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keanureevesisbae · 3 years ago

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But professor… - c.4

Summary: Penny is going to see her professor for the first time again after they kissed.

Professor!Walter Marshall x Penny Townsend (Asian ofc)

Wordcount: 5.1k

Warnings: Thunderstorms (?)

Masterlist // But professor… masterlist // Previous chapter // Next chapter

The next day it’s time for my criminology class, the first one I’ll have after our kiss. I haven’t spoken to Walter since the kiss, because a) it was literally yesterday and b) after I told him I was going to bed, I actually went to bed and fell asleep.

To make matters even worse, our meeting isn’t even gonna be in a private setting.

It’s in lecture hall setting.

Despite me falling asleep not long after I arrived home, I woke up in the middle of the night and couldn’t fall back to sleep. Since I was hungry, I decided to have some late night snacks, but I am incapable of eating normally, because I totally spilled some sauce on Walter’s sweater.

In other words: I had a little early morning laundry moment.

With Walter’s sweater neatly folded in my backpack, I take a deep breath for some encouragement, as I walk into the lecture hall. There are already around ten other students in their seats and Walter sits on the edge of his table, as he reads through his notes. He looks up, but his expression barely changes. Emphasis on barely. There is a slight shift in his eyes, but it’s hardly noticeable if you don’t know him that well. ‘Morning, miss Townsend.’

Like nothing ever happened between us.

‘Good morning, sir,’ I say, before walking up to my assigned seat. I should not let out a sigh of relief, but I still do. I tell myself I shouldn’t be this nervous, however it’s an impossible task. My leg moves up and down in a restless pace and my jaw is painfully clenched.

I try my best, but it is out of question to focus on the entire class. Thankfully, Walter must’ve noticed that my brain is everywhere but in this class, because he doesn’t call out my name once. For the first time in forever I don’t have any questions about the assignment, so when a few other students hang around after class, I manage to sneak passed them and make my way to the library.

My brain really is malfunctioning, because I keep staring at my screen, unable to do anything slightly productive. I look into my backpack, to see Walter’s sweater. About an hour has passed and maybe… Maybe I could bring it to him now?

I grab my phone and decide to just send him a text. I can take the first step after yesterday, right? I’m a big girl.

Me: Can I come over to your office now?

I don’t get an answer straight away, which is only fueling up the doubt that has been brewing inside my heart. Not quite the big girl after all.

What if he thought this was a mistake? Oh shit, the kiss was terrible, he hated it and I should therefore never ever kiss again!

My breathing stops when I see his answer.

Walter: Of course, princess 💕

I swallow hard. This is a good sign, right? The heart emoji and the nickname that led me to internally screaming all night indicate he didn’t think the kiss was terrible, what we did wasn’t a mistake and that we should totally kiss again.

Right?

The hallways are empty, as a lot of people are already back at their dorms due to the bad weather that is forecasted for later today. Normally, I would do the same, but I think I lingered around campus, so I had a chance of talking to Walter. I walk towards his office and knock on his door. I hear a deep and annoyed: ‘Come in’ and I take it as my cue to open the door.

‘Hello,’ I say, ‘you sure I can come in?’

He looks up from his desk and smiles. Small crowfeet appearing near the corners of his eyes, a tiny bit of evidence that he is genuinely happy to see me. ‘Of course Penny,’ he says, standing up from his seat. He walks towards the corner of his office, lifting some stuff up, to reveal a chair. He places it on the other side of his desk. ‘Please, take a seat,’ he says, holding out his hand.

All of this trouble for me? ‘I wasn’t planning on staying long.’

‘Doesn’t matter,’ he says, waiting for me to take place on the chair and I quickly do so. When he sits on his own chair again, he asks: ‘How are you?’

That’s such a sweet and darling question of him. ‘I’m okay. I just came by to give you your sweater back.’ I pull it out of my bag and say: ‘Thank you for lending it to me.’

He nods. ‘Of course.’

‘I washed it,’ I add, ‘since I kinda dropped some hot sauce on it. I hope you like my laundry detergent.’

I hand it over the table to him and he presses his nose against the fabric. ‘It smells great, thanks.’

I smile at him, since I can’t really stop it. He is so different around me, then he is when he’s a professor. There is no annoyance, no boredom. Only adoration if I’m correct. It feels good to be on the receiving end of it. ‘That was all actually. For once I don’t have questions.’

‘I see,’ Walter says. ‘You got a lot of work to do?’

I shake my head. ‘No, not really. Just your class.’

He chuckles. ‘I’m sorry about that.’

‘Don’t worry about it. Anyways, I should go. I have a few things I have to pick up from the grocery store anyway. Forgot some things yesterday,’ I say.

Walter nods. ‘Of course.’ While I said I should go, I can’t seem to stand up. Walter tilts his head and asks: ‘What’s wrong, princess?’

‘Nothing,’ I whisper.

‘Is it… The kiss?’ he carefully asks. ‘Because if it is, I have to apologize. I was crossing multiple lines with that.’

I shake my head. ‘No, Walter, don’t worry about it. I enjoyed it. It’s just… It was my first kiss.’

His eyes enlarge, nearly rolling out of his sockets. The surprised emotion is one I haven’t seen with him in real life. I actually thought nothing could startle him. ‘Your first kiss?’ he repeats. A few seconds pass by slowly as he runs his fingers through his disheveled curls. ‘Why didn’t you tell me?’

I shrug again. ‘I don’t know. It didn’t seem relevant.’

He sighs. ‘I’m so sorry, princess.’

‘There is nothing to worry about. If it makes you feel any better, I’m glad this was my first kiss.’

He leans back in his seat. ‘Penelope Townsend,’ he says, with a slight smile on his lips. ‘You’re quite something.’

Oh shit, he uses my full name. That… That can’t be good, right? Panic is taking over and I quickly say: ‘I really have to go.’ I grab my backpack and shoot out of his little office space, not even waiting for him to say something.

My brain is fried.

On autopilot, I managed to find my way to the grocery store, where I buy more instant noodles. I don’t know why, but I even grab some hair products for Walter. It’s getting ridiculous that I’m actually going to buy this, but on the other hand, he told me I could help him out with those slightly dry locks of his.

I spend little to no time in my dorm, because I am unable to stop thinking about Walter. I shouldn’t have left like that, I think to myself. He now must think I don’t like him, when in reality: I like him a lot.

As I am pacing through the room, nearly ripping out my hair out of pure frustration, I hear the rain against the window. It’s mild, especially if you compare it to the forecasted weather. I check my weather app and realize that with this type thunderstorm, I really don’t want to be alone here.

Without even thinking about the pros and cons of this plan, I pack some stuff I need and when I walk outside, the bus to his place is thankfully already there. The clouds are turning a darker shade of grey, as I’m hopelessly walking around the block after I got off the bus. My sense of direction is severely lacking and it takes me awhile before I even see his building.

It starts to pour and I turn into a shivering mess. By the time I’m at his door and knocked on it, I realize that I should’ve called.

This, Penelope Townsend, was a very poorly thought out plan. This is terribly rude and there is no turning back now. Oh no, what if he thinks that—

‘Hey,’ Walter says when he opens the door and smiles as he notices it’s me. ‘What are you doing here, princess?’

He doesn’t seem mad, that is a good sign. ‘I am terribly sorry, Walter, I really shouldn’t be here. I don’t know why I’m here even. Okay, I do know, because I don’t want to be alone with this weather, but I should’ve at least called you. I mean, you probably aren’t even in the mood to deal with me, which is totally understandable. I’m so sorry, please forget this ever happened and I’ll just go.’

‘Don’t be silly,’ he says, holding my wrist tightly in his large hand, not allowing me to leave. ‘Come in.’

‘Are you sure?’

‘I’m very sure. They say it’s gonna be shitty weather anyway and I’d hate if you had to go back. Besides, you’re soaking wet.’

‘You really sure I’m not bothering you?’ I ask, as he gently pulls me inside, still unsure whether or not I’m welcome.

‘Positive.’ He helps me out of my coat and tells me I can change in the bathroom. He grabs some of his own clothing and hands it to me. ‘Now, I’m gonna tidy up in here a bit,’ he says, ‘because I left some crime scene pictures around.’

I smile as I grab the clothing. ‘I should’ve called,’ I try to sort of apologize again, but he is having none of it.

‘Nonsense,’ he says, ‘you don’t have to call. You are always welcome here.’ He places his hand on my cheek, before pressing a soft kiss on my forehead. ‘Besides, I’m glad you’re here. I kinda missed you.’

I let out a chuckle. ‘Walter, I’m sorry I left your office. I was freaking out.’

‘I know,’ he says. Of course he knew. ‘It’s okay, Penny.’

‘It is?’

He nods. ‘Now get changed, you’re freezing.’

✎ ✎ ✎

After I changed into some of his clothing and hung my own clothes over the heater, I walk back into the living room, only to see him preparing some dinner in the kitchen.

That is such a domestic move.

‘Thank you for letting me stay here,’ I say, causing him to look over his shoulder. ‘I’m not great with this kind of weather.’

‘Figured,’ he chuckles. ‘You’re afraid?’

‘No,’ I answer, as I walk up to the counter. ‘Absolutely not.’ Almost on cue, a loud bang of thunder fills the room, causing me to yelp. ‘Okay, maybe a little.’

Walter starts to laugh. When I’m within arm reach of him, he lifts me up on the counter like I weigh nothing to him. ‘Sit still and be pretty, okay?’

I frown. ‘How am I supposed to be pretty?’

‘By being yourself,’ he says, ‘and smile at me from time to time. Seems doable, right?’

‘I can try,’ I say, a smile already appearing on my face. ‘What are you making?’

‘Some pasta,’ he answers. ‘You like that?’

‘I do,’ I say, pushing my glasses better on my nose. ‘I really do. Especially when someone else makes it. Don’t you have that, when someone else makes the food, it automatically tastes better?’

He shakes his head. ‘No, I don’t.’

Leave it to him to be an exception. ‘Why not?’

‘I like making my own food,’ he says.

‘Hm.’ I lean my head back against the cupboard. ‘I really can’t cook well,’ I admit. ‘My mom was always the one that would make my meals back home. I’m a disaster in the kitchen, hence the reason I live on ramen, which I can easily screw up as well.’

Walter smiles, placing one hand on my leg, as he holds a wooden spoon to stir the sauce. ‘Here, taste this,’ he says, grabbing a string of pasta and blows on it so it can cool off a bit. He brings it to my lips and it’s such an automatic move to place my hand on his wrist.

‘It’s good,’ I say.

‘I’ll grab a plate for you. How about you get comfortable on the couch?’

I jump off the counter and walk towards the living room area. His couch looks kinda dull, in a beige tint that reminds me of my grandma’s wardrobe, but don’t be fooled: it’s the most comfortable thing I’ve ever sat on. I grab a blanket and place it over my lap.

Walter joins me, handing me the plate with pasta and sits next to me. It only takes a second, before I flinch as the thunder is now accompanied by lighting. ‘You’re so easily scared,’ he snickers. Without me doing it on purpose, I scoot closer to him. I know he cannot psychically protect me against it, but not being alone with weather like this, is a relief itself. ‘Careful, princess,’ he says, ‘it’s hot.’

As we eat in silence, I keep thinking about what I can say to him. ‘I brought some hair stuff with me,’ I say. ‘Bought some today.’

‘For me?’

I nod. ‘For you,’ I confirm. ‘Maybe you want to use it.’

‘Or you use it on me,’ he says. ‘I have no idea what I’m doing anyway.’

As I finish the pasta (which was delicious), he takes the plate from my hands and places it on the coffee table next to his own empty plate. ‘Come here,’ he says, pulling me closer in his warm and protective arms.

I wonder whether or not it’s odd that I’m this comfortable with him this soon. I usually have a warm up period of at least a few weeks when I meet new people. When I worked in a cafe back in Japan during my gap year, it took me a month before I wasn’t painfully shy with some of my coworkers.

But with Walter, I am still shy and sometimes a bit awkward, but it doesn’t feel unpleasant. It’s like he understands and is patient with me.

I place my legs over his and hold his hand in both of mine. My fingers trace over his knuckles, where I notice some slight scarring. ‘How did you get this one?’

‘Bar fight,’ he says, ‘before I joined the academy.’

‘You were that type of guy?’

Walter doesn’t say anything and when I look up, I see he is not even looking at me. He is staring at the window. ‘Yeah, something like that. In case you wondered: he kinda asked for it.’

There is so much I want to ask him. What he was like when he grew up. What he thought of the academy. Interesting cases he solved.

However, a loud bang brutally interrupts my thoughts. At the exact same time, the lights shut off. My breathing stops. Oh no, a power cut? I’m so glad I’m not in my dorm alone. I might’ve called Walter crying, ask him to risk his life so he could pick me up.

Good thing I’m already here.

‘Great,’ he mumbles, turning on the flashlight on his phone. ‘There isn’t much I can do,’ he says, ‘except wait for it to come back. You want me to light some candles?’

I hate the dark this much, that I quickly say” ‘Please.’

He stands up, but I hold on tightly to his hand. ‘What’s wrong, princess?’

‘Can I walk with you?’

‘Of course.’ His fingers lace through mine and together we walk around his loft, looking for the candles and a lighter. We scatter them around the apartment and it gives a soft and warm ambiance, one that is slightly misplaced here in his loft. I can unclench my jaw from the painful grip and Walter pulls me back on the couch.

‘Did you feel awkward?’ I ask him. ‘In class today?’

He shakes his head. ‘But I know you did.’

I purse my lips together, as I feel completely caught. ‘Was I that obvious?’

‘Not to others, but to me you were.’

‘I’m sorry.’

He shakes his head. ‘Don’t apologize for that. I just wished I knew what I could do for you to feel less awkward about it.’

I shrug. ‘I don’t know. Never thought my first… Whatever we have, would have to be in secret.’

He sighs, clearly agreeing with me. ‘I wish I could show you off,’ he says. ‘Wish I could tell Fitzgerald to stop ogling you.’

‘He doesn’t do that,’ I say.

Walter scoffs. ‘He totally does. It’s not even subtle anymore.’

I place my head against his chest, melting in his arms. I close my eyes, as I enjoy being engulfed in the warmness and protectiveness of his embrace.

No one has ever held me like this before.

‘Walter, why me?’

‘What?’ he asks.

‘Why are you even paying attention to me? I’m such a nobody.’

‘You’re not a nobody,’ Walter retorts. ‘I like you, Penny. You have an ethereal beauty, combined with an adorable and kind nature. It’s so rare to meet someone like you. I see that there is so much potential in you, no matter what you choose later on in life. It’s just that you don’t know it yet, which is such a shame really. Besides, princess, I’m not risking my job for simply anyone.’

As much as him being my professor should turn me away from it all, should make me walk towards the door and not associate myself with him anymore, I don’t feel that way. Part of me wants to hide my smile, but I can’t. ‘I kinda like you too.’

‘Just kinda?’ he asks, pretending to be offended. ‘What can I do to change that?’

I smile. ‘Kiss me again.’

He doesn’t answer, simply leaning towards me to press his soft lips on mine. One of hands squeezes my thigh, as I wrap my arms around his neck. It feels so good to kiss him. ‘Can’t believe yesterday was your first kiss,’ he whispers against my lips. ‘You’re quite talented, princess.’

‘I just follow your lead. I think that says more about your kissing skills than mine.’

‘Knew you were an excellent student.’

✎ ✎ ✎

The lights aren’t restored by the time I grow more and more tired. It’s Walter actually that tells me to go to bed. When I’m tucked away underneath the blankets in just his thick sweater, he sits on the edge of the bed. ‘I want you to be honest,’ he says in a stern voice. ‘Do you want me to sleep here or on the couch?’

It’s a sweet thing of him to ask, especially since it did cross my mind a few times. I grab his hand, my thumb caressing his knuckles. ‘I don’t know,’ I whisper.

‘Why are you hesitating?’

‘Because… I don’t want you to think I’m a prude or anything.’

He smiles. ‘Princess, I can sleep on the couch. Don’t worry.’

I blink my eyes a few times, slightly nervous. ‘You don’t mind?’

‘Of course not. Just call for me when you need me, okay?’

‘Okay.’

He gives me a quick and loving kiss on my lips. Checking with me one last time, he carefully makes his way back to the living room. While I can hear him making himself comfortable on the couch, I roll around the bed. There is an inability of mine to fall asleep, something I barely encounter. There is this annoying, but also terrifying ticking like sound against the window and I can’t wrap my mind around it what exactly makes that noise.

The thunder and lightening are dominating the skies and my state of mind.

‘Walter?’ I finally ask him, after rolling around, being all ears and incapable of falling asleep for at least an hour. It takes only a few seconds before he walks into the bedroom. His hair is disheveled and he looks like a sleepy owl in a cartoon. It’s adorable, a word I never expected to use to describe him.

‘What’s wrong, princess?’ he asks me.

‘What is that noise?’

‘Just the water and a branch. It usually taps against the window from time to time.’

‘Oh, okay,’ I whisper. ‘Sorry to wake you.’

‘Don’t be,’ he says. He leans against the doorframe. Despite it being dark, I can still see the contours of his large body. ‘You seem wide awake.’

‘I am,’ I admit. ‘It’s just that I can’t sleep. There is too much noise here I don’t know.’

‘Want me to join you?’

I nod, only to realize he might not be able to see it. ‘Please.’

He walks over to the bed and gets in underneath the covers. I can already feel his warm body heat closer to mine and I hold my breath. ‘Don’t be ridiculous,’ Walter chuckles. ‘It’s just me.’

I can’t stop being “ridiculous”. I mean, I am completely overstepping all sorts of boundaries. I mean, I’m in my professors loft. The same professor who I kissed. Whose clothes I’m wearing.

Who I’m severely falling for.

Walter holds out his arm and I turn to my side, nuzzling against his warm frame. He only wears a simple shirt and a pair of boxers. ‘Why are you shivering?’

‘I’m a little scared.’

‘Why?’

‘It’s just all those new sounds and a different bed,’ I mumble. ‘I don’t know.’

‘You have nothing to worry about,’ he says. I place my chin on his chest. As my eyes get used the dark, I can sort of see more of his face. I don’t have my glasses on, so it stay slightly blurry. ‘Nothing is gonna happen to you now, princess,’ he continues to say. ‘Not when I’m here.’

I smile. ‘I know,’ I say. ‘It’s just all so new to me.’

‘Yet you adapt perfectly fine.’

I bite my bottom lip. ‘Really?’

‘Really.’ He places his hand on my cheek and leans a bit forward, planting a soft kiss on my lips. It’s not my plan to deepen the kiss, but when someone’s lips taste this good, of course I don’t mind deepening it. His teeth slowly sink into my bottom lip, careful not to hurt me.

When he lets go of me, his hot breath tickles my already sensitive lips. Walter presses a kiss on my nose and whispers: ‘Go to sleep, princess. You seem tired.’

‘I am,’ I chuckle. ‘Quite the detective you are.’

✎ ✎ ✎

The next morning when I wake up, I’m still engulfed in Walter’s arms. He looks so innocent and vulnerable when he sleeps. His hand has slipped underneath my shirt, his warm palm on my back. For a second, my mind wanders to a time where it’s more than this. More than just a hand on my bare back.

It’s about him seeing me naked, him touching me and whispering sweet nothings in my ears.

It doesn’t take long for Walter to wake up as well and he smiles when he sees I’m already up. ‘I don’t mind waking up like this,’ he admits. ‘Seeing your beautiful face first thing in the morning is a lovely surprise.’

Don’t blush, Penny. Don’t you dare blush.

‘Give me a kiss, princess,’ he says.

‘I haven’t brushed my teeth yet,’ I mumble.

‘Doesn’t matter to me.’ He leans in to give me a gentle peck on my lips, followed by a few more. I giggle against him, as his fingers softly—and probably unintentionally—tickle my sides. ‘I’ll go see if the power is back on,’ he says. ‘Want something to eat?’

‘Yeah,’ I say. ‘Doesn’t really matter what.’

Walter kisses me one more time, before he gets up out of bed. It doesn’t take long before I slip out of the bed as well, putting on some socks and sweatpants.

This morning is the prime example of how a domestic couple behaves. I always envied my parents, for being able to find the love of their lives, living according to a certain routine with one another. I remember sitting at the dinner table, watching them dancing in the kitchen as mom would make dinner. I remember sitting in the backseat, hearing my parents sing along with the radio.

They have always been outgoing people, in complete contrast to me. Mom always comforted me telling me that one day I would find my soulmate. Dad always told me that the so called soulmate had to be approved by him.

I wonder what would happen if they found out I met Walter. It’s way too early to think about that, but my brain isn’t stopping this thought process. Especially when Walter lifts me up the counter. When he presses mindless kisses on my forehead. When he lets me use some of the products on his hair. He smiles when I massage his scalp as I’m washing his hair over the stink and use the conditioner on his dry hair.

It’s great to see Walter with his guard a bit down. Allowing me to see who he is hiding when he’s teaching and maybe when he was at work as a detective as well. His touches are soft, are kind and not once is he overstepping. He carefully reads me and my body language.

But at one point, I realize that it’s time for me to go back. My mom used to say to leave a party when it’s still fun, instead of waiting for the awkward moment where you are practically forced to leave after you overstayed.

With his curls nice dried and less frizzy, he drives me back towards the train station and the parking lot and the station itself are almost vacant. People are probably still hiding inside their houses, not wanting to deal with the aftermath of the storm yet.

‘I hate that I have to drop you off here,’ he admits. ‘You have to walk for a while. Wait, I have an idea, you call me as you walk towards your dorm. I’ll leave here when I know you’re safe and sound in your room, okay?’

‘You really don’t have to do that,’ I chuckle. ‘I’m a big girl, I can take care of myself.’

‘I know that,’ he says, ‘but I care a little too much about you. I don’t want anything to happen, okay?’

It’s nice to be taken care of like this. I could get used to this. ‘Okay,’ I say, before I give him a kiss. ‘I’ll miss you.’

‘I’ll miss you too, princess.’ He pulls out his phone and says: ‘I’ll call you in a second.’

A second truly is a second, because my phone rings when I close the door. ‘Really?’ I ask him as I pick up the phone, still being able to see him.

‘Yes, really.’

I wave at him, as I walk towards the dormitory building, which is about a ten minute walk. ‘You have a cute walk,’ he says, when I’m out of sight for him. ‘There’s almost a little skip in it.’

‘Way to make me more self conscious than I already was.’

‘Ah, princess,’ he says, ‘don’t be like that. You have nothing to be self conscious about. You’re beautiful, you’re cute and you are the sweetest thing alive.’

‘Don’t say stuff like that. I’m blushing.’

I can hear his chuckles from the other side of the line. ‘Where are you now?’

‘I can see the dorms already. You really want me to call you until I’m in my room?’

‘Yes.’

I can’t argue with that determination. While I simply chat to him about the damage done by the storm, I see Fitzgerald near the entrance. Great, I really can’t use this now.

‘There she is,’ he says, when I open the door and walk passed him to get inside.

‘Is that who I think it is?’ Walter asks me.

‘Yes.’

‘He does that often?’

Correct me if I’m wrong, but he sounds kinda possessive. ‘Sometimes.’

‘Sugar plum,’ Fitzgerald says as he follows me inside. ‘I have a question for you.’

‘I’m on the phone,’ I tell him, hoping it’s enough for him to get lost. ‘Can’t really wait.’

It seems like he didn’t pick up on the underlying no in my answer. ‘Where have you been?’ Fitzgerald asks me.

My mouth grows dry. Does he know? Have Walter and I not been subtle enough? Oh my gosh, Fitzgerald totally knows. Do not start hyperventilate, stay calm, Penny. ‘Ask him if he’s stalking you,’ I hear Walter’s soft tone in my ear.

That seems doable. ‘You stalking me?’

He must be surprised that those words roll out of my mouth. I mean, I didn’t expect them from me either. ‘No, just wondering. Saw you getting on a bus after class.’

‘He really is stalking you,’ Walter says in my ear.

‘Sounds like you’re stalking me after all.’ Oh my goodness, Penny! What on earth is happening? I don’t know if I was supposed to repeat that.

Fitzgerald is flabbergasted to say the least and he actually walks away. Did I just do that? ‘He’s gone,’ I whisper.

‘That’s my girl,’ Walter chuckles. ‘Proud of you, princess. Asshole really doesn’t take no for an answer. I am tempted to fail him for my class.’

I start to laugh, as I make my way to my dorm. ‘You don’t have to do that.’

‘I hate his guts.’

‘Don’t use the word hate,’ I scold him. ‘Instead, use the word despise.’

‘Not with him, I won’t.’

I quickly walk up the stairs and let out a deep sigh when I’m back in my own dorm. ‘I arrived safe and sound in my room,’ I tell him. ‘Thank you for letting me stay over at your place. I really don’t do well in thunderstorms.’

‘Of course,’ he says, and I can almost hear the grin in his voice. ‘Can’t have you alone during a power cut. Also, it’s quite nice not to be alone.’

A certain vulnerability I was not expecting from him, let alone over the phone. ‘It sure was,’ I agree.

‘I’ll call you later,’ he tells me.

‘Alright, of course.’

‘Take care, princess.’

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darkficsyouneveraskedfor · 4 years ago

Text

From Eden: Two

Warnings: noncon sexual acts, mentions of mental illness; tags to be added throughout series

This is dark!Bucky. Your media consumption is your own responsibility. Warnings have been given. DO NOT PROCEED if these matters upset you.

Summary: The mc suffers from agoraphobia. After a new neighbour moves in across the street, her home becomes even more of a prison.

Note: Yo, so here’s part 2! I hope you all enjoy. As before, there is a transcript at the end for anyone having issues with the images.

Thank you so much for your patience! And support!!

As always, if you are so inclined, please like, reblog, and comment. <3

Transcript:

Sunday

I called Dr. Tisha this morning. I told her about the neighbour. She said it was nice of him to help with the garden but ignored me when I mentioned the broken gate. I don’t know if she believed me. It didn’t seem like it.

She’s coming by tomorrow to check on my progress. That means I can’t keep those magazines on the dining table anymore. The last time she made me throw half of them out. She didn’t listen when I told her some were so old they were priceless. Sometimes it feels like she doesn’t listen to me at all. Well, what do I pay her to do then?

I haven’t been back outside. I should water the garden as it’s only getting hotter but I don’t appreciate the unwanted audience. An intruder!

Later

I still haven’t found the courage to venture out. I made sure the bike lock was still in place from the front door. It is. Though, if that man’s metal hand could break the old lock, it will likely shred the chain lock.

Thinking about it makes my heart race. I should go lay down. I’m dizzy and the humidity is making me sick to my stomach. Or maybe it’s something else.

Monday

Dr. Tisha came by early today.

I showed Dr. Tisha where I kept my medicine in the bathroom cabinet, the pills divided into the days. I check off each day on the calendar so I don’t forget either. She said that was good. The last time she was here, it was because I’d stopped taking the pills so I hope this made her happy.

Then she walked through the house, she said she was happy to see the top of the table this time. I laughed but it wasn’t really funny. Then she went to the kitchen and checked all the drawers.

She found some books hidden under the sink and asked if I’d ever read them. I mean to but haven’t yet. She took them to the guest room where she found the bins of books stacked in the corner. Better than last time when they were a pile on the carpet.

She said I have too many things. Too many things that aren’t mine. She says it’s okay to be sad about grandma but that holding onto all her stuff won’t bring her back. Like I don’t know that! I do know! But she left me these things so yes, they are mine.

