#written by edith! ���

[starkeyvhs]

kiss me

PAIRING: rafe cameron x fem!reader

SUMMARY: 3 times rafe’s attempts to kiss you for the first time failed and the 1 time it didn’t. OR you have a ‘thing’ going on with the most popular guy of your school, where you both just know about your mutual attraction, but aren’t doing anything about it. how cliché, am I right?

WORD COUNT: 4.6k

WARNINGS: rafe is such a tease and a pain in the ass (but reader loves him); nerdy reader who loves science; swearing; high school au; swearing; slightly suggestive jokes; reader overworks herself; fluffiness and softness overall; I always beta read my fics but if there are any minor grammatical/spelling errors please ignore

EDITH SPEAKS: and it’s out!!! I’ve been wanting to write something like this for so long and i hope I did justice to the entire 3+1 idea! I always love fics in this format and I hope mine is pretty fun to read too <3 please reblog if you enjoyed reading! feedback is always highly appreciated 🪻

masterlist / join my taglist / requests

ONE — SNEAK IN

The soft chirping of the cicadas and the rustling of the trees in the gentle breeze is completely lost on you as your focus remains solely on the assignment opened in front of you, your headphones fixed in place, canceling any noises from outside whatsoever. 

Your attention is so absorbed by just your work that you don’t even realize when the window of your room slowly slides open, revealing no one other than Rafe slowly climbing inside your room. It’s only when Rafe accidentally bumps into your dresser and lets out a groan when you are made aware there is someone besides you in your room, and the sudden realization makes you let out a scream. 

“Jesus–” Rafe mutters, quickly muffling your scream with his hand covering your mouth. “It’s just me, calm down,” 

He watches your widened eyes slowly fall shut for a moment before opening back up, the tense muscles of your body slowly relaxing. He gently removes your headphones and keeps them aside on your bed, his hand coming off your mouth and falling to his side. 

“You scared me!” You say, giving a light smack to his arm as you scoot over on your bed to make space for him. Rafe only playfully rolls his eyes and sits next to you on your bed. His eyes skim over your assignment sprawled over your bed sheets in front of you before meeting your gaze. 

“What?” He teases, leaning back against the headboard, watching you look back at him with that adorable confused expression that he loves. 

“Oh, I don’t know,” you begin, “probably something about how you just sneaked in?” You say, your voice taking an incredulous tone.

He chuckles softly, his heart only melting more at your incredulity, and the way your eyes widen when he begins to make himself more comfortable; fluffing the pillow behind him once and slouching against it. 

“You talk a lot sometimes, you know that?” He teases, letting his fingers curl around your arm and giving you a gentle tug. 

You only huff at his words, trying your level best to not let the small smile pulling the corners of your lips to be shown to him, because you just know the amount of teasing it’ll entail. 

You let him pull you closer to him, now both of you sitting so close to each other your knee touches his thigh. You look at him, all slouched and comfortable in your bed as you sit upright. 

“What?” You mutter, as he gazes back at you with a gentle smirk on his face. 

“Nothing,” he shrugs, his smirk only widening as he keeps on gazing at you, the eye contact strong and firm, and it’s clear none of you are ready to cut it. 

You can feel a certain heat rising up in your cheeks with the way his piercing blue eyes simply refuse to leave yours. It’s intoxicating in a way – the feelings bubbling under your skin when he looks at you like that, and no matter how hard you wish to try, you just can’t take your own eyes away from his. 

“What are you even doing here?” You mutter, your eyes still sinking into his. 

“What? I can’t visit my favorite girl?” Rafe says – more like challenges – a matching look in his eyes as he leans forward just slightly. 

That catches you off guard, no doubt, but you maintain eye contact with him, squinting your eyes just a bit. 

“Liar,” you mutter, your tone accusatory, a finger coming up pointing towards his face. “I know that’s not true. What do you want? Chemistry homework? No wait, you suck at math you probably need–” 

Rafe can’t help but let out a quiet laughter at your words, his gaze breaking apart from yours as he looks down at his lap, shaking his head quietly as he laughs. 

“What?” You clear your throat, sitting up straighter as you grab your assignment back again and bring it in your lap, flipping through the pages to find where you left off before a certain intrusion completely broke your focus. 

“Hey hey come on now,” he says, gently pulling the above assignment out from your hands and keeping it aside. “I’m here, give me attention,” he pouts, sitting up straighter in bed and shifting closer to you. 

You let out a deep exhale and turn to look at Rafe. “See? That’s better,” he mutters, a small smile playing on his lips as he lets his fingers gently tuck a stray strand of your hair behind your ear. 

Another silence envelops you two, but this time it’s more charged – as if a certain pull is making sure you don’t even attempt to take your eyes away from him. The silence only electrifies the moment between you two more, and before you know it, you can see him ever so slowly gravitating towards you. 

“Honey I’m home!”

Your mother’s voice rings through your entire house, and it’s like the sharpest knife cutting through the thickest tension. The bubble that formed around you and Rafe bursts immediately and Rafe springs away from you, both of your eyes widening. 

“Shit,” you curse under your breath, suddenly remembering how your mother left the house to buy some groceries. 

“I’m just gonna–” Rafe says immediately as he scrambles to get up from your bed, giving a quick adjustment to his hair once and rushing over to your window from where he had sneaked in. 

“Yeah yeah,” you breathe, and you can hear the steady steps of your mother coming up the stairs of the upper level; right where your room is. 

“Bye,” Rafe says shortly and climbs out of the window and goes back down with the help of the huge tree in your backyard; following the same path he took when he came up. 

Your eyes drift over the messed sheets where he was just laying a moment ago, and towards the window where your curtains flutter under the wind. A moment later you hear a knock on your door and it opens, your mother’s head peeking in. 

You snap your head towards her and give a gentle smile, letting her enter your room and engage in a conversation with you. 

As much as you try to talk with her with complete focus, your mind goes back to that moment, and to say you feel butterflies in your stomach just thinking about it is the biggest understatement of the century. 

⊹₊⋆.˚୨୧⋆.˚₊ ⊹

TWO — LIBRARY

“Wait wait wait, this was– ethylene?” 

“Yeah,” 

“And, this is… fuck what was it?” 

“Acetylene,” 

“Acetylene, yeah that, so that’s acetylene,” 

“Uh huh,” 

“And, what’s the difference again?” 

You look up from the notebook to be met with a sheepish smile on Rafe’s smile, and you let out a soft sigh. 

“I know I know I’ve asked this a million times but, just one last time? Please?” He pouts, batting his eyelashes in an attempt to ‘woo’ you. 

“Okay okay you can stop that,” you mutter and shake your head, hearing him silently chuckle. You open a fresh page of your notebook to explain to him the structural differences between ethylene and acetylene again.

“... this has a double bond and this has a triple, that’s… that’s literally it,” you say, looking up from your drawn structures on the paper to his face. 

“Ohhhh,” he exaggerates, snapping his fingers. “I get it now,” 

“Uh huh now you do,” you mutter, trying to figure out how he just couldn’t understand the difference between double and triple bonds. Somewhere, you knew he was just doing this to tease you, but you push that thought away in your mind, instead focusing on searching for the next topic from your book. 

Rafe has been on the cusp of failing chemistry – something which is not a shock to you – for quite a while now.  It didn’t matter one dime to him but now when his teacher made him sit down and actually realize how much he’s been falling behind, it was like a switch of reality had turned on in his mind. 

“Rafe, these grades just won’t cut it. You need someone to help you with this,” the teacher had said, rubbing the bridge of his nose, clearly tired with the boy sitting in front of him. 

“Y/n will help me, for sure,” he had said with a cheeky smile, the thought of getting you to tutor him making him overly giddy.

The teacher had agreed, and now here you are, in the school library, spending your hours trying to explain the mere basics of organic chemistry to him. Can’t say you’re complaining about it, though. 

“Okay so I think I’m going to pick up isomerism next, it’s easy and should finish quick–”

“Nah I’m tired,” he whines, dragging your textbook away from him. 

“What the– give it back!” You say, attempting to take it back from him as he keeps it well out of your reach above his head. 

