#which i have to hand in next thursday at the latest

[you-will-return]

-----

[moinsbienquekaworu]

Our - I guess english language ?? teacher is really invested and nice but her homework is the worst thing ever. We had to do a 'podcast' last semester, group work, annoying. This semester everyone has two classes with her. In one it's writing a 500 word press article about a cultural event (I'll be doing it on TOH) and in the other it's either commenting on Bartleby the Scrivener or writing our own short story. I don't care about Bartleby so I thought I'd do the creative writing, except to be fair to the others who have to come in and write their commentary during the one-hour slot the creative writing is ALSO to be done in one hour during the test in class! Absolute hell on earth trying to write a short story in a singular hour!! I'm not a writer ma'am I can't do that! But if she gave us more time it would be unfair to the others, despite the fact those are two completely different exercices. Anyway.

[rafeandonlyrafe]

pizza night

words: 2.2k

warnings: mentions/implications of sex but no actual smut, best friend!rafe, jealousy, angst but happy ending, friends to lovers, rafe with another girl, reader sleeps with kelce

“PIZZA NIGHT!” you shout, rafe letting out a whoop as you carry in the two boxes, plain cheese for you, and a mess of toppings for rafe.

“was worried you weren't gonna show up.” rafe glances at the clock. you're only about five minutes late, only running behind because the pizza place was busy and your order wasn't ready on time.

“as if i would miss our weekly pizza night.” you roll your eyes. you've had to shift times around occasionally to make sure you get the pizza night in, like for rafes football schedule, or you having to help your parents out at a fundraiser. for the past three years, it's been every thursday night, even both getting pizza from your respective locations while you facetime when you're not both in the outer banks.

“come here.” rafe opens his arms up to you. you step into his familiar hold, strong arms wrapping around you, tugging you against his chest. you inhale his scent, so uniquely rafe.

he's been your best friend for as long as you can remember, your parents being friends when both became pregnant around the same time. you did everything together. pizza nights started as plum puree, as your mom loves to joke.

“what do you wanna watch tonight?” rafe asks, knowing whatever you put on will soon become background noise to your chatting, rafe happy to listen to any gossip you have to say.

“umm…” you tap your finger against your chin as rafe plates your pizza for you, loading his plate with three slices for himself. you know he's already got your preferred drink sitting on the coffee table. “mulan.”

“sure.” rafe nods. he used to argue when he was younger. you'd want barbie swan lake or a romcom while he prefered superheroes and action. he learned throughout your friendship to just not fight it.

you immediately start to tell rafe the latest gossip, filling him in on everything he's missed since you saw him last, even though it was only two days ago.

“oh and you'll never guess!” you squeal. “callie, my friend from florida?” you see if the name jogs rafes memory, which he quickly nods. how could he forget. the one other friend that competes with him, despite you only seeing her for weeks at a time when you went to visit your grandparents in florida. “she's coming to the outer banks! she's gonna stay with us for the summer while her parents travel.”

“oh, nice.” rafe nods. he's happy for you, he really is, but he hopes she's not going to get in the way of his time with you, especially pizza night.

--

“girl, why didn’t you tell me rafe is hot as fuck?” callie giggles, looking out the window where rafe and a couple of his friends are chatting on the patio.

“ew.” you scrunch your nose up. you mean the criticism about callie finding him attractive, not about rafes looks, but callie doesn’t take it that way as she rolls her eyes.

“seriously, he’s so fine.” she slices into another lemon, handing one half to you as you squeeze it to make fresh lemonade.

you just frown. you don’t want callie to find rafe attractive and you’re not sure why the jealous feeling builds in your gut, so you quickly change the subject.

“wanna come to a party friday night? at kelces.” you question.

“oh my god, yes.” callie nods, helping you carry out cups while you bring out the pitcher of lemonade, pouring a glass for yourself and whichever one of your friends also wants one before sitting next to rafe.

callie takes the open spot on the other side of him as the conversation instantly strikes back up. you remain quieter than normal, eyes flicking between them as you watch them interact. you’re glad they’re getting along, truly, but you feel like gouging your eyes out when callie laughs and places her hand on his bicep.

“you okay?” rafe asks after everyone else had gone home, callie having taken your car back to your place to shower while you plan on asking rafe to drive you home.

“yeah.” you put on a wide smile. “whats up?”

“you just seem quieter than usual.” rafe watches your face carefully, noting the way your face falls before you perk back up with a shake of your head.

“nope, im fine. just glad you're getting along with callie!”

“speaking of…” rafe pulls his phone out, handing it to you. “can i have her number?”

“oh… yeah.” you nod quickly, grabbing his phone and typing in her number. you have it memorized along with rafes and your mom and dads, the only ones you’ve typed in enough to know by heart. “why do you want it though?”

“i thought i’d get to know her a bit.” rafe shrugs. 

“okay.” you force a smile on your face before standing up. “im gonna walk home. see you thursday for pizza night!”

“y/n, wait-” rafe tries to call you back, but you’ve already disappeared into the house.

--

you struggle to knock on the door with the pizza boxes in your arms. usually its unlocked, or rafe is there to open it for you the second your car pulls in the driveway.

“shit.” rafe opens the door, his face pale.

“what?” you shove past him, needing to set the cardboard boxes down.

you walk into the kitchen, going to place the boxes down on the counter when you realize there is already a box sitting there, opened up with a couple slices missing. you carefully slide the boxes out of your arms onto the marble before looking at rafe.

“i-i forgot-” rafe says as you look into the living room, seeing callie sat on the couch, her eyes on the television screen as she takes a bite of pizza. 

“you forgot about our pizza night?” you question, not even trying to hide your tears this time as they form in your eyes.

“i just didn’t realize it was thursday, y/n i-”

“its fine.” you shake your head, heading towards the door. you need to leave before your emotions explode. 

“y/n, please.” rafe grabs your hand right as you reach for the doorknob.

“no.” you turn around to look at rafe, knowing that there are tears streaming down your cheeks, yet you still attempt to force a smile. “no, go. have fun with her.”

you pull out of his grasp and leave, rafe standing on the front porch watching you drive away.

--

“coming to the party?” callie asks, wearing a tiny dress with high heels, showing off her flawless legs.

“nah.” you shake your head. “im feeling kinda tired.” 

“alright.” callie frowns, but doesn’t push you any farther as she walks towards the front door, looking back once before leaving. 

you are genuinely tired. you stayed up all last night waiting to hear callie arrive back at your house from rafes. she didn’t get home until 10 in the morning the next day. you know rafe has slept with girls before, but usually when he’s way too drunk after a party, and never with a girl you considered your friend.

you turn the tv on to a random channel, just needing something to distract yourself and stop you from crying again.

hours tick by as the sun sets, your eyes burning from staring at the television and holding back tears when a sudden knock on the door makes you jump.

you stand up, hoping its rafe, hoping he’s coming to apologize and to put all his attention back on you. you feel bad when you open the door and see its topper, your face no doubt giving away your disappointment.

“y/n, are you okay?” he asks. “you aren’t at the party.” he states the obvious as you stand in your sweatpants and a flimsy tanktop.

“just not feeling it.” you shrug. 

“is it… callie and rafe?” topper asks. he doesn’t need you to confirm as tears well in your eyes.

“i-i like him. i didn’t even realize until i saw them together.” you finally admit it to yourself why you’re so upset. 

“shit.” topper pulls you into a hug as you cry into his shirt, glad for his comfort as he rubs his hand up and down your back, hoping he can help you feel better.

“i shouldn’t be telling you this…” topper sighs. “but kelce has a crush on you. if you want to go to the party and�� i don’t know, make rafe jealous back.”

“he won’t get jealous.” you shake your head. “he likes her.”

topper just stares at you with a look of pity. so in your head about your friendship that you can’t even put together the pieces that rafe likes you back.

you look down at your outfit. honestly, you can’t even manage to put on anything other than your crocs, you’re not going to change into a dress and heels just to dance up on a guy you don’t even really like.

“just come wearing that.” topper says, sensing your apprehension. “im serious, you look good. it’ll show how different you are then all the other girls there.”

you look back into your house at your couch, the tv still turned on before looking back to topper. he nods at you with encouragement.

“i need to get drunk immediately.” you tell him as he laughs, pulling you out the door.

--

you let out a groan as you turn over, snuggling into water warm body is wrapped around you as sleep slowly clears from your head.

“good morning, beautiful.” kelce says, making you blink your eyes open as the memories of last night come back, of ignoring rafe and callie dancing together as you move to kelce. topper was beyond right about the outfit as you captured the eye of most of the guys there, especially rafe as he tried to get your attention, but you were up in kelces room before he could steal you away.

it felt good to sleep with kelce, but not completely right.

“morning.” you smile. kelce is handsome, especially with the warm morning light shining in on the two of you, but your heart hurts as you wish it was rafes face you were looking into.

“can i have you again?” kelce asks, reaching down to grab your ass.

“yeah.” you nod with a smile. another distraction won’t hurt.

--

“where were you?” rafe asks as you arrive home, not expecting to see him snuggled up to callie on the couch.

“sleeping with kelce.” you say with a shrug. if rafe isn’t gonna hide his relationship with callie, you certainly aren’t going to hide what you were doing either.

“he doesn’t care about you, y/n.” rafe stands up, callies face shifting to one of worry as she looks between the two of you, realization sinking in. “he just wants to sleep with you.”

“okay, and?” you laugh, a bitter, spiteful laugh. “he’s got a big dick, and maybe i just wanted to sleep with him too.” 

you stomp away towards your room, blaring music from your speaker the second you’re inside. you don’t want to hear any noise rafe and callie might make as you flop down on your bed, quickly falling asleep despite the blaring music.

--

the music being turned down wakes you up as someone sits on your bed. you groan and turn onto your back, expecting to see rafe.

“callie?” you question, glancing at the bag slung over his shoulder and the suitcase sitting in your open doorway. 

you sit up quickly. “are you going to stay with rafe?”

“no.” she says with a gentle laugh and shake of her head. “im going back to florida.”

“what?” you question. 

“i didn’t mean to come between you and him. i thought you didn’t like him. i… i don’t want this to ruin our friendship, so i’m leaving. he was fun to be with, but it was never serious for either of us. he’s serious about you.”

the words sink in as you look to her with hope in your eyes. “you talked to him about it?”

“i did.” she smiles with a gentle nod, glancing towards the clock on your nightstand. “the taxi is waiting outside to take me to the airport.”

you shoot forward to wrap your arms around callie, pulling her into a tight hug. “thank you.” 

“of course.” she holds you back just as tight. “come visit me in florida, okay?” 

you nod enthusiastically before she gets up to leave. 

--

“finally.” topper sighs with relief as he opens the door to tanneyhill. “i’ve been trying to get him to go over and talk to you for the past four hours.” topper pulls you inside before you can even react. “seriously, you guys just need to date already. he slept with callie, you slept with kelce, and now you’re even. go make out.” topper shoves you into the living room before fleeing.

it takes a second for rafe to look up, his eyes red with tears.

“i had no clue.” rafe shakes his head. “i had no clue you liked me. i never would have done anything with callie if i knew. i thought i’d never get to have you, so i thought settling for your friend would be the next best thing.”

“i don’t like you.” you say before quickly clarifying. “i love you, rafe.”

rafe is standing and making his way towards you so quickly that you don’t even process his movements until his lips meet yours in a fierce kiss.

you hesitate for a moment before kissing back, feeling his arms wrap around your body, holding you tight to him, not allowing you to escape or leave ever again.

taglist: @drewstarkeyslut @forstarkey @f4ll-for-you @dilvcv @drudyslut @jjmaybankswifes-blog @rafescokenostril @jjsmarijuana @seeingstarks @angelofcigs @cece45450 @babygorewhore @vanessa-rafesgirl @michelleisheres-blog @outerbankspov @drewstarkeyswifehoe @cutielando @sourkittie @rafeyslove @rafeinterlude @bellbottombaby @deeaardiary @rubixgsworld @wearemadeofstardust0 @leighbronk @starkeysheart @pradabambie @tobesolovelysstuff @alexiskirkland @rafestar @brioffthegrid @juniebugg @magicalyoura @cokepewpsii @mysticallystilinski @luvdella @aerangi @vogueprincess @auryyz @raysmayhem-72 @thestarlithideout @marvelfanfics1recs @rafesgiirl @ditzyzombiesblog @chiaraanatra @tobiaslut @drewsephrry @1aarii1 @winterrrnight @bejeweledreverie

[sheerfreesia007]

Wrong Number

Pairing: Changbin x Reader

Word count: 2,665

Content warnings: Fluff, suggestive

Summary: While at the gym you mistakenly grab the hot buff weight lifter’s phone. Not knowing who he is, you're confused and bewildered by all the text messages and what they say. But what happens when his friends figure out that you’re watching the group chat? Will they blow his chances on a date with you?

Pabo: Fool

The sounds of the weights clinking together as they tapped with each movement of the gym patrons creates a steady background soundtrack for you as you walk out onto the gym floor. You had just finished teaching your latest yoga class and wanted to get a dumbbell workout in before heading home for the evening. Walking over to the rack of dumbbells you set your cell phone, water bottle and lanyard on the floor against the mirrors. You tapped your earbuds that you had already put into your ear and moved to the rack of weights before picking up two of them.

You moved to the side and set everything down before you began to warm up and stretch your muscles out. When you felt as if your muscles were properly primed to lift weights you began to run through your sets. Soon you got into a rhythm that kept you preoccupied and distracted with the stretch and burn of your muscles. You were so lost in your workout and the burn of it that you didn’t notice the buff stocky man setting down his things next to yours before moving over to the weights. 

When you caught his movements out of the corner of your eye you jolted in your place and he burst out in loud laughter at your shock. You laugh along with him as you tap your earbuds to turn off your music and set the weights down on the floor.

“Sorry, I didn’t mean to scare you.” he says as his laughter calms down and he grins at you.

“No worries, I got too lost in my workout.” you assure him with a dismissive wave your hand.

“I’ve seen you around the gym before, do you often lift weights at night?” he asked curiously as looked over the weights to choose which ones he wanted to work with tonight.

“Usually after my late yoga classes I’ll stay for an extra hour or two and lift weights.” you tell him and he nods his head with a raised eyebrow.

“You teach yoga?” he queries and you smile while nodding your head at him.

“Four days a week, Monday to Thursday. And twice a month on the weekends. Been trying to work as much as I can as an instructor so that I gain experience.” you explain to him easily. He nods his head at your words before tilting his head to the side before he begins to curl his arms up, lifting the dumbbells easily. Your eyes follow his movement and can’t help but admire his form and the physique of his body.

“What is the experience going to help you with?” he asks curiously and your eyes darted up to him in the mirror.

“I want to open my own yoga studio. I feel like having more experience as an instructor will help my studio gain more popularity.” you tell him and he nods his head in agreement.

“That’s a good way of thinking.” he says with an easy smile. “How far along are you in the process of setting up the studio?” he asked and you grinned excitedly. You loved talking about your plans to open a yoga studio and often had to pull yourself back from oversharing but as you stood near this man you didn’t feel like you normally did when you talked about your plans.

“Right now, I’ve been keeping track of all the commercial properties that I think would work for a studio. I’ve also started reaching out in the yoga community to see if any other instructors would be interested in joining my studio once I have set up. It’s still at least a year away from coming together but I’ve already got the back end of things set up with the bank and legalities.” you explained as you bounced slightly on your toes and he smiled happily at your actions.

“That’s good, what properties were you looking at?” he asked and you tilted your head at him curiously as your eyes squinted slightly. He laughed softly before ducking his head. “I’ve got a hand in commercial properties so I’m just curious if you’ve been looking at some of mine.” he reassured you and your eyes instantly widened at the connection you recognized in front of you.

“Oh, wow! Uh, well the bottom floor of the building on ninth and thirtieth.” you tell him and he frowns softly for a moment before nodding his head.

“Oh okay, that one isn’t mine but I know who owns it. One of my buddies does and maybe if I sweet talk him he’ll put it on the market at a discount.” he says sweetly and you let your mouth drop open slightly causing him to chuckle at you.

“No, no, I couldn’t ask you to do that.” you say in a gasp and he shakes his head easily as he grins at you.

“Nonsense, he’s been sitting on that property for months now. Gatekeeping it really the little shit.” he says knowingly. You watch as he sets his weights down and moves to his things before grabbing his phone and opens his contact list. “Give me your number so that I can text you after I talk to him about it.” he says almost commandingly and you feel your body flush with heat at his tone. You quickly curb your attraction to him before giving him your number. You watch as he sets his phone back down on the floor and you smile brightly at him as your eyes dart over the bright pink phone case.

“Thank you so much for the offer, but really don’t put yourself out because of me.” you gush out to him and he shakes his head at you as he grins lazily.

“It’s no trouble.” he reassures you. “Maybe once you get the studio up and running you can give me a few lessons.” he says in a lower tone as he leans closer to you. You flush brightly at his proximity and you quickly nod your head in agreement as you look up into his face.

“Of course, I’ll give you a whole month free before I charge you the discounted rate.” you tease him gently and he chuckles low in tone causing your stomach to twist with pleasure at the sound. He smirks at you and you grin brightly up at him as you both lean in closer to each other.

Just then there’s a loud bang and you jerk back from him and he grunts softly as one hand comes up to rub at the back of his neck. There’s a soft blush dusting his cheeks and you smile softly at him before you turn and bend over to grab your things.

“Thank you so much for your help with the property.” you gush to him once more and grin widely at him as you shake your phone at him. “And you’ve got great taste in phone cases.” his eyes focus on your phone in your hand before darting back down to see his identical phone case lying on the floor next to his things and he flushes even brighter.

“It was a dare from one of my buddies and I grew attached to the color.” he admits while ducking his head and you beam at him.

“Well I like it that we match.” you tell him softly and he whips his head up to stare at you hopefully. “Thank you again!” you say to him before rushing to the lockerroom to get changed and leave for the evening.

*-*-*-*

You don’t notice anything is amiss until you’re sleeping soundly in your bed and your phone buzzes loudly on your end table. Frowning you wonder who would be texting you so late at night. Rolling over in the bed you grab your phone and open it crying out loudly as you’re nearly blinded by how bright the phone is set to. Quickly turning the phone light down you swipe the notifications downward and see a whole slew of messages and phone calls, all ranging from bizarre to desperate.

You cock an eyebrow when you notice one text asking Is it hydrochloric acid or hyaluronic acid that burns the skin? Your eyes dart up to the contact name and see Pabo # 7 with a little fox emoji. Swiping that message away another one immediately pops up and your eyebrow raises even more at the message, Hydrochloric. Bernie now has a hole in his neck. Think we can start calling him Holey?

