#when i casually invited some friends over to watch the original movie a month ago

[ipsiducis]

[alinastracker]

hello my dear bonnie, if you're still taking prompts, can i suggest #47 👀 ?

LOVE THIS PROMPT!!! here you go my love<3

prompt: you’re casually seeing my roommate and think they’re in the shower when you strip down to join me and we end up screaming and my roommate thinks it’s the funniest thing and tries to set us up on a date

yikes at this going from a quick lil ficlet to 6.7k oof

would it be okay if i came home to you (explicit) (ao3)

Alina steps into the shower, wondering how the hell she ended up rooming with Zoya to begin with.

Don't get her wrong, she loves Zoya. But her raven-haired friend can be difficult, and she was supposed to have buffer. Originally, it was going to be her, Zoya, and Genya living together, until Genya backed out last minute to move in with her boyfriend David instead.

"I'm so sorry, but it just makes sense," Genya said to them over lunch one afternoon. "Besides, if things go how I think they will, you two will be on the same path that I'm on soon enough."

Zoya scoffed. "What's that supposed to mean?"

Alina had the same question, considering both of them were hopelessly single.

Genya just sipped her tea and said in a sing-song voice, "You'll see."

At first, living with Zoya was fine. They agreed easily on most apartment related things; splitting up chores, rules about not touching each other's food, a timely heads up before having friends or potential sexual partners over. Zoya could get nit picky about a few things, like the lecture she'd given her on the proper position of the toilet paper roll. It goes over, Starkov, understand? Under is for heathens and natural selection is coming for them. But otherwise, things had been fine.

Until Mal.

He was a part of the friend circle she had surrounded herself with since freshman year. But there was something about Mal that had drawn her to him in a way that was different from the rest of the group — different from anyone else she had ever met. He was like a drug, a magnet, the missing link that had her saying, where have you been my whole life, when you're meant to be here beside me? So quickly he had become her closet friend, and as much as their group liked to tease them, they both denied feeling anything beyond fierce friendship.

But Alina was such a liar.

Which makes it her own fault, really, for ending up in this situation. Zoya could, quite frankly, be a bitch — but she wouldn't have gone after Mal if Alina had just owned up to her feelings.

Though she really could have told her about it sooner.

Alina had been studying in the living room one night when a knock at the door startled her. Zoya hadn't mentioned having company, and neither of them had ordered food. Hesitantly, she rose and stood on her tiptoes to peek through the peephole. Then her face lit up, and she swung the door open. "Mal!"

Saints, he looked good. He appeared freshly showered, dressed in a silky green shirt and dark jeans. He had actually put effort into his hair for once, and he had a small gold hoop earring in his left ear.

"Hey, Lina," he said, something a little off with the smile he gave her. As he passed by to come inside, she could smell expensive cologne.

"What are you doing here?" she asked, butterflies in her stomach. Her head was already filling with wild fantasies. He wanted to surprise her, so he showed up without notice. He put effort into how he looked, because he wanted to impress her. He was going to reveal his true feelings for her, and she would revel in the fact that he wanted her as much as she wanted him.

Instead, Zoya entered the room and said, "He's here for me."

Mal had the decency to flush and offer a sheepish shrug. "I'm gonna grab some water," he said, and scuttled off to the kitchen. Of course, Mal had been here plenty of times before. He knew where everything was.

Alina had barely heard him though, Zoya's words repeating on a loop in her head. He's here for me. She knew what this meant, even as her mind tried to deny it. The room was spinning and she couldn't quite steady herself, like something had broken inside of her.

She swallowed, and as calmly as possible, said, "What happened to the heads up rule?"

Zoya arched a brow. "I texted you two hours ago."

Alina frowned and pulled out her phone. Sure enough, there was a text from Zoya. Got a guy coming over in a couple hours. She must have missed it, lost in her studies. But still, something in the text ignited anger in her chest.

"You could have said the guy was Mal."

Zoya shrugged, so frustratingly nonchalant. "What does it matter?"

It matters because I am so hopelessly in love with him, and you're supposed to be my friend, and now I have to blast music so I don't hear the sounds of you two fucking, she thought.

"He's my best friend," she said. "It's just a little weird, I guess."

"Don't worry, Starkov," Zoya said, turning toward the kitchen, probably to grab Mal so they could get the night started. "It won't affect anything between you two."

Alina waited until the two of them were tucked away in Zoya's room. Then she pulled on her old running shoes and slipped out — there was just no way she could be here, knowing what was happening in the room across from her own.

She ran with no destination in mind, pumping her little legs as hard as they could go, music pounding from her headphones. When she became too tired to go further, she checked her surroundings and sighed. Of course, her feet took her to one of her favorite places in the city.

It's not anything, really. A quiet street with an old abandoned building at the end of it. But on the building's brick wall is one of her favorite pieces of art. A mural of the sun, complex in its simplicity, using colors she had never seen used to express the sun before, yet perfectly capturing the feeling of a warm sunny day.

Alina leaned against the wall, slid down until she was sitting on the old, cracked sidewalk. Only then did she realize that she was crying. Turning off her music, she called Genya, and told her everything.

"You have to talk to Zoya," Genya said.

"No!" she said quickly. "I don't want her to feel bad. It's not her fault. And if Mal likes her — well, it's not like he's shown any interest in me. I'm not going to get in their way."

"Alina," Genya sighed.

"It's fine," she promised. "I just—" A sob escaped her throat, the pain overshadowing any coherent thought. It was not fine.

"Send me your location," Genya said, and Alina did.

She spent the night at Genya and David's that night, David promising he was more than okay with taking the couch so her and Genya could have the bed. Which was needed, because Alina had a lot more crying to do.

"Just don't tell Zoya," she said.

"Alina, I don't know."

"Promise, Genya. Please."

Finally, Genya sighed. "All right."

That was four months ago. Zoya had told her it wouldn't affect her close bond with Mal, but it had. Alina never invites Mal over anymore, too afraid that he'll come to watch a movie, sit on the couch beside her — much closer than most friends sit. They would point out everything terrible about it, because they loved to watch bad films together as they stuffed their faces with popcorn. Then the movie would end and Mal would say goodnight, but instead of leaving, he'd go to Zoya's room, and the popcorn they ate would sour in her stomach.

There were so many little changes, too. Like when they hung out as a group, and suddenly Alina was questioning every move she made around him. Was it still okay to playfully ruffle his hair, to sit close enough that their shoulders pressed together, to look at him like he personally hung the sun and the moon in the sky, all while Zoya was there to see? Was it wrong to look at his lips and fantasize about how they would feel against her own, pressed to her collarbone, sucking her most sensitive spots? Zoya and Mal were a casual thing, they had both said so. But still, the natural intimacy her friendship with Mal had built for the past two years suddenly felt wrong, and she hated it.

Needless to say, Alina has been looking into new rooming possibilities for next year. She can't do this anymore. Every time Mal comes over, she waits for them to lock themselves away in Zoya's room, and then she leaves. She runs to her sun, sometimes just sitting and letting her sad song playlist make her sadder, sometimes bringing her sketchbook to at least make art out of the pain.

But tonight she has a very rare opportunity — the apartment to herself. Only for a couple hours, but still. She has spent most of the time so far blaring music, and her neighbors probably hate her, but damn it, they can deal with it for a night.

She lets the music play as she takes a much needed shower. Sure, she could have gone the bath route, but she doesn't want to waste all her time getting clean. Alina has decided her hours alone should end with a much needed date with her vibrator and an Owen Gray video that she's going to watch without headphones.

Olivia Rodrigo's Brutal is pounding from her speaker, and though Alina's twenty-one, not seventeen, the lyrics hit all the same. She's so into the music, thinking about her life for the past four months, thinking about moving as soon as she possibly can, thinking yeah, it really is fucking brutal out here, that she does not notice the telltale signs of someone entering her apartment, and even more worrisome, someone entering the bathroom. Not until it's too late.

"Thought you were too cool for Olivia Rodrigo," a very male voice says, and then the shower curtain opens.

Screams fill the air from both of them. Alina's already holding her conditioner bottle, and on instinct, hurls it at the man's chest while her other hand reaches for her razor.

"Oi!"

Only then does her mind register that it's not a strange man come to sexually assault her, it's Mal. Her best friend. Her roommate's casual lover slash fuck buddy slash whatever. It's Mal, completely naked before her. She gets a quick glimpse of his cock, half-hard, before he curses and turns around.

It doesn't help that his backside is just as nice to look at. He's well toned, muscles flexing as he reaches to grab the clothes he must have just discarded. He bends, giving her the most sinful view of his ass, and Saints, her mind goes wild. She pictures him turning back around and pushing her against the wall, slamming inside of her. As he fucks her, she would reach around and grab that delicious ass of his, dig her fingers into the plump skin, and leave little half-moon indents.

Mal is apologizing over and over again — "I thought you were Zoya!" — as he gathers up his clothes and makes a beeline for the door. Alina finally snaps out of her filthy fantasy and slides the shower curtain closed with a shaky hand. She leans back against the tiled wall, breathing hard. Her heart is pounding like never before.

The song is winding down. Olivia is crooning, God I don't even know where to start.

Neither does Alina.

~

By the time she musters the courage to finish her shower and leave the bathroom, her robe clutched tightly around her, there’s no sign of Mal in the apartment. Zoya isn’t back yet, either.

With a sigh of relief, she flops onto her bed. Her previous plans were out the window now. Taking a breath, she goes over the facts in her head. 

One: Mal has now seen her completely naked. 

Two: she has now seen Mal completely naked. 

It was the wrong thing to think about, because now she’s picturing the smooth expanse of his skin, his perfectly tight ass, and the quick glimpse she had gotten of his—

Heat pools between her thighs. She’s positively aching, when she should be feeling horrified. She should absolutely not be reaching for her vibrator as she lets the images of Mal’s naked body settle in her mind. It’s wrong, because Mal is, at least somewhat, Zoya’s, and Zoya is her friend. Besides, it was Zoya that he had come looking for, Zoya that he wanted to fuck against the shower wall. 

But Alina does grab her vibrator, and as it buzzes her to multiple releases, she imagines Mal shoving her against the wall, pressing kisses to her neck, fucking her like it’s his sole reason for existing. Fucking her like she’s his, and he’s hers.

~

She doesn’t see Zoya until the next morning, passing out sometime after orgasm number three. Saints, if the memory of Mal’s bare skin had been enough to keep her going for three rounds, she wasn’t sure she could even handle actually being with him. 

When she walks into the kitchen, Zoya is sitting at their tiny excuse for a table. “Good morning,” Alina says as naturally as possible. 

Zoya only says, “Sit down, Starkov.”

It’s unnerving, how quickly can could take over her entire body. Saying nothing, still going for casual, Alina sits across from her. “What’s up?”

“That’s my question, actually.” Zoya arches a brow. “What happened with you and Mal last night?”

Shit, shit, shit. “I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Oh, I think you do. I know he stopped by before I got home. When I asked why he left, he got all weird and said something came up with Dubrov. But I know that’s a lie, because Dubrov was happily posting drunken stories last night. So obviously something happened when he was over.” Zoya sits back in her chair and stares her down, making her insides twist. “And since I don’t live with him, the only person I have to grill is you. So get talking.”

Alina sighs, knowing she isn’t strong enough to deny Zoya when she’s like this, and babbles out the story. Really, it wasn’t her fault. Mal was the one that walked in on her. It was just incredibly embarrassing for both of them. 

When she finishes, Zoya lets the information sink in, and then she laughs, harder than Alina has ever seen her laugh.

“Well I’m so glad this is funny to you,” she huffs, arms crossed over her chest.

“It is! I can only imagine your faces, shit.” Zoya wipes at her eyes. “Too bad you already know each other, that would make for one hell of a meet cute.” She pauses and says, “Well, it still could be your origin.”

Alina frowns. “Our origin?”

“You know, if you guys dated.”

She momentarily loses her breath. “What? No, you guys are a thing.”

Zoya rolls her eyes. “We’re fucking, Alina, that’s it. And actually, I was planning on cutting it off after last night.” She stands and pours herself what is at least her second up of coffee. “There’s someone else I’m interested in.”

“Someone else? Who?” Zoya says nothing. Alina pops up as it comes to her. “Oh! It’s that rich blond guy from the bar, isn’t it? The one that transferred here this semester. Nikolai or something, right?”

The tiniest blush spreads on Zoya’s face, and Alina squeals. “It is him! Saints, he’s attractive.”

“Yes, he is,” Zoya snaps. “And not bad for conversation, either.”

“Conversation?” She grins. “Why, Miss Nazyalensky, do you actually have feelings for this guy?”

Zoya scowls. “Shut it, Starkov.”

“Oh, you totally have feelings for him!”

“Keep it up and you will pay for this. I’m devising a plan as we speak.”

Alina just laughs. “Okay, Mrs. Whatever Nikolai’s Last Name Is.”

Under her breath, Zoya mutters, “Lantsov,” and stalks off with her coffee as Alina laughs harder. 

~

Zoya, apparently, hadn’t been kidding when she said she was devising a plan. 

When the weekend rolls around once again and Zoya texts the group chat they have with Genya about getting lunch, Alina jumps at the idea. She missed Genya, and it had been a hell of a week between juggling exams and thinking about her encounter with Mal. They haven’t spoken at all, and she had used her classes as an excuse to get out of any hang outs where he might show up. 

Zoya’s words from the morning after had been on her mind a lot, too. It still could be your origin. Could it? Was Mal even interested in her — and would he even want to try, after he’d had something with Zoya, or would it just be inevitably awkward?

Alina approaches the restaurant and sucks in a breath. She’s decided to finally tell Zoya about how she’s had feelings for Mal all this time, and maybe with her and Genya, the three of them can come up with what the hell Alina should do next. 

Zoya had texted five minutes ago saying she grabbed them a table in the restaurant’s outdoor patio, so she makes her way there. Only it’s not Zoya or even Genya waiting for her.

It’s Mal. 

He looks just as surprised to see her as she is to see him, and for a moment, she believes it really is some crazy coincidence. 

“Alina,” he says, standing. Neither of them can quite meet the other’s eye. “What are you doing here?”

Her hand is doing some nervous twitchy thing at her side, so she shoves it into the pocket of her dress. “I’m supposed to be meeting Zoya and Genya.”

Mal curses under his breath. “I’m supposed to be meeting Zoya, too.”

“Oh.”

“Yeah.”

Shaking her head and feeling incredibly stupid, Alina takes out her phone and fires off a text to Zoya, WHAT THE HELL????

The next message she receives comes from Zoya — only not in the text chat between the two of them, but rather a newly created group chat with the two of them and Mal. 

consider this the official end to our fuck-mance, oretsev. yalls little bathroom flash show was the perfect opportunity for a new beginning, because yes, i see the doe eyes you give alina when she’s not looking. you too, starkov. i’m sorry for getting in the way for so long. have a good date, no throwing bottles at each other xoxo

They finish reading at the same time, looking up from their phones, eyes meeting before flickering away again. 

Mal sighs. “I think I hate her.”

“I think I hate her, too.”

He scratches the back of his neck. “We don’t have to do this if you don’t want to.”

Alina bites her lip. Because he doesn’t want to do this, she thinks. “Oh, well, I guess—”

Mal cuts her off. “But it might be a nice chance for us to talk.” Her head snaps up, and this time when their eyes meet, neither of them look away. He smiles shyly. “I missed you this week, Lina.”

Her smile matches his. “I missed you, too.” 

They sit, and after the waiter takes their order for drinks and an appetizer for them to share — a sample platter, both of them too indecisive for any singular thing — Mal starts to stutter out an apology. Alina stops him with a hand on his arm. He looks down at where her fingers brush against bare skin, and she wonders if he’s thinking about all the skin they’ve bared to each other now. She certainly is.

“You don’t need to apologize, Mal,” she promises. “It was an accident.”

He shakes his head. “Still, I can’t imagine how terrifying that was for you.”

“Well, it was,” she admits, then adds, “at first.”

“At first?”

She shrugs, but says nothing, thankful for their drinks arriving to save her from answering. Because the truth was she had been scared for maybe three seconds. Once she had realized it was Mal, she’d only felt desire.

With their awkward shower encounter out of the way, they fall into fairly easy conversation, complaining about exams and projects, annoying classmates and neighbors. Soon enough, they’re back to being themselves. Alina pulls out her phone to show Mal all the memes and TikToks she had wanted to send him this week, and he does the same. Hours fly by without their notice, and now the dinner crowd is filing in. 

“Oi, I think our waiter is silently praying for us to leave.”

She laughs, pulling out her wallet. “Definitely.”

Mal waves her off. “Let me get it,” he says, taking his own wallet out. “I mean, since this is apparently a date and all.”

Alina hesitates, a little flutter in her chest even though he’d said it teasingly. “Okay, fine. But I’ll get the tip.”

“Deal.”

When everything is paid for, they stand. Going home is the last thing she wants right now, and not just because Zoya will be there. 

Mal looks ready to pull her into one of their standard hugs, but pauses. “Do you want to come over? We can find something shitty to watch. Mikhael and Dubrov will be around, but I just really don’t want to see Zoya right now.”

Alina smiles, the flutter in her chest returning with vigor. “Yeah, okay.”

~

At Mal’s flat, they settle onto the sofa together, close enough that their shoulders brush. Mikhael and Dubrov tease them about looking like lovebirds, but otherwise surprisingly leave them be. She doesn’t mind their company — but admittedly, she was glad they stayed to their respective rooms tonight. Mal puts on an indie horror flick that’s so bad it’s good, and they laugh and joke with each other throughout, per usual. 

About halfway through the film, they share a knowingly look — their that foreshadowing is so obvious, RIP to that character in twenty minutes look — and sport matching grins. But when the moment passes, neither of them looks away. 

“Alina,” Mal says softly, and her breath hitches. Has he ever said her name with such longing before?

His eyes flicker down — to her lips. She thinks of Zoya’s text then, basically calling both of them out for having feelings for each other. And while neither of them had confirmed it, they hadn’t denied it either.

Her heart is beating so fast. She gives him the tiniest nod.

Mal understands, he always does, and then he’s leaning in. Their noses brush before their lips do, and it could be silly or awkward, but instead it’s a different kind of intimacy she hadn’t known she wanted.

“Alina,” he breathes once more, and then he kisses her, so softly at first, it’s barely anything. Her stomach is doing cartwheels regardless. She takes initiative, kissing him back. Still soft, still careful, afraid that whatever this is between them is something fragile, something that needs delicacy. In some ways, it is. Her closest friendship, blossoming into something more. 

Mal lets out the softest moan, and it snaps something between them. 

He pulls her closer, his hand on the back of her neck, and now Alina is the one moaning, fervor replacing the softness, the delicacy. It’s the kind of kiss she’s been fantasizing about, made even better from how obvious it is that they’ve both wanted this for a long time. A desperate kiss bursting with desire. 

Alina shifts closer until she’s practically straddling his lap. Mal brings one hand to rest on her lower back, the other curling into her hair. His lips move to her neck, trailing down until he reaches her collarbone, where he nips and sucks, undoubtedly leaving a mark. 

“Mal,” she sighs, her head tipped back from the feeling as her hips roll against his. He curses against her skin. Her hands move to the hem of his shirt, ready to pull it off. 

All of a sudden, Mal pulls away, stopping her hands with his own. “Alina, don’t.”

She blinks her eyes open. “Do you want to move to your room?”

Mal bites his lip and shakes his head.

Alina frowns, any warmth in her chest turning cold. She quickly returns to her own side of the couch. “I don’t understand. I thought you wanted this.” Wanted me, she thinks but doesn’t say. Because he certainly had no issues with Zoya.

“I do!” he says quickly, taking her hand again and trying to pull her back. She holds her ground, pulls her hand out of his. “I do want this, Alina. Saints, I do. But this is technically our first date, right? I don’t want to do first date sex, not with you.”

Alina rolls her eyes, looking down and tugging at a loose thread on her dress. “Is this where you say something you think sounds respectful but really just puts down all the girls you have had first date sex with?”

“Alina, please look at me.”

Grudgingly, she does. 

“You’re different because you’re my best friend, and because I’ve been hooking up with our mutual friend.” She flinches, but Mal continues. “I don’t want you to think we have to have sex because of that. What I had with Zoya — it was good, and I care about Zoya, but it didn’t go beyond the physical. That’s all we wanted from each other. But that’s not all I want with you.”

Mal closes his eyes. Alina’s unconsciously holding her breath. He exhales and opens his eyes again, holding her gaze. “I want everything with you, Alina. I want your highs and your lows. I want to take you against the wall as much as I want to hold your hand.” He does so now, both of his hands around one of hers, and this time she doesn’t pull away. “And if you didn’t want to be physical? I’d still want you. I don’t want you to think there’s anything we have to do. That’s why I want to wait — even if I also want to take you to my room and pin you against my bed, too.”

“Oh,” she says, barely audible. Alina shakes her head, a little speechless. “I don’t know what to say.”

The corner of his mouth tugs up. “Was that too rom-com confessional?”

The tension breaks. She laughs and climbs onto his lap again, wrapping her arms around his neck. “You’re such a dork, but you’re the perfect dork. So we’ll wait.” She pauses and looks up at him with innocent eyes. “But will you kiss me again?”

Mal grins, pushes her down against the couch, and does just that. 

~

When she gets home, Zoya is waiting in the living room, reading a smutty romance book Genya had recommended. “Hey, how’d it go?” she asks, too casually to actually be casual. 

Alina ignores her and walks straight to her room. She’s decided to let Zoya sweat it out a bit for the weekend after her little stunt, even if it was successful. 

Though really, she didn’t think it would bother Zoya that much. Hard as steel Zoya, who never let anything get to her. But on Sunday, she bursts into Alina’s room, interrupting her studying. 

“Okay, I know you hate me now or whatever, but at least let me tell you that I’m sorry. I didn’t know how much you liked him, Alina. Not until Genya told me.”

Alina closes her book, frowning. “Genya told you?”

Zoya nods and sits at the end of her bed. “Recently, when I told her about Nikolai and that I was thinking about cutting things off with Mal. Don’t be mad at her, just be mad at me.” 

“Well—” she starts, but Zoya cuts her off. 

“And honestly? The worst part is, part of me did know. I saw the looks you gave each other, but I brushed them off because I was selfish and enjoying myself. I was a really, really shit friend to you, and I’m so sorry, Alina. You don’t have to forgive me, but I just—

Zoya stops mid-sentence, cut off by the laughter bubbling out of Alina. 

“Saints, I never thought I’d see the day that Zoya Nazyalensky grovels.” She shoots her a grin. “I accept your apology. And as much as I want to hate you for your meddling stunt, it worked, because we definitely spent the night making out. I just did the whole silent treatment to make you suffer a little.”

A moment passes — Zoya is completely still, too still — and then she grabs one of Alina’s pillows and smacks her with it. “You little rat!”

Alina only laughs harder, fighting off Zoya’s pillow attack with her hands. “I don’t think I’ve ever heard you say sorry non-sarcastically! You did so well, Nazyalensky!”

“And you’ll never hear it again! You’ve lost apology privileges! 

Eventually, Alina moves into the living room to study, and Zoya joins her. When their brains need a break, Alina tells her about her date with Mal, and Zoya tells her about her own with Nikolai. If this is their new normal, Alina finds that she really likes it. 

~

The next week is outstandingly better than the previous. She’s back to talking to Mal each day, even more than before. Halfway through the week, he sends her a song with the message, This song made me think of you the first time I heard it, still does every time. It has her heart beating extra fast as she listens on her walk to class, not only because it’s incredibly sweet, but because Mal has played this song for her before, months and months ago, which means he’s felt this way the whole time. 

Early Saturday evening, Zoya announces that she’s spending the night at Nikolai’s. “He has his own apartment, so it just makes sense. I’ll be home in the morning, probably.”

Thank the Saints for rich boys. 

She texts Mal, and Zoya’s barely gone for ten minutes before he’s there. They make dinner together — well, Alina sits on the counter while Mal does the actual cooking, but he spends any down time kissing her, so she likes to think she was the moral support. They eat on the couch, watching their favorite trashy reality television, and play a few rounds of Mario Kart afterwards. Really, it’s just like how things were when they were simply best friends, except now Alina drapes her body over his as they watch their show, Mal’s thumb moving in slow circles on her ankle, and instead of talking or playing on their phones during ad breaks, they pick up where they left off in the kitchen, their lips pressed together in a blissful ease. 

They’re on their fifth game of Mario Kart, Alina in the lead, as she has been every round. She’s bragging about how she’s going to beat him again when suddenly her vision is blocked as Mal presses his lips to hers. 

Her surprise doesn’t stop her from dropping her controller and kissing back. She’s just getting into the kiss when Mal pulls away as quickly as he had started the kiss. He stands, and only then does she see he never dropped his controller. Picking up right where he left off, he steers Luigi towards the finish line. (“Who the hell picks Luigi?” Alina had asked him once. To which Mal responded, “It’s not fair people only care about his brother when he probably works just as hard at their plumbing business. It’s just like people only knowing Adam Levine and ignoring the rest of Maroon 5—” which led to a very cute rant that Alina spent less time listening to and more time staring at his lips while he was distracted.)

Alina fumbles for her controller, but it’s too late. Mal hasn’t come in first — some of the computers still beat him. But he’s beat her, which by the smirk on his face, was his only goal.

“You’re such a cheater!”

“It’s not cheating, it’s strategy.”

“I suppose you need your strategy, since you don’t have any skills.”

Mal raises a brow, a devious look in his eyes. “Is that so? Perhaps I should show you my skills, then.” He moves in front of her and kneels on the couch, a leg on either side of her body, essentially pinning her there, and kisses her again. 

Immediately, she can feel the difference from the strategy kiss and even the ones from earlier that night. He’s kissing with purpose, cradling her face with one hand, the other on her waist, and Alina is melting against him. She is putty in Mal’s hands, his to mold how he pleases. 

He’s holding himself so that his weight isn’t pressing down on her, but that’s exactly what she wants. Her hips buck up against his, and Mal pulls back to moan, “Fuck, Alina,” so she does it again.

“Please tell me we can have second date sex.”

Mal chuckles. “Are we even going to bother with the dating process?”

“I don’t know, are we?”

“I don’t know. Do I need to ask you to be my girlfriend?”

Alina grins. “I wouldn’t mind hearing it.

“All right. Alina, my beauty, my beloved, will you bless me with the honor of calling you my girlfriend?”

Her grin widens, and giddy butterflies dance inside her chest. No, not butterflies — fireflies. She can feel their warmth and wouldn’t be surprised if she was glowing from their light. “Oh, I suppose.”

Mal laughs. “I can’t stand you,” he says, and kisses her again.

Alina returns the kiss for a moment before murmuring against his lips, “You don’t have to stand me, but now that you’re my boyfriend, can you fuck me?”

He practically growls as he says, “Saints, yes,” standing and lifting her with him. Mal brings them to her room, kissing her the whole way. He unceremoniously shoves her school books off of her bed, laying her down and crawling over her. “You don’t know how often I’ve imagined this,” he murmurs, lips on her throat. 

“Tell me,” she gasps.

“Every time I came over, Alina. Every time.”

A shiver runs down her spine. “Even when you were here to—”

“Especially then.”

She has no idea what to do with this information. Her head is empty of thought save for the screaming need for more of him, so she pulls his shirt over his head. This time, Mal doesn’t stop her. Her hands roam over all the places she’s been dying to touch; down his back, tracing along his spine, up over his stomach, fingers running along the muscles of his chest, brushing over a few scars he’s accumulated through the years.

“You’re so perfect,” she whispers. Smooth in some places, rougher in others, but so incredibly warm everywhere.

Mal tips her chin up, kisses her lips once, hard, and then another to her jaw, down her neck, her collarbone. Then he’s the one tossing her shirt aside, his lips continuing their decent. He’s pressing soft words into her skin as he kisses her — beauty, beloved, cherished, my heart —murmuring his love for her even as he brings her nipple between his teeth.

“Shit, Mal,” Alina breathes. Her hips keep bucking, far beyond her control. He chuckles, murmurs something along the lines of no patience, and quickens his pace. Soon enough, he’s got her undressed completely — which isn’t too unnerving after the shower incident. Any lingering nerves flee once his head is between her thighs. She’s suddenly very thankful Zoya isn’t home, because even though it’s never been a problem during sex before, she absolutely cannot control the noises she’s making — and she’s loud.

Mal returns to her with glistening lips. She kisses him and tastes herself, a thrill better than any rollercoaster. Her hands move to the waistband of his pants, giving a half-hearted tug. “Off.”

“So lazy,” he teases, unclasping the button on his jeans, tugging down the zipper. “I could always make you work for it.”

“Have mercy on me, Oretsev. I’m still recovering from the pleasures of your cocky mouth.”

He looks so proud of himself, she wants to kiss him just to wipe the smirk off of his face. “If you enjoyed my cocky mouth, just wait until you feel my—

“Do not finish that sentence.”

But then he’s pushing down his boxers, and all Alina can do is stare as the cock in question springs free. He’s fully hard this time around, and her thighs squeeze together at the sight. He watches her as she practically drools over his dick, his smirk becoming even, well, smirkier. She reaches out and curls her fingers around his length, giving him two quick strokes — both to clear the smirk from his face and because she so very much wants to touch him. 

“Fuck, Alina,” he hisses. He’s reaching for his jeans, probably to grab a condom from his pocket, but she grabs his hand.

“I’m on the pill, and I’ve been tested recently.” Of course, there’s still a slight risk. But it’s Mal — finally Mal — and she wants to feel every inch of him.

He pauses, then nods. “Okay.” Crawling over her, he takes one of her hands and intertwines their fingers. With his other hand, he grips his cock and drags the tip through her folds like the damn tease he is, eliciting needy mewling from her that he seems to enjoy. In her ear, he murmurs, “How do you want this, Alina?”

“I don’t want to be able to walk tomorrow.”

Mal chuckles softly, but the sound so close to her ear sends more shivers down her spine. “As you wish, moya solnishka.” My little sun.

She has only a brief moment to bask in the sweetness of his words before he’s slamming into her all in one go, anything sweet flying out the window. Mal keeps a steady rhythm while sucking on her neck, which is good, because all Alina can do is moan incoherently as her nails leave scratches down his back.

When he senses her getting close, Mal brings his finger to her clit, circling just right. “Saints!” she cries, and comes undone beneath him once again. But this time, she gets to watch him fall over the edge with her, his eyes so incredibly dark as he moans his release. He’s the only man she’s ever let come inside of her, and it feels very right that it’s Mal — she doesn’t want anyone else filling her like this, marking her in a sense as his spend drips down her thighs.

They stay like that for a while, foreheads pressed together, sweaty and sticky, but blissfully so. 

“So, is the sex still good on this side of the apartment?”

In answer, he dips his head and bites down on one of her tits.

“Shit, Malyen!”

“Ridiculous questions get ridiculous responses,” he teases, then wraps his arms around her, tucking his face into the crook of her shoulder. “You’re all I’ve wanted for two years, Alina, and this still beat my expectations.”

Smiling, she rests her chin against the top of his head. “Good. I would hate to have to start fucking in Zoya’s bed just because you like the airflow better there.”

“Smart ass,” Mal mutters, but he’s smiling. Then he says, "You know, this may not be my first time fucking in this apartment, but I’m still checking off a first tonight — of many, I hope.”

Alina rolls her eyes. “Yes, I’m aware this is your first time fucking me in this apartment, dumb ass.”

"That’s not what I meant, rude ass.”

She frowns. “Then what did you mean?”

He squeezes her hip. “It’s my first time spending the night.”

Her heart does a little jump in her chest, and she doesn’t even have it in her to tease that she hasn’t actually asked him to stay yet. But stay he does, though he gets her off a few more times before they pass out for the night — definitely beating her vibrator. One time it’s with his fingers, so incredibly long that she knows all her fantasies will involve the slender digits now. Another is after Alina murmurs about how filthy she is and that she really ought to take a shower. 

Mal waits long enough to join her that she starts to worry he hadn’t understood her intent. But then she hears his footsteps, and the shower curtain opens. There’s no bottle throwing this time, though she can’t say the same for the screaming. He steps into the shower, kisses her slowly, sensually, then pushes her back until she shivers from the feeling of cold tile against her bare skin.

“I meant to ask, you do know you have mirrors in here, right?” Mal murmurs huskily into her ear. She’s too disoriented with want to understand until he says, “I saw you staring at my ass last time.”

Then he slams into her, and Alina no longer has to imagine how it feels to be fucked against the shower wall.

[kissinginkitchens]

You Bring Me Home—Chapter Ten: When it Rains

a/n: hi besties!! This one is... tough I’m ngl to y’all. It is the second to the last chapter which is so wild to think about, but alas all good things must come to an end. Hopefully you don’t hate me too much by the end of it but feel free to vent in my inbox :))) much love, Mel <3

Pairing: Hawai’i!Harry x Original Character (Halani <3)

Warnings: swearing, some suggestive humor, ANGST (!!)

