#yeah don’t care about that. when’s the NEXT thing.

[jihyoruri]

❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ ❚ 𓍢 NOBODY KNOWS kim minji x reader

👛★ ͘ ⴰ ever since summer 2022 new jeans has been at the top of the world surpassing and creating records and getting biggger and better every month but then SM Entertainment drops a new girl group stardom out of knowhere on everyone’s heads “surpassing and creating records” just like a certain group, causing a rivalry in the media and between the groups behind closed doors.

in which behind the secret of rivalry between stardom and new jeans, there’s an even bigger secret between their leaders.

PARING — kim minji x idol!reader

last. masterlist. next

★ ͘ PAGE#1 nobody knows — ❝tonight let’s start a masquerade, I’m coming over but nobody knows my little secret ❞

“the rising sensation, stardom, is adding yet another major endorsement to their growing portfolio, now becoming ambassadors for Sony. they’re set to release a special line of headphones with the iconic brand, already racking up over 100,000 pre-orders—and counting.”

a groan came from beside minji, drawing her amused gaze toward the source of irritation.

“we’re listening to the radio! since when did radio news start caring about stardom’s endorsements?” hanni muttered, rolling her eyes. “that’s not news.”

stardom's name had been everywhere lately, dominating headlines as they skyrocketed to fame.

“they’re still not bigger than us,” minji said, patting hanni’s shoulder as she adjusted her seatbelt. “so why does it matter?”

“they have their own sony headphones, minji.”

“ahh, they have it in purple ,” hyein murmured from the seat behind, eyes glued to her phone.

hanni shot her a sharp glare, haerin pinched her arm, and danielle threw her a disapproving look.

“sorry,” hyein mumbled, shrinking back.

“i just want one day where i don’t have to hear about them,” hanni sighed, her frustration clear as the other girls nodded in agreement. “it’s bad enough they’re performing tomorrow, too.”

“how about see them everywhere,” minji chuckled, gesturing out the window at a bus stopped next to their van. plastered along the side was an ad for pocari sweat, featuring stardom smiling brightly for yet another endorsement.

“ugh”

“rate how shady you think they’re gonna be tomorrow, out of ten ,” summer asked, turning to face the rest of the girls lounging in the back of the van, while eunjin quietly flipped through the pages of her book beside her.

“eight point five ,” yuri replied, lifting her head from yn’s shoulder, causing the van to erupt in laughter.

“I was gonna say nine, but I’m bumping it to ten,” hana chimed in, mischievously kicking the back of eunjin’s seat, sending the girl jolting forward. “i don’t trust that hyein girl. she’s always staring at me.”

“oh, you wanna talk about staring? let’s talk about their leader, who’s always staring at our leader,” yuri said, rolling her eyes. “sometimes, i feel like she’s just gonna jump and eat yn, it’s probably all that jealousy.”

yn playfully rolled her eyes at yuri’s comment. “i’ll go with a seven. that sunshine girl can’t do any harm,” she said, finally answering summer’s question.

“i dare them to say something slick,” summer added, turning back to the front with a smirk. “what do you think?” she nudged eunjin, who sighed in response.

all eyes shifted to eunjin—whenever she spoke, the girls paid attention. she didn’t say much, so when she did, they hung onto every word.

“jealousy is a nasty thing. it eats away at you. and they’ve definitely got it,” eunjin replied, calm and thoughtful. “so yeah, i’m with yuri—eight point five.”

a slow clap broke the silence. “bravo, the wise words of eunjin unnie,” yuri teased, making the others chuckle.

the sound of screams and clapping filled the air as minji watched stardom walk onto the stage to receive their award. both newjeans and stardom had been up for artist of the year in japan, and while everyone kind of knew stardom would win— even though it was just a year into their career the girls had been dominating asia—it didn’t stop the girls from feeling a bit salty

"at least we still have the western market," danielle muttered quietly, just loud enough for the girls to hear. they all watched as stardom struggled to start their speech over the deafening cheers and applause.

"they're probably coming for that too," hanni replied, trying to keep her face neutral, fully aware of the cameras trained on them. with the ongoing internet war between newjeans and stardom, their reactions would undoubtedly make headlines. "right, minji?"

hanni glanced at their leader, expecting a response, but minji was silent. her gaze was locked on the stage, fixed on stardom's leader, yn, who was the last to deliver her thank you. yn's eyes shimmered with unshed tears, like crystals catching the stage lights—so captivating, it was impossible to look away. yuri gently wrapped an arm around yn’s waist, offering quiet comfort, which caused minji to slightly clench her jaw, while the other members leaned in supportively as yn spoke.

"thank you to our fans, to everyone who's believed in us," yn's voice trembled slightly, thick with emotion. "we wouldn't be here without you. this award means the world to us... and we promise to keep working harder."

as she finished her speech, the cheers erupted again, louder than ever, but minji hardly noticed. she was still mesmerized, completely taken by yn’s beauty and the way she seemed to glow under the stage lights. hanni glanced at minji again and saw the way she stared, almost hypnotized by stardom's leader.

"dude, are you okay?" hanni asked, raising an eyebrow.

minji blinked, snapping out of her daze, her face suddenly flushing. "what—uh, yeah, i'm fine," she stammered, her voice a little too quick.

hanni narrowed her eyes, clearly unconvinced but chose to let it slide. "okay..." she mumbled, though her suspicion lingered as she turned back toward the stage. minji's weirdness wasn’t something she was going to ignore forever.

yn linked her arm with yuri’s as they strolled through the hallway, trying to track down their managers. “leave it to us to get lost,” she sighed, glancing around with a hint of amusement.

“who cares that we’re lost? we just won artist of the year! everybody celebrate!” hana exclaimed, jumping onto eunjin’s back, earning a startled yelp from the quieter girl.

"we’re going to a sushi restaurant and eating everything," yuri chimed in, her tone playful as she squeezed yn's arm.

the girls were so caught up in their laughter and excitement that they didn’t notice another group walking toward them from the opposite direction.

summer, still laughing at hana almost slipping off eunjin's back, wasn’t paying attention and kept walking backward—until she crashed into someone with a hard thud. the hallway suddenly fell silent as everyone froze.

“ow!”

“oh, i’m so sor—” summer started to apologize, but her words faltered the moment she realized who she’d bumped into. “—ry,” she finished awkwardly, eyes locking with hyein from newjeans.

hyein’s eyes flashed with recognition, but she quickly masked it, shrugging off summer’s apology as if it were nothing. her gaze briefly flickered to hana, who had slid off eunjin’s back under the weight of the tense moment, though she averted her eyes as hana shot her an icy glare.

hanni stepped forward, her expression hardening as she glared at the five girls. her eyes locked onto summer. “you should be sorry. maybe watch where you’re going. hyein’s already had an injury—we don’t need another.”

summer’s eyebrows shot up, clearly not liking the tone. she glanced behind her, almost in disbelief, as if confirming hanni had really spoken to her like that. a dry laugh escaped her lips as she shook her head. “i know you’re not serious—”

eunjin gently placed a hand on summer’s shoulder, a silent plea to drop it. “leave it alone.”

yn stepped in, her voice calm but firm. “summer unnie, just let it go.”

but hanni wasn’t done. “what? i was just reminding your member to watch where she’s going. what’s the problem?” she snapped back, the situation wasn’t serious but she couldn’t hold back her resentment towards the girl group so she used this as an opportunity.

hanni didn’t back down, her focus now shifting to yn. “maybe your leader can explain it, so you understand better.” she said coolly, her challenge clear.

yn did exactly what summer had done—looked behind herself in disbelief—before she took a step forward, but yuri’s arm quickly wrapped around her waist, pulling her back. "leave it.” yuri whispered, though yn’s eyes were still locked on hanni's, before switching to minji’s who looks away.

“you’re right.” yn said her voice calm, “they’re just bitter.” she says her eyes still on minji before walking straight past the rest of the group the rest of the girls following behind her.

“you two,” yuri muttered, shaking her head as she pointed at yn and summer, “need serious anger management.”

yn cursed under her breath as her phone buzzed softly, hoping it didn’t wake yuri, who was fast asleep beside her in the hotel bed. glancing at the screen, she saw the message

she looked at the message.

“I’m near your hotel.”

she sighed quietly, running a hand through her hair before carefully sliding out of bed, moving cautiously so as not to disturb hana, who was sprawled out in a starfish position on the other bed.

with a quick glance around to make sure no one stirred, yn slipped out of the hotel room as quietly as possible and made her way down to the street outside, her heart racing with anticipation.

"hey."

minji looked up from her phone to find yn standing in front of her, a juicy couture cap pulled low over her head. minji couldn’t help but smile. "hey."

"you texted," yn said softly, her eyes scanning minji's face as if searching for something.

"i did."

"so..."

"i missed you," minji admitted, gently pulling yn closer by the arm. yn’s eyes dropped, her cheeks flushing as she looked away, clearly flustered.

"same," yn mumbled, clearly embarrassed. after a pause, she added, "your member really wanted to pick a fight today, huh?"

minji groaned, rolling her eyes as she tugged yn even closer, until there was almost no space left between them. "yeah..." she trailed off, unsure what to say. it wasn’t like she fully agreed with her group's dislike toward stardom, but she understood the frustration. stardom had come out of nowhere, sweeping up all the attention.

"let’s not talk about that," minji murmured, her fingers absentmindedly playing with the gold “s” necklace hanging around yn's neck. all of the stardom girls had one, each in either silver or gold.

minji’s tone shifted as she changed the subject. "there’s this 24 hour ramen place..." she started, watching as a smile slowly spread across yn’s face. "if you want to…"

"of course i do," yn replied, her smile now fully blooming, the tension between them melting away.

[l4ndonorizz]

q&a stream gets personal (chat edition) / lando norris x reader

pairing: lando norris x reader

song: san holo - bring back the color

summary: a lighthearted Q&A stream between you and lando quickly turns serious when fan questions push you both to reveal long-hidden feelings, leading to a conversation that changes everything.

wc: 1.5k

The stream had been going for over thirty minutes now. You and Lando were sitting comfortably in front of the camera, bantering like you always did, making light of the fan questions. At first, everything felt easy—laughs, inside jokes, playful jabs—but you could feel the questions starting to shift, becoming more personal with every scroll through the chat.

Lando, as usual, was taking the lead. He leaned in, his eyes scanning the chat for the next question. “Alright, next one! This one’s for you,” he said, turning to you with that mischievous glint in his eyes. “‘What’s the one thing that annoys you most about me?’”

You laughed, grateful for the harmless question, though your mind was still spinning from some of the bolder ones that had come up earlier. “That’s easy—how you can never decide what to eat when we hang out. You’re so indecisive.”

Lando gasped dramatically, his hand over his chest as if he’d been personally wounded. “It’s called being considerate! I don’t want to pick the wrong place and have you hate me for it.”

“Uh-huh,” you teased, the ease returning to your voice. “Or maybe you just can’t make a decision.”

The chat lit up with laughing emojis and comments like “classic Lando” and “indecision king!” The conversation felt light again—for a moment, anyway. But then, Lando scrolled again, and his eyes locked on a question that made your stomach flip.

“This one’s for me,” he read aloud, his voice quieter now. “‘What’s the sweetest thing she’s ever done for you?’”

Your heart skipped a beat. The question hung in the air, and you could tell Lando was thinking, actually thinking, about how to answer. The playful energy between you shifted slightly, making the room feel smaller, more intimate.

“Well…” Lando started, pausing to look at you for a moment before turning back to the camera. “There was this one time when I got sick after a race, and she brought me soup and stayed the whole night to take care of me. That was pretty sweet.”

Your cheeks flushed instantly. You hadn’t expected him to bring that up, and the chat was going wild—spamming heart emojis and teasing comments like “aww, they’re so cute!” and “best friends or something more?”

You waved dismissively, laughing it off. “I’m just a good friend. That’s what good friends do.”

Lando turned to you, his smile softening. “Yeah, the best.”

His words sent a flutter through your chest, but you laughed nervously, pushing it aside. The chat wasn’t helping either, with more comments pouring in, speculating about your relationship. You tried to keep your composure, but the tension was beginning to creep in, a subtle shift in the air that neither of you could ignore.

Lando scrolled down again, and this time, the question he read out loud made the temperature in the room rise by several degrees.

“Oh, here’s a good one,” he said, glancing at you with a grin. “‘Do you guys think you’d make a good couple?’”

Your heart stopped. The chat was immediately flooded with excited comments, but all you could hear was the pounding in your ears. You glanced at Lando, expecting him to laugh it off, but his expression was more serious than you expected. He didn’t look uncomfortable—just thoughtful.

“I think we would,” he said, his voice steady but with an undercurrent that made your breath catch.

You turned to him, wide-eyed. “Wait, what?”

Lando shrugged, trying to play it cool, but you could see the nervousness creeping in behind his grin. “I mean, why not? We get along great, we always have fun, and…” He paused, glancing at you, his smile faltering just a bit. “I think we’d be good together.”

The chat erupted. Fans were spamming “I KNEW IT!” and “FINALLY!” along with a torrent of heart emojis and comments begging for more details. But you couldn’t focus on the screen. All you could focus on was Lando sitting next to you, the weight of his words hanging in the air between you.

Your heart pounded as you swallowed hard. “Are you… serious?”

Lando’s smile softened, and he shrugged again. “Yeah, why wouldn’t I be? I mean… we’ve always gotten along so well. I’ve thought about it before.”

The world seemed to tilt on its axis, and suddenly the lighthearted Q&A session felt too intimate, too real. You were aware of the camera recording, the thousands of people watching, and yet all of it seemed to fade into the background as the tension between you and Lando grew.

Before you could respond, Lando scrolled again, trying to move on from the tension, but the next question hit even harder.

“‘Have you ever had feelings for her?’” he read aloud, his voice now much quieter.

The chat was frozen, waiting for his response, and so were you. You didn’t dare breathe as you watched him process the question. For a moment, Lando looked like he might dodge it, make a joke out of it, but then he surprised you.

“Uh… yeah,” he admitted after a moment, rubbing the back of his neck nervously. “I mean… I’ve thought about it. More than once.”

Your heart leapt into your throat. The world felt like it had stopped spinning. Lando was still looking at the camera, but his gaze kept flickering toward you, gauging your reaction. The chat had exploded again, but you couldn’t process any of it. All you could think about was how you had just crossed a line, one that couldn’t be uncrossed.

You cleared your throat, trying to regain some composure. “I didn’t… I didn’t know you felt that way.”

Lando turned to you, his eyes full of something you hadn’t seen before—vulnerability. “Yeah… well, I didn’t really know how to bring it up. Until now, I guess.”

The chat was full of comments, pushing for more, but the two of you sat in an awkward, loaded silence. You felt your pulse racing, and for the first time since the stream started, you had no idea what to say. Everything felt too exposed, too vulnerable.

Lando, sensing the tension, tried to move things along. “Let’s, uh… let’s move on to the next one.”

He scrolled quickly, but the chat had taken on a life of its own, and the questions weren’t letting up. The next one made the tension nearly unbearable.

“‘Do you regret anything in your friendship?’” Lando read aloud, his voice quieter again.

You swallowed, the weight of the question pressing down on you. Lando turned to look at you, his expression serious now, no trace of the lighthearted banter that had carried you through the stream earlier.

“I…” you started, unsure of what to say. The chat was waiting, Lando was waiting, and you could feel the nerves bubbling up inside you. “I don’t regret our friendship; I wouldn’t trade it for anything. But…”

Lando’s eyebrows furrowed. “But what?”

You fidgeted with your hands, the tension between you almost suffocating. You could feel the words building in your throat, but you weren’t sure if you were ready to say them—not here, not now, in front of all these people.

“I guess I regret… not being more honest,” you admitted softly, your voice barely above a whisper.

Lando’s eyes softened as he looked at you, the vulnerability still lingering in his gaze. For the first time during the stream, it felt like the rest of the world had disappeared. The chat, the cameras, the fans—it all faded away. All that mattered was the way Lando was looking at you, waiting.

“Honest about what?” he asked gently, his voice careful, as if he was afraid of pushing too far.

You hesitated, your heart racing. You knew the answer, and so did he. But saying it out loud felt like crossing a line that neither of you could come back from.

“I just…” you started, your voice shaking slightly. “I’ve never told you how much you mean to me.”

Lando blinked, clearly taken aback by your admission. “What do you mean?”

“I mean…” you trailed off, glancing away as the tension became too much to bear. “I care about you. A lot. More than just… as a friend.”

The room felt like it had gone completely silent, except for the sound of your heart pounding in your ears. Lando stared at you, processing what you’d just said, and for a moment, neither of you moved.

Finally, Lando let out a breath he hadn’t realized he was holding. “I care about you too.”

The chat was exploding with heart emojis and comments, but none of that mattered anymore. The air between you was thick with the weight of everything you’d just revealed, and for the first time, it felt like you were both being completely honest with each other.

Lando gave you a small, nervous smile. “Well… I guess that’s one way to wrap up a Q&A stream.”

You laughed, though your heart was still racing. “Yeah… not what I expected.”

The chat was still buzzing, but all you could focus on was the way Lando was looking at you—as if everything had just changed between you, and maybe, for the better.

[urdreamydoodles]

X-Men x Reader (Part.1)

A chaotic night at the carnival with your boyfriend (Part.1)

You and your boyfriend embark on a chaotic carnival adventure, where their unique personalities lead to unpredictable situations.

Characters: Logan Howlett, Remy LeBeau, Kurt Wagner, Scott Summers, Erik Lehnsherr, Warren Worthington III, Bobby Drake, Pietro Maximoff, Wade Wilson & Cable

Let's forget mutant rac*sm for one night, 'kay? No humans looking you weird because of who you are. These headcanons are pure joy.

Logan Howlett (Wolverine)

- Logan wasn’t exactly the carnival type. When he suggested taking you to one, you weren’t sure what had gotten into him. But there you were, walking hand-in-hand with him through the bustling crowd of people, the scent of popcorn and fried food filling the air. His rough exterior clashed humorously with the colorful surroundings, and you couldn’t help but laugh at the way he grumbled every time someone bumped into him or a ride screeched too loudly. He glanced down at you, raising an eyebrow. “What’s so funny?”

- “You are,” you teased, nudging him with your shoulder. “This doesn’t seem like your kind of thing.”

- Logan grunted but gave a small smirk. “Figured you might like it. And besides, could use a little break from the usual crap.”

- You smiled at his thoughtfulness, squeezing his hand. You weren’t sure how long the peace would last, though, knowing Logan’s knack for attracting trouble. As if on cue, you spotted a strength-testing game nearby, the kind with the hammer and the bell at the top. Logan’s eyes narrowed as he noticed it too, and you instantly knew what was coming.

- “Wanna give it a try, tough guy?” you teased, already imagining the chaos this could cause.

- “Oh, I’m doin’ it,” Logan growled, determination in his voice as he dragged you over to the booth. The carnival worker looked a little too confident, like he’d never seen someone like Logan in his life. Logan picked up the hammer with ease, spinning it in his hands before positioning himself in front of the game.

- “You sure about this?” you asked, giggling at the way he sized up the machine like it was his next battle. But before you could say anything else, Logan swung the hammer down with full force. The bell didn’t just ring—it practically flew off the top of the pole with a loud clang, leaving the carnival worker standing there, slack-jawed.

- People around the game burst into laughter and applause, while Logan just shrugged and handed the hammer back like it was nothing. “Cheap machine,” he muttered, as if it had been a weak challenge. You couldn’t stop laughing, your sides aching as you tried to catch your breath.

- The carnival worker, still stunned, offered you both a giant stuffed bear as a prize. “For your troubles,” he said, eyeing Logan warily. You gladly accepted the bear, knowing Logan wasn’t the type to care about prizes.

- As you walked away, you leaned into Logan, wiping tears of laughter from your eyes. “You broke the carnival.”

- “Wasn’t my fault,” he grumbled, though there was a hint of pride in his voice. “Damn thing wasn’t built right.”

- Despite the chaotic start, the night continued with more laughs as Logan tried his best to blend in. He won you a few more prizes, though you could tell he was holding back on most of the games, trying not to cause too much destruction. The bumper cars were another story, though. The moment Logan got behind the wheel, all bets were off. He went after anyone who came close, slamming into other cars with a grin that told you he was enjoying this way too much.

- When the night ended, you were both loaded down with stuffed animals and prizes. “Well, that was… something,” you said, glancing up at Logan. He looked more relaxed than you’d seen him in a while, and despite the chaos, you were glad you had come.

- Logan gave you a sideways look, his hand finding yours again. “Yeah, it was somethin’,” he agreed. “But don’t think I’ll be doin’ this every week.”

- You laughed, pulling him close for a kiss. “Maybe once in a while. Just for fun.”

Remy LeBeau (Gambit)

- “You ready for dis, chérie?” Remy asked, his grin wide as he led you through the carnival entrance. His excitement was contagious, and you found yourself getting caught up in the lights and sounds, despite knowing that anything involving Remy was bound to lead to some kind of trouble. He held your hand loosely, his thumb brushing over your knuckles as he scanned the carnival with a mischievous glint in his eyes.

- “Ready for what, exactly?” you asked, raising an eyebrow. You knew better than to expect a quiet night when it came to Remy. The man thrived on chaos and fun, and carnivals were like his personal playground.

- “Everything!” Remy said dramatically, sweeping his arm to gesture at the carnival games, rides, and food stalls. “We gon’ win every prize, eat everythin’, and maybe—just maybe—I’ll take you up on dat Ferris wheel.”

- You laughed, already bracing yourself for whatever chaos Remy was about to unleash. He dragged you toward the game booths first, eyeing the ring toss with a suspicious amount of confidence. “How ‘bout we start with somethin’ easy?”

- Remy tossed a few rings with the finesse of someone who had probably spent his life perfecting sleight of hand tricks. He made it look effortless, hitting the targets every time. The game worker handed you a small stuffed animal as a prize, but Remy wasn’t satisfied.

- “Non, non, I got more in me,” he said with a wink, flipping a coin in his fingers as he eyed the larger prizes. You tried to pull him away, knowing what was coming, but it was too late. Remy wasn’t playing fair anymore. With a flick of his wrist, he tossed a ring that glowed faintly with kinetic energy, sending it perfectly onto one of the highest-scoring targets.

- The worker’s eyes widened, clearly confused by how Remy had managed that, but he handed over the grand prize—a ridiculously large stuffed tiger. “Here you go,” he said, casting Remy a suspicious look.

- “Merci, mon ami,” Remy said smoothly, handing the tiger to you with a flourish. “For you, ma belle.”

- You could only shake your head, trying to hold back your laughter. “You cheated,” you whispered, though you couldn’t help but smile at the way he was grinning like a kid who had gotten away with something.

- “Just a lil’ help,” Remy said, shrugging as he slung his arm around your shoulders. “Dat’s the fun, non?”

- The night continued in much the same way. Remy charmed his way through every booth, somehow managing to win every game despite the odds. He even convinced you to go on the Ferris wheel with him, though the moment the wheel started turning, he leaned over and whispered in your ear, “You scared of heights, chérie?”

- “Not until you said that,” you muttered, gripping the safety bar a little tighter. Remy laughed, pressing a quick kiss to your cheek as the Ferris wheel carried you both up to the top. From there, the chaos of the carnival seemed far below you, and for a moment, everything felt perfect.

- That was until you got off the Ferris wheel and Remy decided to try his luck at one last game—a dart-throwing booth. “Watch dis,” he said confidently, picking up the darts. You watched, amused, as he tossed the first dart with perfect precision. It hit the target dead center, earning him another prize.

- But as Remy lined up his second dart, someone bumped into him, causing him to miss the target completely. The dart hit the edge of the booth and sent one of the stuffed animals flying into the air.

- The game worker let out a startled yell, and before you knew it, Remy was laughing so hard he could barely stand. “Oops,” he said, though you could tell he wasn’t sorry at all.

- You grabbed his hand, pulling him away from the booth before things got worse. “I think that’s enough chaos for one night.”

- Remy flashed you a grin, his eyes sparkling with mischief. “Ah, but you had fun, didn’t you?”

- You couldn’t deny it. “Yeah, I did. But next time, maybe we try something a little less… explosive.”

Kurt Wagner (Nightcrawler)

- “Zis is amazing!” Kurt exclaimed as he looked around the carnival, his excitement contagious. His tail flicked back and forth as he took everything in—the lights, the music, the people. You smiled at his enthusiasm, knowing that Kurt’s childlike wonder could turn even the most ordinary event into something magical. But you also knew that wherever Kurt went, chaos was never far behind.

- “It’s just a carnival, Kurt,” you teased, though you couldn’t help but smile at how happy he looked. “You act like you’ve never been to one before.”

- Kurt grinned, his fangs peeking out in that charming way that always made your heart skip a beat. “Ja, but every time is like ze first time when you’re with me, mein Schatz.”

- You rolled your eyes but let him lead you through the crowd, his arm wrapped around your waist protectively. You could already see him eyeing the different carnival games with curiosity, and you knew it was only a matter of time before something went wrong.

- The first sign of chaos came when Kurt spotted a haunted house attraction. His eyes lit up, and before you could protest, he had already bought tickets and was dragging you inside. “Zis vill be fun!” he promised, his tail curling in excitement.

- The haunted house was dark, and cheap jump scares popped out from every corner. Despite knowing they were fake, you still jumped every time something came at you. Kurt, on the other hand, was having the time of his life, laughing at every skeleton or ghoul that leaped out from the shadows. His hand remained on your lower back, guiding you through the twisting hallways, but you noticed his tail twitching in anticipation.

- Just as you both rounded a corner, a particularly loud scream echoed through the room, followed by a life-sized animatronic zombie lunging toward you. Without thinking, Kurt instinctively "bamfed"—disappearing into a cloud of smoke and reappearing right in front of the zombie. “Ach! You scared mein Schatz!” he exclaimed dramatically, holding out his hands as if scolding the fake creature.