Then we went to grandma’s old room. It’s the same as it was. As it’s always been. Dr. Tisha frowned and went to my room next.

She asked me about the broken bed frame. I told her it was nothing. I made sure to replace the duvet I’d dragged out the couch to sleep without threat of rolling onto the floor in my sleep. Not that I sleep very much.

She opened my closet and found the magazines. That didn’t impress her either.

We had tea in the kitchen and talked. She asked me how I was feeling. About side effects and all that. Besides the occasional bout of nausea and vivid dreams, I’m fine. She agrees.

Then she asked about the tall shelf of vinyls in the living room. Which one is my favourite? I told her the old Vera Lynn record reminded me of grandma and it was still on the needle.

Then we argued. She wants me to get rid of the ones I don’t listen to. And the magazines in my closet! And she wants me to go through all the books, too.

She also suggested that I think about redecorating. I told her I didn’t want to do any of that. I like the house the way it is. Who is it hurting if I have a few extra books laying around?

She calmed me down after I raised my voice. She made me count my breaths and explained that I don’t have to get rid of everything, just a little. She says it would help with my progress. And, she said, I could probably make a healthy profit off a yard sale.

Well, I don’t care about the money, I don’t want to have a sale. I don’t want to deal with people and them thumbing through grandma’s thing for pennies.

Dr. Tisha said she’ll make some signs and we’ll have the sale on Saturday. My task for the week is to decide what to sell and prices. We argued again but not very long.

When she left, I started crying. Everywhere I look, I see grandma and this place is empty enough without her.

Tuesday

Lorena showed up today.

I gave her my list, it wasn’t very long. She asked about the bike lock and I asked if she could stop by the hardware store and get a new mechanism. She asked me if I even knew how to fix it. I said I’d figure it out.

I told her about Dr. Tisha’s idea for the yard sale. She said it was a great idea. I still don’t agree but she offered to help me sort through the guest room. I shrugged and asked her how long she’d be at the store. She said the usual and left.

I waited by the door. I watched the front gate for her return. She had the combination to the bike lock now and could let herself in. I just wanted her to come back and drop everything off so I could be alone.

When she did return, she wasn’t alone. I saw her at the gate, fumbling with the lock. As the gate shifted open, a metal arm reached past her to push it all the way. The man held a paper bag in his other arm as Lorena carried the other.

He was smiling as he spoke to her and let her pass. He followed her to the door and he saw me before I could back away from the slated window in the door.

“Open up,” Lorena called as she tapped the door.

I didn’t know what else to do but open the door. When I did she handed me her bag and reached for the one the man held.

“Sorry, but… I can’t let you inside.” She said glumly. “But thanks for the help.”

“No problem.” He glanced past her and I tried to hide behind her but he’s taller than her. He’s very big up close. “You have a great day. Both of you.”

“You, too.” Lorena said and he strode away.

When the gate clattered closed I waited until I was sure he was gone. I dropped my bag and rushed to check the lock. He’d secured it. Good.

I went back to the house and locked the door too. Lorena already had both bags on the table.

“He didn’t mean any harm,” She said as she unpacked the groceries. “He was just helping me so I figured--”

“You shouldn’t have let him in.” I told her.

“He was only in the yard. He didn’t come into the house.”

“I could have helped you.” I said.

“When’s the last time you went past the gate?” She asked as she pulled out a small plastic bag and slid it across to me. It was the new lock. “That should fit, if you can figure it out.”

“That’s not the point, Lor,” You slapped the table. “You let him into my space. A stranger!”

“He’s your neighbour. I’ve talked to Dr. Tisha and you know you’re supposed to be working on your socialising. This yard sale will be a good first step.”

“This yard sale is bull shit,” I was so angry I could have yelled. “I like being alone. I like it here. This is my home and these are my things!”

“Calm down.” She set down the carton of milk and neared me. “Look, I’m sorry. You’re right. I should’ve asked before I let him past the gate.”

I felt so tired. Suddenly weak, like the air had been let out of me. I felt bad for being so mad with her after she went all the way to town for me.

“I’m sorry I got upset.”

She forgave me and I forgave her. She convinced me to fill one bin for the sale before the end of the day. She left shortly after. Her and Shelby are going to see a movie. I’m watching one too. An old black and white movie Grandma had on her shelf of cassettes. It’s interesting but the edges are fuzzy and the audio is muffled.

Oh, well, I’m tired. And I’ll be sleeping on the couch anyway.

Wednesday

I tried to fix the lock today. I haven’t been outside that long since last week. The garden needs to be watered.

I took out grandma’s old toolbox, the tools half-rusted but intact. I got what was left of the old lock off easily but the new one was more of a task to get in. I had to open the gate to get it in. The holes for the screw were off-kilter but I couldn’t turn the lock enough to get them to line up.

Then he showed up. That man. Bucky. The lock slipped out as he scared me and my screw driver hit my shoe. My toe still hurts.

“You need some help?” He asked.

I shook my head and tried to close the gate on him but he was already picking up the mechanism and screwdriver.

“I can do it.” I sound like a dying mouse. I reached for the lock but he didn’t even seem to notice. “Hold the door steady and I’ll just--”

“I can do it myself,” I said louder but he still didn’t seem to hear me. Or chose not to.

He reached around the gate and pulled it closer to him. I grabbed the bars and he slid the lock into place. His metal fingers shifted it and aligned the holes.

“Do you have the screws?” He asked.

I found the box on the bunch of rocks just beside the gate. I handed him each long screw and he easily twisted them into place.

“There ya go,” He gave the screwdriver back and smiled.

I closed the gate, as good as pushing him out of the yard. He let me but looked confused. I took the key from the box and slid it in the slot. I turned it and the click slowed my racing heart.

“I still don’t know your name,” He said.

I didn’t tell him and left him there. You think he’d get the clue.

Thursday

It’s not even 5am. I woke up in a sweat. The fan is dead and the house has grown stolid, even as the night air slips through the open window.

I thought I’d closed it more but it is wide open and the power is out. There is an eerie silence as the buzz of the fridge is entirely gone and the house is pitch black.

I swear I saw something move in the window. Maybe a bird?

I tried to get back to sleep but it’s too hot. I guess I’ll just sit and wait for the sun to rise. It’s already starting to.

I want to go out in the garden today. I just hope that man doesn’t bother me again. I hope the lock is still in place.

Friday

Well, yesterday was fine. The power came back on at noon as I watered the garden and trimmed some overgrown plants. The freesias had grown despite my neglect.

Today was just as boring. I read at the patio table for a while but then the phone started ringing. Dr. Tisha was checking in. She said she put the signs up yesterday and hoped the turn out would be good. She asked me how much I got done. I lied and said a lot.

Now I’m going to go sort through the guest room and toss a few records on top to get her off my back. I guess I’ll just have to hide under the table tomorrow.

Saturday

Everytime I think I’m doing better, it all goes so bad!

Dr. Tisha and Lorena arrived early to set up the yard sale. They unfolded a table just inside the gate, leaving it wide open, and helped me arrange everything on top of it. I was nervous and tired. I didn’t sleep very much.

I waited nervously and the first customer showed up. Gladys, an old friend of Grandma’s. She bought an old pin cushion and the Miles Davis record. I should have kept that.

I watched mostly as Dr. Tisha and Lorena took the money and helped people, both familiar and not.

Dr. Tisha made me introduce myself to them at least. I hated it but they were mostly friendly. A woman with two children, I think she said her name was Essie? She said she liked my shirt. That was nice.

But then he showed up! I ignored him at first as he played with the ornamental cowbell. He took that and a few records from the table. He didn’t even seem to notice Dr. Tisha or Lorena as he came to me.

I kept my head down as I lined up the thimbles beside the painted sewing box.

“How much for the records?” He asked.

I didn’t say anything and went to the other end of the table. He followed and I turned back and went back to the other end again. He followed me. Again.

“Now,” Tisha stopped me. “What are you doing? He asked you a question.”

I looked up and blinked dumbly. “What? I didn’t-- I was--”

“Bucky,” Lorena greeted him as she neared. “Tisha, this is the neighbour who helped with the groceries the other day.”

“Oh, hello,” She held out her hand as she blocked me from getting away. “I’m Tisha.”

She introduced me then and told me like a child to say hello. I did, quietly.

“Are you… the one who gave her the flowers?” Tisha asked.

“I did.” He smiled. “But I guess she already has enough.”

“She’s shy,” Tisha lowered her voice. “She’s working on it. Now,” she turned to me, “how much do you want for the records… and bell?”

I didn’t know what to say. The man watched me and I felt as if I would melt.

“Come on.” Tisha poked me. “We talked about this, right? This is your sale.”

“Ten dollars each,” I doubled the price. “And twenty for the bell.”

“That’s a bit pricey,” Lorena said. I shrugged.

“Sounds fair to me,” The man took out his wallet as he leaned the record on the table beneath the bell and used his leg to keep it from falling. “I’ve never listened to these bands before and I’m trying to expand my library.”

He held out the money. Tisha had to elbow me to get me to take it. I snatched it from him and counted it. Another elbow as Lorena kept me from turning away.

“Thank you,” I said to him.

“I hope you enjoy the records,” Tisha offered gently before she pulled me aside.

She took me closer to the house as Lorena watched the table. She lowered her voice. “What’s going on?” She asked.

“Nothing.” I lied.

“Nothing? Why were you so rude to him?”

“I don’t like him.”

“You don’t know him.” She insisted.

“I don’t want to.”

“Look, I know you’re uneasy around men, but he was nice. And he’s your neighbour. You’ll be seeing a lot of him so I think you should at least try to be friendly. And remember what I said about friends?”

“My only friend is dead.”

I was so upset I ran inside. And now I’m locked in my room, waiting for them all to just go away.

#bucky barnes #dark bucky barnes #dark!bucky barnes #bucky barnes x reader #dark bucky barnes x reader #dark!bucky barnes x reader #fic #dark fic #dark!fic #series #from eden #agoraphobia #mcu #marvel

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revisionaryhistory · 4 years ago

Text

Three Days ~ 87

Emma

Slow dancing and kissing in the middle of the floor had been as perfect of goodbye as a goodbye could be. Sebastian had updated his playlists. There was nothing sexual. Every song was I love you, I've been waiting for you, I'm happy you're mine. Intense love songs. I felt every one. I stayed in the moment, focusing on how good this felt. We held each other, swaying to the music and alternating between my head laying on his shoulder, gazing in the other's eyes, or kissing. We were in our own little bubble. There was nothing but how his body felt against mine, how he smelled, and the look of his face. All I felt was encapsulated in a swirl of feelings. Love, joy, and a touch of sadness hiding on the edge.

The bubble burst with the knock on the door. Time to go. there was no chance of getting through this without tears. Strong emotions always bring tears. I don't fight them. Letting them out feels better. I don't think emotions are anything to be ashamed of or hide. They're also not something to manipulate others with.

At the car, we were both crying. Not holding onto each other sobbing, just tears.

Saying goodbye was hard. His "I love you. I'll miss you. I'll talk to you Later. Send nudes." broke the sadness enough to get the car door closed. I watched him slide away. I wiped away a few more tears before talking myself down. Six weeks was a long fucking time, but it wasn't forever. It would probably feel like it, however.

My solution was to avail myself of the Air France business class lounge. Two shots of tequila and I switched to wine. It went better with the cheese. I was going to have to hit the gym hard when I got home. And eat better. Not today though I was sad and there was free cheese.

As usual, I was asleep before we reached cruising altitude. I woke up with about five hours to go. Fingers crossed that helped with the jet lag. I put on my favorites playlist and read until we landed.

Emma ~ I’ve landed Sebastian ~ Yay! Emma ~ Go back to sleep. Sebastian ~ XOXO

I knew he had an early call time tomorrow. It was only five pm here in New York. Closer to seven by the time I got back to Sebastian's place. I made it long enough to throw a load of laundry into the washer and the cheese into the fridge before crawling into bed. I took over his side of the bed, sniffing the pillows to find the one that smelled most like him. I curled around it and was out.

Five am was the latest my body was going to let me sleep. That was eleven am in France. So too early for New York and kinda late for France. I grabbed my phone to take a sleepy selfie but was distracted by my text notification. Sebastian had sent me a picture of him reclining on a couch, not in our rooms, with Guiletta asleep on his chest.

Sebastian ~ Found someone new to sleep on my chest.

I continued with my original plan to take an up-close picture of my eyes peeking out over the top of his pillow. My hair was a mess, my eyes look half-asleep, and there was a faint pillow crease on my temple. Perfect.

Emma ~ I miss you too

The sun was up with a bright blue sky. Since it was Saturday the traffic at this time of day would be much less. I had a clean pair of shorts, but not a shirt. No problem. My boyfriend had t-shirts. A little big, but perfectly functional. Runners, earphones, keys and I was out the door for an early morning run.

The city was beautiful. sunlight crept around corners and over the tops of shorter buildings. I ran south past the 9-11 memorial to Battery Park. I'd always been fascinated by the metal world with tears and chunks missing. The first time I'd seen I'd said out loud, "It looks like the world blew up." I guess I wasn't far off. The sculpture had been in the World Trade Center Plaza and been damaged by falling debris. I was only eight and all I remember was my parents being glued to CNN for hours. It would be years later, when I called the city home, before I really understood. As much as a non-native New Yorker could.

The worst thing about running this early was all the stores were closed. The best thing about running this early was all the stores were closed. I admit my shopping had been out of hand. In my defense, it had been a very long time since I'd had someone to dress up for. Don't take that wrong. Beacon dates with a man or friends was an opportunity to dress up. Coming into New York to be with Angie and Eli was a good opportunity. Both opportunities I used well. Still, having a man appreciate what you wear and how you look in it is another level. I know what I look good in. I'm not changing my choices for Sebastian, or any man, but I will take his preferences into account. Shopping right now would be a bad idea. I’m sure I'm packing around a few extra pounds of cheese, bread, and wine. I'm hoping all the walking mitigated some of the damage.

On my way back, a couple of blocks from Sebastian's the city was waking up. More people and sounds. I realized tonight would be the first time I'd been alone in the city in about five years. I made plans to sit in the dark and just listen. I picked up a bagel and a smoothie that I was told would rejuvenate me. I wonder if the barista could tell? I broke into Sebastian's stash of nut butter. Half a bagel with cashew butter the other with almond. Cashew was better.

Being alone in his space is weird. None of my stuff is here. It's like a hotel, but not. I got a little nosey after I'd showered and dressed. Not in a going through his drawers and medicine cabinet nosey. Looking at his DVD and CD collection. Running my fingers down the spines of his books, pulling out ones that caught my interest to thumb through. I made a stack of things I wanted to read. I did go through his kitchen pretty thoroughly. It looks like a single man who travels and eats out a lot lives here. He doesn't have flour. How does one not have flour? He does have quite a condiment collection. I threw out expired things and made a list to replace them. That led me on a short journey to see if there was anything else he was almost out of and added things to the list.

Time to call the best friends. Angie picked up on the third ring, her voice excited to hear from me, "You're home!"

"I’m at Sebastian's. I meet with my advisor Monday."

"I want to see all the pictures and hear all the stories. We're going out tonight. Some friends are playing. You're welcome."

"Can I let you know later? I don't know what the time change is going to do."

"Absolutely. So.... " the paused after dragging out the word, "are you missing him? How was goodbye?"

"Goodbye took forever. Neither of us wanted to let go. At least half a dozen last kisses. Sucked. I miss him, but I'm okay. I'll be fine when I get home and am doing stuff. I've cleaned expired shit out of his kitchen and made a grocery list."

"That's cute. Hope he thinks so."

I hadn't thought about his opinion one way or another. I was just getting rid of shit before it stank up the place. "He won't care."

We talked for a while, deciding we'd do brunch tomorrow.

I was bored. I didn't lack for things to do, but I didn't have a routine here. Especially not without him. It didn't feel like home without him. Once I'd figured that out I was good and went about making myself at home.

I'd changed Sebastian's ringtone from "Dancing Queen" to my favorite part in "Every Time I’m With You." It was near the end after a heavy drumbeat "cause every time I'm with you I feel wanted. We could make believers if we dare. We're just two believers if we dare." It was incredible the first time we'd danced to it and it was incredible now. I heard it about six, midnight in France.

I'd barely registered his face before I heard his voice, "If I put that picture on my laptop and my laptop in the bed, I can pretend it's you."

I felt warm all over and smiled, "Yes, you can. Tell me about the first day of shooting."

"It was good. Long, but good. I'm comfortable with Jess and I like her direction." He told me stories that made me proud and made me laugh. "I did well today. What have you been up to?"

I gave him a quick rundown on my day, leaving the bit about making myself at home until last.

He closed his eyes and shook his head. "I can't believe you restocked my kitchen. Thank you. Do whatever you want to feel at home."

"What if I reorganized your drawers because your way doesn't make sense?"

"Have at it. I'll just think I forget and think I did it."

"And your kitchen so it flows better."

He shook his head, "I don't know what that means. Knock yourself out."

I laughed, "I didn't do either."

I loved the lines that formed at the corners of his eyes when he genuinely smiled. Like now, "I don't care what you do. I just want you to feel at home.”

Now we were where I wanted to be, "Here's the thing... my favorite foods in your kitchen, finding where I'm most comfortable to work on my laptop, and figuring out where has the best view when I want to relax with a book are good, but it's not enough. Doing all that did help me figure what's missing."

"What's missing and where can we get it?"

"It's free and I already found it. You make where ever we are home. You're my home."

"I'm your home." He looked a little dazed.

"When you were in my place I felt at home. At your parents, I felt at home. Being at your place with you I was perfectly at home. Paris too. Now I’m back and I did things to feel at home. Took a while until I realized its missing something. You. When I'm with you, wherever we are, I’m home."

I could tell he was processing, by the way his tongue moved, "I like that."

He kept thinking, squinting his eyes a little, "I don't know if you're my home. Not sure where home is. Sometimes I don't feel at home in my own skin. I like that I’m your home." He cringed, "The next couple of weeks are going to suck for you."

I banred out a laugh, "No, once I knew what the issue was I adjusted. I'm good now."

"You don't miss me anymore?"

"Oh, I miss you a lot." Were transitioned into silly conversation.

"Ok, good."

I gasped, "You want me to suffer?"

"Terribly." His eyes were wide as he nodded his head. "So much so that when you see me again you throw yourself into my arms and hold on so tight I can't breathe."

"Therefore making you suffer."

"Yes, please."

I did end up going out with Angie and Eli. Thankfully it was a jeans sort of bar. My hope was if I stayed moving I'd fall over, get a good night's sleep, and get back on New York time. It was a good fun night.

Sunday I took a run before getting ready for Angie to come over. I'd bribed her with her favorite home-cooked meal. I had her take pictures of me in various outfits around his apartment. At one point Angie rolled her eyes, "I can not believe I'm taking pictures of you rolling around in his bed."

"Six weeks, Angie. I suck at selfies. I need a stockpile to pull from."

"What you need is a class in basic photo editing on an iPhone."

"I know."

We went back to her place, stopping for supplies on the way. A few hours later we were feasting on cilantro lime salmon, a creamy garlic parmesan orzo, and a greek salad. I've taught Angie to cook this several times, but she tells me it's never quite right. I think she skimps on the butter and that's a big no. And a healthy splash of the Sauvignon blanc lifts the whole thing a little.

Sebastian and I exchanged texts over the course of the day. A comment or question with stretches of time between answers. Mostly from him. I got excited when an unexpected text came through. His response to my dinner picture was a request for the same meal. Maybe with his parents.

Monday was a busier day. I had to dress like a doctoral student, pack my bags, clean up after myself, and plant surprises like the notes I keep finding in my condo. Mine are more fun. The green g- string from concert night is mixed in with his boxers. A couple of dresses parked next to something they matched well. A peach tank top mixed in with his workout gear. I had Angie take a picture in each room. Printed and framed them. My favorite is me sitting on the toilet. It has a lovely frame and is now on the wall across from the throne. I wanted everything ready for me to leave for home straight from my advisory meeting

My advisory meeting lasted a little over three hours. Three good hours. Dr. Kershaw had been appointed my advisor. I'd taken a class with her while working on my Master's and my second winter in Beacon, but at the time I'd been excited to work with students and studying digital classroom technology was something I wasn't wanting to explore. I wanted to be hands-on molding little minds and still wasn't sure what I wanted to do, but I'd enjoyed working on our team's website. Google Classroom was functional but limited by design. Three hours later I had it narrowed down.

Sebastian had texted me good luck this morning with a picture of his face, eyes closed and lips puckered. I'd sent back a picture of my legs, crossed at the ankles with my skirt draped to the side, while sitting in his favorite chair. I was more than halfway home when his ringtone came through my vehicle's speaker. I hit the button, "Hey, baby."

I could hear his smile in his voice, "Sounds like your lunch went well."

"It did!" I was still excited from lunch and the phone call with Angie after. "I like my advisor. There's only ten of us in the program with the plan to add ten more each fall."

"Wow!" He interjected. "So being accepted is even more impressive."

"Yeah." I was proud of myself. "Small and first-year makes everything very personalized. All of the potential classes overlap with other programs. Cognitive theory from Psych, advanced reading from Education, some Education Law and leadership, computer tech, and even game design. We spent a lot of time talking about what I’m passionate about. In the and I’m thinking I want to focus on reading intervention and programming for K-3."

"Which is what you're passionate about."

I laughed, "and you."

"And me. Did you just talk about direction or is there a plan? What coursework did they accept."

"The fifteen hours I've taken will apply. We designed a basic timeline. I've taken six hours the last two years. I'm confident I can handle that with work and having a life. If I want to take more I can. I don't want to take classes in the summer. Those are usually compressed and pretty intense, plus I'm not in a hurry. Somewhere in the middle, I write a thesis, which looks at a problem or a hole in what already exists. That will feed into my dissertation. I can either do research and design an experiment like comparing existing programs or create my own product."

"Any idea which way you want to go?"

"None at all. I figure the thesis will help figure that out."

"And when do I have to start calling you Doctor?" The seductive tone in his voice told me "have to" wasn't going to be a hardship.

"Three to four years. No summers and using the last semester for my dissertation is four. If I add a class in a couple of semesters or summer and do my dissertation concurrently then three. I have to be done in ten. I'm thinking I’ll figure out what I want to do the first two then design and implement the last two. A lot will depend on how long that takes." He couldn't see me, but I was waving a hand in the air. "It will work itself out."

"I love you."

"I love you. Enough me, tell me about your day."

We talked the rest of the way home where we had some fun.

I called Seattle and went through it all again with Ed. He was as excited and proud of me as was Seb. I found it a little sadly ironic that my lover was in a time zone six hours ahead, my family was three hours behind, and the ones in the same time zone weren't going to know for a few days. I didn't trust them to not take away from my accomplishment, neither did Ed, which meant they'd have to wait. Hell, they barely knew I'd been in France. They'd get to know once I was finished celebrating with people who would just be happy for me. That pushed a Georgia phone call off to the weekend after the volleyball tournament. Maybe after practice tomorrow if I could get my school lunch bunch to come for drinks, I’d even buy. I had no problem funding my own celebration. I just wanted my friends there. Angie and Eli were coming for the weekend. Maybe I'd call while they were here. Eli could make angry faces while Angie tried to scold him. Then either way it went we could drink our way through. That was a good plan. I texted all involved and they agreed.

I ran back out to the grocery for fresh berries, yogurt, and wine to go with my cheese. I bought other good for detox items and healthy foods. A stopped by a smoothie shop for a raspberry white chocolate protein drink. It was amazing how quickly I slid into my summer schedule. Run to the gym to work out. Run home. Have breakfast and practice guitar. Do whatever until it was warm enough to go lay by the pool and read or float. Have dinner, meet up with friends, volleyball practice, or lay on the couch with Netflix

Sebastian and I would text sporadically throughout the day. About nine my time, so three am for him, I'd send him a picture. One Angie took or something I'd taken during the day. He always woke up to see me. Some days that was more arousing than others. We talked almost every day. Maybe five minutes or an hour. Night shoots were the worst. He was working while I was awake and I was asleep during his time off.

The weekend Angie and Eli came down was fun. Friday night we stayed in watching movies and drinking. Saturday's tournament was going well until storms came through. The radar said there were hours of rain left, so they canceled. Since all our plans had been canceled we decided on a bar crawl. Which meant Sunday was spent recovering. We went to brunch at the riverside restaurant where Sebastian and I had our first date. On the drive back I made plans for calling Georgia. Angie and Eli were my get away plan. We went out on the back patio. I set up my iPad where they would only see me, but I could see my support system.

Dad picked up almost immediately, “Hey, Emma. You’re home. Amy told us you were in France.”

“Sebastian had an event so we made it a short vacation.”

“Sounds fun.” My mom had entered the frame. “I bet you appreciated things you overlooked before.”

I laughed, “I did. All those things I saw pictures of later and wished I’d paid more attention to. We had a good time.”

“That’s great.”

Time to dive in. “I wanted to tell you some good news.”

Amy jumped into frame and interrupted, “Can I hear too?”

I ignored the question and just went on, “I was accepted into a new Doctoral program at NYU. It’s education and digital media. It’s new so we’re building my program as we go.”

“That’s great news, Emma.” Dad looked excited, “Dissertation and everything?”

“Yes, it can be research or designing a project. I’ve got about three years to get that figured out. They accepted the post-grad classes I’ve been taking.”

“Congratulations, sweetheart. We’re proud of you.” Mom’s smile was bright.

“My baby sister is going to be a Doctor. I need to figure out my future.”

I shook my head, “You’ll figure it out. What’s right for you and my beautiful niece. She’s a job and a half.”

“I am not enjoying this age.”

“That’s why I teach first grade and not kindergarten or preschool.”

We talked a bit more about school, what was going on there, and how things were with Amy and Max. Mom asked about Sebastian, where he was, and if things were good between us. Instead of shutting her down, like I had in the car, I talked about him.

Not a minute after we hung up Amy texted, “How’s Sebastian feel about calling you Dr? *wink*wink*”

I sent back, “Exactly, like that.”

I closed my tablet and looked at my friends. I was not comfortable. Sure, the conversation had gone fine, but it didn’t feel fine. “That went better than expected.”

“This time.” Eli grimaced, “Sorry.”

“That’s what makes this so hard. This looks normal, but it’s not. If it was, I wouldn’t have this not in the bit of my stomach and want friends here when I talk to them. That’s not normal.”

Angie came over to kneel beside me, bringing me into a hug, “No, it’s not. You don’t need us when you call Seattle.”

Eli joined us, “I don’t think they know what they’re doing, but it doesn’t change it, Emma.”

I laughed, “I know.” I kissed his cheek. Dealing with my parents was worse for him than it was for me. I hated seeing people I love hurt too. I wasn’t hurt though. It was a weird numb.

“You ok, Em?”

I met Angie’s eyes, “I am. Just weird. The happier I am, the more good things going on, the more distant I feel. The better I’m doing, the less supportive they are.”

“Yep!” Eli didn’t hesitate to agree. “And that’s not alright.”

I mussed his hair, “No, it’s not.”

The next week was more of the same. I registered for my fall classes and my books were delivered by Wednesday. I started reading. Yes, I'm that student. I liked to get a head start. I'd never taken classes in the fall. The first month of teaching was exhausting. It took time and energy to get first graders ready to learn. I wasn't sure how that would work with starting my classes. Getting ahead on reading seemed the safest approach.