Word Count: 7.4 k

catch up on parts one, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, and nine

“Is that my shirt?”

“No,”

Alani squints at the cartoon bee printed on Harry’s white t-shirt and crosses her arms in disbelief. 

“Yes it is! I’ve been looking for it everywhere,”

“Don’t worry, you can have it back soon,” he admits, crawling back into his bed with an apologetic kiss to her pouting lips. “Doesn’t smell like you anymore,”

“Thief,”

Harry scoffs and props himself up on an elbow. “Don’t act like my Spice World jumper isn’t hanging at the foot of your bed right now,”

“You left it there,” Alani defends. “I was merely being kind and looking after said hoodie because it was abandoned by its owner,”

“Oh yeah and you’ve fought real hard to reunite us,”

“Can we get back to the main issue at hand? Which is that I’m kinda pissed off that you look better in that shirt than I do.”

Harry chuckles to himself and presses an affectionate kiss to her temple. “You’re too kind.”

Alani rests her cheek against his chest and listens to the rain pattering harshly against the window, admiring the flashes of lightning that illuminate the dimly lit room. Harry had convinced her to stay the night, worried about her driving home alone in the storm, and he was met with very little resistance. Secretly, he thanks the rain gods for allowing him another night to hold her close. 

********

“H, you gotta tell her,” Jeff had warned the previous night. “I already pushed the flight back a week—”

“I know,” Harry huffed. “I just need a little more time.”

Jeff sighed, rubbing his tired eyes with the heels of his hands. “You have until this weekend when we go away with the girls. One week in Maui, and then it’s back home. I’m sorry.”

********

Harry’s stomach turns remembering the conversation, but he decides to push all the nagging thoughts to the back of his mind and focus on the present. 

“You all packed?” he asks, trailing his fingers up and down her arm. 

Alani drapes her leg over his hip and nods. “Been packed since last week.”

She had been ecstatic the day after Mila and Chad’s wedding when Harry invited her to tag along on the couple’s trip with Jeff, Tom, and their significant others. His eagerness to include her in his friend group was not only reassuring, but exciting. It felt like their lives were coming together, even more so after she had introduced him to her parents. They, of course, had adored him and quickly given their seal of approval. While Alani knew that it was ultimately her choice, it still felt good to have support from the most important people in her life, and she hoped to win his friends over just as easily. Harry, on the other hand, had no doubts that she would fit right into his chosen family. Her name had been cautiously dropped during a weekly FaceTime call with his mother and sister, and he was overjoyed when they enthusiastically grilled him for details. 

What Harry was less sure of, however, was how Alani would react upon hearing that his vacation was up and that he would be headed back to L.A. in a week’s time. It was still early in their relationship and an indeterminate break seemed less than ideal. He had tried to convince both Jeff and the label that he could finish the album in Hawaii, but the same couldn’t be said for Jeff Bhasker, Mitch, Tom, and his new bassist, Adam, who all had families waiting for them back on the mainland. It was too risky personally and financially, so Harry reluctantly negotiated one last week to persuade Alani that a long-distance relationship wouldn’t be a death sentence. 

“What d’you wanna watch?” he asks, sitting up against the headboard to turn on the T.V. 

Alani sighs and settles deeper into his side. “When Harry Met Sally,”

“But it’s not Christmas or New Year’s,”

“So?”

“So,” Harry explains. “We have to wait ‘til the holidays, wouldn’t be right otherwise,”

Alani scoffs and peers up at him with a judgemental look. “So I guess Serendipity is also out of the question?”

“We’ll have all Christmas to get through that list, darlin’,”

Her stomach flips at his suggestion of their future holiday plans. Privately, she had wondered about such things, as well, including what gifts she might get him or where they would spend the holidays. Though still months away, it suddenly felt within reach. 

“Fine,” Alani softens. “The Notebook,”

“And let you drool over what’s-his-face?” Harry pokes. “No fuckin’ way,”

Alani pinches his side and sits up. “Would you stop being insecure about that? I’ve already told you I was just kidding that time,”

“Yeah well, it still stings,”

“Why don’t you tell me your celebrity crush? You know, so I can be totally fine about it because it doesn’t mean anything,”

Harry shrugs, the corners of his lips turning into a playful smirk. “Don’t have one,”

“Liar,”

“M’serious,”

“Why, because you’ve already dated them?”

“Hey,” Harry pouts. “That was a bit snippy,”

Alani’s muscles tighten. She hadn’t realized that his dating history was a sore spot, but she takes a deep breath and plants a sweet kiss to his jaw as an offering of peace. “I’m sorry, I didn’t mean it like that,”

“S’alright. Truce?”

“Deal,”

“Jennifer Aniston,”

“Huh?”

“My celebrity crush,” Harry explains shyly. “When I was younger,”

Alani giggles lightly. “I see. Good taste, she’s hot,”

“Don’t tell me you’re gonna leave me for her too,”

“I just might,”

“Can’t say that I blame you,”

“Look I know this is a cute little bit we do,” Alani sits up, her gaze dead-set on Harry’s to communicate the seriousness behind her words. “But I just want you to know that I feel so lucky to be with you. I’m not going anywhere any time soon,”

Harry swallows harshly. It was everything he’d ever wanted to hear and it kills him that he can’t return the sentiment with full honesty. A little less than a week is all he has to prove that even though he physically has to go, his heart will remain wherever Alani is. “Me either,”

Another round of thunder booms outside and the lights fizzle out, leaving the room completely dark save for the intermittent flashes of lightning that gently illuminate the room. 

“So much for watching a movie, huh?” Alani sighs. 

“I think I know some other ways we can keep ourselves entertained.”

********

Harry sets a steaming cup of tea down onto the table in front of Alani and she looks up from her tube of nail polish curiously. Harry flashes a dimpled grin in her direction and whistles a familiar tune, one that she had heard in the studio when he was busy doing his Bob Dylan impression. 

“What’re you singing?”

“Hm?”

“The song,” she clarifies. “You were singing it the other day, what is it?”

Harry serves her plate of hash browns and shrugs. “Dunno, just a little tune ‘ve been workin’ on,”

“It’s nice,”

“Thanks, sweets,” he offers, setting her food down and pressing a kiss to the top of her head. 

“Hey Alani,” Jeff interrupts, stepping into the kitchen with his cellphone pressed to his shoulder.

“Glenne wants to know if you’re okay with her setting up a spa thing for you guys,”

"Yeah, definitely,” Alani perks up. 

“Cool, thanks.”

“Look at you,” Harry teases, taking a bite of his toast coated in strawberry jam. “Minglin’ with the girls,”

“They’re not even here yet,” 

He scans over her appearance and his brows furrow, hit with the sudden realization that she’s dressed in formal attire. 

“What’s with the fancy outfit”

“I have a meeting, remember?”

“With?”

Alani blows on her freshly painted nails and holds up her other hand for Harry to do the same. 

“My senior advisor. We’re going over my research project,”

Harry’s brows raise. “Smarty-pants,”

Alani had scheduled her meeting with Dr. Hudson months ago and had, truthfully, forgotten all about it until she had received a courtesy email the day prior. She had been working on her proposal in the spare minutes she had away from Harry, which were few and far between, but she knew the initial meeting would be much more casual. Alani checks the time on her phone and stands quickly when she realizes that she is supposed to meet Dr. Hudson in  less than thirty-minutes. 

“Gotta go,” she offers, shoveling potatoes into her mouth and grabbing her bag. 

Harry ceases blowing on her nails and kisses the back of her hand before sticking out his lips for a kiss of his own. “Good luck, darlin’. Meet me at the studio after?”

“Sure thing, sunshine. See you later.”

********

“How did the Joni Mitchell piece go? You never told me,” Dr. Hudson questions, taking a sip of her coffee. 

Alani offers a shy smile and toys with the hem of her skirt. “A flop,”

“Just one more closer to the winner,”

“Yeah,” Alani sighs, stirring her smoothie. “Maybe it’s time to move on from that,”

The professor shoots her a disapproving look and sets her drink down. “Alani—”

“I just think maybe there’s more realistic—”

“You are not giving up,” Dr. Hudson reassures her. “You’ve come too far and you’re a terrific writer. One of the best I’ve ever had the pleasure of teaching. These things take time,”

Alani nods gently, her lips pursed in a tight smile. “Thank you, that really means a lot,”

“What are you working on right now?”

Absolutely nothing, Alani thinks, but then she remembers the half-written article about Harry sitting in her files. 

“A short piece about… a local musician,”

Dr. Hudson’s brows raise, intrigued, and she nods. “That sounds interesting. Definitely more personal,”

You have no idea. “Thanks. I mean, it’s not really anything—”

“I’d love to read it when you’re finished,” the professor continues. “What’s the scope?”

Alani thinks, trying not to give too much incriminating detail about her subject or their relationship. 

“Well,” she starts, hesitant. “He’s writing new music and working on his first album. I guess I kind of want to follow his journey and redefinition of success in the music industry,”

Dr. Hudson hums. “I love it. Send me a draft.”

Alani swallows and takes a minute to consider the offer. Surely there couldn’t be anything wrong about sharing her work privately with her advisor. She had been so excited about the potential of the article when it was first started, but it had since been neglected like so many of her other rejected pieces. Starting again seemed exciting, and she knew that Harry would be pleased to play such an important role in making her dreams come true. That had, after all, been the initial terms of their agreement. 

“Okay,” Alani accepts. “I will.”

********

Harry draws out the last note and Mitch lets the chord ring between them for a moment. 

“I think that’s the one,”

“Yeah, I liked that progression better,”

“Hope you got that, Bhasker,” Mitch calls to Jeff in the sound booth, who gives a thumbs up in response. 

Harry continues humming, his head still bobbing to the tune, when he hears the studio door creak unpleasantly. His eyes shoot up to find Alani wincing and timidly stepping into the room. 

“Sorry, didn’t mean to interrupt,”

He softens and beckons her over. “Never an interruption, sweets,”

Alani slots herself between his legs and wraps her arms around his neck, giving a gentle peck to the tip of his nose before pressing their lips together.

“How’s the weather?”

“Just got a lot sunnier,”

“Meeting go well?”

She nods and twists a lock of his chestnut hair between her fingers. “Yeah, actually,”

“Then we should celebrate!” Harry perks up, peppering a kiss to her cheek. “Dinner, wine, movie, the whole shebang,”

Alani frowns, thinking back to the article she promised Dr. Hudson. “Hmmm, raincheck?”

Her boyfriend deflates. “You’re ditching me?”

“Just for one night,” she explains, pulling him closer. “I wanna finish up some school stuff before our trip. Otherwise I won’t be able to give you my full attention,”

Harry pouts, but he nods understandingly. “‘Kay,”

“I’m sorry, sunshine. I’ll miss you tons,”

“Ditto, sweets,”

Alani presses her forehead against his and her fingertips wander through the growing curls at the nape of his neck. “Please don’t be upset,”

Harry smiles warmly and smoothes his hands up and down her back. “Never, m’love. Could never be upset with you,”

“Promise?”

“Promise,” he nods, planting a sweet kiss to her lips. “Hey, I wanna play you somethin’,” 

Alani grins and pulls back a bit to read his expression. “Let’s hear it,”

Harry grabs the guitar next to him and slings it over his shoulder before adjusting the capo. The song starts sweet and gentle, his voice light to match the tune. 

And oh we started 

Two hearts in one home 

It’s hard when we argue 

We’re both stubborn I know, but oh

Sweet creature, sweet creature

Wherever I go, you bring me home 

Sweet creature, sweet creature

When I run out of road, you bring me home 

Alani watches in awe as he pours so much emotion behind every word, his vocals effortlessly powerful and rich. She claps when the song finishes and leans in for a kiss. 

“I love it,”

“S’not finished yet,” Harry shrugs, still fiddling with the strings. “Just the chorus right now,”

“Will you teach it to me?”

His brows raise in surprise. “You play?”

“No,” Alani admits. “But I have a feeling you’re a good teacher,”

“Well, let’s see what you got,”

Alani turns and Harry props the guitar in her lap, his arms wrapping around her as he guides her into the right position. His left hand demonstrates the beginning chord and she replaces his fingers on the fretboard to try for herself. She strums and the beginning note resonates in near-perfect pitch. 

“Hey,” Harry beams. “You’re a regular Hendrix,”

He continues positioning her fingers over the right spaces and letting her strum, humming the lyrics softly into the shell of her ear. 

“We don’t argue that much,” Alani defends playfully. 

Harry chuckles and kisses her temple. “Maybe not, but we’re really good at makin’ up.”

“Easy, Styles.”

********

Harry: Hungry?

Alani peels her eyes away from the computer screen and reads the message lighting up her phone. 

Alani: Not really

Harry: …

Harry: oh 

She laughs and pads over to the window. Sure enough, Harry holds up two bags and flashes a cheesy grin down below. 

“Need a study break?”

“I’ll meet you at the door.”

Harry makes himself comfortable in the middle of her bed and unpacks the bags. 

“I’ve got a California and a spicy tuna for my favorite girl,” he announces. “With a side of eel sauce,”

“And the world's best boyfriend goes to Mr. Harry Styles,” Alani grins, taking a seat next to him. 

He smirks and pulls out his own order of miso soup and sushi. “How’s the homework comin’ along?”

“Not too shabby,”

“Glad to hear it,”

“Hey, what time do I meet you at the airport tomorrow?” she asks, dipping her roll in the sauce. 

Harry freezes and turns to her with confusion written all over his face. “I’m sorry, did my girlfriend just insinuate that we’re not leaving for the airport together?”

“I really need to finish this,” Alani explains. “It’s almost there,” 

“Two nights?” he complains. 

Alani nudges him with her shoulder and shakes her head. “We’re gonna be spending an entire week together, non-stop. You’re gonna get sick of me,”

“Never,” Harry rebuts. “Not possible,”

“Just one more night,” Alani bargains. “Then I’m all yours, no interruptions.”

He nods and takes a sip of his soup. “Alright, deal.”

You have to tell her, Jeff’s voice rings in his mind. 

********

The airline stewardess ushers Harry and Alani to their seats while Scott and Miles settle down a few rows behind. She didn’t know exactly what to expect from first-class, but suddenly the perks of having a famous boyfriend increased tenfold by the sight of their luxurious accommodations.

“Wait, what are you doing?” Alani asks while Harry hovers over his chair. 

“Sitting, or I was about to,”

“And you’re not even gonna offer rock-paper-scissors for the window seat?”

Harry shakes his head with an amused chuckle. “No because I already know that you’re gonna get up to pee every five minutes,”

“Not true,”

“It is too true and it’s exactly why we can’t cuddle while we fall asleep,”

“Or maybe the reason is because I’m claustrophobic and I just don’t wanna hurt your feelings,”

Harry frowns. “Really?”

“No,” Alani admits, taking the aisle seat. “I just said that so you’d give me the window,”

“Get up, we’re switching,”

“Thank you, sunshine! You’re the best,”

Harry slumps into his new chair and crosses his arms. “Forty-five minutes and we’re already fighting like an old married couple,”

“Oh really?” Alani smirks. “Is that what old married couples argue about? Who gets the window seat?”

“And leaving the toilet seat up, going antique shopping—” 

“—What old married couples have you been hanging out with—?”

“—Picking up the kids from school,”

Alani presses a kiss to his shoulder and rests her head in the crook of his neck. Her eyelids are still heavy from staying up the night before, but her article was completely finished and sent off to Dr. Hudson just like she’d promised. Now, she could enjoy her vacation free of any worry or obligation, completely focused on the perfect boy still rambling next to her. 

“But, obviously I mean that doesn’t count, right?” Harry asks, craning his neck and smiling softly when he sees that his girlfriend has already dozed off. He kisses the top of her head gently and lets his own eyes flutter close with a deep, contented breath. 

********

“And then I’ll have to repaint it, but I haven’t decided on a color yet,” Glenne explains to Alani as they stroll through the airport. 

Alani hums. “It was your grandmother’s?” 

“Well, it was somebody’s grandmother’s. We picked it up at this little antique shop in Santa Monica.”

Jeff escorts Glenne into the shuttle car while Harry and Alani share a knowing look and stifle their laughter. They shuffle into the back seats as Tom and his wife, Jenny, claim the middle row. 

“So you’re a journalist?” Jenny asks, turning in her seat eagerly to face Alani. 

“Not quite,” she explains with a polite smile. “Still a student, but hopefully someday,”

Jenny nods and twirls the ring around her finger. “Sounds exciting. Maybe you can hitch a ride on tour with this one and do some writing there.”

“Yeah,” Alani smiles, settling further into Harry’s side. “Maybe.”

The idea of traveling the world with Harry and being a part of the excitement of touring the album was something she had considered briefly, but hadn’t allowed herself to fully indulge until this moment. It was already thrilling to see him polish the songs he had begun during his trip, but she could only imagine how much more special it would be to see him perform them for the rest of the world. A twinge of jealousy sparks at the thought of having to share any part of him with the public, but Alani knows that his gifts are much too special to keep all for herself. Harry was golden and he deserved to shine in all of his radiant glory. That was exactly what she had penned in her article, and she said it not because he was her boyfriend and there were clear personal investments, but because she knew it was true even before he had shown any romantic interest in her. 

“What’s tour like?” Alani pipes up as Harry watches the landscape out his window. 

He considers it for a moment and clears his throat. “Fun, mostly. Can be tiring,”

“Lots of partying and adoring fans?”

“No,” he chuckles to himself. “Not so much the partying. Enthusiastic fans, sure,”

Alani narrows her eyes. “No partying?”

“Nope,” Harry reiterates. “Don’t really like to do all that stuff when I’m working. Also just didn’t wanna…”

He trails off and Alani waits a beat to see if he’ll continue. “Didn’t wanna?”

“Fuck it up,” he finishes. “You know, like, be the one who ruined a good thing for a little bit of fun.”

She lets his words settle in, rubbing a reassuring circle on the back of his hand. “Makes sense. Sounds really responsible of you to do that.”

Harry presses a soft kiss to her temple and resumes his study of the scenery. They chat amongst their friends for the remainder of the drive and Alani immediately presses Glenne and Jenny for information about her boyfriend in his younger years. They indulge her inquiries and ask their own questions, deciding privately after a few minutes that her and Harry are a good fit. 

When the group arrives at the resort, Glenne takes charge and instructs them all to meet at the lobby for lunch in twenty minutes. They collect their keys and head up to their respective rooms, which are all located on the very top floor. 

“What a view,” Alani muses as she takes in the sight from their private balcony. 

Harry admires the wonder on her face and nods, his eyes not leaving her side profile. “You’re tellin’ me,”

“Let’s never go home,” she poses, arms snaking around his torso. “Let’s stay here forever, just me and you,”

His throat tightens as he thinks back to the inevitable conversation waiting for them. Harry didn’t know why it was so hard to think about leaving because he had every intention of keeping touch and making their relationship work at all costs. But there was a part of him, a very tiny recess in the back of his mind, that feared the possibility of Alani not feeling the same. 

“Yeah,” he agrees with a gentle kiss to the tip of her nose. “Whatever you want, sweets,”

Alani senses a shift in his demeanor, but she can’t read it. “You okay?”

“Never better,” Harry swallows, mustering up a small smile. “But I am hungry,”

She isn’t entirely convinced that there isn’t something bothering him, but she decides not to push it and tightens her grip around his waist, instead. 

“Race you to the lobby.”

“You’re on.”

********

“You’ve never seen Finding Nemo?”

“Was I s’posed to?”

“My god,” Alani marvels. “You know, I’m starting to believe those rumors that you were grown in a lab,”

Harry’s brow raises and he blinks. “That I was what?”

The restaurant that Glenne and Jeff chose features an aquarium tunnel at the entrance, much to both Harry and Alani’s excitement. Fish, large and small, swim around them and the pair take turns pointing out their favorite colorful species. The Hull’s snap photos for their four year-old daughter, but Jenny also secretly captures one of Harry and Alani with their hands clasped under the mesmerizing blue lighting as a keepsake for her friend. 

“Add Finding Nemo to our movie list,” Alani says, admiring a clownfish that swims close to the glass. 

“S’it  gonna make me cry?”

“Probably,”

“Goddamnit,” 

Alani giggles softly and turns her head away from the glass to silently observe Harry under the lighting of the rippling water. The combination of his serene features and the sound of Billie Holiday’s I’ll Be Seeing You over the sound system creates a perfect image in her mind, one that makes her afraid to blink, lest it be gone forever. Harry glances over at her through the corner of his eye and his lips curl. 

“Checkin’ me out?”

“Always,”

“Like whatcha see?”

“Love it.”

His heart nearly stops at her words, but before he has a chance to process their implication, the hostess calls on their group. 

“And I’ll have the piña colada,” Harry orders once they're seated. 

“Oh my god, H,” Glenne laughs from across the table. “That reminds me, remember your birthday last year when James got trashed and hoarded the karaoke machine for, like, two hours?”

“Ruined that song forever,” Jeff quips, reliving the memory of the Late-Late host drunkenly serenading the entire party with the same song on repeat. 

Harry cringes, pinching the bridge of his nose. “I try not to,”

Alani watches as they reminisce on the event, adding their own details and pieces to the puzzle. It’s amusing to watch, but a small part of her also has to fight the pang of exclusion settling into the pit of her stomach. She feels guilty for being affected by it knowing, logically, that it isn’t intentional or malicious in any way. Still, Alani is painfully reminded of the vast differences between their worlds. Harry had gotten to know practically every part of her life, including her family, but there was still so much that she didn’t know about his. It was something she worked hard not to dwell on, given the novelty of their relationship, but she also worried that fear and insecurity would prevent her from investing what little of her heart Harry hadn’t claimed yet. 

“Who was it that started dancing on a table and almost broke a chandelier?” Tom asks, wracking his brain. 

“I think it was Ken—” Jeff hesitates, clearing his throat. “Actually, I don’t remember,”

Harry shifts in his seat beside Alani and reads over the menu, quickly changing the subject. “What’re you gonna get?”

“I don’t know,” Alani admits. “Everything looks so good,”

“Oh look,” Jenny pipes up across from Harry. “They’ve got your fav, the mango sorbet. I wonder if it’s as good as the one in Italy,”

Harry beams and reads over the item. “Oh yeah, that was amazin’,” 

Alani files the detail to the back of her mind. She hadn’t known mango was his favorite flavor of anything, and while it was a trivial detail, she realized that there were so still many little details about him that she wanted to know. Harry had made such an effort to remember everything about her, like her go-to sushi order and the fact that she always saved the kiwis for last in her fruit salad, so it made her feel a touch guilty that she hadn’t made the same effort. 

“Wanna share the coconut shrimp?” Alani asks with a gentle nudge to his shoulder. 

“Oh, uh—”

“He’s allergic,” Glenne says offhandedly, not cold or condescending, but more in the same way that an older sister would. 

“Oh my god,” Alani’s eyes widen. “I’m so sorry,”

Harry laughs lightly and shrugs. “S’okay, I’d let you poison me,”

“I didn’t mean to be rude,” Glenne apologizes, reaching her hand out to Alani. “I thought you knew.”

Alani accepts the hand and waves away her concern. “No, don’t worry about it. I didn’t know, actually.”

“We can stop talking about my defects now,” Harry teases. “‘M not dyin’,”

He leans in closer to Alani and presses a kiss to her temple. “But if I was, it’d be an honor to have my last meal with you.”

She responds with a soft smile before returning her attention back to the menu. His sentiments, however sweet, unfortunately did very little to soothe the embarrassment of her mini faux pas. It was irrational, Alani knew this, but it made her wonder what else she didn’t know and what bigger secrets he was potentially keeping. Whose name had Jeff meant to say earlier to identify the mystery dancer at Harry’s party, and why had it created an awkward shift in the air? She decides not to let the spiraling questions spoil her fun and takes a generous sip of her cocktail to avoid them for the time being. 

********

Harry sets the room key on the nightstand next to their king sized bed and lets himself sink down into the soft mattress. The group had spent the entire day sightseeing, from botanical gardens to scenic beaches, but he was really itching for some quality time alone with Alani. Lately, their time together had been cut frustratingly short by work, school, and life in general. Even when they were seated right next to each other with arms linked or fingers interlocked, she felt far away and he didn’t know why. He hoped that this trip would allow them time to reconnect and solidify their relationship before he had to return to California. 

“Mini bar,” Alani comments, kicking her shoes off and wandering over to the small refrigerator in their suite. “Who’s paying again?”

“The label,”

“Thank you Columbia Records,”

She swipes a few bottles of tequila before climbing into the bed next to Harry. 

“Wanna play a game?”

Harry props himself up on his elbow and nods. “What kinda game?”

“Never have I ever,” Alani explains. “But instead of putting your finger down, you take a shot,”

“Sounds dangerous,”

“It’ll be fun. You can go first if you want,”

He hums and nods in agreement before sitting up to face her. “‘Kay. Never have I ever...named my car after a musician,”

“Cheap shot,” Alani narrows her eyes, taking a sip from the bottle of Jose Cuervo. 

“Your turn,”

She fiddles with the bottle cap, a question already in mind, though she isn’t sure if she should ask it. 

“Never have I ever… dated a model,”

Harry’s brow furrows, but he opens his own bottle slowly and takes a sip. “So it’s that kind of never have I ever,”

“Just trying to keep it interesting,” Alani shrugs innocently. 

“Right. Never have I ever slept with a guy named David,”

Her eyes widen, but she laughs half-heartedly and takes a sip. “Jeez, okay. Never have I ever—”

“Wait, so you two actually…” Harry interrupts, trailing off at the end. 

“I mean,” Alani starts, her eyes wandering to the ceiling. “Yeah, a long time ago,”

“How long ago?”

“Okay, maybe this was a mistake—”

Harry shakes his head. “No, I’m sorry. I’ll play nice,”

“Alright,” Alani accepts. She knows that she should probably steer the game back onto safer territory, but the wound has been re-opened and she can’t resist the urge to keep picking at it. “Never have I ever slept with a fan,”

Harry takes a slow sip. “Never have I ever cheated on my partner,”

The bottle stays put in Alani’s hand. “Never had I ever gone on a vacation with my partner before this trip,”

The tequila washes over his tongue bitterly like the faint memories that it symbolizes. “Never have I ever dated someone just for the publicity,”

The bottle in Alani’s hand doesn’t move, much to Harry’s relief, but her mind is not as tranquil. 

“Never have I ever told someone I loved them when I didn’t,” she says slowly.  

Harry takes another shot and it burns all the way down. “Why are we doin’ this?”

“I don’t know, but I don’t wanna play anymore,”

“Alani,” he starts, springing to his feet when she leaves the bed. “Hey, look at me, please,”

She blinks back the tears that threaten to spill over her lower lashes before turning to him. “I’m sorry, that was a stupid game,”

“S’just all out of context,” Harry offers, reaching for her hands. “Wasn’t the right way to have all of those conversations,”

Alani takes a deep breath and nods. “Yeah, you’re right,”

“What’s really botherin’ you, hm sweets?” He coos, bringing her cold knuckles to his warm lips. “Tell me, please?”

She releases a shaky breath and tries to sift through the fog in her brain for the right answer.

 “I don’t know, really, I just,” Alani hesitates. “Am I a bad girlfriend?”

“No,” Harry says quickly, his hands lifting to cup her face. “God no, you’re the best,”

“Then why didn’t I know that your favorite ice cream flavor was mango? And why didn’t I know that you were allergic to coconut, and why—”

“Hang on, is that what this is all about?” he questions. “Cause I’ll go eat an entire coconut right now,”

Alani laughs lightly and pinches her eyes shut. “No, it’s not about that. I just feel like you’re the most amazing person I’ve ever met and you make me feel so fucking special and, God, I just wanna be good enough for you because—”

Harry holds his breath and watches as her eyes gloss over. 

“Because I love you,” she finishes, voice small. “More than I ever thought possible,”

His own eyes sting, but he doesn’t fight the tears that fall as he presses his lips to hers firmly. 

“I love you, too,” Harry murmurs. “I love you so fuckin’ much it drives me crazy,”

Alani chuckles softly. “Ditto,”

“I’ve been wanting to say it for ages, can’t believe you beat me to it.”

“Guess you’re not the only one full of surprises.”

********

The early morning sunlight creeps gently into Harry and Alani’s room, casting a soft, golden glow onto the bare skin that peeks through the white duvet. Harry stirs first, a strand of Alani’s hair tickling his nose and making him smile. He prys his heavy eyelids open and winces at the dull aching of his head aggravated by the light. Alani hears his muffled groan and sighs, willing the sun to go back down and let her sleep a few more hours. 

“Mornin’ sweets,” he rasps with a warm kiss to her bare shoulder. 

She peels her own tired eyes open and flashes a sleepy grin. “Good morning, sunshine,”

“How’d you sleep?”

“Super. You?”

Harry props himself up on his elbow and rests his chin in his palm as he admires the traces of sleep still on her face.

“Just swell.”

Alani chuckles lightly and reaches a hand up to comb through his unruly bedhead. His skin is warm to the touch, and the light from the window casts a heavenly glow around his visage. She pokes her finger into his dimple, which elicits a soft laugh and makes his smile grow wider. They stay intertwined under the sheets as the sun fully rises and soak up their own details to keep as souvenirs from this moment. Alani takes in the scent of vanilla and the juxtaposition of Harry’s inked bicep against the plain, white sheets. He stores away the image of her sleepy, mocha eyes and the pink, manicured fingernails that trail up and down his arm. Neither of them are sure exactly how long they remain in this moment, for all they know it could be hours or days. But whatever the duration, it doesn’t seem to be enough. I need more time, Harry had told Jeff, but there was no more left to give. He had to tell her, and it was now or never. 

“Hey,” he begins carefully. “I need to tell you something,”

Alani sits up to be eye level with him and nods. “Anything,”

Harry waits a beat, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear and pressing his lips to her bare shoulder before letting the confession spill out. 

“I have to go back to L.A.,”

 “I kinda figured,”

He draws in a deep sigh of relief. “You did?”

“Yeah,” Alani shrugs. “Hilo isn’t exactly Hollywood,”

“I asked for more time, but the label—”

“No, I get it. So… when? Next month?”

“Friday,”

Alani’s brows furrow. “This Friday?”

“Yeah,” Harry admits with a gulp. 

“The last day of our trip?”

“Yes,”

Her heart drops into her stomach and she feels sick. It all made sense now why Harry’s mood had shifted when she jokingly asked him not to leave, and why he had been so insistent on spending as much time together as possible this week. Their game of never have I ever turned instantly defensive when asked about his dating history. Never had I ever gone on vacation with my partner before this trip. Never have I ever told someone I loved them when I didn’t. He had whisked her away on a farewell trip and God knows who else had been in her place before, or worse, who would be in it next. Harry was saying good-bye. 

“Wait,” Alani says finally, mind still racing too fast to process. “How long have you known?”

“Alani—”

“How long?”

Harry swallows. “Couple of weeks,”

“You knew for weeks and you didn’t tell me?” she questions incredulously.

“I tried—”

“You know that I hate surprises, you know how I feel about plans—”

“I’m sorry,” Harry insists, sitting up straighter. “I wanted to tell you so many times, but it just never felt right,”

Alani rolls her eyes. “So what, you were just gonna leave a fucking sticky note on my pillow and hope for the best?”

“Don’t say that—”

“Is that why you brought me here?” she asks, voice hoarse. “Is that why you gave me this necklace? A souvenir of our little summer fling so you could leave with a clear conscience?”

Harry’s jaw tightens. “How could you even think that?”

“Because maybe it’s true. Why else would you wait until the very last minute to tell me about this?”

“Maybe we should take a minute,” he suggests, the whites of his eyes now bloodshot. “Before we say something we’ll regret,”

“I think I already did.” Alani admits. Never have I ever told someone I loved them when I didn’t. 

Harry’s head pounds and he feels like he’s drowning, treading water in every direction only to be dragged further into the current. He quickly pulls on his clothes from the night before and tries to steady his breathing. 

“M’gonna go wait in the hall,” he offers. “Give you some space to think and then we’ll talk, yeah?”

Alani doesn’t respond or even meet his pleading eyes. She simply tightens the duvet around her body and turns her head to the window, letting a single, bitter tear roll down her cheek. The door closes softly and she is immediately filled with regret and guilt. Had she truly meant all of the things she said? Or was it fear and the instinct to flee taking over her mouth? Alani wanted to believe that she was wrong and that Harry hadn’t intentionally kept her in the dark, but from where she stood, the sun had long disappeared behind the clouds and all that was left was the storm. 

Harry trudges down the hallway and the walls spin, closing in on him slowly. If he had just told Alani sooner, everything would be different. He had avoided doing so for this exact reason and out of fear that their relationship wouldn’t be worth the risk in her mind. It was selfish—he was selfish—to try to make the decision for her, and now the woman he loved was getting ready to walk away because he had broken her trust. What else was there to do? His back meets the wall and he sinks to the floor. 