“Nuh uh,” he grins, shaking his head. “Come on, we’ve been going over this… alien language for the last hour. I get it, carbon adores hydrogen, blah blah,” he rolls his eyes. 

“It’s not an alien language,” you huff, “you’d understand it if you actually focus on it,” 

“It is an alien language,” he retorts, keeping the book back on the table. “Don’t you think our lives would be so much easier without all this chemistry and physics?” 

“But I like them,” you defend, realizing there’s no way he’s going to get back to studying, so you resort to gathering all your stationery in your pencil pouch. 

“Yeah yeah I know you do,” he smiles, watching you collect your stuff. “I, for one think that Newton was boring as fuck. He just wasn’t laid enough I’m telling you. If he was, he wouldn’t have spent his time studying apples falling from trees,” 

You snap your head at him, a furrow in your brows and a look of disgust twisting your features. “Huh?” you exclaim, falling shut just the next moment as you glance over your shoulder towards where the librarian is sitting, realizing just how loud you were. 

Thankfully, the librarian is busy with talking to some students, so she didn’t hear your loud reaction to Rafe’s absurd comments. 

“God,” you mumble, shaking your head and turning to look back at Rafe, who just has an amused grin on his face. 

“She’s gonna kick you out if she hears you,” he muses, glancing at the librarian himself before looking back at you. 

“Yeah I’m aware,” you mutter, focusing back on gathering your stuff. 

“So…” he begins, leaning slightly closer to you and keeping his voice low, “what did you think of it?”

“Of what?” 

“Of Newton not getting laid enough,” 

“Rafe–” you groan, closing your eyes tight for a moment to regain your composure. You exhale deeply, before looking back at Rafe. “That’s fucking ridiculous,” you mutter. 

“No it’s not it’s a serious matter, I mean, think about it,” he says, “if he was busy with girls he really wouldn’t have any time to think of apples or whatever,” 

“He wasn’t thinking of apples he just saw an apple falling and came up with the concept of a force that is pulling things towards Earth–”

“Yeah yeah that, I know that missy, but he had way too much free time on his hands–”

“He made important contributions to physics–”

“Contributions my ass all he did was give me a fucking headache–”

“That’s not–” you shut your mouth again, taking another deep breath to control yourself. “You’re impossible,” you mutter, now keeping everything in your bag. 

“Aw come on,” Rafe laughs, gently taking your hands in his to stop you from packing your bag. “I know I’m being a real pain in the ass, and I’m sorry yeah?” He says, his voice taking a gentler tone as he gives your hands a soft tug, pulling you closer to him. 

Your focus gets completely diverted from the bag you were packing; the idea that you would just leave now  completely absent from your mind. 

A silence falls over you two, only accompanied by the sound of the occasional footsteps around the library, the ruffling of the pages and the scratching of pens on papers. It’s quite silent; only a few people in the library, leaving you and Rafe to a table all by yourself. 

“I’ve got to say…” he murmurs, his voice now incredibly low as he leans just a bit towards you, “you’re a great teacher,” 

“Yeah?” You mumble, your eyes flicking down to his lips for just a second before finding his eyes back again. 

“Yeah,” he hums, giving a nod of his head in agreement. A gentle smile pulls his lips as he gazes into your eyes, his hands still gently holding yours. 

“What?” You say quietly, suddenly starting to feel self-conscious under his gaze. You attempt to turn your face away from him, but just the moment you turn your head a little bit to the side, one of his hands leaves yours to gently grip your chin and turn it back to meet your gaze. 

“Don’t hide your pretty face from me, yeah?” He mumbles, his fingers under your chin for a moment too long, before he lets his hand let go of your chin.

You can feel your cheeks heat up from his comment. He’s said you’re pretty many times before no doubt, but this specific comment just felt different. 

The peaceful moment between you two is broken immediately when you both hear the sound of a throat clearing behind you. You both snap your head to the side to see the librarian standing on the opposite end of the table, her arms crossed in front of her chest as she glares at you. 

Flustered, you quickly tear your hands away from Rafe’s grip and keep your head down, busying yourself back with packing your bag. 

From the corner of your eye you catch Rafe sighing, crossing his own arms in front of his chest and leaning back in his chair, his gaze on his arms. 

“The library is closing,” the librarian says, her voice crisp and stern as ever. “You have two minutes to vacate,”

“Yes miss,” you mumble under your breath, your fingers subconsciously fiddling with one of the zippers on your bag. 

With one last glare, the librarian leaves the table, but you can still feel the intense focus of her gaze on yourself, as if she’s pinned you in place and you have no chance to even move a single limb. 

“Buzzkill,” Rafe mutters under his breath as he stuffs everything in his bag and hangs it on his shoulder, standing up. You quietly stand up too, hanging your own bag and following Rafe out of the library. On your way out, you feel the librarian staring at the both of you as you walk out. Rafe walks with an air of carefreeness while you only feel more and more judged. 

Well, you most certainly won’t be coming back here anytime in the near future, that’s for sure.

⊹₊⋆.˚୨୧⋆.˚₊ ⊹

THREE — THE HALLWAY

The quietness of the long hallway has a small sense of eeriness to it, watching it being empty instead of being filled completely with the hustle bustle of students between periods.

Rafe sighs quietly as he keeps his books in his locker, even the smallest sounds echoing in the silent hallway. As he’s almost done with keeping his stuff in the locker, the sound of footsteps in the hallway catches his attention.

He looks over his shoulder to watch you; your back to him as you reach your locker and open it to keep your own books. He smiles to himself at the sight of you. How weird is it that you both are only apart for one period and he already misses you deeply?

He saunters over to you, leaning his back against the locker door next to yours and gazes at you with a smile on his face.

“Hey there, pretty,” he hums, watching your eyes find him. “Smashed the test, I assume?”

He watches your eyes drift down from his silently as you get back to keeping books in your locker, your lips pressed in a thin line.

Rafe’s smile falters at your silent attitude. You had a huge calculus test, and the nerves had been getting to you all day before the test. Rafe had been doing his best to keep you relaxed, but with how much pressure you tend to take about tests and how heavy the subject actually is, he knew his efforts were fruitless. He saw you begin preparing for it as quickly as humanly possible, and it was extremely hard for him to convince you to prevent you from spending every waking second studying for it.

“Hey…” he mumbles softly, watching you keep yourself busy with keeping and pulling random notebooks in and from your locker. “What happened? You okay?”

Again, he’s met with silence. You even refuse to let your eyes meet.

Rafe exhales deeply through his nose as he gently places a hand on your shoulder. That grasps your attention, you flicker your eyes from the locker to his eyes.

“The test didn’t go okay?” He asks softly, gently closing the open locker door with his other hand. His gaze is fixed intently at you, and when he watches your gaze drop down to your shoes and your head shaking ‘no’ in response, his lips tug down in a frown.

“Oh no…” he mumbles, moving closer to you and wrapping his arms around your shoulders to pull you in a warm embrace.

You press your face into his chest, your arms hooking around his waist. “I studied so hard…” you mumble into his chest, “but I just, i don’t know what happened, I fumbled and forgot everything, even the things I was confident with…”

“Shh shh it’s okay…” Rafe mumbles, his words the most soothing balm you’ve ever experienced. “You’re really intelligent, okay? Don’t let this one test define your worth,”

“I know I know but…” You involuntarily snuggle more into Rafe’s chest, your body seeking his warmth which is providing you utmost comfort at a moment which has you on the verge of breaking down, “I just, i really gave it my all…” Your voice is low, your words weak and your body almost slumping in Rafe’s arms. Rafe only tightens his grip around you – because he always wants to be there to catch you whenever you feel like you’re going to fall.

Gently, Rafe pulls your head back from his chest. He lets his hand cup the side of your face, his thumb delicately stroking the skin of your cheek. “And that’s all that matters,” He mumbles slowly, looking into your eyes. “You gave your best, and that really is what matters the most. I’m really proud of you, you worked so hard. Everything doesn’t always turn out the way we want it, but you get rewarded for your hard work, always,”

You sniffle quietly as you look up at Rafe, your red rimmed eyes almost making his heart ache. “Yeah?” You murmur, and feel Rafe catch a stray tear on your cheek, wiping it off.