- You burst into laughter, doubling over as Kurt’s display turned into a full-fledged performance, complete with mock outrage. “You realize it’s not real, right?” you said, trying to catch your breath between giggles.

- “Real or not, I vill not stand for zis disrespect!” Kurt said, grinning as his tail curled around your wrist. He gave a wink before "bamfing" again, appearing just behind you and wrapping his arms around your waist.

- As the haunted house continued, Kurt couldn’t resist teleporting around, jumping ahead to surprise you or appearing beside some of the animatronics to “challenge” them to a duel. By the time you reached the exit, both of you were breathless from laughter, and the haunted house employees were giving Kurt curious, amused looks.

- “Zat vas wunderbar!” Kurt declared, pulling you close for a quick kiss. “Ve should do zat again, ja?”

- “Maybe without the bamfing next time,” you teased, though you couldn’t deny how much fun it had been.

- The rest of the night continued in much the same way. Kurt’s excitement was infectious, and he couldn’t help but teleport around the carnival, grabbing prizes for you and whisking you off to different booths. At one point, he even teleported both of you onto the Ferris wheel, much to the operator’s confusion.

- As the night came to a close, Kurt wrapped his arm around your shoulders, pulling you close as you both watched the fireworks light up the sky. “Danke, mein Liebling,” he whispered, his tail wrapping around your wrist gently. “For making zis night perfect.”

Scott Summers (Cyclops)

- Scott had insisted on going to the carnival with a plan. A structured plan. “We’ll hit the games first, then maybe the rides, and after that, we can grab some food,” he said confidently, holding a map of the carnival in one hand as he walked beside you. You couldn’t help but laugh at how seriously he was taking it, but that was just Scott.

- “You know, you can relax a little,” you teased, nudging him playfully. “It’s a carnival, not a mission.”

- Scott gave you a half-smile, adjusting his sunglasses. “I just want to make sure we get to do everything. There’s a lot to cover.”

- You appreciated his effort, but you knew Scott’s love of structure would inevitably clash with the chaos of the carnival. It didn’t take long for things to spiral. The first sign of trouble came when you reached the ring toss booth. Scott, ever the perfectionist, was determined to win you one of the giant stuffed animals. After missing a few rings, though, you could see the frustration building in his expression.

- “I don’t get it,” he muttered, lining up another ring. “I’m hitting the target dead-on. Why won’t it stay?”

- You bit back a laugh, knowing he was taking this far too seriously. “Maybe it’s rigged?” you suggested, trying to lighten the mood.

- Scott frowned, clearly not convinced. “I’m going to try again.”

- This time, you stepped forward, placing a hand on his arm gently. “It’s just a game, Scott. We can always try another one.”

- He sighed, rubbing the back of his neck. “Yeah, I guess you’re right. I just wanted to win you something.”

- Your heart melted a little at his earnestness, and you leaned up to kiss his cheek. “You don’t have to win me anything. I’m happy just being here with you.”

- Scott’s expression softened, and he gave you a small, appreciative smile. “Thanks.”

- Just as things seemed to calm down, the Ferris wheel caught Scott’s eye. “Let’s ride that next,” he suggested, glancing at the line. “We’ll be able to see the whole carnival from up there.”

- As you both waited in line, everything seemed to be going smoothly until, suddenly, one of the carnival workers tripped over a loose cable, causing a small electrical issue that made the Ferris wheel stop mid-turn. You both were stuck at the top, dangling in mid-air.

- “Great,” Scott muttered under his breath, looking at the non-functioning ride. “This wasn’t part of the plan.”

- You couldn’t help but laugh, leaning your head on his shoulder. “I guess even you can’t plan for everything.”

- He gave a resigned chuckle, shaking his head. “Yeah, yeah. Guess you’re right.” He wrapped an arm around your shoulders, pulling you close as you both watched the sun setting over the carnival from your vantage point in the sky.

Bobby Drake (Iceman)

- Bobby was the definition of carefree and fun, so when he suggested going to the carnival, you knew it would be a night full of laughter and mischief. “I’m gonna win you all the prizes,” he declared confidently as you both entered the carnival grounds, his hand laced with yours.

- “You sure about that?” you teased, raising an eyebrow. “What if I’m better at the games than you?”

- Bobby grinned, giving you a playful wink. “Oh, I *know* you’re competitive, but just wait. I’ve got a few tricks up my sleeve.”

- The first game you both hit was the basketball toss. Bobby stepped up, flashing the carnival worker a confident smile. “Watch and learn, babe.”

- You crossed your arms, smirking as you watched him make his first shot—and miss. “Looks like you need some practice,” you teased, stifling a laugh.

- Bobby shot you a mock glare before lining up his next shot. This time, he nailed it, and you couldn’t help but cheer for him. “Told you I had this,” he said, accepting the prize from the worker—a small stuffed penguin, fittingly enough.

- As the night went on, Bobby’s playful antics kept you entertained. He made sure to try every game, even using his powers in small, sneaky ways to give himself an advantage. At one point, he froze the water gun in the shooting game just enough to keep it steady, winning a giant stuffed bear that he proudly handed over to you.

- “How many stuffed animals do you think we can carry?” you asked, laughing as Bobby piled yet another prize into your arms.

- “As many as it takes,” he said with a grin, but you could see the gleam in his eye that told you he was up to something.

- Sure enough, when you reached the ice cream stand, Bobby couldn’t resist using his powers to show off. He created a small ice sculpture of a penguin on your cone, earning a round of applause from the nearby kids.

- “You’re such a show-off,” you said, rolling your eyes, but you couldn’t stop smiling.

- “I know, I know,” Bobby said, bowing dramatically. “But admit it—you love it.”

- As the night continued, Bobby couldn’t resist getting into a bit of chaos. When you both reached the bumper cars, he made sure to freeze the track just enough to send everyone spinning wildly out of control. You could hear people laughing, completely unaware of the small patch of ice Bobby had created beneath their wheels.

- “Bobby!” you scolded, though you were laughing too hard to sound serious. “You’re going to get us kicked out!”

- “Nah, they’ll never know,” he said, giving you a wink as you both raced around the track, dodging the other cars. It wasn’t long before the ride attendant started looking suspicious, though, and Bobby quickly melted the ice before anyone could catch on.

- By the end of the night, you were both loaded down with prizes and stuffed animals, your sides aching from laughter. “Best. Night. Ever,” Bobby declared as he wrapped his arm around you, pulling you close.

- “Yeah, it was pretty amazing,” you agreed, leaning into him as you walked toward the exit. “But next time, maybe we keep the chaos to a minimum?”

- “Where’s the fun in that?” Bobby teased, planting a kiss on your temple.

Warren Worthington III (Angel)

- Warren always had an air of elegance and class about him, even at a carnival. From the moment you walked through the entrance, his hand resting on your lower back, he looked slightly out of place among the flashing lights and crowds. Still, he indulged your excitement, smiling at the prospect of a night filled with games and rides.

- “I’m not exactly used to this kind of... environment,” he admitted, adjusting his shirt as if he were still in some high-class event. You laughed, giving his arm a playful squeeze. “Don’t worry, Warren. Just follow my lead. We’ll start with something simple, like the ring toss.”

- At the game booth, Warren gave a polite nod to the carnival worker and then tried his best to follow the rules of the game. Unfortunately for him, his first few tosses were way off the mark, despite his best efforts. His wings twitched in mild frustration, and you could tell he wasn’t used to failure in any form.

- “Here, let me show you how it’s done,” you teased, stepping up and grabbing a ring. To your own surprise, your first throw landed perfectly around the bottle. You turned to Warren with a grin. “See? It’s all about aiming where you’re not trying to go.”

- Warren chuckled softly, though you could see the competitive spark in his eyes. He was always one to rise to a challenge. After a few more tries, he finally won, and with his natural grace, he handed you a giant stuffed bear. “For you, love. Even if it did take me longer than I expected.”

- Things really started to get chaotic when you both decided to go on the bumper cars. You didn’t think much of it, but Warren’s wings made it difficult for him to comfortably sit in the small car. “This... might not have been the best idea,” he muttered as he tried to squeeze in.

- You were already laughing as you got into your own car, watching Warren struggle to fit his wings within the tight confines. As the ride started, Warren immediately became a target for all the kids driving around, probably because of his wings sticking out awkwardly. Every few seconds, a car would bump into him, sending him jolting forward.

- “Why did I agree to this?” he grumbled, trying to avoid another hit. But when you managed to ram your car into his with a mischievous grin, Warren shot you an amused glare. “You’re going to pay for that.”

- The rest of the ride was a blur of chaotic bumper car mayhem. You laughed the whole time, but you could tell Warren was both trying to enjoy himself and maintain his dignity. By the end of it, his feathers were slightly ruffled, and he gave you a look that said he was never doing that again.

- As the night continued, Warren did loosen up, especially when you convinced him to go on the Ferris wheel with you. The view from the top was breathtaking, and for a moment, he seemed to relax completely, his arm around your shoulders as you leaned into him. “Now *this* I can get used to,” he whispered, his lips brushing against your temple.

- By the end of the night, despite the chaos, Warren admitted he had fun. “Next time, let’s try something a little more... refined,” he teased, though you knew he’d come back to the carnival with you any time you wanted.

Erik Lehnsherr (Magneto)

- Erik wasn’t exactly the kind of person who frequented carnivals. You knew it from the moment you suggested it, and the slight arch of his eyebrow told you he wasn’t thrilled about the idea. “A carnival? You’re serious?” he asked, arms crossed.

- “It’ll be fun,” you insisted, grabbing his hand. “Come on, Erik, when was the last time you let yourself just relax and enjoy something silly?”

- He sighed, though the corner of his mouth twitched upward. “For you, I suppose I can make an exception.” That’s how you found yourself walking into the brightly lit carnival with one of the most powerful mutants in the world by your side, looking decidedly out of place but determined to humor you.

- It didn’t take long for things to start going wrong. Erik, being the master of magnetism, unintentionally interfered with several of the carnival rides. You were both standing in line for a simple spinning ride when it suddenly shut down. The operator seemed confused, scratching his head as the machinery stalled.

- “I didn’t even touch anything,” Erik muttered, though you shot him a knowing look. “Really, I didn’t.”

- “Maybe we should stick to games where you don’t have to be near anything metal,” you suggested with a grin, tugging him toward the balloon dart booth.

- Erik’s mood lightened a bit when you both started playing the carnival games. He didn’t have much interest in stuffed animals or prizes, but watching you get competitive at the ring toss and dart games made him smile in his own subtle way. “You’re really getting into this, aren’t you?” he teased, watching as you missed another shot.

- “It’s harder than it looks!” you argued, but Erik just chuckled. With a flick of his fingers, he subtly guided one of your darts into a balloon, making it pop instantly. You turned to him with wide eyes. “Did you just—”

- “No idea what you’re talking about,” he said smoothly, smirking as the carnival worker handed you a prize.

- The real chaos came when you convinced him to try the strength tester, the game where you hit a hammer and try to ring the bell. Erik didn’t even bother to use his full strength—just a quick, casual swing, and the bell practically flew off the top, clattering onto the ground.

- “Well, that’s one way to win,” you said, trying to stifle your laughter as the carnival worker stared in shock.

- Erik shrugged, looking mildly amused as he glanced at the broken bell. “Not my fault they didn’t build it properly.”

- By the end of the night, despite the mishaps, Erik seemed to have enjoyed himself more than he’d admit. “It was... tolerable,” he said with a smirk, pulling you close. “But next time, let’s do something less likely to fall apart around me.”

Pietro Maximoff (Quicksilver)

- Going to a carnival with Pietro was a whirlwind—literally. From the moment you stepped through the gates, he was off, zipping from one game to the next, barely giving you time to catch up. “Come on, slowpoke!” he called out, already standing at the dart booth before you could even take your first step.

- “You’re impossible,” you muttered, but you couldn’t help but smile. Pietro’s energy was infectious, and you knew tonight would be full of chaos.

- It started with the games. Pietro was determined to win you every prize in the carnival, though his speed made it hard for him to slow down enough to actually play. At the ring toss, he zoomed through several rings before realizing none of them had landed. “This game is rigged,” he grumbled, crossing his arms.

- “Maybe you should try slowing down,” you suggested with a grin, stepping up to take your turn. To your surprise, you managed to win on your second try, earning a small stuffed animal. Pietro looked at you with wide eyes, clearly impressed. “Okay, maybe you’re just better at this than I am.”

- The real chaos, though, came when you convinced him to go on the carousel. It seemed like a harmless enough ride, but as soon as it started moving, Pietro couldn’t resist the urge to speed it up. Before you knew it, the horses were spinning around at an alarming rate, and people were shouting in surprise.

- “Pietro!” you yelled, holding onto the pole for dear life. “Slow it down!”

- With a laugh, he finally let the ride return to its normal speed, though the other riders were clearly a little dizzy when they got off. “What? I thought it could use a little excitement,” he said with a mischievous grin.

- “You’re going to get us kicked out,” you teased, shaking your head as you both moved on to the next attraction.

- The bumper cars were a whole different level of chaos. Pietro’s speed allowed him to dodge every car with ease, leaving the other riders frustrated as they tried to catch him. You, on the other hand, found yourself being bumped into every few seconds as you tried to keep up.

- “You’re supposed to be on my team!” you shouted as Pietro zipped past you, laughing as he narrowly avoided another car.

- “Sorry, babe, no teams in bumper cars!” he called back, clearly enjoying himself.

- By the end of the night, you were both breathless from laughter and running around the carnival. Pietro wrapped an arm around your waist, pulling you close as you walked toward the exit. “That was fun,” he admitted, his usual cocky grin softening a bit. “We should do it again sometime.”

- “Maybe next time you’ll slow down long enough for me to actually enjoy it,” you teased, though you knew you wouldn’t change a thing about the chaotic, whirlwind night you’d had with him.

Wade Wilson (Deadpool)

- A carnival date with Wade, was bound to be one of the wildest experiences of your life. The second you stepped into the carnival, he was bouncing around like a kid who’d had way too much sugar. “Oh baby, this is gonna be epic! Carnies, cotton candy, and chaos—three of my favorite things!”

- Wade insisted on playing every game, but instead of trying to win prizes, he was more interested in “spicing things up.” At the dart throw, he purposely hit the ceiling instead of the balloons, declaring, “It’s reverse psychology! They’ll never see it coming!” The poor booth operator was at a loss for words, especially when Wade whipped out his katana, threatening to “pop them all at once.”

- “Wade, no weapons at the carnival,” you reminded him with a chuckle, pulling him away before he could get you both kicked out.

- The real chaos began when Wade spotted the Ferris wheel. “Do you know what this needs? A dramatic Ferris wheel kiss!” Before you could protest, Wade dragged you into a cart, somehow managing to cause a malfunction that stopped the wheel at the very top. The two of you were suspended in mid-air as Wade dramatically dipped you, trying to plant a kiss while also almost flipping you both out of the cart.

- “Wade! We’re gonna fall!” you shrieked, laughing despite yourself.

- “Then we’ll fall in love—literally!” he quipped, still holding onto you with one arm while the other waved madly for the carnival operator to fix the ride.

- After finally getting back on the ground, Wade couldn’t resist trying the bumper cars. This, naturally, turned into a high-speed chase where he decided to narrate the entire thing like a car chase in an action movie. “And Deadpool swerves to the left, narrowly avoiding that kid with cotton candy! But wait, here comes the love of his life, ready to T-bone him from the right!”

- By the time you left the carnival, both of you were banned from at least three rides, Wade had convinced a few people he was actually part of the entertainment, and you couldn’t stop laughing. As the night wound down, Wade gave you a surprisingly soft smile, taking your hand in his.

- “Y’know, this wasn’t half bad,” he said, squeezing your fingers. “You’re pretty fun, babe. And that’s saying something, ‘cause I’m the king of fun.”

- “You make chaos fun,” you teased back, leaning into him as you walked out of the carnival. “And I wouldn’t have it any other way.”

Nathan Summers (Cable)

- A carnival with Cable was a different kind of adventure. Nathan wasn’t exactly the carnival type, and you could tell by the way he scanned the crowd the moment you stepped in, his metal arm gleaming under the bright lights. “Do you ever stop being on alert?” you teased him, looping your arm through his.

- He gave you a half-smile, the kind that made your heart race. “Force of habit. But if you want me to relax, I’ll give it a shot.”

- The night started off relatively normal, at least by Cable standards. He begrudgingly tried a few games, and while he wasn’t exactly into it, you could tell he was making an effort for you. “This is rigged,” he muttered after missing a shot at the basketball hoop, his brow furrowed in concentration.

- “Or maybe you’re just out of practice,” you teased, and for a moment, you thought you saw a glimmer of amusement in his eyes. But things took a turn when you both decided to ride the carousel.

- Halfway through, the ride glitched, and suddenly you found yourselves not in the carnival but in a different time period entirely. “Nathan, did you—?”

- “I didn’t do anything!” he said, his eyes narrowing as he tried to figure out what had gone wrong. The carousel horses were now galloping through a war-torn landscape, and Cable immediately shifted into battle mode.

- “We have to get out of here,” he growled, using his telekinesis to shield you from flying debris. Just when you thought you were stuck in this alternate timeline forever, Cable managed to fix the glitch, and you both tumbled back into the carnival with a thud.

- “Okay, no more rides,” you panted, laughing as you collapsed against him. Cable chuckled softly, wrapping his metal arm around you protectively.

- “Yeah, maybe we stick to something a little less... chaotic,” he agreed, pressing a kiss to your temple. But despite the madness, you couldn’t deny that the chaos had been kind of thrilling.

- As you left the carnival, Cable squeezed your hand, his usually stoic expression softening. “Next time, let’s just do dinner,” he said, his voice low and sincere. “I think we’ve had enough excitement for one night.”

[scuderiahalf]

of waning moons and eagle eyes — daniel ricciardo

pairing. platonic/romantic/up for interpretation!daniel ricciardo x reader

summary. goodbyes are hard; for now, i’ll say i am going to miss you and stay here a while. .5k

.

You stall behind Daniel, hesitating, shifting your weight, trying to think of what you could possibly say. You come up empty.

Daniel doesn’t look at you when you step beside him.

He just says, “If you’re going to tell me you’re sorry, don’t.”

“I was actually going to say you’re a talentless hack who deserves it.”

Daniel’s laugh is sharp and surprised. It feels good to be able to make him laugh, even in a situation like this, even if his face quickly goes blank again.

You follow his gaze upwards. The Singaporean night sky is an inky navy, too much light pollution for stars. But the moon, you can see. A little over half, closer to full than new but still waning. It won’t be a new moon until the month is over. After that, it will wax and repeat the process unto forever. Ever present, ever changing.

“I am sorry,” you say, despite the warning. “It’s not pity. It’s just what people say when a situation is fucked and someone they care about draws the short straw.”

Daniel exhales heavily, slowly. “Thanks, I guess.”

“You’re welcome. I guess.”

He huffs out a half-chuckle.

You stare up into the empty sky for a while longer. It’s well past midnight, now. All the other drivers are gone. Most crew and other staff, too. But not you. Not Daniel.

“How do you even know?” Daniel asks, eventually.

“I have my methods.”

You shouldn’t know. You really aren’t supposed to; it’s a massive breach of security. Luckily, you are just you, and all you want to do with the information of Daniel’s being dropped is be with him.

“I wish they’d at least give you a proper send off,” you voice quietly. “This whole guessing game, making you keep it a secret, not talking about it—it’s messed up. It’s not what you deserve.”

“It’s whatever.”

“It’s not.”

“I’m not a world champion.“

“You’re Daniel Ricciardo.”

You put weight into his name because it means something to you, and it means something to the F1 community even if his team won’t give him a proper, respectful goodbye.

Daniel looks at you. His eyes are always so much lighter than you think they are, yellow-hazel like an eagle and sharp, intelligent, emotive. They show a lot. They show so little.

You want to know what he’s thinking. Want to split the skin of his forehead, shave away the bone underneath and peer inside to see how he’s hurting or healing or however he’s feeling. Broken? Elated? Caught up in what’s past or ready to face the next big thing?

You don’t know.

“There’s no one like you,” you tell him. You need him to know. “There’s never been anyone like you.“

Daniel smiles, eagle eyes quartered like the moon. “Thanks.”

His smile fades and you drop your head onto his shoulder.

“I’m going to miss you.”

“Yeah.”

Daniel lays his head on yours.

“Me, too.”

[supernovafics]

series masterlist | last part — next part

pairing: modern!college!steve harrington x fem!reader, bestfriend!eddie munson x fem!reader

word count: 5.4k words

warnings: explicit language, a bit of violence (kinda?) (only mentioned and barely even described), some angst

summary: you don’t know why you avoid telling everyone that you and steve are “broken up,”  but you do. and you don’t realize how much of a bad idea that is until way too late

CHAPTER FIFTEEN | ❝𝒍𝒆𝒕 𝒊𝒕 𝒂𝒍𝒍 𝒐𝒖𝒕❞

Fall Semester 2016

“Who’s the guy again?” 

“I met him at the library. He asked to borrow my laptop charger and then when he was handing it back he asked for my number, and he texted asking to hang out,” You quickly explained as you slipped on your jacket and then turned to look at Eddie, who was sitting at your desk.

You weren’t particularly excited about the date, but you were excited to do something that you hadn’t done in a long time, and the smallest part of you could admit that you were doing this to try and be completely over Eddie. Your feelings being pushed and buried away were one thing, but if you were actually able to date someone else that had to mean that there definitely wasn’t anything else there. At least, that was what your mind told you, and it sounded somewhat logical.  

“If it sucks and you wanna get out of it, just call me,” Eddie told you.

“Robin already has that job,” You said. “We have a code word and everything.” 

He laughed a little. “What’s the code word?” 

“Dolphin.”

“That’s very random.” 

“Yes, and that makes it a more believable code word.” 

“Okay, makes sense,” He nodded. “Anyway, if she somehow ends up not answering, I will.” 

You doubted that would happen— you hadn’t known Robin for that long, but you already knew that she was very reliable. Still, though, you nodded at Eddie’s words because you liked how much he cared. It didn’t necessarily surprise you, but it still warmed your heart all the same. “Okay.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

Spring Semester 2018

It was the book that was making you cry right then. Nothing else. 

And maybe that wasn’t entirely true, but it felt like the easiest explanation. 

You reread the last page a few more times before finally closing the book and setting it on your desk. It was the same book that you’d been reading in Mexico with Steve a few days ago. 

He was right about the ending— the son died, and it happened right after he and the dad finally got in a good place. Of course, he’d been right.

A part of you wanted to text him and tell him that, but you didn’t. Instead, you kept silently crying— trying to remember the last time a book made you this emotional, but deep down knowing that it really wasn’t just the book. 

You didn’t get the chance to force yourself to face the exact reasoning behind your tears before there was a knock on your slightly cracked open door and Robin was walking in a second later. 

“Hey, I have two things I need to tell you. One is a question from Talia, who is too lazy to get out of bed right now, and the other is very fun news,” She stopped when she noticed you crying. “Woah, shit, you okay?”

“Yeah, sorry, I’m fine. I just finished reading this book and the ending was pretty sad,” You answered, haphazardly pushing your tears away with the sleeves of the sweater you were wearing. “What’s up, though?”

“Is Steve coming to game night on Monday? Talia wants to decide on teams now because she doesn’t want to get stuck with Eddie again.”

“Oh, um, me and him broke up…” The words felt so weird coming from your lips and you suddenly wondered if it had been stupid to not tell her and everyone else sooner. Instead, over the last few days, you simply didn’t talk about him because the timing never felt right enough to say what you should’ve said.

“Wait, what?” The confused look on Robin's face was easy to read. “Is that why you’re actually crying right now?”

You quickly shook your head. “No, no, it was just about the book. The Steve thing doesn’t even matter to me.”

“So, what happened? And when? Was it the trip? Did he hurt you? Do I need to kill him?”

You couldn’t help but laugh a little at how fast she was talking as she sat down at the foot of your bed. You turned to face her. “No, you don’t need to kill him, and yes, it happened right when we got back. We just realized that we want different things.” You shrugged halfheartedly. “Sorry, it took me so long to tell you; I know it’s only been a few days, but still. I just didn’t really wanna think about it, I guess.”

“It’s fine, that makes sense,” She assured you. “I know you and him weren’t dating for long but you two were really cute together.”

Hearing her say that, pulled at something in you for a second, but then you remembered that that just meant that you and Steve had been really good actors, pretenders, liars.

“Oh, what was the other thing you wanted to tell me?” You asked, shifting the subject. “You said fun news?”

Robin nodded. “Oh, yeah, I just found out about this party tonight at this girl’s lake house that’s an hour away. You wanna come?”

“I’m not really in a party mood,” You answered after the briefest moment of hesitation. It probably would’ve been good to get out of the apartment and actually do something that didn’t involve lounging on the couch in the living room, like you’d been doing since you got back from Mexico, but you couldn’t imagine leaving the confines of your room right then. “Sorry.”

“No, that’s understandable,” Robin told you. “I know you said that you’re fine about the breakup, but is there anything you want right now? We can watch a shitty movie, and Vickie will probably be okay with you having the last of her mint chocolate chip ice cream.”

You shook your head at her suggestions. “No, I’m okay, honestly. But, thanks, though.”

She smiled at you. “Of course, no problem. What are friends for if not someone to do cliche breakup stuff with? We could also burn any pictures you have of Steve, or throw eggs at his car, or key it?”

You laughed at that. “Great ideas, but hard no to all of them.”

“Okay, well, once you get to the anger stage of your grief, I’ll happily revisit any of those ideas with you.”

“There are no stages and there is no grief,” You told her as she got up from your bed. “I’m completely okay.”

“You’re voluntarily staying in on a Saturday night. I don’t know if I would call that “completely okay.””

“This is very normal behavior for me.”

She considered your words for a second. “Okay, yeah, maybe that’s true.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

It was the first time that the silence within the apartment felt okay. It actually wasn’t completely silent, you were watching a movie on the couch, but you were alone and felt entirely fine with that. 