“Hey H,” Jeff clears his throat from above. “We should talk,”

“She knows. Didn’t go well,”

“So she did approve the article?” 

Harry lifts his head and his brows furrow. “What?”

There’s a harsh knock at the door and Alani jumps. In Harry’s absence, she had managed to cool off and sift through her frantic thoughts. She had been wrong to think that he used her, all it took was a quick stroll down memory lane to prove otherwise. He had never given her any true reason not to trust him, so there had to be some other reason why he hadn’t told her about his plans to leave so soon. Alani pads over to the door and unlocks it gently. 

“Harry, I’m sor—”

“Wanna talk about surprises?” he seethes. “What the fuck is this?”

She squints at the phone screen that he holds up to her face and the title of her unpublished article stares back at her. 

“I don’t know—”

“Well it has your goddamn name on it,” Harry shoots back. 

Alani steps aside and lets him into the room before she closes the door behind her. “I can explain—”

“Did you write it or not?”

“Yes, but—”

He shuts the phone off and slams it face down onto the night stand. “How fucking dare you call me a liar and then pull this shit behind my back,”

“I didn’t lie,” Alani defends, voice weak. “I had no idea it was going to be published, please just listen—”

“A class project,” he interrupts with his back still turned. “That’s what you said,”

“It was never meant to be released,”

“How do I know that? How do I know you’re not just trying to cover your ass?”

“Please,” Alani begs as her vision begins to blur. “I was wrong, I shouldn’t have said all those things,”

Harry runs a hand through his hair and casts his eyes to the ceiling in an attempt to quell the emotion that pools behind his eyes. 

“So why did you?”

“I was scared,”

“Of?”

Alani takes a deep breath. “Of losing you for good. Of falling in l—”

“Don’t,” he interrupts. “Don’t finish that sentence,”

“I don’t know how,” she tries again. “And I don’t know who released it, but I swear—”

“You really expect me to trust a word you say after you accused me of lying about this whole thing, about us?”

Harry’s  gaze lowers back to hers and the bright, green eyes that she has come to love are replaced with a blood-shot, stormy sea that makes her stomach drop. The words get caught in her throat. 

“I fucked up,” he continues. “I know that I should’ve told you. But I’m having a hard time believing that this wasn’t planned, that this random website would just accidentally publish your work without your consent,”

Alani can’t explain it either, she truly had no idea how her writing had ended up in the wrong hands. There was only one other person she had entrusted it with, but surely Dr. Hudson hadn’t betrayed her, had she? Alani didn’t know who to believe anymore. 

“Harry, I’m so sorry,” she tries. “I didn’t mean what I said, and I know I can’t take it back, but you have to at least believe that I never wanted to hurt you,”

Harry is silent for a moment, and Alani decides that it’s her turn to tell the truth. There was nothing left to lose. 

“At first, I did want to publish it,” she explains. “But I changed my mind and I scrapped the whole thing. In the end, the only person I intended to show it to was you,”

“So how did it get onto the internet for the whole fucking world to see?” he presses. 

Alani sighs. “My advisor wanted to know what I was working on, so I sent it to her, but she never had my permission to publish it. Now I realize how stupid it sounds, but it’s the truth,”

“If you had come to me, I would have given you permission,”

“I’m so sorry,”

Harry’s shoulders tense. Every fiber of his being  wants to believe her, but how could he? She had told him herself that things would be messy and warned him that he didn’t know what he was asking by pursuing a relationship with her. Maybe it really was all his fault for not seeing the signs, but that still didn’t change the fact that he couldn’t trust her anymore. And based on her reaction to the news of his departure, it seemed as though Alani didn’t trust him either. 

“Even if you’re telling the truth,” Harry begins, slow and deliberate. “You still thought, after everything, that I would abandon you. And if that’s the kind of person you think I am, if that’s the person you wrote about—”

“Harry—”

“Then I hope you got all the material you wanted.”

“Please, don’t go.” Alani cries but it’s too late. The door slams and her heart falls. 

After a beat, she races to the door and into the hallway but there’s no sign of Harry. As quickly as he had appeared into her life, he had vanished. Gone without a trace.

[the-modernmary]

my best habit || aaron hotchner x reader (ch. 7)

Chapter summary: Your best friend confronts you about your revived relationship with Aaron and how much things have changed from two years ago when you run into the BAU at a bar. 

A/N: This chapter is definitely not my finest work, but we get some background on Hotch and reader. The part that is italicized is a flashback.

masterlist || read on ao3

Don't you want to take time and get to love me? We could build a perfect world I got tricks I really want to show you I could be your perfect girl - Wolf Alice, “Your Love's Whore"

~~~~~~~

“Okay, I can’t deal with this anymore. I have to say something.”

You looked up from your textbook to see the disappointed stare of your best friend, Aly, from the other side of the bar. She worked as a bartender, so sometimes you would hang out with her while she was working, maybe do some homework, and she would give you drinks with the employee discount price.

The two of you had been best friends since you were in middle school. When your mom died and your dad went back to prison, you were originally supposed to be shipped off to live with an aunt in another state that you had never met before, but Aly’s parents decided to claim legal guardianship over you, allowing you to live with them. From then on, you and Aly had become inseparable, even following each other to college. 

You snorted softly and took a sip from your drink. “Oh boy, this should be interesting,” you said sarcastically, and Aly rolled her eyes as she tossed the bar towel over her shoulder.

“You are acting way too casual about the whole Aaron thing.” You groaned, but she didn’t give you a chance to speak up. “He just shows up out of the blue after two years, and you dive right back in, head first, and act like nothing changed? You’re not even going to ask him what happened?”

You sighed. You knew that this was going to be a conversation that Aly was going to have with you at some point, and you were actually a little surprised that it took her a full month before saying anything, but that didn’t mean you liked it. “Yeah, because the murder of his ex-wife and the attempted murder of his son makes great pillow talk. No, I haven’t talked to him about that.” You rolled your eyes as you finished the rest of your drink. “And I don’t need to. The only reason you’re making this a big deal is because you don’t like Aaron.”

She stared at you in disbelief. “Don’t like him? Babe, how can I have any opinion on him if I don’t know him? I didn’t even know that you were sleeping with him until you called me crying because you thought-”

“I really don’t want to have this conversation,” you cut her off, and you pushed your empty glass towards her, wordlessly asking for a refill. You didn’t want to go through those memories right now. Or ever, if you could help it. “I don’t need to know everything about his life. It’s not like we’re getting married.”

Aly raised an eyebrow at you as she started to make you another drink. “Maybe not, but do you want to? Do you want an actual relationship?”

“No!” you said, too quickly and too defensively, but it was true. You liked what you had with Aaron, all of the benefits and fun parts of dating somebody without any of the responsibilities. But you understood where Aly was coming from.

If there were such a thing as “Build-A-Boyfriend”, and if you were being completely honest with yourself, your ideal partner would probably be a lot like Aaron. More age appropriate perhaps, less baggage for sure, and most likely with a different job, one that didn’t slowly chip away at his soul until he became a shell of a man.

But somebody determined and focused like him. With a soft side like his, and the same dry sense of humor as him. A person you could talk to for hours, who sees you and pushes you towards greatness. Maybe even somebody who makes you feel special because they can only ever relax and be carefree around you. Somebody who just wants to do good in the world and who cares.

Somebody like that.

Aly opened her mouth to say something, but it quickly closed it as she looked at the entrance. “Damn, there’s a group coming in. Okay, I actually have to do my job now. But we will talk about this later.”

You started to tease her until you caught sight of the said group walking in. “Shit,” you hissed under your breath, turning your back towards the door and praying they didn’t see you. “We summoned them.”

Aly looked at you in confusion. “Y/N, what-”

“That’s Aaron and his team,” you whispered, although it didn’t matter much, “and will you please stop staring?”

A gasp left Aly’s mouth and, in true best friend fashion, she didn’t stop staring. Despite Penelope’s invitation a week earlier, you had been able to avoid going out with the BAU team. It wasn’t that you didn’t like them - you actually really liked being around them - but it would have made things way too complicated with Aaron. He compartmentalized even more than you. “Which one is he?” she asked excitedly, and you had to reach over the bar to get her to turn around.

“You’re going to draw so much attention to yourself,” you hissed, and the two of you started to frantically talk over each other.

“Because I want to know which one-”

“- Tell you later -”

“- have to at least take their order -”

“- Really don’t want to see them -”

“- Coming over here now -”

“Hey Y/N!”

You grimaced to yourself before turning around on the barstool, forcing a smile. Penelope was the one who greeted you, but the rest of the BAU had made their way to where you were sitting. The looks they were giving you unsettled you, like they all knew something you didn’t, but you decided to chalk it up to nervousness. Aaron, however, was standing in the back and looking about as mortified as you felt.

“Hey guys,” you said, stretching out each word. You weren’t drunk enough for this. “Of all the gin joints in all the towns in all the world…”

“Casablanca,” Spencer noted out loud. 

Aly smirked and leaned against the bar. “Y/N, are you going to introduce me to all of your FBI friends?”

You had to fight the urge to glare at her, because you knew what she was doing. She wanted you to introduce her to Aaron, but she was just going to have to wait. “Aly, this is the BAU team. BAU team, this is Aly.”

Aly pouted at you but surprisingly said nothing else. You weren’t sure if you were grateful for that or if it just made you more nervous.

Emily looked at the open textbook that was long forgotten next to you. “Are you studying at a bar?” she asked, amusement evident in her voice. “I thought only Reid did that.”

You shrugged and closed the textbook. “I was studying, but I gave up on that about an hour ago,” you admitted. 

“Good!” Penelope said excitedly. “Because if you’re not studying, then you can join us!”

Your eyes flicked nervously to Aaron, whose face was completely unreadable. You wanted him to give you some sign of what he thought would be the best, but he just stared at you, stoic as ever. The conversation that you had with Aly was playing on repeat in your mind, making you feel sick. You didn’t care about Aaron’s past. You couldn’t care.

“Oh, I don’t want to intrude,” you settled on.

“It’s no intrusion at all,” Rossi piped up, and you and Aaron both stiffened. Rossi knew about you and Aaron, so the fact that he was encouraging you to mingle with the rest of the group was a bad sign. “And besides, drinks are on me tonight.”

Aly laughed from behind the bar. “If that’s the case, then she is definitely joining you guys so that she can stop mooching off my employee discount without even tipping me.”

So just like that, it was settled. You grumbled something about always tipping as you grabbed your drink and your textbook before following the group to a large corner booth. You didn’t miss the smirks each of the team members was throwing your way, and you definitely noticed that they left the only open seat next to Aaron. The two of your exchanged tight-lipped smiles as you slid into the empty space, careful not to touch Aaron. This was partly because you wanted to keep a calm and collected exterior, even if the team did know about you and Aaron - which you had started to suspect.

It was also partly because the idea of being Aaron’s dirty little secret right in front of his coworkers was too tempting, and you already had 2 long island iced teas, so you did not trust your self-control.

“So Y/N,” JJ started, breaking you out of your thoughts. You had hoped, maybe naively, that they would just ignore you and let you observe for the night. “Does Aly go to law school with you?”

You laughed despite yourself and you shook your head. “God, no. Although, she did take the LSAT with me so that even if I totally bombed it, I wouldn’t have the worst score.”

“What did you get on it?” Spencer asked, and you saw Aaron perk up slightly at the question.

“A 174,” you beamed.

“Look at you go! You’re like our own personal Elle Woods!” Penelope praised, and your heart swelled at the use of the word “our”, like you were already a part of the group.

“I wish,” you chuckled. “But that brilliant bitch got a 179.”

A simultaneous “Who?” came from both Spencer and Aaron.

“From Legally Blonde?” you prompted, but were met with more confused stares. “The greatest lawyer movie of all time?” They shook their heads again. “Okay, you both need to watch it, it’s a classic. Miss Woods was quite literally the only reason I was able to get through my first year.”

Well, that and fucking Aaron every chance you got, but they didn’t need to know that. 

You heard a gasp come from Penelope. “We should do another movie night! We haven’t had one of those in a while.”

Emily laughed and nudged Penelope softly. “Do you not remember the fiasco we had last time we did a movie night? We almost burnt down Rossi’s house.”

Laughter erupted from the table as multiple parties started to talk over each other, and you were happy to slide into the background, making little quips when the conversation called for it. The most surprising part of the whole night was how easily you got along with the BAU group, and how much they seemed to like you. Less surprising, however, was how acutely aware you were of Aaron’s thigh, which was now pressed against your own.

Aaron had stayed completely silent since the time the team walked up to you, and you could only imagine what was going on in his head. This whole situation was probably a living nightmare for him, and you couldn’t say you blamed him. Your choice to keep Aaron a secret from your friends was just that - a personal choice. You didn’t want them to fuss over you or put delusions in your head of a future with Aaron. You wanted to be able to enjoy your privacy.

But the implications for Aaron were much more severe, especially now that you were actually working at the FBI. People would start to question his judgment, whether or not he was fit for his job. They would question if he had taken advantage of you or manipulated you, and that would all be before they even found out that the two of you were sleeping together years ago. He could very possibly be seen as just a high ranking government official who was sneaking around with a girl almost 20 years his junior.

In other words, it would look really, really bad for him. You downed the rest of your drink in one go.

Aaron raised his eyebrows as he watched your actions, his gaze heavy. His eyes ran up and down your body, and you could feel yourself start to overheat. He felt much closer than he was. Somewhere in the back of your mind, you noticed that the rest of the team had scattered among the bar - some playing pool, some ordering more drinks, and some in the bathroom - which left you and Aaron alone in the booth. There was enough room that he didn’t need to have his leg pressed up against you, and he definitely didn’t need to bring his hand down to your knee, but he did. 

“So, a 174? Impressive.”

“Mhm,” you mused, keeping your voice casual. “Does that surprise you?”

“Not at all,” he responded, no hesitation in his voice. 

His response didn’t surprise you much, but you preened at the compliment all the same. You wanted people, especially Aaron, to think of you as effortlessly successful and to be impressed by you. So you didn’t show them the countless hours spent in the library, and the many all nighters you pulled. You were careful to only show people the parts of you that you could brag about, like your class rankings or debates on subjects you were an expert in, so that it looked like it came naturally to you. So you didn’t look like you were struggling.

Part of that came after your mom died. You didn’t want everybody fussing over you and treating you like you were breakable, so you quickly decided to show that you were independent. If you didn’t give people a reason to worry about you, they’d leave you alone. 

The other part of that came during law school. You knew yourself enough to realize that it was probably because of Aaron, and how much he rubbed off on you. You wanted to be engaging like him, to be able to completely command a room without even saying a word like him. You wanted success like him. Aaron noticed that early on and challenged you. He let you debate with him just so that you could practice going against somebody smarter and more experienced than you. And it paid off. 

~~~~~~~

You stared at the email on your phone, your cheeks sore from how much you were smiling. You had already told all of your friends, but their reaction wasn’t as satisfying as you wanted. They were ecstatic for you, but realistically, you only wanted the approval of one person. 

Your thumb hovered over Aaron’s contact in your phone, debating on whether or not to call him. This could probably be a text, but Aaron was so formal when texting, even when dirty texts were involved. Besides, you wanted to hear Aaron’s approval, and even more than that, you wanted his attention. Even if it was just for a minute or two, you wanted his attention in the middle of a weekday, something you never got. 

Before you could talk yourself out of it, you hit the call button and brought the phone up to your ear. 

“Aaron Hotchner,” came the greeting, formal as ever. 

“Aaron, hi,” you started, and you were happy that Aaron couldn’t see the way you were nervously tugging the hem of your shirt. 

There was a beat of silence. “Y/N,” he said, surprise evident in his voice. “Is everything okay?”

“Yeah, everything is great! I, uh…” You realized that you didn’t have a good explanation to give to Aaron as to why you were calling him while he was at work. “Is this a good time?”

You could hear light footsteps on the other side of the phone, followed by the soft click of a door closing. “That depends on the subject matter,” he mused, his voice lowering.

All the nervousness you felt melted away. “I made law review!” you blurted excitedly. “I just got the email and I didn’t have anybody else to tell. And God knows you’ve helped edit my papers enough, so I figured I’d share this with you.”

You wished that you could have seen Aaron’s face. You wanted to know if he was smiling, or if he looked proud. In hindsight, telling him in person probably would have been more rewarding. 

“I knew you’d get it,” he told you sincerely. “Automatic or write on?”

“Automatic,” you told him proudly.

“Congratulations, Y/N. That’s a big deal. I’m sure you’re going to celebrate tonight. It’s Bar Review night, right?”

You hummed to yourself, attempting to calm your nerves. You dropped your voice, adding a more seductive tone. “Actually… I was hoping that maybe I could be rewarded for all my hard work? Please?”

He hadn’t said no to you yet, and you doubted today would be any different. 

Aaron chuckled, low and dark. “Mhm, since you asked so nicely…” His voice trailed off, and you could practically hear him stiffen up. “But I can’t tonight.”

”Oh.” He didn't elaborate, and doesn’t have to. If it were for a case, he would have told you. When he didn’t say anything, that meant it was a Haley and Jack thing. Still, you couldn’t help but note the disappointment that bled into his words. 

“Are you busy this weekend?” he asked, his voice soft. “We could meet in Baltimore. Same hotel. I can make reservations now.”