Rafe gives you a small smile and a nod of his head. “Yeah,” he murmurs. “I mean every word,”

Rafe’s thumb gently caresses over your cheek, slowly trailing over to your mouth. He lets the pad of his thumb slowly trace your lower lip, his gaze fixating on your lips and the slow, soothing repetitive motion of his thumb over your lip. He can feel your breathing coming in small puffs against his thumb, your lips just slightly parted.

The sharp ringing of the bell practically makes you two spring apart from each other, as if you both had completely forgotten where you actually were in the flow of the moment. Only a fraction of a second later, the chatter of students filters through the hallway and it’s now completely filled with students, completely in contrast to the deserted corridors mere moments ago.

“So, uh…” Rafe clears his throat, scratching the back of his neck as he does so – something you’ve seen he does often when he’s anxious, thinking of something, or in this case: when he’s nervous. “What class do you have next? I’ve uh… I have geography,”

“Uh I’ve got physics,” You mutter, your fingers twisting each other nervously behind your back.

“Okay so I’ll see you after class yeah?” He says, letting his hand fall to his side from behind his neck. “You, you take care yeah? Don’t think too much about the test, I’m sure you’ve done better than you think,”

“Uh huh,” You breathe, adjusting your bag on your shoulders.

An awkward silence falls over two as you remain stand-by among the hustle bustle of the students who brush past you, rushing to their lockers and eventually their classes. It’s almost like being in the center of the tornado, watching the chaos spin around you while you stay completely still.

Rafe chooses to break the silence, muttering a ‘bye’ to you and turning sharply on his heels, already making his way to his class. It takes a moment for you to get back to normal after everything you’ve experienced in the span of barely an hour, and you get going to your class too.

Well, you most certainly aren’t thinking way too much about that disaster of a test now, though.

⊹₊⋆.˚୨୧⋆.˚₊ ⊹

ONE — THE GYM

The dribbles of the ball against the wooden court echo throughout the empty gym, accompanied with the squeaks of the shoes. Rafe takes a jump, letting his fingers let go of the ball as it follows its path and swooshes right through the net in the cleanest manner possible. The ball lands back on the ground and bounces up and down continuously, Rafe’s eyes fixed on it from his position as he watches the way the ball eventually comes to a full stop on the floor. 

“Someone’s been working real hard, huh?” 

Rafe turns around to see you walking inside the empty gym, your hands on your back and a small smile on your face as you approach the ball. He watches you silently pick the ball up and toss it to him, which he catches with a single hand. 

“Yeah,” He says, standing still in his position, the orange ball now resting against his side under his arm. “We’ve got Regionals next week,”

You approach closer to him, a gentle smile on your face. “You’ll do great, trust me. You’re a great team captain,” Your voice is gentle and comforting. 

“I try my best,” He murmurs, his expression softening as he watches you look at him in the most soothing way. It’s so hard for him to put into words the way your presence makes him feel, but he knows everything becomes slightly bearable when he remembers he’s got you. 

You take a glance around the gym, the only people present in the large, empty space are you two. “You’ve been practicing alone?” You ask, your eyes finding his back again. 

“Yeah,” He replies, “it’s relaxing, to take some time by myself to practice,” 

“How long have you been here?” You ask, gently placing a hand on his arm. 

“Since school ended,” he says softly, his body relaxing under your brief touch. 

“It’s been two hours to that,” you murmur. “You’ve been here for quite some time now. You wanna take a break?”

Rafe looks around the gym once, as if contemplating taking a break or not. His eyes find yours, and the warmth and care in them makes him give in. 

“Okay,” He gives you a soft smile and you both walk over to the bleachers and sit down. Rafe takes a moment to wipe the sweat off his face with his towel and drinking from his bottle before sitting down next to you. 

“You nervous?” You say after a moment of silence. “About the regionals, I mean,”

Rafe shrugs, his gaze looking out at the huge basketball court in front of you two. “A bit, I guess,” He says. “Our team hasn’t gone to a Regionals in over 4 years now, so… there’s some pressure over me to lead the team to a win,”

You look over at him, a solemn expression on his face from his words. You don’t really know how much pressure being the team captain entails, but now, looking at him as he tells you about how much he’s got riding on him to lead the team to a winning position certainly gives you a small glimpse into how hard he has to work. 

“Hey…” You say, your voice soft as you let your fingers curl around his bicep. That catches his attention and he turns to look at you. “Don’t be so hard on yourself, yeah? You’re doing great, trust me. I really do think your team can win,”

Rafe’s expression softens at your words as he gazes into your eyes. “You really think so?” He mumbles quietly. 

“I know so,” You smile. “Your hard work will give you your results, you deserve it,”

His own lips upturn into a soft smile. Your words cause a wave of comfort to wash over him, the pressure of wanting to only be the best of the best from not only his coach and team, but from the entire school slowly easing it’s iron tight grip on his heart. 

“You’re so… sweet,” He murmurs, placing a hand on top of yours which is still around his bicep. 

Your smile slightly widens as you look in his eyes, watching him look at you with such fondness. Rafe gently takes your hand off his arm and brings it up to his lips, pressing a gentle kiss to the back of your hand. 

“And so nice, and just…” He presses another kiss to your skin, “incredible.” He gently turns your hand over in his grip and presses a kiss to your palm, before giving it a soft tug and placing it on his cheek. You gently hold the side of his face, softly stroking his cheek with your thumb. He sighs softly, nuzzling his face into your palm, his eyes drooping slightly. 

He keeps on looking at you, and gently reaches out to place both his hands on your waist, pulling you slightly closer to him. He doesn’t take his hands off, only tightens his grip on you. You let go of his cheek and place both your hands on his shoulders, your eye contact not breaking with him. 

Your gaze flickers down to his lips, and it fixes on there. You can feel yourself beginning to lean closer to him, as if seeking him and his warmth out. Rafe makes no move to pull back, his blunt fingers slightly digging into your waist. 

You can feel his warm breath on your parted lips, your eyes almost fully shut. 

Rafe takes the leap, pressing his lips to yours. Your eyes fall shut completely the moment his lips seek yours in a warm press, every nerve ending of your body on fire from the closure between you two. 

Rafe slowly moves lips against yours in an unrushed manner, letting him and you feel every emotion you both now commonly share. You just know his heart is beating just as fast as yours, his mind is as blank as yours, and his body is on fire just like yours. 

Rafe slowly pulls back after a moment, letting his forehead rest against yours. Your breath comes out in short puffs against his lips, your eyes still closed as if opening them will make you snap out of the most beautiful dream you can ever dream of. 

“Finally,” Rafe mutters quietly, causing your lips to break out in a smile. 

“Yeah,” you murmur, “finally.” 

You lean forward to kiss him again, and Rafe’s heart explodes once again at your sweetness and warmth. 

Finally. 

⊹₊⋆.˚୨୧⋆.˚₊ ⊹

taglist: @oxpogues4lifexo / @drewstarkeys-world / @inthelibrarybtw / @mileyraes / @chenslucy

specific tags for this fic: @ilyrafe / @zyafics

tagging some moots: @runningfrom2am / @totalswag / @ladyinbl00d / @b1mb0slvt / @nemesyaaa

[winterrrnight]

husband!rafe just doing the little things like turning on the car ac, tracking his wife’s period, buying her skincare products when she runs low

ouuuhhhh my goddddd I am going feral over this cause this is just so accurate!!!

part of this little universe <3

rafe is just always making sure that his lovely goddess of a wife doesn't feel out of her comfort zone at all.

she usually goes to her work before he leaves to get to the business, so while she is getting ready, he goes to their driveway to do a quick check of her car.

he checks the tires once for their air pressure, he checks the engine every now and then, checks if the car has enough gas or not (even when he got the tank full just the previous day).

if there is any issue, he gets to fixing it immediately. lets say the tank was almost empty, he would've taken it to the nearest gas station and would've bought it back before she is even done getting ready.

once he gives a green light to everything, he turns on the ac to cool the car before she comes (or the heater if it is winters).

next topic of agenda: her periods.

he always keeps a mental note of her period dates so he can estimate when she'll get them the next month.

when he knows she's going to her period in a matter of days, he does some... preparations.

preparations include stocking up on everything she craves when she is on her periods: sweets, chocolates, ice cream, candy; you name it, he has it.

if she tends to have bad cramps, he keeps hot water bottles ready for her.

at night when she feels troubled from the pain and can't sleep, he gently rubs her tummy, lower abdomen, thighs; wherever her cramps are bothering her.

if she tends to have mood swings, he stays as gentle as he can with her, always talking to her softly and just simply taking care of her.

and the last one!!!! personally I'm here for that😚he keeps a good check on her skincare products and how close they are to finishing.

he has her skincare routine memorized, he knows the steps and he knows the products and the brands she uses.

in fact I strongly hc that his wife is the one who got him into skincare too!!

