#y'all out here like 'KISS ALREADY' and i'm going heart eyes over how he always asks her what she means or complimenting her for being funny

[dollypopup]

so many people out here mad af that Colin isn't in love w/ Penelope from jump and completely ignoring that the single sexiest thing a man can do is be friends w/ a woman wholeheartedly and without having any romantic or sexual expectation from her

[lilasamaaa]

The night we met | Lando Norris x Reader

Genre | Fluff.

Word count | 2.6K

Warnings | None for once! Enjoy some peace.....

Summary | When Reader's best friend sets her up on a blind date with one of her long-time friends, she expects anything but the evening she's about to experience.

Author's note | This piece is the result of yesterday's poll! Another poll will be coming soon for y'all to decide what's next :)

"I'm really not sure if it's a good idea, Alice," she sighs, looking over at the bed where her friend is seated, behind her.

"What makes you say that?" Alice replies, arching an eyebrow.

"I have a list of reasons, actually," she states, pulling out her phone.

"You and your damn lists!"

"I know you hate them, but they help me clear my mind," she says, clicking on a note.

"Alright, let's hear your reasons then," Alice laughs. "But I'm warning you, I'm going to dismantle them one by one."

"Okay," she starts. "Reason one is : I don't know him."

"That's kinda... the whole point of blind dates," her friend says, rolling her eyes.

"Well, you agreed to this. I did not. You know how anxious I get when I don't know people," she says, head low.

"Lando is a really nice guy," Alice says, coming close to her friend and stroking her hair. "I just know he'll put you at ease right away."

She takes a few seconds to think, biting the inside of her cheek. It's not the first time she's about to go on a date with someone she's never met before. Even though she doesn't know him, she's not really worried about Lando. She's more concerned about herself, to be honest. She's not a model of eloquence, doesn't consider herself particularly pretty. She's sure her date will do his best. What she's not sure about, is if she'll be able to overcome her own anxiety about the whole situation.

"Reason two, then," she says, focusing back on the note. "I don't know a thing about racing. What are we even going to talk about?"

"Well, something else. I'm sure Lando would be delighted to talk about something other than work for once," Alice replies, winking.

She wasn't lying, she thinks. She really has an answer for everything.

"Shoot me with reason three, baby," Alice says, letting out a laugh.

"Reason three," she replies, eyeing her friend. "Let's say I don't fuck up, which would be a miracle in itself, and we hit it off. How am I supposed to maintain a long-distance relationship? We're not talking about Brighton or Cambridge, we're talking about another continent. Several times a year."

"Well, I'm glad you're thinking so much ahead," Alice replies, earning a frustrated grunt from her friend. "There'll be plenty of people who are in the same situation as you. You can always ask for advice from other WAGS," she concludes, laughing.

"You're insufferable."

"Was there a fourth reason to debunk, or are we done here?" Alice asks.

"There is, actually. That's the last one," she says, staring at her phone. "Every time I've gone on a date like this, without having seen the guy... They were never really... to my taste," she begins. "So I've never kissed them, never went any further. But if I like him, what am I supposed to do?"

"What's the real question?"

"Am I supposed to kiss him on the first date? I don't want him to think I'm easy. Is it better to play hard to get and..."

"Wow, you're overthinking this," Alice says, pinching the bridge of her nose. "I don't have any answer to give you. Just... Go with the flow. And if you're not sure about what to do, let him take the lead. Okay?"

An hour later, she's walking through the streets of Bristol, trying to calm her breathing, her thoughts, her already racing heart. She's checked the address Lando had sent her about ten times before leaving Alice's apartment. On principle, she takes out her phone, checking one last time. Her phone indicates that the restaurant is less than a minute's walk away, at the corner of the street she's on. There's still time to turn back, she thinks, before gathering herself. No. He doesn't deserve that.

In front of the restaurant, she casts a quick glance inside, checking if he's already there, before remembering that she doesn't even know what he looks like. Well, she has a vague idea. She's seen pictures on Alice's Facebook and Instagram over the years, but his precise features escape her. She remembers curly hair, beauty spots. Not much more. She's not sure if she would recognize him in a crowd.

She pushes the door and slips inside the buzzing restaurant, politely greeting the waitress who welcomes her.

"I have a reservation for two," she says. "The name's Norris."

"Ah yes, he's already here, in the second room. I'll take you to him," the waitress replies, flashing a smile.

Her heart stops. He's already here? She deliberately arrived fifteen minutes early to have time to settle down quietly, to gather herself. To wash her hands if they're too sweaty. This was not how it was supposed to go at all, she thinks, feeling the anxiety rise.

The waitress guides her through the tables to the small room at the back of the restaurant. On the way, her brain disconnects, giving way to total panic. I knew it was a bad idea, she tells herself, biting her lip. I'm going to make a fool of myself. The waitress suddenly stops, saying something that her brain doesn't comprehend before walking away and she looks up, meeting his gaze.

Oh, wow, she thinks, eyes widening. That man is too handsome for his own good.

"Hey, it's nice to meet you" he says, extending a bouquet of white tulips to her. "Alice said those were your favorites."

She smiles, taking the bouquet before burying her nose in it. Alice, you little sneak.

"Thank you so much," she replies, feeling her cheeks flush. "They're stunning."

Lando pulls out her chair before sitting back down, not taking his eyes off her. Feeling his gaze on her, she dives intensely into reading the menu. Or rather, she pretends to, because she's not even reading, just trying to avoid the attention the driver is giving her.

"You seem nervous," he states, still looking at her.

Feeling her cheeks turn red, she holds her menu higher in front of her face, hiding a little more. "Hey," he says, putting his finger on the menu to lower it. "What's wrong?"

"I'm sorry. I'm just really bad at this," she replies, finally looking at him. "Dates, conversations, one-on-ones. It's not about you, I swear."

There we go, she thinks, head low. We've been sitting for ten minutes and I've already messed everything up.

"Would you like to go somewhere else?" he asks, and she looks up, furrowing her brows.

"What?"

"I don't want you to feel uncomfortable, that wasn't the intention," he says. "A romantic dinner may be a bit much for a first date. So, if you want to go somewhere else, do something else, it's not a problem."

"But... We're already sitting," she says, confused.

"It's no big deal," he replies, shrugging. "The restaurant is packed, they won't go bankrupt because we leave. We can just tell them we don't like anything on the menu."

She lets out a laugh, covering her mouth, astonished by the driver's suggestion.

"If you could go anywhere, a place where you feel comfortable and safe, where would you go?" he asks, his big eyes detailing her.

She thinks for a moment, looking upwards, biting her lip again.

"If we really had no limits... I'd go to the sea," she replies, thoughtful.

"Let's go then," Lando says, rising up and taking his jacket.

"What? Lando, we can't do that," she says, still sitting. "The good beaches are like, an hour drive away."

But Lando has already circled the table, jacket in hand, extending his hand to her.

"My car's parked outside," he replies.

She doesn't understand what's happening, so for once, she sets aside her brain and listens to her heart, grasping his hand and allowing him to guide her towards the restaurant's exit, the driver only stopping to explain briefly to the very understanding waitress that an emergency has come up and they have to leave, carefully slipping several bills in her hand as a tip - and as compensation.

Outside, Lando leads her to his car, their hands still intertwined, her heels clicking on the cobblestones. He opens the door for her and she slips inside, her heart racing.

"I've never done anything like this in my entire life," she says, staring straight ahead.

"You should never force yourself to do something you don't want to do, though," he replies, looking through the rear window to reverse, leaning indirectly towards her. His scent reaches her nose and she can't help but look at him closely, detailing every detail of his profile. His clear eyes. His beauty spots that remind her of constellations. The curly lock of hair that crosses his forehead.

"Does Ogmore work for you?" he asks, snapping her out of her reverie.

"Ogmore's perfect," she replies, eyes glistening.

They set off, and as the English countryside landscape passes by through the window, she notices that for the first time since she left Alice's apartment, she isn't feeling anxious. Her heart still beats just as fast, sure, but she suspects it's not really because of stress anymore. Lando rummages between their seats and eventually pulls out a cable, which he hands to her.

"I don't mind driving, but you're the DJ," he says, laughing. "Put on some music. Let me know who you are."

She grabs the cable before connecting it to her phone, scrolling through her Spotify playlist. So you want to know who I am, huh? she thinks, blushing again, before clicking on her favorite song.

The first notes of "I'm Outta Time" by Oasis resonate in the car, and Lando shoots her a surprised look.

"I actually love that song," he says, smirking. "What does it tell about you?"

"Well," she starts. "As you must be starting to suspect, I strongly identify with the idea that the sea is the only place that manages to calm me down, where I truly feel free."

"I'm with you on that one," he replies.

"And then... It's quite personal, but to me, the song's about someone who's lonely. Someone seeking comfort, a pillar, someone who can support them through everything. But also someone they'd be willing to let go out of love."

Lando turns his head towards her, and she gets lost in the softness and understanding reflected in his eyes. The song comes to an end, and she clicks on "On Melancholy Hill" by Gorillaz.

"I promise I'm not depressed," she says, meeting his gaze, while he lets out a laugh.

"This one's talking about the sea, again," he states.

"There's that," she says. "And there's this dreamy feeling. It's about frustration, about pressuring yourself to achieve big things, when maybe..." she stops for a second. "Maybe just being with your person is enough. Maybe there's no need for more," she finishes, looking out the window, troubled by the feeling of having said too much.

"I get it," he says, still looking at the road ahead.

"You do?" she asks.

"Of course. I'm not the last one to have dreams and goals, as you can imagine. But at the end of the day, when all that's over, what's left? What do you turn to?"

The rest of the journey goes on in the same way. She plays a song, explains why she likes it, what it makes her feel, what it reminds her of. Lando listens attentively, interweaving her narrative with his own anecdotes, sharing his thoughts, his fears. That's much more intimate than a restaurant, she thinks. But somehow, she doesn't mind.

Forty minutes later, a sign indicates that Ogmore is the next exit, and Lando turns onto the narrow road, which soon becomes a path. They leave the car in a parking lot, where only a few cars are parked before embarking on the sandy trail. Before them, the sun has begun to set, tinting the sky with orange, pink, and violet hues.

"Just in time," Lando says before plopping down on the sand. She sits beside him, closing her eyes. Absorbing the healing sound of the waves.

"Thank you so much for this, Lando. You have no idea how much it means to me," she says, feeling emotional.

They both lie there, side by side, without saying a word, lulled by the sound of the waves.

"Do you remember the night we met?" Lando suddenly asks, looking at the sky and the stars that the onset of night begins to reveal.

"What do you mean?" she asks, turning on her side to look at him.

"It was last year," Lando starts, as she furrows her brows, completely lost.

"I'm not sure I understand," she replies, confused. "I've seen you in pictures... But this is the first time we meet."

"Alice's birthday, in London," the driver specifies, and she dives into her thoughts, trying to rewind time. "You were wearing a black dress. Backless."

"I... I remember the birthday, and the dress," she begins. "But I don't remember you. Well, I remember Alice saying you had something come up," she continues, lost.

"I had a work function, couldn't get away. But I still stopped by, dropped off Alice's gift," he explains.

"I'm sorry, Lando," she says, embarrassed. "I don't remember seeing you."

"We crossed paths in one of the hallways of the bar. You were leaning against a wall, talking to someone... Jeff? Greg?" he says, closing his eyes as if trying to remember.

"Jeff? My boyfriend at the time?"

"Yes, that was him. You two were arguing about something, I can't remember what. The tone started to escalate, and you walked off towards the restroom."

"I remember that."

"I found myself in front of Jeff, and I told him, "You shouldn't argue with a pretty girl like that. She deserves better". He told me to fuck off, to mind my business, and left," he recalls, laughing.

"Wow, I had no idea," she says. "Him and I broke up like, four months after that anyway."

"I know. Alice told me."

"Why would she tell you that? It must not be of much interest to you."

"I'd mentioned to her that I found you beautiful. In fact, to be honest, I think I said you were the most beautiful girl I had ever seen," the driver says. "So one morning, she texted me. Said something like... "She broke up with Jeff. Time to grow a pair."

"Wow," she says, laughing in shock. "I didn’t know that."

Silence falls. Neither speaks for several seconds. He, wondering if he's said too much. Her, wondering what she should conclude from the driver's words.

"So..." she starts. "When Alice told me that she had planned a blind date..."

"It was my idea," he says, meeting her eyes. "But we couldn't say that."

"Oh, my god," she says, laughing again. "I can't believe you two."

A particularly turbulent wave crashes at their feet, making them yelp and quickly stand up. They're suddenly face to face. Wrapped in a heavy silence. One that cannot last.

"So you did, then," she finally says.

"What?"

"You grew a pair," she replies as he bursts out laughing.

"You're not angry at me, are you?" he asks, taking a step forward.

"I'm... quite surprised, I won't lie. But I'm not angry, no. I've never had a first date like this," she confesses. "I've never felt so listened to, so understood... In so little time. It started off badly, and yet you... you made me feel like I could be myself."

"You can," Lando says, taking her hand. "That's all I want."

"Will you think I'm moving too fast if I kiss you?" she suddenly asks.

"No," he says, coming closer until their breaths meet. "I won't."

[lovelytsunoda]

you, me, lonely | mercedes amg (platonic)

summary: life is kicking baby mercs ass, and nothing has been alright since the last time she watched a brat pack movie. her head is too loud, life is moving fast, and she just wishes she knew how to stop and take a breath

pairing: mercedes amg (platonic) team x female! reader (but this one is real heavy on her interactions with lewis!)

warnings: y'all should know these by now tbh, there will be some anxiety and there will be feels and my girl is on the verge of a breakdown, mentions of pregnancy (not on baby mercs part lmao), she is finally ready to admit that maybe she should think about going to therapy.

part of the family is the friends we meet along the way series

her mind froze as she stared at the text on her screen, phone lying next to the keyboard of her work computer. she'd read the message three times over, and it still wasn't quite clicking.

clement: i thought you'd want to hear it from us before it hit the gossip rags....olli's new girlfriend is pregnant.

that shouldn't have hurt as much as it did. olli wasn't hers. she'd made it clear that she didn't want him after he'd kissed her at that holiday party.

so why was there an achy feeling her gut?

why did her head feel so loud that it might explode?

"hello? earth to yn?" the soft voice called her out of her reverie, and she looked up from her desk to see a worried lewis standing in front of her desk. "are you alright, kiddo?"

"yeah." she said, not really meaning it as she brushed some hair out of her face.

crazy how he was her first (and only) kiss two years ago, and now he was having a baby with someone else. she'd already blocked his number, and there was no point in sending him well wishes considering just how burned that bridge was.

"you don't look fine." lewis pushed gently. "a problem shared is a problem halved."

she sighed, locking her computer and tucking away her phone. "join me for a walk? i need to take my mandatory fifteen."

she grabbed her sherpa jacket from the back of her desk chair, heading towards brackley's patio doors. the cool fall air slapped her in the face as she pushed them open, moving to stand at the corner of the deck, attempting to soak up the last of what little sun england gets.