For the second time that day, you smiled so wide that your cheeks hurt. Attention was what you wanted, and attention was what you got. “Baltimore sounds good. Send me the details.”

~~~~~~~

You mindlessly stirred the ice in your empty glass with the straw, listening to the soft clinking. “What about you? What did you get on your LSAT?”

Aaron thought about it for a second. “A 176. I think.”

A bitter chuckle left your lips and you turned in your seat just enough so that you could face Aaron. You were so close to him that, even in the dark lighting of the bar, you could make out every feature on his face. “Christ, and here I was thinking I could out-lawyer you,” you teased.

Aaron took a sip of his drink — double scotch neat. “I’ve seen the way you like to argue with me. Don’t worry, I wouldn’t want to go up against you in court,” he scoffed. 

“Hm, yeah but you like it when I argue with you,” you pointed out, leaning in closer to him. “Because then you get to shut me up.”

Aaron set his drink down on the table, his face never betraying any sort of emotion. “Come over tonight,” he told you, his voice lowering. The hand that was on your knee slowly trailed up your thigh, his fingers leaving goosebumps in their wake.

You smirked, deciding to mess with him a little. “Presumptuous of you to assume I don’t already have plans after this.” You didn’t, and Aaron knew that. He somehow always knew. 

In spite of that, he decided to indulge your teasing. “Cancel them.” It wasn’t a suggestion, and he punctuated his demand by squeezing your thigh. “I can help you study later.”

That was all the convincing you needed. You slipped out of the booth, ready to pull him straight out of the bar, but his face gave you pause. “Meet me at my car in two minutes,” he told you firmly, and you nodded obediently and sat back down.

You watched him start to walk out of the bar, only to be stopped by Emily and Derek. You watched as the three of them talked, Aaron's whole body tensing. There was a lull in the conversation before the three of them looked over at you, Emily and Derek trying to hide their drunken smiles.

They knew. They had to know. It’s not like you and Aaron were being subtle. In some part of your subconscious, you were sure that they knew long before tonight, and that this was just a confirmation. Still, you didn’t know how Aaron was going to react. You thought that Aaron was going to deny it, or even end things with you right there. Besides that one office-sex slip up, Aaron had been so careful about keeping you a secret from his professional life, even going as far as asking you to not call his office phone. In a shocking turn of events, he just smiled and gave you a small nod before making his way towards the door.

Figuring that you didn’t need to wait the two minutes anymore, you started to head towards the exit, blushing as you went. You could feel everybody’s eyes on you the whole time, but when you looked around, none of them seemed to be judging you. If anything, they seemed… happy? You were just about to reach the doors when Penelope cut you off.

“Does this mean you’ll start having lunch with me in the Batcave?” she said excitedly, not even needing to preface her question. They all knew.

“Whenever I get a chance,” you promised.

Penelope reached down to grab your hands, covering them both with hers. “Good! It can get lonely when they’re all off saving the world.”

“Hey Penelope,” you started, pursing your lips nervously. “Is this thing with Aaron and I… is it okay? I don’t want to make things weird for your team.”

Penelope gave you a sympathetic look and shook her head quickly, like even the very act of bringing it up made her sad. “Of course it’s okay! Hotch is happier than we’ve seen him in a long time, and that’s all we want for him. He’s a good guy who has just been through too much. But if he gives you any problems, you come straight to us. You’re one of us now.”

Then, without any warning, Penelope pulled you into the tightest hug you’ve ever gotten. You could smell her perfume, something floral and sweet. “Thank you,” you said as she let you go.

“Oh no, thank you,” she retorted, grinning. “Now you go have fun.”

You laughed and walked out of the bar, making your way to the parking lot. Part of you was still worried about Aaron’s reaction to knowing the secret was out.

But when you saw Aaron leaning against his car, and you saw his smile when he looked up to see you, all your fears were assuaged. “Who ambushed you?” he called from across the parking lot, his voice light.

“Penelope,” you admitted, and he nodded unsurprised as he opened the passenger side door for you.

You buckled your seatbelt and watched as Aaron made his way into the driver's seat and loosened his tie. “Are you okay with them knowing?” you asked nervously.

Aaron was quiet as he started the car, so quiet that you thought that maybe he didn’t even hear you. It wasn’t until the car pulled out of the parking lot that he spoke. “Yes,” he told you, and it truly seemed like he meant it. Then, as a joke, he added, “Although, I reserve the right to change my mind after seeing them at work tomorrow.” 

“What?” you teased. “You’re not going to spill all of the dirty details to your coworkers?”

Aaron laughed and fuck if that wasn’t the most beautiful sound you’ve ever heard. “I thought you needed to study.”

You shrugged and leaned over the center console just far enough to press a kiss to his jaw. “I do. So you better make it worth my time,” you purred into his ear, smirking as you watched his knuckles turn white from clenching the steering wheel. “Or you can get me off while I study?”

You thought back to what Aly had said about whether things changed between you and Aaron. On paper, everything had changed. There was no need for secrecy or sneaking around anymore. You wouldn’t need to travel an hour outside of the city just to be seen with each other in public. The unspoken rules were going to change, considering the two of you had broken pretty much all of them already. Aaron had changed, and so had you. It was impossible for it to be the same as it was two years ago.

But as you sat in the passenger’s seat of his car, Aaron grinning devilishly at you, you couldn’t help but think that at its core, nothing really changed. 

[amethystpath-writes]

BTHB Communication Suddenly Cut Off

@badthingshappenbingo

Original work!

Communication Suddenly Cut Off

******

Hero adjusted her shoulder, elbow on the arm of her chair. "No way!" She dropped her spoon into her bowl of cereal. "She actually said that to him?"

On the other end of the line, Friend laughed. "Oh yeah. I don't blame her a single bit! I mean, he was borderline stalking her. You remember when we were at Max & Erma's and he dressed up as a waiter just to see her? Insane."

Picking her spoon back up and shoveling it into her mouth, Hero mumbled a 'Yeah, guess you're right'.

"So what have you been up to? I missed you at the party today. You doing alright?"

Bending forward with legs bent on the cushion, Hero put her bowl on the coffee table in front of her. She grabbed her phone with a hand instead of holding it between her head and shoulder. Hero was cramping enough without having to take up weird body positions.

"I'm alright," she said. "Just exhausted from work, you know?" Exhausted from fighting a villain you hopefully know nothing about.

Friend was silent for a moment. "I get it. It sucks not seeing you though. Maybe we could have a movie night." Her voice pitched at this. "Be exhausted all you want that way. I'll get us some popcorn. And! I'll get the nacho cheese stuff to sprinkle over it!" Hero smiled in her seat. "I'll pick up a few movies from Redbox, too, so we don't have to watch a bunch of oldies. Okay, that's it. That's the plan. Now," Friend hummed then began mumbling, "It's five o'clock and Mom needs eggs from the store. I'll try to be there by-"

The line went fuzzy, a quiet chshhhhhh. "Friend? Hey, you're cutting out." Hero stood from the chair, walking to the window. Maybe there was better reception there? If it was on Friend's end then it didn't matter much, but she could at least try. "Friend? You there?" She pulled the phone away, the screen of her phone lighting up. Hero was on a second call. No name though. Weird. She hung up, or at least tried to. The screen hadn't changed when she tapped the little red phone. Hero tapped it again, but nothing happened.

Next time she tapped the counting timer that told her how long she was on a call with Friend. The phone call returned normally and the other disappeared. She shook her head.

"H-ero? I th-ink-"

Hero cut to the chase. The call wasn't getting any better. "What time?"

Chshhhhhh.

Damnit, Hero thought, and peeked at her phone again. 'Unknown Caller' it read for a second time. "Hello?" she said impatiently. No answer. "Hellooo?" Nothing.

She hit the home screen, tapping the text message icon then tapped on Friend's contact. 'Hey. Phones are acting weird. What time do you think you'll be here?' Hero typed. Hitting send, a red and encircled X appeared. 'Message failed to send' it said below. She touched the X and then touched where it said 'Retry'. The X reappeared. Hero repeated the process once. Twice. Three times. Four. Five. Nothing, nothing, nothing. "What the hell?" Her phone was slow sometimes, but never this bad. "She'll get here when she gets here I guess."

Her phone began to ring just as she tossed it on the couch across the room. Sighing, she went to pick it back up. 'Unknown Caller'. No. If it was important, they could leave a message or text her. Hero didn't pick up from numbers she didn't know, or from numbers that didn't appear on screen. She pushed the lock button on the side of the phone, rejecting the call.

"How rude, rejecting my call."

Hero froze. Her shoulders drew tight, her spine straightened so much that it cramped as badly as when she held her phone with a shoulder. Her jaw clenched and her eyes went wide, staring vacantly at the couch cushion in front of her. Was Hero breathing? If she was, she didn't feel it.

"Won't talk to me on the phone and now not in person either, hm?"

Goosebumps rose along her arms as she heard the villain stepping closer. How had he gotten in? She turned. "How did you find me? Where did you get my information? What else do you know?" Information being both her address and phone number, maybe even her specific phone if he was able to block her communications the way he did.

Villain looked so casual, he always did. You'd never expect him to be a madman who plotted humanity's demise. He looked like a fancy historian; brown pants, black turtleneck, plaid and half buttoned jacket. He had his hands planted in his pants pockets now. Hero still had no idea how he managed to get inside of her apartment.

He chuckled at her uptight-ness. "Can't we just chat for once- for a minute before you question my how-comings and motives?"

"No," Hero responded shortly.

Villain fake-pouted. "How's come? You and your friend seem great. I would love to gossip to you the same way."

Hero rolled her eyes. Her shoulders were still tense, but she was relaxing- not so far that she wasn't prepared, but just enough that she wasn't uptight beyond movement. "You didn't answer me. What else do you know? How did you learn anything about me?"

He smiled at her. "Now that's a fun story. Guess I get to monologue after all."

"Make it short."

"Or what?" He dazzled her with a wider smile, one that showed teeth. Was it just her or were they sharpened? It was just her, definitely just her- and her anxiety, her terror.

Villain strode to the chair Hero had been sitting in just minutes ago. He plopped down, ankle on knee, arms on either side. "Go on," he told her. "Sit."

"Maybe you should stand."

He chuckled without moving. "Darling, I don't think you understand how easy I have been on you. In multiple ways, actually." His eyes fell from her own to the couch behind her. "Sit." Villain looked at Hero again and she swore something changed in his eyes. They almost seemed darker. She obeyed.

"Now, I think you recall that little stalker of your friend?" Hero squinted, but nodded. "Did you know he's able to take up the appearance of anyone he wishes?" He didn't wait for a response. "In that, he's also able to project his own appearance onto bystanders, even control what they would do as him. Very talented, very...mindfully aware."

Hero shook her head. "Where are you going with this?"

He shushed her, softly, as if she was a baby. "He came under my employment about a month ago. Remind me," he said, "how long ago it was that your friend became ill."

Her eyes went wide and she nearly launched from her seat, realizing what he meant. Villain might attack her if she acted out so suddenly though. Hero remained seated.

"What have you done with her?" she demanded. It made sense what he said. Whoever his worker was, he made himself look like Friend 2 then made anyone else appear like him. But where was Friend 2 if she hadn't been with Hero and Friend all along?

"Nothing too dastardly. She isn't starving, but I'm sure she would appreciate a nice chicken dinner."

"And Friend?" she asked, somewhat panicked. Friend was okay, she had to be. Yeah, the phone call ended somewhat abruptly, but that was just because Villain interfered. Beyond that, she was fine, right?

Villain shrugged. "What do you think?"

Her eyes stung with tears she refused to let fall. She shook her head. "Why are you here? What are you doing?"

"Entertaining myself mostly. You're my opponent. I wanted to brag."

"I'll kill you," she swore. "If not tonight, I will find you like you did me, and I'll kill you when I do."

Villain's eyes twinkled from afar. "Cute. Very cute." He laughed heartily. "I told you already that I've been easy on you, right?" Again, he didn't wait for an answer. "I'm here for more than bragging rights. I want you to come with me. I've given you opportunity enough to back down on your own; I'm giving you another now. Come with, or I'll have to force your hand."

Her eyes became squinted and her lip lifted. "I'm sorry?"

"Surrender," Villain said simply. His legs uncrossed and he leaned forward, elbows on his knees. "If you don't I'll take you away forcibly."

Hero huffed a laugh. "As if you could. When have you ever bested me?" In truth, she was terrified. He was being serious, no amusement crossing his features. And the number of times he'd mentioned 'going easy on her'...what if he was telling the truth?

"Try something now then. Lunge at me." His lips were in a straight line. No emotion.

She considered him. Serious. He's serious. Villain was inviting her to attack him. Maybe she should take the opportunity.

Without another thought, she leaped from the couch, ready to tackle Villain, even though he was in a chair. She would have knocked the whole chair back if she could. But, something stopped her, a- a wall of sorts, one that glimmered like a bubble. "What-?" She touched that wall. Her fingers couldn't pass through. Shaking her head, she spun on a heel trying to return to the couch. Unfortunately she ran into another wall. "You're doing this," Hero muttered, facing Villain once again. She swallowed seeing his smile.

"So, you'll come with on your own. Otherwise I can push you along myself, and I think that would be rather humiliating, don't you?"

"This doesn't prove anything. You can push me, but you can't command me."

"Isn't it the same?" Villain sighed seeing Hero's fiery stubbornness. "Fine then. Let's have a little charade." He stood from Hero's chair, face forming into something...something Hero didn't quite understand. "I forgot to grab something to drink before I came here. Do you have something for me to drink, Hero?"

Her lips moved. "Yes, of course, Villain. Let me show you to the kitchen." Her hand flew to her mouth afterward. She hadn't said that. She hadn't said that. Hero's eyes found Villain's.

"Lead the way," he said.

Hero's feet moved on their own, leading the two to her kitchen despite how she tried to resist. She couldn't even feel herself pulling back. There was no resistance except for in her thoughts. She began unwillingly talking again. "There's some water bottles in the bottom right drawer. Fruit punch juice boxes on the left- though my younger cousin will be disappointed when she finds not only me missing, but her juice as well." 'When she finds not only me missing.' So this was how Villain would take her, by commanding her just like she said he couldn't.

What was almost worse was that what Villain made her say was exactly right. Water bottles, bottom right drawer. Fruit punch juice boxes in the left drawer. One of three things could have happened. One, Villain had that stalker, body-switching guy, go through her home while she was gone. Two, Villain himself went through her house while Hero was absent, or when he somehow snuck into her house while simultaneously messing with her phone today. Three, he had access to her mind. The last one would have sounded ridiculous if it weren't for the way Villain was controlling her now.

"You're realizing you have no choice now, aren't you?"

Hero nodded her head. She couldn't tell whether it was her doing it or if Villain was still possessing her. Either way, he was right.

"Why?" she asked. Villain tilted his head. Hero believed he could have gotten his answer if he wanted. Still, she continued, "Why are you doing this? Taking me? Is it not enough that you've taken my friends?"

Her body turned to the exit. She began walking through, walking to the front door of her apartment. They were really leaving. She was going to get sick.

"I'm tired of you fighting is all. It will be much easier to accomplish my goals if I don't have to worry about turning you away every time."

"Then kill me." She swallowed after she said it. Hero didn't really want him to kill her, but she also didn't want to be taken. Villain said Friend 2 was okay, not starving, but would certainly be happier if she was given more. Hero had a feeling she wouldn't be given the same treatment. Villain might actually starve her because of her putting a kink in all of his plans, for not surrendering when she was given multiple chances to.

"Am I really so awful to be around?" Villain asked behind her as she led the way to the elevators. "I should think my style makes up for any unpleasantness. This jacket was bought yesterday. I'm rather dashing in it, aren't I?"

Just as unwillingly as before, Hero said, "Yes, very."

******

Requests are accepted!

[peachyteabuck]

eye on the prize

summary: commission for astrid, who asked for chris evans x reader interview fluff.

pairing: chris evans x reader

words: 3,006

trigger warnings: RPF, slow burn, heavy flirtation, idiots in love, nondescript mentions of misogyny in the media as a business, a likely poorly reconstructed timeline (time fake and reality is a construct!)

ask box / masterlist / commission info / ko-fi

The hotel bed is large, big enough for four of you. The blankets are thick and the soft, the pillows a perfect balance of structured but plush. Sunbeams stream onto the mused sheets, warming your face. It’s nice, but only as nice as the calm before a major tropical storm can be. As your phone alarm blares next to you, you start to wonder if being caught in a category five hurricane would be better than press junkets.

A whole day talking to people about a movie you made months ago that you know jack shit about. Sometimes you have nightmares about giving a book report on a novel you’ve never even opened (you’re how old? And high school is still haunting you? Jesus, you need to go back to therapy) that cause you to break out in a cold sweat and kick all the covers from your bed and buy a bunch of stuff online to distract yourself from your racing heart and shaking hands.

Still, those are never as bad as interviewers asking about character arcs and plotlines and your relationship with actors you’ve barely (if ever) met and whatever else a normal interviewer would ask a normal interviewee when all you know is your character, the fact that she does shit with magic, and she’s Dr. Strange’s daughter. Anything other than that is anyone’s guess.

Your stylist and makeup artists are the ones to eventually drag you out of bed and plop you into hair and makeup after squeezing you into an incredibly tight pair of jeans and a non-controversial sweater. The forty-five minutes are a complete blur, but then again, nothing feels real until Sebastian hands you a large coffee in a travel cup that bares no logo or other kind of copywritten signifier – your knight in shining…cardboard? What are travel coffee cups even made of? Paper? Can paper even “shine?”

You’re nearly purring when the taste of caramel macchiato burns your tongue. “Ah. Thanks, Seb. I appreciate it.”

Sebastian shrugs, sipping at his own drink masquerading as generic brand. “No problem. I didn’t want you to bite an interviewer’s head off this morning. Or worse, mine.”

You play-hit him in the face and laugh with him, making small talk and trying to kill the time before the mind-numbingly long day really begins. You’re halfway through a rant about the woes of make up artists trying to put you in a full face of makeup to a man who barely has to put on concealer, the fucking asshat, when Chris makes an appearance.

“Hey, guys,” he’s is also drinking coffee from the unmarked travel cups. He looks you up and down before taking another sip. “You look really nice today.”

You blush, smoothing out your sweater – one of the color-blocked ones that sits at the intersection of casual, feminine, and not-intimidating. “Thanks, you too.”

Sebastian’s about to say something snarky when someone wearing a headset calls upon the three of you.

“Let’s get going, people!” she calls, ushering you into three barely-comfortable seats. You’re between Chris and Sebastian, the sheer mass of them making you feel approximately three feet tall. It doesn’t take much to forget how large they both are – even if Sebastian doesn’t weight two hundred pounds anymore and Chris was able to tone down his exercise regime since finishing Infinity War, you still feel like you’re sitting at the big-kid table for the first time.

The first interviewer is from some YouTube channel you only know because your fourteen-year-old niece gushes about them every family dinner. The woman who sits in front of you is young, cute. Dresses trendy, dark eye makeup and red lips.

She’s nice, too, along with being knowledgeable about the projects of each of you. She banters with Sebastian about his seven million movies before turning to you.  

The interviewer turns to you. “And you! You’re nominated for some pretty major awards!”

You smile wide, unable to help yourself. “Yeah, best actress and best original score.”

“That’s so cool,” Chris mumbles. You blush and pretend not to hear him as you speak again.

“It’s just super crazy,” you tell the interviewer. “Not even gonna lie. When I was younger, I would look at stars who like, cried when they found out they were nominated. Not even winning, just their name shows up on the ballot. But now I’m like, it’s me, two-time Grammy nominee! I was nominated for a Grammy, twice!”

Sebastian chimes in, laughing. “When we were at bunch together, I got there early and the caterer showed up and they were like, we’re here for the two-time Grammy nominee?”

“You had a brunch?” The interviewer asks.

You nod. “Yeah, I bunch of the Avengers cast and the cast from my last movie were in my hometown, which is super rare, so I hosted this giant brunch-”

“As one does,” Sebastian chimes in with a crooked smile.

You nearly hit him. “Yes! As I do! I wanted to see all my friends, whom I love, so I host a brunch. Sue me! Anyway…I hosted this brunch and invited a bunch of people over. Just a bunch of my favorite food from my favorite restaurants. Everyone I’d wanted to see for such a long time was there. It was amazing.”

The interviewer paints a faux frown across her face, looking at the man on your right. “Chris, you look very sad.”

“I didn’t get invited to the brunch,” Chris frowns. Unlike the woman in front of you, he looks genuinely sad. A twinge of pain bounces in your ribcage, and you rub his cardigan-clad back

“You were out doing Broadway shit!” you laugh. “You were halfway across the country!”

Chris continues to frown, staring at the printed-out pictures from the social medias of various guests. A few are from yours – you in a flowy sundress with your head thrown back laughing, a shot of you and a few of your friends from college drinking alcohol in the bright mid-afternoon sun. One you recognize from Sebastian’s Instagram, another from Hemsworth’s. A few from Twitter of a few of your non-movie-star friends. You look so happy in all of them, so beautiful in each shot. “I still wanted to be invited.”

You just roll your eyes. “Okay, call me when you’re in my region of the country and I’ll host a brunch,” You touch your forefinger to his nose. Chris blushes, profusely, in his cheeks and his ears. “just for you and me.”

You don’t hear much after that, too focused on Chris’ eyes meeting yours and his small smile. You’re taken aback by how sweet, tender he looks, and before you know it the interviewer is saying goodbye and the next one is taking her place.

It’s a man this time, a little older than the last one with artsy facial hair and a button hip. He mostly pays attention to the two men and soon your brain goes on battery-saver and you’re lost in your own thoughts.

Are hipsters still a thing? Is that what this guy is trying to be? Do hipsters even like Marvel? Is that too “mainstream for them?”

Eventually he asks a question about you, your recent entry into the Marvel Cinematic Universe, your music, your composing. You’d be happy to talk about your passions, of course you are, but the first genuine question of the interview is positing towards…not you. You’re about to tune everything out again, but then Chris speaks and you snap back to attention.

“It’s always interesting to meet people who bring something new to the art form, ya know? A huge part of acting is learning and evolving and all that, especially from other actors,” Chris avoids your gaze, and the gaze of everyone else, as he speaks. “If you stop learning, if you stop growing, what’s the point? Why would I do this job if I didn’t think it could change me for the better?”

There’s a moment of thick silence, the heavy weight of Chris’ introspective answer settling over the people in the room. It’s one of the things you lo-

It’s one of the things you enjoy most about Chris, how dedicated he is to acting as more than a job. It’s amazing, truly, how much he adores what he does. You could spend the rest of time with him, a plate of cheese, and a bottle of wine; listening to him talk about how he thinks of acting as an art, how that art can impact people and society, how actors have a responsibility to that art (that is, of course, after you mock him endlessly for Not Another Teen Movie and Fantastic Four).

You feel like a high schooler again, doodling your first and his last name in hearts in your math notebook with your favorite pink glitter pen. You’re an adult, why are you blushing red as a raspberry every time he says something smarter than a fast food order?!

The rest of the day goes down in a blur, the only time you start to care again when someone on the production staff calls for dinner (yeah, no lunch on press junket day. You can ask for a light snack, but you learned the hard way a full meal is “bad for your figure” and “makes you likely to burp on camera” and a bunch of other stuff you care very little about).

All three of you groan in happiness when you enter the room designated as craft, the thick smell of barbeque hitting you like a baseball bat. But a good baseball bat, though, like…one you ask to be hit with. Honestly, you have no idea what you’re talking about because you’re so hungry.

When you finally manage to scavenge food, Sebastian’s right behind you as you stare at a very delicious looking tray of pulled pork. Your plate is already full, but what if they take the food away? And then what if you get hungry later?

“You know he’s flirting with you, right?” he whispers as you watch the man in question scroll through Twitter on his phone. Chris is eating about the same thing you are, plus celery. You almost make a quip about it being “nature’s floss,” but then you realize that would be dumb because Sebastian definitely wouldn’t find it as funny as Chris would.  

You shrug, picking up a French fry from your plate. “Yeah, but you were, too.”

He scoffs into his second Americano of the morning. “Nah. Not like that. He likes you! He like likes you!”

“He does not-“

“And you like-like him!” He boops you on the nose and pinches your cheek like some sort of grandmother who hadn’t seen her fifteen-year-old son since he was five. “My little baby has a cruuuush!” he coos while making small kissy noises.

You’re about to bite back about how you’re not that much younger than him, but then the sound guy on the other side of the meat tray glares at the both of you. Looks like, while Chris couldn’t hear your bickering from the across the room, this dude definitely could – and he’s not very happy about it.

“Sorry,” you both mumble, shrinking away from the persecuting techie and his judgmental eyes.

Sebastian only talks again when you find an unpopulated corner, devoid of prying eyes and anyone who could be annoyed with the two of you gossiping like high schoolers.

“You know I’m not wrong, right?” he says around a bite of crisp apple. What is up with this guy and fruit?  Sure, he’s on a restrictive diet for a role to keep him from bulking up (something at the intersect of keto and vegetarian but able to eat lean meats) but he’s can’t eat like, the vegan stuff? Why must he always eat like rabbit in your presence? “Have you not seen what he says on Twitter?”

You scoff. “No, because I don’t have a Twitter. And neither do you!” You narrow your eyes accusingly. “How do you know what he posts?” Sebastian rolls his eyes. “I see screenshots on Instagram, first of all. Second, he could be complimenting your music on the inside of a cave. It’s about the principle.”

“That doesn’t make any sense,” you hiss. “Also, I’m done arguing with you about this. Let me find a cheeseburger and eat in peace. Is that too much a woman to ask, Sebastian!?”

He just laughs you off and lets you eat in peace, eventually getting his own food. Though, you suppose the meal was specially timed, because then Chris Evans is sitting next to you.

He’s about to say something, too, and you’re about to listen, but then you get called for an individual interview for a women’s health magazine and you have to leave him and you plate of food and fuck…you hate this job. A lot.

The interview is boring, once again, and the next time you have another coherent thought you’re taking the elevator back up to your hotel room and waving off your manager, who is telling you to be downstairs by seven tomorrow to catch your flight back home.

You’re just kicking off your heels when you hear a faint knock at the door. When you look through the peephole, you see a very sad-looking Christopher Evans. With his small frown and hunched shoulders, he looks like a kicked puppy; and even though all you want to do is take your bra off, you let him in.

He’s quiet for a moment before speaking as if he was a child preparing to be scolded.

“I lost my hotel key. And my backup got demagnetized.”

You bite back a laugh, trying to seem sympathetic. “Do you want to chill in here until security brings you another one?”

Chris nods solemnly as he steps through the threshold. “Thanks.”

Neither of you speak for a while, instead Chris looks around your quite messy (or “homey,” as you call it when you FaceTime your best friend and she scoffs at how easy you can make a room look like a hurricane tore through it) room and you…find an outfit for tomorrow?

You’re the first one to speak, only breaking the quiet after changing into fuzzy socks and sneakily taking off your lacey bra (and tucking it under the covers of the bed for you put away later).

“Well, that was excruciating,” you mumble. All you want to do is change into your biggest, most comfortable hoodie and your cotton panties and order room service and ignore humanity until you leave for a flight the next morning, but a man you’ve had a crush on since he appeared as Johnny Storm is right in front of you and after that talk with Sebastian your world is kind of shaken to its core and should you make a move? Is he the kind of guy to not like that? Would you want to be with a guy that doesn’t like that? What if he-

“Always are, I guess.” Chris interrupts your train of thought, saving it from going off the rails. When you at him he looks just as, if not more than, exhausted than you are. “That’s one of the things that you forget, I think. How hard it is to talk about these movies.”

You snort. Out of the corner of your eye, you can see Chris smile a little wider as you laugh. “Yeah. Other movies I can talk about like, characters and plots and shit. With these I live in constant fear I’m gonna pull a fucking Ruffalo and get my ass fired from the best paying gig I’ve ever had.”

Chris laughs with you, pinching the bridge of his nose. “Word.”

An awkward silence fills the room and you find something, anything to do to avoid his heavy gaze under those thick eyelashes and his thick beard that you just want to run your fingers through or his even softer hair that you want to mess up while you-

“Do you want to get dinner together sometime?” you blurt. You’re ready to take back the words as soon as you say them, wanting to backtrack or say “just friends” or “ha-ha, just kidding!” or something else that absolves you of non-platonic commitment.

By a long stretch of luck that you can’t even begin to thanks a long number of deities for, Chris doesn’t laugh at you or turn you down or even walk out of the room. He meets your gaze with excitement in his eyes and a smile wider than your home state. “I’d love to,” is all he says. It’s all either of you get to say before his phone rings loudly, and the name of the head of security flashes on his screen. He sighs loudly, apologizing as he takes it. Somehow, you feel more awkward as he turns away and answers the call. You fidget with your hands, with a loose thread on the sweater you’ve come to hate more than anything else in the world, with your phone. Nothing makes it easier to face Chris again once he hangs up.

“That was…,” he laughs lightly. Not laughing at you, maybe at life or how weird his life is, but never at you. “You know. They fixed my key and want to give it to me in person.”

You swallow and nod. “Yeah, understandable. I’ll, uh,” you clear your throat. “I’ll see you…”

Chris finishes for you. “How about we find a good restaurant near here after I’m confirmed to actually be me by the private security detail our employers hired to make sure no one kills us? We can have that second dinner I’ve heard you always eat late at night.”

Holy shit…he remembered that time you vaguely mentioned how much you enjoy staying up late and eating lots of food. It makes you blush as you respond.

“Yeah that sounds,” you sigh happily, smile just as big as his is. “That sounds great.”

[hellas-himself]

More Than Enough

Remember that self indulgent crack ship holiday fic I was writing about Cassian and Feyre? And how I couldn’t seem to mix the past with the present? 

It’s a fic now. Still in the same AU just like... the year before. Leading up to the cheesy ass nonsense it is now. Originally it was going to be angsty at first but I think we have enough of that in our real life. If you haven’t read the crackship holidays featuring these two dumbasses, start here or on AO3.

Also. I promise all my other fics are not being abandoned. 

I’ve had a playlist to listen to when writing them but it is so incredibly inappropriate if you understand spanish. and i haven’t made it onto spotify yet. But this song reminded me of them and that’s where the title comes from. Which is funny because Alina is who i put beside Toni Mafud as Rhys and Feyre whenever fan casts come up. ANYWAY. 

Let’s follow Feyre as she thirsts after her best friend. 

.

.

.

I blame it on the music.

Cassian lost his shirt about half an hour ago and is doing pull ups. The garage door is open, letting in the cold winter air. My fingers are cold but I don’t like wearing gloves when sketching. I had been working on hands and eyes but once he tossed his shirt… It’s not like I’ve never seen Cassian without a shirt on before. Between him and his brothers, they seem to always find an excuse to not wear one. But the difference is I don’t find myself daydreaming about what it would be like to run my fingers down their backs.

It’s definitely the music.

Even if I didn’t understand the words, the beat itself is way too sensual to not be about anything else but sex. But the lyrics and Cassian’s sweaty, half naked body mixed with the fact that I haven’t had sex in months is probably the worst mix. I am not supposed to be imagining sleeping with my best friend.

I clear my throat, startling Valo who was falling asleep at my feet.

“Sorry, baby, I need a drink.”

I set my sketch book and pencil down on the crate beside my chair.

“Would you get me a drink, bunny?” Cas breathes out and my face flushes all the more. I didn’t need another detail to this stupid daydream.

“Yeah,” I squeak and head into the house. I already know his post workout drink recipe by heart. I drink ice cold water while the blender is going.

Cassian is suspended in the air, holding his entire body parallel to the floor with his hands. Goddamn him. He drops his head back so that he’s looking at me upside down and he smiles.

“I love you,” he says and I roll my eyes.

“I’ll love you more if you don’t bust your ass.”

He chuckles and just to drive the nail in the coffin that is my desire to be the reason he’s making noises like that, he slowly lowers his body and resumes his pull ups. I set his cup on the table where he has his tools and go back to sit down.

Cassian drops down and walks over to his mat to do his cool down stretches. A new song comes on and the words are so filthy that I find myself staring at him. His tattoos. My ex-boyfriend had always believed I was into Cassian- and I wasn’t. But I wasn’t blind and I’ve been at his house almost every single day since Thanksgiving- he is always without a shirt.

It’s just the music.

“Plan on drawing me?” Cassian asks and I blink. I look away from his tattooed chest and to his face. He is smirking. Shit.

“Uh. Yeah. What better way to do anatomy studies than with a living reference?”

“Anatomy, huh?”

He flashes me a grin before he walks over to the table for his drink.

“Hey, what do you want for dinner?”

His question distracts me from looking at his ass.

“Uh, whatever you want… I’m not really craving anything.” Except you. I sigh and cover my face with my hands and lean over. I need a cold shower.

“Hey… You alright?” he asks softly.

I nod and slowly sit upright.

“I’m just… I’m fine. I promise.”

He doesn’t believe me but he walks over to grab his speaker.

“I love this song,” he says and starts to sing along to it as he gratefully goes back into the house.  

Cassian meets me in the living room now dressed in a white tee and grey sweatpants. He lifts both my legs up so that he can sit down. This is normal. I always use his lap to rest my legs.

“I ordered Greek, I hope you don’t mind.”

“I told you, I’m not craving anything except-”

Fuck my entire life. Cassian raises a brow and I toss him the remote.

“Why don’t we finish your show so then we can watch my movie?”

This pacifies him and thankfully, his stupid show is so violent and bloody that all thoughts of fucking my best friend fade from my mind.

*

Our annual Christmas party is tonight and I’ve found an outfit. It is the kind of outfit Tamlin would have told me not to wear. It’s blood red and insanely inappropriate for winter with its spaghetti straps and super low neckline. Mor says it’s the perfect thing to wear after a break up and just the thought of all the pictures we’ll take with me and Cassian together makes me believe it.

I hang the dress up in the closet of Cassian’s bedroom. The heels are set beside his dress shoes and I can’t help but think about his reaction. Of dancing with him all night and coming back here and-

“Bunny!” 

“I’m in the closet!”

I hear him chuckle. 

“Shut up,” I call out and walk into the bedroom to find him pulling off his shirt. I feel my face go hot.

“I’m going to shower… do you want me to use the other bathroom?” 

“What? No, this is your house,” I say far more casually than I feel. “Besides, we’ve got time, we can share.” 

I want to punch myself in the face. Cassian starts to grin. 

“The shower might be a little too small for the both of us but I’m sure we could find a way to-”

Cassian laughs when I smack his arm. 

“Not exactly where I like being spanked but I’ll take it.”

“Oh my god, Cassian.”

He laughs and disappears into the bathroom. I force myself to leave the room when I hear the water.  

*

Cassian walks into the kitchen in nothing but a towel, his hair wet, water dripping down his chest. He walks over and takes the sandwich from my hands.

“Fuck, we’re out of beer,” he mutters as he opens the fridge. I grab the second sandwich I made, expecting him to steal from my plate and force my gaze up. On his stupidly gorgeous face.

“I can go get some,” I say but he shakes his head and walks over to take my cup of iced tea.

“Are you cool with us taking a cab tonight?”

“Uh, yeah. I guess.” 

Cassian drinks from my cup and sets it down before pinching my cheek. 

“It’ll just be you and me,” he says softly. “So don’t worry about it.”

I blush at this and Cassian kisses my forehead. 

“I’m gonna go get dressed. Thanks for the snack,” he says with a wink and walks away.

*

I keep my makeup rather muted; lip gloss and the usual winged liner. Nude eyeshadow. Cassian picked out the highlight and I have to admit, he chose well. My hair isn’t going to get any better, so I leave it in loose waves rather than the curls I’d wanted. I’ll leave that to Mor. I feel nervous, this is the first time since the breakup that I’m going out with all of our friends but Cassian will be there, and that’s enough to ease my nerves. Almost.  

“Our ride is here,” Cas says as he walks into his bedroom. He stops and just stares. I approach him and hold out my ID card and debit card, needing to ignore the way his attention has me feeling.

“I don’t have pockets.”

“What?” He blinks and looks down at my hand. He laughs and pulls his wallet out. “You only need your ID.”