"sunscreen is important and there's no way I'm letting you leave the house without it."

she only had to say it once; he always listens to his goddess.

but yeah, he keeps a check on the products, and sometimes his wife is surprised to see she has received a skincare package but then she realises she was running low on those specific products.

and if his wife likes to do make up, I feel this applies to that too!!

he heard her talking about this eyeshadow palette, and bam! it's on their porch in a few days. (probably the very same day cause he is a proud amazon prime member and wants his wife to get her gifts as quick as possible 😁).

(share any of your husband!rafe thoughts and headcanons or for drew/rafe/zach! sfw only <3)

[theboarsbride]

random asf but seeing Hannibal fanart reminded me of my (kind of?) Hannibal fic (and this blog's namesake lmfao) and it's making me think about how I want to turn it into an original book-

[winterrrnight-library]

keziah/edith. xvii. virgo. reblogging fics from my blog @winterrrnight <3

turn on post notifications for this blog to be notified each time I post something on my writing blog!

my main blog: @keziahcore

[rebelangelsims]

What If they were a Kpop group???

[kalidoscope05]

Hey, i am currently experiencing 3am random thoughts so I’m going to dump on wir them here.

This does discuss some topics involving smoking, a mentioned surgery, an overworked mother and fear. If there is any other things in here that is triggering to any one please message me and let me know other than that please read if you are able to thank you and stay safe.

With the my current at home life things are a bit strange. My Dad ,with his recent leg surgery and not being able to come home for weeks, is currently staying up a my grandparents due to their home being more… spacious, i guess. That’s not important though but something that is import, especially context wise to the thought/ ideas I’ve had, is that my mom is the only on who works but she doesn’t only work a lot she is going through nursing school. So my point is my momma is a very tired women which goes with out saying she struggles to get any sleep so she sometimes struggles to get up when she does get some but my though come from this one night i had to wake her and it was a moment of my life i don’t think I can forget.

It was a Wednesday night, i had just got back with my grandmother from church. It was about thirty mins before my mom need to be awake so I just went out back and smoked a bit with my dad and grandmother. It wasn’t until about five or seven minutes before she needed be awake when dad said something about needing to wake her and I was like, “ Don’t worry about I’ll take care of it after I go in get me something to drink,” I still relatively a new smoker as in it still bothers my throat and lungs sometimes not important though. After getting my drink and maybe a snack i sat it done where I was sitting the living room and went to wake up mom.

From the time I have spent on the internet no one really talks about how terrifying it is to wake up your parents even at an older age. It make you feel like your doing something wrong and that’s how felt as slow approached her. At the time the only thing I remember feeling and seeing is fear. And it wasn’t like i fear for my life, it was more of a “ i don’t know what’s happening, i don’t want to fuck up i don’t know what I’m doing “ kind of fear. Due to that unknown and that fear I kinda hesitated before I even touched her or said anything. But I eventually just said whatever and woke her up. I went en gentle and just said quiet but loud enough she understood, “ hey its about a 8:30”.. cause that’s when she usually got up but um even with how gentle I was I still scared her. She jumped back real hard which not only scared her but scared me. And I think the thing that got me and what makes this a memory that will stick to me is that… fear in her eyes as she looked at me. Seeing the kinda fear in her eyes that I saw… i got to admit it hurt like hell. I never would have though that wake my own mother would led me to experience something I never want it experience again.

But that is just along winded telling of the idea I had after this experience i guess. It had me think of what remains of Edith finch, A glorious game with a fantastic but intriguing story. I want take different story’s of my childhood and my siblings and cousins, aunt, uncles etc. and turn them into a game similar to that game. Do you know what i mean, like take the way the story of Edith finch and how it was told but turn it into one about my family, u know?

Idk this just one long rant/ talk about a potential game i could work on i guess. Idk. If anyone sees this and has any thoughts of their own they would like to add just reblog with them or send them in to me anyway you can I guess. Idk i just wanted this off my mind and in a write form.

[mercurygray]

hi hello friend it’s me feeding the Godwin/Edith muse yet again because ✨reasons✨ but could I request something for them for ‘22. blood’ from your latest prompt reblog? 🧡

Sorry this took so long, friend! More 1920s Peaky Blinders AU -how could I not, with a prompt like this?

"Aren't you going to ask?"

Edith took a long, deep breath, her eyes fixed on the task at hand. "It's not my job to ask questions."

"And you're not at all curious?"

"It may surprise you to know that bloodstains are a somewhat regular occurrence in this house, Mr. Saxon-West. I stopped being curious a long time ago."

But she was curious, just a little, to know how exactly her employer's lawyer had come to be covered in blood, though she could fill in the gaps, a little, if she squinted long enough.

A car had squealed up the drive at nearly midnight, rain pelting the windshield, and several men had gotten out, banging down the door and bundling someone inside as they shouted for bandages and a doctor and heaven only knows what else, and waking up the entire house while they did it. Edith was quickly out on the landing in her dressing gown, joined almost immediately by Emma, looking around to see what was wrong. "Mama?" Two bleary-eyed boys emerged from the nursery.

"Hush, my darlings, there's nothing to worry about," Emma said, picking the younger up and walking back to the nursery. She turned around to Edith and her eyes gestured downstairs. Go and see.

Edith tightened the belt of her dressing gown and took a deep breath. If her lady wanted answers, then answers she would get.

Lord Edmund had been shot. The details hardly mattered to Edith - at a club, or a bar, or his mistress' house made no difference whatsoever. He was presently laid on the dining room table, wounds staunched with dishtowels and being seen to by the doctor, and some of the minders he'd had with him were in his stepfather's study letting their clothes dry, helping themselves to Canute's whiskey and - perhaps, in one instance - the charms of one of the parlor maids, who'd been summoned to lay a fire for them.

Edith did not know yet why Godwin had been there, though she had some ideas. He and the young lord had been very close lately, hatching plans for his inheritance. Edmund liked to live larger than his funds sometimes allowed, and some disreputable friends often helped him do it. Since his stepmother's marriage to Canute he'd delighted in joining his stepfather's bullyboys for their jaunts around town, and they, in turn, delighted in his foolish ability to spend money.

But that still didn't explain the lawyer - who had quietly removed himself from the group in the study and joined Edith in the hall. "Miss Eden, I wonder if you might help me with my shirt."

Which was how they had come to be in the first floor butler's pantry, Godwin currently leaning, shirtless, against the counter while Edith blotted the blood out of his shirtfront with cold water and salt.

"I'm also not sure why you think I would care, Mr. Saxon-West." The silence had been bothering her, and she felt it needed to be said. I'm a secretary at best and lady's maid at worst.

"Because you're Lady Emma's creature, and she never met a piece of information she couldn't use."

A creature, am I? See how you like me, then. "And you never met someone you couldn't blackmail, sir."

He chuckled at that. "So you're not afraid of being found with me in your dressing gown?"

"You don't appear to be afraid of being found fucking the help." A thread of laughter stumbled through the slightly open door. "Although if that's really what you're after, sir, I'm sure what's in the study is more to your taste."

Godwin was very close to her now, his shoulder close with hers. "I don't really go for shared goods," he said, voice supremely casual. "Or public pleasure, for that matter." He watched her closely, and she did not want to meet his eye. She knew Canute's men speculated about her - she could see their eyes following her as they came and went from the house. "That's where we were, before coming here. A club, you might call it. Now I daresay they're all in a bit of a mood."