"remember that guy i kissed at marcus armstrong's holiday party a few years back?"

lewis nodded. "i do recall."

"he's going to be a father in march." she sighed, watching her breath turn to mist in the air. "somebody wanted him, but nobody has wanted me since him."

she knew in her heart of hearts that she hadn't really tried. she hadn't even really wanted olli when she thought about it. she couldn't date a driver, especially knowing that she would almost always come second to his career.

"and now with you leaving and graduation drawing closer, i just feel like my fucking head is about to explode." she laughed grimly, a realization coming over her. "i'm mentally ill, lewis. i need help. and it has taken me five fucking years to get to the point where i've felt like i could ask for it."

lewis could hear her voice cracking, and he didn't have to turn and look at her to know that she was close to tears. he silently reached out to pull her into a hug, not wanting to push too far, but also wanting to offer the reassurane and comfort that he knew she needed.

"the first step is admitting you need help. we have some of the best therapists in our industry here, yn. and if none of them work, we'll find out which ones are covered by your healthcare plan."

she resisted the urge to sink deeper into his arms with a hearty sob, instead choosing to focus on the grounding smell of his cologne, the feel of his strong, tattooed arms around her.

"and just because i'm at ferrari doesn't mean im gone for good." lewis reminded, pulling away to make sure she looked him in the eyes. "you know that i'm one phone call away, whenever you need me, right?'

she nodded weakly, thinking about the long distance calling fees and the timezones, and all the other reasons why lewis' grand plan might not work.

"i wish you weren't leaving me." she mumbled, hoping that even if lewis heard her say that, that he wouldn;t feel guilty. she knew deep down that he wasn't leaving her, but leaving a team that he felt could no longer build him the car he needed.

"you can call me any time, hey. and mostly everyone else will still be here. you'll still see me on race weekends. besides, once you graduate, you'll be too focused and too busy to have time for us anyways."

that was true. she couldn;t work here forever. sooner or later, it would all end and she'd find herself working in a county courthouse or a small family firm.

maybe somewhere coastal, like devon or halifax. her next big adventure, far away from home.

if she could make it through therapy first. lewis made her promise to talk to toto, who would be able to arrange a meeting with one of the on-staff psychologists for her. she'd met a fewof them in and around the break room, and they seemed personable.

like the kind of people that wouldn't judge the firestorm going on inside her brain at all hours.

they both knew it wasn't going to be a permanent fix, and that there were bigger, different things coming to the mercedes amg headquarters in the next season, including a seventeen year old boy who's gross income was about four times what baby merc could veer hope to earn.

but she was really starting to find her footing here. all she could hope for now was that she managed to keep it until graduation.

she felt somewhat lighter after her talk. being social had never been her forte, and she only somewhat conversed with the ladies in the legal office. talking was hard, she found.

but as lewis walked her back to her desk, and she took a look at her stack of files again, she felt better, albeit slightly.

"hey, yn." elodie, the tall and funny goth girl who worked at the desk next to her stuck her head over the glass dividers. "a few of us were going to grab a drink later and maybe go catch a late movie. did you want to come with us? don't at all feel like you have to say yes if you don't want to. i think doriane is coming, as well as-"

"elodie." she said, smiling to herself. "i would love to tag along. thank you for inviting me."

elodie grinned. "no problem, girlie. we're all going to meet in the front lobby. susie recommended this incredible cider place, and we try to go at least once a year once fall hits."

with her heart feeling a little lighter, and her spirit a little warmer, she turned back to her computer, a small, dainty smile on her face.

maybe making new friends outside of her post secondary education wasn't going to be as hard as she thought.

after all, didn't it only take one conversation to gain the great lewis hamilton as her most trusted ally?

she was so fortunate to work somewhere where everybody cared so much about each other, and that was the thought that she pledged to hang onto during her loneliest of hours from now on.

[youvebeenlivingfictional]

Could you please do 14 with art from the comfort prompts? Maybe handjobs while he has his back to the reader if things get spicy 🤭🤭

Anyways, your fics never fail to amaze me! Always look forward to reading them💗💗

I'm getting the sense y'all would like me to write #14 from the comfort prompts with Art Donaldson 🤔

Also thanks, nonnies!!

Warnings: Fluff, handyj's, subby Art Donaldson, praise kink, smattering of dirty talk, established relationship

"In here!" You called out. You listened as Art's footsteps grew closer, and your brows furrowed as you heard him slow just outside.

"It's okay, you can open the door."

Art seemed a little perplexed by how dim the bathroom was, but as he spotted the candles you'd put around your jacuzzi tub and the glass of wine on the side table, it all seemed to fall into place.

"How was your—What are you doing?" You laughed as Art began to strip off.

"What does it look like?"

Your eyes drifted down over his muscled chest, lip drawing between your teeth as he shoved his pants and underwear down around his ankles before kicking them off. You grinned, scooching back against the tub as Art climbed in in front of you. He groaned as he settled in, cradled against you.

"Comfortable?" You teased, brushing your lips against his temple.

"Very."

You curled your arms around his shoulders, closing your eyes as you savored the peace of his body pressed against yours.

"How was practice?"

The question hung in the air for a few moments. Art shifted a little, raising his hands and trailing gently over your bent knees.

"...Art?" You pressed.

"I don't wanna talk about practice."

It wasn't the answer you were hoping for. It wasn't Art's first career slump, likely wouldn't be the last—but you knew better than to remind him of that.

"I wanna talk about you," He added, tipping his head back to get a look at you. "Feel like I've barely seen you the last few days."

"We've been busy."

He craned his neck, pressing a kiss to your jaw. "Tell me about your day."

"It was fine, boring. The usual."

"What's the usual?"

"Art."

"Please?" He urged again, taking your hands in his and intertwining your fingers. He raised one to his lips before resting it over his heart. "I've missed your voice."

You smiled as he snuggled closer, the water swirling around the two of you.

"Well...I woke up around seven. You'd already left, obviously."

"Mm."

"I had breakfast, got dressed, sat down at my desk and worked all day."

"You stop for lunch at least?"

"I didn't have time."

"Baby."

"I know, I know," You sighed. "Things just kept coming up and before I knew it, it was 6:30."

"Explains the wine."

"Yes it does." You untangled one of your hands to reach up, gently combing through his hair. "Want some?"

"Not right now."

"...You're too wound up, you know."

Art sighed heavily, head flopping back against your shoulder again. You took in his closed eyes, his slightly pinched expression.

"You are," You insisted, lowering your hand from his hair. You trailed your nails over his shoulder, down past your joined hands on his chest. "I know you need something to get you going on the court, but having your gut all tight like this makes you all..." You slid your hand beneath the water, trailing along his inner thigh. "Stiff. And not in the fun way."

Art smiled, huffing a laugh. "Is that so?"

"Mhm. You need to relax."

"Any suggestions on how I might do that?"

"Well, I'm no tennis coach..." You curled your fingers around his shaft, smiling as he pulled a stunned breath in. "So my ideas may be a little...Rudimentary."

You stroked him gently, shushing him softly as he whined, pushing up into your touch. You grasped him a little more firmly, moving in long, even strokes as you felt him hardening in your touch. Art turned his head, mouthing at your jaw and neck, anything that he could reach.

"That's it," You murmured, watching a blush spread across his neck as you swiped your thumb across the head of his cock. "Fuck, you're so beautiful Art." You twisted your wrist as he whimpered, and bit your lip as his teeth grazed your skin. "You've been working so hard...You just need someone to take care of you a little, hmm?"

The water sloshed around your legs as Art's hips rolled up into your hand. You could feel his hot breath pushing against your neck, his tongue flickering out to catch a droplet of sweat sliding down your skin.

You were so hot, so slick as his skin shifted and almost seemed to stick against yours. His legs knocked against yours as he reached down, curling his fingers around your forearm. You watched his hips judder, his back arching as he spilled across his abs. You smiled, smearing it into his skin as he sagged back against you. His heart pounded beneath your joined hands, his thumb skating along yours.

"We should get out of the tub," He mumbled.

"Because we're going to get pruney and we're sitting in jizz water?"

Art laughed, tipping his head back to nip at your jaw.

"And because I'd like to return the favor."

[albertasunrise]

Hope - Hope I See You Again

Masterlist

Summary: After Joel loses his wife and your best friend during childbirth. You support him as he takes on parenthood on his own at 22. But when feelings start to develop, you battle with the guilt you feel for falling for your best friend’s husband.

Relationships: Joel Miller x Reader

Warnings: Like AO3 I choose to give none. Read at own risk. 18+… this is to avoid spoilers! (So a longer chapter...Another angst fest but I hope you enjoy. Had most of this written out already hence posting it so quickly after chapter 4, can't wait to heart what y'all think ♥️)

Series Masterlist - Part 1, Part 2, Part 3, Part 4

10 years later...

"Sarah!" Joel calls up the stairs as he munches on his toast "Hunny you're going to be late." 

"COMING!" She replied as thumping steps erupted on the landing. 

Joel chuckled as he listened to his daughter clamber down the stairs, smiling when she planted a kiss on his cheek and skipped to the plate of toast he left on the side for her. 

"You're a good father." She said as she ravaged the breakfast he made her. 

"I try to be." 

"You make some for Uncle Tommy?" She asked as her ears perked up at the sound of his truck parking on the drive. 

"Yeah, yeah..." Joel waved her off "Although he's gonna eat me outa house n' home at this rate." 

"Who is?" Tommy asked as he walked into the kitchen, giving his brother a friendly slap on the arm as he passed. 

"You asshole." Joel grumbled, eliciting a snigger from Sarah. 

"Sarah baby... you're gonna miss the bus if you don't leave." Joel said as he eyed the clock. 

"Ah... crap... Okay, gotta go. See ya later Uncle Tommy." She said sweetly as she kissed his cheek before skipping to her father to do the same thing "Still on for tacos tonight?" 

"Wouldn't be Tuesday without them." Joel winked before waving at his daughter as she sprinted out the door. 

"Ready?" Tommy asked as he unceremoniously shoved the last of his toast into his mouth. 

"One of these days, you're gonna choke." He snorted as he pushed himself to his feet "I'm driving today." He said as he snatched up the keys and headed to the garage. 

...

Joel was just finishing up laying the table when Sarah came screaming in. He couldn't understand how she had so much energy despite being at school all day and then soccer practice afterwards. 

"HEY!" She shouted, practically skipping into the kitchen. 

"Hey baby girl, how was your day?" He asked as he grabbed and placed the serving spoon into the bowl of chorizo and potatoes that he'd just finished frying off. 

"Great, do you mind if a friend joins us?" She asked sheepishly, smiling sweetly at him as he turned to see a tall boy beside her. 

He seemed familiar. His dark hair and piercing blue eyes reminded him of someone he used to know. 

"Dad this is Noah." She said sweetly "He's new and his mum wasn't able to get him from school so I said he could come here for dinner and then you could drop him home later?" 

The boy's name made Joel's stomach twist. There was no way this was the boy that had been practically glued to Sarah's side as a toddler. There are plenty of kids with that name. 

"Baby I-" 

"I know I should have asked first but Dad... you always make extra so there will be plenty for all of us." She pleaded with her big brown eyes, knowing that it would win him over. 

"I don't wanna impose Mr Miller, sir." Noah said, his head dropping "I can probably walk home from here." 

"Sit down." Joel grumbled as he motioned to the table with his head, smiling when Sarah kissed his cheek and whispered thanks in his ear. 

He watched as Sarah eagerly dug into the food on the table before noting Noah's hesitance. 

"Dig in son." Joel encouraged and Noah gave him a nervous nod before doing as he was bid. 

Dinner then passed fairly easily. Sarah talked about school and practice as Noah smiled at her enthusiasm. 

"So where are you from Noah?" Joel asked as he wiped his hands on his napkin and grabbed his beer to take a swig. 

"I was actually born here." Noah confessed and Joel's heart sped up a little "My parents moved when I was little. Dad wasn't well and so we moved closer to my grandma." 

"You don't say." Joel replied, his heart in his throat as Noah continued. 

"We moved back here 'cus mum got a job in Austin. Thought it would be good to get a new start after dad..." He trailed off, his eyes growing sad. 

"Perhaps next taco Tuesday you can bring Ali?" Sarah suggested as she gave Noah's arm a friendly squeeze. 

"Ali?" Joel asked and Noah smiled sweetly "Ali's my little sister. Short for Alison." He replied sweetly "Well little ish... She's a few years younger than me." 

"Joel thought he was going to be sick. There was no way this wasn't the Noah he knew as a boy." 

"Dad..." Sarah called but Joel felt like he was drowning, her calls for him muffled like his head was underwater. 

"DAD!" She shouted and he leapt from his skin as he returned his attention to both of them "You okay?" 

"What?" Joel asked as his eyes flitted between the two kids "Oh... Yeah, sorry just uh... Just a long day." 

Noah's cell phone ringing filled the awkward silence that had blanketed the room and when he pulled it out to see who it was, he excused himself to take it. 

"You sure you're okay dad?" Sarah asked as she grabbed his hand and gave it a squeeze "You look like you've seen a ghost." 

"Yeah, baby." He replied sweetly, trying his hardest to be convincing "I'm fine." 

10 years earlier...

"Joel, you need to take it easy man." Tommy pleaded as he pushed his brother back onto the bed "They cut into your fucking skull man." 

"What I need... is to get out of here." Joel grumbled as he let out a frustrated huff. 

"Sarah and I nearly lost you." Tommy choked, his eyes growing glossy as he remembered the last few weeks "We've watched you crash twice... Been told to prepare for the worst more times than I wanna remember... So please, just rest." 

"How are they?" He asked and Tommy sighed "They're doing as well as can be expected." Tommy sighed and Joel nodded "I think the kids have been a great distraction though." 

Joel smiled at that.

"When do you ship out?" Joel asked, changing the subject and Tommy signed "Sunday. Now you're not knocking on death's door, they've decided it's time for me to leave." 

"I'll be okay." Joel promised but Tommy didn't look convinced "I promise."

...

2 weeks later...

Joel watched as you puttered around the house, looking anything but relaxed as you finished clearing up after lunch. He gingerly pushed himself to his feet, wincing when his stitches pulled. 

"Need some help?" He asked as he limped into the kitchen. 

"No." You replied plainly and Joel sighed.

"Please, let me help." Joel pleaded and you growled in frustration. 

"You can help me by sitting the fuck down so you don't pull a stitch." You growled and Joel shrunk back. 

You'd been cold towards him since he got out and Joel couldn't say he blamed you. You were now stuck babysitting him as he recovered from three major surgeries on top of his daughter whom you'd been caring for for almost a month. 

"Please... I just... I want to help." 

"You've done enough Joel." That statement had him shrinking away from you as he nodded. 

"I'm going to check on Sarah." He said quietly as he limped from the kitchen.

"She's sleeping."

Joel didn't reply. Just left you to finish your frantic cleaning as he limped away with his tail between his legs.

Present day...

"Sorry." Noah said as he stepped back into the room "Was my mum." 

"Everything okay? Sarah asked and Noah nodded. 

"Yeah, just a broken arm." 

"What happened?" Joel asked, his confusion obvious from his expression. 