Thursday afternoon Sebastian called. Drunk. I guess wrapping in Paris was worthy of a party. The rest of cast and crew were packing up and heading to Rome. Sebastian was flying halfway around the world to San Diego's Comic-Con. He'd spend thirty-two hours of his four day weekend in a plane, which meant he was drunk and a little grumpy. By the time I was done with him he was still drunk, but no longer grumpy. He was naked, smiling, and satisfied. Well, as satisfied as he could be over the phone. Even drunk he was insistent that he not see me masturbating for the first time on video. We should have taken care of this.

I set an alarm for the middle of the night to make sure he was awake and would make his plane. It was worth it to lay in bed together.

#Sebastian Stan #Sebastian Stan Fanfiction #fanfiction #sebastian stan X ofc #marvel actor fanfiction

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florenceandthemachine · 4 years ago

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that original lifeline

chapter 5 / 5 - “you deserve what you are given” - 3.6k

in which Eddie has a good day, has a bad day, sees a familiar face, and tries not to blow up an ambulance. not necessarily in that order.

it’s all done! my first ever standalone, prompt-free fic! I hope you all at least tolerated it as much as I did. I also would like to say—please, if you’re seeing things that look messy or need to be touched up, you’re welcome to let me know. I'm sure I'm going to go over it and re-edit a million times over the next week.

read on AO3

Eddie knew that things were going to be different the moment he slapped his alarm the next morning, because for the first time in months, he actually turned his alarm off. He didn’t lie in bed and ignore it, he didn’t hit snooze until he could get the energy to see the day, he turned it off, he got up, and he started to dress. He couldn’t remember the last time he had greeted a Monday on time for an early morning workout, but the few miles he was able to get in on the treadmill was nothing compared to the look of happiness on his son’s face when he got to join him and Carla for breakfast—instead of running out the door, a granola bar lodged in his mouth. He literally felt like he just woke up on the right side of the bed this morning; judging by the way that Chris lit up, and Carla rose her brows in surprise, his change in attitude was already being noticed.

Even if Carla was good enough not to comment on it.

Honestly, Eddie didn’t know what was going on himself, but he wasn’t going to complain. A day ago, he had almost started to cry at one of those family car commercials with an old dog in it, and today, he was already back into the familiar motions of ‘being well’.

He had been through enough therapy in his life to know the “highs and lows” mental health speech every which way, but what he hadn’t realized until this morning was that when you were low, being low becomes your new normal. Eddie had been through it before (with Shannon, with his parents, with… name a thing), and he knew it would probably come again, but that didn’t make the moments that he got to stand in the light on the other side of the tunnel any less sweet.

It felt like he was standing in the sun.

“Morning Hen! Coffee?” Eddie grinned as he took the stairs up into the loft two at a time, box of danishes in one hand, coffee holders stacked high in the other. He had literally been smiling since he parked his car outside, and was now beaming at Hen only because she was lucky enough to be the first person he got to see that day. Lucky, sure, but he still didn’t miss the way that her brows rose into her hair as she took her cup and her selection of baked goods, knowing full well that this was probably… a lot to take in from his behavior for the past many weeks.

“You’re… cheery.” Hen commented easily, staring at Eddie like a puzzle to figure out—and while that would have made him nervous before, it was actually kind of nice now, a friend showing that she cared.

To his credit, Eddie just shrugged, pulling off another coffee as he put the boxes down on the table, knowing full well they would be devoured before he could even look back. “What can I say? It’s a good day today, the sun is out, and I only have to be here for eight hours. Hey, where’s Chim? I got Mr. Asian James Bond an extra bear claw, since he’s been driving everyone up the wall with his whole sorority girls speech.”

Hen let the topic drop (and Eddie thanked her silently for it) as she groaned and shook her head, taking another drag from her coffee cup as, sure enough, the pastry boxes started to draw everyone in like flies. He started handing out coffees to those who’s orders he could remember, grinning as Hen launched into it. “No no, ‘Asian James Bond’ was last week, now it’s ‘Asian Sex Symbol’ to you. God, that stupid calendar, between he and Bobby I am ready to enter myself, blow them both out of the water as Miss July, and—”

“Hey, hold up, where’s Bosko?” Eddie said, cutting her off before she could pick up too much steam, staring at the last coffee in his hands as Bobby pulled his own free.

Hen and Bobby shared a glance as Bobby cleared his throat around a mouthful of coffee, swallowing before he started to speak. “Actually, Lena’s back with the 136 for the foreseeable future. I’m happy to say that we finally have that vacancy filled.”

Eddie felt his brows launch into his hairline, only vaguely remembering that Lena was supposed to be here on a temporary basis—and he had been a complete ass to her for the past few months. Well, that was going to be a fun little addition to his long list of issues, and he winced as he made a mental note to swing by the 136 later on with another danish and an apology. Hen caught the look, her own brow tilting in return, though she was good enough to redirect her attention back up to Bobby. “So, wait, who’s going to be the newbie on the 118?”

“He is walking up the stairs right now, if you want to turn around. Just graduated out of the Academy last week. Pretty much top of his class, apparently impressed enough people that I had to fight off station 6 to get him to come here—welcome, Evan Buckley.”

“Hey, uh, you can just call me Buck.”

Eddie almost choked on his coffee as he heard a voice behind him, grabbing a napkin to catch a few drops as he turned, trying to repress his cough as he turned around, meeting a pair of blue eyes, staring at Eddie with an intensity that made his insides curl like he had just been sucker punched. He didn’t say anything, of course, just reached out and shook hands, introduced himself, did the whole shebang—with a smile, he might add!

Today was a good day. It could still be a good day. It really, really had the potential to be a good day.

Today was not a good day.

Eddie wanted to work well with Buck, he really did, but every time Buck opened his mouth, all Eddie could feel was pressure, water pushing in on him at every angle, the choking taste of mud in his mouth. At this point in time, Eddie wasn’t sure what was worse—that Buck seemed to put his foot in his mouth whenever he talked to Eddie, or the fact that he didn’t seem to give a fuck where and when he was flapping his yap.

An exploding man hole cover literally knocking someone’s arm into the nearby pool? He had barely started with “Hey, you good? You must have lucked out after that firetruck and all…” before Eddie was talking over him, asking for gauze and a tourniquet to try and save some of the live tissue in the very-much-not-alive arm.

A stab wound to the ass that resulted in the most lifelike Michelin man that Eddie had ever seen? “So, silver star, huh? You save a platoon or something?” Eddie managed to smile, jaw tight as he shook his head. “No, nothing like that. I was just in convoy.”

Even their downtime wasn’t safe—a grocery run that wound up with the entire team stacked high with grocery bags as they walked back into the station? “Hey, I saw a piece about that drill—“

“Alright, who wants lunch?” Eddie was immensely thankful for Bobby’s distraction, not bothering to hide the fact that his interruption was far from a coincidence. By now, even Hen was looking at Buck like he was a crazy person at that point—or maybe just an asshole.

Somehow, after all of their calls, it only came to a head in the gym. Apparently, Buck had decided that the subtle approach (not that anything Buck did could be called subtle) wasn’t good enough, and for whatever reason decided that the gym was the best time to approach Eddie.

Honestly, if Eddie wasn’t a good thirty away from the first real workout he had had in weeks, he probably would have walked away.

“Eddie, you… you know who I am, right?”

His jaw twitching in time with his punches, Eddie finally relented from the poor bag and looked at Buck directly, jaw set as he started to rewrap his hands. “And what if I didn’t? You think this would have gone over well with HR, the new guy bringing up the worst days of my life and all but asking me about a fucking guardian angel?”

“Jesus, that’s not what I—“

“I met Athena.”

Eddie could almost hear Buck’s mouth shut, the clack of his teeth somehow louder than the din of the station behind him. “I met her and she told me that she didn’t know what had happened, and then she offered to make me forget. Forget about you, about everything, because not even she knew where you had wound up.” Eddie started, rolling his wrists easily. “She apologized to me, she said she missed you, well, not that she was alone in that sense. You should probably find a way to apologize to her, too. Let her know you’re okay. Hold the bag.” Eddie’s voice was low even as his tone started to sharpen, doing his absolute best to keep his face neutral, lest he want any attention from Hen or Bobby for harassing the new guy.

To Buck’s credit, he did as Eddie asked, holding the bag steady as Eddie started to wail on it anew, thankful that he at least had the temporary distraction of pressure against his knuckles to stop the urge to scream into the sky.

“Athena… she really did that?” Eddie didn’t respond, just threw another punch, grunting with the exertion. Buck’s voice was low, barely louder than the sound of Eddie’s hands making contact with the bag. “Is that what you want? An apology? Because I’m not going to apologize for saving you, Eddie, I’m not going to say sorry for not leaving you in the bottom of a pit to… I’m not sorry for that. So if that’s what you’re after, I don’t know what to offer you.”

Eddie threw a kick from his left, giving Buck plenty of time to adjust his grip before his ankle came smashing into the bag, panting as he stared Buck down, feeling the anger start to drain out of him as he breathed, shaking his head. “Buck, is that what you think this is about?”

Buck, bless him, just looked like a lost puppy when what Eddie said sunk in.

“You saved my life. I mean, you’ve always kept me safe, but back there you saved my life. You let me go home to my kid, you… I could never thank you enough for that. I’m not mad about that.” He shook his head, flexing his fingers as he took another fighting stance, his poster lower, more subdued than the all out attack he was waging before.

“Well then what—“

“I’m not mad at you because you left.” Eddie repeated, starting another round of punches, each hit slower, shorter, but packed with more force than was strictly necessary. “I’m mad at you because you fucking—because you didn’t come back. Because you chose not to come back. You went through the academy, top of the class, and that was eighteen weeks of you being here, just miles away from me in Los Angeles, and you let me think that you were dead that entire time. You were with me my whole entire life, you were a constant, and then I lost you, Buck, and I had to try and live with that. And then you show up at work today, and you’re alive, and human, and I’ve had barely eight hours to deal with all of this, after I—I fucking mourned you. I mourned you, and you let me, and that—that’s why I’m mad.”

Although, the more he spoke, the more Eddie realized that he wasn’t mad, not really, not that he would own up to it that easily. He wasn’t angry, he was just… crushed. His hook got sloppy and he went wide, eyes wild, stumbling only a little before catching himself on the bag.

“Why does everyone leave me? What did I do, Buck, why didn’t you come back?”

The sudden sound of footsteps drew his eye up to the loft where the next shift was pouring in, easily exchanging pleasantries with Eddie’s team, and Eddie felt the last bit of fight drain out of him as he started to unwind his gloves. The day was done. His shift was over. And after feeling nothing but empty for weeks, Eddie had just about exhausted the entire range of his emotional capabilities in less than a day.

“Eddie, I—“

“Forget it, Buck. I’ll see you tomorrow, or whatever.” Eddie said, not even bothering to look over his shoulder as he headed back to the locker area.

“Fire and Rescue, hello?”

Eddie was having another… long day. Not a bad day, not necessarily, but not a… great day either. He had still managed to get up, he had still brought himself to work, he still managed an honest smile when he kissed Chris goodbye, but he found himself hesitating before he wound up walking into the 118. He didn’t know if he could handle Buck again today—thankfully, it seemed like he didn’t have to. Buck was mostly absent that morning, giving Eddie enough apologetic looks over the table to display that he got he had been an asshole the day before (or, more likely, that Hen and Chim had verbally beat that fact into him before Eddie got there).

Their morning had gone off without incident—there had only been one real call outside a few false alarms, a moron with his head literally cemented into a microwave—and to be honest, Eddie couldn’t deny the fact that he loved how easily he and Buck could work together. Well, how easy they worked together when Buck shut up for three minutes.

Another save, an easy lunch, and Eddie’s eight hour shift looked like it would be ending easily when they got the call to head down to Torrence, walking into what felt like the worlds most mothball-scented Army Navy Surplus store.

Eddie felt his body tense up as soon as the word ‘grenade’, having to take a split second to remind himself that he was still in the States, he wasn’t in wartime, he was still safe. Because he was safe, they were okay, until Buck moved the dressings and a gold glint caught his eye.

“None of the guys I’ve worked with were dumb enough to shoot a live round into their own leg, but I’m familiar with the ordinance.”

Eddie felt his jaw twitch again as Buck stared him down, a tic that he was sure would come to be familiar in over the next few days. Honestly, he was starting to think that Buck was just bringing all the mess with him—he had gone months without a call that threatened his life and limb, and then as soon as Buck came back into his life, there he was, with a grenade stuck inside of some old, gun collecting bastard. He could almost feel the moment where Buck opened his mouth—it was the same feeling he got whenever Buck had appeared, years and years ago, whenever something extremely stupid was about to happen.

“I’m in.”

Of course he was.

For what it was worth, Buck had stellar bedside manner. It was easy for him to to make small talk with Charlie while he hung the morphine, asking about his wife, his life, and Eddie found himself a little bit reassured by how easily Buck was able to buckle down and rise to the situation. After all, Buck had been doing that for Eddie’s whole life—it would be a shame if he lost that skill when he could use it the most.

They kept their talk small and professional as Eddie worked, even though most of his work was giving short, clipped orders, like he was afraid that the grenade would be able to tell how stressed out he was and put them both out of their misery, then and there. They both let out a collective sigh of relief as the grenade plunked, solid and heavy into the bin, Buck hastily closing it like a lid would save them all if that thing were to blow up.

Eddie was just finishing up, throwing a few stitches to try and keep things together until Charlie could make it up to surgery when Buck finally found his voice.

“I was scared, Eddie.”

Eddie didn’t even bother looking up, his fingers working quickly. “I know, but we got it out, we just have to be careful not to move the box too much.”

“No. I mean, about coming back, about seeing you, I… I was scared.”

Eddie looked up as he threw another stitch, sparing a quick look to make sure that the old man was still out cold. When Buck looked up to him, Eddie rose his brows, giving him a little not of encouragement.

“You said I’ve been with you your whole life, but… that goes both ways, Eddie. I don’t even know what happened, one minute I had hurled you out of that lake, and the next I was nothing, there was just nothing, and then…” He took a breath as he moved the dressings, letting Eddie continue his easy stitchwort. “And then I was in a loft in Los Angeles, with a drivers license in my pocket and a brochure for the LAFD Academy on a dresser. I still don’t know how I got there, but I knew it would bring me to you.”

“Here, cut here.”

Buck snipped the end of Eddie’s suture easily, passing him a tube of antibacterial gel, dolloping it along the messy wound site.

“For the first time in years, I couldn’t feel you anymore. I didn’t know what you were doing, or how you were feeling, or if you were safe, and it scared me. I missed you, of course I did, but I knew that if I just went right back to you, it would be like nothing had changed, when really, everything had changed.” Eddie looked up as he covered the gel in an adhesive gauze patch, hanging another bag of fluids, eyes tracking between the steady blip of the heart monitor and the very live grenade in a bin at the end of the ambulance, while his brain tried to keep up with the live grenade that he and Buck were lobbing back and forth.

Nodding for Buck to open the back door, Eddie waited until they both had their feet on the ground to respond, rolling his neck. “Well, that’s kind of par for the course. Being scared, I mean.” he started, a small smile on his face as Buck looked back, catching his eye. Eddie shrugged, eye darting over to the rest of their team, still safely out of earshot as he nudged Buck’s shoulder, the motion easy and simple, muscle memory built up over years.

“Welcome to the human condition. It kind of sucks. You’re going to love it.”

And fuck, Buck was smiling again. Eddie would give anything to keep that look on his face, even as they handed Charlie off to the medics, even as the bomb squad guy called in the robot to… well, to do what, Eddie didn’t know. But that was the beauty of it all—he didn’t have to care anymore. All that mattered to him in that moment were his boots on his ground, the air around him, and maybe, if he played his cards right, the team he got to work with. He could feel Bobby’s eyes on him as he pulled his flac jacket off, a little slow on the uptake of whatever had happened in the ambulance.

“You know, you’re pretty badass under pressure.” Eddie said, his face curving up into the first real smile he had worn in days. Buck looked like a deer in the headlights, like Eddie must have been talking to someone, anyone else, and even Bobby cracked a grin as Eddie smacked him in the arm. “You can have my back any day.”

Buck looked, well, Eddie would have framed the look on Buck’s face if he could. It was a vision of pure joy, the simple sentence meaning more to both of them than anyone else could ever know, and Eddie had to resist the urge to pull him into a bone crushing hug as he kicked at the ground.

“Yeah. Or, you know, you could… You could have mine.”

If Eddie smiled any wider, he felt like his face was going to crack.

They were still not great—not by a long shot—but for the first time in almost six months, Eddie finally felt something close to closure, to peace, a starting point for the two of them that would take them both who-knows-where.

“Deal.”

And then, because nothing in Eddie’s life was ever easy, the ambulance exploded. Eddie wasn’t even phased at this point in his life—any exploding vehicle was fine by him as long as he wasn’t on it.

“Are, uh, are you guys hungry? There’s a great burger place around here, they’re open for another hour or so.”

Hanging back as the rest of his crew packed up, Bobby pulled his phone out of his pocket as it buzzed, a small smile gracing his lips as he unlocked it.

New Message from A - 11:12PM

Well? Was I right, or was I right?

“Cap, come on! Burgers wait for no man!”

To A - 11:14PM

They’re going to be one hell of a team.

#guardianangel!buck #evan buckley #eddie diaz #buddie #911 #buddiefic #911fic #so happy to have this out of my drafts #srsly don't feel shy about pointing shit out to me #it's what I can do so I can an grow #FINALLY THIS IS DONE #I HATE IT ALREADY LMAOOO

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logical-little-lies · 4 years ago

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{Chapter 5- When The Other Brother is Bigger}//Soft, Cute, and Far Smarter Than You (Sanders Sides Agere/CGLRE)

A/N: This chapter is like, longer then most of the ones I tend to write? I write agere content for fun, so sometimes it's cuteness over quantity, y'know? But this is a whole 4600-ish words! Wow. Hope y'all like it!

Logan was a bit awkward when he was big again after throwing his first fit, and earning himself his first ever timeout. Of course, Patton could only comfort him so much. It wasn't guilt that he was feeling, but rather a form of embarrassment.

Logan's head shot up when he heard light knocking on his door the following afternoon. "Who is it?" he questioned from his spot at his desk, where he sat working on Thomas's schedule.

"It's Virgil, can I come in?"

Logan fully expected it to be Patton checking on him for the millionth time, so he was shocked when he heard the voice of the emo regressor. "Uh, yeah. Sure." Logan set down his pen softly, reaching forward for his mug and taking a sip.

"Are you drinking another cup of coffee? I know you had like, three this morning." Virgil narrowed his eyes. It wasn't as if he'd actually do anything, even if he was aware of the unhealthy amounts of coffee Logan drank, but he was still concerned.

"It's tea." Logan shook his head, tipping the cup in his direction so that he could see the clearish liquid before setting the mug back on his desk. "Did you need something, Virge?" Logan asked.

"Kinda of.." Virgil trailed off, sitting down on the end of Logan's bed. When he looked up, he saw Logan looking at him in an expecting silence. "So I know it's Patton's job to check in on you and stuff, and that I don't usually do this. But..are you okay after yesterday? You seemed really emotional and anxious."

Logan sighed before speaking. "Of course I'm fine. I just overreacted when Patton punished me because I was scared of him being mad at me. It doesn't make a lot of sense, but three year old me doesn't want to make sense."

Virgil chuckled a bit at that. "It does make a bit of sense though. I do it too, I assume that just because Roman has to be a little strict or something, that he absolutely hates me. It's not stupid or anything."

Logan nodded, giving him a small thankful smile. This was Virgil's way of telling him that he wasn't alone. The same mutual feeling that came about when they both realized they were regressors spread between them. A feeling of unity, of support.

Of family.

"And also, if you're embarrassed or anything, don't worry about it. I'm sure Patton understands that little you is going to do things like that sometimes, and he won't view big you any differently." There it was. Virgil finding what Logan was actually worried about. Logan had the urge to give a sigh of relief, because those were the words he needed to hear.

Instead, he gave a larger smile and thanked him. "Okay, cool. See you at dinner." Virgil got up and went to leave the room, he paused at the door with hesitancy, looking back at him and speaking quickly.

"Also, I'm like pretty sure Patton has a crush on big you. So there's that."

Virgil was gone and out of the room before Logan even got the chance to retort.

Logan sighed, going back to organizing the schedule and trying to convince himself that it couldn't possibly be true, and focus on his work. But no matter how hard he tried, his mind wondered and he thought:

What if Virgil was right?

"Oh, hello Logan. I went to check on you but I guess you were already up." Patton entered the living room, where Logan was on his phone. Patton assumed that if Logan was already up, he probably had work to get done today and wanted to be wide awake for it. He figured that the coffee mug on the coffee table in front of Logan confirmed his original thoughts.

"Morning, Dad. What are we having for breakfast?" he asked, looking up from his phone and making Patton pause in his tracks. Patton went to speak, but Logan quickly replied to his unasked question. "I'm fourteen again, by the way."

"How did you know that I was going to-"

"I figured you'd ask how old I am, you always do. Anyways, what's for breakfast?" he repeated. "I can try to make something myself but I don't know how well that would go..." he admitted.

"It's okay,don't worry about that." Patton assured, "I'll make toast for breakfast-" He went to keep speaking but Logan cut him off.

"Do we have Crofters to put on it?"

"You're just full of questions today, aren't you?" Patton teased, deciding to come sit with his regressor. He sat next to Logan, making sure not to look at his phone screen in order to respect his privacy. Logan turned it off, looking at him. Patton realized he wasn't amused by the teasing and that he wasn't going to respond. "Yes, we have Crofters." He gave up.

Logan was definitely excited about this, and if he was regressed younger, he would've bounced in place and giggled a bunch. But he just replied, "Okay, cool."

"Why are you up so early?" Patton questioned. "How long have you been awake?"

"Less than an hour. I just fell asleep watching Youtube last night, earlier then I usually go to sleep. So I woke up early," he explained. Patton paused, looking at him skeptically.

"Were you regressed last night, as well?"

Logan looked at him with wide eyes, as if he hoped he wasn't going to ask about that. "Uh..yeah, sort of. But it was after dinner and I was ready for bed, I didn't really need to come get you!" he defended.

Patton gave him a slightly stern look with a sigh. "Alright, but if you do need something, or regress younger then your teenspace, come and get me." he instructed. Logan nodded with an annoyed look on his face. Patton glanced at the coffee table, eyes widening when he saw the coffee mug again.

"Wait, why are you drinking coffee if your reg-"

"What coffee?" Logan cut him off, quickly snatching up the mug and chugging the last of it before Patton could take the mug. He wiped his upper lip with the back of his hand, giving Patton a dorky smile. Patton knew he shouldn't have, but he laughed a bit.

"Fourteen year olds shouldn't have coffee, no more." Patton took the mug from him softly. "If I catch you drinking anymore, you'll be in trouble." he threatened halfheartedly, still giving him the stern dad look. Logan immediately replied with a cheeky smile.

"You just won't catch me next time."

Patton seemed shocked. "You're gonna be bouncing off the walls whenever the caffeine kicks in, and I don't wanna be the one to deal with that."

"I mean..." Logan leaned back into the couch, "Do you have a choice? You're technically my only carer, and I've already drank it. And plus, I'm not a baby. Sugar and caffeine won't make me hyper." he scoffed at the end of his statement.

"We'll see about that, sweetheart." Patton gave him a skeptical look before getting up. "I'll go start breakfast, how about you get off your phone and do something else? Like read your comic books or something."

"I'll get off my phone..." Logan agreed quickly, shocking Patton. That excitement went away when Logan grabbed the tv remote and pushed the power button. He gave Patton a smile, while Patton gave him a disappointed look.

"That's not what I meant, and you know it." he said, crossing his arms as he watched him locate Netflix.

"I don't know anything. You told me to get off my phone,and in all technicality, I did." Logan started playing whatever show he was interested in at the time, and Patton leaned forward to kiss his forehead. He wasn't going to bother with pushing it anymore.

"Love you, Lo. I'll let you know when breakfast is ready."

He left, mug in his hand, disappearing into the kitchen. A little while later, he had butter,honey, and Crofters jelly sitting out on the table, along with a plate of stacked up pieces of toast.

"Babyyyy! Can you get Roman and Virgil for me?" He appeared in the door way of the kitchen, looking at whatever Logan was watching on the screen. Logan looked back at him, looking back to the screen after a few seconds of thinking.

"Maybe if you'd stop calling me baby."

"Logan." Patton stated in a simple and stern tone, crossing his arms again. Logan dramatically sighed, but he hopped up and headed up the stairs. "Thank you!" Patton called after him.

"Welcome, dad." Logan replied quickly, before he was completely up the stairs and heading toward the door of Virgil's room.

"Hi, Logan. Is it breakfast already?" Virgil swung the door open. The makeup under his eyes was smeared a bit, and he was still wearing black ripped jeans and a band t-shirt. He had fallen asleep in his clothes, and his hair was a bit messy.

"Yeah, Dad made toast for everyone. And he sent me to get you guys." Logan replied. Virgil went to open his mouth, probably to question if he was regressed due to his sue of the word 'dad', but Logan replied to his unasked question just like his did with Patton. "I'm fourteen again, before you ask about it."

Virgil gave an understanding nod. He walked back into his room, leaving the door open so that Logan could come in if he wanted to. "Okay dork, I was given the job of grocery shopping. If you want, and your caregiver doesn't care, you can come with me." Virgil offered as he picked up his hoodie that was balled up on a dark purple bean bag chair.

"Maybe if you didn't call me a dork, I'd consider it." Logan hesitantly entered the dark-styled room, his arms crossed.

"Oh come on, you're wearing a spiderman t-shirt and a beanie. You're either a nerd or a dork, take your pick." Virgil teased. Logan now wanted to cover up his shirt, and he pulled the black beanie off of his head. "Hey, wait. I didn't mean it like that," Virgil quickly finished pulling the hoodie on, and he came over to where Logan stood, taking the hat softly from his hands. "I was only teasing, dorky isn't bad, and the hat and shirt look good on you."

He pulled the hat back over Logan's head, patting his head. "I'm sorry I teased you," Virgil apologized.

"It's okay..." he looked up, so that he wasn't staring at the floor anymore, giving him a weak smile. His eyes wandered over Virgil's hoodie, but he didn't say anything.

"Do...do you want my jacket, buddy?" Virgil hesitated, but Logan nodded a little.

"I-is that okay?" he stuttered a bit, he couldn't place why he wanted it, it just looked comfortable. Maybe the fact that it also belonged to someone he considered his brother while regressed factored into it.

"Yeah, of course it's okay. Just make sure to give it back to me when you're big again, okay?" he pulled it off, handing it to Logan, who smiled. Virgil didn't usually give his hoodie to anyone, but the middle seemed to want it fairly badly and he knew that Logan would take care of it. Plus, he had his old hoodie to wear if he really wanted too.

"Go get Roman and head downstairs, okay? I'm gonna be down in a sec," Virgil told him. Logan nodded, leaving the room and pausing in the hallway to pull the jacket on.

"Roman, Roman, Roman!" he knocked on the door loudly between each time he called his name, "Breakfast is downstairs..." he spoke sheepishly when the door flew open and Roman gave him a stern look. Roman knew for a fact that he was at least somewhat regressed because of how energetically he woke him up.

"Did you have coffee or something?" he asked jokingly, rubbing at his eyes. Logan nodded quickly, and Roman seemed shocked. "Is your caregiver aware of this?"

Logan nodded again, "He doesn't like it, but he knows."

"Hmm, well please tone is down a bit while I'm still half asleep, okay? I need beauty sleep."