She could see it now, the sort of place he meant - Edmund had been dressed for dinner and so was Godwin, so it somewhere for men with money, being lenient to let in Edmund's 'friends'. "And was Lord Edmund getting shot part of the mood?" She parried back. "Or an unfortunate consequence?"

But he did not answer her immediately - instead he kissed her, full on the lips, and she was so surprised she let him, his shirt slipping into the damp sink along with the brush. They had been in close quarters before, but never this close, while both were barely clothed. If you're going to taunt me, fine.

"Consequence," he said, finally, his eyes fixed on hers. "Are you sure I can't tempt you to something stronger, Miss Eden? Perhaps somewhere more private?"

"You'll have to forgive me, Mr. Saxon-West. My mistress needs me and creatures," she used his word with deliberate sharpness, "must go where they're called." She stepped away. "I believe your shirt is finished - it'll just need to dry."

She left him in the pantry and walked quickly across the hall, glancing in to the dining room to see both Emma and Canute, too, waiting in vigil over Edmund's still body, the doctor still somehow at work. There's a story there, for certain, she thought to herself. But I'd never get the truth about it from him.

[sysba]

there's just something so poetic about edith being so frighteningly competent that even though she's been thrown into this whole new world she's executing every task to perfection. all her missions are a success, she does everything required of her methodically and without fail... edith who doesn't feel the burden of responsibility because it has always been on her shoulders. edith who is always in survival mode and wants nothing more for herself— the one thing she wants is the ability to protect those very few she cares about just like she has been easily protecting all those other strangers... edith who told douglas that he didn't have to do anything he was afraid of, not ever, not for anyone. and edith who, ultimately, failed him when it counted. 💆

[starkeyvhs]

wrong number

PAIRING: rafe cameron x gn!reader

SUMMARY: your love life had some major updates but you ended up calling the wrong person for it (or maybe it was the right person all along?)

WORD COUNT: 938

WARNINGS: none?? just frat rafe, and shy reader

EDITH SPEAKS: this is such a random idea I had 😭 with the lack of my updates on my blog at the moment combined with my writers block, this is the best I can give you right now :’) if you like reading this, please reblog and share any feedback you may have 🍙

masterlist / join my taglist / requests

“You won’t believe this, I swear you won’t!”

Huh?

Rafe brings down the phone from his ear, looking at the screen. Yeah, it’s definitely you, and you’ve never called him before to say something like this.

He attempts to say something, but before any words can leave his parted lips, you speak again. 

“God Sarah, it was crazy! Can’t believe you didn’t come to school today,”

Oh, so you wanted to call Sarah and not him. Rafe attempts to speak again but your train of words cuts him right off. 

“It was his match today, and god, he looked so good!” You sigh. “He looked just like a dream, I swear, and that last jump shot was so good! He’s made to be on the court I’m telling you Sar. Everyone says he’s the best captain the school team’s had so far.” 

Basketball team captain. 

So you’re talking about him.

Rafe’s lips remain parted as he listens to you speak on and on about him, and a small smirk curves his lips as he hears you rant. 

“And then, after the match, the entire team was celebrating in the cafeteria and I went there too and he saw me!” A small, elated scream erupts your lips. 

Rafe can’t help but silently chuckle at your words as he leans against the wall of his room, his ears only focused on what you’ve got to say about what happened at the cafeteria between you two. 

“And when he saw me, for a second I froze. Completely. But then he smiled at me and he winked at me, can you believe it!” Another elated scream leaves your lips, causing him to silently laugh again. 

Rafe has seen you around his house since you both were kids. The tight knit friendship of you and Sarah meant you hung out at Tanneyhill often. 

Were you ever subtle about your crush on him? 

You thought you were, but Rafe can provide you with over a hundred instances which prove you certainly weren’t. 

“He winked at me, and I swear my heart almost stopped!” You sigh, and Rafe can hear some rustling from your end of the phone; as you probably shift your posture on your bed. 

“Can you believe it, Sar? Rafe motherfuckin’ Cameron winked at me. And I know what you’re probably thinking. ‘He’s my brother ew don’t talk about him that way.’” You say, imitating Sarah’s voice, which causes Rafe to let out a silent chuckle. “But I don’t care if he’s your brother Sar. He winked at me! That’s insane dude, absolutely insane. He’s so amazing ugh and so perfect Sar, really,” 

You finally seem to take a breather, the voice on Rafe’s other end going silent as your breathing sounds through the microphone. 

And Rafe is quick to grab the moment. 

“I’m that amazing huh?” Comes out his voice, laced with complete cockiness, and you can hear the pride in his voice, can practically make out that irritatingly perfect smirk on his face. 

The line on the other side goes completely silent, your breathing not audible anymore either. Rafe just can imagine the look of shock on your face as you realise you’ve been ranting not to Sarah, but to Rafe himself.

“Uh– Rafe, uh… hey,” your voice comes out as a stutter, completely shaken with anxiety. Rafe knows you’re attempting so hard to hide that stutter from your voice, to seem as if you’re completely cool with this when you most certainly are not. 

Rafe can see two ways from here; first is he goes easy on you, understands how petrifying it is for you that you just practically confessed everything to him. 

Or, he can tease you. 

And Rafe certainly sees more fun in the second one. 

“Tell me how amazing you think I am,” he says, and that smirk on his face only increases more and more. “I wanna hear it once again,”

The way the line goes silent once again – Rafe just knows the impact his words are having over you. 

“Uh–” He can hear the way your words lodge in your throat, nothing completely articulated. He can just imagine how heated your cheeks must be from the embarrassment of being caught and then being put directly on the spot. “I’ll– I’ll talk to you later Rafe–”

“Aw come on, where are you going now?” He chuckles, shaking his head at your attempt to avoid the conversation. 

“I just… I’m kinda busy so–”

“No no just,” he takes a deep breath, his smirk now converting to a soft smile. “Just listen to me for a moment, yeah?”

It’s completely silent for a moment, but then a small ‘what?’ is heard from the other end. 

“If you give me the chance, I would love to take you out.” His voice is smooth just like butter, not a single stutter in the way he talks. “You free this Friday?”

The line goes silent for another moment. 

“Yeah, yeah I’m free,” your voice is low and soft, and Rafe knows how hard you’re trying to keep the pure elation out of your voice. 

“Okay,” he grins. “I’ll pick you up at 8 on Friday. It’s a date.” 

“Yeah, a date,” you mumble quietly. 

Rafe’s about to end the call, but he stops himself to say one last thing to you. 

“Oh, and make sure you call Sarah after this and not me, yeah? You’d probably wanna tell her everything.”

And without hearing your reply, but a clear picture of your heated cheeks and flustered expressions in his mind, Rafe cuts the call with the biggest grin on his face. 

⊹₊⋆.˚୨୧⋆.˚₊ ⊹

taglist: @oxpogues4lifexo / @drewsonlyaurelia

tagging some moots: @runningfrom2am / @zyafics / @ilyrafe / @ladyinbl00d / @mileyraes

[winterrrnight]

you are obsessed with your husband’s freckles <3 more on this! <3 a husband!rafe x wife!reader blurb <3 cw: none! just a lot of fluff, intentional use of lower case <3 dedicated to the one and only @chenslucy; happy birthday anna!! 💐 I love love love you and i know I am late, but this is my small token of gratitude of how supportive you've been since the beginning 🦕

part of this little universe <3

the moonlight cascades over the white sheets under which you and your husband are snuggled close to each other. it’s nearing 2 in the morning, and rafe is asleep with his bare back facing you, your arm slinging over his waist and your face nestled against his back as you let his warmth flood over you completely.

you watch his body rise and fall with each relaxing breath he takes in his deep slumber, your own mind at complete peace watching him take his proper rest.

the silver glow casting through the windows of your bedroom dances along rafe’s skin, the small freckles littered all over his shoulders lighting up under the moonlight. you gently run your fingertips over the freckles, letting out a soft sigh as you feel his skin under your own touch. his skin is a complete contrast to his brooding demeanor; it feels so soft and supple beneath your touch that you glide your fingertips effortlessly over his shoulders.