"Oh, my sister hurt herself during gym." Noah replied "Why mum couldn't grab me... Was up the hospital with her." 

"What about you dad?" Joel asked and Noah grew quiet again. 

"Noah's dad died a few months ago." Sarah pipped up and Joel's eyes almost bugged out of his skull.

"Shit... I'm... Shit I'm so sorry son I-"

"It's fine." Noah assured him as he gave Joel a weak smile "Not like you knew." 

"Do you need me to drop you home?" Joel asked and Noah nodded. 

"If you don't mind." 

Joel gave him a friendly smile before grabbing his truck keys off the side. 

"Come on." 

...

Sarah sat in the back as Noah directed Joel home. He couldn't help but think about the little boy he'd known a decade ago and how he'd grown into this polite young man. Part of him wanted to confess that he and Sarah had been inseparable as kids but until he was sure that he was who he thought he was, Joel needed to keep that information to himself. 

"This is me." Piped up Noah as he pointed at a house with a Large Volvo parked in the drive. 

It was nice. Exactly the sort of house he'd pictured you living in. Pulling up, the porch light flicked on and the door opened, revealing a face that Joel had thought he'd never see again. Time had been kind to you. Your hard was cut to just below the shoulders and wavy and your features had matured but it was unmistakeably you. 

"Thanks, Mr Miller, sir." Noah said as he unbuckled his seatbelt and grabbed his pack "Thanks for letting me crash Taco Tuesday." 

"Call me Joel, please." 

Noah gave the older man a shy smile before turning to say goodbye to Sarah. Hopping out the truck, Joel watched as Noah jogged up to you and he smiled as he watched to greet the boy with a hug. He'd known you'd be a natural mum. 

You glanced up at him and his heart stopped. Your eyes locked and he wondered if you'd recognise him too but when you squinted before raising your hand in thanks, Joel realised it was too dark in the cab for you to see him. 

Sarah clambering from the back to the front pulled Joel's attention away from the spot you'd been standing and he chuckled at the inelegant way the 12-year-old dumped herself in the passenger seat. 

"So what do you think of Noah?" She asked as she tried to act casual and Joel snorted. 

"He's a good kid." Joel replied as he pulled away from the curb "How did you guys meet anyway?" 

"He had to redo a year." Sarah replied "Not his fault. His dad was in and out of hospital so he missed a lot of school. When they moved here the school suggested that it would be good for him to redo 5th grade." 

"Do you know what happened to his dad?" Joel asked, trying to sound as inconspicuous as possible. 

"Apparently his dad was in an accident when he was little. Complications from that had him in and out of hospital but a year ago he got real sick and his immune system just couldn't cope." 

Joel once again felt like he was going to be sick. 

He'd had suffered a few long things from the crash. Back pain and headaches being the key ones but nothing following the surgery he'd had. So to learn that Alec had continued to suffer in the 10 years that followed the accident had him wanting to pull over and vomit up the tacos they'd eaten for dinner. 

You must hate him. 

...

"How was your evening hunny?" You asked as you finished unstacking the dishwasher. 

"Was great." He replied with a smile "Made a friend. Sarah Miller." He continued as he placed the plate you handed him in the cupboard "She invited me to join her and her dad Joel for taco Tuesday." 

"Joel Miller?" You asked, your heart hammering against your ribs as your eyes widened. 

"Yeah... You know him?" Noah asked as he turned to face you "Mum?..." 

"Um... Uh, yeah I..." 

Noah's eye caught a glimpse of a photo on the wall that until now he'd never looked at twice. It was of you and his dad with two guys you'd told him were friends from when you'd lived here. He looked more closely and noted how he was gripping the jeans of a man who looked a lot like Joel and then his eyes flitted to the little girl in the man's arms. His eyes widened as he studied her face. 

"This is them... isn't it?" Noah asked as he turned to look at you, pointing at the photo he'd been studying just a moment ago. 

"I was best friends with Joel's late wife." You answered as you sat down at the kitchen table "You and Sarah were inseparable as kids." You chuckled as you remembered how fond of Sarah Noah had been. 

"Why have you never mentioned them before?" 

"Because we fell out of touch." You confessed, "After your dad's accident, things got tense between us." 

"Tense?" Noah pushed "How?" 

"Joel was driving the car that night." You told him "He almost died but when he left the hospital, I blamed him for your dad's condition and so our friendship kinda fell apart." 

"But Dad's car was t-bone by a drunk truck driver." Noah pushed and you sighed.

"I know."

"So it wasn't Joel's fault." 

"No." You choked as you remembered how bad things had gotten "But I blamed him anyway.

10 years earlier... 

Joel's head was pounding. 

Headaches had been a constant complication from the surgery on his head. Limping into the kitchen, he found you leaning against the counter sipping a cup of coffee as you started out the window across from you. 

If you heard him enter you didn't show it. It had been a week since you'd snapped at him and Joel had done his best to give you space. Even if that meant suffering his increasingly painful headaches but this one was unbearable. 

"Have you seen my pain pills?" He asked as he limped towards you and you shook your head.

"No." 

"Any idea where they could be?" He asked as he tried to rummage through the cupboard for them. 

"No." 

"Please... my head is pounding." He pleaded and that seemed to snap you out of your trance. 

"Oh... You have a headache do you?" You growled condescendingly "Poor Joel's head hurts." 

"Please." Joel pleaded but you were having none of it. 

"Alec is paralysed from the waist down and you want me to keep track of where you put year headache tablets?" You growled and Joel immediately stopped searching. 

"I-"

"The man I love... the father of my unborn child is never going to walk again." You snarled as you slammed down your mug, making Joel flinch from the sound "He's never going to walk again... meanwhile, you get to walk away with no long-term consequences. How is that fair?" 

"I'm so sorry." 

"I don't want your apologies, Joel." You growled, "I just want you out of my life." 

Joel didn't care that you could see his tears. He stood there openly sobbing as you scoffed and turned your back from him.

"I think it's time you left." You said as your hand closed around something in front of you, turning to toss his pain pills at him. 

Joel didn't reply he just nodded. Limping from the kitchen to pack his things. 

He left an hour later. 

Present day...

Noah had been off with you since the evening he'd learned his history with Sarah and Joel. You felt guilty about how you'd treated Joel all those years ago but you'd been pregnant and lost. You'd hated the fact that your husband had been crippled for life and needed someone to blame. 

You'd blamed Joel. 

You were standing in line waiting for your morning coffee when a familiar voice caught your attention. Looking over your shoulder you saw an older Tommy Miller walking towards the bar. 

He ordered his coffee, paid then walked towards you. Only to stop in his tracks when he spotted you and his smile disappeared. 

"Long time no see." You said when he took a few more tentative steps towards you. 

"Yeah. Been a while." He replied plainly and you flinched at his tone. 

"How have you been?" You asked and he shrugged.

"Left the army. Working for Joel now." He replied and you nodded. 

"How is Joel?" You asked as you accepted your coffee from the barista and thanked them. 

"Do you care?" He growled and your brows pulled together. 

"Oh course... I wouldn't have asked if I didn't." 

"He's fine." Tommy grumbled as he poured a few sugars into his coffee before turning to you "He wasn't the night you kicked him out." 

"Tommy I-" 

"He collapsed after getting out of the taxi that had taken him and Sarah home." He interrupted, his tone ice cold as he turned to face you and leaned in closer "He'd developed another brain bleed and almost died. Ali's parents had to fly out from Canada to take care of Sarah whilst Joel fought for his life for a second time." 

"I didn't know." You choked as your hand flew up to your mouth.

"No..." Tommy trailed off as he scoffed at you "You were just too caught up in your own problems to notice how he'd started to go downhill." 

You didn't get a chance to reply. 

Tommy was out of the door before you could utter a syllable. He just left you standing there feeling terrible about the fact that you had neglected him. You had blamed him for your misfortune and you had pushed him away when he needed you. 

You had to fix this. 

Next

For updates follow @albertasunrise-ficsblog

[midnight-mourning]

DCA Promptober Day 13: Night

This, was a lot of fun. I told the moon lovers they'd get their juice, and I held up my promise. So, come get y'alls juice. Also MAN did this get long, didn't realize it until I went to check it for errors

Word count: 1003

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

Something's been watching you at night. 

You had assumed it was the neighbor's cat. Usually, that seemed to be the case. But even when Bojangles would come up to you, having scaled your garden wall, and then pitter-pattered his way across your roof-you spent a lot of time out here now-there still felt like something spying on you, from beyond your line of sight. 

The back of your property borders the woods, it's expected that there's something out there. You just don't know why it's all of the sudden started watching you. As opposed to say, normal animal things. 

It's been a few months now. And you wouldn't necessarily say it's bothering you, rather, you're just curious as to why this is happening. Thought you can't deny, it's a bit unnerving. 

You'd been sitting out on your roof like this, pretty much since you lost your old job. Though, really it was more that your place of work burnt to the ground and thus, you were left without a job as a result. 

It wasn't just the job you'd lost, a bitter and wounded part of you whispers. It'd been a lot more, than just some stupid job.

"Which do you think is better?" You ask, showcasing the two different glow in the dark clip-on earrings you were wearing.

Moon's faceplate spins in thought, "Why not both?"

"Hm, I suppose that's an option. Your opinion has been duly noted."

He chuckles, "You're taking this very seriously aren't you?"

"Of course!" You go back to digging through your box of supplies, pulling out more decorations, "A kid asking for a glow in the dark birthday party? With you? Everything has to be perfect."

You feel a presence hovering over you. Glancing up you see the red-eyed bot staring down at you. Before he can react, you slap a glowing sticker on his chest.

He looks down at it, then back up to you. 

You tip your chin up, "Personally, I don't think you're taking it seriously enough."

"Oh?" He bends down, "Is that what you think?"

"It is. I mean, this is so exciting! And yet, here you are, as low energy as ever. Course you're always low energy so I suppose I can't-"

Moon's arms wrap around you, pressing his forehead to yours, "I'll admit, I'm a bit distracted at the moment. Perhaps you could remedy that?"

You frown, "Now Moon, you wouldn't be pretending to be uninvolved as a tactic for affection, would you?"

"Never," He rasps.

You give a kiss to his smile, "I didn't think so."

The memory is interrupted by a noise out in the woods. You wipe your eyes with a sniffle, watching, looking to see if there's anything different this time compared to all the others. 

There is. 

Out, past your wall, just beyond the edge of the tree line, where the light of the moon can't quite reach, there's a figure.

You feel a sense of alarm at this. And when you realize just how tall they are, your sense of dread grows.

You can't make yourself move, it's like you're frozen by their gaze. Your heart starts to race in your chest as you quickly run out of rationality regarding what is out there watching you.

A bump to your right arm and small mewl breaks your free. 

Looking down, you find Bojangles rubbing up against you, desiring pets. You find it in you to huff a quiet laugh, smiling slightly as you reach down and pet him. It helps you gain the nerve to look back at the figure again.

They're gone.

Thump.

You jump, and Bojangles quickly scurries away from you, across the roof in the opposite direction of the noise. Slowly, you turn to face is yourself, somehow already knowing what awaits you. 

A giant figure casts a shadow over your roof. The moonlight behind them causes any/all of their features to be indistinguishable. The only thought that comes to your mind is mechanical. Ragged and mechanical.

There's a few clicks that emit from their body as they tilt their head. That, and the sound of…

Bells?

A step closer. You twist to fully face them, unsure what to do. Another step. There's all sorts of noises coming from this machine's? broken body. Creaks and groans, clicks and whirls, and of course, bells. They sound, wrong. Hollow. 

Lonely. 

Your eyes dart to your open window, to the ground, back to the figure again. Your time is running out, better make a choice before-

You recognize that ruby red glow. You know that star-filled night cap. And you definitely know how that sticker got on his chest.

"Moon?" You ask. 

The figure stops. Now only several feet from you. His faceplate twists again. 

You reach a hand out, only to retract it, "I, I don't understand. They said, they said nothing survived the fire. How did you make it out?"

No answer. His fingers tap against his torn pants. Which, looking closer you can see some of them have lost their casing, only the metal endoskeleton remains.

"You know what, it doesn't matter," You shake your head, tears welling up again as you start to smile, "We'll get this figured out. I'm just so glad that you're okay."

Moon takes another step. For some reason, you no longer feel at ease. You watch as that broken hand taps its fingers against itself. Clinking against each other. Seeing how they glint in the low light you realize just how sharp they are.

He comes to a stop in front of you, you can only make out his eyes still. You don't move.

"Moon-man?" You ask again, a bit softer this time.

"It's past your bedtime."

You no longer feel relief. 

You no longer feel safe.

But still, you try. You swallow, "You um, you know it's me, right?"

His eyes crinkle as he chuckles. It's not the laugh you remember. It's, downright sinister.

Too little too late you watch that clawed hand raise.

"Nighty-night~"

🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃🎃

I think Bojangles is a really good cat name. Yeah, pretty sure that's all I have to say. My promptober masterlist is here, thanks for reading!

[not-magdi]

-christmas tree hunt / pablo gavi

Warnings : None :)

Words : 725

Reading Time : 2min 54 sec

A/N 

Ummm ... hi  To make an incredibly long story short, I had one of the shittiest summers of all time and got my heart pretty much shattered, so I struggeled for quite a while to write about happy relationships again, but here we are !  I hope you enjoy reading it ! Love y'all Magdi <3 

"Pablo, come on. Hurry Up!"

"I'm coming, Jesus I'm coming."

You heard Pablo's footsteps as he hurried down the stairs to meet you in the hallway of your shared apartment. The two of you were going Christmas tree shopping, and as every year, you couldn't be more excited.

Christmas has always had a special place in your heart, and since the end of September, you have been counting down the days until the first of December. Pablo found your excitement for the holiday absolutely adorable, the way your eyes would start to sparkle every time you saw some Christmas decorations and how you would randomly start to hum a Christmas song to fill the silence in a room.

As he jumped down the last pair of stairs, a smile made its way onto his face as he saw you by the door bouncing around from excitement.

"Ready Amor?"

"Yes finally, now come on!" You dragged him out of the door towards his car.

Arriving at the market, you practically jumped out of the car towards the trees.

"Amor, look at this one, it's so beautiful!" You stood next to a tree that was probably about 2 meters high.

"And how, my little Christmas elf, do you want to get that monster into our living room?" Pablo asked you, with a teasing tone and a little smirk on his face.

Looking back at the tree, you realize it might indeed be a little too big for your living room, so you let go of it and immediately start rushing to the next one.

Pablo strolled behind you, chuckling slightly at your excitement over a tree.

The two of you have been going from tree to tree for over an hour now, either way, the tree was too small, too big or too crooked.

"Ok, how about this one?" Pablo asked, holding a kind of small tree up, it missed a few branches and it wasn't the fullest, but the proud look in his eyes as he presented his found to you made you fall in love with him and the tree even more.

"You know what? Let's take it, it has a character."

"Really? Finally!"

Pablo pumped his fist in the air like he just made a goal, and you couldn't help but laugh at his silly antics.

You two bought the tree and loaded it into the car before driving home to start decorating it as soon as possible.