“Maybe so,” I say and reach out to smooth down the collar of his shirt while he puts my cards away. I remember my lip gloss and put it in his back pocket, giving him a wink.

Cassian holds my hand when we go outside, helping me down the steps and the driveway. It’s a regular occurrence, but I blush when he opens the door for me. And when he slides an arm around my shoulders when he sits down beside me. We take a bunch of pictures and call Cassian’s parents to check on Val- as if we hadn’t seen him an hour ago. 

When we get to the club, Cassian holds my hand as we walk inside. Cassian and the boys are all friends with the owner, so we get to skip the line.

“Where are we going?” I ask as Cassian leads us up to the VIP lounge.

“Meeting up with Rhys.”

“What’s he doing up here?”

Cassian chuckles. “You know Rhys never passes a chance to be extra as fuck.”

I can’t argue with that.

Upstairs, Cassian helps me out of my coat. His fingers brush my skin and my mind takes a swan dive into the gutter.

“What do you say to a few drinks before we go downstairs?” he asks as he takes my hand. The bouncer outside the lounge acknowledges us with a nod.

“Yeah, I could use it.”

Cassian flashes me a grin and then opens the door.

“SURPRISE!” Everyone shouts and I find all of our friends standing under a Happy Birthday banner.

I am at a loss for words and Cassian laughs, bringing me further into the room. I’d completely forgotten about my birthday, I hadn’t cared enough to even think that anyone else would. But Elain is here with Az. So is Rhys and Lucien, Amren, Varian. Viv and Kallias, too. I’m separated from Cassian as I’m hugged and kissed by everyone. I realize Tarquin and Cresseida are here as well. Rhys is the one who breaks open the first bottle and we all stand around the little table to take shots.

“There is a cake,” Elain says as she hands me another shot. “But that’s later.”

“Later?”

She winks at me and shouts for Azriel.

“That’s my favorite song!” she exclaims and her husband happily ditches his brothers to go out and dance with his wife.

Lucien and Rhys pull me in for another hug as the others begin to trail down to the dance floor.

“You look good enough to eat,” Lucien mumbles and I laugh.

“Don’t tell me you’re already drunk, Luce.”

“We may have pregamed at the house,” Rhys admits. “But we took an uber! It’s okay.”

I roll my eyes.

“You both suck. I’m going to go find me two other cute boys to dance with. Boys who would have invited me to pregame with them and no amount of flirting is going to fix that.”

They begin to whine and I laugh, holding onto Rhysand’s forearms as they keep me caged between them.

“Alright! You win!” I say with a laugh and look over to find Cassian looking my way. He smiles.

I want to ask him to dance but Mor pulls him away before I can open my mouth.

We drink and dance and drink and dance and drink some more. I feel light headed and everything makes me laugh. But I haven’t danced with Cassian yet and that’s enough to dampen the mood. I push my way through the crowd until I find Cassian at the bar. I take the empty barstool beside him and sit down. I order myself a margarita before turning to face him.

“And where have you been all night?” I ask and Cassian smirks.

“Enjoying the night,” he says and takes a sip of his drink.

“Without me?”

I don’t understand the look in his eyes as he takes a sip of his drink. He sets the glass down and leans forward. I didn’t really understand just how short this dress was until he lays his hand on my thigh. If I turn my chair completely, if he moves his hand just an inch more…

“Yes,” he says and kisses me cheek. “But I think I’m about to enjoy it more now.”

“Why?” I manage to say. Cassian’s hand brushes my thigh as he sits upright.

“I’m about to go dance with my best friend.”

“Are you now?”

My drink is set before me and I grab it, chugging it down as Cassian slides off his chair. He turns mine so that I’m facing him completely and puts his hands on my hips.

“If she says yes, of course.”

I finish the last of my drink and set down the glass.

“When have I ever said no to you?”

Cassian grins.

I have danced with Cassian many times. At parties, at the beach, at clubs and bars and festivals. At his parents’ house. I should be used to the feeling of his body against mine, of his hands on me while we dance but not like this. I want nothing more than to take him back up to the lounge and push him down on the sofa or go find an empty bathroom stall.

But I don’t.

Birthday cake and alcohol isn’t the best mix, but I haven’t felt this alive in months. My face hurts from laughing, from smiling. My vision is spotty from all the pictures we’ve taken but I don’t care. Everything is right in the world.

“My feet hurt,” I complain and sit on Cassian’s lap.

“Want me to rub your feet?”

I shake my head and lean into him.

“No. Not until I’m showered.”

He laughs. “Okay.”

I sigh when he wraps his arms around me. He is so warm and smells so good, I want to stay this way forever.

“I think the birthday girl is done for the night,” Rhys says teasingly and I realize I was dozing off. I look up to see Rhys standing there with a stupid smirk on his face.

“Fuck you,” I say and curl up in Cassian’s arms. I feel his hand holding my dress down from showing everyone else my ass.

“Tempting,” Rhys says and then shoves his hands in his pockets. “But I think I’ll pass.”

I don’t think much of the look Rhys gives Cassian in favor of playing with his hair. I take way too much satisfaction in the knowledge that not everyone gets to do this, and that he enjoys it. Cassian seems to win whatever silent staring contest he and Rhys were having and Rhys rolls his eyes and goes after his boyfriend.

“You’re making me sleepy, bunny.”

“Good thing we’re going home together then,” I say before my mind catches up. But Cassian only chuckles and hugs me a little closer.

*

Cassian and I are a laughing mess as we stumble into the house. I lean on him to step out of my heels and he laughs as I shrug off my coat and toss it at him. We’re both trying to catch our breath, and I swat his hand away when he tries to tickle me again.

“I’m taking a shower,” I breathe out and walk off but he stops me.

“Wait,” he says and I turn to find him smiling.

“What?”

“Happy birthday,” he says softly and pulls me in for a hug. “I promise I’ll make you breakfast in the morning.”

“Hm… you really know the way to a girl’s heart, Cas.”

He pinches my side and I yelp.

“Go shower,” he says and kisses the top of my head.

“I won’t be long.”

My shower is clumsy and not at all relaxing. My feet hurt. So I put lotion on my body and grab the bottle of perfume that is on the dresser, except it’s not perfume but cologne. I shrug and put on Cassian’s Nirvana tee shirt and double check I actually have underwear on before I go looking for him.

“Cas?” The house is dark save for the light coming from his room. “My feet fucking hurt.”

He says something but I don’t understand it. His room is open and I step inside, finding him lying on his bed. He’s got basketball shorts on and his hair is loose.

“Bunny!” he says as if he hadn’t seen me all day. “I almost busted my ass in the shower.”

“Me, too.” I say with a laugh. “Maybe we should’ve showered together. It would’ve been safer that way.”

“I like the way you think, Archeron.”

He holds his hand out to me and when I’m close enough, he pulls me into bed with him. “You smell good.”

I snort. “I smell like you.”

“Exactly.”

I swat his arm but he ignores it, putting his arms around me.

“My feet hurt,” I complain, hoping he’ll make good on his promise.

“Just stay here,” he says simply.

My heart stops and starts too fast.

“Like… sleep here?” I ask too quietly.

“Mhm.” He goes quiet for a moment and then groans. “I forgot to turn the light off.”

“I can do it,” I say.

“No… Stay here.”

He goes quiet once more, and I let myself relax. We haven’t shared a bed since we were kids, playing video games until Adela would force us to go to bed. I smile at the thought and rest my head against his chest.

“Goodnight, Cas,” I say quietly, my eyes getting heavy.

“Goodnight, bunny,” he says and lets me go to stretch. Then he wraps his arms around me again and moves us so that we’re on our sides. He presses a kiss to my forehead and I close my eyes, letting the warmth of him lull me to sleep.

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@mythicaitt @bookloveaffair @nalgenewhore @candid-confetti 

[dumbladores]

You - Teaser

Summary:  Your brother and a girl with whom you’ve become friends with by sharing a home, are your flatmates. But since there was a room left, another person had joined in, and not just anyone, but the very Antoine Griezmann himself, who has decided to go back to university and check out the life he had missed while having a career. I intend to develop your relationship rather slowly (but not too slowly, don't be scared). I intend to have at least one little teasing per chapter, how many chapters there will be, I don't know, depends on your demand and how it develops on its own :)

I'll be posting one chapter at least every two weeks. Make sure you check out my Patreon, where you'll have access to more much sooner. I’m dedicating this to @xratedffbarbiex, who inspired that sudden urge to write, so please make sure to check out her Antoine-series as well.

English isn't my first language, so please have mercy with me.

Besides, I'm always happy about propositions or inspiration, so don't hesitate to contact me.

Cheers, guys, to the great community, we've got here!

Warnings: not yet

Part: 1/ ? Part 2 follows next week on my Patreon

Word count: 1756

One

Your brother and a girl with whom you’ve become friends with by sharing a home, were your flatmates. But since there was a room left, another person had joined in, and not just anyone, but the very Antoine Griezmann himself. Footballplayer since he was little, he had to give up his career due to an injury on his left knee. Since he had no family to look after, he had decided to go back to university, doing a little catching up on the life he had missed, as he had been a professional since a very young age.

You had been away when he was to have the “flat interview”, so you didn’t have any saying in the decision, it was anyway a two against one vote, since the others were absolutely enthusiastic about him. Of what you gathered from their statements, it was merely because it was, well, him. But they said he was nice, too. You rolled your eyes at that sentence. It was obvious the two had been taken by either his charm or his indeed very inviting physical features. Nevertheless the three of you made a pact to make every effort you could to make his life in (name of town) as normal as it could be and to trying to include him in as many common student activities there were. 

You often had friends over. Cynthia and you already knew a bunch of people since it was your third semester, and (name of your brother) also quickly took part in that circle of friends. 

It had been weeks since he moved in and yet it seemed he didn’t settle in easily. In videos you had seen of him, he seemed so playfully and easy to get along. But here he behaved rather shyly. He kept mostly to himself during the daytime, locking himself in his room. You only saw him once in a while in the kitchen and in the living room, where he watched football or basketball on a big flat screen he had bought to share with his flatmates, which made a big impression to the other two, but not so much on you. You weren’t to be bought so simply, especially not by someone who wasn’t paying much attention to other stuff you cared more about - for example looking someone in the eyes.

Of course, you had made a big deal out of that fact. You kept saying to Cynthia, what a prick you thought he was and how cocky he behaved. She just rolled her eyes and sayd you should give him some time.

In fact, your pride was a little tiny part of it. You couldn’t bare the thought he didn’t notice you, didn’t show interest in you. But you never in a thousand years would admit it. So you eagerly researched. You researched everthing about him. Where he was brought up, in which clubs he had played, you even watched interviews with him. He was Frances’ darling. Grizou, as they called him. A symbol, an idol for the country, who didn’t even trust in him when he had started his career. No club had wanted him, so he had to move to Spain when he was 14 years old. You couldn’t believe it. It sounded like he had a whole life behind him, now being only 29, he had experienced more than any other normal person at this age, And yet he hadn’t, as he was willing to go back to university to learn, what he had missed when he was out in this cruel world, that loves you at one moment and rejects you at the other. You watched some interviews with him. In most, in fact, he didn’t look the interviewer in the eyes. Most of them were filmed after a match, so you supposed, you couldn’t demand much of a player that just had run for one and a half hours. You certainly wouldn’t be able anymore to utter anything. In fact, you most certainly would be dead. But no, in other situations it was just the same. Also what he was saying didn’t have any profoundness or depth. Angrily you let go, coming to the conclusion there was nothing interesting in this guy, and particulary nothing interesting for you.

Weeks passed. He had invited your brother to play FIFA on his XBOX in his room, but never talked to you or Cynthia more than necessary. You hadn’t exchanged 10 sentences by the end of one month, and after a while you gave it up. He had a few pals from his classes that came over once in a while, and he even came home very late twice, so you guessed he took part in student social life by his own, being to partys and stuff, probably having made other interesting acquintances. You hadn’t made any effort to get him to notice you in any way, but you just stopped caring.

That’s why you missed that he indeed looked at you one or two times in the kitchen. That he started to look at you when you talked to Cynthia or your brother or other friends you had invited over. In fact, there were many movie nights you hosted since you had this big flat TV and other students couldn’t even afford a proper fridge. Antoine started to laugh at your jokes or when you were doing something silly to amuse the people. He, indeed, started watching you intensely. More intensely than the others.

You only came to notice his stare in exactly that moment you were telling a story a group of people in the kitchen at a movie night. You were preparing popcorn in the microwave and you just made a joke about how you had thought as a kid that popcorn didn’t have anything to do with actual corn and that you had made the discovery only recently, and it had been as if you had entered a whole new dimension in the matrix. You noticed his stare, Antoine was casually leaning at the kitchen counter, one hand in his sweatpants, the other on the beer bottle. Your  face instantly turned red, at least that was what you felt - your cheeks caught fire and there was nothing you could do about it. You tried to finish your point and rushed down the story, leaving the rest of the group a little confused by that abrupt ending.

While the others moved to the living room with the popcorn, you poured yourself a large glass of wine and took a deep sip. You had almost made a fool of yourself, just because this handsome and cocky footballplayer had watched you. You had to be more careful with your thoughts. Didn’t you use to say you had standarts? But did your guts have standarts? You knew, your mind wanted someone smart and classy and interesting. So why did your stomach drop like several floors down at the sight of his stare?

“So we’re here drinking on our own, are we?”

You shrinked at the smooth voice behind you and quickly turned, just to see that it belonged to the guy you were thinking of a second ago. As if he knew he had caught you thinking of him, you blushed again.

“Just making sure the wine’s okay”, you managed to answer and, in a manner you thought to be both ironic and casual, you took another sip from your glass.

“Hmm, may I?”, Griezmann said and reached out for your glass. He took a sip, pointed his lips in an hilarious way and swallowed. “Oh, not bad. Not bad at all. I presume it is dated by the time of Louis XIV himself, for it makes the sun shine on your face.”

You snorted with laughter. “Is this a quote from Shakespeare or something or did you just come up with that yourself?”

With a smirk on his perfect face, he handed you back your glass. “Which possibility would make you think higher of me? Probably the quote, as you’re constantly reading. And what’s your subject again? Philosophy?”

“It is”, you admitted. “But I embrace far more an original new thought, because it’s proof of creativity and independance of thought.”

“Really? I thought you dind’t like new things?”

You blinked. “How come you think that lowly of me?”, you asked and took another nervous sip out of your glass, while you intended it to look casually. He couldn’t be implying your aversion against the new TV or even himself? He couldn’t be that observing, could he? Or was it you that were so blind?

He grinned and watched you thoroughly. “I’m sorry. Maybe I drew the wrong conclusion.”

Now you were angry. Stupid boy, thought he could mock you, while in fact he was the ridicule.

“Maybe I’m just taking my time to judge”, you snapped. “And allowing myself to exclude new things from my life, if I regard them as being intrusive and un...conductive.” Without looking at him you walked past him into the living room, where the movie was already on. You squeezed yourself on the sofa next to Cynthia and tried to look at Orson Welles in “The third man”.

So it hadn’t just been you thinking low of Griezmann. It was him thinking low of you. And if he was thinking low of you, and you thinking low of him, that in fact made you a lot lower than him. A correct philosophical conclusion. 100 percent on that test, you congratulated yourself. But logic wasn’t helpful in that moment.

You looked at the entrance to the kitchen, where Griezmann stood leaning against the door frame, his eyes on the screen.

[thebluenoteblog]

Just Between Us

Summary: You knew when you met Artturi that he was to young for you. Still, that didn’t stop you from falling for him.

Player: Artturi Lehkonen

Word Count: 1.9k

Requested: Hello! could do a imagine with Artturi Lehkonen where he falls in love with an older woman, but she is afraid that everyone can criticize her and offers him to have a secret relationship and he accepts even reluctantly wanting everyone to know about the courtship between both. I love your writing! 💕

You met Artturi in a club. The music was loud and you were both a little tipsy and probably not making the best decisions. You could tell just by looking at him, his clothes, the way he carried himself that he was younger than you. However, it was late at night and the atmosphere had you feeling some kind of way. He was cute. So, when he asked you to dance… you said yes.

You ended up in the back of an Uber before the club had closed down, abandoning your group of friends. You arrived back at your house and there was very little conversation. The words exchanged between the two of you would not be classified as small talk.

The next morning, you didn’t wake up until eleven and you were sporting a hangover and a collection of hickeys all over your body. You supposed you deserved that for hooking up with someone so much younger than you. You also deserved to wake up alone, because that’s what happened when you hooked up with attractive guys who were noticeably younger than you.

You took popped a few pain killers to help with the hangover and went about getting ready for the day. It wasn’t until after you’d done your makeup and dried your hair that you walked out of your bathroom and noticed something written on a sticky note on the bedside table opposite of where you’d woken up.

You picked it up and read it over a few times, laughing a little as you did. I had a great time with you last night. At the club. Not the sex. That was good too. I’ll stop, just text me.

Underneath the messy handwriting was a phone number. You almost threw the sticky note away. You didn’t need to be getting involved with a younger guy. That was the last thing you needed, actually. However, some nagging feeling in the back of your head stopped you. Maybe it was the amazing sex. Maybe it was the way he’d made you laugh in the club. You didn’t know. Whatever it was, you placed the note back on the end table and went about your day, the boy from the club rarely leaving your mind.

****

It wasn’t until the next day that you finally broke and entered his number into your phone. It was a day after that when you texted him for the first time. You didn’t know what exactly to say so you tried a few different things. Hey, it’s the girl from the other night. No. Hey, remember leaving me your number a few days ago? No. Hey, if you’re up for it, we could check out another club this weekend. That was probably the best it was going to get.

You pressed send and waited for a response. You waited for a long time. Eventually he did respond, I’m going to be out of town for work until Wednesday. How about when I get back we go out for dinner instead?

You paused when you read this. He couldn’t have been any older than twenty-five and that was just a guess. What job did he have where he was traveling out of town for a week at a time? Better question, why did he want to take you to dinner. You were thirty. At least five years older than him.

However, there was that nagging feeling again, and you couldn’t turn him down. Yeah, that sounds nice. Just let me know when.

You texted back and forth with him for a few more hours that night before you finally fell asleep, phone still in your hand waiting for his next response.

****

He texted you the name of the restaurant, the time he would pick you up and then followed it with a second message that read, wear something nice. You stared at your phone, confused. Then decided to google the restaurant.

It was a very nice restaurant. Too nice.

You texted him back, I can’t let you spend that kind of money.

He responded quickly with, It’s nothing. Be ready at six.

Insane. But you did as he asked, wearing a dress and a pair of heels from the back of your closet. When he picked you up, he actually came to your door which you hadn’t expected. He opened the car door for you. A very nice car. You were seriously beginning to wonder if you’d just agreed to go on a date with a drug dealer or someone with connections to some powerful crime family.

You didn’t figure out who he was until you were at dinner and the waiter addressed him by his name after taking his drink order, “I’ll have that right out for you Mr. Lehkonen.”

You’d turned from watching the waiter disappear around the corner to stare at Artturi. “Okay, what’s going on? Do you like own this place or something?”

He laughed, “No.”

“Then how did the waiter know your name?” You asked.

Artturi shrugged, “He must be a hockey fan. The boys and I come here a lot. We tip well. The servers tend to like us.”

You stared at him blankly for a moment, then slowly the pieces clicked together. A foreign guy in his mid-twenties with a shit ton of money to burn living in Canada who travels a lot for his job. You suddenly realized where you’d heard his name before. “You’re a hockey player?” You asked hesitantly, dumbfounded.

He nodded slowly, “You didn’t know that?” He asked, “Most people around here know.”

“I’m not big on sports,” you said, “I don’t dislike them… I just don’t have the attention span to follow a team for an entire season.”

He frowned, nodding again. “Maybe you could come to a game sometime. You might like it. It’s different, being there I mean.”

You smiled at him, “I would like that.”

****

You went on four more dates over the course of five more weeks before he brought up you going to a game again. He mentioned it casually while you were waiting in line for movie tickets. “There’s a game tomorrow night. It’ll be a good one. I could get you tickets if you want to come.”

You stared at Artturi, surprised for a moment. Then slowly nodded, “Yeah, that sounds fun.”

He smiled at you, “The game starts at seven, but you should get there early for warm-ups.”

Again, you nodded.

When he dropped you off that night, you didn’t want him to leave. So, when he walked you to the door, you invited him inside for a drink. You never made it to the alcohol.

****

They won. They won and much to your surprise, you had enjoyed the game. He’d skated over to you a few times during warm ups to show off what he could do with the puck and you’d laughed at how proud he looked.

After the game, you left. Heading home with a smile on your face. You got a text not long after from Artturi, where are you?

Home.

The dots appeared and disappeared a few times before a message finally came through, why didn’t you come down? That’s what the pass was for. I wanted the guys to meet you.

You frowned, staring at the message for a long moment and contemplating a response. Were you letting this go to far? You couldn’t actually start a relationship with Artturi. You’d learned since you started seeing each other that he was only twenty-four. A year younger than you had originally guessed. Not only was it unrealistic to date someone that much younger than yourself at your age, but he was under the constant watchful eye of the media.

You didn’t need all of the hockey world judging you for robbing the cradle.

I don’t think that would be a good idea.

He responded quickly with, why not?

What if it gets out that you’re seeing a 30-year-old woman? I don’t think we should see each other anymore.

Again, he spent a very long time typing the message before it came through. Finally, when it did, all he’d said was, I’m coming over.

****

You opened your door and he waited for you to motion him inside before walking around you and into the house. “Why does it matter?”

You closed the door behind him, “Why does what matter?”

“If people find out that we’re seeing each other,” he stated, clearly annoyed. “Why does that matter?”

“It matters because I don’t want that kind of negative attention, Artturi,” you said, “and as much as you make it sound like you don’t care I know you would.”

He shook his head, a sigh falling from his lips. He didn’t want this to end. He didn’t want to stop seeing you. He hadn’t had as much fun with a woman as he had with you in the past month as far back as he could remember. “I was going to ask you to be my girlfriend tonight, and now you’re telling me that you don’t want to see me anymore.”

Your breath caught in your throat. You hadn’t expected that. You hadn’t expected him to want to commit to you. Now that the option was on the table, that same nagging thought was in the back of your head that had stopped you from throwing away his phone number all those weeks ago. You didn’t want to walk away from it. You didn’t want to walk away from him. “It isn’t that I don’t want to see you,” you said. “It’s just that I don’t want people judging us for it. I don’t want people to know.”

He frowned, “What are you saying?”

“What if we just kept it a secret?” You said, “Just the two of us. At least for now.”

He stared at you, contemplating his answer. It was an easy one, really. He knew that he wanted to be with you. He knew that he didn’t want to walk out that door in a few minutes knowing that he’d just walked away from an opportunity to be with you. Though a part of him was hoping that if he hesitated long enough, you would decide that you would date him like a normal person. You wouldn’t make him sneak around behind his friends backs and hide everything from the media.

He didn’t think you realized that this would mean you couldn’t keep going out in public together all the time. You couldn’t go out multiple nights a week like normal couples did. Not with the media nosing around in his life. Not if you wanted the secret to remain a secret.

You weren’t changing your mind. You were holding his stare, waiting for an answer.

Finally, when he decided that you weren’t going to budge on this, he took a step forward and wrapped his arms around you, pulling you in for a kiss. When he pulled away he looked down at you and said, “If you want to be my girlfriend in secret, then that’s what we’ll do.”

You smiled up at him and hugged him tightly, burying your face in his chest. Over the top of your head, he stared at the moonlight shining in through the window and frowned.

[saiilorstars]

Falling in Temptation

(Sequel to Stars Dance)

Ch. 1: Who Did It? // Story Masterlist

Fandom: Doctor Who

Pairing: 11th Doctor x Original Female Character

~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~0~

Story Summary: It's not time to fall in love. In fact, the Doctor thinks it should be forbidden being who he is and what he attracts from the galaxies. He's dangerous (though Avalon knows it and likes it). However, Avalon is sought out by the Silence and knowing that she will suffer in the end, the Doctor intends on doing what he has to, to keep her safe...even if breaks his hearts.**Second in the Fairy-tale Memoirs**

Chapter summary: It’s been one year since Avalon and the Doctor started traveling together. Mysterious blue envelopes reunites Avalon with the Ponds, Lena Reynolds and River Song at Lake Silencio. They all witness the death of the Doctor at the hands of an astronaut and come to realize that something happens between the version of the Doctor whom Avalon was travelling with and the future version they meet at the lake. But...who was the astronaut? Who did it?

Fairy Tale Memoirs (Companion story)

Amy Pond and Rory Williams were setting grocery bags on the kitchen counter of their new flat, although Amy was more preoccupied with a book she was reading from, "At the personal intervention of the King, the unnamed Doctor was incarcerated without trial in the Tower Of London..." She'd found the book earlier in the day when she saw certain details of the history looking a bit distorted. She'd bought it and had read more than halfway through it by the afternoon, seeing at which points of history the Doctor was trying to get their attention from.

"OK, but it doesn't have to be him," Rory reminded his wife, "...is there anything about Ava?"

"No, she's staying out of trouble...for once," Amy had to admit that was slightly weird.

She didn't know exactly how long it had been for Avalon and the Doctor since they started traveling together, but she knew it had to have been quite some months now. However long it had been, though, they hadn't heard one situation in which Avalon had gotten into trouble. That...that was shocking news, honestly. For anyone who knew Avalon Reynolds, they could estimate just how long she would last before getting into trouble again. It seemed like the Doctor was actually being a good influence despite the situations he got himself into.

"Two nights later a magical sphere some 20 feet across was seen floating away from the tower, bearing the mysterious Doctor aloft," Amy had continued reading after putting away the groceries.

"Okay, it's him," Rory shrugged, "But as long as Ava isn't mention in any of those, I'm good."

"There's more!" Amy called with a smirk. It seemed like the Doctor had also gotten into some type of German jail and was trying to escape along with some other prisoners...only to get caught.

"Like I said, no Ava, no trouble," Rory strode into the living room after finishing up putting away the groceries.

"It's like he's being deliberately ridiculous, trying to attract our attention," Amy shook her head and followed him, "And aren't you a bit curious about Avalon? Why isn't she there with him?"

"I'm actually thanking the Gods she's not there with him," Rory got comfortable on the couch and turned on the television, his favorite movie on. He didn't even want to think about Avalon going to jail in historical times.

"Are you watching this again?" Amy looked at the television with a face as she closed her book.

"I've explained the jokes," Rory sighed. At the sound of the doorbell, Amy went to go answer, "So what are you saying? Do you really think he's back there trying to wave to us out of history books?" he called.

"Don't know, it's the sort of thing he'd do," she accepted the mail and shut the door.

"Yeah, but why?"

"He said he'd be in touch."

"Two months ago. Who knows how long it's been for him now," Rory shrugged.

"Two months is nothing. He's up to something, I know he is, I know him," Amy set the rest of the mail aside and held a TARDIS-blue colored envelope in her hands.

"What is it?" Rory noticed her go quiet, "Amy?"

"A date, a time, a map reference," Amy turned the envelope over for him to see, "I think it's an invitation."

"From who?"

"It's not signed. Look, TARDIS blue!" Amy waved the envelope around, "I'm gonna go call Lena!"

~ 0 ~

Another envelope landed on a bed, that of the cell of River Song, who picked up the letter and opened it up, smiling as she read the inside. She looked around with a smirk and began preparing for her departure.

~ 0 ~

"Lena! There's mail!" young Gavin Reynolds shouted as he ran towards the kitchen where Lena and their father, Ryland, were eating lunch.

"I got mail?" Lena reached for the blue-colored envelope, "Funny, Avalon usually sends postcards," she looked at her father with confusion.

"Open it up, sweetheart. Maybe this time she wrote something longer," Ryland encouraged her, curious and hopeful that his eldest daughter had finally written something more than just a couple sentences on a postcard. It had been two months (for him anyways) since he let Avalon run off with the Doctor to time travel. Unbeknownst to the others, he hoped that this would keep Avalon safe. He was just glad that she was with someone he could trust and who'd take good care of her.

"What is it, Lena?" Gavin peered over Lena shoulder, "What is it?"

"I think it's invitation from my big brother," Lena began smiling, "Oh, it's been long! I can't wait to see Avalon!"

~ 0 ~

"Miss Williams, this arrived for you," a young man entered a dressing room holding a blue-colored envelope in hand.

Avalon Reynolds looked up from the conversation she was in the middle of with...Mary Costa (the voice actress of Avalon's favorite movie - Sleeping Beauty). She'd dropped by for a visit at Mary's house about an hour ago and was in no hurry to leave her idol. Though when she saw the color of the envelope she knew it was probably time to go.

"Thank you," Avalon took the envelope from the servant.

"Who's it from?" Mary curiously asked as she watched Avalon opened the envelope up.

"Probably from the Doctor," Avalon took out the letter and read it, "Funny, he's given references for...Stormcage," she blinked.

"And that's...bad?" Mary made a face as if it were something negative. She barely understood the concept of 'time travel' but she tried her best for Avalon, seeing how close the two had gotten since Avalon had started her travels.

"No, just...peculiar, that's all," Avalon stood up and started putting in the coordinations for Stormcage at the exact time she'd been instructed to in her Vortex Manipulator, "Oh well, gotta run, Mary. Thanks for the lunch," she hugged the blonde woman.

"Anytime, dear," Mary waved and watched the flash of light take over as Avalon disappeared.

~ 0 ~

A yell school bus stopped in the middle of a plain road in Utah. Out of the bus came Rory, Lena and Amy, all carrying backpacks on their backs and dressed casually.

"Thanks!" Amy called to the driver and waved as the bus drove off, turning around with the others.

"Uh! This is it, yeah? The right place?" Lena looked around, "It's a stupid desert," she made a face.

"Nowhere, middle of? Yeah, this is it," Rory nodded, "Who else but the Doctor?"

"Howdy!" they heard from behind. The three turned around to find the Doctor lying on the hood of a 1960's, red, station wagon.

"Big brother!" Lena exclaimed and dashed to go greet him.

"Ha-ha! My baby sister!" the Doctor jumped off the car and hugged Lena, "Oh, and the Ponds! Pond One and Pond Two!" he moved on to hug Amy, "Hello, Ponds, come here!"

"So someone's been a busy boy then, eh?" Amy teased as she hugged him.

"Did you see me?"

"Of course! Stalker!"

"Flirt!"

"Husband," Rory waved a hand with a mock-offense expression.

"And Rory the Roman! Oh, come here!" the Doctor laughed and hugged him.

"Hey, nice hat, big brother," Lena remarked to the hat the Doctor wore on his head.

"I wear a Stetson now, Stetsons are cool," the Doctor smirked about to flick it into position when a gun was fired, making him wince forwards, and blew the hat right off his head.

"Sorry!" the group heard someone shout from across. Avalon quickly passed - or chucked - the gun back to River who stood beside her and was really trying her best not laugh right there and then.

"Avalon," the Doctor turned around, a new expression on his face when he saw her. It was a sad smile but...a smile nonetheless. He dashed for her, almost tripping from how fast he went. "Avalon!"

"I think I'm in trouble," Avalon whispered to River as she stepped forwards. She hadn't really meant to shoot the poor alien's hat. She just wanted to shoot beside the alien with a new blaster. But now she was sure to get a scolding from him, Rory and then Lena...

"Ava!" the Doctor surprised her instead by picking her up in a spinning hug.

"Oh, okay," Avalon quickly took the easier road and hugged back. "Nice to see you too," she laughed as she was set back on her feet.

"What's going on?" Lena came up beside them along with Amy and Rory, all finding the reactions of the Doctor slightly weird.

"And what is that?" Amy pointed at the manipulator Avalon wore on her wrist. It sat just above the Doctor's old watch which she had truly kept after winning it from their Christmas bet.

"Like?" Avalon waved her wrist, "Brand new, barely breaking it in."

"Why?" Lena frowned, "I thought you were traveling together..."

"We are," the Doctor nodded, "But I wanted to go to one place and Ava the other, so we compromised."

"By giving her a manipulator?" River raised an eyebrow, even she herself finding that strange for the 'early' days.

"Oh calm down, I've been responsible...ish," Avalon had to add that part after a moment, making the entire group sigh with resignation at their friend, all except the Doctor of course who just smiled at her.

~ 0 ~

The group had relocated to a diner not too far from where they'd been. The Doctor led them inside while being linked arms with Avalon. Lena went up to the counter, eyes already on the menu, "Oh, I want some dessert."

"Me too!" Avalon left the Doctor and hurried up beside her sister, "By the way, can I borrow some money?"

"You didn't bring any money, did you?" Lena turned to her, "Always counting that I'll have some."

"Not true," Avalon threw a thumb over her shoulder, "Rory always has money for me."

Lena scoffed and crossed her arms, "He is not gonna have any mo-"

'I got it," Rory came over with his wallet out, Lena's mouth hanging open in surprise.

"Really?"

"Ava's Ava," was the excuse Rory always used.

Avalon cheekily smiled, "Thanks Rory," she hugged him, "I promise I'll pay you back."

"This is a reward," Rory clarified, "Because you didn't get in trouble like someone..." he shot a look at the Doctor.

"Ha," Avalon stuck her tongue out at the alien.

"I could just tell them what you did in Milan," the Doctor warned as he crossed his arms, smirking when she went quiet.

"What happened in Milan?" Amy stepped over, curious to know what gimmick Avalon had come up with this time.

"Nothing!" Avalon quickly exclaimed, "Absolutely nothing. So, Rory, if you can get my favorite dessert, please? Strawberry-"

"Strawberry milkshake with whip cream, hold the cherry on top, though," the Doctor finished and garnered her attention.

"How did you know that?" she blinked.

"You told me," he shrugged and tugged her away towards one of the booths.

"I did?" Avalon thought for a moment while she slid into an open booth first then the Doctor. "Hm, it's been such a rush I can't even remember that."

"That's what happens when you steal from world-famous designers," River strolled over to them, wearing a smirk on her face as Avalon stiffened.

"How did you-"

"I saw the clothes on a runway...modeled by a one, extravagant ginger woman..." River took a seat in the booth across them, putting her elbows on the table and resting her chin on her hands, "Global thing, newspapers and whatnot."

"You could've said something, then. I went to pick you up in a prison for God's sake! I could've been arrested," Avalon hit the Doctor on the arm, "Thanks for that, by the way. I've never been to an alien prison. Why'd you sent me to pick her up? No offense, River," she quickly glanced at the brunette with a smile.

"None taken," River chuckled..

"She had no manipulator, thought it might be easier on her," the Doctor shrugged, "But I'm more interested in knowing about those clothes you stole?"

"Oops?" Avalon looked at him with a sheepish smile, "I know you said to keep away from trouble but...it was Milan," she whispered so no one would hear, "Fashion capital! I was just dropping in for a discreet visit when, BAM! I met a model, accidentally got her locked in a closet--"

"Accidentally?" River raised an eyebrow.

"Shut up!" Avalon pointed at her, "And then somehow I get branded as a preppy woman-"

"Which you are," the Doctor and River cut in.

"Oi!" Avalon frowned, "Am not. But the designers said I could pass it off and so...voila," she gestured to her clothes.

She wore a light pink dress with white polka-dots, an open beige jacket with three-quarter sleeves and pink flats. She knew it was wrong to steal, especially things that were created by famous people but she hadn't really thought it through at the moment. After the fashion show had ended, she'd been caught by the actual model intended to use the outfit and so without thinking she'd activated her manipulator and flashed out, taking along the clothes with her.

"And after the show ended...you ran with the clothes," the Doctor assumed the last part of the story.

"I didn't run, I used the manipulator," she corrected quietly, "I promise I'll give it back...ish. I just really like it too."

"I think you look lovely," the Doctor smiled softly at her.

"You're not gonna reprimand me like the others?" Avalon blinked, genuinely shocked he wasn't even the least bit angry with her, "Are you feeling well?" she raised an eyebrow, "No alien fever or something?" she even pressed her hand over his forehead to make sure he was alright.