You’re utterly confused and baffled at the messages you just read but then you start to notice that the other messages on the phone have the same feeling and vibe to them, each message getting stranger and stranger with the questions and comments that are sent from each Pabo since there were seven of them. Sighing softly you realize that you had mistakenly grabbed the man’s phone that you had been talking to at the gym.

Swiping the phone open you’re surprised by how easy it is to open it, there’s no fingerprint scan or pin to put in for security. Frowning softly you vow to scold the man for that fact since anyone could get into his phone. You quickly bring up your contact and type out a text message to the man.

I’m so sorry for grabbing your phone by accident at the gym! Meet me at Three Bean Coffee House tomorrow morning at eight. We can swap the phones and I’ll buy you a coffee as an apology. You set the phone back down on your end table knowing that he won’t be able to answer your text because of the security lock you have on your phone. You then lay back down in your bed meaning to fall back asleep but then the phone starts to buzz wildly. Frowning once more you pick it up to glare at the screen again, but you can see the group chat that he has with Pabo # 1-7 is suddenly blowing up with activity and your curiosity peaks.

Binnie lost his phone because he was too busy checking out a hot yoga teacher! Comes the first message from Pabo # 1 and you chuckle softly at the words as all the others began to chime in. Are you really that surprised? Man can’t multitask on a good, forget it if he’s distracted by a pretty woman. Your hand raises to cover your mouth as you begin to laugh fully at his friends’ teasing, Pabo # 2 seemed especially quick with his teasing remarks. Is that why he never answered my acid question? You nod your head in response to that question as you roll your eyes. What did you want to know about acid? Pabo # 6 asks and you watch as the group chat derails into a conversation about what’s the best acid to use for different purposes.

Sorry hot yoga teacher for all the texts! I’m sure you’re probably trying to sleep. Finally comes a message from Pabo # 5 that brings the group chat back to their main point and you scoff softly at your new nickname from his friends. Hot yoga teacher, how flexible are you? Comes a question from Pabo # 3 that makes you roll your eyes almost violently as you scoff softly before a devious idea flits into your head. You quickly type out a response and hit send. Too flexible for you. And suddenly the group chat is bombarded with texts, you chuckle delighted at the chaos you just caused before silencing the phone and setting it back down on your end table. You quickly then fall back to sleep not bothering to check the phone again.

*-*-*-*

The next morning you’re up bright and early, already stretching out on your yoga mat before taking a shower and getting dressed in your workout outfit for the day. Today you’ve got a busy schedule of classes at the gym and you have to make it to Three Bean Coffee House to swap your phone with Binnie’s.

As you make the walk down to the coffee shop you can’t help the smile that graces your face, the group chat after you had dropped the bomb in it had been active until well into the early morning hours. Each of his friends try to entice you back into the group chat with corny pick up lines and promises to take care of you better than Binnie ever could. But they had assured you that they were teasing which had made your heart race with affection for them. They may be a little rowdy and chaotic but they seemed like good enough guys if they reassured you of their teasing.

Just as you opened the door to the coffee house you spotted him sitting at a table smack dab in the middle of the coffee house. There were a few other patrons in the place but not many since it was still early. You walk over to him and he looks up at you with a worried look on his face.

“I am so sorry for grabbing your phone yesterday! I didn’t mean to, honestly.” you quickly say to him and he smiles softly at you before waving his hand dismissively.

“Don’t worry about it. It was an easy mistake to make, we do match after all.” he says teasingly with a wink and you blush softly at his words. “I hope my friends didn’t completely mess up my chances at free yoga for a month did they?” he asked with a slight wince on his face. You chuckled amused as you shook your head at him.

“No but they certainly have some weird questions.” you tell him and he sighs deeply making you chuckle again. You hand him the phone and he hands yours over as well. “What kind of drink would you like, Binnie?” you ask and his head whips up to stare at you with wide eyes before his face flushes brightly at the nickname. He shyly tells you his order and you walk away to order and pay for it as he quickly swipes through his phone. “By the way you might want to put a pin on the phone or a fingerprint scan so that you have some sort of security.” you tell him sternly and he ducks his head before nodding in agreement.

“I can never remember my passwords so I’ll have to set up a fingerprint scan.” he admits and you tilt your head at him for a second before grinning widely at him as you remember what his friends had teased about him not being able to multitask. “I do apologize for my friends’ they can be a bit much sometimes.” he said softly and you burst out in laughter at his downplay of his friends.

“Just sometimes?” you ask with a raised eyebrow. “They’re all a bunch of chaotic idiots and they might owe me therapy.” you joke and he bursts out laughing.

“How about a nice dinner with me instead?” he offers hopefully and you grin at him as a blush coasts on to your cheeks.

“I would love that Binnie.” you coo softly at him and he ducks his head again. “But on one condition.” you follow up with and he looks up at you with a furrowed eyebrow. “I wanna be there when you knock some sense into your friends’ heads. Especially Pabo # 3.” Binnie stares at you with a horrified look on his face before he responds.

“Oh god, what did Hyunjin say?” he asks before going back to his phone scrolling through the group chat. You chuckle and reach across to place your hand over his phone and he looks up at you worriedly.

“Maybe after dinner I can show you how flexible I am thanks to yoga and you can brag about it to them.” you tell him sultrily and Binnie gulps loudly at your implication.

SKZ Taglist: @intartaruginha, @kayleefriedchicken, @babigriin

[karajaynetoday]

nothing's going right, and everything's a mess, and no one likes to be alone | jack hughes

author's note: don't ask me how the university semester timeline in this works. i have simply given reader a three week break in march bc why not. this is fanfiction okay, anything can happen 😂 no one proofread this for me so soz for any typos!

word count: 3.4k words

warnings: none that i can think of? but lmk if i've missed anything. soz if the ending makes you mad LOL i do love a cliffhanger

read part one here

read part two here

(This is a fem reader insert)

More writing here (soz that the masterlist is not up to date lol) | send thoughts/feedback/suggestions here

Somehow, the ill feeling of waiting until summer to see Jack again began to fade with each passing day. The itch to text him every time something exciting or infuriating happened to you began to lessen. The thoughts of him when you saw a funny meme he’d like, or your shared favourite foods on special at the grocery store, quietly stopped happening as frequently. 

But then there were the things that didn’t stop. The sharp pain in your chest whenever Jack’s smiling face popped up on your social media feed. The butterflies in your stomach whenever your parents brought him up in conversation, fuelled by whatever the latest updates were from their group message thread with Jim and Ellen. The joy that would wash over you when you heard about a Devils win or a Jack Hughes goal, followed almost always by a wave of sadness that you were hearing about it second or third hand, rather than from Jack himself.

You were the one who’d asked for space. You needed time, you’d said. Given the blow up of All-Star weekend, all Jack was doing was respecting your wishes; but a huge part of you not so secretly wished he’d be a bit more disrespectful and reach out. Your mind was a mess of conflicting thoughts, and your heart wasn’t sure which emotion to feel or where to go next. 

Since kindergarten, you’d barely gone more than a few days without seeing or communicating with Jack in some way. Now you were nearly a month without a word, and even though you were still mad at how he’d treated you, you were craving a return to the friendship you’d become so accustomed to. Jack knew you better than anyone, could basically read your mind with a single look, and although you had plenty of friends at college and still around in Toronto from high school, none came close to the camaraderie you shared with Jack. He was someone you could talk to for hours, or sit next to in silence for the same amount of time, it didn’t matter. With Jack, you could be utterly and entirely yourself, no complications. Now it felt like you were always pretending. And it was exhausting.

It was about 9pm on a Thursday night when you found yourself pushing through that exhaustion to try and complete yet another university assignment. For motherfucking economics. You couldn’t wait until you’d completed all of your compulsory economics credits because it was the absolute opposite of your cup of tea, when it came to academic subjects. This assignment was your last one, and you weren’t sure whether to cheer or cry at the idea of hitting the submit button on the online portal. Maybe you should’ve bought a confetti cannon to celebrate. Or a box of wine. Or booked yourself a flight somewhere fun, given you had a break from classes soon.

As soon as the thought of a trip crossed your mind, your phone began to buzz with an incoming video call. A video call from… Luke. Luke Hughes. 

Your face scrunched in confusion, as you swiped to answer the call, met with Luke’s smiling face and messy curls. 

“Hey sunshine! Long time no see. How have you been?” Luke spoke cheerily. Almost too cheerily. 

You were immediately suspicious and narrowed your eyes at the youngest Hughes. 

Luke was 3 years old when you met for the first time; he could barely remember a life without you in it. Given how inseparable you and Jack were, Luke became your de facto little brother, always tagging along where he could and joining in your adventures. Later on, when he became a teenager, you were the one Luke would come to when he was having issues with his friends, or trying to build up the courage to ask out the cute girl in his math class, or missing his brothers when they moved away. You were his second call after Ellen when he felt homesick at Michigan, and you were his first call when he had fucked up something that he felt his brothers would never let him live down. Emotional support and damage control, with a healthy dose of teasing and laughs thrown in. That was the dynamic between you and Luke. It also meant you could read him to filth when he was lying to you, and your honesty radar was through the roof at this sudden video call.

“I’m fine, Moose. Just trying to wrap up my final assignment before the break without losing my entire mind.” You offered weakly, half-expecting Luke to make a joke about your mind having been lost years ago, but the joke never came.

Instead, you saw the concern flicker across Luke’s face, just for a moment, before he forced a smile.

“How long is your break for? Any plans?”

“Three weeks, and not really. I promised my mother I’d spend a few days helping her with planning for their anniversary party in June, but that probably won’t happen until right before I go back to school.” You chatted absently, hitting save on your essay and standing up from the couch, bringing your phone with you as you moved into the kitchen to make yourself a drink.

You propped the phone up against the vase on your kitchen bench, reaching up into the cabinet to retrieve a glass. 

“Well, you should come visit. We’ve got like 5 home games in a row or something ridiculous coming up. It’d be fun!” Luke’s tone was cheerful, but cautious, like he wasn’t sure how you were going to react. 

You hummed in response, moving slightly out of view of your phone to get some ice cubes from your freezer and a soda from the fridge. 

“Besides, I heard a rumour that you’ve got an airline voucher to use. I’d hate for it to expire or something.” 

You could feel your heart starting to beat faster. Luke knew about the voucher. Did that mean Jack had told him about your fight? 

“The voucher won’t expire for three years. I’m sure I’ll manage to use it before then.” You deadpanned, stepping back into frame to see Luke rolling his eyes at you. 

“Yeah, sure, but will I survive that long without seeing you? Absolutely not. Come on, sugar. Please? Even if it’s just a weekend?” Luke had moved into full begging mode, with puppy dog eyes and everything.

You sighed, fidgeting with the straw in your drink and avoiding his gaze. 

“I don’t… we haven’t talked at all, Luke. I don’t know what he’ll do if I just show up there.” You half-whispered, feeling that all-too-familiar wave of sadness coursing through your veins. 

“He talked about you tonight at dinner. Says he misses you. But he doesn’t want to push, or not give you the space you wanted. But right now, he’s on the couch watching Gossip Girl, so…” Luke stated matter-of-factly, staring you down with a knowing look on your face.

Gossip Girl was something you’d insisted Jack get into when you were teenagers, as long as he “wanted to be called your official best friend”. And The OC. And Gilmore Girls. And One Tree Hill. And basically any other teen drama series you could think of. Collectively, those shows had thousands of episodes, and you always found yourself settling down to watch them whenever you were missing Jack more than usual. You’d never realised before that he did the same.

“Should… should we tell him I’m coming? I don’t want him to get upset by a bad surprise.” 

“Not at all, sugar. Book the flight and send me the details, I’ll sort out the rest.” Luke’s beaming smile made a smile of your own creep onto your face, as you nodded at him and went to retrieve your laptop from the couch to log onto the airline website.

“Now that that’s sorted, I was wondering, what does it mean when a girl asks me what my sun, moon and rising are? Should I be worried? Or is it a good thing?”

– 

Two days later, you were done with your semester and on your way to the airport. Luke had suggested you book a one-way flight, “That way, you can go home whenever you like!”, but you were starting to feel like the whole thing was a mistake. 

Nonetheless, you pushed through those feelings and boarded your flight. The whole ordeal took less than two hours, and soon enough you found yourself navigating the arrivals area at Newark airport. You spotted Luke’s lanky figure, clad in a Michigan sweatshirt, with his back to you. You couldn’t help but creep up on him and poke his side, cracking up with laughter as Luke jumped at least three feet into the air. He’d always been the easiest to scare, ever since you were kids. 

Luke cussed you out, and then pulled you into a bone-crushing hug. 

“Missed your face, sugarplum.” Luke murmured, as you pulled away from each other and he rested his hands on your shoulders, studying you. 

“Aw, Lukey. I’d say I’d missed yours too, but we really gotta do something about that hair.” You poked your tongue out as the youngest Hughes brother’s jaw dropped in mock offense. 

You retrieved your bag from the luggage carousel, and headed out to where Luke had parked. The two of you fell into easy conversation as Luke navigated through the New Jersey streets back to the apartment he shared with Jack. 

You managed to bury most of the nerves, but they came bubbling back to the surface when Luke pulled into the parking garage at the bottom of his building.

“Is… um… Is Jack home? Alone?” You managed to squeak out, and Luke looked at you like you were crazy. 

Ever since All-Star weekend, you’d been having a recurring nightmare about Jack and the girl from the messages you’d accidentally become privy to. In particular, it was a scenario where you would come home from wherever you’d been out, and opened the apartment door to find them… entangled, on every possible surface you could think of. You felt yourself starting to feel ill as the images from your nightmares started to flash back into your mind. 

“He’s alone. Ever since… ever since he came home early from All-Star, he’s been alone. None of the… usual visitors have been over. And he hasn’t been going to theirs, either. Not even when we’re on a roadie.” Luke said carefully, and you could tell he was trying not to upset you.

You could also tell that he was being honest. Because you could always tell when he was lying. But your mind was running a million miles a minute. Jack hadn’t… for a month? Because of his fight with you? You loved Jack, but you also knew (despite wishing that you didn’t know at all) that it had been years since he’d gone that long without intimacy. In fact, it was probably the longest since losing his virginity that Jack hadn’t fulfilled his desires. 

Your mind was starting to wander into the gutter, and you pressed your eyes closed to bring yourself back to Earth. All you could do was nod at Luke, before you both hopped out of the car and into the elevator. Luke insisted on carrying your luggage, so you found yourself fidgeting incessantly with your hands as the elevator climbed to the correct floor. 

You trailed behind Luke as he strode towards the apartment door and unlocked it, stepping inside and putting your bag down. He looked back and waved you into the apartment, pressing a finger to his lips. You tiptoed across the doorway, and your heart softened at the scene before you. 

You could see the back of Jack’s head leaned up against the couch, and an episode of Gilmore Girls playing on the TV mounted on the wall. In fact, it was one of your favourite episodes; where Jess comes back and shows Rory the book he wrote, and calls her out for dropping out of Yale. You smiled ruefully as you thought about the parallels between that episode and your current situation with Jack, as the argument between Jess and Rory played out on the screen.  

What do you mean?

You know what I mean! I know you. I know you better than anyone! This isn't you!

… 

This isn't you! This! You going out with this jerk, with the Porsche! We made fun of guys like this!

You caught him on a bad night.

This isn't about him! Okay? Screw him! What's going on with you? This isn't you, Rory. You know it isn't. What's going on?

I don't know. I don't know…

“Are we Team Jess or Team Rory this time, Jacky?” Luke called out, making you jump. 

“Team Jess all the way, obviously. Where have you bee-” Jack stopped dead in his tracks as he turned to face his brother, and instead saw you in the middle of his living room.

Jack’s face was a revelation. Confusion, at first. Then the briefest flash of hurt and anguish. Then a smile. Then caution and uncertainty, as he slowly stepped towards you. 

You let a breath you hadn’t realised you were holding, and quickly moved across the room, clumsily throwing your arms around your best friend. You felt Jack freeze momentarily, almost as if he was shocked at your touch, but that soon passed and you felt his hands slide around your waist and squeeze, bringing your bodies as close together as possible. 

You nestled your head on Jack’s shoulder, breathing in his scent. His thumbs softly rubbed up and down your side, and you felt him press a soft kiss into your hair. You stayed like that for a minute, or maybe longer, relaxing into the embrace.

The sound of the apartment door slamming shut made you jolt, and you rolled your eyes as you realised that Luke had tried to sneak way unnoticed and failed miserably. 

“Hi.” Jack whispered, pulling back from you slightly but keeping his hands locked around you. 

“Hi.” You whispered back, reaching up to brush his hair out of his eyes. 

“Is it still shit hair? Or better now it’s longer?” Jack teased, rolling his tongue between his teeth.

“Better. But only slightly.” You teased back, your hands slipping down to the back of his neck comfortably. 

The warmth of the surprise arrival was starting to fade. The dread you’d felt over addressing your fight with Jack was starting to set in, fast. The guilt you felt for being the catalyst for over a month for not speaking to your best friend was washing over you. Your heart rate was through the roof, and your palms were beginning to sweat. 

Jack sensed your change in mood, and pulled away from you to look you up and down.

“Are you hungry? Do you want to shower? Or take a nap?” He was nervous, too.

“I ate before my flight. And showered this morning. And it’s 11am, so I think I’m good on the nap front. But I do think we should… we should talk. About everything.” You were basically tripping over your words at this point, but Jack’s reassuring nod helped to calm your nerves. 

Wordlessly, Jack took your hand and led you over to the couch, gesturing for you to sit. You sat down and faced him, crossing your legs and resting your hands on your knees, still fidgeting with your hoodie sleeves. 

“I’m sorry - “ You both said unanimously, a gentle laughter filling the room. 

“I’m sorry I needed so much time apart, J. It fucking sucked, and it was my fault, and I just didn’t -” You began to ramble, only stopping when Jack leaned over and squeezed your knee reassuringly.

“You only needed that time because I was an asshole, sugar. It’s on me, really. I had no right to treat you like an occasional friend, or something that I shouldn’t prioritise -” Jack paused as you cringed, remembering the text messages that referred to his time with you as “boring family bullshit”. 

“I was thinking with my dick, not with my head, and that’s not fair on anyone.” You shot Jack a weird look, and he looked sheepish in return.

“Quinn… Quinn said that to me. After you told him to tell me about the messages. He’s right, thought. It wasn’t fair.” Jack continued, pausing to take a deep breath. 

“This whole… thing, this life -” Jack gestured broadly at the apartment around you, and you glanced around properly for the first time. Framed jerseys of Luke and Jack’s adorned the walls.Various photos of the Hughes family scattered about the place. The fridge, with a gas bill stuck to it, along with a polaroid of you and Jack from last Christmas. And a photo from your senior prom. And a group photo of everyone from last summer at the lake house, Jack’s mouth open in laughter with his arm slung over your bikini-clad shoulders. 