"Beauty sleep whatever, Dad sent me to wake you up." He stuck his tongue out at the end of his statement

"I'm assuming we're stuck with teen Logan again?" Roman questioned, running his fingers through his hair.

"Fourteen." Logan confirmed. Constantly confirming with others that he was in fact, in teenspace, reminded him that he was a teenager at the moment and that was okay.

"The sassiness and dorky beanie gave it away." he teased. Logan pouted, this was the second time his hat had been called dorky within the span of ten minutes. "Dorky isn't bad." Roman corrected quickly, just as Virgil had. Logan nodded, turning to walk away without another word.

"Logan, are you wearing Virgil's jacket?" Roman realized, looking at him.

Logan nodded shyly, turning back around to face him. "Hmm, that's cute. Just make sure not to stain it, or you'll never hear the end of it from Vee." he gave a reassuring smile, Logan nodding gratefully and walking off, for real this time. He had been worried that Roman was going to pick on him for taking Virgil's jacket.

Logan went downstairs, going into the living room to get his phone off of the coffee table. Once he had acquired this, he went into the kitchen and greeted Patton. "They should be heading down soon. Look! Virgil let me steal his jacket," he laughed a bit, doing a twirl for his caregiver.

"That was very nice of him. Did you say thank you?" Patton asked, and Logan looked down.

"No, I didn't..." he sighed guiltily.

"Well, make sure you do at some point, okay?" Patton told him, coming closer to him and giving him a forehead kiss. Or at least, he tried to. Logan ducked away before he could, stepping to the side. Patton audibly gasped, looking at him. Logan giggled, sticking his tongue out like he did earlier to Roman.

"You're silly, kiddo." Patton shook his head, patting Logan's head softly before moving on to do something else. Logan pouted, because he expected Patton to go in for another forehead kiss after missing the first one, but he just kept going. Logan told himself that he was being a dork anyways, and that being playful was something for littler him, and that his caregiver didn't need to play along.

He didn't need to play, he was a teenager. He didn't need affection either, no hugs or cuddles or kisses.

But even as a teenager, Logan craved exactly that.

He watched Patton as he plated breakfast for himself, buttering the bread. Logan took action before he could stop himself, side hugging Patton by ducking under his arm. He wrapped his arms around his carer and laid his head on his chest. Patton chuckled, "Hello there, baby."

He dropped the butter knife back on his plate, and set the piece of bread down in favor of hugging Logan back. He hugged him tightly, Logan melting into the touch. "You know, you could just ask for a hug instead of attacking me."

"What hug? I don't need a hug," Logan replied, pulling away from him and grabbing a plate off of the stack on the table.

"The hug you just pulled away from..." Patton seemed confused.

"I never hugged you, dad. You're crazy," Logan kept going, making himself breakfast and acting as if he never hugged him. Patton brushed it off for now and didn't worry about it, because Virgil and Roman entered the kitchen.

Patton greeted them, and as they all sat down to eat, Virgil mentioned taking Logan to the store with him. "Um..well, I'm not sure if that's a good idea..." Patton admitted, setting his piece of toast down on his plate. Virgil seemed confused, as did Logan.

"Why not?" Logan questioned, looking at his caregiver with a confused glance.

"Well, I've never taken you outside of the house while regressed, I'm just worried that someone might see you acting younger and be mean." Patton explained, and Logan frowned.

"Logan's a teenager though, and I'll be there to help if anything like that happens. It's not like he'll throw a fit or anything, he's fourteen." Virgil argued.

"Last time he regressed to teenspace, he was so anxious that he practically threw a fit!" Patton snapped, not exactly shouting. He looked at Virgil with somewhat angry eyes. Patton never gave that look, unless someone he was protecting someone he cared about. Logan sunk down in his seat, zipping up Virgil's hoodie and hiding away from the world for the time being. Virgil raised his hands up in mock surrender before speaking.

"Patton, I'm sorry that I upset you, but please be mindful of Logan. You're probably scaring him by snapping." Virgil reminded. Patton's expression faded from anger to an apologetic look, and he looked toward Logan,who nodded a bit.

"Oh..I'm sorry sweetheart. And you too, Virgil...Just let me think about this and we'll talk after breakfast, okay?"

Virgil gave a nod of agreement, and Logan muttered a weak 'okay'.

Patton eventually agreed to let Logan go with Virgil, but not without a lot of convincing and second guessing his decision.

"Promise that you'll be nice to Virgil, and if you get to anxious-"

"Let Virgil know and step away to text you." Logan interrupted, pocketing his phone and looking at his dad. "I'm not a baby, and I'll be fine."

"Yeah, he's safe with me." Virgil assured, coming down the stairs, clad in his old hoodie and a pair of black ripped skinny jeans. "We're good, right?" he looked at Logan, double checking just to be sure.

Logan laughed, "We're good." he confirmed.

"Oh, okay. I love you both, be good," he looked at Logan, as if he needed the reminder, "And please be home before dinner."

Both boys nodded, taking their final hugs from Roman and Patton before heading out. Virgil let Logan sit in the passenger seat

The mindscape was set up to be a small, little town. It wasn't one that existed in the real world, but it was heavily based off of the real world and would change according to real world events. If they really wanted to, the mindscape extended past their imaginary town, it was a whole little world just inside Thomas's head.

"Okay, so I have a shopping list on my phone, and the grocery money we all pitch in for. Though I found that there's always a little extra money, so if you want an extra snack or whatever, go for it." Virgil spoke, stopping as they approached a red light. He looked around, his eye catching on a street sign as he assured himself that he was going the right way.

Logan nodded. He was usually the one to go on the grocery runs, so he already knew about how he slightly over estimated how much money they needed. He'd usually either buy something extra, a treat or dessert, or save it for the next shopping trip. They all got their limited allowance (for the whole 'realistic human life' thing), and they'd pitch in a certain amount of it to pay for food for their home.

"Is there anything you want for the store? That isn't already on the usual list, I mean?" Virgil asked. He was trying to start a conversation, but Logan was being quiet. That was the main reason he offered to take him with him for errands. Virgil wanted to spend more time with his newfound brother, though he'd never admit that out loud. Virgil and Logan regress together all the time, and there's been plenty of time where Logan is bigger than Virgil, but it's rarely the other way around.

Virgil wanted to know Logan more, and also earn his trust. Because it seemed that currently, the only person Teenage Logan really trusted, was Patton.

"I don't know, maybe one of those starbucks bottled frappe things?" Logan said hopefully, giving his, currently older, brother a look in the hopes that he didn't shoot it down immediately.

"Hmm, Patton wouldn't be to happy about that one...and if he found out, he'd be pretty mad at me." Virgil thought out loud, anxiously biting at his lip while he focused on the road. Logan sunk down in his seat in disappointment, immediately taking his hesitancy as a 'no' and looking out the window.

Virgil sighed, glancing at him for a split second before turning his head to examine the road in front of him. "I suppose...if you promise not to tell your caregiver, and you also don't get like, super hyper on me..." he pauses, taking a turn before continuing his conditional agreement, "You can get the coffee. But this is a one time thing, I don't condone littles-" Logan gave him a look.

"Middles?" he hesitantly corrected himself, glancing at Logan again.

"Or regressors." Logan nodded. Virgil hummed before continuing.

"I don't condone teenagers drinking a bunch of caffeinated drinks in one day. I know you had coffee this morning. But today's the exception, alright?"

Virgil was only agreeing to this because he wanted to make Logan happy. And he didn't quite mind stretching the rules just a bit to get there.

"Okay." Logan agreed, looking back out the window.

Virgil had a feeling that this would end up being a good day.

Or at least, he hoped it would.

"Virgil, I know I said I'd be okay..but I'm scared."

Virgil stopped in the middle of the cereal aisle, pulling the cart to the side so that people could walk through if they needed. Logan seemed ashamed to admit that, looking up at his, currently older, brother for support. Logan fiddled with the zippers on the cuffs of Virgil's jacket.

"What are you scared of, Logan?" Virgil spoke softly to him, in a voice that seemed to assure that he'd be ready to comfort him no matter what his answer.

"Dad was right, it's my first time going out while regressed and I feel..." he trailed off, his eyes following a cart as a family walked by the aisle. "I feel stupid. Like people are staring a me or something." He looked back at Virgil, who nodded.

"That's okay. I've never been out while regressed, but I'm sure it is a bit scary. I'm sorry that you aren't feeling the best, though." Virgil sighed, not quite knowing what to do. He thought for a moment before offering the best solution he could come up with. "How about you call Patton and talk to him while we shop? I think he'd be the best at comforting you right now."

Logan nodded lightly, pulling his phone out of his pocket. Virgil gave him a reassuring smile before pulling a few boxes of cereal from the shelf. As Virgil motioned for them to keep walking, Logan listened to his phone ring.

"Logan! Are you okay?" Logan winced at how loud Patton's voice seemed through the phone.

"Mhm, I'm okay. Just a bit anxious though...can you talk to me? I-i think it'd help." his voice was filled with hesitancy, but Virgil gave him a comforting look that silently told him 'good job'.

"Oh, yeah. I can talk to you. Do you wanna tell me why you're feeling anxious, baby?"

"I um...you were right," Logan fiddled with the zippers on Virgil's hoodie again, taking a turn into a aisle with bread and snacks. "I kinda started panicking the moment I got into the store. There's so many people, and so much noise. I'm just worried that I'm being judged, I guess." he hummed, glad that there was no one else in their aisle.

"I'm sure that everything is okay, sweetheart. Listen to me, not all the noise, okay?"

Logan nodded, then realizing that Patton couldn't see him through the phone. "Okay."

"Can you tell me what you guys have gotten so far?" Logan was confused by his caregivers request, but he looked in the cart as Virgil set something in it.

"We got Crofters! And butter, and bread." he identified a few items, looking at a few others.

"We can make more toast!" Patton cheered. Logan laughed at that.

"Uh, we have like three boxes of cereal in the cart. And coffee cakes! There's also macaroni..." Logan kept going, not realizing that Patton had successfully distracted him from his anxiety for the time being. Patton spoke in a calm, caring voice all the way through their shopping trip.

"We're heading up to checkout now. I'll text you when we're on our way home," Logan spoke into the phone, following Virgil's guide through the front part of the store.

"Alright. You feel better now, right?" Patton assured.

"Yeah, thanks dad. I'll see you later." Logan hung up the phone, pocketing it and taking a deep breath.

"Feeling better?" Virgil questioned softly. Logan hummed.

He felt almost pathetic for having to call his dad to coach him through a simple shopping trip, but he also felt a lot more at ease. He couldn't quite place why he didn't just pull himself out of middlespace if it really bothered him that much, it almost felt like it'd be to tiring to do. He was getting used to being able to regress whenever and not have to repress it, so when the time came that he might of had to, it felt to hard.

"Yeah, I'm okay. Are we heading home after this?" Logan asked, redirecting the conversation swiftly.

"No, actually. If you're okay with stopping somewhere else first, I mean." Virgil didn't elaborate on where they could possibly be going, which confused Logan.

As they checked out and scanned their items, Logan kept bugging Virgil about where they were headed. "It's a surprise. I'm sure you'll like it, though."

"But Virge! I wanna know!" he whined, handing Virgil his iced coffee to scan.

"Hmm, well that's to bad." he teased. "You'll see when we get there."

Virgil has had this idea since he realized that Logan regressed to teen ages. He was only able to convince Patton to let him take Logan because he revealed his little plan, the second stop that Logan would definitely be excited about. Of course, Logan couldn't know what it was quite yet.

"Virgilll!" he pouted, giving him pleading eyes.

"The pouty face only works when you're a toddler, Lo. Just be patient," he told him, pulling his wallet out of his pocket and looking at the total on the self checkout screen. He counted the money quickly.

"Will a candy bar shut you up?" he asked, pulling a few dollars from the stack.

"That only works when I'm a toddler," Logan mimicked him. It was true, if any of the sides needed to distract Logan while he was little, a piece of candy would do the trick. Of course, it would backfire in half an hour when he got hyper and bouncy, but it works in the moment.

Virgil raised his eyebrows, waving the three one dollar bills in his hand. Logan rolled his eyes, snatching them away. "Fine, I'll be back in a sec."

He disappeared to go pick out some candy, leaving Virgil to chuckle.

Virgil was glad he did this. He felt bad for putting Logan in a situation where he was anxious, but he could still say that they were having a decent time so far. And he was sure Logan would love the next place they were headed to.

There was just one question Logan had.

Where were they going?

A/N: Okay so this chapter is jam-packed! I finally hinted towards the romance part of this story, which won't really be a main focus, like at all. It focuses on the agere, and here and there there will be some cute fluffy shippy things. Lmk what you think of this chapter by commenting, reblogging, or sending me asks! (Depends on if you're reading through Tumblr or Wattpad!)

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laceymorganwrites · 4 years ago

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birthday fic <33

A/N: this is a birthday fic for lovely @miyaniacs!! I hope you have a wonderful day today and are celebrated just like you deserve!

Word count: 1,970

Pairings: Gojo x Bea, Getou x me (I couldn´t help myself ehehhe), no tags since it´s just for you anyway <33

Another A/N: okay ever since we had that talk about Gojo being an embarrassing boyfriend and double dates...I just HAD to (tho I wish I could´ve executed those ideas better also the ending sucked cause I literally had no idea how to end it, BUT I still hope you can somewhat enjoy it <3333)

YOU´RE AMAZING; THANKS FOR BEING MY FRIEND; I CAN´T WAIT TO MEET YOU!!!

It was still early, the sun just rose, painting the sky a beautiful rose gold.

Getou was already up, he enjoyed the silence of the early morning.

Everything seemed to be at peace in those moments, no matter how little they lasted.

It didn´t matter to him anymore, he was at ease with Ace next to him.

His boyfriend´s presence calmed him down immediately and somehow the small boy always knew how to put a smile on his face.

They were like two popcorn kernels in a pot, nobody ever had any expectations for them but still they managed to exceed them, working harder than most people would recognize.

Working on yourself was always harder than it should be, but it was work that needed to be done.

Gojo was really proud of him for doing so, being afraid of what would happen to his friend if he didn´t.

Ace arrived at just the right time to give him the light he wanted to shut out of his life so bad.

Getou was glad he didn´t.

He found his missing puzzle piece and he´d never let it go, he had sworn to protect him at all costs.

The man stretched a bit before slowly getting up, careful not to wake the sleeping figure next to him.

It was routine at this point. But he liked it. Both men needed structure and routines in their life to be able to function. Even though they got better at being spontaneous, it was still hard to do overall.

Getou and Ace had the same sleeping pattern, preferring to go to sleep early and having the most energy in the early afternoon.

They also both had trouble sleeping, always waking up after a few hours and being unable to go back to sleep. It was easier now though, it was nice to know that there were always arms ready to hold. It was nice having someone there when you went to sleep and woke back up, it was the warm touch that was missing in both lives.

Getou prepared some coffee for himself and already cooked some breakfast. Meanwhile he was updating their grocery list and checking if anything else needed to be done.

Today was a big day, it was Bea´s birthday and Ace was beyond excited. It had been a while since they had last seen her and Gojo.

To be fair, Getou always tried to avoid double dates since Gojo could be quite exhausting.

After a while Ace slowly woke up, groggily sitting up in bed and yawning and stretching thoroughly.

“Good morning, love” he smiled from the kitchen counter as Ace slowly dragged himself to sit next to him, laying his head on his shoulder. “Morning, baby” he mumbled tiredly and slowly started eating his breakfast and drinking his tea.

Getou had helped him wrap his presents for Bea just yesterday since Ace´s wrapping skills were quite underwhelming to say the least.

The two talked for a bit and once they finished eating, they started cleaning the apartment, getting groceries and everything else they needed.

After a while they were done and just enjoyed the last few quiet minutes before the other couple would arrive.

The morning routine in the Gojo residence looked quite differently.

First of all, Gojo didn´t have a residence, he just liked calling his apartment that since there would be no way in hell a sorcerer of his caliber would live in an apartment building with others, normal citizens nonetheless.

However sorcerers didn´t get paid that well, no matter whether or not they had the six eyes. Gojo always had the little conspiracy that the elders cut his paycheck extra short.

And somehow he got off on it, he´d prove them all wrong anyway. He didn´t need them, he didn´t need anyone.

Only that the last one was a blatant lie.

He didn´t know he needed anyone until Bea came into his life.

She was quite something, so beautiful, made him laugh like no one else ever did. With her he didn´t have to hide anything, he could be himself.

And more than that: he could finally find out who that even was, he had time to think about those things now and not push everything aside like he did usually.

No, he wasn´t perfect like everyone thought, like he told everyone so that they´d leave him alone.

He was just a man.

A damn lucky one at that, being able to have her by his side.

Bea was new to the sorcerer world, but she had great potential, he took it upon himself to train her, though it really was just an excuse to get to know her.

She had her own issues, he could tell. But he wasn´t an asshole to pry on them.

Instead he asked her out immediately, because yes, he was one to rush things, following his heart.

To this day he asked himself why she said yes.

Somehow they got along incredibly well, so well in fact that he got to take her home.

Gojo never believed in falling in love but she just made it way too easy.

But it scared him, he never had been in love, not this way at least, never truly.

It was always a game to him, someone he´d hook up with and then never see again.

It was fun while it lasted and then left a burning, aching hole inside his heart that was just too sad to look at so he drowned himself in alcohol and did it all over again.

Bea was the first one he went on multiple dates with, the first one he tried to be a decent human being with.

Since both didn´t want a relationship in the beginning, both being too scared of rejection and hurting, they didn´t put a label on it.

They just fucked, went out, sometimes she stayed over at his place, that was nice. And sometimes she´d even laugh at his dumb jokes, that was even nicer.

Nice wasn´t the word to describe her though.

It was so much more than that, an incredible kindness and warmth that he only felt with her.

She made him feel special in a different way than all the others did and for the first time in his life he believed it.

Gojo wanted to make her feel the same way too and so he tried really hard, he tried to come up with exciting date ideas, take her to places she´s never seen before and show off like he always did.

But he always had this hopeful look in his eyes that she really saw what cool thing he did (which in reality was just dumb, but in his world it was cool).

And she gave him compliments.

Damn, did he love them.

He knew he was somewhat attractive but despite showing off he never really paid much mind to it.

But when the two of them were alone in bed, her tracing her fingers all over his body, those irresistible eyes looking down on him, that damn smile as she told him: “You´re so fucking beautiful, do you even know that?”.

“Right back at you” he´d grin, averting all of his attention to her so she wouldn´t comment on the fact that he was blushing.

They had quite the different relationship (once they finally admitted their feelings and called it that, so far everything went more than just perfect) than Getou and Ace, theirs was more fun, Gojo said.

Bea and Gojo always had the most fun, they always teased each other and could laugh a lot, as well as tell each other their darkest secrets without being judged.

“This isn´t a competition, you know?” Getou commented on that, but Gojo just grinned, to him it always was. And he always won.

He thought that Getou should be more grateful, after all he hooked him up with his boyfriend.

Gojo didn´t like Ace. He was so quiet. He didn´t like that about people.

However when Bea was around it was like he bloomed, suddenly he wouldn´t stop talking.

And that was annoying too.

Which is why Gojo always wanted to avoid meeting him.

But for her birthday he´d try to get along with him. For her.

The two of them had been on a mission yesterday and slept in now since they got home pretty late.

They somehow always woke up at the same time though which was more than just convenient. Gojo was mesmerized at how cute and pretty she looked even in the morning, he himself of course always looked dashing.

“Good morning, birthday bunny” he grinned, kissing Bea lazily but still taking her breath away.

“Why bunny?” she laughed, Gojo would always give her some cute nicknames that were quite random at times, but she never got used to it.

It was weird, having this affection without any intentions, just because he loved her.

“It fit” he grinned, he would embarrass himself in front of her a thousand times if it meant seeing her smile for only one instance.

She shook her head giggling and buried her head in his chest, his warmth was so comforting to her, she never wanted to get up.

“By the way… wanna have your first present?” he smirked, hands wandering down to her hips as he leaned closer to her to give her some neck kisses.

“Let´s wake up the neighbors, shall we?” he husked.

Meanwhile Ace was checking if the cake was already cold enough to decorate, which to his luck it was.

Ever since meeting Getou he baked more, they also baked together a lot.

Decorating wasn´t his forte, but Getou helped with that, he had steady hands and a good eye for those things.

“You know, wrapping a plushie isn´t as easy as I thought it would be” he laughed slightly. Ace loved his laugh, he was one of the few people who ever heard the real one.

“I´m sure you did great” he grinned and stood on his tiptoes to give him a quick peck.

Indeed the presents looked amazing, Getou even put on a little bow on the wrapping paper. Ace got Bea some manga volumes, a plushie and some other merch he hoped she´d like.

Now it was time to wait.

An hour later the other couple finally arrived.

“Sorry we´re late, we had important adult stuff to do, you two wouldn´t understand” Gojo announced grinning as he entered your apartment.

“Satoru! Shut up” Bea blushed and playfully punched his shoulder.

Getou just sighed and shook his head, why was he like this?

“Happy birthday, Bea!” Ace rapidly stood up from the couch and greeted her with a hug.

He gave her her presents and they talked about all sorts of things while their partners were in the kitchen to slice the cake and prepare the plates.

“I don´t want to hear it” Getou sighed. “Huh? I haven´t even said anything!” Gojo pouted, albeit feeling caught. Of course he was going to taunt his friend about his relationship, he of course never spared enough details to hurt anymore, but just enough to make everyone just a tad bit uncomfortable with embarrassment.

He couldn´t help himself, he had the best girlfriend in the world and everyone should know it.

The rest of the day wasn´t anything special, after all in the current situation you couldn´t do much.

But still, it was nice to meet up with friends, eat cake and have nice conversations.

They all ended up on the couch watching some movies and being too full to order proper takeout.

Though that was the fun in it, Bea was happy, she wasn´t alone like Ace feared, that was all that mattered.

He hoped her next birthday would be more eventful.

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ficbitxc · 4 years ago

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Trapped With You

Chapter 6 I Chapter 5 I Chapter 7 I masterlist

This is a criminal Minds series I’m making about falling in love with Spencer Reid

summary: Mae spends the day at Spencer’s apartment until an unwanted visitor catchers her, leading to the meeting of Reid’s whole team.

word count: 1697

warnings: only a little bit of language

Authors note: Today’s been a good day so I finished two chapters, I hope you guys enjoy :) sorry this one is kind of short again, but I thought it would be better if I leave the conversation to the next part (You’ll understand after reading haha)

When I woke up, me and Spencer were on different sides of the bed, both of us having different blankets. He was still fast asleep, so I used this time to look around his room, as last night I didn’t really have a lot of time to do so.

The bed was in the middle of the room with two nightstands on either side. On both sides layed matching lamps. On his side, though, was a cracked book named ‘The Narrative of John Smith’ with writing all over it. It must be his favorite. All the other ones looked used, but not like this. This one looked like it was about to fall apart.

On the wall in front of me, there was a closet on my side. On the other side was an old looking dresser that was painted the same colors as the nightstand. There were pictures on top of it, however I couldn’t make them out from the distance. I should probably get my eyes checked out.

Besides that there were only a few more knick knacks and shelves stuffed with more books. We haven’t talked about it, but it made sense he read so much with as high of an IQ he has.

I got up and walked into the kitchen, trying to be as quiet as I could. I didn’t want to wake Spencer when he looked so peaceful. I decided I would make him breakfast for when he wakes up. I opened his fridge looking at the contents. I decided on making eggs and toast. It seemed the easiest and fastest- I didn’t want to wake Spencer up before it was finished.

As I popped four pieces of bread in the toaster that laid on the counter, I hummed a song quietly. Then I got out the eggs and began to cook them. As I did that I started coffee with his coffee maker. It took me a second to figure out how to use it, but it wasn’t too difficult.

When All the food was finally done, I grabbed the plates and mugs and slowly walked them back to Spencer’s bedroom. At this moment I was happy I used to be a waitress. I carefully put them on each nightstand before getting back into the bed and wrapping my arms around Spencer, trying to wake him up the best way possible. As he started to stir, I planted a kiss on his cheek.

“Good morning, sleepyhead,” I whispered in his ear. A smile spread across his face, before he turned and gave me a kiss on the lips, never opening his eyes once. I hoped this is what it was always like waking up with him. The thought made my heart pound in my chest.

“What’s that smell?” He asked once he pulled away.

“I made you breakfast,” I chuckled, “toast and eggs.”

“Yum,” He said, sitting up and grabbing the plate that lay next to him. He began eating, and I joined. Once we were finished, he took the plate from me, getting up, placing a kiss on my forehead, then walking away.

“Where are you going?” I asked.

“To do the dishes,” He replied, while continuing to walk away. With that I shot up.

“I made the mess, let me clean it,” I protested.

“Exactly. You made it. Next time I make something, you can clean the dishes. Does that sound good?”

“I guess so,” I said, still feeling a little bad for making a mess that he had to clean. If he wanted to he could get me back next time he cooks and make a huge mess.

“Do you have work today?” I asked, changing the topic.

“Yes, but I don’t have to go in till 10, since we came home kind of late last night.” He answered.

“Spence, You do know it’s 9:30, right?” I told him.

“No, it can’t be,” He said, then checked his watch, “fuck,” He said, dropping the plates he was cleaning and running to his closet. Before I knew it, he was about to run out the door, completely dressed. He stopped dead in his tracks and looked at me, like he just remembered I was still here. He quickly ran to, kissing me again. It was quick, like a peck, but I still savored the feeling of his lips on mine.

“You can stay if you want. It would be nice to have you here when I come home,” He said as he ran out the door, not even closing it fully. I went to fully close it, thinking about what I would do for the day if I did stay. I decided on quickly going home and getting a small bag with my stuff, including my laptop, and returning. He seemed like he wanted me to stay and I didn’t want to disappoint him.

The small trip took about an hour, there and back. I grabbed a few pairs of pants, my toothbrush, a sweater, and a few shirts. I also packed a few undergarments that I thought Spencer would enjoy. I packed as if I was planning to stay awhile, you know, just in case.

The rest of the day he was gone, I cleaned up a little, finishing the dishes he didn’t get to this morning, then started on a new project. I was sitting on his couch with a blanket around me, typing away, when the door opened in his apartment. It was only around 3 o’clock, so I was surprised he was back so early.

“Hey Spence,” I called out, “I hope you aren't too mad I finished the dishes,” I laughed, turning around to face him. When I turned, though, it wasn’t Spencer. A blonde woman was stopped in her tracks, a gun in her hands, pointed at me. I froze, not knowing what to do.

“Who are you?” The woman asked, “Why are you in Spencer’s apartment?” “I- he told me I could stay,” I stuttered. She gave me another look before putting the gun back into her holster.

“Who are you?” I asked, fear still running through me. Why did a blonde woman have the keys to Spencer’s apartment. Maybe I was completely wrong about his feelings towards me. Maybe I was just a hook-up. I was even asking myself if I was a homewrecker without even knowing.

“Agent Jennifer Jareau, with the FBI’s behavioral unit,” She answered, “Who are you?” Relief flooded through me. Spencer had talked about her before, telling me how close of friends everyone on his team were, how they were pretty much his family. A faint memory of her from the day of my attack flooded through my brain. I wondered if she remembered me.

“Um, Virginia Mae, or just Mae,” I replied, not knowing what else to say. Me and Spencer hadn’t put a title on what we were yet and I didn’t want to decide for him. Her eyes widened and I was worried she remembered me. “Are you his girlfriend or something?” She asked.