You could feel yourself slowly falling asleep— head against one of the throw pillows and blanket pulled over you and it didn’t even really matter to you that it wasn’t even eleven o’clock yet— when there was a knock on the door. 

Weirdly enough, your immediate thought was that it was Steve, mainly because you knew that everyone else who could’ve been at the door right then was at a party an hour away.  

Instead, though, when you opened the door with your blanket still wrapped around you, it was Eddie standing there.

“Hey, I assumed you went with everyone to that lake house thing,” You said, pushing the door open further to let him in. 

“Robin mentioned it to me, but I had already planned on meeting up with a couple people from one of my classes at some bar,” He responded and you nodded as you closed the door behind him. 

You looked at him for a second. There was something weird about his demeanor right then. It seemed like something was wrong, and that quickly worried you because you couldn’t easily tell what that something was.

“Is everything okay?”

He shook his head, and for a few moments that was the only response you got, but then he was saying, “Not really.” 

“You’re being so–” You stopped mid-sentence when you finally noticed his right hand, how red and bruised it was. “Oh, shit, what the hell happened to your hand?”

“It looks worse than it feels,” He said, giving you a small smile. “Okay, actually, it feels pretty bad too.”

You dropped your blanket on the couch and then went over to the kitchen, grabbing one of the few small hand towels that sat next to the stove and then pulling some ice out of the freezer. 

“Come here,” You told him as you put the ice in the towel and made some sort of makeshift ice pack. Eddie joined you in the kitchen and you grabbed his bruised hand, softly placing the towel on top of it. You looked up at him. “What happened?”

He was quiet for way too long; things became almost unbearably quiet. You lightly nudged him with your foot. “Eddie.” 

He broke your gaze, looking down instead. “Fuck, it really sucks that I have to tell you this. I’m sorry.”

Hearing him say that only confused you further. “Tell me what?”

“I also saw Steve at the bar I was at…” Eddie started and then trailed off for a second. The look on his face made it seem as if the next thing he was about to say to you was going to be the most devastating thing ever. “And he was making out with some girl.”

“Oh,” Was all you said at first because you didn’t really understand why Eddie was telling you that right then and why he made it sound like the biggest deal in the world. And then, after the briefest of seconds, you were quickly realizing. “Oh.”

“I’m sorry,” Eddie told you, thinking that your “oh” was a sad one. “I wish I did a lot more than just punch him, but the security at that place is actually good so they immediately threw me out.”

Given what you two were currently doing in your kitchen, you should’ve expected Eddie to say that, but it still surprised you so much that you could feel your eyes widen. “What? You punched him?”

“Of course I did,” Eddie said, like it had been an obvious choice. “I saw him cheating on you.”

You dropped your hands from his and immediately covered your face. “Oh my god. I can’t believe you did that.”

“Please don’t try to defend him right now. I know you really like him, probably even love him, but what he did is so fucked up.”

You were shaking your head and kept your hands covering your face as you said, “He didn’t cheat on me.” 

“I’m sorry,” You heard Eddie say. “But, I promise you I know what I saw. I wouldn’t be telling you this if I wasn’t a thousand percent sure. I also wouldn’t have punched him if I wasn’t sure.”

You could’ve simply told him that you and Steve were broken up just like you told Robin earlier, but you suddenly felt tired of lying, and for once, telling the truth genuinely felt easier. 

You dropped your hands from your face and looked at Eddie. “He didn’t cheat on me because we're not together. We were never really together.” 

It surprisingly felt like so much of a relief to say it out loud, to finally be honest, so you kept going. “It was all fake; the entire relationship. And I’m so sorry for lying to you and to everyone. This entire thing ended up being so stupid and the worst idea ever. But, I don’t know, at first I thought it could be kinda good. And Steve thought so too; he was the one to suggest it actually, and he also had his own reasons for wanting to do this fake dating thing. I figured this could be the best way to do something about my feelings for you without outwardly admitting how I felt and potentially fucking up our friendship in the process, and I wouldn’t have to live in the unknown anymore like I’ve been since freshman year. And just for a second it seemed like it actually was working, and maybe you did feel something back. But then we had that conversation on your fire escape and I knew then that you’d never see me as anything more than as your best friend. It kinda hurt finally realizing that, but eventually it felt okay, though.” 

You let out a breath and inwardly felt as if the biggest weight had just been lifted off of your shoulders.

“You liked me?” That wasn’t exactly what you expected to hear Eddie say in response to your word vomit, but it made sense; it was the big “why” behind everything you did for the last month.  

“Yeah, sorry, I guess I kinda glossed over that part in my super long-winded explanation,” You said, a sudden shyness hit you and you looked away from him. “I did. I was stupidly in love for a really long time. I finally got over it after we had that conversation, though. But, I still had to fulfill my side of the deal I had with Steve, so I did that in Mexico and when we came back, that was it. Life was back to normal. But I was a fucking idiot and didn’t tell you that me and him were “broken up,” so here we are now.”

“I’m sorry,” Eddie said, a soft look on his face. “I’m sorry I didn’t know how you felt. I’m sorry I couldn’t see it.”

“No, please don’t be sorry. This is all on me. I did all of this complicated shit instead of simply talking to you about everything,” You said, leaning back against the counter. “Because you were so right that day, we are just meant to be best friends. That's the way that we’re supposed to be in each other’s lives. I get that now.”  

He got quiet again, probably still processing everything that you had just told him, which you had to admit was a lot. 

“Are we okay?” You asked when the silence started becoming too much to bear. “Did this fuck everything up like I thought it would?” 

Eddie shook his head at your questions. “Of course not. You could never fuck things up between us, and I feel really bad that you ever thought that you could, and I also wish that I had felt the same way about you… I do love you. It’s just…”

The smallest part of you expected to feel hurt finally hearing the rejection, but surprisingly you didn’t. “Just not in that way. I know. It’s okay. Please don’t feel bad. I know that we shouldn’t be together. I’ve accepted that,” You told him. “And I really wanna say that we should just forget this entire conversation ever happened because it would make things a lot easier and I’d also feel a lot less embarrassed if we did, but I don’t think we should do that. This may sound weird, but it actually feels kind of good having the truth out in the open.”

“Okay,” He said with a nod.

You looked back down at his hand and the towel covering it. 

“How’s it feeling?” You asked, slightly shifting the subject. 

“Better, kinda. The ice feels good,” He answered and then let out something that sounded like a breath of a laugh and a scoff in disbelief as he shook his head. “Jesus Christ, I can’t believe I punched him.”

“Me neither. But thank you for defending my honor, I guess?”

He smiled at you; a genuine smile that let you know that things were actually okay between you two. “Anytime.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

“So, everything with Steve was fake,” Eddie said when you two were settled on the couch, the movie you had put on earlier still playing. His words sounded slightly like a question, but also like he was still just trying to make sense of everything that you had previously told him.

“Yes, and let’s wait at least a month before we start joking about this. I need to let my poor bruised ego heal first,” You responded, dramatically pressing your hands to your heart, a small smile on your face. 

Eddie laughed a bit. “Deal.” 

And you expected that to be that. Everything was out in the open and everything was fine. You still had to tell everyone else the truth, but you knew that would end up being okay too. And once you did tell everyone, everything could all be put in the past and you could finally move on from it. There wouldn’t be anything lingering or festering; no “what ifs” or whatever else. 

“Can I ask something?” Eddie asked, voice getting soft again, and you nodded in response, unsure where he was going to go with his question. “Was it hard keeping how you felt a secret? I’m trying to think about if the roles were reversed, and I don’t think I would’ve been able to keep it from you.” 

“Honestly, sometimes it was hard, but also not really. And I know that’s kind of a contradictory answer, but it’s true,” You answered, somehow finding it so easy to be honest now. “For the most part, my feelings were shoved to the side and I pretended that they weren’t there. Like, when you were dating Chrissy, because I obviously didn’t wanna get between what you two had, and when you two broke up, because I knew that you weren’t ready for anything new. They still lingered deep down, though. And it was always random moments when I would get reminded that they were still there. But, keeping our friendship intact always felt more important than admitting anything because I love our friendship.”

He nodded understandingly. “I love it too.”

“Okay, this is kind of random, but do you remember that frat party we went to freshman year right before winter break?” You asked, and before he could say anything in response, you continued, forcing yourself to say what you had never said out loud before. “We were both stupidly drunk, and at one point— I think it was right before we were about to leave— you got, like, pushed into me by some random person, and we were standing really close, and then we, uh, kissed.”

The surprised look on his face was entirely expected. “I vaguely remember the party. But, I don’t remember the kiss, though. I’m sorry.”

“No, it’s okay. When we talked about the party the day after, you basically said that it was all kind of a blur to you, so that’s what I figured. I wasn't entirely sure if you didn’t remember it, so a part of me had wanted to ask back then, but in that moment I thought it was just easier to let it go.” 

It was almost startling how honest you were being with him right then— saying things that you didn’t think you’d ever admit out loud— and how perfectly okay it all felt. And weirdly enough, this also felt like the most honest you’d ever been with yourself too. 

“Thinking about it now,” You continued. “That probably should’ve been the moment that I let myself get over you. Because I could’ve told you about the kiss right then and there, but I didn’t want whatever your response would be— whether it be a rejection or whatever else— to change anything between us. And it was the same thing when we came back from break, and I was so close to admitting everything to you, but you told me that you and Chrissy were together first. I probably should’ve still told you then. And maybe I never did because deep down I always knew that nothing should change between us. I don’t know… A part of me is still trying to make it all make sense. But then, at the same time, I've been trying to avoid it all and not think about it.” You sighed. “The last couple of weeks have been pretty weird and confusing.”

“Maybe it’s not supposed to easily make sense, or make sense at all. And I know that’s probably a shit response, but…” Eddie trailed off and then shrugged after a moment. 

“No, I get what you mean,” You said, nodding at his words, and then you thought about something. “Honestly, the only thing that has ever really made sense with us is this. Watching movies together, listening to music, talking about unserious things, and also talking about the most serious things ever; stuff I never thought to tell anyone else.” You smiled at him. “Oh, and getting stuck in elevators together too.” 

He smiled back at you before saying, “The elevator thing sadly only happened once.” 

“We can try to recreate it one day.”

“Great idea,” Eddie responded with a nod. “The elevator in that building is still probably shitty.” 

“So true. And if not, we can just start jumping in it and that’ll probably do the job.”

“Or it will kill us.”   

You couldn’t help but laugh at that and Eddie laughed too and then winced as he readjusted the towel on his hand. 

That was what made you finally think about Steve. Was he even okay? 

And then you immediately felt like shit for not considering that question sooner. 

You abruptly got up from the couch and headed into your room before Eddie could question you. You grabbed the Advil bottle from your bathroom and then tossed it over to him when you walked back out into the living room. 

“For the pain. Take two of these and try to go to sleep. You can even take my bed if you wanna,” You told him and then headed to the fridge to grab a bag of frozen vegetables from the freezer. “I'm gonna go check on Steve. And yes, I’m stealing your van.”

Eddie pulled his keys out of his jacket pocket and handed them over to you. There was an amused look on his face. “When’s the last time you drove?”

“Don’t question my driving skills right now, Munson,” You said as you slipped the keys into the pocket of the sweatpants you were wearing and then grabbed the first zip-up hoodie you saw hanging on one of the hooks by the door. “Goodnight.” 

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

It wasn’t until you were standing outside the door of Steve’s apartment that you realized that maybe he wasn’t even here. He’d been on a date, or at least, with someone when Eddie saw him, so there was a chance that he was still with her. 

Still, though, you knocked. And, surprisingly enough, he answered.

His face— more specifically, his left eye— looked bad; very bruised, and already settled into the dark red and purplish color that it would probably be for the next few days. 

“Oh my god. I’m so sorry,” You said, immediately handing over the frozen peas you had in your hand; they obviously weren’t as cold as they were before the twenty-minute drive to get here, but they still felt good enough. “All of this is my fault. It completely slipped my mind to tell Eddie that we “broke up.” I didn’t tell anyone, actually, except for Robin, but that was just today. I’m really sorry. The last few days have been weird.”

Steve gave you a small smile that felt entirely undeserved and he pushed the door open further so that you could walk into his apartment. “It’s okay.” 

You shook your head. “It’s really not. You have a black eye because of me being an idiot.”

“This would be the part where I’d say that you should see the other guy to prove that this isn’t as bad as it looks, but you’ve already seen him, so that doesn’t really work in this situation,” Steve told you jokingly and you shook your head, giving him a small smile back. You still felt like shit, but at least he didn’t seem to hate you for causing all of this. “How did you get here?” 

“I drove Eddie’s van. He came to my place after it happened,” You said and Steve nodded understandingly. “You’re right, though. His hand looks worse than your eye.” You weren’t entirely sure if that was even true— in all honesty, their injuries probably looked about the same on the bad scale— but it felt like the right thing to say at this moment. “I told him everything, by the way. About our whole relationship being fake and me doing it because I had feelings for him.”

Steve looked as if he didn’t expect to hear you say that. “How did that go?”

“Surprisingly good,” You answered honestly. He gave you an almost congratulatory-looking smile in response and you quickly shook your head. “No, not good in that way. He doesn’t feel that way about me. And I knew that. There was this conversation that I had with him before all of this that kind of solidified that for me. It wasn’t some huge moment where he outwardly said that he didn’t like me, but it gave me the push I needed to finally accept that me and him are only meant to be friends. I don’t even feel any other way about him now.” You let out a sigh before letting out a different part of the truth. “I kinda lied to you in Mexico and the days leading up to it. I knew the truth about everything then, but I felt too embarrassed to tell you and I also just really didn’t want to think about it.”

“Shit, I’m sorry this didn’t work for you,” He sounded so genuine about it and gave you a sad look that reminded you of exactly what you didn’t want to happen. 

You shook your head. “Don’t do that. Please don’t feel sorry for me.” 

“I was the one that kept telling you from the beginning that this was gonna work so now I feel kinda bad that it didn’t.” 

“Okay, yeah, that’s true but it doesn’t matter now,” You told him. “And just because this didn’t work for me doesn’t mean that I regret it— I honestly don’t regret it. It was dumb and a waste of time for me, but still, I don’t really regret it. Also, you got what you wanted out of this, right?”

Steve nodded after a second. “Yeah, I actually talked to my mom yesterday and she asked about you and I told her that we broke up.”

“Did you make me a cheater?” 

“Yeah, and I think she actually feels bad. But, we’ll see in a week or two if she brings up the Hamptons,” He answered. “I kind of doubt that she will, though. I tried to seem really upset about everything.” 

“I wish I could’ve been there for that phone call. I would’ve loved to see your acting skills.”

He smiled at your joking words. “They were fantastic.”

“Good,” You responded. “So, no finding your future wife this summer?” 

“Hopefully not.”  

“Congratulations,” You told him. “And you’re welcome for me being the greatest girlfriend during the Mexico trip.”

“I don’t know if I should thank you since I do have a black eye now because of you.”

You could tell he was joking, but you still decided to play into it. “Wow, so, you are mad at me for that!”

He playfully rolled his eyes at you. “I was kidding.”

“It’s okay to be mad at me. It would be deserved, honestly. And I’d completely understand if you hate me now. You should hate me.”

He gave you a serious look, but there was still the smallest smile on his face. “Stop.” 

You held up your hands in mock surrender. “Fine, fine. I did just give you a bag of sort of frozen peas to help with your eye, so I feel like you can’t be that mad at me, anyway.” 

“And I will cherish this bag of peas for the rest of my life,” He told you as he placed them over his bruised eye and you could only laugh at that. 

A comfortable silence lingered for a second, and it was what let you know that this should probably be it. It had barely been ten minutes, but you’d done everything that you felt as if you needed to do— you checked on him, made sure he was okay, and told him the truth— there was nothing else to do. 

But, instead of saying something equivalent to the simple “Goodbye” that should’ve left your lips right then, you said, “Can I stay for a bit?” 

“Yeah, sure,” Steve answered with a nod.

“You got throw pillows,” You pointed out as you sat on his couch. You grabbed one of the two gray pillows and placed it in your lap. 

“Yeah, somebody once told me that my couch looked sad and lonely,” He said and that made you smile.

“Still no curtains, though,” You responded, gesturing to the windows.

“One day I’ll get around to it.”

You gave him a quick nod. “Got it.” 

Steve put on a show that you both had seen before and things were quiet for a bit as you rewatched the familiar episode. 

“Oh, you were sadly right, by the way,” You abruptly said, turning to look at him. “I finished the book and the son did die.”

“Oh, yeah, I know. When we got back I wanted to find out what happened, so I finished reading it.”

Hearing that surprised you, and it also made you inwardly smile. “Really?”

“Mhm,” Steve nodded and then gave you a certain look. “You cried at the end, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did. I really didn’t think that he would die,” You answered. “And shut up, don’t judge me about it.” 

“I promise I wasn’t gonna.”

“I don’t know if I believe you.” 

“Scouts honor.”

“And now I’m supposed to believe you were a boy scout?” You joked. “You don’t seem outdoorsy enough for that.”

“Ouch, I feel offended.”

You laughed as you turned your attention back to the TV. You noticed that the show playing was the same one that you and him had been watching before the power outage; a night that felt like forever ago. 

This moment felt like the exact opposite of that one. You remembered how weird things initially felt then between you two, or maybe that awkwardness had been entirely in your head. Either way, the main thing that was different here was that in that previous moment, you’d been stuck with him because of the storm and power outage, and in this moment, you weren’t stuck.  

It was then that you were hit with the thought of, What the hell were you doing here right now?

You two weren’t even really friends, you remembered. You reminded yourself of what Steve said that night a few days ago and what you two both agreed on from the beginning— going your separate ways once all of this was done and over. 

Everything that had happened this past month was fake. And even though you’d been able to recognize that, you had still let a part of you miss it; let yourself miss something that you knew you’d never be able to get back. For the past few days, you thought it was okay to let the smallest part of you feel that way— miss the faking and the pretending and the brief friendship that developed because of all of that. But maybe it wasn’t okay. Maybe it was only making things worse and more complicated. 

“Actually, I should go,” You abruptly stood up from the couch, placing the pillow back in the spot you picked it up from. You turned to look at Steve and forced a small smile that you hoped didn’t look that way. “This isn’t following the ‘going our separate ways’  rule.” 

He gave you a confused look for a second, and then he was nodding in agreement. “Yeah, you’re right.” 

“I know I was kinda joking about it before, but I really am sorry about all of this,” You said as you walked over to his door, turning to look at him before pulling it open. 

He shook his head. “Don’t be.” 

You decided against saying anything else right then and instead smiled at him one final time before forcing yourself to leave.

.・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。. .・。.・゜✭・.・✫・゜・。

next part!

taglist (lmk if you want to be added or taken off<333); @eddiernunson , @loulouloueh , @the-aster , @blckburd , @totally-bogus-timelady , @yujyujj , @irhdifartzamfyaa , @mochminnie , @munsonssweets , @blckbrrybasket , @xprloki , @definitionwanderlust , @dwcode , @sun-fiower-seed , @keerysfolklore , @damon-loves-pie , @lodeddiperrodrick , @bisexual-and-intellectual , @munsonburn3r , @negomi123 , @khena , @facexthexsunshine , @seatbacksandtraytables , @suckerfordylansstuff

[theuntoldstorythatneedsawriter]

Insecurities 🥅🧤

Cata Coll x Reader

warning : fluffy 💭💗, angst 💣💔

summary :

Cata comes home after a tough day of training, feeling the pressure from her team. You reassure her that she’s not a burden and remind her of how talented she is.

It was another quiet evening at home when you heard the front door click open, followed by the familiar sound of Cata's duffel bag dropping to the floor. You glanced up from your book, a smile already spreading across your face as you heard her footsteps approach.

“Long day?” you asked as she stepped into the living room, her Barça jacket slung over one shoulder, her usually sharp expression softened by the sight of you.

Cata nodded, running a hand through her tousled hair, clearly exhausted from training. “You could say that.” She dropped onto the couch beside you, leaning back with a long sigh. “They were pushing us hard today, and I’m pretty sure I’ll feel it tomorrow.”

You chuckled, setting your book aside and shifting closer to her. “Want me to make you something to eat? Or do you just want to rest?”

She gave you a grateful smile, reaching out to take your hand. “You’re too good to me, you know that?”

“Well, someone has to take care of you, star goalkeeper,” you teased, squeezing her hand gently.

Cata's eyes twinkled at the nickname, and she playfully nudged your shoulder with hers. “Yeah, but I’m supposed to be the tough one.”

“And you are,” you said softly, pressing a kiss to her temple. “But even goalkeepers need someone to help them wind down after a long day.”

She smiled, the exhaustion in her eyes easing slightly as she leaned into your touch. "Maybe I could just stay like this for a while," she murmured, her voice low and content.

You nodded, letting the comfortable silence settle over the room. Cata closed her eyes, resting her head on your shoulder, and you stayed like that for a long time, the world outside fading as you focused on just being together.

---

The next few days passed in a comfortable rhythm, the usual routine of Cata's training schedule and your shared evenings at home. Despite the physical toll of her intense practices, there was always something serene about your time together—whether it was unwinding on the couch, cooking dinner, or simply being wrapped up in each other’s company.

But this week felt different. Something lingered in the air, an unspoken tension in Cata’s posture whenever she returned home, her body tired but her mind clearly elsewhere.

One evening, after a particularly long day for both of you, Cata came home quieter than usual. You noticed the slight furrow in her brow as she kicked off her shoes and dropped her gear bag in the usual spot. Without saying much, she made her way to the kitchen where you were chopping vegetables for dinner.

"Everything alright?" you asked gently, noticing how she avoided your gaze, leaning against the counter with her arms crossed.

Cata sighed, running a hand through her hair as she looked out the window. "Yeah, just... it's nothing serious. Just some pressure from the team." Her voice was strained, and though she was trying to sound casual, you knew her too well.

Setting down the knife, you wiped your hands and walked over to her, slipping your arms around her waist from behind. "Cata," you whispered, resting your head against her shoulder. "You can talk to me, you know."

She exhaled, leaning back into your embrace. "I know, I just... I’ve been off my game lately. Coach noticed, teammates noticed." Her voice dropped. "I feel like I’m letting them down."

You turned her around, gently lifting her chin so her eyes met yours. “Cata, you’re the best goalkeeper in the league. A couple of off days won’t change that.”

Her eyes softened at your words, but the worry still lingered. "It's not just that. I feel like I’m not balancing things well. I don’t want to come home and be this... burden."

You frowned, shaking your head as you cupped her face. "You are never a burden, Cata. I’m here to support you, through everything. Bad days, good days, all of it."

For a moment, she didn’t say anything, just studying your face as if grounding herself in your presence. Then, slowly, a smile tugged at her lips. "What did I do to deserve you?"

You grinned, pressing a quick kiss to her lips. "Not much, really. I just happen to like the view from the stands.”

That earned you a soft laugh, the tension in her shoulders easing as she pulled you closer. “You always know how to make me feel better.”

“It's my job,” you replied with a wink. “Now, how about we eat, and later we can watch something dumb and forget about the rest of the world for a bit?”

Cata nodded, her smile growing a little brighter. “Sounds perfect.”

Later that night, you found yourselves tangled on the couch, some mindless reality show playing on the TV, but neither of you really paying attention. Cata was dozing off, her head resting in your lap as you absentmindedly ran your fingers through her hair. The weight of her earlier worries seemed to have faded, replaced by the comfort of the quiet evening.

As you sat there, looking down at her peaceful face, you couldn’t help but feel a deep sense of pride. Being with Cata was more than just the highlight reels and the stadium cheers—it was moments like this, where you got to support her in ways no one else could.

“I love you,” you whispered softly, even though you were sure she was already asleep.

But to your surprise, Cata shifted slightly, her lips curving into a small, sleepy smile. “I love you too,” she mumbled, her voice thick with drowsiness.

You chuckled quietly, pressing a kiss to her forehead. As the night continued to fall around you both, you knew that no matter the pressures of the pitch or the challenges ahead, you’d always have each other to lean on.

And that was all either of you needed.

[lovecla]

TAKE YOUR PAIN AWAY | quinn hughes.

chapter two:

➴ warnings: toxic mom, mentions of mental health issues.

➴ word count: 3.7k

➴ author’s note: thought of making this chapter 4k+ words long but then i felt bad for u guys so i made it shorter 🫂 hope u like it and thank u for reading!

౨ৎ

2024, MARCH

THE AIRPORT was filled with people, as it always was, but you were so used to Los Angeles’ fast pace that it didn’t bother you. With your suitcase in your left hand and your purse in the other, you walked towards the check-in area, after trying to locate your flight to Toronto on the panels.

Strangely enough, there weren't any flights to Toronto at one two forty-eight p.m., which was the time on the ticket your mom had sent you. You frowned but let it go, thinking that maybe they had some technical issues and forgot to put the flight there.

After waiting in line for about fifteen minutes, one of the staff finally called you. “Passport, please,”

You nodded and handed him your passport, waiting for your boarding pass. When he gave it to you, after weighing your suitcase and putting a tag on it, you called him again, confused.

“Excuse me, sir,” He looked at you, waiting for you to keep going. “This boarding pass says the flight is to Vancouver.”

He raised his eyebrow. “So?”

You chuckled. “I’m going to Toronto, not Vancouver,” you tried to explain, returning the ticket. “There’s been a mistake.”

“Ma’am,” he started, voice sounding a little bit too annoyed to your liking. “Your name is on the list for the flight AC 472, to Vancouver, Canada. You’re Madison Carter, right?”

“Yeah, I am, but—”

“Maybe you bought the wrong ticket but I can assure you, ma’am, this plane is flying to Vancouver.”

You stared at him, wanting to shout that you weren’t the one who had bought the ticket, your mom did; and you didn’t even want to be in Canada in the first place because you’d much rather clean the airport’s floor with your own tongue than to go back to the life you had in Toronto.