As you arrived home, Pablo immediately sent you inside to prepare some hot chocolate for the two of you. He wanted to bring the tree in himself, wanting to show off how big and strong he is (while bringing in a tree that is about half of his size but shhhh)

You finished putting the last marshmallows into your hot chocolates and made your way to the living room, carrying the two mugs.

As you round the corner into the living room, you see that Pablo already set up the tree beside the little fireplace.

"It looks beautiful there Amor."

"Really, you think so?" Stepping away, he takes a second to look a his work, before grabbing the hot chocolate from your hand, thanking you with a little kiss on your cheek.

The sun was starting to set as you and Pablo started to decorate your little tree. Boxes with ornaments of all kinds were sprawled out around the living room, and Christmas music was playing softly in the background.

"Here Baby, you want to put the star on top?" You hand Pablo the little blue and red star to finish your tree.

You got the star as a joke once, because it was sparkling in the classic Blaugrana colours, but it kind of became a tradition to finish off your tree with it.

After he placed the star on top, he stepped behind you and put his hands around your waist, laying his head on your shoulder. Together you admire your work, yes the tree wasn't perfect but it fits perfectly into your living room.

"It looks beautiful, don't you think?"

"It really does." Pablo whispers into your ear, not looking at the tree.

Turning your head you give Pablo a soft kiss on the lips, leaning back into his embrace.

"I love you Amor."

"Love you too, my little Christmas Elve."

--------

Don't forget to leave a note if you enjoyed it, feedback is always welcome! ❤️

[residenthughes]

starting afresh

pairing: leon kennedy x gender neutral reader

word count: 1.3K

tags/warnings: fluff, domestic fluff, re4r leon with re2r haircut/hairstyle

summary: it's been six years since the raccoon city incident. some things change, and some things stay the same (where re4r leon cuts his hair as short as it was in re2r for the first time)

notes: whoever made the mod(s) for leon to have his re2r hairstyle in re4r, no words. just take my money. I'm begging. but if y'all have seen those screenshots/played with the mod yourself, you just know how good he looks with his hair short :((( makes me so soft! hehe

feel like i kind of stepped up my dialogue here, thanks to all the fics I've been reading as of lately 😈 couldn't be more thankful, haha! hope y'all enjoy this and please feel free to let me know your thoughts on this!

“What do you think?”

You’re at a loss for words. Jaw slack and eyes wide. You’re overreacting, you know you are but this quite literally came out of nowhere. It was an uneventful, slow Sunday. As per yours and Leon’s routine, the leisurely day was spent draped in a citrus scented duvet and immersing yourselves in cosy cuddles to recharge for the long week ahead. It was only when your lips ghosted over the rosewood marks of love peppered across the expanse of Leon’s clavicle, hands feverish and wandering that your actions ceased upon the growl of your stomach.

Leon can only laugh, kissing away the flush of your cheeks as he mumbles against your forehead. “Come on, sweetheart. Let’s make some food.”

You pout, wanting to beg for five more minutes (like you hadn’t before), bones aching for the pamper the cloudlike bed provides, but Leon’s already leaving you, arms extending up to the ceiling as he stretches. The sliver of afternoon light peeking through the curtains basks his toned body in all kinds of flattering light, muscles expanding and contracting. 

Leon turns to look at you, lips plump with love as the duvet drapes your body like some fine ballroom gown. He swears his heart beats out of his chest. There really is no one as beautiful as you. 

“Race you to the kitchen?” A teasing eyebrow is raised and even though Leon sets himself in motion to sprint, you don’t budge. Not even an inch. 

He deflates, eyes rolling as he pads over to your side of the bed.

“Don’t wanna,” you mumble as you attempt to bury yourself into the bed, cocooning yourself with the dark shadow grey duvet. “Too lazy.”

Leon sighs. “I’ll give you a piggyback ride?”

Your attention is grabbed. You remove the duvet from your face, sly smirk positioning itself amongst your features.

“I’m listening.”

You cupping behind your ear is what does it for Leon. Dramatic as always.

A huff of amusement sounds from him. Considering the extent as to which the man spoils you rotten, you should be babbling for him to recant his offer, carrying yourself to the kitchen before you two move in a synchronised dance practised all the years you’ve been together as you make food. But Leon’s already perched up on your side of the bed, back towards you with his hands behind him.

“Of course you are,” he beckons for you with the flutter of his fingers, an easy smile sent your way over his shoulder. “Now, hop on before your stomach eats itself.”

You follow his lead, as you always do. Hooking your legs around his waist and circling your arms loosely around his neck. You don’t forget to show your appreciation, peppering his nape with kisses that have laughter pouring out of Leon like honey. Once you’re in the kitchen of your shared apartment, Leon sets you down on the cold countertop with the squeeze of your thighs and opens the fridge.

“Shit,” you crane your neck to look into the fridge too. Much like your stomach, it’s pretty empty. “Need to head to the store if we want something edible for dinner.”

“Is there anything for now at least?” You really can’t be arsed to wait to go get some groceries, make a meal and then eat.

“Kind of, but we definitely need to go shopping after this.” Leon states as he brings out the remnants of the fridge. You go to grab the spices from the cabinet and the last of the eggs and stare at your ingredients.

“Let’s get this party started.” 

You groan. 

Leon can be so lame sometimes. Yet so lovable all the time.

-

Once the appetising brunch made with nothing but the utmost of love settles in your stomach, you reluctantly begin to egg yourself on to completing the rest of your weekend’s work and preparing for your Monday back at the office. Blue light glasses perched against the bridge of your nose, you gnaw at the end of your pencil, legs crossed in the way Leon always jokes in the shape of a pretzel. You’ve left quite a bit of work for yourself to complete tonight, so you don’t see yourself leaving your workspace anytime soon.

Leon understands, he always does. Kisses your forehead delicately and murmurs something about getting some stuff from the grocery store for dinner. He’s out the door before you can get a word in. You now understand why he left in such a hurry, understand why he took longer than usual. 

Before you, your longtime partner, with long dirt blond locks that framed the angles of his cheekbones, sports a new hairstyle. Or should you say old. You haven’t seen him like this since you first started dating - bashful young adults about to embark on their journey into adulthood, sweaty palms linked and heart beats in sync. Ever since the ruinous events of Raccoon City, you noticed that with all the scars and burdens Leon carries with him that he never once looked the same. Face gaunt and eyes sunken in. It took a long while before life returned to his eyes. And though you were beyond ecstatic that Leon was seemingly getting better, you couldn’t help but take note of his hair. He never cut it like before. Never. 

Opting for longer strands of his gorgeous hair, Leon always gave a chuckle and said, “thought you always wanted me to grow my hair out,” whenever you asked. It was sweet of him to do so, sweet of him to say, but you and him both knew that wasn’t entirely true. However, you never pried - that was not in your nature, and certainly not evident in all the years you’ve been with Leon. So, you didn’t ask again and when the time came that Leon’s huffs of annoyance filled your ears as he struggled with keeping the strands out of his face, he departed with a smile and cut a mere two inches off his almost shoulder length hair. It remained that way for the next six years.

Now, having grown into his rugged features, the short hair length from all those years ago conjures something else in you. It feels nostalgic but new -  feels right and looks that way too. But more than anything, you feel proud. Proud of Leon and all that he is, all that he’s become despite everything.

“Barber went a bit crazy, didn’t he?”

Oh, bless him. He’s so awkward, so endearing it hurts. Pools of blue avert your gaze, the floor apparently more interesting, fingertip scratching the surface of his cheeks that burn with ruby red. This is a big moment for Leon, you think, but you know better than anyone that he doesn’t want it to be. Just wants your reassurance and all the calmness that comes with it.

Your hands against Leon’s cheeks shift his eyes to yours, getting an eyeful of the absolute fondness that swims in your eyes. He simply drowns in it - knows the glimmer in your eyes signifies the pride that swells in your chest, the tenderness of your touch loving and reassuring. He did well, has always done so well. Deserves his flowers and the whole damn garden. 

“Maybe,” you giggle and your joy is contagious. Smiling with you, Leon feels you twiddle the strands of his hair between your fingers. Slow and gentle - like your love is. It’s so sweet. “But, I’m not mad at it. Not one bit.”

In all the time you’ve been with Leon, there hasn’t been any more than a handful of times you can recall where he willingly leaned on you for support. Not because you lacked the capacity to do so, but because the solitary nature and secrecy of his job kept him from doing so. Facing his nightmares as much as he could by himself, meeting his new nightmares on missions by himself - everything by himself. But in moments like these, where the significance of his trauma can be lost in translation, he surrenders himself to you. Altogether. Unabashed and brave. He couldn’t be more dashing than he is right now, all versions of himself served to you on a silver platter. 

You fall in love all over again.

[allthelovenina]

can u write smth about levi and seven minutes in heaven?🤭🤭

Hi bestie! Here's your request. I hope y'all enjoy it.

Modern AU! College! Levi x reader

Slightly not sfw I guess?

Excuse my broken English in advance :")

Levi had been done with college parties after the freshman year, yet he found himself in Hange's stupid party.

Hange was a close friend of Levi, the party was supposed to be a "small birthday party" which he assumed there would only be the sophomores. The thing is, Hange already knew Levi had a crush on you for a year and half now and of course, Levi never confessed this but he didn't have to do so for someone as sharp as Hange to understand. Plus, teasing Levi has always been Hange's favorite hobby, so they invited you and your group of friends as well.

There sat on the floor Levi, Hange, Mike, Erwin, Nanaba and Moblit, the Juniors and You, Jean, Mikasa (Levi's gloomy cousin), Eren, Sasha and Connie, the sophomores, playing seven minutes in heaven.

If Levi was doubtful that Hange had it all planned out, the fact that they made him sit infront of y/n during playing game left no place for any doubt. Before he knew it, he was in a dark room with you. Levi was a simple man, he was left in a room alone with you his heartbeat would fasten. Of course, you had no idea how nervous he was so you broke the silence by a question that had always been stuck to your mind.

"Do you hate me, Levi?" You asked.

Levi felt his heart dropped by your question "Huh? Why are you asking such a dumb question?"

You let out a sign "You always look away when I look at you. I remember you would talk to me a lot more at the beggining of my freshman year, but after a while you...cut me off. What happened?"

'Idiot piece of shit, look what you've done'

Levi cursed himself in his mind. In reality he never meant to ghost you or ignore you, he was just scared of his feelings. Afraid that his non platonic, totally romantic affection for you would ruin your friendship. So he ignored his feelings at first and still talked to you for a week after his realisation but then, he saw some dude trying to hit on you which you had no idea of this guy's intentions but that was when Levi decided to go out of touch with you. You clearly had no feelings for him and it hurt him more to see you with another guy when he was just a friend. So he left, he didn't think it would be this long though. He assumed it would take him a few weeks to move on and then he could come back to you again with no romance involved as a friend.

But his anticipation was far from reality. The distance only lead him to crave you more and fall deeper, so he never came back.

But...you sounded so hurt and he hated it. He never thought his avoidance would hurt you.

"That's completely the opposite."

'Quit being a coward, Ackerman.'

"Huh?" You asked in confusion.

"The reason why I cut you off was that I was trying to process my feelings for you and...shut them down I guess."

The little light that entered the room through the small space beneath the door was enough for Levi to see your eyes, wide shut in surprise.

"Are...you saying that you ignored me cause you had a crush on me?"

Thank heavens the room was dark enough for you to see Levi blushing, playing in favor of Levi with the little light exposing your expression to him while as the same time the darkness prevented you from seeing his. "Yeah...I'm sorry never meant to hurt your feelings"

'This idiot.' echoed in your mind.

You grabbed his collar and pulled him close, giving him a kiss on his lips. Oh no one knows how badly you wanted to taste them all this time.

Levi was shocked, but after a second or two, he just let the flow take him wherever. He kissed you back, closed his eyes as his hands found their way to your waist, pulling you even closer. He felt his cheeks burning, the heat was taking his body. It felt like he was a teenager once again. He placed one of his hands on your nape, he ran his hands all over it. Gently massaging your nape.

You pulled back to catch breath. "W...what was...that?" Levi asked.

"You're a fucking idiot...you know that?" You replied as you were still panting.

"I had a crush on you too."

This time, Levi's eyes were wide shut. There were so much he wanted to say right now. He just couldn't find the words. He wanted to tell you more about his feelings, like how he was slightly sad all the time ever since he had cut you off and how badly he wanted to punch anyone who talked shit about you, how many nights he got drunk alone only to find himself starring at your pictures on social media or your contact number, debating whether to call you or not

He didn't say a word, instead pulled you back in his arms and leaned his head to your neck, kissing it passionatly like a thirsty man who just found water. You placed one hand on his shoulder and another through his undercut, then through his sculp, tugging his hair playfully as he found the sensitive spot on your neck which made you moan quietly. "Levi..."

Maybe it was the alchohol in his system or maybe the dopamine in his body that made him so brave and courageous. "You still like me don't you?"

You rolled your eyes as you were trying calm down from his earlier touch. "No shit Scherlock."

"Be mine then, I'll make you happy, I promise."

So blunt, no poetic line. Typical Levi, you didn't expect him to be anything different anyways. What you didn't expect was what he'd just said.

You remained silent, trying to process the whole thing. Never thought the night would turn out like this, in fact you did dream this situation a few times in sleep.

Before you could say anything, the door was opened, the sudden exposure of light hurt your eyes that had already got used to the darkness. Hange let out a loud laughter as they found you two clinging to eachother.

"My, my! Look at you guys!"

You blushed, felt embarrassed as you were cought in 4k. Levi let out an annoyed groan and frowned. "Shut up four eyes!"

#

[multifandoms27-blog]

Bucky Barnes Relationship HC's

It was my birthday this past weekend, and this is my birthday gift to myself. Hope y'all enjoy!

Content: (mostly) Post CW Bucky x Fem! Reader

Warnings: Talk about PTSD, (minimal) couple fights, cheesy Bucky lol

Notes: Bucky is working with the Avengers in this

• ───────────────── •

Something everybody seems to agree on, is that Bucky is clingy.

When he's away on missions, he tries to call you every night so he can hear you before bed. When you're away on missions, he can't sleep until you call him. You forget one night? Oh well, he's not sleeping. He's worried about you but he won't mention it to anyone else. He'll silently freak out by himself until you call.

He has nightmares, he likely always will. This makes him kind of a bad bedmate, but he doesn't mean to move so much. I would suggest taking melatonin so you can get some actual sleep.

Speaking of his nightmares, when he wakes up from them, he never wants to wake you. 9/10 times though, you've been awake for a little bit before him. He feels bad, and sometimes he'll run from you, or he'll seek out comfort.

If he runs from you, it's because he can't handle human interaction in that moment. PTSD reactions or waking up from nightmares make people feel very vulnerable, and some don't like feeling that way, and run somewhere they know is safe for them to hide until they calm down. Think of a turtle hiding in it's shell.