his freckles though, as always, stand out the most to you as you shower them with your gentle touch. you reach out with the fingertip of your index finger and gently tap over each freckle as you quietly count them under your breath, something you do often when you find yourself awake late at night. it helps you fall into a slumber yourself, the activity feeling equivalent to counting sheep. sometimes, you find this small activity distracting you from your stresses and anxieties, your mind busying itself with wanting to know the exact number of freckles littered over his shoulders which over the course of time helps you feel more relaxed over the little things that are bothering you.

your finger trails over to his other shoulder to resume the count, the numbers progressing under your breath as you tap every freckle you can spot under the pale light of the moon.

you reach what you assume is the last freckle and stop the count, letting out a deep exhale as you finish the count. each time you do this certain activity, you turn up with a different number, although the result is always quite close to all the other results you get. some freckles go unnoticed by you, and sometimes you spot new ones that you are sure weren’t there before. but that’s the beauty of it; it’s not a predictable activity, it gives you a new conclusion every single time, and that makes you appreciate the freckles on his body even more.

you lean closer and press your lips gently to the freckles, peppering the softest kisses over the smooth skin. your heart is almost bursting with your deep love for him as you press kisses over kisses, starting to feel his body gently shift in bed.

he slowly starts to turn on his back and you pull back from his shoulder, watching his eyes slowly open and sleepily meet yours.

“hey,” he murmurs, his voice carrying the raspy tinge it always does after he wakes up.

“hey,” you murmur back, resting your head on his chest and he wraps an arm around your shoulders to keep you close.

“can’t sleep?” his soft voice reaches your ears as you shake your head against his chest, feeling him look down at you through his barely open eyes.

you look up at his face, your eyes trailing down his shoulders as you gaze upon the freckles again. your hand reaches up to run your fingers over them just like you were doing just a few moments ago. rafe lets out a deep exhale at your actions, feeling your fingertips circling over his shoulder in the most soothing fashion, his eyelids threatening to droop again.

“it’s okay, sleep,” you whisper as you watch how hard it is getting for him to keep his eyes open. rafe makes a feeble attempt to say something, but his tiredness wins over and he drifts off again, the feeling of your touch lulling him into sleep faster than ever.

you smile softly as you hear his breathing getting even, his heartbeat thumping rhythmically against your ear. you start to gently count the freckles again, tapping your fingertip over each spot just like how you always do. the counting falls perfectly in rhythm with his soothing heartbeat, and before you know it, you feel your own eyelids getting heavier, your entire body relaxing under the feeling of his comforting embrace.

— —

tagging everyone who wanted this specific fic 🥰: @maddsxfall , @zyafics , @destrolid , @drewsephrry , @ihe4rttwd <3 thank you so much for your support! 🌟

[dulcewrites]

I kind of want to do fashion inspo/moodboard for all my ocs. I already did myrah (modern version too). I want to do clarisse, nina, francesca, and edith

[fracturedporcelaindoll]

Beautiful~

Edith Wharton, from The Collected Early Short Stories; "The Fulness of Life," written in 1893

[its-queenofthesilence]

Part 1: The Diagnosis

The silence around her was deafening, save for the pounding in her ears. She felt as though she were trapped in space. No sound, just her blood rushing to fill the void.

Cancer

She was only 23 years old, and had just managed to dig herself out of the shithole Oliver had gotten her into. But now, she learned that she was terminal.

“H-how long do I have left to live?” she managed once her hearing returned to her.

She sat comatose on the sofa, fingers gripping the phone like a life line as she listened to Dr. Reyes on the other line explain the results of her MRI and blood tests.

"If you are lucky, a year," Dr. Reyes responded gravely, "most likely less."

"And treatment?" she asked, grasping onto any glimmer of hope.

"Treatment may slow it down, but at your stage and the type of cancer you have...remission is highly unlikely." He didn't sugarcoat the truth. "We can try it, if you want. But it will be painful, and some people prefer to live out their final days outside of a hospital."

“Now, I shou-”

Edith hung up the phone before the doctor could continue any further.

Cancer. It wasn’t fair. She wasn’t supposed to have cancer. The only reason why she even went to get tested was for the stupid nosebleeds.

Edith's gaze instinctually drifted to where Mr. Moo was curled up on the couch beside her, purring softly.

Who would take care of him?

She had no family; She had been raised in the foster care system from the age of 3 up until she aged out at 18 years old. She had no friends to lean on, no partner to ask.

Growing up in the foster care had led her not to trust anyone. Anyone who got close would inevitably abandon her, and over time it just became easier to keep anyone who showed interest in her at arms length, not willing to have her heart broken.

What relationships she did have were abusive, rocky affairs that usually ended the same way: the other person leaving because they couldn’t stand her jealous and controlling behavior.

And now? Now, she suddenly realized just how alone she was.

“Meow?”

Dragged from the confines of her mind, she took notice of Mr. Moo sitting up from his nap, head cocked to the side staring at her, as if he was trying to ask her if she was okay.

Edith reached over and gently scratched Mr. Moo behind the ears, managing a weak smile. "I'm okay, Buddy," she murmured, though her voice wavered.

The cat purred and pressed it’s face into her hand, demanding more scratches.

“It will be fine. Everything will be okay.” she whispered.

Too bad she knew it was a lie.

—

Despite learning she was dying, the world still turned and money still needed to be made in order to afford her apartment. The last thing she wanted was to spend her last year on earth homeless. Not after she just climbed out of that hole.

Never again. She wasn’t sure how long she would be able to work until the cancer progressed too far and made it difficult to work, so she wanted to get as much money while she could to ensure she wasn’t living out of the hospital, or worse: on the streets.

And also maybe be able to afford a small vacation with Mr. Moo. Go see the beach. But that was highly unlikely.

She had a bit saved up; it was supposed to be her retirement fund, but well it looked like that wasn’t getting used.

Monday morning, just days after learning she had cancer, she was back at work. Monday meant she was Greentech Labs, one of her clients she had regular contract work with.

Mondays also meant dealing with Brenda.

Edith rolled her eyes as she walked through the familiar doors of the Genentech Labs office. Brenda was already at her desk, tapping away furiously on her keyboard. To the untrained viewer, it would seem like she was working hard.

To anyone who actually knew her, Brenda was most definitely playing online poker on company time.

"Well, if it isn't Miss Edith Briggs gracing us with her presence," Brenda sneered, her beady eyes narrowing as Edith approached. "I was starting to think you'd finally gotten yourself fired."

Edith bit back a retort, reminding herself that she needed this job, at least for now. "Good morning to you too, Brenda," she said flatly, making her way to her own desk.

As she booted up her laptop, she could feel Brenda's judgmental gaze burning into the back of her head. The older woman had never made a secret of her disdain for Edith. It didn’t help that Edith did not put up with her passive-aggressive bullshit, like leaving post-it notes about eating fish in the kitchen lunch or stopping by her desk to lecture her about wearing earbuds.

If she didn’t know that Brenda was cousins with the CEO and the very definition of nepotism, she might have considered bringing up her behaviour to management.

“She’s starting early today, huh?”

Leaning over the desk, the familiar visage of Cheryl from Accounts Payable became visible. Cheryl was a young woman barely older than her with whom she had developed a sort of friendship with.

Well not really, she barely knew Cheryl aside from the fact she had two brothers and a sister and that she lived with two flatmates in downtown London. And was always trying to ask her to hang out, annoyingly enough.

Cheryl grinned at Edith, her brown eyes sparkling. "Figured you'd be here early today. Heard you had a doctor's appointment Friday from John, finally find out what’s up with the nose bleeds?" She leaned in conspiratorially. Edith was regretting even mentioning that to her

“I have terminal cancer.” she replied nonchalant, eyes fixed to her laptop screen. Best to get it out of the way; she would probably have to let people know anyway once she died and stopped showing up for work.

For a second, Cheryl let out a small chuckle, believing it to be a joke between two acquaintances. She quickly faltered when she realized Edith was not bothering to follow up with an “Oh I got you.” Or any sort of indication it was a joke.

Cheryl's face fell, her expression shifting from amusement to horror. "Wait, what? You're...you're serious?" she stammered; eyes wide.