But unfortunately the worker didn’t have anything to do with your shitty past, so you just nodded and wished him a good day. Next thing, you grabbed your phone and called failed your mom’s number, praying that she’d pick up and tell you that it was a mistake and that she bought the wrong ticket and—

“Jessica Carter.”

“It’s Madison,” you greeted, trying your hardest to stay collected. “Mom, the ticket you bought me is to Vancouver, not Toronto.”

She went silent for a while, and you frowned.

“Mom, the ticket—”

“Yes, Madison, I heard the first time you spoke,” she made a tsc sound with her tongue. “What’s the matter?”

“What— what do you mean, what’s the matter? Isn’t the dinner in Toronto?”

“No.”

You heart was beating so fast inside your chest and your hands were starting to feel sticky and cold. You looked around the place, people coming and going, while no one seemed to notice the turmoil happening inside of your chest.

“We’re having dinner in Vancouver, at the place I texted you. Didn’t you check it?” She sounded annoyed. And no, of course you hadn’t checked, you didn’t need to. You knew it was going to be another fancy ass restaurant with fancy ass people and small ass meals that tasted ten times less than the price you paid for them.

“But why?” Your voice trembled, and you coughed to cover it. “Aren’t you guys in Toronto?”

“Madison, everyday I pray to God that one day you will finally actually love your family,” she hissed, and your heart actually stop. Or at least that’s how you felt. “Your dad isn’t working with the Toronto hockey team anymore, he quit last year and it was all over the news. I know you don’t care about your family but you could at least pretend to. What if a reporter asked you questions about us? What do you think it’d look like with the press when your dad’s own daughter doesn’t care about her dad?”

You wanted to scream at her, turn the phone off, leave the airport and pick Bella up at the dog hotel she was staying in and take her home so you could both cuddle for the entire weekend. You wanted to tell her that no one in that family knew what the word love meant, no one even cared about it. And even if you had known love once, it was gone now, and all you could do is continue with your life.

“Get on that plane, Madison. I’ll see you at Hawksworth at seven p.m. tonight and you better not be late. Have a safe flight.” She said before hanging up on you.

You stared at your phone’s screen until it went completely black. Sometimes, you asked yourself why you still did what your mom wanted. You were twenty-two, you had your own job and your own money. You wouldn’t exaclt lose anything if you stopped talking to her.

But then, every time you thought about not doing what she asked you to, or even stopping talking to her, you felt like the worst daughter in the whole green world. You felt ungrateful, and a feeling that left your chest so hollow you couldn’t breathe.

So you kept walking behind her, stepping only where she asked you to.

Sighing, you went back to walking towards the security area. There wasn’t anything that could be done and honestly, you were too exhausted to even think of something.

So, Vancouver it is.

౨ৎ

THE TAXI smelled like fried peanuts making you scrunch your nose.

You looked through the window, looking at the city you’d been born in and how much it’s changed. As much as you hated to admit, Vancouver had always been extremely beautiful.

You were on your way to the restaurant, feeling like you’d lost a thousand battles. When you arrived at your hotel earlier they had mistaken you for someone else and put you in the worst bedroom ever. And if that wasn’t enough, you had to take a cold shower because the shower heater wasn't working and now you were shivering because it was March and Vancouver was still cold as hell.

“Miss?”

You turned your head around, facing the driver. He was making a funny face at you and you were just about to ask what was so funny when he pointed outside. You followed his finger and well, there it was. The Hawksworth restaurant your mom loved so much. Ignoring the tug on your chest, you thanked the man and got out of the car.

Thanking past you for choosing a warm dress and comfortable heels, you made your way inside the restaurant, politely greeting the people you saw on your way to the hostess.

“Good evening,” you said, smiling at the blonde girl in front of you. “Madison Carter.”

“Good evening, ma’am. They’re waiting for you in the private room. Do you need someone to take you there?” She crossed your name on some fancy sheet and you shook your head. You’ve been going to this place ever since you were a child. You knew it like the back of your hand.

After a quiet thank you, you resumed your walk, mentally preparing yourself for what this evening was going to be. Your mom making sure to control all of your doings, your dad only talking about himself and his work and Peter— hell, you didn’t even know if Peter would be here.

It’s not like your mom treated him the same way as she treated you anyway, so if he wanted to get away with not coming to this dinner, he would.

When you turned to the left so you could enter the private area, your body was shocked with something, making your purse drop from your hold.

With heels so tall, you almost lost your balance, just staying in place because a hand, gentle yet extremely firm you noticed, grabbed you by the waist and pushed you to the side.

“I’m so sorry, are you—”

You’d recognise that voice anywhere, no matter how much it’d changed. Looking up, you stared into Quinn’s blue eyes and held your breath.

“Madison.”

He said your name like it had poison in it, and it hurt. You still remember the last time you saw him and his family back in 2017, with him taking care of you while you were sick. How you tried so hard to memorize his features because you knew seeing him again in person would be nothing but close to impossible.

And yet here he was, standing right in front of you, wearing a fancy suit and many, many inches taller than you. His curls were carefully styled, pushed back with only a strand of hair falling down his forehead.

He had a stubble decorating his chin and it fitted him so perfectly, making him look older and mature.

Quinn Hughes still looked like the man you fell in love with when you were fifteen. And you weren’t exactly sure what to do with this information.

“Quinn.” You whispered, because you didn’t trust yourself enough to speak without stuttering.

“Jesus, finally, Madison, we’ve been waiting for you for ten minutes,” your mom’s voice filled the space and you jumped back, removing yourself from Quinn’s grip and remembering that you were still in the hallway of a famous restaurant, with people coming and going. “I see that you and Quinn are happy to see each other again.”

You bend down to grab your purse, choosing not to look at him while your mom talks. You had already seen enough in his eyes.

You got up and followed your mom, your body highly aware that the man you hadn’t seen for seven years, your best friend, was just a few steps behind you.

When you got to your table, you tried your hardest not to gasp out loud. Because your mind was probably playing games with you and you weren’t seeing the Hughes sitting with your dad and brother—

“Maddie!” You heard Jack shouting, looking like he didn’t care that they were at a five star restaurant.

You let out a wet chuckle, feeling your eyes wet with unshod tears. There they were; Luke, Jack, Ellen, Jim and… well. Quinn.

“Oh my God,” Ellen got up, immediately reaching for you. “You’re so pretty. And so grown up too!”

“Hi, Mrs. Hughes,” you smiled, squeezing her just as hard. “It’s so nice to see you.”

“You were always beautiful but,” she whistled, making you give her a little twirl. “Damn right.”

You giggled, feeling your chest a hot lighter. Despite being hurtful, this was a pleasant surprise.

“Hey, Mr. Hughes,” you greeted Jim, kissing him lightly on the cheek, just to watch the blush adorne his face like you knew it would. “Luke and Jack. You guys are taller than me now.”

“Hey, Maddie,” Luke got up, hugging you quickly, like a teenage boy who had just seen his first woman. “You’re all grown up too.”

“Where the hell have you been?” Jack asked, patting the seat beside him. You gave your own family a brief nod before sitting down, placing your purse on the chair and smiling at Jack, ignoring the fact that Quinn was sitting in front of you.

“I moved to LA a few years ago,” you explained, noticing how they were all paying attention to you. As they had always done. “I’m working as a model now.”

“Baby, we know!” Ellen smiled, squeezing Jim’s arms. “When I saw you on VOGUE last year I thought, this girl looks a lot like Madison. And then I realized. That was you!”

You smiled, bringing your shoulders to your ears, cheeks red and all.

“What do you think of LA, honey?” Ellen asked, resting her chin on her hand.

“I love it there,” you smiled. “Los Angeles is so full of life and opportunities. Not to mention the fact that I ran into super famous people all the time,” you giggled, remembering that one time you ran into Jennifer Aniston while you were grocery shopping.

“You are famous now too, M,” Jack jokes, making you laugh. “Are people there nice to you?”

You stared at his blue, gorgeous eyes and smiled, frankly. They were worried about your well-being and it made your heart flutter. Not even your own family asked these questions.

“Yeah, Jackie, they are,” you nodded. “I really love it there.”

“Then we’re happy, honey.”

They moved on to another topic of how all of you are so grown now, and how well you were all doing in your careers. Your parents were mostly talking about Peter, and how proud they are because he’s in his last year of medical school, soon to be a resident in orthopedic surgery.

You didn’t mind the fact that they preferred to talk about Peter and his accomplishments over you, in fact, you actually preferred it this way. That way they would leave you and your choices alone, which was what you wanted. Besides, you could keep stealing glances from Quinn’s beautiful, comforting face here and there. Not that he was looking at you, or even talking your way.

You couldn’t exactly blame him. After he left for Michigan, your mom made sure you didn’t have time to grieve over him leaving, no. She was making sure you were on the cover of Fashion’s at the ripe age of sixteen.

And when you thought of reaching out first, you took a peep at his and his university’s Instagram. And he was always surrounded by beautiful, talented girls who were his age and seemed to know what they were doing. And you were just like the little, ugly duck, sixteen and naive.

So you never really contacted him or his family, for that matter. You knew your parents still kept in touch with the Hughes, but they never told you anything— and you didn’t ask. But Quinn couldn’t be too upset with you because he had never reached out to you either. So you were both pretty much even.

“What are you doing after we leave here?” Jack asked beside you, after swallowing down his food.

“Honestly?” You chuckled. “I’m gonna go back to my hotel and sleep. I’m tired.”

“No way,” he almost pouted. He liked twelve years old all over again. “You’re coming with us, we’re heading to a club after this, it’s our last night together with Huggy bear,” he pointed at Quinn, who was eyeing him weirdly. “And now, it’s our last night with you too.”

“You’re leaving already?” You frowned.

“We’ve been here for a few days now but it’s still the season. We need to head back to Newark soon.” Luke explained, and it all made sense. Sometimes you forget that they’re famous, talented hockey players.

“That’s great, hum—” your phone started ringing and you opened your purse to decline it, frowning when you saw Nicholas’ name flashing on the screen. He knew you were on your day off and he had never called you during days off before. So it was probably important. “Sorry, excuse me, it’s my boss.” You excused yourself before leaving the table and accepting the call.

“Madison?”

“Yeah, Nick, hi,” you walked out of the restaurant, wanting to be outside so you could hear him better, feeling the cold air hit your face immediately. “Did something happen? Are you okay?”

“Yes, yes, no, nothing happened.”

“Then why are you calling me?” You giggled. “It’s my day off.”

“Oh, right,” he laughed, the high pitch noise making you smile too. “I’m calling you because we fucking did it, baby!”

“Um. What did we do?”

He scoffed like he couldn’t believe you were even asking. “What do you mean, Madison Carter! We finally signed you to La Vie en Rose!”

You audibly gasped, trying your hardest not to start jumping around.

Despite the fact that you had worked with bigger retailers before, La Vie en Rose has always been one of your and Nicholas’ biggest dreams.

“You’re lucky I’m out right now because otherwise you’d be hearing my screams there in Los Angeles,” you laughed, feeling truly happy for the first time in a while. “How did it happen? Actually, no,” you interrupted yourself. “I don’t even care about what you did. This is huge! When do I start?”

“This is where it gets better.”

“Better than working with one of my favorite designers? Try me.”

“They asked if you had any preferences for places and since you’ve been here here in LA for four years now, I thought I’d do you a favor and get you closer to your family,” he said, excitement pouring down his words. “So I said that you could get signed with their Canadian headquarters and guess what? They said yes! So now you’ll have to move to Vancouver, of course, but think with me—”

You didn’t even care about the rest of the things he was saying. The high from before disappearing like candies during Halloween, your happiness being replaced by an ugly, horrid feeling that made your stomach hurt, all the food you’d just eaten trying to find its way back outside.

“Madison? Are you there?”

“Yes,” you gritted through your teeth, taking deep breaths. “Nicholas, I can't. I cannot be in Vancouver.”

“If you’re worried about moving and your apartment and Bella, don’t worry, they’ll cover it all—”

“I’m not worried about moving, I just can’t,” your voice cracks, so you take a moment to breathe again. “I can’t be in Vancouver.”

“Madison—”

“They have their headquarters in Paris. I can move there, it’s no issue, really.” You pleaded.

“You’d rather move to Paris than to be with your family in Canada?” He sounded surprised and confused at the same time and you bit your lip, remembering your mom’s words about the press and rumors. You trusted Nicholas and you knew he wasn’t going to tell anyone anything but in the world of fashion, words flew fast. “I’m not following.”

“Yes,” you confessed. “Can you do that?”

“No, I— I already signed the deal. I thought I was doing you a favor—”

“You didn’t do me any favor, Nicholas!” You didn’t realize you were speaking louder now, raising your arm. “I’m not fucking moving to Vancouver! Fuck.”

You ran your hand through your hair, feeling bad for lashing out on him, but just the thought of living close to your family and Quinn made you lose your mind.

Nicholas sighed, speaking after an entire minute. “Listen. I don’t know where this is coming from and I’d really like to help you if you need me. But this is your dream, Madison. Ever since I met you, when you were that sweet, little dove at eighteen, you’ve been talking about this. And you know how hard we worked for this.”

“Nicholas,” you called out and he shushed you.

“And I can’t do anything about this. I’m sorry, but this is above me. I made the wrong decision of signing it without talking to you first but you were out with your family and I didn’t want to bother you.” He sighed, staying silent for a while, as you looked straight ahead, not really seeing anyone, even though the street was busy. “If you say no, it’s… they’ll choose someone else. Madison, I need you to think about this.”

You could hear the entreaty in his voice and you felt so bad. He was right.

“You need to give me an answer by Monday. I’ve already told them you’d be thrilled to move but I can always take back what I said,” he murmured, and if you knew him well enough, you’d say he’s squeezing his cheeks between his fingers right now. “It’d only be for six months, baby. Think about it.”

You were silent for a while, before realizing he was probably waiting for an answer.

“Right,” you whispered. “Okay. I’ll call you later. And I’m sorry for yelling at you, I know you were just doing what you thought was the best.”

“I’m so sorry, Mads. Totally thought I was doing you a favor.”

“It’s fine,” you answer, nodding even though you knew he couldn’t see. “Bye.”

“Bye, Mads. Call me if you need anything.”

You hadn’t even turned your phone off completely before hearing a voice behind you.

“Troubles in paradise, huh?”

You turn around, facing Quinn who was now leaning against the restaurant wall, by himself. Where were the people who worked there or the other customers you didn’t know, and truthfully, you didn’t really care at that moment.

“Excuse me?” You asked, staring at him, watching as he shrugged, like he hadn’t said anything.

“I asked if you were having troubles in your little Angeleno world, since things seem to be so perfect in Los Angeles.”

“This is the first conversation we have in years and this is how you want it to go? Seriously?” You stepped closer, standing in front of him, tilting your head up so you could stare into those beautiful eyes you’d love to lose yourself in.

No, you reprimanded yourself. Not anymore.

“I don’t know,” he looked down, his eyes meeting yours. “Remind me of why this is our first conversation in years, Madison,” again, he said your name like it hurt him.

“What’s that even supposed to mean?”

“Guys, what the hell,” someone shouted beside you, making both you and Quinn turn your heads around. Jack stood there, looking slightly displeased, while Luke typed something on his phone. “We’ve been looking for you for ages. Our parents left through the other entrance a while ago. It’s time to party, baby!”

“I’m not going,” you hissed, stepping back.

“What do you mean you’re not going?” Luke looked up from his phone, frowning at you. “Maddie. We haven’t seen each other in years!”

“I know, I’m just tired and—”

“We need to catch up!” Jack whined, wrapping his arms around your waist, shaking you slightly. “We need to talk!”

“She doesn’t like talking, do you, Madison?” Quinn blurted out, eyes turning gray when directed at you.

For some reason that one comment turned your fight or flight mode and you had enough. “You’re so funny, Quintin,” you plastered on the biggest fake smile you could. “Actually, I’m not that tired. Let’s go.”

You followed two yelling boys and a moody one, not even acknowledging the latter. If Quinn wanted to be all pissy about the fact that you hadn’t spoken to him in years, when he also hadn’t reached out to you, then fine. Two could play that game.

taglist: @ru-kru 🤎

[vitalverstappen]

The Tortured Poets Department - D. Ricciardo

summary: snapshots of your relationship with Danny

pairing: Daniel Ricciardo x reader

warnings: smoking, anxiety, self sabotage

word count: 1.6k

a/n: writing is quite literally the only thing getting me through the danny news so enjoy!

It wasn’t hard to figure out that Daniel was into the arts. He constantly had a camera in his hands, he had a .jpeg account, and his favorite dates were always to the local art museum. So it was no surprise that when you first started dating, he started to dabble in writing. What did puzzle you was the fact he bought a typewriter for his endeavors. And that he had a habit of leaving it at your apartment. 

“I don’t understand how you keep forgetting this thing. It’s huge” You joked as you flipped your phone camera to show the machine that was collecting dust on your kitchen table. As much as you loved him, you’d never understand why he chose such an antiquated way of putting his stories to life. 

“I left it there again?” He asked “Maybe I should just keep it there. We could start a club: The Tortured Poets Department” 

“Yeah, good luck with that” You said, a smirk plastered on your face. 

The next Grand Prix came quicker than you would’ve liked. You loved watching the race, and loved seeing Danny do what he loves, but you hated that he always ended up self sabotaging. It didn’t matter if it was a race win or if he came in last. He always found something to be upset about.

A frown was plastered on his face as he climbed out of the car. He had gotten fourth, so you would think there was nothing to be upset about, but that’s not how Daniel operates. You were easily able to decode that the finish meant he was either upset that he didn’t get on the podium, or that he didn’t think he deserved to be that high. 

“There is no way I actually got P4.” He began 

“I don’t deserve that” The two of you said in sync, a playfully mocking tone in your voice. You already knew how this was going to play out, as if it was a show you had watched countless times. You had the dialogue memorized.

A sigh escaped your lips as you wrapped your arms around him, your tone becoming more serious, “Yes you do, love. You deserve that and the whole world.”

“You really mean that?” He asked as he pulled away from you, his arms still at your waist.

“Yes, I fully mean that. You’ve hauled that tractor of a car all the way to fourth. You have incredible talent behind the wheel.” You reassured him. 

That night, the two of you returned home to Monaco, where you had a nice, relaxing evening of listening to your favorite songs, smoking, and going through the F1 gossip blogs. It was a guilty pleasure, hearing what everyone had to say about you two. Both you and Daniel didn’t care how everyone felt about you two. If anything, it was funny seeing how wrong the internet was about everything that happened behind the scenes. 

“‘I think Danny and Y/N should get a dog. They’d be such cute pawrents!’” Daniel read and then glanced over at you, wiggling his eyebrows “Should we?” 

“God no” You laughed “ We can barely take care of ourselves. What makes you think we can take care of a dog?” 

Daniel shrugged “True, we’re not Charles and Alexandra. We’re just two idiots” 

“You’re gonna love this one ‘Rumor has it that Y/N Y/L/N is leaving Daniel for another F1 driver.’” You read off of your phone “And guess what the attached photos were of?” 

“What?” Danny asked as he took a bite of the chocolate bar he had in his hand

You managed to form a smirk with the blunt in your mouth as you tilted the phone for him to see. On the screen was a photo of you in the VCARB garage talking to another man. What the world didn’t know was that the unnamed man was your twin brother. 

“Wow, you and Matthew seem pretty close. I heard he’s into you” Daniel joked as he plucked the blunt from your mouth and putting it in his instead

“Oh shut up” You said, the two of you quickly breaking into laughter

The sound of laughter slowly died down as the album that was currently on the record player ended. The walk over to the dresser was like a minefield littered with empty chocolate wrappers.

“How many of these did you have?” You asked, picking one up

“Seven?” Daniel answered, unsure 

“Oh my god you’re ridiculous” You chuckled as you threw the wrapper at him, nearly hitting him in the face. “What do you wanna listen to next?” 

“Charlie Puth?” Daniel suggested, as he put out the end of the blunt “You know, he should really be a bigger artist” 

You thought about his comment for a second as you put one of his old records on, “Yeah, you don’t hear much about him nowadays”

As you climbed back into bed, Daniel rested his head on your chest. Out of instinct, your right hand began running itself through your boyfriend’s curly hair. He took your left hand and started fiddling with the ring on your middle finger - your mom’s engagement ring. Daniel loved playing with it for some reason, but you never questioned why. 

His chest began to rise and fall slower and slower, the fiddling stopped, and snoring began to fill the room. Never in your life did you imagine having a tattooed golden retriever of a boyfriend, but you wouldn’t have it any other way. 

But the doubts always crept in, and this night was no different. You were awakened by the feeling of Daniel tossing and turning all night, something clearly bothering him.

“You alright?” You muttered, turning to face him

“Wha? Yeah everything’s fine. Can’t sleep that’s all” Daniel spoke

“You usually sleep really well after a race. Something’s up. Talk to me.”

At this point, the two of you were fully awake and sat up in bed. Like you predicted, worry was spread all over his face. 

A sigh left his lips before Daniel spoke again, “Is this too much for you?” 

“What?” You asked 

“The relationship, the media attention. I know there’s a lot that comes with dating me. The cameras, the rumors, me constantly being away. I know it’s a whirlwind that even I can’t keep up with sometimes. Is this all too much for you?” 

Silence overcame the two of you as you became deep in your thoughts. It was a lot on you, and he knew that. It was always tough being away from each other, and you never thought your relationship would have a magnifying glass focused on it. 

But to you, it was all worth it to be with the one you truly loved. Love was about sacrifices and being there for each other regardless. And that’s what the two of you had done. 

“I would be lying if I said it wasn’t a lot to handle” You began “It’s never easy being away from you, or worrying about your safety every weekend. And the constant comments about us aren’t exactly rainbows and butterflies, but honestly? I don’t want it any other way. I chose to be in this cyclone with you. I wouldn’t want it any other way as long as I have you.”

You could hear Daniel release the breath you didn’t know he was holding, “I love you”

“I love you too” 

The reassurance you gave that night was all Daniel needed. Once summer break arrived, he insisted on taking you to your favorite restaurant; the same one he took you to for your first date. He had managed to get you a secluded table with rose petals covering the cloth. 

“Danny, you didn’t have to do this” You said as he pulled the chair out for you 

“Maybe I wanted to” He said as he pushed you in and then sat across

The night was spent talking about anything and everything, from the first half of the F1 season to reminding Daniel why you refuse to eat pineapple on pizza. As the night continued on, you could tell Daniel was getting more anxious about something, but you couldn’t put a finger on what. 

“You know I love you, right?” Daniel blurted out 

Your eyebrows furrowed “Yeah Dan, I do. And I love you too”

“No, I love you, a lot.” He began as he took your left hand, “More than I thought was ever possible to love somebody. The day I met you I knew I wanted to be a part of your life. I wanted to experience everything that you do. Be there to celebrate your highs and support you through your lows. It has been so much fun getting to live life with you, and I’m so thankful you’ve been doing the same for me.”

Daniel paused as he got up from his seat, his hand still holding yours as he bent down on one knee. As he slid your mom’s engagement ring off of your middle finger, you could feel your heart pounding out of your chest. This was happening. This was real life. 

“Y/N Y/L/N, Will you make me the happiest man alive? Will you marry me?” Daniel askes 

“Yes Danny. Yes, yes. A thousand times yes!” You answered, the words falling out of your mouth with ease 

As you two returned to your apartment, the same typewriter Danny bought all those years ago greeted you on your dresser. Dust covered each of the keys, but it seemed to shine with a new brightness. There was something about the machine that drew you in. So you sat down, as if you were greeting an old friend, and blew the dust off the rusty keys, ready to join the Tortured Poets Department with Danny. 

[wickedscribbles]

whoever makes my baby cry (is gonna lose some teeth tonight) ch. 4 (final)

Masterlist

Ch. 1, Ch. 2, Ch.3

Pairing: Wade Wilson/Deadpool x Logan Howlett/Wolverine

Rating: Explicit

Tags: smut, fluff, pet names, biting, rimming, enthusiastic consent, multiple orgasms, messy sex, power bottom Logan, top Wade, teasing/banter, dirty talk, anal sex, mild genderplay

Word Count: 5K

If you like what I write and can afford to do so, please consider buying me a coffee! It would be much appreciated.

Wade has him on his back so fast the world tilts.

Logan’s willing to go where he wants, especially if that place is upside down on their mattress. He lands hard enough to bounce a little, huffing out a laugh, the sound ending in a pleased hum as Wade goes right back to kissing him. He wraps his legs around Wade’s waist, cups his face in his hands, wanting to touch him everywhere. This is the kind of prelude to sex that leaves him breathless; not too fast, not too slow, the anticipation of it all clinging to their skin like static.

Above him, Wade can’t seem to decide if he wants to keep kissing him – rough and enthusiastic – or talk about everything that's coming next.

“God, you looked so fucking hot punching that walking protozoa –” he gasps the words right into Logan’s mouth, and Logan can only grin back, chasing Wade’s lips for more. “Love it when you’re mean like that –”

“Oh, do you?”

“You know I do, smartass,” Wade says, his tone and his face so full of love that he might as well have called him angel. His mouth travels to the sensitive place under Logan’s jaw, teasing with teeth. “Will you tear someone in half for me next time? Will you tear me in half?”

Logan can’t stop fucking smiling. Even as he arches up and into the kisses tracing along the line of his throat, he’s smiling, feeling floaty and stupid and turned on.

“Not in the apartment, ya freak,” he manages.

He isn’t deterred. “Your freak,” Wade says. “And no, I'd wait til we took a little trip out to the woods like you want.”

“I'd like that.”

“Tearing me in half?” Wade's mouth pauses, hot and wet, at Logan's collarbone to ask the question.

“Takin’ a trip,” Logan corrects, panting a little now. Squirming for more attention, his cock hard trapped between their bodies.