If he seeks out comfort, it'll go something like this;

Bucky yells as he shoots up, eyes wide and glossy. His body feels too cold despite being under the blanket with you, like he's overexposed. He looks around the room as he breathes heavily, trying to slow his heart rate. Nobody else is in here. Nobody but him and you. That's right, he...he got away.

His gaze shoots over to you as you stir and look up at him. You two stare at each other for a moment before you speak. "Nightmare?"

Bucky swallows his spit and nods. You adjust a little before lifting up the blanket. "Want some cuddles, Bucky?"

Bucky nods wordlessly, quickly settling next to you. He can feel your warm arms sliding around his body, encasing it with a certain weight that comforts him. He's here, next to you, safe and sound. No injuries. No fighting. No more being cold.

"Wanna talk about it?" You mumble against his skin.

"Don' feel like it right now, doll." Bucky wraps his arms around you, pulling you impossibly closer. "But...thank you."

"Yeah, of course." You nod, yawning. "Love you, Buck."

"Love you too, (Y/n)."

Normally, Bucky is pretty playful with you. He'll be flirty with you, share jokes, tell you anything and everything that's on his mind, and sometimes will just take your hand and start dancing around with you. He'll teach you how to waltz if you don't know how already.

He likes to learn about newer century stuff with you, but be patient with him if he doesn't understand something.

Although sometimes, he likes to learn different pieces of media and surprise you with his knowledge later (like in FATWS when he knows about the Hobbit)

It's also no secret that he's such a romantic. You cannot tell me this man wouldn't keep track of your anniversaries and birthdays every year.

You were making yourself a snack in the kitchen when Bucky walked in with a smirk. You looked up and gave him a smile. "Hey handsome, how you doing today?"

"Very well, now that I've seen you." Bucky strides to you.

"Oh? You weren't doing well before?"

"I'm at my best when my best girl is here." Bucky gently brings your hand to his lips, giving it a kiss.

You feel your face heat up, and Bucky chuckles. He loves when your face gets all rosy. He then turns your body to face him fully, your left hand going on his shoulder and your right hand staying in his own. His free hand goes to your waist, and he opens his mouth to speak again. "FRIDAY, play A Nightingale Sang In Berkeley Square by Glenn Miller."

FRIDAY made a small beep before answering, "Certainly."

You heard the old 40's crackle in the song as the man sang, and Bucky led the waltz around the kitchen island. No matter how many times you two have waltzed, neither of you can pry your eyes away from each other. As the song ended, Bucky stopped your movement, and just swayed in place. You moved your arms up to his neck, and his other hand went to your waist. Bucky gave you a soft, sweet kiss as the last musical note ended.

"Happy anniversary, doll."

"Oh Buck, you romantic." You grinned. "Happy anniversary, my love."

He'll also write you love letters if he's away on a mission for a while. He's not quite the poet, but he tries, lol. It's one of the only things left of him you have after the snap. That also means on birthday cards and stuff, you'll find his love notes for your eyes only, detailing how you make him feel, his favorite things you did that day, how you illuminate his life, it's all very cheesy. I love him.

Gets you bouquets of flowers because he saw them and thought of you (cause the flowers were pretty).

If you're into LOTR/Hobbit and show him the movies, he'd be ecstatic. He really liked the Hobbit when it came out, and to see it in movie form with you makes it so much better.

He'd want to be into your interests too. He wants to watch your favorite movies, see your favorite shows, know/read your favorite books, etc. He wants to connect with you on every level. He's stuck to you like glue.

Fights with him rarely happen, but it happens if he's already in a bad mood or is tired from a mission. The arguments can turn nasty, and he really doesn't mean to, but the person he loves and trusts the most is angry at him right now - so it's only fair he's the same way, right? Wrong, that's just the PTSD talking.

You two don't tend to stay mad at each other for very long. The most he has managed to stay mad at you was two days, before he was trying to find a way to apologize, unless you apologized first (depending on the situation). He likes being able to talk through the problem with you, it makes him smile the brightest smile after the issue is resolved, no matter how small. Not even Tony could break his stride.

He's not too fond of extreme PDA, but he'll keep his arm around your shoulders and give you a peck on the cheek here and there. Although, to annoy Tony or Sam, he might just grab you and give you a big, wet, passionate kiss on the lips. But what he'll never do is smack your ass or make any sexual remark or gesture in front of the others. He wants to keep your dignity and whatever is left of his.

Also expect random compliments here and there. Even if you're doing the most menial tasks, or on your lazier days.

You were texting Wanda while waiting for your toast to be done, yawning. You were in baggy lounge wear, and you hadn't done your morning routine yet. Bucky walked in, his hair already brushed and clearly ready for the day. He stops and looks you up and down before leaning against the doorframe, letting out a whistle.

The whistle makes you look up and give him a smile. "Morning, Buck."

"Morning sweetheart." Bucky flashed you a grin.

You just chuckled, then turned to grab your toast as it popped out. Bucky came up behind you and put his hands on your hips, leaning down to kiss your shoulder. "Why're you so cute, huh?"

"I'm not a mirror, Buck."

"Oh, you're mistaken. I'm very clearly looking at my wonderful girlfriend." Bucky laid his head on your shoulder, giggling at his own remark.

Your face heats up, even though he's said this to you multiple times before. "Aw, Buck..."

He kisses your shoulder again, moving his arms so they fully wrap around you. You take a bite of your toast, then move it to him to offer a bite. He bites into the toast and hums, satisfied.

When you guys go to bed, he's almost always big spoon. He likes holding you and protecting you. What better way to do that than holding you close while you both sleep? It's also a soothing way to get him to sleep. He feels your body move as you breathe - it's like the calmest sleep asmr for him, haha.

But that means if you get up to go to the bathroom or get a glass of water, he's waking up too. In his dreams he can feel something moving against him, and that causes him to wake up and make sure you're okay. Sometimes he'll wait for you to get back and pretend he was asleep, other times he'll follow cause he doesn't want to be alone.

If he has a nightmare though, he moves in his sleep. So his body will pry himself away from you, but it gives him a better chance to run and recover by himself if he needs to.

Definitely feels like you're the girl he's gonna settle down with. He just hopes you like the ring he picked out.

[plussizefantasia]

What More?

Flufftober Day 8: Rainy Days

Jim Hopper x reader, El Hopper & Reader

Word Count: 0.9k

AN: I really like how this one turned out! I love it when I'm able to kind of switch POVs like I did in this one. If you enjoyed reading this or any of the other flufftober fics I've put out, please support me by reblogging! Anyway, See y'all tomorrow.

divider credit @royallaesthetics

When you woke up this morning it was to the sound of rain pattering against the roof of Hop’s cabin and the man himself gone from the bed you shared. You treasure the rain, Hop thinks it's kind of ridiculous how much you love the rain. When it was storming you would stop whatever you were doing and sit at the window with a blanket while you watched the downpour.

 Today is no different, when you hear the shower outside you drag yourself out of bed. Taking the covers with you and walking into the bigger room of the cabin that held Hopper's big laz-y-boy chair and your own plush chair that you brought when you moved into his place. When you walked into the living room you were pleasantly surprised to see Jim already there. Holding a steaming cup of coffee in his hands and leaning against the kitchen counter.

“Mornin’” He called, sipping from his own mug and lifting the one next to him on the counter. “When I heard the rain I figured that you’d want to sit and watch it come down. Made you some coffee.” You took the mug from his hand and took a sip. It was exactly the way you liked it and your heart swelled with affection for the gruff man that you loved.

“Thanks, Hop,” you pushed yourself up on your toes and gave him a kiss on the cheek. “Is Jane up yet?” You asked. 

“No, figured I’d let her sleep in. Don’t have much to do today.” 

“Well if you don’t have anything to do, would you want to sit and watch the rain with me?” You made your eyes bigger in the way you knew he couldn’t say no to and pushed your bottom lip out. “We could cuddle. And I could play with your hair the way you always say you don’t like but I know you really do?” Your offer was becoming even more difficult to refuse. 

The sigh that your man let out was both defeated and adoring and you did a little happy dance in the kitchen when you realized you had won.

“Could you pull your chair over here so we can look out the window?” you asked pulling out the pouty look again. 

Jim grumbled but acquiesced. When the large recliner was in the perfect position you grabbed him arm and pushed him down into the seat. Swiftly gripping your blanket and softly launching yourself into his lap.

Almost instantly his arms wrapped around you and you rested your head on the shoulder. 

The silence between you and Jim was always comfortable. He had said that he was too old for mindless chatter and you didn’t like speaking unless you had something that needed to be said.

It could have been minutes or hours you have no idea, but eventually, you were joined in the chair by a curly-headed teenager still in her pjs. The chair wasn’t necessarily big enough for the three of you, but you would actually die before marking her get up and switch chairs.

Instead, you just pulled her closer to you and made sure she was comfortable with you both.

“I like the rain” she had softly whispered. And Jim let out an almost silent groan, mumbling into your neck about how you “corrupted his daughter”. You could only softly smile and try to stop yourself from imagining all of the future rain showers you’ll get to watch with your girl. 

El never thought she would want another mom, she had really only met hers once but it seemed like it was enough. At least until you came into her life. She admired your strength, how you didn’t seem to care what others said, and how you yelled at Billy Hargrove for a full hour when you’d heard about how he had tormented her friends three years ago.

She didn’t think she would want another mom until she got one and now she never wanted to let you go.

Eventually though, after the third or fourth time, her stomach growled Hop made all of you move yourselves to the kitchen for a late breakfast which consisted of some buttermilk eggos for each of you. El topped hers with chocolate syrup, Hop topped his with some peanut butter and you added applesauce and honey. 

Slowly the three of you ate and discussed plans for the upcoming week, who would drive El where. When Hop had the late shifts and what you’d need to pick up for groceries that week. 

It was completely mundane and Jim couldn’t help but wonder if this is what his life would be like now. Now that there weren’t monsters to kill, Russians to defeat, or a little girl that needed to be kept hidden.

He wanted his life to be like this until he died. Lazy mornings with the girls he loves, talking about nothing and everything at the same time. Watching the way your eyes lit up when you watched the rain fall.

It was all worth it, he thinks. Because now he gets rainy days like this, and really, what more could he ask for?

[herroyalhighnessqueenmomo]

Faded Memories (Eddie Munson x Fem!Reader) |Part 12|

A/N: It's baaaaack!! I know this took literally for fucking ever and I am so sorry to make y'all wait so long. I'm hoping the length of this part makes up for the wait a bit.

You woke up right next to Eddie. You were in his arms as your head rested on his chest. You looked up to see his sleeping face. You kissed his cheek and went to get up but got pulled back into his embrace. "No I want you to stay here." Eddie grumbled out. You giggled. "Eds come on I gotta get up." You struggled against him.

He only grumbled again in protest. "Edddie." You whined. He peaked his head up. His eyes were squint from the harsh light coming into the room. His hair was getting into his face and it honestly looked like a chicken landed on it. You snorted out a laugh from seeing the expression on his face. "Just stay in bed with me. We can sleep in." He said gruffly.

You looked at the digital clock beside the bed. "Eddie its already about to be 12:30, how much more do you wanna sleep in?" You asked. He didn't answer. He only nuzzled his face into your neck. You caressed his hair as he laid practically on top of your chest. "We got a lot to do today. We have to find me a job since I was pretty much forced to quit unexpectedly last night. Then we need to tell our friends that my memory is back officially and-"

"Our friends already know your memory is back." He mumbled out into your neck. "No, only Nancy, Robin, and Steve. The kids don't know and neither does the rest of Hellfire. Plus the guys at your shop would be thrilled to find out my memory is back too." You explained. "I'm not going to the shop on my day off." Eddie deadpanned. "Okay then we can go to the shop tomorrow." You replied.

"Oh and let's not forget we need to talk about how we will go about making our marriage legally official. Personally I think we should just elope and get married at the courthouse." At hearing this Eddie has shot up and looked at you wide eyed. "What? Did you forget that I wanted us to get married?" He shook his head. "No that's not it. I just can't believe you would actually just want to elope and not hold a ceremony." He replied. "Why is that so hard to believe? I mean you already had an actual wedding before. You don't need another one just to marry me."

He still looked at you in disbelief. "You're telling me you don't want a real wedding? Isn't this something you have always dreamt of?" He asked you. "Why? Because I'm a woman? You automatically think I have always dreamt of walking down the isle dressed like a pretty princess in high heels? With a big bouquet of flowers. While everyone I know watches me shine?" You began to rant. Of course you have wanted that but the concept seemed odd to you. Over two months after Eddie's first wedding he will have another one with a completely different bride?

You surely weren't trying to be the topic of conversation going around in Hawkins. If the two of you went along with the idea of an actual wedding the whole damn town would be whispering about the spectacle. "If you're sure you don't want an actual wedding then I would be completely fine with eloping." Eddie stated breaking you out of your thoughts.

You gave him a nod. "Then its a plan. We'll elope."

The two of you ended up calling all of your friends and told them to meet at Nancy's office. You double checked with her before hand and she said it was okay. You were getting ready and Eddie was taking a shower when you heard a knock at the door.

You became a little nervous wondering if it was Kendra. You chucked the idea as you got closer to the door realizing she would just walk in if it was her.

You opened the door and your heart damn near sunk to your ass as you saw your mother. "Y/N M/N L/N. I thought you were in New York to go 'find yourself' but then I heard you were still in Hawkins. You lied to your father and I?! You didn't just lie to me you got married to Eddie Munson? Do you have anything to say for yourself?" She asked as she crossed her arms.

Your mouth was agape as you struggled to come up with words. "Well? I'm waiting." She said seeming impatient and frustrated. "Mom it really wasn't like that. Its much more complicated. I really was supposed to go to New York." You tried to reason. "So what you accidentally missed your flight and married your best friend instead? Did you really think your father and I wouldn't approve or something?"

You shook your head. "No thats not it. I didn't miss my flight to New York. Mom you didn't hear the news about what happened?" You asked her. She shook her head. "No you know damn well that our TV doesn't work that well and your father is too cheap to purchase a new one." She replied.

Your mom had no idea that for this whole time you were gone about what happened to you. You now understood why she was so upset. You forgot about your parents. For all she knew you were in New York and never let her know you were okay. "Mom my plane crashed." All color drained from her face. "It what?! That can't be true. I-I oh my god I'm so sorry. Are you okay?" She asked as she took a moment to examine you.

"I'm fine now mom. I had temporary amnesia and Eddie took care of me. The hospital wouldn't let him visit me until he told them he was my husband. When I woke up he told me the same thing, that he was my husband." You explained. She scrunched up her eyebrows. "I don't understand, why would he do a thing like that?" She asked.

"Because I realized I was actually in love with your daughter." You heard Eddie's voice emerge from behind you. Your mom crossed her arms as she looked at him. "It took you this long to realize that?" You turned your head to look at him. "No. It just took me this long to actually do something about it. I didn't know she had feelings for me too." He replied.

She huffed. "So then you two aren't actually married, just living together? Your father won't be happy about that. He's going to want you to move back home." Eddie wrapped his arms around you. "Well we were planning to actually still get married." He said.

You nodded and gave her a smile. "Well actually I decided we should just elope so that we-"

Your mother put her hand up for you to stop talking. "I'm sorry you want to what?"

