself, tears welling up in your eyes. You took a deep breath to calm yourself, you didn’t wanna ruin your look for tonight. The summer night breeze swept through your hair and you felt a wave of tranquility wash over you.

However, it didn’t last long when a familiar voice spoke beside you that nearly made you fall off your seat.

Part 8

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