“Oh, okay, okay. So we can screw in the woods without having to worry about staining the sheets? And play out the ‘fucking a lumberjack’ fantasy one of us may or may not be harboring?”

Logan raises an eyebrow at the lumberjack bit, but chooses to say nothing. Hey, whatever floats his boat. God knows they’ve done far stranger things.

“Sure. Or fuckin’ up the carpet. Been a minute since we had a real rollaround.”

Wade hums his agreement at that, trailing a delicate hand down the length of Logan’s bicep, then his forearm, until their fingertips are touching. Logan’s fingers twitch when he touches them, their hands intertwining. Willingly, he lets Wade bring his hand to his mouth – knows instantly what he wants him to do. He opens his mouth and takes Wade’s fingers on his tongue.

“Good boy,” Wade breathes, and Logan can feel himself leaking in his boxers, dripping a spot against the cotton. He pants out a shaky sort of noise in answer, maybe an agreement or disagreement to the praise, he doesn't know, can’t think. “Yeah, you know just what to do, don’t you?”

His lips close around what's in his mouth, tight, sucking at them just like he'd sucked Wade's cock this morning. Getting them sloppy, dribbling with spit, some of it stringing out of his mouth and into his facial hair. There are still days when they're in too big of a damn hurry to care, but this foreplay is erotic on its own, too.

For a while, they linger suspended in that moment, Wade straddling his lap and watching with fascinated eyes as his fingers move slowly in and out of Logan's mouth. They look at each other, into each other, long past the shyness.

The way Wade looks at him still makes Logan burn, two parts of him trying to run away from one another. It's nice to be wanted. It's terrifying to be wanted. He thinks that the fear of ruining this is getting quieter, though. He hopes.

“Wanna try something,” Wade says all at once, his face brightening with the type of mischief Logan knows only too well. “Here – lift up for a minute –”

Letting Wade’s fingers slide out of his mouth, he does as he's told, spreading his legs a little wider as Wade reaches behind them for one of the pillows. He places it just underneath Logan's hips, turning his attention back to his naked torso, raining kisses on his body.

“Need these off,” Wade murmurs, almost to himself, tugging at Logan's boxers. Breathing shakily, he obliges him, kicking them to the floor. His cock springs up as Wade sheds him pajamas as well, resting heavy above his abdomen in anticipation. He's fucking restless for something, anything, a flurry of past positions floating past his eyes like a slideshow.

For a few seconds, Logan thinks it's his turn to get sucked off, and he's definitely not complaining. Wade lavishes attention on the meeting of his hip and thigh, biting in just the right way to make Logan jump, smirking to himself when he earns an arch off the mattress for more. Logan's palm rests on his head, encouraging. Trusting.

But he bypasses Logan's cock like it's not there. Instead, he trails past, licking a stripe down his balls, pressing his scarred palms to Logan's thighs to spread them wider, and – oh. Oh okay. Wade’s hot breath hesitates over his hole for only an instant before his tongue is tracing the most delicate circles.

“F-fuck!”

Logan squirms at the unexpected sensation, curling his toes. He feels Wade's hands twitch where they rest on his inner thighs, and looks down to see him looking back.

“Okay?” He asks.

“Yeah, s’good, I just didn't know –” Logan answers, far too quickly. He blinks, a lot, in an effort to remember how to put one word in front of the other. “You can keep going. If you want.”

“If I want,” Wade repeats wryly. “Yeah, okay, champ.”

Only capable of swallowing hard in response, Logan lets his head fall back against the mattress, his whole body tense with the thought of what's going to happen next. He feels Wade's breath back at his hole, and God, it's so sensitive there, his tongue lapping at him as he spreads his legs further.

It's not quite like anything he's felt before. It's good.

“Relax,” comes Wade's voice, light with amusement before his fucking tongue goes right back to Logan's ass. His knee gets pushed up, opening him like an old paperback.

He's aware that his chest is rising and falling and rising and falling, a rapid in and out. The little circles that Wade traces with his tongue shift into broader strokes, something deeper. Logan moans with the change, thrusting up into nothing.

“Feels so fuckin’ good, Red,” he says softly, his voice coming out smaller than he thought it would. “I don’t, I haven’t –n-never –”

He’s aware that he doesn’t make any sense, but Wade doesn’t seem to mind. If anything, it encourages him, a low hum drawn from the other man’s throat as he pulls away to look at him. His eyes are massive between the vee of Logan’s legs.

“Never ever? Am I actually taking a sweet, precious piece of your virginity?”

“Shut the fuck up,” Logan whines. “Keep going.”

Wade ducks back down, but not before babbling something about best day of his life and definitely going on Tumblr (and it had better not).

He can’t wait anymore for Wade to touch him, fuck him, whatever he’d planned to add to the mix. Getting eaten out is such a tease but he needs more and he needs it now. Logan grasps his cock, already slippery with pre-come, and starts a rhythm that has his head swimming immediately.

With a hiss, Wade digs his nails into the flesh of his thighs, groaning into him. Logan has a feeling that if his mouth were free to say something, he’d be giving him a string of encouragement. Shit, even imagining what Wade would be saying is enough to turn him on.

Moaning out something that strongly resembles Wade’s name buried in a sea of praise, Logan grinds back on his face, chasing more, so so so close.

That’s it, baby, the Wade in his head says. Actual Wade is panting hard against his ass now, getting sloppy. Come for me. Know you want to. Pretty pretty please.

Logan’s eyes roll back. He comes in frenetic bursts all over Wade’s face and shoulder, vaguely aware that now he has pulled away to praise him, kissing up and down Logan's thigh to watch the whole show. Logan's hands scrabble in the sheets, some pathetic little sound coming out of his throat.

“Peanut, Jesus fucking Christ…”

He says something like ungh in answer, looking down at Wade covered in his come. He is so hot with that satisfied smirk on his face, it’s ridiculous. And then he takes a finger and drags it across the side of his face, where there’s a streak of Logan’s spend, and pops it into his mouth.

Fuck, okay.

Barely done from their first round, Logan’s cock twitches again.

“Got me good, Pollock,” Wade comments, still wearing that crooked grin that makes his heart do shit that Logan would worry about if he didn’t know it was always healing. “You liked that, huh?”

It takes a lot to resist the urge to say no shit, but Logan manages. Instead, he runs his hand up and down Wade’s cheek, feeling his spend there all sticky, his mind swimming with sex-drunk praise (you’resofuckingprettywantyousobadithurts).

“Gonna sit on your dick now,” he says instead, and Wade backs off of him fast to allow that to happen.

Their places swapped, Logan palms at Wade’s cock tenderly, not missing the way Wade’s lips part on a soft little ah of need. Wade’s dick is damn near perfect, fulfilling every stupid fantasy Logan had before he worked up the guts to come knocking on his door and do something about it. Bottoming out on Wade still stretches him out so full and delicious, turns him dumb in a way that topping him doesn’t – though he won't say no to either.

He lifts his hips, situating Wade underneath him, when he sees two fingers trailing up his chest.

“Sure you’re wet enough?” Wade teases. “Could finger you a little more, just to be safe.”

Fingertips land on Logan’s mouth, and oh, does this man know how to push his luck. Faking a scowl, Logan takes Wade’s middle finger playfully between his teeth and bites down hard, breaking skin and crushing bone. Blood wells up all at once, his mouth full of copper, and Wade gasps in delight as his cock twitches against Logan’s inner thigh.

“There’s my kitty cat,” he praises, grinning like floodlights. Though broken, his finger is still hanging on after he pulls it away. “Aww, you didn't bite it off this time.”

“‘M feelin’ generous.”

“God!” Wade laughs as Logan guides himself down, trailing off halfway through whatever quip he’d cooked up. He grabs Logan's thighs, moaning at the sensation. “Fuck, princess, you’re still so fuckin’ tight –”

As Logan seats himself fully, he can tell that Wade’s already regretting not being on top. His mouth is doing that cute little scrunch thing it does when he gets impatient. But Logan loves seeing Wade all desperate, too horny to think straight, begging to fuck him or be fucked. If Logan weren’t just as desperate half the time, he’d make Wade wait ages for what he wants. Maybe someday they’ll cool down enough to try that.

Maybe.

Because despite having already come once already, Logan’s not in much better shape. Getting eaten out had eased the way for Wade inside him, but the stretch is still toeing the edge of pain and bliss. He knows as soon as they move, it’ll melt nicely into the latter.

“Hurry up and fuck me,” Wade says, pouting. He’s already breathless, his face flushed, gripping Logan’s thighs so hard that they’re bruising and healing and bruising again in a continuous cycle. It’s so hot. “Please please please, you’re so tight, I’m not gonna last, please.”

If that doesn’t light Logan up from the inside out, nothing will.

Pausing only to give him a yeah, okay, Logan grinds his hips down hard. Wade’s answering whine is like magic, high and keening, something that Logan’s going to replay in his mind over and over like the mixtapes high schoolers used to make for each other to flirt. He could probably pick out each individual note, tell you the crescendo, see the arc of it burned on the inside of his eyelids.

Wade looks like a porn star underneath him, mouth hanging open, eyes unfocused, hips meeting Logan’s perfectly every – fucking – time. Logan’s cock is flushed and hard between them again, slapping skin with every thrust.

“Logan,” Wade moans out.

Logan’s thrusts get just a little harder, a little faster. That tight tight sensation of climax sits somewhere in the bottom of his stomach, in reach if he worked for it, but he’s nowhere as close as Wade is. Wade’s delirious with it, right there sitting on the brink, and Logan feels like he’s on fire with how sexy he finds the man.

“Yeah?” Logan purrs back.

“So fuckin’ close, right there, gonna come –”

“I can tell.”

Later, Wade will give him shit for being such a tease – and tell him how hot it was. But for now, Logan pins both of Wade’s wrists in place, knowing he’ll try to cover his face. He wants to watch the whole show, not just the trailer. He lets his fingers trace through the other man’s, a part of him loving the added intimacy, and greedily takes in every second of Wade coming inside him.

“Lo-ogan, ah, shit shit shit –!”

Wade rolls his hips up slow and deep as he comes, head thrown back, filling Logan with warmth. Logan honest-to-God shivers, knowing his cock is drooling all over Wade’s stomach just from watching him. Playing with him a little, Logan gently thrusts down, stimulating him through the aftershocks just to watch him gasp and jolt. The little sounds he makes after coming, all fucked-out and satiated, are right up there for Logan with the usual sounds of sex.

(Huh. Maybe he likes Wade’s voice even more than he thought.)

Wade's face is still flushed when he can make eye contact again, and Logan only smiles at him, pleased with himself.

“No fair,” Wade grumbles.

Logan leans down to kiss him, bumping their foreheads together. They’re both covered in a fine sheen of sweat, among other things, and he lingers there to get Wade to kiss him back nice and slow. At this point, he really does feel drunk, heavy-limbed and satisfied without the theoretical liver damage.

“Don’t see what’s unfair about it,” Logan replies once they’ve broken away again. “Just gave me a damn good show on top of a phenomenal fuck. If I could reach my wallet right now, I’d tip ya.”

“Peanut, I swear on Fox Studio’s grave, if you keep pulling this kind of dialogue out of nowhere I’m going to have a stroke.” Wade turns to glare at a random corner of the room. “And you had better watch it. We did not talk about this before the chapter started.”

Threats to no one aside, Logan just shakes his head, unfazed. Something makes him want to keep talking, and he’s not sure if it’s how loose and warm his body feels, or the day they’ve had, or a combination of both.

“You’re so fuckin’ pretty when you come,” he confesses, and Wade looks up at him with what can only be described as a mix of shock and horror.

“Oooookay, that’s enough for you, big guy –”

Wade struggles to get out from underneath him, attempting to lift his hips, but it’s no use. Logan sees it coming and shifts his weight more fully onto the mattress, effectively trapping him in place.

“Nope,” he says, unable to keep from sounding a little smug. “Think I’m gonna set my big adamantium ass right here until you learn to take a compliment.”

“Yeah? And what if I shoot my way out?”

It doesn’t surprise Logan in the slightest when Wade pulls the .45 from behind the headboard and aims it between his eyes. It does, however, annoy him. He sinks down further, aware that Wade’s gone soft, come slipping loose in a steady stream between their bodies onto the sheets.

“Rhonda’s gonna be pissed if she hears a gunshot, you know that. Slap us with another fee for damages, and I sure as shit ain’t coverin’ it just because you don’t want to hear how goddamn good you look.”

Wade’s finger plays with the trigger, stroking it as if in thought. His mouth scrunches. In all honesty, Logan wouldn’t mind a shot or two – it’s been a while since he’s taken one, and he knows Wade wouldn’t get him anywhere awful. They like each other well enough to spare major head wounds now, and that’s typically the only unspoken rule.

But to his surprise, Wade puts the gun back where he’d stashed it, flopping his head back on the pillows with a dramatic sigh.

“Fine, you monumental pain in my ass. What else do you want to tell me that’s so important?”

Logan pauses a moment, amused. He wasn’t quite sure he’d get this far. Half of him pictured this ending in an all-out bloodbath – the kind they’d have to replace the sheets and the carpet for. Maybe even have to paint the walls again. God, he wishes they didn’t live in a fucking apartment – or the city.

“You’re hot as hell, Wade,” he starts. Wade’s mouth is very scrunched, eyebrows drawn down in a similar pout. He looks like he’d rather be sitting on a stick of lit dynamite than listening to this. “What, you didn’t think I thought that? When we’ve been fuckin’ each other senseless for this long?”

“Just thought maybe I had a magic dick,” Wade mutters.

“Hah. Never said you don’t.”

Logan finally lets Wade’s cock slip out of him entirely, crawling up until his mouth is inches from Wade’s. The proximity makes the other man’s eyes dilate, breath catching, and Logan could live off of the thick smell of sweat and lust and come they’ve created in this room together.

He kisses Wade, quick, just a taste, and leaves him wanting more.

“You’re fuckin’ funny.”

Another kiss, this time a little deeper, Wade reaching up for him with half a grin on his face. He’s getting hard again – Logan can feel it against the muscles of his abdomen. The next time Wade's mouth collides with his, he brings teeth, taking Logan's bottom lip and pulling hard enough to make him moan.

“You’re – wild – to watch in a fight. Sweet – to the people you care about.”

They’re making out in earnest now, Logan gasping to get the words out as Wade drinks him up.

“You –uh!”

Caught off guard, Logan doesn’t have the time to finish his sentence as Wade flips him on his side. Nose to nose with one another now, he lets Wade continue his desperate barrage of kisses, hooking an arm around Logan’s neck. Their stiff cocks rub together, tantalizing friction, and Wade trails his lips to Logan’s ear.

“You like me all that much, get on your hands and knees.”

His voice is low and sultry in a way that lets Logan know that they’re far from done. Laughing softly, Logan does as he asks, Wade moving around him as if they’re different parts of the same body. Planting his palms on the mattress, he closes his eyes in anticipation. Wade slides his cock against his ass, the briefest tease, before placing himself at his entrance.

He doesn't waste time pushing back inside. Logan's body takes him easily, a breathless sound of excitement leaving him as Wade’s hands come to settle on his hips. Though he can't see Wade's face, he can feel the shift in energy – he can hear Wade's heart pumping fast, sense his heightened enthusiasm.

Settled inside Logan up to the hilt, Wade shifts his hips in a lazy figure eight.

“You ready?”

Logan nods, his uh-huh coming out like a groan of pleasure. He stares down at his own spread hands, the ruined sheets, biting his lip as Wade continues to tease him.

It doesn't last long. Less than a second passes between his confirmation and Wade’s first sharp thrust, bullying Logan forward before he can get his bearings. Wade wastes no time in setting a punishing rhythm, leaving him helpless to do anything but arch back into what he's getting.

He pants and moans every time Wade comes close to nailing that spot, feeling his claws start to slip out bit by bit. Their mattress topper is in bits and pieces under the cover of the sheet, more foam chunks than anything now, and he's about to make it a lot worse. Logan lets himself sink claws deep into the padding, leaning his face forward into the pillows to muffle the most embarrassing of the noises he's making.

Wade isn't letting him get away that easily.

“That's my fucking big boy,” he breathes, and Logan lights up with a blush bright enough to color his fucking chest. His cock jumps. “Take me so well every time, don't ya? Every – fuckin' – inch?”

Oh god oh fuck.

“Wade,” he says into the pillows, practically mewling out the word. Latched into the mattress with his claws anchoring him in place as Wade nails that incredible place right there oh fuck oh Christ. “Hah, fuck, you gotta slow down, or – I –”

“Or what, sweetheart?”

A clever hand reaches around to jerk Logan's cock, nice and deep the way he needs it, and Logan moans so deep in his throat it comes out more like a growl. Wade matches his thrusts in time, slower now but fuller, getting Logan to cry out louder than he'd ever admit he gets.

“You gotta slow down, Red,” Logan manages to repeat, but he already knows it's no use. “Gotta s-slow down, oh f-fuck!”

He comes much harder than he thought he would, hissing out a string of swears into the poor abused mattress. Coating the sheets below him, watching as some dribbles onto his thigh. Wade pushes his hips higher, fucking him through it like it's easy, his fingers brushing soothing circles as Logan shivers and spills and pants.

His whole body tingles with that sensitive sensation he's come to equate with powerfully good sex, with a certain look in Wade's eyes or a tone in his voice. He's going to feel this later, the honey-hum ache lingering in every muscle, but it's more than worth it.

“Flip over,” Logan insists after the moment has passed. “Wanna watch you come again.”

A cocky tsk from behind him catches Logan off guard. A gentle hand lands on the curve of his ass. Loving.

“Aw, peanut. Baby. Who said you were done?” Wade’s voice comes out light and cheerful, but they both know what the undercurrent holds.

Yeah, he's definitely in his bossy little top mood now, Logan thinks. Not that he doesn't find it incredibly hot. But it's also fun to be a bit of a brat every once and a while.

“Don't think I can,” he tries, sliding his claws out of the mattress but settling firmly. “C'mon, Wade. Fuck me ‘til you finish.” Logan hesitates. “Please?”

An equally long pause. He can almost hear Wade thinking.

“Nahhh,” he decides. “You can do one more for me, then I'll fill you up until you fucking drip.”

This time, the pointed gap in the air is for Logan to really say no, use a safe word, if he needs to. And he definitely doesn't need to, doesn't want to. Besides, he's never been one to back away from a challenge, especially if it's Wade who's handing it out.

“Yes, sir,” Logan says mockingly, lifting his ass back up in the air.

He hears Wade make a strangled little noise of want before gripping his ass tight.

“Good fucking girl,” he growls, pushing Logan down until he's flat on his stomach on the bed.

Logan’s pretty sure he whines at that. It’s hard to tell anymore.

To say that the sheets are saturated in come would be an understatement at this point, but Logan can't focus on that as much as he's focusing on getting hard again, Wade’s teeth sinking deep into the side of his neck. The pain is nothing compared to the pleasure, a drop of water in the ocean – and Logan’s fucking dying of thirst.

He breaks the skin. Granted, it takes a little more effort for him to do it than it does for Logan, but he doesn’t mind the extra gnashing around. Chewing on his neck like it’s a goddamned squeaky toy. He’s flattered by it, in a way, that Wade would do all that just to spill blood for sex.

Wade’s tongue laps at the ring of blood he’s produced as he presses into his ass again, slow, and Logan can tell that he’s trying to hold back. To really spoil him with this extra orgasm, instead of keeping it all tit for tat. He doesn’t know why – he’ll pester him later about it and only get ‘cause I love you and I wanted to, you fuckin’ beefslab of a man, in answer.

But right now, Wade’s hot, panting mouth trails to Logan’s ear, and his teeth pull on the lobe, hard. Logan bares his neck further with a near silent intake of breath, wordless permission, and that’s all that Wade needs. Without further ado, Wade’s teeth seize around the loose cartilage and bite, ripping it off in a gush of blood.

“Fuck –!” Logan hisses, feeling the warmth of it trickle down on the sheets near his face.

“I’m trying my best, dollface,” Wade says sweetly in reply. Logan wishes he could see him. “You have no idea how good you look like that, all spread out like a two dollar whore on nickel night. Really putting my stamina to the test.”

He sighs, moving his hips so gently he may as well not be moving them at all. Despite insisting that Wade come a final time so that they could be finished with the whole romp, Logan finds himself growing impatient. There’s blood in it for him now, literally, and his cock is throbbing where it’s trapped against his stomach and the bed.

“But when a Scout makes a promise, they keep a promise. Right?”

“I promise you’re a pain in my ass,” Logan huffs. “Wade, c’mon, if you’re gonna fuck me then fuck me, don’t just –”

The words screw around are a little lost in the sudden snapping of Wade’s hips. Logan gasps instead, taken off guard by the instant ferocity of it. One of Wade’s hands grips a fistful of Logan’s hair, rough, incredible, while the other palm stays firm at his hip, holding them both in place.

“What were you saying, honey badger?” Though the words are innocent, Wade’s voice hits his (regenerating) ear in a mocking growl, all exertion.

Logan can’t even form a fucking sentence, let alone a smartass response. Wade knows him well enough, is smart enough to know exactly where his prostate is, how deep to press and for how long. He can play his body like an instrument few have taken the time to learn, let alone master.

Sinking his claws back into the mattress, scrabbling for any sort of purchase, Logan presses his face into the pillows with a desperate sound. He wants to tell Wade how good it feels, that he’s nailing his prostate just right, stirring up a heat inside of him that no one’s ever quite hit before, so good he wants to sob, but all he can do is lie there ass up and gasp out with every thrust. He tries to match Wade’s pace, hold the rhythm.

“Am I nailing your g-spot, baby?” Wade purrs, and something like scandal and delight war for attention in Logan’s mind. “Yeah, I feel you, pussy so fuckin’ tight.”

“Wade, o-oh Christ,” he says, breath hitching. Tears sting the corners of his eyes and he’s torn between so many points of pleasure and his cock is gliding as Wade pushes him forward, he’s going to come again, just as Wade had said he would – “ – Wade, Wade, Wade –”

He’s still chanting Wade’s name, voice rising an octave or so, as orgasm hits him like a goddamn train. The warmth of it coats his belly and chest, his face muffled deep into the pillows – tears and spit dampening the material. He arches back hard as Wade thrusts a handful of times to finish not long behind him.

“Fuck,” Wade says under his breath. “Kitty cat, oh fuck yes.”

The quiet that falls after, only their combined breath, is so deep and peaceful that Logan passes out almost right away. He isn’t sure how long Wade lets him sleep – only that he wakes up to his shoulder being shaken gently, Wade standing beside the bed with a fond smirk on his face.

“You’re gonna be stuck to the bed if you stay there like that, cowboy,” he tells him, offering a hand to help him up. “C’mon. Let’s get clean.”

Logan makes a grumpy sort of sound, too comfortable to want to move. “Only if we get to sleep all day tomorrow.”

Wade’s face brightens at the idea. “Fuck yeah – pile all the blankets on the couch and order takeout?”

It sounds like a dream come true.

“Yeah.”

Logan takes his hand. Once they’re clean, with the sheets and blankets replaced, it’s the deepest and most comfortable sleep of his life.

[apomaro-mellow]

Runaway Royalty 6

Part 5

Jeff leaned against a tree and crossed his arms where Eddie was whittling something by a tree. He was squatting and hunched over and completely immersed in his work but there was a nervous energy to it.

“So, I heard Rick tried to set you up with our new guy. Tried being the point he really wanted to get across.” 

“I appreciate the guy’s…helpfulness. But I don’t want to give Steve the wrong idea”, Eddie said.

“That means you’re not interested in him at all?”

“I’m not not interested. It’s just-I can’t-I can’t afford to be distracted. And Steve would be”, Eddie paused to watch the omega from afar, all he was doing was walking and yet Eddie was entranced.

“Incredibly distracting, noted”, Jeff said. “But, I feel as though you are making excuses.”

“Excuses for what? Not courting some random omega that I just met?”, Eddie hissed when his knife slipped and he nicked himself. “You’re making this a bigger to do than it is.”

“If you are sure”, Jeff said, ready to leave well enough alone.

“We’ve got more important things to discuss.” Eddie pocketed the knife and stood up, leaning in close to Jeff. His voice turned to a whisper. “Rick’s informant knew that I left months ago. And that you’re with me.”

Jeff’s expression turned worrisome. “How could he know all that?”

“He’s a fucking magician, I don’t know!”, Eddie spit out before whipping his head around. “But we’ve gotta be careful now. Keep a low profile.”

“You’re telling me that?”

“I know, you’ve got such a difficult time containing yourself, but try your best.”

Rick told the camp at large the intel he’d received and it was decided their best course of action was to go to the valet’s home and see if he knew anything about the prince’s disappearance.

“So Prince Edwin has been gone for months?”, Robin asked. “Why is his kingdom just now putting out a search?”

“They were probably searching for all those months”, Gareth said.

Steve’s brow furrowed. “But why go public with it now?”

“Perhaps it was the recent disappearance of Princess Robin and Prince Stephen”, Greenley surmised. “Rick’s guy didn’t have much to say on them, so I think it’s safe to say they haven’t been missing for months.

When the next day came, the camp packed up. Steve and Robin were given tasks to help out around. Eddie was tending to the horses and Steve watched from where he was, packing supplies into a bag. There was an odd calm in the air.

And then arrows whistled through that air.

“Raid!”, one voice shouted.

“Scatter!”, another yelled.

“Robin!”, Steve called out, searching her out.

He heard her call out his name and saw that she was already on a wagon, speeding away. Someone was holding her by the waist to keep her from jumping out. Where were they going? Was there some kind of rendezvous point? How long until he saw her agai-

“Get down!”, someone shouted as they tackled Steve over.

He wrestled until he realized it was Eddie. Eddie who smelled like campfire smoke and something earthy. When they got to their feet, Steve grabbed his wrist and they ran like hell from whoever was shooting at them and attacking the camp. Steve didn’t even know where they were going, just away from here.