“It’s all I thought I ever wanted. And it’s amazing, and I’m so grateful. But it’s worth nothing to me, the money, the girls -” You felt yourself involuntarily cringe again. “The fame, the accolades, it’s worth nothing to me without the people that I love by my side. And if those people don’t know how much I love and appreciate them, because I treat them like shit, then that’s on me. No one else. Me.” 

You sat quietly, taking in Jack’s emphatic statement. You weren’t quite sure what to say. So instead, you gently reached over and took Jack’s hand in yours, lacing your fingers through his and squeezing softly, for a moment while you gathered your thoughts.

“I know the life you live, Jack. You don’t have to be sorry for it. Playing hockey was all you ever dreamed of, and I honestly can’t blame you for… enjoying… all the perks it comes with.” You swallowed the wave of nausea that hit you, before continuing. 

“I don’t… I don’t know what life looks like without you in it. The last month was such a bizarre experience, and not one that I ever want to repeat, but I also… I need to… Can I be honest?” You spoke softly, glancing up from your hands to meet Jack’s gaze, and he nodded encouragingly at you. 

“I wasn’t just upset because you made me feel like I was inconveniencing you, or cock-blocking you -” It was Jack’s turn to cringe. “I think I was upset because I was jealous. Because that will never, ever be me. And I think… I think I want it to be? Maybe? Fuck, I don’t know!” You dropped Jack’s hand and stood up from the couch, and started to pace the room. 

“Sugar, please sit down.” Jack pleaded, and you paused, looking back at him on the couch. One look was all you needed, and you narrowed your eyes at the smirk on his dumb face. 

“Why are you smirking? I am experiencing emotional distress, you asshole.” You seethed, running your hands through your hair in frustration.

“Tell me more about this jealousy thing. I’m intrigued.” Jack’s tone was light and teasing, and washed over you like sour milk. Your head whipped in his direction and your face must’ve said a thousand words, because Jack’s smirk soon disappeared and he hurriedly stood up and walked over, reaching out to touch you. 

“See, this -” You jabbed a finger into Jack’s chest. “This is why I have avoided this conversation for almost my entire life. Because you think it’s hilarious that we could ever go down that path. That we could ever be something more than what we are. Because I’m not good enough,or pretty enough, or just enough and I never will be, and I hate it. I hate it so much.” Your voice cracked on the last few words, and you felt the hot tears start to bubble out of your eyes and stream down your face. 

Jack didn’t say a word. He didn’t have to. He pulled you into a hug, bringing his hand up to your face and gently brushing away the tears with his thumbs. 

“Breathe, sugar. You need to calm down.” Jack said quietly, willing you to calm. That just made you cry harder. 

You were about to pull away, when you felt Jack cup your face with both hands, before leaning in to kiss you. 

[augustjustice]

You're the One that I Want

@steddie-week prompts: dizzy, drunken confessions @stevieweek prompt: girls night @steddiemicrofic prompt: one | wc: 1111 words rating: T | tags: transfem steve harrington, platonic stobin, sleepovers, phone calls, love confessions

AO3 Link

When the phone rang right around eleven, Eddie had to admit he was sort of surprised.

Not that he was any stranger to nighttime phone calls. One caller in particular had become something of a regular, post-nightmare soothing sessions in the first weeks after Spring Break soon morphing into inane chats about anything and everything. 

But he knew she was busy tonight.

Eddie had been quick to learn, once he’d gotten closer to the Upside Down crew, that weekly Steve and Robin Nights were a sacred tradition. Ever since Stevie came out, the title had transformed into Girls Night, much like their very own lovely jock herself. 

The importance of the day, however, remained the same.

And, it being Thursday, Eddie definitely didn’t expect to hear from her tonight. 

Crossing the trailer, he mused over who it might be instead. Gareth, maybe, since he was still sorting out the kinks of his drum solo in Corroded Coffin’s latest song. 

“Joe’s Pool Hall,” Eddie chirped when he picked up. “We rack ‘em and stack ‘em so you don’t have to!”

“Munson!” Robin’s voice burst out over the line, loud enough Eddie pulled the phone a few inches away from his ear. “Stevie needs to tell you something!”

In the background, he could hear Stevie’s muffled Robbie, nooo.

“Stevie-Evie, come on! Tell him, tell him, tell him.” The speed at which Robin chanted her words left them slurred, tripping over each other. “Exactly what you told me. It’s like–sleepover law. You gotta.”

From the shrieks and incomprehensible arguing that broke out after, Eddie could surmise they’d fallen into a drunken scuffle.

Finally, Stevie’s voice rang out from the receiver. “Hi, Eds!” 

The happiness in her tone made actual butterflies erupt in his stomach. Goddamn, he was such a mess for this girl. 

“Hey, sweetheart,” Eddie answered, twirling the cord around one finger. “Sounds to me like you two lovely ladies are having a fun night.”

“Oh, yeah, totally. We totally were. But then Robin,” in her inebriated state, Stevie put extra emphasis on the end of her best friend’s name, “got this bright idea to play, like. All the girls’ sleepover games I missed out on because…well, you know.”

Though Stevie sounded put-out now, Eddie had no doubt the suggestion had delighted her. Indescribable fondness for both girls swelled in his chest. 

“That right? What game are you at–prank call the hottest future rock star you know?” 

“No, sillyhead!” Stevie tittered.

Eddie could practically see her, smile bright and nose scrunched up adorably. The image was so distracting, he almost missed Stevie’s next words. 

“I’m s’posed to call…” she dropped into a hushed whisper, the crinkling sound the receiver made suggesting she had cupped her hand around the phone, “my biggest crush!”

The sentence hit Eddie like a truck, nearly incomprehensible. He felt dizzy with it, the bottom of his stomach dropping out the same way it had on the Gravitron at last year’s Fourth of July Fun Fair. 

“S-Sorry, uh,” he stuttered out, “bad connection, I think. You know how shitty the service down at Forest Park can be. Cuz, for a second, I almost thought you said–”

But Stevie barrelled on, as though he hadn’t said anything at all.

“You’re the one that I want!” she sang out.

Her voice carried all the passion and fervor as the times she was alone in the car with Eddie, taunting him with her favorite new pop hit, or when she and Robin were goofing off, having a dance off after hours at work. Eddie could hear it when Robin joined in for the follow-up chorus of Ooh, ooh, ooh, honey!

The absurdity of it made Eddie cackle, momentarily distracted from the racing of his heart. 

“Harrington…did you seriously just sing Grease at me?” 

“I did not!” Stevie protested. 

Eddie wouldn’t have been surprised if she had punctuated that claim with a stamp of her foot. But she followed it up with a little hmph, contemplative. 

“–Well, yeah, okay. So what if I did? That-that isn’t the point. The point is…I want you, Eddie Munson.”

He gulped against the nervousness welling up in his throat. “Princess…you’re actually serious right now, right? This isn’t just, you know…the booze talking?”

“‘Course I’m serious, Eds. Don’t know how you didn’t notice–Robin said my mooning was getting so annoying. But that’s only cuz I’m like…totally in love with you, to be honest.” 

It wasn’t as eloquent and romantic, Eddie suspected, as a sober Stevie Harrington love confession would have been–but, heart flipping in his chest, he cherished it just as much. 

“Oh. Well, shit. Looks like…I better shape up, then.” 

And even though he knew what he was about to do would make him sound completely ridiculous–he couldn’t help but smile, knowing it would be totally worth it. 

So, Eddie took a deep breath and belted back, “Cuz my heart is set on you!”

“Eddie!” Stevie gasped like he had just performed a magic trick. “You know Grease?!”

“Stevie, you gotta swear you’re gonna take that one to your grave. But…sure I do, darling. You think I wouldn’t go out and see one of your favorite movies?”

“Really?”

The excitement in her voice was tempered by a sudden hint of shyness, the kind she usually hid behind a bold, confident exterior. Eddie knew exactly what that was like–and he felt lucky, that Stevie trusted him enough to let him see the vulnerability underneath.  

“Really really. I’m gone for you, Stevie. Have been for…well, hell. A really long damn time.”

Stevie sighed, lovelorn and wistful.

“Me, too.”

Eddie was really glad he wasn’t the one that was drunk right now, or he might have suspected he was dreaming.

“Wanted to tell you for so long–” But whatever sweet thing Stevie had been about to say was cut off, as she suddenly huffed into the phone. “Oh my God, okay! I’m hurrying, I’m hurrying!”

“All good over there?” 

“Sorry. Robin says I’m hogging the phone,” Eddie could practically hear her eye roll, before her tone turned mischievous. “Besides…now it’s her turn to call Vickie. Talk tomorrow?”

“Wouldn’t miss it, Stevie. See you bright and early.” Bright and early for Eddie usually meant around noon, but, for this, he was willing to make an exception. “And tell Buck–I owe her one.”

You’re welcome! he heard Robin sing-song just before Stevie hung up, evidence she’d probably been listening in on every word. 

As he wandered back to his bedroom in a daze, 11:11 blinked at him from the digital alarm clock on his bedside table.

Eddie didn’t even need to make a wish.

Travolta and his flying car had nothing on him. 

[http-tokki]

need to know

~ choso kamo x fem!reader (tattoo artist choso au) ~tags/cw: tattoo artist choso, fem reader, tattoo artist au, tattoos, needles, satosugu is canon, modern au, choso has a scar over his nose instead of his markings, strangers to friend to lovers (strangers rn) tiny lil man verbal bashing cause men are weak lil babies when getting tattoos, reader is a lil chubby, choso is on antidepressants, smoking/vaping, drinking ~ wc: 2.9k ~ "Dude, he is so fucking hot. I wasn't expecting him to look like that!! What do I do?!! Help?!?"

You: Wednesday 8:45pm Hi, I was just wondering if your books were still open? It says they are in your bio but in case I've missed it and they're closed, please ignore this message, sorry! :)

Kamo: Wednesday 9:23pm Hey. No, they are still open. When were you looking to book? Do you have a specific design? Or are you looking for a flash?

 

You: Thursday 11:36am Oh, hi, awesome! Thank you for getting back to me so quickly! I was looking to book next month, towards the end. On a weekend if that would be possible (I don't mind the time), and for the design, just a flash (design 3A) on your latest post on my upper arm, around 15-20cm. :)

You: Thursday 11:52pm Unless you think it should be smaller or somewhere else, I'm not picky! I really want something of yours tattooed on me :)

 Kamo: Thursday 12:15pm Sure, no problem! I have the 24th free at 12pm. Does that work for you? The spot and size are fine, but I'll make up smaller and bigger stencils on the day in case you change your mind. The total would be $600 for the piece. However, I require a $100 deposit to secure your spot. I can send you the payment details once you confirm your interest. Please read through my FAQs on cancellation policies and further information.

You: Thursday 12:20pm 24th at 12pm is perfect! Thank you!! I'll send a deposit through now! Ahh, so excited! :)

 

Kamo: Thursday 1:07pm You're welcome. Here is the link x. Please send a screenshot of your payment as proof. For the rest of the amount, I accept cash only. If you have any other questions, feel free to message me. See you on the 24th.

You: Thursday 3:30pm Sending it now! Yay! Thank you so much! Super excited, see you! :)

Kamo: Thursday 4:35 pm Seen 

--

 "I sound like an idiot, don't I?" you grumble as your friend reads over your chat with a tattoo artist.

You watch your friend tilt their glasses down, squinting at the screen as their mouth curls into a grimace. They try to hide it with a sniffle, disguising their obvious disgust over your intense enthusiasm.

"Not an idiot," they hand the phone back to you, a frown set in the crooked way it always did when they were uncomfortable. "Just really, really eager, which can be cute if you like that."

--

Choso is growing tired. 

At what? There are too many contributing factors to the headache that had begun blooming his eyes five minutes after stepping into the studio to pinpoint the main culprit of his budding exhaustion. Maybe it was the late night/early morning combo, or perhaps it was the horrific lack of water and food he hadn't consumed in the last twenty-four hours. When was the last time he had taken his medication? Choso begins to run through the previous days in an attempt to remember when he had even glanced at the Zoloft sheet sitting in the bottom drawer of his trolley, but his attention is diverted from his lack of self-care to the man sitting in his tattoo chair. 

It is coming up on the two-hour mark since his client walked in. With a brazen attitude that could rival a Greek god, the man had outlined what had to be the simplest fucking tattoo known to man. Choso had rolled his eyes at the frankly impressive and thorough drawing done by the twenty-something gym bro before shifting the paper off to his younger brother. 

"Come on, it's easy! An hour tops, and then you've got like two fifty in your hand! You technically owe me an observation session, and this can be it." Yuji had gripped his brother's sleeve, tugging on it the way he used to when they were kids. 

Taking in his younger half-brother as his apprentice was a good idea in theory. The two lived and worked together, so there was ample time for obvs and practice, but today was already busy, and Choso was feeling like complete and utter shit. 

"Yuji, I don't want to do this. I have a client coming in at twelve for a full session, and I've got this headache and-"

"It's easy money, come on! Please." it technically was easy money. The design was a small band wrapped around the bicep, with no adornments or script, just a flat black line; it was the client himself that made Choso apprehensive. 

"Fine." Choso sighed, and Yuji almost jumped into the air in excitement. "You prep and clean him; I'm not doing anything but the actual tattoo." 

Yuji nodded eagerly and just about ran into the front room to confirm the walk-in appointment. 

That was almost two hours ago, and Choso is still here, finishing up the outlines of the band on a guy twice his size but carrying on like a toddler. Each touch of the needle on skin had the man flinching and hissing through his teeth, and there is only so much Choso could take. 

Choso eyes the clock nervously, his next appointment slot ticking closer but the second. There isn't going to be enough time to get out and grab a coffee or snack from the corner store. After another quick glance at the amount of work before him, Choso calls it fifteen minutes to twelve and clicks off the tattoo gun with a disappointed sigh.

 "Hey, I'm sorry, but we might have to split this into two sessions." 

He looks back over at this current client, who is sweating profusely. It takes everything in him to scowl in disgust at the once brazen man before him, but not the look on his client's face; Choso knows some form of repugnance had slipped through his composure. 

 "Yeah, sure, man, no sweat," the client replies, relief blatant in his sigh. "Sorry for taking so many breaks. I've got a weak pain tolerance."

That makes Choso feel a little bad.

"You're fine. I've just got a pre-booked client coming in like ten and need to set up." A little lie to hurry the man up. 

Hope is so close. So attainable that Choso can almost feel the sun on his face, but the shop bells slice through any dream of a break. 

"Hi, I'm here for my twelve with Kamo?" 

Choso slouches, attention now on the conversation happening in the front room. It's not even twelve yet! Why would she be here so early? 

"Yep! We've got you down for twelve, but Choso's still with someone, so if you wanna wait here, that's okay!" Yuji giggles in response. 

"Ohh, I'm just here to ask if umm…Choso wanted a coffee or anything?" his name is a question on her tongue. "I'm going to go get one and wanted to ask if anyone wanted anything so you don't have to wait in line." 

That's nice. Choso thinks and leans back on his chair, attempting to glimpse his new client, who has Yuji giggling at every word. 

"I was just about to step out to get coffee so I can come with you, but I can get Cho's; you don't need to pay for him." Another giggle. God, his younger brother is shameless. 

"That's okay! I can get them; just write your orders down so I don't forget!" the girl insists.  

"Ohh, but-"disappointment fills Yuji's voice. 

"Yuji, can you come here please!" Choso shouts down the hall, pulling his brother away from his new crush. 

Yuji groans, then the shop bells ring again, and then the sound of footsteps shuffles down the hall. 

"Yes?" 

"Can you wrap him up and finish the payment? I need a smoke." Choso rolled back from the bed, handing over the second skin he has yet to unwrap. 

Choso's brother sighs but offers the male client a friendly smile, sits down in the now vacant rollaway stool, and begins to prep the skin for wrap-up.

"I'll be back in five; if anyone needs me, tell them to wait." Choso grumbles the last part and offers a stiff wave to his current client before disappearing into the hall. 

 The knots in Choso's shoulder have been building for days now, and no amount of rolling or stretching seems to relieve the tension in his muscles, but it is nice to stretch and feel the blood move around him again. Heavy boots echo through the small shop as he stalks to the front desk, floorboards creaking under the weight of thick rubber soles. His fingers slip into his back pocket to reach for the small pack of menthols hastily shoved down after the abrupt end of his morning break. 

Stepping out into the world, Choso is blinded by the sun. Having forgotten about the passage of time while being stuck indoors all day, he now stands stunned in the small alcove of the shop's entrance. The sun nears the centre of the sky, beating down the world in a heat never seen before. It wasn't even the beginning of summer, and the sweltering days were breaking temperature records. Choso shields his eyes with a hand, and even then, his vision is blurred as his retinas adjust. 

The street is quiet; an abnormal silence had fallen over the usually busy road, but with the rising blistering temps, he suspects people aren't willing to brave the heat to shop or eat. Choso finds the familiar recess in the wall, a door had been there years ago but has long since been boarded up and now acts as refuge for him and his brother. Through any weather, time of day or season, the small alcove is a sanctuary for tired and burnt-out artists needing a second away from the constant buzz of tattoo guns. 

Choso scans the few open cafes and bars for his mystery client. Mainly office workers on lunch break and mothers with strollers waiting for the afternoon pick up; he can't see anyone that fits the image he had concocted in his mind on the short walk over until he spots a girl standing in line across the way. The tattoos that adorn her legs are what Choso notices first. Patchwork pieces from different artists in black and white with pops of colour here and there, but for the most part are monochromatic, all spaced far enough to be their own pieces but not so much that they seem gap-y. He is impressed at the choice, knowing that when getting patchwork pieces, they are usually slapped in any available location, but from what he can see, every piece flowed into each other and told a story against her skin. Her arms are equally as covered, though with more room, and he is eager to see the works up close. A flash of pink catches his attention, and he narrows his attention on the pink My Melody backpack that she swings at her side, pink wallet clutched in her free hand as she shifts her weight from her toes to her heels. Choso smirks at the bag and finds himself willing her to turn so he can see the face of the girl who we had been staring at for the past five minutes. 