"Elope...we don't need to have a big thing out of it bec-" You began to explain. "And you were okay with this idea?" Your mom asked as she looked at Eddie. He shot up his hands in defense. "Hey don't look at me. I tried to tell her we could still have a wedding but she wouldn't listen."

Your mother looked at you again. "Why on Earth would you want to elope? I thought you always wanted a wedding? Hell you even nagged me for eloping with your father myself."

"Thats because you guys deserved an actual wedding." You tried to reason. "And you don't?" She shot back. You remained quiet. "Your father and I eloped because I couldn't leave my parent's house until I was married and they didn't like your dad. Your grandfather refused to help if we had a wedding and we didn't have money at the time." Your mom explained.

You nodded. "I know mom." You looked down at your feet. "Then you know you have a choice to actually do a wedding or elope and regret it the rest of your life." She stated. You gave her another nod. "Y/N you are my only daughter. I want to see you happy. I would love to see you in a beautiful dress and walk down the isle with your father beside you. I know that in the end you will do whatever you want but I think you should take what I said into consideration."

You took a deep breath. "Okay mom." She smiled. "I love you honey bee." She gave you a hug. "I love you too mom." You hugged back. "Now I better receive an invitation to a proper wedding soon or the next time you see me you're going to get another earful." She stated as she pulled away. You let out a laugh. "Okay I get it mom." Your mother was about to head downstairs. "Hey mom?" She looked at you. "Yes Honey Bee?" "Aren't you worried that people are gonna talk about how Eddie is marrying me less than 3 months after marrying someone else?"

"Hon, people are always gonna talk no matter what. They don't directly affect your life so don't let their words prevent you from being happy. Besides, since when did you start caring about what people say to you? I thought I raised you different than how I was raised. I raised you to keep your head held high and to march your feet to the beat of your own drum." She advised.

You knew your mother was right. The woman could be a damn sage if she wanted to. You learned that the best thing you could ever do for yourself in life is always listen to her. "I love you mom." You smiled at her. "Love you too Honey Bee." With that she left.

You shut the door of the apartment and leaned back on it. You looked crossed your arms as you looked at Eddie. "Well I guess we are having a wedding after all." He had a huge smile on his face and went to embrace you. "Have I ever told you how much I loved your mom?" Eddie asked as he hugged you.

"You might've mentioned it once or twice in the past, yeah." You laughed. He pulled away from you. "Now go get ready so we can head out. I'll make us some late breakfast in the meantime." You gave him a nod and went to the bathroom. You brushed your teeth and went to to take a quick shower. Afterwards you walked out the bathroom in a towel and went to your shared bedroom to get dressed.

You searched your drawers and decided to throw on a Fleetwood Mac t-shirt and black jeans with your white All-Stars. You threw your hair up in a side ponytail and walked out of the bedroom. You smiled at the smell of food. "Mmm something smells pretty damn good." You stated as you walked over to see Eddie placing some scrambled eggs next to two slices of bacon on a plate.

He handed the plate to you. "Bone apple squeeze or whatever it is the French say." He said. You burst out into laughter. "It's bon appetit." You corrected him. "Gesundheit" He replied. You laughed again. "No babe I wasn't sneezing I was telling you how the French say it. It's bon appetit." You explained. "Could've fooled me." You rolled your eyes and put your plate down on the table and got yourself a cup of water then took a seat at the table.

You began to eat. Eddie walked over shortly after with his plate of food. "Tastes good Eds." You stated. "Good. I'm not much of a chef." He sat down and began eating too. "Hey babe?" He looked up. "Now that the cat's out of the bag about my memory being back and all, can you tell me what happened between you and Kendra? From what I thought, you guys got married that day of the plane crash. Then I wake up and you decided I was going to be your wife." Your curiosity got the better of you and you just had to know.

He took a deep breath. "Well, after the ceremony when we officially got married, I went to the backroom where I last saw you to look for you since I didn't see you anywhere else." "Okay." You nodded for him to continue. "That's when I found that note you left me about having to leave to catch your flight. By the time I finished reading it and I realized that Nancy, Robin, and Steve helped you to move, I was pissed." You furrowed your eyebrows. "How come?" "Well they did that behind my back and let you leave Hawkins. So I confronted them. The girls were just as pissed too because they blamed me for you leaving, which, to be fair, they were right. They stormed out of the backroom and Steve tried to level with me."

"But what does this have to do with Kendra and you?" You asked. "Let me get there." He replied. "So anyways, that's when Kendra came into the room bitching about me leaving her out there alone when we just got married. I personally didn't give a shit at the time, I just wanted to figure out where you were so I could bring you back. After that I think it was Robin who came rushing in for us to come over to the bar to watch the TV. That's when we saw the news about your crash." He took in a shaky breath and his eyes started watering as he remembered the sinking feeling in his gut when he thought you were gone forever.

He cleared his throat. "Anyways Robin figured you might still be alive but in one of the hospitals in Indianapolis so we frantically looked in the phone book for the name of the hospital. When I called they were too busy to confirm if you were alive so I decided to head there myself to find out for sure. Of course Nancy, Robin, and Steve wanted to come too."

"Wait, and Hellfire club didn't want to come with?" You asked. "Oh, I don't know. They were in the corner away somewhere doing, god knows what at the time." "Oh." "Anyways. By the point that's when Kendra got pissed because she didn't want me to leave the reception. She knew it was a matter of life and death and she didn't even give a shit if you were dead. All she cared about was the stupid wedding. When I realized she didn't care about the most important person in the world to me, I couldn't be with her anymore. I decided to get our marriage annulled and that was pretty much it."

"Wow, I knew Kendra could be a bit of a pretentious bitch, but damn she wasn't even concerned in the slightest if I was okay?" You asked. "Nope." "Damn. Well good fucking riddance. I never liked her anyways." You responded. "Apparently nobody did. I just have a shit judge of character."

"I don't think you have a shit judge of character." He looked up at you with a raised eyebrow. "Okay your judge of character was a little questionable, but I think you're getting better now." His softened as he gave you a small smile. "Thanks."

The two of you finished eating and left the apartment via Eddie's notorious, slightly more questionable than his judge of character's, van. When you got to Nancy and Jonathan's place you noticed you two were actually the last to arrive. "Oh great, we're the ones who made the invite and ended up being the last ones to our own scheduled hangout. Good fucking going, Munson." You half joked.

He snapped his head over to look at you so quickly you could've sworn you heard his neck crack. "How is it my fault?! Last I checked it was your mother who decided to drop by and cause us to be late." He sassed. You blinked a few times not expecting that response. "Well then." Was all you said as you hopped out the van and went inside the ex-diner. Eddie was speeding right behind you.

"Well look who finally decided to grace us with their presence." Dustin said with a very disapproving and sarcastic tone. "Yes, I'm sorry that we were late it was my mother who had stalled us earlier before we left." You said very pointedly and gave Eddie a criminally offensive side eye.

Nancy cleared her throat. "So why did you bring us all to my office for?" She asked. "Right. Um, so as you may all know. I was recently in a very dramatic and tragic plane crash that thankfully didn't kill me. Which by the way some of you," You looked over at the Hellfire Club. "Hadn't come to visit me since then."

"Um excuse me, I call bullshit, we wanted to visit you, Eddie was the one tha-" Eddie made quick big gestures for Dustin to quit talking immediately with his hands. You saw the gestures from the corner of your eye and looked over at Eddie to see him try and play it cool by whistling while looking the other direction. "Eddie what?" You asked Dustin as you furrowed your eyebrows.

It got quiet all of a sudden making the silence awkward. "He told us that you didn't want visitors and that meeting new people would make you hysterical." Will suddenly spoke up. "He what?!" You snapped your head over to look over at Eddie who was avoiding your gaze. "Hysterical? Were you trying to make me sound like a mental health patient?" You asked him.

He gave a small shrug. "Well...technically you were, your mental health had memory loss." He said quietly. "Tha-That's not the same!"

"I feel like we just accidentally opened a can of worms for them." Lucas stated. "Yeah, no, shit Sherlock." Dustin replied. "Okay man, just back off, it's your fault that they're arguing anyways." Lucas snapped back. "I didn't do anything, I was just simply trying to clear my good name. Will here was the one who actually spilled the goddamn beans."

"Me? You clearly started it and just left Y/N hanging without a clear answer I-"Will began but cut off by Steve. "Okay guys knock it off. Y/N, Eddie, for the love of God would you guys just actually tell us what's going on?"

You took a deep breath. "I wanted to announce to everyone that I officially have my memories back." Everyone cheered. "And?" Eddie nudged you lightly. "And we are making our marriage legit." Everyone kind of clapped but some of them were a little slow as they all looked at each other in confusion. "I'm sorry did I miss something? Your marriage? When did you guys get married?" Mike asked. "We didn't" You replied. "That's why we are going to make it legit." You responded.

"I think what Mike is trying to say is that the way that you say it implies that you two are somehow already married." Dustin chimed in. "Oh that. Yes, so since you guys didn't already know, while my memory was out Eddie took me in and had me believing he was actually my husband this whole time. When I got my memory back I just decided to go with it. Last night we agreed we want to be actually married to each other legally." You explained.

"I am somehow more confused then I was before." Jeff said suddenly. "Its a really long story. The important thing is that we are getting married." You replied then looked over at Eddie and gave him a smile. "So....that's it?" Dustin asked. "What do you mean, 'ThAt'S iT'?" You asked him confused. "Were you expecting something else?" He shrugged. "Well I don't know I just would have liked something that was more...I don't know...dramatic?" He tried to find the words. Your mouth was wide open. You looked over at Eddie. In your mind you were hoping he'd handle his child before you blew a gasket.

"Man, what are you talking about? They just announced they were getting married." Lucas tried to reason. "She just woke up from a coma literally two months ago!" He exclaimed. "Sure but did anyone really doubt that they were going to end up together?" Dustin asked as if it was obvious.

"Yes!" Everyone exclaimed.

"He married somebody else." Erica reminded him. "Yeah but for only about a week. That hardly counts." He argued. Eddie huffed. "Well little sheep. If its a touch of drama and shock you look for, then don't you worry." You looked over at him confused. There wasn't anything else to tell. "We're also planning to have a baby."

"What?!" Multiple people exclaimed. "If that's supposed to be an April Fools prank it isn't funny." Robin stated. "Eds we haven't really worked the details out on that." You whispered loudly. "What's there to work out? I mean with what happened last night after I kind of-" You rushed to cover his mouth to spare everyone in the room the trauma. "You then plastered a nervous smile as you looked at the group. "Please tell me you're joking." Nancy stated.

"Dustin you just had to push to hear something dramatic didn't you?" Mike asked. "Well how the hell was I supposed to know they were already planning to start a family? I just wanted them to justify calling all of us over to the same place at once when I was in the middle of creating my very detailed practice diaroma of how I wanted to eventually propose to Suzie next year."

"Dustin you have been making that damned diaorama for over a year. Just put us all out of our misery and just propose to her for the love of Mike!" Jeff exclaimed. Mike had a very serious face and looked unamused. "Sorry." Jeff apologized. "Nonsense, it needs to be perfect." Dustin stated. "Well your need for perfection caused all of us some blissful ignorance." Erica sassed. "Well sorry I was unphased by them wanting to get married. So I wanted some entertainment. Sue me."

"You challenged the Dungeon Master. Why would you challenge him like this?"Gareth asked. "Okay guys seriously we are standing right here. We can hear everything you are saying." You decided to state.

"Well yeah, that's the point." Erica replied. You tried to blink away the shock you felt. "I don't see what's so bad about us starting a family." Eddie finally decided to speak up. "Well typically I've seen couples you know not wake up one morning and decide to get married and then have a baby seconds later." Robin chimed in. "But then again I'm not straight so maybe I can't comment on what's normal."

"I'm not straight either and I'm pretty sure this is definitely not normal." Will stated. "We aren't a normal couple though." Eddie replied. "We are anything but normal. It might not make sense to you guys but to us it does." You added.

"Y/N, I think what we are all trying to say is that we really don't want you guys to accidentally hurt each other...again." Nancy tried to reason.

I nodded. "I get it Nance. I honestly appreciate you wanting to look out for us."

"I'm mostly trying to look out for you. I was the one who was there baawling your eyes out because of him. That really wasn't that long ago. As much as I want to believe this is going to work out for the both of you I have my doubts." Nancy admitted. "Maybe you forgot but he was married to someone else merely a few months ago. He only seemed to really care about you when he knew he couldn't control you anymore."

"Hey whoa, no, hold on. What the hell Nancy? What kinda guy do you take me for? I would never want to control her." Eddie stated trying to shut this shit down.

Nance glared at him. "No? Then what do you call over a month of lying to her and making her believe she was married to you? Looked like manipulation to me."

"Where is this coming from all of a sudden? Do you not want to see us happy?" Eddie asked.

"I don't care if you're happy Munson. I care about Y/N being happy. You weren't there to pick up the pieces of her heart that you broke. I don't trust you and I sure as shit don't trust you to be the father of any child." Nancy spat out.

Eddie was speechless. He knew Nancy wasn't his fan. Especially not after you got hurt but he didn't expect this. He was angry. Not entirely angry at her. It was actually more with himself. He was his own enemy. "You're right." Was all he muttered as he walked out of her small office space.

"You see? He is a God damn coward." Nancy pointed out. "What the hell Nancy?" You shot her the dirtiest look at her. "What?" she seemed confused. "Was that really necessary? I know Eddie isn't perfect. He knows he isn't perfect but he has been busting his ass everyday to make up for the pain he caused me. It's not fair for you to just throw it back in his face like that. He would never something like that to you and neither would I." I felt my face getting red with anger. "Eddie and I will get officially married and start a family together whether either of you like it or not."

I began to head towards the door. Then turned back around. "And another thing, Eddie would be an amazing father. He practically raised the Hellfire club like his kids. How fucking dare you imply he would be a shitty father. He knows what it's like to have a shitty father and he is the type of man to do everything in his power to make sure he won't be like his dad. Nance I love you. You're my best friend but if this is how you plan to treat my husband and future father of my children I can't have you around us." With that I made my exit to look for Eddie.

There was deafening silence after you walked out. "I knew I shouldn't have abandoned my diorama for this." Dustin said finally breaking the silence. "I'm going to kill you." Steve said.