He couldn’t let himself think about how Robin was going in the opposite direction. She could take care of herself. Suddenly Eddie jerked back, pulling his hand away from Steve.

“What is it? Why have you stopped?”

“I can’t run anymore, something feels weird. I think I’ve got a butt cramp”, Eddie said, hands going to his lower back.

“Are you serious? We’re being chas-there’s an arrow in your ass!”, Steve pointed, hand coming to his mouth.

“Oh…yeah…that’ll do it”, Eddie glanced and then quickly tore his gaze away, unable to look at it. 

“Well take it out, you’ve gotta take it out!”, Steve started to panic. 

Eddie put a hand against a tree and hunched over. “Would if I could. But it’s a little…beyond my reach.”

“Well what are we supposed to do?!”, Steve nearly shrieked, turning away when he couldn’t bare to look at it any longer.

“Someone’s over that way!”, a man’s voice called from a distance.

Eddie cursed and stood upright again. He grabbed Steve and brought him to crouch down behind a boulder, biting back a groan at the movement. Footsteps approached and Eddie looked around them. He grabbed a rock and tossed it in the opposite direction. It went a good few feet, but it only thudded on the ground, not providing enough of a distraction. Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed a smaller rock. 

He flung it and with a flick of his wrist, it ricocheted off two trees and made a slicing noise through the grass. The footsteps moved in that direction and they waited with held breaths for it to go silent again. Once they were sure, Eddie let out a sound from deep within his chest and fell over.

“You gotta take it out.”

“Take what out?”

“You know! The-

“Okay, okay! Just!-Don’t move”, Steve ordered. “Don’t move so I can…” His hands hovered over the arrow, lodged squarely in Eddie’s right butt cheek. “I can’t. I can’t do it. Maybe we can figure out a pulley system or something?”

“Just pretend I’m Robin. You’d pull it out without hesitation, right?”

Steve took a breath. “You both are built similar enough.”

“Now just what is that supposed to mEEEEEAN.” Eddie’s pitch went up when he felt something get ripped from him.

It wasn’t hard to pull out, but Steve was panting all the same as he dropped the arrow. “Alright. You need to drop your trousers.”

“I beg your pardon?!”

“Don’t be difficult. I pulled it out. Now let me tend to it.”

Eddie turned onto his side. “With what, may I ask? Leaves and twigs?”

Steve revealed the bag he’d been packing before the raid. He rifled through it. There wasn’t much but it would have to be enough until they either met back up with the others, or found a village. 

“I’ll take care of it. But I’m not disrobing you. Take care of that yourself.”

“Yes, because you doing it would make it improper”, Eddie rolled his eyes. But he shimmied out of his pants, just low enough to reveal the top of his cheek. 

Steve used a cloth to wash the blood. Luckily it wasn’t gushing out. Was that normal? How did arrow wounds compare to others? There wasn’t any gauze or anything to patch it up with, so Steve simply put another cloth on top, then stared.

“Is it…are you done?”, Eddie tilted his head.

“Hush up, I’m thinking!” Steve put his chin in his hand and then snapped his fingers. “Here”, he looked into the bag and thankfully found a sash. With it, he tied the cloth tightly to Eddie’s behind. It was still much more loose than a bandage would be, but at least he wouldn’t get blood on his clothes.

“Do much nursing at home?”

“Oh shut up”, Steve said, getting to his feet and turning so that Eddie could right his pants. “So, what do we do now? Everyone’s scattered.” Robin…

“They are”, Eddie agreed. “But the Bandit King has a secret hold. So we make our way there, we catch up to the others.”

“And how long will that take us?”, Steve asked.

“That all depends on you, sunshi-”, Eddie cut himself off with a groan as he tried to walk. 

“Sounds like it depends on you”, Steve chuckled.

“Alright, flesh wounds still hurt. We might be going at it a little slow.”

Steve looked at their surroundings. Deep forest, no way of telling exactly where they were. And it seemed dangerous to move while Eddie was hurt. His sister was an alpha and she had others with her. Right now her biggest worry was him. And if he returned to her with an injury, she’d never let him live it down. ‘Ever since we stopped sharing a room, it all went downhill for you.’ Said ‘room’ was how she referred to their mother’s womb.

“We’re staying here”, Steve said.

Eddie’s eyes got wide. “Here? Like right here?”

“Whoever those guys were, they’ve moved on by now. And I’m not carrying you when you collapse from that disease that makes alphas think they can carry on while bleeding.”

“Has anyone ever told you that you’re very comfortable giving orders?”

“I’ve been told something to that effect before, yes.”

Part 7 coming soon

[inkandtension]

Falling, Laughing, Loving

SUMMARY: Life gets harder after falling in love, but he doesn't care

Crazy in love! Minho x Reader

Minho used to think luck was for the overly optimistic. He was always a realist—things worked out because he worked for them. The world didn’t hand out success based on some invisible charm; you had to earn it. That’s how he became the best student in his class. It wasn’t luck that got him praised by the dean. It wasn’t luck that helped him win the baseball championship either. And when he stood on stage with a certificate in his hand, or when the dean patted him on the back, or when his team celebrated their trophy win, Minho felt… nothing.

He knew he should have felt proud, maybe even ecstatic. But all it was to him was another task checked off his list, another thing expected of him.

That was before you.

Minho didn’t notice it at first. You were just his classmate, the girl sitting a few rows away during lectures, always scribbling in your notebook and looking half-lost but still managing to answer questions when asked. But the more he saw you, the more he found himself wondering what was going on in your mind.

And then, there was that one day. It was after an exhausting class—everyone was groaning about the workload, but you? You were smiling, laughing about something with your friend. It was contagious, and for the first time, Minho felt something different. A lightness in his chest. A laugh bubbled up inside him just because you were smiling.

That was when he started noticing you more. The way your laughter echoed in the classroom, the way you’d zone out and absentmindedly tap your pen on the desk, the way your eyes lit up when you got an answer right. He didn’t know how or when, but Minho was falling. Slowly, but surely.

And that’s when life decided to play a trick on him.

Minho stood with his friends at the top of the stairs near the college's entrance, chatting about an upcoming project. He was mid-sentence when his thoughts drifted. There you were, at the bottom of the stairs, laughing with someone. His mind instantly focused on you—your smile, the way your eyes crinkled when you laughed.

Then it happened.

Without warning, his foot slipped, and before he knew it, he was tumbling down the stairs. His body hit the steps hard, but his mind was still on you. When he landed at the bottom, groaning in pain, he looked up and there you were, staring down at him with a surprised but amused expression.

Minho’s brain wasn’t even processing the pain. All he could focus on was the fact that you were at the bottom of the escalator. You were watching, concern and amusement dancing in your eyes. You hurried over, a slight smile tugging at your lips.

"You alright, Minho?" you asked, crouching down to his level, gently brushing his hair away from his forehead. Your touch was featherlight, but it set his skin on fire.

Minho blinked up at you, his heart doing somersaults in his chest. "Y-yeah… I’m good," he stammered, trying to act cool but failing miserably.

You stood up, giving him a light pat on the shoulder. "Be careful next time, alright? We don’t want to lose our best student to a staircase."

Minho stood frozen for a moment, watching you leave, a stupid grin forming on his face. His friends ran up to him, their eyes wide with concern.

"Bro, are you okay?" Jisung asked, gripping his arm.

"Yeah, dude, you just face-planted down like ten steps," Hyunjin added.

Minho blinked, snapping out of it. "Wait, did you see that?" he asked, excitement bubbling in his voice.

"Yeah, we saw you nearly break your neck," his friend deadpanned.

"No, not that!" Minho shook his head, still grinning. "She laughed. Because of me!"

His friends stared at him, clearly confused.

"Dude, you almost broke your face," Seungmin said.

Minho only laughed, ignoring their bewildered looks. "She laughed," he repeated softly, his heart swelling at the memory, "Because of me, she touched my head too...".

His friends exchanged looks, clearly baffled. "Bro, you hit your head harder than we thought."

That night, Minho was at home, sitting at the kitchen table with his four-year-old cousin, Jun, who was visiting with his family. The little boy squirmed in his seat as Minho scrolled through his phone, landing on a picture of you from a group project last semester.

"Look, Jun," Minho said, showing the picture to the wide-eyed child. "Isn’t she pretty?"

Jun looked at the screen, eyes going big with curiosity before a giggle escaped him. "She’s cute!"

"Right?" Minho smiled fondly, completely smitten.

Just as he was about to swipe to another photo, Jun, in his excitement, knocked over his juice, spilling it all over the table—and Minho’s class notes. The liquid soaked through the paper, smudging ink and ruining hours of work.

But Minho didn’t flinch. Normally, he’d be frustrated, maybe even furious. Instead, he grinned, wiping the table casually with a cloth.

"Ah, Jun! You couldn’t handle her cuteness either, huh?" Minho laughed, patting his cousin’s head. "Don’t worry, she’s so gorgeous, even I can’t handle it sometimes."

His high school cousin, seated across from him, nearly choked on his food. "Are you serious right now? You’re not mad?"

Minho looked up, still smiling. "Why would I be mad? I just got to show Jun the prettiest girl in the world."

His cousin blinked, setting down his fork. "Minho, dude, are you okay? Did you hit your head today?"

Minho laughed again, a carefree sound that made his cousin squint at him like he was losing his mind. But he didn’t care. None of it mattered. All he could think about was the fact that earlier, you had laughed at his clumsiness, you called out his name, you touched his hair with your soft fingers, he could still feel them. You had patted his shoulder and smiled at him.

He leaned back in his chair, sighing dreamily. "I’m great. Never better."

The next day, Minho walked into class, his eyes immediately scanning the room for you. You were there, sitting near the window, that same peaceful smile on your face as you stared outside. He found a seat behind you, unable to focus on anything other than how much his luck had changed since you entered his life.

A few days later, you and Minho found yourselves walking out of class together. It wasn’t planned—it just sort of happened. You were talking about something, your voice filling the quiet hallway, and Minho was only half-listening. He was too busy watching you, the way your lips moved when you spoke, the way your hair bounced with each step.

He was so distracted, he didn’t see the doorframe.

With a loud thunk, Minho walked straight into the edge of the door, groaning as he rubbed his forehead.

"Oh my God, are you okay?" you asked, clearly trying not to laugh as you reached out to steady him.

Minho winced, but seeing you trying so hard not to laugh at his misfortune made the pain completely worth it. "I’m fine. Totally fine," he said, flashing you a sheepish smile.

You giggled, shaking your head. "You’re such a klutz lately."

Minho chuckled, brushing off the embarrassment. "Yeah, but if I make you laugh, it’s totally worth it."

"What?" You asked, pretending to not hear.

"Nothing, I'm just enjoying my life a bit too much" He laughs.

Before you, he’d never thought of himself as lucky. Even with all his achievements, nothing ever really felt like it mattered. But now? Every little mishap, every small inconvenience, every time he tripped or spilled something—it all seemed worth it, just because it led to moments where he got to see you smile, hear your laugh, or feel your touch, even if it was just a pat on the shoulder.

And as Minho stood there next to you, he knew one thing for certain:

He was the luckiest guy in the world.

[thatsmzbitchtoyou]

Yes Mama Chapter 2

Summary:  Bucky Barnes has made quite the name for himself in the underground mob boss world.  But he’s not the boss.  Just the face of the Family.  

Warnings:  violence, subtle mention of drugs, murder, language, possessiveness, smut, mild choking, public sex

Kids: oldest (from Steve) Frankie 12, second (from Tony) Antonia 10, third (from T’Challa) Uuka 8, fourth (from Bucky) Beau 6, fifth (from Bucky) Lottie 5, sixth (from Bucky) Valentina 3

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Y/N was stuck in her office for hours lately.  Bucky was usually in on those meetings, but she’d been sending him out to deal with making sure that loyalties among the lower level “employees” who didn’t know about her were still strong and people were doing as they were told.  Being the mob boss queen meant she demanded respect and fierce loyalty from all she worked with, and in exchange she took care of them.  Everyone on her payroll and their families would be set for life if they just followed the rules: don’t get caught, and if you do, you know nothing.  You might not make it out of prison, but you would be protected while inside, and your family and affairs would be taken care of until you got back.  

With the amount of rats they’d had pop up over the last couple of years, she was paranoid, making sure that those working under her, as well as her informants, spies, moles, connections in law enforcement, and her allies were all on the same page as her and her expectations.  She had been having long meetings with the other Dons who knew who she was and fathered her first three children.  The kids knew who their fathers really were, and were loved and doted on by their biological fathers, but they almost always referred to Bucky as “dad.”

Y/N was in a meeting with Steve Rogers, Frankie’s father, and Bucky was feeling the jealousy eating him alive.  It was just the two of them in there.  He tried to tell himself he had nothing to worry about, but couldn’t seem to get his heart to listen to his mind.  The separation was becoming too much for him, and he was missing her terribly.  He returned from being out and rounded the corner to see Steve and Y/N walking out of her study.  They talked quietly for a moment before Steve took Y/N’s hand and kissed the ruby ring, then leaned in and kissed her cheek, far too close to her mouth for Bucky’s liking.  Bucky hid himself behind the corner for another minute until Steve nodded and started to walk away from her towards him.  Bucky pretended to just come around the corner and Steve gave him a friendly smile.  “Hey Buck,” he greeted him.  “Good to see you.”

“Rogers,” Bucky greeted him coldly.

“Oh come on, punk,” Steve frowned.  “When are you gonna let it go?  It was a long time ago.  You’re married to her–”

Bucky scoffed.  “Yeah.  See you around.”  He walked away towards Y/N’s study, then Frankie came running around the other corner.  “Hey bud,” Bucky greeted him.

“Hey Dad,” Frankie said, hugging him.  “Mama said Steve was here.”

Bucky gestured behind him and Frankie looked and saw him.  “Oh, hi Steve.”

“Hey kid,” Steve smiled widely.  “Are you ready for some fun?”

“Yeah,” Frankie nodded with an excited smile.  He looked back up at Bucky.  “We’re going to see the Yankees game.”

“Nice,” Bucky nodded with a tight smile.  He leaned down and kissed the top of Frankie’s head.  “Be safe, and have fun.”

“I will.  Love you!” Frankie said, then ran over to Steve, who hugged him and ruffled his hair.

“Love you,” Bucky called back.  He watched them leave before huffing a sharp breath then turning to her study.  At least he calls me dad, he thought wryly.  He knocked on her door and she called him in.  He walked in to find her pouring over some paperwork on her desk, writing some things furiously before flipping pages over.  “Mama,” he greeted her.

“Report?” she asked, not looking up.  

Bucky silently sighed.  She’d been much more curt with him since that night she rejected his advances.  He didn’t blame her, but it still hurt.  “Loyalties are strong on the surface, but we’re doing some double checking,” he said.  She continued to jot things down and then put down her pen and looked at him.  “How was your meeting?” he asked, immediately regretting it.  He just couldn’t seem to help himself.  

Y/N smirked at him.  “It was fine.  Steve is still committed to our arrangement.  Did Frankie find him?” Bucky nodded.  “Good.”

“And Tony?  T’Challa?” he asked.

Y/N rolled her eyes.  “Are you asking because you’re interested in business or because you wanna know if I fucked any of them on my desk?”

Bucky grimaced.  She could read him so easily, and he felt embarrassed and ashamed at how jealous and insecure he was about it.  He inhaled deeply, looking away and down at the floor.  “I’m asking about business,” he said quietly.  

Y/N stood from her chair and walked around to the front of the desk, hoisting herself to sit on top of it.  She was wearing a shorter dress today, and as she sat it rucked up her thick legs, letting him see more of her thighs, and a small peek of her bright red underwear.  He tried really hard to keep his eyes on her face, his jaw clenching as he refused to let his frustration show on his face.  “I was doing the same as you, checking that our loyalties are strong.  But, just for your peace of mind, no, I didn’t fuck any of them,” she started, arching her eyebrow at him.  “The only time I ever fucked them was, is, and will be, the only time that ever happens.  It was for protection, alliance, not out of lust or love.”  She paused, then lifted her hand and crooked her finger to gesture for him to come closer.  Bucky walked over until he was standing right in front of her.  She grabbed his flesh hand and held it.  “I didn’t know Steve was your friend,” she said quietly.  It was most likely the only apology he was ever going to get from her for the past.

Bucky squeezed her fingers.  “I understand.”

Y/N let go of his hand and reached up to cup the side of his face.  “I love those babies I got from them, but they will never take over the Family someday.  Your babies,” she paused, gripping his jaw and making him lean down close to her face, “our babies, that you and I made, with lust, and love, and everything in between, are our legacy.  You gave me a prince and two princesses to take over the empire, didn’t you?”  Buck exhaled shakily, his eyes flicking across her face, his hands steadying himself on either side of her on her desk as he felt the desire flooding through him.  He nodded at her words, his face leaning closer to nuzzle her nose.  She angled her face and her lips ghosted across his lips.  “You and I, babydoll, are never off the table,” she whispered.

Bucky whimpered.  He hadn’t heard her call him that pet name in the longest time, and it ignited something deep inside that made his knees weak.  “Mama please,” he begged.  

Y/N’s hand let go of his face and felt him all the way down to his pants, palming him gently.  She hummed.  “You want me?” she asked seductively.  Bucky nodded frantically, watching her touch him.  She leaned back, still touching him, but giving herself room to spread her legs, making her dress hike up so he could see her underwear fully.  They were wet where they met her pussy, and he shivered at the sight.  “And all that comes with me?” she asked.  

Bucky nodded frantically.  “Yes!  Yes, Mama,” he breathed.  “I love those kids…even though they’re not mine.  I love them.  And I’m sorry my jealousy got in the way of that,” he said, his words coming out like word-vomit.  “I missed…I miss you.  Please Mama.  I need you.  I want you.  All of you.”  His eyes started to fill with tears.  “I love you.  I’ve always loved you.”

Y/N’s eyelids fluttered at his words.  “I love you,” she whispered, then pulled him down to lay over her as she laid back on the desk and kissed him hard.  Bucky whimpered again, kissing her back deeply.  It was heavy panting, hurried movements, sloppy and passionate, just how it always was with her.  His hands gripped her thighs and moved her legs to intertwine at her ankles behind his back as his hips rutted into her.  Y/N moaned at the feeling of him against her core.  Bucky couldn’t get enough, having been deprived of her for so long.  His kisses moved from her mouth down to her chest, where he started untying the wrap-around dress so that it splayed open for him to kiss, lick, and suck at her breasts that were bare underneath.  “Fuck yes, babydoll,” Y/N groaned.

“God I missed you calling me that,” Bucky grunted as he sucked at her nipples, giving each of them ample attention.  “Can I have you, Mama?  I’ll make you feel so good, please…please please please…”

“You wanna fuck me babydoll?” Y/N asked as he continued sucking at her breasts, his flesh hand sliding down in between her legs, feeling her wetness in her underwear.  Bucky nodded, looking up at her pleadingly.  “You gonna fuck another baby into me?”

“If that’s what you want, Mama,” he said, moving back up to her face.  “I’ll give you everything, all that I am.  I’m yours to do with whatever you want.”

“Then give it to me,” Y/N said, pushing his jacket off.  “Give it to me the way only you can.”

Bucky moaned.  “Yes, Mama,” he said, then picked her up off the desk and carried her over to the couch in the corner.  They’d fucked on this couch multiple times over the years, but after not having her for a while he felt a twist of excitement at the sight of it, the memories rushing back to his mind.  He pulled her dress completely off, laid her on the couch making sure they were both settled, and then ripped her underwear off with his metal hand.  

Y/N gasped.  “Buck!”

“I’ll get you some more,” he groaned as his metal fingers got wet from her arousal rubbing up and down through her lower lips.  “Though with how much time we have to make up for, I don’t want you wearing any underwear so I can take you anytime, anywhere.”

Y/N smiled up at him.  “Great minds think alike,” she said teasingly.  Bucky kissed her again as he stripped himself, throwing his clothes off to the side.  He gripped his cock and slid it through her wet slit, teasing her clit with his tip repeatedly until she was writhing underneath him.  “Don’t tease, babydoll,” she said in a warning tone.  

“Yes, Mama,” Bucky smirked, then slid all the way into her in one thrust.  Y/N stiffened under him, her mouth dropping open as she silently gasped.  Bucky tensed his whole body, trying desperately not to immediately cum.  “Holy shit, you feel so good.  Always so good to me,” he breathed.

“Move,” Y/N said, her hips trembling.  “You know how I like it.”

Bucky nodded and lifted her legs so she was nearly folded in half, her feet on his upper back from how spread her knees were.  She had always been flexible in her hips, and he loved that he could feel her all around him.  He pulled his hips back, his hands still pushing her legs up, and started thrusting hard.  Y/N moaned, and he reveled in the noises he could pull from her.  He hadn’t heard them in so long that his head felt dizzy.  His hands felt all over her legs, her hips, her stomach, her sides, her breasts, everywhere that he could reach easily.  

Y/N’s hands were feeling him, too, her arms winding behind his back and her hands grasping his shoulders from behind, keeping him as close as possible.  Their combined heavy breaths, the moans, sloppy kisses and skin slapping skin all echoed through the study.  Her pussy fluttered around him and her legs shook, warning him that she was close.  “You gonna cum for me, Mama?” he whispered, a huffed breath on her cheek with how close they were to each other.  She nodded drunkenly, her eyes looking him over like he was brand new.  “You want my cum?”

“Yeah,” Y/N said, then squealed when his hand gripped the back of her neck and into her hair.  “Fuck yes.  Fuck it into me, babydoll.”  Bucky shuddered at her words, making her smirk deeply.  “You like that?”  He nodded, licking up her neck.  “You like me dripping you all day long?”

“Yes!” Bucky grunted.  “Make you mine.  Only mine.  My Mama.”

“That’s right,” she nodded, running her hands through his hair just how he liked.  “I’m yours.  You’re mine, babydoll.  Only…mine…”

Bucky started thrusting even harder and faster, his metal hand slipping between them and flicking her clit fast.  Y/N tugged his hair hard, her forehead pressing against his as she shrieked and finally came, her pussy gripping him mercilessly.  As she shook under him he couldn’t hold it anymore and came inside her, continuing to thrust and fuck it into her like she wanted, his own loud whimper getting swallowed by her kiss.

They kissed lazily until they could breathe normally again, then Bucky pulled himself up.  He sat up on his knees then pulled her up with him, doing his best to keep his cock buried deep inside her as he maneuvered them to lay back on the pillows, her head laying on his sternum.  When he was comfortable he pulled her left hand up to his mouth and kissed her Family ring, then saw she was wearing the wedding ring he’d given her years ago.  It wasn’t as grand as the ruby ring, but complemented it, just like their relationship.  She hadn’t worn it in a while, and it filled him with pride that she finally put it back on today.  It was like she knew this would happen all along, which if he were honest with himself, she probably did.  She knew him better than he knew himself, most days.  She most likely knew that after these meetings he’d be jealous, insecure, horny and desperate.  He couldn’t even be mad at her as he kissed her wedding ring as well.  “I missed you, Mama,” he said quietly.

“I missed you, Buck,” Y/N breathed, squeezing his fingers.  She looked up at him with a sweet smile.  “My babydoll.”

[simplydannie]

Previous: Part 1 || Part 2

A03 link here!

Floyd is called as everyone in Bergentown worries about Velvet….

The snarky, spicey girl they once knew replaced by this broken, fragile thing. Floyd figures it has something to do with her brother as she explodes at the mention of his name…

They both also discover that someone is on the hunt for her…but who?

Velvet hugged herself as she stared at the breakfast that lay infront of her. When they had given it to her it was warm, but that was about an hour ago…She wasn’t hungry, not one bit. It was probably what, a day since she’s had a proper meal?

Standing at the doorway of the dining area were Poppy, Branch…and Floyd. They stared at her in silence, observing her actions and movements. It was obvious, this wasn’t the Velvet they had seen back at the Rage Dome. That Velvet was fierce, determined, eager, uncaring….vicious. This girl in front of them was broken…

“Has she said anything?” Floyd looked at Poppy and Branch.

Branch shrugged, “She said she was done with Rageous; that she didn’t want anything to do with that place.”

“And Veneer?”

“She came without him…Told us not to worry about it.”

“…They’ve have to had a fallout…An argument…She did blame him for them going to prison….Maybe they went their seperate ways and misses him.” Poppy looked at Floyd and Branch.

“Really? Velvet missing Veneer. Maybe when Bergens fly.” Branch scoffed. Floyd nudged his brother, his face taking on a more serious dimenor… Floyd didnt find that funny…not one bit. Yes, she was hard, even cruel…but the reality of it all…she had deeply cared for Veneer, they were inseperable. So whatever happned to cause their fallout, it had to be bad.

Taking a deep breath Floyd made his way towards the Rageon. He hadnt seen Velvet in almost a year, the closer he got, the more he realized just how different she really looked: thinner, paler…lost. Her hair was not in its normal ponytail, it draped loose around her face, a purple beanie sitting on top. The Troll hopped on a chair then on to the table. He slowly approached her…

“….Velvet?”

Hearing his voice, Velvet looked up, their eyes meeting for the first time in a long while, “…Floyd. What do you want?” Her tone was cold and distant.

“I heard you were in town. I wanted to see you…see how you’ve been.”

She chuckled, “Yeah right. What the hell do you really want Floyd? Another apology? Well we already said our sorries and paid for it in prison, thank you very much.”

She was still the same old Velvet, that much was certain…the same yet different, “No Velvet, I don’t want an apology. I genuinely wanted to see how you were doing… The others…they’ve been…worried about you.”

“Worried?”

“…They have Velvet. You seem…different. Is…Is everything okay? You can tell us you know, talk to us…”

“HA! Talk to you guys. Please. I don’t need you little rats to be showering me with roses and songs.” She mimiced.

“Velvet please. We want to help with whatever happened. Obiviously you and Veneer had some sort of fallout…”

Her head snapped up at the sound the word…at the sound of the name… “What did you say….”