The Doctor laughed and pulled her hand off his face, keeping hold of it for a few extra seconds. "Nothing's wrong. I'm just...happy right now, very happy," his tone had softened like his smile, the latter seeming almost everlasting.

Avalon was momentarily taken aback but in the end she smiled back too. "I'm happy too," she agreed and there was another pause of smiles. "And I can't wait to get back to the TARDIS. Manipulators are fun but I like traveling with my Fairy Tale Man even more."

"Ava!" Rory called from the counter and motioned for her to go get her milkshake.

The Doctor slid out the booth and allowed Avalon to go for her dessert while he took her seat, noticing River's look which consisted of a big smirk, "What?" he frowned as he pulled out a small journal from inside his jacket.

"Can you be more obvious?" she tilted her head, "How far are you?"

"What? What are you talking about?"

River rolled her eyes and set her hands down on the table, "You're from the future," she announced with all certainty about it, "You've got to be, I mean...that--" she discreetly pointed at Avalon, "--was plain obvious. All you needed was to drool in front of her to let her know."

"Shut up," the Doctor rolled his eyes.

"How far are you?"

"...about 200 years," he spoke quietly in case the others returned suddenly, "Don't say a word about it."

"Fine but you may want to dial down the lovey-dovey eyes. Avalon's a smart woman, she'll figure it out and start questioning you," River warned, "And then she'll be freaked out."

"Once she learns what's coming for her she won't even think about some feelings," the Doctor countered. "Your letter didn't cover it accurately, you know."

"Letter?" River repeated with confusion. "I didn't write any letter."

The Doctor stared at her, wanting to figure out if she was lying or not. After everything, he still wasn't completely sure if that was true or not. It bothered him that near his end, he never figured out the secret behind that letter. He would never know who wrote it. Who wrote the letter knowing what was going to happen to Avalon?

"Ew, there's a cherry on my milkshake," Avalon grimaced at the bright, red fruit sitting at the top of the whip cream of her drink, "Rory!" she exclaimed.

"Thank you," Rory passed her and swiped off the cherry, dropping it into his mouth as he and Amy sat with River on one side of the booth and Avalon and Lena with the Doctor on the other.

"So what's happening, then?" Amy immediately questioned the Doctor, "Because you've been up to something."

"Getting into trouble," Lena added, "I saw it all, big brother. Shame on you," she wagged a finger, making the Doctor smile in amusement.

"I've been running...faster than I've ever run, and I've been running my whole life. Now it's time for me to stop," he looked at them all, though spent a bit more with Avalon, "And tonight I'm going to need you all with me."

"What did you have in mind?" Avalon raised an eyebrow as she took a sip of her drink.

"A picnic! And then a trip. Somewhere different, somewhere brand-new."

"Where?"

"Space...1969."

~ 0 ~

Later in the day, the group moved over to the Powell Lake of Utah (otherwise known as Lake Silencio), setting up a picnic like the Doctor had said. They sat on the edges of the blanket while munching on their snacks placed in the center.

"Salut!" the Doctor toasted with a glass of wine.

"Salut!" went the others.

"So it's actually been a year since you started travelling together, then?" Lena asked just to make sure she'd gotten it right. As far as she knew, Avalon had just joined the Doctor a couple months ago.

"Yup," Avalon grinned. "I'm finally 22 like you Lena!" the two sisters high-fived each other.

"So when are we going to 1969?" Rory wondered as he set his wine glass down.

"And since when do you drink wine?" Amy observed the Doctor as he lifted his glass to his mouth.

"He doesn't," Avalon shot him a look. She knew what would come next, but every time she told him he wouldn't listen.

"I'm 1,103 - I must have drunk it some time," he shrugged and drank the glass...only to spit it back out, "Oh, wine's horrid! I thought it would taste more like the gums."

"Wait a minute," Avalon set her glass down, "1,103? You were 909 before you gave me the manipulator. What? Was I that bad of a companion you left me for nearly 200 years?"

"Complicated," the Doctor tensed at his slip.

"Why?" she grew sadder, "Why was it..." her gaze had wandered up to the dunes where she saw a figure silhouetted against the sun, "...who's that?" she whispered.

"Who's who?" the Doctor began scowling, half-guessing what she was seeing.

"Sorry, what?" she looked at him with rapid blinking eyes, "What's going on?" she looked at the others who were staring at her with a bit of concern.

"You said you saw someone," River looked out where Avalon had been staring at.

"No, I didn't," Avalon playfully rolled her eyes and reached for a piece of grape, unaware of the grim look the Doctor was giving her from beside.

"Big brother, you mentioned the moon," Lena got his attention back.

"Right, the moon," the Doctor tore his gaze from Avalon and looked at the rest, "The moon, look at it! Of course, you lot did more than look, didn't you? Big silvery thing in the sky, you couldn't resist it. Quite right."

"The moon landing was in '69," Amy recalled, "Is that where we're going?"

"Oh, a lot more happens in '69 than anyone remembers. Human beings... I thought I'd never get done saving you."

A pickup truck pulled over behind them and an elderly man stepped out. The Doctor stood up waved with a hand, the older man giving a wave back.

"Who's he?" Lena looked over at the older man, assuming it had to be some other friend the Doctor had picked up in his past.

"Oh, my God!" River had jumped up to her feet at the sight of an astronaut standing in the lake, prompting the others to stand up as well.

"What's going on?" Avalon looked around, feeling like it was some sort of trap. But that couldn't be right, the Doctor was the one who sent the letters. He'd never bring them into a trap!

"You all need to stay back. Whatever happens now, you do not interfere," the Doctor instructed them all, "Clear?"

Avalon opened her mouth to refuse but saw the silhouette up at the dunes again, "Woah..." she blinked, "I...remember that, now. I-I think I've seen it before..."

The Doctor tore her gaze away from the figure, not even bothering to look at it himself, "Ava, you listen to me right now," he set his hands on her arms, "You have to be careful, okay? You should..." he swallowed hard, struggling to say his words, "...you should stay away from me."

"What?" she blinked, surprised at his urgency that had come out of no where. "Why would I do that?"

"Because it's the best thing you could've done," he whispered with genuine regret. "If I could change one thing it's this...you..." he gave her one last look before kissing her forehead and walked for the astronaut.

"What's going on?" Avalon moved after him but River kept her back. She felt something in the pit of her stomach, something warning her to bring the Doctor right back. "But we can't let him...I don't understand." She looked at the others who were on the same page.

"That's an astronaut. That's an Apollo astronaut in the lake," Rory stared in awe at the astronaut now standing on the sand beside the lake.

"Seems a little big, mind you," Lena remarked quietly as she looked.

The Doctor stood in front of the astronaut, solemnly eyeing it, "Hello. It's OK, I know it's you," he spoke quietly, watching the visor raise up, "I know the choices that brought you here...I figured it out."

"What's he doing?" Amy whispered to the others, all of them gathered up as they watched the astronaut raised its arm towards the Doctor.

Then it fired.

"Doctor!" Avalon shouted as he staggered back. She rushed for him again but River kept her back while Rory restrained Amy.

"Avalon, Amy! Stay back! The Doctor said stay back!" River reminded, "Lena, don't you dare move!" she warned the brunette who seemed frozen in horror anyways.

But the astronaut fired again and the Doctor fell to his knees on the floor.

"We have to help him!" Avalon fought River to no avail. "LET GO!"

"You have to stay back!"

"NO!"

The Doctor stood up, his hands glowing with his regenerative energy. He looked over at the group, "I'm sorry," he managed to say before he tilted his head back for the regeneration to begin. The astronaut shot him again and ended it, the Doctor collapsing on the ground without a flinch nor twitch.

River finally let Avalon go and hurried along with the others towards the Doctor, the astronaut making its way back into the lake. River pulled out a handheld device and checked for the alien's vitals.

"River, what's it saying?" Avalon knelt down beside the Doctor, "River?"

River put away the device after reading the device and took out her gun again. She was about to shoot when the gun was snatched off her hands by Avalon who then took to shooting at the astronaut herself, tears building up in her eyes and blurring her vision. Unfortunately, the gun ran out of ammunition and the astronaut was well inside the lake, slowly sinking back down.

"River, he can't be dead. This is impossible," Amy sobbed.

River took back the gun from Avalon and cautiously turned her away from the lake, but not before she caught site of the mysterious figure silhouetted, "What the hell is going on?" Avalon gritted her teeth.

"Whatever that was, it killed him in the middle of his regeneration cycle," River answered, thinking she was asking about the Doctor, "His body was already dead. He didn't make it to the next one."

"No, I meant..." Avalon had looked back at River, blinking rapidly as she forgot once again.

"Maybe he's a clone or a duplicate or something," Lena offered, swallowing hard.

The man from the truck had made his way down to the group holding a gas tank that he set down on the sand, "I believe I can save you some time. That most certainly is the Doctor, and he is most certainly dead. He said you'd need this," he pointed at the tank.

"Gasoline?" Rory studied the tank with confusion.

"A Time Lord's body is a miracle. Even a dead one. There are whole empires out there who'd rip this world apart for just one cell," River sighed, "We can't leave him here. Or anywhere."

"But he can't die," Avalon's tears strolled down her cheeks as she dropped to her knees beside the Doctor's body. "Not him too, he can't..." Her hands shook as she hesitated to touch him. What if he was already cold? Cold like...like he was actually dead. She breathed in heavily. "He's the Fairy Tale Man, he's not allowed to."

"We're his friends. We do what the Doctor's friends always do," River picked up the gas tank, "As we're told."

"There's a boat," Rory saw one at the other end of the lake, "If we're going to do this...let's do it properly."

When night fell, the group watched from the shore of the lake as the Doctor's body burned in the boat Rory had brought from the other side of the lake. The man who had brought the gas tank stayed to help and also watched, and at one point River turned to him in question, "Who are you? Why did you come?"

"Same reason as you," he pulled out a blue-colored envelope from his pocket for her to see. River pulled out her own and looked between them as the man handed her his envelope, "Dr Song, Avalon, Amy, Lena, Rory. I'm Canton Everett Delaware III. I won't be seeing you again. But...you'll be seeing me," he picked up the gas tank and headed back for his truck.

River watched him go for a minute before glancing down at the envelopes and turning to the group, "Four," she said.

"Sorry, what?" Rory blinked, that just came out of the no where.

"The Doctor numbered the envelopes," River held both envelopes for them to see.

~ 0 ~

The group had returned to the diner where River continued her explanation, or theories, about the envelopes, "You got five," she pointed at Amy and Rory, "Mr. Delaware was six, Lena was four, I was three and Avalon was two."

"So?" Lena had to ask, she was all for education and whatnot but not after a makeshift funeral of her big brother.

"So where's one?" River tried making them see the obvious of the envelope's patterns.

"You think he invited someone else?" Rory was beginning to catch on.

"Well, he must have. He planned all of this to the last detail."

"Will you shut up? It doesn't matter," Amy muttered, stopping at a booth as she sulked.

"He was up to something," Lena began to realize as well, "But what? Avalon?" she looked at Avalon who was slightly ahead, distant as was expected, "She's thinking of Mum," Lena whispered to the others.

Avalon could be as brave and bold as she wanted but the one thing that would always defeat her was the topic of death. Her mother's death had scarred her, consequences as big as losing her hope in everything else. She was always afraid of losing people like that because that was the way she'd lost her mother and was constantly afraid she would lose Lena too because of her chronic illness.

"Space 1969, what did he mean?" River relayed for them to think on it with her.

"You're still talking, but it doesn't matter," Amy snapped at them, irritated they were pondering over stupid numbers when their friend had just died.

"Hey," Lena turned to Amy, softly speaking, "If it mattered to my big brother, then it matters to us all."

"He's dead, Lena," Amy shook her head, "Focus on your sister instead of numbers."

"He still needs us, though," Lena looked back at Avalon, happening to catch sight of a blue paper on a nearby table by Avalon, "Look," she rushed for it, holding up another blue-colored envelope with the number '1' in front.

As River ran for Lena, Rory turned to the counter where an employee was, "Excuse me, who was sitting over there?"

"Some guy."

"The Doctor knew he was going to his death, so he sent out messages," River was putting the pieces together, "When you know it's the end, who do you call?"

"Your friends," Lena quickly answered.

"People you trust," Rory rejoined them.

"Number one. Who did the Doctor trust the most?"

As if on cue, the back door of the diner opened and in came the Doctor with a straw in his mouth. While the entire group stared, stunned, he grinned and pointed at them like he hadn't expected it.

"Fairy Tale Man?" Avalon stepped forwards, her face completely dumbfounded.

"Hey! I saw what you did at Milan," he pointed at her with a frown on his face. "That was wrong and you're taking those clothes back."

Avalon blinked. "Wait...what?" she shook her head, "You arm this whole fiasco, tell me stupid things and then...you give us this? What the hell!" She slapped him across the face with all her might.

"Ava!" he stumbled back with a hand over his cheek, "What I do!?"

Avalon was furious and felt like going ahead and giving him more, "You know what it was like to lose my Mum and yet you..." she couldn't even finish her words if she wanted to keep her tears inside. "...telling me to stay away from you..."

"Avalon," River tugged her away before she said something she shouldn't. Knowing the last the Doctor had been a future version allowed her to see much more than the rest of the group.

"How are you here?" Lena just had to ask, more than relieved to see him again but...he had just died and he didn't look anywhere near a ghost.

"I was invited. Date, map reference," the Doctor pointed to his envelope River still held, his other hand still rubbing over his cheek from Avalon's slap. "Same as you lot, I assume, otherwise it's a hell of a coincidence."

"River, what's going on?" Amy sighed. She wanted to go and hug the Doctor as well but she also felt like Avalon in which he needed to be slapped for what he'd done.

"Ask him what age he is," River looked at Avalon, the most affected out of all should get the clarification straight to the face.

"Why?" she shook her head, "I just want to keep slapping him."

The Doctor took a cautious step back for the ginger had quite some strength and he wouldn't like to feel it on his face anymore.

"Just do it," River gave Avalon a sharp look.

She sighed and turned to the Doctor, "How old are you?"

"That's a bit personal..."

"Answer the damn question or I'll slap you again on both sides," Avalon pointed.

"909!"

"That's..." Avalon looked at the others with confusion, "...the same age I left him with 3 days ago."

"Meaning...?" River forced her to keep putting the pieces of it together.

"You're..." Avalon had returned her eyes to the Doctor, "...we've been separated for three days?"

"Yeah," he nodded cautiously, "And I'll take the manipulator back before you hop into the future and take something there too."

"It was an accident," she mumbled quietly as she looked down at her clothes, for some reason wishing he'd compliment the clothes instead of reprimanding her like she'd initially expected.

"So is anyone going to tell me what are we all doing here?" the Doctor looked at the others, seeing them all sharing expressions of concerns and confusion.

"We've been recruited. Something to do with space, 1969, and a man called Canton Everett Delaware III," River explained seeing as the others were still getting it together.

"Recruited by who?"

"Someone who trusts you more than anybody else in the universe."

"And who's that?"

"Spoilers," River sighed, glancing at the others who gave a mere nod.

~ 0 ~

Once the group had returned to the TARDIS and given as much details as possible (without giving any spoilers) to the Doctor, he started rambling on about the year they'd chosen, "969, that's an easy one. Funny how some years are easy. Now, 1482, full of glitches. Now then, Canton Everett Delaware III, that was his name, yeah?" Amy couldn't take it and left for the stairs that would lead under the console, Lena right behind her, "How many of those can there be? Well, three, I suppose," the Doctor continued but noticed River leaving as well. He made a face and looked at Avalon and Rory, "Is everybody cross with me for some reason?"

"I'll find out," Rory pointed and headed off.

Avalon shook her head and moved to follow him, "C'mon, Ava, not you too," the Doctor called after her. She turned around, solemnly staring at him, "What did I do?"

Avalon got to thinking of the last Doctor they'd just seen a couple hours ago and knew that he hadn't been anything but sweet and nice, not one banter ever arose. She wondered if that had been an effort he'd made knowing he'd die. What other explanation was there? If you were to die, you'd repent of everything you'd done, including forgiving the annoying, sarcastic ginger woman he'd allowed into his home. And the fact that he had told her to stay away from him didn't help either. He sounded like it was a warning...and whenever she thought of warnings her mind rushed to that letter she'd gotten a year ago at Amy's and Rory's wedding reception.

"Ava?" the Doctor tried again, not daring to walk closer to her in case she fired another of her deadly slaps.

Avalon walked up to him and surprised him by hugging him. "I'm sorry," came her apology a minute later. She'd been so used to having him around and bantering that she never stopped for a minute to wonder what it would be like to lose him as well, "I'm so sorry for all my remarks, my crimes, I'm sorry. I'm really, really, sorry."

"Where's all this coming from?" the Doctor hugged back, even more concerned for all his friends. "Did you get another letter?"

"No," Avalon pulled away but didn't let him go. "You know that I consider this place and you the safest place I could be at, right?"

A smug smile came to the Doctor's face, making Avalon roll her eyes. "I do try my best!"

"Would you ever ask me to stay away from you?"

"No..." the Doctor looked at her strangely for her words, "...unless you had a pear in your hands."

A chuckle came to Avalon. "Right," she let go of him and stepped back. "Well, I just wanted you to know that I feel safe here, with you. Safe with my Fairy Tale Man. Safe."

The Doctor gave her another look for her repetition. "Ava, you know can tell me anything, right? Cos you remember what happens when you bottle it up, right?"

"Yeah."

"Is there something you want to tell me?"

"...no," she bit her lip, "I'm just reflecting, Fairy Tale Man. I know I have a poor attitude-"

"It's not bad, actually, it's a bit amusing..." the Doctor got to thinking and chuckled.

"I'm rude, though," she repeated what she always heard from everyone else.

"I see it more as you calling me out when I do stuff I'm not supposed to, or say things I'm not supposed to. I don't find that as a 'poor attitude'," but Avalon gave him a look for that, "Okay so maybe in the beginning I did think like that..." the Doctor corrected himself, "But that was before I got to know you better," he smiled, "Now I know that you like to take charge, you're very outspoken, and you do not like it when someone touches you hair."

"Someone's been paying attention," Avalon raised her eyebrows, though smiled in the end.

"Well, we have been traveling for about a year now," the Doctor shrugged, "It's only natural. But seriously, are you okay? Is there something else?" he took a step closer to her.

"No there isn't," she tried to argue and took a step back. She didn't want to somehow break and tell him everything she and the rest of the group had seen earlier.

"You are not a very good liar, do you know that?"

"I'm a very good liar, thank you very much," she made a mock-offended face.

"You're really not," the Doctor shook his head and moved up to her again, taking her head into his hands and looked her dead in the eye, "Because right now I can tell very easily that you cried, and I'd like to know why you're lying about it. What happened, Ava?"

"N-nothing..." she faltered under the Doctor's look.

"Avalon, pl-"

"Avalon," Lena finished coming up the stairs, startling them both, "Sorry...did I interrupt?" Lena sheepishly asked, noticing their closeness with intrigue.

"No, no, we were just talking," Avalon quickly turned to her sister, "What did you need?"

"Nothing," Lena eyed the troubled expression of the Doctor behind Avalon, "Nothing important anyways," she wasn't going to tell Avalon what River had explained to them a couple minutes ago...at least not in front of the Doctor, "So...1969?" she looked at the Doctor with a clean smile as the others began to come up the stairs behind her.

The Doctor turned to the console, seeing Avalon would keep her mouth shut about what ever troubled her and the others, "Time isn't a straight line, it's all bumpy-wumpy..." he began and made a round around the TARDIS, "There's loads of boring stuff, like Sundays and Tuesdays and Thursday afternoons. But now and then there are Saturdays, big temporal tipping points when anything's possible. The TARDIS can't resist them, she loves a party, so I give her 1969 and NASA, cos that's space in the '60s, and Canton Everett Delaware III, and this is where she's pointing," he pushed the scanner to the group and revealed a date.

"Washington DC, April 8th, 1969. So why haven't we landed?" Amy looked around as there had been no noise at all which meant the TARDIS had to be in flight at the moment.

"Because that's not where we're going," the Doctor shrugged.

"Where are we going, then?" Lena frowned, glancing back at River. The woman had made it clear that they should follow what the older Doctor had wanted to do, probably something truly important.

"Home! Well, you three are," the Doctor pointed to her and Amy and Rory, "I'm sure you father wants at least one of their daughter's home. You two," he looked at Amy and Rory, "Off you pop and make babies. Dr Song, back to prison," Me, I'm late for a biplane lesson in 1911, or it could be knitting. Knitting or biplanes, one or the other..." he flopped down on the chair and rubbed his forehead with irritation, "What? A mysterious summons? You think I'm just going to go? Who sent those messages? I know you know, I can see it in your faces," he stared at Avalon, " Don't play games with me. Don't ever, ever think you're capable of that."

Avalon frowned, "Don't you ever talk to me like that."

"You're going to have to trust us this time," River spoke before the two got into an argument of some sorts.

"Trust you?" the Doctor nearly laughed as he stood up and walked over to her, "But first of all, Dr Song, just one thing... Who are you? You're someone from my future, getting that, but who? OK... Why are you in prison? Who did you kill? Hmm? Now, I love a bad girl, me, but trust you? Seriously?" He hadn't forgotten the warning he'd received from Octavian against her. For all he knew, the reason River was in prison was because she murdered Avalon! That thought alone made him shudder. He would never let that happen. He'd rather die first!

"Trust us, then," Amy spoke up, putting an arm around Lena's shoulders.

"Okay," the Doctor turned for them.

"You have to do this, big brother, and you can't ask why," Lena swallowed hard.

"Are you being threatened?" the Doctor guessed as he looked between the two's faces, "Is someone making you say that?"

"No," they answered together.

"You're lying."

"They're not lying," Avalon sighed and cut in between them, "We promise, all of us."

"Swear to me, then," the Doctor challenged, "Swear to me on something that matters."

"La Belle au bois dormant," Avalon pronounced the title of her favorite fairytale - Sleeping Beauty - in perfect French contrary to her attempt the first time she'd heard it from him as a child, "By Charles Perrault."

The Doctor considered her very important story and nodded, "My life in your hands, Ava..."

"Thank you," she sincerely said, finally able to at least dimly smile.

"So, Canton Everett Delaware III!" the Doctor returned to the console to begin their research, "Who's he?"

As they started looking into the mysterious man, they began getting some small details of what could potentially be a problem. There was something about a private meeting Canton had with the president of the United States during 1969, Nixon, and it seemed all too interesting for a fired man to be called upon by the most powerful man in the world. The Doctor had resolved to bring the TARDIS somewhere near the meeting just to overhear some things and observe what was going on. Unfortunately for him, he stepped right in the middle of the Oval Office. It was a good thing he'd left the others inside the TARDIS, which was invisible and would keep them safe while he listened in on a very interesting phone call from a little girl pleading help to the president.

"Should we really allow him to go on his own out there?" Avalon stared hard at the shut doors of the TARDIS, "I mean, he's prone to get himself into trouble!"

"And we'll know," assured River who stood by the console, literally waiting for that to happen.

"I don't think it's right," Avalon declared and began pacing back and forth from the doorway to the console, "I mean, we just saw him die so we should do something to stop it and..."

"It's be a paradox, apparently," Amy rolled her eyes.

"I don't care!" Avalon exclaimed.

"What I said too," Amy nodded.

River shook her head, "We've been over this, and Avalon stop pacing, please. It's giving me a headache."

"I can't help it!"

"Ava, why not take a seat?" Rory offered, truthfully also tired of seeing her pace.

"I can't, I can't just sit down and pretend like I didn't see the Doctor die!" Avalon took a breath, her hand absently fiddling over the Doctor's watch on her wrist, "I can't do that, I don't want to..."

Lena hurried up to her twin and put her hands on Avalon's shoulders, "Breathe, Avalon, breathe. I know you're thinking of...Mum," she whispered the word, "But don't worry, okay? This isn't the same thing, it won't be," she assured, Avalon taking a moment to recollect herself.

After a moment, Avalon smiled, "Look at you, making me feel better. He's your 'big brother'."

Lena smiled back and took her hands, "And he's your Fairy Tale Man, important to both of us and the rest. Plus, I think it's about time I did something for you. You always made me feel better, and Gavin, when we were sad."

The moment was interrupted when the TARDIS took a great a shake, nearly knocking the entire group to the floor.

"What was that!?" Avalon rushed up to the console with Lena.

"Every time," River rolled her eyes as she connected some wires to the scanner.

"He said the scanner wouldn't work," Rory reminded with confusion as River worked.

"I know, bless!" she laughed as the scanner wires sparked and the screen came to life, showing the group how the Doctor was being tackled to the floor by the secret agents, his face pressed onto the carpet floor.

"Not that! Ow!" he cried, "River, have you got my scanner working yet?"

Oh, I hate him!" River shook her head.

"No, you don't!" called back the Doctor, probably assuming what the woman was going to say, "River, make her blue again!"

River went around the console flicking switches and pulling levers, succeeding in making the TARDIS visible outside, "Well, we better get out there before he does something else stupid," River headed for the doors with the others behind her.

As River was the first to step out of the TARDIS, she heard the Doctor coquettishly speaking to the agents, "...you think you can just shoot me?"

"They're Americans!" she reminded with a roll of her eyes, her hands in the air to show surrender.

As if that was the magical word, the Doctor stood up from the president's desk with his hands raised, "Don't shoot, definitely no shooting!"

"Don't shoot us either," Lena called as they walked out of the TARDIS, all their hands raised in surrender.

"Very much not in need of getting shot," Rory added and nodded to their raised hands, "Look, we've got our hands up."

"Who the hell are you?" President Nixon demanded while his agents kept him behind for 'safety'.

"Sir, you need to stay back," Canton Delaware instructed the man, but the mysterious group was just too much.

"But who, but who are they? What is that box?"

"It's a Police Box, can't you read?" the Doctor raised an eyebrow, "I'm your new undercover agent, on loan from Scotland Yard. Code name, the Doctor. These are my top operatives, the Singer, the Legs, the Innocent, the Nose, and Mrs Robinson.

"I hate you," River rolled her eyes, meaning it for that one.

"No, you don't!"

"Who are you?" Nixon repeated his question and frankly expected to be answered properly this time.

"Boring question. Who's phoning you, that's interesting," the Doctor pointed out, "'Cause Canton Three is right, that was definitely a girl's voice. There's only one place in America she can be phoning from."

"Where?" Canton challenged the man's supposed intelligence.

"Do not engage with the intruder, Mr Delaware," one of the agents, Peterson, cut in.

"You heard everything I heard, it's simple enough. Give me five minutes, I'll explain," the Doctor assured as he took a seat back on the desk, "On the other hand, lay a finger on me, or my friends, and you'll never, ever know."

"How'd you get it in here?" Canton glanced back at the TARDIS, not at all frightened nor paranoid like the others, "I mean, you didn't carry it."

"Clever, eh?" the Doctor started smirking.

"Love it," Canton smiled.

"Do not compliment the intruder," Peterson repeated and steadied his gun on the Doctor.

"Five minutes?" Canton looked at the Doctor, slightly more inclined to accept than the others.

"Five," the Doctor agreed.

"Mr President, that man is a clear and present danger," Peterson tried to argue when Canton cut him off.

"Mr President, that man walked in here with a big blue box and three of his friends and that's the man he walked past. One of them's worth listening to. What say we give him five minutes, see if he delivers."

"Thanks, Canton!" the Doctor held a thumbs-up to the man.

"If he doesn't, I'll shoot him myself," Canton threw him a warning look that wiped the Doctor's smile.

"Not so thanks..."

"Sir, I cannot recommend..."

"Shut up, Mr Peterson," Nixon looked at Canton, "All right."

"Five minutes," Canton gave the Doctor a go.

"I'm going to need a SWAT team ready to mobilize, street level maps covering all of Florida, a pot of coffee, 12 jammy dodgers and a fez," the Doctor pointed all around the room with utter excitement.

"Get him his maps!" Canton told the other agents.

Later, the entire room was covered in street maps of all sizes with everyone looking at least one of them. Canton and the Doctor stood to one side of the room where the Doctor had a large map on a table in front of them.

"Why Florida?" Canton asked the question of everyone in the room.

"That's where NASA is. She mentioned a space man. NASA's where the space men live," the Doctor paused, "Also... there's another lead I'm following."

"Space Man?" Amy looked at River, both of them and Avalon close by with their own maps, "Like the one we saw at the lake."

"Maybe, probably," River shrugged.

"Please give us a concrete answer," Avalon sighed and looked up, "I know you know what to do but for the sake of timelines you don't say a word about it."

"I'm sorry," was all River had to say about it and returned to her map.

"Thanks for the help," Avalon muttered and turned away, facing the doorway of the room where she saw the same creature on the dunes of the lake, "You..." she immediately gritted her teeth, recalling her theory of those blasted creatures having to do with the Doctor's help. "I saw you..."

"Avalon?" Amy noticed the woman beginning to walk for the doorway, of course then SHE noticed the creature at the doorway, 'Oh my god," she quickly stood up from her seat, "Avalon!" she exclaimed and startled Avalon, as well getting the attention of everyone else in the room.

"Huh?" Avalon turned away from the doorway, blinking rapidly, feeling slightly odd again.

"What's going on?" Lena called from her spot with Rory.

"N-nothing..." Amy shook her head, feeling like an idiot for making a scene with no reason behind, "...funny," she put a hand on her stomach as she started feeling weird.

"Amy, you okay?" Avalon went back to Amy's side.

"Amy, what's wrong?" Rory, concerned, rushed to the women.

"You all right?" the Doctor had to stop and look at the ginger who did seem a bit pale.

"Yeah, no, I'm fine, I'm just...feeling a little sick," Amy assured the others and took a breath.

"Maybe we should get you to a toilet," Avalon suggested and led Amy towards the doorway again, "Excuse me, is there a toilet, or something?" she asked the agent, Peterson.

"Sorry, ma'am, during this procedure, you must remain within the Oval Office."

"Shut up and take them to the restroom," Canton rolled his eyes and waved for them to do as told.

"This way," another agent led the gingers into the hallway.

~ 0 ~

Upon reaching the restroom, Avalon led Amy inside and shooed away the agent that had tried to follow them in for 'safety' reasons. As soon as they entered, though, they saw the creature once again inside the room.

"I keep forgetting," Avalon blinked, once again recalling her previous seeings.

"I saw you before," Amy remembered the office's doorway, "But then I forgot..."

"It does that, apparently," Avalon frowned, "I saw you at their wedding reception. But I forgot. Now it's a year later and you're still here, and you were at the lake - are you following me or...?" she stepped towards the creature.

"Are you serious" Amy looked at her with surprise.

"At your reception, it told me something weird. Then ig was at the lake...and it was looking at me," Avalon gritted her teeth, this time keeping her gaze locked on the creature, "The Doctor died, and it was there again...and it was looking at me. Why!?" she nearly shouted it.

They heard a toilet flush and a blonde woman came out of a stall and headed for the sink, never noticing the creature standing behind.

"Get back! Stay back from it!" Amy waved the woman come over and away from the creature.

The woman turned for the creature and screamed before laughing, "Oh, my God, what is that, is that a mask? Is that a Star Trek thing? Ben, is that you?"

"It's not a joke," Avalon snapped, "Get back from it, now!"

The woman turned around to them, forgetting the creature, "Back from what, honey?"

"That!" Amy pointed behind and made the woman look back again.

"Oh, my God, look at that. Is that a Star Trek mask? Ben, that's gotta be you. Hang on, did I just say all that?"

"Please, just get over here," Avalon motioned.

"Back, honey? Back from what?" the woman had turned around again, Avalon groaning with frustration. The lights began flickering and so the woman looked around, "Oh, those lights. They never fix them."

"Look behind you!" Amy exclaimed, also growing irritated but was more afraid than Avalon.

"Honey, there is nothing..."

The creature reached out for the woman with its arm and mouth open. As the woman turned to look at the creature only to be shot with electricity and disintegrate.

"What the hell was that for?" Avalon snapped, "It's not like she was going to say anything, she couldn't even remember you!"

"How does that work? We can only remember you, while we're seeing you, is that it?" Amy put the pieces together as she took out her camera-phone, "Why did you have to kill her?"

"Joy. Her name was Joy," the creature spoke for the first time.

"Good, you know the name, that makes it better," Avalon rolled her eyes, "Now you answer us, why are you following us?"

"Your name is Avalon." Avalon stepped back when the creature pointed at her, "We have found you again..."

"You said that the last time..." Avalon recalled and felt a new pang of fear course through her.

"And your name is Amelia," the creature then pointed at Amy, "You will tell the Doctor."

"Tell him what?" Amy swallowed hard, still stunned it knew hers and Avalon's identity apparently.

"What he must know. And what he must never know."

"How do you know about that?"

"Know about what?" Avalon frowned.

"Tell him," the creature ordered and Amy pulled Avalon out the restroom.

The agent awaiting on the other side noticed the frantic expressions on their faces, "Are you OK?"

Both gingers looked at each with confusion, Avalon noticing the phone Amy held, "What's that?" she pointed at it.

"It's my phone," Amy blinked, unsure why she had it out.

"Well no duh it's your phone," Avalon rolled her eyes, "I meant why'd you have it out?"

"I have to tell the Doctor," Amy mumbled, something pushing her to talk to him even more now.

"Tell him what, ma'am?" the agent eyed both women with confusion.

"Sorry. I don't know why I said that..." Amy put away her phone and shook her head.

"This way..." the agent motioned for them to follow him.

"I feel like..." Avalon tried to say, something niggling in her mind but couldn't quite place her finger on it. She shook her head and forgot all about it as she went to follow the agent with Amy.

As they returned to the office, they saw the president going over to answer the ringing phone on his desk, the Doctor excitedly babbling on about the map he had in front of him.

"You, sir, are a genius," Canton praised the alien with impression.

"It's a hobby," the Doctor accepted it.

"Oi, instead of being cocky, focus on the phone call," Avalon pointed to the president who was awaiting instructions by the phone.

"Mr President, answer the phone," Canton turned to the president.

Nixon held up the phone and took the call, "Hello. This is President Nixon."

"It's here! The Space Man's here. It's gonna get me. It's gonna eat me!" cried the terrified, little girl through the line.

The Doctor urgently grabbed his jacket and ushered the group towards the TARDIS, "There's no time for a SWAT team, let's go! Mr President, tell her help's on the way. Canton, on no account follow me into this box and close the door behind you."

"What the hell are you doing?" Canton called and rushed after them. As the doors shut behind him, he came to a complete halt when he saw the room inside.

The Doctor had already begun preparing them for de-materialization and was explaining to the group the whereabouts of the little girl, "Jefferson isn't a girl's name, or her name either. Jefferson Adams Hamilton...

Avalon blinked, not expecting to be called upon, "Um...surnames of three of America's founding fathers?"

"Lovely fellas, two of them fancied me," the Doctor tried to joke with her but she was too engulfed in trying to keep the thoughts of his death out of her head, "The President asked the child two questions. Where and who are you? She was answering where. Now where would you find three big historical names in a row like that?"

"Where?" Amy asked then gave Avalon a discreet look from the Doctor. That ginger needed to get herself together or the Doctor would figure it out!

"Here! Come on!" the Doctor ran for the doors and was stopped by Canton who was still taking the mysterious box in.

"It's er..."

"Are you taking care of this?" the Doctor looked over to Rory, figuring it was true as they were together. Without an answer, he continued out the doors with the others.

" Where are we?" Lena crinkled her nose as they stepped out into a warehouse of some sort. It was dirty and messy and quite frankly, it had a unique smell of some sort.

The Doctor had gone up to a desk and plopped down, picking up a small American flag, "About five miles from Cape Kennedy Space Centre. It's 1969, the year of the Moon. Interesting, don't you think?"

As Amy turned on a flashlight, Avalon took a couple steps away from them to look through the clutter, "Why would a girl be here?" she made a face at how dirty some of the things were.

"I don't know. Lost, maybe," the Doctor tried to guess, eyeing River picking up the phone on the side of the desk, "The President asked where she was and she did what any lost little girl would do. She looked out the window," he stood up and gestured to the window, peering through the blinds to see the three street names in sight.

"Streets," Amy realized, "Of course, street names!"

"The only place in Florida - probably all of America - with those three street names on the same junction, and, Ava, you've got that face on again."

"Hm, what face?" she turned from the table she'd been looking through.

"The 'he's hot when he's clever' face," he smirked.

"Oh, really?" Avalon raised an eyebrow, beginning to smirk back, "Well you've got that stunned face again cos I'm just too bloody gorgeous."

'What?' Amy mouthed to Lena and River, completely confused.

River just held up a hand to stop them from interrupting, a soft smile on her face as she looked over to the pair.