He is staring and he needs to stop before he gets caught. Shifting his attention from the random woman, he fishes out his phone and focuses on the seemingly endless DMs and texts stacked on the lock screen. Sometimes, he wonders if he really should have gone into a career where his livelihood relied on communicating with strangers. With expert precision and one hand, he pulls a cigarette from the crumpled packet and slips the filter between his teeth. Biting down the filter, the taste of menthol fills his mouth, and relief floods his veins before settling in the deep groves of his brain. The cigarette isn't even lit yet, but his nervous system knows that the taste of mint will soon be followed by nicotine, and all will be well for a few minutes. Breaking the habit of smoking has been on Choso's New Year's resolution lists for the past three years, but he only ever lasts a few weeks before turning back to the comfort of those overpriced joints. Maybe next year will be the year. Choso digs through his pockets, fingers grasping for the lighter he keeps in his right pant pocket, but there is nothing. Maybe the other side? Still nothing. Third pocket? Fourth pocket? Nada. Zilch. Zero. Fuck. 

There isn't enough time to go back inside to search for matches, and he had already popped the filter and doesn't want to waste the smoke, but it would get gross sitting in the packet- his headache grew. 

"Choso?" a soft voice asks from above.

Choso looks up from his lap and is greeted by the most stunning woman he has ever seen. Breathing is no longer automatic as he stares at you, and when his lungs start to contract almost painfully, he realises and takes in an all too obvious breath.

It wasn't fair to look like that. With the sun illuminating your silhouette, cradling you in an angelic aura that has Choso debating on whether he should get on his knees and pray to you, but too much time has passed since you spoke and he acknowledged you that he has to say something, but all he can manage is a muffled yeah?

"I'm your twelve, but you look like you need a light?" you hold out a bright pink light between pretty pink manicured fingers. 

Choso offers a tight-lipped smile to prevent the cigarette from falling from his mouth and takes the lighter, flicking it to life. "Thanks, I owe ya."

He holds the flame to the tobacco, and only when it glows bright does he pull the disposable away.

"It didn't cost me anything, so nothing to owe."

There is a beat of silence as you throw the light back into your bag before bending down to pick up the coffee you had set at your feet. "Also, a coffee." another offer towards him. 

"The guy at the desk gave me your order, and I always buy my artists something before a session. I'm not hitting on you."

Your admission of this not being a move stirs something in him. Choso accepts the cold cup with a soft thank you, angling his hand away from yours, careful not to burn you with the lit smoke.

 "I'll meet you inside. Give you a moment to yourself." you nod towards the door of the studio, feet already turning to start walking towards the entrance. 

He watches you walk away, a smile creeping on his face despite not knowing why. You're as cute from the front as you are from the back, and he's glad the girl he had seen in the coffee shop is you. Soft curves make up your figure, dipping at your waist before filling out again over your bust. Choso feels his stomach twist in that familiar feeling, but he can't think of you like that; you're a client and nothing more. There is a mesmerising way in which you walk that has Choso unable to look away, and even when you've stepped into the studio, his gaze lingers on the empty space you once stood in until the rancid taste of burnt filter fills his mouth. Never in his life has he been as thankful for coffee as he is in that moment when burnt paper fills his senses. Taking a big gulp of the sweet but still bitter drink, it takes everything in him not to spit in the street, but he was raised better than that and will wait until he is in the small bathroom to spit up the gross contents.

 --

 When Choso returns, you are sitting on the small couch in the waiting room, filling out consent forms. Head down as you read the number of your ID and scribe it down in the open line; he walks past you, suddenly horrified by his heavy choice of shoe. The thick thud of the rubber soles on the hardwood has you lifting your head and smiling at your artist. Choso feels his stomach flip.

"So," Choso starts, but the smoke still in his throat chokes the word. He clears his throat and restarts his sentence. "So, do you smoke, or do you just carry the lighter?"

"My best friend smokes, so I just carry it 'cause you never know when you're gonna need a light." Your laugh is contained, almost forced, as if the interaction you are having is uncomfortable for you. Had he done something wrong?

"Ohh." Is his only reply as you return to the balanced folder on your lap.

Another moment of silence before Choso steps towards the hall. "I'll let Yuji check you in, and then just come in when you're ready." Had he already made you that uncomfortable in the two minutes you had spoken outside? Choso takes a deep breath as he steps into his space and suddenly wishes the whiney baby was the one getting tattooed.

--

You: Saturday 12:05pm Dude, he is so fucking hot. I wasn't expecting him to look like that!! What do I do?!! Help?!?

Number ONE best friend: Saturday 12:06pm suck his dick? ik guys like that :P 

You: Saturday 12:06pm Idk what I expected from you. I need actual advice, please Saturo. U owe me!

Number ONE best friend: Saturday 12:07pm ooh first name, you're kinda scary. Okay, here is what you do. You act like a normal human and then flirt a lil and suss out if he's into it and then ask him out to drinks?

You: Saturday 12:08pm That works if I KNEW HOW TO FLIRT. Ugh im screwed, he's so fine fuck

Number ONE best friend: Saturday 12:09pm eww, you're getting ur jizz all over the screen. just breathe and be normal okay, pretend he's me.

You: Saturday 12:10pm  Ignoring the first comment. Im gonna sneak a pic and show u BRO YOU NEED TO SEE HIM

Number ONE best friend: 12:10pm creepy but okeeeeyyy. Sugu also says to breathe and be normal but to ignore anything you think I would do

You: Saturday 12:11pm Thanks, Suguru, please kill him for me, ill talk to u guys in a bit

Number ONE best friend:  good luck bestie 8======D

a/n: okay so there is going to be a part two but I'm not sure when, please give me feedback if you want it or want me to stop, put the laptop down and go outside lmao lil texting format, lemme know how y'all feel about that

[insomniac4000]

Hello! May I request a ff about chrizzMD where y/n participated in the 20v1 and everything kept going wrong for her but somehow she managed to win or something like that? Thank you very much x

I really enjoyed writing this. If anyone wants a sequel with their first date let me know

20vs1 ChrisMD

When Y/N saw the tweet that the one, the only ChrisMD was taking applications for a football themed 20v1 she immediately thought about entering. She had a following, it wasn't huge by any means, about 75k subscribers where she did book reviews and some travel to different destinations and attractions like odd museums, places off the beaten path. It was enough to make a living and that was enough for her, knowing not everyone achieves major success but she could do what she loved and paid the bills so she liked her life.

One of y/n's worst personality traits was her indecisiveness, she liked the thought of doing the video, it could be fun and of course she thought Chris was a very attractive man but on the other hand what if she made a fool out of herself? She went back and forth about this for days, it was her friends who eventually convinced her it would be a good opportunity. It was only when she had filled in the application and sent it off that she realised she was one day over the deadline.

“Fuck,” she said to herself when she read the line again and cursed her indecisiveness again. She pushed it all to the back of her mind however and once again just concentrated on her content, using a random number generator to chose the order of the five books she had just purchased to review.

To her surprise one day y/n received an email to the account she used for professional matters, when she looked at the address of the person who sent it her heartbeat quickened, she could feel it beating hard through her chest, it was from ChrisMD. She went to click on it quickly and in her haste clicked on the one wrong email at first, but she found the right link and read the words, trying to keep calm.

Dear y/n Thank you for your interest in the latest 20v1 video. We had more applications than we thought so firstly we would like to thank you for your patience while we went through them all. We didn’t expect the response we received and are sad we cannot have everyone in the video we would like to. However we would love to have you participate in the video, please respond to this email if you are free to film next week Thursday and we will give you further information and instructions. ChrisMD and his team.

The message was professional and a little cooperate but y/n had to real in her excitement, this was a video for content and Chris probably wasn’t truly looking for love in a video, then again who knows what would happen.

The day of the shoot y/n was incredibly nervous. She walked onto the pitch and met all of the other girls, Chris’s producer Jamie introduced himself to everyone and explained what was going to happen for the first round. The weather wasn’t great, it was grey and cloudy which wasn’t too unusual for London, everyone just hoped it wouldn’t start to rain.

“Oh my God there’s Chris!” A girl with an American accent enthusiastically shouted, y/n looked over and there was the small curly haired man, taking a seat next to Calfreezy and ArthurTV. Y/N had to admit that although she did find Chris attractive he was much, much more attractive in person than he was in photos, he seemed quite relaxed as he laughed at something Arthur had said. The girls were all lined up, y/n was firmly in the middle of the pack.

The first challenge was to go up and introduce yourself, you were to say a pick up line and then try and score a goal. Y/N watched on as she saw her fellow competitors go bye and soon enough it was her turn.

“Okay Chris next up this is y/n,” Jamie said off camera knowing this would be edited out of the video, the girl walked in front of the table and had a small nervous smile on her lips.

“Hello y/n how are you?” Chris asked smiling and nodding at the girl in front of him. She smiled and swept her hand through her high ponytail.

“I’m good how are you guys?” Her voice came out a little more high pitched than usual but at least it wasn’t shaky.

“Good thanks, so when you’re ready.”

“Do you believe in love at first sight, or should I walk by again wearing my Arsenal Jersey?” Y/N said, and Chris laughed a little bit, ArthurTV however wasn’t as impressed.

“Then why didn’t you just wear an Arsenal top?” The brunette asked, a confused yes slightly mischievous look on his face.

“Actually yeah!” Chris laughed along with his friend. Y/N looked down at her England top and panicked slightly, fumbling over her words.

“It’s the Euro’s I’m being patriotic,” she replied hurried.

“Fair enough, kick the ball when you’re ready.” Chris could tell the poor girl was really nervous, he had gone through all of the applications and knew a small bit about all of the girls there, he knew this wasn’t the usual type of content y/n was used to so understood her nerves, he wanted to make sure at least the girls all had a great time regardless. Y/N took a deep breath before running up to the ball, kicking it with her right foot she looked and put her hands on each of her cheeks when she saw it slam into the post on the right hand side.

“Unlucky! But you seem really sweet so I’m going to put you through to the next round,” Chris said, his hands clapped together in his usual way whenever he spoke in videos.

“Thanks!” Y/N replied and skipped a little when she went back to the waiting area to watch the rest of the girls.

The next segment was taking free kicks. Something y/n wasn’t looking forward to too much, she wasn’t much as footballer, she instead used to do dance and gymnastics when she was younger so the complete opposite end of the spectrum to football.

“Any tips?” Y/N as she placed the ball in the spot. “Just run up and follow through with your foot, like one swift movement,” Chris coached y/n nodded before muttering to herself. “I’m going to hit someone,” when the eventual video was released this utterance was clipped three times, which could only mean that her foresight was unfortunately correct. She had a good run up but looked in horror as the ball span and landed straight into Arthur’s face.

“OH MY GOD I AM SO SO SORRY!!!!” Y/N exclaimed through her hands which were over her mouth in shock. Both Chris and Freezy of course found this hilarious and Chris couldn’t stop laughing at the sight of his friend now rolling around on the floor.

“I am really am sorry,” the girl said over and over again as she walked over to the injured party.

“That was amazing, for nearly decapitating ArthurTV you’re through,” Chris stated clapping his hands in amusement.

“This is going to go on the shorts channel isn’t it?” Y/N replied blushing as she walked away, causing further laughs from Chris and Freezy. Round three was a talent round. Instead of doing something she did usually y/n decided to learn a new skill, she had spent hours and hours learning to juggle.

“Oh no she’s got more boys, quick everyone duck!” Arthur joked when y/n walked up.

“I’ll stand far away enough so no one should get hurt this time,” the girl explained. She started off well, juggling the three red balls with ease, that was until she dropped them, cursing as she did.

“At least I didn’t hit anyone this time,” she said sheepishly.

“You know what, I’m going to put you through to the final round,” Chris said with a smug smile on his face, y/n was as shocked as anyone and thanked Chris before calming herself. The last portion was a chat with Chris, Arthur and Cal. Y/N sat down saying hello again.

“So, you hit the bar, hit Arthur in the face, dropped your balls and you’re still here,” Cal started off the conversation.

“I know I can’t believe it!”

“He must really want to shag you,” Arthur added and the girl sat there open mouthed and Chris places his head in his head.

“Fuck sake,” the curly haired man uttered.

“I have had a shocker though, and I was late getting my application in. I must seem really scatty but I promise I’m organised,” y/n defended herself and Chris nodded.

“Give me some book recommendations,” Chris asked looking into y/n’s eyes. They were green with flakes of brown throughout, Chris loved how unique they looked.

“The ministry of time is a great escapism if that’s the kind of thing you’re looking for,”

“I am always looking to escape the intrusive thoughts,” Chris revealed and y/n couldn’t help but agree while feeling her heart a little.

“I get that too, but books are a great escape.” The talk they had wasn’t too humorous but it was deep and real and meaningful, as much as a five minute conversation could be. The final girls lines up, the three hosts looking over towards the two finalists. Chris had his hands clasped together as he faced the women.

“Well it’s been a fierce competition and you both did amazingly well but my winner and unfortunately a date with me is, y/n! congratulations!” Y/N smiled in shock and hugged her opponent. She ten made her way over to Chris and for the video they held hands and looked back towards the camera but both y/n and Chris felt a little thump when their hands intertwined. After the shoot y/n held back at Chris’s request, he had his phone in his hand and a sweet smile on his face.

“Thank you so much for coming. I know it was a video but if you did want to go on that date for real then I’ll be happy to,” Chris asked a little shaky. Y/N smiled and nodded.

“I’d love to.”

[minimomoe]

Love Bites

Baker Fem Reader x Toji Fushiguro (mafia au)

word ct: 15.1k, 11 Chapters

tags: Fluff, grumpy x sunshine, found family, a little angsty but nothing too bad, marriage proposal, established relationship, (last chapter only: kitchen sex, creampie, oral- fem receiving, other sexxy funtime stuff)

Chapter Two: Chimayo Chai

Much to your dismay Toji visited the shop at least once a week with the same order. He always wanted to eat two of everything and a new drink to try, a drink that you had to choose for him. Your routine was set to where you had his boxes already waiting for him by the time he came in. 

“Can I ask you a question?” Toji stops and stares down at you. You roll the ties of your apron around your fingers to try to calm yourself. 

“Why do you order so much? I mean, you come in every week, but you don’t strike me as someone who has a sweet tooth.”

Once again Toji didn’t respond right away but you were used to it by now. Toji seemed to talk more when he was annoyed, so him being quiet was actually a good sign. 

“I give them to my son and… coworkers.”

“You have a son?” you perk up. “I didn’t know you were married.”

“I’m not.”

You cringe at his response. You didn’t mean to bring up an unpleasant memory for him but you could never seem to talk to him normally. 

“I’m sorry, I shouldn’t have said that. I- Here’s your drink,” you sigh and hand him the latest fall drink on their menu, which is a Chimayo Chai. You hold the drink out and he takes it, lingering for a moment before speaking again. “He doesn’t like sweets either. My son.”

Your eyebrows knit together at his confession. “So it’s mainly just your coworkers who like sweets?”

Toji nods and finally takes the tea from over the counter. “They won’t shut up about them.”

“I love to hear that. I’ve been meaning to try more sugar and gluten free recipes. Maybe then you can enjoy them too.” You gave him a soft smile and the word “cute” flashed in Toji’s mind. He couldn’t even remember the last time he used that word willingly. “Oh, one more thing,” you say. “Next week on this day I won’t be here. The shop will be closed actually,” you mutter quietly. The words make Toji’s grip tighten around his cup and he waits for her to continue.

“It’s just for one day! I’m telling you because you always come in on Thursdays so I wanted to give you a heads up. I’ll close earlier on Wednesday but Friday will be open during normal store hours,” you smile and push your glasses up. 

“Why?”

You were hoping he wouldn’t ask that question. You really didn’t want to lie to him, but at the same time you didn’t have any idea who this man was, even if your interest in him piqued every time he walked in with his tieless suit and emotionless face. 

“I’m… visiting family,” you acquiesce. 

“For only a day?”

“Yes, that’s all I need.” 

Thankfully another customer broke their conversation with an announcement of their own. “Hey you, feeling old yet?” You smile at your tall friend who reaches over the counter to give you a tight hug. 

“My birthday’s next week, jackass. How have you been, Rina?” 

“Now I have to be more creative with my learning plans to keep the kids focused on their school work,” Rina dramatically sighs and her eyes trails over to the man she brushed past to say hello to you and her eyes widens.

“Oh Mr. Fushiguro! Funny seeing you here!”

“You know him, Rina?” This was getting ridiculous. How could an elementary teacher know a man like Toji?

“I teach his son, Megumi. He’s an absolute sweetheart. Quiet, but smart. He also loves all things related to frogs. Did I interrupt your conversation?”

“No, not at all. I’m sure Mr. Toji has other things to attend to. I’ll see you next week? Or maybe not, but soon?” 

“What drink is this again?” Toji looks down into the cup. 

“Chimayo Chai. You’re the first person I’ve made it for so far since it’s new on the menu,” you beam. “Let me know what you think when I see you again, okay?”

Toji nods and leaves without another word and Rina slowly turns to you with a smile pulling at her lips. 

“He’s single you know.”

“Rina.”

“And quite a catch. He shows up to all of Megumi’s events and the other PTA moms drool over him from a distance.” 

“Rina…”

“I wasn’t joking about Megumi. He doesn’t smile often but he is one of the kindest kids in the class. He’s like a tiny adult. I think you’d like him.”

“Stop that! I barely know the man. I just—“

“You just add new items on the menu in the middle of the season for him to be the first one to try it. No big deal,” Rina smirks and pops a piece of a muffin that she grabbed off of a rack into her mouth.

“Shut up. And I'm charging you for that.”

“Yeah yeah. Anyway, be sure to get ready for the school’s fall festival. Who knows, maybe Mr. Fushiguro will be there too.”

Chapters: I. II. III. IV. V. VI. VII. VIII. IX. X. XI.

M.list || Ao3 || Twitter || Ko-fi

[justwinginglife]

Out Of Commission

If you couldn't tell by the sentence below, this is NSFW.

“I’m not pulling out. If I pull out, you’re going to work, so no. I’m not pulling out.”

You’d been trying to leave the house for the last 10 minutes, but couldn’t even manage to make it out of the bed, because your boyfriend had been clinging to you for dear life. His arms were wrapped around you so tightly, and yet you could still tell he was being careful to avoid the spots that were more sore from your latest mission. You couldn’t tell what you found more attractive: his obvious need for you that was made evident in the erection that was steadily growing harder again inside of you, or the attentiveness he was displaying even amidst his lust-filled desires. Either way, you loved the shit out of him which made leaving even harder, even just for a couple hours. 

Rafayel whined again, bringing your attention back to the present issue. “It’s a Friday. Which is pretty much Saturday. Which means it’s your day off and you have to stay in bed with me. So- NO LEAVING.” 

You laughed at that, ruffling his hair. “But baby, it is still Friday, which means it is still a work day.”

He huffed. “And I suppose you’re going to tell me that Monday is a work day as well? What next, Tuesday? Wednesday? Thursday?”

You pinched his cheek. “Yes, love. All of those days are work days. You know this.”