Oblivious, Floyd continued to speak, “You and Veneer, something happened between the two of you, that much we know….You’re always together.”

Her eyes. There was a glow to her eyes…the color changed from their normal blue tint into a pink hue. Velvet slammed her fists on the table, causing it rattle underneath her. Floyd jumped back at her sudden reaction, as he noticed the glow in her eyes, the anger behind them.

“DON’T YOU DARE MENTION HIS NAME!” She yelled at the top of her lungs. In a blink of an eye, Branch had made his way to stand next to Floyd. The two looked at each other; both confused, both lost, “NEVER EVER MENTION THAT NAME AGAIN! EVER! ESPECIALLY YOU FLOYD! YOU HAVE NO RIGHT TO SAY IT EVER AGAIN!”

“….Velvet….” Floyd began to say as he reached his tiny hand. But the Rageon couldn’t bare it anymore….the tears began to fall.

“AHHHH!” She smashed the dishes of food against the wall. Velvet growled and stalked away back into her room. She didn’t need them seeing her like this…vulnerable. There was only one person who she had ever been vulnerable with…and now he was gone.

“Velvet!” Floyd cried out again.

SLAM!

The sound of the door being shut echoed throughout the halls…

The days went by….

Floyd remained in the Bergen castle keeping an eye on the young Rageon… something was wrong, he knew that much. Yes, Velvet was always one to blow a casket, one with a short temper, but at the mention of her brother’s name? That struck him odd. He was determined to find out what happened between them, what caused them to rift part, what caused her to come all the who out here…. Alone.

She didn’t want to be seen by anyone, yet she couldn’t remain in her room all the time. It was easier for the memories to come back in the quietness and loneliness, and Velvet couldn’t stand thinking about him right now….

So she’d do something she’d done back home… she’d sneak out the window. She’d leave only in the night when she knew everyone was asleep, when Bergentown was most empty. Velvet wouldn’t do much, she’d sit down on benches, climb the wall and stare off, take a small walk on the trail…

That evening in particular Velvet made her way through a small trail that took her to a hill that overlooked Bergentown. She sat down hugging her knees, the stupid purple beanie placed over her head… she allowed for silent tears to fall.

“What’s wrong?” She heard a voice say. Velvet turned and there next to her… was her brother.

“You should know what’s wrong… moron.” She sniffed and wiped her tears.

“You’d never tell me what was wrong. That was always the problem.” Veneer sat in a manspread on the grass staring out to the little town, “I see you finally made it.”

“Shut up…”

“It’s not that bad right? Sure maybe quieter than what we were used too, but I think we needed that change. Don’t you.” Veneer turned to smile at his sister. She only sat silent still hugging her knees.

“You’re wearing the beanie!”

“…. Why did you like wearing this stupid thing so much….”

“Cause it was dads.”

Velvet froze. She had forgotten… this belonged to their father once. Veneer so wanted to be like him, he loved him… she did once too. Why didn’t they run to him when they were in danger? Why did she have to convince her brother to do otherwise?

“….. why did you have to leave me?” She whispered, her tone so low, almost silent.

“Because, my journey was over. This is yours now.” He reached over placing a hand on her shoulder….she felt it, she could feel his touch…

When she looked, there was no one there, he was gone….

“Come back…. Please come back…. I can’t do this alone….” Burying her face into her knees she began to cry. Everything felt hopeless, she felt helpless…. She was alone…. Was she really though? Her father was still out there. Was he even looking for them? Did he even care?…. Should she go back?

“Velvet!” She heard her name being called out… she knew the little voice… Floyd. With a grunt she stood up and began walking off.

“Hey! Hey wait!” Floyd moved his tiny legs as quick as he could as Velvet stomped farther and farther away from him…

….Eyes had been watching her from the bushes. It had been used to track her scent. She was alone. She had been still, but then that little Troll came in and made her move. It waited, but a voice beaming from its collar ordered a command, “Kill that little Troll if it get’s in your way. Bring the girl now!”…..

“Velvet! Come on are you seriously going to have me follow! I’ve already walked a hundred miles right now.” Floyd began to loosen his breath. He heaved over breathing hard…his health really hadn’t been the same since the whole ordeal in Mount Rageous. With a heavy grunt, Velvet turned around and snatched Floyd up by his hair, “Woah! Hey! A little nicer would do.”

“If I am going to carry you, you’re going to shut up.” She demanded, placing him on her shoulder. Floyd looked at her as she treaded back to Bergentown in silence.

“….Velvet?” He began to say.

“Oh my gosh don’t! Don’t say anything. Don’t even ask anything, or i swear I’ll flick you off my shoulder.” She mumbled. Floyd quickly shut his mouth…. Perhaps right now wasn’t the time to mention anything…especially Veneer….

The hairs on his head quickly perked up, a chill going down his tiny, little spine. Velvet noticed his change in mood and stance…. Did he sense something?

“The hell is wrong with you?” She asked arching her eyebrow towards him, “I’ve never seen a Troll act like this before…”

“…..Something….isn’t….right….”

SWOOSH!

From out of the nearby bushes pounced a big creature: It’s color and spots-like a leopard, but it’s body and fur like that of a wolf, six legs coming out of it’s body, big huge fangs bearing at Velvet as it starred at her with glowing yellow eyes….she recognized this creature….she’d only hear about it and see pictures…

“…What the hell is one of these doing way out here?” She muttered. The creature launched at her. She screamed as she dove to the ground, the creature only missing her by mere inches. Floyd held on for dear life. He noticed the collar around its neck…it belonged to someone…

“VELVET RUN!” He yelled. Without a single hesitation or protest, the young got to her feet and took off running back to Bergentown. The creature leaped and took off in hot pursuit behind her. What the hell was she thinking? She can’t out run it. So Velvet reach out for branches and twigs, logs, brush, anything she can toss in its path to slow it down. Floyd turned to face behind, staring at the creature as it neared their heels.

“DUCK NOW!!” He screamed as it leaped towards her again. She screamed again as its sharp claws grazed her arm. She cried and winced in pain as blood began to trickle down, “VELS!” Floyd cried. She got up again and ran…She could see the Bergen gates ahead.

“Help! Help!” She cried as she saw some guards standing amongst the walls entrance. They heard her cries and noticed her desperation as they saw what was at her tail. They couldn’t risk opening the gate and letting that thing in. Tossing a roped ladder, they cried out to her, “HURRY UP!”

….Velvet panted as she began to run out breath. She let out a yell as she leaped towards the ladder, grabbing hold as they began pulling her up…Thankfully, that thing wasn’t much of a jumper…it wouldn’t be able to leap the Bergen wall. It tried, only barely scraping her foot as Velvet was pulled up to safety. The Bergen guards peeked over.

“What in the world?” One murmured.

“…Looks like it can’t jump…at least not this high…Go around the wall! Make sure everything is secure. That nothing can get in. NOW!” The chief commanded, “What the hell is that thing?”

“…..A Bandersnatch…” Velvet murmured holding her arm, “…I don’t get it…They’re only find in the woods near Under Rageous…how the hell did one get all the way out here?” Noticing her bleeding arm, some guards quickly ran for a first aid kit.

“It had a collar around its neck. Seemed pretty well groomed too.”

“What, that hell creature belongs to someone?” She looked down at the tiny Troll.

Floyd nodded, his face still twisted in thought, “Didn’t seem like we were in its territory either…Seemed really fixated on you too.” He looked up at the Rageon. Velvet stifled a laugh.

“What? Someone sent that thing after me? Ha!” Her smile faded as soon as it appeared as the memory of that day 3 months ago came to mind…The day he was….Was it possible that someone was after her? They weren’t able totally catch her, she ran off before they could, luckily making it out of the woods of the under-city alive…

“…Velvet? What’s wrong?”

She turned to look down at the little Troll. Should she tell them? Were they now in any kind of danger? After they bandaged her up, Velvet took a peek over the wall…there it was, the Bandersnatch still glaring up Velvet, waiting, thinking…plotting.

“Shit.” She murmured. Suddenly she gasped touching her head…The beanie!…It was still on her head. She sighed in relief…The beanie…The purple beanie that was once….

“….I need to make a call.” She looked up the Bergens.

“Sure. Follow me.”

Floyd looked at her, confusion across his face. He saw the Bandersnatch pace before finally lying down, staring intently at the wall…it was hunting, and he was sure it was hunting Velvet. He ran off towards the castle…

Velvet was led into the security room which contained a landline. She waited till she was alone, her hand hovering over the phone, her breath shakey, palms sweaty, “….Screw it….” She picked up the landline and dialed the number. She was hoping there would be no answer on the other line, but at the same time, she wanted to hear his voice, she wanted to hear something familiar again… Her and her brother were the only two to know this number. It was given to them long ago to use for emergencies…

“Velvet?” The voice sounded from the other side. She could tell there was a mix of fear and worry. Velvet didn’t respond, she wanted to hear him say her name again… “Velvet? Please tell me that it’s you…Please.”

“…..Hey dad…..” She finally said. Agitation flowed through her veins: she should be angry at her father, hate him. But here she was missing him, loving the sound of his voice, wanting him to hold her like he did when she was smaller…

“Where are you?”

“….I….I don’t want to tell you…”

“Dammit Velvet. Where are you? You’re in danger!”

….A moment of silence passed between them…. He finally spoke…His voice soft…

“….I found him…You’re brother…I also found the bastards who did it….”

“….What did you do to them?” She asked.

“They wont be making the same mistake again…EVER.”

“..Good…I wish i could’ve done that myself.”

“He’s home…He’s next to your mother now….I need you to come home too.”

“…I can’t…”

“Why not?”

“….Because…..Because….” I can’t be somewhere where he isn’t anymore. Everything is going to remind me of him…And I still haven’t forgiven you, is what she wanted to say…but she couldn’t, “…I just can’t dad…”

“Dammit Velvet you’re in danger. I have men looking for you outside around Rageous. How close are you? How far?”

“….I just…wanted you to know i was okay…I…I….”, I love you dad, and I’m sorry i couldn’t protect him.. “Bye dad.”

“Velvet!”…..

She hung up…

For the first time in her life, Velvet didn’t know what to do. She didn’t have a plan….her plan was to call her dad and tell him about what happened…but hearing his voice…it was different. Who was after her? What the hell did they want?…And were they the same ones that sent the goons after them? The same ones that killed her brother?

“Dammit! Dammit!” Vaughn pounded a fist against the desk as soon as Velvet hung up on him, “Why the hell did she have to take after me?” The number she had dialed had patched her through encrypted cell phone….He had done this for a reason long ago: if ever his children were in trouble, or they were forced to call him, that number would patch them through…and he’d be able to track them.

He looked up at the map that displayed on the screen, a red markings around the area the call originated from….

Why the hell was she all the way in Bergentown?

[kesujo]

Chapter 7: A Game of Chess - Part 1

Previous chapter here.

A/N: If you want to follow the chess game played in this chapter, you can go to this link: https://www.chess.com/analysis/library/5c899FnMgi [let me know if this link doesn’t work for you for whatever reason, and you want to follow the chess game going on] Starting from the beginning, you can click on the ‘>’ button on the right console to advance to the next move, and the ‘<’ button if you went too far and want to backtrack. The coordinates listed in this chapter can be seen at the edges of the board.

I’m going to be honest, if you don’t understand chess then the game Jessica and Parker play isn’t really going to make much sense, so in that case you can mostly just ignore the chess game going on.

Maybe Parker wasn’t as careful as he should’ve been when Jessica knocked on his door with a chessboard in hand. “I heard from Hunter that you used to play chess when you were younger. I did too, so I thought it’d be fun to play.”

The tension in his chest was relieved all at once in a sigh, a laugh following after. So, she was capable of being normal. “Yeah, that sounds fun. Hunter working late again?”

She nodded, bits of loneliness creeping into the forlorn expression on her face. Seeing it made Parker feel bad, guilty even, that he was so on guard when he saw Jessica on the other side of his door’s peephole. “Were you about to go to sleep?”

“I have an hour or two in me, so we can get a few games in.”

Hearing that lit up her face. “Great! Let’s set up!”

They headed to the living room, Jessica winning the white pieces after a quick game of rock-paper-scissors. While setting up the board, Parker decided to make some small talk, absolutely reveling in the normalness of the situation. “Do you play chess often now?”

“Mm, not really. Not as much as before.”

“Did you go to many tournaments?”

“Just a few local ones.”

“Win any?”

Jessica smiled. “A few.”

“Ooh, so you’re a hotshot.”

This caused her to laugh. “Not exactly, I never really made it past state-level. How about you?”

“Same deal but made it once to nationals. Got whooped in the first round though.”

“Wow, so I better bring my A-game, huh?” she shot back, looking up at smiling at him. Parker smiled back, thinking about just how nice this was. Why couldn’t all their interactions be as wholesome as this one? “We’re going to be playing with some stakes to make this more interesting.”

“Sure.”

Parker didn’t know why he let his guard down: maybe it was because he was too preoccupied with the immense feeling of relief that things weren’t going how they usually did with Jessica, or maybe he was just kidding himself.

“First of all, rewards for winning: if I win, I get to do anything I want with you.”

Hearing that instantly made Parker lose all hope. “I’m not—” he started, getting up but was cut short when Jessica reached over, quickly grabbing his arm and interjecting.

“If you win, you can command me to stay away from you for the same number of days as the number of points you win. Which means you can be free of me for up to 40 days, maybe even more.” Hearing that gave Parker pause. The thought was extremely lucrative, and he seemed to have a fair shot at it too given they were probably around the same level.

“What about stalemate?”

“Then I just go home and that’s that.”

“And what constitutes as ‘anything you want with me’?”

Jessica smiled. “You’ll see.”

It’s not like this was anything new, anyway. If anything, Jessica was inserting an extra step into something she would normally do without giving him a chance to escape anyway. In fact, this was a chance to get out of the situation—and if he lost … well, it was essentially business as usual.

Realizing how absolutely degenerate his expectations had become made Parker only more ashamed of himself, but the prospect of an entire month without having to worry about Jessica’s schemes was too big of an opportunity to pass. Maybe he could take the time to develop countermeasures, such as finding a girlfriend and cashing in on the promise Jessica made last time.

Parker realized this line of thinking was falling right into Jessica’s trap, but if he learned one thing about Jessica—well, that would be that she was much more ‘adventurous’, as she often put it, than he would’ve initially thought—but the second thing was that she always kept her word. And if what Jessica said was indeed correct, that she never made it to national level and hasn’t been honing her chess skills recently, that meant he had an extremely decent chance to win.

“Fine.”

“Promoted pawns count as the piece they were promoted to when captured.” Because of Jessica’s proposal, Parker realized he was incentivized to capture as many pieces as possible before delivering checkmate. It also meant that if he could capture a pawn promoted to a queen, he would gain nine additional days of freedom. However, that was risky; allowing Jessica to have an additional queen did little to improve his chances of winning.

In fact, basing his strategy around having a long, bloody game was risky in general; passing up a checkmate to extend the game for the purpose of buying himself more days of freedom meant that it was very possible that he blunder and find himself at the command of Jessica’s risqué imagination.

“I bet you’re thinking that you’ll want to capture as many pieces as you can before checkmating, so I thought I would introduce some additional rules for capturing pieces.” Of course. Nothing had to be simple with Jessica, did it?

“Losing a pawn means giving the other a kiss wherever they want, and subsequent pawn captures have to be in increasingly more intimate places. Losing a knight or bishop means removing one piece of clothing—both socks count as one piece of clothing. Losing a rook means directing the other in how you want to fuck him or her for five minutes. Losing a queen means giving the other oral until orgasm.”

As Jessica went down the list, Parker’s somewhat upbeat, hopeful mood plummeted. “And promoting a pawn means the player gets the benefit of the other losing that piece. So if I promote a pawn to a queen, you have to give me oral until orgasm. And one last thing, you must accept the rewards, even if you don’t want them.” And there went Parker’s final line of defense, a ‘loophole’ he thought he found but was instantly filled in by the ever-prepared Jessica.

Parker looked down and cursed himself for not wearing one more sweater or something over the T-Shirt he was wearing: collectively, counting both his socks as one piece of clothing, he had exactly four pieces of clothing. He looked across the chessboard to Jessica, seeing that she had a light jacket over the nightgown she was wearing, the somewhat see-through material revealing a pair of underwear. Assuming she was wearing both pieces of underwear, Jessica’s clothing total amounted to five. However, knowing her, she probably would choose to leave her socks on if all her knights and bishops were taken. “Your turn,” she announced, looking up from the board and matching his gaze, her signature mysterious smile adorning her lips.

Parker looked down to see that she had already moved her King’s pawn to e4. Did he want to play an explosive opening or a closed one? There were clear advantages to both: getting twenty, or even as few as ten, days free from Jessica was a pretty serious victory, but the greedy part of him wanted more. However, the downside to claiming more free days was that he would have to ‘accept’ the rewards of capturing her pieces, something he wasn’t looking forward to at all. So, should he try to checkmate her as quickly as possible to win the days of freedom without much sexual activity, or should he just bear with it for today and try to claim as many free days as possible?

“Shit,” he muttered to himself, shaking his head and deciding to mirror her, moving his King’s pawn to e5.

“Have you decided on what your strategy this game is going to be?” Knight to f3.

“Nope.” Knight to c6.

“Well, I have.” Bishop to b5.

Seeing the aggressive move threw Parker off. He assumed Jessica was going to be having the same doubts as himself. Unless she was confident in her ability to win? Parker looked across the chessboard but found Jessica staring back, the smile never leaving her face. “Well?”

“You’re taking that knight aren’t you?”

“I’m taking that knight, one way or another.”

Parker knew that chess was a game of give-and-take and of necessary sacrifices, but this soon? At least the punishment was rather tame. “Fine.” Knight to f6.

As promised, Jessica captured the knight on c6 with her bishop, Parker taking the knight back with the pawn on the b file. “Well, one piece of clothing each.”

Figuring he would take the time to get used to it (since there was no way he wasn’t losing at least another knight or bishop), Parker elected to take off his shirt. Jessica, however, reached her nightgown and pulled off her noticeably damp panties. “That feels much better~” she sung, giggling after seeing Parker’s shocked expression. “What? Can’t I be excited?”

“A little … too excited?”

She shrugged, castling her king side. “I’ve always wanted to do something like this with Hunter but he sucks at chess, so learning that you played when you were younger made me so excited that I got this wet,” Jessica informed him, nudging the damp piece of cloth now laying on his couch.

Hearing his best friend’s name reawakened the guilt that was shoved aside previously by his competitiveness flaring up. “Yeah, I tried to teach him in high school but he never really was that interested…” After some thinking, Parker settled on moving his pawn to d6.

“That’s funny, I also tried to teach him.” Knight to c3. “He told me a similar thing.”

“Hm…” Bishop to e7.

Without much thought, Jessica moved her queen’s pawn up two squares. “So looks like you’re trying to be conservative with capturing.”

“Maybe.” Bishop to a6.

“Oh…” Jessica paused for a second, then continuing, “I almost want to let you take that rook just to see what kinds of things you would do to me.”

Parker wondered himself if he had the balls to take the rook, but thankfully Jessica eliminated the choice for him by moving the rook to the left by one square. “But I want to win, so I’m not giving you freebees.”

After Parker proceeded to castle his king, they exchanged pawns on e5. “Since I captured your piece first, I get to choose first. But I think I’ll start off tame.” For a second, Parker was hopeful that she would request a reasonable starting place, remembering the rule that subsequent pawn captures result in kisses in increasingly risqué places, such as the hand. But, of course, Jessica’s reply shattered those hopes so thoroughly, Parker didn’t even know why he even bothered. “Let’s just kiss and both take our rewards.”

“But—why not just start off with a kiss on the hands first?”

Jessica just giggled at the notion. “We’ve fucked how many times, and you’re still afraid to give me a little peck on the lips?”

“The rule, that further pawn captures have to lead to kisses in, well, worse places though.” Parker knew she wasn’t going to budge, but still he felt it necessary to communicate his resistance to the idea. Even if he had no control over the idea, at least he could voice that it wasn’t something he particularly enjoyed. “Starting off with the hand gives me the best chance not to—”

“—have to make out with my pussy?”

Parker felt himself cringing at her reply, half in shock but half in the disdainful feeling of the tightness in his pants worsening. “Well, yeah. I mean, can’t I at least choose somewhere else?”

“Nope, since me kissing you means you necessarily are kissing me.”

“But aren’t I allowed to choose?”

“In that case, you should’ve taken my pawn first~”

Ultimately, Parker knew he was fighting a losing battle, so he just sighed and acquiesced.

Doing something like pecking Jessica on the lips was something Parker shouldn’t have much of an issue with given that he literally had sex with her multiple times already but doing so still injected him with a shot of guilt.

 However, Jessica’s next move made his face pale.

“There’s your queen~” she sung, happily grinning at him. “Are you going to take back and let me give you a blowjob?”

“So much for starting off tame,” Parker muttered in reply, his voice just loud enough to cause Jessica to hear and laugh in response as he took back her queen with his rook on the f file.

“Good thing your floor is carpet,” she noted, crawling over to the man sitting in front of the chessboard, reluctant to move. “Do you want me to give you your blowjob first, or do you want to do this simultaneously?”

After a pause, Parker found himself letting out a frustrated sigh. “Damn it, can’t we just play a normal game of chess?”

“It’s no fun that way!”

“Normal chess is plenty of fun!”

“Well, this is more exciting, isn’t it? It brings another layer of strategy into the game.”

“And another layer of physicality middle school me was trying to escape from by joining chess club.”

Jessica laughed, a good-natured response of understanding and agreement. “Same actually, but enough stalling. How do you want to do this?”

“Just … simultaneously, I guess…”

Jessica smiled so brightly that Parker felt his brain pause for a second, subconsciously appreciating how great she looked when she smiled so openly. “Great! Go ahead and lie down, and feel free to pull up my nightgown.”

“…Are you sure we can’t do some other kind of punishment for losing our queens? Like time constraints or having to stand on one leg for the rest of the game or something?”

Jessica turned around, riding up her pajama one-piece, the frills on its hem beautifully framing the perfect, round shape of her butt. Its skin was so taught and the shade such a bright, snowy white that Parker swore he could almost see the reflection of the apartment’s living room light on it. Sinful as it was, Parker couldn’t help but stare at it for a second, admiring how unrealistically beautiful—and how undeniably sexy—her butt was. The way her slim waist curved to her wide hips, accentuating the fullness of what appeared to be no less than perfect semi-spheres of tight, plump flesh, something about it was hypnotizing. It was only when Jessica turned her head around to answer did Parker tear his gaze away. “Nope.” Unfortunately, the swift movement of his eyes did not go unseen by Jessica, who said the single syllable response with a grin so prominent that Parker could hear it in her voice. “Like what you see?”

“Let’s just get this over with.”

“So that’s a ‘yes’, then?” The seductress continued to tease, shaking her butt at him teasingly.

It would be a lie to say that Parker wasn’t tempted to take another glance, especially seeing the playful motion in the corner of his eyes. What was wrong with him today? Has all this adulterous sex impeded his sense of morality? No longer wanting to be on the back foot, Parker countered, “Are you stalling to buy time to think what you’d do once you lose?”

“Hmm…” she hummed, leaning down atop Parker’s body lying on the carpet in his living room, “But do you think you have what it takes to win?”

“What, do you think I’m not good enough?” It was pretty hard to keep a straight face, trying to talk to someone who was laying on top of him and pushing her ass into his face. Parker could barely see her, his vision primarily swallowed up by Jessica’s legs and the pair of plump mounds of flesh nearing him.

“Well, you don’t only need skill to win, do you? You don’t think I’m going to just let you win without getting my way at least somewhat, right?” Parker couldn’t reply, because frankly, he wasn’t sure himself. “If you’re going to win, you’re going to at least strip down to your underwear, maybe even go fully nude, not to mention that we’re going to fuck for at least ten minutes, maybe even twenty if all rooks get captured. Are you willing to endure all that to ensure victory?”

“Shut up and start sucking already.”

“Ooh, where’s that aggression in the bedroom? Or the bathroom, or against the living room wall, or—” her sentence was cut off with a squeal, Parker plying her butt cheeks apart, tilting his head, and attacking her clit with his tongue.

He could feel his chin being splashed with her juices as he ran his tongue across the hardened nub, her silky legs wrapping around his ears, slightly smothering his sense of hearing. Parker himself took in a sharp inhale when he felt Jessica’s hot grip tighten around the base of his shaft and her voluptuous mounds press against his legs, shortly after feeling those same soft velvety lips that pecked him now planting kisses along his shaft. “Mmm, looks like someone’s excited,” Jessica’s sensual moan seemed to echo about the apartment, the palm of her hands rubbing along the shaft of his penis.

Parker elected not to respond, focusing instead on the task in front of him. The faster he brought her to orgasm, the faster this would all be over. And luckily, from Parker’s observation, Jessica seemed to be more sensitive than most other women he had been with.

The sexy seductress dribbled another layer of saliva onto Parker’s erection, using her soft, dainty hands to spread the warm fluid about its length. “It’s so veiny, I’m always so impressed by it whenever I see it up close.” Jessica’s breathless statement again went ignored by Parker, who had recruited his finger on the task of bringing his opponent to orgasm, stroking her damp labia while his tongue played with the sensitive stub. The building arousal was apparent not only in the slight vibrato in her voice but the tenseness in her legs and the increased flow of her juices right onto Parker himself.

“O-Oh, god, you’re so good at that, Parker…” even her gasps and sighs were sexy, the added motion of her hands slathering his cock with more and more of her saliva only adding fuel to the fire. “Are you getting bigger? I feel like I’ve been trying to lubricate your cock for so long, maybe I should just dive in.”

This time, Parker didn’t even have the option to respond as Jessica followed that up by doing exactly that: in an instant, her lips were tightly sealed around the perimeter of his dick, her tongue resting on the underside of his shaft and the tightness of her throat creating an immense pressure on his cock.