“We’ve been on a few dates,” I replied, “I wouldn’t say girlfriend.” With that she put her hand out for me. I shook it back.

“I’m so sorry about that. Our job makes me paranoid, I thought someone broke into his house or something. I’m so sorry to scare you like that. I was just coming to drop off a few groceries. There was a sale on apples and I knew how much he likes them,” Jennifer explained.

“You’re fine,” I replied as an awkward silence began. After a few seconds, she took the bag from her shoulder and handed it to me.

“I’m sure you know what to do with them. You know, you look really familiar.” She said.

“I’m sure I can figure it out, and I can’t imagine why I would look familiar,” I lied. She just shook her head in response and left. I sat the bag on his counter and just headed back for my computer, wondering what would happen when Spencer found out about our conversation.

I didn’t get to figure it out for another five hours until he came home around eight. I continued on my laptop, still working on the project that had to be done in a week. “Mae?” He called out.

“I'm in here,” I called back.

“There are some people I want you to meet,” He said. Confused, I pushed my laptop to the side, turning around to face him.

“I heard JJ saw you today. She told Garcia, the IT from my team, and from there everyone found out about you. Everyone wanted to meet you, even when I told them not today. Trust me they are more stubborn than the look. I just wanted to give you a heads up before a bunch of people trampled through my apartment,” He said, answering my questioning eyes. Nervousness plagued through me.

“Wait! Shouldn’t I put on actual clothes. I don’t want this to be their first impression,” I brought my hand from my head to my hips showing him what I was talking about. I only wore his shirt and a pair of spandex. I was positive all his coworkers would be wearing suits.

“You look adorable,” He said while opening the door.

“No Spence,” I quietly yelled, running toward him trying to completely shut the door again. It was too late, though. People began walking into the house, some looking for me, others looking around the apartment as if they’d never seen it before.

Embarrassment made my cheeks turn a light pink color as I walked over toward Spencer. I figured he would be good to hide behind. I said this morning nothing he did could make me hate him, but this was really pushing it.

The door shut as I counted six people, one holding two pizza boxes. I looked up at Spencer and he had a goofy grin on his face. My hand found his and I squeezed it.

“Everyone, this is Mae,” He said pointing toward me with his open hand. I shyly waved.

“JJ, you two have already met,” He said, pointing out the blonde again. Soon I knew everyone’s names. The smiles on their face comforted me and small talk began.

22 notes · View notes

pbandjesse · 2 years ago

Text

I feel exhausted. Today was a good day but I was not my best self at all. I wish I could fall asleep. I have been struggling so hard to fall asleep. It sucks. I really hope I can do it easier tonight because I have a long day tomorrow.

But even with being so tired I had a good day. I woke up briefly when James was leaving for their appointment. And would come home and would wake me up for real before they left with Gabe, who is in town this week, and they went for a bike ride to Annapolis.

It was really windy out today. Colder then I expected it to be. I didn't get out of bed until almost 10. Which we all know I hate. I want to be up and doing stuff. But I was so tired.

Once I did get up I made the bed and went and got dressed and things were done. I had breakfast. I watched videos. I just wanted to lay on the couch and do nothing. I did not want to go to my awah class. I did not want to go to my meeting. I was just very upset that I was so tired.

But I tried my best to shake it off. I got myself together. I did my makeup and felt cute. I would feel alright enough. I brought a cup with a straw to encourage myself to drink water. But would forget it in the car like a dumby.

I left for the hospital a little at noon. And it was a quick enough drive over there but people driving behind me were making me nervous. I idea what their problem was but I felt like they were annoyed with me not going super fast. But I know there are speed cameras on that road.

I lucked out though and got free street parking. And I was early but I figured that was fine. I actually had to go back to the car twice. Because I forgot my apron. And then wanted my sunglasses. And then I still forgot my water. Ugh.

I went up to the floor where I thought the classroom was but couldn't find it. So I went back downstairs to wait for Julie, the other teacher, and thankfully she had all the materials so she was very easy to spot.

I introduced myself and helped her carry stuff upstairs. And we found the class in the second try. Excellent.

We got set up pretty fast. And things were great. The project was decoupaged boxes and affirmations. And soon students started coming. They were all adults, but one young woman brought her baby and toddler. The toddler would draw and watch videos. But the baby, Bailey, was in the move! She was so stinking cute. Didn't cry the entire two hours. She was giggly and fun. I got to hold her and play with her once everyone was doing their art. I would carry bailey around and show her everyone's art and made her laugh which was great.

I also made my own box. Because I like to do the art with the class if I can. Feels weird to just stand there when they don't need me. But they were all so nice. And Julie is a very good facilitator.

I didn't realize this was an hour and a half class. Which honestly is better. And our clean up didn't take long. Some because I organized everything and tidied as we went. I washed all the brushes and we cleaned the tables and said goodbye to everyone!

And then it was a hop skip and a jump over to Hamden. I had to get to my meeting with Craig at the craft castle. I hate parking on the avenue but I found side street parking and got there just before 3.

And Craig was so lovely. The space was super nice. And he was so welcoming. We talked for about an hour. About what I do. His goals and aspirations for his space. And like even if it never leads to anything it was so nice talking to someone who has such similar values and wants to build community and encourage making.

I was starting to talk about James when I saw them walk by the door!! So I would say good bye and go and catch my husband.

We walked back to the car together and then drove to the grocery store.

We got all caught up on each other's days. And got some groceries. We didn't need a lot. Some staples. Some snacks. Paper products. James panicked at the register and felt rushed for no reason. I couldnt reach everything in the cart. It was all fine but James was stressing.

Soon we would head home. And I was really tired. And I would basically spend the rest of the evening resting. I painted my nails. James made us some food. And eventually they would go do this podcast and I would get in bed and just was. A little potato. I was just really exhausted. I didn't want to sleep because I want to sleep better tonight. So I forced myself to stay up.

Eventually James came and laid with me. We had cereal. Sweetp was here. And then I took a shower and washed my hair. I feel better right now. But man am I sleepy. I really hope I can sleep great and feel great tomorrow.

Tomorrow I have a long day at the museum. And then I have to run over to target. I hope it's fun. I think it'll be fun. I hope you all have a great night tonight. Sleep good. Be safe!

5 notes · View notes

ragewerthers · 4 years ago

Text

Autumnal

Summary: All Prompto wanted to do was have a nice evening ready for Gladio when he got home from the Citadel. Sadly Ramuh seemed to have other plans in store.

But with the help of a caring Alpha, poor eyesight and a Christmas gift gone wrong... maybe this evening won't be so terrible after all?

A/n: Hello there! This is an F3S work for my friend @bgn846! I had far too much trouble deciding on which prompt to write so... I did them all in one fic! The prompts were:

'1.One of the bros gets locked out of their apartment in the rain or snow or something terrible. They call someone to come help, cuddles and fluff may occur.

2.A/B/O if you wanna try or just regular… Alpha Gladio surprises Omega Prompto with some flowers or something after a long day. This is purely an excuse for fluff and purring.

3.”Is that a boob mug?” This has absolutely no context for a reason. Hahah'

They were all so fun how could I pick?!?!? XD

You can also read on AO3 at: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26590126

Enjoy! :)

Word Count: 4187

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

“You have got to be kidding me?!” Prompto growled under his breath, his fingers fumbling inside his soggy pants pockets as he tried to desperately locate his house keys, shifting his couple bags of groceries from one arm to the other in his search. Was it unseemly for an Omega to growl? Maybe. Did he give any butts about it now? Absolutely not.

The poor Omega had found himself swept up in an early fall downpour on his way back from a quick excursion to downtown Insomnia and really, why wouldn’t it have happened on today of all days? It had been spiracorn dung since the beginning and no matter how much he’d hoped for it to get better it appeared it truly wasn’t in the cards.

Another gust of wind whipped its way along the street where his and Gladio’s townhouse resided, sending sheets of rain cascading over him once more. Why was Ramuh being such a dick today?!

He could hear other people rushing behind him along the sidewalk, seeking shelter in their own homes because they could at least remember to grab their keys from the little bowl at the front door. Hadn’t Gladio literally put it there months ago to make sure he would remember to grab his keys because he knew something like this was bound to happen?

After coming up short in searching his jacket pockets as well, the sound of something tearing and things hitting the ground instantly made Prompto want to scream. And so he did.

“Oh come on!” Prompto shouted to no one in particular. Glancing down he saw the paper bags he’d been using had become so soggy that literally everything he had bought now lay scattered along the stoop or was rolling down the few steps that led to the sidewalk. At this point, though it stung to see his purchases become waterlogged, he couldn’t bring it in himself to chase after them. If Ramuh wanted his groceries that bad he could take them! With another unseemly growl that made him feel slightly better, he thumped his head against the door as he tried to figure out what his next course of action should be.

There was always trying to call someone, but at this point his phone was probably so full of rain water it was useless. Even then who was he going to call?

Noct was in an incredibly important meeting with the delegates from Altissia. It was supposed to help rebuild some of the trading deals that had been in place before Insomnia had fallen all those years ago. He’d been working so hard to rebuild everything from the ground up and there was no way that Prompto was going to bother his best friend for something as silly as this. Besides, he could stand some soggy underpants if it meant that Noct could continue to raise Insomnia back to where it should be and far beyond it as well.

There was always Ignis, but today really would be an ill advised day to bother the Beta as well. If Noct was busy working on building trade deals then Ignis was more than likely pulling the work weight of five men to ensure that it happened. The man had become more and more reclusive when it came to his time in the archives and pulling out as much info as he could to help create a better and brighter Insomnia. And while there was definitely a reckoning coming for the Beta in the form of his three friends forcing him to take some sort of break or vacation, today was not going to be that day. That being said, he would also rather face a thousand feral daggerquills then interrupt Ignis while he was in extreme Adviser mode.

Bringing a hand up, Prompto went to wipe at his face to clear away some of the rain water cascading off his fringe, but aborted the movement a moment later. At this point it would be replaced in a nanosecond and he couldn’t find the energy to care anymore about it. With a deep sigh of defeat he took a seat on the soaked cement stoop and tried not to think of his last option.

Gladio.

Prompto gave a quiet, little whine as he thought of his Alpha. Gods he wished he could just warp back to this morning, wrapped up in the man's arms without a care in the world. It was a simpler time. A less soggy and cold time. He remembered only briefly waking to the brush of soft lips against his brow, his nose and then his own lips as Gladio promised to be back as soon as possible. The next time Prompto woke, the early morning sun had been replaced with fluffier autumnal clouds and the bed was far cooler without the living furnace that was Gladio

The Alpha had to get up early to be at the meeting with Noct and though the threat from Altissia was non-existent after everything, it still was better to err on the side of caution. And if there was going to be a force to dissuade any brazen acts of unrest, Gladio’s presence was more than capable of stopping it.

So sadly that meant enjoying a little breakfast together, or a few extra stolen kisses on the front stoop before Gladio went off were off the table for the day. Prompto found lonely mornings like this to be the roughest to start. However, he also knew that Gladio preferred them having their mornings to themselves as well and that always filled the Omega with a little extra warmth in his chest. Knowing that Gladio was going to have such a full day and that his own presence was not needed at the Citadel he’d decided that he would surprise his lovely Alpha with a nice home cooked dinner for when he returned to their cozy apartment.

Thus after spending the better part of the day buying groceries for a ramen dish he knew Gladio would love, and maybe buying a small dessert for them to share together later, everything went to heck in a handbasket.

If he’d spent more time thinking to grab his keys and check the forecast instead of imagining the smile on Gladio’s face he wouldn’t be in the predicament he was in now.

Soggy groceries strewn about the pavement, a chill settling deep in his bones and a wish in his heart greater than anything that he could just be back inside and restart the day from the beginning.

“Prompto? Prom, what happened?!” The sound of someone shouting to him through the downpour and rumbling thunder had Prompto’s head shooting up, not even realizing he’d ducked his head down to hide against his knees to begin with.

His eyes had to take a moment to focus, but as soon as the familiar warmth of the person’s hand touched his cheek he instantly sagged forward. Strong arms wrapped around him without hesitation and he felt the rain lessen minutely against his shivering frame.

“Gl-Gladio?” he stammered, nuzzling his face into the crook of his Alpha’s neck, taking in the scent of cool forests and wildflowers. A scent unmistakably Gladio’s, but with an underlying hint of firesmoke. The man was upset and Prompto hated knowing he’d caused it. “S-Sorry… sorry, Gladio. I… I was st-stupid and for-forgot my…!” His voice was cut off by a rather unmanly squeak that escaped when Gladio’s arms shifted and he found himself being lifted like a blushing bride and held against his Alpha’s broad chest, shielded from the unkind weather.

“No apologies, Sunshine,” Gladio murmured softly and Prompto felt the way his partner easily moved toward their door with him. After a little jostling he heard the familiar jingle of keys and soon they were entering into the small hallway of their home. Prompto could tell he was without a doubt drenching the little carpet they had down with the water coming off of him and he was probably making Gladio chilled by being held so close in his soggy mess of clothes.

A miserable little whine escaped Prompto without him meaning to and he felt Gladio give him a soft squeeze. “Let’s get you out of these wet clothes. You feel like an ice cube,” he murmured softly and this only made Prompto frown more, especially as he felt himself being carried toward their bathroom.

“I-I can go myself… you… you were wo-working all day. I’m s-sorry,” he stammered only to find a soft kiss pressed to his forehead. Looking up he caught the small smile on his Alpha’s lips.

“Please stop apologizing, sweetheart. It’s not your fault.”

“But…,” he murmured only to find the man's lips now pressed against his own to stop him from finishing his sentence. As Gladio leaned back he nuzzled against Prompto’s nose, the deep rumble of a small purr vibrating through his chest and making Prompto’s bones feel like they were turning to liquid. It only lasted a few seconds, but it was more than enough to quiet him and make him pliant for what Gladio had to say next.

“None of that,” Gladio murmured softly as they finally reached their bathroom. “The only time you should ever have to apologize is if something is directly your fault. Do you control the weather? No. Would you have apologized to me on a sunny day? No. This isn’t your fault, Sunshine. Just a little bad luck.”

Prompto felt himself carefully set down on the bathroom counter, Gladio’s large frame moving around their small bathroom easily as he went to turn on the shower spray and grab his own towel for Prompto to use. “Why does it always seem like I have bad luck though?” Prompto asked as Gladio closed the shower curtain and turned back to his mate.

“I don’t see what happens to you as bad luck. Merely… inconvenient moments?” Gladio tried to offer, getting an unimpressed looked from his Omega as water still dripped from his fringe and down his freckled face. “Okay… so maybe some of it is bad luck. But it just means I get to come in and be your knight in shining armor and you know how much you love that.”

The cocky little smile Gladio flashed him after that made Prompto snort, bringing a hand up to cover his mouth to quiet the noise. “You’re ridiculous,” he murmured.

“But I’m not wrong,” Gladio teased, stepping forward and sweeping his mate’s damp fringe to the side to press a gentle kiss to his brow. “Now go on. I’ll leave you to warm up a bit and I’ll bring in a change of clothes, okay?” With another soft kiss to the tip of his chilled nose, Prompto already felt himself warming just from the presence of his Alpha.

Once Gladio stepped out, Prompto scooched himself off the edge of the bathroom counter, moving a bit slowly as his fingers still felt a little numbed and chilled from the rainfall. Soon he was free of his soggy clothes, quickly put in the hamper, and was stepping into the wonderfully warm spray of their shower.

It wasn’t much longer that he was feeling more human and less like the Astrals personal punching bag. The feeling had returned to his fingers and toes and if he chose to use Gladio’s body wash to wrap himself up in the man's scent a bit more he was sure his Alpha wouldn’t mind. Pulling the curtain back he saw that his favorite pyjama’s, the sweats with chocobo’s on them and his favorite band t-shirt, were already on the counter waiting for him. Apparently he’d been so engrossed in getting the icky feelings and weather off of him that he hadn’t heard the door open and close. For such a big guy it always surprised Prompto how stealthy he could be. Which generally made impromptu games of hide and seek a nightmare for him because the man was a walking shadow!

Soon he was changed, his hair toweled off with Gladio’s towel and hung back up to dry. Now to figure out how he was going to save the evening from his ridiculous ‘inconvenient moment’ and do something nice for Gladio! Opening the door to the bathroom, Prompto only had a moment to think before he found himself literally enveloped in a blanket and hoisted back into the air with a squeal that would’ve put the best horror actress to shame!

Gladio’s booming laughter echoed through the hall a moment later and as Prompto wriggled his face out of the warm fabric he glared at the man. “Wh-what are you doing?!“ he squeaked, finding himself once more being carried around in his darling's arms like a bride in a quilted gown.

“Making sure my Omega is taken care of, sweetheart,” he cooed, making Prompto try to hide his flushed face in the blanket which, he realized, was radiating heat. He nuzzled his cheek against the fabric and a soft little trill of content escaping him making Gladio chuckle again.

“I see putting the blanket in the dryer for a little bit worked its magic,” he teased, making Prompto flush more, though his soft smile on his lips stayed. Soon he was being deposited on their sofa, his favorite tv show already playing and something warm and delicious smelling steaming on the small coffee table in front of them.

“Did… is that Cup Noodle?” he asked as he saw the noodles presented in a far fancier mug then he had ever realized their house had and a fork already nestled in it, only waiting for him to pluck it up to dive into the meal.

“It is. I went back out to clean up what was left of the groceries and I saw what you wanted to make,” he murmured, taking a seat beside Prompto and wrapping his arm around the man to hug him close to his side. “I know it’s not homemade, but I hope it will still do. If nothing else it should help warm you up even more.” Prompto felt his cheeks heating for the umpteenth time now at the sweetness of his mate, but also at how spectacularly he had failed. Sighing quietly he nuzzled closer to Gladio, taking in a deep breath and just focusing on his Alpha’s warmth for the moment. “I wanted to surprise you,” he whispered quietly. “You had such a busy day and… I just wanted to give you a relaxing evening. All I managed to do was make you worry about me and look after me.”

Closing his eyes as he spoke he curled up a bit more in the blanket. “I’m sorry.”

Gladio’s arm around him moved slightly and soon Prompto felt strong, calloused fingers gently soothing through the damp knots in his hair. “You have nothing to apologize for, Sunshine,” Gladio whispered gently. “And I’ll keep reminding you of that. That you don’t have to apologize for things like the weather, or dropping something, or forgetting something... until one day those apologies don’t happen anymore. Because there is nothing you could ever do that I would think you should be sorry for. You’re my sunshine. And sunshine has only ever made me smile and happy. No apologies needed.”

The soft reassurances and the gentle soothing to his hair was almost enough to make Prompto’s barely held together composure break and a quiet sniffle escaped him. “Y-You’re too good to me, ya know that?” he murmured, a watery little giggle escaping when he felt Gladio ruffling his hair lightly.

”No… you deserve the world, Sunshine. Don’t ever doubt that,” Gladio murmured softly, pressing a kiss to his temple before shifting and leaning forward. “Now. I think the noodles have cooled long enough and if you wait any longer they’ll lose their chewy integrity.”

“Chewy integrity?” Prompto questioned, bringing a hand up to soothe his hair back down and feeling the weight in his chest lifting more and more. “I feel like only Cup Noodle addicts would believe in such a thing.”

The dramatic gasp that left Gladio and the scathing look he was given had Prompto fighting another round of giggles as he brought a hand up to cover his mouth.

“I am not an addict! I’m a connoisseur!” Gladio huffed before passing over the ceramic cup, fighting a smile of his own.

“Mmhm. And I’m the queen of Duscae,” Prompto teased, stirring his fork into the noodles in search of a few veggies.

“I’m gonna tell Iggy you don’t believe in the integrity of noodles. You’re going to get such a lecture,” Gladio huffed, leaning back with his own cup and twirling a fair amount of the noodly goodness onto his own fork.

“Oooor… you’ll get an earful about your sodium intake again and… then… uh…,” Prompto paused as he turned to look at Gladio, watching as the man stared back at him in confusion.

“And… what? Everything okay, Prompto?” Gladio asked carefully around a mouthful, but Prompto’s eyes narrowed slightly as he tried to process what he was seeing.

“Is… is that a boob mug?” he asked, looking at the coffee cup Gladio was currently enjoying his meal from.

Gladio almost choked on his half chewed bite, coughing and smacking his chest before looking at Prompto like he was the crazy one.

“What?! No this isn’t a boob mug! Look at it,” he said, raising up what was clearly the mug of a female torso.

Prompto stared at his mate in disbelief before pointing at it. “I am! It’s a mug… with boobs! Where did you even get that thing?!” In the few years they had been living here he had absolutely no recollection of that hideous thing and if he had seen it, it wouldn’t have stayed in this apartment for very long. “Cor gave it to me last year for Christmas. He said it was a bag gift, which was weird because it was wrapped, but still!” Gladio groused as he narrowed his eyes at the mug, apparently trying to see what Prompto was seeing. “It’s obviously two moogles next to each other! Look! They even have their bright red noses!”

Prompto slowly started to see all the pieces coming together in this one moment and honestly, it was both endearing and hilarious. “Uh… I’ll be right back, big guy,” he said lightly, only just keeping the tremble of laughter out of his voice as he wiggled out of the warm blanket and ran to their room. Quickly locating what he was looking for he returned with his old glasses in hand and handed them to his Alpha. “Would you please, please, please humor me and put these on?”

Gladio had waited patiently for his mate’s return, but seeing the glasses instantly had him grumbling. “What are you trying to say?” he questioned, holding the glasses as if they had personally offended his honor.

“Nothing! Nothing, just… please?” Prompto asked, jutting out his bottom lip and making his eyes go extra wide in that way he knew Gladio couldn’t fight against… adding in a little whine making it a sure thing.

With a growl, Gladio begrudgingly unfolded the glasses. “Fine. But I’m gonna tell you the same thing I said earlier,” he reassured as he perched the glasses on his nose before picking up the cup again. “This mug is just an innocent picture of… shiva’s tits!”

“Exactly!” Prompto crowed as Gladio’s now seeing eyes beheld the world’s most atrocious mug. The absolute shock that crossed his mate’s features had the laughter Prompto had been trying to hide finally break free.

“It’s not funny!” Gladio whined, still gripping the mug in his hands and staring at it with betrayal. After a moment his eyes widened in horror. “I’ve been drinking from this at the Citadel! I brought it home because it chipped and wanted to fix it! Oh my gods I must’ve looked like such a dick!”

Prompto was positively beside himself now, his laughter high-pitched and squeaking as tears of mirth clung to his eyelashes. Oh his poor sweet Alpha!

“Y-You… dihihihihidn’t?! O-oh my gahahahad!” Prompto wheezed out, laughing so hard he was leaning on Gladio who looked like he wanted nothing more to have the sofa swallow him up. The mug was now abandoned on the coffee table and Gladio had his head in his hands.

Slowly Prompto started to calm, a few stray giggles still bubbling up as he wrapped his arm around his Alpha’s shoulders. “I’m sorry, big guy. But… I think what Cor might have said to you was that it was a ‘gag’ gift. Not a ‘bag’ gift,” he murmured softly. Gladio groaned even louder as he heard that and shook his head.

“So not only is my eyesight going, but I can’t hear as well?” Gladio mumbled and Prompto smiled gently, pressing a soft kiss to the man's shoulder and soothing his hand over his broad back.

“First of all, I was at that Christmas party and if the music was any louder you would’ve had to send flare signals to talk to anyone,” Prompto said gently, getting a little huff from his Alpha as he wrapped his arm around him and hugged the big guy closer. “But as for your eyesight… you’ve definitely been squinting a bit more lately. But… those glasses are cute on you.”

Prompto watched as Gladio’s ears tinged red at being called cute and he bit his lower lip as a smile appeared over his lips.

“Shields don’t wear glasses… and they aren’t cute…,” came the haughty little reply and Prompto found himself rolling his eyes.

“Well… my Shield just mistook a boob mug for moogles so I think there maaay be an exception to the rule,” he giggled softly. “And while I hate to argue with my Alpha… he most definitely looks cute in glasses.”

Gladio finally peeked his eyes out, his cheeks matching the light pink of his ears and making Prompto’s heart flutter a bit. Leaning forward he pressed a soft kiss to one of those warmed cheeks and finally saw his Alpha’s smile returning.

“I guess we both had a tough day, huh?” Prompto murmured softly. “I got caught in a rainstorm brought on by the rage of Ramuh himself… and you found out you’re getting old,” Prompto teased his Alpha lightly, giving his side a little pinch and earning a squeak from the man.

“Hey! I’ll show you old!” Gladio growled, quickly tackling Prompto onto the sofa and gathering up his giggling Omega in his arms, pulling him flush against his chest. “Do old Alpha’s cuddle? I think not!” he mumbled from somewhere above Prompto’s head, making the blond giggle harder as he wrapped his arms around Gladio’s waist and snuggled closer to the warmth he adored. “I don’t know. Should I do tests to find out? Find some nice young Alphahaha’s! Okahahay! I won’t! I w-wohohon’t!” Prompto squealed out as Gladio’s fingers teased at his vulnerable side, tickling him mercilessly for a few seconds before stopping.

“Shush it, you,” Gladio chided with a soft smile, glancing down at Prompto with a look that always managed to melt Prompto’s insides. The omega gave a happy little trill at that and snuggled closer as Gladio’s arms wrapped more snugly around him.

“Well… now that your Cup Noodles have lost any and all texture and you’ve managed to lure me into a cuddle pile… why don’t you get some rest, Sunshine?” Gladio murmured, the quiet, deep timbre of his voice already starting to have an effect on the Omega.

Cuddling closer and hiding his face against Gladio’s chest, Prompto felt his eyes already starting to close. The warmth of his mate’s embrace that he had missed since this morning enveloped him completely and finally, finally every bad thing from the day felt like it was starting to ebb away.

He felt Gladio shifting for a moment, hearing the faint sound of his glasses being placed on the coffee table before the man settled once more. A hand soon made its way up to his hair, gently running through it and lightly scratching over his scalp and truly, this was all Prompto ever wanted or needed.

It wasn’t much longer that Prompto found a soft purr starting to escape him and a little smile flickered over his lips as Gladio soon responded in kind. The Alpha’s deeper purr made Prompto’s mind go wonderfully fuzzy and he sighed softly.

Finally, after the struggles and ups and downs of the day he was able to be back where he had longed to be since the beginning. In the strong arms of his Alpha, a soft smile on his lips and knowing that regardless of what little turmoils and inconvenient moments happened, he would always have Gladio there to pick him up, making him laugh and offer him comfort. Hopefully he could do the same.

Perhaps he’d start by getting rid of that mug for him?

But that could happen after a nice autumn nap.

#ffxv #promptio #prompto argentum #gladiolus amicitia #fluff #whump #my fics #I hope you enjoy my friend!#cuteness #everyone lives nobody dies au #alternate ending

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stickswrites · 4 years ago

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I Literally Hate The Media So Much (Her Shadows Ch. 7)

Pairings: Kirishima x OC

Warnings: Panic attack, implications of abuse, Bakugo being nice lol

I did not mean to take as large of a break as I did but that happened XD Hope whoever reads this enjoys!

I woke up with sore everything. I hadn't had to fight full out like that for a while and it didn't help that Bakugo was extremely strong. I pulled myself out of bed, trying to not disturb the cat that rested in my arms. I stood up and stretched, hearing a satisfying crack from my back. I rubbed my eyes, trying to wake myself up. I glanced over at my clock that told me it was 5:45 am. I groaned as I walked over to my dresser and pulled out a tank top and sweatpants. I got changed and pulled my hair back into a ponytail, pinning my bangs back as well. I grabbed my phone and headphones as I walked out to the kitchen to scrounge for food. Dad sat at the table, drinking his coffee, and looking over his lesson plans.