The two ended up laughing and the Doctor led Avalon away to explore. Over their travels, the people they'd met had started to assume they were a couple. To further the teases between each other they would make small remarks like that and would end up laughing like it was nothing.

"Egotistical Fairy Tale Man," Avalon playfully pushed him.

"Conceited singer," the Doctor countered.

River had went behind them and felt the need to point out an immediate danger. The last thing she wanted was for danger to harm them while they were distracted with their flirting, "You realize this is almost certainly a trap, of course."

"I noticed the phone, yes," the Doctor agreed.

"What about it?" Avalon looked back at River, curious what they knew.

"It was cut off. So how did the child phone from here?"

"OK. But why would anyone want to trap us?" Amy dreaded the answer as she knew it wouldn't be god at all.

"Don't know. Let's see if anyone tries to kill us, and work backwards," the Doctor declared and brought them into a new area of the warehouse where an operating table was located in.

"Now why would a little girl be here?" Lena blinked with horror, "What were they doing with her!?"

River moved up to the table and took a general observation of the instruments and components around, "It's non-terrestrial, definitely alien, probably not even from this time zone."

The Doctor was nearby some crates and was already rummaging through them, "Which is odd, because... look at this!"

"It's Earth tech, contemporary," River concluded.

"Very contemporary. Cutting edge. This is from the space program!"

"And aliens stole it?" Avalon guessed.

"Apparently," the Doctor popped on a space helmet over his head.

"Why? If you can make it to Earth, why steal technology that can barely make it to the moon?"

"Maybe cos it's cooler," the Doctor lofted the visor, ridiculously excited, "Look how cool this stuff is!"

Amy looked less than amused, "Cool aliens?"

"Well, what would you call me?"

"An alien," Avalon passively remarked as she moved for River.

"Oi!"

"That's not what your stories said," River nudged Avalon with a small smirk.

"Oh c'mon how did you read my stories?" Avalon ignored her blush and pouted. River just winked with a laugh and returned to her work. Avalon huffed, but discreetly cast a glance towards the Doctor while he went to greet Canton and Rory. She blushed deeper and quickly looked away, focusing on whatever was in front of her.

Amy took the distraction of the Doctor with Canton and Rory to get closer to River, "River..."

"I know what you're thinking," River cut her off without even looking at her.

"No, you don't."

"You're thinking if we can find the Space Man in 1969, and neutralize it, then it won't be around in 2011 to kill the Doctor."

"So why aren't we looking harder?" Lena had been watching River work around the operating table with reluctance ans found it strange seeing how much River always claims she loves the thrill and danger.

"Because it doesn't work like that, Lena," River looked up at her, "We came here because of what we saw in the future. If we try and prevent the future from happening, we create a paradox."

"Time can be rewritten," Avalon turned for them, joining the conversation.

"Believe me, there are just some things that can't be rewritten, no matter how much you'd like to," River took a long breath and sadly looked back at the table components.

Amy was less than prone to believe all that, "Says who?"

"Who do you think?" River scoffed and followed a cable with her flashlight, coming up to a manhole cover, "What's this? Doctor! Look at this," she pushed the cover aside as the Doctor walked to her.

"So where does that go?" he watched her scan the hole.

"There's a network of tunnels running under here."

"Life signs?"

"No, nothing that's showing up," River put away her scanner and moved to climb down the hole.

"Those are the worst kind," the Doctor made a face, "Be careful."

"Careful?" River scoffed, "Tried that once, ever so dull."

"Maybe someone should come with you," Avalon offered, peering from the other side down to the darkness, "Never know what could be roaming there..."

"No!" River nearly yelled upon hearing the suggestion, managing to make Avalon jump on her spot, "You go search for there with Amy and Lena."

"But-"

"Go!"

Avalon blinked with surprise and anger, then headed off towards Amy and Lena, muttering certain things under hear breath. The Doctor watched her go with a sense of irritation, "You didn't have to be so rude about it," he scolded River, "She's already so..."

"She's not coming down here, you're supposed to be looking after her, remember?"

"How do you know about that?" the Doctor became suspicious.

"I'm from the future, how do I know about everything?" River rolled her eyes and laughed, resuming her climb down.

A while later, the Doctor had noticed the small incident and was about to go and talk to Avalon when River had popped out of the hole again, looking out of breath.

But just like that, she calmed, "All clear. Just tunnels, nothing down there I can see. Er, give me five minutes, I want to take another look round."

"Stupidly dangerous," the Doctor remarked to her.

"And your point would be...?" River smirked and went back down.

"Rory, would you mind going with her?" the Doctor turned to the human nearby.

Rory eyed the hole with distaste, "Yeah, a bit."

"Then I appreciate it all the more," the Doctor clapped Rory on the back and watched human sulky walk for the hole.

"Hang on, River, I'm coming too," poor Rory started climbing down the ladder.

Finally, the Doctor was able to go to the twins, deciding to start with Avalon on account of how strangely she was behaving today. While the ginger was sorting through a crate, he quietly moved closer to her from behind.

"If you try any of your little sneak-up-tactics on me I'll kick you right here and now," Avalon warned without looking back.

"How do you do that!?" the Doctor stood beside her with endless intrigue.

"Same way my mum caught me when I was kid," Avalon glanced at him, "I'm a woman, I've got eyes on the back of my head."

"Thinking a lot more of your mother today, you know," the Doctor tried to be casual about it, "Any...specific reasons..."

Avalon let go of what she was doing and turned to him, "It doesn't matter." She certainly wasn't going to tell him about the death she witnessed. "Just drop it, Doctor."

"I just want to help," the Doctor softly said, her snappish tone not at all offensive to him. It had been quite some time since she used that kind of tone with anyone. Something wasn't right and he needed to know in order to fix it and make her happy again.

"Yeah, well, I'm sorry," Avalon returned to her rummage through crates, preferring to occupy her mind with anything that wasn't his death at the lake. "I get moody sometimes. Nothing you can do anything about it."

"Hey," he reached for her hand, stopping her from moving away, "I'm the fairy-tale man, I can do anything, remember?"

Avalon looked at him for a minute, though once again saw him dying at the lake and had to look away before she teared up, "Not this time," she whispered and took her hand away.

The Doctor didn't like her reaction and was going to keep insisting when they heard the little girl calling from another room, "Help me!" she cried, "Help! Help me!"

Canton pulled out his gun, "It's her!" he rushed after the calls of the girl.

Avalon took off as well in an attempt to avoid further questioning from the Doctor. As Amy and Lena went to follow, Amy stopped and doubled over in pain.

"Amy!" Lena stopped beside the ginger while the Doctor ran to them.

"Amy? What's wrong?"

Amy supported herself between Lena and the Doctor, "I need to tell you something!" she looked at the Doctor.

"Doctor!" they heard Canton call.

"It's important. It's really, really important," Amy insisted.

"Doctor! Quickly!"

"What, now?" the Doctor pulled both women towards the calls of Canton, slightly worried he hadn't heard anything from Avalon for a good while. He found Canton on the floor of another section of the warehouse, unconscious, "Canton! Canton, are you OK?"

"Is he all right?" Lena looked around for her missing sister, "Avalon!" she called.

"Just unconscious. Got a proper whack though," the Doctor observed.

"Doctor, I need to tell you something," Amy kept insisting, taking the opportunity that Lena had gone for Avalon, "I have to tell you now!"

"Not a great moment, Amy," the Doctor gave her a sharp look.

"No, it's important, it has to be now!"

"Help! Help me!" they heard the little girl getting closer, "Help me!"

"Doctor... I'm pregnant," Amy finally said, leaving the Doctor more than surprised.

"It's the astronaut!" Avalon came running through, completely out of breath, Lena behind her, "It's the..."

The Doctor stood just as the astronaut came to sight behind the twins, "Here, now!" he ordered the twins and they quickly ran over.

"That's it," Amy realized, "The astronaut!"

The astronaut raised its hand, making Amy think it would attack. She turned for Canton's gun and missed the astronaut lifting it's visor to reveal she was the little girl calling for help.

"Help me!" the girl cried.

"Get down!" Amy ordered as she stood up with the gun.

Avalon realized what Amy intended to do, "No, Amy!"

"What are you doing!?" the Doctor's eyes widened as Amy turned, ready to shoot.

"Saving your life!" and Amy fired the gun at the astronaut, only seeing it was a little girl after she'd fired.

[daddysfangirls-marvel]

Salem Witch

Request

Warning: fluff

Summary: May I request a Loki x (witch) reader. Where the avengers find out that Loki has been sneaking out of the tower frequently and when they follow him they find him entering an old-time magic shop and when they find him he is kissing a woman they never saw before. ( y/n is a survivor from the Salem witch trials)

As Loki was under the secure and watchful eye on the Avengers it was their job to know where he was all times of the day 24/7 no matter what. Now imagine their surprise when they realized that Loki had been regularly sneaking out for the past 8 months and no one noticed. They didn’t even figure it out it was Director Fury who had to point it out to them. Instead of confronting him and punishing him for it  Fury demanded they find out where he was going and discovering if he was a threat once again or not.

Now instead of spending their Saturday doing something productive they were trailing after Loki to where ever he was going. Nobody was happy, no bout but Loki who seemed to walk with a pep in his step.

“Where ever he’s going he really wants to get there. Guys, he’s picking up the pace.” Sam said into his earpiece. Everyone was in casual clothes scattered around the street blending into the crowd. 

“Woah, guys he stopped. He’s going into a ... magic shop?”  

“He is a wizard,” Peter said as he and Clint bought their hotdogs. He was excited this was his first undercover.

The shop was sort of dark and creepy the window display had cauldrons, books and little bottles of strange liquids. The shop was called The Witch’s Cauldron and it didn't look to have any customers at the moment.

“I’m going in”

“What?!” before anyone could say anything else Tony was moving across the street and towards the shop, the others quickly followed him. All of them quickly and quietly slipped into the shop. Wanda used her magic to make sure the bell wouldn’t ring as they opened the door. There was no one at the register the shop seemed completely empty of people. The shop itself looked like one of those stores found in the Harry Potter movies. The team quickly forgot about their mission and began to wander around the store looking at the strange things that lined the wall.

Peter and Wanda were looking at the books towards the back of the store they seemed to be triggering her magic and his spidey sense. Wanda was in some type of daze as her fingers trace the spines of the books she slowly pulled one off the shelves. She was suddenly brought out of it as Peter started rapidly hitting her shoulders she looked up and swatted him away. He pointed to an open door at the other end of the shop she looked and found Loki gently holding and kissing a woman. Tony stepped out from between aisle and saw Peter pointing he followed his finger and-

“Well, I’ll be damned”

The two Pulled apart and Loki pulled her behind him before any of them could see her face.

“What are you doing here” Although Loki’s voice was low and somewhat controlled they could obviously hear the anger and feel the pure hate he was giving off.  It scared Peter so much that he stepped behind a shelve and pulled Wanda along for safety.

“You weren’t at the tower we got worried about you,” Natasha said in a sickly sweet voice as she rounded the corner. The others came to the back as well. “ But you seem to be having fun.” Clint joined her in teasing him.

“Brother, you didn’t tell me you were seeing a lady. I beautiful one at that.” Thor said grinning at said beauty.

The woman behind Loki took it upon herself to introduce herself. “ Hello, I’m (Y/n)” she said peaking over his shoulder and waving.

“Don’t waste your night with them, love, they aren’t worth it.” Loki all but growled. but reached back and gave her hand a gentle squeeze. 

“But that’s the spider-boy you were talking about and mini witch. I want to meet them.”She whined behind him. Peter and Wanda peaked their heads out from around the corner. They both smiled. Peter gave a small wave. She waved back. Loki rolled his eyes and grabbed both of her hands pinning them to his back.

“Alright, let’s get straight to the point,” Bucky said rubbing his hands then pointing at the two “ are you two planning some evil scheme?” 

“no”

“yes”  Loki turned around looking back at (y/n) she just smiled “ We planned to turn my disgusting pervy next-door neighbor into a goat.”

“...How pervy is he?” 

“eyes your boobs, Pictures up your skirt, into teenagers pervy.”

“Then a goat he shall be. I think we’re done here. I’m going back to the tower my show is on.” Bucky tried to walk away but Steve stopped him pulling him back.

“Brother, why don’t you invite your lady to dinner with us?”

“No. You shouldn’t even be here. Why did you come- you know what, it doesn’t matter just leave.”

Next thing she knew everyone was in a huge argument. The voices in the store were getting louder and louder. Some were siding with Loki say leave him again it was obvious he wasn’t doing bad just making-out with his girlfriend, who they would definitely question him on later, and the others were saying that Loki and his girlfriend needed to go back to the tower with them where they both would be integrated further. (Y/n) was scared of their argument not because they were arguing and being super loud but because they were in a very small space filled with very valuable and irreplaceable items.

And her fears became true when Thor turned his shoulder hit one of the shelves successfully knocking over several items. (Y/n) squealed as she pushed Loki out of the way and thrust her hands forward stopping the bottles and books from hitting the floor. All conversation stopped as everyone watched (y/n) wave her hands and everything placed itself back on the shelve.

“If you all don’t mind can we take this outside, please.”

Everyone was speechless they all just nodded and slowly filed out of the store and into the coffee shop next door. She told the owner, her friend, that she needed the shop for a while and he nodded simply left. Only telling her to close up.

“You’re enchanted,” Steve said finally breaking the silences he watched as she waved her hands and all the blinds closed and locked the door.

“A witch actually. Coffee, tea?” she said waving her hand again teas and coffee began to float in from the kitchen. 

“You’re a witch” Peter gasped as a cup of tea floated and found its way to him. He squealed as he took hold of it right out of the air. The others did the same picking strange teas and coffee straight from the air.

“Since the Salem trails. One of the originals.” (Y/n) said snapping her fingers pastries flew in plating the table.

“The Salem trail. Woah you’re old ...but young” Peter said looking astonished (Y/n) laughed nodding. To make him even Happier she made sparks come out of her hands. He gasped and squealed some more.

“So, you two are together. How did that happen?” Tony asked 

“How are you still alive?” Sam asked “ you have to be at least three hundred years old”

“346 to be exact. And I met Loki a year ago he came into my shop. He thought it was one of those fake magicians shops. He was very shocked to find out I was the real thing. At first, we were just friends talking and hanging out then we were dating and kissing...friends don’t do that” (Y/n) says as she slowly leaned into Loki he leaned down into her.

“No they don’t” he chuckled before giving her a gentle kiss “ But we’re not friends anymore” he whispered against her lips pulling her another kiss.

“Is Hogwarts real?” Peter asked in a shy whispering voice as if he was scared to ask.

Loki rolled his eyes, the little spider boy had told him about the Harry Potter series and Hogwarts even pestered him to see if there was a magical school as such in Asgard. There was but Peter didn’t need to know. 

(Y/n) smiled pushing away from Loki “ I’m sorry Peter there is no Hogwarts, no big castle, no Dumbledor. Witch and wizards are usual homeschooled, tutored, or taught in small schoolhouses on the outskirts or hidden away.”

“so no brooms, no quidditch?”

“yes, brooms but they’re not used as much as before too many planes and drones. And Quidditch it’s an official witch and wizards sport as of 2010 they hold the champions cup once a year. People really liked what Rowling did so they rolled with it.” Everyone watched as Peter began to vibrate with excitement at this new information. “ Maybe I can take you to the next game” Peter couldn’t even use words he just nodded his head rapidly as his tears filled with tears from the excitement.

“I like your girlfriend,” Wanda said she too was excited.

“ Lady (Y/n), you should join us for dinner. We’d like to get to know you “ Thor said smiling sweetly

“I’d like that, I’d like that very much”

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[yandere-oppai]

What A Sad Child

Yandere! Oc x Reader

Word count:  1,579

Note: Not Beta-Read

I normally write for original characters when I want to practice shortening my stories.

You opened the door to your shared apartment and was met with the stench of what you could closely relate to a boy’s locker room. One that was occupied by the participants of a winning game. Sweaty and pungent. You placed your belongings in their proper areas after locking the door. The living room was a mess, as it usually is after one of your long shifts. You grabbed a nearby basket and began picking up the clothes thrown around the room. As you passed by one of the nearby windows you quietly opened it to air out the room. The next item of clothing you came across was a sock that was crusted stiff. You cringed before picking up the object by its corner and throwing it into the basket. You moved on to cleaning up the empty cup ramen containers and soda bottles that were left on the coffee table. 

Vacuuming and a good wipe down of the kitchen could wait till tomorrow. Right now all you wanted was a showing and to sleep. A 15-hour shift as a nursing aid did nothing for your aching back. You made your way to the bedroom and noticed another, stronger, musky scent coming from the area. When you opened the door the smell hit you full-on, causing you to gag slightly. When you opened the window to its fullest, shifting on the bed caught your attention.

“(Y/N)???” Came his tired voice. He sat up in bed, his light brown hair still messy but had an oily shine. His skin taking on the same look. The smell was coming from him.

“Anton, how long have you been in bed? You look like a mess and stink,” you said as you looked through your dresser for a change of clothes. “I have to wash the bedsheets now too.”

“I was waiting for you to come home. Why didn’t you stop by during one of your breaks?” He pouted, now standing behind you. You rolled your eyes at his antics.

“I keep telling you, you don’t need me here to bathe you. You can do that on your own. Plus the nursing home is 15 minutes away, taking a good chunk of my half-hour lunch away. That’s just a waste of gas,” you say. He follows you into the bathroom and removes his only item of clothing, his boxers. He’s grown too used to this.

“But I love you,” He grinned. More like loved the fact that you take care of him. 

The shower consists of him standing in the mainstream of hot water with you getting little slivers of that warmth. Always you washing and shampooing him, but never the same in exchange. Always you cradling him. You always forget work was stressful, but this life was painful. That’s why you tried your best to stay away. Take on as many hours as you could.

Soon as the shower ended, you got the both of you ready for bed. Applying lotions and skincare to his damaged, speckled skin. Then blowdrying his hair. You simply threw on a long t-shirt. After changing the sheets you practically jumped into bed. A night of dreamless sleep is what you were hoping for. The arms that encircled your body and pulled you into an unwelcome warm reminded you that sleep was an escape. 

“It’s cold mommy,” he mumbled into your neck before falling asleep. This was life.

Nights later, after staying home for your day off, things came to a head. 

“Where are you going?” Came a quiet voice from the couch. Anton had been napping there for most of the day. Only getting up of his bath and meals. 

You had been dressed in casual dark jeans and a bright blue button-up blouse. You sliding on your flats is what seemed to be what woke him. Your hair was different, nicer than usual. Nothing like you’d wear to work.

“I told you a week ago. One of my friends invited me to drinks. I’m about to head out,” you explained. You made your way over to the coffee table to grab the keys off of them when his hand shot out and stole them. “Anton!”

“I don’t want to go. Your days off should be with me. They don’t need you there,” he grumbles, sitting on the keys. You crossed your arms and looked at him.

“And you need me here? Anton, I haven’t seen any of them in a good month. Anytime I’m not at work, I’m here. Practically being a nanny to you!” You raised your voice a little as you tried to push him over a little. 

“You do not! You’re here because that’s what couples are supposed to do. You’re supposed to show me that you love me. I can’t help that I need a little more help than others. You said you loved me for who I am!” He whined and shoved you back slightly. You were starting to get frustrated.

“That has nothing to do with the situation right now. I just want to leave. Now, get off the keys. You’re acting like a brat,” you said through gritted teeth. His antics are starting to get to you. The unsatisfactory relationship you’re in, finally getting to you. 

“No! You just want to leave me. You...You hate me don’t you?!” He yelled. Causing you to be taken aback. 

“Anton calm d-” 

“You hate me! You hate me! You hate me!” He continued to yell.

“You know that’s not true, you-” You were cut off yet again.

“Yes, you do! You keep leaving me when you don’t have to! You want to leave and never come back! Cause you’re selfish. You know my family could take care of us financially, yet you still leave. Going to that shitty job, just so you can leave me! All because you’re SELFISH!” he bellowed. 

That word, that single was the straw that broke the camel’s back. YOU were the selfish one? The one who put this man on a pedestal? The one who sacrificed so much, just so this man wouldn’t frown? The one who wanted financial independence from his parents so as to not be a burden? No, no, no. You must’ve heard him wrong.

“Did...Did you just call me selfish?” You pointed at yourself. Your voice had gotten quiet at this point. A little lower than your normal speaking tone. 

“Yes. I. Did. Because that’s what you are!” He nodded his head to reaffirm himself. You took a few deep breaths. But nothing could soothe your growing nerves. 

“You’re calling me selfish? When I didn’t even want to be in this relationship. You know, back in high school when you asked me out I didn’t want to say yes. But I felt bad. And when I wanted to break up after graduation? I wanted to fucking leave you as soon as possible. You were just as clingy but emotionally detached as you are now. I’m more unhappy now than I was back then,” A tear slid down your cheek as you let out a hiccup. “You just had to go and threaten me with suicide to get me to come back. Even while knowing how that affected me. You still did that. You brought me back to the worst relationship of my life. And you sit there, putting on a hissy fit because I just want to actually feel like I’m alive. Yet you call me...selfish?”

At this point he was quiet. His glare was now gone. Relaced with a wide-eyed mouth agape with shock, type of expression. Like he didn’t know he’d found all of this out just now. Like you both didn’t know the relationship was already over. You still had one more thing to say though. 

“You know what, keep the keys. I’ll just call an Uber. I’ll be back for my stuff some other time. Hope you have a good life,” you began making your way to the door. 

Anton finally snapped out of it and followed you like a lost puppy, calling your name. He was sobbing now. You weren’t even crying as violently as him. His wails made it sound as if he was in intense physical pain. Like he was being stabbed. You were opening the coat closet when he said something that made you pause for a moment.

“I’ll actually do it this time! I’ll kill myself! If you walk out I’ll slit my wrists in the bathtub and you’ll never hear from me again! It’ll all be your fault!” He yelled as a last-ditch effort. You still didn’t look at him.

“I’m not falling for that again,” you said. Though you will be calling emergency services as soon as you were safe in the elevator. 

He ran off back in the living room. As you were pulling on your second coat sleeve on a quick piercing bash was inflicted on the back of your skull. You were stunned for a moment and reach for the back of your head. After pulling your hand back, you recognized the red crimson that stained your fingers as being blood. It was like watching a movie in slow motion. Looking up at Anton as he breathed quick angry breaths. With tears in his eyes and snot dripping out his nose. As he brought the steel vase down on your head once more you couldn’t help but think…

‘What a sad, sad child”

[god-hunter]

I’m Still Evolving. And I like it!

Hey Tumblr!  It’s been a while.

I haven’t written in over a month, because honestly life’s been pretty similar lately.  I’ve fallen into a steady routine of taking care of myself.  Physical work outs have waned in place of working out mentally.  And what I mean by that is, I’ve been continuing my Self-Work with my Diary Entries and just recently caught up to 2019.  That was a Hell of a trip.

But I didn’t get on here to rant about that.  Instead, I wanted to acknowledge the now, since for the past few weeks, it seems like all I’ve been doing is living in the past.

So, what’s been happening since mid-August, or whenever that last entry was?

Well, that date with the Social Distancer never happened.  I was annoyed about that, but not enough to want to actually get into it on here.  I didn’t really care too much and I still had Needy Girl coming over every week, so that was fine.

But yeah.  In the time that I’ve been taking down my notes and taking my time to write out 2018, taking some healthy time in between and then doing the same process for 2019, I’ve basically been applying to jobs!

That Thursday Interview was garbage, actually.  I was there for 5 minutes, because I didn't really know much about Excel and asked for too much.  But whatever, no point in wasting anyone’s time.  I wasn’t in love with the job description anyway.

I’ve been applying to all sorts of things, and honestly I’ve gone through the motions.  Some days are better than others.  Sometimes it seems like jobs are plentiful and it’s so easy to get an interview.  Then other times it seems like the competition is just as steep as it ever was, and I’ve even gotten to the point where I’m not getting the jobs I Don’t want.  So put that where you will...

But for now I don’t care about any of that, because I’m on an Upswing. I know that I’ll keep plugging away and find something eventually.  Also, now that I’ve gotten a lot of that Self-Work out of the way, I really do feel Mentally, better.  I’ve sort of, cleared the air for myself about the past.  I’ve been honest with myself about my own mistakes, and.. I don’t want to say unforgiving of her errors, but definitely acknowledging them and kind of letting them go.  Because now so much time has passed that the break up was actually 7 months ago!  I stopped counting.  That’s a Really good sign!!

I hit a drought when it came to ladies, but that recently opened itself back up. Someone actually swiped right on me on Tinder 3 weeks ago!!!  This was a bigger girl, and not an immediate pick for me, but I said, “Why not?”  And ya know what?  It was a good choice.  We’ve gone on 3 dates since then and we have a 4th one tonight.  It turns out that we have more in common than I originally thought.  She’s interesting, and for now it seems that we’re both in the same place about this.  We want to keep it casual and just fun, while the rest of the world sucks.

Better details would be that we talked about 3 times on the app, about just movies and random interests.  But then she threw me her number to keep texting while she had an overnight shift at work, and I dunno..  something just worked while we kept talking.  Conversation was actually interesting and we agreed to have our first Zoom Date later that week.

That Zoom Date happened to be on a Thursday as well, when I took a great interview.  I was there for an hour!  This office building was impressive and a little intimidating.  It was your typical movie scene with glass dividers between desk set ups, I was in this nice conference room surrounded by glass at the head of the table, while my interviewer was a Woman that was basically my age, at the other end of the table.  But there’s no point in going into more details, because I didn’t get it.  I did like this job position though.  It was for a Client Coordinator and I would definitely like to do something like that in the future.  Especially for the right pay. But anyway, it’s needless to say that I had something to talk about that night on the Zoom Date!  So I broke the ice by talking all about the interview and we laughed about stuff.  She was clearly very nervous, but I got to see her Cat, she saw mine.  She did the inevitable Zoom Tour of the apartment.  I didn’t really do one, because my place was a mess, but she didn’t ask either.  It didn’t matter, because everything else was going very well.  We got more comfortable as we brought things up and found out that we both like a lot of in-depth reviews on YouTube or just watching Let’s Plays or Video Game reviews.  We even got into Dream Analysis and she talked about some real stuff without getting depressing.  We’re definitely on the same liberal scope, which is refreshing.  But she’s also not overtly political. We even talked about past hook ups gone wrong (started by her, not me) which is more of a friend thing, but still the conversation was very comfortable.  We stayed up pretty late that night, but eventually said goodnight.  We both knew we’d definitely do this in person which ended up the next week.  The Zoom Date helped us skip steps.  We didn’t meet for dinner or anything.  Instead, we just took it straight to her place for Sushi and a YouTube party.  We made out at the very end of the night.  That was nice.  She appreciated that I didn’t just go all in right away, but took time to actually hang out with her first.  [That Sushi was delicious by the way.] Oh yeah, we’re into the same music which is SUCH a huge plus to me. Yeah..  we definitely have a little spark, which is nice.  But after what I’ve been through.  I really can’t jump into something so fast.  And she is in full agreement with that too.

Our next in person date was at my place, where we basically did the same thing over Chinese.  It was some YouTube reviews and watching this Comedy Challenge show that I’ve been telling her about since we started talking.  She really loved it, so that was nice.  We shared fruit and chocolate dip too, which was great.  I like that she’s trying to behave (and frankly doing better than me) when it comes to eating, because health has become very important to me within the last 2 or 3 years. 

Take tonight for instance.  We’re going to have a big salad and charcuterie for dinner. (fancy cheese and meat plate) with wine.  She also told me about this trippy movie that I saw last night on her suggestion and we’re looking forward to diving into the meaning of it and stuff.  That’s the type of stuff that I’m really all about. Philosophical Musing and all of that. Oh yeah!  She respects the Hell out of my Self-Work writing that I’ve told her about.  At very first, she just admitted that she wished she wrote more, but the fact that she was a writer means that she still has it in her.  She’s a thinker, and I like my Women who can be analytical about their Media or the World.  It’s important. It’s interesting.

Just don’t over-analyze me, or us, or anything. (At least within reason).

So who knows?  So far, so good.

There was more to say until yesterday, but I’ll bring this girl up too. An old Highschool Flame actually hit me up on FB.  To keep the story way uncomplicated, we’ve basically known each other for 20 years, she’s an adjusted Single Mom now, so it’s clear she’s been through some shit, and I’ve clearly been through my own. So somehow on FB, we’ve been complimenting each other and I was the first to just message her a hello, which turned into walking on a trail and meeting her son very quickly.

I was tempted to write that day, but I wanted to see how it played out first.  Well, that day not only did I get along great with the kid, but she whispered in his ear and he invited me to Pizza Lunch with them, which was adorable.  He really liked me, actually sat in my lap and hugged me at the table..  It was sweet.

But we tried this again, just the 2 of us yesterday on a 2nd trail walk, and it was a no go.  I’m skipping her random FB message saying, “This is gonna sound weird, but thank you for being the kind of male I can have around my son.” Hmmm.  If I didn’t catch a vibe before, I certainly did, then.

But I was super cool about it.  Set up a Friday hang out in time, and I was pleased to hear that it would just be us while her son was in school.  This was the perfect time to feel the vibe and find out if this was just a friend thing or actually a date.

But again, I’ll keep it short.  It was just a Friend Thing.  I noticed 2 things.   1.  She sighed when I said, “I swear, the weather is always like this when I go on a date.”  She didn’t say anything, but that sigh, practically said it all. 2.  She brought up other dudes.  

From there, I admitted that I’ve been dating too, and she was all excited to hear about my stuff.

Then later, I brought up her message and said I wasn’t sure if there was a vibe or not.  She didn’t say no, but... she did make it clear that things were getting serious with this one co-worker she was dating or whatever.  And then she was back-pedaling and saying stuff like, “Wait.  Let me just make sure it’s not getting weird.”

So yeah.  This was just friends.  And that’s fine, because she’s awesome!  And so is her kid.  And I’ve already got this casual thing that I like a lot.

I was upfront with old flame.  I told her that I want to keep dating for the rest of the year.  Keep meeting people and experiencing new personalities.  And if things get serious along the way, sort them out as I may.

Our hang got cut off while she dove more into my old hang ups.  [Someone told us to get out of the parking lot because it was private property...]. But either way, it was still a very fruitful hangout.  And even though the rejection was disappointing, it wasn’t necessarily unexpected.  Honestly, it would’ve been too out-of-nowhere, and even Reboundish.  I’ve learned that if it feels too good to be true, it probably is.

But this is what it’s about!  Keeping your eyes and heart open.  I swiped on a bunch of people last night with no expectations.  [When you treat it like a game, you’re less bound to get hurt.]. That one doesn’t merit explaining, but I just can’t stand how shallow and callous people are.  So what’s the point in being invested at first look?  Just swipe and see what happens.  If you get the message, then you can start to feel things once they check those right boxes. But in order to find success in that, you gotta know what those boxes even are, right?

So anyway, yeah.  I’m a lot more pragmatic about things. I’ve got a Tinder Girl now and things are going well. =)

I’m also still hanging out with Needy Girl, who I’m working on making less Needy.  She really needs to sort out her shit and move on.

We had a whole talk about how she’s been mistaking hooking up for dating and I feel bad for her in a way, but there’s just something about her that doesn’t check all the boxes.  Attraction is definitely part of it, but it’s mostly personality. She’s just not confident in herself enough.  She’s hurt and super sensitive.  She’s got this shy, cute, naive thing going for her on top of all of our shared interests.  But that’s not enough.  Especially with how she started things with me, making me the Other Man, and throwing in this Cheating Atmosphere.

I said it before, but that is not a good Foundation for a Relationship.

And again I’ve reiterated for her that I don’t really want a Relationship right now.  At all!

So, Communication is Key.  I’ve said it before with the Ex and even though she was in full agreement, somehow we let enough small things go that they turned into big things.  Stuff that was swept under the rug became huge Resentment Issues later.  So, fuck knows, man...

Alls I know is that things are very different now.  And I like it that way. I’m still Evolving.

[darriness]

Fic - Like You Wanna Be Loved 7/16

Author: darriness

Word Count: 1710

Summary: Confusion

Author’s Note: I'm just breaking all the rules now lol The real reason I posted a chapter today is because the next chapter? On Sunday? Things start to go 'boom' so I wanted to get there ;) Thanks as always to my beta @darrenismydarcy and this chapter was also supported by ideas from @slayediest.

AO3 Link

Kurt’s fine with being just friends. He is. Really. Would he rather be holding hands with Blaine and maybe kissing? Of course. Would he like to curl up with him and watch musicals and go walking hand in hand down the hallway? In a perfect world, sure. But he’s totally fine with friendship if that’s what Blaine is offering.

It’s just...it doesn’t FEEL like friendship.

As the weeks progress, Blaine’s actions toward him are not what Kurt could call strictly ‘friendly’. He’s begun to sit next to Kurt during glee practice and will more often than not slide his chair right next to Kurt so that they are sitting thigh to thigh. He casually touches Kurt all the time; on the shoulder, on the hand, and a few times even on his lower back. He keeps making flirty comments and Kurt has lost count of the amount of winks that have been thrown his way.

He tries to play it off as nothing. That Blaine is just a naturally flirtatious person and that his actions toward Kurt are no different than his actions toward anyone else.

Except they ARE different.

He’s purposely started watching the way Blaine is with the other people in glee, and while Blaine is friendly, and sweet, and charming, he isn’t what Kurt would consider flirty with any of them.

He keeps what Kurt is coming to see as a professional distance from them all. He interacts with them during glee, and in the hallway, and during classes (if the stories from the other glee members are anything to go by) but he has yet to accept a single invitation to hang out after school beyond Kurt’s bowling invitation. The girls keep trying to get Kurt to ask him to hang out again but Kurt is still a little gun shy, and he’s becoming more confused by the day.

“So I was thinking,” Mercedes says one afternoon near the end of October while they wait for glee practice to start, “that we are long overdue for a girls’ sleepover.”

Rachel turns and nods enthusiastically from the front row, “Great idea!” She says.

“Yeah I’m in.” Tina says, without looking up from her phone.

Mercedes turns to Kurt, “You in, boo?” she asks.

Kurt shrugs, “Of course.” He says, “Just not at my house because then Rachel will spend the whole night with Finn and not us.”

“I will not!” Rachel scoffs, but Tina, Mercedes, and even Finn, throw Rachel dubious looks. She huffs and turns her nose up, “Fine. We can do it at my place. My dads have been asking why you ladies, and Kurt,” She says with a gesture toward Kurt and he appreciates the separation that she may not have afforded him, or even thought to make, a few years ago, “haven’t been over lately.”

“Excellent.” Mercedes says, “What about you, Blaine?”

Blaine has been sitting silently next to Kurt for a few minutes, typing away on his phone even as the heat of his thigh seeps through his chinos and through Kurt’s jeans onto his skin. He looks up with a questioning look and smiles at Mercedes, “What about me, what?” He asks.

Kurt’s heart pounds as he looks between Mercedes and Blaine. He’s not sure why he didn’t think of the possibility of Mercedes inviting Blaine but he’s caught off guard by it and he both hopes Blaine says yes, and no, in equal measure.

“Ladies, and Kurt, sleepover at Rachel’s. We usually do them every month or so. Typical sleepover stuff; painting nails, eating snacks while watching movies, discussing boys. You interested?” Mercedes asks.

Blaine smiles and Kurt has gotten to know Blaine well enough by now to know he’s going to decline, “I’m sorry. I wish I could but I can’t.”

He doesn’t give an excuse or even ask for a specific date that wasn’t provided to him (a blanket refusal?) but just smiles at each of them in turn before going back to his phone where his smile dissolves into a frown.

Of course it was a refusal. It’s always a refusal. Kurt watches Blaine for a moment and tries to figure him out. What keeps Blaine from hanging out with them after school? Does he secretly not like any of them? Is he polite at school because he has to be, but would rather not spend time with them? Or is there something else going on?