Edith nodded solemnly, still not meeting Cheryl's gaze. "Yep. Doctor said I'm lucky if I make it a year." She paused, letting the gravity of her words sink in. "Apparently the nosebleeds were a symptom."

Silence settled amongst them.

“Please tell me you’re joking.” If Edith wasn’t self-absorbed, she would have seen the loss in Cheryl eyes or noticed she cared for Edith more than a casual acquaintance. She didn’t however. To her, it was just an annoyance.

Edith finally lifted her gaze to meet Cheryl's, her expression somber. "I wish I were," she said quietly. "But the doctor was clear - it's terminal."

Cheryl's hand flew to her mouth, her eyes wide with shock and dismay. "Oh, Edith...I don't even know what to say." She reached out hesitantly, then pulled her hand back, unsure if the touch would be welcome. "I'm so sorry. This is just...awful."

Edith shrugged, trying to affect an air of nonchalance, though the tremor in her voice betrayed her true emotions. "What can you do, right? It is what it is."

“Shouldn’t you be at home? Taking some time off?”

Edith shook her head firmly. "No, I need to keep working. I can't afford to take time off right now." She paused, then added quietly, "And honestly, I don't know what I'd do with myself at home. This is the only distraction I have."

Cheryl's brow furrowed with concern. "But Edith, you must be going through so much. Shouldn't you be focusing on your health and trying to make the most of the time you have left?"

Edith let out a humorless laugh. "And do what, exactly? Sit around and feel sorry for myself? No, thanks. I'd rather keep busy." She turned back to her laptop, fingers flying across the keys. "This job is the only thing keeping me sane right now."

“What about family?”

Edith let out another hollow laugh. "Family? I don't have any of that. I was in the foster care system my whole life." She shook her head, her fingers pausing on the keyboard. "No one to lean on, no one to say goodbye to."

Except Mr. Moo, but she didn’t dare say that out loud.

Cheryl's expression shifted to one of deep sympathy. "Oh Edith, I had no idea. That must be so difficult, especially now..." She reached out tentatively and placed a hand on Edith's arm.

Edith tensed slightly at the contact, unused to such overt displays of affection. "It is what it is," she repeated, shrugging off Cheryl's hand. "I've learned to get by on my own."

"But you don't have to," Cheryl insisted gently. "Let me help you, please. You shouldn't have to face this alone."

“I’m fine.”

—

Telling Cheryl seemed to be a mistake. By lunch time, a multitude of sympathy cards had found their way to her desk, stuffed full of petty cash from various individuals she honestly didn’t know the names to.

‘Thinking about you’ or ‘I will miss you’ were written on cards most likely hastily bought from the bodega down the street. All filled with generic sentiments from people who didn’t know her but felt sorry enough to stuff a five-pound note into a card.

“And whose fault is that?” her mind said bitterly. Maybe if she hadn’t spent so much time keeping people out, she would actually have more than generically filled out cards.

Edith gritted her teeth in frustration as she pushed through the through the thoughts threatening to consume her mind. The last thing she needed was a pity-party. She shoved the cards into the bottom drawer, determined to ignore them for now.

As the afternoon wore on, Edith found herself growing increasingly irritated by the pitying looks and hushed whispers that followed her around the office. It seemed like the entire office was walking on eggshells around her.

She tried to ignore it, burying herself in her work, but the constant reminders of her impending mortality were wearing on her. She just wanted to be left alone, to forget about the cancer for a little while and focus on her coding. Was that really too much to ask?

Apparently so, because as she was preparing to leave for the day, Brenda approached her desk, a fake sympathetic look plastered on her face.

"I heard about your...situation," Brenda said, her voice dripping with a fake sweetness that made Edith's skin crawl.

Edith rolled her eyes, already feeling her patience wearing thin. "I'm sure you did," she muttered, shutting down her laptop and grabbing her bag. The last thing she wanted was to deal with Brenda's faux concern.

"Well, I just wanted to say..." Brenda paused, as if struggling to find the right words. "If there's anything I can do to help, you just let me know." She reached out and patted Edith's arm in what was clearly meant to be a comforting gesture, but only succeeded in irritating her further.

Edith resisted the urge to shrug off Brenda's hand. "I appreciate the offer, but I'm fine," she said curtly. "I don't need your help."

Brenda's brow furrowed in confusion at Edith's cold response. "Oh, come on now, Edith. No need to be like that. I'm just trying to be a good colleague and lend a helping hand."

“Yeah, and I’m the Queen of England. Cut the bullshit Brenda. I know you. You’re a snake. You want something.”

Brenda's expression shifted, the false sympathy melting away to reveal her true self. “I know you're on borrowed time here. And I also know you need the money. So how about we make a little deal?"

Edith felt her hackles rise, instantly distrustful of whatever Brenda was proposing. "A deal? What kind of deal?"

Brenda's lips curled into a sly grin. "Well, seeing as you're on borrowed time and all, I figured you could use some extra cash to, you know, make the most of it." She paused, letting the implication hang in the air. "And I just so happen to have a little side project that could use your particular...skillset."

Edith felt a knot of dread form in the pit of her stomach. She had a pretty good idea what Brenda was getting at, and she didn't like it one bit. "I'm not interested in anything illegal, Brenda," she said firmly. "Whatever 'side project' you've got, count me out."

Brenda clucked her tongue in mock disappointment. "Oh Edith, always so quick to jump to conclusions. Who said anything about illegal?" She leaned in closer, lowering her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "This is a perfectly legitimate business opportunity. One that could set you up for the rest of your...well, let's call it your 'limited' time left."

Edith felt her stomach churn with unease. "And what exactly does this 'business opportunity' entail?" she asked warily.

Brenda's lips curled into a sly grin. "Well, you see, as I said I've got a little side project going on - nothing too crazy, I promise. Just a bit of corporate espionage, if you will." She paused, gauging Edith's reaction.

Edith felt a chill run down her spine. "Corporate espionage? You mean stealing company secrets by hacking, don't you?" She shook her head firmly. "Absolutely not, Brenda. I don't do that kind of work, especially not for you."

Well, she did do that kind of work, but not for fucking Brenda.

Brenda's lips curled into a sly grin. "Come on, Edith. Think about it - this could be your chance to really live it up, you know? No more scraping by, no more worrying about bills and rent. Just you, living your best life for whatever time you have left." She leaned in closer, her voice dropping to a conspiratorial whisper. "And I'm willing to pay handsomely for your services."

Edith paused for a second, but only a second as her mouth moved faster than her mind.

"I got a better idea Brenda. How about I go talk to John and tell him what his flat-chested, troll-faced slut of a cousin who fucked his brother, your other cousin I may add, is up to?"

—

If being in a fist fight with a forty-three-year-old woman in the lobby of a highly-trafficked business was not on her bucket list, it was now.

It was also crossed off now, as she sat holding her nose, that was definitely broken, and trying to stop the bleeding.

Sure, maybe using sensitive information against Brenda, that she had discovered while hacking her email was not the best idea, but Edith wasn’t sure she regretted it.

After all, who fucks their own cousin?

The security guard who had pulled the two women apart was now eyeing Edith warily, no doubt unsure of what to make of the situation. Edith winced as she gingerly touched her swollen eye with her free hand, hissing in pain.

"You're lucky I don't call the bloody cops on you, you little bitch," Brenda spat, her clothes disheveled and makeup smeared. "Just wait until I tell John about this. You'll be out on your arse so fast; your head will spin."

Edith rolled her eyes, ignoring the throbbing in her face. "Go ahead, Brenda. Tell John. I'm sure he'll be thrilled to hear about how his dear cousin has been embezzling company funds as well as corporate espionage."

Brenda's face paled, her eyes widening in panic. "You don't have any proof!”

“How do you think I found out about you fucking your cousin Dave? It wasn’t from listening to you bitch to your mobility-cart riding, fat-ass of a mum on the phone during lunch every day!”

Brenda straightened her blouse, glaring daggers at Edith. "This isn't over, you little worm. You have no idea who you're messing with."

Edith let out a humorless laugh, wincing as the motion aggravated her injured nose. "Oh, I think I have a pretty good idea, Brenda. You're a petty, vindictive little snake who's about to get caught with your hand in the cookie jar."