“And when are Rafayel days? Huh?”

“Saturday. And Sunday. So just wait one more day, okay?” You showered him with kisses, but it wasn’t enough. His bottom lip was still jutted out in an emphatic pout. You laughed again and poked his nose before pressing a kiss to the tip of it.

“This isn’t funny. I may just die without you.” He scowled.

You gazed at him fondly, brushing your thumbs gently across his cheeks as you cupped his face in your hands. “Don’t die on me, baby. Just wait a little longer for me, okay? It won’t be as bad as you think.” You rested your forehead against his. “I promise, I’ll come straight home after work. Then I’ll be all yours.”

His eyes darkened with possessive intent. “No. I want you to be all mine, now.” He rolled over so you were pinned beneath him. 

The shift in position plunged his cock deeper inside you and you let out a startled yelp. 

He inhaled sharply at the sound. “Especially if you keep making noises like that, there’s no way I can let you leave now.” He started slowly pumping himself into you in steady motions. 

“Raf-”

“Shhh. No more arguing. Just one more round. I need this.” He looked down at the mess you’d made in between his legs, your arousal sloppily oozing out of you with every thrust. “And it looks like you need this too.”

You bit your lip. “Fine. One round. Fuck me.”

He smirked at that. “I knew you couldn’t resist me.” He pressed heated kisses to your wrists before pinning them above your head. Then, he seared his heat against your lips, consuming every whine and whimper that quivered against his tongue as he continued to pound into you. If he was still smug about your sudden submission, it was quickly drowned out by his hunger. He’d wanted to taste you all morning and now here you were, serving yourself up on a silver platter. “Princess…” He murmured against your mouth. 

You hated how much you loved when he called you that. His little pet name for you only came out in the bedroom and only when he was about to worship the ever loving shit out of you. 

So you weren’t surprised when his lips found their way down your neck, painting evidence of his ownership across your chest in colorful bursts of pink and purple, before finally settling around a peaked nipple. And you weren’t surprised when he teased the bud relentlessly with his tongue, his ministrations beyond sensual with every stroke, like he thought he’d find his release buried beneath your breast if he just searched hard enough. And when his artist’s hands sculpted pleasure from nothing, squeezing and sucking the sensibility right from your chest, it was only his usual devotion to you. 

But, after his teeth had carved into your neck, after his fingers had imbedded into your hips, after he’d bombarded you with a barrage of tireless thrusts, when the insurmountable wave of euphoria inevitably flooded through your veins, you were surprised to find that this time, there was no respite waiting for you at the end of this high. 

Like an engine sputtering back to life, after he’d buried his cum soaked cock in between your convulsing walls, he regained his momentum. He coaxed the cum back inside you with steady movements, with gentle movements, with movements that could have convinced you he wasn’t about to slam on the gas and go full throttle. But he was.

Your first clue was the sudden snap of his hips, your second- the growl in his throat, the ferocity in his eyes. Oh god. He was going to break you. 

You quickly concocted a plan, trailing your fingers down his back in distraction as you murmured in his ear, “Wanna ride you, baby.”

When he wasted no time flipping your positions, tugging you on top of him, you felt your escape route was almost assured. In this position, you had all the control. In this position, you could simply stand up and walk away. You could still make it to work on time. 

You gave him a couple good thrusts for his efforts, and then pulled off of him in a hurry. But it still wasn’t quick enough. 

“Figured you’d try something like that. But I’m not done with you.” His hands burrowed into your hips, yanking you back down on his cock, but this time he had realigned himself. This time, he was spearing himself through your ass. You hissed in pain as every brutal thrust drilled himself deeper into you. Every attempt to get off of him only brought you slamming down harder as his hands guided your hips up and down. 

“Was thinking you’d try to go back to work. But you can’t go if you can’t walk, right?” 

Your mind was already clouded over, your thoughts a muddled mess, but when he began to thumb at your swollen clit, on top of cramming every inch of his erection inside you, you felt you might just combust on top of him. Your heart threatened to pound its way out of your chest with every thunderous beat and you were seeing so many stars you could’ve made your own galaxy. You mumbled something incoherent and then, stuttering, you found your second orgasm of the night before collapsing on top of him. 

When he finally joined you, pumping his warm cum inside of you, it almost felt like a balm, like it was soothing the pain as a reward for enduring it. You laid there and took every ounce of it (you couldn’t move anyway.)

And after you’d come back down to earth, after your lungs had remembered what their function was, after your pumping blood stopped roaring in your ears, he had the audacity to smirk at you and say, “So, shall I call in sick for you?”

Taglist: @tbaluver

[kirstoons]

SDV Sebastian x Female Farmer (Yandere)

Author: Me (kirstoons or Pink_Femonade)

Editor and Queef: @gayrahim

TRIGGER WARNING: NSFW, 18+ content, MDNI, mature and sexual themes

Author’s note: I’ve begun posting this fanfic on my newly created AO3 account (Pink_Femonade). I’m updating my AO3 before I post here so feel free to check it out if you want the latest content. Also, thank you everyone who’s been supporting my writing and also my fan art 💕

Chapter 3:

Summary: It seems like the universe is out to get you as your plans fall apart rapidly.

It’s 6:00 AM Tuesday, Fall 9 and instead of being woken up by your usual rooster call, you’re roused by the loud buzz of power tools. Clearly Robin has already begun her work, so you might as well get up so you can complete yours as well.

You peek out the window before you get ready, just to make sure she’s alone out there with no other members of her family, specifically Sebastian. Seeing that the coast is clear, you begin your morning routine. As you hastily shovel down your slightly-under fried eggs, you begin making plans as to how to handle your night away from the farm and any possible contingency plans should they fall through.

After finishing all your chores on the farm and giving a friendly wave to Robin, you head over to Leah’s house with one of your best aged bottles of cherry wine to help sweeten the deal. Not that it’s necessary since Leah is your closest friend here in the Valley, but it’s more of a “thank you” gift for when she happily agrees to let you spend the night this coming Thursday. Plus, it’ll give you a chance to tell her all the crazy shit that’s been happening with Sebastian (omitting certain details obviously).

As you approach Leah’s little cabin, you see her round the corner of her home with a concerned look on her face and phone to her ear. You only catch a few words at the end of her conversation before she spots you and proceeds to end the conversation. She waves and embraces you with a quick hug, still maintaining a worried look on her face.

“Hey, everything okay?”, you ask with genuine concern. It’s not often you see Leah this stressed out.

“Not really,” she half-heartedly chuckles with a defeated look in her eyes. “I have a wicked bad termite infestation so I’ve been on the phone with exterminators all morning. The fastest appointment any of them have is for tomorrow but because of how bad the infestation is, they’re gonna have to fumigate my house, which means I have to stay somewhere else for the next three days.” She gives an exasperated huff before she continues. “So… I’m looking for a temporary place to stay and also trying to move all my wood sculptures out of the termites path of destruction. Thankfully, the one thing they haven’t gotten to is those so I’m trying to keep it that way. Mayor Lewis said I can store my sculptures and supplies in the community center for the time being so… it’s something.” She looks down at the ground, collecting herself before and looks back up to you. “So what’s up with you?” she asks in a joking tone trying to maintain some optimism in the situation.

“Oh, I…” You debate whether or not to tell her you also needed a place to stay since your problem seems far less dire than hers. “I just wanted to stop by and give you this.” You hand her the hand-packaged bottle of wine with a sympathetic smile.

“Fuck, this is exactly what I need.” She pulls the cork out with her teeth and takes a very VERY long swig. With wine dribbling down her chin, she asks, “think you have room in that big ole farmhouse for one more?”

It’s hard to hide the true disappointment in your voice as you remind her that you’re having work done on the house and that you were also looking for a place to stay. You also apologize for being unable to help your good friend when she really needs you.

���Oh yeah, I totally forgot you were getting some work done. That’s exciting, though. And you don’t need to apologize. I’m sure Elliot will let me crash, especially if I bring this wine with me.” She glances down at the half drunk bottle of wine. “Or maybe I’ll get him some of Gus’s crab cakes.”

You both let out a light laugh which helps ease your minds and you part ways to focus on your next steps. Plan A was a bust and it was your most solid plan, making you a bit nervous. You remind yourself that you have contingency plans for this very reason. You take a deep breath to rally yourself as you begin walking to Sam’s house.

*****

“Oh shit, that sucks,” Sam says after you explain your situation to him. You even add Leah’s predicament to your story to show how your options are running out. He listens intently but sometimes you swear it’s going in one ear and out the other.

“So anyway, that’s why I was hoping I could crash with you? I know you’d need to ask your mom and I’m totally fine sleeping on the couch.” You try to plead your case as convincingly as possible.

“I’m really sorry, Y/n, but I can’t. My little brother got some virus or something and now it’s spread to my mom, so the whole house is in quarantine.”

Fuck. Fuck. FUCK!!!

“I bet Abby or Seb could help you out though,” he suggests with that sweet grin of his. He’s always so sweet and willing to help but hearing Sebastian’s name sends a cool chill down your spine. Damn, it’s impossible to be mad at Sam with his puppy dog expression and sweet sincerity. He’s always been so warm and kind to you, even when you were the new girl in town.

“Yeah, I’ll probably ask Abby next. Thanks, Sam.”

As you turn to leave, Sam calls out to you, “I bet Seb would prefer you ask him!” It’s an innocent tease, but you feel your cheeks burn bright red as you try to laugh along with him at his little “joke”. You bury your rosy cheeks in your jacket as you book it to Abigail’s place.

You’ve returned to your normal pigment by the time you reach Pierre’s store. You head to the far door near the counter, giving Pierre a brief wave as he finishes up with a customer, but before you reach the door, Pierre calls for your attention.

“If you’re going to see Abigail, I’m going to politely ask you to refrain.” He hands the customer their receipt and waits for them to gain some distance before continuing. “She’s grounded for the next two weeks.”

Uhhh isn’t she a grown woman? You keep your thoughts to yourself, as you watch your last chance at a place to stay (that’s free of Sebastian) evaporate before your eyes. You’re desperate at this point so you try one last ditch effort.

“Oh gosh, I had no idea,” you respond, really laying on the charm. “It’s especially bad timing cause I really needed a place to stay this Thursday.” You go on to explain the construction, and the following series of unfortunate events, hoping to earn sympathy points, and persuade him to make an exception. “So that’s why I’m urgently searching. I promise I won’t be a nuisance and I could stay on the couch rather than Abby’s room.” Your desperation is becoming evident and you rapidly search your thoughts for more convincing ideas. “And I’ll promise not to talk to Abby while I’m here… and…”,you trail off trying to think of a better argument, but Pierre stops you.

“I’m sorry, Y/n. I really wish I could help you but this just isn’t a good time.”

Fucking dick. If he did actually want to help you, he’d agree to let you stay.

“I understand,” you say with a tinge of bitterness. “Oh, I used that wonderful deluxe fertilizer you suggested. It worked wonders on my yams! I might stock up for the rest of my crops too…”

Pierre narrowed his eyes at you and your blatant attempt at bribery. He paused for a moment and you felt a tiny glimmer of hope that he was actually considering your offer.

“The answer is no, Y/n. I hope to see you back another day for that fertilizer.” That was definitely his way of asking you to leave. You give a polite nod in acknowledgment and leave the shop.

How? How is all this happening now?! Why does it feel like the universe is working against you?!

As these questions rage in your mind you turn the corner of the building, hoping to get some explanation. You swiftly approach Abby’s window and give it a few stern taps. You can hear shuffling from the other side and it takes a sec for Abby to come open the window.

“Hey what’s up?” Her tone is clearly irritated though you know that irritation isn’t directed at you. The fact that you came to her window leads her to conclude that you are already aware of her circumstance.

“Why’s your dad pissed? I mean I know he’s pissed a lot but this seems pretty extreme,” you ask, matching her same annoyance in solidarity.

Abby rolls her eyes and explains, “he found my weed stash. I have no idea how he even found it or why he looked through my stuff.” You did find this strange cause you knew where Abby hid her weed and you thought it was a damn good spot, too. She kept it taped to the backside of her nightstand drawer, so you’d have to pull the drawer completely out the the stand in order to get it. “Maybe he saw me pull it out or something?” She tried to rationalize before continuing, “But he obviously knew something since he knew exactly where to look.” It’s clear she’s suspicious that someone ratted her out to Pierre but only you, Sam and Sebastian knew where she kept it.

A lightbulb goes off in your head, and all the color drains from your face. Abby takes notice of your shift in demeanor.

“What? Do you know something?” She presses forward on the window pane urging you to share what you know. But you don’t have any proof, and she’s known Sebastian way longer than you, so why should she believe you? It would also make you look very suspicious, too, if you were to suggest him as the culprit.

“I’m just worried it’s… my fault because of… that time I left my lighter in your room! Like, what if he saw it and was like ‘why on earth is there a lighter in Abby’s room?!’ and then decided to search around?” You can feel your stomach in knots as you wait for Abby’s response.

At first she’s a little puzzled by your admission, but then she gives a soft, reassuring smile. “I seriously doubt that’s what tipped him off but it’s kinda cute that you feel that kind of guilt. Especially for something unintentional.”

You let out a sigh of relief and decide to explain your original intention for swinging by. You can’t help but think that this also gives you a stronger alibi of not being the one who snitched.

“Damn, that is hella unlucky,” she says. “But I’m sure Seb can help you out. He hardly leaves the house anyway so there’s no way he’s got plans or anything. Though, I can’t blame you for trying to find somewhere else instead.” Your ears perk up at this comment.

Has she seen the stuff he does? Has he done it to her? Are you finally not alone in this and someone else knows how fucking batshit crazy this all is?!

“Oh, yeah,” you say, trying to play it cool but wanting her to elaborate. “What makes you say that?”

“Oh, you know…. cause boys are so gross.” You feel your heart sink into the deepest pit of your stomach. You give an agreeing smile and nod, holding in the fact that you just want to scream. Abby continues. “I mean, can you imagine what Sam and Seb’s rooms would look like if you held up a black light. Ugh, it grosses me out just thinking about it.”

Again, you agree with her and accept your defeat. You trudge your way back to the main road and you head back to your farm with your head hung low. It’s a chilly evening and Robin is still working when you return, so you approach her and let her know that you’d like to take her up on her offer. She seems so pleased to hear you accept her invitation and begs you to join them for dinner that night, as well. Being the people-pleaser you are, you reluctantly agree and head inside. The dread of Thursday is already setting in, no matter how hard you try to push that feeling away.

You plop down on the couch, worn out from physical and emotional exhaustion. You get a text notification on your phone and as you go check it, expecting it to be Leah with a termite update, your breath catches in your throat.

Sebastian:

Glad you came to your senses and accepted the invite. Such a good girl

It feels as if your heart could pound right out your chest as you read and reread his text. You have so many questions and are completely terrified at this point.

Do I… should I… respond?

You shakily type your reply.

Y/n:

Why are you doing this? How did you do all this???

He responds mere seconds later, though it feels like an eternity of watching those three little dots appear, disappear and reappear over and over.

Sebastian:

So impatient. I’ve got to hold onto some of my secrets, you know? Be a good girl, and wait just a bit longer. I’ll be sure to reward my princess for her obedience

A second text soon follows.

Sebastian:

Also, I’m sure this goes without saying, but let’s keep this between us. No need for anyone to know our little secret, right? You’re such a good, obedient girl. However, if you do go and tell anyone else, that would make you a very bad girl, and I would be forced to punish you

You drop your phone beside you and lay there on the couch, staring at the ceiling. You’ve grown tired of trying to out maneuver Sebastian and his sick games, leaving you begrudgingly accept your fate. You lay on the couch for hours, unable to bring yourself to move, until you eventually fall into a restless sleep.

[ornii]

Mad Max: Coins of Rage!

This was a request from @ab1nsur

I decided to throw a little spin on it. Hopefully it’s still passable as decent.

It hasn’t been long since you’ve been working at the arcade. The job was open and since it’s Halloween, kids are enjoying more festivities, so they had to hire more support than usual. Look no further to you, Dustin’s older cousin who he tries to ignore due to your playful teasing. It was your average Thursday afternoon, sitting at the desk you propped yourself up, reading the latest comic book. Your eyes focus on the Issue 7 of the Uncanny X-Men comic, watching the always beautiful Jean Grey. What took you off the comic was a brush of Red hair walking past you. The Most off putting part was the length, boys this young shouldn’t have hair that long.

Slowly lowering your comic book right below your eyelids you peer over to the fairly calming ruckus, while it was full of kids laughing and having fun. There was a certain, natural calmness about it, since it hasn’t been calm in Hawkins for a while. Your eyes dart around and spot the red hair, right at the dig dug machine. That hair was attached to a redhead, no surprise there, but it was, a girl.

Sneakers, Jeans, and a Red Track jacket, she definitely wasn’t the definition of a “Girl” that everyone else thinks. Your eyes focus on the screen in front of her to see her score going higher and higher, until she loses, but broke the high school. From the small reflection in the glass you could see a smile, but it slowly faded as she got her stuff and left. You shrugged it off, letting it go for the time being.

It wasn’t until the next Day that you got an earful of the truth, working another shift; reading another comic, this time the Silver Hawks. But your enjoyment was suddenly cut off by the inappropriate cough of someone you knew to get your attention. You slowly lower your comic and see a trio of Boys at your counter, you knew them too well. Dustin, Will, and Your Cousin Lucas.

“(Y/n), this is an emergency.” Dustin says, placing his hands on the desk, you squint at him to inquire more.

“Okay? What’s the issue?” You ask.

“We need to find Mad Max.” Lucas said, you stared at him for what seemed to be forever.

“…Who?” You ask, and the boys drag you over to the Dig Dug game, and see that the top score was replaced by a Title: Mad Max. Their high score got blown out of the water by this Mad Max.

“I can’t believe someone got higher than me.” Dustin says, and you shook your head “A real tragedy.”

“You know who Mad Max? He has to be cheating.” Will said, Lucas nods, “Nobody gets that high without breaking the system.”

“I don’t think she was breaking the system.” You said, which was a major fuck up.

“She?” The boys say together, and you sigh.

“Yeah, she.” In less than a minute you were accosted by the boys asking questions about this Mad Max Girl.

“There’s no way! What does she look like?”

“Is she Elizabeth Taylor hot?!”

“Is she totally rad?”

You shut them down by being louder than you wanted. “Hey!” You said, “im not letting you wackos stalk a girl, you want your score back at the top? Beat hers.” You said and walk back to your counter, the trio were obviously miffed by it but didn’t push any further. You thought that this was finally the end of the Mad Max Saga, returning back to your comic and enjoying your reading. Subsequently, the boys couldn’t surpass Mad Max, losing their quarters in the war.