"Morning, Kiki," he said as he made a note in his planner.

"Morning, Dad," I responded, stifling a yawn.

"How'd you sleep?" he asked.

"Really well," I said as I pulled a granola bar out of the cupboard. "No nightmares, so that's a plus."

Dad hummed in agreement as I tore open the granola bar wrapper and began to eat it. I leaned against the counter as I ate the granola bar and Yuzuki jumped onto the counter and sniffed at my food, hoping to get a bite of it. I pushed his head away and finished my granola bar. I put food in both of the cats’ bowls and put water in the water dishes. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and checked the time. I would have to get going pretty quickly to make sure I was on time. I put my phone back in my pocket and went to my room to put my running shoes on. I tied the laces and stood back up, stretching a bit more. I walked back out to the front of the house.

“Dad, I’m heading out!” I called.

“Alright, be safe! I’ll go grocery shopping while you two are on your run!”

I walked out of the house and waited by the tree between mine and Makoto’s houses. He eventually walked out of his house and came over to me. He had his orange shirt on, which I assumed contributed to his good mood.

“Good morning, Koko!” he said, far too cheerfully for this early.

“Hey, Mako,” I said, swiping through my music to find a good song.

“How are you on this fine morning?” he asked as he put an earbud in.

“Tired and sore,” I responded with a laugh. “Bakugo did a number on me yesterday.”

Makoto hummed in agreement as he looked for a song on his phone. We both found music to listen to and put both earbuds in.

“Short or long route today?” Makoto asked.

“Let’s do the long route,” I said. “It’s earlier than usual so we have time. Besides, I don’t think we’ll be doing anything too strenuous after yesterday’s training.”

“You’re probably right,” Makoto responded. “Long route it is!”

The two of us jogged down the street and went on the long route we had set. It went through the park and ended at the beach. We didn’t live very far from the beach, so a run to it was relatively short but still long enough to exert us. When we reached the beach, we stopped to rest for a few minutes. The sun rose over the ocean and the light reflected off the waves. I sat down in the sand as Makoto handed me his water bottle for me to take a sip out of. I gratefully accepted it and took a few drinks before handing it back to him. He sat down next to me and we took in the sound of the waves crashing on the shore. It was so peaceful, but when the sun rose all the way, we knew we had to head back home. We jogged back home and separated to our own houses to get ready. Dad’s car wasn’t in the driveway, so I assumed that he was still out getting groceries. I opened the front door and the cats innocently looked up at me from where they were standing on the kitchen table. I narrowed my eyes at the knocked over cup on the table with water spilling onto the floor.

“I can’t leave you two alone, can I?” I sighed as I cleaned up the mess.

Once their mess had been cleaned up, I went and took my shower and got ready for school. Being impatient for my hair to dry all the way, I used my hairdryer so that I could finish getting ready. I heard Dad get home at some point and after I put my hair up into a half ponytail and made sure my bangs looked alright I went out to the kitchen to help him put groceries away.

“How was your run?” Dad asked as we put the groceries away.

“It was good,” I responded, putting the cereal away. “We went to the beach and sat for a few minutes to watch the sunrise.”

“That sounds nice,” he said.

We continued with a few sentences here and there, but the majority of the morning was silent. It wasn’t long until we were walking out the door to go to school. Makoto met us in the driveway and we got in the car and drove to school. Dad apparently had to drop us off a block away because he had heard from Hizashi that there were still a bunch of reporters in front of the school. They had been there for the past two days and they were only getting nosier the longer they were denied any interviews. The longer they were there, the more cautious we had to be with mine and Mako’s relations to Dad. None of us wanted the reporters to figure that out, so we agreed to be dropped off a block away with only minimal complaining. Makoto and I grabbed our bags and got out of the car. We started walking down the sidewalk to get to school.

“Why can’t the reporters just leave us alone?” I groaned as we turned the corner and saw all of the reporters.

“I apologize for my fame,” Makoto said sarcastically.

I laughed but he had a point. Since his grandmother had a fortune and was the head of Uneri Co., Makoto was also on the media’s radar. It wasn’t a secret that he stood to inherit the fortune of his grandmother and he had eyes on him. Reporters staring at him like birds of prey waiting for a moment of weakness. Being his best friend meant speculations about the two of us in public. On multiple occasions, the media has mistaken us for a couple. We’ve tried telling them that we’re not, but they still publish that story and we gave up on trying to tell them otherwise.

“Yeah,” I responded with just as much sarcasm. “It’s a real pain in the ass to be your best friend.”

Makoto snorted as we kept walking. The reporters saw us and they immediately started to swarm us.

“You know,” Makoto said. “We’re on school grounds right now.”

I looked up at him and saw the sly smile on his face. I let out a laugh as I nodded and gripped the strap on my bag a little tighter as reporters got closer.

“Yeah?”

“Yeah,” he responded. “You can’t shadow travel with me, but I can carry you right over them.”

“I like the way you think, Mako,” I said with a smile.

Immediately, Makoto picked me up bridal style and used his quirk to step on the gravitational plates and have us be just above the reporters. We avoided all of their questions and, as soon as we were beyond the gates, Makoto stepped down from his plates and onto solid ground. He set me down on the ground and I adjusted my skirt to make sure nothing was showing. Once I made sure everything was fine, I looked up at Makoto with a smile and we walked into school together. We walked straight to the teacher’s lounge and, when we got inside, Hizashi and Dad were there to greet us.

“You survived the wolves,” Dad said with a smirk.

“Mako used his quirk to just carry us right over their heads,” I responded with a chuckle.

“Yeah,” Makoto said. “Because we were technically already on UA’s grounds even though it was the sidewalk. So it was perfectly legal for me to use it.”

“Look at you all grown up and smart, little man!!” Hizashi yelled as he slung an arm over Makoto’s shoulders.

“Thanks, Hizashi,” Makoto said with a soft smile.

The four of us continued talking before class started and eventually Nemuri, or Midnight, came and joined us. At some point, Dad had to go take care of the reporters and the reporters tried to enter the campus, setting off the security system. Dad came back to the teacher’s lounge with a satisfied smile on his face. He always enjoyed it when reporters got denied when they’re being annoyingly persistent. Makoto and I left the teacher’s lounge first to go to the classroom. Most everyone was in there already, talking to their new friends.

“Hey, it’s Keiko and Saeki!” Kirishima said, waving us over to them.

I glanced at Makoto and shrugged before walking over to him, Sero, Ashido, and Kaminari. I set my stuff down at my desk before standing up properly to talk to them.

“Hey, guys!” Makoto said with a wide grin.

I gave a little wave and a tiny smile. Kirishima and Ashido seemed very happy that I even acknowledged them, which took me by surprise. The six of us talked, well I listened while they all talked until it came time for us to all sit down. Dad stood at the front of the class and started talking when we had all got situated in our seats.

“Decent work on yesterday’s combat training, guys,” he said from the podium. “I saw the video feeds and went over each of your teams’ results.” He paused for a second. “Bakugo.” The blond in question looked up at Dad and Midoriya seemed surprised. “You’re talented, so don’t sulk like a child about your losses, okay?”

“Yeah, whatever,” Bakugo grumbled.

“And, Midoriya,” Dad said, singling him out. “I see that the only way you won the match was by messing up your arm again.” There was a pause as Midoriya sunk a little lower in his seat. “Work harder,” Dad told him firmly. “And don’t give me the excuse that you don’t have control over your quirk. That line’s already getting old. You can’t keep breaking your body while training here, but your quirk will be really useful if you can get a handle on it.” From where I was sitting, I saw Midoriya’s head lift up. “So show a little urgency, huh?”

“Right!” Midoriya said confidently.

“Let’s get down to business,” Dad said, addressing everyone. “Our first task will decide your future.” I could almost feel everyone’s nerves as they probably thought it was another quirk test. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t a little nervous about that too. “You all need to pick a class representative.” The relief everyone felt when we heard it was just a normal school thing was palpable.

Immediately everyone started yelling about how much they wanted to be the class rep. Of course, if you’re the rep that means more agencies are more likely to notice you and want you to join them so it was only natural that everyone was excited. I wasn’t though. There was far too much yelling for my taste. Everyone finally shut up when Iida started talking.

“Silence, everyone! Please!” He yelled. Everyone was quiet as they all looked back at Iida. “The class representative’s duty is to lead others.” Duh. “That’s not something just anyone can do.” He had a point. “You must first have the trust of every student in the classroom.” There goes my shot of being class rep, not that I really cared. “Therefore, the most logical way to fill this position is democratically. We will hold an election to choose our leader.” Not a bad idea.

“It’s pretty obvious you want us to vote for you,” everyone said in unison.

That did seem like what he was trying to do, but I think that he honestly wanted the best for our class, so I didn’t dwell on that too much.

“Is this really the best idea,” Kaminari asked.

“We’ve only known each other a few days,” Asui started. “How do we know who we can trust?”

She had a point as well.

“Besides, everyone will just vote for themselves,” Kirishima stated.

That did seem like the likely scenario.

“You’re right,” I said from my seat. Everyone’s heads snapped toward me, shocked that I spoke up. Honestly, I was a little surprised too. “Most people will vote for themselves. That just means that whoever gets the most votes is truly fit to be class rep if people put their pride aside to vote for them.”

Iida nodded at my statement and started talking again, taking everyone’s attention off of me.

“It’s the best way, right?” Iida asked Dad, who zipped up his sleeping bag so that he could take a nap.

“Do what you want,” Dad told us. “Just decide before my nap’s over.”

He fell onto his side to fall asleep and I knew he’d be out for the rest of the class.

“Thank you for your trust!” Iida said.

About 20 minutes later everyone had cast their votes for class rep and the results were on the board. Unsurprisingly, I got zero votes. I had voted for Midoriya. He was smart and I thought he would be the best for the job. Makoto had one vote, but I doubted that it was from him. At the top of the board, Midoriya and Yaoyorozu had the highest number of votes. Midoriya had four and Yaoyorozu had two.

“How did I get four votes?!” Midoriya asked out loud.

“Okay, you idiots!” Bakugo exclaimed, standing up from his seat. “Who voted for him?!”

“What?” Sero asked. “Did you honestly think anyone was gonna vote for you?”

Bakugo did not like that response and started yelling at him. I groaned and put my head in my arms, looking to follow my dad’s lead and take a nap. Once Bakugo was calmed down, Dad woke up, which was my cue to sit up. Midoriya and Yaoyorozu stood at the front of the class. Midoriya was shaking in his boots while Yaoyorozu looked as calm as ever.

“Alright,” Dad started. “The class rep is Midoriya. Deputy is Yaoyorozu.”

“R-really?” Midoriya asked, still shaking. “It’s not a mistake?”

“How did this happen?” Yaoyorozu asked herself.

I put my head back in my arms as people started chattering about the results. I guess I dozed off because Makoto started shaking my shoulder lightly. I sat up and yawned, glaring at Makoto for disturbing me.

“It’s time for lunch,” he said, pointing his thumb toward the door.

Immediately, I stood up and was out the door after grabbing my wallet. Lunch Rush’s food was definitely something I didn’t mind waking up for. The cafeteria was crowded, which was irritating, but soon enough Makoto and I were able to get our food. Lunch Rush insisted that our food was free again, saying that he liked us more than the other students. This caused a few glares tossed in our direction from other students in line, but Makoto and I laughed it off. We got our food and sat down at a table, away from everyone.

“So,” Makoto started, digging into his food. “Spill. Who did you vote for?”

I swallowed the food that was in my mouth before responding.

“I voted for Midoriya,” I said. “I thought he’d do a good job, but after seeing how nervous he was, I’m not so sure.” Makoto hummed in agreement as he took another bite of his food. “Who did you vote for?”

“I voted for Yaoyorozu,” he said. “She’s smart and I think she’ll do a good job.”

“I’m inclined to agree with you,” I responded. “She really knows what she’s doing.”

The two of us stopped talking to enjoy our food more. It was only a few minutes before the intruder alarm went off.

“Warning: Level Three Security Breach. All students please evacuate the building in an orderly fashion.”

Everyone started to jump out of their seats and run to the halls. Makoto and I both got up and exited with everyone. When we got into the hall, everyone was jostling and it made it impossible to go anywhere.

“Mako!” I shouted as I tried to grip onto his hand.

“Koko!” he shouted back.

Our fingers barely brushed each other before he was ripped away by everyone trying to get out of the building. I was shoved to the ground by the jostling crowd of students and I started to feel a panic attack coming. Flashes of my parents appeared in front of me as people continued to jostle around. My chest tightened and I couldn’t breathe, much less move. I covered my head as I tried to protect myself from everyone in the hallway. Tears started to prick my eyes and the sounds around me became muffled, the only sound I could hear clearly was my pounding heart. I didn’t hear actual words when someone started yelling at everybody and they all calmed down. I was stuck on the ground. My eyes blank and looking forward as tears slowly fell down my face. I was somewhat pulled out of my attack when someone pulled me to my feet and walked me over to the side of the hallway. They tried talking to me, but their voice sounded like it was underwater and I couldn’t focus on it. I still couldn’t breathe even though everyone had left the hallway beside the person in front of me and one other.

“Keiko!”

I finally snapped out of it and saw the person who had helped me. Bakugo was gripping my arms tightly to keep me upright. I stared back at him, my eyes wide and my face looking terrified. I looked over his shoulder and saw Makoto standing behind him, looking worried. I shook my head and stood up all the way, wiping the tears away.

“What was that all about?” Bakugo asked, not harshly just in his usual ‘Bakugo’ way.

“It was a panic attack,” I told him, still shaking a bit and starting to walk back to the cafeteria so that I could finish my food. I was really shaken up, but I also didn’t want to make a big deal out of what happened in case Bakugo decided to make fun of me. “I’m not the greatest with crowds and jostling.”

“You picked a lousy profession for that then,” Bakugo snorted.

I heard Makoto smack Bakugo’s arm in warning, but I started chuckling too. He had a point. What started out as a chuckle turned into an actual laugh.

“Are you okay?” Makoto asked, confused as to why I was laughing. “Did you hit your head or something?”

“I’m fine,” I told him. “Bakugo’s right.” I saw Bakugo smirk on my left as Makoto caught up to us and started walking on my right. “If I wanted to be like most heroes I did pick a pretty lousy profession.”

“What do you mean ‘like most heroes’?” Bakugo asked, genuinely confused.

“I don’t want to be in the public’s eye,” I told him. “It’s not something that appeals to me.”

Bakugo hummed in acknowledgment and we kept walking. I was glad he didn’t ask any further questions about my panic attack, but the fact that he was still walking with us was a surprise. We got our stuff from the cafeteria and finished our food. Bakugo stayed with us the whole time and I’d be lying if I said I didn’t enjoy his company. Surprisingly, he was rather quiet with us, the three of us just enjoying some peace and quiet after the big panic. Bakugo and Mako told me that it was Iida that calmed everyone down by telling them that the “dangerous intruder” was just the press.

“Are you sure you’re alright?” Bakugo asked me.

I looked up at him, surprised he cared about my wellbeing. Seeing the suppressed worry on his face made me want to reassure him. I gave him a genuine smile.

“I’m really alright, or I will be anyway,” I told him. “Thanks for helping me and for caring.”

“Tch,” he scoffed. “I just don’t want my rival to have anything hindering her to do her best.”

“Rival?” I asked. He scoffed again as if to say ‘duh’ and I smiled again. “Sounds good to me.”

Lunch ended soon after that conversation and we all headed back to the classroom. Everyone was sitting down except for Midoriya and Yaoyorozu, who were standing at the front of the class. I had my chin resting on my folded arms as I tried to stay awake enough to understand what was being said. I hooked my foot around Mako’s as a form of comfort. I’d be lying if I said I wasn’t still shaken from my panic attack earlier and Mako knew so he kept my foot hooked around his under his chair.

“It’s time, class rep,” Yaoyorozu told Midoriya, who was still shaking in his boots. “Let’s begin!”

“Um, okay,” Midoriya started shakily. “So we need to figure out who the other class officers will be.” There was a pause as he looked down a bit and calmed himself. “But first, there’s something that I wanna say. I’ve thought a lot about this, and I think that Tenya Iida should be our class rep!” I lifted my head at this in surprise. Someone as set on becoming a hero as him throwing away this awesome opportunity? Weird. “He was able to capture everyone’s attention and get us in line. So I believe he should be the one leading our class from now on.”

There was silence in the classroom before Kirishima spoke up.

“Yeah, you know what?” he started. “If Midoriya vouches for him, I’m good. Plus he was a big help. He totally manned up and took charge, right?”

“Yup!” Kaminari agreed. “Oh, and did you notice he looked like the dude on the emergency exit signs when he was on the wall earlier?”

Dad interrupted everyone in his typical fashion.

“This is a waste of time,” he said, sitting up in his sleeping bag. “I don’t care who the rep is, just hurry up.”

He laid back down on his side to go to sleep as Iida stood up to talk. This might actually be a good change.

“If Midoriya is nominating me for this job,” he started. “Then I humbly accept! I pledge to carry out the duties of class rep to the best of my abilities!”

“Sounds good, emergency exit,” Kirishima said, giving him a thumbs up.

“Emergency exit IIda,” Kaminari mused. “Don’t let us down man!”

Poor Yaoyorozu sulked, probably muttering about how she got more votes than him. In all honesty, I thought that she would have made an awesome class rep too, but it seemed everyone was voting for Iida now. The end of the day came quickly and Mako and I didn’t hang around for too long before heading to the teacher’s lounge to meet up with Dad and go home.

“Keiko,” Dad called as soon as we walked into the lounge. He rushed up to me and looked me over to make sure I was alright. He inspected my face, holding it firmly so I couldn’t squirm away. “I heard about what happened, are you okay?”

“Yeah, Dad,” I said, trying to pull my face out of his hands. “Did Mako tell you?”

Dad let go and stood back, satisfied that I wasn’t injured. He shook his head before answering my question.

“No, actually,” he said. “Bakugo came up to me and said he thought he should tell me because I’m the teacher and it’s my job to deal with stuff like that.”

Mako and I looked at each other before turning back to Dad. Bakugo was really that concerned? I could not figure him out for the life of me. I had originally thought that he was just an overconfident asshole who didn’t care about others, but I guess that, deep down, he really does care.

“Oh,” was all I said in response. “I’m fine though. I was just shaken up a bit.”

Dad dropped the conversation and took Mako and I home, the three of us exhausted to varying degrees.

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

A/N: Hello again! Sticks here! Again, I did not mean to take as long of a break as I did, but alas: school. I'm hoping to write some more this week and next to get this story moving along and caught up to what I have planned so far. I'm hoping we'll be done with season one by the middle of February but we'll see what happens with school and such. It's my final semester at community college before transferring to uni so that will come first but I swear I'll update a bit more regularly. I hope that everyone reading this has a wonderful rest of your day, week, and year! See you all next chapter!

-Sticks

Word Count: 4286

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fanfic-scribbles · 5 years ago

Text

Lunch Buddy: Chapter Eighteen

Masterlist

<<Previous Chapter Next Chapter>>

Overall Story Facts:

Fandom: MCU Captain America/Avengers

Story Summary: Steve Rogers makes a friend. A prickly, generally people-averse friend, but they’ll both take what they can get.

Quick Facts: Friendship (/Eventual Romance) – Steve Rogers & Reader (leading to Steve Rogers/Reader) – Female Reader

Story Warnings: Reader-insert that verges on OFC, written in 1st person past tense

Chapter 18: Party Hard

Chapter Summary: Steve is a popular guy, whether he wants to be or not. Seeking shelter around Christmas seems appropriate for the season, at least.

Chapter Warnings: Whether the viewpoint character celebrates Christmas or not is left vague (there is a gift exchange but it’s mostly centered on what Steve would celebrate), general time jumps between days are marked with single tildes (~), and at the end there is a change in viewpoint and a change back, marked ~like so~

Chapter Word Count: 5241

A/N: This chapter was a little delayed because it wasn’t working and when I dug into why I found I had issues with the following sections that were mucking up the place. It felt like working out a real big snarl– frustrating and painful at first, but very satisfying when I got to the end of it. And slightly cathartic when I just ripped out the bit that refused to budge. It was fun. I hope you enjoy.

(Minor note: time is left vague but this all starts just a few days after the last chapter and happens over a couple of weeks, ending just before Christmas. I have sort of a fake calendar I’ve done up so the dates make sense to me but I don’t think they’re necessary to understand the chapter. If I’m wrong let me know and I’ll see if I can fix it so it does make sense.)

I was having a perfectly pleasant evening at home. I had comfy clothing, I had drinks, I had my phone, I had activities…and I had activities involving my phone.

Me: How’s the party? Steve: Ugh

Bothering Steve would always, no matter what, be fun.

Me: Serves you right Me: trying to guilt-trip me Steve: My only regret is I didn’t guilt you more Steve: I can’t believe you abandoned me to this Me: And I can’t believe you wanted to subject me to that Steve: >:( Steve: I’m reduced to hiding Steve: From a very drunk woman who wants to lean on me Steve: Among other things Steve: Or so she assures me

I felt a flare of something. It wasn’t anything nice.

Me: Hang on Me: Omw Steve: Is that all it takes?

‘Is that all it takes.’ He was such a fuckhead sometimes; maybe that woman could have him– except, no, actually unacceptable. Any potential partners had to understand ‘no means no’ and when to back the fuck off.

Me: Yup Me: There is only so much arm space for clingy bitches Me: And I take up a lot of room Steve: Hey Steve: You are not a bitch Steve: >:( Me: Don’t you frowny-face me mister Me: I am whatever I want to be Me: Deal with it

I added the sunglasses emoji just because.

Steve: Well Steve: I can’t argue that Steve: But I still don’t like it Me: You don’t have to Me: <3 Steve: I guess that’s fair Me: Seriously though Me: Do you want an excuse to leave? Me: I’ll figure one out Steve: It’s okay Steve: I’m going to be up early tomorrow so I’m going to duck out soon Steve: It just would have been more fun with you here

I rolled my eyes. But I smiled.

Me: Well Me: Don’t stay too late, Cinderella Steve: Hm Steve: Better than the old man jokes I guess Me: I would never Me: …Well I guess I might. Too easy though; I like to make an effort Steve: I appreciate your work ethic

The conversation drifted off in drips and drabs, but that night I dreamed of Steve and glass slippers and in the morning I woke with the feeling that nothing had fit quite right.

Steve: Guess where I am

I got up and peeked out the window. No bike, but that didn’t necessarily mean no Steve. However I looked around my apartment and cringed at the mess.

Me: If you’re dropping in you better be bringing snacks Steve: I wish

I frowned at my phone. If he wasn’t coming over then why was he…wait a minute. Wait.

Me: No Steve: Yes Me: It’s Thursday Me: Who has a party on Thursday?! Steve: Pepper assures me it’s not technically a party Steve: It’s a small get-together Me: So it’s a small party Steve: Basically Me: We’re going shopping this weekend Me: We need to find you a spine Steve: YOU try telling Pepper no Me: Hey I never said I had a spine Steve: Be grateful Steve: She really tried to get me to invite you Steve: I danced around it. I knew you wouldn’t want to with work tomorrow Me: Yeah, not happening. Thanks Steve: You’re welcome Me: Seriously though Me: How many parties can those people have in one month? Steve: Please don’t ask Steve: I don’t want to find out Me: I hate to be the one to break it to you Me: But it sounds like you’re going to find out Me: Whether you like it or not

He sent me a sad frowny-face and I immediately imagined him making the same expression. I looked up at my ceiling and wondered why it had to be now that I had the most active imagination I’d had since I was seven.

Me: Well Me: If you need a place to hide out from fancy food and grabby people Me: You know where to come Me: I don’t really do fancy food Steve: What about the grabbing?

‘Buddy, I wish,’ I thought and rolled my eyes. He had no idea. And he never would. Hopefully.

Me: I like to think I’m respectful of personal bubbles Steve: Except when I steal your food Me: Well yeah Me: At that point you’re a thief Me: And punishment must be meted out Steve: Crap Steve: Tony saw me, gotta go Me: Good luck Steve: Gee thanks

I sent him a sweet smiley face, because some things just couldn’t be helped.

Karma kicked my ass the very next day when I woke up with such a sudden and severe cold that made me call out of work. I was just barely considering getting out of bed for maybe some soup or a slow crawl directly to the morgue when my phone buzzed.

Steve: I think I hate you Me: I didn’t do it Steve: Another party Me: … Me: … Me: Dude Me: It’s ten am? Steve: It’s tonight Me: I’m sick Me: Come over and I’ll cough on you Steve: I can’t get sick Steve: I never thought I’d be sad about that Steve: Wait Steve: You’re sick?

I rolled my eyes. And winced, because that just hurt my fucking head.

Me: Yeah. Staying home today. Steve: Do you need anything? Steve: Help? Food?

I really wished he could stop being so sweet. It was a real fucking problem sometimes– like now, when I could think of a whole list of things I wanted his help with that was just slightly past the friends barrier. Or maybe friends cuddled and I was just out of the loop? I made a mental note to look into that, when I was slightly less disgusting.

Me: No thanks Me: Got medicine, got soup, got bed Me: Just need to decide if I can keep anything down Steve: Oh :( Me: I’ll be okay Me: Just need some sleep to kick this in the ass

And warm arms wrapped around me, but I kept that to myself. Maybe I’d have a nice dream later.

Steve: You do that Steve: Get plenty of rest Steve: And call if you need anything Steve: I will be incredibly motivated as of 9pm tonight Me: Oof Me: I would offer to be your excuse Me: But I’m hoping a cocktail of cough syrup and pain meds will make that way past my bedtime Steve: Stay safe Me: I will. Worrywart Steve: Yup <3

He was trying to kill me; I knew it. However I was so exhausted I just sent him a quick ‘bye’ and crawled back under the covers to be miserable and whiny on my own. Admittedly, ‘on my own’ left much to be desired these days, but I got through it like I always did.

Except for the container of soup from a local Chinese place that somehow made it to my door that afternoon. That was new addition to my ‘get better’ routine. But very much welcome.

Steve: Sigh

I already knew what was coming. Mostly because I was trapped in a similar hell.

Me: At least it’s close enough to an appropriate date Steve: I guess Steve: What are you doing? Me: Work holiday party Me: fml

A couple of women greeted each other nearby in tones that varied up and down but they all stayed pretty equally loud, and I ducked closer to the table, under which I hid my phone.

Steve: I guess it’s true Steve: Misery does love company

I sent him a line of middle fingers

Me: How’s YOUR party? Steve: Zzzzzzzzz

I ducked down further to hide my laughter.

Me: Seriously though Me: How many parties can one guy have? Steve: So many, apparently Steve: Last year wasn’t this bad Steve: He did get mildly offended you haven’t been to a one Me: Ugh Me: Wait, sorry Me: I don’t really mean that Me: I just have no idea how to do damage control with that guy Me: I don’t know what his deal is Steve: It’s okay Steve: Neither do I Steve: And he’s mostly joking Steve: I think Me: Good Me: I’d rather get along peaceably with your other friends Steve: Or be friends with them?

I thought about it.

Me: Gotta be honest Me: You have a lot of friends Me: That sounds like a lot of work Steve: They’re not so bad

I heard my name and glanced up to see my boss was looking around.