Kurt is prevented from contemplating any further by Mr. Schue entering the room with a jubilant cry of ‘Mashups!’ Kurt quickly looks away as Blaine looks up from his phone but keeps looking out of the corner of his eye as the other boy pockets his phone and smiles brightly at their teacher.

“All right everybody, break off into pairs and take some time to rehearse a mashup of your choice as a warm up!” Mr. Shue says, and even before he’s done talking Blaine is turning toward him.

“Be my partner?” He asks with bright eyes.

Kurt smiles, “Yeah.” He says and Blaine’s eyes brighten further at the acceptance.

“Come on, I wanna try something on the piano!” Blaine says, and then he reaches for Kurt’s hand to pull him down the risers.

Kurt looks down at their joined hands and then around at the other members of the club. No one else is touching, not even Finn and Rachel (who never stop touching) who are still in their original seats and Finn looks like he’s getting told what to do.

As they get to the piano, Kurt feels Blaine squeeze his hand gently before letting go and sitting down on the piano bench, “I was thinking we could do something a little...romantic.” Blaine says and there’s another goddamn wink.

Kurt’s head is seriously starting to hurt and he’s getting close to just asking Blaine what the hell is going on.

Except...then he’s afraid it’ll stop, and he really doesn’t want it to stop.

-- -- --

Blaine:

I’ve decided I’m totally a Patrick.

Kurt:

Dated a lot of women in your past then? :P

Blaine:

I’m a man with a lot of secrets ;) No but seriously, beyond the horrible wardrobe, I think he and I are a lot alike.

Kurt:

Well I definitely wouldn’t mind you owning a store where I could get skin care products at wholesale  prices.

Blaine:

:) And you are so obviously David. You know, after he stops being an entitled a-hole.

Kurt is simultaneously assaulted with multiple thoughts and feelings as he reads Blaine’s text during French class. First, that Blaine is adorably unable to swear even in text form. Second, that Blaine just insinuated that he and Kurt are the equivalent to TV boyfriends (fiancés - Kurt’s brain automatically corrects) and that makes Kurt a little breathless. Third, that texting Blaine has become his favourite part of his day (outside of actually talking to Blaine but texting allows Kurt to keep talking to Blaine after school). And last, that Kurt is still incredibly confused about what the hell is happening between them.

The pair have kept up a near constant text conversation since exchanging numbers weeks ago (though at school Blaine will only text during his free period or lunch - which Kurt finds both adorable and frustrating). While Kurt loves the back and forth, and feels like he’s being flirted with even through a phone, he’s still under the impression that he and Blaine are just friends.

“Mr. Hummel, that wouldn’t be your phone out, would it?” Madame Munrow says from the front of the room and Kurt looks up to find his teacher looking at him with a quirked eyebrow. He knows she knows he’s on his phone, but he also knows that Madame Munrow loves him and won’t make a big deal out of it.

“Not at all, Madame.” He says, swiftly pocketing his phone with a smile.

His teacher rolls her eyes with a smile and a shake of her head before turning back to the board and Kurt goes back to listening and taking notes, even as his phone buzzes in his pocket again.

-- -- --

“Who are you texting?” Blaine quickly shields his phone as Bethany leans over the back of the couch later that night.

“No one. Just a friend.” He says, clicking his phone to turn it off.

“Kurt?” She asks with an eyebrow wiggle.

Blaine rolls his eyes affectionately, “So what if it was?” He asks.

Bethany’s expression turns serious as she leans an elbow on the back of the couch, rests her chin on her palm and sighs, “You like him, don’t you?” She asks.

Blaine shrugs, “It’s...nothing. We’re just friends.” He says, defensively.

Bethany’s lip quirks up as she sighs again and pushes off the couch, “Keep telling yourself that, big guy. Maybe if you say it enough, you’ll convince yourself.”

Blaine narrows his eyes at her, “When did you become thirty years old, and a therapist?” He asks and Bethany giggles before looking at Blaine with a soft smile.

“I want you to be happy, Blainers. That’s all.” She says with a shrug before wandering off to her room.

Blaine sighs and leans his head back on the couch as he watches her go. Happy. What is Bethany talking about? He IS happy. What would make her think he wasn’t?

What does she know anyway? She’s nine. Her idea of happiness is getting the puppy she’s been begging for for months.

He sighs again. Who is he kidding? She’s more astute than he is, than most of the people - child or adult - in his life.

His phone buzzes in his hand and he looks down to find a new text from Kurt.

Kurt:

Which one for tomorrow?

The text is accompanied by two pictures of Kurt, both with him smiling adorably at the camera with his hair lightly falling over his forehead, but wearing a different ascot in each.

Blaine smiles softly at the smiling face and can’t deny that texting Kurt is without a doubt one of his favourite parts of the day (beyond seeing Kurt in person).

He’s so screwed.

Blaine:

Well you look amazing in either but I’d go with the blue. It brings out your eyes.

What are you doing?! He yells at himself after hitting send.

[peaceisadirtyword]

At the other side of the bar (Marco Ilsø/Reader)

A/N: Hello! First of all, please, don’t even mention that title, it’s the worst title in history, I'm aware of that, but I really couldn’t think about any other, sorry 😂. So, as I said the other day, I wanted to write something with Marco for his birthday and that’s why I asked for some ideas. What I didn’t expect was that I would love all the ideas you sent me. I’ve decided that, as I couldn’t choose just one of them, I’ll write my fav ones and post all of them! by the end of the week you will want to kick me out of Tumblr lol.  Of course they will be shorter than usual, and I’ll post one per day until the first of October. 

This is the first one, the original idea belongs to someone who is anonymous but has amazing ideas (if you read this, I hope you like it💖) so thank you so much for sharing it with me!

And if you read all of that and want to read the rest, thanks! I hope you enjoy it and love Marco a lot because he deserves the world♥️.

Warnings: A failed attempt of fluff, mentions of alcohol and sex, drunk Alex, Marco it’s too cute to be real, failed flirting and the fact that I wrote this in class and probably it’s not very good.

Words: 1581 i’m trying my best I swear 

gif isn’t mine, I took it from @therealcalicali and it’s perfect for this lol

The night was busy, something quite normal considering it was a Friday night and everyone went out. The weather was nice for being Dublin and September was coming to an end so people went mad.

You barely could keep up and serve everyone their drinks, even if you had been working at the club for years and were quick, there was too many people.

It was well past one in the morning when you saw them. It was a large group, and some of them were already drunk, entering the pub singing and screaming. You looked at your coworker, but he was busy pouring a round of tequila shots to a group of girls. 

You'd have to deal with them alone. 

Luckily, only two of them approached the bar. They were quite handsome, both of them had long hair tied up on a man bun, and you couldn't help but blush when one of them winked at you. 

"Hello" you smiled politely "What can I get you?"

The one with dark hair and blue eyes smiled drunkenly at you.

"Whatever that includes you, love" he winked at you again, and you bit your lip, holding back a laugh.

The other one rolled his eyes, smiling softly at his friend's comment, and punched him on the arm.

"I'm afraid I'm not included in any of our options" you laughed, shaking your head "But hey, that was the worst pick up line I've heard tonight, so I'll give you a shot for free, as a reward"

The dark haired one smiled even wider as his friend laughed.

"I'm sorry about him" his friend shook his head while you served two shots for them "It's the third place, and he drank too much..."

"Don't worry, I'm used to it" you shrugged it off. He was really handsome, with blonde hair and clear eyes, and you found yourself staring at him as he drank the shot.

When he looked at you, you blushed and looked away.

What the hell?, you thought, You serve handsome men every single day, Y/N, control yourself. 

He smirked when he caught you looking at him.

"Well, do you want anything else?" you asked, pretending to be cool with his eyes fixed on you.

"Yeah, two beers, love, thank you" 

"Alex I'm sure she has a name, you don't have to call her love all the time" the blonde one raised his brow. 

"Come on, Marco, she loves it" Alex groaned and you laughed, pouring the beers for them.

Marco. You liked his name, it suited him.

"My name is Y/N" you said, putting the beers in front of them. Usually, you didn't tell your name to the clients, especially if they were drunk and trying to hit on you, but they were funny and nice... And maybe you wanted Marco to know your name.

"Y/N, beautiful name, almost as beautiful as your eyes" Alex winked at you (again) with a cheeky grin.

This time you couldn't hold back your laughter, but at least managed to hide it with a cough and covering your mouth with your hand.

Marco glared at Alex, who was already drinking his beer while checking out some girls who were dancing and laughing. 

"He's not usually like this" Marco sighed "He's nice and a gentleman and all of that, but when he drinks he's annoying"

You hummed, unable of stop looking at him.

"And how are you while drunk?" you tried to flirt, blushing when you heard yourself and realized how bad was it.

His eyes lit up for a moment, and he shot you a shy smile before taking a sip of his beer and answering you.

"You'll need to invite me to several more shots to find out"

"Good idea!" Alex had already finished his drink "Come on, another round of shots, my treat"

"Okay" you smiled "Any preference?"

"Tequila" he answered, putting his arm over Marco's shoulders "It's his favorite, you know? And we're celebrating his birthday which is today" he looked at him smiling.

"Alex, you don't have to tell everyone"

"Happy birthday!" you said, flashing an attempt of a sexy smile.

"Thanks" his eyes found yours again while he drank the shot and this time you looked back at him, feeling more confident when he bit his lip softly. 

"Y/N" your coworker touched your shoulder softly "Hey, I’m taking a break now, do you mind? I'll be back soon and then you can take it too"

"Yeah, of course, go" you nodded, and he thanked you before leaving "Okay guys, I need to keep working now, have fun, and if you need something just ask me" you winked at Marco, hoping it would not look as weird as you felt.

"See you, Y/N" 

"It was nice meeting you" Marco looked you up and down.

"Same" you blushed one last time and left to attend some other clients. 

Finally, you thought as you opened the door and stepped out. It was three in the morning, but you still had one hour until you closed. Luckily, your coworker kept his word and let you have a break by serving your customers, so you went out for a bit to get some air and rest for a bit. 

Outside, there was some people smoking and talking, and you leaned onto the wall and pulled out your phone to answer some texts before going back inside.

"Hello there" 

You raised your head to see Marco, standing in front of you, smoking and looking hot as fuck.

"Hey" you smiled, straightening your position and trying to sound casual "I didn't see you, how are you?"

How are you, what a stupid question, Y/N, you thought, mentally smacking yourself on the head.

"I'm fine" he chuckled quietly "And you? I didn't want to bother you in there, you looked busy"

"Yeah, Fridays are the worst... I have a few minutes now though"

"Good... I'm Marco, by the way"

"I know" you said, and immediately regretted it "I mean... I heard your friend calling you Marco... I'm not a stalker, you know"

He smiled.

"Don't worry... For how long have you been working here? We come here almost every Friday and I haven't seen you before... I mean, I would remember you"

"Almost two years" you answered, with the most flirty tone you were capable of "But I usually don't do Friday night shifts, I prefer working during the week, we close early and I have more time to study in the morning" you explained "If I had known you came here that often I would have changed shifts months ago"

God, Y/N, that was lame.

Marco laughed while you looked away, flustered. You weren't really good at flirting, but at least he hadn't ran away from you yet. 

"And... You're not from Ireland, are you?" You asked, changing the topic.

"No, actually I'm here because of my job... I'm from Denmark"

"Oh" you smiled "I went to Denmark a few months ago, I loved it... What do you do?"

"I'm an actor" he explained, and your eyes lit up. 

"Wow, that is amazing! So you're filming a movie or something like that in Ireland?"

"Yeah, something like that" he chuckled "I live here half of the year"

"That's cool" you smiled back to him "I should get back inside, my break is over..."

"When do you finish?" He asked... Blushing? He was so cute you would have kissed him in that moment "I mean, when do you...?"

"At four" you replied, smirking "It's only one hour left... Do you think you can wait for me?" 

"Yeah, yeah, definitely" he nodded. You leaned into him and kissed his cheek softly, winking at him while you entered the club again. 

It was the longest hour of your life, but you finally were done. It was almost half past four when you went out, and immediately spotted Marco with Alex on the corner smoking a cigarette.

"Hello beautiful" Alex smiled at you widely "Were you looking for me?"

"Someone needs some sleep and to stop drinking" you laughed.

"What? No, no, we're going to another club now, our friends are there now... Come with us" Alex bit his lip. It always worked with girls. 

"I'm sorry but I can't, I've been working since nine pm and I'm exhausted" you excused yourself, shaking your head.

"I was thinking we could go to my apartment" Marco shrugged, looking everywhere but your face "We can make some pancakes and... Watch a movie? I mean only if you want to, if you prefer just going home and sleep that's totally fine, I just thought you'd be hungry and..."

"Pancakes and a movie sound amazing" you bit your lip, smiling.

Alex looked at you astonished. 

"You're joking, right? Come on, Y/N, you and I are meant to be together... Don't do this to me"

"Sorry, Alex" Marco tapped him softly on his back "Better luck next time"

"What the fuck? She was totally hitting on me" Alex scoffed and said something in danish, making Marco laugh.

"Of course" you smiled at him, kissing his cheek "Don't drink more okay?"

He pouted as Marco and you walked away, chatting happily and blushing.

"If I'm letting you go with her it's because it's your birthday!" you heard Alex screaming behind you "Have a good time but please sex only in the bedroom, I live there too, thank you!"

Tags: @mblaqgi @alicedopey @lol-haha-joke @hallowed-heathen @ivarslittlebadgirl @naaladareia @tephi101 @captstefanbrandt @love-hate-love @titty-teetee @thisisparadisemylove @readsalot73 @moondustmemories

I hope I didn’t miss anyone! If you want to be tagged on Marco’s fics or on any other of my works just let me know and I hope Tumblr stops bullying me and actually let me read the messages.

So there you go! I hope you like it, tomorrow I'll post another one. I'm gonna be so annoying these days lol bc on Friday there’s Secrets part 3 too 

[omyeol]

three words - viii

word count: 5,024

genre: fluff, angst

Going back to being just friends–without any benefits at all–with Baekhyun proved to be much harder and complicated than you originally thought before. After laying all the feelings between the two of you out in the open, it felt like there was a wall between the two of you. It held you back from saying certain words and did certain things because you were afraid you’d be passing the boundaries you didn’t know you had set up.

The two of you were walking on eggshells, tiptoeing around each other, until you couldn’t even live together with Baekhyun again without having at least one awkward moment a day when you both were at home at the same time. You still greeted him and made a short conversation with him, but that was it. You couldn’t even remember the last time you watched a movie together or eating at the same table together without one of you leaving first, or even hugged him. Since the night you both came clean to each other, you both had held back from each other a lot. It even came to a point where you preferred to hide in your room when Baekhyun was out in the living room and you only came out when you knew Baekhyun wasn’t there.

Deep down, you realized that you couldn’t really help it, though. Baekhyun wanted some time from you, and this was what you could give to him. Although you didn’t only give him time, but some space as well. It’s for the best, you thought.

After two months–yes, it lasted that long–of tiptoeing around each other like that, you decided to spend more time at Hana’s apartment–for your sake. Sometimes you even stayed late on purpose, so you didn’t have to go home and be stuck in an endless circle of awkwardness with Baekhyun. For a while, you were good and felt like no one noticed, until one day, Baekhyun insisted on driving you to work on his day off and grabbed a hold of your wrist before you could slip out of his car.

“Wait,” he spoke hurriedly as he held on to your wrist, causing you to look over your shoulder at him with a raise of your eyebrows. “Let’s have dinner together tonight. I’ll cook.” You furrowed your eyebrows at him.

“You can’t cook,” you pointed out and he let out a sigh, rolling his eyes playfully at you.

“Fine,” he grumbled out. “We can just get a take-out or something.”

“Okay,” you easily agreed to it even though you couldn’t help but feel a bit nervous. Cracking a small, goofy smile on his face, you couldn’t help but feel a little bit suspicious. “What’s with that smile?”

Baekhyun was quick to drop his suspicious smile and replace it with a frown, blinking his eyes innocently at you. “What smile?” You just sighed, and he dropped his act to chuckle at you. “I’ll see you later at home, yeah?” You nodded. He dropped your wrist and turned his body to you, leaning to give you a hug.

To say you were surprised was an understatement. For the past two months, none of you initiated any kind of hugs or physical contact that went beyond a slap on the arm, a poke, or a light shove. So, yeah, it was expected for you to feel like your heart would leap out of your chest at Baekhyun’s–failed and awkward, thanks to the console between you–attempt on hugging you.  

When Baekhyun finally let go of you, you could only flash him a small smile and slip out of his car before he could catch you off guard again with whatever it was he already planned. Your heart was still hammering wildly against your ribcage as you walked towards the building, holding yourself to not turn around and give Baekhyun one last look.

But you knew you had little to none self-control.

So, you stopped walking right before the entrance and turned around. Baekhyun’s car was still there and you stared at it for a moment before he finally drove away.  

Throughout the day, you tried to not overthink the whole situation–the sudden invitation to have dinner together and the fact that Baekhyun didn’t leave right away after you slipped out of his car. You really tried not to think about it–Baekhyun could be replying to a text or having a phone call, that’s why he didn’t leave right away–but somehow, you ended up thinking about it anyway. It was a bothersome, really, but your mind kept drifting back to that and you ended up counting the minute you could finally leave the office.

Just as you promised Baekhyun in the morning, you went straight back home once you finished your work. Although you were nervous beyond belief because you had no clue at all of what Baekhyun had planned, you kept reminding yourself that there could be nothing planned at all and that you were just getting ahead of yourself. He could only be just bringing back the usual dinner together that you both usually had in the past.

And really, you should learn how to control yourself a little bit more. Because not only your co-workers but the man behind that very smile noticed as well.

“That’s the biggest smile I’ve seen on your face these days. You’re that excited to have dinner with me?” At his words and his exaggerating wiggling eyebrows, you rolled your eyes and huffed playfully.

“You wish,” you retorted as you dropped your bag and light jacket on the couch in the living room. Putting your hair up in a ponytail, you walked to the kitchen where your roommate was wearing his usual t-shirt and sweatpants combo while stirring a pot on the stove, heavenly scent filling the room.

“You’re not cooking, are you?” Baekhyun rolled his eyes at your skeptical words. You had a seat on the pantry and watched him cook, deep down still feeling a little bit awkward but you tried your best to push that feeling aside.

“Don’t worry. I’m not,” he spoke casually without looking up from the pot in front of him. “I’m just reheating the stew.”

“Oh, that’s new. Where’s that from?” You leaned forward a bit to peek at the stew. It looked oddly familiar like you had it before, but you couldn’t remember it.

“Kyungsoo.” Ah, that’s why, you thought.

“He was here? What’s the occasion?”

Baekhyun nodded and turned around to grab two clean bowls from the drying rack. “He just kept me company while you’re at work, and helped me cook too.”

“You cooked?” You asked in disbelief, watching the way the muscles of his back contracting against his shirt as he scooped out rice from the cooker. Out of all days, he just had to wear the sinful fitted shirt today. Taking a deep breath, you looked away from him and fixed your gaze on the steaming pot.

“I was the sous-chef, okay?”

“You’re never the sous-chef when I cook,” you mentioned as he turned around again and placed the bowls of rice on the counter.  

“Well, that’s because you always told me to stay away from the kitchen.”

“That never stopped you before to distract me.” The comment slipped out of your mouth before you could process it thoroughly in your brain, and suddenly it was quiet again between the two of you as if the same memory was playing inside both of your brains.

“Well, maybe this time I just wanna do something nice for you.” Right before the awkwardness could sweep in, Baekhyun’s phone vibrated on the counter–it was laying right beside your propped elbows. “Can you read the text for me?”

Eager to distract your mind from the inappropriate images of you and Baekhyun doing the dirty in this very kitchen that kept crossing your mind, you grabbed his phone and unlocked the lockscreen–his password was predictable. There was an unread message from Kyungsoo and you clicked on the notification.

What written on the phone screen almost made your heart stop beating for a second.

“Good luck and have fun with the date. Let me know how it goes, so I can decide whether I should give you more pointers or kick your ass,” you read the message out loud. Once the words were finally said out loud, you dropped his phone onto the counter and looked up at your roommate. “What the hell, Baek?! You have a date? But I thought we’re having dinner together!”

As if he was prepared by your sudden outburst, Baekhyun stopped stirring the stew and heaved out a heavy sigh, his eyes on you. “It’s you,” he spoke in a small voice, causing you to furrow your eyebrows in confusion.

“Me?”

“The date.” You couldn’t be any more confused.

“Huh?”

“You fucking kidding me,” he muttered under his breath as he turned off the stove, dropping the wooden spoon aside. “The date is with you. There. Clear enough for you, babe?”

“Oh.” Clearly, you were caught off guard by his words. After the talk a few months ago, you had buried the possibility of having a date with Baekhyun. It was painful, to throw that possibility away, but you thought that it was for the best. You thought that if you were going to continue living under the same roof with him, you had better started thinking of him only just as a friend.

But hearing the words that came out of his mouth just now, it threw everything out of the loop. It messed up your train of thoughts, your way of living, because how could it not?

“You never asked me, you know.” You ended up saying after a beat of silence in the kitchen. You propped your elbows on the counter and leaned your head on your hands, jutting your lower lip into a pout.

“I know you’re gonna say yes anyway,” he said so casually that you couldn’t help but feel a little bit sad. Did he really think like that?

“I could say no. Really.” Defensive, you straightened up your posture and crossed your arms above your chest. “I could already have a date with someone else, and I won’t be back until the morning and you’ll be sad. Like, really sad because I wouldn’t reply to your texts or answer your calls and you’d be eating dinner alone and fall asleep while waiting for me.”

“You wouldn’t.” You raised your eyebrow in a challenging manner at him. He let out a loud, dramatic sigh. “Let’s just count this as the ‘pre-date’, okay? I’ll make it up to you later.”

“Good.”

The ‘date’ talk was forced to put a stop after that, the two of you focus on the food and the actual dinner. As usual, you both moved to have dinner in the living room with the TV on and a noticeable space between the two of you. It was you who made sure that there was space because after his confession about the pre-date earlier, your head was a little bit messed up and you didn’t trust yourself to be so close with him too early like this. You were going to take everything slowly, so that was what you were going to do.

Thankfully, the dinner didn’t turn out as awkward as you predicted before. It turned out okay, and in the end, you were feeling warm and a bit nostalgic because it had been so long since you had dinner with Baekhyun like this. Throughout the dinner, you were mostly talking about work and listening to him making commentaries at the variety show showed on TV. It was really nice, even though you had to hold yourself back from leaning your head onto his shoulder and cuddling with him.

Right before you retreated back to your room, Baekhyun called your name and grabbed a hold of your wrist. For a second, you couldn’t take your eyes away from how he held onto your wrist gently, like he would break you if he held on just a bit tightly.

“Just to be safe, keep your next weekend open for me, okay?” You couldn’t help but perk up at his request. What could it be this time?

“Where are we going? Are we going out of the city?” You tried to ask, but of course, he just chuckled and shook his head faintly at you.

“Not telling you.” The teasing smile across his face made your heart skip a beat–gosh it’s been too long since the last time I saw that smile, you thought–and once again you had to hold yourself back from squishing his soft cheeks.

“Fine,” you breathed out and flashed him a small smile before retreating back to your room, eager to escape his unwavering gaze and his teasing smile. It was a bit hard, though, because he stayed there outside your room and didn’t move–still keeping his gaze on you–until you closed the door.

Once you were finally in the safety of your room, you realized how your heart was beating so fast and how sweaty your hands had become, and you could think a little bit more clearly about the whole situation. Kyungsoo’s text. The ‘pre-date’. The plan for next weekend. Everything suddenly came rushing onto you and you didn’t know which one to focus on.

Gosh, Byun Baekhyun will be the death of me, you thought as you lied on your bed, burying your face on your pillow and trying your hardest not to squeal over the possibility of going on an official date with him next weekend.

What Baekhyun meant when he told you to keep your schedule clear on the next weekend, it was because he had a seminar out of the country and he didn’t want to share his hotel room with anyone. It was a cheap excuse, and you argued with him–telling him that you’d be bored out of your mind while he attended the seminar. Baekhyun insisted that he would extend the stay, so he had extra time to spend with you, and in the end it became a pretty big deal because you had to take a few days off from work–the things I’d do for him, you thought–and you were thankful that your passport didn’t expire just yet.

Sometimes you thought of going out of town with him for a day, perhaps going hiking and trying out different kind of foods, but never you thought before you would be going to Japan only the two of you. All you could feel when he told you about the plan was nervous. Perhaps you had never been this nervous in your life before. It was quite unclear to you, the outcome of this trip; especially when you’d be sharing a room, a bed with him.

The first night you spent at the hotel, you tried to not appear nervous in front of Baekhyun. You claimed the right spot of the bed–the one nearest the window–before he could and dashed to the bathroom with your pajamas in your hands. If Baekhyun sensed something weird by the way you were acting, he didn’t mention any of it, which was good because if he teased you about it, you wouldn’t know how to respond. Your brain was too tired from the day you spent at the office and the flight to properly function and handle his antics.

The next day, Baekhyun woke you up so you could have breakfast together with him. He was already dressed in his professional clothes–white shirt with the sleeves rolled up to his elbows, black slacks that hugged his thighs wonderfully, his silver watch adorning his wrist, and his hair done up a little bit messily–and he smelled so good that it drove you crazy. The way he stared at you–the corner of his lips tugged to the side and his eyes had this fucking soft look–clearly didn’t help the way you feel. It was only eight in the morning and you already felt extremely attacked.

Seeing him look all dressed up and smelling so good since the moment you woke up really messed up your feelings and brain. You were so tempted to pull him by his collar and kiss him until you were breathless but you knew you couldn’t. As if to test your self-control, Baekhyun didn’t stop there.

It happened until the last day of the conference, and even when he didn’t have to wake you up for breakfast anymore, you had to wake up to his sleeping face and messy bed hair, and of course, it messed you up. You didn’t know which one was worse; Baekhyun waking you up and looking all dressed to the nines or you waking up to his sleeping face next to you.

On the first day of his day-off, after watching Baekhyun sleep for a moment, you got up and sat up against the headboard. Shutting your eyes, you leaned your head back and let out a loud sigh, trying to soak in the calmness before the man next to you woke up and stir you crazy. But not even five minutes, you felt a touch of his hand on your knee, his unexpected touch causing you to open your eyes and jerk your leg in surprise.

“Hi,” he drawled out the syllable, his morning voice sending shivers down your spine. He looked up at you with sleepy eyes and smile and you held back the urge to coo at the sight and run your fingers through his messy hair.

“Hey. Good morning,” you spoke softly and tried to hold your gaze on him. It was hard, though, when he looked all sleepy and soft and you wished you could just cuddle him.

He just flashed you another sleepy smile and kept stroking your knee, the both of you not saying anything and letting the silence fill in the room. His touch was calming and soothing it almost lulled you back to sleep if not the words coming out of his mouth next made you feel like a bucket of ice cold water was just poured on you.

“Date me.” Your eyes widened at his words and you just froze. Seeing your reaction, he looked like he was panicking and pull his hand back from your knee, sitting up by your side the hurriedly. “I mean, would you date me? Like, date date me. As in, going on dates with me, holding hands, cuddling, a-and being my girlfriend.”

You couldn’t believe what you just heard. The words you had been wanting to hear were finally said. You could’ve sworn your heart felt like it just stopped beating for a second because of his confession. Other than feeling a surge of happiness, you could also feel the clogs in your head starting to turn and working on a few questions. The happiness felt like only a passing emotion, because this time, you couldn’t help but question him.

“Why? Why now? What changed your mind?” You questioned your worries, keeping your eyes on him so you could know if he was lying or not. At your question, Baekhyun cleared his throat and straighten up his posture.

“I just, I’m tired,” he started. “I’m tired of holding myself back, of making you feel uncomfortable and awkward, and I’m just- I’m tired of feeling guilty all the time for a reason that I couldn’t help, so I guess… I’ve been trying to forgive myself all this time, trying to move on from the past, and,” he paused for a second to take a deep breath, “I just miss you all the time, you know? And I realized that I’m done with all the waiting and suppressing my feelings for the things that already happened, that I couldn’t help with. Gosh, I love you so damn much and I’m done keeping it to myself. ”

Ideally, it was a bit hard to take him seriously when it was not even nine in the morning and the both of you were still freshly awakened from your slumber. The messy bed hair and the remnants of sleep that caked the corner of his eyes made you feel like he wasn’t that serious, but his unwavering gaze and his determined and steady voice should be enough proof. The thing was, you were caught off guard and it was a much too serious question for eight in the morning.

“Uh,” you drawled out, still keeping your eyes on him and blinking your eyes in nervousness. You couldn’t ignore the way your heart beat so strongly until it became the only thing you could focus on. Catching on your sudden nervousness, Baekhyun let out a soft sigh and grabbed your hands, holding it in his warm hounds and giving it a squeeze.

“You don’t have to say anything now, though. I just- I just want to let it out of my chest. I’ve been holding back for a while and… I think I better say it now before I chicken out again,” he quickly explained like he was scared that he scared you off with his sudden confession.

“Oh, okay,” you breathed out and flashed him a small, nervous smile.

“‘Okay’ what?”

“‘Okay’ as in okay, I acknowledge your feelings and, uh, that must be nice for you. To finally let it out, you know?” You let out an awkward chuckle and looked away from too-intense gaze to your hands on his. “Gosh, Baek, it’s way too early to look at me like that.”

“Look at you like what?”

You looked up, squinting your eyes at him and shook your head faintly. “No. Pretend I didn’t say anything.” Baekhyun gave you a look that told you he wouldn’t let it go, but you shook your head firmly this time. “C’mon, let’s have breakfast.”

The topic somehow died down and you couldn’t be more thankful. With a sigh, you rolled out of the bed and got ready first. Baekhyun had told you the night before that he had made plans for the day and also told you to wear comfortable clothes because the two of you would be walking a lot. Although you were a bit skeptical–because you knew he couldn’t endure walking too much–you just nodded along with his plan, feeling glad that you didn’t have to wander by yourself again. It was nice, but you came here with him and what’s the point if you ended up not spending time with him in town too?

With excitement rushing through your veins, the both of you started the date right after breakfast. Baekhyun was eager and couldn’t handle his own excitement as he took your hand and held it by surprise. You really didn’t expect him to be touchy, but actually, you should’ve guessed it especially with how different he’d been acting these days. As much as it messed up your feelings, you welcomed the touch and the unexpected hug he gave you in the subway–it happened because you were pushed by someone behind you and Baekhyun was right in front of you. It was like a scene straight out of cheesy drama but you couldn’t help feeling completely swooned–even though it was literally no big deal at all and Baekhyun was just being a good person that he already was.

As if it wasn’t cheesy enough, Baekhyun took you to an aquarium and you couldn’t hide the wide smile across your face and the giggles coming out of your lips when you both made your way inside, still hand in hand. It seemed like you were already accustomed to having your hand in his because you didn’t think twice anymore to give his hand a squeeze and lean up to press a kiss on his cheek. The butterflies in your stomach when he tugged you closer to him until you were pressed to his side made you think about his confession earlier this morning and how you really felt about him at the moment.

Your heart felt like it was squeezed at the feeling of the strong grip of his hand, the warmth of his body, and the smile across his face. The feeling you had been keeping to yourself all this time was suffocating you and made you want to do things you didn’t have the guts to do. Baekhyun being affectionate throughout the whole trip so far caused you to yearn for him. Your heart ached at the sight of him keeping his whole attention on you, of having him to yourself after spending the day by yourself for the past few days.

So, you did not think twice to stop walking and stand in front of him, hoping that he could feel how you felt from the single look you gave him. “What’s with that look, huh?” But from his question, you knew it wasn’t enough. To make your point, you crashed down every wall you had built between the two of you since the talk a few months ago and leaned up to press your lips against his.

It was a brief peck across his lips that you did a bit cowardly. You didn’t miss the shocked look across his face when you pulled away from him. His eyes were widened and a bit glassy, and you hoped you didn’t do something that made him uncomfortable. But judging from the way he tugged you close to him and leaned down to press his lips against yours, you knew you were a good thing.

The feeling of his lips on yours sent electric waves through your veins and it stole your breath away. Your stomach twisted in knots as you gave in to the feeling of finally being with him. The way he kissed you so softly sent shivers running through your veins and it took everything in you to hold yourself back from threading your fingers through his hair and giving it a tug, wanting to drive him crazy with the only way you knew how. Baekhyun let go of your hands and moved it to your waist, gripping it tightly as if he never wanted to let go. It was perfect, just like the way you wanted it.

Well, that was until he tugged at your lower lip with his teeth and brushed his tongue against yours, making you moan into his mouth. It suddenly crashed onto you, where you two were at and how public it was. Pulling back from his tempting lips with a gasp, you opened your eyes and squinted at him.

“That’s inappropriate, Baek. There are kids here,” you protested weakly and leaned your head on his chest, embarrassment bubbling inside of you at the thought of how other people just saw you two kiss.

“I don’t hear any protest from you, though.” His words were teasing and you didn’t have to look up to know that he was smiling smugly at you. You leaned back anyway, wanting to have a look at his face and plant the memory inside your brain. “So, it’s a yes?”

“Isn’t it clear enough?” The way his smile light up his whole face made you feel some type of way. His smile was so blinding it could rival the sun and you couldn’t resist pressing a kiss on his cheek, causing the two of you burst in a fit of giggles.  

“Fuck yes. You’re my girlfriend now. My first girlfriend.” This time you smacked his chest and Baekhyun let out a grunt in pain, you rolling your eyes at his dramatic behavior.

“You’re kidding.” He giggled. He giggled and you could really feel yourself falling even more for him.

“You’re the third actually.” You scoffed and wriggled your way out of his arms, taking a few steps away from him to be closer to the aquarium tank full of fish and coral reefs from the Great Barrier Reef. “Still you’re the one I love the most, though.”

“You’re cheesy and annoying. I shouldn’t say yes.” Baekhyun was hot on your heels and didn’t even resist himself to envelop you in a back hug, resting his head on your shoulder.

“You love me, though,” he murmured as he nuzzled his nose on the side of your neck, his action eliciting goosebumps all over your skin.

“That I do,” you muttered under your breath and allowed yourself to smile so wide until you could feel your cheeks hurt. Hearing the words coming out of your mouth in the midst of the crowded place, Baekhyun placed another kiss on your neck and tightened his arms around you.

“I love you.”

The three words slipping out of his mouth were nearly lost in the crowd if you weren’t paying close attention to his every move. The words resonated deep inside your heart, spreading warmth all over your body and it made you think about everything you had been through together–from the first meeting until it had come to this point. It was such a long way and you knew you two still had a long way to go. But it was fine and enough. His sincerity was shown through his words and the way he looked at you and held you–you couldn’t ignore the way he kept his eyes on you when you weren’t looking.

“You’re spacing out.” His words pulled you back from the short trance that you were in. “What are you thinking about?”

“Those three words.”

“The ‘I love you’?” You nodded. “You wanna hear me say it again? Because I can keep reminding you every few seconds if you want.”

“Gosh,” you muttered under your breath. “Shut up, Baek. Don’t make me regret it.”

“You would never.” You could only laugh and shake your head faintly at his confidence, even though deep down, you knew he was saying the truth. No matter how annoying he could be sometimes, you were sure you wouldn’t regret ever loving him.