They didn’t return the next day, probably reeling from their defeat from Mad Max, and it was Friday, so it was even more odd they didn’t show up. She did of course, Mad Max, you’re inside one of the old machines, cleaning our cobwebs and changing fuses. Pulling your head from inside the back of the machine you see from the window Mad Max exit a fine car, argue with some blonde guy and he speeds off. She flips him off and storms inside. Guess things aren’t always so good for Mad Max. Her first stop was Dig Dug, guess to best her own score. You finish emptying the machine and decide it’s probably best to warn her. You casually approach, hands in your pocket as you approach, She vaguely sees your reflection in the mirror.

“I didn’t do anything.” She said in a huff.

“I know you didn’t, just wanted to ask you.. are you Mad Max?” You said, you already knew the answer, but she didn’t know how much you did. “Who’s asking?” She replies.

“Just asking.” You reply, and she keeps playing, her silence basically answering your question. “Look I just.. want to apologize for my cousin and his weird ass friends.” You said, she Turns to you.

“Cousin?” She said, “Yeah, Lucas, really annoying, Dustin and Will are okay..” my bad for them being creeps.

“They were pretty weird as school.” She said, which made your eyebrows rise. “They did it at school too?” You groan, “my reputation is gonna be in shambles.” You said, obviously being sarcastic which got a dry chuckle from max. She’s already back at her game and you decide to place a sack of quarters at the center of the console. She looks at it, and then back to you.

“As an apology for my cousin and friends, they’re mad you beat their High Score or whatever.” You explain.

“So, why are you sticking up for some creeps?” She said, and you shrugged. “Lucas is family, he’s got Dustin, Mike and Will. They’ve been friends since they were born, far as I’m concerned they’re family too.” You said, Max looks at you and for a moment you saw a hint of sadness, but she quickly buries it down and shrugs and takes the quarters. “If they have any more high scores you let me know.” She said with sarcasm. You give a small smirk and nod.

“Yeah, I’ll be Seeing You, Max.”

[ijuliet]

calc tutor hyuck

paring : lee donghyuck x gn!reader

warnings : college!au, mature, kissing, sexual innuendo, mark and jaehyun are mentioned TT

 wc : 600~ words

isaac newton was your worst enemy, because who in their right mind would have the time of day to create calculus! sadly, with a D+ on both midterms, you forced yourself to sign up for the tutoring program your professor recommended with a tear in your eye. it killed your pride, but you didn't want to end the class with anything lower than a C.

luckily, you were paired up with the cutest dork ever, and you began to thank your brain for having a hard time with the course.

lee donghyuck had dark brown hair and sun-kissed skin. the first time you met him, his glasses were black, and he wore a neatly ironed crew neck. but as the days went by, hyuck would wear his clear glasses and loose graphic shirts (you loved these sessions because you could see the moles littered on his collarbones, which left you wondering how much more he was hiding).

and as you got closer, hyuck would bring you lunch and tell you the gossip between his best friends and their latest fuck. the way he exaggerated the stories always made you giggle.

i’m serious y/n! jaehyun hooked up with his sociology professor, he has a noona kink

or

the last girl i tutored stopped showing up because mark rejected her, too bad she ended with a D in calc… wait… you wont ditch me if i introduce you to mark, right?

oh and of course, hyuck was a great tutor.

not only did his inner-circle-drama and OOTDs encourage you to meet him at the library every thursday, but his promise to gift you with a surprise if you got above a 90 on your next test did too.

surprisingly, when test day rolled around, you landed a 91! hyuck was so proud of you and picked you up from the ground and into a hug in the middle of the fiction aisle. when he put you down, his smile never disappeared, and a light blush covered his face as he muttered apologies, i knew you could do it y/n.

for your gift, hyuck invited you to a movie night at his apartment. although it didn’t seem like much, it felt as if you were becoming a part of his life.

his home was comfortable and expected from the clever boy, and the way hyuck happily showed off his gaming setup made him live up to his nerdy persona.

tutoring you helps pay for my double monitors, he’d say as you playfully push his shoulder.

you both popped popcorn in the microwave and laughed together, confessing you might’ve written the formulas on your hand.

when suddenly the electricity shut down. the quickly turned dark setting took you both by surprise as you jumped towards each other's bodies for safety. hyuck quickly held your hand before clicking the flashlight button on his phone.

soon enough, you were both sat on hyuck's bed, knee to knee, shoulder to shoulder, while his birthday cake candles are lit around the room. he apologized for a ruined celebration, but you insisted being with you hyuck is just enough.

despite the room being dimly lit, you could feel hyuck relax beside you, taking his hand off of his lap and behind your back. now inches away from you, you turned your head and began to shape the figure of his face and move towards him, locking eyes and staring at his lips.

hyuck pulled you into a kiss as his hand crawled up to the back of your neck, pulling you in deeper. his lips were soft and tasted like the perfect buttered popcorn you get at the movie theaters. your hands played with the hair at the nape of his neck, slightly pulling and earning you a whimper.

you straddled his lap and could immediately feel his bulge beneath you. breaking off of the kiss with a smile on your faces, you reached out to touch his wet lips with your thumb before moving up and removing his glasses, whilst cracking a question:

"what if i get a 95 on my next test?"

sitting in my drafts for months, imy haechannnnnn

[perplexedflower]

Something Familiar

Fandom: Resident Evil.

Category: F/M.

Relationship: Chris Redfield x Female Reader.

Type: One shot.

Words: 5,126.

Summary: Blurry memories, a somewhat familiar environment… As [Y/N] finds herself waking up one morning in a bedroom that is not hers, all her questions are soon answered as she reunites with Chris after what has seemed like an eternity.