Me: Well you have fun with them Me: gtg boss is looking for me Steve: Don’t get in trouble Steve: I’ll see you later? Me: Later

My boss caught sight of me just as I was slipping my phone away and I subjected myself to being politely social for the rest of the night. I had…a lot more sympathy for Steve after that.

Not that I would ever let him know it.

Steve: Can I come over? Me: Of course

Not one second later I heard the buzzer for the entry go off. I let him up without even looking, so when he actually showed up at the door I froze like a deer in the headlights.

“Hey,” Steve said, his face a mixture of stormy and exhausted and his body clad in a finely (finely) tailored suit. He gave me a tired smile and held up a grocery bag. “I brought payment in snacks.”

Yes. Yes he did. Wait, no, snacks. Plural and actual. Literal. Right. “Sounds, uh, good,” I said and stepped aside to let him in, and I briefly hit my head on the door before I shut it. I turned just in time to see him sit down on my couch like he could sink into it, legs opened up and head thrown back. He shut his eyes and breathed. I took a second to do the same. But he looked so fed up with everything and that ended up being (sadly, selfishly,) good for my focus.

“What happened?” I asked and went to sit next to him as soon as concern won out.

“Nothing,” he said. “I’m just tired.”

I could only imagine. I reached out and squeezed his shoulder– but my instinct to leave my hand there propelled me up and over to the kitchen counter where I started unpacking the bag he brought. The first thing I pulled out was an interesting looking bag of something labeled entirely in Cyrillic. The very next thing I saw, hiding behind it I realized, was a box wrapped in paper and ribbons. I couldn’t even give him the benefit of the doubt– my name was written right there. “Steve.”

“Yes?” he asked, overly innocently and turned his bright blue eyes to me like he was some naïve young farm boy who couldn’t possibly understand why I said his name like that.

He was getting better. My bullshit meter was going off so hard it nearly broke and he still almost got to me. Still, I surreptitiously cleared my throat and said, (quite strongly, I thought,) “That is not going to work on me.”

He didn’t back down. His eyes even seemed to get bigger and bluer. “It’s a good time of year to get gifts for your friends, even if for no real reason. Besides, it’s just something I saw that I thought you would like. It’s no big deal.”

“Uh huh.” I liked the way he stretched his arm across the couch, and the way he stole glances at me like I wouldn’t notice. Starting off strong, getting weaker by the moment; I needed to tell Natasha to up his spy training. “Real subtle.”

“I don’t know what you’re talking about,” he said and grabbed the remote. While he pretended to give a shit about holiday programming I rifled through the rest of the bag, dumped the caramel popcorn into a bowl, and took the bowl and the gift over to the couch where I plopped down as hard as I could in an effort to be as annoying as possible. He didn’t even flinch, just smiled as I put the popcorn in between us on the couch. The gift I set in the center of my coffee table, where it actually looked really nice.

“Aren't you going to open it?” Steve asked, trying to look like he was watching Jimmy Stewart get his Christmas miracle but, again, his eyes kept darting; this time between me and the gift.

“Mm.” I shrugged but inside I was taking my inner impatient five-year-old and turning her into a moustache-twirling villain, with the gift tied to the train tracks. It felt good. “It’s a Christmas gift, right?”

“Not necessarily,” he said.

“Well, I think most single gifts get opened on the 25th, so I’ll wait,” I said, grabbed a handful of popcorn, and settled in to enjoy a bell ringing like I never had before.

“It’s a– a December gift,” Steve insisted.

“Oh,” I said. “Then I have until December 31st to open it.”

“It’s A Wonderful Life” suddenly became the title of my night, maybe even my autobiography, when Steve said my name in the whiniest fucking tone I had ever heard outside of a bad comedy sketch about nasally nerds. I almost dropped the popcorn I held and, when I turned my head to stare at him, he was almost literally beet red.

“Can we pretend that didn’t come out like that?” he asked, looking down like he could stare right through the floor. I had never before seen someone who actually looked like they desperately wanted to be swallowed whole. “As a present to me?”

“Wow,” I said, because it was all I could say. Already the sweet sound of memory was fading, and I tried to hold onto it. “I got you an actual present so no. But wow. Wow. Happy holidays to me. Wow.”

“I’m taking my gift back,” he grumbled and made as if to grab it.

I curled forward to protect it but I moved too fast and accidentally dropped some of my snack, though Steve kept me from cracking my head on the table. “Shit,” I said and hurried to pick up the bits of food. “I just cleaned; if you make me get popcorn bits on my floor I’m making you drag out the vacuum.”

“I don’t think your neighbors would appreciate that right now,” Steve said and wolfed down his own heaping handful of the caramel corn, though he put the bowl on the table.

“My downstairs neighbor has a pre-teen who’s getting into EDM,” I said and pulled the gift into my lap. “Let them suffer as I have suffered.”

“Mm hm,” Steve said, already pretty thoroughly checked out as I turned the box over in my hands.

It wasn’t heavy, but it wasn’t tiny, and it was a fairly standard box so I had no idea what it could be. Maddening. I decided to put us both out of our misery.

“Really?” Steve said as I started picking at the tape on the side. “Are you going to save the paper?”

“Weeeeellllll…” I debated whether or not I should admit my failings, but came out on the side that it would make him smile and I couldn’t find anything wrong with that. Short of an unintentional Three Stooges act there was no way I was topping his whiny self. “I maybe didn’t get a chance to go buy wrapping paper for your gift, sooo…” After a moment I stole a glance, and sure enough, he was smiling.

“You didn’t?” he asked and even let out a little laugh.

“We’re saving the environment,” I said as I started peeling back the paper.

“Sure,” he chuckled. “You, me, and five square feet of wrapping paper.”

“There’s no way there’s that much on here,” I muttered as one corner decided to be a bitch. “How much tape did you use on this thing?”

“I didn’t know we’d be sharing it,” he said, and while he amused himself by harping on the point, I got my wrapping paper off and set it aside.

“–nd you’re not even listening to me, are you?”

“Why would I start now?” The box was plain and, at least for that, I had no compunctions about ripping the tape off. Inside was a lot of paper sitting under a small rectangular box and a shiny black satchel. “Thanks for the great packing materials,” I said as I dug around to make sure I wasn’t missing anything, but it seemed to be just the box and tiny bag.

“Happy to help,” Steve said but he sounded distant. He was staring at the gifts. I took another look at them and my stomach did a flip. The little rectangular box reminded me of–

“Open the box first and then open the bag right after,” Steve said. “It’ll make more sense then.”

When I opened the little box and saw a bracelet I had to hope it was going to make sense. It was…shiny and looked like silver. Chunky but plain. That was a good sign, right? Nice and shiny but plainly platonic. Right? I opened the little satchel and dug out tiny matching metal pieces that were shaped like…oh.

“Wow,” I said and spread the charms on the table around the bracelet still sitting in its pillowed case. “This is…Steve, this is so nice.”

“Oh thank God,” he said and let out a breath that sounded like it was as big as the one still locked in my chest. “I don’t see you wear a lot of jewelry but I saw the charms and it just seemed perfect. The metal’s super hypoallergenic or something– the woman was telling me that it should be fine for anyone with sensitivity to certain metals and I don’t know if you do, but I thought it was better to be safe, and it’s pretty, or I thought so–”

“It’s very pretty,” I said, a smile taking over. What the hell was he so nervous about? Whatever; even his babbling was charming and cute and I tried my best not to think that way because I should have been making fun of him, like a good friend, but I couldn’t rag on him while he was so excited. Or maybe I just couldn’t bring myself to rag on him about this.

“Here,” Steve said, reaching over and taking the bracelet out. Big fingers fumbled with the clasp but he put it on my wrist, and then he went for the charms. He held up the coffee cup. “Obviously,” he said and somehow managed not to fumble that time when he attached it. A cloud, “because you can be pretty gloomy and cranky sometimes,” and when I flipped him off with my other hand he just said, “see?” as he put it on. The book was, “again, pretty obvious.”

Then he put the joystick on and squinted at it for a second before he looked up at me, bright eyes framed by dark lashes, and wet pink lips I couldn’t kiss as someone I deeply cared for leaned into my personal space and gave me jewelry for Christmas. I looked down at the bracelet and focused on being grateful for the sweet, generous gesture this was rather than what I wished it could be. The bracelet itself wasn’t too much. It felt comfortable.

“I asked her if they had anything video game related and she said this was a good one,” he said, but he didn’t sound convinced. It took me a moment to remember what he was referring to. Joystick. Right.

“Remind me to take you to an arcade,” I said and held my arm up to the light. The charms were fun but plain and melded easily together from a distance; I could wear this anywhere and have it be appropriate. But I would know what it really was. “This is…so thoughtful. Thank you.”

“You’re welcome,” he said warmly. Softly. All of a sudden those repressed feelings surged forward to make my chest ache and for just a moment I thought of a world where he gave me jewelry and it meant something more. But I lived in a world where he gave me a piece of jewelry and looked quietly pleased with himself while I sat and admired it. It didn’t mean anything; it didn’t mean–

Actually, no, that was wrong. It did mean something. It meant Steve was a really good friend who gave me a wonderfully thoughtful gift. I really needed to stop being in my own fucking head so much or I was going to lose everything I already did have.

But I still needed a moment to come back down from the urge to hug him way too tight. “This is so nice, Steve, thank you,” I said and stood quickly, box and wrapping paper in hand. “I can’t lie, yours aren’t as amazing, so get your acting chops up while I’m wrapping them.”

“You know you can just give them to me,” Steve told me as I walked around the other side of the room to avoid any chance of tripping over him.

“Nope!” I said and shut the door to my room. Safe and alone, I breathed– but not too loud, because he might hear me. I grabbed his gifts and shoved them in the box (stuffed them, really) so I couldn’t think too hard and chicken out of giving him something. I messed up at a couple of points with the tape and, rather than ripping the already well-used paper by trying to fix it…I decided to go with it.

One full roll of transparent tape later, I walked back out feeling a little more composed, a little more me. I stood in front of Steve and proudly held out the box.

“It’s very shiny,” he remarked as he took it and looked it over. From the second I sat on the couch I was on the edge of it, eager to see what he would do. Would he try to return the favor by removing all the tape? Would he try scrabbling for an edge? Would he try tearing the paper to ribbons only for the tape to stick all over his hands?

None, apparently– he just pushed his fingers clean through the box right next to the edge and ripped the side right off. “Hey!” I said, because hey, no fair, but he just laughed at me and shook out his gifts onto the couch in between us. I crossed my arms. “You're no fun.”

“No fun at all,” he agreed happily and picked up the beanies. He rubbed one of them between his fingers. “These are very nice.”

“They’re good quality and warm and you look good in beanies,” I said. He put one on haphazardly and I laughed. “Maybe not with tuxes.”

“It does feel nice though; thanks,” he said and sorted through them. “I like the colors too.”

“Yeah, they’re all earthy or whatever,” I said and pointed at the most important gift.

“Unicorn slippers!” he said, seeming actually delighted as he picked them up. He then immediately took off his socks and shoes to put them on. “They fit! They’re soft.”

It was no bracelet, but I couldn’t keep a smile off my face. “I maybe hid some measuring tape near the entryway and ran over to your shoes when you went to the bathroom once.”

“Sneaky,” Steve said and set his shiny loafers aside. “I’m going to have to bring them every time I come over.”

“They’re worth it,” I said and wiggled my own unicorn-clad feet.

Steve picked up the last gift. Or ‘gift.’ “That’s not–” I stopped myself and tried to think of what I wanted to say. I just couldn’t figure out how I could say it that I wouldn’t sound stupid. I gave up on the pretense. “So that’s…just a little thing, that can actually stay here if you want, but it is yours. I know you’re not really into games, but I thought if you were over here maybe you could have your own controller.” As he looked it over, I quietly added, “And maybe I can look into…games with two players. If you’d like to play with me sometimes.”

“I would like that,” he said quickly. “To play with you.” He then turned bright red. “In a game– in a video game.”

I would have made fun of him, but I was choked by embarrassment too. Damn it, I had done so well with keeping my daydreams chaste (mostly, mostly chaste) and that fucker had to do that. I swallowed and tried to think of absolutely anything else while the time ticked on and our mutual embarrassment settled in. Luckily Steve still had the perfect distraction in his hands. “Hey– do you like the design?” I asked, looking from the Captain America shield design to Steve and back and back again.

He rolled his eyes. “Where did you even find it?” he asked and set the package down.

“I don’t know who does your marketing but they deserve a raise because they are putting in work,” I said and sat back, a little apart from him. I could only get so far on the same couch in a small apartment, but it was enough.

“I’ll be sure to pass that along,” he said.

The conversation died and I didn’t know if I should say anything or not, but I felt…mostly comfortable. Despite the slightly-less-but-still-a-little awkward silence. Outside was cold but we were warm inside with fuzzy slippers and snacks and a slate of classic Christmas movies.

“Hey Steve?” I said, looking at the TV.

“Yeah?” he asked and leaned in.

I definitely didn’t turn my head– I was afraid the temptation would be too great. So, I resisted. But I still had plenty to be grateful for. “I’m glad you ditched your dumb party to hang out with me.”

He chuckled and scooted closer. His presence was a wall of warmth that was too comfortable, so much so that I got a core workout just from sitting so rigidly upright. But then he said, “So am I,” and, well…it was worth it.

~Later; Avengers Tower~

“I told you you’d break him,” Maria said, sitting on one arm of the couch.

“Excuse me?” Tony extended his arms, drink sloshing dangerously up the sides of his cup. “I don’t see him here. Where do you think he ran to, hm?”

“We don’t know he went there.” Clint said, a little down the bar from Tony. “He could have run home.”

“No, he’s there,” Natasha said, tapping at her phone. “He’s on her couch, I quote, “eating chips in peace.’”

“Ungrateful,” Tony muttered and continued to do so.

The others ignored him. “So are we going to let Steve handle this on his own terms now?” Bruce asked.

“Bruce,” Natasha said, mock-frowning at him. “It’s like you don’t know us.”

Bruce rolled his eyes, but stretched and groaned. “It’s more like I’m partied out, and this isn’t working.”

“Yet!” Tony said and pointed at Bruce– again, with the hand holding the drink, so his drink sloshed over the side and onto Rhodes, who cursed and grabbed napkins to dry his shirt. “It hasn’t worked yet.”

“Tony,” Pepper said, exasperation lacing her tone. “I think it’s time to let this go. He’s going to refuse to come to any more at this point.”

“Except he has to come to the New Year’s Eve party,” he said, looking at her with eyes as serious as he could make them. He only wavered slightly.

“Oh,” Pepper said. “Yes, he has to come to that one.” She looked thoughtful. “Maybe we can make it a bit smaller.”

“‘Just us’ smaller?” Clint asked.

“Not too small,” Natasha said. “She’ll need a place to hide.”

Thor sat on the couch, with Jane sleeping on one of his shoulders and Darcy sleeping on the other, and he looked curiously around the room. “It is interesting that the Captain would be infatuated with a partner so…” He tried to think of a word, and settled on, “Meek.”

Clint and Natasha snorted in unison. “She’s not meek,” Natasha said. “She just keeps to herself and comes around on her own terms.”

Thor brightened and looked to his sleeping girlfriend. “Like my Jane,” he said and faced forward again, keeping his body very still so as not to disturb the sleeping women. “Perhaps Darcy will help in bringing her forward.”

Bruce cleared his throat. “Before we get too ahead of ourselves, how are we sure Steve isn’t going to skip the next party?”

“He won’t,” Natasha said. “As long as everyone shows up– and they will,” she said, shooting a look at Bruce. He, naturally, withered, and she looked around the room, finally settling on Pepper. “Put her name on the list. I’ll make sure he comes, and I’m certain he will bring his date.”

“The question is: do you think he’ll bring her as a date, or will it become a date?” Maria asked idly.

“Are we betting?” Pepper asked brightly.

As the rest of the group got involved in the debate, Bruce and Phil stared from their positions against the wall. “Poor Steve,” Bruce said. When Phil lifted his glass Bruce clinked his against it, and then they both downed the last of their drinks in unison.

~The next day~

Steve: Please Me: Steve Steve: PLEASE Me: …Are you on your knees or something? Steve: If I was and I took a picture would you come with me? Me: You seriously want me to come along that bad? Me: Why can’t you skip out? Steve: The NYE party is a big one Steve: Or so I have been told Steve: Sam is coming Steve: And I missed Thor at the last party Steve: I will never hear the end of it if I miss him at this one Steve: Please? Me: We forgot to go on that shopping trip for your spine Steve: It won’t do me much good when Natasha removes it Steve: She said I HAVE to go Steve: But Tony and Pepper always have good food Steve: And good alcohol Steve: And he pays the bartenders so well you literally aren’t allowed to tip Steve: Please? Me: … Me: I’m going to have to wear a nice dress Me: And makeup Me: And travel through the city on New Year’s Eve Me: To a big social event Me: This is going to sound weird because Stark’s parties are some hot thing apparently but Me: You are going to owe me so fucking big Steve: I already owe you! Steve: Thank you!

He went on to thank me in a variety of ways that normally would have made me laugh, but I already really regretted saying yes. Steve, all of his friends, me, and booze– I hit my head against my phone for each miserable fucking point. Oh, and people tended to kiss at midnight. Thinking of all the good alcohol made me feel sour, because I wasn’t going to be able to allow myself much of it. Not if I wanted to succeed in keeping my secret crush secret. And even with that pre-new year resolution, I still had a really bad feeling that I wasn’t going to be under wraps for long.

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#steve rogers x reader #steve rogers & reader #captain america fanfic #avengers fanfic #reader insert #lunch buddy #gift exchange #holiday parties #parties #texting #i love the texting bits but formatting them will be the fucking death of me

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oh-theatre · 5 years ago

Text

Objection!: Chapter 2

Chapter title: Morning Chaos

A/n: I wrote a lot more family!Patton than I expected too but I think it's fine. Also, I hope I'm doing ok, let me know! Also, I have been doing a lot of research for this fic but I might get things wrong so I apologize.

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words: 2858

summary: Patton tries his best to get his kids ready for the morning, and Virgil receives some unsettling news.

pairings: Eventual logicality, eventual prinxiety, platonic demus

warnings: Murder mention

Ao3 Link

“Yo Virge! Someones at your desk!” A familiar voice calls to Virgil as he steps into the precinct early morning. Virgil turns grumbling to face his partner Remy, glaring at him. Remy shrugs it off and points to their desks. Virgil's gaze follows his point and his annoyance grows seeing a figure hovering over his desk, messing with his things. “Yeah, I thought you might like that” Remy teases before dragging a very tired Virgil over to their desk.

“Hi, hello what do you want?” Virgil wastes no time interrogating the figure. The man stands tall and faces away from the pair. Virgil sighs and pushes the man aside slightly before sitting down. He feels a weighted pressure push his chair down and a voice brought his ear.

“Is that really any way to treat a judge?” Virgil spins around pushing the man away from him frightened.

“Roman! God! What are you doing here?” Virgil takes a moment to steady his breathing glaring at the now snickering Judge and his partner doing the same. Roman notices his glare and promptly stops his giggle fest. “Look I had a rough morning, I'm really annoyed right now so just… what are you doing here?” Virgil begs it's true. His morning had been less than ideal trying to get his son Damian to the daycare was a test. He had gotten absolutely no sleep last night fretting over the murder trial and to make things worse Roman Reial was standing in the precinct laughing at him. So not ideal.

“Sorry..” Roman sputters through his returning laughs, he clears his throat “My apologies Virgil, I'm here to retrieve the final evidence files for the trial this afternoon.” Virgil nods and gestures for the judge to follow him. They walk through the dimly lit precinct in awkward silence. They make their way through the array of desks, past the break room into the evidence locker.

“Case 203” Virgil requests, the lady at the desk nods and disappears into the plethora of file cabinets behind her. Virgil feels a buzz in his pocket and reaches for his now ringing cell phone. “Detective Tormine, what can I do for you?” Virgil's hears Roman stifle a laugh, he shoots him another glare, Roman puts his hands up innocently. Virgil listens his face slowly falls and he sighs exasperated “I'll be there as soon as I can, thank you Cindy” He slams his phone shut and rubs his temples. Roman eyes him with curiosity.

“Is everything alright detective?” The judge asks, his voice softening at the clear state of distress the man is in. Virgil shakes his head biting his lip.

“Its Damian, apparently he's not doing so well and he threw up.” Virgil scoffs “How does a father miss when their child is sick? I mean...I'm an awful parent” He curses himself. Damian had begged all morning not to go today, telling his father he felt ‘icky’, Virgil wanted to kick himself. Roman puts a reassuring hand on the smaller man's shoulder, he uses his other hand to lift Virgil's face so they stand eye to eye.

“You are not an awful parent” Roman says firmly, his tone has shifted. Virgil recognizes the sudden change, it was Romans court voice. “You are a single dad, who work practically 24/7 in the field of law and still makes time for your kid. I can't tell you how many times Patton has felt the same, it doesn't make you awful parents. You are under an incredible amount of stress, so you missed some signs that's ok because you can go now and take care of him. He will appreciate that so much more than you being upset with yourself” Roman soothes. Virgil simply stares, Roman was right but Virgil also knew it wasn't that easy. However, Virgil needed to go so he simply nods. The lady comes back, handing Roman the case file, and remaining evidence. They thank her before making their way back to the desk. “Why don't I drive you? It's on the way to the courthouse anyway” Roman offers, Virgil knows for a fact the daycare was in the opposite direction but he doesn’t think Roman was one to take no for an answer.

“Ooo! Roadtrip” Remy exclaims joining the conversation. Virgil rolls his eyes smiling softly at his partner's antics. “Can I come?”

“It's not a road trip Remy” Virgil insists “I'm going to pick up my sick son” Remy backs away face apologetic, Virgil shoots him a reassuring glance before turning back to Roman. “Fine but only because I don't want to take the bus” Roman claps victorious, Remy snickers before returning to his work.

What did I get myself into?

~~~

“What?!” Patton cries into the phone, he rubs his temples frustrated “No, no, no please Cindy-” He listens aggravated. Finally, he sighs resigned “Yes, ok fine, thank you Cindy” He hangs up the phone and buries his face into a pile of files on his desk. He groans and sits up thinking. He looks around his musty study examining the darkroom. The curtains were closed except for a tiny slit of sunlight gleaming through. The lamp on his desk flickered making a sizzling sound. Patton shut it off and stood opening the curtains. Sunlight flooded the room giving Patton a calm feeling. He turns to the bookcases that surrounded his desk staring at the empty spots. Furrowing his brows he took the books he pulled out the previous night and places them back into their rightful spots. Once the last book was home he faces the mess of files on his desk. Patton began organizing the files and his notes. He grabs his briefcase and smiles opening up the old thing. The richness that pours from it is enough to make Patton swoon. He carefully places his files, notes, laptop and anything else he might need into it. He latches it closed and heaves it out into the kitchen, shutting off the lights and door behind him. He places the briefcase onto the counter and turns to the stove. The time flashes 8:00 AM. Patton lets out a huff of relief, not late, and begins making breakfast. He uses what he can find seeing as they had just arrived home and Patton hadn’t gone grocery shopping yet. He turns on the radio and listens as he cooks up breakfast for three.

“-new case to bless the courthouse today Jolene!” A cheery reporter sounds through the radio. Patton feels his stomach collapse to the ground. He leaves the bread to toast and listens intently to the reporters.

“You are absolutely right Adam!” Another voice joins the mix. Patton takes the now toasted bread and spreads even amounts of butter and crofters jam on to them. “It seems that the Florida police have finally found a leading suspect for the ‘Alphabet Murder’ case!” Jolene hollers at the name joined by Adam. Patton bites his bottom lip. There are families, children who suffered, He thinks, this isn't a joke. The reporters continue, discussing things Patton is already aware of. He turns the radio off and serves breakfast at the dining table. He pours two glasses of orange juice and begins brewing coffee for himself. He hums as he cleans away the small mess, twirling around slightly.

“Papa…” A sleepy voice calls from behind him. He finishes the last dish securing it safely on the drying rack before turning to face his young daughter. She stands in the archway between the kitchen and dining room rubbing her eyes and holding her prized plushie. Patton feels himself melt at the adorable sight, he kneels in front of the young girl.

“Good Morning angel face” Patton coos at his toddler. Valerie gives a smile before jumping into her father's arms wrapping her small arms around his neck. Patton stands hugging her back and planting small kisses all over her face. Valerie shrieks delightfully before begging to be put down. Patton obliges and sets her down softly. “There's toast at the table if you want some” Patton offers, she nods excited and runs to sit down. He watches as she munches on her food. Patton’s coffee finishes and he joins Valerie at the table. “Is your brother still asleep?” Patton asks wiping crumbs off the side of her cheek.

“Mmhm” She chimes “But I woke him up! I said we had to go see our friends!” Valerie explains gesturing wildly. Patton feels his heart twinge. “And then he got right up!” She finishes taking the last bite of her food. “He’s so messy Papa” Valerie whispers as though spreading gossip “And icky, boys are icky” Patton laughs and ruffles her hair. He takes her empty plate and brings it over to the dishwasher. She helps him by bringing over her empty glass. They make their way back to the table sitting down. “When can we see our friends?” Valerie asks bouncing on her chair. Patton sighs disappointed.

“Not today kiddo, I’m sorry” Patton admits, Valerie sits still in her chair and pouts. “Cindy said they had an accident and had to shut down for the day” Patton explains pained by the sad eyes Valerie gives him.

“But I wanna see my friends” Patton nods understandably.

“I know kiddo, but hey think about this! Today you get to come to work with me and hang out with Papa!” Patton plasters on a big smile. Valerie looks up hopeful. “How's that sound?” She nods, her bubbly mood returning. “Now why don't we check on that brother of yours ok?” Patton takes her hand as they walk upstairs into the twin's room. Valerie groans at the sight of a snoring Remus sleeping in his bed. Patton chuckles making his way over to the boy. He strokes the boys head lovingly. “Remus buddy, it's time to wake up” Patton says softly “I made you some food, aren't you hungry?”

“No Dada, I don't want the mashed potatoes” Remus mumbles turning over, clutching onto his pillow. Patton suppresses a laugh before carefully lifting Remus causing him to stir awake. He opens his eyes and looks around before softly hitting Patton's chest “Put me down!” He exclaims squirming “Put me down, y-you… heathen!” Patton obliges through fear of dropping the boy from laughing. He helps Remus change while Valerie packs her things.

“Ready to go? Both of you?” Patton pleads after finally getting everybody ready. Valerie nods, while Remus lets out a grumbling huff. “What's wrong crab cake?” Patton asks his grumpy son.

“Nofin” He replies before climbing into the backseat of the car and letting Patton buckle him up. He places a quick kiss on the boy's forehead before getting into the driver's seat. He checks the mirror before pulling out and smiling at the excited conversation the twins are having.

~~~

Logan yawns walking into the courthouse sipping his coffee. He’s always amazed by the beautiful architect the building held. The arches placed neatly around leading to different courtrooms. The front desk tying the room into a half-circle. The ceiling dripping with meticulous art and flattering light. The stained windows complimenting them. Everything fit perfectly, it was his favorite place. Was being the operative word. It was until he heard the unruly shriek of laughter and giggles of children. He didn't hate children, let's make that clear. In fact, there were some select children that he cared for very dearly. However, it was incredibly early, and this was a courthouse. The one place a child should not be. He didn't hate children, he turned around ready to pounce but immediately melted, Oh...he especially didn't hate these children.