Taglist

@thegirlthatsfalling

@fangirling-4-ever

@lechera-con-leche

@toomanybandstocare

@fujiihime

@sashaphantomhive

@urmomgov

@harrys-titties

@thedarkwolfserenity

@missgay15

@h-ness1944

@frozenhuntress67

@therezeesworld

@rhijonrs

@yeswhatever33

@mcueveryday

@mattefic

@livasaurasrex

@mel119g

@basketcaseeeeee

@kaitcreatesart

@bleachbetch

@grungegrrrl

@theforgottenages

@eddieussy

@mattymurdocksbitch

@brxkenartt

@iamaslutforcoffee

@metal-sunflower

@midnightmystic

@tlclick73

[onthewaytosomewhere]

wait?! it's wednesday!?!

well - i guess it has been all day - i'm certain i knew this y'all 🤷‍♀️

so i've got a few tags today (i luv tags) so @england-would-fall @suseagull04 @magicandarchery @agame-writes @taste-thewaste @sunnysideprince @hgejfmw-hgejhsf @heybuddy-drabbles @firenati0n thanks ever so much for the tags (it reminded me it was wednesday and got me wanting to write some more tonight - yay!!) ❤️ i will be perusing these all soon-ish to be unhinged as per normal at your amazing words - once the holy crud is this day over yet portion of the day is finally done ❤️

so today's bit of words is from my hockey!alex and bookshop!henry cuz i got a chance to work on that some more in the last week - amongst the new smaller one i'm also working on to hopefully post next week or so - we'll see lol

“Oh, that’s a load of bollocks, you know as well as I do, you can restock those books later. Now is when you will tell Auntie Pezza why you’re ignoring me. You should know you can’t get away with that by now. On our sacred pub trivia day, no less, what have I ever done to you to deserve such treatment?” Pez’s hand goes to his heart like an overly dramatic southern belle about to faint.

Henry rolls his eyes at Pez’s dramatics, “If you know I’m ignoring you, that’s great. You can skedaddle back where you came from so I can continue getting my work done; I’m sure you have some of your own.” “I do. I’m meeting Liam at the Shelter in a couple of hours, but until then, you have me here.” Pez kneels down and picks up one of the books off the pile Henry has on the floor before continuing, “Haz, tell me what’s going on. What knots are you working that pretty mind of yours into? Is this about the enchanting Alexander?” Henry scoffs, “Enchanting? Are we talking about the same person? Because I don’t see how you would get that.” Pez smiles, reminding Henry that he is talking to the person who knows him best in the world. “I heard you were quite enchanted for at least part of the time he was here. I won’t ask again what happened because I know you are, as my dear Liam says, ‘dug in like a tick,’ and it would be useless right now. Remember, though, when you are ready to talk about it, I’m here.” Pez stands up and holds his hand out to help Henry up, and he takes the hand, the olive branch his best friend is extending. Acknowledging the silent agreement that, as always, he will confide in him when he gets his thoughts untangled enough to communicate them. As they walk over to the counter where Pez left the food by the register, he asks, “So why is Liam meeting you at the shelter? Are you skipping out for the afternoon? If so, please don’t tell me the no doubt dirty details of whatever you have planned.” Pez laughs, and the fond roll of his eyes he directs at Henry tells him he is forgiven for going radio silent for the last day. “You know I don’t kiss and tell, at least not sober,” Pez sends Henry a grin that reminds him of some of those times he has done just that. “But, no, Liam is coming to discuss some of the upcoming events we’re arranging with the team, him and Alex.” “Oh.” Henry tries to keep the contempt out of his voice, but based on the look Pez gives him, he’s unsuccessful.

❤️so now the fun part (and if you've already done this and i missed it (cuz not really had a chance to look yet) well 'hey!') no-pressure tags to @adreamareads @anincompletelist @bitbybitwrites @dragonflylady77 @duchessdepolignaca03 @firstsprinces @forever-fixating @inexplicablymine @junebugclaremontdiaz @kiwiana-writes (i'm totally blaming ya for the pez/liam that now wants to pop into all my fics lol - but i do kinda luv it lol) @priincebutt @sophie1973 @stellarm @typicalopposite

[inkybloom-luv]

Words Unsaid 3, the crumpled page

♪~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♪

Ahsbjsbsjs putting this A/n here today?? Ausbshshs I hope y'all eat this one up too ngl cause the feedback has been,, immaculate sjsbsjsbshshshshdh not over it at all y'all make me giggle and kick my feet <33333

Can be read as x reader since I don't usually put the name down

635 words

Part 1 Part 5

Part 2 Part 6

Part 4 Part 7

tw: mention of near death (drowning)

♪~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♪

It's been a while since I wrote a letter, I misplaced the last paper and cannot find it, so I'm starting a new one. I wish I had very much more to say but I haven't been seeing you and I've been so exhausted I've reached my breaking point. Heck. I almost drowned, simply because the water breathing potion wore off early. I guess being out of this world does that. But it hasn't stopped me from panicking. I'm recovering fine but it's very lonely in ramshackle. I already mentioned I have barely any friends and the ones I do have are very busy. Jack comes from time to time and Leona sends Ruggie to check on me. Winter holidays are starting soon. Will you be leaving? I hope I'll see you before you do. I want to look at you again, see those pretty eyes one more time before you're gone for a while.

I'm not sure it's a crush that I feel for you. I'm not saying I would see you as a friend or anything, I definitely feel romantic feelings for you, but my concern is they feel.. stronger than a simple crush should. I long to kiss you, hold you. I want you to love me as I do you. Jamil Viper, you have my heart.

I've made up my mind to visit Scarabia today. I heard the dorm is staying here. I want to see you. I need to see you. I'm so happy to see you.

The housewarden Kalim had something floating around his eyes when he was acting up. A spell. But I haven't seen it before. It was odd, pretty even. It reminded me of you but I've hardly a clue what spell it is, when I get back to ramshackle, I'll be researching, surely that spell is the cause of your woes. And I will find out what it is, if only to slightly lighten the burden placed on you. You who is like a walking dream, the most wonderful of desert mirages. I wish I could tell you to your face.

The paper was crumpled and slightly ripped at the edges. Ink had somewhat covered a large portion of the paper that held scribbles about theories of what was going on, and further ramblings about just how beautiful the writer thought he was, how they longed for him, loved him even. And it was not Inky that held it. Dark eyes skimmed the text that grew more and more unreadable. Drip. Drip. Drip. Drip. Blast it all. Hissing filled his ears. Hissing that was not there. His mind played tricks, not yet recovered from the heavy strain his body had been under. He hated it all, hated how he had accidentally blinded himself. How he'd overlooked something so obvious, she did always wear her heart on her sleeve.

He wished he could read more, but he'd dripped it full of ink. He'd crumpled it. He'd thrown it aside. By coincidence it wound up in his grasp again when he had returned to Scarabia, sitting down to rest his aching and unrecovered legs.

Jamil messed up. He really did. He felt blind and stupid and most of all he felt crushed, he was sure that the prefect no longer felt that way about him. He was sure she hated him now. How else would anyone feel if they'd have done to them what he'd done to her? For the first time he deeply regretted lashing out at someone. His anger wasn't even directed at her. He felt his eyes glaze over, blinking away his tears. It was his fault. But maybe. Maybe he could express himself, his sorrow and his apologies. He would have to. If only to selfishly soothe the painful feeling in his chest.

♪~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~♪

@leonistic

@azulashengrottospiano

@dove-da-birb

@krenenbaker

[tex-treasure-chamber]

Tex stared down at the caller I.D. on her phone, heart heavy. This was inevitable- of course Steve would call her. Would want to talk about what happened- about what he did. Maybe even apologize. She picked up on the last ring.

"Hey there-"

"Can I help you?" She asks.

"Yes, actually," Steve says, "I'd like to meet up and talk. I think one's due, don't you?"

"News flash, Steve, we're doing that right now." She quips but her tone is hard. He pauses on the other end of the line.

"You know what I meant- face to face. Please? I like doing things the old fashioned way, you know that."

"You do have a proclivity for clinging to the past, I'll give you that." It's out of her mouth before she can think to hold it in, anger churning and curling around itself over and over again like a hagfish.

"Tex, please-"

She forces herself to soften her tone. "Where? When? I have a schedule and I can't change it."

"Central Park, tomorrow, 3 pm?"

"Fine. Bye."

"See you then." He says.

She didn't ask for a spot because she already knew where to find him. They'd picnick'd here, shared kisses and fed the birds, drawn together on this bench under the old oak tree and there he is, looking like his age for once. She's early, but even still, he's beat her to it.

"Howdy." She says. It rings hollow in her own ears.

"Hello," Steve says back, "would you care to have a seat?"

"Not really."

He moves to stand up and she huffs before sitting down next to him.

"Thank you." He says, trying to meet her eyes but she won't look at him.

"What did you want to talk about?"

"I hear you're going up into space," He says after a beat, fiddling with his hands, "you always said you wanted to do that one day."

"Is that what you wanted to talk about?" She asks carefully, "because yes, you're right, I am. Although, I could've told you that, ya know, over the phone. But that's not why you wanted to meet up, is it?"

"No, no it's not." Steve says, and she can feel those eyes burn a hole so fierce into the side of her face that Summers would be proud.

She sighs, tired. "What did you want to talk about, Steve?"

"I.. I wanted to apologize."

She finally looks at him, and when she does, she sees tears welling up in the old man's eyes. She doesn't need to let down her walls to know they're genuine and she turns away, angry at him, and at herself- she can't bear to see an old man cry, even if he was young just weeks before.

That mental image of him, young, and hers, was dead now anyway. She mourned him. She was still mourning him, and talking to him now wasn't helping, especially with him crying as if he had a reason to when it was her, /her/ who walked away so thoughtlessly spurned. How dare he cry, like he had a reason to.

"Okay," she says, voice shaking.

"I'm sorry."

She watches the words form around his lips, his eyes still shiny with unshed tears, and she clenches her jaw.

"For what, exactly? For abandoning Bucky when you promised him come hell or high water y'all would be in it till the end of the line? For leaving the already broken remains of what's left of the Avengers? Or for abandoning me, for Peggy? " She asks, ashamed to ask and yet...

Not enough to feel sorry for asking. She's fully aware she's being cruel, warring with herself, but her bitterness is strong and so I her anger and she can't stop either of those from leeching into her words.

If he's going to apologize, she thinks, she's going to damn well hear exactly what he's apologizing for.

She stares at him until he looks away and watches him clench his fist several times.

"I've already talked to Buck," he says, voice firm.

"Good on you." She says before she can help it.

"-and the rest of the Avengers can and will manage without me. To be frank, there's nothing much left anyway and I believe you already know that. You are going to space, after all."

'And you're dying' she thinks, but she wisely doesn't voice it. "So what? You're here to apologize about Peggy?"

Something flashes in his eyes. Something raw and potent. Something she'd only ever seen when that name got brought up. Before he can say anything, she barks out a bitter laugh.

"I didn't think so," she says, "and I wouldn't want you to- at least, not apologize for that. So um, what are you apologizing for exactly, when there's noth-"

"I'm sorry I hurt you."

And. Well. She hadn't- no, no, she /had/ expected it. Steve wasn't a monster, he was just extremely self-centered when it actually mattered.

"When did you know you were going to stay?" She asks.

"When... When I saw her." He says softly, fingers now twisting the wedding band. She pretends not to notice.

His words soothe and inflame all at once.

"Ah." A beat. "So it wasn't premeditated?"

"No, no of course not- I saw her and-"

"When did you stop loving me?" She asks.

"I didn't-"

"Bullshit."

"If you would just let me finish," he says, eyeing her as if he wants to scold her but she merely raises a brow. For a second, she thinks of Tony, how he used to encourage her to swear, and her heart shatters all over again for a moment.

"Sorry," she says without prompting, although she isn't and she knows that he knows.

"I just...I loved you, Tex. And I love- loved her," he sounds pained beyond measure and for the first time since sitting down with him she feels the inkling to comfort him but she's still angry- he got the rest of his life with Peggy. What did she get? Nothing but betrayal. She was nothing more than second best to Steve, nothing more than an ill-fitting replacement for Peggy.

He got the time to enjoy a full life with Peggy, and grieve her, and while she understood that he would still grieve her, it doesn't mean she can use that to squash the bile rising in her throat at the mere thought of what could've been. She hates herself for it. Hates how selfish he's made her feel, hates him, in that moment, and yet the urge to comfort still lingers and so she blames it on her Mutation and keeps her mouth and the mental channel between her and him, firmly shut.

There's that, and the fact that he's still talking.

"And, I knew the moment I decided to stay, that I was going to hurt you."

"Yet you did it anyway." She sounds tired even to her own ears.

"I, please believe me, I didn't want to. You're important to me, you always have been," she flinches but he doesn't stop, "but I knew I'd live the rest of my life waiting for this moment- the opportunity to go back, to have that second chance with her. If it hadn't happened..." He took a deep breath, "While I don't regret what I've done, I do regret hurting you."

"Yeah, well. It is what it is, isn't it?" She says, offering a brittle smile, "At least you got your happily ever after."

"Tex-" his tone is a warning but she's not sure what he's planning to do exactly with brittle bones and papery skin.

"You did, didn't you?" She interjects.

"Yes, I did, but-"

"I'm glad for you, Steve." She says softly, and damn if that doesn't hurt to say, but she means it- or at least she wants to mean it badly enough that it sounds genuine when it comes out of her mouth.

The look on his face only confirms that too; he's visibly shocked- just as shocked as she is, and his blue eyes are once again welling up with tears and she watches, rooted to her spot, as fat, rolling tears stream down his age worn face.

"I'm sorry." He says again, brokenly, almost a sob, as he reaches a slightly shaking hand up to wipe away his own tears.

"I know." She says, reaching into her jacket pocket to produce a couple fresh napkins. When he sees them, he lets out a watery laugh.

"Did you bring those for me, or for you?" He asks.

"Doesn't matter, does it?" She asks, carefully and slowly stretching out her hand to dab away what tears remain on his cheeks. He's still crying but she can see the soldier in him rising up. "They're not going to waste, regardless."

When she's done, he gently grabs her wrist and she lets him. "Why?" He asks, taking the tissues from her before letting go.

"Why what?"

"Why are you. Well." He sighs, posture straight, face dry, and ah, the soldier has indeed taken over. "Why are you being nice to me still?"

"Would you believe me if I told you I don't like to see old men cry?"

"Yes but-"

"Because I still love you," she hissed, not bothering to hide the bitterness and pain from her words, "because unlike you, I didn't get a lifetime to process what you did to me, and I don't know, I'm still an Empath, and maybe that's to blame."

"Or maybe," he says, "It's because you're you."

He's looking at her with an all too familiar knowing smile, one that doesn't fit yet completely belongs under the age spots and wrinkles. His eyes still shine like they used to. She frowns and he drops it.

"Tex," he says, "I'm sorry I hurt you."

Before she can tell him anything, he puts his hand up.

"And," he adds, "I don't expect your forgiveness."

Something in her chest sinks. "You. You don't?"

"No." He says firmly. "No I don't. Not because I don't believe you have it within you to forgive me, but because I know I don't-"

"Shut up!" She exclaims, nails digging into her denim clad thigh, "you don't get to make that call for me."

"Please stop, then." He says, gesturing to her hands.

"You don't get to ask me to stop either." She says, but she does anyway.

"What I meant to say," Steve murmurs after a moment of silence, "was I understand you're angry, and I know you're justified to feel this way."

He pauses for an inevitable outburst but she holds her tongue. When he sees she won't, he continues,

"And if you never find it within you to forgive me, I'll understand. If you want to never see me again, or talk to me again, I'll understand."

"Steve-"

"You're going up in a few weeks," he continues, tapping his bag before reaching in and pulling out a book, "and before you go, I'd like you to have this. I've uh, I've held onto it for long enough."