Chronology: Post-Resident Evil 8.

~~~~~~~~~~

Feeling as though I was waking up from a deep slumber, I opened my eyes slowly, and immediately found myself surrounded by a familiar smell; not too soft, but not too strong at the same time. It did not take me long to realize I was lying on a bed, although, not in my bedroom, therefore deducing I was not at home. I looked around and down at my body, only to find it buried underneath the sheets of a large double bed, reigning in a large bedroom, entirely illuminated by sunlight shining through a window to my left which forced my eyes to open wider as I felt the rays warm the skin of my face.

After having truly awakened, I made an effort to move to the other side of the bed, next to which the nightstand was; however, the slightest movement of my body made me quickly realize how physically weak I was, as pain instantly flowed through my muscles. Once I had rolled over to my right, I turned my head to the clock resting on the nightstand and saw it was midday, around noon. Next to it, on one corner of the bedside table, I also noticed some pills and what seemed to be medication, though I had no idea what they were for, or who they were for; in fact, I had no idea what I was doing in this bedroom whatsoever.

I closed my eyes firmly as I took a deep breath in to try and remember my latest memories, but no matter how deep I dug, I had no clear recollection of what the past few days had been like for me.

Brushing my worries away, my attention was once more drawn toward the scent, the tender and affectionate smell that was emanating from the bedsheets and enveloping me whole. Rising into a sitting position ever so slowly, I pushed the sheets aside and got out of bed: but as I set foot on the cold floor, my legs immediately bent under my weight, as if having not carried me for a long time. I managed to steady myself by holding onto the side of the nightstand, stopping my body from falling back on the bed, and as I took more and more steps, started to regain balance.

By the time I had stabilized myself, I was out of the bedroom and into a short hallway; walking through it quietly, I was then faced with a flight of stairs that took me almost directly into a kitchen, neatly cleaned and ordered. Once there, a rather small piece of paper set on the counter caught my attention before I could really take in anything else in the room. Picking it up curiously, I first read my name on it and understood it was a memo addressed to me.

"Thursday, March 10.

If today is the day you wake up, you'll find some cereals and loaves of bread in the left-side cupboard in case you want to make yourself breakfast. If you're rather looking for a dish for lunch, you'll find some chicken and leftovers of stir-fried vegetables in the fridge. I cooked them yesterday so don't worry, they're still good to eat. I can only imagine how hungry you'll be after waking up, so don't hesitate to grab whatever food you want. However, please wait for my return if you want to cook something intricate, you won't be fully recovered and I don't want you to harm yourself or push yourself too hard until I come back.

Lastly, if you're looking to change into other clothes, you'll find a good portion of your wardrobe in the closet of my bedroom, on the right-side shelves."

No signature had been left at the end of the memo, but I did not need one to recognize it was written in Chris' handwriting.

Chris...

I held my breath, along with the piece of paper in my hands as I started thinking of him; a part of me felt taken aback, as if I had forgotten about him before and was only now remembering him. However, it felt to me like something was not quite right. I tried my best to remember what led me to end up in what evidently seemed to be his house, in addition to why it was empty, but no clear answer came to my mind. Instead, I focused on scanning the kitchen briefly, until spotting a bin, somewhat transparent and open, revealing its content to me.

Right away, I noticed from afar what appeared to be crumbled pieces of paper, and my suspicions were verified when I approached it: I grabbed the first one on top of the pile, unfolded it, and read it out loud. It bared the date from the day before, the 9th of March, and followed the same pattern as the up-to-date memo I had read barely a few minutes before. And still, it was in Chris' handwriting. I set it aside to pick up a few others, only to see they repeated themselves, with only the types of food available changing from one to another. Reading these notes, I felt something shake deep within my core, moving me, triggering something in me, without knowing what it was exactly.

Determined to find answers to my never-ending questions, I threw all the crumbled notes back in the bin, before deciding to wander around the house in hopes of finding even the slightest of things that would help my memory tick. Letting my hand drift on the walls gently, I progressed through each room, and soon felt some pieces of the puzzle starting to connect in my mind: this was indeed Chris' house, and I could recall that I had been there before, countless times. And although I was still unable to justify my presence there, or even why Chris himself was not home, I kept on venturing from room to room.

I eventually found the bathroom and stepped inside, walking towards the sink: looking at myself in the mirror, I found my face to be pale and frail, expressing fatigue. Only then did I notice I was only wearing a tank top and a pair of shorts, both from my personal wardrobe.

I deserve a proper change of clothes... and a shower. Feels like I haven't taken one in over a century.

Giving my face one last look in the mirror, I took my clothes off, set them aside, and stepped into the shower. Turning the water on, its contact with my skin instantly soothed me, easing me into a warm and cozy sensation. I allowed myself to spend as much time as I needed inside the shower, letting the hot water cleanse me, feeling it slowly trickle along my body. After having enjoyed the water's heat for long enough, I grabbed what I assumed could only have been a bottle of Chris' shampoo I had spotted nearby earlier, as well as a bottle of shower gel, confident that he would not mind me using them. Opening the cap of the shampoo bottle, I was instantly surrounded by yet another familiar smell, once again, like one of the bedsheets. The scent wrapped me completely, in a feeling of warmth and comfort; holding the bottle tight with my fingers, I let my mind roam deep into thoughts as I washed my hair and body.

After having spent quite some time washing, I stepped out of the shower and stared at myself once more: this time, I found that I looked considerably better, and, surely, less tired-looking. Wrapping myself in a towel, I threw my clothes in the dirty laundry basket and waited to have dried a bit before heading back to the bedroom, in search of the clothes Chris' memo had told me about. While waiting and as I made my way upstairs slowly, I could not help but think deeper about him, my mind still swirling with questions and interrogations.

Once in the bedroom, though, my concerns vanished, replaced with my longing to open the closet in which I would find new, clean clothes to change into; and, indeed, I opened the doors to find some, if not a considerate amount of my clothes, as rightfully indicated by Chris' note. A smile formed on my face and I felt a touch of blush appear on my cheeks as I wondered if he had personally chosen the clothes stored here himself, noticing they were mainly the ones I wore most often, as well as some of my personal favorites. I started taking some of my clothes off the shelves, wondering what to wear, depending on what would be most comfortable, as it was my top priority.

I feel like wearing these pants, but with this sweater, I might be too ho—

All of a sudden, I heard the sound of a door opening and closing downstairs, abruptly interrupting my thoughts; it was quickly followed by a couple of slow and heavy footsteps. A moment of silence ensued, then the sound of paper bags dropping on the floor tiles was immediately followed by the loud echo of yet another set of footsteps, this time, rapidly climbing up the staircase leading to the bedroom.

In the blink of an eye, the footsteps stopped and I was faced with Chris, barging out the bedroom door I had left unclosed, eyes wide open and exhaling from his mouth. We looked at one another in silence, staring into each other's eyes, and an indescribable feeling started filling me up.

"[Y/N]..." He whispered in a voice expressing shock and surprise, but a deep sense of relief as well.

I felt as though time had stopped, my breath held sharp, my eyes lost in Chris', until he took a step in my direction; I instinctively backed away, holding my towel close to my body, with visible hints of red spread all over my face. He suddenly stopped himself in his tracks and a thin layer of blush appeared on his cheeks as he cleared his throat and turned around to exit the room, both executed with embarrassment, before closing the door behind him.

Another silence reigned, this time heavy and tense. But barely a few seconds after the door had closed, I heard the sound of something hitting it lightly on the other side.

"Of course you'd wake up when I'm not home..."

Judging by how close his voice sounded, I guessed the sound I had heard was of his head resting against the door; feeling myself blush harder by what had just happened, I released the pressure of my hands on my towel, reassured Chris was not in the room anymore to see me in such a way.

"When did you wake up?"

"About half an hour ago."

I heard him exhale in relief from the other side of the door as I took in the composition of the bedroom; only then did I actually take a look around it, making my way slowly through the room.

"And how are you feeling?" Chris asked.

I walked to the other side of the bed and observed the ashtray set on the other nightstand.

"I've seen better days, but I'm fine."

Another sigh of relief.

"I see you've already taken a shower..." He started, his voice expressing light awkwardness. "That's good, I'm sure it must have felt refreshing."

I smiled a little as I gave him a nod he could not see. He cleared his throat again, the slightly lower volume of his voice making me understand he was backing away from the door.

"Well, I'll let you finish dressing up, in the meantime I'll go into the kitchen to clean the groceries I left on the floor. Join me downstairs once you're done."

"All right."

I looked down at my hands and played around with my fingers, listening to the sound of his footsteps as his words echoed through my mind; it had been way too long since I had last heard the sound of his voice, and it made a part of me feel warm and fuzzy. Quickly, I went back to the closet to slip into a pair of stretchy jeans and a t-shirt, trying my best to set my thoughts aside. But as I was about to close it back, my eyes fell on some of Chris' clothes, and, almost instinctively, I followed the voice inside of me telling me to pick one of his shirts up; slowly, I brought one of his turtlenecks up to my face, holding the fabric delicately, and taking in the scent emanating from it. Sudden sounds of rustling in the kitchen brought me back to my senses and I promptly put the shirt back on the shelf, my cheeks covered with red.

I briskly made my way down the stairs and entered the kitchen to find Chris putting food inside his shelves and fridge; he turned around to look at me and sighed once more, as if he was looking at the ghost of someone he had long lost hope of seeing again. I smiled at him and the second I did so, I saw his eyes shine brightly with a radiant spark. He gave me a slightly awkward smile back, before going back to store his groceries away.

I watched him go back and forth between his bags and his shelves, neither of us saying a word; it was as if everything was normal, the way it was supposed to be. But something was still off for me.

"Chris... can you fill me in as to what the hell's happening?" I started, placing an elbow on the counter. "You don't seem as confused as me, but I'd like to know why I woke up in your bed this morning, and why I feel so... strange."

His arm stopped midway into motion, hanging in the air for a few seconds, and he turned around with furrowed eyebrows.

"You don't remember what happened?"

"What happened when? My memory is really blurry, I've got no idea why, but it seems like I've been missing a part of my life recently."

Looking at me with concerned eyes, Chris slowly put a hand on the counter.

"[Y/N], you were practically sleeping for a week straight."

Like a kick to the guts, I was left stunned, keeping my mouth open for a few seconds, but falling speechless.

"... What?"

He gulped, visibly troubled, before finally setting down the pack of drinks he was holding, turning all his attention to me.

"About a week ago, you, me, and the rest of the squad were on a mission over on the other side of the country. Long story short, it was exhausting and required us to stay alert for a long while. You above all the others invested too much of yourself into it... and we later found out you'd deprived yourself of sleep for multiple nights in a row, just to keep your guard up. Not only that, but you weren't taking proper care of your diet either. We eventually decided to launch an attack plan, and you went into it with a weakened physical condition."

Chris marked a break in his story, looking down with what felt to me was remorse.

"You ended up getting hit. It wasn't anything serious, but it was enough to knock you unconscious. The second I saw you fall, I came to pick you up and gave you to Canine to watch over you until we'd be outta there. After we were done, we took off and brought you to a medic, who told us you had nothing severe, not enough to put you in a hospital, at least, but that you needed rest. He'd actually said we should expect to see you sleep for days on straight..."

He scoffed under his breath while slowly shaking his head, which was still lowered.

"Hell, even I didn't know it was possible to sleep for that long."

I looked into his eyes as I registered one by one each piece of information he had given me.

"And you brought me to your house."

Chris raised his head and looked back into my eyes with a sincere expression.

"I brought you here, so that I could keep an eye on you and treat you. I told the squad we'd set aside every mission we had planned until you'd wake up and fully recover, so I've been spending all my days at home since, set aside the occasional grocery shopping."

I felt the very core of my soul heat up as I smiled shyly.

"Thank you, Chris. For everything." I said warmly.

He looked down, seeming pensive, before turning back to unpack his last remaining groceries.

"Don't thank me yet. I haven't had the chance to lecture you properly about your behavior during the mission, and don't think you'll escape from it."

He's still the same old Chris. I thought while failing to suppress a gentle scoff. Nothing has really changed in the span of a week.

"You've got yourself injured and that's nothing to take lightly, [Y/N]." He continued with the same serious tone. "And speaking of which..."

Leaving his sentence unfinished, he closed the cupboards as he stored away his last supplies; he walked to me and put a gentle hand on my back, escorting me out of the kitchen to take me into the living room instead.

"Sit down." He ordered me, though not too roughly as he pointed to the couch in front of us.

"What for?"

"I have to inspect you to see if you're fine." He answered, already on his way to the couch.

I let a chuckle escape from my lips as I complied, too amused by the situation to disobey. He sat down beside me and I suddenly felt my smile disappear, replaced by shyness, feeling him so close to me on this couch, occupied mostly by blankets and pillows, leaving the both of us little room to sit, and forcing us to squeeze next to each other. He started grabbing my arms and inspecting me, holding my chin to make my head turn left and right.

"How have you been feeling since you've been awake? Any vertigo, any pain?"

"Chris, I'm fine." I said with a smile.

I tried making him understand it was pointless, that nothing was wrong with me, but he kept on inspecting me nonetheless, searching for any issue.

"Chris..."

"You were hit on the head, [Y/N], I can't overlook that."

Bringing his face close to mine, he grabbed the back of my head to examine it, feeling the surface of my skin with his palm to try and spot any abnormalities.

"Chris!"

He stopped moving, his face inches from me, his eyes locked on mine.

"I'm fine, really." I told him with sincerity.

I smiled from one corner of my mouth as I looked down at him quickly, before bringing my eyes back on his face.

"I'm just hungry."

He stared at me for a few seconds with a soft expression before backing away with a sigh.

"All right. It's time for lunch anyway."

Chris finally got off me and stood up from the couch, heading back to the kitchen, leaving me to smile at myself as I felt butterflies dancing in my stomach. This feeling reminded me of how much I had missed him during these seven days I had spent sleeping, how I was happy to fill this gap now that he was with me again; or, more so, that I was with him.

Getting up from the couch as well, I joined him in the kitchen, lured in by the sound of pots and pans. Seeing me beside him, Chris turned his head to me and looked into my eyes, his cheeks sprinkled with blush.

"Wanna cook with me?"

"Sure." I answered enthusiastically. "I'm not gonna let you prepare lunch all by yourself, after all."

"All right, but there are certain things I'm not gonna let you do, I don't want you to exhaust yourself too much." He replied, ever so seriously.

His concern once again made me laugh, given it was clearly unnecessary. I proved him wrong and showed him I was in good shape by helping him make lunch, fetching him ingredients and carefully making the dishes, though he made it clear he wanted me to stay away from any knife or sharp utensils, fearing I would hurt myself. Throughout our cooking session, I felt his attitude and behavior soften, seeing him let his guard down as he allowed his inner self to relax and enjoy this time with me.

I knew better than anyone that Chris needed to be eased into a sense of comfort and intimacy to make him drop his cold exteriors and reveal his true face; my light temporary amnesia had taken away parts of my memories, including some I had shared with him, but it did not take me long to recover them, little by little, as I laughed and joked with him in his kitchen. Once we had finished making lunch, we sat down in front of the counter to eat, facing each other.

Just as I was about to take my first bite, my mouth let a deep yawn out; as soon as I opened my eyes back, I laughed seeing Chris look at me with an unbelievable expression.

"I know what you're gonna say..."

He shook his head as he started digging his fork and knife into his meat.

"Seven days wasn't enough for you?"

"Apparently not." I said with a chuckle.

He brought his food to his mouth and I mirrored his movements; the second my palate tasted the dish I had cooked with him, I felt my body react as if it was only now waking up truly, suddenly regaining strength. Only then, as I filled up my stomach more and more with each bite did I realize how much I had craved food, and how my body had missed it during these seven days of slumber.

"I don't know if it's just me because I haven't eaten anything in a week, but this tastes delicious." I told Chris with my mouth full in-between two bites.

"No, it's not just you." He said with a chuckle. "It really is good, I'll admit we did a great job."

But his smile soon faded away to be replaced with a pensive expression instead.

"Seven days, though..." He started, shaking his head slowly while bringing his fork up to his lips. "There's no way you actually spent every one of your days here sleeping... Do you remember anything? Maybe you opened your eyes every now and then before dozing off again?"

I swallowed the bite I had in my mouth before shrugging quickly.

"I don't know... I think I do remember some vague moments when I woke up in your bed, but they never lasted long, and nothing much happened."

I took another bite as I looked up at Chris with curious eyes.

"By the way, where have... you been sleeping all this time?"

A part of me had already theorized a potential answer to that question, but instantly dismissed it away, thinking it was too crazy to even take into consideration.

"On the couch in the living room." He replied casually.

"Chris!" I let out with an exaggerated yet light gasp as I put my fork down. "The couch? You wanna lecture me about my sleeping habits when you're spending your nights on the couch?"

I saw his expression shift into a more serious one as he slowly stopped eating too.

"Don't start."

I was obviously joking around, purposefully making a big deal out of something which was not important, toying with him just a little.

"I know you've got sleeping problems, Chris, and spending seven nights on a couch is not gonna make things better. Why didn't you take the bed?"

"Because you matter more!" Chris suddenly exclaimed as he slammed his fist on the counter, making me jump in surprise. "You were the one who needed a proper bed, it didn't matter where I'd sleep, as long as you were safe... Goddammit, [Y/N], I was worried sick about you."

He did not shout, but his voice was loud enough to make me hold my breath. I looked down, not knowing what to reply, before grabbing my plate by the edge and standing up from my chair.

"I'll go warm up my plate in the microwave, it's gone cold." I spoke in a very low tone.

But as soon as my feet touched the ground, I limped and lost balance, barely managing to put my plate back down on the counter before almost letting it fall and break.

"Shit—"

Chris immediately stood up from his chair and hurried toward me to grab me, holding me tight by the arms and waist, making sure I was stable and would not fall.

"It's ok— I got you—"

The tone in his voice had softened dramatically as his first instinct was to reassure me. And it worked just as intended: the second I heard his words of comfort, I felt warm and secure, draped in a blanket of tenderness. He led me to the couch and helped me stabilize myself with each step I took, all while holding me close. His hands against my skin, strong but delicate sent shivers down my spine, and somehow made my limbs even weaker.

"Are you all right?"

"Y-Yeah, don't worry." I managed to articulate. "I think it's just my body reacting to receiving food after such a long time without it... I may have eaten more than my stomach can hold."

Chris held his gaze on me with a concerned expression.

"... Are you sure it's not because you were too active when making lunch?"

Before leaving me time to consider this factor, he bit his lower lip lightly and diverted his eyes from mine.

"God, I knew it was a bad idea..."

I placed a shy hand on his torso, which made him turn back to me; I smiled at him warmly, making him understand without a single word that he needed not to feel guilty, and he replied with saddened eyes and a small nod. Having reached the couch, he set me down gently, and we sat similarly to before, only this time I did not push him away: as he held me, I let myself lean against him, until being entirely wrapped in his arms. I heard him take a deep breath in as I rested my head on his chest, calming down to the sound of his speeding heartbeat.

"I've missed you." I spoke up in a warm and emotional voice.

I felt Chris tighten his hold on me just a little as I talked.

"I'm sorry I exploded at you." He said, almost in a whisper.

"No, it's fine. It's my fault for joking around at such an inappropriate time. I can't imagine how much stress you've been under because of me over the past week."

Another silence reigned, during which the two of us cherished that special moment.

"I've missed you too."

He gently stroked the top of my head while I heard him inhale deeply once again.

"And I want you to know that I worry about you, [Y/N], because I love you."

I could not help but hold tighter onto his shirt, feeling my breath sharpen.

"It... may not be anything new to you... I've been told by a few of the guys I'm kinda obvious..." He spoke shyly, clearly embarrassed.

Nevertheless, despite his awkwardness, he kept on keeping me close to him with a love that expressed confidence.

"But, frankly, I never cared much whether you noticed or not, all I ever wanted you to know was that I'd be here for you, by your side and keeping you safe no matter what."

As much as my heart was melting, as much as I wanted to bury myself deeper into his chest, I gathered the strength to pull away and look up at him. His eyes met mine in a moment of weakness, before I felt a blush forming on my cheeks and promptly looked away.

"You know, I never noticed..." I confessed. "Not once did I consider you could feel attraction for me, it felt... surreal, to me."

I looked up into his eyes again to find a loving warmth in them.

"Because... I love you too, and my mind was unable to convince itself that you'd ever reciprocate my feelings..."

As I lowered my eyes back down, Chris raised my chin up with two of his fingers, an ounce of a smile on his face.

"Well, your mind was wrong."

I smiled shyly, feeling his contagious grin spreading to me. My chin still held by his thumb and index, it however progressively vanished, an intense expression of passion taking shape on his face instead. In silence, he moved his hand to my cheek, caressing the surface of my skin delicately with his thumb. He leaned his face closer to mine and grasped the side of my waist as our lips touched, embracing each other lovingly.

I was instantly filled with warmth and tenderness, although the kiss itself was quite rough, Chris' beard scratching my skin; his lips, slightly rugged, hugged mine perfectly as if they had only been made for each other. We barely had time to pull away from our first kiss that we both asked for more, his hand bringing my face close to his again. With each kiss, I felt my soul lift up, and my body liquefy further with each touch Chris gave me.

Once we both pulled away, I snuggled against his chest once more, burying my face in the crook of his neck.

"I can't believe this is real..." I said, my voice muffled.

He chuckled in an incredibly endearing way as he lay more comfortably on the couch, allowing me to stretch myself further against him.

"You sure I'm not sleeping anymore?"

Chris lifted my head with both of his hands, holding the sides of my face tenderly.

"You're not." He said with a smile.

His eyes sparkled with a burning love I could not help but feel too, in the very core of my being.

"But even if you were, I'd make sure to give it all to you again once you'd wake up."

[sjsmith56]

To Reach For You - A Private Man, Chapter 5

Summary: With Tracey’s return, Bucky amuses his sister with all of his efforts to make the house ready for her. The couple find the spark between them is burning even brighter.

Length: 5.5 K

Characters: Bucky, Rebecca, Tracey

Warnings: Minors DNI- contains sexual content, including oral (f/receiving, p in v) which may be unsuitable for readers under the age of 18. I don’t write much smut.

Author notes: In this story Bucky is a romantic man at heart. Tracey’s calm energy makes him feel safe. He trusts her completely.

<<Chapter 4

🎶 👩‍❤️‍💋‍👨

5 weeks later

The physiotherapist watched as Rebecca lifted one leg then the other while she sat in the armchair. Then she placed her hands in Rebecca's and looked right at her.

"Okay, you're all warmed up," said Melinda. "I'll hold your hands and I want you to try to raise yourself off of the chair. It doesn't matter if you make it all the way or if you hold it for any length of time. This is just to gauge whether we've restored enough muscle in your core, backside and legs for you to raise yourself. It's all good."

Bucky watched anxiously as Rebecca gritted her teeth and pulled on the woman's hands then began to stand up. She made it about half way then began to wobble a little and sat back down with a look of disappointment on her face.

"I don't think I can do it," she said.

"You did just fine, Mrs. Proctor," smiled Melinda. "When we started a month ago you couldn't even move your legs and now you're lifting them from a seated position. You got up half way and that's more than good enough. You should be proud of what you've accomplished, shouldn't she, Mr. Barnes?"

"I think so," he said encouragingly. "I'm just sorry we didn't start this sooner. If we had she might have been walking by now."

"Well, thanks to Miss Harris you were alerted to the funding that paid for this and the aides," she replied. "Is it true several of your volunteers were able to get the aide positions?"

Rebecca nodded. "They were so good and did their own research on being a personal aide. All of them got their green cards to work legally and I'm so glad they were able to stay with me. Once Bucky starts on day shift they'll switch to day time as well."

"When does that happen?" she asked, glancing up at Bucky.

"Next week," he replied. "I got a promotion to supervisor and a pay raise. It will be nice to get a full night's sleep, except for when Rebecca needs me."

"Well, you've done an amazing job taking care of your sister," she said. "Not many men would give up what you have to do it. Were all 1940s men like you?"

"No," Bucky smiled. "They were pretty traditional. I am in some areas but I missed out on so much with Rebecca that the least I could do was be here for her."

Rebecca put her hand out to her brother and squeezed it, getting a smile from the physiotherapist. "Tracey gets back late Friday," she said, leaning towards Melinda. "It's been two months since she went to Belize. A mutual friend already emailed her to say she's expected for dinner on Saturday night."

"She's a lucky woman," said Melinda, then looked at the clock. "Well, we're just about done here. Have the aides continue with the exercises to build up your core muscles. I'll be back next Thursday and we'll see if you can stand a little higher. As always, it's been a pleasure working with you, Mrs. Proctor."

"Oh, please, you really can call me Rebecca," said the older woman.

"That's not how I was raised," explained Melinda, "but I appreciate the sentiment."