Parker jumped, the sudden surge of ecstasy causing his body to twitch in response to the strong stimulus. It took barely a second before Jessica had managed to swallow well over half his length, her hands warming up the lower half with twisting, pumping motions.

Deciding to match Jessica, he switched the position of his face and fingers, his lips making contact with her vaginal lips while his thumb found her clit. Jessica’s legs wrapped around Parker’s head in response, her ecstatic moans and sighs partially muffled by the cock filling her mouth to the brim.

Usually, Parker would be able to look at Jessica’s overjoyed expression while taking his larger-than-average sized penis in her mouth and all semblance of guilt specifically regarding the pain or discomfort she was feeling would disappear. However, this time, all Parker had to go off was the occasional gagging noises that was being emitted from her throat, the warm liquid that would fall onto his groin—whether it was drool or tears, he had no idea—and most of all, Parker could feel the trouble Jessica was having with her hands constantly shifting around.

But that guilt started to die down as he realized that Jessica had barely come up for air or to take a break; in the minutes that had elapsed, Jessica had stubbornly held his cock inside her throat, pushing further and further down his shaft. That on top of the cacophony of sounds of pleasure joining the occasional gagging noises was more than enough for Parker to feel at ease, refocusing on his challenge.

By then, the tangy, unique taste of Jessica’s juices had stained the tongue that had run across her wet folds and was currently delving inside her love canal, but Parker didn’t let it phase him. His fingers were relentless, transitioning from a simple rubbing motion around the clit to rougher massaging and occasional pinches. Parker’s hands were gripping the plump flesh of her bottom tightly, something Parker himself wasn’t even aware of but was adding to the overwhelming sensation of the building orgasm Jessica was feeling.

However, it was Parker who was the first to orgasm, flooding her already-filled-to-the-brim oral cavity with a tsunami of his sticky, salty semen. Something between a cough and a gag burst out of Jessica, a mixture of her saliva and Parker’s semen spraying onto his groin as she quickly retreated to make more space for the following ropes of semen shooting into her mouth. Her eyes watered, vision rendered inert as her nose desperately tried to keep up with her body’s need for oxygen by taking large inhales of oxygen while her mouth was continuing to be filled with Parker’s ejaculate. It was this tight, almost panicked feeling that finally pushed her over the edge, a wave of her own cum washing onto Parker’s face.

Parker, too absorbed by the guilt from hearing Jessica’s gagging that was undoubtedly a result of him forgetting to warn her about his impending orgasm, was caught off guard by her orgasm, recovering seconds later and resuming his motions, letting her ride it out.

Even after Parker’s orgasm had died down, Jessica continued to keep his cock inside her mouth as the last waves of euphoria rolled through her body. When it finally subsided, Jessica unsheathed her mouth and climbed off him.

“Sorry about that, I just completely forgot to tell you.”

Jessica laughed. “What are you talking about? Like I’m always telling you, it’s fine!” she said, collecting the last bits of the sticky substance that had landed on his crotch area and feeding it to herself. “It was exciting—oh gosh, your face!”

Parker was still in the process of using his shirt he had set to the side to wipe off the excess ejaculate from Jessica on his face that was apparently still so visible that Jessica could see. “Why is it always so much?”

“Well, it’s partially your fault for being so good at it,” Jessica playfully shot back, joining Parker at his side and helping him wipe the sticky fluid off his face.

That sentence made Parker think. If, in the future, when Jessica had another ridiculous request like this one, he just performed badly, then would Jessica leave him alone?

“Oh, but if you’re thinking about doing poorly the next time we have sex, that won’t work because I already know you’re good at it.”

“Wha—how did you know what I was thinking?”

Jessica simply giggled, taking her side at the other end of the table after having adequately cleaned Parker’s face. “I mean, it’s pretty obvious that you would think that given what I just said.”

“Really…” Parker had almost forgotten about the chess game and felt almost cheated that they still had to play it. Usually, after they had sex, Jessica left him alone—this time wasn’t quite like that, and that threw Parker off. “…wait, whose turn was it?”

“Mine,” Jessica answered, moving her dark-square bishop to g5.

“You’re attacking something right away?”

“Well, you only have your shirt off so far.”

Knowing he didn’t really have much of a choice other than to recapture if his knight on f6 was captured, he instead elected to attack a pawn by moving his a rook to b8.

Jessica paused for a moment before catching him off-guard; instead of capturing the knight like he expected, Jessica instead captured the e5 pawn with her knight. “Well, where do you wanna kiss me?”

“You’re way too happy that I just hung a pawn…”

“You know what, I’ll let you choose kissing me on the lips again just this once~”

“Wow, you’re so gracious.”

Jessica giggled at Parker’s deadpan reply. “I know, right?”

Despite everything, Parker found himself smiling at the infectious positive energy Jessica emitted, leaning over the table to land a quick peck on her lips before making his next move: reinforcing his knight by moving his rook to d6. Jessica’s response was to just take the knight, Parker taking the bishop back in kind.

“Alright, one piece of clothing each~” Parker removed his socks, and to his surprise, so did Jessica. Seeing this, Jessica giggled. "What?”

“You actually chose to take your socks off. I figured that was going to be the one article of clothing you kept on.”

Jessica chose only to respond with her mysterious smile again, thinking for a bit before moving her undefended knight to g4. Not wanting to remove another piece of clothing so quickly, he moved his dark-square bishop to d4. Jessica’s response was a simple pawn move, moving her pawn to e5.

Rook to e6 followed, moving his rook out of danger of the advancing pawn, Jessica’s rook swooping in from the corner to d1, attacking his dark-square bishop.

Well, so much for not taking off another article of clothing so quickly. He felt that spending an entire turn moving the bishop away was a waste of time, but on the other hand, it was pinning the f2 pawn to the king. Still, was it valuable enough to waste an entire turn to keep it safe?

“Fine,” he muttered, taking her c3 knight with his bishop.

“Ah, one left~” she taunted him, taking the bishop back with her pawn.

While Parker elected to remove his pants, Jessica chose to take off her light jacket—or at least, that’s what it appeared at first. When Jessica moved to remove her nightgown, Parker interjected. “Wait, it’s only one piece of clothing.”

Jessica cocked her eyebrow at him, stopping part-way. “I know. I’m taking this off,” she stated, proceeding to remove the pajama one-piece.

The defeated sigh from Parker turned into a warbled noise of surprise when her fully exposed boobs popped out from the confines of the rather form-fitting one-piece, nipples already fully erect. “What the f—” Honestly, at this point, Parker wasn’t even sure why he was surprised. Of course, Jessica would do something like this.

“That’s better,” she said, draping the light jacket over her shoulders. Although the jacket covered part of her chest, it still left much of it clearly visible, least of all the extremely tempting peaks of her voluptuous mounds. Seeing Parker’s shocked reaction from across the table put a smirk on her face. “What? Do you like what you see?”

“I don’t even know why I’m surprised, honestly,” Parker replied, focusing back on the board and moving his pawn to h5.

“Oh, so you do like what you see,” Jessica commented, the smirk on her lips widening, “or else why would you want me to take off my last piece of clothing?”

“I’m just trying to win and be done with this.” Parker would never admit it out loud and could barely admit it to himself, but Jessica’s boobs were addictively alluring. The pureness of its color, the soft appearance and tightness of the skin, the perfect round shape it had, the volume of them, not even to mention how succulent her nipples looked when swollen as they were at the moment and how it made him want to do nothing more than to take one to his mouth and suck on them. But there was also something about the fact that they were partially hidden by the jacket draped over her shoulders that just added onto Parker’s immense desire to glance up, but his guilt and desire to not be teased by Jessica for doing so trumped those desires.

“Hmm…” Jessica elected to move her knight out of the way, back to e3. With the e5 pawn no longer defended, Parker took the pawn with his rook. “Alright, where do you want it?”

“Wha…?”

“The kiss I owe you.” Absorbed by the game and fighting the urge to take a peek, Parker had completely forgotten about those extra rules and was left dumbfounded until she was next to him.

“Can I say lips again…?”

Jessica thought about it for a moment before shrugging. “There’s six more, so sure.” Parker breathed a sigh of relief, letting Jessica peck him on the lips before returning to her side of the table. Then Parker realized how messed up it was that he was relieved that Jessica chose to allow him to tell her to kiss him on the lips.

After moving her pawn to h3, Parker connected his king-side pawns by moving his pawn to g6. What followed were essentially positioning maneuvers: Jessica’s rook shot up the board closer to his king, Parker responding by protecting the pawn under attack with his own rook, and Jessica responding by placing her other rook behind the first. Parker adjusted his bishop’s positioning to b7, thinking he could open some sort of attack after moving his c6 pawn, Jessica responding by her rook to attack his bishop. Parker scooted it into the corner, Jessica following up by attacking his rook by moving her knight to c4.

Figuring he could move his rook out of the way while attacking the knight, he moved his rook to e4 but was stopped short by Jessica placing her rook between the two pieces.

“Remember, if you take, then we both get five minutes with each other~” Jessica sang, shooting a grin at him.

Parker gritted his teeth, his hand hovering over the piece before ultimately deciding to take the rook. Jessica answered by taking his rook back with her pawn, standing up to move to Parker’s side while grabbing her phone that she had set on the side.

“Wait, stay there.” Jessica, shocked that Parker actually was directing her, obeyed, watching Parker as he moved over to her side of the table, desperately trying to avoid looking at the delicious pair of tits that were more or less out in the open for him to see. “I get to choose first, right?”

“Mhm, since you took my rook first,” she answered, leaving the screen open on the timer app.

“And I can choose anything, right?”

“As long as it qualifies as sex, yeah.”

“Then I’ll just finger you for five minutes.”

“Pfft, that hardly counts. But, I’ll allow it if you slap me while doing it.”

“…Slap? …Where?”

Jessica beamed. “Anywhere! My face, my tits, my ass, you choose!”

Parker found himself sighing again, sitting down on the couch. “Fine. Situate yourself here, laying down on your stomach,” he said, patting his lap.

Jessica happily agreed, laying face-down on the couch and situating her groin with his lap. He once again found himself staring at her juicy, round, firm rear, only snapping out of it when Jessica let out a giggle. “You like my ass that much?”

“How the hell does Hunter not suspect anything if you show up to bed occasionally with a red ass?”

“Well, Hunter leaves a red mark on me more than occasionally whenever we—”

“Never mind.” Jessica full-on laughed this time, Parker reaching over to grab her phone off the table and setting in on her back. Her laugh quickly turned into a noise of surprise followed quickly by a sharp moan as his index and middle finger penetrated her.

He immediately was met with firm resistance, her tight, moist walls making it difficult to advance. “Fuck,” he murmured to himself, pulling it out briefly only to summarily shove it back in. Another drawn out moan escaped Jessica’s lips, her body jumping in reaction to his actions.

He followed shortly after with a slap, watching on in guilty pleasure as the plush flesh bounced in reaction to his firm action. Jessica’s moan increased in volume, urging him on. “More! Harder!”

Jessica’s body responded wonderfully to his every action, her voice matching the ferocity of his slaps and the fierceness of his fingers’ pumping, the ring finger eventually joining the two. It didn’t feel too long after before the timer went off, signaling the end of the five minutes.

There was a part of Parker that was frustrated he had to stop when he was finally getting into the rhythm of things, but hearing the jarring sound mostly created inside him a feeling of relief. However, that feeling was immediately replaced with a sensation of dread, seeing the glimmer in Jessica’s eyes as she got up from her prone position on the couch.

“My turn! Come around,” she instructed him, jumping off the leathery three-person seat and positioning herself leaning over the back of the couch. Parker reluctantly followed, standing a good few feet behind her. “You’ll have to take those off for now,” Jessica said, nodding at the only piece of clothing left on the man. “You’re going to take me from behind like this, but also squeeze my tits and slap my ass and face, in any order you please.”

“…But only for five minutes, right?”

She nodded, holding up her phone, showing him that she had reset the timer on it to the 5-minute mark. “You don’t trust me?”

“No, it’s not that, it’s—”

“Oh, did you think it was a shame you couldn’t fuck me until you filled my tight little pussy with your thick cum?”

Parker let out an exasperated sigh, something Jessica couldn’t help but giggle at. “I’m not even—let’s just get this over with,” he said, sliding off the boxers he was still wearing. “Are you ready with the timer?”

“Yep,” she answered, again holding up her phone with her thumb hovering on the ‘Start’ button.

The instant he felt his dick surrounded by the tight warmth of Jessica’s pussy, Parker knew he was in trouble. He was already slightly horny from watching Jessica enjoy being fingered, but feeling the slick, warm walls of Jessica’s vagina rub against his shaft was overpowering.

This problem wasn’t something Jessica was even remotely concerned with: as soon as she felt Parker’s cock penetrate her, stretching her tiny pussy to match its enormous size, the moans and groans of pleasure never stopped streaming out of her mouth. The combined sparks of pain from the jarring feeling of Parker’s rough hands landing on her butt and feeling them squeezing her tits like he was trying to milk them added onto that feeling.

So absorbed was Jessica that she didn’t even notice the timer go off, whining when she felt Parker suddenly stop and pull away. “Parker—” she looked back in complaint, but in that brief reprieve from the cloud of lust that was filling her mind, remembered the time constraint and cursed herself for not making it longer. “Right, five minutes.”

When they got back into their positions, both of their faces were slightly red from physical exertion but also from being blue balled; Jessica had to actively stop herself from finishing herself right in front of Parker, the thought of masturbating in front of him as he watched on in morbid curiosity immensely appealing to her. The wait would only increase the potency of the orgasm, Jessica reminded herself, and refocused on the game.

“My turn, right?”

Jessica nodded, so Parker moved his c pawn up one square. “Oh, offering me a free kiss?” Jessica said, grinning smugly as she captured it with her pawn. “This time, you’re going to kiss me on the neck. And don’t make it a peck like the other ones, do it genuinely.”

Parker rolled his eyes but complied returning to his spot after following Jessica’s request and moving his rook one square towards the center. The next few moves were relatively uneventful, with Jessica positioning her rook more towards the center and Parker doing the same with his bishop, Jessica moving her rook and knight to attack the piece while Parker reinforced it with a pawn.

For his next move, Parker thought for a while, and thinking he had some sort of tactic, he moved his f pawn two squares forward. However, Jessica’s response mirrored his, moving her c pawn up to attack the bishop. Knowing it was most likely going to be taken and that it therefore meant the two had to finish the game completely in the nude, Parker elected to advance his pawn one more square to attack Jessica’s knight, her response being to finally take the bishop with the piece. Parker responded by taking the piece back with his pawn, afterwards leaving the two completely naked.

“You know, if you want to look at my tits, you can just look at them, you know. You don’t have to do this sneaky thing where you pretend to look at the board and use the corner of your vision to take a peek at them.”

Parker hadn’t even fully realized he was doing that until Jessica mentioned it, but now that he was caught red-handed, he felt doubly embarrassed. “I—It wasn’t intentional.”

“Oh, so you’re saying you can’t help but look at my boobs?”

“I—never mind,” he mumbled, Jessica bursting out into laughter as she retook the pawn with hers.

“Well, since you like them so much, come here and kiss them,” she said, claiming yet another reward for taking his pawn.

Parker ignored Jessica’s playful remark and obeyed, cursing his dick for hardening at the feeling of the soft, pliable skin under his lips as he planted a kiss on her milk jugs. Jessica was only up two pawns, but it somehow felt like he was on the verge of losing. Still, there was one definitive reason to play: if he couldn’t win, he could at least bring the game to stalemate and send Jessica home early.

But all it took was one pawn move forward for Parker to realize just how doomed he was.

Jessica was only a few moves from promoting a pawn to a queen, and he wasn’t in any position to stop it. “Ah, wow I’m screwed…”

Jessica simply smiled, saying, “Are you going for a stalemate?”

“I mean, that’s the best I can do at this point.”

“Well, too bad for you because endgames were my specialty~” Hearing that turned Parker’s face pale. Should he just give up? Jessica was so far ahead, and if endgames were her specialty, then with two pawns so close to the edge of the board and promoting, there was almost no way for him to do anything but lose? “No forfeiting though, I’m not letting you go until I get all of my rewards~”

Parker gritted his teeth. That’s right, losing wasn’t an option. Jessica wasn’t a perfect player, there must be an opportunity to stalemate somewhere. “Right.” But looking at the confident smile on Jessica’s face, Parker felt his days free of Jessica’s schemes fall further and further away.

[gghostwriter]

Entangled Strings of Fate

Chapter 8. Time heals (almost) all wounds

Spencer Reid x Fem!Original Character

Summary: Caltech, Pasadena - Cleo considers herself a woman of logic. With an IQ of 158 and an eidetic memory, how could she not. But meeting Spencer, the boy genius to hers, had her believing in intangible theories like the invisible string and the fates. Now, if only he would notice the depth of her feelings. Set in Caltech, pre-season 1 and will progress from there. w.c: 1.9k a/n: ngl i had a hard time taking this fic off of hiatus. There were some instances where I just wanted to drop it all together but i persevered so here we are, slowly back in the game. The updates would be irregular since I’m also working on other ideas behind the scenes but hope you all still enjoy and support. Comments & reblogs are greatly appreciated! previous chapter || series masterlist || next chapter

”If there is no struggle, there is no progress.” - Frederick Douglass

Change was a peculiar thing.

If Spencer Reid was to describe it from his own experience dealing with his fight with Dilaudid, he’d liken it to the well-known ‘five stages of grief’—denial, anger, depression, bargaining, and acceptance. His progress was never a linear thing, there were days his emotion would swig back and forth within stages like some sort of pendulum. He resented it. It made him feel weak, resentful, and angry. At the world, at the people around him, and most of all at himself.

The first and second stages were denial and anger. Two emotions he regrets to know too well and deflect to others poorly. 

“Reid,” Morgan’s tone coming off harsh from restrained anger. “What was that? I just saw Cleo—” he pointed behind him towards the door. “—rush out and crying.” 

He scoffed. “Nothing. It’s nothing for you to worry about.”

“Yeah, well let’s talk about the elephant in the room then. Since when had you had those?” Morgan nodded his head in the direction of the medicine bottles left haphazardly on the coffee table.

“Since Tobias,” he shrugged nonchalantly, opting to go with a half truth and a half lie to try and throw his fellow profiler off his trail. Not that it would ever work with how tenacious Morgan was. “He must have slipped it in my pockets before his murder—”

“Murder?” Morgan picked up on his specific choice of wording. 

“—and its not like I used it.” 

A lie.

“Kid, we both know that was self defense and Cleo told me the truth, don’t like to me.”

Spencer averted his eyes, finding all the scuffles on his floor suddenly interesting. It was indeed self defense, he knew that, but Tobias didn’t deserve to be killed—not really. He wasn’t like the rest of the unsubs that they have hunted down. He was just a victim of bad fate and his own fractured mind. Inside, the real Tobias still saved him and for that he felt grateful and regretful that his way of repayment was made through by a bullet. 

“Reid, I thought you were getting better. What you went through was traumatic but this isn’t the right way to cope—drugs and pushing away probably the person who cares for you the most. This isn’t you, Reid.”

“Yeah well, maybe this is the new me, have you thought about that?” He glared at Morgan. “I don’t even know why you’re here lecturing me about keeping secrets and coping, we all their own demons locked up, don’t we? The members of the BAU aren’t really known to be the most trusting and forthcoming with our pasts. We brush the trauma all under the rug and hope it doesn’t catch up to us.”

Morgan sighed as his shoulder dropped, all the fight in him leaving. “Come talk to me when your anger has passed—” he stepped back until he was almost by the door. “—and Reid, let’s hope this isn’t the new you ‘cause if it is—” he trailed off, shaking his head.

As the soft closing of the door echoed through the apartment, Spencer felt relief. Relief in being free to do what he wanted without judgement and relief to unknowingly hit rock bottom as his trembling fingers reached for the sealed bottle of Dilaudid. 

———

The third stage was bargaining.

Spencer didn’t know how he got here. Here being the present without the two strongest pillars in his life, Cleo and Gideon. One he pushed away and the other, leaving him behind with just a letter to his name. 

The team felt incomplete. He felt incomplete. 

As a man of science, he didn’t believe in higher power or the cosmos but one late night, he found himself on the rooftop of his apartment complex, cursing the stars and bargaining for the past to come back to the present.

If the star placements that night were different, maybe the present would be too. If he had worn a different combination of socks, maybe Cleo would still be by his side. And if he had not separated from JJ, maybe he would be here—at rock bottom.

It was a place he never thought he’d be in. Did he really have 187 IQ for nothing? Was all those knowledge in his expansive brain useless in recognizing wrong decisions made? 

He sighed as he watched the sun break the horizon.

Another day powered with no sleep.

Another day of wishing things had been different.

And another day of missing the one he pushed away.

———

The fourth stage, depression, hit when he least expected it and with it, came an immense regret that threatened to pull him under it’s ravaging tides.

By definition, depression was a general emotional dejection and regret was the act of feeling sorrow. Easy to understand in wording but difficult to explain when both were cruising through his body.

If Spencer was to explain what both were beyond it’s dictionary definition, he would liken regret to a bone injury that was never reset right and depression to deep, self inflicted wound that had been picked on numerous times that caused it to scar permanently. He felt himself riddled with both—fresh and old, reminders of his inactions and wrongful judgement. The optimists would wade through it and wear their progress with pride. These so called life battle scars that lead them to a better future but he wasn’t one of them.

No, he carried his with such shame causing his shoulders to hunch further forward from the accumulated weight of his whole life’s misfortunes. The heavy, heavy weight of sorrow from not being good enough for his father to stay. Remorse from not being strong enough to carry his ailing mother’s load and having her admitted in a facility. Disappointment from choosing the easy way out of his drug addiction—lashing out and using behind closed doors. Heartache from pushing away the only person in his life that cared enough to be angry and concerned, Cleo—his constant, his number one supporter. 

A rhythmic knock on his door pulled him out from under the waves. Blanket draped over his body, Spencer sluggishly made his way to it—ignoring the hunger pains in his empty stomach. It was nothing compared to what his heart was going through.

“Spencer,” Garcia uttered as she took in the boy genius’ form in worry. 

He cleared his throat, rough from the lack of use. “Garcia, what—what are you doing here?” 

“Taking care of you since it’s obvious you’re not going to,” the tech analyst maneuvered her way through with a Tupperware on hand. She headed straight to the kitchen regardless his small protests.

Garcia worked fast in plating him soup and a slice of bread. If this were a normal evening, he’d feel grateful and enticed by the smell but this wasn’t so all he felt was an urge to retch. 

“I don’t want it,” he mumbled, shuffling further away from the source of the stench.

She sighed. “Reid, what day is it today?” 

The question threw him off a loop. What does that have to do with forcing him to eat?

“Friday. It’s just Friday.”

“It’s Sunday,” she walked closer until he was reaching distance. “I’ve been calling you and you haven’t been picking up so I took it upon myself to visit you instead. Now—” dragging him to the dining table. “—I need you to eat. Even a little bit ‘cause I know you haven’t eaten at all.”

He brought a trickle to his drying lips. It was chicken soup and if he didn’t know any better, it tasted familiar. Homemade, even.

“How is it?” Garcia asked.

“Did you make this?”

Her eyes widened before her hand waved in front of her face in jest. “What? No—no, I got it from the restaurant near my apartment.” 

That was a lie.

A lie that Spencer didn’t question. He had lied about worse things and he had no right to question where the soup really came from when he knew the answer.

From Cleo. 

Or at least it was Cleo’s recipe.

The thought of her still being part of his life, no matter how inconsequential, warmed his insides more than the chicken soup had. 

“Do you think I’m bad for taking those drugs?” 

She gave a brief pause, enough to have Spencer worry. “No. I don’t have the right to judge you on your actions but—”

“But?”

“—it’s sad that other people bore brunt of your anger, which wasn’t your fault but wasn’t your greatest moment either.”

“Do you think—” he downed the last few spoonfuls. “—she’d forgive me?” 

It was what kept him awake most nights. The thought of never being part of Cleo’s world any more than a passerby was a living nightmare he hoped to escape from. Losing her felt like he lost his own limb. It threw him off balance. It broke Earth’s gravitational pull to his self. And when he does sleep, he wakes with this fog that he never pushed her away—never hurt her like a phantom limb before he drops back down to reality.

She reached into her glittered purse, rummaging through before she found what she was looking for. “I’ve been keeping this with me since that night and I think it’s time I give it to you.”

The single piece of paper looked worn at the edges and its folds. It looked non-descriptive. It was the contents that mattered. That truly mattered.

Law Enforcement: Narcotics Anonymous

(555) 657-02149

  All hastily written in Cleo’s loopy handwriting

“Oh.”

———

The final stage, acceptance, came with a physical change in the team. A new old member was stepping up to the plate in Gideon’s place.

David Rossi.

He had been feeling like his past self for a while now. All in thanks to the support each member has extended to him. As he started his climb up from the abyss of addiction, he had realized that his team—Hotch, Morgan, JJ, Garcia, and Emily, were there to cushion his fall should be falter and as the warmth of daylight hit his face on the way up, he wondered why he decided to stay in the darkness for so long. 

Why he had to lose two pillars before realizing that this is where he belonged? That this is who Spencer Reid is—a paradox of good and bad, a person who chooses the good no matter his demons.

And although adjusting to a new BAU member would take a while, he felt optimistic that everything would turn out just right. That it was time to finally let go of self loathing and make amends to those he can, no matter what the outcome.

That was how he found himself penning a letter to the one person he hadn’t seen in months.

To the one person who mattered after his mother. 

To Cleo. 

Comments & reblogs are greatly appreciated!

[sciderman]

So Sci, my darling. My savior of poly ships. Not that I'm not loving the updates to "It came from Outer space" BUT

When are we getting Night 2 of "Truth"?👀

the… ingratitude… you TAKE what I GIVE and you LIKE it