She knows exactly what it is the moment she lays eyes on it and she almost doesn't take it but his hand is shaking so she does.

"What's in it?" She says softly.

"You." He says simply, "it's all you, and the other Avengers, but mostly you. My memories of moments that I... well. I had been planning on capturing it all down and I finally had the- had the time to do so."

She can feel tears threatening to spill forth from her own eyes and she holds it to her chest.

"Steve, I.. I don't- I don't know if I'll ever be able to forgive you for what you did to me." She says, daring to meet his eyes. They're full of understanding, and sorrow, and they're blurry and she blinks hard.

"I know," he says gently, "And like I said, I don't expect you to."

"Some part of me hates you, you know."

"I understand that too." He looks like he wants to say more but seems to think better of it and she's not sure whether to be grateful or not.

"I don't, I don't know if I'll- if I'll," she's choking on sobs now, and that's it, she has to get a hold of herself but the words rush out before she can contain them.

"I don't know if I'll ever be able to love someone again."

Steve's hand twitches but he keeps it in his lap and she's immensely grateful.

"You will." Steve says firmly.

"How can you be so sure?" She demands, pulling more tissues out of her jacket to fiercely dab her face.

"Because," he says slowly, catching her gaze and making her hold it, "you're you."

"Please-"

"And because you're you," he says, "I know you will. It's just.." he pauses, sighs sadly, "it's just, it was never supposed to be me. I was never to hold your heart, and, I think deep down, you knew that you were never supposed to hold mine."

She barks out an ugly laugh and opens her mouth but Steve continues so quietly, and so softly, that she listens.

"Even still, you held my hand. May I ask, selfishly, one last thing of you? Would you please hold my hand now? Only for a couple minutes, and let me say, one more time, that I'm sorry? With not just words, but with my own feelings?"

'No' she thinks.

"Okay." She says.

He nods, eyes shining again, and rests his hand in between them. With a sigh, she takes it and lets down her mental shields. She's learned to read emotions passively and not just actively, and relies on that as she tentatively allows him to take her hand in his.

Sorrow courses through her mind, sorrow and grief steeped until potent with age. If she weren't working so hard to keep the emotions at a distance within her mind, she would've screamed with it.

"I'm sorry." He says, and she's not sure if he's apologizing for hurting her now or before. He squeezes her fingers gently. His eyes are closed.

"I know." She says, too afraid to squeeze back but she does, if only a little. "I know you are. I knew before you offered your hand."

"Because you're an Empath?"

"No." She says, trembling, "Because you're you."

Relief and sparkling joy filter through from him, effervescent and explosive, and with that emotional transference, Tex puts up her walls silently, without warning, and just allows him to hold her hand for a while longer.

She briefly wonders what they might look like to strangers, an old, old man and a young woman such as herself. Maybe they see a Grandfather and his Granddaughter.

The thought hurts more than it humors.

Finally, he lets go and she in turn lets him. He's got tears in his eyes once again, but they're grateful and gone before they can fall.

"Thank you," he says, before slowly getting up off the bench and she follows suit.

"Thank you too." She says, and this time, she knows for certain she means it. Her heart breaks still, looking at him, but she's grateful. Her anger, the red tide that it is, has receded, replacing in it's wake an emotion she's not completely sure of but it settles in her chest, heavy but not suffocating.

"Will I see you? Before you leave?" Steve asks.

"If you come to see me off." Tex replies, sticking the sketchbook under her arm.

"Then I'll see you." He says, leaning in and she lets him kiss her cheek. "Until then."

She nods. "Until then."

As she watches him semi-walk, semi-shuffle away, the heaviness in her chest lightens. She's still not sure what it is, but it's there to stay, she knows that much. When he disappears from sight, she realizes that she's not upset about it. It'll go away when it's time, just like she will, in a couple weeks.

Until then, she has other people to see.

She goes back to Xavier's mansion, sees Storm and Logan and the others. Storm holds her close and tells her she's loved, that she will always have a place back at the mansion if she wants it. Logan seethes in absolute, quiet rage for her. His anger wraps around her, envelopes her but doesn't suffocate- instead, it soothes like a blanket against the cold emptiness Steve's left behind. She was wronged. She was hurt. She didn't deserve it. Tex knows she's going to have to cling to this to heal, and privately, she thanks him.

Steve indeed shows up to see her off into space.

She forgives him before she walks into that space ship. She spent weeks over this, over learning to let go of him, and what he did, and she knows she isn't going to take Steve with her to the Stars. No way. Absolutely not. The only thing related to her past that is coming with her is Thor. Everyone else in the Avengers team is either dead or have started a new chapter in their own lives. Standing next to Thor, knowing at least he will remain to take the next step with her, comforts her beyond what words can describe. He's one of her few remaining best friends- she wouldn't want anyone else to go with her into the future.

She forgives Steve. Truly. She opens the emotional connection between them one last time so he can feel it. He cries again and she holds him, shutting the door to her heart one last time to him. It won't open again. Thor takes a moment to shake Steve's hand, smile more of a grimace as his eyes keep traveling back to Tex. They exchange quiet words she can't hear.

Thor holds her hand as the ship goes up, as Steve becomes nothing more than a small dot, squeezing it gently with a delicacy that belies his immense strength.

The Guardians are quiet if not friendly, sensing there's something painful in the air around her and she's not sure if they're all just observant or if she's accidentally leaking emotion. Tex watches the Earth disappear. She's forgiven Steve. Now it's time for her to find forgiveness for herself. Perhaps she'll find it amongst the stars. Thor's own grief resonates with hers, and she hopes that when she does find forgiveness for herself, that he'll let her share it with him, help him let go. Until then, they've a whole universe to explore and the relief they're searching for is out there, waiting to be discovered.

[oliviaischillin1204]

This Fanfiction Of Sanders Sides Is Called "Bluey" Part 2: Virgil and Remus

[olivia's note: hey y'all! this is chapter 2 of a fic by the amazing anne onymous!]

chapters (1) 2 (3) (4)

Patton searched for Virgil in his room but he wasn't there. He continued to search through the Mind Palace until he walked back into the living room and found him napping on the couch, a very common sight. He contemplated giving him a blanket and a kiss on the forehead like usual, but then a more fun idea came to mind. He walked over to the sleeping emo and gently shook his shoulder, causing Virgil to stir. "Hey kiddo. Sleep ok?" Patton asked quietly. Virgil nodded, letting out a yawn and rubbing his eyes. He looked up and noticed Patton's Bandit onesie. "Nice onesie." Virgil whispered. "Thanks. Want some company?" Patton asked softly. Virgil nodded and moved over, giving Patton room to lie down next to him. Patton almost chuckled when Virgil seemed to instinctively snuggle up to him and returned the embrace. Virgil was always extra cuddly when he's sleepy. "I'm like a human pillow, huh?" Patton joked, smiling at Virgil's faint nod. After a couple of minutes, it was safe to assume Virgil fell asleep again and Patton contemplated napping away the afternoon with him, but he still needed to help Roman. Luckily, he already had a plan in mind for waking up Virgil.

Patton began to lazily draw shapes with his fingers on Virgil sides, causing him to smile and twitch in his sleep. Patton switched from drawing to poking which got a few sleepy giggles, but Virgil still didn't wake up. Finally, Patton started rapidly squeezing his sides and Virgil woke up squealing and cackling. "Hahahahaha! Whahat's gohohoing ohohohon?" Virgil squeaked, wriggling around in Patton's arms. "I'll tell ya what's going on. I'm not a human pillow, I'm a crazy pillow! Tickle tickle tickle!" Patton teased, spidering across Virgil's tummy. "GAHAHAHAHAHA! PAHAHATTOHOHON!" Virgil bellowed, kicking and bucking. "Whoops, sorry kiddo. Forgot that's your worst spot." Patton apologised, moving back to his sides. "Apohohology accehehepted! Hahahahaha!" Virgil laughed. Patton couldn't help the huge smile on his face as he looked at Virgil, his eyeshadow purple and glittery as he wiggled and giggled his heart out. But when he started hiccuping between laughs, it was time to stop. Patton let go and kept his hands away, even when Virgil rolled off the couch. "You ok?" Patton asked. Virgil gave a weak nod as he recovered from the phantom tickles until his breathing fully calmed down. 

"Well, at least I'm awake and in a good mood. So, thanks, I guess." Virgil said. "You're welcome. And since you're awake now, could you help me with something?" Patton asked. "If I can, sure." Virgil replied. "Do you know where I can find Remus?" Patton inquired. Virgil's eyes widened in shock and his eyeshadow went back to black. "You're actually actively looking for Remus? On purpose?" Virgil questioned. "He's been giving Roman a hard time and I told him I'd help." Patton explained. "Ok, that makes a lot more sense. But still a little surprising since you hate Remus." Virgil confessed. "'Hate" is a pretty strong word. I don't hate Remus, I'm just...not particularly fond of him and kinda scared of him." Patton reasoned. "Either way, I don't know where he is, but I know how to get him to come to you." Virgil said, summoning a sheet of paper and handing it to Patton. "Just follow the instructions and he'll show up, which I don't wanna be here for, so I'm heading back to my room." Virgil explained, getting up to leave. "Thanks Virgil!" Patton chirped. Virgil gave an acknowledging nod and left the room. Patton looked over the list of instructions Virgil gave him and went to the kitchen.

First step was simple: find a container and pretend to struggle opening it, groaning loudly and all. Patton looked around the kitchen, observing his options, until he decided to grab a Crofters jar. He pretended to struggle and groan then proceeded to the 2nd step which was to say certain phrases that were listed. "This is so hard! I can do this all day, you know!" Patton groaned, pretending to be angry at the jar. After a few more innuendos, he opened it. Time for step 3. "Ah. That was satisfying." Patton sighed before hiding under the table. Just as he hoped, Remus appeared. "That's what she–What the fuck?" Remus blurted out, looking around in confusion. With no time to waste, Patton tackled Remus to the floor and pinned him down. "Oooh, you have my attention now, Daddy." Remus teased, winking. "Normally that would gross me out, but not today. Know why? Because a certain someone has been naughty and needs to be punished. And I have a certain way of teaching bad boys some manners." Patton stated. "Oh really?" Remus asked, quirking an eyebrow. "Mm-hmm. Roman!" Patton called out. As soon as Roman popped up, it fully dawned on Remus what was happening. "Shit!" he whisper-shouted. 

"Did you really think I was never going to tattle to Dad?" Roman asked, kneeling next to Remus. He moved his shirt up and sat on his upper arms, leaving both of Patton's hands free. "Thank you Roman, you're very helpful. And speaking of helpful, I heard there's two helpful little crabs that would like to assist us." Patton said, making pincer motions with his hands. Roman smirked and copied him. "What the fuck are you two talking about?" Remus asked. "TICKLECRABS!" Patton and Roman yelled before attacking Remus at the same time. Roman went for the armpits and Patton went for his belly, causing Remus to shriek, buck, cackle, squeal and swear like a sailor. "NOHOHOHOHO! FUHUHUCK YOHOU BAHAHASTAHARDS! HAHAHAHAHA!" Remus laughed. As if two people tickling him wasn't bad enough, Patton and Roman were saying nothing but "tickle tickle tickle tickle" over and over again, which seemed to be making it worse. He tried bucking, shaking, wriggling, twisting and even attempted to punch and kick but it was futile. He was pinned down good with no chance of escaping. Suddenly there was a glimmer of hope in the form of Logan's sudden appearance.

"Excuse me?!" Logan yelled over Remus's boisterous laughter, causing Roman and Patton to halt their attack. "Hi Logan!" Patton greeted. "Hey Specs." Roman said. "Logan, save me!" Remus begged. "Whatever it is the three of you are up to, can you please try to keep it down a little? I was trying to read upstairs but it's hard to focus when all I could hear was confounded cackling." Logan complained. "Sorry. We were just teaching a certain brother of mine a lesson or two about boundaries and Bluey references." Roman explained. "Lesson learned! Now let me go, Pissy!" Remus barked. "Such language in Patton's presence! I'd say we need to wash your mouth out with soap, but you're allergic." Roman taunted. "Sounds like someone hasn't learned their lesson and tried to lie to us to weasel out of it." Patton teased, wiggling his fingers threateningly. "Logan, help!" Remus begged. "Come on, Teach. What's better? Reading a book, which you can do any time, or seeing Remus being figuratively put in his place?" Roman queried. Logan remained silent before sitting at the table, placing his book down. "You may continue." Logan said. Remus was about to protest but it was too late. Patton and Roman already picked up where they left off and went back to teasing and tickling.

"GAHAHAHAHAHA! I FUHUCKING HAHATE YOHOHOU, LOHOGAHAHAN! HAHAHAHAHA!" Remus cackled. "Love you too, Remus." Logan responded nonchalantly. Remus would've flipped him off if he could. This was torture, and not the good kind. Just as he thought this couldn't get any worse, he felt Roman move his scribbling fingers to his neck and Patton worked his way down to his hips. "AHAHAHAHAHA!!! NOHOHOHOHO!!! PLEHEHEHEASE, GUHUHUYS, STOHOHOHOP!!!" Remus screamed as two of his worst spots were attacked ruthlessly. "Hmmm. What do you think, Roman? Should you two stop?" Logan asked. "Hmm, I'm not sure, Logan. This par-tickle-ar Duke seems untrustworthy." Roman replied as he continued to torment his brothers neck with tickles, Patton giggling at his pun. "I CAHAHAHAN'T BREHEHEHEATHE!!!" Remus wheezed. "Ok, we'll stop. Can't have you dying on us, now can we?" Patton asked rhetorically, immediately stopping. Roman groaned and stopped also. Logan merely smirked as he watched them, Remus curling into himself and breathing heavily as he got the last of his laughs out. "Are you ok, Remus?" Logan asked. Remus flipped him the bird, too weak to speak yet. "I think it's safe to say he's alright." Roman remarked. 

"Now Remus, do you understand why me and Roman did this?" Patton inquired. "Because Roman is a whiny bitch and decided to snitch?" Remus sassed. "We did this to teach you about limits, boundaries, and that "no" means "no" and "stop" means "stop". It wasn't very fun when we kept going even though you were miserable, was it? How do you think Roman felt?" Patton questioned. Remus rolled his eyes. He liked torturing his brother, but now Patton ruined the fun by showing him how it feels. "Is there something you'd like to say to your brother?" Patton asked. "Fuck you." Remus said, freezing when he felt Patton grab his ankle. "You wouldn't." Remus said. "Wouldn't I?" Patton asked, dragging his boot off before swiping a finger up his sole. "Ok, ok! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" Remus yelled. "One more time, a bit slower please?" Roman asked. "I'm. Sorry." Remus repeated slowly. "For what, specifically?" Roman queried. "For tickling you too much, even when you said "no" and "stop"." Remus replied. "And?" Roman inquired. "Tickling you to the point where you pissed yourself or nearly passed out." Remus added. "And do you promise to never do that again?" Roman asked. "Yes! Can I go now?!" Remus barked. "You're excused." Patton said. Remus grabbed his boot and sank out.

To be continued...