The younger woman entered the results of Rebecca's latest try at standing in her notes then packed up her equipment. Bucky opened the door and walked her out to the car, waiting while she put everything in the trunk.

"Thank you. It's good to see Rebecca looking stronger," he said. "Her appetite has improved as well and she's sleeping better."

"I'm glad to hear it," said Melinda. "You do take very good care of her. Good luck with Miss Harris."

He blushed and nodded. As she drove away he returned to the house. Rebecca turned the TV on to watch Price Is Right, while Bucky went to take some bedding out of the dryer to remake his bed. Even though he wasn't counting on anything to happen between him and Tracey he thought it prudent to clean his room and wash all the bedding. When he came out of the laundry room Rebecca smiled.

"I could always go sleep over at a friend's house on Saturday night," she teased. "You know, if you want privacy."

"Don't you start," he replied. "I get enough grief from Sam with all of his texting. I can give you ear plugs so you don't hear a thing. Besides you're included for dinner."

Kalyna came over just before 9:30 to take her turn, her last shift before the following week when she would do two day shifts. She was sharing the care of Rebecca and another elderly client with Samira and Amina. All three women were thrilled at the opportunity to be paid for something they had previously done as volunteers. Rebecca's nurse, Marie, had also looked into getting a ramp funded so the aides could take Rebecca out for excursions in her wheelchair. They were still waiting for approval on that. As soon as Kalyna arrived Bucky kissed Rebecca goodnight and headed for the docks.

On Friday, Marie came for her usual assessment of Rebecca, running through her blood pressure, lungs and heart check, and questions about her mental health. She gave Bucky a message from Tracey that she would be at the house by 7 pm Saturday. When Bucky walked her out to her car she put her medical case in the back seat then faced him.

"We're all fond of Tracey," she said looking sternly up at him. "Her divorce hurt her deeply and she hasn't had much luck in the boyfriend department. You be nice to her or you'll have an office full of nurses to deal with and we know a lot of people."

"Marie, I won't do anything that makes her uncomfortable," he said seriously. "I want a relationship, a real one. I'll be a gentleman."

That seemed to satisfy the older nurse and she took her leave. After she left, Bucky bustled about the house, vacuuming, dusting, straightening things up; all while Rebecca watched him with a small smile on her face. When Bucky was young she never saw him this excited over a woman. He did spend time getting himself ready for his dates, shaving, applying just the right amount of hair cream to style his thick dark hair without making it look greasy. His suit was always clean, with the pants and shirts pressed. He even did that part himself which amused their parents. Rebecca could always count on making some pocket money by offering to polish his shoes, knowing that he liked them shiny. At one point he noticed his sister watching him and he sat near her on the couch.

"I'm doing too much, aren't I?" he asked. "I've never felt this much anxiety over a woman. What if she met someone in Belize? What if she changed her mind?"

He opened his mouth to say something else and Rebecca intervened. "Bucky, I have it on good authority that Tracey has been just as anxious as you are. She likes you, a lot. You two are much the same. Both of you went through bad times and now you're ready for something good. Just be the gentleman you are and everything will fit into place."

For a moment he said nothing then he went to the bookcase and brought a picture over of Rebecca on her wedding day, looking at it intently.

"I forgot to wish you a happy anniversary," he said. "I remembered earlier in the week then all the preparations for Tracey just drove it out of my mind."

"Thank you," she replied, putting her hand out for the picture of her and her husband Harvey. "He wasn't flashy but he was devoted. Even when we found out we couldn't have children he never held that against me. We had 49 years together, good years. I hope you get some good years with Tracey. I'm sorry but I'm going to cry."

She began to cry and Bucky kneeled in front of her pulling her onto his shoulder. He hadn't meant to bring her to tears. Once again he thought of the things out of his control that kept him away from his family, wishing he could have been there for his sister sooner. Pulling his handkerchief out of his jeans he dabbed at Rebecca's eyes and cheeks, then kissed her on her forehead.

"It's okay sweetheart," he said softly. "I feel like crying, too, sometimes. I'm glad you had a good marriage. Something for me to aspire to. Tell me how did you and Harvey do it?"

Smiling sadly Rebecca sat back while Bucky stayed where he was, holding her hands. "We were always truthful, without being hurtful. We told each other "I love you" every day, many times. We had sex as often as we could. That's how we did it."

Bucky kissed her hands and smiled thankfully at his sister, his eyes glistening. "I'll remember that," he said. "That's a good recipe for a successful marriage. Why don't we go outside and enjoy that pergola?"

She nodded and he picked her up easily in his arms, carrying her to the back door and out into the yard. They sat in the shade of the pergola with some soft 1940s music playing on the patio speaker. Bucky made sandwiches for lunch and they ate outside, talking about their childhood, Steve Rogers as a boy, and their parents.

Saturday evening

Everything was ready. The stuffed chicken breasts were keeping warm in the oven, while the risotto was still several minutes away from being finished. Asparagus was ready to be cooked for just a few minutes so they were tender but still crisp, while the Caesar salad just needed to be tossed with the dressing that Bucky made from scratch. The plate of Afghan sweets that Samira brought that afternoon, including baklava, cream rolls, coconut burfi, and cardamom cookies had been hard for Bucky to resist nibbling on but he had stayed his cravings for the sweet morsels.

He wore dark grey dress pants, an open necked white dress shirt and a full apron over both to protect his clothes from the final meal preparations. He shaved as well, hoping the smooth face would last more than a couple of hours. Rebecca was in a dress, a blue one that matched her eyes. She even put lipstick on, with Bucky holding a small mirror up in front of her face so she could see her lips. At 6:50 the doorbell rang and Bucky went to the door, feeling his heart pound, taking a few deep breaths to settle himself. Through the small cutout window he could see Tracey and he opened the door. Right away her eyes lit up and he knew by the way she looked at him that everything would be okay.

"Hi," he said softly, backing up to let her in. "You look great."

She did look great, wearing a green dress with lace at the shoulders. Her hair was shiny, her eyes bright, and her smile filled him with that warmth that he felt on the day she told him she liked him.

"Thanks, you look good as well," she replied, stepping inside. She kissed him on the cheek then went past him to the living room, going straight to Rebecca and hugging her. "Hello, Rebecca. You look very nice tonight."

"So do you, dear," replied his sister. "That's such a pretty dress. It's good to see you back here, safe and sound."

Bucky offered her a glass of white wine and brought one out for Rebecca as well. Then he went back to the kitchen to pour himself one, returning to sit next to Tracey on the couch. For a moment no one said anything then they all spoke at the same time. With a gesture Bucky indicated that Tracey could speak first.

"I missed you both so much," she said in a rush. "I don't really know when it happened but you both became like family for me. I'm glad I'm back with people who care about me."

Rebecca offered her a hand while Bucky sat silently sipping his wine. When Tracey turned to him he gazed at her then leaned forward and kissed her gently on the cheek, a gesture that she leaned into.

"I better finish getting dinner ready," he said, blushing after the kiss.

"Can I help?" asked Tracey.

He nodded and they went to the kitchen, watched by a smiling Rebecca. Handing Tracey another apron to protect her dress he brought the Caesar salad and dressing out for her to combine. The asparagus was dropped into boiling water to cook while Bucky checked the risotto, satisfied with it. He took the asparagus out, dressing it in a mixture of olive oil, Parmesan cheese and lemon zest. Pulling the chicken out of the oven he plated their meals then carried Rebecca outside as Tracey followed him with two plates. Her eyes lit up at the backyard transformation.

"It's beautiful back here! You did this while I was gone?"

"Bucky and his friend Sam started it, with help from Amina's kids," said Rebecca proudly. "Then the pergola was put up with help from a fellow at the garden store. He and Bucky have become friendly. They've even gone to a ball game together. The announcer introduced Bucky to the crowd and they showed it on the TV."

"You made a friend," said Tracey, beaming.

"Jack's a good guy," replied Bucky, blushing. "We had the volunteers over as well for a pot luck gathering. Let's get the rest of the food and the wine."

They went back to the kitchen while Rebecca sat alone outside. As soon as they were in the door Bucky turned around, grasping Tracey's hands.

"Are we still emotionally involved?" He paused, unable to say anything more.

Tracey smiled and nodded, gazing at his lips. "Most definitely."

Their lips crashed together in an ardent kiss and they held each other closely, one of his hands in the small of her back while the other was wrapped in the softness of her hair. She ran her hands over his muscled back, then brought them to his chest, feeling the warmth of his body before she stepped back.

"You're hot," she said then checked herself. "I mean, your body gives off heat."

"High metabolism," he explained. "It's a side effect of the super soldier process. That's why I can eat so much."

A call from Rebecca interrupted them and they both took their aprons off. Bucky had a dress jacket draped over a chair and he put it on, drawing an approving nod from Tracey. Then he took the final plate and his wine, while Tracey took her wine and Rebecca's. As Bucky sat he reached into his jacket pocket, took out his cell phone, brought up a playlist, and began playing soft jazz on the patio speaker.

"This is better than any over priced restaurant," said Tracey, smiling pleasantly. "Thank you for this wonderful welcome home."

Rebecca lifted up her glass and looked at the other two. "Here's to a beautiful relationship," she said. "My brother, my friend, and me, hoping for the best."

For the next couple of hours they ate, drank wine, listened to Tracey tell them about her experiences in Belize, and generally enjoyed each other's company. As it got closer to Rebecca's bed time she began to yawn and finally told the couple she was ready for bed. Bucky picked her up while Tracey followed with some of the dishes.

"Why don't you let me take care of her while you put everything away?" she suggested to Bucky.

Twenty minutes later he returned to the bedroom to hear Tracey reading to Rebecca from a paperback. She read the first chapter then showed Bucky the book, Bedtime Stories For Adults by Peggy Hill.

"My first week in Belize I found it difficult to get to sleep and one of the other staff lent her copy to me," she said. "I enjoyed it and it helped settle my mind enough to relax and sleep. I bought this copy for you and Rebecca to read as I thought you would like it."

She placed the book on the night stand then hugged Rebecca good night. Bucky suggested Tracey wait in the back yard for him so she left and he sat on the edge of the bed. Taking Rebecca's hands in his he gently stroked the wrinkled skin.

"It'll be alright," said Rebecca, reading accurately that he was nervous. "She really is a lovely woman and she feels good about beginning a relationship with you. Even her ex-husband never made her feel like you do. Share your joys and your fears, support each other. You can do this."

"I love you, Rebecca," he said then he kissed her forehead.

"I love you, too, Bucky," she replied, squeezing his hand with hers. "Have a wonderful evening and I'll see you both at breakfast."

With an audible breath Bucky tucked her in, went to the door, and turned off the light, leaving his sister to fall asleep. He stepped out into the back yard and saw Tracey standing under the big tree, the soft glow of the white fairy lights making the scene feel romantic. Taking his phone out he changed the playlist to the one Sam helped him compile. It was only six songs, less than an half hour total of dancing. As the first song came up Tracey smiled when he approached her.

"I've always liked this song," she said, her eyes seeming to reflect the lights above. "Are we dancing?"

Bucky nodded and took her in his arms. Neither said anything when the song played; they just moved to the music, her with her head against his chest and him with his head lowered close to hers. Then a verse came on and Tracey sang softly along with it.

Will you stay with me?

Will you be my love?

Upon the fields of barley

We'll forget the sun in his jealous sky

As we lie in fields of gold.

"My answer is yes," she whispered and Bucky kissed the side of her head.

"So is mine," he whispered back.

As the playlist went through Harbor Lights, I Only Have Eyes For You, The Man I Love, and The Nearness of You they danced slowly to all of them. With each one she realized that Bucky truly had a romantic soul. It almost made her cry that these old songs revealed how sensitive he truly was. When the final song, Right Before Your Eyes began playing she looked up at Bucky, slightly puzzled as it was quite different in tone, although still a love song.

"That afternoon, while I had my nap, after you told me you were emotionally involved I dreamed this," said Bucky, gazing at her. "This very scenario, with this song playing, us dancing, the lights in the trees and the yard. I never felt like this before, not even before the war. I want you, Tracey." He looked away for a moment then back at her, his eyes bright. "I think I'm in love with you and I want to spend the next 50 years getting to know everything about you. Please tell me you feel the same."

Tracey smiled and chuckled lightly. "I have my own playlist to share. After you kissed me goodbye and I drove away, I noticed that you watched me until I was out of sight. I pulled over and realized that I couldn't be Rebecca's nurse anymore because I was falling for you. At that moment a song called Hungry Eyes came on the radio and I knew that I had to tell my supervisor. I am in love with you, Bucky. It was unexpected, and I'm scared that I'm going to mess it up but I want the same life that you do."

At that moment the timer on the power source ended and the back yard was plunged into darkness, lit only by the light coming from the kitchen window. Bucky placed both hands on Tracey's face then kissed her softly and languidly, wanting it to last forever. His forehead touched hers.

"Stay with me tonight," he whispered. "Don't go home."

"Alright," she replied immediately. "I brought a change of clothes, hoping you would ask."

Bucky smiled, a full and glad smile that made Tracey's stomach full of butterflies at the prospect of being with him. He embraced her again and the heat from his body felt like putting a heated blanket around her. While Bucky turned on the light in his room she went out to her car and got her bag. He was waiting at the door when she came up the steps, then locked up behind her. Silently he led her to his room and closed the door, standing in front of it. Lowering his eyes to his hands Bucky spoke softly.

"Before we do anything I have to tell you something. When HYDRA put me through the super soldier process it changed me, physically. My muscles became bigger, my endurance greater, hearing and vision improved. Without trying to be crude it changed me in one other place, down there."

Tracey came over to him and placed her hands on his. "Whatever they did that changed it we'll figure it out."

Bucky's face coloured. "It's more than changed. It's enhanced, they made it bigger, thicker, and with quick restorative ability and endurance. I can literally go all night. I didn't want to spring it on you ...."

He groaned at his wording. Tracey smiled softly then touched his face. "It will be alright. Is the process also what makes your beard grow in so fast?"

He nodded, still embarrassed at what he just told her. She pulled his face down to kiss him then went to her purse and picked out her phone.

"Here's my playlist of songs that reminded me of you," she said, setting it to play. "I'm into older and classic rock and pop so this might be new stuff for you but it's mostly old stuff for me."

Hungry Eyes began playing and Tracey pulled her shoes off. Bucky slipped his off as well, then took his jacket off. She unbuttoned his shirt then watched him as he took it off. Gently she ran her hands over his chest while looking up at him gathering his dog tags in her hand for a moment, then turned her back to him so he could unzip her dress. Pulling her long hair to the side Bucky unzipped it, kissing her neck and shoulders as she lowered her dress over her shoulders onto the floor. Enclosing her in his arms from behind Bucky pressed his hips into her backside, while caressing her breasts and abdomen.

Her breath caught, making Bucky hard. Pulling herself away Tracey climbed on top of his bed, her eyes dark. She leaned back against the headboard, with her legs curled under her, watching Bucky, waiting for him to remove his pants. Undoing the top button he lowered the zipper and pulled them off, letting them fall onto the floor as he removed his socks. For a moment he hesitated then he pulled his boxer briefs off and Tracey gave an audible breath at the sight of Bucky, nude.

"You weren't kidding," she said softly, then she swallowed and removed her bra and panties, tossing them aside.

He climbed onto the bed and reached for her ankle, pulling her gently towards him so she was flat on her back. His weight and bulk captured her as he laid on top of her. The power of his physique was evident but instead of being frightened Tracey found herself aroused, her senses heightened as she became aware of his cologne that smelled like a fine brandy with leather and woody accents. His pupils were dark pools of desire, and she found herself mesmerized by his lips, especially when his tongue darted out nervously to lick them.

"So here we are," said Bucky, his face directly above hers, his voice at least an octave lower. "I haven't been with a woman since before the Snap so I'm a little out of practice. If it gets too much I'll stop if you tell me to stop. If you want to pause to get used to me just say wait."

"I trust you," she said firmly, trying to sound more confident than she felt at the moment, despite her anticipation.

"Are you on birth control? I ask because I did get condoms."

"I have an IUD," she told him. "Got it before I went to Belize, not because I was expecting to sleep with anyone there but I knew I wouldn't have time when I got back. I knew then I wanted to be with you."

His lips met hers with a burning intensity that made her whimper in her throat. Spreading her hands across his back she could feel the immense power of his muscles as they rippled under her finger tips. At the same time Bucky ground his hips into Tracey, almost bruising her with his thick hard cock that had visibly grown when she removed her underwear. His hands and mouth sought out her breasts while she breathed deeply trying to deal with everything she was feeling. Slowly his mouth moved down her abdomen until he was just above her pubic mound. Gently he pressed his open mouth into her and she whimpered, feeling a heat form deep inside her.

"Touch yourself while I'm down here," he murmured. "I like it."

She was vaguely aware that the next song Fire by The Pointer Sisters was just starting and she mouthed the words as she caressed herself. Bucky was gently mouthing her thighs then his mouth found her clitoris just as the word "Fire" came on. A moan escaped her throat and she writhed. Bucky looked up and smiled at her then returned to the business at hand and gently inserted a finger into Tracey, curling it against her g-spot.

"Wait," she gasped. "It's been so long. I have to get used to the intensity."

Bucky withdrew and laid beside her, caressing her body. "We only just got started," he whispered, "but I'll wait for you to be ready. You're so beautiful and you taste amazing."

"You have a silver tongue," she murmured. "Is that your old Bucky coming out?"

"Maybe, but I mean it," he said, shifting so he was looking in her eyes. "I thought you were beautiful from the moment I saw you the first time through the window in the door. Now, you're lying naked in my arms and you're even more beautiful." The next song started and Bucky smiled as he listened to it for a few seconds.

"I like this song," he said. "Who sings it?"

"Bob Dylan, it's called Lay Lady Lay," replied Tracey. "It's one of my favourites."

"Mine too, now, because I'll always see you lying on my bed just like this whenever I hear it."

He kissed her passionately, which she returned then she told him to finish what he started. When he brought her to climax she cried out loudly, then breathed emotionally as Bucky massaged her pubic mound to intensify the ripples of pleasure from her orgasm. Holding her close, he caressed and kissed her while she dealt with what she was feeling.

"I'm sorry," she whispered. "My ex-husband wasn't much of a giver in bed. He said I was frigid and that's why he found someone else. I was just ... inexperienced, I guess. He was the only man I was ever with that I remember."

"Don't be sorry," said Bucky. "This first time together, we're just beginning to know each other. Are you ready to go on?"

She nodded and Bucky kissed her again.   We've Got Tonight was playing. When it got to the line of "both of us lonely" Bucky kissed her tenderly and whispered they would never be lonely again. They both touched and tasted each other's skin, learning where the other was most sensitive. Soon Tracey was ready for Bucky to take the next step. She did take a deep breath then smiled at him when he took some lube out of his drawer and smoothed it on. Slowly he entered her and pressed himself deeper, stopping when she whispered for him to wait. When Bucky was fully in he kissed her gently.

"You're doing so good," he whispered. "I'm in completely and you feel incredible. You okay?"

She nodded. "I think so. It just takes some getting used to." He moved out slightly and thrust in again causing her to take a quick breath. "Still getting used to it."

Taking his time he set up a rhythm that soon had her making soft breathy noises that aroused him even more. When Tracey began raising her hips into him he knew she would be okay and he allowed himself to go in harder and slightly faster. The pressure was building inside of him with each thrust bringing him closer and closer to his release. It had been some time since he last came, other than in the shower which was never completely satisfying but this, being inside Tracey, was nirvana as he felt every one of her responses to his efforts. By the sounds coming from this beautiful woman in his arms she was getting closer and he pressed himself into her clitoris with each thrust, trusting that after all this time he was doing it right. The next song, Weight of Love, was harsher in tone to his ear, but Bucky found it seemed to help Tracey let any remaining inhibitions go as she returned his thrusts wrapping herself around him while they fiercely kissed. He was ready to come and whispered in Tracey's ear, hoping to spur her to bliss, wanting that for her.

"You feel so good to me. I can't believe I'm making love to a beautiful sexy woman like you. Let yourself go, Tracey. Let me take care of you."

He buried his face in her neck, mouthing all the soft parts of it then placing his lips on her ears so his warm moist breath filled her senses. With a cry, her back arched, and her whole body went rigid as the orgasm flowed through it. Bucky followed immediately with his own, emptying himself into her several times then laying on top of Tracey, kissing her gently, taking in her scent and the softness of her skin. When he softened he pulled out and shifted to lie beside her, sliding his metal arm under her so she could curl into him. The final song on her playlist, Wicked Game, was playing and although the lyrics were not quite about falling in love Bucky could see why she chose it as it was haunting music, seductively sexy, leading to more meaningful touches between them.

"You alright?" he asked, his voice soft. "I didn't hurt you, did I?"

"No, but I'll probably be sore in the morning," she replied. "Thank you. I've never come like that."

"Get used to it," he said. "I'll take care of you, always."

They shifted so they could get under the covers and Bucky turned off the bedside light. He could have gone all night but he was respectful of Tracey getting used to him and his body, trusting him to treat her right. As her breathing sounds changed into something deeper and more regular he looked up at the ceiling, breathing deeply as he felt so many emotions running through him. When Tracey shifted to her other side Bucky put his arm around her waist, spooned behind her and breathed in her scent, committing it to memory. Before he fell asleep a thought occurred to him. This is what love feels like.

****************

Bucky's playlist for dancing in the backyard: Fields of Gold by Sting, Harbor Lights by The Platters, I Only Have Eyes for You by The Flamingos, The Man I Love by Ella Fitzgerald, The Nearness of You by Ella Fitzgerald, Right Before Your Eyes by America.

Tracey's playlist for the bedroom (she loves classic rock): Hungry Eyes by Eric Carmen, Fire by Pointer Sisters, Lay Lady Lay by Bob Dylan, We've Got Tonight by Bob Seeger, Weight of Love by Black Keyes, Wicked Game by Chris Isaak.

Chapter 6>>

Series Masterlist

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Lost Scenes Thursday! Get to know your favourite authors better. Show five scenes from either abandoned fics where you regret they will never see the light of day, or five scenes from WIPs where you are impatient to see them out there. Long, short, one-liner... it's all good reading. Tag five other authors where you are curious.

Thanks for the ask! Was late on this one so I waited for it to be Thursday again ;)

So I typically scrap very little that I write which is why most snippets you'll see here are from upcoming works. Enjoy!

"My hröa does not have the means." "I gave you what this form of mine can provide." Fëanáro hadn't thought that Ulmo's blessing would indeed take hold. He had assumed that, perhaps, the Lord of Waters was mistaken in his assumptions about the inner workings of the Elven body, being a mysterious and rather strange creature, but he had been wrong.

~ From: "The Making of Makalaurë", written for a dear reader on AO3, in which the sons of Fëanor are the result of Fëanor receiving blessings from various Valar

"I trust you can take it from here." Any listeners might have found his words condescending, but Amras took no offense. The look on his brother's face spoke volumes of his uncertainty, not knowing how to act. "You can." He kept facing the river, not turning even a little. It would be a useless diversion; his path lay ahead, not next to or behind him. "Alright." Caranthir blinked a few times. "And, Amras... I just..." He swallowed. "Stay safe and take care, will you?" After centuries of keeping up a facade of indifference, the vulnerability in his dark eyes was almost jarring. Amras reached out with his right hand, and Caranthir responded in kind. They held onto each other for a few seconds, squeezing, exchanging glances. "I promise I will," Amras said finally.

~ From: Chapter 2 of "Dead Heart, Still Beating", in which Amras embarks on his journey to infiltrate Doriath and steal the Silmaril from Dior

Tirion training grounds at sunset. Come alone and wear this.

~ From: "Netya Nurëa!", written for @curufiin, in which Curufin receives a strange message from Celegorm and wonders what his brother's latest brilliant idea is

At night, great tidal wave swept over the town, so sudden that nobody had seen it coming. A great number of houses were torn to shreds by the ferocious waters, yet miraculously those who were dragged into the sea within the wreckage washed up on the shore, alive and relatively unharmed. Only two men remained missing, a pleasure slave from the local brothel and a foreign merchant, but even as their absence was noticed and their deaths seemed certain, the townsfolk hardly had a tear to spare; after all they had been strangers, and the ships, wares, buildings and homes that now needed to be rebuilt seemed like the greater loss. Nobody paid heed to the Star Queen's frantic search in the sky, nor the soundless cries of the King of Arda being dragged into the depths of the sea.

~ From: "Shards of Divinity", written for @featheredmoonwings, in which Manwë's ëala was shattered after the Fall of Númenor and Ulmo finds a piece of him that he wishes to keep for himself

Every day, every night he prayed. Yet each time his faithless heart returned to that book and the demon he had summoned, and his mind was flooded with filthy fantasies that drowned his resolve until he gave in again. "Sancta Virgo, Mater Dei, ora pro nobis peccatoribus... nunc... et in hora... mortis nostrae." Eönwë faltered upon uttering the final words of the prayer. Time and time again a foolish part of him hoped to be released from his desires, yet purity and enlightenment not only eluded him, but slipped further and further from his grasp.

~ From: "Ora pro nobis peccatoribus", written for @i-did-not-mean-to, a cloister AU in which faithful novice Eönwë keeps accidentally (more or less) summoning the demon Gothmog to spice up his dull every day life

Now for the (no pressure as always) tags: @sauron-kraut @a-world-of-whimsy-5 @crackinthecup @from-the-coffee-shop-in-edoras @fishing4stars as well as everyone else who would like to join! Show me what you've been up to, fellow authors🖤