“Val! Remus! Remember what I told you about volume in the car” Patton warned. Logan watched as the very exasperated man took his children's hands and led them to the front desk. Jenny, the receptionist, helped him check in all while swooning over the twins. Patton smiled brightly at her words and Logan watched as he got visitors passes for the kids and said goodbye to Jenny. “Ok now remember, we are going to go to my office and stay there for a little bit, then Papa has to work so you guys are gonna hang out in the children's room, and then we can all eat lunch together, hows that sound?” Patton was kneeling now, why? Logan thought, he watched as the twins burst into simultaneous enthusiasm about their father's plan. Patton stood when he heard his name called, he began a conversation with another judge. Logan watched as the judge asked him about his trip, he was brought out of his thoughts when he felt a small pressure push against his legs. He looked down to see a very embarrassed Remus.

“I'm sorry mister” The boy mumbles, too scared to look up. He rubs his head bothered and stuffs his play truck into his pocket. Logan tilts his head slightly.

“No worries Remus” He speaks calmly, his face remains “I'm sure it was an accident” Remus looks up gaining a quick smile as he recognizes the man.

“Logan!” He cries out drawing Patton's attention, as well as a few others. Patton finishes his conversation and races over to the other two, followed by Valerie. “Look Dada it's Mister. Logan!” Remus exclaims to his father, Patton chuckles lightly.

“It's actually Mr.Tolentino, Remus” Logan corrects, gaining a disappointed glance from Patton. Remus pouts, followed by Valerie. He feels a small flutter in his stomach but ignores it.

“Your no fun” Valerie points out, Remus nods.

“I apologize” Logan begins adjusting his glasses “But this is a workplace, I'm not here for fun” He explains. Patton looks down at his children then back at Logan. His face is riddled with a disheartened look. He kneels down once more in front of his children. He's doing it again...Logan furrowed his brows examining the man's posture.

“Logan is right kiddos” Patton speaks finally. Logan feels an unfamiliar sensation when his name flows from Patton's mouth, yet it feels uneasy. “Why don't I have Jenny take you guys to my office while I finish up some stuff, ok?” The twins nod still discouraged and are led away by Jenny who follows along with all of their antics. Patton watches them go before standing once more.

“Why do you do that?” Logan inquires suddenly. Patton turns to him curiously.

“Do what?”

“Kneel, why do you kneel when you speak to them. Are you not perfectly capable of standing and looking down?” Patton bites his lip questioning whether Logan is being serious. Logan remains silent, Patton nods slowly.

“I kneel because then I can speak to them at their level. I'm creating an equal dynamic that says ‘I am listening to you, I care about what you are saying, and you matter to me’” he pauses, Logan processes this. “If I look down on them I am silently telling them the opposite of all those things. Children who feel seen and heard not only behave better but grow up to keep those values instilled in them. They feel respected, which in turn also makes me feel respected. They are more likely to listen to what I am saying If I show them that I am willing to do the same.” Patton finishes calmly, Logan stares in wonderment.

“That...is… incredibly smart and...amazing” Logan manages still gazing at Patton. Patton giggles lightly, only pulling Logan further into his amazement. “You are… a g-good parent” Logan curses himself. I don't stutter.

“Thanks, Lo!” Patton bounces, Logan feels a sudden relief at the return of his nickname. “I sure hope so. Whatcha up to today?” Patton inquires, releasing Logan from his thoughts

“Its ‘What are you up to today’ and as for my work-” Patton rolls his eyes at the correction, the men seemingly fall back into their familiar routine “I was placed on the ‘Alphabet Murder’ case, as they so annoyingly call it” Logan says, something changes in Patton's demeanor that he can't quite describe. Patton looks… bothered?

“Oh” Is all he replies, his cheery tone washed away by a flat voice. “So your… the prosecutor?” Logan had expected to feel pride, or amusement once Patton had noticed who he was going up against but just felt… bad. The father’s face was infested with mixed emotions.

“Yes I will, and what will you be doing today?” Logan inquires, knowing the answer. Patton shuffles his feet and fidgeting nervously with his briefcase.

“I'm the defense actually” Patton says, he examines Logan's face “But you already knew that, didn't you?” Logan's face falls.

Damnit

“I… yes I did. Ho-”

“I told you, you have to learn how to read your client's emotions” He says. Logan expects a teasing manner but is puzzled by the still present sadness the man conveys. “I should go, I need to prepare and check on the kids. See you in court Logan” Patton dismisses himself walking away. Logan jerks at the return of his full name.

“See you in court, Patton” He whispers to himself, feeling the adrenaline of a new case drip away.

#objection au #logicality #prinxiety #sanders sides #thomas sanders #logan sanders #patton sanders #virgil sanders #roman sanders #remus sanders #deceit sanders #ao3 #archive of our own #fanfiction #ts demus

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revisionaryhistory · 5 years ago

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Three Days ~ 7

Catch up here AO3

~*~Sebastian~*~

I fell asleep last night thinking about Emma. The night had been simple and easy. I really did feel a little like a teenager holding hands with her. This may sound stupid or incredibly naive, but it was innocent. Dating at thirty-five is anything but innocent. It's littered with land mines you have to tip toe around and hope you don’t get something you need blown off. No wonder most people hate dating, but last night was good.

I woke up with a raging hard on. I'd been in the middle of a dream where I was inside Emma, pushed up over her with her nails digging into my biceps. All and all not the worst way to wake up. I let my imagination finish the dream while my hand relieved the ache under the sheets. Oh, FYI, in my fantasy she finished first.

My phone went off again and I came to the unfortunate realization that a text from my mother had interrupted my erotic dream. I cringed and shook it off. Mom had made breakfast. I checked the time. A little before eight. I hadn't been in bed five hours. This was going to be a long day. I hoped she’d found the coffee maker yesterday.

I returned mom’s text, got dressed, and drug my ass into the kitchen. She and my step dad were tucked in at the table and there was a place with a cup of coffee waiting for me. I kissed mom's cheek and sat down, “You're the best. This smells delicious.” French toast and bacon. I heard my trainer's voice inside my head telling me to get to the gym. I'd be home and back at it bright and early tomorrow morning. A couple of off days weren't going to ruin me.

“How was your date?”

I looked over the steam from my coffee cup at my step dad. I took a sip, “Good. We went to this place on the river and ended up talking until they closed.”

“You going to see her again?”

“Yeah, I'd like too. I dropped her off pretty late. I'll text her in a little while.”

While we ate we talked about the things mom wanted me to do today. The cable people were coming so first on my list was getting the TV's hung on the walls and ready to go. We tested out sound bars by dragging a Blu-ray player around. We laughed remembering how bulky VCR tapes were and now entire movie collections could be contained on hard drive no bigger than two of them. Once the TV's were squared away I started hauling boxes from the garage to the room they belonged in. Apparently the boxes had arrived before the furniture and they didn't want boxes in the way while they figured out room arrangements. Mom also felt less overwhelmed with a few boxes at a time to unpack. She could move from room to room doing a little at a time and have things slowly take shape.

I took a couple of boxes with kitchen supplies to the pool house and got the TV hooked up down there. A look at the clock told me it was a little after eleven. Surely Emma was awake by now. I'll text. Then if she's still sleeping she can ignore.

I smiled when my phone went off and her name flashed on the screen. “Hey, Seb. I'm driving, so I can't text. I didn't want you to think I was ignoring you.”

“I'm glad I didn't wake you up.”

“I did sleep in a little.”

“I didn't. Mom had doing shit before eight.”

“Ouch, sorry.”

I scrubbed my hand through my hair. “Worth it. What are you up to today?” My subtle plan was to see if she was busy then find where I could insert myself. Normally I'm more direct, but I don't know anything to do here. Makes it hard to suggest a date.

“Right now I'm on the way to the gym.”

I jumped on it, “Can I come?”

“You want to go to the gym?”

I could hear the suppressed laughter in her voice. “While I was eating breakfast, I heard my trainer's voice in my head saying get to the gym; french toast may taste good, but how will it look on your abs.”

She laughed out loud this time, “I thought only women imagined where the food was going. I'm positive I should just lick Reese Cups and stick them to my thighs.”

My thoughts went dirty and I fought not to say something about eating Reese Cups off her thighs. “A trip to the gym would quiet his voice. Plus, I'd get to see you.”

“Yeah, I'd like that. I'll text you the gym address. I'll wait for you in the lobby.”

She'd like to see me too. Thought brought to you by my inner teenager who is giggling like an idiot. I don't want to work out and call it the end. “Are you doing anything after? I was thinking I'd bring something to change into and we can hang out.” I laughed, “I don't know what to ask you to do. I just want to do something.”

“Sure, we'll figure out something.”

“Good. I'll see you in a few minutes, Emma.”

“See you soon.”

Yes!

I need a shower. Doesn't make sense before working out. I lifted up my arm and sniffed. Eh, not offensive. More deodorant anyway. I dumped my clothes out of my bag onto the bed. Shoved shower stuff and something to wear back in. Her text came and I was out the door.

Found the gym easy enough. Realized I don't know what kind of car she drives. Fingers crossed she's here or I can just stand in the lobby looking like an idiot. I walked in and scanned the area. There she is. She looks . . . exactly how she looked when I met her in the grocery. I started laughing.

Emma looked at me like I was crazy then joined in the laughing. “What's so funny?”

“You were coming from the gym yesterday.” I waved my hand down her body. “You were dressed the same.”

She nodded, “I'm here most days. Sunday is my rest day.”

I took her hand as we walked to the desk, “I have lighter days. Not really rest days.”

She signed me in, talking a second to the girl behind the desk before we headed down the hall past the locker rooms. She looked at me and cringed, “I'm feeling pretty intimidated.”

“Why?”

“Self conscious. I imagine your work out is very different than mine. I probably have horrible form.”

“Your form looks pretty damn good to me.” I pressed my lips together and nodded while leaned back to check her out. She laughed and shoved me. Great response. “I promise not to correct anything unless you’re going to hurt yourself.”

She shook her head, “Oh hell no! Make yourself useful. Tell what I'm doing wrong.”

I'm sure my work outs are very different than hers too. Today I'm not working out at the intensity my trainer pushes. Completely different situation. I want to spend time with her more than I want the strength training. “Where do you usually start?”

She pointed to a room on the right, “Bike for twenty minutes.”

I clapped my hands, “Sounds good. Let's go.”

#Sebastian Stan #fanfic #fanfiction #sebastian stan fanfiction

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oskea93 · 5 years ago

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Think of You Part Seven (part 1)

A/N: Hey guys! I just want to thank you guys for the continued support for Think of You. I’m so glad that all of you enjoy the story. I enjoy writing Caroline and the gang. Out of all the stories i’ve ever written, Caroline and Mac are my favorite OCs. I hope you like them as well! Okay, so i’ve broken chapter seven up into two parts. The first part was a little goofy and filler-ish, but the second part will be more dramatic (ie Nikki and Caroline interactions). Without further waiting, here’s chapter seven! PS: Sorry if there are any grammatical mistakes. I’ll try to go back and fix them at a later time!

Have you ever watched a movie where the main girl sleeps with the main guy and then quietly sneaks of the room the next morning? You sometimes wonder how she’s being so quiet or how the guy can sleep like a log while she’s leaving the bed or getting dressed. Even though I’ve had those thoughts, I never imagined that I would have to figure those things out for myself. I remember getting to this point but I couldn’t believe I let it actually happen. It took almost a year for my ex-boyfriend to get me into his bed. He tried from the very beginning but I brushed off his advances and told him I wasn’t ready. It took Nikki Sixx less than 4 hours to not only bless me with the way his tongue worked but also have me screaming his name as he pounded into me. Oh gosh, that sounds so gross! Long story short- Nikki and I had sex. We had sex numerous times that night and it was amazing! Even though I was in eternal bliss last night and the early part of this morning, I was now regretting every single action I let happen yesterday. First of all, I regretted ever going to the concert. If I just stayed home and watched TV and folded laundry like I planned, this would have never happened. I would still have some sort of dignity. Hell, my poor dignity was left at that stupid concert venue on that slimy couch.

I looked over at Nikki, taking him in as he slept. Even though he was attractive when he was awake, he was even cuter while he slept. Part of me just wanted to stay and enjoy being wrapped in his arms. It felt nice. The other part of me, the side with all the judgment, was telling me to leave and leave fast. It was as if my brain was fighting with my heart, unfortunately my brain was winning. I had all these consequences running through my brain. What if he just used me for sex? He was a musician. He knew that he could have any girl he wanted and I was probably just a play thing for the night. He got what he wanted and I would never hear from him again. Did I want that? Even though I haven’t known him that long, I enjoyed spending time with him. He got on my nerves, and he still does, but I enjoyed being around him. I liked the way he laughed. His laugh was weird and cute at the same time. I liked how his eyes stared into your sole. He had gorgeous green eyes. He was so smart, too.

It seemed like he was an overall catch but I he was way too dangerous for me. He was in a rock band for one. He had tattoos. He sang and played music that mentioned Satanism. The most dangerous part of him was that he was utterly gorgeous and there was no way I could stay away. Why was he so damn pretty!

I decided that I needed to get out of there before he woke up. I didn’t want to deal with the awkward post sex talk. Granted, I’ve never had an awkward post sex encounter but I didn’t want to start now. I don’t think I ever had a regular morning after encounter. I’ve only had sex like four times, this making five, and I’ve always woken up by myself. That makes you feel really crappy. You think that you’ve spent the night with a great person and then you wake up alone and confused. Oh. That’s exactly what I was about to do.

I looked back at Nikki. Did I really want to leave him alone in bed after what happened between us? Would he be mad? Maybe he’d be cool with it. I’m such a terrible person!

I slowly removed myself from his grasp, trying my best not to wake him up. The poor guy had a vice grip on, I guess afraid that I would leave at some point. I basically crawled out of bed and landed on the floor with a light thud. I peered over the mattress to make sure the noise didn’t wake him. He was still sound asleep. The sheets that covered us were laying low on his stomach, making my heart race a bit. My new alter-ego, let’s call her Veronica, wanted nothing more than to pounce on him and replay last night all over again. After a couple of seconds, I decided that that coast was clear. I pulled my naked body off the ground and started looking for my clothes. The only article of clothing I could find was my romper. I had no idea where my underwear was and one of my shoe was missing. I quickly pulled on the romper and tried looking for the other shoe. Luckily, I found it near the bathroom door. I slipped on my sandals, trying not to look at myself in the mirror that just so happened to be in front of the bed. I looked at that plenty enough last night. My hair-tie was around my wrist, allowing me to pull my messy hair into an even messier bun. I grabbed my purse from the bedside chair and tip-toed out the bedroom door.

People were passed out everywhere.

Some people had all of their clothes on, while others were barely covered. There were alcohol bottles littered all over the floor, along with cigarette buds crushed into the carpet. I felt bad for whoever owned this house. I quickly made my way out the door and to the edge of the street. I remembered that the house was close to the strip. I made my way down the street, trying not pay attention to that passed me. You could definitely tell that I just had a one night stand. I didn’t have any undergarments on and my hair was piled on top of my head. My love bites, which had doubled, were on full display. The people that passed me probably thought I was a hooker or groupie. Was I a groupie? What exactly is a groupie? I’ll have to ask Mac when I get home; I’m sure she knows that answer to that.

Oh gosh, Mackenzie. Our conversation from last night flooded my memory. I could tell that she was mad at me for not answering her question. I can’t believe I lied to her. She’s my best friend. I shouldn’t have lied about what I did with Nikki. She would probably congratulate me for what I had done. I’m gonna have to call her when I get home. Maybe I should have stayed with Nikki. If I stayed, I wouldn’t be walking down the Sunset Strip in search of a taxi. What if there isn’t a taxi available this early? I didn’t even know what time it was? The sun was pretty high in the sky but I still couldn’t tell you the time. My dad tried to teach me all that wilderness stuff when I was younger but it never stuck. I was more interested in my Barbie dolls and helping my mom in the kitchen. “Taxi!”

After three failed attempts at haling a taxi, I finally made it back home. I immediately stripped out of my clothes and stepped into the shower. I allowed the hot water to wash away the sins that I had just committed. I didn’t realize how sore my body was until the hot water hit my skin. I also didn’t realize the extent of the love bites Nikki had left. They were everywhere! I had them on my neck, my chest, my hipbones, and my inner thighs. He just worked his way down, leaving his mark as he went. The ones of my neck were very noticeable and I had to be at work tomorrow. I never had to deal with a hickey before. I for sure didn’t know how to hide them from the world. How was I supposed to show up to my class tomorrow with bruises all over my neck? It’s like a bruise, right? Maybe I could say that the vacuum cleaner went rouge and attacked me. You’re so stupid, Caroline. The kids would probably believe that lie but their parents would not. Why did I let him do this to me? I could get fired for showing up with hickeys all over my body. I worked at a Christian school for goodness sake!

I removed myself from the shower, wrapping a towel around my body. I had a couple of errands to run today and I also need to speak to Mac. I knew that she was mad at me last night. I had every intention of talking to her last night but Nikki had other plans. I quickly dressed and allowed my hair to air dry. I made a list of the things I needed from the grocery store and headed out. My mind was going a mile a minute with the thoughts of last night and what exactly it all meant. I had sex with a guy I barely knew but my heart had feelings for the guy. Sure, he was obnoxious and into himself, but there was something intriguing about him. He had a mystery to him and I wanted to solve it and claim him as mine. Wow, never thought I would think that about a guy. Another thing that made me want him was that he was so not my type. From a scale from being my type to not being my type, Nikki was on another planet. My type was Earth and he was Pluto. He was an unknown planet that held secrets and darkness that I needed to lighten. I wanted to be the sun to his dark little planet. Okay, that’s a bit weird…

NIKKI’S POV!

You know when you meet someone and they are unlike anyone you’ve ever met? Well, Caroline Daniels was that person to me. She was different from the girls that threw themselves at the band or even those that walked around on the strip. Hell, she was different from any girl that I’ve ever met in my life. She had a shyness about it but I could tell that she had a wild streak hiding somewhere. She was quirky and kind of nerdy, but in an adorable way. She was so fucking smart! She wasn’t like the airheads that Vince associated with. I think she ever said she was a teacher? I could have just made that part up but that’s beside the point. Caroline has been the only girl that’s made me chase after her. Most girls throw themselves on me as a dash and fuck. We fuck and then they dash away to the next member. I’ve had girls in my bed one minute and the next they are in Tommy’s. It was a revolving door of chicks that wanted to fuck us. With Caroline, I had to chase after her. I had to be the one that puts myself on the line and hope for the best. From the moment I saw her at the concert, I knew that she was the girl I needed to be with. I know that sounds super cheesy but it’s the truth. I remember the first time I saw her. My heart started to beat faster and my pants grew tighter than they had been. She defiantly had an effect on my dick, but her effect on my heart was more powerful. It kind of pissed me off that she walked out of the concert. We were killing it and she walks out like she’s uninterested. She must have been interested because I saw her return a few minutes later. Once I fully got a chase to see her at the restaurant, I knew that I was in love. (Cheesy moment again). I’m Nikki fucking Sixx, I’m not supposed to fall in love with girls. I’m a fucker, not a lover!

I tried to get Tommy to ask her friend what her address was so that I could see her. I thought maybe she would be excited but it seemed to piss her off. I thought she was gonna call the cops on my at one point. I think the true icing on the cake was when I convinced Tommy’s chick to invite her to dinner. I asked the girl to tell her that it would just be the two of them. I needed to talk to her and that was the only way I could get her alone without showing up at her place. She was pissed at first but she started letting her guard down. I guess I broke through enough because she showed up to the concert and we all know what happened after the show! Like I said, I barely know her, but I can’t get enough of her. I think I might even be in love with her…

I woke up the next morning expecting to find Caroline next to me. A smile formed on my face as I remember what had happened last night and into this morning. It was fast at first. We tore each other’s clothes off like a bunch of animals. I had her screaming my name so loud the people outside were cheering us on. I don’t even think we made it to the bed to be honest. I’m pretty sure I took her against the wall that first time. I think we christened the whole room. At one point, I remember fucking her on the dresser, that was amazing! We took a break here and there but the last time was special, at least I think so. It was slow and very intimate. The room was dark and quiet. It was just her and I. We had a connection that sent sparks throughout my body. It was the best sex I’ve ever had. I had every intention of taking her again this morning but she wasn’t here. To say I was disappointed would be an understatement. I was actually kind of pissed that she just left without saying goodbye. Granted, I probably wouldn’t have let her go, but she could have at least tried to say goodbye.

I slowly removed myself from the bed, stretching my sore muscles in the process. I pulled on my pants from last night, along with my boots, and made my way out to the main room. I didn’t bother putting my shirt back on as I stepped over the bodies of the party-goers. I made my way out the front door and over to my car, slipping my sunglasses on before starting the engine. I drove the distance to what I remembered was the location, trying my best not to get lost. Once I was sure this was the place, I parked the car, quickly pulling my discarded shirt back on, before heading up the metal staircase.

Apt #17 I knocked on the wooden door. I tried to listen for incoming footsteps but the traffic was making it hard to hear. I waited a couple more seconds before knocking again. Her curtains were closed so I could peep to see if she was just ignoring me. Hell, she could have been in her bedroom ignoring me for all I knew.

“She’s not home.” A male’s voice sounded. I turned my head to see an elderly man and woman leaving the apartment next to Caroline’s. “She left about 20 minutes ago.”

I cleared my throat, “Uh-“ I began. “Thanks.” I muttered.

The couple looked me over, disapproval flooding their eyes. “How do you know Caroline, son?” The man asked. His wife whispered to him not to interfere but he held up a hand to silence her. “Caroline’s a good girl. She doesn’t need a gutter rat such as yourself clouding her judgment.” I couldn’t help but laugh in his face. If he only knew how good a girl she actually was. He would be very surprised if I informed him of her actions yesterday and last night.

“Whatever, dude.” I muttered. I could tell the old man wanted to say something else, but I didn’t feel like hearing what he had to say. I sauntered away from the couple, making my way back to the car. I couldn’t help but laugh again at the comment the old guy said. It was no surprise to me that I was the opposite of Caroline. I was a gutter rat and a damn proud one too. Gutter rats know how to get shit done and don’t take shit from people…

Caroline’s POV

“He came to my house and my neighbors almost called the cops on him, Mac!” I exclaimed. “My poor neighbor hasn’t stopped checking on me since I got home.” I watched as Mac nearly chocked on her Chinese takeout. I had come home from grocery shopping and the next thing I know my neighbor is telling about the rude guy that was knocking on my door. I was concerned at first, but once he started explaining what he looked like I knew exactly who it was. From the jet black hair, unbuttoned shirt, and leather pants, I knew that it was none other than Nikki Sixx. I tried to explain to Walter and his wife, Maggie, that Nikki was just a friend and that they had no need to worry. Well, that didn’t exactly go as well as I would have hoped. Walter began to explain to me the dangers of being friends with a guy like Nikki. I would not only get into a lot of trouble but I could also be called not-so-nice names (his words, not mine). I assured him that I would be okay. I didn’t want to tell him that it was rude of him to interject himself into my business because that’s not the type of person I am. I respected him for looking out for me but I didn’t need another man like my father in my life. Michael Daniels was enough to handle.

“So what exactly happened between you and Nikki Sixx?” Mac asked, changing the subject. I knew she was wanting to know and I was going to have to tell her. I actually felt a bit embarrassed, to be honest. I used to criticize her for sleeping around with guys she barely knew, and now here I was doing the same thing. “Everything.” I muttered. “I let him-”I stopped, trying to find the right words. “I let him perform oral sex on me.” My eyes remained on my Lo Mein noodles as I waited for Mac’s response. After a couple of seconds of silence, I quickly peered up to see her smiling at me with her mouth wide open. “Why aren’t you saying anything?” I began to whine.

She instantly started to laugh, “You let Nikki Sixx go down on you?” My cheeks started to heat up as she laughed. “I can’t believe Caroline Vanessa Daniels got tongue fucked by Nikki Sixx!”

“Don’t say it like that, Mackenzie.” I groaned. I reached for the blanket that was resting on my couch and threw it over my head. Even though she said it in such a crass way, that’s exactly what happened. When my parents had the birds and bees talk with me, they never mentioned the use of tongue, not even when kissing. Like I had mentioned earlier, I found out about oral sex from Mac. Come to think of it, I found out a lot of stuff from Mac. All my parents told me about was when two people love each other, they get married, and THEN make love. I don’t even think I made love with Nikki. It was raw and wild, nothing like what my parents explained to me. I learned the Leave it to Beaver version from my parents and received the X-rated version from Nikki.

“You’re such a dork, Caroline.” Mac pulled the blanket from my head. “Okay, so, you had oral sex with Nikki. So, what?” She stated. “Did you have regular sex with him?” I stayed silent, giving her the answer. Another smile formed on her face, “I know this is gonna sound weird-” She began. “But I’m so proud of you for getting properly fucked.”

“Ugh!” I exclaimed. I quickly jumped up from the floor and started making my way to the kitchen. I hastily placed my bowl in the sink, Mac following close behind. “Caroline, it’s completely normal to have sex!” She exclaimed. “I had sex with Tommy the first night I met him. You’re 21 years old, that’s what we do.”

I turned to face her, “That’s not what I do. I don’t have sex with guys I barely know. Look how long it took Chris to get into my pants.”

“You don’t have sex with guys you barely know, but you do have sex with guys that you have feelings for, Caroline.” She spoke. “You and I both know that you have major feelings for Nikki, but you’re too scared to admit it.” I looked at her as if she had three heads. “Don’t look at me like that, you know I’m telling the truth. You want him, you need this man in your life.” Was she right? Every time I saw Nikki, my heart starts to flutter and I can’t help but smile. The heart fluttering could be some underlying medical condition, though. “I know what you’re doing, Caroline.” I looked at her. “You’re over analyzing everything and you’re gonna psych yourself out.”   I don’t know what came over me, but I just burst out crying. I dropped to the ground and just cried. I had no idea why I was crying, but huge tears were falling from my eyes. “Caroline!” Mac threw herself next to me, engulfing me in her arms. “You’re over analyzing.” She pressed her lips into my hair, gently rocking me, causing me to slowly calm down. “Just breath. It’s going to be okay.” I wiped the snot and tears that had formed on my sweatshirt. “I over analyzed.” I whimpered. “I couldn’t help it.”

Mac let out a chuckle, “You’ve been over analyzing things since I met you.” She pulled back a little. “Do you feel better, though? I mean, is your brain more clear to think?” I nodded my head, straightening up against the wooden cabinet. I did feel slightly better after my cry-plosion. “Now-”Mac started. “You need to go find Nikki and tell him that you’re sorry for skipping out on him this morning. And-”She cut me off before I could speak. “Tell him how you really feel.” I looked at her, slowly nodding my head in agreement. I knew she was right but I was being way too stubborn. I may have said that I was done over analyzing everything but it was a lie. I was thinking about anything and everything that had to do with Nikki. What would people think of him? What would people think of me? How would my parents react to me being with someone like Nikki? How would his fans, especially the female ones, react to me being with him? Was I edgy enough to be with a guy like him? The answer to the edgy question was a big-fat NO! I still watched Saturday Morning Cartoons for goodness sake! I teach seven and eight year olds; I have to be down with the cartoons trends.

“You’re doing it again!” Mac shouted, causing me to nearly jump out of my skin. “Don’t fucking over analyze!” She was right. I needed to calm down and face the music. The next time I see Nikki, I’m gonna tell him how I feel. I’m gonna tell him that I have feelings for him and I want to be with him. Goodness, gracious, that sounds so dorky!

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