“I think that’s enough.”

Speak of the devil, and he may appear. A bewildered looking John was standing to the side of them, clearly having walked up on them unseen at some point. From the corner of her eye, Edith could see Brenda going pale.

"What the hell is going on here?" he demanded, looking between the two women.

Brenda quickly composed herself, pasting on a concerned expression. "Oh, John, thank goodness you're here! This...this hooligan attacked me in the lobby!" She gestured dramatically towards Edith. "I was just trying to offer her some help, given her...situation, and she just flew off the handle!"

Edith opened her mouth to protest, but John raised a hand, silencing her.

“Brenda. I overheard everything she just said. So don’t lie to me. I will deal with you Edith after. If you would please wait in my office. I need to speak to my cousin for a moment….” he trailed off

“Of course.” Edith power-walked away from the situation, smirking as she overheard John interrogating Brenda.

“What in the blood hell does she mean you’re fucking Dave?”

—

In the end, it was decided they would end their contract with her. John had been both thankful and angry with her. Thankful for unintentionally revealing to him that his own cousin was embezzling funds from the company. Angry because she had not only kept it to herself until it was fodder in her argument but had apparently been hacking company emails. And announcing to the anyone in earshot that his cousin was an incest-driven slut who would open her legs at the first mention of dick.

Well, he didn’t say it like that but he might as well. It wasn’t her fault Brenda wanted to date in her own gene pool.

It was like college all over again, but this time without bullshit administration putting all the blame squarely on her.

Though, it wasn’t so bad this time around. John had slid an envelope towards her as she stood up to leave.

“A gift, I heard from Cheryl about your diagnosis.” he had said when she asked what it was.

Inside was a cheque for a little over twenty-two thousand dollars. Part of it was no doubt back payment for hours billed, but the other part was a gift. It wasn’t life changing, but it would probably at least cover the rent until she kicked the bucket.

And a little left over to go on a vacation; nothing fancy just a road trip with Mr. Moo to see all the touristy crap England had to offer.

“Thanks.” was all she could bring herself to say.

She didn’t have anything to take except for what she had on her, she didn’t work for the company, she was just a contractor and the desk she used was used by three other people when she wasn’t there.

Honestly, she wasn’t expecting to find Cheryl perched against her little Volkswagen Beatle, clearly waiting for her.

“Hey.” she said, picking at her finger nails.

“Hey” Edith replied back, not sure how to respond.

Cheryl pushed off the car and took a few steps towards Edith. "I heard what happened back there. That looked...intense." She paused; her brow furrowed with concern. "Are you okay?"

Edith shrugged, wincing slightly as the motion aggravated her injured nose. "I've had better days," she admitted, reaching up to gently touch the swollen area. "But I'll live."

"I can't believe Brenda would do something like that," Cheryl said, shaking her head in disbelief. "And with your...situation."

“Well, I probably egged her on, to be fair.”

“I heard…in fact everyone heard. She’s apparently fucking her own cousin? Or so I am told???”

Edith let out a humorless chuckle. "Yep. Read it myself, from her emails.”

A silence elapsed the pair, unsure of what to say next. It was Cheryl who spoke first.

“I’ll miss you.” It came so suddenly out of left field that she didn’t even process it at first.

Edith was taken aback by Cheryl's sudden admission. "Miss me? What do you mean?”

Cheryl's eyes grew slightly damp as she looked at Edith. "I mean, I'm going to miss you. When you're...gone." She paused, swallowing hard. "I know we're not the closest of friends, but I care about you, Edith. And the thought of you not being around anymore, it just..." She trailed off, shaking her head.

Edith felt an unfamiliar pang in her chest. She wasn't used to having someone genuinely care about her wellbeing. "Cheryl, I..." She hesitated, unsure of how to respond. "I appreciate that, but you don't have to worry about me. I'll be fine."

They both knew it was a lie.

“What will you do now? I know Greentech was a big contract for you.”

It wasn’t only a big contract it was the majority of her income but Cheryl didn’t need to know that.

“John gave me a parting gift. Not a huge payout, but should be enough to cover me till the end. Might go on a little road trip with Mr. Moo.”

“Mr. Moo?” the confusion evident on Cheryl’s face.

“Oh yeah probably never told you about him. My cat, Mr. Moo. He’s named that cause’ he has black spots on his white body. Looks like a cow.”

Cheryl's face lit up at the mention of Edith's cat. "You have a cat? That's so sweet! I love cats." She paused, a thoughtful look crossing her features. "You know, I've always wanted a cat, but my apartment doesn't really allow for it. Maybe you could take me to meet Mr. Moo sometime?"

“Yeah maybe.” Edith said, lapsing into silence once more.

“Well, I’ll let you go. You probably need to go to Urgent care. Can I give you my number?”

“Uh, can I ask why?”

“Cause I care about you. Maybe we could go to a rave sometime together you know? I know it’s not your cup of tea, but I figure might be the last chance to ask you. When you’re back from your vacation that is” she said smiling.

Edith paused. Cheryl was right, it wasn’t her cup of tea. In fact, she had always said no in the past when asked. She was a homebody, through and through and the idea of going to a rave in some shady warehouse was on the bottom of her list. She wasn’t someone who took risks.

But past Edith wasn’t dying from cancer, or at least didn’t know it yet. She only had the present to work with.

“I think I’d like that.”

[sheisanimposter]

What kinds of purchases do y’all hide from your partners and explain later? Mine is 100 year old books.

[mercurygray]

hewooo friend ✨

i hope life is treating you well! it’s your local Edith Support Group™️ founder and patron here to ask if you’d be willing to write a lil something for her with “44 – relief’ from your recent word prompt list?

thank you 🤍

He was only meant to be a relief.

If she had to sit through this farce of a wedding, Edith allowed that she would have a good time after. And so she was.

His name was Hemming - he was one of Canute's captains, newly come to court. He had kind eyes and a seaman's large and weathered hands, hands that he'd used to pull her away from the party and into one of the castle's many corridors so he might kiss her and whisper endearments in her ear and challenge the laces of her dress. His body was different than Godwin's, broader in the shoulder and heavier, built by hard labor at the sail and the oar, but it wasn't unpleasant, and she was enjoying his attention for as long as she could make it last. It had been too long since someone had held her and proclaimed her pretty, and he was answering like rain after a drought.

Her captain changed his tack, hand cupping her leg through her skirt, and her eyes flew open, pressing herself back for better balance against the wall. He murmured something in Danish, his great golden head moving away from hers, and she caught the eye of someone across the room - Godwin himself, staring forlornly down the corridor. Edith tightened her hand around Hemming's hair, her smile curling a little as his lips sucked at her neck. See? You could have had me, Earl of Wessex. You could have had me and you chose power and a throne instead. So go enjoy your bride and her smiles - someone else will have joy of mine.

The way Godwin's face fell to see her was a relief, too. At least he regrets that.

[starkeyvhs]

nerd!rafe x popular!reader

he’s on the math team, she’s the head cheerleader. he wants to graduate as valedictorian, and she wants to be the homecoming queen. complete opposites, and completely different cliques. but she notices him when she watches the math team in the gymnasium, one of their competitions scheduled right after the end of her practice. who’s the tall guy with the glasses on? damn, she’s never seen him before. wait, they’ve always been in the same chemistry class? wow, he knows his stuff, I mean, he really knows it. he’s so intelligent. she ventures to get his attention; which shouldn’t be the case in the first place, cause the entire school knows her. she never has to fight for anyone’s attention. so why isn’t he even glancing at her? god, this is frustrating! she wants him, and she’s going to make him his, no matter what it takes.

⊹₊⋆.˚୨୧⋆.˚₊ ⊹

a/n: been wanting to make a nerd!rafe since so damn long and I finally have a vision for a fic!!! can’t wait to work on this dynamic cause it’s giving Disney in the best way possible and your girl loves disney :’) huge thank you to @nemesyaaa who developed this idea more inspired by geek charming!!!! thank you nem you’re amazing <3

taglist: @oxpogues4lifexo / @drewstarkeys-world / @totalswag

tagging some moots: @runningfrom2am / @zyafics / @ilyrafe / @ladyinbl00d / @mileyraes